Klaus shoved a handful of clothes into an olive coloured duffel bag. He reached out for his phone, jabbing the familiar digits that belonged to Caroline. One, two, three rings and then Caroline answered his call. "Hi…" Caroline croaked. "Klaus?"
"Caroline, are you up love?" Klaus spoke, pacing around his room.
"I think so," Caroline mumbled. "What is it?"
"I want you to come with me to New Orleans. I'd like to pick up a few of my old things there and I would prefer if I had company. Besides, my darling sister Rebekah is too busy enjoying her human life and refuses to come along with me," Klaus said, getting straight to the point. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you did mention that you wanted to help me, did you not?"
"Wait, is this like a trip?" Caroline asked. "When do you plan to go?"
"You could consider it a trip if you'd like. And we're going today."
"Seriously? Today? Have you ever considered maybe telling me a few days in advance?" Caroline grumbled. "And what do you mean we're going today? I haven't even agreed to any of this. I'm pretty sure I'm allowed to decide whether or not I want to go with you."
"Alright, sorry love," Klaus chuckled. "So, will you come along with me or not?"
Caroline groaned, "Fine," she said. "But you're driving. Bye Klaus."
Klaus felt the corners of his lips curve into a smile. For a second, he was actually glad that Caroline was coming with. Who knew what could happen in New Orleans?
.
"You're what?!" Bonnie shrieked, horrified at the idea that Caroline and Klaus were going to go on a trip together. "Are you out of your mind, Caroline?! You can't go!"
"Don't worry, Bonnie!" Caroline grabbed hold of Bonnie's shoulders. "Look, Klaus is human now. He can't hurt me. I'm still a vampire Barbie, I'm stronger than him. I am a lot stronger than he is now."
"Why did you agree to this? Did Tyler even agree to this?" the Bennet witch snapped.
Caroline's chest heaved. The mention of Tyler stung her heart. Her hands dropped from Bonnie's shoulders, "I can't get through Tyler, I don't even know what is going with him anymore. He doesn't return my calls or my texts. I don't know where he is, I don't know how he is. The least he could do is give me a ring once in while! Geez."
Bonnie's facial expression immediately softened, "You really are having a hard time, aren't you?" She said softly. Bonnie went over and wrapped her arms around her best friend, "Okay, fine. You can go and have your adventure time with Klaus. But better call me the second you find him suspicious. I'll make sure I'll be there to freakin kill him."
Caroline pressed her lips into a thin line and hugged her friend back, "Thank you, Bonnie."
.
Caroline tensed up slightly at the sight of Klaus sitting inside his navy coloured Porsche. She hopped in the passenger seat, greeting him before closing the door behind her. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this," she murmured as she fixed her seatbelt.
Klaus smiled at Caroline until she met his gaze. Caroline's heart thudded against her ribs the second her eyes met his gaze. Almost instantly, she turned her head away. "Eyes on the road, not me," she stared straight ahead.
.
"WHAT?! She's with Klaus?! How you let that happen! I don't trust Klaus!" Elena hissed.
"She'll be fine, Elena. She's so much stronger than Klaus now that he is human," Bonnie felt herself repeating Caroline's words. "You know Caroline, she's a fixer. She's always trying to fix people. Maybe she can somewhat fix Klaus so that he'll stop wanting to kill us all the time."
.
"This is your old place?" Caroline stared at the big white house with glass walls. She picked up her bag from the trunk and followed closely behind Klaus. "Wow it is so much different from your place in Mystic Falls." The room was warmer than outside. Caroline walked forward and dropped her bag on the couch. She admired the art pieces that were hung on the walls.
"Like what you see? I drew them," Klaus said as he turned on the air condition.
Caroline rolled her eyes are Klaus' arrogance. "I would've said something nice if you hadn't had said that."
Klaus smiled, "Well then love, don't get comfortable just yet. We should get food if we're going to stay here for a while." He twirled his car keys around his fingers and motioned Caroline to get back in his car.
"Wait, I thought we'll be here for just a night? How long is a while?" Caroline looked at Klaus skeptically.
"You're telling me that you don't want to explore New Orleans? After all, you've never been out of Mystic Falls," Klaus said as a matter of factly. "Come on now, love. Let's go get dinner."
What a manipulative asshole, Caroline thought. She slipped on her jacket and dragged her feet back to the passenger's seat. "Can I at least decide what we'll be having for dinner?"
.
Ten minutes and the pair finally arrived at an Italian Restaurant. "Good evening," a young brunette greeted them at the entrance. "Can I get two seats for this lovely couple please," she said, signalling her colleague.
Caroline's eyes flickered with nervousness and embarrassment whereas a smile crept on Klaus' lips. "Follow me," the brunette said, leading the pair to a table of two. Caroline was too flustered to make eye contact with Klaus. Immediately, she went for the menu the minute they both sat down.
Klaus, on the other hand, fidgeting with the edges of the menu as he tried to keep his cool and act like he wasn't affected by the waitress' comment. Deep down, he liked that idea that the waitress thought that Caroline was his girlfriend. Klaus bit his lip, trying to supress a smile. "We might need to head to the grocery store if we're going to stay here for a while," he said, finally breaking the awkward silence.
Caroline glanced at him for a second and quickly looked away. Jesus, stop gazing at me like that, she prayed. She nodded, still keeping her eyes fixed on the menu that she had read five times because she felt the nerves kicking in.
Thankfully, the conversation during dinner didn't turn out as awkward after the two received their food. For the first time, Klaus and Caroline actually had a laugh with each other. And for the first time, Caroline enjoyed her time with Klaus. Maybe this isn't so bad after all, Caroline thought.