Capable of Being Saved

by Erin Salvatore

Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing.

Note: I got the idea for this one shot while bathing, oddly enough (I swear, my bathtub brings out the evil that is my muse). It's a Klaroline one shot (been a while since I did one of those, huh?) taking place at the end of 4x13 and it also includes the end of 4x14, since the Klaroline scenes in those two episodes were simply amazing.

Don't ask, just follow along. Oh, and it's from Klaus' POV, something I never tried before, but attempting for the first time.

LET THE MADNESS ENSUE!

PART 1

I try not to look at Caroline as she lays on the couch, still bearing the wounds I inflicted on her earlier today. God in Heaven, how I hated to do that to her, but my anger made me do a horrible thing. It wasn't Caroline I was angry at, it was that whelp, Tyler. I wanted him to know the full extent of my anger and in doing so, I hurt the beautiful blonde vampire laying there like a fairy tale princess. A princess with a hole in her stomach and bite wounds on her neck, perhaps, but a princess nonetheless.

The room is silent, the only sound being Caroline's labored breathing. As I listen, part of me screaming to stop being such an arrogant asshole and cure her, but the part of me that was angry at Tyler was preventing me from moving even the slightest inch.

"If you don't feed me your blood, I'll die."

Caroline's voice brings me out of my reverie then. It was as though she were speaking my thoughts. I want to feed her my blood, like I did on her birthday, save her from the pain she was in.

"Then, you'll die and Tyler will have learned his lesson the hard way." Damn you, Niklaus, my mind screams at me. Do you want to lose Caroline the way you lost Tatia? Put your damn pride aside and help her, for God's sake!

Caroline continues to breathe heavily as she says, "How could you do this to him? To his mom? To me?"

"I'm a thousand years old," I said. "Call it boredom." That's the best answer you can come up with? Boredom? And you call yourself an artist. Can't even come up with a creative answer.

"I don't believe you."

See?, my mind tells me. Even she doesn't believe what you just said. Just tell her the truth, Niklaus. Or at least some semblance of it.

I sigh. "Fine. Then, I'm simply pure evil and I couldn't help myself." Great, not only are you lying to her, but you're also lying to yourself.

"No," said Caroline. "It's because you were hurt. And that is the part of you that is human."

I look at her then and leave the place I was standing in and approach the couch, sitting on the coffee table. What she's saying does make some sense. I was hurt, hurt to the point where I resorted to lashing out and doing idiotic things, such as using a chair leg as a makeshift stake and driving it through someone and then biting their neck to prove a point. Normally, I would've gotten angry at this point, but what the hell would that have proven? Given what was in front of me right now, I can't help but remember what Damon told me in the basement of the Salvatore house.

"You want to be bad, be bad with a purpose. Otherwise, you're not worth forgiving."

Damn it, Damon, do you have to be so blunt? However, instead of dwelling on that, I tell myself to focus on what Caroline is telling me.

"How could you possibly think that?"

"Because I've seen it."

I want to ask her when she has seen it, but then I remember the moment we had together at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant, where I teased her with her application. God, I must have replayed that moment over and over in my mind a thousand times, and I probably even immortalized it with a drawing when I returned home that evening.

Seeing how silent I am, Caroline continues, "Because I've caught myself wishing I could forget all the horrible things you have done."

This statement hits me hard. True, I have done so many things, things that I wish I could take back. Things that would make me a monster by some standards. I feel tears begin to well up in my eyes as I look at her, as much as I don't want them to.

"But, you can't. Can you?"

I expect her to say no, but what she says next is shocking. "I know that you're in love with me. And anybody capable of love is capable of being saved."

Damn it, another truth. I am in love with her, have been since the night I cured her. No matter how many times she has rejected me, I never let it deter me. I saw every rejection as an opportunity to try harder to win her affections, even if the next attempt doesn't receive a positive result.

You are such a fool, Niklaus. How could you hurt this poor girl? She has done nothing to deserve what you have done to her. Even though she may have said and done things to anger you in the past, you have never once harmed a hair on her beautiful blonde head. If you truly wanted to do, you would've done it a thousand times already.

As much as I want to tell her that it's true, my damn pride doesn't allow me to. "You're hallucinating."

Really? Hallucinating? That's even worse than the response you gave her about being bored.

"I guess I'll never know."

I then hear what sounds like her taking her final breath and I look at her. "Caroline?"

No answer, just some convulsions. "Caroline?"

Again, no answer. I see her go still and try to keep myself from crying. Don't do this, Niklaus. Don't let her die. Give her blood. No amount of anger is worth losing the girl that has come to mean as much to you as Tatia did.

It is here that I finally decide to listen to my conscience and lift her head up. Then, positioning myself behind her, I bite my wrist and hold it in front of her mouth, hoping that she'd smell my blood and take it. I then feel her grabbing my wrist as I brush her hair back to help her feed better.

She continues to feed for about five minutes or so before I take my wrist away from her. When I do, I see her yawn. Poor thing, she's exhausted. Of course, I don't blame her, given the hell she went through today and all because of my stubbornness and foolish pride. Laying her down gently, I took a chance and spooned up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and inhaled the sweet scent of her hair as I fall asleep myself.

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART II!

Note: I know this was originally going to be a oneshot, but I think I might make a two-shot out of it.

What do you think, lovelies? Reviews are love!