Caroline strutted into the bar as she had been instructed. Glancing down, she grimaced a little before undoing the button of her blazer, letting her chest flash to the Grill. She didn't particularly warm to the idea of showing off her goods to the drunk population of Mystic Falls, but she had to make the plan work. Plus she may or may not have wanted to get a strong reaction from Klaus for her own selfish reasons. What could she say, she felt a bit rejected from earlier, and wanted to beat him at his own game with her own special weapons. It had absolutely nothing to do with any other emotion.
Caroline spotted Alaric and Meredith eyeing her warily from beside the pool table, and she continued to saunter over to Klaus and Kol.
Klaus couldn't take his eyes off her.
She was just as beautiful as when he had seen her this morning, only now her fierce lioness side had taken hold. And if she had looked delectable in the kitchen, she certainly looked ravishing right now.
"I remember her from last night." Kol brought him back to earth, and Klaus sensed his brother sitting up straighter, preening like a bird, but he refused to tear his eyes away from the blonde bombshell walking towards them.
"She looks like a tasty little thing." Kol leered, and Klaus instantly clamped his brothers foot under his without even looking. She was Klaus' to taste, Klaus' little thing. Not even a thing. She was his little one. One.
"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver." Klaus drawled, and his brother managed to retrieve his foot from the hold, snickering. His big brother fired up for some baby vampire? This girl must clearly be something.
She had almost brushed past them when Klaus called out to her.
"Caroline,"
Her mere name on his lips, with that accent drawing out the 'a' in a different way, lingering on the 'i', the overall growl on the 'r' with his gravelly voice, sent a tingle down her spine, but she suppressed it and let out the inner bitch that was still pissed at him.
"Oh, its you." She said coldly, folding her arms and shifting her weight to one hip, letting the hot bitchy hostility roll off her in waves.
Klaus was unperturbed. "Join us for a drink?" he offered, thinking of their drink much earlier that day in her kitchen, the overwhelming taste of her blood and the even more pressing desire to consume her, mind, body and soul. From the look in her eyes as she studied him, he could tell that she was reminiscing as well. But she shattered any growing feelings with her words.
"Mmm, I'd rather die of thirst, but thanks." She quipped sweetly, ignoring how her throat called for another taste of his blood, for another taste of just his skin, for his body to be pressed against hers. She used that adrenaline to spin on her heel and strut back out, ensuring to sway her hips just so and let the air push her golden waves enticingly.
Klaus was speechless, then chuckled. He had seen a hint of her fangs; he knew he had got to her on some level. But he immediately wanted more, wanted to know more.
"Isn't she stunning." He said aloud, grinning after her. He didn't even remember his brother sitting next to him till he spoke.
"She certainly looks good walking away from you." Kol exclaimed, curious as to why his brother was so happy after the girl had clearly turned him down, and how the baby vampire had the gumption to pretty much tell Klaus where to stick it without a hint of fear.
Klaus downed his drink, knowing he'd need it if he did was he was already planning to do, and stood from his perch at the barstool.
"I'll take that as a challenge." He grinned at Kol, before marching off after her.
"Caroline." Klaus called as he strode purposefully towards her retreating figure, oblivious to the car he almost ran in to. He'd easily plow through fifty freight trains and an ocean to get to her.
"Are you serious? Take a hint." Caroline, called, not bothering to turn back for longer than it took for her to speak. She didn't wait for his reply before continuing to saunter off into the night, afraid her face would give her game away. She was pleased her ruse was working, but also happy he had followed her for other reasons. Reasons she was not prepared to truly explore.
Klaus kept after her, taking her hesitation to face him as fury.
"Don't be angry, love. We've had a few little spats. I'm over them already." He admitted with honesty, recalling his run that morning and the incredible sketches he had mused over after seeing her.
"Ah, well, I'm not." Caroline replied with the same honesty, slowing her pace despite herself to give him a chance. To give the Salvatore's plan a chance. She didn't know which came first.
"How can I aquit myself?"
Caroline stopped, turning to face him. "You, and your expensive jewelry, and your romantic drawings can leave me alone." She had rehearsed the line in her mirror only hours before, but even she didn't fully believe it as she delivered the words. But she saw how it got under Klaus' skin. He had issues with being alone, all that trouble with his father and mother. God, so many people wanted him to be as far away from them as possible, and she had delivered that blow when she hadn't even really meant it. She couldn't very well say she enjoyed his company; her loyalty to the good and right side prevented that.
But his vulnerable gaze hurt her, too. A deep, gnawing pain in her chest that was far more unbearable than she had predicted.
Neither one of them wanted to see the other like that, but while Caroline's base instinct was to turn and run, Klaus fought for compassion for a change.
"Come on, take a chance Caroline."
She faltered, looking back at him. He saw his chance, and moved swiftly to sit on a park bench, knowing that if she was sitting she clearly couldn't walk away as quickly.
"Talk to me." He said, leaving it as more of an open request than his usual command, looking at her with his wide, stormy, persuasive eyes.
Caroline was rooted to the spot, stunned and yet moved by his gesture. He took her lack of reaction as need for more persuading.
"Come on, get to know me." He looked her straight in the eye, and knew what he needed for that last little push. "I dare you." He murmured with a smile that jolted her internal organs and sent tingles to her palms and arches. His eyes had that familiar flash every time he dared her – that cheeky challenge that he knew she simply couldn't resist.
Caroline wasn't about to let him see how quickly he got under her skin. "Fine." She huffed with attitude, fighting back her smile and sitting primly next to him. His stare was intimidating and slightly flattering, and she shifted her gaze awkwardly, not knowing where to look, not knowing what to do with this man's complete and utterly transfixed attention.
"So, what do you want to talk about?"
"I want to talk about you." Klaus said with honesty, looking at her from under his lashes. It was so direct and yet unexpected that Caroline laughed, because what else could she do, really?
Klaus smiled with her, but continued. "Your hopes, your dreams, everything you want in life." He was completely serious, which surprised himself. It had started out as a line in his mind, and somewhere along the way he found that he was awaiting the answer almost eagerly. He wanted to fool himself and say that it was simply so he had new inside information to win her over, but it felt like more than that. He genuinely wanted to figure out this girl he sat next to, wanted to get past her defenses and find out what made her. But to do that, he'd have to let down his guard in return.
"Okay, Caroline chuckled, vaguely confused but knowing how the game worked. "Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you." She fixed him with a look to convince him, but he seemed to see past that and flashed a genuine smile.
"Well that's why I like you." He murmured, holding her gaze till she flustered and looked down with a smile. "So how about it, love?" Klaus continued, hoping she would answer properly.
Caroline pursed her lips in thought. "Alright. But only if you answer them too. And properly. None of this 'my dream is to build a hybrid army' stuff."
Klaus chuckled, quickly thinking through his answers and wondering if she would really care to hear them as he was right now.
"Perhaps a deal: we both say the hopes and dreams we had as humans, before we turned."
Caroline was a bit annoyed that he had easily side stepped the whole hybrid thing. Still, she was also grateful – she hadn't thought far enough into the future to know her hopes and dreams yet. When you were a vampire in dangerous Mystic Falls, you tended to take each day as they came and not think too far ahead to be so presumptuous that you'd have a next week, let alone a next year.
"That's still unfair. I was human only last year, and how long has it been for you? A billion years?" She exaggerated, wanting another chuckle and some light humor from him, and she was rewarded.
"Only a thousand years back, sweetheart. Lets not give me wrinkles." They both relaxed enough to laugh a little, and looked at each other for a moment. Caroline was surprised at how she was actually opening up to him, the killer hybrid with a death wish on all her friends. She looked down, not focusing on that, just concentrating on what her answer was.
"My hopes and dreams as a human were very small." She flashed her eyes up to his, always willing to make fun of herself to make a situation less serious. "Small town girl, small town life, the simplest wishes were enough."
"You've grown now, though." He said softly, assuredly. She blinked in surprise, grateful, and Klaus realized that she was moved by small, meaningful gestures that triggered gratitude in her; but not often thanks. Whether that was due to the fact that she didn't believe them or that she felt she didn't deserve them, he was yet to discover. But he was still pleased, and gave a small smile at this revelation.
"Go on," he encouraged.
"Oh, my actual answers?" Caroline scoffed. "They were nothing."
"I'd still like to hear them." Klaus said, and she rolled her eyes at his attention, but continued.
"Finish high school, go to college, settle down as a real estate agent in Mystic Falls, have a family and watch them all grow, encourage them to do even more than I did, to succeed and try and win." She became self conscious, and shrugged her answer off. "Boring, really. Compared to reality."
Klaus watched her. Her answer had shown her simple human life, and he knew that even as a human she would have been bored by that life eventually. Caroline was a woman who could do anything she wanted, she just hadn't realized it yet. He made a small promise in his mind that he would help her realize herself and what she was really worth, somehow.
Caroline looked anywhere but him, till she realized that he still had to answer.
"And what about you, the Original Niklaus Mikaelson?"
Klaus smiled quietly at Caroline saying his full name, and thought through his answer.
"It was a long time ago."
"A long, long, long time ago." Caroline teased, and he chuckled. She marveled at the fact that she could push his buttons and he would still laugh his boyish laugh. Here she was, Caroline Forbes, teasing the Original Hybrid, and not only did he not decapitate her, he laughed.
"Just know that the expectations back then were different." He continued, and Caroline waited, patient and curious. He had see so much of the world and time, and she understood that it would have changed his perception of human life too.
"I wanted to be a soldier. Sword fights with my brothers were the challenges I looked forward to. Our village was so small, so small." He chuckled. "It was always expected for us, the older brothers in particular, to find a girl and continue our bloodline, but even though there were many girls I could have had for a wife, and I came close to settling, it never quite felt right. Something was missing." Klaus glanced over at Caroline from the corner of his eye, and she held it before biting her lip and looking down. Klaus continued, letting the moment slide.
"So I concentrated on my fighting skills and waited for a time that I could join a force where I could use those skills. Most likely a village protector. I was actually never one for attacking and plundering. Those skills came after a few centuries of running from my father."
Caroline felt his mood dip and forced a smile on her face. "Not an Original Viking, then."
Klaus smiled a little at her attempt to bring his mood back, and sighed, trying to bring himself back to the lovely celestial being seated next to him. It was the least he could do when she was actively trying to cheer him up too. "No, not quite."
Caroline mused. He was a protector. That fit in perfectly with his family, he was the soldier, he was the one that made sure they would be safe and continue to survive against threats, regardless of the cost. It also showed why he liked things to be in his control.
Klaus watched her take all the information in.
"What are you thinking?" He asked softly.
"You're different to what I thought you were." Caroline said truthfully, looking at him.
He held her gaze with a small smile. "You are more than I thought you were." He replied, and she was reminded of his compliments the other night in a rush.
They sat in a beautiful silence, studying one another, but Klaus suddenly huffed, putting a hand to his chest and standing.
"What is it?" Caroline asked, confused and tinged with worry. She stood to help him but paused, uncertain as to how she could.
Klaus looked up at her, suddenly aware of just how open he had become, just how vulnerable he was. "What did you do?" He asked, thinking of what a beautiful distraction she had been, and what an easy target he had become.
Caroline blanked. "Nothing." She answered, and then remembered Damon's plan, Bonnie's words echoing through her head. He'll be dead by the end of the night.
Klaus saw the guilt in her eyes, and rage swam up easily: rage at her for deceiving him, but most of all rage at himself for his new weakness.
"What did you do?" He snarled, grabbing her arms and pulling her against him. He wanted her to fear him, for fear was a much easier emotion that he could handle. In the depths of his mind, he knew it would be easier to scare her away for both his protection and hers. He needed to hide his heart, his humanity, and she needed to run from him, run far away.
To his dismay, there was no fear in her eyes, merely a flicker of guilt at deceiving him and and anger that rose to match and fight his own.
"I didn't do anything, stop it!" She hissed back.
He could see she was as ready for a fight as he was, but he couldn't afford that right now. He felt the hollow pain in his chest again and snapped into his soldier mode: protect the family.
"Kol," He breathed, shooting off into the night, leaving Caroline more alone than ever.
Her anger still flowed through her body, and she considered going after Klaus and giving him a piece of her mind, but she knew it wouldn't be wise to tangle with the Salvatores or the Mikaelsons tonight, for neither one of the families would hesitate to stake her if she did. She also wanted to throw something or break something, but she knew that it wouldn't do anyone any good, and she could easily hurt someone unintentionally.
But she had already done that tonight. Twice.
Once when she saw Klaus confused and finally understanding that she had used his emotions against him. She hadn't intended for him to hurt from that, for hurting required caring in the first place, which she had assured herself that he did not, but now she wasn't so certain.
The second time had been hurting herself. What scared her was that she had been hurt by Klaus' pain. His reaction to her deceit had caused her to feel so guilty that she had hurt. What's more, his anger had changed everything. Gone was the gentleman from before, here was the beast. This was a glimpse of the monster that roamed in the dark. And she couldn't untangle whether she felt hurt that he had pretended to be so nice and kind and…human…or whether she felt hurt that she had triggered the monster.
She was scared by how she was immediately thinking about how she could earn the gentleman back after her betrayal. She knew she was meant to be thinking about self preservation. After all, he had told her that she had to wrong him first for him to do the same to her. It didn't matter that she had broken the norm with him. It didn't matter that she could already get away with so much with him. He would no doubt let go of his growing morals to kill her. But she was more concerned that he would let go of his morals in the first place. Or worse, let go of her. She…she wanted his company.
Everything was so twisted.
Caroline took back what she thought before. She needed to kick something.
She started running and didn't stop till she was in the woods and almost on top of a large bolder in her path. She kept running at it, letting loose a punch into the ragged surface. Once the dust settled, she stood there, panting from her emotions running riot, and noted the crater in the surface with glee.
She looked up and say the clear night sky, with all those stars that people never got to see in a city or town. Caroline was reminded of her first real conversation in the trees with Klaus on her birthday, about the feeling of starlight on her skin being akin to sunlight, and she climbed to the top of the rocky formation, sitting down and looking up to the circle of trees that framed her clearing of stars. She looked down at her daylight ring, fidgeted with it, then took it off with a sigh.
Oh.
She could feel the starlight. It wasn't a feeling like the burn that the sun gave, but it was a feeling that set her skin alight with a bittersweet tingle. She felt…alive. More alive than when she drank blood, more alive than her years as a human. Caroline lifted her face to the heavens, drinking in the feeling. She tried to draw a comparison…and found it with a dull shock. She felt like that around Klaus. Like her skin was alight, reflecting the twinkle of the stars. She frowned. Surely she had just been compelled to feel this way, to miss him, to want his presence. It had nothing to do with him.
She couldn't help but notice that what she had with Tyler – what little she had with him currently – was completely different. Tyler evoked lust from her, a yearning to help him and then help herself to his body in ways far more potent than bloodlust.
Klaus…well, he made her want to bask in his presence, much like the starlight. And in that same way, he expected nothing of her but her existence, did not promote himself to a demigod status like he usually did. His words and his body beckoned to her, stirring up feelings, a want and a craving that she hadn't felt before.
Which was better? Lust, or want? Yearning or craving? The words were so similar, yet the feelings were completely different.
Caroline shook her head. Why was she even considering Klaus? He wasn't an option. If anything, with any luck, he'd be dead tonight. She felt more than a twinge of guilt and sorrow at this. She tried to string it off as merely human conscience and the loss of male attention, but deep down she knew. She was beginning to lie to herself. And it was only so long before she snapped.
The outro to this (cause of course I couldn't help but add yet another 'unseen scene') will be up in a few hours.
In the meantime, enjoy and review if you feel inclined to make my day :) x