Chapter 20

He was haunted by her. He could not sleep without her next to him, when he was the most content he had ever been. Her laying on her side her back facing him. Her hair fanned out on the pillow, his arm draped over her hip. The smell of her hair, the feel of her naked body against his. Had he made the right choice in letting her go? He only had himself to blame. He let her in against his better judgement. He kept everyone at arms length. Never showing anyone his true self. But she dug her way inside of him. She stayed there and latched on and would not let go. She was not afraid of him. She did not run away from him at his worst. She stayed …until he made her go. She was in his heart and not may people found their way there.

Then he tried to keep her safe and push her away when he wanted nothing more than to hold on to her forever. And forever was a long time for vampires.

6 days, 14 days, 35 days. He had left her 35 days ago. He was counting. In all of his human years and then the centuries he spent as a vampire Klaus was never affected by someone this much. He was never consumed with a woman as much as he was with Caroline.

He sat in a small cafe on the pier in San Francisco. He smelled the salt air and heard the waves crashing. He had to get as far away from the memories that he could. And yet all he could think of was her. What she would look like with the sun shining on her golden hair. He imagined her sitting across from him wearing oversized sunglasses and smiling at him. He couldn't help but smile himself. He lifted his espresso to his lips and sipped gently. A girl walked by wearing the same perfume as Caroline wore. Not the same he thought. It smelled better on Caroline. The ache for her grew deeper as the days went by.

Klaus had closed himself off so completely to love that when he felt it again it came on hard and fast. He did not know how to handle it. A 1,000 year old vampire who had always been cool and collected, calculating and in control was floored by his feelings. He had finally come to the realization that he needed her. He had to go back to Mystic Falls and get her back. Would she still want him?

Caroline lay in her bed. The room was warm and the thin fabric of her night gown clung to her skin. She looked at her alarm clock…. 4:35 am

….. 4:46 am. She heard her mother moving in the next room. She showered and dressed and made a cup of coffee and left the house for work.

….. 5:45 am. The clock flashed red at her. She started to drift off into her memory. She closed her eyes and remembered. She could still feel his kiss. His fingers brushing the soft skin of her inner thighs and up her stomach. The weight of him on top of her as he kissed her, moving her legs up to wrap them around his waist. Her fingers could still feel the definition of each muscle of his body. The want for him should be getting less. She should be getting over him but she wasn't. Caroline opened her yes and stared at the ceiling. Her room went from black to bluish morning light. Then she thought she heard a knock at the door. She sat up and listened harder. She heard someone moving on her front porch. Caroline stood up quietly and walked towards the living room. She crept closer to the door. She moved the curtain over slightly and saw a figure standing there, facing away from the door. Caroline flung the door open quickly and stepped out on the the porch ready to fight. Klaus turned around and their eyes connected again like they always had before with passion, understanding and now hurt. Caroline sucked in a sharp breath that hurt a little. They stood feet apart from each other just staring for what seemed like an hour.

"Caroline." he said breathlessly.

She finally let her breath out and everything came flooding back. She got angry again. She placed her hands hard on her hips.

"What are you doing here?" she said sounding more sweet then as angry as she felt inside.

"I'm here for you Caroline." he said and stepped towards her. Caroline inched back. She slide her arms around her middle and hugged herself. She felt a hard lump of sadness building in her throat.

"Me." she chocked. She shook her head and walked into the house. Klaus followed behind her.

"Caroline." he said again. Goosebumps formed on her arms at the sound of his voice. "I missed you." he said. She closed her eyes and tried not to cry. The truth was she missed him too.

Caroline turned and looked at Klaus.

"NO! NO! You don't get to come in here and say that and think everything is going to be ok." He stepped closer to her the look in his eyes took her breath away.

"I tried to get as far away from you, from us that I could. I thought that if I left I would forget but I didn't. I thought about you every second I was gone." Caroline felt almost dizzy. He reached for her and this time she let him touch her. She wanted to feel his hands on her skin again.

"I spent all of my time shutting people out that I didn't know how to let someone in again Caroline." He said his thumb caressing her cheek. She looked in his eyes and breathed deeply taking in his scent. Oh God she missed him.

"NO!" she said again coming out of her Klaus coma. She pulled back from him and turned her back towards him.. "You can't do this." she whispered. He moved up quickly behind her. Klaus put his hands on her shoulders. He pulled her close to his chest and nuzzled his face in her neck. His lips brushed the top of her shoulder to the spot on her neck that if he would bite her gently her knees would buckle. His mouth moved to her ear.

"I love you Caroline." he breathed as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her to him. This is exactly how it should feel.

Caroline raised her hand and found his face. She felt his breath on her neck, then the anger built up inside of her again. She moved her thumb quickly and pushed hard on his adam's apple and spun around and gripped his neck hard. She pushed him back to the wall her hand clutching at his throat.

"NO KLAUS! You don't get to come back here after weeks of being gone. After breaking my heart the way you did and tell me you love me to my face this time and have everything be ok. It doesn't work that way Klaus." She looked into his beautiful eyes. Eyes that she missed terribly.

Caroline dove on his lips and kissed him hard pulling at him to bring him closer to her body. Her hands were everywhere on him at once. His muscular arms, his abs, his ass, his legs. She moved her hands quickly and grabbed his belt buckle. He moved back from their kiss to take a breath.