Hello lovely readers! Thank you so much for your kind reviews! I am completely overwhelmed but of course in a good way. And thank you to those of you who have marked my story as a favorite or set it as an alert. I'm truly flattered. Anyway, sorry it took me a little longer to update this time. School has kept me busy. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to TVD; I just love its characters.

"If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow."

(Caroline POV)

I said yes. And I'm torn between being mad at myself and being excited. I've been in this city for months with him. Watching him watch me. And I'm honestly not sure if I could live a life without him in it anymore. I can't ever tell him that. I can barely look into his eyes anymore. Why? Ugh. Why? He is my enemy. Right?

As I write this down I wish I had my friends. I wouldn't have this journal if they were here with me. I used to tell them everything and I miss them. There's not a day that doesn't go by without me thinking about them. I wonder how Elena is doing with her new vampire lifestyle and if her and Damon are together. I once thought she should have ended up with Stefan but I was wrong. These past months he's been different and yet the same; Klaus was right when he said they were brothers once. Stefan did love Elena though, but I think she didn't make him whole.

I've been trying to mend myself and I don't think I really can. But all a vampire has is Time and so I made it my friend. One day I'll go back to them and tell them how sorry I was for leaving them. I only hope Bonnie can forgive me because I've already forgiven her.

I've found a sister in Rebekah though and I can't believe all the things she's been robbed of. I used to be afraid of her but she's just a young girl hoping for love. It's funny how no matter how hard vampires push away their humanity it just comes sneaking up on them.

But I don't know how to feel about Klaus. He hasn't exactly changed. He still has his temper and his same thirst for blood but he's also shown me this whole other side to him. When he talks about art he's passionate. And he is always looking out for me. Granted I did have to beg him not to kill the guys that were hitting on me at that party we went to. I know he is just being protective. Because we're friends. Who am I kidding? We're not friends. He looks at me like I'm the only girl in the room with him. And it's overwhelming!

And when I catch him staring at me I can't help but think of Tyler and how he loved me. I loved him. I did, but Tyler's gone. What I had with him was nothing short of wonderful. But he's not here anymore and I have to let him go. I just have to. A vampire can live forever but grieving someone shouldn't last that long. Klaus told me that.

~theVampireDiaries~

"Good morning dear sister," Klaus sung as she walked into the library where he was sketching.

"You're in a good mood. I take it she said yes?" Rebekah asked as she took a seat across from him.

Klaus smiled as he remembered how Caroline stuttered a sure at him last night. "Rebekah is that really your business to know?"

"Of course it is, Nik! She is my best friend," she proudly announced as she folded her arms.

He just chuckled and let his little sister take pride in having such an amazing friend.

"Nik, I need to tell you something and you are not going to like it," she finally said.

His face turned serious: "Go on."

"That night I thought you died, well, I was so angry Nik. I…it was me. I was the one that caused Matt Donovan's truck to go into the water. I am the reason why Elena died,…" she trailed off.

Klaus's face was unreadable: "Rebekah…"

"Nik you must understand! I thought I lost you and I was just getting revenge. I…"

"Rebekah. Does Stefan know?"

"No," she whispered.

"Does Caroline know?"

"No."

They were silent for a while.

"Nik, I don't want to lose them," she broke the quiet as she pleaded.

He looked straight into his sister's eyes and he realized he didn't want to lose them either.

"Don't tell them," he said.

And she nodded in agreement.

~theVampireDiaries~

"So I hear you're going on a date?" Stefan said to Caroline while they meandered through a tree garden as they ate breakfast.

"Who told you?" She was surprised that he knew.

"Let me repeat myself," he chuckled, "so I hear you're going on a date."

"Ugh. Sometimes I really hate vampire hearing. Yes," she took a deep breath, "I am going on a date with Klaus." She looked over at Stefan's face waiting for a reaction.

"Why are you looking me like that? I'm not going to scold you Caroline."

"Why not? You're supposed to be all serious when it comes to Klaus," she pushed.

"So you want me to be serious?" he smiled as he flicked a tree branch letting all the snow on it plop onto the ground.

"Yes!" she said as she kicked some snow at him.

"Fine," he turned to her with a scowl on his face, "Caroline, what are you thinking? A date? With Klaus?"

"Exactly! What am I thinking, Stefan? I should have said No. But I didn't and now I have to do it!"

Meanwhile Stefan was fighting back his smile.

She continued, "And ya know, all of his sketches are of me! I'm not stupid. I know he draws me in his spare time. And yes, I know I let him draw me that one time in the library but that was me giving him permission. So he is technically breaking the rules because well…you were there…I told him no romantic drawings!" and then she clasped her hand on her mouth. "Ugh. Okay I didn't mean to say that. His drawings are in no way romantic," she swore as she turned to face her listening friend.

Stefan had a huge smirk on his face: "You obviously hate him, Caroline."

"Yes, I positively do," she stated as she fought to keep from smiling and laughing.

He just nodded with his smirk still on his face. He already accepted Klaus as his friend.

They started to walk again.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Okay, well how about you?"

"What do you mean how about me?"

"What's up with you and Rebekah? Where is she anyway? I know you two slow dance on all those rainy days," she said while nudging him with her elbow.

"She's at the penthouse with Klaus."

"And?..." Caroline waved her hand about urging him to continue.

"And we have a lot of history together," he finished.

"Oh come on. History together? More like Chemistry together," she nudged him again.

"Stop nudging me. I'm not talking about this with you, Caroline."

"Aw why not?" she pouted.

"Because," he cleverly thought, "you should be thinking about the date you have with Klaus tonight."

"Ugh! Don't remind me!" she said as she stomped off. But she was secretly thinking about what outfit she should wear.

~theVampireDiaries~

When they got back to the penthouse Klaus told Caroline to start getting ready for their date because where they were going would take a while to get there. Naturally she freaked out and blamed him for not giving her a sufficient amount of time to get ready. He just chuckled and told her that he would be waiting downstairs.

"Rebekah do you know where he is taking me?" Caroline asked while she was rummaging through her closet.

Rebekah was laying on Caroline's bed watching her friend lose her mind over clothes, "Nope."

"Yes you do!" Caroline glared at her.

"Alright. I do," the blonde Original teased.

"Seriously Bekah, I need to know. How else am I going to know what I should wear?"

"I'll let you know if you choose something unfitting. Go on, start trying on outfits," she encouraged.

"Fine. Anyway, are you going to wear that tonight?" she pointed at Rebekah's current outfit, "Because it's supposed to rain tonight. I guess that means you'll be dancing with Stefan again," she sang.

"Oh shut it, Caroline."

~theVampireDiaries~

Caroline descended down the marble stairs where Klaus was waiting for her. She was wearing a form fitting, black knee length dress. It was a halter top with a sweetheart neckline that had a low cut-out in the back. She wore black tights with mary-jane heels that had hint of dark red coloring. Her hair was styled in a up-do but she left a few tendrils to fall on the sides of her face.

Klaus couldn't catch his breath with every step she took toward him. He was wearing black dress pants with a dark navy blue button up. He wasn't wearing a tie but he wore a black blazer over the shirt.

"Caroline, love, you look ravishing," he gleamed at her.

She looked into his eyes quickly and then turned as he helped her put on her crimson peacoat. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself," she said shyly.

"Thank you," he smiled at her while put on his black coat, "Shall we?" he gestured by offering his arm.

She took his arm and they left the penthouse.

The ride down the elevator was silent.

The ride in the limo to the airport was silent.

The ride on the jet plane was almost silent.

"So?" Caroline said to him while he relaxed in his seat.

"So," he replied and turned his face to her.

"So where are we going?" she asked impatiently.

"It's a surprise, love." He stared at her.

"Fine, okay," she mumbled and turned toward the window but she could still feel his eyes on hers.

"Caroline."

"What?" she said without facing him.

"Are you nervous, sweetheart?"

"No!" she said while folding her arms.

He smiled to himself because he knew better: "Then look at me, love."

But she didn't. She was fighting to calm her nerves.

Klaus reached over and gently grabbed her arm to turn her to face him. He placed his thumb and forefinger on her chin and made her look at him, "Caroline, we're headed to Rome. I plan on taking you to dinner and then we can take a walk. Relax, love."

"I am relaxed." But he could feel how tense her body was.

"No you're not," Klaus gazed into her eyes searching for something. "Caroline, are you afraid of me?" And he was silently begging for her not to be.

She looked into his eyes and they were kind and they were also vulnerable. She sighed and her body relaxed, "No Klaus. I'm not afraid of you."

He let out a breath of relief and then she chuckled.

"Wow, we're doing great," she joked.

"Yes we are indeed."

They both relaxed the remainder of the plane ride making small talk.

~theVampireDiaries~

"Caroline was right. It's starting to rain," Rebekah mused.

Like clockwork Stefan put on some old music, took her hand, and they slowly swayed to the sounds.

"Stefan, why do you dance with me only when it rains?" she asked him searching his face intently.

He smiled down at her, "Because it's almost the only time you stay in the penthouse. It's the only time you slow down. And it's the only time I can find you alone."

She really didn't know what to think of his answer. "So what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying it is a good time to dance with you," he teased.

She groaned and leaned her head on his shoulder and they continued to sway as the rain urged the music to keep playing.

~theVampireDiaries~

The plane landed and they were greeted with yet another limo. Caroline just rolled her eyes at Klaus in which he then replied, "I know you like it, Caroline." And she couldn't deny that.

Rome was glorious. It was late evening so the sun was beginning to set. Caroline loved how the sun's lighting painted warm hues on the stones of the old structures. She wished she could stop the limo so that she could look around but she knew they had a destination.

When they arrived at the restaurant Klaus took her hand and guided her to the back. He reserved a private table for two. Caroline had to stifle a laugh because the whole setup was a cliché. The restaurant had live classical romantic music playing, white tablecloth dining, and flickering candlelight. As soon as they sat down a waiter came over and handed them their menus and set down two dark liquid filled glasses.

She stared at the liquid, nervous to think of what it was. He noticed her concern.

"It is from a bag, sweetheart."

She nodded, "Is yours?"

"Yes," he leaned forward on his elbows and raised an eyebrow at her, "What if it wasn't?"

"Excuse me?"

"What if my glass had not come from a bag?" he repeated.

"It wouldn't make a difference," she said honestly, "You're over a thousand years old. Who am I to change your habits."

"You know you already have, love." His eyes never left hers.

How? She thought. But she wasn't ready to hear how so she broke her eye contact with him and began reading the menu. He did the same.

After the waiter took their orders Klaus decided to turn their conversation to a lighter topic: "So have you been enjoying Paris?"

Her face lit up and he was overjoyed to see her smile. Her smile lit up his life. "Yes. Every bit of it. But you already knew that," she reached over and placed her hand over his, "Thank you. I haven't thanked you and I don't know why it's taken me this long to tell you that. Paris has been amazing. Really, Nik, thank you." And then she realized she had called him by his nickname and sort of panicked. She stuttered something inaudible and tore her eyes away from his. She began pulling her hand back but he caught it and held it in his.

"I've been wondering if you were ever going to call me by that name," he smiled at her and brought her hand to his lips and gently placed a kiss, "You are most welcome, Caroline. I'm glad you like Paris." She blushed.

~theVampireDiaries~

"Stefan I know what I'm doing!" Rebekah told him while she cursed whoever invented the Wii.

He let out a loud groan. She wanted him to teach her how to play Mario Brothers but she refused to let him actually hold the controller. "Rebekah. Just give me the controller. You don't know what you're doing. You're hopeless."

"I am not!"

He grabbed the controller and focused it to hover over the "start" icon. He set up the second controller and handed it to her.

"Okay, I'm Mario and you're Luigi. The goal of this game is to make it through the worlds by avoiding obstacles and small enemies so that we can rescue Princess Peach."

She crossed her arms. "Well why can't I be Princess Peach?"

"Because that's not how the game works, Rebekah," he crossed his arms too.

"Why not?" she cocked her head to the side.

"Because…just because alright. Let's just play."

They started the first game in the first world and Rebekah died by walking into a turtle.

"This is dull," she complained. She threw her controller on the couch. "I'm bored, let's do something else," she commanded as she skipped off into another room.

Stefan stared after her shaking his head. Despite her new grasp on humanity she hadn't changed much and he didn't mind at all. He followed her into the next room.

~theVampireDiaries~

Over dinner Klaus told Caroline about his many visits to Rome. She listened to him, memorized by how he described the city and its changes that came over time. When he spoke he would either gaze into her eyes or he would sort of look up in contemplation. After all, he had been around for many years. Sometimes he would move his hands as he spoke and sometimes his voice would become very low, almost grave. She was listening but she was watching him like he would watch her. She never really paid attention to his voice before and she decided that it was soothing and mostly husky. She enjoyed it very much.

A little while later Klaus stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"We're going to dance," he stated while taking her hand and leading her to the middle of the floor.

"You didn't even ask me. So much for you being a gentleman," she chuckled while he turned her.

"I never claimed I was one, sweetheart," he smirked down at her. He placed one of his hands on the small of her back and while his other held hers. His touch was electrifying and Caroline instantly regretted wearing a dress that had a cut-out. He pushed her close to him as they danced slowly to the music all the while he gingerly stroked her back. It was this small thing he was doing to her that was making her dizzy. She couldn't think. And he was silently watching her, knowing full well the effect he was having on her. She leaned forward and rested her head on his shoulder, letting him support her because her knees felt weak.

Klaus was elated. He had been dying to hold Caroline in his arms and he was even more pleased to know the effect he was having on her. He surprised her by dipping her slowly.

Caroline leaned back and only felt strong arms hold her as she dipped low. They locked eyes and when he pulled her back up he held her close so that their faces were barely an inch apart. Her gaze left his eyes and settled on his lips. She leaned closer but then stopped herself, "Nik?".

"Yes," he replied huskily.

She shook her head to get out of the daze. "I think I need some air." And with that she turned around and headed to the front of the restaurant to get her coat. He walked after her, also grabbing his coat. He took her hand again and Caroline felt a small jolt.

He led her outside and Caroline gently removed her hand from his and crossed her arms while they walked further into the city.

They strolled down ancient streets and walked around large fountains that were half frozen from the weather. The town was decorated in a Christmas fashion. Lights were strung above them over certain paths and Christmas trees were settled in certain corners of a plaza. Caroline was quiet and deep in thought.

"What are you thinking about, love?"

"My mom loved Christmas. It was her favorite holiday," she said sadly.

Klaus was cursing himself for bringing her there. The last thing he wanted to do was make her sad. He could handle her being nervous but not sad. "I'm sorry, love. I should not have brought you here."

"No, it's okay. I'm fine," but she didn't continue.

Klaus stopped her from walking and pulled her toward him. She kept her head down so he placed his thumb and forefinger on her chin and lifted her head to meet his eyes. "Talk to me. You can talk to me, Caroline."

"I know I can. I just don't want to right now," she said honestly.

She turned away from him and they continued to walk. Eventually he led her to the Coliseum. He broke open the gates that kept visitors out during closed hours and led her to the center of the arena.

It was nighttime and they only had the moonlight as their light source but Caroline could see how grand the structure once was. They navigated through the random columns that were scattered in the arena and eventually he took her hand in his again and led her to top.

Caroline stumbled because of her heels and she made a mental note to scold Rebekah for not guiding her with the right shoes to wear. Klaus on the other hand didn't mind her lack of balance because he gladly held her to steady her. They stopped underneath one of the many archways of the structure and Caroline gasped. She could see Rome and its amber lighting from the view.

"It's so beautiful. Thank you for showing me this," she said while still looking out.

Klaus reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. As he did this she turned to look at him and saw the soft yellow that was now mixed with his blue eyes.

"Nik?"

"Yes, love?"

"We're friends, right?" she said while staring back at him, half hoping for him to agree.

He contemplated her question for a moment. "No, Caroline. We aren't."

She scowled at him and stepped away, "Why not?"

"You bloody well know why not," he replied to her while walking towards her.

"No I don't know why. Stand back!" But he walked towards her until her back hit the wall behind her. She tried to walk to the side but he put his arms on the wall so she couldn't go anywhere but face him.

"Caroline, why are you insistent that we are friends?" His mouth was so close to hers she could feel his breath.

"Because that's what we are. Nothing more," she argued while trying to push him back. She might as well have been pushing against a wall though.

"Caroline, why are you fighting this? I know you feel the same way I feel about you."

"Ugh, you're so delusional!"

"And you're infuriating."

"You wanna know why I'm fighting this? It's because I hate you!"

"Really," he drawled, "You hate me. Yes, that would explain why you want to be friends, right?"

She shoved him but he didn't budge.

Klaus was frustrated. He told himself that he would wait a thousand years for her to come around but there was a time for patience and there was a time to prove a point. He chose the latter. He leaned in and kissed the side of her neck. She froze.

"Tell me you hate me, Caroline." He kissed a trail down the rest of her neck and then back up to her earlobe. "Tell me how much you hate me." He placed one of his hands on the side of her face and kissed a trail on her jaw line. "Tell me that we are just friends." He moved his hand to hold the back of her neck, opened her coat and kissed along her collarbone. "Tell me you don't want this." He kissed back up her neck and then whispered in her ear, "Tell me you don't feel anything for me." He leaned back just enough so that he could look into her eyes.

At this point Caroline could barely breath. His kisses left hot trails all over her skin and she wanted more of it. Her green eyes were glistening with unshed tears because of her anger. All her life she was in control. She was Miss Mystic Falls because of how well she had her life in order. And then he came along and she can't think to save her life. He had gotten under her skin but she was already buried underneath his. She was going to have to let herself go or these feelings were going to be the very death of her.

"Caroline, tell me," he pushed while holding her gaze. And then she caved in and brought her lips up to his in an urgent kiss. He immediately responded by wrapping his arms around her bringing her closer to his body. At first it was her kissing him but he quickly dominated her when her urged her to open her mouth. His tongue swooped in and explored his new territory and she slid her hands from his chest to the back of head to bring him closer to her. He deepened the kiss obliging to what she wanted and she moaned in his mouth. He broke their kiss only to catch their breaths and then he continued kissing her, dragging his lips down her neck all the way down to her chest. She clung onto him and then searched for his lips again. He pushed her against the wall and pressed his body against hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Their lips met again and when she caressed the side if his neck with her hand it was him that moaned instead. She tasted sweet like honey to him and he tasted just a sweet with a hint of blood. He couldn't get enough of her but he broke their kiss, both of them gasping for air. Their eyes were locked on each other and Caroline smiled.

"Alright fine," she breathed. "You win."

He gave her a wicked grin and went in for another kiss.

Wow another long chapter! I know I know, it was super cheesy. Like uber-cheesy. But come on, that's what we all live for right? Cheesy moments and clichés ruin us in a good way. And you all can't say you weren't blushing when Caroline was. Haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please send me a review if you have a few seconds. :]