FINALLY A NEW CHAPTER! I know I'm not your favorite person in the world right now. I promise you I will do my best to update faster, even though I can't see myself having any more time the upcoming days. I will try though, promise.

Another reason why it had taken me too long to update is that I was preoccupied with starting a new Klaroline fic. If anyone is interested in AU/AH fics, I would trul appreciate it if you would check it out and tell me what you think :D

OK, enough with my rants already. Happy reading :D

25: Fragile Hearts

'Good morning, Niklaus' Elijah greeted his brother, giving him an inquiring look at the obvious distressful state he was in.

'Elijah' Klaus greeted him back 'I did not think I would be seeing you so early in the morning' he tried to sound indifferent 'so early in the morning dressed in a suit' Klaus scoffed.

'I have some errands that need to be done' Elijah said with a smile playing at the corner of his lips 'I'll be leaving tonight and be out of your way'

Klaus merely nodded. He resumed contemplating the freshly finished painting.

'It's brilliant, brother' Elijah commented, standing next to Klaus before his canvas.

'It doesn't do her justice' Klaus muttered, reaching for a glass filled with liquor and downing it to the last drop.

Elijah's slight smile turned into a concerned frown 'I did not know that it was a habit of yours to drink so early in the morning' he unhappily commented.

'I'm a thousand years old, Elijah. When I drink is quite irrelevant' Klaus shrugged off the subject with an impatient tone.

Elijah sighed. He looked around Klaus's drawing-room and noted how it had changed radically from the last time he had seen it. There were tons of pictures that he had not seen before, not to mention the fact that Klaus's style had become increasingly darker, except for the painting that, judging by the fresh smell of the paint, he had finished less than an hour before. Elijah almost could not believe the fact that his brother seemed to be in love with that beautiful, blonde vampire, and kept smiling secretly to himself. He had not seen Klaus's eyes this clearest shade of blue or his features so soft in so long that he could not even remember that time anymore. However, he could not help but notice how extremely unnerved his brother seemed that morning.

'Is everything alright, Niklaus?' Elijah asked him suddenly, turning to him fully.

Klaus just stared at him blankly.

'I heard Caroline scream last night' Elijah confessed 'She sounded frightened' he cleared his throat to specify the nature of the scream. One of the downsides of being a vampire was that one could not quite control what his ears caught.

Klaus licked his upper lip nervously 'She had a hard night' he hesitantly said.

Elijah looked at him expectantly

'She talked to Elena last night about our relationship. It seems that her friend did not quite take it well' Klaus explained 'Caroline spent the whole night with nightmares hunting her'

'I see' Elijah nodded. And he truly did. Klaus was not upset for the simple fact that Elena objected of their relationship for he could not care less about Elena's views, but for the fallout that this fact would cause to his relationship with Caroline.

'I don't want her to be miserable because of me' Klaus hardly mumbled, swallowing a lump in his throat.

'She does not seem miserable, Niklaus' Elijah assured him firmly

'She was terrified of me last night, Elijah' Klaus finally admitted with obvious frustration 'After the nightmare, she was frightened of me'

That was not what it sounded to Elijah the night before, but Elijah, of course, held back that fact.

'You must give her time, brother' Elijah said with his composed voice 'She needs to adjust to the fact that you have turned from her enemy to her …. Lover' Elijah uncertainly mumbled the last word.

'What if she is starting to have regrets?' Klaus mouthed the frightening idea that had been occurring to him more than once during the past two days 'I do not think I can endure the thought of her leaving me'

Not only Elijah was surprised by how his brother opened up to him, but also Klaus seemed pleasantly stunned at the fact that he was be able to talk his brother about his insecurities so easily. Elijah added a mental note to thank Caroline before leaving.

'You truly care for her' it was not a question but a statement which could not be argued that Elijah said with a small smile.

Klaus dropped his gaze, looking almost embarrassed but not uttering a single syllable.

'You should not worry so much, Niklaus. Try your best to understand her feelings. And if it makes you feel better, tell her what you are thinking' Elijah briefly advised. And with his composed attitude strode off to the door. He paused as he turned the doorknob 'Open up to her, brother. I truly believe she is worth it.'

Klaus just stood there as Elijah opened the door and started to leave before turning around at the last moment

'Thanks for the drawing, by the way' he said with a smile then disappeared.

She felt his warm breath tickling her face gently. Slowly, she was pulled out of her sleep by his sweet voice calling her name softly. She opened her eyes to his smile plastered across his face.

'Good morning, my love' he whispered, caressing her hair gently.

'Good morning' she smiled at him widely.

The sun shone brightly through the wide windows of their room. It framed Caroline's face beautifully as she had her back to the windows, and fell on Klaus's face directly. The gleam provided by the sun gave his handsome face an angelic halo. Seeing him like that, it was hard to remember what it was that ailed Caroline's mind the night before, or what her doubts were about. Even more, it made it impossible to believe the nightmare that had occurred the night before.

He planted a kiss on her cheek 'Did you sleep well, love?'

'Yes, I did' she assured him. That was not completely honest or totally dishonest. Her slumber was rather disturbing at some points, but not to the point that would keep her up through the night. The questions and the doubts began to reemerge in her uneasy mind, the doubts that she had pushed to the back of her mind and thought that this would somehow make them disappear. Caroline was not sure if their reoccurrence was caused by her unlikable conversation with Elena or by the nightmare that had frightened her for so many different reasons that she could no longer figure out what they were. And staring into his sparkling blue eyes and watching the happy smile he wore made it hard to focus on anything that was not him.

Klaus's smile widened as she snuggled closer to him, burying her face in the nook of his neck. He wrapped his arms around her, hiding the unnerving feeling in the pit of his stomach. More than anything he wanted to ask her about her nightmare the night before. The fact that she was afraid of him when she woke up made it hard for him to sleep at night, harder than usual. However, he refrained from asking, not wanting to disturb her first thing in the morning.

'How come you are always awake before me?' Caroline suddenly asked 'I mean, do you even sleep?'

'I sleep enough' was his short simple reply.

Caroline sighed.

'I want to show you something' he told her, ending the short silence.

'OK' she said, pulling away reluctantly.

She did not bother to wrap the sheet around herself when she left the bed to take one of his shirts from a drawer.

'I'm not wearing that shirt anymore' Klaus declared seriously, watching her figure drown in his shirt

'Excuse me?' Caroline almost snapped taking his statement as an offense.

'It looks far better on you, Sweet Caroline' he smirked, the sight of her bare long legs tremendously delighting him.

Caroline rolled her eyes 'You really have to stop with all those comments. I feel bad for not knowing how to return them'

Klaus lightly chuckled 'You don't have to, love. I know that you find me handsome' he smiled innocently.

'And what makes you think that?' she scoffed.

'What happens here' he smirked pointing to the bed.

Caroline felt herself tomato-red and bit down on her lower lip dropping her shy gaze to the ground.

Klaus laughed and approached her 'Come on, sweetheart, there's no need to be shy about it' he said between chuckles, hugging her sweetly 'You weren't shy about it last night' he added teasingly.

'Hey' she scolded stepping out of his embrace and nudging him in the chest playfully 'That's no way to talk to a lady'

Klaus laughed again bowing to her slightly

'My apologies to you, my lady' he firmly apologized.

She giggled 'You look ridiculous doing that with your boxers and T-shirt'

He raised a hand to his chest, faking a hurt expression 'I'm wounded… I'm offended' he frowned playfully.

'You'll get over it' she shrugged.

'So you're not even sorry?' he raised an eyebrow

'Not even slightly' she insisted, smirking.

'Fine' he said. Then using his vampire-speed, in a fraction of a second, he carried her back to the bed as she squealed pinning, her down, and kissing her fiercely. Quickly he removed the only piece of clothing she was wearing that was his shirt and resumed kissing her.

'I thought you had something to show me!' she tried to say between his kisses.

'Not now' he muttered, barely removing his lips from hers.

She held on tight to him, her hands getting lost in his hair. She could not bring herself to care about what he had to show her anymore, either.

Caroline almost squealed. When they finally managed to leave the bed and resume their earlier plans, Klaus had led her to the balcony, his excitement almost exceeding to hers. Upon seeing the painting, Caroline thought that her dead heart was about to give up on her.

'Do you like it?' he asked her gently.

'Like it?' she raised an eyebrow at him 'I love it!'

She stepped closer to the painting, taking in the variety of colors and the rays of the setting sun that framed her face. She was smiling radiantly in the painting, a smile that mirrored the one she wore as she stared at it. Her happy face occupied the right side of the painting as the sunset was painted brilliantly behind her to the point that it felt almost tangible. And in the vacant space of the reddening sky, Klaus's face was faintly apparent, a mesmerized expression across his face, his blue eyes seeming to glitter with emotions that Caroline could not quite describe.

'It's so beautiful' she breathed, turning to his anticipating face.

'I'm glad you like it, love' he smiled widely to her. He closed the remaining distance to wrap his arms around her.

A sense of overwhelming fright suddenly crept its way to Caroline's mind. The nightmare from the night before flashed through her mind. His drawing with the perfection of the sunset, his expression, his words, the way he held her in his arms all screamed familiar at her. Although knowing the impossibility of her nightmare becoming reality, she increasingly believed that he would gasp with pain and drop to the ground with his body turning grey, and her grip around his waist involuntarily tightened. She felt her eyes form tears.

It isn't real, Caroline, It's not real. Her mind tried to console her.

But what if it was, just not in the literal sense of the nightmare? What if Niklaus was nothing but a fragment of her imagination, nothing but a mask that would soon reveal Klaus's ugliness behind it?

She shuddered.

No way. This is my Niklaus. He loves me, and I love him more than anything.

'Are you OK, love?' he asked her, anxiety slightly invading the silkiness of his voice.

'Why me?' Caroline suddenly asked. Her face was still buried in his chest. She could not look into his eyes, fearing that her vulnerability would be far too evident. Although such a thing would have been rather indifferent for her in other occasion, but that specific moment she could not bear the thought of him seeing the panic in her eyes as the fear of his disappearance lingered in her mind, or the thought of showing how insecure she was not only about his feelings towards her, but also about the fact that she was no one compared to him.

'What do you mean, sweetheart?' he furrowed his brows, his arms immediately tightening their grip around her, as though sensing how unnerved she was.

'Why did you choose me? What's so special about me? I'm nobody, a year ago I was girly little Caroline who no one took seriously, who was nobody's first choice. And now you say that you are in love with me, that I'm the first one to catch your attention in a thousand years? I don't know, Nik, but this just sounds too surreal' she blurted out, her babbling tongue doing an excellent job at not filtering her thoughts.

For several moments Klaus was silent, not exactly knowing what he should say or do. The weakness in Caroline's voice and how it shook made his heart clench for some reason that was beyond him. As though the way she thought of herself physically hurt him. He could not believe how oblivious she was to her real beauty, although her complete unawareness of her breathtaking beauty might be one of the secrets behind it.

'You don't have an answer' Caroline almost choked out.

'Oh, love' Klaus sighed. He pulled away a little, so he could stare into her eyes, but keep his grip around her 'How will I convince those beautiful eyes that looking into them is the most compelling thing I have ever done?' he murmured huskily.

'Why?' She insisted.

'Come with me'

Klaus led her downstairs and into the salon. She quickly acknowledged its beauty before Klaus cut off her observation by jerking her to the piano that sat on the far corner.

'What if Elijah comes?' She asked him, looking down at her outfit that consisted of nothing but his shirt.

'He's not here' he quickly dismissed.

Klaus sat down. He stared at the piano thoughtfully for several seconds before his fingers started brushing the keys softly. Music filled the room gradually. It drifted from the piano beautifully. The melody started of light, sweet, easy to listen to, then shifted into a happy rhythm, so happy and shiny that it made Caroline giggle. The pace slowed again, changing into a bittersweet melody, a mixture between happiness and sadness, a mixture between tears and laughter, a mixture between helplessness and hopefulness. That particular piece overwhelmed Caroline greatly. The way the music played felt far too personal for her. In a very odd way, it sounded like her when she fell in love with Klaus. However, the music picked up again and this time endless hope was all Caroline could feel; endless hope that gave her an intoxicating sense of ecstasy.

The music stopped and Klaus flashed Caroline a smile.

'That's incredible' Caroline muttered, slightly shocked still

'This is why I love you, Caroline' Klaus gently told her.

'Because you like music?' she raised an eyebrow at him.

Klaus chuckled 'No, love' he rose from his seat and came round the piano to stand in front of her 'because if you were a melody, that's how you would sound'

'Oh' was all Caroline could mouth.

'And because even though I have not preplanned this, still your presence was enough of a muse' he casually added.

Caroline's babbling tongue seemed to be extremely useless at that moment. She stared into his blue eyes with tears forming in hers, which made her almost curse herself, and just stood there, planted in her place by the gravity of his gaze. He leaned in and kissed her sweetly. His kiss was not intense nor lustful or passionate. It was gentle, so gentle and tender that it was enough of a reason for Caroline to believe that he truly loved her; because at that moment, Niklaus was the most real person in her life. At that moment what anyone had to say did not matter the least bit.

'Now, are you ready to take a tour around Barcelona?' he asked when his lips left hers.

Caroline nodded silently, knowing that her voice would break if she uttered a single syllable.

Klaus made a face as Caroline stopped him in the middle of their stroll to take a picture.

'You promised me we'd take another one!' she protested 'And it's the first thing I want to do with my new phone' she grinned.

'Alright' he rolled his eyes while, in fact, he quite enjoyed her insistence 'You know I can just draw a picture of you instead'

'I know you can, and it would look better than this technology stuff. But the problem is you always draw me. I want a picture of us' she explained.

'If that's the case, then I'm more than happy to take a picture with you' He grinned back

'You better' she quickly said, stopping a man in the middle of the street and politely asking him to take a picture for them.

She stepped back towards Klaus and he wrapped his arms around her so that her back rested on his chest. The man picked the perfect timing for the picture, taking it when Klaus planted a kiss on Caroline's forehead and she leaned into him even more.

As soon as Caroline received her phone back, she set the picture as her background and smiled in satisfaction.

For a long while, the happy couple walked hand in hand silently, contented with the comfort of each other's presence.

'So what is so special about me, Caroline?' Klaus casually asked her, the playfulness of his voice hiding the actual confusion behind his question. He would never admit it to anyone, but the fact was that he found it impossible for anyone to care for him, let alone love him, if he did not force them into it.

'Umm' Caroline squinted at him thoughtfully 'Your dimples and accent!' she concluded teasingly 'They make a killer combination'

Klaus laughed 'That's the only thing that's keeping you with me?'

'Yeah, it's hard to find someone who has both' she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

'Yes, it's very hard to find a British man with dimples' he confirmed.

Caroline chuckled 'It's even harder to find a British man with dimples who's like you. So rest assured you're not getting rid of me anytime soon'

'Well, I can't say that I have any complaints about that' he grinned, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and she nuzzled closer to him.

'I'm still curious, though' Caroline casually noted.

'About what, love?'

'About you' she hesitantly said 'I wanna know what you've been doing in those thousand years. I mean, there must be a lot of stories to tell'

Klaus smiled 'There isn't much to say, Caroline; I've lived those years running away from ghosts of the past. That wasn't much of a life' he shrugged.

'Yeah' Caroline cleared her throat 'but there must have been sometimes when you, like, did fun things'

'The closest time I've ever come to fun was in the 1920s when I met Stefan' he quickly said 'And that did not last for long'

'Oh' Caroline mouthed, seeing that distant look in his eyes that was always present when he talked about his memories.

'I've lived, of course, went places, saw things, met people, but there was always this one thing that would stop all things good' he thoughtfully said without meeting her eyes.

'Mikeal' she muttered

'Yes' he nodded 'But rest assured, love, that the only time I've ever been happy is with you' he softly added with a sweet smile.

'I've never been as happy as I am with you, either' she blurted out then pressed her lips. Maybe she was being a little too obvious about her feelings and how much she loved him.

He said nothing, but pressed his lips to hers quickly.

The night had set in and Klaus had left Caroline alone. She was pacing back and forth in an uncontrollable state of anxiety.

'I'll be back soon, love' he had simply said 'Just have a few things to take care of'

And Caroline knew exactly what these things were. The problem was that she did not like those things; they included a lot of blood and dead people and the taste of the red liquid on his lips when she would kiss after he came back. Those things included trouble; a lot of trouble and the promise of their first fight… first fight since they became an actual couple. She knew that even if she tried to push the subject away, she would not succeed. Caroline simply couldn't bear the idea of him killing people anymore. Maybe that subject should have been brought up earlier, but Caroline wanted to live the fantasy for as long as it could possibly last. She knew that the fantasy was marked over in that night.

Not knowing what else to do, she headed downstairs and towards the swimming pool where she stood beside it staring absently at the starlit night sky.

What should I tell him? Go on bunny diet? I can't have you kill people anymore? I can't pretend like nothing is wrong when I know you have just killed someone?

'Miss Forbes' she heard Elijah's voice behind her. Too preoccupied with her thoughts, she did not hear him approaching her.

'Elijah' she gave him a small smile upon turning around to face his always-composed face 'You scared me'

'I'm sorry, Miss' he smiled slightly in return.

'Why do you have to call me, Miss?' she asked him, squinting.

Elijah chuckled 'You may think that it is an old-fashioned thought, but I find it highly inappropriate to call a lady with her first name without her permission'

She shook her head lightly, suppressing a laugh 'You can call me Caroline if you want'

'Well, Caroline, do you happen to know where my brother is?' he asked with a wide smile plastered across his face, not attempting to hide how humored he was.

'Well,' Caroline muttered 'he is out hunting. So I guess that narrows it down to Barcelona's dark alleys' she sighed, dropping her gaze.

'I see' and he truly did for it was written all over Caroline's face that she did not like that factor the least bit. Hesitantly, Elijah stepped closer to her.

'My brother..' he started slowly 'seems to truly care for you'

'Yeah' Caroline muttered 'I do, too. A lot actually' she licked her upper lip, staring at the water instead of meeting his curious eyes 'As twisted and as senseless it is, I love Niklaus. I do not know what happened or how it happened, I just know that he had got under my skin, and even though I should know better than falling in love with him, and even though I know that it's the most ridiculously insane thing I would ever do, I can't seem to stop myself from loving him' her eyes formed tears as the words streamed out of her mouth. She could not seem to be able to stop them. Elijah's face was still composed when she looked back at him.

'This is inappropriate, I'm sorry' she quickly apologized, holding back her tears. She could feel herself on the verge of breaking down for the mere thought of what lay ahead. Stranded between the urge that told her to talk him out of his hunting trips despite all consequences and no matter what ought to happen between them, and the urge that told her to ignore it all even though that would eventually consume her and she would inevitably explode. Maybe taking the first route was far better. No matter how much they would try to avoid it, a nasty talk about his life style would occur sooner or later.

Might as well be sooner. She bit her lip.

'Don't be sorry' Elijah murmured, looking unseeingly onwards and adding calmly 'I will not pretend that I am not shocked by the occurrence of this…' he paused, looking for the appropriate word 'relationship' he concluded 'or that I am not grateful for the obvious effect you have made in my brother's life. Nor will I pretend that committing to my brother is an easy task. Quite frankly, committing to my brother might be one of the most difficult things anyone can do' Elijah muttered his last sentence, staring down thoughtfully. When his gaze returned back to hers, his eyes were a mixture of weary, sympathetic and sad? Pained? Caroline couldn't place it.

'But I beg of you one thing, Caroline' he added 'Be careful with his heart. It's far more fragile that he leads on'

Caroline found herself beyond shocked at his last statement. Elijah was not the first to tell her to look after Klaus for Rebekah, even though in a much different style, had told her to take care of him in an indirect way between her threats. And for the second time, Caroline had absolutely no words for Elijah nor did he want her to say a thing as he immediately proceeded to the door only stopping by it to quickly turn to her, slightly bowing.

'Until we meet again, Caroline' he said, with a slight smile before disappearing.

But, Elijah, I do know that his heart is too fragile. I just hope that he knows that mine is just as frail.

Thanks for reading :D Thoughts? Please share them!

Next chapter hold troubles. Most chapters from now will hold troubles, time for things to get worst before they may or may not get better.

Off I go :D