The hour after seemed tinged with bitterness after Tyler's appearance.
They walked in silence for a while till they found themselves at the Louvre. Klaus looked questioningly at Caroline, and she shrugged, not wanting to be the one to say the first word, wondering what his would be. They walked up to the door despite the queue, Klaus compelling the guard to let them in. Caroline made a small noise of discontent, but was otherwise silent.
They walked through the sleek modern entry hall, and Klaus clasped Caroline's hand to lead her through the crowd to the stairs and narrowed hallways, meandering with his hand still around hers. Caroline breathed a small sigh of relief. Maybe everything was okay.
He pointed out certain landscapes and portraits and sculptures, and she nodded and listened to the small facts he stated, but waited to be caught up in artworks that jumped out at her.
The first was The Winged Victory, which pleased Klaus greatly. Caroline stared, spellbound by the sculpture, despite the missing arms and head.
"Isn't it magnificent." Klaus murmured, reverting back to his previous mission to constantly be in contact with her as he wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled softly when she pressed the side of her head against his jaw.
"What makes it so...mesmerizing?"
"Well, you're speaking to someone who is a little biased on what is mesmerizing," He swirled his fingers across the area of her rib cage on which they rested to imply who mesmerized him in particular. "But I'd say it was the movement of the statues figure, and the lack of arms and head."
"What happened to them?"
"Not certain. I'm not actually that old, you know." He teased, and she shrugged.
"Oh, you know, just cause you're a million," She jolted as his fingers dug playfully into her ribcage, ticking her so she moved and laughed against him, making him hold her tighter for pure pleasure.
"A million? Since that's a big step down from a billion, I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckled into the shell of her ear, before she twisted her neck to look at him.
"Really, what happened to them?" She asked, directing the conversation back to the statue.
"I honestly don't know. It was made almost a thousand years before I was even a thought."
"So you aren't the oldest thing in the building. Must be a nice thought."
Klaus narrowed his eyes teasingly, and Caroline poked her tongue out. He shocked her by swiftly nipping the tip of her tongue with blunt teeth, repeating the action on her nose when she gasped and giggled in surprise.
"Never figured you'd be one for surprises." She murmured against him, and he looked at her questioningly.
"Really, love? I'm full of surprises."
Caroline did have to agree with that. Many instances in Mystic Falls would confirm that Klaus was anything but predictable. She grinned as an idea came to her.
"Want to play a game, then?" She whispered against his stubbled cheek, feeling it rise in a mischievous grin.
"What did you have in mind, love?"
"Hide and Seek."
"I thought you said you'd be terrible at that."
"That's why I'm creating new rules. Caroline rules. Guess where I'll be in the Louvre."
"And what do I get if I guess correctly?" Klaus asked, his hands sliding halfway up the back of her shirt. Caroline arced against him, pressing herself against his broad chest.
"You get me." She breathed against his ear, her lips catching on his lobe.
"But I have you right now." He pointed out astutely.
Caroline pulled back slightly to smile slyly at him. "Well, now you see me –"
The end of her sentence never came as she flashed out of Klaus' grasp, and he gave a hushed growl under his breath before whipping around to see if anyone had seen them, and running after her scent.
She was much quicker than he gave her credit for, possibly due to the fact that she had been exchanging blood with the oldest, most powerful being on the planet. He stopped in an alcove after he grew tired of attempting to chase her by scent without success, and used his mind instead, thinking about Caroline's nature and which artwork she would be instantly attracted to. His mind instantly turned to one in particular, and he smiled deviously before running to the other side of the museum. Yes, there she was, he'd recognize her tangle of curls anywhere, and the accompanying scent of lilies baking in the sunlight. She gave a slight shriek as he appeared beside her, spinning her so she was against him thigh to thigh, toe to toe.
"Got you." He half growled into her neck, and she gave a breathless chuckle.
"You play a risky game, little one." Klaus continued, smoothing his lips up her neck like brush strokes of fire against her skin. "What if we were caught?"
"Oh, I know you, Niklaus." She murmured huskily, sending a thrill shooting down his spine with her words and her fingers threading through his hair. "You would have come up with some sort of brilliant plan."
He was very nearly distracted from the sensual white marble sculpture they stood beside. Caroline saw his glance to the artwork and smiled.
"How'd you guess?"
"Oh, somehow I just knew that you'd be attracted to the most tender and passionate lovers of all time." He smirked as they studied the two figures – Psyche and Cupid – wrapped in each others arms like the lovers before them. "Remind you of anyone?" He asked mischievously, his arm slyly sliding up to rest just under her breasts in a similar style to the statue. Caroline tapped his arm away, looking around to the tourists paying little to no attention to the typical lovers. She shook her head slightly at him in exasperation, but it didn't prevent the smile from gracing her face, and her hand from curling around his.
They wandered through the rest of the gallery hand in hand until closing at 9, when the masses began to be rounded up like cattle and shepherded towards the exits.
"Sorry, mate, forgot something." Klaus said to one of the guards, pulling Caroline with him as they ducked back.
"What are you doing?" She asked with just a hint of apprehension.
"Relax, I just needed to do one thing." He said, taking a small piece of paper from his pocket. She recognised it as one of his sketches...of her.
"What are you doing?" Caroline repeated as he stopped walking when they reached a door.
"You didn't listen to me the first time, did you?" Klaus said with amusement, knocking on the door to the curators office.
"I did until you took a drawing of me out in the Louvre." She said. "I don't trust whatever you have planned."
Klaus jokingly pressed a hand to his heart, rolling his eyes. "Just wait here, please."
"But – "
"Love, don't make me compel you."
Caroline crossed her arms with a huff, but waited as he stepped into the room and rejoined her a short while later.
"I don't want to know what you did with that sketch, do I." She said warily as Klaus took her hand again and began walking them towards the exit.
"Perhaps. But you will be able to see soon."
...
Walking along the streets of Paris was like being in a movie. The multicolored lights shone in arcs off the pavement, creating a glow that matched Klaus and Caroline's as they walked along the streets hand in hand.
"So where should we go to cap off the night?" Caroline mused aloud, watching Klaus rather than the passing streets. "A little Parisian drink in a bar? Or back to our place?"
He bit back a smile at her words, but Caroline saw it, and it made her echo the action.
"While I would like nothing more than to get you alone at our place," Klaus said, glancing from Caroline's face to ahead of them, stopping their walk with a pull on her hand. "I think you may want to do what I have planned first."
"I doubt that," She murmured, stepping closer to him and smoothing her hand across his jaw line and down chest.
Klaus caught her hand before it could go further than his abdomen, pressing a swift kiss to it, the stubble tickling her skin delightfully.
"Look up, love." He tilted his head towards the trees, and Caroline looked up with a gasp.
"The Eiffel Tower?" She breathed. There it was, the colossal metal structure, lit up with all its magnificent glory.
"Shall we?"
They reached the four legs of the iconic French structure, eyeing the cue for the lifts.
Klaus looked at Caroline.
"Race you to the top?"
They climbed the twisted metal in a blur, breaking through the flimsy chicken wire at the top and appearing so fast that the few who saw them assumed their minds were playing tricks on them. Caroline exhaled, adjusting her top while Klaus glanced around and then mussed up her curls. She gaped playfully at him and he winked.
"Like what you see?"
She quirked a brow, and he smiled sheepishly, which earned a giggle from Caroline. Klaus was sheepish? And joking?
"I meant Paris."
She spun around to see the many city lights twinkling below them, beautiful and surreal.
"Wow," She breathed, walking to the edge and curling her fingers around the railing as she surveyed every detail of Paris.
"I know," Klaus said softly, watching her rather than the sights, slowly putting his hands on her waist, his breath catching as the angel leaned back into his arms without much more encouragement.
"This is absolutely perfect." Caroline sighed with a smile.
"I'm glad." He murmured into her hair, his lips catching on the tip of the shell of her ear. She shivered in his embrace.
"I'm torn, however."
"How so?"
Caroline turned to look at him. "I can't decide on whether to look at the view, or you, or skip both of them and kiss you instead."
Klaus surprised her and kissed her, his beautiful blue eyes open and shining with the shimmer of the Parisian night lights. She kissed him back, her eyes locked on his, and she swore her heart lifted out of her chest and soared into the night while she felt his own heartbeat stutter and race into a gallop under her palm. She parted her lips from his and rested her forehead against his, never breaking their eye contact.
Caroline felt it, a word, a feeling, bubbling up in her chest and threatening to burst from her lips like one of the dazzling shooting stars above them or the fragile butterflies suddenly present in her stomach, or the lightning that was currently zipping through her veins. But she knew it was too soon, and it was Klaus, and despite her accepting some feelings towards him, she couldn't just jump from one emotion to the other.
Plus she could only imagine what Klaus would think. Or rather do. Presumably run. Or vanish into thin air. Caroline hadn't ever felt this, and even thinking those words were such a cliché, but she felt they were true. She hadn't ever come across a man who not only offered her the world, but gladly gave her the world and showed her everything it – and he – could offer.
So she said nothing, but kissed him again, hoping he could feel what she wasn't going to say, and hoping it was enough for now.
Caroline woke up smiling. She seemed to be doing that a lot now she was waking up next to Klaus. She stretched, rolling out of the bed to shower, the biggest thought in her head being whether or not she could rustle up some breakfast. Her phone flashed with a message, and she paused on her way to the shower to check.
Her face went white, and her stomach dropped. She bit her lip, glancing to see if Klaus had woken up but he was still submerged completely in oblivion, exhausted from the night before. The very thought brought a smile to her face, but it was wiped completely as she turned her attention back to the message.
She was ready in seconds. She glanced once at Klaus' sleeping form, slipping quietly out the door. She double checked the address that had been texted to her, running silently and swiftly through the streets of Paris.
She knew what she was doing was wrong. It wasn't right to go and meet up with Tyler, especially when she had to run from Klaus to do so. He would not be happy. But this way she got a good chance to talk to Tyler and sort everything out properly.
She arrived at the Eiffel Tower – how ironic it was after last night – and spun around, scanning the crowd for that familiar face. She sensed a presence and stiffened, before turning around.
Yup, Tyler.
"Really? You know how jumpy I get, especially right now." She huffed, but calmed down quickly. She'd had a better hold on her emotions recently.
"Only cause you had to escape from Klaus. What kind of a relationship is that?" Tyler was hurt, she could see that, and she could see why he would be. However, it wasn't exactly like he was here alone trying to find her either.
"Where's Hayley?"
"It's not like that."
"I'm not blind, Ty. And I'm also not ignorant. She helped you in the mountains didn't she?" Caroline could see the ever so slightly guilty look on his face, and let an understanding expression claim her face. She motioned towards some benches, and they walked over, sat down, and began to talk through it all.
Klaus woke up lazily, which he had not done for many centuries. He stretched, the action somewhere between a lion and a dog, and glanced around the room for Caroline, frowning when he saw she was nowhere to be found. Sitting up in bed, he listened out. Shower not running, no sound in the lounge or kitchen, there was no other heartbeat or set of functioning lungs in the apartment.
She was gone.
Klaus couldn't even comprehend it.
But then he felt it.
First it was as if his entire torso had been hollowed out: no lungs so he fought for air, no stomach so it felt like it had dropped. Then it all came rushing back to him, but it hurt. The organs felt damaged. And then he knew that she had been the one to make them feel this way, to damage them, and his whole body hummed with red hot rage.
Klaus snarled to the morning, swearing to make her pay.
Caroline walked home, strangely feeling heavy but lighter. At least they had both talked it through to the point where they were both understanding of the others side.
She let herself into the apartment – of course it was unlocked, they were vampires – and tried to walk in quietly. Maybe she could just sneak back in and act like she hadn't left and –
"Hello, sweetheart." Klaus was sitting on the couch facing the door with a cold smile on his face. "Did you have fun?"
Busted.
Caroline winced, but composed herself and decided to face whatever was in store. "I just went out for a walk. Didn't want to wake you."
Klaus nodded, but his eyes were harsh and his tone was condescending. "And so that's why you're sneaking in, smelling of my first turned hybrid Tyler."
Caroline opened her mouth to come up with some response, but she had none. She was rendered into silence regardless when a brunette with dazzling emerald eyes sasheyed in from the balcony.
"Ah, wonderful timing." Klaus said, beckoning the human girl over. "Bring your friends in as well, wont you?"
The woman nodded absently, swishing around and disappearing out on the balcony again.
"What's going on?" Caroline bristled.
Klaus had to absolute audacity to grin at her, and though she was thankful that this smile had no hint of an adorable dimple, she couldn't find anything else to be thankful for.
"Isn't it obvious, love?"
"Don't call me love if you're going to feed on innocent girls." She hissed at him.
Four girls walked back in, and Caroline watched in disgust as Klaus stood to join them.
"Your loss, love." He shot the pet name purposefully at her, turning so he was behind the first girl, sweeping back her brown curly hair to expose her neck and her jumping pulse. Klaus glanced up tauntingly at Caroline as the girl arched backward to press against his chest.
"Sure I cant tempt you with a drink?" His fangs came out, and Caroline growled, rushing over to him and pulling the girl from his grasp.
"Forget about all this, and go about your life with your friends. Don't come back." She compelled with a slight snarl, and turned her icy gaze to Klaus as the girls walked out like clones. Caroline had the grace to wait till the door shut behind them to slap the smirk off Klaus' face.
"What the actual hell, Niklaus Mikaelson? You knew I wasn't comfortable with that kind of crap, and you still purposefully went out of your way to do it."
Klaus stood stone faced. "Who said I went out of my way to do it? That's my nature, love. A born killer."
Caroline shook her head, trying to erase the words from her brain. "You know that's not true like that."
"But that. Is what. I am." Klaus said in his eerily calm voice, hands coming down like clamps around her wrists. She struggled vainly against them, but he didn't let her move an inch. "You best look properly now, love. This is the monster, and you'll have to get used to it if you run again." His eyes were yellow, but she looked up to him without fear.
"I wasn't running, Klaus." She hissed at him. "But do you really think that lowly of me?" Her knee jabbed into his stomach, and she finally evaded his grip, only to come back with her own punches, which he dodged.
"You were the one to sneak away in the morning." He growled, catching hold of her arm and twisting it so she was momentarily still, stuck between him and the table. "I was the one to wake up with no idea as to where you had gone."
"And you couldn't trust me to come back?" She asked breathlessly.
"You've spent a majority of our relationship evading me, what else would I expect of you?" He could tell he had said the wrong thing as her eyes turned red once more, but it was the truth.
"I've changed." Caroline said, her hand searching the tabletop to find something to help her. "Though its obvious that you haven't." She snarled, recalling the four stunning models he had been planning to feed upon. Her hand clasped something, and she swung it back around to crash against his head. Klaus didn't even make a sound as the vase smashed around his head, breaking to pieces and clattering to the floor.
Caroline shoved away from him, turning to hurtle back and collide into him, all sharp nails and sharp teeth and snarls. Klaus hit the table with Caroline ontop of him, and his hands flew out just in time to keep her from clawing at his face.
"Then why were you with Tyler?"
"I was trying to be the bigger person and break it off with him properly so I could stay with you, you jerk!" She battered him with her knees against his chest while he kept her hands from flying to harm him. "Though I don't know why, you're clearly not worth the effort."
Caroline was suddenly on the floor underneath him.
"Don't say things like that." He growled.
"Why not? You were fully prepared to hurt me, why cant I do the same to you?"
"Because its not meant to hurt me, it shouldn't hurt me, but it does."
She stopped struggling to frown up at him.
"You're the only one who can hurt me. And I don't like feeling that vulnerable, but it is what it is, love." Klaus said honestly, his eyes fading from yellow to their pure blue.
Caroline stared up at him, but was shaken back to her anger by his pet name. "That doesn't change anything."
"Why not?" It still came out as a growl, and it made it easier to be angry with him despite his ways.
"Because you were still a monster."
Her arms were slammed and pinned to the floor either side of her head.
"I am a monster, love. Get used to it."
"Fuck you." She hissed, latching her legs around his hips and using the movement to roll them so she wasn't trapped underneath him.
"I hope you meant that literally." He smirked, and she snarled, struggling to tear his hands from her wrists so she can lash out properly at him. He muffled a groan – her movements were distracting when they were pressed together like they were.
He shot up, Caroline still wound tightly around him in her attempts to hit him, and shoved her against the wall, one of the paintings crashing to the ground next to them.
"Don't start something you can't handle, little one." He snapped, one hand twisting in her hair, the other holding her wrists together against the wall.
"Bite me." She challenged, kicking her feet pointlessly against his back.
Klaus growled and attacked her neck, but not with his teeth, sucking hard enough to make her arch against him rather than flail, struggling for an entirely different reason.
"S-stop." Caroline stuttered breathlessly, her body already succumbing with shivers.
"Make me." He challenged her now, pulling back to see whether she would protest. He didn't get much of a chance to look at her before she pulled his head towards hers for a bruising kiss.
Later, a long while later, they lay panting on the floor. Klaus stroked a hand down Caroline's bare back, and she hummed.
"I'm still mad at you." She murmured languidly.
"I know." He replied.