A/N: Here's part two, which clocks in around 13k. This section has sex, so proceed with caution (or excitement, you know!). Next chapter should be up by the end of the week. Review please!
The next day Caroline finds herself finished work until Monday, saying goodbye to her coworkers, and getting into her vehicle. Instead of going to the home she shares with Klaus she drives to her old home, where her mother should be. Up until this moment she's been too afraid to even try to talk to her mother.
She's afraid Liz will see right through her, and Caroline is so afraid of the look on her mother's face from when she found out she was a vampire. She parks outside their house, staring down the white door as though it has every answer she's ever looked for.
Finally, she gets out of the car and makes the trek up the front walk to her door. It's as familiar to her as her own face; she's lived in the house her whole life, and she knows every chip in the paint or crack in the cement.
Her mom opens the door before Caroline has the chance to even knock or ring the doorbell, and she can barely hold back the swell of tears that hit her when she looks into her mother's eyes, so similar to her own. Liz looks older, but healthy and safe and happy, and Caroline chokes down her emotions.
"Mom, hey." She has nothing else to say, because for once Caroline hasn't thought this far ahead.
Her mom grins at her, "Caroline, how are you? I didn't expect you today! Come in."
"I can't stay long, we have a barbecue at Rebekah's tonight," Caroline explains.
Liz nods, "No problem, you probably have to go pick up Klaus, hey?"
"Yeah, I just wanted to see you." Caroline can't help the admission from leaving her lips. It's true, she's missed her mother more than she could have thought possible.
Liz suddenly grabs her up in a tight hug, "Oh baby, I know it's been tough recently, but you and Klaus... it's going to happen. I've never seen any two people more suited for it."
Caroline rolls her eyes, because of course her mother thinks this is about the stupid baby her and Klaus are supposed to be trying for. Although it's been nice having a cover for her more emotional outbursts.
"We're pausing on the whole baby thing." Caroline tells her mom, pulling out of her embrace, "I just think it's stressing us out more than anything else right now."
Liz looks simultaneously sad and proud of her, and Caroline hates that she knows that expression too. "I'm proud of you, Caroline. I think that's a smart choice, and you two can focus on your marriage."
Caroline burns with questions because she needs to know more about her marriage to Klaus, and whether it is as picture perfect as everyone seems to think.
"Yeah, I mean, maybe having kids just isn't in the cards for us." Caroline mutters, and she feels a hysterical giggle coming on because of course kids aren't in the cards for them, they're vampires.
"You never know, honey, I mean there's always adoption." Liz tells her gently, and Caroline nods slowly.
"I guess. Anyway, I should get going, Klaus is probably wondering where I am."
Liz frowns, "Klaus? You never call him that, Caroline. What's going on?"
Shit shit shit. Caroline laughs a little breathlessly, "Nothing, nothing - we just... we ran into Mikael earlier this week and we've both been a little tense since. We're fine. Nik and I are fine." Caroline tries to say Nik the way she would say Klaus, but it comes out differently anyway, and she's not sure if it's because it feels weird to say it or because in this world she was always meant to call Klaus Nik.
Liz shakes her head, "Mikael is a menace. I wish I could arrest him already, but he's practically untouchable. Plus, my Sheriff days are over." She laughs a little, "I'm glad you two are okay."
Caroline smiles, "Thanks, mom. I love you." She turns and heads back to her car, down the front porch steps.,
"Love you too, Caroline," Liz calls out, "Take care of my son-in-law!"
Caroline pulls herself into the drivers seat, her hysteria rising in her throat a little bit because no matter how many times she told herself this was another universe she never expected her mother to like Klaus.
She drives to her house and parks, and this time she doesn't hesitate to head inside. Klaus is nowhere to be seen, and Caroline panics for a second because she thinks maybe he's left her.
In the end she finds him in his painting studio, coated in paint and working on a painting that is darker than anything else in the room, and yet still features her. It's all blacks, navy blue and grey, and the only thing in the actual painting is a dark blanket with her on it. She's got her arms wrapped around her legs, and Klaus has perfectly captured the way her hair spills out over her shoulders. Her eyes are bright -easily the brightest thing in the painting- and she looks sleepy and happy, and Caroline has never looked at herself the way Klaus apparently looks at her.
"Nik." She doesn't even mean to do it, his name just falls out of her mouth as though now that she's released it she'll never be the same, and Klaus won't even register anymore, only Nik.
He jumps a little, dropping the paintbrush. Caroline thinks she's the first person to ever sneak up on him. When he spins to face her he has paint all over him, and Caroline wants to be angry that he's not ready to go to the barbecue, but she just can't quite bring herself to do it because he looks adorable and flustered.
"Caroline," he breathes her name, "I lost track of time, I didn't mean-" his gaze cuts back to the painting he's been working on, and for a second Caroline thinks he's blushing, but then he grins at her, smug. Caroline's already walking towards him, because even the confident smirk on his lips can't erase the fact that she knows he's nervous about what he's painted.
"It's incredible," she tells him, resting a hand on his arm. He flexes his fingers for a second, as though he wants to reach out to her and stops himself at the last second. Caroline knows the feeling. It's not just this world they've been transported into, it's the bodies. She still feels like her, though she looks a little different, but her fingers crave to wrap around Klaus, and her arms want to hold him. She's always felt like he had some sort of hold on her before, but never like this.
He stares at her, blue eyes alight with curiosity, "I know. That's why I painted it."
She flushes at his implication and searches for something to say, "I saw my mother today. She actually likes you, can you believe that?! Told me to take care of her son-in-law."
Klaus winks at her, "Everyone likes me."
Caroline snorts, "Only in this universe, buddy, and you should probably be thanking me for that!"
Klaus lifts his hand and rubs a single finger down her throat, watching as she swallows reflexively at his nearness. "Thank you." he whispers, and then he kisses her, gently. Caroline doesn't push him away, she doesn't think her body would even allow her to try. He doesn't deepen the kiss, just lets his lips linger on hers, pressing gently every so often. Caroline lets her hands find his hips, not to pull him close or push him away, just to hold him still.
He eventually pulls back, delivering one last kiss on the corner of her mouth. The expression on his face isn't what she would have ever expected: he doesn't look smug, or like he finds something humorous; he looks a little vulnerable, and maybe a little shaken, and Caroline can't help that she reaches out and rubs a splatter of red paint on his cheek bone.
"You need a shower," she tells him, her words soft in the safety of the room. She wonders what he sees when he looks at her now, if he'll paint it later and show her.
"Come with me?" He asks, and Caroline wishes with all her heart that it were that easy. Maybe it is. Maybe in this world it is, and maybe this world is theirs forever now, and they'll never go home and Caroline can have this.
"I still have to make a salad for your sisters party," Caroline says instead, because it's the truth.
Klaus' face hardens, and Caroline feels like she's lost something precious, something she didn't even realize she had. She desperately yearns to gain it back, she wants the expression on his face from before. Before she even knows it, she's speaking.
"Maybe I could join you next time," she says, "you know... maybe. But right now we're late."
Klaus doesn't say anything, doesn't quite give her back all the expression he had before, but he does nod decisively, as if he knows he's got her this time. Caroline thinks that perhaps he's right.
She leaves him in his studio and starts working on a salad big enough for everyone that will be at the barbecue. Caroline tries not to think, tries not to remember the way Klaus' lips felt on hers.
More than anything, Caroline tries not to remember every single time she got her hopes up only for them to be crushed. It's not even a matter of this being Klaus, it's just that she's never been enough for anyone. Not enough to save Damon, not the way Elena was. Not enough for Matt to love even into vampirism, not enough for Tyler to stay.
She's never been enough, not even for her own father, not even for her mother until she was a vampire.
When the salad is done, Caroline sinks to the ground in front of her sink and tries desperately not to cry. She hates that underneath everything that has happened to her she's still the same neurotic and insecure girl she's always been. She hates that she already cares about Klaus, and that she knows she's not enough, especially for Klaus. She's a baby-vampire with enough sarcastic wit that he's interested, but he's a thousand year old hybrid who paints and explores the world and controls cities for fun.
This isn't enough for him; nothing has ever been enough for him, and Caroline can't replace his family, or Elena's blood, or the world that he wants to conquer.
She doesn't even know if she wants to try because this is so goddamn easy she just knows she'll fall headlong into it just like always, and she'll be left alone. In the end she gets up and cleans herself up in the bathroom and puts on makeup and a new outfit. Caroline has always been good at deciding what to focus on, and for now all she wants to think about is the stupid barbecue that she needs to live through without her friends thinking she's some strange pod person that's replaced their Caroline.
Which is essentially exactly what happened.
When she makes it out of the bathroom Klaus is standing in the kitchen holding the giant bowl of salad and looking devastating in a blue t shirt and jeans. She takes one look at him and decides that they cannot go into this barbecue without some sort of rules or she'll invariably fuck up and ruin everything.
"I'm going to call you Nik," Caroline tells him, and he barely flinches, "and we're going to pretend we're married and happy."
He sets the bowl down and advances on her as though stalking his prey. He still smells faintly of paint, but also of body wash, and Caroline can feel any resistance she had crumbling.
"You'll have to forgive me, love, because I don't know many married couples who are happy, but I'm assuming this rule gives me blanket permission to touch you." It's as if he's fulfilling some sort of promise as he says this, because he instantly slips an arm around her waist and reels her towards him. His other hand rests on her cheek, and she can feel the blush spreading under his skin.
"I don't- I can't-" she stumbles over words, "I don't want- we're not actually married, Klaus. I don't want... this." It rings a little untrue, but it's more or less what she meant and Caroline can't bring herself to fix it because she's embarrassed.
He frowns at her, but he doesn't move away, "I have always wanted you, Caroline, from the moment I laid eyes on you. I'm not pretending to enjoy touching you."
"And what about... what about when we get home?!"
He shrugs, carelessly, unafraid of any consequence they may have in store for them, and Caroline wonders if fearlessness is what it is to be immortal and powerful. "What about it? I wanted you there, and I want you here, and I don't particularly care about any details except what you want."
In the end, that's what decides it for her, because Caroline remembers the way Damon didn't care what she wanted or didn't want, how he didn't even give her a chance to voice her opinion. Klaus... well, Klaus may not care but he cares enough to ask what she wants.
She moves forward, kisses him without warning, and he catches her. For a second she's wrapped up in him, in the taste of his lips, and the way his hands feel skimming down her back, and she wants nothing more than to take him back upstairs into their bed where she has slept alone all week.
The phone rings, and she pulls away from his kiss, though she doesn't leave his arms. She moves to answer the phone, but Klaus snatches at her chin and makes her look at him.
"Blanket permission, Caroline." He demands, looking thoroughly wrecked, "Say it."
She nods, "Okay, yes, you can touch me. Within reason." He lets her go and she snatches up the phone and answers it.
It's Rebekah, "Caroline! Where are you guys? Get over here!"
"Sorry, sorry! Nik was painting, and he had to shower and-"
"I don't care," Rebekah interrupts, "Just get here! Hannah misses you!"
Caroline winces at the low blow, because she can picture Hannah's disappointed face, and it is a force to be reckoned with. "On our way!"
Rebekah hangs up without a goodbye, and when Caroline turns around Klaus is looking put together again and holding the salad bowl. Caroline smooths down her dress and her hair, and walks out without another word because she's afraid of everything that could come pouring out of her mouth if she even so much as opens it.
Klaus beats her to the car and opens the passenger door for her, helping her into it and setting the salad on her lap. He makes his way to the driver's seat and starts the car silently, letting her have her peace and quiet for a moment.
Caroline desperately tries to collect herself, thrumming with energy from the kiss with Klaus, but also reeling inside from the drastic change in their relationship. It's not even that she never expected this, because Caroline always knew in some part of her that they would always end up here. She spins her wedding ring on her finger, finding comfort in the sight even if it sits more heavily than ever before.
"Have you ever been married?" The question slips from her lips without thought, and she glances at Klaus from where he's driving to the Lockwood Manor.
He huffs a laugh, "Definitely not. The closest I ever came was when Katherine thought I was courting her into marriage, but it was a sham."
"Why not anyone else?" Caroline is genuinely curious now, "I mean, no one has ever made you want to get married before?"
He rolls his eyes at her, "Caroline, I may not have had the best example of a normal marriage growing up, but when I was young marriage was not something to be taken lightly. Not like it is now. I have never desired to tie myself to one person; especially since as a vampire I would either have too few years before I would have to move on, or I would have to turn them and then I would have forever."
"But... sometimes that's okay," Caroline tries, "with some people. I mean... like... Finn."
Klaus' expression grows cold, but he doesn't snap at her. He appears, more than anything, as though he is thoughtful, "I suppose that Finn and Sage were unusual in that. Sage more so than Finn, since she is the one who weathered the years and waited for him."
"I think it's possible." Caroline declares, "To love someone forever."
Klaus hums a little, "I have never seen it successful though. Elijah has loved Katherine from the moment he laid eyes on her and it has brought him nothing but grief. Rebekah has loved so many and none of them have brought her happiness. Even your Elena thought she would love Stefan forever until Damon came around."
"Maybe it was the wrong person." Caroline retorts, "I think Finn and Sage would have worked. I think they were the right people."
Klaus scoffs but his tone is calm, "I may have been too hasty in my decision with them, I admit. Still, there was no love lost between myself and Finn, and he would have killed us all given the chance."
Caroline shrugged, "Can you blame him?"
"What do you mean by that, Caroline?" Klaus is glaring at her now, anger evident in every facet of his body.
"I just mean - I mean, come on, Nik," his name sticks in her throat, but she continues, "if someone had daggered you and stuck you in a coffin for centuries you'd be furious. And I know that you don't really see the whole marriage thing, but imagine that you loved someone... I mean, really loved them, and then someone took you away from them and everything else and stuck you in a box!? You'd try to kill them at every opportunity."
Klaus snarls at her, "Not if they were my brother!"
"Yes, you would, you hypocrite!" Caroline snaps back, "You are like the king of trying to kill your siblings."
"I dagger them, sure, but I do not kill them," Klaus says coldly, "your friends seem to have that covered."
It stings, and Caroline backs off immediately, because she didn't want this to go sour before the barbecue. They pull up to the Lockwood mansion, but neither move from the car. Klaus sighs from beside her, and Caroline wants so badly to return to the moment in the kitchen where she thought they could have this —whatever it was.
"Okay, listen, I want-" Caroline starts.
"Caroline-"
"Shut up!" Caroline interrupts, "Shut up for like two seconds and just let me explain, dammit, it's not that hard!"
Klaus glares at her, but presses his lips together as if to show her he's listening, and Caroline's relieved even as she's annoyed by his sarcastic movement.
"Okay, I'm sorry about Kol. I didn't want to do that, and I know you won't believe me, but I wanted to tell you, okay? I didn't want that to happen, I didn't want him to die, and not just because of all the other vampires from his line that would die, but because he's your brother and it's not fair." Caroline breathes for a second and swallows hard, "But it happened, and it sucked, and you saved me after it, even though you must have absolutely hated me. I'm grateful for that. I know that you might never forgive me for the part I played in Kol's death, but maybe I'll never forgive you for Jenna, or Tyler, or Alaric, or any of the others. And yet... here we are."
Caroline falters for a second, because she's not sure what else to say. Klaus is still staring at her expectantly and Caroline knows there's more, because she's been thinking about this speech for weeks. Finally, she turns in the car to face him and continues: "The worst thing about being a vampire is that we make bad choices, and they haunt us forever. It's easy to hate, and to hold grudges when we have all the time in the world for it. You don't have to forgive me; you're on no strict timeline. You could be angry with me for hundreds of years before one day you finally get over it, and that would be fine. Vampires have a thousand emotions, each more complex and stronger than the previous; an eternity of this creates a web of history and regret, and sometimes the longer we go the more we forget how to let certain things go."
Klaus seems enraptured by her, and Caroline doesn't think anyone has ever let her talk this long without interruption. Doesn't think anyone has ever been so captivated by her, and she loves it, she's addicted to it, and she knows that she couldn't stop this if she tried.
She picks up his hand, the one closest to her, and she wraps her fingers around it, twining them together. He breathes sharply, staring at their hands, and then stares at her once more, confusion evident on his face.
"Your point, love." He says, finally.
Caroline decides to just jump, let it all go, and pray he'll catch her: "The only advantage I have as a baby vampire is that I haven't forgotten what mortality feels like. So... I forgive you. As much as I can, I forgive you for what you've done. I'm sorry about what I've done too, and more than anything, more than anything right now all I want is for you to forgive me too. Because... I'm done hating you, Nik. I'm done trying to hold onto anger when I want to laugh with you, or paint with you, or be your friend. I just want a clean, blank slate."
Klaus stares at her, and he doesn't say anything for so long that Caroline starts to fidget. She's uncomfortable, and so out of her element, and she's positive that Rebekah is probably staring at them from the window.
Finally, finally, Klaus lifts his hand to his mouth and kisses her knuckles. "I suppose that what you have said is true, if naive. I will forgive you on one condition, Caroline."
"What?"
He smiles at her from behind their hands, and he's so impossibly beautiful her breath catches, "No more lying. No more distraction routine; I know that you have your friends, and they don't like me, but from now on we are also friends, and that means that you have to think about me too."
"Done." Caroline responds instantly, and it's easy to know it's the truth. She didn't like lying to Klaus or hurting him before they took this ridiculous trip into another world, and now the thought of betraying him seems so wrong.
He lets go of her hand, and frowns at her, "I mean it, Caroline. I don't forgive easily, and I definitely don't forgive twice."
Caroline glares at him, "Neither do I. Now let's go eat some food."
Klaus huffs a laugh and jumps out of the car, certain that Caroline is following him. Rebekah greets them at the door, annoyance creasing her brow. It smooths out when Caroline hands her the salad and picks Hannah up without hesitation, kissing her tiny cheeks.
"Uncle Nik!" Hannah squeals from Caroline's arms, and he leans forward and drops a kiss on her brow. Caroline melts inside, and lets him lead her with a hand on her back towards the backyard of Rebekah's house. Hannah squirms to be let down the minute they exit the door, and she races over to where Bonnie's son Grayson is playing.
Caroline takes in the whole yard without breathing; it's an image permanently etched in her brain. Bonnie and Jeremy with their kids in tow, Elena with Damon's arm wrapped around her, both of them smiling; Matt and Rebekah are laughing alongside them, and Hannah is rolling in the grass, carefree.
Klaus tenses beside her and she turns to ask what's wrong, because nothing could possibly be wrong in this world where all her friends are so goddamn happy, but she knows the second she glances towards Klaus.
Tyler's standing at the barbecue, waving at them.
Caroline's heart stops for just a second, because he looks almost the exact same as he had the last time she saw him; he's healthy and tan and beautiful, and Caroline knows why she loved him.
Klaus' hand is a brand on her, even over her clothes, and he's got this look on his face like he expects her to walk away.
"Hey Care," Tyler calls, and she waves at him. He nods at Klaus, and Caroline knows that there's no love lost there, but it's nothing like it was in their other life.
"C'mon Nik, I wanna see Elena," Caroline says, breaking Klaus' trance-like stare on Tyler. He snaps his gaze to her, almost incredulous, and then covers it and gestures towards the doppelgänger.
Caroline makes her way over carefully, and when she gets there Elena scrambles to hug her, and Damon grins at her. He looks enough like the other Damon that it's eerie, but Caroline smiles back because she's not sure if they're friends in this reality.
"Care, oh my god, it's been forever since I've seen you, seriously! You have to stop working so much!" Elena exclaims, "I thought you were going to swing by on Wednesday, but you never showed so I figured you forgot."
Caroline thought fast, but in the end Klaus covered her, "Oh, Caroline wasn't feeling well, she didn't go to work on Wednesday."
"Oh yeah, that's right," Caroline says, "I'm so sorry I forgot to call and tell you I wasn't coming."
Elena grins at her, and this time Caroline sees a secret in her smile, just like the ones she used to get back in school before everything went to shit. Caroline doesn't know what the secret is this time, but she's frightened of it. "Sick? That's so weird, Caroline, you're never sick. You're sure you were just sick?"
Caroline's heart drops because she totally forgot to tell Klaus that other them was trying for a baby, and he'll be furious if Elena blindsides him with this at a party. She rolls her eyes at Elena and tries to keep her tone even, "Yes, I was just sick, Elena."
It's Tyler that saves her this time, "C'mon guys, burgers are done! Grab a plate!"
Damon drags Elena towards the food, and Klaus cuts a glare at her, "What was that about, love?"
Caroline sighs, because of course Klaus didn't miss that, "It's not a big deal, I'll tell you later."
He stares at her for a beat too long, but in the end he nods as if he's going to trust her on this, and then heads towards the barbecue for a burger.
"Auntie Care!" Hannah's voice startles her and she glances down towards her niece's round face. Her blue eyes are huge and alight with happiness, and Caroline wants. She scoops her up again, even though she's almost too big for lifting, and Hannah wraps tiny arms around her neck and kisses her cheek. "I don't want a burger! I just want salad!"
Caroline laughs, "That's fine with me, baby girl. You want to share a plate?"
"Yes!" Hannah nearly screams her affirmation into her ear, and Caroline doesn't really mind. She scoops salad and chips onto her plate, and a few chicken bites for appetizers. Tyler puts a burger on the bun she made up, and Caroline heads towards the picnic table to sit beside Klaus. He feels like her only ally in this place, even though everyone wears her friends' faces and seems to like her.
Hannah sits between them and picks things off both their plates, and Klaus only scowls once when she takes the chip out of his hand entirely. Caroline laughs at his expression, and he rolls his eyes. It seems like he wants to smile, and Caroline hides her own grin in her burger.
"Hey, Caroline, just double checking that you guys are going to check on the house when we're gone?" Rebekah asks from across the table, where she's sitting with Elena and Damon. They're lost in their own conversation, and Matt's standing with Tyler at the barbecue.
"Yeah, definitely." Caroline answers after a beat, "What are the dates again?"
Rebekah rolls her eyes, "Caroline, you used to remember everything! I think you are working too much. We leave in two weeks; you just need to water the plants and lock up when you're done."
"Oh, yeah, no problem." Caroline smiles. She's panicking a little, but she prays they'll be home in two weeks, "You guys are only gone the week right?"
"Right." Rebekah agrees, nonplussed. She turns to Klaus, "Are you excited about your gallery showing next week?"
"Yeah," Klaus says, not a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He's definitely better than Caroline at the whole pretending thing, "Should be okay."
Rebekah beams at him, "It's going to be fantastic! You'll do great. Do you have any new stuff for it?"
Klaus shrugs, "I finished a painting today."
Caroline feels herself blush faintly, the memory of the painting still buzzing in her brain. "It's a good one." She adds.
Rebekah laughs, "Of course it's good, Nik painted it! Is it one of Caroline?"
"Yeah." Klaus flushes, just a hint, "I think I'll still put it up though."
Rebekah beams and claps her hands, "Yay! You never put the ones of Caroline up, and they're your best. I think the last time you let one into a gallery you managed to pay for your car. Seriously, you should share her more."
Klaus sends her an amused grin, and Caroline can't help but return it. "I dislike sharing," he says, eyes never leaving hers.
"Hey, Beks, Stefan just called, he can't make it." Matt called over.
"Why!?" Rebekah pouted at her husband.
Matt shrugged, "Something about how the animals are going wild cause of the full moon? I don't know. Stefan sounded annoyed."
Damon cut in, "It's true, the shelter gets wild on full moons. My poor brother is the only one in tonight. I should probably go help him."
"We have to leave early anyways," Caroline says quickly before anyone else can cut in. Panic is racing through her, "I promised my mom I'd bring Nik over later to help her with some handyman thing."
Klaus nods beside her as though that is totally the plan, and Caroline doesn't know if he's realized the same thing she has, or if he's just following her lead on this one, but she is so, so grateful. Rebekah protests their leaving, but eventually quiets down. They all continue to eat and laugh, but this time Caroline is eyeing the sun and it's slow descent in the sky.
"Next week at your house, right Elena?" Rebekah says at one point, leaning back into Matt's solid frame on the bench. She looks full and content.
Elena beams over the pie Bonnie brought, "Yeah! I'm gonna make chilli and Bonnie's making home made buns! Caroline, can you bring dessert next week? Maybe the death by chocolate you know I love?"
"Umm, my mom's old recipe?" Caroline asks, hesitant.
"Yeah, duh." Elena rolls her eyes, "Rebekah is going to bring my favourite macaroni salad, of course!"
Rebekah laughs, "The store bought one? Of course I am!"
Tyler chuckles as he sits down on Caroline's right, and Klaus tenses minutely. Hannah is tucked so deeply into his side that Caroline thinks she might be permanently stuck, but it's so adorable that Caroline isn't even trying to help him. He looks slightly annoyed, but Caroline's seen his 'murderously annoyed' face and this is nowhere close.
"Alright, we're going to head out. Thanks for the food!" Caroline announces, "We'll see you guys next Friday!"
Hannah smiles sleepily at her, "Except me, Auntie Care, you see me on Thursday." Her "R"s still don't quite come out right, and Caroline nods gently at her.
"Of course, Hannah. We'll see you Thursday." Caroline pulls Hannah from Klaus' side, and he stands up without hesitation. Hannah sits on her own for now, but it's just a matter of time before she'll face plant from exhaustion. Caroline hugs everyone goodbye, even Tyler, and their arms feel just like her friends' back at home.
It's a whirlwind until they get back to the car, and this time Caroline jumps into the drivers seat and gestures frantically for Klaus to get in. He looks annoyed, and this time it's edging farther towards 'murderous'; Caroline's pretty sure it's because of the way Tyler held her just a beat too long when she hugged him.
"What has gotten into you, Caroline?" He hisses.
Caroline nearly explodes as she reverses down the drive, "It's the full moon, Nik, oh my god!" She feels out of control and panicky, and she doesn't even realize where she's driving until she's almost there.
"I realize that, Caroline, they mentioned it alongside Stefan and the shelter thing... of which I am dreadfully confused. Does Stefan work at an animal shelter? What is even going on in this reality, honestly-" he cuts himself off mid-sentence, "did you actually just bring me to the Lockwood cellar, in the middle of the woods?!"
Caroline doesn't answer, just shuts off the car and leaps out. She opens the trunk and snatches out the blankets she finds there, and the flashlights in the emergency kit. She's halfway to racing down the cellar's stairs before she realizes Klaus is not following her. He's leaning against their car, totally calm.
"Why are you not freaking out!?" Caroline demands. "You could be turning into a werewolf in a matter of minutes and you are like 'Mr. Cool' for once in your stupid life!?"
Klaus rolls his eyes, "I'm not going to turn into a werewolf. Bonnie's not a witch, Tyler's not a werewolf, there's no vampires here, nothing. I'm literally a boring middle aged mortal and I despise it. I think I would know if I was a werewolf."
Caroline approaches him, nervousness pumping through her blood, "Look, Nik, please come to the cellar with me. Just in case, please. Tyler didn't know right away. You wouldn't know because you've never been just a werewolf! If you turn you'll kill me, and you'll kill them, and you'll kill Hannah!" Caroline reigns herself in with effort, "Tyler's not a wolf because in this reality he never killed anybody."
"Neither did I." Klaus says, but he starts walking towards the cellar steps. Caroline heaves a breath of relief, because the sun is below the trees, and they don't have much time at all.
"You don't know that. I mean, I hope not, but maybe with the alternate universe thing... I just- I just don't know! Please, laugh at me all you want tomorrow, but tonight just let me do this."
He opens the heavy door to the cellar, and before he can take another step he freezes and murmurs, "Love, you better see this."
She steps in behind him and takes in the scene of carnage and destruction. There's claw marks on the walls and broken furniture everywhere. She knows what this is, Caroline's been here in the aftermath.
"Klaus, it's gotta be you, it has to be." Caroline whispers, harsh in the semi-darkness.
When Klaus turns to her, his eyes are glowing yellow.
"Caroline, leave." He orders. He makes his way to the chains in the corner, chains that sit the same way they had in the other reality as well, and starts chaining himself in. Caroline ignores his order and rushes towards him, locking in the cuffs for his legs. She'd done this for Tyler, and she knew what she was doing.
"Shirt off, before we put the chains on. Trust me, you'll destroy it otherwise." Caroline demands, holding her hand out for his shirt.
He snarls at her, but Caroline doesn't budge. "C'mon Klaus, you're a master at control, even though you rarely exercise it. I know you're not going to hurt me." The unspoken yet hangs between them like a noose, and Klaus practically rips his shirt off his body and throws it at her.
"Get out, Caroline!" He yells, "I don't want you here."
Caroline stiffens, because she's been told worse things, but not usually by him. She knows what he's afraid of though, at least in this case. Klaus is not a simple man, but this is something she understands.
She leans forward on the cement, bringing her face in close to his, reaching out with her hands to grasp his shoulders. Klaus doesn't move, chained as he is, though he's glaring at her icily.
"I'm not going anywhere, Nik. I'm going to lock that door and leave the light just outside of it so that you're not in the dark, and then I'm going to curl up in my blanket and wait until this is over." Caroline tells him, "I've done it before, and it won't kill me to do it again. This is gonna suck for you, and you're kinda the only person who even knows me in this world, and I refuse to just bail right now."
He's still glaring at her, but it's got an edge to it, as though he can't believe what he's hearing. Caroline wonders if anyone's ever really stuck by him. Caroline doesn't even know if he's ever changed before, and it's a horrifying thought, because watching Tyler change was heart wrenching, and she can't even imagine how Klaus is going to take it.
She leans forward and kisses him, on the cheek, because she's not stupid and she's felt his fangs in her skin before, "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
He doesn't say a single word, but she does as she promised and shut and locks the door, sets the flashlight on the ground so he has something to see by, and then curls into the blankets she has just outside of the door. She knows the door will hold, it always has. She also knows better than to be in his vision, because it only infuriates the wolf even more.
It takes an hour before he even makes a sound. Caroline knows the moon must be coming up by now, and Klaus has been holding back the change longer than she would have thought was possible. Even now he doesn't yell like Tyler did. She can hear the breaking of bones, the harsh intake of breath, and a low growl or moan every once in a while, but Klaus is quiet.
She shouldn't be surprised that he's strong. Caroline knows that he's been tortured, many times over the centuries. She knows that he is no stranger to pain, both giving and receiving it, but she's still surprised when she can practically hear his bones reshuffling that he barely gives a grunt.
Her heart breaks, because she almost thinks it would be easier if he did yell. At least with Tyler she knew how much pain he was in, how much pain he was going through. With Klaus she knows, but she also knows he's had worse and that's the saddest thing she can image.
Her night is endless. The second the sounds of pain stop, all she can hear is the growling and snarling of a wild animal. Niklaus Mikaelson is control personified; every motion is calculated, every play is part of a bigger picture in a game of chess. To hear him as a wild animal, nothing more than heat and anger and hunger and rage is... terrifying.
He falls silent just before dawn, and Caroline lets herself count to one thousand before she goes to the door. She doesn't open it yet either, just rests her hands on the bars, letting the flashlight light up the cell.
The wolf is gone, Klaus is left in its place, naked and curled on the floor away from her, shaking. The sight is incongruous to everything Klaus is, and Caroline simultaneously feels like she shouldn't have witnessed such weakness, but also protective of it, as though she wants to be the only one to ever see it.
Either way, it's safe now, and Caroline opens the door with one of her blankets in her hand. She makes her way to where he is and kneels down next to him. The blanket is scratchy, but she spreads it over him because he's freezing to the touch, and Caroline remembers how the weight of a blanket always grounded Tyler.
She lets herself wrap around him in a hug, her weight providing warmth and something tangible. She can feel Klaus' hand snake around her wrist, gripping lightly as if to assure himself she's real.
"That was unpleasant." Klaus tells her after a minute or so. His voice is hoarse, and Caroline aches for him.
She hugs him tighter, "I'm sorry. That you had to do that."
"Not your fault, love."
"I know," Caroline murmurs, "but it still sucks."
"I would prefer to find a way home before that happens again."
Caroline lifts herself off him and he stands up a little shakily, holding the blanket around his hips. Caroline helps him put the shirt he had on yesterday, and then walks out of the cellar. Klaus is slow, but doesn't let her help him in the slightest up the stairs, or into the passenger seat of the car. She blasts the heat as soon as she turns the car on.
"Was that the first time you turned?" Caroline asks.
Klaus frowns, "Second, technically."
"Only once before you were turned into a vampire?"
"Yes. It's how Mikael realized I wasn't his son and Esther had betrayed him. I didn't know myself until that moment. I'll never forget how they looked at me."
Klaus snaps his mouth shut as if he remembers who he's talking to, and that he doesn't normally share personal information like that. Caroline reaches across the console and takes his hand, and then slowly backs out of where she's parked to follow the dirt road out of the Lockwood property and back to their house in town.
Klaus doesn't say another word, but he doesn't let go of her hand until Caroline parks again.
They're silent when they make their way into the house; Klaus heads upstairs to shower, and Caroline starts making food since she's sure Klaus is as hungry as she is. Once the food is done and Klaus is showered they sit together quietly. It isn't awkward; Caroline doesn't mind the silence the way she normally does. Klaus is introspective, and Caroline's never gotten the chance to see him like this: he doesn't look murderous, or angry. He looks normal.
"I understand why we work in this reality." Caroline finally breaks the silence once the dishes are washed.
Klaus glances at her, "Why is that, love?"
She shrugs, "I think in the other reality, you know, our reality, we would have been friends if you hadn't done those things to hurt me and my friends. In this place? You haven't done those things. I can't hate you - there's nothing to even hate you for."
"See, that's where I'm thinking differently," Klaus says softly, "in this reality, I'm only a werewolf. That means that my genetics are the same, but I'm obviously not the same body. I'm not a hybrid, and I'm not a vampire, I'm mortal... but I have the werewolf gene."
"Yeah, so?"
Klaus rolls his eyes, "I don't think these are our bodies, Caroline. I mean, they're ours but from this world. We're old and mortal here."
Caroline swallows heavily, "I have to agree. Sometimes my body wants something different to what I want. Like muscle memory."
"Exactly!" Klaus exclaims, "Which begs the question: who did I kill in this reality to unlock my curse?"
Caroline stiffens. It had never even occurred to her; Klaus had killed thousands of people over the years, and it shouldn't be that surprising, but here he seemed so... innocent.
"I must not know."
Klaus nods slowly, "You definitely don't know. You don't like me as a vampire in the other reality, there's no way you'd play house with a murderer here, where you're human."
"Which means I don't know you're a werewolf." Caroline sighs.
"You might, maybe I just didn't tell you about how I became one by killing someone." Klaus tells her, "It's possible you do help me each full moon."
Caroline frowns absently. They're both leaning against the counters, staring at each other. Klaus looks exhausted, and Caroline feels about the same.
"You know, Elena mentioned something about how when we first got married you were gone for a while." Caroline muses aloud, "I think that perhaps you were off doing supernatural things!"
Klaus rolls his eyes, "It's likely. I'm probably telling you I'm off at some sort of painting meeting each full moon. How mundane."
Caroline sniffs, "It's gonna come back to bite you in the ass though, I'm curious as hell. Other Caroline definitely knows something is up, even if she does know you're a werewolf. It's seriously just a matter of time before she figures this all out."
Klaus laughs, "I don't doubt that at all, love. If you two are at all alike she'll have me figured out in no time." His sentence ends in a yawn, and Caroline can literally feel her heart swell in her chest from the way he rubs his eyes afterwards.
She takes his hand, "Let's go have a sleep, we had a rough night." Klaus doesn't object as she tugs him up the stairs and into their bedroom.
"Are we sleeping together, Caroline?" Klaus' voice resonates through her, but Caroline scowls.
"Yes, but don't even think about anything other than sleeping, mister." Caroline sniffs haughtily and makes her way to her side of the bed and slips into it. She's facing the far wall, the one with their wedding photo on it, and Klaus slides into bed behind her.
He doesn't touch her, not right away, and Caroline's body wants. She holds herself as still as possible though, and tries to fall asleep.
She's almost succeeded when Klaus whispers, "Caroline?"
"What?"
He moves closer, the heat from his body seeping into her space, "I despise the feeling that this body knows you, has wrapped around you countless times. I have never been jealous of myself before, but I find myself in that predicament now."
Caroline can't help it, she turns over to face him, finding herself nose to nose. His eyes are incredibly soft, and she wonders if anyone in this entire world has ever looked at her as he is now.
"This will ruin us, Nik." Caroline murmurs, "When we're home. It'll destroy us."
His hand sneaks up from under the blanket and cups her cheek gently, "I have risked far more for less. You would be worth it, I'm convinced of that much, love."
Caroline closes her eyes, because she can't bear to look at him any longer when he talks to her like that. She'll start to believe him if she looks at him. "Stop, Nik, please."
He falls silent for a second, but then he's leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Fine, Caroline. I'll stop for now, but you would be a queen at my side, and you know it. You're exquisite, and I will have you."
The words ring like a promise in her ears and she falls asleep with his arm banded around her; she dreams of cities beneath her feet and Niklaus Mikaelson at her side.
At this point, she's not sure if the dreams are memories, or if she's fallen so far she's not even sure who she is anymore.
When Caroline wakes up it's late afternoon and the bed is empty, though still warm. She pulls the covers from her face and looks at Klaus' empty spot. There's a rose on the bed and a drawing of her beneath it. This time she's not smiling in the drawing: she's sitting against a wall, a flashlight at her side, and she looks sad.
She still looks stunning, and Caroline knows without reading the script beneath it what it will say.
Thank you for your friendship.
The paper is whiter than the one she has back home with her horse drawing on it, but she treasures it just the same. The way that Klaus draws her is telling; not only in the paintings in his studios here in this world, but in her old horse drawing at home. Caroline is the focus; Caroline is the part of the picture that's supposed to be the light, the beauty.
Caroline knows objectively that she has friends; back home she's well known, and she has Bonnie, Matt, and Elena. She's never really been alone, per se, but she's also never had someone say thanks for actually being her friend. She's never had anyone thank her for her honesty, or her friendship.
She's never had anyone look at her the way Klaus does.
She gets out of bed and sets the drawing beside their wedding picture, because she deserves to have something in the house that is actually hers, and then goes on a hunt to find Klaus.
He's in his studio, where she expected him to be, and this time he's working on a landscape. Caroline's never seen what he's painting before, but it's stunning. It's green and lush, with a quaint looking town beyond the hills he's painted.
"Where is it?" she asks, and this time he doesn't flinch. He finishes one more swirl of blue in the sky before he answers.
"Italy. I quite liked this town. I would take you there."
Caroline smiles a little, "I know you would."
He frowns at her over his shoulder, "Then why do you refuse to join me?"
She doesn't answer for a long time, but she does come to stand behind him and hook her chin over his shoulder. He doesn't move, not even to paint after she does that.
"Why would I go anywhere when you could paint me the sights?" Caroline teases, "It's like an in-home tour!"
Klaus turns, eyes burning, "I would stop painting tomorrow if it would inspire you to travel with me."
Caroline feels her stomach clench, and she summons her courage, "If you can answer me one question honestly, then when we get home I will take one trip with you."
"One question?" Klaus says, smug grin spreading, "Just one?"
Caroline shrugs flippantly, "It's an important question. But just one trip! And no more than a weekend long. Within the same continent!"
Klaus scowls, "All of my favourite places are too far for a weekend trip."
"Deal or not?" Caroline demands.
Klaus rolls his eyes, "Fine. One question for one trip... a week long, though."
"Fine," Caroline copies him, hands on her hips. "But still same continent!"
Klaus lifts his paintbrush and brushes a stripe down her cheek, "Deal. What's your question?"
Caroline smacks his hand away, annoyed that she's likely to have a stripe of blue paint down her cheek. "I know that you're... interested in me. I know that you have pursued me... before. But..." she pauses, thinking about how to word her question. Klaus is a master of loopholes. "Why do you want me when you know that there are other people out there who would go with you in a heartbeat and keep you entertained? And don't say because I'm pretty, or smart, or some bullshit. The truth, Klaus, you promised."
Klaus sets his paintbrush down on his easel and when he turns to face her again, his eyes are brighter than she's ever seen them, "Caroline, I would never dare to say you are merely pretty," he spits the word as though it's an insult, "you are by far the most stunning thing I have seen in the last millennia, especially when you are furious with me." He winks at her as he says it, and Caroline is charmed completely, but she stays steadfast.
"C'mon, Klaus." she says, "That's nice to say, but that's not why you're being eerily rational about this whole getting home thing. I thought you would be killing people to find a way home by now. There's other beautiful women in this world."
He grin he sends her is feral, "There is no point in fighting this spell, obviously the witch who cast it knew what she was doing. We will find the loophole, and we will go home, and I will rip her spinal cord from her body," he pauses, and swallows, "but, as for why I want you? I desire you for many reasons, Caroline, and you asked for one. Beauty is one of them."
"That's bullshit. I want the most important reason." She stresses.
He frowns and Caroline knows he's weighing his options, whether or not he can back out of this deal, or if it would be worth it to proceed. She's seen this face on him before, and it's not what she wants right now. She doesn't want to make a deal technically, she wants to make a decision.
Caroline sighs, "Give me one reason to give you a chance, Klaus."
His eyes snap to hers, surprise evident until he covers it entirely, "Caroline Forbes, I believe you have changed your mind since last night."
"Haven't changed it yet," she snarls, "so answer the goddamn question."
"I want your loyalty," Klaus finally snaps, "I have since the moment I saw you, and every moment since. You care for your friends, Caroline, you've proven that time and time again even when they do not reciprocate as you deserve."
Caroline frowns, "You can't just demand my loyalty to you!"
"Don't you think I know that!" Klaus roars, "If I wanted to, I could have compelled you, but I didn't! Freely given loyalty is rare, and I want it. " Klaus is panting now, furious, and Caroline thinks that it's funny that he's so angry when she's so pleased with him.
"One more question, please?" Caroline asks, softly, "If you answer it, I'll take another trip with you. Week long."
Klaus' chest heaves but he considers her demand. He smirks, "Off the continent and a month long."
"Two weeks." Caroline retaliates.
"Done," Klaus smirks, and Caroline realizes she settled too quickly.
She frowns, "You tricked me! You would have taken the week."
Klaus shrugs, "Too late. Ask your question, love."
"Fine." Caroline snaps. "If we did this, if we played house with everything that entails, would you tire of me when we returned home?"
The question hangs in the air, destroying the teasing mood of before, and Klaus seems flabbergasted until he shakes himself a little and his unflappable cool is back in place. Caroline is shaking, and she can't seem to stop herself, because this is the important question. This is the one that makes or breaks her decision.
"Caroline," Klaus starts, "I cannot promise that I will desire you forever. We've talked about that, and as much fun as we are together now I can't say I'll like it forever, especially since we're immortal. But - but, I can promise, that as long as you don't betray me, I will never tire of your friendship. Never."
Caroline considers this. It's reasonable, and she honestly couldn't ask for more, since she could never promise more herself. Forever is a long time, and Klaus has more issues than she can even imagine, and there's nothing a baby vampire can do to fix them. Still, she wants this, she wants him, and she's willing to try.
"Okay."
Klaus absolutely lights up, "Okay?"
"Yeah," Caroline says, "this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna try this, and when we get home we're going to see what happens. But here's our deal: I won't go behind your back, I won't betray you or help anyone to hurt you, and I'll protect you if I can."
"And what do you want from me?" Klaus says, cautiously and darkly.
Caroline knows she can't demand the things she wants to. Klaus won't give up his hybrids, or Elena; if she even mentions Tyler he'll lose his mind, thinking it was a trick the whole time.
"I want you to consider my happiness before you do anything," Caroline says, "I'm not saying you can't do things, just... consider if it will hurt me before you do it. Because I know you don't have a whole lot of experience with friends, so I'll let you in on a little secret - generally, friends try to make sure their friends are happy. So if you try to kill one of my friends, I probably won't like it, and in turn will be mad and retaliate."
Klaus scowls at her, "What if I consider your happiness and decide that I want to run the risk of you being mad at me?"
"That's your choice, Klaus." Caroline murmurs, "I can't make you do anything, I just want you to think before you act."
He snatches her wrists, fingers like brands on her skin, "What happens if I agree to this deal, Caroline?"
"We stop calling it a deal, for one." She grins cheekily, "I guess we'll just have to see what happens."
Klaus tentatively smiles at her, "This is much more Elijah's thing, darling, I don't usually become attached."
Caroline laughs, "I'll let you know if you do something wrong."
"Of that I have no doubt." Klaus chuckles with her and loosens his grips on her arms to let his fingers trail up her skin. Caroline can't help but melt into his touch, and it's only when his finger trails along her cheek that she recalls the stupid blue stripe he painted on her.
"Did you actually just let me have this conversation with paint all over me!" Caroline hisses, "You're unbelievable."
"It's adorable." Klaus is grinning, and Caroline wants to see him smile like this forever. She stands on her tip toes and kisses him, ignoring his smile and waiting until his arms snap around her and he kisses her back.
It doesn't take long until she's pressed against the door and breathless with want, and she reminds herself internally that they need to take it slow but her body is so not on board with that idea. Klaus is kissing down her neck, reverently, and Caroline lets her fingers race into his hair.
"Let me take you upstairs," Klaus pleads, breath hot on her skin.
Caroline sighs, "I suppose there's no helping it, we were never meant to actually go slow."
He pulls back and grins wolfishly at her, "Is that a yes to the bed?"
She rolls her eyes, "Yeah."
Klaus bends over and snatches at her knees, lifting her to toss over his shoulders. Caroline shrieks in protest, but when he makes his way to the stairs she's laughing.
"Don't you dare drop me!" She squeals as he starts climbing the stairs. It's dizzying from her point of view, but Caroline's not really afraid. Even if Klaus is only a werewolf here and not an immeasurably strong immortal hybrid, he wouldn't drop her.
When they reach the top of the stairs he flings her to her feet and surges forward to kiss her again. Caroline meets him halfway, and this time she's ready when he pulls her up, and she wraps her legs around him.
Caroline has had good sex before. She's had human sex, and vampire sex, and hybrid sex, and absolutely none of them compare with sex with Klaus. He literally throws her on the bed as though she weighs nothing, and before she can think he's on top of her, and his hands are everywhere. Caroline thinks she might explode from want, or spontaneously combust, and she's never in her entire life felt anything like this.
"Not fair," she gasps when he strips her shirt off her, "you have so many more years experience than me!"
He chuckles darkly and pulls his own shirt off, tossing it on the floor, "Part of being immortal, love." He bends down and unsnaps her bra, baring her to him. Caroline resists the urge to cover herself and revels in the way his eyes dilate and his breath catches.
"I guess you'll have to teach me." she murmurs, breathlessly, "Now take off your pants."
He stands up at her command and strips his pants and underwear off and Caroline does the same. She's nervous and excited and terrified all at once, and before she can even decide which emotion is stronger Klaus is back and his skin is so hot she feels like she's on fire.
This time, he brushes his fingers through her hair and down her skin, taking the time to caress every inch of her body he can. He spends what feels like an eternity on her breasts, kissing and licking until she's writhing on the bed.
"Stop teasing," she pants, "come on!"
He laughs into her skin, the sound tender, and he kisses his way down her stomach. "Someone has taught you not to take your time, love, and I plan on spending hours on your body."
Caroline swallows heavily as he kisses her thigh, and glances up at her, his eyes wicked. She lets her head fall back when he pushes a finger inside of her, crooking up into the spot that makes her forget her name, forget everything except what she feels.
Caroline feels pressure building inside her, and she gasps out Klaus' name when he lets a second finger slide next to the first.
"Oh my god, come on, I'm going to die," Caroline says.
Klaus pulls away, leaving her breathless and empty, "You exaggerate, love."
He crawls back up her body; his eyes are bright and Caroline just knows he's laughing at her inside. She doesn't really mind, because he looks just as awestruck as she feels, and it's nice to know she affects him the same way.
She can feel his cock against her thigh, and Caroline lets her hands trail down his muscled back until she gets to his ass, reeling him in closer to her until he has no choice but to slide home inside her. Klaus' breath pants out on her shoulder, and Caroline gives him about a second to relax when he finally bottoms out and then she's wrapping her legs around his back.
She scores her nails down his back gently, and lets her all-too-human teeth press into his skin on his shoulder. Klaus grips her hair but doesn't pull on it, and Caroline nearly dies of pleasure when he rocks into her suddenly, driving himself deeper.
They get a rhythm going, and Caroline wonders at the fact that they seem to fit together so perfectly, and before she knows it she's on the crest of exploding. Klaus kisses her, deep and messy, and Caroline doesn't mind that their teeth clack together because she's coming undone, and she feels like she's dying and flying all at once. Klaus groans into her ear when she clenches down on him, and then he's coming inside her, and Caroline thinks that even if they do get home, she'll never be the same.
Klaus rolls over, pulling her with him. She ends up curled on him, breath finally coming back to her. His heartbeat thunders under her ear, and she grins into his skin. Klaus' hand is still in her hair, petting it gently away from her face.
Caroline thinks that if she can be loyal to him, if she can be what he wants her to be, he'll do absolutely anything for her. Caroline thinks that he would burn the world down if she asked him to. She thinks that maybe she shouldn't have held out so long, because Klaus may be devious and cruel and bad but he's not used to people choosing him, and if she did, if she could choose him, he would choose her back.
Caroline is good at loving people who don't love her back. She always loved her parents more than it seemed like they loved her, and even though she knows Matt and Tyler cared, she also knows that they didn't love her, not the way she loved them.
Klaus doesn't love her either, Caroline knows that much, and she's not even sure if he's capable of love. Even so, if Caroline gave Klaus her loyalty, he wouldn't walk away the way Matt and Tyler always did. He'd spent thousands of years dragging his family around willingly or not out of a confused sense of loyalty, and Caroline could use that.
"Nik?" Caroline murmurs, belatedly pressing her lips into his skin.
"I like how you say my name, Caroline." His voice is nothing more than a breath in the air, and Caroline wonders if she says his name half as enticingly as he says hers.
"I'm glad," she tells him, "but I was wondering something."
He huffs a laugh, "You're always wondering something. What now?"
"Where do you think Elijah is? In this reality?"
Klaus falls silent and sighs beneath her cheek. "From what I've dreamt, my siblings in this reality are confusing. All I know is that Rebekah is here, as you've seen. Kol is off somewhere in Europe, and we don't really speak from what I understand. I have yet to dream of Finn, though I imagine he is either with Mikael and Esther, or you're correct and he and Sage are meant to be," Klaus rolls his eyes at her, "and living happily ever after."
"And Elijah?" Caroline prods. He's avoiding and she knows it.
He frowns, "I don't know. I have yet to dream of memories with him, and it's not for lack of trying. Honestly, I fear that I killed him."
"What?" Caroline sits up a little, shock filling her body.
Klaus' face is carefully blank, though his eyes are tumultuous with emotions. Caroline saw how devastated he was at Kol's death. She knows how he treasures his siblings even as he hates them for their history with him, and she knows that he loves Elijah. They are brothers, in more than family name or blood; they've lived and thrived together over centuries, and nothing can destroy that bond.
"I don't want to have murdered my brother, Caroline, but it makes sense. There's no photos of him, Rebekah has never brought him up, and I have to have triggered the curse with something."
Caroline clears her mind, drawing forth every ounce of willpower she has to keep her face blank. She doesn't like the idea of killing anyone; and despite the fact that she doesn't know Elijah very well, he is one of the only Originals to try to help Elena. She doesn't want him dead, and she knows what Klaus is saying makes sense.
It's not even that she doubts Klaus could kill, even in this reality where he's far less dangerous.
It's that she honestly doesn't believe he could actually kill Elijah. There are few things on this planet that Klaus values, and his siblings are definitely one of them. Klaus may rail and torment them, but he loves them, maybe in the only way Klaus knows how to love anyone.
"I don't believe that," Caroline whispers, and Klaus lifts his head to stare at her, surprised, "I don't think you could kill Elijah. In any reality. He's your brother, and I know you love him."
Klaus sighs, but his eyes are luminous, "He's betrayed me before, in our reality. It's possible he's done so here, too, and it was too much."
"Then we'll figure it out, and deal with it when we get there." Caroline says decisively.
Klaus reaches out, wraps a curl around his finger. Caroline can only imagine how ridiculous her bed head is now, but she's surprisingly not that self conscious. Klaus has seen worse from her.
"Shower with me?" he whispers, and Caroline is taken back to the night before when he had asked the same thing and she had refused. She has no reason to refuse, not anymore, though the thought makes her a little anxious.
"I've never done that before." she admits softly, closing her eyes. She can feel the heat in her cheeks, and it's stupid to be embarrassed after what they just did, but she is.
"Please?"
Niklaus Mikaelson never says please. Caroline thinks for a second she's hearing things, but she knows she isn't. Klaus had said please. In fact, it's probably not even the first time he's said it to her. He's a murderer and a hybrid, but he is a gentleman, when he wants to be.
She opens her eyes and rolls them, more to cover her blush than for any sarcastic reason, and she throws the covers off and stands up. Her body is still hers, even if it's a little older. She has a scar on her right hip, and Caroline has no idea what it's from, but she refuses to be embarrassed. It's not like Klaus hadn't just seen all of her, and besides, he knows that she's older in this reality. Hell, he's older here too, and she's not complaining.
"Hurry up!" She calls, striding towards their bathroom. She doesn't miss the way Klaus beams at her naked form, or scrambles to get out of bed. He chases her, growling in a mocking way, and Caroline surprises herself by laughing and running towards the shower, letting him catch her.
She's not even afraid, not even with the recent memory of him growling as a werewolf last night. Klaus is absurdly gentle with her, and he presses her against the cold tile of the shower and turns on the spray, letting it hit his back first. It's cold initially, but he doesn't flinch. His eyes are roaming her face, then up and down her body, and Caroline feels hot all over.
"Really?" she laughs, "Again?"
He leans in, resting his face in her neck. "Over and over, love. Even if this oh-so-mortal body is tired, I am hardly tired of you."
Despite his words, Klaus doesn't move, just presses closer to her. Caroline can feel him, hard against her belly, but she doesn't move except to wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull him in farther.
"My friends are going to kill me." she finally murmurs.
He huffs a laugh into her skin, "Don't mention your friends when we're naked. New rule."
Caroline laughs helplessly, and this time Klaus pulls away, wraps a hand into her hair, tangling it gently into her damp curls. He pulls her into a kiss, and Caroline lets out a sigh when he finally, finally lets his free hand trail down her body, stopping to thumb at her nipples. Caroline is gasping for breath under his ministrations, but Klaus has pinned her with his eyes, and has yet to let go of her hair.
"You want this," Klaus says, and it's the truth, "You don't get to feel guilty for something you want, Caroline. Damn everyone else, do what you want to do."
Caroline can feel herself holding her breath; her body is coiled tightly with desire, but Klaus' words are important. No one ever tells her to do what she wants to do. It's always about someone else — her parents marriage, Elena, Stefan, Tyler. It's not ever about what she wants.
"But-"
Klaus has both hands on the side of her face now, "No. No buts. Say it. Tell me what you want, Caroline."
"I want…" she gasps, "I want this."
When Klaus grins at her it's feral, but Caroline can't take back her words. They hover between them, caught in the slight mist the shower spray is creating.
Besides, Caroline doesn't want to take them back. They were true.
Klaus sinks down to his knees, and Caroline sucks in a breath at the sight he makes, breathing on her skin. He lifts one of her feet in his hands, kissing her ankle and setting it on the shower ledge. The knowledge of what's coming makes Caroline a little dizzy, because this is new. It's not that she's never had this before, it's that usually the other party isn't so into it.
But Klaus is magnificent. He lets his hands trail against her hips, and when his fingers pull her open, baring every inch of her to his eyes, Caroline is so turned on she doesn't even mind it.
When Klaus finally sets his mouth on her, tongue swirling against the most sensitive part of her body, Caroline loses it. She lets her head fall against the shower, and her hand seems to find Klaus' head without her telling it to. She tightens her fingers on his curls, and he rewards her by thrusting his tongue inside of her. She can't help it, she comes completely undone, and he holds her up steadily when she calls out his name.
He slides back up her body when she stops moving, and Caroline can't seem to find the energy to lift her head from the shower wall. Klaus kisses her shoulder, and it's so gentle that Caroline almost wants to cry.
Then, without saying a single word, he brings up the soap and starts washing her. He takes his time, despite the fact that Caroline knows he's still hard, and he turns her to face the spray when he starts in on her hair. She doesn't open her eyes, because even if she doesn't trust Klaus, she knows she can trust him with this.
When her hair is washed, and the rest of her body with it, she finally opens her eyes to stare at her enemy-turned-pseudo-husband. He's almost smiling and his eyes are soft. It's the closest Caroline has ever seen him to happy, and she never wants it to end.
So she does the only logical thing — she presses him back against the wall, the exact mirror of her position, and picks up the soap. He doesn't object, but he watches her curiously as she cleans his skin, rubs shampoo into his hair the same way he had for her.
When he's finally clean, and she's rinsed off the soap, Caroline sinks to her knees in front of him. By his sharp intake of breath, Klaus knows exactly what she's planning, but before she can set her mouth on him he's holding her chin.
"You don't have to." He tells her.
It's kind of incongruous to everything she's ever been told about Niklaus Mikaelson, but at the same time, it's what she's come to expect of him. He's a bundle of complexity, and Caroline likes to think that she knows him better than some people, and she'll never understand him.
She smiles though, because she can handle this. "I want to. I'm allowed to do what I want."
He lets her go and smirks, "Well, then, I won't stand in your way."
Caroline grins at him, but doesn't hesitate to take him into her mouth and swallow him down. It's never been her favourite act in the world, but she thinks she could be a fan of the way Klaus gasps out her name raggedly and lets his hands run over her hair.
The shower is just starting to turn cold, but Caroline doesn't stop until Klaus is coming in her mouth and she's swallowing him down, even though the shower could have just as easily done the clean up job. She doesn't really mind, and the look of awe on Klaus' face makes it kind of worth it.
He turns off the shower when she stands back up, and then he's pulling her raggedly into his chest. It's an odd type of embrace, because they're both dripping wet, and Caroline's starting to get cold, but they're both unwilling to move.
"Come on, let's dry off and I'll make lunch." Caroline finally says, because she's starting to think that if Klaus had his way they'd never get dressed again.
He releases her unwillingly, but when she goes to walk away he smacks her butt hard enough to hurt. She yelps and turns on him with a scowl, but he's grinning large enough that she can't reprimand him. Instead she throws the towel at his face, but he catches it and doesn't even stop smiling.
She wraps a towel around herself, heading into their room to find some sort of comfortable clothes.
"Come on, we're having soup because it's easy, and -I hate to tell you this- I'm an absolutely terrible cook."
Klaus throws his head back and laughs, "Oh no, whatever was I thinking, marrying someone who couldn't cook?"
Caroline smirks, "Shut up! You can't cook either."
"I used to be an immortal vampire werewolf hybrid, love, not much use for cooking." Klaus reminds her, his eyes dancing with humour, "But I will definitely sign up for a lesson when we get home."
Caroline laughs at him as she heads downstairs to make lunch, and she tries not to let the mention of going home get her down. She should be excited by the prospect. In fact, they should be researching, not making love and having soup.
Still, Caroline can't help but think that this is the happiest she's been in years, and the minute she's back in regular Mystic Falls she knows it will all be over, because no matter what Klaus says, or what she thinks, her friends would never accept them.
Klaus will never give up on his revenge, or his hybrids.
And Caroline won't ever be okay with him using Elena and Tyler.
Still, when she sets the soup in front of him at their kitchen table, and he thanks her with a smug grin, Caroline knows she can't stop what she's started. It's too late, and Caroline will play this particular scenario out to it's bitter end.