Author's Note: I know, I shouldn't be doing another story, but this is going to be it for a while, I promise! It's just another one of those stories that I've been thinking about since I got back into the fandom. I'm still holding out hope that more people will return to this fandom so that I have more to read when my Klaroline heart needs feeding. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!

Caroline opens the door to her home and frowns at the popped dimples thrown her way. She blinks once, twice, three times before swinging the door closed as fast as her twitch reflexes would allow. Which isn't fast enough for Original speed, apparently, as Klaus's hand catches it before she has the chance to close it all the way.

Caroline groans louder than necessary and opens the door again to see Klaus staring back at her, amusement shining in those beautiful blue eyes.

"Now that wasn't a very pleasant hello, Caroline."

Honestly, she knew why he was there, on her doorstep and there was no one in the world that could be blamed for this aside from her. But that doesn't mean she's not going to direct her anger and frustration at the man in front of her as she did sort of blame him too.

"What do you want, Klaus?" Caroline asks, crossing her arms over her chest and leveling a look at the hybrid. "I've very busy."

"I just wanted to see if you had time to talk," Klaus says amicably. He flutters mile-long lashes like it's no one's business.

Caroline has to steel herself against that feeling that was creeping up in her stomach. That very same feeling that got her into this predicament int he first place. It was a very dangerous feeling. She can't let that feeling keep controlling her. It has been nothing but trouble for her. It takes everything in her power not to let the longing feeling reach her eyes but she suspects something might show on her face.

"I'm busy, and there is nothing to talk about," Caroline says, forcing the ice chips into her voice. She desperately wants to hide how she really feels about this, but the look on his face - the amusement - gives her the impression that either it's not working or he's too in his own head to care what she's trying to convey with her expression and her eyes.

"Can I come in?" Klaus asks, all pretty, looking at her happily despite her attitude.

"No," Caroline says, leaning against the doorframe, to block the entrance into the house with her body. Not that she wasn't certain that he was able to plow through her and into her home if he really wanted to. "If you have something to say, say it out there." She jerks her chin toward the porch where he's standing. No matter how hard she tries to push him away, he doesn't seem to care. Nothing she says bothers him.

Klaus's smile turns even more devious. "Very well, if you wish to talk about the passionate, lovely night that we spent together?"

Caroline's eyes nearly bulge out of her head as soon as he started talking. Her eyes scan the area in alarm, wondering who could be hiding around which corner listening in on their conversation without them knowing. She reaches out, grabbing his arm and pulls him into the house. She pushes him past her and looks around the outside one more time to make sure that no one is obviously listening to them, before slamming the door shut.

She spins around to glare at the hybrid. "What is wrong with you? What if someone heard you? What if they thought that something happened between us?"

Klaus's lips purse with the smile he's not really bothering to fight. "But there is something between us, love. The night of the gala my mother threw? When she was playing house at getting us all together so that we would be linked." Caroline stares at him. His eyebrows quirk. "You know, we were out admiring the horses, and I made you mad, and we got into an argument and - "

Caroline waves her hands around briskly. "Alright, alright, stop! Nothing important happened after that."

Klaus frowns a bit. "But you kissed me, Caroline. You did."

Caroline crosses her arms over her chest and steps closer to Klaus, lowering her voice like someone would be able to hear them from within the house. Klaus welcomes the closeness, wrapping his arms around himself and leaning in close to her.

"It was a moment of weakness, Klaus. Tyler left me for parts unknown, and Elena was risking her life and we had a whole gaggle of Mikaelsons to deal with, which was our faults - sort of. But I was having this really ad time and you were there, and you gave me that ridiculously pretty dress and you were charming and blue-eyed and talking with your voice saying words the way that you do," she says mindlessly. Klaus is looking more and more amused as she goes on.

"My accent?"

Caroline nods, looking up into his beautiful eyes, hating the heat pooling in her cheeks. "Yes, that. And I was feeling vulnerable and upset and you were there, being you." Klaus leans in closer, distracting her with his hot breath washing across her face. "But we don't need to talk about it, because it was nothing."

Klaus pouts, pretending to be hurt. "But it wasn't nothing. It was the sweet, passionate moment where you finally let your heart do as it pleased." He reaches out, lightly touching her neck and cupping her jaw. "For a single moment, you weren't afraid. You were free."

Caroline stares up into his eyes, reaching up to grip his wrists. A small part of her wanted to yank his hands away, tell him he needs to stop living in a dream world and shove him out of the house, forbidding him from ever coming within a thousand miles of her, but staring into his eyes, she remembers that night with crystal clarity. It is hard to remember exactly how they got to that moment. One moment she was yelling at him about how she likes people and chooses to see the best in them, the next moment they were rolling around upstairs, in one of the bedrooms - his, maybe - and they were throwing each other around the room.

In the back of her mind, she remembers him lightly pulling her dress off of her - no doubt because it was expensive and pretty and probably one of a kind. But she wasn't nearly as kind to his suit, which he didn't mind. She remembers stripping him down to his boxers that were riding low on his trimmed hips that looked more expensive than the diamond necklace she was wearing. She steps back a tiny bit to admire his lithe body lined with strong, sinewy muscles.

Suddenly she feels self-conscious in her paper-thin, creaseless nude-colored underwear and nude strapless top each about a few years old. Caroline immediately starts to regret this, feeling like a gremlin standing next to a British ken doll. The hesitation must have shown across her face because Klaus steps back into her space and starts kissing her everywhere. Kissing her face, her lips, her neck, her shoulders, her clavicle, her chest, her stomach. Anything he could get his lips on, he kissed.

"Klaus..." Caroline says softly, her eyebrows pulling together. "I don't know. I'm not..."

"You're beautiful, Caroline," He whispers, kissing her stomach before standing up again to stare down into her eyes. "You are beautiful and kind and pure and perfect. Tyler was a fool to leave you behind. I want nothing more than to worship you as you deserve to be," he whispers darkly, blue eyes flashing a touch of molten gold as the wolf starts to come out a bit, "but if you truly don't want this, I won't force you. Say no now, and we will get dressed again and I will walk you back to the party without complaint."

"What if I say no two minutes from now?" Caroline whispers, looking into the eyes of the wolf was dangerous. Scary, even.

"The moment you say no, we stop," he rumbles and despite the scary look on his face, she could feel it in her gut. He meant it. He would stop if she asked for it. Which gave her a wave of relief she didn't know she was looking for. The moment this wasn't what she wanted anymore, he was willing to stop.

She had to know. She had to know for certain if she could trust him before going any further. So she kisses him again, runs her hands over his body as his run over his. They were rubbing each other hard and feverishly, Caroling pushes Klaus down onto his back and climb on top of him, dropping her hips down onto his and grinds into him.

He grabs onto her hips, bending over him to kiss those full red lips. She pulls back, running her thumb across his bottom lip, drunk on heat, she whispers, "Did you drink blood before this?"

He blinks, pulling back into himself a bit. His eyes are dizzy and burning with desire. "At the party, yes." A pause, then, "Why?"

She runs her finger over his lip again. "I've noticed that your lips turn bright red after you drink blood. It's how I know."

He smiles, gripping her hips a bit harder. "I never noticed," he says softly. And Caroline believes him. Klaus is way too absorbed in the things going on around him than to notice something as trivial as that. It seems kind of unimportant but her just mentioning it makes him happy. She can see the twinkle in his eyes and it makes her warm and gooey seeing that.

He leans up, running his hands from her hips to the claps of her bra she whispers, "Stop."

His entire body freezes. His lips part, staring at her face. She can see the regret and heat in his eyes, but he sighs softly, trying to release that tension, and moves the clasp back into place and pulling his hands back, begrudgingly. He sinks down onto his back again, letting out a frustrated sigh, but doesn't move to touch her again despite the fact that she is still sitting on him.

They stare at each other for a moment that feels like a century. Caroline leans down to kiss him again. At his quizzical expression, she whispers, "If I say stop, please stop."

Klaus nods, leaning up a bit to capture her lips with his. His lips are full and soft, pressing hard into her own. He leans back up again, wrapping his arms around her body to hug her close.

"Is this okay?" Klaus whispers, staring through dark lashes. "Please tell me this is okay."

Caroline, slowly, unhooks her bra, dropping it onto the floor. She wasn't very chesty, she knows. In fact, she doesn't have a chest at all and when she slept with Tyler the first time, she made sure to hide beneath the covers or with darkness, but here, in this position, she realizes that he has the perfect view of her embarrassed chest.

She reaches up to cover herself, regretting the action immediately, which is a common theme for the night it seems, when his hands wrap around hers, lacing their fingers together. Her eyes meet his hesitantly and his expression is gentle.

"You are beautiful, Caroline. Don't hide yourself away," he says softly. And Caroline believed him. She wanted to believe him because he's been around the world and through the ages, he's seen true beauty and when he stares at her like that, speaks to her so softy, so sweetly, she feels beautiful.

She leans down and kisses him again, whispering against his lips the words that sealed her fate, "This is okay."

Caroline blinks, pulling herself back to the present, staring at the man that she allowed into her body. He was gentle and loving and made her feel worshipped. He kissed every inch of her body and kept whispering to her how beautiful she was and how perfect she was. Her face was burning and she kept telling him to shut up but he wouldn't stop.

After it was over, she lay on his chest with her head on his shoulder aching but satisfied, running her hand over the plains of his chest and stomach. They listen quietly to their hearts beating as one as the party continues to go on downstairs. She didn't want to move, although she knew that she should. Her friends were here, his family was here, and half the town was here, and yet they were up in his room, hiding like children. And doing not so childish things.

Caroline runs her fingers over his abs, between his ribs, between his pecs and then along the ridges of his chest plate then both ways along his clavicle. She rests her cheek into the curve of his shoulder as she stares at the stubble along his chin, cheeks, and neck. He's beautiful. His skin is smooth and strong, his breathing is deep and slow. His pretty, full red lips quirk up when she runs her fingers over a sensitive part of his skin, making his stomach tighten to hide the little laugh. His thick, dark lashes that are about a mile and a half long that cast shadows across his cheeks from the candles around the room. He wasn't yelling or screaming or scheming. He was relishing in the afterglow as she was.

It's strange. She never noticed it before, but now, laying there on top of him, soaking in the feeling, she can feel a tingle on her skin. Like small fireworks going off across her flesh. She doesn't remember ever feeling like this with anyone before - not even Klaus. Not now it's like her body is hyper-aware of him, and it feels really good. It both excites her and calms her down, somehow.

She wanted to stay in this moment forever, but all things have to come to an end.

Caroline pulls back into herself again, blinking rapidly. She feels his thumbs trail across her cheeks as he stares down into her eyes, curiously, pale lips pursed. He hasn't drunk blood in a while.

"We've been through so much since that day, my mother wanting to kill her children, turning your history teacher into an Original Hunter..." he trails off, probably thinking about Elena too, how she is no longer human and his chances of making hybrids vanishing with it. But he doesn't say that he's not ready to face that reality, and she's not really going to blame him for it. "Tyler coming back and turning my hybrids against me. All that nasty business with Silas."

"We have been through a lot," Caroline admits, quietly.

Klaus stares into her eyes curiously. "What were you thinking about? You seemed lost in thought."

Caroline wanted to tell him that it wasn't his business. That what happened in her head was her own business, but she thought about it and realized that it was a good moment and it did change a lot of things. Specifically, how she felt about him. She missed Tyler, she does, but he chose to walk away and she couldn't deny how things have changed between them. And as much as she wanted to pretend how little it meant to her, she felt that she had to share that moment with him to grow more as a person.

Caroline hesitates to show him this, knowing that his evil mind could use this against her, but the little voice in the back of her mind tells her that he won't. That moment was meant for them and them alone. It was the thing he was seeking all along and now that he finally got it, he wasn't going to share it with anyone else. Which she supposed was fine. Great, actually, because no matter how much it ate her up inside, she couldn't bear to tell anyone what had happened. That was her secret. Their secret.

Caroline rubs her fingers together, fighting herself for a moment longer before deciding that it was only fair that she shows him. She reaches up, placing her fingers against the sides of his head, through the soft curls of his hair and against his skull. "I'll show you," Caroline says softly, staring into his eyes. "Tell me that this is okay."

His lips part slightly, no doubt remembering the moment he said those words to her. He stares back at her before nodding slowly. "This is okay." He closes his eyes, wrapping his hands around her wrists and waits.

She pushes the memory into his mind, from her point of view. She goes back through that memory with him. She ends it when they finally untangle from one another and start to get dressed again. As she was pulling her dress on, she looked over at him as he was pulling his pants up. In the light, with her vampire sight, she can see along his pale skin old, old scars that decorate his back and Caroline remembers the stories of Klaus's past. In her mind's eye, she sees that back curled into a ball protecting his face as he's whipped and beat.

Caroline feels pity and sadness swells in her chest. And that is why stop is so important to him. But those scars made him strong, showed that he was a survivor. It doesn't excuse the terrible things he's done, but she can now see physical proof of his suffering and it tugs at her heartstrings.

"You are beautifully flawed," Caroline whispers, and suddenly the two of them are standing in that room, their mirrored images are frozen in that moment. Klaus is standing next to her as they both look around the room. "You're abrasive, rude, conniving, manipulative and hateful," Caroline says. "But you weren't always like that, were you?"

Caroline was looking at Klaus's back in the memory, but Klaus was looking at Caroline's face. Her eyebrows pulled together tightly, a small frown on her lips, pity, and sadness in her eyes.

"No," he says softly. "Not always. I was a boy once. But that was a long time ago."

"Will you tell me about him someday?" Caroline asks softly.

Klaus pulls his eyes over to her, tilting his head a bit. "Who, love?"

"Niklaus. The artist boy."

Klaus's expression softens. His lips part but before he can speak there is a knock at the door that pulls them from the memory.

Klaus and Caroline are standing in the hall leading toward the front door. She pulls away, stepping out of his grip and looking over at the doorway, then back to Klaus with furrowed brows. "Excepting guests?"

Klaus raises his own eyebrows. "It's your house, Caroline."

Oh, right.

Caroline looks over at the door, worried about what was waiting on the other side of it. Apprehensively, Caroline walks over to it, hesitating long enough to look over at Klaus to see him standing where she left him before reaching out and opening the door. She jumps at the sight of Elena, Stefan, and Damon all staring at her doorway. Caroline blinks a few times, looking between the three of them.

"Hello?" She says, head tilting to the side.

Elena gives her a look. "Mind if we come in?" She asks, moving to step passed Caroline and into the house, stopping at the sight of Klaus. Hilariously, she mimicked Caroline's actions from just a few seconds before, tilting her head to the side with a confused, "Hello?"

Caroline flinches as the three pile into her house without her expressed welcome. "Well..." Damon says, casting a smirking Klaus a suspicious up-down. "Shaking up with the devil, are we Blondie? The dust kicked up from Lockwood's hasty retreat hasn't even settled and you are already moved on to the bigger, badder wolf?" He widens his pretty blue eyes.

Caroline glares at him, despite that being very, painfully close to the truth that she doesn't know how else to react. "Damon, what do you want?"

"It's not Damon," Elena says, eyeing Klaus, who smiles charmingly back at her, before turning to look at Caroline, she steps closer as if that would prevent the hybrid from being able to listen in on their conversation. "We're here because I'm suffocating. Did you want to do something or are you... busy?"

Caroline waves off Klaus like they weren't just having a moment. A defense mechanism to deal with Klaus Mikaelson. "No, what's up?"

"Nothing," Elena says, rubbing at her forehead. "I just wanted to do something that wasn't these two staring at me." She thumbs in the direction of the Salvatore brothers.

"Why is Klaus here?" Elena asks, glancing over at the Hybrid mistrustfully. "Is he hurting you?"

"Oh come on, Elena, if he wanted to hurt her, he would have already," Damon says. "That's why she's our distraction. Satan is crazy about the firey blond with the snippy attitude."

"Speaking of deals with the devil," Caroline quips, shooting Damon a look but talking to Klaus, "Do we have a deal, Klaus? Damon Salvatore's head for my immortal soul?

Klaus smiles, amused. "Of course, love. I'd do it for free if you really wanted too. Damon doesn't stand a chance against me."

Damon glares at him. "No more than Carol Lockwood, right Klaus?"

Klaus frowns at that while Elena snaps, "Damon, now isn't the time for that."

Damon rolls his eyes, while Stefan walks in, holding a package in his hands. He holds it out for Caroline to take, defusing the situation with his calm, even voice. "Are you expecting something?"

Caroline's eyebrows pull together, relieved by the distraction. "No, I wasn't expecting anything. Maybe it's for my mom."

"It's addressed to you," Stefan says, passing it to her. "With no return address."

Caroline is even more confused, taking the box and walking into the kitchen to grab a knife to cut it open. It's really light and if there wasn't something rolling around inside there she would have thought it was empty. She opens the box and glances inside to see a necklace with a huge red stone. Caroline tilts her head to the side, to see Elena looking down into the box.

"A necklace?" Elena asks, looking over at Stefan and Damon. "Why a necklace?"

"Got a secret admirer, Blondie?" Damon asks, grinning. "You should be careful, you attract psychopaths and prolific serial killers."

"Is that a stab at Lockwood and me or just me?" Klaus asks, venomously. "Because I would be careful and choose your next words wisely, mate."

Damon's smile is just as venomous. "Take a guess.

"Damon, stop," Elena says at the same time as Stefan says, "Damon, knock it off." They both look at each other as Damon rolls his eyes and turns away to walk around the kitchen.

Klaus walks over and peers into the box, curiously. "Who's it from, Caroline?" He looks at her through long lashes and she's keenly aware of his body pressed close enough she can feel the heat radiating off of him. She swallows, forcing her to focus on something that isn't the Hybrid standing way too close to her.

"I don't know," Caroline says, reaching in and grabbing the chain of the necklace and holds it up, admiring the red stone. It's huge, about three inches in size that she can see her own reflection in. It's beautiful and a bit intimidating. It reminds her of the richest blood that she's had to force herself to look away from. She reaches out and lightly touches the stone and feels a zap run through her fingers, making her gasp and drop it to the floor.

She looks down at her fingers in confusion. "What...?"

"Caroline?" Elena asks, eyebrows pulling together tightly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"It... It zapped me," Caroline says. Then a feeling washes over her. A feeling that she recognizes. It's that feeling she used to get before she would throw up. That tingling, heavy feeling settling over her. It just came on suddenly.

"Caroline?" Klaus says, his voice sounding a mile away. He reaches out toward her and she collapses into his arms.

Her head starts to hurt and the sound of Elena, Klaus, and Stefan's voices all fade away as she sees a series of numbers flashing behind her lids. The same series of numbers flashing over and over again in her mind until they are burned into her retinas. She can feel Klaus's warmth wrapping around her tightly, holding her to him as tightly as he can without hurting her.

Klaus isn't sure how long those images flashed in her head, but when she started coming to, she could hear herself saying the numbers aloud, over and over again. She can hear the sound of a woman's voice although she's not sure what she is saying, she sees bright lights and a prevalent nightlife. Like a never-ending party. Once she was finally able to, she stops reciting the numbers and focuses in on Klaus's neck, which her face is buried into, as he rocks back and forth slowly. The action is comforting.

"What was that?" Elena asks, her voice shaking. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"A witch's hex," Klaus growls, his voice rumbles in the ear that she has pressed against his chest.

"What were those numbers?" Elena asks. "She kept repeating them over and over again."

The woman's voice comes into focus in her head and Caroline hears herself mumble, "French Quarter."

"French Quarter?" Stefan echoes.

"Wait, those numbers..." Damon says slowly. "It's a phone number. That's a New Orleans area code. So what's in the French Quarter?"

"My guess?" Stefan says slowly, "Witches."

"But why would they do that? Why would they do something to Caroline? She's never been to New Orleans. At least," Elena hesitates slowly, "not that I know of. But still, Caroline hasn't done anything bad to anyone."

Caroline feels her hand clenching and unclenching her fist in Klaus's shirt on his back. She blinks a few times drunkenly. She feels sickened and weak. That tingling that she was feeling before is still present, but she's starting to return to herself. She's able to focus a bit more than she was able to a moment ago. It takes her another second to feel Elena cradling her other hand and rubbing at it comfortingly.

"Phone..." Caroline mumbles, blinking back into herself fully. "Stefan, gab me my phone."

There is a moment of hesitation before he kneels down by her side and holds out the phone for her to take. She's still laying on the floor in Klaus's arms, cradling her close. Making her feel safe and secure. She takes the phone, curling tighter into Klaus's arms, she uses her one hand to type in the number and brings the phone to her ear. She has to call this number. She knows she does. It rings twice before someone picks up.

"Hello?"

"What did you do to me?" Caroline asks, her voice cracking and she thinks she's going to cry. "What is happening to me?"

A long moment of silence and Carolinecurls into Klaus's arms more, pressing her forehead more into the hybrid's neck. "Caroline Forbes?"

"What is with that necklace..? Why do I feel like this?" Caroline feels that sickening tingles get more intense and she curls around him a bit more. "What did you do to me?"

The woman lets out a soft sigh. "I see. Caroline Forbes, my name is Jane-Anne Deveraux, and I need you to come to New Orleans. The French Quarter."

Caroline's voice cracks again. "Why? What do you want from me?" She presses her face closer to Klaus's neck, happy that she doesn't have to see the expressions of the people around her. She's tired and weak and in pain.

"Take that necklace and put it on, and keep it on," Jane-Anne says. "And come to New Orleans. You have to, or you'll die."

Caroline feels weak. There is a pain in her chest that frightens her beyond belief. Die? She said die. Does that mean whatever that was that coursed through her hand is going to kill her? "What?"

Klaus grabs the phone out of her hand and brings it to his ear, squeezing her so tightly to him that it almost hurts but she feels like he would cry if he let go. She's starting to feel the worry and panic settling into her gut.

"Jane-Anne Deveraux, was it? This is Klaus Mikaelson. I presume you have something to tell me. Like why you are attacking my friend and why I shouldn't march down to New Orleans right at this moment and rip your heart out of your chest," Klaus snarls, his voice like an angry thunderstorm in her ear. The arm that is around her shoulders, pressing her into him tightens possessively. He rubs his thumb against the smooth skin of her arm.

There is a long moment of silence before Jane-Anne says softly. "Hello, Mr. Mikaelson, I'm glad that you are here as well. You are going to need to accompany her here."

"Do you presume to tell me - " Klaus starts, anger rising in his voice. Caroline can feel the vein in his neck pulsate against her forehead with his rising heart rate - to match his rising anger.

"If you care even the slightest about Caroline Forbes, Klaus Mikaelson," Jane-Anne says, her voice hard, "then you will bring her to New Orleans within the week."

A pause, then, "What happens within the week?" Klaus asks dangerously.

"Caroline Forbes will die. And it will be slow and painful. The only way to save her is here, in New Orleans. With me," Jane-Anne says. "I am the only one who can save her life. So if you care even a little bit, bring her here. You have a week. Goodbye, Mr. Mikaelson."

For curiosities sake, is anyone at all interested in bringing in some people from Mystic Falls to New Orleans. If so, who?