A/N: Wow! I am so impressed by the response to this continuation. Thank you to all who took the time to read and/or review. I appreciate it!
The following is the second part to what I currently have written. The third part will be coming soon, but I have to take some time to edit it. Beyond this, I have plenty of ideas stirring in my head. I just have to straighten them all out.
As usual please ignore any missed errors. I do my best to make all necessary corrections before I post, but sometimes things slip past me.
Please enjoy the chapter and I encourage all of you to leave me your comments and suggestions. They are great motivation.
"Perfect, I have something to show you," he said cryptically.
She looked at him suspiciously with an arched eyebrow.
"It doesn't involve body any of your body parts, does it?" she asked hesitantly, hoping he would catch her joke.
He laughed heartily as he stood from the table.
"Sorry to disappoint Caroline, but no, it doesn't. Please, just come with me," he requested, putting on his jacket.
Watching him as he prepared to leave, she debated whether or not to go. Maybe he was being sincere, but maybe he was trying to trick her. Could she really trust him? Or was this part of another one of his evil schemes?
"It's a surprise. I know you'll enjoy it. I promise. No expectations or ulterior motives," he told her.
She chewed her lip and considered his request some more.
"I don't think I should go," she said reluctantly.
At this point her uncertainty was an act. She was going to go with him, but she needed to make her lingering reservations appear legitimate.
"I didn't betray your trust last time did I?" he questioned her.
"No," she answered simply.
"You have nothing to worry about Caroline," he tried to reassure her.
She inhaled and exhaled sharply to signal that she had made a decision.
"Okay, fine; I'll go with you," she told him before standing up from her chair.
He quickly removed her jacket from the back of her chair before she could herself. He offered it to her, opening it at the collar so she could slide her arms inside.
She bit the inside of her cheek to hide her pleased reaction to his old world chivalrous behaviour.
As she followed behind him, she took the opportunity to text Damon and tell him the progress she had made, quickly deleting the text and others from her outbox so that Klaus wouldn't see them if he decided to snoop through her phone.
Once outside, she was pleased to see that the sun had since come out and had warmed the brisk temperature that had plagued Mystic Falls earlier in the day. With any luck, the remaining remnants of snow would be gone.
She guessed which car belonged to him before he had even walked towards it. It was a shiny black Bentley coupe, with flashy chrome rims. Of course, it was the most expensive looking car in the row. It looked so out of place.
"Nice car," she said as she stepped from the curb towards the passenger door.
He seemed flattered by her compliment and that amused her. Who knew that a centuries old hybrid reveled in a traditional human male obsession like cars?
"It was just shipped to me," he informed her.
She didn't say anything to him in response, holding back the urge to spew out some snide remark about how he had probably compelled himself a free car...an expensive one at that.
He approached her from behind and she tensed anxiously. However, his action was purely innocent, as he opened the door for her, beating her hand to the opportunity.
She glared at him and pushed his hand aside to open the passenger door the rest of the way herself.
"Sorry, old habits die hard," he smirked, as he left her for the driver's side.
Again, she had to hide her pleased expression as she climbed inside the car. His manners seemed so out of character for him; Klaus, the vicious hybrid. Perhaps he was making up for the other night. Either way, his peculiar habits amused her.
In typical male fashion, an obvious effort to show off, he reversed out of the parking space dangerously fast, and then sped forward down the street and to the outskirts of town.
The ride was quiet, but interesting. At one point she had to slouch in her seat as they drove past her mom's police cruiser.
He hadn't said anything to her, but she could tell he was entertained by her actions.
As the drive continued, she quickly realized that he was taking her to his house. House was an understatement. Mansion would be a more appropriate description.
The house didn't appear any smaller in the daytime. She was still in awe of it. Her house could probably fit inside of his several times over.
Although impressed, she couldn't help but scowl at another compelled luxury of his.
The fact that he had taken her to his house piqued her curiosity. What could he possibly have to show her here?
When they pulled into the garage, she was not surprised to see several other vehicles of different makes parked inside.
She scoffed.
"Do you really need all these cars?" she wondered aloud.
"They all weren't intended for me," he said in his defense. "My brothers and sister were going to need something to drive around Mystic Falls in. They're now mine by default since Bekah prefers to ride with Matt; Kol and Elijah are gone; and Finn is dead," he explained, with a faint smile, signalling to her that she could take his comments lightheartedly.
"I sell you one if you're interested," he offered as they climbed out of the car.
She balked at his comment as she admired the row of cars.
"I refuse to pay you for something that you compelled for yourself for free."
"I'm joking," he said from over his shoulder as she followed him towards an interior entry to the house.
"I know," she quipped.
She had grown quite fond of all his jokes.
He led her inside to what appeared to be a rich person's version of a mud room. It was larger than her bedroom and tastefully coloured with large marble tile, intricate crown moulding, bright lighting, and a series of closets and handcrafted shelving which ran along two of the room's walls for storage.
As he walked towards another door that likely lead to more of his gigantic house, she stopped to remove her boots out of polite instinct. It seemed like a crime to drag her boots across such an expensive floor.
He turned around and chuckled slightly.
"No need to remove your boots, love. We're going outside anyways. You can leave your bag here," he informed her.
She stood from her slouched over position and continued to follow him, curious to know what exactly was outside.
They walked down a long hallway that opened into several other rooms. The walls were lined with paintings and drawings, but she had no time to stop to examine them.
He opened a set of terrace doors, allowing her to step outside first.
She assumed that what she was looking at was considered his backyard.
They were standing on a long covered concrete terrace that overlooked the expansive countryside and forested areas that encircled Mystic Falls proper.
She moved towards the black iron railing and looked down.
The basement of the house was a walk-out to a patio and swimming pool from what she could tell from the snow covering it.
"Is this what you wanted to show me?" she asked, somewhat disappointed, but still impressed by the view nonetheless.
"Not quite," he said, moving beside her. "Come with me," he requested.
He turned towards the large set of stairs that descended alongside the house in an 'L' shape to ground level. He guided them to the left; taking her towards an area that had been hidden from her earlier view from the terrace due to the structure of the house.
As she followed him over the grounds of his estate, she began to grow more anxious.
Perhaps he was deceiving her. Maybe this really was a trap. Why was he walking her to the middle of nowhere? She began to perspire as she considered a few dark possibilities. Either he was planning to hide her out here and use her for a ransom for the stake, or he was going to kill her out here where no one would hear her screams.
"Where are we going?" she complained from behind him in an attempt to get some answers.
"You'll see once we get over this hill," he told her.
Once atop the hill, Caroline could see a medium sized barn, fenced in by weathered wood posts.
Great, she thought. He was probably using this old barn on the premises as a torture chamber for all his unfortunate victims.
Although that thought had crossed her mind a few times as they trekked down the hill towards the building she continued to follow him. In part this was due to the fact that she knew running from him was of no use and that she would need a more creative way to escape. It was also due to the fact that the foolish half of her desperately wanted to believe in his word from earlier - that he had no ulterior motives.
Once they got to the fence line, he opened one of the large metal gates and let her walk through. As he followed behind, she noted that he had left the gates open.
She went for the smaller side entrance to the barn, while he went for the larger door.
Getting closer to the structure, the familiar scent of farm swept under her nose - an interesting combination of animal scent, manure, and grasses. Ironically, this smell began to calm her nerves.
She jumped with the rumble from the large door being slid open by Klaus.
Peering into the building cautiously, she was relieved to see what she saw; farm animals, namely horses.
She mentally slapped herself for expecting to see anything other than farm related things.
"You seem surprised?" Klaus wondered.
She laughed at herself.
"I wasn't expecting this," she admitted honestly.
"What exactly were you expecting to see in a barn?" he asked bemusedly.
She hesitated about whether be truthful with him or not, but decided there was probably no harm in it.
"Well I wasn't sure what I was going to find in a barn on your property," she confessed.
He nodded in understanding, a small grin playing across his lips.
"I don't always fit neatly into your stereotypes of me do I Caroline?" he pointed out as he walked further into the barn.
"I figured that since you like horses, you may want to go riding?" he proposed. "I haven't had much of a chance to as of late," he added.
Again, she fought hard to suppress a smile. This was like one of those dream date scenes you watched in a Lifetime movie. These didn't happen in real life. The only thing wrong with this picture was that it was Klaus who was offering to take her, not Tyler.
"Have you ever ridden a horse?" he asked, as he walked towards the stable.
"No...well sort of..." she explained. "I took lessons when I was a little girl."
"Good, then you sort of know the basics," he replied.
As she approached the horses he was with – one black and the other brown – and took in how big they were, she started to hesitate.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea," she doubted.
"Why not?" he challenged.
She got closer the horses and extended a hand to the black one while Klaus went for the equipment needed to ride them.
"Because I haven't done this since I was like eight years old," she revealed.
He laughed at her as he entered the stable.
"You're also a vampire now Caroline. You have no need to be frightened of a horse," he laughed.
She knew he had a point, but it didn't quell her apprehension.
"You can take a seat on the bench if you'd like. It's going to take me a few minutes to tack up the horses," he explained.
Nodding, she took a seat on the wooden bench across from the stable.
She watched him in silence for a few minutes as he tied up the brown horse and began to groom it. Part of her wanted to record this with her cell phone and send it to her friends. They would be astonished to know that Klaus knew how to do something beyond killing.
"Good girl, Lady," he cooed to the horse as he ran one of the brushes along her coat.
Caroline found herself laughing under her breath.
"Your horse's name is Lady?" she asked mockingly.
He looked at her with an unimpressed expression.
"No Caroline. Rebekah's horse is named Lady. The horse beside Lady is mine. His name is Lightning," he corrected.
She was still smirking.
"What's so funny now?" he asked defensively.
"They're just cute names," she said. "I didn't think the original family was capable of cute," she joked.
He scoffed at her.
"Shut up," he said with a slight hint of amusement in his voice.
"So why did you stop taking riding lessons?" he asked in an obvious attempt to turn the subject away from her challenge to his masculinity
"I stopped when my parents divorced. My mom didn't have the income she has now to afford lessons. Child support didn't pay a whole lot either and she was way too prideful to ask my dad or anyone else for extra money," she explained to him. "And by the time she got promoted, I was more interested in boys than horses," she quipped.
He laughed, and she couldn't help but feel impressed that she was able to make him do so. His laugh was genuine; not the result of one of his sadistic plans coming together.
"That's too bad," he said sympathetically, turning serious.
"That I became interested in boys?" she smirked.
"You know what I meant," he said, as he began to groom the other horse.
She shrugged.
"I still participated in a bunch of other activities, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just hard listening to Elena brag about her lessons every week," she recalled.
"I sense some underlying tension between you and Elena," he observed.
She shook her head.
"Not really. Sometimes though it just seems like everything is about Elena," she admitted.
"I guess my hybrid cause doesn't help," he concluded.
She sighed, recalling that other side to Klaus that she had tried to shove to the back of her mind.
"Well at least you haven't fallen in love with her yet," she laughed, rolling her eyes.
He smirked as he started to equip the horses for riding.
"Don't worry, Caroline. I don't make the same mistake twice sweetheart, unlike two brothers I know," he stated.
She quickly recalled a conversation Elena had with her about Klaus and Elijah and their relationship with the originator of the Petrova line.
"I assume you're referring to Tatia?" she questioned.
He stopped saddling his horse for a moment, signalling to her that she had struck a chord with him.
"I see someone mentioned her to you," he said, backwardly affirming her assumption. "The horses are ready," he said quickly, so that she wouldn't be able to pry anymore.
She wasn't about to ask him at the moment, but she put the subject of Tatia to the back of her mind to be brought up later.
He handed her the reins.
"Here, you can take Lady out," he instructed.
She held the reins loosely and looked at him with uncertainty.
"As long as you're comfortable, she'll be comfortable," he coached her.
She smiled and then smiled at the horse, who's coat she began to pet. Tugging on the reins slightly, Lady stepped forward, and Caroline sighed in relief. She walked Lady outside and waited for Klaus; there was no way she was getting on the horse by herself.
"Need some help?" Klaus offered.
"Obviously," she said, annoyed that she needed anything from him.
"You want to mount her from the left side," he instructed her, as he closed in behind. "Hold the reins and some of her mane with your left hand."Then you're going to bend your left leg up and put your foot into the stirrup and hop up onto her," he finished.
"I think I remember," she said, starting to follow his instructions.
To her surprise she felt his hand rest gently on her lower back as she placed her foot in the stirrup. She quickly glanced to the side, letting him know she was aware of his actions, before pulling herself up and onto the horse successfully.
She was proud of herself for remembering what she had learned so long ago. She was even able to make Lady stop after she flinched when she climbed on.
Of course, Klaus climbed onto his horse with ease, completely showing her up.
"We'll go slow," Klaus assured her, winking at her quickly, as he tapped his legs and feet against his horse, who then proceeded to move past Caroline.
She frowned, but noted the possible dual meaning of his words and the butterflies that had emerged in her stomach as a result.
Luckily, she got Lady to move, and she seemed keen to follow Klaus's horse.
They rode slow, as Klaus had promised, to a treed area equipped with a walking trail.
Both of them were quiet. She didn't know quite what to say to him, and she suspected he faced the similar predicament.
"So you never did tell me about Tatia..." Caroline started, testing the waters to see how far she could get with him on the topic.
"I'd rather not talk about her," he replied, as he slowed down to ride directly beside her.
"I talked to you about Tyler," she reminded him. "It's not a big deal. I'm just curious about her," she added.
"Why?" he asked, looking at her with a serious expression.
She shrugged.
"I just want to know what it was about her that secured the affections of the 'all-powerful original hybrid,'" she conceded with a smirk.
He laughed at her comment, seemingly embarrassed.
"I was human at the time," he interjected.
"I still want to know," she argued.
Things fell silent again for a few moments, but she believed he was actually seriously considering her question.
"She was naturally beautiful..." he said, before pausing again. "...she had sparkling eyes and a radiant smile, coupled with an infectious laugh; that's about the only thing the Petrova doppelgangers share in common with her," he told her.
The continued to ride through the wooded area, and she remained silent, hoping Klaus would expand upon his thoughts on his own.
"She had this insatiable curiosity about life. She loved adventure...dancing...and she was a skilled hunter, even though women in the village weren't traditionally brought up in that role. We could talk for hours. She was the only person - perhaps besides Rebekah and Elijah - who accepted me," he said thoughtfully.
Caroline noted the almost sorrowful expression on his face.
"It must be weird seeing Katherine and Elena then..." she noted, trying to lighten their discussion.
"Katherine and Elena could never be Tatia," he explained.
"Did you love her?" Caroline blurted out, realizing only after she had asked, how personal the question was, and who she was asking.
He looked off in the distance, away from Caroline, and then he nodded.
"I suppose I did. Elijah did too. But any love I had for her ended when her betrayal began," he revealed.
"What do you mean?" she pressed, hoping he would relent and answer her questions.
"She couldn't choose between Elijah and me. Ultimately it was her blood that turned my family into vampires and prevented me from accessing my werewolf side. Any love I may have had for her turned into my greatest weakness," he told her. "Never again," he said sternly, as he sped up on his horse, moving ahead of her.
She frowned and tried to catch up to him. There was obviously more detail to his relationship with Tatia than he was willing to provide, but she knew to leave it alone for now.
"I didn't mean to make you upset," she said with a raised voice, hoping he'd hear her as her horse started to move faster.
When the horse began to move at an uncomfortable speed for her, she panicked. She tried every action with the reins she could remember from her early riding lessons, but nothing worked.
They soon passed Klaus on his horse, and against her better judgment she made no signal to him that would suggest her unease and fear. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction.
"Caroline!" he shouted at her as her horse broke into a full gallop.
"Slow down! I'm not upset," he yelled.
His horse could be heard speeding up in the distance behind her. He obviously thought that she was riding away from him out of anger.
She tried a few more times to get the horse to stop, deciding that she would either jump, or call for help if they didn't work.
"I can't get her to stop!" she shouted.
"Tighten the reins slowly Caroline!" he told her, his voice growing louder as he neared her.
She tried again, but there was barely a decrease in speed.
At this point, Klaus had finally caught up to her.
"Don't panic Caroline. Try again," he instructed.
Glancing at him with uncertainty in her eyes, she applied his instructions one more time with better results.
They slowed considerably, and Klaus had to slow the speed of his own horse to stay with her.
"Good, one more time," he told her.
She tried her best to hold her hands still in order to manipulate the reins the way she had before. When the horse came to a complete stop, she only realized then how badly her whole body was trembling.
"Toss me the reins," Klaus asked, as he slowed to be beside her.
At first she didn't like the idea of giving up complete control, but she knew she really had no control over her horse to begin with. Besides, her hands were now shaking so erratically she probably couldn't have held them steady anymore if she tried.
He held out his hand, and she tossed the reins in his direction, hoping he would catch them.
"We'll take our time heading back to the house," he assured her.
She wasn't having it.
"No, I need to get off the horse now," she panicked.
Despite her initial fear of getting on the horse, her present fear of the horse helped her to dismount her with ease.
She jumped down and stepped back from the animal.
"Caroline, come on," Klaus sighed, as he jumped off his own horse.
Before he could pay her any attention, he quickly tied both of the horses to a nearby tree.
"You're shaking," he said surprised, as he approached her.
He brushed his hands against her shoulders and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She let him do it. Her excuse was her state of surprise and desire to be comforted.
"Calm down; catch your breath," he urged her. "It's okay now," he tried to soothe her as his eyes locked with hers and his thumb gently stroked her cheek.
Once she was able to relax a bit more, she realized quickly how physically close they had become. She also realized that she was no longer shaking or afraid.
She scoffed at herself and pulled away from his embrace.
"You must think I'm pathetic," she laughed out of pity for herself as she turned away from him, desperately trying to ignore their connection. "I'm supposed to be a vampire and here I am having a mini-break down over a horse."
"Of course I don't. You panicked and lost control. We may be vampires - or hybrids but we're not entirely invincible. We can still get hurt even if we heal faster. We're not immune to baser human instincts Caroline," he assured her. "Besides, when you're a new vampire you sometimes forget your strength," he added.
Turning back around towards him, she smiled appreciatively.
"It was my fault anyways. I reacted impulsively to your comments about Tatia," he explained. "I shouldn't have ridden ahead and left you by yourself. I'm sorry," he told her.
She sneered at his admission.
"Did Klaus actually just apologize to me?" she asked no one in particular with a clear sign of amusement on her face.
An embarrassed grin appeared on his face as his cheeks seemed to flush.
"I may be cold-hearted, but I do possess a rudimentary understanding of manners," he argued. "Something you obviously do not grasp," he smirked, trying purposely to get under her skin.
"Of course I do," she balked.
He shook his head.
"You never ignore or call into question someone's apology; you acknowledge it," he mused as he walked over to where the horses were.
She arched her eyebrow and gave him another eye roll.
"Shut up!" she whined, deciding to get him back with a poor excuse for a snowball that she was able to put together haphazardly.
Luckily for her, the warm temperatures had created the perfect conditions for snowball making. She threw the snowball as his attention was turned from her, and she crossed her fingers that her aim wouldn't betray her.
He turned just as the ball of snow was headed his way, but it was too late, and the snow scattered all over his shoulder as it made contact with him.
She burst into laughter at his initial confused expression.
When he noticed her amusement and the remnants of snow on her hands, his attitude turned vengeful.
"Very funny Caroline," he said bitterly, as he stepped towards her.
He seemed serious, and quickly she stopped laughing.
As he stalked towards her threateningly, she quickly tried to think of something to say to calm him down.
"Klaus...I-I...I didn't mean...it was a..."
She was interrupted by a large pile of snow that swiped her cheek and ended up in her hair.
This was also accompanied by a loud bellowing laughter from Klaus.
"Not fair! You tricked me!" she complained, as she reached down hurriedly to build another snowball to defend herself with.
Before she had a chance to stand up, another snowball hit her and splintered atop her head.
"You're the one who needlessly attacked me first," he chaffed.
Their short conversation had enabled her to make two snowballs. She threw the first, but he managed to dodge it as he drew closer to her. The second one hit his leg.
She exhaled loudly in frustration as she walked backwards, away from him.
"Your aim is pitiful," he laughed, bending down for more snow.
"Well if you'd stop moving, it would be fine," she retorted, also reaching down for more snow.
She was too slow, however, and a pile of snow hit her neck hard, sprinkling freezing flakes underneath her clothing.
Taking this opportunity to deceive him, she winced in pain and fell to the ground. Lying on her back, she held her neck with her hand and tried her best to fake severe discomfort.
"Ow!" she cried.
Letting his emotions take over his rationality, he rushed down on his knees to her level.
The concern on his face was obvious.
"Caroline..."
He didn't even see it coming. As he tried to examine her neck, her free hand was busy preparing revenge.
Before he could say or do anything else, she broke a decent sized snowball over his head, far back enough that the leftover snow would fall in between his neck and the collar of his jacket.
"Gotcha!" she proclaimed proudly, using the element of surprise and her vampire strength to push him away from her and onto his back so she could stand up.
Despite the look of pure anger on his face, she noted his laughter.
"Not quite," he replied, as he pulled her ankle out from under her.
She screamed playfully as she conveniently fell over top of him.
His hands caught her hips to help break her fall, while her own hands rested on either side of his face to hold herself above him.
Both of them were laughing uncontrollably, her from surprise, and him at her.
For a few moments she had forgotten who she was, who he was, and why they were there together. She was having fun; something she had been missing out on a lot since the vampire drama in Mystic Falls began. Ironically, it was the most dangerous hybrid and the cause of most of that vampire drama who had shown her that fun twice in the last several days.
As their laughter was replaced by sharp breaths from their excitement, reality began to sink back in for the both of them.
The mood suddenly shifted from one of lighthearted fun to thick attraction and uncertainty as the feel of his body underneath hers and the scent of his cologne ultimately led her to thoughts of their previous night together.
She could tell that his mind was also elsewhere as he connected his eyes with her own. Her vampire instincts could sense his arousal. Although she hoped she was being discreet, she knew that if she could pick up on his, then he could most definitely sense hers.
His eyes were hypnotic and his pouty lips were begging to be kissed, but she suppressed the urge to give in. That was until he took the initiative and kissed her instead.
It seemed like the logical conclusion to their current situation, but she was surprised nonetheless when she felt his lips brush against hers.
Her conscience told her to pull away, but her more primal urges begged her to continue.
She realized in that moment that ever since she locked eyes again with him at the Grill earlier, that this is what she had wanted. She wanted him to kiss her and to feel his body against her own. She scolded herself for it, but her feelings couldn't be helped.
They had been dancing around this the entire day so far. This was the awkward tension that had settled in between them during their conversation. Now, as their lips touched frantically, they were confronting it.
The confrontation scared her and excited her all at once.
His hands entangled themselves in her hair, bringing her down closer to him; their lips never wavering from each other's.
He ran his tongue shyly along her lips, cajoling her to part them.
Longing to forget her hesitations she deepened the kiss.
In this moment, there was nothing she wanted more desperately than him, however wrong it was.
Their kiss, however, was interrupted by snorts from one of the horses, and that was enough to bring her back down from her trance.
Her eyes opened and her conscience gained dominance. She needed to stop this.
She stood up quickly, brushing herself off, leaving him lying in the snow somewhat perplexed.
"We should probably head back now," she suggested. "It's going to start getting dark soon," she added.
Rising onto his feet, he nodded, looking just as bewildered as she.
He seemed about to say something, before he accepting her conclusion.
"You're probably right," he decided.
A/N: So I just wanted to leave a note at the end to clarify a few things without spoiling this entire chapter.
- the characters may seem a little OOC, but in my defense, given that these events never
took place in between the episodes I mentioned in the last chapter, I think I'm entitled to
a few creative liberties. Like I said, use your imaginations. Given what has happened to my
versions of Klaus and Caroline so far, their actions are not entirely unreasonable.
- if things seem too fluffy, please don't be fooled, and know that this is only temporary.
- also, I do not ride horses frequently, nor do I own them, so if any of my terminology or descriptions were incorrect, again, please forgive me.
- lastly, if you have any more question regarding this chapter (or others) or would likefurther insight into the character's actions, feelings etc. Please feel free to PM me!