"Damn it," Tyler cursed, pacing the living room.

No one would take his call, not Elena, not Bonnie, not even Matt. He knew they were all mad at him for cheating on Caroline, but he had every right to be mad at them too. Because of them, Chris was dead. And because of the stupid deal Caroline made to save Elena, she was now in Klaus's grasp.

The Original must have compelled her. That was the only possible explanation. After everything Klaus had done to all of them, to him, there was no way Caroline would willingly go home with him. She just wouldn't.

She couldn't.

It didn't matter that their relationship was on the rocks. Tyler loved her, sure he'd made a mistake with Hayley, but it was justifiable, he'd been in the midst of breaking the sire bond, changing about a hundred times, breaking every bone in his body, things had been pretty intense. It had been a mistake, one that Caroline would forgive him for eventually. He would get her back. They would be in love again.

So long as she didn't get herself killed in the meantime.

"Why is no one answering their phone?" Tyler growled, chucking his cellphone across the room."

"Whoa!" Hayley said, not moving from her spot on the couch. "Chill, Ty."

"Don't tell me to chill." He snapped. "Klaus has Caroline."

Hayley got up and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Hayley said. "because she went with him."

Tyler growled. He slammed Hayley against the wall. He could feel his teeth extending, his eyes changing. Hayley's eyes were wide with fear, but then she relaxed and smiled.

"Ty, let it go." She said. "You're here with me. Be with me."

She stroked his face.

"But Caroline…" His rage extinguished as quickly as it was kindled. The fight bled out of him. He couldn't help it, not when he imagined her. His Caroline. Her hair, her eyes, her dazzling smile. The way she loved him with everything she had. Caroline Forbes, the girl he never saw coming until he was already half in love with her.

"Isn't your concern anymore." Hayley reached down and started work on his belt. "I am."

Tyler grabbed her hand. "Stop it, Hayley."

"She dumped you, Ty." Hayley said sharply.

Tyler pushed her away, "Get out."

"Ty…"

"Get out before I make you."


Caroline hesitantly accepted the glass of champagne from Klaus. She was starting to think he might have been on to something about it being their thing. Now that she'd allowed him to take her home, she didn't really think that she could deny that they did, indeed, have a thing.

What would Matt say? The thought paralyzed her momentarily. Elena would judge her, but then again, there was nothing she could do that Elena hadn't done worse. Everyone treated Elena like she was perfect, but she just as flawed as Caroline. Bonnie would judge her no matter what she did. Bonnie still loved her, but there was a part Bonnie that couldn't forgive her for becoming a vampire, even though it wasn't her fault. But Matt… Her friend, her former love, the one person who understood she wasn't perfect and didn't judge her for it. He was good and sweet and normal in this crazy world. Would he hate her for this?

No. She didn't think he would. He wouldn't understand, but he'd forgive her.

"Make yourself comfortable." Klaus said.

Comfortable was just about the furthest thing from what she was currently feeling. She took a sip, hoping the alcohol would replenish the nerves she was lacking. She didn't know the protocol for when one went home with a thousand year old vampire.

It wasn't like he was an Edward Cullen either. No, Klaus was no thousand year old virgin. He knew exactly what he was doing. His every attempt to seduce her had been carefully calculated from the start. He knew what he wanted and he knew precisely how to go about getting it. How was she supposed to resist someone like that?

Not that Caroline was inexperienced either, but she didn't think eighteen years of life experience had properly prepared her for this situation.

"You can take a seat, Caroline."

Klaus sank into a leather chair beside the cold fireplace, perfectly angled to observe her every action. His lips were pressed together, and Caroline had the impression he was refraining from laughing at her. It made her feel exposed, like he saw straight through her. She didn't like it.

"I'm good." She said. She drew closer to the hearth and, by doing so, closer to Klaus.

"Preparing to run?"

"No." She snapped.

He smirked.

Riled, she kicked off her heels and gave him a pointed look, "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." He replied, that annoying smirk never straying far from his stupidly handsome face.

The tile floor was cold beneath her feet, sending a chill up her legs and through her body. It distracted her from her pounding heart. She tried not to think about the fact that Klaus could hear her every physical reaction, he could hear the way he caused her heart to gallop off at a frantic pace. She could say that it was because he frightened her, but they would both know that was a lie. Caroline Forbes, the girl who brazenly acted as bait for the most dangerous man in the world, playing on his affections for her, was not so easily frightened.

If anything, she was frightened of herself, terrified of the person she was becoming, a person who would go home with Klaus… A person who wanted to.

"We're not so different, you and I." Klaus mused.

"I'm not like you." Caroline said.

"Aren't you?"

"No."

"Tell me," Klaus said, "did you come here expressly for the purpose of hurting Tyler?"

"So what if I did?" Caroline countered. She tried to hide the fact that his question caught her off guard.

"I think you want those who have wronged you to suffer." He observed, a smile twisted the corner of his lips, "Secretly."

Caroline gaped at the Hybrid. She liked to think she was above something like that. But didn't she secretly long to take a peeler to Damon's face for the horrible things he'd done to her? Didn't she come here because she wanted Tyler to feel a glimmer of the pain he'd caused her? Maybe secretly she was just as vindictive as Klaus, except he wasn't afraid to be the bad guy. Maybe the only reason she wasn't exactly like Klaus was because she worked so hard not to be. If she just let go, if she let herself go, maybe she would be a monster too.

"Keep your secrets." Klaus said. "I rather enjoy the mystery."

A silence fell between them. Caroline sipped her drink.

"Were you aware that Tyler and his female companion have been working to break the sire bond of the remaining Hybrids?" Klaus asked suddenly.

Caroline inhaled sharply. She had known, in fact she'd been involved before she learned the truth about Tyler and Hayley. She'd been the distraction, keeping Klaus preoccupied so that he wouldn't see what was happening right under his nose. How foolish had they been to think they could fool someone like Klaus? And now what? Was he going to hurt Tyler? Caroline might be angry with him, but she didn't want that. She'd never wanted that.

"Yes." She admitted.

Klaus didn't look angry or even surprised. He simply nodded. "Thank you for your honesty."

"Are you going to hurt them?" She asked.

"I considered it."

"And?"

"I'd rather enjoy your company." He said.

This stumped Caroline. She knew he had a thing for her, but she didn't think she mattered enough to him to sway him from whatever so-called justice he felt the urge to dole out. He made it quite clear that his feelings for her wouldn't stop him from hurting her when she double crossed him to help free Elena. So why this? Why would he choose to ignore her part in the hybrids' betrayal? Why would he let them off the hook? Was it for her sake? He left her with a million questions that she didn't know how to even start to ask.

"Why?"

"I sacrificed one of my hybrids just to be able to spend time with you." He smirked. "Is it really so difficult to imagine that I would hesitate to do something that would jeopardize our thing?"

"We don't have a thing." Caroline said. It was an instinctive reaction. After spending so long actively trying to dislike the man, it was difficult to adjust as things shifted between them. But judging by his amused smirk, he didn't believe her protest any more than he had when she had actually meant it. She cleared her throat, nervously, "So you'll leave him alone, for me?"

Klaus smirked. "Revenge doesn't always require violence."

"So you want to use me to get back at Tyler?" Caroline asked.

"Does it matter?" Klaus asked. He raised an eyebrow considering her carefully, "Aren't you here for the same purpose?"

"I don't know," Caroline rolled her lip between her teeth, "maybe."

"Well, if that's all you came for, then you've already accomplished your purpose." Klaus stood up. "There's no reason for you to remain here. You can show yourself out, if you'd like."

Caroline recoiled, confused by the sudden shift.

"Do you want me to leave?" She asked.

Klaus met her gaze; there was something desperate, honest about his expression that sent a shiver down her spine. "I want you to want to stay, Caroline."

She felt a thrill as he said her name. As though he was the only person who'd ever said it right. Caroline glanced at the door. This was it, this was her out. He was giving her a way out; she just had to take it. She could pick up her heels and what was left of her dignity and go.

Caroline swirled her drink around in her glass. She had a feeling that this was one of the big moments, one of the moments that you looked back on and went 'yup, that's where my life changed'. She had a choice. She could stay the same, she could go home and pretend to be the same Miss Mystic Falls she'd been before she died, a small town girl destined for an equally small life. Or she could change, into what she wasn't sure, but she was sure that if she changed there would be no going back.

She sat her glass down on the mantle. A flicker of disappointment fleeted across Klaus's face. He thought she was going to take the out he'd laid before her.

He was wrong.

She closed the distance between them and pulled him up from his chair and into a kiss.


"Caroline is where?" Stefan gaped at Tyler. "Willingly?"

He had been just about to leave Elena's house when the knock came from the door. Now he, Matt, and Jeremy stared at Caroline's ex, dumbfounded.

"I think Klaus must have compelled her." Tyler said.

Stefan saw the flicker of doubt in Tyler's eyes. Stefan couldn't help but wonder if the doubt was founded. Klaus had pursued Caroline relentlessly since her birthday, showering her with attention and gifts. He was obsessed, but if he was going to compel her, Stefan thought he probably would have done so already. No, he didn't compel her. He didn't have to. Caroline insisted that she didn't like the Original, but she wouldn't be the first girl to be led astray by the wrong guy.

There had been a time when he would have said that Elena never would have fallen for Damon, but he'd been wrong. He was starting to think that saying never was just a good way to get proven wrong.

He felt a surge of guilt, because if Caroline was with Klaus, then it was his fault. He'd known she was going through a lot in the wake of Tyler's betrayal, but he didn't even give it a second thought as he thrust her once again in Klaus's path to play bait. He should have known better. Klaus was only going to play the game by their rules for so long. It had only been a matter of time before the Original Hybrid changed the rules so the game would play in his favor.

Stefan knew how far Klaus would go to get what he wanted. He'd daggered his own sister to prevent her from getting in the way of his getting his hands on the cure. And then it hit him. The cure.

He had a way in.

He could save Caroline. Even if it was from herself.


Every time Klaus presumed to know what the young blonde vampire was going to do, she did the exact opposite. She was a conundrum. He enjoyed that about her. Not only was she beautiful, brave, and intelligent, she was unlike any other woman he had known through the centuries.

She shared some superficial similarities with Rebekah, both beautiful, both insecure and had been incredibly damaged by the men who played with their affections. Perhaps that had been what he had found so intriguing about her at first. But she was so different from what he initially thought. He thought she was the weak link, easily corruptible, selfish. But he was wrong.

She was far from selfish. She was incredibly loyal, offering far more loyalty to the doppelgänger and her other friends than was warranted. She was the backbone of their entire group. She was the strong one. She was strong and constant so that the other could falter.

If they could see her now, their stalwart unwavering friend, endlessly put upon, never disappointing, now standing at a precipice ready to free fall. What would they think of her?

They would be so disappointed, though every one of them had done far worse, they all expected better from her. Because she was better. She was the best of them. She was too good for them, for any of them. And they all took her for granted.

He looped one hand loosely around her waist and let her set the pace of their kiss. He was desperate to devour her, but he didn't want to show that weakness, so when she pulled away, he let her go.

"So, what now?" She challenged, staring him down with her lively blue eyes.

"You tell me." He countered.

He heard the tempo of her heart speed up a notch, but she kept her expression smooth.

"Now," she said, "you're going to show me to your bedroom."


Caroline didn't know if this was what she wanted, but she did know she didn't want to leave. She'd always had a tendency to fall into bed with a guy and figure out the logistics later. So what that Tyler would never talk to her again? So what that her friends would never understand? She didn't understand herself, so she couldn't expect them to.

There was something about Klaus that drew her in. She didn't trust him, wasn't even sure if she liked him, but she wanted him. She'd wanted him from the moment he came into her bedroom and told her of all the splendors of the world that waited for her just beyond Mystic Falls. She'd wanted him because he seemed to believe she was made for so much more than 2.5 kids and a white picket fence. She wanted him because nobody else looked at her the way he did, and she doubted anyone ever would again. She wanted to be wanted that desperately, just once.

No one else had ever seemed to think she counted for much of anything, but he, well he seemed to think she counted for everything.

Klaus offered her his hand. She took it, trying to ignore the thrill his slightest touch sent through her. She had always liked to be in control. She had convinced herself that while they bantered and battled for control in whatever this was between them that she was the one who always came out on top. But now, as he guided her through the enormous house, she had the sinking realization that he was the cat and she was the mouse and she had fallen right into his trap.

He was smart, too smart. It was like playing chess against a computer. It was like he knew her every move and decision before she even thought of it. How could she compete against that? How could she possibly maintain control?

They made their way up stairs and he guided her to his unfamiliar bedroom. She didn't know what she was expecting, but it wasn't this, a dark room with a large bed, a desk in the corner, and a table beside the fireplace. It looked very much like his study, just with a bed thrown in. Maybe she was expecting a coffin. She really wasn't sure, because now that she was here, it made perfect sense. It was very Klaus.

She pulled her hand from his and meandered to his desk. She picked up a sketchbook.

She looked back at him. "May I?"

He nodded.

She flipped through the pages slowly. Animals. Building. And strange and exotic things that she'd never dreamed of seeing before he offered to show her the world.

Then the pictures shifted, to her. It would have been creepy if she wasn't already aware that he liked to draw her. Besides, it was hard to see such beautiful artwork as creepy.

One sketch was of her in her twenties flapper get up, arms crossed, looking annoyed. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"Why do you draw me?" She asked.

"Because beauty shouldn't be taken for granted." He said.

She closed the sketchbook and returned it to his desk.

"Well, I guess it's time." She walked over to his bed and sat down on it.

"Time for what?" He asked, coming over and sitting beside her.

For someone who claimed to want her he made very few attempts to touch her, and when he did it was always innocent, like a hand on her waist when they danced. He never took more than she gave. She wasn't used to it. She was used to hard and fast, boys that took what they wanted and gave little back.

"It, time for it." She said.

He laughed, "We're not going to have sex, love."

She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Of course we are. I came here to do it, and we're going to do it."

"No," he said, "we're not."

He rested his hand on her knee to calm her.

"But you said you fancied me." She whispered, trying not to feel rejected.

"And you said you were too smart to be seduced by me." He whispered back with a conspiratorial smirk.

"You're not seducing me." She said.

"I know, that's the problem." He leaned in and caught her lips in chaste kiss. "I quite look forward to proving you wrong. There will be a time when you choose to be with me, not because you're hurt or because you want to make someone jealous. When you want me as desperately as I want you. But I know that's more than you can give right now." He ran the back of his hand along her cheek, "So I'll wait."

Despite herself, she leaned into his touch. "Why?"

"We have forever, darling." He smirked. "You may not choose me now. You may not choose me for a hundred years. But I have no doubt that, eventually, you will choose me. And I'm willing to wait. However long it takes."