Since it was bloody ridiculous in my opinion that Caroline was always scared of Klaus, I decided to change that.

"We turn off in 4.1 miles." Caroline piped up, hoping to get a less moody reaction out of Klaus. He'd blamed her for losing his daughter and hadn't said more than a word since. When he didn't reply she looked away. Fine, if he wanted to spend this whole time being grudgey it wasn't a problem. His head resting on the passenger seat, watching the world fly past, she felt like he was going to give her the silent treatment all the way there. Her eyes went from glancing at his in the mirror back to the road.

"Do you regret the time we spent together?" Klaus's voice sounded. His accent always made his voice sound smooth, no matter what he said. She looked at him incredulously.

"Seriously?" She asked in reply as if it were obvious. Of all the things she thought he'd bring up, that was not one of them. She'd told him what she wanted all those years ago, and he wouldn't forget something like that.

"Do you?" Klaus insisted, his eyes locked on hers. She turned away, the first thing to come to her mind was the passionate few hours they'd spent in the forest. That had always been a good memory; it had actually become like an anchor when everything else was going wrong.

"Okay, if it'll take your mind off of wanting to kill an innocent, teenage boy then…no I don't regret, our time together." She would file his grin he was trying to hide from her under more good memories. He'd tried to wipe it away and it sprung back onto his dimpled face, making her join into his happiness. "I just think when we met I was…so young." She continued, wanting to play this down. The words she'd used, 'when we met', the inflection she used, had his eyes flickering like candle flames, remembering everything they did together, and against each other. She'd missed that light in his eyes. "When I think about it, I was someone else back then." She was getting used to the idea of immortality, having to realize she'd never grow any older, never have a family. Tyler was the love of her life who she'd travel the world with when Klaus was done hunting them and being an ass.

"And so were you." She added, glancing at him. A man fueled by rage and sadness, still terrified of his father…or foster father, after what Hayley had told her. And a man who she'd never in a million years want to think about raising a kid. She could tell from the look on his weary face, he'd been thinking the same thing.

"I don't think I've changed all that much." Klaus muttered.

"I do." Caroline stated as if he were crazy. His interested look pointed at her as a sign to continue. "The man I met back then wouldn't have wanted to keep his child's mother in the picture. Wouldn't trust someone implicitly, even if they did have his child. He definitely wouldn't have trusted the woman to raise his child herself when he wouldn't be able to protect her from all the different people wanting revenge on his family."

"What about you?" He asked.

"What about me?"

"Do you think I would've trusted you to raise my child, protect her." Klaus replied. Caroline looked away, considering it.

"I don't think so. You'd be even more of a helicopter parent to Hope than if you hadn't been separated from her all that time." Caroline replied. She glanced back at him and his eyes flickered away, thinking.

"So you don't regret, meeting me?" He asked, looking playful again, his eyes back on hers. She smiled at him so easily. He'd grown softer with his daughter, with trusting Hayley. Maybe that's all it was, he'd just needed to care for something that depended on him to be good, in order to become the man she thought he could be. She looked toward the road again, knowing full well it didn't matter if they crashed, although it wouldn't be a plus to have to walk the rest of the way. Klaus's smile pointed straight at her when she looked back at him.

"No." She replied softly. Things weren't as much peaches and cream as it felt right then though. She hadn't been the reason he changed. "But," she countered, looking at the road again "I do think I represented something for you back then."

Klaus stared into the edge of the top of the windshield. She really had no idea how incredible she was to him still.

"Something…innocent. It reminded you of a part of yourself that you lost and wished that you could get back." Caroline said, her voice lowering in insecurity. "If we'd never met until now, I wonder if you'd even notice me." She laughed.

That was enough. Caroline has spent too much time surrounded by others who underappreciated her. Even if he hadn't been in her life for a few decades, he still knew what she meant and how important she was. To everyone and everything in the supernatural and human worlds.

"It would be impossible not to notice you, Caroline." Klaus replied, turning to her. Her eyes flickered over to him, not meeting his gaze in hesitation, but still hoping for more. "Your essence would hover around me," He continued, her eyes lifted to his. "Harangue me, until I did." He grinned. Making Caroline laugh was one of his best abilities, he knew. She breathed a laugh, grinning and shaking her head at his words.

Oh how great it would've been to kiss that invulnerability away right then. For now he'd just have to keep dreaming of it. He bit his lip at the thought and looked away.