"Of course not, Sheriff. Death would be too kind." He murmured lowly as he watched Elijah drag the bodies out of the room whilst he pressed a kiss against Caroline's hair whilst she whimpered. "Shhh, love, you're safe, I'm here…" He felt Caroline's hold tighten even more around his neck.
"I know…." She whispered before pulling her head up and looking into his eyes, "I'm glad you're safe…" Klaus stroked her cheek with his thumb as she closed her eyes and laid her head back on his shoulder. Klaus shut his eyes slowly taking in her words as they went straight to his heart and engulfed him in warmth.
"Me too, love…" he swallowed thickly as he saw the wooden stake which was covered in Caroline's blood and the fireplace which burnt a bright scarlet with the remains of the cure, "…me too…"
It should have been easy, standing in front of her former friends, tell them why she did what she did and walk away knowing that she had finally made a choice for herself. She could walk into the cellar- like-room where Damon, Bonnie, Stefan, Tyler and Elena were kept and hold her head up high whilst she told them that she for once she couldn't do what they wanted her to do.
The problem was…she didn't know what to say or how to explain herself.
It wasn't that she didn't think it was the best choice, it most certainly was. Caroline couldn't live as a human, not any more. Vampirism-though it had a fair few downsides-was the best kind of life for the blonde.
Now, how do you explain that to a group of people who would gladly give it up? It would be like taking candy from a kid, hard and gruelling hoping that in the end the child would relent and move on. The same didn't- wouldn't- apply here.
After Elijah had removed the unconscious bodies to the cellar and called for a housemaid to clean up whilst Liz regretfully returned to the station, Caroline finally took a deep breath and downed the glass of scotch which Klaus had gratefully handed her before he sat down beside her in front of the fireplace which was currently burning an amber in the darkness as night descended.
The burn coursed down Caroline's throat and she couldn't help but grimace as she felt herself choke on the sour taste of the drink but it faded as the feeling was replaced by the tingle on her pale lips. Subconsciously, the young blonde let her finger trace the line of her lips as they continued to tingle beneath her flesh, she could feel the softness of her fingertip against the pale skin of her lip, it felt so rough compared to the memory of Klaus' lips on hers.
Klaus sat back leaning against the sofa with his eyes on Caroline's form, he watched her trace her lips and couldn't help but have the urge to tug her towards him to feel the warmth he had before when she had latched onto him straddling his body. He could feel the tension emanate from her body and see the dilemma within her blue orbs. He urged to say her name but couldn't find it in himself to break the quiet spell, he wondered what she would do next, leave and not look back or face him. They had kissed. And now…nothing.
"I'm going to kill her!" Caroline's eyes constricted as Elena's rang clearly into her ear from beneath the ground where the cellar was located.
"Elen-"
"No! We had once chance, and now the cure is gone. We were so close, Stefan!" Caroline' eyes slammed shut as she heard the clear disgust in the brunette's voice, but there was no way to blame her. Elena couldn't help be angry, she wanted the cure and Caroline took that choice form her –woah, backtrack one second, 'took the choice away' doesn't that sound a little too familiar Forbes? Caroline grit her teeth as she listened to the voice in her head, Elena had planned to take the choice away from her and millions of other vampires all around the world- but didn't you just take the choice from her and your other friends, how is that fair?- The blonde sighed at hearing the conflicting thoughts in her mind.
"Don't." Caroline's eyes snapped open at hearing his voice. She kept her eyes trained on the fireplace refusing to face him but he continued nevertheless. "You had to make a choice, save yourself or not. It's engraved in our survival instincts to do the former and that's all you did." Caroline could feel the shift on the sofa as he moved closer, a shiver ran down her spine as she felt his fingers glide across the top of her hand. She snatched her hand away from his touch before standing up swiftly.
"I could have been human. I could have been happy."
"I'm a vampire, I can't deal with this!" Elena's voice filtered through.
"The spirits won't allow me to speak to them, I can't ask for any help, I mean, why the hell anyone would want to remain a vampire is beyond me, why would she do that?" Bonnie said softly, a juxtaposition to her harsh words.
Caroline gritted her teeth and began pacing around the room as she ran her fingers through her hair and tried to come up with a way to fix this, she need her friends no matter what.
"Caroline. Sweetheart, slow down you're-"Caroline began shaking her head.
"Calm down?! How the hell am I supposed to calm down, I just got rid of the cure, stopped my friends getting the one thing they wanted and now they all hate me! So tell me how I'm supposed to calm down?!" Caroline's breathing harshened as she ranted out her thoughts and feelings without any filter between her mouth and her brain. Klaus looked at her curiously wondering why this was so important to her, surely she should be happy that she stayed a vampire. Right?
"Caroline, why is this affecting you, you got what you wanted, right. You're not human, none of us are." Klaus got up making her freeze as she felt the shift in the air. Her back was to him and she refused to look at him knowing that if she did her thoughts would run to that tantalising kis- Nope, nothing, nada- She focused her energy on trying to find a way to get out of this mess. "Caroline?" The blonde didn't answer and she could hear his lungs release a large breath. "Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong?" He asked softly causing her insides to clench but gaining no verbal response. "Fine." He muttered before flashing out of the room and back to his room which had been spelled preventing any listeners from hearing into his room.
Caroline huffed before steeling herself and striding down to the cellar only to be met by cold eyes and dark expressions.
"Well look who it is, little miss sunshine, finally swapped sides, Blonde?" Damon sneered as he tugged on the chains which held his wrists like the others. Caroline bit her lip before releasing a breath.
"I didn't ask for this to happen I-"
"Just helped the big bad win, yes we get it, now run along and join him in your happy ever after." The elder Salvatore said nonchalantly.
"How could you do it, Caroline, you knew how much the cure meant to me, to us. Why?" Elena asked in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, I can't be human, I don't think I was meant to stay human. Being a vampire it's the best thing for me," her eyes turned to Bonnie who was looking at her emotionlessly, "like magic for Bonnie, if you were a normal human you wouldn't have that magically feeling right?"
"At least I wouldn't be the one thing responsible for killing millions of people. Being a vampire isn't natural." She said in a tired tone as if she was losing the will to keep talking, her head settled back against the wall as she locked her eyes on Caroline's which had begun filling with tears,
"I'm sorr-"She tried to choke out but was cut off when Tyler began talking.
"It wasn't about being a vampire was it? It was Klaus. Why else would you go to him, we even gave you a way out, Caroline, we gave you the option to stay a vampire. Why didn't you take it?" He asked condescendingly earning a scoff from the blonde.
"Option? The only option I had was to believe your lies. There was no other way for me to stay a vampire and we all know it, it was either let you force the cure down Klaus' throat or stop you. I chose myself for once and I don't regret it- I won't." Her eyes fell back to Elena, "I'm sorry that I turned my back on you, I'm sorry that I let you down, I'm sorry that there wasn't another way," her breathing came out in pants as she let her eyes fall over each member of the room, "but I'm not sorry for putting myself first for once, I'm not sorry for being selfish. Not this time."
Silence fell in the room void of everything apart from the disappointed expressions on her former friends' faces. Finding nothing else to say and observing the lack of emotions on their faces, Caroline turned around and walked back to the main room which was now empty. She bit her lip trying to hold in the tears which threatened to fall, her eyes fell on her wrist which Elena had crushed, she could still feel the tiny fragments of bone realigning themselves, a tear dropped from her eye onto the skin of her wrist and she couldn't help but wince.
The blonde sniffled and wiped away her tears as she debated going to speak to Klaus. She couldn't help but wonder what he would be expecting of her. Summoning up the last amount of strength she had, she made her way up the stairs towards Klaus' room, she stilled just as she was about to knock and enter.
What was she supposed to say? Sorry about my meltdown but I'm over it and now I want to kiss your luscious lips and swirl my tongue in your mouth to taste the sweet but bitter scotch on your tongue-
Caroline groaned as she unknowingly hit her head on the door feeling the frustration reach the point of no return, she lifted her head slightly before letting it fall back on the hard surface hoping with all hope that such actions would somehow clear her mind. Caroline continued to repeat the action using her inner voice to scream at herself.
Before she could react, the door opened quickly and she braced herself for the impact with her eyes shut as not even her vampire senses could stop her from falling. But a certain Original hybrid could. Before she knew it, Caroline found herself enveloped in a strong pair of arms as a masculine scent engulfed her senses. She opened her eyes slowly being welcomed by the sight of a soft grey Henley, lifting her head she found azure blue orbs looking back at her.
"Klaus." Her voice was breathy fanning across Klaus' lips as he held her body with his arms wrapped around her waist.
"I didn't know whether you were planning to open the door or use it as a ramming wall." He murmured, the amusement being lost in the tension which sizzled between them as they found themselves inches from the other.
"I…I-You need to…I-"Caroline found herself lost in the oceans of his eyes leading to her stutters, the proximity of his lips causing her cheeks to heat up. Composing herself, she straightened up, "You need to let the others go." Her tone missed the sternness it usually held causing the words she had said to come out as a question rather than a demand.
"Do I?" He asked in amusement, Caroline shifted and grabbed his hands which were around her waist before pushing them away as she straightened up. Composing herself she walked past him further into his room before spinning round to face him as he closed the door.
"Yes." She said resolutely. "You need to let them go." A dark shadow passed over Klaus' face as his eyes hardened but were still full of warmth.
"Care to explain as to why I should let them go, sweetheart?" Caroline swallowed as he moved closer.
"Because…"her reasoning became scarce, "because….they're my friends. They don't deserve this and whatever you're planning on doing, don't. They didn't have a choice, they saw a way to get rid of you and they took it-"
"Leaving you as collateral damage. Admit it, love, if they had somehow succeeded then you would be weak." He moved closer watching her carefully as he tried to pick apart the details. "Why does it matter so much to you, you made a choice, they failed and now they need to be punished?" He said resolutely.
"They had no choic-"
"Everyone has a choice." Caroline sighed.
"And they thought they were making the right one for themselves by trying to use the cure."
"You don't hate them for hurting you?" He asked confused as he watched her still defend them. "You're allowing them to walk away unscathed after they tried to take your choice away from you?" Caroline nibbled her lower lip as she thought about it, yes they did try to force her but they thought they were doing the right thing.
"They're my friends." She said quietly causing Klaus to growl within his throat. "They don't deserve whatever you're planning." The blonde took a deep breath, "Look, I let them down, I chose to help you rather than them and-"
"You let them down" he whispered to himself as he took in her words, she stilled as she heard him repeat them.
"Klaus?" Caroline asked lowly as she watched his cocky façade drop and his eyes shine with vulnerability. He swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt his heart hammer in his chest.
"You let them down…" by choosing me. He shut his eyes composing himself. Caroline's eyes widened as if she had heard his thoughts, knowing what he must have heard from her words.
"I didn't mean it like that-
"I understand, Caroline." His eyes opened with a renewed façade, "I suggest you get your friends and leave before I do something I won't regret." He forced a smirk across his lips before turning towards the window refusing to allow her to watch him knowing that she would be able to read the tell-tale signs of his emotions and call him out on them.
"I didn't mean it-"
"Go." His hard voice rang out causing her to falter in her words. The blonde swallowed trying to figure out what to do now. Her shoulders sagged as she turned around and made her way towards the door.
Klaus kept his eyes firmly on the window and his body rigid preventing himself from flashing towards her to stop her from leaving as she opened the door-
Click.
-but she was gone before she could notice him look over his shoulder pleading internally for her to stay.
After releasing her friends- and coming under scrutiny once again- she went home to find her mother waiting for her with college letters at the ready.
"Caroline, I've been looking at this little house on the outskirts of New Orleans, if Tulane is your first choice then we could go see it before we move and-"Liz froze as she saw Caroline frozen on the couch with no emotion across her face. "Sweetie?" Liz gained no response from her daughter. "Caroline?" She whispered as she sat beside her on the sofa mimicking the hours before when she heard of her daughter's first dilemma.
"I messed up. Big time." Caroline whispered as Liz slid her hand to Caroline's, "Everyone hates me…"
"You helped Klaus, Caroline. Klaus, the monster who made our lives hell. He tried to kill me, in fact he did kill me! How could you!"
"I can't be friends with someone who turns their back on me, Caroline." Bonnie said, "My Grams warned me about getting into vampire business, she was right. I can't be around you, you chose to help him."
"It's always been Klaus hasn't it, even when we were together you held some sort of weird torch for him. You made the wrong choice."
"It was supposed to be a good thing, Caroline, we could all have been human, grow old have families. A normal life. You took that choice from us. I'm sorry Caroline but I can't."
"What about Klaus?"
"He thinks that I think I made the wrong choice by helping him." Caroline murmured before letting her head fall back against the sofa as Liz raised her eyebrow comprehending her words.
"Why would he think that?" The blonde vampire sighed
"I may have said that I let the others down by choosing to help him." Liz clicked her tongue as she squeezed Caroline's hand reassuringly.
"Is he right?" Caroline looked at her confused, "Did you make the wrong choice?" The blonde shook her head vehemently.
"No. What I did was right. I couldn't' let them go through with it."
"Did you tell him that?"
"No." Liz pursed her lips. "He told me to release the others and leave before I could." Ignoring word 'release', Liz nodded.
"So you left him thinking that he was right?" She said softly void of any judgement. Caroline sighed with a nod.
"Can we just forget about it for now, please? I don't want to think any more." Her eyes fell on the college acceptance letters. "You were saying, a house in Tulane…"Liz nodded and allowed a smile to cross her lips as her mind worked overtime planning a way for Caroline to overcome her dilemma.
Meanwhile…
"What are you sulking about now? Your pretty little girlfriend pulled the wool over your eyes again so what? Why can't we just get rid of them?" Rebekah huffed as she watched Klaus sip at the amber liquid in his glass. "Come on, Nik, what's wrong with you?" The blonde exclaimed irritated at her brother's unusual behaviour.
"Nothing, sister. Absolutely nothing is wrong with me. Now why don't you go back to playing dress up and find someone else to bother." He groaned as dodged the pillow Rebekah had flung at him. "Did I hit a nerve?" Klaus asked with a smirk, Rebekah rolled her eyes at him before placing her hands on her hips in a stern manner.
"Look, I bet Caroline was part of the little plan as well and she was the distraction, like usual-"
"No. She wasn't, not this time." Rebekah raised her eyebrows.
"And you know this how…?"
"She asked me to leave town-"Rebekah scoffed, "-with her." His sister froze and a confused expression crossed her face.
"Wait, wait, wait…she asked you to leave town with her so that her friends couldn't come after you?" Klaus nodded. "And now she's where exactly?" He shrugged. "So you're telling me that she left after asking you to leave town with her and now you don't know if she's even in town or gone off like planned."
Klaus froze as he thought about it his sister's way. The voice in his head began reprimanding him for being so stupid, why hadn't he checked if she was still even in town for all he knew she could have got on the first plane out of this hell hole. He could have gone with her. Like they had been on the cusp of planning.
"Dammit." Klaus hissed before downing the drink and flashing upright, his sister grasped his hand stopping him.
"Something else happened didn't it?" She watched his face and noticed the quick flash of warmth and joy across his eyes before he hid it. "It did, tell me what happened." She was met with a wall of silence before she dug her nails into his wrist perfecting the role of an annoying little sister.
"Rebekah." He hissed as blood came speckling out of the fingernail slices in his flesh, "ok, ok, ok…we kissed. There. Are you happy?" He tugged his arm free of her hold and grabbed his leather jacket before walking towards the door as Rebekah smirked and allowed a snort to escape her lips as she began giggling.
"You're whipped." Klaus groaned, his phone began ringing causing him to stop as he saw the unknown caller's number.
"Hello?" Klaus' brow furrowed at the caller's voice and swallowed hard as he listened to their words.
Later…
Liz watched as Caroline glared at her laptop screen with renewed irritation. "Seriously?!" She huffed, "The closest date for Disneyland is the 16th…I think I can make it work. If we go to New Orleans first and stay for a few weeks, then head down to Florida resort and stay there for a few days. You can get a tan whilst I look for our next destination." Liz smiled as she watched her daughter's organisation, it was a trait she most definitely had not learnt from either herself or her father. It was something she had developed herself. "Mom?" Liz blinked up, "How does that sound, I mean it's fine if you want to start at Disneyland before, I'm sure I can postpone-"
"It's perfect, Caroline." Liz smiled softly as she handed her a mug of hot chocolate.
"Thanks mom," Caroline took a sip, "hmm you know what would go really well with these, those chocolate chip cookies I made." The blond vampire got up and made her way to the kitchen as Liz glanced at her daughter.
"Sweetie, could you put the bins out as well?" Liz asked as she got up slowly and moved towards the door.
"Sure." Liz heard the kitchen door click shut as Caroline left whilst she opened the front door to reveal Klaus.
"Hello Sheriff." He said with a genuine smile before his eyes fell on her fingers which rested on the holster holding her gun. Liz's eyes were hard as she stepped aside and allowed him in.
"Klaus." The hybrid glanced around noticing Caroline's absence. "She's not here." His eyes betrayed the panic he felt at Caroline already being gone before he composed himself again.
"Elijah said you wanted to speak-"
"Niklaus, it seems Sheriff Forbes needs to talk with you urgently, she suspects a pack of new wolves being in town and the cause of a few 'animal attacks' in the area. Do pay her a visit, think of it as a favour repaid seeing as she helped with the unfortunate incidence of the cure."
"-about a certain issue of wolves in town?" Klaus said as Liz closed the door behind him.
"Yes, follow me Klaus." Liz said as she walked past him and up the stairs, Klaus pursed his lips as he did as the human said, she led him past Caroline's room where Klaus had the urge to freeze and double check whether she had left for good or if there was still some hope of her returning. "I've got some pictures of the wounds on the dresser…" Liz gestured towards the evidence nodding for Klaus to get it himself. He walked towards the pictures tracing his fingers across the wounds as he pursed the lips.
Click.
He turned swiftly hearing the door click shut, he observed no one else in the room. Not even Liz. He narrowed his eyes before looking around the room for any signs of a trap but saw none, it was just a plain room filled with pictures. Walking towards the door he tried to open it and failed miserably.
Klaus gritted his teeth and let out a huff of air, "Sheriff Forbes, what is the meaning of this?!" He hissed as he could hear her rapid heartbeat on the other side of the room slowly fading away as she moved away from the door.
He tried to open the door again as he rattled the handle but there was no use, he got out his phone as he turned back to the pictures which lay on the dresser. It must be some sort of trap, maybe Rebekah was right. Maybe this was all a ploy for Caroline to get back into her friends' good books.
"Elijah, get to the Forbes' house, it seems we've been led into a trap."
"Niklaus, calm down, this is for your own good."
"What?! You knew? Why?"
"Trust me Niklaus, Sheriff Forbes has her daughter's and, believe it or not, your best interests at heart. Goodbye"
"Elijah?!" Klaus hissed into his phone before allowing a growl to echo through the room. He pocketed his phone before slamming his hand on the dresser on top of the pictures, wondering what the hell was going on.
Whilst…
"Mom, seriously, I'm certain I put your old badge in your room. It's in the box labelled 'memories'." Caroline said as Liz looked at her sheepishly.
"Sweetie, I've tried looking everywhere and it's not there, you were the one who organised my entire room." Liz pointed out causing Caroline to sigh.
"Fine…I'll get it and then you'll see that my organisation skills are completely on point." Caroline said over her shoulder as she walked towards her mother's room and opened the door stepping in as she grazed the wall for the light switch allowing the door to shut behind her.
She flicked it on becoming startled by the person before her.
"Klaus?"
"Caroline?"
"What are you doing here?-"
"I thought you left?-"
Both vampires heard a click by the door and Caroline spun round to open it but couldn't even with her vampire strength.
"I think your mother and my older brother make an excellent team, quite the conspirators…"
"You've got to be kidding me…" The younger blonde turned slowly to face the Original hybrid.
Silence fell between them once again, neither being able to think of what to say, but Caroline being the control freak she was couldn't stand it. She spun round and began pounding on the door.
"Mom! Mom why the hell is he here?! Mom let me out!" She shouted through the barrier as she hammered her hands against the wood. She could hear Klaus begin to snigger causing her to scoff and turn back to him. "This isn't funny!" He tried to stifle the grin which was threatening to be displayed across his lips.
"I know, I know." Caroline glared at him as a chuckle left his mouth.
"Then stop laughing!" Klaus couldn't help but try to compose himself under Caroline's deadly glare before the blonde herself began nibbling at her lower lip trying to prevent a smile from betraying her sternness.
"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked redirecting her thoughts. Klaus grin fell as he realised the reality of the situation.
"Well, Elijah called asking me to speak to your mother about a few animal attacks occurring so I came, your mother led me here," he gestured to the pictures on the dresser, "and then left consequently trapping me in this room. Then you came in ad here we are." He then gestured to the situation itself before confusion passed across his face. "Care to explain what you're doing here, love?"
"I live here." Caroline retorted wearing an expression clearly conveying the words- like duh I live here, dude.
"You're mother said you had left," she shook her head, "but I couldn't sense you in the house?"
"I was in the garden of course you couldn't sense m-wait, my mom and your brother pulled this off." Caroline narrowed her eyes. "It was all a ploy, put the bins out, and find my mom's badge." Caroline nodded seeming impressed. "For a Sheriff, mom, you certainly know how to manipulate people!" Caroline shouted knowing that her mother would hear if she was listening in to the conversation. Her suspicion was confirmed as both heard a quite laugh on the other side of the door.
Caroline rolled her eyes before they settled back on Klaus who was simply staring at her. "So want to explain why your mother would do this?"
"I have no idea." Caroline answered as Klaus tilted his head.
"Well then what do you suppose we do seeing as we somehow can't leave the room even with vampire-hybrid strength?" Caroline shrugged but they were interrupted by a voice on the other side of the door.
"I suppose you could both talk." Liz said, "I'll be just downstairs so you can have your space."
"We don't need to talk-"Caroline began arguing.
"That wasn't what you said before, sweetie." Liz's voice sang before it trailed off hinting that she was gone from outside of the door.
Klaus watched the blush creep up on Caroline's cheeks and couldn't help but wonder how far down her body it went whilst Caroline cleared her throat as she saw his eyes wander down her body.
"Hey, buddy, my eyes are up here." She said bringing his azure blue orbs back to her cornflower blues.
"So what do you think we need to talk about?" Klaus asked as he peaked up his eyebrow in curiosity.
"Nothing, my mom was wrong, we don't need to talk about anything so…" the blonde turned to open the door but noticed the piece of paper slid under the door, picking it up she read, "the door is magically sealed until you talk everything through in which case it will unlock. Courtesy of Elijah and his witch friends." Caroline scoffed before looking at Klaus.
"You were right, my mom, your brother seriously are quite the duo. I'd be impressed if I wasn't so annoyed."
"Well you heard them love, let's talk." Caroline rolled her eyes as he leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed.
"We have nothing to talk about." He pursed his lips.
"Are you still leaving?" Caroline leaned back against the opposite wall before nodding.
"There's nothing left for me here, my mom's retired and I've accepted into quite a few colleges outside of Mystic Falls." Klaus nodded finding no surprise into her acceptances, knowing she was extremely bright.
"Which colleges?" Caroline narrowed her eyes.
"Why?" Klaus shrugged.
"Can't I take an interest in your future?" Caroline raised her eyebrow.
"Since when do you take an interest in anyone's future unless it benefits you?"
"Since a certain someone technically saved my life." That shut Caroline up, the previous banter had taken her mind off the issue in hand and now it was back full force.
"I didn't save your life, I saved my own." Klaus scoffed.
"Why do you do that?" Caroline lifted her brow in curiosity. "Cover our connection with hostility." The blonde scoffed.
"We don't have a connection." Klaus narrowed his eyes.
"You're doing it even know, even when no one can see us." He moved closer trying to read her. "I want to know why, why you choose to spit your callous words at me and then turn around to help me. I don't understand."
"You're deluding yourself." Caroline answered through clenched teeth whilst Klaus shook his head and lost all cockiness.
"No. You saved me, you asked me to run with you, if you hated me that much why not just take the cure from under their noses rather than come to me and say the things you said. You asked me to leave with you, why would you do that if you felt nothing for me." He moved closer.
"You're wrong-"
"They came into the house threatening me and you told me to stay back, you were trying to stop them from hurting me."
"I was saving myself-"
"We kissed." Both stilled inches from each other as they both let that sink in. "And you kissed me back." Caroline shook her head.
"You kissed me."
"And you kissed me back." He stepped closer as she stepped back. "Why would you do that if you felt nothing?" Caroline bit her lip as she avoided his eyes but she couldn't as he placed his hands against the wall beside her caging her in and catching her eyes with his. "Tell me. Make me understand because I…can't." He pinned her down with his eyes, "What are you trying to do to me sweetheart?" He whispered.
Caroline felt herself tremble against the wall as she could feel his peppermint breath fan across her lips and cheek, his words sounded so vulnerable and dare she say…needy? His eyes conveyed the pure vulnerability he felt, such a rare if not impossible sight.
"Nothing…I'm not trying to do anything…" she stuttered under his close proximity with his scent blocking her senses. "I-I…I saved you because it was the right thing to do." She whispered.
"Do you regret it? Helping me?" Caroline's brow furrowed as she thought about it. Not helping him would have led to everyone being human, herself included. Not saving him would have meant having a family of her own. Not saving him would have made him weak and hunted by hundreds if not thousands of supernatural beings. Did she regret it? Did she regret not taking the chance to weaken him after everything he had done, after killing Jenna, Elena, Tyler's mom? After saving her from Alaric, saving her from the wolf bite, accepting her as she was, offering her the world?
"No…" she whispered, "No, I don't regret it." His eyes dilated.
"And the kiss, do you regret that?" He murmured, Caroline swallowed the lump in her throat. Caroline's mouth opened and closed not being able to answer that and she saw the sadness emanate from his eyes before glazing over with hard covers. He let his hands slide down before pulling completely away from her. He looked around the room, avoiding Caroline's eyes.
Caroline watched him pull away from her and couldn't help but think back to the moment when they had kissed. His burning touch, a euphoric taste, his lips colliding with hers, the passion, the need, the want.
"No" his eyes snapped back to hers seeing the pure determination within them, "No" she whispered before repeating herself with a stronger voice, "No." She pushed herself off the wall and strode towards him placing her hands against his chest before pushing him back against the wall, he grasped her wrists wondering what the hell she was doing.
"Caro-"His words were smothered as she shook off his hand and placed it against his mouth stopping him form talking. He watched her with eyes sharp as knives as she stepped closer minimising the distance between them, their chest touched just as their legs did and the only gap between them was the barrier which Caroline had created between their lips.
"I was accepted to New York, Charleston, Chicago and Tulane. I have nothing left in in this town. I want to travel the world, I want to see everything, all the beauty and the culture. I want all of it." Her hand began sliding across his lips leaving only her fingers splayed over them keeping him from saying anything. "I'm leaving because I want to, because I've realised that everything in this world doesn't rest with anyone in this town except for myself and my mom. I've made my choice, hell I made it the moment I chose you. I was selfish. I asked you to leave with me and you dropped everything in a moment's notice. I asked you to let them go even though they tried to kill you and you did. You made sure I was safe before saving yourself." Her breath came out in pants as she finished, her fingers slipped form his lips up to his cheek as she scratched his scruff lightly. "I'm not trying to do anything to you, I'm not playing you and I'm sorry that I kept sending you mixed signals but I couldn't make a choice not when I felt so…so comfortable in my life. But when I did, I chose you." Caroline swallowed before leaning in closer, missing his lips and settling hers against his ear. "I don't regret anything." She whispered into his ear feeling the shiver which ran down his spine. Klaus closed his eyes in relief hearing her words, he slowly slid his hands along her waist and rubbed his thumb along her bare skin on her lower back. She moved her face back brushing her cheek against his, he tilted his face letting his lips graze her cheek before they hit the corner of her lip, and Caroline moved her head so that there was a hair's breadth between them, their noses brushed against the others and their breath lingered and mixed between them. Caroline's eyes fluttered closed as did Klaus' whilst they both leaned in allowing their foreheads to meet, she let the hand which rested on his cheek slip down towards his ear before sliding down to his neck when he froze suddenly.
Caroline's eyes snapped open as she felt the immediate tension and she eyes him curiously before connecting the dots. Her hand on his neck. An easy snap. She began shaking her head, "I wouldn't-"she began pulling her hands away from him before he grasped her wrists and placed them back on his neck slowly as he kept his eyes on hers showing his complete trust in her.
"I trust you…" Caroline eyes filled with tears as she heard him, the pure honesty in his voice hit Caroline. Hard. She let out a shaky breath before letting Klaus place her hands back on his neck. The blonde nodded slowly as she flickered her eyes between his eyes and his lips. One hand slid from his neck into his hair whilst the other went back around the nape of neck which she slowly moved towards her. She felt Klaus' hands move around her back holding her gently, the burn as his fingers brushed against her bare skin, the tingling of her lips as his raspberry lips touched hers. The touch had started off slow, both testing the waters, the kiss before being a quick preview whilst this would be savouring the moment, the taste, the passion, the heat.
They moulded to each other, both orientating to keep themselves locked together. Caroline tilted her head as Klaus swiped his tongue against her lips asking for entrance which she allowed letting him in to taste the sweetness on her tongue from the hot chocolate, whilst she could taste the sweet but bitter scotch on his. Her fingers glided through his curls latching onto them as she felt the softness of his hair whilst he slid his hand from her waist up against her body to run his fingers into her soft waves pinning them back as he let his hand rest behind her head keeping her lips to him.
Caroline's thoughts came up to blank as she allowed herself to get lost in the tantalising kiss, her blood began to burn through her veins as her head was hit with bright lights in the darkness, before she knew it Klaus had spun them around so that Caroline was pinned to the wall with no way out as the battle for dominance continued between their tongues, they ravaged the other wanting to consume them. The feeling was thrilling, overwhelming, and all-consuming.
The kiss simmered down, ever so slowly, but surely. Hands were still entangled finding something, anything, to grasp onto, to feel, to pull, to hold. Their lips parted leaving tiny butterfly kisses as they let their heads rest with breaths coming out in pants to linger in the in-between.
"So…Tulane, hmm?" Klaus said in a raspy voice as Caroline was filled with pride to be able to make the Original hybrid's breathe lag.
"Mmm, what about it?" She murmured before he pressed a lingering kiss on her swollen lips.
"Funny story…"She let a breathy giggle escape.
"What? Don't tell me you're the mayor of New Orleans." She said mockingly whilst regaining her breath, he chuckled heartily.
"More like King, sweetheart." She gripped his shoulders and leaned back looking at him with a tilt of her head and wide eyes.
"Seriously?!" He smirked.
"Seriously." He murmured as he pulled her back slowly. She smirked at him seeing the honesty in his eyes.
"You're going to have to show me around, your majesty." She said in a breathy whisper causing Klaus' jeans to tighten before he comprehended her sentence.
She wanted him to go with her.
"You still want me to go with you?" She grazed her fingertips down his cheek before tracing his soft lips.
"I want you. End of." His lips turned up into a smirk
"You have me." She grinned back at him.
"Good."
"Good…" He grinned into their next kiss as they giggled breathlessly between kisses separated with longing and want before a knock erupted them.
"Niklaus?" Elijah's voice rang through the door. "Are you decent?"
"Decent, why would they not be decent?" Liz asked with a stern voice on the same side as Elijah.
Caroline rolled her eyes with a shake of her head as she giggled resting her lips against Klaus' neck tucking herself into his body as his hand tucked a strand of her golden hair behind her ear. He wrapped his arms around her body hugging her to him placing a soft kiss against her hair before resting his head on top of hers.
"You don't think they planned this, right?" Caroline whispered.
"I wouldn't put it past them." Klaus chuckled as he ran his hand through her hair.
"Hmm, who would have known, my mom and your brother Klaroline shippers." Klaus raised a perplexed brow.
"Klaroline shippers?" Caroline shook her head against his neck.
"You have so much to learn." She said against his skin.
"Well I'll enjoy learning it from you." He replied loving the feel of her body against him.
"And here I thought a King didn't bow down to anyone?" She asked sarcastically pulling her head back with raised eyebrows. He chuckled as he brushed his thumb over her lower lips.
"Only for his Queen." He murmured as he moved closer. "Only for you."
So I originally intended for this to be a three shot with the next chapter being set in New Orleans but I think the ending for this seems already final enough and any further chapters that I wrote would just be poor add-ons that wouldn't fit well. I'm sorry for all the time that I kept you hanging on awaiting a new chapter.
I hope you liked this two shot instead:D