You Deserve More than I Can Give

A/N: A brief one shot taking place hours after the events of 3x15.

"Caroline."

The word was whispered intensely, yet so softly no human could possibly have heard it.

Caroline wasn't human.

The blond woman woke with a start, sitting up in bed before she even realized what her vampiric hearing had picked up. She strained her hearing further, trying to pinpoint where the sound had come from. She heard a car backfire five streets over; two tomcats getting into a fight in an alley; the gentle hum of traffic in the distance. She was ready to write the noise off as something from a dream when she heard it again.

"Caroline."

Clearly she wasn't dreaming. Caroline shifted, moving her legs from under her blankets and standing. She straightened the tank top and sweats she'd worn to bed as she moved towards the glass paneled door which led to her balcony—the voice had come from outside the house, and from that general direction.

Checking to make sure she couldn't actually see anyone out on the balcony, Caroline carefully opened the door, straining her vampiric senses of hearing and sight to no avail. Whoever was out here was better at hiding than she was at finding.

She had turned again, prepared to head back to bed, when the fine hairs on the back of her neck rose in warning. She whirled around, ready to throw the intruder off the balcony if she had to—she stopped short when she realized who it was.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and frowning.

"'Ello, love," was Klaus' reply for the moment, as he stepped forward into what little light was afforded by the mostly-full moon above. "Did I wake you?"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "What do you think? That I was lying awake all night pining for you?"

Klaus chuckled. "I take it you weren't, then. But a man can hope, can't he?"

"You still haven't answered my question," Caroline shot back, artfully dodging his own.

"I should have thought it obvious; I'm here to see you."

"Well, you've seen me, so you can go now. I don't stand out on my balcony at four in the morning talking to a guy unless I really like him."

Klaus looked amused at the rebuff. "And yet you haven't slammed the door in my face already. Why is that?"

Caroline shrugged, looking anywhere but directly at him. "I didn't want to be rude, I figured I'd just ask you to leave first."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then I will slam the door in your face."

There was that steely glint of determination in her eyes, and Klaus didn't doubt that he could provoke her into doing just that. But he didn't want to. "You forget, I've already gained entry to your house. One closed door wouldn't make much difference."

"You're right. But I'm on vervain, so you can't compel me, and unless you came here to get in a fight with me you wouldn't try breaking down my door."

She had him there. "That isn't why I'm here."

"Really? Then why are you here? You still haven't answered." Caroline sounded exasperated. "I didn't think you'd want to talk to me after I distracted you at the bar."

Klaus was silent a moment, studying her; Caroline shivered, even though it wasn't very cold. Then, "I was considering ripping your heart out." He spoke softly enough that it was only because she was a vampire that Caroline could hear him. Her eyes widened and she took a step back—she wouldn't give in without a fight, but she knew in a full on slugfest Klaus was far more powerful—but Klaus shook his head. "I do not… handle disappointment well, Caroline. Nor betrayal. I was angry." He thought back to the drawings he'd burned, watching Caroline's visage consumed by flames. No doubt there would be more drawings to replace those burned before the day was out.

"Then…" Caroline took a deep breath, though for some reason she didn't believe Klaus was going to hurt her. "What changed your mind?"

"You. You were protecting your family, just as I was trying to protect mine. And you had promised me nothing; it was hardly a betrayal. I wouldn't have done any differently in your position."

"If you're here trying to get my sympathy-"

"No," he interrupted her. "That isn't it either. Caroline…" He took a deep breath, stepping closer and looking into her eyes. "When I said I fancy you, I meant it."

Caroline shifted uncomfortably. "Klaus…"

"I'm not finished. I did mean it. I still do. I have been alive for a very, very long time, Caroline. I have seen a great deal. I have watched humanity tear itself apart time and time again, and I believed there was nothing worth saving about it. I believed myself and our kind superior, the only worthy beings on this Godforsaken planet. And yet… when my siblings disappointed me, I drove daggers through their hearts and locked them away. I regretted it, but I saw it as a necessity, and over time I ceased to care. I haven't felt remotely human for nearly six hundred years. It isn't easy to come back from that."

She was looking at him now, really looking, like she was seeing him for the first time. Caroline no longer looked frightened or tense, but almost as though she were in awe of what he was telling her. Klaus allowed himself to hope, a luxury he hadn't afforded himself in a very long time.

"I was never accustomed to the word 'no'. I was even less accustomed to anyone having the nerve to tell me 'no' to my face, as you do. But I'm beginning to think I deserve it. I have done nothing but hurt you and your friends in my quest for power, and the blood on my hands spans centuries and continents. I don't deserve happiness. I don't deserve friendship or compassion. I certainly don't deserve you."

Caroline's breath hitched in her throat. How had he gotten quite so close to her without her even realizing it? And why didn't it bother her?

"But you, love. You do deserve happiness. You deserve more than I can ever give you." He slowly lifted his hand, as though scared he would startle her away by moving too quickly, and very gently touched her cheek. If her heart had still been beating, she might have passed out by now. "Consider Tyler's sire bond to me ended," he murmured. He wasn't entirely sure if he could break it as easily as he could compulsion, but he could at least set the boy free, if that was what Caroline wanted.

Caroline was still trying to manage coherent thoughts when a brief gust of wind signaled Klaus' departure. She could still feel the spot where his hand had touched her cheek, and she touched the spot with her own fingers, staring in the direction Klaus had gone.

She was not falling for the enemy. She was not falling for the enemy. She was not…

"Oh crap."