My lovely reviewers, we are possibly nearing the end, maybe about 3-5 more chapters, yeahh writers block, you back off big time because I have my army, all equipped with SHINY spoons (I have now been offered a spoon cabinet and shiny spoons by some reviewers, lol you are all so epic thank you!) :D
Your response to the last chapter was so amazing, I mean, I couldn't believe it, it was so wonderful, JOMO FOR ALL OF YOU! So I've been thinking about this chapter for absolute ages since and got round to writing it tonight instead of in 3 nights (sometimes I make scheldules for my writing...I'm cool...and that is why there is also a doctor who reference...I'M COOL PEOPLE! (No, really I am, I mean, I've watched all of DW series 1 AGAIN! My weird crush on Christopher Eccelston has not yet gone ...ahhhhh I wish Jomo was the Doctor...and Caroline was his companion, no, screw that, ME THE COMPANION!
...*Daydreams* ...awwww well a girl can hope XD
Hope you like this chapter, please review it means the world and honestly makes me write so much faster :D Also the love Niklaus got on the last chapter was so wonderful, thank you guys, now you can see what I did to little Nikkie and Klausykinns :D
Klaus sucks in his breath, his hands fly to his stomach where he grips it tightly and rolls over, curling into a ball, refusing to make a sound.
Caroline screams for him.
She's covering his body with her own in an instant, she cups his face in her hands and brings it towards her, trying to understand what's going on, but then his skin goes grey and begins to shrivels beneath her fingertips and she lets go of him harshly, pressing herself against the wall.
"What's happening?" She shrieks, trying to approach him again but he holds up a weak hand, "Let me help you."
He smiles briefly at her but then he lets out a cry of pain and rolls over again, but this time it's not only him she hears, she gasps as she hears Bonnie applaud Niklaus in the dungeon.
Caroline bangs on the door furiously, pleading for Bonnie to let her enter, to save him, tears cascade down her face and Klaus watches in shock, momentarily the pain is forgotten, everything is forgotten as he gazes at the woman, who, for the first time in his life, had genuine feelings for him.
Then his vision goes black.
Caroline slides against the door helplessly, landing on the floor, wiping her tears furiously with the hem of her sweater, that's when she sees he's about to give up, she crawls towards him grabbing his hands in hers, "No," She hisses, "Not now, your not allowed."
"You're incredibly bossy," He mutters and she laughs gently but then he closes his eyes and she shakes him desperately, but no other response comes from him.
His skin is becoming greyer and she lets go of him to bang on the door once more, its then when her phone falls out of her pocket and lands right next to Klaus.
"So," Katherine smirked, "You finally made a decision?"
She's sitting opposite Elena, her eyebrow arched as she watches Stefan stand protectively near her, whilst Damon seems to drown his sorrows in yet more alcohol, Katherine can't decide whether she feels sorry for him, or if it's just plain amusing.
"Don't worry," Alaric smiled coming into the Salvatore living room, "I'm not that fond of her either," He motions towards Katherine and Elena laughs.
Katherine examines her nails, bored, "Now, what's the plan to save fair little Blondie from the big bad wolf?"
"I still don't understand why you're here," Damon says slamming down his glass, "It's not safe for you here, not after what you did to Caroline."
Elena sits up straighter in her seat and looks at Stefan questionably, his jacket is on her shoulders and she almost shrieks when his phone vibrates inside its pocket, she retrieves it and looks at the caller ID before throwing it at him, "It's Caroline, now whatever you guys did, you go and apologize for."
She crosses her arms and watches wide eyed as Stefan listens to Caroline, his face becoming more confused by the second, but finally he hangs up, looks at Elena and then at the front door.
"I'll be right back," He sighs, "I don't actually get a word Caroline says when she goes into upset girl babble mode," He walks towards Elena and kisses her cheek quickly, whispering that he loves her and he'll return soon.
He rushes towards the front door and within moments he's out of sight, Elena looks at the spot where he had just left dreamily. Damon and Katherine almost throw up.
"NIKLAUS!" Caroline's desperate now, her hands are gripping her hair so intensely that she rips it out in clumps, she's cradling an almost dead Klaus in her lap and her one last hope may have just got pissed with her and hung up, there were no reinforcements.
Her tears fall on Klaus's cheek but she doesn't have the heart to stop them, his eyes flicker open and she smiles softly, "It's going to be ok," She murmurs, as if speaking to a child.
This is her last chance to say goodbye, she knows she can't to Niklaus, if she ever manages to enter that room again he'll be dead, a corpse, rotting, moulding, disgusting, she bites her lips to stop more tears from falling.
"Caroline?"
Her eyes snap up and land on Stefan, she's so relieved that she leaps up and envelops him in a hug, she hears Klaus's head fall to the floor and winces, clutching Stefan tighter, he can feel her shaking beneath him, "Help me," She whispers, leading him towards a door, "I can't..can't..can't..get through, he's dying," She almost wails and together they kick the door.
It falls to the floor with a sickening thud and Caroline cries out in relief, Stefan only just manages to glimpse Bonnie smiling before disappearing completely, he rubs his eyes and looks again, maybe he was imagining it.
When his gaze fixes upon a kneeling Caroline over a younger version of Klaus he knows he must be dreaming. He turns round to see another version of Klaus behind him, almost dead, so shrivelled and desiccated that he must only have moments left. It's then, looking between the two versions when he puts Caroline's breathless words from the phone call together.
Niklaus. Klaus. Human. I'm sorry. No one else. I can't. I love him. Help him. Help them.
Caroline feels as if her legs can't carry her fast enough, the second she sees the crumpled Niklaus whimpering as blood slowly spills from his wound she's filled with fury, towards Bonnie, towards herself, but most of all, she's plain shocked by the thought that she can not loose him, either of them, she can't, she won't cope.
She doesn't even consider the possibility that by letting Niklaus die so many people can live, Katherine would never have turned her, she would still be human, she'd still be dating the star quarterback, Jenna would be alive, probably happily married to Alaric, but when she rips her teeth into her own arm and presses it to Niklaus's mouth she realises she doesn't care.
And that's what scares her most of all.
He can stop this, he has to stop this, but when Stefan kneels down and tries to pry Caroline away from Niklaus he sees the look of horror in her eyes, that light slowly dimming, he respects it, that's what he would look like if it was Elena, so he sits back and watches with no emotion when Niklaus begins to suck the blood greedily from Caroline's wrist, she strokes his hair as he does so, muttering soothing words, a smile forming on her face.
Klaus can feel her absence, his eyes are closed, his stomach is churning, she heard him scream for the other man, he laughed inwardly, of course, it would be Niklaus she truly cared about, it would always be Niklaus, but, not for much longer at this rate.
But then he felt the pain subside, he squeezed his eyes shut tighter and lifted his arm easily, a grin spread across his face, Caroline had done it, she had saved him, he couldn't dare to believe it, he got to his feet and looked around for her.
"I thought I lost you," He turned round, his casual smirk in place so she wouldn't know the full affect she had on him, but it immediately vanished when he saw her hugging Niklaus in the other room, his arms were wrapped around her waist and she was crying into his shoulder.
He caught Stefan's knowing eye, he seemed sympathetic, but he didn't want pity, he never wanted it, it made him look weak so he simply acknowledged Stefan with a nod and left, leaving Caroline in the room with the man whom she really cared for.
She deserves that.
"What did Bonnie do to you?" Stefan asked, helping Caroline haul Niklaus to his feet, he saw her look for Klaus and recognised her hurt expression, but when Niklaus looked at her it vanished.
"She didn't," Niklaus said, mesmerised as his stab wound healed completely, "I did it myself."
Caroline was so shocked that if it wasn't for Stefan's help Niklaus would have been dropped on the floor.
"What?" She hissed, grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to look at her.
"I saw it, everything, me, you, the future, your past."
"It's like an episode of Doctor Who," Stefan muttered to himself.
"Stefan, you're a nerd," Caroline retorted but her expression softened.
"Bonnie lied," She whispered, grabbing Niklaus's hand and helping him up the stairs, "You didn't kill your family Niklaus."
"Well, technically-" Stefan began.
"Shut it," Caroline warned, pulling Niklaus towards the front door, "They're alive, you didn't murder them, it's hard to explain, I'll try when we get you home, and don't think you've got off the hook about trying to kill yourself."
"I'll help him," Stefan said opening the door and ushering the two outside, he didn't know what came over him, this was Klaus, the man responsible for so much agony in his life, but no matter how hard he tried to deny it, they had forged a friendship once, and it was clear these two men were completely different from each other, personality speaking.
Caroline stopped and let go of Niklaus's hand, she slowly faced Stefan, a grin spreading across her face, "Your back."
"Evil Stefan gone," He put a hand where his heart had once beat, "I swear."
"Apologize," Niklaus said, his hands forming into his fists, he looked between the two of them, confusion forcing him to frown, this man had threatened her, yet she looked at him with admiration?
His father had beat him but he had never looked at him with that, that level of respect and companionship, fear was very different, but why wasn't she afraid?
"You tied her up," Niklaus hissed, "I may be a human but I swear by God, I'll-"
"Got yourself a body guard," Stefan smiled patting Caroline on the back, then looked at Niklaus, "I think saving your life was apology enough mate."
Caroline stepped between the two of them, a happy smile still on her face, "Come round tomorrow? Help me with him? God Stefan I can't handle this by myself anymore."
Stefan smiled at her and nodded, he shook Niklaus's hand who seemed disgusted by his mere touch and then he was off, vanished into thin air, Niklaus blinked at the mans movements, he clearly was of supernatural origin as well, he sighed, was anybody in this new world actually human?
"Let's go home," Caroline whispered holding her hand out to him.
"Caroline, where's home?" He asked, his eyes flickering to the window of his future mansion where he saw the outline of a man, the lonely figure that would soon become him, he shuddered.
"With me."
He took her hand and let her lead him away, ignoring the eyes of Klaus behind them.
Klaus turned from the window, before she could see him, he wouldn't let her know what she mean to him anymore, she had made her decision, it was obvious, he wasn't stupid.
He didn't expect it to…..hurt so much.
He grabbed a bottle of scotch and drunk greedily, sitting in the chair across from the fireplace and laughing when he realised how similar to Damon he really was, the thought sickened him, he threw the bottle into the flames and it roared back at him furiously.
The flames flickered and he felt his eyelids droop, he was aware what the sensation of being pulled from one's body was now, he awoke on Caroline's kitchen floor, his presence was unknown to her and the human who she offered a cup of coffee.
She sat opposite Niklaus, her hands nursing her own mug, the steam floated around the room and the two sat in awkward silence for several moments. Klaus sighed and sat in the chair in the middle of the table, his eyes flittering between the two of them.
"I want to know why," Caroline whispered, tears forming in her eyes, "Why do that? Why almost kill yourself, kill him?"
"For you," Niklaus's answer was instant, he reached a hand towards her but she flinched away.
"That's not right," She said sadly, "You wouldn't do that, not for me you wouldn't, I know you, your selfish, you don't do anything for anyone unless it benefits you."
"You know me?" Niklaus laughed humourlessly, "I am more different then him then you can even imagine, how is killing myself a selfish act? Answer me that Caroline."
"I don't know," She said raising the cups to her lips then shaking her head and putting it back on the table, "Are you suicidal now?"
"Perhaps," He said dejectedly and Klaus stiffened, he couldn't go through that hell again, his skin decaying, his life fading, it was impossible to even consider, "Does it hurt him?"
"You almost killed him!" Caroline shrieked then recomposed herself, "I know you think death is the answer, but it's not, don't you see, when you go back you'll remember, you'll change the future, he'll be better."
"You want me to go back?"
"No! I didn't say that!" She got off of her chair and came round the table, leaning towards him, "I don't want you dead, you can't die on me."
"Which one of us?"
Klaus watched Caroline anxiously but she didn't hesitate when giving her answer, her shoulder's squared a bit and she looked upset but there was no indication that she wished she was with him.
"It doesn't matter," Caroline whispered, "Loosing one means loosing the other."
"I'm sorry," Niklaus said, standing up, his arm circling around her waist, "I won't do that again, I'm so sorry Caroline," He wiped away her tears, "I'll give Stefan a chance, he'll help, and I have you, I don't want to leave this world."
Klaus swore, typical, goody Stefan would get involved, he kept the jealous green monster at bay, 1920's Stefan was very different to today's one, he no longer missed the ripper, his friendship meant nothing, he could survive without.
Caroline smiled at Niklaus; she stood on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his lips down to meet hers.
"I have you," Niklaus breathed against Caroline's lips, "I'll always have you."
Caroline smiled sweetly at him, but Klaus swore he saw her happy expression change into one that looked like guilt, and that alone, gave him hope.