A/N- Hey, guys! OMG! Wow! I'm really glad that this story has gotten such a good response and you guys are as excited as I am for this story! Oh, and apparently it's Klaroline fanfiction weekend on tumblr so of course I had to update at least one of my fics and it happened to be this one. I hope you guys don't mind if I strayed a bit from canon on this little detail. You'll probably recognize it when you read it. Hope you like it :)

Katherine dropped her suitcase back on the ground when she heard Caroline turn on the shower. She wandered over to Caroline's side of the room hoping to find some form of entertainment. She examined Caroline's desk and selves –everything was in perfect order –it was spotless. "What a freak…? She's a neat freak too. That's just great." She began rifling through the small stacks of papers and books labeled with boring titles like "Applied Microbiology." Does Caroline read anything besides science? Katherine thought.

She began opening every drawer she could find until she paused when she realized that the drawer in Caroline's nightstand was locked. She yanked on the cool, metal handle once again, but it wouldn't budge. She checked all the other drawers, realizing that they were all open except for the one in her nightstand.

"What are you hiding, Caroline?" she muttered to herself.

Katherine turned her head back to the direction of the bathroom, double checking for Caroline to still be in the shower and scrambled over to the purse on Elena's bed. She dug through it until she found her lock pick. It was her best friend for the entire summer; there was no way in hell she would've survived this long without it.

She quickly returned to the nightstand and inserted the pick in the keyhole, only taking about less than a minute to unlock it. She slowly slid the drawer open and peered inside. Her eyes spotted a medium sized black box and before she even knew it, she had the box in her hands and lifted the top, revealing a stunning diamond bracelet that was almost blinding when she held it in the sunlight. "Holy shit… Caroline's got a sugar daddy." Either that or she stole it, but Caroline would never do something that dishonest, not without good reason.

She placed the box back inside and noticed there was nothing else in the drawer; she slid the drawer out all the way and saw nothing else, but the smooth polished, brown surface of the drawer. Was that it? That couldn't just be it; there had to be some other clue as to who gave Caroline that bracelet. Maybe it's why Caroline had that look of guilt on earlier. She was having a secret love affair with some wealthy bastard.

Katherine paced back and forth in front of the drawer for a moment before she stopped, staring at the drawer for a long minute. She shoved her hand all the way to the back until she found what she was looking for- a piece of paper taped to the top of the drawer.

"It seems that Caroline and I aren't that different after all," Katherine smirked to herself as she removed the paper from the night stand, seeing a rolled up piece of parchment paper in her hand. She furrowed her brows in confusion as she slowly unraveled the paper in her hand, which displayed a breathtaking painting of Caroline with a horse beside her. "Whoa." This wasn't just any old painting that someone was paid to paint, there was something about the portrayal of the blonde that convinced Katherine that this vampire was more than just the artist's subject… she was his muse.

Katherine's jaw nearly hit the floor when she saw who signed it. She probably spent over twenty minutes standing there with her mouth hanging open, reading the words over and over again.

Thank you for your honesty –Klaus.

"What?! Wha… huh? No… it's not the same… what the… motherfucker!" Katherine looked up as she scratched her head, still trying to wrap her head around the fact that the man that she had been running from for over half a millennium has a crush on Caroline Forbes. "This isn't real." Katherine briskly paced back and forth, staring down at the painting. "Klaus likes Caroline. The same Caroline who no one ever chose. The same annoying, insecure girl I killed in a hospital bed with a pillow… when the hell did that happen?"

Katherine abruptly stopped in her tracks when she heard Caroline turn off the shower. She scrambled to close all the drawers and stuffed the painting in her back pocket and jumped on the bed, pretending to chip at her nails.

Caroline walked in wearing nothing but a green towel with her wet, blonde hair wrapped in a loose bun. She stopped when she saw Katherine looking a bit too innocent, playing with her nails. "What have you been doing?"

Katherine slowly looked up to see the suspicious look on Caroline's countenance. "Unpacking."

"Your suitcase is still full." Caroline gestured to the messy clothes still inside the suitcase.

"Oh, yeah, about that… I'm taking a break." Katherine slipped off the bed and headed to the bathroom, facing Caroline the entire time to ensure that Caroline didn't get a peek at what she was hiding in her back pocket. "Feel free to organize my things while I take a shower though!" Katherine shut the door and Caroline groaned, unsure of why she was surprised that Katherine would actually try to get out of doing work.

Caroline firmly clung onto Katherine's arm as they made their way over to the raging frat house, ensuring that she doesn't pull a fast one on her by sneaking off. The place was crawling with drunk college kids, and blaring lights were emitting from the giant house.

"Well, at least there are some perks to college," Katherine admitted.

"Well, too bad you can't enjoy any of it because I haven't been invited in," Caroline reminded her.

"Wow. I almost forgot how much that sucked as a vampire… well, don't wait up!" Katherine began walking forward, but Caroline yanked her back.

"Are you forgetting about how I told you a vampire killed –"

"Your dead roommate. I heard you the first time. Do you remember when I told you that I –"

"Could take care of yourself. I know… but you're not always going to have a razor to defend yourself."

Katherine stared at her. "Caroline, if there's one thing that you take away from this experience, it's that sometimes physical strength means nothing if you're blindly punching your opponent in the dark. Sometimes your wits supersedes all the other irrelevant factors."

Caroline paused, scanning Katherine's face for a bit too long.

"What?"

Caroline shook her head. "Nothing… you just reminded me of someone." She began dragging Katherine in the direction of the frat house once again.

"Who?"

"It's no one you know."

"Wait. Who is it?"

"Caroline, this isn't funny anymore! Just tell me!" Katherine continued to pester Caroline with the same questions over and over again until they reached the front door of the frat house.

"Kat, seriously, this is not the time." Caroline stopped right in front of the door way. She waved her hand in the air when she peered inside the house, recognizing the face she was looking for. "Jesse!"

"Caroline!" He extended his arms in an attempt to give her a hug, but she abruptly squirmed out of his reach before he could touch her, knowing that if he did, he would try to bring her inside the house and she knew very well why that couldn't happen. Caroline scratched her head and feigned a smile, trying to brush it off. Jesse gave her a confused look. "Caroline, look, I know that I crossed a line the other day but if you don't wanna talk to me, you can just tell me. I'm a big boy."

"I'm not mad!" Caroline insisted.

"Then, what was this about?" He mimicked her earlier motions of trying to escape his embrace.

"Oh… yeah… I have a cold. It's pretty contagious. I don't wanna get you sick."

"So is she immune to it?" Jesse pointed to Katherine, who still had her arm locked with Caroline's. "You can touch her and not me?"

Caroline and Katherine looked down at their locked arms and looked back up at Jesse. Caroline opened her mouth as she tried to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"I'm sick too," Katherine stated. "I can't catch anything from her when I'm the one who gave it to her."

"What she said!" Caroline agreed.

Jesse looked back and forth at Katherine and Caroline, watching their unnatural smiles stay planted on their lips. "Yeah. Okay. Whatever, Caroline." He turned around and disappeared into the house.

"Oh, come on, Jesse! Don't be like that!" Caroline sighed.

"Well this has been fun, but I better get some food before they run out-"

"Don't even think about it."

Katherine held her hands up in surrender. "Excuse me for having an empty stomach."

"I'll get you something from the vending machines on the way back to the dorm."

"Um. Do I look like a gum ball machine that you can just feed any old rusty quarter? If I didn't drink animal blood when I was a vampire, what makes you think I would reduce myself to packaged poison as a human?"

"Oh, calm down. You wouldn't believe how many people would fight you for a bag of chips."

"Well, I'm not that desperate yet."

Katherine bitterly munched on the salty chips that Caroline had given her as they approached their dorm. "I need a drink."

"Okay, just give me a minute to open the door." Caroline shoved the key into the door and let it creak open. She tossed the key onto the table beside the doorway and slowly led Katherine into the pitch black room. She reached her hand over to the wall until she finally felt the light switch and flicked it on.

"Hello, Katherine."

Caroline and Katherine gasped as they were stricken with fear. Their eyes were glued to the figure who was casually sitting at the end of Katherine's bed. He looked like Stefan; sounded like Stefan but the cold look in his eyes told them that this wasn't Stefan.

Caroline instinctively stood in front of Katherine like a lioness protecting her cub. "Silas."

Silas jumped to his feet, causing Katherine and Caroline to flinch. "There's no need to be so jumpy, ladies. I come in peace… well, if you play your cards right, and I'm flattered that you remember me, Caroline. Even with this face that I'm sure you're not used to seeing on my body," he smirked. "I know that the last time we spoke you were probably a little disappointed to find out that the face I was wearing didn't belong to me. No hard feelings, right?"

"You're disgusting!" Caroline yelled.

"Ouch. Be careful; I'm a lot less forgiving when my feelings have been hurt," Silas warned. "But I'd be willing to let that one slide if you handover Katherine."

"Caroline, no!" Katherine screamed.

"Come on, sweetheart. What do you say?" Silas's sinister grin grew even wider.

Caroline gritted her teeth as her temper got the best of her and she swung her fist at Silas's giant smirk, hearing the collision echo throughout the room. Caroline's and Katherine's jaws dropped as they watched Silas recoil from the punch he received, blood dripping down his chin. He looked down at the blood on his hand and growled at the girls in fury. Katherine attempted to bolt for the door, but Silas slammed it shut just in the nick of time before she would've been crushed between the door and the door frame.

He leaned his head in so that they had a very uncomfortable proximity. "Neither of you are going anywhere."

Katherine gulped and rejoined Caroline back against the wall. "If you're going to kill me, then just do it already!"

"Um… how about no?" Silas countered.

"What?!" Katherine and Caroline asked in shock.

"What do you mean no?" Katherine complained.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to kill you now?" He offered.

"No, that's okay!" Katherine feigned a smile. "I just don't understand. I thought you wanted me so you could take the cure."

"Oh, I do."

"Oh. Well… why aren't you taking the cure yet?"

"That's a very good question. I'm so glad you asked," Silas answered much too gleefully. "Well, you see, if I were to take the cure right now, my ex, Qetsiyah, who goes by the name Tessa now, you know the crazy bitch who killed my love, Amara- she would be able to kill me before I could destroy the other side and that's a risk I'm not willing to take. Katherine, right now, what I want is to have you under my protection so that Qetsiyah can't use you as leverage against me.

"Hm…" Katherine pretended to be deep in thought. "So if I stick with you, I die and if I stick with Qetsiyah, I die… I'm gonna go with neither."

"Well, then, it's a good thing I'm not giving you a choice." He stepped forward and watched her take a step back behind Caroline. "Caroline, you've managed to gain two strikes in the last five minutes. I advise you to not go for a third. I'm going to give you a choice: you can stand down and hand Katherine to me and I won't have to bother you ever again. Make the wrong choice and I promise that I will have that hybrid's face tormenting you in ways you never even imagined… and by torment I don't mean it in the way you were thinking about him in the woods. Do you remember how much you feared him? Feared what he was capable of before everything changed? I can make you live out your greatest fears, Caroline. Do not test me."

Caroline clenched her fists as her mind returned to the memory of the woods. "Burn in hell." She used her vampire speed to break a leg from a nearby table and stab it straight through his heart.

Silas groaned in pain, grasping the wooden object now lodged into his heart. "You stupid bitch!"

Caroline wrapped an arm around Katherine's waist and pushed the window open. She was about to jump, but the sound of a gun unlocking its safety stopped her. Katherine and Caroline slowly looked up to see a terrified Jesse pointing a gun at them. "Jesse…?" Caroline breathed out.

"Such a shame. He had such a bright future ahead of him."

Katherine and Caroline spun around to face a fully healed Silas.

"What are you talking about?" Caroline questioned.

"Oh. Well, this is awkward," Silas chuckled.

"What is awkward?!"

"You're going to kill him."

"I'm what?"

"Three strikes and you're out, blondie. I want you to kill the college kid… now."

Caroline didn't know what was happening but she could feel the hunger rapidly creeping up her throat and her vampire face transforming. She couldn't stop it and she didn't want to. "Jesse, run!"

"No, Jesse. Stay where you are and make sure you put up a good fight. I'd like to see you use those wooden bullets on her," Silas ordered.

Katherine's eyes widened, looking back and forth between Caroline and Jesse. She knew that if Caroline died, she'd have no one to protect her.

"I'm sorry, Jesse." Caroline charged straight for the boy with the gun and the sound of a gunshot when off. Caroline screamed in agony as she fell to the floor, clutching her now bleeding ribs.

"Caroline!" Katherine screamed, feeling powerless because she was no longer a vampire.

"I'm sorry, Caroline!" Jesse sobbed, never letting the gun waver. He closed his eyes before letting the gun go off again and eliciting another cry of pain from the blonde. This time the bullet going into her thigh.

Katherine had had enough and reached for one of Caroline's heavy Biology textbooks behind her and chucked it at Jesse as if it were a Frisbee, knocking him straight off his feet. "Caroline!" Katherine rushed to Caroline, analyzing her injuries. The bullet wounds wouldn't kill her but that won't stop Silas from finishing her off himself. She felt a strong hand push her away from Caroline, causing her to knock her head against the wall. "What the hell?!"

"That wasn't fair," Silas told her. "You were supposed to let Caroline fight Jesse on her own whether she lives or dies. You do not get to intervene unless I say so. Do it again and Caroline won't be given the chance to fight for her life." Silas walked over to Caroline and looked down at her, gently nudging her injured ribs with his foot. "Get up."

"I can't," Caroline managed to say.

"I said get up!" He punted her in the ribs as if he were playing football, sending her across the room as she wailed in pain, trying to hold her ribs together.

"Caroline!" Katherine got to her feet but was sent back down to the floor by Silas.

"I've had enough of toying with her. Jesse!" Silas yelled. "Finish off the blonde so I can take the doppelganger with me."

"No! You can't kill her!" Katherine insisted.

"Actually, I can do whatever I want."

"You're wasting your time! Caroline's no threat to you!"

"Yes, but she needs a lesson on what happens when you don't show respect to your elders."

Jesse leisurely walked over to where Caroline was laying, watching her attempt to slowly drag her body away from him but he knew it wouldn't be enough.

"Jesse, don't. You don't wanna do this. I'm your friend, remember?" Caroline tried her best to stay strong.

"No!" Katherine tried to run to Caroline, but Silas wrapped his arms around Katherine's body.

Silas whispered into Katherine's ear. "If you need a shoulder to cry on, I suggest you look elsewhere." Katherine dug the heel of her pumps into Silas's foot, causing him to release a mixture of pain and laughter. "I endured two thousand years starving and dying of boredom. You'll have to do better than that."

Jesse kneeled down beside Caroline and pressed the nozzle of the gun against her heart, staring into her eyes. "I don't want to kill you, but I don't have a choice. I'm sorry."

"Me too." Caroline used all the strength within her to reach for the wooden stake she'd previously thrust into Silas's heart that he'd left on the floor. She closed her eyes as she rammed the wooden object against his neck, severing it from his head. Blood spewed across the room, covering every single person in the room with splattered blood from head to toe. Caroline opened her eyes to see Jesse's cold, dead eyes staring back at her. "Oh my God! Oh my God! I killed Jesse!"

Silas slowly clapped. "I have to say… I'm impressed. You killed that boy even with your injuries and even though he was a friend- I mean, he's no Stefan or Elena but he was innocent. I didn't think you had it in you."

"You're a monster!" Caroline cried.

"And the insults are back," Silas said sarcastically. "Why am I not surprised that you still haven't learned your lesson? Fine." He walked over to her and grabbed her by the throat, choking her against the wall.

Caroline could feel the life slipping out of her. She tried to pry his hands away from her throat but she could feel his psychic abilities draining and suppressing her vampire strength. He was too powerful.

"Caroline!" Katherine began running to the pair but Silas held up a hand, forcing her to stay put.

Silas released a satisfied smile as he watched Caroline slowly begin to fade. "So much effort just for one measly cure. Well, at least I know it's worth it." He abruptly cried out in pain, immediately releasing Caroline from his grip. She dropped to the ground gasping for air and rubbing her now sore neck. Silas looked down at the new wound in his arm- a wooden stake. Everyone in the room looked out the window to see Damon, Matt, and Jeremy standing outside. Silas narrowed his eyes at Jeremy who was holding a crossbow. "Jeremy Gilbert… when will you learn?" He wrapped his hand around the stake as he was about to rip it out, but it wouldn't budge. It was as if the stake was his own bones and it was a part of him. "Why won't this cursed stake come out?!"

"Take another look at the stake," Jeremy ordered.

Silas stared at Jeremy for a moment before looking back down at the stake- the hunters mark. The stake was enchanted. "What have you done?"

"That's a special stake," Jeremy informed him. "You see, because that stake was created just for you, the stake won't ever come out unless a hunter removes it. Oh, and you lose your psychic abilities as long as it stays inside your body."

"A hunter you say?" Silas replied calmly.

"Yeah."

Silas reached into the back of his pocket and pulled out a severed human hand. "Like this?"

"Oh my God!" Matt and Jeremy screamed.

Caroline opened her mouth to scream but her throat caught. She couldn't take her eyes off the human hand that was mere inches away from her.

Katherine's mouth hung open. For once in her life she was at a loss for words.

"Who keeps a human hand in their back pocket, you sick freak?!" Damon asked.

"I was saving it for a rainy day," Silas smirked and used the hand to remove the stake from his arm. "There. All better."

Everyone looked to Jeremy as he reloaded his crossbow with another stake but this time he missed. Silas had a glint in his eye before he had Matt and Damon under his control. "Tell me, hunter. What good is it being immune to my influence if I'm the least of your concerns? Kill the hunter."

Damon lunged for Jeremy but got hit in the shoulder with a stake instead, groaning in pain. Matt attacked Jeremy with his own crossbow but Jeremy dodged it and hit Matt over the head with his crossbow. Jeremy turned back to Silas and jumped into the dorm room; he and Silas slowly circled each other, intensity burning in their eyes. Jeremy pounced on Silas, wrestling him to the ground.

While Jeremy and Silas continued to quarrel with each other, Katherine swung Caroline's arm over her shoulder and began helping her up. "Can you stand?"

"I... I don't know," Caroline groaned.

"Well, you have to. We have to keep moving. If we stay, we'll both die. Come on!" Katherine carried Caroline across the room and flung the door open.

"Going somewhere?"

"Damon," Katherine gasped. He was still under Silas's mind control she was sure of it, which means she couldn't let him stand in her way. His eyes turned red as his fangs elongated and she pulled out the gun she had stolen from Jesse's corpse and shot Damon in the head, watching him fall backwards as he passed out. Katherine stepped over his body and ran as fast as she could while she carried Caroline out of the building.

Katherine finally approached Caroline's car in the dim parking lot and starting checking Caroline's pockets for the keys. Thank God she decided to park near the school because she'd probably collapse from exhaustion if she didn't. "Caroline, where are your car keys?"

"Table..."

"Table...? As in the coffee table? In the doom room?!"

"Just run. Save yourself," Caroline insisted.

Katherine weighed her options. If she let Caroline die and her suspicions about that painting she found in their room was right... then there were far worse things than death, but if she runs now she might have a slim chance at saving herself and living out her human life. Katherine's thought was interrupted by the sight of the sleek black convertible parked beside Caroline's car. If there was ever an escape route sent from above, this would be it. She pushed Caroline into the passenger seat and slipped in beside her and grabbed the wheel.

Katherine smirked to herself, thankful that the grueling summer she spent on the street wasn't for nothing. One of the tricks she'd picked up was learning how to hot wire a car. She found the two wires she was looking for and turned to Caroline. "Bite these wires." Caroline managed to draw her fangs and cut the wires. She rubbed the two wires together until she heard the engine rev. She put the gear shift in reverse and began backing out of the parking lot.

"Hey!"

Katherine and Caroline turned to see Silas running down the sidewalk, straight for the parking lot. "Shit!" Katherine pressed her foot on the gas, desperately needing to get as far from Silas as she could get. Katherine and Caroline's eyes widened when they saw Silas jump in front of the car and his body smashed against the windshield and tumbled to the ground, looking broken.

Katherine's and Caroline's hearts were violently pounding against their chests and they could feel the sweat sliding down their foreheads. "What the hell just happened?" Caroline screamed.

"We just ran over a two thousand year old immortal being who looks like my ex and it was awesome!" Katherine exclaimed.

Katherine and Caroline looked at each other for a moment before bursting into a fit of giggles.

"Ouch. It hurts to laugh." Caroline continued to grasp her ribs. "But I have to admit that was pretty awesome and when you got to shoot Damon in the head... I envy you for that."

"Well, I'll make you a deal: if you know anyone who can help us hide from Silas, I'll let you shoot Damon next time."

Caroline sighed. "I wish... trust me, if I knew anyone who was powerful enough to take on a two thousand year old psycho I would-"

Katherine furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at Caroline. "What? You know someone, don't you?"

Caroline gave her a concerned look. "Katherine, do you trust me?"

"No."

Caroline gave her a look that said 'seriously?'

"What?" Katherine shrugged. "You've been my roommate for like five minutes. If I'd trusted everyone I met that easily, I would not be standing before you today."

"Do you at least trust me enough to trust me with your life, knowing that your survival ensures my dead best friend's resurrection? Can you at least trust me on that?"

"Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?" Katherine responded as she continued to drive.

Caroline reached her hand out to the GPS in the car and began pressing buttons until the computerized voice asked for her destination.

"New Orleans, Louisiana."

Thanks for reading!

And yes I know that I was being extremely subtle with the Klaus mentions, but don't worry! Katherine will be all over that soon enough. Oh, it's on like Donkey Kong and it will probably get really funny really fast. Just a warning! I hoped you guys liked the Katoline badassery in this chapter! Let me know what you think! :)

New Orleans...