A/N: I'm back! (Because I'm trash and that phone call in 7x14 made me literally squeal and get all sort of inspo). Hope you all like this chapter, and as well, I've been re-reading and have seen some things I want to fix up so I will be doing that, slowly. (Some is just general spelling/grammar and then there are also little bits I just want to relook at and edit. Nothing I fix will change to overall story or chapter, however). So keep an eye out for that! Because it's been a while, please let me know all your opinions and thoughts on this bit! I have the ultimate end to the story all planned but I'm still considering how the journey there is going to be, and your reviews have definitely swayed the direction and tone of this story throughout this fic.

Anyway, enough for me, hope you enjoy!


"Welcome to my humble abode," Klaus said, his tone light-hearted, attempting to twirl Caroline over the threshold. She stumbled clumsily over the small step but plastered a smile on her face, trying to play along. "Apologies again, love, that my closest property was such a drive. Still, I thought it more comfortable than a hotel."

Caroline looked around the sterile looking living room. It was larger than any other house she had seen, even the boarding house or Tyler's mansion. It was gleaming with money and superiority, with high-ceilings, marble-look walls and polished stone floors. The furniture was minimalistic but sleek, very tasteful, and there were various statues and statuettes rivalling a museum's collection. Despite herself, Caroline snorted in amusement. Klaus' eyes shot to hers, confused.

Where was the giant sprawling fireplaces? The bizarre but beautiful collection of paintings? And, most of all, a certain lack of what Caroline knew was Klaus' favourite colour, blood red, something usually plastered across every wall, floor and any other visible surface.

"You don't have to lie to me, Klaus." Caroline admonished, rolling her eyes. "Who did you compel for the house? Don't try tell me this is yours."

"Caroline, it is-" Klaus started, frowning, but he was interrupted by a chuckling. Elijah, looking every bit the picture perfect elite vampire in a suit and tie, as he walked in from the hallway behind Klaus.

"Both an intelligent and impressive deduction. Klaus, seems you have been once again outsmarted by the young vampire." He extended his hand to Caroline. "Miss Forbes, I don't believe we've ever truly had the pleasure of properly acquainting ourselves." Caroline shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. Um, nice place."

"You dislike it greatly." Elijah noted, staring at her, his tone not accusing but factual. Caroline shrugged, looking embarrassed. She glanced sidelong at Klaus for help, but he was grinning, obviously finding the whole thing highly amusing.

"It's a bit clinical for me, but then again I grew up with polka-dot curtains in my bedroom." She offered up a strained smile, the largest one she could try and muster. Elijah smiled back in response.

"I agree, Caroline. This is a property I use purely for work purposes, so I quite like the order and peace. For the houses I stay in for extended periods of time I often call on my sister's advice to making it more comfortable."

Unable to stop herself, Caroline rolled her eyes at the unintentionally pompous speech. "Oh, yes, I decorate my multiple houses by how long I'll be staying in them as well." She said sarcastically then, realising she had just insulted an Original whom she did not yet know of their temper, clapped a hand over her mouth. Elijah seemed fortunately amused, however, as did Klaus who openly laughed.

"I see why Rebekah used to have so many quarrels with you. I had to deal with the backlash of those, I hope you know."

"No apologies for defending my cheer squad from amateurs." Caroline bit back, but she was beginning to laugh as well. She suddenly caught herself. What was she doing, laughing and joking around? Playing around with the murderer and his brother that had killed her friends? Her mouth set into a thin line. Klaus, immediately noticing her shift in demeanour, turned to her and frowned.

"Would you like me to show you to your room?" He asked, laying a hand on her arm. Without thinking, Caroline jerked away. She noticed Eljah's eyes widen at the rejection, felt Klaus stiffen beside her. It probably wasn't the smartest idea in the world to do things that embarrassed the Original in front of his family. Just because he allowed himself to drop the Alpha Male one-man show around her didn't mean he did for anyone else.

"I'm fine." She muttered. "Hungry."

"I have servants living next door." Elijah offered. "I'll get them to send someone over."

Caroline shook her head. "I don't drink from humans."

Elijah's eyebrows shot up. "An animal diet?" He said incredulously. "Really?"

"Well, blood bags, usually."

"I can drip one of the girls into a glass for you." Elijah offered diplomatically. "It's no trouble."

"No, I'm alright." Caroline crinkled her brow. So this was the oldest Original's twisted idea of chivalry. It was nice, she guessed, but not exactly fitting in with her idea of Richard Gere in Pretty Women. "I might just go to my room. Klaus?" Klaus nodded and slipped his arm into hers again, only this time his grip was tight and Caroline knew it wasn't a good idea to try and brush him off again,. He was saving face in front of his brother, she realised. Wearily, she forced up another small smile for Elijah.

"Thank you for letting me stay here." She said.

"My pleasure, Caroline. You and Niklaus are welcome to stay as long as you desire. I have a couple of tasks to wrap up here, and then I will be moving on." His gaze turned pitying for a second and Caroline realised that either Rebekah or Klaus himself had filled him in on her sad excuse for a life. Her face burned. She didn't want Elijah, who had never even met her before, to feel pity for her. "Please make yourself as comfortable as you can here." Caroline's smile faltered, and she let herself be led up the stairs by Klaus. He took her to the end of the hall, where the largest room Caroline had ever seen was. It was starkly decorated along the lines of the rest of the room, nothing but a large white covered bed and a tidy metal desk in the corner. It was grey, sleek and cold feeling. Caroline felt a shiver crawl up her spine as she took in the empty cavern of a room.

"You don't like it." Klaus said, sounding disappointed.

"It's fine." Caroline replied automatically. Klaus frowned.

"Don't condescend me by lying to me, Caroline. I can tell when you are." Klaus went to one of the two doors on the wall opposite to Caroline's bed.

"This is a shared ensuite bathroom, and a shared double wardrobe."

"Shared with who?" Caroline asked, already knowing the answer. Klaus opened the wardrobe door and beckoned Caroline to follow him. The wardrobe was enormous, easily the size of Caroline's old bedroom in the apartment she had shared with Eric. It wasn't even a quarter filled, the only clothing a couple pair of shirts, trousers and a leather jacket. The door on the other side was open and they walked through it, right into Klaus' bedroom, it was exactly as Caroline thought it would be. Deep red and richly furnished, a huge black fur throw strewn over the silk-sheeted massive bed and a swirling landscape of black crashing waves on the wall. Caroline felt a strange mixture of uneasiness and comfort fill her as she took in the familiar surroundings. It was Klaus, through and through, and the familiar sense this gave her unsettled her. She wanted to hide under the bed and fling herself onto the mountain of pillows, equally. She was aware of Klaus staring at her beside her, studying her reactions.

"Do you want to swap?" He asked.

"No." Caroline said. "This is your room." She walked over to the painting. It was a seaside during a storm, the black and greys slashed over in a violent frenzy. It was Klaus' of course, she could recognise that easily. It held the familiarity of his others and the same taste of dark emotions. Despite herself, Caroline had visited a few art galleries and noticed some of his work there. It only ever took her a couple of minutes to pick out and recognise, and she usually just left straight after sighting it, not bothering to go up and have a closer look.

Klaus followed her, stopping so close behind her that she could feel his warm breath on her skin. Unintentionally, she shivered, feeling every hair on the back of her neck stand up. This was moving quickly into dangerous territory. She remembered, horribly, what she had admitted to him during her short term without humanity, how much she lusted over him and wanted him and what the touch and even the thought of him did to her. She shivered again, this time at the consequences those confessions were surely going to bring her. One of Klaus' hands moved to gently rest against her hip, the casual contact feeling as if it scorched a hole through Caroline's skirt, and skin, and bone. Her eyes fluttered shut. Maybe she should be pushing him away, but she didn't think she had it in her. With Klaus, he made it so that she could barely think of anything else. And she didn't want to. Everything in her life was a mess, was something rivalling a Greek tragedy, and yeah, in Tokyo, it had felt nice to be able to block out the constant thundering of grief and sadness for a couple of hours. To concentrate instead on triyng to work out the weird influx of emotions Klaus seemed to cause by looking at her, or speaking to her in that accent, or touching her as if she was made of feather and molten metal all at the same. She could hear his blood pumping through his veins, smell his delicious, intoxicating blood, could almost taste the – Caroline arched her body away from Klaus, trying to distance herself from him and her rising appetite.

"You're hungry." He said. Caroline murmured in vague agreement, struggling to concentrate on something other than how amazing he was smelling.

"I'll be ok until tomorrow." She said lamely.

"You can feed now." Klaus suggested, his nose brushing a line of fire across her collarbone. Caroline shivered again, both from the touch and from the meaning behind his words.

"No, I can't." She said again.

"You don't need to suppress yourself. I could always just, make you." Klaus gently scraped his human teeth against her neck, the unspoken threat clear. Caroline turned so that she was facing him, their faces inches apart. His breath washed over her, the smell of mint and old leather.

"Stop. I can't be doing this with you after….every that just happened." She murmured. An image flashed in her mind, Liz Liz Liz, and Caroline swallowed down a scream as she struggled to make her mind blank again, lock the memory away. She wasn't going to allow herself to break down again. That wasn't who she was. In 24 hours she had confessed feelings to Klaus, tried to jump his bones and now she was on the verge of having her second sobbing breakdown. When Caroline was a human, self-conscious and used to feeling second best, her immaculate control was what made her able to rise and stay at the top of the high school food chain. Even though she was labelled a 'control freak' she still had respect for being the cheer captain, the committee leader, the 'smart' blonde. Practically perfect, in every way, and if anything ever faltered Caroline was right there ready to fix it up and take control. When she was turned into a vampire it was this same control that allowed her to keep her life, when Damon had wanted to kill her because he thought she would be loose and dangerous with feeding. It was the control she needed to return to high school so quickly, to blend in with the students every day and not rip their heads off and feed from them. To live with her mum and feel nothing but daughterly devotion despite the bubbling hunger that lived within her every minute. It was the control she had allowed used to survive over the last thirty years, living 'free and wild' but with a contestant mental check on herself, able to reel herself in and move around every time she felt herself start to develop a genuine connection with someone. It was this same control that Klaus had somehow managed to tumble down within a week of being with him again.

"Whatever happened, Caroline,that is no reason to torture yourself to the extent of starvation." Klaus brushed a hand down Caroline's jaw, cupping it gently. "Give yourself 12 hours, love. Feed, rest, allow your mind to be distracted, and deal with everything in the morning." It sounded like the most glorious vacation she could ever take. It sounded amazing. She couldn't though, could she? It would be disrespectful to allow herself to push it out of her mind, even for such a short period of time. Then again, what good was punishing herself doing? It wasn't like that was helping anything. Klaus wouldn't give up. One day. Half a day, really. 12 hours to put everything else but right now in the back of her mind. Wasn't that what she was chasing all these years anyway? The drunken black outs and random lovers and endless nights, all trying to get herself in stupor that meant she no longer had to remember. Nothing had worked. Not until now.

Silently, Caroline shook her head. Klaus dropped his hand, inhaling sharply through gritted teeth.

"No deal. I won't ever forget their eye colours." She had heard that that was the first thing to fade from memory, the exact shade and twinkle in someone's eye. Even now, so many years on, Caroline could close her eyes and feel like she was looking straight into Bonnie's, or Stefan's eyes.

"I won't distract, but," Caroline paused, toying with her next words. She wasn't sure she wanted to say them, but also, she didn't really see the point in not either, seeing as she had said them already and so much more in her humanity-less stint. "I won't deprave myself."

Her neck arched upwards, feeling her fangs drop as she reached hesitantly for Klaus. She heard his sharp intake of breath at her vampire face, the veins tracking along her cheek.

"Beautiful." She heard him murmur, as she pulled herself closer and sank her fangs deep into a vein on his neck. It was hot and intoxicating and immediate, the delicious liquid filling her with a type of fulfilment and happiness she couldn't get form somewhere. This was the heroin that people tasted, only for her the high seemed to only get better and better each time she experienced it. Nothing compared to the taste of it, to the feeling that it gave her. Klaus had one hand twisted in her hair, his lips gently brushing the top of her forehead as her murmured sweet nothings. Caroline knew, from what Stefan had told her, how intimate the act of blood-sharing between vampires was meant to be. And she had already done it so many times with Klaus. She needed to get blood bags. Oh, but she didn't want to let go.

Reluctantly, Caroline withdrew her fangs and pushed Klaus away from herself. He growled, his eyes flashing, clearly not pleased.

Caroline crossed her arms. "I was hungry, Klaus. I wasn't doing anything but satiating my needs."

"You're not doing that at all. You're declining yourself of your every deepest, most potent needs." Klaus disagreed. "It wasn't as if I didn't know before, Caroline, I can hear the patterns of your heartbeat. Feel the flush of warmth every time I make contact with you." Carefully, Klaus moved his hand up to stroke a strand of hair out of Caroline's face, ignoring Caroline's half-hearted bat at it. "

But it's even more pointless now you've said it to me face-to-face, love." Klaus continued. "You want me just as I want you."

Caroline flushed red. "I wasn't myself."

Klaus' body tightened as he sucked in an exasperated breath. "No, you weren't. You were cold and a weird little shell of yourself, but you spoke nothing but the truth. I'm thousands of years old, Caroline, and I'm growing tired of these teenage games." Abruptly, Klaus stalked past her and out the room, slamming the door shut. Caroline exhaled. That total bitch that was her without humanity had really dug herself into a hole. She couldn't keep Klaus at arms distance anymore, that much was obvious. He knew the truth about some her more, er, indecent, thoughts and was an Alpha wolf with a bone that wasn't going to let go. But Caroline would never be ready to go there with him, not the way she was ready when she flipped the switch. There was…too much damage. She was damaged, and he had done that to her. Sighing, Caroline made her way to the bed and flopped down. She would move back to her own bedroom in a minute, she promised herself, but she couldn't quite face that empty void of a room just yet. Here smelt like Klaus, leather and danger and the undertone of his magic, deadly hybrid blood. Her eyes fluttered shut.


Urgent, low whispers from the other side of the door woke her up. Caroline's eyes blinked open, and she realised she was still in Klaus' bed, wrapped like a caterpillar in a cocoon in the fur throw. She was about to jump up and try sneak in her own bed before she heard Klaus low growl, tinged with something that she could recognise as panic.

"Do not tell me what I will do, Elijah, or they may be your last words."

"She deserves to know, Klaus." Caroline froze. She didn't dare move a muscle, or even breathe, in case one of them heard her and stopped. What were they talking about? She didn't doubt for a second that she was the 'her' Elijah was referring to her. She knew Klaus was someone who always had secrets, but what was he keeping from her?

"It's nothing but a myth, brother. And besides…the consequences far out way the benefits of even bothering to delve into it."

"For you."

"Any enemy of mine would target her, are you thick?" A thump sounded against the wall and Caroline imagined Klaus throwing Elijah against it, his arm against his neck.

"There could now be two weapons to potentially use against you, brother, don't you think that you need to-"

"One is fake and irrelevant. "

A sigh. "I'm not quite sure how to appeal to you, Niklaus. I would have thought perhaps the chance of gaining a second chance with the women you love would move you, but your selfishness still reigns higher than anything else."

This time the thumping sound was thunderous, followed by the swift crack of what sounded like bone. Caroline winced.

"I think you've overstayed your welcome, Elijah." Klaus' voice, deadly calm now. Caroline knew that this was when Klaus was most dangerous, smiling and silky, grinning at you like a Cheshire while he murdered everyone you loved and stuck a dagger in your back. The tone of his voice frightened her in the way that his loud bursts of outrage and violence never did. She never knew what was coming next when he was like this, smiling and lethal. Elijah must have known that as well, because the next thing Caroline heard was the faint click of the front door shutting. Elijah was gone. It was just her and Klaus. She took in a slow breath.

What was the myth? And why would knowing it be so dangerous, yet also give Klaus a 'second chance with her'. She needed more information before she tried to do anything about it and realising this, she jumped off the bed quickly, flashing towards the wardrobe door that would take her back to her room and colliding with something warm and hard that made her stumble and fall backwards on her heels. It was Klaus, of course, standing under the door frame with and a strained smirk on his face. Caroline wasn't fooled, could easily see the anger bubbling underneath the contrived amusement. She stayed where she had fallen on the ground, afraid to make any sudden movements, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Hi." She said, forcing a casualness into her voice that she knew was about as convinced as Klaus' artificial smile. "I guess I fell asleep."

"I thought I asked you not to lie to me." Klaus' voice was measured, his every word clipped and careful. Caroline felt her nerves grow. Whatever the secret was between him and Elijah was, it was big, and he was obviously furious that she had been listening in on it. Perhaps it was best to tread carefully. Then again, Caroline was never one for being able to control her big mouth.

"Are you serious?" She snapped, ignoring the immediate flare up of yellow in Klaus' pupils. "You are obviously lying about something way huger than just listening into a conversation. And, by the way, you've also sneaked into my house when I've been sleeping before so it's definitely not the biggest case of creeping between us."

"If I were you Caroline," Klaus said, his voice making it clear that this was not a suggestion. "I would go back to my room and forget I heard a thing."

Caroline glared at him, not moving from her childish position on the ground. Klaus glowered back, his body stiff with the evident strain of trying to keep his temper together. He hadn't returned to the earlier silky, charming dangerous stage yet though, so Caroline was nowhere near backing down.

"What did Elijah mean?" She persisted. "That there was another weapon to use against you? Is it another White Oak tree? Another magical stake?"

"Drop it, Caroline."

"And what did he mean about the second chance…with me?"

With a whoosh, Klaus was standing directly in front of her, his wired frame looming over her and Caroline suddenly realised how vulnerable her position made her. She tried to quickly stand up, but Klaus pushed her backwards, moving her so that she was seated on the edge of his bed. His mouth was twisted in a cruel smile, his hands heavy and unmoving on her shoulders.

"Is that the part that caught your attention, sweetheart?" He asked, his voice mocking. "Do you cling to a new hope that there was something I could do to redeem myself in your eyes, so that you could finally give into the heat you feel around me and fuck me without having to be ashamed after?" Caroline's hand came up and slapped Klaus, hard, across the face before she could think better. A pink mark glowed on his cheek and his finger tightened on her shoulders, making bruises. How could the same person that had worked so hard to get her her humanity back, acted so tenderly and thoughtfully when she had broken down and needed someone be the same man standing in front of her now?

"I could just make you give in." Klaus hissed, his pupils diluting in the unmistaken sign of compulsion. "I wouldn't even be forcing you to do anything you didn't want. I could just take away your inhibitions, and you would do the rest all yourself." He moved one hand so that he was gripping her chin roughly, tilting it so that their eyes would meet. Caroline squirmed against his hold, her eyes blinking shut.

"Stop it, Klaus!" She gasped, struggling against him. "This isn't you!"

"This. Is. Me." Klaus flashed Caroline up and against the wall, his hand coming to curl lightly around her neck, applying just enough pressure to not hurt but to make the threat clear.

"You can convince yourself of what you like, but the rest of the world is wise enough to know the truth, Caroline. I am dangerous. I am powerful. I am not someone to antagonize like you seem to enjoy so much. I am-"

'You're afraid." Caroline spat, way too angry now to back down. "You're afraid of whatever it is you and Elijah were talking about, and you're trying to distract me from that by playing the psycho killer. But I know you, Klaus, even if it is my just convincing myself of what I like. And I know that this whole parade is just trying to make me forget what I heard." Klaus's fingers tightened, Caroline's own flew up to cradle each side of his face.

"Tell me. And I'll tell you the next clue." She promised, her stare hard.

The anger seemed to evaporate out of Klaus face, slowly, replaced by a look of tortured indecision as he considered the compromise. Caroline knew she was the only source of him getting the next clue, what with Pearl dead, yet he still seemed as if he wanted to say no. He wanted the weapon, he wanted to kill the only thing that could make him vulnerable. Whatever the secret was, it must have been colossal to make him even hesitate in this offer.

"Tell me." She repeated firmly.

"I can't." Klaus growled. "Because if I tell you, we'll have to do something about it."

'What does that mean-"

"And I can't allow it to happen. If I tell you, I'll then have to destroy your dreams, love, and I hate to be the one to do it…again." His voice was wracked with emotion. If Caroline didn't know any better, she would think Klaus could possible be on the verge of breaking down. As if he had heard her thoughts, she felt him tense and his expression wiped to one of cool non-chalance. She pursed her lips.

"Why will you have to do that?" She asked.

"Because the other option is too dangerous to consider. Dangerous for both of us." Klaus swallowed. "You're going to hate me. Even more than you already do, and more than you could think you did. So I need you to let me give you something before I tell you."

"What?" Caroline whispered, a feeling of dread growing with every word Klaus said. Dangerous for both of them? What did that mean? Part of her didn't even want to know anymore, but the other, stronger, more dominant part was insistent.

"Say ok." Klaus instructed.

Caroline swallowed. "Ok." She said. "What was it that you needed to give-" As an answer, Klaus lips were pressed against hers. Caroline gasped in surprise and her mouth parted open, Klaus filling the space immediately with his tongue. His hands moved so that one was on her lower back, pushing her body taut to his, while the other twisted into her blonde curls, tilting her face up to his. And just like that, every problem and promise and every comprehensible thought flew straight out of Caroline's mind and all she wanted was Klaus. She kissed him back without thinking, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer as well, unwilling for there to be any space between them. It was the best kiss she had ever had, skilled and gentle but insistent, controlled but hinting at the sort of uncontrollable it could be. Klaus moved his lips against hers as if it was a choreographed routine, answering every small movement of Caroline's with his own, sucking on her lower lip and brushing his tongue across it in a way that made her eyes spin. He growled slightly against her mouth, his mouth growing more insistent and unyielding against hers, his grip tighter. Caroline felt a moan slip from her lips as she clung to him, wanting him to keep kissing her forever and always, to never remove his mouth from hers, to touch her in this way so that her skin seared with heat and electricity. His mouth moved lower, to trail a line of kissed down her jaw and neck, his breath hot.

"Klaus," Caroline whispered, the word coming out reverently, like a prayer.

And then she realised, all at once, what was happening, and what she was allowing to happen. Using every bit of self-control and restraint Caroline could find, she pushed him away from her, her breathing shallow. She felt her entire body prickle in protest at the sudden coldness and space between them, and saw from the look in Klaus' eyes that he felt the same. She stared at him, unable to form a single word. She was afraid it would be "Klaus", and wasn't risking it. She couldn't push him away a second time, not at this moment. If hee kissed her again, she was afraid what she would let happen. For a second Klaus looked like he knew that, and was going to kiss her again and make her give in, but then he stopped himself.

"Thank you, sweetheart," He murmured, his fingers brushing lightly over his own mouth as if traces of her were lingering there. "Now, for the big reveal," His voice turned suddenly sardonic, his smirk after tight.

"Tell me." Caroline said shakily, leaning against the wall for support. She wasn't sure she could stand up on her own two legs. She knew what Klaus must be seeing on her right now, trembling and undone from a single kiss, desire probably leaking from her eyes. He didn't make a step towards her, though. Instead, he took a deep breath and walked over to the giant bed, sitting down and patting the empty spot next to him.

"Well, love," He began. "Have you ever heard of the cure for vampirism?"