Klaus had been very certain that his late night stroll through the woods to clear his head would be undisturbed. After all; who would be daft enough to irritate a hybrid past midnight?

He had been contemplating different ways to torture Stefan when he heard it; crying coming from somewhere nearby. Feminine crying from the sound of it. He frowned and started forward; if he was lucky, maybe he would snag a snack before he started back to civilization.

He was shocked to see who he found, curled up at the base of a large tree trunk with a nearly empty bottle of vodka in her hand, whimpering miserably.

"Caroline? What are you doing out here?"

She looked up. "I could ask you the same question." She sniveled.

He crouched down beside her. "Why are you crying?"

She turned away from him angrily. "Don't look at me. All of this is your fault."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, that may very well be true… but please, enlighten me on what I did."

"You've either tried or succeeded in killing everyone I care about! Oh, and don't forget the fact that you turned Tyler into a stupid sired hybrid. He bit me because of you!"

Klaus sighed. "I told you that it was nothing personal."

"Nothing personal? It's always personal! I have come to the conclusion that no one cares about me. Matt doesn't want to be with me, Elena's too busy with Damon and Stefan, Bonnie's a stupid witch with her own… witchy problem thingies, and my mom is the sheriff. Which means she's never home for me to talk to. And now, Tyler is a hybrid. And he bit me."

"Caroline, Tyler still cares about you…"

"No, he doesn't! Otherwise he wouldn't have done this…" she whimpered as she pulled up her sleeve to reveal numerous bites which were quickly becoming gruesome.

Klaus' eyes widened and he gasped. "I didn't tell him to do that to you. I swear I didn't…"

She sniffled. "I know… I was wearing the bracelet."

"Tyler's bracelet?"

"No… yours. Tyler saw it and asked me who it was from, so I told him, and he… he got mad at me. He started hitting me, but he was stronger than I am, since he's part werewolf and vampire, and he pinned me down and he attacked me…" she started sobbing on her last few words, trembling in fear and obvious pain. "He's going to come after me when I don't die right away… he's going to kill me…!"

"No, he's not."

Klaus wasn't sure why he said it. But a part of him, a part he hadn't experienced in centuries, desperately wanted to comfort this poor girl. He didn't know what it was about her, but she was… different. Special. The kind of girl that needed to be protected, reassured, and showered with gifts and adoration. Clearly, she had never gotten much of that in the past.

"Caroline, I want you to listen to me, alright?"

"No. No, all of this is because of you…"

"I know. I know it is. I take all the blame for your pain, and I'm sorry. Deeply sorry. But, if you don't drink my blood right now, you're going to die much faster than you think. One bite is bad enough, but it looks like you have at least seven."

Caroline looked down guiltily. "I… I have more than just seven…"

Klaus frowned in confusion. "What…?"

She lifted the hem of her shirt to reveal four more bites on her stomach. She gave a harsh laugh. "The last time I was bitten this much was when I was human and sleeping with Damon."

Klaus looked up in surprise. "You slept with Damon?" he shook his head, though, brushing it off. "You need blood."

"No. No, I deserve to suffer…"

"Why would you ever think a thing like that?"

"Obviously I'm a terrible friend, and an ever worse daughter. Why else would everyone be… be forgetting about me…?"

She started to cry again. "Everyone hates me! Even my own father despises what I am! I don't have anybody…!"

Klaus sighed and shifted closer to Caroline, gently wiping her tears away. "Caroline, sweetheart, everyone has their faults. Perhaps you haven't been a perfect person to everyone in the past. But no one expects you to be. No matter what foolishness you choose to believe, your friends and your parents love you and care for you deeply. That's something I never truly had… I had to force them."

Caroline sniffled. "So I guess we're in the same boat, then?"

"No." Klaus shook his head. "No, Caroline, you will never be in the same boat as me. You're too… pure."

She scoffed. "Pure? I think you have me confused with someone else…"

"No, I most certainly do not. Caroline, please let me give you my blood. I guarantee you this world is a better place with you in it than without."

She cracked a tiny smile. "Why do you say that?"

His expression mirrored hers. "Because the world needs more passionate, caring, dedicated people like you, Caroline."

She giggled. "Do you really think that? Or is this nice act all some ploy to get something from me?"

Klaus sighed. "I completely see why you think that… but I guarantee you, every word I have told you is the complete truth. Something I don't offer very often. You should feel honored."

"Oh, I do. I don't think many people can say that you've offered to save their life twice in a week, let alone once in a lifetime."

He smiled as he moved to sit beside her, wrapping a strong arm around her shoulders and extending his wrist to her. "Drink, Caroline."

She sighed and gently bit into his wrist, indulging in the feeling of his blood, saturated with power, sliding down her throat and into her veins, slowly healing the numerous bites, scratches, and gashes Tyler had given her.

"That's it, sweetheart… take as much as you need."

If he was being honest, Klaus would have loved to stay right there, in that exact moment, cradling Caroline forever. For it had been years since he had experienced such an intimate moment with someone so… wonderful. Even if it was as simply a gesture as saving her life, yes that was simple to him, he was enjoying it greatly. For a moment, he felt sympathy for the Salvatore brothers, and all the things he had done, threatening to take Elena away from them. At the moment, were anyone to threaten to do the same to Caroline, he would have ripped their heads off. She was his to protect and care for, and anyone who got in his way would be severely sorry.

Caroline pulled away, her eyelids heavy. "Thank you…" she mumbled, slipping into sleep.

Klaus smiled softly, brushing hair out of her eyes. "You're welcome, dove."

Dove, he thought to himself, a perfect pet name for someone glowing with purity. Yes, Caroline Forbes was his precious dove.

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, and then whispered softly in her ear as he held her, "Don't ever listen to what anyone says, Caroline; no matter how bad things get, you will always have one person who cares for you. Never forget that I care about you."

Sighing, he knew the moment could last no longer. Caroline would now be strong enough, with his blood inside of her, to get home when she awoke. Gently shifting her so that she was tucked into a comfortable crevice in the tree, he stood and, sighing, took off for Mystic Falls. As much as he would have loved to have stayed there forever, he had business to tend to back home.

Number one on his list being dealing with a certain unruly, abusive hybrid.