A/N:- I have got to say this was by far the hardest chapter I've written. It's been through so many drafts! Klovec, Jay, my beta deserves all the thanks in the world for checking and rechecking this and just generally putting up with me! So please leave feedback, just so she knows how much her hard work is appreciated!

Chapter 4

When she woke up, he stood at the foot of the bed, adjusting his tie in the morning.

"Morning." As she yawned and stretched. He turned around and smiled at her.

"Good morning, Love. Today's the day right?"

She nodded and pulled herself up into a sitting position. Today was the day she found out if she had been successful and got the job. She was a bundle of nerves.

"You'll be fine. That job is as good as yours. How did you sleep? No dreams?" He sat down next to her on the bed, idly stroking her arm.

She sighed, "Still happening. Feels more and more real each time. I should start writing them down; they're like a teen drama. If I don't get the job, I could become a writer. Vampire books are still popular right?" She laughed, she had to. They might be disrupting her sleeping pattern somewhat but at least she was starting to remember the dreams bit by bit. Vampires, witches, werewolves. The stuff of Hollywood films and network TV. Nothing real. Nothing that could really hurt her. So she just accepted them. They would go in time.

"That's my girl." He looked quickly at his watch, "Shit, I'm running late. I'll see you later." He left quickly, but not before leaving her with a soft lingering kiss.

She got to work in record time, even though she had showered, dressed and taken Buddy for a quick walk. She even had enough time to grab a coffee from the shop across the street from her building. She walked into the office confidently and with a smile on her face, setting her coffee on her desk and turning on her pc. The first thing she did, even though she had told herself not to, was open her email. Even the thought of the email already being there was too much for her, she had to know. Of the 10 emails waited for her a couple of spam, others were emails from colleagues regarding plans for a work night out, one was from Elena wishing her luck and the rest were tasks she needed to do today. She did not receive a job offer/rejection email as of yet.

"That's a good thing. It has to be. "She said to herself as she flagged the tasks she needed to do.

She couldn't help herself and checked her email every thirty minutes but still no word on the job. She did receive one more email wishing her luck, this time from Bonnie.

Lunch came and went and there was still no email.

The end of the day soon came around; she was just closing down all her open windows when the little email notification popped up in the bottom corner. It was from Malcolm Davies' personal assistant. This was it, the moment she had been waiting for all day. Her mouse hovered over the email application along the task bar. All she needed to do was double click. She took a deep breath, double clicked and read the email.

Unsuccessful.

She did not get it.

They had chosen someone else.

As soon as she was out of the office, she was on the phone with Elena begging her to go for a drink. Her friend never took much convincing and within 20 minutes, she was meeting her in their little corner bar.

The music played softly in the back. Elena had grabbed them a table near the jukebox and a bottle of white wine with two glasses; she had already poured herself one.

"Hey. You sure you want to be drinking with me and not at home with Nik?" Elena started pouring the second glass as Caroline sat on the opposite stool.

"I'm sure." She swallowed a gulp of wine, "He probably won't be back for hours. He keeps working late." She rolled her eyes and took another swallow.

Elena threw her a sympathetic smile, "Don't worry about it. I know Nik; he is crazy about you."

"I know, I know. Fact of the matter is I didn't get the job and I want to drink until I forget about how much it blows."

From that point, the evening took a slippery slope that was only going to lead them to a trio of hangovers. Bonnie met them an hour later when they were a bottle and a half of wine deep. After that, they turned to the tequila. Throughout college, their evenings out had always ended with tequila shots. It brought about reminiscing or happier, easier times. They laughed more that night then they had in a long time. Tonight they were just three girls having a fun night out.

She was still laughing as she tried to open the front door. She dropped the keys at least twice before she was able to stagger into the house. Buddy started barking as soon as she walked in.

"Ssshhhh…."She started to shush him as she walked into the kitchen but stopped instantly.

Set out in front of her was their kitchen table, all dressed up for dinner. Tablecloth, candles, flowers… the works. One plate was pristine, it hadn't been touched. The other had clearly been used, traced of food evident, cutlery dumped on top. On the stove were saucepans and baking trays, filled with wasted food.

"Welcome home, Love." His voice floated from the living room, tainted with anger. The only light was from the muted TV. Next to him sat a bottle of scotch.

She smiled, "I'm sorry, I had no idea you had this planned."

He turned to her, his eyes cold, "Well you wouldn't would you? It was meant to be a surprise for when you got home." Without missing a beat, he deadpanned, "Surprise."

"I didn't get the job so went for a drink with the girls. I didn't think you would be home for hours. You've been working late every night." She came and sat next to him on the sofa, trying to take his hand but he snatched it away and went to the kitchen, taking his glass and scotch with him.

"So that is what this is about, me working late?"

"Oh please, you're a teacher. Since when do teachers work until 11 at night?!" She flopped back on the sofa, letting her head loll to one side, watching him stand still at the sink.

"You don't think I'm at work?" He questioned her; this was the first he had heard of her having issues with his hours.

She shrugged, "Well, can you blame me?"

Their voices had slowly risen. This was not a conversation that they should have been having when they had both had a drink.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He thought they were long past this.

"Edie." It was the first time in years that she had actually said her name. She could see his fists clench as she spoke.

"I thought we had long moved past this." The anger bubbling inside him threatened to overflow.

They argued about trust. He accused her of not trusting him. They argued about that one incident in college. She was very careful not to imply she actually thought he was cheating now. Buddy sat whimpering in his cage. He yelled. She yelled. They were both tired and drunk and this wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Do you really want to know what I've been doing every night?" He screamed. She nodded in reply. "I took a second job teaching night classes so I could buy you this." He pulled out of his pocket a little velvet black box and tossed it to her.

Everything fell silent as she opened the box; inside was a silver ring with a band tiny blue and white stones through the center of it. "Nik…My god…. I'm sorry…." She was speechless.

He shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Seems we both made a mistake." And without any kind of warning he grabbed his keys and left.

She fled to the front door, screaming at him to come back. But as he drove away, she was left feeling torn apart. It was like she had just destroyed the best thing in her life. She slowly closed the door; Buddy had begun whimpering again so she opened his cage. With him curled up next to her, they both fell asleep on the sofa. She was still clutching the tiny jewelry box to her chest.

-x-x-

He stood before her, unchanged. The same smug smirk on his face. He still looked at her as if she was the only thing that mattered. Up until that moment in time, she hadn't realized how much she had missed that. Sure Tyler and Matt had both looked at her in similar ways but the way he looked at her was…different. It was as if she was the only one in the room. She found herself a little happy at his return, though she soon quashed the feeling; telling herself she should not be happy to see him, that for every good deed he did there were three bad deeds. "What are you doing here?" She repeated.

He didn't answer her right away. What he was seeing was not the same Caroline he had left behind. Yes, her hair still fell in messy gold curls and yes, her eyes still shone bright blue and yes, the fire was still there. But there was something missing. It was as if a little piece of her had been chipped away and if they were not careful, the rest of her might fall. The saddest part was she didn't even seem to notice she was broken.

"I was just in the area on business..."

"Bullshit." She cut him off.

He sighed and took a step forward, "I heard about Bonnie and since I was in the area anyway, I decide I would see how my friend was faring."

She studied him for a moment, he looked sincere. Maybe he was genuinely in town for another reason. "Well, as you can see, I am fine. Everything will be fine. So thank you for stopping by." She turned on her heel to retreat to her bed but she was stopped suddenly by him catching her elbow. There was silence as her eyes travelled from his hand to his eyes and lingered there for a moment.

"How about a drink? For old times' sake?" He gave her his most charming smile.

She considered it. "Give me 5 minutes to get ready." She replied after a moment's pause. One drink wouldn't hurt.

As Caroline disappeared into her room, Liz appeared at the end of the hallway. She smiled sadly at him. He gave a polite nod in return. She could see that he understood why she had called him. They stood there in silence until Caroline reemerged from her room, changed into a summer dress and a bright smile.

"Shall we?" He held out his arm gentlemanly to her and she looped her own through as she waved goodbye to her mom.

He finds them a booth in the back and leaves her to get drinks. She watches him intently as he confidently struts to the bar and returns a couple of minutes later with a bottle of scotch and two glasses.

"Did you pay for this or compel the bartender to give it you?" She assumed the later.

"I am offended you think so low of me. I paid for the bottle. I compelled him not to id you." He smirked as he poured them a drink each.

"She called you, didn't she?" She took a sip of the scotch, letting the burn fade before taking a second.

He nodded, "She did. I was genuinely passing through anyway so stopped by. Don't be mad at her, she's just looking out for her daughter." He took gulp of his drink, letting his words sink in for continuing, "So tell me what you have busied yourself with since my departure."

"You're not interested in my boring life." She replied with a roll of her eyes.

"That is where you are wrong, Caroline. Would I be here now if I really took no interest in your life?"

She shrugged, conceding that he most probably had a point there. If anything, over the course of their friendship, if it could actually be called that, he has in his own perverse way showed that he cared. So she told him how she had spent her summer, planning every last detail of college, reading every book on the syllabus.

He smiled and nodded, clearly expecting nothing less from her. "And Tyler, where is he in all of this?" He was trying to avoid mentioning Bonnie at the point; he wanted to see where she was mentally.

The mention of his name made her freeze. She hadn't thought of Tyler in a while. "He never came back. He texted me to say that we should move on. I imagine by now that he is shacked up with the she-wolf."

"He's not with Hayley."

"How can you be sure?"

"Call it Sire Instinct." He said with a wink and a smile. After a pause he added, "She is in New Orleans."

"Oh. And Tyler? He's not with her?"

"I'm afraid I stopped keeping tabs on my young hybrid once I allowed him to return." He took a sip of his drink, pausing for a moment like he was rehearsing what he was about to say next, "Caroline, I want to talk to you about Hayley. I know I have not chosen the most appropriate moment with Bonnie's passing."

She interrupted him angrily, "Bonnie hasn't passed. She's just a little stuck. She's coming back."

He reached across the table to gently take her hand, whispering softly, "Caroline, Bonnie is gone."

"Seriously, Klaus?! Why do you have to keep saying that? She isn't gone. She can't be gone. She's Bonnie. She's my best friend." With that, she storms out of The Grill leaving him no choice than to follow her.

"Caroline!" He calls after her, narrowly dodging a car. The effect she had on him made him forget all other senses. "Caroline! I didn't mean it."

She stops, stock-still in the middle of the lawn past the pavement. For a moment, he thinks she is going to march off again but she turns briskly on her heel and in a flash is in his face.

"That's the thing. You did. You all mean it. But this is Bonnie we are talking about. She wouldn't do this. She wouldn't bring Jeremy back if she knew she would never be coming back herself. Anything other than that is a nightmare." She was so quiet yet so confident in her words that it actually scared him.

"I apologize. Can we just talk for a minute? Not about Bonnie. I promise." she nodded and let him guide her to a bench. "I did not mean to cause you upset." A beat passed as he once again gathered his thoughts, "I need to tell you something about Hayley and I wanted to hear this from me. There is no good time to tell you this, and I appreciate this is a particularly bad one, but the reason she is in New Orleans is that she is with child. My child."

All anger she felt previously disappeared. She laughed, a genuine laugh, but tainted with disbelief, "But you're... You know? Dead."

"One of nature's cruel jokes. Apparently my werewolf side is still able to procreate." He said it with such nonchalance, like he had said it so many times that it had lost meaning for him. Like he had finally accepted the absurdity of the situation.

She stood suddenly, "I have to go." And without a further word, she flashed at of sight.

-x-x-

Buddy was still fast asleep next to her when she woke up. For a second the night before escaped her mind but then the headache rolled in and with it the memories of their fight. As she pulled herself up from the sofa, waking Buddy and sending him to the floor, she called out his name, "Nik? Nik, are you home?"

She knew she sounded frantic by she couldn't help it. She knew in her heart that he wouldn't be home. She grabbed her bag and started rummaging around for her phone. That's when the velvet black box caught her eye. It must have fallen to the floor in the night. She gingerly picked it up, like it was going to bite her, and slowly opened it. The ring was beautiful. It was simple yet elegant. It was exactly the kind she would have picked for herself. She let the box slam shut and she set it down in the coffee table.

"Fuck." she cursed to herself as she, with rather aggressive force, kicked the table in frustration.

Why did she have to drink last night? Why did she have to stupidly bring up college? That was long behind them. It didn't even matter anymore. She just let the alcohol do all the talking. And now she had messed things up.

She spent the next twenty minutes sobbing into a cushion while Buddy affectionately nuzzled at her elbow. It was like he knew something bad had happened and was trying to comfort her. After deciding that holding herself a pity party was not going to get anything done, she marched herself upstairs to get ready for a brand new day; a day when she would fight for the one thing she could not be without, him.

After showering, scrubbing off post hangover feeling that clung to her, she changed into a clean pair of blue jeans and a simple black t-shirt. She was refreshed and ready to fight. Her first call was to him. It went straight to voicemail. Hoping she didn't sound too desperate, she begged him to come home. She refused to apologize over the phone; she had to do that in person. Next on her phone call hit list was his elder brother, Elijah. Of his four siblings, Elijah was the most obvious choice. His cell phone also went straight to voicemail. She left a casual message asking if he had seen Nik. His younger sister, Rebekah, was next on her list. The siblings had volatile relationship at times but she knew that they had each other's back. Luckily for her, she was also really good friends with Rebekah.

"Hello?" Her friend sounded sleepy, prompting her to check the time. It was just gone 8am.

"Sorry, Rebekah. I didn't realize the time. You haven't spoken to Nik have you?"

Rebekah yawned, "No. What have you done?"

The youngest Mikaelson sibling had unique knack for being able to read any situation. Caroline explained the whole sad situation to her, occasionally being interrupted by judgmental little sighs. But having been on the receiving end of one of Nik's tantrums before, she agreed to let Caroline know anything if she heard from him.

Feeling slightly better than she did when she woke up, she went to the kitchen to make coffee, cell phone still in hand. As the coffee brewed, she sent a quick text message to Bonnie.

I fucked up. We got in a fight. He left…but not before throwing a ring at me. A ring! WTF! Do not let me drink again.

She was just taking a sip of her coffee, black to wake her up, when her phone beeped in notification of a text message. She expected it to be a reply from Bonnie but it was actually from Rebekah.

Marcels. Told him to get his ass back to yours a.s.a.p. to sort this shit out. You owe me x

Her heart swelled. She was just happy in the knowledge that he had been found. Marcel was one of his work colleagues. She had met him a couple of times, seemed like a decent guy. She didn't have his phone number and would never have thought to contact him. She sent Rebekah a quick reply of thanks before sinking onto one of the kitchen chairs. The kitchen was still littered with last night's abandoned meal. She couldn't leave it looking like this. She had to clear it. She wanted no reminders of the fight when he got home.

It took exactly one hour to clean the entire kitchen. After which, exhaustion took over and she collapsed onto the sofa. Without even meaning to, she fell asleep after what only felt like minutes. She woke to Buddy licking her hand.

"Hey boy." She rolled over onto her stomach and patted the pup's head.

It took her a moment to realize she was being watched. She pulled herself up and tucked her knees under her. He sat in the armchair opposite, quietly watching her, a neutral expression fixed on his face.

"Nik... I... erm..." she started fidgeting, straightening her hair and t-shirt. "I didn't hear you come in."

"The door was unlocked. You looked peaceful, I thought I'd let you sleep."

"How long have you been back?"

He shrugged, "Only about an hour."

She nodded, suddenly lost for words. She ran over this conversation time and time again in her head as she had been tiding. Now that she was finally face to face with him and could say all the words she needed to say, he left her speechless like a love struck teenager.

Before she could even open her mouth, he spoke, "I want to apologize for my part last night. I overreacted. I shouldn't have stormed out."

She swung her legs out from under her, pulling herself to the very edge of the sofa, "Don't apologize. It was all me. I was stupid and drunk and should never have said those things. I was just upset because of the job and I took it out on you. I shouldn't have. I am so sorry. Nik, I love you. Please, just forgive me. I don't know what I would do without you." She hadn't wanted to beg, but she couldn't help it.

"Do you really think so low of me, that I would actually jeopardize what we have? You know Edie was a mistake. One I thought was long forgotten."

"I know, I know. And everyone kept telling me the same. I just..."

"Sorry, everyone?" He cut her off, had she spoken to others before confronting him?

"Just Elena and Bonnie. I was stressed with the interview and the dreams and you weren't here to talk to. My friends, they read me like a book. They knew where my mind was heading. They told me not to think that way." She rambled, whenever she was nervous her tempo increased two fold.

He let out a little laugh of shock, "You needed to be told that I could be faithful? That I could be trusted?"

"No! No, of course not." It was a short, sudden reply but then her rambling started again. "They just saw how flustered I was. I never for one moment thought you actually would, I swear. I trust you. Last night was just a mistake. A badly judged drunken mistake. One I have no intention of ever making again."

"Why didn't you just talk to me?" he sighed, finally beginning to relax, understanding her frustrations. It was one of her flaws. She wanted perfection so badly at times that she just didn't think. It was one of the things he loved about her, even though he exasperated him no end.

"I don't know. I was just..." Last night had scared her. The tears that she forced herself to stop this morning started flowing again.

It was a good minute before he moved. Slowly at first, gently moving to sit next to her then abruptly pulled her into his arms. She twisted around so she could wrap hers around his waist, crying into his chest.

He lifted her chin with his thumb, pushing back the fallen strands of hair from her eyes, "it's ok. It's ok. We're ok." Then he kissed her, how every girl wants to be kissed, gentle but with all the longing of a passionate kiss. They pulled apart, their foreheads resting on each other, "Caroline," he whispered, "Will you marry me?"

-x-x-

She woke up with the biggest smile on her face. She hadn't felt this happy in what seemed like forever. She turned in her bed to reach for him, but it was empty. She was alone. She sat up. Something didn't feel right. Had she been dreaming? Was she in a dream now? She could have sworn she had just been sitting on the sofa with him. Holding him. Him. Them. Together. There was something between them. Something had happened. Then little fragments came creeping back to her. Little fragments of reality. The Grill. Bonnie. Klaus.

Klaus. Klaus. Klaus.She repeated his name over and over in her head. It didn't feel right. Yet that was all she had ever called him though. Hadn't she?

She swung her legs off the bed and hopped down. She was still dressed in yesterday's clothes, but she could barely remember what had happened. She wandered through the house to the kitchen to grab something to drink from the fridge before stopping by the living room. He was sitting on the sofa, elbows on his knees, hands together as if he was praying.

"What are you doing here?" She didn't remember him following her home. Had she really dreamed that they had been sat on the sofa together? Or had that actually happened? He looked defeated. Maybe something had happened between them.

He looked up at her, "Your mother let me. I wanted to see if you were ok."

She looked around, "Where...?"

"At work. I decided to wait until you woke." He stood and walked over to her, taking her free hand, "Caroline, about yesterday, it was never my intention to upset you. I just want to be honest with you. Hayley and me, it was a onetime thing. Had I known the repercussions of that indiscretion, I would have been wiser in my actions."

She shook her head, "I'm already over it, Nik. Don't worry about. Go back to New Orleans."

He looked at her in puzzlement, "What did you call me?"

What did I call him? She thought. "Klaus. I called you Klaus." She tried to sound confident but in all honesty, she wasn't sure.

He continued to stare at her, like she had done something insanely wrong, "You called me Nik. Why? Only Rebekah dares use that name."

"I don't. It felt right, ok? What's the big deal?" She pulled her hand away, taking a step back.

"Caroline, are you alright?" The way he looked at her was different. Cautiously searching her eyes for anything recognizable. Like he was seeing a different person. Or was it she that was seeing a different person in him. Was he who she had always known him to be?

"I'm fine, Nik. Klaus. I meant Klaus. Just leave me alone ok?"

"Love..." He could see the confusion in her eyes. Something was wrong. He wanted to help her. He needed to, more than he had wanted to help anyone before. And that feeling scared him.

"I'm fine." She repeated. Things just don't feel quite... real right now. All I know is that I go to sleep and when I wake up, I'm happy. Like maybe this is the dream." She backed away a little further, her eyes brows furrowed, trying to work things out.

He could see that this was not something they could go into easily, so made no further attempts to approach her. "It might not seem like it but this is real."

"How can this be real? Vampires and werewolves? Witches? Hybrids? Pregnant werewolves with vampire baby-daddies? Seriously?! These are the things nightmares are made of. They don't exist." It was like she had totally lost a grip on reality. They all had underestimated the impact Bonnie's passing had had on her.

"Believe me, as crazy as it seems. This is real." He tried to calm her. Hearing her speak like this was starting to scare him, in a way he never thought possible.

She shook get head, "No, this isn't real. This is dream. And I need to wake up from it. I just have to find out how."