A/N: Well, hello! It's been over a year since my last post on the archive but a song sparked some inspiration in me and I had to see how it played out. This fic is loosely based off the song "Summertime Sadness" by Lana Del Rey.
I would like to thank my beta, KelseyBea, for all of her wonderful help with making this fic the best it can be. She really knows what she's doing. Oh, and she recently published a TVD fic based off the song "The Cave" by Mumford & Sons. I definitely recommend you go take a look.
Disclaimer: If I owned these characters, Klaus and Caroline would be off traveling the world together, but alas, they are not mine.
June 2043
Thirty years. That's how long it took before she decided to search for him. She had broken up with Tyler nearly twenty years before, when she realized they would never truly be happy with each other. But, the last fifteen consisted of her touring the world on her own, finding out who she wanted to be in the process.
She finds him in the summertime, in Spain. Unfortunately, after resorting to begging Stefan to ask Rebekah where Klaus was—she's not particularly proud of this—she figures it won't hurt to say hello at least. Although, when she arrives at the entrance of his building, she begins to rethink her choice.
What if he doesn't care about me anymore? What if he's gotten over me?
But before she can dwell on her insecurities even more, she hears footsteps off to her right.
"Caroline?"
Her breathing stops—it's become a normal thing now, she can't go around not breathing and expect no one to notice—when she hears the surprise in his voice. She's surprised Rebekah didn't mention her visit.
"Klaus. Hi."
"To what do I owe this… pleasure?" he asks, almost suspicious. "This better not be some asinine plan to kill me yet again, because I'm sorry to inform you, sweetheart, it won't work."
Caroline rolls her eyes. Already back on the defensive.
"Would you believe me if I said I simply wanted to pay you a visit?" she tilts her head, challenging him. Nothing, not even him, scares her anymore.
"Thirty years later? No."
She huffs and crosses her arms. "I've spent the last fifteen years on my own, traveling the world, just so you know. I figured maybe I could have someone to go with, show me the things I would never see alone. I thought I'd stay for the summer."
He watches her closely before sighing. "Well, it would be rude of me not to invite you in. Come along."
Caroline smiles to herself once his back faces her, partly because she didn't think it would be that easy but also in part because she had missed those shoulder blades. She follows him through an intricate hallway system before he stops in what looks like a living room.
"Where have you traveled?" he asks right off the bat as he stands looking at her, arms crossed.
She finds it odd that he's trying to make small talk, but she bites anyway. "Everywhere, it feels like. I started in the States, working odd jobs in national parks and after a couple of years, I decided Europe was more my style. Then, I slowly moved over Russia into China, India, Japan, and everywhere in between."
"Sounds intriguing."
"How long have you been here?"
"Twenty years, on and off. I constantly move so neighbors and landlords don't realize I'm not getting any older," he smirks but she senses a little of bitterness.
"It's not like you to stay in one spot so long. What's keeping you here?" she questions.
"It satisfies me. I have everything I need here. That's not to say I don't travel, because I still have business to attend to and family to visit," he turns away and grabs a bottle of his best bourbon—she recognizes the brand and is amazed she remembers it thirty years later.
Then, out of nowhere she hears the sound of glass breaking into thousands of pieces. Klaus dropped the bottle.
"What do you want, Caroline?" he demands. His change in demeanor takes her off guard for a moment, but she recovers quickly.
Boldly and without much thought, she firmly says "You."
A number of days later
Caroline looks in the mirror and smoothes the dress she's wearing. This is her fifth night in Spain. Or sixth? She's already lost track. After confessing her feelings to Klaus, she saw a hint of a smile before he invited her to stay.
Tonight, he came home from doing god knows what with a beautiful red dress and told her they were going out. Never one to do the bare minimum, Caroline decided to put her hair up "beauty queen style" (how Elena describes it). It's summer in Spain so she forgoes the idea of a light jacket, and as a vampire she doesn't need the warmth.
Caroline steps out of her room—she had secretly been hoping they'd share one but she knows they're not at that stage yet—and finds Klaus waiting for her. His eyes light up ever so slightly at the sight of her. She knows he's holding back to give himself some time to get used to having her around; she doesn't blame him.
"You look beautiful," he remarks and she gives him a bright smile.
"Thank you," she murmurs and takes his proffered arm., "Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," Klaus smiles knowingly. He knows Caroline hates being surprised even if she loves surprising other people. He leads her to a, admittedly, beautiful car that she doesn't know the make of nor does she care.
Once he's sure Caroline is settled in the car, he slides in behind the wheel and quickly makes his way to the road that follows the coast—a view that Caroline loves to wake up to every morning. She notices that hardly anyone is on the road and with a quick glance to the speedometer, she is surprised when it reads almost 100 miles per hour.
"Klaus, don't you think you're going a tad too fast?"
He smirks but eases off the gas a little. She feels so… heavenly by his side. Klaus can be so bad sometimes that he makes her feel almost normal.
They spend at least another twenty minutes in the car, exchanging jabs and jokes, almost like things used to be. When he stops at a pullout by the water, she's confused. Why would he make her wear a dress if they're going to the beach?
"I'm confused. You didn't tell me to bring a bathing suit."
"Who said we need those?" Klaus raises his eyebrows but gives her a look that tells her he's kidding. "We're not swimming, at least not tonight. Maybe tomorrow."
"You are really making this difficult on me," she shakes her head. At that moment, Klaus gets out of the car and flashes to her side. He politely opens the door for her and holds out his hand for her to take.
He walks towards the sand but Caroline stops at the edge.
"May I have this dance?" Klaus asks, hopefully.
Without much thought Caroline eases off her heels and walks towards him. The sky is dark; the only source of light is the pale moon. He holds out his hand again and she slips her much smaller one inside of his. She's always loved dancing with him.
"How are you feeling?" he murmurs.
"Alive."
Over a month later, mid-July 2043
"Caroline, love, please wake up," Klaus coaxes her awake with his low voice, gruff right next to her ear.
She groans and stretches her arms. "No."
"I have to go."
That wakes her up. Fast. "What do you mean? For good? I'm coming with you."
Klaus chuckles, "No, not for good. I just have some business to take care of in New Orleans."
"And I can't come with you? I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."
"It involves Elijah. He's gotten into some trouble that I need to help him get out of," Klaus says simply.
"I don't want to be alone, though," she says sheepishly. She's grown accustomed to having someone around every day, someone to spend her time with.
"That's why I've invited some of your friends to visit."
"Friends?"
"The Salvatores, the doppelganger, and my sister," Klaus says with a look of chagrin.
"You know, Elena does have a name," Caroline tilts her head, giving him a look.
"Just appreciate the things I do for you, sweetheart."
"You know I do," she smiles.
Klaus shakes his head with a smile on his face, as well. He checks his watch and grimaces. "I have to go now." He leans down and kisses Caroline's forehead before getting up.
"Wait!"
He turns and is taken aback by a mess of blonde hair in his face.
"Before you go, kiss me like you mean it so I have something to remember while you're gone," she demands.
Klaus obliges without a fight. "Anything for my baby vampire."
The next day
Elena had contacted Caroline yesterday, giving her the flight information for the four visitors. Klaus had left a note for her, telling her to just call them a cab given that he didn't own one car that held five people.
"Caroline! Hi!" Stefan's eyes are bright when he sees Caroline. He pulls her into a quick hug.
Rebekah on the other hand looks angry and annoyed. "This is absolutely ridiculous, there are definitely better ways to get here. I am going to have a talk with my brother when he arrives back home."
Stefan murmurs something to her and Caroline notices the woman relax easily. A smile replaces the former frown that was on Rebekah's face.
"Hello, Caroline, it's very nice to see you," Rebekah says. The formerly bitchy Original had softened over her years spent with Stefan.
Seconds later, Elena comes flying through the door and instantly rushes into Caroline's arms. "CARE!"
Caroline laughs loudly, "Hello, Elena. Damon." Damon nods his hello.
"I've missed you so much, you have no idea. When Klaus called and invited us, I didn't even hesitate! Plus we needed somewhere new, I think people were starting to get suspicious," Elena rolls her eyes.
"Well, I'm very glad to have all of you here," Caroline smiles.
Later that day, Caroline corners Rebekah in the room she's sharing with Stefan. "What's going on with Elijah?"
Rebekah bites her lip. "It's not even a big deal, nothing to worry about it if that's what you're getting at."
"Rebekah, please."
"Elijah just ran into some trouble in New Orleans and Nik, as you know, always has to be in the center of it all," Rebekah says nonchalantly. "But, it's nothing to worry about. Nik will be back soon."
"Okay, thank you," Caroline moves to leave the room.
"I've never seen him love anyone like he loves you, you know. I'm glad he's finally found someone to love him, too."
Caroline just smiles shyly at Rebekah's comment.
August 2043
Klaus had returned home the first week of August. He had kept in contact with Caroline while he had been away, checking up on their guests. But now that he had come back, he was ready for them all to leave.
"Don't you people have things to do?" Klaus asks, annoyed.
"Klaus!" Caroline exclaims.
"Love you too, brother," Rebekah deadpans.
"I've been gone for two weeks, I'd really just love to spend time with Caroline. Alone."
"I'd really rather not stay and find out what he'll do to get rid of us," Damon drawls.
"That might be the smartest thing you've ever said, Damon," Klaus smirks.
Elena comes out of the bedroom, suitcases in tow. "We have some traveling to do on our own. Thank you for having us, though. It was a wonderful vacation."
"We have to go back and check up on Bonnie and Jeremy, see how they're doing," Stefan says as he slips his hand into Rebekah's. "We'll visit again soon, I'm sure."
"Please don't."
"Klaus, honestly, they can visit if they want to," Caroline chastises.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. We'll see you again in ten years, goodbye," Klaus moves towards the door and the four visitors follow him while waving at Caroline.
"Bye! I'll miss you!" Caroline calls.
The door closes loudly behind their guests and Klaus flashes to a stop right in front of Caroline. "I've missed you."
"Prove it."
September 2043
A morning in early September, Caroline and Klaus are lying in bed watching the sunrise when Klaus has a realization.
"When you showed up here, you said you were only going to stay for the summer. Has that changed or are you planning on staying?" he asks.
Caroline bites her lip and looks up at Klaus. "If you'll have me, I'd like to stay. Plus, we technically haven't traveled together and I still want to do that."
Klaus doesn't respond at first, just kisses Caroline soundly on the lips. "I love you."
Her eyes widen and she sits up quickly. "Really?"
Klaus' eyes narrow. "Of course. Why else would I say it?"
"I love you, too," Caroline breathes, in disbelief. She never thought he'd be the first one to say it.
"It seems I've finally found my queen after all these years…"
A/N: Thank you very much for reading. I truly hope you enjoyed this fic. Reviews are welcome and appreciated.