The Blonde Princess

Los Angeles

"I'm not going with you Klaus," Caroline said hesitantly, a slight wince on her face.

Klaus halted his long strides towards the door and cocked his head towards her, not turning around. 

"What?" He queried in a deceptively quiet tone.

"Will you please sit down so we can talk about this?" Caroline implored gingerly, gesturing to their expansive bed. He spun around and took on a defensive stance, cerulean eyes making it clear that he wasn't about to heed her request. Sighing, she just began to speak "I can't leave New Orleans right now, Klaus. I'm only in my junior year and I don't want to start taking part-time classes or coursework, it's only my first degree. I want to stick this through, you know? The whole college experience. I think you should go on ahead to LA and I'll catch up with you."

Klaus hadn't moved, hadn't even twitched while she spoke but his eyes flashed angrily and his jaw twitched menacingly. "So this whole time you've sat idly by watching me plan our move and you've stayed silent. Did it never occur to you to inform me that you had no intention of going anywhere with me?" His voice was strained, almost like he was trying to restrain himself from yelling at her. "Answer me!" Well, she said almost.

"Nik,"

"No. Don't you dare 'Nik' me, Caroline. We've been planning this for months! How could you possibly afford to be so selfish?"

"Selfish? You want me to drop my life and follow you across the country, again."

"Again? So that's what this whole debacle is about, then. You regret coming here, to me, to New Orleans." He concluded.

"I didn't say that, Klaus. Stop it." Caroline warned.

"Stop what, sweetheart? Speaking the truth? You're always pestering me with your pesky morals so let's have at it shall we? You regret coming here. That's why you always find something meaningless to do to avoid me, isn't it? The degree, the galas, the running errands with Elijah and Rebekah, the way you tag along with my minions, you'll do anything to avoid me so why don't you just admit it? You don't love me." He stepped closer to her with every word he spoke, delivering blow after blow to her until he was right in front of her, close enough for her chest to brush up against his. He stared her down, nose flared and insecurities bared, open and naked for her to see and fearing the worst of what would come out of her mouth next. He saw the hurt swirl in her orbs before the fury took over and she shoved him harshly away.

"Meaningless? That was a low blow, Klaus. You know I always wanted to go to school, vampire or not. I'm not going to school to spite you, you narcissistic ass, I'm doing it to build myself up. And the galas? They're so your precious kingdom sees something other than a heartless monster when they look at you. To inspire loyalty through love, not fear, because Lord knows your methods have worked out disastrously in the past. I run errands with your siblings because unlike you, I actually appreciate them and like spending time with them and hey, it gives me something to do while you're off torturing witches and whatnot, which by the way is totally uncalled for because in case you forgot, the last witch you tortured was Bonnie's aunt . Oh and your minions? They're people too, who are actually quite fun to hang out with but you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Caroline was raging now, her hands shaking from pure anger at the nerve of this man to assume that she did anything less than absolutely adore him. What a complete idiot. "Enjoy your trip to LA, Klaus," she huffed, turning to go and either rant to Rebekah or drink her weight in tequila. Whichever happened first.

With every word, the betrayal and hurt seeped out of Klaus, slowly being replaced by guilt and and an overwhelming urge to pull the furious blonde into his arms and tell her how sorry he was. "Caroline," he started, moving to block her path.

Her eyes shot up to his and she replied hotly, "don't 'Caroline' me, Klaus."

"I deserve that," he conceded, reaching for her arm.

"You think?" She countered, avoiding his grip. Klaus sighed, instead wrapping his arms around her waist and backing them towards the bed. She fought him, though it was futile, hybrid strength and all working against her efforts. Caroline eventually stopped thumping against his chest and tried for his firm forearms, swatting and pinching at whatever she could get ahold of. He used her distraction to sit down and position her on his lap, so she was straddling him.

"Love, I am sorry for my unfair assumptions and for doubting you. I will try to not do it again, but I make no promises. I am prone to thinking that the ones I love will eventually leave me." The sincerity of his tone made her look up from his arms and the rage drained out of her immediately at the look on his face.

"Oh, Klaus," she sighed, draping her arms over his shoulders, "I won't leave you. Not now, not ever. And besides, if I was going to leave you, I'd at least do something dramatic like fake my own death so you wouldn't come after me or get Bonnie to do one of those spells that masks-"

"Hey!" He interrupted, jostling her a little in his lap, "I thought you were trying to make me feel better."

"Right," Caroline frowned, concentrating on him, "my point is, babe, I'm not leaving you. I am just doing what any modern twenty-first century woman is and putting my education first. I''ll come to LA in the summer to check on the expansion and to work on my tan and we'll get a place in Beverly Hills."

"I'm sorry for calling your pursuit of a degree meaningless," Klaus apologized sheepishly.

"Forgiven." She chirped, dropping a kiss to his cheek before hauling herself off of him and flouncing to his suitcase, no doubt to repack his clothes in a way that her OCD nature could live with and he watched her, shaking his head and chuckling when she tossed a pair of his worn jeans over her shoulder. He really did love her.