Hey, sorry for taking so long to update. It wasn't my intention and I'm sorry to say I won't update again until I'm done with exams. School comes first. Enjoy the chapter.

Aftermath

Seven

"Oh, stop moving so fast. You know I can't catch up with you."

Klaus turned and regarded her with an amused look and his eyes shone with undying love for her. He stopped moving until she caught up with him, her left hand on her big round belly and her hair tucked behind her ear. She looked so beautiful and he couldn't believe she was his. His Caroline. His baby. Their little family. He loved what they had created, a beautiful normal life they had built for themselves.

She stopped in front of him, pausing to catch her breath before she glared at him. "You're horrible," she complained, and both of them knew it was a lie. "Why didn't you wait for me? I'm pregnant and it's your fault I can't walk fast."

He smiled, before reaching for her hands as he pulled her closer until their bodies were touching each other. Looking at her face, Klaus tucked a stubborn strand under her ear, leaned down and kissed her on her forehead.

"I wasn't leaving you behind, love. I was just trying to move things out of your way so you wouldn't tripped and fell," he explained. "I didn't want to lose our baby. That's the symbol of our love, Caroline."

Caroline's mouth spread into a smile. "If I did fall—"

Klaus clamped a hand over her mouth as he shook his head. "You wouldn't."

She held the hand that was covering her mouth and put it down. "If I did fall, I know you'd be there to catch me." She smiled again and kissed his nose, drawing back to see the faint smile on his face.

"I wouldn't let you fall." He nodded in agreement. "I would do this." And before she knew it, he had swooped her up into his arms and he heard her shriek in surprise.

"Klaus, put me down!" she shouted in alarm. "Niklaus, I'm serious, put me down. I'll walk."

"Sorry, what? I can't hear you." He held her in his arms as he started to walk towards his car. She giggled when he cried out in pain after twisting his nipple. "You'd be sorry for doing that, love."

Caroline chuckled and raised her eyebrows. "Oh, isn't that a lovely threat. Wait until we get home. For doing this, I'll make you beg for it, Niklaus."

Klaus looked down at her with a chuckle. "Is that so? Best be on it, then. I can't wait to beg, Caroline. Where do you want me? On my knees? Under you?" She started to laugh.

"Caroline?" He called her name and she snapped back to reality from the memories that she had never wished she had just thought about. A painful, yet teasing memory it was. She swallowed painfully, wishing whatever God was out there that could make all of this a big nightmare she wanted to wake up from, and get back the love that was between them.

She moved her eyes over his worried face and she willed herself not to lash out at him. He did not deserve to care about her. Looking away, she tried to move as fast as she could and away from him. Fate unfortunately was not on her side. She tripped and a small scream escaped her. Protecting her stomach, she closed her eyes and waited to hit the ground. Warm and hard arms caught her and securely wrapped around her body. It took her three seconds before she opened her eyes and was surprised at the closeness between them.

He was holding her in his arms, his face was close to hers and his blue eyes clashed with her blue. Electricity sizzled through her. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her throat got dry and she started to feel a little bit sweaty. They stayed in that position for as long as she could like. Caroline pulled her bottom lip into her mouth without even realising what she was doing— because honest to God when he was this close to her, she could barely remember to function. Her actions only drew his eyes to her lips before they were back up into her blue ones. He didn't need to know how uneasy he made her, how his arms around her made her heart fluttered in a way she couldn't describe. Or how she was drawn to his eyes, like she always had been. But how could she let him know that after repeatedly being let down by him?

"I told you," he whispered to her in a low tone. "As long as I'm with you, I will catch you before you fall." His words only increased the beating of her heart. Between the feeling of his arms around her and the way he was staring at her as if she was a precious gem, Caroline was bound to succumb to his desires.

"That promise," she replied just as low before she pushed him back, making him release her. She didn't dare think about the loss of warm she felt. "was made by two completely different people. Those people loved and trusted each other."

She didn't wait for him to try and manipulate her feelings when she was at her most vulnerable. Instead, she approached his car by herself without needing his help. Her eyes almost fell closed, pushing herself to shut down whatever that was building inside her. He glanced at her, seeing her knitted brows and tight lips, it hurt him to realise she was trying so hard to resist him, not to feel comfortable around him and being together.

Klaus opened the door for her, and he would have helped her get in the car, had she not been fast enough to do so and slam the door in his face. He cracked a broken smile, shaking his head before going over to get in the driver's seat. He didn't know how he should feel about finding her eyes closed as she drifted off to sleep. For a fact, he knew she wasn't really asleep from the way she was clutching her jacket. She was just trying to avoid looking at him or talking to him. To both their own reliefs, he didn't say anything. Peace. At least, both of them were getting some peace and quiet in each other's presence and that was all they could hope for. At this point, peace was the hardest thing to attain besides happiness.

Pulling the car to a stop at their house, he glanced to her side to let her know they had arrived, but this time around, she was really asleep. Klaus didn't know what to do. He didn't want to wake her up because she needed the sleep, and he also didn't think she would like it if she woke up in his arms. She might have forgiven it earlier, she would not stay quiet if he did it again. As he struggled with his inner battle, he contemplated driving around the neighbourhood until she had woken up by herself, and the other selfish part of him leaned towards her seat. He stared at her peaceful face. He wished he could take away all the worries he had given her and give back get happiness.

Unbeknownst to him, his trembling finger was running over her cheek. Trembling because she could wake up any second and prevent him from touching her. When she was sleeping like this, he could do so much more. Only in her sleep, could he get what he wanted. Caroline stirred at his touch and his only thought was that he was done for. He couldn't move his fingers away from her. But instead of proving his fears, Caroline stayed asleep, leaning into his touch until he got bolder and cupped her face.

Caroline…

He stayed like that for twenty minutes without taking his eyes or his hand away from her face. Klaus didn't care that it was the most uncomfortable position his body was in if he got to touch her for a few minutes. When she began stirring, he moved his hand away and got out of the car to open her door. Their eyes met. Neither said anything and neither moved. It was clear what they both wanted and what was between them, but nothing could happen again because two things stood in their way; his actions and their words, broken promises and their present.

Klaus moved aside to let her get down, and his mind conjured up a broken thought—extending a hand to her and her accepting. He quickly shoved that thought away and watched her walked up the path slowly, taking her time so as to not slip and fall. He followed behind her, watching her steps closely. They were both standing in an awkward silence before she retreated to the stairway, leaving him behind to stand around the living room—though familiar to him, now seemed awkward and uncomfortable. He took another few steps, watching her place a hand on the rail and walked up the steps. She wasn't looking for assistance. He was dying to give one. It was an spoken word and she was glad to know he was suffering just as she was. If he couldn't stand beside her, she didn't need him.

"I'm going to go pick up Noah," he spoke before the courage he had gathered up disappeared on him and find himself unable to say anything. He realised how terrified of her words or actions he was. It was as if she had wrapped her hand around his heart, and made him feel unable to do or say anything without her permission.

She didn't turn around and she didn't stop walking either, but she threw in a jab, "Whatever."

Whatever. Who was he to complain?

He was running. Away from the house that brought him memories. Memories that popped up whenever he looked over at any corner and every turn . Both of them had left a good memory around the house and it was too much for him. He was asking himself if it was the memories that scared him, or the fact that he didn't think he could ever escape it. Was it the fact that the woman who hated him now was the woman he thought was the only one he could ever spend the rest of his life with, the only woman whose emptiness and cold attitude towards him left him with a void that was unable to be filled. He was madly in love with her and he wasn't stupid enough to think her feelings for him would ever diminished. Yes, they were both hurt. Yes, he betrayed her. Yes, they were both angry. But they loved each other more than they hurt each other. She loved him more than the feeling of pain of his betrayal. And they loved each other more than the anger that was brewing inside them and he knew, Caroline Mikaelson loved him more than she hated him. Love was hard to come by, and when it did, especially one as special as theirs was forever. They had a bond so strong not even them could be able to break it. They were forever, Klaus and Caroline.

"Daddy, do you love mummy?" Noah asked one day, as they both sat with their legs crossed, matched pyjamas and their hairs unkempt. There was an uncanny resemblance to the Mikaelson boys. Noah was colouring and Klaus was helping him with it. It was just another normal day in their lives.

"Of course, Noah. Your mother is my favourite girl in the entire world," he replied, as they both shared a smile.

"I thought it was Auntie Rebekah. She say that all the time."

Klaus snorted, picking up the red colour that would suit the shirt of the rabbit. "Your auntie would like to think so. But why do you ask?"

Noah stopped colouring and gave his whole attention to his father. He bit his lower lip, a trait he had gotten from Caroline when they were both unsure and concerned about something. Klaus ruffled his son's hair to try and ease his mind a little bit.

"What troubles you?"

"My friend said you and mummy will stop loving each other. Is it true?" He stared at Klaus, his bottom lip trembling.

"Why would your friend say that?"

"Because his mummy and daddy love each other and they don't like each other now. They always fight. His daddy doesn't live with his mummy anymore." The little boy's eyes widened in fear. "Are you going to leave too, daddy?"

Klaus didn't know what to say or how to explain it to his four year old son. But the more he kept quiet, the more Noah might think his fears might come true. "Listen buddy," he said with a sigh. "when people love each other, they might encounter problems once in awhile. It doesn't mean they stop loving each other. Your mummy and I won't get separated, I promise you. We love each other very much." He smiled and ruffled his son's hair again. "How could I leave you and the baby alone?"

"So you love mummy and you won't leave us?"

"Yes."

Noah nodded. "I believe you, daddy." And that had been the end of the conversation.

It was the noises that had woken her up from her slumper. She had barely slept for three hours and she couldn't help but feel it was necessary for her to wake up at the time. Her room was dark, the curtains were closed and she half expected to find Klaus watching over her, but it was empty. The faint noises that had been the reason she was awake caught her ear. She laid there for a few seconds to gather up her strength again, though the sleep helped took away the exhaustion she had felt earlier.

Was it Noah that was making a lot of noise? She was excited to see her son again. She wanted to make sure that he was okay, that he wasn't traumatised about everything that was happening. She wanted her little boy close to her. She realised that it was always him suffering from his parents lack of civility towards one another.

Carefully sliding her bare legs down, Caroline stood up and braced her hands against the wall to support her as she guided herself towards the door. She opened the door and the voices grew louder, enough for her to know whose voices she was hearing. They were coming from downstairs so she walked in that direction.

There was a tension in the air, something to be weary of, something she didn't need to be caught between. And when she reached the bottom of the stairs, she knew why.

"I expected this foolishness from anyone but you, Niklaus. In all of our family history, no one has ever embarrassed and humiliated our family like you did. You put your wife in jail, your pregnant wife. Do you have any idea how cruel that is? Do you have any idea what everyone is saying about us?"

"Obviously he doesn't care, Elijah, or else he wouldn't have done what he did."

"You both need to listen," she heard Klaus say as he tried to hide his frustration.

Elijah cut him off with a snap, "We're done listening to you. Now you're going to listen to us. You're not to do anything that will hurt Caroline or jeopardise your marriage again. You're going to fix your marriage, are we clear? "

"The bloody hell you talking about? Are we just going to forget about everything he did and let him off so easily? He doesn't deserve Caroline if you ask me."

"Silence, Rebekah," Elijah said. "We're here to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Niklaus, I'm ashamed to call you my brother. I thought you knew how much valuable Caroline is. She is the mother of your child. I was shocked to learn that she had been in jail. And for what? Your foolish mistakes? What did you gain by it? Tell me, what was lacking in your marriage?"

Rebekah scoffed. "He isn't going to say anything. Listen to me, Nik, if something happens to Caroline or the baby—"

"What on earth do you think is going to happen, Rebekah?" Klaus shouted, furious.

"Oh, I don't know! She's pregnant and if she's being put in too much stress, she might lose the baby!"

"That's not going to happen!"

"God help you if it does, Nik. You're so sure you won't fuck her over again. Now is the right time to tell us where Camille is. While everyone is pointing their finger on Caroline, they should point their finger on you."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying maybe you helped Camille disappear. Maybe it was your plan all along! To hide her so you could finish arranging for a way to get out of here."

"For God's sake I'm not going to sit here and let you hurl accusations at me!"

Rebekah raised her voice to match her brother's. "Oh, so it bothers you, but think of how Caroline felt when her despicable husband accused her of—"

"Rebekah!"

"Enough!" Elijah silenced them both. "This is neither the time nor place. Niklaus, Noah is going to continue staying with Rebekah until everything is resolved between you and Caroline. I do not want the boy to have to have to go through what he did again. I'm sure Caroline won't object to it and neither would you. You're both his parents, so you can come anytime and see him—"

"I'm not going to let him in my home."

"Rebekah, do not interrupt me." Caroline imagined the sharp look he must have given the blonde woman. "Niklaus, do you understand me?"

"Yes."

"Good. And in the meantime, stay clear of the rest of our family. They're furious at you right now and they won't be as understanding as me."

"Are you bloody serious, Elijah?" Klaus asked in disbelief. "You won't let Noah come back home and now you're telling me I don't get to see my family?"

Rebekah snorted. "Seeing them is the least bit of your worries."

"One more word out of your mouth, Rebekah—"

"You will what?" she challenged. "Nothing you do is going to shock me anymore."

Caroline thought she had heard enough. She quietly turned back to her room, feeling a sense of happiness. Her fear had always been Klaus' family were going to take his side and she would all be left alone. She was glad they still cared about her. She was so sure now that they'd always be family whether she stayed married to Klaus or not.

Other part of her wasn't happy at the way things were turning out to be. Though Klaus was the one who dug his own grave, she wasn't happy that his family didn't want to see him. It upset her to hear Rebekah, the same woman who loved her brother so much more than the rest could say what she said to him. She raised her voice when she never did before. That was something Caroline wanted to avoid happening. She had always thought if Klaus and her ever did have a spat, she would make sure his family didn't stay mad at him.

The house was quiet and he was left with just his thoughts to help him through the day. It wasn't helping. It was doing the opposite. It was hurting him, it was making him angry. There were so many things he could have done to change the course of events that led to this. He stood in front of Caroline's door for a few minutes, trying to gather up the courage to knock on the door. He was losing his courage day after day. Everything he did that concerned Caroline always made him feel scared, always contemplating whether he should do it or not. He was questioning everything relating to her. He was just being careful. He didn't want to say anything wrong or do anything wrong.

He needed to face his fears and go into her room. It was his room once. He had slept there for years. It had been his safest room in the house, but now it was the room he was scared to enter. If he was ever going to give her the sandwich he made, he needed to go in. Caroline hadn't eaten since they got back to the house and she had been asleep for hours. He wanted to take care of her. He wanted to right his wrong. Without waiting for another thought to come into his mind and make him reconsider going in, he lifted his hand and knock on the door.

There wasn't a response. Caroline was still sleeping. His hand moved towards the door knob when his phone rang. He didn't check the ID before he answered the call, as he started to walk away from her room so he didn't have to disturb her sleep.

"Yeah?" he said.

"We found her. She's alive."

"Found her? Found who?" he asked in a whisper, even though he knew who was found. He wanted to hear it. Klaus was trying so hard not to breathe as he clutched his phone tightly in his hand.

"Camille. We found Camille. She's at the hospital unconscious. We are waiting for her to wake up and get the details from her. Hello? Klaus, are you listening?"

He wasn't listening. The phone had dropped from his grasp and fell to the floor. His hand ran through his hair and raked over his face. Camille was found. Camille was alive. Camille was found. Camille was found. Alive. Camille was found and he knew Caroline didn't do anything. Repeating it in his head did nothing but gave him more misery and kill his will to walk.

Camille was found. Why wasn't he happy? He should be glad Caroline wasn't going to be accused of murder anymore. He should be feeling ecstatic about it. It was fear. Fear of answers. Fear of what he was going to find out. Getting answers now didn't seem something he was interested in. What if something did happen that night? What if he had just forgotten about it?

She heard his knock. She heard it loud and clear but decided to ignore it. She heard when his phone had rung. She was out of the bed to listen to his call. It was wrong, Caroline knew, but she wanted to know if Rebekah was right about him knowing Camille's whereabouts, and another reason was that she wanted to clear the doubts she had about it. Can you blame her? She still loved him. She wanted to forgive him so desperately that if he lied to her again, she would believe him.

Carolin peeked her head outside before she quietly closed the door. Walking downstairs, she found him standing there with his posture rigid and his hand clutching his phone like his life depended on it.

"Found her? Found who?" he asked.

Her brows rose in confusion. Who was found and why did Klaus look shocked and scared? She wanted to do the right thing. And the right thing was if she turned back and go back to her room, and pretend as if she hadn't heard anything. But it was the tug on her heart that made her walk forward, the strings that was dangling around it could not go and leave him at the state he was in. It looked like the tables were turned. She was the one to go to him.

She stopped a few feet away from him and he turned his head slightly, aware of her presence. He finally turned to face her, letting her see the storm that was building inside of him. Klaus didn't need to tell her. He didn't need to. She was able to put two and two together. The shock of it nearly made her stumble and a silent gasp escaped from her lips. He knew she never had anything to do with it. It was clear like a daylight in his eyes, but another thing was clear and well.

Camille was found. He wasn't happy. His reaction said more about him than any of his words he had spoken before. Caroline didn't know how to feel about this. She was glad the woman wasn't dead, but she wasn't also glad she resurfaced. That made her a terrible person, but this was the woman who broke her marriage. The woman who might or might not have slept with her husband.

"W-where?" she choked the word out.

"I don't know," he replied in a hushed tone. "She's alive. She's unconscious, but they have taken her to the hospital." There was more he wanted to say. There was nothing she wanted to say. His voice was soft and the emotion was clear in his voice. "I don't feel relieved."

They both were scared of the same thing. Scared of the answers they would find from her. The answers that could either destroy them, or help mend a broken family. The answers that could either take all the pain away, or leave them with a mark. The answers that could leave their children with two home, and the husband and wife in despair.

"I need to see her," she spoke up.

Klaus eyes widened. "What?"

Caroline nodded. "Yes, I need to see her now. Take me to her, Klaus. I have to know." I have to know if you slept with her. I have to know if there was something I did that made you cheat on me. I have to know if I can still call myself your wife.

"No."

"No? Why can't I see her, Niklaus?"

"Are you out of your mind?" he asked, as his heart started to pound. "You need rest. You need to eat. It's nine o'clock at night and Camille is unconscious. You won't be able to talk to her."

"If you don't want to take me, it's fine." Caroline walked past him to head to the door, but he pulled her back in front of him.

His eyes were red. From anger? From fright? Neither knew. "Don't be stupid, Caroline. You can talk to her when she gets better. You can ask what you want to ask."

"Oh, you mean when you're done making up lies for her to say? I don't think so, Niklaus. Get out of my way right now," she said angrily.

Klaus couldn't even spare a second to get mad and hurt by her words. He put a hand on her shoulders and looked down to stare into her eyes. "I can't let you go, Caroline." He needed her to understand that she was pregnant and she was due anytime. He didn't want something to happen to her or the baby. "You need to rest. I promise I'll take you first thing in the morning. Please, trust me."

She almost laughed. Trust. That was lost a while back. "Fine," she bit out in an unconvincing defeated tone. When he dropped his hands from her shoulders, she turned and headed back to her room.

Caroline didn't sleep a wink. For a few hours she stayed awake and listened to noises outside. When the clock struck twelve and when she could no longer hear any noises, she grabbed her jacket, scarf and keys. It was easy leaving the house without making a lot of noise, without waking him. She got inside the car and started the engine, leaving out of their driveway. She didn't know what the hell she was doing, but she couldn't sleep if she didn't see Camille.

Her room was on the fifth floor, room number twenty to be exact. Caroline stood outside Camille's door for a few seconds before she walked in. Her mind was racing. She realised that she really didn't want to be there, didn't want to see Camille but it was too late now. The woman was on the bed. The only sound in the room was the beeping of the machine. There was an oxygen mask on her face and IVs that were attached to her. Bruises. There were lots of them on her face, on her arms. She looked pale. What had happened to her? Who could do this to her? She moved closer to the bed. She felt bad for Camille. She could only imagined the hell she had went through.

Her hands went to clutch he'd heart. This woman slept with her husband. This woman had touched what was hers, had kissed him the way Caroline always did. This woman knew everything about her husband's body. This woman knew his weak parts. Rage blinded her, but Caroline didn't dare make a mistake. Hate boiled inside her. She was so engrossed in staring at her that she didn't hear the sound of the door opening, didn't hear the footsteps of someone coming in until it was too late. She never got to scream or to panic before someone covered a hand over her mouth and dragged her away from the bed. Dragging her out of the room.

TBC