Hello! Wow, it's been a while. There are a load of reasons why I haven't updated this, but I won't bore you with those. If you want to hear my excuses though, please don't hesitate to shoot me a message. Also, thank you for all your feedback for the last two chapters.

For now though, I hope you can forgive me for how long this took and I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I, as always, own nothing you recognize.

The brush moved effortlessly against the canvas, bringing the nameless image to life. Most of the time, his paintings turned out to be the same thing.

He'd stopped painting her when he left Mystic Falls, after her graduation ceremony. Such a simple, pointless human event through his eyes yet he attended it without hesitation. He'd watched her from afar, staying in the shadows away from any prying eyes. Later that evening, he'd finally caught her alone. Her reaction to his arrival had been more than he'd hoped, the fact that she hadn't scoffed and slammed the door in her face making the journey more than worth it. He'd given her the ticket and returned to New Orleans, setting up his new home and simply hoping that she'd gone.

Now, his paintings were just memories of old towns long forgotten and the metaphorical darkness that surrounded his life for so long. They were never truly dark though, not any more, no matter how hard he tried. Somewhere, there was always a glimmer of hope, a slight smudge of light right in the middle of his dark tornado.

That was what his painting had turned into this time around. Just black lines, swirls of grey and black and white. It was an amateur's work and he mentally scolded himself at the finished product.

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts and he immediately made his way downstairs.

Suddenly, he was consumed by her. Her scent, her laugh, her voice, her personality. It happened every now and again, at the passing of a random bubbly blonde in the street, or the mention of her name in a passerby's conversation, or a familiar scent of a similar shampoo or perfume. For a brief second, he paused to take in the familiar scent. It felt as if she was truly there, standing right before him. But, by that point, he'd already convinced himself that it was just the madness of missing her.

He'd never expected to open the door and actually find her staring back at him on the other side.

There, staring right back at him with those beautiful eyes and that shy little smile, was the very object of his affections. She was looking at him as if she hadn't seen him in centuries -despite it being only a few weeks- and he had no doubt that his shocked expression was the same. He felt that perhaps he was dreaming, that his own insanity had caused him to now hallucinate her showing up at his very door.

"Hi."

As soon as the small, barely audible word fell from her lips, he knew she was real. He was confident that it truly was her standing before him, the very beauty that had caused him misery and joy all at the same time. A feeling he still couldn't understand, and didn't quite know if he liked. The way he felt and behaved around her was brand new territory for Klaus. It was as if the young blonde aroused these feelings -these very, very, human feelings- in him that he had buried long before vampires were roaming the Earth.

Immediately, he felt himself tense. What did he say to her? He hadn't seen her since her Graduation ceremony and, despite the fact that they'd parted on good terms, he hadn't expected to see her again. Especially not so soon. Despite it being just a short period of time since their last meeting, there was so much that had changed. So much she didn't know; so much he had failed to tell her about. Quite honestly, he didn't want her to know. He didn't want to have to inform her of his evening with Hayley, or the unexpected consequences of that evening. It was actually the very last thing he ever wanted to bring up with her - or, close anyway.

As he continued to gaze at her in pure amazement and admiration, his mind drifted to Tyler. He'd known where his disloyal hybrid had fled to from the very moment he left, but he had stopped tracking him after his return to New Orleans, out of simple disinterest. After all, what Tyler did and didn't do, wasn't on his list of priorities at this point. He wouldn't go as far as saying he'd happily bump into Tyler in the street and not rip his heart out and shove it back down his throat, oh no, he definitely wasn't claiming that. But he had bigger things to worry about, than some silly little boy who tried to play the knight in shining armor and fight off the big bad wolf.

"Caroline?" He breathed questioningly, a part of him still not believing she was there before him. Any moment now, he'd blink and wake up back in his bed, realizing all of this was just a dream. Just another dream. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, come on," The blonde laughed nervously, with a shrug. "You're cocky enough to believe that I just wanted to see you. Can I come in?"

Without another word, a smile crossed his lips and he stepped to the side, allowing her to walk past him into the large house.

For a few more moments, it was silent between them, as she studied her surroundings and he studied her with the same appreciation.

"Nice place." She eventually said, turning back around to face him with that tug of her lips that made him want her so badly. When he didn't reply, just stood with his eyebrows furrowed, she inhaled deeply before pressing her lips together. "I guess you really want to know why I'm here, huh?"

A quirk of his eyebrow was enough to answer her question, apparently.

"I just needed to get away," She explained with a small shrug. Before he could say anything, she spoke again. "From everything. From Mystic Falls, from all of that drama and the pain... I couldn't be there anymore. I didn't... I didn't know where else to go. And I really did miss you being a pain in the ass twenty-four seven."
He let out a low chuckle, his eyes falling to the floor for a brief moment before returning back to match her gaze.

"Well, in that case, can I offer you a drink?"

"Duh."

A few hours later, the two of them were sat on the couch, a situation Klaus had never even began to imagine happening in this century.

Caroline was sitting with both legs crossed under her, her head leaning against the back of the expensive leather couch. At this point, he wasn't sure what she was laughing about, but he did know that he could listen to that sound for the rest of his life.

"Caroline." He interrupted her laughter, with a frown, causing her to look up at him in confusion. "You said you didn't have anywhere to go...You wanted to leave Mystic Falls but didn't know where else to go. I gave you that ticket, you could have easily just used it."

Her face fell slightly, her eyes glancing downwards. He'd been thinking about it ever since he'd gotten over the shock of her being there, and he'd eventually driven himself to the brink of insanity thinking about it. That wasn't a good enough excuse for being there, not for him. She could have easily gone to Paris, she didn't have to be there sitting next to him.

When she looked back up, her lips curled into a small, innocent smile.

"A while back, this guy promised to take me to Paris. I didn't really feel like doing it alone."

He couldn't even remember the last time he'd been so shocked into speechlessness.

"Don't look so surprised," She laughed, rolling her eyes, which interrupted his own mind trying to process what she had said. "You're, like, a billion years old, right? You'd totally make an awesome tour guide."

"Well, can't argue with that, sweetheart." He smirked at her, causing her to playfully roll her eyes once more.

"Aren't you going to offer to give me a tour of New Orleans?" She asked, quirking an eyebrow with a rare smirk of her own.

They walked through the streets of New Orleans, the city that he'd build from the ground all those years ago. Understandably, she kept her distance, but never truly strayed too far from his side.

Caroline was intrigued, and slightly taken aback. Her surroundings were thrilling and …. disastrous. Part of her wanted to scream at them all and tell them to get their acts in order, but the other part of her - the vampire side - had never felt so alive.

Back in Mystic Falls, it was a constant battle to keep the vampire side hidden. Making sure that nobody found out about their true nature, was just something they had to do. Here, however, in New Orleans? Vampires roamed the streets, with no shame or guilt. Whilst she was completely against feeding from humans, the entire scenario around her was lighting something within her. A dark desire to just let go and live her life.

Or, undead life. Whatever.

She wasn't stupid and she wasn't blind; it was clear that every supernatural around knew exactly who Klaus Mikaelson was. Everyone they passed seemed to turn their heads for a brief second, whisper and then turn away in distress. Klaus was very clearly reveling in the attention, but Caroline didn't know how to react to it. It was obvious that they all wanted to know who she was, whether she was an acquaintance, a victim or an enemy.

Hell, she didn't even know the answer to that one anymore.

Eventually, to her surprise, they reached a quieter part of the quarters. It was dark and quiet, nobody around but the hybrid and the young vampire.

It was now eerily quiet, the only noise coming from the supernatural antics going on, which could only be heard if Caroline really strained her heightened hearing. Of course, hearing it was much easier for Klaus, but it was also easy to tune it out completely in order to focus on Caroline and Caroline only.

A gust of wind passed through and Caroline wrapped her arms around herself mindlessly, despite barely being able to feel the cold. In silence, the two of them sat on a vacant bench on the sidewalk.

"So.." Caroline breathed, looking out into the deserted street. Across the road was a large graveyard, that seemed to go on for miles in the darkened night. "This is your secret little hideout, huh? You know, most people just have treehouses, not graveyards. But I guess it suits you."

He let out a genuine laugh, causing her to smile. She liked that laugh.

"Well, love, I don't know if you noticed but I'm afraid I'm not most people." He smirked, quirking an eyebrow.
"Oh, I know you're not."

For a few more moments, it was completely quiet and it was starting to play on Caroline's nerves. Things were never quiet between them, neither of them were damn quiet. It was slighlty unsettling, to say the least.

"So, how's taking back the throne going for you?" She asked teasingly, her tone laced with playful mocking. Only from her would he ever accept mocking, plafyul or not, without ripping said person's head off their shoulders. But she wasn't just a person to him. At this point in their 'friendship' or whatever they were now, Klaus severely doubted she could ever be just another person to him again.

"A lot harder than it was two hundred years ago, actually. But, don't you worry, sweetheart. I'll get what's mine sooner rather than later."

"I don't doubt it." She smirked again, teasingly. "So, uh, is it okay if I stay with you at your place for a little while?"

He wanted to tell her yes, of course. Why was she even bothering asking? Waking up and knowing she was in the same building, was more than he could ask for. However, he didn't know how he was going to make that work. Despite his complete lack of interest in Hayley, there was no ignoring that she was carrying his child. He was more than sure that would come up in conversation at some point.

But, despite all of that, he couldn't turn her down.

"You're more than welcome."

Ugh, I'm a little hesitant about this because it may seem too OOC but oh well. Please feel free to shout at me (nicely) if it's ridiculous, hahaha.

Anyway, I'm definitely going to be updating this regularly from now on and, like I said, it won't be longer than 8-10 chapters if that. Thank you for reading and please leave a review if you have a chance! It would mean the world to me to know what you guys are thinking.

Make sure to follow me on tumblr at forbesalvatore!