Hello! So, exams in two weeks and I can't update any of my stories until I'm done with them. I'm so sorry, but I have been busy studying and being all on edge. Exams really a bitch. But I finally managed to update this one, yay! I was listening to Rhodes' 'Home' when I wrote this chapter. For those of you writing exams too, good luck to you! Wish me luck too! See you soon xxx

Aftermath

Four

He hated himself. He was ashamed of himself. There were no words he could use to describe how he was feeling at the moment. He could lash out, but then that wouldn't change anything. He could cry, and that still wouldn't be enough. What he did, what he accused her of doing, could that really be him? Was he somehow possessed? What had driven him to do such thing? How could he look her in the eye now? How could he look at Noah after he had accused his mother of killing his sister? How could he look at himself in the mirror, the man he was becoming - the man he became. Was it really him? Was this the man who a month ago wouldn't even accused his wife of anything - who blindly trusted her, who always turned deaf to all the horrible things anyone would say about her? It was true what they say about men; one day he's in love with you, and the next day he's a completely different man. Klaus wasn't a different man. He just...he didn't know what he was exactly. He was suffering. His heart was bleeding, his mind was clouded with painful thoughts that were scattered, made it impossible to know what's right and what's not right? Have you ever experienced being so lost before? Was that what was happening to him? Lost or not, angry or not, hurt or not, he would not let her go just yet. That was why he followed her, his legs weak as ever, his heart heavier than ever.

Caroline was already seated in her car when he found her, but she hadn't started the engine yet. She wasn't crying like he thought she would be. She was just staring, her eyes fixed on nothing, and it broke his heart to see he caused her a lot of pain that she couldn't even cry. He opened the door and got inside, closing the door quietly. She never blinked, never moved or turned to him. She was still staring, saying nothing at all. He wanted to say something, but he just didn't know how to start. How would you start? Apologising wouldn't mean anything to her, not if she thought he meant everything he said and did. Klaus looked at her, really looked at her. She had lost her glow, her eyes looked hollow and had bags under them, her lips looked kind of blue and her skin were pale.

"Do you remember when I was pregnant with Noah?" she asked him out of blue. He glanced at her, but she was still looking away. Caroline continued in a detach tone, "do you remember when I couldn't feel him kicking?" He remembered that day exactly. It was a horrifying day, one he didn't wish to experience again. "How I was out of my mind? I thought he died. I thought he's dead and that was it."

Klaus closed his eyes, willing himself not to remember. Yes, even if Noah was alive, it didn't mean he still couldn't remember the pain, the worry and Caroline's grieve. She had begged him to save her son's life, cried like she had never cried before. She had even tried to kill herself, just so she couldn't open her eyes the next day, and not have her son any more. She couldn't live a life where she would have to live, knowing she had killed Klaus' only child, even if it wasn't her fault. But then, Noah had started to kick again. He wasn't dead like they all thought he had been.

"I know what everyone thought at that time. Caroline is too sensitive. They don't know that I feel too much. Every word, every action goes straight to my heart. You accused me of killing my daughter when you knew I tried to kill myself when I thought Noah had died."

He hated this. He hated how he was actually feeling her pain in his chest, felt it tugging his heart, piercing into it, but he wanted to keep it inside. He wanted the pain to destroy him, and not her. She didn't deserve it. She was breaking, and Klaus, he was breaking with her.

"I'm trying, Klaus, I'm really trying, but I can't deal with this any more. I hurt so bad," Her voice rasped out, finally meeting his eyes, he was shocked to see how utterly broken she really was. "Why do you hurt me? Do you know the worst part of it all?" Her eyes now shone with fresh tears. "That it didn't take you a minute to accuse me - to hurt me, you seem to have forgotten who I am."

"Caroline.."

"I'm tired." She continued to sniff. "So tired." Tired, Caroline was. Tired of being accused. Tired of hurting inside. Tired of being trampled on. He didn't constantly need to make her feel pain enough to know he hated her. "If you love Camille...if you love her - which you obviously do, or you wouldn't have left your family - I won't hate you. I'm going to support your decision like I always have. All I want is your happiness." She swallowed painfully, for the first time really feeling like she had lost him. It had finally registered to her that Klaus was not hers, and there wasn't that scared feeling of losing him any more.

She wanted to scream, to shout. She wanted to start the engine and drive them down a cliff. She wanted him to feel the twisting pain in her heart, wanted him to the know the feeling of something you love taken away. She wanted him to suffer just the way she was suffering, but she couldn't do all that. He had already stripped her of her title, and now she was stripping him the love she had for him. He wouldn't look her in the eyes and see the woman who had loved him, he could only see the woman who had became a stranger to him. The woman he had left with a bruised and battered heart.

His voice trembled, his eyes blurring with tears. "Listen to me. I acted without thinking. For that, I'm sorry. I'm never going to stop being sorry for hurting you," he confessed, and it meant little to her. "I know I fucked up big time. I know you might never be able to forgive me, but I just want you to find it in your heart to forgive me." He begged her with the eyes that only wanted to see her until his death, with the lips that only had loving words for her, that only kissed her own lips, touched her body and with the heart that knew no other woman except her, the heart that beats only for her.

Caroline shook her head at him. At this point, she couldn't see herself ever forgetting and forgiving any time soon. She would rather have him respect her choice. "You're talking about something that it's not easy. Don't make me promise something I can never keep. No, Niklaus, I can't do what you want."

They stared at each other, both knew what the other was feeling. "When is it going to stop?" Klaus asked, his voice breaking. "This feeling in our chests that makes it hard to breathe, when is it going to stop, Caroline?" When was it going to stop? The answer was there in the unspoken words.

When nothing hurts any more.

XXXX

Broken heart hurts. Staying apart hurt a lot more. But it could never match up to the feeling of seeing the person you loved so much turned into a stranger, that you got nothing to say to them except the empty hellos and goodbyes, and sometimes going the other way when you saw them. Twenty days, six hours, twelve minutes and three seconds. That was how long Klaus and Caroline had changed their relationship into something else. They weren't husband and wife, they weren't friends and they weren't even acquaintances. Klaus couldn't say he was happy with how everything had turned out, but it hurt less without the fights and threats. He couldn't even be in the same room with her, and neither would she. She would drop off Noah on his door and would immediately leave. If they saw each other on the street, he would ignore the pang in his heart, and would walked past her. He told himself that was better. At least they couldn't hurt each other any more.

By now everyone had known what happened. Everyone had tried to get them to talk to each other, restore what had broken between them, but it was impossible. No one had been more hurt and angry more than his sister. Rebekah had said hurtful words to him, had screamed and yelled at him for not trying to make Caroline understand, but he had told her what he was sure about. Caroline would never get back with him. He had pushed her way too far that nothing would ever work. He had pushed her to the point that she had shut herself off to everyone.

He was waiting for this call, so that was why he was quick to answer it, placing the phone to his left ear. "What have you found out?" he asked, his heart pounding with nervousness. There was a deep sigh from the caller, answering Klaus' question. Frustrated and angry, he knocked a flower vase as he drew in a breath.

"I'm sorry," The person said apologetically. "Marcel is clean, at least I think he is. I have followed him all day, but I don't think he knows where Camille is, Klaus, and neither is he in contact with her."

"What about the video, Stefan?"

"I had the number traced and it's right out of town," Stefan revealed. "I wouldn't be surprised if Camille got herself out of town. I'm going to check it out tomorrow, but I have to make an excuse to Rebekah."

"Thank you for doing this," Klaus said, gratefully. Stefan was the only person he could confide in, and the only person who would be able to do anything to find Camille. He had asked Stefan to follow Marcel, thinking that the man was lying to him and he was hiding something, probably Camille. He was just shocked to know Marcel was being truthful about not knowing her whereabouts .

"Don't worry about it, Klaus. The sooner we get hold of Camille, the sooner you and Caroline get back together. I hate seeing you two like this." Stefan's voice came out as a light whisper. Klaus failed to respond, pain replacing the anger that resided in his eyes seconds ago. He wanted to believe things would be okay between them after all this was over. He really wanted to. He sat in silence, guilt overcoming him. Stefan continued, "There's something else...the girl Davina has met up with a woman for coffee. What's odd is that the woman didn't seem like she wanted to be out in the open. She had seemed nervous and it had looked like they were arguing."

His interest piqued up. "What does she look like?"

"Tall..dark hair-"

"Hayley? What the hell is Hayley Marshall doing here?" Klaus mind was devoid of thoughts and his heart brimmed with emotions."

"You know her?"

"Not very well," he replied, as he clenched his fists. "We have talked once or twice when she was at Marcel's office. She's friends with Camille...a close one at that. But she had left town three months ago for an unknown reason."

"So, you're saying this Hayley could lead us to Camille?"

He nodded, even though Stefan couldn't see him. "If there's anyone who knows where she's hiding, it's Hayley."

"Good, then I'll talk to her."

"No," Klaus said quickly, then explained, "Let me talk to her. Hayley won't tell you anything, and if you confront her, she might disappear from us. Let me meet and talk to her, Stefan. It's got to be me." Or else Hayley wouldn't talk to him, and worse, she could tell Camille and well, he wasn't about to let that happen. Klaus fortunately knew her address because he had dropped her off to her house once when her car broke down, and he had been the one to find her on the street alone at night.

Klaus sat in his car, as he watched Hayley came out of her house and walked toward her car. She got inside it and drove away. Not wasting any more time, he started his engine and followed closely behind her. He wanted to know where she was going, if he was lucky enough, she would lead him straight to Camille. He couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going to do when he find the woman who ruined his life. What did she deserve from him? But when he thought about it, he only wanted one thing and that was to clear his name to Caroline. That was all he wanted, for his wife to know he was innocent.

He had been following Hayley for thirty minutes now. Her first stop was at a coffee shop and he hadn't bothered to go inside, and she had came out three minutes later. He had known she hadn't gone inside to talk to someone. The second stop was at the flower shop and she had came out with a bouquet of white roses in her hands. The third stop was at a bank. Klaus felt so disappointed because she wasn't leading him to answers, and he was just wasting his time. But still, he wouldn't stop following her.

Hayley stopped in the middle of the road and it took her five minutes before she started driving again. The same thing happened a minute later and he was getting more confused. What was she doing? At the third time, she got out of her car and a warning bell went off in his head when she started walking to his car, an annoyed look on her face. He knew then that his cover had been blown and she knew he was following her. Getting out of his car, he crossed his arms and waited until she was standing in front of him. Nothing had changed with her except that her hair was a bit shorter than it was before.

"Klaus, do I need to know why you have been following me?"

Klaus smiled at her, a smile that couldn't be categorized as such. "I need to know where you are hiding Camille," he said straight to the point. There was no need to beat around the bush. He wasn't a patient man.

"I don't understand what you are saying."

He snorted. "Of course you wouldn't understand anything, Hayley. Let me say it slowly so that you would understand: Tell me where Camille is right now."

"What the hell are you talking about? Where would I hide, Cami? Seriously, do you need to visit the hospital? I haven't spoken to her in a while and I don't plan to!" Hayley was getting frustrated, barely able to understand what he was saying.

"You expect me to believe that you haven't had a hand in ruing my marriage?" he asked, accusingly. The shock registered in her face, frozen by realisation. Her shoulders tensed, something he suddenly noticed. "You had a hand! How could you do this to me, Hayley?!" He held her shoulders as he shook them angrily. "Do you think my life is a joke! My marriage...Caroline...my kids...it's all gone because Camille decided to ruin everything!" Silence fell between them, the accusation settled in her ear. Klaus told her how Camille had framed him and how she had suddenly disappeared after that.

"I didn't..."

"Tell me where she is." he couldn't listen to her lie and say she had no hand in it when her face said it all.

She stared at him, her lips shaking with dread. "I didn't think she would do this. You have to believe me, Klaus, that I didn't know she would ruin your marriage. That was why I left in the first place, because I wasn't on her side. I had no idea it would lead to this." Hayley was shaking her head, far too gone in her thoughts.

Klaus shook her one last time to get her attention. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?"

"Look," she tried to calm him down. "I would tell you everything I know, but we can't do it here. Lets go back to my apartment. Please, Klaus."

He nodded, releasing her to get back to her car. A part of him was relieved that he was finally going to get some answers. Maybe not all the answers, but anything was good. He believed her when she said she wasn't part of it. Ten minutes later, he was walking behind her into her apartment. Hayley took off her jacket and bung it up, her mind still occupied with her thoughts. She settled on her couch and leaned for wad, crossing her arms as she started into space.

"Cami is insane," she started to say. "Insanely in love with you. She has been for a while now. I thought it was just a normal crush, but I had been wrong. All she talked about was you. It hadn't bothered me much thinking it would just stop because you were married and had a son. It didn't register to me that Camille needed help until I caught her stalking you, saw her cutting Caroline's pictures into pieces and burning them. I saw her keeping tabs on your schedules and calls. She was obsessed with you it was scary. I remember talking to her about it and she had just brushed my advice off. We started to argue about you...she stopped telling me things. I was worried because that was unusual for her. One day I came over to her house, I saw her talking to Davina. I couldn't catch what they were saying because the moment they heard me, they stopped talking. Camille wouldn't tell me anything, and she made it clear that she wouldn't stop trying to get to you. We had never argued the way we did and I left town. I couldn't stay here and watch her ruin a marriage and I couldn't exactly tell you. I was afraid for my friend. I knew she was sick and needed great help."

Klaus had the most shocking look on his face. He had to sit to be able to think about what she had said. Camille was in love with him...obsessed. It was her obsession for him that led her to do all these things. He couldn't believe that she had stalked him...monitored all his movements and calls. That was sick. She was bloody sick to do that. He believed Hayley because he didn't need a reason not to. At least now he knew why she left in the first place. Sighing with a heavy heart, he ran his fingers in to his short hair and mulled over her words once again. Never in his life had he thought he would be a victim to an obsession. He had only seen them in movies, but never in real life. Why would Camille do this? Why hadn't Hayley offered to help her when she knew her friend was sick?

Klaus couldn't begin to imagine how it was going to sound like to anyone or even Caroline. Would she believe him? Would she still think he would try and bury his mistake with a lie. Yes, that's what she was exactly going to do. He wouldn't tell her anything until he had find out where Camille was hiding. She would only be the one to clear his name. And then he remembered the name Hayley had mentioned was working with Camille. Davina. Why would Davina, a sane person like her be involved in this? Did Marcel know? Was he trying to protect her also? Could he have known what she had done? And probably knew where Camille was.

"You should have said something," Klaus said in a heated tone. "She could have done worse than she did. She could have hurt Caroline or Noah. Why didn't you come to me?"

Hayley looked down, looking remorse. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "I didn't know what decision you would have taken. Camille was my friend and I loved her. I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."

He shook his head. Apology wasn't what he needed. "So, Davina?" He still couldn't believe it. It felt so unreal when it was anything but real. "I'm going to need to talk to Davina."

"You cant?"

He glanced at her, his eyebrows raised in question. "And why the bloody hell not?"

"Because she has already bought a ticket out of the country for a couple of days."

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "She's gone?"

"Yes."

"How the hell am I supposed to find Camille without her?"

"I will help you. I will help you find her and save your marriage. Don't worry, we will find her in no time."