Chapter 1
Caroline sat on her bed and stared at the picture in her hands. The picture Klaus had drawn of her. This picture had begun the unraveling of her relationship with Tyler. Sure, they had kissed and made up for a while. Ok they had had sex and made up for a while. But ultimately Tyler's jealousy of Klaus had been their undoing.
Caroline thought back on her string of relationships and shook her head, tears filling her eyes. Damon – he had used her for sex and to get the things he wanted for a time. Matt – her first real love that had broken up with her because he couldn't deal with what she had become. Tyler – how to describe their relationship other than one built on bonding over stressful situations (her being a vampire, him becoming a werewolf then a hybrid) and sex. Not exactly the type of formula to last long-term. So why was she missing him now?
As she focused on the picture again she realized it wasn't Tyler that she missed. Well, not exactly. It was having someone in her life to talk to about her day, about the latest plan that Elena and the Salvatores had concocted and about her continued annoyance that everything ALWAYS revolved around Elena.
Her fingers ran over the picture as she reminisced about the few interactions she'd had with Klaus. Why was he in the forefront of her mind now? She didn't know but it was less painful than rehashing her former, failed relationships so she went with it.
She remembered how beautiful she felt in the dress he sent her. She remembered how he had smiled at her when she walked into his home for the gala. She remembered how he held her when they danced. She remembered when he had opened up to her about his father and about his passion for beautiful things. Then she remembered how she had shut him down at every opportunity. And she remembered the look of pain that had flashed through his eyes each time he opened himself up to her only to be rebuffed harshly.
But he was the bad guy, right? The big bad hybrid Original that couldn't be trusted and only wanted to gain possession of Elena for her blood in order to build his army of hybrids to take the place of his less-than-stellar family.
He had turned Tyler, formed a sire bond then ordered Tyler to bite her. But then he had come to her and saved her life. She heard her friends say over and over that he couldn't be trusted, that he was evil. Even his mother had said it. But as she sat there looking at the picture and thinking about the interactions she had with him she knew he wasn't evil. He wasn't an angel by any means but none of them were.
She wondered what would happen if she gave him a chance. She wondered if he would turn and run if she accepted his attentions or would he follow through on his whispered promises to show her the world and all the beauty it held.
She had made her decision. She was going to take a leap of faith and see if Niklaus Mikaelson was the evil hybrid Original her friends claimed he was or if he was the one creature on earth who might see the real Caroline Forbes.
She picked up her phone and started to text the number she swore she'd never use but had entered into her contacts. As she pressed the button to start the text, her phone rang. She smiled and answered. "Are you psychic along with being a hybrid and an Original?"