A/N: Hey everyone! So I am seriously amazed at the response this story has gotten... THANK YOU! I really hope you like this chapter, it's one of the sappiest ones. The next update won't be for a week, it'll be up next Friday latest. Also, there is mention of Damon and Caroline's previous relationship in S. 1, but it's not explicit. AND I forgot to mention that I don't own Vampire Diaries, obviously. I hope you like this! Keep reviewing :)
"I want to paint you." Klaus declares two days later, lying on their couch with his head in Caroline's lap while she watches some stupid reality show.
She laughs and stops her fingers where they were playing with his hair, "You have painted me."
He grins, "No. I mean I want to paint you naked."
"No way," Caroline frowns, "I'd have to sit still forever, and it's not like you could show anyone the painting!"
"Obviously," Klaus rolls his eyes, "but I still want to paint you."
Caroline, despite her objections, is intrigued by the idea, "Like Titanic?"
"Ugh, do not compare me to that idiot, love," he huffs, "but yes. I suppose that is the general idea."
"Can I have a sheet?" Caroline asks, thoughtful.
Klaus frowns, "Yes, but I get to arrange it."
Caroline rolls her eyes, "I'm going to regret this."
"Is that a yes?"
She nods, not quite trusting her voice. Klaus leaps from the couch, as if waiting for her permission was the only thing holding him back. He tugs her up, and she giggles at his exuberance.
"Nik, wait, did you mean right this second-"
Her protests are cut off, "Yes, of course! Tomorrow's that foolish gallery opening, and then we have your mother's dinner, and then Hannah the day after, and then we're at the doppelganger's dinner on Friday, and you'll have changed your mind before the weekend."
Caroline's shocked that he remembers their plans, mostly because they're not even their plans, but also because he considers them tedious and mortal.
"Fine." she gripes, stripping off her clothes when they reach his studio. She's never been more grateful for the curtains that he draws shut, because even though the studio faces their fairly private backyard, she doesn't think she could do it if she could stare outside.
She's naked by the time he turns back around, and he lets his eyes rove all over her. She feels even more undressed by his gaze, but she fights the urge to cover herself, and lets him point to a couch beyond his canvas. Caroline sits primly on it, uncomfortable with the way the fabric feels under her naked butt.
Klaus scowls at her, "Caroline, I've seen people being killed look more comfortable than you do right now."
She glares at him, "When I'm naked is not a good time to bring up the fact that you're a homicidal maniac, Klaus."
He snorts as though she's ridiculous, and comes over to the couch to move her until she looks the way he wants. He hands her a blanket and arranges it around her lap, leaving some of her covered, though less than Caroline would have liked.
"Okay, don't move. You look magnificent, love, don't worry." He reassures her, moving back to his canvas.
Caroline can't help the nervous laughter that escapes her, but she covers it by saying, "Paint me like one of your French girls, Jack."
Klaus laughs at her, and finally murmurs, "Caroline, you are a delight."
She falls silent at that, mostly because he finally picks up a pencil and starts to draw. His strokes are sure, and he spends minutes at a time staring at her before drawing whichever part he was studying.
Caroline thought it would bother her, sitting still for so long, but Klaus is fast at it, and she feels absorbed by the motion of his fingers, and the concentration on his face. She's never been looked at the way Klaus has always looked at her; as though she's some sort of puzzle that needs to be solved, a treasure that needs to be hoarded, protected. She loves it, she's addicted to it, and Caroline's afraid of what that means for them.
By the time he's done it's dark outside, and Caroline's sore from sitting in one position, but when he tells her to sit up she pulls the blanket around herself and smiles at him.
"Can I see it?" She asks.
He shrugs and turns the canvas towards her. To anyone else, it would look as though he didn't care, but Caroline knows him better than most, and he's nervous.
There's no need.
The painting is stunning, every line of her body drawn with care and precision. Caroline's a little embarrassed to see her naked self painted so openly, but it's also kind of liberating in a way. She knows it's her in the painting, but it's hard to reconcile herself with the woman staring out of the canvas. Her eyes are open, soft and blue, and she's got this ridiculous smile on her face.
"It's beautiful." She tells him, because he's still waiting for her reaction.
He shrugs again, "I had a pretty good model."
She grins, but she can't help but ask: "Is that really what you see?" It's something she's wondered before, because no matter which painting she looks at, Klaus always paints her the same way. She's beautiful, and Caroline knows objectively that she's a pretty girl, but it's something else to see herself practically glowing. She wonders if Klaus sees her that way all the time, if she is just that perfect in his eyes.
"Yes." He answers simply, and she's not sure if he knew what she meant by his question, but supposes it doesn't matter.
"You can't sell this one." She tells him, mostly because she's searching for something to say.
He rolls his eyes at her, "I dislike sharing, love, and this is definitely for no one's eyes but mine."
She doesn't bring up the fact that she's not his, no matter how much they're pretending right now. Her ring sits heavy on her finger, and she wishes for the seven billionth time that this was true. That this reality was theirs.
Caroline doesn't want to look at the painting anymore, even though it's magnificent. She doesn't want to look at her smile on canvas, doesn't want to see a picture that shows so obviously how much she cares about Klaus.
So she surges forward and kisses him, because nothing can distract her the way Klaus can. He gets with the program quickly, and it probably helps that she drops the blanket, and waits for him to start stripping off his own clothes.
Caroline's never cried during sex before, and she doesn't plan to start now, but she's also never felt her throat clog up the way it does when Klaus lays her on the blanket on the floor. She's never felt her eyes burn as much as they do when Klaus whispers ridiculous compliments in her ear as he worships her body.
She hates this as much as she loves it, and she hates that she's going to lose it all.
The next day she wakes up before Klaus and her alarm, and she slips into her work clothes and heads downstairs without him moving an inch. She's not avoiding, per se, but she's not exactly up for starting her day off with a domestic scene of him in their bed. She had dreamt of their wedding, and their proposal, and Caroline hates that nothing is ever going to live up to Klaus down on one knee on a beach. It's getting to be difficult to separate their life here, in this stupid alternate reality, from their life in the real Mystic Falls, where Caroline's supposed to hate him.
She doesn't hate him. She wonders if she's ever actually hated him, because it seems like her history is composed of a million reasons to hate him, and a million more reasons that she just can't.
Either way, she goes to work and loses herself in her clients and planning. She doesn't contemplate even the thought of Klaus, and she doesn't answer the phone when he calls her at lunch.
By the time the day is done she knows she has to call him, because even though she's not ready to go back to their house yet, she can't abandon him. Caroline knows that he has no one else in this reality, no one else who knows the real him, and he'll flip if he can't find her. He'll probably kill innocents, and then it will be even harder to reconcile herself to the fact that she wants him.
So she phones him, and he answers with an accented: "Hello?"
"Hey, Nik," Caroline greets, and she wishes she had never gotten in the habit of calling him Nik, but he likes it so she had never stopped after the barbecue at Rebekah's.
"Hello, Caroline. I called at lunch, but-"
She thinks fast, "Sorry, I had a client meeting. I'm just calling because I'm going to go shopping. I want a new dress for the gallery opening tonight."
"I'm going to wear the suit in the closet." he tells her, "Will that be sufficient?"
She laughs, "Of course. I just want a new dress. You know, something that I bought."
"Okay," he agrees, probably because he knows better than to argue with her about fashion, "be home by six, because we said we'd be there at seven."
She chokes up a little, the same way she always does when Klaus is unexpectedly husbandly. "Of course. I'll be home soon. Bye!"
"Caroline," he cuts in before she can hang up, "are you alright?"
She swallows heavily and injects as much cheer as she can into her voice without sounding deranged, "Yeah, sorry, I'm just nervous about this thing tonight."
"Then we'll cancel it." he says without hesitation.
"No! No, it's going to be great. Don't worry about me."
This time he lets her say goodbye without interruption, and she lays her head on her desk for a minute while she collects herself. Eventually she texts Elena to meet her at the mall for some shopping, because Bonnie has kids now and probably can't just drop everything for some retail therapy, and that thought makes Caroline a little hysterical.
Luckily, Elena agrees, and Caroline drives to the mall without really thinking. Elena is overjoyed at their shopping trip, and even though Caroline misses a lot of what she's saying, Elena is still blissfully ignorant of Caroline's inner turmoil.
It's only once she steps out of a change room and Elena beams that Caroline starts to feel a little better. "Oh my god, Care, seriously, you have to buy that one."
Elena is right, of course, and Caroline can't just walk away from the blue strapless dress.
"It's beautiful," Caroline agrees, "I'm going to get it."
"Klaus is going to die," Elena puts in, "You'll be the most beautiful couple in the room."
And there it is —Caroline can't stop herself, she just goes for it, "I'm in love with him."
Elena frowns, "I know. Caroline, you've seriously been in love with him forever."
"I just— it's just…" Caroline thinks hard because she wants Elena to help her, but she can't tell her the truth, "it's been hard, you know, with the baby thing. And we've been drifting, but we've been really good recently, and I just… I'm just really in love with him."
It's a neat lie; it's not true, but it's got enough in it that Caroline knows it will work, and just like she predicted, Elena falls for it.
"Oh, Care," she says, and wraps an arm over Caroline's bare shoulder. "Remember when I asked you how you knew Klaus was the one?"
"No," Caroline response miserably, because she doesn't.
Elena laughs, "He'd introduced you to Mikael, and why I have no idea, but maybe he thought that they would finally accept him, and Mikael said that if he stayed with you he would never be apart of their family."
"He's such an ass." Caroline replies. She thinks she hates Mikael more than she's ever hated anyone.
"I know," Elena agrees, "But Klaus said that you were more his family than they ever were, and he would choose you a thousand times over them."
Caroline supposes it should make her feel better, but it doesn't. Mostly because in this reality, Klaus would always choose Caroline. They were married.
But in her reality? In their actual Mystic Falls everyone-is-a-vampire reality? Klaus would always choose revenge and power.
"How did you know Damon was the one?" Caroline asks, because there's nothing else she can say.
Elena blushes, "You already know this story, Caroline."
"Humour me."
"When Stefan and I broke up for the last time," Elena starts, and Caroline barely holds back her shock. Of course she dated Stefan, even in this reality, "Damon was there for me. We were friends."
"Of course." Caroline manages.
Elena flushes and shrugs, "And one thing led to another, and we fell in love. But neither of us wanted to hurt Stefan, because Damon and his brother are really close."
"But you still ended up together?" Caroline asks, because it's so unbelievable to her that Elena still makes the same freaking mistakes in every universe.
Elena frowns a little, "I know that we hurt Stefan. We told him, and we waited. We did everything right that we could possibly do in such an impossibly shitty situation." Elena swallows, "It wasn't fair to Stefan, for both of us to do that to him. I'll probably never forgive myself, even though he's forgiven me for it. But, Caroline, sometimes you love who you love, and you can't help it. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself if it's worth it, and if it is, then everyone else can go to hell."
Caroline nods, silently, because that was more the advice she was looking for, "And you don't regret it?"
Elena smiles, and it's one of those stupidly-in-love smiles she used to give Caroline in the other reality, and Caroline can't help but smile back at her, "Caroline, if I were to live to a thousand, I would never regret choosing Damon. That's how I knew he was the one."
Caroline hugs her, because it feels right, and when she goes back into the change room to put on her regular clothes, she thinks she knows what she's going to do.
Klaus is in his studio when she gets home, but she doesn't go in to say hi. She races upstairs and manages to fix her hair and makeup as best she can, and slips into the blue strapless dress.
It's stupid to feel like a teenager on her first date, but Caroline does. This is the first time she's been out with Klaus where she's not the distraction, and there's no nefarious plans to murder him. It's refreshing.
When she steps down the stairs, careful in her nude heels, Klaus is waiting at the bottom. He looks devastating in his suit, and when Caroline grins at him he smiles back. He steps forward, his eyes dancing, and Caroline thinks that finally she doesn't have to dream about something wonderful. This is hers.
"Caroline, you are stunning." he tells her when she reaches the ground. She likes how he words it: she is stunning, not she looks stunning. It's a small difference, but something in her chest unclenches at it.
She grins, "You look pretty amazing, too."
He leans forward, quickly, and plants a kiss on her bare shoulder. It sends a thrill though her, and she barely covers her surprise.
"Turn around." He demands, and she lifts an eyebrow at him but obeys. He slips something over her head, and it rests neatly above her dress. She stares at the mirror across from them, the one that's too small to be of much use, and is floored by the simple silver necklace that ends in a delicately twisted pendant; it sparkles in their hall light, and Caroline thinks that Klaus must have spent a bit of money on it.
"It's incredible! But, seriously, it must have been so expensive."
Behind her, Klaus shrugs, "Caroline, you said I was being paid a 'disgusting' amount of money. Besides, you seem to have mixed feelings about the bracelet I once gave you, but this is not a bribe."
Caroline can't help it, she smiles helplessly because he's right. She loves the bracelet he gave her, but it seemed so wrong to wear it. This necklace, this dress, this night, it's all hers. She turns around to face him, and he's smirking at her.
"Thank you," she murmurs, "I love it." She can't help but reach up and touch it, and Klaus' eyes follow her every movement.
"I'm glad," he says, "I left spaghetti on the counter if you're hungry."
He finally leaves her at those words, heading back into the studio to grab some paintings he was planning on bringing with him. Caroline moves to the kitchen as though she's in a trance. There's a plate of spaghetti waiting for her, and Caroline wants to laugh at the mental image of Klaus attempting to cook it, but she doesn't. It's so thoughtful, and Elena's words are ringing in her head.
She eats quickly and carefully, making sure not to spill a single drop on her dress. By the time she's done and washed the plate Klaus is rushing her into the car, saying they're late. He's got his murderously annoyed face on by the time they start driving and Caroline wonders if he's angry with her, or the thought of hanging around in a gallery for hours.
She hopes it's the latter. She's pretty sure it's the latter, considering the weight of the new diamond on her neck.
"I meant to ask you something." Klaus says, after a few minutes when his glare has toned down a little.
"What?"
Klaus glances at her, "When we were at Rebekah's, and we told Elena you were sick, she seemed quite taken with the fact. She kept bringing it up."
Caroline's stomach plummets. She's not sure how Klaus will take the fact that they were trying for a baby — it's not them but it's enough like them that she can only imagine it won't be pleasant. It's probably better to tell him now though, he had been pretty firm on the whole 'no keeping secrets' thing.
"Apparently other us was trying for a baby. Have been, for over a year. Everyone knows, they keep asking me about it." Caroline keeps her voice even, and prays Klaus doesn't crash the car out of shock or something.
It takes a few long minutes, but eventually he says, "That makes sense."
Caroline turns on him, shocked, "That makes sense!? In what freaking reality does us having a baby make sense!?"
Klaus laughs, "Obviously in this reality, Caroline. Think about it. Of course we want a baby, we're like the most average middle aged couple in the world. We have a house, we have money, we're obviously ridiculously happy. The next step is children."
When he puts it like that it is logical, but Caroline cannot reconcile the fact that Klaus who, by his own admission, doesn't know what to do with children, wants a baby.
"But- But- do you want children!?" Caroline protests.
Klaus snorts, "We're not talking about me, we're talking about the other version of me. And, had I been mortal and stayed mortal, I imagine I would one day have kids. As a thousand year old vampire, I can't say the thought has ever crossed my mind that it would even be possible."
Caroline snaps her mouth shut. She realizes, now, that despite the fact that Klaus is useless with kids, he has had much, much longer to think about them. Even if he never wanted them, he's had centuries of time to decide upon that fact, to weigh pros and cons. He's seen and lived through thousands of lives where he would have had to be around them.
She's a baby-vampire who died before her eighteenth birthday. Of course she's never considered children beyond the furthest musings of her brain.
"I guess that does make sense." Caroline finally admits, "When you put it like that."
Klaus frowns, "Do you want children?"
Caroline sighs, "I hadn't really ever thought about it when I was mortal, I was too young. But, yes, I would have wanted children." Her voice turns wistful, "But, I'm a better vampire than I ever was a mortal, so it's just another sacrifice."
Klaus reaches over and clasps her hand, and it's the nicest form of reassurance she can think of, "You know, you can still have kids, they just won't be yours. Rebekah, Elijah, and myself raised a child once."
"Really?!" Caroline is beyond shocked.
Klaus laughs at her reaction, "We did about as good a job of it as you imagine. He was fantastic though, both my son and best friend when he grew up. He chose to become a vampire, you know."
"So he's still around?" Caroline wonders.
Klaus shrugs, "He could be. I don't think so — my father was after us and we fled. We couldn't find him before we did so, and we haven't heard from or of him since."
There's no pain in Klaus' tone, only acceptance, and Caroline knows that this must have been a long time ago. For Klaus to take someone under his wing and lose them… he doesn't react well to that. She know that he misses Stefan, even though he'll never regain what he lost with him.
"I think he's still out there." Caroline says softly, and Klaus doesn't respond, but he does squeeze her hand gently.
By the time he's parked by the gallery, Caroline has worked herself into a near panic attack. She hates this about her mortal body; she feels weak and overwhelmed, and she can't focus on one emotion long enough to calm herself down.
Klaus has left to bring the three paintings to the back door, and Caroline tries to centre herself on the thought of being a vampire. It's an odd thing to think about, but it's the one thing that Caroline wants in this moment, and she knows that if she can remember the feeling of power and control, she won't be so nervous about the stupid gallery.
Her door opens and Klaus is waiting there, looking ridiculously handsome in his suit, and Caroline tries to breathe.
He frowns at her, "Caroline, what is going on?"
"It's this gallery thing," she tries, letting her hands flail out, "I didn't organize it, and I like to know what's happening, and what if we mess up! What if they realize it's not us!"
Klaus shrugs, "Who cares? We don't know anyone in there. They're not going to realize it's not us. People's brains don't work that way, not here where nothing supernatural has ever really gone on. This isn't our Mystic Falls, Caroline."
It helps, and Caroline rolls her eyes at him, "I know, I know, I just…"
"This is what you keep meaning when you say you aren't very good at being mortal, isn't it?"
Caroline nods, "I was neurotic and crazy, and obsessive, and I can't seem to help myself. Being a vampire, even though it amplifies those things, it also lets me control them. I don't know. It's weird. I hate being mortal."
"It's not my favourite either, love," Klaus fights a smile, "but you're better at it than you give yourself credit for. I didn't even realize I had to sleep every night until you said something."
She laughs helplessly, "You just forgot, at least you're calm."
"Calm!?" Klaus huffs, "Caroline, the only reason the body count in this town hasn't risen immeasurably is because you asked me not to kill anyone, and I listened. Do you know how many people I actually listen to?!"
Caroline grins, "It's my favourite superpower."
"Come on, love, no hiding in the car." Klaus helps her out, "We're going to get through this, it will all be fine, and if it isn't, say the word and I'll kill them all."
It should make her angry, but instead it calms her down. She hopes it's not because she knows Klaus would murder everyone in the room if she asks, but more because she has to stay calm so that he doesn't.
They step through the front doors, and Caroline concentrates on the fact that Klaus' hand is warm on her back. People greet them with smiles, and many say hi, and even though Caroline doesn't recognize them she returns their greetings. Klaus is well known, and often people will come up to congratulate him on his work or to ask him questions.
The paintings that other Klaus must have put in the gallery are stunning, though she still favours the three that her Klaus brought with him above all. They're all slightly darker: the landscape in Italy, lit only by painted yellow streetlights; an abstract blue piece, flowing together with greys and warm orange; and finally, the one of her on the blanket with sleepy eyes, the first one she saw him paint of her.
"I'd like to say he doesn't do you justice, but he's a very talented artist, and he paints you just as beautiful as you are in real life." The voice startles her out of her musings, and when Caroline turns it isn't Klaus at her side.
The man is handsome, blonde hair and green eyes; Caroline imagines that if she had chosen him her friends would be overjoyed. As it stands, Caroline finds herself flattered, but definitely not interested.
"Thank-you," she tells him, "it's my favourite of his paintings." She doesn't mention their most recent art project together where she had no clothes. Despite it being overly revealing, she likes how Klaus had painted her.
The man grins, "Mine as well. I'm David."
"Caroline," She returns, and then searches for something to say, awkward in the face of his flirting, "Um, I also like the Italy landscape."
"It's nice," he agrees, "but I have to say that it doesn't even compare to your portrait."
Caroline sees Klaus, across the room, and his eyes are daggers in David's back. He makes the first step towards them, and Caroline has seen that particular murderous look on Klaus' face before, and it always ends in bloodshed.
She smiles coolly at David, "My husband would have to agree with you."
David's smile falls, though he doesn't move, "Is he here? I have yet to run into him."
"You're in luck," Klaus' voice is dry, and David turns in surprise to face him. "I see you met the inspiration for my newest painting."
"Ah, yes. Caroline is stunning." David agrees, and Caroline wants to knock him out for speaking as though she wasn't standing beside him. She has a feeling she won't need to, because Klaus looks up for a bloodbath.
"I would have to agree," Klaus hisses, "since she's my wife."
Caroline sighs, "I am right here. And I am obviously very taken, David, so thanks but no thanks. Men are the most ridiculous creatures," she rolls her eyes, "I'll be at the punch bowl."
She walks away and decides that if Klaus kills him now it's no one's fault but David's. In the end, she doesn't need to worry, because he catches up with her within seconds. He's smirking, infuriating and handsome even when she's annoyed with him.
"What's got you so smug?" Caroline finally snaps when they reach the other side of the room.
"Well, wife, I do believe you just chose me." Klaus murmurs, so quietly she fights to hear him. The words flare through her, and Caroline rolls her eyes to cover her reaction.
"We did agree to give this a shot, husband." Caroline snaps back.
Klaus grins, "Let's get out of here."
"We need to stay at least two more hours," Caroline says, although her voice is weak with desire.
Klaus reaches out, rest a hand on her hip. It's an innocent touch, but Caroline's body lights up, "Half hour. At most." he demands.
Caroline leans forward and kisses him, the fastest brush of lips she's ever managed to pull off, "Give me one hour here, and I'm yours."
He kisses her again, this time a little more firmly, "Deal."
She smiles at him, and scoops some punch into a cup. He takes it, and Caroline watches his eyes smile at her from over the rim when he drinks it. An hour seems like the biggest win she's ever had.
It's two days later when they're sliding into bed that Caroline realizes the weight of what she's decided. She knows she's in love with Klaus, she knows she wants him more than she's ever wanted anything. There's so many problems with that knowledge that Caroline can't even begin to start sorting it out; even if she ignores the fact that her friends are trying to kill him, her mother hates him, and he has more immortal and powerful enemies than anyone else on the planet, she's still stuck with the simple fact that Klaus doesn't love her.
She knows he cares, it's obvious by how he takes care of her, and by how he covets her affection. Still, Klaus is not the type to fall in love, and even if he did, he's immortal and Caroline knows that he's not interested in forever. Never has been, not with anyone, never will be. Especially not with a baby vampire.
It's so impossible, and every time Caroline manages to ignore everything against them something in this stupid new reality reminds her of what she's doing.
"Did it upset you that much?" Klaus' voice is quiet beside her, interrupting her thoughts. It's the first time he's said a word since they got into bed. He's on the opposite side as her, and they're not even touching. She's become accustomed to his presence, and he seems so far from her right now that she's aching.
"What?" Caroline responds. She's playing dumb; she can't handle the conversation he seems to want to spring on her.
He turns to her but doesn't reach out, "What your mother said. You've been on edge since we came home, love."
She closes her eyes but it doesn't help. Words like home and love and we fall into her ears like bullets, and Caroline wishes Klaus couldn't see though her so well, but he's always been able to, even before they were… whatever they are now.
'You kids are crazy — every time I see you it's like you're falling in love all over again.'
Her mother's voice repeats in her brain, over and over, reminding her both of how amazing this reality has been, and how terrible it was before. Caroline wishes they had skipped on dinner at her mother's like Klaus had suggested before they had left. She wishes she had never heard her mother say that, her voice soft with fondness.
"It's frustrating to think that we've done this already. There could be a thousand realities where you and I just work and we don't have to work at it." She swallows hard, because she wants this to be as easy in their actual home as it is here. But it never will be.
Klaus leans up on one arm, and he looks furious, "This reality isn't real, Caroline, of course it's easy here."
"But why can't it be this easy at home!?" She says, and sits up against their headboard. Klaus turns on the lamp beside him and sits against the headboard with her.
"Because both you and I made a lot of mistakes to get here." he tells her, and she hates that for once Klaus is the one making sense.
"I hate this." Caroline hisses.
It's not entirely true; she hates that it's so hard, and she hates that she wants Klaus so much when he's so bad for her. Still, she doesn't explain that, and she realizes she's made a mistake when she sees Klaus stiffen and his fists clench.
"If you hate this so much then when we get home just say the word and I'll compel you to forget everything," he hisses, "it'll be like it never happened."
He's attacking her because he's hurt, but Caroline's stomach plummets and she feels cold sweats break out all over her body at the thought of being under compulsion again.
"No!" she cries, "No, don't you dare, don't you ever compel me, ever, do you hear me!?" Her voice is rising, and Caroline fights to keep it under control.
Klaus is deadly in the soft lamplight, "Caroline, I said I would if you wanted me to."
"Well, I don't!" She drags in a ragged breath and gets her volume under control, "I don't want you to compel me. I didn't mean I hate this, I meant I hate that it's going to be tough when we get home."
Klaus' eyes are sharp with curiosity, his previous anger at her forgotten, "You've been compelled before."
Caroline stays silent, refusing to give him any information, but also not willing to lie to him anymore.
Klaus doesn't need her to talk, he's used to getting information from better secret keepers than she is, "You've been compelled before, and you didn't know until you became a vampire. No one likes being compelled, but your reaction was extreme. Tell me what happened."
"No." Caroline says, "Let it go, Klaus, it was a long time ago, and I'm tired."
Klaus scowls, "You panic when your mother says some stupid comment about other us, but when I want to actually know something about you, you shut down."
"This isn't about me!" Caroline protests, and Klaus smirks.
"It's okay, don't tell me. I love a puzzle," he tells her, and Caroline eyes him as though he's a shark in her bed, "let me guess. So someone compelled you, and if I'm correct, it was in Mystic Falls since you've never really been outside of it. Since our hometown's vampire infestation didn't occur until the Salvatores arrived I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it was connected to Elena."
Caroline hisses, "Drop it, Klaus."
He frowns, "You're far too defensive about this topic, which means it can't be a rogue vampire because you wouldn't care at all if I hunted them down and set them on fire."
Caroline feels trapped even with the space to run away. She'll never have Klaus more vulnerable than he is in pyjamas and tucked into their bed, completely mortal. She knows he'll figure it out since he always does, and he'll demand the whole story, and the minute she gives in— which she knows she will— he'll hunt Damon to the ends of the earth.
His eyes widen minutely, "I thought it would be Katherine, since compulsion is her style, but you wouldn't protect her from me. I have enough reasons to murder her anyway. It can't be Stefan since I know you're his friend, and though you are far too forgiving I doubt this is something you have gotten over."
Caroline shuts her eyes, "Klaus, please…" She's not even sure what she's asking for anymore.
Klaus breathes, "Damon compelled you?"
"You can't kill him." she says, eyes closed and begging, "You can't."
Klaus' hand circles her wrist, almost painful, "Tell me what he did. Tell me why he compelled you."
Caroline knows that she can't lie, but she can't tell him everything. He'd burn Damon's house down with Elena in it. She breathes deeply and decides she can skirt the truth enough to make him happy, but hopefully avoid Damon's death.
"He needed to get close to Elena. He needed an in, and I provided one." Caroline tells him. "It was also handy that I happened to be an all-you-can-eat buffet for a vampire at the time. That's all. I don't like compulsion because I felt out of control, and you know how I feel about control."
Klaus grip becomes painful, but he lets go before she can protest. He's moved over enough that he's encroaching on her space and Caroline can't remember why she wanted him closer before, because now he's terrifying. His eyes are dissecting her, hunting for the truth, and Caroline wants to give him everything.
"Tell me what else," he demands, "tell me, Caroline."
"I can't," her voice breaks on a sob, "you'll kill him, and Elena loves him."
Klaus' voice is a snarl, "It is not your job to protect Elena. The doppelgänger has enough people looking out for her, and you have gone without for far too long."
"But she's my best friend," Caroline breathes, and she opens her eyes to stare into Klaus', "please, Nik, please. You can't kill him."
Klaus' eyes are shining in the soft light, and Caroline… Caroline wants to tell him everything, to let every secret go, to just let him hold her up. She wants him to go and eviscerate Damon, because Caroline wasn't strong enough to do it herself when she needed to, and now it's too late because… because Elena loves him, and Caroline can't do that to her best friend.
The worst part is that Caroline knows that Elena would not grant her the same kindness. It doesn't matter that she loves Klaus, they're never going to stop trying to kill him.
"Tell me what he did," Klaus begs, "and then if you tell me not to kill him, I will listen. I promise, just tell me."
Caroline can't stop the tears from spilling over her lashes, but she keeps her voice as even as possible when she says, "I wasn't lying. He used me to get close to Elena, to learn about her, and to torment Stefan. He pretended to date me. I was nothing more than… than a blood bag and a warm body."
Klaus is shaking beside her, and his face is set in stone, "You should have killed him the second you could."
"Elena was the one who figured it out," Caroline confesses, "she saw all these bite marks on me, and she knew it was Damon. He was going to kill me — he told me he was going to kill me the minute I wasn't useful anymore, and she… she saved me, I suppose, in a way. The worst part was I didn't even remember any of it until after Katherine killed me, and then I just relived all of it while everyone else conveniently forgot about it since Damon was on our side."
Klaus grabs her hands, forces them up to his chest. She can feel his heart thundering under her palms. "I want him dead, Caroline. I want him dead for ever touching you."
She smiles, wetly through her tears, "That actually means a lot, you know. No one's ever threatened to kill anyone for me before."
"Say the word."
Caroline frees her hand from his grip and lets it rise to rest on his cheek, "You can't kill him, Nik. I know you want to, and I know that a small part of me wants to let you do it, but you can't. I love Elena, and she saved me from Damon, and now she loves him and it will destroy her if you kill him."
Klaus stares at her avidly for a minute too long before he lets out a breath, "I will remind you that they won't hesitate to kill me, given the chance."
Caroline tries to smile, "If it helps, I'm going to try not to give them the chance."
Klaus leans forward to kiss her, and this time when he pulls away he only separates them the tiniest amount, "I will not kill him, love, but I reserve the right to hit him as hard as possible when we return home."
Caroline laughs, "Please, be my guest. He's had it coming for a while." Klaus wraps her up in his arms, and Caroline feels lighter than she has in ages. Her mother's words don't stop circling in her head, and she knows that this relationship is probably the most doomed one she's ever entered, but it feels right, pressed against Klaus' chest. His heartbeat is so mortal in her ears, and she wants to protect him as much as he protects her.
"Damon will be at the barbecue on Friday." Klaus says.
Caroline shrugs, "It doesn't bother me. This isn't even the same Damon. Plus, I spend way more time with him at home since he's always around."
"The thought makes me ill." Klaus mutters.
Caroline smacks him, laughing, "Get over it. Seriously. No murder."
Klaus drops a kiss on her hair, "For now."
"Not just for now, Nik, you can't kill him later!" Caroline hisses.
Klaus shrugs and smirks, "Forever is a very long time for a vampire, love, and I somehow think that Elena and Damon will not make it, and thus I can probably kill him in another hundred years and you'll hardly even be angry with me."
Caroline smiles, mostly because Klaus still thinks he'll know her in another hundred years, but also because he's at least giving Damon and Elena a grace period of a century.
"I used to doubt they'd make it the decade," Caroline confesses, "but something the Elena in this reality said to me the other day made me rethink that. They actually might just make it."
Klaus rolls his eyes, "It's easy to love someone when your life is only a single span of a hundred years at most. A century goes by quickly, and even though as vampires our emotions are amplified, humans feel the deadline. As you said, forgiveness is easier when your mortal, and holding a grudge is easy to a vampire."
Caroline leans over him to turn off the lamp, letting herself settle back into Klaus' arms, "I suppose. Still, they might surprise us."
"Let's hope not," Klaus mutters into her ear, "I do hate putting off a good murder."
Caroline giggles in the dark, and wonders what the hell happened to the blonde vampire who was afraid of Klaus and his vengeful streak. Being mortal has made her bloodthirsty.
"No murdering in other Klaus' body. As far as we know, his hands are fairly innocent. I mean, other than the killing from the curse," Caroline murmurs, "and we are now officially responsible adults."
"Speak for yourself," Klaus whispers.
Caroline laughs, "I was talking about me! Hannah is coming over tomorrow, and you're probably going to sulk when we watch a movie again!"
Klaus growls at her, "Caroline Forbes, are you accusing me of being a bad babysitter!?"
"It's Caroline Mikaelson, now," Caroline corrects primly, and enjoys the way Klaus' mouth falls open, "and I'll take it back if you pick her up tomorrow so I can come straight home from work."
Klaus is silent for a second, but slowly a smile spreads across his lips, and to her shock he just laughs and says, "That is a deal, Mrs. Mikaelson."
She falls asleep smiling.
When Caroline comes home from work the next day, all she can hear is laughter from the studio. She sets her work bag down and takes in the pink princess shoes on the carpet, and the sparkly backpack on her stairwell; she's not surprised that Klaus remembered to pick up Hannah, since she had reminded him seven times today, but she is shocked that he's not hidden away somewhere, and Hannah waiting for her on the couch by herself.
She throws open the studio door and her jaw drops at the sight of Klaus and Hannah barefoot and coated in paint. They're both sticking their hands in bowls of paint and flicking it onto a propped up canvas, and Klaus has a blue hand print on his face.
"What is going on?" Caroline asks, and both Klaus and Hannah freeze to look at her guiltily.
Hannah eventually cracks and grins, "Uncle Klaus said this was a better way of finger painting."
Klaus shrugs at her, "It is. Nothing is worse than smearing paint with fingers and losing texture."
Hannah beams at him, "Auntie Caroline, you gotta come paint with us."
The room is silent for a second, and Caroline grins, "Well, I guess I could go put on my painting pants."
Hannah cheers, and even Klaus grins at her, so Caroline disappears up the stairs to throw on a ratty pair of sweats and an old t shirt in a drawer. When she gets back in the studio, Klaus and Hannah are already throwing paint again, and Caroline supposes it was a good thing Klaus even remembered to set down a plastic sheet.
They're all going crazy, throwing paint at the canvas, which is starting to look like a splattered mess. Caroline is laughing harder than she has in years, and Klaus paints her nose purple the second she isn't paying attention. Hannah can't stop grinning, and Caroline knows they are the coolest aunt and uncle to ever live right now.
Of course, when everything is going so well, Hannah accidentally throws a blue glop of paint and it completely misses the canvas and lands on the wall. Caroline wants to freak out. It's in her nature to panic and freak out, but she's frozen by the look on Hannah's face. The kid is horrified, and she has this really expectant look on her face, like she knows she's about to get yelled at.
Caroline hates that look; she's had that look on her face a million times from her mother, and she's never wanted to see it on any other kids before. Caroline holds back every second of the panic she's having, decides it's not even really her house, so it's really not a big deal.
She glances at Hannah, scoops up a handful of green paint and throws it as hard as she can onto the wall beside Hannah's blue mess and nods, "That's better. I always thought that wall was a little boring."
Hannah's eyes go huge, and after a beat Klaus picks up the purple, "I think you're right, love."
He splatters it over both of their mess, and then it's a free for all until their wall is coated in a million colours. Eventually, Caroline is so covered in paint she blends into the wall, and she calls for a break.
"Okay, okay," she says, "we all need a serious shower, and then we're ordering pizza for dinner."
Klaus carries Hannah up the stairs and puts her in the hallway bathtub, where Caroline turns on the shower for her. Klaus heads for their bathroom to shower, and Caroline washes Hannah's hair under the spray carefully. By the time she's done Hannah is mostly clean, and she's still beaming even when Caroline towels her off and brushes her hair out. She puts one of Klaus' t shirts on Hannah, and it hangs so long on her that it's a dress.
"Okay, I'm going to shower now, but you head downstairs and Uncle Klaus will put on a movie for you. Tell him to call for pizza, as well."
Hannah nods at her instructions and runs out the door. Caroline hopes Klaus is okay for a while, but judging by the scene she had come home to she's really not afraid for Hannah, she's more afraid for the state of her house.
When she gets downstairs again, clean and hair pulled back, Hannah and Klaus are sitting at the table and eating pizza. They're quiet, but Hannah looks beyond happy. Caroline snags a piece and scarfs it down. She's starving after all the painting.
"Let's put on a movie after," Caroline says.
Hannah nods, pizza sauce all over her face, "I want to watch a movie. When mom and dad and I go to New York we always go see a play, which is kind of like a movie but real life."
Caroline smiles, "That's where you're all going, right? On Sunday?"
Hannah nods, "Yeah. We get to go to Auntie Elena's tomorrow, and then one day at home to pack, and then we go to New York the day after." She holds out three greasy fingers, "Three more sleeps, mom says."
"Why New York?" Klaus asks.
Hannah frowns at him, "Because Uncle Henrik is in New York, remember?" She says it as though it's something they should know, and Caroline glances at Klaus because as far she knows, she's never even heard of a Henrik.
"Uncle Henrik," Klaus is white as a sheet, and swallows before he continues the sentence, "Uncle Henrik… is in New York?"
"Uh, yeah?" Hannah says, "I'm full now. Can we watch a movie?"
Caroline jumps to her feet and grabs a cloth to wipe Hannah's hands and face. Klaus hasn't moved, and his knuckles are clenched so tightly they're white. Caroline hustles Hannah into the living room and puts on a movie, settling her in as fast as possible.
Klaus hasn't even moved an inch by the time she gets back. Caroline sits down across from him, and debates if she should grab his hand, but decides against it.
"What's going on?" She whispers, "Who's Henrik?"
Klaus' eyes snap from his hands to her, and instead of looking angry, as she had expected, he looks hopeful, "Henrik is my youngest brother."
Caroline realizes why he was so shocked, "He's dead, isn't he? In our reality?"
Klaus nods, "He died before we even turned. Died mortal. That's why Esther did what she did, to make us vampires."
Caroline doesn't even know what to say to that. She knows Klaus loves his siblings, but she also knows that he hates them sometimes. Henrik, though? Henrik is the one sibling Klaus didn't have for long, the one sibling he never got the chance to betray or be betrayed by.
"You want to go to New York." Caroline says.
Klaus glances down at the table and shakes his head, minutely, "I don't think I can."
This time, Caroline does reach out and take his hand, "If you want to go, you can. I'll make excuses, you just go. Seriously, if we do ever get home and you don't get to see him you'll be mad at yourself."
He lifts his eyes, tormented, "I killed him, Caroline."
"What?" Caroline whispers.
"I killed him. He wanted to see the wolves turn in our village, and I took him out on the full moon because I was so stupid, and we were attacked. He died in my arms."
Caroline stands up abruptly, comes around the corner and crouches by Klaus' seat, "You listen to me, Nik. You have killed many people, and done many stupid and terrible things, but killing Henrik was not one of them. It was not your fault."
Klaus stares at her as though she's speaking another language, "But — the wolves, they just—"
"That's their fault. His blood is on their hands, not yours. You weren't that old, Nik, and you're lucky that they didn't kill you."
Klaus' eyes shut, "They didn't kill me because they could sense it. That I was one of them."
Caroline stands again and sits on his lap this time, giving him no other option but to look at her. His hands automatically find her hips, and Caroline raises her palms to rest on his cheeks.
"That's also not your fault, Nik." She says, "None of it was. It was bad luck. You have to go see your brother, seriously."
"What if he—"
Caroline interrupts, "He won't remember what you do. He's your brother. At the very worst you two are out of touch and don't talk much; which is too bad, but at least you can go see him. Think about it! When we get home, imagine what you could tell Elijah and Rebekah!"
Klaus leans forward, sets his head on her collarbone and wraps his arms around her entirely. "It'll be like he was killed all over again." he mutters.
There's truth in his words, and Caroline knows how afraid he is of that. Of the pain that this reality can bring; she's afraid to run into her father, to see his face and know how he looked when he tortured her, and also how he looked when he died. She hated him and she loved him, and Caroline's not sure which part will be worse if she saw him again.
Caroline rests her mouth on his hair and whispers, "It might be. It might hurt. You can go, if you like, or you can stay. It's up to you. But, whatever you choose, remember that you might never get another chance."
Klaus is silent after that, and Caroline doesn't move, just lets him hold her. It's only when there's a knock at her door that she finally untangles herself from him and heads to answer it.
It's Matt and Rebekah, and Caroline turns around to see that Hannah is sound asleep on the couch, the TV playing the credits of the movie she was watching. She smiles at the sight, and her heart is so full it hurts.
"Was she painting?" Rebekah asks softly.
Caroline laughs, "Oh yes. We re-decorated a studio wall."
Rebekah flushes, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," Caroline waves it off, "it was the most fun I've had in ages."
Rebekah looks at her a little sideways, and Caroline thinks that maybe she's overbearing and a control freak even in this reality if her friends are that shocked that she'd be okay with messing up her house.
"Care," Matt says, "we seriously appreciate you two and how much you look after Hannah for us. She loves you both so much."
Caroline feels her eyes well with tears and she pushes them down, "It's no problem. Honestly, we love her, too."
Klaus appears beside her, Hannah in his arms, and he transfers her into Matt's grip easily. Rebekah grins at him, punching his shoulder gently.
"Best big brother ever!" She teases.
Klaus smiles at her ribbing, though Caroline notices he looks tired, "Speaking of siblings, how is Henrik?"
Rebekah frowns, "He's good. He's asked after you, you know."
"Oh… that's… nice." Klaus says.
Rebekah sighs, "You two need to get over whatever fight you're having and go back to being brothers. Seriously."
Klaus scowls, "I'll keep that in mind."
"Nik was thinking of visiting." Caroline says when Rebekah starts glaring.
Instantly, Rebekah beams at her, "That's fantastic! Nik, why didn't you say so? Henrik would be excited, I know he would. When are you thinking of going?"
Klaus turns his glacial scowl onto Caroline, but he does answer, "Maybe this weekend. I don't want to interrupt your trip, but I wanted to go soon. I could leave tomorrow, stay till Monday when you two are there."
Rebekah grins, "Phone him! Do it! Seriously, he'll be so excited."
Caroline can nearly see the veins in Klaus' forehead exploding at Rebekah's insistence so she intercedes, "I'll make sure of it, don't worry."
Matt frowns at Klaus but pulls Rebekah's arm gently, "Come on, Beks, we gotta go home. Hannah is heavier than she used to be."
Rebekah smiles down at her daughter and tucks some hair behind her ears, "Alright, Matt. See you tomorrow, Caroline. Nik, I hope I don't see you, since you'll be in New York!"
She heads off their porch, and Caroline reaches out to set a hand on Klaus' arm. He shrugs off of her and heads up the stairs, and Caroline shuts the door. She goes to the kitchen first, cleans up their pizza and puts away the leftovers. She's giving him time to cool off, but after she's got the living room back in order there's not much more avoiding she can do.
By the time she reaches their room, Klaus is sitting in the bed, under the blankets. The lamp is on, but he's not reading anything. Caroline sighs heavily and leans on the door frame.
"I can sleep in the spare room, if you like." She offers. It's probably her turn, since she made him sleep there at first.
His eyes snap to hers, "I'm not kicking you out of bed."
"I thought you might like to be alone," Caroline explains, "you seem angry."
Klaus shrugs, "I am angry. I'm still not kicking you out of bed."
"Are you going to murder me in my sleep?" It's a joke, and Caroline knows Klaus won't kill her, but he looks seriously insulted.
"Caroline, are you—"
She rushes to interrupt him, "I'm joking. That was a joke." she pushes off the door frame and turns off the light, heading into the room.
Klaus is silent. He watches her get into the bed, and just when Caroline can't take the silence anymore he finally says: "I called Henrik."
Caroline gapes at him, "What!?"
"I called him. He sounded… good. Older." Klaus sighs, "I'm going to fly down tomorrow, I got a ticket."
"Really!?" Caroline grins, "That's fantastic, I'm so happy."
Klaus nods, pensive. "We're fighting. I don't even know why, but I know we are. Sometimes this doesn't feel like a spell."
Caroline is thrown by the semi-topic change, but she manages to say, "What do you mean?"
Klaus turns to her, eyes glacial in the lighting, "You know how we thought this was a spell? Well, all of it is just so… detailed. I've never seen a spell like this. This would take obscene amounts of magic to create, and to hold it like this? It's almost impossible. We've been here almost a month, Caroline, and the spell hasn't even shifted."
"What are you suggesting, Nik!?" Caroline demands.
He shrugs, "I think that whoever cast this spell on us sent us to an actual alternate reality. Like… this is all actually happening, somewhere else in the universe, or something."
Caroline tries to wrap her mind around it and the only thing she can think is that somewhere her and Klaus are actually married. Somewhere, Caroline Forbes managed to have a nearly perfect life, and it's so not fair.
"So where arethe other Caroline and Klaus!?"
Klaus shrugs, "I imagine that they're in our lives in Mystic Falls. The witch who did it probably put them to sleep, and is holding them there."
"If they got put to sleep I bet they're dreaming our lives." Caroline says, "In which case, they're going to be horrified by each other."
Klaus laughs, "They'll get over it. We did."
"We're also immortal vampires, and neither of us has what you would call a clean record."
Klaus sighs, "I'm not worried about them, Caroline. I'm not even worried about our bodies, because as you said, we're immortal over there. I'm worried about the fact that if this isn't a spell, if we've just been sent here, this could be permanent."
Caroline sinks further into the bed, lets her head hit the pillow. She stares at the roof for a long moment and tries to reconcile herself with the fact that this could be her life. As often as she may have wished it, she never really thought she could have it. She's not even sure if it's what she really wants, but Caroline supposes there are worse things than having this house, and this husband, and this reality.
There is a flaw though. Klaus could never accept this, not the way Caroline does. He wants more than this, he wants the world at his feet and a queen by his side. He wants power and immortality and fear.
Caroline can't help the burning behind her eyelids, or the way her throat closes up. She can't help the fact that all she can think about is Thursday nights with Hannah, and Klaus covered in paint. She can't stop picturing Klaus when he's older, older even than he is now, and the fact that they're mortal, they could keep trying for that baby.
Her tears burn her skin when they fall; they feel like a betrayal to her friends and to Klaus, and she hasn't even said anything.
A thumb brushes her cheek bone, "Don't cry, Caroline, we'll figure something out. I'll get us back home, and this isn't that bad."
Caroline chokes on the words she can't say, and tries to nod at what Klaus is saying because he's actually trying to make her feel better. It's not his fault she burns with want of this place, and of him.
"Caroline, what's going on?" Klaus rolls until he's propped up beside her and Caroline has nowhere to look but his eyes, "Why are you crying? I said I'd fix it."
Caroline wills herself with every fibre of her being to stop crying, and after a few moments she manages to clear her throat and wipe her eyes, "I'm sorry. I'm okay."
"Obviously not," Klaus says drily, "tell me what's wrong."
Caroline frowns, "It's okay. I just — you know. The spell to reality thing."
It's not a lie, and Klaus nods at the words but doesn't roll away from her, "I thought you were adjusting better to this human life than I was."
Caroline chokes, because of course she's adjusting better, "No… I… well, I guess so. I like… I like this reality— it's… nice."
Too much, too much. Caroline wants to drag the words back into her mouth, but they're already in the open, and Klaus has always seen more than she wants him to.
He frowns, "You don't want to go home."
She knows it's a betrayal in his eyes, and she has to fix this, but at least this part is simple because it's the truth. "No, it's not that I don't want to go home. I do want to go home."
"I don't see the problem. You like this reality, enough that staying for longer than initially planned doesn't seem to be a problem, but you still want to go home. Which we will. Eventually. When I figure out how."
Caroline sucks in a breath and decides that she really can't keep this up. Klaus will always dance circles around her with what he knows, and this secret will eventually come out whether she wants it to or not.
She swallows and decides that the worst thing that can happen is that he gets up and walks out the front door and leaves her here. That's actually the worst thing Caroline can think of, so it doesn't really help, but she still manages to push the words out.
"In the interest of full disclosure and not keeping secrets," she starts, "I suppose I need to tell you something."
It's almost comical how quickly Klaus' face turns to stone, and his eyes go hard. He thinks she's betrayed him again; Caroline can only imagine what he's imagining, probably convincing himself she helped with this spell and reality, and it's all been an elaborate hoax.
At least this way, when she tells him that she loves him, it won't hurt him. She won't have betrayed him.
"Caroline—" The warning in his voice is deadly, and Caroline swallows down her nervousness.
"Stop," she demands, "it's not what you're thinking. I'm just nervous to how you'll react. But it's not bad. For you."
"Just tell me."
Caroline thinks about how she'll feel when Klaus inevitably walks away, and how she'll feel when her friends try to kill him again and she'll choose to save him. She thinks about how she'll feel when after a month or a year or a decade he'll one day wake up and look at her and feel absolutely nothing for her. She thinks about the fact that she's going to love him for the rest of her stupid life, whether it's forty years or another thousand, and she thinks about the fact that if he were to be daggered and put in a coffin for hundreds of years she would wait and wait and wait, just like Sage.
She thinks that it's not worth it to love Niklaus Mikaelson, not when he doesn't love you back. She also thinks that she can't help it, and that if there were even the smallest chance that she could jump and he would catch her, it would be worth it.
Caroline jumps, "I'm so absolutely, ridiculously, stupidly in love with you."
Klaus freezes, and when she looks at him, he's got this stunned expression on his face. He's not angry like she feared, or even happy, like she had hoped. If anything, Caroline thinks that she might have been the first person who wasn't related to him to ever say that to him.
"What?" he finally breathes.
"I'm in love with you," Caroline smiles, just a little, "that's why I was upset. I love you, Nik, not this reality. I just… when we go home this is all over."
In the lamplight Caroline can practically see Klaus' eyes light with anger, "What do you mean this is all over?"
She rolls her eyes, "Of course that's the part you listen to. I mean that it won't be like this. You'll go do what you do, and I'll do what I do, and my friends will try to kill you as you ruin their lives, only this time it will be a thousand times worse because I'll love you." Her voice cracks on the last words, and Caroline's embarrassed to realize she's on the verge of tears again.
It's not even that she wants him to say it back. It's that she wants him to at least acknowledge it.
Klaus reaches an arm over to grab her bicep, holding her gently, "It won't be worse. It won't. I remember what I said. I have to think about what would make you happy before I do anything."
Caroline laughs, but it comes out more like a sob, "I don't want to be your moral compass, Klaus."
He scowls, and Caroline knows it's because she called him Klaus. She only does that when she's upset with him now, and he hates it.
"That's too bad, Caroline. You are the closest thing I have to a conscience, and you have to deal with it. You think I've ruined your friends lives — and maybe I did, especially in the beginning when I did the ritual, but you don't understand what I could have done when I found out about her blood. If I really wanted Elena that badly I could have burned Mystic Falls to the ground, could have killed every single person in a ten mile radius. I could have just compelled her to follow me, and walked out of there."
Caroline grits her teeth, "Thanks so much for that speech."
"It's not a speech," Klaus snarls, "it's me making a point. Yes, I want Elena's blood. I don't care how I get it, whether I have to chain her to me for eternity, or whether she willingly gives me some whenever I like. I don't care about Elena."
"Okay, but I do, she's my best friend!"
"I know!" Klaus is nearly yelling at her, "I know that, and don't you think that's the entire reason Elena is even still breathing and doing whatever it is that makes Elena happy, even though she's tried to kill me and did kill my brother!?"
Caroline goes silent, because it's true. She's wondered this a million times, wondered what kind of game Klaus was playing with them. He's more powerful than any of them, even if they band together, and he could kill them all without blinking. Even though Katherine was good at running, she knew she lived on borrowed time. When they killed Kol it should have spelled their death sentence.
"I don't… I don't…" Caroline is so confused.
Klaus sighs and visibly reigns himself in. "Caroline. I don't care about Elena, I care about you. I'm not saying I… I don't…"
Caroline mutters, "You don't love me."
"I don't know." Klaus says honestly. It's more than Caroline could have asked for.
Caroline tells him, "I didn't expect you to love me."
"But you love me." Klaus says, and this time, there's absolute awe in his voice.
Caroline nods, more because she doesn't trust her voice than anything else. By the look on Klaus' face, it's enough. He's staring at her as though she's more precious than any city, or any doppelganger's blood.
Caroline thinks that even if he never loves her she's still won. All Klaus has ever wanted was her loyalty, and all she had to do was love him to prove that she was loyal. Klaus would burn down the world for her. The entire reason he hasn't burned Mystic Falls to the ground is because of her. Caroline thinks that she might have just won over the most powerful being on the planet.
It's not love — but it's something. It's more than anyone else has ever gotten from Niklaus Mikaelson, and Caroline's only a baby vampire from the middle of nowhere.
"Caroline." Klaus leans in, presses his cheek to hers. "Say it."
Caroline breathes, "I love you."
"When we go home," Klaus murmurs, "I will cut a deal with the Salvatores. I want her blood, Caroline. But I can do a peaceful agreement."
Caroline's heart pounds, "The hybrids?"
Klaus pulls back, and his eyes narrow, "What about them?"
She has to play this carefully. Klaus hates Tyler, hates him with a passion that astounds her, but Caroline is starting to realize that she is the reason why. "I want you to only change people who agree. People who are already willing to be loyal to you."
He doesn't move a single millimetre, "And the existing hybrids. The ones in Mystic Falls. For example, young Tyler Lockwood."
Caroline waits a measured heartbeat, and then she says as calmly as she can, "Use the bond and send them to the other side of the planet."
Then, predictably, Klaus scowls. "The bond won't work on Tyler. You know that."
"The bond won't, but I will." Caroline says, "He wants a pack. He's an Alpha and we both know it. I'll send him away, as far away as possible, so he can find a pack. I'll tell him to never come back. There's nothing for him in Mystic Falls, anyway."
Klaus' eyes widen, and then narrow into a glare, "You don't want me to kill him."
"Obviously not," Caroline tells him, "but that's not because I love him, Nik. He's a friend. A good friend, and you killed his mother. He needs to get away from this place, and the only thing that is holding him here is me and Matt Donovan."
"So if you tell him to leave, he'll listen?"
Caroline nods, "Yeah. Matt will back me up. It's the right thing. Plus, there's no way he'll hang around me after this."
"What do you mean?" Klaus asks.
Caroline reaches a hand out, and pushes Klaus back to his side of the bed. She moves closer as soon as he's laying down, and it's about a thousand times less claustrophobic when she's hovering over him instead of the other way around.
"Don't you think that me sleeping with you is about the biggest betrayal I could throw at Tyler?" Caroline says, "You have to listen to me, Nik, because I'm only going to say this once. When I say I love you, I'm not joking. I'm telling you right here and right now, you've officially got my loyalty. I'm yours."
Klaus sets his palm on her cheek, infinitely gentle, and takes a long breath only to reply: "I will make you happy, Caroline."
Caroline thinks that might be as close to a declaration as anyone could ever ask for, and it doesn't matter if that promise means for the immediate future, or forever, Caroline is going to accept it.