A/N: After many days here is part 2 of this story. I regret to inform you that this story is only going to be a two-shot. I think prolonging the duration of this story would do more harm than good and that this way it fits in well with the show. I also have many other ideas I want to pursue. As always thanks so much for the reviews/favorites/follows seeing that notification makes my day and makes me keep writing so thanks a million!
Caroline's head felt like a tap dancing brigade was doing a duet with a mariachi band. In other words, she felt like crap. She dug her head deeper into the mountains of pillows that surrounded her attempting to get a few more precious moments of sleep. The sheets felt like silk against her skin, she could lay there for the next century. Wait, mountains of pillows, silk sheets. Where was she? She pulled her head out of her homemade pillow cave and groggily looked around. She was laying in a huge king bed in the middle of a large room. Next to the bed was a small wooden nightstand which to her relief had 2 blood bags and a glass of water atop it. She greedily drank both the blood and the water giving her throbbing head instant relief.
"Feeling better love," the familiar British accent flowed in through the doorway. Klaus? She was at Klaus's house. Was this his bed? Bits and pieces of her drunken adventure last night came back to her. The bars, the dancing, the bourbon; her stomach protested at that last one. Their kiss… had they... She peeked under the covers, she was fully clothed. She looked at him in the doorway he didn't look like someone who had just spent the night rolling around with her in bed. His face would have a lot more smugness in it. His shoulders were tense, since when could she read his tells? Caroline's raging headache was in danger of returning, thinking about Klaus could do that to her.
Klaus seeing her confusion spoke up. "We didn't sleep together if that's what you're wondering." He always knew what she was thinking that bastard. She went to speak, but nothing came out like the words were caught in her throat. What could she say? Obviously what had she had showed up wasted on Klaus's doorstep and know she was in his bed, there was no way to play that off gracefully she'd been caught liquor handed.
"Wha… what happened last night?" Caroline's voice came out hoarse, even her super healing abilities couldn't erase the damage of last night.
"Well, it's a long story love maybe you should shower then we can discuss your antics. You smell like the floor of a bar and that's from over here." The way he said antics made Caroline cringe as images of all the possible mortifying things she could have done flashed before her eyes, but she felt like she had soaked in liquor last night and she smelled like it too, a shower sounded like paradise. She nodded at him.
"I got you some clothing, I guessed at your size, but I have a good eye," he gave her a wink and that last remark. "The washroom is through the door on the left," With his message finished Klaus promptly put the clothing on the bed, turned and left leaving Caroline to get on with her shower. She pulled herself out of bed and picked up the pile of clothing. It was a pair of jeans and black tank top. Much to Caroline's surprise the clothing was just her size. After 1000 years, you get a good eye for size apparently. She pulled out her cell phone from her pocket. She must have fallen asleep with it; upon opening it she discovered a plethora of texts and missed calls from her worried Mystic Falls cohorts. She had just woken up soaked in liquor in Klaus Mikaelson's bed. She couldn't deal with that right now, she turned off her phone and focused on her bath.
She made her away over to washroom; the washroom like the rest of the room was luxurious, marble tiles and a huge claw foot bathtub were the centerpieces. As much as Caroline's body was aching for a long soak she opted for the safer option of the shower. Floating in water naked, while Klaus waited outside didn't sound appealing…okay, maybe a little appealing if she was honest with herself. She peeled off her alcohol soaked clothing and got into the shower. The hot water washed over her, the steam clearing the residual murkiness from her brain, the memories of the night started coming back to her like dominoes falling. She had gotten to New Orleans and chickened out, she was outside the Mikaelson compound before her fear got the best of her and she hit the bar to drown her sorrows. Then one drink led to another which led to her compelling a bartender to give her unlimited shots which led to where the memories started to fuzz up. She remembers somehow finding her way back to Mikaelson compound. She remembers his arms carrying her inside. The clearest moment of the night was when she drank those two blood bags she remembered Klaus asking her why she was there. She remembered giving him the line she had been telling herself the whole way over, his phone number she needed his phone number. Both of them knew that wasn't the real reason. Her mind flashed back to the day she had turned her humanity back on. Her life had imploded, she had tried so hard to stay in control, but it felt too good not caring. Now she was feeling it all at once every life she ruined, every person she killed. It felt like her heart was being ripped out over and over again. It was the first she had felt dead like she would never be warm again; a walking corpse. That's what led her to Klaus he made her feel alive, she hadn't forgotten how it had felt that day in the forest. How his touch had lit her up. She felt a pang of guilt, what about Stefan? Stefan was the good guy the guy she should be with, the hero. She knew why she was here; no matter what she did he would accept her. She couldn't look at anyone back in mystic falls without an onslaught of guilt. She needed to get away; he was the sun and no matter how badly her hurricane had torn through, how much destruction she had caused he would still shine down on her, give her warmth. She remembered dancing, dancing and losing herself in the music, in his heat. Heat… his kiss. They had kissed… this memory was deeply buried under layers of bourbon induced fog, but she remembered being under him. Craving him, she had pulled at his shirt. She was the one who wanted him completely, but he had stopped her. Oh, how the roles had reversed. She was pulled out of her reverie by the man of the hour himself.
"Are you waiting for me to join you or do always take hour long showers?" The smugness in his voice made her teeth grind. Although the image of them in the shower together was making her heat up in all the ways, he shouldn't make her heat up.
"Go away Klaus, you pervert," she heard his throaty chuckle in response to her jab. She bit her lip and tried to not think about how sexy his laugh was. She looked down at her hands, they were wrinkled, probably the closest she would ever come to aging she laughed at herself. How long had she been in the shower? She turned off the shower and grabbed a towel from the many shelves inside the washroom. Wrapping herself in it, she stepped out of the shower onto the cold marble floor. The sudden change in temperature sending chills up her spine. She dried off and went to grab the pile of clothes. Placed neatly atop the pile was a pair of black lace panties. Those hadn't been there when she got in the shower. Had he been in here? She swallowed her anger and put them on since her old ones were not particularly inviting. She put on the rest of the clothes on and did her best to towel dry her hair. She stepped back into the bedroom. Reinvigorated by the shower, she felt ready to take on the mental challenge that is Niklaus Mikaelson. He was laying on the bed, his trademark smirk gracing his face.
"Did you go in the washroom while I in there?" Her eyes narrowed inquisitively.
"Well I didn't want you going commando unless you're into that of course,"
"Klaus!"
"Well it's nothing I haven't seen before love," Caroline gave him her best death glare. Focusing her attention on the far more imminent matter…hunger. As if on cue in walked one of Klaus's many minions carting a table of assorted breakfast items and blood bags. He was lanky with dark hair and dark eyes. He looked familiar, had he been there last night?
"Ah Arthur, right on time," Klaus motioned for Arthur to set the food down. Arthur? She briefly remembered talking to him last night. Arthur gave her a shy look and she smiled back, he was cute in that shy guy kind way. He walked out of the room silently.
"He's cute."
"Looks like I'm going to have to kill him then,"
"Klaus!"
"I'm only kidding love…mostly" They both chuckled at the joke. That was when Caroline liked Klaus the most, as much as the kissing was good (and boy was it good) it was when they could both just laugh and be in each other's company that's when Caroline wanted him the most.
"Well, are you going to come eat or just stand there fantasizing about me," Caroline rolled her always and climbed onto the bed eagerly digging into the buffet of food and blood in front of her. There was nothing like a breakfast sandwich and some o-positive to make her feel better. Both of them sat in silence, eating their food.
Caroline decided she was gonna dive right in, no time like the present. "What happened last night," Klaus raised his eyebrows at her forwardness but surprisingly enough made no snide remarks.
"It was quite simple actually; I was enjoying a peaceful night in with a book when I got news that you were heavily intoxicated and trying to start fights with my nightwalkers," Caroline's mouth fell open starting fights?
"If I am remembering correctly you called them all asshats and said they were all under my thumb. Quite the sight." Caroline hit his shoulder. Her cheeks flamed at the embarrassment.
"Shut up," He chuckled at her retort. Caroline bit her lip at his laugh again pushing out the thoughts of how good his laugh sounded.
"Once I got you inside and away from prying eyes you broke into my bourbon collection, drank my blood bags and demanded one of my nightwalkers bring you a music player." Caroline's face registered shock and then understanding as various puzzle pieces started falling into place. Being in his arms, he must have carried her inside, then recognizing that nightwalker he must have been the one that brought her the music player. Where she got all that bourbon from.
"We danced?"
"Well, you put on some atrocious pop hits and forced me to jump around yes," Caroline rolled her eyes he could never admit he had fun.
"I may not remember much, but I do remember you enjoying our dance party,"
"Well by then I had followed your lead and tapped into the power of bourbon plus your brain was alcohol addled you're probably remembering wrong," He grinned at her and she grinned back enjoying these moments of light humor. They sat in silence letting the blissful feeling fade from between them. Caroline's mind went back to the reason she was here, she felt a pang of pain at the idea of her mom, of her humanity-less actions. She looked up at Klaus and saw real concern hiding behind his strong man façade.
"I'm ready," Caroline's voice came out soft like if she didn't want him to hear, but he did.
"For what?"
"To tell you why I'm here."
"I thought it was because you deleted my number in a moment of weakness," Caroline could see he was trying to make her laugh. She gave him a small smile, took a deep breath and said the words she had been running from this whole time.
"My mom died," Klaus's face went to shock then anger then pain then worry. He slid over to where she was sitting on the bed and took her hand. Normally she would have pulled it out of his grasp but she needed his sturdiness right then.
"She had cancer; apparently vampire blood isn't the cure-all we thought it was." Her voice broke with the final words and tears started falling down Caroline's face, the memories of her mom were overwhelming she didn't know how she would get through it. Klaus pulled her tighter into him, his warmth felt nice against her. She choked back her sobs and continued.
"I… couldn't deal with it, with her, her death… so I turned off my humanity, then I lashed out and made Stefan turn off his humanity then we went on an emotionless rampage together." Caroline felt Klaus's grip tighten a little at the mention of her and Stefan together. His jealousy was comical and it alleviated her mood a little. "Once I turned it back on…" Caroline trailed off she couldn't describe the emotions she was feeling. A fresh batch of sobs racked her body and she pulled tighter into Klaus.
"It's okay love, I understand," Caroline knew he did, he had probably been in her situations tons of time racked with guilt and pain after doing something awful. Maybe it was why she had gone to him because he would understand because he had survived it before. Caroline stayed in his embrace until the tears finally stopped flowing out her body and the guilt didn't feel like it was gnawing her insides. The breakfast was long forgotten and laid cold spread out on the bed. She pulled out of him and sat up.
"Thank you," her voice was still weak. Caroline could tell there was something Klaus wanted to say, she knew there were a million things she wanted to say. Neither of them said anything the silence heavy between them. Caroline decided to speak up, she couldn't embarrass herself more could she.
"I know we kissed last night," Klaus's eyes widened slightly then quickly went back to their usual calculating look. "I know we kissed and I know I wanted more and you said no, and uh… thanks," Caroline was at a loss for words how did you thank someone for not sleeping with you without hurting their feelings?
"No problem love," he didn't elaborate.
"Why?"
"Why didn't I take advantage of the wasted girl who regularly tells me I am Satan reincarnated."
"I don't think your Satan reincarnated, maybe a lesser demon like Satan's shoe shiner," Both of them broke out laughing the tension fading, the pain Caroline felt was still there but being with him it tamed the pain.
"Caroline,"
"Klaus?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Opening up to me," Caroline looked at the softness in his eyes, the way his face was etched with worry for her. The Klaus she was seeing was the Klaus that Klaus kept hidden. The one that contained all the humanity he had left. This was the Klaus Caroline would catch herself falling for. He was still next to her, his body inches from hers. His hands placed firmly at his sides, Caroline thought it probably took a lot of willpower to keep from reaching for her. Her gaze dropped down to his lips, she felt pulled to him like a magnet. She leaned towards him his breath caught and she lightly placed her lips to his. This kiss wasn't the frantic kissing in the forest or the drunken kissing from last night it was soft and tentative like both of them were too afraid of what would happen if they kept going. Caroline knew what would happen, she would always drown in him. She couldn't though not yet she had too much back home to much she had to figure out. She pulled back from the kiss. She instantly regretted the decision but persevered.
"Klaus, it's obvious I have… feelings for you, denying them would be stupid, but…"
"You can't," Caroline expected to see anger, hate or sadness in his face but instead she saw understanding.
"At least not right now, I have too much back home, things I need to do, to figure out. People I need to figure out…"
"Caroline I've said it before and I will say it again I intend to be the last person you love, however long it takes." Caroline gave him a silent nod.
"I think I should be going," Caroline didn't want to leave not really. If she was honest with herself all she wanted to do was forget Mystic Falls and jump into bed with him, but she did have things she needed to figure out, Stefan, her mom, Elena. If she left soon she could make it back to Mystic Falls in time for Alaric's wedding. It was time to face the music. Klaus stood from the bed and extended his hand to her. She took it and let him lead her through the giant compound to the doors that led outside. He opened the door for her.
"Should I keep your clothes?"
"Burn them."
"I can't even keep your knickers," she smacked his arm, putting a little vampire strength into it he didn't even flinch. She started walking out the door but turned around to give him one last look.
"Thank you,"
"No problem love," She turned and walked away into the sunny day. Maybe things with Klaus hadn't gone like she expected but she was happy with how they turned out. Maybe one day she would end up back here knocking on his door, but they had an eternity to figure it out. Caroline pulled out her phone and turned it back on getting ready to call the airline company. She scrolled through her contacts trying to find where she had the number saved. Her eyes stopped at the sight of a new contact, Klaus. The bastard had added his number after all she clicked the contact name. Her phone almost clattered out of her hands and her eyes popped out of her head. She looked at the profile picture he had chosen. He had taken a picture of his-
"Klaaaaaaaauuuus!"
