The Revenge Con

28. Overdue Conversations

"You shouldn't be here." 

"I had to see you." Kai placed his hand on the glass. Katherine reached up aligning her hand with his. "Bonnie's in Dallas with Elena and Damon. She doesn't suspect a thing." Katherine pulled her hand away.

"What are they doing in Dallas?" Katherine questioned, feeling suspicious of the sudden trip. 

"Damon's brother is in the hospital," Kai told her. She relaxed slightly but still seemed skeptical.

"Did you get the package?" 

"You mean the ring? Is this your way of asking me to marry you? Does that mean we can finally have conjugal visits?" 

"It's not for you it's for Bonnie." 

"Well, I'd like to see that-" Katherine glared. 

"I'm serious. It's time." 

Bonnie and Kol moved away from Elena and Damon so they could talk privately. 

"How have you been?" She asked nervously. Kol rolled his eyes.

"Let's skip the small talk and start with the apology." She nodded.

"Kol, I am so sorry."

"That's all you've got? No big long speech about how much you love me and how you wish you could take it all back?" Bonnie studied him for a moment. Even though he had been joking around with her and was clearly handling the situation better than his brothers, he was clearly hurt. 

"I did love you."

"Did." Kol sighed, shaking his head.

"Kol-" He held up his hand before she could continue. 

"It's fine. I guess it is nice to hear that it really is over. Now we're both free to move on." Bonnie glanced at her feet, feeling guilty. "Right." She reached for his hand but he avoided her grasp. "Do you regret it?" 

"I regret hurting you." She confessed. "But I do not regret working with Katherine because I got to fall in love with the most amazing man." 

"Don't do that." Kol stood up, startling her. "I trusted you. I loved you. You may not have taken my money but you took my spirit. You broke me, Bonnie." Kol stormed off not wanting to hear anything else she had to say. 

Caroline and Klaus drove to her house in silence. After they arrived she got Hope from the back and led him inside. She put Hope down for her nap while Klaus looked around the main room. There was a picture of him and Caroline on the bookshelf. They had been at a fair. 

"Klaus look! A real artist!" Caroline squealed as she dragged him toward a caricature artist. 

"You've got to be kidding me." He groaned but she could see the smile peeking through. 

"Please!" She wrapped her arms around him and he couldn't say no. They sat in front of the artist and Klaus paid him. After a few minutes, he handed them a doodle. "Thank you," Caroline said politely.

"This is terrible love," Klaus muttered as they walked away. 

"Only because you weren't smiling." Caroline teased. "Would it kill you to have some fun?" 

"It might." She shook her head at him before poking him in the side. She looked around before an idea popped into her head. "Excuse me!" She handed her phone to the nearest tourist. "Could you take a picture of us?" 

"Sure." 

"Now pretend you love me." Caroline grinned at the camera while Klaus cracked a slight smile. "Thanks," Caroline told them as she took her phone back. "Look how cute you are when you smile." Klaus was fully smiling now as he noticed the light in her eyes. 

"I love you, Caroline." 

He put the frame down as Caroline reentered the room. 

"So." 

"I want to do a DNA test." He demanded. 

"That's fair." She nodded. "Did you want something to drink?" 

"Depends, are you going to poison me?" Caroline considered making a joke but he still didn't seem in the right mood for it.

"No." 

"Got any bourbon?" 

"I live with a Salvatore, of course, I do." Klaus tensed at the mention of Stefan. 

"You and Stefan..." 

"He's just a friend." She insisted though she knew he didn't believe her. "Why do you even care? I saw the interview, I know you've moved on." 

"That makes it okay for you to screw my best friend? It wasn't enough to manipulate me and my brothers but you had to take it a step further by fu-"

"I'm sorry!" She sighed. "I can't keep having this same fight with you." She handed him the drink. Klaus took a drink as they both let go of some of the tension. Klaus pushed his anger aside.

"What's her name?" 

"Hope."

"That's pretty." Klaus sipped the drink in his hand. "She's beautiful like her mother." Caroline wasn't sure she heard the second part correctly but her heart raced at the mere thought. 

"I know my word means nothing to you but I have not been with anyone else. You were everything to me, Klaus. I will never forgive myself for ruining what we had and I will always love you. You gave me the greatest gift in the world." Hope started to cry and Caroline excused herself. When she returned Klaus was gone.

"Damon." Elena, Damon and Bonnie stood up at the sound of Jo's voice. "Your brother's awake. You can go see him now but you should go in one at a time so you don't overwhelm him."

"Thanks, Jo." Damon kissed Elena's forehead before heading to his brother's room. 

"I'm going to go call Caroline." Bonnie slipped away leaving Elena with Jo. 

"So I meant to ask earlier, how's my brother?" Dr. Saltzman asked Elena. 

"What?" Elena was surprised by her question. "Uh he seems fine I guess. Bonnie would know better than I would." 

"Are you guys still in business together?" Before Elena could decipher what that meant, Bonnie came back to the conversation. 

"Care's on her way," Bonnie announced. 

"Have you seen the Mikaelsons? It seems their sister is awake as well." 

"They just stepped out but we can let them know." Elena offered politely. 

"Thanks."