Ms. Brightside

In which Caroline really wants to punch Tyler in the face and Klaus is both happy that things worked out in his favour, but mourns the fact that Caroline had to get hurt for it to work out.

So, this is my foray back into the unattached drabbles territory. And it kind of satisfied my inner rage at the way TVD's been going lately, as well as how much I wanted to punch Tyler in the face in the first couple of episodes of Season 4. Plus, I'm still like 60% sure that he did really cheat on Caroline with Hayley, but, hey, that's just my opinion.

He wanted to comfort her, to melt her warmth into him and burrow her deep inside his skin so that she was protected from the world. The girl with the sunshine hair and universe-defying optimism, who now orchestrated the pageant with an iron fist and haunted eyes.

He didn't like this look on her.

"Hello, Caroline," Klaus approached her, steadily.

Caroline spun around, took one quick look at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh, great, just what I need right now. You." She said, snidely.

Klaus held a hand to his heart, mockingly, not wanting to admit how much her disregard actually hurt him. "You wound me, love." He hummed.

"Clearly not enough or you wouldn't be here." Caroline muttered under her breath. "What do you want?" She asked, after a moment.

Klaus shrugged. "I just wanted to see how you were doing." He said, honestly.

Caroline shook her head, a sardonic smile flitting onto his face. "One, I am not having this conversation with you, and two," She sighed. "Why are you the only person that has asked me that question?" She whispered, looking away.

Klaus took it as a chance to move forward. "No ulterior motive, I promise." He said, cautiously. "I just want to know if you're feeling alright after everything."

"You mean, after my boyfriend admitted to cheating on me on with his so-called hybrid whisperer friend, the whole time I was worried sick that he might be in pain. Or worse." Her voice broke.

"Yes, well, that." Klaus said, awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

He pursed his lips, hesitating, before he gently took her by the arm and led her over to a nearby bench.

"It's okay." Caroline said, quickly, once she sat down. She brushed hair away from her face. "I'm okay. I mean, if you think about it, we weren't even together all that long, and for most of that time, he was gone. It shouldn't hurt this much. Tyler and I are over. I should move on. It should stop hurting by now. It's not like I can do anything to change what happened." She whispered.

"It hurts because you love him." Klaus said, soberly. He hesitated before taking a seat next to her, their thighs almost touching. "In 1919, when my family was in New Orleans, Rebekah engaged the services of a witch to send out a message to Mikael, telling him where I was."

"Wait, what?" Caroline turned incredulous, blue-green eyes onto him.

"She is still unaware that I know this," Klaus explained. "But she and the man she was in love with at the time sought an existence where I couldn't be there to spoil their fun, so she brought Mikael to New Orleans with the intention of him chasing me off or perhaps even killing me." He said, impassively. "As I said before, she doesn't know that I know of her betrayal, so I cannot be completely certain as to her motives. Anyway, Mikael came to New Orleans, there was a skirmish and Rebekah's beau was killed in the crossfire and we all fled. After losing Mikael, we landed in Chicago where we met Stefan. Mikael was only too quick to ruin that and I daggered Rebekah, compelled Stefan's memories away and the rest is as you know it."

Caroline bit her lip. "Did you ever forgive her?" She asked, curiously.

Klaus shook his head. "No. I had moved on; she had been daggered. But I can't stop resenting her for what she did. Because it was her and I never believed that Rebekah could go to such lengths to remove me from her life." He said, wistfully. "Despite our differences, despite my daggering of her, she is still my little sister and I still think of her as such. To learn that she had betrayed me to Mikael is something that I can never forget."

He turned to Caroline, his face thoughtful and sincere, and she knew she believed every word he was saying. It was no con, to get her to go out with him, or sleep with him, or whatever his endgame with him was. It was the big bad Original Hybrid Niklaus Mikaelson, simply telling her a truth about him that she doubted many knew. And she believed him.

"It hurts because, of all the people in the universe that could hurt you, you didn't expect Tyler to be one of them. You thought he would be the one person who could never hurt you and that shock of having him betray you is worse than the actual betrayal itself. It hurts that much because you expected more from him and he disappointed you. Time will pass and the pain from his betrayal will fade, but the disillusionment you felt about the boy you loved will remain there in the back of your mind." He finished, soberly.

Caroline took a deep breath and looked down at her knees, before cracking a smile.

"Why would you even tell me any of this?" She asked, incredulously.

Klaus stared at her for a moment. "Because I understand." He said, sombrely.

Caroline smirked. "Doesn't it hurt your perfect, evil-villain image to spill your guts to me?" She asked, teasingly.

"Are you saying that my fear factor's declined since I shared my heart with you, Caroline Forbes?" Klaus shot back, just as playful.

Caroline snorted. "Fear factor? Seriously? You have dimples, for God's sake." She gestured, wildly.

"Oh, you wouldn't believe how much time the dimples save with my evil villain work." Klaus tipped his chin up in mock-superiority.

Caroline laughed. She couldn't help it. She just started giggling at the faux-arrogant look on his face. Hell, she didn't even think she was capable of it at the moment. But there she was, unable to stop herself from convulsing at her laughter. After a minute or so, she finally pulled back enough of herself that she stopped and stared at him with such wondrous disbelief.

"How do you know me so well?" Caroline asked, her blue-green eyes piercing into his.

Klaus ran his tongue over his lower lip. "You remind me… of me. Actually." He confessed. "Before." He waved off. He leaned in. "There was a time when I was not evil, Caroline." He said, quietly. "A time where all I wanted was to matter. And I didn't. I wouldn't wish that on you."

His voice was soft and mellow and it had her heart clenching.

Caroline's hands trembled against her thighs. "Why do you think I think I don't matter?" She asked, curiously.

"I can see it in your eyes." Klaus said, kindly. "You don't want anyone else to think you weak, but there is doubt in your eyes."

"I don't doubt myself." Caroline argued.

"Logically, no. You're aware of your own strengths enough to know that you should matter. But emotionally, you can't help but blame yourself every time someone in your life disappoints you, hurts you. Maybe it's you. Maybe if there was something different about you, they wouldn't have done what they did." He finished, dolefully.

"And how do you know all that psycho-babble applies to me?" Caroline waved off, her eyes cold.

"Because I can see it in your eyes." Klaus murmured. "Because I used to – and even now, sometimes – see it in mine as well."

Caroline felt her throat tighten in response to his words and she shook her head. "You didn't come out here to give me therapy, Klaus." She said, firmly. "Why are you here?"

"Well," His face lit up and his eyes twinkled, any trace of his former severity missing. "I was hoping that you would agree to accompany me to the Mystic Falls pageant." He said, gently. "The reigning Miss Mystic Falls deserves to go out with a bang."

Caroline stared at him for a moment. "You know what?" She felt something brim inside of her, filling her with a sort of resoluteness that she had missed. "I would love to go." She said, sincerely.

Caroline stormed over to a bus-boy. "Hey, why am I bussing your tables?" She asked, furiously, slamming down the champagne glasses onto his tray. "I said no empty glasses." She snapped.

The bus-boy walked off, thoroughly terrified, and Caroline strode over to the orchestra, the adrenaline making her walk confident to the point of arrogance.

"Will you guys pick up the tempo?!" She snapped her fingers at them, using what she had Bonnie had once termed 'Bitch Face No. 23' to push the point across. "This is a pageant, not a funeral." She flung.

She spun on her feet and made to walk away, but not before she caught sight of a pair of Testoni black formal shoes, and closed her eyes.

And let the fun begin. She grimaced.

"And how am I doing?" His voice was smooth and it was almost as if he knew what his voice was doing to her.

Bastard. She cursed.

Her eyes roved over him his immaculate and well-built form, dapper in a dark suit, no curl out of place, glinting, mischievous blue eyes – perfect, and her heart skipped an involuntary beat.

"You'll… do." She said, reluctantly, pushing past him and grabbing him by the wrist as she did so, pulling him along with her.

She came to a sudden halt when she saw Tyler walking up the lawn towards the house. At his side, clutching his arm, was Hayley, dressed in a skimpy red dress that had no place at an event such as this. Her heart plummeted into her stomach. She had hoped that Tyler would at least have the sensitivity to not flaunt his new werewolf toy in front of the whole of Mystic Falls, at an event that was supposed to be hers. He knew that, he knew how much this day meant to her, and he still brought her here. For a moment, she saw red and she wanted nothing more than to storm over there and gouge their eyes out with her nails, if it would make her feel better. But she doubted anything would erase the feeling of her entire world coming off its hinges.

She ground her teeth. If Tyler Lockwood and his new plaything sought to cheat her out of her hour in the sun – especially after everything she had stomached and pretended it didn't hurt this year, they would have another thing coming.

"They didn't waste any time, did they?" Klaus said, quietly, judgment glinting in his cornflower-blue eyes as they roved over Tyler and Hayley.

Who, in their right minds, would prefer the werewolf girl over Caroline?

It just proved that he hadn't chosen Tyler as his first hybrid due to his extensive intellectual capacity.

Caroline grimaced, ashamed that she was so obviously humiliated. In front of Klaus, nonetheless.

"Let's just get today over with." She muttered under her breath.

He loomed over her, five feet ten inches of gorgeous Original Hybrid who smelled delicious and radiated a lethal sex appeal – something she was sure that he was fully aware of – that had her wanting to wrap herself around him and to hell with the damn consequences.

"Would you like to dance, Caroline?" He held out his hand.

Caroline bit her lip, and then caught sight of a slightly tipsy Tyler twirling Hayley around the dance floor as if he owned it.

Moron. He sucks at dancing. She thought, bitterly.

"I'd love to." She said, sincerely, and took his hand.

His palm was warm on the curve of her hip and she could feel the heat of him bleeding into her skin. He whirled her around the dance floor with the grace and elegance that she had already witnessed at the ball thrown by the collective Mikaelson brood – back when they were all up and running – although she imagined he wouldn't take too well to her bringing up the sorry state of affairs where his mother had linked them all together with the intention that they would die because she was a psycho bitch who was too stupid to realise that maybe, just maybe turning her kids into blood-sucking psychopaths might not be the greatest idea.

"You're distracted, love." Klaus hummed in her ear, the scruff on his jaw tickling the skin of her cheekbone. "How can I remedy that?"

Caroline snorted. "You know, I can see that you're trying to be smooth and I appreciate your effort, but the whole Casanova routine's not really working for me." She shot back.

Klaus grinned, boyishly, down at her. He didn't smile like that – all carefree and untroubled and without the weight of the world on his shoulders – very often. She thought it a good look on him. She wanted him to smile like that more. Preferably at her.

He leaned down. "I think it is." He purred.

She shivered and scowled at him, knowing that he knew what his voice at that low growl did to her, sending goosebumps puckering on her skin. Molten heat rolled through her, pooling between her thighs and making her ache with suppressed longing.

Jerk.

"Just… keep dancing." She hissed at him, a furious blush staining her cheeks, which only made his grin widen.

Footsteps sounded behind her and she closed her eyes in resignation, not needing to actually look to know who had approached them.

Just when I was starting to accept the fact that I'm having fun with Klaus, of all people.

She sighed. "What do you want, Tyler?"

His hand was hot on her shoulder as he forcibly pulled her around to face him, breaking her out of Klaus' grasp. As he did so, she watched Klaus' muscles tense imperceptibly, in his suit. She was even touched by his sense of protectiveness.

"What the hell, Care!" Tyler barked (the irony was not lost on her). "We break up like a few days ago, and you're already on a date with him!" He glared over the top of her head.

Caroline grimaced. "It's not a date. And you know what? I don't have to justify myself to you." She snapped back. "Do you know why? Because, in case you forgot, we broke up like a week ago, so therefore, who I am or am not seeing, or screwing, is no longer any of your damn business. So, back off!"

Klaus' hand slid up her arm and she felt herself soften, just the slightest. "Easy, love, you're making a scene." He said, smoothly. "I doubt this is how you want to remember your moment in the sun."

His voice was soothing and knowing and again she wondered how did he know her so well.

Tyler snorted, throwing the sight of Klaus' hand on her a scathing, derisive look. "Typical Caroline. Jumps into bed with monsters to make herself feel better." He spat.

Caroline laughed, bitterly, feeling anger and dismay thumping in a gruesome beat under her skin.

"Wow, you rented me out like a cheap whore to get what you want and then you made me think you were doing me a favour by giving me some purpose in your life while you played Hybrid Knight in Shining Armour with the bitchy werewolf with whom you cheated on me, and you're pissed at me for actually feeling something for the guy who's treated me better in a single day than you did ever since you broke the sire bond?" She asked, incredulously.

Tyler's face was white by the time her spiel had finished and she could see the apoplectic rage practically slopping out.

"Caroline, I-" He began, tersely, obviously in an attempt to defend himself.

Caroline had finally had enough. She had enough of Tyler defending himself, him acting like it was such hard work being her boyfriend when she had done nothing but fight for him, him acting like it was fucking understandable, hell, even reasonable for him to screw the werewolf bitch while he had her pining away here in Mystic Falls; Elena acting like the whole world revolved around her and God forbid she actually told the truth for once, instead of having to pretend so Elena wouldn't be unhappy, as if she owed her any loyalty after she just admitted to being half in love with Caroline's rapist.

If she was so loved, if she had so many friends that she could rely on, why was it that only Klaus had bothered to make sure she was doing alright?

"You know what, Tyler, I could not be more uninterested in what you have to say." She said, sharply, shutting him down, right then and there.

She spun around to face Klaus, who was watching her with curiosity, amusement and she could even see pride in the curve of his mouth. It filled her with a strange sort of delight, that he approved of what she was saying, how she was saying it. Perhaps it was the sudden disillusionment in the people who were supposed to be her friends, but she found herself looking at Klaus in ways that she had seen before but never allowed to get too far, for fear that she would topple down a rabbit hole like Alice and never show up on the other side. They weren't all that different. All she did was cover the monster in her belly with sunshine in her smiles. She pretended to be human, where Klaus owned who he was, unashamedly. She wondered, in a century or so, if she would feel comfortable enough to be like him. Would the parts of her that were still human just fade away, as it clearly had for him?

"I want to go for a walk. Preferably somewhere other than here." She said, swiftly.

"If you think I'm just going to let you leave with him-" Tyler began, hotly.

"Seriously, Tyler, if you don't back the fuck off in the next five seconds, I'm going to pop you one in the mouth." Caroline bared her teeth in a snarl.

"Caroline-"

"Five-"

"You can't just-"

"Four-"

"I'd move along if I were you, mate." Klaus interjected, his hands bravely spanning the width of her shoulders. "I wouldn't want this event to end in a massacre. And believe me, it won't be Caroline doing all the bloodletting." He said, his voice sharp and cold and pointed.

Caroline pointed at him. "What he said."

"Caroline, you can't seriously be choosing him-"

Caroline shrugged, cutting him off. "He has his uses. Right now, they're helping me make you leave me alone." She turned to Klaus. "Can we go?" She asked, impatiently.

Klaus held out his arm. "Of course."

The smirk he shot Tyler as he led Caroline away from him and a furious, but silent Hayley was nothing less than smug.

"Lovely speech, sweetheart." Klaus leaned in, as they walked away. "I am very proud of you."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Why? Because I bitched out my ex-boyfriend in front of pretty much the entire town, who will most likely be gossiping about why exactly we broke up, who exactly was the cause, and what exactly I did to make him cheat on me with the suspiciously low-brow werewolf chick?" She sobered. "That's not something to be proud of." She grimaced. "I never thought I'd say half of those things out loud." She said, quietly.

"Perhaps this was the last straw?" Klaus wondered out loud.

Caroline shook her head. "I have no clue. All I know… is that it felt good." She murmured, despite herself. She shivered. "Okay, I don't want to talk about this anymore. Distract me." She ordered.

Klaus ducked his head and smiled. "Very well. Now, assuming this date is going well, may I ask what our next date will be?"

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "You're assuming there's going to be a 'next date'?" She asked, incredulously.

His eyes brightened. "Isn't there?" He asked, teasingly.

"Klaus…" She began, uncertainly.

"How about a movie?" Klaus asked, quickly. "You can even put two seats in between us, if you'd like." His grin was roguish and it sent her hormones flying into unknown directions across the universe.

Caroline snorted. "If only your legions of minions and people who are scared to death of you could see you now." She smirked. "Alright, fine," She said, reluctantly, walking ahead of him. She rounded on him, her face fierce but teasing. "But you're paying and you better get me one of those jumbo Slushies."