Title: Shelter in the Storm
Author: mystic_blue17
Summary: After a certain blonde Original calls, Caroline takes a trip to the French Quarter to play the blonde distraction one more time. (post TVD 511 and based on TO 115)
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or plots nor do I plan on receiving any profit from writing about them.
A/N: Hi guys! Yay I'm glad you liked the first piece especially considering how it wasn't the fic I thought it would be. The break in TO was nice for me actually. Gave me time to catch up just a bit. So here is the next part in the series. Hope you like it!
She floats somewhere between unconscious and fully awake. She snuggles into the bed trying her best to melt into it. It was a good bed. Worlds better than the one that she had back at her dorm. Not quite as comfortable as the one in her bedroom back at Mystic Falls. In fact it was probably better. Could a bed feel luxurious? This one managed to somehow. And it was warm. She hadn't felt this warm in… Suffice to say it had been too long since she felt this way.
"You're awake then sweetheart?" Klaus' voice curls out to her ears.
Her eyes were still closed but she shuts them ever tighter.
He chuckles at her childish display. But he couldn't indulge her for long. He needed answers and he was running on a timeline. "What are you doing here love?"
Caroline sighs. He is determined to ruin the moment. She opens her eyes and looks at him sagely. "Rebekah called me." Caroline answers simply.
"Rebekah?" Caroline questioned hesitantly as she answers her phone.
"Caroline! Finally!" Rebekah exclaims. "I need you to talk to my brother for me." She demands. Straight to the point.
Caroline snorts. "Yea how about no?"
Rebekah looks at Marcel across the clearing. He is gesturing wildly at her motioning that they have to go. She sighs. They both know that there isn't anywhere that they could hide without her brother finding them. Not without help.
Rebekah allows the desperation to seep into her voice. "I messed up Caroline." She admits. "I messed up really bad."
Caroline feels herself softening. "Rebekah I don't think -"
Rebekah cuts her off. "Caroline I need you to do this for me." She paused as she blinked away tears. "Please Caroline. If you don't talk him down, I'll be dead in a week."
"I think you are overestimating me. If he is that mad at you of all people, I don't know what I can do."
"I don't want to die Caroline." Rebekah says plaintively. "Could you just try?"
Her sentiment so perfectly echoed Caroline's own. "Alright." Caroline relented. "I'm coming. You are paying me back for my ticket!"
It was a small victory but Rebekah would take it. "I'll charter a damn plane for you. Just get to the airport!" Rebekah continued sincerely. "Thank you Caroline. I will owe you."
"So you are here for a chit?" Klaus voices his question. His insecurities swirling in his eyes.
"No!" Caroline exclaimed. "No." She repeated more calmly. She took a breath before she launched into her explanation. "I mean yes it is always good to have an Original on your side."
He shoots her a look as if to say 'Hello what about me?'
She pushes his face playfully. "Yes I do think that Rebekah can be an important ally in the future. And I dunno … Some good will between the two of us would be nice." The implication of the future hung heavy in the air for a second.
Caroline sighed. "I really can't fault her logic. I have made you do some pretty ridiculous things pretty much just because I smiled at you."
Klaus scoffed and rolled onto his side pinning her beneath him. "Oh really?" He grinned at her.
She peeks up at him quickly then averts her eyes. It's practically flirtatious. "Need I remind you? There was my prom dress fiasco. Don't think it escaped my grasp that you just happen to have a dress I would love that just happened to fit me perfectly."
Klaus simply arches an eyebrow at her leaving her to draw her own conclusions.
"You know you never asked for the dress back. I have it in my closet back in Mystic Falls."
"Keep it love." He says sincerely. "I can admit that I … the idea of something of mine with all of your treasured possessions invigorates me."
Caroline just shakes her head at his sentence. "You also chose me over your gloating over Katherine. I mean I definitely think you got a better deal out of it."
Klaus laughs and buries his head into her neck. He is pleased to feel her shiver in awareness as he breathes onto the delicate skin of her neck. He places a tender kiss where once he bit her.
Caroline continues breathily. "You didn't kill Tyler because I asked you to. Twice. "
Klaus merely murmurs something in agreement. He isn't really playing attention to the conversation anymore. He is fully aware of what he has done to capture this girl's attention.
"Are you listening to what I'm saying?" Caroline asks petulantly.
Klaus pulled back to look her in the eye. His voice is rough. His grin is downright salacious. "You are in my bed Caroline. What do you think?"
She stares back up at him. Her hand tangles up in his necklace. Her other hand reaches up to touch his dimples. He kisses the pad of her palm. Caroline can feel lust starting to cloud her judgment. He smelled so good. And despite his sickly pallor a few hours ago, Klaus already looked rejuvenated and ...well sexy as he trailed down kisses down her arm.
"You're distracting me." Caroline says on a sigh. Really she was relishing the feel on his lips on her skin.
"I believe that was the point love." Klaus answers glibly.
She shook her head and nudged his chin up to look her in the eyes. "No Klaus. I came here for you."
The weight of her statement was tangible.
Her thumb traced a line between his moles back and forth. "I came here to be here for you. No matter what she did, you love your sister. You love her Klaus. You couldn't kill her. Not like this. Not in a forever way. I was there when Kol died. I saw your pain. And I know you love Rebekah more."
"She betrayed me!" Klaus roared pulling away from her. He shot up from the bed. "She is the reason we didn't have a home."
Caroline sat up on her knees on the bed. "Tell me what she did."
He paced the room but he did. He told Caroline the whole story start to finish as he learned and lived it. Caroline soured as he recounted of his dalliance with the werewolf queen. She icily asked if it was the same bed. Caroline soon forgot to worry about his previous conquest as he got to the crux of the matter. She gaped at Rebekah's folly and clenched her hands into tight fists as he talked of his encounter with his father.
"So that's it. Do you still think I couldn't kill her?"
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Caroline takes his hands in hers pulling him closer to her. "You didn't deserve that. what she did was stupid so stupid. And mean. And cruel."
She paused. "But you still can't kill her."
"How can you say that after you know what she took from me?!" he exclaimed.
Caroline searches his eyes willing him to see reason. "It isn't about her punishment. I mean yes of course she can't just walk away without you getting your revenge somehow because you know ... it's you."
"I'll say it again. I'm here for you." Caroline paused to search her mind of the best way to say her next sentiment. "I care about you Klaus. I care about you too much to sit here and let you go out there to kill her. "
"I don't care about her. This was never about her!" She gestured to herself in the room. "I know you. Don't be so blinded by your rage and your hurt that you don't see all the whole picture for what it is. You can't kill Rebekah. There is no going back." She finished.
"After what she did to me, after what she took, there shouldn't be."
"Now I know you are just deliberately misreading me. Klaus killing your sister will twist something inside of you. It will ruin you. Don't do this. Not because she doesn't deserve it but because you can't kill your sister. All I'm asking for is time. I know you want to hurt her as much as she hurt you. But you are lashing out right now. Just don't ok? Give it some time."
"Caroline time won't change anything."
"How can you say that to me?" She asked incredulously. "Our whole relationship is based on the idea that time changes everything."
"That's not the same." He answers resolutely.
"Ummmm… Yea it is." Caroline says simply. "Just spend the day with me ok?" She asks. "Cool your proverbial hothead. And just be with me here. No one else. Just you and me spending time together."
"You mean for me to give her a head start?" Klaus questions seeing through her sweet words. "Just like Tyler?"
"I mean for you to calm down. And yes I do know that the more space she has between you and her is a pretty good game plan. But really I'm selfish enough to ask you to stay here with me."
"Caroline…" he whispers
"Don't you feel it Klaus?" She stares at him pointedly. "We are at a fork in the road. You have a whole new life here. One that doesn't include me and that's fine because I'm still figuring things out for myself. I don't pretend to understand what you have going on here. And really after this I don't know when I will see you next. I just…I just want to stay in this place with you right now. I want this one last stolen moment. Will you do that for me?"
Klaus looks at her earnest face and relents. "Okay."
She smiles at him serenely "Thank you."
She moves back into his bed as he slides under the sheets once more.
"Can we be honest here?" Caroline asks.
"I have never known you to be otherwise." He answers.
"Why have you never asked me to come here?" She asks in a little voice.
Klaus is completely flabbergasted. That was not what he thought she would ask.
"I mean don't get me wrong. I don't think I would say yes." She continued on attempting to be flippant. "But still a girl likes to be asked."
Klaus just shakes his head at her. "Your room isn't ready yet." He admitted.
She really wasn't expecting such a specific answer. "My room?" she repeated.
"Yes your room Caroline." He assured her. "Of course I want you here Caroline. I have thought multiple times of what it would be like to have you here. But it's dangerous. Fighting a supernatural war for territory is not without risks. And I would never willingly put you at risk. Once it is safe then I will ask you."
Caroline was stumped for words. Equally confused and appreciative of his words.
"But..." He says slowly. "Since you are here, I suppose you can tell me your preferences." He said with a grin.
She shyly smiles back. "Why don't you tell me what you have so far and I'll tell you where you went wrong."
Klaus arched his eyebrow at her challenge but went on to list his concept of her 'ideal' room. Caroline could admit that he was pretty spot on to what she would want, down to the direction her windows would face so she could see the sun set in the afternoon. They nipped into the blood bags that she had brought with her when they needed sustenance. By tacit agreement, they decided not to leave his bedroom at all during their stolen day. He convinced her at some point that he needed to draw her. She convinced him at some point to talk with his American accent. When he tried a lame pick up line on her, she declared that it just wasn't the same. The day was filled with small moments like that that she knew would serve as a bittersweet memory. At one point she dozed off.
When she woke up, the sun had long since set. Klaus was gone and off the side of the window was pieces of the broken sculpture she had admired earlier.
A/N: Alright that's end of that. Lol if I had to name this chapter something it would really be pillow talk. Now we leave the bedroom (so sadly!) to go out and deal with the outside world. I hope that Caroline was convincing to you as readers but you know Klaus. He was going to find Rebekah. And despite whatever rosy day they had, Caroline knows first hand this side of him so nice try Care but that happened. As always I hope you liked it. Truth be told I had this done for a day or so but I have been hopped up on cold medication I wasn't even sure it was good. Let me know what you think. Some of it seemed a little rough to me but I'm me and hopefully it works for you guys. Anyways I'll see you when I post the next chapter. I don't think it will be as long as this fair warning and it will probably be the last chapter.