A/N: I got into the mood to write two chapters in one night. The TVD world does not belong to me or Klaus and Caroline would have ended up together and Kat Graham would not have been mistreated like she was.

Chapter 2

"Complacency is a far more dangerous attitude than outrage."
- The Dark of the Moon by Naomi Littlebear

I switched the stack of books I was carrying to my left hand as I walked briskly across the diner parking lot. I was trying to have a positive attitude, but the more books I read, the more frustrated I became. We had been working tirelessly for the entire summer in order to undo the spell the Travelers had cast and be able to return to Mystic Falls without setting ourselves on fire. Well, that's what I had been working on, Stefan was more focused on us bringing back Bonnie and Damon from the dead-or wherever they were. I felt completely disconnected from Elena and Stefan with Stefan following leads in other states and Elena simultaneously grieving one of our best friends and her boyfriend. There was no love lost between Damon and I, but I did feel for Elena, she didn't deserve to lose another person.

I opened the door to the off-campus diner and saw Alaric sitting at a table, his back to me. I walked with purpose over to him and heard him on the phone with none other than Stefan. I was disappointed that Stefan had ignored yet another of my calls this morning, but was glad to know he was alive and still searching for Bonnie and Damon. I dropped the textbooks on the diner table and took a seat across from Alaric.

"You already read all of that?" Alaric asked doubtfully as he raised his eyebrows at me. I was slightly offended at the notion that I would waste time by pretending to read something I had not.

"Cover to cover." I responded matter-of-factly. "With no mention on how to undo an anti-magic forcefield. And if I'm going to single-handedly take back our town, I'm going to need a little bit more to go on." I gave him a smile at the end, but it was not remotely genuine. I was frustrated, I missed being able to go to my home, just that morning during one of my picnics with my mom I went to hand her our picnic basket and accidentally reached over the border causing my skin to burn.

Alaric sighed and grabbed a book out of the bag next to him. "Got it. Alright, well, I brought Ancient Witchcraft Volume 2-"

"I read it." I said, cutting him off. It was doubly frustrating that Alaric didn't remember books we had discussed.

Alaric looked at me solemnly and nodded. He put away the Ancient Witchcraft Volume 2 and took out another book that he held out to me. "Okay, how about the Art of Hexing and Elements of Magic?"

I grabbed the book and turned it over in my hands. "Fine, thank you." This is usually where I would take my leave if there was nothing else to discuss, but I paused. He didn't bring up the fact that he was just talking to Stefan, but I was curious about how he was doing. "So...how's Stefan?"

Alaric's expression didn't change. "He's okay," he replied with a small shrug.

This didn't give me the information I was looking for, I missed my friend desperately, it felt terrible to lose so many people so quickly. "How often do you talk to him?" I pried.

"I don't know...A couple times a week." Alaric sighed.

"Oh," I said feeling as though someone had stuck a stake into my stomach. I was unsure what else to say to him so I just muttered, "Huh."

Alaric leaned forward onto the table between us, his eyes saddened before me. "I'm gonna go out on a limb here, Caroline. Is something bothering you?"

I looked down for a moment. I didn't have to be honest with Alaric, but I had been desperate to talk to someone about all that I felt recently and with everything Elena was going through, Matt watching Jeremy, I had felt lonelier than usual. So I started with the root of the problem, "he didn't say goodbye." I sighed feeling the corners of my mouth slip down into a frown. "Damon and Bonnie died and he just left. No phone calls, no emails, he just disappeared into thin air. I haven't heard from him in months." I laughed even though the next part was not funny, "I actually convinced myself that he was in some remote mountain region and couldn't accept my calls."

"Or maybe he just doesn't want to bother you with every half lead that goes nowhere." Alaric suggested. I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but unlike vampire hunting, this did not appear to be his strong suit.

"Yeah, or maybe I just need to get over it." I sighed and stood up from the table. "Thanks for the book." I said quickly and walked out of the diner into the sunshine. I sighed and breathed in the fresh air. Surely Stefan would call me soon, he was bound to find a lead sooner rather than later after all of this time of looking.

"Now look who's walking with purpose." A familiar British voice called out from behind my car. I turned on my heels to see the person I least expected at a small diner near my college. Klaus stood before me, leaning on a sleek black car. He had grown out some stubble and his hair looked longer than I remembered it. He was in a typical Klaus outfit, a V-neck t-shirt and black jeans.

"Klaus," I exhaled as he walked towards me. I felt small butterflies in my stomach seeing him, but I was trying to ignore them. I cleared my throat and stood up straight. "What are you doing here?"

"My, my, aren't we trying to get down to business quickly?" Klaus said with a smirk. "I would typically hope for some lighthearted conversation catching up on our lives. Be that as it may, I do have some rather pressing questions about the state of Mystic Falls at the present." I blinked, of course he didn't know about all we'd been through in the last few months. "And Stefan said he is currently unavailable, I was hoping you could help me. Would you like to step inside this small diner and have a talk?"

I looked towards the door, although Alaric was doing his best recovering from coming back from the dead, he probably would not take too kindly to an original vampire walking into the diner with me. "How about we go somewhere else, a few less people around."

"Caroline, are you inviting me over to your home?" I thought quickly about the best place to bring him, my apartment did seem to be the only location I could think of that would not draw unwanted attention. He must have sensed my hesitation because he added, "I would offer my home, but I have a distinct lack of furniture at the moment."

"Fine, follow my car, but don't think this means anything will happen between the two of us. I don't need any repeats of Katherine's death day." I warned walking towards the driver side of my car as Klaus gave me a small smile.

"It would be uncouth of me to say what is currently going through my head, but I remember you enjoying it a fair bit more than you're letting on." I felt blush spread to my cheeks and shut my car door without responding to him. I pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive towards my new apartment. Although I was leading one of the most dangerous vampires in the world to my apartment, I was much more nervous about what he could do to me emotionally rather than if he would hurt me physically.