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Lessons of Love, Chapter 13: Klaus to Caroline, Part 6

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself." Alan Alda

"Seriously? This is your idea of 'fun'?"

"It's not so bad, love," Klaus said with a smirk as Caroline peered anxiously over the edge of the cliff and back up into the blue twilight.

"Not so bad? We have to be at least two hundred feet up," Caroline said, turning to give Klaus a questioning look as he stripped his shirt off.

"Love, you're a vampire. Height is a trivial matter for us. Besides, we're only, give or take, sixty-six feet up; I've jumped off of much higher, believe me."

Caroline still looked skeptical as she turned to look back at the straight drop down into the pool below Cascade Falls. "I'm not so sure, Nik."

He came to stand beside her, his ocean blue eyes meeting her blue-green orbs. "Would I ever, purposely, put you in danger, Caroline?"

"No, but-"

"Then you have nothing to worry about," he said with a smile. Before Caroline could even think about replying, he was gone. She turned and caught sight of his head disappearing over the edge of the cliff and she heard the splash seconds later. The blonde rushed to the edge, looking over in time to see Klaus come to the surface of the pool, his normally curly hair plastered to his forehead. He looked up with a wry smile, shaking his head, sending water droplets everywhere and making his hair stick up funnily.

"See?" He called back up to Caroline. "It's not so bad!"

"Says the guy who claims to have jumped off the top of something even higher!" she replied. Caroline could almost hear his eyes roll at her trivial human fear of height.

He held at out a hand as he treaded the water, Caroline watching his muscles ripple with his movement. "I'll catch you," he beckoned, promising her from below, as Caroline furrowed her brow, trying to convince herself to jump. "Don't make me come up there and push you off."

"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad idea…" she mused, still contemplating if this was a good idea. Klaus swam to the rock face and began the climb back up. Despite his supernatural speed, it still took him a minute to reach the top. Once up, he grabbed Caroline's hand with child-like vigor and pulled her to the peak of the waterfall. "Are you sure we won't get caught?" she asked.

"Yes," Klaus responded in exasperation. "The park closes at sunset and, once again, we're vampires, avoiding trouble should be our middle name."

"I'd say causing trouble should be our middle name," Caroline said, trying to distract Klaus from pulling her over the edge with no such luck.

"Ready?"

"No."

Klaus growled, not threateningly but in annoyed amusement.

"Can we take a running start?"

"If it makes you feel better…but only if you promise to jump. None of that stopping at the last second business."

"Ugh, fine."

Klaus chuckled, "One…Two," he looked at her mischievously, luckily Caroline was to concerned with staring at the cliff's edge to notice the glint in Klaus' eyes. "Three!"

Caroline was in no way, shape, or form prepared for the speed in which she was pulled towards the ledge. Sure vampires were fast, but hybrids were faster. Within seconds, she felt herself freefalling and yelped, trying not to look at the ominous water below. Only a few seconds after that, the water touched her feet and quickly submerged her entire body. Caroline came up, flapping her arms ungracefully and gasping for air, registering the speed in which it all had happened.

"I've got you, sweetheart," Klaus said from beside Caroline with a laugh in his voice. As he pulled her towards him, Caroline realized that she had not let go of his hand. She smiled as he let go and snaked his arm around her waist, holding her in his arms as he treaded water, supporting both of them. He smiled back down at her, showing off his dimples.

Later that night, thanks to Klaus' speedy driving, they arrived back in Mystic Falls. The hybrid led them through the Mikaelson mansion to his bedroom and let Caroline shower, something she had insisted on since they had arrived back at his car from their excursion at Cascade Falls. She came back out several minutes later to find Klaus lounging on his king-sized bed.

Securing her towel tightly around her body, Caroline marched over and jumped on his bed, "My clothes are still wet and they smell like a lake," she stated, facing the Original hybrid and sitting cross-legged, hair dripping on his sheets.

"Mmm, that's too bad," he replied, eyes staying closed but a smirk gracing his features.

"You made me jump off a waterfall today, Nik. The least you can do is give me some dry clothes!" she said, narrowing her eyes and playfully kicking him in the side.

"Alright, alright," he said, getting up and going to his closet, throwing one of his shirts at her. "Rebekah doesn't appear to be here so you can go rummage through her things if you like," he said, disappearing into the bathroom.

When Klaus reemerged, he saw Caroline curled up on his bed, fighting sleep. She had obviously ventured to his sister's room and found other articles of clothing to wear, but she was still in his shirt and it made Klaus smile.

"Don't you think you should head home, Caroline?" he asked while pulling his own pajamas on and toweling his hair dry.

"Too tired," came her sleepy reply.

"Come on, I'll take you, love," he said. The baby vampire shook her head in disagreement so Klaus laid down beside her, rolling on his side to look Caroline in the face. "What have I done to earn the slumber party?"

"Made me take a risk. Jumping off a waterfall is a big deal," Caroline said, her eyes fluttering open to glance at Klaus.

"Was it worth it?"

"Mhmm," she said as her breathing slowed. "Every bit of it."

Klaus smiled at her as Caroline's eyes closed again, and, she couldn't be sure if it was real life or sleep-induced, but Caroline swore she felt his lips on her forehead before he whispered, "I'm glad," while pulling her in close to him and turning off the light.

And it was without any effort that Caroline fell fast asleep in the arms of her former enemy.

A/N: Hi all! I'm sososososo sorry for my delayed update...I was out of town for the past week with no computer :( but here's chapter 13 and chapter 14 will be up in a couple days...I promise! Anywaysss I hope you enjoy this one, it was fun to come up with write, with the double meaning and what not ;) Thank you for being patient and reading and once again, I hope you enjoyed it. Please, if you have a minute, review- all authors appreciate it!