Edited by myladyelise,
Re-edited 9/02/15
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Shrouded in shadows, Klaus sat in front of the fireplace, the flickering flames the only light in the room. He normally enjoyed the dance of heat on his cool skin. Tonight not even the warmth from the fire could melt the ice that surrounded him. He had been sitting here drinking scotch for hours, planning and plotting on how to keep Caroline safe. He could bring her here, watch over her every hour of the day. Except she would never agree to such an idea. After the attack today, he wasn't sure that she would even be safe in his home. Granted, she was less likely to come to harm under his care. Still, he couldn't be sure that another hybrid wouldn't be compelled to try and kill her again. He needed to find out who was trying to murder Caroline and fast. He couldn't lose her. Not ever again.
Klaus still couldn't believe that someone managed to essentially undo the Sire bond through compulsion. That this was possible, that there was someone that powerful out there made him furious. It terrified him that they were after Caroline. That she was the target could only be to hurt him and bring him to his knees. The very idea made his vision red. With no one nearby to take his wrath out on– no heads to rip off or intestines to tie - he stood and hurled the glass of bourbon he held against the paneled wood wall. With a thud, the crystal shattered. The pieces hitting the floor in a tinkling sound.
"Nik?"
Rebekah stood uncertainly in the doorway. She must have been out partying since she was dressed in a slinky blue dress, her hair mussed and her eyeliner slightly smeared.
"Go to bed, Rebekah." Klaus' voice was like the crack of a whip.
Her eyes widened at his tone. Instead of meekly following his command, she remained stubbornly where she was. Not paying any attention to her, Klaus stalked towards the small bar in the room. Picking up a decanter of bourbon, he sloshed some into a new crystal tumbler. Lifting the glass to his lips, he drained it not bothering to savor the taste of peat moss and smoke he normally relished. Filling his glass again, he noted with displeasure that she stood beside him.
"I'm not going to bed." Rebekah jutted her chin out. "Not until you tell me what's going on."
"Nothing is going on."
"Of course not," she returned, her tone acidic. "That's why the hybrids are outside huddled in frightened groups gossiping and you're in here smashing your fancy crystal against the wall."
Klaus flashed her his darkest look. "This does not concern you."
"Yes, it does. I have to live with these hybrid monsters of yours. If they are worked up, I deserve to know why, and they aren't talking."
"Since when do you care about anything to do with my hybrids? Or even my plans? Your only interest in anything thus far has been playing at being a teenager and a petty, childish one at that."
Pressing her lips together for a moment like she bit back words, Rebekah wait a minute before she spoke, "Don't do that, Nik."
"Do what?"
Rebekah laid her hand on Klaus' shoulder. "Don't shut me out."
"I don't want you involved." He shook off her touch, moving to sit back in front of the fireplace. Rebekah followed and knelt before him, a pensive look on her face.
"Please tell me what's going on. Don't keep me in the dark. If you are in danger, I need to know."
Leaning back in his leather chair, Klaus weighed his options. He was torn between telling her the truth and his instincts to keep her safe. He worried that if he revealed to Rebekah his connection to Caroline and his plan to hunt and kill whoever threatened her life, his sister would involve herself. He couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt or even worse losing her. There was also the chance she wouldn't care and take this as a opportunity to leave him. Deep down inside, turmoil twisted his stomach and he struggled not to smash the tumbler he held. He gazed down at her face, her eyes brimming with concern, and he was tempted to tell her the truth. Maybe he was foolish to keep her at a distance. Would his silence drive her away?
"Please. I want to know. Let me help…be there for you."
"Bekah…" he began, only for his voice trail off into silence.
"Always and forever. Remember that, Nik? Always and forever."
Klaus's undead heart clenched at her words. She always knew better than anyone else how to reach him. He cupped the side of her face tenderly. Her eyes momentarily softened, only to flare with fear when she registered this unusual intimate touch. Struck by the evidence of his weakness, Klaus yanked his hand away.
"It's Caroline."
"Of course, it is." Rebekah sighed with disgust.
Giving his sister a warning look, Klaus continued, "Someone tried to kill her tonight."
"What else is new?" She shrugged. "Caroline and her gang of do-gooders must have pissed off someone new for a change."
"No, this is different. Someone dared to attack her here. At my home." Klaus tightened his grip on the tumbler in his hand until it started to show hairline cracks in the crystal. "Whomever it was managed to compel one of my hybrids to kill her."
All color drained from Rebekah's face. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know."
"You need to get rid of them. They are a liability. If they can be compelled, they can be used against you. Kill them all."
"No." Klaus shook his head decisively, cutting Rebekah off. "The one that attacked Caroline was missing for a while. It couldn't have been easy to break the Sire bond. It has to take time. It is better that I keep my hybrids close to me where I can keep an eye on them. Besides, I need them to keep watch on Caroline when I can't be there."
"I'm sure Caroline loves that." Rebekah answered in a tart tone. "But, I'm not worried about her. I'm worried about you. What if they try and attack you?"
"I can't be killed by one of my own hybrids," Klaus scoffed.
"No, but you can be killed if one of them gets their hands on a white oak stake."
Fear stabbed into Klaus. He knew instinctively that whoever was behind the attack tonight hadn't been trying to kill him. No, this was different. By coming after Caroline, the perpetrator was trying to destroy him by taking away what he most treasured. What disturbed him was how they came by this insight? Was it a guess on their part? While he danced with Caroline at his mother's party, they hadn't been seen together much otherwise.
"Whoever is doing this isn't seeking my death. Or at least not directly." Klaus took a slow sip of his bourbon, gathering his thoughts. "It's something more than that. To go after Caroline means they seek to destroy me in another way. I can't lose her."
Rebekah's mouth dropped open at tdesperation she heard in his voice. "She can't mean that much to you. You hardly know her."
Staring at his sister, Klaus debated how much to tell her. He knew things were antagonistic, to say the least, between her and Caroline. Yet, Rebekah was the one person he knew he could unburden himself to. "That's where you're wrong."
"I know it has been a long time, but a few dates and getting laid do not constitute knowing someone."
Klaus laughed. "Don't you think I know that? As for Caroline, I know her better than anyone else. Better than her friends and family combined." Draining his bourbon he rose to his feet and stood in front of the portrait of Elizabeth's court. "She was mine five hundred years ago and she will be mine again."
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"Remember those poems I wrote years ago? The ones that Kol and you took such delight in? They were about Caroline."
"Nik —"
The way she said his name, both pitying and soothing like she patronized a madman made him more determined than ever to get her to see the truth.
"I first met Caroline at Elizabeth's I's court. I planned to turn her."
Rebekah gasped and Klaus turned to look at her. Her face was frozen in an expression of disbelief, her head lightly swaying from side to side like she was denying his insanity.
"Before I could, a witch killed her and took away all my memories of Caroline to punish me for killing her daughter. She wanted to ensure that I lived as empty as a life as possible, but she didn't count on my eventually remembering or that Caroline would come back to me."
Klaus waited for Rebekah to say something, but she stood silent. She continuing to stare at him as if he announced he was becoming a vegetarian.
"Look, I know this sounds crazy, but with every day I remember more of my past with Caroline and for some crazy reason she has been reborn. So, you have to see now how much I stand to lose if anything happens to her."
"So…let me get this straight." Rebekah moved to join Klaus in front of the painting. You think Caroline is like a reincarnation of a girl you were obsessed with centuries ago?"
To his dismay, she still looked at him like he was crazy.
"You can see her in this court painting from 1601." Klaus moved his finger to where Caroline sat in front of the Queen and then to where he stood. "And there I am."
"That — that is you," Rebekah agreed. Stepping closer to the painting she studied the small golden- haired figure in the foreground. "That does look like Caroline."
"No. She doesn't just look like Caroline, she is Caroline."
"How can you be so sure? Maybe your current Caroline is just a descendent of that past Caroline? Have you thought of that?"
"No." Klaus shook his head. "It's her."
Rebekah arched a brow. "She knows about this? Your theory that she is a reincarnation of your Elizabethan crush? Somehow I don't see her welcoming this revelation."
"I haven't told her yet. She tries to deny there is a connection between us, fights it even. Except I know her. I can see it in her eyes. She is as powerless as I am to stop it," Klaus replied forcefully.
Glancing from Klaus back to the Caroline in the Elizabethan portrait, Rebekah sighed, her expression changing from one of disbelief to possible acceptance. "Let's say I believe you…Has she remembered anything? From her past, I mean?"
Klaus smiled. Rebekah placated him. She was playing along with him but she would see the truth eventually. "I believe she is starting to. There are times, when she looks at me. I swear she is on the cusp of remembering everything."
"You do you realize how crazy this all is?"
"Any more crazy then the existence of vampires, werewolves, witches and hybrids?"
"So then this witch…she killed Caroline and made you forget everything?"
"Yes," Klaus said, his voice tight and controlled.
Rebekah tilted her head up to look him in the face and when he saw the sympathy in her eyes, he knew she was close to believing. "I'm so sorry. All these years, I never knew."
At her words, Klaus ripped his gaze from hers. He couldn't stand that she might see how affected he still was by all of this. He didn't want her sympathy. Didn't want to dwell on the centuries he lost with Caroline.
"Neither did I. It came to me only weeks ago in a dream. Now, every day I remember more."
"This witch? You killed her? Made her suffer?" Rebekah eyes glinted with vengeance.
"No. I have no idea what happened to her. She made me forget even her."
Rebekah frowned. "Damn witches."
Klaus was cursed with them. His worst troubles in life brought to him through witches. Starting with the first one to curse him. His own mother.
"Do you have any idea who is behind the attack?"
"If I did, do you think I would be here drowning myself in bourbon?"
Rebekah glared at him for his sarcastic retort and went over to the bar to pour herself some for herself. When she sputtered and coughed after gulping the whole glass down, Klaus tried not to smile.
"You need help."
Anger thrust its way into his belly. How could she insult him after the confidence he shared with her.
Rebekah lifted her hand, stopping his train of thought. "I mean with Caroline. I assume you have hybrids watching her, but that isn't good enough. It is entirely possible that whoever is responsible for this, having learned to break the Sire bond, will try again. And maybe now they have learned to do it even faster and easier."
"So what are you suggesting?" Even more anger burned its way into his stomach.
Rebekah took a deep breath, "Let me guard Caroline."
His anger cooled at her offer.
"No, I'm serious. I can protect her."
"She already has me and my hybrids are there when I am not."
"You would trust those monsters over me?" Rebekah asked with a hurt look. "Look, I have a better chance at keeping her safe then they do."
Tilting his head to the side, Klaus considered her offer. She was right. She was his sister, an Original. Only a white oak stake and he had the power to take her out of commission.
"Just think I can be there when no one else can." she wheedled. "Who else are you going to find that can protect her at school?"
"And what makes you think she would even agree to this proposition?"
"Like we would give her a choice?" Rebekah's eyes gleamed. "I am stronger and faster than her and if she knows what is best for her she won't fight me."
Klaus held up a finger in warning. "I won't have her harmed."
"Do you really think I could do that to the girl you have waited lifetimes for?" She pouted
"You would do that for me? Set aside your prejudices against her in order to protect her."
"I know I can set aside my differences, at least, until the danger has passed. After that I make no promises," Rebekah retorted.
Klaus was touched that she would offer to do this for him. It was a surprising gesture on her part. A kindness he had no right to expect and had learned not to when it came to his family. With Rebekah watching over Caroline he would rest easier when he was apart from her. It was times like tonight, when he couldn't be near her, that would drive him mad with worry. Under his scrutiny, Rebekah shifted from one foot to another while she waited for his answer.
"She won't invite you into the house," he said at last. "You will probably have to go through her mother, Liz, to gain entrance."
Rebekah flashed him a pleased smile. "Leave that to me."
"Don't let on to Liz about the danger Caroline is in. I will take care of that conversation."
"I can just imagine how Caroline will react to that. I don't suppose she has any idea what she is getting involved with in being your girlfriend." Rebekah heavily emphasized the word girlfriend and tossed a mischievous glance at him.
Klaus glowered at her. "I will take over your duties when school is out. Make sure Caroline comes straight home. I will be waiting for her there."
Giving her brother a mock salute, Rebekah turned to leave. "Well, I better get started and head over there."
He waited until she was almost at the doorway. "Thank you."
Rebekah turned, giving him a blinding smile that cut right through his insecurities. "You only ever have to ask."
A great weight lifted, Klaus collapsed back in his chair. With Caroline's safety assured under his sister's care, he could rest at last.
#
The early morning sunlight filtered through the light cotton curtains on her bedroom windows and Caroline snuggled deeper into her pillow. Having spent most of the night tormented by restless dreams, she wasn't ready to get up. Facing the day would mean dealing with Klaus and the reality of her situation. She pulled the covers tighter around her, determined to stay in bed as long as she could.
"Rise and shine, sleepy head," greeted a singsong voice next to her.
Caroline bolted into an upright position, wide awake. Seated in a chair next to her bed, her legs crossed and holding the most recent issue of Vogue was Rebekah.
"What are you doing here?" Caroline sputtered.
"What do you think?" Rebekah flipped a page in her magazine.
Caroline ground her teeth together before speaking. "You have exactly two seconds to tell me what you are doing in my bedroom before I —"
Rebekah looked up from her magazine with interest at the threat. "Before you do what? Make me break a nail? Because - trust me - that is the worst that would happen to me if you attempted to take me on."
Glancing at Rebekah's perfectly manicured French tips, Caroline was sorely tempted to find out exactly how many of them she could break. Doing so would only prolong their interaction so she bit back her anger.
"I am assuming you being here has to do with Klaus?"
Rebekah's eyes softened at the mention of her brother's name. "You guessed correctly."
"Well, I don't want, nor do I need you here. You can just be on your way."
"That's not going to happen."
Caroline bristled at the steely tone in Rebekah's voice. "You can't want to be here anymore than I want you here."
"That's where you're wrong. There isn't anyplace I would rather be.
"Well, what if I don't want you here?"
Anger and frustration balled in Caroline's stomach. Rebekah didn't look the least put out by her rudeness. Her least favorite person in the world flashed her a cocky smile.
"I don't think you have much of a choice. And don't even think about having my invitation revoked."
Panic rippled through Caroline as the obvious finally occurred to her. Her mother must have invited Rebekah in.
"My mom, is she okay? Did you do anything to her?"
Uncrossing her legs and settling more comfortably in Caroline's chair, Rebekah took what seemed like forever before answering, "Don't worry. You're mother is fine. She invited me in."
"No, she would never do that. Not unless you told her about the attack?" Caroline's voice cracked.
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Of course, I didn't tell her."
"Then how?"
"I may have mentioned we were co-chairs of the prom committee and that I was meeting you here so I could drive you to school. Your mother seemed quite —"
"Wait," Caroline interjected. "We are not co-chairs of anything. I am the chair of the prom committee. You are merely a committee member. My subordinate."
"Really? It wouldn't seem that way considering the way you have either missed or sleep-walked through the recent meetings. In fact, your behavior of late has led to many of the committee members wondering if your heart might be engaged elsewhere other then with your prom duties?"
"Maybe if your psycho brother wasn't so determined to stalk me and drain my best friend I could focus more of my attention on prom." Caroline wanted to slap Rebekah's smirk right off her face. So she missed a few meetings and not been the most attentive at some others. She singlehandedly put together prom with hardly any help last year and she would again. "There is plenty of time left and most of the work is already done."
Rebekah arched one elegant brow. "One week is plenty of time? And in case you weren't keeping track the work is mostly done because I am the one who made the final decision on the centerpieces and I went to the last tasting at the caterer's and again it was I who ultimately decided on whether to go with the silver or gold embossed programs and decorations. So you can see how it might be confusing to everyone exactly who is head of the prom committee. Since I am generous, I happen to be willing to co-chair with you."
Caroline rubbed her temples. How was it possible that so much time passed without her knowing? Had she really been that oblivious to what was happening within her own prom committee that she allowed Rebekah to swoop in and take over? Damn, Klaus. It was all his fault. His obsession with her, their date, his stupid dimples and entirely distracting lips were destroying her life. That was all stopping now. She was going to rid herself of him in her life this instant, starting with his infuriating sister.
"Making a few decisions on roses versus carnations in the centerpieces, or, I am hoping, choosing silver over gold for decorations does not make you a co-chair. So, while I appreciate all you have done, I can handle it from here." Caroline offered Rebekah her bitchiest smile. "As for your brother, you can go back and tell him facing my attacker is preferable to being babysat by you."
Tossing her head, Rebekah stood up. "I am not going to tell Nik anything because you are going to be a very good little baby vampire and get dressed for school."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Because for some reason my brother has decided he cares about you," Rebekah replied with an exasperated sigh. "Now get dressed before we miss first period."
Tingling warmth swept through her followed by cold unease. Klaus cared for her? Was it possible she was more to him than just another obsession? Rebekah must think so or she wouldn't be here.
"Are you going to get up or not?" Rebekah asked.
"Can I at least have some privacy?"
"Nope."
With a huff, Caroline whipped back her covers and stalked over to her dresser. She dug through the drawers until she found some clothes to wear to school. She gave Rebekah her most disdainful look and headed to the bathroom to shower. Rushing through her normal morning rituals, she put on a light blue skirt and white silk camisole and stopped to swipe some lip-gloss on her mouth.
Done with her appearence she left the bathroom. To her extreme annoyance, she found Rebekah rifling through the clothes in her closet.
"Those are my clothes. Do you mind?"
"Not really." Rebekah shrugged. Pulling out the blue dress Caroline wore to the Mikaelsons' ball a few weeks earlier, Rebekah peered at the crystal beading on the bodice. "This is the only decent thing you own. It amazes me that someone who has decent enough taste to pick this out would have such mediocre taste otherwise."
"That dress was a gift and my taste isn't mediocre." Tearing the ball gown from Rebekah's hands, Caroline looked it over to make sure it was still as perfect looking as the night she wore it before hanging it back up. "And I hardly think you are one to judge. Especially since your tastes range from slutty to sluttier."
The lack of a nasty comeback and the hurt look that wavered over Klaus's sister's face had Caroline instantly regretting her words. She was being petty and childish and Rebekah didn't deserve that. What kind of person was she? "Look, Rebekah I didn't —"
"Yeah, whatever. Like you're one to judge."
"You know you don't have to do this," Caroline grabbed her schoolbag from where it sat on her dresser.
"Do what?"
"Follow Klaus's orders and guard me. I am only going to school and back today. I will be perfectly safe."
"You don't know that," Rebekah pointed out. "Besides, I am not here on my brother's orders."
Caroline frowned. That didn't make any sense. Rebekah didn't care for her anymore then she did her rival. "Then why are you here?"
"I'm beginning to wonder that myself." Rebekah gave Caroline a disdainful look. "But just so we're clear, I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me until I deliver you safely back here to Nik after school. Until then, you arestuck with me."
Rebekah really meant it. For better or worse, she was stuck with the Original as her own personal guard dog. "Wait…Klaus is going to be here after school?"
A slow smirk spread over Rebekah's face. "Where else do you think my brother would be? Nik is very protective of those he considers his and you are definitely his now."
"I am not his," she shot back in anger. What had Klaus told his sister about her, about them, which would lead her to believe she was now his? Rebekah believing that Klaus felt that strongly about her it made what lay between her and Klaus even more real. Something she was not ready to think about it.
"Give it time." A crafty look gleamed in Rebekah eyes. "My brother always gets what he wants and right now he wants you."
"He can try all he wants, but he can't have me. I am my own person. Not a toy he can have and discard when the novelty has worn off."
"You really don't get it do you? You're not a passing fancy. Can't you feel it when you're together? Nik, having found you, will never let you go."
Caroline's stomach twisted with some unknown anxiety. "Having found me? What do you mean by that?"
Flipping her hair back from her face, Rebekah turned to look at her reflection in the mirror above Caroline's dresser. "Nothing….nothing at all."
"But you said it. You must have a reason?" Rebekah's evasion agitated Caroline. She was missing something, something that should have been obvious, was obvious, to Rebekah and Klaus.
"I just meant that Nik has been searching for someone he felt a connection with for a long time." Twirling around, Rebekah faced Caroline, a petulant look on her face. "Unfortunately, it had to be you."
Caroline's body was racked with shivers. There it was. Confirmation from an outside source that verified Klaus' feelings for her. Someone who knew the Original hybrid better than anyone else. Still she was unable to accept that what Klaus felt for her was real. That he wasn't blinded by the challenge, the pursuit of attaining the impossible - her heart.
"There has never been anyone else he has felt a connection like this to?"
"Oh, my God!" Rebekah exclaimed, her eyes alight with delight. "Are you really asking me about my brother's previous conquests?"
"Ew! No, of course not!"
"Then what kind of question is that?"
"Just forget I ever asked."
Rebekah laughed. "But you did. No, I can't forget this. You're jealous."
"No, I'm not." Caroline turned away from her, hoping to hide the blush in her cheeks. "We need to get to school. We're going to miss first period."
"School can wait. This is way too much fun."
Fumbling through her schoolbag to find her keys, Caroling pulled them out and stalked out of her bedroom and into the living room.
In a blur of movement, Rebekah was at her side, her hand on Caroline's arm stopping her from going any farther. "Don't even think of going anywhere without me."
Caroline shook off Rebekah's hold. "I'm not."
"Girls?" Liz poked her head from out from the kitchen. "Aren't you going to be late for school?"
"We were just leaving." Caroline gave one of her brightest smiles to her mother. She didn't want Liz to think there was anything odd about having Rebekah in their house because. If she did, she would be begin to ask questions. Questions Caroline wasn't ready to answer.
"Sorry, Ms. Forbes. Care and I were just having some girl talk and lost track of time," Rebekah replied sweetly.
Caroline whipped her head around to glare at Rebekah.
"Well, that's fine," Liz answered her gaze puzzled as it moved from Rebekah to Caroline again and back again. "Again, Rebekah, I really appreciate you coming over to drive Caroline to school. I had no idea her car wasn't working. Really Caroline, you need to be more responsible and tell me these things. There is such a thing as a cell phone."
If Rebekah wasn't dead already, Caroline would have torn her neck from body. "Sorry, Mom. I guess I just got distracted and didn't think."
Liz folded her arms over her chest. "Well, think next time."
"I'll do that. I promise."
"I'll have the mechanic come take a look at your car today. Now, don't just stand here. Get moving before you are really late. "
"Yes, Mom." Caroline opened the door to find a bright candy apple red Porsche in her driveway behind her car. The flashy vehicle could only belong to Rebekah. From behind her, Caroline heard Rebekah pull out her keys and click the unlock button on her key fob. Biting her tongue Caroline waited until they were outside and out of earshot before whirling around and confronting her nemesis.
"What were you thinking? What is my mom going to think when she finds out there is nothing wrong with my car?"
"Don't worry. I took care of it."
"What did you do to my car?" Caroline's stomach sank.
"Nothing that can't be easily fixed."
Caroline wanted more then anything to punch a hole in the side of the shiny Porsche in front of her.
"Don't worry. Nik taught me more then a few tricks about motors when we were on the run and I promise there is no permanent damage/" Rebekah moved over to the driver's side door.
"There better not be," Caroline warned, slipping inside the car.
Rebekah followed and positioned herself in the driver's seat. Fitting her keys into the ignition she paused. "Look, Caroline…you need to know that you are it for Nik." Turning her head, she met Caroline's gaze, her eyes dark and fierce. "So don't screw this up, because if you hurt him, I won't hesitate to destroy you and everything you hold dear. Understand?"
Caroline's breath snagged in her throat, her heart racing. She didn't doubt Rebekah's threat. She would do it. Kill Matt, her mother, Bonnie and the only one who would escape her carnage would be Elena, Klaus's doppelgänger. Even consumed with fear for those she loved, she couldn't help the surge of emotion at Rebekah's words about Klaus. There has never been anyone else, ever, that he has felt this way about. Her elation at the revelation was overshadowed by guilt. It haunted her, because with every passing day his hold on her grew stronger and she knew he was right. He was no longer in her head, but her heart as well.
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Caroline rushed through the lunch line at school, grabbing a salad and bottled water. Heading outside, she searched for a good place to eat where she would be hidden from Rebekah. The girl made good on her threat to not let Caroline out of her sight. She even followed her into the bathroom when Caroline went in to use the mirror to reapply her lip-gloss. Since most of their classes were together she was given no choice but to deal with the Original's presence and her constant chatter. While she realized Rebekah was just trying to make it seem as if they really were friends to arouse less suspicion when she changed seats to sit next to Caroline, it still rankled. Thankfully, the last class before lunch was the one they didn't have together so Caroline took the opportunity to beat Rebekah to the cafeteria so she could find a private place to eat before the girl found her.
Finding the perfect spot behind a tree that would block her from the direct view of the cafeteria door she settled down to have a few moments of peace. She wasn't in the least bit hungry but she ripped the plastic wrap off the top of her salad anyway. She knew it was weird, but going through the normal human rituals of eating a meal was still very important to her. Unwrapping her fork from its packaging she poked at the slightly wilted lettuce, carrot shavings and chopped tomatoes in her salad bowl. It wasn't the most appetizing lunch and she wasn't quite sure why she picked it sine she didn't really need to worry about getting her daily vegetable requirements anymore. Still, it was something the old Caroline would have picked so it was a soothing choice. When the sunlight that she was enjoying disappeared beneath a tall shadow, Caroline looked up to find Rebekah standing over her, a predatory grin on her face.
"You wouldn't happen to be trying to escape me, would you?" Rebekah asked, her tone way too sweet. "Because I thought I made it pretty clear this morning that you and I were going to be inseparable."
"Seriously? Even at lunch?" Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't you think that is taking this fake friendship you have been playing at too far?"
Rebekah plopped down on the ground next to Caroline. "What fake friendship? Here I thought I meant something to you."
"Don't you have your minions to eat with? Those girls that for some reason seem to hang on your every word? Or have they at last seen through you and your little power games?"
Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Rebekah turned to gaze at Caroline a dangerous smirk on her face. "You mean the same girls that used to worship you before I came along and showed them that you weren't the only one who could run things around here?"
Caroline looked away. "I'm not like that anymore." She didn't like to think about the time before she was a vampire, when she was shallow and took pleasure in using her popularity to order the other girls around. She wanted to believe she was over all of that. That as a vampire she learned to be an even better human than she was alive.
"Right." Rebekah laughed. "That's why you're trying to control all aspects of prom even though everyone is perfectly willing to help out."
"It isn't like that."
"Then what is it like?" Rebekah demanded.
Caroline lowered her head. "You wouldn't understand." How could she explain to Rebekah that holding on to these last few school events so tight was her way of keeping close to the old Caroline, her human side?
"Try me."
At Rebekah's gentle tone, Caroline looked up at her. It seemed like she was genuinely interested in what Caroline might have to say.
"Look, you have been a vampire for like centuries, but for me this is all new. I was made against my will, without a choice. While I understand that this is my life now, I'm not quite ready to give up my old one."
Caroline couldn't believe what she confided to her nemesis. She expected Rebekah to ridicule her, instead the look the girl gave here was understanding.
"You know." Rebekah tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "Wanting to hang on to your old life…at least for a bit, is something I can understand. Regardless of what you think you know about me, I was human once too."
Caroline twisted the cap of her bottle of water. "Somehow I have a very hard time believing that. You have no respect for human life. You revel in what you are."
"Have you or any of your precious gang of do-gooders ever considered that maybe this wasn't my choice either?" Rebekah asked in a harsh tone. "That maybe I was made against my will? That maybe I still want the human life I never got."
"Rebekah…" Caroline's voice trailed off when she caught sight of the anguish in the girl's eyes. "Look, I didn't know."
"Yeah, well not everything is as black and white as everyone likes to think."
"Maybe not, but that doesn't justify your acting as if humans were your own personal blood bags you can drain and toss aside."
"Speaking of blood bags, here comes Nik's," Rebekah announced with displeasure.
Elena bore down on them a determined look on her face.
"Don't call her that."
"Why?" Rebekah shrugged. "That's what she is."
Making a small sound of disgust at Rebekah's comment, Caroline was glad Elena didn't seem to have overheard what the other girl said.
"Caroline?" Elena stooped right in front of the tree where Caroline and Rebekah were seated.
"Hey, Elena." Caroline gave her the brightest and most innocent smile she could.
Furrowing her brow, Elena glanced from Rebekah to Caroline. "Everything, all right?"
"Everything's just peachy, right, Care?" Rebekah eyes gleamed with mischief.
"I didn't ask you," Elena threw back at Rebekah.
"Everything's fine. I was just having some lunch." Caroline held up her salad for Elena to see.
"With Rebekah?" Elena's voice raised almost an octave. "You're having lunch with Rebekah?"
"Way to state the obvious," the Original said in a bored voice.
"Um, yeah. I guess you could say I am having lunch with Rebekah."
Elena placed her hands on her hips. "Caroline, what on earth is going on?"
"Nothing." Avoiding Elena's gaze, Caroline ripped open a packet of Ranch dressing to put on her salad.
"This is so wrong. There is no way you would ever eat lunch with Rebekah." Kneeling down in front of Caroline, Elena peered directly into her eyes. "Are you being compelled? Is she forcing you to do this?"
"Like she could tell you if she was being compelled," Rebekah replied, her tone making it clear how idiotic she thought Elena was. "Why can't you just accept that Care and I are BFFs now? Isn't that right, Care?"
Elena swung her head around to glare at Rebekah. "Stop calling her that. And she isn't your BFF! You need to tell me what is going on right now, Caroline."
Caroline avoided looking at Elena and drizzled Ranch dressing on her salad. "Rebekah and I were just…"
"Just what?"
Glancing over at Rebekah, Caroline tried to think of a believable lie as to why she might be spending time with the very Original they had been trying to rid themselves of ever since she came to town. "We were just discussing what we were planning for prom."
"Didn't Care tell you?" Rebecca paused dramatically, "She made me co-chair of the Prom committee."
Elena whipped her head from Rebekah to Caroline for confirmation. "You did what?"
Burning anger rose into Caroline's chest and she flashed Rebekah her most threatening stare. She imagined yanking out the girls blonde hair in fistfuls. Not the least bit cowed, Rebekah stared right back at her, smiling with glee. "I really had no choice," she bit out. "Especially, after all the work Rebekah has put into the planning."
"That's…that's really nice of you,"
Caroline bristled at the wonder and surprise in her best friend's voice. "What? I can be nice."
"Of course, you can," Elena soothed. "I just never thought you would willingly share control of prom. This is good, Caroline. You know no one expects you to do it all. You have so much on your plate…especially with Tyler and—"
"Tyler and my break-up," Caroline finished with a warning look at Elena.
Rebekah's eyes sparkled with interest. "How is Tyler? I haven't seen him at school lately?"
"He's been sick with the flu." Caroline replied, hoping the heat that was pouring into her cheeks at the mention of her boyfriend wasn't noticed by Rebekah.
"Really sick," Elena repeated.
"I see." Rebekah compressed her lips into a tight line before she spoke again, "Funny, I didn't think that was possible. Considering the superior immune system he now has, thanks to my brother."
Caroline wanted to bang her head repeatedly against the large oak tree she was sitting under. How could she be so stupid? Flustered, she racked her brain for a plausible excuse. "That is the reason he is giving the school. In reality, it is just taking him some time to get used to all the changes his body is going through."
Rebekah studied Caroline. "I suppose that is possible. He isn't an Original so the change could be very different for him. I haven't known my brother's other hybrids to struggle much, but then I haven't really paid attention."
"That has to be it," Caroline agreed.
Elena nodded her head. "So Rebekah what are you wearing to prom?"
Caroline wanted to kiss her best friend for so easily changing the subject.
"I ordered the perfect dress from a Parisian designer." Rebekah face lit up with a shy, pleased smile. "It is a light, shimmery blue and it fits so tight I know Nik will hate it."
Elena paled a bit at hearing Klaus's name so casually used. "Sounds lovely."
"Where's your lunch?" Caroline noticed at last Elena's lack of food from the cafeteria. She really hoped all the stress in her friend's life wasn't keeping her from eating. Elena had done that when her parents died and gotten so thin Caroline was really worried. She wasn't about to let that happen again.
"Oh, Stefan is getting me something." A slight hint of pink highlighting Elena's cheekbones.
"He always was a gentleman that way," Rebekah replied, her tone tart.
Elena climbed to her feet. "I should really get going. He should be done soon."
"I'll see you after school?" Elena asked. "Maybe have some girl time?"
Rebekah shook her head in warning at Caroline.
"Um. Not today. I have a ton of homework and my mom wants me to stick close to home," Caroline lied ducking her head down to stare at her salad.
Elena sighed. "Okay."
"Maybe tomorrow?" Caroline added at the disappointed note in Elena's voice.
"That would be great. Well, we'll talk tomorrow," Elena replied and headed back to the school.
Caroline speared some lettuce unto her fork and noticed Rebekah wasn't eating. She didn't even have a lunch. "Aren't you going to get something to eat? Or at least pretend to have lunch?"
"Oh, I already ate," Rebekah said, flashing her bright white teeth. "O positive right from the tap."
"Here at school?" Horror seeped into Caroline. "You are going to get us all caught. You and Klaus can't keep littering this town with dead bodies."
"Don't worry," Rebekah replied with a shrug. "I didn't drain him. He didn't taste that great. Way too much sugar. Must have been diabetic."
Caroline tossed her fork into her salad. She had no desire to eat now. "You're disgusting."
Rebekah narrowed her eyes. "Stop being such a hypocrite. Like you don't crave it right from the source. Rich with oxygen with just a hint of adrenaline, the vibrations of their heartbeat in your ears and mouth, the warmth of their life essence warming your insides. You can't get that with a blood bag."
Caroline swallowed, her mouth very dry. She tried not to think of the man she killed, his taste, the exhilarating way his blood gave her life, filling the emptiness inside. No, she wouldn't think of that. Not now. Not ever. That wasn't her, who she wanted to be. She gathered up her salad and water bottle. "Maybe not, but at least I don't have the deaths of innocents on my hands."
Flipping her hair to the side, Rebekah shrewdly regarded Caroline. "You know you don't have to kill when you feed."
"I know that."
"I don't think you do. There are other options to feeding on humans other then gorging like Damon or starving like Stefan."
"We are not discussing this." Caroline scrambled to her feet. "And now, for your information, I am going to throw my lunch in the trash and then I am headed to history class with Elena and Stefan so I won't need you for the next hour."
Rebekah's gaze bore into her as she stalked back to the cafeteria. She needed to get through this day and hope that by the time school was over Klaus eradicated whatever threat he thought there was. That way she could go on with her life without any more interference from the deadly brother and sister duo. There was only one date left with Klaus and she was counting last night as a date since not only did they spend the evening together, he also spent part of the night in her bed. Entirely innocent that still counted as a date. She would make sure it was. It was getting too dangerous to spend time with the Original and if she wasn't careful he would figure out how susceptible she was to him.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Caroline slammed the door of Rebekah's Porsche shut, annoyed to find Klaus already at her house. He leaned against the doorframe like he owned the place. He was dressed in his usual jeans and a gray henley that clung to his muscular chest, the top three buttons undone. When she strode towards him, a shiver went thorough her. While he seemed at ease, there was an air of danger about him. Since he wore mirrored sunglasses she couldn't see his eyes to guess his mood. Still he reminded her very much of a wild animal, powerful muscles tightly coiled to strike at the slightest threat. When she stopped in front of him, his jaw relaxed, his lips curling into a smirk.
"Have a good day at school, love?"
"With your sister acting like my guard dog? I don't think so," she threw back at him.
Rebekah joined Caroline. "Hey, I resent that. I'm not anybody's guard dog."
Caroline turned her head to glare at Rebekah. "Then what would you call it when you followed me everywhere? Even into the bathroom?"
"I would call that protecting your ass. If anything you should be thanking me for keeping you safe. You're just lucky that —"
Klaus held up his hand to silence his sister. "Thanks, Rebekah for taking such good care of Caroline. I promise I won't forget this."
Caroline frowned at the tender, grateful tone in his voice. If she didn't know better she would think that Rebekah spent the day guarding her as a favor to Klaus and not because he commanded it.
"Thanks." Rebekah's face lit up at her brother's praise.
"Well, since I have been delivered home safely, there is no reason for either of you to continue to be here." Caroline tried to take a step around Klaus, towards her front door.
Klaus moved to stand in front of her, effectively stopping her in her tracks. "Rebekah, I will talk to you later."
"Sure. I'll be back in the morning." Rebekah climbed into her car.
"Feel free to join your sister." Caroline moved to step around Klaus again when she heard Rebekah pull out of the driveway.
Klaus whipped of his sunglasses with a sigh. "Are we really going to keep playing this game? Until I have dealt with whoever is behind this you are not leaving Rebekah's or my side."
"What if I don't want your protection anymore?"
"Do you really think you have a choice?"
At Klaus's harsh tone, Caroline looked up to find his gaze on her. His cold blue eyes making it clear he wasn't going anywhere.
"That's the thing. I should have a choice. This is my life and ever since you started interfering in it you have turned everything upside down. Everywhere I turn, every time I close my eyes, you are there. I can't get rid of you and now because of you someone is most likely trying to kill me." Caroline fought the hot tears stinging her eyelids. "I want my old life back. The one where you were the villain and everything made sense."
The ice in Klaus's eyes melted. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but you are never going to get your old life back." Cupping her face gently, he stroked her cheek with the rough pad of his thumb.
Caroline flinched at the branding heat from the simple touch. It warmed her from the inside out. She wanted to pull away. Except there was a calming influence about the caress.
"If you would just leave? Go away?"
"I can't do that." Klaus shook his head, a pained look on his face like it bothered him that he couldn't give her what she wanted. "Even if I did, things will never be the same for you. There is a reason you can no longer see me as the villain. Against your wishes, you feel something for me. You recognize there is something between us."
"No!" Caroline cried, jumped back from him, ignoring the loss of his warmth from his touch. "You will find and kill this enemy of yours who wants me dead and then when this is all over things will go back to normal. You will go back to being the bad, evil vampire who wants to take Elena and I will go back to plotting to kill you."
Pushing past Klaus, her heart in her throat, Caroline stormed into her house. She wasn't going to cry. Especially, not in front of Klaus. She didn't want him to see her as the weak vampire she truly was. For what could it be but weakness that allowed her to compartmentalize the evil Klaus did every time she was near him? Throwing her school bag on the floor of the living room, she strode into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, she searched for the blood bags hidden in the bottom drawer. Her mother, even though she really did try, still struggled with the reality that her daughter was a vampire. Caroline did her the courtesy of keeping her food out of sight.
Caroline sensed him, before she felt him. A vibration in the air, tiny ripples of longing that she instantly responded to. He closed the space between them, moving to stand behind her. Sweeping her long hair off the side of her neck, he leaned in until she his lips were near her ear.
"There is no going back anymore now, love."
Pressing her forehead against the top of the refrigerator opening she let the cool air wash over her. She didn't want to believe he was right. She had to fight it with every fiber in her being. It was important to her that she could show to herself, to everyone, that she had fought him and his hold on her to the very end.
"Are you hungry?" His voice was surprisingly soft and gentle.
Looking at the plastic bag full of blood, devoid of warmth and life lying in the bottom of the refrigerator drawer she realized she lost her appetite. What was wrong with her? She never before found blood bags unappetizing. In fact, she had guzzled them with delight. Anything to dull her hunger pangs. Today, everything was different. Closing her eyes, her mind drifted to the last time she fed. The way Klaus cushioned her safely in his arms, his thick, rich blood flowing into her mouth. Hardly aware of it, her head fell back against his muscular chest, her body settling into his. His natural, earthy scent of woods and magic surrounded her. His arms wrapped around her waist, cradling her in a comforting embrace. She didn't even protest when his lips descended to press a kiss to the curve of her neck.
"You don't have to eat that crap. There are many willing donors back at my place who would be honored to feed you."
Caroline's blood iced in her vein. She pulled herself away from Klaus only to be find his arms tightening around her until they were bands of steel."
"Or if you are so against that idea, you could feed from me again."
"I bet you would love that, but I am not about to get myself addicted to your blood. I am not going to be an Original junkie."
"It doesn't work that way," Klaus soothed.
"How do you know? Do you have any idea how —," she stopped, embarrassed at what she was about to share with Klaus, how incredibly delicious he was. Even now at the mere mention of taking his blood, her insides stirred with a craving similar to what she experienced with dark chocolate when she was alive. Only a hundred times more intense. No, she wasn't about to feed on him. To take that direction could only lead to an intimacy that was far too dangerous to her sanity. The memories of the last time she fed on him, the images of the two of them together dancing and kissing that was evoked from his blood still haunted her.
"How, what?"
"Nothing." Once more she struggled to remove herself from his embrace. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all," he countered, but his grip relaxed until his arms left her waist.
With an annoyed huff, Caroline yanked herself away from him, ignoring her own destructive desire to curl up once more against him. She slammed the refrigerator door shut and stormed out of the kitchen. Grabbing her school bag off the floor of the living room, she flung herself down on the worn, couch against the wall. Crossing her legs underneath her, she settled comfortably on the furthest cushion from where Klaus stood staring at her from the kitchen.
Ignoring him completely, she pulled two textbooks and notebooks out of her schoolbag along with a sharpened pencil and placed them in a pile next to her on the couch. Selecting her math book and corresponding notebook she opened both of them to where she left off in class. Focusing on a complicated problem she proceeded to continue the equation. She worked in silence, pretending that Klaus wasn't in her home, only feet away. Having him here, invading her living space was another reminder of how easily he had infiltrated her entire world. Nothing was sacred from him anymore, not even her home.
She didn't even look up when Klaus joined her on the couch. When he moved her other textbook and notebook to the floor so he could sit close to her, she focused even more on the math problem in front of her. She pressed her pencil point so hard against the notepaper a dent formed under the lead tip. His jean-clad thigh pressed against her bare knee where her skirt rode up her leg and she ignored her natural instinct to pull her skirt down.
"It didn't occur to me that you might have homework. You do realize how ridiculous it is that you are still playing at high school?"
Caroline pretended not to hear Klaus and his condescending tone. She wrote down a string of numbers in her notebook.
"Rebekah always ignores hers." When she didn't reply he peered at her textbook. "You're doing calculus?"
"What?" She snapped, forgetting her determination to ignore him. "Because I am blonde I must be stupid at math? I will have you know that I consistently ace all my tests and even Elena relies on me to help her with her work."
Klaus threw his head back and laughed. "You constantly surprise me, love. And I never thought you were stupid. Your intelligence is one of the very many qualities I adore about you."
"If you adore it so much then you should be thrilled that I am furthering my education by playing at school," Caroline retorted, throwing his earlier words back at him.
Not in the least upset at her attempt to provoke him, Klaus regarded her with amusement. "Point taken. By the way, your differential equation is off."
Caroline wanted to hit him on the head with her calculus textbook. For a brief second she entertained the idea. Attacking the Original was probably not the best idea, though. No matter how he infuriated her. Gritting her teeth she looked down at the math problem she was working on. Damn it! He was right. She transposed a number. It had to be because his very presence was distracting. She didn't normally make mistakes like that. Erasing the last few lines of math on her notebook page, she fixed her error.
"So like in-between all the bloodshed and daggering of your family, you just happened to decide to learn calculus?"
"You will find as a vampire that time can weigh heavy on your hands." The smirk disappeared from Klaus's face. "Especially when your family is a disappointment to you."
"I would have thought you were to busy finding your doppelgänger and breaking the curse to have bothered."
Klaus tensed next to her. She once more hit a nerve with him. For some reason she lacked all common sense, any type of self-preservation when she was with him. She should know better then to anger him, Still, it didn't stop her.
"There is a lot you don't know about me," he growled.
She gazed at him. While he was irritated with her, there was nothing in his gaze to suggest that she had any reason to be frightened. It was becoming more apparent to her all the time that the truth he forced on her the night of their chess game was accurate. No matter what she said or did he wouldn't go so far as to ever physically hurt her. Mentally, maybe, was another story. She had no illusions he would use every trick, play every game he could to get her to see things his way.
"You're right," she admitted. "There is a lot I don't know about you."
His clear, blue eyes softened at her words. "I learned calculus in the late sixteen hundreds from Newton himself."
"Newton? As in Sir Isaac Newton?" Caroline shook her head at this incredible revelation. "Please tell me you didn't feed on him?"
"I don't taste everybody I meet." Klaus tone dripped with sarcasm. "His university was closed due to the plague and he needed a patron. He was more then happy to share his new mathematical formulas and theories."
"I can't believe you knew Sir Isaac Newton."
Klaus smiled down at her. "You would be surprised at who I have known over the centuries."
Caroline had no doubt of that. What she couldn't forget was all the plain, ordinary humans he must have also encountered and killed throughout those centuries. She wouldn't be so foolish and innocent as to be blind to the violence and death Klaus was a party to during those years. Tearing her gaze from his, she looked back down at her calculus textbook.
"So you can see what an incredible asset I can be to your education. There is so much I can teach you, sweetheart."
"No doubt, with your own spin on it." Caroline set her math notebook and calculus textbook on the floor.
"The correct spin. Your education is based on the teachings of an elite few, the victors in history. There is so much more out there to learn."
Once more, he was tempting her. Only this time, instead of buying her things, or offering her trips, he was appealing to her desire for knowledge. What he didn't understand, what he couldn't ever give her was what she had now. She had precious few years where she could play at being human. Living out the life she should would have had as daughter and Miss Mystic Falls. She wasn't about to let anyone take that away from her.
"I can learn everything I need to right here at Mystic Falls high and later at the University of Virginia."
"Then, I will wait. When you are done there and ready to move on, I will show you everything that you missed."
Caroline wanted to point out that when she was ready to move on and see what the world had to offer she would do it with Tyler. But, she couldn't tell him that. Just like she didn't want to think of what would happen when Klaus took out whoever wanted to kill her and their dates were done. She needed to focus then on her goal. His murder. Damon would be after her soon to find out if she learned anything to help their cause. To her relief, she hadn't. Which was good since she wasn't sure what she would do with that information if she had it. She was pulled in so many directions now with him in her life. No matter what actions she took or what decisions she made, she was doomed to failure. It was all too much for her to deal with. Every day that passed she found it harder and harder to see right from wrong.
Her breath caught raggedly in her throat and her eyes fluttered. She didn't need to breathe, she knew this. Still, the world started to spin, her vision narrowing to blackened slits. She was going to pass out from lack of oxygen and she was a vampire. The ridiculousness of this was almost too much and she tried to laugh except it was hard with tears streaming down her face.
"Caroline?"
Klaus' voice was muffled as if it was coming from very far away. She started to tremble, her limbs sinking into cold while her breaths came faster and faster. He gathered her in his arms and her head fell against his chest. The cotton of his shirt on her cheek was soft and he held her so tight she couldn't even move.
"Shhh, love. Shhh," Klaus crooned while he rocked her gently in his embrace.
The warmth from his body seeped into hers, a rush of heat that soothed her, driving the ice from her blood. Her tension, the stiffness in her muscles loosened until she became almost liquid. She focused on her breathing, inhaling and slowly exhaling until she no longer felt the need to breathe at all anymore. Caroline was so safe, so comfortable. she didn't even want to think about ever leaving Klaus' arms or the world that existed beyond this moment.
Klaus stilled his rocking movements at her return to sanity. He brushed her hair back from her face with comforting strokes, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Everything better now?"
She murmured an agreement. It was even though not a single thing was solved. She was still as tormented by the choices she was going to have to make. Still, being in Klaus' arms had in some way taken the edge off.
"What just happened to me?"
"You had a panic attack."
"Seriously? How is that even possible? Vampires don't get panic attacks." Caroline moved to pull herself out of Klaus' arms. Giving up when he, without any effort at all, kept her right in place. She couldn't believe it. Was she really that weak that she could fail so spectacularly? Even at being a vampire?
"They do when they have dealt with what you have recently."
Caroline wiped away the tears that remained on her face. "What do you mean?"
"Your mother barely accepts what you are and not only did your father try to torture your vampiric nature out of you, he also chose to die rather then become what you are. You have said yourself, the Salvatores constantly take advantage of you by using you as a pawn in their schemes without ever seeing you as the intelligent asset you are. On top that, you are constantly trying to be as human as possible and hold on to that life for the sake of your friends and family while you slip further and further from who you once were."
"No! You have it all wrong," Caroline denied, at last managing to pull herself from Klaus's arms. "It isn't like that at all."
"Isn't it?" Klaus looked down into her face, his gaze ruthlessly tearing into hers. "As if that isn't enough for you to bear, someone is trying to kill you for no reason other then your relationship with me."
"Maybe, that is true, but what you said earlier wasn't."
At Caroline's protest, Klaus's eyes darkened.
"Well, the part about my parents kind of is true," she paused to amend, "and what you said about the Salvatores, but nothing else."
"Deny what you need to for right now, but that doesn't change the truth of what I said." Klaus grasped her shoulders, his fingers biting into her muscles. "But, Caroline, I will promise you this. I am going to keep you safe. Whoever is after you…I will kill them."
Caroline had no doubt he would. Most likely in the most horrific way possible and she wasn't sure she minded in the least. Especially, after the painful way Carl died instead of her.
"I know."
Pleased at her answer, Klaus let go of her shoulders.
With a sigh of exhaustion, Caroline fell back against the couch. "And I didn't have a panic attack."
Klaus arched an eyebrow at her comment. "So all that was just a means for you to have an excuse to fall into my arms?"
"No," Caroline sputtered.
"Because all you have to do, sweetheart, is ask." Klaus turned to look at her, his fingertips lightly stroking the side of her face and dipping into her neck. The feather light caress highly sensitized her skin and tingles erupted all over Caroline's flesh. Her body instinctively yearned to lean in closer to him, to feel that delicate touch over the rest of her skin. "Or look at me like you are right now."
"I'm not looking at you any differently then I normally do." Caroline tore her gaze from his. Glancing down at her textbooks and notebooks, she picked up her history one and corresponding notebook. For the first time ever, she wished she had more homework. It was still a few hours until her mother came home and she had no idea how she could continue to be around Klaus without some kind of distraction.
Klaus took the textbook from her. "History?" He paged through the book.
"Another subject I am sure you excel at."
A smug look crossed his face. "So what time period are we looking at?"
"Not that I need any help, but we are studying the French Revolution."
"Ah, one of my favorites. Kol relished the constant bloodshed and chaos. He especially loved feeding on the Jacobins. All that delicious righteousness while they murdered thousands."
Caroline shivered. She wasn't sure if that was because of Kol or the sheer numbers of people killed. She hadn't as of yet had any interaction with Klaus' brother, but she knew of him and his reputation. She had no interest in getting to know the Original.
"So what is the assignment?"
"It isn't terribly difficult." Caroline wrinkled her nose. "Just a few paragraphs on a topic that interests me about the reading."
Klaus looked up from the history textbook with interest. "What was the reading about?"
"Just a bunch of dates and a general overview of the French Revolution. Rather boring, actually."
"What kind of textbook are you reading? During this time period the monarchy was abolished, the idea of the divine right of kings forever destroyed, the king and queen were executed, the class system collapsed and radicalism took over leading to the Reign of Terror." Klaus tone was almost gleeful. "It was an amazing time to be alive."
"Not for those that lost their heads," Caroline countered.
Flipping pages in the history textbook, Klaus stopped at the section that focused on the French Revolution, quickly scanning the chapter. "You're right. It is rather boring and most of it is incorrect. Especially, what is written about the Royals. I wonder if Rebekah has read any of this? She would be upset to see the Queen treated so shabbily since she knew her."
Caroline blinked at this bit of news. "Rebekah was friends with Marie Antoinette?"
"Of a sort. We spent some time at the French court before things became too dangerous. Rebekah and the Queen spent many evenings together since they both had a love for fashion and dancing."
"What was Marie Antoinette really like?"
Klaus furrowed his brow. "I remember her mostly as very unhappy, but she masked it well with a dizzying social life. History doesn't treat her kindly, but historians forget how little power she had. She despaired at always been seen as the enemy in a country she tried to make her own and any time she attempted to influence political policy she was ignored or made out to be the villain."
"Tell me more about the Royal Family?" Caroline picked up her pencil and began to write. "What about the king?"
"Louis the XVI should never had been a king. He was indecisive, lacked the conviction to stand his ground on political issues and he had a ridiculous need to be loved by the masses," Klaus said with an expression of disgust on his face. "Although, he can't be blamed for the destruction of the monarchy. It was in decline since the middle of Louis XV's reign.."
"He didn't deserve to be beheaded."
Klaus shrugged. "It was in the best interest of the republic that someone be made politically responsible for the mess France was in. Besides, the death of the king would ultimately legitimize the revolution."
"It's all so sad."
"It was long ago, love, and that is the price that is paid when one doesn't understand the responsibilities that come with having power." Klaus' tone was gentle. "Take comfort that at least the guillotine is merciful. It is a quick and painless death since the spinal cord is severed instantly. He didn't suffer."
Caroline's stomach twisted at the gruesome imagery from Klaus's words. "The Queen?"
"She was guillotined less then a year after her husband. Of course, she suffered a ridiculous sham of a trial where she was found guilty of every heinous crime that could be imagined. Including incest with her son. It was heartbreaking for Rebekah. I know she was involved to some extent in the Carnation Plot to rescue the Queen and her children."
Pausing at the end of her written sentence, Caroline tried to imagine Rebekah actually friends with a human. To such an extent she would care about their fate and their offspring. Hard as it was to admit it, there seemed to be lot more to Rebekah than Caroline originally thought. It was so much easier when she only saw Rebekah as a vicious killer, completely lost to all humanity. It seemed that wasn't always the case. This knowledge sat uneasily with Caroline, making her feelings towards the girl and the original family all that more conflicted.
"What happened to the children?" Caroline mentally prepared herself for the worst.
"Louis Joseph and Sophie died before the Revolution. Louis-Charles most likely died from tuberculosis caused by neglect while in prison. His sister, Marie Therese, did live to see the monarchy restored to France twice. The second time she managed to reign as Queen for twenty minutes until her husband abdicated the throne."
Caroline scribbled furiously, writing down Klaus' information. "Did you know her too?"
"She was a young child when met her." Klaus looked down at Caroline's notebook. "You should add that as an adult she displayed a courage very few had. She was the only one in her family to take a stand against Napoleon during his return from exile."
"She sounds quite formidable." Caroline finished filling her required page of history homework.
"Napoleon was certainly impressed."
Closing her notebook, Caroline turned to face Klaus. "Thanks for the help. I really do appreciate it. It would have taken me a lot longer without you."
"Anytime, love." Klaus mouth curled into a pleased smirk. "I rather enjoyed the walk down memory lane."
Caroline was struck again by the lives that Klaus lived, the things he saw and experienced and it made her feel very insignificant. It made no sense to her that he could possibly be content to stay here in such a small town as Mystic Falls. It couldn't be because he was staying for her? How could he be in the least bit interested in her? What did she have to offer that could possibly compare to the famous women he had known throughout the centuries?
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing." Caroline lowered her gaze.
"Nothing?" Klaus repeated with an incredulous look in her direction. "You are always thinking something. No. You have something on your mind. Something that is obviously bothering you."
Caroline set her notebook on the floor. "My thoughts are my own, Klaus. I don't need to share them with you."
Klaus frowned at her obstinate tone. "You do when I can see they are clearly upsetting you. Does it have to do with the attempt on your life? Because I swear they will never get that close to you again."
"It isn't that." Caroline laughed. How could she tell him how his pursuit of her made absolutely no sense? That even if she were to fall into his arms, it wouldn't be long before her allure faded. Because who was she really but a young, inexperienced vampire from a small town in America?
"Look at me, Caroline."
At the command, she lifted her gaze to his, afraid of what she would find there. While he wasn't angry, his jaw was clenched tightly. He stared at her intently, his eyes boring into her like he saw straight into her soul.
"You promised you wouldn't compel me," she whispered.
"I won't. I would never jeopardize your trust that way. Not anymore."
She smiled. How very frustrating it must be for him to give up that power with her.
"Tell me what brought that look of sadness into your face? Don't bother attempting to lie."
Caroline shifted positions on the couch settling her legs underneath her, using the distraction to try and think of a reasonable explanation and failing miserably.
"What…what is it exactly that you see in me?"
Klaus opened up his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.
"I mean you have known Queens and Princesses, some of the most famous people in history and yet you are interested in me. I don't understand it."
In silence, Klaus reached for her hand, turning it palm up he pressed his lips to the sensitive skin. A long, delicious shiver ran up Caroline's arm, spreading through her body.
"How is it that you can't see what I can?"
"What do you see?" she murmured, her voice weak. Caroline stared deeply into his eyes, losing herself in their midnight depths.
"Perfection." Klaus slid his lips over her palm, stopping at the delicate skin of her wrist, where her blue veins stood out against her pale skin. Caroline exhaled a ragged breath at the heat that simmered inside of her.
"Klaus, don't."
"Don't what?" His lips grazed the very spot on her wrist where her pulse once fluttered.
"Don't make me fall in love you," she sighed, her whole body thrumming with desire.
He lifted his head, smiling down at her tenderness. "It's far to late for that, love." Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he pulled her in close to him.
Caroline let her head fall against his shoulder, curling herself into his arms. She was so exhausted from fighting him and her feelings for him. For just a moment, she would let him hold her. She would luxuriate in the comforting closeness that came from being near him. At least for a while.
She didn't realize she fell asleep. Not until she heard someone in the house. Blinking her eyes, she found Klaus still holding her.
"Caroline?"
Panic raced through her veins like quicksilver.
"Mom?"