Caroline stayed with Matt for most of the party, chatting and laughing and pretending that Mystic Falls was how they remembered it to be before the vampires moved in. Much as she didn't want to admit it, she was also trying to protect him from Rebekah. Every time she saw the blonde, she looked like she was plotting something malicious.

However, when it came down to Matt's football friends joining them and acting all macho, Caroline needed some air. She excused herself with a smile, knowing that Matt would be kept occupied with his friends and Rebekah wouldn't catch him alone. Grabbing her shawl against the chill in the air, she stepped outside and began walking, hoping that she could push away her feelings by being active somehow.

She strolled along the cars parked on the cobblestones, and let loose a small chuckle at the horse drawn carriage. Cinderella fetish indeed. This was just getting ridiculous. She wondered who the hell would have arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, but let it slide.

Caroline smiled slightly at the sight of the horse, though. She had ridden horses at a nearby school with Elena and Bonnie way back when they thought they were the next Pony Pals. It had been years since she had even seen one, let alone been this close to one. The familiarity of it all soothed her, along with the horse's solidarity and snorts of breath on the cool night air.

Caroline was contemplating if she recalled enough horse training to pat one correctly when he found her again.

"You like horses." He observed, strolling up behind her. Did he have a tracking device on her or something?

Caroline stubborn refused to look at him. "I'm not talking to you until you tell me why you invited me here." She emphasized, not mentioning the odder things like why he had given her a diamond (a freaking diamond) bracelet and an exquisite dress along with an invitation. He had given her his blood, he had given her life right when she thought it might have ended with a stupid hybrid bite.

"I fancy you." Klaus said directly, catching her off guard. He took in her face, full of disbelief, and quirked a brow. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes." She said, wondering what his real motive was.

"Why?" He questioned, incredulous. "You're beautiful, you're…you're strong, you're full of light." She looked up at him before glancing away, and he drew back slightly, biting his tongue. He had gone too far, he couldn't let himself do that. The truth would kill him before he got a chance to realize it for himself. "I enjoy you." He finished, believing that that phrase, at least, wasn't too far.

"Well I'm spoken for. By Tyler." She snipped, and he saw she didn't want him too close. He felt some sense of accomplishment, since it meant his compliments were at least taken this time, rather than denied, and he was getting to her somehow.

"I thought you two ended things." He queried, wanting to make sure he had his facts right. He couldn't help it, he had been brought up in a more respectful time. If she was already taken, social rules told him to back off.

"Yeah, because of you and your freaky sire bond with him." She huffed, not mentioning that they had already been rocky before that. She was always the second option on Tyler's list, she had been in the past with Jules and she was still now.

"So you aren't spoken for." Klaus reiterated with a smirk, and her look told him the answer. He felt relief, but an accompanying flicker of guilt. After all, it had been due to him that they had ended things. He brushed it aside, content to continue pursing her, his prey.

"You know, horses are the opposite of people. They're loyal." He smiled a little, recalling her undying loyalty to her friends and family. She was such an exception to every rule. Loyalty certainly did not run deep with his family. "My father hunted me for a thousand years and the closest he ever came was the day he killed my favorite horse. He…he severed its neck with a sword, as a warning." Klaus came back to the present to see Caroline's sweet, concerned features and how she studied his face. Her light ignited a tiny flicker of hope in his empty chest.

"Did you ever consider…sitting down with your father and talking it out?" She asked, ignoring the fact that he was her enemy and treating him with compassion.

"My relationship with my father was a little more complex than yours." He said, before realize too late that he had unintentionally made her troubles less than his own, and after all she had just been through.

She drew back at the harsh reminder of her father, but nodded. "Maybe so. But I let my father go with no regrets." She shot, half wanting to damage, half wanting to show him some humanity. He had experienced so little humanity. This is what it means to be human, her dad had said, and she intended to live by it as much as her inhuman side would allow. "And to answer your question, yes, I like horses." She gave him the small truth, before finding a perfect cue to leave his intimidating company. "But I also like people, and they like me, so I'll be inside." She swept back to the ballroom, leaving him to contemplate in the night.

Caroline had first intended to rejoin the footballers, but the very thought of it made her cringe. She needed space more than anything, It was why she had decided to take a walk outside alone, she just needed a bit of time to think and breathe. So she retreated to the powder room, the place in which her shawl had been placed, and went to fix her hair in the many mirrors placed around the room for the evening. The two girls who had been reapplying their lip gloss left, and she was finally alone. She sighed. The night had already been wild enough. Klaus…well, she just hoped that their heart to heart outside was their last encounter for the night. If she just stuck around with Matt…Elena….even Stefan….even Damon…hell, she'd stick around with Carol Lockwood even if she continued to give her the evil eye all night for 'making' her son leave, just as long as Klaus didn't corner her again.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Barbie vampire." Rebekah's lush accented voice rang out and Caroline cursed, realizing they were all alone. She knew she should have thought that it was weird to be alone in a place where women usually came to fix their make up and gossip. That never happened. Rebekah had probably compelled girls to stay outside.

"Look, it's been a nice evening so far, so I'm just gonna go rejoin the party before we have a catfight and rip each others hair or nails or lungs out, alright?" Caroline compromised, feeling protective of her beautiful new dress and not wanting any blood on it. She stepped to leave and found Rebekah in her way.

"No, wait. I did actually want a word with you."

"If it's about Matt, then don't bother. We're just friends. And for some stupid reason, I've decided to trust you with him, cause he's somehow brought out a nicer side to you, which I thought was impossible."

Rebekah didn't know whether to be flattered or angry, but she brushed both feelings away. "Actually, its my brother."

Caroline blanched, and Rebekah noticed.

"Don't be like that, goodness."

"I'm not interested in your brother, Rebekah."

"And I'm not saying you are." She said smugly. "You're the one jumping to conclusions and denying it."

Caroline bit her lip, and it evoked an odd sense of pity from Rebekah.

"All I'm saying is that Nik has been absolutely unbearable at the best of times for way too many centuries, and now he's…slightly more bearable. And I can't help but chalk that up to your presence. So," She sighed, letting the smallest smile touch her face. "Just do us all a favor and give him a chance."

Caroline didn't answer, too stunned to respond, and Rebekah gave her a moment by fiddling with her hair in the mirror.

"And thank you for your words with Matt." She shot a truer smile her way, and Caroline noticed how she lit up as she said Matt's name.

"Why are you being so nice?" She asked, a little suspicious.

"You started it." Rebekah answered childishly, and then smirked. "Us 'blondies' have got to stick together sometimes too."

They shared a smile, before doing one last check in the mirror.

"Still doesn't mean I don't hate you." Rebekah said easily, and Caroline didn't bat an eyelash.

"Likewise, bitch." She answered.

Part 3 will be up next lovelies.