I've been working on this for such a long time so I'm really happy to be able to publish it finally!

Since this story is already asking you to suspend your disbelief a bit, I'm just going to go ahead and ask you guys to pretend that nothing NOLA-related ever happened. 4x16 didn't happen, 4x20 didn't happen; Klaus just simply went on living in Mystic Falls. It occurred to me that I'd never written a story like that before which is really weird considering that that would've been my ideal situation (I've always been anti-spinoff), so here this is.

It takes place post-4x23 (and before S5) so after Klaus' graduation promise and Bonnie's death. Also Tyler and Caroline are broken up (because honestly I don't know why they have still been together ever since season 3).

The title is both in reference to the literal disease they have in the story and how I've mentioned in ODS that Klaus and Caroline's disease is that they can't stay away from each other, which is significant for this story as well. As for the actual disease, it will seem random at first but I promise it's not.

I've been slaving over this for months trying to perfect it so pretty please leave a review if you liked it, thank youuuuu!

…That last edit can wait till morning.

Enjoy :)

There is a way to make a man so weak

that he will die for you

It is not your fault

And he does not know

But he will die for you

Caroline headed into the kitchen, wondering what to grab as a snack.

She was doing a romcom marathon on her weekend home and nothing went with movies better than snacking. Opening the fridge, she eyed the bloodbags inside. There weren't that many but it still warmed her heart that her mother kept them for her even though she was away at college most of the time.

Deciding that she could actually use one, she picked the cold plastic bag from the fridge before popping off the cap and putting the straw to her lips.

Caroline frowned when the cool blood touched her tongue. For the first time in a long time she actually felt slightly disgusted by the taste. Her frown deepening, Caroline picked up the house phone and called her mother at the station.

"Hey baby, something wrong?"

"Uh, not really, I was just wondering when you got the blood in the fridge?"

Liz thought for a moment. "Um, about two weeks ago I think, why?"

Caroline sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know, it just tastes… off, somehow."

Liz was silent for a moment. "I can't help, sorry Caroline."

Caroline felt bad – obviously her mother wouldn't be able to offer any advice on vampire-related issues.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing. I probably just need some real food," she joked.

"Ok. Listen I have to go now, but I'll see you tonight, ok?"

"Sure, bye Mom."

Caroline placed the phone back on the receiver then tapped her fingers on the counter as she regarded the blood bag curiously.

She hadn't felt that way drinking blood since… since that day in the hospital when she'd been transitioning. Human disgust mingled with desperate vampiric hunger.

Sighing, she picked up the bag again and took another sip. Retching, she dropped the bag, spilling blood everywhere as she choked on the gross metallic taste hitting the back of her throat.

Ok, something was definitely wrong and it wasn't the blood itself because even the thought of blood right now was making her want to hurl.

Staring at the phone, she considered. Bonnie had been screening everyone's calls for months now so while she could definitely use her best friend's help on this one, she was going to have to go for her second choice.

"You were quite vague on the phone, love," Klaus called as he entered Caroline's house and made his way into the kitchen.

As he'd made his way over Caroline had cleaned her face and changed into another pair of jeans with a light top, throwing away her previous outfit. Now she threw bloodbag after bloodbag into the trash as Klaus entered the kitchen.

The first thing he noted was all the blood on the floor and his eyes shot up to the blonde in concern.

"What happened?"

She sighed. "It's from a bloodbag, I dropped it."

Emptying the fridge of them, she picked the last one up off the floor then grabbed the roll of paper towel and bent down.

Klaus frowned. On the telephone Caroline has said little more than that she needed his help and now she seemed reluctant even to talk to him as she cleaned up her spill.

"You said you needed my help, I'm assuming it wasn't with taking out the trash?" he asked, watching her discard a clump of paper towels.

She glared at him then hesitated, seemingly torn between an explanation and continuing to clean up the mess.

She sighed. "I dropped the bloodbag because the blood made me feel sick."

He opened his mouth but she beat him to a reply: "And it isn't the blood."

Klaus was confused but Caroline seemed certain she was correct so he did the only thing he could think of – he bit into his wrist then held it out to her.

"Try this," he suggested.

Caroline looked from his bleeding wrist up to his eyes. Even if she'd always found his blood just that bit more appetising, she wasn't sure this would work.

Still, after looking back at the blood, she felt the veins begin to creep up to her eyes and her fangs began to…

Klaus rushed over when Caroline began to scream in pain. She gripped her face in agony and Klaus caught her as she doubled over. Her body went boneless in his arms as she screeched with her head in her hands.

After a minute she stopped screaming then slowly straightened up in his arms. He let her go before stepping back with a frown.

"Caroline, what's wrong?"

Tentatively she placed fingers below her eyes and then above her upper lip.

"It hurt."

Klaus shook his head in confusion. "What hurt?"

"Everything. The veins, my fangs coming out, it hurt."

Klaus' frown deepened and he took another step backward.

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Do you know what's happening to me?"

He opened his mouth but said nothing, unwilling to tell her that he had absolutely no idea.

"Klaus, tell me what's happening to me!"

He stared at her for another few seconds before pulling his cellphone from his pocket, keeping an eye on her even as he dialled.

"What do you want, Klaus?" the woman on the other end answered.

"People who owe me favours generally treat me with more respect, witch," Klaus growled.

She seethed silently for a second before re-phrasing: "What can I help you with, oh mighty Original?"

"Better, though the attitude level could do with an adjustment."

She sighed. "I'm guessing you called for a reason?"

"Precisely because of that favour I'm owed, Tirene." Then he sighed, despising that he had to say what he was about to. "I need your help."

She hesitated for a second then relented. "Witches return favours Klaus, you know that. But I'll admit to hoping this favour won't mean having to see your face."

Klaus watched Caroline get back on her knees to finish cleaning up the mess on the kitchen floor.

"You're in luck. I have a vampire with me who is experiencing some strange… symptoms, and I require your expertise."

"A vampire with you? Strange symptoms?"

"So glad I have you to repeat my words back to me," Klaus said sarcastically.

Tirene rolled her eyes. "I meant you're being vague, Klaus. Witches need specifics, you know that."

Klaus clenched his jaw. As important as it was to find out what was wrong with Caroline, he couldn't allow anyone outside of this town to know who she was or what she meant to him. With all his enemies, that couldn't lead to anywhere good.

"She's experiencing an aversion to blood and pain when her fangs emerge."

"And you want to know what it is. Let's see… guilt about being a horrible monster?"

"Is there some point at which this call will become fruitful?" Klaus shot back.

"I'm thinking, ok? God," she complained. "Look, that doesn't seem like anything I've ever heard of, though it's not like us witches have some kind of online forum we share all our spells over."

"I thought that was what grimoires were for."

"Yeah and not all witches have the same cookbook, Klaus. Seeing as who your mother is, I'd think you of all people might know that."

Klaus growled as he thought of Esther and her spell to turn her children into vampires.

"Then you're saying it's a spell?"

Tirene sighed. "It sounds like it. It's what I would guess, anyway. It sounds like that vampire might be experiencing humanity."

"How is that possible?"

Tirene put her fingers to her eyes as she considered. "I once had a friend who put a spell on another witch to leave her powerless for an intended amount of time. Besides the unintended effects on the people around her, the affected witch also experienced something that sounds a lot like what your vampire is going through right now – an aversion to their usual nature."

"So you're saying that the humanity will subside?"

"Well it's obviously not exactly the same spell but that's my guess. I mean, nothing exists that would turn a vampire human permanently, so it's the only thing that makes sense."

Thinking of the Cure, Klaus smirked.

"And what of the other effects you mentioned?"

"Well, the spell creates a kind of disease. Like the flu, almost. It doesn't last long but while it's there it's highly contagious."

Unknowingly taking another unconscious step away from Caroline, Klaus tightened his grip on his phone. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I can't say for sure, Klaus. But yeah, there's a possibility that other vampires could catch it from this one. That's what happened with my friends."

Klaus gritted his teeth, wanting to end the call, but he still needed to know something else.

"One last thing: how did this happen?"

Tirene let a laugh escape. "I have no idea! You won't even tell me who this is. Maybe they have a witch enemy with a mean streak?"

Klaus watched the blonde as she washed her hands for the third time wash after having finished her cleaning operation, and couldn't for the life of him think of a single person who could hate her that much. Hate her at all.

"Thank you, Tirene."

"You can thank me by not calling again."

"Your favour is returned once I've said it's returned."

The call was promptly dropped on him and he glared at the phone before glancing up at an expectant Caroline.

"I heard you say the words 'spell' and 'humanity'," she accused.

Klaus frowned. "Is that all you heard?"

Caroline was about to reply with a Duh when she froze.

Klaus was right – she was supposed to have been able to hear both sides of that phone call. With her heart speeding, Caroline pushed her hair back behind her ear and tuned her earing to outside the house.

Nothing.

She stepped back with a scared expression.

"Oh god, what's happening to me, Klaus?"

Klaus stepped forward sheepishly, hating being the one to have to relay the bad news.

"The witch I just spoke to seems to think you have some kind of… disease which is slowly causing you to experience symptoms of humanity."

Caroline frowned. "What? Why? And I'm just going to lose some of my vampire capabilities, that's it?"

Klaus winced. "She rather made it seem like you were going to become a human, though temporarily so." He continued even as Caroline looked at him with an amount of horror like he'd just announced the end of the world. "As for the why, we're both clueless."

"You're joking, right? I'm going to be human again?"

"There's no need for concern, love. As I said, it's quite temporary."

Caroline nodded, trying to absorb it all as she looked down at her quivering hands.

"Ok, is that it?"

He didn't reply and after a few seconds she looked up. Narrowing her eyes at his guilty expression, she prompted him.

"Klaus?"

"Much like influenza, it's quite contagious so I suggest staying away from your friends," he finally managed.

Caroline's eyes widened. "Oh my god, this literally can't get any worse."

When he didn't say anything, Caroline gasped at the hybrid standing there helplessly.

"You have to leave."

His eyes widened too and he shook his head. "Caroline – "

"Klaus, you said it's contagious, you have to go."

He clenched his jaw. "I'm not leaving you alone, Caroline."

She gritted her teeth. "I'll be fine. But I'm not making you sick too."

Klaus closed the distance between them. "We aren't certain what this is nor the extent to which it will affect you. I'm not leaving."

His eyes held hers determinedly but she was just as stubborn.

"This happens to be my house," she pointed out.

He smirked. "Good thing we're going to mine, then, sweetheart."

Caroline frowned and was about to ask how he knew that when he lifted her up and sped away with her in his arms.

He put her down after coming to a standstill in his kitchen.

She pounded at his chest and he noted with relief that she still had her vampire strength.

"Jerk. You could at least have warned me!"

"I rather think I did, love," Klaus smirked.

Caroline glared at him before taking a step back, surveying his kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"I told you I'm not leaving you alone," he said matter-of-factly.

She stared into the depths of his blue eyes then down to his lips; his scruff.

She turned away. "You're insane."

"I've been called worse," he admitted. "By you, as a matter of fact," he added.

She shot him a glare over her shoulder as she moved away, wondering what she was going to spend her day doing in the Mikaelson mansion.

"What would you like to do?" he enquired, seeming to read her mind.

She spun back to face him. "You don't have to entertain me, Klaus. Go do whatever you were planning to do before I called, seriously."

He gave her a look that told her he found her suggestion utterly ridiculous, then looked at the stove pointedly.

"Have you eaten? I could make you something."

Caroline arched an eyebrow. She seriously doubted he could cook – the most she could imagine Klaus Mikaelson doing in the kitchen was draining a brunette.

"No, thanks. I'm not hungry," she replied honestly.

Her appetite had disappeared as fast as that blood bag had hit the floor.

Klaus sighed. "Then how about a tour of the house?" Eyeing her, he added: "If you feel up to it."

Caroline had been about to decline but at his implication that she was too weak to walk around his freaking house, she narrowed her eyes.

"Sure, why not, let's do a tour."

Klaus seemed pleased by her acceptance despite the dry tone she'd made it in, and he held out his arm. Knowing it was to support her, Caroline rolled her eyes and strutted out ahead of him.

"Do I get a pamphlet?" she asked when they approached the staircase.

Klaus smirked. "We have yet to print them, unfortunately."

"Doesn't pull big crowds, huh?" she winked at him from over her shoulder with a coy smile.

Klaus laughed, ending their game as they climbed the staircase.

"What would you like to see first, then?"

She thought about it. "Where you paint."

Klaus stopped in surprise, even as she walked on ahead. "Where I paint?"

Frowning, she turned around. "Yeah?"

"Why?" he asked bluntly.

Caroline raised an eyebrow. "Because I want to see your paintings. Duh."

Klaus stared at her for a few more seconds without replying and Caroline raised an eyebrow.

"Unless there's some reason you don't want to show me them."

Shaking his head, he smiled. "No of course not, love. I was simply taken aback."

Caroline rolled her eyes then resumed her walk up the staircase as Klaus followed.

"Why? It's not like this is the first time I've shown interest in your work."

They reached the head of the staircase and Klaus laid a hand on her lower back in order to steer her.

"This way, sweetheart."

She didn't say anything, didn't ask him to remove his hand, and he felt a strange kind of victory.

Realising it was still his turn to reply, Klaus spoke: "I thought you were merely distracting me; feigning an interest."

She scoffed, seeming offended. "You know, I may have faked organically spending time with you, Klaus, but everything else was real."

She stopped abruptly, seeming to realise the weight of her words then continued walking on, blushing. Klaus was enchanted by her accidental confession.

He smiled. "Good to know."

He led her into his personal studio and she moved away from him, going to examine the canvases all in different stages of being completed.

She stopped in front of one, an abstract with many dark colours and confusing swirls. She was staring at it intently then suddenly she craned her neck, another behind it seeming to captured her attention.

Klaus shook his head in amusement. Naturally she would notice that one.

She stepped closer to it and he finally moved away from the doorway, getting just close enough to be able to gauge her reaction.

At first she thought it was just beautiful. A girl by the window, looking free and happy in the set of her shoulders; her uninhibited stance. Everything was light and open and the sunlight illuminated the woman, leaving no doubt as to her radiance.

Then she realised it was her.

Caroline's breath caught and she involuntarily shot Klaus a look. His expression was sheepish, almost ashamed, as he watched her.

"That's me?" she confirmed.

He nodded slightly and she turned back to the painting. She couldn't believe she hadn't realised right away because those were so undeniably her shoulders and he'd captured her hair so well that she had to fight the urge to reach out.

Her eyes roamed over her hands – the one lazily gripping the shutter as the other seemed to caress the window sill. She wondered what the Caroline Klaus had painted was waiting for. Her mind wandered to the things she didn't have yet, the things she still wanted and Klaus' words: It won't be enough for you.

But the Caroline in the paining was happy, she knew that. Even if she couldn't see her face, she could tell right off the bat that the woman in the painting was contentedly awaiting something.

Perhaps a lover.

"Klaus, it's…" she sighed as she gave it another once-over. Then she turned to him. "I love it. I mean I know you didn't do it for me or anything, but it's beautiful."

It was. She was.

With every representation of herself that came from his fingertips she became more and more aware of the way he saw her – the radiant Caroline that she'd spent so long trying to find; the one he'd recognised on sight.

He was smiling back at her, about to say something, when she pressed a hand to her throat, her eyes wide. Klaus rushed up to her and through the intense burning she just managed to choke out what she hoped would be the solution.

"Water!"

Klaus was gone and back in seconds, bearing a glass of water. She downed it all in one gulp then placed a hand to her chest.

"Wow. That wasn't the worst thing that happened to me today but not exactly fun either," she tried to joke.

Klaus was frowning too much to laugh but he managed a small smile for her.

"Sorry about that," she laughed shyly.

He shook his head. "Don't apologise, Caroline. I'm here to look after you."

She stared into his eyes, immensely touched by his words.

Seeming to notice something, Klaus stuck a hand out to her. His thumb touched her face and as she worked to keep herself from shivering, he wiped away what she assumed to be a water droplet. Keeping her eyes on him, she deliberately moved her face slightly so that his thumb caressed the side of her mouth.

Klaus sucked in a breath of surprise then automatically moved closer to her. She was reaching out to his waist to pull herself into him when her ringtone sounded shrilly, breaking her out of her trance. Her hand went to her pocket instead and Klaus took a quick step back, removing his hand from her face.

Looking anywhere but him, she answered.

"Mom?"

"Hey, Caroline. I came home to bring you some more blood bags but you're not here?"

Caroline bit her lip, feeling guilty. "Oh yeah, um I'm at… Klaus'," she said with one eye closed in anticipation of her mother's response.

"Klaus'?"

"Yeah. I wasn't feeling well and I thought he might be able to help," she blurred the truth a bit.

"Ok…" her mother said, sounding confused. "And did he?"

Caroline's eyes shot up to him and she bit her lip. "Um, he's trying."

"What does that mean, Caroline?"

Caroline wanted to curse. If she told her mother exactly what was going on, Liz would tell Damon who would tell Elena who would come straight over here, regardless of contagiousness.

"It means I'll be home soon, ok?"

Liz sounded like she was about to say something but Caroline hastily beat her to it.

"Ok great see you then, love you."

She quickly ended the call then shot Klaus a smile that she hoped would eliminate any awkwardness.

"What's next on the tour?"

Caroline picked up a fourth classic first edition then smiled.

"Ok, now this one I've read."

Klaus made to speed over from his spot across the room, but he found himself unable; his foot moved forward at a human pace.

Hearing Klaus' tiny sounds of annoyance, Caroline turned to see him stretching out his leg testily then retracting it. He did the same thing again, leaning forward, but nothing happened.

Caroline wanted to burst out laughing. "What are you doing?"

Klaus grimaced up at her. "Attempting to use vampire speed. But it's gone," he finally acknowledged with a sigh.

Caroline bit her lip, all humour gone from the situation. She hated that she was making him sick.

Except…

"Hey, how come that's the only thing you've lost?"

Damn Originals and their ancient vampire perks.

Klaus shrugged as he walked over to her. "Perhaps it isn't."

He seemed to focus intently then nodded with a sigh. "Hearing's gone."

Great, now she felt even worse.

Huffing, she placed the book away before folding her arms.

"Do you think you can still drink blood?"

"Doubtful," he replied. "But we could certainly test out that theory, sweetheart," he flirted.

Caroline sucked in a breath when he danced a finger across her collarbone.

She could just imagine him putting his lips to the most sensitive spot of her neck then setting his fangs deep into her.

"I – I…" she murmured out and he smirked.

"No need for concern – I was only joking, love."

He made to move his hand away but she caught it on impulse.

They both looked at each other in surprise and she quickly relinquished her grasp.

Feeling the beginning of flames at her cheeks, Caroline passed by him, stopping at his study's desk. She placed both her palms flat on it, leaning down. She felt a bit short of breath but she wasn't going to tell Klaus that, especially not when he wouldn't be able to figure it out for himself, unable to hear her laboured breathing.

Still, she had to say something.

"It's kind of weird that this is the first time we've seen each other since graduation," she admitted.

She heard Klaus approach slowly.

"Weird because of what I said?"

She shrugged. It hadn't really bothered her that much. In fact it had actually been the most romantic thing anybody had ever said to her.

"Maybe," she evaded. "But I meant it was weird because it's been a while."

"And has it not been a while precisely because of my presumptuous statement?"

For his part Klaus had stayed away in the interest of allowing Caroline space: after having heard about her breakup, his willpower had been put to the test as he resisted going to find her and making Caroline his. However, those were the thoughts of a crazed and desperate man; he respected Caroline and her agency far too much to have acted on his need. Instead, not trusting himself around her, he had opted for the opposite end of the spectrum.

Caroline considered. He probably figured she'd been avoiding him because it would've been awkward after "I intend to be your last" to call him up and see if he wanted to go see a movie or something.

But that wasn't it. She'd just been so busy with Stefan acting weird, Bonnie being MIA, getting over her split with Tyler and preparing for college. Whenever her mind had wandered to the hybrid though, it had been to savour their last moment together.

And, ok, maybe to fantasise a bit and possibly think about what it would be like to be Klaus' last, exactly.

She turned, eyeing him. He looked nervous but interested in whatever her reply would be.

"Not really. I've just been really busy. I mean I'd be lying if I said that your promise didn't make me wonder where exactly we go from here." Her eyes dropped to the ground, a smile flitting to her face. "But it wasn't presumptuous."

Klaus frowned, wondering what exactly her words meant. If she didn't think he had been presumptuous then it meant she returned a measure of his feelings… right? Her most recent reactions toward him seemed to suggest so but he still felt hesitant to believe it.

"Perhaps I should have been slightly less ambiguous," he admitted with a smile.

Caroline laughed and stepped forward, her eyes dropping. Biting her lip to gather her courage, she reached for his hand again. Only this time she didn't let go, preferring to let her fingers wander over his, feeling his knuckles and the rough pads of his fingers; the heat from his palm.

She thought about how warm his quick kiss had been on her cheek the night of graduation and smiled wistfully.

"The only thing I didn't understand was – "

Caroline stopped herself as a wave of nausea hit. Klaus looked on in confusion as with wide eyes she placed a hand to her mouth and ran out of the study as fast as her human legs would take her. She entered the first bedroom she found, noting quickly that it was Klaus', before she beelined her way to the bathroom and dropped down at the toilet, hurling into it.

She thought wryly about the words she'd been just about to say to Klaus: The only thing I didn't understand was why you kissed me on my cheek.

Klaus followed the way the blonde had gone in confusion and was startled to find her in his bathroom. That was until he noticed her bent down at the toilet, throwing up.

Klaus halted in the doorway, feeling a combination of surprise and unbounded anger.

This was becoming ridiculous. He knew of nothing human that would cause this and he'd had just about enough of Caroline suffering.

He whipped out his phone and she answered on the second ring.

"You owe me answers, witch."

"What happened?"

He held out the phone to where Caroline was retching into the toilet bowl, her entire body shuddering violently.

He put the phone back to his ear. "That doesn't sound like a very human side-effect, now does it?"

Tirene sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, Klaus." She considered. "Is it blood?"

Klaus still had enough of his supernatural senses to know the answer to that; the smell hung thick in the air.

"Yes," he bit out.

"Maybe her body is getting rid of some of her vampire blood," she hypothesised.

"Why would it be doing that?"

"To make room for her human blood?" she suggested helplessly, then sighed. "I'm a witch, not some kind of vampire disease expert, Klaus."

"How much longer?" he growled.

"Again – no idea. I'd guess that she'll start changing back as soon as she's fully human though. That's all I have."

He was about to enquire further when she once again hung up on him.

If Klaus didn't need a cell in case he needed to call the witch back again later, he would've crushed the bloody device in his hand.

Approaching Caroline instead, he smoothed her hair back and held it as she retched, but soon she seemed to be done.

"What did she say?" she asked.

Klaus hesitated. He didn't want to lie but he didn't see how the whole truth and the witch's ignorance would be beneficial here either.

"She – she believes that the human transition must be complete before you can go back to being a vampire. But that shouldn't be long now," he added for good measure, though Tirene had said nothing of the sort.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline pushed herself up. "Ok, good. That's good," she said, seemingly mostly to calm herself.

Then she groaned. "Ugh, I feel gross. And hot. I need to get this off," she complained, pulling at her top.

Klaus averted his gaze respectfully then turned away altogether when he noticed her reaching down to the zipper on her jeans.

Reaching for his laundry hamper, he retrieved one of his shirts then passed it back to her. She took it then made her way over to the basin bare-footed.

Klaus joined, standing just behind her as he watched her splash cold water onto her face.

"Toothbrush?" she asked.

He passed her his, along with the toothpaste. She manically began brushing her teeth and when she eventually seemed quite done, she spat.

Klaus watched her in fascination; thought about how amusing this would have been in any other situation. In his shirt, using his toothbrush as she stood in his bathroom, it looked much like she'd spent the night here with him.

Standing up straight, she pushed both her hands back into her hair looking traumatised, but managed to shoot him a smile. Then she turned her attention back to her own reflection in the mirror and began smoothing her hair down in all the right places, fixing it. She dragged her fingers through the ends before eventually grinning in satisfaction.

"Ok. That's better." Pulling herself up on the counter, Caroline regarded him curiously. "How are you, are you ok?"

He shook his head in amusement. Of course she was choosing to be concerned about him right now.

"Monstrous as ever," he replied with a smile.

She began to return but it turned into a frown instead. He was about to ask what the matter was when he visibly noticed her begin to shiver.

"Great, now I'm cold," she complained through gritted teeth.

He frowned in concern then put an arm around her.

"Come here."

She yielded to his touch and he pulled her to his chest before letting his hands drop down to her bare legs, where he rubbed her gooseflesh-covered skin.

"How does that feel?" he asked.

"Amazing," she admitted.

He sighed in relief. "That means my temperature is still running supernaturally high. Good."

She smiled. "Well technically you're a werewolf so even if your vampirism disappears, your heat shouldn't."

Klaus chuckled a little. "Good point."

Her fingers crept around his neck, warming her icy digits against his skin.

"Klaus, I'm sorry you're getting sick."

She bit at her lip, trying to stow away exactly how guilty she felt about all of this. She had no idea how she'd managed to pick up this disease but one thing she did know was that Klaus hated weakness so she couldn't even imagine how he was feeling right now.

He shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous, Caroline. I knew precisely what I was doing when I decided to stay with you."

His hands remained moving over the skin on her legs, inducing heat production there, but she lifted her head from his chest.

"Thank you. For staying."

He stared back at her, at her creamy skin in such close proximity to him.

Lucky bastard.

He couldn't help lifting a hand to move some hair behind her ear.

"There's nothing else I could have done," he admitted.

She smiled and ducked her head, pressing her face to the inside of his shoulder. The intense heat of his skin there warmed her lips and before long she felt her body temperature reach a plateau.

With a nod she informed him: "Ok, I feel normal again."

Immediately he removed his hands from her body, but she stayed still against him.

"Do you think that means I'm completely human now?"

"Difficult to say," he admitted.

She nodded again, thankful for his honesty.

She really was glad that he'd stayed with her. Moreover, that it had been him to stay with her. She couldn't imagine anyone else having made this as easy for her, nor anybody who could have helped her the way he had. Without him she probably would've been curled up on her own kitchen floor right now, suffering in confusion.

Suddenly she realised the intimacy of their proximity and the way they were touching; realised how his amazing spiced scent was flooding her nostrils as his heat pervaded her body. She remembered how sex-starved she'd been as a new vampire but she'd forgotten what human urges felt like and now she swore she was getting those at full force too.

And with anyone else maybe she could've practised restraint but this was Klaus and there wasn't a single part of her that didn't want him badly.

For a few moments she tried wrestling with herself, scared of being the one to initiate and how Klaus would react, but it was hopeless. Her brain had been begging her to do this for way too long and her body was currently shouting at her that everything she wanted in a man was standing right between her legs.

Nervously lifting her head, she laced her hands together behind his neck and brought her thumbs to the sides of his face.

"I thought you said you were feeling better?" he asked suddenly, confused.

"I feel fine," she confirmed, gulping nervously.

"Your hands are shivering," he pointed out.

Her breathing shallowed, coming out in short hot spurts as she thought about what she was about to do.

"Not because I'm cold," she managed to reply.

Caroline leaned her forehead down to his and Klaus sucked in a breath.

"Why, then?"

She brought their faces closer together, gently caressing the side of his nose with hers.

"Klaus," she whispered out.

Then she moved her lips onto his.

God, it was a hundred times better than she'd imagined it would be and she wasn't even feeling it with her heightened vampire senses.

His lips were moving tenderly against hers but he was struggling to keep it that way, she could tell. Scooting forward on the marble counter, she wrapped her arms around his neck as she crossed her ankles behind his back. Then she pushed her tongue past his lips.

Klaus gasped and she pulled him in closer, urging him on. He tasted so good but she wanted more. More and harder.

When he didn't give in, she pulled away. Burying her fingers in his hair, she looked at him evenly, doing her best to hide her desperation.

"Klaus… I'm fine. I promise."

She didn't give him time to respond, only crashing her mouth to his and he responded in kind, grabbing ahold of her waist as he finally let his control slip. She panted into his mouth as he dominated the kiss, his tongue wildly exploring her mouth, causing her to whimper highly.

Klaus' hands slid down to her hips again but this time in order to grip her there. His hands on her tightly, he roughly pulled her closer. He was happy to find that he still had his strength and Caroline's whimpers grew louder at the feeling of his body flush against hers.

She tightened her thighs around his waist and Klaus groaned into the kiss.

The experience was euphoric but strange. Whenever he'd imagined being this close to Caroline she had been cool in his grasp but now she had the tepid temperature of a human and currently her body was emitting large amounts of heat against his.

She pulled away from the kiss then reached down between them to pull off his Henley. Klaus lifted his arms to allow her, then moved to undo the buttons on his shirt that she was wearing. He wanted to growl at the lustful way she watched him as she leaned back.

Finally he pushed the cotton from her shoulders, baring her black lace lingerie. He hardly had time to take it in before her lips attacked him, placing a few kisses at the edge of his jaw then moving down into his neck.

He felt the impact change. It was a surreal experience, having her lips move across his skin and feeling every single particle of her skin invoke the jolts that ran through his body and then suddenly it all muted. The feeling dulled as his especially sensitive heightened senses disappeared, but her lips kept working and his body adjusted and just like that she was sending sparks everywhere again.

Klaus let his eyes slip closed as she made her way down his chest, taking it all in. He had not been human for a very long time. He couldn't smell every note of her perfume and shampoo and even the faint air of blood that surrounded her anymore. He couldn't smell that distinct scent he had become attuned to; that of a vampire. He couldn't hear her heart rapidly thumping against her ribcage or her nails scrape the back of his neck.

He reached behind her, caressing a thumb over the soft skin of her back and it felt amazing but it wasn't what he was used to.

Then he slipped his thumb under the clip of her bra and felt Caroline freeze against him as he undid it. Her breathing was erratic and fiery against his chest. He pulled the straps from her shoulders slowly, deliberately grazing as much of her skin as he could.

Never had he been this slow or tender with a woman before but Caroline seemed to relish it, her thighs tightening even further around him.

He wasn't enjoying this position any longer, though. He needed her closer.

Gripping her by the backs of her thighs, he picked her up. She watched him intently and his gaze didn't stray from hers either as he walked her into his bedroom. He couldn't look away if he wanted to; the crystal blue of her soul was like a magnet to him.

Much as was the woman herself.

Reaching his bed, he set her down. She unwrapped her legs from around him and scooted backward slightly, never moving her eyes from his. He sucked in a breath when he felt her hands at his buckle and in seconds she was pushing his jeans down his legs, never having glanced down.

She moved further back, waiting for him. Stepping out of his shoes and jeans, Klaus climbed onto the bed in front of her.

He reached out, pulling a thumb down the length of her body. She sucked on her lip in reaction as she continued watching him.

He wasn't sure where both their words had gone; perhaps it was something that humanity didn't permit. Perhaps humans didn't need all the words.

Or perhaps they were something different altogether.

Caroline lowered herself as he moved to lean over her.

She was beautiful, every single part of her. Her blond locks fanned all around her, with that indelible light shining through her eyes.

"What are you looking at?" she asked suddenly.

"You," he responded simply, pulling his thumb down her bottom lip.

She smiled contentedly. "What do I look like as a human?"

He realised he'd never seen her as one, that this was why she was asking.

He wasn't sure how to reply to her question though; wasn't sure how to tell her that there was no form she could take that wouldn't be absolutely breathtaking.

"Your perfection transfers well," he settled on.

She laughed then pulled his head down closer to her.

"Kiss me," she demanded.

He wasted no time in obliging, putting his lips to hers and pressing his body into her soft pliant form. Caroline gasped into the kiss and Klaus' hands lowered to the lace left on her hips, slowly pulling it down and off her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he pulled away to pay special attention to her chest. When it became too much for her she leaned forward and bit down on his shoulder. Klaus pulled away in shock – at her action; at the pain.

He hadn't felt such pain to that extent in a long time.

Caroline looked up at him expectantly and slowly his lips pulled into a grin before his face lowered to her chest again.

Her nails scraped down his back when he pulled his teeth over her ribs. He nipped at the sensitive skin there and she bucked, her heels digging into his lower back painfully.

Breathing deeply to gain control of herself, Caroline lifted her head and reached behind Klaus for the waistband of his boxer briefs. Forgetting for a second, Caroline used both her hands and tugged in opposite directions. She frowned when it didn't immediately come apart then pulled harder.

She kept pulling before eventually she dropped back down on the bed, exhaling heavily in frustration. Klaus chuckled, laying kisses in her neck.

"Forgot we're human, did we, sweetheart?"

She glared, which was pretty hard to do considering how great his lips felt against her skin, but Caroline Forbes totally managed it.

"Are you laughing at me right now?" she asked threateningly.

Klaus quickly straightened out his face, shaking his head innocently.

"No, of course not."

Her glare softened as a smile forced its way onto her face.

God, she kind of loved him.

Shifting her gaze so he wouldn't manage to somehow read her mind and find that thought, she looked at his lips then down between them.

She smirked as an idea occurred to her.

"Uh-huh, sure," she rolled her eyes. "You… are in so much trouble."

Klaus shot her a look then bent down to her chest, laying hard kisses between her breasts.

"Am I?"

Caroline bit her lip and braced herself then, using all of her weight and strength, pushed. She managed to catch Klaus off-guard, successfully switching them over.

She winked at Klaus triumphantly and he shook his head in amusement and, she swore, pride.

Then she ducked down to place her lips to his chest.

Klaus sucked in a breath, throwing back his head as she journeyed downwards. Her kisses were slow and hard, agonisingly so, and Klaus buried his hands in her hair. Her hands pulled down his underwear and when her lips hit his pelvic bone, Klaus remembered her most recent words.

Smirking at her deviousness, Klaus moved his grip from her hair to her bottom before flipping them back over.

She looked annoyed but he ignored it to lean down, kissing her fully on the lips. Lust quickly replaced rebellion and within seconds she was mewling into the kiss, seeking more and more of his mouth.

Klaus reached for her leg and wrapped it around him. Making to help him, she went to wrap her other leg around his waist too but he grabbed it and slung it over his shoulder instead. Caroline's eyes opened wide before they fell shut again as he kissed her harder. Hooking her ankle around his neck, she bit down on his lip roughly.

Klaus growled into the kiss and she laughed.

He pulled away, eying her. "Are you laughing at me right now?"

Caroline giggled as she rolled her eyes. What a jerk.

"As a matter of fact, I am," she replied haughtily.

"Hmmm," he acknowledged, beginning to lay kisses down her calf. "And what exactly is so funny?"

"You," she pointed out. "Growling all scary-like. Forgot we're human, did we?"

She cocked her head, watching him as he paused against her skin; felt the devilish smirk against the crook of her knee.

Then he turned his head, his electric blue eyes boring into her own.

"Oh, I plan on showing you exactly what a human can do, Caroline."

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, his hand fluttering over the inside of her thigh.

Well except for your crazy teasing which has my entire body on fire, pretty dandy, thanks.

"Fine. You?"

Her head was on his chest, and the hand not currently doing the mamba on one of the most sensitive spots on her body was stroking her hair.

In all honesty she felt a little sweaty. She'd forgotten the level of grossness that accompanied human sex.

"Winded."

She barked out a laugh but he didn't sound very amused.

"I despise humanity," he complained.

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Stop whining. Maybe take a minute to, I don't know, appreciate the experience."

"I thought I just took several minutes to do so, love."

Caroline rolled her eyes again but her cheeks pinked.

Looking down, she was about to scold him and slap his hand on her thigh away when her gaze stuck on something else. She quietened, lost in thought, and Klaus frowned.

"What is it?"

"Uh, nothing," she replied distractedly.

Using the side of her thumb, she rubbed over the skin on her stomach.

Klaus lifted his head to see what she was doing and his frown deepened.

"If you're experiencing another symptom then you should tell me, Caroline."

His words surprised her but his theory made sense, she supposed. Certainly way more than what was currently going through her mind.

"Come on," he cajoled. "Tell me."

God, he was relentless. And she wasn't even keeping this to herself just to be petty but because what she was thinking was seriously embarrassing and he was Klaus and just – ugh.

She hesitated and the dance Klaus' fingers were doing on the inside of her leg grew more insistent.

"Ok!" she exclaimed.

His hand let up and she exhaled in frustration.

"I was just thinking that I haven't had sex as a human… with a human… for a long time."

Her tone heightened at the end, indicating suggestion, however he had no idea what she was attempting to imply.

After a few seconds of waiting for her to elaborate, he frowned.

"I'm not sure I follow."

Caroline bit her lip, trying to think of another way to say this without actually saying it.

"Well," she started, as if she were explaining this to a toddler, "when humans have sex, they're generally careful so as to avoid certain… consequences."

"Ok…" he nodded.

Caroline sighed. If she were facing him she would totally be glaring at him right now. He was literally the only man on the planet she actually had to explain this to. Granted, he'd been dead for a thousand years and thus hadn't had to spare a thought to these kinds of things, but that didn't lessen the amount of embarrassment she felt at having to spell it out to him.

Gritting her teeth, she decided to just rip off the bandage.

"We didn't use protection," she blurted.

She felt him freeze beneath her and had the strong urge to slap herself for even bringing up this line of conversation to begin with.

"Oh," he said, swallowing. "Oh."

She bit her lip then decided to explain her reasoning.

"I mean, I know I'm going to be a vampire again in a few hours so it doesn't matter, it just… crossed my mind, I guess."

Klaus nodded slowly, averting his gaze to where her hand lay motionless on her stomach.

"I understand."

"Not that I want a baby or anything," she rambled, "like, at all. Like I said, it just… popped into my mind."

He smiled. "I understand, Caroline."

He moved his hand up from her thigh and onto the soft skin on her stomach, tracing patterns there thoughtfully.

He had never wanted a child – the very idea of something belonging to him but being able to go against his judgement and make its own decisions and get itself into messes that Klaus would have to fix – none of it appealed to him. Not to mention the first few messy training years inundated with crying and the purest form of misery.

And, of course, there was the fact that he did not have the slightest idea about what constituted being a good father; had certainly never witnessed an example of one to learn from.

But as he glanced down at the small area of Caroline's body, the novelty of creating something with her – something that would be theirs because they'd made it together – began to pull his lips upward. He imagined something else coming into the world which would share Caroline's absolute perfection and, he couldn't deny, he liked the idea.

He snuggled into her neck and she laughed as his scruff tickled her.

"You would've made a terrible father," she hypothesised, wandering off into an imaginary land where she could have this imaginary baby.

He chuckled, his chest rumbling beneath her head.

"I would have," he agreed, pulling his lips over her shoulder. "Do you know at what age it's socially acceptable to ship those things off to boarding school?"

Caroline giggled, knowing he was teasing her.

"Never, if I had anything to say about it," she replied anyway.

Klaus smirked. "And wouldn't you just."

She reached up behind her to give his head a good hard smack. He made a noise of protest and she laughed it off.

"Don't pretend like you don't love my rants," she teased.

"I would never," he promised, kissing her collarbone.

She rolled her eyes then closed them, relishing his affections.

She could still feel his fingers on her stomach and she frowned.

"I would've made a horrible mother," she added to her original hypothesis.

Klaus paused against her for a second, like he disagreed, but she knew it to be true. She knew nothing about children except that it made her completely freak out when they kept crying for no reason whatsoever.

She liked to pretend that she was all grown-up because that was what vampirism sort of demanded, but at heart she was still only seventeen years old. Maybe, in another life, she could've been an amazing mother at the age of thirty, but in this life her path had been set for her by a vicious brunette with a hospital pillow.

And Klaus had been right, she did enjoy being a vampire; being strong, ageless and fearless.

She liked who she was and where she was – right now in particular – and the last thing she needed was any more complications in her life. It had just been… the technicalities of it all, she supposed. Him human, her human – what were the odds? That she be the only person in one thousand years to make love to a human Niklaus Mikaelson?

And, ok, there was a tiny part of her – tiny – that could not stop imagining a little light-haired boy with her eyes and the determined set of Klaus' jaw running around.

"Damnit, William, you'll break something."

"Don't swear at him, he's nine years old!"

"I'm not sure that counts as cursing."

"It does to a nine year old."

"You know, you're quite fetching when you're being unreasonable."

"Oh, no – no way. You are not seducing your way out of this one!"

"What do you think, Will? Doesn't Mommy look adorable?"

"You guys are gross," he would scoff before running outside to play there.

Klaus put his lips to her ear before speaking huskily into it.

"Then we could have been awful parents together."

She froze for a second then craned her neck to look him in the eye.

"Really?" she asked, not quite believing what she'd just heard.

He smirked. "Yes. But don't tell anyone; I've got a reputation to uphold."

Twisting in his hold, she cocked her head as she looked down at him, her bare chest pressed to his.

"Damn, there goes that ad space I planned on taking out in the Mystic Gazette."

Klaus laughed and she stared at him until he'd finished, frowning.

"What?"

She moved her head closer, hovering right over his lips as she stared into the pools of his eyes.

"Really?"

He seemed confused by her repeating her question and she bit her lip.

"You're not just saying that to be charming and because it's not actually ever going to happen?"

"I suspect a lot of it has to do with knowing it will never actually happen," he teased.

She slapped him on the arm and he smiled for a moment before looking at her seriously.

"Caroline, I could think of no greater honour you could allow me than raising your child."

She didn't mean to, but she stopped breathing, and crap humans needed oxygen much more than vampires did.

So she took in a gulp of air then pressed her lips to his and proceeded to kiss the hell out of him.

For a few minutes she was a blonde ball of fire to be reckoned with as her tongue burned inside his mouth, laying claim to every inch of it as she ground her hips against his. Her hands were buried in his hair, tugging, and Klaus was lost in it all, his only coherent thought being once again about how insanely lucky he was.

He sucked in a breath of surprise when Caroline suddenly pulled away with a sigh.

"I should go, I told my mom ages ago that I'd be home soon," she explained.

He frowned. "I can't let you leave before you've returned to your full vampire state, love."

She regarded him for a few seconds before shaking her head amusedly.

"You mean you can't let me leave until we've had vampire sex."

Klaus looked up at her, a lascivious smirk taking over his face as he licked his lips, not even bothering to deny her statement.

"I still feel completely human, Klaus," she protested. "It's probably going to take hours."

"Well, then," Klaus smirked, "I suppose we'll just have to engage in further babymaking activities."

Caroline's cheeks pinked and she was just about to make fun of him when he twisted them over and she screeched, giggling.

Esther watches the two, from behind the Veil.

Niklaus is tender with the blonde – Caroline.

Esther knew that she was her son's weak spot, had used her before after all, and had finally found her method of triumph over the monster she had created so long ago.

The hybrid was untouchable – so give the pretty little thing the disease and then just watch as he's unable to resist helping her. And then, when the contagious element of the spell had done its job, she could finally execute the last part of her plan and kill Niklaus thanks to his newfound humanity. Granted, the rest of the Earth's vampires wouldn't vanish along with him, but that was a price she'd been willing to pay.

Her and Mikael.

He is trusting her to go through with this; to kill the son that had never been his.

But Esther heard their conversation about a baby and now doubt grates at her mind.

Because she'd known the blonde was his weakness but she'd assumed her a plaything; something shiny enough to finally cause her son pause for a moment. For she had been watching him for hundreds of years and never had anyone quite caught his eye and fancy as this one had.

But love.

That she hadn't expected. Yet just minutes ago Esther had witnessed the way her son agree to raise a child with Caroline, to becoming a father, and there was no doubt – he loved her.

Ayana had once told her that something would change in her when she watched her children fall in love; that there was nothing quite like it to witness. After the fiasco with Tatia, Esther had scoffed at the mere suggestion.

Now, as she watches Niklaus with Caroline, she understands. Something in her heart shifts and she feels something she has not felt for a long time towards her little hybrid – mistake – something she had decided a long time ago to replace with being only a servant of nature – motherhood.

Mikael is trusting her to go through with this.

She is powerful enough; can leave this room with two slashed up bodies and a red-soaked bed in her wake.

Or perhaps leave the girl alive to stare upon the result of evil.

She stares at them for a few more seconds, struggling with herself, before she turns away. With an involuntary smile she hears the girl whisper out her son's name and then those three words Esther had never imagined Niklaus would ever manage to rightfully elicit from a woman who wasn't his sister.

Esther loves her son, she does, but more importantly, so does someone else. In the back of her mind Esther has tucked away the memories of the horrors Mikael put Niklaus through, the beatings her light-haired son had endured. A long time ago she'd stopped blaming herself for not stepping up then – Niklaus' actions after being turned were his own responsibility. But, still, she cannot help thinking that this Caroline has the ability to save him; to prevent further abominable acts.

It is unlikely, she will not deny that, but much to the same extent as Niklaus falling in love is unprecedented.

Besides, if not, she can always re-enact her plan.

With an air of finality she waves her hand, ending the spell, and notes the sounds of surprise as her son and the woman he loves feel the effects of their vampirism beginning to return to them.

Mikael will be livid.

But, as she walks away, Esther isn't sure she gives a rat's ass.

There is a way to make a man so weak that he will die for you

It is not your fault

And neither of you know

But you will save him too