Chapter 21

Caroline had pulled one of the big comfy leather chairs close to the French windows in the library and after opening all the drapes, seated herself in front of them and just stared as the sun slowly went down, turning the sky from blue to orange to black. The windows overlooked the front of the house and so she could also see cars and the occasional person passing by. It made her feel closer to the world.

'What are you doing?' Suddenly Klaus was standing next to her chair.

She gave him a small smile. She had got used to how lithe he walked and how he always seemed to appear at her side.

Tilting her head she tried to sound normal but couldn't totally hide the sadness that had crept over her this evening.

'I'm starting to feel like I'm in one of those snow globes souvenirs, watching the world from inside it's dome...'

He went to sit on the window sill and looked at her for a long, silent moment.

'But I just saw a beautiful sunset...which I would have been too busy to enjoy if I had been out,' She added softly, 'so there's that.'

All of a sudden he hit his thighs with his palms. 'Go put on a pair of boots...and a coat if you wish.'

'What? Why?' She asked as her back straightened on the chair.

'I'm taking you out.' He said with a small smile.

'Seriously?!' Without knowing it she was out of the chair and standing next to him. 'Where? Why?'

'So many questions!' He frowned at her, 'Does it really matter where? Do you want to go or not?'

'Yes, of course!' She smiled at him, her face glowing. 'But isn't it...dangerous?'

His gaze softened as he looked at her smile. 'I'll keep you safe.'

She opened her mouth to ask more but then realised that what he had just said was enough.

She giggled. 'Should I change clothes too?' She asked as she went to the door.

'No...don't expect anything fancy, it's just...'

'I don't care!' She stopped him with another smile, 'wherever we're going...I'm fine with it!'

He got up and smiled with a nod. 'Meet me downstairs in five minutes.'

She sped upstairs laughing. She couldn't believe she was going out!

She looked at her jeans and blue checkered blouse as she took off her shoes and zipped up her boots. Nothing fancy he said and she believed they wouldn't go anywhere with people so she was just fine. She ran a brush through her hair, re-did her eyeliner and mascara and freshened her lip gloss. Then put some of her favourite perfume on her wrists and behind her ears, and she was ready. She took her coat from the wardrobe, in her head thanking Bonnie for having really thought of everything when she had packed her bag and sped downstairs again.

Klaus wasn't there and for a moment she feared he had changed his mind.

'Ready?' He asked as he came through the other door.

She nodded vigorously, her face alight once more and she heard him take a sharp breath inside as he looked at her smile.

'We'll go through the garage, not the front door.' He said as he pointed with his hand from where he had just came from. 'It's safer that way.'

'I don't mind,' she shrugged as they started leaving the living area, 'I'll get in the car trunk if it gets me out of here!'

At her words he stilled abruptly and a frown appeared between his eyebrows even as he kept walking.

'I didn't mean get out of here, like that!' She took his forearm and turned him to look at her. 'I meant go out, you know...I wouldn't...'

'Relax, love,' he took her hand from over his arm and tugged it as he kept walking, 'I wouldn't have proposed it if I didn't know you wouldn't forget your promise.'

'No, I wouldn't.' She agreed as she tugged at his hand back. Then suddenly she seemed to realise they were still holding hands and she released his. She sighed. It seemed he finally believed her again.

They arrived at the garage where Martin, one of the hybrids was already behind the wheel of one of the cars.

'Area's clean. No wolves around. Simone already called, she's sure no one's following her but she'll keep you posted, she'll be there before you, scouting the area. I'll follow your car to make sure no one else is.'

Klaus nodded and then put his hand at the small of Caroline's back and he helped her climb in the passenger's seat of his black SUV.

He got behind the wheel and pressed the remote control for the garage door to open.

'Should I lean down?' She asked suddenly nervous.

He smiled at her. 'No need. The windows are tinted, remember?'

They were out of the garage a moment later and he drove away from the house.

Even in the dark, Caroline found herself looking around the street for any signs of anyone watching them. She checked from her side of the car, then turned to look through the back window too. That's when she noticed the wicker basket on the back seat.

'Is that...is that a picnic basket?' She asked turning to look at Klaus.

He smiled. 'As I said nothing fancy. I just put in some cheese and wine...and I raided Rebekah's cupboard.'

She bit hard on her lower lip to stop herself from giggling. 'So...we're going to a picnic under the stars?'

'Pretty much.' He took his eyes from the road for a second and smiled ruefully at her. 'I couldn't take you to a restaurant...or anywhere else in Mystic Falls...too risky, but I know of a place...it's an hour drive away...remote...and as you heard Simone and Martin will be there checking the area...so we should be safe.'

'When did you come up with all of this?' She asked softly.

'The moment I asked you...and I figured that was the best way to do it, a spur of the moment thing means no one could know about it...cause I didn't.'

A long sigh escaped through her lips. He had come up with this because he had noticed how unhappy she was tonight.

He frowned, clearly expecting her to say something. 'Do...do you like the idea or we could turn back...'

'No. No, it's perfect.' You're...perfect.

Like Klaus said the drive took for about an hour. Caroline enjoyed that as much as everything else. She was out! She watched the world around her with a smile, then she lowered the window just a little and took in a deep breath of fresh air and then laughed.

'I missed it...and I don't even breath anymore...technically.'

'It's okay, if you want to lower the window all the way, no chance of being seen right now.' And she did, loving the wind on her face and ruffling through her hair.

Klaus had taken an intersection, and then some time later what barely looked like a road and had driven farther in. The ground had become bumpy and she hang on to the door handle as he kept driving.

Finally he stopped and went out. He went to her side before she could open her door and took her hand and helped her out. She had to admit that she liked his old fashioned ways.

She started to thank him and then noticed the scenery in front of her.

'Oh my God! This is so beautiful!' She exclaimed as she took in the small meadow, with a shallow hill and only one huge, secular tree on it. The moon shined down, revealing the forest trees on both their left side and right but this spot seemed to have been cleared to leave that little hill looking like a picture from a postcard.

'How did you know...when did you discover this place?' She asked as she turned to look at Klaus, who was taking the basket from the car.

'I painted it a few months ago.' He replied as they walked towards the hill.

Her eyes flew with alarm to his as his words sank in.

He smiled. 'No, they escaped your hand...only because they are in my room.'

She hung her head once more in remembered shame but he laughed under his breath and she knew that somehow he had really forgiven her.

'Thank God for that.' She whispered as she walked by his side. She was glad he told her to put her boots on, walking on this ground wasn't the easiest thing, she thought as her feet felt the slippery grass under her flat heels.

He crouched down under the tree and opened the basket. An owl hooted from somewhere nearby.

'I told them to put in a blanket...they must have forgotten.' He frowned angrily.

She smiled. 'I sincerely doubt that...they must have left it in the trunk...I'll check.' Having said that she walked back the short distance to the car. That's when she noticed the other car, almost hidden, parked between the trees.

She turned to look at Klaus and he nodded to her as he saw where she was looking. 'It's Simone.' He said. 'She's checking around here...Martin is around too.'

Just as she thought, a thick blanket was folded neatly at the bottom of the car trunk.

She took it out and he smiled at her. For a second she stilled. She suddenly realised that she was alone with Klaus about to enjoy a night picnic. One could almost consider it a date.

Her heart hammered in her chest at the thought. Then she took a deep breath in, she wouldn't let such thoughts ruin this for her. Not when she could look up and see the stars, and smell the earth, and feel the breeze on her cheeks.

'Put some music on.' He told her.

She opened the driver's door and switched on the radio, and then noticed his iPod was there, and with a small smile, she put that on instead and selected 'random'.

She waited for the first song to begin, it was a piece of classic music.

'You can put on the radio, if you prefer.' He told her but she smiled again as she walked towards him and spread the blanket.

'No...I think I want to know if you have some guilty pleasures in there.'

His eyebrows raised slightly and then shrugged but he did look a little uneasy as he took out some fruits, cheese and crackers from the basket.

'There is something, isn't there?' She asked as she kneeled on the blanket and took out two wine goblets.

Her lips twirled up at the side, it seems like plastic cups were too much beyond him to use. He took out a cork screw and opened the wine bottle. Her eyes strayed to his strong hands, his long fingers as he poured it in the two glasses, and passed one to her. She liked his hands, artist's hands.

'I still can't believe I'm really out again.' She said as she took a sip of the rich, red wine and then breathed in a loud big breath. Suddenly her head turned to the car and then back to his face.

'Lana?...You like Lana Del Rey?' Her eyes sparkled, as the sultry singer's voice filled the quiet night.

'Yes, I do.' He admitted with a smile, 'Her voice, reminds me of...older times.'

'Happier times?' She asked.

He raised his glass and drank. Now her eyes studied his lips against the rim. She couldn't stop herself, she kept focusing on small details. Like how red, his lips were. How his stubble looked darker under the moon light. When she thought he wasn't going to answer he said quietly. 'Maybe...they were...in some ways...I really don't know.'

Did he mean that he didn't know how it felt to be happy?

She busied herself with taking out the rest of the food from the basket. For some reason that thought had made her sad and it was something that was happening to her often now. Knowing things about him, made her feel sad for him and she knew he would hate it if he thought she felt sorry for him.

'Do you like her?' He asked, and she nodded. 'I love her voice.'

'It's not fair though...' He said as he took some grapes and put one in his mouth, 'You get to hear my so called guilty pleasures but there's no way for me to find out yours.' Again she found herself looking at his mouth and she forced her eyes to look away.

'You have my laptop, you could easily check.'

He stopped chewing for a moment and looked down to his glass.

'You have checked it, haven't you?'

He nodded before looking straight in her eyes. 'I had to be sure there was no plan B...I was so angry, I...'

'It's okay.' She whispered quietly. And it was, she thought she would be more angry about it but she knew she had no right, not after what happened. 'So there, you have my permission to go through my music folder.'

'I think I'd prefer to hear about it from you.'

Her gaze softened on him. In a roundabout way he was telling her, he wouldn't be checking her pc again. She bit her lower lip before admitting. 'I could have...some eighties music in there.'

'Eighties?! Really?' One eyebrow went up. 'Why in God's name would you do that to yourself?'

'It's Stefan's fault really.' She said, lowering her eyes. 'He's always harking about Bon Jovi so I gave the eighties a chance and...'

'No, don't put this on Stefan.' He smirked and she frowned at him. 'Bon Jovi isn't all of the eighties.'

'Fine.' She sighed. 'I'll admit that some of the songs are corny but there are some beautiful ballads...I love them.'

He chuckled at her serious face but then kind of nodded in agreement.

He rested his back against the tree trunk while she laid back on her elbows to better see the stars.

His cell phone buzzed. He took it out, read the message and put it back in his jacket pocket.

'Everything okay?' She asked and he smiled in answer. Her eyes narrowed slightly at him. He looked so relaxed, it seemed this outing was doing him good too.

'Shall I do the lasagna tomorrow?' She now asked and he smiled again in answer.

'Fine by me.' He replied.

Another classic piece of music started and they stayed in silence for a few minutes, listening and drinking their wine. Caroline removed her coat, liking the cool breeze rushing through the trees and caressing her face as she lied completely down on the blanket and with a small smile on her lips gazed at the stars through the tree leaves.

'What are you thinking about?' He asked.

Her smile grew wider. 'I'm remembering, a night picnic with Bonnie and Elena when we were about...eight. Bonnie's grandma let us put a tent behind her house. We felt so grown up being out at night...even if were less than a two hundred meters away from the house.'

Suddenly she chuckled. 'I think we tried to count the stars...then gave up.' She felt more than saw his smile and then sighed again. 'I think that's the first time, that I actually felt that they ...liked me...and really wanted to be my friends.'

'What do you mean?'

She bit on her lower lip and looked at him sideways. 'I wasn't exactly...the nicest girl around back then.'

He raised his eye brows in question. 'No?'

She shook her head. 'I wanted so desperately for people to like me...but of course I didn't want them to know that...so I was pushy and intrusive...I watched Elena do it so naturally, she talked, she smiled and boom! people liked her. I had to work so hard for it.'

He looked at her in silence and she went on, not really knowing why she was telling him all this.

'And Bonnie didn't like me at all...' she chuckled, 'but Elena...I think Elena realised how hard I tried and the...insecurity behind it, that made me act that way...and she made it a point to always include me in their little circle ...until Bonnie started to like me too.'

'You won her over...what a surprise.' He said softly, his eyes on her.

She turned her eyes back to the moon lit sky. 'It's all thanks to Elena. She was always the one who kept us close to each other, she still is. With all that she's been through, losing her parents like that, then so many of the people she loved...if it had happened to me, I would be...so bitter at life, but she, she still finds things to be happy about and...even now...' She stopped, she really didn't want to think whose fault it was that Elena was a vampire now.

'You underestimate yourself, you've been through a lot too.'

'Nothing like her,' she replied, 'and still she's selfless and loving...you once told me, I was like their mother hen but it's really Elena that keeps us together this way...she's our glue...I don't know what we'd do without her.'

He didn't say a word, and she thought he was probably thinking she was being too emotional, and maybe she was, talking about them made her realize once again how much she missed her friends.

'Where's Rebekah tonight?' She asked, changing the subject.

He rolled his eyes. 'Do you really have to ask?'

She got up on one elbow and took a long drink from her wine glass. 'I'll let you know that there's no man more sweet and loving than Matt Donovan.'

His head tilted a little to the side. 'Then why did you break up with him?'

'That's complicated...'

'I bet it had something to do with you being a vampire...something that my sister happens to be also.'

She couldn't really argue with that. 'Anyway it's her life.' She looked in his eyes and laughed. 'She's certainly old enough.'

He snorted and she knew that no matter how many centuries passed, he would always think he had the right to interfere in his sister's life. Rebekah had said as much of all her brothers really.

Suddenly she sat up and turned to look at him. 'What is this that I'm hearing?'

'Just my luck.' He grumbled under his breath, '...of all the songs in that bloody thing.'

'Tell me? What the hell...'

'It's an Italian song.' He said with a wry smile. 'I spent quite a few months in Italy back in the seventies and this song was played...a lot. It's like with the drawings...a song can capture a moment.'

She giggled as she listened to the singer's beautiful but sad voice.

'Let me guess...he's singing about a lost love.' She wished she had the courage to ask him what moment had this song captured for him.

No,' he shook her head, 'he's actually...in awe...of this girl he's found.'

But he sounds so sad!' She tilted her head at him, 'tell me what he's saying...please.'

He moved away from the tree and sat closer to her. He listened for a moment then said. 'Amore mio...My love...what have you done to the very air I breathe...and how can you be in every single thought I have...swear again, that you exist...for real.'

She studied his face as he translated the lyrics, his eyes looked at the space in front of him. She motioned with her hand for him to go on and he sighed as gave his head a little shake.

'My love...what have you got that's so different from all the others...' he slightly twitched his lips and then looked at her, 'in front of you...you, who are so very important to me...all the love that I'm capable of...is really...nothing.'

His eyes stayed glued to hers and her heart beat against her rib cage.

'He fears he's not capable of loving her as much as she...deserves?...It's beautiful.' She finally whispered.

He let out a sigh of relief and grinned. 'Good, that's one song you won't make fun of, then.'

She took an apple and broke it in the middle, then gave him half. 'I think...that I will have to say, I like your choices in music.' Taking a bite from her half, she lowered herself down again.

'Take it easy...let the shock sink in slowly.'

She laughed up at his face. 'What?'

'You just said you liked something I like...I mean, what is your world coming to?' He teased her.

She narrowed her eyes. 'Very funny.'

'Okay, then,' he raised his eyebrows at her. 'I challenge you to find...three things you like about me.'

'Three?' She said in mock horror, 'that's impossible!'

'See, I told you.' His tone was playful, but there was something in the way he looked at her that said differently.

They looked at each other. 'Your choice in music!' She shouted just before he spoke.

'Damn.' He shook his head and she smiled at him knowing he had just been about to exclude that very same thing.

She looked at him for a moment before turning her eyes to look up at the dark sky. 'I also like...the way you draw...how you make things come alive in your pictures. I think you're a...talented artist...very talented and every time I think of what I did...'

'Thank you and...third thing?' He stopped her as she was going to apologize again.

She smiled and kept looking up. She would never be able to say these things while looking in his face. She took a deep breath in and admitted, 'I like your smile. Not the cocky, snarky one you show the world...but your real smile...the one you give Rebekah when she makes some funny comment...or me, you smile that way at me too...when I'm not pissing you off, that is.'

He chuckled at the face she made as she said the last words, resting on one elbow as he looked down at her.

She cleared her throat. 'Wow...that was hard but I did it! I actually found the three things.' Inside she thought that hadn't been hard at all, and if she thought about it she would find other things she liked about him. Like, his protective nature towards his sister, which one could initially see as domination but it was really great affection and really fear of losing her.

She liked his voice, his accent, his dimples, his old school ways...maybe I've drunk too much wine! She stopped her thoughts abruptly. She had no business, having these thoughts.

'Ha ha.' He said sternly, not imagining what was going on in her mind, but he was only kidding as he kept smiling, his dimples deep in his cheeks.

There it is! That's exactly the smile I was talking about! She thought as she looked at his beautiful lips just a few inches away from hers, forgetting that she had just been chiding herself about it.

And then suddenly before she knew what she was doing, her hand went up and fisted itself in the lapel of his jacket and a second later pulled him down, to make his lips meet hers.

She sighed from deep inside, against his mouth when she felt the softness of his lips on hers. They were really just as soft as she remembered! He growled deep from his throat as his mouth crushed on hers. It felt so good to have his lips against hers, just like that other one time. How many times had that kiss came to her mind only to shut it out? Now, she didn't have to re-think it anymore. Mouths moved over each other, with a hungry, desperate need.

Nibbling, tasting, licking.

She dug her fingers into the hard muscles on his shoulders while one of his hands went behind her head, cushioning it against the hard ground. That small but thoughtful gesture made her sigh against his mouth again and his tongue slid inside hers in a shockingly sexual caress. He seemed thirsty for her taste as his tongue played with hers. He tasted of the rich wine he had just been drinking.

It felt like the fourth of July was taking place in her mouth as the tingling was so intense. Sparks lit between their lips, then his strayed over to her cheek, and she shuddered as he kissed the tender line of her jaw and on to her neck, making her feel the rough stubble on his own jaw against her soft skin as he trailed hot kisses there. She spread her hands on his back and pulled him even closer still, her breasts crushed against him. His thigh slid between hers, his hips thrusting forward making her gasp with the need that suddenly filled her body. A fire seemed to be licking at her veins, filling her with a need so strong, it made her moan. Through their bond she could feel the same fire going on through the blood in his veins and his body grew hard against hers. His hand roamed down to her blouse and under it, his fingers caressing her flat stomach and then higher, until they found her lacy bra. They moved over her breast, caressing her through the lace and her upper body arched against his in pleasure.

Her own hands went down his jacket and under it. They fisted in his shirt and pulled it out of his trousers. She was desperate to feel his skin against her hands. And when they did, it was like electricity was travelling from her skin to his and vice versa. Her fingers trailed up, loving the feeling of his hard muscles under them. She felt his human teeth nibbling under her ear and her nails dug deeper in his back. His hand left her breast to go behind her back and lower, cupping her buttock and pressing her hard to him, leaving her in no doubt of how much he wanted her.

His mouth moved over hers again. His kiss was slower this time, with gentle brushes and small kisses as he took his time to explore her lips. Then he deepened the kiss once more, his mouth open over hers before grabbing her lower lip and sucked it gently, then caught it between his teeth and let it slide out softly.

'Caroline...' He whispered her name against her mouth as he rolled over and brought her on top.

Hearing Klaus' voice was like a cold bucket of water had been dosed on her, her eyes spread open and suddenly she pushed him away and rolled away from him and got up speedily on shaking legs.

Both her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes large as saucers as she looked back at him.

He stayed where he was on the blanket, looking up at her with a stern look in his eyes.

In case anyone's interested the Italian song really exists and it's called 'Con tutto l'amore che posso' by Claudio Baglioni.