Caroline let the hot water beat down on her skin. She wished it could burn away the past few days. She wanted to forget Tyler's betray, forget that she'd ever loved him. She could still taste his kiss on her lips, the memory tasted bitter. Every memory she had with him felt tainted now by his betrayal.

She couldn't forgive him. Well, maybe she could, but she didn't want to. She was tired of people who made her feel second-rate with their supposed love. She was tired of the neglect, tired of wondering what was wrong with her.

Her mind slipped away from Tyler, and another set of lips locked to hers invaded her mind. She thought of the kiss she'd shared with Klaus, it promised of satisfaction, of forgetting. She knew he would do a really good job of making her forget everything that was hurting her for while. But he'd denied her the relief, refused to let her escape from her own mind.

She couldn't stop her mind from placing his lips on parts of her body he'd never touched, his hands exploring her body, his teeth raking across her skin.

She thought back to her birthday, the way he stroked her hair while she drank his blood. His blood, coursing through her, healing her.

She knew that blood sharing was an intimate act, but she'd never experienced it that way. Damon had used her as a blood bag when she was still human and Tyler's bit could kill her. She wondered if that was part of the reason she had such a hard time accepting her vampire nature. She hadn't had the most pleasant associations with becoming a vampire. She was abused by Damon while she was human, she was ruthlessly murdered by Katherine, her first day as a vampire she'd accidentally killed a man. Everyone who was supposed to love her had rejected her at some point because of her vampirism.

Maybe that was what both drew her to and repelled her from Klaus. He was unapologetically bad, not evil like her friends liked to think, but bad. He was a vampire and he did what a vampire was supposed to do. He killed people. He manipulated everyone around him in order to get what he wanted.

Caroline envied him in a way. She envied the way he could take what he wanted without a trace of remorse. He didn't have to think about repercussions, he just acted.

Caroline, on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking. She couldn't escape her own head. She couldn't do the things she wanted to do, the things her body and instincts screamed at her to do because she was weighed down by the worry of what those actions would make her.

For the most part, her friends didn't see her as a monster, but she saw herself as one. So as long as she could see herself through their eyes, she didn't have to face the monster she saw in her own reflection. But if she let herself have feelings, real feelings, for Klaus, it would all shatter. Her friends would turn against her, of that she was certain.


Caroline stepped out of the bathroom wrapped only in a towel. She scrunched her hair, shaking free some of the remaining water. Klaus couldn't help but stare at her. She was the picture of perfections. Her smooth skin, flawless and pale as cream. It took all the control he could muster not to drop the sword in his and cross his bedroom, dragging her into his bed and casting her towel aside.

He longed to ravage her, to feel her nails dig into his back and her eye darken with desire for him.

Caroline looked up, she looked surprised to see him, but she made not false show of modesty. Klaus respected that, she was insecure, but at the same time she was vain and confident. There was never a doubt that Caroline Forbes was stunning.

"When did you get back," she asked.

"Just now," Klaus replied, laying the sword on the bed.

He had a feeling that if he kissed, she'd let him. She'd let him take what he wanted from her. But that wasn't the same as winning her. She told him once that he didn't connect with people because he didn't even try to understand them. He had no real interest in understanding people on a whole but he had taken it upon himself to make a true study of her. He would understand her. He thought she was rather desperate to be understood, secretly.

She's spent so long in the shadows, overlooked and neglected by those who ought to worship her, he wanted her to know how bright she shown, he wanted her to know what she was worth and still choose him. Only then, only when she fancied him in return, would he truly feel as though he'd seduced her.

Klaus believed that a woman like Caroline Forbes deserved to be seduced, to have a great love. He didn't know if he could ever truly deserve her, but love wasn't intended to be deserved or earned, it was just supposed to be given. If it wasn't freely given, then it wasn't love.

He wasn't sure what made her different. He was a thousand years old and before her he had never cared what anyone thought of him. He had been reviled and thrived on the hatred.

She saw the good in him when nobody else bothered to look. But what he wanted more than anything was for her to see the bad in him and not look away. He wanted to love someone who was more good than bad. More than that he wanted someone good to love him in return.

"We leave soon, do you have everything you need?" He asked.

Caroline nodded, she grabbed her clothes and walked back to the bathroom. She hesitated at the bathroom door and looked back at him.

"Klaus?"

"Yes?"

"Be careful with Elijah," She said, "I don't think it would be wise to trust him."

Klaus nodded. Caroline closed the door and when he heard it click shut, Klaus turned and left the bedroom.

He found Elijah where he'd left him in his study.

The Eldest Original stood before the dying fire, slowly swirling a scotch in his hand.

"What did you tell Caroline?" Klaus asked.

"The truth," Elijah said, "She didn't tell you?"

"I think she told me as much as she thought she could without betraying your confidence," Klaus said.

"So she passed?" Elijah asked.

Klaus thought of the fragile little newborn still so young, she was only barely beginning to tap into the depths of her abilities and still she stood fearlessly while caught in a tug of war between two ancient vampires who could kill her without any real effort. Though she was young and weak, Klaus couldn't help but feel as though her iron will matched even his own. Once she came into her own she would be a wonder to behold.

"She passed," Klaus said.


Caroline felt a surge of relief when she saw Klaus in his room. Her relief overwhelmed her unease at finding herself alone in a room with Klaus in nothing but a towel. Her mind flashed back to the day in the woods when she made out with Tyler, not knowing that he was really Klaus. He'd told her then that he would take her up on hot hybrid sex. But at the right time and in the right place.

He had held the sword in one hand and looked uncommonly pleased with himself. She was still shaken with raw terror that Elijah would realize she was going to play him, that she had no interest in helping Katherine (He could say all he liked, Katherine was far from a victim of circumstance. She was ruthless and dangerous and Caroline would sleep much better knowing that someone had her on a leash).

She also knew that Klaus would not take kindly to her keeping something from him. The one time since she'd discovered that he liked her that she'd ever been afraid that he would harm her was when she played him, acting as a distraction so her friends could rescue Elena from the room where Bonnie was now locked up like a prisoner.

With Klaus, honesty wasn't a two-way street. It was one way, his way. He would lie and manipulate, but he did not react favorably to being lied to and manipulated.

When Caroline came back out of the bathroom, fully dressed, she found Klaus lying beside the sword, his hands clasped behind his head. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world, but Caroline knew better. He was like a cat which at first glance looked perfectly relax, until you noticed its flicking tail, and realized that it was alert and ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Klaus glanced over to her. He had only two speeds, perfectly calm of a fit of passion, and Caroline didn't think she'd ever grow accustomed to how quickly he could switch between the two.

Caroline climbed onto the foot of the bed and sat crossed legged, watching Klaus, trying to judge which of the two speeds she was likely to face.

"What's the plan?" She asked.

Klaus sat up and turned the sword slowly in his hand, studying it.

"I think it's better if I'm the only one who knows the whole plan," Klaus said, "No offense, but I don't trust your friends."

Caroline shrugged as though it was of no consequence to her, but inwardly she was dying to know. Her inner control freak hated being kept in the dark. Klaus smirked and Caroline couldn't help but wonder if he'd read her mind.

"We have a ten-thirty flight," He said, volunteering something which appeased her slightly.

"Flight? We're flying?" She asked, a little taken aback, but she tried to mask her concern with a shrug, hoping the hybrid hadn't read her panic.


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