The longer he sat on the bench, the more he drank from his bottle. He knew he was wasting precious seconds. Any second that he did not get closer to finding her would be another second spent in agony for her. But he could not help but reminisce about their moment on this bench.

He had gone after her because he simply loved the challenge. She enticed his inner wolf so strongly that he nearly ran into a car in his pursuit. He hadn´t known then that she was playing the distraction. But anytime he thought back on all of those moments when she had tried to distract him, he realized that no matter what, she never lied to him. It was always him coming to her, she never pursued him.

So her exasperation when she turned around to face him was just as sincere. "Seriously? Take a hint."

Until that night, everything about his pursuit had been light-hearted. Just like his response. "Don't be angry, love. We had a little spat. I am over it already." He hadn´t been that relaxed in ages, it was exhilarating.

He swore he could hear a smile when she just said. "Well, I´m not." without even bothering to look back at him. Of course, she wouldn´t be.

"How can I acquit myself?" It was the only reaction he could manage.

She slowly turned around. "You and your expensive jewelry and your romantic drawings can leave me alone" It was the way she spoke the last word that had him know even after he found out about her agenda that she had been sincere about this. She had genuinely wanted for him to leave her alone at that moment. Little had he known that 51 years after that he would wish he had, for her sake.

He knew right then that if he didn´t make her smile this very moment, he´d never get her to smile for him again. Their banters, their conversations that at times felt almost like they were happening outside of all the Mystic Falls drama, all of it would be gone. "C`mon. Take a chance, Caroline." He remembered thinking about how he had to move this from a chase up to a quiet moment when he sat onto the bench. "Talk to me." If only he could make her see how easy-going he was around her, how genuinely calm and light-hearted she turned him. It was an effect she had on him, one he could not explain, but one he enjoyed. All he got so far was a dubious look on her face. "Get to know me. ... I dare you."

And it did the trick, for she wound up sitting next to him. He couldn´t help but smile as she was so caught off-guard by the scenario unfolding between them, that she almost sounded nervous when she asked what he wanted to talk about.

Oddly enough, he never felt like needing to hide around her. So he stuck to the only answer he had, even if it was simple and a tad bit cliché. " I want to talk about you. Your hopes... Your..your dreams. Everything you want in life."

And for a second he fought, he had her convinced. "Just so you know... " and then she said it. "I am too smart to be seduced by you."

"Well, that´s why I like you." She couldn´t have known that in her own way she had just given him more encouragement in his pursuit than even he would have guessed. Caroline was not one to be won easily, but she was the epitome of a keeper. Someone who´s loyalty was not a passing fancy but a privilege. Someone, who was warm and bubbly and stood on even ground with him without even realizing it. She was a keeper.

And now, over half a century later, he was sitting on the same bench, wondering why the hell he didn´t just keep her like he had once planned on doing. He knew he had to enter the grill eventually, he had to have this conversation for his sake.

3 hours earlier...

Kol and Rebekah were exhausted. They knew their punishment was merely postponed, and oddly enough, this time they both were ready to deal with it. The only reason they were not daggered as of yet, was that their brother considered them resources. And he was prepared to invest all of the resources available to him in righting his wrong. He would wait with punishing them until he had time to think about the how. So for now he only spoke to them when discussing Caroline. Except for that, they might as well be invisible.

Oddly enough, their previous attempts at finding her themselves was of some, albeit little, use. They had found camera footage of the hybrid, narrowing down the surge to the south. Probably Louisiana. But other than that, they were, once again, at a dead-end. They had been for a week now. A week of Nick sending vampires there to dig up patches of land, a week of consulting with various witches. All for nothing.

So he had gone back to drinking and had closed himself off in his study. Painting. Ignoring them. Hating them.

He didn´t hear them come in, and only noticed their presence when he heard Rebekah´s voice. "She´s beautiful." Rebekah had never sounded so meek before.

"Get out. Both of you."

"Brother, as much as I hate to say this, we really need to talk about this." Kol said.

"Do we. Look at her. This was her, in her prom dress, waiting for me to agree to taking here there. And what did you inspire me to do instead? Dumping her in hell. So, no, brother... I am afraid I am not ready to talk about this. Now get out before I dagger the both of you." he just said, returning to his painting. It was her, in her white dress, with that flower in her hair, smiling like it was Christmas.

"Get out". He yelled. And for as moment both siblings turned towards the door. But then Rebekah had a different idea.

"Look, if you´re not gonna ask, I´m going to answer for you. Why did we do that? The answer was simple, as much as I loved the effect she had on you, I hated her. I wholeheartedly hated her. I hated her ability to always smile even when you torture her. I hated the way she said seriously and fine. I hated the way she was always there. I hated how everyone just couldn´t help but like her. I hated her because I just did. And you know when I stopped feeling that way? The day I thought it was fun to play with your jealousy. That day I stopped hating her. "

And just like that Kol held out two daggers for him. "Let it out, brother. It´s okay."

When Klaus finally looked at his siblings, he saw remorse. But he saw even more betrayal. That was all he saw and felt, as he grabbed both daggers. He thought of Caroline, of all those years, of the lies, of his actions. The dagger was almost in Kol, when he heard it.

Rebekah uttered it so quietly, a pin drop would have been louder. "Her dress. Of course, her dress."

So now he was here. He hadn´t daggered either of his siblings, he hadn´t prepared any threats in advance. He was simply here to talk now.

He walked into the almost empty grill without his usual smirk. Without any back-up plan. The only thing on his side was his determination to do whatever it takes to get his answer. There´s a huge chance that the answer will be another dead end, but he couldn´t leave her for dead, knowing there was one pebble out there, which he hadn´t turned yet.

So there he was, standing still, as the last guests made to leave the building. "Look man, we´re closing. Come back tomorrow." he heard the familiar voice of the new owner.

"Hello, Tyler."

And Tyler Lockwood turned to face him. His face showing only surprise and immediate hatred.

"Hello, Klaus."

Gee, I am so sorry, I spent months trying to get this chapter right, and I still didn´t get it right. I hope some of you will still like an update. I´ve decided there´s no point in waiting any longer, so I just posted this chapter, even though it sucks. Sorry.