A/N: My first TVD story, I love the idea of Klaus and Caroline together! I hope you like it, thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

Why?

For the life of him, he couldn't figure it out. How a simple girl, one so disposable, one so ordinary, one so plainly insignificant, could turn into the most complex, indispensable, extraordinary, beautiful being he'd ever come across.

She had no lasting first impression, only that she was part of the faction bent on standing in his way. He was entirely prepared to sacrifice her without a second thought, it might have been a decision of convenience, but hell was he furious when he discovered Damon had aided her escape.

He didn't care for her snide remarks, her conflict with authority. She lacked control, she struggled to strike a balance between her newly wrought afterlife and the longing to maintain her sanity. She strove for the upmost control, but she was never successful. While he on the other hand, always possessed the advantage. He was always one step ahead, always.

Which then brought the age old question back to head again. Why had he fallen so insidiously obsessed with her?

One second he found her weak, the next his interest peaked by her boldness, then hopelessly stunned by her ability to see. This infant, this child who he gained nothing from interacting with, had been able to see through the unbreakable mask he'd worn for more than a millennium.

Why, why had he fallen in love with her?

Love was a vampire's greatest weakness, it was what separated him from those beneath him. Love was the key tenant of humanity. Temperamental, scheming, heartless, and power hungry he might be, but Human? He could only laugh in the face of someone who had insulted him with such a distasteful comment, laugh at and then slaughter.

He got a sense of thrill playing with peoples' minds, he liked to mess with their heads until they were groveling at his feet, begging him to simply run a stake through their heart. It was on seldom occasion he ever allowed them such peace. Torture was enthralling, it made him feel purpose, but it was his own undoing.

If he thought Caroline Forbes was going to take it lying down, he was sorely mistaken.

He pondered these things as he looked down at the blonde woman, her eyes closed, an angry bruise still on her jaw from where he'd struck her earlier in his blind wrath. He ran the back of his knuckles tenderly across her cheek, tracing the injury he'd inflicted on her otherwise flawless features. He'd been angry, he'd realized the effect she had on him. The wound had yet to heal, it was safe to say he hadn't been gentle. He kneeled down on the bed he'd set her down on, listening to the slight breath that still managed to escape her lungs.

He wished he could kill her. He would've done it, if he didn't already know he'd probably die along with her. Somehow she'd brought the humanity out in him. The insufferable quality he once was desperate to be rid of, managed to find its way back into his undead heart.

He fingered a piece of her golden flaxen hair, he inhaled deeply to take in her scent. She was intoxicating.

She was sleeping peacefully, a deep uninterrupted slumber. He bent his head to place an uncharacteristically innocent kiss on her lips, only to disrupt the bliss she once kept. Her eyes snapped open, and her hands instinctively went to push his body away.

She was still scared of him, he could feel it. That thought made his blood run faster, it excited him to no end.

Without trying, he caught her wrists with one of his own hands. He could feel her trying to escape his grasp, but they both knew her efforts were futile. He tightened his grip, just barely enough to get attention and not break the bones enclosed by his fingers. He looked down at her disapprovingly, a slight tinge of scorn in his voice.

"Now love, it would be best if you didn't do that," he smirked, loving how one command from him had her like a deer in headlights. He didn't need to use compulsion on her like this, she simply obeyed out of terror. It was those times of courage that she stepped out of her obedient role that had perplexed him.

As he felt her muscles relax, he set her hands free. His close proximity still made her squirm. He chuckled darkly to himself as he rose to his feet. She took that instant to make a run for the door, but he was faster. In a flash, he had her back pinned to the door, his arms trapping her on either side. Escape was no longer a feasible option, but then again, maybe it never was.

"Klaus," her lips trembled as she attempted to pull a brave face. Her failure was somehow infinitely endearing. "Why are you doing this?" her voice cracked, streams of tears flowed down her face despite her best efforts to hold them in.

He didn't know why he was doing this.

"Why?" he echoed, letting her words sink into his mind. "Why?" he repeated slowly.

He could feel the adrenaline rushing through him. His eyes concentrated on the pulse of her neck. Everything about her was irresistible, fundamentally welcoming his insatiable appetite.

He brought his head down so his lips loomed dangerously over the spot where her neck and shoulder met. He felt her shiver as his breath hit the delicate side of her collar. He laughed, a maniacal, joyless laugh. "Why?" he said again dryly before responding, "Sorry sweetheart, I'm afraid there is no explanation,"

He'd been alive longer than any one being should have been allowed, certainly longer than nature had intended for him to. But he always found a way to get what he wanted.

And right now, all he wanted was her.

Whether or not the world around him disagreed, it didn't matter. She once promised him her forever, and now he would take that invitation even if she believed her own words void.

He guessed it was time he truly began living. It was time to start their forever.

End Chapter 1

A/N: What did you think? If you are interested in me continuing this story, please leave me a review. I'm all right with leaving this as a oneshot, but I'd really like to write more if there are people who want to read! Thanks for reading!