A/N: My head is hanging in shame at the super late update. Hope the Klaroline interactions in this chapter make up for it! And thanks for the favourites, follows and reviews. It's always good to know that someone is reading this. Prevents me from giving this up completely. :P

The moon was hanging low in the sky, partially obscured by a mass of grey cloud. A few stray rays of faint moonlight managed to make their way through the tiny gaps in the fluff, but they seemed to disperse at the slightest contact with any surface. Under the ineffective illumination of several street lights, two figures made their way silently between two rows of neatly arranged houses to the end of the lane, where a white picket fence marked the beginning of a sprawling estate.

Klaus paused in the act of pushing open the front door to his house, frowning when he realised that he couldn't put off telling Caroline about his living arrangements any longer. He turned to her and caught her looking over her shoulder, the porch light imparting an ethereal glow to her blonde curls and framing her small oval face. Even as her eyes searched the large expense of shadow that marked the boundaries between his house at the end of the lane and the other rows of houses in trepidation, Klaus was awestruck by the intelligence behind them and the stunning beauty they belonged to. He saw her shiver and made haste to sweep her into the house, even though he knew her reaction wasn't caused out of any physical discomfort.

"I'll get the guest room ready for you," he said, then teetered on the spot as if he was considering adding something distasteful to him when thundering steps sounded along the upstairs corridor before a pair of lengthy and lithe legs appeared at the top of the stairs. "Klaus! Did you get the informa-"

Caroline's expression mirrored that of the intruder who had stopped in the act of skittering down the stairs. Klaus's irritated growl was the only indication that the seconds were still passing, as the two women, each strikingly beautiful in their own way, gaped at one another. The brunette recovered first, her perfectly arched brows snapping together before her eyes narrowed and she made the rest of the way down the steps, directing a confused yet menacing glare at the blonde.

"Why are you here? And where is Tyler?"

"Hayley," Klaus's low voice reverberated threateningly.

Hayley's eyes snapped to Klaus then back to Caroline, and a contemptuous expression settled on her face. "Oh, I see what's going on," she said as he threw another meaningful glare her way.

"Hayley," he repeated, a touch louder.

But the advancing weregirl ignored him and continued with her gleeful conclusion, unleashing her pent-up anger against him on the wide-eyed blonde standing as still as a statue beside him. "Well, I'm glad Tyler's finally rid of his—what were the words he used to describe you exactly, let me see—paranoid, controlling, and neurotic mess of a vampire girlfriend," she spat, punctuating every adjective by stepping closer to Caroline until they were standing nose to nose.

There was a split second of silence before Caroline's carefully maintained facade of self-control exploded at those words. A growl escaped her as her eyes turned dark, the veins around them standing out, and she launched herself at the girl who had once snapped her neck in a toilet. Her sudden movement caught Hayley by surprise, flinging her against a wall as she knocked a piece of framed art to the floor, its glass shattering into pieces with a loud crash. Her feet kicked at the air, inches above the ground while she thrashed against the vampire's grip. One of her arms moved unconsciously to her tummy and the other clawed at Caroline's forearm that was pinned against her neck in a stranglehold.

Klaus's initial amazement at Caroline's loss of control delayed his reaction to the fight. But once he recovered, he flashed to their side in a split second and gripped Caroline's arm. "Caroline, no. Let her go," said Klaus. Caroline's shock at Klaus's intervention jolted her senses and she growled at Hayley, biting out the words, "Don't talk to me about Tyler. Ever." before dropping her like a rag doll. When Klaus moved to help Hayley stand up, Caroline felt a burst of jealousy and anger at his protectiveness of the insolent werewolf. At that moment, a shout rang out from the second floor. "What the hell is going on?"

Caroline whirled round at her best friend's voice, wishing with all her heart that she had finally woken from her nightmare even as she knew for certain it was pointless. The smirk appearing on the familiar face, with her luscious locks tousled with sleep confirmed her worse suspicions, but nothing could have prepared her for the mini speech the doppelgänger was going to make. Caroline caught none of Hayley's barbed glances thrown her way while she cautiously increased the distance between them nor Elijah's frustrated look that seem to hide a hint of amusement. Not even Klaus's furious looks, directed at everyone present in this little drama unfolding but herself. She might have even managed a giggle at seeing the eldest Original sibling at his most casual—barefoot, in his pajamas that consisted of a pair of black, straight-cut track pants paired with a perfectly fitted dark grey V-neck short-sleeved T-shirt—if Katherine's announcement had not taken the cake out of everything that she had seen and heard, and was subjected to the past couple of days.

"Well, well, if it isn't the doppelgänger's blonde sidekick!" said Katherine gleefully. "Welcome to the house party! But before you proceed, there's a few facts you ought to know. She," she continued, gesturing to Hayley, "is pregnant with his child." At Katherine's finger-pointing, Caroline couldn't help but feel her heart drop. It was a miracle that she could sense Klaus looking in her direction as numbness crept over her but she ignored him, focusing her attention solely on the brunette who was delighted at bursting everyone's secret bubble instead. "We," she continued, indicating Hayley and herself, "have been grounded by the almighty Elijah-" waving her hand absent-mindedly behind her before it was caught by the latest subject of her discussion.

"That's enough, Katerina."

"Ouch! You're hurting me!" Katherine protested, trying to release her wrist from Elijah's grasp.

"I'm sorry for the lack of hospitality, Caroline. I'm sure Niklaus will show you to one of the guest rooms while the rest of us retire for the night. Any discussion will be carried out in the morning, when everyone is well-rested and less cranky," Elijah intoned with finality, still maintaining a death grip on Katherine. "Hayley?"

Caroline caught Hayley's caustic glare before she proceeded upstairs without another word of objection.

Klaus laid in bed in complete darkness as he simmered in anger. He hadn't counted on Caroline's arrival in New Orleans, much less her strange request to choose lodging with him for an unspecified duration. Initially, he had thought that her appearance had something to do with Tyler, but it seemed less plausible now that he come to think of it. She still had her gang of friends and her "grand plans" of going to college, so it didn't make sense for her to come and look for him when her first semester was just starting. He wanted to ask her, to either coax or force it out of her to satisfy his curiosity, but he knew how guarded she would become whenever she felt trapped, so he decided to let the matter rest and do some sleuthing of his own. Nonetheless, she was a distraction and he wasn't sure if he could afford it at a crucial time like this.

To make matters worse, Katherine had gone and blabbed to her about his indiscretions before he even had the chance to explain it to her. Not that he needed to. They were never together, anyway. Still, he could have sworn that Elijah had purposely delayed the interruption into his Katerina's little speech as way of getting back at him for all the time Klaus left him alone to deal with the two women in residence, knowing full well how his brother was trying to appease Katherine for his high-handed way of grounding her, while juggling with Hayley's growing infatuation. Yet, Klaus's irritation was hampered by a tinge of admiration for his brother's self-control—that he had held out as long as he had—because he himself would have done worse and given in to the temptation of daggering him.

Klaus was about to get up and pour himself a glass of Scotch when he picked up sounds coming from Caroline's room. He thought for a moment before making his way soundlessly to her door only to hear an abnormally still silence. At first he thought she was asleep, but he was sure she was just settling in moments ago, and now there was barely a rustling of the bedsheets. He didn't want to look desperate, but he couldn't help but raise his hand to knock on her door. Just to make sure she's all right, he promised himself.

The door swung back to reveal Caroline, more determined and less confused and flustered than when he had left her just now, although her eyes looked a bit unfocused, as if she were in a faraway place. He was a little surprised to see that she was still wearing her jeans and empire-waisted top from just now. Her denim jacket was strewn on one of the armchairs across the room. Klaus stood in awkward silence running through potential conversation openers in his mind. He was about to ask her some lame question about settling in when her eyes seemed to brighten up almost slyly and she blurted, "Can you accompany me for the night?"

Caroline sat propped up in the four poster bed with the duvet drawn up to her waist. She should have been more comfortable, considering that she had her first proper shower in two days and she was in a spacious and luxurious bedroom decorated with velvet, fine leather with hints of gold accents in the overhead chandelier and the frame of the mirror—nothing short of what she would expect from the oldest vampire siblings. But she wasn't in any mood to take any of the comforts in. She was on a mission and her mother and friends' lives depended on her.

Another irrational reason that stopped her from truly relaxing in the room was that she just had another unwanted "visit" from Silas here just barely half an hour ago. After Klaus had shown her to what she suspected was the room furthest away from Hayley, she had closed the door, peeled off her two-day-old jacket and slumped down on the maroon velvet settee at the end of the four poster bed. The numbness from Katherine's revelations was just starting to fade and, to her horror, she started giggling uncontrollably at the ridiculousness of the situation—Elijah's ensemble at the forefront of them. The stress had overwhelmed her and before long, hot tears were running down her cheeks and her laughter had turned into hiccups and sobs.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," Tyler's voice came from beside her.

Caroline jumped and scooted to the far end of the settee. It was a small consolation that she could now tell Silas's illusions apart from reality even if he hadn't appeared out of nowhere—it was a slightly crazed look coupled with a tinge of self-assurance—and she knew without a doubt that it wasn't her ex-boyfriend sitting beside her. Feeling emotionally exhausted, it was annoyance that came to the forefront. "Will you stop doing that?!" she asked, and she could see that he was thoroughly enjoying her distress. The thought steeled her in her refusal to let him continue gaining the upper hand. "I'm here. What do you want me to do next?"

"Patience, Caroline. Why don't you enjoy this opulence while you can?"

"Where are my friends and mum? I want to see them."

"All in good time, my dear. All in good time."

"How do I know you haven't killed them?"

"Well, I guess you'll just have to trust me on that, don't you?"

She was about to retort when a knock sounded at the door. In the blink of an eye, Silas was gone, leaving her staring blankly at the empty space beside her. Something clicked in her mind as she thought back on all her run-ins with Silas since that day at the college—at the Salvatore house, at the restroom at the airport. A few pieces of the puzzle snapped into place and she was so engrossed in seeing the bigger picture that she unconsciously moved toward the door and opened it wide. Klaus's presence seemed to bring everything into focus suddenly and she saw him without really seeing him at all. It finally dawned on her how Silas's mind tricks work and before she could help herself, she blurted out the only thing that she felt would buy her some peace just so she could come up with another way to outwit Silas.

Only at Klaus's raised eyebrows did she realise how suggestive her request sounded. She could feel her blush right down to her toes as she tried to clarify her sentence. "Gosh! I don't mean accompany as in accompany. I mean, can you just stay around and hang out while staying about three feet away from me? And not talk! You can pretend to be a statue or ornament, or something inanimate," she babbled.

"Anything for you, love."

She rolled her eyes at his conceited comment and stepped back to let him through the door.

"Stop calling me that! No funny business, okay? I mean it!" she said, drawing out a chuckle from him.

"Whatever you say, love."

He had then proceeded to stand beside the only armchair in the room which was situated about five feet diagonally away from foot of the bed and gestured to Caroline as if asking for her permission to sit.

"Um, sure. Make yourself at home," she mumbled. She gave herself a mental kick herself for her choice of words when Klaus's eyes danced in amusement and he assumed an air of indifference, lounging casually in the heavy armchair. Caroline was at a loss what to do now that Klaus had acceded to her outrageous request, so she decided to take a shower to clear her mind. Her heartbeat quickened when she went into the en suite bathroom and had to face the choice of just closing the door without locking it or closing and locking it, not that a door and lock would do much to protect her from Klaus if he really wanted to try anything funny. But as she reviewed her interactions with Klaus, she had to admit that he had been the perfect gentlemen when he was around her and that Klaus barging in on her shower was the least of her worries at this point in time. So she had boldly left the door slightly ajar—she figured that technically, it meant that she wasn't alone in a confined space, which lowered the possibility of Silas appearing again as he had shown that he had no respect for her privacy by turning up in the bathroom of the airport when she was the only one in it.

It was the fastest and most stressful shower she had ever had, even though she did feel more refreshed—physically, at least. Klaus's only reaction at his surprise at her quick emergence from the bathroom was his widened eyes and she had to give him props for his restraint.

Now, settled in bed and safe—for the moment—from Silas's taunting, Caroline should be free to think of ways to save her mother and friends, but yet, her thoughts kept getting pulled back to the person who was making this peace possible.

"How ironic," she muttered, earning yet another raised eyebrow from Klaus. She let out a huff of frustration and tried to focus on everything else in the room except him.

"Caroline," said Klaus softly. "I want to explain everything."

She shot him the coldest glare she could muster, but Klaus's gaze was unflinching. She didn't know how long they held each other's gazes, but she finally relented with a sigh and a wave of her hand. "You don't have to, you know," she said.

"I know. But I want to, although it's complicated." Klaus took a deep breath and trudged on. "Hayley is pregnant with my child as a result of a one-night stand. We were both drunk. It was a mistake. And the rules of a vampire do not necessarily apply to a hybrid, as I found out after that."

Caroline's heart twisted at the mention of Hayley. She didn't want to admit it, but part of her was irrationally relieved to hear from Klaus that he wasn't in love with the werewolf. "Elijah made you take responsibility."

"Yes."

His honesty surprised her and they both fell silent. She tried to phrase her next question so it didn't sound jealous. "When did you find out about Hayley? Before or after you came to my graduation?"

Klaus hesitated. "After."

"And you never thought to mention it during your little declaration of 'love'?" Caroline was riled now.

"It didn't matter. She doesn't matter."

"How about the child she's carrying? Your child!" Even as the words left her lips, she knew the answer—and how Klaus would answer. But his protectiveness over Hayley just now was proof enough, despite what he would say.

Sure enough, Klaus shrugged. But the words which he uttered were filled with bitterness. "The child is Elijah's bargaining chip. It's their bargaining chip. But I'm only playing along because it's in line with my agenda."

"Which is?"

"To claim back my rightful place here in New Orleans."

"Which is?"

"I will be king in this town. And Marcel and his cronies will yield to me eventually."

Caroline's brows furrowed. Here it was again, Klaus's need to conquer and command. The side to Klaus that she knew and hated, and she couldn't stop herself from asking, "I don't suppose Marcel is the girl you were charming?"

"Camille? She's my bargaining chip," he said indulgently.

Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Marcel's interested in her."

"So you are 'courting' her to make him jealous?"

"It's a little bit more complicated than that. Camille's mum was killed by some thugs a while ago. She fought one of the men and saw a birthmark on him. Hayley has that same birthmark and she doesn't know her parents. It's a symbol that belonged to a werewolf pack which used to command Louisiana. I haven't heard of them in nearly five centuries and I thought their line had been exterminated. And Marcel, in my absence, has managed to gain almost complete control of this town's supernatural comings and goings. The witches cannot do magic without him finding out. And I'm pretty sure he will have something to do with the lack of werewolves' presence here, too."

"Have you told Camille about this?"

"I'd rather she stay in the dark."

"Why?"

Klaus considered for a moment and gave another shrug.

"I mean if Marcel is interested in Camille and she knew about his supposed 'involvement' in these werewolves, wouldn't she be the best candidate to get information out of him?"

"Theoretically speaking. But it would also put her in more danger. I'd rather she stay away from him. It's going to cause complications if we brought her into the picture. It's safer for her if he just believes that I'm courting her to assert my dominance—as am everything else I'm doing overtly. Marcel knows I want his place. He also knows I'm outnumbered. And I'm sure he has back-up plans in place if I try to overthrow him by force. I need to play my cards right."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I wanted to. And since you're the smartest person I know, perhaps you can help me connect the dots and figure out how to make me king of this town. You'll get to be queen then, you know? If you want to, of course."

Caroline was stunned into silence momentarily and her thoughts turned inward as she processed their talk. Sure, Klaus had said that his only goal was to dethrone Marcel. But she felt that he was clearly taking other people into consideration—Elijah, Hayley, Camille, and his unborn child. Or was she finding excuses to make him seem less like a monster just to justify her attraction to him, thought Caroline bitterly. She found that she had nothing to reply to Klaus's comment about being his queen so she moved into a sleeping position on the bed and turned away from Klaus.

"Good night, Caroline."

Before she gave up to exhaustion, she murmured to herself, "A friend and a soon-to-be father, eh? Who would've thought?" and she swore she could feel Klaus's dimpled smile directed at her back.