What the Heart Wants

Hungry Eyes

I've been meaning to tell you
I've got this feelin' that won't subside
I look at you and I fantasize
You're mine tonight
Now I've got you in my sights

xxx

A/N: So, since we've been updating so little, we've decided to update as much as possible before the Easter Holidays end. Therefore, here is the next chapter in 'What the Heart Wants'. If you recognise something, we don't own it. Hope you enjoy!

xxx

Caroline hurried up the steps to the courtyard, feeling as if everybody was staring at her. It was something that had never bothered her before but now... Now she felt as if they were the jury and she was the criminal. She smoothed out her school skirt, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear as she spotted her friends sitting at their usual table, laughing. Caroline sat down next to Stefan, smiling uneasily. "Hey," she greeted calmly, using her training to not let her discomfort and paranoia show on her face.

"Hey! Did you have fun last night?" Katherine asked, grinning over at her best friend.

"What?" Caroline asked, startled, a faint blush blooming on her face as she spotted Klaus' smug smile. "Why would I have fun?"

Katherine's brow creased in confusion. "Well, you seemed to like the burlesque show. Is everything okay?"

Caroline smiled slightly. "Yeah, of course. Sorry, I guess I'm just tired."

Katherine seemed to accept that and she returned to her conversation with Kol, glancing over at Caroline every now and then. Caroline tensed when she heard someone slide into the space next to her, a hand coming to rest on her thigh. "You know, love, if you don't want them to know, you're going to have to be less obvious," Klaus murmured into her ear.

Caroline scowled at him. "Oh please. I'm not being obvious. You're being obvious."

"I thought we were past childish accusations," Klaus smirked. "But this? Everybody will think it's just me being me but you acting so jumpy? That's definitely going to turn some heads."

"I'm just tired," Caroline murmured, looking away from him.

"And how long are they going to buy that story for?" Klaus asked, his lips brushing the outer shell of her ear, causing her to shiver. "Face it Caroline, you have to get better at lying. After all, you're the one that wants to keep our little... thing a secret. I don't care if everybody finds out."

"And I do," Caroline sighed. "You know, I'm surprised that you haven't yelled it out to everybody yet, despite what I want."

Klaus laughed, low and quiet. "I'm not quite as terrible as you imagine me to be, love. I'll respect your wishes."

"You'd better," Caroline meant to sound threatening but that didn't quite work. Klaus' presence was distracting her. She clenched her hands into fists to avoid doing something stupid like running her hands through his hair. "Just leave me alone, Klaus," she snapped, getting up. "Bekah, we have biology. Let's go."

xxx

Walking through the corridors had become a game of cat and mouse. Every single time that she saw Klaus she hid behind the closest thing. It was becoming ridiculous. And as much as she hated to admit it... Klaus was right. She was being too obvious. Damn him. Damn him for being right and damn him for turning her insides into jelly every time that she saw him. Damn Niklaus Mikaelson.

"You know, love, as much as I enjoy playing games, they do tend to become tiresome after a while," Klaus murmured, appearing in front of her. It seemed that Caroline had been too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice him.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" Caroline asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yes, you did," Klaus agreed amicably. "And I would do that if you really wanted me to."

"What do you want, Klaus?" Caroline sighed tiredly, leaning back against the wall.

"Well, there's a long list of things," he replied. "For my mother and brother to be alive, for my father to live in some abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere, for my siblings to all be together... You're going to have to be more specific, sweetheart."

Irritation flared inside Caroline. "God, you're so annoying, you know that?"

"You can usually come up with better insults than that, Caroline," he retorted. "Come on, don't tell me that you're losing your wit."

"I hate you!" Caroline growled.

"We both know that's not quite true," Klaus replied. "There's at least parts of me that you like."

"You wish," Caroline rolled her eyes.

"I thought we'd established this. I do. Very vividly, in fact," she hit him in the chest. "Easy, love. We have more than enough time for that later."

"You're terrible," she complained.

"And don't you forget it," Klaus murmured. He was close enough now that she could feel his breathing ghost across her lips.

"I doubt anyone ever will," Caroline whispered, her lips parting. Their noses brushed and her eyes fluttered closed as his lips gently brushed hers. Suddenly, she remembered everything. She hated Klaus Mikaelson. She jerked back, flustered. "Right. Well... I'm going to go do... stuff," she murmured before fleeing (not that she'd ever admit that).

xxx

Rebekah slowly stirred sugar into her coffee, her clear blue eyes studying the person sat across from her. At the same moment, Stefan looked up at her before they both glanced away, embarrassed. "Okay," Rebekah said after a few moments, breaking the ice. "I'm going to be honest here. I have no idea what to say."

Stefan laughed, an expression of relief crossing his face. "Well, since you're being honest, I will be too," he paused. "Me neither."

Rebekah smiled as she felt the awkwardness melt away. "Usually on dates, it's all about getting to know each other but... I already know you."

Stefan nodded in agreement. "And I know you. Have done for 3 years now."

"Has it really only been three years? It feels like it's been so much longer."

"Yeah," Stefan agreed, falling quiet. "Is it just me or was Care acting really weird at school today?"

"No, it's not just you. She was acting really jumpy," Rebekah agreed, sipping her coffee.

"Maybe it's because of the breakup with Tyler. I mean, the asswipe did cheat on her, after all," Stefan reasoned.

"Asswipe?" Rebekah giggled.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know what I mean. But I do know she hasn't really talked about it or faced it yet. Maybe she needs to."

"She's not the type to just blurt out her feelings, you know that. She'll just clean and suppress her emotions, like she always does. "

"I know that. But maybe me talking about what happened with Elena will help her open up," Rebekah tensed up slightly. "Don't worry, I'm over it. Well, not exactly. She did cheat on me with my brother but I'm over her. Promise," Stefan leaned over to squeeze her hand.

xxx

After his date with Rebekah, Stefan headed to Caroline's apartment to check up on her and was immediately worried by what he saw. Caroline was on her hands and knees scrubbing the apartment floor. "Stress cleaning, are we?"

Caroline looked up, startled. "Stefan. You made me jump. What are you doing here?"

"Can't a man visit his favourite little sister anymore?" Stefan teased. "I brought muffins."

"Marry me," Caroline laughed, getting to her feet. "In a totally platonic way."

"Of course," Stefan said in a grave tone of voice before laughing. "I was hoping that we could talk?"

"Yeah, of course. Anything for my favourite big brother," Caroline grinned, leading him over to the couch. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Yes. There is, actually..." Stefan paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "I told you that when I was ready to talk about what happened with Elena, that you'd be the first person that I went to and... here I am."

Caroline sat up properly, giving Stefan her full attention. "Go on."

"Well, as you know, she texted me saying that she wanted to talk during our lunch 'date'," Stefan used air quotes, causing Caroline to giggle. "And we met up in our spot by the lake and she sat me down on the bench and we chatted for a little bit about how everything was at her boarding school and how things were here and how our summers had been..." He let out a shaky breath. "And I was just about to ask her what was going to happen with us. You know, if we were going to continue as we were," Caroline nodded. She remembered how things had been before Elena had just suddenly left. Stefan and Elena had been the royal couple of their schools. Everyone had thought that they'd get married and have two kids and live happily ever after but that illusion had been shattered when she'd left not only Stefan but all of them. "And then..." Stefan continued. "And then she stopped me to tell me that the reason that she'd left was because of me. She said that she left because she couldn't bear to face me because she had sex with Damon. She had sex with my older brother whilst we were still together."

"Stefan," Caroline murmured sympathetically, pulling him into a tight hug. "God, I'm so sorry. That makes Tyler cheating on me with some random chick seem like nothing," she laughed softly in an attempt to cheer Stefan up.

"I guess so. I just... Damon's always been a bit of a dick but since he's my brother I've loved him regardless. I'd never do anything to deliberately hurt him and I always thought that he felt the same. A part of me always suspected that he liked Elena but then he had that thing with Kat so I was no longer worried. I never thought that he'd be capable of doing something like this. I don't know how I can face him when he comes back," Stefan admitted.

"When does he come back?"

"He's stopping by New York for a few days in a couple of weeks," Stefan replied slowly.

"Well, if you ever need to get away, my apartment is always open to you," Caroline offered with a smile, which Stefan returned.

"Thanks, Care. You're the best friend in the whole world," guilt flooded through Caroline's body. Some best friend she was. Weren't best friends supposed to tell each other everything?

"Yeah," she murmured softly.

"Have you spoken with Tyler recently?" Stefan asked cautiously. "After the breakup?"

"No, I haven't," Caroline admitted. "The last time we saw each other, I told him to leave me alone. He did try texting me just after the fight but I never replied. I don't really have the energy for his excuses anymore."

"Are you okay?" Stefan asked, squeezing her hand gently. "I know you probably don't want to talk about it bu-"

"Relief," Caroline cut him off. "I feel relief," she paused for a moment. "Stefan, there's something that I haven't told you that you probably should know."

"Okay. I'm listening," Stefan said, his eyes trained on her face.

"I-" Caroline was cut off by the elevator doors opening as her mom walked into the apartment. "Caroline, dear, get yourself ready, we're going out to dinner tonight," Liz said, pausing when she spotted Stefan. "Stefan, dear, it's lovely to see you. Your father was just looking for you."

"I should probably go see what he wants," Stefan said, standing up. "My father isn't known for his patience," he joked. Caroline smiled weakly. Giuseppe Salvatore was the head of the Salvatore family, a family that came from old money from back in the 1800s. Coincidentally, he was named after the man that had brought the Salvatores their wealth and Stefan and Damon were named after his sons. Caroline sincerely hoped that Stefan wasn't planning on doing the same when he had kids. Because who in their right mind would name their child Giuseppe?

"I'll see you at school tomorrow," Caroline said, getting up.

"We can talk about whatever it is that you were going to tell me then," Stefan promised.

"It's nothing important," Caroline dismissed. "Don't worry about it."

xxx

Katherine Gilbert stared up at the huge and imposing building of the Mikaelsons Inc. headquarters. It was an oddly beautiful building, built in a way so that when you looked at it, you could see that whomever owned it was extremely rich. She walked into the lobby, smiling charmingly at the secretary. "Hi. I'm Katherine Gilbert. I'm here to see Mr Elijah Mikaelson. He's expecting me," she lied smoothly. Years of growing up in the shadow of her younger twin sister had made lying become like a second nature. Sometimes she thought that she and Elena were like the opposite sides of a coin; Elena was the good side, straight As in school and a handsome, rich, steady boyfriend whereas Katherine was the bad side, she barely showed up to school if she could help it and didn't have much in the way of boyfriends, just guys that she'd slept with and then dumped. Usually Katherine was happy with her lifestyle. It was her life and she made decisions that she'd like without thinking about what her parents wanted but it was at times like this... Times where her parents and brother were fawning over Elena without caring about what she did that made her just want to change everything about herself to please them. Katherine was dragged out of her thoughts when the secretary smiled.

"Of course, Miss Gilbert. His office is on the top floor, third door on the left," Katherine smiled, nodding her thanks before heading towards the elevator, pressing the button for the top floor, studying herself in the mirror. She fluffed up her dark chocolate curls, reapplying her red lipstick, rubbing her lips together as the elevator doors opened. She strode out of the elevator on black stiletto heels that Caroline often expressed amazement that she could stand in, let alone walk in. She studied the plaques on each of the doors, stopping when she saw the plaque that said 'Elijah Mikaelson'. She took in a deep breath, straightening out her clothes before she raised a hand and knocked on the door.

After a few moments, the door opened and Elijah's face appeared, surprise flitting across his face when he saw her. "Miss Gilbert," he greeted formally. "This is a surprise. Please, come in."

Katherine walked into the huge office, admiring the mahogany furniture, trailing a hand across the surface of his desk. "I just wanted to thank you for the ride home last night," she said, turning to face him.

"You know, you could have just called the penthouse," Elijah replied, sounding amused. He looked impeccable as usual with his perfect hair and his suit and tie. Katherine absently wondered what he would look like all ruffled. She made a silent vow to find out.

"I always find that thanks are best delivered in person, don't you think?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him, leaning back against his desk.

"I've never really thought about it," Elijah replied. "But I suppose so. Although we usually just send thank you notes by way of our butler."

Katherine laughed. "You have a butler?"

"Yes. Well, not here in New York, but we have one at our mansion in England," Elijah replied.

"You have a mansion?" Katherine asked, inclining her head.

"Indeed. It's where my siblings and I grew up. Before they moved here, of course."

"Why didn't you move with them?"

Elijah looked intently over at her. "I was still in university at the time. My father and I both decided that it would be best for me to finish before coming here."

"And now you're here to learn to ropes to the family business?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, I have no idea why my father insisted I come back. He is nowhere near death's door yet."

Katherine laughed, her painted red lips curving up into a smile. She found that she rather liked Elijah Mikaelson. He hadn't spent the entirety of their conversation so far staring at her chest, so that was a point in his favour. "I've never been to England. I've always wanted to, but I've never gone."

"Well, if you do ever go, you should go with someone that's been there before. If you go as a tourist, you'll miss out on all the beautiful, lesser known things to be seen," Elijah murmured, gazing at her with those dark eyes of his.

"Maybe..." Katherine glanced down, taking a step closer to him before glancing up at him, a coy smile on her face. "Maybe you could take me sometime?"

"I would be more than honoured to," Elijah murmured lowly. "But while this conversation has been lovely, I'm afraid that I have to get to a meeting," he held out his hand, which Katherine took. He then brought her hand up and pressed a kiss to the back of it, like he'd done when they first met. "Until we meet again, Miss Gilbert."

"I look forward to it, Mr Mikaelson," Katherine replied.

xxx

Caroline walked into the apartment alone. Her mother had disappeared probably to go spend some time with Stefan's dad. It looked like things were serious between them since they'd been dating for around 9 months. She hoped that they'd get married. It'd be fun to have Stefan as a brother, after all. And Damon wasn't really around much so she wouldn't have to put up with him. Caroline draped her jacket over the couch before heading up the stairs to her bedroom, pulling the clasp out of her hair, so that it spilled over her shoulders. She opened the door to her bedroom, walking inside and dropping her handbag to the floor, letting out a screech when she spotted a familiar fiend on her bed. "Klaus!" She yelled, throwing the closest object that she could find (a hairbrush) at him. "What the hell? How did you get in here? What are you doing here?" She glared at him.

Klaus grinned from where he lay sprawled on her bed. "Relax, love, your maid let me in. We didn't quite get to finish our conversation in the corridor this afternoon."

Caroline flushed. "I never said that I wanted to finish that conversation."

"Well, we don't have to talk at all, if you don't want," Klaus said, sitting up. "I'm sure we can find other things to do."Caroline huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked out of her window. This was a bad idea, getting involved with Klaus Mikaelson. She headed over to her dresser, pulling off her ring and bracelet. She moved her hair over one shoulder and was about to pull off her necklace when she felt fingers that didn't belong to her brush against the back of her neck. "Let me," Klaus murmured, his fingers deftly undoing the clasp of her necklace before he turned her around. It was in that moment that Caroline could admit what she'd been denying since last night: she wanted Klaus Mikaelson. Before she could register what she was doing, her hands moved up his chest to grip his shoulders. This time, when his lips gently brushed hers, she didn't pull away. His lips moulded to hers, soft yet firm. Caroline shivered as his hands moved to rest on her lower back before she slowly kissed him back. Klaus made a noise low in the back of his throat before his hands slid down to grip her thighs. He lifted her up and she tightly wrapped her legs around his waist as the kiss deepened. Caroline let out a groan at how deliciously wrong this felt.

xxx

Gossip Girl here. Who was it that we spotted at a cafe looking cozy today? How do you think big brother will feel about you seeing his best friend, R? And what exactly was Kitty Kat doing at the Mikaelson offices? Has she got a certain brother in her sights? Finally, Queen C, you should know by now that it's impossible to deny King K.

You know you love me,

XOXO,

Gossip Girl.

xxx

A/N: That is the latest chapter, let us know what you think! We hope you enjoy it and feel free to offer any suggestions.