Sunlight

Chapter 3: New York, New York

Caroline busied her mind by lathering her hair, the hot water relieving some of the tension in her neck.

The door opening nearly gave her a heart attack. Why hadn't there been a lock on it? And why didn't Klaus understand privacy?

"What are you doing?!" She glared at him through the mesh.

"Brushing my teeth. You don't mind, love, do you?" He gazed back at her, daring and maybe just a little lustful.

"Um, yeah. Kind of do mind." She snapped, drawing closer to the curtain to ensure that he could only see her head, and nothing else. "Do you know the meaning of the word privacy?"

Klaus wet his toothbrush, going through the motions nonchalantly. "Of course. Do I respect them? Probably not."

"More than a little naked here."

His stormy eyes locked on hers with a spark. "No need to remind me, little one. Far too tempting."

She rolled her eyes before she fell into the trap of having eye sex with him. That was far too tempting too.

"Come on. I broke it off with my boyfriend, who's body you had been inhabiting, only hours ago. Can I go just one moment without being hit on?"

The sight of Klaus brushing his teeth and looking indignant almost brought a smile to Caroline's face, but she was too tired.

"I am not hitting on you. Please don't sully this with such pathetic slang. But I will respect your wishes."

The words lost their edge due to the toothpaste in his mouth, but he still rinsed and left, closing the door behind them.

Who knew that he, the Big Bad, was into dental care and hygiene. She had to pinch herself just to be sure that it was all real. It was.

Once she was certain he was gone, she powered through her shower and dried off within the safety of the shower screen, just in case. She changed into the college shirt and shorts, wanting comfort and hoping it would ward off any thoughts of sexiness with Klaus, from both his side and hers.

Caroline set her face into a look of blank frustration, opened the door.

Klaus was dressed in flannel pants, his chest bare, a towel thrown over one shoulder.

Damn.

She scowled at him as he passed by her wordlessly, a smirk on his face. Caroline huffed her way over to the bed before realising there was only one for the two of them.

"So are you sleeping on the floor tonight, doggy?" She called, fluffing her hair with the towel to dry it slightly.

"Very funny, sweetheart." Klaus replied, and Caroline glanced up to find he had left the bathroom door wide open, and he had turned the shower on again, and he was all prepared to strip down, and suddenly all Caroline could focus on was skin, and more skin, and God, Klaus's ass, she was checking out the toned evil hybrids bare ass.

She slammed the door shut for him with a growl.

"Clearly we need to add decency to your list of misunderstood words." Caroline said, and heard him chuckle in reply. He had so done that on purpose. She fumed as she braided her hair so she wouldn't wake up with a complete birds nest the next day. He was absolutely infuriating, and she knew that while she might feel a small, tiny, insignificant attraction towards him, he'd have to work damn hard to impress her.

She grabbed her toothbrush, determined to give him a taste of his own medicine. Caroline flounced into the bathroom, focusing on her task, not realising till her toothbrush was in her mouth and she was glancing back up to the mirror that Klaus had failed to completely close the shower curtains.

"Gahh!" She exclaimed, by far the most flustered sound to ever escape her throat. She focused her attention on the wall.

"Problem, love?"

"You know exactly what the problem is." She mumbled around her toothbrush, spitting out excess toothpaste before ranting. "I don't know what the thing was when you were just a human and dinosaurs roamed the Earth, but in today's society people don't flaunt their naked, muscular bodies 24/7." She resumed the vigorous brushing of her teeth.

Klaus turned off the water with a chuckle. "I'm slightly worried by your lack of historical understanding, but I'll let that slide." He appeared in the mirror in front of her, and she kept her gaze fixed steadfastly on her own face.

"I'm perfectly comfortable in my own body, sweetheart. Not my problem that you're intimidated." He said smugly while thankfully wrapping a towel around his waist.

Caroline rolled her eyes and made a big show of bending over to rinse and spit into the sink. She turned and stared him down, determined to be the stronger one.

"Put a goddamn shirt on." She snapped, strutting out of the bathroom and climbing into the large double bed.

"And goodnight to you too, sweetheart." He called after her.

"Its like inhaling razorblades." Alaric, the man she had once considered an ally and friend, had been inflicting pain on her for so long. The vervain rag was tied over her mouth again, and she whimpered around it.

"What was that, Caroline? Not enough pain?" Alaric grinned, removing her ring and blasting her with the sunlight that streamed through the windows of the classroom. She screamed, her mind flying to numb the pain somehow.

"Starlight, love" A soothing voice was in her ear now. "Pretend its starlight."

Caroline tried, but then Alaric hissed and ran at her with a stake, and she screamed once more, thrashing against strong arms that cradled her to a lean chest.

She whimpered and clutched at the soft grey shirt under her hands, sobbing tearlessly as she fought for breath.

"Its okay, love, it was just a dream. You're safe." Klaus soothed, and she relaxed into his frame before stiffening.

"Let go of me." She said quietly, and he did as she complied, backing away and off the bed.

"It was merely a nightmare." He calmed again.

"I know that." She snapped irritably, not wanting to seem weak.

His jaw tightened in the half-light of the room. There was only so far he would go, even with her. He'd never hurt her, but for now, the gentle side was gone.

"Fine. Just didn't want you to wake up the whole bloody hotel." He said harshly, his face growing cold as he trudged back to the sofa.

"How considerate."

"Merely my own benefit, love. Can't be bothered compelling everyone in the hotel. And I'm not quite in the mood for a bloodbath just yet."

"Jerk." She murmured, curling in on herself.

"I do try." He said softly, and she couldn't figure out if it was in response to her statement, or if it was about the whole situation with her in general.

"I know." She answered, since it worked for both.

Caroline closed her eyes to sleep again, and her dreams flashed back to Alaric only for a moment before she found herself in a meadow with wild horse grazing. It looked like a field in Mystic Falls that her friends had camped at. She dimly realised that it was a memory, and that Klaus was invading her dreams, but she was thankful for it. She couldn't stand another Alaric torture dream. And Klaus kept himself hidden, having reached his limit for her harsh words for that evening.