**EDITED

Chapter 2: No Sleep

Many are the days I've wanted to cease
lay myself down and find some relief.
Heavy is the head that gets no sleep.
we carry our lives around in our memories.
Take away this apathy,
and bury it before it buries me.

Klaus's thoughts raced, searching for the reason of this unforeseen message from Caroline – from the little vampire who had mysteriously captured his interests not too long ago.

His jaw tightened the more he tried deciphering the text's meaning. The fierce Caroline he knew would never, never, send him a simple message, even out of pure boredom. Something had to be stirring up back in the small town of Mystic Falls. Klaus then glanced up at the clock; it was 3:00am. The last time Caroline had contacted him directly, and out of the blue, was to help save the older Salvatore. This message undeniably had to be nothing more.

Klaus smirked faintly, appreciating the fact that she hadn't erased him from her contacts. He quickly dismissed the absurd notion from his mind. He was about to message back when he decided calling her would be more appropriate. Yet, if this was such an emergency as he assumed, why only his name in the message?

Klaus did not wish to continue playing this guessing game, knowing his questions could be easily answered over a quick phone call. He dialed her number, from memory, and anxiously awaited while sitting on his bed's ledge. The phone rang and rang, eventually going to Caroline's voicemail. The sound of her cheery voice picking up on the answering machine was enough to bring a small smile to his lips, but not for long.

He hung up.

The muscles within his body began to ache from being held stiff as he stared blankly at his phone. Why wasn't she answering? She had only sent the message minutes ago. He decided to try calling once more, but soon he was met with her voicemail once again.

He stood then to pace around the dark room as he drummed his phone against his lips, contemplating what he was to do.

Perhaps, he supposed, she was considering his conclusive offer. The thought never crossed his mind until now. Maybe this was her trying to reach out in an attempt to capture his interests - which he honestly would never lose - and leave her small town behind.

He suddenly stopped and inwardly groaned, becoming amused by his own internal conflict this girl was causing in his mind over a bloody message. She didn't have a hold on him anymore, or did she? He returned to Mystic Falls to put those feelings to rest. He was certain she had done the same and he meant nothing to her anymore. Yet, the impulse to catch the first plane back to Virginia was encroaching more into his mind at the thought of having a reason to see her lovely face again.

However, the French Quarter was in quail as neither the humans, witches, werewolves nor vampires could not come to an affluent agreement. He could not risk leaving while no one would have Elijah's back. Nor should Caroline come here as things were soon to become perilous.

After circling the room numerous times, he decided not to make any rash decisions, at least, not tonight.

To keep his composure and not appear in any way eager, he replied to her message.

"What is it?"

Maybe he sounded too detached, however, it would suffice for now. Since his two calls failed, he didn't anticipate a response back from her anytime soon. He went back to sleep.

Caroline woke in the morning to the sun's golden rays making their way through the small gaps between the closed curtains. She stirred around in her blankets before she decided it was time to get up and be productive. She rolled out of bed to put some coffee on while she showered.

Before even considering to look at her phone, she instead got dressed and poured herself a cup of coffee. She knew she wouldn't get to enjoy this free time for the remainder of the day. After getting her makeup on and doing some unnecessary cleaning, Caroline went to pick up her phone.

She had a few messages from Stefan, Matt, and her mom. She sighed and continued to scroll down as there were actually more messages in her inbox. As she continued to scroll, her fingers suddenly froze in place. She stared at her phone, her mind straining to register the name that had caught her now undivided attention.

Then it finally hit her like a brick wall - she was seeing Klaus's name.

He had sent her a message.

"Are you serious?" Caroline shrieked, throwing her hand up in the air in a fury.

With no desire of seeing what he had to say, Caroline threw her phone on her bed and backed away from it. How could he be doing this to her? After all, he had made a promise.

She paced around her room, deliberating what his intentions were. After only moments, she picked up her phone. Perhaps he had a valid reason of doing so. As she opened the message, she gasped, now figuring out his purpose.

She had texted him first.

"What?" She whispered, eyes widening in shock.

This was completely obscene. She did not send this message! Caroline took a deep breath and noted the time that the message was apparently sent; 2:58am this morning. She had already been long asleep by then, so how was this even possible? Did she sleep-text him? Was that even a thing?

Caroline's mind then thought of a simple solution where she wouldn't let this bother or torment her any longer. She hastily erased the short conversation off the phone as if it never happened, and that's how it was going to be.

Besides, today was about Elena.

Caroline read through her other messages from her friends.

"Elena has the ripper virus in her system - Katherine's parting gift," Stefan's message read. "We need you to go search Wes's lab and find out anything you can about it."

Caroline by now wanted to scream. If Katherine was still alive, she would march right over there and kill her herself! That's it, Caroline took back every kind word and feeling she had for Katherine from the other night.

This day just couldn't get any worse, Caroline thought. But, on the other hand, Stefan's message lead Caroline to believe that Wes may have worked up a cure for the virus, making Elena's situation not completely helpless as they seemed to believe.

Caroline immediately left the dorms and went to search Wes's lab at Stefan's request, trying to find anything in the man's files for the antidote. The ripper virus was currently running through Elena's veins while slowly destroying her both physically and mentally. And Caroline did not have time to consider Klaus, who somehow kept reentering her mind.

Sneaking into Wes's lab was easy. Caroline searched through files and drawers, eventually coming across a few cassette tapes with printed labels of his "experiments". As Caroline was listening to a recording, a stranger unexpectedly appeared behind her.

Caroline lashed around to face the unknown man as he quickly made a shrewd remark about werewolves, listening in on Wes's recorder. He soon introduced himself as Enzo, and Caroline recognized his name from Damon.

Having fathomed that Elena also now had werewolf venom in her system – from Nadia's blood - Caroline was about to break down. Of course it had to be werewolf venom. And the only known cure –

Caroline huffed inwardly, "Klaus."

She pushed the idea out, hoping desperately that there was another cure for the werewolf venom along with the ripper virus. Caroline also tried to ignore Enzo by making offensive comments about him and Damon. She didn't need or want his help. And why was he still here?

"Right. Damon mentioned you get a little judgy." Enzo finally spoke up, his lips forming a crude smile he continued, "Then again…he also said you had a thing for accents."

Caroline dropped her fake smile after that comment, knowing all too well what Enzo meant. He was bringing up Klaus? Really? Why on Earth - of all the other things happening in their life - did Damon have to tell Enzo about her and Klaus? Was there anyone who didn't know about it?

Caroline sighed. "Just stay out of it. We don't need any more problems."

As she was about to leave Enzo and her hopeless search behind, Enzo informed her that he in fact had the antidote she was after. Catching her interests, he went on to explain about this antidote, the Travelers and how they apparently required Stefan.

"Why didn't you just start with that? And no, you and your spooky friends do not need Stefan." Caroline threatened.

"I wouldn't hold it to you to understand, goldilocks." He smirked. "But it's the only way, trust me."

"Trust you?" Caroline laughed. "You're Damon's friend. How can you expect me to trust you?"

"What other option do you have?" He asked. "Your friend Elena is getting worse by the minute, is she not?"

Caroline exhaled, Enzo was right.

Enzo titled his head to the side. "Give Stefan a call and tell him that you need to meet up with him, but do not mention any of the specifics. No one else can know. We can't have your new witchy friend finding out, either."

"What's in it for the Travelers? Why are they willing to help us in the first place? There has to be, like, a catch or something to all of this," Caroline said.

"Maybe you are as sharp as you are pretty. All you need to know is that they have the antidote you and your friends are looking for. Now, get on with it." He instructed.

"Urgh." Caroline grumbled. At that point, her phone began to ring in her pocket. Stefan had been providing her with updates on Elena throughout the day, and this must have been him again. Perfect timing. Caroline reached in her back pocket and answered her phone.

"How's she?" Caroline eagerly asked.

"Hello, Caroline – " The voice began with a snicker.

Caroline gasped, knowing this voice too well.

"Klaus?!" She pulled the phone away from her ear to look at her screen, confirming his name on the phone. Another human reaction she couldn't shake.

Enzo, who was now sitting on top of a nearby table, glanced over at Caroline in confusion. She shook her head at him and turned around, walking away.

"Who else, love? Did you forget to check your caller ID? Or how about that message from earlier this morning?"

"First, why are you calling me? Second, I never sent you a message," She said in frustration. With Enzo listening in, she felt her cheeks getting warmer than usual.

"I have a message from you that would say otherwise. And judging by your voice, you seem not to be in some sort of catastrophic danger," Klaus said.

"For your information, I personally did not send anything. And I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Now, if you don't mind, I'm kind of busy here." She snapped, ready to hang up. She did not understand why she was getting upset at him. She just confessed her feelings for him mentally and physically not long ago. Yet, it seemed like he was still here ruining her friend's lives, and all she felt towards him was revulsion.

"Hold on now," Klaus demanded, his voice lowering. She could hear the growl rising in his throat.

She then let out a deep breath she didn't realize she had been holding. "What?"

"Don't tell me someone stole your phone out of spite. Tell me the truth for this." He pressed. "Why did you contact me?"

"Look, I already told you before. And if you don't believe me, fine," She said. "I have no idea how you got a message from me because I was already asleep by then."

"And it didn't occur to you to respond?" He asked, his voice becoming irritated.

"No, I didn't. But, really, I have to go now, Klaus. So go along and torture some poor innocent soul or something. I could use a little less of you for the time being." Caroline closed her eyes, regret beginning to eat at her. It was her fault, though. She felt like she was constantly being reminded of Klaus from everyone and any chance they got.

"Very well. Goodbye, Caroline."

"Wait –" Caroline began, but realized that he was already gone. The call had ended. She brought her phone away from her ear and let it drop to her side as she turned back around to face Enzo.

"Well, that was very…peculiar." Enzo finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had filled the room. He was still sitting on the table, flipping through a few of Wes's papers. "Everything all right there?"

"Don't even start," Caroline muttered, shooting him a harsh look.

Enzo raised his hands. "Fine, fine. No questions about your boyfriend. Now, about Stefan."

Caroline rolled her eyes, desiring to rip Enzo's throat out.

The two finally got over their small dispute before Caroline gave Stefan a call. After her short conversation with Stefan, Caroline and Enzo left Wes's lab together to meet up with Stefan at an abandoned train yard outside of Mystic Falls. Once there, the Travelers finally emerged, and the group came to an agreement concerning the cure for Elena and Damon. Although Caroline was skeptical, and Stefan's safety was at risk, she agreed. In return, the Travelers handed the antidote over to Enzo, who then left to deliver the serum to Damon and Elena. Caroline stayed with Stefan.

As night fell and the Travelers were still gathering information on Stefan's remaining doppelganger, Caroline went to sit down on the rusted, metal stairs of an old boxcar.

She pulled out her phone and scrolled through the recent call list, and her fingers hesitated over Klaus's name. She knew that she had stepped over the line before with him. It wasn't fair to him for the things she said.

Caroline glanced back over at the Travelers and Stefan as they continued to do their freaky ritual to find Stefan's doppelganger. They'll probably still be awhile. She looked down at her phone and hit the dial button, closing her eyes as she patiently waited. She wasn't entirely sure if Klaus would even consider answering her call now. But she continued to wait as the phone rang.

By the sixth ring, he answered.

"Caroline, what a nice surprise," Klaus said, his voice icy. His speech was slurred, a sign that he may have been intoxicated.

"Klaus," Caroline said, quickly thinking of the words to say. She didn't give it much thought about what she would say if he were to answer. "About bef –"

"Save it, love," He snarled. "I'm in no need of your pity."

"Just hear me out." She quickly pleaded. Loud, upbeat music filled the background through Klaus's phone - no doubt a party of some kind, Caroline assumed. But when he didn't interrupt her, she went on.

"I'm sorry about before, and it wasn't right of me to say those things. It's just been…very stressful around here, and -" She paused, continuing in a lower voice. "Everyone knows about us – what we did. It's, seriously, the only thing I hear about. And then with the whole mystery message thing; it just doesn't end."

"And now you feel regretful," He said, no hesitation.

"No, that's not what I mea –"

Someone had then been calling Klaus's name in the background. A woman's voice. Caroline could hear her voice perfectly.

"I'm sorry," Caroline quickly mumbled. "I only wanted to apologize."

Klaus sighed, his voice becoming sober. "I've got other matters to attend to, currently. It's not safe now, love." With that, he hung up the phone.

Caroline stiffened. Not safe? She thought. What did he mean? At least she got the chance to apologize to Klaus. Hopefully, things are back in place. However, and regardless of what was happening in New Orleans, Caroline's mind went back to Stefan. He was in pain, and it hurt her heart to see him that way. There had to be another way for this to work, she thought, without Stefan getting hurt.

"Who was that?" Genevieve asked Klaus, a trace of envy masking her tone.

"Just an old friend, sweetheart." Klaus turned to her, sliding his phone back in his breast pocket. "Now, let's get back to the party, shall we?"

A/N: Just want to firstly thank everyone who has followed, fav'd, and reviewed the previous chapter! It really means a lot and gives me the inspiration to keep going!

Sorry to all you Klaroliners to see applesauce's name (still unsure why she is called that), but she will have a slight part in the story. But not to worry.

Up next, Klaus finds an unexpected someone running through the Quarter ;)