Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Caroline wakes up slowly; she’s warmer than she usually is, wrapped in blankets of dark navy and white stripes. It’s not the blankets that’s the first clue, nor is it the ebony furniture around the room decorated with photos.

It’s the arm slung around her waist, tucking her deeply into someone else’s space. It doesn’t feel familiar, as comfortable as she is, and she manages to flail out of the bed and land on a heap at the floor.

When she pops her head back up, ready to fight or flight, Klaus is staring at her. He looks more confused than she’s ever seen him, and wounded somehow, as if he doesn’t know what to do or what he’s up against.

“Caroline?” His voice is sleepy, raspy and adorable in a way she usually ignores.

“What the hell, Klaus!?” She snarls, “This is too far! Where am I?”

Her heart is pounding frantically; it’s not exactly that Caroline feels threatened by Klaus, even though she should, it’s more that this is so unexpected.

“I can’t-” Klaus throws the covers off him, “Caroline, I can’t-”

Caroline stands, furious, “You can’t what, Klaus?! Take a freaking hint?! Because let me tell you, kidnapping me is definitely not a way to get in my favor, you stupid-”

“I can’t hear,” Klaus snaps, “I can’t smell, or hear, or anything.”

Caroline pauses, “What?”

Klaus’ expression flickers- a cross between absolute terror and surprise, “I’m human.”

Caroline gapes at him just long enough to clue into the fact that her heart is pounding and her lungs are pumping, and she hasn’t felt this full in forever -- she’s perpetually hungry, always fighting off cravings, and now it’s an absence of so many things.

“Me too.” She whispers.

Klaus swallows, audible in the large bedroom. He hasn’t moved from the side of the bed, and he looks kind of ridiculous in his soft blue pajama pants and grey shirt. Caroline scans the room, more to avoid looking at him than anything else, but her eyes catch on a million things throughout the room, and it’s hard to decide what to focus on first.

She lunges at the dresser though, because she can see a photo that she recognizes; it’s her, Bonnie, Elena and Matt, far before Stefan and Damon even entered the picture, and they look so young. She’s comforted for a moment that even in the weird twilight zone they’ve entered she still has Bonnie and Elena, and even Matt.

Beside that photo is another one resting in a tasteful silver frame, and Caroline stares blankly at it for a moment because she just doesn’t freaking understand.

It’s definitely her in the photo, just older; she’s got laugh lines and longer hair curling around her shoulders, but her blue eyes are the same. The older version of Caroline in the photo though -- she’s stunning. She’s laughing openly, her smile splitting her face; Caroline doesn’t think she’s ever been as happy as the version of her in the photo. Not for a long time, if ever. This Caroline looks like she’s never heard of Damon Salvatore, or Katherine Pierce, or vampires at all.

The photo is black and white; the contrast between the white dress Caroline is wearing and the black suit of the man beside her is startling, but not as much as the fact that the man in the photo is Klaus.

He’s older too, but he’s got the same smirk on, and in the photo he’s staring at her as though she is the only thing in the entire world that even matters.

Caroline feels sucker punched, and the feeling only intensifies when she glances down at her hand to see a ring glinting up at her. It’s beautiful, and exactly her style, and Caroline hates that now that she’s seen it nothing else will ever compare.

She whirls on Klaus who still hasn’t moved. “Klaus, do I look older?” 

Klaus turns to her as if on autopilot, and Caroline almost feels bad because it’s probably shocking for a thousand year old vampire to suddenly be human. He blinks slowly, but eventually says, “Yes. Your hair is longer, too.”

Caroline glances down, taking in her comfy PJ shorts, and her tangled hair that sits below her breasts now. If she had paid more attention earlier she would have noticed that Klaus looks different too. He’s got crows feet gathered around his eyes from smiling, and he’s softer now -- he’s still built, which makes Caroline want to hate him all over again for being so damn attractive, but he seems... happier.

It’s a good look for him.

“We’re married.” Caroline whispers, her voice echoing in the silent bedroom. Klaus doesn’t even flinch at this, just stares down at the band on his finger.

“I didn’t do this, Caroline,” he says softly, “I know you think I did, but-”

Caroline waves him off, “I don’t think you did this. You’d never turn human for the sake of a girl -- you wouldn’t even fake being mortal.”

Klaus sinks back onto the bed and rests his head in his palms. Caroline has never seen him look so vulnerable, and she sets her animosity towards him aside, because there are more important things in this new world, especially when Klaus is the only thing familiar to her.

She pores over the dresser, finding other photos from their wedding, and pictures with friends; there’s some of Bonnie and Jeremy, and Damon and Elena. They all look the same, and Caroline suddenly misses them fiercely.

It’s the photo of the little girl with Klaus’ blue eyes and blonde hair that sends her careening into the hallway searching for a kids room. There’s nothing there, only a bathroom and an office, and a single spare room with a bed in it. She makes her way down the stairs into a welcoming living room that connects to a kitchen and dining room. 

The house is small, but tastefully decorated, and Caroline hates that she sees herself in every minute detail. Even the bookshelves have all her favourites, and the kitchen is stocked with everything she had eaten as a human.

She sits down on the floor in the living room, mostly because her legs give out at the sight of the painting on the wall. It’s her, and she’s lying on grass curled around the same little girl in the photo upstairs. Both of them are almost lifelike, and Caroline can hardly contain her awe at the sheer beauty of the image.

It’s not a hard jump to come to the conclusion that Klaus painted them.

He finally follows her downstairs twenty minutes later; he’s taking everything in as he’s going, and even though it took him longer to get his act together, he’s much more centred than she was.

He comes to a stop in front of the painting where Caroline’s still sitting on the floor.

“I painted this.” Klaus tells her, “I can tell. It’s my style, I can feel it that I painted it, and yet, I’ve never painted this image. I’ve never seen that little girl, although she is the spitting image of Rebekah as a child.”

“I think she is Rebekah’s.” Caroline whispers, “She’s in a picture upstairs, too.”

Klaus steps forward and rests the tips of his fingers gently on the painting. “I must love her.”

Caroline snaps her head in his direction at his words, because they’re so shocking coming from his mouth, “What?”

Klaus stares at her, his mouth twisted in some semblance of a smile; “I took such care with this painting, it’s obvious in every brush stroke. In this universe, or dream, or reality, I must love her.”

Caroline doesn’t mention the fact that he must have taken the same care with her own face as well, though it’s true. Klaus is right, but it doesn’t matter either way.

“I think we need to see Bonnie.” 

Klaus curls his fingers into a fist and nods decisively, “For once, love, I completely agree.”

He helps her to her feet and she starts off towards the door she had seen by the stairs; upon opening it she finds what must be Klaus’ studio instead of a garage. It’s a big room, and it’s covered in half finished canvases. Unlike the studio he had once showed her, this one is brightly lit, and many of the canvases are covered in colours that Caroline never would have associated with Klaus.

Many of them are also covered with her. Caroline’s eyes peek out of at least three canvases, and two of them are pencil sketches of her lying in bed; many of them have the little girl from the photo as well.

Klaus stares at it a bit helplessly, and eventually shuts the door. Caroline doesn’t try to stop him.

 

---

 

They end up finding Caroline’s car parked outside the house, with the keys inside her jacket pocket. Everything around them is familiar; it’s still Mystic Falls, just a different neighbourhood from the one she grew up in.

When they drive by Caroline’s old house her mom’s car is in the driveway. Caroline doesn’t want to stop though, doesn’t want to see her mother any older, or not know who she is now.

The drive is silent; Caroline feels trapped under the weight of her own fears. It’s been a long time since she’s felt the same anxious, uncontrollable terror and panic that reigned much of her youth. In a way, she feels dull and muted, because her emotions have lost the razor sharp quality that vampirism had created; in a completely different way, Caroline feels like she’s drowning.

“I hate being human,” she finally says, and Klaus looks at her from the driver’s seat, “I know I don’t have a right to complain, because this has got to be weirder for you. At least I remember being human... it wasn’t that long ago for me. But sometimes, I forget how much I hated it.”

Klaus nods, “It’s not as bad as I remember.” His hands tighten on the steering wheel, and Caroline thinks he’s going to leave it at that, but eventually he adds, “There are worse things than seeing this side of mortality.”

Caroline sighs, “Probably wouldn’t hurt to let all vampires remember this every once in a while.”

Klaus doesn’t respond right away, but he does throw out a hand and ask: “Isn’t that the doppelganger’s house, love?” 

Caroline twists to look immediately, and sure enough Elena’s house is standing in the same spot it always was; there’s not a single scorch mark on the side. The grass is green, and the same begonias Elena’s mother had always planted litter the side of the house.

The oddest sight, however, is Jeremy chasing a little boy around with a hose.

“Pull over.” Klaus obeys her words instantly, and before Caroline can stop herself she’s out of the car on the edge of the Gilbert's fence, staring at the house.

Jeremy pauses in his game of chase and drops the hose, “Caroline, what’s up? We didn’t know you were coming over.”

A tiny face peeks up from behind the fence and grins at her; the little boy is missing his front tooth, and his eyes are so dark they’re almost black. Caroline loves him instantly, which is probably why he decides to utter words that stop her in her tracks.

“Where’s Uncle Klaus?” 

Klaus appears beside her as if summoned, and the little boy squeals with delight and tears off into the house. Jeremy laughs at his antics and waves them into the front yard.

“Sorry, Grayson’s just so excited today,” Jeremy tells them, “Bonnie’s probably going to be out in a second, she was just changing Abby. Come on in, I’ll just go put the hose away.” 

Caroline has a moment where she tries to make sense of the words Jeremy is throwing at them before realizing that absolutely nothing makes sense in this stupid universe where adorable kids call Klaus “uncle”.

Klaus seems just as flabbergasted as she does, which is hardly any consolation, although he seems to be holding it together better than Caroline is, because she can feel herself shaking under all the stupid implications and expectations of this world.

Klaus’ hand slips into hers as though it’s done it a million times, and it takes them both an eternal second to freeze at the action. Surprisingly, it’s Klaus who snatches his hand away first, staring at it as though it’s betrayed him. 

“I didn’t--” Klaus scowls darkly, and it’s probably the first familiar expression Caroline has seen on this new-yet-old face, “I change my mind. Being human is definitely overrated, love.”

Caroline snorts and opens the gate to the fence, “For once, we agree.”

He follows her into the house, and Caroline hates that she can feel guilt gnawing at her, because how hard must this be for him to stand in the same kitchen where Kol died? Caroline has never totally come to terms with the part she played in Klaus’ brother’s death, though she knows there wasn’t many other options.

“Reminiscing, love?” His tone is taunting, and if she just closes her eyes she can almost imagine that they’re back in normal Mystic Falls, and he’s just stalking her. 

“Care!” Bonnie appears around the corner, exuberant as always. Her hair is shorter now, and she’s curvier than she was when Caroline last saw her, but in this universe it’s probably due to the tiny girl she’s carrying on her hip. “We haven’t seen you two in so long! What’s up?”

Caroline manages to pull her eyes away from the tiny girl’s face -it must be Abby, and she’s the spitting image of Bonnie- long enough to focus on her friend’s words, “Oh, umm, not much, Klaus and I just had some magic related questions?”

Bonnie stares at her, amusement lighting up her face, “Klaus?! Since when do you ever call him that?” she laughs and turns to Klaus, “You must be in the dog house!”

It’s that moment that Jeremy comes into the kitchen and spares Caroline from analyzing what in the hell Bonnie is even talking about. Bonnie lights up at the sight of him, and in a way it’s almost comforting to see Jeremy scoop Abby out of Bonnie’s arms and deposit a kiss on her cheek, because at least this is something Caroline understands. Bonnie and Jeremy were together -- hell, they were good together, even in their normal universe.

“Hey, Klaus, can I steal you for a second? I’m working on this one art project for school, and I can’t for the life of me figure this one thing out? Something to do with acrylics -- I have no idea, my strength is science, and yet they put me in teaching art every year!”

Klaus throws a loaded glance at her and shrugs, “I’ll see what I can do?” 

They leave the kitchen, and finally Caroline is alone with Bonnie, whose staring at her worriedly. The expression is so familiar Caroline automatically relaxes and says, “What?”

Bonnie sighs, “Are you okay, Care?”

“Oh, umm, yes?” Caroline replies, “Honestly, we didn’t want to bother you, it’s just we’re having some magic issues, and we need -”

Bonnie frowns, “You keep saying that. Magic. What are you even talking about?”

Caroline gapes at her, “Bonnie, you know! Magic -- like, Salem witches, and your Gran? I’m having an issue, and I need you to pull out your grimoire!”

Bonnie’s face morphs from annoyance to sympathy in seconds, and Caroline finds herself on the receiving end of a hug. She can’t help but sink into it; her shoulders are knotted with tension, and her head has been pounding probably since she woke up that morning. It doesn’t really matter to her that this Bonnie fits a bit differently in her arms… it’s still Bonnie.

“Care -- I’m so sorry. You can’t give up hope! I don’t want you thinking about anything negative; I just know it’s going to work soon.” Bonnie soothes her, “You know that Gran was nuts, you’ve never believed in any of that stuff; don’t start looking for magic solutions now. Just wait it out! Klaus is being patient with you, right?”

Caroline slowly pulls out of Bonnie’s arms, sorting through all the words she just heard: “You... don’t do magic? Like, spells? Witchcraft, you know, that stuff?”

Bonnie rolls her eyes, “Caroline Mikaelson, you’ve known me since I was five -- of course I’ve never believed in any of that crap. If you really want my help we could go see a pathologist maybe, but I think you and Klaus should just keep doing what you’re doing.”

Caroline nods blankly, her heart beating halfway out of her chest at the fact that Bonnie called her Caroline Mikaelson; she had known her and Klaus were married in this stupid reality, but it was a whole new thing to hear Bonnie say it. Caroline also has no idea what Bonnie is even talking about, because this universe is absolutely ridiculous and stupid, and of course Bonnie Bennett is not a witch in this reality. Go figure. 

Bonnie smiles at her, “Keep up that Caroline spirit! I know it’s going to work. Even Elena and Damon think you two will be next! You’ve been trying long enough, definitely! I cannot wait to be Auntie Bonnie!”

Bonnie squeezes her arms and heads into the living room, tossing out something about ‘finding Grayson before he gets in trouble’. Caroline is rooted to the spot, the blood pumping in her ears preventing her from hearing anything or even thinking. There is absolutely no way Bonnie is talking about Caroline trying for kids. Even in this reality, Caroline doesn’t make sense with Klaus, and Klaus sure as hell doesn’t make sense with kids.

She doesn’t unfreeze until Klaus appears in the doorway with Jeremy by his side; Klaus looks vaguely annoyed and murderous, and she wants to laugh at the expression because for the first time ever she’s comforted by the thought that at least Klaus is the same, even as a human.

“Hey, Jer,” Caroline says, “Sorry, we have to go! I just wanted to get Bonnie’s opinion on something!”

Jeremy grins, “Oh, no worries! We’ll see you Friday for the barbeque?” 

“Um, yeah!” Caroline agrees, striding out of the kitchen and hoping that Klaus follows her. She pauses at the door to call out a final: “Goodbye!”.

Klaus matches her pace and beats her into the car, sliding into the drivers’ side as though he owns it -- and she supposes, a little hysterically, he does own it.

“What happened, love?” He asks, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Caroline turns to him, ready to spill everything, but she pauses. Klaus does look concerned, and he really is the only ally she has in this whole mess right now, but she’s plotted his death with her friends enough that it’s probably a terrible idea. It hasn’t even been that long since Kol’s death, and Klaus was furious with her.

“Everyone in this... world... is different.” Caroline settles for.

Klaus scowls, “Obviously. We look like a thirty year old married couple who goes to their friends’ houses for barbecues! It’s disgusting!”

She can’t help it, she giggles, “Thank god you’re the same old murderous hybrid.”

“Except without the hybrid, now.” He reminds her, which sobers her instantly.

“Bonnie’s not a witch.” She tells him. “She has no idea what magic is, or what she’s capable of like our Bonnie is.”

Klaus curses, “I was afraid of that.” 

“What are we going to do?” Her voice is rising in a way she remembers from when she was human, “We’re never going to get back and I’m going to be married to you forever, and while forever is no longer that long since we’re not even vampires here, it’s still a long, long time and I’m-”

“Caroline, breathe,” Klaus is suddenly leaning over the console in front of her face, “I don’t know what we’re going to do yet, love, but we will get home. As much as I enjoy your company, I don’t particularly care for the idea of our marriage either.”

Caroline glares at him, “That was rude.”

He rolls his eyes and slides back into his seat, turning the car on. “You’ve said worse to me.”

It stings because it’s true, even though Klaus had no venom in his voice when he says it. He’s said and done worse to her too; he’s done worse to everyone she knows, killed far too many people.

Still, Caroline doesn’t have any siblings, but she imagines that if she did she would never forgive anyone who hurt them. Yet, Klaus had saved her. Of course, he was the one who initially put her in danger, but it’s hard to forget the way her body had burned and ached with the werewolf bite, and the way she had relaxed the second she had tasted his blood.

“It was good to see her happy.” Caroline murmurs, because the car has fallen silent and she hates it. They’re headed away from town, towards his mansion on the edge of Mystic Falls, and Caroline has no argument for it because it seems like the most logical place to be.

“This place will haunt you, when we finally get back.” Klaus replies softly. 

Caroline hadn’t thought of it, but it’s true. The idea of Bonnie older and surrounded by Jeremy and their children was beautiful, and now that she’s seen it she can’t help but wonder if they’ll get there.

Hell, marriage to Klaus might not be ideal, but she can’t get that photo on their dresser off her mind. She had looked so happy. Caroline can feel the tears threatening her eyes and she turns her face to the window and presses her face to the glass.

Klaus says nothing, not even when they pull up to the vastly unchanged mansion. Caroline is surprised when he jumps out of the car and walks over to her side of the car to open her door for her. He’s got a funny expression on, and he doesn’t speak as he helps Caroline out of the car.

“What do you think you normally call me?” He finally asks when they’re standing on the door of the mansion, waiting for someone to open it.

“Sorry, what?”

Klaus frowns down at her, “Bonnie thought it was odd that you called me Klaus. What do you suppose you normally call me?”

Caroline shrugs, “Probably Niklaus.”

He blanches slightly, “What?”

“Think about it,” Caroline says, “if you married a girl, especially in this reality, wouldn’t she call you your full name?”

Klaus stares at her, and Caroline represses a shiver under his gaze, “Caroline… I would prefer you not to call me Niklaus.”

Caroline frowns, “It doesn’t matter to me, but people here might think it’s odd that I don’t if I... used to?” It’s a question because she just doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand how there could have been a living breathing human Caroline-and-Niklaus duo here, married and interacting with their friends, and then suddenly they are gone, and Caroline-and-Klaus from a different reality of death and hatred and immortals appear.

“Nik… would be better, if you must.” Klaus says, “Not many people call me Niklaus.”

They stand there awkwardly for a second after that, until the door finally creaks open and a large man scowls at them.

“Niklaus,” he practically growls, “Caroline. What is it you want?”

Klaus reacts instantly, his arm snaking out to grab her and tug her back. He looks absolutely terrified in a way Caroline has never seen him; not even when Kol was burning in front of him, not even when Esther tried to kill them all.

“Father.” He hisses. Caroline finally gets with the program and steps back once again, hiding slightly behind Klaus’ frame. She recognizes the man now; he’s huge, dark haired. He resembles Elijah and Kol in a way she hadn’t noticed before, when he had been in Mystic Falls. It isn’t hard to see how similar Klaus and Rebekah are to Esther, instead of their father.

Mikael scowls at them, “I seem to think we have a miscommunication, since the last time you darkened my doorstep, Niklaus, I told you to leave and never come back, especially with that whore you call your wife.”

Klaus flinches as though he’s been struck, and Caroline realizes that maybe not all realities are perfect, “Don’t speak to us like that!” Her voice is shrill with fear.

“We’ll be leaving,” Klaus says stiffly, “this was my mistake.”

Mikael nods, “See that you don’t make it again.”

He slams the door in their face.

Klaus whirls towards the car and starts walking, leaving her behind in an instant. Caroline flings herself off the front step and races after him, throwing herself into the running vehicle before he has a chance to drive away.

He’s sitting with his hands on the wheel, muscles coiled and expression deadly; he looks exactly like the Klaus she’s always known, and Caroline wonders why it’s so surprising to her that he would revert back to it.

“Klaus, I didn’t-”

“We’re not friends, love, and don’t start pretending we are,” Klaus snarls at her, his face furious, “just because we’re stuck in this godforsaken shit hole of a reality does not suddenly make us friends. I have used up entirely all of my patience and tolerance today and I don’t wish to deal with more of you, so sit there and be silent.”

Caroline snaps her mouth shut with an audible clack, but the silence doesn’t last. She narrows her eyes even further, steeling herself to the wounded look in his ridiculous blue eyes.

“Klaus, don’t you dare tell me to be silent,” Caroline hisses, “I know that we aren’t friends; don’t you think I’ve been telling you that from the very beginning? But right now, it’s just you and me, and I don’t know about you but I’d like to get back to our old world where everything made sense! So you can take your asshole comments and bad attitude and shove-”

“They were supposed to be dead!” Klaus yells, cutting off her sentence once more. This time, his eyes are wild, and he flings his hands out, “Mikael is supposed to be dead!”

Just like that Caroline knows. It’s not that hard to see, with the way Klaus is pale and shaky and staring at her in absolute horror and confusion. Mikael was his worst nightmare, his only fear for thousands of years, and just when he thought he was dead, Klaus manages to find the one reality where Mikael is cozied up in Klaus’ home, perfectly alive, and just as much of an asshole. 

It probably doesn’t help that Klaus is feeling his mortality at the moment; he’s powerless and human, and he’s just been confronted with the only man he’s ever feared.

“He is dead,” Caroline murmurs, “you know that. He’s gone. It’s just this place.”

Klaus’ glare is absolutely glacial, “I despise this place.”

Caroline nods, “I know. I don’t like it either. But, seriously Klaus: truce. Stop yelling at me, it’s not my fault we’re here.”

Klaus sighs, “And how do you prove that, love? Last time I checked you were being used as a blonde distraction for your friends, and now we oh-so conveniently find ourselves shipped off to another reality after I said I wanted to murder your friends. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

He doesn’t wait for her to respond, he just starts the car and drives away. Caroline doesn’t have an answer; for once, Klaus is making more sense than she’d care to admit, and she can’t exactly blame him for thinking that she had a hand in this.

They pull up in front of the same house they had left from only a few hours earlier -- their house. It’s white with dark trim, and Caroline can see flowers in the yard from where they’re parked.

It’s beautiful.

She swallows, “Klaus. I know you have no reason to believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, given our past. But-- but this time... this time I’m not here as a distraction. I’m just as confused as you are, and I want to go home just as badly.”

Klaus pulls the keys out of the ignition and drops them into his pocket, and after a tense silence he admits: “I do believe you, love, but we have to find a way to get home. If Bonnie isn’t the way, we’ll have to find something else.”

They walk together to the front door, and when they go inside the house Caroline relaxes for the first time all day. She likes the house, even if it is a little weird, and it’s nice to at least be around people she doesn’t have to pretend for. 

“I’m going to paint.” Klaus declares, disappearing into the door off the side of the living room. Caroline doesn’t even question it; she supposes that it’s a habit from the old reality, and if it calms him down then she encourages it.

She meanders through the kitchen again, pulling out stuff for dinner. It’s weird feeling hungry for food now, but she doesn’t want to dwell on her new ‘human’ status. Unlike many of her friends, Caroline had liked being a vampire. It had calmed her, in a lot of ways; the strength and confidence helped her find herself. 

The phone startles her out of her thoughts, and she puts down the vegetables she had been staring at long enough to find the handheld on the counter. There’s no name on the screen, but she picks it up anyway.

“Hello?”

Elena’s voice greets her, cheery and soothing: “Hey, Care! Bonnie said you swung by today!”

Caroline can’t help but smile because she hasn’t heard Elena this carefree since pre-parents-car-crash, “Yeah, just wanted to chat. How are you?”

“Oh, good! Damon and I just finished dinner -- he’s off somewhere, some business meeting about the shelter with Stefan, I think -- and Bonnie called to chat with me. She’s so excited about the barbecue on Friday; I think Rebekah is going to have a heart attack planning it all, but thank god Matt is there to calm her down, as per usual!”

“Of course.” Caroline chips in when Elena falls silent. She grasps for something to say, because this is the most she’s learned about their life all freaking day, and she doesn’t want it to end. It’s hard to find a topic though, when she knows absolutely nothing about anything. “So, how is Damon?”

It’s a safe bet -- Bonnie all but confirmed Elena and Damon were together, and even Elena had mentioned eating dinner with him. Elena sighs over the phone, “Oh, he’s great, but I wish he would stop going away! I mean, we just got married, and I’d rather not put it to the test yet. I mean, I remember how crazy you were when Klaus was gone for those few months when you two got married!”

Caroline laughs, a little hysterically, but normal enough Elena doesn’t react, “Oh, yeah... that was... terrible!”

“Hey, Care, you sure you’re okay?” Elena asks quietly, “Bonnie told me you were getting frustrated about the whole... baby situation.”

Caroline feels her cheeks heat up at the thought, even though it wasn’t actually her who was thinking about having babies... it was just ‘other’ her. “Oh, no, no, I’m not frustrated, I just-- I think--” she heaves a breath and thinks fast, “we’re actually going to put that all on the back burner for a while.”

Elena hums, “Really?! You’ve been trying for so long!”

Caroline chokes a little, thinks about what women say in this situation on movies and finally manages: “Yeah, no, I mean, it’s just making us upset. We’ll take a pause, look at our life, and maybe start trying again down the road a little.”

“I think that’s smart, Care. You’re just working yourself up, and Klaus hates when you’re upset.”

“I know,” and for once, that’s not entirely a lie. Klaus is oddly protective of her, so it stands to reason it’s even more amplified in this universe, “it’s healthy to re-assess where we’re at.”

“It’s not a money thing though, right?” Elena asks suddenly.

Caroline feels faint for a moment because oh-holy-shit money! Do they even have money!?

“Oh, no money is not a problem right now.” Caroline says, all bluster. She has no freaking idea if money is an issue, although they have a house and a car so they must be okay? What do they even do?

Elena laughs, “I’m glad. I mean, I didn’t think so, Klaus seems to be doing well with painting, and you have your whole event coordinating thing, but you just never know.”

Klaus walks out from his painting room, covered in paints and wearing a scowl, and he freezes when he sees her with the phone against her ear.

“Yeah, we’re fine, Elena,” Caroline affirms, “Anyway, I gotta go, dinner’s ready.”

Elena laughs, “Okay, cool, see you Friday!”

Caroline hangs up the phone and stares back at Klaus, “That was Elena.” 

“I realized that, love. What did she call for?” he asks.

“Heard we stopped by Bonnie’s and wanted to chat. Everyone is telling us they’ll see us Friday, and I don’t even know what day Friday is, Klaus, I’m freaking out!” 

Klaus steps towards her almost unwillingly, “We’re going to figure this out.”

“Yeah,” Caroline screeches, “but not today! Not before I probably have to work tomorrow, or before this stupid fucking barbecue on Friday that your sister —who, by the way, absolutely hates me-- is hosting!”

Klaus strides across the kitchen and snatches her arms, shaking her just slightly, “She doesn’t hate you in this universe! Nothing from before even applies!”  He’s practically snarling, “We have bigger problems than a job, did you forget that we’re human now!?”

Caroline doesn’t want it to happen, but she can feel her eyes filling with tears and spilling over,  and before she knows it Klaus is letting go of her arms as if he’s been burned, “You don’t get it, I’m terrible at being human, and I miss my friends and I don’t know what the hell is happening there, which is kind of important to me!”

Klaus scowls at her, his eyes murderous, “You’re acting like a child.”

Fury ripples through her at his words, and she brushes past him, shoving her shoulder into him as she passes because fuck-it he’s human and she’s human and for once they’re on a semi-equal playing field. 

“Dinner’s on the stove, asshole,” she hisses as she walks out of the kitchen and climbs the stairs. Klaus doesn’t move to retaliate and Caroline hopes with all her might that he feels guilty about his words. She slips into their bedroom, staring at the mess of blankets from where they didn’t make the bed. It feels homey, and Caroline tries her best to ignore that as she slips under the covers and lets herself relax into the comfort of the mattress.

It smells like Klaus; like cedar and smoke and patchouli paints. It’s the smell that finally gets to her, and every neurotic little freak out she’s been trying to hold back all day spills out alongside her tears. She cries and cries, as quiet as she can, until she can’t cry anymore and she falls asleep.

 

---

 

At night she dreams.

She dreams of a million memories she’s never actually made.

She dreams of graduation alongside her friends; a graduation that’s completely and utterly ordinary and mortal.

She dreams of her first date with Klaus, whom she calls Nik; they go for milkshakes and he takes her out dancing, and Caroline knows -she just knows- that it was perfect.

She dreams of Bonnie’s wedding, and being a bridesmaid, and dresses she hates on a day that is perfect; Nik is her date and he looks devastating in his suit.

She dreams of her niece, Hannah, and the way Rebekah set her into Caroline’s arms so gently; Caroline dreams that she loves her down to her tiny toes, and she loves her all the more for the way Matt lets himself cry in happiness when he stares at her and Rebekah, the two loves of his life.

She dreams of moving into their house, and sleeping on the floor, and waking up to Nik tickling her with his whiskers on her stomach, and kissing her senseless.

And when she wakes up, she cries, because she remembers her dreams.

 

---

 

The sunlight makes everything seem more hopeful, and Caroline drags herself out of bed and into the shower before she can think about all the non-memories flying around her brain.  It’s refreshing to shower, and Caroline digs through her drawers and pulls on clothes that feel unfamiliar but broken in.

When she finally makes her way downstairs she feels better, and it helps that the house smells incredible.

Klaus is standing in the kitchen, and for a second Caroline’s body absolutely aches to go up to him, slip her arms around his waist like she might have done in another life. Caroline tamps that down, because approaching Klaus from the back could likely end in her death via butcher knife.

He turns, the sunlight through the window making him seem less deadly than he is, and he holds out a plate to her.

“I made breakfast.” he says, softly. He doesn’t apologize, but Caroline knows that he probably never would have. This is as close as he’ll ever come.

She takes the plate and heads to the table, crossing her legs under her. It’s just bacon and eggs, but it smells amazing. Klaus sits down across from her with his own plate and starts eating.

“I called work for you.” he tells her.

Caroline freezes, “What!?”

“Last night I looked around the house, found some stuff.” he sighs, “I thought you probably wouldn’t want to go into work if you didn’t know anything about it.”

“Thank you,” Caroline says warily, “did you sleep at all last night?”

Klaus frowns, “No. I’m tired and... and I usually don’t feel tired like this.”

This is something Caroline can actually help with. Even if she hates it, she is the expert on modern humans right now, “You’re human. You need to sleep every night, eat three times a day, that type of thing.”

Klaus rolls his eyes, “Yes, love, I’ll get right on that. How was your sleep?”

Caroline hesitates because she doesn’t want to tell him that she woke up with the memory of his breath on her hair, his kisses on her lips; she also doesn’t want to remember the way he looked at her each time he realized she was the distraction, the betrayer, the liar. 

“It was okay.” she tells him, because that’s the truth.

He eyes her, “Just okay?”

She hates this, the lying. She didn’t like it in their reality, and she hates it even more at their table, surrounded by pictures of their life and their memories. She hates it when he looks at her with blue eyes alight with curiosity.

“I dreamed...” she sighs, “I dreamed of our life -- but, our life in this world. I dreamed about memories I don’t have, with you, and with all my friends. I dreamed of Hannah...”

“Who’s Hannah?” Klaus asks immediately. The question ripples down Caroline’s spine with wrongness because Hannah is important; Klaus should know her.

Caroline shakes off the feeling, “Your niece. Rebekah and Matt’s daughter.”

“The busboy?” Klaus sneers with derision.

Caroline scowls, “And my best friend! She’s beautiful. She’s the one in the painting.”

Klaus nods slowly, taking in her words. “So you have memories now. Do you think I’ll dream when I sleep?”

“I honestly hope not,” Caroline whispers, staring him straight in the eyes, “for your sake.”

He doesn’t question what she means; maybe he sees the way she’s haunted by the images in her brain, the way she’ll never be able to forget them even when they do get home. They finish eating together in silence, questions and what-ifs and fear circulating in their veins. Caroline takes his plate to the sink and washes them up, putting them back in the cupboard with all the other dishes.

Klaus is standing in the doorway holding a book when she finally turns around. He looks pensive, and a little vulnerable, and Caroline’s heart pounds against her rib cage at the sight. 

“I found this.” he tells her, and sets the book on the counter. He doesn’t stay to explain, he just strides away, into the doorway to his studio. Caroline doesn’t even question it anymore, she just grabs the book and makes her way to the couch. 

When she opens it she chokes up because it’s so goddamn familiar to her. Inside are photos of her growing up; kindergarten in pigtails, her mom’s hand tucked into hers; Elena and her in grade four when they first met Bonnie; her and Tyler at her first Junior High dance.

Caroline hasn’t even considered Tyler since they arrived. It’s hard to look at his face though, smiling at her teenage self. He looks just as in love with her then as he had in the other reality only a few short weeks ago.

It’s hard to look at herself though; not because she’s wearing the ugliest purple dress in history, or her lime green braces, it’s because she just doesn’t look happy.

Caroline with Tyler doesn’t even compare to the Caroline in her wedding photo with Klaus. She hates herself for even trying to compare it, and flips the next page.

It’s a history she’s never seen before: her mom at her graduation, Jenna -alive and healthy- with her arms around Elena and Jeremy, Stefan and Damon grinning at each other as brothers should.

Every page sinks her deeper. There’s Klaus with his arms around her, Rebekah and Matt’s wedding, and Hannah’s first birthday. There’s pictures of Klaus proposing to her on a beach, and Caroline wishes that she could remember that for herself. 

There’s so many photos of them; their house, their parties, their wedding, their life. Caroline’s never seen Klaus smile the way he is in the photos; she’s never seen Matt smile the way he does in the photos either.

When she gets to the end of the photo album she finds their wedding license, their house deed, their wills. They leave everything to each other.

Caroline’s not even surprised, she’s just numb. She manages to lay the book gently on the floor, because even if she hates it for the images she’ll never forget, the other Caroline loved that book, treasured it and worked on it, and she can’t seem to destroy something so precious.

Caroline wraps herself in a blanket and lets herself mope into the couch until she feels like she’s going to die, but instead just falls asleep.

 

---

 

When she wakes up Caroline knows what her job is, and that Hannah comes over on Thursday nights for babysitting, and that Klaus and her have been trying for a baby for over a year. She’s not even surprised anymore, although she is happy that she knows what she does for work now, even if she’s not exactly sure how to go about doing it.

She finally makes her way upstairs after she has a glass of water and a granola bar, and Klaus is sitting on her bed. They lock eyes, and he looks terrible, which is a first for him.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, almost without thinking about it. It’s hard to ignore the way her body longs to be close to him, the way her false memories are starting to invade her head.

He rubs a hand across his eyes, “I apparently also dream of our memories when I sleep.”

He doesn’t look like the villain she knows him to be; there’s no fury in his eyes, no murderous rage. When Caroline looks at him now she only sees a man, she doesn’t see the person who killed Jenna in cold blood, who ruined Tyler’s life and Elena’s life and so many others. He just looks tired, and mortal, and kind of perfect.

In this life, it isn’t hard to see why she loved him. Sitting there, on her bed is Niklaus. Not Klaus, not a thousand year old vampire. She’s looking at the image of a married man who paints for a living and wants to have a baby.

Caroline hates that when she looks at him she forgets about all the things he’s done. She hates that in this reality, he hasn’t done it, and so she could forgive him.

“I think we’ll get them each time we sleep.” Caroline says, “I think it’s a spell, to keep us out of the way, to distract us. I understand why someone would do it to you, but not to me. What’s the point of keeping me distracted? I’m not a key player in this stupid Mystic Falls battle.”

Klaus rolls his eyes, “You’re part of my distraction, love, you just didn’t mean to be this time.”

“I was afraid of that. I hate our lives.” Caroline grimaces, and Klaus is quiet. She waits before quietly asking: “Was it bad? What you dreamed?”

He huffs out a sound that is almost a laugh, “Some of it was... familiar. Whoever made this spell made sure it was flawless. I basically relived the same childhood I always had, except modern and mortal. I’d like to tear Mikael into pieces again.”

“You can’t do that, not in this life at least. We knew he was an asshole, anyway.” Caroline laughs humourlessly and goes over to sit beside him, “What about your siblings?”

Klaus shrugs, “I don’t know. I can’t do this Caroline, I have plans!”

Caroline scowls, “Yeah, thanks for reminding me, since your plans involve ruining my life.”

“Not your life, love,” he smirks, and Caroline finally sees the hybrid that’s been missing all day, “just the lives of everyone else you know.”

“Why?”  Caroline demands, “Why do you have to be so... so bad!?”

Klaus huffs out a laugh, “I want what I want, Caroline. And I always get what I want.”

A shiver runs up her spine at the words; they don’t sound threatening anymore, they sound warm. She glares at him, and he doesn’t lose the smile he’s finally gaining back.

“You’re not getting me.” She hisses.

“We’re married, I already have you.” he murmurs back, grinning at her.

Caroline rolls her eyes, “Be serious, asshole. We’re going to work together to get home and then go back to hating each other.”

Klaus sobers slightly and shrugs, “We could wait it out; this type of magic has to somehow fade. It would take a lot of strength to keep it up. Or we find the loophole in the spell, if that’s what this is. There has to be one, all magic has a power off button somehow. Witches and their balance.” His voice is derisive at the end, and Caroline rolls her eyes.

“We can’t just wait it out. We’re mortal if you hadn’t noticed.” Caroline reminds him venomously. It’s not his fault, but she’s tired of feeling so weak.

He snarls at her, “Yeah, I noticed, Caroline. I hate this just as much as you do. We could leave town, if you think that will help.” 

“It won’t work.” Caroline says, soft and sure. Klaus doesn’t ask her why, probably because he feels it the way Caroline does. There’s no where for them to go. They’re not sure how far this reality extends, but it started in Mystic Falls and that’s where it will end.

“Well, what do you suggest?” Klaus snaps.

“I think we have to just blend in for now. Pretend to be something we aren’t, and look for a loophole. There has to be one.”

“I don’t think I fit into this life very well, Caroline.” Klaus tells her, “You remember your humanity; I remember centuries of blood and death. I’m not a human, I’m an immortal hybrid, and I’ve done many things to become that.”

Caroline doesn’t answer, just wraps her arms around herself and whispers, “I hate this.”

“As do I, Caroline,” Klaus stands slowly, “I will try my best to fit in. For now, but my patience is limited and this reality is tedious.”

Caroline forces out a smile, “Thanks. For trying.”

“I’ll be in the spare room, try to get some sleep tonight. You need to dream, and you work early.” 

“Thanks for reminding me.” she grumbles. 

He pauses in the doorframe, “For the record, I’ve never hated you.” he says.

Caroline can’t help the warmth that spreads through her, and the way he’s still frozen in the doorway prompts her to say, “I can’t say the same. I did hate you, Klaus... but... but I don’t... anymore. Not when you’re not trying to kill my friends, anyway.” 

He doesn’t look back when he walks away, but Caroline imagines that it might be comforting to know that the person you’re unwillingly living with as a mortal doesn’t hate you enough to hurt you in your sleep.

She gets ready for bed, sets an alarm on their alarm clock for early, because she can’t miss work again, and cozies into her blankets. She can feel her brain thrumming a million miles a minute, the way it did when she was human back home. Sleep won’t come easily, not after her nap today, or the talk with Klaus. She tries though, tries to will herself into oblivion because it’s easier than smelling Klaus on the sheets, or looking at their photos on the shelves.

 

---

 

It takes her exactly three hours and twelve minutes to get the hang of work, which she actually adores. It’s event planning, and Caroline loves it so much she knows she’ll look into it when they finally get home. For the first time since her and Klaus landed in this reality she feels almost hopeful about their situation.

It helps that she finds her pay stubs in her desks and dismisses the fear once and for all that they’re hurting for money. Caroline tucks those into her purse, pulls up any website that she might have used on her computer during her break and tries every password she used in the other Mystic Falls.

She gets into her email easily enough, although she cannot for the life of her get into her online bank account. She finds work emails that she attends to to the best of her ability; she emails Elena back about the barbecue the next day and the snacks she’ll bring, and reads an invitation to an art gallery where ‘Niklaus Mikaelson’ is presenting. She wants to phone Klaus and tell him about it but she doesn’t actually know their phone number.

It’s no matter though because an hour before her work day is done her office phone rings and when she picks it up it’s Klaus’ voice on the other line.

“Caroline.” 

“Hey,” she replies, “I was just thinking about calling you. I got on my email account but I can’t get the bank account. When’s your birthday?”

She can nearly feel him roll his eyes through the phone, but he answers, and Caroline tries his birthday numbers and hers in their bank password. It works, and Caroline feels a bit ill at the idea of a joint account between her and Klaus that uses their birthdays as their password.

“Ugh, our password is both of our birthdays, isn’t that ridiculous!” She says, “But, the good news is that we have enough money to pay for food and mortgage for a while, no problem. But the bad news is that you have a gallery showing next week.”

Klaus sighs, “How tedious. Let’s cancel.”

“No way,” Caroline tells him, “You should see what they’re trying to pay you, it’s disgusting.”

“Are you saying my work isn’t worth what they’re paying, love?” Klaus’ voice is surprisingly warm with teasing. 

Caroline can’t help it, she laughs. “I said no such thing.”

Klaus’ voice is pleased when he replies: “Why are you so happy today, love?”

Caroline beams, “I actually love work. It’s absurd.”

“How human of you.” he says, but there’s no mocking tone in his voice, “Also Rebekah called today and reminded me that you’re supposed to pick up Hannah after work today. They live in the old Lockwood Mansion, apparently. My sister would discover the second largest house in Mystic Falls to live in.”

Caroline’s breath catches, firstly at the way Klaus so easily delivers instructions in a way a husband might do, and then secondly at the thought of walking into Tyler’s house and seeing only Matt and Rebekah. She can’t imagine seeing the mansion where so many people have died, and where she fell in love with Tyler, and where she discovered there was more to Klaus as well.

“I don’t suppose you’ll let me cancel on our supposed niece will you?” Klaus asks, “If we must look after her can you pick her up? I could do it, but I don’t really play well with children...” Klaus is teasing again, but this time Caroline can hear the edge in his voice that speaks of a truth. Klaus hasn’t been around children in centuries, and he isn’t her husband, and he isn’t just a painter, he’s a straight up killer. 

Caroline swallows heavily at the reminder, “It’s fine, I can deal with her, I’m good with kids. I can pick her up and keep her out of your hair, don’t worry. I’ll go there right after work.”

Klaus is quiet for a moment, “I’m not going to apologize for this. I am not human, I don’t have kids and I never will. I’ve never hurt a child, but I’ve never spent time with them either, so either way you are the expert here.”

His voice is tired, and Caroline can’t summon up the energy to feel guilty about upsetting him. “I said it’s fine. Look, there’s chicken fingers and fries in the freezer, I found them this morning, will you put them on? She’ll be hungry.”

“Consider it done.”

“Thanks,” Caroline sighs, “look, I know kids aren’t your thing, but just please try to pretend for me, I don’t want-.”

Klaus cuts her off, “Caroline, I may dislike the idea of children, but I know how they work. I’ll play nice.”

“Knowing how they work and not terrifying them are two very different things,” Caroline snaps halfheartedly.

Klaus laughs, “Relax, I won’t scare her, I’m trying to blend apparently. I hate blending, Caroline, I’m supposed to be an all powerful immortal hybrid vampire, not a middle aged married human.”

“Right now you sound like you’re having a midlife crisis,” Caroline can’t help it, she giggles, “it’s hilarious. I can’t wait till we get home, I’m never letting this go!”

Klaus sighs, “This foolish spell will be the thing that finally kills me.” 

Caroline says bye to him, still laughing despite her worry over Hannah, and she feels more optimistic than she has in two days. Even when she finally gets out of work she drives over to Tyler’s house without hesitation.

It’s almost identical to how she remembers it when she gets there. For a second she feels so sucker punched she sits in the car and tries to recall how to breathe, but then she starts noticing tiny differences.

Rebekah’s car in the driveway. 

A scribbled mess of coloured chalk on the cement.

Jump ropes tied to a pole for skipping.

Caroline forces herself out of the car after that, makes her way to the front door. Rebekah doesn’t even let her knock before she’s opening the door and grinning at her.

“Hey, Care!” she greets her, “I’ll try and get her moving, she’s so excited. What’s your guys’ plans for the night?” Rebekah throws her head over her shoulder and yells up the stairs “Hannah, hurry up!”

Caroline laughs a little nervously, “Chicken fingers and fries for dinner, maybe a movie? I’ll see what she wants.”

Rebekah smiles, “Perfect, she loves movie nights at your house. Okay, bedtime at 8 like always, don’t let Klaus and her paint tonight, she’s got school photos tomorrow and can’t be covered in paint. Matt and I will come by around 9 or ten to grab her, we should be done our date by then.”

A tiny girl Caroline assumes is Hannah finally barrels down the stairs with a pink kitty cat backpack and throws herself into Caroline’s arms; it’s the fastest mortal reaction Caroline has ever had when she swings the little girl up into her chest and hugs her because it feels natural. Caroline suddenly realizes that Klaus and her babysit for Rebekah and Matt on Thursdays because they do date night. She realizes that movie nights at her house with Klaus are a thing, Klaus paints with his niece, Hannah is so absurdly cute and Caroline is so fucking over her head here.

“Hi Auntie Care!” Hannah says, grinning brightly. Caroline melts at the single missing front tooth, and the way her “R”s roll off her tongue as “W”s instead.

“Hey baby girl!” Caroline says, “You ready?”

She lets Hannah go, but keeps one hand in hers. Rebekah crouches down and kisses her daughter’s cheek with a ‘be good’ and hands Caroline a booster seat for her car from behind the door frame.

“Thanks!” Rebekah says, and before Caroline can think she’s herding Hannah to her vehicle. She puts in the booster seat and Hannah clambers into it on her own, babbling excitedly all the way. Her blue eyes are bright and her blonde hair has an unruly curliness to it that Caroline knows for a fact comes from Matt’s genetics.

Hannah talks to her the entire way home, barely pausing enough for Caroline to get a word in edgewise. It’s unusual for Caroline to let the conversation be so dominated by someone else, but she’s enamoured with Hannah’s expressions and stories so she lets her continue. Caroline literally cannot get enough of hearing all about her day in preschool, and how Rebekah and Matt argue, and what Auntie Elena did with her last week; Hannah is a miniature Rebekah, but with all the sweetness of Matt. It’s impossible not to fall in love with her.

Surprisingly, the night continues smoothly. The house smells like food when they arrive,  and Klaus doesn’t hesitate to lift Hannah into his arms even if he looks a bit stiff when doing so. They eat their food with exorbitant amount of chips and junk food, and Caroline helps Hannah get into her pyjamas and brush her teeth after dinner.

When she gets back downstairs Klaus has pulled the couch pillows off the couch and made a giant bed on the floor, complete with blankets and Hannah’s stuffed animals. He looks out of place standing beside such a domestic scene, and Caroline can’t help but laugh a little. He glares at her, just a hint of hybrid in his eyes; he’s annoyed, she can tell, but he’s trying.

Hannah, of course, is thrilled. She throws herself into the pillow nest, and Caroline puts on the newest kids movie they have on the shelves and lets herself snuggle down into the makeshift bed on one side of Hannah. Klaus sits on the other side, stiff legged but willing to at least go the distance for this singular night.

The movie lasts about twenty minutes before Hannah is sound asleep against Klaus’ side, her legs thrown into Caroline’s lap. It’s adorable and predictable, Caroline has yet to meet a kid who can make it all the way through a bedtime movie.

“That was painful.” Klaus says.

Caroline scoffs at him, “She’s an angel, you obviously didn’t babysit much.”

Klaus glances at her, eyebrows raised and Caroline huffs out a laugh at her ridiculous words. Klaus quirks his lip in amusement and shifts his eyes down to the child encroaching on his space. Caroline clambers to her feet.

“Relax, I’ll put her in the spare room. Matt and Rebekah won’t be here for at least two more hours.” Caroline tells him, “We can talk about our battle plan for the barbecue tomorrow, and then for getting the hell out of this freaky spell.”

She bends over to grab Hannah but Klaus grabs her wrist, “I’ll do it.”

He lifts her effortlessly, and Caroline’s glad that he offered because sleeping children are heavy and she’s mortal now. They make their way up the stairs together, silently. Klaus places Hannah on the bed after Caroline pulls down the covers, and she tries not to think of the way her heart aches when she tucks the blankets around her tiny body.

She’ll never have this. As much as Caroline likes being a vampire... as much as it was an improvement to her life, it means she’ll never have this. There will never by a blonde child who looks like her tucked into a princess bed; she’ll never have movie nights and shopping trips and awkward school photos.

Her throat is clogged with unshed tears when they finally back into the hallway and shut the door. Klaus is eyeing her strangely, but he doesn’t comment. It takes her a moment to get herself under control, and when she does she lets herself lean against the wall and look at Klaus. 

“Tomorrow we have to go to this barbecue. We have to find out if anyone knows anything about what’s going on, but we have to be sneaky about it. If no one knows anything, then on the weekend we better start researching.”

Klaus nods and tells her: “I dislike the idea of researching when I could be killing people to get what I want.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, “And just when I was starting to think Klaus had been replaced by an alien pod person you come out and say stuff like that.”

Klaus smirks, “Admit it, you wouldn’t like me if I was boring.”

Caroline scoffs at him, but she doesn’t answer his question because it rings like truth in the air. She’s always had a thing for the dangerous guys. Instead, she heads toward their room, “I’m going to shower.”

She leaves Klaus to watch her walk away, and she resolutely does not think about the hybrid when she jumps in the shower and scrubs off her body. Her shampoo is the same as the one she has at home, and for just a second she can pretend she hasn’t been transported into some alternate universe where Klaus is her husband and no matter how she tries, she just can’t hate him.

Caroline remembers Damon. She wishes she couldn’t, because she wakes up at night scared about what she’ll do next, how her body will move without her willing it, and how his commands would resonate in her skull. She has nightmares that Damon tells her to kill her mother, Elena, Matt, everyone, and she does it because she has no control.

Caroline remembers how it felt to be nothing more than a toy and a blood bag, and the cold look in Damon’s eyes when he told her he would kill her eventually. She knows what evil feels like, and she knows what fear is.

Klaus, not once, not ever, has made her feel that. Caroline has been scared of him - at his worst, Klaus was a cold blooded killer and Caroline was terrified of him, but in a different way. She’s never been afraid that Klaus would take her over, erase who she was, make her into his slave. Caroline’s never been afraid that Klaus just doesn’t care, because it’s so, so obvious that he does, even if he doesn’t want to.

Elena won’t be able to understand that - and rightfully so, because Caroline does remember everything Klaus has done as well - but Caroline can’t understand Elena’s love for Damon either, so maybe they’re just two sides of the same coin. They both see something in people, something that proves they aren’t evil. Caroline knows Klaus isn’t evil; he’s bad, definitely bad, but he’s not evil.

She gets out of the shower and wipes the fog off the mirror, staring herself down in the mirror. She looks familiar: same blond curls, blue eyes, pale skin. She looks different too; she’s less stressed, there’s faint spiderweb lines around her eyes where years of smiles have made an impact, and her body, though still slim, has a slightly different shape. 

She looks like her mother. Not her mother now, not since the vampires came and Caroline died and Bill left her; she looks like her mother from when Caroline was little. She looks older and happy and beautiful. She misses her mother.

It’s just like when she pulled the blankets up over Hannah’s tiny shoulders, because Caroline can’t help the bitterness that pools in her heart because she knows she’ll never have this. It isn’t even that she wants to grow old, it’s just that... she just wants to grow.

She tugs on pyjamas and heads downstairs with her hair still wet. Klaus is in the kitchen eating cereal out of a chipped bowl, and when Caroline looks at him she can’t see the hybrid that ruined her friends’ lives anymore. He looks introspective, and a little tired, and Caroline’s heart hurts inside her rib cage, desperate to break free.

“Hey,” she says instead, “Matt and Rebekah should be here anytime.”

He nods slowly, “I fear that Rebekah will see that I am not the brother she knows.”

“She won’t. Elena and Bonnie didn’t see it wasn’t the right me, and they know me better than almost anybody.” Caroline assures him, “Besides, they’re only going to be here a few minutes to pick up Hannah.”

The knock at the door ends their conversation, and with one last look at each other Caroline heads to the front. Rebekah’s wearing a cute purple dress, and Matt’s got a grey shirt on that Caroline’s never seen before; they’re both smiling and laughing a little breathlessly, and Caroline thinks that she’s never seen either of them this happy.

“Hey Care,” Matt greets her, “Where’s my baby girl?”

Caroline can’t help the smile that spreads across her face, because she had always known Matt would be a great dad. “She’s sleeping upstairs. I’ll go-”

“Not necessary, love,” Klaus interrupts her, carrying Hannah down the stairs, “I’ve got her.”

“Hey Nik,” Rebekah grins, “No painting tonight?”

For a second Klaus looks confused but his expression clears instantly, “Not tonight, Caroline told me that I couldn’t get Hannah covered in paint.”

He hands Hannah over to Matt, and then comes to stand by Caroline. She can feel his hand settle on her lower back, but she doesn’t react. It’s comforting in it’s familiarity.

“You guys are coming to our house tomorrow, right? For the barbecue?” Rebekah asks. 

Caroline nods, “Definitely. I was thinking of bringing some sort of salad.”

“Yeah that sound good, I’ve made burgers for the main dish that we’ll barbecue. I think Elena’s got appetizers and Bonnie’s got dessert.”

“Perfect!” Caroline grins, “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

They wave goodbye and Caroline shuts the door only to lean against it, exhaustion pounding through her body. She wants to cry, or scream, or fall down and die.

“Is this what life would have been like?” It’s a whisper, and she doesn’t really expect an answer, but Klaus does set his hands on her hips and pull her into him, and she goes willingly, leaning against him instead of the door. His arms wrap around her, and for a second it feels like it did at the dance when everything was so perfect and yet so messed up.

His breath tickles her hair and he sways just enough that it feels like dancing, and Caroline allows herself one instance of weakness to wrap her arms around his neck. He holds her for what feels like eternity, and when he finally lets her go something has changed.

“What do you think is happening back home while we’re not there?” Caroline murmurs, her face inches from his.

“I imagine that Elena is still the centre of the universe, the Salvatores are mucking things up, and everyone thinks we’ve run away together which shall make Rebekah very angry, but I doubt she’ll believe it.”

Caroline feels a million things in that instant: she’s angry that the picture he paints sounds right, and she’s angry that she’s always second to Elena, and she’s angry that she knows no one will really try to look for her and Rebekah is the only one that won’t believe they’ve run away together.

She’s also pleased, because if that is what is happening then they haven’t wrecked anything by disappearing.

“Rebekah’s probably the only one looking for us,” she tells him.

He lifts a hand to brush it through her still-damp hair. “You underestimate your importance, as always, love.”

“They won’t look for me.” Caroline sighs, “I don’t say that because I think I’m not important, it’s just -- if they think I’ve run away with you and distracted you from Elena they won’t look for me. They’ll either believe I’ve done it to help them and I don’t want to be found, or they’ve gotten lucky and they won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

Klaus snatches her even closer, so close that she can’t even tell where she starts and he ends, and his eyes blaze, “They are fools, Caroline; I would search to the ends of the earth for you, I would hunt you forever until I found you.”

Caroline knows that he made a similar promise to Katherine once, and it’s almost comical the way he words it. Klaus is not a lover -- he never has been. He’s a warrior, a hunter, a hybrid; he doesn’t understand love, has never been shown it, and Caroline doubts he would even recognize it.

She can’t help that she’s not afraid in the face of his words. They are steeped in truth, and up till this moment she had never understood that he didn’t just fancy her, he was obsessed with her.

“I know,” she breathes the words. It’s the only thing she can say; she won’t run. She’s not like Katherine, she can’t thrive running from place to place, and she refuses to give into him. Not yet, not now when everything is so fresh; when she still wakes up screaming from memories of torture, and the pain of the werewolf bite.

“Don’t forget to pick me up after you’re finished work tomorrow. We have a barbecue to go to.” He lets her go with only a final brush to her hair, and then he’s climbing the stairs, “Goodnight, Caroline.” 

She’s left standing in an empty room, skin tingling and heart pounding.

 

Chapter Text

The next day Caroline finds herself finished work until Monday, saying goodbye to her coworkers, and getting into her vehicle. Instead of going to the home she shares with Klaus she drives to her old home, where her mother should be. Up until this moment she’s been too afraid to even try to talk to her mother.

She’s afraid Liz will see right through her, and Caroline is so afraid of the look on her mother’s face from when she found out she was a vampire. She parks outside their house, staring down the white door as though it has every answer she’s ever looked for.

Finally, she gets out of the car and makes the trek up the front walk to her door. It’s as familiar to her as her own face; she’s lived in the house her whole life, and she knows every chip in the paint or crack in the cement.

Her mom opens the door before Caroline has the chance to even knock or ring the doorbell, and she can barely hold back the swell of tears that hit her when she looks into her mother’s eyes, so similar to her own. Liz looks older, but healthy and safe and happy, and Caroline chokes down her emotions.

“Mom, hey.” She has nothing else to say, because for once Caroline hasn’t thought this far ahead.

Her mom grins at her, “Caroline, how are you? I didn’t expect you today! Come in.”

“I can’t stay long, we have a barbecue at Rebekah’s tonight,” Caroline explains.

Liz nods, “No problem, you probably have to go pick up Klaus, hey?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to see you.” Caroline can’t help the admission from leaving her lips. It’s true, she’s missed her mother more than she could have thought possible.

Liz suddenly grabs her up in a tight hug, “Oh baby, I know it’s been tough recently, but you and Klaus... it’s going to happen. I’ve never seen any two people more suited for it.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, because of course her mother thinks this is about the stupid baby her and Klaus are supposed to be trying for. Although it’s been nice having a cover for her more emotional outbursts.

“We’re pausing on the whole baby thing.” Caroline tells her mom, pulling out of her embrace, “I just think it’s stressing us out more than anything else right now.”

Liz looks simultaneously sad and proud of her, and Caroline hates that she knows that expression too. “I’m proud of you, Caroline. I think that’s a smart choice, and you two can focus on your marriage.”

Caroline burns with questions because she needs to know more about her marriage to Klaus, and whether it is as picture perfect as everyone seems to think.

“Yeah, I mean, maybe having kids just isn’t in the cards for us.” Caroline mutters, and she feels a hysterical giggle coming on because of course kids aren’t in the cards for them, they’re vampires.

“You never know, honey, I mean there’s always adoption.” Liz tells her gently, and Caroline nods slowly.

“I guess. Anyway, I should get going, Klaus is probably wondering where I am.”

Liz frowns, “Klaus? You never call him that, Caroline. What’s going on?”

Shit shit shit. Caroline laughs a little breathlessly, “Nothing, nothing -- we just... we ran into Mikael earlier this week and we’ve both been a little tense since. We’re fine. Nik and I are fine.” Caroline tries to say Nik the way she would say Klaus, but it comes out differently anyway, and she’s not sure if it’s because it feels weird to say it or because in this world she was always meant to call Klaus Nik.

Liz shakes her head, “Mikael is a menace. I wish I could arrest him already, but he’s practically untouchable. Plus, my Sheriff days are over.” She laughs a little, “I’m glad you two are okay.”

Caroline smiles, “Thanks, mom. I love you.” She turns and heads back to her car, down the front porch steps.,

“Love you too, Caroline,” Liz calls out, “Take care of my son-in-law!”

Caroline pulls herself into the drivers seat, her hysteria rising in her throat a little bit because no matter how many times she told herself this was another universe she never expected her mother to like Klaus. 

She drives to her house and parks, and this time she doesn’t hesitate to head inside. Klaus is nowhere to be seen, and Caroline panics for a second because she thinks maybe he’s left her.

In the end she finds him in his painting studio, coated in paint and working on a painting that is darker than anything else in the room, and yet still features her. It’s all blacks, navy blue and grey, and the only thing in the actual painting is a dark blanket with her on it. She’s got her arms wrapped around her legs, and Klaus has perfectly captured the way her hair spills out over her shoulders. Her eyes are bright -easily the brightest thing in the painting- and she looks sleepy and happy, and Caroline has never looked at herself the way Klaus apparently looks at her.

“Nik.” She doesn’t even mean to do it, his name just falls out of her mouth as though now that she’s released it she’ll never be the same, and Klaus won’t even register anymore, only Nik.

He jumps a little, dropping the paintbrush. Caroline thinks she’s the first person to ever sneak up on him. When he spins to face her he has paint all over him, and Caroline wants to be angry that he’s not ready to go to the barbecue, but she just can’t quite bring herself to do it because he looks adorable and flustered.

“Caroline,” he breathes her name, “I lost track of time, I didn’t mean-” his gaze cuts back to the painting he’s been working on, and for a second Caroline thinks he’s blushing, but then he grins at her, smug. Caroline’s already walking towards him, because even the confident smirk on his lips can’t erase the fact that she knows he’s nervous about what he’s painted.

“It’s incredible,” she tells him, resting a hand on his arm. He flexes his fingers for a second, as though he wants to reach out to her and stops himself at the last second. Caroline knows the feeling. It’s not just this world they’ve been transported into, it’s the bodies. She still feels like her, though she looks a little different, but her fingers crave to wrap around Klaus, and her arms want to hold him. She’s always felt like he had some sort of hold on her before, but never like this.

He stares at her, blue eyes alight with curiosity, “I know. That’s why I painted it.”

She flushes at his implication and searches for something to say, “I saw my mother today. She actually likes you, can you believe that?! Told me to take care of her son-in-law.”

Klaus winks at her, “Everyone likes me.”

Caroline snorts, “Only in this universe, buddy, and you should probably be thanking me for that!”

Klaus lifts his hand and rubs a single finger down her throat, watching as she swallows reflexively at his nearness. “Thank you.” he whispers, and then he kisses her, gently. Caroline doesn’t push him away, she doesn’t think her body would even allow her to try. He doesn’t deepen the kiss, just lets his lips linger on hers, pressing gently every so often. Caroline lets her hands find his hips, not to pull him close or push him away, just to hold him still.

He eventually pulls back, delivering one last kiss on the corner of her mouth. The expression on his face isn’t what she would have ever expected: he doesn’t look smug, or like he finds something humorous; he looks a little vulnerable, and maybe a little shaken, and Caroline can’t help that she reaches out and rubs a splatter of red paint on his cheek bone.

“You need a shower,” she tells him, her words soft in the safety of the room. She wonders what he sees when he looks at her now, if he’ll paint it later and show her.

“Come with me?” He asks, and Caroline wishes with all her heart that it were that easy. Maybe it is. Maybe in this world it is, and maybe this world is theirs forever now, and they’ll never go home and Caroline can have this.

“I still have to make a salad for your sisters party,” Caroline says instead, because it’s the truth. 

Klaus’ face hardens, and Caroline feels like she’s lost something precious, something she didn’t even realize she had. She desperately yearns to gain it back, she wants the expression on his face from before. Before she even knows it, she’s speaking.

“Maybe I could join you next time,” she says, “you know... maybe. But right now we’re late.”

Klaus doesn’t say anything, doesn’t quite give her back all the expression he had before, but he does nod decisively, as if he knows he’s got her this time. Caroline thinks that perhaps he’s right.

She leaves him in his studio and starts working on a salad big enough for everyone that will be at the barbecue. Caroline tries not to think, tries not to remember the way Klaus’ lips felt on hers.

More than anything, Caroline tries not to remember every single time she got her hopes up only for them to be crushed. It’s not even a matter of this being Klaus, it’s just that she’s never been enough for anyone. Not enough to save Damon, not the way Elena was. Not enough for Matt to love even into vampirism, not enough for Tyler to stay.

She’s never been enough, not even for her own father, not even for her mother until she was a vampire.

When the salad is done, Caroline sinks to the ground in front of her sink and tries desperately not to cry. She hates that underneath everything that has happened to her she’s still the same neurotic and insecure girl she’s always been. She hates that she already cares about Klaus, and that she knows she’s not enough, especially for Klaus. She’s a baby-vampire with enough sarcastic wit that he’s interested, but he’s a thousand year old hybrid who paints and explores the world and controls cities for fun.

This isn’t enough for him; nothing has ever been enough for him, and Caroline can’t replace his family, or Elena’s blood, or the world that he wants to conquer.

She doesn’t even know if she wants to try because this is so goddamn easy she just knows she’ll fall headlong into it just like always, and she’ll be left alone. In the end she gets up and cleans herself up in the bathroom and puts on makeup and a new outfit. Caroline has always been good at deciding what to focus on, and for now all she wants to think about is the stupid barbecue that she needs to live through without her friends thinking she’s some strange pod person that’s replaced their Caroline.

Which is essentially exactly what happened.

When she makes it out of the bathroom Klaus is standing in the kitchen holding the giant bowl of salad and looking devastating in a blue t shirt and jeans. She takes one look at him and decides that they cannot go into this barbecue without some sort of rules or she’ll invariably fuck up and ruin everything.

“I’m going to call you Nik,” Caroline tells him, and he barely flinches, “and we’re going to pretend we’re married and happy.”

He sets the bowl down and advances on her as though stalking his prey. He still smells faintly of paint, but also of body wash, and Caroline can feel any resistance she had crumbling.

“You’ll have to forgive me, love, because I don’t know many married couples who are happy, but I’m assuming this rule gives me blanket permission to touch you.” It’s as if he’s fulfilling some sort of promise as he says this, because he instantly slips an arm around her waist and reels her towards him. His other hand rests on her cheek, and she can feel the blush spreading under his skin.

“I don’t- I can’t-” she stumbles over words, “I don’t want- we’re not actually married, Klaus. I don’t want... this.” It rings a little untrue, but it’s more or less what she meant and Caroline can’t bring herself to fix it because she’s embarrassed.

He frowns at her, but he doesn’t move away, “I have always wanted you, Caroline, from the moment I laid eyes on you. I’m not pretending to enjoy touching you.”

“And what about... what about when we get home?!” 

He shrugs, carelessly, unafraid of any consequence they may have in store for them, and Caroline wonders if fearlessness is what it is to be immortal and powerful. “What about it? I wanted you there, and I want you here, and I don’t particularly care about any details except what you want.”

In the end, that’s what decides it for her, because Caroline remembers the way Damon didn’t care what she wanted or didn’t want, how he didn’t even give her a chance to voice her opinion. Klaus... well, Klaus may not care but he cares enough to ask what she wants.

She moves forward, kisses him without warning, and he catches her. For a second she’s wrapped up in him, in the taste of his lips, and the way his hands feel skimming down her back, and she wants nothing more than to take him back upstairs into their bed where she has slept alone all week.

The phone rings, and she pulls away from his kiss, though she doesn’t leave his arms. She moves to answer the phone, but Klaus snatches at her chin and makes her look at him.

“Blanket permission, Caroline.” He demands, looking thoroughly wrecked, “Say it.”

She nods, “Okay, yes, you can touch me. Within reason.” He lets her go and she snatches up the phone and answers it.

It’s Rebekah, “Caroline! Where are you guys? Get over here!”

“Sorry, sorry! Nik was painting, and he had to shower and-”

“I don’t care,” Rebekah interrupts, “Just get here! Hannah misses you!”

Caroline winces at the low blow, because she can picture Hannah’s disappointed face, and it is a force to be reckoned with. “On our way!”

Rebekah hangs up without a goodbye, and when Caroline turns around Klaus is looking put together again and holding the salad bowl. Caroline smooths down her dress and her hair, and walks out without another word because she’s afraid of everything that could come pouring out of her mouth if she even so much as opens it.

Klaus beats her to the car and opens the passenger door for her, helping her into it and setting the salad on her lap. He makes his way to the driver’s seat and starts the car silently, letting her have her peace and quiet for a moment.

Caroline desperately tries to collect herself, thrumming with energy from the kiss with Klaus, but also reeling inside from the drastic change in their relationship. It’s not even that she never expected this, because Caroline always knew in some part of her that they would always end up here. She spins her wedding ring on her finger, finding comfort in the sight even if it sits more heavily than ever before.

“Have you ever been married?” The question slips from her lips without thought, and she glances at Klaus from where he’s driving to the Lockwood Manor.

He huffs a laugh, “Definitely not. The closest I ever came was when Katherine thought I was courting her into marriage, but it was a sham.”

“Why not anyone else?” Caroline is genuinely curious now, “I mean, no one has ever made you want to get married before?”

He rolls his eyes at her, “Caroline, I may not have had the best example of a normal marriage growing up, but when I was young marriage was not something to be taken lightly. Not like it is now. I have never desired to tie myself to one person; especially since as a vampire I would either have too few years before I would have to move on, or I would have to turn them and then I would have forever.”

“But... sometimes that’s okay,” Caroline tries, “with some people. I mean... like... Finn.”

Klaus’ expression grows cold, but he doesn’t snap at her. He appears, more than anything, as though he is thoughtful, “I suppose that Finn and Sage were unusual in that. Sage more so than Finn, since she is the one who weathered the years and waited for him.”

“I think it’s possible.” Caroline declares, “To love someone forever.”

Klaus hums a little, “I have never seen it successful though. Elijah has loved Katherine from the moment he laid eyes on her and it has brought him nothing but grief. Rebekah has loved so many and none of them have brought her happiness. Even your Elena thought she would love Stefan forever until Damon came around.”

“Maybe it was the wrong person.” Caroline retorts, “I think Finn and Sage would have worked. I think they were the right people.”

Klaus scoffs but his tone is calm, “I may have been too hasty in my decision with them, I admit. Still, there was no love lost between myself and Finn, and he would have killed us all given the chance.”

Caroline shrugged, “Can you blame him?”

“What do you mean by that, Caroline?” Klaus is glaring at her now, anger evident in every facet of his body.

“I just mean -- I mean, come on, Nik,” his name sticks in her throat, but she continues, “if someone had daggered you and stuck you in a coffin for centuries you’d be furious. And I know that you don’t really see the whole marriage thing, but imagine that you loved someone... I mean, really loved them, and then someone took you away from them and everything else and stuck you in a box!? You’d try to kill them at every opportunity.”

Klaus snarls at her, “Not if they were my brother!” 

“Yes, you would, you hypocrite!” Caroline snaps back, “You are like the king of trying to kill your siblings.”

“I dagger them, sure, but I do not kill them,” Klaus says coldly, “your friends seem to have that covered.”

It stings, and Caroline backs off immediately, because she didn’t want this to go sour before the barbecue. They pull up to the Lockwood mansion, but neither move from the car. Klaus sighs from beside her, and Caroline wants so badly to return to the moment in the kitchen where she thought they could have this —whatever it was.

“Okay, listen, I want-” Caroline starts.

“Caroline-”

“Shut up!” Caroline interrupts, “Shut up for like two seconds and just let me explain, dammit, it’s not that hard!”

Klaus glares at her, but presses his lips together as if to show her he’s listening, and Caroline’s relieved even as she’s annoyed by his sarcastic movement.

“Okay, I’m sorry about Kol. I didn’t want to do that, and I know you won’t believe me, but I wanted to tell you, okay? I didn’t want that to happen, I didn’t want him to die, and not just because of all the other vampires from his line that would die, but because he’s your brother and it’s not fair.” Caroline breathes for a second and swallows hard, “But it happened, and it sucked, and you saved me after it, even though you must have absolutely hated me. I’m grateful for that. I know that you might never forgive me for the part I played in Kol’s death, but maybe I’ll never forgive you for Jenna, or Tyler, or Alaric, or any of the others. And yet... here we are.”

Caroline falters for a second, because she’s not sure what else to say. Klaus is still staring at her expectantly and Caroline knows there’s more, because she’s been thinking about this speech for weeks. Finally, she turns in the car to face him and continues: “The worst thing about being a vampire is that we make bad choices, and they haunt us forever. It’s easy to hate, and to hold grudges when we have all the time in the world for it. You don’t have to forgive me; you’re on no strict timeline. You could be angry with me for hundreds of years before one day you finally get over it, and that would be fine. Vampires have a thousand emotions, each more complex and stronger than the previous; an eternity of this creates a web of history and regret, and sometimes the longer we go the more we forget how to let certain things go.”

Klaus seems enraptured by her, and Caroline doesn’t think anyone has ever let her talk this long without interruption. Doesn’t think anyone has ever been so captivated by her, and she loves it, she’s addicted to it, and she knows that she couldn’t stop this if she tried.

She picks up his hand, the one closest to her, and she wraps her fingers around it, twining them together. He breathes sharply, staring at their hands, and then stares at her once more, confusion evident on his face.

“Your point, love.” He says, finally.

Caroline decides to just jump, let it all go, and pray he’ll catch her: “The only advantage I have as a baby vampire is that I haven’t forgotten what mortality feels like. So... I forgive you. As much as I can, I forgive you for what you’ve done. I’m sorry about what I’ve done too, and more than anything, more than anything right now all I want is for you to forgive me too. Because... I’m done hating you, Nik. I’m done trying to hold onto anger when I want to laugh with you, or paint with you, or be your friend. I just want a clean, blank slate.”

Klaus stares at her, and he doesn’t say anything for so long that Caroline starts to fidget. She’s uncomfortable, and so out of her element, and she’s positive that Rebekah is probably staring at them from the window. 

Finally, finally, Klaus lifts his hand to his mouth and kisses her knuckles. “I suppose that what you have said is true, if naive. I will forgive you on one condition, Caroline.”

“What?”

He smiles at her from behind their hands, and he’s so impossibly beautiful her breath catches, “No more lying. No more distraction routine; I know that you have your friends, and they don’t like me, but from now on we are also friends, and that means that you have to think about me too.”

“Done.” Caroline responds instantly, and it’s easy to know it’s the truth. She didn’t like lying to Klaus or hurting him before they took this ridiculous trip into another world, and now the thought of betraying him seems so wrong. 

He lets go of her hand, and frowns at her, “I mean it, Caroline. I don’t forgive easily, and I definitely don’t forgive twice.”

Caroline glares at him, “Neither do I. Now let’s go eat some food.”

Klaus huffs a laugh and jumps out of the car, certain that Caroline is following him. Rebekah greets them at the door, annoyance creasing her brow. It smooths out when Caroline hands her the salad and picks Hannah up without hesitation, kissing her tiny cheeks. 

“Uncle Nik!” Hannah squeals from Caroline’s arms, and he leans forward and drops a kiss on her brow. Caroline melts inside, and lets him lead her with a hand on her back towards the backyard of Rebekah’s house. Hannah squirms to be let down the minute they exit the door, and she races over to where Bonnie’s son Grayson is playing.

Caroline takes in the whole yard without breathing; it’s an image permanently etched in her brain. Bonnie and Jeremy with their kids in tow, Elena with Damon’s arm wrapped around her, both of them smiling; Matt and Rebekah are laughing alongside them, and Hannah is rolling in the grass, carefree.

Klaus tenses beside her and she turns to ask what’s wrong, because nothing could possibly be wrong in this world where all her friends are so goddamn happy, but she knows the second she glances towards Klaus.

Tyler’s standing at the barbecue, waving at them.

Caroline’s heart stops for just a second, because he looks almost the exact same as he had the last time she saw him; he’s healthy and tan and beautiful, and Caroline knows why she loved him.

Klaus’ hand is a brand on her, even over her clothes, and he’s got this look on his face like he expects her to walk away.

“Hey Care,” Tyler calls, and she waves at him. He nods at Klaus, and Caroline knows that there’s no love lost there, but it’s nothing like it was in their other life.

“C’mon Nik, I wanna see Elena,” Caroline says, breaking Klaus’ trance-like stare on Tyler. He snaps his gaze to her, almost incredulous, and then covers it and gestures towards the doppelgänger.

Caroline makes her way over carefully, and when she gets there Elena scrambles to hug her, and Damon grins at her. He looks enough like the other Damon that it’s eerie, but Caroline smiles back because she’s not sure if they’re friends in this reality.

“Care, oh my god, it’s been forever since I’ve seen you, seriously! You have to stop working so much!” Elena exclaims, “I thought you were going to swing by on Wednesday, but you never showed so I figured you forgot.”

Caroline thought fast, but in the end Klaus covered her, “Oh, Caroline wasn’t feeling well, she didn’t go to work on Wednesday.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Caroline says, “I’m so sorry I forgot to call and tell you I wasn’t coming.”

Elena grins at her, and this time Caroline sees a secret in her smile, just like the ones she used to get back in school before everything went to shit. Caroline doesn’t know what the secret is this time, but she’s frightened of it. “Sick? That’s so weird, Caroline, you’re never sick. You’re sure you were just sick?”

Caroline’s heart drops because she totally forgot to tell Klaus that other them was trying for a baby, and he’ll be furious if Elena blindsides him with this at a party. She rolls her eyes at Elena and tries to keep her tone even, “Yes, I was just sick, Elena.”

It’s Tyler that saves her this time, “C’mon guys, burgers are done! Grab a plate!”

Damon drags Elena towards the food, and Klaus cuts a glare at her, “What was that about, love?”

Caroline sighs, because of course Klaus didn’t miss that, “It’s not a big deal, I’ll tell you later.”

He stares at her for a beat too long, but in the end he nods as if he’s going to trust her on this, and then heads towards the barbecue for a burger.

“Auntie Care!” Hannah’s voice startles her and she glances down towards her niece’s round face. Her blue eyes are huge and alight with happiness, and Caroline wants. She scoops her up again, even though she’s almost too big for lifting, and Hannah wraps tiny arms around her neck and kisses her cheek. “I don’t want a burger! I just want salad!”

Caroline laughs, “That’s fine with me, baby girl. You want to share a plate?”

“Yes!” Hannah nearly screams her affirmation into her ear, and Caroline doesn’t really mind. She scoops salad and chips onto her plate, and a few chicken bites for appetizers. Tyler puts a burger on the bun she made up, and Caroline heads towards the picnic table to sit beside Klaus. He feels like her only ally in this place, even though everyone wears her friends’ faces and seems to like her.

Hannah sits between them and picks things off both their plates, and Klaus only scowls once when she takes the chip out of his hand entirely. Caroline laughs at his expression, and he rolls his eyes. It seems like he wants to smile, and Caroline hides her own grin in her burger.

“Hey, Caroline, just double checking that you guys are going to check on the house when we’re gone?” Rebekah asks from across the table, where she’s sitting with Elena and Damon. They’re lost in their own conversation, and Matt’s standing with Tyler at the barbecue.

“Yeah, definitely.” Caroline answers after a beat, “What are the dates again?”

Rebekah rolls her eyes, “Caroline, you used to remember everything! I think you are working too much. We leave in two weeks; you just need to water the plants and lock up when you’re done.”

“Oh, yeah, no problem.” Caroline smiles. She’s panicking a little, but she prays they’ll be home in two weeks, “You guys are only gone the week right?”

“Right.” Rebekah agrees, nonplussed. She turns to Klaus, “Are you excited about your gallery showing next week?”

“Yeah,” Klaus says, not a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He’s definitely better than Caroline at the whole pretending thing, “Should be okay.”

Rebekah beams at him, “It’s going to be fantastic! You’ll do great. Do you have any new stuff for it?”

Klaus shrugs, “I finished a painting today.”

Caroline feels herself blush faintly, the memory of the painting still buzzing in her brain. “It’s a good one.” She adds.

Rebekah laughs, “Of course it’s good, Nik painted it! Is it one of Caroline?”

“Yeah.” Klaus flushes, just a hint, “I think I’ll still put it up though.”

Rebekah beams and claps her hands, “Yay! You never put the ones of Caroline up, and they’re your best. I think the last time you let one into a gallery you managed to pay for your car. Seriously, you should share her more.”

Klaus sends her an amused grin, and Caroline can’t help but return it. “I dislike sharing,” he says, eyes never leaving hers.

“Hey, Beks, Stefan just called, he can’t make it.” Matt called over.

“Why!?” Rebekah pouted at her husband.

Matt shrugged, “Something about how the animals are going wild cause of the full moon? I don’t know. Stefan sounded annoyed.”

Damon cut in, “It’s true, the shelter gets wild on full moons. My poor brother is the only one in tonight. I should probably go help him.”

“We have to leave early anyways,” Caroline says quickly before anyone else can cut in. Panic is racing through her, “I promised my mom I’d bring Nik over later to help her with some handyman thing.”

Klaus nods beside her as though that is totally the plan, and Caroline doesn’t know if he’s realized the same thing she has, or if he’s just following her lead on this one, but she is so, so grateful. Rebekah protests their leaving, but eventually quiets down. They all continue to eat and laugh, but this time Caroline is eyeing the sun and it’s slow descent in the sky.

“Next week at your house, right Elena?” Rebekah says at one point, leaning back into Matt’s solid frame on the bench. She looks full and content.

Elena beams over the pie Bonnie brought, “Yeah! I’m gonna make chilli and Bonnie’s making home made buns! Caroline, can you bring dessert next week? Maybe the death by chocolate you know I love?”

“Umm, my mom’s old recipe?” Caroline asks, hesitant.

“Yeah, duh.” Elena rolls her eyes, “Rebekah is going to bring my favourite macaroni salad, of course!”

Rebekah laughs, “The store bought one? Of course I am!”

Tyler chuckles as he sits down on Caroline’s right, and Klaus tenses minutely. Hannah is tucked so deeply into his side that Caroline thinks she might be permanently stuck, but it’s so adorable that Caroline isn’t even trying to help him. He looks slightly annoyed, but Caroline’s seen his ‘murderously annoyed’ face and this is nowhere close.

“Alright, we’re going to head out. Thanks for the food!” Caroline announces, “We’ll see you guys next Friday!”

Hannah smiles sleepily at her, “Except me, Auntie Care, you see me on Thursday.” Her “R”s still don’t quite come out right, and Caroline nods gently at her.

“Of course, Hannah. We’ll see you Thursday.” Caroline pulls Hannah from Klaus’ side, and he stands up without hesitation. Hannah sits on her own for now, but it’s just a matter of time before she’ll face plant from exhaustion. Caroline hugs everyone goodbye, even Tyler, and their arms feel just like her friends’ back at home. 

It’s a whirlwind until they get back to the car, and this time Caroline jumps into the drivers seat and gestures frantically for Klaus to get in. He looks annoyed, and this time it’s edging farther towards ‘murderous’; Caroline’s pretty sure it’s because of the way Tyler held her just a beat too long when she hugged him.

“What has gotten into you, Caroline?” He hisses.

Caroline nearly explodes as she reverses down the drive, “It’s the full moon, Nik, oh my god!” She feels out of control and panicky, and she doesn’t even realize where she’s driving until she’s almost there.

“I realize that, Caroline, they mentioned it alongside Stefan and the shelter thing... of which I am dreadfully confused. Does Stefan work at an animal shelter? What is even going on in this reality, honestly-” he cuts himself off mid-sentence, “did you actually just bring me to the Lockwood cellar, in the middle of the woods?!”

Caroline doesn’t answer, just shuts off the car and leaps out. She opens the trunk and snatches out the blankets she finds there, and the flashlights in the emergency kit. She’s halfway to racing down the cellar’s stairs before she realizes Klaus is not following her. He’s leaning against their car, totally calm.

“Why are you not freaking out!?” Caroline demands. “You could be turning into a werewolf in a matter of minutes and you are like ‘Mr. Cool’ for once in your stupid life!?”

Klaus rolls his eyes, “I’m not going to turn into a werewolf. Bonnie’s not a witch, Tyler’s not a werewolf, there’s no vampires here, nothing. I’m literally a boring middle aged mortal and I despise it. I think I would know if I was a werewolf.”

Caroline approaches him, nervousness pumping through her blood, “Look, Nik, please come to the cellar with me. Just in case, please. Tyler didn’t know right away. You wouldn’t know because you’ve never been just a werewolf! If you turn you’ll kill me, and you’ll kill them, and you’ll kill Hannah!” Caroline reigns herself in with effort, “Tyler’s not a wolf because in this reality he never killed anybody.”

“Neither did I.” Klaus says, but he starts walking towards the cellar steps. Caroline heaves a breath of relief, because the sun is below the trees, and they don’t have much time at all.

“You don’t know that. I mean, I hope not, but maybe with the alternate universe thing... I just- I just don’t know! Please, laugh at me all you want tomorrow, but tonight just let me do this.”

He opens the heavy door to the cellar, and before he can take another step he freezes and murmurs, “Love, you better see this.”

She steps in behind him and takes in the scene of carnage and destruction. There’s claw marks on the walls and broken furniture everywhere. She knows what this is, Caroline’s been here in the aftermath. 

“Klaus, it’s gotta be you, it has to be.” Caroline whispers, harsh in the semi-darkness.

When Klaus turns to her, his eyes are glowing yellow. 

“Caroline, leave.” He orders. He makes his way to the chains in the corner, chains that sit the same way they had in the other reality as well, and starts chaining himself in. Caroline ignores his order and rushes towards him, locking in the cuffs for his legs. She’d done this for Tyler, and she knew what she was doing.

“Shirt off, before we put the chains on. Trust me, you’ll destroy it otherwise.” Caroline demands, holding her hand out for his shirt.

He snarls at her, but Caroline doesn’t budge. “C’mon Klaus, you’re a master at control, even though you rarely exercise it. I know you’re not going to hurt me.” The unspoken yet hangs between them like a noose, and Klaus practically rips his shirt off his body and throws it at her.

“Get out, Caroline!” He yells, “I don’t want you here.”

Caroline stiffens, because she’s been told worse things, but not usually by him. She knows what he’s afraid of though, at least in this case. Klaus is not a simple man, but this is something she understands.

She leans forward on the cement, bringing her face in close to his, reaching out with her hands to grasp his shoulders. Klaus doesn’t move, chained as he is, though he’s glaring at her icily.

“I’m not going anywhere, Nik. I’m going to lock that door and leave the light just outside of it so that you’re not in the dark, and then I’m going to curl up in my blanket and wait until this is over.” Caroline tells him, “I’ve done it before, and it won’t kill me to do it again. This is gonna suck for you, and you’re kinda the only person who even knows me in this world, and I refuse to just bail right now.”

He’s still glaring at her, but it’s got an edge to it, as though he can’t believe what he’s hearing. Caroline wonders if anyone’s ever really stuck by him. Caroline doesn’t even know if he’s ever changed before, and it’s a horrifying thought, because watching Tyler change was heart wrenching, and she can’t even imagine how Klaus is going to take it.

She leans forward and kisses him, on the cheek, because she’s not stupid and she’s felt his fangs in her skin before, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

He doesn’t say a single word, but she does as she promised and shut and locks the door, sets the flashlight on the ground so he has something to see by, and then curls into the blankets she has just outside of the door. She knows the door will hold, it always has. She also knows better than to be in his vision, because it only infuriates the wolf even more. 

It takes an hour before he even makes a sound. Caroline knows the moon must be coming up by now, and Klaus has been holding back the change longer than she would have thought was possible. Even now he doesn’t yell like Tyler did. She can hear the breaking of bones, the harsh intake of breath, and a low growl or moan every once in a while, but Klaus is quiet.

She shouldn’t be surprised that he’s strong. Caroline knows that he’s been tortured, many times over the centuries. She knows that he is no stranger to pain, both giving and receiving it, but she’s still surprised when she can practically hear his bones reshuffling that he barely gives a grunt.

Her heart breaks, because she almost thinks it would be easier if he did yell. At least with Tyler she knew how much pain he was in, how much pain he was going through. With Klaus she knows, but she also knows he’s had worse and that’s the saddest thing she can image.

Her night is endless. The second the sounds of pain stop, all she can hear is the growling and snarling of a wild animal. Niklaus Mikaelson is control personified; every motion is calculated, every play is part of a bigger picture in a game of chess. To hear him as a wild animal, nothing more than heat and anger and hunger and rage is... terrifying.

He falls silent just before dawn, and Caroline lets herself count to one thousand before she goes to the door. She doesn’t open it yet either, just rests her hands on the bars, letting the flashlight light up the cell.

The wolf is gone, Klaus is left in its place, naked and curled on the floor away from her, shaking. The sight is incongruous to everything Klaus is, and Caroline simultaneously feels like she shouldn’t have witnessed such weakness, but also protective of it, as though she wants to be the only one to ever see it.

Either way, it’s safe now, and Caroline opens the door with one of her blankets in her hand. She makes her way to where he is and kneels down next to him. The blanket is scratchy, but she spreads it over him because he’s freezing to the touch, and Caroline remembers how the weight of a blanket always grounded Tyler.

She lets herself wrap around him in a hug, her weight providing warmth and something tangible. She can feel Klaus’ hand snake around her wrist, gripping lightly as if to assure himself she’s real.

“That was unpleasant.” Klaus tells her after a minute or so. His voice is hoarse, and Caroline aches for him.

She hugs him tighter, “I’m sorry. That you had to do that.”

“Not your fault, love.” 

“I know,” Caroline murmurs, “but it still sucks.”

“I would prefer to find a way home before that happens again.”

Caroline lifts herself off him and he stands up a little shakily, holding the blanket around his hips. Caroline helps him put the shirt he had on yesterday, and then walks out of the cellar. Klaus is slow, but doesn’t let her help him in the slightest up the stairs, or into the passenger seat of the car. She blasts the heat as soon as she turns the car on.

“Was that the first time you turned?” Caroline asks.

Klaus frowns, “Second, technically.”

“Only once before you were turned into a vampire?”

“Yes. It’s how Mikael realized I wasn’t his son and Esther had betrayed him. I didn’t know myself until that moment. I’ll never forget how they looked at me.”

Klaus snaps his mouth shut as if he remembers who he’s talking to, and that he doesn’t normally share personal information like that. Caroline reaches across the console and takes his hand, and then slowly backs out of where she’s parked to follow the dirt road out of the Lockwood property and back to their house in town.

Klaus doesn’t say another word, but he doesn’t let go of her hand until Caroline parks again.

They’re silent when they make their way into the house; Klaus heads upstairs to shower, and Caroline starts making food since she’s sure Klaus is as hungry as she is. Once the food is done and Klaus is showered they sit together quietly. It isn’t awkward; Caroline doesn’t mind the silence the way she normally does. Klaus is introspective, and Caroline’s never gotten the chance to see him like this: he doesn’t look murderous, or angry. He looks normal.

“I understand why we work in this reality.” Caroline finally breaks the silence once the dishes are washed. 

Klaus glances at her, “Why is that, love?”

She shrugs, “I think in the other reality, you know, our reality, we would have been friends if you hadn’t done those things to hurt me and my friends. In this place? You haven’t done those things. I can’t hate you -- there’s nothing to even hate you for.”

“See, that’s where I’m thinking differently,” Klaus says softly, “in this reality, I’m only a werewolf. That means that my genetics are the same, but I’m obviously not the same body. I’m not a hybrid, and I’m not a vampire, I’m mortal... but I have the werewolf gene.”

“Yeah, so?” 

Klaus rolls his eyes, “I don’t think these are our bodies, Caroline. I mean, they’re ours but from this world. We’re old and mortal here.”

Caroline swallows heavily, “I have to agree. Sometimes my body wants something different to what I want. Like muscle memory.”

“Exactly!” Klaus exclaims, “Which begs the question: who did I kill in this reality to unlock my curse?”

Caroline stiffens. It had never even occurred to her; Klaus had killed thousands of people over the years, and it shouldn’t be that surprising, but here he seemed so... innocent.

“I must not know.” 

Klaus nods slowly, “You definitely don’t know. You don’t like me as a vampire in the other reality, there’s no way you’d play house with a murderer here, where you’re human.”

“Which means I don’t know you’re a werewolf.” Caroline sighs.

“You might, maybe I just didn’t tell you about how I became one by killing someone.” Klaus tells her, “It’s possible you do help me each full moon.”

Caroline frowns absently. They’re both leaning against the counters, staring at each other. Klaus looks exhausted, and Caroline feels about the same.

“You know, Elena mentioned something about how when we first got married you were gone for a while.” Caroline muses aloud, “I think that perhaps you were off doing supernatural things!”

Klaus rolls his eyes, “It’s likely. I’m probably telling you I’m off at some sort of painting meeting each full moon. How mundane.”

Caroline sniffs, “It’s gonna come back to bite you in the ass though, I’m curious as hell. Other Caroline definitely knows something is up, even if she does know you’re a werewolf. It’s seriously just a matter of time before she figures this all out.”

Klaus laughs, “I don’t doubt that at all, love. If you two are at all alike she’ll have me figured out in no time.” His sentence ends in a yawn, and Caroline can literally feel her heart swell in her chest from the way he rubs his eyes afterwards.

She takes his hand, “Let’s go have a sleep, we had a rough night.” Klaus doesn’t object as she tugs him up the stairs and into their bedroom.

“Are we sleeping together, Caroline?” Klaus’ voice resonates through her, but Caroline scowls.

“Yes, but don’t even think about anything other than sleeping, mister.” Caroline sniffs haughtily and makes her way to her side of the bed and slips into it. She’s facing the far wall, the one with their wedding photo on it, and Klaus slides into bed behind her. 

He doesn’t touch her, not right away, and Caroline’s body wants. She holds herself as still as possible though, and tries to fall asleep.

She’s almost succeeded when Klaus whispers, “Caroline?”

“What?”

He moves closer, the heat from his body seeping into her space, “I despise the feeling that this body knows you, has wrapped around you countless times. I have never been jealous of myself before, but I find myself in that predicament now.”

Caroline can’t help it, she turns over to face him, finding herself nose to nose. His eyes are incredibly soft, and she wonders if anyone in this entire world has ever looked at her as he is now. 

“This will ruin us, Nik.” Caroline murmurs, “When we’re home. It’ll destroy us.”

His hand sneaks up from under the blanket and cups her cheek gently, “I have risked far more for less. You would be worth it, I’m convinced of that much, love.”

Caroline closes her eyes, because she can’t bear to look at him any longer when he talks to her like that. She’ll start to believe him if she looks at him. “Stop, Nik, please.”

He falls silent for a second, but then he’s leaning forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Fine, Caroline. I’ll stop for now, but you would be a queen at my side, and you know it. You’re exquisite, and I will have you.”

The words ring like a promise in her ears and she falls asleep with his arm banded around her; she dreams of cities beneath her feet and Niklaus Mikaelson at her side. 

At this point, she’s not sure if the dreams are memories, or if she’s fallen so far she’s not even sure who she is anymore.

 

---

 

 

When Caroline wakes up it’s late afternoon and the bed is empty, though still warm. She pulls the covers from her face and looks at Klaus’ empty spot. There’s a rose on the bed and a drawing of her beneath it. This time she’s not smiling in the drawing: she’s sitting against a wall, a flashlight at her side, and she looks sad.

She still looks stunning, and Caroline knows without reading the script beneath it what it will say.

Thank you for your friendship.

The paper is whiter than the one she has back home with her horse drawing on it, but she treasures it just the same. The way that Klaus draws her is telling; not only in the paintings in his studios here in this world, but in her old horse drawing at home. Caroline is the focus; Caroline is the part of the picture that’s supposed to be the light, the beauty.

Caroline knows objectively that she has friends; back home she’s well known, and she has Bonnie, Matt, and Elena. She’s never really been alone, per se, but she’s also never had someone say thanks for actually being her friend. She’s never had anyone thank her for her honesty, or her friendship.

She’s never had anyone look at her the way Klaus does.

She gets out of bed and sets the drawing beside their wedding picture, because she deserves to have something in the house that is actually hers, and then goes on a hunt to find Klaus.

He’s in his studio, where she expected him to be, and this time he’s working on a landscape. Caroline’s never seen what he’s painting before, but it’s stunning. It’s green and lush, with a quaint looking town beyond the hills he’s painted. 

“Where is it?” she asks, and this time he doesn’t flinch. He finishes one more swirl of blue in the sky before he answers.

“Italy. I quite liked this town. I would take you there.”

Caroline smiles a little, “I know you would.”

He frowns at her over his shoulder, “Then why do you refuse to join me?”

She doesn’t answer for a long time, but she does come to stand behind him and hook her chin over his shoulder. He doesn’t move, not even to paint after she does that.

“Why would I go anywhere when you could paint me the sights?” Caroline teases, “It’s like an in-home tour!”

Klaus turns, eyes burning, “I would stop painting tomorrow if it would inspire you to travel with me.”

Caroline feels her stomach clench, and she summons her courage, “If you can answer me one question honestly, then when we get home I will take one trip with you.”

“One question?” Klaus says, smug grin spreading, “Just one?”

Caroline shrugs flippantly, “It’s an important question. But just one trip! And no more than a weekend long. Within the same continent!”

Klaus scowls, “All of my favourite places are too far for a weekend trip.”

“Deal or not?” Caroline demands.

Klaus rolls his eyes, “Fine. One question for one trip... a week long, though.”

“Fine,” Caroline copies him, hands on her hips. “But still same continent!”

Klaus lifts his paintbrush and brushes a stripe down her cheek, “Deal. What’s your question?”

Caroline smacks his hand away, annoyed that she’s likely to have a stripe of blue paint down her cheek. “I know that you’re... interested in me. I know that you have pursued me... before. But...” she pauses, thinking about how to word her question. Klaus is a master of loopholes. “Why do you want me when you know that there are other people out there who would go with you in a heartbeat and keep you entertained? And don’t say because I’m pretty, or smart, or some bullshit. The truth, Klaus, you promised.”

Klaus sets his paintbrush down on his easel and when he turns to face her again, his eyes are brighter than she’s ever seen them, “Caroline, I would never dare to say you are merely pretty,” he spits the word as though it’s an insult, “you are by far the most stunning thing I have seen in the last millennia, especially when you are furious with me.” He winks at her as he says it, and Caroline is charmed completely, but she stays steadfast.

“C’mon, Klaus.” she says, “That’s nice to say, but that’s not why you’re being eerily rational about this whole getting home thing. I thought you would be killing people to find a way home by now. There’s other beautiful women in this world.”

He grin he sends her is feral, “There is no point in fighting this spell, obviously the witch who cast it knew what she was doing. We will find the loophole, and we will go home, and I will rip her spinal cord from her body,”  he pauses, and swallows, “but, as for why I want you? I desire you for many reasons, Caroline, and you asked for one. Beauty is one of them.”

“That’s bullshit. I want the most important reason.” She stresses.

He frowns and Caroline knows he’s weighing his options, whether or not he can back out of this deal, or if it would be worth it to proceed. She’s seen this face on him before, and it’s not what she wants right now. She doesn’t want to make a deal technically, she wants to make a decision.

Caroline sighs, “Give me one reason to give you a chance, Klaus.” 

His eyes snap to hers, surprise evident until he covers it entirely, “Caroline Forbes, I believe you have changed your mind since last night.”

“Haven’t changed it yet,” she snarls, “so answer the goddamn question.”

“I want your loyalty,” Klaus finally snaps, “I have since the moment I saw you, and every moment since. You care for your friends, Caroline, you’ve proven that time and time again even when they do not reciprocate as you deserve.”

Caroline frowns, “You can’t just demand my loyalty to you!”

“Don’t you think I know that!” Klaus roars, “If I wanted to, I could have compelled you, but I didn’t! Freely given loyalty is rare, and I want it. ” Klaus is panting now, furious, and Caroline thinks that it’s funny that he’s so angry when she’s so pleased with him.

“One more question, please?” Caroline asks, softly, “If you answer it, I’ll take another trip with you. Week long.”

Klaus’ chest heaves but he considers her demand. He smirks, “Off the continent and a month long.”

“Two weeks.” Caroline retaliates.

“Done,” Klaus smirks, and Caroline realizes she settled too quickly.

She frowns, “You tricked me! You would have taken the week.”

Klaus shrugs, “Too late. Ask your question, love.” 

“Fine.” Caroline snaps. “If we did this, if we played house with everything that entails, would you tire of me when we returned home?”

The question hangs in the air, destroying the teasing mood of before, and Klaus seems flabbergasted until he shakes himself a little and his unflappable cool is back in place. Caroline is shaking, and she can’t seem to stop herself, because this is the important question. This is the one that makes or breaks her decision.

“Caroline,” Klaus starts, “I cannot promise that I will desire you forever. We’ve talked about that, and as much fun as we are together now I can’t say I’ll like it forever, especially since we’re immortal. But -- but, I can promise, that as long as you don’t betray me, I will never tire of your friendship. Never.”

Caroline considers this. It’s reasonable, and she honestly couldn’t ask for more, since she could never promise more herself. Forever is a long time, and Klaus has more issues than she can even imagine, and there’s nothing a baby vampire can do to fix them. Still, she wants this, she wants him, and she’s willing to try.

“Okay.”

Klaus absolutely lights up, “Okay?”

“Yeah,” Caroline says, “this is what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna try this, and when we get home we’re going to see what happens. But here’s our deal: I won’t go behind your back, I won’t betray you or help anyone to hurt you, and I’ll protect you if I can.”

“And what do you want from me?” Klaus says, cautiously and darkly. 

Caroline knows she can’t demand the things she wants to. Klaus won’t give up his hybrids, or Elena; if she even mentions Tyler he’ll lose his mind, thinking it was a trick the whole time.

“I want you to consider my happiness before you do anything,” Caroline says, “I’m not saying you can’t do things, just... consider if it will hurt me before you do it. Because I know you don’t have a whole lot of experience with friends, so I’ll let you in on a little secret -- generally, friends try to make sure their friends are happy. So if you try to kill one of my friends, I probably won’t like it, and in turn will be mad and retaliate.”

Klaus scowls at her, “What if I consider your happiness and decide that I want to run the risk of you being mad at me?”

“That’s your choice, Klaus.” Caroline murmurs, “I can’t make you do anything, I just want you to think before you act.”

He snatches her wrists, fingers like brands on her skin, “What happens if I agree to this deal, Caroline?”

“We stop calling it a deal, for one.” She grins cheekily, “I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.”

Klaus tentatively smiles at her, “This is much more Elijah’s thing, darling, I don’t usually become attached.”

Caroline laughs, “I’ll let you know if you do something wrong.”

“Of that I have no doubt.” Klaus chuckles with her and loosens his grips on her arms to let his fingers trail up her skin. Caroline can’t help but melt into his touch, and it’s only when his finger trails along her cheek that she recalls the stupid blue stripe he painted on her.

“Did you actually just let me have this conversation with paint all over me!” Caroline hisses, “You’re unbelievable.”

“It’s adorable.” Klaus is grinning, and Caroline wants to see him smile like this forever. She stands on her tip toes and kisses him, ignoring his smile and waiting until his arms snap around her and he kisses her back.

It doesn’t take long until she’s pressed against the door and breathless with want, and she reminds herself internally that they need to take it slow but her body is so not on board with that idea. Klaus is kissing down her neck, reverently, and Caroline lets her fingers race into his hair.

“Let me take you upstairs,” Klaus pleads, breath hot on her skin.

Caroline sighs, “I suppose there’s no helping it, we were never meant to actually go slow.”

He pulls back and grins wolfishly at her, “Is that a yes to the bed?”

She rolls her eyes, “Yeah.”

Klaus bends over and snatches at her knees, lifting her to toss over his shoulders. Caroline shrieks in protest, but when he makes his way to the stairs she’s laughing.

“Don’t you dare drop me!” She squeals as he starts climbing the stairs. It’s dizzying from her point of view, but Caroline’s not really afraid. Even if Klaus is only a werewolf here and not an immeasurably strong immortal hybrid, he wouldn’t drop her.

When they reach the top of the stairs he flings her to her feet and surges forward to kiss her again. Caroline meets him halfway, and this time she’s ready when he pulls her up, and she wraps her legs around him. 

Caroline has had good sex before. She’s had human sex, and vampire sex, and hybrid sex, and absolutely none of them compare with sex with Klaus. He literally throws her on the bed as though she weighs nothing, and before she can think he’s on top of her, and his hands are everywhere. Caroline thinks she might explode from want, or spontaneously combust, and she’s never in her entire life felt anything like this.

“Not fair,” she gasps when he strips her shirt off her, “you have so many more years experience than me!”

He chuckles darkly and pulls his own shirt off, tossing it on the floor, “Part of being immortal, love.” He bends down and unsnaps her bra, baring her to him. Caroline resists the urge to cover herself and revels in the way his eyes dilate and his breath catches.

“I guess you’ll have to teach me.” she murmurs, breathlessly, “Now take off your pants.”

He stands up at her command and strips his pants and underwear off and Caroline does the same. She’s nervous and excited and terrified all at once, and before she can even decide which emotion is stronger Klaus is back and his skin is so hot she feels like she’s on fire.

This time, he brushes his fingers through her hair and down her skin, taking the time to caress every inch of her body he can. He spends what feels like an eternity on her breasts, kissing  and licking until she’s writhing on the bed.

“Stop teasing,” she pants, “come on!”

He laughs into her skin, the sound tender, and he kisses his way down her stomach. “Someone has taught you not to take your time, love, and I plan on spending hours on your body.”

Caroline swallows heavily as he kisses her thigh, and glances up at her, his eyes wicked. She lets her head fall back when he pushes a finger inside of her, crooking up into the spot that makes her forget her name, forget everything except what she feels.

Caroline feels pressure building inside her, and she gasps out Klaus’ name when he lets a second finger slide next to the first. 

“Oh my god, come on, I’m going to die,” Caroline says.

Klaus pulls away, leaving her breathless and empty, “You exaggerate, love.”

He crawls back up her body; his eyes are bright and Caroline just knows he’s laughing at her inside. She doesn’t really mind, because he looks just as awestruck as she feels, and it’s nice to know she affects him the same way.

She can feel his cock against her thigh, and Caroline lets her hands trail down his muscled back until she gets to his ass, reeling him in closer to her until he has no choice but to slide home inside her. Klaus’ breath pants out on her shoulder, and Caroline gives him about a second to relax when he finally bottoms out and then she’s wrapping her legs around his back.

She scores her nails down his back gently, and lets her all-too-human teeth press into his skin on his shoulder. Klaus grips her hair but doesn’t pull on it, and Caroline nearly dies of pleasure when he rocks into her suddenly, driving himself deeper.

They get a rhythm going, and Caroline wonders at the fact that they seem to fit together so perfectly, and before she knows it she’s on the crest of exploding. Klaus kisses her, deep and messy, and Caroline doesn’t mind that their teeth clack together because she’s coming undone, and she feels like she’s dying and flying all at once. Klaus groans into her ear when she clenches down on him, and then he’s coming inside her, and Caroline thinks that even if they do get home, she’ll never be the same.

Klaus rolls over, pulling her with him. She ends up curled on him, breath finally coming back to her. His heartbeat thunders under her ear, and she grins into his skin. Klaus’ hand is still in her hair, petting it gently away from her face.

Caroline thinks that if she can be loyal to him, if she can be what he wants her to be, he’ll do absolutely anything for her. Caroline thinks that he would burn the world down if she asked him to. She thinks that maybe she shouldn’t have held out so long, because Klaus may be devious and cruel and bad but he’s not used to people choosing him, and if she did, if she could choose him, he would choose her back.

Caroline is good at loving people who don’t love her back. She always loved her parents more than it seemed like they loved her, and even though she knows Matt and Tyler cared, she also knows that they didn’t love her, not the way she loved them.

Klaus doesn’t love her either, Caroline knows that much, and she’s not even sure if he’s capable of love. Even so, if Caroline gave Klaus her loyalty, he wouldn’t walk away the way Matt and Tyler always did. He’d spent thousands of years dragging his family around willingly or not out of a confused sense of loyalty, and Caroline could use that.

“Nik?” Caroline murmurs, belatedly pressing her lips into his skin.

“I like how you say my name, Caroline.” His voice is nothing more than a breath in the air, and Caroline wonders if she says his name half as enticingly as he says hers.

“I’m glad,” she tells him, “but I was wondering something.”

He huffs a laugh, “You’re always wondering something. What now?”

“Where do you think Elijah is? In this reality?” 

Klaus falls silent and sighs beneath her cheek. “From what I’ve dreamt, my siblings in this reality are confusing. All I know is that Rebekah is here, as you’ve seen. Kol is off somewhere in Europe, and we don’t really speak from what I understand. I have yet to dream of Finn, though I imagine he is either with Mikael and Esther, or you’re correct and he and Sage are meant to be,” Klaus rolls his eyes at her, “and living happily ever after.”

“And Elijah?” Caroline prods. He’s avoiding and she knows it.

He frowns, “I don’t know. I have yet to dream of memories with him, and it’s not for lack of trying. Honestly, I fear that I killed him.”

“What?” Caroline sits up a little, shock filling her body.

Klaus’ face is carefully blank, though his eyes are tumultuous with emotions. Caroline saw how devastated he was at Kol’s death. She knows how he treasures his siblings even as he hates them for their history with him, and she knows that he loves Elijah. They are brothers, in more than family name or blood; they’ve lived and thrived together over centuries, and nothing can destroy that bond.

“I don’t want to have murdered my brother, Caroline, but it makes sense. There’s no photos of him, Rebekah has never brought him up, and I have to have triggered the curse with something.”

Caroline clears her mind, drawing forth every ounce of willpower she has to keep her face blank. She doesn’t like the idea of killing anyone; and despite the fact that she doesn’t know Elijah very well, he is one of the only Originals to try to help Elena. She doesn’t want him dead, and she knows what Klaus is saying makes sense.

It’s not even that she doubts Klaus could kill, even in this reality where he’s far less dangerous.

It’s that she honestly doesn’t believe he could actually kill Elijah. There are few things on this planet that Klaus values, and his siblings are definitely one of them. Klaus may rail and torment them, but he loves them, maybe in the only way Klaus knows how to love anyone.

“I don’t believe that,” Caroline whispers, and Klaus lifts his head to stare at her, surprised, “I don’t think you could kill Elijah. In any reality. He’s your brother, and I know you love him.”

Klaus sighs, but his eyes are luminous, “He’s betrayed me before, in our reality. It’s possible he’s done so here, too, and it was too much.”

“Then we’ll figure it out, and deal with it when we get there.” Caroline says decisively.

Klaus reaches out, wraps a curl around his finger. Caroline can only imagine how ridiculous her bed head is now, but she’s surprisingly not that self conscious. Klaus has seen worse from her.

“Shower with me?” he whispers, and Caroline is taken back to the night before when he had asked the same thing and she had refused. She has no reason to refuse, not anymore, though the thought makes her a little anxious.

“I’ve never done that before.” she admits softly, closing her eyes. She can feel the heat in her cheeks, and it’s stupid to be embarrassed after what they just did, but she is.

“Please?” 

Niklaus Mikaelson never says please. Caroline thinks for a second she’s hearing things, but she knows she isn’t. Klaus had said please. In fact, it’s probably not even the first time he’s said it to her. He’s a murderer and a hybrid, but he is a gentleman, when he wants to be.

She opens her eyes and rolls them, more to cover her blush than for any sarcastic reason, and she throws the covers off and stands up. Her body is still hers, even if it’s a little older. She has a scar on her right hip, and Caroline has no idea what it’s from, but she refuses to be embarrassed. It’s not like Klaus hadn’t just seen all of her, and besides, he knows that she’s older in this reality. Hell, he’s older here too, and she’s not complaining.

“Hurry up!” She calls, striding towards their bathroom. She doesn’t miss the way Klaus beams at her naked form, or scrambles to get out of bed. He chases her, growling in a mocking way, and Caroline surprises herself by laughing and running towards the shower, letting him catch her.

She’s not even afraid, not even with the recent memory of him growling as a werewolf last night. Klaus is absurdly gentle with her, and he presses her against the cold tile of the shower and turns on the spray, letting it hit his back first. It’s cold initially, but he doesn’t flinch. His eyes are roaming her face, then up and down her body, and Caroline feels hot all over.

“Really?” she laughs, “Again?”

He leans in, resting his face in her neck. “Over and over, love. Even if this oh-so-mortal body is tired, I am hardly tired of you.”

Despite his words, Klaus doesn’t move, just presses closer to her. Caroline can feel him, hard against her belly, but she doesn’t move except to wrap her arms around his shoulders and pull him in farther.

“My friends are going to kill me.” she finally murmurs.

He huffs a laugh into her skin, “Don’t mention your friends when we’re naked. New rule.”

Caroline laughs helplessly, and this time Klaus pulls away, wraps a hand into her hair, tangling it gently into her damp curls. He pulls her into a kiss, and Caroline lets out a sigh when he finally, finally lets his free hand trail down her body, stopping to thumb at her nipples.  Caroline is gasping for breath under his ministrations, but Klaus has pinned her with his eyes, and has yet to let go of her hair.

“You want this,” Klaus says, and it’s the truth, “You don’t get to feel guilty for something you want, Caroline. Damn everyone else, do what you want to do.”

Caroline can feel herself holding her breath; her body is coiled tightly with desire, but Klaus’ words are important. No one ever tells her to do what she wants to do. It’s always about someone else — her parents marriage, Elena, Stefan, Tyler. It’s not ever about what she wants.

“But-”

Klaus has both hands on the side of her face now, “No. No buts. Say it. Tell me what you want, Caroline.”

“I want…” she gasps, “I want this.” 

When Klaus grins at her it’s feral, but Caroline can’t take back her words. They hover between them, caught in the slight mist the shower spray is creating. 

Besides, Caroline doesn’t want to take them back. They were true.

Klaus sinks down to his knees, and Caroline sucks in a breath at the sight he makes, breathing on her skin. He lifts one of her feet in his hands, kissing her ankle and setting it on the shower ledge. The knowledge of what’s coming makes Caroline a little dizzy, because this is new. It’s not that she’s never had this before, it’s that usually the other party isn’t so into it.

But Klaus is magnificent. He lets his hands trail against her hips, and when his fingers pull her open, baring every inch of her to his eyes, Caroline is so turned on she doesn’t even mind it. 

When Klaus finally sets his mouth on her, tongue swirling against the most sensitive part of her body, Caroline loses it. She lets her head fall against the shower, and her hand seems to find Klaus’ head without her telling it to. She tightens her fingers on his curls, and he rewards her by thrusting his tongue inside of her. She can’t help it, she comes completely undone, and he holds her up steadily when she calls out his name.

He slides back up her body when she stops moving, and Caroline can’t seem to find the energy to lift her head from the shower wall. Klaus kisses her shoulder, and it’s so gentle that Caroline almost wants to cry. 

Then, without saying a single word, he brings up the soap and starts washing her. He takes his time, despite the fact that Caroline knows he’s still hard, and he turns her to face the spray when he starts in on her hair. She doesn’t open her eyes, because even if she doesn’t trust Klaus, she knows she can trust him with this.

When her hair is washed, and the rest of her body with it, she finally opens her eyes to stare at her enemy-turned-pseudo-husband. He’s almost smiling and his eyes are soft. It’s the closest Caroline has ever seen him to happy, and she never wants it to end.

So she does the only logical thing — she presses him back against the wall, the exact mirror of her position, and picks up the soap. He doesn’t object, but he watches her curiously as she cleans his skin, rubs shampoo into his hair the same way he had for her.

When he’s finally clean, and she’s rinsed off the soap, Caroline sinks to her knees in front of him. By his sharp intake of breath, Klaus knows exactly what she’s planning, but before she can set her mouth on him he’s holding her chin.

“You don’t have to.” He tells her. 

It’s kind of incongruous to everything she’s ever been told about Niklaus Mikaelson, but at the same time, it’s what she’s come to expect of him. He’s a bundle of complexity, and Caroline likes to think that she knows him better than some people, and she’ll never understand him.

She smiles though, because she can handle this. “I want to. I’m allowed to do what I want.”

He lets her go and smirks, “Well, then, I won’t stand in your way.”

Caroline grins at him, but doesn’t hesitate to take him into her mouth and swallow him down. It’s never been her favourite act in the world, but she thinks she could be a fan of the way Klaus gasps out her name raggedly and lets his hands run over her hair. 

The shower is just starting to turn cold, but Caroline doesn’t stop until Klaus is coming in her mouth and she’s swallowing him down, even though the shower could have just as easily done the clean up job. She doesn’t really mind, and the look of awe on Klaus’ face makes it kind of worth it.

He turns off the shower when she stands back up, and then he’s pulling her raggedly into his chest. It’s an odd type of embrace, because they’re both dripping wet, and Caroline’s starting to get cold, but they’re both unwilling to move.

“Come on, let’s dry off and I’ll make lunch.” Caroline finally says, because she’s starting to think that if Klaus had his way they’d never get dressed again.

He releases her unwillingly, but when she goes to walk away he smacks her butt hard enough to hurt. She yelps and turns on him with a scowl, but he’s grinning large enough that she can’t reprimand him. Instead she throws the towel at his face, but he catches it and doesn’t even stop smiling.

She wraps a towel around herself, heading into their room to find some sort of comfortable clothes. 

“Come on, we’re having soup because it’s easy, and -I hate to tell you this- I’m an absolutely terrible cook.”

Klaus throws his head back and laughs, “Oh no, whatever was I thinking, marrying someone who couldn’t cook?”

Caroline smirks, “Shut up! You can’t cook either.”

“I used to be an immortal vampire werewolf hybrid, love, not much use for cooking.” Klaus reminds her, his eyes dancing with humour, “But I will definitely sign up for a lesson when we get home.”

Caroline laughs at him as she heads downstairs to make lunch, and she tries not to let the mention of going home get her down. She should be excited by the prospect. In fact, they should be researching, not making love and having soup. 

Still, Caroline can’t help but think that this is the happiest she’s been in years, and the minute she’s back in regular Mystic Falls she knows it will all be over, because no matter what Klaus says, or what she thinks, her friends would never accept them.

Klaus will never give up on his revenge, or his hybrids. 

And Caroline won’t ever be okay with him using Elena and Tyler.

Still, when she sets the soup in front of him at their kitchen table, and he thanks her with a smug grin, Caroline knows she can’t stop what she’s started. It’s too late, and Caroline will play this particular scenario out to it’s bitter end.

Chapter Text

“I want to paint you.” Klaus declares two days later, lying on their couch with his head in Caroline’s lap while she watches some stupid reality show.

She laughs and stops her fingers where they were playing with his hair, “You have painted me.”

He grins, “No. I mean I want to paint you naked.”

“No way,” Caroline frowns, “I’d have to sit still forever, and it’s not like you could show anyone the painting!”

“Obviously,” Klaus rolls his eyes, “but I still want to paint you.”

Caroline, despite her objections, is intrigued by the idea, “Like Titanic?”

“Ugh, do not compare me to that idiot, love,” he huffs, “but yes. I suppose that is the general idea.”

“Can I have a sheet?” Caroline asks, thoughtful.

Klaus frowns, “Yes, but I get to arrange it.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, “I’m going to regret this.”

“Is that a yes?”

She nods, not quite trusting her voice. Klaus leaps from the couch, as if waiting for her permission was the only thing holding him back. He tugs her up, and she giggles at his exuberance. 

“Nik, wait, did you mean right this second-”

Her protests are cut off, “Yes, of course! Tomorrow’s that foolish gallery opening, and then we have your mother’s dinner, and then Hannah the day after, and then we’re at the doppelganger’s dinner on Friday, and you’ll have changed your mind before the weekend.”

Caroline’s shocked that he remembers their plans, mostly because they’re not even their plans, but also because he considers them tedious and mortal. 

“Fine.” she gripes, stripping off her clothes when they reach his studio. She’s never been more grateful for the curtains that he draws shut, because even though the studio faces their fairly private backyard, she doesn’t think she could do it if she could stare outside.

She’s naked by the time he turns back around, and he lets his eyes rove all over her. She feels even more undressed by his gaze, but she fights the urge to cover herself, and lets him point to a couch beyond his canvas. Caroline sits primly on it, uncomfortable with the way the fabric feels under her naked butt. 

Klaus scowls at her, “Caroline, I’ve seen people being killed look more comfortable than you do right now.”

She glares at him, “When I’m naked is not a good time to bring up the fact that you’re a homicidal maniac, Klaus.”

He snorts as though she’s ridiculous, and comes over to the couch to move her until she looks the way he wants. He hands her a blanket and arranges it around her lap, leaving some of her covered, though less than Caroline would have liked.

“Okay, don’t move. You look magnificent, love, don’t worry.” He reassures her, moving back to his canvas.

Caroline can’t help the nervous laughter that escapes her, but she covers it by saying, “Paint me like one of your French girls, Jack.”

Klaus laughs at her, and finally murmurs, “Caroline, you are a delight.”

She falls silent at that, mostly because he finally picks up a pencil and starts to draw. His strokes are sure, and he spends minutes at a time staring at her before drawing whichever part he was studying.

Caroline thought it would bother her, sitting still for so long, but Klaus is fast at it, and she feels absorbed by the motion of his fingers, and the concentration on his face. She’s never been looked at the way Klaus has always looked at her; as though she’s some sort of puzzle that needs to be solved, a treasure that needs to be hoarded, protected. She loves it, she’s addicted to it, and Caroline’s afraid of what that means for them.

By the time he’s done it’s dark outside, and Caroline’s sore from sitting in one position, but when he tells her to sit up she pulls the blanket around herself and smiles at him.

“Can I see it?” She asks.

He shrugs and turns the canvas towards her. To anyone else, it would look as though he didn’t care, but Caroline knows him better than most, and he’s nervous. 

There’s no need. 

The painting is stunning, every line of her body drawn with care and precision. Caroline’s a little embarrassed to see her naked self painted so openly, but it’s also kind of liberating in a way. She knows it’s her in the painting, but it’s hard to reconcile herself with the woman staring out of the canvas. Her eyes are open, soft and blue, and she’s got this ridiculous smile on her face.

“It’s beautiful.” She tells him, because he’s still waiting for her reaction.

He shrugs again, “I had a pretty good model.”

She grins, but she can’t help but ask: “Is that really what you see?” It’s something she’s wondered before, because no matter which painting she looks at, Klaus always paints her the same way. She’s beautiful, and Caroline knows objectively that she’s a pretty girl, but it’s something else to see herself practically glowing. She wonders if Klaus sees her that way all the time, if she is just that perfect in his eyes.

“Yes.” He answers simply, and she’s not sure if he knew what she meant by his question, but supposes it doesn’t matter.

“You can’t sell this one.” She tells him, mostly because she’s searching for something to say.

He rolls his eyes at her, “I dislike sharing, love, and this is definitely for no one’s eyes but mine.”

She doesn’t bring up the fact that she’s not his, no matter how much they’re pretending right now. Her ring sits heavy on her finger, and she wishes for the seven billionth time that this was true. That this reality was theirs.

Caroline doesn’t want to look at the painting anymore, even though it’s magnificent. She doesn’t want to look at her smile on canvas, doesn’t want to see a picture that shows so obviously how much she cares about Klaus.

So she surges forward and kisses him, because nothing can distract her the way Klaus can. He gets with the program quickly, and it probably helps that she drops the blanket, and waits for him to start stripping off his own clothes.

Caroline’s never cried during sex before, and she doesn’t plan to start now, but she’s also never felt her throat clog up the way it does when Klaus lays her on the blanket on the floor. She’s never felt her eyes burn as much as they do when Klaus whispers ridiculous compliments in her ear as he worships her body.

She hates this as much as she loves it, and she hates that she’s going to lose it all.

 

---

 

The next day she wakes up before Klaus and her alarm, and she slips into her work clothes and heads downstairs without him moving an inch. She’s not avoiding, per se, but she’s not exactly up for starting her day off with a domestic scene of him in their bed. She had dreamt of their wedding, and their proposal, and Caroline hates that nothing is ever going to live up to Klaus down on one knee on a beach. It’s getting to be difficult to separate their life here, in this stupid alternate reality, from their life in the real Mystic Falls, where Caroline’s supposed to hate him.

She doesn’t hate him. She wonders if she’s ever actually hated him, because it seems like her history is composed of a million reasons to hate him, and a million more reasons that she just can’t. 

Either way, she goes to work and loses herself in her clients and planning. She doesn’t contemplate even the thought of Klaus, and she doesn’t answer the phone when he calls her at lunch. 

By the time the day is done she knows she has to call him, because even though she’s not ready to go back to their house yet, she can’t abandon him. Caroline knows that he has no one else in this reality, no one else who knows the real him, and he’ll flip if he can’t find her. He’ll probably kill innocents, and then it will be even harder to reconcile herself to the fact that she wants him.

So she phones him, and he answers with an accented: “Hello?”

“Hey, Nik,” Caroline greets, and she wishes she had never gotten in the habit of calling him Nik, but he likes it so she had never stopped after the barbecue at Rebekah’s.

“Hello, Caroline. I called at lunch, but-”

She thinks fast, “Sorry, I had a client meeting. I’m just calling because I’m going to go shopping. I want a new dress for the gallery opening tonight.”

“I’m going to wear the suit in the closet.” he tells her, “Will that be sufficient?”

She laughs, “Of course. I just want a new dress. You know, something that I bought.”

“Okay,” he agrees, probably because he knows better than to argue with her about fashion, “be home by six, because we said we’d be there at seven.”

She chokes up a little, the same way she always does when Klaus is unexpectedly husbandly. “Of course. I’ll be home soon. Bye!”

“Caroline,” he cuts in before she can hang up, “are you alright?”

She swallows heavily and injects as much cheer as she can into her voice without sounding deranged, “Yeah, sorry, I’m just nervous about this thing tonight.”

“Then we’ll cancel it.” he says without hesitation.

“No! No, it’s going to be great. Don’t worry about me.”

This time he lets her say goodbye without interruption, and she lays her head on her desk for a minute while she collects herself. Eventually she texts Elena to meet her at the mall for some shopping, because Bonnie has kids now and probably can’t just drop everything for some retail therapy, and that thought makes Caroline a little hysterical.

Luckily, Elena agrees, and Caroline drives to the mall without really thinking. Elena is overjoyed at their shopping trip, and even though Caroline misses a lot of what she’s saying, Elena is still blissfully ignorant of Caroline’s inner turmoil.

It’s only once she steps out of a change room and Elena beams that Caroline starts to feel a little better. “Oh my god, Care, seriously, you have to buy that one.”

Elena is right, of course, and Caroline can’t just walk away from the blue strapless dress. 

“It’s beautiful,” Caroline agrees, “I’m going to get it.”

“Klaus is going to die,” Elena puts in, “You’ll be the most beautiful couple in the room.”

And there it is —Caroline can’t stop herself, she just goes for it, “I’m in love with him.”

Elena frowns, “I know. Caroline, you’ve seriously been in love with him forever.”

“I just— it’s just…” Caroline thinks hard because she wants Elena to help her, but she can’t tell her the truth, “it’s been hard, you know, with the baby thing. And we’ve been drifting, but we’ve been really good recently, and I just… I’m just really in love with him.”

It’s a neat lie; it’s not true, but it’s got enough in it that Caroline knows it will work, and just like she predicted, Elena falls for it.

“Oh, Care,” she says, and wraps an arm over Caroline’s bare shoulder. “Remember when I asked you how you knew Klaus was the one?”

“No,” Caroline response miserably, because she doesn’t.

Elena laughs, “He’d introduced you to Mikael, and why I have no idea, but maybe he thought that they would finally accept him, and Mikael said that if he stayed with you he would never be apart of their family.”

“He’s such an ass.” Caroline replies. She thinks she hates Mikael more than she’s ever hated anyone.

“I know,” Elena agrees, “But Klaus said that you were more his family than they ever were, and he would choose you a thousand times over them.”

Caroline supposes it should make her feel better, but it doesn’t. Mostly because in this reality, Klaus would always choose Caroline. They were married.

But in her reality? In their actual Mystic Falls everyone-is-a-vampire reality? Klaus would always choose revenge and power.

“How did you know Damon was the one?” Caroline asks, because there’s nothing else she can say.

Elena blushes, “You already know this story, Caroline.”

“Humour me.” 

“When Stefan and I broke up for the last time,” Elena starts, and Caroline barely holds back her shock. Of course she dated Stefan, even in this reality, “Damon was there for me. We were friends.”

“Of course.” Caroline manages.

Elena flushes and shrugs, “And one thing led to another, and we fell in love. But neither of us wanted to hurt Stefan, because Damon and his brother are really close.”

“But you still ended up together?” Caroline asks, because it’s so unbelievable to her that Elena still makes the same freaking mistakes in every universe.

Elena frowns a little, “I know that we hurt Stefan. We told him, and we waited. We did everything right that we could possibly do in such an impossibly shitty situation.” Elena swallows, “It wasn’t fair to Stefan, for both of us to do that to him. I’ll probably never forgive myself, even though he’s forgiven me for it. But, Caroline, sometimes you love who you love, and you can’t help it. Sometimes you just have to ask yourself if it’s worth it, and if it is, then everyone else can go to hell.”

Caroline nods, silently, because that was more the advice she was looking for, “And you don’t regret it?”

Elena smiles, and it’s one of those stupidly-in-love smiles she used to give Caroline in the other reality, and Caroline can’t help but smile back at her, “Caroline, if I were to live to a thousand, I would never regret choosing Damon. That’s how I knew he was the one.”

Caroline hugs her, because it feels right, and when she goes back into the change room to put on her regular clothes, she thinks she knows what she’s going to do.

 

---

 

Klaus is in his studio when she gets home, but she doesn’t go in to say hi. She races upstairs and manages to fix her hair and makeup as best she can, and slips into the blue strapless dress.

It’s stupid to feel like a teenager on her first date, but Caroline does. This is the first time she’s been out with Klaus where she’s not the distraction, and there’s no nefarious plans to murder him. It’s refreshing.

When she steps down the stairs, careful in her nude heels, Klaus is waiting at the bottom. He looks devastating in his suit, and when Caroline grins at him he smiles back. He steps forward, his eyes dancing, and Caroline thinks that finally she doesn’t have to dream about something wonderful. This is hers.

“Caroline, you are stunning.” he tells her when she reaches the ground. She likes how he words it: she is stunning, not she looks stunning. It’s a small difference, but something in her chest unclenches at it.

She grins, “You look pretty amazing, too.”

He leans forward, quickly, and plants a kiss on her bare shoulder. It sends a thrill though her, and she barely covers her surprise.

“Turn around.” He demands, and she lifts an eyebrow at him but obeys. He slips something over her head, and it rests neatly above her dress. She stares at the mirror across from them, the one that’s too small to be of much use, and is floored by the simple silver necklace that ends in a delicately twisted pendant; it sparkles with a diamond in their hall light, and Caroline thinks that Klaus must have spent a bit of money on it.

“It’s incredible! But, seriously, it must have been so expensive.” 

Behind her, Klaus shrugs, “Caroline, you said I was being paid a ‘disgusting’ amount of money. Besides, you seem to have mixed feelings about the bracelet I once gave you, but this is not a bribe.”

Caroline can’t help it, she smiles helplessly because he’s right. She loves the bracelet he gave her, but it seemed so wrong to wear it. This necklace, this dress, this night, it’s all hers. She turns around to face him, and he’s smirking at her.

“Thank you,” she murmurs, “I love it.” She can’t help but reach up and touch it, and Klaus’ eyes follow her every movement.

“I’m glad,” he says, “I left spaghetti on the counter if you’re hungry.”

He finally leaves her at those words, heading back into the studio to grab some paintings he was planning on bringing with him. Caroline moves to the kitchen as though she’s in a trance. There’s a plate of spaghetti waiting for her, and Caroline wants to laugh at the mental image of Klaus attempting to cook it, but she doesn’t. It’s so thoughtful, and Elena’s words are ringing in her head.

She eats quickly and carefully, making sure not to spill a single drop on her dress. By the time she’s done and washed the plate Klaus is rushing her into the car, saying they’re late. He’s got his murderously annoyed face on by the time they start driving and Caroline wonders if he’s angry with her, or the thought of hanging around in a gallery for hours.

She hopes it’s the latter. She’s pretty sure it’s the latter, considering the weight of the new diamond on her neck.

“I meant to ask you something.” Klaus says, after a few minutes when his glare has toned down a little.

“What?” 

Klaus glances at her, “When we were at Rebekah’s, and we told Elena you were sick, she seemed quite taken with the fact. She kept bringing it up.”

Caroline’s stomach plummets. She’s not sure how Klaus will take the fact that they were trying for a baby — it’s not them but it’s enough like them that she can only imagine it won’t be pleasant. It’s probably better to tell him now though, he had been pretty firm on the whole ‘no keeping secrets’ thing.

“Apparently other us was trying for a baby. Have been, for over a year. Everyone knows, they keep asking me about it.” Caroline keeps her voice even, and prays Klaus doesn’t crash the car out of shock or something.

It takes a few long minutes, but eventually he says, “That makes sense.”

 Caroline turns on him, shocked, “That makes sense!? In what freaking reality does us having a baby make sense!?”

Klaus laughs, “Obviously in this reality, Caroline. Think about it. Of course we want a baby, we’re like the most average middle aged couple in the world. We have a house, we have money, we’re obviously ridiculously happy. The next step is children.”

When he puts it like that it is logical, but Caroline cannot reconcile the fact that Klaus who, by his own admission, doesn’t know what to do with children, wants a baby.

“But- But- do you want children!?” Caroline protests.

Klaus snorts, “We’re not talking about me, we’re talking about the other version of me. And, had I been mortal and stayed mortal, I imagine I would one day have kids. As a thousand year old vampire, I can’t say the thought has ever crossed my mind that it would even be possible.”

Caroline snaps her mouth shut. She realizes, now, that despite the fact that Klaus is useless with kids, he has had much, much longer to think about them. Even if he never wanted them, he’s had centuries of time to decide upon that fact, to weigh pros and cons. He’s seen and lived through thousands of lives where he would have had to be around them.

She’s a baby-vampire who died before her eighteenth birthday. Of course she’s never considered children beyond the furthest musings of her brain.

“I guess that does make sense.” Caroline finally admits, “When you put it like that.”

Klaus frowns, “Do you want children?”

Caroline sighs, “I hadn’t really ever thought about it when I was mortal, I was too young. But, yes, I would have wanted children.” Her voice turns wistful, “But, I’m a better vampire than I ever was a mortal, so it’s just another sacrifice.”

Klaus reaches over and clasps her hand, and it’s the nicest form of reassurance she can think of, “You know, you can still have kids, they just won’t be yours. Rebekah, Elijah, and myself raised a child once.”

“Really?!” Caroline is beyond shocked.

Klaus laughs at her reaction, “We did about as good a job of it as you imagine. He was fantastic though, both my son and best friend when he grew up. He chose to become a vampire, you know.”

“So he’s still around?” Caroline wonders.

Klaus shrugs, “He could be. I don’t think so — my father was after us and we fled. We couldn’t find him before we did so, and we haven’t heard from or of him since.”

There’s no pain in Klaus’ tone, only acceptance, and Caroline knows that this must have been a long time ago. For Klaus to take someone under his wing and lose them… he doesn’t react well to that. She know that he misses Stefan, even though he’ll never regain what he lost with him.

“I think he’s still out there.” Caroline says softly, and Klaus doesn’t respond, but he does squeeze her hand gently.

By the time he’s parked by the gallery, Caroline has worked herself into a near panic attack. She hates this about her mortal body; she feels weak and overwhelmed, and she can’t focus on one emotion long enough to calm herself down. 

Klaus has left to bring the three paintings to the back door, and Caroline tries to centre herself on the thought of being a vampire. It’s an odd thing to think about, but it’s the one thing that Caroline wants in this moment, and she knows that if she can remember the feeling of power and control, she won’t be so nervous about the stupid gallery.

Her door opens and Klaus is waiting there, looking ridiculously handsome in his suit, and Caroline tries to breathe.

He frowns at her, “Caroline, what is going on?”

“It’s this gallery thing,” she tries, letting her hands flail out, “I didn’t organize it, and I like to know what’s happening, and what if we mess up! What if they realize it’s not us!”

Klaus shrugs, “Who cares? We don’t know anyone in there. They’re not going to realize it’s not us. People’s brains don’t work that way, not here where nothing supernatural has ever really gone on. This isn’t our Mystic Falls, Caroline.”

It helps, and Caroline rolls her eyes at him, “I know, I know, I just…”

“This is what you keep meaning when you say you aren’t very good at being mortal, isn’t it?”

Caroline nods, “I was neurotic and crazy, and obsessive, and I can’t seem to help myself. Being a vampire, even though it amplifies those things, it also lets me control them. I don’t know. It’s weird. I hate being mortal.”

“It’s not my favourite either, love,” Klaus fights a smile, “but you’re better at it than you give yourself credit for. I didn’t even realize I had to sleep every night until you said something.”

She laughs helplessly, “You just forgot, at least you’re calm.”

“Calm!?” Klaus huffs, “Caroline, the only reason the body count in this town hasn’t risen immeasurably is because you asked me not to kill anyone, and I listened. Do you know how many people I actually listen to?!”

Caroline grins, “It’s my favourite superpower.”

“Come on, love, no hiding in the car.” Klaus helps her out, “We’re going to get through this, it will all be fine, and if it isn’t, say the word and I’ll kill them all.”

It should make her angry, but instead it calms her down. She hopes it’s not because she knows Klaus would murder everyone in the room if she asks, but more because she has to stay calm so that he doesn’t.

They step through the front doors, and Caroline concentrates on the fact that Klaus’ hand is warm on her back. People greet them with smiles, and many say hi, and even though Caroline doesn’t recognize them she returns their greetings. Klaus is well known, and often people will come up to congratulate him on his work or to ask him questions.

The paintings that other Klaus must have put in the gallery are stunning, though she still favours the three that her Klaus brought with him above all. They’re all slightly darker: the landscape in Italy, lit only by painted yellow streetlights; an abstract blue piece, flowing together with greys and warm orange; and finally, the one of her on the blanket with sleepy eyes, the first one she saw him paint of her.

“I’d like to say he doesn’t do you justice, but he’s a very talented artist, and he paints you just as beautiful as you are in real life.” The voice startles her out of her musings, and when Caroline turns it isn’t Klaus at her side.

The man is handsome, blonde hair and green eyes; Caroline imagines that if she had chosen him her friends would be overjoyed. As it stands, Caroline finds herself flattered, but definitely not interested.

“Thank-you,” she tells him, “it’s my favourite of his paintings.” She doesn’t mention their most recent art project together where she had no clothes. Despite it being overly revealing, she likes how Klaus had painted her.

The man grins, “Mine as well. I’m David.”

“Caroline,” She returns, and then searches for something to say, awkward in the face of his flirting, “Um, I also like the Italy landscape.”

“It’s nice,” he agrees, “but I have to say that it doesn’t even compare to your portrait.”

Caroline sees Klaus, across the room, and his eyes are daggers in David’s back. He makes the first step towards them, and Caroline has seen that particular murderous look on Klaus’ face before, and it always ends in bloodshed.

She smiles coolly at David, “My husband would have to agree with you.”

David’s smile falls, though he doesn’t move, “Is he here? I have yet to run into him.”

“You’re in luck,” Klaus’ voice is dry, and David turns in surprise to face him. “I see you met the inspiration for my newest painting.”

“Ah, yes. Caroline is stunning.” David agrees, and Caroline wants to knock him out for speaking as though she wasn’t standing beside him. She has a feeling she won’t need to, because Klaus looks up for a bloodbath.

“I would have to agree,” Klaus hisses, “since she’s my wife.”

Caroline sighs, “I am right here. And I am obviously very taken, David, so thanks but no thanks. Men are the most ridiculous creatures,” she rolls her eyes, “I’ll be at the punch bowl.”

She walks away and decides that if Klaus kills him now it’s no one’s fault but David’s. In the end, she doesn’t need to worry, because he catches up with her within seconds. He’s smirking, infuriating and handsome even when she’s annoyed with him.

“What’s got you so smug?” Caroline finally snaps when they reach the other side of the room.

“Well, wife, I do believe you just chose me.” Klaus murmurs, so quietly she fights to hear him. The words flare through her, and Caroline rolls her eyes to cover her reaction.

“We did agree to give this a shot, husband.” Caroline snaps back.

Klaus grins, “Let’s get out of here.”

“We need to stay at least two more hours,” Caroline says, although her voice is weak with desire.

Klaus reaches out, rest a hand on her hip. It’s an innocent touch, but Caroline’s body lights up, “Half hour. At most.” he demands.

Caroline leans forward and kisses him, the fastest brush of lips she’s ever managed to pull off, “Give me one hour here, and I’m yours.”

He kisses her again, this time a little more firmly, “Deal.”

She smiles at him, and scoops some punch into a cup. He takes it, and Caroline watches his eyes smile at her from over the rim when he drinks it. An hour seems like the biggest win she’s ever had.

 

---

 

It’s two days later when they’re sliding into bed that Caroline realizes the weight of what she’s decided. She knows she’s in love with Klaus, she knows she wants him more than she’s ever wanted anything. There’s so many problems with that knowledge that Caroline can’t even begin to start sorting it out; even if she ignores the fact that her friends are trying to kill him, her mother hates him, and he has more immortal and powerful enemies than anyone else on the planet, she’s still stuck with the simple fact that Klaus doesn’t love her.

She knows he cares, it’s obvious by how he takes care of her, and by how he covets her affection. Still, Klaus is not the type to fall in love, and even if he did, he’s immortal and Caroline knows that he’s not interested in forever. Never has been, not with anyone, never will be. Especially not with a baby vampire.

It’s so impossible, and every time Caroline manages to ignore everything against them something in this stupid new reality reminds her of what she’s doing. 

“Did it upset you that much?” Klaus’ voice is quiet beside her, interrupting her thoughts. It’s the first time he’s said a word since they got into bed. He’s on the opposite side as her, and they’re not even touching. She’s become accustomed to his presence, and he seems so far from her right now that she’s aching.

“What?” Caroline responds. She’s playing dumb; she can’t handle the conversation he seems to want to spring on her. 

He turns to her but doesn’t reach out, “What your mother said. You’ve been on edge since we came home from dinner, love.”

She closes her eyes but it doesn’t help. Words like home and love and we fall into her ears like bullets, and Caroline wishes Klaus couldn’t see though her so well, but he’s always been able to, even before they were… whatever they are now.

‘You kids are crazy — every time I see you it’s like you’re falling in love all over again.’ 

Her mother’s voice repeats in her brain, over and over, reminding her both of how amazing this reality has been, and how terrible it was before. Caroline wishes they had skipped on dinner at her mother’s like Klaus had suggested before they had left. She wishes she had never heard her mother say that, her voice soft with fondness. 

“It’s frustrating to think that we’ve done this already. There could be a thousand realities where you and I just work and we don’t have to work at it.” She swallows hard, because she wants this to be as easy in their actual home as it is here. But it never will be.

Klaus leans up on one arm, and he looks furious, “This reality isn’t real, Caroline, of course it’s easy here.”

“But why can’t it be this easy at home!?” She says, and sits up against their headboard. Klaus turns on the lamp beside him and sits against the headboard with her.

“Because both you and I made a lot of mistakes to get here.” he tells her, and she hates that for once Klaus is the one making sense.

“I hate this.” Caroline hisses.

It’s not entirely true; she hates that it’s so hard, and she hates that she wants Klaus so much when he’s so bad for her. Still, she doesn’t explain that, and she realizes she’s made a mistake when she sees Klaus stiffen and his fists clench.

“If you hate this so much then when we get home just say the word and I’ll compel you to forget everything,” he hisses, “it’ll be like it never happened.”

He’s attacking her because he’s hurt, but Caroline’s stomach plummets and she feels cold sweat break out all over her body at the thought of being under compulsion again.

“No!” she cries, “No, don’t you dare, don’t you ever compel me, ever, do you hear me!?” Her voice is rising, and Caroline fights to keep it under control.

Klaus is deadly in the soft lamplight, “Caroline, I said I would if you wanted me to.”

“Well, I don’t!” She drags in a ragged breath and gets her volume under control, “I don’t want you to compel me. I didn’t mean I hate this, I meant I hate that it’s going to be tough when we get home.”

Klaus’ eyes are sharp with curiosity, his previous anger at her forgotten, “You’ve been compelled before.”

Caroline stays silent, refusing to give him any information, but also not willing to lie to him anymore.

Klaus doesn’t need her to talk, he’s used to getting information from better secret keepers than she is, “You’ve been compelled before, and you didn’t know until you became a vampire. No one likes being compelled, but your reaction was extreme. Tell me what happened.”

“No.” Caroline says, “Let it go, Klaus, it was a long time ago, and I’m tired.”

Klaus scowls, “You panic when your mother says some stupid comment about other us, but when I want to actually know something about you, you shut down.”

“This isn’t about me!” Caroline protests, and Klaus smirks.

“It’s okay, don’t tell me. I love a puzzle,” he tells her, and Caroline eyes him as though he’s a shark in her bed, “let me guess. So someone compelled you, and if I’m correct, it was in Mystic Falls since you’ve never really been outside of it. Since our hometown’s vampire infestation didn’t occur until the Salvatores arrived I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that it was connected to Elena.”

Caroline hisses, “Drop it, Klaus.”

He frowns, “You’re far too defensive about this topic, which means it can’t be a rogue vampire because you wouldn’t care at all if I hunted them down and set them on fire.”

Caroline feels trapped even with the space to run away. She’ll never have Klaus more vulnerable than he is in pyjamas and tucked into their bed, completely mortal. She knows he’ll figure it out since he always does, and he’ll demand the whole story, and the minute she gives in— which she knows she will— he’ll hunt Damon to the ends of the earth.

His eyes widen minutely, “I thought it would be Katherine, since compulsion is her style, but you wouldn’t protect her from me. I have enough reasons to murder her anyway. It can’t be Stefan since I know you’re his friend, and though you are far too forgiving I doubt this is something you have gotten over.”

Caroline shuts her eyes, “Klaus, please…” She’s not even sure what she’s asking for anymore. 

Klaus breathes, “Damon compelled you?”

“You can’t kill him.” she says, eyes closed and begging, “You can’t.”

Klaus’ hand circles her wrist, almost painful, “Tell me what he did. Tell me why he compelled you.”

Caroline knows that she can’t lie, but she can’t tell him everything. He’d burn Damon’s house down with Elena in it. She breathes deeply and decides she can skirt the truth enough to make him happy, but hopefully avoid Damon’s death.

“He needed to get close to Elena. He needed an in, and I provided one.” Caroline tells him. “It was also handy that I happened to be an all-you-can-eat buffet for a vampire at the time. That’s all. I don’t like compulsion because I felt out of control, and you know how I feel about control.”

Klaus grip becomes painful, but he lets go before she can protest. He’s moved over enough that he’s encroaching on her space and Caroline can’t remember why she wanted him closer before, because now he’s terrifying. His eyes are dissecting her, hunting for the truth, and Caroline wants to give him everything.

“Tell me what else,” he demands, “tell me, Caroline.”

“I can’t,” her voice breaks on a sob and she can feel tears plummet down her cheeks, “you’ll kill him, and Elena loves him.”

Klaus’ voice is a snarl, “It is not your job to protect Elena. The doppelgänger has enough people looking out for her, and you have gone without for far too long.”

“But she’s my best friend,” Caroline breathes, and she opens her eyes to stare into Klaus’, “please, Nik, please. You can’t kill him.”

Klaus’ eyes are shining in the soft light, and Caroline… Caroline wants to tell him everything, to let every secret go, to just let him hold her up. She wants him to go and eviscerate Damon, because Caroline wasn’t strong enough to do it herself when she needed to, and now it’s too late because… because Elena loves him, and Caroline can’t do that to her best friend.

The worst part is that Caroline knows that Elena would not grant her the same kindness. It doesn’t matter that she loves Klaus, they’re never going to stop trying to kill him.

“Tell me what he did,” Klaus begs, “and then if you tell me not to kill him, I will listen. I promise, just tell me.”

Caroline can’t stop the tears that keep spilling over her lashes, but she keeps her voice as even as possible when she says, “I wasn’t lying. He used me to get close to Elena, to learn about her, and to torment Stefan. He pretended to date me. I was nothing more than… than a blood bag and a warm body.”

Klaus is shaking beside her, and his face is set in stone, “You should have killed him the second you could.”

“Elena was the one who figured it out,” Caroline confesses, “she saw all these bite marks on me, and she knew it was Damon. He was going to kill me — he told me he was going to kill me the minute I wasn’t useful anymore, and she… she saved me, I suppose, in a way. The worst part was I didn’t even remember any of it until after Katherine killed me, and then I just relived all of it while everyone else conveniently forgot about it since Damon was on our side.”

Klaus grabs her hands, forces them up to his chest. She can feel his heart thundering under her palms. “I want him dead, Caroline. I want him dead for ever touching you.”

She smiles, wetly through her tears, “That actually means a lot, you know. No one’s ever threatened to kill anyone for me before.”

“Say the word.”

Caroline frees her hand from his grip and lets it rise to rest on his cheek, “You can’t kill him, Nik. I know you want to, and I know that a small part of me wants to let you do it, but you can’t. I love Elena, and she saved me from Damon, and now she loves him and it will destroy her if you kill him.”

Klaus stares at her avidly for a minute too long before he lets out a breath, “I will remind you that they won’t hesitate to kill me, given the chance.”

Caroline tries to smile, “If it helps, I’m going to try not to give them the chance.”

Klaus leans forward to kiss her, and this time when he pulls away he only separates them the tiniest amount, “I will not kill him, love, but I reserve the right to hit him as hard as possible when we return home.”

Caroline laughs, “Please, be my guest. He’s had it coming for a while.” Klaus wraps her up in his arms, and Caroline feels lighter than she has in ages. Her mother’s words don’t stop circling in her head, and she knows that this relationship is probably the most doomed one she’s ever entered, but it feels right, pressed against Klaus’ chest. His heartbeat is so mortal in her ears, and she wants to protect him as much as he protects her.

“Damon will be at the barbecue on Friday.” Klaus says.

Caroline shrugs, “It doesn’t bother me. This isn’t even the same Damon. Plus, I spend way more time with him at home since he’s always around.”

“The thought makes me ill.” Klaus mutters.

Caroline smacks him, laughing, “Get over it. Seriously. No murder.”

Klaus drops a kiss on her hair, “For now.”

“Not just for now, Nik, you can’t kill him later!” Caroline hisses.

Klaus shrugs and smirks, “Forever is a very long time for a vampire, love, and I somehow think that Elena and Damon will not make it, and thus I can probably kill him in another hundred years and you’ll hardly even be angry with me.”

Caroline smiles, mostly because Klaus still thinks he’ll know her in another hundred years, but also because he’s at least giving Damon and Elena a grace period of a century.

“I used to doubt they’d make it the decade,” Caroline laughs, “but something the Elena in this reality said to me the other day made me rethink that. They actually might just make it.”

Klaus rolls his eyes, “It’s easy to love someone when your life is only a single span of a hundred years at most. A century goes by quickly, and even though as vampires our emotions are amplified, humans feel the deadline. As you said, forgiveness is easier when your mortal, and holding a grudge is easy to a vampire.”

Caroline leans over him to turn off the lamp, letting herself settle back into Klaus’ arms, “I suppose. Still, they might surprise us.”

“Let’s hope not,” Klaus mutters into her ear, “I do hate putting off a good murder.”

Caroline giggles in the dark, and wonders what the hell happened to the blonde vampire who was afraid of Klaus and his vengeful streak. Being mortal has made her bloodthirsty.

“No murdering in other Klaus’ body. As far as we know, his hands are fairly innocent. I mean, other than the killing from the curse,” Caroline murmurs, “and we are now officially responsible adults.”

“Speak for yourself,” Klaus whispers.

Caroline laughs, “I was talking about me! Hannah is coming over tomorrow, and you’re probably going to sulk when we watch a movie again!”

Klaus growls at her, “Caroline Forbes, are you accusing me of being a bad babysitter!?”

“It’s Caroline Mikaelson, now,” Caroline corrects primly, and enjoys the way Klaus’ mouth falls open, “and I’ll take it back if you pick her up tomorrow so I can come straight home from work.”

Klaus is silent for a second, but slowly a smile spreads across his lips, and to her shock he just laughs and says, “That is a deal, Mrs. Mikaelson.”

She falls asleep smiling.

 

---

 

When Caroline comes home from work the next day, all she can hear is laughter from the studio. She sets her work bag down and takes in the pink princess shoes on the carpet, and the sparkly backpack on her stairwell; she’s not surprised that Klaus remembered to pick up Hannah, since she had reminded him seven times today, but she is shocked that he’s not hidden away somewhere, and Hannah waiting for her on the couch by herself.

She throws open the studio door and her jaw drops at the sight of Klaus and Hannah barefoot and coated in paint. They’re both sticking their hands in bowls of paint and flicking it onto a propped up canvas, and Klaus has a blue hand print on his face.

“What is going on?” Caroline asks, and both Klaus and Hannah freeze to look at her guiltily.

Hannah eventually cracks and grins, “Uncle Klaus said this was a better way of finger painting.”

Klaus shrugs at her, “It is. Nothing is worse than smearing paint with fingers and losing texture.”

Hannah beams at him, “Auntie Caroline, you gotta come paint with us.”

The room is silent for a second, and Caroline grins, “Well, I guess I could go put on my painting pants.”

Hannah cheers, and even Klaus grins at her, so Caroline disappears up the stairs to throw on a ratty pair of sweats and an old t shirt in a drawer. When she gets back in the studio, Klaus and Hannah are already throwing paint again, and Caroline supposes it was a good thing Klaus even remembered to set down a plastic sheet.

They’re all going crazy, throwing paint at the canvas, which is starting to look like a splattered mess. Caroline is laughing harder than she has in years, and Klaus paints her nose purple the second she isn’t paying attention. Hannah can’t stop grinning, and Caroline knows they are the coolest aunt and uncle to ever live right now.

Of course, when everything is going so well, Hannah accidentally throws a blue glop of paint and it completely misses the canvas and lands on the wall. Caroline wants to freak out. It’s in her nature to panic and freak out, but she’s frozen by the look on Hannah’s face. The kid is horrified, and she has this really expectant look on her face, like she knows she’s about to get yelled at.

Caroline hates that look; she’s had that look on her face a million times from her mother, and she’s never wanted to see it on any other kids before. Caroline holds back every second of the panic she’s having, decides it’s not even really her house, so it’s really not a big deal. 

She glances at Hannah, scoops up a handful of green paint and throws it as hard as she can onto the wall beside Hannah’s blue mess and nods, “That’s better. I always thought that wall was a little boring.”

Hannah’s eyes go huge, and after a beat Klaus picks up the purple, “I think you’re right, love.” 

He splatters it over both of their mess, and then it’s a free for all until their wall is coated in a million colours. Eventually, Caroline is so covered in paint she blends into the wall, and she calls for a break.

“Okay, okay,” she says, “we all need a serious shower, and then we’re ordering pizza for dinner.”

Klaus carries Hannah up the stairs and puts her in the hallway bathtub, where Caroline turns on the shower for her. Klaus heads for their bathroom to shower, and Caroline washes Hannah’s hair under the spray carefully. By the time she’s done Hannah is mostly clean, and she’s still beaming even when Caroline towels her off and brushes her hair out. She puts one of Klaus’ t shirts on Hannah, and it hangs so long on her that it’s a dress.

“Okay, I’m going to shower now, but you head downstairs and Uncle Klaus will put on a movie for you. Tell him to call for pizza, as well.” 

Hannah nods at her instructions and runs out the door. Caroline hopes Klaus is okay for a while, but judging by the scene she had come home to she’s really not afraid for Hannah, she’s more afraid for the state of her house.

When she gets downstairs again, clean and hair pulled back, Hannah and Klaus are sitting at the table and eating pizza. They’re quiet, but Hannah looks beyond happy. Caroline snags a piece and scarfs it down. She’s starving after all the painting.

“Let’s put on a movie after,” Caroline says.

Hannah nods, pizza sauce all over her face, “I want to watch a movie. When mom and dad and I go to New York we always go see a play, which is kind of like a movie but real life.”

Caroline smiles, “That’s where you’re all going, right? On Sunday?”

Hannah nods, “Yeah. We get to go to Auntie Elena’s for the barbecue tomorrow, and then one day at home to pack, and then we go to New York the day after.” She holds out three greasy fingers, “Three more sleeps, mom says.”

“Why New York?” Klaus asks.

Hannah frowns at him, “Because Uncle Henrik is in New York, remember?” She says it as though it’s something they should know, and Caroline glances at Klaus because as far she knows, she’s never even heard of a Henrik.

“Uncle Henrik,” Klaus is white as a sheet, and swallows before he continues the sentence, “Uncle Henrik… is in New York?”

“Uh, yeah?” Hannah says, “I’m full now. Can we watch a movie?”

Caroline jumps to her feet and grabs a cloth to wipe Hannah’s hands and face. Klaus hasn’t moved, and his knuckles are clenched so tightly they’re white. Caroline hustles Hannah into the living room and puts on a movie, settling her in as fast as possible.

Klaus hasn’t even moved an inch by the time she gets back. Caroline sits down across from him, and debates if she should grab his hand, but decides against it.

“What’s going on?” She whispers, “Who’s Henrik?”

Klaus’ eyes snap from his hands to her, and instead of looking angry, as she had expected, he looks hopeful, “Henrik is my youngest brother.”

Caroline realizes why he was so shocked, “He’s dead, isn’t he? In our reality?”

Klaus nods, “He died before we even turned. Died mortal. That’s why Esther did what she did, to make us vampires.”

Caroline doesn’t even know what to say to that. She knows Klaus loves his siblings, but she also knows that he hates them sometimes. Henrik, though? Henrik is the one sibling Klaus didn’t have for long, the one sibling he never got the chance to betray or be betrayed by.

“You want to go to New York.” Caroline says.

Klaus glances down at the table and shakes his head, minutely, “I don’t think I can.” 

This time, Caroline does reach out and take his hand, “If you want to go, you can. I’ll make excuses, you just go. Seriously, if we do ever get home and you don’t get to see him you’ll be mad at yourself.”

He lifts his eyes, tormented, “I killed him, Caroline.”

“What?” Caroline whispers.

“I killed him. He wanted to see the wolves turn in our village, and I took him out on the full moon because I was so stupid, and we were attacked. He died in my arms.”

Caroline stands up abruptly, comes around the corner and crouches by Klaus’ seat, “You listen to me, Nik. You have killed many people, and done many stupid and terrible things, but killing Henrik was not one of them. It was not your fault.”

Klaus stares at her as though she’s speaking another language, “But — the wolves, they just—”

“That’s their fault. His blood is on their hands, not yours. You weren’t that old, Nik, and you’re lucky that they didn’t kill you.”

Klaus’ eyes shut, “They didn’t kill me because they could sense it. That I was one of them.”

Caroline stands again and sits on his lap this time, giving him no other option but to look at her. His hands automatically find her hips, and Caroline raises her palms to rest on his cheeks. 

“That’s also not your fault, Nik.” She says, “None of it was. It was bad luck. You have to go see your brother, seriously.”

“What if he—”

Caroline interrupts, “He won’t remember what you do. He’s your brother. At the very worst you two are out of touch and don’t talk much; which is too bad, but at least you can go see him. Think about it! When we get home, imagine what you could tell Elijah and Rebekah!”

Klaus leans forward, sets his head on her collarbone and wraps his arms around her entirely. “It’ll be like he was killed all over again.” he mutters.

There’s truth in his words, and Caroline knows how afraid he is of that. Of the pain that this reality can bring; she’s afraid to run into her father, to see his face and know how he looked when he tortured her, and also how he looked when he died. She hated him and she loved him, and Caroline’s not sure which part will be worse if she saw him again.

Caroline rests her mouth on his hair and whispers, “It might be. It might hurt. You can go, if you like, or you can stay. It’s up to you. But, whatever you choose, remember that you might never get another chance.”

Klaus is silent after that, and Caroline doesn’t move, just lets him hold her. It’s only when there’s a knock at her door that she finally untangles herself from him and heads to answer it. 

It’s Matt and Rebekah, and Caroline turns around to see that Hannah is sound asleep on the couch, the TV playing the credits of the movie she was watching. She smiles at the sight, and her heart is so full it hurts.

“Was she painting?” Rebekah asks softly.

Caroline laughs, “Oh yes. We re-decorated a studio wall.”

Rebekah flushes, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Caroline waves it off, “it was the most fun I’ve had in ages.”

Rebekah looks at her a little sideways, and Caroline thinks that maybe she’s overbearing and a control freak even in this reality if her friends are that shocked that she’d be okay with messing up her house.

“Care,” Matt says, “we seriously appreciate you two and how much you look after Hannah for us. She loves you both so much.”

Caroline feels her eyes well with tears and she pushes them down, “It’s no problem. Honestly, we love her, too.”

Klaus appears beside her, Hannah in his arms, and he transfers her into Matt’s grip easily. Rebekah grins at him, punching his shoulder gently.

“Best big brother ever!” She teases.

Klaus smiles at her ribbing, though Caroline notices he looks tired, “Speaking of siblings, how is Henrik?”

Rebekah frowns, “He’s good. He’s asked after you, you know.”

“Oh… that’s… nice.” Klaus says.

Rebekah sighs, “You two need to get over whatever fight you’re having and go back to being brothers. Seriously.”

Klaus scowls, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Nik was thinking of visiting.” Caroline says when Rebekah starts glaring.

Instantly, Rebekah beams at her, “That’s fantastic! Nik, why didn’t you say so? Henrik would be excited, I know he would. When are you thinking of going?”

Klaus turns his glacial scowl onto Caroline, but he does answer, “Maybe this weekend. I don’t want to interrupt your trip, but I wanted to go soon. I could leave tomorrow, stay till Monday when you two are there.”

Rebekah grins, “Phone him! Do it! Seriously, he’ll be so excited.”

Caroline can nearly see the veins in Klaus’ forehead exploding at Rebekah’s insistence so she intercedes, “I’ll make sure of it, don’t worry.”

Matt frowns at Klaus but pulls Rebekah’s arm gently, “Come on, Beks, we gotta go home. Hannah is heavier than she used to be.”

Rebekah smiles down at her daughter and tucks some hair behind her ears, “Alright, Matt. See you tomorrow, Caroline. Nik, I hope I don’t see you, since you’ll be in New York!”

She heads off their porch, and Caroline reaches out to set a hand on Klaus’ arm. He shrugs off of her and heads up the stairs, and Caroline shuts the door. She goes to the kitchen first, cleans up their pizza and puts away the leftovers. She’s giving him time to cool off, but after she’s got the living room back in order there’s not much more avoiding she can do.

By the time she reaches their room, Klaus is sitting in the bed, under the blankets. The lamp is on, but he’s not reading anything. Caroline sighs heavily and leans on the door frame.

“I can sleep in the spare room, if you like.” She offers. It’s probably her turn, since she made him sleep there at first.

His eyes snap to hers, “I’m not kicking you out of bed.”

“I thought you might like to be alone,” Caroline explains, “you seem angry.”

Klaus shrugs, “I am angry. I’m still not kicking you out of bed.”

“Are you going to murder me in my sleep?” It’s a joke, and Caroline knows Klaus won’t kill her, but he looks seriously insulted.

“Caroline, are you—”

She rushes to interrupt him, “I’m joking. That was a joke.” she pushes off the door frame and turns off the light, heading into the room.

Klaus is silent. He watches her get into the bed, and just when Caroline can’t take the silence anymore he finally says: “I called Henrik.”

Caroline gapes at him, “What!?”

“I called him. He sounded… good. Older.” Klaus sighs, “I’m going to fly down tomorrow, I got a ticket.”

“Really!?” Caroline grins, “That’s fantastic, I’m so happy.”

Klaus nods, pensive. “We’re fighting. I don’t even know why, but I know we are. Sometimes this doesn’t feel like a spell.”

Caroline is thrown by the semi-topic change, but she manages to say, “What do you mean?”

Klaus turns to her, eyes glacial in the lighting, “You know how we thought this was a spell? Well, all of it is just so… detailed. I’ve never seen a spell like this. This would take obscene amounts of magic to create, and to hold it like this? It’s almost impossible. We’ve been here almost a month, Caroline, and the spell hasn’t even shifted.”

“What are you suggesting, Nik!?” Caroline demands.

He shrugs, “I think that whoever cast this spell on us sent us to an actual alternate reality. Like… this is all actually happening, somewhere else in the universe, or something.”

Caroline tries to wrap her mind around it and the only thing she can think is that somewhere her and Klaus are actually married. Somewhere, Caroline Forbes managed to have a nearly perfect life, and it’s so not fair.

“So where are the other Caroline and Klaus!?” 

Klaus shrugs, “I imagine that they’re in our lives in Mystic Falls. The witch who did it probably put them to sleep, and is holding them there.”

“If they got put to sleep I bet they’re dreaming our lives.” Caroline says, “In which case, they’re going to be horrified by each other.”

Klaus laughs, “They’ll get over it. We did.”

“We’re also immortal vampires, and neither of us has what you would call a clean record.”

Klaus sighs, “I’m not worried about them, Caroline. I’m not even worried about our bodies, because as you said, we’re immortal over there. I’m worried about the fact that if this isn’t a spell, if we’ve just been sent here, this could be permanent.”

Caroline sinks further into the bed, lets her head hit the pillow. She stares at the roof for a long moment and tries to reconcile herself with the fact that this could be her life. As often as she may have wished it, she never really thought she could have it. She’s not even sure if it’s what she really wants, but Caroline supposes there are worse things than having this house, and this husband, and this reality.

There is a flaw though. Klaus could never accept this, not the way Caroline does. He wants more than this, he wants the world at his feet and a queen by his side. He wants power and immortality and fear.

Caroline can’t help the burning behind her eyelids, or the way her throat closes up. She can’t help the fact that all she can think about is Thursday nights with Hannah, and Klaus covered in paint. She can’t stop picturing Klaus when he’s older, older even than he is now, and the fact that they’re mortal, they could keep trying for that baby.

Her tears burn her skin when they fall; they feel like a betrayal to her friends and to Klaus, and she hasn’t even said anything.

A thumb brushes her cheek bone, “Don’t cry, Caroline, we’ll figure something out. I’ll get us back home, and this isn’t that bad.”

Caroline chokes on the words she can’t say, and tries to nod at what Klaus is saying because he’s actually trying to make her feel better. It’s not his fault she burns with want of this place, and of him.

“Caroline, what’s going on?” Klaus rolls until he’s propped up beside her and Caroline has nowhere to look but his eyes, “Why are you crying? I said I’d fix it.”

Caroline wills herself with every fibre of her being to stop crying, and after a few moments she manages to clear her throat and wipe her eyes, “I’m sorry. I’m okay.”

“Obviously not,” Klaus says drily, “tell me what’s wrong.”

Caroline frowns, “It’s okay. I just — you know. The spell to reality thing.”

It’s not a lie, and Klaus nods at the words but doesn’t roll away from her, “I thought you were adjusting better to this human life than I was.”

Caroline chokes, because of course she’s adjusting better, “No… I… well, I guess so. I like… I like this reality— it’s… nice.”

Too much, too much. Caroline wants to drag the words back into her mouth, but they’re already in the open, and Klaus has always seen more than she wants him to.

He frowns, “You don’t want to go home.”

She knows it’s a betrayal in his eyes, and she has to fix this, but at least this part is simple because it’s the truth. “No, it’s not that I don’t want to go home. I do want to go home.” 

“I don’t see the problem. You like this reality, enough that staying for longer than initially planned doesn’t seem to be a problem, but you still want to go home. Which we will. Eventually. When I figure out how.”

Caroline sucks in a breath and decides that she really can’t keep this up. Klaus will always dance circles around her with what he knows, and this secret will eventually come out whether she wants it to or not.

She swallows and decides that the worst thing that can happen is that he gets up and walks out the front door and leaves her here. That’s actually the worst thing Caroline can think of, so it doesn’t really help, but she still manages to push the words out. 

“In the interest of full disclosure and not keeping secrets,” she starts, “I suppose I need to tell you something.”

It’s almost comical how quickly Klaus’ face turns to stone, and his eyes go hard. He thinks she’s betrayed him again; Caroline can only imagine what he’s imagining, probably convincing himself she helped with this spell and reality, and it’s all been an elaborate hoax.

At least this way, when she tells him that she loves him, it won’t hurt him. She won’t have betrayed him.

“Caroline—” The warning in his voice is deadly, and Caroline swallows down her nervousness.

“Stop,” she demands, “it’s not what you’re thinking. I’m just nervous to how you’ll react. But it’s not bad. For you.”

“Just tell me.”

Caroline thinks about how she’ll feel when Klaus inevitably walks away, and how she’ll feel when her friends try to kill him again and she’ll choose to save him. She thinks about how she’ll feel when after a month or a year or a decade he’ll one day wake up and look at her and feel absolutely nothing for her. She thinks about the fact that she’s going to love him for the rest of her stupid life, whether it’s forty years or another thousand, and she thinks about the fact that if he were to be daggered and put in a coffin for hundreds of years she would wait and wait and wait, just like Sage.

She thinks that it’s not worth it to love Niklaus Mikaelson, not when he doesn’t love you back. She also thinks that she can’t help it, and that if there were even the smallest chance that she could jump and he would catch her, it would be worth it.

Caroline jumps, “I’m so absolutely, ridiculously, stupidly in love with you.”

Klaus freezes, and when she looks at him, he’s got this stunned expression on his face. He's not angry like she feared, or even happy, like she had hoped. If anything, Caroline thinks that she might have been the first person who wasn’t related to him to ever say that to him. 

“What?” he finally breathes.

“I’m in love with you,” Caroline smiles, just a little, “that’s why I was upset. I love you, Nik, not this reality. I just… when we go home this is all over.”

In the lamplight Caroline can practically see Klaus’ eyes light with anger, “What do you mean this is all over?”

She rolls her eyes, “Of course that’s the part you listen to. I mean that it won’t be like this. You’ll go do what you do, and I’ll do what I do, and my friends will try to kill you as you ruin their lives, only this time it will be a thousand times worse because I’ll love you.” Her voice cracks on the last words, and Caroline’s embarrassed to realize she’s on the verge of tears again.

It’s not even that she wants him to say it back. It’s that she wants him to at least acknowledge it.

Klaus reaches an arm over to grab her bicep, holding her gently, “It won’t be worse. It won’t. I remember what I said. I have to think about what would make you happy before I do anything.”

Caroline laughs, but it comes out more like a sob, “I don’t want to be your moral compass, Klaus.” 

He scowls, and Caroline knows it’s because she called him Klaus. She only does that when she’s upset with him now, and he hates it. 

“That’s too bad, Caroline. You are the closest thing I have to a conscience, and you have to deal with it. You think I’ve ruined your friends lives — and maybe I did, especially in the beginning when I did the ritual, but you don’t understand what I could have done when I found out about her blood. If I really wanted Elena that badly I could have burned Mystic Falls to the ground, could have killed every single person in a ten mile radius. I could have just compelled her to follow me, and walked out of there.”

Caroline grits her teeth, “Thanks so much for that speech.”

“It’s not a speech,” Klaus snarls, “it’s me making a point. Yes, I want Elena’s blood. I don’t care how I get it, whether I have to chain her to me for eternity, or whether she willingly gives me some whenever I like. I don’t care about Elena.”

“Okay, but I do, she’s my best friend!”

“I know!” Klaus is nearly yelling at her, “I know that, and don’t you think that’s the entire reason Elena is even still breathing and doing whatever it is that makes Elena happy, even though she’s tried to kill me and did kill my brother!?”

Caroline goes silent, because it’s true. She’s wondered this a million times, wondered what kind of game Klaus was playing with them. He’s more powerful than any of them, even if they band together, and he could kill them all without blinking. Even though Katherine was good at running, she knew she lived on borrowed time. When they killed Kol it should have spelled their death sentence.

“I don’t… I don’t…” Caroline is so confused.

Klaus sighs and visibly reigns himself in. “Caroline. I don’t care about Elena, I care about you. I’m not saying I… I don’t…”

Caroline mutters, “You don’t love me.”

“I don’t know.” Klaus says honestly. It’s more than Caroline could have asked for.

Caroline tells him, “I didn’t expect you to love me.”

“But you love me.” Klaus says, and this time, there’s absolute awe in his voice.

Caroline nods, more because she doesn’t trust her voice than anything else. By the look on Klaus’ face, it’s enough. He’s staring at her as though she’s more precious than any city, or any doppelganger’s blood.

Caroline thinks that even if he never loves her she’s still won. All Klaus has ever wanted was her loyalty, and all she had to do was love him to prove that she was loyal. Klaus would burn down the world for her. The entire reason he hasn’t burned Mystic Falls to the ground is because of her. Caroline thinks that she might have just won over the most powerful being on the planet.

It’s not love — but it’s something. It’s more than anyone else has ever gotten from Niklaus Mikaelson, and Caroline’s only a baby vampire from the middle of nowhere.

“Caroline.” Klaus leans in, presses his cheek to hers. “Say it.”

Caroline breathes, “I love you.”

“When we go home,” Klaus murmurs, “I will cut a deal with the Salvatores. I want her blood, Caroline. But I can do a peaceful agreement.”

Caroline’s heart pounds, “The hybrids?”

Klaus pulls back, and his eyes narrow, “What about them?”

She has to play this carefully. Klaus hates Tyler, hates him with a passion that astounds her, but Caroline is starting to realize that she is the reason why. “I want you to only change people who agree. People who are already willing to be loyal to you.”

He doesn’t move a single millimetre, “And the existing hybrids. The ones in Mystic Falls. For example, young Tyler Lockwood.”

Caroline waits a measured heartbeat, and then she says as calmly as she can, “Use the bond and send them to the other side of the planet.”

Then, predictably, Klaus scowls. “The bond won’t work on Tyler. You know that.”

“The bond won’t, but I will.” Caroline says, “He wants a pack. He’s an Alpha and we both know it. I’ll send him away, as far away as possible, so he can find a pack. I’ll tell him to never come back. There’s nothing for him in Mystic Falls, anyway.”

Klaus’ eyes widen, and then narrow into a glare, “You don’t want me to kill him.”

“Obviously not,” Caroline tells him, “but that’s not because I love him, Nik. He’s a friend. A good friend, and you killed his mother. He needs to get away from this place, and the only thing that is holding him here is me and Matt Donovan.”

“So if you tell him to leave, he’ll listen?” 

Caroline nods, “Yeah. Matt will back me up. It’s the right thing. Plus, there’s no way he’ll hang around me after this.”

“What do you mean?” Klaus asks.

Caroline reaches a hand out, and pushes Klaus back to his side of the bed. She moves closer as soon as he’s laying down, and it’s about a thousand times less claustrophobic when she’s hovering over him instead of the other way around.

“Don’t you think that me sleeping with you is about the biggest betrayal I could throw at Tyler?” Caroline says, “You have to listen to me, Nik, because I’m only going to say this once. When I say I love you, I’m not joking. I’m telling you right here and right now, you’ve officially got my loyalty. I’m yours.”

Klaus sets his palm on her cheek, infinitely gentle, and takes a long breath only to reply: “I will make you happy, Caroline.”

Caroline thinks that might be as close to a declaration as anyone could ever ask for, and it doesn’t matter if that promise means for the immediate future, or forever, Caroline is going to accept it.

Chapter Text

Coming home to an empty house is worse than Caroline remembers it being. She’s gotten used to Klaus being somewhere inside, even if they don’t immediately see each other or talk. The house is dark, and when Caroline gets home from work three days later she toes off her shoes and eats ice cream out of the carton because it seems like something she should do.

It’s stupid to miss Klaus this much when he’s only been gone a single weekend. He’s even scheduled to get home tomorrow, since it’s the full moon, and Caroline can’t wait. He’s called her a couple of times over the weekend, just updating her on what he’s doing with Henrik. Matt, Rebekah and Hannah arrived there yesterday, and all of them went out for a large family dinner.

Caroline spent her day at work, and then headed to Matt’s house to make sure all the lights were off and the plants were watered. She’s so bored she’s going to go crazy; Elena’s barbecue had been fun, although she hadn’t had much of an appetite. Caroline had enjoyed having the next day to relax for a bit, she even slept in. After that, she didn’t have much to do. She visited her mother, cleaned the house from top to bottom, and then did work from home. 

Caroline’s realizing just how boring her life would be without Klaus; especially now that she’s not even a vampire. Nothing happened in Mystic Falls until the vampires arrived, and Caroline is really reliving the old days of absolute boredom.

She’s been unusually tired all weekend, and is just about to head to bed when her doorbell goes. It’s not even that late, although she’s in ratty pyjamas and a messy bun, and Caroline heads for the door to see who could possibly be bothering her.

The sight that greets her on her front porch is so ridiculous Caroline can’t help the smile that spreads across her face. Klaus is holding flowers, and smirking at her, and Caroline wonders how many women in the entire history of the universe can say that Niklaus Mikaelson brought them flowers.

She throws herself forward, narrowly missing the bouquet, and he wraps her in a hug.

“You weren’t supposed to be here till tomorrow!” Caroline says, muffled in his shoulder.

He shrugs, “I came home early.”

Caroline pulls away to smile at him, “I’m so glad. I was so bored without you.”

He gives her the flowers and leans down to kiss her, whispering: “I found myself missing you an irritating amount.”

Caroline smells her flowers, covering her blush in the coloured petals. “I missed you, too.”

She pulls him inside their house and sets the flowers up in the kitchen, where they brighten up the entire place. Klaus takes his suitcase upstairs to their bedroom, and Caroline has never felt more domestic in her entire life than when she sets a cup of tea in his hands and sits down next to him on their couch.

He snags one of her feet with his free hand, covering it completely and rubbing gently. Caroline wants to kiss him, wants to hug him, wants to keep him.

“How was Henrik?” She asks instead, because it’s important, and she’s genuinely curious.

Klaus sighs, “He’s good. He was glad to see me. He looks just like he did all that time ago.”

She smiles, “I’m glad you went. Especially if this is another reality. You can at least get home and tell your family that Henrik lived to be older in this reality, and he's happy.”

“Yeah,” Klaus says, “it was good. You were right about Finn and Sage by the way.”

Caroline laughs, “No way! They’re together!?”

“Yeah, apparently I have a nephew. I don’t think I’ve ever met him.” Klaus sighs, “From what I gathered, Finn and I don’t get along here.”

Caroline shrugs, “You barely got along in our reality. But I’m glad he’s happy here.”

“Me too, love.” Klaus confesses, “Henrik mentioned that Kol was somewhere in New York, but hadn’t contacted him yet.”

“Really?” Caroline scrunches her nose, “That’s odd. Why wouldn’t he phone him?”

Klaus frowns, “You barely knew Kol, love. He doesn’t like to be pinned down anywhere. Caused more trouble than me his whole life. He’ll phone Henrik right before he decides it’s time to move on.”

“Do you think he’d come here?” Caroline asks, “You could see him! It might be good for you.”

“I don’t know about that. He might. Kol will do whatever Kol wants.” Klaus’ smile falls, “While, we’re on the topic of brothers: it seems like I’m still cursed. I found out who I killed.”

Caroline sets her tea on the coffee table, focusing entirely on Klaus, “Who? What happened?”

Klaus stares down at where he’s still rubbing her foot, “Turns out I did kill Elijah, although you were right about this body being innocent, because it was an accident. Elijah sided with father when he found out about Esther’s affair, and even though he wasn’t cruel to me, he was no longer my brother. Henrik loved us both.”

Her heart hurts; how foolish, for one family to be so torn apart by one man’s cruelty and power. “Of course he did,” she murmurs, mostly to keep him talking.

“We all got in a fight last time we were in New York. Just after we got married, I went to see them because they didn’t come to the wedding. Elijah and I got into a fistfight, and Henrik tried to stop it. In the end, Elijah went towards Henrik, and I shoved him.”

Caroline covers her mouth, because she knows how this particular scenario ends. “He died?”

“Yeah. He fell funny. We called an ambulance, but it was too late. No charges were laid since both Henrik and I said he fell; we didn’t want to get in trouble. Still, it was my fault, and apparently Henrik and I haven’t spoken much since.”

“And that’s what triggered the curse.” Caroline finished, “That’s terrible, Nik. It’s not your fault, it was just bad luck.”

He’s silent for a long moment, then squeezes her foot and says, “How is it that I managed to kill two different brothers in two realities? How come it’s always me?”

He sounds absolutely heartbroken, and Caroline pulls her foot away only to swing her leg around his, straddling him gently. She takes his tea and sets it aside, letting her hands come to rest on his shoulders. His heart is thundering so loud she can feel it in the pulse of his skin.

“Niklaus Mikaelson, you are not allowed to feel guilty for things that were not your fault.” Caroline orders, “You are only allowed to do your best to make things better while we’re here. I’m glad you saw Henrik, and patched things up with him. I’m proud of you.”

His eyes are blazing when he looks at her, and Caroline feels her body light on fire, “Caroline, you are remarkable.”

She grins, “I know.”

“Did you also know the full moon is tomorrow?” Klaus asks.

She nods, a little more somber now. “I did know that. I mark it on my calendar. Are we headed back to the Lockwood cellar?”

“I’ll go alone, you have work the morning after.”

She leans forward and kisses him, tugging on his bottom lip gently with her teeth. He growls into her mouth, and Caroline pulls away only enough to breathe, “Not a chance, Nik. I’m coming with you. No arguments.”

Klaus frowns at her, but instead of arguing as she expected he only reaches out and lifts the hem of her shirt enough for her to slide out of it. She’s grateful the curtains are closed, because she’s bared to him now, not wearing a bra in her pyjamas.

Klaus lets his fingers trail over her breasts, teasing the skin. Caroline can feel desire pool in her belly, and she pulls his shirt over his head as well. She missed him more than she can say, and she runs her hands across every plane of his chest in appreciation.

“What do you want, Caroline?” Klaus murmurs, leaning forward to lick and suck at the skin of her collarbone. Caroline’s knees feel weak and she is immensely grateful that they’re both sitting.

“You,” she breathes, “I just want you.”

At those words Klaus pulls her head forward and kisses her, begging entrance at her mouth. The moment she grants it, he slips his hands into her hair, taking control of every movement. Caroline’s never been kissed like this before, like he’ll die if he can’t kiss her, as though she is the air he breathes.

He pulls away, but doesn’t go far. He kisses her between words: “Pants,” —kiss, “off,” —kiss.

Caroline stands just long enough to yank her pants off, and help Klaus do the same. He’s hard and watching her with volatile eyes. Caroline doesn’t hesitate to climb back on top of him, kissing him deeply as she guides him into her body. When she’s fully seated on his lap she starts off small, just rutting back and forth, her hands travelling over Klaus’ skin.

His hands have wrapped around her, holding her as close as he can while still granting her movement. It’s only when they’re both panting and sweating that Caroline finally moves faster, letting her lips and teeth seek out the skin on Klaus’ neck for her to bite and kiss. 

Her name falls from his lips when she tightens around him and lets go, and he doesn’t hesitate to snatch her up and plunge into her three more times until he’s coming inside of her. When he finally relaxes his grip on her, Caroline refocuses on the sound of his breath in her ear, and the pounding of her heart.

Klaus’ hands draw patterns on the skin of her back, and Caroline thinks that she could get used to this. If she could keep Klaus forever she would, and everyone else could just go to hell.

“Carry me to bed?” She asks, quietly. She’s mostly teasing, but when Klaus stands up with her in his arms she doesn’t object. He adjusts her so that he’s cradling her head and her legs, and Caroline wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his cheek when he makes it to the top of the stairs.

He slides her into the blankets of their bed, getting in behind her and caging her to him with wiry arms. Caroline, for once, doesn’t feel the need to speak.

Still, she’s got a new plan now, one that doesn’t involve staying here,  or Klaus’ death, or even getting home.

She’s going to make Klaus love her. She’s going to make Klaus keep her.

“I love you,” she whispers into the dark, and when Klaus stiffens up she runs a soothing hand down his arm, “I’m glad you’re home.”

There’s still no response, but he relaxes after a while, and Caroline falls asleep and doesn’t dream of a past with him she never had, but instead of a future with him, and it’s the best thing she’s ever seen.

 

---

 

Work is tedious the next day, and Caroline isn’t feeling well; her head is pounding, and she’s sure it’s got something to do with the fact that she woke up before the sun rose and couldn’t fall back asleep. She does her best to get ahead in her work since she’s told everyone she has an appointment the next day and can’t make it in. She imagines she’ll spend the day in bed again, recovering from a sleepless night in the Lockwood Cellar. 

She knows Klaus is dreading the night; he’d barely spoken to her all morning, even when she’d handed him coffee and kissed him goodbye. He’ll probably spend the day painting, maybe even sneaking in a nap so he’s not too tired, and Caroline doesn’t really blame him.

“Caroline?” A voice interrupts the email she’s sending out to a bride-to-be on the other side of town. It’s her boss, an older woman with steely blue eyes whose hair is more grey than black. Her name is Charlene, and it’s easy to see how beautiful she was when she was younger. Caroline likes her; she’s firm with her employees, but friendly and fair too, and Caroline wishes she existed in their reality and she could still work for her.

“Charlene,” Caroline replies, “come in. What’s up?”

Charlene heads into her office, sitting down on her chair. “Nothing really, I was just wondering how everything is going. You seem more… relaxed, recently.”

Caroline laughs, she can’t help it. She feels like she’s so tense she could explode some days, and yet it seems like alternate reality her was even worse. Maybe just being a vampire helped her calm down some.

She goes with an easy lie, “I am more relaxed, actually. I’m sort of… settled.”

“It’s that husband of yours, isn’t it?” Charlene’s eyes glint with mischief, “Klaus has always been hard to pin down, but he sure loves you.”

Caroline flushes at the thought, even though Charlene is talking about other Caroline-and-Klaus.

“Yeah, I guess,” she manages, “we’re just doing really well.”

Charlene leans in conspiratorially, “No baby on the way yet, though?”

“Oh, god, no.” Caroline says, “No babies yet.”

Charlene smiles softly, “It’ll happen. And, Caroline?”

“Yes?”

Charlene stands up, still grinning, “Please don’t hesitate to tell me. This position is yours as long as you want it, and a maternity leave wouldn’t change that. You’re the best we’ve got.”

Caroline nods at her as she exits the room. It’s a nice feeling, being wanted and needed at work and at home, and Caroline wonders if the alternate her knows how lucky she is. Caroline hopes that other her is dreaming about all the shit Caroline’s been through in Mystic Falls in the last few years, because then she’ll come back to this paradise more relaxed and grateful.

She finishes her email, and phones Klaus to tell him she’s coming straight home since they can stop at Rebekah’s on their way to the cellar and check on everything. Klaus doesn’t disagree, just answers her questions with monosyllables, and Caroline tries not to be frustrated at how difficult he’s being. She supposes if she was going to go through unbearable pain and have every bone in her body broken in a matter of hours she would be testy, too.

Still, when she picks him up Klaus is stone faced and terse with her. The car ride over to the old Lockwood mansion — now Rebekah and Matt’s house — is filled with cold silence. She can feel her tears trying to push through and she hates that; she feels like her emotions are out of control. It’s impossible for Caroline to understand how they went from how they were last night to this. Her whole plan of making Klaus love her is starting to seem far away and stupid.

Caroline Forbes does not give up.

So she fills the silence with chatter about work, and what Charlene said, and even though Klaus doesn’t respond she notices that his shoulders eventually relax. 

They eat in Rebekah’s empty house; Caroline heats up macaroni and cheese because it’s easy and they’re on a strict timeline. They eat it on the couch, and Caroline lets herself press into Klaus’ shoulder, offering silent support. When he finishes his food he sets it on a side table and lays down, head in her lap.

They stay like that until it’s nearly nine, and the sun is starting to go down. Caroline hates that she’s the one who has to stop carding her hand through Klaus’ hair, and make him get up and face what could only be described as a torturous night.

“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, “we gotta go.”

He sighs, “I know.”

She washes the dishes quickly and they get in the car and drive through the backroads until they can get close to the cellar. It’s colder out this time than it was last time, and Caroline’s glad she thought to bring warm clothes and extra blankets this time.

The chains that wrap around Klaus’ limbs are heavy, and he eyes them with absolute hatred.

“Caroline,” Klaus says when she’s locking in his right arm, “did you know you might be the only person ever I’ve ever let chain me up?”

Caroline smiles sadly when the lock clicks into place, “Does it make you feel better to know that I would rather never do it again?”

“That is precisely the only reason why I allow it.” He tells her.

She leans forward and kisses him softly, trusting him to keep his fangs to himself for the moment, “I should go, the moon is rising. I’ll be outside the door in the morning.”

He doesn’t say anything when she stands up and shuts the cellar door, leaving the lamp just out of reach of the bars. Caroline curls herself into the sleeping bag she brought and tries to get comfortable on the pallet of blankets she made. 

After what seems like hours of snapping bones and moans of pain, all she can hear is the rustling around of the wolf. This time, Caroline can’t hold back her curiosity, even though she knows from experience that her presence will only anger the wolf.

She knows what Tyler looks like as a wolf, and it only seems right that someone should be able to tell Klaus what he looks like too.

At first, he doesn’t see her, standing behind the door. She’s far enough away that he couldn’t reach her even with human hands, but she wants to be closer. Klaus as a wolf is huge. He’s bigger than Tyler by far; though where Tyler was black, Klaus is a tawny brown that nearly matches his human hair colour. 

When Klaus finally sees her, Caroline can’t help but wonder if they just naturally look like their human counterparts — Klaus’ wolf eyes are the bluest things she’s ever seen, just as piercing as they are when he’s human.

He lunges at the door, snarling, but Caroline holds her ground. He’s terrifying like this; every human instinct in her is telling her to run, but she seems frozen.

The real surprise is when he stops growling, and instead stares at her intelligently from the doorway. He’s pressed against the bars, but he doesn’t even look like he’s going to attack her if she came closer.

Caroline lifts her hand, reaches out; she’s still too far for him to reach. She’s been bitten before, and she doesn’t want to repeat the experience, even if his bite isn’t poison to her in this place.

Still, even with her palm a foot from his face, Klaus’ wolf just looks at her. Caroline wonders if she could touch him; and she decides that at absolute worst he could take a chunk of her hand and she’d have to go to the hospital.

It’s not even really her body.

She leans forward, and her hand makes contact with Klaus’ pelt. It’s close to his muzzle, close enough that she’s shocked the wolf didn’t just take her hand off, but instead her fingers just sink deeper into his fur. It’s softer than she expected, and Caroline can hardly hold herself together as she scrambles closer and lets both of her hands travel into Klaus’ pelt.

The wolf doesn’t move an inch as she pets him. If anything, he lifts his head higher, absolutely preens at the attention. After a while, he pulls away and does a lap around the cellar before coming back to the door and laying in front of it.

Caroline hesitantly drags her blankets over and lays beside him, separated only by bars. Her hands find his fur again, and he doesn’t even move when she cards her fingers through it, similar enough to what she had done to Klaus only a few hours before.

She falls asleep like that, curled around a werewolf that could kill her in a second. 

She dreams she runs with wolves at Klaus’ side.

Caroline has never slept better.

 

---

 

“Are you crazy?” 

The harsh whisper jolts her out of sleep, and Caroline lets out a little shriek when she sees Klaus’ all too human face behind the bars of the door.

“Oh my god, you scared me!” She hisses.

Klaus scowls, “I scared you!? What the hell, Caroline!?”

Caroline sits up and stretches, her bones aching and a heavy feeling in her gut. Being human sucks. Klaus, for all his bluster, hasn’t moved from where he’s curled in front of the door and shaking. She snatches up some blankets, unlocks the door and lays down beside him, wrapping him in the blankets.

“You weren’t going to hurt me.” 

Klaus rolls his eyes, “Oh, right, yeah, of course, because werewolves aren’t killing machines or anything. How ridiculous of me, love.”

Caroline laughs and rubs his arm, “I tested the waters first! You didn’t even snap at my hand when I put it in front of you!”

“I don’t remember.” Klaus murmurs, “I just woke up and you were lying in front of me and I thought you were dead.”

Caroline flushes. She hadn’t even thought of that, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“Of course you didn’t think!” Klaus snaps, “Can you imagine if I killed you!? First of all, I’d be stuck here without you, and who knows how many people I’d kill. Secondly, when we do get home, who knows if you’d be dead there, and then can you imagine how other me would feel when he found he killed his wife.”

Caroline scowls, “Okay, okay, I get it. I messed up. But — on the bright side, can you imagine how happy other us will be when they realize he won’t hurt her and she can calm the wolf!? It’ll make the change so much easier.”

“But what if he does attack her? What if I didn’t attack you because—”

“Because why?!” Caroline snaps. 

Klaus closes his eyes and visibly tries to calm himself down, “Because I have better control. Because I didn’t want to hurt you.”

She smiles, “Klaus, I don’t think he’ll hurt her. It’s still the same bodies, remember? But also — why the hell did Tyler attack me?”

Klaus’ expression blackens, “What do you mean, Tyler attacked you? Other than the one time he bit you… that was… my fault.”

Caroline’s jaw drops, “Wow, admitting it is the first step to forgiveness, Nik. Good work.”

“Shut up. What do you mean he attacked you?” Klaus asks again.

“I stayed with him on his first change, and the minute I came into his view he tried to kill me. He did that every time.”

Caroline hates that even though she doesn’t love Tyler anymore it still hurts that somehow Klaus was able to make the wolf not attack her, and yet Tyler couldn’t. Maybe Tyler never loved her.

“Stop.” Klaus commands, “Whatever you’re thinking, just stop. Tyler couldn’t help but attack you because you were a vampire, Caroline. Werewolves hate vampires.”

Caroline never thought she’d live to see the day where Klaus defended Tyler, but she supposes there comes a time for all things. “You think so?”

Klaus reaches out, and his hand is trembling until he sets it against her neck, “Yes. I think so. If you were a vampire, I have no doubt in my mind that I would have tried to kill you. Honestly, I can’t believe I didn’t try to even if you’re human. Werewolves don’t actively hunt humans, but they… well, they’ll kill them if they find them.”

Caroline internally chastises herself; of course Klaus was scared he’d killed her. Henrik had died from werewolves, and he hadn’t been a vampire. She leans forward and lets her head rest on Klaus’ chest, and his heart is still pounding from the change. He’s less shaky than he was, and Caroline hates to see him weak probably as much as he hates being weak.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, one more time, before falling silent. Klaus doesn’t respond, but he lets his hand rest in her hair, and she tries to ground him with her presence.

“I’ve been thinking.” He says after a while, when his heart has calmed down a little, and he’s warmer to her touch.

“Yeah,” she murmurs, almost asleep once again on the stone floor. It’s not very comfortable, but she’s starting to think that she’d sleep anywhere pressed against Klaus.

“I am a thousand years old, and arguably the most powerful vampire on the planet,” Klaus starts, and Caroline rolls her eyes, “and in all that time I have met kings and queens, and more famous people than I can name, and yet…”

“What?” Caroline asks, because Klaus never starts a train of thought without a point.

He leans down and his voice is muffled by her hair, but she still hears it. “I’ve never met anyone like you, Caroline Forbes.”

She flushes with pleasure from the roots of her hair to her toes, and she thinks that maybe she’ll never have Klaus’ love, but she definitely has his full attention.

“I’m only a baby vampire,” she replies, “but I can’t say I’ve ever met anyone like you either.”

Klaus huffs a laugh, his breath landing warm on her skin, “I should think you haven’t, love.”

“Tell me about the people you’ve met.” Caroline requests softly, and Klaus does. He whispers tales of Kings she’s never heard of into her hair, and he tells her about how Galileo was an idiot, and that Catherine the Great was the bravest women he’d ever met, until now.

He tells her about the time he was courting Katherine — and Caroline burns with hatred of her for getting to touch Klaus first, for getting to kiss him — and he tells her about how he hated Elijah for his betrayal for a long time.

He even tells her about a woman named Tatia, and how it was the closest he ever came to loving someone who wasn’t blood, and Caroline hates her, too.

He tells her he’s never told anyone the things he’s telling her, and suddenly Caroline doesn’t hate that her leg is cramping and her side is sore from lying there. She doesn’t even hate Tatia or Katherine, or any of the countless women he’s been with over the centuries.

After a long time he falls silent, and Caroline leans up and kisses him. He looks surprised by that, but Caroline just smiles at him.

“Thank you for telling me,” she says, “I wanted to know.”

He eyes her, a little suspicious, a little wary, but mostly pleased, “I think I trust you.” he says.

Caroline feels her eyes go wide, because with Niklaus Mikaelson trust is more than she could have asked for. It’s probably even worth more than love to him, and Caroline knows it, she knows what she’s just been given.

She wants to trust him too, she does, and she decides that she could try: “I trust you too,” she finally replies.

It feels powerful, to say it. It feels permanent, and it feels like it seals something into place, not just with them, but with the universe.

“I don’t think we’re going home,” Klaus tells her. “not anytime soon.”

Caroline’s eyes fill with tears: she’s mourning and celebrating, and she hates both of the emotions warring within her, “I’m starting to get that.”

Klaus pulls away from her and starts pulling on the clothes Caroline brought for him, and Caroline has visions of him walking away from her. It’s one thing to trust her, one thing to play house while they figure out a way to go home. It’s entirely another thing to realize they’re never leaving, and for him to stay.

Thoughts of him killing again, finding a vampire to change him, and then conquering cities, all with someone else at his side flash through her brain. Her heart breaks, and Caroline has never felt any type of pain like this before, and she’s suddenly absurdly grateful she’s not a vampire, because she doesn’t think she could handle it, doesn’t think she could face this type of heartbreak and not turn it off.

“So what are you going to do?” She says, a little more teary and angry than she initially intended. She wants to be strong.

He glances at her, surprised, “What do you mean?”

“This life isn’t you, Klaus,” she hisses, “you don’t want this. You’ve never wanted this. You want power and revenge and the world at your feet. You want to take over cities and make yourself a king. You want everything. So what? What’s your first move?”

Klaus rolls his eyes, but he looks oddly nervous and uncomfortable. It’s a strange look for him, but he crouches in front of her and pulls her up to stand in front of him, and Caroline follows, because there’s no other option anymore. She’ll follow Klaus anywhere — hell, she’ll probably follow him into whatever mad plan he’s cooking up.

“The way I see it, love, in this reality I only have another… say, forty years before I’ll be dead, or at least too old to even do anything. That’s hardly enough time to take over any cities worth mentioning, especially since I’m mortal.”

Caroline can’t quite comprehend the words he’s saying, but she manages to choke out, “So we’re going looking for vampires? To change you? You’ll have eternity, then.”

Klaus shrugs, “I wouldn’t be opposed to finding a vampire eventually.”

“Eventually.” Caroline repeats, nonplussed.

Klaus lifts a hand and rubs at his hair, and it’s the most human gesture Caroline’s ever seen him make. He even does it unconsciously, and she wonders if it’s something leftover from when he was young. “Yeah. Eventually. You aren’t exactly the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, you know?”

Caroline’s entire world fades away at that, and all she can see is Klaus’ face; the way his eyes are locked on hers, and how she could have this.

“You want to stay? With me?” Her words are barely audible over the pounding of her own heart.

Klaus frowns, “I mean, the rest of forty years with you isn’t that long, Caroline. I doubt I’ll tire of you in this lifetime. It’s just the rest of our lives.”

“What about… what about if we find a vampire? What if we choose that?”

Klaus shrugs, “Then we figure that out then. Why make problems out of nothing?”

Caroline feels tears spill over her eyes, and Klaus is absolutely shocked by her crying, and Caroline can’t get the breath into her lungs to explain that she’s not sad, she’s not, she’s happy.

He grabs at her arms, shakes her just a little, “What?! I thought this was… Caroline, what is going on?”

She throws herself into him, the same way she had on the porch only yesterday. “I am happy,” she chokes, “I am so happy.”

“You are a peculiar creature.” Klaus says, but his tone is fond and he wraps his arms tightly around her.

“I am so in love with you.” She breathes, “I want this, I do. I want this. And I want to find someone to change us, because I liked being a vampire. But, you’re right. We can do that eventually.”

Klaus doesn’t move for a long while, just strokes her back gently. When he does speak again, his voice is unsure, and Caroline thinks that maybe being human again has made him more like he was when he was human. She’s now one of only three people in the world whose seen him mortal.

“You’re sure?” Klaus murmurs, “You’ve never been sure before.”

Caroline pulls away to stare into his eyes, and clears her throat, “I want this. I want you. I’m sure.”

Klaus reels her in again, holding her to him. Caroline manages to get her tears under control, and the next time she pulls away she grabs the blankets on the cellar floor.

“Let’s go home, Mr. Mikaelson,” she says coyly, “I think I want to make love to you in your studio again.”

Klaus scrambles to follow her up the stairs to their car, and Caroline laughs when he throws her over his shoulder and puts her in the passenger seat, kissing her furiously before making his way to the drivers side.

 

---

 

Caroline spends the next week playing house with Klaus — only this time, they’re not playing. She wakes up in the morning to him, and he tickles her with stubble until they’re kissing recklessly on their bed. She stumbles to the shower while he makes her breakfast, and Caroline never wants it to end.

It’s nearly the weekend when Caroline finally decides she’s got to make an effort with more people than just Klaus. If this is her life, she needs Elena and Bonnie and Rebekah. She plans a date with them after work at the Grill, and even though Klaus grumbles that she’s going to be away for an entire day and evening she stays strong.

“Caroline, come on, the doppelgänger can’t be that exciting.” 

She laughs, snatching the toast he’s made for her, “She’s my friend, Nik. I need friends, too.”

He pouts a little, and Caroline kisses him gently, letting her body fall into his in a way that’s becoming familiar.

“You don’t need friends,” he says earnestly, but his eyes are mischievous.

Caroline laughs, “You should look into getting together with Stefan, maybe. You two were friends once. Or, better yet, phone Henrik and ask him if he’s heard from Kol. I know you want to figure out where he is.”

Klaus grumbles, “Do I have to?”

“Yes, you do. You’ll have time while I’m at work.” Caroline declares, “I’ll be home later than normal, dinner with the girls, don’t wait up.”

He waves at her from the window, and Caroline can’t help but grinning all the way to the office. She greets Charlene when she walks into work, and she leaves the door of her office open because she wants to try to make friends now. 

It’s a few hours later that Caroline goes to eat a cookie from the staff room and starts feeling sick only a bite in; she garbages the cookie and heads back to her office with water. She sits down, dizziness making her head spin, and suddenly, Charlene pops her head in to ask her something about her newest client.

Caroline answers, easily, and the nausea subsides, but after Charlene leaves Caroline can’t help but thinking about her boss. More specifically, about what her boss had said to her only a week before.

She lays her head on her desk, the cool grain of the wood soothing her, and she tries to imagine her life with a baby who looks like her and Klaus. She tries to imagine them making the spare bedroom a nursery, and naming a baby, and — fuck.

Caroline honestly thought that the whole children thing would take a little longer.

She leaves work, the nausea returning full force, and makes her way to the pharmacy. She buys three pregnancy tests, some herbal nausea tea, and finally drives back to work because it’s the only place she can think of that no one will interrupt her. She shreds the packaging in her shredder, and takes her time in the bathroom where she pees on all three tests, even though it’s probably overkill.

The next five minutes are the longest in Caroline’s life, but she forces herself to stare at the door instead of at the three white sticks lined up on the sink. She thinks about calling Klaus, and then she thinks that’s an absolutely terrible idea, so then she debates on calling her mom, but she knows her mom will just be excited and then tell her to tell Klaus.

In the end, Caroline procrastinates so much she wastes fifteen minutes without looking at the tests, and she doesn’t call anyone.

When she finally sees the tiny pink plus sign reflected on three of the tests Caroline manages to swallow all of her panic down, and put all the evidence into a tiny bag that she takes back to her office.

She’s pregnant.

Caroline sits in her office chair and cries her eyes out, and she’s pretty sure it’s because she’s 90% happy and 10% scared, which seems like pretty good odds. By the time she forces down the lunch that Klaus made her, Caroline is resolved.

She’s going to get rid of the tests, keep her secret to herself at her dinner get together with the girls tonight, and tomorrow, she’s going to tell Klaus. She can’t even imagine how he’ll react; she can’t even imagine him with a child, except that she keeps having images of him with a tiny baby. He’d killed more people than she’d ever known, and yet she knows he’ll be a good father. Family is everything to him, and their child will be the only family he has that’s unrelated to Mikael too.

Caroline cleans up her makeup, finishes all of her work, and spends the last hour of her day searching up baby names for girls, since she’s pretty sure she knows she’ll end up naming the kid after one of Klaus’ million brothers if she has a boy.

She’s kind of okay with that.

Caroline packs up fifteen minutes earlier than normal because she can’t focus any longer; her secret thrums under her skin, and she keeps resting her hand on her still-flat stomach. She gets to the Grill with twenty minutes to spare, and nearly falls over when Tyler is the one she runs into at the doorway.

He steadies her with an arm, “Hey, Care, how are you?”

She gapes at him, “Oh, I’m good. How are you? What are you doing here?” He’s wearing business clothes, and he looks incredible.

“I own the Grill?” he looks at her curiously, and Caroline supposes she should have known that in this life.

She laughs, “Of course, I just wondered why you were in so late?”

“Oh, I was talking to the new manager, actually. I’m just heading out,” he sighs, “I don’t suppose you want to grab dinner?”

Caroline flushes, “Um, sorry, I’m meeting the girls?”

Tyler nods, and he looks sad, “Oh, okay. No problem. See you around?”

“Definitely!” Caroline agrees.

She wonders why Tyler’s ended up owning the Grill, and not living in his house. She wonders why he’s alone, when in this reality he’s not a werewolf since he’s never killed anyone, and he’s a great guy.

“Caroline!” Elena’s voice breaks her out of her thoughts, and Tyler is nowhere to be seen. Caroline spins and finds Elena and Bonnie staring at her, both of them looking fancy in dresses and heels.

“Oh, hey!” Caroline responds, just a beat too late, “Sorry, I was totally in another world there! Where’s Rebekah?”

Elena frowns, “She’s on her way. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, definitely! Let’s grab a table.”

They make their way to a corner booth, one Caroline has memories in both in this reality and in her other reality. She even remembers watching Klaus from across the Grill in their normal reality, and wanting him but not being allowed to have him.

“I’m so glad we could all get together,” Bonnie says, smiling wide, “it’s so tough with the kids these days!”

Elena grins, “I can only imagine! Is my brother at home with them?”

“Yeah,” Bonnie laughs, “Jeremy is my saviour, as always.”

Caroline smiles a little sadly at that, because sometimes things don’t change no matter what reality you land in, and Bonnie and Jeremy had deserved better. They’d deserved this, “Jeremy’s a good guy.”

“Speaking of ‘good guys’,” Elena hisses, “why were you talking to Tyler!?”

Caroline feels blindsided, “Because he’s our friend? And he was here?”

Elena scowls, “He asked you to dinner.”

“So?” Caroline retorts, “I said no.”

Bonnie laughs, breaking the tension,  “Elena, chill out. Tyler is harmless, he just needs to find someone to finally get over Caroline.”

“It’s been like… ten years!” Caroline objects. She’s not sure about the math, but she knows that her and Klaus have been together a while now, so it seems a safe exaggeration.

Bonnie shrugs, “Yeah. Turns out Tyler does not get over things easily. He’ll always love you, I think.”

Caroline struggles to think of something to say, but Rebekah arrives and saves her. She slides in beside Caroline and turns to the waitress and orders a margarita without blinking. 

“Good idea,” Elena says, “I’ll have one, too.”

Caroline panics, mostly because she knows she’s a terrible liar despite how often she’s had to do it, and there’s no way they won’t notice when she doesn’t have a drink.

Bonnie saves her when she declares, “Just water for me, I’m driving.”

“Me too.” Caroline adds quickly, “And I think we’ll start with wings.”

The waitress walks away, and even though Elena side-eyes her, Rebekah’s the one who speaks first.

“What’s this about Tyler?” she asks, “Nik will absolutely murder him if he thinks he’s been chasing you again.”

Caroline has to remind herself that it’s a figure of speech in this reality, and she almost can’t hold back the hysterical laughter that threatens to overtake her because Klaus would murder Tyler… literally.

“Oh my god, guys, no. He was here and I asked him why he was working so late. Also, since when does Tyler own the Grill?” Caroline asks. She’s hoping her friends just think she’s forgotten that knowledge, and answer her.

Rebekah laughs, “Well, after you two broke up and he moved away, as you know, he left Matt in charge of the house. Of course, that’s when Matt and I got together, and I moved in. When Tyler got back he really had his shit together, and I think he just wanted to spend his inheritance money on something. It was terrible when his mom died, and Tyler never really got over it.”

“So when he got back why didn’t you and Matt move out of his house?” Caroline wonders, absolutely enthralled by the similarities her two realities are starting to have.

Rebekah frowns at her, “He didn’t want it… memories or something, and Matt and I bought it from him. You know this, Care. Are you okay?”

Caroline shakes her head, flustered, “Sorry, I’m fine. Work has been pretty tough so I’ve been stressed out. Just forgetful, I guess.”

Their drinks come and they finish ordering their dinner, and Elena sends glances at her from across the table. 

“Are you sure it’s just work?” Elena’s grinning, and Caroline forces every single fibre of her being to be a good liar for this moment, because even though Elena is her best friend, Klaus deserves to know this secret first.

Caroline rolls her eyes, “I’m positive.”

“You know,” Bonnie adds, “I was super forgetful when I was first pregnant with Grayson! I barely got sick, I just felt kind of emotionally unstable, and I’d forget stupid things and beat myself up over it.”

“Yeah!” Rebekah beams, “Maybe that’s it! After so long, maybe I’ll be an Auntie!”

Caroline swallows heavily, “I’m not pregnant, guys.” Their faces fall, and Caroline feels terrible for lying, but she knows Klaus would never forgive her for keeping this from him and telling others, “But we’re trying again.” She adds, because she wants to give them something.

Rebekah smiles, “Oh thank god. When you said you put that on hold, I was so concerned! Hannah needs another cousin.”

Caroline laughs, “I’ll do my best.”

After that, the conversation flows easily. Caroline lets herself cut in whenever she’s sure of a topic, but sometimes she just listens and learns about the world they’ve found themselves in. She purposefully doesn’t let her hand drift to her stomach, but she drinks her water dutifully as she watches Elena get drunk, and she thinks that of the two of them, she’s the luckiest.

It’s nearly ten at night when Caroline finally looks at her phone and finds messages from Klaus that start out annoyed, and end in concern. She’s so full she can barely move, and Elena and Rebekah are in similar states. Bonnie’s already headed home, and Caroline can’t blame her since she was starting to fall asleep before they even ordered dessert.

“I’m just going to call Nik,” Caroline declares, “and then I’ll drive you two home.”

She slides out of the booth and dials a now familiar number.

“Caroline,” Klaus sounds furious, “where the hell are you?”

“At the Grill, where I said I would be?” Caroline replies.

Klaus growls, “You’re still there!?”

“Of course,” Caroline laughs, “Where else would I go?”

Klaus is silent on the other end, and Caroline scowls before repeating, “Klaus, where did you think I went?”

“I didn’t know.” He says, quiet. 

The anger goes out of Caroline instantly, because she’s starting to realize that Klaus is afraid of her leaving him. He doesn’t believe she could be loyal to him, doesn’t believe she could love him. Caroline hates Mikael for everything he did to Klaus, for everything he made him believe about himself; she hates Esther too, because she didn’t do anything to fix that.

But Caroline can.

“I’m at the Grill. I’ve been here all night,” Caroline explains gently, “I should have texted, I’m sorry. I’m going to drive Elena and your sister home, and then I’m coming straight to you.”

“See you.” Klaus says gruffly, and then hangs up on her. Caroline tries not to be annoyed, since she was the one who messed up in the first place, so she swallows her anger and heads back to the table.

“Alright, let’s go!” Elena and Rebekah follow her to her car, stumbling only a little when they hit the steps.

The drive home is hilarious; Caroline falls into it easily, because it feels familiar. They blast old songs and sing their hearts out, and Caroline laughs so hard she cries. Rebekah gets dropped off first because the Lockwood Mansion is farther out of town, and they turn down their music because Hannah’s definitely asleep.

Rebekah grins lewdly at her from her window once she gets out of the car, and she whispers, “I’m going to go have wild sex with my husband now.” 

Elena cringes, “Oh my god, don’t talk about Matt that way!”

Caroline laughs, “Don’t wake up my favourite niece!”

Rebekah flips her off and weaves her way onto her front porch and into the house. Caroline leaves when the light goes off, and Elena clambers into the front seat to control the music, although she turns it quiet.

“Care?” Elena says.

“Yeah?” 

Elena sighs, “You can tell me anything, you know that, right?”

Caroline glances at her, “Of course I know that, why?”

“Well, it’s just that — you were really concerned about Klaus only a month or so ago. You kept saying he was always away for business meetings with new galleries… at least once a month, and you wouldn’t stop talking about it! Now you haven’t mentioned it at all, and I know you were afraid that—” Elena cuts herself off, but Caroline can fill in the blanks.

“I was afraid he was cheating on me.”

“Yeah.” Elena says miserably.

Caroline smiles, because this she knows about. It makes sense, that other her had no idea about the werewolf thing, that she thought Klaus was sneaking around once a month. Caroline would jump to the conclusion that he was cheating on her.

“It really was meetings, Elena.” Caroline says, quickly, “I confronted him, and he told me all about them. He even took me on his last two. He’s not cheating on me.”

“Oh, thank god.” Elena murmurs, “I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, Klaus adores you, he would never… anyway. I’m happy for you.”

Caroline parks on the front drive of the Salvatore house, thanks all the stupid vampires in her other reality for making her a better liar, and thanks Elena for the fun night out.

Elena smirks at her, “Now I’m going to go have hot sex with my husband.”

“Ew,” Caroline rolls her eyes, “I so did not want to know that about Damon.”

Elena laughs all the way to the front door, and Caroline drives home, the music quiet. She lets one hand rest on her stomach, and she thinks about the fact that Klaus could probably hear the baby’s heartbeat with his werewolf hearing one day soon.

She wonders if he’ll be scared, or if he’ll regret it.

Her house calls to her when she finally parks the car. She doesn’t think she’ll ever love another house the way she loves this one, where it all started. Even her front door seems to welcome her in, and she hangs her coat up and turns on the hallways light.

“Caroline.”

She shrieks and spins, knocking over a vase. It hits the ground loudly, but doesn’t break. Klaus is sitting on their couch in the dark, and by the tall bottle beside him he looks to be drunk. 

“What the hell!” Caroline hisses, “You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

He throws a hand over his eyes, “Oh, I nearly gave you a heart attack. That’s rich. Forgive me, Caroline, for scaring you.”

Caroline kicks off her shoes and scowls at him, “I said I was sorry.”

Klaus stands abruptly, stumbles forward just a little and glares at her, “I’ve said sorry before and it’s never mattered to you!”

Caroline takes the bottle from his hand, “That’s because you killed people, whereas I forgot to text you. There’s a big difference!”

“You could have been dead!” Klaus snarls, and Caroline steps back, realizing for the first time how comfortable she’s grown with him. He’s drunk and he’s angry, and Caroline knows objectively that he wouldn’t hurt her, but she’s not willing to take any chances now. 

“How much have you had to drink?” Caroline hisses.

Klaus steps forward, leaning heavily on the wall, “Not enough to deal with you.”

It hurts more than she expects, and she turns to go to the kitchen, where she tosses the near empty bottle of bourbon. Klaus doesn’t follow her, and when she gets back to where she left him he’s sitting on the stairs and blocking them.

“Klaus, move,” she says, “I want to go to bed.”

She thinks bitterly of the way Elena and Rebekah said they were going to be spending their nights, and hates that she honestly thought that’s what she was going home to, as well. Klaus doesn’t move, despite her words, and instead he leans heavily into their banister.

“I didn’t mean that.” he says, and Caroline rolls her eyes.

“I know you didn’t, but you still said it.”

He frowns up at her, “I’m going to screw this up, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, Klaus, I knew that,” Caroline snaps, “I just didn’t think it would be so soon!”

“I’m drunk.” He says miserably, and thunks his head against the wall, “I didn’t remember what drunk felt like.”

Caroline tries not to laugh, mostly because she doesn’t want to encourage him since she’s trying to stay mad, but he looks helpless, “Well, how about next time you get less drunk, and not alone.”

She leans forward and gets her arms under his so she can help him stand, and he manages to make it to standing. He towers over her, standing one stair above her, and he’s leaning heavily on the wall.

“Please don’t fall on me.” Caroline hisses, and Klaus drags himself up their stairs.

By the time they reach the top they’re both panting, but Klaus smiles down at her, “Thanks for carrying me up the stairs.”

“Yeah, well you get one free pass.” Caroline says. “I’m still mad at you, though.”

He rolls his eyes, but keeps his mouth shut, and by the time Caroline lets him fall into bed she’s exhausted. She turns the lights off and gets in pyjamas, tucks herself under the blankets and stares at the ceiling.

“Did you have fun, at least?” Klaus asks, quietly. Caroline thinks that perhaps he feels bad, but she’s not quite ready to forgive him yet.

“Yes.”

He falls silent at her shortness, and Caroline wants to tell him, but he’s drunk, and she can’t.

“Nik — I just…” Caroline trails off, hesitant. 

“What?” 

Caroline turns to him and props herself on her elbow, “Look, I don’t want to fight about it, but you can’t do this. This isn’t what we agreed on. If you want this, if you want to stay with me for the next however long, you need to be good. I don’t want to come home to you when you’re drunk and angry; you don’t want to be angry with me, anymore than I want to be angry with you. I know that.”

Klaus turns to her, and in the darkness all Caroline can see is the shine of his eyes, “I didn’t know where you were, love, and I didn’t particularly like that.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t update you,” Caroline repeats, “but I’m not going anywhere. I already told you that. I want this, too.”

Klaus doesn’t reply, and Caroline lays down again on her back, and even though she’s exhausted she’s not sure if she’ll fall asleep. It’s been a long night, and the weight of her secret is heavy in her heart; she’s angry and sad, and Klaus is the reason behind all of the emotions.

She’s surprised, in the end, when Klaus’ hand wraps around hers under the covers. He doesn’t move close to her, and Caroline doesn’t say anything other than to let him twine his fingers with hers.

“Don’t leave me, Caroline.”

It’s as much of a warning as it is a plea, and Caroline’s heart softens either way, because she knows that Klaus is afraid, and he's showing her.

She squeezes his hand, “I won’t. Besides, even if I did, you once told me that you would hunt me to the ends of the earth.”

Klaus laughs, “That still seems to be true, even if I am mortal.”

She turns closer, lets him wrap his whole arm around her. His heartbeat is steady in her ear, and he smells like bourbon and she hates it, but she doesn’t move.

“I’m not going anywhere, Nik.” Caroline whispers.

 

---

 

Caroline is cleaning out the oven when the doorbell rings. Klaus is over at Rebekah’s, something to do with talking about Henrik’s new job in New York, and Caroline’s not expecting anyone since it’s late on a Sunday. She closes the oven and sets the cloth in the sink, smoothing down the old shirt she’s been wearing to clean the kitchen. 

Her door opens before she gets there, and she comes face to face with someone she honestly never thought she would see again.

“How’s my favourite sister in law?” 

“Kol,” Caroline gasps, falling backwards into a wall. Her heart is racing, and she has to remind herself that this is normal, Kol is alive in this reality and he’s not going to hurt her. He’s not even a vampire.

Kol steps forward and shuts the door, “Sorry darling, didn’t mean to scare you. You look positively stunning, as always.”

Caroline straightens her spine and tries to smile at him, “Thanks. We weren’t expecting you — Nik’s over at Rebekah’s house.”

Kol kicks off his shoes and passes her into the kitchen, letting his hand rest for her waist on a second. Caroline had forgotten how much Kol flirted with everything that moved.

“It’s fine, I actually came to see you,” Kol says, and then sits on her countertop.

Caroline resists the urge to tell him to get off, since she’s just finished cleaning her counters; instead, she sighs, “What did you need, Kol?”

Kol frowns at her, “You don’t seem happy to see me, darling.”

“No, I’m happy,” Caroline says, “I’m just surprised. I didn’t expect anyone, and it’s been a long week. Sorry.”

Kol smiles, and Caroline’s strangely reminded of a shark, and then he declares, “It can’t have been that hard of a week, it wasn’t even the full moon.”

The blood drains from Caroline’s face, but she tries to keep her voice steady when she says, “What did you say?”

Kol’s predatory grin drops, and surprise flashes across his face, “Holy shit… you know!?”

“Know what?” Caroline says, trying to play dumb.

Kol leaps off the counter, and grabs her wrists, “You know! You’re telling me that Klaus actually told you!? I thought he’d never tell anyone!”

“Tell me what!” Caroline snaps.

Kol drops her wrists, “That he’s a werewolf.”

Caroline had been expecting those words, but still they seemed to suck all the air out of the kitchen. She had two ways to play it — she could pretend she had no idea what Kol was talking about, or she could own up to her knowledge.

Only one of those options could get her information on werewolves and vampires in this reality.

“What do you know about it.” Caroline hisses.

Kol’s eyes light up, “I figured it out because I asked mother who Klaus’ real father was, and I was the only one who tried to track him down. I never found him, so I never told Klaus; but I found other things. After Elijah died it wasn’t hard to work it out; but… I was angry. At Klaus. For Elijah’s death.” Kol looks ashamed for a second, “I wasn’t there for him when I should have been, and I’m sorry for that.”

“So why are you here now?”

Kol shrugs half-heartedly, “I wanted to help my brother. I didn’t think he would ever tell you what he was, so I was going to.”

Caroline scowls, “It wouldn’t have been your place to tell me that.”

“You’re right,” Kol agrees, “but I’ve seen the way you look at him. Nothing could make you leave him, not even the fact that he’s a werewolf.”

Caroline glances at the ground, because she had forgotten until this moment that Kol know them as the other Caroline-and-Klaus; she had forgotten that Kol was dead in their reality.

Kol laughs for a second, “Have you seen his wolf form?”

“Yes.” Caroline admits, meeting Kol’s eyes. He looks more like Elijah than any of Klaus’ brothers, and Caroline thinks that maybe that’s the reason Klaus is afraid to look for him.

Kol stares at her, and even though Caroline thinks Klaus’ eyes are the prettier of the two, they both have the same raptor gaze that sees straight through her.

“He didn’t attack you, did he?” Kol murmurs, and reaches out to tug on a curl that’s escaped her bun.

Caroline steps away from him, bringing herself out of his reach but cornered against the fridge. “Klaus wouldn’t hurt me.” she snaps.

“Of course he wouldn’t, not as a human.” Kol laughs, “But you don’t know why the wolf didn’t attack you, do you?

Caroline wants to ask, curiosity eating away at her. Still, she doesn’t trust Kol, and she doesn’t like that Klaus isn’t home yet, but could come back any second.

In the end, she doesn’t need to ask, because Kol just smirks at her.

“You’re pregnant.” He says, loud, because he isn’t afraid of her secret like she is.

Caroline glances around, “How do you know?” 

“That’s the only reason Klaus wouldn’t hurt you. Even werewolves will kill humans, but they won’t kill one of their own. You’re carrying Klaus’ kid. It’s got the gene.”

Caroline remembers Klaus’ story about how he had taken Henrik out to see the wolves in their reality, thousands of years ago, and the wolves had torn his brother apart but left him alone. How the wolves had known, even then, that he had the werewolf gene.

“Please don’t tell him,” Caroline says, “please. I need to tell him.”

Kol’s eyes light up, “Tell him soon. Or I will.”

“I will, I will, I just… I need more time.” Caroline begs.

Kol shrugs, “Your call, little sister.” 

“Thank you,” Caroline breathes.

“I’m outta here,” Kol declares, “tell Klaus I say hi.”

Caroline snatches his arm as he goes to head out the front door, “You can’t leave — he’ll want to see you! Stay for dinner, he’ll be home soon!”

Kol smiles, but it’s a smile she’s never seen from this particular Mikaelson brother before. It’s sad, and he pulls his arm out of her hold, “Sorry, I can’t. I’m not quite ready to see Klaus yet. Don’t get me wrong — I love my brother, and I’m happy for you two… but I just can’t.”

“Because of Elijah?” Caroline whispers. “It was an accident, Kol. He regrets it… everyday.”

Kol nods, “I know. But I can’t yet. Say hi for me, okay?”

This time, Caroline feels like she’s the one trapped as she watches Kol walk away, and out of her house. She doesn’t move a muscle when she hears his car roar down the street, and it’s only when she realizes that Klaus is going to murder her for not keeping Kol in the house that she sinks to the tiled floor.

She cries against the fridge, and Caroline thinks that she’s spent more time in this reality crying than in her own. She blames it on the baby, but she feels guilty over that within minutes and takes it back.

“I’m so not ready to be a mom.” Caroline admits to the empty kitchen, her voice barely more than a breath.

Her stomach growls underneath her hands, and Caroline forces herself to her feet. She needs to eat, she needs to take care of herself. She makes a stir fry, enough for two nights; it says something that she’s started making leftovers, confident that they’ll still be here at least for a few more days.

It’s only once she’s set out a plate on the table and sat down that she hears Klaus open the door and kick off his shoes, “Caroline, where are you?”

“Kitchen.” Caroline replies, and her heart pounds with nervousness.

Klaus walks in with tousled hair and light cotton sweats on; Caroline wants to kiss him senseless. He grins at her boyishly and grabs a plate she’d left out and fills it with stir-fry.

“This looks nice,” he tells her, sitting across from her, “Bekah says hi, as does Hannah. Henrik also said we should both come to visit next time.”

“I’d like that,” Caroline says softly, “Listen, Nik…”

He glances up from his food and frowns at her nervousness, “What happened?!”

“Kol came here.” Caroline says.

He’s angry, Caroline can tell, although to his credit he doesn’t move or raise his voice when he talks to her.

“When? And when were you going to tell me?”

Caroline sighs, “About an hour ago. I just told you — I didn’t want to call you because Kol said he wasn’t ready to see you.”

“What the hell does that even mean, love?!” Klaus hisses.

Caroline frowns, “It means that even though he loves you he’s not ready to see you. He’s mad about Elijah. He knows it’s not your fault, but it’s… hard.”

“I didn’t even kill him that was other me!” Klaus’ voice gets louder, and Caroline cringes a little.

“I know, but we can’t tell him that!” Caroline realizes belatedly she probably could have told him that since he had easily believed in werewolves. Still, a whole reality switch was hard to swallow.

Klaus stands up abruptly, knocking the chair out from under him. “You’re telling my that you let me brother just walk out of here!?”

“What did you want me to do, Nik, trap him here?!” 

The silence is heavy after her words, and Caroline wishes she could take it back.

“You’ve helped do it before.” Klaus snaps at her, and Caroline’s heart breaks, because he’s never going to get over this. He’ll never be able to look at her and forget that she helped to kill Kol, and Caroline hates that after everything he’s done to hurt her and her friends, she can forgive him, but he can’t forgive her.

It’s not fair, and it’s especially not fair that she can practically feel the weight of her secret between them; the beat of the baby’s heart, and the way she’s scared out of her mind but excited too, and Klaus doesn’t fucking know.

Caroline stands up slowly, and takes both of their plates to the counter, cleaning them in the sink. Klaus doesn’t say anything else, but he doesn’t back down either, and Caroline’s not expecting an apology this time. She doesn’t really deserve one.

“You’re just going to walk away?” Klaus yells, “Not even going to argue!?”

Caroline turns back to him, tired all the way to her bones, “What do you want me to say, Nik? I’ve said sorry.”

“You killed my brother.” Klaus screams, and Caroline feels tears spill out on her cheeks. They both know she didn’t kill Kol, but she had enough of a part in it that she can’t quite clear her conscious, and Klaus can’t forgive her.

It doesn’t even matter that Kol is alive in this reality, and that Klaus himself killed Elijah here. It doesn’t matter that Caroline loves him, and she’s pretty sure that Klaus is almost in love with her too.

“I never wanted that to happen, Nik, and I’m sorry that it did happen. I’m sorry for my part in it, and I don’t know how else to apologize.” Caroline tells him.

Klaus strides towards her, trapping her against the fridge the same way Kol had earlier, “It was your fault!”

Caroline scowls at that, annoyed for the first time. “I accept responsibility for my part, but you can’t tell me it’s all my fault. I was the only one who didn’t want Kol dead, and I hated every part of it.”

Klaus growls, “But you didn’t save him.”

“No, I didn’t save him.” Caroline breathes, “But I knew this would happen.”

“What?” Klaus asks.

Caroline closes her eyes because she can’t bear to look at him when he’s so furious and so beautiful, “I knew that you would never be able to get past our past, even if I could, and we wouldn’t work.

In the next second, Klaus is kissing her, and Caroline’s not sure if it’s because he agrees with her words, or he’s trying to convince her they work. He slams her into the fridge, and it doesn’t necessarily hurt, but Caroline’s surprised by his rough treatment. Still, she hitches her legs up over his hips, because it’s Klaus, and she can’t not.

He drags his hands into her hair, pulling out her hair elastic and letting it fall over her shoulders. Caroline kisses him deeply, bites at his lip when he tugs at her hair, and when he drops his hands to lift her entirely onto the counter she doesn’t hesitate to dig her fingers into his shoulder muscles and hold on.

“Fuck, Caroline,” he breathes, and Caroline rips herself away from his mouth only to rip the t-shirt she’s wearing over her head and behind him. She’s not wearing a bra, and Klaus doesn’t hesitate to take his shirt off and lower his mouth to her breasts. 

Caroline cries out when he bites down on her; it stings for a second, but it mostly feels good, and Caroline wishes desperately that they both still had fangs because blood sharing is probably the most intimate thing a vampire can do, and maybe then he won’t leave.

“Klaus, please—” Caroline chokes when he pulls her off the counter and tugs her pants down her long legs. He doesn’t give her a chance to step out of them, just tosses her back onto her newly cleaned counter top.

It’s cold, but she warms up quickly when Klaus suddenly grabs her head and stares straight into her eyes. He’s still angry, and Caroline’s a little angry too, but for just a second he holds her head gently.

“Tell me you don’t think this is going to work out.” Klaus commands.

“It’s not.” Caroline chokes out, tears and arousal battling for dominance.

Klaus flinches imperceptibly, “Tell me you don’t want me.”

They stare at each other, the air between them electric with tension, and Caroline lets her tears spill over once more because she can’t tell him that. She can’t say it — not only is it a lie, Caroline refuses to be one more person who told him they loved him and fucking lied about it.

“I can’t.” Caroline says, but what she means is I love you.

Klaus drops his hands and rests his head in the juncture between her neck and shoulder, and for just a second Caroline swears that she can feel tears, but then he’s lifting her again, and pressing his naked body against hers to slam her back against the fridge. It’s gentle, this time, and Caroline thinks that maybe he can’t say he doesn’t want her either.

“I can’t give you up.” Klaus murmurs into her skin — it’s furious, the way he says it, as though she’s trapped him in this, and he can’t escape.

Caroline hisses, “Then don’t. Just fuck me.”

The growl Klaus lets out is feral, and when he lifts her up just enough to slide himself into her Caroline bites down on his shoulder hard enough to leave a mark. He doesn’t let go of her legs, just pounds into her with abandon, and Caroline pulls him closer and closer to her as though she can hold him to her forever.

When he presses into her, pinning her to their fridge, he squeezes her so tightly Caroline knows he’ll leave marks, but his breath is hot in her ear when he whispers, “We’re going to work. I’ll show you, I’ll prove it to you.”

Caroline can’t help but believe him when they sink to the ground, and the cool tile brings some sense back into her head.

Eventually, Klaus looks at her, and even though he still looks angry, he says, “I don’t think you killed Kol. I don’t blame you.”

“You mean you don’t blame me entirely,” Caroline corrects gently, “I know that I played a part in it. I know you’ll always blame me for that, and I get that. But I didn’t want that.”

Klaus reaches out, and the gap between them on their kitchen floor suddenly feels too huge for her to cross. She lets her hand twine with his in between them.

“It’s not your fault.” Klaus says again, and this time Caroline thinks he’s saying it more for his benefit than hers, but she doesn’t correct him. “Did I hurt you?” he asks after a minute.

“No,” Caroline smiles, “you didn’t. But I could use a bath.”

He stands up slowly, and extends a hand to her which she gratefully accepts. They pick up their clothes and head upstairs to their bedroom. Klaus runs her a bath as she sits on the ledge, and he doesn’t say a word even when he puts in bubble bath.

“May I join you?” He murmurs. Caroline glances at him, surprised to find that he looks placid, and far less angry.

“Sure.” The word falls unbidden from her lips, and Caroline doesn’t stop to correct herself or think beyond the warmth of the water when she finally steps in. Klaus gets in behind her, and lays down first, and she doesn’t hesitate to sink into the water, lying on his chest with her head on his left shoulder. 

The bubbles cover them completely, and Klaus’ hands stay at their sides, not touching her. Caroline wonders what’s going through his mind, but decides she won’t ask. She’s keeping a secret now, and it’s only fair that Klaus can have some space.

Still, she sits up a bit, “Will you wash my back?” Her voice seems loud in their little bathroom, but Klaus grabs the washcloth and scrubs her back gently, and then her sides. She huffs a laugh when it tickles, and only then does he reach around her to soap up her front. He spends his time on her shoulders and breasts, and Caroline doesn’t rush him. It feels nice to be pampered, and she’s sure that he’s as vulnerable as she is now.

She leans against him again and he washes her hair, his fingers run through her locks gently, and Caroline can’t quite believe that these are the same hands that have killed thousands of people.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” Klaus finally says when he rinses out all the conditioner, “and I don’t think that it was your fault Kol died. But I’m not sorry about anything else.”

Caroline smiles, a little teary eyed, and she’s glad that they can’t see each other for this conversation.

“You didn’t frighten me,” Caroline says. “I’m sorry about what happened to Kol, but I’m not sorry about anything else, either.”

Klaus is silent for a few moments, and Caroline objectively notes that the bathwater is getting cold, “You don’t think this is going to work. Us, I mean.”

Caroline shrugs, “I think that eventually you’re going to resent me for what we’ve done in our past, or maybe I’ll resent you, and this just won’t be enough to keep you here.”

“But it’s enough to keep you here,” Klaus murmurs, “you’re only afraid that I’ll walk away. In no scenario have you mentioned that you’ll be leaving.”

Caroline pulls herself out of the bath and wraps a towel around her hair and body, then turns to face Klaus, whose gotten out of the bath as well, and is standing naked in front of her. He’s magnificent, and he’s hers, for as long as he’ll allow it.

“I won’t be the one leaving,” Caroline admits, “I like it here. I like this life. I love you. I’m not the one who will be walking away.”

She didn’t mention that there was a heartbeat sitting under her skin that wasn’t hers; she didn’t mention that she would never walk away from their child, and while she didn’t necessarily think Klaus would either, Caroline knew that this would be her life given the choice.

Klaus steps towards her, tugging the towel where she’s tucked it into itself to stay up. It falls to the ground and leaves her bare to his gaze. His eyes are hungry again, and Caroline can feel her skin heat up even though they had only just finished their lovemaking in the kitchen.

“Caroline Mikaelson—” his voice chokes a little, “I would like the opportunity to redo tonight. Pretend I’ve just walked in. We haven’t fought. In fact, you didn’t even see Kol today.”

“Okay,” Caroline breathes, letting the towel drop from her damp hair.

Klaus raises a hand up and trails a single finger down the centre of her chest between her breasts, “You look stunning today, of course. You think we’re not going to work, but I’m going to prove you wrong,” he grins devilishly, “that part hasn’t changed. I take you upstairs for a bath, and then I take you to bed, which I’m going to do now, and I prove that I want you.”

“I know you want me.” Caroline says.

Klaus rolls his eyes, “I want this.”

Caroline smiles at him, and it’s a little shaky, but she lifts her hands towards him and Klaus picks her up bridal style and carries them to their bed.

He lays her down in the centre of it, and he starts off kissing the inside of her ankle on her right foot, working his way up her leg. He bypasses the part of her that she wants him to touch the most, and instead lays ticklish kisses on her belly, across her rib cage, and in a line down her collarbone.

“Listen to me,” he whispers into her ear, dragging his teeth hotly over the lobe, “I’m going to convince you to stay with me.”

Caroline gasps when she feels his cock against her thigh, and Klaus takes advantage of her open mouth to kiss her filthily, his hands roaming every inch of her skin.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Caroline says when he finally pulls off her mouth.

Klaus smiles, a little sad, and a little regretful, and then he murmurs, “I know. But neither am I.”

This time when he pushes inside of her he’s unbearably gentle, and Caroline almost wishes for the time agains the fridge, because it was so easy to forget why she loved him then. It was so easy to close her eyes and be mad at him.

It’s impossible to stay angry when he stares in her eyes as he slowly thrusts into her, warmth pooling in her stomach. 

It’s impossible to stay angry when he lowers his mouth to her skin and whispers to her, as though he’s sharing secrets her naked body can absorb.

“You’re beautiful,” he says when he kisses her.

Caroline swallows down tears, “I love you.” she replies, because it’s the only thing she knows how to say.

She falls apart under his touch when he reaches a hand between them and rubs against her as he pushes deep inside, and he follows her within seconds anyway, until they're both slightly damp and tired.

He rolls over, pulling her with him, and throws a fuzzy blanket over them instead of their actual bed covers. He kisses her temple, and doesn’t say a single word when some of her tears track off her face and onto his chest.

“I’m going to make you believe me, Caroline.” he promises again, his voice heavy with sleep, “We’re going to be fine.”

Caroline hates it, but she believes him.

 

 

---

 

 

 She should have seen it coming. Nothing had ever been easy in either of their lives, and Caroline should have known when they spend the next week in paradise. Klaus uses most of his time trying to make it up to her that they fought; he makes her breakfast before work, and kisses her senseless when she gets home. She finds colourful flowers in her kitchen, and she makes dinner, and they make love on every surface of their entire house.

She hasn’t told him about the baby — she wants to, but she’s scared, especially after his meltdown. It’s still early though, and Caroline wants him to grow to be even more attached to this life before she throws a kid in the mix.

He tells her more about his life — small stories, even inconsequential ones, things about his village, or his first trip overseas and how hard it was, or how Elijah and he used to get in sword fights. He tells her more about Mikael, and Caroline hates the man as much as Klaus did. She learns about Rebekah as a child, and about Henrik, and how heartbroken Klaus was when he died.

Klaus becomes someone she can understand, and even though there’s so much more to him that she may never know, she knows him now. Probably better than anyone, maybe even better than his family.

In return, Caroline tells him about her life — she thinks it’s boring, the stories of her parents and her, and growing up, but Klaus is enthralled by her. He even listens to her, which Caroline finds out when she tells him about how a small beach town in California named Pescadero is her favourite place ever, and she comes home from work and he surprises her with a ticket for them to go. It was the only family vacation she’d ever been on, the first time she’d been out of Mystic Falls. They leave in two weeks, and Caroline can’t wait.

It’s kind of absolutely perfect.

Which is why it all comes crumbling down with one phone call in the middle of the night.

Klaus wakes up and looks ready to tear something apart at the shrill sound, and Caroline thinks that it’s a leftover reflex from his vampire days. She leans over and grabs the phone from the nightstand, and watches as Klaus relaxes by increments.

“Hello?” She says sleepily.

“Is this the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Niklaus Mikaelson?”

Caroline blinks herself wide awake, “Yes. This is Caroline Mikaelson. Who is this?”

“This is the Mystic Falls General Hospital,” Caroline’s heart plummets, “we have a Hannah Donovan here, and you two are listed as her Godparents and emergency contacts.”

Caroline throws the covers off the bed, panic racing up her spine, “Yes, yes, she’s my niece, what’s wrong? What happened!?”

Klaus jumps out of bed at her words and starts throwing on sweatpants, “What happened, Caroline, what’s going on?”

She waves him off, dragging on clothes one handed as the doctor explains, “She’s in our care. We’d like you to come to the hospital, and we can discuss it further.”

“Of course, we’re on our way,” Caroline pants, rushing down the stairs. Klaus grabs the keys, “What about Matt and Rebekah? Hannah’s parents?”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Mikaelson, I can explain everything at the hospital.” The doctor says, “We’ll see you soon, just come to emergency and ask for Hannah. They’ll page me.”

Caroline doesn’t say bye, she just hangs up the phone as she clambers into the car. Klaus is already driving away as Caroline shuts the door, and she’s never seen him so panicked in her life. Her stomach feels like lead because she knows that tone, she knows, and she can hardly catch her breath.

“What happened?” Klaus demands, taking a left hand turn too sharply.

Caroline buckles herself in, “Hannah is in hospital, and they won’t tell me anything else.”

“Rebekah,” Klaus breathes, and Caroline reaches over to set her hand on his thigh, stealing comfort but also offering some of her own.

She sets her free hand on her stomach, partly to help with the sudden nausea that’s becoming more frequent, but mostly to comfort herself. They make it to the hospital in record time, and Caroline gets out while Klaus parks. The lady at the emergency desk pages a Dr. Ross, and by the time he arrives in a white lab coat, Klaus is already standing beside her with a warm hand on her back.

The first thing Caroline thinks is that the doctor looks kind — he’s got grey hair and gentle brown eyes, and he shakes her hand softly — the second thing she thinks is that he looks sad.

“Mrs. Mikaelson,” he says, “Mr. Mikaelson, I’m Dr. Ross.”

“This is Caroline,” Klaus introduces impatiently, “I’m Klaus.”

Dr. Ross eyes them with grave eyes, and Caroline can feel the tears choking her already.

“Caroline, Klaus. I’m sorry to inform you that Matthew and Rebekah Donovan were in a serious car accident tonight with their daughter Hannah.”

Caroline feels herself pitch to the side, and only Klaus’ arm wrapping around her shoulders holds her up. “What happened? Where is my sister? Are they okay?” Klaus sounds more frantic than Caroline’s ever heard him.

Dr. Ross shuts his eyes briefly, “Matthew died on the scene, and Rebekah died on the way to the hospital. Hannah has some injuries, but most are superficial. She’s fine.”

Caroline can vaguely hear someone crying, the kind of crying that she remembers from Elena when her parents died, or even her mother during the divorce. It takes a moment for her to realize that she’s the one crying, she’s the one who sounds like her world is ending.

Dr. Ross tries to smile, and it looks pained, “I’m so sorry for your loss. We’ll let you know when Hannah is ready for visitors.”

He walks away as easily as he’d arrived, and Caroline wishes he’d never called them, wishes they’d never even known about the accident. She turns fully to Klaus, and he looks blank. He’s not even angry, or upset, he’s just vacant, as though he’s trying to process what the doctor said, and he can’t quite fit it inside his brain.

Caroline wraps her arms around him, and falls apart. He holds her back, but he doesn’t move, even when Caroline finally stops crying only to feel empty.

“I can’t turn it off,” he whispers, and it’s shocking in the sudden silence from her tears.

Caroline pulls back and looks at him, and he looks wild. His eyes are shining with tears, “What do you mean?”

He stares at her as though it’s the first time he’s ever seen her, “I can’t turn it off, Caroline, I can’t turn it off, I can’t — I can’t, it hurts.” 

The way he says it breaks her heart all over again because he sounds lost. She grasps his cheeks and makes him look at her, and she says gently, “Humans don’t get to turn it off, Nik. They just have to deal with it.”

He stares at her, “I can’t.”

She pulls him down, puts his forehead against hers as though she can lend him her strength, “You can, and you will, and it will be terrible. But, I’ll be here, and Hannah is going to be fine, and she’ll be here.”

He curls around her then, as though he needs her protection more than she needs his, and from his place in the crook of her neck she can hear him say, “She’s dead.”

Caroline struggles to breath through the lump in her throat, and she finally says, “In a thousand other realities Rebekah lived a long mortal life, or even a long immortal life. In a thousand other lives she was loved, and she was strong, and she was happy. In a thousand other places, she’s still out there. She’s even still out there in our reality.”

Klaus hands clench and unclench, and Caroline thinks that he must be trying harder than he’s ever tried to be human. He wants to hunt down anyone who could have been involved, he wants to tear the world apart, and save her, and he can’t.

Caroline holds his hands, “It’s okay,” she whispers, over and over, even though she hardly believes it. As long as it anchors Klaus, it’s okay.

Mikael arrives with Esther before Hannah’s ready to see visitors, and Caroline thinks that this will be the last straw for Klaus, that he’ll lose it and they’ll be a massacre.

Luckily, though, the nurse at the front desk explains that Hannah isn’t ready for visitors. Esther throws them dirty looks, and Caroline can literally feel Klaus’ rage behind her.

Mikael approaches them after a long time, “Why are you here?” 

Caroline squeezes Klaus’ hand, “We’re Hannah’s emergency contacts.”

“I suppose Rebekah was always a fool, to trust Niklaus with her daughter.” Mikael hisses.

Caroline can feel Klaus flinch imperceptibly, “If you don’t have anything kind to say, then go away, Mikael. I have absolutely no problem with calling the police on you for harassment.”

Mikael glares at her, and it’s so glacial that Caroline feels like she’s being threatened without him uttering a single word, but eventually he goes back to Esther and they leave. It feels like a victory, even though Caroline is positive they’ll be back.

“Come on, Nik,” Caroline murmurs, “let’s go sit down.”

They make their way to the seats where they press against each other and shift on the hard surface until finally, finally Dr. Ross comes back. It’s morning now, and Caroline absolutely aches in every muscle in her body, and all she wants is to see her niece. The stress and exhaustion can’t be good for her, but she can’t help it. She jumps to her feet when the doctor approaches them, and he greets her with a wan smile.

“Caroline,” Dr. Ross greets, “Klaus. Hannah has been given some pain medication and a cast for her broken arm, and is now able to see visitors.”

Caroline shuts her eyes for a grateful moment, “Thank you.”

They follow him through a maze of doors until they’re finally just outside a small room. Dr. Ross pauses and turns to them, his face morphed with seriousness.

“You two do understand that since you are Hannah’s next-of-kin you will be given the first chance at adoption before she goes to foster care?” Dr. Ross says gently.

“We want her,” Caroline stumbles out immediately, “please. We’re her family, we’re her godparents.”

Klaus sighs, “It’ll be in their will, I would guarantee it.”

Dr. Ross eyes them, and Caroline can almost sense the pride coming off of him in waves, “Are you two sure? This is a big responsibility, and—”

Klaus snaps, “We want her.”

Caroline lays a hand on his arm, calming, “Dr. Ross, we don’t have any children yet, but it isn’t because we don’t want them. Hannah is our niece, and we love her more than anything. Of course we want her.”

Dr. Ross nods after a moment, “I’ll go get the paperwork while you two go see her. She’s been asking for you. She can be safely taken home today since most of her injuries were superficial. Her mother — Rebekah — saved her life, you know.”

Klaus goes rigid, but when he speaks his voice is gentle, “She would like that. That she died to save her.”

Dr. Ross smiles at him, and heads off in the opposite direction, gesturing that they should go into the room. He leaves them at the doorway, and Klaus turns to her.

“We have to take her, or else she’ll probably end up with Mikael and Esther.”

Caroline smiles thinly, “I know, and they’re probably going to fight us for her. She’s ours though.”

Klaus doesn’t say anything, just presses a gentle hand to her back to lead her through the door to find a small room painted with different zoo animals. It’s brighter than any hospital room has any right to be, but Caroline supposes it’s meant for kids.

Hannah is lying on a bed, deathly pale and covered in scrapes, but awake. When she finally sees them, she reaches out with a casted arm and a hand with an IV, and bursts into tears. Caroline rushes to slide into the bed next to her, covering her with kisses. Hannah clings to her, and Klaus sits on the other side of the bed and rests a hand on her leg.

“Where’s mom — mom and dad — I want — mom,” Hannah can’t even get the words out she’s crying so hard, and Caroline thinks that they probably have already given her enough medication to calm down a horse, so this can’t be a good thing.

“Hannah, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” she murmurs, and Hannah stops trying to talk, “I’m so sorry, your mom and dad are gone.”

“But—”

Caroline kisses her hair, “It’s not fair, I know. I know it isn’t. But we’re going to take care of you.”

Hannah pulls back and tries to wipe her eyes, but her cast keeps getting in her way, “But I want Mom and Dad.”

Caroline thinks that perhaps there’s something that’s just born within adults who are suddenly responsible for children, because Caroline wants to cry, but she can’t because she has to be strong for Hannah.

“I know.” she tells her, “I want them too. But it’s just us.”

Hannah looks over at Klaus, “You too, Uncle Klaus? Are you gonna take care of me too?”

Klaus nods solemnly, “Of course.”

Hannah falls back into Caroline’s arms and cries herself to sleep. It’s the hardest thing Caroline’s ever had to watch, and by the time the little girl has stopped shaking in her arms she’s exhausted.

“We need a car seat.” She says when it’s been silent for long enough that Hannah is truly asleep. “We need to get things from her old room.”

“We could just stay there, in their house.”

Caroline frowns, “No, no, I don’t want to confuse her. Just things she likes. Her backpack, blankets, toys. You know.”

Klaus doesn’t even roll his eyes at her, and Caroline realizes how tired he is. It’s not fair of her to ask that of him, even though she’s exhausted and none of this has been fair. 

She slides out of bed and settles Hannah back in gently, and then drops a kiss on the top of Klaus’ head, “I’ll go get it. I’ll set it up. She’ll be knocked out for at least a few hours, she had enough painkillers in her IV to put us both to sleep. I’ll be back before she wakes up, promise.”

Klaus catches her wrist before she can walk away, and she turns back to meet his somber eyes, “Caroline, just… be careful?”

It’s nice, knowing that even when the world falls apart he’s still beside her. 

“I promise,” she whispers.

 

---

 

Hannah sleeps even on the car ride home when Caroline finally picks them both up a few hours later, and Caroline is so grateful. They make it to the house before she wakes up, and Caroline feeds her some more medicine before getting her out of the car seat. She’s mostly unresponsive, but she’s not crying anymore.

Caroline gets her to eat a sandwich before she takes her upstairs to where the spare bedroom has become hers. Her blankets are on the bed, and Caroline has put as many toys as she can around the place. Hannah stares around the room in silence, though she does get into her bed and snuggle with a stuffed bear beside her.

Caroline thinks a little hysterically that they’re going to need to buy a bigger house. They’re going to have two children — they’re parents.

Klaus shuts the curtains on the window, but turns on a small lamp so there’s a little bit of light in the darkness. Caroline is amazed he even managed to think about how Hannah’s so young and probably afraid of the dark, and her heart swells because she loves Hannah more than she ever thought she could love anyone, and she loves Klaus, and nothing about this reality makes sense.

She leans down and kisses Hannah’s forehead, “Try to get some more sleep, sweetheart. We’re just across the hall, okay? You just come in or call us if you need us.”

Hannah turns away from her, and Caroline’s heart breaks. Klaus is the one to finally pull her away from the bed and turn her toward the door.

“Hannah,” Klaus says, soft and gentle in a way Caroline’s never heard him be before, “I know you miss your parents. But we’re not going anywhere.”

Caroline shuts the door behind him when he leaves, and leans against the wall. She feels out of control, hysterical and shaky; she can’t help the half-laugh, half-sob that escapes her mouth. Klaus crowds her in, and she rests her head on his chest so the beat of his heart can calm her.

“How the hell are we ever supposed to leave now?” she whispers, nearly silent in the dark hallway.

Klaus sighs, “I am… torn.”

“Hannah is… important.” Caroline says, “We can’t leave.”

“I know. That’s why I said we weren’t going anywhere,” Klaus replies, “Hannah is… my family.”

Caroline thinks about the way Klaus fell apart at the hospital only a few hours ago, and how Hannah’s eyes are the exact same shade as Rebekah’s were, and she suddenly understands. Klaus loves Hannah in a way he didn’t expect either, and there’s no way he would abandon her now. 

“What do you propose we do?” Caroline asks.

Klaus pulls away from her and kisses her, desperately as though he’s trying to tell her all his secrets at once. Only once he pulls away does he catch his breath, “Caroline-“

“Yes,” she breathes, because she knows what he’s about to say.

“Caroline, we… we stay. We stop looking.”

Caroline steps away from him, searching him for tricks or lies with her eyes alone. “You’re telling me you want this life to be ours? You want Hannah to be ours.”

Klaus nods slowly, pulls her hand until she follows him to their bedroom. She tucks herself into her side of the bed as he collects his thoughts, and by the time he’s sliding under the comforter, she’s wrapped around him.

He pets her hair, “I think I do want this; though you must be patient, love. This isn’t… exactly what I had in my plans, as you know. Still, I want to stay.”

Caroline kisses him, savage in the face of her sudden happiness; she’s dizzy with loss from Matt and Rebekah, and overjoyed at the thought of staying and the baby, and distraught over Hannah’s devastation, and she can’t decide what emotion to feel.

In the end, it’s Klaus who takes hold of her and pulls away, panting into her mouth. His eyes are soft, and he takes a moment to clear his throat.

“Caroline,” he murmurs, “don’t worry. We have time. We have a whole lifetime.”

She kisses him again, but gentle this time, because he’s right. She can sort out what she’s feeling; she can wake Hannah up with pancakes, and she can take however long Hannah needs to get her smiling again. She can take flowers to Matt and Rebekah’s graves, and go to their house, and spend her time mourning.

Klaus can mourn, maybe for the first time in his life, and she can help.

She can tell him about the baby soon; they can look for houses, they can paint and decorate and buy things for a nursery, and things for Hannah’s new room.

She can spend every morning waking up to Niklaus Mikaelson, and every night falling asleep in his arms.

This is theirs. They’ve got time.

That knowledge is probably why when Caroline wakes up, she’s in the Salvatore mansion, and there’s no hint of patchouli and cedar in the air, and her bed is cold where Klaus once was.

She’s alone.

 

Chapter Text

Caroline stumbles her way into the living room and comes face to face with both Salvatore brothers, Bonnie, and Elena. They all look shocked at her appearance, and Caroline finds herself not even happy to see them.

“Hannah!?” The name tears out of her mouth like a battle cry, and Bonnie’s eyes widen.

“Who?” Bonnie rushes to her, “Caroline, what — how? Are you okay?”

Bonnie doesn’t know who Hannah is, and that’s about the worst thing Caroline can even imagine. 

She crumples to the floor when it suddenly dawns on her that she’s a vampire. She had known objectively, of course, when she had woken up with a thirst she recognized, but still.

Vampires can’t have —

She clutches her stomach and cries, deep wet sobs that send Elena careening to her side, and both of them are holding her together without even knowing what she’s crying over.

“Caroline — it’s okay, it’s okay,” Bonnie’s crying, “I didn’t know this is how bad it would be — I didn’t know, I’m sorry—”

It’s after a few minutes that the words finally register in Caroline’s brain, and she shakes off her grief as best as she can, and throws Bonnie and Elena away from her. Everyone is staring at her as though she’s gone insane, and Caroline thinks that perhaps she has.

“What do you mean you didn’t know?!” Caroline screams,  “Did you do this to us!?”

Bonnie bursts into tears, and before she can choke out a word Elena steps in, Stefan and Damon at her shoulders.

“After I… turned it off, they moved Bonnie in here and gave her the house so that she had to give vampires permission to enter. Stefan asked Elijah to compel me to turn my emotions back on, and we had to make a deal with him. Elijah wanted Klaus out of the way but safe, and he didn’t want us to hurt anymore of his family. Bonnie found a spell that would keep him out of the way, but it only worked on two people at one time,” Elena whispers the last part, “and Elijah said it had to be someone we wanted back. So that… so that one day when he wanted Klaus awake, we would do it.”

Caroline feels her anger flare again, but this time it’s at Elijah for doing that to Klaus, for betraying him again, “And you picked me.”

“Yes.” Damon says, “Because you’re the only one of us Klaus probably wouldn’t kill.”

It’s the way he says it — as though it’s a fact, as though it’s the only reason she’s even valuable makes Caroline want to scream. 

Plus, it’s not true. Klaus wouldn’t have killed Elena, he wants her blood when he can get her human again. Caroline was just the better option of people to lose. Second choice, again.

She struggles her way to her feet, smacking away Elena’s arms when they try to help her up. She’s shaky and starving for blood, but she wants to burn the house down with everyone in it more than she wants anything from these people. Her friends.

They betrayed her — they sent her away to live with Klaus in another fucking world and she fell in love and now it’s all so messed up.

“Caroline,” Bonnie chokes, “how bad was it? Where did you go? You’ve been gone for months.”

“It wasn’t bad,” Caroline lashes out, “We were in another reality, one where all of you were fucking normal and didn’t betray your friends!”

Bonnie winces, shuts her eyes, and Elena comes up to wrap an arm around her shoulder. Bonnie looks broken in a way Caroline’s never seen before, and she knows it’s because of Jeremy. She’s about to tell her everything, about to ruin Bonnie’s life with the knowledge of their children in another reality as much as Bonnie has ruined Caroline’s life with the same thing, when she hears crashing.

She turns around, and at the end of the hall, Klaus is standing outside the door, absolutely livid and slamming himself into the siding. Caroline starts towards him, ready to leave everything behind and go back to the only thing that’s familiar at all, but her arms are suddenly being held back by Damon and Stefan.

Caroline screams in outrage, “Let me go!”

“Caroline, please,” Stefan murmurs, and Caroline thinks that maybe it hurts more that Stefan helped betray her, because she’s always known Elena has a mean streak and Bonnie would follow that, but Stefan was good.

“Let go!” She throws all her weight into him, and it’s only Damon’s hold on her other arm that keeps her tethered.

Klaus finally stops throwing himself into the barrier created by Bonnie’s apparent ownership of the house, “Either let her go, or let me in, but do it fast.” His voice is more deadly than Caroline has ever heard it, and he looks inhuman with his glowing yellow eyes, and she’s never been happier to see him.

“We’re not letting you anywhere near Elena!” Bonnie yells, coming to stand beside her best friend, blocking Klaus from Caroline’s view.

She can nearly feel Klaus’ fury from where she’s standing, “I don’t care about Elena, you absolute idiot! Let me in.”

Bonnie turns to look at Damon, and Caroline sees Klaus pick up a handful of rocks.

“Let him in!” Caroline shrieks, pulling uselessly at her arms. She’s so weak, she’s so hungry, she’s so heartbroken.

Klaus is livid, “If you don’t let me in I will tear this house apart piece by piece, until finally it falls down around you, and I can rip your hearts from your chest.”

“Let him in!” Caroline yells again, “Bonnie — just let him in, please!”

Bonnie seems absolutely bewildered, but when Klaus lines up Elena with a rock she finally says, “You can come in!”

Klaus is inside nearly before he finishes the words, and Stefan steps forward to meet him, but Klaus literally throws him through the side wall without breaking a stride.

Damon tosses her behind him, steps towards Klaus with his arms out like he wants to calmly discuss what’s just been going on, but before he can even open his mouth Klaus seizes him by the throat and punches him so hard Caroline hears bone crunch. He drops his body to the floor where Damon grabs at his nose.

“You live because she wills it,” he declares, gesturing at Caroline, “if it were up to me, you would be dead a thousand times over, and I would relish every second of torment you had. You should remember that the next time you think about touching her.”

Caroline scrambles to her feet and steps over Damon, throwing herself into Klaus who catches her without a second thought, as though it’s natural.

He feels the same as he had only the day before, and Caroline feels sobs choke her again, but this time Klaus is there, and he’s squeezing her so tight she’s sure if she was human she wouldn’t be able to breathe. He’s got one hand in her hair, and it’s clasped there, as though he’s not willing to let her go anytime soon.

“Hannah?” Caroline sobs, and Klaus just holds her tighter.

“I know,” he whispers, “I know.”

Caroline makes out the faces of her friends over Klaus’ shoulder — it’s so unusual for him to have his back to his enemies, but Caroline watches them carefully. She knows where her loyalty is now, and if the past hour has anything to teach her, it’s that she’s finally placed it in the right person.

“She’s gone,” Caroline says.

Klaus finally releases her, just enough that he gets his hands on her cheeks, wipes away the tears. His eyes are glossy too, and Caroline hates it. 

“It’s okay,” he says, “they’ve got her. They went back, when we came here. They love her. They’ll take care of her.”

“We were supposed to take care of her,” Caroline yells, and Klaus nods, not even flinching at her volume. Caroline wants to tell him about the baby but she can’t, because her fucking heart is broken and she wants to turn it off but she can’t because she hates the thought. She has to be strong.

“What the actual hell is going on!?” Elena’s voice snaps Caroline out of the bubble she seems to have found herself in, and she steps out of Klaus’ embrace to face her friends. They’re all staring at her as though she’s an alien, someone they can’t even recognize anymore, and Caroline supposes that she isn’t the same.

“You sent us somewhere else,” Caroline hisses, “we were human.”

Bonnie flushes, “It was supposed to be safe. It was supposed to be somewhere you would both be contained and protected.”

“Niklaus!” Elijah appears at the door, but he walks through the barrier with no issue and races towards her.

Klaus throws himself in front of her, his face torn with fury, eyes lit up the yellow of the wolf.

“Stop!” Caroline yells, settling her hand on Klaus’ shoulder, “Elijah, stop.”

Elijah halts only a few feet away from his brother, and Caroline leaves her hand on Klaus’ shoulder, because it seems like the right thing to do. They’re alone, even now when they’re surrounded by people who do know them, and Caroline hates it. 

“Niklaus, you must not kill Bonnie, it’s not her fault,” Elijah says, calmly, “I made the deal with them.”

Klaus is vibrating with rage, “And you dragged Caroline into it. Why?”

Elijah frowns, “I needed insurance they would bring you back when the time was right.”

Caroline, for the first time, notices that Elijah looks as though he’s been tossed into a few walls. His clothes are torn, his normally immaculate suit destroyed, and he’s covered in plaster. Still, he looks better than Damon does, and Caroline thinks that Klaus probably ploughed through him in his haste to get to her, although he must have been relieved to have his brother back.

“How did you two even manage to get home?” Bonnie asks, suddenly.

“You didn’t lift the spell?” Caroline says. 

“No,” Bonnie admits, “we were all surprised when you came down the stairs.”

Klaus is silent for a moment, and Caroline can see the moment he decides to calm down, for now. “We don’t know, we weren’t even trying to come home.”

Bonnie’s jaw drops, “That’s why. It was a spell to keep you safe, but you were supposed to always want to come home. The minute you stop trying to come home, the minute you want to stay, it brings you back.”

It sounds like a curse to Caroline; to send you somewhere where you’re unhappy, and the minute you come to like it the magic drags you away.

“I wanted to stay,” Caroline admits, “but Nik didn’t. He said he would.”

Bonnie eyes Klaus shrewdly, especially after Caroline calls him ‘Nik’, and Caroline suddenly wishes she hadn’t said a word, had just kept her mouth shut and their secrets close to her chest.

“You had to want to stay,” Bonnie murmurs, “it’s the only way the spell would bring you back.”

Klaus flinches, almost imperceptibly to anyone but Caroline, and she goes on the offensive.

“Bonnie, do you even realize how messed up that is!?” Caroline snarls, “You are my best friends and you sent me to another reality. You didn’t even know where it was sending me! I was human, I could have been killed, and did you even bother to think about what would happen to Klaus!? I mean, I know you guys aren’t his biggest fans, but you could have killed thousands of vampires around the world doing this spell!”

“That was the point — the spell was safe, it kept your bodies with us.” Elena explains.

Caroline can feel her hand edge towards her stomach, pain lacerating her heart. Not her body.

“It’s my fault, Caroline,” Elijah says again, “I made the deal because they wanted Niklaus out of the way and I was inclined to agree, temporarily. They had already taken one sibling from me, and I didn’t feel like losing another, but I knew he’d never stop going after the cure for the doppelganger’s blood. I was the only one who could give Bonnie what she needed for the spell, and I demanded insurance, and requested you.”

“Why?” Klaus snarls, “Why her?”

“She’s the only one you wouldn’t kill,” Elijah shrugs, “it was strategic.”

“They didn’t even ask me!” Caroline shouts, outraged.

Elijah scoffs, “Of course they didn’t. You wouldn’t have agreed out of a skewed sense of loyalty to my brother, and you’re the only one he wouldn’t kill. You’re the most obvious choice.”

For the first time, Caroline leaves Klaus’ side and makes her way to Elijah. She gets into his face, mostly because she knows if he makes a single move towards her Klaus will tear everyone in the room apart, and she feels strong with him at her back.

“It’s not skewed, Elijah,” Caroline hisses, “he’s the only person in this entire fucking room that deserves any of my loyalty.”

She steps back, and turns to face Bonnie, whose got a calculating look on her face. Caroline hates her, hates her in a way she didn’t think she’d ever be able to hate someone who was her best friend. She lets the hate flow through her, lets it burn away. She’s still angry, but Caroline wants to remember what she learned as a human. Eventually, she’s going to forgive her friends — not because they’re her friends, but because they unwittingly gave her and Klaus the chance they needed.

“You listen to me, Bonnie Bennett,” Caroline says, “there is only one reason that I would ever consider forgiving you for what you’ve done, and it happens to be the man standing behind me. So next time you try to take Klaus on, you should remember that I’m on his side, and no one else’s, and I will kill you if you try to hurt him.”

Bonnie gapes at her, “Caroline, you’re being stupid, he’s a murderer, we have to—”

Caroline grabs her throat, lifts her just enough that everyone knows she means business, and tries to ignore the blood pulsing under her grip, “We don’t have to do anything. There is no we.”

She drops Bonnie, holds out her hand, and Klaus delicately wraps his fingers around hers. He pauses, right before they leave, turning back to face all of the shocked expressions staring out at them.

“I should probably make it clear that I will take any future attack on Caroline very personally,” he declares, “and I suggest that you don’t try to recreate the spell that initially trapped us.”

They step out onto the porch, and Caroline slams the door behind them, staring up at Klaus with watery eyes. He lets one hand drape over her shoulders, reeling her into his chest again.

Caroline smiles at him, and it’s weak and watery, and she wishes she could recall even an inkling of the happiness she had only a week ago, “Take me home?”

“Of course.”

They have no car, but both of them end up running towards their house from the other reality. They travel quickly as vampires, and Caroline is only slightly behind Klaus when they finally end up on the other side of town.

They’re staring at an empty lot, and Caroline hates it, but she thinks she would hate it more if there were other people living in their home.

“Say the word, love, I’ll build it. It’ll be ours.” Klaus murmurs.

She shrugs, and her heart feels like it’s torn in a thousand different ways, “It’s not our life. It wasn’t meant to be ours. There’s no point in pretending any longer.”

Klaus stiffens, “You don’t want that anymore.”

Caroline takes a moment, sucks in a breath to quell the hurt and anger and desperation in her heart, and she throws her head back to look at the stars. She can feel Klaus’ eyes on the side of her face, burning holes.

“I still want you.” She admits, because she had given up lying to Klaus in the other reality, and she really doesn’t want to start again.

Klaus grabs her arm, spins her toward him, and Caroline remembers a thousand times he’d done that in the other reality on this very sidewalk, in front of their house.

“Then say the word,” he tells her, “I’ll take you anywhere you want. We can leave tomorrow.”

Caroline wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him gently; it’s the same as it was before. They fall into each other as though they were made for each other, and Caroline loves him.

Vampires have amplified emotions — that was one of her first lessons of vampirism. Caroline’s heart is heavy with the knowledge of her loss, and full of rage at her friends. She can also feel her love for Klaus in every fibre of her being, and she knew it would be worse as a vampire. She knew she would feel it — she knew that no matter what body she was in she would always belong to Klaus.

“We’re vampires, Nik,” Caroline whispers, when she finally pulls away, “and we can’t play house anymore. You want the cure to get Elena’s blood, and hybrids, and I don’t want that. I want to travel, and date, and maybe even go to college one day.”

She tries to let go of him, but he holds on tighter, and Caroline always knew he would chase her to the ends of the earth, “Then travel with me. We can go anywhere you want, and you can go to college!”

“Klaus—” Caroline chokes, “I can’t.”

“No!” he grabs her biceps, shaking her lightly, “No, don’t say that! Caroline, just… just be with me. Date me. Choose me.”

“For how long!” She bursts out, her voice surprising in the quiet night, “I can’t just do this! I love you, and I feel it a thousand times stronger as a vampire, and it’s a thousand times stronger than it was yesterday! I’m going to love you forever and one day you’re going to get tired of me and walk away, and I won’t be able to handle it. I’ll turn it off, Nik, and I can’t just wait for that.”

He finally lets go of her, and Caroline turns away from him, trying to walk away before he can. Her eyes are blurred with tears, and she doesn’t want this to end, but she also can’t become the girl who waits. The girl who turns it off, who loses herself. Love is a vampire’s greatest weakness, and she knows it.

“What if I told you I’d never get tired of you.” Klaus says, suddenly.

Caroline turns back to him, though there’s distance between them. She hates it. “You can’t promise that, Nik. I know you don’t want to promise that,” she tries to smile, “but thank you for saying it, anyway.”

His eyes go wild, and he strides towards her but doesn’t touch her, “I can! I can promise that, Caroline. I can promise everything I wanted in the other reality is still true — I want you. I won’t get tired of you. I trust you, I just… please?”

She can feel tears spill over her lashes, and Caroline doesn’t want to cry but her heart is breaking, and for the first time in her vampire life she truly contemplates turning it off. It’s too much, to lose their life, to lose Hannah, to lose the baby, to lose him; she can only bear so much before she breaks. “You’re promising me centuries. It’s not just forty years anymore. We’re immortal.”

Klaus reaches out, and something inside Caroline makes her unfurl her hands and let him take them. He is silent for a moment, and she can see him swallow down all his emotions, leaving nothing but an earnest calm.

“It’s still just the rest of my life,” Klaus whispers. “please, please… Caroline Forbes, I just…”

His eyes narrow, and he smiles, the way Caroline’s used to; he’s a predator, he always has been, and he smiles at her in that way that means he’s got her cornered.

“What?” she asks, almost afraid, because she knows she can’t resist anything he says.

“Just marry me.”

Caroline gapes at him, before repeating shrilly: “What!?” 

Klaus is earnest, “Marry me. For real this time. I know that everything in that reality wasn’t us — it wasn’t me. I know that I’m going to fuck this up a thousand times before I get it right. I’ll kill people and run away from you, and I can’t promise that I can change that because it’s who I am. It’s who I’ve been for a thousand years, and I can’t change how I am… but I also — I can’t just forget about it. I can’t forget about how it felt to have you by my side, whether or not our life there was real. It was real. You can’t tell me it wasn’t.”

Caroline’s voice catches, “It was real for me.”

“Then marry me,” Klaus says again, calm and quiet, “I’m not saying for the next forty years, Caroline. I’m saying forever.”

Caroline backs away, fear holding her heart captive, “You said yourself — you won’t be happy with only being with one person forever. You won’t be happy with me… not for the rest of our lives.”

Klaus steps forward, slowly though, as though he recognizes that she’s spooked. Caroline knows he’s the best hunter there’s ever been, and he can tell she wants to give in.

“The thought of being with anyone else makes me ill.” he promises, “I’m not Elijah, Caroline, and I know my word doesn’t mean as much as his, but I swear, I swear on my family, on my life, on my honour, on Hannah, I will never tire of you. You will be a queen by my side. I will love you endlessly, forever, until the day the earth disappears, or I die, because I cannot imagine a world without you in it.”

Caroline’s world drops away from her, “You love me?”

Klaus sighs, “What do you think I’ve been telling you, love?”

Caroline lets her eyes close, lets their life together run through her brain — all their losses, all their gains, all the days painting in his studio and making love at night. Maybe that life can’t be hers, but she can still have him. She can still have this. 

Maybe this is better.

“You only needed to say it,” she tells him, eyes still closed, “Ask me again, Nik.”

Klaus laughs, unexpected and bright, “Which part? Run away with me? Travel with me? Live with me? Stay with me? Marry me?”

“All of it,” Caroline whispers, “all of it: yes.”

This time, when Klaus kisses her, she doesn’t want to turn it off — she never wants to turn it off, she wants to feel this way forever, as though they’re invincible and perfect. She’s so in love with him her heart physically hurts in her chest, and she can almost imagine that the rest of their life will be this perfect.

Klaus pulls away too soon, and he rests a hand on the side of her face; it’s huge and warm on her skin, and he’s smiling bigger than she’s ever seen before.

“I’m starving, love. You probably are too.” 

Caroline nods, “And my mom, Nik. They didn’t even tell me about my mom! Did she know where I was? Did she know I was okay?!”

Klaus leans forward and rests his forehead on hers, and Caroline stares into his blue eyes. “We go to my house first. It’s closer, and we can get blood. Then I’ll take you home to your mother.”

Caroline nods, and this time they don’t run to the Mikaelson mansion, they walk; Caroline never lets go of Klaus’ hand. By the time they get to the front steps, Elijah’s car is in the driveway, and Klaus only hesitates a second.

“Mikael isn’t in there.” Caroline tells him, gently. 

Klaus frowns at her, “I know.”

She shrugs, “He was an asshole, and he’s dead. I figured you might need reminding. This reality seems wrong, now.”

Klaus stares at her appraisingly, and tugs her forward again, heading into the house without any of the fear she had thought she’d seen. They don’t run into Elijah until they’re in the kitchen and Klaus has her sitting on a counter and drinking her second bag of AB positive.

“Niklaus,” Elijah’s voice is quiet from the other side of the kitchen where he’s entered.

Klaus nods at him, barely civil, “Brother.”

Elijah sighs, “I apologize, but I thought I was doing what was best—”

“I don’t want you to apologize. You inadvertently did me a favour. But, Elijah, I will only warn you once: if you think to harm myself or Caroline again, or separate us, I will kill you. Don’t think I won’t. I did in the other reality — the one you sent us to.”

Elijah’s eyes widen minutely, and Caroline refrains from mentioning that technically other Klaus had killed Elijah, since she assumes that Klaus is trying to come across as threatening. 

“I didn’t realize we would be there.” Elijah says, finally, “I am intrigued by this other reality.”

“You should be.” Klaus tells him, “Henrik and Kol were there. We were all human, and Rebekah had a daughter.”

Elijah smiles, “She would love that.”

“I don’t want to tell her,” Klaus declares, “knowledge of what could have been will only hurt her.”

Caroline feels her eyes fill with tears, and she throws the last of her blood bags away. She feels sick, but this time it’s not the nausea she had just become accustomed to. This time she’s just sick with loss and pain, and even though she’s happier than she’s been in forever with Klaus by her side, she’s mourning the life she lost.

The baby she could have had.

“I’m driving Caroline home, now.” Klaus tells Elijah, “Don’t follow me.”

He holds a hand out for Caroline to take, and they brush past Elijah on their way out to Klaus’ shiny silver car. Caroline gets in the passenger seat, and when Klaus gets in he turns down the air conditioning and sets his hand on her thigh.

“It’s going to get better.” He tells her, and leans over to kiss her shoulder.

She smiles at him, and even though it’s a little watery he accepts it and reverses out of the driveway, heading towards her house.

They park just down from her mother’s car, and Caroline feels frozen with fear. She’s relieved her mom is inside, relieved her mom is okay; but she’s so nervous. She’s so scared to see her again; afraid her mother will be able to see all the secrets she kept and all the reasons she’s hurting.

She’s also afraid of what her mother will say when she tells her about Klaus.

“Will you stay with me?” Caroline whispers, not looking at Klaus.

“Forever,” Klaus promises, quiet in the interior of the car, “but this time I’ll wait in your room. You should talk to your mom alone. She doesn’t like me.”

Caroline turns to him, and smiles a little, “She will. It might take a while, but you’ll grow on her. I promise.”

Klaus smirks at her, and then gets out of his car faster than Caroline can blink, and opens her door for her, helping her out. Caroline thanks him, and Klaus walks her to her front door.

“Go in, Caroline. I promise she will be happy to see you.” Klaus says, and then he disappears. Caroline doesn’t even bother trying to look for him, she knows he’ll be waiting in her bedroom like he promised.

She opens the door, and heads for the living room, because she wants to have this type of talk on neutral ground. She doesn’t expect Liz to be sitting in her armchair, sound asleep.

“Mom?” Caroline says, louder than she means to.

Liz snaps to attention, blinking her eyes quickly to rid them of sleep. Caroline feels bad, because she’s always known her mother was a light sleeper and she didn’t actually mean to wake her up.

Still, when her mom finally locks eyes on her she whispers hoarsely, “Caroline?”

Caroline steps forward, and Liz nearly leaps out of her chair in her haste to get to her daughter. They crash together in front of the coffee table, and Caroline thinks that she missed her mother more than she could ever say.

Liz is crying, petting her hair, and Caroline squeezes her as a tightly as she can without hurting her very human mother.

“Caroline, Caroline,” Liz chants, “I thought I would never see you again.”

Caroline pulls out of the hug, just enough to stare at her mom’s face, “Where did you think I was, mom?”

“With Klaus?” her voice catches, “Elena explained how you went with him to save everyone. I’m so proud of you — but you should have said goodbye. I tried to find you… I knew he liked Europe, and I tried everything I could think of, but I just didn’t know where he would have taken you to. I saw the way he looked at you; I thought you would never come home.”

It’s a neat little lie; Caroline almost admires Elena for it’s ingenuity. Of course Liz would believe that Caroline would sacrifice herself for her friends and family, and Liz knew Klaus enough that she would believe he would take her away.

Caroline pulls totally out of her mom’s arms and sits her down on the couch, settling in next to her. She has to tell her mom — she needs her advice, needs her to understand.

“Klaus didn’t take me away, mom.” Caroline starts, “Bonnie cast a spell on both of us to make us go somewhere else, but they kept our bodies with them.”

Liz blinks at her, speechless. “What?” 

Caroline takes a deep breath, and starts to explain, “I didn’t know they were going to cast the spell, neither did Klaus. We just woke up somewhere else, and had to figure out how to get home. My body has been in the Salvatore mansion this whole time, but I was in another reality.”

“Another reality.” Liz repeats, nonplussed.

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Caroline murmurs, “but it’s true. You were there — everyone was there! Klaus and I had jobs, and we were human, but we had to fit in… so we were… pretending, I guess.”

“Pretending what?” Liz asks, and this time she looks gentle. Caroline thinks that she knows already — maybe she’s always known. Caroline got her terrible taste in men from somewhere.

“We were married.” Caroline admits, softly, “We were older.”

Liz shuts her eyes for a moment that feels like eternity, “You and Klaus were married, and you played along so as not to draw attention to yourself.”

“Exactly!” Caroline exclaims, grateful her mother understood so quickly.

This time, when Liz opens her eyes, they’re filled with tears and heartbreak and understanding, “Oh, Caroline, that’s a good way to accidentally fall in love with someone.”

They stare at each other for a second, and then Caroline feels herself burst into tears. Liz envelopes her in a hug, and Caroline lets herself sob into her mother’s arms the way she had done when she was a child. It feels just as good now, just as comforting, as it always had then.

“I know, mom,” Caroline cries, “I know it is.”

Liz shushes her gently, and pets her hair, and by the time Caroline feels like she has no more tears left to cry in this reality, she feels a little better.

Liz pulls away, and runs her hand down Caroline’s hair. “Does he love you?”

Caroline smiles a little, “Yeah.”

“Then I suppose nothing I say could change your mind.” Liz sighs, “You’re too stubborn.”

“And I love him.” Caroline adds, and Liz smiles at her.

“I know you do,” she replies, gently. Her eyes harden after a second, and she hisses:  “I’m going to arrest Elena on kidnapping charges.”

Caroline laughs, a little broken, “It’s okay. I mean, it’s not okay, but I think maybe it was for the best.”

“You missed your graduation,” Liz admonishes, “I don’t think it was for the best.”

It’s so absurd, because Caroline can remember graduating, but she knows it’s a memory from the other reality. She even remembers going dress shopping with her mom and Elena. 

“You’re going to have to trust me on this, mom.” Caroline declares.

Liz stands up, pulling Caroline with her, “Look, I’ve been the mother that doesn’t even know her own daughter, and I don’t want to go back there. For the last few months, I’ve been the mother who doesn’t even have her own daughter, and can’t find her, and I hated that even more. I need you to tell me what’s going on, and I’m going to try to be supportive because I trust you. I don’t care about your friends, or Klaus, or anything else, Caroline; I only care about you. I don’t like him, but if he’s what you want, then I’ll be beside you for that, too.”

It might be the most Liz has ever said to her, and Caroline can’t help but choke back tears and smile.

“I love you, so, so much,” Caroline tells her, “and I missed you so much. I’ll tell you everything about the other reality, I’ll prove to you that Klaus is good.”

Liz shakes her head, fond, “I don’t know that you can convince me that Klaus is good, but I suppose you can try to convince me that he’s good for you.”

“I will,” Caroline promises, “He is.”

Liz pets her hair one more time, and she looks older than Caroline remembers, “I know he’s hiding in your bedroom.”

“What!?” Caroline exclaims, red staining her cheeks.

Liz laughs, “Caroline, you are my daughter, and it took me a long time to realize that we are very similar. I used to sneak your father into my room all the time.”

Caroline flushes, “I’m sorry.”

Her smile drops, but there’s pride on her face, “Don’t be sorry. Go on, upstairs. No funny business.”

Caroline giggles, but crosses her heart with her pointer finger, “Promise, mom.”

She heads upstairs, happy that her mom is trying, and happy that Klaus is waiting for her. Caroline never really thought she could have this, and she supposes that something else will come up, because this is Mystic Falls, and something always comes up.

Still, when she enters her room, Klaus is sitting on her bed and smiling at her. Caroline doesn’t hesitate to slide in beside him, curling into his arms.

“My mom knows.” Caroline murmurs.

Klaus nods, “I heard. I’m surprised she took it so well.”

“She was worried about me,” Caroline says, “sometimes when you tell someone good news before bad news they focus on the good. Now that I’m home, she’s happy.”

“So we’re bad news?” Klaus teases, his breath ticklish against her shoulder.

Caroline laughs, “The worst.”

They fall silent, and Klaus rearranges them so they’re under the covers on her bed. She’s staring at his face, and it’s more relaxed than she’s ever seen it. Being a vampire — a hybrid — is good for him in the same way it’s good for her. She feels confident in her skin, powerful and strong.

Still, she feels empty, and even though she had never felt the baby move Caroline thinks she can almost imagine it. She wants to tell Klaus, but she knows he’ll either be angry or sad, and Caroline can’t handle either right now.

“You’re still upset.” Klaus says, his raptor gaze glued to her.

Caroline shrugs, “My friends betrayed me. Your brother betrayed you. I miss Hannah.”

“The other Caroline and Klaus will take care of her,” Klaus tells her again, “I know it. In the memories… the ones we were dreaming? They loved her.”

“I loved her.” Caroline retorts hotly.

Klaus nods, “I know. It’s not fair.”

“We’re the only two people in the whole world who even know her,” Caroline whispers, “and I hate that I’ll never be able to tell Rebekah or Matt about her, because it would only hurt them.”

Klaus reaches out and sets a fingertip lightly over her heart, “Do you think Rebekah would prefer to know? I think I would rather know — I mean, at least she got the life she wanted in another reality, and even if it’s not fair… I don’t know. Maybe it would comfort her.”

Caroline can’t even cry anymore, even though she wants to. She wants to scream and rage at his words, but something that was tight in her chest loosens, and she finally thinks she’s ready to share everything.

“I was pregnant.” 

The words fall heavy in the room, and Klaus’ eyes turn shrewd and narrow on her.

“In the other reality?”

Caroline nods, “Yeah. The other body — it’s just… I keep thinking that’s the most unfair part.”

Klaus exhales heavily, “When were you going to tell me?”

Caroline shrugs, “I had planned on telling you when we woke up. It was so much, with Hannah—” her voice cracks, “but I was going to tell you. We needed a bigger house.”

Klaus shuts his eyes, and puts in the effort to calm himself down. “Caroline, I don’t know how much comfort this will be, but… it was the body that was pregnant. Think how happy they will be — you said yourself they had been trying forever.”

“But I was happy! It’s not fair!” Caroline cries, and shuts her eyes harshly against the sheen of tears.

Klaus moves forward, presses her close to his chest. His heart doesn’t beat the same — it’s not vulnerable and mortal anymore, it’s running on borrowed blood.

“They’ll love the baby.” Klaus whispers.

Caroline murmurs, “But I loved her. You would have loved her.”

Klaus flinches, “Her?”

“Felt like a girl.” Caroline tells him, even though it’s stupid to imagine she could tell so early on. “We were going to be so happy.”

Klaus kisses her hair, “We still are, Caroline.”

Caroline buries her face in his shirt, and doesn’t respond, even though she knows that they probably will be happy. It will take time, but she’ll get over this, and she’ll dream about other Caroline and Klaus, and Hannah and their baby, and she’ll be happy.

“I wanted that life.” She admits, “It was perfect.”

Klaus squeezes her, just a little, “I know. But, this life is good, too. Think about how much we will see, how much we will know, love. We will have forever to explore every city in the world, and we can watch it change together. I will take you to Italy, and Tokyo, and even Pescadero, and maybe one day we’ll raise a child who has blue eyes like you. We have forever, Caroline.”

Caroline feels herself fall asleep as Klaus details out their life together, and she thinks that he’s right. Maybe this isn’t the life she always wanted, but this one is hers, and no one can take it from her.

 

---

 

She wakes up alone again, but this time the bed is still warm from where Klaus was lying, and Caroline can see the sun outside her drapes. Her daylight ring sits heavy on her finger, and when she rolls over there’s a note and a box on the pillow beside hers.

Caroline opens the box first, because she’s never had much self control when it comes to presents, and she finds herself staring at the necklace Klaus had given her in the other reality before his art show. It’s just as beautiful as she remembers it, and Caroline can’t help but fall in love with the delicate chain and diamond pendant all over again.

The note reads: “Enjoy the gift, it was always meant to be yours. Please grace me with your company at noon for lunch at the Grill. Yours, Nik.”

Caroline reads it over three times before she’s memorized it, and by then she feels lighter; less heavily weighed down with grief. She supposes her grief will lessen with time, and she’ll have a thousand more mornings where she wakes up to notes and presents and lunch dates.

By the time Caroline showers and puts on a sundress, her mom has left for work. Caroline waves from her window, and Liz blows her a kiss before she gets in her car. Caroline blow dries her hair and leaves it straight, and then clasps her necklace around her neck. It fits just as perfectly as it had in the other reality, and Caroline’s glad that she gets to keep this.

The Grill is fairly busy when Caroline gets there, and Klaus is nowhere to be seen, but Caroline still gets a table and orders a drink. She’s barely a sip into it when Elena appears at her table and slides in across from her. She looks a little gaunt, and Caroline tries to make herself indifferent to the fact that her best friend is suffering.

“Care—”

“I honestly have nothing to say to you.” Caroline tells her. It’s harsh, and Caroline’s not used to being the one who doesn’t apologize first, but she can’t forgive Elena, not yet. Maybe not ever; every time she even thinks she could get over it she sees Hannah’s face in her memory.

Elena swallows heavily at her words, and then finally says, “I can never apologize to you enough for what we did, and I hope you know that I am so, so sorry. But you don’t know what you’re doing — Klaus is a murderer… he’s insane, Care, and he wants me dead.”

Caroline gears up to attack, because she’s so tired of Elena judging her when she’s with Damon, who is just as much of a murderer. Plus, Stefan is a good guy now, but he used to be a ripper. Elena has the worst taste in men.

“Elena, just the person I was hoping to see.” Klaus’ voice is smooth, but it’s hiding an undercurrent of fury. Elena jumps at his appearance, and for a second it looks like she’s going to bolt, but eventually she settles back into her booth chair.

Klaus slides in beside Caroline, nodding briefly at her necklace, “Caroline, you are stunning, as always.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, secretly pleased, and Klaus turns back to Elena.

“Elena, I’m going to offer you a deal.” he starts, “I suggest you take it, since it’s the best deal you’re ever going to receive.”

Elena scowls, “I don’t make deals with the devil.”

Klaus laughs meanly, “You’ll want to.” He reaches into his inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out two bags of blood. One has a blue cap, the other is green.

“What’s that?” Elena’s voice shakes minutely, saturated with nerves and fear. Caroline wonders the last time she was afraid of Klaus was. She wonders if she’s ever been truly afraid of him.

“The blue one is the last bag of your blood I have for any future hybrids,” Klaus declares, his eyes narrowed, “and the one with the green cap is a bag of my blood.”

Caroline frowns and checks him over for any injuries, but he appears just as healthy as always. It’s possible he had stashed some of his own blood, or else he had a lot of blood to recover this morning.

“So?” Elena snaps.

Klaus sighs, “I will give you both — the bag of your blood in good faith that I won’t go after the cure or you — and the bag of my blood because it can heal you from werewolf bites, and hybrid bites, including my own.”

“What do you want?” Elena asks, her eyes trained on her bag of blood.

Klaus shrugs, “Nothing. I’m done hunting you. I don’t want more hybrids — at least not for the moment. I’m quite content to let you go and live your oblivious doppelgänger life without my interference. The only stipulation is that you don’t go after Caroline or myself.”

“I would never hurt Caroline.” Elena hisses.

Caroline scoffs, “Too little, too late, Elena. You did hurt me.”

“You’re fine!” Elena says, her voice louder than strictly necessary.

Caroline feels rage light up inside her, and her cheeks flush instantly. She leans over the table and grabs Elena’s wrist tightly, squeezing so hard she can tell it’s hurting.

“You have no idea what we lost when we came home — you don’t even know me anymore, Elena Gilbert, so let me help you out. Take this goddamn deal, because it’s the best you’re going to get from either of us.”

Klaus leaves the bags on the table and stands, offering Caroline his hand. He glares down at Elena icily, whose rubbing her wrist and staring at the bagged blood in front of her.

“I suggest you keep that chilled.” Klaus tells her, “And that your silence indicates your agreement on our deal. Call the Salvatores off, or I’ll stop playing nice.”

They walk out of the Grill and leave Elena alone at the table. Caroline catches a glimpse of Matt’s eyes as she’s leaving, but it’s too late to go back now, and besides — she’s not quite ready to face Matt. He’s different here, but he’s also the same, and Caroline remembers how she felt when he died.

Klaus turns to her when they get onto the sidewalk of the street, “Caroline, I’m glad to see you wearing the necklace.”

“I love it,” Caroline tells him, “thank you.”

Klaus waves off her thanks, “Don’t worry, love. I’m sorry lunch was ruined. Shall we find somewhere else?”

“I’m okay for now, we can make something at my house later.” Caroline says, “Walk with me?” 

Klaus takes her elbow and they cross the street towards the part in the centre of Mystic Falls. Caroline’s been there with Klaus before, but not as allies, and certainly not as lovers. They walk silently, for the most part, and Klaus lets Caroline lead. The sun is hot on their skin, and Caroline dreams of beaches and oceans thousands of miles away from here. 

“I think I’d like to go to Bora Bora.” Caroline declares after they’ve walked for a while.

Klaus chuckles, “Would you? I suppose it makes sense that you’re a beach person.”

Caroline shrugs, “Don’t get me wrong, I’d like Paris and Venice and Tokyo too,” she throws a playful glance at him, “but Bora Bora seems quiet and peaceful.”

“Different from Mystic Falls, then.” Klaus murmurs.

Caroline nods, “Yeah.” 

Klaus pulls her gently towards a smaller path on the left, sloping downwards into some trees, “For our honeymoon, perhaps?”

Caroline stops and stares at him, “Our what?!”

“I do believe you agreed to marry me last night, Caroline Forbes.” Klaus smirks at her.

Caroline crosses her arms, blushing madly, “I didn’t think you were actually serious, I mean— Come on, that’s crazy… I can’t — we can’t get married, I’m only eighteen, and — and — where’s my ring even? That’s not a real proposal!”

Klaus’ smirk only grows wider. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a small box, and Caroline’s heart starts pounding faster than it ever had even as a mortal. She reaches out; she’s not sure if she’s trying to stop Klaus or hold him or catch herself should she faint, but either way her hand stops before she even reaches him to hover in the air.

Klaus goes on one knee, and Caroline’s so grateful suddenly that Klaus chose this path, because it’s quiet and private, and the trees are green in the sunlight all around them.

“You once told me that you believed it possible to love someone forever,” Klaus starts, “and I told you that I never wanted to tie myself to the same person for eternity. Do you remember that?”

Caroline nods, but can’t quite manage to say anything past the lump in her throat.

“You said it had to be the right person, love.” Klaus smiles, “I’ve waited a thousand years for you, Caroline. I would be honoured to tie myself to you for the rest of my life — even longer if you’ll have me.”

Tremulously, Caroline whispers, “I only waited eighteen years for you… I hardly think that’s fair.”

“I would wait longer,” Klaus murmurs, “please say yes, Caroline.”

“You haven’t even asked me anything yet.” Caroline protests.

Klaus huffs a breath, “That’s because I’m terrified.”

Caroline can’t believe he even admitted to his fear, and happiness bubbles up within her at the thought that he’s just as scared as her, just as in love as she is. She smiles at him, swallowing down tears because she’s cried too much in the past few days, and Caroline refuses to cry now when she’s so happy.

“Yes,” Caroline says, mostly to spare him, “I will marry you, Nik.”

Klaus stands and pulls her towards him, sliding the ring onto her finger without hesitation. Caroline grins at it; it’s an intricately detailed white gold band with a single solitaire diamond on it, and Caroline loves it. She barely has time to memorize the feel of it before Klaus has her face in his hands and he’s kissing her, gentle at first, and then deeper, as though he’s addicted to her, can’t get enough of her.

Caroline pulls away gently, “There is one condition.”

Klaus frowns at her, but Caroline notes that the suspicion is gone from his expression. He trusts her. “What?”

“You have to ask my mother for her blessing.” 

Klaus’ frown turns into a truly devastating smile, the one that Klaus wears when he just knows he’s beaten you. “I already did.”

“You didn’t!” Caroline’s torn between horror and laughter.

Klaus shrugs, “She gave it to us… but she also had a few conditions, love. It seems to run in the family.”

Caroline’s brain goes wild imagining a million different scenarios — she can’t even fathom what her mother would have wanted from Klaus.

“What were they?!” Caroline demands, ignoring his teasing.

Klaus smirks, “First of all, you’ll notice your bank account has suddenly grown since this morning; not my idea, love, I know you don’t want my money. It was your mother’s idea. She never wants you to feel trapped, and you have enough money to do pretty much whatever you like.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, “Thank you, I suppose. That was all she wanted?”

Klaus laughs, “Oh no, she also wanted me to ruin your friends’ lives.”

“What?!” Caroline hisses.

“She’s quite angry about our disappearance, and the fact that your friends betrayed you and lied to her.” Klaus muses, “She told me that I should trap Elena away for a few months and I quote: ’see how she likes it’.”

“You can’t!!” Caroline gasps.

Klaus rolls his eyes, “You should be proud of me. I ignored your mother’s advice in favour of totalling Elena’s car and sending Bonnie on a witchy little scavenger hunt to find her missing Grimoire. Child’s play; I find simple pranks tedious. I would kill them if you asked it.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, “You’re not going to kill them!” she pauses, and then grins, “You totalled Elena’s car!?” 

Klaus shrugs, “One of the Salvatores will pay to fix it. No one was harmed, everyone is fine, and your mother is happy. Come on, admit it, I’ve done well.”

Caroline can’t help it: she laughs. “I’m proud of you.”

Klaus kisses her as she’s laughing, and Caroline remembers when she thought that the only way loving Niklaus Mikaelson would be worth it was if there was even the smallest chance that he would love her back. She remembers truly believing that he didn’t, that he wouldn’t, that he couldn’t love her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and presses her forehead against his, grinning at the way his smile is large enough that his eyes crinkle at the corners. Caroline wonders how many people his blue eyes have watched die, and how much blood is on the hands that are pressed against her lower back, tucking her safely into his body.

She decides she doesn’t care; and if that makes her evil, then so be it.

  

---

 

It’s Stefan who convinces her it’s okay to leave Mystic Falls, in the end. They’ve been hovering for a week, and Klaus is impatient with everyone except for her. They spend most of their days in Caroline’s house, and even though she’s technically graduated now, Caroline finds herself being held back by something.

Elijah has already left town, something about ‘stopping Rebekah before she does something stupid’, but Caroline’s sure that he’s finally convinced that her and Klaus won’t stay around to ruin Elena’s life. There’s nothing left for him here.

As for Rebekah doing something stupid; it turns out she convinced Matt to travel with her all summer. Caroline’s not even sure how it happened, and she just knows that Elena and Bonnie are probably absolutely appalled by his choice, but Caroline’s happy. She’s pretty sure that Matt and Rebekah won’t work in this reality, even though they were perfect in the other reality; Matt’s always been a stickler for normalcy, and Rebekah can’t give him that.

So, despite the fact that Klaus is the only Original left in Mystic Falls, and Caroline’s not speaking to anyone except her mother and Klaus, she just can’t leave.

She’s packed a thousand times; there’s two suitcases already sitting by her stairs, and every time Caroline walks by them she wants to pick them up and drive away. Still, she never does.

It’s driving Klaus nuts and she knows it.

Still, nothing changes until Stefan shows up at her doorstep. Caroline’s glad to see him, though she tries not to show it when she opens the door. Liz is at work, but Klaus is upstairs, and he’d be by her side in a second if she called.

“Stefan.” 

He nods at her, somber, “Caroline. Hey. Could I… come in?”

“Nik’s upstairs.” Caroline opens the door wider despite her warning, and Stefan steps through her doorway.

“I wanted to talk to both of you,” Stefan explains, heading into her living room automatically, “about what happened.”

Caroline waits till he sits on the armchair across from where she’s settled on the couch before saying, “Oh, you mean how everyone trapped Nik and myself in another reality for months without any idea what was going to happen to us, or without even asking my permission?”

Stefan winces, “You forgot the part where we told everyone who asked us where you were that you had run away with Klaus.”

“Oh, yeah.” Caroline rolls her eyes, “Thanks for that by the way.”

She can sense the moment Klaus appears behind her in the doorway; it’s in the way Stefan sits a little straighter while she relaxes a little more.

“Stefan, mate,” Klaus greets, “what’s the occasion?”

Stefan heaves a breath, “To be honest, everyone is concerned, and I volunteered to come over.”

“Little late for them to be concerned about us now.” Klaus says, sitting down beside her. Their arms brush, and Caroline presses a little more firmly into the warmth of his skin for comfort.

“We’re not concerned about you,” Stefan says bluntly, “we’re concerned about Caroline.”

Klaus stiffens minutely, and Caroline is furious. “Now you’re concerned about me? You sent me away so I could help you keep Elena safe, and the worst part is you didn’t even ask! I love Elena too, maybe I would have agreed on the plan? You didn’t even give me a chance.”

“You wouldn’t have agreed.” Stefan tells her, sadly, “We knew that you liked Klaus, despite the fact that he ruined everyone’s lives. We knew you wouldn’t help Elijah betray him. You wouldn’t be able to keep the plan a secret.”

It’s true — even though Caroline had barely tolerated Klaus before they were spelled, she had already felt guilty about Kol. There was no way she wouldn’t have caved and told him.

“I still wouldn’t have let him hurt Elena. Which, by the way, you’re overlooking the fact that despite everything you did to us the last few months, we came home and Klaus hasn’t retaliated at all.”

Stefan rolls his eyes, “I wouldn’t call destroying her car not retaliating.”

“He could have done worse.” Caroline hisses, “Hell, Stefan, I wanted to rip the hair from her fucking head and you’re worried about the car!?”

“No!” Stefan raises his voice just a little, “That’s the thing! You could have done worse, Klaus!” 

Klaus hasn’t moved an inch, “What do you mean?” His voice is mocking.

“Even when you first came — you destroyed things, you made me turn it off, and Jenna… you were terrible,” Stefan pauses, “and then even after, you weren’t… good. You were never good. But you were better. You could have levelled this town, and you didn’t.”

“Your point, mate.” Klaus’ voice has gone cold, and Caroline hasn’t heard it this way in a long time.

Stefan sighs, “You’re torturing us, Klaus. None of us can sleep, we keep expecting you to come back and get your revenge for casting that spell. Then you offer Elena this deal… but you destroy her car. You send Bonnie on a pointless hunt — and yet, she’s fine. Just — if you’re looking for vengeance, don’t hurt Caroline, okay? She didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Caroline can almost feel her jaw drop at his last sentence, and she just knows that Klaus is going to absolutely lose it at the idea that people can even think he’d harm her. Stefan will be lucky to walk away unharmed; at the very least, Klaus will probably throw him through a wall.

“Stefan,” Klaus scowls, and Caroline watches his eyes light up with yellow and Stefan flinch, “you are an absolute moron. I’m going to say this only once. I destroyed Elena’s car and sent Bonnie on her adventure because Caroline’s mother wished it. She’s furious that you kidnapped her daughter and held her against her will for months. I didn’t harm them because Caroline didn’t want me to. I have no interest in ‘torturing’ you.”

Stefan’s expression is hard, “And as for the deal you offered Elena?”

“I meant it.” Klaus snarls, “I honestly never want to see your precious doppelgänger again, and I have no interest in ruining her life any longer.”

The living room falls silent, but all three of them are on the edge of their seat, tension flowing through them. Stefan looks determined, and Caroline knows now that he’s been sent by Elena or Damon, and he’s trying to find the ulterior motive for Klaus’ actions. He’s probably honestly concerned about her too, although Caroline can’t quite understand the hypocrisy of them trusting Klaus not to hurt her in the other reality and yet not trusting him here.

It’s Stefan who finally breaks their silence, “But why? I don’t understand — you came here with a plan, you destroyed anyone who stood in your way, and now suddenly you just don’t care anymore? What’s the reasoning here, Klaus? What’s your angle!?”

Klaus stands suddenly, fury evident in every line of his face, “It’s because of Caroline you moron! What about this don’t you understand?!”

Stefan stands too, and Caroline’s suddenly concerned about the living room around them, and the quickly closing space between them. “I don’t understand how you just changed your mind so quickly about Elena! I don’t understand how Caroline forgave you, and I don’t understand what you’re trying to get from her!?”

“I’m not trying to get anything,” Klaus snarls, bordering on yelling, “I want her.”

Caroline stands, because she just knows this is going to end in blows. She sets her hand on Klaus’ arm gently, and Stefan watches her movements like a hawk.

“Elena forgave you, Stefan.” she keeps her voice gentle, “This isn’t that different. I haven’t forgotten the things Nik’s done, but I’m looking past it. We’ve got a good thing, and right now you’re trying to destroy it. You think that this happened overnight, but you forget that we spent months away from all of you in another reality where all we had was each other. Who did you expect me to trust?”

“Not Klaus.” Stefan says bluntly.

Caroline shrugs, “You trusted him once, even if you don’t remember it. I can’t help what I feel, Stefan, and I won’t walk away from him.”

“He’ll destroy you, Caroline.” Stefan whispers, and this time he’s not angry. This time he’s the friend Caroline remembers him to be, and she’s so sorry that she’s hurt him, and that Elena’s still hurting him. 

She straightens her spin and looks him straight in the eye when she says: “Elena destroyed you, and you still love her. If you could go back you would do the exact same thing, make the same mistakes, and you know it.”

Stefan steps forward, “I don’t want that for you, Caroline.”

Caroline lets the hand on Klaus’ arm drop down and twine with his fingers, “But I want this, Stefan. This is good, this is mine. I’m happy.”

Stefan watches their fingers before he raises his eyebrows, “Obviously, judging by the ring on your finger.”

Caroline flushes bright red and stares down at where her ring sits on her wedding finger — she’s taken to wearing it in the house because Liz and Klaus both know, and she loves it. But she wasn’t going to make it public knowledge for a while. She’s convinced Klaus that they need to wait to get married — she’s immortal, but she’s still only eighteen. It’s ridiculous to rush it when they have forever.

“I repeat: I’m not trying to get anything,” Klaus says, his voice calm now, “I just want Caroline.”

Stefan moves towards Caroline then, and even though Klaus watches him carefully, he doesn’t make any move towards him. Stefan stops just in front of her and she untangles her hand from Klaus so she can grab the hand he extends to her.

“If you’re happy, I’m happy.” Stefan tells her, gently. He looks sad, but Caroline smiles at his words anyway, “I hope that this is everything you were looking for and more.”

She hugs him, because it feels right and she can’t be that angry at Stefan for long. They’ve always been close, and this is the first olive branch her friends have extended for her.

“Thank-you,” she tells him. He picks up her hand with her ring on it again and stares over her shoulder.

“I’ll kill you if you hurt her.” He declares.

Klaus laughs, “I’ll do my best not to.”

Stefan lets her hand go and smiles at her, “Caroline, if you are holding back from leaving town to travel because you’re somehow worried about me or Elena or Bonnie… stop. Just go, have fun. They’re fine. If I need you I will call you; plus, you guys need time outside of Mystic Falls. This town is toxic.”

Caroline can almost feel the moment she realizes that there’s nothing holding her back anymore. “You’ll call? If you need me?”

“Of course,” Stefan nods, “and I’ll make sure your mom is okay.”

She hugs him again, because this was what she was waiting for.

“Thank you,” she whispers again, “and… when Elena and Bonnie are ready to stop hating Nik, you can tell them everything.”

Stefan lets her go, and she follows him towards her door with Klaus hovering silently in the corner.

“Caroline,” Stefan pauses before he leaves, “about this other reality?”

Her stomach drops, and Caroline forces herself to nod, because she just knows where this is going. “Yeah?”

“Was Elena…?” he doesn’t even finish his question, and it makes it a little easier for Caroline to break his heart all over again. She’s never hated her best friend as much as she does right now, and she wonders if she’ll ever be able to get over it.

“She was with Damon,” Caroline says gently, “they were married. Really happy. But Stefan, I think you were happy too.”

Caroline regrets the fact that she never really got to know Stefan in the other life — she wishes she could tell him about his job, or if he loved anyone, or anything. She wants to give him this, and she has nothing to give.

Stefan nods once, decisively, and then murmurs, “Thanks, Caroline.” 

Caroline thinks that maybe one day he’ll be able to look at Elena without it eating away at him that she doesn’t love him anymore. She hopes that maybe Stefan will find someone else, someone that doesn’t remind him of his past, and everything that was wrong with Elena will be right.

Either way, when Stefan leaves her front porch and heads down her street, Caroline thinks he’s finally realized that Elena isn’t his anymore; she can’t be, and she won’t ever be again. Not as different as she is now.

Caroline turns to look at Klaus, who seems deceptively calm leaning against her wall. He doesn’t have the easy-going nature of Matt, or the desperation of Tyler — he’s different. He’s better.

“I love you,” Caroline tells him, “you know that? Right?”

He’s by her side in an instant, pressing her gently against the door and kissing her collarbone, close to her pulse point. “I know that.”

Caroline sighs, lets her head loll gently to the side so that Klaus can continue kissing her skin. Heat shoots through her every time his scruff scrapes softly against her, but there’s no rush.

“Caroline,” Klaus says, kissing her neck.

“Yes?” her voice is just a touch breathless.

He lands another kiss on her jawline, “Do you trust me?”

It’s a big question, and even though Caroline knows that she’s decided to trust Klaus despite anything, she’s never really said it out loud. Saying it gives him the power to destroy her, but Caroline’s in so deep that she’s not sure she’ll ever escape him. Not sure she’ll ever want to.

“Yeah,” Caroline whispers, and Klaus pulls back to look at her, softness apparent in his eyes, “Of course I trust you.”

Klaus’ hands snake up her neck to rest against her jaw, and he kisses her just once, “I want to… I want to do something I’ve never done before.”

Curiosity burns through Caroline, because even though she knows objectively that feeling this way towards anyone is a first for Klaus, there’s a millennia of years before Caroline even existed where he could have done whatever he liked — could have been with whomever he liked.

“Tell me.” Caroline says, raising her hands to rest on Klaus’ chest.

“Have you heard of blood sharing?” Klaus asks, “It’s where you both drink from each other at the same time.”

Caroline frowns, “I didn’t know it was a thing.”

“It’s an intimate thing, love. Most vampires don’t allow it — it’s rare for a vampire to drink from another vampire as it is, but it’s quite possible.”

Caroline mulls over his words for a second, “You want to do this? You want to blood share with me?”

Klaus smiles then, and it’s unlike any smile she’s ever seen from him before. It’s good, it’s something Caroline’s sure only his family had seen from when he was mortal. It was a smile reserved for Henrik, or Rebekah when she was young and splattered in mud, or Elijah during mock sword fights.

Caroline knows that she’ll agree to anything he says when he smiles at her like that. No one looks at her the way Klaus always has, and now he looks at her as though she is the sun.

“I want to share everything with you, love.”

Caroline pushes him enough that she can step away from where she’s pressed against the door, and she snakes her hand into his to pull him up the stairs. He follows without question, and it’s a nice change of pace to have her leading him around.

“Will it hurt?” Caroline asks when they reach the top of the stairs and Klaus heads into her room, “When you bite me? Cause I’ve done the whole werewolf bite thing, and I was not a fan.”

Klaus laughs and shuts her door, stepping towards her again now that they’re surrounded by her room, shut away from the rest of the world. He tugs gently on a curl of her hair, and then leans in to press a kiss to the base of her neck.

“It won’t hurt, love,” he promises, “and my blood will heal the bite, anyway.”

Caroline raises her arms at his words, and Klaus takes the initiative to slip her tank top off her body. He slides out of his own shirt while she takes off her shorts, and by the time she’s undoing his belt, he’s trying to get her out of her bra and panties.

She likes that he doesn’t rush; there is a time and a place for speed and desperation, and while Caroline likes that too, this is her favourite. She loves that he kisses her between removing articles of clothing, and that he laughs if she does something stupid, like trip over her pants. She likes that he stares at her the same way he stares at artwork, whether she’s dressed or not.

He picks her up when she’s finally bared to him and tosses her on the bed, chuckling a little when she bounces on the mattress. Caroline laughs ridiculously loud when he leaps on the bed and pretends to stalk her; his eyes light up yellow, a sign that he’s in his hybrid state, but Caroline’s not afraid.

Klaus has iron control, and the wolf has never hurt her.

He pulls her towards him when he gets to the top of her bed, and Caroline lets herself curl around him easily, legs tangling together. He strokes down her back with one huge hand, the other coming to play with a single breast, and Caroline burns with want. 

“Don’t tease me.” she breathes.

Klaus leans forward and nips at her skin, fangs sharp but not drawing blood. He laughs when Caroline hisses in a breath, “You’re fun to tease, sweetheart.”

Caroline pushes him onto his back, sitting up and swinging a leg over his body. Klaus doesn’t protest, just rests his hands on her thighs and smirks up at her. It’s infuriating that he’s always so confident, and Caroline wants him to be just as out of control as she is inside; she wants him to pant her name, forget everything about himself.

She leans forward, the tips of her hair brushing against his chest, goosebumps rippling outwards as she licks the skin of his collar bone. Caroline grins against his nipple when she hears the intake of breath, and drags her fingers down his rib cage, stopping only when she can spread them out on his lower stomach.

One of his hands is squeezing harshly on her thighs where they’re surrounding his waist, and Caroline sucks a wet kiss onto the skin of his neck, exactly where she plans on biting him later. Klaus says her name on a whisper, and Caroline never wants to hear him say anything else.

She reaches a hand down to guide him into her; he’s hard and flushed, and it feels incredible when he finally slides home inside her. Caroline sets herself fully on him for a second before she’s pulling almost all the way off him. Klaus makes a noise under his breath that Caroline memorizes, and she lets herself sink back onto him before starting up a slow grind.

Klaus’ hand moves from her thigh to her breast, and Caroline’s suddenly struggling to keep her steady tempo; heat is pooling in her lower stomach, and Klaus has yet to stop moving his hands all over his skin. He settles on her breasts, driving her crazy, before suddenly dropping his hand to rub against her as she rides him.

Caroline’s moving quickly now, up and down on him, about to burst apart, when Klaus tugs her down and kisses her hard, biting her lip gently. Caroline’s struck by the idea of the blood sharing as she falls apart, and she pulls her hair to the side so Klaus has free reign of her throat.

It’s easy to see the moment her eyes darken, and the veins around them come out, because Klaus automatically mirrors her. It’s the strangest thing; Caroline’s never thought that this part of vampirism was beautiful, but there’s something intrinsically sexy about the way Klaus’ eyes suddenly devour her in more than one way.

She bites him without thought, sending her teeth into his neck easily; it’s a rush of pleasure, the taste of his blood on her tongue. It’s heady and rich, and Caroline remembers thinking that it was the best thing she had ever tasted the one other time she had drank from him. It doesn’t compare at all to how he tastes now.

Klaus strikes seconds later, and the sharp sting of pain before the fall of pleasure is just enough to send her spiralling over the edge. Klaus snaps his hips up twice more before he finally comes, and then he’s seizing her closer than ever while they share their blood.

It’s absurd — they’re heaving breaths through their noses as they lie pressed against each other unmoving, and yet Caroline feels as though her whole world has suddenly spun on it’s axis. Klaus’ blood ignites her with energy, but more than that, she can almost feel him. There’s a far away anger — it’s not present in the moment, but Caroline knows that it’s a part of him now, after being there for so long. There’s also pleasure swirling around, and Caroline’s sure that she’s sending those vibes Klaus’ way as well; but more than that Caroline can sense the adoration Klaus has for her. It’s overbearing, filling her up with his almost obsessive attitude towards her, and it’s one thing to hear him say that he loves her, it’s entirely another thing to suddenly feel it.

Caroline can barely wade through everything she’s feeling, but she hopes Klaus can see how much she loves him too; she prays he’s experiencing the same waterfall of everything.

She’s ready to stop blood sharing, satiated in more ways than one, when the final emotion hits her and overwhelms anything else. Caroline didn’t think that anything could be better than the force of Klaus’ love for her, but she was wrong. 

Klaus is happy.

It hits her gently, bubbling around her until it’s all Caroline can feel. Klaus is warm and content, and he’s so goddamn happy that Caroline wants to cry, because she knows that she feels the same way. 

Her teeth retract easily, and the mark on Klaus’ neck heals quickly; Klaus is already done drinking her, and instead he's tracing obscure marks on the skin of her back. A deep exhaustion hits Caroline, but she’s thrumming with energy from Klaus’ blood. She’s probably never been this strong.

“That was fantastic.” Caroline tells him after her heart stops jumping around in her chest. “I can’t believe you’ve never done that before.”

Klaus smirks, “Are you surprised? It gives away so much. I wouldn’t allow anyone else that close to me.” 

Caroline smiles into Klaus’ skin, because she knows that he’s never done that with anyone before. No one before her. And if she has her way, there will never be anyone after her.

“Just me?”

“Just you.”

Caroline kisses his shoulder, “You were so happy.”

Klaus sits up, pulls away from her just enough to stare in her eyes and send her the same smile that nearly killed her before they even got in the bed, “I am so happy.”

He reaches out and pulls her hand towards him, fiddling with the new ring on her finger, “I’m going to be this happy forever. But Caroline?”

“Yeah?”

Klaus levels her with the devastating smirk she’s coming to accept he’ll never stop giving her, “Can we please for the love of all that is good get the hell out of Mystic Falls?”

Caroline throws back her head and laughs, “Yes.”

Nik dives down to kiss her between her laughter, and when she finally sobers he quirks one eyebrow at her and murmurs, “Pescadero? You said it was your favourite when you were younger, and I promised.”

Caroline grins at him, soft and shy, “Sure. You told me once that there was a whole world out there waiting for me, and I could have all of it. I intend to hold you to your promise of showing it to me.”

Klaus turns his head to grin at her, and Caroline thinks that she wouldn’t trade this for any other reality.

 

---

 

 

Ten Years Later.

 

There’s something addictive about being home after being away for so long. Caroline never thought she would miss the sounds of Mystic Falls after being awoken by waves crashing on the beach of Bora Bora, or the traffic on a late Tokyo afternoon. She never thought that she’d want to grab lunch at the Grill when she’d eaten at every fine restaurant she could find in Venice, and London, and Hawaii.

Actually, she’d never thought she’d still consider Mystic Falls home when she owned a house off the coast of Australia, one she adored and helped design herself.

Still, there is something about knowing every in and out of a town, and Caroline also thinks that another big reason she loves Mystic Falls so much is that her mother is here.

It’s not that she hasn’t seen Liz; she’s visited, and Liz has flown out to meet her many times, bringing with her pictures from home and news about her friends. Elena moved away long ago with Damon, especially after things settled down and there was nothing left for them anymore. They’re someplace down South in Brazil, and Caroline’s only seen them a few times in the last few years.

She’s sees Stefan often, but that’s probably related to the fact that in the end he gave into Rebekah, and they started dating. Caroline wouldn’t exactly call them serious, but they haven’t left each other’s side in the last few years, and no matter what she knows they’ll be lifelong friends now. Still, she’s hoping it does work out. Stefan deserves a little happiness.

Matt finally got out of Mystic Falls and followed Tyler up to Canada where a big pack was situated just outside the Rockies. He ended up marrying a werewolf, and Caroline’s still a little bitter about the fact that wolves were normal enough but vampires couldn’t be.

Tyler is an alpha of his own pack. He seems happy, although he and Caroline haven’t spoken in nearly nine years. Caroline can’t exactly blame him, but she’s glad that at least he’s alive and as far away from Klaus as possible.

Well, that’s not strictly true. Normally, Canada isn’t somewhere Klaus goes a lot; Europe and Australia are his favourites, and they’re about as far away as he can get. But Mystic Falls is close enough to Canada that Caroline gets a little nervous.

“Caroline, can you come here for a second?” His voice breaks into her thoughts, and Caroline turns to see Klaus holding open the backdoor of her mother’s house. He still looks as young as the day they met, and Caroline knows this is the last time they can come to Mystic Falls. She’s trying to pull off twenty-eight, and it’s not really working for her when she still looks eighteen.

She zips to the door, and leans forward to kiss Klaus quickly before slipping into the kitchen. Liz is sitting at the table, scowling down at some papers in front of her. Caroline never realized how beautiful her mother was until she moved away; it seems like time moves so quickly now that she’s a vampire, and Caroline’s trying to treasure each moment she gets with her mom. It’s impossible sometimes to look at her and not imagine what it will be like when one day Caroline doesn’t have her anymore. 

She’ll eternally be eighteen, and one day she might forget what Liz even looks like. It’s a terrifying thought.

“What’s up, mom?”

Liz looks up at her and smiles tiredly, “I hate paperwork.”

“Is it for the house?” Caroline asks.

“Yeah,” Liz answers, “I don’t know that I want to sell it, but it’s going to be hard for you to keep up from far away, and it’ll definitely be confusing when it goes to you in my will.”

Caroline sits down beside her and catches her hand, “Don’t worry about that! Seriously, we’ll hire someone to keep it up. And as for your will, I don’t plan on you going anywhere for a long, long time. And when that happens a long time from now, Nik and I will take care of it.”

Liz squeezes her hand, “I know. I’m being ridiculous. I’m just nervous.”

“Me too,” Caroline confesses, and shares a quick glance at Klaus. He’s hovering by the doorframe, looking a little bored, but nothing that spells impending bloodshed for anyone. “It’ll be nice though, living close to each other for a while! I’m glad you’re moving with us.”

“I’m excited about Maine, too. I think we’re all going to like it there.” Liz says, and pulls her hand away to write something else down on her papers, “That is, if the department will let me retire on time.”

Caroline laughs, “They will. They’re just having a tough time coming up with a solid replacement for you, mom. You’re the best Sheriff this town has ever had.”

“At least it’s been quiet here for the last few years now that you two left,” Liz winks at them, “should be an easy job — oh, no! You two are going to be late! Go on, get going. I’ll make dinner for when you get home.”

Caroline looks at the clock at her mother’s words. They’re nowhere near late, but she’s excited anyway so they might as well get on the road. She stands up and Klaus follows her out the front door. 

“I have a surprise for you, love.” He says when he’s sitting in the drivers seat. 

Caroline grins at him, “Another one? I can’t wait.”

It doesn’t take her long to realize what roads Klaus is taking as he drives Mystic Falls, but she holds her tongue because she knows how he loves to surprise her. Still, it takes her breath away when they finally turn the corner and park outside.

It’s just like she remembers it, though her memory has faded a little over time. It’s white with dark trim; the windows are bare of curtains, and flowers are growing rampant in the garden.

It’s just as beautiful as she remembers.

“Our house.” she whispers, awe in her voice.

They own houses all around the world; some of them they’ve designed together, and yet none of them even remotely resemble this house. It’s special to them, a little sacred, and Caroline can’t imagine this house sitting anywhere but where it is.

“I’ve owned the land since we returned home, but I never built on it. I didn’t like the thought of anyone else having a house here.” Klaus explains, “Three years ago I was contacted and told that I had to build on my lot since this was a newly developing area and they wanted to keep it up. I had the plans in the next day.”

“Can we look inside?” Caroline breathes.

Klaus grins and drops a set of keys in her hand, “Of course we can. It’s identical to the one from before, but I added one bedroom.”

An old hurt wells up inside her; Caroline is happy, has been happy for the last ten years, and even though she wouldn’t trade this life for anything, sometimes she remembers having mortality. She remembers Hannah and the baby. They had needed an extra bedroom.

They go into the house. It’s empty — none of the furniture from the other reality, although everything else is identical. There is a painting on the wall, stationed exactly where the painting of her and Hannah was before; this one is just Caroline, leaning against a balcony over a sea of city lights. Caroline remembers the moment — it was the second time Klaus officially proposed; she had been twenty-four, and it had felt like she’d been waiting forever for Klaus to tell her he still wanted to get married.

They’d been in France, and she’d been drinking champagne wrapped up in a  sheet, and Klaus had come up to her, asking if six years of wearing her engagement ring had finally given her the courage to add the wedding band to it. Caroline hadn’t even hesitated when she said yes.

“This is stunning,” Caroline tells him, “I love it.”

Klaus wraps a hand around her waist, pulling her close to him and kissing her hair, “I had a very good subject.”

“I never knew you painted that moment.”

Klaus laughs, “It was one of the happiest moments of my life to date, of course I painted it, love.”

Caroline turns to him, and the sight that greets her is so familiar. He’s standing in their  house, the one that brought them together, and she’s so goddamn happy she could burst.

“You never cease to amaze me, Nik.” she says, and she swallows back the sudden tears that clog her throat.

He kisses her gently, “I know that we can’t live in this house, we’re too well known in Mystic Falls. But I thought you might like to know that it’s here — we could come back, maybe.”

“I would love that.”

Klaus lifts his wrist and checks his watch, “Your mother was right, we are going to be late. Come on, love, we have to go.”

They lock up their house and make their way to the car; Klaus drives a little too fast but Caroline doesn’t bother to correct him. Even if Liz did pull them over she would forgive them, just this once.

Of course, they make it on time, because even if Klaus can be infuriating sometimes, he is almost always perfect — whether it’s the perfect suit for prom, or never being late.

“Mr. and Mrs. Mikaelson, I’m so glad to see you. Please follow me.” A woman greets them at the front, smiling from ear to ear.

Caroline takes Klaus’ hand and they follow the woman down the long hallway, before turning into a door. The room is a cheery yellow colour, and there are two armchairs sitting in the corner. They both sit down in silence without any prompting from the woman, and eventually she leaves them in their quiet amazement.

Klaus is the first person to speak, and Caroline is so surprised she jumps just a little at his words: “She’s so tiny.” 

Caroline can’t tear her eyes away, not even to look at her husband. He’s right. The baby in front of them is swaddled in green cloth, and sleeping silently in her bassinet; she’s tiny, right down to her toes, and Caroline thinks that she loves her more than she’s ever loved anything before.

“She’s perfect.” Caroline whispers. She’s got barely-there blonde hair, and Caroline’s already imagining that Klaus will level cities before he allows her on her first date.

Klaus grabs her hand suddenly, forcing her gaze away from the tiny person lying in front of her. “This won’t always be this easy, love. You know that right? We’ve been lucky, mostly. What if one day people will come to get revenge on me? They’ll come straight for you and her. What if we fight? What if you change your mind?”

“We will fight,” Caroline tells him, “but I will never change my mind.”

Klaus squeezes her hand, “There’s danger, all around me, all the time.”

Caroline can almost feel her heart soften, because she knows that even after all this time Klaus is still afraid of losing people he loves. He’s terrified of losing his family, both those he was born with, but also the new additions.

“There’s danger everywhere, Nik. I know that you have enemies, but we’ll deal with them together as we always have.”

Klaus lifts her hand and kisses her knuckle, reminding her suddenly of a knight in the days of old. It wouldn’t surprise her if he had been a knight at one time, it seems as though he had tried everything once.

“I will keep you both safe,” he promises, “I will make you happy, and keep you safe, and you won’t regret this.”

Caroline leans forward and kisses him, “I don’t regret this,” she tells him, “I never have. I know you’ll keep us safe.”

Caroline stands up and leans over the bassinet to pick up the baby, grinning down when she flickers wide blue eyes at her. She doesn’t make a single sound, and Caroline turns to Klaus to show him. He holds out his arms; Caroline hands him the baby, and even though he moves slower than Caroline’s ever seen him before, he does well. It’s no surprise when she lets out a small peal of sound, and then goes quiet in his arms. 

“I want to name her after your sister.” Caroline says. It’s an old argument, but this is her last chance to change his mind.

Klaus glances at her and scowls, but he can’t hold the expression; soon enough he’s grinning down at the baby. “Not a chance, we discussed this. Your mother is the one who did all the paperwork so we could get her.”

Caroline rolls her eyes, “Fine.”

“Fine.”

She leans forward and kisses Klaus once, and then leans down to kiss the baby.

“Hannah Liz Mikaelson,” she declares, “the most beautiful baby in the entire world. I still want to name the next one after Rebekah.”

“What if it’s a boy?” Klaus teases.

Caroline frowns, “Then it will have to be after one of your brothers instead. Maybe Henrik. I think Bekah would like that anyway.”

Klaus laughs, tugging her close to him with one hand, fitting her tightly against him so she can stare down at their daughter. It’s probably the best sight she’s ever seen in her entire life.

“Say it.” he commands, and Caroline is helpless to do anything but make him happy.

“I love you. I love you endlessly, forever, always.”

Klaus presses his face into her hair, and Caroline wonders how in the hell she managed to have this.

“Caroline,” he breathes, “you are everything.”

Caroline smiles, heart pounding the same way it does every time Klaus does something romantic, “Everything?”

Klaus pulls back and looks at her, then down at their daughter, “Everything.” he confirms.