Hello. Now that I've got this story out, I want to keep writing it. I'm so glad you're all liking it!

I'm going to try and explain how Caroline was able to have a baby in this chapter.

One of the reviewers felt 17 months was too short of a time period for Caroline to be gone.. Yes, it most likely is, but I want Liam to be a baby.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries. No matter how bad I want to, it just seems like it ain't happening. But I do own this plot so yay!

P.S. I'm a review addict. So please review or I won't write. REVIEW! I'm serious on that. Review or I will stop writing.

The One Mistake I Don't Regret

2: Homecoming

Klaus looked down at the picture again. He was by no means a sentimental man…er hybrid, but this picture was special to him.

It was a picture of Caroline. It was more than a year ago that Caroline vanished. The day after their last…transaction.

He couldn't help but feel it was his fault. His words to her echoed within the depths of his mind.

This was a mistake. We shouldn't have done this.

He knew he regretted his words. He knew he had unintentionally hurt Caroline more than she already was. But that wasn't what he meant in that it was a mistake. He meant that she was heartbroken and acting on impulse, and them being together in her emotional state wasn't the best idea. When he tried to explain to her, she stormed out, leaving Klaus to his musings.

He should have run after her and admitted he was at fault…but alas he was prideful. And, despite wanting to fix things, he knew he had bigger fish to fry.

Caroline did reveal to him that Tyler and that wolf bitch…what was her name…Hayley were trying to get Klaus' hybrids to break their sire bond. He dealt with that problem immediately.

Klaus followed Tyler's scent to the barn out in the woods. He stepped up close to the rickety old building. He could hear growling and wails of pain. Followed by the familiar voice of Lockwood.

"You're so close!" He encouraged. "Keep it up and you'll be free of Klaus."

Klaus smirked and decided to make an ironic entrance. "Is that so?" He announced himself as he walked into the barn.

Both Tyler and Hayley turned to him, looks of shock present upon their faces. Hayley even gasped. The two ran at him, snarling but they were no match for the original hybrid. He grabbed both of them by their necks and lifted them off the ground.

"I'm very displeased with you Tyler." Klaus smirked as if he had achieved some great victory. "Then again, I find myself displeased with you a lot lately." That was the only hint he dropped about Caroline.

"H-how," he gasped, clutching onto Klaus' wrist, "how did you know?"

Klaus remembered Caroline. How hurt she had been yesterday. He growled lowly. "Caroline told me."

Tyler's eyes widened in a combination of surprise and horror. "N-no!" He gasped. She wouldn't.

He saw the utter betrayal in Tyler's eyes. Time to drive the nail in deeper. "Ah, but she did." He smirked. "Apparently she was so heartbroken to catch you and this one fornicating that she decided not to be your little pawn." He shrugged. "And she told me everything."

"YOU LIAR!" Tyler howled. Klaus glared. He didn't like it when people spoke to him out of line. But it was fun to watch the Lockwood crumble. He tightened his grip around both their throats.

"Watch your tongue or I'll rip it out." He growled. "And I speak the truth. I found Caroline at the grill, drowning her sorrows. She told me everything…" the killing blow, "before she dragged me out of there begging me to fuck her senseless. Which, of course, I complied."

His reaction was so worth it to Klaus. He snarled and writhed. "You fucking bastard! I swear to god I will kill you!"

Klaus pulled him in close. "I would for you to try!" He invited. "But now that I'm onto your little scheme, you can't use my hybrids!"

Klaus hurled Tyler and Hayley across the barn and released the hybrid from his bonds. "Go back to the mansion!" Klaus ordered. He gave a nod and ran out of the barn.

Klaus turned to leave. He stopped at the entrance, and turned to the Tyler. "…and stay away from Caroline from now on."

God it felt good doing that to the man who hurt Caroline. HIS Caroline.

No. Not mine. Where did that come form? She isn't mine.

Next on his list was apologizing to Caroline…yes, captain ice heart was going to apologize. Or so he thought. Caroline wanted nothing to do with him…and refused to let him in. He backed off, giving her the space she so obviously requested, but he didn't give up. Until six weeks after that day.

The day that Caroline Forbes had vanished from Mystic Falls. Except for her mother, no trace of Caroline was in the Falls. He searched everywhere. She wasn't at the school, the grill, the woods, the bridge… nowhere. Finally after endless searching, Liz told him she had left Mystic Falls. Just like that, she was gone. She hadn't told anyone, not even her mother, where she was going. He had no clue where she was.

He didn't like to think so, but Caroline's vanishing had a profound effect on him. He was colder, less merciful. He became crueler. Deep down, he knew why. Each day that passed, was a day she wasn't there. And as the days went on, it became more and more clear that she was never going to come back.

Yet…why was there this part of him telling him not to give up. A part of him that held onto that foolish hope.

Alone, in his room, the last place he saw Caroline, he grabbed the nearest object he could, a desk lamp and hurled it at the wall with all his strength. Needless to say, it shattered, littering his room with bits of porcelain. He had no reason too. Every time his thoughts drifted to Caroline, he usually found himself in a fit of rage destroying something. He wasn't mad at her, but at himself for letting her get away so easily. He didn't care though.

…he just needed to see Caroline again.

"How could you have a son?" Elena asked shocked.

"Well…" Caroline began, shifting Liam in her arms, "one day, I found Tyler cheating on me." She sounded so casual, like it was an everyday occurrence, but it elicited a gasp from Elena. "Of course I was heartbroken. Tyler was my whole world, and he shattered that reality for me.

"So I found myself at the grill…and Klaus was there. He consoled me, trying to make me feel better. But I was hurt, and mad and sad. So…I kind of came onto Klaus." She admitted.

Elena raised an eyebrow. "And by kind of…"

"I jumped him in the middle of the grill." Caroline blushed. "I just wanted to feel an intimate closeness, and Klaus was there to give me it. We managed to get to his house, and then-"

"And then you slept with Klaus." Stefan finished.

Caroline nodded. "The morning after, Klaus said what happened…what we did was a mistake." She found herself getting misty-eyed. But she wouldn't cry. Not in front of Liam, who was watching her with his big gray eyes, his father's eyes. "I left, feeling hurt that he would just cast me aside like that."

"But that's who Klaus is." Elena said.

"It doesn't mean it didn't hurt." She admitted. "As I walked home, I looked around the town…and all I saw was the drama and the heartbreak. I knew then I had to leave Mystic Falls. So, I pinned up a map, closed my eyes and stuck a clothes pin somewhere on the map. That place would be where I got my new start."

"And you landed on Maine." Stefan deduced.

"Exactly!" Caroline nodded. Liam cooed and grabbed onto her blouse. "It wasn't long after getting here that I began to feel really sick. It made it hard looking for work. Mom gave me enough money to get started. I used it to pay for a checkup. And that's how I learned I was pregnant." She exhaled, trying to expel the sadness from her body.

"…I put two and two together. The timeframe added up to Liam's father undeniably being Klaus."

"But," Stefan cut in, "you're a vampire." He said bluntly. "How were you able to have a child?"

"I don't know." Caroline admitted. "Believe me I was baffled! I mean, I had had sex with Tyler several times. So I can only assume that it has something to do with the fact that Klaus is an original. Something in his bloodline." She said. "That's a theory, but I just don't know."

Liam started to get fussy. Caroline stood up, pacing the room, and Liam started calming down and snuggled into his mother. "But I can now never return to Mystic Falls." She explained rather bluntly.

"Why not?" Elena frowned leaning forward.

"Several reasons." Caroline began. "Klaus would flip his lid if he found out Liam was his son. And I can't lie! I mean, no other vampires have ever conceived. It would be suspicious that I was. I can only assume Klaus knows he can allow for vampires to give live birth."

She let out a sigh. "And then…I can't admit he's a Mikaelson. We've all seen it. The Mikaelsons are always at war with each other. Regardless of whom it is between or why, they're always at war. To go to Mystic Falls, to admit Liam is a Mikaelson… I'd be sending him into that world. And I can't bear to involve him in that!"

Elena was at her feet and hugging Caroline. "It's okay. We can think of something." She comforted. "Everyone misses you. Even if you can just visit for a couple days."

"But…I have a business here. I can't just leave it."

"Caroline," Stefan stepped forward, "we're not asking you to come back to Mystic Falls, we're just asking you to visit."

"What about-"

Elena cut her off. "Don't worry about Klaus. Me, and Stefan and even Damon, if he's willing, will help you deal with Klaus."

"But what about Liam? We can't keep him hidden?"

"We'll think of something."

Caroline sighed. She handed Liam to Elena, who had been eyeing the infant. She walked to her apartment window and stared out of it into the world.

Could she really do it? Could she go back to Mystic Falls, the sight of her heartache? Could she go back to Klaus? No, not go back to him…go back to dealing with him.

Then again, so many people missed her. Jeremy (hopefully- if he hadn't gone all psycho hunter), Bonnie, Matt, April, hell even Damon was sure to have missed her.

She took a deep breath, exhaling all her reservations away.

Look out Mystic Falls, Caroline Forbes is coming home.

What did you think? Review.

REVIEW!