A/N: I apologize for the delayed update. This has been an insanely busy week for me.

I also apologize since this chapter isn't as exciting as the last. I divided this chapter into two since I get the impression that longer chapters tend to discourage readers. However, as a result, you'll be happy to know that the next update should follow shortly...as in Sunday or Monday.

I appreciate all the reviews and attention this fic has received. Please continue to read and review me with your comments, questions, and concerns, they are truly a great motivator!

As usual, please disregard any unintentional errors!

Thanks and enjoy!

Both she and Rebekah looked on to the original hybrid in horror.

He stood in the doorway of the house now holding Matt tightly and threateningly by the neck. Matt looked terrified but was trying desperately to maintain a brave face.

She felt a surge of guilt hit her when she considered what Matt had been through; what his family put him through; what his friends put him through; and specifically, what she had put him through.

"Perfect timing sister," Klaus growled. "It seems like I'm going to get the opportunity to stay true to my word after all," he concluded, staring directly at her. "I can't have the lot of you thinking I'm all talk."

Instantly she realized that he was referring to his earlier promise made at the Grill to kill one of them if he did not receive the stake by twelve thirty.

He was acting out now to compensate, and Matt was about to suffer the deadly consequences.

Why had he not come after her instead? She had already been here.

She could feel more tears building in her eyes as her mind hurriedly considered a way to free Matt.

"Nik, you're overreacting. Give it another day; we'll find the stake," Rebekah reasoned calmly.

Although Rebekah was equally skilled at hiding her emotions when it was called for, Caroline could sense her underlying panic.

Rebekah was concerned about Matt.

"Sister, stay out of this," he commanded.

Rebekah looked over at her, as if urging her to try her luck with the angered hybrid.

She didn't know quite what to say to get him to stop. Clearly she wasn't any good at making him agreeable. Her words had caused him to slam both her and his fist into a bookcase tonight.

"Klaus..." she said, doing her best to hold back the urge to cry.

He turned almost mechanistically towards her, Matt still under his grip.

"Klaus, please. Please let him go," she begged. "I'll do anything. Kill me instead!" she pleaded.

He glared at her in disbelief.

"You would offer your life for this worthless human?" he spat, looking between her and Matt.

She nodded as she tried to focus on him; her eyes going blurry from the tears that were eager to fall.

"He's my friend," she noted.

He scoffed.

"Your offer is tempting, however, I believe this is the lad who killed my poor brother Finn; am I right?" he asked, looking Matt directly in the eye.

Rebekah's facial expression dropped.

"Am I right?" he asked again, squeezing Matt's neck a little harder.

Matt nodded, and Rebekah winced.

"Well sister, there you have it; you're little high school crush here is responsible for Finn's death," Klaus declared, purposely aiming to agitate Rebekah and destroy the chances Caroline had that Rebekah would help her.

At this point, Rebekah seemed ready to kill Matt herself, but she could tell that there was still some hesitation and confliction lingering within the original hybrid's sister.

She recalled earlier when she had discussed Finn with Klaus.

"You said that we did you a favour by killing your brother; that he deserved to die," she tried to reason with him. "Why do you want to kill Matt for revenge now?" she wondered.

He looked away, purposely trying to ignore her remarks.

"I want that stake, and I'm not going to stop until I get it!" he bellowed, as both of his hands wrapped around Matt's neck.

Just as it appeared he was about to snap Matt's neck, she and Rebekah reacted, dashing towards Klaus at top speed.

Klaus threw Matt at forcefully towards the drive.

Rebekah got to Klaus first, knocking him back onto the floor inside the house.

"Caroline, take Matt home, now!" Rebekah shouted at her, as she pinned Klaus to the floor. "I can't hold him down much longer!" she warned.

With that, Caroline rushed to Matt and helped him back into his truck on the passenger side. She climbed into the driver's side, and quickly gave herself a two second lesson on how to operate his truck.

She sped down the drive and did not look back.

As they pulled onto the main road she began to relax and took this time to examine Matt beside her.

His Letterman jacket was ripped on the forearm, and she could smell the blood from a wound that was hidden underneath. That arm had likely broken his fall. She also noted the rips at the knees of his jeans and could see hints of red beginning to stain the blue fabric.

"Matt, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He nodded.

"Care, I'm fine. Just a little banged up," he assured her.

She clenched the steering wheel in an effort to subdue her anxiety.

"Are you sure? We can stop at the hospital...or I could give you my blood," she offered.

He shook his head and laughed for no particular reason.

"I'm fine," he said looking at her. "Just drive to your place, and I can drive myself home from there," he told her.

"Okay."

"Thanks," he said.

She looked at him in confusion.

"Thanks for what?" she asked. "All I did was throw you into your truck. As much as I hate to say this, if you should be thanking anyone its Rebekah," she corrected.

He seemed uncomfortable by her mention of Klaus's sister and turned away to stare out the passenger window.

"I don't know why I trusted her. It's pretty obvious brought me there for the twelve-thirty sacrifice Klaus promised," Matt clarified. "I guess she changed her mind when you reminded Klaus what he said about their brother," he concluded.

She shook her head.

"No, I don't think she brought you there so Klaus could kill you. She looked just as surprised as I did when Klaus grabbed you," she explained.

He considered her words, and she noted his efforts to hold back a small grin.

"Klaus is right about one thing; I think Rebekah has a crush on you," she smiled, relieved that she had something to take her mind off of everything with.

"No she doesn't," Matt protested as he wiped the lingering sweat off of his forehead.

"She saved you tonight, Matt. Plus, Klaus has like five million cars that Rebekah could drive, yet she gets rides from you," she pointed out.

Matt laughed.

"She says she's afraid of modern cars and driving," he mused.

Turning her attention away from the road for a split second, she arched an eyebrow at a gullible Matt.

"Seriously?" she giggled.

It felt good to laugh.

"Okay, maybe she likes me," he relented; his cheeks going flush with the realization.

She huffed in victory and returned all her focus to driving.

"Why were you even with Rebekah tonight anyways? I thought you were with Bonnie?" she asked confused.

"I was, but Rebekah showed up at the school, so I ended up having to play Rebekah-bait," he informed her. "You know how it is," he smirked.

She nodded, knowing he meant her faux relationship with Klaus.

"Maybe she was looking for you because she likes you," she joked again to take their minds off of what just happened.

"Well if anyone likes anyone, I think tonight reiterated the fact that Klaus likes you," Matt said, turning the tables on her.

His observation made her sick to her stomach with mixed emotion.

"What do you mean?" she asked, playing stupid.

She knew exactly what he was referring to.

"You were with him the entire time today. If he wanted to kill any of us, why didn't he just go ahead and kill you?" Matt wondered. "I'm not saying he should have done it...I just mean, from Klaus's perspective, you would have been an easy target," he explained.

"That doesn't mean he likes me," she argued. "But if he does, isn't that supposed to be my objective? To get him to like me enough so he'll confide in me?" she pointed out.

Matt nodded.

"You don't have to get defensive about it, Care. I was just stating the obvious," he replied.

She exhaled slowly, trying to calm herself through controlled breathing. There was no need for her to get defensive. She didn't want to blow her cover and reveal her true feelings. Matt wasn't accusing her of anything.

"I guess what I really want to know is if there's a part of you who likes him?" Matt wondered curiously.

Okay, maybe he was accusing her of something after all.

She literally stopped breathing for a few seconds, but was able to maintain her relaxed expression as she concentrated on driving.

"Why would you ask me that? Of course I don't like him," she said, trying her best to act surprised.

Matt shrugged and let out a slight chuckle, as if – despite his question – he found the possibility that she could have feelings for the original hybrid completely senseless.

"I don't know," he paused. "Just the way you were with him at the Grill last week. You seemed really happy," he told her, "like you wanted to be there with him."

Fuck, she thought to herself. She hoped that he didn't know more than he was letting on as a means to test her honesty. Her nerves were fried for the day, but she knew she had to keep up her front. As much as she wanted to tell Matt everything, she couldn't. He wouldn't understand. Her relationship with Matt had been tarnished by lies...and here she was, making it worse.

"I was drinking Matt, you know how I get when I'm drunk," she laughed.

His apparent amusement with her explanation seemed to put his mind at ease.

"I had to act like I was having a good time. I couldn't sit there miserable the entire night. He would have known something was up," she added.

"Yeah, I probably just misread what I saw, but I wanted to make sure," he told her.

The gloomy look on his face hinted at the displeasure he felt at the thought of her genuinely enjoying Klaus's company.

"It's gotta be a good sign you misread things. If I had you second-guessing, then that probably means Klaus bought the act," she said with a fake smile.

"True," Matt agreed.

She needed to get off the subject of Klaus ASAP, she thought. Talking about him made her nervous; made her upset. She decided to throw Matt's question back at him.

"So what about Rebekah? Do you like her?" she asked.

Matt looked caught off guard, but she noticed a small smile tugging at his lips.

"She's a vampire, Care," he said, speaking honestly before realizing who he was talking to.

"So?" she retorted.

He began to stutter. "Sorry, I didn't mea..." -

- "I know. I asked you if you liked her or not," she interrupted. "I'm pretty sure the smile on your face says that you do."

He considered her question for a few seconds, likely trying to come up with an answer that wouldn't displease or offend her.

"I'll admit that it's nice having a girl's undivided attention..."

She frowned, knowing he was referring to her and Elena.

"...but even aside from the fact that she's a vampire, she has a lot of baggage. Her brother and his ridiculous hybrid obsession have caused so much trouble for all of us. If I pursued Rebekah, it would be like I condoned it all," he confessed.

His honesty had moved her. Not because she was stunned that he liked Rebekah even a little bit (that much was obvious), but because he summed up her own internal conflict with regards to Klaus, minus the issue of Tyler of course.

"Sometimes you can't help who you like," she said thoughtfully for the both of them.

He nodded.

"I guess Elena is a prime example of that," he pointed out.

"People can change...become good," she added, referring to Stefan and Damon.

"Sure, on her own Rebekah might be capable of changing, but she's too loyal to Klaus. And if there's one person incapable of change or good, it's him," Matt said with certainty.

She winced at his conclusion. Why did it hit her so hard? Was it because she knew he was right and was disappointed? Did she disagree? She couldn't be sure.

Their drive fell silent as they entered Mystic Falls proper and she turned onto a backstreet to her house.

"So what happened tonight with Klaus? You looked pretty upset when Rebekah and I got there," Matt spoke up.

She waited until they were in front of her house before she answered him.

Turning the ignition, the truck fell quiet and she looked pensively at Matt.

"Things went fine at first. I kept him occupied like we decided I would, mostly with small talk...and then I confronted him about things; Alaric's stake, Elena, Tyler..." she sighed, "and he freaked out."

She was lying to him again. Sure, she had discussed the stake, Elena, and Tyler, but that's not what had provoked him to erupt with rage. What had caused him to erupt was something she couldn't discuss with Matt; it would lead him to ask too many questions. Lying was her only option; she had to give him something to explain her tears and terrified expression earlier in the Mikaelson driveway.

Just thinking about the earlier events made her feel dejected. The threat of tears loomed once more.

"Did he hurt you?" Matt inquired.

She shook her head.

"Maybe emotionally, but that's it," she told him. "His bookcase wasn't as lucky," she mused as tears began to well up in her eyes.

"What did he say?" he asked hesitantly, knowing that her news would not be good.

Chewing her lip, she turned to look out the driver's side window at the front of her house.

Instantly, thoughts of her night with Klaus after the Grill flashed in front of her. She recalled how she had drunkenly skipped and stumbled up the walkway in her favourite heels towards her front door and how the heat of his body followed closely behind; how he kissed her neck and teased her body with his hands as she struggled to unlock the front door.

Tears began to pool under her eyes before sliding over the round of her cheeks.

She blinked twice to erase the memories and blurry eyes before turning back to Matt.

"He said once he gets the stake he's going to take Elena," she revealed, thankful for an acceptable reason to cry. "...and if Tyler doesn't break the sire bond, Klaus will probably take him too," she added.

Matt gazed impassively through the windshield as she began to cry softly.

Guilt hit her quickly. She wasn't only crying for Elena and Tyler, but she was crying for Klaus and her feelings for him.

She leaned against the steering wheel, covering her head with her arms.

Matt's hand touched her back soothingly, trying to comfort her. She didn't deserve to be comforted.

"Caroline, it's okay. It's going to be okay. We're gonna find a way to stop Klaus, alright?" Matt offered.

Sitting back up, she tried to regain her composure. She looked at Matt who looked as serious as ever, but she could tell he was worried too.

"Look, it's been a long day for the both of us. You should go and get some sleep," he instructed.

She sniffed loudly through her nose, and rubbed her eyes; she could care less about her eye makeup at this point.

"I am tired," she confessed.

Matt nodded in agreement as he climbed out of the truck to meet her on the driver's side.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow morning?" he asked once she was out of the truck.

"Tomorrow morning?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, we start setting up for the decade dance tomorrow," he reminded her.

"Shit. I completely forgot. Tyler texted me and told me he was coming home tomorrow. I was gonna spend the day with him," she revealed.

He seemed surprised and thrilled with her news, but a little annoyed by her probable absence tomorrow morning.

"You could use a break from all this. Go spend the day with Tyler tomorrow," he offered graciously.

She gave Matt an unsure smile.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we'll have lots of volunteers tomorrow anyways," he assured her.

His mention of volunteers suddenly brought an obstacle up that she had not considered.

"I have to be there tomorrow. Rebekah will be there. If I don't show, she'll wonder why. She can't know that Tyler is back in town," she panicked.

Matt thought for a moment before shrugging.

"I'll text you tomorrow morning. We'll figure out a way to keep Rebekah from suspecting something," he told her.

"Thanks, Matt," she said genuinely, hugging him as they stood on the sidewalk. "Are you sure you don't want to clean up here?" she asked again, worried about the damage Klaus had done to him from a simple throw.

He shook his head.

"Trust me. I'm fine, Caroline," he laughed. "Goodnight."

"Night," she answered as he got back in his truck.

She turned on her heels and started for the front door. Once inside, she shut the door quietly behind her, knowing her mother was asleep.

Purposely suppressing the numerous conflicting thoughts demanding her attention, she hurriedly rushed into her room for her pyjamas and then to the bathroom to clean herself up.

A part of her desperately wanted a shower to wash any evidence of him off of her, another yearned to inhale the scent of him still attached to her skin. The latter would be satisfied for tonight, as the noise from the shower would surely wake her mother in the next room.

Back in her bedroom, she collapsed on her bed and sighed loudly.

Now that she was completely alone, as she expected, the tears came quickly.

She couldn't explain why she was so emotional.

Was it from the shock of almost witnessing her friend and ex-boyfriend be killed? Perhaps it was Klaus's intentions with Elena? When she was left only partially satisfied with those explanations, she knew that most of what she was feeling led back to her "relationship" with Klaus.

Sure, she felt badly for Matt and Elena, but her real hurt feelings came from the fact that she wanted to see Klaus differently; not as the murderous sociopath everybody had made him out to be.

Indeed, she had seen him differently at times. He indulged her in some of his hobbies. He shared with her delicate information about his past. She saw him smile. She saw him upset about something besides his mission to create hybrids. She heard him laugh, and she had heard his most intimate expressions while in the throes of passion with her.

She sighed at the thought.

But then he contradicted all of this with the outbursts of anger, and the threats to both Elena and Matt. How could she have any positive regard for someone who treated her friends as pawns in a game? Was she merely a pawn in his game too? She wondered.

Any rational person would have nothing to do with someone like this. And yet, despite her best effort to reason with herself, she could not deny the intense feelings he had stirred within her.

He had awakened her sexually, but more than that, he had awakened her curiosity about life and the world; and even her curiosity about him.

In hindsight, following only her handful of experiences with Klaus, she realized neither Matt or Tyler had done this for her.

But why did it have to be Klaus? It complicated everything. Her friends and Tyler would never understand. She barely understood it.

Despite the bitter protests of her heart, she knew the easiest thing to do would be to leave things between Klaus and her as they had ended tonight and never look back. She had to forget about him and move on.

That was easier said than done.

She cringed at the guilt she felt. Not only did she feel guilty over how she was treating her friends and Tyler, but she felt guilty over her treatment of Klaus, even despite his most recent actions.

How could she hold Klaus's angry reaction towards her in his bedroom against him?

When she had asked him about the letters, she wanted to know the answer. He warned her, and she urged him on. When the gory details were revealed, she had judged him before he had a chance to explain, expecting the worst from him just as her friends had. He had opened up to her ever so slightly, and she turned him away instantly with her scornful reaction.

Had those letters belonged to one of her vampire friends, they would have received a pass under some informal vampire sympathy clause. Stefan had kept a list of every one of his kills during his ripper days, yet nobody turned their back on him and judged him for it.

In this way, she felt she had no right to judge Klaus, despite having done so. Just because he seemed to be the most recent villain of the town, did not mean he was not entitled to grieve and make mistakes while in the process.

He had shared something very personal with her.

During their previous conversations he had vehemently denied love, but it now it seemed as though that's what he had been searching for all along.

His many years as a vampire buried his humanity, and thus, buried his remembrance of love; buried his capability to love and be loved; hence, the murders, the stolen love letters, and his hybrid quest.

She felt sorry for him. She felt sorry for denying his feelings and criticizing his pain.

He had lashed out with Matt, and although it wasn't right, she could understand it.

She wiped her cheeks and yawned.

As she stretched her arms across the bed, her thoughts drifted back to her night with Klaus in her room.

Sitting up, she reached into her nightstand drawer for the first picture he drew of her with the horse. He really was talented.

The corner of her eye noted her cell phone beside her alarm clock.

Tyler and his earlier text message came to mind.

Guilt and remorse prompted her to discard the drawing on the nightstand.

Tyler, her sort-of boyfriend was coming home tomorrow, and for much of his absence she had been betraying him with the very person he despised; the person he was trying to overcome for her.

She was a terrible person.

Thinking about Tyler rejuvenated her conscience, and she swayed back to her immediate decision to forget about the original hybrid.

As much as she wanted to think there was something there, it just couldn't happen right now even if there was. There were too many obstacles standing in their way. She needed to finish one thing before she started another. It wasn't fair to Tyler.

Realizing that she had not responded to Tyler's text, she typed him a quick message about seeing him tomorrow and hit the send button.

Before she could set her phone back down on the nightstand it began vibrating in her hand.

The caller I.D. said it was Rebekah calling.