…

The music thumps throughout the Mystic Grill and she stands in the center of it, hands in her hair, hips moving to the heavy bass, and he sits at a table in the corner, watching her.

She has the attention of every man – and some women – in the restaurant that night and he knows it. Klaus watches her but he watches them all as well and though he looks completely relaxed, reclined in his chair, his feet kicked up onto the other empty chair opposite him, he will be ready to react within a second if anything happens.

They have only been in Mystic Falls for a few hours and she had been too anxious to stay in the house he had gotten for them for their stay there. He isn't one to show himself like this but he admitted to himself that he hadn't wanted to stay in either.

Mystic Falls is a very small town and this place seems to be one of their few options.

He watches her dance and he watches the door. He needs to start learning everything he can about everyone in this town. He needs to find the doppelganger. He needs to watch her and memorize her life. He has been waiting for her for centuries.

He will not lose her.

He hears Caroline giggle and his eyes instantly sweep to where she is still dancing but now, someone has been brave enough to approach her – a boy, seventeen or eighteen, with dark hair and a cockiness to him that makes him frown.

"I've never seen you here before," Klaus easily hears the boy say from across the room and over the music. He nearly rolls his eyes. Why do boys insist on using that line?

He has no patience for this tonight. He and Caroline need to keep a low-profile for the time being and murdering some over-eager lad hours within their arrival would be a poor decision on his part.

He leaves their table and crosses the restaurant to where she is, still dancing, still giggling, amused from the boy and his pathetic efforts but the boy interprets her giggling as flirting and he moves closer to her.

"I'm Tyler," he says and one of his hands boldly snakes onto her hip, putting himself closer to her still swaying body.

Klaus lets out a growl and Caroline immediately hears it, spinning away from the boy named Tyler towards him. She smiles the instant she sees him and she circles her arms around his neck, her lips skimming along his jaw, and he wraps one arm securely around her waist, holding her close, his eyes focused on Tyler.

"Leave," is all he says, his eyes darkening, compelling him, and without a word, the boy turns and walks away. "What is with you and all of these boys, love?" He asks her softly, his lips to her ear.

She smiles against his throat. "I prefer my very much older man." A new song begins to play and with her arms still wrapped around his shoulders, Caroline begins swaying back and forth to the tune. "Dance with me," she says quietly. "I love this song."

He doesn't want to dance but of course, this is Caroline and Klaus will dance with her. His other arm joins the one already wrapped around her waist and he follows her movements, their bodies swaying together to the song. She smiles and closes her eyes and while he holds her close, his eyes sharp and attentive, quickly counting the number of people in the room, how many males, how many females, his nose pricks and he pushes through the smells barraging his nose, trying to concentrate.

She can sense it happening already. Now that they have arrived, she has lost him. His arms are around her, he is keeping her close, but he isn't there. That didn't take very long. She had thought that perhaps she would have one more night with him but she should have known. He has been looking for the doppelganger and the doppelganger is in Mystic Falls. Now that they are in Mystic Falls as well, all Klaus cares about is the doppelganger. Finding her and getting her for the ritual.

Caroline keeps her eyes closed. Maybe if she does, she can pretend that they are dancing like they used to do in England.

While they lived there, they were invited to every ball during the season, attending each one and dancing and drinking the night away. Each time, Klaus had bought her a new dress and never left her side and they were a beautiful, young couple – in love and wealthy and the envy of everyone who saw them. They used to laugh because they would walk back to their townhouse in the predawn hours and she would trip over the long skirts of her dress as they hunted.

Maybe after Mystic Falls, they can go back to London instead.

His arms are tight around her and even with her eyes closed, she knows people are watching them. She's used to it. People are always watching them.

"What do you see?" She asks him and she lifts her head from his shoulder.

He glances at her and then back to watching the people. "We should go for a walk."

Caroline nods in agreement and she leaves him to go back to their table where her black leather jacket is still hanging over the back of her chair. When she turns, she finds him already standing at the door, waiting for her, speaking on his cell phone. She doesn't say a word as she comes to him. He holds the door open for her and she steps outside, him right behind her, his hand on the small of her back.

"Good," Klaus frowns into the phone. "Tell her I no longer require her assistance. Tell her that she is done." Without another word, he ends the call and slips the phone back into his pocket. She looks at him expectedly but doesn't ask him to tell her. He will. "We will no longer be having Isobel," he says simply.

She knows what it means when Klaus says that. Isobel will be meeting the sun very soon.

"Good," she nods. "I never liked her. She was always so desperate for your approval. Like you're anything special," she throws him a smile and he smirks. They walk down the sidewalk together and he takes his hand in hers. She smiles when he lifts it to his lips and kisses her knuckles. "I take it though that she did what you asked?" She continues.

"Elena Gilbert," Klaus responds. "And your old friend is here as well, according to Isobel," he tells her.

Caroline gives him a curious look, smiling. "I have so many friends," she teases. "You must be more specific."

She still hears the music humming through her body and she does a little skip in her step. Klaus smiles slightly and still holding her hand, he lifts her arm and gives her a spin. She giggles and she sounds so innocent and sounds so young. Moments like this, Klaus looks at her and he is able to see the youthful mortal girl she once was – before he found her.

He so much enjoys everything about her.

"Katherine," he answers shortly and immediately, Caroline stops dancing and she halts in her tracks, staring at him.

"Here? In Mystic Falls? How do you know?"

If her heart beat, it would be pounding right now. Katherine? That is not good. There are few people Klaus hates as much as he hates Katherine. It is past the point of hate. He despises her. Caroline has only met her once – in New Orleans all of those years ago – but Klaus has known her for much longer and centuries ago, she had ruined his first attempt at the ritual by turning into a vampire.

Klaus is not the one to forget and he certainly isn't the type to forgive.

"Elijah just called," Klaus answers, both of his hands now in the pockets of his jacket. "She is being held somewhere. Trapped. Elijah wants to release her." He says the last sentence with some bitterness; thinly-veiled disgust. His brother has never been able to separate the doppelgangers from Tatia. "I need you to do me a favor, love," he says.

"Of course," Caroline's agreement is immediate.

His lips twitch. In all of their years together, she has been the most loyal. She loves him. Truly loves him. She is the only person to have ever loved him completely. And he loves her. Before her, the mere thought of a companion had never appealed to him. He had seen vampires in relationships with one another and he had seen the way it had clouded their judgments. Love was their weakness.

But then he found Caroline, a new vampire, barely having been turned for a week. She was scared and confused but when Klaus saw her, he saw something else. She was beautiful and full of light and he became completely enamored with her. He fell in love and there is nothing he won't do for her. Just like there is nothing she won't do for him.

"A witch is the one who has trapped Katherine. This witch is Elena Gilbert's best friend," Klaus tells her and his hands come to her cheeks, smoothing blonde hair back from her face for her. There is a soft breeze blowing, rustling the strands. "I can't risk her causing any problems."

Caroline nods, staring in his eyes. "I'll take care of her," she agrees.

"That's my girl," Klaus smiles and Caroline beams.

He leans in and kisses her softly on the lips. Her eyes flutter shut and she leans into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. His hands slide back, fingers tangling in her hair, and he tilts his head, slanting his mouth of hers, kissing her deeply. Caroline moans, pressing back, her tongue swirling around his. He had had a drink inside the Mystic Grill and she tastes the sharpness of the whisky on his tongue.

"Mmmmmm," Caroline smiles serenely as their lips part and she looks at him. He is watching her, his eyes intent, his own lips tugged into a smile. "We should eat and then we should go back home," she suggests. "I want you," she then whispers. She hates how there is a hidden layer of almost desperation in her voice and she knows that he is able to pick up on it immediately.

She hates being here and she needs to know that when they leave again, she'll still have him. He has promised her but she needs to hear it again. She has been with no one but Klaus in three-hundred years. She wants no one but him.

"Tomorrow, I will find the witch," she then promises.

Klaus nods. "Do what you always do, love. Take your time. I don't want to make my presence in this town known quite yet. I want to learn everything I can about her."

"I've been thinking about that," she lifts her arms and loops them around his neck as his own drop down to slide around her waist. "Don't you think I look young enough to be in high school?" She asks him with a smile and mischief in her eyes.

Klaus absolutely loves this look when she gets it. He grins. "Technically, love, you're seventeen. Most seventeen-year-olds are in high school."

"Well, that's good, since I'm going to go to Mystic Falls High School and register for classes tomorrow," she smiles.

He stares at her for a moment, not saying anything, his face completely blank. He lifts a hand and brushes his fingers along her cheek, her head tilting towards his touch, her eyes connected with his, never breaking away.

"What would I do without you?" He asks.

He sometimes wonders how this happened. How he, a centuries old vampire/werewolf hybrid, one of the original vampires in all the world, came to love one other vampire as much as he loves her. And the question is a truthful one. He has no idea what would he would do without her. He would destroy this world if anything ever happened to her.

Surely, she knows that. He thinks he has proven that more than enough times over the past three hundred years together.

Caroline smiles at him. "Just don't expect me to do the homework," she says and he breaks into a smile, moving in closer, resting his forehead to hers. "Do we know the witch's name?"

"Bonnie."

She exhales a deep breath. "You learn about Elena. I will learn about Bonnie. When you give the word, can I make it slow?"

"As slow and painful as you want, love," he smiles. Even after all of these years, she still has such a child's enthusiasm for blood and torture. "Now what was it? Food and then home?" He asks and she smiles once again before kissing him.

The boy – a teenager – is behind the Mystic Grill, tossing garbage bags into the dumpster.

"Hello."

He jumps, startled, and spins around to see a beautiful blonde girl standing there, smiling at him. "Where did you come from?" He asks, his heart pounding in his chest. "You scared the crap out of me," he admits and the girl lets out a giggle.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes and sticks out her hand. "I'm Caroline."

"I'm Matt," he smiles and shakes her hand in return. "I think I saw you inside."

"Oh, you work here?" She asks, sounding interested.

"It's a glamorous job but someone's got to do it," he answers. She giggles again and he smiles. "Are you new here?"

Caroline nods. "Yes, my boyfriend and I just moved here. Not sure if we'll stay though."

"Oh," he tries not to make the feeling of deflation at her words so obvious. "Wait…" he looks at her. She is so beautiful. "You moved here with your boyfriend? You look like you're in high school."

"I am!" She beams and she seems especially excited about that. "I'm actually going to be registering tomorrow."

"Well, if you need help with anything… find me tomorrow. I can show you around," he offers with a shy smile and Caroline smiles, too, taking a step closer to him.

"That is so sweet, Matt," she nods. "And actually, I do need your help with something."

"Anything," he is staring into her eyes and there's something that makes him unable to look away. She is staring straight into his as well, her hands on his shoulders.

"If you don't mind," Caroline tells him. "I need you to turn and run away in those woods behind us. My boyfriend and I do love a good chase. We'll even give you a head start."

He nods his head slowly. He doesn't understand. All he knows is that he wants to run into the woods right now. He wants to do that more than anything.

"Off you go," she smiles and pats him on the shoulder. "Thank you, Matt."

Matt turns and Caroline watches him as he runs away, disappearing into the darkness of the trees. He certainly won't get far. There's no harm in letting him ahead of her.

Caroline smiles as an arm slides around her waist from behind and she feels the firm chest of Klaus pressing against her back. He leans down and brushes his lips along the curve of her neck. A moan rises up from the back of her throat and she covers his hand with hers, leaning back into him.

"You compelling boys never ceases to turn me on," he murmurs in her ear and she smiles. "Most of the time though, I don't think you need to compel them. I think they are like me. They would do absolutely anything if you asked them to."

She turns her head and nuzzles her nose against his cheek. "Not everything," she whispers.

But before he can ask her to explain, she breaks away from him and runs into the woods, disappearing.

Klaus can smell the boy's blood, can hear the heart rapidly beating, pulsing throughout his body. He closes his eyes and can feel Caroline already gaining on him.

The instant that boy saw Caroline smiling at him, he never stood a chance.

...

A/N: I am seriously completely blown away by how many people have added this story to their favorites and their alerts. Thank you so much! I can't even thank you enough!

And of course, THANK YOU to those who read and then actually take the time to comment. The lurkers are frustrating as hell but those who love the story enough to comment, you are so awesome and I love you to death! THANK YOU!