A/N: Just loving being able to write again. As said previously, Klaroline would always be endgame for me.

Chapter 3

Alla Sera (Ugo Foscolo)

e quando dal nevoso aere inquiete
tenebre e lunghe all'universo meni,
sempre scendi invocata, e le secrete
vie del mio cor soavemente tieni.

Klaus POV:

Caroline barely stopped to see if I was following behind her after I had gotten out of the car at her building. "Slow down, love, or you'll make a man think that you're trying to lose him." I could hear her heartbeat quicken and her steps falter slightly, but she did not walk slower. She walked up a flight of stairs and to an apartment door before letting herself in and holding the door open for me to walk through.

Caroline's apartment was decorated in an incredibly minimalistic style. While I would have expected an apartment that was perfectly clean and organized, there were no decorations in the apartment with the exception of a bowl on her coffee table. Additionally the color scheme of the apartment was white with differing shades of gray. This style was not in line with what I would expect of the sunny and interesting Caroline. "Your home is lovely." I offered as she put a tattered book she had been carrying on her coffee table.

"Oh, thank you. It's just a temporary place, well I hope it's temporary." She said and looked around her apartment slightly uncomfortable. "So, would you like to sit?" Caroline gestured to the couch and began to fiddle with a necklace she was wearing.

"Thank you," I said, taking a seat on her couch. She glanced from the couch to the bar stools she had set up next to a breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the living space. She finally decided on the bar stool, no doubt to be further from me and clasped her hands together. "So, what has been happening in Mystic Falls?" I asked and saw the anxiety building in her face and her shoulders tense.

"It's a lot to explain, are you familiar with the Travelers? Silas was one if you remember." She started and began to fiddle with her necklace again, I had not known Caroline to have nervous ticks-it made it abundantly clear that what had happened in Mystic Falls was difficult for her to discuss.

"While I may be old, I have a fairly detailed memory. I am aware of the Travelers, nasty bunch. They were always jealous of the other supernatural creatures, especially our dear friends the witches."

Caroline nodded, "Exactly, they wanted to be able to lift the curse that didn't allow them to gather and rid the entire world of spirit magic, as in the magic that made us vampires and they almost succeeded."

This gave me pause, I was surprised that I was not aware of this plan, but I simply nodded and allowed Caroline to continue. "In order to do this they needed blood from the last two living dopplegangers, which were Stefan and Elena. But, one of the Travelers killed Stefan in order to stop the spell from continuing to spread. This did not save Mystic Falls, and so no one who is supernatural can go into it anymore. The good news is that we were able to save a number of people who had died including Stefan, Alaric, and Tyler, but in order to do that we lost some people to. Damon and Elena were the ones who lit the explosion that killed the travelers who were in Mystic Falls and Damon...well, he was stuck on The Other Side when the spell stopped. We haven't seen or heard anything from him since. And since Bonnie was the anchor to The Other Side..." Caroline tried to slyly wipe her eyes and look up at the ceiling as she said the next part of the tragic story, "Bonnie died too."

Caroline breathed a long sigh and continued to stare at the ceiling. "I'm very sorry, Caroline." That was the only thing I could think to say to her, it must have been terrible to lose her good friend.

"Yeah well, we're still trying to find them. That's why Stefan is not in town, I think he's looking for some witches in the MidWest or something. My job is to figure out how we can bring magic back to Mystic Falls. I know I probably told you an incredibly oversimplified version of what happened, but the past four months have been pretty terrible." She finally met my eyes and it was clear the pain that she had been experiencing in the last few months.

"I leave town for just over a year and everything goes to hell it seems." I could tell immediately that it was the wrong thing to say to her as her eyes narrowed and she stood up.

"Yes, Klaus, because you would have definitely been able to stop a plan that the Travelers have had in motion for decades and without a doubt you could have single-handedly stopped The Other Side from falling apart. You know what, I can't do this." She said, exasperated and walking towards the hallway that led to her front door. "Maybe you should go, I tried to be nice and discuss what has been happening, but if you're going to be awful, I would rather feel terrible alone."

I stood up as well and held up my hands. "Easy, love, I didn't mean to offend. As you can imagine this is quite frustrating for me as I was hoping to come back to Mystic Falls with my magical family and this does throw a wrench in my plans."

While I expected this to calm her, it did not. "Oh of course, my apologies for throwing a wrench in your plans. It's been just lovely for me to not have a home to go back to and having to drop out of school."

"Caroline," I started feeling the anger begin to bubble up inside of me. "I could do without the disdainful sarcasm."

She sighed and ran her hands through her golden hair. "Fine, but I need you to know that we're all trying, okay?"

I attempted to calm myself and gave her a sharp nod. "I'm expecting Elijah shortly, I'll see if he has ever heard of anything we can do for this."

Caroline looked at me, her eyes confused and softening more by the second. "Thank you...so you're all planning to call Mystic Falls your home again?"

Her inquiry took me off-guard, it was though she was interested in my life. "Yes, Hayley was saying how she felt connected to the land here and I know I have always felt a certain attraction to what the area has to offer." I gave her a pointed look and she was unable to meet my eyes. It was clear to her that I was insinuating that she was a reason I had come back, and that was absolutely right. "Also, I've heard the schools in Mystic Falls are wonderful and it was a highly recommended area to raise a child in."

"Yeah, besides the supernatural infestation Mystic Falls is a great place to grow up. Congratulations, by the way, on your daughter." Caroline shifted awkwardly, I wondered if she was jealous, but I tried not to think about that too much.

"Thank you, love, she is an absolute marvel to me." I said, making it abundantly clear that I was being genuine in my love for my daughter. Caroline opened her mouth, but her phone made a noise, interrupting her thought. She walked over to her bag and took it out, sighing at whatever was on the screen. "Anything I can help with?" I offered taking a step towards her.

She looked up quickly and shook her head. "No, I'm just supposed to meet Elena and Tyler at Whitmore, is there anything else you need?"

"I can take a hint, I'll be on my way, but I'll let you know if there's anything that I hear about your magic problem." Caroline looked at me, confusion written clearly on her face.

"You're...nicer. Is it because you're a dad now?" She forced a smile, but there was something I could tell she was holding back from saying.

"Perhaps, you'll have to continue seeing me to find out I suppose." I stared into her eyes, daring her to look away first. Caroline's eyes flitted to the floor and then she walked to the door and opened it.

"Klaus...I'll let you know if anything changes on our end, too." She said, and I was sure that her promise was genuine.

I nodded and strode out of her apartment and down to my car. It was strange seeing Caroline again knowing the last time we had spent a significant amount of time in the woods together. I knew that she was a large part of the reason that I had come back to the area, there was a draw to Caroline that I could not ignore any longer and I had heard that she and Tyler had ended their relationship. I had to be honest with myself and knew that another part was a jealousy I felt when I saw the way Elijah cared for Hayley, not that I had the slightest interest in Hayley, but I wanted a similar companionship in my life. For now, I had to ensure that we would be able to easily live in Mystic Falls, and that would start with helping Caroline bring magic back to this overwhelmingly supernatural town.