I wish I could express how much your reviews mean to me. They make me smile like a schoolgirl (: So please keep reviewing, you all make me so happy, you're what keeps the story going! I'd also add that I, unlike Julie Plec, care what you guys think and feel so if you have any requests, please comment with them and I'd be happy to incorporate them into the story if it's possible. I wasn't planning on doing anything with Kol until someone asked for it and now I'm super excited about that story line as well! So thank you again for all your continued support, I love you all! (:

I hope you like this chapter!

Klaus

Klaus took a moment to enjoy being alive again. He'd lived for a thousand years but he couldn't remember a time where he had ever just breathed and appreciated the air in his lungs. He knew he would never take life for granted again but now he had to get to Caroline.

He sped to his Mystic Falls mansion and found everything intact. Apparently Caroline was the only one who'd missed him. He quickly grabbed his credit card, a blood bag, and the keys to his car before racing out the door and leaving the small town behind.

Klaus reached New Orleans in record time, especially considering that it was pouring so hard he would have had to pull over if not for his impeccable vampire vision. He parked on the street outside of the karaoke bar, the last place he had seen her, and was soaked the moment he stepped out of his car. His gray Henley clung to his body but he squinted through the rain, only concerned with trying to catch a glimpse of golden hair through the bar window.

He was just about to go inside when he heard a low growling sound and then a scream come from the dark alleyway. He raced over and there she was, feeding on a human.

His breath caught momentarily. Everything seemed surreal. For months he'd been on the other side, watching her unravel, and wished more than anything that he could touch her, even if it was as simple as grazing her cheek with his hand. Now here she was, a few feet away from him, and he could actually touch her and talk to her. The realization stunned him.

The sound of her sucking the human's neck snapped him back to reality, pushing him to race forward and pull the man away from her.

"Forget what happened here," Klaus compelled him, and the man fled quickly from the alley. Klaus took a deep breath and turned towards the love of his life. He wasn't sure how she would react to seeing him. Even a humanity switch couldn't suppress a moment as intense as this one. He hoped she'd be happy, feared she'd be sad or angry, but what he didn't expect was the way she was backing away from him, a look of complete and utter terror on her face. Her eyes were filled with tears and she was shaking visibly.

"How did you find me?" she whispered. Klaus was so confused by her reaction, and slightly hurt. What if she knew he was coming back and she didn't want him to find her?

"I never left you, sweetheart. I've been with you every moment, on the other side, watching you, wishing I could comfort you. I followed you here, love," Klaus replied softly. He wasn't surprised by the tears that were streaming down her face now, mixed with the rain that dripped from her soaked hair. What he didn't understand was why she was still backing away from him, her hands slightly raised as if to ward him off. She was shaking uncontrollably and he didn't know if it was from the rain or the fear that she so evidently felt.

"Bonnie brought me back, Caroline," he continued carefully. She sobbed when he said her name. "She brought me back to you, love," he took a tentative step toward her and she jumped, gasping.

"Please," she begged through a voice thick with tears. "If you're going to kill me, then kill me. But please don't pretend to be him, please,"

Klaus finally understood. She thought he was Silas. Panic struck him like lightning. How could he make her believe him? Silas could read minds so he would be able to see the answer to any question Caroline asked him. He would be able to imitate anyone perfectly.

Klaus knew he had to figure something out, but he also knew they wouldn't get very far with her humanity turned off. He cursed himself silently because he had long ago promised himself he would never do this to her but he was desperate so he rushed toward her, looked her directly in the eye and compelled her.

"Turn it on, love,"

Caroline

Caroline was suddenly struck with every emotion she had felt since turning them off weeks ago. It nearly crippled her; that overwhelming, blue sadness that had tainted every aspect of her life, drowning her. The guilt, all those people she'd hurt, she'd killed that bartender, all of it consumed her and she sobbed even harder than she had been moments ago.

Then suddenly, all the pain was overshadowed by the man standing in front of her. It was Klaus; he looked like Klaus, he sounded like Klaus, he smelled like him. It overwhelmed her, but it wasn't possible. It had to be Silas.

She decided right then that Silas was the greatest evil that had ever existed; To manifest in the darkest pain of her heart was incredibly cruel. And then forcing her to turn her emotions back on, it was-

Caroline's thoughts stopped in the tracks, as sudden as two trains crashing. Silas didn't use compulsion, he used mind control. He could have simply flipped Caroline's emotions on for her, he wouldn't need to force her. Words started floating back to her.

"Silas is getting impatient, he wants me to lower the veil,"

"Bonnie brought me back, Caroline. She brought me back to you,"

A hope filled Caroline like nothing she'd ever felt, a hope she knew she shouldn't allow herself but one she could not control. She squinted through the rain at the man standing in front of her that stood looking wide eyed at her, waiting for her to say something. Could it really be him?

"Klaus?" she whispered tentatively. He seemed surprised but he didn't hesitate.

"Yes love, it's me, I swear it's me, I came back to you love, Bonnie brought me back," his eyes were filled with tears. "I saw you the day you went to the back of your closet and you touched the dress I gave you and you cried on the floor for the rest of the day. I sat with you and told you it was okay, but you just couldn't hear me. I never left you, Caroline,"

She was sobbing again, but she wasn't sad anymore. It was him, she knew it was him. She knew her makeup was running and she was soaked from her hair to her feet from the pouring rain but she didn't care; All she cared about was that Klaus was really there, he was really alive and he was with her.

He opened his mouth to say something again but she stole the words as she suddenly crashed her lips against his. He responded immediately, kissing her back intensely, there lips moving together in perfect harmony. She threw her arms around his neck to pull him closer and he wrapped his around her waist, holding her so close that he actually lifted her off her feet. He held her like that as they kissed in the rain and Caroline relished in every second of it. She breathed in the smell of him that she had forgotten was so intoxicating, she brushed her hand against the stubble on his face and savored the taste of his lips on hers.

Suddenly she broke away from him, desperate to say the words she had never gotten the chance to say before.

"Klaus, I love you. I'm so sorry I never told you, I'm so sorry. But I do, I love you,"

He lowered her back to the ground and gently pushed her hair behind her ear before placing his hands on either side of her face.

"I know love, I know," he kissed her forehead. "I love you, Caroline," She felt shivers run down her spine and she smiled widely against his lips as she kissed him again.

Klaus

Klaus wasn't ready to go to the plantation and face his family yet so he followed Caroline to her hotel room. They ran together through the rain, abandoning his car, unable to be parted from one another for even a moment. They held hands the whole way there and as soon as they were behind the door they were devouring each other again, making up for lost time.

Their embraces were desperate but not hurried. They took their time peeling off each other's drenched shirts. Their skin was cold from bearing the storm outside but they instantly warmed as they pressed together. He walked her slowly to the warmth of the bed and they crawled beneath the white sheets together, both of them in only their underwear.

As they kissed and explored each other's bodies, Klaus thought vaguely about how different it was with Caroline. Running his hand tenderly over her, leaving trails of butterfly kisses down her body, slipping off her panties gently. It was the difference between sex and making love. He'd lived for a thousand years and given into lust more than a thousand times but nothing could compare to how it felt when Caroline moaned softly beneath him.

Caroline

Everything was new with Klaus; Everything she thought she knew was overshadowed by this slow passion she was experiencing for the first time. Whenever she'd imagined being in bed with him she'd pictured hard, fast, break the bed sex but this was so much more. She never knew how much she'd craved it until he gave it to her.

They took turns with one another and they took their time. When he left her mouth to kiss her neck, he stroked her hair and caressed her sides. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to kiss her again and she felt like she was dreaming, like she could have laid in his arms forever. Everything about his touch was incredible, from the tenderness he used when cupping her breasts to the way he slowly rolled his tongue over her clit. He made her sigh and moan in ways she'd never felt before, and when she came she whispered his name.

Wanting to return the favor, she rolled them over so she was on top of him. She let her hand caress down his muscled arm as she kissed him, and the butterflies she felt when he so tenderly laced his fingers in her hair almost brought her to tears. She took her time kissing his stomach and his chest, her fingers chasing her lips as she explored every inch of him. She traced the tattoo on his arm like she'd dreamed about doing on her porch on that day that seemed so long ago.

When she finally reached his black boxer briefs, she figured she'd tantalized him long enough. They were off in a second and before he could react she took his hard member in her mouth. He immediately gasped and moaned her name.

Caroline arched her back and moved her hair to the side so he had a full view of her body while she pleased him. She used every trick she'd ever learned, actually enjoying herself for the first time rather than just feeling obligated. She ran her tongue up his shaft and swirled it over the tip before she took him again and wrapped her lips around the base. She peeked up at him from under her lashes while she sucked and she felt herself getting wet again when she saw how much pleasure she was giving him.

Not wanting him to finish just yet, she pulled away from him slowly, letting her teeth graze over his shaft ever so gently. She began to kiss her way back up his stomach, his chest and his neck until her core was over his. Gently she lowered herself to him so she could feel his hardness against her moist clit, but before she could go any further he flipped them over again.

Klaus pressed his lips against hers and before long their tongues were dancing together while she grinded her hips against his. Then finally, he broke their kiss and looked through the dark into her eyes. He smoothed her hair back and she smiled as she ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders. He continued to look in her eyes when he finally pushed himself inside her, causing them both to moan.

And then they were truly making love. Their fingers laced together over Caroline's head and she hooked one leg around his waist. She raised her hips to meet him with every thrust so that their bodies were synchronized together perfectly and he pushed against her aching spot every time. Caroline used the hand that wasn't intertwined with his to run through his hair and caress his neck while she sighed and moaned.

"Oh, Klaus," she breathed. "I'm gonna come,"

He smiled and smoothed her hair back. "Come for me, darling," Then he leaned down and kissed her hard, pumping into her endlessly while she moaned and screamed against his lips.

He finished soon after and collapsed on top of her, their bodies cold with sticky sweat. Caroline smiled as she kissed his damp forehead and let her fingertips gently run up and down his spine.

"I love you, Klaus," she whispered. He lifted himself away from her only to lay next to her on the soft bed. He pulled her close to his chest and she rested her head there contently. He rubbed her back, her arms, and her hair; it felt amazing. He grabbed her hand and kissed all her fingers and then kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Caroline," and with that they drifted off to sleep together.