Chapter Ten – Darkness and Light

Note to self: never promise weekly updates again, regardless of how much you have written before you begin posting the chapters. Oy!

A/N: I wasn't sure whether to make this a really long chapter, or split it into a chapter and an epilogue.

I decided to split it; this is the final chapter (so I can still kind of stick to my goal of the appropriate-sounding 10 chapters), but there will be an epilogue.

P.S. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Seriously, thank you! Those two words are not enough. I learned something new from every single one, and I see my own story from a different angle each time, or I get inspired to add something. Each review — and therefore each reviewer — has added something to "Tensions & Hostilities," making it so much better. You all have such amazing ideas. Thank you for being kind enough to share them with me.

You are all too amazing to capture properly in words!

Enjoy!

Caroline walked through the school hallways after school. In her rush to avoid everyone and get to cheer practice, she had grabbed the wrong clipboard from her locker. The prom checklist would not help her cheerleaders.

As she neared a corner, she heard voices coming from down the next hallway. She paused when she heard her name and realized that she recognized those voices.

"Caroline is pissed." It was Elena's voice. "I'm so sorry, Klaus. I knew you were involved with this scheme, but I had no idea it had gotten so out of control."

He sighed. "In my experience, that is exactly what happens when Tyler Lockwood becomes involved in anything." Klaus was speaking now.

Klaus and Elena?!

"I had no idea he was even involved. I feel just awful about it."

There was a pause before Elena spoke again.

"Has she spoken to you?" Her voice sounded tentative

"Only to tell me off. Otherwise, Caroline won't even look at me."

"Me either. Maybe she just needs time?"

"Yes, perhaps." But Caroline could tell from Klaus's tone that he didn't believe Elena's statement. He believed that she was lost to him forever.

"I have faith that everything will work out for you two. That might sound lame now, but you two really are sort of perfect for each other. I never would have guessed at you two together," Elena chuckled slightly, "but it makes sense to me now. You balance each other out. Maybe some good can come out, eventually, from this current crappy situation."

"She has to let me back in, first," Klaus pointed out.

Caroline stopped listening, having gotten lost in her own thoughts.

She knew what Klaus had said the other night outside the Grill was absolutely correct: the two of them never would have spoken to each other if he hadn't been the one chosen. And Caroline didn't know if she and Klaus were as 'perfect' together as Elena thought, but they did balance each other out. He calmed her overexcitedness and she soothed his roughness. She was the eternal optimist and he only saw the dark aspects. They were almost akin to light and dark.

Klaus had also been right about Caroline and her expectations of everything: "Do you purposely set up these illusions that no mortal can live up to so everyone can only disappoint you, further proving your points to yourself?" She had denied it, in the heat of the moment during their confrontation, because that was her instinct: deny. But she very clearly felt the sting of the truth behind his words. And his words still haunted her.

It scared her to realize how well he knew her in such a short amount of time.

Caroline turned around and took the long route to her locker; she didn't want to see Klaus or Elena after overhearing their conversation. Good thing they had been chatting near his locker and not Elena's.

When Caroline reached her locker and opened it, she shoved her prom clipboard inside and moved it to the back to avoid this mix-up again. She grabbed her other clipboard, the one with the cheer routines and formations, closed her locker, and walked back to the locker room. She moved quickly, but she kept her eyes and ear open, listening for the unwanted sounds of Klaus or Elena.

She was halfway down one corridor when she glanced down at the clipboard in her hand and froze on the spot.

On top of her cheer squad papers, and directly under the clip, was a different piece of paper. It appeared to be parchment — sort of brown, curled and uneven at the edges, and fragile-looking.

Even though she was running late, Caroline opened the clip, pulled out the piece of parchment, and stared at it, stunned.

It had to be from Klaus. She didn't know anyone else who could draw. (Well, Jeremy Gilbert could draw, but not like this. And Caroline never knew him to draw people.)

And that's exactly what it was: a drawing of Caroline singing onstage at the Grill's karaoke night the other week.

Klaus had told her that he heard her sing, but she thought he was just joking or bluffing.

All thoughts of cheer practice vanished from her head: she couldn't think of anything else except that sketch. She knew Klaus could draw; that was one of the few personal things he had told her. She had asked if he was any good, and he said he was "decent."

Clearly a huge understatement.

She had also asked if she could see any of his sketches, and he had basically avoided the idea by saying, "Maybe someday, love."

She had blushed, thought, and felt that heat nearly to her toes when Klaus mentioned how he could only draw when he was feeling inspired, and how he had been drawing a lot lately, ever since they began spending time together. (Caroline chose not to completely ruin that moment by pointing out that 'spending time together' was not exactly how she would classify their time together, at least not initially; he stalked her.)

Details.

She had found it odd — and told him so — that he was an artist; she didn't think it fit with what she knew, or was beginning to know, about him. But after he explained it, she understood completely.

"Art is, essentially, a metaphor for control. I can use sheer will to create almost anything I want. And every choice is mine: if I'm sketching, I choose the paper and the pencil; if I'm painting, I choose the canvas, the colours, the brush…"

"Wow," Caroline had chuckled — amused and yet intrigued. "And I thought I was a control freak."

She couldn't stop running her eyes over the drawing in her hand. It was amazing!

The piece of parchment was a little larger than your typical photograph, but this was better than even the best photo. She looked absolutely beautiful. It was like looking in a mirror that corrected everything.

Is this really how he sees me?

He made her look radiant, and he was somehow able to capture that radiance on paper, using just a pencil. She felt honoured that he would give this to her, even if she was supposed to be angry with him. He could have gotten her jewelry or flowers, or bought her some trifle object. But he didn't. He gave her a piece of himself. His art. Something he kept private and she felt so special because of it.

And it was odd; Caroline felt like she could learn so much about Klaus from this drawing of her. It allowed her to see herself through his eyes.

And she was having trouble breathing because of it.

Klaus watched the cheerleading practice that day.

And again, his focus was completely on Caroline. All the girls were wearing shorts and tanks, but his eyes were drawn only to her. Her blonde hair was in a bouncy ponytail and her long creamy legs were bared for his appreciation. He wanted nothing more than to trail his fingers along the silky skin of her legs.

He wasn't sure why he was there; she hated him for his involvement with Tyler, and after their argument outside the Grill, she definitely would hate him even more.

If that was even possible.

But still he stayed for the duration of their practice. He had nowhere else to go anyway.

He heard Caroline end the practice. As the girls were grabbing their water bottles and gym bags and heading for the locker rooms, he perked up when he saw Rebekah approach Caroline.

But he was too far away to listen in.

"Caroline, may I have a word with you?"

Rebekah had been stalling after cheer practice ended, waiting for a moment like this, for Caroline to be alone.

Caroline had a quizzical expression on her face, but she nodded anyway. "Sure."

"The reason I wish to speak with you is not because of cheerleading."

Caroline nodded hesitantly; she had figured as much — she hadn't spoken a non-cheerleading-related word to Rebekah ever. This would be about Klaus.

"I don't mean to be rude, Rebekah, but I don't want to hear you speak with me about your brother. It's none of your business, actually."

Caroline moved to grab her bag, but paused when Rebekah said, "You're wrong, Caroline." She stood up and faced the other blonde. "I mean, you're partially right, which also makes you partially wrong." When Rebekah paused to collect her thoughts before continuing, Caroline noted — for the first time — how similar Rebekah's accent was to her brother's. "Yes, what happens between the two of you is completely your business. But when what happens — or doesn't happen — between the two of you affects his behaviour with me, then it is my business."

Caroline was having trouble following Rebekah's high-speed words. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if he told you, but Nik and I have always been the closest. Of all our siblings. So since we're the closets, I'm the one most likely to notice all the minute changes in his behaviour — as well as the large ones. And for the past few weeks leading up to prom, I'd never seen him look so happy. I could tell he was conflicted about something, but he was the happiest I've seen him since we were young. I thought he was conflicted about leaving me once he finishes school, but now I know that he was conflicted about the money."

Caroline groaned. "Did you know about it, too?"

Great! Someone else who was it on it.

Rebekah shook her head. "Nik never told me the truth until after you found out. But he did tell me everything. And I'm probably breaking some sacred bond of siblings or siblinghood by telling you this — not that I am going to completely break his trust in me or anything — but there are a few things I feel you need to know."

"Are you seriously going to stand there and make excuses for him to me?" Caroline shook her head. "I don't want to hear it, Rebekah."

"No," she said quickly, hoping to stop Caroline, who had grabbed her bag and was beginning to walk away. "I'm just trying to explain his behaviour."

It worked; Caroline halted her movements. She wanted nothing more than to stop having this ridiculous conversation with Rebekah, but she was so curious. She turned back to Rebekah and fiddled with the strap on her bag, waiting for the other blonde to speak.

"He has a darkness inside of him. I'm not saying this to scare you off; I'm sure you've witnessed aspects of it already. My brother hasn't had the easiest life. He always received the unfair end of everything. And then, there was Tyler Lockwood — someone, by the way, who has had everything that was denied to Nik — offering him money to spend time with a beautiful woman. That's how Nik refers to you, you know; he always says you're beautiful, not pretty."

Caroline did her best to stop the smile and the blush that wanted to appear on her face. She had noticed that too, but it was a completely different feeling to hear it from someone else — from an outsider to their relationship, even if it was his sister.

Their relationship?

Caroline shook her head to clear away her mental slip up and focused on Rebekah's words.

"Yes, it was wrong for him to do anything like that for money — very stupidly wrong — but Nik never had any of his own. Our father always said giving an allowance to… to someone like Nik was a waste of his hard-earned money. And no one in Mystic Falls wants Klaus Mikaelson working for them. I try to share some of my allowance with him, but Nik never lets me. So obviously he jumped at the chance to make his own without our father knowing. He needs money to get out of this town. And he enjoyed taking something away from Tyler, too."

What kind of a parent would give an allowance to one child and not the other? Why did the younger one receive something while the older one received nothing?

Rebekah was creating more questions in Caroline's already-very-curious mind.

"He never expected to fall for you, Caroline. He never even expected to enjoy spending time with you. But he did. That's why he was so conflicted. Caring about you presented two problems to him: the first and obvious one was that he started feeling guilty for taking the money, even though he needs it; but the second issue was that if he started to care about you, he was afraid that would create another tie for him to this town, and form another reason for him to hesitate instead of leave. He doesn't have many ties to this town — Kol and I may be the only ones, now that our older brothers have moved away — but you've quickly been one he's added to his list. That's incredible for him."

Caroline shook her head softly. "I know he wants to leave. I don't want to be a reason for him to stay in a town that he wants nothing to do with."

It wasn't the town that Klaus wanted nothing to do with, but Rebekah couldn't say that to Caroline; that would be a large betrayal of her brother's trust.

If Caroline did ever find out why Klaus wanted to put as much space between him and this town, she'd have to find out from Klaus himself.

"Beside," Caroline continued, pulling Rebekah from her mini inner turmoil. "I've been rather mean to him since the prom; I'm sure he wants nothing to do with me anymore."

"Hardly," Rebekah said with a scoff. "You may not be able to see it, but he cares about you. A lot. And it scares him. Like I said, he doesn't want another tie here, but he can't help how he feels about you. And I think you care about him, too." When Caroline didn't respond, Rebekah added, "And you're good for him."

Caroline sighed. "Not the first time I've heard that today."

"That's probably because it's true. You're good and optimistic in the way he isn't capable of being. You are good for him."

"Actually," Caroline said with a smile as a thought occurred to her, "I think he's good for me. He's basically caused me to re-evaluate everything in my life. It's scary, but oh so needed. I just never realized that."

Even though absolutely nothing changed, both girls were suddenly made aware of Klaus's presence; he hadn't moved, but they both looked over to him at the same moment.

Caroline felt the heat rush to her face. "I should go change. It was nice talking to you, Rebekah." And it had been. Rather illuminating.

"Just think about what I've said, Care."

Rebekah stood still as Caroline left the field and headed inside the school. She turned back to face her brother, still sitting in the bleachers. She sighed, walked over, and sat down next to him.

"She seems to be under the impression that you want nothing to do with her."

"So?" Klaus realized, too late, that he should have asked who the 'she' was that Rebekah referred to.

"So then why are you here Nik?"

He gave his best Cheshire grin. "To see you, dear sister."

She snorted, but she was not amused. "You're such a liar. And a bad one, too."

She didn't say any more; neither did he. Silence was something they shared; they bonded better without uttering a word.

Rebekah let out a sigh; that was Klaus's indicator that she was about to speak.

"You know, Elijah once told me something about you. And I never realized it at the time, but he was exactly right. Though I should know better than to question Elijah's observations." She said that last bit more to herself than to Klaus. She quietly cleared her throat slightly before focusing her attention again on her brother. "He said that, given a chance at happiness, you would run in the opposite direction. And he's absolutely correct. That's what you do, Nik — you push us away and then you run." She turned and faced her brother; he wouldn't look at her, but she knew he heard every word. "Don't run from her, too."

She saw his jaw clench, but other than that, she received no response from him.

Rebekah stood — she needed to shower and change out of her tank and shorts that were sweaty from cheer practice. But before she walked away, she paused. Not looking at Klaus, she simply whispered, "She'll come around, Nik." The 'if you'll let her' was heavily implied. Then she left him alone on the bleachers.

Again, he didn't respond; he didn't know how to respond, or even if he should respond, so he remained quiet as his sister walked away.

Caroline felt as though her head could explode at any moment. Everyone else's words were running through her mind.

Klaus's: "You're beautiful; you're strong; you're full of light; I enjoy you."

Bonnie's: "He obviously likes you. Take a chance on him, Care. It could turn into something really great."

And Klaus's: "I'm not sorry."

Elena's: "You two really are sort of perfect for each other."

Klaus again: "I never would have spoken a word to you otherwise. And now I cannot imagine wanting to not speak with you, or to hear your voice, or even merely to see your face."

Even Rebekah's: "He never expected to fall for you, Caroline. He cares about you. A lot. And it scares him."

But most prominently, she could just hear that stupidly adorable accent: "Take a chance, Caroline."

She didn't know what to think anymore. And that was the problem; Caroline knew that she really just needed to ignore them all and figure out what she wanted.

When she got home after cheer practice, she changed into her comfiest pyjamas and laid down on her bed. Yes, it was a bit early for pjs, but she really didn't care. No one was going to see her anyway: her mother was working (as usual), she was still angry with Elena, and who knows where Bonnie was or which side of this she stood on (though she would probably side with Elena against Caroline, if Caroline was being honest with herself — that was how it usually worked out).

She stared up at the ceiling, trying to figure out how she felt — not how she should feel, and not how she wanted to feel, but how she actually felt.

It turned out to be a harder task than Caroline could have imagined.

Could she trust anything that happened between her and Klaus, or was it all an act on his part, just doing what he had to do to get the money?

But regardless of what anyone else said, Caroline knew her own heart. She was hurt that so many people were involved in a scheme about her behind her own back; it was embarrassing. But she honestly wasn't sure if she hated Klaus for that. He only went along with a good-sounding opportunity.

She couldn't deny the rush of warmth she felt whenever she saw him or the way her heart jumped when he smiled at her in that peculiar way reserved especially for her, half of his mouth quirked up like he was plotting something. She knew that she didn't hate him. She knew it in the way that you just now things, deep within your chest with no questions or reassessments.

But was it okay to look past the bad — the fact that someone was paid to spend time with her — if it resulted in something good? It resulted in something amazing, actually.

Klaus was right: they never would have interacted in any way if Tyler hadn't paid him to do so … If Stefan hadn't gotten Tyler involved … If Elena hadn't asked Stefan to find someone…

More importantly, could she really just walk away from him, and the feelings he inspired in her?

The truth was, even when she was angry, and even when she thought about the money from Tyler, she still could not stop thinking about a certain mysterious rebel.

His ability to make her laugh and weak in the knees at the same time. How he said her name in that accent of his, with just a hint of a lilt at the end of it.

His infectious laugh — whenever he did let loose enough to laugh. The way he would wrinkle his nose when he didn't like something. The fact that he was comfortable to be around.

Could she trust anything that happened between her and Klaus? She knew how she felt, and she knew that she was being genuine during their interactions, but was it all an act on his part? She kept returning to that same question. Was he just doing what was necessary to get the money?

Caroline realized that some things — some feelings — were more important that a little wreckage.

And yes, things were pretty messy between them. But she believed that everything after the initial contact/reaching out — minus the prom invite, perhaps — was real. She had to believe it. No one could fake all that. He wasn't that good of an actor, she was certain.

Suddenly, shot up into a sitting position on her bed. Inspiration hit her smack on the forehead.

Where did I put my English assignment?

She quickly found her notebook and pulled out her poem. She scanned it quickly, saw that it was unsatisfactory due to her sudden attack of inspiration, and set it aside. She grabbed a pen and started the assignment over again.

No biggie: it was only due tomorrow in class.

"All right," the English teacher said as she stood up from her desk on Friday. "I'm assuming everyone found time to compose their poems, their own version of Shakespeare's Sonnet #141. Including those of you who are taking homework to Mr Lockwood. Visiting a delinquent does not excuse one from one's assignments."

She looked around the room to see if anyone would laugh at her joke, or even smile, just a little — it's not every day that she gets the opportunity to openly take a jab at the mayor's son. No one was laughing.

She cleared her throat continued. "Would anyone care to read their aloud?"

No one moved.

Then Caroline slowly raised her hand. "I'll go."

Klaus looked up from his desk at the sound of her voice.

The English teacher had an Oh, Lord look on her face, but she gestured to the front of the classroom beside her and told Caroline to "Please, proceed."

Caroline stood and walked to the front of the class. She took a deep breath before reading from the notebook in her hands.

I hate the way you talk to me
And the way you cut your hair.
I hate the way you drive my car.
I hate it when you stare.

She paused for only a second or two, and then continued.

I hate your big dumb combat boots
And the way you read my mind.
I hate you so much it makes me sick,
It even makes me rhyme.

Caroline let slip a small chuckle at her last line before taking a deep breath. She glanced up from the words on the page just long enough to let her eyes land on Klaus. He was staring, quite intently, at the floor just in front of his desk.

I hate the way you're always right.
I hate it when you lie.
I hate it when you make me laugh;
Even worse when you make me cry.

She felt a lump form in her throat, making it hard to swallow. She never expected to become emotional while reading this out, but it was all true. Every word.

She paused for a few seconds, in attempt to swallow, and continued reading.

I hate it when you're not around
And the fact that you didn't call,
But mostly I hate the way I don't hate you;
Not even close; Not even a little bit;
Not even at all.

As Caroline said the last four lines, she wasn't reading from her notebook anymore. She looked directly at Klaus. And this time, he looked back at her.

They exchanged a look once Caroline finished speaking. It lasted only a moment before she closed her notebook and walked out of the classroom.

The rest of the class remained still, in stunned silence.

After Caroline left the English classroom, she dropped her notebook into her locker, grabbed her school bag, and walked straight to her car. She didn't want to be at school any longer.

Another day of cutting out early.

She had just exposed herself, metaphorically and emotionally, in front of her English class, and she didn't want to see anyone else. She just wanted to go home and hide.

When she opened her car door, she was greeted by a long, black, velvety box sticking out from her steering wheel.

She dropped her book bag onto the driver's seat and slowly picked up the box. She stared at it for a few moments before opening it. Inside sat a diamond bracelet.

To say it was extraordinary would be an understatement. It was in the shape of a string of bows. She was stunned and speechless.

She felt the presence of someone behind her; she spun around, still clutching the opened velvet box, and found Klaus standing there, close to her, smiling hesitantly.

"Stunning, isn't it?"

She let out a shocked gasp. "A diamond bracelet? Is it for me?"

He nodded. "It suits you." Caroline didn't answer, but she was hiding a smile. He stepped even closer to her. "Besides, I had some extra cash. Some asshole paid me to take out this really amazing girl."

She smiled up at him. "Is that right?"

"Yes. But I screwed up. I began to fancy her."

Caroline was shocked by his admission. "Really?"

He did that thing where he tilts his head down to capture and holds her gaze. He smiled when he put his hands on the outside of her upper arms and she didn't pull away from him. "It's not every day that I find someone who will break me out of detention, love."

She smiled hugely at that memory.

He had never felt so at ease with another person as he did with the amazing blonde angel he now had in front of him. He was thrilled that she was no longer pushing him away.

"I've never had a poem read to me before."

"Yes, I really go all out sometimes," she replied with a laugh. "I even had an audience in place to join you."

"Quite the show, love." He pulled her closer.

"But do not expect it to ever happen again," she cautioned as she stuck out her index finger close to his face.

He shook his head lightly as he reached up to cup the side of her face. He pulled her closer to him, pressing his lips to hers. She sighed against him and he deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer to him.

He had missed this. But despite what he wanted to do, he didn't continue kissing her for too long.

He pulled away, but rested his forehead against hers.

She kept her eyes closed for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of having him near. But she spoke, eventually. "Do you think we can dig ourselves out of this wreckage?"

"We could start over," he suggested. Yes, that probably meant he wouldn't get to kiss her all the time, but he wouldn't mind starting over and forgetting the Lockwood-money thing.

She shook her head. "I don't want to start over; that implies forgetting what happened. And I don't want to forget all of it. We had a few great moments."

"Only a few?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She laughed and pulled away further. She turned around and reached into her car — the driver's side door was still open. She rummaged around in her bag until she found it.

Klaus remained quiet, but very curious, as he watched her.

She turned back to face him with the item now in her hands. "Did you do this?"

He smirked when he saw the piece of parchment. "You carry it around with you?"

"I can't ask you about it if I don't have it with me." She knew the answer already, but she had to ask. She wanted to hear it from him.

"Who else were you expecting it to be from?" He couldn't hold back his smile any longer, seeing the expression on her face.

"It's extraordinary. Thank you."

"It is a poor representation of the original."

She opened her mouth to argue, but his lips met hers and silenced whatever she was going to say.

This time, the kiss was much shorter. Caroline pulled away. "But you can't just buy me jewelry every time you screw up, you know."

Klaus grimaced slightly. "I know."

They laughed before kissing again.

Caroline pulled away again, just slightly this time. "And don't just think you can —"

He kissed her again, not letting her finish this time. Not that she minded; she'd let him know eventually. For now, she was content to feel his fingers move along her neck and across her back as she ran hers across his shoulders. A couple of her fingers found themselves intertwined with the necklaces he always wore.

A/N: The epilogue is next.

And for those who I told that Klaus's story — and the mystery year — would be revealed in this chapter: oops! It is coming up next. (Promise!) I said that before I had even considered the idea of an epilogue.