HELLO EVERYONE! How are you guys? I'm great, thanks for asking, having one of those days when I'm high with an over-dose of Klaroline and in such a perfect mood!

OK, so me is ranting, that's no good. Before you read this chapter, you should know that the absolutely GORGEOUS cover was not made by me (God forbids) it was made by the amazing leetje (find her on Tumblr :D) and I'm super happy with it (DUH)!

Another thing you should know that's actually relevant to the story is that... No wait, that has to be in the author's note below otherwise it'll be spoilery.. so for now: Happy reading! Enjoy :D

Chapter 4: Remember the Time

'Sorry, daddy. I won't do it again' Johnny apologizes firmly.

'That's alright now. Just gather your things and we'll be heading back home' I tell him evenly despite the extreme adorableness of his apology, with his puppy blue eyes and serious tone.

'Can we talk about this at home, Bekah?' I ask turning my attention to my awfully-looking sister. Her hair is a mess and her eyes are swollen as though she spent the entire day crying 'We'll have better privacy, anyway' I tell her.

And she nods absently, as though something else is on her mind as her eyes stay glued to whatever Johnny is doing.

'Rebekah, sweetheart, I'm talking to you' I tilt my head at her, talking in a pitch higher tone.

'You know you are really good with him' she says suddenly, snapping her head back in my direction 'I never thought you would be good at parenting, but I was wrong'

I blink in surprise, my face taking a confused frown instantly. Why is she acting like something terrible has happened?

'Bekah, is everything OK?' I inquire again.

'Yes' she insists without looking me in the eye then darts out of the office 'Lets meet back at your place. I still need to talk to you' she says walking away.

I stare at the vacant space she walked through a second ago and sigh heavily. Knowing Rebekah too well, I am certain that there is something major that's happened but she is trying to hide it. The fact pushes a heavy feeling down on my chest as my mind storms with all these thoughts and questions of what it is exactly that ails my little sister's mind. With all my heart I hope it has nothing to do with any of my family members, for I have no interest at all in reconciling what has been broken for quite some time now, nor am I interested in hearing a lecture about their importance in my life.

'Daddy' Johnny suddenly interrupts my thoughts 'Why auntie Rebekah looks sad?' he asks, looking sad himself.

'I don't know' I frown playfully 'You think we should cheer her up?' I ask coming closer to him.

'Yes!' he squeals enthusiastically.

'What should we do, Johnny?' I wonder seriously, helping him slide his small hands through the straps of his backpack.

'Give her something she likes!' he suggests cheerfully.

'Like what?' I inquire.

'Umm' he squints his eyes thoughtfully. It takes mighty strength to keep myself from laughing at his expression 'Chocolate cake!' he claps 'She always eats chocolate cake, so she like it. Right, daddy?'

'Absolutely!' I make no attempt to hide my admiration 'You are such a clever young man!'

He giggles as I throw him over my shoulder and carry him outside the office.

'So we'll give her chocolate cake?' he asks.

'Yes' I answer him between chuckles.

'Tell her that it's my idea. So she would love me more than you' he says seriously.

I laugh 'Alright, alright. If that's what you want'

. . .

Rebekah is bickering with Stefan by the time Johnny and I arrive back home. Stefan is annoying the hell out of my sister by completely ignoring her and continuing to play some sort of a video game.

'Goddammit, Stefan, just turn the goddamn voice down!' Rebekah is saying.

'Forget it, Sexy Bex, who doesn't look so sexy today! I need the sound to get into it' he says trying to look beyond her blocking figure by tilting his head to the right. She smacks the crown of his head.

'Ouch!' he says looking up at her 'What was that for?!'

'You know what' she glares at him, folding her arms across her chest.

'Shit!' he mouths 'Now I'm dead!' he points to the screen, huffing at Rebekah.

'Hello, Stefan' I say with a hint of warning in my voice from the doorway 'I'm here with Johnny ' I emphasize.

'Oh!' he says, and they both turn to us as though just noting our presence 'Hey Johnny' he cheerfully greets.

'Mommy says that Uncle Stefan is bad because he swears a lot' Johnny says with a frown without acknowledging Stefan's existence but talking to his aunt instead. Rebekah and I chuckle.

'You've developed yourself quite the reputation' I say sarcastically.

'Whatever' Stefan shrugs.

'Why is he still here?' Rebekah chimes in, clearly irritated.

'Because, Bex' he starts turning back to the absurd video game he's been playing constantly for two months now 'My apartment was set on fire and I'm still waiting for it to be fixed. Would you rather have me roaming around the streets for shelter instead?' he gives her his puppy eyes.

'What do you know, his apartment is on fire and the first thing he does is save his X-Box' she mocks him.

'Priorities, Sexy Bex, priorities' he raises his eyebrows at her amusedly.

I roll my eyes 'Stop bickering. Stefan, please, turn the TV into something that is appropriate for kids' I order.

'Yes, sir' Stefan mocks, reluctantly switching the channel into a football game.

'Auntie Rebekah!' Johnny suddenly squeals 'We brought you chocolate cake because you are sad'

'Oh, you did?' Rebekah opens her mouth in playful shock.

'Yes! It was my idea' he grins at her.

'Thank you, thank you, thank you!' she squeals, jogging towards him and picking him whilst showering him with kisses.

We have dinner that includes a lot of vegetables after being scolded by Johnny's mom for the unhealthy dinners I have been giving him during the weekends he spends with me.

'You need to set a role-model' she said firmly the last time she came to pick him up 'And you are just trying to be the cool daddy! That's not how parenting work!' she spat.

Even though I rolled my eyes at her, I still admitted that most of the time, I have no clue what I'm doing.

'Why are there so many veggies in our food today?' Stefan complains as soon as he sits down on the table.

'You mean why there are so many veggies like every day?' I retort, giving Stefan a disapproving glance.

'You don't eat veggies every day, daddy' Johnny giggles 'Mommy told you to say that!'

I laugh nervously.

'Your kid is smarter than you, Nik' Stefan amusedly says.

'Yes, he is' I say, rubbing his curly-brown hair 'But if he doesn't eat his veggies he won't be having a piece of that chocolate cake'

'OK, daddy' he sighs and Rebekah bites her lip to stop from laughing.

'Good boy' I pat him on the shoulder.

I really have no clue what I'm doing!

I cut a small piece of cake for Johnny and shoe him to sit next to Stefan, giving the latter a warning glare about keeping his attitude in-check while Rebekah and I sit in the kitchen.

'What's going on, little sister?' I ask her as she sits on the counter, looking down at her hand instead of looking at me.

'Nik, do you trust me?' she asks seriously.

I gulp down 'Yes' I did not trust her before, though. I did not trust anyone before.

'Then will you help me without asking questions?' she says quietly.

'With what?' I inquire impatiently frowning and leaning on the counter beside her.

She takes a deep breath 'You know in your days of mischief how you knew all these people who could fake identities for you, so you'd never have to use your real one in your dirty work?' she asks, still not meeting my eyes.

'Yes' I answer her expectantly, not quite contented with the direction of the conversation.

'I need you to tell me how to contact them' she quickly request.

I flinch, momentarily shocked. Why would she need to contact such people? As far as I can tell my sister has never been involved in any kind of criminal act that could make her turn into such people's help.

'Why do you need that, Bekah?' I ask her cautiously 'Are you in trouble?'

'No!' she immediately answers, looking at me sternly. From the look in her eyes, I know that she is not lying 'I'm not, I promise' she assures me.

'Then why would you need them? Is Kol or Elijah in trouble?' I ask urgently despite my attempt to stay neutral.

'No' she mutters. A few moments of silence pass before she returns back into staring intently at her hands 'Look, I can't say anything about why I need them, but it is important, Nik. And I need you to trust me on this one'

I sigh heavily, looking at my clasped hand on the counter, too 'Assuming that I still know how to get to them, there's no way that I would send you there alone. I won't send you to them altogether, sister. They are filthy people I wouldn't want you to come as close as a mile from them.'

'But, Nik, it's very important, and it is not for me' she pleads.

'Bekah, I'm sorry but..' I start.

'Nik, please' she cuts me of, taking hold of my elbow gently and forcing me to look at her. The look in her eyes is one of extreme desperation to the point that they are forming tears, and that only makes my anxiety escalate. Rebekah is not one to beg unless she has no other way. She is not one to beg for herself, either 'I'm asking you to trust me on this one. I'll take someone with me. I won't go alone. But please, you have to trust that I'm doing it for someone who is very important to me and in desperate need of my help' she pleads.

I lick my upper lip 'Assuming that I do give you the way and you do have someone to accompany you to that forsaken place, you can't do anything, Bekah. These people take money, and plenty of it. Where else do you think I've squandered whatever mother used to give me?'

'I'll borrow some from Elijah' Rebekah immediately answers.

I shake my head frantically 'Can I at least come with you on whatever suicide mission you are planning?'

'I really can't have you knowing anything about this, Nik' she mutters, sighing 'I've been sworn to secrecy'

'By the person who needs the dirty work you'll do for them?' I ask disbelievingly. She has that extremely harmful habit of giving her heart to the wrong people. Repeatedly, she's been hurt and betrayed, but she goes back to forgiving whoever hurt her. And I happen to top the list of those who hurt her.

'The person doesn't know that I'm doing this for them' she answers, defending whoever it is that required her extreme attention 'But they need it desperately'

'I just wish I know who it is that you are talking about. They don't seem to be worth the trouble to me, Bekah' I squint at her, thoughtfully.

'They do. You would do it, too' she firmly confirms.

I would do it as well? Who could that possibly be and what kind of cause would make me go back to that unlikable past of mine? I can think of no one who is not Rebekah or Johnny who would earn that.

Unless …

'Bekah, have you spoken to Caroline?' I ask her when it finally hits me. Last night I told Rebekah about meeting Caroline and gave her Caroline's phone number. Rebekah seems to have had the worst morning today and by how eager she was to talk to Caroline I suspect that she waited five minutes after our phone call to talk to the latter.

Caroline looked distraught when I saw her. The pieces fall together and my heart starts uncontrollably pounding.

'No' her eyes narrow.

'You're lying' I accuse 'You have spoken to her and you are trying to hide it. And asking me for a way to contact those horrible people? Why, Rebekah? What's happened? What's happened to Caroline?' I urge her to talk, my tone going a pitch higher than intended, straightening my posture.

'There's nothing wrong with Caroline' she snaps 'I just needed your help, Nik, OK? Forget that I said anything' she almost yells, grabbing her purse and heading out of the small apartment.

'Bekah, wait' I jog after her into the hallway under Stefan's and Johnny's wondering gazes 'Wait' I catch up to her, grabbing her elbow and forcing her to twirl around and look at me 'If Caroline is in danger I need to know' I tell her quietly, not attempting to hide my anxiety the least bit, as my sharp eyes meet her angry ones.

'Why?' she snaps 'What gives you the right to know what's happened to her or be involved in any part of her life? According to what are you concerned about her? As the man who broke her heart? Excuse me, Nik, but you have no demand over her messed-up life the least bit, because you threw her into it'

I blink, swallowing a rising lump in my throat and loosening my grip on her elbow 'What are you talking about, sister? What messed-up life? How have I thrown her into it?' I ask apprehensively.

She shuts her eyes tightly, gluing her eyes to the floor and shaking my hand off.

'Tell me, sister. What have I done?' I urge her 'What is she involved in?'

She does not answer.

'Tell me!' I impatiently say through gritted teeth, grabbing her shoulders a little too harshly.

'I can't!' she shouts 'I can't tell you what's happened. She made me promise I wouldn't and I have let go of my promise and failed her once I will not do that again, Nik, so you can stop asking me'

I let go of her, huffing in frustration 'Will you ever tell me?' I ask calmly, masking the raging storm in my head.

'If I am ever allowed to' she quietly says.

'Alright' I tell her after a short moment of silence 'So she desperately needs your help?'

'Yes' she composedly answers.

'Then I will help you, Bekah, but you have to promise me that you will be one million percent careful and that you will not go alone'

'I promise' she quickly says, raising her hand up in a vowing manner.

I sigh, telling her what to do in detail.

. . .

'I can't get this goddamned paper done!' she huffs in frustration, throwing her glasses away as I walk into the small apartment.

Caroline looks absolutely adorable with her tied-up hair and baggy hoodie and sweatpants, looking like a woman on a mission.

'What's going on?' I ask her, smiling despite myself.

'I have this stupid history paper I have to do about the Spanish civil war but I can't seem to be able to write anything that's actually worth the typing!' she sulks, snapping her laptop shut a bit too harshly.

'I'm sure it's not that bad' I say encouragingly, moving the mess of papers away from beside her on the couch to take a seat.

'It is that bad!' she insists 'And your sister said she'd help me but decided that her frigging midterm was far more difficult and that she needed to go to the library and have a moment of peace to study'

I chuckle at her nerves.

'It's not funny' she frown at me 'I have to submit this within the next five hours or I'll lose 15% of my final grade.'

'I didn't know you were such a nerd' I tease.

She rolls her eyes 'I'm not. But I'm on a scholarship and can't pay a dime for my education if I lost it. So the least I can do is keep that scholarship' she explains hurriedly 'And why are you here anyway? You're distracting me. Go away' she shoes me pointing to the door.

'I came here to see Rebekah' I say a bit too smilingly. How come this girl always looks so incredibly breathtaking even when she is not trying? How come there's this unexplainable jerk of giddiness in my stomach whenever I lay eyes on her?

I shrug my thoughts away.

'But since she is not here...' I say, taking her laptop from her slowly 'and you need help, I will help you fix this paper of yours' I open the laptop and the draft immediately greets me.

'You would?' she asks, seeming genuinely surprised.

'Of course I would' I shrug indifferently, trying to focus my attention on the written words rather than on the beautiful blonde ball of sunshine sitting a tad too close to me.

'Thank you!' she claps cheerfully.

'Anytime, love' I smile at her, and she rewards me with the most stunning joyful smile I have ever seen. It is the first time that I get to compliment her smiling face from a close distance. Her face seems to glow as her smile breaks its way into it, her eyes sparkle beautifully as the spread grin shows a faint hint of dimples that makes her even more beautiful. I have the sudden urge to trace the outline of her rounded face, to trace my fingers over the pink inviting lips, the soft cheeks, then through those blonde curls. I would untie her hair; let it flow freely just like she flows, carefree and spontaneous, energetic and warm. I would remove the offensive clothing from her luscious body, and trace my fingers along the soft skin of her shoulders and down to her breasts, feel their soft weight in my palms and hear her moan, trail a line of kisses from the corner of those beautiful lips, down to her jawline, her throat and neck… I desire nothing more than that.

'What?' she raises an eyebrow at me and forces my mind out of its musings.

'Nothing' I clear my throat. Fortunately, I have managed to keep my eyes staring into hers rather than having them wander freely.

This is highly inappropriate. I scoff at the thought, as if that stopped me before.

I have to read the first line several times to fully comprehend it, still a little distracted by my own thoughts and rattled by their direction. The fact that she is intently staring at me makes it even harder to concentrate as the urge to grab her and kiss her grow harder to resist.

'How come you sound like someone from centuries ago?' she asks suddenly.

'Pardon?' I turn my attention back to her.

'You sound like someone who's from another time sometimes. You know like the way you talk' she points out frankly.

'Is this because of the accent? Because I get that a lot' I ask her, smirking 'I've been told it's hot'

'It's not about the accent' she rolls her eyes, but blushes.

'You think it's hot, too, don't you?' I tease

'I don't think it's hot' she insists firmly, but the spark of mischief in her eyes suggest otherwise.

I raise my eyebrows at her with a suggestive smile.

'Fine' she huffs 'It's Kind of hot'

'"Kind of" is the beginning' I whisper in that sweet tone that I know works on girls like magic.

She giggles despite her attempts to stop it and I can't help but laugh with her. What is it that makes her laugh so contagious?

'But seriously, you didn't answer my question' she says after the laughter's calmed 'I mean it's not just you, even Elijah sounds like Mr. Darcy. I don't know about Kol or Finn, but Bex can sound pretty sophisticated sometimes, too. Is it like a Mikealsons thing?' She asks, turning in her seat to fully face me and crossing her legs on the couch.

'You can say that it is' I answer neutrally 'that's mostly because when we were kids father used to make us sit in the library every day for three hours reading the finest pieces of literature, finest by his choice of course. So by the age of twelve we all knew too many words for our age and they stayed with us'

'Oh' is all she mouths for a second 'Rebekah never told me about that'

'That's probably because she was the laziest reader of us all and went out of her mind bored in those three hours' I say between chuckles.

'I'm so using this against her' she grins. Then her eyes go sad and I realize that she is fully aware of my family's history; of my history.

I drop my gaze back to the laptop, not wanting to see the pity in her eyes.

"Here comes the boy whose father never loved him then turned out to be an illegitimate son of a fling his mother has had and now he's the scar that will forever remind the husband of his wife's betrayal. Poor lad all he wanted was his father's approval but never received it" I always see it in the eyes of those who know of my past, in the eyes of my siblings, but I do not want to see it in Caroline's, too. The fact that Rebekah's told her the full story, or at least most of it, irritates me far more than I thought it would.

After a few seconds of silence, I get back to reading the first two lines of her paper.

'What's your major anyway? I mean have you ever been to college in the first place?' she suddenly asks.

'What's with the questions anyway?' I tease, raising an eyebrow at her.

'Just curious' she shrugs carelessly and I almost believe it.

I smirk 'Looks like someone is interested'

'Whatever' she rolls her eyes, scoffing 'Just read the goddamned shitty paper' she demands, averting her eyes to the blank TV screen.

'Well, I'd love to, sweetheart, but that seems to be impossible when you are so distracting' I say suggestively.

'Fine, then, I won't say a thing' unfortunately she misses the true meaning behind my sentence.

I just shake my head and resume reading the paper.

'I just hope you're of any real help' she sighs.

For the next fifteen minutes we sit in silence while she shuffles through books and papers and I try my best to keep my attention to the paper despite the more than occasional diversion I have every few minutes as I contemplate her focused expressions.

'I feel like pizza' she suddenly says.

'Impressive' I say, ironically making an astonished face 'You've made it through fifteen minutes without talking'

'Shut up' she scolds, making a face 'I'm starving'

'So am I' I tease, even though I am not.

'Then we'll order pizza' she says picking up the phone.

'But I feel like Chinese' I whine playfully.

She gives me a glare that says I'm getting on her nerves and that only makes me chuckle 'Order Chinese when you get home' she snaps as she dials the number and I laugh 'I'm glad I amuse you' she shakes her head, putting the receiver on her ear.

'Hello' she starts the order

'By the way that paper of yours is terrible' I whisper, leaning in closer to her, teasing her away from the order.

She shoots me a warning glance, but, dare I say, my closeness catches her off-guard that she slightly gulps down.

My smile widens 'It's catastrophic, horrifying, impossibly disastrous,' I keep saying even though I do not mean it, her paper is rather good as a matter of fact, but I am enjoying her annoyed expression far too much 'completely boring, a major slu…' but she cuts me off, placing a finger on my lips and the touch spreads a tingling sensation on them that I lose my smile immediately. The look on her face tells me that her movement was so spontaneous for her eyes lock with mine in a shocked, slightly embarrassed manner, and her conversation on the phone comes to a sudden halt.

For a very long second we stare at each other intently. I can almost guarantee that she is thinking of exactly what I'm thinking. And all I can think of is leaning in and kissing those lips that seem the only thing my mind could think of.

'Yes, sorry' Caroline resumes talking on the phone suddenly, the urging of the man on the other side forcing her to break eye contact and remove her finger from my lips. I miss the tingling sensation at once.

And I hate that pizza guy more than anything.

. . .

There's a storm raging on in my mind through the whole night. Johnny and Stefan keep throwing jokes and play with each other while I force a smile or two every once in a while when Johnny acknowledges me, doing my best to hide my distress from him, but knowing surely how much I'm failing.

I cannot seem to wrap my mind around the newly found, not-so-shocking information about Caroline. My heart pounds uncontrollably fast at the mere notion of her being in danger, a heavy feeling weighing me down with the thought of my helplessness when it comes to helping her. So I sit in a corner and ponder the possibilities, genuinely appreciating Stefan's gesture of keeping Johnny as busy as he possibly can.

By the end of the night, I reach no conclusion. I have no hint. I have no clue. And I want to tear my hair out. The only thing that keeps me hoping is Rebekah telling me at some point.

I force myself to snap out of my self-pity, extreme-anxiety condition and go to tuck in Johnny.

He settles down in the bed comfortably, his eyelids already heavy with sleep.

'Daddy' he starts, just as I am about to turn off the table bedside lamp and stride out of the room.

'Yes' I turn around to face his sad expression.

'Why are you sad?' he asks softly.

'I'm not sad' I give him my best smile 'Why would you think that, buddy?' I lightly ask him.

I'm doing such a terrible job at being a father, Goddammit!

'Because you fought with Auntie Rebekah and then you didn't play with me and Uncle Stefan' he says sadly, almost shyly.

I sigh, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

'I'm not sad, I promise. Your Auntie and I sometimes disagree, but we don't fight' I quietly tell him.

'Daddy, Auntie Rebekah doesn't love me more than you because of the chocolate cake, I promise' he pleads 'Please don't stop talking to her'

'Oh' I chuckle 'Johnny, this has nothing to do with you'

'So why did you fight with her?'

I shake my head, genuinely amused by his innocence 'Sometimes grown-ups have fights, but that doesn't mean that it's anyone's fault or that they will not talk to each other. They always fix things'

'So you'll say sorry?' he hopefully asks.

'Yes' I smile at him.

'Please, daddy, don't fight with Auntie Rebekah. It makes you sad and I don't like that' he pleads. My heart aches between my ribs.

'OK' I smile at him.

'I love you, daddy' he says.

'I love you, too, Little Johnny'

Johnny wraps his little arms around my neck, and I realize just then that he is the best thing that's ever happened to me; even if it means having to deal with an angry Tatia for the rest of my life.

Thanks for reading! Now to the note I wanted to write, you guys should just know that Nik wasn't always like that, like cute with Johnny and stuff. Something changed him. Another thing you guys should know is that we'll know why Rebekah made that bizarre request from her brother. And I promise, if you stick around with me, everything will unfold, Klaus's history with his father and siblings, his "mischief" days, the time when he became suicidal *see chapter three for reference in a sentence there*,what happened between him and Tatia, and most importantly his story with Caroline will be shown in DETAILS. I know things are foggy, but I've decided that questions are the best thing in the first 10 chapters (And because I'm mean and love keeping my readers confused for as long as possible)

If you have anything you wanna ask find me on tumblr (lostheart95). My ask box is always opened (and always empty). And if you wanna fangirl about Klaroline, don't even think for a second before messaging me!

Gosh, I'm on a roll today. I'll just go take a nap now!

Byes! Love you guys (Like seriously) :D