XVII.

They didn't let go of each other, even though several minutes had passed. Klaus and Hayley clung onto each other like- well, honestly, like they cared for each other beyond what even their child would account for. Caroline thought then, of what she had when she'd caught Hayley's voice the first time she had been in the presence of the Mikalesons' family home: what if the years had gone by, and they'd actually managed to…

But no. That couldn't be. Because there was Elijah and there was Hayley pushing her towards Klaus every chance she got. Nothing romantic, not even close.

So then, Klaus was holding Hayley in his arms, as Freya and Bonnie stared, their own thoughts becoming transparent. The witches looked like they'd just been slapped across the face, separately, but possibly by the same person; dumbstruck, and they couldn't believe they'd just gotten what they had asked for.

It was crazy, and it was wrong that in this day, Freya had found a victory, and that she would be walking away with one less problem on her shoulders, but had granted Klaus a thousand others instead.

Freya and Bonnie weren't immortal, which meant they couldn't possibly understand what it was to add the factor of forever to whatever problem they were facing. In this case, Hayley and Klaus, and someday Hope, she imagined, would have to live with what they did and what they decided in this very room.

Caroline felt her hand tremble at her side, as she imagined a future, maybe twenty years from now. The eldest Mikalesons unchanged as Hope came back home with the person she loved and discussed with her parents, the prospect of a lifetime with her partner. And then they'd have to explain to her, for the first time perhaps, or the tenth, on why it was never safe to bring someone deep into her life. Because being with her, it could only mean danger.

For Hope Mikaleson, being herself would always be the equal to being hunted and only half alive. Caroline could see that now, she could understand. She'd seen it Klaus' eyes when he'd turned to watch her.

And she felt angry that this had to be the case at all. And without really realizing it, she'd started scowling in Freya's direction, and this, knowing full well that all her actions were somewhat justified, and that Klaus himself had understood the catalyst of her request. He'd looked away and he'd said, Do it, but that didn't mean that Caroline was relieved, or in any way content with how this had turned out.

She might've not been on the loop beforehand, this might not even be any of her business, but she realized she didn't much care whether she had a place in giving his older sister dirty looks and pursed lips. Maybe, a few words afterwards too.

But then Hayley was gasping for air, as if in the minutes that everything had gone quiet, she hadn't breathed at all. Klaus seemed to react at the exact same second as her. And Caroline only watched, even though it felt as if she, and the other two for that matter, were intruding in something deeply personal. And, well, she supposed they were.

Bonnie had a hand on Freya's shoulder, the both of them unable to look at the other couple across from them this time. Now that they were no longer statues in their wake, now that they'd gone back to highly volatile hybrids they'd just wronged. How ridiculous, surely, that they hadn't instantly fled when they'd gotten their answer.

Caroline would've, if she felt like she could move. At the moment something wasn't letting her.

You need to stay here. He's here. You need to stay.

Hayley whispered something to Klaus, Caroline wasn't quick enough to catch it. He only nodded and gave out a sigh, his hands were tentative as he let them fall to his sides. He closed his eyes again, like something was paining him, physically that is.

Caroline wondered momentarily, if after a thousand years, he could still make out a distinction. Or if he could, was it blurry, like one's eyesight through the unconscious tears, or clear, like he'd always made his intentions. Pain emotional or physical, Caroline had often found to be the same in her core.

His eyes rarely gave anything away, but when he placed them upon her, she thought she could hear his voice, in her ear, and loud like a scream. Please. And it wasn't begging, and it wasn't questioning; it was a deafening defeat, one coming from words never spoken and voices never heard. Please, what?

Could she do anything?

He looked away, and her eyes were now on Hayley, who was the portrait of a woman broken. Her gaze was stuck on the floor, but Caroline thought she could make the outline of her big, wide eyes, and there were tears, and everything was wrong. And clearly, now she not only felt protective of Klaus, but of Hayley too.

She could see it too, imagine it, how they'd have to teach Hope always to defend herself first and live second. Freya had just uncovered for them another reason why their daughter would never get to live a full and happy life. How the second she was grown up, they would have to ease her adolescent mind of the fact that she was a weapon, and target, and a war, all clamped up in the innocence she would be forced to destroy.

Caroline thought of Josie and Lizzie then, her own daughters who she loved with unending devotion. She'd left Mystic Falls with the one purpose of making sure they'd never have to go through what Klaus' daughter would.

Who could ever call him selfish? Who could ever call him a monster?

She knew, of course she knew this wasn't the only part of him. This wasn't who he'd always been. But she found she didn't care, and this-

"I'm sorry," Freya said, loud enough so that they could just hear her. Bonnie had stiffened again.

Klaus made to lock eyes with his sister again, and Caroline couldn't be sure of what was so deeply engraved in his stare. He didn't say a word, he just straightened and placed his arm around Hayley once more. Freya was staring back at Klaus, and if eyes could ever look pleading and desperate, sorrowful too, she would be the epitome.

Still, there wasn't any more screaming, or crying or breaking glasses. They just stared, as if they had all the time in the world to keep doing just that. Caroline took a step forward, surprised by her own movements, and at this Klaus made a sharp move of his head at her.

Please- she stopped moving.

The sun outside wasn't so overbearing anymore, but it was still bright and it disturbed the room. It felt freezingly cold inside, Caroline was astonished that she could even be aware of such a thing. She thought she would turn around any second to look out the window and find a murderous storm. But when she finally allowed herself to, all she found was light, and sun, and a cheerfulness she suddenly recented.

How could anyone be happy when he looked like that, and when she felt like this. So utterly useless and far away. Acquainted enough so that she could feel his pain as her own, but not so much so that she could- so that she could what?

She'd tried to come closer just now, but he made use of that strange communication they had and made her stop. She'd wanted to and he didn't. She reminded herself, Klaus was complex and he liked to be alone to brood, and to account himself a monster, and everyone else, his adversaries. Was her analysis even correct anymore?

His head did something, like a nod, but barely, directed at his sister, and then he was guiding Hayley along towards the door. Caroline caught his dark blue eyes on hers one last time, and again, please, and she couldn't ask, please, what?

They left, and after only a minute, she heard the tell tale signs of furniture being torn to pieces on the other side of the house. Maybe a table, although it sounded more like a chair. Bonnie and Freya had surely heard something, but fortunately they couldn't hear the cursing and the swearing and the deafening screaming Hayley was muffling on something.

"We should go, I think, give them some space," Bonnie said, grabbing hold of Freya's hand, who nodded curtly. Caroline pursed her lips and followed after them downstairs.

It felt wrong to leave, when she thought of words unspoken, but which had been made louder to her because of it. Another thing was crushed, and this time it hit the glass of a window, or the panels of a door. Somehow, she could tell, they were all sure it had been Hayley and not Klaus who was responsible for the wreckage.

Caroline only heard one last, Hayley, please, before Freya closed the gate behind her and they were on the street. The sun on her skin was like a blade, and it made her shiver. She didn't want to be outside and she didn't want to leave.

Please leave- please stay. Please, what?

"I'll be back later, Care," Bonnie told her, the worry in her eyes transparent. Freya looked to be holding down on breaking until she was told she could, by Bonnie apparently, "I'm taking Freya to the bell tower."

Caroline frowned, as she had unending questions pop into her mind, but she decided it wasn't the time. And she nodded at her friend, who without waiting for anything else to go wrong, turned back on her feet and walked away, a sickly looking witch on her arm.

Caroline spared one last look at the closed gate to the compound, and decided, she couldn't know what he needed of her. As much as she liked to pretend, she couldn't read his mind and she couldn't translate the looks he gave her. It'd been clear, nevertheless, that he wasn't asking and he wasn't begging; he was merely struggling.

She was barely inside her -Hayley's- apartment when she was compelled to finish her previously interrupted train of thought. Klaus Mikaelson was the hybrid killer also, who'd been feared for generations on end. The ruthless king of the immortal kind. That was the other side of him.

But he was also Nik, devoted brother, father, and judging by what she'd just witnessed, friend. He was that too, and maybe he was more Nik than he was anything else, she thought. And no matter the duality of his person, she knew he had a hold of her, a say with her, and a piece of her. Irreversibly, and inevitably so.

It shook her and it thrilled her. Unsurprisingly, it never scared her. She could admit that to herself now.

He had stayed, and so that could only mean that he had changed. Hayley had been able to see, and to recognize that she could lean on him. It hadn't looked like a recent discovery, nor very ancient either. Whether this was something new or not, Caroline did not care because she knew the shift in him wasn't a product of her imagination, and that she hadn't been lying to Ric when she defended Klaus to him. Klaus was trying, and it was there for the rest of the world to marvel at.

She settled at the table and stared at her hands; she still felt cold, but her face was hot. She was missing something. No- no, the problem was she was not missing anything. She'd left their home with all marked opinions and realizations when she wasn't supposed to. Elijah had said they would compel her to forget and yet she was there, her memories intact.

She saw Klaus' hands holding on to the bar, unable to hide his hurt, and the betrayal he felt coming from his sister. Please. She saw him wrap his arms around his broken friend and give the order that had torn him to shreds, visibly so. Please.

She wasn't doing enough, not nearly enough. She was doing nothing. Elijah had said they would be compelling her to forget, but he'd also told her she had to be there, or else the world would collapse. They hadn't been giving Klaus enough credit, but then again, Elijah might've just miscalculated what it was that his brother truly needed. Not a moderator, but a- a friend? Whatever the accurate term was, she wasn't doing a good enough job of filling it.

Klaus always said he wanted to be left alone, that he felt more comfortable left to his own devices when something didn't go his way. She'd always thought it was his way to cope, drowning in solitude in order to fix himself. But she was certain that if she'd just made this incredibly draining decision, the last thing she would want to be, was alone. She felt her chest tighten at the prospect of leaving him.

Please, and she considered, maybe he had been asking for something, however softly. What if he didn't want her to leave at all.

She sat there, for minutes she would never be bothered to count. And the light outside ceased slightly, nothing changed on the other side of the street, save for the laugh of a little girl coming home.

They'd have to tell her, someday, that she would have to defend herself first, and live second.

A door opened and closed and she paid it no mind, her phone buzzed and she ignored it. Not tonight, her focus wouldn't shift tonight. Or not for long. Because she knew she wouldn't be able to hold these memories for much longer. And it was bizarre the urgency with which she wanted an original to come take a piece of her mind away, however tiny it may be.

The chair was uncomfortable, and the noise coming from the kitchen was distracting. She kept thinking that maybe he was only begging her to say nothing while he handled Hayley, as in please stay put and wait for me to erase the evidence away from your brain.

But then his eyes had been soft and strangely commanding, and she just couldn't let it be. And at last, she stood, and decided she didn't much care what his eyes were trying to say. Caroline had already settled that she would not stand for his being alone.

Elijah was home, and Hayley wouldn't need him any longer. Klaus needed someone too. Please. How selfish of her to think she would be the one to fill the gap; that he'd even want her to. She tried to bury the noise of Elena's voice further-

Oh she was- she'd been talking. Right. "Can you believe he said that? Caroline? Are you okay?"

She blinked, still standing, and her gaze found her friend, moving around the kitchen in an attempt to make dinner. Elena was a shit cook. "Huh?"

"Klaus, he said I'm the reason he won't let Damon out, as if this wasn't all his wretched family's fault in the first-"

"Elena," Caroline heard her own voice: angry, and indignant that her friend could even still hold the Mikaelsons to such standards even after- well, she didn't know. She supposed Elena would never know. "Klaus has a lot on his plate right now, so does his entire family. And you know, Damon's safe in there. Actually, if you look at it from a logical standpoint, it's better that he's there, this way he doesn't do something stupid, and he won't find out-"

She halted on her words when she caught sight of Elena's face. That same frown, pursed mouth. She always did think the Gilberts had a particularly unnerving way of sneering. She always wondered too if anyone else had ever wanted to punch it out of their faces; she believed she had done so to Jeremy once or twice. Protecting Bonnie's honor and whatnot.

"Please tell me you didn't just say that," her voice was stone cold. Caroline refused to be intimidated into backing down. Really, she had seen first hand all the pain that family had endured in a little less than a month, not to mention the years since Marcel was put down. She had too much information to allow Elena's opinion offhandedly.

She recalled the way his knuckles had turned white in fists, how he had all but failed to cover his hurt when Freya made her intentions clear. And how sadly, Hayley and he had given in with gasps and visible self loathing. No, they most definitely did not deserve Elena bad mouthing them because Klaus didn't trust her and Damon not to run.

"I did, Elena, because it's the truth. They're most certainly flawed, but they're not some sort of almighty source of evil. They have their own shit going on-"

"They have Damon in chains, Caroline! And it's been weeks!" Elena shouted, walking closer until just the table was between them. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"We've all been in chains at some point, Elena. We've all had to endure captivity somewhere along the line. I'm certain enough to say that the Salvatores had us locked up with some not so entirely selfless reasons once or twice," she paused, "Damon can handle this, Elena, he's had worse," she snorted, "he's done worse himself."

Her friend stood silent, but Caroline could hear the beating of her heart quicken. Her paling fingers were gripping so tight around the table, the wood creaked. "It's not the same, Damon is human-"

"I was human when he all but decided I wasn't worth his decency, his very own disposable blood bag," Elena flinched, "What makes you think Damon being human suddenly ridded him of everything he's done? May I remind you Enzo and I spent weeks compelling people back to ignorance for all the things he ever did? Believe me, I won't ever forget what's on his rap sheet."

"Caroline-"

"No, look, that's not even the point, Elena. If there was any sense of justice in the universe, we would all be rotting in hell. We've all done terrible things, we've killed too, we've lost control," she swallowed and took a breath, "I guess I just don't understand why we get a free pass, including Damon, but the Mikalesons are too much of a lost cause."

Elena said nothing, though Caroline could tell she wasn't convinced. They'd had this same conversation about so many other people, but she knew that once her friend had made her mind up about someone, it wasn't going to change. Still, she knew Elena's hatred of Klaus and his family was justified; they successfully plotted her death more than once. And her words might've made no difference, but she'd felt like she just had to say it.

"It's not the same, Caroline."

It was clear, there was nothing else to be discussed. Maybe Caroline had let her feelings get in the way of what was logical, of what was expected. But she didn't much care at that moment if Elena was able to see right through her. So she just sighed, and walked away from the place of the unlikely battle.

A smash of a door and then another and she found her walk towards the compound was, for once, confident. She entered the place without hesitation and didn't even care to see Kol and his wife there, arguing. She didn't spare them a second glance as she let herself get past them and to the last place she had seen him. He wasn't in the library, which had been left deserted, only the shattered glass and the echoes of screaming harbored the place.

Caroline didn't think as she let herself further into the corners of the house she hadn't been inside before. Door after door, she found no sound. Up the stairs, there was a table with framed photographs. One caught her attention: Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah and Hayley with Hope in her arms. Not all were sporting smiles, but she could feel the happiness coming from the foreign memory.

Maybe, someday, they'd have to tell Hope that she would have to defend herself first and live second. And maybe, someday...

Then up the stairs again, and she found a noise, scraps of conversation and the steadying sound of Elijah's voice. She walked past that door, then the other, and rushed down the hall once more. She knew he was here, but she didn't know where.

"What are you doing?" A female voice that spoke with animosity: Rebekah's. Caroline flashed her eyes at her, she was closing a door behind her, and she looked back at Caroline with wariness.

She didn't find any use in saying anything other than the truth, "I'm looking for Klaus."

Rebekah raised a brow at her, and Caroline expected some cheeky remark about her relationship status. Maybe even a direct attack to Caroline's morals. However, all she got was indifference. The original flipped her hair over her shoulder and shrugged.

"Last door to the right," and then she was gone, with no other words spoken. She blinked at the darkness, and put the unexpected exchange on the back of her mind for the time being.

The door Rebekah had pointed her to was now in front of her, and she shifted on her feet. Caroline figured she might as well knock. She heard movement and then, "Go away, Elijah," he sounded tired, and angry still and she couldn't quite blame his wanting to repel his brother.

She pushed the door open, and heard his groan of exasperation, but this didn't stop her in the least. She knew, his reluctance was more often than not some sort of twisted defense mechanism. She knew he didn't want to be alone.

She didn't want him to be alone.

The door closed behind her and she found him on the four poster bed. Sitting on the edge and with his face on his hands, breathing heavily as if still in the process of calming down. "Not Elijah," she announced, and immediately his eyes were on her.

Please.

The lights on the corners of the room were on, but the glimmer was barely enough. She paused on her steps to consider him, hair disheveled, suggesting he had been tugging at it for some time. Eyes wide and glazzy, the single trace of a tear marking his cheekbone. He had shed his jacket at some point, a thin black sweater was all that was around his torso for comfort.

"Caroline, right now it's not- not the best time," she could tell it took a lot of effort for him to speak like that, like everything was fine.

Perhaps Elijah had been right, Klaus possessed marvelous self control when around her. She doubted he gave anyone else the same consideration he did her. Only maybe his daughter. But she didn't want him to, not right now and not anymore. It struck her that she would much rather hear him scream and break things, than watch as the pain swallowed him whole.

The truth was, she not only wanted to be some sort of rein for him, she also wanted to be the type of person he would come to when all came crashing down. Yes, she saw herself there, in that place, yelling at Freya because she could believe in the battles he chose to fight. And holding him close when he said, Do it, knowing she could make it better.

"I didn't want you to be alone," she confessed, "I wanted to be here for you."

He blinked, and then stared plainly at her. He made no move, his limbs looked exhausted. And Caroline thought, perhaps, he was trying to figure her out, trying to think of her angle. It pained her even more that he looked confused, even shocked to hear her say that. Surely, she wasn't the first to come back, was she?

She resumed her coming closer, thoughtful steps around the chairs and carpets, glimpses of the street lamps outside clashing with the shadows indoors. His eyes followed her intently, as he stiffened and then relaxed with every second that passed. And then she sat by his side.

When her hand found his, she heard him inhale sharply, "Why?" he whispered. Please.

She frowned. Not nearly sure enough of what he was asking, and so she turned to look at him, his eyes were fixated on their clasped hands. "Why, what?"

He shut his eyes and shook his head. His features hardened, as if he'd just been hit and recovering from a blow, "I've been called evil for a thousand years, Caroline, if they were right or wrong, I never truly cared. It didn't matter what I was so long as I had power," he gave out a heavy sigh, "I just let my sister use my own daughter as a test subject. All this power, it's worthless- bloody worthless if I can't use it when it counts. If I can't protect my daughter-"

"Klaus, this is not your fault," he let go of her hand, running his fingers through his face as if this once he would be able to find he'd only been dreaming.

"Isn't it? I treated Marcel so badly that he felt he needed to drink that bloody serum. I left him in the dungeons for years, didn't notice a thing until it was too late. I- I cared that he wouldn't want to be human, instead of doing what was best- what was logical. And now, I'm standing by as my sister prepares to rob my daughter of her blood to, and surely, guarantee another war she'll have to fight in her lifetime."

And she imagined that someday, they'd have to tell her.

He looked up at her, locking his eyes with hers. A pang of pain crushed her when she saw the tears he was so clearly trying to hold back, granted without succeeding, "I'm the problem, Hayley said so once but I didn't want to believe it-"

"Klaus, this is not your fault. If you're trying to trace every single thing that goes wrong in the world back to you, I'm sure you'll succeed, but that's not how it works. You're not responsible for everything, you shouldn't punish yourself as if you are," her voice had risen, he only stared at her. She searched for his hand again and this time gripped it tighter, as if to make sure he wouldn't drift away.

"My daughter is," he said and his eyes darkened. She could tell there was much more going through his mind, more than what was happening at present. It couldn't be healthy to have a thousand years worth of memories to overthink and overanalyze.

She didn't want him doing that to himself.

So she placed her other hand on his face, making sure he got out of his head for a second. "She is, yes, you're right about that. But Klaus, I'm sure Hope, even at her age, would want to help. And when she grows up, when she does understand what happened here, she won't hold it against you, or Hayley. She'll know it was the right thing to do. She'll be happy she got to save...that she got to save her brother."

They'd have to tell her- defend yourself first, live second.

He said nothing, but Caroline could see in their proximity the glint of light his eyes conjured up by her words. Then he nodded. "That she even has to- I- she shouldn't have to, Caroline."

It pained her senseless to hear his words, to watch his face try to hold tears, try to hide his self loathe. It destroyed her that she knew he was right, and that this heartache and this paralyzing worry about his daughter would never really fade. She'd felt it with her own children not so long ago.

So she nodded, and said, "I know," then she felt holding hands wasn't nearly enough, and that she didn't care if it would feel too much by tomorrow. She wrapped her arms around him, and brought his head to rest on her shoulder, her legs tangling with his. "I know," she said again.

Please, and for once, she wondered why the single word she'd been hearing was wearing her own voice, and not his.

She felt his breathing on her neck, and the droplets from his eyes on her skin. His arms were around her waist a second later, pulling her closer as if he feared he'd fall over if he didn't. Caroline couldn't help the feeling of utter calmness that overcame her as she held him in her arms, yes, this was what she wanted. His nose tickled her neck, she let her hands softly tug at the short strands of his hair.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but when she came to, she had let her head rest on the top of his. His breathing had somehow calmed as he inhaled in and out on her neck. Her body was begging her to come closer if possible, her lips tingled with the notion, her skin was craving. She straightened, and his hands shifted on her back.

Klaus slowly let his head out of the crook of her neck, but didn't let go. Caroline was suddenly all too conveniently aware she had practically jumped into his lap. She made a motion to get her feet on the ground once more, but the look on his eyes stopped her.

She'd seen it before of course, had become acquainted with the way he assessed her, but there under the barely lit lamps, she found it hypnotized her. He sighed, his voice was so warm she could almost feel it gracing her skin, "Stay." Please.

Caroline opened her mouth, the start of an answer attempting to come out. She wouldn't let it, because surely, it couldn't be that simple. It shouldn't be that easy. So there she remained, gaping, and she didn't know how long it would take until she managed to form a response.

She thought Klaus must've thought she looked shocked -which to be fair, she partially was- because he let her legs fall to their place. She tried to amend it, her hand was on his again, as she began saying, "Klaus, it's- I don't-"

"No, I'm sorry, love. I shouldn't have said that," he said, and he locked his eyes on his shoes once more, though he didn't let her hand go. She nodded softly, as a way to brush it off, "Thank you. I was- it's- well, thank you, love, really."

She stared, and then stared some more. The street lamps outside flickered, the ones indoors did too. Someone was using magic, probably Davina downstairs. Caroline couldn't say she cared what it was. The outlines of his face hardened and softened beneath the lights.

She sighed as she ignored the silence that had overcome them, and then stood, swiftly taking her jacket off her shoulders. At this he looked up, frowning with obvious confusion. She threw the jacket on top of his bed, and his eyes followed the garment, as if it was something else, something dangerous what she'd taken off her frame.

"What are you doing?" his question was a whisper, and the tone had fallen flat, like he really desired no reply out of it.

Caroline shook off her boots, letting them fall to the floorboards. His expression was now helpless, but he watched her movements with utter fascination, and palpable intrigue. Her eyes didn't leave him once. If Caroline had to take a guess, she'd say she was looking at him with the same trace of emotions he was showing at the moment.

"I said- I said I wanted to be here for you. And if you want me to stay...then I'll stay." As she said this, something in her head kept telling her, It shouldn't be this simple, It isn't this simple. Well, if she could offer him comfort, and a small or large amount of help, she would make it simple for the night.

His expression grew positively torn. A conflict was clearly roaming through his head, maybe, it was the same one going through her own. She shifted on her now bare feet. He gulped, "Caroline, you don't have-"

"I'm staying, Klaus," she chastised, and his eyes flashed at her. It was the same look he always had when somebody was getting on his nerves. It made no difference to her. She'd already gathered all her courage, and had already decided to dwell on all this when the time was right, which pointedly, was not now.

Tonight was meant to exist on its own timeline, its existence only theirs.

He made no move but to slightly tip his head down, one of his hands floated to his head and then he had two fingers pressed to his temple. She registered what appeared to be a nod. Caroline didn't wait anymore, and walked to the other side of his bed.

He didn't use his heightened speed to walk over to where the light switch was, and before turning them off, their eyes met. The flickering lights were no more. Caroline now laid on his bed, on top of the covers, and with a set of not so comfortable clothes to sleep in.

Sleep.

Yes, that was what she would be staying here to do. Maybe not sleep herself, but in any case help Klaus drift into unconsciousness with little to no nightmares tonight. And in any event, she hardly doubted he would try anything other than what she had in mind. He always looked so tired now, she noted, and she couldn't decide if that was something that had recently come to be, or if it had been there for years, maybe more. Had she not noticed something as transparent as that before? Had she just ignored it?

He'd taken off his shoes and was tentatively slipping onto his bed when she snapped out of her thoughts. Caroline was lying on her side, hands tucked beneath a pillow. The tips of her lips curled automatically as she inhaled deeply on the scent that harbored over his bedding.

It was something so dominant and deliciously intoxicating, she knew it was triggering some parts of her mind. Conjuring old and deeply hidden memories.

The time he came to save her on her birthday, granted after he'd been the one who'd made sure she needed saving in the first place. How he'd spoken to her of beauty and the grandness of immortality as he'd sat on her bedside, his eyes more tender than she ever thought he was capable of. The smell of his hair, of his clothes, of his skin, when he all but held her as she got the first taste of his blood.

She remembered the sounds she'd made and how it felt to have his heavy breathing touch her hair. And how on her eighteenth birthday, she was coming back to life with his blood, and his words and his scent. Her heartbeat had been as ungathered as it was now. She remembered all of it.

She remembered him in the woods, swearing he'd back off from his five-hundred-year-old vendetta only because she had asked. The smile they shared as they kissed for the first time. How she hadn't been able to stop herself once they'd started. The taste of his skin on her lips, borderline addicting. She'd let herself lose control, and oddly, it had been the first time she felt like she'd ever had any.

Now all the way back to here, Klaus was laying on his side too, watching her calmly, like he would any of his invaluable artworks. He was thinking too, though she doubted his wanderings had taken such a specific turn. She regarded the distance between them with a frown.

They were in a bed together already, and apart from stopping themselves from going there, Caroline was assured there was nothing more she would try to put a halt on. So she moved closer, and when she got no reaction from him, she ventured even closer. He stiffened.

"I can't compel you," he suddenly stated, Caroline couldn't help the startle at his words.

"What?"

"Freya said it was safest to compel everyone to protect Hope. And I agree, but I can't- I don't want to compel you, Caroline," he let the words out slowly, and her gaze narrowed on him. She couldn't very well confess that she didn't want to be obliviated either, because she knew it was for the best. It was best that they left no loose ends.

"I know," she said, "but you have to."

He shook his head curtly, and she realized he had tilted his body closer to hers, "I trust you." And if this was a matter of trust, she might've let this be. Still, something tugged at her chest with his admission.

"It's what needs to happen, Klaus. Really, I understand. This is something only Hayley and you should know. No one else." At this, she found his eyes were intently scanning her, and she suppressed the need to recoil. Even through the darkness of his room, she could spy the deep blue of his eyes and the furrow of his brows.

"If you're compelled to forget about it, then you'll also forget that you were ever here tonight," he recounted, and Caroline couldn't confuse the tension of his voice and what almost sounded like regret. She nodded, and slipped closer until their legs were touching.

There was a promise in her head, some set of sentences that would surely ease his mind on the matter, but none of them made it through. This, because she didn't believe them completely. What would be the end of swimming her way through words untrue and altered emotions. She decided no response was the best possible option.

She opted for tipping her head up to watch him again. His frown hadn't ceased to be, Caroline reached up to lightly brush at his forehead. His eyebrows relaxed, his mouth untensed. He blinked at her.

"I trust you, too, Klaus. So, whatever you think is best, I'll be alright with your decision," she breathed the words to his jaw; she couldn't believe it was possible to be drawn this much to someone. She knew her breathing had synched with his.

She felt his hand on her waist, shifting and sliding to her back, momentarily hesitant in its place. She let her fingers rest lightly on his neck. She remembered everything, and perhaps she would remember nothing when the time came. She kissed his jaw, once then twice.

There was a pause in their breathing.

Klaus pulled her closer by the small of her back, letting his lips brush past the tip of her nose, she closed her eyes. Kissing him was perhaps the thing that made most sense at the moment, so Caroline let her impulse lead her, discovering it was only with him that she felt safe to do so.

She felt him closing the gap between them, and nearly trembled when their lips met. He was cautious at first, letting his head inch back after the first touch, giving her an exit. The hand on his neck pulled him back towards her.

Please.

And then it was intense, and she felt in her veins again how his lips could easily become her addiction. The warmth of his body enveloped her, his grasp on her back was tighter. Her teeth brushed against his lips, and then he deepened the kiss until she was sure she had been left panting in his arms.

She wanted more. She wanted it all. It had always struck her as something so unbelievable that he could be so certain about them, that there was no reason to think he had been genuine. But now, the fireworks didn't fade, they just grew stronger. She felt she knew that certainty, but it was only because he had described it to her so many times over.

Their lips parted, and he kissed her cheek, then the tip of her chin, then on the mouth again. She felt breathless as she tried to ease her body of what it so clearly craved: him, and him alone.

His fingers stroked her hair back from her face, caressing the side of her face and neck as he did so. She was running her thumb up and down the nape of his neck.

So maybe, someday, they'd have to tell Hope that she was a weapon, and a target, and a war. And maybe Caroline could be there to say to her too, living should always come first.

/

As always thank you so much for your comments, they warm my heart. And I hope you liked this chapter, there's certainly a lot that will unfold from this one, so yeah, much drama and heavy conversations to come. Thanks for reading!