Klaus's POV

Now that I had found Caroline again, time seemed to finally speed back up. Weeks flew by in record time. No longer did I spend days staring at the calendar; looking forward to the day I had to flip the page to get to the next month. I was finally living in the present. I was finally living in the now as Rebekah liked to refer to it as.

I had even started back painting.

I looked at the horizontal canvas as it seemed to pop to life with the pair of eyes I had painted onto the chalky, black background. One eye was a dark yellow color; filled with a sea of emptiness, but with flecks of a darker, orange hope spread throughout the pupil. It also had an animalistic vibe to it that needed no explanation. The man that the eye belonged to was obviously asking for help that he could not provide to himself.

The other half of the pair of eyes was a light blue color with flecks of green. If there could have been one single eye in the world that contrasted this eye, it would have been the yellow one right beside of it. This woman's eye was full of hope, happiness, and kindness. Although the gaze was through a blue colored lens, the eye was not icy or cold in any way. The gaze was warm. You couldn't help but feel the familiarity floating from it.

"Is that going into the exhibit tonight?" Rebekah appeared in the foyer where I had stashed the painting before I would have to move it down to the makeshift art gallery at the Mystic Grill.

"Yes. I figure everyone else in this boring, Podunk town is painting forest landscapes or some cringe-inducing form of the daytime sky."

"You must put a little bit more faith into this town, Nik. I've heard the other pieces of art are quite beautiful this year," Rebekah lightly touch the corner of my canvas. "Of course, Liz also mentioned they are importing quite a few pieces from different places unlike the years before."

I smirked at the thought. I'm sure Mystic Falls did run a little low on local artists.

"Do you know what kind of pieces?" I asked my sister. I was a bit curious as to what other art my own was about to be grouped in with.

"Just a few canvas works as well as some sculptures and small trinkets. Apparently, the mayor contributed some cash to help acquire some of the art this year."

"Oh, so it shouldn't be too unimpressive. . ." I trailed off, and we stood in silence. I noticed Rebekah start to smirk.

"Yes, Nik. She'll be there."

Rebekah knew art was the last thing on my mind. The only reason I had even elected to participate in this exhibit tonight was to help with some fundraiser that had something directly to do with Caroline. She was on the Prom committee, and they were raising money to pay for the venue and decorations for the event.

I gently picked up my canvas and began walking toward the door.

"Well, let's be off then, little sister."

..

I stood back and studied my set up at the exhibit. I had made sure that my canvas sat in just the right amount of light as the sun began to set outside; making the two starkly contrasting eyes come to life.

"Wow! You painted this, Klaus?" I turned toward the voice of Sheriff Forbes. I lightly smirked at her astonished expression, but my smirk faltered. Something seemed off about her. She smelled different. Unlike her normal, forest rain smell, she almost had a slight mossy scent. It was a smell I knew I had encountered before, but I couldn't pinpoint.

"Yes, Sheriff. I did. I've recently picked up a paintbrush after a few years of putting it down."

"Are you sure you ever put it down? The detail is amazing. . .the blue eye looks so familiar; so life-like."

I cleared my throat. Of course she recognized her only daughter's eye. She was a very cunning woman.

"Yes. I'm about half of a century out of practice." Liz immediately tried to hide her shock by placing a small smile on her face, then letting it fall.

"And you don't look a day over thirty. Tell me, Klaus. What's it like? Living forever?" Strangely, Liz's eyes became sad, and her voice became soft as she asked her questions.

"Well, Liz, it's much like if you were to have your favorite dessert every, single day. Sure. The dessert is your favorite, but knowing you can have it every day? It's almost like the 'Wow' factor is gone, and after several years, I'm sure you'll be thinking of different ways to spice up that dessert. The only thing is, after a while, there's nothing left that could spice it up. What was once your favorite dessert is no longer a treat you look forward to."

Liz's eyes seemed to get sadder.

"But of course, you could always choose another favorite dessert later on. Maybe come back to the original sooner or later. Find some brand new things to spice it up this time around." I add with a smirk, as Liz gives me one of her own.

"So, now you're revisiting painting?" She asked. I smiled at her.

"Precisely, Sheriff. It was one of my favorite things to do. It's becoming a favorite again. I guess one of the biggest upsides of being immortal is that you literally have forever."

"And the biggest downside?"

"Those around you don't."

Liz looked like she was about to say more, but I saw Caroline approaching us. There was never a day I would not be entranced by her beauty. I had watched her walk through the Town's square every day for the past few weeks. She had this confident stride and moved with purpose. Her walk made her blonde hair glide over her shoulders like silk, and although it was shorter in this time, it still fell down her back, and for that, I was grateful. I could see the natural highlights shimmer in her hair; her ends lighter than I remember probably due to some modern-day hair coloring treatment, but that made it all the more beautiful.

"Hey, Mom! Officer Williams needs to see you. Something about not knowing where to file the invoices."

Liz's eyes almost seemed to bulge out of her head.

"Oh, yeah! I totally forgot about filing tonight. I'll be back soon, Care!" The Sheriff half hugged her daughter, then looked at me. "Mingle a little tonight, Klaus. Our town's not too bad once you give it a fighting chance."

I let a small smile appear on my face as I watched Liz rush away. She was one of the kindest people I knew. She knew what my sister and I were and never made a big fuss over it. She treated us like we were a part of her community; a part of her world.

But we never would be.

Our kind had spent centuries watching people live and die, witnessed cities get demolished and rebuilt, Hell, we had even seen countries be on the verge of complete annihilation. . .We have experienced and seen things no human could ever understand, or live long enough to understand.

"Sorry about my mom. She's a bit scatterbrained. I'm the Elsa Maxwell of the family."

Caroline Forbes never ceased to amaze me, but now that her attention was directed only to me, I had no idea what to say. For the first time since I had met her all those years ago, here I was; speechless.

I knew that I was staring at her and knew that I should say something. I could feel my lips part, but no sound came out.

"Well, I guess I'll just—" Caroline started to speak as she turned to walk away.

"No!" My voice had an almost desperate edge to it. She was my undeniable weakness, and a dark part of myself hated that.

"I mean—I—have you taken a look around the exhibits yet, Caroline?"

I noticed Caroline almost hold in a giggle as she turned her body back toward me. If I could, I'm sure I would have blushed in that moment.

"Yes. I have, actually. Bonnie, Elena, Damon, Stefan, and I did a quick sweep around. Although, I don't think we saw your display. . ." Caroline trailed off as she side-stepped passed me and approached my work. "Klaus, did you—did you paint this?"

I wanted to tell her that I had, and that I hoped she loved it, but something in me wanted to see how she would react to it being a stranger's painting. I wanted to genuinely see how she took the painting in. So, I softly said a denial.

I watched with my heart full of some unspoken emotion as Caroline looked at my painting in awe, and lightly raised her fingertips to touch the eye that held its own sadness.

But instead, she stopped, and let her fingertips hover over the spot her eyes lingered on. It was almost as if she was afraid to touch it.

"He looks so sad." Caroline seemed to be in a trance.

"He?" I curiously asked.

"I don't know. There's something masculine about this eye. Something…beastly."

"Could a woman not be a beast, love?" I flinched as I used my favorite nickname for Caroline. Luckily, she seemed to ignore that I had even said it.

"Well, yes, but I don't believe this is a woman. This is a man; hardened by his years of being alone and living in solitude."

I was more than curious now. Her perception was spot on.

"And the other eye?"

Caroline's eyes flicked to mine, and for a second, I thought I had imagined her own pupils dilating as she seemed to drink me in. She seemed to gaze at the eye that closely resembled her own.

"She's his salvation." I couldn't say a thing as Caroline looked into my eyes and stepped closer to me. It's like I was locked in my own paradise and never wanted to leave. I felt—

The room became drowned in screams of terror, and Caroline and I hurriedly looked toward the origin of the screams.

There was a fire blazing in the middle of the bar area where patrons mingled and talked about the exhibits.

"Stay put, Caroline. I'll go grab the extinguisher." Vampire or not, I didn't want her getting hurt in any way; even if she would heal quickly.

Before I could take one step forward, a blonde blur ran past me, then appeared in front of the fire, aiming an extinguisher at the base. I couldn't help but smile at how stubborn Caroline could be; no matter what lifetime I met her in.

While Caroline doused the fire, I let my eyes do a quick sweep around the room to make sure no one was injured. Everyone seemed fine.

Until I got to Bonnie Bennett.

Her eyes were a light hazel-green color that seemed to be blazing as she stared at the spot Caroline was pointing the extinguisher. Her lips were turned up into a cold, but slight, smirk. In that moment, she reminded me of someone who I had tried my damnedest to forget.

I watched frozen in place as Bonnie let her hand drift to the exhibit on the table next to her. She quickly plucked something emerald colored from it and dropped it into the pocket of her burgundy colored pantsuit.

"Hey, Bon! Are you alright?" Damon Salvatore lightly grasped Bonnie's forearm as he fast walked up to her. I noticed Bonnie's eyes no longer seemed to be blazing with an inner fire as she snapped out of whatever trance she was in.

We made eye contact, and Bonnie Bennett looked nothing less than horrified before she quickly looked away as she twisted around to give Damon a tight, reassuring hug.

"I'm okay!" I heard her exclaim into the crook of Damon's neck.

I allowed my eyes to leave Bonnie as I heard Caroline exasperatedly sigh.

"I think everyone's okay. How the Hell did a fire start, like, right here?" Caroline ran her hands through her silky locks as she pushed them from in front of her face. She sat the fire extinguisher down and sighed one last time.

"I'm not really sure, Caroline." I knew exactly how the fire started.

"Care! Caroline!" Sheriff Forbes' voice was panicked as she ran into the doors of the Mystic Grill and approached us. "Caroline, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, mom. I'm fine. Everyone else seems okay, too." Caroline reassured her panicked mother as she held her in a tight hug. I watched as Liz's eyes zeroed in on the fire extinguisher beside of Caroline.

"Care, honey?" She tried to remover herself softly from her daughter's grip.

"Yes?"

"Have you been…working out lately? I kind of can't breathe."

I watched as Caroline tensed up, then quickly released her mom.

"Sorry. Adrenaline I guess." Caroline looked around awkwardly as her mom fixed her uniform and surveyed the room. Elizabeth Forbes had no idea what Caroline was, and something told me Caroline wanted to keep it that way.

"We're not sure how the fire started, Liz. Fortunately, no one got hurt." I heard myself trying to take the attention even further away from Caroline.

"Did you see anyone with matches or anything?" Liz could barely stomach the thought of someone doing this on purpose, "Or any electrical problems while I was gone?"

"No, Sheriff. Everything was quiet. It had become quite an enjoyable evening, if I'm being honest. Right, Caroline?" I let myself smirk lightly as I tried to make the situation as casual as possible.

"Uh—Yeah. It's been a nice evening." Caroline shot me thankful glance then started talking about how they planned to decorate for Prom.

Everyone around us had settled down, and as our conversation did the same, my thoughts couldn't stop escaping to the familiar smirk that graced the Bennet Witch's features.

I needed to have a word with Bonnie Bennett.