Let's pretend that the Original family never left town and that Caroline and Klaus got together soon after s4 finale? Maybe after 5x11 happened in this AU?
Caroline tightened her hold on the overloaded box she carried carefully down the stairs of the Lockwood mansion, simultaneously instructing 3 other people what they needed to do. She was, once again, head of the Miss Mystic Falls committee and even though she wasn't the current reigning winner, she was the best at what she did and no one could dispute that. Not even last year's winner who was meant to be organising this but just couldn't handle it all, again. Like every year since she had won, Caroline always and gladly ended up organising the whole thing.
Sighing away her exasperation at the fact that some people just couldn't seem to remember even the tiniest detail, she shook her head and smiled brightly when she saw Klaus clearly waiting for her a few feet away from the bottom of the steps and the chaos of all the volunteers.
"Hey! What are you doing here?" she asked brightly when she came to stand in front of him. She took in his rigid stance and dark look and lost half of her optimism of a disaster free day there and then. She had thought that now that she had created some sort of buffer between her friends and the Original family, things would be simpler in their town.
"I need to talk to you," he said softly, betraying his current mood, and Caroline had to take a second to establish which one he was putting on and which he actually felt.
"Can it wait? I have like a bajillion things to do, and that's only before I have to come back to get changed and-" she began, hoping that his tension was merely momentary. No one could argue that Klaus had a short and flitting temper. However, he grabbed her arm and dragged her in hurried steps to somewhere else far from where she had been heading. "Ok, I guess not. You could have said instead of dragging me like some kind of caveman. Seriously! You're so lucky I don't bruise. That would not look great with the dress I plan on wearing."
He didn't say a word as he took her to a secluded area far away from any of the Miss Mystic Falls pageant and the mansion, the box of table decorations still in her hands. She forwent putting up a fight or arguing. Not only did she want to know what had got him into such a mood, but she was sure that if they didn't get far away from the others helping her to set up the annual event, they might end up suffering his wrath.
Caroline shook her arm free when he had decided they were far enough (she was sure this piece of land wasn't even part of the Lockwood estate anymore) and placed the box on the fallen tree next to them before planting her hands on her hips. "What the hell, Klaus? This better be important otherwise you're definitely not seeing what I bought to wear under my dress," she warned him but when he didn't even falter at her teasing words, she knew this was more than serious.
"Why didn't you tell me about Damon Salvatore?" Klaus asked sharply, voice low and even in that way that she knew meant he was retracting in his emotions.
"What about Damon?" she asked as casually as she could. Because, ok, Klaus seemed pissed enough that it could probably only be one thing but Damon had done a lot of other things that he could be mad about.
He inhaled deeply, eyes narrowing that slight bit that she was sure he didn't even know he was doing it. "Do not play dumb, Caroline. You know exactly what," he growled, jabbing a finger in her direction.
There wasn't much distance between them, just enough so he could pace restlessly in his spot and she could still reach out to him if she wanted. Right then, she didn't.
Dropping her arms, she faltered for a moment before nodding slowly. "How much do you know?" That made him freeze in his spot.
"How much is there to know?" he gritted out harshly and Caroline winced internally because who knew what Klaus had found out. Any one of the things that Damon had done to her was enough to send her very overprotective other half into a murdering frenzy. "Full disclosure. Remember that, sweetheart? No lies, no secrets. Now tell me," he added at her silence, reminding her of her very own words on which they had started and based their relationship on.
"I never lied to you. You never asked," Caroline defended herself, crossing her arms across her chest. Klaus chuckled darkly at that.
"I'm sorry if the topic about what Damon did to you as a human never came to my mind!"
"That's not what I meant," she tried to placate him in a soothing voice, loosening up her posture when his got even more tightly wound, if that was possible. Rubbing her forehead with one head, she sighed and tried to explain things to him. "Just- Ok, look. It was a long time ago, ok? And I got past it. I got past it and I came to terms with it. I didn't want to bring it up again when it doesn't matter."
Klaus scoffed. "I beg to differ," he glanced away at that but Caroline caught his attention before his mind began to formulate plans on how to torture, maim and/or kill Damon. Grasping at his arm, she kept him from turning away fully and brought his sights back onto her.
"Hey, I dealt with it - with him - after I turned, alright?" she informed him, hoping to settle it for once and for all.
"Our definitions of dealing with something seem to contradict, my love. The last I checked, he was still roaming around this very town of ours," Klaus said, and she could feel the way his muscles tensed and relaxed repeatedly under her hand. She knew she had to do something to get through to him before this year's Miss Mystic Falls competition was ruined by bloodshed.
"Yes, because I- ok, I didn't forgive him but I moved on. I moved on to better and brighter things. That part of my life, that human me; I want to forget. So I do, because its irrelevant," she told him, bringing her other hand up to lay on his cheek to stop him from turning away. He didn't but he also didn't back down.
"No such thing as irrelevant when he did what he did to you," he said, eyes burning into hers, almost begging her to let him go and do what he did best.
"Ok, ok, but to me, it is. We have had to face so much together in this town, and I'm not acquitting him of what he did, but dwelling on it won't change anything. He paid for it at my hands in the only way I knew how to and I'm happy with that," Caroline explained to him. She dropped both her hands to capture his wrists, glancing down momentarily with a soft frown before looking back up at him. "And the reason I never told you is because I knew how you would react over something that I just don't want to bring up again. Ever."
His lips were pursed, his jaw clenched and fists curled up tightly. If she didn't know any better, she'd swear she could see the flickering amber in his eyes. Suddenly, the realisation that he was angry, so so angry, and hurting on her behalf sent her undead heart racing. Because here in front of her was a man who loved her so unconditionally that he hadn't even asked what it was that Damon had done. Who was ready to go rip out his heart or take off his head (which. ok, Caroline had to admit was a treat for the hybrid) just because he had dared to harm her. Who, despite his natural tendencies to act first and ask later, was still standing in front of her as if waiting for her cue.
Reaching down, she took hold of his hands and gently rubbed them to uncurl them before pulling them to rest on her waist. Resting one of her own on his chest, she caressed the side of his face with the other, softly pushing back his hair before coming down stroke at his jaw lovingly. Pressing her lips against his, she pulled back slightly when she didn't feel him respond before repeating the action. She carried on until she felt the tension start to ease out of his body, and the hands gripping her hips start to loosen slightly.
Caroline reluctantly broke their kiss with a one final chaste peck, resting her forehead against his and simply watching as he kept his eyes closed. She could tell by the way he regulated his breathing that he was trying to relax, but it wasn't coming easily. Moving her hand from his jaw to his neck, she stroked his hair at the nape softly until she felt him regain control of himself once again. It was these moments, when he allowed her to see him as he was, a man still struggling with his emotions a thousand years on, that she fell deeper in love with him. There was no other way on the planet that could tell her how much she meant to him and how much he loved her apart from when he let her witness him with his guard down. Eventually pulling away, they watched each other for a silent moment as she trailed her hand down to join the other on his chest.
"Listen, Damon might be a class A idiot, but he's also Stefan's brother and Elena's boyfriend. She loves him and he loves her. He's changed from the person he was when he first came to town. That doesn't mean he's not still a deranged person, but we've all been there. I mean, you tried to kill me a couple of times and I've tried to kill you a few more. Almost succeeded once too," Caroline reminded him with a wry smile that Klaus mirrored, albeit half-heartedly. "The only difference is that you're bringing it up now when it should be left in the past."
"You have no idea how hard it is for me to not go over to the boarding house right now and end his pitiful existence," he sighed, tilting his head up to gaze at the trees near them as he reluctantly gave in.
"But you won't. Because I am asking you not to," she said pointedly. "And you knew all along that I would too, otherwise you wouldn't have come to me first."
Klaus' fingers stroked her hips through her top as he nodded. "Its not easy to get on the Sheriff's good side if I'm killing people she likes," he added jokingly and Caroline had to smile at his attempt at humour after the tense conversation they had.
"I wouldn't say my mom likes Damon. Tolerates him, sure. But so do the rest of us," she corrected him before they fell into a bout of silence that brought back their current predicament to her. She didn't even know how he had found out about the Damon incident, or what it was that he knew. Realising that she couldn't risk him finding out more about it at a later date, Caroline patted his chest gently. "Hey, we'll talk about this later, ok? We need to put this to rest because I can't keep rehashing it again."
Caressing her cheek with the back of his fingers, he sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, Caroline," he murmured whilst pressing his lips to her forehead.
"I love you," she said, seeing the way his features lit up in a way that she was sure only she noticed whenever she confessed those three little words. "Really, I do. More than anything. Except maybe this event right now because I'm running late on my own schedule and now everything will be ruined," she moaned, dropping her head to rest on his shoulder as his arms came around her to hold her.
"It'll be perfect, just like everything else you organise," Klaus assured her in that omniscient tone of his that could soothe her frayed nerves and razzled thoughts immediately. Inhaling his scent to calm herself, she pushed herself away and took a step back, hands going up to straighten her hair and then her clothes.
"Alright, I expect you to be back here in 2 hours' time, in a suit and the tie I picked out for you. It matches my dress," she instructed him, going back into planning mode in an instant as she picked up the box of decorations that had been left forgotten next to them. When she glanced back up at him, he had a raised brow in a questioning manner, most likely at her words. "What? Its nice to match. Shows your commitment to me."
He laughed at that. "Matching clothes. I didn't know we were that far into this relationship, sweetheart."
"Well, I say we are so we are," Caroline stated in a tone that left no room for argument but with a grin nonetheless. "Stay away from Damon and any of my friends for that matter, yeah? Just until your homicidal tendencies cool down a bit," she requested softly, to which he rolled his eyes. She took that as an affirmative as she turned away to head back to the main staging area.
"I make no promises, my love, " Klaus called out after her, and she shook her head and added calling Stefan to make sure he kept an eye on his brother to her list of things still left to do.