Klaus's POV

"So, you're telling me you met Blondie, like, 20 jillion years ago, and now she's here because some crazy witch owed you a favor and instead of that witch bringing her back at that present time, she pole vaulted her into, well, now?" Damon Salvatore used his pool cue to shoot an impressive shot as he seemed to emphasize his words.

"It sounds crazy even to me, mate. Your bother had a field day with it when I told him."

Damon glanced toward the bar area where Stefan was currently pouring three glasses of bourbon.

"Unfortunately, I was The Ripper back then. A lot of things didn't matter to me." Stefan balanced the glasses, then came over to us at vampire speed. Damon and I quickly sat our pool cues down and grabbed a glass.

I welcomed the warming sensation as it radiated in my chest and crept up my throat. I had discovered early on that liquor was one of the only things that helped to quench the infinite raking of coals that normally inhabited the area.

"I still regret that entire decade." Stefan's head fell as he looked away from us. I could tell he still let his past affect him during every moment of his life. Maybe that was why he was trying so hard now. He was trying to make up for all the bad he had done; attempting to live such a good, human life that it was honestly laughable.

But at one point, I had tried to do the same.

"Hello. Again."

I watched as Caroline Goodwin looked at me in her peripheral vision and smirked lightly.

"Hello, my Lord."

"Ms. Goodwin, please, call me Klaus."

I quickly took the fruit she was holding out of her hand and carefully placed it in the basket I had equipped myself with before approaching her.

"Oh, you don't have to do, my Lo—Klaus."

I ignored her as I quickly grabbed every fruit I knew she would pick up from the vendor at vampire speed. I noticed her expression of surprise, yet subtle, appreciation. The past three times I had gotten a few of the wrong items on purpose as a way to not scare her off or to let her know I was paying too much attention. It also helped that when I got items wrong, I was bombarded by the impressive trait of OCD that Caroline Goodwin easily hid during normal conversations. It was a trait of hers that I found absolutely endearing.

"You may want to not finish my day long shopping trip in less than an hour. Otherwise, this may be an every week thing." Caroline smiled at me, and I had to stop myself from letting a smile split across my face at the thought that this woman was now comfortable enough to make a joke in my presence.

"That's what I'm here for, Ms. Goodwin. I'm sure you have better things to do than be at the market all day."

She lightly smiled as we began to walk toward the bread vendor.

"How about this? Since I have to call you Klaus, how about you call me 'Caroline?'"

"Caroline." Her name fell from my lips like it was the first word I had truly ever said. It sounded pure; like when it was spoken, everything bad no longer existed in my world.

I watched as Caroline walked passed the baker and took in the smell of fresh bread. She looked at peace, but also a bit sad. She noticed me staring at her.

"When I was a kid, my mom would always make the fluffiest loaves of bread. She'd build a fire, let it burn all day while the dough rose to the perfect size, then she'd let it bake in this iron container with a lid on it that my dad brought back from his visits to Europe. The bread she made was always sweet and salty, but it was the perfect balance of both.

"I wish I could create half of the things she did. I haven't had bread like hers in a long time."

Caroline's eyes were glassy. I could tell her mind was no longer in the present. She had gone to a very different place.

"She died when I was fourteen. There was so much she never got the chance to teach me, so many questions I never got the chance to ask…"

The look on Caroline's face was enough to make my heart ache. She made me feel…something.

"I lost my mother, also. I wasn't quite as young as you, but I was closer to her than I was to my father. It's a complicated story, really, but nonetheless, I know how hard it is. Dealing with…what I am…I tend to outlive those around me; family included."

This admission was only half of the truth, but I couldn't tell Caroline the whole truth. I probably never could.

"That's—that seems unfair."

In typical Caroline fashion, her response floored me. It was the last thing I would have imagined her saying.

We walked on toward the vegetable vendor and started to inspect different food items before Caroline broke the silence with an anxious flourish.

"No matter how much you love or care for someone, in the end you have to let them go. How is that fair? How is it fair that you have to live with the memories and long forgotten ghosts of so many people who enter and exit your life?"

"Well, that's just the thing, Caroline," I used vampire speed to pick up all the vegetables I knew Caroline needed, then came to a quick stop in front of her; basket outwardly stretched toward her.

"Life's unfair." My hand lightly brushed Caroline's own as she gently took the basket from me and I met her still glassy blue eyes. "For all of us."

"Oh, come on, Saint Stefan. We all have our slip-ups." Damon took a swig of the brown liquid permeating his glass. "It's just yours are…more dramatic, more frequent, and for a longer duration of time."

I almost choked on my bourbon as a chuckle came from my throat.

"And here I thought I was hard on Rebekah." I gave Stefan a look of comradery. "All jokes aside, Stefan, you can't dwell on what you've done in the past. Those lives have been taken, and those things have been done. You can't undo them. The road to redemption is sometimes a disappointing one."

Damon lifted his glass. "Never will more wise words be spoken. Listen to Dracula here, Stefan. Guy knows what he's talking about. He has that whole 'suffering in silence' thing going on. Probably more than you do." He takes a sip of his drink and smirks at his joke about my age, while Stefan fights the need to roll his eyes.

"You two may be right, but it still doesn't stop me from being the man I know Elena deserves."

Damon abruptly sighed in an over dramatic fashion.

"Oh, brother, must our conversations always end up here? 'Elena this. Elena that. If it doesn't involve Elena, how do I make it involve her?' I wonder does Buffy talk about you this much at her teen parties?"

Stefan smiled as he rolled his eyes. "You sound a bit jealous, Damon. Could that be due to a particular Bennett witch who you pretend you're not interested in?"

I almost feel as if my eyes have deceived me as I swear I see Damon blushing. So, someone has a soft spot for the witch? I could use this to my advantage.

"While we are on the subject, gentleman, how long has Bonnie been practicing?"

"I don't know when exactly, but not too long. She started around the same time Stefan changed Blondie."

I saw Stefan slightly wince as he saw my face shift into one of indifference.

"You changed Caroline?" I was lost in a mixture of curiosity and pure rage, but my voice was calm.

"She was dying."

My heart broke at the three words Stefan had just said. There was a tiny part of me that had hoped Caroline chose to become one of us on her own accord because of the newly 'cool' stigma that now floated around vampirism, but I had known the truth. I had known that becoming a vampire or dying had been her only option, but it felt different to know for sure. To know something had put Caroline on the verge of death so closely that Stefan had no other choice but to turn her, nothing seemed to hurt me more in this world. Many years ago, I had promised myself that I would always give her the choice. I would not make the same mistake twice because that mistake had cost Caroline her life, and it had cost me her. Being here and knowing that Caroline still had no choice in what she had become, it seemed to shatter my heart in two.

"Was it—Was she sick or an accident?"

Stefan looked down before answering. "She was involved in an accident. There was no time. I was the one who found her, and I had to act quickly. So far she's…acclimating."

Damon scoffed as he took another swig of bourbon but didn't care to say anything.

I decided not to push my luck more than I already had as Stefan sat his glass down and began to focus his attention on the pool table.

..

Caroline's POV

"Oh, Rebekah just walked in!" Elena's smile lit up the table as she tossed a long, sleek strand of hair over her shoulder and waved the uninterested looking woman over to our table.

Yet again, Elena Gilbert had used her good looks and charming personality to be a magnet and drag in the newest citizen of Mystic Falls. Not long after the Miss Mystic Falls competition, Rebekah and Elena seemed to bond over their similar fashion tastes and knowledge of long forgotten authors.

Rebekah slid into the spot beside of me. "Hey, Caroline." Her smile seemed genuine as she lightly nudged me in the shoulder then greeted Elena and Bonnie; her eyes lingering on Bonnie more than Elena and I's had.

Sometimes, it felt as though Rebekah was more interested in befriending me than my own friends were. Whenever I talked during a group outing, she made sure to place all her attention on me, and she also made it a habit to make me a part of a conversation she knew I had been barred out of. It was like she had a genuine fascination with me.

It was like she cared.

"I like the new look, Bonnie."

It was so subtle that no human would have noticed.

Bonnie's eyes seemed to slightly dilate as she mischievously smirked at Caroline. Just for a second, Bonnie's eyes, for one minuscule moment, flashed in a sea of recognition. It was almost as if you were seeing a close friend for the first time after being separated for so long, except this was the opposite. That sea of recognition was one of hate. Bonnie's eyes were hard and filled with fire.

But the next second, they weren't.

Thankful for my vampire hearing, I heard Rebekah's breath stutter slightly, then go back to normal.

"Thanks, Rebekah. I wanted to change my style up a little. I've heard that how a person dresses often dictates how the outside world perceives them. I wanted to be perceived a bit differently this time around." Bonnie gave us an unnerving smirk as Elena began monopolizing her attention again.

I didn't ignore the way Rebekah's eyes flicked up and stared at Bonnie for a millisecond, then flicked back down just as quickly.

I couldn't help but be curious of her reaction. Rebekah had met Bonnie before. She had been reserved, yet friendly. What was the difference now? More importantly, was the difference because of Rebekah, or because of this person in front of me; masquerading around as Bonnie Bennett?

Again, my eyes were met with the newly fire-filled eyes of Bonnie Bennett from across the table, and I quickly looked away.