A/N: I love you all so ridiculously much for your responses to the last chapter. I'm glad that you all generally seemed to understand where Klaus was coming from with his trust issues. I tried to explain that as much as I could throughout the chapter without inserting an author's note in the middle, lol.
I know I was a huge smut tease the end of the last chapter, but I didn't want sex to be how the chapter ended. I wanted to emphasize the part before the sex, so that's why I stopped it there. I fear I'm not much better in the coming two chapters either. I'm a bit of a smut tease, but there's just no time for sex, lol. Don't worry though, I hope to satiate your dirty minds once more before the story is out...perhaps around prom, or after, or both, who knows. I don't want to spoil anything.
Anyways, this is the first part of the chapter I've been writing since the last update. Needless to say I decided it should be split further, so you have been blessed with a double update. I'll be posting the second part shortly.
Feel free to review both chapters individually or together. I am just hungry for your thoughts either way. : )
By lunch period the next day she and Rebekah had silently come to resolve their issue. They had to out of necessity. They were being swarmed with eager prom ticket buyers and had to work together; their personal grievance couldn't get in the way.
Neither of them had time to eat let alone the time to devote their thoughts to anything but selling tickets, exchanging cash, and taking names.
She was exhausted by the time they were done for another lunch hour.
For some reason she had gotten it in her mind last night to seduce Klaus, which in hindsight had probably been a mistake - a delicious mistake. While at the time it had proven to be a very good idea - she was unable to count on one hand the number of times he made her cum - when her cell phone alarm went off too early this morning she was already second guessing herself.
To make matters worse, she had promptly silenced her alarm and fell back asleep. She was awakened a half-hour later by a frantic Rebekah who didn't want to be late for school.
She had never gotten ready so quickly in her life, in part because of the surprise, but also because she really didn't feel like dealing with Rebekah's attitude any further.
With barely any time to dress herself, she had thrown on the same jeans from yesterday with a purple and black tank top. She put her hair up and rushed to apply any amount of makeup she could spare the time for in order to make herself look presentable.
She left the house with Rebekah without even the chance to say good morning to either Elijah or Kol.
So not only was she exhausted from lack of sleep, but she was famished. She needed to feed.
She also needed to find Klaus before history class began. She had about a ten minute window of time. Her mother had sent her a text before lunch informing her that she was throwing her police influence around to look into some leads.
With some of the other prom committee members helping Rebekah disassemble the ticket table she headed for his classroom hoping he would be there.
She pushed open the door without a second thought only to be surprised by the sight of Klaus confronting the high school principal and Council member, Mr. Nighman.
Klaus had the older man pressed up against the blackboard with his hands wrapped around his neck.
He released him instantly when he heard the door open.
Mr. Nighman regained his breath and straightened out his white collared shirt before he wiped some sweat from his forehead and a bloody lip.
"Miss. Forbes," both of them said in unison.
Mr. Nighman eyed her and Klaus curiously, not because he knew they were vampires, but because she felt he suspected something more between them.
"Did I interrupt something?" she said innocently, even though she knew exactly what this confrontation was about.
Both Klaus and Mr. Nighman shook their heads as the principal forced a smile.
"Not at all, Miss. Forbes. Mr. Nighman was just leaving," Klaus assured her with a formal tone.
Mr. Nighman nodded curtly as he practically ran towards the door.
Klaus beat him to the door with his vampire speed and blocked the principal's escape.
"Remember what I said about that municipal funding, hmm? That agreement my brother made ensured his safety along with my sister's, and now, because of a foolish plan the Council set in motion to betray that deal, you are no longer honouring your terms. Thus, I feel it is only appropriate to withhold any further money from the town," Klaus said with a menacing tone.
Klaus straightened out the lapels on Mr. Nighman's coat amusedly, with a clear intent to frighten him some more.
For some reason she found Klaus's intimidation tactics oddly erotic even though there was a part of her screaming at him internally in disapproval. He was ony trying to protect them, she reasoned.
"Also recall the much stronger threat I made to the Council," Klaus pointed out. "Now, it is in your best interests to see to it that you're doing everything you can to contain this dog that you've unleashed before you end up like that other Council member I made an example of. I really don't want it to come down to that, but trust that I will follow through with my threat if any harm comes to me or any of the other vampires you're aware of in this town," Klaus said sternly but calmly, glancing over his shoulder at her.
Mr. Nighman nodded readily and Klaus opened the door just enough for the principal to slip through before he shut it again and made a point of locking it.
"I thought closed doors were against school policy?" she teased as she admired the black and grey suit he selected to wear today.
She shrieked playfully when he lunged at her with vampire speed and pushed her up against the far wall, out of sight from any prying eyes through the window plate in the door.
Wrapping her legs around his waist instinctively, he grasped her ass, holding her firmly in place as he attacked the exposed flesh of her cleavage with his lips and tongue.
Blood was rushing through his veins and she could smell it.
"I don't give a damn about school policy," he hissed against her heated skin as she curled an arm around his neck and entwined the other in his hair.
She let herself get lost in the temporary moment, tipping her head back against the painted cement wall as his lips trailed dangerously close to the neckline of her tank top.
"I'm fairly certain this top you're wearing is against school dress code policy," he mused as he kissed along her throat. "You've tempted me and every hormone-laden teenage boy in this school all morning with it," he chastised her.
"Jealous, stalker?" she asked before he cut her off with a deep kiss to her lips.
He pressed his body tighter against her and she could feel his erection flush against the crotch of her jeans.
"No, not jealous," he protested as he moved back down to her cleavage. "I just have this insatiable need to ravish you," he said determinedly as he looked up at her.
She let out a low murmur and ran her tongue across her lips, only then realizing her fangs had dropped when she pricked the muscle on the pointed edge.
Both she and Klaus were surprised by her seemingly premature loss of restraint.
She touched her face, feeling both her fangs and the veins that had emerged under her eyes.
"Are you all right, love?" he asked.
"I haven't fed all day, and your erection pressing into my thigh coupled with the blood you drew from Mr. Nighman isn't doing anything to help my impulse control," she smirked.
His lustful look quickly changed to one of concern.
With her secured tightly between him and the wall, he released his grip on her bottom and promptly loosened his tie and collar.
"You need to feed, so have at it," he offered, cocking his neck to the side.
Her body burned and her mouth practically watered at his suggestion.
She looked around the room with uncertainty.
"We still have a few minutes before the bell rings," he urged.
Curling her fingers in his hair, she nestled her face into the crock of his neck. The combination of his cologne and the smell of blood made for one of the most intoxicating scents.
She tickled his skin with her fangs before sinking them into his flesh.
He released an unexpected pleasurable groan as she sucked the delicious saccharine fluid from the puncture wounds she had created. She revelled in the taste and the feelings that swirled within her as she sated herself.
She only took what she needed, knowing that they were pressed for time. Retracting her fangs she cleaned up the residual blood on his neck with her tongue as the wound began to heal.
With her dark expression fading, she lifted her head to kiss his lips.
"Mmm," she murmured, pulling back quickly for fear that things might get out of hand if she continued to indulge in him.
"So you came here to seduce me for my blood?" he inquired with a raised brow.
Blushing, she shook her head as he released her legs and let her stand.
He buttoned up his collar and she straightened his tie.
"I didn't come here to seduce you at all actually," she laughed. "I came here to tell you that my mom is looking into a few leads on the hunter," she explained.
"And?" he said, knowing instantly that there was a catch.
"She wants me...and you...to come over for dinner tonight," she said quickly, squinting a little as she anticipated Klaus's refusal.
He cringed inwardly.
"I'm on shaky ground with her after I killed that Council member," he grimaced. "I don't think she cares for me much," he said.
She scoffed slightly at his grim appraisal of her mother's opinion of him.
"I explained that situation to her already. She understands. She's a cop, she's trained not to wear her emotions on her sleeve, but she's warming up to you. She wasn't even that upset when she noticed your shoes in the hall the one night you slept over," she reasoned with Klaus.
His face went a little red.
"Yeah, she definitely doesn't like me," he concluded laughingly.
She pushed his shoulder playfully as she rolled her eyes.
"I think the fact that you've made a lot of sacrifices to help and protect me has probably sort of made up for the fact that you're sleeping with her daughter," she said.
He seemed resistant.
"Are you actually that afraid of her? This isn't an inquisition or a multi-course meal," she clarified. "It's just dinner; probably spaghetti, since it's like the only thing my mom knows how to make. She misses me. She wants to talk to us in person about everything that's been going on."
The bell rang, declaring the end of lunch as she eyed him expectantly for an answer.
"Fine," he said hurriedly, kissing her briefly before rushing to the classroom door to unlock it.
The rest of the afternoon ran as smoothly as could be expected. Klaus's class was all lecture based detailing the opening of the First World War.
She did manage to make progress on two fronts by the end of class, however. She had secured Stefan as her stand in date for prom, and Elena had approached her as she left and made a civil request for the notes she had taken during Klaus's lecture on the day she was absent. She offered to search for them through her binder then and there, but Elena specifically requested that she stop by her house with them sometime in the week. She agreed, almost bewilderedly. Likely it was just Elena holding up her end of the deal, but she considered it potential for progress nonetheless.
Luckily for her, at some point during the day Matt had offered to drive Rebekah home, enabling her to drive straight to her house instead of to Klaus's and back.
She wanted to pick up some more clothes for the next week at Klaus's and grab some other items she had forgotten the last time she had hastily packed.
Plus, she fully anticipated her mom arriving home late from work, so she wanted to help start dinner just in case.
This wasn't that important, as she had told Klaus, but she couldn't recall a time when she had a dinner like this; her and her mom, and a guy she was seeing. She supposed it was sort of a big deal. After all, she had no intentions of there ever being another. Moreover, after everything with the hunter was settled and she was graduated, she would be leaving Mystic Falls on a permanent basis with Klaus. It was important to her that this happened on good terms with her mother; that she fully approved of him.
Much to her surprise, her mother was already home when she arrived from school. Apparently she was now on some early morning shift.
With the stress of having to worry about her mom being late lifted, she collected what things she wanted to bring back to Klaus's with her before entering the kitchen to help her mom prepare dinner.
"You've practically moved in there," her mom said as she chopped some vegetables, obviously having heard her drag one of her bags out into the hall.
She shrugged awkwardly.
"I'm only staying there because it's..."
"Safer?" her mom smirked. "We both know that's only part of it."
Her cheeks went rosy as she reached into one of the cupboards for plates.
"Of course, Klaus's house is straight out of an episode of MTV Cribs," she joked.
Her mom narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
"I was eighteen once," her mom reminded her.
She set the table in their eat-in kitchen.
"Well technically I'm no..."
"You know what I mean," her mother interjected.
In that moment she was reminded once again that while she would never age, her mother would until her death.
"Honestly, if I could, I would stay here," she admitted. "I like having my own space. Sometimes I feel like I'm imposing there, but I know Klaus and Elijah would never let me. It's just not safe for you or for me if I'm here."
Her mother nodded.
"Elijah seems nice," her mother mentioned.
She smiled.
"He is. He's been really good to me. He's always looking out for Klaus," she explained as she headed for the drawer of utensils.
"And Klaus's other siblings?" her mom inquired.
She laughed lightly.
"Kol and Rebekah? They can be a handful, but they're all right too," she revealed.
"And Klaus? He's good to you?" her mother asked hesitantly.
Rolling her eyes at her mother's question as she set the utensils in their places, she nodded.
"We have our issues sometimes, but yes mom, he's more than good to me," she reassured her. "He loves me."
Her mom seemed to smile genuinely at that, although she suspected that she was probably a little surprised given her past impressions of Klaus.
"Do you love him?" her mother asked.
"I think it probably goes without saying at this point," she explained, grabbing for some glasses in a top cabinet.
"I'm happy for you," her mother replied, sort of emotionally. "I miss you though...I will miss you when you leave."
She frowned sympathetically.
"I'll always come back," she assured her. "But you know I couldn't stay here much longer anyways, even if there was no hunter or threats. Eventually everyone would begin to wonder why I wasn't getting older."
"I know, sweetie," her mom nodded. "I guess it's comforting to know that you won't have to move on by yourself; that you won't be alone."
Sensing that the conversation was becoming too deep for either of them to handle - they never did have that kind of mother/daughter relationship - their conversation soon moved to more casual topics and discussion about others: Elena, Elena's relationships with the Salvatores, Matt and Rebekah, etc.
With dinner nearly ready, she found herself pacing around the kitchen and checking her phone incessantly for word from Klaus.
She knew he had a staff meeting after class and plans to return home before he made his way here, but he should have been here by now.
Just when she was in the process of retrieving a blood bag for herself to calm her nerves, the doorbell rang.
Her mom offered to get the door and sensing it was Klaus, she left the bag hastily on the counter as she went after her.
"Come in," she heard her mom say politely, even though Klaus already had an invitation to come inside.
Klaus was already standing in the front hall when she reached them.
He was casually dressed now in a grey Henley shirt and black jeans. She took a moment to curse how easy it was for him to look so good in something so simple.
She also cursed him teasingly to herself when he handed her mother a bottle of red wine and an arrangement of yellow roses.
Her mom thanked him and hurried past her to find a vase, smiling at her approvingly as she passed.
One of the only hobbies her mother had outside of work was her flower garden out back. What an appropriate gift, she thought.
Now alone with him in the hall, she blatantly rolled her eyes at him with a smirk.
"Seriously? Flowers and wine? You are such an ass kisser," she laughed.
He smirked with a shrug.
"They seem to have had their desired effect," he mused, sneaking a kiss to her lips as her mom disappeared into the kitchen.
"Nicely played," she conceded, "but my mom's only supposed to like you, not like you more than me," she scowled playfully.
"I have no control over who your mother prefers," he said innocently as she led him down the hall to the kitchen.
Her mother was busy fitting the flowers into a glass vase.
"These are lovely," her mom admired.
"Why yellow roses?" she inquired.
"You give someone a particular flower based on their meaning, not their appearance," Klaus explained simply.
"Then what do yellow roses mean?" she asked dumfounded.
Her mom smiled as she retrieved a corkscrew for the wine.
"They mean friendship," her mother said.
She flashed Klaus another quick eye roll.
"Indeed," Klaus said as he took the bottle and corkscrew from her mother and opened the bottle for her.
"I'll go get the wine glasses," her mom said.
"So I wonder what red tulips mean," she said nonchalantly as she checked on the food.
Klaus smirked as he took the blood bag she had retrieved earlier and had since forgotten about.
Surprisingly, her mom let her indulge in the wine Klaus brought over.
Klaus took it upon himself to mix their wine with the blood while her mom was busy dishing out food portions.
They ate quietly for a few minutes before her mom decided to make small talk.
Klaus seemed annoyed because she knew he was more concerned about any information she might have found on the hunter, but he kept quiet, his tongue restricted by his apparent table manners.
"So did you enjoy your birthday?" her mom asked Klaus.
She sat nervously on the sidelines, chewing her food carefully as she waited for the latest topic to unfold.
Klaus nodded.
"It was a great time," he recalled. "Your daughter spoiled me," he said, eyeing her before looking back at her mom.
"Caroline tells me you're quite the artist," her mom said, obviously referring to the set of paintbrushes she had purchased for him as a gift.
Klaus shrugged modestly.
"It's been a hobby of mine for many years," he responded.
Her mom arched an eyebrow as she sipped from her glass of wine.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a thousand year old...hybrid...is seeing my teenage daughter," her mom said.
She glared at her mom. Clearly a few sips of wine were already getting the better of her.
Klaus laughed off the comment jovially and she curiously awaited his reply.
"When you're immortal and unchanging, age is irrelevant. Time is interpreted differently. While Caroline may be a teenager in your eyes, in supernatural terms the concept of being a teenager is meaningless, since one can only be a teenager insofar as one can also be an adult or an elder, if that makes sense," he explained.
Her mother seemed to buy his reasoning and she nodded.
"I suppose it does," her mom replied.
The three of them continued to eat quietly for a while before the silence became too awkward for her.
"Mom, I almost forgot to show you my prom dress," she said, deciding that talk of prom was the perfect way to end another quiet moment.
She reached into her pocket for her phone.
"I'm going to be the officer on duty for the event that night," her mom informed her, "so I'll get to see your dress and all the work you put in with the committee."
Extending her hand across the table she gave her mom a look at the dress.
"Wow Caroline, it looks beautiful," she admired, "...and expensive," her mother said critically.
"Klaus bought it for me," she said, fully anticipating the next disapproving look from her mother.
"It was nothing," Klaus assured her mom. "I wanted her to have it. My sister wanted her to have it," he explained.
"How generous of you," her mom said reluctantly.
Her mother always hated accepting gifts from others and had tried to raise her the same way. She didn't like feeling like she owed anyone any favours.
And while Klaus's thoughtful gifts made her a little uneasy, she was beginning to realize that her protests were feeble. Lavish gift giving seemed to be an old world custom Klaus had retained, obviously as a means to show his affection for her when his words could not, and she would either have to graciously accept his gifts or risk appearing ungrateful.
"Who will be your date? Since Klaus is technically your teacher?" her mom wondered.
She smirked as both her mom and Klaus looked at her expectantly.
"Actually, I finally convinced Stefan to be my date today. He really didn't want to go because Elena will be attending with Damon, but I got him to come around," she said excitedly.
Klaus frowned immediately and she scowled at his expression.
"He's just my platonic date, it's not a big deal," she chuckled.
"Stefan's an honourable stand-in," her mom mentioned.
"He knows," she said, "Klaus and Stefan were close friends in the twenties," she explained.
Her mom seemed intrigued.
"He wasn't so honourable then," Klaus remarked snidely as he set his utensils upon his finished plate.
She scoffed.
"If Stefan being my date to prom bothers you that much, you should have thought of that before you decided to resign yourself to teacher-chaperone," she mused.
Her mom seemed sort of surprised by the stern way she talked to Klaus, as though she half expected Klaus to jump up from his seat and tear her in two.
"I thought this was supposed to be the modern age? Can't you just attend alone?" he suggested.
She glared at him wondering if he was actually serious.
He smirked at her, hinting that he was toying with her and though annoyed, she relaxed a little.
Her mom laughed a little.
"Listen to the two of you," she mused.
Klaus grimaced at where her mom was heading with that statement before her decided to take the liberty of changing the subject once more.
"So Caroline told me about the short trip to New York. I've always wanted to see Central Park," her mother mentioned.
"It's very picturesque," Klaus mentioned.
Her mom nodded knowingly.
"I'm a little more curious though to know where you plan to go once everything is said and done with the cure?" her mother wondered.
She looked to Klaus to provide her mother with an answer since she herself had no idea where they would go next.
Klaus shrugged, obviously reluctant to share any definitive plans. He probably had not thought that far ahead either.
"Caroline wants to see the world, so we shall see it," he said, turning his wine glass under the manipulation of his fingers.
She smiled at the thought as her mother seemed just as awestruck.
"Where would you settle after that?" her mom asked concerned, clearly curious to know where her daughter would be.
Klaus seemed indifferent to the mention of settling.
"Being what we are we cannot settle anywhere for more than a few years at a time," he described.
Her mom nodded understandingly.
"But we can come back to visit?" she wondered as she glanced at him questioningly.
He mulled over the suggestion for a moment.
"We could probably remain stateside for the immediate future," he said cryptically.
Her mom seemed satisfied with that reply as she began to realize what he meant by 'immediate future.' As long as her mother was alive, they could remain nearby.
While his suggestion was comforting, she hated being confronted by her own mother's mortality.
"Speaking of the hunter," her mother started, changing the subject much to her delight and Klaus's intrigue, "I pulled some strings and got access to his credit card records. It hasn't been used in the past day, but when it was they were all at stores in the Mystic Falls area. Hardware and camping related purchases were made judging by the stores he visited," she said. "I know it's not much, but it's the best I could do so far."
Klaus clasped his hands together as he pieced together her mom's new information.
"So there's a good chance the hunter's still in Mystic Falls then somewhere," she contributed.
Her mom nodded.
"My best guess is that he got spooked by you tracking him down at the hotel, so he's resorted to alternative living arrangements," her mom clarified.
"Camping?" Klaus thought aloud.
Her mom shrugged.
"It could be a possibility. Mystic Falls is surrounded by forest. It would be easy to set up camp one night and then move again the next day without so much as a trace," she concluded.
Before she could contribute anything or Klaus could respond her cell phone began to complain in her pocket.
When she pulled it out, she was surprised to see that the caller I.D. said it was Elena.
Her eyebrows furrowed as she answered the phone.
Both her mom and Klaus eyed her curiously.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Caroline? We may have just made progress with the hunter," Elena informed her.
"What? How?" she asked.
"The hunter confronted Jeremy; said something about him being a hunter too, or a potential hunter. Anyways, he took Jeremy to a trailer off of highway six. That's where he is," Elena said clearly excited by the prospect of capturing the hunter.
"Are you at home? Klaus and I will meet you there?" she suggested, not bothering to inquire for more details over the phone.
"I'm at the Grill right now, but I'm heading to Damon and Stefan's; Bonnie and Jeremy are already there. Meet us there," Elena told her.
"Okay, see you soon," she said before hanging up the phone.
Klaus was already standing anticipatorily having obviously eavesdropped on her conversation with Elena.
Her mom was looking at the both of them worriedly.
"You're camping hypothesis may have been right," she told her mom. "The hunter confronted Jeremy today. Apparently Jeremy is a potential hunter or something. He's staying in a trailer off one of the back highways," she explained.
"Why would the hunter reveal his location to Jeremy? Elena is a vampire?" her mother wondered.
"The hunter doesn't know about Elena because the Council never knew about her," she assumed.
"We should go," Klaus urged.
She nodded in agreement as both she and her mother stood from the table at the same time.
"Maybe I should come?" her mom offered.
She shook her head immediately and luckily Klaus appeared to back her on her persistence.
"The hunter might be out for vampires, but who knows what lengths he's willing to go to in order to achieve his goal; it's probably best if you stay here," Klaus told her mom.
She nodded in agreement with Klaus as her mom looked uneasily at her.
"Sorry we can't stay to help clean up," she said, scrambling to make a token effort as she hastily gathered up their plates and brought them to the kitchen counter.
"Caroline, I got it, sweetie; just go help your friends," her mom said reassuringly.
She nodded and smiled at her mom gratefully and turned for Klaus.
"Thank you for your hospitality Mrs. Forbes," Klaus said hurriedly.
"It's Liz, and your welcome; just make sure my daughter is safe," her mother told Klaus sternly.