A/N: I forgot to mention this last time, but I topped a hundred follows and omigaaaaaawwwrrddd that's never happened to me before! Ahhhhhhhh, thank you all so much! You guys absolutely rock. To those who have reviewed last chapter, a special thanks. I agree, Klaus is a prick. He'll learn, though. As baby Hope will not be in this story, he'll learn to be a father with Grace.

This chapter begins the blossom of Klaroline, with her eighteenth birthday occurring as mostly canon, but Grace's influence will start. Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy! Thanks so much :).

P.S. If any of you have been affected by Hurricane Harvey, I offer my deepest condolences and my heart goes out to all of you and your loved ones. Stay safe out there.

Chapter 7: Sweet Caroline

I stayed locked inside my bedroom as Stefan chopped Mindy's head off downstairs, wincing at the soft thud as her head connected with the ground. Stefan wanted Klaus to get rid of all his hybrids. Personally, so did I, but that didn't mean I was planning to go around and knock heads off. Any time I spent with her was her restraining me for Mikael, though, so I didn't mourn her much. I knew for a fact that she'd been one of Klaus' favorites, though. He'd be sad. Or angry, more like. He would lash out, so I planned to stay out of his ugly path.

The bruise and cut on my face had long since healed. There was blood on my pillow from where I'd pressed my cheek against it, sobbing, though. That was a good thing, I decided. I needed to remember what Klaus was capable of. I needed to remember that Klaus's word came with a grain of salt. I needed to remember that Klaus was a liar.

I almost turned into a giant green rage monster when I heard Klaus and Tyler's conversation - Klaus wanted Tyler to bite Caroline and kill her. Even though Tyler denied it, I'd seen the sire bond magic with my own eyes. He would do it anyway. He couldn't help himself, and Klaus knew that full well.

Hatred bloomed inside of me. I liked Caroline, and now he was going to have her killed just like he murdered Rebekah. And why? What was the point? To get back at Stefan. It all came down to Stefan. If Klaus really wanted to get back at him, all he had to do was end him, or let me bite him. Not involve people who had nothing to do with it, like Caroline. Caroline was good, and she didn't deserve to be hurt, or worse, killed.

A light knock rapped against my door, and I slanted an unimpressed glare over towards him as he pried it open. "Hello, sweetheart," he greeted, sounding unusually friendly. "I'm going out to a Mystic Falls founders' event. I know how much you love being included in the thick of action. Join me, won't you?"

Aw man, he was right, I loved being a part of the action. But I refused to go anywhere with him. I was a goddamn delight, and he didn't get to have me around whenever he felt like it. "No thanks, I'm fine here, with all the dying hybrids and construction workers," I said coolly, turning my back to him. He didn't leave for what felt like a long time. "Don't you have lives to mess up?" I eventually snapped, wanting him to go away.

A sharp sigh pierced the silence behind me, and I twisted around only to see empty air where Klaus once stood. He didn't bother to change my mind. At least he knew me that well. I felt a little bad for hurting his feelings the night before, but he hit me. He promised me he wouldn't do it again, and it only took him a few weeks to break his promise. Yeah, I pissed him off, but he kept me around knowing full well how much I pissed him off on a regular basis. So, screw him.

I wanted to hate him. Really, I did. I wanted to hate him so badly. But no matter how hard I tried to stir up every negative, warped emotion in my heart, I just couldn't do it. Still, he didn't have to know that quite yet. If he wanted my forgiveness then he had to damn well work for it, and inviting me to some dumb founders' event for some dumb town I didn't care about wasn't the way to do it.

I stayed in the bedroom for as long as I dared, coloring and drawing for hours upon hours until I couldn't stand it anymore, and the sun had lowered down the sky. It was evening time, not quite dusk. My hand was cramped and aching, and I hadn't touched the grilled cheese sandwich one of Klaus's hybrids brought me. My stomach rumbled and I hastily signed the pictures. They were for Bekah.

Klaus had been right. I did like my outings, but this time, it was going to be on my own. I didn't need him. No, sir. Not one bit. I was an independent eight-year-old woman who didn't need no man - or stupid hybrid with anger issues.

I yanked on a pair of jeans with fake plastic jewels all over the pockets, and a navy blue ruffled shirt that Bekah chose specially for me. She said it matched my eyes. Searching for my hairbrush, I ran it through my tangles and knots until the waist-length strands shone like molten gold.

And then, I opened up the window, and swung a leg over the edge. This was a very bad idea, considering Klaus's house was still being built, but what was I supposed to do, walk out the front door? Not with his hybrids all over the damn place. If I fell and broke a leg or two, I'd heal quick anyway. I crawled onto the roof, and started shimmying my way down, avoiding the weaker wood beams. Thank God I climbed so many trees when I was little. This wasn't that different, right? Wrong. "Oh, shit," I swore as my shoelace caught itself on a crooked nail, and I lost my grip on the roof edge I'd been clutching onto for dear life. "Uh oh."

Somehow, I managed to flip upside down and the shoe wrenched to the side. Apparently, I hadn't tied my shoes tight enough, because I slipped right out of it and torpedoed down the two stories it took for me to crash land onto the concrete driveway. "Fuck me," I groaned as my wrists shattered beneath me, breaking the fall. I learned that phrase from Daddy when he thought I wasn't listening. It felt appropriate, even though I wasn't sure what it meant.

I guess I didn't make too much noise, because as I waited impatiently for my hands to heal, no hybrids came running after me. Maybe I was lucky, and they were asleep, or drinking, or otherwise busy. The construction was wrapping up for the day - maybe that was enough to cover the sound of a little feral wolf girl falling from her window.

As the sky darkened, the little bones in my wrists popped back into place one at a time, and I'd be a screaming mess if I wasn't so used to the pain of breaking bones. When it happens once a month, you get used to it. In fact, I was a little proud of myself as I managed to walk it off once my wrists clicked back to normal.

I didn't think I was getting that shoe back, though. It dangled from the roof in all its red Converse glory. Hopefully, Klaus would never notice. That'd be a hard one to explain.

Klaus's driveway seemed to be miles long as I hobbled down to the main road, nighttime blanketing all around me. Dirt and plant matter and short twigs clung to my thin purple sock. For the first time since I came back, I was considering finding a bus and hightailing it out of Mystic Falls. For the time being, Bekah was dead and Klaus was being meaner than usual. Yet, I had nowhere to go. And worse, nobody to go to.

Maybe I could run into Damon, and bite him. That'd be a nice way to finish off my day. After all, he was still at the top of my hit list. But on the other hand, he wanted to kill Klaus because of all that bad shit Klaus did, so maybe it wasn't too fair to blame him. Then again, I didn't consider myself a very fair person, and well, I didn't like Damon. Not one bit. I needed to get my anger out somehow.

Stefan. I'd bite Stefan. I nodded, satisfied with my choice. That way, I didn't have to feel the slightest bit guilty. Although, he did save my life. But he also killed my daddy and stole Klaus's family. Hmmmm. Maybe killing anyone would be bad. Even if they were vampires and murderers and worst of all, annoying.

I broke into an abrupt run, charging down the rest of the driveway and into the dark woods, using my superior werewolf speed to make record time as I reached the first layer of trees. Already bored, I sank my nails into the nearest tree trunk, wriggling my way up the rough material. I sat on the lowest steady branch, and swung my legs back and forth.

Now I sort of wished I'd joined Klaus, for lack of something better to do. But I hadn't forgiven him yet, either. Bundled energy built inside of me like a tightening elastic band. I wanted to do something. I never thought I'd miss school, but here I was. On a whim, I made a flying leap for the next tree over, grasping onto a thick, sturdy branch only to use my momentum to hurtle myself toward another tree. Soon enough, I was swinging from branch to branch like a spider monkey, hooting and hollering as I went.

It was times like these where I loved being a werewolf. Human kids would've fallen and gotten themselves killed a half mile back, but I was still going strong, no worse for wear. Not even the ache of exhaustion filled my bones. I was charged, excited, and most importantly, alive.

A high-pitched, feminine screech echoed all over the woods and a frantic male voice followed it, stopping me in my tracks. Curious, I jumped all the way to the earthy forest floor, feeling shock waves tremor up and down my legs as I absorbed the impact. I squeezed my eyes shut and listened, locating the direction of the voices. Once I found them, I took off.

A blur of dark hair sped past me, too fast for me to make out his face. But when I saw a blonde girl slumped over on the ground, blood oozing out of her neck, I put two and two together.

Klaus. His sire bond. Tyler bit Caroline. Aw, hell.

"Caroline!" I shouted, skidding through the dirt and roots and dead leaves to her side, dirtying up my new jeans. I didn't bother to ask if she was okay. 'Cause she wasn't, and I'd be an idiot for even trying.

Her eyelashes fluttered as the blood slowly began to drain from her face. ". . . Grace, is that you?"

I tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Yeah, it's me, and you're gonna be okay."

Her bottom lip trembled. "No, I'm not." She sat up, grimacing. "Tyler bit me. Werewolf venom is deadly to vampires. I'm . . . I'm gonna die." She cradled her head in her hands. "Oh my God. Oh my God, I'm gonna die."

I reached out a hand, and after a beat of hesitation, she took it. Her palm was clammy and cold. "Caroline, I'm not a liar." Unlike some people in Mystic Falls, Klaus included. "I wouldn't do that. You're gonna be fine. There's a cure, remember? It's Klaus's blood."

A film of tears stretched over her round blue eyes. "He's not going to give me his blood! The only reason Tyler bit me in the first place was because of him."

I set my jaw, determined to help her. "He will. I promise you. He will."

A sheen of sweat began to gloss over her pretty face. "H-How do you know that?"

"'Cause he owes me. Gimme your cell phone." Caroline plucked it out of her pocket and handed it to me without any fuss. That was when a blond boy, one I vaguely remembered from the high school gym a month back, ran into sight.

"Caroline!" he yelled, dropping to her side. "Are you okay?"

Uh, no. Apparently he was stupid enough to ask. "No, Matt, I'm not okay, because Tyler bit me!" she snapped, then shakily pointed in my direction. "Grace . . . Grace is going to fix it. She's friends with Klaus."

Matt stared at me long and hard. "You're really gonna help her? Even though you're on Klaus's side?"

"No, I just wanted to play on her phone, check to see if there's any cool new apps while she dies," I spat, my voice dripping unnecessary bucketloads of sarcasm. Matt inched backwards. Thankful for all the times Klaus ingrained his number in my brain, I punched it into her key pad and hoped for the best.

"Who is this?" His light, accented voice on the other end made me want to punch him in the throat. This was all his stupid, selfish fault. Matt cradled Caroline in his arms, and beckoned for me to follow him as he carried her to where I assumed her house was.

"It's Grace, and you're an asshole," I growled into the receiver, unable to help myself. It was the goddamn truth! Caroline was one of the good ones, and I liked her.

"Grace, what are you doing, calling me -" There was a creak on the other end, the sound of a door opening. "Why the bloody hell are you not in your bedroom? Where are you?!"

Oh, right. I forgot he'd be mad about that. I trailed behind Matt and Caroline so they'd be less likely to overhear - Matt was a human, and Caroline was more than a little preoccupied. "Uh, that doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't! Come home right this instant, or I swear, I'll -"

"You'll do what?" I interrupted, icy as a glacier. "You'll hit me again?"

Silence followed my cold exclamation. "No, sweetheart, I'm not going to hit you again, but that doesn't mean I'm not exceptionally angry with you, and that doesn't mean I won't yell at you for the better portion of an hour and ground you for the rest of the year -"

This rant was gearing up to be a doozy, and I didn't have the time to suffer through it. "Tyler bit Caroline. She's dying. It's your fault. We're headed to her house. Be there, or be square." I ended the call, and mentally kicked myself all the way to China for the last bit. Ugh, I sounded so tough beforehand, calm and collected in the face of his rage, and then I had to go and say something like that and ruin it.

Grumbling to myself, I joined Matt and Caroline. "He'll join us there," I said as Matt quickened his pace. "Caroline's gonna be fine."


Klaus took his sweet-ass time. After explaining to Caroline's mother - the town sheriff - that help was on the way and I wanted to stay with Caroline, she reluctantly allowed me inside her bedroom. I snuggled up to the suffering vampire under her sheets, trying to keep her warm as she whimpered and cried out.

"Are you sure he's coming?" she asked for the thousandth time, her fingertips ghosting over her worsening wound. "What if you made him angry, and now he won't come?"

"If he doesn't, I'll hate him forever," I replied easily. "He'll come. He's not all bad, remember?"

Caroline sent a half-hearted glare my way. "He tried to have me killed."

"I didn't say he was all good, either." She breathed out a sad, broken laugh and I hugged her. She hugged me back, propping her chin onto my head, when I heard Klaus's voice from outside. My shoulders slumped down in relief.

After a minute or two of a quick back-and-forth with her mother and Matt, he appeared in her doorway. "Grace said you're going to help me," Caroline croaked after a brief, awkward moment of silence. "Are you? Or are you just here to kill me?"

Klaus seemed almost offended as he entered her bedroom. "Kill you? On your birthday? Do you really think that low of me?"

"Yes, no matter what she says."

Klaus shifted his intent gaze over to me. "Gracie's been defending me, has she?"

Caroline snorted weakly, and I lifted my shoulders into a sheepish shrug. "Hardly. But she's been saying this entire time that you're not all bad. I'd say ordering my boyfriend to kill me is pretty bad."

Klaus eyed me a moment longer before placing his full attention on Caroline. "Speaking of bad, your wound is the epitome of it. My apologies. Truly, I had no malicious intentions toward you. I'm afraid you're collateral damage. Caught in the crossfire." He touched her bracelet, playing with one of the charms. "I love birthdays."

"Yeah," Caroline scoffed. "Aren't you like . . . a billion, or something?"

"Nah, he's only a million," I chimed in, and Caroline's lips twitched into the ghost of a smile. "Don't give him more age marks," I quoted him from before when we had the same argument. Then, I turned back to Klaus. "You are going to save her, right? If you do, I won't be mad anymore. Don't let her die."

Klaus sat down on her bed, and placed a surprisingly gentle hand on my shoulder, squeezing. "It appears this little one has taken quite a liking to you, Caroline," he murmured. "So, yes, I will heal you if . . . that's what you so desire. But, despite the sweetheart's endearing perseverance, she is not the only reason I'm here to save you from death."

"Why are you here, Klaus?" she whispered.

"On face value, I'm here because Grace asked me to and I want to make amends." Searching his face, I realized he was telling the truth. I nodded slowly, accepting his unspoken apology. "But that's not entirely it. I'm going to let you on a little secret, Caroline. There is a whole world out there, waiting for you. Great cities, and art, and music - genuine beauty." My heart stopped in my chest as I imagined it. There was so much more out there that I hadn't seen, and I wanted to see it. "And you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays, despite the fact that Gracie here will severely overestimate your age on a regular basis." Caroline and I exhaled at the same time, amused by his attempts to lighten the mood, which was exactly what he was reaching for. "All you have to do is ask."

I knew the answer before she even opened her mouth. "I don't wanna die."

Klaus snaked a hand around Caroline's head and lifted it forward, ever so carefully. He offered her his other wrist. "There you go, sweetheart. Have at it."

There was something nice in the way, at that moment, we were both Klaus's sweethearts. She sunk her lengthened fangs into his wrist, guzzling away at the life source he was providing her. "Happy birthday, Caroline," we whispered at the same time as she drifted off to sleep.

Klaus took my hand, and led me from the house. Once outside, he offered me a piggyback ride, which was his way of extending another olive branch. I happily accepted, no longer angry with him. After all, he saved Caroline and a good chunk of it was for me. "You should get her something," I hummed after he walked for a few minutes in a comfortable silence. My chin was propped against his shoulder. "Blood is a weird birthday present. You should get her something better, 'cause you like her."

Klaus stiffened beneath me. "I do not like her. I was doing her a favor. And, need I remind you, the favor was mostly on your behalf."

"That's not how you looked at Stefan whenever you gave him your blood," I sang, pleased with the way my comments were digging under his skin. "I like Caroline. She's smart and pretty and nice and funny. You should date her."

I didn't need to see his face to feel his extreme, wholehearted eye roll. "I'm not dating Caroline. I'm not dating anyone. I don't date."

"Oh, 'cause you like being alone?" I asked knowingly.

"That's not what I said," he all but snarled. It took him a few moments to collect himself. He was trying be better, I noticed. It wouldn't happen right away, but he was trying. "I'm not alone, anyway. I have you."

"And your hybrids," I added sullenly.

"No, I had them removed from town," he sighed, and my interest peaked. "Stefan almost drove Elena over a bridge because he wants them gone and thus, they're gone. So, yes, I only have you left, it seems."

A satisfied smile nearly broke my face apart. "That's not so bad. I'm great company."

He laughed, the sound booming across the empty road before us. "You're all right. Although sneaking out of your room at night? That's an irritatingly teenage thing to do, and you're only a little tyke. Do not tell me this is a preview for the later years."

The meaning behind his words slowly but steadily dawned on me. "You're . . . you're gonna keep me, then? If you do, you better quit lying to me about stuff, like saying you'd never hit me again."

"Of course I'm keeping you," he answered right away. "You entertain me more than you irk me, what with your quick wit. You have nobody else, and neither do I. It's a match made in heaven, if there ever was one." He paused for a moment, considering. "And I won't lie to you anymore, Gracie, or hit you ever again. We're past that now - I promise you that."

I had nothing to say to that, but I didn't need to say anything. He chose me. Everybody in my life left me. Mama, by choice. Daddy, by death. But Klaus, no matter his faults - and there was a whole bunch of them, more than most people - wanted me. And damn it, I wanted to stay with him, too.

There was something missing, though. In a way, he was taking on the role of my new dad. But what about a mom? Bekah was dead, for however long, but . . .

I was thankful he couldn't see me as an evil grin spread across my lips. It was then I promised to myself that I would find myself a new mom, and Klaus a girlfriend, so neither of us would be lonely.

And that person was none other than Caroline Forbes.

A/N: It appears Grace is going to play matchmaker. That'll be interesting. What'd you think about this installment? I love feedback :D.

Oh oh oh, and the rest of the Mikaelsons appear next chapter, since this pans into Bringing Out the Dead. Get hyped, because I most certainly am! :D