A/N: I was watching the episode in season two when Klaus attends the sixties decade dance as Alaric and I'd like to assume that was the first time Klaus laid eyes on Caroline.
This drabble incorporates 4x18.
Let me know what you think!
She clutched his face in her hands determinedly as his body shook and sweat poured from his skin.
"Klaus, it's me, Caroline," she said, hoping to get through to him.
He shook his head in confusion.
Silas had weakened Klaus with the white oak stake, and though she had removed the remainder of it, he was still managing to torment his mind with what seemed to be terrible hallucinations.
The hallucinations were not constant. He fell in and out of them which only seemed to add to his disorientation.
One minute he was asking for her help and begging her to talk him through it, the next he was cowering in fear from her like a defenceless child.
"You're going to hurt me," he said.
The muscles in his torso - which her eyes had made involuntary detailed observations of already - constricted as he tried to shirk from her touch.
She sighed discontentedly but remained steadfast with her palms against the sides of his face.
Thinking about his claims, she laughed slightly, prompting a questioning look from him.
"A part of me has wanted to hurt you in the past," she admitted, "but that's not why I'm here, Klaus. I'm here to help you."
He tried to glance away, but she prevented him.
"Hey, look at me. It's Caroline. I'm here," she repeated herself, hoping she could cut through his hallucinations.
When the look in his eyes seemed to shift from terrified uncertainty to sudden realization and relief, she knew he had fought down whatever hallucination he had been having.
"Caroline," he stammered shakily, as though he had just been through hell and back.
He looked exhausted but seemed placated by her presence.
"You're here," he breathed, as though he was surprised to see her.
His hands touched her shoulders to confirm what he saw.
She no longer found herself flinching uncomfortably at his touch.
Briefly gazing at his hand on her, she then quickly looked him in the eye.
"I'm here," she affirmed. "You need to talk to me," she instructed, "you need to stay in the present and concentrate on what's real. If you don't, it will be easier for Silas to give you another hallucination," she explained.
She let go of his face now that he seemed firmly rooted in reality for now.
He followed her lead and let go of her shoulders, although he seemed to take note of the fact that she hadn't backed away from him when he'd touched her.
"What do you want to talk about?" he asked casually as he sat down on the piano bench, clearly still trying to regain his bearings from Silas's latest mind game.
She shrugged, sensing by the suggestive tone in his voice he was alluding to the night previous.
"Anything," she said, "except for the hallucinations; keep it simple, light-hearted; as long as it keeps you focused," she urged.
He seemed reluctant.
"Tell me about your life in the Middle Ages...the fifties...the sixties!" she said encouragingly, hoping to inspire him.
He relaxed his back against the piano, pursing his lips as he thought about her conversational prompts.
"So Mrs. Jackie 'O' wants to know what I was up to in the sixties, hmm?" he smirked.
She looked at him with curiosity and intrigue.
"How did you..."
"I was there, remember?" he said. "Albeit in Alaric Saltzman's body," he added.
Memories of the sixties decade dance quickly came flooding back to her as she recalled her friends' first encounter with Klaus.
"That was the first time I saw you," he spoke, with a restrained smile as he shot her a piercing gaze.
She tried her best to hold back a similar knowing smile.
"I was standing by the punch bowl, pretending to be a dutiful teacher chaperone while keeping an eye on Elena and Bonnie, when you arrived with Matt Donovan," he told her. "If I remember correctly, it was your infectious laugh that first turned my attention."
Her face felt hot as it began to redden with embarrassment.
"You definitely had the best costume of the night," he continued. "You looked cute in the pink skirt suit and black pill box hat," he mused.
She laughed as an image of her costume for that night crossed her mind.
He sighed.
"You nearly threw me off my original reason for being there," he chuckled to himself. "For a while, I couldn't take my eyes off of you," he remembered.
He shrugged.
"Maybe it was the way the lights shone down on your golden hair, but you radiated this unbelievable beauty."
Swallowing hard from his genuine flattery, she struggled with how to respond.
Her palms were sweaty, her stomach was upside down, her knees were weak, and her entire body was on fire.
Upon looking up from her awkwardly positioned feet, she was startled to find him standing now immediately in front of her.
His eyes grabbed a hold of hers quickly and any words she had been meaning to say got stuck in her throat.
He framed her face with his hands, much like she had done to him through his hallucination, as he tucked her hair behind her ears.
"When I first saw you that night, Caroline, there was something about you that I found completely mesmerizing," he confessed. "And there still is whenever I see you now."