Hey guys and gals! Happy TVD Day! Thank you so much to everyone that reviewed, followed, and hit that favorite button! You are all the reason I keep writing, so I hope you enjoy what you're reading :)
PLEASE READ::::
So, I'm sure some of you have already done this but: People's choice nominees are up, and voting is open! So make sure you go vote for Delena (if you're a fan of course), TVD, Ian, Nina, The Originals, and of course JOSEPH MORGAN (Klaus)! Just go to the People's Choice website, and go to voting!
Now, back to the story. Happy reading…
Disclaimer: I do not own TVD, The Originals, or any of their characters.
Weeks passed by, and Klaus continued to take photo albums, home videos, anything that could spark her memory, to Caroline's house. He grew frustrated when no more memories surfaced, but he tried to hide it from her as best as he could. However, one day their emotions got the best of them.
A few days prior
"This isn't working, Nik," Caroline launched herself from the couch and started pacing the floor. She felt like she was still looking through a stranger's photo albums, a stranger who oddly looked just like her. She sighed as she ran her fingers through her blonde curls. "Nothing is working."
Klaus was as frustrated as she was. He could argue that he was more frustrated because he actually did remember their life together. He felt the absence of that life every day that she didn't remember. For her, it never even existed. But he knew he had to stay strong for her, at least while he was standing in front of her. She had to know that she could count on him to be her rock. He also didn't want her thinking that he was angry at her for not remembering. So he walked around the coffee table positioned in front of the couch and stopped her movement by placing his hands on her shoulders.
"It's alright, love. There has to be some way to trigger your memory, and we will figure it out. Just give it some time." He tried to stay as calm as possible, not letting any of his irritation show. He continued to remind himself that this was not her fault, which removed most of that exasperation. Klaus needed her to see his hope, not his doubt.
She pushed his hands off of her shoulders. "How are you okay with this? I don't remember us. Our marriage. Our life. Yet you act like it's nothing!" She threw her arms in the air. "Doesn't it bother you?" Her voice was at a yell by the time she finished her question.
Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to remain calm. He wanted to yell back. He wanted to tell her that it bothered him tremendously. He wanted her to know that of all the bad things he had been through in his lifetime, this was probably the hardest thing he's had to deal with: she was right in front of him but didn't love him. It was as if he had had her, but lost her all in a split second. But he didn't want to upset her like that, so he fought his emotions.
"Do you even care?" She screamed again when he didn't reply right away to her first questions. Every piece of her knew that he did. He came to her every day in hopes that she would remember, that proved it, but she felt like she was in a battle that only she could fight, and she was tired. She instantly wished she could take it back when she saw the pain in his eyes.
His head shot up so he could look her in the eyes, to see if she was seriously asking him that question. "Of course I care!" His mask broke. His emotions were burning through him, and there was no stopping them. "How do you think I feel? I sit here every day, trying, fighting for you to get your memory back. I have to live with the fact that I love you, and you don't feel the same." When he saw the tears forming in her eyes, he lowered his voice. "I try to hide my anger from you because I don't want you to feel responsible for this. It isn't your fault. It's my fault!" He turned away from her and took his seat on the couch again. He put his head in his hands as he tried to get some control over his feelings.
"Your fault?" Caroline quietly asked, her fury evaporating. "What are you talking about? This is not your fault." She took a seat on the coffee table in front of him. When he wouldn't look at her, she pulled his hands away from his face. She saw the tears in his eyes. "Why do you think this is your fault?"
"You were coming to see me. I should have just gone home that night. I could have taken the paintings home with me to finish. You should never have been driving in that fog." His voice was barely a whisper.
"Nik," she grabbed both his hands in hers. "From what I heard, I chose to get in that car and come to you. That accident was not your fault and it wasn't mine. It was exactly what I said, an accident. You were doing your job, and I know I wouldn't have expected you to bring it home just so I wouldn't try to bring you dinner. Those were my choices, and I don't want you feeling guilty about it anymore, okay?" She squeezed his hands.
His eyes were still filled with tears as he listened to her speak. "I'll try, sweetheart, but I'm not making any promises."
"I'll tell you every day if that's what it takes," she smiled.
Present Day
Klaus was stomping around his house. He felt helpless. There seemed to be nothing he could do to help Caroline get her memory back. She had done as she promised, reminding him every day that it wasn't his fault that she had gotten in that accident, and if he was being honest, he was finally starting to believe it. He felt hopeful every time he saw her, believing that that would be the day all her memories would come rushing in. But whenever no memories returned, the doubt would creep back into his mind as he made his way home alone every night.
He slammed the refrigerator door shut for what had to be the tenth time when he still couldn't find anything to eat. He wasn't really hungry. The knot in his stomach was far too large to leave any room for food, but he knew he needed to eat something since it had been almost 24 hours since his last meal.
"What did the refrigerator ever do to you?" A female voice asked.
Klaus turned around to see his sister standing in the doorway. Normally, he would have been glad to have the company, but today was just a bad day for him. It was one of those days where everything seemed to be piled on top of him, and he didn't know how he was going to make it out.
"How did you get in?" He asked the blonde as he made his way into the living room and plopped down in his chair.
Rebekah followed him and took a seat on the couch. "Now, that isn't any way to greet your dear sister is it?"
Klaus rolled his eyes and sighed. "What are you doing here, Rebekah?"
She crossed her legs and leaned back, letting her brother know she was going to be there for a while if she needed to be. "I came to check on you. How are things going with Caroline?"
"Just wonderful," he smirked.
Then it was time for Rebekah to do the eye rolling. "I can tell you are in a terrible mood, Nik, but please don't take it out on me. I'm just here because I care about you."
"And you seem to be the only one."
"I know that can't be true. Matt told me about what happened at the Grill. Caroline chose you." Rebekah reminded him.
He almost smiled at the memory of that night. "She hasn't remembered anything else since then. I don't know how to change that."
"Well, what happened that made her remember last time?"
He explained to her what happened that night, and the wheels in her mind started churning as she started to think of ways to help her brother.
"I've got an idea," she declared after a moment of silence.
Klaus raised his eyebrows as a signal that he was listening and for her to continue. At this point, he would try anything.
"Recreate something that happened in your life together, something that is meaningful to the both of you. You've tried pictures and videos, but maybe if you actually do something you've done before, she will remember," the blonde explained.
Klaus' smile began to grow as a thought popped into his mind. "Our first date." He jumped out of his chair and planted a kiss on his sister's cheek. "Thank you, Rebekah."
"Anytime," she smiled. "But I must be on my way. Matt is waiting for me. Let me know how it goes," she called over her shoulder as she made her way out the door.
Klaus sent Caroline a text telling her to get dressed because he was taking her somewhere. He told her it was a surprise, but that he would be there at seven. She agreed, so he hurried to get ready, and then made his way to her house.
Caroline was curious as to where he would be taking her, but she didn't ask too many questions. She liked surprises, and she figured he knew that. Besides, she felt like the past couple of weeks had been pretty rough and the two of them deserved a night out. She put on a casual dress and a pair of wedges, and made her way downstairs to wait for him to pick her up. The doorbell rang at exactly seven o'clock.
"Right on time," she smiled as she opened the door.
Klaus was standing there in a black shirt and jeans, his usual necklaces in place. He wanted to comment on the fact that she had said that to him on their first date as well when he showed up on time, but he decided against it. He did, however, wait to see if it produced any memories, but when he saw that it didn't, he spoke.
"Always," he stated as he did on that first night. "You look beautiful, love."
He saw the light blush cover her cheeks as she thanked him. He led her out to the car, and began to drive in the direction of the restaurant.
"Where are we going?" She asked.
He looked over at her and smiled, his dimples obvious. "You'll just have to wait and see." He had to tell himself to quit expecting these typical phrases to spark her memories and to just enjoy the evening.
"Fine," she stated, "but only because I love surprises."
Klaus chuckled, but didn't say another word. He pulled up at the only nice restaurant in town. It was an Italian restaurant, and everyone was familiar with it that grew up in or around Mystic Falls. He walked around the car to help Caroline get out. He made sure to watch her facial expressions, much like he did that first night.
He saw the slight smile dancing on her lips, and he couldn't help but get his hopes up. "What's so funny?" He asked.
Her eyes widened in surprise. She had no idea he had been watching her so closely. "It's nothing." She shook her head.
"No, tell me," he pushed.
She gestured towards the restaurant. "It's just so typical for a first date. Although, this isn't a first date, or a date really, but…" she started rambling.
He had hoped her first statement would have done something, but if it did, she didn't let him know. "Actually, I brought you here on our first date, and you told me the same thing; it was so typical for a first date."
Her face flushed in embarrassment. "That was so rude of me. I didn't even know you that well back then."
He laughed. "That's what I always admired about you, your honesty. But Rebekah gave me the idea of recreating our first date. Maybe that will bring up another memory."
"Oh, yes, that's a great idea! Let's go in. We'll get the same table, and you can tell me what I ate if you remember, and…"
He cut her off. "We didn't actually go in." When he saw her confused expression he continued. "You told me it was a typical first date, and I'm anything but typical," he smirked, "so we left."
"Where did we go?" Her brow was still puckered.
"Let's go, and I'll show you." He opened her door and waited for her to get in the car before going to his own side. Then, he drove off to the next location.
Caroline didn't expect the little detours that they had to make, but she was excited to see where the date would ultimately lead. Klaus pulled into the parking lot in front of a small store and told Caroline to wait in the car. Not wanting to ruin the process of what she had done on the first date, she did what he said. When he returned, he handed her the bag and pulled out of the parking lot to go to the next destination. Caroline looked inside the bag to see a blanket.
"What do we need a blanket for?" She asked.
Klaus threw her a crooked smile. "You'll see."
She sighed. "Should I just stop asking questions until we get there?"
"Probably." He kept his eyes on the road.
Their next stop was at a deli. Klaus told Caroline to follow him in, as she had done on their first date. When he asked her what she would like, she asked for the same thing that she had all those years ago: turkey on a crescent roll. He placed their order, and after they received it, they made their way back to the vehicle. The next stop was their last destination. It was a spot on the outside of town. There was no one around, but there were trees as far as the eye could see.
"Please tell me we aren't going hiking," Caroline stated as she looked out her window. When she didn't get a reply she turned to see that Klaus was busy getting everything together. "Nik?"
He looked at her, perfectly aware of the question that she had asked. "It's just a short hike."
"Nik! I didn't wear shoes for hiking." She pointed down to her wedged heels. "You could have at least warned me."
"I didn't on our first date, so I couldn't now. Sorry, sweetheart." He got out of the vehicle, and went around the other side to help her get out. He had the blanket and food in a bag in his hand. "I promise it's not a long walk."
"It better not be!" She responded as she closed the door behind her.
He smiled at the response that was so similar to the first time. Please let this work, he thought to himself. "Come on." He began to lead her towards the trees.
They were only walking about ten minutes when a clearing broke in the trees. There was a small garden of wild flowers scattered through the small open field, but that wasn't where they stopped. They continued to walk until they were just inside the tree line on the other side of the clearing. Klaus stopped, and Caroline made a circle as she took in their environment.
"This is where we are stopping?" She asked, not understanding why it was so special.
Klaus laid out the blanket on the ground before motioning for Caroline to take a seat. "If everything goes according to plan, you will see why around sunset."
Caroline didn't ask any more questions. She and Klaus took a seat on the blanket, and Klaus handed her the sandwich she ordered. They ate, and Klaus did as she had asked by trying to discuss the things they had discussed on their first date. He did as best as he could to remember as much as possible, but he knew he wasn't covering everything. Right about sunset, he told Caroline to be as quiet as possible and watch in the open field.
Caroline took in the view of the beautiful flowers and the way the sunlight was breaking through the bottom of the trees as it began to set. She was beginning to think that was the sight that Klaus wanted her to see when all of a sudden an image hit her like a ton of bricks. She gasped.
Klaus' eyes began to search the open field because he figured she had seen what she had been intended to see, but when he didn't see anything he turned to look at her. Her eyes were wide and one hand was placed over her mouth.
"What is it?" Klaus asked, beginning to panic.
Caroline turned towards him, a smile forming on her lips. "I remembered it. It was just an image, but I remembered sitting here and looking out at the field. It was full of horses."
Klaus' smile matched hers. "Yes! They are wild horses, mustangs. They come here all the time, and we come to watch them ever so often. You remembered!" He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
"It worked." She whispered in his ear. Then, she pulled far enough away so that she could see his face, but she was still close enough that she could feel his breath. "It worked," she repeated.
His hands moved to either side of her face, holding her close. "Yes, it did." He smiled.
Her eyes flickered to his mouth as she licked her lips. She felt so close to him in that moment, not only physically, but emotionally. She wanted him to kiss her. She laid her forehead on his and closed her eyes. The butterflies in her stomach were swarming as she felt his nose brush against hers.
Klaus wanted nothing more than to close the gap between them in that moment. His lips longed to be against hers, but he didn't know if she was ready for that yet. He could tell that she wanted him to kiss her, but he didn't want to give her any reason to pull away from him emotionally, so he used every bit of strength he had and pulled away. He kissed her on the forehead before standing up. He could see the disappointment on her face. She looked like she had been rejected and that broke his heart. He pulled her to her feet and smashed her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her.
"Not yet," he whispered in her ear.
She nodded against his chest, reassured that he wanted to kiss her, but disappointed that it didn't happen that night.
"Let's get you home." He told her, but again saw the saddened look on her face. "Maybe we can watch a movie or something before I leave."
She smiled. "Okay, sounds good." She helped him pick up their things before they left. On the way to the car, she entwined their hands, trying to give him a sign that proved she was in this for the long haul, no matter how long it took. "Hey, what about the horses?" She asked when she realized they didn't stick around to see if the horses would show up.
"We'll come back," he promised. They got inside the car, and Klaus drove back towards Mystic Falls.