Thanks for reading! No beta still, I know you want to know what's gonna happen, see you at the bottom!
Klaus heard her voice call him Nik. It was her. After all this time, it was her. Klaus moved to sit up. He saw Caroline standing there as the tears filled her eyes.
"You knew, you knew who I was! And you didn't say anything!" Caroline yelled
"I wasn't sure if it was you or not"
"You knew! And you just lied to me! Just so you could get me to sleep with you!"
"No! It wasn't like that! I didn't know for sure if it really was you or not!"
"Stay the hell away from me!" Caroline turned and ran down the stairs
Klaus chased after her naked. She ran to pick up the pile of wet clothes that were laying near his paintings. Klaus followed her.
"You're a creepy stalker! Stay away from me!" Caroline yelled as she went to look for her shoes
"I didn't know it was you! I thought it may be you, but I wasn't sure! I never meant to deceive you!" Klaus followed her
"Oh hi, my name's Nik, I used to live in Mystic Falls before I went off to England, are you from Mystic Falls too?" Caroline said sarcastically
"Do you realize how weird and pathetic that sounds?"
"So you rather pretend to be this Klaus person to get into my pants"
"If you forgot my full name is Niklaus, you couldn't say it and you ended up calling me Nik. The only person that even calls me by my full name is Elijah"
"Whatever Klaus" Caroline found one of her shoes
"No one calls me Nik anymore, except for my brother and sister"
"Good for you"
"I go by Klaus now, mostly because only those close to me call me Nik. And because the girl I thought I was in love with ended up leaving"
Caroline stopped and looked at him.
"You're the one who left" Caroline said
Klaus was referring to Tatia, but realized that Caroline took it another way.
"Now you're the one leaving" Klaus said
"You lied to me! You manipulated me!"
"You're the one who threw me up against the door!"
"You got what you wanted!" Caroline yelled as she found her other shoe
"If that's all I wanted I wouldn't ask for your name, or even taken you back here, I would have left before you woke up!" Klaus yelled
"You turned out to be a total jerk!" Caroline headed towards the door
"You can't leave!"
"Watch me!"
"You're naked under my shirt! You can't walk around New York like that!"
"You want your shirt back!? Fine!"
Caroline took his shirt off and threw it at him. Klaus saw her naked form again. He took his shirt and threw it back at her.
"Cover yourself up" Klaus said
"You didn't have a problem with it last night!"
"You're not going to walk around the city naked! Have you forgotten how dirty the subway is!"
"I'll catch a cab!"
"Like that's any better!"
"Stop bossing me around!"
"Well I learned it from you!"
Caroline was going to yell something back but stopped. They both just looked at each other. Klaus approached her slowly.
"There's a dryer in the closet. Just wait 20 minutes and you can be fully dressed and then you can go"
Caroline only nodded. He took the pile of wet clothes from her and walked towards the closet. Caroline watched as he walked off, her eyes still on the iron mark on his back. Klaus placed her clothes into the dryer. He saw the pile of clothes the laundry service left for him, neatly folded. He pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans. He pulled a henley out of the pile and put it on. He walked out and went to his kitchen to make some tea. He looked at the clock and saw that it was 3 in the afternoon.
Caroline stood there and watched him. It was strange, this was Nik grown up. She wondered what happened to him, how he turned out. Apparently he did well in the looks department. She wondered what would have happened if he stayed in Mystic Falls, how different their lives would have been. She wouldn't have met Matt, or dated him, or slept with Damon in a drunken haze, or dated Tyler. But it didn't matter because this Nik did leave her, and lied to her. And here she was standing in his shirt in his apartment. This was not the way she thought things would turn out.
Klaus turned the stove off and poured the hot water into the tea cups. He didn't know how she liked her tea. He walked over to her and handed her the cup. She had put on his shirt while he put her clothes in the dryer. She took it and gave him a half smile.
"Sorry the cup's not pink" Klaus said
"You remember that?"
"I remember everything about you Caroline"
"What happened to you?"
"I grew up" Klaus said taking a sip of his tea
"You were really mean to Stefan" Caroline said
"Ah, yes Stefan, he turned out rather well didn't he? I saw him talking to my underage sister. I was concerned"
"This is Stefan we're talking about. He's the good brother"
"Really? What does that make Damon?"
"A terrible mistake"
"Speaking from experience love?"
"Damon's Damon. He only got worse when he got older"
"And where did he end up?"
"A drop out. He ended up following Elena to Northwestern"
"Elena?"
"Yeah, they're together. She was with Stefan before"
"Both of them?"
"Yeah, don't ask, it happened"
"Anyone else?"
"No, just those two. She couldn't decide for the longest time. When she did she broke Stefan's heart and he stayed at Princeton"
"Princeton?"
"Yes, Stefan's brain actually works"
"And what about you? Damon and Stefan were obviously occupied with Elena. Who did you end up with?"
"I dated a guy named Matt who moved into your old house"
"Did he take you to prom?"
"No, Stefan did, he broke up with me and decided he was in love with Elena too"
"I must say, I must see how Elena turned out if all these boys were falling at her feet"
"I dated Matt, and then I dated Tyler for 2 years until he cheated on me"
"Tyler?"
"You know the mayor's son? We used to go there on turkey day"
"Didn't he move away to be with his uncle?"
"He did, but we ended up going to Tulane together. He ended up cheating on me with Matt's older sister"
"He was a fool then"
"No he was just a d bag"
"He hurt you didn't he?"
"Do you really have to ask?"
"He didn't deserve you"
"Don't I know it"
"And after Tyler?"
"That would be you"
"So I'm just a rebound"
"That was the idea"
"I feel so used"
"That makes two of us"
"That wasn't my intention. I didn't know it was you. I thought it might be you, but I wasn't sure"
"Now you're sure, and you got what you wanted, and what's taking this dryer so long?!" Caroline pushed past him towards the dryer. Klaus followed her. She put her tea on the top of the dryer and bent down to open the door. Klaus stopped as he watched her bend over. It was just re-confirming the fact that Caroline really was a blonde. He shook his head and helped her stand up.
"The door is locked until it finishes. It'll only take another 15 minutes"
"I just want to get out of here"
"Do you hate me that much?"
"Yes. You used me" Caroline spun around, facing him.
"We both used each other, don't pretend that you didn't"
"I didn't know who you were!"
"Would that have changed anything?"
"Yes! You don't screw your childhood friend!"
"But we were more than just friends"
"We were friends"
"Do friends sleep in each other's beds? Do friends let their friend grope them?"
"Why do you have to make everything dirty and perverted? We were kids"
"Yes we were, and now we're adults"
"I'd rather have my childhood memories untainted"
"Mine just haunt me"
Caroline backed into the dryer when she realized how close he was standing. She bumped the dryer and the cup of tea she had placed on it crashed to the floor. She jumped slightly, her bare feet feeling the splash of hot tea.
"Sorry!" Caroline said
Klaus grabbed her and lifted her onto the dyer. Caroline gasped as his hands grabbed onto the backs of her thighs and lifted her. He parted her thighs when he put her onto the dryer.
"Stay here" Klaus said as he walked to the kitchen
Caroline wasn't sure if it was the dryer that was causing the heat to rise in her body or something else. Klaus returned with a rag and a bucket. He quickly cleaned up the tea and placed the broken fragments into the bucket. Caroline watched him as he cleaned up. He dropped the rag into the bucket and stood up. He walked over to her and lifted her up in his arms. Caroline placed her arms around his neck as he carried her over to the couch. He gently placed her down. She released her arms around his neck as he went back to the dryer.
Caroline sat on his couch looking around his apartment. She walked over to his paintings again. She saw sketchbooks on the floor scattered about. She picked one of them up. She opened it and saw a sketch of Katherine with two small children. She turned the page and saw a sketch of the treehouse. She turned the page and saw a sketch of a landscape with some numbers on it. She didn't know what they meant. She flipped through the pages and saw more landscapes of places and people with numbers on them.
Klaus walked back and saw Caroline looking at his sketchbooks. He walked up to her. She looked up and saw him.
"What do these numbers mean?" Caroline asked
Klaus looked over at the sketchbook.
"They're geographically points, the longitude and latitude of a place. So I can remember where I was when I drew this. This one was in the Appalachian mountains in Tennessee"
"What were you doing there?"
"Traveling"
"You seem to do a lot of that"
"I have no reason to stay"
"Why did you leave England?"
"I left school. Elijah was not happy with me. I left and started in Peru and made my way up"
"Why didn't you come back?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to. You seemed busy with your high school boyfriend"
"You stopped writing to me"
"Because you stopped"
"I missed you. Didn't you even think of me?"
"I did, often, why do you think your face is on all these canvases?"
"Then why didn't you come back?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to"
The buzzer from the dryer went off. Caroline shoved the sketchbook back at him.
"Now you know how it feels, that feeling of not knowing" Caroline pushed past him and headed toward the dryer
Caroline pulled her clothes out and quickly got dressed. She realized her phone was in her jacket pocket and groaned. She went to see if it still worked. It did. She pulled her hair out of her jacket and it got caught on her necklace. She touched the snowflake and pulled it down. The necklace broke and she placed it on the dryer and walked out.
Klaus turned around when he heard her walk out.
"I'm leaving" Caroline said as she headed towards the door
Klaus ran to her, grabbing her wrist.
"Wait!" Klaus said
"What?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry if I deceived you, it wasn't my intent. I wanted to believe that it was you, but part of me didn't want to know because the uncertainty of it, I just wanted it to be you so bad that I didn't-"
"I get it ok"
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you"
"But you did"
"How can acquit myself with you?"
"You can't"
Klaus sighed. Caroline pulled her wrist away. Klaus grabbed her face and pushed her up against the door. His lips were on hers, kissing her for the last time. Caroline couldn't help herself as she kissed him back. Finally she pushed him off her slightly, gasping for air.
"I'm still mad at you" Caroline said
"How can I make it up to you?"
"You can't"
"Let me try" Klaus said kissing down her neck
"I'm still mad"
Caroline stared at the ceiling of the apartment. She found herself laying in Klaus's bed again with a very naked Klaus next to her.
"That can't happen again" Caroline said in disbelief
"Why? It sounded like you enjoyed it" Klaus said leaning on his side, "I know I did"
Klaus let his finger glide along her skin from her shoulder down to her arm, sending shivers down her spine. Caroline sat up, clutching the sheet against her chest.
"This is wrong" Caroline said
"Why?"
"Because you're not suppose to screw your friends"
"We're beyond that point now"
"I can't do this" Caroline got out of the bed and started getting dressed
"Why not?" Klaus said getting out of bed following her
"Because you lied to me, because you knew who I was, because we were friends when we were kids and this is so weird"
"It's only weird if you make it weird" Klaus said stopping her and placing his hands on her shoulders
"You got what you wanted, just let me go"
"I can't let you go"
"Why?"
"Because I'll regret it. You were the only good thing in my life, and I won't let you go again"
"Why are you saying all this?"
"Because I can't let you go"
Caroline didn't know how to respond. His hands reached up and held her face.
"If you only knew what you did for me back then. You saved me"
"We were just kids"
Klaus kissed her gently again.
"And yet you still saved me" Klaus said
"You can't be naked and kissing me! Stop being naked!" Caroline said pulling away
"You didn't have a problem with it before"
"I'm going to leave if you don't put some pants on!"
"Alright" Klaus pulled his jeans on from the floor, "better?"
"Look, I'm not going to sleep with you again! If you want to talk then we can talk"
"Alright then" Klaus said sitting on the bed
"No, not here, downstairs" Caroline said
"Alright, after you"
Caroline sat down on his couch and he sat down next to her. Caroline looked over at him and he just smiled at her. This was strange and awkward. She looked past him at his paintings and then saw the old shoebox on the window sill.
"I know that" Caroline said getting up walking towards the window
Klaus watched her as she picked up the old shoe box
"You said you'd show me what was inside" Caroline said
"You remember that?"
"Yes" Caroline opened the box and looked inside
It was the Valentine she had made for Klaus when she was child all cut up. She reached in and picked up a piece of it. She remembered cutting up her grandmother's lace tablecloth for it.
"Rebekah found that box when I had just moved to England. She was decorating and making a collage, and decided to cut it up for her artwork. She destroyed everything that was inside, except for that and one other thing"
Caroline looked at the old cut up heart and then back at him.
"You kept it?" Caroline asked
"You made it for me. It was from a part of my childhood that made me happy"
"Why didn't you come back?"
"I didn't know you wanted me to"
"I needed you, I needed my friend"
"I'm sorry"
"You were suppose to take me to prom, you were suppose to protect me, you were suppose to be there!"
"I'm sorry!"
"I needed you tell me I was being crazy and neurotic, that I was being so stupid in high school, to tell me not to sleep with the wrong guy, to tell me I was worth it, that I was worth waiting for. I needed you!" Caroline yelled as she ripped what was left of the Valentine
"I'm sorry"
"That's not good enough!"
"Why didn't you look for me?"
Caroling pushed past him and ran to the door. He chased after her and grabbed her before she opened the door. His arms encased her holding her close from behind.
"Don't go" Klaus said
"Why? You left me! Tyler left, everyone leaves! Let me go!"
"I can't, if I let you walk out that door I'll never see you again"
"Nik"
"I don't know what to say to make this better"
"There's nothing to say. One of us is leaving"
"People don't leave you because they don't care, they leave you because they're not good for you, like I was"
Caroline's body relaxed. She slowly turned around to face him. Her eyes were glassy as the tears started to fall freely from her eyes.
"You were good for me" Caroline said as she started to cry
"Don't cry sweetheart, you look like a tomato"
"Nik!" Caroline punched him in the arm
"Sorry, but you kinda do"
Klaus pulled her closer and she cried on his shoulder.
"I needed you" Caroline said
"I needed you more" Klaus said
Ok, there. That's all she wrote. I'm being sent out again for work, so I'm probably gonna be mia for a while, at least the next month, so i'm posting what I have. Don't hate me. Leave me a review if you can, I appreciate it. Tell me if you like Caroline's reaction, cause she was not gonna be happy about what he did. But he really wasn't 100% sure if it was her or not to be fair. anyways, where do you want to see it from here? Damon is eating donuts somewhere so I don't know what he's doing other than that. Stefan's playing with his hair, Bonnie's hooking up with stoner Jeremy and kat and Elijah are trying to keep Becca and Kol in line. XD