Caroline jumped as someone knocked on her bedroom door.
She had a pretty uneventful time the day before. Klaus was obviously busy, so she enjoyed herself in the library before going to bed early.
Henrik had also been missing for almost two days. And Caroline was glad that she had some time away from any of the Mikaelsons.
Now, she feared that beautiful quiet time had already come to an end as she made her way to open the door.
When she opened it however, there was no sign of Klaus like she had expected.
Instead, there was a boy holding a tray with food, blood and a small vial of vervain. He looked about her age and smiled shyly at her.
"Room service." He jokingly told her.
Caroline took the tray from his hands and gestured for him to come inside.
"Thank you. I was just about to go down to the kitchen myself." Caroline told him.
"Well, get used to it. Klaus told me to bring you breakfast everyday." he told her as he sat down beside her.
"I don't know if I should be happy about it or not." Caroline said.
"I am. It's better than running around, looking for packs" he shrugged. "Oh, and I'm Josh, by the way." He held out his hand and Caroline took it smiling.
"I'm Caroline." Josh laughed.
"I know. I'm on Caroline duty, after all."
Caroline rolled her eyes. Of course Klaus would assign one of his hybrids for protection. It meant protecting himself after all.
But having one of his hybrids as her servant was something she didn't like. At all.
"Josh, I don't want to be rude or anything, but I don't feel comfortable with you brining me my food like some kind of butler. I'll get it myself." Caroline explained, but Josh only laughed.
"He told me you would be saying something like that. But here's the thing: Klaus told me to keep you upstairs. So, I can't really let you go to the kitchen yourself. Sorry." Caroline groaned.
"And why am I not allowed downstairs?" She inquired.
Josh only shrugged.
"Dunno. Maybe 'cause of all the new wolfs that will be coming, or something." Caroline nodded.
Being around wolfs made her feel uncomfortable. Tyler was different, of course. But Caroline didn't forget that she was held hostage by a pack of wolves once. The memories hunted her until this day.
Caroline took a good look at her new companion and couldn't help but notice that he was pretty good looking.
"So, why did Klaus choose you to be on Caroline duty." She asked curiously.
"I'm loyal. Unlike some of the others I'm actually happy I was turned. Being sired to him isn't half as bad, too. And not having to turn every full moon is great." Josh told her happily.
"Also, I'm the only one that fitted the job description perfectly." He winked at Caroline.
"And what exactly was part of that description that only you fitted?" Caroline asked suspiciously.
Josh grinned widely at her.
"Well, an important part of it was, and I quote, no flirting or wooing of any sort."
At that Caroline's eyes widened.
"Seriously?! What the hell is wrong with him? Ugh." Josh laughed at her exclamation.
"It's not funny, Josh! That guy has issues, I tell you!" She took a deep breath to calm herself.
"So, blonde cheerleaders are not your type, or what?"
"Well, don't get me wrong. You're pretty. Just not my type." Josh told her.
"I'm gay." This time he only shrugged.
Days passed and Caroline was secretly grateful to Klaus for picking Josh to be her guard. He was amazing company during the dull hours.
"Oh come on! Tell me who you were talking to this morning" Josh gave Caroline perfect puppy eyes and she groaned.
"I can't! You wouldn't believe me, even if I told you!" She told him. Josh pretended to be utterly devastated at that and Caroline laughed.
It has been four days since she had seen Klaus. And Josh was the perfect companion. She really enjoyed having the young hybrid around her. But she couldn't tell him about Henrik either. The risk of him telling Klaus was way too big.
"I hope you don't have a secret lover hidden in your wardrobe. Because I'm pretty sure Klaus would have my head if that ever happened!" Josh told her trying to put a serious face on.
"Yeah, right. I got my secret lover stored right next to the magical unicorn I'm hiding in my wardrobe." Caroline told him trying to sound serious herself.
"Just checking." Josh said before finally laughing loudly. Caroline joined in, enjoying how comfortable she was in the young hybrids presence.
They were both surprised to hear a loud crashing noise come from downstairs.
"What the hell is he doing down there?" Caroline asked confused.
Josh focused on his hearing before he answered her.
"I don't think that's him." Caroline looked at him confused.
She couldn't imagine any of his hybrids would dare to destroy something inside Klaus' home.
"Sounds like a new pack to me." Josh shrugged.
Then, Caroline heard a familiar voice and her heart nearly stopped.
Tyler.
He was here. Caroline sneaked a look at Josh to find him distracted by a magazine. Seizing the opportunity Caroline rushed out of the room.
"Klaus!" Tyler roared. He was mad.
Klaus' hybrids had taken his friends. A pack he had found and that had helped him break the sire bond. He would never let the original have them. Not without a fight.
"Tyler!" Confused he turned around. Caroline was in front of him. Tears in her eyes.
"Care? What are you doing here? Are you okay?" Tyler asked worried.
She looked physically fine. But he couldn't quite understand why she was in his house, of all people.
"What am I doing here? Seriously? Why are you here?" Caroline asked.
When she had heard his voice she had thought he was here to free her. Well, obviously she was wrong.
"Klaus' hybrids took my pack. I'm here to safe them." Tyler explained.
"Oh. Of course. Your pack. The reason you've been dodging my calls." Caroline crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm sorry, Care. But I didn't take any ones calls. I needed time away from all this crazy shit that's happening in Mystic Falls." Tyler told her.
"You didn't even bother to say good bye, Tyler! The least you could have done was check your phone!" Caroline was mad. God, he didn't even know what had happened to her.
"Care, look, I have to help them. They..." Caroline broke him off.
"Seriously, spare me from your stupid pack and how you feel connected to them."
Caroline noticed Josh behind her and groaned inwardly.
"Stay away from her, mate." Josh told Tyler.
"Who the hell are you?" Tyler asked, taking a step toward both of them.
"I'm something in the lines of her bodyguard. So, take one more step toward her and I will have to take action." Josh told him threateningly.
Tyler looked confused and was about to ask something else when a brunette walked in.
"Ty, what are you doing in here. We need you outside." She told him and touched his arm.
"I'm sorry, Hayley I'll be there in a second." Tyler told her reassuringly.
Klaus' words came back to her.
"Tyler? Who is she?" Caroline asked slowly, praying that Klaus had been wrong about the other woman in her boyfriends life.
"That's Hayley." Tyler started to explain.
"His girlfriend." Hayley finished for him.
"Tyler, why are you bothering yourself with that vampire? We've bigger issues at hand." She pulled on his arm, trying to get the boy to move.
Caroline felt like her whole world was breaking into a million pieces. But Tyler seemed to have found the ability to speak again.
"Care, listen.." But Caroline was turning her sadness into rage now.
"No, Tyler. You don't tell me what to do any more!" She yelled at him.
"Tyler! I see you've finally decided to grace us all with your presence." All heads turned to Klaus who walked casually into the room.
Tyler pushed Hayley behind him to shelter her from the original. Klaus laughed, amused at the display in front of him.
"Obviously you're not here to take back your girlfriend." Caroline huffed at that.
"Actually, he came here with her. Totally oblivious to his ex-girlfriend's current situation." She glared at Tyler and didn't see the confused look on Klaus' face.
"What do you mean current situation? What's going on here?" Tyler asked, now looking equally confused.
"You lost the right to know that as soon as you started dating fishy eyes there! And you know what, Tyler? I'm so done talking to you!" Caroline spat before she turned around.
Tyler used his supernatural speed to rush forward and grab Caroline's wrist.
"Please hear me out, Care"
Klaus released a low growl and was beside him in an instant.
"Easy there, boy. Or else I might be tempted to remove your arm."
Tyler let go of Caroline. She turned around then.
"No, I won't hear you out! You left without saying goodbye only to come back with a new girl on your arm! Seriously, you're not even worth the calories I burn talking to you!" Caroline flashed away, closely followed by Josh.
"What have you done to her?!" Tyler yelled at Klaus.
Klaus took Tyler by his neck and lifted him up easily.
"Show some respect, mutt!" Klaus yelled in his face.
"Now listen closely, for I will only say this once. Take your slut and run. Run as fast as you can. I'll allow you to live. For now. But if I ever have to see your disgusting face ever again I will kill you and everyone you care about." Klaus let him down then, gloating in the young hybrids face.
Tyler however was still reluctant to move.
"I'm going to allow you five more seconds before I rip your heart from your chest." That seemed to have done the trick as Tyler grabbed Hayley and wooshed them out.
Klaus took a deep breath. He wanted to go after Caroline, but he had to make sure the new pack was taken proper care of first.
Josh found Caroline in front of a bar, vodka in hand.
"Take it easy." Josh told her worried.
"Easy? Did you not listen to anything that just happened? I'm so stupid! While I was here, worrying about Tyler he was probably making out with that were-slut!" Caroline told him before taking a huge gulp of alcohol.
"Well, that sucks. But he doesn't deserve you anyway." Josh tried to comfort her.
"No, you're getting it wrong. I'm just never enough. Everyone I was dating so far left me for some other girl. The only thing new about all of this is that it wasn't about Elena for a change." Caroline told him sadly.
"I don't know who Elena is, but judging by that wolf girl I just saw I guess that these guys must've had a really bad taste. I mean you're so much prettier than her!" Josh smiled at her.
"That's easy for you to say. You're gay." Caroline shrugged and emptied the bottle.
"You know what you need?" Josh smirked at her.
"More alcohol?" Caroline suggested.
"That. And some Taylor Swift!" Josh told her excitedly before he connected his phone to some speakers.
Caroline smiled at him as We are never ever getting back together started blasting through the speakers.
An hour had passed as Klaus finally went to look for Caroline. He could hear loud music from one of the rooms, so that's where went.
As Klaus opened the door he was greeted with an annoying tune and Josh dancing with Caroline who had a bottle of his bourbon in hand.
Klaus eyed the scene in front of him curiously. Caroline was giggling at the way his hybrid was dancing and singing to Girls just wanna have fun.
Klaus cleared his throat, alerting them to their presence. Josh was shocked and tried to gain back some sense of composure. But he was barely able to stand still.
Klaus was not happy. The hybrid was supposed to protect Caroline. Not get drunk with her.
"Joshua. Why don't you leave and sober up? I don't recall giving you permission to get drunk." Klaus told the boy who nodded and left the room instantly.
"Great! The fun police has arrived!" Caroline groaned as she stumbled in his direction.
"I think you've had enough to drink, love" Klaus said calmly as he reached out for the bottle. Caroline instantly took a few steps back and emptied the bottle before he could even react.
"I'm sick of everyone telling me what to do." Caroline explained.
"Caroline, I understand that today's events may be troubling you, but I will not tolerate you drinking yourself into oblivion." Klaus said, watching Caroline grab another bottle.
"Troubling? That is a serious understatement!" Caroline said as she opened the new bottle. "But I guess you're happy about it."
Klaus would be lying if he said that he wasn't at least a little bit happy about their break up. After all, her relationship with that useless brat had been in the way. But he was also worried about the beauty in front of him. Even though he hated admitting that.
Caroline had looked utterly broken by the fact that the mutt had replaced her.
"Well, I'm not unhappy. But things could have gone smoother." He simply told her.
Caroline laughed at that. "You know what's the worst?" Caroline asked him.
"Humour me, love." Klaus helped her sit down, too scared that she might hurt herself if she kept tumbling around the room.
"The worst is that you were right. He didn't care about me. Probably never did." Caroline admitted. Klaus knew that she was hopelessly drunk now. Caroline would never be this open to him if she were sober.
"I need to be right from time to time." Klaus shrugged. "But you should know that he didn't deserve you anyway."
Caroline looked at him before bursting into another fit of giggles. "And who does? You? Come on!"
"I must say I feel somewhat insulted." Klaus told her with a soft smile.
"What I was trying to say, Caroline, is that you deserve someone that cherishes you above all else. Someone that would never dare to look at another woman."
Caroline stopped laughing and looked at Klaus seriously.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Caroline asked.
"I believe I already answered that question. I fancy you." he told her matter of factly.
Caroline didn't answer verbally. Instead she kept drinking straight from the bottle.
Her mind was getting really foggy from all the alcohol and she was sure she'd regret every sip in the morning. But right now she needed it. Needed to drink until she lost her precious control. She needed to let go for a bit.
"Love, you should really slow down." Klaus told her.
When Caroline looked up she saw Henrik right behind of Klaus. The boy had been there ever since she had set foot into the room. Caroline just chose to ignore him, not able to deal with the dead Mikaelson after her confrontation with Tyler.
Both of them were looking oddly concerned. Again, Caroline started to giggle.
Klaus massaged his temple. "What are you laughing about now?"
"You're wearing the exact same face and it's just so funny!" Caroline told him.
Klaus looked around, confused. There was absolutely no one beside him and Caroline. So he looked back at Caroline, oblivious to his brother's presence.
"Care! You're not supposed to tell him about me! But he's right. You should definitely cut the alcohol for tonight. You've had enough." Henrik told her angrily and left the room.
"God, you're so alike!" Caroline shouted after Henrik's retreating form.
"Come on, love. We'll get some coffee and blood in you." Klaus offered her his hand, but Caroline refused to take it.
"Nope. I'm not done drinking, yet!" Caroline almost sulked.
Klaus had enough and simply took her in his arms, bridal style. Caroline shrieked and pulled her arms around his neck.
"What are you doing? Let me down!" She told him. Klaus gave her a serious look and walked them to the kitchen.
Once there, Klaus sat Caroline down on the counter.
"Do me a favour and stay exactly where you are, sweetheart." Klaus said.
Caroline nodded and watched silently as Klaus prepared her a mug filled with coffee and blood. All the while she focused on the way his muscles tensed and relaxed as he moved.
Her eyes wandered from his shoulders, down his back until they found his behind. Unconsciously, she licked her lips.
Why did the devil have to come in such a handsome package, she wondered.
Klaus turned around, causing Caroline to sulk for a few seconds.
That was, until she found that admiring his chest was almost as much fun as inspecting his behind.
"There you go, love." Klaus gave her the warm cup.
Caroline thought he had caught her ogling, so she silently busied herself with the warm liquid.
Klaus stood in front of her, patiently watching her drink. When she had emptied the mug he took it from her and placed it beside her.
"So, will you let me help you to your room, or will I have to carry you again?" Klaus asked smiling.
Caroline looked up and found his eyes. For the first time, Caroline saw kindness inside of them.
"I like you like that" she confessed with a big smile.
"Like what?" Klaus asked confused.
"Caring. It's a welcome change to your usual evil villain facade." Caroline said confidently.
"Love, you might still be too drunk to notice, but I am the evil villain." He answered smiling.
"No, I don't think you are." Klaus was surprised by her confession. He wasn't used to people seeing anything but evil when they looked at him.
"Why not?" he whispered his question.
"I think you've been alone for far too long. And even though I'm not here by choice, I think you relish in the fact that someone is here with you at all. You just needed someone. A friend." Caroline took his big hand in her much smaller ones.
"So that's what we are then? Friends?" Klaus asked.
Caroline gave his hand a squeeze and smiled. "We could be."
Klaus stepped closer, positioning his body between her hips. His face was close to hers and she swallowed hard.
"What are you doing?" Caroline asked, letting go of his hand.
"You and I know that it's not friendship I'm after." Klaus whispered.
He was right. Caroline knew that he wasn't looking for a friend in her. But what was it the he actually wanted? Caroline didn't know, so she decided to ask.
"What do you want, Klaus?"
He looked in her eyes and thought. He wasn't sure himself.
In the beginning he had wanted her for her body. That much was certain.
But right now, he didn't know if having her body was enough.
No, he wanted more. And that scared him. Without giving her an answer, he took her in his arms and carried her yet again.
Caroline didn't complain this time. She seemed to be quite comfortable, her head resting against his chest while her eyes were glued to his face.
Shortly after they entered her room.
Klaus lay Caroline on her bed carefully and was about to turn around and leave when she grabbed his hand. He turned around and looked at her. She looked so small in her four poster.
"What is it, love?" Klaus asked, giving her a warm smile.
She returned the gesture. "Aren't you going to kiss me good night?"
The question took him off guard.
"Caroline, know that there is nothing I would rather do right now. But excuse me. I don't think taking advantage of your drunk and vulnerable state would be right. I may be evil, but I never took advantage of women. And I will certainly not start tonight. Not with you." He told her honestly.
Caroline forgot how to breath for a second. So she just looked at him at loss for words.
"Sweet dreams, love." Klaus said and disappeared.