"I'm going to shower," Caroline groaned and grabbed pj's from her bag.
"Have fun."
She gave him a look and entered the bathroom. It was late now, the pool officially closed at 11. They would probably be asleep earlier tonight then last night, depending on if Klaus wanted to watch The Office or not.
She let the hot water soak down her back and massage her hair.
We were two inches apart, two. His lips were that close to mine!
Her legs felt like jelly and she took a deep breath, reassuring herself that it was all okay. No one has ever made her feel this way before. Sure, Tyler and her had their moments, but the tension? The wanting? No, there was none of that.
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Caroline walked out of the bathroom not long later, drying her hair and fully clothed in her pjs. She had expected Klaus to be out already, he seemed a bit off since they left, like he was dragging himself along.
But he wasn't. He was sitting in the armchair by the window with a sketchbook in his lap. He didn't notice her walk in, how, she didn't know, but he was focused on what he was doing. She used vamp speed to sneak up behind him and peek over his shoulder. "Whatcha drawing?"
He jumped up and slapped the book shut. "Bloody hell Caroline."
She giggled and pulled up the spinning chair from the desk next to the chair. "Sorry… but what are you drawing?"
She remembered seeing his sketches from the Mikaelson ball back in Mystic Falls. Surprisingly, they were really good. Who knew the all powerful Klaus Mikaelson, the feared original vampire hybrid knew how to draw?-well he has been around a thousand years for practice..
"None of your concern," he said simply.
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Why?" she pouted.
"Because."
"Please Nik!" she used that phrase for like the billionth time that night.
Ha. he caved. I can see it in his eyes. Works like a charm!
"No."
Okay well, maybe not.
"Okay fine, have it your way," she pouted and went over to her bed.
He stood up after her, placing his sketchbook down and slightly hidden so she didn't see.
"Don't you have to shower?" she asked.
"I'll just do it in the morning," he answered plainly.
"Are you okay? You still seem… off."
"No, I'm fine, don't worry," he lied and sat down on the bed and looked at her.
She could see something in his eyes, was it worry? He looked totally worn out, too. Did something happen and she didn't know? "Where did you go when you left the restaurant earlier… I-um-we were worried."
"Nothing to worry about, love. As you probably know, my anger still gets the better of me sometimes," he half lied.
She nodded unsurely, not believing him, and settled under the covers. "Do you want to sleep or watch TV?" she yawned.
"Judging from that yawn, I know then answer. It's been a long day and you seem exhausted, let's just go right to sleep."
"Sounds good," she said against her pillow.
He smiled and turned the light off. "Good night love," he whispered.
"Night Nik," she mumbled into the darkness.
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Despite how exhausted he was, Klaus couldn't fall asleep for the life of him. Who was the man who attacked him earlier? How could anyone ever be able to attack him like that? Manage to actually get him down?
He and Stefan got to talk more about it later on that day and decided that they weren't telling Rebekah or Caroline, maybe not even Kol. It wasn't worth the risk yet, they don't even know how serious this is`.
Luckily, Caroline didn't notice the bloodstains on his shirt which was now tucked away until he could get it cleaned or well, burned.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember the face. Obviously the man was a witch, otherwise he would remember the person who managed to beat him, of all people, to the ground.
He remembered the words though, just not the voice of the person. They kept echoing through his mind on a loop
"She's made you pathetic...Caroline."
"She has made you weak, Niklaus."
"Warn your friends if you please because there is a whole new threat coming. You really think that everything is sunshine and rainbows Niklaus?"
Klaus opened his dry eyes and rolled onto his back. He could hear her light breathing next to him, the soft tufts of air coming out of her perfect lips that he was so close to earlier.
He moved his eyeline to face her, she looked beautiful and peaceful. She didn't move, nothing, just stayed still. She is so extraordinary. Never in a thousand years has he met someone like her, so caring and fearless at the same time.
She's evertyhing he wants to be.
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Caroline woke up sometime around 3 to her phone buzzing on the nightstand. Quickly, she muted the call, ignoring it completely. She rolled back onto her side, burying herself under the sheets, ready to let sleep overcome her again...but it never came.
Stupid phone.
Accepting that she wouldn't fall back to sleep anytime soon, she let her mind drift off to what Klaus was doing earlier. He was drawing.
She has never actually seen him draw before, he looked so focused and submerged in the piece, like there was nothing else in the world.
But what was he drawing?
The room was pitch black and silent enough to hear a pin drop. No nightmares tonight, just general wonderings. She wasn't going to crawl into bed with him… no not tonight, not again.
They had almost kissed. Oh how she wanted to move in just an inch more.
She carefully pulled back the sheets like she had last night, but this time, her goal was different. She stepped on the ground quietly, still not really knowing if he would wake up at the slightest of movements. Well, being on the run for thousands of years probably keeps him alert. She grabbed her phone and used it as a flashlight to light her path because she couldn't see anything, not even Klaus, which was a good and bad thing.
She watched him hide the book earlier, it wasn't that obvious to the naked eye, but she managed to find it. Quietly, she opened the book and sat cross-legged on the floor.
The pages crumbled beneath her fingers, she tried to quiet it down, but Klaus didn't seem to move much at the noise. The first page was a sketch of the Eiffel Tower, there were a few of random people, a few of Rebekah and his other siblings… and then her.
She tried not to gasp at how beautiful he made her look on the paper. The drawing was from the car when she saw the 'spread-out-sign' when they were driving in. Her hair looked golden even if it was shaded in with charcoal and her eyes seemed to sparkle. The next page was her sitting in the slide when she was about to pull him down. He managed to capture the moment perfectly, the water flowing around her legs looked real and the little beauty mark on her neck was present. How the hell did he do that?
But then she came across the one he was drawing before, it was half finished. It was from the park today, every single detail of her dress was spot on and she had a Starbucks cup in her hand-the same drink.
Every detail was so perfect...how? She stood up still shining her light down on the book.
"Who's there?" Klaus's dreary voice boomed cautiously. "I will kill-"
She nearly jumped out of her skin. "Klaus it's just me!" she said quickly and put the book down in the same spot from before, not wanting to part with it yet though.
"C-Caroline?" he stumbled his words.
She walked over to her bed and sat down, shining the light on him. He squinted and shielded his tired eyes.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't-"
He yawned and moved to lay back down. "It's okay…"
It was silent for a moment before she talked again. "How long have you been running to be that aware even in your sleep?"
She heard him take a deep breath. "My whole life."
She turned on one light over her bed, casting a warm glow on the room. He slowly opened his tight eyes and quickly adjusted to the new light, sitting up more against the headboard so he could talk to her.
She could see him now clearly for the first time, his hair was matted again and his features seemed drained. He looks so exhausted...why does he look this tired? He's Klaus?
"Your whole life? Why?"
"Mikael."
"Just him? I thought he died."
"The Bennett witches mother put a desiccating spell on him and buried him in that cemetery in Charlotte… but I was still on the lookout because I know that he can overcome anything. When I finally killed him at the homecoming, I knew he was gone for good. But it wasnt only Mikael."
"Who else?"
He sighed. "My family and I have made many, many enemies over the years. Who knows when one would find us…" his mind trailed back to his encounter with one of those enemies earlier.
"Do you really think someone would break in here in the middle of the night?"
"It's happened before," he said, but then seeing her reaction he had to clarify. "To me, not in Disney."
"What happened?"
"It was centuries ago, when the original five hunters were around."
"I remember Stefan telling me about that… well only that Rebekah had a run in with one."
"His name was Alexander, he was a brute hunter but she didn't know it. She only knew that he was hunting normal vampires, not us."
"So he knew about you guys?"
"He played my sister, only to stick a dagger in her chest one night during lovemaking."
"So he stabbed her in the back."
"Exactly. But he had more daggers…"
"And so he came after the rest of you."
"We all lived together, me, Kol, Rebekah, Finn and Elijah… it was late and we were all asleep after a long day of-"
"Killing im guessing?"
"Something along the lines," he said lightly. "He came to each of our rooms and stuck daggers through our chests when we were in our most vulnerable state.
"Wait," she said. "I thought those daggers dont work on you..."
He smirked. "Oh they don't."
She re-positioned herself. Hearing these stories about Klaus's past was always interesting, but equally heartbreaking. Mikael was awful to him, she couldn't imagine growing up with a father like that. "What did you do?"
"Well, obviously I killed him," he summarized quickly. "I pulled all of the daggers out of my siblings and hid them away, keeping them to myself. Let's just say Alexander wasn't smiling when he found out they didn't work on me and his master plan failed."
"So that made you always on the lookout."
"Always. I stayed up most nights and stood outside of Rebekah or even Kol or Elijah's door. Rebekah would always scold me, especially when I caught her with her various lovers," he chuckled lightly. "I would hear them whispering in there about me being right outside the door and to stay quiet."
Caroline laughed. "Anything else?" she laid down again on her side, facing him.
He shook his head. "Everything is pretty general… you need to protect the ones you care for, always."
She smiled and caught his eyes. "Do you care about me?" she dared, but asked genuinely wanting to know the answer.
He looked up at her, slightly bewildered at the question. "When I first met you, you were just my hybrids little girlfriend. Beautiful and bold, but, nothing more to me. But then I met you, got to know you and even saved you. Ive met people like you over the centuries, but never, never like you. So yes, Caroline, more than I thought I could care about anyone."
"You know I wouldn't do anything, right?"
He blinked, keeping the eye contact. "I trust you."
"Good," she mumbled, finally feeling sleep again.
"Turn off the lights love, we still have a few hours to sleep before-i'm sure-Rebekah makes us do something crazy."
"I thought you were in charge," she said, holding off on shutting the light for a second.
"She can be pretty persuasive…" his eyes dropped like weights.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
He looked up at her, blinking a few times. "Of course. Why is something wrong?"
"Nevermind," she said, shutting the light and burying herself under the covers again. "Good night, again."
"Night, love."
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"CAROLINE!" a voice yelled and banged on the door repeatedly.
She rolled over and groaned, hesitating to open her eyes.
Klaus jumped up, somewhat alert and made sure she wasn't harmed.
Caroline sat up, rubbing her eyes. "What the hell?"
Klaus looked at her in a daze. "Stay back," he warned Caroline.
"Wait Klaus-"
"CARE! YOU WANTED ME HERE NOW OPEN UP!"
"Oh shit that's Bonnie," she panicked and started to get out of bed.
"Already?" he mumbled, laying down again and feeling his eyes begin to slip closed.
"Yes-" she looked over and saw him laying back down. "One second!"
She slipped on her shoes and ruffled her hair a bit before throwing one last glance over to Klaus who was buried under the sheets to block the sun. Typical vampire move right there.
Opening the door, she was greeted by Bonnie. "Morning," she giggled and pulled the blonde in for a hug.
"I missed you so much!" Caroline smiled, easing the door shut so they were both outside.
Bonnie narrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you closing the door?"
"Um-so we can talk?" Caroline tried.
Bonnie scoffed. "And how do you plan on getting back in, hmm?"
Caroline looked down at her wrist, her bare wrist.
"Shit," she mumbled. She'd have to get Klaus to let them back in.
"Happen to have a spare key? Or can someone let you in?" she grinned.
"Bonnie!" Caroline groaned. "I hate you."
"You didn't exactly make it clear on the phone, but I didn't think it was like you to travel alone."
"Yes, Klaus is in there right now and I have to wake him up and he'll probably be grumpy and you know-Klaus!" Caroline whined.
Bonnie sighed. "I am a witch…"
"Bonnie open the door!" Caroline pleaded.
Bonnie smirked. "Hmm, should I?"
"Then I won't take you to Kol."
"I told you I'm still not 100 percent-"
"I won't, and you won't be able to sort out those Kol-thoughts you have in your head."
"Ugh fine," Bonnie caved. She whispered some tongue-tied words to herself and the little green light on the door blinked and made a clicking sound.
"Thank you."
"My rooms isn't ready so…"
"-You want to come in here?" Caroline finished.
Bonnie shrugged. "I mean, if you don't mind."
"Yeah just... be quiet okay? He's seemed… off recently."
"What do you mean 'off'?"
"He looks really-tired? I mean I know he's like the all-powerful-Klaus-Mikaelson but he's looked exhausted ever since last night."
"Maybe he was just tired?" Bonnie concluded, generally.
"No but like-major bags under his eyes and stuff like that. Rebekah even said that he's an early bird, but he's not up right now."
"Did something happen last night?" she smirked.
"No I don't think-wait," Caroline started, not getting Bonnie's exact question.
"Wait what?"
"He abruptly left the restaurant last night… he came back like 20 minutes later and seemed different. Stefan actually had to go find him."
"Wait Stefan's here?"
"With Rebekah...yeah."
"Um, mind blown?" Bonnie narrowed her eyebrows. "I'll check to make sure he's stable later, just go inside it's so hot out here."
Caroline giggled quietly as she opened the door and shut it softly behind her. "Put your bags here."
Bonnie left her luggage by the closet door and followed Caroline into the main part of the room.
"I want to talk to you more, let's go on the balcony so we can talk normally," Caroline whispered and pointed to Klaus who was out cold. She felt her heart skip a few beats at the sight.
"Okay, as long as you stop staring," she teased.
Caroline blushed and threw her a look. "I am not staring!"
"Yeah, sure," Bonnie shrugged and looked over at Klaus. "He does look different like that…"
"We had a long talk last night," Caroline said softly.
"Oh?"
"Just-follow me," Caroline dragged Bonnie out of the room and opened the sliding glass door quietly, slipping through and closing it again.
They took a seat on the two chairs out there. "Does Klaus have a problem sleeping around you?"
"No, he doesn't, but he's always aware and thats whats concerning me right now."
"Why?"
"Last night I got up to do something and the slightest movement made him jolt up, but just now when we walked in and even yesterday morning, he didn't budge."
"You think that's weird? It could just be a coincidence…"
"But right around the same time as he mysteriously leaves the restaurant and Stefan needs to bring him back? What if something is after him, Bonnie?"
"I'll make sure there are no traces of magic on him… did anything else happen?"
"I swear I saw a blood stain on his shirt."
"Oh," Bonnie looked down. "I think you might be right, something seems up, even for him."
Caroline nodded and leaned back against the chair, basking in the sun. "So let's move away from that for now, how do you like Florida?"
"I love it, I mean i've only been here for a short amount of time, but so far it seems great," Bonnie said.
"Good, now you ready to see Kol?"
Bonnie sighed. "Yes."
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"Rebekah, wake up," Stefan tapped his girlfriend on the shoulders lightly. "It's almost 10…"
She groaned and rolled over. "10?"
"Yes," he said. She sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"Wow I can't believe I slept this long…"
"Me either, you're always up at the crack of dawn."
"I'm used to it," Rebekah said.
"I know, you told me."
"Is Kol up?"
"I don't think so, he would've banged on the door."
"True. Have you heard from Caroline or Nik?"
"Caroline. We have a visitor apparently."
"We do?"
"Grab Kol, let's head down there. He wont be dissapointed."
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Dragging Kol out of his room was impossible, he was totally dead to the world when they barged in. He didn't want to move at all.
"This better be good," Kol mumbled and rubbed his baggy eyes.
"What is with you two today?" Stefan said, looking between the two slunken originals.
"I have no idea," Rebekah said as they walked out of the hotel to enter the garden room area.
If Klaus is like this too, something is definitely up, Stefan thought, remembering his encounter with Klaus lying with a snapped neck and flesh wounds behind one of the buildings. Klaus said he remembered the person chanting something.
He needs to talk to Bonnie, quickly.
"Why are we going to Nik and Caroline's?" Kol asked.
"Stefan said theres-" Rebekah started but got cut off.
"There was a surprise," Stefan finished. "Apparently Klaus or Caroline planned something."
Kol narrowed his eyebrows and nodded.
Their room was in sight and Rebekah started banging. "Nik! Caroline!"
Stay here, Stefan heard Caroline whisper to someone, most likely Bonnie because Kol was the one being surprised. THey heard her run to the door and open it quickly.
"Hey there," she greeted some-what softly.
"What's so bloody urget? I could've slept more," Kol yawned.
Caroline's face scrunched as she looked between the two originals. "What's wrong with them?" she asked.
"I don't know, but you notice it too? Is Klaus here?" Stefan asked quickly and Caroline froze.
"I'm here," Klaus's accented voice came into the picture as he stepped around the corner, obviously just waking up.
Caroline felt her heart flutter a bit. He looked bedridden, which wasn't a bad look on him. Hair was a total mess of curls, his eyes were squinted and hazy.
"Nik did you just wake up?" Rebekah asked.
Klaus rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?"
"Eleven," Caroline answered.
His eyes grew wide. "Seriously?"
Stefan narrowed his eyes. I need to have a talk with Bonnie.
"Sorry, love I-"
"You don't need to apologize," she said. "I don't mind."
He seemed to blush and remembered what she said before they left yesterday. "Wait wasn't Bo-"
Caroline jumped and pressed her hand up to his lips, covering his mouth so no words came out. "Why not you guys come in, hm?"
She broke her hand away from Klaus's mouth to close the door once she knew he got the hint.
Why is my hand so warm? His lips can't seriously do that to me, what the-
She looked at her hand. Rebekah, Stefan and Kol walked past her and Klaus into the room. She looked him over, he seemed… different. His posture was sloppy and his face looked drained again.
"Klaus?" she whispered and he turned to look at her. "Are you-"
"What are we doing here?" Rebekah groaned from the other room. "It's too hot!"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "Remind me that we have to talk later," she pointed to him.
He nodded, knowing he would never forget to talk to her. She had ever right to suspect something, but he wont tell her. To be fair, he doesn't even know what's wrong or why he feels like this… maybe it's just a coincidence?
I've lived for a thousand years and have never had to sleep much to begin with.
Caroline walked past him into the room and grabbed Kol by the hand.
"Ooh kinky," Kol winked.
"Shut up and come with me," Caroline said.
"What's wrong?" he said, his voice serious.
She could feel Klaus's eyes on her back. "Nothing just-come outside with me."
"Alright?"
Caroline dragged Kol outside onto the patio and closed the sliding glass doors.
"Maybe you wont be so lonely anymore…" Caroline grinned and looked between the blushing Bonnie and the confused Kol. "I'm leaving now, have fun!"
"Caroline what-" Kol caught her eyes and turned around just as the door slammed shut and the curtains closed. "Bonnie."
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AN: so there is a reason the originals are acting like this. They're not just lazy haha :)
