Original Sin

Chapter 3

When the body that was stroking his hand moved to a more comfortable position beside him, his senses where suddenly alert realizing that this was real and not his imagination, "Caroline, " he said again, "are you really here?"

"Yes I am," was all Caroline could say, suddenly lost for words. She had been rehearsing and constructing the words she wanted to say in her mind all throughout the trip from Mystic Falls to NOLA but when she finally saw Klaus in his current state all the words she wanted to say to him flew out the window.

Klaus tried to draw Caroline closer to him, for an awkward side embrace with his left arm around her back and his right arm on her left hand, his head buried on her chest as he tried to compose his emotions. He had dreamed of this moment, wished for it, the day Caroline would come to him of her own free will. He knew in his heart all he really needed was Caroline, if he had her his world would be complete. The one thing that was always lacking in his life, the reason why he was always restless, dissatisfied, why he felt there was a missing part of him.

He recalled that day in the woods several weeks ago, as he was walking away from her. Every fiber of his being was telling him to turn around and beg her on his knees to come with him or to make him take back his promise to never come back to Mystic Falls. The first few steps walking away from her were the heaviest steps he ever took, each step just tore the hole in his heart bigger until there was nothing but his broken heart with no cure in site, no cure but his Caroline. He tried to put on a brave face, going back to his life, resuming threats and intimidation to the minions in New Orleans, pretending it was the life he wanted, it should be, after all it was he who wanted to take back his rightful place as King, but after a taste of what his life could be with Caroline by his side, everything else seemed hollow to him, everything else was empty to him.

He felt everything else magnified around him because of the empty feeling he had. While he usually relished the game of deceit and the art of war with Marcel and his siblings, each encounter felt like another nail of betrayal to him now. The final nail was the what Rebekah and Marcel had kept from him for the longest time, his own sister planning his death by luring Mikael to New Orleans to kill him. His own sister, and his own brother practically going against him by protecting their sister. He had no one on his side, no on to trust, no one who loved him. His love for his siblings was hopeless, his heart trampled on once again. He was a broken man. He may be the most powerful being, but it just took his own siblings and one baby vampire to break him on the inside.

But she was here now, his Caroline, for what reason he did not know yet. She was quiet, tentative, even while she stroked his back probably in an attempt to comfort him, she was cautious. Why was she here, was it because she finally took the chance to chose him. He was afraid to find out why, afraid to ask her another question.

'Let's bring you to your bed, you might get a cramp. Even the all mighty hybrid gets cramps right?" Klaus tried to smile at her attempt at humor but he was still overcome by so many emotions, he felt he wanted to remain in this state for awhile. He even fought with turning off his emotions, but only his pride stopped him from doing this, he was after all the Original Hybrid, he lived a thousand years, fought many battles and came out victories every time. He could survive this battle, even at the cost of losing his siblings.

"Hey, did you hear me?" Caroline asked again very quietly.

"Yes," was all Klaus said still not moving from his position, "can we just stay this way for awhile."

Caroline kissed Klaus' head, "fine, whatever you want, why don't you just lie down on my lap so you'll be more comfortable, I'll lean back on the wall so I can stretch my legs."

Klaus' response was to just do as Caroline instructed without uttering a word. Seeing that it looked like Klaus intended to stay in this position for the rest of the night, Caroline finally closed her eyes to sleep, exhausted by the events of the day.