Notes: Klarolineauweek Day 2 drabbles! The theme was AU: Butterfly Effect so these both jump off from a canon point.

Basic Courtesies

(From a prompt that has mysteriously vanished from my Tumblr inbox requesting Caroline thanking Klaus for the mini fridge. Rated K+).

It was there when they moved in. Already unpacked. Shiny, obviously high end. Caroline's name on the packing slip under the pretty red bow that was sitting on top.

"Ooh, mini fridge!" Elena exclaims excitedly, squatting down to open it. "The fancy kind. Who's it from?"

She feels a rush of guilt, with Elena's big brown eyes looking up at her, but she quickly pushes it away. She was allowed to have friends, wasn't she? And friends gave each other gifts. Caroline swipes the envelope and rips into it, stalls by pretending to read its contents.

Unnecessarily, as Caroline already knows who had sent it without a doubt in her mind. The grin Klaus had worn when he'd teased her about graduation gifts is an easy memory to recall. And he was the type to remember little things, and use them to great effect later. The New Orleans billing address confirms her hunch. Caroline panics for a moment, considering what to say. She knows Elena woouldn't take Klaus sending gifts well, doesn't really want to deal with the ensuing fit. It won't be an obvious one mind - not by Elena Gilbert. There'd be no yelling or stomping. Just a lot of heavy concern, head shaking. Sorrowful eyes and disappointed glances. All of which were even worse than a knock down drag out would be. Caroline couldn't fight back without the whole thing twisting. Somehow she'd be the giant inconsiderate bitch once Elena had said all she thought she needed to.

Caroline lies through her teeth shoving the paperwork between the pages of a book. She makes a mental note of the title, because Caroline was so memorizing that address later. For practical purposes, just in case she or anyone she loved was ever dying of a werewolf bite.

"Steven!" she chirps, answering Elena's question. "Apparently he got a great deal on it from a client, and personally I think he felt a little bad about being late, you know?"

Elena buys it, used to her friends receiving guilt-gifts from divorced and absentee parents, and Caroline relaxes. "There's a compartment that'll be perfect for blood bags," Elena says, standing up and heading to the door. "I'm going to go grab another box and pretend like carrying it is hard."

Caroline groans at that, and hurries to follow. Pretending to strain to lift boxes was a pain in the ass, not to mention super inefficient. They could be done in half the time with a little vamp speed and strength, would get to the much more fun unpacking, organizing and decorating portion of their new dorm lives.

But no, they couldn't. Blah blah blah secrecy and blah blah blah blending. Totally sucked, in Caroline's opinion.

The only possible bright side was if one of the guys who'd been hanging around and ogling her ass every time she bent over made his under the breath comments a little more loudly, maybe tried to hit on her in an extra skeezy way. Then Caroline wouldn't need to feel guilty about luring him away from his bros for a little snack.

Call her an optimist, but she thought she had a pretty good shot of treating herself to something a little fresher then the blood bags in the cooler before the end of the day.

Later, having healed and compelled Jason (a second string running back with terrible taste in shorts), Caroline drags her feet on her way back to her dorm, her cell phone sitting heavy in her pocket. Elena and Bonnie (and Megan, the dorm crasher) aren't expecting her back anytime soon. She'd told them she was going to check out the buildings where her classes were being held, plot out the quickest routes around campus.

Caroline's control freak over achiever rep sometimes served her well.

Megan had expressed some concern about her being out on her own but Caroline had scoffed, "Please, my mom's a cop, I have pepper spray, and I know how to defend myself." And the girl had reluctantly backed off.

Elena had offered to come with her but Caroline had waved her away, insisting she'd be fine. Truthfully, she'd been craving a little alone time. She'd never actually shared a room, or a bathroom, so it was going to be kind of an adjustment.

One that required a lot of teeth gritting, and forcing herself not to point out that Elena squeezed the toothpaste tube completely wrong.

Plus, she's debating calling Klaus. And Elena can't be anywhere in the vicinity for that.

It's the polite thing to do, isn't it? He'd sent her a gift. Her grandmothers would be rolling in their graves if she didn't at least acknowledge it. Say thank you, like a properly raised young lady.

And okay, fine. Maybe she wants to talk to him, see how things are going down in New Orleans. Sue her, but it's got to be more exciting than Whitmore, Virginia. A little vicarious food, art and culture never killed anybody.

Caroline's phone is in her hand, decision made. She pulls up his contact information, settling down on a bench on a deserted patch of grass. She hits the button to dial, not allowing herself to obsess any longer, her leg jiggling nervously as she waits.

Four rings and she's thinking about hanging up, only holding on because worrying about whether he'd call her back, when he'd call her back, kind of sounded like a nightmare. The call connects on the sixth, loud music and the roar of voices in the background, Klaus' rising above, "Caroline? Just give me a moment, would you?"

She hears him tell someone he's leaving, and then the background noise grows fainter. "Sorry about that, love," he says. "To what do I owe the pleasure? It is life and death already?"

Caroline winces, at the assumption, "Nope. Things are fine here. Boring, even. No bad guys or tragedies in weeks."

Klaus chuckles, "Yes, well pointing that out likely doomed you, you realize?"

Caroline shrugs, because she knows he's probably right. Things never stayed quiet for long. "I can handle it. The roommate the school sprung on us is a little sketchy."

"Is she human?"

"Allegedly," Caroline grumbles.

She can hear the smile in his voice in his teasing reply, "Well, I'd advocate eating her, just to be cautious. But I'm sure you'd find such measures a touch too extreme."

She finds herself smiling, and what has her life come to that she's joking about casual murder with Klaus, of all people? "We'll see," she replies. "It depends on whether she can keep her grimy mitts off my stuff."

"That's fair," Klaus allows.

"I think so. And speaking of stuff, I actually called to say thanks. For the mini fridge. You really didn't have to get me anything."

"Nonsense. Showing up to your graduation empty handed was quite rude. Elijah would have been appalled, had he known."

"Saving my ass from those witches, and healing Damon, could have been considered a gift," Caroline pointed out reasonably.

"You don't even like Damon," Klaus shoots back.

Ugh, she really didn't. And what did it say that Klaus could say that, like it was a simple fact, that everyone should know?

"Still. Thank you," she repeats sincerely.

"You're welcome, Caroline."

They're silent for a long moment, and Caroline finds herself closing her eyes, listening to him breathe. She shouldn't miss him, but she does, just a little.

Klaus clears his throat, "Did you get the warranty paperwork? It should have been there. I didn't send a card, thinking you'd rather be discrete."

Again with the intuitiveness. "I did," Caroline confirms. "It's tucked into a copy of Gone with the Wind right now."

"Good," Klaus murmurs. "So you have my direction. If you ever decide that a New Orleans style spring break is a college experience you should have, feel free to stop by and claim a guest bedroom."

Caroline snorts, "Subtle, Klaus. But no, getting drunk and flashing my boobs for cheap beads is not on my bucket list."

"Pity," he drawls, sounding amused. "Although that wasn't the culture I was referring to, when I offered you a tour."

"I should hope not. Because that's hardly going to tempt me."

"I know. But something will, I'm sure. Someday. Perhaps not New Orleans. It could be Paris in fifty years, Rome in a century. Madrid or Bangkok or Buenos Aires somewhere in between."

Her eyes widen, her breath catching in her throat. Klaus sounds very certain, and she wants to know why. But Caroline's still too afraid to ask.

He doesn't make her, changing the subject so smoothly she kind of wonders if she's crazy enough to imagine a second grand declaration. His tone shifts, becomes more casual, "I should let you go, sweetheart. Get back to my associates. But if you ever wish to chat…"

He lets the offer hang, and Caroline knows she should probably shut it down.

But she doesn't really want to.

"Have a good night, Klaus," she says instead.

"Goodnight, Caroline," he echoes, right before he hangs up.

She sets her phone down on the bench, considers going back to her dorm, putting on her very best human mask for her new roommate. Decides she really doesn't want to, just yet.

Caroline stays put, on the bench, where she doesn't need to pretend. Until her phone buzzes, Bonnie's 'Where are you?' flashing over the screen.

Caroline sends a text that she's on her way back and heaves herself up off the bench. Put Klaus, and the temptation the big wide world beyond offered, in a tiny box in the back of her mind. Duty called. She could only hope that the unpacking had gone smoothly without her supervision.

One of Those March Days

(A follow up to December Never Felt So Wrong found in Chapter 27. Smut.)

She's rudely awoken by a knock on the door of her hotel room, at 4AM. It's the fifth day of her second visit to New Orleans, and she's kind of exhausted, having only crawled into bed an hour or so earlier. She rolls over, stuffs her head under a pillow. But the knock comes again, louder and more insistent. Cursing sleepily, Caroline throws back the covers.

This had better be an emergency, or else someone was getting eaten.

It's been late nights and early mornings since she'd driven into the city. Klaus has a never ending list of places to show her, things to do. And she loves it, feels so relaxed that she almost feels guilty about it.

Shuffling towards the door, Caroline tugs her tank top back into place. Briefly debates pants, before deciding she's too tired to care. They were only legs, her mystery visitor could get over it.

The knock comes again, and she mumbles a, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," as she fumbles with the lock. She tugs the door open, leans heavily against the frame with a yawn that has her head tipping back. Squinting, she recognizes a vampire that works for Klaus. He looks hunted, eyes widening as he takes in her disheveled appearance. "Oh, hello, minion number seventeen," Caroline drawls sarcastically. "What can I do for you?"

He shifts nervously, hands buried in his pockets. "Klaus sent me. Told me to bring you to the house. There's been a threat."

That wakes her up a little. "What kind of threat?"

"The kind that Klaus is dealing with by tearing off limbs. And I've been told that mine'll be next if you're not tucked into a guest room within the hour, so…"

He looks pleading, but Caroline's still cranky about the late night wake up call. It makes her a little mean, "You know that won't actually kill you, right? They'll totally grow back."

He pales, goes a little green. And geez, you'd think a blood drinking vampire would be made of sterner stuff, wouldn't you? Caroline sighs, waves him into her room, "I'm kidding, relax. Come in, let me pack up a few things."

"Klaus said…"

She cuts him off with a withering glare, "Yeah, I'm fully aware that he's stocked his ginormous house with all my very favorite things. Trust me, we've had words about me not staying there. But I can't…"

Caroline cuts herself off abruptly, her teeth clinking together with an audible sound. The poor guy already feared for his extremities. No need to word vomit her complicated feelings about Klaus, and her current relationship with Klaus, and her attempts to keep everything tidy and manageable, at least in her own mind, all over him too.

She takes a deep breath, forces a smile that's as friendly as she can manage, "Look, I'll come quietly, and we'll be there well within your timetable, alright? But I'm taking my things with me."

He still looks uncomfortable, but nods, entering her room and making a beeline for the window. He peers outside and some weirdly complicated hand signals follow. Caroline watches with interest, and a little bit of annoyance, "Let me guess, you're not the only one Klaus sent?"

"No. You merit quite the security detail. I just drew the short straw and had to come up and convince you to come with us."

Caroline's jaw drops, as she digs out a pair of jeans, stepping into them and jerking them up, "Excuse you, I am delightful."

His face turns panicked, and he sputters for a moment, "No! I didn't mean it like that. Klaus just said that you weren't likely to want to come with us, and that we weren't to snap your neck unless it was the absolute last resort, and…"

"You should probably stop talking," Caroline tells him, clipped but perfectly serious, her anger growing. "Because I'm betting Klaus probably didn't want me to know that little tidbit, and we will be discussing it later."

The vampire cringes, turning away mutters, "Well, there goes my arm," before he lets the curtain fall back into place.

Caroline speeds around the room, tossing her absolute essentials and a change of clothes into a tote bag before. She slips on a pair of flip flops. When she's done, she heads to the door, tossing back, "Coming, oh bodyguard of mine?" as she breezes out the door.

He makes an irritated noise, and rushes to follow her, lifting her bag off of her shoulder. Caroline gives him a dirty look, but allows it. They're silent on the way downstairs (and she's a little annoyed that he'd vetoed the elevator like this was a spy movie) and out on to the street. It's relatively quiet, but this is New Orleans, and so there's still some stragglers heading home from bars and parties. Caroline immediately spots three other vampires, and she assumes that there's more that she's not aware of.

A slight pang of fear gives her pause, because maybe this was more serious then she'd realized. And maybe she should quit being a dick. "So what's the plan?" she asks. "Do we have to go on some weird convoluted drive now? Throw off tails, or whatever?"

Her guard smiles slightly, motions over to the black SUV at the curb. "Not quite. It's pretty obvious that we'd take you to Klaus, and no one's enough of an idiot to try to storm the compound with all of the Originals there. We'll go directly."

He opens the door for her, and Caroline slides in obligingly. He follows her and the driver pulls away the second the door slams shut, driving at a speed that seems illegal to Caroline. And kind of makes her want to put on her seatbelt, despite the fact that a car accident would only result in mild to moderate pain that would go away once she sucked down enough blood.

Old habits (and a million and one parental lectures) die hard.

It's a short drive, the swanky hotel Klaus had set her up in (after her reservation at a much more reasonably priced chain mysteriously disappeared) not far from where he lived. They pull up the driveway, right to the doors. Another SUV pulls in right behind them. Her guard motions for her to go out the opposite side, the one closest to the mansion's front door.

Caroline rolls her eyes, already over all the cloak and dagger stuff, but exits out where he'd indicated. Her beef wasn't with him, so no need to make the guy's life more difficult than it already was. The front door opens, as soon as her feet hit the ground. She looks up, barb on her tongue, expecting Klaus. But it's Marcel, and she deflates. "Hey, Marcel!" Caroline greets, falsely cheerful. "Fancy meeting you here. Are you being guarded, or doing the guarding?"

"Little bit of both," he tells her, with an easy smile. Caroline finds herself returning it, mostly because it's hard not to. She'd been introduced to Marcel on her first visit, had been incredulous when Klaus had relayed the tale of how he'd raised the man. And kind of shocked that he seemed so well adjusted, but she kept that part to herself. She liked him, his easy charm and quick laugh, and the way he refused to cower in Klaus' presence like so many people seemed to. "Not sure when Klaus will be back. He said to set you up in…"

"The blue bedroom? Across from his?" Caroline guesses. It was the same one she'd stayed in before, and she suspected had been decorated with her tastes in mind. It was incredibly presumptuous, but Caroline was more annoyed that Klaus had been right to do it. She had shown up, of her own volition, after all.

Marcel nods, and Caroline reaches over and wrestles her bag away from Klaus' minion, "I'll take that, thank you. I've been delivered, as promised. Unharmed. And now I'm back to being pissed." She stomps away, ignoring Marcel's laugh. It's a teeny bit childish, she recognizes. But if Klaus, Mr. 1000 year old immortal hybrid, could throw the occasional tantrum why couldn't she?"

She ignores everyone that she passes, so not up to making polite conversation. She finds the correct room, fully intending to enter and flop down onto the bed to silently scream into the pillows. But she pauses, her eyes catching on Klaus' room across the hall, noting the slightly ajar door.

Caroline hesitates for only a second, before stepping over and pushing it wider. The covers of his bed are mussed, his closet door open too. The lights are on, like he'd left in a hurry. She crosses the threshold, before she can really think about if she should.

She'd spent hours upon hours of her last visit there, had decided to try and avoid that, this time. Because she hadn't come to New Orleans for sex. Just for company, a little breathing room.

Her visit over Christmas had been incredible, exactly what she'd needed at the time. She'd returned to Mystic Falls feeling more like herself, and ready to tackle her next semester at school. But it hadn't been long before she'd felt herself starting to drift. She liked her classes, was pretty consistently kicking ass in them, to the point that they were sometimes kind of boring. And then there was Bonnie, and Bonnie's determination to break Elena's curse. Caroline kept getting sucked in the research, to errands of the supernatural variety.

Fun, exciting, adrenaline rushes, puzzles that actually challenged her. It made getting back into the college routine even harder.

And sometimes she wondered why she bothered. It's not like she had parents to disappoint with her potential drop out status.

But that was quitter talk, and Caroline Forbes wasn't a quitter.

She handled it for as well as she could, ate her feelings and took long punishing runs. But she'd felt the same feeling she'd battled in December creeping up on her, knew she was close to snapping. So she'd called Klaus. And spent an embarrassingly long time babbling about her problems.

And he'd listened patiently, asking occasional questions, but letting her go at her own pace.

"Sounds like you need another break, love," he'd observed innocently, after she'd run out of words.

Caroline had privately agreed. And while popping down to NOLA for periodic stress relieving sex marathons sounded like a good idea in theory, she knew that it just wasn't practical. Klaus had been up front about the things he felt for her, and while Caroline wasn't there, she knew she very well could be, someday.

No need to hurry that along.

She had so much she wanted to do and see before then. Settling down at twenty would have been nuts had she been a regular old human, it was out of the question for a vampire with lifetimes stretching before her.

As if he'd sensed her unease (and Klaus was good at reading her, so maybe he had) Klaus questioned her when her silence dragged on, "What's the matter, Caroline? You had fun, the last time you were here, did you not? And we haven't even scratched the surface of all that culture I promised you."

She'd groped for the right words, found them completely absent. "I just…"

"You just…" he prompted, beginning to sound confused.

"I don't want to lead you on," she'd blurted out. And then immediately felt mortified. "Oh my god, that came out conceited. I know you're not like, pining for me or whatever. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if you're in bed with another person as we speak. Because why wouldn't you be, right?" She'd forced a laugh, high and unnatural, cringing the entire time.

Mercifully Klaus interrupted her, sounding more amused then offended, "Caroline, I can assure you that I'd never be so impolite as to carry on a conversation about your personal troubles while I had company. And it's only 11 AM. And I am perfectly capable of recognizing that you're not in the market for a deep commitment at this point in your life."

She'd blown out a breath, unsure of what to say. Had settled on, "Oh. So…"

"We're friends, are we not? Who's to say there can't be occasional benefits to that friendship, while you discover what you want out of your immortal life?"

Caroline had snorted, "It's now officially my mission to hear you say fuck buddies. Because I think it'll be hilarious."

"Well then you probably shouldn't have told me that, hmm?" he'd pointed out, sounding annoyingly reasonable.

"What if I'm not interested in benefits?" she'd asked, more for curiosity's sake then anything. She'd pretty much given up on anyone other than Klaus ever starring in her fantasies. And the idea of getting to live them, with only the strings that already existed attached, was incredibly tempting. But there was a teeny voice in her head, grating and forceful, that told her Klaus wouldn't be interested in her without the promise of sex.

But Klaus hadn't hesitated, "Up to you, love. I was perfectly content to leave you in peace in the guest room, if you'll recall. I enjoy your company, publically and privately."

She'd bit her lip, to keep in the grin his words inspired, despite the fact that there was no one around to see her. Because they were perfect, and just what she'd needed.

"I guess I'll price out hotels then," she'd replied, trying to sound casual.

That he'd objected to, sounding offended by the idea, "Whatever for? I've more than enough space to accommodate you."

But Caroline had insisted, held her ground as they'd bickered.

And then again, once her booking had mysteriously disappeared.

And now here she was, in Klaus' bedroom.

It was almost funny, if she really thought about it. Caroline had tried so hard to keep things casual, to prove that she and Klaus could be friends. They'd done a fair approximation of it, over the course of her visit. He remained an exceptional tour guide, told fascinating stories, and made her laugh. Had only touched her perfunctorily, a hand on her back here, a brush of his arm against hers there.

But she'd sensed him watching her sometimes, a weight to his gaze that made it clear that he had to think about his actions, that the restraint was a choice, and not something he wanted.

And she appreciated it, honestly. Even as she'd kind of wondered why she was holding back.

Caroline throws her bag down on his couch, flopping down next to it and kicking off her sandals. She puts her feet up on the coffee table, and glances around for a remote control. Finds it, and seriously considered snooping through his DVR recordings.

Manages not to. Barely. Mostly because she'll be disappointed if she found out it was all boring history documentaries and films with subtitles. She liked to imagine that Klaus had a ridiculous secret addiction to competitive cooking shows. Maybe recorded the Westminster Dog Show.

Better to maintain a little mystery.

Caroline finds a movie she'd seen a million times, an old teen comedy that she and Elena and Bonnie used to watch at sleepovers. She tries to keep her ears focused beyond the room, wants to be ready when Klaus comes back, so she could work herself back up about him being so freaking overbearing. Properly convey just how not cool she thought it was. But her eyes droop, and the couch is crazy comfortable.

So of course she falls asleep.

She's awoken far more pleasantly the next time, her head buried in Klaus' bare shoulder as he carries her. She finds herself inhaling deeply, recognizing that he's just showered, her lips brushing against his skin when she mumbles, "I'm mad at you."

She feels it when he laughs, his chest moving against her. "Even while I'm so kindly saving you from that dreadfully cramped sleeping position you'd adopted?"

He sets her down on a bed, and she realizes he's brought her to the guest room, from the weak light coming in through the windows. Softens slightly, because he really didn't have to go to the trouble. She doesn't fight him, when he shifts her to pull the blankets up and over her shoulders. "Vampire," she grumbles up at him, turning over and getting comfy. "Cricks are temporary."

It's a struggle to stay awake, and Klaus reaching up to smooth her hair away from her face doesn't help. His fingertips linger on her cheek when he pulls back, and she finds herself sighing softly, "Sleep, Caroline. I promise to listen to you berate me to your heart's content tomorrow. In fact, I have an activity planned that should be most helpful in venting your anger."

Caroline's drifting off before she can muster the focus to think on that statement any harder. But it was definitely suspicious.

"I am fully aware of the fact that you're a serial killer, you know. So it's a little sketchy that you're taking me deep into the woods."

Klaus seems unbothered by her sniping, "Nonsense, love. We've spent plenty of quality time in the great outdoors, have we not? Adventuring, burying bodies," he throws a look over his shoulder, heated and mischievous, "Etcetera, etcetera."

She rolls her eyes, huffs in exaggerated annoyance. Doesn't fool him, judging by the soft laugh he lets out. "We're almost there," he tells her. "Might as well hurry up." Then he's flashing, speeding away from her. It's instinctive to give chase, and she feels her face change, her vision sharpen. Slides to a halt, her boots kicking up hunks of earth, when she catches up to him in a large clearing.

Caroline glances around, sees nothing of note. Klaus has stripped out of his jacket, tossed it aside. His eyes linger on her monster's face with great interest, and she realizes he's only seen it when they've been having sex, her lips stained red with his blood. Her ears heat but Klaus he refrains from commenting. "What are we doing out here?" Caroline asks.

"We're going to fight," Klaus tells her calmly, pushing up his sleeves.

Not exactly news to Caroline. "Um, yeah. We do that all the time. Why did we have to come out to the middle of nowhere when I totally could have yelled at you in the comfort of your fancy office?"

"Physically, I mean. In addition to our usual exchanging of words. Elijah gets quite touchy when I break things, so I thought it best we remove ourselves from anywhere there's priceless antiques."

"What?" Caroline finds herself squeaking, "Why would we do that?"

"Simple, really. Your presence, and my reaction to it, has been noted. Last night I killed the most pressing threats to your safety in a manner that will discourage others from similar courses of action. But, there's always an individual more idiotic out there, so I can't guarantee that it won't be attempted again."

Caroline's skeptical, "So, are you telling me that you'll stop sending vamp SWAT teams after me if you think I can defend myself?"

He actually laughs, "No, of course not. I'll take no chances with your safety, love."

And yep, she's right back to being pissed off. The insinuation that she can't take care of herself making her blood boil. Caroline lunges for him, but he dodges, leaving her stumbling passed the spot he'd been standing. Klaus tsks disapprovingly, "Sloppy, sweetheart. I'm sure you can do better than that."

Caroline swallows a growl, whirls to face him. He looks entirely too relaxed, and it fans the flames of her annoyance. Caroline finds her knees bending, her hands balling into fists, as she studies him carefully, shifting slightly.

Klaus grins, clearly pleased, as he follows her movements, "Good. You have speed, and strength, but that's only a start. You need to learn to outthink your opponents, because it's possible they'll be older then you. Likely even, given your relative newness to this life."

She absorbs his words, because she's not an idiot. She's still not remotely happy about his high handedness yesterday, how he'd snapped his fingers and had his underlings remove her from her hotel. But she recognizes the opportunity he's offering her, and she does love to learn, adores a new challenge. She's not afraid to fight, knows that it's unlikely that she'll never need to. She's not Elena, with men coming out of the woodwork to throw themselves in front of danger for her. And she wouldn't want to be.

Caroline's confident in her ability to handle herself, and whatever Klaus teaches her can only make her more so.

She's more cautious in her second attack, throwing her left fist in a wide arc, and trying to jam her foot into his knee. He blocks her kick neatly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her off balance, her shoulder crashing into his chest. He gets his arm under her throat, "Better. But I could snap your neck right now, and this would all be over."

Caroline jams her elbow into his stomach, and his grip loosens enough for her to slip away from him. She gets behind him, kicks at the back of his knee. Klaus dodges, sweeping his leg out and knocking hers out from under her. Lighting fast he reaches out, grabbing her arm just before she hits the ground. Pulls her up, lets her straighten her clothes. "You're going easy on me," Caroline complains.

Klaus doesn't deny it, "For now. I've no doubt I won't be, once you've learned a thing or two."

He's probably humoring her, but Caroline takes it as a personal challenge. Doesn't wait for him to prompt her before attacking again.

He'd really kind of asked for it.

They're at it for hours, and Klaus is true to his word, parrying back her blows with more force and speed, his movements growing more complicated, once he thinks she can handle it. When the sun begins to set, she's filthy. Her shirt's torn (courtesy of a tree he'd tossed her at) and her hair's a windblown mess. She's panting and a little sore.

She's also really happy.

Something she realizes when Klaus has her pinned against a tree.

Caroline can't help the bright smile, the laugh that bubbles out. It only grows, loud and carefree, at the bewildered expression on Klaus' face. He eases up the pressure, still looking confused. Caroline's hands fly out, knotting in his shirt, before he can move too far away. "Alright, love?" he asks, peering at her curiously.

"The best I've been in a while," she answers immediately and honestly.

And then she has another 'screw it' moment exactly like the one she'd had in his bedroom at Christmas. Where she was sick to death of overthinking, just wanted to feel for a while. He seems to recognize it, an eyebrow creeping up, "Caroline," he drawls, his hands going to her waist.

"Say fuck buddies," she demands playfully.

"No," Klaus denies. But she can't care about being thwarted when his hands drop to her ass and lift.

Caroline wraps her legs around his hips, bracing her back against the tree, "You are zero fun, Klaus," she complains, winding her fingers into the necklaces at his throat.

She's sure he wanted to protest that, but she kisses him, before he can, scraping the nails of her free hand through his hair and tilting his head. Her fangs are out, she'd long since stopped trying to force them back, the adrenaline of the fight too strong. Caroline moans when they cut into his lip, latches on and sucks the tiny stream of blood. Klaus' hips push into hers more roughly, an answering groan rumbling through his chest, trapping her against the tree and grinding into her center.

He'd been more controlled then she was all afternoon, but when she pulls back his eyes are gold, and she doesn't even hesitate, before tipping her head and baring her neck. Klaus grits out a curse, runs his nose down the line of her throat. But he doesn't break the skin, and she whines when he pulls away, setting her down. Klaus' hands rush between them, tearing at her jeans, breaking the button off and shoving the denim down her thighs.

Then he bites her, just as his hand slips into her panties.

She's been wet forever, his body against hers all day a distraction and a temptation. Caroline sobs out a moan, as his fingers slip into her in one slick movement, his palm teasing her clit. He hooks them inside of her as he drinks, unerringly finding the spot that leaves her vision blurry and her thighs shaking, rubbing it until she's panting.

Her legs can barely hold her, when he's done and pulling back.

He meets her eyes as her licks her blood from his lips, sucks the fingers that had just been inside of her immediately after. Makes a wild noise of enjoyment, "I can't decide which tastes better, sweetheart," he murmurs. "Together they're divine."

She lunges, and this time he catches her, wrapping a hand around her neck as she licks into his mouth. Caroline can taste her arousal, and her blood on his tongue, and it makes her burn. She lets out a high pitched noise of her own, her want making her inarticulate, frantically tearing his shirt off.

She's not sure who pushes who, but they tumble to the forest floor, and he's rolling her onto her back. He's no kinder to her shirt then she'd been to his, and it comes off in little more than scraps, discarded without concern. One finger snaps the front of her bra open, and his hot mouth wraps around a nipple as soon as it's revealed, his hands tight around her ribcage.

It feels incredible, her back bows when he uses his teeth. But foreplay is for beds, and Caroline needs Klaus inside of her. She flips him over, clawing at his belt. She's barely torn it away when the world spins again, and sticks and tiny pebbles are biting into her skin. It's déjà vu, and not in a fun way, "We are not doing that again," she rasps out. "Take off your pants and fuck me."

His jaw clenches, eyes drifting shut as he goes rigid above her. Only for a second, and then Klaus uses full hybrid strength and speed, tearing the rest of their clothes away, and hitching one of her thighs over his forearm. There's no easing, he's inside of her in one firm plunge, but it's exactly what she'd wanted, rolling her hips up into his with a sigh, encouraging him to move.

He's fast and rough and she loves it, calling his name, voice wrecked and hoarse, when he manages to hit the perfect spot, nails drawing blood from his back when he grinds against her clit.

Her heads tips back sharply, her back arched to rub her nipples against the lean muscles of his chest, and she's riding the edge of something big. Klaus seems to know it, eyes hot on her face in the fading light, his lips tracing the skin of her throat. She feels his fangs, and she clenches down, just before she feels the sting of his bite. It hits her like a wave, muscles locking as she shouts her release, distantly registering Klaus' groan as his hips jerk frantically.

He's still inside of her when he rolls them again, cradling her head and pulling it to his throat, urging her to drink. The taste of him sends new flutters of pleasure through her, leaves him gasping, his cock hardening once more, as she writhes on top of him.

Klaus' hands run up her spine, and there's a question in his eyes when he looks up at her. She smirks at him, pulls herself up so her mouth hovers over his, "Still won't say it, huh?"

He lets out a long suffering sigh, but his eyes are laughing. He enunciates carefully, "Fuck buddies."

"Yes!" Caroline crows. "Totally as weird as I pictured. You're accent's way too fancy to make it work."

He looks around skeptically, at the haphazard piles of disturbed earth, "This is the opposite of fancy, love."

Caroline shrugs, unconcerned, undulates her hips and watches his lashes flutter in pleasure, eyes almost glowing in the low light, "I don't mind. We do good work in the forest."

Klaus grins, a challenge, and he sits up, spreads her thighs over his lap so he sinks deeper into her body, but keeps his hands clamped to her hips so she can't move, "We do good work in a bed, too," he points out. Sounding impressively nonchalant, considering she can feel the tautness of him, his muscles pulled tight with his continued restraint.

Caroline ducks her head, licks along the cords of his throat, "Later," she breathes out, her thighs clamping tightly to his sides.

It seems to be what he'd wanted to here, and he pulls her up along the length of his cock, lets her drop down. Caroline's head falls back with a groan, her hips picking up a rhythm he has no trouble matching. She comes again, but he doesn't, flipping her over onto her knees before burying himself back inside of her.

They wreck the clearing, and when they leave, the sky inky black above them, Caroline's secretly kind of pleased that she's left a mark on New Orleans.

She and Klaus haven't solved anything, but maybe they don't need to. Maybe they don't need labels; maybe they can just be whatever they want to be at any given time.

Because Caroline's come to accept that time is one thing they have in abundance, is slowly coming to realize that Klaus is something she'll likely never shake.

She's not all in, not yet. But he'll wait. She thinks he'll know when she's sure, maybe even before she is. Caroline knows herself well enough to admit that she'll probably be due a freak out or twelve right around then.

He'll let her, and then he'll chase her. Because when the time comes Klaus won't be satisfied with less then everything.