Jealous Klaus. Kol is alive because I love him and I say so.

"We're leaving!" Klaus roared from the entry of the Mikaelson household, slamming the front door shut so angrily that the loud noise echoed throughout the whole mansion, making its three other inhabitants cringe – this wasn't good. "Now!"

The hybrid zoomed up the stairs and then down again into the spacious kitchen were his siblings were lounging, a suitcase already in his hand. Saying he looked furious was probably the understatement of the century.

Kol smirked, setting the scotch he was nursing down on the marble countertop. "What's gotten your panties in such a twist, dear brother?"

"Nothing," he replied curtly. "Just mind your own business and pack your bags."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, checking her manicure boringly. "I bet it's because of that infatuation of his. With that commoner, the friend of the doppelganger, what's her name again?"

"Oh," Kol's smirk grew even wider. "Sweet Caroline."

His interest piqued, Elijah looked up from the newspaper he was attentively reading. "Miss Forbes?" Rebekah nodded her head at him, disgust evident on her face – what could his brother ever see in such a poorly mannered, young vampire? "I wasn't aware you had taken a liking to her, Niklaus."

The blonde vampire rolled her eyes again, hopping off the counter and sighing. "Must you always talk like we're still in the eighteenth century, Elijah?"

The older Mikaelson sibling didn't acknowledge his sister's question, instead looking pointedly at Klaus, waiting for an answer.

"I don't like anyone, Elijah. You all drop it and pack your fucking bags or I'll leave you here!" the hybrid raged, the last thing he needed today was to have and put up with his siblings' prying questions.

"I'm not leaving because you got rejected by that stupid excuse of a vampire again, Nik!" Rebekah whined.

Klaus glared at her warningly, a flicker of yellow evident in his angry eyes. "Talk about her with more respect, Rebekah."

The original blonde vampire just glared back, fuming, while Kol snickered, obviously amused at the exchange. "And you say you don't like her, brother?"

Klaus decided to ignore his younger sibling's comment, knowing full well there was no point in denying the truth. "I'm leaving in an hour, with or without you fools." He then left the room.

The three remaining siblings stayed quiet for a few moments, until they could eventually hear the door of Klaus' studio closing behind him with a resounding clatter.

"He's in the studio, so he's brooding," Rebekah pointed out. "What do you think happened?"

Kol simply shrugged. Who knew.

:

:

He was weak, wasn't he? Yes he was, and terribly so, all because of a certain blonde vampire he couldn't shake out of his mind no matter how much he tried.

Not that he really wanted to, to be honest. He hadn't felt this alive since–since... well, since ever. And therefore, he didn't really care if it made him a little weak, he just couldn't bring himself to stop thinking about her, looking out for her, caring for her, loving her.

It was a feeling he wasn't used to, caring for someone other than himself or his family. It made him do strange things, unselfish things, like calling Tyler Lockwood back in town no matter the fact that the young hybrid had tried to kill him, several times. No matter the fact that he knew he didn't stand a chance in hell with Caroline if Tyler was in her life.

Still, he did it. Because that was what she wanted, what she had asked from him, because it was the only thing he could do at the moment to make her happy. And damn him, if he wouldn't do anything in his power to put even the tiniest of smiles on those perfect, rosy lips he so desperately wished to kiss.

Klaus sighed, hands clasped behind his back as he made his way towards Caroline's house. He had called Tyler the morning before, and heard from the few hybrids he had managed to keep under his control that he had been in town since later in the afternoon. Surely, their reunion, something the mere thought of made his dead heart clench in pain, had been and gone. And now it was late enough the day after to not catch him sneaking out of her house after their night together. It was safe to stop by. She owed him at least a thank you, after all, didn't she?

Apparently, he couldn't have been more wrong.

He rounded the street to Caroline's house and there they were, lovingly kissing on her front porch.

The hurt and pain he felt in that moment was incomparable to any other he had ever felt in his long and immortal existence. It was worse than the pain Silas had put him through, worse than having a thousand daggers piercing through his heart. It was unbearable, blinding, and merciless. No matter how fast he ran away from the scene, not caring about the human eyes around him, the image of Caroline, the only girl he had ever truly loved, embracing and kissing someone who wasn't him followed. And so did the pain that came with it.

Of course he knew they were together, that together – they had been since he had first come to town – but he had never actually seen it first hand, he had never seen them so intimate, he had never seen them kissing. And all those times he had shuddered catching himself thinking of it, acknowledging it in his head, paled in comparison to the heartache of seeing it happen before his very own eyes. It was agony. A torment he was sure he would always carry with him for the rest of his eternal life.

He had to leave, to flee, to escape this stupid town, hoping to forsake the memories and hopes of her together with it.

After all, he was the big bad hybrid, the most powerful being on Earth, wasn't he supposed to be able to achieve anything he wanted? Surely, it was that way. This hurt, this pain, it was only temporary. Given some time – a very little time, he was sure of it – he would forget all about her and laugh about how foolish he had been believing it to be love. To be love, this–this–this choking, this inability to breathe, to speak, to think clearly or he would just give up, he would cry, because that was how much it hurt. And he couldn't cry, he wouldn't let himself cry. There was a limit to everything, and that was his. He would not cry.

:

:

Klaus was maniacally moving around his studio, tearing up drawings, shredding canvas, smashing and destroying everything he could put his hands on. He threw that stupid canary yellow paint against the wall, he couldn't be reminded of her. Not now, not ever. How could a simple girl – no, woman – affect him so much? Why did he let it happen, why did he let himself fall in love with her? He should have stopped it sooner, much sooner, he should have realized from the beginning that he stood no chance with her, he should have done so many things but she rendered him incapable of anything but caring about her, and he both hated it and loved it at the same time.

The fact that his siblings immediately understood the reason behind his temper tantrum, that they immediately connected it to her, only fueled his anger. Had he really become so predictable? Did she really make so little of him?

Hearing the doorbell ringing, he zoomed to the front door before any of his siblings could beat him to it, fully set on having some fun with whoever had dared come to his house. He itched to hurt and torture someone the same way she had hurt him. He needed to make things even somehow, he needed to prove to himself that he wasn't weak. He wasn't weak.

He opened the door with so much strength he nearly tore it off its hinges, a terrifying snarl on his face.

Instead, his eyes widened when he saw Caroline in front of him.

"Hi," she greeted him tentatively, wary of the deadly look he was wearing.

"Caroline," he acknowledged her through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

His cold demeanor startled her, and she immediately started to second guess herself. Maybe she shouldn't have come to his house. It was stupid, and careless, and risky, the exact opposite of what she was, of what she had always been. When had been the last time she had taken such a sudden and hazardous decision in her life?

"I wanted to thank you," she said sheepishly, looking everywhere but into his intense, blue-green eyes. When he only met her with silence, she clarified. "For letting Tyler come back."

"Sure." Klaus nodded his head curtly. "Is that all?"

Caroline glared at him, scoffing. "Seriously? Do you even listen to yourself?"

The hybrid glared back. "What ever do you mean, love?" Damn. He wasn't supposed to call her 'love', he was supposed to be mad at her. She was the cause of it all, for God's sake.

"I mean, I came here to thank you, and you give me the cold shoulder? Why do you have to be such an ass every single freaking time?" she lashed out at him, stressing every word she said. "It's like every time you do something remotely nice, you feel ashamed of it and need to compensate by being a total jerk. It's goddamn annoying!"

Klaus couldn't help the smirk that made its way to his lips. She was way too adorable when she was angry. "Now, now, love, don't make a scene."

Caroline's eyes widened. He was being a smart-ass, and she was downright outraged. "You've got to be kidding me! You're infuriating!"

"Well, then maybe you should go spend your time with your puppy boyfriend if you find being around me so insufferable," he snapped.

"Wha-urgh! Are you seriously playing the jealousy card on me? Because you have no freaking right to be jealous, and do I have to remind you that you're the one who called him back in case you forgot!" she shouted.

"Well, yes, but I didn't expect to catch you two fucking kissing on your stupid door, love!" he shouted back even louder.

Caroline gasped, and Klaus swore under his breath. So he was jealous.

"I–it was... it was nothing," she mumbled, looking down at her shoes.

Klaus sighed, his tone strained. "You don't have to explain anything to me, Caroline."

The vampire's head shot up and her eyes finally dared to meet his. Her breath caught at the intensity of feelings she saw swirling in them. "No, I know. I mean, I know." she laughed, awkwardly. "But it's really not like that. When you saw us, that was actually the first time I was seeing him since he had come back yesterday. And yes, he kissed me, but I didn't kiss him back."

"Why?" he asked, his voice merely above a whisper. He couldn't dare to hope, he just–he couldn't. His heart couldn't possibly take more pain.

Caroline stayed silent for a couple of minutes, mustering up all of her courage. "I–when I saw him, I knew it was you. He would have never dared coming back if you hadn't told him it was okay to. And in that moment, I didn't care that Tyler was back anymore, I just wanted to come to you and thank you for it, for giving me a choice. I just–I guess that's all I wanted."

"What kind of choice?" he pressed, he so desperately needed to know, needed to be sure.

"Between you and him," she breathed out, unconsciously moving closer to him, bringing her palm flat on his chest, where his heart used to beat. "And I choose you," She whispered, and as soon as the words had left her mouth, his lips were on hers.

They skipped slow, and sweet, and tentative, they had danced around each other long enough already. Their mouths opened in unison, fusing as one, teeth clanking, tongues meeting and exploring one another. Klaus wrapped his left arm around her, possessively bringing her the closer he could to him, while his free hand went to her hair, tugging her head to the side to deepen the kiss even more. Caroline's hands were now both pulling at his shirt, trying to bring him closer, needing to feel him all around her, his touch, his smell, his taste. Why had she waited so long to give in to him? She had known all along it was only a matter of time, she was meant to do this. She was meant to be with him.

The fact that neither of them actually needed to breathe was coming very much in handy, because they weren't ready to let go of the other just yet. No matter the fact that they knew it wouldn't have been for long. There was no doubt in their minds now that they were each other's. Forever.

Eventually, Caroline was the first one to break away, but not distancing herself from him more than an inch. They looked intensely into each other's eyes, panting. Klaus delicately caressed down Caroline's cheek, bringing his hand around her neck. He still couldn't believe that this was real, that it was really happening, that she was really there, willingly, with him, holding on to him, kissing him like her life depended on it.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she murmured softly, drawing patterns on his sculptured chest.

Klaus shook his head lightly, smiling softly, in that way he reserved for her and her only. "Nonsense. None of it matters now that I have you. It was all worth it." And it was, damn it if it was. He would do it all over again a million times if it meant he got to have her like this, to hold her, to kiss her, to call her his.

He sighed, letting his forehead rest against hers as Caroline smiled up at him brightly. It had been far too long since she had smiled this genuinely, since she had felt this happy, because this, being like this with him, it felt so natural, and so, so right.

She raised on her tiptoes and met his lips with hers once, twice, again and again until they were lost into one another, whimpering into each other's mouth and holding on to each other with no intention of ever letting go.

"Does this mean I don't have to pack anymore?"

Klaus sighed against Caroline's lips, annoyed, withdrawing only a little. "Dammit Kol!"