Author's note: I own nothing related to TVD.

Klaus had finally decided to move to New Orleans. It was better this way. There was nothing keeping him here in Mystic Falls. The only thing that could change his mind was out of reach.

He would move heaven and earth to reunite his family. Even if it was a delusion, his frozen heart would catch a glimpse of warmth in the company of his siblings. He just had to do one last thing before he went away.

Klaus was never good at goodbyes and he frankly wished this was not one. Being blessed and cursed with eternal life, time held no meaning for him. He could wait for centuries if it meant there was a chance for Caroline to love him.

Her smiling face invaded his mind pushing away all thoughts of darkness. He was becoming soft but he liked the feeling. He had already proposed to take her to see the world, but Caroline just shrugged as if the idea was absurd.

Klaus was not sure what he expected from Caroline. He knew she wasn't ready to be by his side. He just hoped that given time, she would come to accept him for what he was: a man in love.

The last steps to her door were the most difficult. What could he say to make her heart warm to him? After many attempts and a lot of things happening they had finally come to being somewhat like friends.

The idea made him laugh. He didn't want to be friends with the exquisite blonde vampire, he wanted to win her heart. This was a consolation prize at best, but he was willing to accept it.

He was about to knock on her door when he heard her voice. Klaus stopped for a moment and closed his eyes. He would engrave the sound of her voice in his memory, to replay it whenever he missed her. For he would miss her, that was an undeniable truth.

Her melodic voice came to his ears like a gentle breeze. She was probably talking on the phone because he could not sense any other presence behind the locked door.

Not wanting to interrupt her, he just came closer to the door and leaned on the left side. As soon as she finished talking it was his turn to say his goodbye.

Lets hope she's not talking to Elena or Bonnie or I will have to wait here for hours, he thought suddenly anxious to talk to Caroline.

As luck would have it, Caroline was indeed talking to Elena. The girls were having a conversation he couldn't follow. If they were going to talk about shoes and clothes he would definitely interrupt her. If they were talking about boys … well he couldn't deny that he was curious, at least where Caroline was concerned.

"How are you doing with all this Silas mess?" Caroline asked her friend. They were all struggling to keep up with the evil warlock and the ever changing landscape of friends and foes.

"Uhmm as expected, I am tired of someone always trying to break hell on earth." Elena gave one of her dramatic sighs.

"Right, never a dull day here in Mystic Falls." Caroline agreed. Then, as if she remembered something the last minute, she added enigmatically. "Did you know Klaus is leaving Mystic Falls?"

The few seconds of silence told Caroline that her friend didn't know about the new developments. At that moment she felt a sense of uneasiness clawing at her. She could almost picture Elena's raised eyebrow at the news.

"Wow … we're finally free from Klaus. I can't believe it. How do you know this?" Elena asked though it was kind of a rhetorical question.

Everybody knew Caroline was Klaus's weakness, so it was to be expected that he would tell her he was leaving instead of just vanishing. Caroline on the other hand was in denial and would disregard any thought of Klaus having feelings for her as pure imagination from her romantic friends.

She believed that Klaus was just intrigued by her lack of fear in his presence. He had said that he fancied her, but that didn't necessarily make it true. For all she knew he was just playing the game of distraction just as she was.

"He told me." Caroline finally admitted. Elena and the Salvatores would be thrilled by the news, Bonnie would throw a party to celebrate it. She …

"Well good riddance." Elena said really pleased. Finally some good news for the good guys.

Klaus heard the comment. He didn't mean to eavesdrop but his super hearing brought the words to him and he couldn't … didn't want to shy away. He was curious about what they would say about him.

If he wanted to be honest to himself he was curious about what Caroline would say about him. He couldn't care less about what Elena said, but suddenly Caroline's opinion of him seemed to be as important to him as his pride.

"Yeah ..." Caroline added hesitantly. "He will not mess with our lives anymore." She wanted Klaus gone from her life for so long that she could not savour the small victory now.

Somehow it didn't feel like a victory at all. She had come to see Klaus as a friend. Well, not with the conventional meaning of friendship, there was too much blood on his hands for her to consider him a friend. But she couldn't find a better word for their relationship.

In his own twisted manner, he had saved her when no one expected him to. And she knew in her heart that his feelings were true. Yet she couldn't bring herself to accept those feelings. It was too soon.

"Caroline, are you OK?" Elena asked, worry creeping in her voice. Caroline's sudden silence alarmed her.

"Yeah, I'm OK. Why wouldn't I be?" the blonde responded with more urgency than she meant to.

"If I didn't know you, I would say you almost feel sorry for Klaus leaving." Elena teased trying to get her friend to open up.

Klaus heard the comment and his breath caught on his throat. The small seeds of hope started to grow. He willed the sounds of the night to stop so he could hear what Caroline would answer to that.

"Don't be ridiculous Elena. Have you been drinking? I am not sorry that Klaus is leaving town. On the contrary, I am happy. I am more than happy, I feel ecstatic like in jump-for-joy happy." Caroline tried to convince her friend. The slight trembling of her voice, the sweaty palms of her hands said otherwise but she didn't want to dwell on it.

Klaus let out the breath he realised he was holding till her answer came, his head dropping to his chest. Those poor seeds of hope had just been ripped brutally before blooming.

Even though she didn't sound absolutely sure, there was no mistaking she was content he was finally out of the picture. It shouldn't come as a surprise, yet it stung a bit.

"But?" Elena continued decided not to let the matter go.

"I was thinking … Tyler could come back to me and we would be happy." A small pause to gather her wandering thoughts.

Klaus had heard enough, yet his feet didn't obey him. He was frozen in place, unable to accept the truth of her declaration.

"It's just that he might bite me at any time … by accident I mean." Caroline blurted out finally finding the courage to voice her doubts.

This thought had invaded her mind since the moment Klaus told her he was leaving. She couldn't help feeling she was being ripped of her cure, of her security net. She was selfish and mean for wanting Klaus for his blood but rejecting him as a monster.

"And with Klaus gone, so is the cure." Elena finished her sentence. It made sense, now they were a bunch of vampires who had nothing to fight against a fatal werewolf bite.

Klaus thought he misheard the last words of the two friends, but the stabbing pain in his heart confirmed what he denied to accept. So, all he was to her was a bag of blood to cure werewolf bites? Her boyfriend's fatal bites?

He was so stupid for thinking she had come to accept him at least as a friend. But it was never acceptance, it was just planning for the worst, hoping for the best.

He had used her to get to Stefan and Tyler, but then he had saved her because losing her was simply unacceptable. Yet hearing the simple truth that his blood was all she needed was painful.

He laughed at himself, a bitter laugh that never reached his blue eyes. What did he expect? He came here to say his goodbyes and finally got what he deserved. He was about to say to her that his feelings had not changed, he would wait for her to join him when she was ready. She could call him anytime she needed help.

The irony of this thought annoyed him. That was exactly what she was thinking, how to get his help without getting involved with him.

You my friend are a walking vaccine and nothing more. The voice in his head was cruel, but it was right. He should leave. And so he did to return to his refuge and heal his wounded pride.

"Well then ask him to give you a sample of his blood for emergency cases." Elena suggested knowing full well that this was not a matter to laugh about.

One did not simply ask the Original Hybrid for his blood. It just didn't work that way.

"Are you kidding me?" Caroline retorted annoyed. "I have not fallen that low."

"I know Care, I'm just saying ..." Elena started to say but was interrupted by an irritated Caroline.

"You know what, enough of Klaus. Tyler is never gonna bite me again. Lets talk about something else." She concluded not wanting to vent her inexplicable anger at her friend.

They continued the conversation for a few more minutes before saying goodnight.

What a weird conversation, Caroline thought to herself when the line went dead. Then she dismissed the thought trying to concentrate on the book she was reading when Elena called her.

The letters on the page danced before her unseeing eyes. Her mind would not let go of a familiar form, a mysterious blonde Original hybrid.

She finally closed her eyes emerged in a dreamless sleep, leaving all worries behind her.