Hello! If any of you read Landslide, I haven't given up on that – the last episode kind of gave me no inspiration to write a baby fic, even if it is human KC. But, it did give me inspiration for this! It's set after 4x20 and I hope you like it.

I don't have a beta or a graphic for this, but if you'd like to provide me either of those, I'd be very grateful! Anyway, all mistakes are my own and I hope you can overlook them.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.

She threw her cell phone down on her bed, fighting the urge to replay the voice mail just one more time.

But she simply couldn't fight the content smile that spread across her lips as his words echoed over and over in her mind, full of promise and admiration. How she'd managed to be the object of a thousand year old hybrid, she would never know, but she'd grown used to his fondness of her. Actually, sometimes she caught herself liking the attention she got from him. Not in the way that whiny, insecure, human Caroline liked attention – oh no, but she did like the way he made her feel. Even though he made her feel awful at times –mainly when he tried to kill her or her friends- it never changed the fact that his adoring stares and cherishing smiles made her week at the knees. She knew that the occasional laugh that so painfully human, was spared for her and only her.

So, maybe she did like that. Maybe she did like him.

Over time, her hatred for him had turned into something that she couldn't quite explain, not even to herself. The dangerous attraction, the tempting promises of the world. Slowly, she'd started to fall for him. She didn't know when, she most definitely did not know how, but there was no use in her denying it anymore. She was more than aware about how he felt for her, and even though he made it practically impossible for her to reincorporate those feelings, she didn't hate him as she was expected to.

She wanted him. It was as simple as that.

Throwing herself back on her bed, she let out a sigh as her head it the fluffy pillow.

Stefan had mentioned something about Klaus leaving, to New Orleans or somewhere, though Caroline had been taking that with a pinch of salt considering their main source was her murderer. Katherine Pierce wasn't someone that she considered trustworthy or reliable. Not in the slightest.

But, it hadn't taken long for her to put the pieces together as she listened to the voicemail for the – well, she'd actually lost count of how many times she'd listened to it.

He was in New Orleans. Klaus was in New Orleans, and all he was thinking about was her.

Her eyes clenched shut as she tried to push away the gut-wrenching feeling of loss. They weren't together, they were barely even friends. He could do whatever he wanted –go wherever he wanted- he didn't owe her anything. So why did she feel so hurt at the idea of him leaving without saying goodbye to her first?

She was being ridiculous, she thought. She couldn't expect him to wait around for her, even if he kept promising it time and time again. Of course he was going to leave one day, realizing that she wasn't as great as he seemed to think she was and simply leave her behind in her small town without a second though.

Only, the idea of waking up one day to find out that he'd disappeared for good terrified her. And she hated it. She hated how much she had grown to need him, how much she'd gotten used to having him around. Any opportunity to be around him, even as a distraction or a ruse, she always took it. She took it with an exaggerated scoff and dramatic eye roll, but of course she secretly liked it.

Finally –finally- she was someone's first choice. As far as she was concerned, the fact that it was the evil hybrid that everyone expected her to hate was just plain cruel irony.

Even after everything that he had done, it didn't change the fact that part of her was constantly wondering. Just...wondering. Every now and again, she'd catch herself smiling at the idea of him showing her the world and blushing at the thought of waking up next to him.

So, knowing that he was in New Orleans and not knowing whether he was coming back bothered her more than she would care to admit.

What if he didn't come back? What if she never saw him again? She knew that she shouldn't be upset about the fact that he was leaving, but she was. She'd gotten far too used to him being around to be able to deal with him just randomly leaving her.

..Leaving town. She meant leaving town.

She pushed herself back up on the bed into a sitting position and look around her bedroom. What did she even have left here?

There was her mom and there was school, but she knew her mom could cope without her and school was pretty much over. All she had to do was graduate and that chapter of her life was officially over with. She couldn't stay in Mystic Falls forever, not when everybody around her would be growing up and she would be stuck looking seventeen years old for the rest of eternity.

But, did she even really want to stay there? It was her childhood, her humanity, her home – but there were too many bad memories. A part of her just wanted to leave it all behind and move on with her immortal life. Maybe, just maybe, the sooner she started to adjust to the life of a never-aging vampire, the better. She could spend the next few years clinging desperately to her humanity, go on living an average human college life whilst denying what was right in front of her. She was a vampire, there was entire world out there waiting for her and normal wasn't good enough for her anymore. Not since he came along and opened her eyes to pretty much everything.

She could stick around and go to college with Elena and Bonnie, constantly getting wrapped up in supernatural drama.

Or she could go to New Orleans with Klaus and constantly get wrapped up in supernatural drama.

The choice was far too easy.

A week later, she was graduating. The blood red gown fell past her feet to the ground, the matching cap long lost to the many that had carelessly been thrown to the sky by the graduating class.

The sun had been shining brightly, on a very rare day of happiness in Mystic Falls. Surprisingly to all of them, the day had gone completely with a single glitch.

Caroline hadn't informed any of them of her plans to leave, not wanting to disrupt the new found peace. Not only that, but between Elena's torture session and several ghosts returning? She hadn't exactly had time.

But now, it was quiet. There was no supernatural crap and all that she'd had to worry about was e making it from one side of the stage to the other – which, of course, she had perfected easily.

Part of her was just waiting for something to go horribly wrong, whether it was something as trivial as rain or something she was far more accustomed to. Death being the first thing that came to mind. Which was almost, almost, laughable.

The ceremony and after party had gone far better than she'd been expecting. Unfortunately, her mom had been called into work just after the ceremony was over, but she'd grown used to her mom having to run off on demand over the years.

It didn't matter though, because her graduation day had gone pretty much perfectly.

As she climbed up the front porch, she caught herself smiling. She was now dressed in her strapless blue dress and killer black heels, her outfit that she had changed into for the students' after party. Her perfect blonde curls cascaded down one shoulder, held with a few bobby pins here and there and some hairspray.

She searched around in her purse for her keys, growing frustrated and blaming the liquor she'd consumed for her failed efforts at such a simple task.

"Caroline."

At the familiar voice, she spun around, her curls flying over her shoulder due to the inhuman turn. Her eyed widened slightly, her lips parting as her frustration faded away immediately at the sight of him.

"Klaus."

"Evening, love."

She didn't know what to say to him, so she chose to say nothing. He was wearing his usual outfit of black pants, a white Henley and a matching black leather jacket. His dimpled smile sending shockwaves through her body, and she couldn't help but return the smile.

"Good day, I hope?"

"Uh.. Yeah. Yeah, it was actually. What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. I know how important these silly human traditions are you to. As for what I'm doing here, I came to drop by a gift."

He climbed up the steps to stand before her on the porch and her feet seemed to move towards him by themselves, as if gravity were pulling her to him automatically.

She cleared her throat, her eyebrows furrowed together as she shook her head in confusion.

"A gift? You didn't have to, seriously."

"No, please... I insist, Caroline."

The way he said her name never failed to send a shiver down her spine. If she could hear him say it forever, hell, she would.

With a smile, she playfully rolled her eyes and lifted her shoulders expectantly.

"Fine, but if it's stolen jewellery and a lame pick up line, I might not be able to resist the urge to punch you in the face." She teased, looking up at him from under her lashes with an unintentionally flirtatious smile.

"Well, technically, it wouldn't be the first time." He smirked, causing Caroline to let out a laugh as he reached into the back pocket of his black pants

He pulled out a thin box, and she raised her eyebrow.

After a few moments of him just standing there looking at her expectantly, she took the box out of his hands. She opened the box hesitantly, her eyes widening again as she revealed his gift to herself.

"Call it a congratulations.. and a thank you. Perhaps one day we'll meet again, sweetheart."

Before she could look up and respond with her plans of leaving behind her small hometown, there was a gust of wind. Looking up in a panic as she felt the presence before her disappear, she looked up in surprise. For a moment, she couldn't bring herself to move. Despite the fact that she herself was a vampire, he was much older than her and the sudden movement had shocked her. She frantically looked around her, trying to see where he'd gone before she forced her feet to move and ran down the porch steps.

"Klaus! Klaus!" She called at the top of her voice, spinning around in a desperate attempt to catch him.

But, he was gone again and she knew that. He probably wasn't too far gone for him to not be able to hear her calling him, but he didn't come back. If he had heard her, he made no intention of making it obvious. For a few more minutes, she continued to call out to him before realizing how pathetic she must have sounded to him and any other random passerby.

She let out a sigh in defeat, tucking a lose curl behind her ear as she accepted the fact that he had left. Possibly, by the sound of his final words to her, for good this time.

Without a second thought, she rushed back up to the porch and immediately found the keys she'd been looking for. Once she was in the house, she sped to her bedroom and sat down on her bed. She stared down at the box she held in her hands, still trying to take all of it in.

It was a first-class ticket to Paris, all expenses paid.

She let out a humourless laugh, looking up and around her room as she had just the week before when he had left.

He was gone and had left her with nothing but a one way ticket to France and a small note with some details and a simple goodbye.

Standing from the bed, she placed the box on her dresser and moved to grab her phone.

As she listened to that voice mail for the umpteenth time, there was one thing she was certain of.

She wasn't going to Paris, but she was going to New Orleans.

I guess you can consider this a prologue of sorts, aha. I have the next chapter written; I just decided to split it which is why this is a little short. So, it should be up soon!

Thank you for reading! I hope you all liked it. If you have a moment to drop me a review, I would really appreciate it!