This story is dedicated to JuseaPeterson. Caroline's home alone on New Year's Eve thanks to Stefan off being ripper-y, sending her kids away, Enzo dragging Bonnie off and Matt dealing with his dad. Waking in the night, she finds she's never truly alone. Klaus is always with her. Klaroline S8 One-shot
Disclaimer: I do not own the CW's TheVampireDiaries, all rights go to Julie Plec, Kevin Williamson and the original writer, L. J. Smith.
Hello, my lovely readers. This story takes place just after TVD's Christmas episode and presuming that Klaus is still bricked for the next couple of years. With Klaroline, anything in possible. On with the show…
Five After Midnight:
New Year's Eve was supposed to be a night to spend with a loved one. Or a friend. Caroline had had some great New Year's Eve celebrations with Bonnie and Elena when they were younger. They would stay up late, to watch the ball drop in Times Square—imagining they were there—and drinking grape juice—pretending it was champagne.
As Caroline got older she celebrated with guys. Many she did not remember the names of. Then there was Tyler. Tears welled in her eyes and she pulled the blanket lying across her knees under her chin. She didn't want to think about Tyler—even the happy times—it stung.
Caroline's plans for New Year's Eve had been to sit up late and watch the ball drop on the TV she'd taken out of Damon's bathroom and placed in Stefan's room. But she couldn't bring herself to stay in Stefan's room without him there with her.
Like Tyler, Stefan had chosen to abandon her. She was trying, really, really hard to say he was doing the right thing. He would save her and her friends. Stefan was a good guy. He wouldn't just leave her over something stupid or selfish. They'd have their June wedding. Yes, everything would be fine.
Chewing on her lower lip, Caroline stared at the screen of the TV. Happy couples kissed each other and families waved at the camera man. A girl Lizzie's and Josie's age waved from her mother's arms and Caroline grabbed the remote, flicking the TV off and gathering her blanket around her. She laid down on the bed in the guest room that she'd claimed for herself and went to sleep.
The sound of music coming from somewhere downstairs hit Caroline with a start. Her whole body shot upward. Her eyes narrowed and she ripped the blanket off her body.
A swell of familiar orchestra music boomed from downstairs and Caroline felt her heart slam against her ribs. The tune she'd heard about a billion times when she was a kid. Caroline, Bonnie and Elena watched Home Alone a billon times and could hum the entire song. Vocalists' voices rose as Caroline's feet beat out a silent song of their own on the stairs. "Hello?" she called. She wasn't afraid. She'd dealt with many frightening people and monsters in her time and lived to tell the tale.
No one replied but a knock on the door sounded. Stopping at the end of the stairs; Caroline's body tensed. It seemed that the knock was a signal because the music stopped, abruptly.
Forcing a trace of fear down, Caroline stalked to the door and clamped her fingers around the cold knob. She allowed her game face to appear before yanking the door open. What—or rather who—stood on the other side made her entire body relax and her face return to its human visage.
"Klaus," she groaned. Folding her arms over her chest, she glared at him. "What are you doing here? And where the hell have you been?" To think that she'd actually wasted her time being concerned about him when he'd obviously gotten bored with New Orleans, and—in typical Klaus fashion—taken off, without so much as a good-bye.
"Caroline, I see that my presence is welcome as usual," Klaus' lips twitched upward into that infuriating smirk of his.
Huffing in annoyance, Caroline glared back at him. "What do you want?" she snapped, blocking his ability to enter the house.
Klaus' eyes dropped to the porch beneath him before moving up to meet hers, his eyes held that same light as they did that day that they'd… Yeah. Not going there. "So many ways to answer your question… Let's settle on this one. It seems that you want me here."
"What?" Caroline's eyes rounded. "Are you kidding me? No!" Caroline's protests just made Klaus' smirk widen and she shook her head. Did she want him there? What had she been thinking when she fell asleep? She couldn't recall. "O-kay. So I'm dreaming. Wonder-ful. Then it doesn't count if I do this." Reaching out, Caroline slapped Klaus.
Klaus' head moved to the side. Caroline felt satisfied when his jaw clenched. Then her satisfaction melted away when he turned back to her, his eyes lit up a dangerous yellow. "You deserved that," Caroline snapped, finding her inner fire and refusing to back down. "I came looking for you and you were just…gone. I needed your help and you did you little disappearing act."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Klaus replied, his eyes returning to their normal color, a color that Caroline admired, but tried to not think about.
Dropping her arms to her sides, Caroline took a slow step back. "Did you want to come in?" she asked. It's not like Stefan could protest—wherever he was.
Klaus stepped across the threshold and Caroline inhaled deeply before looking away. "I see you've moved in with Stefan. Or is it Damon now?" he teased her.
"Damon? Ew! No. Never!" Caroline's nose wrinkled and Klaus chuckled. She rolled her eyes.
"Right then," Klaus continued to look around the house before looking back at her. His eyes trailed over her and stopped on her engagement ring. "Ah, I see what I've missed. Congratulations are in order. But where is the groom-to-be?"
Stiffening, Caroline tried to avoid eye contact for several, long seconds before finding as diplomatic a way to explain as best she could. "Stefan made a deal with the devil to give one year of his life in service. Then he's coming home, to me. And Damon's coming home, too. I guess."
Klaus' eyebrows rose. "I see." He stared at her and Caroline felt the urge to kick him.
"You see what?" Caroline demanded.
"Nothing…" Klaus shook his head, lacing his fingers behind his back. "I suppose we should have a toast. You do have champagne around here somewhere?"
"Yes, we do." Caroline felt relieved. Something she could do to avoid this painfully awkward conversation. Walking around Klaus, Caroline headed into the kitchen. She opened a cabinet, pulling out two of the good, long-stemmed flutes and then opening the fridge where a bottle of chilled champagne waited for them. She'd intended on drinking it by herself but was relieved to have company. Even if it was Klaus.
Smiling, Caroline turned to find Klaus right behind her. Her feet moved backward and her back hit the fridge. Fingers loosening, she would have dropped the bottle if Klaus had not grabbed it. Straightening, he smirked at her. "If memory serves, this was our thing, love," he said, opening the bottle and pouring a glass before nudging it toward her with his fingertips.
Narrowing her eyes, Caroline moved to snatch the glass and to place room between them again. "We don't have a thing," she snapped. Hearing her own words from a million lifetimes ago ring through the distance, Caroline rolled her eyes, staring into her glass. "Okay. We did." She glanced up at Klaus through her eyelashes.
Chuckling, Klaus finished his glass and refilled it. "You have the wrong tense of the verb, love."
"Don't call me love," Caroline retorted automatically.
This elicited a laugh from Klaus. "Ah, time is at a standstill it seems." For a moment he looked like the same guy she'd begun to fall for before he ran off to New Orleans to have a baby with her enemy. Then his expression darkened.
"Klaus, what's going on?" Caroline softened her tone. She moved toward him, resting a hand on his arm.
Shaking his head, Klaus' smirk retuned. "Nothing to concern yourself with, Caroline." Picking up his champagne flute, he held it up to her. "To your new life. As a small-town wife, with a small-town life."
Gritting her teeth, Caroline jerked her hand away and walked over to retrieve her glass. "You just have to ruin the moment."
"Caroline, I only want what is best for you," Klaus began when Caroline held up a hand.
"Good. Because I have what's best for me. I have Stefan and my kids and great friends," Caroline shot back, her body rigid.
"And where are your fiancée, your children and your friends? Ah, yes, Stefan is off doing something heinous, instead of following up on his promise to me," Klaus muttered the last part but Caroline still heard it. "As for your children, I do not hear the patter of tiny heart beats and the sound of their breathing while they dream of unicorns and puppies, darling. What about your friends? Where are they? Dead? Missing?"
That was it. Klaus had hit a nerve and she wasn't about to take this from him. "How about you, Klaus, where's your family? Daggered somewhere? Fleeing you, again? Did Hayley get a clue—turn tail and run with your daughter—like anyone with a mother's instinct to preserve the life and welfare of their young?" Smirking, Caroline saw that she'd struck home as Klaus' shoulders hunched and his breathing became shallow.
For a long time neither of them said a word. Time froze and they glared at each other. "We've run into a bit of trouble but will find our way out of it. Nothing to concern yourself with. If you will excuse me." Setting his flute down, Klaus moved to leave the room and probably the house.
Rolling her eyes, Caroline refilled her glass and took a long sip. Who did Klaus think he was coming into her new home and talking to her like that? He was hurt. She had accepted Stefan's proposal and he was hurt. She would be hurt, too, if she knew Klaus was marrying someone else. After all, he'd promised to be her last. Her resolve broke, her feet sped out of the kitchen and in front of the door. "Klaus, don't leave."
Klaus looked surprised. "You want an awful person in your house when you could have your hero. Oh, wait, I'm sorry. I have Stefan confused with someone else. Heroes don't go out on killing sprees," he hissed, moving around her and grabbing the doorknob.
Caroline grabbed his arm, stopping him. "You're hurt. I'm sorry." Her words didn't feel like enough. She couldn't think of something better to say, something fitting. "I know you're waiting for me and I know that you love me. And I know that coming all the way here to find out that I'm marrying someone else must hurt you. I'm sorry, Klaus. Please, stay. I don't want to be alone tonight. And you shouldn't have to be either."
His body relaxed under her grip. Turning toward her, Klaus cupped her face and looked her in the eye. "Caroline, I want you to be happy and protected. I want you to have everything you want in the world. And if Stefan makes you happy, I will step aside as I did with Tyler, once before."
Caroline's eyes filled with tears. "Tyler's dead." Tears ran down her cheeks. If anyone would get it; Klaus would. He knew how important her relationship with Tyler had been to her. He was her first love and he'd always be someone she cared for.
Klaus slid his arms around her. "I am sorry for you, love," he whispered into her ear, stroking her back and she knew that Tyler would disapprove of her seeking comfort from the man who he hated but he didn't get to have an opinion on this one.
They stood in the foyer for several minutes and Caroline nuzzled into Klaus' embrace. She hated to admit it but she missed his touch, his smell, his voice, his everything, even the parts of him that made her infuriated. "Come," Klaus pulled back and took her hand in his, leading her into the great room. They walked to the center. "Dance with me, Caroline."
Without a word, Caroline settled into his arms and music began to play in the background. "That is so weird," she commented, looking around for a radio that she knew was not in the great room but music was coming from somewhere in the house.
"It's the witching hour, love," Klaus replied with a smirk.
Caroline looked at the clock which stood at 12:05. Her eyes stayed on the clock which did not move. "Am I dreaming?"
"Perhaps," Klaus replied with a grin. He spun her in a slow circle and Caroline smiled. It reminded her of the Decade Dance. Tyler had been so pissed off and Caroline had been terrified of Klaus' trying to kill him or who knew how many of her fellow students if she didn't accept his offer. How his offer to take her out of Mystic Falls had left her questioning everything in her life. How she'd laid awake at night—days afterward—replaying his words and wondering what her life would have been like if she'd left with him. Maybe she could have made a deal with him: her friends safety in exchange for their life together. She would have fallen for him. She had already started falling for him that night.
"Penny for your thoughts," Klaus whispered into her ear.
"I was thinking about the Decade Dance," Caroline whispered back. "It feels like several lifetimes ago."
"It was. You're a woman now, not a girl. You have a family. You're stronger, more beautiful and your light has not diminished," Klaus told her, leaning back and Caroline felt the urge to kiss him. She knew he wouldn't stop her. But she couldn't. Stefan would come home to her. And this was a beautiful dream.
"Since this is just a dream," Caroline said, her eyes on Klaus' lips, "then if I kiss you, it doesn't really count." Leaning closer, Caroline's lips nearly connected with Klaus' when he brought a finger to her lips.
"And if this is not a dream. Then what, Caroline?" Klaus inquired, staring into her eyes and making her feel everything she'd felt when she'd let down her guard with him and finally let him in.
Caroline hesitated. "Then maybe I'm not ready to be anyone's wife," she said.
Klaus nodded and watched her. "Perhaps."
Caroline licked her lips. If this wasn't a dream and she kissed Klaus… Moving back, she shook her head. "I'm feeling really tired. I should go to bed."
Nodding, Klaus kissed her cheek and she walked him to the front door. "Sweet dreams, Caroline."
Opening the door, Caroline almost let him leave. "Klaus," she called as he walked away. "Stay. I want you to stay. Here. With me. Tonight. Please." She felt her heart begin to pound again. "Just tonight. So don't get any funny ideas," she added, narrowing her eyes and trying to look threatening which only made Klaus grin at her.
"A night with you is more than enough to get me through another thousand years without you," Klaus told her, walking back into the house and closing the door behind him.
Caroline wondered how Stefan would react if he came home today to find her snuggled up to Klaus in one his guest bedrooms. Hurt. Betrayed. Angry. Good. He ought to. He left her. Klaus left. But he came back and wanted her to come with him. He'd wanted her by his side in New Orleans before that, but as he pointed out, she wasn't ready. Klaus chose her. Klaus wanted her. Klaus would wait for her. He was what she wanted but was afraid to put words to. And now she was a mother, she had to worry about what bringing her kids into his world would mean for them. He would understand. Unlike Stefan. Caroline and Klaus were parents. They knew what it meant to sacrifice your own happiness for your kids.
And it was in that moment that Caroline knew she couldn't marry Stefan. He would represent a danger to her girls until they were old enough to take care of themselves. As their mother, she had to put them first. That also meant that she'd have to stay away from Klaus until she knew that he'd come up with a way to keep Hope safe. In a better world, all of their kids would have happy lives to live. In a better world, Caroline would go home to Klaus and stay with him for the next thousand years.
Klaus laid down on the bed and held out his arms to her. Caroline slid into his arms, allowing him to pull her back to his chest, encircling her in his unique hybrid warmth, his leg slipping between hers, tugging her closer, his beard brushing the back of her neck.
"If this is a dream, I want to keep having it for the rest of my life," Caroline admitted. If she didn't have to see the smug look on his face, then she didn't have to regret her words.
Klaus nuzzled her shoulder. "I dream of you frequently." His words made her shiver. "I dream of our nights together."
Caroline turned her head to face him. "Nights? As in more than one?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.
"Come now, don't tell me you forgot the nights that you fell asleep in my arms," Klaus replied, tracing a finger along her arm, causing her to shiver.
"You mean the nights after you'd done something heinous to me: like the time you had Tyler bite me on my birthday and the night we spent together because you ran a lamp through me and bit me? Yes, Klaus, I think on those nights with fondness. Don't make me kick you out of this bed." Caroline watched Klaus' face light up with a huge smile.
"I see you've been skipping your math classes, again," Klaus teased her.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I've been out of school for awhile now. And I can count, thank you. Very much, billion-year-old."
Klaus let out a laugh. "Apparently you can't," he whispered into her ear. "You're off by one. A very important one to both of us if I recall."
Grinning, Caroline rolled over in his arms and wrapped her limbs around him, pulling him closer. "We fell asleep during the day because all of the hot hybrid sex made me drowsy. You really take it out of a girl," she told him, her eyes moving to his lips again.
"But it turned dark. When you woke up, I couldn't help but admire you in the moonlight," Klaus began but Caroline jumped in.
"You were watching me like some kind of creepy stalker," Caroline shot back, smacking his shoulder.
Klaus smiled back at her. "Call me what you wish. I only desire to watch you sleep for the rest of our eternal lives."
Shaking her head, Caroline rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "You're okay, right?" she asked. She felt a spike of fear for things she didn't know and things she knew she shouldn't get herself involved in. Klaus' enemies were many and she had enough problems.
"As I said, it's nothing that my family and I can't handle." Klaus stroked her back and Caroline relaxed into his embrace. "Happy New Year's, Caroline."
"Happy New Year's, Klaus," Caroline said.
Klaus' lips pressed to hers and Caroline did not pull away. The kiss lasted for a long time before he pulled back. "I hope to see you again before the turn of the millennium."
"You can count on it," Caroline promised him. Closing her eyes; she went back to sleep.
When Caroline woke up the next day she found voicemails from Bonnie and Enzo wishing her a Happy New Year. Matt had called, too. Nothing from Stefan. She hated that she felt relieved. Josie and Lizzie left messages that made her cry.
Glancing at the other side of the bed, Caroline noted a faint indention of a body. She got up and walked down the stairs to find that all the clocks in the house had stopped at 12:05. Inside the kitchen, a pair of flutes sat with a half-full bottle of champagne on the counter. Her lips quirked up in a smirk as she buried her nose into the top of her tank and got a whiff of a scent that only belonged to Klaus Mikaelson. Perhaps it was time to start a new lifetime; one that started at five after midnight.
The song that Caroline hears from Home Alone is "Carol of the Bells."
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Peace,
Jessica