Thank you all who reviewed and alerted/favorited last chapter. I was not planning on updating till thursday but you all inspired me and so here you go chapter 7, I hope you enjoy. this chapter is a big turning point in the story. So I hope you all like it and remember I love reading your kind reviews so please keep them coming:) You all are amazing!


Caroline was thrilled to have her ring back where it belonged. She twirled it around her finger as she walked back to her room. She was annoyed to say the least that Klaus had come back and dared to speak to her. What did he think, she was just going to be happy to see him after the way he treated her at the auction not to mention him telling Kol to kill her. She felt anger run through her as she stopped. No, I'm not going to play his games, I'm not going to let him be all charming and sweet as if nothing happened" she said to herself.

There must be lots of great guys around here that would love to court her. She smiled to herself as she continued walking. The guys back home would take her to dinner and sometimes a movie and then bam, what do they expect, to at least round second base the first night. She grew frustrated thinking about it but the idea of a man courting her, truly wanting to get to know her and respecting her was enough to make her beam with excitement.

She sat in her room looking through all the beautiful gowns when she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in." She said as she began putting the dresses away.

"Sorry to disturb you my lady, dinner is being served." The girl said and quickly turned to leave the room.

Caroline climbed down from her bed and made her way into the dining room. It was a large room with a rustic wooden table in the center that could fit ten. She had thought Kol would have a much larger table until she remembered all the other rooms the castle offered and figured he probably has larger dining rooms as well.

"Good afternoon, Caroline." Kol said as he stood to greet her. She smiled and walked over to the chair that he was now holding out for her. He sat at the head of the table with her right to his side.

"Thank you" She said.

Just as Kol was about to speak Klaus entered the room, he walked past Caroline and sat across the table from his brother. She was relieved he had sat so far from her.

"Hello again, sweetheart" Klaus said with a grin.

Caroline gave him a fake smile and a glare before turning back to Kol. Klaus was not pleased with that but found her adorable when she acted so tough.

"So Caroline, I do hope you are hungry. I know I was not the most gracious host when you were locked in my dungeon so I fully intended to make up for that now." Kol told her as he looked at his brother and lifted his eyebrows. Klaus just tilted his head as though he came upon some new idea before he turned to Caroline.

"So, the dungeon? That must have been very scary for you. I know Kol has never had much luck with the women but now I can see why." He grinned.

"Well, I am over it and I forgive him. He didn't know it was me the guards had locked up." She replied as she gave a caring look at kol and reached out to rest her hand on his for just a moment. She could not help but notice how quickly Klaus' face changed. He looked as though he wanted to rip Kols' head off.

She could not help but fight a smile seeing him look so…jealous. She removed her hand as Kol began to speak.

"Thank you darling, I appreciate that more than you know." Kol told her.

"So you forgive Kol for locking you up and auctioning you off to a beast of a man, who had only unpure plans on what to do with you, yet you cannot forgive me for failing at rescuing you." Klaus said seriously, his eyes locked with Caroline's. But before she could answer he continued.

"Not to mention he tried to kill you when you were human. So tell me, how can you forgive him so easily?"

Kol quickly jumped in as he was not ready for them to speak of the past "Let's eat shall we."

Kol nodded to a servant standing by the doorway and the man walked out only to return a moment later with two young women. Caroline realized what was happening and her mouth dropped.

The first woman had long black hair and looked to be in her mid-twenties. She walked straight to Klaus and he quickly reached out and pulled her to his lap. Caroline let out a gasp that caused Klaus to turn and look at her. She had not noticed the other woman was standing between her and Kol and looked about the same age as the first girl. She was tall and had short red hair.

As she and Klaus continued to stare at each other, both lost in the other's eyes she was pulled quickly from her trance as Kol spoke.

"I thought we could share darling." Kol said as he eyed the girl in front of him and began licking his lips. She felt sick. What could she do? They were too powerful to stop and she knew even if she did these women would unlikely meet the same fate at a later time.

Kol grabbed the girl's wrist and placed it in front of Caroline before focusing his attention on his meal. He grabbed her other wrist and began drinking. Caroline tried to block out the intense aroma filling her senses but she had not had blood in a while and it was becoming too much to bear.

She turned back to look at Klaus expecting to find him feasting on his girl as well. She was shocked when she noticed he was still staring at her. He tipped his head to the side and furrowed his brow as if he was trying to read her mind.

"You must be hungry, darling. Is she not your type? Would you prefer the other?" Kol asked as he noticed her not partaking in the meal.

He was right, she was starving, besides a small glass of blood in the dungeon two days prior she had not fed since before she ran into Elijah at the bar. The blood was dripping from the girl's wrist where Kol had bit into her. Caroline felt her head start to spin as she tried to control herself. She had been hungry before but this was different. She felt sick as if she were dying. She wanted to scream out for help but all she could do was maintain her composure and restraint. She needed to feed and could not control herself from draining these poor girls completely. She would not be able to live with the guilt if she killed anyone again.

"I'm…I'm not hungry." She answered quickly as she ran from the room. She continued running until she was outside and far from the house.

She fell to the ground trying to catch her breath. She felt sick as she sat on the ground pulling her knees to her chest. It was all too clear, she was living with monsters. Yes, she was a monster herself but she did not feed on humans. She would not let herself become one of them. She had seen them in the future with no humanity and it scared her to think that could be her. There would be no blood banks to rob for at least a few more centuries. She would have to hunt for some poor little animal to feed on. The thought disgusted her but she would do whatever she needed to do to hold on to her humanity.

Her head was pounding and she felt as though the ground was spinning. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on anything other than the hunger. She felt her body beginning to rock and as she was losing the battle her rocking became more erratic. She pleaded with her mind to make it stop but her body was acting on its own. It wanted to run into the house and drain both of those women of their delicious contents. She could not sit still and was positive it would be only seconds before she was doing exactly what would kill her humanity.

As if she was dreaming she felt strong warm arms grip around her from behind. She heard a sweet whisper in her ear, calming her.

"sssshhhh. You're ok, love." He whispered as he was now sitting behind her tightly holding her in his arms.

She felt her body slow down and begin relaxing.

"sssshhh, trust me. It's going to be ok." He whispered again. His words were music to her ears as her body finally calmed and she let her head fall back into his chest. Her breathing was calming but the tears would not stop. She cursed herself for letting him see her so weak.

She had been so focused on controlling her urges she had not heard him follow her out.

They sat quietly for over an hour. He just held her as she cried for the first half as she was finally mourning all that she had lost. The safety of all she had was now gone. She had been on the run waiting to return to Mystic Falls and now here she was in a place she did not know. A place that had none of the things she depended on to live the life she chose.

After she was done crying she just sat there in his arms. He had loosened them from her but never removed them. He himself loving the feeling he got when he held her. He felt at peace with her and it took him back to the day she had comforted him. The only time in his long life anyone had ever truly comforted him and now he was able to repay her. It was something he had never felt before. He had never held anyone to comfort them not even Rebekah.

After almost an hour Klaus broke the silence.

"You do not feed from humans." Klaus stated more than asked.

"No." Was all she could say. Her body was drained and her mind felt dead. She was still starving and could barely move.

"May I ask why?" He asked as he seemed genuinely interested in her answer.

"I refuse to let go of who I am. Who I was when I was human." She answered, never lifting her head from his chest as she stared out into the field.

"You only eat animals, I presume?" He asked trying to hide his disgust.

"No, yuck." She let slip as she realized what else would she eat in this time. No blood bags you idiot she thought to herself.

"You were turned four hundred years ago. How have you made it this long without feeding from humans?" He asked his face twisted in confusion.

"Please, I don't want to talk about it now." She whispered as she let out a loud sigh.

They sat silently a few moments more till she finally tried to stand. She lost her balance and fell back just as his large hands caught her around the waist. He let out a small smile as he grabbed her up off the ground and carried her back inside. He took her straight to her room and laid her in her bed.

"I will be right back" He said as he quickly left the room.

Before she could give it much thought he had already returned. He was holding a large goblet and brought it quickly to her.

"Please, drink love." He said as he handed it to her, his eyes full of concern. "It is human but it was given by choice not by compulsion, I promise you."

She looked down at the glass and back at him. She knew she needed to drink but could not stand the thought of it coming from some poor compelled girl.

"Do you trust me, Caroline?" He asked as she looked up from the goblet.

She was so torn. She knew she wanted to trust him when he had held her just as she had held him so long ago but this was the villain.

"No" She said it before she could fully process what she was saying. It just slipped out and she instantly felt horrible as she saw the hurt in his face. He sat the goblet down next to her bed and turned to leave.

"I am sorry you feel that way. I hope that one day I can prove myself to you." He whispered so quietly she barely caught it just as he disappeared into the hall.

She wanted to cry again as she picked up the goblet and quickly chugged it down. As soon as the blood slid down her throat she felt her entire body become whole again. Everything felt just as it should. She would have to start hunting for animals and hopefully she could find some that tasted as close to human blood as possible. She thought about asking Kol to send his men to hunt for her but did not want to burden anyone with her lifestyle choice.

As she sat up on her bed she heard a knock on her door and watched it slowly open.

"May I come in?" Kol asked

"Of course, it is your house after all" She answered trying to put on a smile.

"Please, this is your home as well now. Which is what I am here to speak to you about. I would like to request the honor of presenting you to all of society by hosting a ball in two night's time." Kol said as he watched her facial expression change suddenly.

"A ball?" She asked a bit overwhelmed.

"Yes, I have been asking around and I have yet to find anyone that has heard of you. It is time you enter our world of the elite. Please allow me the honor of introducing you to the most powerful vampires around as well as a few humans that we like to think are worth letting live." He smiled as he waited for her answer.

"Yes, that sounds lovely." She replied.

"Great, I will send up the dressmaker in the morning to help with a gown. You will be the most beautiful girl there, I assure you." Kol turned and walked away feeling very proud of himself.

She decided a ball is exactly what she needed to move on from her old life. She looked forward to meeting other vampires and having a close friendship with originals was going to make it that much better, not to mention safer.

She walked over to her window and glanced out at the forest. She noticed a deer running by some trees and decided she might as well start her new diet tonight. She left her room and walked out into the night towards the forest.

She walked in just deep enough to where she could no longer see Kol's castle and hid by a tree waiting for her chance. She found the deer and waited for it to walk by and when it did she pounced. She jumped on top of it and tried to snap its neck but the deer kicked violently and she lost her grip. She held tight to its waist as it fought against her. She pulled it close and noticed the fear in its eyes. She instantly let go and let it run away. She couldn't do it. What kind of vampire was she.

She decided to go for something smaller a bunny perhaps. She walked around looking for a rabbit with no luck. "Oh come on. Give me a break, please." She moaned. "Please just throw me a bunny already. I've dealt with enough lately haven't I" she was talking to herself when she heard someone laughing.

She turned around and saw something flying at her. Her instincts were quick as she reached out and caught it. She looked in her hands and saw a giant white rabbit. She was shocked, she looked up to where the laughter had come from and saw Klaus walking towards her.

"You had some trouble with the deer, I noticed love" He snickered. She sighed loudly which caused him to pull on a straight face. She threw the rabbit back at him and turned to leave.

"Oh come now sweetheart, you have to eat. Please" He insisted.

She stopped and turned to glare at him.

"Why are you doing this? Guilt? Because I do not want anything from you!" She hissed.

"I have already apologized for the other night. Why can you not forgive me." He asked stepping closer to her.

"I don't forgive that easily." She answered as she took a few steps back.

"Really! I thought differently as you were so quick to forgive Kol!" He yelled as he was frustrated with her stubbornness. He had seen her so vulnerable in his arms just hours ago and now all her walls are back up.

"Kol did not want to kill me. I was nothing but kind to you." She yelled back at him.

"I must be confused. Kol bragged of how he drained you when you were human." He said as he had no clue what she was talking about.

"Because you told him to!" She screamed "How could you, I thought…I mean I hoped we were at least friends after Henrick…forget it! You are a monster and I have no interest in being friends with a man that could so easily kill someone who had only ever tried to help them!"

"What are you talking about?" He said as he calmed himself down and took a few more steps towards her. "I would never hurt you, I couldn't"

"Ya, so you order your brother to do it for you." She let out a sigh as a tear ran down her face. She quickly turned to leave.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face him. He took both his hand and cupped her face, wiping her stray tear away with his thumb.

"Caroline, I do not know what lies Kol has filled your head with but I swear to you, I never told him to hurt you. I never even spoke to him about you. Before the night in the caves you were nothing more than a pretty stranger staying in our village. But that night, oh that night you became something else. You saved me from myself. I felt something more for you, more than I ever felt for anyone in my entire existence." He noticed her eyes looking at the ground and pulled her chin back up still cupping her face. "Look at me, in the last four hundred years I have yet to find a single person who could even come close to making me feel the way you did that night. I did not even know you but when I woke that morning at sunrise and looked upon you sleeping so soundly against my back, I knew then that I would forever work to be the man you deserved."

"Klaus, I-" she started as she tried to shake her head free of his grasp.

"Please love, understand what I am saying. I need you to know I never told him to hurt you. I told you to leave as I wanted you safe and when he told us what he had done, I went to look for you. I wanted to give you a proper burial. I felt dead inside as you were the hope I saw for the future and he killed you. Your body was gone and I assumed the worst. I should have looked harder for. I have never once forgotten you and no matter how hard you try to push me away I will never give up on you."

She now was looking straight in his eyes as another tear fell. She wanted to kiss him more than anything but knew she couldn't. He was Klaus, she had to keep reminding herself of that. She could not give in to him.

She relaxed herself, letting her eyes drop from his and her face lean into his hands. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe he could be a good man.

"I believe you." She whispered as she looked into his eyes once more.

"Caroline, thank you. I am so sorry I did not try harder to find you. If I knew you had been out in this world all this time, I would have torn it apart to find you, love." He said as his eyes lit with sadness.

Things were beginning to get too tense between them, to intimate. She had to get out of here before she did something she was not ready for.

"I have to go." She said as she pulled herself free of him and began walking back. She was relieved that he was not following her.

She walked through the castle towards her room as she heard giggling. She stopped in front of a large door the noise was coming from and opened it slightly. Inside she saw Kol and two human girls. He was feeding from them as well as doing other things she wished she could be compelled to forget.

She was angry at him for lying to her but could not help feel sorry for him. He was alone in this giant castle. His family and he were barely on speaking terms. She could not help but want to save him from being the ass he is in the future. She was standing there lost in thought when Kol noticed her.

"Would you care to join us, darling? He asked smiling ear to ear.

"No, I would like to speak to you though. Now, actually." She replied as she walked into the room and ordered the girls out.

"I must apologize. It was not what it looked like." He told her as he sat up off the couch and adjusted his pants as he went to gather his shirt.

"It is none of my business what you do with the ladies" She replied.

"I do hope you are not jealous. I was honestly thinking of you the whole time. That is why they were both blonde" He snickered.

"Stop it. Why do you do that? Always have to be such an ass." She yelled.

"Oh my, someone has a sharp tongue. Well, why don't we finish this discussion tomorrow. We have a ball to prepare for after all." He said as he poured himself a drink.

"I know you lied to me about Klaus." She told him as his eye grew wider.

"Yes, I knew that would come back to bite me quickly. It was however necessary to keep you here. I do apologize though. I also was very serious when I told you I never meant to harm you that day. The bloodlust was just too much for me. I am truly sorry." He told her as he walked back to the couch and sat.

"I forgave you already and I forgive you for lying to me." She said as she herself sat in another chair. "Do you want to know why?"

"Please tell" He said as he lifted his drink at her.

"I remember you when you were human. You were kind and you were caring. You loved your family as they loved you. You should not be here alone. You deserve to be loved. You are better than all this." She told him as she leaned into the direction he was sitting.

He was stunned. No one had ever said such things to him. No one ever cared enough for him.

"Why do you care what happens to me? Huh, you expect me to believe you do? I am no fool." He hissed as he turned his face from her.

"No, you are not a fool. But if you continue in your ways you will be and you will lose everything you hold dear. Please-" She said as he interrupted her.

"What do you expect from me? Huh, I saw how you were disgusted with the idea of feeding from humans. You want to put me on some bloody animal diet?" He yelled at her as he stood.

"Of course not, that does not mean you have to kill. You are the man that you are and I am not trying to change you. I just want to show you that if you let someone in, really let them in, let them see the real Kol that I once knew you might be surprised at what that will do for you." She said as she walked over to where he stood.

"I forgive you, Kol" she said as she embraced him in a hug. She should feel awkward and scared but she didn't, she felt in her place. As if this was where she was always meant to be.

"You pity me?" He said as he pulled away "I want pity from no one!" He spat.

"No, I do not pity you. I feel sadness for you. You deserve more than all this. Please, just let me in. I just want to be a friend. That's all." She said with a smile as she walked out.

He stood in the middle of the room stunned but could not hide a small smile. She was unique and he was lucky he had her in his life again.

She walked back to her room feeling good about herself. Maybe Elijah had a good reason to send her back. She entered her room and sat on the bed thinking how good she felt. She felt needed and it had been too long since she felt that way. She curled up in her bed and for the first time in since she could remember she looked forward to the next day.

Thanks s so much for reading. Please tell me what you think and what you are hoping is to come next. I get giddy when I read your reviews. I have then next 4-5 chapters planned out and I am very excited for whats to come:)