"Genuine Beauty." Caroline whispered after him.

Klaus gave her no time to take in the beauty because the second he'd said it he was out of the car door and on her side offering his hand. He helped her out of the car and brought her around towards the trunk. After popping up the trunk, Klaus grabbed out a blanket and a basket. He handed the basket to Caroline. Klaus grabbed the few remaining candles in the trunk. He shut the trunk and guided Caroline to the place he wanted to be.

They walked through the forest a bit until they came upon a beaten path. They came along the path in silence. Caroline quietly following Klaus as she gazed in wonder at the trees. The moonlight shown through the trees in the most perfect fashion. Then they came to a break in the trees, a meadow of sorts. Klaus came to a halt a couple of yards into the meadow. He laid the blanket on the ground, and he positioned the candles in a perfect square around the blanket. It was a nice enough night but, to Klaus' amusement and pleasure, cuddling would be necessary. He sat down on the blanket and patted the spot next to himself.

Caroline smiled and sat next to him. To Klaus' pleasure she seemed to have sat as close as possible. Caroline looked at him and asked him a question in her most serious voice, "Do you think I could just like stop going to school?"

Klaus didn't know what he had been expecting her to say, but that surely wasn't it. Klaus smirked slightly, "You might want to finish the first time around."

Her shoulder's shrunk down. He laughed at her lightly. Klaus snaked his arm around Caroline. "I went to school for many years," He said to her. "It's really not as bad as it sounds if you know how to do it."

"Well, how'd you do it, then?" Caroline asked.

"Well I can't tell you all of my secrets at once." Klaus smiled his evil smile.

Caroline realized that she actually liked that smile. It gave some secret part of her pleasure.

"So what's in the basket?" She asked eagerly.

"Patience. Caroline, look around you, you are in one of the most beautiful places that I've seen in my life, and I've been to many places"

Caroline took a moment to look. She laid down on the blanket and brought Klaus and his arm with her. She snuggled even closer to him, if possible, and looked up at the stars. "You know," she whispered quietly, "I've never looked at the stars before."

"Surely that's a lie," Klaus said astonished.

She shook her head as it lie on his shoulder. "Can you believe that? I mean I'm not a million or anything," she smiled up at him, "but after 18 years you'd think I would have looked at the stars at least once, but I haven't."

"My love, you have missed out on a lot in life. Looking at the stars makes you feel amazing. It gives you this high that nothing can ever match. To see all the stars in the universe, it's a wonderful feeling."

"Do you know any of the consultations?" She asked him.

"I do not, but I could, however, feed you some BS, that's what they call it right?"

Caroline laughed, and shook Klaus' body, "Yeah, that's what they call it."

"Well, I could feed you some BS," He peered down at her, "and tell you that I do."

Caroline was quiet, enjoying the basket. She let her thoughts wonder for the first time in quite a while. She didn't ever want to let that happen lately because there were so many forbidden topics that she tried not to think about. Klaus was usually one of them, but tonight she thought about him. She wondered why he liked her, or appeared to. Was she just part of a master scheme or did he genuinely like her? She liked to hope it was the latter. Klaus was an original and all, but she hoped, no believed, that he wasn't that insincere that he would fake feelings, or whatever this was, for her.

"Do you have plans for me?" Caroline asked suddenly. She hadn't planned on asking him. She hadn't even thought of asking him. It just came out. She pushed herself up from the blanket and turned to look at him.

"What sort of plans, Love?"

"Like, am I just a stunt in some master plan you have going on to get revenge at Stefan or Elena or Mystic Falls in general? Are you going to hurt me?"

"Are you asking me if I have plans for this town?" Klaus questioned nonchalantly.

"No, I'm asking if I'm involved in them, and if you're only being nice to me because of your plans."

"Do you still think that low of me?" Klaus questioned, genuinely hurt, but not wanting to show Caroline.

"I don't want to. A part of me loves the person that you've been showing me Klaus, but another part of me keeps reminding me of what a horrible person you're supposed to me. And I can't put it to rest unless you put it to rest."

"Caroline, look around you." This time Caroline refused to look. She knew where she was she just wanted the truth from him, no gimmicks. "Look!" He demanded her.

"Fine! I'm looking what do you want me to see?" She began yelling.

"I brought you to the most beautiful place I know within fifty miles of Mistic Falls. Do you think I'd show that to just anyone?"

"I think you'd do whatever you needed to do to get what you want." She said very seriously.

"You know so little of me," he sighed. "You only know what you've heard about me. Not truly me." The accent in his voice made him seem pleading and it tore Caroline in half. "I only show beauty to those who I believe worthy of seeing it."

"Why won't you say it then?" She questioned him.

"Say what? That I'm not using you for any purposes? That I just want to be around you?" He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, "As thousand year old vampire, I am very stubborn." His accent was thick and heavy. "Can't you see that I won't let myself admit those things? That I may have some humanity left inside of me? Humanity is a vampires weakness because humanity leads to love."

"What's so wrong with love, Klaus!" Caroline yelled at him. "Don't you want to be loved? Don't you want to have that one person next to you at all times? That one person that you can always count on? Love can be your strength, Klaus, if you let it be!"

"You think I want to be lonely? Who wants to be lonely, Caroline? Imagine, though, Caroline. Put yourself in my shoes. After centuries of being alone do you think it would be easy to open yourself up in a second? To open yourself up to vulnerabilities?"

"Love, is the only think I have left, Klaus. It's the only thing that makes me want to live. When you came and saved me, I wanted to die. I had no reason to live, but you gave me a reason to live. All I want to know is if I was stupid to believe that you cared. Was I stupid? Was I just being a silly little girl?"

Klaus sighed, "No, you weren't. You were being a young vampire who longed to be a human but couldn't. A vampire that realized that even in her own house she was all alone. You just wanted to feel loved."

"And you made me feel loved. Was I stupid to believe that you weren't just using me?"

Klaus brought her hand to his lips and sighed deeply. "No because I'm not just using you."

What a bold move Klaus had just taken, but he realized once he said it that he had needed to. He wanted to let Caroline know how he felt. How he felt, truly.

Caroline smiled at him as she saw a piece of Klaus come out of him. A piece of his humanity.