Here's an update, finally! So this is definitely taking a turn from the show and I'm trying to toy with a certain darkness with these two. I hope it works and is convincing! Again, this is my first attempt at TVD fiction and Klaroline and it's actually kind of hard! I want to do their perfection justice. As always, if you read and enjoy one thing or all things, or don't at all, please review! I'm a rather slow writer and would feast on the encouragement! 3 Air

Klaus was at a stalemate with the pesky Salvatores. He was growing increasingly antsy. His hybrids were gone, he'd retrieved three fourths of his coffins back and lately everyone has just been sitting around; going about life. He was bored.

He caught himself one evening wondering when the next Mystic Falls event would take place, as they seem to do almost every week, just so he could get some excitement from bothering all of the annoying little brats and schmoozing with the Council.

But when he caught himself and realized what he was thinking he fumed at what this town had made of him and threw his third edition War and Peace in the fire.

The next day the renovators were working slower than usual and he decided to get out of the house before he was compelled to eat them and set back the finish date even further.

Klaus hadn't been on a stroll through town in the middle of day and found it both sickening but surprisingly quaint. Mystic Falls and its love of history and all of that nonsense. Thankfully, it did boast a used bookstore and an art gallery.

Fifteen minutes later and Klaus barreled out of the gallery in a frustrated huff. Both ventures had been fruitless and he'd used all of his patience in dealing with simple-minded store owners who had never heard of Caitlin or read Saint-Exubery in its original French. He did find a nice fifth edition copy of East of Eden that he settled for.

As he scowled, stalked out of the bookstore and rounded out back onto the sidewalk he caught a glimpse of flaxen curls bobbing up and down and heading right towards him. Instantly his disposition shifted.

"Oh no," he heard as her eyes widened at his approach. "No way," she said and turned on her heel to head the other way.

He was in front of her instantly, having plastered an amused smirk on his face. The day had suddenly ceased being so mundane.

"Hello, love. Out for a bit of shopping, are we?" he said and pointedly took in her bags upon bags of boutique clothing.

"What are you doing?" she said and squinted at him.

"Just out for a stroll. Picked up this," he said and lifted the thick book up on display. "Ever read?"

"Can't say that I have," she said saccharinely and raised her eyebrows when he just simply stood, grinning. "Okay…Bye!" she said and tried to move passed him. Anticipating her direction he took the necessary step back and to the left to properly halt her.

"Oh my God…really?" she said, annoyed as her voice slipped into shrillness.

"How about some lunch?" he asked. He was growing peckish and found Caroline stirred something mischievous and spirited in him.

She scoffed. "That'll be the day. Matt serves me lunch at the Grill with Klaus the evil vampire across from me."

His lips curled up deviously and he saw her expression change and grow curious at his reaction to her sarcasm. Not what she was expecting. Good.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, love," he said and he knew she instantly caught on. They were about two feet apart but still he could sense her blood pumping through her veins around her eyes excitedly. He couldn't help but involuntarily lick his lips as he watched her flush and then reel back from the transformation.

"Sorry, I don't kill people."

"And I don't hunt bunnies. Where did you learn that clever trick? Stefan?"

Caroline stiffened and took a step forward so that she could speak low but insistent. "Have you been watching me?"

"Oh, don't be ashamed, darling, everyone enjoys a midnight snack after a good workout," he said, challenging her and enjoying himself more than he had in days.

"Okay, word of advice, Klaus," she said, putting a hand up as if she were about to tell one of her cheerleaders how to dress. He shifted his weight on his feet in amused anticipation.

"One, divulging information about your seriously creeper behavior will not earn you a lunch consisting of a live-human diet with someone who hates you," she said all in one breath. "And two, why are you even talking to me? Don't you have something villainous to go plan for?"

"I promise you won't have to kill anyone," he goaded playfully and she rolled her eyes.

When she tried again to push passed him he let her go, but just enough so that he could catch up to her and walk in step beside her.

"Oh, come on," he said as she continued straight ahead towards her car. "I'm restless. You're obviously restless. I'm hungry, your hungry. I have no friends, you have no friends…" he trailed off when he hit the nerve and she stopped short.

She turned to him, cheeks slightly sucked in and her mouth small and tight, wearing the signs of insult splendidly.

"I bet the similarities are endless," he said, falling into a whisper on the last word.

Without breaking eye contact she shoved her hand in her purse and rattled around in there as she searched for her car keys. She pulled them out and shook her head at him before turning on her heel and yanking her car door open with ferocity.

"If you get tired of stirring in boredom, come and find me," he called after her before she slammed herself inside and drove away, screeching her tires as she jetted off.

Klaus smiled to himself when his doorbell rang several hours later. He didn't even mind being pulled away from East of Eden, which was better than he had remembered.

"Hello," he said when he swung open his door and just as he had suspected, Caroline stood, nervous, unsure and fidgeting.

"I'm bored, okay?" she huffed and brushed passed him and into the foyer, taking in her surroundings suspiciously by looking up and around. He stood behind her patiently until she whipped around. "And don't flatter yourself, misery loves company," she said.

"Of course not," he obliged and held out a hand to lead her into the grand living room, the most complete room in the house. She continued to study everything with skepticism, from his books, to the type of mugs he used.

She was fingering a piece of crystal on a nearby end table when she said, "What did you mean when you said I didn't have to kill anyone to feed?"

"Ah, baby vampire," he drawled. "I see Stefan trained you."

"And?" she said, turning to him and crossing her arms.

"Stefan has never been one for self-control," he said as he picked up a silver bell and shook it sternly.

A man and a woman walked into the room from a swinging door at the back of the room. They were attractive, with glassy eyes. Caroline's eyes widened and Klaus knew he had to tread carefully, and sell this.

"All you need to do is take a few little nips. Clean the wound, tell them they very generously donated blood for a good cause and send them on their merry way. No harm done."

As he spoke the two people walked across them and stood near the vampires, the woman for Klaus, the man for Caroline, and waited. He made sure never to look away from her; their eyes were locked in and breaking it would break the moment of intensity arising in the room. There began to rise an air of tension, but laced with excitement, seduction, but reserve. Caroline wanted this but she didn't, he knew that well enough.

"Now the trick is being able to stop," he said and pulled his subject's hair back to reveal the side of her neck. Caroline's man sat on the arm of the sofa so that she could reach his. She tentatively stepped forward and looked down at his neck, pulsing and bare and smooth, and then looked to Klaus for reassurance.

He nodded slightly and took the lead, his eyes darkening and his veins throbbing, fangs out. And he softly, as gentle as possibly, sunk his teeth into the woman's throat and began to drink, watching Caroline as he did.

With shaking hands she began to mimic his actions. And when she finally sunk in he could see the outpouring of relief from her body as she closed her eyes and drank, savoring the hot blood in her mouth.

Klaus stopped feeding to watch her. She was even more beautiful when primal; he was entranced by her. The way her blond curls fell in tendrils around her face and she growled softly, almost like a purr.

Soon, though, he noticed her speeding up instead of slowly down. She was growing hungrier and was losing herself in the action.

"Caroline," he called out, firm but soft. She didn't look up. "Caroline," he said more insistently. Nothing.

Finally he strode forward and unlatched her from the man's jugular and she reeled back, her mouth and chin stained red and her eyes glowing bright and feral. She was breathing hard, hyperventilating it seemed, and let out a strangled half sob as she brought the back of her hand to her mouth to cover it.

Klaus was right before her, steadying her by holding each shoulder and then tilted her chin up with his thumb and pointer finger so that she would look up at him.

"Hey now, love, it's all right," he said softly and her eyes were wide and searching. "It takes practice but might I add you did excellently," he added, but she still wouldn't respond, her face still contorted in panic.

"Isn't that right, Victor?" he called over his shoulder.

"Yes sir," Victor replied happily as he pulled his t-shirt over his head and stood up. "See? Not even lightheaded. And always for a good cause."

"Thank you, Victor, you and Madeline can go now. We appreciate your service to society," Klaus said diplomatically, though he continued to stare directly and fiercely into Caroline's eyes until she could calmed and her bloodlust receded.

Several heavy, quiet seconds passed after the two left the house and finally Caroline came to. Klaus stepped back and pivoted around his planted left foot dashingly in a sort of manly twirl.

"Now, wasn't that exhilarating?" he said.

"Exhilarating?" she Caroline said. "Are you kidding? I could have killed him!"

"But you didn't and like I said, not my fault," he responded with a pointed finger that slightly wagged as he prepared to pour himself a drink.

He turned his back to her and privately smirked to himself, since he could practically see her fuming behind him.

When he turned he certainly didn't expect to see her rushing him and sending him reeling back into the wall with two tiny palms like solid stone. He felt the plaster crack behind him and he mentally cursed to himself that he'd have to remind his carpenters to fix that tomorrow.

But in the meantime—"You really like to shove, don't you, pet?"

He still held his crystal carafe out to his left, and she grabbed it from him and smashed it against the bar cart, sending whiskey everywhere and creating a jagged edge of the neck. She brought it up to his neck as she pinned him against the wall. The smell of clove and oak and deep amber spices filled his nostrils as he sucked in, not from fear, but from the proximity of her.

"Let's get something straight, Klaus, since you seem to have trouble listening, all right?" she said, down to business.

"Quite."

"You can't be trusted," she said matter of factly.

He nodded as much as the sharp protruding edge of the bottleneck would allow him

"Naturally."

"I don't like you."

"Give it time, perhaps you'll warm to me," he said and she pushed the glass into his skin, threatening to puncture.

She hesitated for a moment, seeming to work through something in her mind. She opened her mouth once to speak but instead licked her lips. Finally her eyes turned steely and she set her jaw in a resolved and determined position.

"Can you—" she started and paused again. "Can you really teach me to be a better vampire?" she asked and averted her eyes from his.

He looked at her as if trying to see through her entirely. She was filled with power and durability but at the same time utterly unsure and doubting. One thing was for sure, she was so much more than a pretty blond thing who bossed around other, less pretty blond things around on the fields after school, and he knew she sensed it too.

"Yes," he said simply. Honestly.

"Not evil," she said. "Just better."

He nodded again and she stepped back, releasing him from her entrapment. Though they both knew he allowed her that satisfaction. He rubbed his neck where the glass had pressed.

"You know that was eighty year old whiskey in that carafe," he said and she shrugged.

"Oops," she said dryly.

They began to run together at night. It was an unspoken thing. He'd change to wolf form and find her off in distance, weaving through trees, and he'd join her. He'd run by her side unacknowledged in the quiet of the night and not say a word.

Of course the first time he almost changed back and she instantly put a hand up. She rolled her eyes as she probably found it silly to be talking to a canine who could understand her.

"Whoa, I don't think so, buddy. If you think I want to see you naked and dirty in the woods every night you seriously need to reconsider things," she said and he ran off.

So they'd meet under the moon and never speak, just run.

Klaus couldn't help but find it serene, and wholly enjoyable. The rustle of the leaves at their feet, the sound of her breathing, the way they weaved through trees and skipped over roots with expert agility and grace. And they would go five miles, then seven and then ten and part. And first it was twice a week, then three and then five.

Every week on Tuesdays she would skip lunch period and come over for a lesson in restrained feeding. They never spoke of their nightly rendezvous.

"Okay now I'll count to five and you have to stop, no excuses," he would say.

"Whatever I stopped at ten yesterday," she would say.

"Yes, that was yesterday," he'd say with a tight smile. "And today I'm cutting it in half and you're not going to be a very happy baby vampire when you're hungry and just getting started."

"You get off on this student-teacher thing don't you?" she would say and grab onto the live subject of the week.

"Not when you insist on being so contrary to everything I say, Caroline," he said with the exact exasperated tonality of a worn out teacher.

"Thought so!" she teased and sank her teeth into the man in front of her.

He began to count:

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

Five…..

"Caroline!" he said in not quite a yell, but in just as an effective manner of speaking sternly when she refused to detach from her victim right away. At his reprimand she pulled back and stumbled as she often did—like a magnetic force was pulling her to this man's jugular and to break the pull she had to force herself away.

Her bloodlust would pump through her veins, having been rejuvenated and empowered by not only blood, but the fresh, warm pulsing blood only a living human could provide. Klaus knew the feeling well. It was a drug unlike any other, and it could consume you.

She backpedaled to the wall and braced her arm against it before sliding down and sitting, sprawled out on the ground trying to catch her breath.

He crouched down next to her as she shook with the need to drink more.

"That's right, fight it off, love," he said soothingly and reached out to wipe the blood from the corners of her lips and bring it to his own. She watched him hungrily as he did so and took deep, calculated breaths in order to regulate and slow the new blood powering her heart.

"I can't," she said in a strangled half-sob between breaths. "I can't do it," and she clutched her hands over her heart and pressed down hard.

Her back was flush against the wall, knees to her chest, and in order to keep her still he settled each one of his knees on either side of her, his feet tucked under him.

"Caroline," he cooed.

"I feel like…." She began and squeezed her eyes shut. "I feel like my heart's going to burst….right out of my chest."

"Just hang on, love," he said and settled his palms over her knees and stared directly into her eyes. "Hang on," he whispered. And they stayed like that for another few minutes until she calmed.

"I don't want to do this anymore. It sucks," she said one afternoon, standing in his foyer.

Klaus mocked a wounded heart and clutched it, dipping backwards as he let his knees sag just a bit. "Oh come on, just when we were about to have a spot of fun," he said.

She crossed her arms. "Really?" she said. "Fun? I don't qualify having a meltdown every Tuesday at lunch very fun."

Klaus refused to take no for an answer. He stalked forward and took her by the arm and began to drag her like a schoolboy would into the living room. Luckily, she only stood firm enough to create moderate resistance.

"Hey, Klaus!" she squealed.

"Now I know you're not a quitter, Caroline," he said as she half-heartedly began a tantrum. "And doesn't our friend Scott over here look tasty?" he asked as he swung her around so that she was now in front of him. He stood behind her and lay his hands delicately on either side of her waist. He felt her tense, but wasn't sure if at a spike in bloodlust or their proximity. He hoped it was both.

"Aren't you hungry?" he asked, his lips grazing her hair, inches from her ear.

She hesitated before nodding.

"Good," he said higher, cheerily and promptly snapped his left wrist so that she spun around to face him.

She let out a squeak of surprise and gulped when she looked up at him, closer perhaps than they'd ever been.

"I have a proposition for you," he said with a sly upturn of his lips.

"And what's that?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

He let go of her and stepped back, snapped his fingers, and Scott was before him. Klaus took the man's wrist and promptly sunk his teeth in and took a few generous gulps before releasing his arm, which then swayed at his side and dripped spatters of blood onto the hardwood floor below.

Caroline's eyes were on Scott's arm as Klaus spoke. "You've been drinking human blood now and that makes you stronger," he said and her eyes shot up to him. "Faster. More alert and responsive."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah and also way more neurotic and emotional and psycho. It's like just being turned again, I can barely live with myself I'm all like ahhhh," she said with an emphatic gesture around the orbit of her head which he took as some sort of crazy scientist image of Einstein's hair.

"Welcome to the club, sweetheart," he smiled and plopped himself down on the couch, lifting up his legs to cross his feet on the ottoman in front of him. "Now you know I'm not one to necessarily curb my impulses," he said.

"Gee, that's completely new information," she said sarcastically and made her way to an adjacent chaise and fell back on it with a pout.

"But it's possible if you want it…" he trailed off.

"Blah blah blah, enough with the preachy lessons, can I eat now please?" she said in annoyance. Scott took a step towards her but Klaus put a hand up to halt him. Caroline groaned in frustration and threw her head back against the pillow.

"Let's go out tonight. To the Grill," he said.

She laughed incredulously. "If you think I'm going to be seen in public with you…you're insane."

"It's time you learned how to take a sip and control yourself in a crowded environment," he said and beckoned Scott to him to take another drink. Caroline's eyes followed like a hawk.

"No way, I'm not doing that with Elena and company crawling around. I'm not suicidal," she said.

"Suit yourself, love. Though you have no idea how exhilarating it can be." He was licking the trails of blood from his fingers and Caroline got up, expecting her turn.

He rose at super speed to come between her and the boy. "Ah ah ah," he said. "No Scott for you today." And he sent him away into the kitchen.

Caroline let out a cry of frustration. "Fine!" she practically yelled out and stomped towards the door. "And I'm not going to the stupid Grill tonight," she called and slammed the door behind her.

Klaus couldn't help but smile. "See you at nine, then?" he called after her.

She would be there.

He chose a dark corner booth in the divided section in the back and ordered a scotch neat…and waited. There was live music tonight, and it wasn't ear splitting, thank God. He spotted Alaric and Damon at the bar, pounding back shot after shot, and luckily no one else.

It was 10:30 by the time Caroline walked in, sifting her eyes over the crowd nervously. He leaned forward and cupped his drink with both hands and waited. He watched her notice Damon and Alaric and quickly dart away from the bar and through the crowd. He watched her awkwardness at being there alone and idle, and finally lost her as she climbed the steps up to his section and made her way passed his booth.

"Caroline," he called out quietly, knowing it'd reach her ears. She stopped and looked around before slinking into the booth.

"At least you have enough sense to pick the most shadowy booth," she said as she took off her coat.

"Care for a drink?" he asked and held up his hand for the waiter.

She shielded herself in an instant.

"Now, now," he said with a hint of playfulness. "You're hurting my feelings," he said.

"Like you have any to hurt," she said.

That kind of stung.

"Oh God, Matt's the server. Shit," she said and got up. "I'm going to the bathroom. Make sure he doesn't come back," she ordered, low and stern and left before Matt swooped in.

Klaus smiled at the guy's surly look and ordered.

When she returned, a ridiculous ten minutes later, a whiskey sour was waiting for her.

"Is he gone?" she asked.

"Very," he said.

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" she said as her eyes widened.

Klaus burst out laughing and swung his head down to chuckle.

"You really think I'd off Matt just like that?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're capable of doing on a whim," she parried.

Klaus suddenly sobered. He inched his way around the rounded corner of the table and closer to her in the booth.

"Rest assured, I'm not interested in upsetting you," he said, the words weighted and heavy in the air between them.

She had no answer, so she grabbed her drink and took a very large gulp and set it down, her eyes down at the table and her palms spread out on its surface.

"How'd you know whiskey sours were my favorite drink?" she asked softly.

"Lucky guess," he said and matched her tone. "You don't strike me as a French kiss, lemon drop, appletini kind of girl."

"Most people do," she said and bit her lip, trying to hide how much a silly thing like that really affected her. She smiled and took another sip, but her eyes were deep and heartrending.

"I know," he said and straightened his back against the back of the booth. "And I'm not most people." He stood up, extended his hand. "Now, let's go have a lesson."

She stalled, tapped her foot for a moment before downing her drink and taking his hand to follow.

She gripped his hand as they weaved through the crowd, and she stayed close, nudging his arm as they did.

"So how exactly does this work?" she asked.

"Divide and seduce," he said with a turn of his head towards her, a bright mischief in his eye. "You up for it?"

A challenge. He knew she'd bite.

"Are you kidding?" she said with sly smile and broke from his grasp. She tousled her hair and reached into her back pocket to reapply some lip-gloss.

"Game on, Nik," she said and sauntered away from him, scoping the back of the Grill for a remotely hot, and probably dumb guy.

He was stone walled for an moment, paralyzed at hearing Rebekah's nickname for him come out of Caroline's mouth and from the fact that he didn't hate it.

Soon he spotted a pretty brunette and began some mindless chatting. He made sure to position himself so he could view Caroline as he chatted about his accent, the band and whatever else happened to be the most vapid and dry topics in the universe that could cross this girl's mind.

After a few minutes he found himself growing impatient and he had the most concentrated urge to snap the girl's neck. He rolled his eyes and finally locked in with hers and dilated.

"Listen to me," he began and her stare was blank and willing. "You're going to shut up and wait here with me while I wait for my pretty young friend to finish up. Then we're going to go out back and I'm going to bite your neck and drink your blood and we'll be done here. Understand?"

She nodded and promptly stood still, her back to Caroline and the large, muscled jock she was talking to. Klaus zeroed in.

"Yes I can do a split! … maybe I'll show you sometime … well you've never asked … you sure about that, cowboy?"

Cowboy? He couldn't help but smile.

Finally she took the boy's hand and led him like a salivating puppy dog on a leash towards the back exit. She passed by Klaus on the way and raised a pointed eyebrow and turned up her lips into a wicked smile. He willingly followed suit.

Once outside the crisp air hit his face and perked him up instantly.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Klaus said.

"Who the hell is this guy?" jock guy asked.

"Oh, you haven't compelled him yet?" he asked, his girl loitering patiently behind him.

Caroline tilted her head. "Sorry I liked the challenge, cheater," she said.

"We never set rules, love," Klaus said back with a tight smile.

"What the fuck is going on here?" jock guy yelled. "And why is she just wavering over there? Who is she?" he pointed at Klaus' date.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Ugh, shut up, Carl," she said and turned to him, locking into his eyes.

"I'm going to bite you. When I'm finished you're going to go away, forget what happened and never talk to me again. Got it, bonehead?"

Jock guy nodded.

Caroline turned to Klaus with a frown.

"What now?" he said, exasperated.

"I've lost interest in biting him," she said.

"Really?" he said. It was his time to turn on the sarcasm.

"He's just so...boneheady and stupid and he probably tastes like steroids," she pouted.

"Fine!" he practically growled and grabbed his date's arm. "We'll share. She's pretty enough and I doubt she's teeming with chemicals."

"Not prettier than me," she muttered.

"Of course not," he acquiesced, but also meant it and cocked his head for her to approach.

Caroline advanced towards the girl from behind and swept back her hair, staring over her shoulder at Klaus.

"Beat it, Carl," she said without breaking her eye contact. When he was gone around the building, she extended her teeth. "Five or ten?" she asked, her voice practically dripping with bloodlust.

"Live a little, love. Call it ten," he said and softly lifted the girl's wrist to his lips.

In perfect unison, they sank into her flesh. It wasn't vicious, like ripping, like he was used to. He followed her lead; it was soft and the blood flowed like velvet into his mouth. He counted as he watched her, eyes closed and savoring everything. He stopped at five and just gazed. She was stunning.

"Ten, love," he whispered, hating to interrupt her, but knowing she'd hate him if he let her kill the girl.

She whimpered quietly and finally dislodged her teeth from the girl's neck and stepped back, breathing heavily from the exhilaration.

"Leave," Klaus ordered the girl and she stumbled away.

He stood before her and waited. She was trying to get a grip, trying to reign it all in, compose herself for the public. Her mouth was stained a gorgeous red and her eyes were wild and when her eyes swept up to his and locked in, there was suddenly an electric current between them. His ears were ringing, his heart pumping with fresh blood, and with the salty metallic taste still on his lips, he lunged forward, crushing the current that had been humming between them, and crushed his lips to hers.

Terse at first, still, until she parted hers slightly, allowing him to deepen and sweep his lips rhythmically over hers. She was rigid and at first only responded to his ministrations, until he snaked his hands under her ears and in her hair and she finally surged forward with momentum. They devoured each other, messy and feverish and with each second the electricity intensified, the blood mingled, and finally, as if too much to handle it broke and crashed and she pulled herself away.

It was Klaus' turn to pant as he took in the sight of her tangled hair, her smeared chin and swollen lips. She brought her sleeve to her mouth and wiped, looked up at him, first with a nondescript intensity, then with a look of shock.

"Oh God," she choked out and barreled past him, breaking free from his attempt to grab her arm and taking off.

His eyes darted around as he took in the alleyway; damp and dark and musty, where now there seemed a dead calm when there had just been such life.

So? R&R and tell me your thoughts! :D