Disclaimer- I do not own the Vampire Diaries or The Originals.
Caroline paced back and forth in her room as she held her phone, trying to figure out a way to pull off what she had decided to do. It wasn't hard, once she had finally accepted the fact that yes, she had deep feelings for Klaus, and yes, she missed him (almost so much that it hurt) and no matter what he had done in the past, he truly loved her. He had loved her enough to let her go, and that was what finally made her realize how much she felt for him as well.
It had only been a week since Klaus had come back to Mystic Falls, asking for Caroline's confession, one in which she used actions more so than words to express to him what she felt.
She had made him promise not to return to Mystic Falls, a promise which she knew he would keep, if only because of her.
She trusted him.
She trusted him with her life, with her heart, with her mind, and that scared her.
Sure, she had plans for the future that hadn't involved him, just as she told him, but plans change. Ever since that encounter in the woods, she didn't want to imagine a life without him being in it in some way or another. She couldn't.
She had decided to surprise Klaus with her realization, and something that he had mentioned in passing conversation gave her the perfect way to do it.
She let out a deep breath and dialed the phone number that she had sneakily gotten from Elena's phone.
Ring
Ring
Ring
"Hello?" The man on the other side answered.
"Elijah?" Caroline asked, hoping that she had the right phone number.
"Yes, this is Elijah. With whom am I speaking?" He asked, confused.
"It's Caroline, Caroline Forbes, you know, from Mystic Falls? The bouncing blonde distraction?" She told him, not
sure if he would remember her name or not, after all, they had only met in passing.
"Ah, Miss Forbes, I remember you. Is there something I can help you with? Is something wrong in Mystic Falls?" He asked, starting to get worried about why she was calling him.
"No, everything is fine here, well as fine as a supernatural overrun town is, anyway. I actually have a strange question for you and I was hoping that you could help me with it. It's about Klaus." She told him, officially piquing his curiosity.
"Would it have anything to do with his recent visit to Mystic Falls?" Elijah asked and Caroline blushed thinking about it.
"Kind of. He just- he mentioned that his birthday was coming up soon and I was wondering if you could tell me when it is?" Caroline asked him quickly. She knew that birthdays held a special meaning to Klaus.
"What a strange question, indeed. Niklaus's birthday is April the 15th. May I ask why you require such random information?" Elijah said to her and she looked at the calendar. Two days.
"I kind of want to surprise him on his birthday. I promise it will be a good surprise." Caroline told him honestly.
"Miss Forbes, I do hope you know that I am aware of my brother's feelings for you, not to what extent, but I do know that I have never seen him act as he does towards you since we were humans. I do not take that lightly. I want to be sure that whatever your decision is about my brother will not hurt him, or threaten to hurt him in the future." Elijah told her and she gulped unconsciously. She was having the 'intentions' talk with Klaus' older brother.
"I know how he feels, too, Elijah. When he came up, he found me in the woods and some things happened that made me realize that I feel the same way. I want him in my life, and I want to tell him by surprising him on his birthday. I'm ready. I understand that he has enemies and that if he lets me be with him, those enemies will be mine too. I know he's done terrible things, but so have I. I have to tell him because I don't want to lose him." Caroline explained to the Original.
Elijah was beside himself at the young vampire's confession. If anything could save Niklaus, it would be this woman.
"Very well. Shall I make the arrangements for your journey to New Orleans?" Elijah asked her.
"You'd do that for me?" Caroline responded.
"I would do anything to see my brother happy, Miss Forbes, and if what you are implying pans out, it would seem that you will be more of a permanent fixture in the Original family, and I would like to begin that journey on a good foot, don't you agree?" Elijah told her and Caroline almost had tears in her eyes.
"Of course." She replied to him.
"Well then, I shall send you the details very soon. Be ready to leave in the morning, I will pick you up from the airport in New Orleans tomorrow night." He told her before hanging up. She hated when people hung up before saying goodbye, but the thought vanished as she realized that she would be flying to New Orleans in the morning!
Caroline had told her mom that she was going on an adventure to follow her heart, and no matter how much the Sheriff didn't like Klaus, she trusted him with her daughter's life, so she reluctantly agreed. Her only condition was that Caroline had to call her at least twice a week and visit as much as she could.
She had written letters to each of her friends, explaining that she would be gone for an undetermined amount of time, and that she loved them and would miss them. She gave the letters to her mother before leaving the next morning for the airport.
Elijah had emailed her the plane tickets with all the information she needed to make it to New Orleans. She was nervous. A. She'd never been on a plane before, and B. She was about to go surprise the Original Hybrid for his 1000-something birthday (she made a mental note to ask him how old he really was) and confess her feelings to him truthfully and hope that it wasn't too late.
Her plane was set to arrive in New Orleans at 6pm and Elijah had texted her that he would be there when she landed.
The plane ride wasn't so bad after she got over the nervousness of flying for the first time. She had a connection in Atlanta before it took her to New Orleans, which gave her time to grab a snack (just human food) before getting back on the plane.
She let out a nervous breath before walking off the plane in New Orleans. You can do this! She mentally reminded herself as she began to look for Elijah in the crowd of people waiting.
She spotted him easily. There was just something about Elijah that made him appear like a statue of confidence in the middle of these crazy humans.
"Miss Forbes." Elijah said as he motioned her to come with him.
"You can call me Caroline, Elijah." She told him, smiling.
"Very well then, Caroline. How were your flights?" He asked as he led them out to his large black SUV and took her suitcase, loading it into the trunk easily before opening the passenger door for her.
"It was a lot better than I expected, I had never flown before that." Caroline answered him honestly as he climbed into the driver's seat.
"Excellent. Now, do you wish to see Niklaus tonight, or do you wish to remain hidden until tomorrow morning?" He said, getting right down to business.
"I think I want to see him tonight, I mean, I'm already here and I -," Caroline hesitated, "I miss him." She finished. She could see a slight smile on Elijah's face as he drove.
He took out his cell phone and dialed a number, looking at Caroline to make sure she stayed quiet. It rang twice before she heard his voice.
"Yes, brother?" Klaus answered. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Are you home, Niklaus?" Elijah asked him as he continued to drive.
"I just arrived about five minutes ago, why?" Klaus responded, curious.
"I will be arriving there within ten minutes and I am bringing a guest. Please make sure you are presentable and have a good bottle of bourbon ready." Elijah told him, hanging up before he could ask any further questions.
Caroline couldn't help but laugh after he hung up the phone. Elijah looked at her, appraising her strange laughter.
"What? You didn't give him any time to question your request, it was funny."
Elijah just smiled and shook his head. They drove about ten more minutes and arrived at a large compound, parking in the back.
Caroline let out a shaky breath before righting herself and stepping out as Elijah opened the door. She looked at the columns on the outside of the compound, seeing a large 'M' on each one of them.
"Are you ready?" Elijah asked her and she nodded. He asked her to follow him and walked through the gates, and down the hall into the large courtyard opening where Klaus was sitting there, waiting on them. He looked at Elijah directly before a flash of blonde caught his eye behind him.
With vampire speed, Klaus had flashed up to Caroline, unbelieving that she was there, and subconsciously checking her for injuries that would warrant his blood. When he found none, he looked back up at her face to see her smiling at him nervously.
"Caroline." He almost whispered, sliding his finger over her jaw as if to see if she was indeed, real.
"Klaus." She responded, leaning into his fingers as he stared directly at her soul through her eyes.
He finally snapped out of his trance and retracted his fingers as he still watched her intently.
"What brings you to New Orleans, love?" He asked her, not noticing that Elijah decided to excuse himself to give them some privacy.
"Well, this guy-," Klaus stilled as he waited for her next words, "technically a big bad thousand year old hybrid-, "he let out a breath, "came to visit me last week and made me realize a few kind of monumental, life-changing, plan-altering things." She said as she breathed in his scent, which comforted her in an astounding way that she'd never quite realized until now.
"Plan-altering?" He asked with baited breath. He knew she was talking of the plans she had told him of during his visit.
"Yep. You see, I told him of some plans I had for the future, and well, after he left, they kind of changed drastically, because I realized one very important thing." She continued.
"And what would that be, love?" He looked at her shing blue eyes with adoration.
"That I didn't want any of those plans to happen-,"she began, the tension between them palpable, "-without Mr. Big bad hybrid being part of them. And I decided I wanted to give him a birthday present, you see. Even if it's not until tomorrow."
Klaus could hardly contain himself as he looked at his Caroline while she spoke. "And what is this 'big bad hybrid's' birthday present, sweetheart?"
"Me." She said before vamp speeding him to the nearest wall and kissing him thoroughly.
After a few minutes, she pulled away and looked at him, his eyes shining as he looked down at the young vampire in his arms. The woman he yearned for, that he had promised he would wait for until the end of time.
"Let's go somewhere a bit more private to discuss things, love." He said and she nodded before he grabbed her and flashed them up to his room. He placed her on his bed and just watched her, still in disbelief that she was there with him.
"You know, love, when I offered you first-class tickets, I didn't expect you to get them from my brother instead." He said before laughing.
"Hey, your brother helped me get here so that I could surprise you for your birthday." Caroline said as Klaus brought up a chair to sit next to the bed.
"Then I guess I must thank him, then?" He smirked before looking down at his hands.
"Yes, you better! Ever since you left that day in the woods, I-," Caroline began, but didn't know what to say. "Okay, you know that saying about 'you don't know what you have 'til it's gone'? Well, that's what happened to me after you left and promised never to come back. I kept denying it and denying it, but then I just accepted it. You once told me that Tyler was my first love and that you intend on being my last, and I decided that I- I want that too."
"Caroline, are you sure you're-"
"Niklaus Mikaelson, I wouldn't have contacted your brother to help me get all the way to New Orleans to surprise you for your birthday if I wasn't ready to accept all of you, and when I say all, I mean all. I don't plan on going back to Mystic Falls, except to visit of course. I understand that you have enemies, a lot of enemies, and I know that they will be mine too, and you better be prepared to teach me how to fight, because you damn well know I won't take being stuck in a corner while you guys go up against people. And yes, you've done bad things, but I have too. I just—I trust you. I trust you with my life, and now I'm trusting you with my heart. Now please, say something?" She said, catching her breath after talking so much.
"There is not a day that you cease to amaze me, sweetheart. I was ready to wait a century, another ten centuries for you to come to me, for you to be ready to accept my affections, and here you are. I do intend on being your last love, Caroline, and if you are truly ready for that then you have a place here by my side, as my queen, as my equal, and I shall never see you as anything less." Klaus told her with tears in his eyes.
Caroline nodded, "I'm ready." She whispered to him, getting up and hugging him tightly. For him to call her his equal was an honor beyond any that he ever extended to anyone. "Happy birthday, Nik."
"Say it again." He said breathily.
"What? Happy birthday or Nik?" He growled with pleasure hearing her use his family's nickname for him. "I take it that you like your birthday present Nik?"
"Very much so, love." He said as he leaned in and kissed her passionately. "Best birthday present I've ever received."
"By the way, how old will you be tomorrow?" Caroline asked randomly, laughing.
"I stopped counting after one thousand, love." He responded, kissing up her neck to her ear. She pulled away and frowned at him. "I was born in the year 973 A.D. and was turned in 1001 A.D., so that would make me 1,043 years old tomorrow. However, I will look forever 28." He explained to her.
"Wow, you really are old. I mean, I know a lot of married couples who have like a decade age gap, but 1,023 years, that's a lot. Not that I care, because I don't, because I still love you anyways." Caroline said before she realized that she hadn't ever said those words aloud to him, no matter how much she had been saying them inside her head when she thought about him, he'd never heard the words from her before.
"What was that, Caroline?" He asked, wanting to make sure he heard her correctly.
"I said—I said I love you, Niklaus." She told him. He never took his eyes off of her as he responded.
"I love you too, my sweet Caroline. Always and forever." He vowed. She blinked back tears as she heard him finally say it after so long.
"Always and forever." She repeated before kissing him with more passion than she could muster.
They spent the night showing their love to one another in as many different ways as possible.
Do you guys think I should leave this as a one shot or continue? As always, review and let me know what you think!