Hello my lovelies. Here is my update for you, I hope you enjoy. As you can see, it's a long one. I'm mentally exhausted after writing this part.

I wanted to thank jomosfamilyjewels (aka the Deej) and a-little-blonde-distraction for all of their help on this part. It would have royally sucked if not for them. And Cecevolume for being my beta.

*Warning: This part goes into the M rated territory just so you know*

Part 27

Caroline couldn't remember the last time she had been so tense and uncomfortable. She had been able to beat Dean to the restaurant and was considering ordering something much stronger than water. During her night of sleeplessness, she had come to the realization that she couldn't keep seeing Dean. She couldn't keep using him as a distraction from what she really had to deal with. She hadn't been sure when she would do it but when he called her; it had seemed to be the perfect opportunity.

Caroline looked up when she saw movement out of her eye and saw Dean approaching her. He had leaned into kiss her in greeting but she had quickly turned her head so his lips only grazed her cheek. She couldn't help but notice the lack of sparks it had created, unlike when Klaus had kissed her hand.

Thankfully, the waitress had come up then to introduce herself and get their drink orders so she didn't have to look at him to see his reaction to her action. Once they were alone again, Dean had launched right into a conversation and she figured he had ignored it or not noticed. She tried to keep up on her end of their dialogue but found herself rambling most of the time. She waited until most of the food had been eaten, before she took a deep breath. "Dean, the reason I suggested us meeting here wasn't for a second date."

Dean's forehead furrowed in confusion so she continued before he could interrupt. "You're a really nice, very cute guy and I had a good time last night."

"But?"

"But I can't go out with you again." Caroline answered.

"I don't understand."

"When I agreed to go out with you, it wasn't just because you're a good-looking guy, which you are, but because I was using you. There is someone else, I mean I'm not with someone else…I am trying to get over someone and thought that going out with you would do it. But I realized that it wasn't fair to you. I am sorry. I shouldn't have done that." Caroline stated. She sat back and waited to see how he would react. She didn't blame him if he was seriously pissed off. For several agonizing minutes, they sat there in silence.

"I have to say this was the opposite of how I expected this lunch to go." Dean replied. "And I can't say that hearing you only went out with me to get over someone else doesn't sting a bit."

"I'm really sorry, Dean." Caroline interrupted.

"I can see that." Dean responded before standing up. He pulled out his wallet and threw some bills on the table before Caroline could interject. "You don't have to do that."

Dean held up his hand to stop her argument. "Even if you came to call things off, I'm the one that asked you out so I'm not sticking you with the bill."

"Dean…" But Caroline wasn't sure what to say. Instead, she just watched as he moved away from the table and left the restaurant. She felt horrible for dragging him into this mess but knew it would only be worse if she hadn't told him the truth. After the kiss with Klaus last night, she knew that using Dean from the beginning wasn't fair and now at least she had put that right. She quickly settled the bill before leaving as well; she had a few hours to kill before going home so she headed towards Bonnie's.

/

Klaus was coming down the stairs when Caroline walked in. She looked surprised to see him but gave him a hesitant smile. "Hey."

"Hello." He replied as he continued down. He waited to say more until he reached the bottom.

"The twins have been down for about a half an hour."

Caroline nodded. "I would have been back sooner, but I was with Dean."

"Oh."

"I broke things off with him."

Klaus felt a huge smile itching to cross his face but he did his best to hold it back. "Is that what you wanted?"

She nodded at his question before she moved forward. "I did it so I could have what I wanted."

As she moved closer to him, Klaus noticed she had a piece of something in her hair. He reached out and tossed it away but didn't remove his hand. He caressed her soft hair and his breath caught when she leaned into his touch. Touching her was hypnotic and addictive at the same time. He didn't know if he would ever get enough; he wanted to touch every part of her. Caroline seemed to be reveling in the feel of his touch as well. Before he knew what she was doing, she reached one hand up for the back of his neck and brought his head down for a kiss.

His arms moved around her to pull her hard to him, to press her body fully against him. His lips moved against hers, hard, demanding, his tongue moved over her lips, to request entrance, and moved inside her mouth urgently, when she responded in kind. Her hands moved up from his neck, and she ran her fingers through his hair.

He pressed her body more fully to his, and heard her groan as her hips moved against his. Her hands moved from his hair, down his broad shoulders, one moved lower to grab hold of his ass and pushed him against her more.

Klaus pulled away from the kiss, and looked down into Caroline's eyes, the want clearly visible in her features. His hands went to the side of her face, his thumb tracing her lips now swollen from his kiss.

"Caroline..." He said his voice deep, and full of need.

Caroline looked up at him and smiled as she moved her hands to the front of his chest, her fingers stroking his flesh through his shirt, making him close his eyes and groan slightly. When he opened his eyes back up, she spoke, "Klaus... I want you."

That was it, those words were his undoing, and his mouth went back to her. His mouth plundered hers, his teeth nipping at her lower lip, his tongue swirling against hers, his lips moving hard against her lips, and she welcomed it. Like the night before, he reached down and grabbed her thighs before lifting her up. Caroline responded instantly, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck. With her securely against him, he carried her quickly up the stairs. He would have taken her on any and every surface downstairs but considering how they had been interrupted the night before, it wasn't the best plan.

He moved towards his bedroom, opening the door as he pushed her against it, kissing her deeply. She loosened her legs around him and lowered them so she was carrying her own weight. As she did, her hands moved to his shirt, and tugged it up. He helped to pull it up and over his head, and flung the article of clothing into the room. Her lips pressed against the newly exposed skin at the base of his neck, and sucked, marking it gently.

Her hands moved up over his chest, before they moved between them, her fingers fumbling with the button of his pants. Caroline popped the button from his pants, and quickly moved the zipper down, before her hands snaked their way inside the fabric. His hips jerked towards hers again as her hand found its way into his boxers and her fingers wrapped around his cock.

He moaned as she explored him, but Caroline moved her mouth away from his neck and back up to his mouth. He moved them away from the door, and he quickly found his way to the bed. He reluctantly pulled her hand out of his pants so that he could lower her to the bed. However once her hand was out of his pants, she used his grip on her wrist to reverse their positions before pushing him backwards on the bed. As he felt himself falling, he pulled her with him.

Klaus suddenly jolted awake when he hit the floor with a thud. He looked around confused when he found himself face to face with his living room rug, instead of Caroline on his bed. It came back to him quickly; the twins had been cranky so he had put them to bed a little early and then come down to wait for Caroline. He must have fallen asleep on the couch, considering the night he'd had before he wasn't surprised.

All of what had just happened between him and Caroline was in his head; it never happened. Yet he could still feel the heat from her body, the softness of her lips, her hands on his body; it had felt so real and the evidence was very apparent by the tightness of his jeans. He groaned in discomfort as he tried to adjust them but it didn't help. He briefly thought about going up to his bedroom and relieving some of the pressure but didn't think that was the best idea since Caroline could be there at any minute. That would make the start of their conversation extremely awkward. He glanced at his watch as he headed to the kitchen and saw that Caroline was late. He wondered if she had changed her mind about meeting him.

He turned the faucet on cold and once he removed his watch, ran the cold water over his wrists to calm down his body's reaction to his dream. A cold shower was out of the question as well due to time constraints so this was the next best thing. Between that and purposely thinking of anything he could that was the opposite of arousing, he got himself under control just as he heard the front door open. Knowing she would go looking for him in the living room, he called out to her. She appeared a minute coming through the doorway and into the kitchen. "Hey."

"Good evening," Klaus replied as he came around the counter towards her. "I was beginning to think that you weren't coming."

"Sorry, I was at Bonnie's and got stuck in traffic on my way back," Caroline explained. She had gone to Bonnie's after her breakup lunch with Dean to avoid coming back to the house and possibly get some clarity. However, Bonnie had jumped her as soon as she had walked in the door, asking all kind of questions in regards to her date with Dean. Caroline had thought about telling her everything but knew that it could possibly lead to a lecture from Bonnie about how she had warned Caroline about getting too close. True that lecture was more likely to come from Elena but she didn't want to risk it. A lecture was the last thing she had wanted at the time so instead she had lied to Bonnie and simply told her that the date hadn't worked out.

"Shall we go into the living room?"

"Um, why can't we talk right here?" Caroline asked as she moved past him and farther into the kitchen, remembering what had happened in the living room the last time they had been alone together. The kitchen seemed...safer.

Klaus could see by the way her eyes darted around and the way she was twisting her hands that she was nervous at the idea of them in the same setting as the events in which had created this situation and he couldn't help but smirk. "Worried that little talking will get done?"

"No! I mean..." Caroline answered a little too quickly before she realized that he was teasing. She knew she wasn't giving herself enough credit. She could resist him. She moved by him again, heading into the living room when he reached out towards her. She stopped suddenly when she felt his hand grab her wrist. She looked down at where his hand was on her arm before looking back up at him in surprise.

"Caroline, you have my word, nothing but talking," Klaus said to ease her mind.

She could see the sincerity in his eyes so she nodded. "Okay."

Klaus reluctantly released her arm as they moved to go into the living room. He watched as she moved to one of the couches while he glanced over at his liquor cabinet. He thought about getting them a drink but decided against it. He had had plenty of liquor the night before.

So instead, he moved to the couch opposite of her and sat down. He looked at Caroline and he didn't think he had ever seen her so uneasy. "Is the idea of talking to me truly so nerve-wracking? You look so skittish, like any second some loud noise would make you bolt."

Caroline huffed before she rolled her eyes at his statement. "Well excuse me if I'm not completely comfortable at the moment. I've never been in a situation like this before."

"Well I figured as much, otherwise your file would be a bit longer due to sexual harassment reports." Klaus replied. He meant the statement to be teasing but by the annoyance that sprang into Caroline's eyes and the redness blossoming on her cheeks; she didn't think it was funny. He had meant the statement in jest to get her to relax but it had done quite the opposite.

"Seriously?" Caroline exclaimed. Had he really just said what he said? Did he actually just suggest that she had a history of kissing her bosses? Or insinuate that it was her fault? "You kissed me first!"

"That I did." Klaus admitted but that didn't seem to lessen the fury that his words had incurred.

"Then you admit it!" Caroline exclaimed, as she rose from her seat.

"Admit that I kissed you? Yes, I admit it. Why wouldn't I?" Klaus asked, as he too rose from his spot so that they were face to face.

"Because you can't just go around kissing me!" Caroline stated. "One minute we were arguing and then out of nowhere, you just..,"

"I don't regret it," Klaus said cutting her off mid-rant.

Caroline felt her mouth drop open at his admission. She could only stare at him as he moved forward. Like the night before, when he kissed her, he came up and cupped her face while looking her dead in the eyes.

"Maybe I should have gone about expressing myself differently, but I don't regret kissing you or anything else that happened after I did. The only thing I regret is that we were interrupted." Klaus confessed as he looked into her eyes.

She wanted so badly for him to lean in and kiss her again or for her to do it herself but instead she brought her hands up over his and pulled them away from her face. "It can't happen again."

Now it was Klaus' turn to be surprised. "You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do."

"If I recall, you kissed me back. As a matter of fact, you were the one who pulled me back when I released you." Klaus argued. "You wanted me as much as I wanted you. And I know that you still want me, like I want you."

Caroline let go of his hands and stepped away, trying to put some distance between them. "I work for you, I live here and take care of your kids and that's it. I love my job, my career. I love Lexi and Henry and I can't risk losing all of that for a fling."

Klaus moved towards her again but when she retreated, he momentarily paused in his pursuit of her for fear that she might run away again. "Do you really think that low of me? That I only want to be in some tawdry affair with you"

Despite the fact that Caroline could see a little bit of hurt in his eyes, she couldn't stop the words as they came out of her mouth. "Isn't it?"

"No. If that was all I wanted from you, I would have tried to get you into my bed months ago." Klaus answered angrily. "I care about you. I might not have fully realized how much I care for you until yesterday, but I do."

Caroline closed her eyes for a moment in despair at his declaration. Was he really admitting that he cared about her? She thought maybe it was possible, but she had been trying to convince herself that her feelings were only one sided and, if anything, he only wanted a tumble and nothing more. How was she supposed to be sensible when the guy she had feelings for said he felt the same way? And if he did truly have those feelings, what if he just cared about the idea of her? "How do you know that what you feel is really for me?"

Klaus looked at her confused so she elaborated. "What if whatever you are feeling isn't for me, but because of our situation? Think about it. We have physical chemistry, I won't deny that so it means that you are living with someone you are attracted to, who loves your kids and spends a lot of time with you. That kind of intimacy could create false feelings."

"No, it's not just because you are here. I fancy you, is that so hard to believe?" Klaus asked. Why was she being so stubborn about this? She obviously felt the same way, or she wouldn't be questioning his intentions so much.

"Yes." Caroline answered. This conversation was not how she had planned for it to happen. On her way home from Bonnie's she had planned out exactly what she wanted to say and then he opened his mouth and all of her planning went to hell. He wasn't supposed to be fighting her on this so much.

Klaus could see the warring emotions in her eyes. She had convinced herself that he had only been interested in her for sex and nothing else. And now that he admitted to wanting more, she wasn't as confident in her argument as she had been when they started. "Why not? You're strong, you're beautiful, you light up the room with your smile, you look at Lexi and Henry as if they are the most important children in the world and I have no doubt you would do anything for them."

"I would." Caroline whispered. It was the truth, over the last few months she had fallen for them as much as she had fallen for their father.

"Then take a chance Caroline. There is something between us, something more than just desire. I enjoy the time I spend with you, but I want to be more than just a friend. I want to be able to touch you, hold you, kiss you, make love to you..."

Caroline felt heat rush through her body at his words, his voice deep and seductive and she sucked in a shaky breath.

Klaus heard her reaction to his words and knew he was affecting her but he wanted to remind her that he wanted more than a bedmate. "I want to make love to you," he said again, "just as much as I want to wrap my arms around you on the couch while the four of us watch a movie, hug you when we are cheering for Lexi, or hold your hand when we take the kids to the park."

Her heart felt like it was both fluttering and breaking at the same time. She wanted so much to lean in and kiss him. But she knew she couldn't give in. If she did and things didn't work out, she would lose everything; him, the twins, possibly her career. When things ended between them, she would have to look for a new job, and the agency would know about their relationship. It would leave a black mark on her record and if all that happened, she didn't think she would recover. "I have to listen to my head and not my heart. I'm sorry but I can't risk my career."

"Is your career more important than us? Jobs come and go. Who says you would have to find another job? Why do you have to be so pessimistic about us?" Klaus demanded.

"Because I have to be," Caroline retorted. "Otherwise I'd risk putting myself into a situation where I could lose everything!"

"So you want to just forget what happened last night and go back to the way things were?"

"Yes," Caroline answered.

"We can't...I can't Caroline!"

"If you can't respect my decision and remain just my friend, then as much as it would break my heart, maybe I shouldn't be here."

"I thought you said you didn't want to risk losing Lexi and Henry? Call me confused but wouldn't you leaving be doing just that?" Klaus argued.

"Yes, it would. But I also don't want to put them in the middle of this either." Caroline explained. "It would be unfair to them and make everyone involved miserable. Neither one of us wants that."

Her words took the fire out of Klaus' anger. If he kept pressing her, making her awkward and uncomfortable then she would leave. Then he would lose her forever. He could see she felt the same way he did; he just needed to give her time. He could be patient. "Fine."

"Fine?" Caroline repeated, surprised that he had agreed so quickly.

"Yes, fine. That is the answer you wanted isn't it?" Klaus asked.

"It's what is best."

At hearing her answer, Klaus decided to forgo his earlier decision to not have a drink, and walked over to the liquor cabinet. As he poured himself a drink, he couldn't help but feel disappointed with himself. There was a part of him that recognized, and understood, where Caroline was coming from. He had been thinking solely about himself and that had proved to not be the best plan of action in the past.

He took a sip of his drink before looking up and meeting her eyes. "Possibly. After all, I don't want to be responsible for my children losing another woman in their lives."

Klaus' statement and the tone of his voice caused the hair on Caroline's arm stand up. There was something more behind his statement than just what she said about possibly leaving. She wasn't sure if he would tell her but she had to ask. "Klaus, what do you mean by that?"

"Tatia, of course."

Now feeling even more confused, Caroline kept going. "Klaus, you weren't responsible for Tatia leaving. From what you told me she made the choice to leave the three of you"

He paused for a moment, he hadn't planned on having this conversation but now, there was no going back. Caroline wasn't one to let something slip by her so he explained. "She chose to leave us, but it was my selfish actions that drove her to make it."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked.

Klaus contemplated how to answer her question. It would be best to start at the beginning. "After my parents were killed, my siblings and I met with their lawyer for the reading of the will. I had of course already been disowned but the lawyer requested that I still be in attendance. At the reading, my parents' estate was divided equally between my four siblings."

"Then why did the lawyer insist on you being there?" Caroline asked confused. She had no idea how this connected with Tatia leaving but now that he was talking, she couldn't help but want more answers.

"Because my father had a special message for me. He left a letter for the lawyer to read; in it he revealed that I was not his son." Klaus answered as he remembered how he felt the day the rug had been pulled out from under him, the day his life would change forever. "My mother had an affair and I was the product of her infidelity. And for that reason alone, he hated me until the day he died."

"But why? It wasn't your fault; it was your mother's. He shouldn't have hated you, he should have divorced her and left," Caroline argued.

"He couldn't. The money in our family comes from her side and if he divorced her, he would be broke. So he stayed with her, kept the secret and later had Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik. When he had the opportunity to move us away from England and my mother's family, he did and we ended up here. But he didn't want me to live the rest of my life in blissful ignorance if he could help it. Since he was dead, and had nothing to lose, so he left one last hateful message," Klaus explained.

"I'm so sorry."

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement of her words. "I tell you that not for sympathy but to explain the cause behind my own sins."

"When I found out about my paternity, I felt...unwanted. I thought my siblings would look at me different, I thought I had lost them. They are such a big part of my life; I couldn't handle the thought of being alone. So I decided to start my own family." He declared.

Klaus hesitated before he continued. He knew when he started this conversation that it would come out but now that it had reached the moment of truth, he faltered Would she hate him once he told her? He couldn't blame her if she did. "I...I tampered with the birth control... we were using to make sure Tatia got pregnant even though I knew she didn't want to be."

Caroline's eyes widened in shock at his revelation. "Klaus, tell me you didn't."

"Then I would be lying."

"Did she ever find out?" Caroline asked.

"She didn't discover what I had done until the night I caught her with Elijah. I told you that I lashed out at her, to hurt her like I was hurting. She was in shock. She yelled at me that I only wanted her as a breeder and that I didn't care about her. I tried to explain my state of mind at the time, but she wouldn't listen and I can't blame her. It didn't help my case when I told her I wanted a divorce. She might have been the one to leave, but I'm responsible for my children being motherless. I don't for one-second regret the twins, but I do feel guilty about my actions. My selfishness brought them into this world but also left them without their mother." He acknowledged. He stared at her, as she absorbed what he had told her. For once, her thoughts not easy to read. "Caroline, say something."

"I'm not sure what to say at the moment," Caroline stated honestly. He had just told her his deepest darkest secret and she wasn't sure what to think, about him or the information he'd shared with her. As a woman, she couldn't deny that she was disgusted by what he had done. However, she understood the devastation he must have felt after learning that the man he'd believed was his father wasn't in reality, and fear that his siblings, the people whom he was closest with and cared most for, might turn their backs on him. Did that excuse what he did? No, it didn't.

But Caroline also knew how much he deeply loved his children. They were his world and he would do anything for them, even if it meant even if that meant sacrificing his own life for them. It wasn't as if he was some evil villain who impregnated his wife just to further some hidden agenda or evil plan, he wanted a family that would love him unconditionally when he thought his no longer would. No, he did everything he could to be the best father he could, even if the methods to get them to be conceived were less than honorable.

Once she was able to finally get a handle on her thoughts, she spoke. "What you did was horrible, you took away her control over her body but... it was still Tatia's choice to leave. She had other options; she could have stayed and raised them with you platonically, or she could have fought you for custody. They didn't ask to be born, like many other babies, but instead she ran away and abandoned them."

Klaus could hear the conviction in her voice at her statement and knew she was trying to convince him of her argument. The argument where she tried to take the guilt that he had been harboring for years and make sense of it. He couldn't believe that he had told her his darkest sin and she was trying to make him feel better.

And she wondered why he cared about her?

Caroline couldn't tell if what she had said had done any good, but he seemed to have relaxed a little. She wanted to think that was because he had accepted her argument and taken some of the weight off of his shoulders.

This evening had been intense to say the least and that coupled with her sleepless night before, Caroline felt exhaustion weighing down on her. She felt like she had worked things out with Klaus and they had come to an understanding and now all she wanted to do was go to bed. She looked over where Klaus was nursing his drink. "I'm going to go to bed."

She turned and headed out towards the staircase when Klaus' voice stopped her. "Caroline, I might have agreed to just be friends, but that doesn't mean that I will forget last night or how I feel for you. Perhaps one day you'll get past your fears and see not what you could lose but what you could gain."

Somehow, Caroline found the willpower to not turn around and continued upstairs despite the way his words clenched her heart. She knew if she has looked at him, she wouldn't be able to walk away and she had to; she had to be smart about this.

As she headed to her room, she passed by Henry's door and saw him splayed out on the bed, with the covers askew. He had a habit of kicking them off at night so she went inside to pull them back over him so that he wouldn't get cold. When she reached out to pull them back up, Henry stirred a little in his sleep and looked up at her. "Caroline..."

"Go back to sleep sweetie, it's late."

"Okay..." Henry replied sleepily. "Love you."

No sooner had the words fallen from his lips, and he was back asleep. Caroline felt tears springing to her eyes though and she wiped them away quickly before leaning over to kiss the top of his head. "Love you too sweetie."

She left his room then and headed to her own; unable to shake the feeling that Klaus was right. He warned her that her cynicism was holding her back and keeping her from seeing something she could gain. Maybe he was right, and if she reconsidered her decision and gave in, she'd see everything that a relationship could offer. She would have him and the twins.

She suddenly remembered the woman she had seen wrapped around Klaus the night before, and she couldn't help the doubt that washed over her. Why hadn't she asked him about the woman when they had been talking? She wasn't mad per se at him, he was single and could do what he wanted but it still hurt.

Caroline sat on her bed and put her head in her hands, feeling more conflicted and confused than ever.

Well are you guys mad at me? You didn't think it was going to be that easy for them to get together did you? Oh, and I promise, I will not take another 25 parts to bring them together.

Sorry about the dream, I promise it will be the last one. I couldn't help myself.

What did you think about the part? Caroline breaking up with Dean? Her talk with Klaus? The last piece of Klaus' history with Tatia? It is my take on his whole hybrid story line in the show. I hope I don't lose any readers for that part.

Also, this part exhausted me to write, so I haven't even started on the next one. I hope to do so soon but just wanted to give you guys the heads up. Plus track season started this week for my oldest so I'll be spending a good 8 hours a week at the field which will cut down on my writing time.