"It's so hard," he imagined telling her.

"What is?" he imagined her eyebrows crinkling a little, a tiny frown working it's way onto her mouth. Her mouth.

"Trusting. To give like you have nothing to lose. It's so exhausting. To allow yourself to feel the whole world isn't conspiring against you."

He imagined she would scoff and make a scathing remark against his person. Something like he had brought it upon himself.

Or perhaps, her face would soften with sorrow as it did at times when he confided in her. Klaus wasn't sure. He hadn't been given nearly enough time to figure out the nuances of Caroline Forbes. He hoped he would. At some point in his life. Especially considering the recent pleasing developments. It was a one-time thing, he reminded himself sternly.

I've caught myself wishing I could forget all the horrible things you've done.

The scotch pleasantly burned down his throat, his thoughts however, refused to budge. They seemed to be quite insistent on clinging on comfortably to the memories of Caroline. It would not do to pay her a visit. It just would not do. Not after the war he had going on, with the possibility of Esther re-appearing, with the possibility of his father -step father turning up , with the forced exile of his daughter and Haley losing her sanity. It would not do to bring Caroline midst all of this and complicate things further.

Bastard.

Unwanted.

Alone.

Alone.

Alone.

But perhaps a visit wouldn't do much harm. He sensed Elijah's arrival. Perfect.

"Brother, what a delight to find you," the wariness on Elijah's face told him otherwise. Klaus only smirked menacingly, enjoying Elijah's evident discomfort.

"I've to pay a visit to someone." Klaus did not want his brother or anyone for that matter to know of his affections for Caroline.

"I might be gone for a week or so. I trust you would be able to handle the city in my absence? Do take care of Hayley. Wouldn't want her slaughtering a whole town this time, now do we?"

Elijah sighed audibly as he loosened his tie. "Very well, brother. I'll let Hayley know of your departure. Anywhere special you're headed to?" Elijah asked, stopping at the foot of the staircase, regarding his brother carefully.

"Nothing to worry your pretty little head about," Klaus said, not concealing the undercurrent of warning his words were laced with.

Catching up to his brother's paranoia and impulsiveness, Elijah only nodded and swiftly made his way towards Hayley's room. Klaus could hear sheets rustling and Haley's sleepy voice inquiring after Elijah's day and Klaus decided that was cue to leave.

He found her in a cafe talking to the former vampire hunter, formerly dead Alaric Saltzman. Klaus wondered when the ex-Vampire Hunter sired by his mother had come back to life. Seemed like there was a bit of catching up to do. So Klaus seated himself at a comfortable but inconspicuous distance to listen in on their conversation and update himself on everything he had missed.

Caroline, he noticed, was looking extremely exuberant and so much like Spring in the dress she was wearing, that he couldn't regret his decision to make his journey to see her. It was cut across in variety of amusing ways, Klaus noted. He imagined running his palm across the smooth expanse of her back. He remembered skin, and the bark of a tree cutting into flesh, hot wet mouth and hands moving frenzily. He caught himself before he could allow his thoughts to wander dangerous terrains. He however did not miss the distressed expression she adorned as she spoke, with her hands scissoring through the air viciously.

Seemed like the Mystic Falls gang was falling apart. Stefan was out gallivanting on his own - Klaus wasn't surprised considering his anti-social modus operandi. The doppelganger was apparently behaving bizarrely calm despite the death of her boyfriend - that incessantly annoying Salvatore, for whose death, Klaus wasn't at all remorseful. He had seen it coming for that impulsive arrogant little vampire. The Bennett witch's death, however, surprised him. The death of a powerful witch, especially one who could be persuaded to aid him if required, did not please Klaus. But, the news of Mystic Falls being under a spell to disallow any magical activity within it had by far been the most surprising of all. He had wondered how Caroline was coping with all this grief. He wondered as to how Caroline's relationship with her mother was coming along after this new development.

But more importantly, what Klaus did gather from all the information was, that Caroline had her hands full. She was incredibly busy and stressed out and he wasn't entirely sure how she would take to his presence - especially after the explicitly ambiguous terms of their... relationship, if it can even be called that. And in that moment, Klaus Mikaelson experienced a torrent of the most terrifying of vulnerability and insecurity regarding the matters of the heart. It was a bad idea, he decided firmly as he prepared to leave.

"Klaus?" her voice stopped him in his tracks. He turned to find her face contorted in surprise and what seemed to be a bit of - suspicion. Her fingers were tightly wound across the book she held pressed against her chest.

"Caroline," he breathed, feeling his face stretch into a smile.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, the doubt and a slight tinge of fear, Klaus noted, frozen into her features. He wanted to close the distance and assure her he meant no harm but he knew he couldn't. Caroline wasn't the sort to be comforted with physical contact. It would only alarm her and push her away. So he held himself and knew he had to play his cards right if he didn't want to ruin the progress he had made with their relationship.

"Out on an errand, really. Didn't seem to think I would run into you of all people." He saw her relax as she rolled her eyes and let out a "yeah, right" with an audible scoff. Klaus smiled, indulgently. They were okay, he decided.

"Are you alleging that my visit has something to do with your presence in it?" he asked, taking a step towards her, enjoying the way her eyes widened a fraction at their increasing proximity before they usually covered up her surprise and what Klaus thought - no, knew, after all he had seen it in her eyes before in the woods - lust.

It was Caroline's turn to indulge him with a smile and another eyeroll as she poked him in the chest, putting an end to their proximity.

"Guilty as charged," he conceded, backing away relishing in the way her face reddened at his candidness. Classic Caroline. Somethings never change, he thought to himself quite happily.

"But I see I've caught you at a bad time. Perhaps, another time, then," he offered her a small smile, breaking the awkward tension that had made its cumbersome presence known in the air between them.

"Now is a good time as any, I guess," he heard Caroline mutter so softly, he knew it was deliberate because she knew he would hear it, but he was also not entirely sure he hadn't misheard. The expectant look on Caroline's face told him otherwise.

"Stop grinning like that, you'll startle people into thinking the Big Bad Hybrid has 'lost his marbles'," Caroline teased in what seemed to be a terrible imitation of the British Accent of the last two words He hadn't realized he had been grinning.

"Well, what are you waiting for? If you're here, you might as well help me with some things."

"I thought we were never going to see each other again - that is what we agreed upon," Caroline said, as they got into her car. Her eyes were keenly regarding the empty road.

"And I thought you were going to college," Klaus countered. Caroline shot him a glare."Decisions change, I guess," he said looking her in the eye.

"Things happened. Not that I need to offer you an explanation," Caroline bit back, angrily, her hands clenching the steering wheel.

"Well, what happened?" Klaus asked again, but gently this time, trying his best to not make it sound like an accusation. Though he was accusing her. Kind of. For not choosing him. For not following through with what she gave as excuses to not choose him. That was unfair. She had to accept it.

She sensed the accusation and retorted appropriately, "again, I don't see why it should concern you," Klaus gave her a pointed look at that, which she pointedly ignored, "but,"she said forcefully, "Damon and Bonnie have ...," she took a deep breath, "are on the other side. Like, the,Other, other side and Mystic Falls has been spelled to keep any magical creature from entering so I'm trying to look for something to reverse that, oh, and - and I just found out Stefan, who's been AWOL for quite sometime now, has apparently gone AWOL only on me. He's been in touch with Alaric -" Caroline stopped at Klaus' confused expression.

"What does AWOL stand for, love?" he asked and it took all of Caroline's will power to not burst into laughter and mock him for his boorish ways. She only willed him an eye roll but Klaus could see the amusement in her eyes and he thrived on it.

"It means Absence Without Official Leave. God, I forget you're like a bazillion years old. Anyway," she added quickly before Klaus could get all particular about how he's not a bazillion years old but only a few centuries, "So, Stefan's been in touch with Alaric and has been consistently ignoring only me, and Elena's being all weird after Bonnie and Damon's death and Tyl-" she caught herself before she could say more. She cursed herself for even uttering Tyler's name in Klaus' presence.

"And what has my former-minion, the despicable Lockwood boy, been up to?" Klaus asked, noticing the way Caroline had cut her speech short. Not that he wanted to hear about the damned Lockwood boy.

"Nothing important," Caroline muttered hastily. Klaus decided to humor her by not pursuing the topic. Rest assured he knew Caroline and Tyler weren't involved. He hummed contentedly, waiting for Caroline to begin speaking again. She wasn't the type to stay quiet.

"So back to the problem in mystic falls...," Caroline began making Klaus smirk. She was never for long silences. Klaus gestured her to continue.

"Well, I've run into a lot of dead ends...but I refuse to give up... There has to be some way...especially now" her hands clenched the steering wheel tightly, "it's more important to go on now than ever."

"And why is that?" Klaus asked noting the curious firm way her mouth was set in.

"Because it seems like everyone else has."

So this is what a determined hopeful Caroline looks like, he thought. He liked it a lot, he realized.

"Now, I've already read through most of the books on boundary spells but I couldn't - what do you think you're doing?" Caroline asked Klaus who had laid himself against the grass quite comfortably.

"What does it look like I'm doing, love?" he asked, voice disturbingly pleasant and teasing and way too comfortable for Caroline's liking. She groaned, frustrated.

"We are not having a picnic here, Klaus. Can you please sit up and pay attention and not act like such a creep!" She poked him when he refused to respond. "Hello! You're being rude!"

He laughed. This strange joyful thing, which Caroline wasn't sure he could even produce, which Klaus wasn't sure he could produce after all that had happened, ripped its way out of his body, and made it's presence known in the air that held them.

"I know it's not that important to you, but it is important to me."

Klaus leaned on his side, his head supported by his palm, watching her make her case and deriving the silliest and yet the most satisfying of pleasures from it. The way her eyes sparkled furiously, her hair cascading her face and her mouth turned down into a frown.

"Nobody except me seems to care and it is so annoying and infuriating. How can everybody act so -so indifferent! I am going to track down every coven possible, ever spell possible but I - I'm not going to lose hope."

Klaus looked at her, with her clenched fists and defiance etched into her posture. He sat up. "Yes. Hope is something that must never be lost," he smiled and Caroline felt there was a strange sorrow to his voice, but she did not probe.

"I could send you contact information of some of my most trusted witches," he offered. Caroline released a heavy sigh. "That would be great. Thank you."

Klaus smiled at her and lay down on his back again.

"So," Caroline began again, making Klaus chuckle at her obstinacy to maintain a conversation and her apparent irritation with his lazy participation.

"How's everything in New Orleans?" he felt her scoot closer to him. He opened his eyes to find her face darkened by the Sun encircling her head. She was dark and light, everything together, he felt. He lifted his hand to pinch a lock of her hair between his fingers and decided that sometimes what glitters is in fact gold. He felt her breath hitch and quickly let go, afraid he might have made her feel uncomfortable.

"It's...chaotic." His eyes fluttered shut.

He wanted to tell her about Hope. How lovely and tiny she was. How beautiful and precious and how he knew what unconditional love meant, in that moment of holding her in his arms. He wanted to share his happiness with her. He knew it would be reciprocated ten fold. But it was not the right time yet. Hope would be in danger if he let anyone know of her existence. As much as Caroline meant to him, his daughter's life could not be put at risk.

"Not all that you'd hope it would be?" He could sense the wariness in her voice. Wondered what was the real purpose of her question. He opened his eyes to find her gazing across the landscape, this strange shadow of sorrow hovering on her face.

"Is everything okay, darling?" he asked, sitting up. She gave him a sad smile.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" she refused to look at him, obstinately staring at the grass. Klaus took one of her hands lying limp in her lap and pressed a kiss against her fingertips only to have her snatch it back as if burnt. She stood up quickly, surprising Klaus. He followed suit.

"I'm sorry if I crossed a line," Klaus said alarmed, noticing how Caroline's face twisted into agony.

"You crossed a line when you showed up . When you started doing all of this," She threw her hands up in frustration. "Seeing you here only reminds me of everything I had planned for and of everything that has gone wrong. Everything is falling apart. I don't know what to do. I can't be so strong all the time. I need a break too and then, then you show up and I have to be strong again and I just need five minutes to be - to be weak," tears streamed down her face and breath came in puffs. She was hyperventilating.

"Caroline," Klaus urged, boring his eyes into hers, his hands clamped onto her biceps. "Breathe."

She felt the compulsion work on her and her breath came easier and she felt the tension release her body. She pressed her forehead against Klaus' shoulder. Her hands slid around his waist in a way that confused him. Her body pressed against his flush, hands wound tightly around his torso - she was hugging him. He had witnessed Hayley and Elijah hugging several times, the way they would seek comfort in each other's arms and Klaus often wondered how that felt like - pathetically weak and yet reassuring with all the tenderness that an embrace allows one to feel, Klaus was sure. He breathed in Caroline's hair as his arms slowly moved to imitate her actions and hold her tighter against himself. It felt divine, he decided. To be held and to hold with so much love.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know my presence would prove to be so...problematic," he spoke against her hair. She pulled away from him and shook her head, "It's ..." Klaus could see it was difficult for her to entirely dispute it. But the fact that she wanted to do so, to safeguard his feelings was a sweet respite. He smiled at her charmingly.

"It's quite alright, love. We can always meet some other time."

She nodded, wiping her face with the back of her palm. "I'll call you," Caroline promised him. "Do you...do you want me to drive you somewhere?"

He smiled. "No, I'll be fine. Survived quite a few centuries without the existence of automobiles love. I'm sure I'll survive a few minutes."

His smile only grew wider when Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah, old man. Now get going. Unlike you, I have stuff to do."

Klaus turned to leave, but not before pressing a firm reassuring kiss against Caroline's temple. "Take care, Caroline."