Katherine wasn't sure how she managed to get back to the werewolf camp after her talk with Grace. She wasn't even sure how she ended up in one of the empty cabins with Klaus Mikaelson's arms wrapped tightly around her, while he gently stroked her hair in an effort to calm her down as she sobbed into his shirt.

"Katerina?"

His soft, nearly soothing, British accent whispered near her ear. She could hear the concern in it. She could hear the care in it. And if she focused hard enough, she knew there was more emotion in that one whisper of her name than she could ever decipher. But right now she didn't want to decipher it. Right now all she wanted was what she managed to convince herself she didn't want or need for five hundred years. Klaus.

"Just tell me if you're alright. Are you hurt?"

She could tell he wanted to scold her for going without him. She could tell he was worried the powerful witch had done something to her. But in this moment she couldn't put his mind at ease. She couldn't tell him that Grace hadn't spelled her or tried to hurt her. She couldn't tell him that the reason she was currently struggling to stop crying was because she had lost all hope.

As her tears slowed, she pulled away from him a little and raised her head to look at him. As she stared into those majestic blue-green eyes she found herself unable to speak. The total loss of concentration and her tongue didn't surprise her. It was something that always seemed to happen around Klaus. Whether it was from fear or, whatever this strange sensation was.

"Love?"

She didn't know if what happened next was because of how vulnerable she felt after hearing what Grace Dumont had to say, or if it was a result of him calling her love. Klaus only called Caroline that. The fact that he was saying it to her somehow meant more than it should've. It was just a simple term of endearment, meaning darling or sweetheart. But right now it meant the absolute world to her. "You called me love." She whispered, not having the strength to look away from his captivating eyes.

He didn't answer her. He wasn't sure what to say to that because he hadn't even noticed that was what he called her.

She hadn't been expecting an explanation however. She didn't need one. Hearing him sound so worried for her and then hearing him call her love was all she needed.

In one swift motion, she pressed her lips to his, capturing them in a passionate kiss. A kiss that she was sure the two of them had been wanting for a very long time.

She didn't care about the nagging voice in her head that tried to remind her of Elijah while Klaus was eagerly exploring her mouth with his tongue. She didn't care if she was selfish or a cheater, and Klaus didn't seem to either.

A sigh of pleasure left her lips as he suddenly picked her up and pressed her body against the nearest wall. His hands worked quickly in tearing her tank top from her body, letting the discarded pieces of cloth fall to the cabin floor.

"Klaus."

The way she breathed out his name and tightened her legs around his waist seemed to bring out something in him. A deep desire and longing he had managed to keep hidden until this very moment.

"Katerina." He growled softly while his teeth tugged on her earlobe.

He was holding back. Despite the fact that her shirt had been almost violently torn into a million pieces and his lips were hungrily tasting every inch of her neck, she knew he was giving her the option to back out. To tell him to stop.

She remembered how he worked after all. She never wanted to remember. She never wanted to think about anything prior to his great betrayal. But there were times when she couldn't help it. Times when she couldn't help but think back to those cold winter nights in the castle, where his body would warm hers in his dim candlelit room.

Based on those memories of passion alone, she knew right now he was suppressing his urge to take her right then and there. And she also knew the reason. He wanted to give her a choice.

But what he didn't know was that she already made her choice. The second she felt his soft lips against her own, she made her choice. She wanted this. She wanted him. Damn the consequences. She didn't care if she would regret it later. She didn't even care if Elijah hated her forever because of it.

In this one moment, she wanted Klaus Mikaelson.

She wasn't planning on stopping, and she made sure to prove that to him with an impatient tug on his shirt, helping him remove it.

Once their bodies finally gave out from exhaustion, Katherine noticed a few minutes later that the cabin they were in was now almost completely dark. The sun outside had set and seeing as they were in the woods, she wasn't surprised there was no electricity.

Still, she wasn't uncomfortable in the slightest. Well, save from the soreness between her legs after the hours of intense lovemaking. But overall she felt content. At peace. Better than she had in centuries. It was why she didn't want to say a single word or even move from her spot on the bed, which was right beside Klaus with her head resting gently on his bare chest. She knew once she said anything the moment they seemed to be experiencing right now would shatter.

But a couple of minutes later, she couldn't seem to take the deafening silence any longer. She needed to say something. Anything.

"Am I crazy?" She finally mumbled, slowly glancing up at him.

Klaus didn't answer for a moment, and instead he simply adjusted his arm around her waist, tightening his hold on her lightly. His lips twitched upwards into a small smile. "Well I should hope not. However I am not exactly the best candidate to determine your mental health."

Katherine couldn't help chucking a little, despite trying not to. "Shut up. This is serious. I mean we just..."

"Oh I know." He grinned, meeting the serious look she was giving him with a flirtatious one. "I believe this will be one to remember forever. Especially with the way you screamed my name." He smirked.

"Klaus!" Katherine groaned and draped the blanket over her, covering her face from his view.

"Oh my. What is this? Is the great Katerina Petrova blushing? Whatever will I do now?" He murmured teasingly and in one quick movement, he pulled the blanket off her completely, leaving them both exposed to one another again. Just as he was about to kiss her however, she turned away, letting his lips brush against her cheek.

When she saw the disappointment lingering in his eyes though, she felt the need to explain. "I just...I need to think."

Klaus gave her a small nod, but deep down he knew there was nothing for her to think about. She was with Elijah. A man she had loved quite literally for centuries. A man who was, for the most part, willing to help her. Whilst he in turn killed her entire family and put her through hell for five whole centuries. He didn't expect her to love him, to want him, to forgive him, or to even want to forgive him.

He knew these past few hours had been a miracle. And that was how he would treat the memory. Like something he didn't deserve, but had been lucky enough to have.

"Alright." He mumbled shifting a little, looking at the ceiling above him.

"No don't do that. Don't just shut down on me. Every time I try to have a serious conversation with you, you do anything to avoid it or you get mad at me."

"Katerina, I said it was fine."

He hadn't been trying to prove her point, but he also couldn't control the way his voice sounded more rough than he intended it to.

He sighed, catching the 'I told you so' look in her eyes. "Fine. What do you want me to say? That I have feelings for you? That somehow rescuing you that night started a chain of emotions that I can't control? That I sometimes do not even want to control?"

Katherine blinked slowly at the words coming out of his mouth. She wasn't sure what to say. She just knew she liked what she was hearing. She didn't want to like it. As he spoke, she was trying to remember all he did to her. He cruelly murdered her family. He chased her around the world for five hundred years. He made her like him. Paranoid and selfish. But...also strong, resilient, and, confident. In a way, Klaus made her became a better version of the person she used to be. A stronger version.

"Do you remember what you said to me a few weeks ago? When I found out Elijah was trying to save my life?"

"That he was selfish and not willing to admit it? I do not think I mentioned how obnoxious he is, however I felt as though that went without saying. Anyone who has met Elijah has had detailed fantasies about driving a stake through his heart at least once." He chuckled.

She snorted and lightly hit his chest. "Not that." She mumbled snuggling a little closer to him while she draped her arm around his torso. "You asked me a question. You asked me why I hated you."

"I did. And you grew angry with me, as expected."

"But you were asking the wrong question."

"And what prey tell is the right question then?"

"When. Not why. When did I hate you."

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Alright. I'll bite I suppose. When did you hate me?"

"When I found my mother murdered on my bed. When I saw the bite on her neck and the bloodstained sheets. When I knew that you hadn't just killed my family for revenge because I ran from you. You did it for pleasure. It brought you joy to know I would suffer. I saw it Klaus. I may have been overwhelmed with grief but I noticed. My father was struck with a sword. My sister had blood on her lips and a wound in her stomach. There was no weapon left behind but my guess after all these years is you killed her first and then used the same sword to run my father through. But my mother, she was the only one with a bite. She was the only one you killed slowly and painfully, because you knew how much it would kill me."

Klaus was surprised at the newfound guilt that settled in his heart as he listened to her. But he wasn't surprised that was her answer. Of course it was. He supposed if he would've had parents he actually liked, he would've hated whoever killed them as well.

"I was angry. I believed you were my last chance to break the curse. I didn't know your bloodline continued. It is not a justification, rather an explanation. And I do not ask for you to forgive-"

"Let me finish." She sighed. "Do you know why that was the moment I let myself hate you?"

"Because...I killed your family?" It was meant to be an answer, but even he could hear the uncertainty in his voice.

"That's what I just said." She gave him a look. "My question can't also be your answer."

Klaus sighed heavily. He really didn't want to do this. To listen about how much she grieved her mother and how much he destroyed her for having done what he did. Back then he let his own rage blind him. Back then he hadn't been thinking about her, because he couldn't allow himself to. He knew if he let just one single thought enter his mind, he wouldn't have been able to go through with it. But he didn't want to explain that to her. He just wanted her to say that the past no longer mattered. That she wanted him in spite of it. If she wasn't going to say that, then he didn't see the reason why they needed to talk about this. "Does it matter? You did hate me, and you hate me now. I'd truly rather not hear the details as to when and why. Let's simply call this what it was. We were both lonely and...we gave each other comfort." He pulled away from her and left the warmth of the bed and her body. "And no. I won't tell Elijah." He had no way of knowing if that was on her mind, but he figured if it was, he might as well say it. "What happens in Colorado stays in Colorado."

As he finished dressing himself, he noticed the shreds of both her shirt and her pants scattered over the cabin floor. "I'll...bring your bag from the car." He didn't wait for an answer and exited the cabin.

Katherine watched him leave and no matter how hard she was trying, she couldn't seem to control the feeling of emptiness that settled in her heart just then. She didn't know why she felt that way, nor did she want to find out. Klaus was right. She hated him. And he hated her.

In the end, she decided the best thing for her to do was to focus on that.

--

Author's Note: I was able to finish this chapter as well while trying to think of a title for chapter 28! XD I am in the process of writing chapter 30 but I'm not entirely sure if I'll hit a block. Which is why I ask no one expects for it to be posted in the following few days just in case :)