A/N: Sorry that it took me forever to update, but here is the new chapter! For those of you who are just tuning into my fic, I thought that I'd go ahead and tell you at what point in the plot of Vampire Diaries I've set it, because I know that some of this might not make sense if you are imagining the character's lives as being where the show currently is. Elena is still together with Stefan, and Alaric is still alive… Enjoy!
Chapter 8: Over the river, and through the woods
Stefan burst into the bar at vampiric speed, with Alaric not far behind, both armed with stakes and cross bows ready for use.
"Oh great, we just about finished compelling the human patrons to forget everything that just happened, and now we're going to have to start over." Damon complained upon their entrance.
"She's gone already?" Stefan asked, as his glance around the room and was met with the faces of startled humans. "That was fast, what happened?"
"I'll tell you if you get to work," was Damon's reply as he sighed began to compel an overweight drunk man at the bar who was still staring at Stefan in shock.
With Caroline, Rebekah, Damon and Stefan all helping, they finished with the humans pretty quickly, and decided to head back to the Salvatore mansion to regroup with Elena who had been left at home for her own safety.
Caroline was jolted awake by the crunch of gravel and slight vibration of the car, as Klaus turned off the main road and onto a path that led deeper into the woods. I must have fallen asleep during the drive, after all the excitement that went down tonight, Caroline thought to herself, I hope I didn't snore or talk in my sleep! She glanced at her watch and saw that she'd been asleep for almost two hours, and had no clue where they were.
Back at the mansion, after informing those who had not witnessed the conflict with Keilyn on what had happened, it had been decided that Klaus and Caroline needed to remove themselves to a safe place as soon as possible while the rest of the group tried to locate Keilyn. Klaus offered his personal mountain cabin as a safe house, so after quickly packing bags, the pair were off! Klaus, noticing that she was awake told her that they had just exited the highway, and would be pulling up to the cabin in a few minutes.
The cabin looked as if it were a model home for a woodsman magazine, with floor to roof windows, a stone fireplace, and a shed next to it that Caroline assumed was filled with a collection of sports equipment. The inside was filled with beautiful wooden furniture, animal-hide rugs, and with logs neatly stacked in the giant fireplace, waiting to be lit.
"You can choose whichever room you'd like upstairs, besides the first door on the right which is mine," Klaus said, entering behind Caroline, carrying their suit- cases.
"Okay, thanks" was Caroline's simple reply as she took her bag from him and made her way upstairs without making eye contact with him. Although she understood the necessity of their little camping trip, she felt a little awkward about being alone in a cabin with the man. She had been having conflicting feelings for him non-stop for the past few days, and she knew they would just get worse now that she was going to be holed up in the same house as him for she didn't know how long.
Caroline chose a room with deep blue walls, matching bedding, and white lace curtains a few doors down from Klaus's room, quickly unpacked her belongings into dresser, and then sat on her bed, not knowing what her next move should be. When she finally got up the courage to leave her bedroom, spurred onward by loneliness and boredom, she looked over the banister and noticed that Klaus had lit the fireplace, and sat in one of the plush armchairs next to it with his bare feet propped up on an ottoman. He looked so comfortable and domestic, sipping a glass of wine and reading a book that Caroline almost forgot that they were there to hide out from a crazy, murdering woman, rather than to relax and go skiing or hiking.
Before she could get caught just standing there and staring, Caroline decided that she might as well join Klaus by the fire. As she approached the armchair across from his, Klaus just looked up, gave her a small smile, and then returned to his book.
"Caroline, I'm sorry" Klaus broke the companionable silence that the two were sharing after about thirty minutes of each of them reading.
"What do you have to be sorry about?" Caroline answered as she closed her book and looked up at Klaus, confused.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I let Keilyn escape, putting your life in more danger; a mistake that I won't make again."
"Klaus, we have all already forgiven you for that. Besides, how can I be mad at you when you saved my life? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be sitting in this cute little cabin right now" Caroline added playfully, hoping to lighten up the mood a little bit. She felt sorry for Klaus, and the way he kept punishing himself for actually acting human for once, and having some empathy for Keilyn.
"Also, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have to be sitting in this 'cute' cabin. I should have been strong enough to kill her… I just, I don't know" Klaus now dropped his forehead into his hands, "I just couldn't kill her when it is my fault that she is like this in the first place. Back in my village, I used her and deceived her all the time so that I could be with Jolissa, having no regard for Keilyn's feelings. I didn't even recognize that Keilyn loved me; I was so blind and absorbed in my own world in which Jolissa and I were the only occupants.
Now, Keilyn's hatred and feelings are out there for me, and everyone else to see, and this time I am actually able to understand her feelings. How can I kill this woman for hating me while I know that I deserve to pay for my past sins against her?"
"Klaus, Stop!" Caroline shook her head and sighed softly at Klaus, gently leaning across the gap and lifting up his face from his hands, wanting to make all the obvious self hatred and anguish he was feeing go away, "You can not talk like that. Of course it was wrong that you deceived Keilyn to cover up your relationship with Jolissa, but that does not mean that you should be condemned to death! It is not your fault, but your mother's that she had trouble turning and is now a threat to your life and all the lives of all men. She must be destroyed for the safety of all of you. Klaus, I believe that you're not the completely horrible man that some people say that you are, and I am not going to let you get hurt for some misguided attempt to 'right the wrongs of the past'."
"Why do you care so much Caroline?" Klaus asked, catching her hand in his own, and looking at her in awe and confusion, "I have never done anything for you before except hurt people that you care about."
Caroline blushed and leaned back in her chair, trying to come up with a witty answer to his question. She had been so drawn into his apology and felt so connected to him, that she had let herself get more carried away than she had intended. "I just," She started, trying to make herself feel some of the hatred and anger for him that had come so easily to her just a few years ago, but failing miserably. "I just know that you have changed." She said, feeling like that was a simple enough answer that contained some of the truth, yet didn't reveal any of the possibly romantic emotions that he had been bringing out of her lately.
The pair was not able to continue their conversation because they were interrupted by a loud knock at the door. Who in the world would be visiting the cabin? Caroline thought as she and Klaus looked at each other in confusion. Could it be a lost hiker or someone whose car broke down?
"Stay here," Klaus said to Caroline as he left the living room. Caroline obeyed, and listened to his cautious footsteps, and then the soft click as Klaus unlocked the door.
"You have got to be kidding me, what the hell are you doing here?" Caroline heard Klaus say as soon as he opened the door, the sharpness of his words accentuated by his British accent.
Caroline decided that Klaus had probably known whoever was at the door if he was speaking to their visitor like that, and that it would be safe for her to check things out, so she scampered up to where he stood, still blocking their mysterious caller from entering. Caroline had to stand on her tiptoes to see over Klaus's t-shirt clad shoulder, but eventually she was able to peak over and lay her eyes on… Daniel.
"Oh Daniel, it's so good to see you again! Why don't you come in?" Caroline said as soon as she saw him, giving Klaus a disapproving look when he glanced down at her. "Did Stefan and the gang send you?"
"Yes, they did," Daniel answered, making his way around Klaus and into the foyer. " They wanted me to keep an extra eye on you guys, and be here for additional protection if needed. We don't know how many men Keilyn has turned to do her bidding."
"This is supposed to be a safe house, Daniel" Klaus was still skeptical, "No phones, no Internet. Only Bonnie was supposed to be able to find us, using her witchy juju, yet I don't see her here. How did you find us?"
"Oh, that's because I followed you guys here. I would have come in sooner, but I noticed that I was running very low on gas when you guys were pulling up, and decided that I should probably go fill up the tank incase we needed to make a hasty escape."
Klaus was not yet willing to accept Daniel's presence, but he didn't have a chance to voice his discomfort because Caroline was already adopting the role of a helpful hostess and leading Daniel into the kitchen while offering to grab him a drink. Klaus decided not to follow them, and instead settled back into his chair in the living room and contented himself on listening in on their conversation for the sole purpose of ensuring his and Caroline's safety (or so he convinced himself).
Caroline, on the other hand was more than happy to be the sole entertainer of their guest. When she first saw Daniel, she was surprised by her annoyance aimed at him for interrupting the evening that she had been sharing with Klaus. However, Caroline was quick to stamp down her misplaced feelings and focus on the tall, gorgeous man who had joined them. This is really better for me, She told herself as she busied herself with filling up a kettle for tea, because things were getting way to cozy with Klaus. He's one of my greatest old 'enemies', and I should not be getting so comfortable. Goodness, that makes two times today that I've made that mistake! It is definitely time for a change.
With that final thought, Caroline committed herself to being friendly with Daniel, finding out everything that she could about him, and forgetting that there was even another man in the house.
A little past twelve o'clock at night, everyone readily agreed that it was probably about time to go to bed. Truthfully, Klaus was tired of listening to the chatter and giggles coming out of the kitchen, and Caroline was more than ready to wrap up her conversation with Daniel. Daniel was definitely good to look at, but she didn't know him very well, and despite her best efforts, Caroline quickly tired of making small talk with him while there were so many more important things going on in her life that she was not able to discuss with him. Things that you felt comfortable talking about with Klaus, some annoying part of her mind reminded her.
As the group wearily made their way towards the stairs, Caroline felt a slight pressure on her arm were Klaus had reached out to stop her.
"I need to speak with you for a second, sweetheart." Klaus said insistently, and then glanced up to Daniel to see that he had stopped his ascent to see what the hold up was. "Daniel, you can continue on, lad. We'll be right along behind you"
Klaus waited until Daniel had made it into his room and closed his door before he begin talking, maintaining his grip on Caroline's arm and speaking to her in a hushed whisper. "Look love, I don't feel right about Daniel's presence here, so I don't want you becoming too chummy with him. He shouldn't be here, and he definitely should not be trying to get close to you like he has been doing all evening!"
"Klaus," Caroline responded, not happy with the way that he was writing Daniel off so quickly, "He seems to be here for a good reason, and it will be good to have another vampire on our side if Keilyn does happen to find us out here! And, he is not trying to get close to me, we were just having a normal friendly conversation!" Caroline blushed at that, which she hoped Klaus would just see as her cheeks coloring in anger, wondering why it would matter to Klaus if Daniel was trying to get close to her.
Klaus just shook her head at her stubbornness, knowing that he would not be able to convince Caroline, no matter how long he tried. Besides, he thought, they needed to wrap up their conversation before Daniel got suspicious and came to investigate what was taking them so long. "Fine, you don't have to believe me; but really, don't be getting too close to him. Please," Klaus gave her arm a little squeeze and gave Caroline a feather-light kiss on her lips before turning to his bedroom and not looking back.
Once again he left Caroline short of breath and stunned by his kiss, more than a little confused by what had just happened.