Follow-up to 'Wake Up Call'.

Klaus and Rebekah landed in Mystic Falls barely five hours later.

Elijah, although he had tried to hide it, had been curious to personally witness his brother around the Forbes girl, but the hybrid had forbidden Hayley from coming along—

—"Unless we can leave her there before coming back," the blonde had added cheekily, earning himself a glare from the older Mikaelson sibling—

—and he did not want to leave her alone in New Orleans.

Rebekah would have, instead, gladly stayed behind, maybe trying to finally sneak in some alone time with Marcel without any interruptions from that dumb blonde bartender at Rousseau's. However, Klaus had subtly let known that he was not going to go alone, which had stricken the blonde Original as extremely odd since she usually had to force him into making her part of his plans and doings.

It seemed like Caroline had really done quite the number on her brother—it was becoming more and more obvious—and that meant that perhaps their trip had the potential to actually be entertaining after all.

"You're pathetic," Rebekah nonetheless scoffed and whined as they made their way up the few porch steps of the Forbes' house. "There's a supernatural war going on in New Orleans—your kingdom, by the way—which could benefit from the Salvatores' help, but this is our first stop," she shook her head in disbelief before sighing. "My brother, the original whipped hybrid."

"Rebekah," Klaus growled in warning, shooting her a look that spoke louder than any voiced threat.

However, she ignored him.

"And how do you even know that she's actually here? She could still be at the Boarding House, or out somewhere. I am not going to wait around for a common baby vampire, Nik."

"I just do," he answered curtly, exasperation adding itself to the already long list of reasons why he was just about to lose his temper.

Rebekah frowned at him, before realization suddenly dawned on her.

"Oh, God," she gasped, eyes wide, "you left people behind to keep an eye on her, didn't you?"

Klaus sighed heavily, glaring at his sister as they finally stopped right in front of the door.

"Keep your voice down, will you?" he ground out, not denying her suspicions and therefore confirming them.

Uncaring, she laughed. "Oh, this is going to be bloody brilliant! And how come your hybrids didn't tell you that she was hanging out with a potential new man?" she goaded him.

"They had orders to only make contact in case she had been hurt or if her life was at risk," he unwillingly explained, hating how vulnerable the whole ordeal probably made him out to be.

Rebekah's features immediately softened.

"You really do care about her," she said, not even bothering to try and make the sentence pass as a question.

The hybrid's jaw clenched and, without uttering another word, he finally knocked.

However, the sight that greeted him was not a welcome one.

Indeed, a male, raven-haired vampire opened the door for them instead of Caroline, a confused frown marring his face for a few moments.

"Hello," he arched an eyebrow at them, "are you friends of Goldilocks'?"

From the thick accent, both Originals immediately recognized him as the guy that they had overheard talking to Caroline while she was on the phone with Elijah just earlier that day: Enzo.

Klaus' jaw ticked angrily, the hybrid taking an almost unconscious, threatening step forward, wanting nothing more than to dismember the arrogant vampire who seemed to have such an important role in his (in his mind, at least) Caroline. The term of the endearment that the other man had used for the blonde certainly didn't help his situation, either.

Luckily, Rebekah managed to hold her brother back, although Enzo seemed to notice his actions and mood anyway, smirking in amusement.

"We are," Rebekah eventually answered, trying to be civil, her smile almost sickeningly sweet.

At hearing the Original's voice, another head, blonde and familiar, suddenly peeked out from inside the house.

"Rebek—Klaus?" Caroline's blue eyes widened, lips slightly parted. "What are you doing here?"

Their gazes immediately found each other and locked together, the same way that they had done so many times before already, and the two ignored everything and everybody else around them, simply taking each other in after having been apart for over a year. Vampires didn't age, but that didn't mean that they didn't both look slightly different; wiser and older, tired somehow.

Rebekah rolled her eyes at them, although feeling secretly pleased as she noticed the happiness that was clearly displayed in his brother's gaze as it lingered on the other blonde. It was something that she had never witnessed before, and it made her realize that absence really did make the heart grow fonder.

"Can we come in?" the female Original eventually asked, bringing both Klaus and Caroline back to the present.

The baby vampire jumped almost imperceptibly, shaking her head to herself as if in a daze, and Enzo's grin widened knowingly as he looked at her.

"Uhm, actually," she stuttered slightly, nervously biting down on her bottom lip, "it's my mom who owns the house, and she's not here to invite you in right now."

"I recall already having been invited in, sweetheart," Klaus pointed out, finally speaking, the curving of his lips not at all resembling his usual smirk but a genuine smile tinged with affection instead.

"Right," she blushed, prompting Rebekah to make a subtle gagging motion at the two of them.

"Well," Enzo piped up, "maybe I can keep this lovely lady company," he appreciatively eyed Rebekah, making the blonde Original scoff loudly, "while you and Klaus here catch up inside."

The hybrid's eyes narrowed at the other vampire then, confused, trying to gauge the man's real intentions; but, still, he wasn't one to let such an opportunity pass him by.

"That sounds quite perfect," he quickly agreed, moving over the threshold without waiting another moment and ignoring the annoyed look that his sister shot him.

Enzo closed the door behind him as he exited the house just a second later, a smug grin on his lips, and Caroline managed to glare at him only briefly before she was, at last, left all alone with Klaus.

They remained silent for almost a whole minute, Caroline's eyes wandering around the living room and trying to avoid Klaus', while the latter's gaze was completely focused on the blonde beauty before him.

"So," the hybrid started, "your boyfriend seemed quite interested in Rebekah, should you not be worried?" he asked, trying to sound casual even if there was nothing, in that moment, that he needed more than to know whether her relationship with Enzo was just a friendship or more.

Of course, she immediately saw right through him, dramatically rolling her eyes as a grin tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Subtle," she teased, giving him a pointed look.

Uncharacteristically coy, Klaus ducked his head, his smile fully showing his dimples.

"I am simply looking out for you, Caroline."

She scoffed. "Of course you are."

"You didn't answer my question," he pressed, a hint of desperation laced in his words.

Thankfully, she took pity on him, sighing.

"Enzo is not my boyfriend, Klaus. He's just a friend," she shrugged.

"Whom you plan to travel the world with?" he bitterly asked.

"How do you—oh my God, you were there when Elijah called earlier, weren't you? I mean, seriously? You immediately flew back here just to check on the competition? What are you, twelve?"

"Oh, so he is competition now?"

Caroline immediately shot him a look, half shrieking in frustration.

"You're impossible! So much for however long it takes," she grumbled under her breath, trying to imitate his accent but cutely failing.

Klaus smirked at that, eyebrows arching in pleasant surprise at the fact that she apparently remembered his promise word by word.

"I still fully mean that," he stated, smug but genuine.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes at him, biting the inside of her left cheek to prevent herself from smiling too wide, a faint blush already heating her whole face up.

She had forgotten how special and important Klaus always managed to make her feel, even just with one single look. Despite what she liked to tell herself, she had missed it—she had missed him.

"And that's not why I came," he added after a few moments, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them. He turned completely serious and fixed his intense gaze on her. "You sounded sad over the phone, Caroline," he said, his tone pained as he uttered the words; her happiness was the one thing in the world that meant the most to him, and the knowledge that she was instead merely content at best was eating at him.

The blonde's eyes widened then, and she took a few steps back almost unconsciously.

"I–I just," she stuttered, "a lot has been going on lately, that's all. I'm not sad."

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?"

"I don't need to convince anybody," she snapped.

Klaus inhaled deeply, nodding once to himself and trying to figure out how to best approach the topic.

"I did not mean that as an insult, Caroline, or to criticize you. But you must know that I value you and your happiness above all else."

Her breathing hitched at his words, a soundless gasp leaving her lips.

"I'm..." she hesitated, eventually deciding to be honest with him, "it's getting better. I've had a couple of rough months, and I felt like nobody was there for me. And, before you say anything," she hurried to add, noticing the way in which his lips parted, immediately ready to disagree with her last statement, "I know that you would have been, but I didn't want to take advantage of you. Enzo was the one who picked up the pieces when Stefan left last summer and during my mom's illness, that's why we're so close."

The hybrid's lips pressed together in a thin line, a scowl slowly appearing on his face. He wanted to hate the other vampire for currently filling a role in Caroline's life that he wanted for himself, but he couldn't be selfish when it came to her. Enzo had helped her through some dark moments, and, despite himself, he could only be grateful to the other man for that.

"I am glad that your mother is recovering," he said softly after a little while.

She gave him a tight-lipped but genuine smile.

"Thank you. I'm sure that her being miraculously moved to the top of the list for an all-paid, special, experimental treatment had nothing to do with you."

He shrugged, concealing a smirk.

"Elijah went to Medical School with Doctor Redford; we simply cashed in a favor."

"Wait a minute, Elijah attended college?" Caroline giggled, shocked.

Klaus joined in with a low chuckle.

"You'd be surprised to know how many degrees we all have."

"Really?" she quirked a challenging eyebrow up at him. "You've studied Medicine, too?"

"Not quite. I lean more towards Liberal Arts."

"Of course you do," she half snorted, rolling her eyes at him for probably umpteenth time; she hadn't felt so... herself in a very long while. "So, how's New Orleans?" she asked after having taken a deep breath, needing a change of topic.

"Still at war, unfortunately."

"Oh. I'm sorry?" she tried, not quite sure what to say and making a weird, tentative face that prompted a brief laughter out of the hybrid. "Is that why you need Stefan and Damon's help? I mean, that's why Elijah called, isn't it?"

"Yes. We think that they might be in possess of a very unique necklace that we could use to bring the witches on our side."

"Sounds... shady."

"It is a war, love," he smirked, taking note of the small shudder that went through her as his accent curled around the word 'love'.

"I guess. You should probably head over to the Boarding House then, no time to waste."

His eyes scanned her face with a tenderness that, even when around her, he didn't display all that often.

"It's never time wasted when it's spent with you, Caroline."

She blushed under his ardent scrutiny, averting her gaze.

"I do believe that you have yet to finish packing for London, however."

"That I do," she smiled, grateful.

Klaus nodded at her and wordlessly turned to leave. She hesitated for a moment then, before finally deciding to speak again.

"Thank you... for coming to check on me."

He looked at her again. "Of course."

"And, you know, we're going to stay in London for quite a while, so if you ever need a break from your shady war," she grinned, nervously worrying her bottom lip between her pearly white teeth, "you know where to find me."

A happy, almost bashful smile completely took over the hybrid's features then, brightening his whole face up and drawing attention to his full dimples.

"I will keep that in mind, sweetheart," he promised, opening the front door just as Enzo and Rebekah were walking back up the porch steps, deep in conversation.

Both him and Caroline already knew that he was going to do a lot more than just keep that offer in mind—he couldn't wait to actually take her up on it.