"I can't believe we're out of blood again. What have you guys been doing, mixing it with all that alcohol you've been drinking?" Caroline sighed as she dug through the empty blood bags, trying to find one that was full.
"Well you know the deal; the last person who drank has to go on a blood bank run. That's the main way we can insure whoever's going to get it, won't go crazy with urges." Stefan called from the couch, over the sound of Damon's grumblings. "We all know whose turn it is this time, from the sounds of displeasure coming from my dear brother."
Caroline tossed the empty bags into a large cooler, and looked over to the brothers lounging about on the couch. "Just because the two of you are moping about Elena and went evil for a little bit, doesn't mean that you can just laze about, and do nothing."
Stefan laughed a little under his breath before replying. "Oh Caroline, you clearly don't understand what it's like to, as you put it, 'go evil'. Don't worry though, when your time comes to become your very own ripper, we'll be there with a good natured, 'I told you so' and a light, but sturdy push back to Team Goodness."
Caroline rolled her eyes, picking up the red cooler and bringing it over to Stefan, dropping it hard into his lap. "You, Stefan, are going to dispose of these, while Damon goes to get us more blood, this time enough to fill up the entire fridge. Then tonight we are going to have a night filled with housemate fun!" She beamed, clasping her hands together. Frowning slightly at their lack of enthusiasm, Caroline waved them on their way. "I don't want to hear any arguments, just go."
She spun around and walked over to the kitchen without waiting for a reply. She picked up her phone from the counter and sent a quick text message to Klaus explaining that she was going to be a little late to their lunch date. By the time Caroline looked up, the brothers were gone. As always, Klaus replied immediately, saying that it was okay, and that he would run a few errands until she got there.
Klaus had been extremely sweet and romantic the last couple weeks, being on his best behavior was his way of proving to Caroline that she made the right choice in choosing him over Tyler. Their showdown wasn't pretty, and a lot of violence came out of it. Caroline didn't speak to either of them for a week. When she finally had said something to them, it was a simple note saying that she would pick between the two of them that weekend, and let them know Sunday night what she decided. When Sunday night came, Klaus was so nervous, he sent all of his hybrids away and started to paint a dark, textured mural on his bedroom wall. There was a knock at the door, and that's when he knew that he would be the happiest he had ever been as a human, vampire, or hybrid. Just by the simple knowledge that Caroline chose him.
Caroline put her phone into her pocket, and sauntered over to the living room where, as a new usual, there were fresh flowers from Klaus in every vase. She received them every day, and it was something she could definitely get used to. She took one out and inhaled its scent. Then she lightly tugged on each of the leaves, snapped the stem until it was about an inch long, and put it behind her ear, pinning it to her hair to secure it. She looked to the wall on her left to check her reflection in one of the many mirrors that Damon put up in the house. After fixing a couple pieces of her hair, she decided she looked good enough for the lunch date.
She sprinted upstairs to her new bedroom, and plopped down on her bed. As she lay back onto her elbows, staring at each detail in the room, she still could not believe that she was living at the Salvatore house. Her mother told Caroline that she would have to leave the moment she graduated from high school. The sheriff just couldn't handle having a vampire in her house any longer. So the day before graduation, she packed up all her things and packed them into her car. Her friends wanted to help, but Elena was living in New York on a "quest to find herself". Bonnie was going through some crisis with her family, the human side, crazy as that sounded. Matt was going off to college; he got a football scholarship, and sold his house to pay for travel expenses. Tyler moved back into his house when Klaus promised Caroline that he would stop chasing him, and it wasn't like Tyler was speaking to her. When it came down to it, staying with the Salvatores was the only logical solution. They were never there and had plenty of room to spare.
She tidied up the room, putting things back in their place, just in case someone might see her room. Taking a step back, she admired her work. The drab room they had given her was easy to redecorate, especially with Klaus offering to help. As a thank you, a neatly wrapped gift for Klaus sat on top of her dresser. She quickly snatched the gift and her car keys and ran downstairs and out the door.
As she pulled up to the restaurant, she saw Klaus watching her from their usual table on the patio and she smiled. Klaus smoothly hopped the gate and was opening her car door before she had even finished grabbing her things. She kissed him lightly on the cheek as she got out of the car. His eyes landed on the gift in her hand, and lit up.
"Is that… for me?" Klaus grinned with delight; his dimples made him look like a child on Christmas morning.
"Well yes," answered Caroline, laughing at how excited he got, "for helping with the redecorating and for just being so sweet. I've never gotten to truly thank you for the flowers."
"The flowers? Oh Caroline, love, you don't need to thank me for something that was just overdue. I promise you," Klaus took her hand, staring deep into her eyes, "that the day will come when you're not surprised about the flowers, you'll be expecting them. I promise that that same day, you'll look over at me smiling at you, and know it's not because you said something silly, it's because every single thing you say or do is so perfect I can't help but smile. I promise that-"
"Stop now or there will be no way I can ever top you." Caroline laughed.
"Oh I can think of ways you can 'top' me." Klaus said devilishly and winked. Then he took the gift from her, and after her nod of approval, quickly tore the wrapping paper to shreds. Inside was an expensive paint and drawing set, the same one that he had pointed out on one of their strolls weeks ago. "Caroline… this is so perfect." He lightly kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you." He whispered.
Caroline looked up from the gift shyly to meet Klaus' eyes with a smile, only to see him not looking at her, but over her shoulder. She whipped around to see Tyler glaring at them from across the street. She cursed herself for being too wrapped up in Klaus to even notice. She bit her lip nervously, Klaus looked livid.