Chapter Two

Caroline had no clear recollection of her journey to school; all she remembered was meeting Elena in the parking lot, and discussing the events of the night before. She was consumed with guilt, not 24 hours ago she had scolded Elena for not telling her about her kiss with Damon, and yet she was doing the exact same thing. She was the biggest of hypocrites, but it was different for her, Klaus was the bad guy after all. It would be an intensely huge understatement to claim that her friends would not understand. Anyway, who was Elena to judge? She'd forgiven, and even possibly fallen in love with Damon, who was also once the bad guy. If he could change and be forgiven, couldn't Klaus? She hated herself for even considering this, he'd hurt Elena. But hadn't Damon hurt Caroline back in his evil days, too? She couldn't help but feel this way, what was bubbling up inside of her was unpreventable and unstoppable.

As they reached their lockers, Elena stopped Caroline.
"Your turn to spill; what was with Klaus last night?" Elena studied her, calculatingly.
Caroline rearranged her face into confusion and replied in what she hoped was her usual, sarcastic manner; "What do you mean? He asked me to go, I couldn't exactly say no. He is a vengeful hybrid, after all."
"No, I meant the fact that he didn't try an ulterior motive. He was.. quiet. You were around him most of the evening; did he say anything unusual to you?" Elena asked worriedly.
"What's unusual for Klaus? But if you mean anything unlike him, then no." Yes, he did, she added mentally. "He was just his usual, mocking self."
Caroline opened her locker before Elena had a chance to reply, revealing a single, red rose lying amongst her school things. There was a note attached, but she didn't dare read it in front of Elena. She quickly attempted to hide the rose, but not before Elena had observantly spotted it.
"Caroline, who's that from? Not another secret admirer?" She laughed, making a grab for the long, dewy stem. Freshly plucked, not bought, Caroline deduced. He must have come here immediately after he'd left her house. Lost in this wondrous train of thought, Caroline failed to notice that Elena had retrieved the note from her locker, and had it clasped firmly in her hand. Her pixie-like face was submerged in confusion. Caroline's stomach lurched violently, dread filling her entire being. A black haze spread through her mind. What could she say?
"Elena -" She started, willing her friend to give her a chance to explain. Before she could finish, however, Elena erupted in a chorus of sweet sighs. She raised her deep brown, watery eyes to look at Caroline, but found herself gazing sweetly at the man standing just behind her. He reached over and kissed Caroline's cheek.
"Happy Valentine's Day." His deep voice echoed. Caroline felt a rush of emotion as she turned and saw Tyler standing before her, his face lit up with anticipation and desperate yearning for her. Initial excitement and happiness was rapidly becoming replaced by a black, thunderous cloud of guilt. She hid her face in his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. She began laughing hysterically, in an attempt to conceal the disappointment that was quickly and ferociously cradling itself around her heart. She'd thought the rose was from Klaus.

Klaus arrived home in an almost dream-like state. He stole straight past his siblings without a glance, trying not to attract any of their unwanted attention. It wouldn't do any good for them to notice such a change in him; he couldn't let them know his weakness, now that he had one. Once safe in his room plastered with portraits and paintings, he let his mind wander and his angry features relax. He'd never felt such happiness, and it shone through his very being like the most colourful of rainbows. Everything about him appeared to be changing; his thirst for vengeance and violence, the way his thoughts worked and this was even his sketches. He glanced briefly at a few leafs of paper surrounding him, his own work. They were good, that much was obvious, but there was no flair in them. There was no passion beneath the pencil, no spark. Not like the sketch he'd drew of Caroline, at least. Whether it was due to her magnificent beauty or his art skills, or both combined, she almost shone goddess-like from the parchment. Klaus was convinced that every second of thought he had for the girl could render him to create a million of the most beautiful masterpieces. He knew that she loved Tyler, and not him, but he couldn't put a stop to his hope. It consumed him, eating away at his mind.

He heard Rebekah approaching before he saw her. Rearranging his face into its old bitter, mocking sculpture, he turned as she entered. He gazed at her for a moment, lost in the nostalgia of the days when he could talk to her properly, honestly. Their motto, "always and forever" certainly didn't seem to apply anymore. It was his own doing, he knew that, but he yearned for his siblings to look beneath the surface of his actions, and understand the reasons why he had taken them initially.
"You seem different, Nick. Less angry." Rebekah noted, framed in the open doorway. "Is there something that you're not telling your little sister?" Her face turned into a patronising smirk, and her silhouette became cocky. Klaus suddenly felt the anger bubble up inside him again. Good, it would make his act more believable, he thought, his nostrils beginning to flare.

"Rebekah, if I wanted to bond I would have retrieved the dagger from your heart a long time ago." He snarled viciously, emphasising the word bond mockingly. The less humanity he showed with his siblings, the better, especially the calculating, scheming Rebekah.
She shrugged half-heartedly, replying; "Just asking, Nick. Mind that temper of yours." She stole from his sanctuary without a backwards glance. He couldn't worry about her for the moment; his mind was still caught up with his morning.

While he was influenced so, Klaus began to sketch various portraits of Caroline. He began with her face, scrunched into a sculpture of pure ecstasy, just as it had been when he leant in to kiss her softly. He lingered lovingly on her eyes, shaping them into the realistic almond-shaped pools of awe that he had grown to love so. They stared up at him from the parchment, innocent yet observing. She was like the most thunderous of storms, and the loss of her would surely shake his world in a tumultuous earthquake. Emotion etched across every line on his face and every thought in his mind, Klaus failed to notice Rebekah had returned to the doorway, watching him closely.