/|\ Tourist /|\
Spoilers for 3x14 - Dangerous Liaisons
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Caroline's eyes suddenly pop open, but everything is slightly blurry. Every part of her aches, and she can just barely move her arms and legs. It takes her several moments for her eyes to adjust, but when they do, she realizes she's laying in the master bedroom of their expensive hotel in Moscow, surrounded by classy but neutral furniture.
Her head falls to the left of the pillow, her muscles protesting as she did so, and sees Klaus sitting in an armchair, his legs propped up on the bed. His head is slouching to the side, and he looks to be dead asleep. Large purple half moon circles seem to be carved under his eyes.
But he's covered in blood, but why we were just sightseeing, why would it be all over his face and clothes and hands and -
Caroline lets out a moan. Images flash through her head, the sight of a stake in her stomach, of vervain darts, a hunter pressed against a wall, feet flailing, blood, and then the gentle touch of Klaus, clutching her close. Her hand reaches out, covered in the anonymous man's blood, and touches his leg.
"Klaus," She whispers, her voice cracking.
His head whips up at her voice and touch, eyes widening. He propels himself from the chair, and his knees hit the ground with a quiet thud. His hands reach out, grasping her, relief plain in his eyes. She smiles back, squeezing his hands, and they stare at each other. Klaus' mouth is hanging open, words struggling in his throat, and she only squeezes his hands harder in response. The words that eventually do come out was different then the ones she was thinking of in her head.
"You – I... got you some blood bags," He gestures to the nightstand, where sure enough, two blood transfusion bags sit next to the lamp.
She's mystified, blinking at him stupidly, before she stutters out in a hoarse voice. "Um, yeah. Thanks."
Her arm can't reach the much needed sustenance, and he gets the idea that she needs help rather quickly. His hand snatches the two bags and tosses them next to her on the mattress, the liquids sloshing around inside.
She thanks him quietly, ripping the top off one of the bags and drinking it quickly. She finishes it and tosses it aside, about to tear into the other one, before her eyes flick up to him. Klaus is staring at her intently, almost clinically, his eyes raking across her face and her hair. Caroline can't count how long the silly staring match goes on, before he stands up abruptly.
"I'm going for a walk."
He's out the door before she can respond properly, and the loud slamming noise makes her heart sinks into her stomach.
While it was easy to just lie down in the bed and mope, Caroline has other plans. She quickly finishes the last blood bag, and grimaces as she looks down at her clothes. Blood covered them, and a large hole was in her shirt's stomach and back – one for the vervain injection and one for the wooden stake. She sighs, getting up slowly, and practically stumbles to the bathroom. She tries peeling off her clothes, but the dried blood sticks to her skin. Eventually, she abandons all pretenses of saving her clothes and rips them off her body. The scraps of her dirty clothes lay in the corner of the bathroom, creating red puddles on the pristine white tiles.
The scalding hot water of the shower feels heavenly, and once she regains full use of her limbs without feeling that sickening twinge of pain, she scrubs her body raw, as if trying to erase the evidence of this terrible day off of her. When she's done washing, she stands in the shower, watching the red-stained water circle down into the drain for what feels like hours.
The water runs cold, and she steps out onto a bathroom mat, running a comb through her wavy hair. She stares at the mirror, almost observing her naked body for any traces of the attack. Her hand runs over her back, and then her stomach, right above her belly button, where the wooden stake had protruded grotesquely only hours earlier.
There are no visible scars on her body.
After sliding into comfortable sweats and throwing on a baggy sweater that hangs from her body – shamelessly stolen from Klaus' suitcase – she settles down on the couch and turns on the television, flicking through all the Russian channels before reaching the only English one about worldwide news. From her spot, it gave her a good vantage point of the door. Her eyes seemed to always find their way back to it, waiting for the little light to flash, signifying the card swiping to get in.
She even tries calling Elena, which went straight to voice mail. She's about to hit send on Bonnie's number, before realizing the huge time difference, and locks her phone with a sigh. The screen goes dark, and she throws it at a chair across the room. She stares at where it disappeared in between the cushions.
...But what if Klaus calls?
She contemplates the thought, before getting up seconds later; she picks it up gingerly and places it on the coffee table in front of her.
He doesn't call.
It's four in the morning when the tell tale signs of the key card swiping and door creaking wake her out of her stupor. She sits up on the couch, and he's staring at her and she's staring right back. There are so many things to say, and she can only think of one semi-coherent word right now.
"Hey."
Klaus doesn't respond, just stares at her from the threshold.
"So, um, where were you for..." She checks the clock and counts back. "Six hours?"
He looks a little sheepish. "Wandering around Moscow and thinking."
"Were you thinking about why you were wandering around Moscow in below freezing weather?" She shoots back scathingly, her arms crossed. She notices his clothes still had blood on them, but thankfully he must've been in a stable state of mind to wash the red from his face.
If he senses her tone, he didn't seem to show it. "Well, before I was wandering, I had to dispose of a body." He gave her a knowing look. "Then I was thinking about a plane ticket for you. Back to Virginia."
That blow is hard enough to make her knees weak. Her eyebrows scrunch up and a hurt look crosses her face. "...What did you say?"
He knows she heard perfectly what he just said. "Plane ticket for you, back to Virginia."
"But why?"
Klaus looks extremely broody. "You're not safe with me, Caroline." He draws out the 'I' in her name, and the British accent sounds pleasant to her ears - Caroliiiine. He doesn't use her name often, and when he does, she knows he's serious. But his words strike a cord in her, and anger floods through her.
"You're being absolutely ridiculous! This was a freak thing, Klaus, you can't control it if a stake-happy amateurish vampire hunter comes after me!" She is standing up now, waving her arms around, as if to prove her point.
"I should be able too!" He suddenly yells, his fists clenching. Dark veins appear under his eyes in one fluid motion.
"But you can't, Klaus." Caroline says softly.
One of his hands clench the corner of the wall. It cracks, and plaster dust falls to the ground like snow. He's almost panting now.
"The mere idea," He begins, deathly quiet. He gets louder as his rant continues. "The mere idea of any living thing touching you for any kind of purpose revolts me. It makes me nauseous. And when I heard you scream earlier, all I saw was red and felt the overwhelming urge to crush whoever dared to mar your perfection. I've never felt anything so close to this over-protectiveness, not even for my own family and you are the most -"
She's across the room in barely a heartbeat, her hands gently cupping his face and pulling him closer. Her lips press against his almost bruisingly, and he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her towards him in an upward motion. Suddenly, she's against a wall and her skin feels like it's going to burst into flames, and she's okay with the pleasant burn. Her hands roam under his shirt and begins tugging at it, and it's quickly discarded. She knows if they keep this up, she won't get her point across and she'll be back in Mystic Falls. Trapped.
Caroline pulls away, ignoring the way his growl shoots straight to her core. "If this incident had happened in Mystic Falls," she pants. "then I would be dead. You wouldn't have been there to protect me. The bastard would've gotten me, and I would be buried in a shallow grave in the woods. Forgotten."
His blue eyes darken to a stormy gray, and he pulls her closer, his forehead pressed against the smooth skin of her shoulder.
"Don't you see why I am safer with you? You are able to protect me."
He nods, almost reluctantly, before kissing the skin on her neck, leaving a trail of fire. Klaus has already packed their bags when she awakes the next morning, tangled and satisfied in the bed sheets.
They never return to Russia.
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He does take her back to Mystic Falls, but only to visit her friends and her Mom. When they pass the welcome sign and the town square on their (she refers the bike as theirs, now) motorcycle, she feels panic grip at her and she squeezes his waist.
Klaus seems to sense her discomfort and fear. "We're only here to see you're mother and some of your over-dramatic friends,"
She looks suspiciously at him, choosing to ignore the passive aggressive insult towards her close friends.
He lets out a reluctant chuckle. "I promise. Only a couple of days here, and then we're on our way to Los Angeles."
Caroline perks up exponentially, and rests her chin on his shoulder as they whiz past Mystic Grill and the many residential homes. "How many times have you've been there?" She asks, honest curiosity filling her tone.
He lets out a sigh. "Oh, once our twice over the years."
She takes that answer in the opposite direction and decides he's been there many times.
"Know any celebrities?" Caroline teases instead, her tongue poking out in between her white teeth.
Klaus' entire demeanor changes and looks extremely self-satisfied. "Actually, I was quite good mates with Clark Gable."
She freezes, a look of disbelief flashing across her face. "Clark Gable – as in, the Clark Gable who portrayed Rhett Butler?"
He nods in confirmation. Her mind flashes back to that relatively successful town outing, where they previewed Gone with the Wind in the town square.
"'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn,' Clark Gable?" She quotes, an eyebrow raising.
"The very same," Klaus almost looks nonchalant as he casually adds, "Humphrey Bogart, too. And who do you think gave James Dean his fashion inspiration? You should've seen the man before I met him."
She slaps his back, her head thrown back in laughter. "You've been holding out on me! Klaus, a greaser!"
He smirks.
They stop in front of her Mom's house, and he shuts the engine off and kicks out the kickstand with his foot. He twists in his seat to look at her, trapping strands of her golden hair in between his callused fingers.
"Trust me, sweetheart, I haven't been holding out on you that much," Klaus drawls, grinning at her. His hand travels downward, cupping her chest quickly before gently running across her stomach.
She's lost in his touch for several moments before the sound of a car passing by alerts her. "Klaus, we are outside my mother's house! You can't just -" His hand is lower now, discreetly pushing up her skirt, and she lets out a gasp, thankful that her house is in a seemingly empty area. "My mom is sheriff, you know."
A long and drawn out sigh erupts from his chest as he stops his administrations. "Don't want us to be arrested for public indecency, now do we?"
"No, sir," Caroline rubs her own soft fingers against his cheek, and she begins to slide off the backseat of the motorbike. "No we don't." Her back is towards him as she confidently walks towards her front door, but she can feel his stare boring holes into the back of her neck.
Her mom greets her with surprise, but has to quickly leave due to more rogue vampires roaming the town. Caroline bites back the urge to retort a cheeky and sarcastic response of 'Oh, another one?'. Not ten minutes into her homecoming, and her mom is out the glass door.
"Well, that was anti-climactic," She huffs. "Snubbed by my own family."
"Trust me, I know the feeling well." Klaus says darkly, and the two sit in silence as she reaches out and grabs his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. He reciprocates the gesture with an easy smile.
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Not ten minutes after landing at LAX airport, Caroline declares she loves Los Angeles.
"We're buying a penthouse with a great view here," She says as they walk towards their rented convertible, bags rolling behind her and clacking with the tiles. "And we are going to stay there for at least two months of the year. No exceptions. And we're getting a dog, because I hate cats – oh! Maybe a puppy! Can you compel them to be potty-trained? I've never tried, but maybe since you are a big soft-hearted puppy yourself -"
He smiles and helps her into the car, listening to her inane chatter and choosing to ignore the good-natured prod at him. She's running on less then two hours of sleep after being up almost forty. "We've been all over the world, and I could give you anywhere, and you choose LA?"
She shrugs coyly. "Well, why not?"
Klaus opens the door to their large room, and she pushes her luggage in with her foot and fists her hands in the fabric of his shirt and pulls him towards her. His lips meet hers desperately, and suddenly she jumps up, her legs clinging to his waist as his arms wrap around her, supporting her. The force of her leap causes his back to hit the wall, and she's moaning eagerly now, running her hands down his back under his shirt.
They don't make it to the bed, but when they are done, he carries her, already half asleep and rests her on the mattress.
Klaus wakes up to the smell of the ocean breeze and the warmth of the sun on his face and stomach. Also, Caroline is shaking him awake, already fully dressed and carrying shopping bags.
"I see you've been busy," He says, and grabs her unexpectedly and pulls her to his chest. They're lying horizontally on the covers. "Come back to bed."
Caroline sighs, looking frustrated. "As much as I want to, you gotta get up. We have a movie premiere in an hour."
She's already off the bed and rummaging through one of the many shopping bags she had placed on the dresser. Klaus runs a hand through his unkempt hair. "A movie premiere? And how did you manage to get an invite to one of those?"
He's almost proud when she admits with a mumble, "Might've compelled Angelina Jolie to think I'm her best friend. Minor details."
He eyes the bags warily. "Is there a suit in there?"
Caroline's entire face brightens as she throws it onto the bed. "Yup! Get dressed like... now. Seriously."
They go to several movie premieres, and he can tell she loves it. In the back of her mind, she wonders what people in Mystic Falls think when they see her in tabloids. She decides she doesn't really care.
It is sunset when they climb on top of the famous Hollywood sign, their legs dangling precariously off the side of the big and white 'H'. She's sipping an iced coffee, and Klaus' hands are kneading at her lower back, making skin to skin contact. She leans back into his touch, an overwhelming feeling of comfort and familiarity washing over her.
"Where to next, love?" He says into her skin.
Caroline smiles.
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I am still in shock at the enthusiasm of my readers! Thank you so much for your response, guys! It's you who keeps me going. If you guys want me to continue this, I will. Submit ideas to where you want Klaus and Caroline to travel to! Anyway, last chapter's ending was sudden, so I tried to make this chapter a little more fluffy at the end to make up for it. Please remember English is not my first language!
Please leave a review!