Klaus was carrying Caroline's bags up the stairs when he said, "Your room is ready for you."
"My room? Don't you mean our room?" Caroline asked with a smile.
Klaus turned to face her, confused at first and then he realised what she meant. He put the bags down for a moment and got closer to her, so close that she felt his breath on her.
"Are you sure, love?"
"I am. Might as well, don't you think?" She said as she turned to go to his room, leaving him stare at her for a moment before taking the bags and following her.
Inside the bedroom he put down the bags and they just stared at each other for the longest time.
Elijah was currently in his study when he heard loud thumps and bangs and things breaking. He flashed to the bar setting and poured himself a drink, sighing heavily.
As they were vampires with strong hearing they were used to hearing each other in their most intimate moments but for some reason this time it was harder to block it out than normally. He sat down at his desk as he listened mostly Caroline panting and moaning for the longest time, it seemed to him. On one hand he was happy for his brother, he finally had her, body and soul. On the other hand, he was so jealous of his brother. He wanted her, he wanted her with every cell in his body, and he didn't know which side would win in the end. He just listened them with the most pained expression on his face and the moment he heard her get her release, he broke the glass he was holding with his bare hand.
In the courtyard, Caroline was munching on an array of fruit and other breakfast food when Klaus came down the stairs to join her.
"So, which restaurant's missing a compelled chef?"
Klaus told her in confusion, "It's certainly a card I've played in the past, love, but I had no hand in this..."
"Hmm. Well, then, I guess we have Elijah to thank?"
"This wasn't my doing..." Elijah said as he came down the stairs.
"Then, where did this all come from?"
The silver lid on the platter suddenly began to rattle, which startled Caroline so much that she jumped in fright for a moment. Klaus looked uneasy and lifted the platter, which released two starlings that flew up toward the ceiling, causing the three to reflexively duck to avoid being hit. They all looked puzzled and nervous.
"What the hell was that?" Caroline asked.
Klaus reached for the invitation and opened it. It read "Dinner, Your Home, 8PM"
"An invitation from our mother."
Klaus and Elijah stared at each other in concern.
Later that day, Caroline and Klaus were in their bedroom, Klaus staring at the invitation.
"Your wretched mother and her disciples tried to put a carving knife through our…I mean Hope's heart, I will happily add to the body count."
Klaus wanted to correct her again, but before that Elijah came in, "You will do no such thing. Esther's a master in the art of possession. We know whose body she currently inhabits. We must decipher her intentions before she finds a new host."
"Well then we have only this afternoon to prepare," Klaus told him.
"Yes, that's right, brother."
Elijah left, not even looking at Caroline. Both Caroline and Klaus were confused by his behaviour toward Caroline.
"What's with the two of you?"
"As if know, I just returned and haven't had a chance to speak to him more than say 'Hello'.
"Okay, we'll get to the bottom of that soon but right now I have things to do."
"Wait, Klaus," She called for him as he turned to leave.
"Yes, love," he asked as he turned around.
"Why does she hate you so much, Klaus? She had six kids- it's not like she doesn't have the maternal gene."
"Seven, actually. And, I think at one time, she loved us very much."
After a pause, "One died before I was born, Freya."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Was all Caroline thought to say.
"You know, my siblings used to tell each other she didn't hate us- she hated herself for what we've become."
"What did you believe?"
"I don't know, I just wanted her dead."
The two stared at each other for a long moment. It seemed that they had reached a silent understanding going forward.
"Well, every good story needs a wicked witch. It will be all the more satisfying when we end her."
Klaus seemed to feel reassured by this and smiled at her appreciatively as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and giving her a little kiss on the lips.
"Thank you, love."
Just as Klaus and Elijah got together with Esther who still inhabited Cassie's body, Caroline went to see a local witch to get her to help them with a spell to know whose body Esther was going to jump in to next.
"Why are you in this fight? You are not a Mikaelson." Lenore asked her.
"I sort of am, In spirit."
"Oh, you're his girl."
"Yes. Can we do this spell or not?"
"So you must be really happy now, now that the child and her mother are out of the picture?" Lenore asked her.
"What? If you are insinuating-"
"I'm not insinuating anything. I see that your path is clear, you can be with him, everyway you want. I don't see any obstacles for you two in the near future. Unless you make them yourself."
"What is that suppose to mean?" Caroline asked, not liking where this conversation was heading.
"There's another man, his brother, much better option for you."
"Elijah?"
Lenore just gave her a side glance as she prepared for the spell.
"Elijah and I are just friends, he knows that."
"I'm not so sure, he's suffering and even the best of us break one time or the other."
"Look, witch, I have not led him on and by business with him is my business, okay? So how long does it take to cast that stupid spell?"
"Just a few minutes, darling."
At the compound Cassie/Esther and Klaus get into heated argument as she suddenly collapsed while Caroline watched as Lenore did the spell.
Caroline soon figured out that Esther was now in Lenore's body and is frightened to learn that.
Caroline's phone rang and looking at Esther who just nodded, she answered the phone. It was Klaus.
"I'm in Lenore's shop," she said as her voice trembled.
"That's enough!" Lenore told her.
"They are coming for me."
Lenore just smiled at her.
"What do you want from me, from us?" Caroline asked Esther.
"I want to offer you freedom. The gift of a new body. Freedom from being a vampire."
"Oh, boy, you have knocked on the wrong door. You don't know me, so you don't know that I love being a vampire, so does Elijah and so does Klaus for that matter."
"Niklaus yes, Elijah no,"
"What do you mean?"
"So little you know of my children. For a thousand years Elijah has been basically a babysitter for Niklaus, searching for a way to have him redeemed of his many sins."
After a pause she continued, "Now that Niklaus has found you and the fate tricked Elijah to love you too, he's, like I said, at the brink of a breaking point. I would suggest you three find another living arrangements."
"I don't understand-"
But she couldn't finish as Klaus came in, putting himself between Caroline and Esther for Caroline's protection.
"Caroline is free to go. I've spoken my piece, she knows why I'm here. I have come to heal our family, Niklaus."
Klaus turned to face Caroline and ordered her, "Go. Now."
Elijah, Klaus, and Caroline were in the courtyard, processing all that they had learned that evening from Esther.
"Besides the offer of rebirth, what else did she say?" Elijah asked Caroline.
"I don't know. She rambled a lot. She said some things-"
"What things?" Klaus asked her furiously, again expecting the worst.
"I would rather not talk about it, it's personal." Caroline said, staring at the ground.
"Well, I hope you're not thinking of taking her offer?"
Caroline, looking guilty, couldn't bring herself to look at either of them.
"CAROLINE! I'm talking to you!"
Finally, overwhelmed and feeling defensive, Caroline stood to her feet and stared Klaus in the eyes.
"What do you want me to say, Klaus? I miss Hope so much and I don't know when I will see her again. So, yeah, when your mother offers to wipe the slate clean, excuse me if I'm tempted."
With that, Caroline left them.
After she was gone, Elijah wondered out loud, "She has been getting rather attached to Hope. Do you think that makes her want to have children of her own?"
Klaus just sighed in frustration, not knowing what to think anymore as Caroline had just told them she was tempted to take Esther up on her offer.
So he went to have a drink on his balcony as he heard her in the shower. When she got out she had a towel wrapped around her as she was getting ready for bed, pulling linens off the bed one by one. She almost jumped as Klaus spun her around, unwrapped the towel off her body and pushed her a bit more roughly on the bed than usually.
"Klaus, what are you-"
But she was cut off by Klaus getting on top of her and starting to passionately kiss her to which she instantly responded to by doing the same. That brought a little smile on his lips as he whispered "You're mine and you are my daughter's mother now, so you don't have any options anymore. I told you that night, if you take her, she's yours and there's no going back." He then continued to kiss her with his hands going all over her body.
"As for those other things," He said as he turned her around making her kneel on the bed as he was going to enter her from behind, "you are going to tell me everything she told you, every detail. Got it?" he asked her as he entered her. She was so aroused at that moment, she forgot he wanted an actual answer.
"Got it, Caroline?" he asked raising the speed in which he thrusted into her.
"Yes, Klaus."
"Good girl."
It didn't take her long to her get release and then as Klaus got his, they would just lay there on the bed in each other's arms.
"So I'm listening." Klaus said as he too was panting.
Caroline didn't know how to say all of what she discussed with Lenore and then with Esther in Lenore's body but she knew she had to find the words and Klaus wouldn't understand her wanting to be quiet about Elijah.
"First, when Lenore was still herself, she told me that she saw something, like my path or something and first she told me that you and I, we have it great, no obstacles in the near future. Unless I or we make them ourselves."
"What does that suppose to mean?" Klaus asked looking at her and playing with her hair. Up until the last sentence it all sounded so good.
"My question exactly. Something about Elijah… being in love with me…being on the brink of some break point?"
Caroline studied Klaus' reaction. He didn't seem surprised.
"You know? It's true then?"
When Klaus didn't answer her, she hit him with a pillow she was able to get her hand on.
"KLAUS? I'm talking to you!" Caroline asked, mimicking his British accent the best she could.
"Yes, yes, he's in love with you." When he said it out loud, it became real for him. Not only that, but Elijah's obvious suffering living in the same household and hearing them every night.
"I think that someone should move out." Caroline said the same thing he was just thinking.
"It will be me."
That was Elijah, from another room, having raised his voice, so they would definitely hear him.
Caroline and Klaus both sighed as they hated the idea but something had to be done.
In the next few days, Klaus came up with an idea how to find and kill Mikael, so he tracked down Camille who happened to be close friends with Davina who was now controlling Mikael. He listened in on their phone conversation having heard enough to locate Davina, he wanted to leave but feeling bad about pushing her away the last time they met, he decided they should have a talk. So they sat down at a bar and Camille wanted to hear everything that was going on.
"My mother's intentions are far less savage than my father's. She'd prefer to place us all in new bodies, thereby reuniting our family in some bizarre coven of extremely dysfunctional witches."
"So, what, are you just gonna kill her, too?"
"If only I could. But, therein lies my predicament- if I kill her, she'll just jump into another body. If I somehow manage to thwart that nasty little inconvenience, she'll rejoin the bloody witch ancestors and haunt me from beyond. But, right now, Mikael has the white oak stake. He needs to die first."
"And how are you going to do that?"
"I've taken precautions."
He pulled out the Death Star, the dark object, Caroline and Marcel used to subdue Genevieve when she tried to sacrifice Hope.
"Omg, the Death Star, you were suppose to give that back to me!?" She tried to snatch it away.
"Everything in their own time, Cami."
He stood up to leave, as Cami tried to stop him.
"Klaus, wait. I get it. The hurt your parents have inflicted on you for a thousand years. I understand what you're fighting against. The real question is what are you fighting for?"
"What do you mean?"
"Ask me to dance?"
"You want to dance?"
"No. I... never want to dance. I'm actually really bad at it. But, I'm trying to make a point- there's more to life than the pain they made you feel. A cold beer, a slow song, a good friend... There are good things, Klaus. And you need to see that, too." She said as she took his hand only to release it immediately as she saw Caroline enter.
"Hi, Cami, what are you up to with my boyfriend."
Cami looked startled as she had obviously gotten a really wrong idea of that "date" with Klaus. Klaus just looked amused as he and Caroline exchanged glances.
After a pause, she continued, "Relax, Cami, I'm kidding. Actually I told him to go see his psychiatrist, so it's all good." She said as she put on her best Caroline smile.
"I see, I didn't know you were back in town?"
"I know, I just got here few days ago. But enough about me. Do you want to join us for a witch hunt."
"You are not going to hurt Davina, are you?"
"Relax, Camille, we just want Mikael and that white oak stake he stole from me. But you can come with us to check on her, if you want?" Klaus asked Camille.
"You know I'm busy and actually trust you enough to not lay a finger on her. But if you do, I swear to god, you are going to regret it."
"Fair enough." Klaus said and they parted ways.
In the car, Klaus told Caroline, " We have to think some other words to use, other than 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend', it makes me feel like I was your age. And you mean much more to me than just a girlfriend you know."
"I know. How about life partner?"
"Worse."
"Soulmate?"
"Better. But too…"
"Ceremonial?"
"For the lack of a better word."
After a pause. "How about 'husband' and 'wife'?" Klaus asked her.
"Klaus Mikaelson, are you asking me to marry you?" Caroline asked both in amusement and in surprise.
"What would you say if I did?" Klaus asked her, shooting a nervous look at her direction.
"I don't know, I have to think about it." She said smiling.
Klaus turned to look on to the road, smiling too.
Davina had a guy friend with her in the cabin, when they arrived but no Mikael in sight. When Davina got Cami's message "He knows where you are", she started a protection spell with the guy but couldn't get far when a staff is thrown in the window, breaking the spell and putting Davina out cold.
"Enough games, Davina! Send out my father! Let's finish this."
Mikael gets this other witch to release him and he and Klaus fight as Caroline looked on, sitting in the car, terrified of the possible negative outcome. She was the back up plan and she had to stay strong for it.
Plan B wasn't needed as Klaus was able to finally stab Mikael with the death star and subdue him.
"You can come out, love," He yelled as he rolled Mikael on his back.
Klaus loaded Mikael's body into the trunk of his SUV. He closed the trunk door and sighed before walking around the vehicle to go home. Inside the trunk, Mikael regained consciousness and fought the pain from the dagger. He groaned in agony as he reached into his chest and finally pulled the blade out.
TO BE CONTINUED :)