Part Two: Chapter Twenty-one

"Jealousy is just love and hate at the same time." — Drake

"Do you ever think you could forgive her?"

The question hung between them and Caroline had to wonder if she ruined their moment, the small piece of bliss that they had on this plane. To be quite honest, she was regretting even attempting to breach the subject while they were in such close quarters. Klaus could not throw things and rip apart the furniture like he usually did. Maybe it was better she did this here then, she did not want him ruining the decor before she even had a time to admire it.

"Hm." Klaus hummed, his eyes were flitting over the puffy white clouds as the plane coasted through them. His face was bright with the sun and his hair was more golden than brown. He looked like an angel, he beautiful avenging angel. She got shivers at the thought, her mind stuck on the word avenging. The word was too apt but it sunk into her mind like a hook. Avenging.

"Do you ever think you could forgive her?" She asked again.

Her fisted were knotted into the silk fabric of her shirt and she looked up at him from under her lashes. Nothing about him changed, but a tendon in his jaw tense and she flinched away from it. He was going to be upset. Klaus was holding it in.

She had never told Klaus this, but sometimes he scared her. All that rage and anger and hatred for the world. It was never reflected at her, never not once, but Klaus was magnetic. He was charismatic and charming. He was like a fucking virus. He infected you with whatever he wanted. And she was sick with him, diseased by him. She feared who she was becoming, what she had already become with him.

The witches and their blood, at one point she would have revolted at doing such an act, but now she was sleeping amongst their corpses and shagging her lover while wearing their blood. Diseased, was what she was. The scary part was she didn't know if she wanted to be cured.

"I hope you aren't asking forgiveness for the wretch," Klaus said his voice low. Caroline's hands twisted into her shirt. She squared her shoulder and looked at him.

"I'm not. I'm asking if you think you could ever forgive her. I…"

I don't really blame her.

She couldn't say that, Klaus would take that as a sign that she was taking Katherine's side and that wouldn't do. That would be like pushing him away and after having him so close she wasn't sure that she could bear to not have him near her.

But she didn't blame Katherine for becoming a vampire. Sure, Caroline wanted to see Klaus become whole as much as he did. But Katherine was a young woman, someone who had been disgraced after the birth of her daughter and shunned by the father of that child. When they had both escaped to Paris they had wanted to live. They wanted a life that they could control and that had not been the result.

"I know, it won't really change your mind, but I knew her before she became this Katherine persona. I knew her before she became such a backstabbing bitch. I just… I can't help but see her for who she was," Caroline said. She furrowed her brow trying to dig up pleasant memories about the times that they were together. When Katerina had sang at her first opera and when they received their first payment for their services. The way the two of them would huddle together at night and trade secrets and dreams and nonsense.

Katerina had stars in her eyes when they were whispering together at night. "I'll find my little girl. She and I will be together again." Caroline's lips made a weak smile at the thought. Had it truly been five centuries ago when they were human and innocent? Had it been so long since she had last since her friend.

Klaus' eyes softened as they took in her form. He rsmile brightened and he smiled back at her, reaching out a hand to cup her cheek. Caroline leaned into the warmth of his hand. Klaus always ran warmer than the average vampire. She had teased him about it before claiming that all his fur was on the inside and that was why he ran so hot. His eyes were seas of warmth and strengthen and Caroline basked in the feel of it wrapping around her.

"You're so poised sometimes sweetheart. Sometimes I forget how young you are. I cannot let this slight against me pass. What will others think, should I let someone like her get away with her actions?"

She tried again, "Then just tell them that I was the one who begged you to pardon her and-"

Klaus sucked his teeth at that. "And have them think that I am so easily swayed? That all they have to do is just suck up to you and you will convince me otherwise? I think not Caroline."

Caroline narrowed her eyes. "Oh? And is having me around such a liability? Is being with me so tedious?"

Klaus slumped in his seat and ran a hand down his face.

"You know I don't mean it like that, love. I just meant-"

"Meant what? That you can't have people seeing me as a partner? An equal? Someone whose advice you consider? I'm sorry, I just forgot that I was simply the trophy girlfriend. Sleeping with you is just my reward for helping you kill your father."

"I will not have you trivialize what I feel," Klaus said in a sharp tone. Caroline turned away from him sinking into the creme and tan cushioned seats. She shouldn't have asked now look, they were both mad on the plane with nowhere to run.

The home that Klaus secured for them was still under construction something that Caroline thought was going to grate on her nerves. The hum of a buzz saw was already causing too much noise for her liking and they had only just arrived in the sleepy town of Mystic Falls. Caroline left Klaus in the finished living room with a phone pressed against her ear as she argued with the contractor about why the renovations were not done yet.

Klaus listened as his love argued harshly on the phone with the poor man, who could not have foreseen the difficulties that was going to come with the home. Klaus had already known beforehand that there were going to be several complications when he chose the house, that is what tended to happen with older homes and this house was a relic of the Southern Antebellum age. Nothing as grande as what he had built for him and his family back during their New Orleans days, but something close enough. He wanted the projects to continue going on in the house it would keep Caroline occupied while he was away.

Pulling out his phone, he pressed the most recent contact and waited for the phone to right. The phone had barely gone through the first ring when it was picked up.

"What the hell do you want Nik?" Rebekah's voice came through the phone sounding tight.

"Checking on my baby sister. Where are you dear?" Klaus drawled as he checked the crown moulding. The paint was slightly uneven something that Caroline would pick on the moment that she walked back into the room, if she had not already. Living with her had caused him to notice such things. "We all need to be together again and I'd prefer it to be sooner rather than later."

Rebekah let a mix between a snort and a sigh. It was a very ugly noise and Klaus' lips twisted somewhere between a smile and a sneer. He chuckled lowly.

"You drag me all the way from my lavish life in elsewhere all so I have to deal with Kol and stuffy old Elijah! I could be lounging on a beach in Santorini," Rebekah frowned. Klaus could hear the hum of people behind her, it was also a screech coming from the small device. He focuses back on the pacing of Caroline in the kitchen as she berated the contractor more.

"And the finishes on the cabinets are all wrong! I said ivory! Something off white. This is creme! Off-white sure, but creme has a beige-yellow undertone that clashes with the marble countertops and makes the light that comes off of it golden instead of white. We're going to a modern minimalist kitchen here!"

"...and the last time that we were all together-"

"Rebekah! Sister. I remember what happened the last time that we were all together. But this time everything will go off without a hitch," he said with raised brows.

"You're still with the tart," she said with a sour dip in her tone. "I thought you'd be tired of her now."

Klaus let out a laugh, "Now Bekah darling, you know how I feel about Caroline."

"She's the reason why Kol spends so much time away from us." Klaus waved his hands. "You don't care do you." Klaus paused. Of course he cared, his brother and his girl had some history but that was between them and they got over it when they had to address a problem. It was a problem of the smallest degree in his eyes. Caroline was all his.

"Kol has always been a wandering spirit."

I can't remember the facts of my parents funeral.

Was it raining? How many people were there? Was my mom dressed in her favorite blue dress? Was dad wearing his nice cufflinks, the one that Jeremy almost lost? What did we eat at the wake? Was it a casserole that Bonnie made? Was Bonnie even there?

I can't remember details. I wouldn't remember the day of the funeral if I hadn't written it down in here.

What do children do after their parents die? All I can think about is a Series of Unfortunate Events where those kids get shuffled to one horrible situation after another and more and more people die.

I'm tired of people dying. I'm tired of hearing about death and I'm tired of hearing I'm Sorry. I know they are sorry that this is happening and I'm going through all of this but I don't want an apology. I just want all this to go away. To stop happening.

You know sometimes I wish I had died with them. Gone to heaven or whatever place they are at now. Other times, I breathe and I am so grateful just to be here. To see the sun rise and set, but then I feel so selfish because Mom and Dad won't be able to.

Grief is a tricky thing. I don't know if I should be what I'm feeling or not.

I think that I need more time.

"Elena! Where are you?" Elena rose from her bed and gave a smile, closing the old journal.

"Yeah, Stefan just hold on a sec!" she called back.

Virginia was not her favorite place. What was there in Virginia other than a very bad breakup and Richmond? Even then, what the hell was in Richmond for her? She brought her coffee to her lips and took a sip. It was the right mixture of bitter and sweet. Never had she been so grateful for the invention of creamer, drinking espresso she could do, but having her heart race a mile a minute was not something that she enjoyed.

Katherine pressed a hand to her chest. She swore, swore that she could almost feel the phantom rhythms of a heart. The thundering beats of it almost in sync with the caffeine charged beat of those all around her. She closed her eyes and sighed.

There were days where she felt her age. She felt the years slowly creeping on her, sometimes she heard a creak in her bones. Her face had stayed the same, beautiful and youthful. She wondered at what she would look like. She wondered at what would she have looked like if she had gotten older. What lines would have developed on her face?

Then she remembered when she was born and she probably would not have made it past thirty. It was better this way, she was powerful this way. She had anything she wanted this way.

Well almost anything.

Katherine gave a smile. She would have the world in the palm of her hand soon. She could already feel it.

The car pulled around to the large white house and the perfectly manicured lawn. The rose bushes were blooming even though it was September and that was how Elijah knew that the plants had been imported. Entering the house, it was clean and a perfect mix of the art deco style that was favored in the thirties with all the gold and extravagance and the Renaissance Baroque that he knew Klaus favored. How Caroline made the two styles that could have clashed come together was something that she would be sure to tell him about when he saw her.

The house was silent. Not a breath could be heard but his own. Without thought he made his way towards the office. His eyes roved over the finishes of the wall, marking down all the small discrepancies that human eyes would not be able to see. He knew what Caroline was probably frothing at the sight of them.

The last time that his family had gotten together like this was in Prague. Prague… the first thought that rose in his mind was that of the woman with red hair and the fire that surrounded her to match. He hoped that everyone was over what happened in Prague, or they had at least put the memory out of their mind.

In the office Klaus sat behind an enormous cherry wood desk. It was a scratched dented thing. Snarling faces of gargoyles were at every corner but as he got closer the details became more concrete. And the faces smoothed out to show that they were snarling dogs connected by a chain of thorned roses.

Klaus was a statue of a man, angelic and soft in the fading light of the day. Elijah wanted some times to remember that Klaus was his brother and not some sort of monster that he was subservient to. But Klaus always ruined that day dream, he always constantly ruined it.

Klaus gave a smile, though it was nothing more than a satisfied twitch of his lips. Elijah stood in front of his brother's desk running a finger over the smooth wood of it. It glided over all the scratches with ease. Caroline must have gotten the desk refurbished again.

"Good to see you brother," Klaus said.

"Caroline must be running ragged. The designers and architects did a very… inadequate job," Elijah said as he found yet another small mistake. Klaus gave another laugh as he looked around the room also his eyes hooking in on all the small things that he knew would drive Caroline mad. Elijah would not be surprised to find that Klaus purposely did this, to keep Caroline busy and out of his way. Subterfuge was the language of affection after all.

"She was on the phone the moment she walked in, screaming at the poor man responsible for 'ruining her vision,'" he said. His whole face softened and Elijah gave a small smile of his own. "But that is not why we are here 'Lijah."

"Yes, the doppelgänger. She's here."

"Waiting and ripe for the picking," Klaus said. He leaned back in his chair. His eyes hardened, filling with vitriol and heat. "I cannot afford any complications with this one, Elijah."

Sitting down, Elijah pulled at the cuffs of his suit. "Of course, any vampires and humans are compelled to follow our commands to the letter. I know that our siblings would not ruin something like this either."

"Kol has always been a loose cannon." Klaus said with a shift in his seat.

"Kol has always been a loose cannon but he knows when to go off," Elijah said. "He has some control. How do you propose to control the witches? They cannot be compelled."

Klaus gave a smile. "I have it all under control."

Elijah gave his brother another chancing look. The gleam in his eyes was one that he knew well, it was sharp and biting, and did Klaus bite. This time, Elijah was sure that any mistakes were going to be met with a dagger. "Under control?"

His brother only gave a quirk of his lips and Elijah knew that he was just going to have to settle with that for a response. He sighed then upset about being in the dark but resigned to it.

"I will help in any way that I can," Elijah said as he rose from his seat. Klaus raised his brow then.

"Elijah. I will be employing the vampires this time."

"I expected nothing less," was his only response.

Thanks for sticking with this story for so long! I wanted to write more, but this chapter is mainly filler with no plot development.