AN: Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited or reviewed this story. All of these help to make me feel so motivated towards writing and putting out more and more chapters. My favourites are the people who have reviewed on multiple chapters/more than once - it mean's your truly reading the story and hopefully continuing to enjoy it!
Last chapter I had said my tumblr was humour with only slight Klaroline. I was going mad using that so me and my friend (prettybabydoll) have created a new, completely Klaroline (and some TVD/TO) blog. You can check us out at: kl-aroline.:)
Some of you might have noticed some changes to the settings of this fic. After some people had been having trouble locating this fic, I decided to move it from the 'Crossovers' section to the 'TVD' section, though in the summary it still states that this is with TVD and TO characters. Also, I changed my pen name from cljhepburn to isle-of-fervor. This is just a personal change and preference.
(Also sorry for the novel of an Authors Note but was I the only one extremely pissed off by the 100th episode? I mean, the scene was great but it felt like too much, too soon and it felt almost slightly cheap, especially if that is the last Klaroline scene like Julie Plec said. I've said more about it on my Klaroline blog, so I'll end that there)
As always, a huge thank you to my amazing beta Ashley (addictedtofanfic)
I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's been one of my favourites to write so far!
Chapter 6
Klaus felt agitated.
He had just helped Caroline into his bathroom so she could take a shower, which she demanded she 'absolutely needed, oh God, I'm sooo gross right now'. He felt conflicting leaving her by herself in her state and had asked if she needed any help undressing or washing. The glare she had managed to muster up through her tears assured him that she did not.
Klaus was worried about how much he had just shown Elijah. The fact that his brother was refusing to give him the dagger back meant that he could possibly be in cahoots with Rebekah, and it would be a mistake to show Elijah the depths of his feelings for Caroline, lest they try and use her as a weapon against him again. Obviously, his brother knew that he desired her, but it would have been better if Klaus had pretended to think of Caroline as only a conquest. In fact, Klaus' plan of action should be to show that he thought of Caroline as nothing but an object, his object, and that that was the only reason he had gotten angry when he found out Rebekah had taken her. But perhaps that plan was too late to try out now, after what Elijah had just been witness to. Him comforting Caroline like that… No. He had to try. He couldn't let Elijah think differently, or Caroline could be stuck in the middle of another one of his sister's dangerous, ludicrous plots.
Not that he would let anything happen to her while she was here, but he had no idea how long that would be.
Silently, he hoped that she would stay a very long time.
"Niklaus." Elijah's voice broke into his train of thought. Klaus turned sharply to his annoying, hovering brother.
"Yes, Elijah?" He asked curtly.
"May I meet Caroline? We've never officially been introduced." He repeated his question from a few minutes ago.
"Why?" Klaus studied Elijah, trying to pick up on any ulterior motives like the ones he feared.
"She seems like a very interesting young vampire. And I'm interested in seeing the reasons you are so fond of her-"
"I wouldn't look so much into my fondness for her, if I were you." Klaus interrupted, his voice dripping with untruthful sarcasm. Elijah raised an eyebrow.
"I was sent here by Rebekah to protect her life. She was worried about your state of mind towards her after you discovered Caroline. Obviously, you are fond of the girl to generate such a reaction from our own dauntless sister. Regardless of any of that, I have just seen it with my own eyes."
"Don't assume things you know nothing of, brother." Klaus said sharply. It was an obvious ploy to avoid the subject, and Klaus knew Elijah had picked up on it.
"Obviously, the girl is lovely, someone who would rank highly over all the women I have seen across the years," Elijah said. Klaus bit his tongue to stop himself from informing Elijah exactly the value of Caroline's beauty.
"However, not even supermodels could bring you to such acts of compassion as the one you just displayed, Klaus. Caroline's personality must be positively enthralling, for you to care so."
"Yes, she is. However, while Caroline is easily the most interesting person I've ever met, you will do well to not overestimate the compassion I feel for her." This time, Klaus was pleased at the conviction his lies had behind them.
Elijah opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted as the bathroom door swung open. Caroline shuffled out, her small frame enveloped in Klaus' microfibre black bathrobe. He rarely, if ever, wore it himself but was suddenly very glad that he owned it, if not only for seeing Caroline in it now. Her hair was damp and hanging in tendrils around her face, her feet making wet tracks in the carpet. Her skin was still paler than her usual cream colour, but also slightly pink from the hot water, contrasting with the dark ebony of the robe. She was magnificent, even more so than in Klaus' vivid memories.
She held her balled up clothes in one hand and smiled sheepishly at Klaus and Elijah.
"Sorry. I have to, um, wash my clothes. Do you guys have a washing machine?" Her eyes were red from crying but solid. Her voice was stronger too, barely shaking as she spoke. Klaus could tell that she was trying to cover up her emotions, put on a 'happy' façade. He had seen her live constantly behind it back in Mystic Falls.
He had also seen behind it too, though, and yearned to tell her she didn't need to pretend when she was with him. But perhaps, feigning emotions had become such a routine for her that she didn't even know she was doing it?
His rambling thoughts was interrupted by Elijah gently laughing.
"Indeed." Elijah answered, a trace of amusement on his face. "Even we have adapted our cleaning habits as technology has evolved." Caroline flushed pink. Klaus shot a glare at his brother, despite knowing it was good natured teasing.
"Right. Obviously. I mean, Klaus has a Samsung." Caroline's bark of laughter was a weak shadow of its former glory. "You're… Elijah, right?"
"Indeed. Dare I ask what you've heard of me?"
Caroline shrugged. "Mixed reviews."
Elijah looked mildly surprised. "And who in Mystic Falls gave me a positive review?"
"Well, actually, it was Katherine, but I had to stop her before she could go into any, um… positive details." Caroline scrunched her face up, her flushed cheeks allowing the brothers to connect the dots as to what Katherine had said so 'positively' about Elijah.
Despite wanting his brother to cease talking to Caroline, Klaus couldn't help smiling in amusement, especially at Caroline's endearingly embarrassed face. Elijah chuckled loudly.
"Ah, Katerina." He smiled reminiscently, but when he looked back at Caroline, his smile didn't fade. Caroline was, albeit rather feebly, smiling back at him. Klaus felt jealousy rising; Elijah had better back off of Caroline, now. As if she had heard his thoughts, Caroline's eyes flicked over to Klaus and then back to Elijah.
"Elijah," She asked politely. "I need to…I wonder if I could bother you for a glass of water? Please?" Elijah smiled endearingly.
"Of course, Caroline. Anything I can do to make you feel comfortable, after what my sister has put you through." He swanned off, Klaus' eyes watching him beadily as he left and shut the door behind him.
"My brother, ever the gentlemen." He mocked lightly. He turned to Caroline. "Are you feeling any better, love?"
"Well, not really." Caroline flashed a quick, bitter smile. "But it's not like this is a new feeling for me anymore. I'm actually kind of used to it all, which is beyond sad, isn't it?"
"This will be the last time you will ever feel like this, Caroline." Klaus promised her adamantly, his eyes flashing in anger at the thought of Caroline being tortured and hurt over and over. He would rip Rebekah and Marcel to shreds the next time he saw them, dagger or no bloody dagger.
"Klaus." Caroline twisted her clothes in a knot nervously. She bit her lip. She tilted her head to the sky, exhaling loudly. It seemed like hours before she could finally make herself spit out the words.
"So…Tyler's…" For a second, her face held its composure. "Dead."
Before Klaus' eyes, Caroline's calm mask and façade seemed to crumble in on itself, her face contorting to an image of grief. She sunk down onto the bed and bent her head, burying her face in her hand as she began to sob again.
Klaus found himself unsure of whether to go forward and comfort her, or stay back. He was the one who had killed Tyler, after all. Did Caroline hate him? Blame him?
"I should hate Tyler right now, he said such awful things to me but I just can't switch my feelings around like that in ten minutes. How can someone go from happy to…to… hate in a couple of hours?" Caroline's shoulders shook from crying.
"Caroline." Despite himself, her name came out sounding desperate and pleading.
She looked up at Klaus with tearful eyes. She blinked at him, realising why he was standing so far away from her, looking nervous for the first time ever.
"Klaus." She breathed. "I don't blame you for saving me, I truly don't."
"Caroline, I want to-"
"It just hurts. There's nothing anyone can do now." A large, heaving sob racked through her body. "He's gone."
Klaus still wasn't sure about Caroline's frame of mind towards him, but quickly realised that he wouldn't be able to just stand here and watch Caroline cry. He crossed the room to sit down beside her and wrapped a protective arm around her waist. Caroline didn't squirm out of his touch like he half-expected her to, instead she took up the same position she had earlier; head buried in his shoulder, shedding tears into his shirt. Klaus stroked the back of her head carefully, his arm tightening around her.
Despite his vehemence at the fact Caroline had been reduced to this state, he couldn't pretend that he wasn't enjoying this new role of comforter.
He was also morbidly curious as to what the mutt had said to her, but realised that now probably wouldn't be the right time.
They stayed in that same position for a long, long time, until Caroline's hair had air- dried in curls, and Klaus' shirt had stuck to his skin from her tears. It must have been hours later when Klaus gently tried to disentangle himself.
"Caroline." As much as he was liking his close contact with Caroline, he didn't want her to think back on this moment later and think that he was taking advantage of her fragile state. "I can get you to a room for the night."
"No!" Her words were instant, bordering hysteria. "No. I don't want to be alone right now. Please. Don't leave me."
"Are you sure, love?" Klaus asked. "With me?"
"You saved me." She whispered "I can't be alone right now." Carole curled her fingers around the material of Klaus' shirt like she thought he was going to shake her off.
"I don't want anything else to happen to me. I think I feel… safer here." She whispered.
"You don't have to be frightened of anything, Caro-"
"I'm frightened of everything right now, Klaus." Her voice was raw and shaking. Instinctively, Klaus tightened his arm around her. It was his fault she was like this. He owed her anything she wanted.
"Don't…leave me." A quiet plea, pulling at his heart strings. Klaus shook his head. He would never leave her. Could never leave her. She had him wrapped around her little finger, even if she didn't know it.
"I won't." Klaus promised lowly. "You'll never have to be alone again."
He wrapped his arm back around her; her head lolled on his chest, her eyes swollen and sleepy from crying.
"This is the last time, love, the last time you'll be hurt." He assured her, over and over, until she finally drifted off. He watched her sleep - her chest rising and dropping with each breath, her mouth twitching as she dreamed - until his eyes grew bleary and he feel asleep himself.
When Klaus woke the next morning, she was gone, with nothing but a lingering shadow of her scent proving she had been there at all.
