This is the continuation for I Dare You. I suggest reading it before this.

This story came as a result of people who kept saying that Caroline was too good for Klaus or that he didn't deserve her. I disagree with that and don't think Klaus needs a redemption storyline. I really want to see a darker side of Caroline, though, and since the show never went there, I thought I'd write my own. My goal was to bring these characters to a sort of middle ground, so at no point will Caroline be going humanity-less (spoiler, sorry), but if bunny-diet-innocent Caroline is your jam then you might not like this, either.

Some explaining: this story takes place in canon-verse (with a few exceptions) WITHOUT SEASON 5. In other words, it replaces Season 5. The only reason for that is because I came up with the entire concept for this story during the post-S4 hiatus. So if any storylines seem familiar, it's entirely coincidental.

Further general differences to S5: The story kicks off after summer and the first semester of college (about 9 months after 4x23). Stefan was only underwater for 2 months before they found him and put Silas down.

Differences to S4 canon: I Dare You is included in canon. No Klayley baby; that entire storyline in 416 never happened. The last time Klaus saw Hayley was in 409.

As with all beginnings, this chapter has some exposition and sets up a whole lot of stuff, which is why it is extra long.

There is some Mabekah at the end which, if you don't like the coupling, you can just scan through because it is pretty unnecessarily fluffy, lol. Nevertheless they're in here because they will become important to Klaus and Caroline's plot.

I apologise for the lengthy Author's Note.

Enjoy :)

Part 1: Our Dark Soul

Chapter 1: Something you're not

But you gave away the things you loved

And one of them was me

"Seriously, Elena? This is so not cool!"

Elena sighed and looked over at her best friend. "I didn't think you'd mind, Caroline. I thought you were fine with it now."

"First of all, at best, I'm 'sort of OK' with you two. Secondly, that doesn't mean I want to spend an hour in the car with you!"

"Who did you think was going to pick me up, Caroline? My school-going brother, my dead aunt or my dead guardian teacher?" Elena paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Your mom could have fetched you."

As much as Caroline hated to admit it, Elena had a point. Seeing as neither of them had wanted to take the long road back to Mystic Falls after an exhausting semester, Caroline guessed she didn't really have the right to complain.

She pasted a smile on her face in an attempt to lighten the moment.

"No, it makes sense that we go together." She hesitated before continuing. "And you're right Elena, I'm sorry. That was insensitive of me."

Elena was smiling warmly back at Caroline when a blue convertible Camaro pulled up. The rock music loudly blaring from it came to a stop too, before the man whose blood had turned Caroline into a vampire stepped out.

In his usual gear of a black t-shirt and dark jeans, he looked exactly as drop-dead gorgeous as the very first time she had laid eyes on him. Of course he hadn't changed. The elder Salvatore brother was as undead as almost every other person in her life. His beauty was as guaranteed for the rest of his existence as her own was, a fact Damon naturally couldn't help commenting on.

"Ladies, college suits you. I swear neither of you have aged a day," he said, winking at Caroline.

Both girls rolled their eyes at his comment before Elena walked into his open arms. The embrace didn't last long before a quick kiss was shared between the two. And as much as Caroline hated this coupling, she couldn't help thinking that they did seem really in love.

Still, she would always believe that Stefan was Elena's epic love. And, well, just generally a better person.

Quietly huffing, she picked up her bags and dropped them into the trunk. She sensed someone behind her before seeing two arms drop Elena's bags into the trunk as well. She turned to face Damon.

"So, how's Stefan?"

"You mean you haven't kept in touch? Tut tut tut."

Caroline glared at him. "I've hardly been in touch with my own boyfriend. It's been a busy semester."

"True, but your boyfriend didn't spend two months trapped underwater while a psychopath stole his life."

Caroline huffed guiltily, then stalked off and jumped into the car. Two minutes into her time with Damon and she was already livid.

She sighed. Truthfully she did feel ashamed for not sticking to her friendship standards when it came to the younger Salvatore. She liked to think it was because of the amount of work she had had to adjust to and consequently deal with, but it was a bit more. So much had happened in Mystic Falls and being away from it had felt strangely freeing.

Whitmore College had proven to be a welcome escape. Being away from the place Bonnie had died and Silas had tricked all of them had been merciful. Plus, it had made it easier to ignore Matt's absence and the accompanying worries about whatever he was off doing with Rebekah.

And there was that other absence…

Elena pulled open Caroline's door and the blonde turned to her friend ready with a defence, expecting a secretive last-minute appeal that Caroline be civil with Damon.

"Hey Caroline, would you mind sitting up front?" she asked instead. "I'm so tired, I could use a nap."

Caroline hesitated. She didn't particularly want to drive shotgun with Damon in the driver's seat, but she couldn't exactly refuse her friend's request based on that.

Caroline reluctantly nodded and climbed out of the car before climbing into the front seat. Damon grinned at her.

"OK. Everyone strapped in?" he asked, with that annoyingly condescending tone of his.

She was regretting this already.

"So, how are you liking college?"

It was a half hour into the trip and Elena's heartbeat had slowed and steadied about fifteen minutes ago.

Caroline figured Damon had grown bored of the silence and to be honest so had she, but that didn't mean that she felt like engaging in a conversation with him.

She sighed. "It's good. Busy," she replied abruptly, staring out the window.

Damon smirked, clearly aware of how uncomfortable she was in the situation… Which was exactly why he was going to continue this conversation.

"Not a generic answer at all," he said sarcastically, but smiled.

Caroline sighed again, realising he was going to be persistent about this conversation. And if that was the case then she might as well talk to him. Particularly since the scenery driving back to Mystic Falls wasn't exactly intriguing.

She turned to him. "I'm just not sure what to say. It's completely different to school, obviously." She shrugged. "I guess, mostly, it was just weird being away from the craziness of daily life in Mystic Falls."

Damon sniggered but nodded.

"Does she like it?" he asked, inclining his head towards the backseat.

Caroline frowned. "Aren't you supposed to know that?"

He took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at her and she swore she detected worry in his eyes.

"It wasn't that long ago when I wasn't Elena's boyfriend, Caroline. I remember how much she told me that never reached my brother."

"You think she isn't coping."

"I don't know. That's why I'm asking you."

He did his little side smile as he glanced at her quickly again, before training his eyes back on the road. Caroline couldn't deny that she was just the slightest bit touched by his line of questioning.

It was no secret that she, Elena and Bonnie had been close. Bonnie's death hadn't been easy on any of them. And then there was Matt who was who-knows-where, and Elena had gotten Jeremy back only to have to leave him behind with zero parental support (because Damon so did not count) and a shoddy school situation.

Caroline had had her own doubts about her best friend's sanity at the beginning of the semester. Especially considering what they'd all just been through with taking down Silas. They'd had very little recovery time before it was time to pack up and head for college.

But Elena had turned out to be OK. Sometimes Caroline had seen evidence of her best friend's tears, but she'd just politely pretended not to notice and eventually those times had become rarer and rarer.

"She's doing well, considering. I think she just misses Jeremy."

Damon nodded thoughtfully. "And what about you?"

Caroline frowned deeply. Since when did Damon care about her? She waited for a sarcastic remark to show that he'd been joking, but only a silence followed as he waited for her reply.

"I'm fine," she responded, still feeling pretty awkward about the question.

She turned back to stare out of the window.

"You might be interested in knowing that Klaus hasn't shown his Original face yet."

As hard as she tried, Caroline couldn't help inhaling sharply at the mention of his name.

"Why would I be interested in that?"

Damon sniggered at her pretence and she gritted her teeth. She hated being so transparent.

"So you guys still want him back, then?"

"Not particularly, but it's always nice to have tabs on the guy whose life pretty much insures your own."

She nodded. Klaus once again wordlessly disappearing had the Salvatores understandably worried. Any danger Klaus was in was a danger for them all, seeing as his death guaranteed theirs.

She tried to pry her thoughts away from the mysterious Original.

"Is there any reason to worry? Has there been any trouble?"

"Nope. We're all good. Which you'd know if you, you know, bothered picking up a phone," he said, re-broaching the topic from earlier. "For some reason I always thought the point of a sober sponsor was actually to be present to sponsor the person."

She turned back around to glare at Damon but he wasn't looking at her.

"God, could you stop rubbing it in?" She sighed. "I feel terrible. I just… needed to get away. From everything."

To her surprise, he nodded in understanding.

A few minutes passed in silence before Damon spoke again.

"So, what exactly are you studying, Barbie?"

She looked at him for a few seconds but he seemed to have completely written off their previous line of conversation. She sighed lightly.

"I'm not sure yet. I've taken tons of classes so far. Not really sure that anything's stuck. I like Psychology," she offered.

He nodded. "I found Psychology interesting too. I think it holds a certain appeal to vampires," he said, winking at her.

She knew what he meant. There was something surreal about being a whole different species surrounded by one that was so similar to your own.

Except, of course, for the fact that you hungered for them.

And there was the handy switch that vampires had to turn their humanity off. But then again, what was humanity, really? It was all fascinating when you thought about it. What was the true dividing line between a human and a vampire?

She thought about his words again.

"Wait. You went to college?"

"Why does everyone always find that so surprising?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "you don't seem smart?"

"Ouch!" he held a hand to his heart and she laughed. "For your information, I went to college plenty of times, Barbie."

"So how come you don't have a job?" she shot back.

Damon looked over at her in surprise. "Now why on Earth would I have a job?"

She wasn't sure how to answer that. "Stefan went to school," she offered instead.

Damon scoffed. "You'd do well not to compare me to Stefan. Stefan enjoys pretending to be human. He thinks it's blood – but that's his real weakness. If he could just accept who and what he is, he'd have a much easier time controlling that person."

She gazed at him, mulling over his words.

"You think trying to be human is a waste of time?"

"I know that pretending to be something you're not never ends well."

"Why?" she said, staring at him fixedly. "I feel happy at college. Normal."

"Is that before or after you sneak your midnight blood bag from your mini-fridge?"

She went silent. He had her and he knew it.

"Caroline, vampires can't be human. You don't have to believe me now, but in about sixty years you're gonna realise that all those people you were pretending for are dead. Then new ones will take their place and you'll start the charade all over again. You'll be stuck in a rut pretending to be something less than the perfect specimen of a predator that you are… for no reason."

She listened intently, pondering his every word.

"So you're saying humanity is useless?"

"I'm saying pretending to be human is. And as for 'humanity', everybody sure seems to love forgetting about the bad stuff that also means. Humans do some pretty terrible things too, Caroline."

He stared at her for a few seconds and she felt like he was talking about something specific.

Like all the terrible things a man she cared for against all odds had done.

Or the awful things she still held Damon accountable for and therefore couldn't approve of him as a boyfriend for Elena.

"So if being human is so terrible, how come you went to college so many times?" she asked, in hopes of outsmarting him by finding a loophole in his argument.

"What can I say, I like college girls," he replied, and winked at her.

"I missed you so much!"

Caroline smiled over her mother's shoulder. For once the town sheriff was not dressed in her uniform, but rather in a comfortable type of outfit that Caroline remembered from the days when her mother hadn't worked almost all hours of each day, every day.

The soft wool of her mother's sweater underneath her chin was comforting. She really felt like she was home again.

"I missed you too, Mom!"

The embrace lasted a few more seconds before Liz pulled away to get a better look at her daughter.

She remembered the days when the examining gaze was to inspect the slightest of ways her daughter had changed after weekends she'd spent with her father. Of course, now she knew that her daughter would always remain the same; an eternally changeless undead creature.

But Liz had found a positive even in this. She had become skilled at reading her daughter's facial expressions. Each crease had a meaning; the sparkle, or lack of it, in her eyes was a sign of something.

She completed this survey now and was happy with the result. Her daughter looked content and in light of the events that she'd had to deal with before leaving for college, it was a miracle.

Liz's eyes dropped to take in the rest of her daughter's body and she frowned at the outfit.

"You look different."

"Yeah, I got some new things. College look and all!" Caroline smiled, pulling silly poses.

Liz nodded. It wasn't a bad look; she just wasn't used to it. Moreover, she wasn't used to her daughter making such drastic changes without her even knowing about them.

She stared at Caroline, whose radiant smile was infectious. She had really missed her baby girl.

"Of course! How is college?"

Caroline grinned. "Honestly I'm glad the semester's over, but it's been a pretty amazing experience," she said, before enveloping her mother in another hug.

Liz smiled before groaning at the sound of her ringing phone.

"I told them not to bother me."

Caroline smiled. "Don't worry about it, Mom. Take it!" she added at her mother's hesitation.

Liz sighed, retrieved her phone and answered it. She didn't even have the time to utter a greeting before her deputy's panicked voice came across the line.

"Sheriff, we have a situation. You have to come in."

"Paul, you know I took the day off," Liz said in annoyance.

"I know and I'm sorry. I tried to handle it without you, but the Mayor requested you come in yourself."

Liz sighed. Rudy Hopkins had progressively become bossier and bossier, and he could be pretty tough when the mood took him.

She tried to tell herself it had nothing to do with the fact that her child had come home from college today and his had not. Instead she let that thought inspire sympathy.

Liz uttered a simple goodbye before hanging up and looking at her daughter beseechingly.

"Honey, I…'

"I heard," Caroline interrupted, tapping her ear pointedly. "It's OK, go. I'll be right here."

"I'll be back as soon as possible, I promise," Liz replied guiltily.

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I have unpacking to do, anyway."

"Thank you, honey, I'm so sorry," Liz apologised before grabbing her coat and making her way out.

Caroline sighed heavily. As good as it felt to be alone again after the long car ride, she wasn't exactly in the mood to unpack all the stuff she'd packed up only an hour and a half ago.

"Oh, well," she shrugged before grabbing her bags and making her way to her bedroom.

She wondered what crisis her mother had been called away to deal with. Whatever it was, it had to be something either really weird or something with a high casualty count.

She dropped her bags in surprise when she opened her bedroom door, caught completely unaware by the sight before her.

"Well that worked out well, didn't it?" Klaus asked from atop her bed.

He was perched on her white comforter like this was some kind of scheduled meeting.

She froze. What else was there to do when a man like him walked back into your life after nine months?

There he was, just sitting on her bed in all his Henley-wearing, jean-clad dimpled glory. She could smell him and she hated that after all this time his amazing scent could still affect her. Or maybe that was just it. Maybe she'd been craving it for too long.

Klaus watched her take him in.

Though he too was undergoing the process of re-adjustment, he tried not to let it show. Not only had he become, in his months of absence, unaccustomed to the general effect that her simple presence had on him, but she had also adopted a new style.

"What are you doing here?"

She sounded angry.

"You look well, love," he said honestly, yet dodging her question.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You didn't answer my – wait, what do you mean 'That worked out well'? Did you have something to do with why my mom was just called away?"

"Welcome back to Mystic Falls, Caroline. May I help you with your luggage?" he asked, rising.

Caroline was becoming more and more annoyed with him and they'd been talking for approximately ten seconds. She hated it when he didn't answer her questions directly. Now he was just flat-out ignoring them. She took a step forward to stop him from touching her bags.

"Klaus, answer my questions or I'm leaving," she said, knowing it was the only real threat she could reasonably make.

"And leave your mother to come home to me?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in amusement as he sat back down on her bed in demonstration.

She sped over the bit of distance that separated them. He came close to recoiling; her hypnotising scent had become stronger as she closed in on his personal space.

"What are you doing back in town, Klaus?" she asked through gritted teeth.

He frowned. She seemed genuinely upset with him, instead of just the mild annoyance at his intrusion that he had been expecting. It was apparent that she had been upset with him long before he'd set a foot inside her house.

Regardless, her attitude was still rubbing him up the wrong way.

"I believe I founded this town, sweetheart, I can come here any time I please," he responded rather brattily, even to his own ears.

Caroline rolled her eyes. He could be so immature sometimes. She hated it when he threw his substantial age around.

"That may be so, but you didn't found my room, so I'd appreciate if you left it," she snapped, proud of her own logic.

She stepped away from him to retrieve her bags.

"Ooh, aren't we in a bad mood today, love?" Klaus teased.

"You know what, which part of 'leave' do you not get?" Caroline shouted, whirling back around. "You sure knew exactly what it meant a few months ago!"

Klaus frowned, a thousand thoughts whirling around in his mind.

…Surely him leaving Mystic Falls wasn't the source of her anger?

However, it was the only hint he had so far.

"Is that why you're so upset, darling?"

Caroline did a double take, realising she'd let out something that she hadn't planned on revealing.

"Don't flatter yourself," she replied bitterly, before turning back around to unzip a bag.

She started pulling stacks of neatly folded clothing from her bag before opening different drawers in her dresser in which to deposit them.

He frowned as he watched her, wondering how best to approach the topic. Taking a deep breath, he decided to let it go instead. The way he knew Caroline, she would bring it up again if it really was bothering her.

"How exactly did the makeover come about?" he asked, hoping she'd be more receptive to this line of conversation.

When he realised that she was either warring with herself about whether to answer him or just simply ignoring him altogether, he went back to studying her busy form. Tucked into the high-waisted black maxi skirt was a plain white top with a three-quarter sleeve. Over it hung a long gold chain with a large feather charm at the end.

It reminded him of his tattoo.

Her hair was sleeker than he'd ever seen it before. The whole look was different but pleasing to him.

Caroline felt his eyes on her as she marched up and down, completing this task at a human pace simply because she didn't want to finish quickly and then have to deal with Klaus. This was calming. Luckily, she had enough clothes packed to keep her busy for a while.

She did feel strange ignoring him, though. More so because the quiet in the room bothered her. Caroline hated quiet moments.

She sighed. "I thought it would be nice to change up my look for college."

"It's different." He paused for the slightest of seconds. "I like it."

Involuntarily she turned to look at him and smiled.

Damnit.

She hated it when he said the right thing. It made it that much harder to stay mad at him.

She huffed and turned away again. As she bent down she realised that she only had her underwear left to unpack now. She bit the inside of her lip uncomfortably.

After a few seconds of hesitation, she grabbed her toiletry bag and headed into the bathroom. She took her sweet time re-placing her things in their proper positions, but when she got back to her room, he was still there. Caroline sighed. She had kind of been expecting him to leave since she had basically ignored him for a significant amount of time already. Now she only had underwear left to unpack.

She silently deliberated before opening her walk-in closet and folding all the empty bags and stuffing them at the top of it.

The silence in the room was heavy again. She peeked casually over her shoulder to see him still just sitting there on her bed, staring at her. She let her eyes roam over the rest of the room, pretending the glance back had been to check for anything she'd overlooked.

She was surprised when her gaze actually fell on a suitcase she had missed. She sighed and made her way over to it, before lifting it up beside Klaus onto the bed. If she'd still been human, this suitcase would have been heavy. Instead, it was like lifting a glass to her lips.

She still revelled in the power of being a vampire, sometimes.

She shuddered, remembering that the only person who knew how much she really relished her vampirism was the man sitting in this room right now.

Caroline unzipped the suitcase and was faced with all her makeup and jewellery. She fingered one or two things before frustration got the better of her. God, why was he just sitting there, not saying anything?!

"You could have at least said goodbye."

Klaus' eyes had devotedly been following Caroline's every movement since the second she had walked into the room ten minutes ago, but now they focused in on her even more.

She wasn't looking at him; simply staring at the suitcase she had just opened, but he could see the hurt in her eyes. It stung. He hadn't realised that anything he could do could hurt her to the degree he saw in her eyes. Short of killing her boyfriend, that is. Which reminded him.

"I thought Tyler would serve as both a graduation and a farewell gift."

Her gaze flicked over to him before returning to the contents of her suitcase.

"Yeah, and wasn't that a thoughtful gift," she muttered.

Klaus frowned. Had that been sarcastic? Now he had no clue what was happening.

"You didn't want Tyler to come back?" he asked tentatively.

She stilled. She knew he was confused, but she couldn't help.

Never would she be able to tell him that as soon as he'd uttered the words, her heart had leapt. Not because her relationship with Tyler could continue, but because she would have the chance to put a final end it.

And maybe, just maybe, start one with someone else.

But she couldn't ever tell him that. It was too late. He had left and she'd made a decision. But there was something she could tell him.

"I didn't want you to leave," she admitted, then immediately regretted choosing to say it.

She mentally cursed. Saying that to him gave him power over her. He would think that he could stay here. That everything could continue from where they'd left off.

Before he'd left.

He was wrong.

Caroline's words hit Klaus in the gut. He'd never dreamed that she could feel that way, to say nothing of admitting it to him. He had no idea how to go about handling her declaration.

He would attempt reasoning.

"I confess I assumed you would understand that I wasn't about to let Tyler return while I remained."

Her head whipped around to face him. She seemed seconds away from tears.

"Why? Because you recanted your threat? You left because of pride?"

For the first time he couldn't meet her eyes.

"Something like that," he replied in little more than a whisper.

The truth was that he had known that he wouldn't be able to watch her be with another man after everything they had been through together. After the two times that their lips had met and his life had veered into the remarkable.

And knowing that soon after he would have to watch her go off to college and be left behind. But he wouldn't even get to play the role of the boyfriend who had to say the sad goodbye.

Because he wasn't her boyfriend. And he never would be. And that thought had driven him away faster than any matter of hurt pride could.

He hadn't said goodbye because she would have demanded an explanation and as much as he liked showing her the vulnerable side of himself that he reserved solely for her, he would not have been able to tell her all this.

"Well, I hope it was worth it," she snapped bitterly, breaking him out of his reverie.

He looked up again to see her busily unpacking the contents of the suitcase. It seemed to consist of mainly jewellery and makeup.

He smiled. Typical Caroline, leaving an entire suitcase for her accessories. She pulled out her curling iron before glaring at him. He realised that he'd forgotten to reply.

He nodded. "I had some business to take care of."

She snorted derisively. "You mean people to kill."

He smiled sweetly. "You know me well, sweetheart."

Caroline rolled her eyes but felt secretly pleased with his comment. She placed her curling iron in its designated position before turning on Klaus, determined to get an answer to at least one of her original questions.

"Are you going to tell me why you're here?"

He studied her for a second, before cocking his head.

"Put that college brain to use, love! I'll give you a hint: I arrived last night," he exclaimed, before winking.

She sighed loudly before going to turn away again. She hated that he could never just give her straight answers.

As if him being him and her being her and whatever they felt for each other didn't make everything difficult enough.

She felt her arm being tugged on gently but with enough force to turn her back around.

Klaus was standing again. And he was doing so very closely to her.

"Caroline," he whispered, his familiar sweet breath wafting over her, "You."

She couldn't help it, she stopped breathing. Her chest constricted and she just couldn't be bothered to relax it again.

He was so close.

Nine months of wondering and not knowing and absence and now here he was. So close.

It would be too easy to close the infinitesimal gap between them so their lips could meet and she would once again be in her own personal heaven.

He watched her stare. He wondered if just his proximity drove her crazy the way she did for him. Every nerve in his body was begging him to do one thing.

It was almost impossible to resist such an urgent request, but he waited.

He would not kiss her before he thought she was ready. And she didn't seem to be. She looked confused.

He wanted her so badly, but he was sure that as usual she didn't know what she wanted. It was frustrating, to say the least.

To hell with what she thinks she wants. Kiss her and she'll know, a voice in his head said. But he couldn't listen. Caroline was different. He would never just take what he wanted from her.

The rooftop came back to him.

I dare you.

He had to know that she was sure.

His hands balled into fists before he reluctantly stepped away from her, putting a good amount of distance between them.

He cleared his throat. "I knew you'd be returning home for your vacation."

Caroline exhaled for the first time since he'd moved towards her, which felt like years ago. The moments that had just passed, when she'd been convinced that he would kiss her, had been everything she had fantasised about for the first few weeks after he'd left.

Before the anger had taken its place.

"In that case, I guess I'll have to get my mom to sign our house over to Matt or somebody," she said, doing her best to keep her tone even.

Klaus stepped back, recoiling from her words. She wanted him unable to enter her house? She truly was upset with him.

"Caroline, I –" he started, finally ready to explain his motivations for leaving without a warning or greeting.

At this point it seemed nothing else would dissipate her anger.

"Klaus, go. Just go!" she shouted, loudly enough to surprise even herself.

He frowned, as confused as hurt.

Very well. He would just have to think of a different way to make her forgive him. He was a thousand years old, after all. It couldn't be too difficult.

He shot her one last look before speeding away – out of her room and out of her house.

And, Caroline hoped, out of this damn town.

"Hey Mom, any idea how long you're going to be?"

"Oh, honey, I'm so sorry. Something so weird has happened here."

Caroline frowned. Her mother sounded genuinely freaked out. "Mom, what is it?"

"It's… pretty disturbing, Caroline."

"Mom," Caroline urged.

Her mother sighed. "There's a pileup on Wickery Bridge of about 15 cars. The vehicles are all from out of town and they're spattered with blood. Strangest of all, there isn't a single body."

Caroline thought she'd misheard. "No bodies?"

"None. It's pretty creepy. We're having the surrounding forest combed and after the forensics finish with the scene, we'll have to get the cars towed so the bridge can be used again."

Caroline gulped. It sounded horrific. No wonder her mother had been forced to go in.

"Wow, Mom, that sounds really grisly."

"I'm so sorry, baby."

Caroline smiled. "Mom, I get it, don't worry about it. You just find those people, OK?"

She heard her mother sigh in relief. "I love you, honey. You're so special. Take care of yourself, OK?"

Caroline agreed and said goodbye calmly but in reality she was seething. Her mother's warning was unnecessary. She knew she didn't have to be scared of the person responsible for this horror.

And after what had just happened between them, she really didn't want to have to call him. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she had much choice. The faster she found out what Klaus had done, the sooner her mother could get back home.

She sighed and got her phone out before scrolling down to Klaus' name in her contacts. He'd given it to her the time he'd saved her life with a replacement prom dress.

She was about to hit dial when she heard footsteps approaching her house. Pushing her hair behind her left ear, she listened.

The visitor was a man who wore shoes that fell lightly and leisurely on the path up to her house – dress shoes. She dropped her phone on her bed and headed to the front door.

Through the glass panel she caught a glimpse of Elijah approaching. Caroline frowned.

The last time she'd seen Elijah had been the day that they'd all been stuck inside the Mikaelson mansion, and before that they'd hardly been besties. What was he doing here now?

She reached for the doorknob in trepidation before pulling it open. She wasn't dumb enough to step over the threshold, though. She didn't know what Elijah's intentions were, but inside her house there was no doubt; she was protected.

Once he had ascended her porch steps, he smiled amiably before bowing his head.

"Miss Forbes."

She frowned. "Elijah."

"I apologise for calling so unexpectedly but I wish to speak with you. Would that be alright?"

Caroline felt a bit awkward. Her outfit was slightly on the gypsy side while Elijah was formal as ever in a full tailored suit. She also stood frozen on the inside of her doorway, very obviously trying to protect herself while he stood there all formal and gentlemanly. Besides, she'd had barely any dealings with Elijah in the past, so this entire interaction was already doomed to be ten kinds of awkward.

Elijah watched her hesitate and smiled at her again. "I assure you that I mean no harm and of course I do not expect to be invited inside."

Caroline sighed. Oh, well. On her gravestone they could put that she trusted handsome guys in well-tailored suits with good manners.

Mechanically she put first one step over the threshold then the other. Elijah stepped aside and she made her way over to the chairs on her porch. For the first time it registered in her mind that they were made of wood. Also known as the substance which, when driven through her heart, would kill her.

She gulped and tried to divert her thoughts to remembering all the manners she'd ever learned from her mother and for the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant.

"Please, have a seat," she offered, gesturing at the chairs. She herself sat down, knowing the gentlemanly Elijah wouldn't seat himself before she had.

"How are you, Caroline?"

Elijah stared into her eyes intently and in that moment Caroline was convinced that he truly cared about her wellbeing. It was overwhelming, and if she hadn't been on vervain, she definitely would've considered the possibility of compulsion. He was just so damn earnest.

"I'm good, I guess, just tired. How are you?" Caroline asked in a stilted fashion.

"Fantastic. It is lovely to be home again."

He shifted before gazing back at Caroline. "I believe you are attending Whitmore College. How has the experience been for you?"

Now he wanted to know about college.

"Um, pretty great, thanks."

"Have you decided on a particular course of study yet?"

"Not really," Caroline admitted.

Elijah smiled encouragingly. "Well there's no rush, is there?"

A reminder of their immortality. She nodded and he sat up straighter.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I'm here, Caroline."

The only appropriate response being 'Duh!', she remained silent.

"I have come here to invite you to my home, as I wish to speak with you this evening."

Caroline blinked.

"I apologise for the last-minute nature of the invitation, but I assure you that it will not take too much of your time." He paused, seemingly to wait for some sort of response but, when it didn't come, he continued: "So, shall I see you at around eight o' clock?"

Caroline's mind had been whirling with what he could possibly want to talk to her about, but at this she snapped out of it, managing to paste a smile on her face and nod.

Elijah grinned, clearly pleased with how smoothly this had gone. He stood up and buttoned his suit jacket before glancing at her again with a kind smile.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Forbes. I look forward to our meeting tonight."

He inclined his head again, before making his way down her porch steps and speeding away so rapidly that not even her eyes could follow his movements. Damn Originals.

Somebody shared her sentiments.

"Please don't tell me an Original made it here before I did."

Caroline jumped up and leaped into his flower-bearing arms. "Tyler!"

He smiled into her hair. Her weirdly straight hair. "You look different."

She ignored the implied question, choosing to concentrate all her energy on giving him as tight a hug as possible. She'd missed him so much.

So many guys on campus had reminded her of him and it would cause her heart to ache until she could talk to him again. Without him there, Skype was what had kept her sane.

He grinned as he felt her crushing his ribs then lightly pushed his girlfriend away enough so that he could plant two brief but meaningful kisses on her lips.

After their kisses she opened her eyes and smiled. His familiarity comforted her. Those chocolate eyes that had gone from goofy and unworried to the eyes of a strong and caring leader were still the same. The floppy black hair that she loved running her fingers through was still there. It felt right. Tyler might have deferred the semester of college, but he was here with her now.

And with flowers.

"You brought me flowers?"

"You like tulips, right?"

"I love tulips!" Caroline swooned.

Tyler grinned. "Well, I hope you like crushed tulips because that's what you just did to these poor flowers."

Caroline grabbed the flowers from him, flung it on a nearby chair then hugged him again.

His familiar scent clung to the red T-shirt he was wearing and his warmth ebbed around her. She felt safe and happy.

Tyler didn't feel any different. He'd really missed his girlfriend and even this town. The place where he'd been was nothing compared to how at home he felt in Caroline's arms.

A thought occurred to him and he gently pushed her away again.

"So was that an Original?"

"Yeah, Elijah," she answered, entwining her fingers with his.

"What did he want?" he asked, concerned.

"He wants me to come over tonight to talk to me."

Tyler frowned. "And you said no, right?"

Caroline sighed. "I wanted to, but he was so nice. Besides, I figured it can't hurt to hear what he has to say, right?"

"Can't hurt? He could kill you, Caroline!"

Caroline winced at Tyler's raised voice. She knew that it was just out of concern, though.

"Tyler. Calm down. Why would he go to all the trouble to come here, where he could've killed me right off, only to invite me to his house… so he can kill me?"

Tyler sighed. "I guess you're right. But I don't trust that family. I should go with you."

"Tyler, no offence, but I don't think that's the best idea. I don't want Klaus changing his mind about you."

It was true. But she was also just hell-bent on keeping Tyler and Klaus as far away from each other as possible for as long as possible. She didn't think Klaus would say anything about the two kisses they'd shared, but with him she could never be one hundred percent sure. The sheer thought of Tyler finding out about her and Klaus made her more nervous than anything else ever had.

She couldn't risk it.

Tyler sighed. "I guess you're right again."

A mischievous sparkle entered his eyes and he pulled her face closer with his hand, kissing her deeply. His other hand lefts hers to drag her close.

Caroline giggled, pulling away. "I'm not sure the porch is the best place for this."

His reply was another kiss as she heard the doorknob behind her being turned. Tyler pushed her through the doorway and they both quickly forgot the flowers.

Caroline tightened the towel around herself as she stared at the contents of her closet.

She had no idea what to wear. She didn't want to overdress, seeing as she was going to Elijah's only for what he'd promised to be a quick chat, but on the other hand she felt like one could never be overdressed in Elijah's company.

Her mind returning to the suit he'd worn that afternoon when he'd come to visit her, she made her decision. She pulled a new white form-fitting shift dress from her closet. Deciding she needed something to make it a little less formal, she searched through her accessories until she found a gold chain she'd impulsively purchased in town.

She'd immediately found herself drawn to the way it appeared to be five different tangled chains. And she would be lying to herself if she said that that initial attraction hadn't had anything to do with the multiple chains Klaus always wore.

She dressed quickly, adding flat gold sandals to the outfit before checking in the mirror to approve of the finished look. She was debating curling her hair when she was distracted by Tyler calling out.

"Hey, Caroline, come look who it is!"

Caroline frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone. And, quite frankly, she was getting fed up with all the surprise visits.

She took a deep breath, calming herself with the fact that there was only one Mikaelson left and surely Rebekah would never come visit her.

Besides, Tyler had sounded excited.

"Coming!" Caroline screamed, quickly pressing a pair of diamond studs into her ears and making her way out of her bedroom.

She entered to the sound of much hugging and when she saw who it was, everything made sense.

She'd been as worried about him as she'd missed him.

"Matt!"

She launched into him with vampire speed as Tyler moved away and Matt caught her surprisingly skilfully, as if he were used to the act.

"Oh my god, I missed you so much!"

Matt smiled at Tyler through Caroline's hair, amused as always by her usual excessive enthusiasm.

He'd missed it.

"Caroline… still human," Matt uttered when he felt sure that she was going to break something.

"I'm sorry!" she said, pulling away. "I just can't believe it! When did you get back?"

"About a half hour ago. Rebekah brought me," Matt said, gesturing to the front door.

Caroline looked behind him, dreading seeing the blonde waiting to be invited in, but the doorway was empty.

Apparently the female Mikaelson had just dropped him off.

She turned back to Matt and he smiled at her. It was a sight she'd always loved and seeing it now stirred up numerous warm and nostalgic feelings.

She'd been so worried when he'd left. Despite everyone's urging for him to re-consider, he'd ridden off with the she-devil. And though, unlike Klaus, he'd said his goodbyes, he'd also forewarned them of little communication, which he'd followed through on. She hadn't heard from him in months and had had constant panic attacks about the horror that Rebekah could have been getting up to with her friend. But here he stood, admittedly human and in apparent good health.

"Care, you look great," Matt flattered, his usual charming self.

Caroline looked down at the outfit she'd just put together and smiled, realising how overdressed she now seemed in this situation. Matt was in a hoodie and both guys simply wore jeans and sneakers.

"Thanks. Elijah invited me over," she explained, rolling her eyes as if it were a huge inconvenience.

"OK, weird, guess I missed a lot. So you're leaving?"

Caroline checked her watch. She still had an hour before she had to be at the Mikaelsons'. Which was lucky, otherwise she may just have blown off the Original. She'd missed Matt way too much to lose out on this opportunity to catch up.

"Nope, I still have time. God, I missed you so much! Tell me what you've been up to!" she said excitedly, leading the guys into the lounge.

They all took seats, hers as close to Matt as possible. She still couldn't believe that he was here.

"Aw man, I've been everywhere, it's insane. Rebekah knows so many great places in literally every country," he shook his head in amusement, "I can't wait for Russia, she says she has a connection for the best vodka I've ever had," he said, winking at Tyler.

Tyler laughed in understanding but Caroline's eyes widened.

"She took me to this place in Thailand that – "

"Wait, are you saying that you're leaving with Rebekah again?"

Matt looked at her, confused. "Yeah, of course. Caroline, the fun I've had with her, it's crazy. I mean, you can't even imagine how amazing the world is until you go explore it." He shook his head. "Mystic Falls kinda becomes a blip on the radar."

"So, what, you're too good for us, now?" Caroline asked in surprise, far more worked up than she probably should have been, considering she'd technically left as well.

Matt laughed his small humble laugh.

"Of course not. I'm just saying that it's amazing to see what else is out there. This will always be my home," he said, grabbing Caroline's hand and giving it a significant squeeze, "but right now I'm having a lot of fun with Rebekah. She's been incredible, showing me all these things. Footing the bill," he said, winking at Tyler conspiratorially again.

Caroline gritted her teeth. "And what exactly is going on between you and Rebekah?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Caroline pulled her hand away from his to fold her arms, clearly indicating that this had become an interrogation.

"Are you guys, like, dating?"

"No, we're not dating," Matt said, shifting uncomfortably.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, analysing his every movement. He was starting to tense up under her accusing gaze.

"Look, we got pretty close, alright? But we're not dating. We haven't labelled it or anything," Matt said a little shyly, a small smile playing on his lips as he stared off.

Tyler smirked. "Dude, you totally tapped that."

Caroline gasped. "Tyler!"

Tyler held up his hands in innocence but Matt returned his grin.

She recoiled. "You slept with Rebekah?"

Matt sighed. "Caroline, just calm down, ok?" He took a deep breath. "Look, I get that you think she's a horrible person and that she's done some pretty terrible things to you, but she's always been good to me."

"You mean except for the time she tried to kill you when she ran you off Wickery Bridge, right?" Caroline snapped bitterly.

Matt sighed again. "She didn't mean to hurt me. And I've forgiven her for that."

He leaned forward towards her. "Away from this crazy town and her family crap, she's a different person, Caroline. She's smart and knows so much about everything. Never mind the fact that she's pretty much indestructible. Her priorities – no matter where we were or what we were doing – was to keep me safe and make sure we were both having a good time. She cares about me. And I don't know what 'we' are or if there even is a 'we' but I do know I care about her too."

He'd seemed to be in a bit of a trance as he spoke about Rebekah, but now he snapped out of it, seeming to want to make the moment light again.

"And I know I definitely wanna do some more free traveling!"

Matt and Tyler shared another smile as they waited with baited breaths for Caroline's response. She sat looking at Matt with an unreadable expression on her face.

Matt really wanted Caroline's understanding. She still held a special place in his heart and he wanted her approval about the life choices he was making, no matter how unconventional they may be.

"Did Rebekah compel you?" she finally burst out.

Matt's eyes widened almost comically in a mixture of horror and hurt.

Tyler cleared his throat.

"Caroline, could I talk to you for a sec?" he requested, inclining his head towards the kitchen.

When she remained staring at Matt in pure incomprehension, Tyler tugged at her arm.

"Caroline."

The blonde huffed before standing up and following him into the kitchen.

"You aren't actually buying that, are you?" Caroline screeched.

"Could you keep your voice down? Matt's not a vampire but he can still hear you shouting."

"Ugh, it just makes me so mad. She's got him completely brainwashed."

Tyler shrugged. "I don't know, Care. Maybe whatever's going on between them is genuine."

"Seriously?" Caroline exclaimed. "A few hours ago you said that you don't trust that entire family!"

"Yeah, well, that was before I saw him talk about her." Tyler sighed. "Caroline, Matt's been my best friend since we were kids and the only other time I've seen him look like that was when it was about Elena."

"Gee, thanks, what was I, chopped liver?" Caroline responded pettily.

Tyler smiled, grabbing her arm and pulling her in.

"No… you were just meant for me." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Maybe we should give this a chance. Matt deserves it, right?"

She pulled away. "No. Matt deserves better. And I'm not going to let her ruin his life."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Caroline," Matt said, entering the kitchen.

Caroline's face fell when she realised that he'd heard what she'd said, before she immediately reverted to her offensive mode.

"Matt, even if everything you're saying is true and she's not going to end up getting you killed – which I think is highly likely, for the record – you still can't just travel the world with her indefinitely!"

"Why not, Caroline? It's not like anybody else in this town gives a damn about me!"

"That is not fair."

"No, you know what's not fair? You judging what you don't even understand." He paused as he shot a brief glance towards Tyler. "Or maybe it's that you understand a little too well."

Caroline's heart stopped. He was talking about Klaus.

Matt was like that. He was quiet and sometimes flew so far under the radar that it was easy to forget about him, but he kinda just sat back watching everybody and ended up knowing way more than you thought he did.

His words had the incredibly annoying effect of making her question why she really was so dead set against this relationship. She suddenly didn't feel as sure as she'd been a minute ago.

But it didn't matter. She had to do her best to put an end to this craziness.

"Matt, this so isn't about me. You can go off with Rebekah for ten years and it'll feel like a few minutes to her, but that's going to be ten years of your life gone! You'll never be able to get those back. You'll have missed college and you'll have to find somebody to marry and have kids with, and Rebekah will go on living for eternity. And that's if she lets you go or doesn't turn you against your will! You're human, Matt. No, I don't think Rebekah deserves you, but it's more than that. You're human and she's immortal and that means that she'll never be able to be with you the way that you deserve to be with someone. And I'm sorry, but that's just the way I feel."

She'd watched Matt's face progressively fall with her every word; by now he looked utterly distraught.

Yet, somehow, he still managed to offer her one of his small smiles.

"It was nice to see you, Caroline," he said softly, before walking out.

"Hey man, you need a lift?" Tyler asked.

"Thanks, but I could use the walk," Matt called back.

He sounded down. Caroline hated herself for doing that to him, but she'd only spoken the truth. He'd needed to hear it.

She glanced at Tyler, who was staring at her.

"What?"

"Nothing. That was just a little cold."

Caroline crossed her arms defensively. "It was true."

"Is that really how you feel about marriage and kids?"

She met his eyes. "Yes. For Matt. We're different. But we're OK with that, right?"

Tyler's gaze dropped to the ground. "Yeah, sure."

Caroline frowned and was about to query his uncertain-seeming answer when he spoke up.

"So what do you think Matt's gonna do?"

She pushed some hair behind her ear, considering.

"I think he'll realise that what I said makes sense and break off whatever madness he has going on with Rebekah."

"So confident," Tyler teased.

"That's because I'm right. There's nothing he can do but see that," Caroline huffed.

"And what are you going to do when Rebekah comes around to stake you for pitting Matt against her?" Tyler asked, still mocking her.

Caroline smiled and laid her head against his warm chest, wrapping her arms around him.

"Won't invite her in?"

"Good, solid, long-term plan."

Caroline grinned up at him and he shook his head in amusement before kissing her.

He pulled away when a thought occurred to him.

"You know, speaking of murderous Mikaelsons, I'm pretty sure you have a date with one soon," he joked.

Caroline glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall, her eyes widening. "Shoot! I have to go!"

She was about to head off to grab her cellphone and car keys when he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her in close again.

"Hey. Be careful."

He placed a quick peck on her lips.

Caroline grinned at him before speeding off.

"You're back!" Matt heard Rebekah call out with that Australian lilt as he stepped into the hotel room.

Rounding the corner, he caught sight of her on the large cream sofa. She looked gorgeous as usual in a blood red dress.

He nodded. "Yeah. Wasn't expecting you to beat me, though."

Rebekah smirked. "I made Nik get to the point."

Matt raised an eyebrow as he dropped down beside her. "And what was the point?"

Rebekah sighed. She doubted that Matt would like this.

"He and Elijah have decided to settle here permanently. He wants me to, as well."

"What did you say?"

"I laughed to his face till he proposed something slightly less ridiculous."

Matt smirked. He loved Rebekah's feistiness. It made everything she did seem like it mattered a thousand times more because she cared so much about it. So it wasn't all that surprising that being with her made him feel like he mattered a thousand times more.

"Which was?"

She took a deep breath. "He asked me to stay for a while."

"How long's 'a while'?" Matt asked suspiciously.

"Matt, I wanted to say no, but…" She sighed. "Three weeks."

Matt regarded her silently for a few moments. No doubt Klaus had used the obligation she always felt towards family to prompt her into staying. And Matt understood that. If Vicki had still been around, he probably would have done anything she asked him to.

Besides, it was only three weeks.

Watching him think, Rebekah hastened to add, "Matt, I only said yes because I thought you might like being around for Caroline's vacation. It's only until the end of it."

He opened his mouth, but she interrupted: "I can call him right now and say I've changed my mind if you're not OK with it."

Matt closed his mouth before reaching over to grab hold of both her forearms with his hands. He gripped them in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

"Babe, calm down. It's OK. That sounds cool – it was nice seeing my friends tonight."

He watched Rebekah's face soften and felt her relax under his touch. She loved it when he called her 'babe'. She still found it to be a novelty, despite the fact that they had been unofficially dating for six months now.

Their global trip had begun as neutrally as she had thought it would be for its duration, but eventually he'd realised the extent of her feelings for him and in return had stopped denying his own.

Matt was everything to her now. No other man had made ever her feel the way that she did for him. Alexander had hated her for what she was. Stefan had desired her because of their shared bloodlust. Countless others had meant so little that her memories of them were fleeting and almost unrecognisable.

Matt was different. He liked her the way she was. She didn't have to hide a single side of herself.

Initially he'd held some issue with her vampirism, but even that he had come to accept. Rebekah found the speed at which he adjusted to be marvellous. She had repeatedly witnessed it first-hand in their time together – like in Beijing, when he had taken to eating with chopsticks in the most amusingly enthusiastic manner.

He was never mean to her, which meant that her paranoid side never had to wonder about why he was always being so nice to her. That was just who he was.

Better yet, Matt made her feel different. Good. And when she was with him she wanted to be good.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah, we'll just…" he looked around the hotel room dramatically, "stay here, I guess."

Rebekah laughed. "If you want to stay at your house, I wouldn't mind. Or even mine," she added, remembering the house she had impulsively bought to get away from her brother.

He smiled sweetly. "I'll think about it."

She returned his smile and tried her best not to get lost in the azure depths of his eyes. It was a battle she lost constantly.

Matt moved closer slowly and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I missed you. It's been awhile since we haven't been together 24/7," he said jokingly.

She inhaled, opening her eyes when his lips left hers.

"I missed you too."

She stood up and headed to the liquor cabinet. She had a feeling that his answer to her next question would require a drink to get through. The other blonde had never liked her.

"How was Caroline's?"

"I was gonna talk to you about that."

She stopped in her tracks. That sounded worse than she'd been expecting.

"What do you mean?" she asked, without turning around.

"Caroline said something." He hesitated. "Come sit down?"

She moved back towards the sofa at a purposefully slow pace, even by human standards. Not even the appraising look Matt gave her as she approached him could divert her attention from the cold hand gripping her undead heart.

"That girl should really learn to keep her mouth shut," Rebekah snapped, dropping back onto the sofa.

Her mind raced. Surely there was nothing Caroline could have told Matt that would turn him against her.

During the past few months she had shared everything with him. Even several of the terrible things she'd done in the past. However, a thousand years was a long time to cover, no matter how much time you had. Could Caroline have found something particularly terrible in Rebekah's past and relayed it to Matt?

Then again, she couldn't think of anything she had done that was worse than what she had told Matt about already.

Perhaps Caroline had just turned him against her by sowing seeds of doubt in his mind.

The steady gaze Matt regarded her with was riddled with uncertainty.

"Well? What was it?"

Her voice betrayed the edge she felt she was standing upon. If vampires could get dizzy, she knew that was what she would be feeling now.

Her heart leapt into her throat when Matt sighed deeply, as if he were making mammoth life decisions.

She knew that they had never technically labelled what they were and that she should have been prepared for him to walk away at any time, but she also knew she wouldn't be able to live with that. It wasn't fair to know that kind of happiness, only to have it ripped away from you.

Matt watched the million thoughts race through Rebekah's mind. Truth be told, there were just as many running through his own, but he'd come to know her – she was jumping to conclusions.

"Babe, calm down."

"I would, if you'd stop staring at me and spit it out."

She wasn't really upset, just scared. So was he.

"I'm sorry. I kind of just don't know where to start, you know?"

"How about where you left off, then: what exactly was it that Caroline said?"

Right. Matt took a deep breath.

"Caroline, she said… she reminded me that I'm human, Rebekah. That I don't have the rest of forever to go off exploring the world. I have an average of maybe fifty more years to go," he smiled, "and I should probably fill them with college and marriage and…" he felt insensitive saying this, but it had to be said, "kids. And those are things I want, Rebekah. And I can't do them as a human travelling the world with a vampire."

He gazed into her eyes and saw her whole world falling apart.

It wasn't an entirely new experience. During the past few months every time he'd announced he had bad news, she would get that dejectedly fearful look in her eyes, like she thought he was leaving her. And every time all he could do was wonder how many times this poor girl had been disappointed like that in her one thousand years.

She looked down at her hands. "Well, Caroline was right for once. You deserve all those things, Matt," she said quietly.

He was silent for a few seconds, wondering how to continue.

"I've never wanted to be a vampire. I mean, honestly, it's unnatural. Then I watched Caroline and Elena handle it and it didn't seem so terrible, you know? But I still hated vampirism. Because my sister died because of it. Because of all the messed up shit that happens in this town. And I thought that's what being a vampire is about."

Rebekah didn't understand where he was going with all this. Why couldn't he just be like every other guy, saying the bare minimum before leaving her alone with her broken heart?

Of course, Matt was not every other guy. She knew that in her heart – the heart that would be ten times more broken than it had ever been, exactly because of that.

"But then I spent the past few months with you, Rebekah, and I realised how great being a vampire could be. Outside of this one messed up town, with an amazing person by your side, being a vampire doesn't have to be the worst thing in the world."

Rebekah frowned, unsure what Mat was working towards, but she had to let him know what he meant to her.

"Matt, you did the same for me."

And it was true. She would have expected his presence to increase her desperation to become human, but instead that desire had vanished. She was completely comfortable being herself with him.

He smiled. "And I forgot I was human. When we're together it doesn't feel like we're different. It just feels… right."

He grabbed hold of her hand, enveloping it between his own two. Rebekah smiled as tears began to drop down her cheeks. She wasn't sure whether they were happy ones or not yet, but she knew that she couldn't even allow herself to hope for the former.

"And then we came here and Caroline said those things to me and I realised: I can't keep doing what I've been doing with you for the rest of forever. Because I don't have the rest of forever." He looked down briefly, then back up at her. "But then I thought: if I did, I'd wanna spend it with you."

Rebekah sat speechless, her eyes widening.

"Rebekah," he said, looking down at his lap shyly, "I want to spend the rest of forever with you."

Still with a firm grasp on her hand, he shifted down off the sofa and onto the ground. Rebekah watched with even wider eyes as he positioned himself on one of his knees.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Her mind raced. This was Matt, right? Yes – Silas was firmly out of the picture. But how could this be? How could she, Rebekah, ever attain this kind of happiness?

"I'm pretty sure vampires don't really do this, but you said I deserved all those things. And I'm not a vampire… yet. So," he looked up, their eyes meeting, "will you marry me, Rebekah?"

Rebekah's mouth opened and closed soundlessly. She still didn't understand how this was happening.

"I love you, babe," he urged.

At that she launched herself off the sofa at him. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Yes, I'll marry you!"

Matt laughed, sure that Rebekah had forgotten her own strength as she fell on top of him and they both went sprawling.

She looked down from atop him. "Are you being completely serious right now?"

Matt smiled. "I'm being completely serious, Rebekah."

She grinned down at him in response before pressing her lips to his. His hand moved up her bare leg and underneath her dress and they kissed until both of them needed to take a breath.

Rebekah smiled down at him. "Do you realise that you just made me happier than I've been in a thousand years?"

His only response was a grin. It was the grin of a nice guy. The nice guy that she was in love with.

He pulled her dress up over her head before shifting them over so he was on top. He placed a warm hand over the black lace bra she was wearing before meeting her lips with his own once again.

She giggled, before frowning as a thought occurred to her.

"Matt, we can get married and you'll have thousands of years to attend college, but we can never have children. You're aware of that, right?"

It was the last obstacle that stood between them and she knew it was something that could drive an immoveable wedge into any relationship.

"Babe, I know exactly what I'm getting into. We'll adopt," he said easily, beaming, before he proceeded to kiss her in a way that left no room for further interruptions.

If you're a Mabekah fan, I hope you liked that. If not, I hope you didn't suffer too much ;)

Just to clarify, because I won't be writing more such extensive Mabekah parts, Matt and Rebekah are now officially engaged and Matt's decided to become a vampire so that he can be with her forever in a place that's not Mystic Falls, i.e. she won't be turning him before they leave. This may all seem a bit rushed but this story kicks off 9 months after 4x23 so they've been together for quite a while now.

Did the Klaroline part live up to your expectations from the sneak peek in I Dare You? Let me know!

This is just the first chapter to re-introduce all the characters and where they stand with each other so I apologise for the length and/or some boring Forwood bits. But there are upcoming chapters with way more Klaroline, so don't worry!

Lyrics are from You're So Vain by Carly Simon, which you may remember as the song from How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days, the movie Klaus and Caroline watch together in I Dare I Dare You.

Review, pretty please :)

P.S. I didn't want to add this at the beginning since the note was already so long, but this chapter was dedicated to thingsthatstopusdreaming on Tumblr who left me the coolest and most flattering message and made me even keener to get this out ASAP.