Chapter 1
The eyes, those stupid, annoyingly ever-watching eyes. They were always staring, always judging her for what she had told the owner of those eyes. Bonnie watched Caroline over the top of her textbook. All she could think was: how could she have done that? With Klaus of all people! Bonnie was disgusted by Caroline. After all Klaus had done to them, she decided to fuck him? Seriously!
"I can see you staring!" Caroline said in a singsong voice as she rolled her eyes at one of her oldest friends. Bonnie's gaze faltered and she returned to reading her textbook. The shrill ring of a cell phone sounded, breaking the otherwise silence. Tyler. Again. Caroline rolled her eyes. Based on Tyler's previous voicemails, he felt guilty about what he had said to her after the Klaus incident. Her phone beeped, alerting her to another voicemail.
"Maybe you should answer his calls." Bonnie muttered, not looking up from her book.
"Maybe you should mind your own business." Caroline snapped. She immediately regretted it; she hated when she upset Bonnie. The fire lit on its own accord, Bonnie sometimes did that when she got angry. Caroline apologized but the damage was already done. Bonnie didn't talk to her again.
Caroline hit play on Tyler's voicemail and put the phone to her ear. "Care, I'm sorry about what I said. You just have to realize that Klaus has ruined my life. He didn't allow us to be together and now you've gone and slept with him. It hurt me, Caroline. Please, can you forgive me? Call me back."
Caroline tossed her phone at the foot of her bed and rested her head against the wall as she shut her eyes. His lips on hers; the smell of his skin. The way he said her name in that British accent. His hands on her, all over her. The taste of his…Caroline's eyes shot open. She shook that image out of her head and went to the bathroom. She turned on the shower. A nice, cold shower, that would get these thoughts out of her head. She undressed and stepped under the icy spray. Even with the frigid water on her skin, it still felt aflame. Klaus. She needed to see Klaus again.
"Get out of here." The professor said. Caroline was out the door and across campus to her dorm room in a matter of minutes. She was almost done packing her bag when Elena and Bonnie walked in.
"You sure left in a hurry." Elena commented as they walked over to her. She picked up a sweater that Caroline had just packed. "Going somewhere?"
Caroline didn't say anything, she just continued packing. Elena sat on the edge of Caroline's bed, Bonnie did the same. Bonnie looked over the pile of clothes waiting to be packed in the suitcase and caught the strap of a rather risqué item. The witch said, "Lingerie? Who are you going to see? Klaus, perhaps?"
Caroline caught the piece of clothing out of Bonnie's grasp and shoved it into the suitcase. She continued without a word and when she was finished, rose to leave. She offered no explanation for her two friends. She slung her back over her shoulder and left the room, leaving a stunned vampire and an equally stunned witch behind.
She almost turned the car around a dozen times. What was she doing? What would Klaus say when she saw him again? What if he didn't want to see her? She would be humiliated. She couldn't bare the thought. Caroline slammed on the breaks and pulled off onto the shoulder of the highway. New Orleans 15 miles was what the sign in front of her read. She was almost there.
Her phone rang out again for the fifth time since she had left Whitmore College. She looked at all of her missed calls. Tyler. Bonnie. Elena. Mom. Tyler. "Leave me alone." She muttered. She wiped a tear from her cheek that she hadn't even realized she had shed. She shook her head.
Who cared what they thought? They didn't matter for her happiness. Only she mattered. She knew what she wanted and it wasn't at Whitmore or in Mystic Falls. It was fifteen miles away in New Orleans. His name was Niklaus Mikaelson. He would show her the world, he had promised it long ago. She had finally reached the point where she was willing to let him.
She pulled the car off of the shoulder and was in New Orleans in no time. She compelled herself a beautiful suite at the W New Orleans hotel in the French Quarter. It had a jacuzzi and a balcony. She unpacked her clothes into the dresser and changed out of her traveling outfit into a flirty polka dot dress and cardigan. She exited her room and the hotel minutes later. She didn't know where to find Klaus but she figured if she wandered and asked around, she would find him.
It didn't take long until she entered a bar and sat down on a stool.
"What can I get you?" The bartender asked. She was a pretty blonde who seemed like she wouldn't take shit from anyone.
"Whatever you think I'll like." Caroline replied.
"A challenge, I like it." She replied and began mixing up a drink. "Are you in town visiting?"
"You could say that."
"Do you have a name?"
"Caroline. How about you?"
"Who doesn't have a name?" Caroline laughed and the bartender smiled. "Camille, although, I prefer Cami."
She slid a drink the color of lavender over to Caroline. She asked, "What brings you to New Orleans, Caroline?"
Caroline thought it over and replied, "I'm looking for a man."
Cami smiled and said, "Any man? Or one in particular."
"A particular one, definitely. You may be able to help me." Caroline said, thinking it over. "His name is Klaus." Cami dropped the glass she had been cleaning with a rag. Her face went white. "I take it you know him."
"Of course she does, love." That voice was unmistakeable, she couldn't help but smile. She turned on her barstool and was met with the lovely face of Niklaus Mikaelson. He smiled at her and continued, "Caroline, what brings you to New Orleans?"
