Chapter 7

Caroline woke up. She noticed that she wasn't at the park anymore but instead in a much more darker vicinity. She found herself lying on a massive cot that surely didn't belong to her. Caroline slowly sat up straight and looked around to notice that her friend was in the room with his head in his hands. Her vision was hazy and her body was sore. This feeling was too familiar for her liking. She adjusted her vision to see a slumped figure and it was then and there when she knew she was in a safe haven.

"Stefan?" The brooding vampire immediately looked up and locked his gaze with hers. His eyes swirled with relief, sadness and a bit of anger. He felt himself easing up just a bit.

"Oh thank god." He breathed in relief although it was very brief. His face held emotions of worry that was would be considered very unhealthy even for a 160 vampire.

"What in the world just happened?" Caroline moaned in a state of brief amnesia. Her hands began to rub her sore neck until her fingers touched something moist. She looked down at her bloody fingers and then hers eyes landed across the room where there was a mirror. She caught her reflection and a glimpse of the damage that looked parasitic and morbid. She was dying and it took her awhile to proccess this in.

"He bit me." She stated in slight disbelief and Stefan nodded. Caroline slowly started to remember the spat she had with Klaus. She remembered him accusing her of being his problem. She remembered asking to be killed. She remembered him sinking his fangs into her heated flesh. She remembered the dark world that engulfed her for what seemed like all of eternity. She remembered it all and if she was human she would've been hysterical.

"Oh my god." She half whispered, completely numb to the core.

"I called him up, actually." Stefan started as he looked down at his fingers sadly and started to toy with his daylight ring. His nervousness gave Caroline bad vibes as she anchored her hopes of being saved down a notch.

"And what did he say?" She breathed hopefully and she mentally cursed herself for thinking that Klaus would come to her rescue. He wouldn't and that kind of scared Caroline but not enough to be completely faltered by it. Stefan looked at her as she held a bleak face.

"He wants you to trust him." Stefan stated.

"What?" She croaked incredulously. "How can I Stefan?"

"I know you don't. But he wants you to." He answered glumly and Caroline scoffed a little as she shook her head in disbelief. Klaus was desperate that it made Caroline sick to the core. His way of reaching out was through the means of inflicting harm. He didn't rationalize or plead, no instead he sunk his fangs into her skin and hoped she would do it all for him. Ridiculous, Caroline thought to herself.

"Well, if that's how he wants to go about this then I'm not going to cave in." Caroline told him meekly and Stefan looked at the blonde companion indifferently.

"But, you'll die Care." The pain in Stefan's voice was evident. Having seen so many deaths in his lives this one was going to be one that would hit him the worst.

"Then I'll die." Caroline admitted with no emotion. She knew that ever since she turned into a vampire that her life was going to be short lived because when you're a vampire you're always sujected to having your life on the line. And Caroline knows this because she's been caught in situations where she's become the victim of collateral damage. It's a known fact.

"Please don't do this." Stefan plead softly and Caroline made herself comfortable in his cot. She laughed a little and that surprised and annoyed Stefan at the same time. He didn't like the fact that she was going out of her way and putting her life on the line to prove a point to Klaus. He didn't appreciate the stubborn strong girl act she was putting on.

"If there is one thing you probably do or do not know about me Stefan, is that I am stubborn and I always tend to get my way." Caroline stated sternly as she peered up at him and he gawked with glazed orbs. He couldn't believe it. She was really going to give it all away. She was going to die and none of it seemed to faze her one bit.

"This is not the way to go about things Care." He softly warned while giving her a serious look. She sucked in a deep breath and looked over at Stefan who pleaded with his eyes, something that he was awfully good at. She smiled a little. A smile that seemed out of place and fake for the most part.

"No this is the only way." She told him and Stefan swallowed thinking she was serious. This worried him a lot that it overtook his perfect features to show that he was partially scared. "And plus I kinda deserve this because if I vaguely remember I did ask for it in the first place." She laughed humorlessly and Stefan fiercely scowled at her. He didn't appreciate this one bit and if he had the power to compel her he would. But instead he watched her stir about finding comfort in a painfully isolated situation.

"Please Care." He whispered now at her bedside. "You need him."

"No, I need his blood which he is not willing to provide so it leaves me to this."

"To what? To dying? Caroline you are absolutely out of your mind!" Stefan snapped at the girl whom he shared his entire life with to some extent. To the girl who told him it was alright when things went wrong and was pro him and Elena. She was his hope. And now he doubted that.

"I may be out of my mind but I know what I'm doing."

"And what is that you're exactly doing."

"I'm dying."

"God dammit!" Stefan shouted and Caroline found herself flinching a little. "Stop being hard headed, stop being so damn stubborn and just accept his trust Care!"

"Just tell him that you trust him and that will be that!" His eyes were dark and he was fuming. Caroline stared at him blankly, realizing that she had gotten a reaction out of him and it wasn't pretty. It was quiet for awhile and all you could hear was Stefan harboured breathing. Caroline sighed and then looked down at her fingers. She then spoke up and her words were bleak.

"It's not easy gaining trust from a mass murderer, Stefan." Her eyes didn't bothering looking at Stefan as she could feel him tense beside her. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to be alone."

Her eyes flickered in his direction and he stared at her with a look of chagrin. He wanted her to bring her guard down. He wanted her to stop proving herself. He knew she was strong. He knew it, they all did.

"Please?" She said once more with a little emotion and that got to Stefan. With perched brows he looked down and slowly nodded knowing that he wasn't going to win this war. He quietly got up and walked out of the room and essentially out of her life.

Back in the Mikaelson mansion Klaus was sprawled on the couch as he stared at the fireplace with a glass of bourbon in one hand. His mind was plotting but his heart was hurting. He left the girl who really cared about to die. He couldn't stomach the thought of her dying but it had to be done. He was stubborn like that. He just wanted her trust and this was the only way he could think of. Klaus hastily knocked back his drink and winced at the sharp taste it provided afterwards. Alcohol never tasted the same whenever he was anxious, guilty or sad. His finger began tracing the rim of the cup expectantly. He wanted her but not like this, not after what he had done to her. Now he was worried that he probably wasn't going to gain his trust after all.

Oh Caroline.

He shut his eyes and let his head fall back. Her face, those blonde ringlets of hair, her smile, her unyielding beauty. His fingers stopped moving and he sighed heavily. He let his tongue run over his fangs and when he did he could faintly taste her blood still there. How divine it was. If she was human her blood would've been singing to all the vampires. Then he remembered the moment when he bit her, being the second time he had done so. Klaus growled with frustration at her and even more at himself. She made him do irrational things and this was one of them. He would kill to be with her, to have her unconditional love. But killing was what held him back. To his goddess he would always be known as the killer, the mass murderer who does nothing but kill. And despite as much he would want to deny the fact, it was true.

"Bloody hell!" Klaus fumed as he threw the empty glass against the mantle and watched it explode and turn into dust like his heart. He exhaled deeply and his jaw set into place. His eyes were glazed over with hurt and chagrin. She's dying. Klaus found himself chanting in his mind.

The fire roared and the phone that remained unmoved for the past 2 hours buzzed indicating that Klaus had received a text. His eyes averted from the fireplace and landed on the phone. He was staring at it for sometime before gingerly picking it up. He opened the text to see it was from his good pal.

'Sorry mate.' - Stefan, 6:20 pm.

Caroline laid still as her eyes were fixed on the ceiling. She thought about everything and anything that came to mind. She thought about her senior prom which was only a year away. She thought about her mom and even her dad. She could feel the wound growing and the color of her skin vanishing leaving her to look pale and even more lifeless. Caroline could hear Stefan pacing back and forth. And this made her smile a little as she briefly closed her eyes. She could hear Emi asking him if she was going to be alright if it was really that serious. Caroline let her muscles go into ease.

"You can you stake me if you want." Caroline suggested in a low voice that would be inaudible to human ears. Stefan stopped pacing and she could hear him tense up. He didn't like this idea.

"No." Was all Stefan said and Caroline laughed a little before going into a fit of coughs.

"Mmm, suit yourself." She croaked smugly.

A part of Caroline regretted this because she was not only hurting herself but everyone around her. But she felt it had to be done despite how selfish it may seem. Her breathing was harbored and inconsistent. She could faintly hear the slam of the front door. Fear immediately bubbled in her chest and before she knew it her savior appeared.

Klaus, who looked disheveled and broken stood at the door frame with resistance. Afraid that if approached her that he would end up hurting her again.

He looked at his goddess and noticed all of her beauty was completely sucked out. He sniffed the hoard of tears that came and hit him all at once. His eyes were veined and wide open. He couldn't stand to see her like this. His jaw was set and his bottom lip was jutted out. Look what you have done Niklaus, his mind chided him.

Caroline looked at the 1,000 year old vampire who stood there numb and still. She was hurting him and she could tell. He watched her carefully until his eyes landed on the wound. His dead heart was breaking. He raised his chin and stared at her with flared nostrils. He sighed shakily when he noticed her glaring at him.

"I didn't mean to hurt you love." He confessed, eyes not wavering away from the grotesque wound. He truly meant it when he said that he didn't mean any harm. "But I couldn't think of anything else."

"You could've but you didn't." She whispered and Klaus swallowed hard and long, knowing that she was right.

"I just wanted your-"

"My trust. You wanted my trust." Caroline interrupted him as she paused for awhile. "Tell me, how do you expect trust after all the terrible things you've done?"

"You can't." Klaus shamefully whispered.

"Exactly."

Klaus looked down thinking he couldn't win her over. "So what now?" He asked her quietly.

"I don't know." Caroline looked up at him through her tear stained eyes.

"I can let you die, if that's what you want." He suggested ever so quietly, peering up at her sternly. He hoped that she would atleast let him save her.

"The real question is this something you'd want?" She asked him sounding raspy. Klaus looked at Caroline patronizingly debateful and she raised her brows at him.

"No." Klaus finally said breaking his gaze away. "I don't want you to die Caroline."

Caroline mustered up all her courage and quickly blinked back her tears. "I don't want to die either, Klaus." She confessed sounding scared and hinting to him that it was time she was saved.

And taking that as a sign Klaus appeared before her and sat himself on her bed. Caroline watched him with thankful eyes and slowly she felt her strong girl demeanor just fade away. He picked her head by the neck, assessed the damage, then maneuvered his way around her body and pulled her onto him. He the rolled his sleeves up and bit into his wrist before putting it delicately into her mouth. Caroline bit into the wound and let his blood flow freely into her. Her eyes darkened as she looked heavenward. Life was slowly being restored into her again. She was no longer aching and pale.

Klaus rested his chin against her head and deeply inhaled her scent. His mouth found itself on the top of her head and in her hair. "I'm sorry love." He murmured into her hair and she whimpered. Caroline closed her eyes and found herself crying silently. Tears streamed down her face and onto Klaus's wrist. She couldn't help but feel helpless and broken. She pulled away and wiped her mouth. She was panting softly as she refused to look up at Klaus who stayed still himself.

"Thank you." Caroline found herself saying after awhile of silence.

"Anytime." He whispered before climbing out of bed and made his way out. And before he fled the scene Caroline did something that she never thought she would've ever done, she grabbed a hold of his hand.

Klaus turned abruptly and looked at his goddess who gripped onto his for dear life. "I mean it." Caroline said seriously referring to how thankful she was for his help. Klaus laughed a little and looked down at their knotted hands.

"Take care, love." He told her as he brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it gently. Caroline smiled a little and watched him use his vampiric speed to escort himself out. Caroline found herself still smiling even after all that. He was trying to make a genuine effort and Caroline was starting to appreciate it.

She sighed heavily.

Klaus walked into the living room to see a very calm yet stressed Stefan who stared out the window pondering over life with a glass of bourbon in hand. "Not to worry mate, all is well now." Klaus assured his friend who then turned around and looked at him in relief.

"Thank you so much Klaus."

"I don't see why you're thanking me I mean I was the main reason as to why this had all happened in the first place." Klaus joked with a small smile.

"I know but you came back that's the thing." Stefan added and Klaus nodded casting his glance downwards.

"Well that's what happens when you care about someone." Klaus stated with a shrug and Stefan raised his head in suspicion.

"You love her, don't you?" Stefan asked.

Klaus chuckled a little and looked up at Stefan who had a small smirk. "Maybe, maybe not." Klaus joked as he grabbed Stefan's drink and knocked it down. Stefan shook his head at his friend who had changed so much compared to how he was back in the 20's.