They would row constantly, especially in the beginning. Klaus wasn't quite adept to being in a relationship and Caroline wasn't quite sure of her limits with him. They would fight over insignificant things, like toothpaste caps and hair clogging the shower drain, and they would fight about important things, too, like his complete disregard for human life or her ineptitude for letting parts of her human life go.
They were explosive, with fights ending in screams and tears and slamming doors and broken furniture.
"Caroline." Klaus would growl from somewhere in the house, after finding the toothpaste cap sitting conveniently next to the bottle of toothpaste, but not actually screwed on.
"What?" She would say, when she made her way from wherever else she was in the house, and she would peak her head around the corner, curious, until she saw the toothpaste tube in his hand.
"Oh," she'd say with a simple little shrug. "Sorry."
At first, he let the toothpaste uncapping go, because their relationship was still on delicate grounds and goddamn if Klaus was going to fuck this up over toothpaste, but as months passed and their relationship progressed and he was slowly growing more confident that he wasn't going to wake up one day with her gone, his irritation grew. He reminded her repeatedly about the cap.
"Caroline, love, please cap the toothpaste when you're done with it. It leaves a mess on the sink and it's unsanitary."
"You're afraid of germs? You're pretty much incapable of killing and you're afraid of germs?"
Regardless, she had promised to cap the toothpaste, despite the fact that germs around her toothpaste didn't really bug her and having the cap off saved her time, anyway. She would try, she really would, and she would last a few days, sometimes almost a week, before she would forget and then keep forgetting, until it was five days later and Klaus was going over the same talk again.
"How hard is it to cap a bottle of toothpaste, love?" He asked her, but his voice wasn't gentle or calm, now agitated and condescending.
"Sorry," she would apologize again. "I forgot. Won't happen again."
"You say that every time, sweetheart, but we keep having this conversation." He barked out one day, fed up with the entire situation.
Caroline was shocked by the bitterness in his tone and flinched back. "Why are you getting so upset about this?" She asked, moving out from the doorway and entering the bathroom.
"Because you can't seem to handle me asking you for one fucking thing." Klaus seethed and Caroline was shocked by his expletive. He didn't curse much and he especially didn't curse at her.
Despite their rows and Klaus's temper, he never cursed at her or called her names. They fought, yes, sometimes seemingly endlessly, but even in moments of anger he treated her with respect and care.
"I didn't know it was such a big deal," She said, and then, this time, a bit more sincerely, "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I'll put a post-it note on the mirror to remind me or something."
"I just don't understand why it's so difficult to remember one thing. I hardly ask much else of you."
His relentlessly acerbic tone was starting to irritate her. "Klaus, I already apologized. I don't know what more you want from me."
"I want you to actually follow through!" He snapped, throwing the tube of toothpaste down on the counter.
Caroline was instantly defensive, leaning towards him as her anger built. "Oh my God, I get it! I messed up! I'm so sorry that I forgot to put the cap back on the freaking tube of toothpaste! I already said I was sorry, so will you stop acting like a controlling douchebag about the entire thing!?"
"Controlling douchebag?" Klaus repeated, his voice now lowering into dangerous territory.
"Yes, controlling!" Caroline repeated. "You always have to have everything your way and if you don't, the whole world is going to suffer because heaven forbid, the big bad hybrid doesn't get everything he wants for one moment! The blasphemy-!"
"Controlling?" Klaus laughed, but his chuckle wasn't anything near humorous and it sounded more like a bark. "I have been everything but controlling with you, sweetheart. I've let you control the pace of our relationship, let you throw your things everywhere in my house and rearrange my cabinets and throw off my entire schedule-,"
"Sorry to know that having my stuff here has been such an inconvenience to you, Klaus! I didn't know my presence was throwing off your schedule so fucking bad, but don't worry. You should've come to me earlier. It's an easy fix, really. I'll just take all of my fucking things, take my entire fucking self, actually, and remove them as soon as possible. Don't worry, you won't have to see another one of my shoes ever again!" She fumed, whipping away from him and stalking into their, or now his, bedroom, picking up her clothing and hairbrush and cellphone charger and shoving them into the nearest bag she found.
Her movements were furious, throwing the things into her bag as she flashed around the room.
"Caroline," Klaus started, but his voice was slightly less severe now as he watched her move about in anger.
"No!" She screamed at him. "Don't worry! I'll take all my my stuff and just get out of your hair. I didn't realize it was so hard on you!"
"Caroline, please, will you stop being ridiculous -," he started, but was cut off when she whipped around and flashed to him, her face barely an inch from his and her eyes wild.
"So now I'm inconvenient and ridiculous? Well, it's nice to know what you truly think about me. Here I've been for the past nine months, thinking our relationship was going great, and you're just hating my very presence and thinking I'm stupid. Good to get things cleared up, isn't it? I'll have the rest of my shit out by tonight." Her voice was low, strong, but there were small cracks in it and her resolve was wavering at the end. She could feel the tears pricking behind her eyes, but she refused to give in to them until she was out of his house.
She turned away from him then, bag in hand and heading towards the door, but he was in front of her instantly, the door closed behind his bag.
"You're not going anywhere." He said, his voice steady, but there was a hint of worry behind it.
Had he finally done it, caused her to leave him? Had he been so stupid to end their relationship over uncapped toothpaste?
"Let me leave, Klaus!"
"Put your things down, Caroline. Please. I don't think you're ridiculous or inconvenient, so will you please just put the bag down and we can sort this out?"
"I don't really think there's anything to sort out. You made your thoughts pretty damn clear-!"
"I let my temper get the best of me. I admit my faults, but please listen to me when I tell you that I don't believe you to be inconvenient or ridiculous. I could never think that of you, Caroline. You must know that. I find you beautiful, radiant, and I enjoy the constant reminders of you around the house. I'm not quite adapted to being in a relationship, but after a thousand years of solidarity, the domestic life is a bit of an adjustment. I'm sorry, sweetheart." He apologized, his hands grasping at the familiar curve of her waist and pulling her towards him.
She was reluctant to let the fight drop out of her so easily, but it slowly was with each word. It wasn't fair, the way he affected her, could remedy situations with pretty words and soothing tones.
"You can't keep treating me like this, Klaus. You keep saying that you're adjusting, but how long is it going to take? It's been nine months. Can't you just get used to it already?" She asked.
"I'll never get used to you, sweetheart," he murmured, his face looming closer to hers. "You have me perpetually enamored."
He pressed his lips to hers then, molding their mouths together. Her eyes fluttered closed and instantly she grasped at him, her hands reaching for his hair and neck. She pressed closer against him, wanting to fold herself into his warmth. His teeth nibbled at her lips and she gasped. He used the opportunity to slip his tongue into her mouth, tracing circles around her own tongue and teasing her. His hands slid around her waist, running up underneath her shirt and sliding up to her chest. He grasped and caressed and navigated his hands pleasantly over her entire body.
She kissed him back zealously, stealing kisses from his mouth before she moved her lips down to his jaw, finding the spots that made him tighten and still.
They fought constantly, fights ending in screams and tears and slamming doors and broken furniture, but then they always made up, with their nights ending in screams and slams and other broken furniture.