A/N: Hi guys, sorry for the wait. But things have been really hectic lately, plus, I have been on vacation.
I hope this chapter will put a smile on your face. I really enjoyed writing it.
Thank you so much for reading, I really appreciate it.
Enjoy :)
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in The Vampire Diaries
Part 4
"Klaus" She mumbled to herself, very surprised to see him there, but not that kinda happily surprised, more like "what-the-hell-are-you-doing-here-surprised". He was leaning against the door-frame, hands crossed over his chest. The scent of his cologne forced it's way up Caroline's nostrils and she took it in, almost closing her eyes as she took a deep breath, smelling him, nearly tasting him as that perfumed air flowed down to the back of her tongue, itching her taste buds. He always smelled like that, and it was a disturbingly good scent. He looked casual but classy with dark denims, a white v-neck t-shirt and a black coat. His hair was styled; the hair-gel he had used kept his curls firmly in place, giving him that perfect finished look.
"Yes, that's what some people prefer to call me" Klaus answered and the sound of his voice snapped her back from the thoughts about his flawlessness. She glared at him and tried to look as if she didn't care about his presence by huffing and walking past him, into the house.
"You do know that I can let myself in? But I would prefer it if you invited me" He enlightened her and held his ground. He turned around though, observing her every step down the hallway.
"What do you want Klaus? It's been a crappy day and I'm tired" She notified him, stating a fact and hoped it would be enough because she really didn't want him to come inside.
"I beg to differ; you seemed to enjoy yourself at the grill earlier" He just continued, not giving a rats ass that she obviously didn't want him there, in fact it only made him want to be there even more.
She wanted to wipe that beyond annoying smug look off of him, mostly because she knew he was right, she had enjoyed it. She had enjoyed seeing that part of him that scared people, that part of him that should've scared her too, but didn't.
"How did I know you wouldn't hesitate to bring that up?" She shot back and walked into the living-room.
"Am I wrong?" He questioned coyly and finally entered the house, closing the door and followed her.
Caroline placed her hands on her hips and shrugged, once again trying to act careless, disgusted and unfazed. "Ugh, I don't want to talk about it. Now please, can you leave?" She begged of him and pointed at the doors direction.
"I could, but I won't" He simply said.
"Which part of me NOT inviting you in didn't you understand?" She spat and walked over to the window, slightly parting the drapes to check if anyone was outside. God forbid anyone would see him inside her house or worse, listening in on their conversation.
One thing Caroline couldn't understand was why Klaus was so interested in her, what was it about her that pulled him in? She considered herself to be pretty common, nothing special. Plus, he had lived for centuries so surly he had to have met other women who were more intriguing and special than her over the years.
He always looked at her with this unexplainable expression over his face, like he was seeing her for the first time every time they met. She could sense his infatuation towards her only by looking at him, and that scared her.
She wanted to ask him why, but that would only make things worse, especially after the incident at the grill. She had to hide her interest at all costs.
"Oh I understood that part quite well, I just decided not to care" Klaus announced and walked up to her, standing dangerously close. She could feel his breathing on her neck.
She turned around and took two fast steps to the side, putting some distance between them. "Well then, feel free to….stand there for as long as you like. I'm going to bed. Oh, and make sure to leave before my mother gets home, she tends to be a little cranky when she gets home from her night shifts"
She hadn't gotten very far when he spoke. "Or, I could just come with you" He teased; knowing it would piss her off and it thrilled him.
"Are you insane?" She shot back instantly, looking at him in shock.
"Oh come on Love, a little sneak peek?" He teased again as he started taking slow steps towards her.
"NO" She shouted and sent a pillow flying through the room, aiming for him but of course, he grabbed it perfectly. "Now that wasn't very nice of you" He pouted, pretending to be hurt by her action.
"I'll tell you what isn't nice, you stalking me in the middle of the night and breaking into my house" She yelled quickly at him scrunching up her brow as she always did when annoyed, and Klaus happened to find that very cute.
He let out a chuckle begging to differ, pointing out that he wasn't stalking her…this time. Although he preferred the term delving into something he was passionate about, in this case her. "For starters I wasn't stalking you, I had every intention of knocking on the door...but then I heard you and the doppelganger debating so I decided to wait" He said as he held his hands behind his back, raising his eyebrows as his point had been stated.
Caroline stared at him still annoyed with his antics. "You decided to eavesdrop?" She corrected while shaking her head pointing out that that wasn't any better than stalking.
"Vampire hearing remember? I can't really help it" Klaus stated pointing to his ears with a smug smile on his face as they bantered back and forth which he happened to find fun, especially since it was the only time she wasn't ignoring him or slapping him for something inconceivable he had done or tried to do.
"Sure" She nodded sarcastically still not satisfied with his answer.
"So, the doppelgangers affections for the younger Salvatore are coming to an end?" The hybrid asked remembering Elena and Caroline's earlier conversation he had heard.
Caroline let out a defeated sigh just thinking about it showing her distaste for the situation.
"Nope, they just magically disappeared and then reappeared a few seconds later….pointing in Damon's direction" She frowned and spoke with an attitude.
Honestly, Klaus didn't know why she cared that much or why it was such a big deal, but to his surprise he actually admired her for caring. And he also found her hatred for the Salvatore brother amusing, recalling a time when she told Damon that calling him Satan would be an insult to Satan. "Well that's unfortunate. I'm sure it'll all end up just fine" He said not really having an opinion in the matter but never the less wanted her to feel better.
"No it won't. Have you met Damon?" She asked with disgust on her features once again, reminding him of her hatred towards Damon. He laughed at her. "Several times actually" He joked.
"You know that's not what I meant" She replied rolling her eyes in his direction. He decided to speak his mind as he was confused to why it bothered her so much. It was not like she was the one who was dating Damon…although he did faintly remember hearing about them being a couple a while back.
"Honestly I don't see what the problem is Love, it is her choice not yours" He explained and allowed himself to take a seat in the couch as she gave him a "how could you even ask that look".
"It's a problem because it's Damon" She preached as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
Klaus decided to push her buttons a bit by asking another question he knew would rile her up. "Maybe you are jealous?" He questioned with a smirk, although inside hating the idea of her liking Damon. And then the irony, who was jealous now?
"What? I'm not jealous. I would rather die than spend one minute alone with that freak-show" Caroline detested showing her distaste with the idea.
"Then what? Why do you care so much?" He asked truly wanting an answer. She sighed and fell down into the couch, right next to him. The memories about what Damon had done to her while they "dated" started flowing through her mind.
"I care because I don't want him to do to her what he did to me" She blurted out without thinking and then realized who she was talking to.
"And what was that exactly?" He asked, in fact almost demanded. She didn't look at him, just stared down on her feet as she tried to avoid his prying questions she didn't want to give an answer to, because if she did she would have to relive all of the horrible things Damon had done to her, and that…was more than she could take at the moment.
Caroline was a strong woman and she could most certainly handle herself but there was something about the way she reacted to his question that caught his attention, she actually seemed sad, and most disturbingly, scared. What the hell was this about? "Nothing, now please leave" Caroline hurried and started pulling him out of the seat and towards the door, but she didn't get him very far before he stopped.
"Caroline, what did Damon do?" He asked again, now more serious. He slightly bent down to her level so he could look into her eyes, hoping she would open up, maybe she didn't know it but she could trust him.
"It doesn't even matter anymore; it was a long time ago" She slurred and looked up, meeting his gaze. She tried to give him something that resembled a smile but to her great disappointment she knew she was failing. "I'm sorry love, but clearly it matters" He indicated, not giving up, causing her to slump her shoulders in defeat.
If Damon had done anything to hurt her, Klaus thought to himself and felt the blood pumping inside his veins, his wrath building up in a speed he'd never felt before.
"Okay, that does it" She growled and tried to shove him backwards the few steps needed to get him over the threshold, but he didn't budge. "Oh for heaven's sake, what's it gonna take for you to leave?" She added and stepped back, fury evident in her eyes.
He wasn't going to let that Damon-thing go, he would get her to open up eventually, even if it meant getting her off vervain and compelling it out of her. But for now there were other things he needed to concentrate on, things that, with a bit of luck would give her one more piece of her. Furthermore, concentrating on something else would probably do him good because the thought of Damon hurting Caroline made him want to kill somebody, or even better, kill Damon.
Klaus enjoyed that determined, sassy side of her, where she didn't just do whatever he wanted. He was used to girls giving into his questions and "demands" in a blink of an eye, girls nowadays were easy like that but not her. He couldn't just take her and claim her for his own, she needed working on and that was very exciting because he really did enjoy a challenge and the wait, especially when the award was her – hopefully.
"Truth be told, I just…" he hesitated, unsure on whether he should be honest or just provoke her some more. "I came here because I wanted to talk to you, I really enjoyed our time together at the grill today and I was hoping…." He continued but hesitated again. He looked at her, expression dead serious.
"You were hoping what?" She asked impatiently, eyes widened.
"I was hoping that maybe I could collect one the things you promised me" He softly spoke, showing her a more toned down side of himself because that was part of him also, even though he rarely ever showed it to anyone.
Well fuck, she had been trying to avoid just that the entire time, secretly wishing that he had forgotten but come on, who was she kidding? Of course he wouldn't forget something like that. Okay, brief pause – her mind and heart was racing and she had absolutely no idea how to get herself out of this one. Obviously it wasn't the date he wanted, it was way too late for that, furthermore Klaus didn't strike her as a man who would settle for an indoor-date, he would most likely want to take her out to a fancy restaurant where the dress-code was "no-outfit-under-a-thousand dollar worth-allowed".
Yes, she knew what he wanted but he wasn't getting it.
"I think it's a little late for a date, rein check tomorrow? Great, see you then" She tried and hurried past him and opened the door, hoping he would go along.
"Actually, I have already taken the liberty to plan our date and I hope you are free this Saturday" He declared with puppy eyes and confirmed Caroline's suspicion.
God, she was desperate. How was she going to get herself out of this mess? She had to think fast and come up with something she knew would get him on different thoughts.
"Damon abused me" She blurted out, not thinking about the consequences of telling him something like that. He didn't say a word, just gave her this strange look. She hadn't seen him like that before. She could see him swallowing hard before slightly nodding his head, like he was coming to terms with what she had said.
And just like that, he was gone.
Fuck
She didn't know why she did it because she knew he was long gone. But she ran out on the porch, scanning the street for him. Of course he was nowhere to be found. Well, at least he left she thought as she tried to rid herself of an inner voice telling her that she shouldn't have said anything. "Damn it" she cursed while biting her lip, feeling a nervous jitter coursing through her as she put on her jacket and boots.
He didn't bother knocking; he just kicked the door open and stood there waiting for a certain someone to show up. He had serious problems containing himself. His insides were burning, desperately needing an explosion to satisfy his fury.
"You are aware that it's common courtesy to knock and then wait for someone to open?" Damon carelessly said as he eyed the open door while sipping on his drink.
Klaus smirked and gazed down for a split second, his hands were placed on each side of the door-frame. "I'm gonna give you a 5 seconds head start mate and then I am coming after you. And you better pray to whatever god you belong to that I don't find you" He growled, giving much effort in keeping his anger at bay.
Damon acted like he was afraid and shocked by putting one of his hands over his gaping mouth. "Now why would I want to be doing that? When staying right here clearly will be much more entertaining" He challenged and raised his glass to Klaus, giving him this crooked grin before downing the rest of his drink.
"Suit yourself" Klaus said and moved one of his feet over the threshold.
"Before we do this…whatever this is. Tell me one thing, not that I care, I'm just curious. What's gotten you all gloomy?" Damon asked amused. "Oh and please don't tell me it's about the cure, we are all aiming for the same goal there, in case you forgot" he added indifferently and narrowed his eyes.
Damon didn't move an inch while speaking, neither did the hybrid.
"Aaah, about that. Change of plans, if you are still breathing when I find it" Klaus said and cocked his head to the side a little… "I will personally shove it down your throat and let you live miserably as a human long enough so you can watch as your precious Elena runs right back into your brothers arms and then…and then I'll simply end you, simple as that" He laughed at that last sentence.
The older Salvatore didn't quite follow what Klaus was talking about and in situations like these he always found that the best defense was to sprinkle his arrogance and smart-mouth all over the place.
"Wow, got it all figured out haven't you. But, it seems you might wanna get that memory of yours checked out. Elena and my brother are like soul mates or something, I tried to woo her but she didn't want me and I just gotta say, that's the first" He sarcastically said, trying to act like he didn't care. "Anyway" he added and let a silence fall before continuing "Like I said, get that memory of yours checked out, you're practically an antique. You know, dementia and all" he provoked, blinking an eye at the hybrid.
Once again Klaus laughed.
"Damon Damon Damon, always the flippant one. I take it you haven't heard the good news yet then?"
As much as he wanted to, Damon couldn't deny that his curiousness were getting the best of him. What was this? He took one step closer towards Klaus. "Spill it Hybrid, I don't have all night. I'm the guest of honor at…what's-her-face house tonight. Lots of drunk and easily swaying girls there I can imagine. You would have loved it" He rashly spoke.
Since Damon had moved closer, as did Klaus, he kept his hands folded behind his back, a notion that showcased his fearlessness. "Well, it seems like a certain brown-haired vampire has changed her mind, regarding which Salvatore brother she wants to share a bed with. Apparently she's Team Damon now, or so I've heard" He revealed and took great pleasure in watching Damon trying to hide his interest and excitement about the matter.
"Huh, strange. I was just upstairs in my room. And I think I would've noticed it if Elena was lying on my bed" He joked, trying to act like he took Klaus' statement literally.
"You could ask her yourself, but unfortunately you won't get that chance" He didn't hesitate any longer, Klaus entered the boarding house and stood still for a second before running Damon down, grabbing him by the neck in a chokehold. It happened so fast that Damon didn't have time to react. Klaus pushed the Salvatore brother against the wall and tightened his grip around his throat.
Damon tried fighting back but he didn't stand a chance against the original hybrid, his only hope was that Stefan would walk through the door any second now – hopefully. Damon hating someone being better than him, stronger than him and faster than him. It was a defeat that did some serious damage to his ego and to be perfectly honest, that was worse than actually being offed.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Caroline screamed as she threw herself into Klaus and managed to push him away from the raven-haired vampire.
She quickly glanced over at Damon to confirm that he was alive before turning to Klaus and shaking her head at him. "Perfect timing Blondie" Damon coughed, lying crumpled on the floor.
Klaus was also lying on the floor, with the back of his head leaning against the wall. "Yes I agree, perfect timing Sweetheart, you just made this a whole lot more fun" He announced with a huge smile across his face, thinking that getting Damon to admit what he had done to her in front of both of them and then apologizing would be most satisfying.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading.
