After the utter fiasco of the ball the previous evening, Klaus was left without a clue of what to do next. Much as he wanted to focus on the bigger issue of Mystic Falls and the seemingly never-ending line of people who wanted to kill him, he couldn't tear his thoughts away from that one girl. Caroline, the goddess of the night, the celestial being that had graced him with her presence right before she snapped his conscience back into place. He was fighting to keep his morality as low as possible, but she made him want to be better. Though she sought to hurt him with the insights to his flawed personality, it only gave him strength to fight it, to fight the odds and win her good opinion. He wanted to prove himself to Caroline.
Of course, once the chase was gone, he'd still revert back to his old ways. He was a creature of habit, and once the chase was over and the challenge won, he got bored.
Yet even he had to admit he didn't ever put this much effort into it. Especially with a woman who refused to be seduced. He hadn't pursued many women who refused his initial advances. He had a knack for winning them over somehow. Casanova had learnt his skills of seduction from him, the legend of Don Juan had been based on him, and he had certainly had his share of women over the past centuries of his existence.
There was something different here. She drew him in like gravity, like she was the sun, full of light. And he was well aware of the irony of the sun being a vampires weakness, and how it was equally if not even weaker for a vampire, an Original vampire, to care for or feel for anyone else. But she demanded that care, and he was more than willing to give it. He would give her anything.
She was surely becoming his greatest weakness.
Klaus gritted his teeth at that revelation, leaving the house. He needed to hunt, to get that want for her out of his system for a while. He began to speed through the woods, wanting to reach the next town to feed so as not to draw attention to Mystic Falls. But his mind had already entered the predator state, and when he picked up a familiar scent, he paused.
Caroline. She had hunted here.
The want to see her, even if just for a moment, to see if he could win her, filled his mind again, and he was powerless to it, slowing down is run to change course for her house.
Klaus didn't even process the insanity of his actions till he was at her door. He couldn't just knock and say he had been in the neighborhood and wanted a cup of tea. Nor could he barge in and confess outright that she consumed his thoughts, since that was far too forward. So without thought, he went halfway. Opening the door to her house, he smiled slightly as he took a free step across the threshold, pleased every time he came over that he had been invited into her house. His ears pricked and he heard only one pair of lungs breathing in the house, in the kitchen, only one beating heart that beat at vampire speed. So she was alone. In the kitchen? Already he was amused at the idea of her in a place so mundane. This was the real reason to see her, he wanted to see why she enjoyed normalcy and human existence so much. Why she preferred to be home in such a small, comfortable existence when he would gladly show her the world if she just said so. Klaus knew she secretly loved the drama and adrenaline her new life gave her. She wanted safety, but she also wanted excitement, and he could easily give her that, if she would only let him.
Caroline hummed a snippet of the song from last night, and Klaus came back to earth with a smirk. Was she thinking about last night? He had to talk to her, he wouldn't just skulk around in her hallway all day, and it wasn't like he would back out now.
Klaus rounded the corner at a normal speed, thinking that he hadn't been stealthy, so she would know he was there already. Caroline looked like a domestic star, tousled hair and apron, like a sunbeam in the kitchen.
"Never thought you'd be one to try to be a Martha Stewart." He grinned, and she gasped and dropped something, catching it and glaring heatedly at him. He catalogued it as one of his many favorite looks on her. How had she not heard him? Was she really that distracted by her thoughts?
"And I never thought you'd resort to stalking. Thought I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
"Very funny, love." He held back a chuckle at her unexpected, yet very typical retort. No one had had the gumption to snap back at him for a while, even Rebekah, and never had anyone outside his family been able to stand up to him like that.
"What do you want?" She cut straight to the point, seeing right through him.
"The pleasure of your company, nothing more." Klaus smiled pleasantly at her, and she glared at him, bringing back the fire from last night. He was very aware of how caddish he had behaved last night before she had left, and he felt the need to show her a more civilised, charming side to him. She didn't believe him for a second, and she had every right to, but he always got his way. He always got what he wanted. So he sat by the counter where the baking ingredients were set up, and waited for her to give in.
Caroline did so in a matter of minutes, and sifted some ingredients with a manner that told him she did this often. He watched her curiously, and she refused to meet his gaze. Klaus was about to ask her why she bothered cooking, when she came up with a topic that clearly was plaguing her.
"I got your drawing…"
"Yes?" He asked quickly, wanting the rest of her sentence as swiftly as possible. Something foreign jumped in his stomach, and he found himself awaiting her words with anticipation. Was he nervous? Nothing made him nervous, how could he be nervous about a baby vampire's thoughts?
"…and while I don't appreciate you breaking into my house, cause that's just plain creepy." She shot him a look, trying to remain as hostile as possible. "Thank you. It's nice."
Klaus tried not to look pleased. She did not get under his skin. No one got under his skin. But he still felt pleased. "You're very welcome. I enjoyed drawing the subject."
She hid a smile, and went back to measuring vanilla extract into the bowl. He watched her concentrate and turn into a content being, and wanted to know why it happened. What was it about such a human action that settled her?
"Why all of this cooking fuss anyway? Surely you aren't…hungry." He grinned. He was well aware of the affect he had on her, and his accent had been an advantage with women for many a century.
And yet it didn't get to her. He watched as Caroline whisked, glancing up to him with indifference. Either she was a terrific actress, or she required more persuading.
"For the record, I like at least trying to retain my humanity. And it sooths me."
Klaus knew she was trying to hint towards his inexistent humanity, but she had still managed to let two facts drop about herself, and he focused on those instead. She wanted to preserve her humanity, and she was comforted by it. She was fascinating.
Caroline glanced up, looking embarrassed. He couldn't understand how she could be so flustered by the attention which she so fully deserved.
"What?"
"You're so…human. Its refreshing." He stated honestly.
She flicked back to sass quickly. "Compared to what, your monstrous habits? I'm sure."
She really couldn't take a compliment. And she really knew what to do to frustrate him. He knew what he had to do to get past her harsh front. "Let me explain something to you, little one. When you have eternity, when all life passes by and loses its meaning, you have nothing left but to search for a goal, for a purpose. That's what I'm doing."
She was blissfully stunned for a moment, and actually met his gaze for a long moment rather than looking away. He reveled in her calming blue gaze.
But she blinked, and the moment passed. "You should have taken up baking instead. Much more rewarding."Her tone wasn't snappy like before, she was…being funny. There was a twinkle in her eye that he had never seen before, and he was drawn in by it. He chuckled, stunned.
Caroline squinted her eyes at him in a comical way, and moved to another cupboard in the kitchen.
Klaus couldn't tame his curiosity. He looked at the bowl, wondering what on earth could be so appealing about it. Or, more so, why a vampire, a young, bloodlusting vampire, would prefer something so normal. He dipped his finger into the mix, intending to just taste a little without her knowledge, but of course, he was caught.
"Hey!"
He looked up, knowing how he must look like a child with his hand in the cookie jar. He liked the idea of appearing so normal to her.
"I was curious, wanted to see what all the fuss was about." Klaus lifted his battered finger, and tasted the uncooked mix. Not bad, he mused, her blood was far more tempting, though. He looked over to her, noting how her mouth had parted slightly, presumably in shock at his cheeky behaviour, and the small action caught his attention immediately. Her lips had that beautiful lilt to them, remaining in a smile even as they parted, and he was filled with the need to take her bottom lip between his own lips, or teeth, or swipe his tongue across…
She pressed her lips together and cleared her throat, and he realized he had been caught looking.
"And the verdict?"
Klaus immediately assumed she had read his mind, and lifted his gaze to her eyes to check. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew she did mean the verdict on her human cooking, but he was too overcome with the fact that her eyes portrayed a hunger that he was certain mirrored her own.
"Good." He managed to say, with only a slightly husky tone. "Nothing compared to blood."
Caroline grimaced, though he saw the slight bloodlust in her eyes, and she continued to potter around in the kitchen, preparing another tray.
He couldn't help himself: he wanted that reaction from her again. He replaced his hand in the bowl. She didn't disappoint, tapping his hand with the spatula and flashing her eyes in playful annoyance. He grinned back at her cheekily, his mind racing ahead with a plan.
"If it's so bad compared to blood, then why go for seconds?" She quipped.
He shrugged, moving to taste the mixture again. He watched her eyes follow to his mouth, and he smirked slightly.
"I'd most likely be presumptuous in asking this, but would you like a taste?" Klaus couldn't fully believe he had just let that slip from his mouth. But he couldn't let the chance pass by. She looked up to him, and he felt such a twinge in his chest that if he hadn't already been dead a thousand years, he was certain that she would have killed him with that mere glance. It was so uncertain, so unguarded, so beautifully innocent and with that longing hidden far away in the depths of her eyes. He was reminded of bloodlust, and changed his plan.
"Perhaps something stronger." He drawled, licking the unsatisfyingly human batter, and biting into his own finger, ignoring the pain once he saw the flash in her eyes.
"Come on, love, have at it." Klaus murmured, persuading. He breathed out as she gave in and placed her mouth on the small wound. She was one of the very few who had tasted his blood more than once in such an intimate fashion. And he felt that there were no other lips that he would prefer against his skin.
All too soon, she pulls her mouth away, and looks up at him, licking his blood from her lips. It was the most entrancing thing he had ever seen. Caroline extended her wrist slightly towards him, and he hesitated. His own hesitation confused him. He was always one to take what he wanted without a pause, and it shocked him to find that he wanted to take only what was offered to him with this baby vampire, this little one.
He raised her wrist to her mouth, wanting to be gentle, wanting to be the lover that he had referenced the night before. He brushed kisses along her arm, smiling slightly into her hand as she inhaled sharply. Keeping his eyes on hers, stormy blue locked on sky, he let his fangs go. Her scent was intoxicating; vanilla and cinnamon from baking, sunlight and lavender from her own self. He couldn't hold back any longer, and bit into her palm, overwhelmed by just how pure she tasted.
Klaus caught himself as she let out a breath that sounded slightly like a moan. His bloodlust wasn't the only word in his mind with the letters 'l' 'u' 's' and 't', and he assumed from her reaction that it could be the same for her.
But he couldn't be sure.
He kissed her open palm once more, waiting for her angry fiery reaction. Instead, she was merely fiery, drawing closer to him, and in his surprise he backed up against the wall, bringing her with him.
Klaus surveyed her face. She was such an enigma, and he didn't know whether or not to move to kiss her. He took a chance, leaning in, and saw his mistake. She turned her head slightly, and his lips brushed her cheek instead. He was slightly taken back by her change of heart, but understood her actions, and smiled slightly against her, accepting the offer to tempt her instead.
He traced his lips over her sensitive skin, taking note of each and every reaction she gave. He allowed himself to get lost in the taste of her skin, the pressure of her hand on his shoulder, her scent that washed over him.
Klaus drew back, wanting to see her new reaction to his seduction.
Caroline's eyes fluttered open, and she watched him with her large sky blue eyes, waiting to see his next move. Klaus ducked his head close again, going in for a kiss once more, and her eyes closed in response. Her head didn't move away this time, but he realized that he didn't want to pressure or seduce her into this. He wanted her to give him her kiss, no pressure or deals included. He paused for a moment, an inch away from her mouth, their breaths mingling heatedly, electricity passing between them. Klaus tipped his head slightly, pressing a kiss to the very corner of her expectant mouth and drawing back. Caroline stayed there with her eyes closed for another beat before opening them to look up at him, confused. Klaus drew in a breath to explain, and thought the better of it.
"Your timer's about to go off." He said, and she lifted her eyebrows.
"Excuse me?" She asked, just as the egg timer went off, signaling the muffins completion. He sighed slightly as she backed away to normalcy, truthfully thankful for the distraction.
"How did you – "
"I'm an Original, Caroline. I have an infinite perception of time." Klaus teased, not wanting to admit that it had been a complete fluke accident just to avoid not saying why he hadn't kissed her. He watched her from his stance by the wall as she went about putting in another batch and setting the first lot on a cooling rack. He could tell her mind had been churning over something by the way she stilled after her activity, her back to him where she stood by the sink.
"What are you trying to do here, Klaus?" She asked, fists clenched where they rested on the countertop. "I'm trying to make sense of everything, and I'm failing."
"I enjoy you. What more do you need to know, love?" He kept his cards close, not wanting her to see through him like last night.
It was his mistake.
Caroline turned to face him, eyes searching. "What more? I need to understand. I need to know what you expect me to do here. Do you think that hiding behind some nice guy persona is just going to make it all better? That if you charm and seduce me I'm going to forget that you've killed all those people and ruined the lives of the people I care about the most?"
Klaus kept his face blank, and saw her anger grow.
"You can fling out all the lines, shower me with every thoughtless gift, pretend to be the good guy all you want. But I know its all fake. And I wont fall for it. I'll just see you as the big bad wolf, forever."
Klaus reigned in the overactive werewolf emotions coiling inside him.
"Forever is a long time, Caroline." He grated out. "Don't think I'll give up that easily."
"I wish you would." She flung bitterly at him, and he flashed over to her, trapping her between his arms at the sink. Their bodies were so close, not touching, but thrumming with energy at being mere inches away from each other. She inhaled sharply, and he smirked down at her.
"Be careful what you wish for, sweetheart." Klaus murmured darkly in the shell of her ear. He took in her face, and her unguarded expression. He watched her avidly with an artists eye, wanting to catch her on paper. It was at that moment, teetering on the extreme emotions of anger and lust, that he knew she had gotten under his skin too. She was his muse.
Klaus wrenched himself away. He couldn't let their meeting get anymore twisted and bittersweet and hurtful.
He stormed home, torn between too many emotions. The one it boiled down to was currently enrapturement of her image in his head. He wanted to get her on paper as soon as possible. He had been so close that he had seen every eyelash, every freckle. He had traced her porcelain skin with his own lips, had made her rosebud lips part. He had done all that. And he still somehow couldn't wrap his brain around it. He only knew that he had to get it onto paper to study it again, to truly see that he had done that. He had elicited such passion, such a fiery reaction such willing acceptance for that one brief moment from her. He settled on the couch, content. He began to sketch face after face, angle after angle, drawing from every instant he had seen her angelic features. He refused to break his concentration for anything, not with Elijah pottering around in the next room, or Kol broodily storming from place to place.
So he was slightly irritated when Kol strode in petulantly, demanding attention with his booming voice.
"Where is everyone?"
"I don't know, Kol, maybe they all couldn't take your pigheaded ego and left." Klaus sighed, not bothering to break away from his shading.
"Very funny, Nik, but we all know no one can match your ego in this house. Or your loneliness." Kol took a cheap shot at him, wanting a reaction from his brother to cure his boredom. Nik was always good for a fight, yet here he was, distracted, grounded and level headed even.
"What's that?" Kol asked, leaning over to take a peek at the sketches, and Klaus moved to the other couch in the blink of an eye.
Kol huffed and sat in the seat his brother had just vacated, still bored. "You're no fun."
"Some say its my best feature." Klaus smirked, smoothing a thumb over a line.
They sat in silence for a while, Kol drumming his fingers on the armrest in a petty attempt to gain attention and failing.
Suddenly, he perked up, and if Klaus had bothered to concentrate on anything other than the images in his mind and on his page, he would have heard Rebekah's quiet approach.
"Well, well, well, there's our girl." Kol stood in preparation, knowing his sister would have to pass through the room and that he could certainly rile her up for his amusement. She strolled in, still dressed in last nights green gown, hair dishevilled, shoes in hand. Kol refused to let her by, sidestepping with her like a practiced dance.
"Get out of my way, Kol." Rebekah gritted, and he grinned.
"Out all night, what a scandal!"
She shot him a glare, and he dug deeper.
"I hope you did better than that commoner…Matt, was it?"
He knew he'd hit the nerve perfectly, finally getting the reaction he had wanted all morning.
"If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth." Rebekah growled, and Kol raised his eyebrows.
Klaus, who had tuned out most of their pointless banter, looked up to see their antics, and went back to the sketches with a smile. He'd had enough heated confrontations that morning, and he had preferred the previous one with the little one, his baby vampire.
Rebekah noted him with a glare. "Don't start, Nik." She pushed past Kol with a few stomps.
Klaus had to suppress a smile at her behavior: it was just so much like this morning. "I didn't say anything."
He looked fondly at Caroline's face on the paper, and Rebekah shot a knowing glance to the sketchpad. He pulled it out of her sight, but she saw enough to know who her brothers new muse was. Much as she envied the girl for her position at school and how quickly she had caught her brothers attention, she had to be a little happy. Klaus had chosen the one girl in Mystic Falls who was strong enough not to take any of his moody crap. And she felt closer to the fellow blonde after their moments the other night.
Even though the night had resulted in her being blown off by the captain of the football team with Caroline's own words from earlier.
"I'm bored." Kol announced like he expected them to do something about it. "Our sister is a strumpet, but at least she's having fun. I need entertainment."
Kol glanced over to Klaus, who tore his gaze from the artwork to look up and exhale.
"What are you waiting for, go on, have at it." He said in a bored tone, wanting much more privacy to pour out his complicated emotions into art.
"Its no fun to go alone." Kol pouted. "Come on, join me Nik!" He frowned at the lack of attention he was receiving from Klaus, and went for the sulking option. "It's the least you could do after sticking a dagger in my heart."
Klaus looked up, not wanting to admit that his little brother had pulled on the few heartstrings he had left, and tilted his head in consideration.
"Okay, why not," He gave in, placing the sketch pad to the side with gentle care. He took in Kols triumphant face and rolled his eyes. "I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Rebekah's date." And having delectable conversations with his creature of the light.
He walked to the door, not wanting to witness Rebekah's anger anymore.
"Yes, please go, this house already has enough men in it."
"Just like you, Bekah." Kol shot cheekily at her.
"Good riddance, both of you!" She huffed, throwing a shoe at Kol pointlessly as he left.
Thanks to the reviewers, favoriters, followers, and readers!
This is pretty much one of the last moments before hell sets in at the Grill (oh yes, its 3x15, hell was always going to break loose here). Are you excited? Me too :) Next chapter will be up in around about a day or so, I've been updating fast because I know thats what I like from the stories I follow, but I need a bit of time to catch up the writing too :P
In the meanwhile, review if you feel so inclined, please and thank you. x