Stay with me, baby stay with me Tonight, don't leave me alone

She drove. She didn't really have a destination in mind, she just knew she needed to get Klaus as far from Mystic Falls as possible. There was too much mourning over Violet's death and she couldn't understand how the Original seated in the passenger seat as so calm. After all, he had collapsed from a broken neck, an injury inflicted on one of his siblings. The bond Esther had cast upon them was certainly an interesting thing. She wondered if they could feel each other's emotions. If she leaned over and kissed Klaus, would his siblings feel it?

"Wait right here," she ordered, parking the car before a convenience store advertising that they sold the best liquor around. She didn't really care if it was the best or the worst. Right now, she needed to get alcohol in Klaus' system- and her own- and she couldn't care if it was an expensive brandy or cheap tequila. She was certain Klaus wouldn't care either.

The tequila won out.

Walk with me, come and walk with me To the edge of all we've ever known

"We're going for a walk," she proclaimed, tugging him from the passenger seat and thrusting a bottle of cheap tequila in his hand.

"Pretend it's water," she ordered, "And hydrate." He dutifully began to drink, watching as the blonde at his side drank from her own bottle as well. The wooded lot next to the convenience store was a bit sparse, but grew thicker and darker the further they ventured in. Eventually the lights from the town and the sound of cars passing on the highway vanished even to their heightened senses.

"How do you feel?" she asked, assuming by the way he was chugging the tequila that "not okay" was a very likely response.

"I feel like ripping someone's heart out." Not okay it was.

Caroline find herself a downed tree and sat, bottle in hand as Klaus paced back and forth.

"It's not fair!" he yelled into the night, "She was family to us. She meant something to us and now she's gone! It isn't fair!"

"It never is." At the sound of her still and solemn voice, Klaus turned to Caroline and noticed her pained expression. Only a couple weeks had passed since her father had chosen death over becoming a vampire. In those weeks, Klaus oftener wondered how Caroline was holding up. Now he saw. Not okay.

"Care," he said, but she snapped at him.

"Don't call me that! You don't get to call me that!" She bit her tongue as her eyes watered and she ducked her head. Her dad had been the first one to call her Care, eventually changing it to CareBear. Then Matt used the name and then Tyler. Two guys who had left. She didn't like that name anymore. Maybe in a few years, when everyone was dead and she was still around, she'd change her name.

"Alright," Klaus agreed, sitting beside her, "I won't call you that. What would you like to me to call you?" Caroline's head fell back and she stared up at the stars that were partially obscured by the canopy.

"I don't know," she whispered, "I don't think I know myself well enough anymore. I might need a new name."

"Violet did that," he said and she watched as he disappeared into the past, "She was, oh I don't know, probably eleven at the time. Some women in town were being especially cruel to her, calling her a gypsy bastard because of her eyes and strange name."

"What was her name?"

"Iolanthe." Caroline tried the name out, rolling it on her tongue, but it didn't sound right. Iolanthe was a person entirely different from Violet and Klaus agreed.

"Finn wouldn't give her a new name," he explained, "And she couldn't find any of us at the time, so she asked Kol for help. She was so excited. She spent the rest of the reintroducing herself to all of us as Violet."

"He really loved her," she said, "Didn't he?" Klaus nodded and downed the rest of his tequila. She handed him her own and he took it without a word.

"Maybe things would've been different had he told her that."

"I'm sure she knew. Girls always know things like that." Klaus angled his head towards her and she wanted to swallow her tongue.

"Do they really?" She shrugged.

"Some girls."

I can see you there with the city lights Fourteenth floor pale blue eyes I can breathe you in

"I wanted to live in the city when I was a kid," Caroline said as she drove them back towards Mystic Falls. Klaus was curled up in the passenger seat, one of his hands tracing patterns into her arm.

"You're a vampire now," he reminded her, "You'll live in many cities in many countries on many continents. You'll see everything." She laughed at the idea of her, small town girl from Virginia, seeing the world. Klaus hooked one of her curls around his finger and gave it a gentle tug. She glanced over at him and he did his best to smile.

"I'm serious," he said, "You'll see it all."

"Won't all that traveling be lonely?" she speculated.

"I never said you'd be going alone."

Two shadows standing by the bedroom door You know I could not want you more

"Come on in," she said, opening the front door for him. He stepped into the warmth that was Caroline's home and took in the pictures hanging on the wall, her red coat that she hung on the coat rack, and how her shoes were discarded under a table in the hall. She yawned and stretched, raising her arms above her head and revealing a stretch of skin along her midriff as her shirt rose. Klaus' fingers traced the smooth flesh and her body tensed, her human habit of breathing coming to a halt as he pulled her back flush against his chest and buried his nose in the crook of her neck.

"Klaus," she whispered, but he shushed her, kissing along her jawline. Her head tilted on its own accord to give him better access and his hand slipped under her shirt, thumb running over her stomach. He nipped at her shoulder, pulling her hair off to one side and she reached back to dig her nails into his hips. His hand dropped to her inner thigh and he grabbed her and pulled her further into him. She bit back a moan, but he could feel her hum in pleasure.

"Stop," she whispered and his hands stilled, withdrawing from her body at her request. She remained leaning into him for a moment before stepping away. He followed her into the living room where she gestured for him to sit as she pulled a scrapbook from the bookshelf. She settled beside him, one leg draping over his knee as she opened the book. Despite her ceasing his earlier activities, he was enjoying the comfortableness of the moment they were now in. She stood by as it fell apart To separate rooms and broken hearts

"This is my dad and my mom before the divorce," she said, pointing to an older photo of a happy couple from another lifetime. He noted Caroline's resemblance to her mother and watched her finger trace the features of her father's face.

"I used to think it was my fault," she confessed, "I thought I was the one to blame for why they couldn't stay married. I thought he was leaving because he didn't want me."

"Of course he wanted you, Caroline," he soothed, running a hand through her hair and draping an arm around her shoulder. She buried her head into his chest, clutching at him. The scrapbook fell to the floor ignored.

"Then why did he leave?" she asked, "Why wouldn't he turn for me? Why did he hate me so much?" She lifted her head and looked at him, the Original hybrid, and wondered what he looked like as a wolf.

"Am I really such a monster?" He cupped her face in his hands and pressed a hard kiss to her lips, wishing away her words.

"You are the best of us," he whispered against her lips, "You are not a monster." She kissed him because words were failing Caroline Forbes and she needed another way to communicate with him. Darling, you don't have to run You don't have to go

"Did your dad always hate you," she asked, "Or was that just something that happened after you became vampires?"

"He always hated me," Klaus confessed, "And the hardest part of it all was that I didn't know why. A thousand years I ran from him and I never knew why I was running. All I know is that he hated me."

His feet were propped up on her coffee table as she rested against his chest, her feet curled up beneath an afghan. Klaus was feeling strangely human at this moment, yet found he did not care. He quite… liked it.

"His loss," she said bluntly, "My gain." She looked up at him and smiled.

"I hope you don't take his hate too personally," she said, "He had no right to treat you the way he did."

"He was my father."

"Exactly. Fathers don't do things like that. Parents aren't supposed to try and kill their kids." He chuckled at her bluntness and his laugh reverberated through her body. She liked the sound of his laugh.

"Well," he said, "Both my parents have tried."

"So have mine," she said, "Or at least they tried to fix me. It hurt to have my parents think there was something wrong with me." He dropped a kissed to her forehead.

"It seems we both have parent issues." She laughed.

"Who would've thought girly Caroline Forbes would have something in common with the big bad hybrid?" He smiled down at her and gently flicked her nose.

"Who called you girly?" I'm not sure where this is gonna go

Eventually, Caroline fell asleep and although the couch was not uncomfortable, Klaus figured she'd rather wake up in her own bed. He lifted her with ease and carried her down the hall, turning down the covers and slipping her into bed. Her head nestled into her pillow and one arm came to fold beneath her head. The other reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"You can stay," she whispered, afraid to break the dream, "I won't make you, but you can stay." He considered her offer for a moment, but quickly realized he had nowhere else to go. He wasn't brave enough to return to his house yet and he wasn't ashamed to admit that.

Klaus shed his shoes and slid into bed beside Caroline, watching as she adjusted her position to accommodate him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder as her arm draped over his chest.

"I hope you don't mind," she said with a yawn and he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"Not at all," he said. She smiled sleepily and gave one final yawn before drifting asleep. Hold my breath as you're moving in Taste your lips and feel your skin

Caroline awoke to an empty bed and thought for half a second that last night had been a dream. But then her eyes landed on Klaus who sat her desk examining the drawing her had given her that was pinned to her cork board.

"You kept it," he said, hearing the sheets rustle as she sat up.

"Why not?" she said, "That's really how you win a girl's heart." He turned towards her and smiled when she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to fix her hair. She eventually gave up and crawled out of bed, dragging the comforter with her as she came to stand by his side.

"Drawing a portrait of a girl is the way to her heart?" he asked, "I'll have to change my entire game now." She smacked his chest and he chuckled, reaching up to grab the drawing, but she swatted his hand away.

"Sharing a part of yourself is the way to a girl's heart," she corrected, leaning into his side as she stared at the drawing.

"I like Charade," he said and she looked down at him. He quickly elaborated, "Not the game, the film. With Audrey Hepburn and-"

"You like Audrey Hepburn?" she asked and he grinned.

"Of course, she was a wonderful girl." Caroline's jaw fell open.

"You knew Audrey Hepburn?" Klaus nodded and she squealed, twirling about and getting tangled in her comforter.

"Why did you not tell me this?" she asked before she stumbled backwards and fell on her bed. He stood and helped her untangle herself from her sheets, laughing the entire time.

"I was not aware you were an Audrey fan."

"Uh, hello," she said, "Breakfast at Tiffany's is my favorite movie of all time. She's amazing." With a final tug, Klaus uncovered Caroline from her mass of blankets, but she tugged at the same time as well and he stumbled forward, bracing himself on his forearms and he came to hover above her.

"Audrey was amazing as well," he said, "But not quite as amazing as you." Caroline rolled her eyes, trying to shift away from him, but succeeding in only drawing him closer.

"You exaggerate," she said and he brushed a kiss along her cheek.

"I may not be known for my honesty," he said, "But I never call a woman beautiful unless I mean it." She tilted her head and a small smile spread across her face. Her hand rose and brushed through his hair. His unnecessary exhale made her lashes flutter.

"You could win a girl's heart with comments like that," she whispered and he rubbed his thumb against her temple.

"How about we start with a kiss?"

Just kiss me slowly

a/n: Can you imagine Klaus knowing Audrey Hepburn? Mhm. I don't own the characters, but I do own that idea.

Fave, flame, faint.

[song fic inspired by "Kiss Me Slowly" by Parachute]

oxox