A/N: This one is dedicated to Klaroline66, lateVMlover, foreverdream7, firstgreenisgold, Pinkgem22, Nightwing's Gal, Tinyflyer02, Sparkles12345, Girl96xoxo, DevilJolie, katkat, , Rucky, Finder, Jellybean1218 and all my guests. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews.
And to karmen238 - not to worry. I just hope you like the direction I'm go in. =)
I'd made it back to Klaus' room, blinking back tears, and began to shove things into my tote bag as quickly as I could. If they thought I was staying here in these circumstances, they had another think coming.
I jumped at a couple of crashes downstairs. There was a good deal of yelling, male and female voices. I didn't try to hear them. I didn't care what was being said. Well, maybe I did, but my priority was getting back to Mystic Falls. Fast.
"Caroline?"
I didn't look at Klaus as he walked into his own bedroom. I didn't want him to see me cry. I finished gathering my belongings and grabbed my phone from the bedside table. Not like I'd be able to go through the ton of messages I had while Klaus was marching in my direction.
"Look at me," his voice was harsh.
I met his gaze, his blue eyes fierce as he stared at me. Until a tear rolled down my cheek. I angrily swiped it away and tried to make it around him. Klaus was faster, grabbing my arm to prevent my exit.
"We've reduced you to tears then?" his tone was softer.
I'd had it.
"I'm crying because I'm that pissed off," I growled at him. "Considering the string of beautiful, worldly vampire lovers that you've had, that came from Elijah by the way, one would think you would know that women don't just cry because of sadness and despair."
He released me. A tight smirk forming on his face.
"I have no problem with that, love. I'd much rather have your anger than your tears. Anger is so much closer to passion. Don't you agree?"
He was looking at the shirt I wore again, he liked that I was wearing it, I could tell.
"Passion?" I snorted. "Well, there's something that you obviously have more experience with than I."
His smile was fading. "Meaning?"
"Haley? You know the werewolf that just threw up on your kitchen floor? The one that's expecting your baby."
He blew out a frustrated exhale at that.
"You knocked up Haley? Really?" I surprised myself at how raw and angry that came out.
A muscle at his clenched jaw twitched. Yeah, I knew it was a risk to really piss off Klaus. My emotions were all over the place and at the moment, I didn't care.
"How is that any of your business, sweetheart?" His tone was laced with menace. "You keep reminding me that you have a boyfriend and that you're spoken for."
He had me there.
"Am I to live the life of a celibate monk while waiting for you to come to me?"
I had to laugh at that. "And you're so sure that day will come, aren't you?"
"Yes." The single word was uttered with such conviction. His eyes, however, told a different story. There was a note of vulnerability there. And it was that hope I saw there that threatened to tear down the walls I kept between us.
I nodded, tearing my gaze away from him. "You're right. About it not being my business. That isn't fair. But you know what's worse?"
When I looked at him again, I found him watching me so intently.
"Always being second best. And always being reminded of it."
I grabbed my tote from the bed and tried to speed my way of out his room. He was faster. He slammed the door shut, planting his hands on either said of my head as he backed me against it.
"Second best?" he asked, leaning into me until face was inches from mine. "Explain."
Planting both of my hands on his chest, I shoved him back. He allowed it. That was the only reason he staggered back a step or two. But he wasn't backing down.
"What's there to explain, Klaus?" And did I really want to explain it to him? "The Salvatores showed up in Mystic falls and started this entire damn mess. Stefan? Elena was his first choice. He never gave me a second glance."
Klaus crossed his arms over his chest, looking at me intently. "You have unrequited feelings for Stefan?"
"No, he's like a brother to me now." I snorted at that. "Then there was his brother. Elena was also his first choice but that didn't stop him from making me his plaything and portable blood bag for a time."
"Damon?"
That had piqued his interest in an unfavorable way. Not smart, Caroline. I wasn't Damon's biggest fan but I also didn't want to put him on Klaus' hit list for Elena's sake. Klaus never forgot anything. I tried to wave that away. "I was still human then."
His jaw tightened, so I hurried on because I didn't want to add to the problems already facing us.
"I saw Matt for a time but his mother hated me and when I was turned, it was hard to be with him. I've told you that Tyler and I went through our acclimation to the supernatural at the same time, together. It helped. He loved me… loves me. But you had to turn him into a hybrid which put him under your control. You even made him bite me."
Klaus winced a little at that accusation.
"He left to break his sire bond and while he was off doing that, for me supposedly, he met Haley."
"He's done a lot with Haley, Caroline," he interjected.
"Do you think I don't know that?" I could try to deny what I knew in my heart to be true. I could buy all of Tyler's assurances that she meant nothing to him. But I didn't believe it. "You've done a lot with Haley too."
"And I remind you –"
I put up a hand to cut him off. "It's not my business, I know. But you miss the point. The point is, I had a mother who was a work-a-holic and a father who left us when I was young for another man. I had no siblings and by the time I was into boys, I was desperate for someone to see me, to think I was pretty. To spend any amount of time with me. I was in denial about it until I became a vampire. Now I realize the pattern I felt into. I was so desperate for any kind of attention that I opened myself up to be rejected, hurt. It doesn't make it hurt any less, but there it is."
"And you believe that you're my second choice?" His voice was deceptively calm. "That I chose Haley over you just as Tyler did?"
"After what I just told you, why wouldn't I think that way?" I asked. I released a heavy, shaky breath. "You didn't tell me about Haley. Rebekah did. And it made me stop and think. Is she why you left for New Orleans? She's living under your roof."
"Caroline, that's quite possibly the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard you say," he said to me, anger clouding his features. "After all the times I've saved you, after all the times I've allowed myself to be drawn into your little schemes with your friends just so I could spend time with you. After all the times I've tried to be there when you needed something, you dare turn this on me?"
"You slept with Haley," I accused.
"We've established that," he countered.
"And she's pregnant. Did you know that you could do that?" I had to ask.
He paused at that, seeming to weigh his words.
"Obviously not."
"Well, it's too bad that you didn't know about that earlier. You could have skipped the Sun and Moon Curse and just fathered an army," I said bitterly, knowing I sounded like a spoiled brat but unable to stop myself.
Anger flared in his eyes.
"I may be a villain, Caroline, but fatherhood means a little more to me than that. It was something I once wanted very much. If I'd known I could procreate with the living, I would have made sure that I didn't impregnate anyone."
Wait. "What? Why?"
"Because the woman I would want to be the mother of my children, can't procreate," he said meaningfully, "not to mention that she denies that she has any feelings for me."
Why did my eternal teen heart quicken at that? I knew he meant me and the intense way his gaze held mine, made me pause.
No, I wasn't ready to start talking emotions with him. Not right now. I had to redirect the conversation.
"But you did impregnate someone. So what happens now?" Again, it wasn't my business, and I was ready for him to tell me that, but I wanted to know.
His eyes slid closed for a moment. When he opened them again he took a step closer to me.
"Honestly, it's very complicated where the child is concerned. I'm still trying to come to terms with how I feel about him or her. The child is my apparently my blood, the blood of my family. Elijah keeps reminding me of that fact, especially since I considered doing away with Haley and the entire problem the instant I learned of it."
That stopped me cold. Klaus' first instinct was to kill Haley when he found out?
"Why look so shocked, love? Does that really surprise you? Aren't I that much of a monster?" He took another step closer, standing very close now. "Aren't I?"
"I admit it worries me sometimes," I admitted.
"What worries you?" his tone was less harsh.
"Not knowing how you're going to react. Not knowing what you'll do in a given situation."
"You're afraid of me, Caroline?" He leaned closer, his face mere inches away from mine.
"I used to be."
"And now?"
"You're different with me. I don't think you'd hurt me. Physically."
"But you think I can hurt you in other ways?" he whispered.
It was then I realized that he had hurt me in another way. It was more than just my pride stinging because of Haley's pregnancy. It was more than the vanity of having the most powerful creature on the planet say he'd wait for me as long as it took.
Despite myself, I realized that I was hurt. Hurt that he'd slept with Haley. Hurt that she was pregnant with his child and now tied to him because of it. Tyler seemed to fade in significance in the face of what I was worried would slip through my fingers.
At some point, I'd developed feelings for Klaus. And I'd known for a while now, as much as I tried to deny it to myself. Gad! I wasn't about to tell him that.
"You feel I've betrayed you," he said, realization dawning in his eyes.
Crap. Was I that easy to read?
"You, y-ou couldn't betray me because… I'm with Tyler. You're right, it's not my business who you sleep with."
"I've hurt you," he whispered, looking both desolate and elated about that all at once.
"I'm not hurt," I lied. Badly. "I just want to go home. To Mystic Falls. Please, can't I just go home?"
The minute I saw Klaus dip his head in my direction, his lips aiming for mine, I darted under his arm until I reached the other side of the room. I needed some distance between us. Klaus, on the other hand, stood there grinning at me.
"Now why would I let you go home when we're just now getting to the good part?" he taunted. "You've let me hold you in my arms for the last two nights. You're standing in my bedroom, in my shirt, telling me all about how you're always been the second choice, afraid that's all you are to me. You're angry I slept with another woman even though, at the time, you weren't mine."
I blew out an exhale, realizing I caught myself in the web of emotions that existed between us.
"You're so close to giving in to me, Caroline. Don't you see that?"
The purely predatory look in his eyes made me shiver.
"Let's get a few things straight, sweetheart," he purred as he moved a little closer. "I'm dealing with a situation here in New Orleans, a city that was once my home, and that's why I left Mystic Falls. I want to reclaim the city and everything that's mine. There are dangers that everyone in my life faces as a consequence because of this. That includes you."
"What dangers?" I asked, hoping to learn more and to redirect the conversation away from what was going on between the two of us.
"That's a tale for another time, love." He took another step closer to me. "On top of the situation here, I have the issue of Silas to deal with, my siblings, like it or not – Haley, and then there's you."
"I wouldn't have been a problem if you'd just let me go with Damon and Elena," I reminded him.
"Never said you were a problem. My initial plan didn't involve bringing you here to keep you safe. But I'm finding that I enjoy having you here immensely."
I swallowed hard. The distance I always tried to maintain between us was crumbling.
"You've been honest with me, I'll be honest with you, love. Haley came to me for help not too long ago when our friend Katherine was trying to do away with her," he continued. "I helped her, she helped me. Hate sound like a cliché but we were two lonely people seeking comfort. She was getting nowhere with Tyler and I wasn't doing well with you. These things happen. There is no attraction between us. It was just sex and not very memorable at that."
I rolled my eyes at that. He stepped closer, smirking. He took my reaction as a challenge.
"In all the centuries that I've lived, Caroline, I've never once been as intrigued by a woman as I have been with you. I've rarely been refused to this point. When I decide I want a woman, I have her."
"And then what?" I asked him. "Once the challenge is over? You move on to the next challenge, right? Haley's here because she's carrying a Mikaelson heir. I don't see any of those other women you wanted around. But then I didn't know about all this so…"
His evil smile emerged. Oh, he was enjoying this conversation and it made me more nervous by the second. "You're so much more than a challenge to me, Caroline. I love your light. I've never seen anything like it in another vampire. I'm drawn to your beauty and fire. And I would have waited a thousand years for you to show up at my door."
Why did my heart threaten to sink when he said "would have"?
"And now?" I whispered.
"Now I realize that it's only a matter of time, not long at all, before you admit what you feel for me." He moved into my personal space again, his hand capturing a lock of my hair. "It's only a matter of time before I'll have you in every way – your body, your heart. And once you've surrendered to me, there will be no turning back."
Releasing my hair, his grin widened.
"Once you give in to me, I'll never let you go, Caroline. I'll spend another thousand years proving to you every day how much I desire you, how much I treasure you. You will know that you're second to no one."
My breath was coming fast.
"And, of course, you can wear my clothes whenever you like," he teased, knowing at the moment he had the upper hand. "A man likes to see a woman in his shirts. And nothing else. Especially after –"
"Don't say it!" I yelled at him.
A storm of emotions raged in me. Betrayal, elation, confusion, anger. He was so damned sure of himself was he? It was only a matter of time before I would be wrapped around his finger? We'd see.
I enjoyed watching his eyes widened as I grabbed the hem of his shirt and practically ripped it off my body. The pink lace bra I'd worn didn't leave a lot to the imagination, but then it wasn't like he hadn't seen that before. There was the time I made out with him while he was in Tyler's body…
Before he got any ideas, I threw it in his smug face.
"Here's your shirt. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find another room until such time you decide that I can go home." I snatched my wrinkled cotton shirt from my bag, awkwardly pulling it on, and marched to the door. He didn't try to prevent me from leaving this time. He did stop and bring the shirt I'd just been wearing to his nose, inhaling deeply.
I threw his door open and rushed out into the hallway.
"Find a room you like then and let me know if you need anything, sweetheart." His hands were clasped behind his back and he was still smiling at me. "I will have to ask that, for the time being, that you don't leave the house. At least not without me present."
"We'll see," I told him.
As I began to march away, he got in one last parting shot.
"Your shirt's on backwards, love."
I whirled around to face him. "You know what? Screw you, Klaus!"
Somewhere in the house, I heard the sound of Elijah laughing.
"Any time you're ready, love," he teased.
I randomly yanked open the door to a bedroom several doors down from his, so grateful that it wasn't obviously occupied. I planned to stay in it for the foreseeable future.