Hello everybody!

Being off sick, and not having a TV definitely has it's advantages when it comes to writing! Now, I know I've thrown you guys a little, so here's another chapter to make amends.

Yes, Liz's death was hard... probably the hardest Caroline has ever experienced after her dad (and herself I guess!) so I wanted to show that it has had a dramatic... profound effect on her, as I believe it would in real life. Also, because she is not the same the person as she was when she was human, and so she's dealing with a lot of different things at once... internal and external.

That being said... this chapter is definitely not short of Klaroline flirtation... so read on... and please if you have a moment - review, and make my horrible bed rest a little better (or worst depending on the review;))!

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Diaries or it's characters

When he reached the clearing, the sight of her almost took his breath away. She stood there, snow floating down gently, tracing the tears that were falling from her eyes.

"Caroline!" he exclaimed as he was suddenly by her side. He wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him with an intensity that took his breath away. She burrowed her face into his chest and he felt how torn she was. Stroking her hair he lifted her face to his and ran his thumb up her jaw, sending the ghost of a smile across her lips. Her eyes searched his, her arms tight around him, she looked like she had so much to say, but she just couldn't.

"It's O.K sweetheart. Don't worry. Everything is going to be alright." he murmured as he tucked her hair behind her ear. Her eyes darted to either side and he saw how she was wrestling with her decision, it cheered him.

Leaning in close other ear he whispered almost soundlessly,

"I forgive you..." drawing back, he saw her eyes widen in alarm as the witch stepped out of the undergrowth, chanting and then everything went black.

"What are you going to do to him?" Caroline asked nervously as she hovered at the bedroom door, watching as they tied Klaus's unconscious form to the bed. She winced as she saw them tightening the straps on his wrists and ankles. William came up behind her put his hands on her shoulders.

"Unfortunately staking him means risking all our lives. Desiccation. That's the only thing that can put him down for good."

"Do you know how to do it" Caroline asked innocently and watched as the vampire finished tying Klaus up and left the room. Entering with Caroline behind him William stood over Klaus, surveying the bindings.

"Not yet."

"Those ropes will not hold him" Caroline muttered as she pulled at one. William laughed indulgently,

"Ordinarily not, of course they wouldn't my dear. It is the magic that holds him. The ropes are part of the spell, the spell will keep him down until we desiccate him. Though even without them, he is too weak to take me. Now, will you join us for the hunt tonight?" he asked, stopping in the doorway and turning toward her. She twisted her fingers in her lap despondently and dipped her head. Taking her silence for refusal William turned to go

"That's fine my dear, I'll give you this one night to rest... say your goodbyes to your old life. But tomorrow Caroline, we will desiccate Klaus and your heart will be free again. I will help you forget everything that has hurt you, cut all ties. Your suffering will end, your new life will begin." his voice seemed to caress her and she turned away, wrapping her arms around herself.

Sinking to the floor beside the bed she listened to everyone else leaving. William left instructions for some guards to remain and then the heavy door swung shut.

Covering her face with her hands she felt panic escalate through her. Desiccate Klaus. Strange to think that a year ago it was all she'd wanted, now it made her feel like as though she couldn't get enough air, like she was suffocating, or burning... She pushed that unwanted thought away. A movement from the bed caught her attention. Standing she edged closer to the bed, looking at Klaus's still form. Sinking onto the bed beside him, she looked at him closely. 1000 years and more this body had lived. The things these eyes had seen, she thought as she traced her fingertips over the closed lids. The things he'd lived though, her fingers now smoothing the lines on his forehead. She was only 18 and had already had enough. How could he possibly face everyday?

It was so strange, suddenly being here with him, after he had haunted her thoughts more than she'd like to admit in the past months. Stretching out slowly on the bed she laid her head on his chest cautiously, terrified he might suddenly move. But he was still, and she gently relaxed, breathing deeply. Closing her eyes she wished with all her might they could go back to the last time she had lain with him like this. Before her world ripped at the seams and it's precious contents had blown away. She hadn't been able to find them, those tattered fragments. She couldn't even remember the first month after that night.

"So, this is what heaven feels like. Maybe death isn't such a terrifying spectre after all."

His soft voice jolted her from the edge of her dozing and she bolted upright, whirling around. Those intelligent blue eyes watched her carefully. His full lips quirked in a smile as he watch her struggle to explain why she was lying beside him.

"This is my bed." she stated stubbornly, and his smile deepened.

"Well, by all means, don't let my presence stop you from using it." she dropped his gaze and looked down at his chest, her finger idly tracing pattens on his shirt.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

"What for sweetheart?" he asked, wishing she would meet his eyes again.

"They're going to desiccate you." she said with a sigh. Silence deepened between them.

"Well, from what I remember from the last time, it wasn't all bad." she looked up and he smiled. A smile full of secret meaning and it's intenseness made her flush.

"In fact, if memory serves, I do believe I had the time of my life."

"Yeah, well it's not going to be a fun desiccation this time." Caroline said, brushing away his insinuations.

"So, you're saying that I'm a dead man, practically speaking?" he asked, Caroline shrugged in response.

"Yeah, I guess you are."

"Well, I won't hold it against you. Though, as a practically dead man, I wonder if I'm entitled to any last requests." she looked up at him.

"Like what?" she asked, her brow creased as she tried to anticipate what he could ask for. She hadn't had to out think someone in a while, and it was exhausting. In fact, she hadn't thought much about anything in a long time.

"I want to tell you what happened to Simon."

"No!" She stood up and made to leave the room.

"Caroline! Stop, I'm sorry... we won't talk about it. Come back. You can't leave me here alone on the last night of my long, lonely life surely?" his smile was so strained, as he pulled against the restraints, weak from the spell, she couldn't walk away from him.

"Fine, but..." she started and he finished,

"I've been warned. I've got it." his face relaxing back into a smile as she came back toward him.

"Please, love, sit with me again." his boyish smile as she complied made her want to smile back.

"So..." she said after a pause.

"So..." he replied with a smile.

"What do you want to talk about?" she asked, crossing her legs on the bed and leaning against his side.

"Well... I would say you, but I have a feeling that may be off limits..." he said leadingly and she raised an eyebrow at him, causing him to laugh.

"Was it ever on limits? Like that's ever stopped you" she murmured.

"Well, persistence is one of my most charming qualities" he said and Caroline laughed. Falling silent, he could see her considering something. Turning it over in her head before she turned to face him properly, looking up at him through her lashes.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, love. Anything."

"How do you do it? How can you have lived so long...and want to keep on living... what makes you get up in the morning, get dressed... face everyday. Do you not just want to close your eyes forever. Aren't you tired?" her eyes met his and he saw all her pain, breathing deeply, he wished he could move his arms and pull her close.

"That's a complicated question. I think... for me... I've always had a reason to keep going, to get up every morning. Even if the reasons weren't very noble."

"Like breaking the curse?" she asked

"Exactly, that one kept me going for centuries."

"But, now it's broken... and Elena's a vampire. You can't make hybrids anymore. So..."

"So... now I have a new reason. A noble one this time." his eyes turned intense as they locked with hers. She felt her face grow warm.

"Wait for another doppelgänger to turn up?" she asked lightly

"No"

"Fix your relationship with your family?"

"Guess again"

"Become a famous artist?"

"Fame is more of a curse to vampires than an accolade."

Silence fell between them again as Caroline shifted around awkwardly. Suddenly she burst out,

"You can't fix me."

"Who says?" Klaus challenged back. Caroline let out a bitter laugh.

"It's too late." she sighed.

"Someone told me it wasn't too late for me... and if I'm not mistaken, I'm quite a bit older than you. Not to mention I have a whole lot more to be forgiven for." he said, watching as tears started to form in her eyes, as she stared out at some point on the wall.

"I don't recognise myself anymore" she said bleakly.

"That's OK, Because I see you. Caroline, look at me.. please" she slowly turned her head towards his, and he saw that tears were indeed in her eyes again.

"I see you."

"No you don't... she's gone. Miss Mystic Falls, the sheriff's daughter... is gone" her voice caught and he saw the barrier start to slip up, the one that her mentor William must have been trying to put into place.

"No, she's not. You're just scared to let her out, scared to feel. Believe me, I understand." Silence fell between them again as her eyes dried and she told herself not to let him get to her. He was a symbol of everything she was trying to leave behind.

"What about the switch? Is that how you survive... you just turn everything off?" she asked

"The switch... do you want to know the honest truth about the switch? It's a lie, an illiusion. You might think in the beginning that it's possible... switch if off, feel no pain, nothing ever again. But it's not real. Live long enough, and you'll realise... you can never completely disconnect from part of yourself. It's always there...it takes some people longer to realise that than others"

"It feels real" she whispered forlornly

"For now, maybe" he replied and trailed off, leaving her grappling with her own thoughts, giving her time to compose herself.

"I guess I can't persuade you to untie me?" he asked gamely after a while as he watched her, as she thought, lost in her own head. She glanced at him and smiled,

"Now, I wonder how many people have been in my position. Or how many people you've put in yours... a sobering thought wouldn't you say?" she teased as he tried the restraints again.

"You really hate it don't you? Not being in control?" she mused as she watched him testing the restraints.

"I admit, do not care for it. What kind of spell is it anyway? Why does it work on me?"

"I have no idea, but I kind of like it..." she said with a playful smile. After all the emotional turmoil he'd put her through when he was Tyler, now the power had shifted in her favour. For the first time in months, she was filled with an easy and mischievous feeling.

"Caroline" he said with a slightly nervous smile as she shifted closer to him. Leaning over him, she touched his face, to both their surprise. Klaus watched her with rapt attention, as a mouse watches a cat. She cupped his chin, then ran her hand up his cheek. His while body stiffened and she smiled,

"Does that make you nervous?" she asked,

"No" he ground out in a tense tone, shifting his body uncomfortably on the bed.

"How about this..." she asked as she lightly trailed her fingers down his bare arm, watching as goosebumps appeared after it. He schooled his face into an expression of boredom.

"Afraid not. Sorry." he said shortly, then sucked in a breath as she suddenly straddled him.

"How about this?" she asked, her heart starting to beat faster, his eyes were burning into hers now, and she felt the challenge in them. She placed her hand on his chest, and his heart stopped for a second before painfully resuming it's beat. Without letting herself think about what she was about to do she leaned forward. Bringing her faces mere inches from his, she whispered

"How about now..."

"Let's just say you have my attention." he whispered back, his eyes dropping to her lips. Caroline felt heady with the feeling of control, everything dark and painful out of her mind for the first time in so long. She traced her finger over the outline of his lips,

"You could bite me..." she said, concentrating on her soft tracing.

"Is that what you want?"

"Hmm, I don't know, maybe." she replied, and saw the flash of pain it caused him.

"Caroline, I -" Suddenly desperate to stop him from speaking, from bringing her back to all the painful things that she just wanted to escape from, she pressed her hand across his lips, silencing him. Raising her other hand to her lips she made a sign of quiet.

"Don't say anything. Don't. Please. Do you promise?" and waited until he nodded slowly. She

slowly withdrew her hand from his mouth, lowering it to his neck, following the swirling patterns of stubble with her finger. She trace the outline of his ear, then let her fingers delve into his hair, completely absorbed in her task until she heard him let out a ragged breath.

"You can tell me now... your dying man's last request... what do you want?" she asked as she brought her hands back to his chest. His eyes scorched her, burned through her.

"You know what I want" he murmured, once again testing his restraints. His body extremely uncomfortable, the pressure of her and the tantalising touch of her hands almost unbearable.

"Hmmm" she breathed against his neck as she let her lips trail over his cheeks, coming close to his mouth, but not close enough for his lips to capture hers. She felt reckless and wild, completely separate from her usual self. She felt... like she used to. He turned his head, following her, but she remained just out of reach.

"Kiss me... it's my dying wish..." he murmured. Caroline considered it. She wanted to, she knew that, and what did it even matter anymore? What her friends thought? What she thought of herself... what did any of it matter?

"Caroline" he growled low in his throat, as she kissed the corners of his lips. As she went to move past his mouth again, he suddenly arched up and met her lips full on. He captured her lips roughly, demanding. He was straining as far as he could to reach her, and his mouth begged her to move closer, to sink into the kiss with him.

And it was some kiss.

His stubble was surprisingly soft and his mouth was insistent as it moulded hers to his. She slipped a little down his body, to fit more comfortably and found herself full length on top of him. The kiss didn't stop, it got deeper and hotter, until she could feel the skin across her whole body blazing. He made a noise, deep his chest, a rumble so primal and animalistic she drew back and looked at his face with her hands cupping his cheeks. His eyes were on fire, he seemed something between a wolf, a vampire and a man...

"Untie me" he urged, leaning forward he kissed her neck and she gasped. He slid up to her ear, gently biting the lobe, sending heat rushing through her.

"Untie me Caroline..." he whispered again.

"Why? What would you do?" she whispered back as she tilted her head to the side, her eyes closed, lost in the sensation.

"I would take you home, and we would continue this, tonight and every other night"

"Until?"

"Until the world stops turning..." he promised finding her lips again.

"What if I don't want to go home again." she said suddenly, sitting up, breaking off the kiss and eliciting a groan from Klaus.

"I would take you anywhere you want to go, after you've been home." he replied, breathing hard.

Caroline frowned,

"But, why? You once promised to take me anywhere, show me the world... if I ask you to do that now, would you?"

"After you'd been home, yes, I would take you anywhere." he promised, watching the emotions changing on her face.

"Why after I'd been home? I told you, I'm never going back there." she stated folding her arms across her chest. Klaus sighed, sensing that the fun part of the evening had come to an end.

"Yes, you are, love. And I'm taking you."

"Why! Why do you have to tell me what to do! Why can't you just take what I'm offering?!" Caroline demanded, shouting now.

"Because, you can't go on like this, you're losing yourself. You're not supposed to be this kind of vampire Caroline. You won't make it past your 20th birthday like this, the guilt, you have no idea what it will do to you" he shouted back.

"Why do you even care?"

"Because I have to fix you! Because this is all my fault! Because I should have protected you, your whole family... because I failed you... and I can't live with myself." he shouted back, his face turning red, chords on his neck standing up with the effort. Silence fell as his voice died from the air. Caroline pulled herself off him, and slid down to sit on the floor with her back against the bed.

After a while she said,

"You could have me. No rules, no moral judgments against you. We could live however you want to, travel the world... no guilt, no regrets... no feelings or ties to keep us down. Isn't that what you wanted?" she asked, her voice small now, tired sounding.

"It's tempting, sweetheart. But I want it all. I want the girl who made me strive to be a better man... to be any kind of man again and not a monster. The girl filled with light. I can see her, she's not so far away. You can find her again too, if you just let yourself... feel again."

Caroline pushed off the floor and averted her face again.

"I told you. She's gone. I'm done with feeling everything, with crying all the time. With being hurt and abused... no one is ever going to make me feel like that again." and she strode to the door, anger fuelling her, at least to the kitchen, where she sank into a chair and buried her head in her hands, glancing at the clock, she realised that William would be home soon, and Klaus would be gone.

She tried to ignore the devastation the thought wrought through her, and found it a little easier. Every time she tried flicking that little switch to her emotions, she felt comfortably numb and she enjoyed floating in that anaesthetised peace. William said she must give herself over to it, and she knew he was right, but she was scared to. Scared to give up that last link to her humanity.

But what did humanity bring you? Except pain, loss and blood.