Caroline and Klaus remained buried amongst the white, satin sheets for the majority of the day. They have surfaced once, and only once, to succumb to the yearning that dominates them; the blood. Other than that short, the large bed has been their home. Caroline curled up to Klaus, softly brushing her fingers up and down his arm affectionately.
"I love you." She whispered gently, knowing it will wake him. The effect was immediate; Klaus' eyelids fluttered open and his honey coloured eyes met hers with fierce intent. He gazed at her admiringly for a moment, before chuckling and averting his eyes.
"What's so funny?" she asked quietly, slightly dumbstruck by his reaction.
"If you say that once more, I may have to force you to stay here forever." He smiled cheekily, reaching for her hand. Klaus knew that Caroline would, at one point sooner or later, wish to return to Mystic Falls. He could only hope that she chooses the latter. He watched her eyebrows furrow confusedly. Sweet, yet ferocious Caroline, always so conflicted.
"You don't have to force me to do anything." She whispered. "I love you."
Klaus forgot any intention of abduction at her words, and sighed; "I love you, too."
Caroline grinned flirtatiously. He really does appreciate every single ounce of love he receives, she thought sadly.
Two hours later, Caroline and Klaus remain in an entanglement together. His arms wrapped around her protectively as he whispered old, traditional stories into her ear.
"I want to ask you something." Caroline suddenly asked, tilting her head up to watch him.
"Go ahead, love." He mumbled, running his fingers through her silky hair, causing Caroline to readjust her concentration for a moment or two. She hesitated on her very first word.
"El-Elena told me about the girl you and Elijah both loved. Was it true?" She whispered almost inaudibly to a human's ear. Klaus, however, heard her perfectly clear. He stiffened.
"Yes, it's true." Klaus sighed sadly; he didn't want to bring up memories of the past. He merely wanted to exist in the here and now, with Caroline. Still, she had a right to know.
"And your mother killed her." Caroline stated; it wasn't a question.
Klaus paused for a moment, reliving the moment he had realised it was Tatia's blood that he had consumed in the ritual to turn him into a vampire. How he'd despised his mother with this most venomous of betrayals, and had never really forgiven it.
"Also true." Klaus muttered after some thought, barely containing the sudden bitterness in his voice. Caroline noticed it immediately and swiftly attempts to backtrack.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." She murmured, risking a quick glance at his face. The hurt there is unhidden and unmasked; he is laying it out entirely for her to see. She watched him wonderingly.
"No, you have a right to know." He smiles sincerely, reassuringly. "I did love Tatia, yes, as much as I thought I could love another person. I had no idea…" He paused, willing Caroline to read between the lines. She felt her lips involuntary curve into a smile.
He smiled earnestly; "Anyway, Tatia and I… we were very different. As a human, I was disappointed and hurt easily. I guess I was also proud. I didn't like to be made a fool of."
Caroline laughed suddenly, interrupting his story. Klaus' eyes met hers questionably.
"I'm sorry" she laughed, "but you say 'as a human', as though those qualities disappeared when you became a vampire."
He ruffled her hair slightly; "Yes well… I had those qualities before I became a vampire too, then. I had no tolerance. And Tatia, she liked to challenge me. Not in a positive way, like you do, but she agonised me and in the end, forced me to lose what was most important to me." He whispered. He decided to leave out the part where Elijah and he had fought brutally.
"Your family." Caroline stated once again, not a question. Euphoria fills Klaus; Caroline genuinely desired to know about him, his life, his past. He was still adjusting to it.
"Yes, my family." Klaus assented quietly, lost in the memories. At the time, he was sure he was in love with Tatia. He'd thought that being so "in love" had caused him to willingly fight with Elijah. Now he knew the truth. She was simply teasing both him and his brother; he'd had a choice to say no, to stop her from tearing their family apart. They had reconciled many a time over the centuries, but still there lay untouched hostility, anger and betrayal that neither one of them had truly attempted to heal.
Caroline's voice interrupted his reverie; "She sounds like Katherine." Klaus laughed harshly at the irony. It was entirely plausible. Katerina, Klaus thought, Elijah had cared for her, too. Klaus, however, had learned his lesson by that point. Anything associated with the lineage of the doppelgangers he would not care for; he would not fall into such weakness once again. Unfortunately, Elijah was struck with two failed attempts before he realised the same thing. Now, the allure of the doppelganger falls into the Salvatore brother's hands.
Klaus shook himself from his lost thoughts, and reached down to gently press his lips to Caroline's. "She was worse." He replied sometime afterwards.
Klaus was grateful that Caroline asked no more questions. He didn't care to relive the memories of his human life. After all, it hadn't exactly been a happy time. Remorse threatened to cripple him lately, and he realised that under Caroline's influence he was turning into a better person, or at least as good as a vampire could be. There was also a part of him, a dark, stirring deep inside him, that longed to make Caroline his partner. The two of them together could have everything they ever wanted. They'd be deadly. This thought excited him, but he knew that Caroline was a pure person, and so shut the thoughts aside. As long as she walked this Earth, he would do anything she asked and wished of him. It was too late for both of them now; their feelings were entirely beyond their own control.
Suddenly, Caroline sat up erectly in the bed, her face alight with an idea. "Draw me." She ordered excitedly. "I've only ever seen the finished product." She smiled at him, her face alight with an exhilarant expression. He could never refuse such beauty.
Caroline inspected Klaus as he worked. His rough, large hands seemed to appear to soften somehow as he sketched. It was difficult to believe that those hands, those same hands, had killed so many innocent people. Caroline tried to swallow through the lump in her throat. Klaus' eyes darted from the leaf of parchment to her face and back again. She'd never seen such a passionate concentration so visible in his honey eyes, clearly distinguishable from any of his other looks. He took this very seriously, she surmised. Caroline's hands shook slightly with every intense gaze he gave her. He was staring at her, singling every one of her features out one by one as he traced them intricately onto the parchment. His hands worked endlessly; and yet effortlessly. He was a natural. After some time, Klaus stopped sketching and gazed down at his work. He was inspecting it, if it was nothing but perfect then he wouldn't even think of showing it to Caroline. Finally, holding his breath, Klaus outstretched and flipped over the leaf of parchment, revealing his portrait to Caroline. His eyes delved into hers as he tried to decipher her reaction. Her eyes had taken on a slightly glazed look and her perfect, rosy lips were pouted slightly as she gasped. It was nothing like anything she'd ever seen. He'd transformed her into something wonderful, taking care to sketch even her imperfections. He was an honest artist. Somehow seeing Klaus sketch made her fall even deeper in love with him.
"Klaus, it's beautiful. You've made me beautiful." She whispered, marvelled.
A charming smile played around his lips as he whispered huskily; "No Caroline, you've made my work beautiful." He leant forward slowly and took her outstretched hand in his, kissing it gently, lingeringly.
"I am eternally yours."