Hello and welcome, lovely readers, to my collection of gifts that I've written for Klaroline gift exchanges hosted on Archive of Our Own. I've decided to repost them all here so that everyone can read them on their preferred platform.

For my contribution to this year's Klaroline Valentine's Gift Exchange, I wrote the prompt, "What if when Caroline was so open and honest about her feelings for Klaus and how much they scared her, she was actually talking to Klaus, not Silas in Klaus's form?"

I loved writing this prompt, and I enjoyed exploring how Klaus's presence might have effected the events of the end of the season.

I used some of the original dialogue from the show in this work, so this is just my disclaimer saying that I don't anything from the show.

The title was inspired by the upcoming season premiere of The Originals, titled "Where You Left Your Heart."

Happy Valentine's Day and happy reading!

Caroline was standing in the Salvatores' driveway, making a mental checklist of supplies she wanted to bring back to help Matt. Distracted, she lost her grip on her car keys and they fell to the ground. She was silently berating herself for her clumsiness ('you're a vampire, Caroline, you should at least be able to hold on to your keys') when she heard a rustling noise behind her.

"Who's there?" she called out.

She turned around to see Klaus, who she hadn't seen since the night of prom, standing behind her, a small smile on his face.

"Oh my God," Caroline breathed.

Klaus was the last person she expected to see in the Salvatores' driveway. She'd been told that he was in New Orleans—though no one would tell her why—and that he wasn't coming back. So why was he here? Could he have returned just for her? There had to be some limit to what Klaus would do to win her over, and she refused to believe that he wouldn't draw the line somewhere before traveling across the country. She didn't know why Klaus had gone to New Orleans, but considering the haste with which he left, she assumed it must be important, more important than she was.

"Hello, Caroline."

Klaus gestured for her to follow him into the woods beside the Salvatores' property. Caroline followed without giving his actions much thought. Klaus always had a reason for everything he did. He likely wanted to put some distance between them and the house to ensure that they had some privacy, which made Caroline wonder what he wanted to say to her that he didn't want the vampires still in the Salvatores' house, including his own sister, to hear.

"Everyone said that you were gone for good," Caroline started timidly, not wanting to sound like she was challenging him—or like she was hurt by his sudden disappearance.

"It's true," Klaus confirmed. "But I never meant to leave without saying goodbye."

Caroline cringed inwardly. Just saying that he hadn't meant to leave without saying goodbye didn't mean anything to her, since that was exactly what he'd done. Caroline thought over his statement again. Had he attempted to say goodbye to her and found her unavailable, or had he not even bothered to try?

"You don't owe me an explanation," Caroline scoffed. "You're moving on. By all means, go."

She meant it. Caroline had no delusions of grandeur. She didn't consider herself so important that Klaus Mikaelson, Original Hybrid and most powerful creature on Earth, would notify her of his plans. Klaus would do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to do it, and if that included leaving without any explanation, then that's what he would do.

Although she did scold herself for adding the statement about him moving on. She had to remain distant, keep up the appearance that Klaus's absence hadn't bothered her at all, that she hadn't taken it personally. She wasn't in a relationship with Klaus, and she was technically still in a relationship with Tyler. If Klaus was moving on from whatever semblance of a flirtation they had, it was really none of her business.

"Well, that's just it, isn't it? I never had any intention of moving on," Klaus confessed. "The truth is, I've tried to stop thinking about you, and I can't."

Caroline increased her pace, surpassing Klaus and walking deeper into the woods, as if the trees would keep her from hearing his candid admissions of his feelings for her. If he kept making proclamations like that, she wouldn't be able to pretend his words had no effect on her for much longer.

There was something sincere in his words that made her feel like he was telling the truth. He wasn't just saying it because he was trying to win her over or lure her into his bed. He genuinely hadn't been able to stop thinking about her, despite making an effort to do so. Rather than feel insulted that he was actively trying not to think about her, Caroline chose to focus on his honesty with her, something that he wasn't known for in his interactions with others. Only for her, it seemed, would Klaus fully expose the inner workings of his heart and mind.

"Come to New Orleans," Klaus said in tone that if Caroline didn't know him better, she might have described as pleading.

"What are you so afraid of?" Klaus asked, exasperated.

Caroline whirled around to face him.

Maybe it was the blunt honesty with which he had confessed that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. Maybe it was his sincere plea for her to come with him when he left. Maybe it was lightning strike of pain that flashed through her heart at the idea of him really moving away permanently. Maybe it was some combination of all three. But whatever the reason was, when Klaus asked her what she was afraid of, his voice rising in volume, betraying a level of frustration he rarely showed around her, her façade of not caring about him came crashing down.

"You!" Caroline retorted. "I'm afraid of you."

"Isn't it more accurate to say you're afraid of yourself, your darkest desires?" Klaus taunted. "I see the flush on your cheeks, the way your heart races when I touch you. You want to know what my hands would feel like moving across your skin, you want me to place the hearts of everyone who has ever wronged you in your hands. You can't deny that somewhere in your pure, golden heart you want to know what the darkness feels like."

Caroline felt herself flush at Klaus's words. Yes, she'd had errant thoughts about what it would be like to be with Klaus, but she'd always pushed them away immediately, feeling guilty for having them in the first place. She'd had similar passing fantasies about getting revenge on everyone who had hurt her, but she'd never acted on those either. She was supposed to be Caroline the Good Vampire, with perfect control and a positive attitude. If she had dark thoughts of lust and vengeance at all, it was because he'd corrupted her.

"Because of you!" Caroline exclaimed. "You made me that way, you made me want all of that, and I'm afraid of what else you could make me do! I don't want this darkness you're offering, I don't want to be dark like you!"

Their conversation about darkness pulled a scene from Caroline's memory to the forefront of her consciousness: the night Klaus had told her that he 'fancied' her because she was 'strong, beautiful, and full of light.' Caroline was certain that she'd never heard a more flattering description of herself. Caroline wanted to see herself that way, too. She wanted to keep a tight grip on her humanity, her optimism, her compassion, her dedication; everything about her that made her 'full of light.' If Klaus really fancied her, even loved her, because of her those traits, he wouldn't want Caroline to lose her light any more than she did, so why was he pushing her to revel in the darkness that admittedly intrigued her, the darkness in him?

"Don't you see what I'm offering you?" Klaus asked. "You are Persephone, my love. You have the King of the Underworld kneeling at your feet," Klaus paused to actually kneel before her, taking both of her hands in his own and lacing their fingers together. "You would be my queen, the last glimpse of light that those condemned souls would ever see. I would share all of my wealth and power with you for the rest of eternity. That is what I am offering you."

Caroline was stunned. She knew how Klaus felt about her; she'd even gone so far as to tell him she knew he was in love with her, but she never would have imagined him literally kneeling in front of her, offering her the chance to be his queen, to have every experience and possession she could ever ask for. She knew absence made the heart grow fonder, as the expression went, but she was taken aback by how forthcoming Klaus was being about his feelings in comparison to the last time she saw him. Of course, to be fair, she'd also been more honest about her feelings for him than she'd ever been.

"Did it ever occur to you that you saying things like this are part of what makes me so afraid of you? That all your talk about 'the rest of eternity,' and 'perhaps one day, in a year or even in a century,' and 'there's a whole world out there waiting for you' is kind of scary for an eighteen-year-old who's never left Mystic Falls? I never asked for any of that, all I ever asked for was to not die, and now you're standing there waiting for me to agree to be your queen for the rest of time, as if I can say with any certainty whether or not I'll love you or you'll love me in a hundred years, or a thousand years, when I haven't lived that long and I can't even predict how I'll feel about you tomorrow!" Caroline exclaimed.

Caroline had been scared of Klaus's love for her since the moment she'd figured out the extent of his feelings. Klaus had devoted himself to breaking his curse for hundreds of years with a single-minded focus that she'd never seen before. The prospect of being the object of attention and dedication that intense made Caroline feel like she'd been placed on display at a museum or at the altar at a temple, meant to adored, admired, revered, and worshipped, with no memory of what she'd done to deserve such treatment. Though the remnants of insecure human Caroline questioned whether or not Klaus would really want her forever as he claimed, the rational part of her mind knew that Klaus was constant, persistent, determined—if he was promising her the throne next to his, he would keep her throne ready for her until she claimed it for herself.

"My words must have had quite the impact on you for you to have memorized them," Klaus smirked. "Why are you so reluctant to accept that you are a vampire, Caroline? You are not limited to one town or one lifetime anymore. You can spend a hundred years living in Paris, and then a hundred years living on a beach in the Caribbean, and then a hundred years in a chalet in the Swiss Alps. You can have anything and everything that you decide you want, and I want you to have all of it."

"What if I don't want Paris, or the Swiss Alps, or New Orleans, or you?" Caroline retorted. Seeing the hurt look on Klaus's face, she tried to backtrack. She'd just been trying to prove a point; that even as well as he knew her, he couldn't decide for her what she wanted, but she felt cruel and malicious for even suggesting that she didn't want him. She almost laughed at the thought, that she'd been standing next to Klaus Mikaelson, Original Hybrid, mass murderer for the past thousand years, and she'd been the bad guy. "I'm not saying that I don't, but what is so wrong about wanting to stay with my mom, and my friends, and the town I grew up in? According to you, I have an eternity to do whatever I want, so why do I have to take on the world right now? Why can't I wait until I decide I'm ready, not when you decide I'm ready?"

"I've always admired your loyalty to the people you love, Caroline," Klaus told her. "All I've ever really wanted is to experience that for myself," Caroline looked away as they both realized the implication of his words. "All I want for you, is for you to have everything you want. While I hope that I may be included on that list, and that maybe you'll let me help, what's most important is for you to have the opportunity to take advantage of all of the benefits that come along with being a vampire."

"And I'm sure that your eagerness to help is completely selfless; you're just doing this out of the goodness of your heart," Caroline scoffed sarcastically.

"You are the only person who would accuse me of having goodness in my heart, but yes, I suppose your conclusion is correct. I am offering you all of the wealth and power I have accumulated over the last thousand years, and it is not insignificant. I am offering power and status in your own right as my queen, with subjects to rule and armies to command. I am offering my assistance, in any form you may need it, in making all of your hopes and dreams a reality. All I ask in return is your confession." Klaus said.

"My confession about what?" Caroline asked. She hadn't done anything wrong, had she? What could he possibly want her to confess?

"I would be a part of that deal, sweetheart," Klaus explained. "All I need to know is whether you would want to accept my offer, with all of its conditions."

Caroline stood in stunned silence, Klaus still on his knees in front of her.

She was fairly certain she'd never felt more overwhelmed than she had during this conversation with Klaus, although when she'd woken up a vampire might be the exception. She knew that Klaus wasn't exactly looking for a casual dating type relationship with her, that he'd decided that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. For him, this decision was black and white: either she agreed to be with him or she didn't, but either way, his future would be set in stone. But Caroline hadn't lived for a thousand years. She hadn't seen the world several times over and didn't know exactly what she wanted for eternity. At eighteen, she still had trouble even picturing where she would be and what she would be doing in a decade, let alone a century or a millennium like Klaus was thinking. He could sum up this entire decision in one yes or no question—would she agree to his offer of everything he possessed, plus himself, until the end of time, or would she walk away with nothing—but for Caroline it was more complicated.

"I can't do this right now," Caroline said. "Elena won't turn her humanity back on, Matt is failing multiple classes, and it's taking all of my self-control not to attack your sister. I can't make any sort of decisions about the rest of eternity right now. I can't even make any decisions about what I'm going to wear to graduation because I don't even know for sure if all of us are still going to be alive by then, and it's only days away!"

"Caroline, you know I would never let anything happen to you," Klaus tried to reassure her, standing up so that he could look at her face.

Caroline tried to pull away from him again, but Klaus gently placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her in place. Her stress and fear were starting to get the better of her, causing her to start trembling in Klaus's hold. Klaus's eyes met Caroline's worried gaze and he smiled forlornly.

"If you would let me, sweetheart, I would make sure that nothing every hurt you, and nothing ever scared you, and nothing ever made you unhappy," Klaus said softly.

Upon hearing Klaus's promise, Caroline, who had already allowed herself to be vulnerable to Klaus emotionally, finally let her guard down physically and fell forward into Klaus's arms, needing comfort that everyone else in her life was unwilling or unable to give. It had been days, if not weeks, since anyone had even asked her how she was before Klaus had found her that day. She had tried to hold in her frustrated, anxious tears, but in the safety of Klaus's embrace, she finally let them spill down her cheeks.

To his credit, Klaus didn't act startled or confused when Caroline pushed herself into his arms. He simply wrapped his arms tighter around her and rubbed her back comfortingly.

"It's okay, you're safe," Klaus murmured in her ear. "It's okay."

Caroline felt like she should have felt weak, and disgusted with herself for flinging herself at Klaus for comfort when she was upset, but in the moment, she just couldn't blame herself for seeking the safety and comfort that Klaus's presence provided her, nor could she force herself to pull away. As much as she'd become more capable and confident since becoming a vampire, she still wasn't, and possibly never would be, as strong, brave, and tough as Klaus and the other Originals, who had been alive for a thousand years; as Tyler, his werewolf friend Hayley, and the other hybrids, who had forced themselves to endure the painful process of turning themselves into wolves over and over in order to regain their free will. Caroline was more sensitive, more vulnerable, more emotional than any of them, and sometimes she just needed a hug from someone who cared about her to help her feel better.

She knew that if any of her friends could see this, they would berate her for fraternizing with the enemy, but Klaus certainly didn't feel like her enemy. Klaus had been a better friend to her in the last hour than Elena, Bonnie, and Stefan had been in weeks. He'd been a better boyfriend to her in the last hour than Tyler had been in months. Her group of friends knew from Elena's love triangle with the Salvatores that a person couldn't help who they loved. At least in Caroline's view, they also needed to accept that a person couldn't help who they were loved by, either.

"How are you going to make sure that nothing happens to me if you're all the way in New Orleans?" Caroline asked in a quiet voice, lifting her head a few inches from Klaus's shoulder and wiping her tears on the sleeves of her jacket.

Her eyes only met Klaus's for a second, but that brief period of eye contact was able to speak volumes. Caroline knew that her eyes, still shining with tears, were quietly pleading with him to do something to make her feel safe and secure. She would never admit out loud that she needed him, or even that she wanted him, but her eyes told a different story.

Klaus's eyes looked conflicted, as if he was considering all of the ways he could answer Caroline's question. After only a fraction of a second of internal deliberation, his face took on a calculating expression. He was coming up with a plan.

"I'll stay," Klaus announced suddenly.

"What?"

"You're quite right, Caroline. I cannot personally guarantee that no harm will come to you unless I take responsibility for keeping you safe. I thought about leaving a small group of minions here to keep an eye on you, but one never knows when their minions will prove incompetent, except to assume that they will do so at an incredibly inconvenient time, when they've been given an incredibly important task. As they say, if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. The job of making sure that you are safe and happy is one that must be done right, therefore, I must do it myself," Klaus answered.

"Are you sure?" Caroline asked. "You're really staying?"

"I will stay here, in Mystic Falls, until you either decide you want to take me up on my offer and return with me to New Orleans, or you decide you want nothing to do with me and I'll return to New Orleans myself," Klaus explained.

"A sad, lonely, old man," Caroline teased.

Klaus looked at her, unamused.

Caroline detached herself from Klaus, worried her lighthearted teasing hadn't been well-received, and feeling like if she'd felt comfortable enough to make fun of Klaus, she didn't need to rely on him for comfort anymore.

"Sorry, I won't mock you anymore," Caroline promised. "I'm just overwhelmed. You've just offered me the whole world and access to your surely considerable wealth. Tyler didn't even offer to let me come along when he left to break the sire bond. I don't know for sure if I want to be the queen of the dead, or however you put it, for the rest of my life, but I know I want more than Mystic Falls."

"You're being unusually open with me today," Klaus noted.

As Caroline started to respond, Klaus placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her back towards the Salvatores' house, where her car was still parked.

"I don't have anyone else to talk to," Caroline answered. "Elena has her humanity off, Stefan is working with Damon to try to get her to turn it back on, Bonnie is avoiding everyone, Matt has to study and Rebekah is helping him, and my mom is working, as usual. You're the only person who has made any effort to make room in their busy schedule for me, and I appreciate that."

Availability wasn't the only reason that Caroline had chosen to talk to Klaus, but she wasn't sure if she could handle making herself any more vulnerable at the moment. If they each kept letting their guards down, they would eventually have nothing left. You couldn't bare your heart without cracking open your own ribcage, and Caroline knew that her heart was safer locked away.

No, the more important reason that Caroline had talked to Klaus was because she trusted him and knew that she could rely on him, to listen to her, to protect her, and to try to make her feel better about everything that was bothering her. And considering how much she'd gotten out of the conversation and how much he'd given up for her, she knew that she owed him the full truth, but she couldn't force the words out of her mouth before Klaus started speaking.

"It's remarkable how no one else in your life has their priorities straight," Klaus smirked.

Caroline rolled her eyes. She knew Klaus and his feelings for her well enough by now to know that he meant what he said, but his openness about his affection for her and his disdain for her friends for not treating her as well as he thought she should be treated still caught her off guard sometimes.

"And I'm running around like a crazy person, finalizing plans for graduation, and trying to help Matt study, and checking in with Bonnie, and trying to get Elena to stop being an emotionless monster, on top of everything with Silas and the cure, and no one stops to say 'Hey, Caroline, you look stressed out, is there anything I can do to help?'" Caroline continued to rant.

"Is there anything I can help with, love?" Klaus asked.

"There's nothing anyone can do right now," Caroline sighed. "We just have to wait and see what Silas does, and if Elena turns her humanity back on, and if Bonnie ever makes contact again, and if Matt passes Italian. It's out of my hands, although that of course won't stop me from worrying about all of it," she grimaced. "But you are helping me right now by letting me vent, so thank you for that."

"It's my pleasure, love, really," Klaus replied.

As they approached Caroline's car, she said, "Well, I guess I'll see you soon then, if you're staying here."

"I'm staying here," Klaus confirmed.

"Okay," Caroline said, pulling out her keys and, this time successfully, unlocking her car door. Not wanting to let him walk away without knowing how she really felt, she took a chance and blurted out what her response should have been when he'd commented on how open she'd been. "And, um, since we're being open and honest with each other today, I feel like I should tell you, I didn't just talk to you because you were the only one who's taken the time to actually listen to me. That's part of it, but it's also because I trust you, with everything that's going on, and I know that you'll protect me from all of it if you can. I knew that you would try to make me feel better, even if it was just scolding my friends for ignoring me or threatening to kill everyone who was making me worried or anxious. So I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate it, that you always treat me like spending time with me is an important use of your time, because no one else does that. So thank you."

"Oh, how I missed you, Caroline," Klaus chuckled. "We're going to have to address your insultingly low standards in friends at some point in the very near future. Let me know if you need anything, even if it's just someone to listen while everyone else chooses to concentrate on less important things."

"I will, thanks," Caroline said, opening her car door and getting in the passenger seat. Klaus closed her door for her, and as she reversed down the driveway, Klaus still stood in place, watching her drive away until she was out of sight.

{ }

Caroline didn't see Klaus in person again for more than a few minutes until the day Bonnie dropped the veil. Most of Caroline's time was spent helping Matt study, preventing Elena from killing Katherine, and trying to reach Bonnie, while also studying for her own finals and writing her valedictorian speech.

(When Caroline had called Klaus to tell him about the honor, he'd said, "I told you that you were better than anyone else in this town.")

Even though the only time they'd been able to spend together in person was a few times they'd both happened to be at the Grill at the same time, Klaus always answered on the first ring whenever Caroline called.

"What is it that you're supposed to be doing right now?" Caroline had asked him once. She didn't understand how Klaus could take off for another state in the middle of the night, without saying goodbye, yet have the free time to return for the sole purpose of watching out for her only days later.

"Nothing more important than you are, love," Klaus had responded.

Caroline had sighed and given up hope at ever getting a serious answer.

Klaus was seriously committed to getting her to agree to come to New Orleans with him, and he wasn't above using flattery to do it, especially when Caroline had outlawed bribery after he gave her a gold fleur-de-lis necklace and luxurious silk dresses in purple, gold, and green—the colors of Mardi Gras.

(She kept all of them, though, just in case.)

On the day Bonnie dropped the veil, Caroline was with Matt and, reluctantly, Rebekah at the Grill when a powerful storm kicked up outside. Within moments, Klaus was throwing open the door and charging towards her.

"I don't want you to worry, but something's happening. This storm isn't natural, it's magical. I need you to stay here where you'll be out of harm's way." Klaus ordered.

"Why would you think I would worry about that?" Caroline deadpanned sarcastically.

"I'm serious, Caroline," he said, gently pushing her back onto her stool. "I'll come back for you as soon as I can, but I need you to stay put so that I know you're safe."

"But I want to help!" Caroline pleaded.

Klaus affectionately brushed Caroline's hair off of her face.

"Please, love," Klaus said quietly, taking her hands in his. "I don't know for certain what we're getting ourselves into out there. I'm not going to be doing anyone any good if I'm spending all of my time making sure nothing dangerous gets too close to you. I'll be too preoccupied with keeping you safe to help make sure everyone in town is safe. Please stay here."

Caroline looked into Klaus's eyes. They were completely sincere; a frantically swirling mix of concern, fear, and uncertainty.

"Okay, I'll stay," Caroline agreed, knowing how much this meant to Klaus and that he would argue with her all night if he had to.

"Come back as soon as you can so I know you're safe."

Klaus reluctantly relinquished his grip on Caroline's hands.

"Don't let her out of your sight," Klaus told Rebekah, affectionately squeezing his sister's shoulder.

"Be careful," Caroline whispered. "Stay safe."

Klaus nodded, the flashed out the door without another word.

Rebekah and Matt looked over at Caroline, clearly confused by what had just happened.

"How long has Klaus been back?" Matt asked.

"Since the day Elena turned her humanity back on," Caroline answered. "I ran into him when I went to get you my study guides and flash cards to help you study. I would have told you, but I decided you had more important things to worry about."

Matt grimaced nervously after Caroline finished her explanation.

"See, I might have done something that seemed like a good idea at the time, but now seems like it was a mistake," he said.

"What did you do?" Caroline asked warily.

"I sort of told Tyler that Klaus was gone so he could come back home," Matt winced. "He got back last night."

"Well, that isn't good," Caroline stated. "We will just have to make sure that they do not cross paths until you can tell Tyler that it isn't safe for him to be here. Wait, have you been in touch with him this whole time?" Caroline demanded.

"I mean, we weren't talking every day or anything, but I had his new phone number in case of emergency or really important news. I thought Klaus leaving was really important news," Matt defended himself.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Matt, it's okay," Caroline assured him.

"You two do realize that my brother will kill Tyler if he sees him, correct?" Rebekah interjected.

A moment later, the Grill's door banged open again. Expecting it to be the wind, Caroline and Rebekah didn't bother turning around, but Matt looked up.

"Tyler!" he greeted nervously.

Caroline spun around on her stool.

Tyler Lockwood was standing in the middle of the Grill, his trademark easygoing smile on his face, despite the storm outside—and the metaphorical one inside.

"Tyler," Caroline whispered. "It's so good to see you!"

"You've missed a lot," Caroline started, snapping right into business mode. "All three sacrifices were completed, which means Silas is preparing to lower The Veil and essentially cause the supernatural apocalypse, as you can see by the storm outside, Elena turned her humanity back on… back up, Elena turned her humanity off after Jeremy died, but it's back on now, Klaus went to New Orleans and now he's back. I think that's everything," Caroline listed.

"Klaus is here?" Tyler seethed. "Just when we think he's finally out of our lives for good."

"Speak for yourself," Rebekah cut in. "I'm stuck with him forever."

"You have my sympathies," Tyler responded.

"Please be nice," Caroline pleaded with both of them.

"Tyler, you should probably go as soon as possible," Matt suggested.

"Could I talk to Caroline for a minute first?" Tyler asked.

"Make it quick," Rebekah ordered. "That is the first and last piece of friendly advice I'll give you."

Matt led Rebekah into the storage room so that Caroline and Tyler would have a little privacy.

Tyler didn't hesitate once they left.

"Care, you deserve better than to constantly be waiting for someone who's on the run and can never see you," he said.

"We both deserve better than this," Caroline corrected. "We were apart for more of our relationship than we were together, and I love that you kept coming back for me, but you can't keep looking over your shoulder to see if I'm okay when your first priority has to be taking care of yourself. I'll always have a lot of love for you, Tyler, but let's face it, we were not each other's epic loves. You are a person I will always love, as a friend I grew up with and survived our initiations into the world of the supernatural with, but you aren't the love of my life, and I'm not yours, and we both deserve to find that."

Caroline felt a few tears fall down her cheeks, but she wasn't heartbroken or devastated as her heart finally caught on to what her subconscious already knew: her relationship with Tyler was over, this time for good.

"You might just be the best person in this world, Caroline Forbes," Tyler told her. "I have to go. Take care of yourself."

Without waiting to let her respond, Tyler sped out of the Grill.

Caroline took a deep breath to steady herself, then called out in a voice she knew Rebekah's vampire hearing could hear, "He's gone, you guys can come out now."

Matt and Rebekah slinked sheepishly back to the bar.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you he was back, Care," Matt apologized.

"It's fine," Caroline replied. "You were just trying to protect a friend, I understand."

They only had to endure another forty-five minutes of stilted awkwardness intermittently punctuated by cordial but disinterested small talk before Klaus returned with Stefan, Damon, Elena, and Bonnie in tow.

"What happened, is everyone all right?" Caroline asked as soon as they were all through the door.

"Bonnie dropped the veil," Stefan answered.

"Meaning that every dead supernatural creature is wandering around Mystic Falls, many of them looking to avenge their own deaths, a staggering amount of which were at the hands of someone in this room," Klaus explained.

"So, is it safe to go home, or do we all need to stay here and have a slumber party?" Caroline asked.

"We should be fine once we get home. Even dead vampires are still vampires and need to be invited inside," Klaus reassured her. "But just to be safe, no one should walk home alone so that we all have back up in case we do get attacked."

"I have my car here if anyone wants a ride home," Caroline offered.

Everyone else followed Caroline out of the restaurant.

Matt and Rebekah got into Matt's truck, Damon, Stefan, and Elena all squeezed into Damon's car, leaving Caroline with Bonnie and Klaus.

Bonnie, clearly exhausted from the magic she had just performed, crawled into the backseat of Caroline's car and curled up onto the seat. Seeing how tired her friend was, Caroline drove towards her house first. Bonnie managed to sleepily stumble out of the car a few minutes later, murmuring good night to Caroline and waving halfheartedly as she closed her front door behind her.

As they pulled away from Bonnie's house, Caroline turned to Klaus in her passenger's seat.

"So, are you coming to graduation tomorrow?" Caroline asked.

"Would you like me to come?" Klaus asked.

"Sure! The more the merrier!" Caroline enthused. "My mom is rearranging her schedule tomorrow so that she can make it to the ceremony before she has to break up parties and write citations for underage drinking, but if for some reason something happens, which isn't unlikely with every dead supernatural creature in town, and she can't make it, it would be nice to know that there's someone in the stands cheering for me."

"If you would like me to be there, I will be there," Klaus promised.

"Thanks, Klaus," Caroline said as they pulled into the long driveway in front of the Mikaelsons' house.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Caroline," Klaus called out as he walked into his house.

On Caroline's short drive home from Klaus's, she could have sworn she saw the face of one of the witches she had killed to save Bonnie in her rear view mirror, then she shook herself and told herself it was just her fear playing tricks on her.

Mystic Falls had become a ghost town, and there were more people in it than ever.

{ }

Caroline woke up early on the day of graduation to a knock on her front door. She groaned and turned over, hoping that her mother would answer the door and she could get a few more minutes of sleep.

Unfortunately, Caroline's mother had already left for work, since she was starting early that day so that she would be able to attend graduation that evening before returning to work, where she would undoubtedly spend the night breaking up the inevitable graduation parties that would start soon after the ceremony.

Caroline stumbled out of bed and opened the front door. She yawned before she could see who it was. Her eyes still closed, she said, "I am graduating in twelve hours. Can someone else handle the supernatural shenanigans until after the ceremony is over?"

"High school graduation? How quaint. Congratulations, cupcake!" Katherine Pierce taunted with fake enthusiasm.

Of all the things Caroline had expected to see when she opened the door, Katherine standing on her porch wearing skintight black leather pants, a black leather jacket, and sky-high stiletto heels, her dark hair in wild curls and her lips painted deep red was probably the last thing she would have guessed.

"What are you doing here, Katherine?" Caroline asked.

"If I could come in, I would tell you," Katherine retorted.

"My mom isn't here," Caroline told her. "You can't come in."

"Fine," Katherine said. "We can do this here."

"It's seven in the morning, Katherine, please just spit it out," Caroline requested.

"I have the cure, and I want you to convince your boyfriend to give me my freedom in exchange for it," Katherine announced.

"Klaus isn't my boyfriend, but that isn't the point," Caroline shook her head. "Why are you asking me?"

"Because I'm the one who sent Klaus to New Orleans, I thought for good, but he still came back to this pathetic town, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that he came back for you," Katherine elaborated. "I gave the cure to Elijah to negotiate my freedom from Klaus, and he ended up delivering it to Silas, so I need a new middleman."

"Why would you… never mind, I don't really care right now. I don't think I have as much influence over him as you think I do," Caroline hedged.

"Neither of us believe that," Katherine dismissed. "So will you do it or not? Come on, help out an old friend, Care Bear."

Caroline cringed at the nickname.

"I'm not sure I'd call you 'an old friend,' no offense. You did kill me, Katherine," Caroline replied.

"How have you survived this long?" Katherine wondered incredulously. "I mean, Klaus being obsessed with you probably has a lot to do with it, but the second he steps away, you are going to crumble like a sugar cookie if you don't drop the sweet, good girl attitude and learn some self-preservation."

"I have learned self-preservation!" Caroline insisted.

"If you say so, sweetie," Katherine said condescendingly. "Except that you're worried about offending me even though I literally killed you, and you still haven't asked the most important question, the one that would have been the first thing Klaus, or any of the Originals, or I would have said when I asked for this favor."

Caroline wracked her brain. After a moment, she gave up.

"Which is?" she asked.

"What's in it for me?" Katherine answered.

"Oh," Caroline paused. "Well, I guess I don't really want anything from you… I mean, it would be nice if you didn't use the cure against anyone who didn't want to take it, but I wouldn't have to worry about that if you didn't have the cure anymore, and I'd appreciate it if you would stop terrorizing Elena and the Salvatores, but I feel like if you got your freedom and could do whatever you wanted, you wouldn't waste your time on them."

"You're smart," Katherine complimented. "Intuitive, perceptive. You have the potential to be a great vampire."

"Um, thank you?" Caroline said, unsure why Katherine was complimenting her. "And I think that the next question you or Klaus would ask would be if you actually had the cure in your possession right now."

Katherine smiled approvingly.

"See? You're learning," she said, pulling a small vial out of the pocket of her jacket. "Here it is."

Caroline inspected the little container of red liquid in Katherine's hand. She'd never seen the cure, so she wasn't sure what she was looking at, but she certainly hadn't been expecting the cure for vampirism to look so ordinary.

"But I have no way to prove that that's the cure and not some copy you've created without forcing you to take it, thus wasting it if it is real," Caroline realized, scrunching up her nose.

"I guess you'll just have to trust me," Katherine shrugged. "And if there's anything I've learned over the last five hundred years, it's that no one can really outsmart Klaus. Last year, he captured me, and he could have killed me, but he let me go, because he wanted me to keep running from him. That was part of my punishment, to always be looking over my shoulder to make sure he wasn't behind me. I wouldn't be surprised if he always knew exactly where I was, he just chose to let me think I'd been able to outrun him. I know what the consequences would be if I tried to trick him now."

"I believe you," Caroline told her. "How did you manage to steal the cure from Silas?"

"I look exactly like the love of his life that he's been pining for for over two thousand years, it wasn't hard to make him believe I was her," Katherine said, inspecting her nails as if recounting this dangerous, manipulative scheme was boring to her. "I convinced him that I was Amara and that Bonnie had revived me because the cure had to be activated with my blood in order to work. He gladly handed it over and I ran for it, but considering that Bonnie turned him to stone not long after that, he's got bigger problems than a little identity theft."

"Why did we never think of that?" Caroline complained.

"You're the good girl, Caroline, you don't want to hurt anyone," Katherine said. "But I've become an expert at finding people's weaknesses. Why do you think Silas never appeared to anyone in Elena's form? He tried to manipulate Bonnie last night by showing up as one of her best friends, and he chose you, not her."

"I guess that makes sense," Caroline conceded.

"I'm going to help you," Caroline decided impulsively.

"Just like that?" Katherine double-checked.

"As far as I'm concerned, there's no crime that justifies five hundred years of penance, and I know that most of my friends don't trust you, and don't want you to have the power that the cure gives you," Caroline explained. "You're right, I don't want to hurt anyone, and I think that this is the only way that everyone wins. Klaus gets control over the cure, you get your freedom, and everyone else gets the peace of mind of knowing that you don't have the cure and it won't be used against them."

"So you'll talk to Klaus?" Katherine confirmed.

"I'll take the cure from you now; we'll consider me your escrow account. Then I will tell Klaus that you are offering him the cure in exchange for your freedom. I'm sure he will inevitably ask me if I trust you and if he should agree to the deal, to which I will say yes. He will think it over for a few minutes, then accept your terms, at which point I will call you and you can do whatever you want after that," Caroline planned.

Katherine gave the cure to Caroline.

"Thanks for doing this, Caroline," she said sincerely.

"You're welcome," Caroline replied. "I have to get ready, I have to distribute yearbooks at school in an hour."

"Have fun at graduation," Katherine offered before speeding off the porch.

{ }

Caroline spent the rest of the day oscillating between human and supernatural crises.

Graduating in the middle of a supernatural apocalypse was certainly a major dilemma, but being unable to find anything to wear to graduation was also a dilemma in Caroline's book.

She'd arrived back home after a full day of yearbook distribution and practicing her valedictorian speech and had spent the last ten minutes staring at her closet unhappily.

"There aren't any monsters in there, love, they're all outside," Klaus's voice interrupted from the doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked.

"I came to give you a graduation present," Klaus answered.

"It's customary to wait until after the ceremony to give the graduate their gift," Caroline informed him.

"I do have a gift to give you after the ceremony," Klaus said. "I just thought you might want to have this one before the ceremony."

"You didn't have to buy me anything, let alone two things!" Caroline insisted.

"I didn't buy this, love," Klaus declared, handing her a familiar-looking jewelry box.
Sure enough, inside was the diamond bracelet that Klaus had given her for her last birthday.

"Thank you for allowing me to connect with you," Klaus said simply, referring to the scathing rebuke she'd fired at him before throwing the bracelet in his face.

"Thank you for this," Caroline said. "Are you sure it's good enough for me though? I mean, this is a princess's bracelet, and if I'm meant to be a queen…" she trailed off, hoping that Klaus would see her comment for the joke she had intended it as.

"There is plenty of jewelry fit for a queen in your future, my love," Klaus responded. "This is primarily for sentimental value; a reminder that you can have the whole world and I will ensure that you have it."

"Thank you, Klaus," Caroline repeated in a quieter, more heartfelt tone.

"You're very welcome," Klaus replied.

"Oh! I have something for you, too," Caroline said, pulling the cure out of her top dresser drawer.

"Where did you get that?" Klaus asked.

"Katherine gave it to me this morning," Caroline answered. "She came by to ask for my help in brokering a deal, in which she would give you the cure in exchange for her freedom."

"She had no business getting you involved," Klaus spat.

"And yet, here I am, involved," Caroline rolled her eyes. "Apparently she asked Elijah earlier, but he ended up accidentally giving the cure to Silas when he was in Rebekah's form, so she asked me. I told her I would help."

"Why would you do that?" Klaus asked.

"Because self-preservation is not a crime, let alone one that justifies being punished for it for five centuries," Caroline said. "Because you want control over the cure, and this will allow you to have that. Because—to their surprise, I'm sure—I think more of my friends would be more comfortable with you having the cure than Katherine. Katherine gets her freedom, you get the cure, and everyone else gets peace of mind, knowing that the cure won't be used as a weapon against them. Everyone wins."

"And you trust that Katherine is telling the truth? That that is the real cure?" Klaus asked.
Caroline had to work to hide her smile as Klaus began the script she'd predicted to Katherine earlier.

"I believe her," Caroline declared. "I think she's tired of running from you, and she knows that if she tries to fool you with a fake cure, the last five hundred years will look like a beach vacation compared to what you would do in retaliation for that."

"Do you think that Katherine deserves her freedom? Especially considering everything she's done to you," Klaus asked.

"There's no crime that comes with a five-hundred-year sentence," Caroline pronounced solemnly. "She was just trying to survive. She just wanted to live. How is that any different from any of us? Maybe you've forgotten that I was in the same position that she was in: about to be killed in a sacrifice so that you could become a hybrid, something that you were so focused on that you didn't care how many people had to die to make it happen. And I can guarantee you, that if I hadn't been rescued, if Damon hadn't decided that the best way to try to stop the ritual so that Elena wouldn't be killed was to take away the other required pieces of the puzzle, I would have taken any opportunity I could find or create for myself to escape, just like Katherine did. Because neither of us wanted to die."

Klaus stared into Caroline's eyes for a long moment, as if searching for any hint that she was manipulating him or being dishonest. Evidently, he found no such thing, because he sighed and said, "Very well. I will accept the terms of Katherine's deal and grant her her freedom."

Caroline held out the cure to Klaus in one hand and dialed her cell phone with the other.

"I made the deal," Caroline said when Katherine answered.

"And?" was Katherine's response.

"Enjoy your freedom, 'old friend,'" Caroline told her.

Katherine hung up without replying.

"Now on to an equally important dilemma," Caroline changed the subject. "Which one?"

Caroline held up the three dresses that Klaus had given her.

"I don't want to wear the green because my gown is red and I don't want to look like a Christmas tree skirt," Caroline said, throwing the dress on her bed. "I think the gold might be too yellow, and as a blonde, I generally avoid yellow," she threw that one with the green dress. "I'm going with the purple one, thanks for your help, Klaus."

"Whatever you say, love," Klaus agreed.

Caroline hurried into her bathroom and pulled on the purple dress, which had a modest scoop neck, fluttering ruffled cap sleeves, a ruffled hem, and fastened with pearl buttons up the back.

"Klaus?" Caroline called out.

He appeared in a fraction of a second.

"Will you button up my dress, please?" She requested politely.

Klaus did so without objection.

After he'd finished, Caroline put on the simple pearl pendant necklace she'd worn to prom and the bracelet Klaus had just returned to her, then moved on to finishing her hair and makeup.

She'd just put the finishing touches on her face make up and was choosing subtle, rosy shades for her eyes and lips when her cell phone went off.

"Caroline!" Stefan blurted in a panic as soon as she answered.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked.

"The hunter from the island, he's back with the Veil dropped, and he shot Damon with bullets soaked in werewolf venom," Stefan rushed to explain. "I know that he doesn't really like him, but could you please ask Klaus to give Damon some of his blood?"

Caroline pulled the phone away from her mouth to talk to Klaus.

"Damon had an incident involving werewolf venom, can you please go save his sorry self?" she asked.

Klaus sighed, but nodded and left the room.

"He's on his way," Caroline informed Stefan.

"He was there?" Stefan asked.

"Yes," Caroline answered. "He wanted to give me a graduation present, and Katherine wanted to make a deal and I somehow got involved. Stefan, I have to finish getting ready, but I'll see you at school, okay?"

Stefan reluctantly agreed and they hung up.

By the time Caroline finished with her makeup, Klaus had returned.

"Damon Salvatore will live to irritate me another day," he announced.

"Thank you for doing that for Stefan," Caroline said.

"I did it because you asked me to, so you're welcome," Klaus replied.
Caroline only took a few more minutes to get ready, then she collected her purse, cap, and gown, and left the house, Klaus on her heels. They each got in their own cars for the short drive over to the high school, where they immediately caught up with Bonnie, Elena, and Matt underneath the bleachers where they had all agreed to meet.

"Is Stefan here yet?" Caroline asked.

"He's on his way; he and Alaric were trying to take Damon home to rest after his ordeal today, but he insisted on coming to watch us graduate," Elena informed her.

"You mean watch you graduate," Bonnie corrected teasingly.
Elena blushed.

"I think I'm going to find a seat; the ceremony is supposed to start soon," Klaus announced before kissing Caroline on the cheek and walking away without waiting for a response.

As Klaus started to walk away, Stefan approached from the parking lot.

"Now we're all here," Matt said with a wide smile.

"Graduation group hug!" Caroline cheered, throwing her arms around Elena and Bonnie, who were nearest to her.

"I don't really…" Stefan tried to object.

"If you are graduating today, you will participate in this group hug!" Caroline commanded, and sure enough, Stefan quickly took his place between Elena and Matt.

"Let's go graduate!" Caroline cheered, leading her friends on to the field.

{ }

After Caroline delivered her valedictorian speech (which received a standing ovation, of course), she found graduation to actually be rather boring, which was making her more stressed about all of the supernatural nonsense that was currently occurring.

As her name was called and she walked across the stage to receive her diploma, she scanned the crowd to see her mother and Klaus standing up and cheering for her from different sections of the bleachers.

After that, Caroline had nothing to distract her from her worry that graduation would be ruined by a dead vampire, witch, or werewolf holding a grudge from beyond the grave. She kept frantically scanning the crowd for anyone she recognized who wasn't supposed to be among the living, let alone among the spectators in the stadium.

When the last student's name was called and the ceremony finally ended, Caroline rushed over to hug her mother and accept her congratulations before the sheriff had to resume her duties and Caroline went to meet her friends.

They were meeting under the bleachers, in the same place they'd met before graduation. Caroline had sent Klaus a text message telling him to meet them there as well, because she wanted to tell her friends about the cure.

Caroline was looking for him when she was suddenly ambushed by the type of excruciating headache that only came at the hands of a very angry witch.

"Remember us, Caroline?" the witch, the one Caroline had killed to save Bonnie, asked, the eleven other witches who had died along with her trailing along behind her.

All of a sudden, a graduation cap of all things went flying through the air, decapitating the witch before she could advance any further.

"There are plenty more of these to go around," Klaus said nonchalantly, turning another graduation cap over in his hands. "Who's next? I could do this all day."

Caroline looked over at Klaus, finally able to move again now that the pain had dissipated. Klaus smiled at her, as if he was proud of himself for coming to her rescue. As much as the idea of Klaus as her fairy-tale prince would have usually made her laugh, she couldn't help but think that the comparison wasn't wholly inaccurate today.

"What's next?" Matt asked. "What do we do now?"

"I have to put the Veil back up," Bonnie said.

"We were just going to go back to the boarding house to spend as much time as we can with Jeremy and everyone before that happens," Elena added.

"And we have to figure out where Silas hid the cure before Bonnie desiccated him," Stefan chimed in.

"Oh, sorry, I must have forgotten to mention that Katherine stole the cure from Silas when I had my back turned for a second, but I'd already unlinked us and she ran as soon as she had it, and without the cure I knew it was even more important to keep Silas contained so I just did the spell as planned," Bonnie apologized.

"Katherine has the cure?" Elena exclaimed angrily.

"No, she doesn't," Caroline announced with a proud smile.

"What do you mean?" Stefan asked.

"Katherine came to my house this morning and asked for my help making a deal with Klaus to trade the cure for her freedom, and so I did and now Klaus had the cure and Katherine is probably out of the country by now," Caroline explained.

Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, and Matt all looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

"Klaus has the cure?" Elena stammered.

"Indeed, I do," Klaus confirmed.

"I have to go if I'm going to be ready in time to do the spell to put the Veil back up," Bonnie told them. "Just let me know what ends up happening with the cure."

Elena and Stefan quickly followed after Bonnie, wanting to spend time with their loved ones before Bonnie completed the spell and they would be gone again. Matt left for home shortly thereafter, hoping that his sister would be there waiting for him.

Caroline, however, as part of the graduation committee, had to stay to make sure that everyone's gowns were returned and packed away properly. Klaus followed her as she walked back to the stage at the center of the field.

"You don't have to stay for this, it's just clean up," Caroline told him.

"And leave you alone when any number of supernatural creatures are still wandering around town? Not likely, sweetheart," Klaus insisted.

A few minutes passed in comfortable silence as Caroline folded gowns and Klaus kept watch.

"I have your graduation present if you'd like it," Klaus broke the silence.

"You really didn't have to get me anything," Caroline protested weakly.

"It wasn't completely selfless," Klaus said cryptically.

"Well, now I have to know what it is," Caroline announced.

Klaus reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket, pulled out an envelope, and handed it to Caroline.

Caroline carefully tore open the envelope to find three pieces of paper inside. One of them was a letter, which Caroline decided to read before looking at the other contents of the envelope.

' Dear Caroline,

I cannot imagine a life in which you do not have a bright future ahead of you, a future filled with love, laughter, passion, and adventure. I will always do everything I can to make sure that all of your dreams come true. You will travel the world, and fall in love with every place you visit, seeing art in progress and history in the making, sights that will make your breath catch and your heart race, and all I can hope for is that at the end of the day, your home is with me.

You will have a beautiful life, Caroline Forbes. I will ensure it.

Yours,
Klaus'

Caroline was weeping openly by the time she finished reading the letter.

"Thank you," she whispered in a choked-up voice.

Klaus smiled softly.

"I meant it," he said.

Caroline pulled out the second piece of paper in the envelope.

It was a first class ticket to New Orleans.

"It's open-ended, so you can fly down whenever you'd like and come back whenever you'd like," Klaus explained. "I just hoped that you would want to join me at some point."

"When are you planning on leaving?" Caroline asked.

"Love, I told you I would stay here until either you agreed to come with me, or you told me you didn't want to come with me. So far, you haven't committed to either one of those options, you've just asked me for time. I plan to stay with you until you make a decision," Klaus explained.

"It's still a big decision," Caroline thought out loud. "I know you're not trying to, but it feels like you're giving me an ultimatum: either come with me and be in a relationship with me forever, or I'm going to walk away and you'll never see me again. Is there any room to compromise?"

"What did you have in mind?" Klaus asked.

"What if we…" Caroline trailed off to think of a plan. "What if we spent the summer in New Orleans? I didn't apply to any colleges there, and I don't think my mom would be too pleased if I bribed or compelled myself admission this late in the process, especially to move out of state for a guy. So, how about this: I want one year of a normal college experience with my friends here. If, after spending the summer in New Orleans with you, I think that this relationship will work out and I want to move there to be with you, I will apply to transfer in the fall so that I can start my second year of college in New Orleans. Does that seem fair?" Caroline asked.

"That sounds reasonable to me, sweetheart, if that will make you happy," Klaus agreed.

"When would you like to leave?"

"I'm not sure yet, I want to talk to my mom first," Caroline said.

Klaus agreed.

"There's still one more thing in that envelope that might help you with your plan," he said.
Caroline took out the final piece of paper in the envelope and found herself looking at a check made out to her in Klaus's fancy penmanship.

For one million dollars.

On the memo line, he'd written, 'Congratulations, Caroline."

"I can't accept this," Caroline stuttered.

"Of course you can," Klaus insisted. "Save it, spend it, pay for college with it, take your mother on vacation with it. You can do a lot of good for yourself and the people you care about with that money, Caroline. Do whatever you'd like with it, there are no strings attached."

"You are being way too generous to me, I don't deserve all of this!" Caroline exclaimed.

"You deserve everything I have and more, sweetheart," Klaus argued. "You deserve the whole world on a silver platter. I am going to do whatever it takes to show you that you are worthy of everything the world has to offer."
Caroline wiped away her tears again for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

"Let me take you out to a celebratory dinner and we can discuss this more," Klaus proposed. "We should probably leave here anyway, I want to keep you out of harm's way while my dead enemies are still on the loose."

Caroline agreed, taking Klaus's offered arm and letting him lead her out of the stadium and away from the school.

{ }

Caroline woke up the next morning in Klaus's arms.

She was dressed in black leggings, a bright pink sweater, and black slipper boots, none of which belonged to her, so she could only assume that they were Rebekah's.

She remembered going back to Klaus's house after their dinner, explaining that she didn't want to be alone in her house until Bonnie had restored the Veil. She remembered Klaus offering her some comfortable clothes to change into. She remembered receiving a message from Elena telling her that Bonnie had raised the Veil, Stefan had gone to bury Silas, and that both of them planned to spend the summer recuperating somewhere far away from Mystic Falls, and that she and Damon would be leaving the next day. She remembered that Jeremy was alive again. She remembered spending most of the night talking to Klaus, and agreeing to leave for New Orleans the next day, since everyone else seemed to be leaving town as well.

But she didn't remember falling asleep on the couch in Klaus's living room, curled up beside him with her head on his shoulder and his arms around her waist.

Her movements caused Klaus to startle awake, instantly alert.

"Good morning," Caroline told him.

"Good morning, love," Klaus replied.

Caroline stood up.

"I should go home and talk to my mom about New Orleans," Caroline said. "Plus I'll need to pack."

As Klaus was about to respond, the front door of the house opened forcefully and Klaus's brother Elijah quickly walked into the room like he was on a mission.

"There you are, Niklaus," he said in an exasperated, scolding tone. "You can't just run off for days without telling anyone where you are anymore, there are people who are depending on you. There was an incident that required your attention, and I had to resolve to the best of my ability in your absence."

"What happened?" Klaus asked warily, glancing at Caroline.

"Hayley was seen buying wolfsbane in the Quarter," Elijah announced, as if this event was some great tragedy that would alter their lives forever, though Caroline couldn't see why.

Elijah sighed at Klaus's lack of response.

"She was trying to get rid of the baby, Niklaus," he explained slowly, as if he was talking to a small child. "Surely you cannot care so little about your own child that you would allow Hayley to kill it? You needn't worry, she didn't get to use it, and I've ensured that one of us will always be watching her for the remainder of her pregnancy, or until she regains our trust, whichever comes first."

"I'm sorry," Caroline interrupted. "I must be hallucinating, or something, because I could've sworn you just said that Hayley, the werewolf who helped all of the hybrids break their sire bonds and then betrayed them all and set them up to be killed, is pregnant with Klaus's baby, which is impossible because Klaus has been technically dead for a thousand years, and therefore so is his reproductive system."

"Miss Forbes, is that correct?" Elijah confirmed.

"I'm Caroline," she informed him.

"My apologies, Caroline, then," Elijah corrected himself. "For reasons passing my understanding, a miracle has occurred and Hayley is in fact, expecting Niklaus's child, a hope for redemption for him, and for our family. Niklaus's recently unleashed werewolf side allowed him to conceive this child with a fellow wolf, according to the witches who confirmed the pregnancy and discovered this loophole."

"That's… shocking," Caroline stammered.

"You had not told her?" Elijah asked Klaus, who had been silent throughout Elijah's explanation.

"No, not yet," Klaus answered reluctantly.

"I shall give you two a moment to talk then," Elijah offered. "I apologize for my intrusion."

Then he quickly backed out of the room, leaving Klaus and Caroline alone, both suffocating in the now very tense atmosphere of the room.

"How long have you known about this?" Caroline asked, coating her voice in a thick layer of detached curiosity.

"Since the day I arrived in New Orleans," Klaus admitted sheepishly.

"Is there any particular reason you didn't tell me?" Caroline asked in the same tone. "I mean, this is a pretty big change in your life, I would have thought you might have wanted to talk about it with someone."

Klaus looked at her like he might look at a piece of abstract modern art, like a sign in a foreign language he didn't understand, like an alien from another galaxy.

"I don't understand," Klaus said.

"What don't you understand?" Caroline asked, now slightly confused herself. "Hayley is pregnant. With your baby. You and Hayley are having a baby together, congratulations!" Caroline said with false cheer.

"I don't understand why you aren't upset," Klaus clarified.

In all honesty, Caroline wasn't sure what she felt. She would have thought that after receiving the news that Klaus was expecting a child with someone else, with someone she didn't like, she would have been heartbroken and devastated, weeping on the floor and throwing things at him. But instead, she felt detached and cold, as if putting up a shield of ice would keep the hurt and heartache and jealousy from getting in.

"It's not like there's any point in getting upset," Caroline reasoned. "Me getting upset won't make Hayley not be pregnant. If I were to get angry, you would probably tell me that we weren't together, so you weren't cheating on me, and that you can do whatever you want and it's none of my business, and I guess, technically, you would be right. The only thing I can control in this situation is my own reaction, so that's what I'm doing."

"All right, but it's okay if you are upset," Klaus said, still confused, but now looking relieved as well. He'd clearly been expecting her to cry and yell at him, Caroline thought.

Normally Caroline's anger was hot and wet, tears and screaming, pouting and pleading. It was emotional, vulnerable, passionate—it came from a place of caring, of feeling too much, even at the expense of rational thought. Whatever it was she felt now was nothing like that, and she couldn't tell if she preferred it. This feeling was cold and dry, sharp and controlled. She felt completely rational, her judgment for once not clouded by emotions. Caroline wondered for a moment if she'd accidentally turned off her humanity before realizing that she could feel emotions brewing under the surface, threatening to take over if she stopped suppressing them. This feeling had a resignation to it, it taunted her, telling her that she didn't deserve to be angry, that she had no right to control who she had pushed Klaus towards when she'd pushed him away. She felt almost numb, yet brittle, as if one hit would crack her façade and leave her a crying mess on the floor. This feeling was torn between never letting Klaus see how much he'd hurt her, and hurting him in retaliation so that he would never hurt her again. Was this how Katherine felt all the time? Because Caroline could see the appeal. No one hurt you if you hurt them first, and no one left you if you left them before they got a chance to.

"Well, unless you have any other news, I'm just going to go home then. My mom should be home by now, and you and Elijah clearly need to catch up and I would just be getting in the way," Caroline said, gathering up her purse and walking towards the door.

"I will come by your house and pick you up as soon as I'm done speaking with Elijah," Klaus told her.

"Pick me up?" Caroline asked, feigning confusion. "For what?"

"You agreed to leave for New Orleans with me today," Klaus reminded her gently.

Caroline laughed mockingly, the cackle of an animated movie witch, a sound so cruel that she would have thought herself incapable of making it.

"I'm not going to New Orleans with you now," Caroline pronounced coldly. She sighed out another sarcastic laugh. "No, I'm not going to spend the next three months watching you rub Hayley's baby bump and listening to you two pick out baby names. You can go to New Orleans by yourself."

"You said you weren't upset," Klaus said, now completely bewildered and a little hurt.

"No, actually I didn't say that," Caroline corrected. "I said that there was no point in getting upset. Being overly emotional, girly little Caroline has never gotten me anywhere, so I'm taking my heart off my sleeve and putting it back in my chest where it belongs. I'm the one who gets to choose whether or not you're worth my tears, not you. That doesn't mean I don't feel hurt and offended and betrayed that you slept with someone I don't like, someone you don't even like, while you were in love with me—or maybe you weren't, maybe I was wrong about that, too. It doesn't mean that I'm not seething with jealousy over the fact that selfish, devious, backstabbing Hayley gets to be the one to give you something that no one else can, something that my ability to have was taken away from me without my consent. So yeah, you could say I'm upset. But like I said before, there's no point, so all I can do is accept it and move on."

"Caroline, this doesn't change anything for us," Klaus insisted. "My feelings for you have never changed, not when I was with Hayley, not when I found out about the baby, and not now. I'm still going to keep every promise I made you. You can still be my queen, and I'll still rip out the heart of anyone who tries to steal your throne from you."

Caroline let out another short, sarcastic laugh.

"I'm really glad your pesky love for me didn't stand in the way of you getting laid," she said bitterly. "But this does change everything. What happens when the person trying to 'steal my throne' is your child claiming its birthright? You are going to be a father, and your child has to be the most important thing in your life, not me. I was just coming to terms with the idea of being with you for the rest of my life, and now you're asking me to be stepmom to yours and Hayley's little miracle wolf pup, and I'm not ready for that right now. Between Hayley, the baby, and your siblings, there's no room for me. But you have to go back to New Orleans and face the consequences of your actions."

"It seems like the consequence of this is me losing you," Klaus said sadly.

"Then you'll lose me, and you'll have no choice but to live with that, just as I have no choice but to live with this," Caroline responded, not without a little compassion. "Or maybe I'm not yours to lose, and you never had me at all."

"I don't think that's true," Klaus replied.

"Neither do I," Caroline said quietly.

"You'll always have me," Klaus offered, a last ditch effort to get her to stay.

"I know," Caroline said, walking away, slamming the front door behind her to hide the sound of the tears she finally allowed herself to shed.

{ }

Klaus showed up at her front door later that day.

Caroline's mother was the one who opened the door, but since Caroline had gone straight into her room without saying anything when she arrived home, Liz invited Klaus inside warily when he asked to speak with Caroline, assuming that he had some sort of supernatural business to discuss.

In her room, Caroline was lying in her bed, curled up in a little ball, facing away from the door. She'd changed out of Rebekah's clothes into a similar outfit of her own, scrubbed off the remains of the previous day's makeup, and woven her blonde hair into a loose braid to get it off of her face.

"Elijah and I are returning to New Orleans tonight," Klaus told Caroline. "I was hoping that you might have changed your mind about coming with me."

Klaus remained in the doorway, not wanting to overwhelm her. Because of the way Caroline was curled in on herself, he could only see her braided hair, her red sweatshirt, and the waistband of her black leggings.

"I haven't," Caroline said flatly. "But if you could give Rebekah her clothes back, I would appreciate it. Thanks for the loan."

Caroline still hadn't turned around to face him, her voice muffled by her pillow as she spoke.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Hayley being pregnant," Klaus said.

"Would you have told me?" Caroline asked, pulling herself into a sitting position but still not facing him. "I mean, I'm sure I would have found out eventually, but would you have told me yourself, or would you have let someone else tell me, or would you have just shown up one day with a baby and said, 'hey, Caroline, you remember Hayley, the werewolf who unsired and betrayed all of the hybrids, then snapped your neck and left you in the Grill's restroom so that you couldn't interfere with her plan to have them all killed? We had a baby together, want to see?'"

"I was going to tell you," Klaus insisted. "With everything going on, with Silas, the cure, Elena and her humanity, graduation, you had enough on your plate already and I didn't want to add another burden. And then you agreed to come to New Orleans and I selfishly didn't want to risk you changing your mind. I wanted to wait for a time when I could tell you myself, without any other distractions or complications. I didn't want to hurt you," he explained.

"I've heard that before, a lot," Caroline shook her head with a sad smile. "My mom, my dad, Tyler, Stefan and Damon, Bonnie and Elena; they all didn't want to tell me things because they didn't want to hurt me, but that didn't stop them from doing the things that hurt me in the first place."

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Klaus said. "I wasn't thinking, not about you, not about anything. I acted on impulse, and I would give anything to go back and change it, but I can't."

"Okay," was all Caroline said in response.

"That's all you have to say?" Klaus asked.

"I said all I had to say this morning," Caroline told him. "If you're here to say goodbye, then, goodbye Klaus, have fun in New Orleans, good luck with the baby."

Klaus stepped further into the room, until he was right in front of Caroline. He held her chin in one of his hands, hoping to make her look at him, but Caroline turned her head as far as she could and looked away.

"Caroline, please look at me," Klaus entreated.

Caroline sighed and reluctantly looked at Klaus.

"I promise that I am going to find a way to make this right for you," Klaus said, his thumb stroking Caroline's cheekbone.

"You have a time machine?" Caroline asked sarcastically.

"Well, no," Klaus conceded.

"Then you can't 'make this right' for me, all you can do is move forward. Eventually, I will wrap my head around the shock of you having a child, and I will move forward as well," Caroline said.

"Without me," Klaus stated.

"I hope not," Caroline answered, surprising him.

"Really?" he sought confirmation.

"Yes," Caroline responded. "I told you that I wanted to be with you, that I wanted to go to New Orleans with you, what did you think I meant?"

"I just thought—" Klaus stopped himself. "You said that this changed everything, that you weren't ready to be with me because of the baby."

"I just need time," Caroline said. "I'll probably never like Hayley, and I'll probably never be thrilled that you're having a baby with her, but eventually I'll accept it. I like babies, so I don't see any reason why I wouldn't like yours, and I'll even try to tolerate Hayley now that she's going to be a part of your life for the next eighteen years, at least. I just need some space, to come to terms with this life-changing news, on my own. I will call you if I want to talk, I will visit you if I want to see you. But please leave me alone until I seek you out. I need some time to be a normal college student, not Queen of the Underworld, Klaus Mikaelson's girlfriend, stepmother to the miracle magic wolf baby. Okay?" she asked.

Klaus smiled softly and touched her face again.

"If that is what will make you happy," Klaus agreed.

"This is what I need right now," Caroline reiterated.

"Then let me say just one last thing," Klaus requested.

Caroline tilted her head slightly to the side. She was surprised that had relented so quickly when just yesterday he had told her that he would pursue her until she returned his feelings for her. But she was curious to know what Klaus needed to tell her before he left, so she nodded and gestured for him to proceed.

"I love you, Caroline Forbes, and I'm leaving my heart with you," Klaus vowed. "And I am going to let you have as much time as you need to live your normal, human life before you realize that you deserve more than that, and that you want more than that. I know that you aren't ready yet, but just know that there will always be a place for you in my life and in New Orleans for whenever you decide you want it. I am going to love you forever, Caroline, and I will wait however long it takes for you to love me, too."

Then Klaus slowly—so that Caroline would see what he was doing and could stop him if she wanted to—leaned in and very softly kissed Caroline. Klaus clearly wasn't expecting Caroline to kiss him back, and started to pull away after only a few seconds. Caroline, overwhelmed by Klaus's heartfelt, romantic speech, put one of her hands on his cheek and the other at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer to her and kissing him back passionately.

Caroline's only thought was that she had to get closer and closer to him. She needed his breath in her lungs, his heart beating against hers, his skin under her hands. She slid her hands under his shirt and pressed herself even closer along Klaus's body, and as she did so, her hips met his, causing Klaus's eyes to flash open. He gently shoved Caroline off of him, returning her to her sitting position at the edge of her bed.

"I can't, sweetheart, you deserve better than that," Klaus apologized.

Caroline pouted, curling back up into a ball like she had been when he first entered the room.

"I have to go, Elijah will be waiting for me," Klaus said quietly.

Caroline nodded.

"Have a safe trip," she offered feebly.

Klaus kissed Caroline's cheek.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear before he pulled away.

"Close your eyes."

Caroline squeezed her eyes shut without question, the first tears spilling out as she eyes closed, only opening them again when she heard the front door close behind him.

"I love you, too," Caroline whispered to her closed bedroom door.

Then she surrendered to her tears—heaving, heart-wrenching sobs that took on a rhythm of their own; a furious, thumping beat that echoed the sound of Klaus's heart.

{ }

He sent her roses on Valentine's Day.

She shouldn't have been surprised, she told herself, since he'd sent gifts for her birthday and Christmas. But for some reason the giant bouquet of flowers that was delivered that morning was haunting her from their perch on the kitchen counter.

Even without Caroline's extensive experience planning floral arrangements for town events, she would have known that red roses meant 'I love you.'

Klaus had been good about keeping up his end of their deal over the past nine months. He'd sent her a pendant necklace and matching earrings with her birthstone for her birthday in October, and he'd sent her a television and DVD player for her dorm room for Christmas, but other than that, he'd kept his promise not to contact her. He hadn't even replied to the thank you notes that she sent after receiving each gift.

She didn't know anything about New Orleans, or the baby, or Hayley. She'd tried to extricate Klaus from her life entirely so that she could have a normal college experience with her friends, but she just felt lonely and empty without him.

And she wasn't even having the normal college experience that she wanted. They'd had to deal with Silas, her best friend was now the anchor to the realm of the supernatural dead, and another friend had spent last summer stuffed in a safe. Elena was preoccupied most of the time with Damon, no one had heard from Tyler in months, and her contact with Matt had never been so infrequent, even when he was avoiding her because he couldn't get over that she was a vampire.

Caroline loved Valentine's Day, as she loved all holidays, so she'd given a card and some candy to each of her friends that morning to try to include them in her festive holiday spirit. They'd each offered a brief, 'Thanks, Care,' before going about their routine.

None of her friends had wished her a happy Valentine's Day in return, or acknowledged the effort she'd put into creating her valentines, but Klaus had sent her a dozen red roses, which meant 'I love you.' Because he did.

It was still early enough in the day that if she drove quickly and compelled herself out of any speeding tickets she might incur, it was still possible for her to make it to New Orleans before dark.

Caroline ran through her schedule for the day in her head. It was Thursday, she only had one class in the early afternoon, and no classes tomorrow.

Caroline rushed to her closet and began throwing a few days' worth of clothing in a suitcase. Skipping one general education math class wasn't the end of the world, was it?

She decided to change from the festive pink sweater with a giant red sequined heart on it and black velvet jeans she was wearing into the gold dress Klaus had bought for her, adding the bracelet he'd returned to her at graduation and the gold fleur-de-lis necklace he'd given her as well, then throwing her coat on top.

After she finished packing the essentials, she scrambled to leave a note for Bonnie and Elena, should they come back to the room to find her gone.

Dear Bonnie and Elena,

I went to spend Valentine's Day with the man I love. I have my cell phone if you need me. I'll be back in a couple of days.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Love,
Care

She scribbled her brief message and left it on Bonnie's pillow, assuming that she would be the first one to return to the room, since Elena was probably spending the day with Damon.

Then she grabbed her bag, her phone, and her keys, and ran out the door to her car, filled with a nervous, but excited energy that lasted the entire drive to New Orleans.

When Caroline arrived in the city, she drove straight to Klaus's house, and when Caroline realized that she already knew Klaus's address from the return address labels on the gifts he'd sent her, she had to give him credit for his multi-tasking scheme. He'd sent her gifts, primarily for the purpose of recognizing the occasion and showing that he was thinking of her, but also so that she would know where to find him.

She parked on the street in front of the house and walked up to the gate (of course Klaus lived in a house with a gate), and was about to try to pull the gate open when she spotted a keypad on the side of the gate. Surprised that Klaus would bother with a human security system, Caroline felt her hopes drop, suddenly uncertain of whether or not she would be able to see Klaus.

Not knowing any other four digit number that was important to Klaus, Caroline decided it was worth the risk to try her own birthday. When she typed the last zero, the gate sprang open, allowing her inside.

She found Klaus sitting with Elijah and Rebekah in a dining room on the first floor of the house. When she walked in, the immediately stopped talking and stared at her.

"Miss Forbes, what are you doing here?" Elijah asked, his surprised face out of place with his usually poised and controlled presence. "Niklaus, I told you that the code you picked for the gate was too easy to guess. 1010, honestly, you might as well have picked 1234."

"Sorry," Caroline said. "While my birthday does make a fun pick-up line, it doesn't make a great security code."

"Caroline, please forgive my siblings' intrusion, is there something you need? Do you need help, are you in trouble?" Klaus asked, seeming more and more worried as he spoke.

"I'm fine," Caroline assured him.

"I should go…" Elijah trailed off, sensing that Caroline wanted to speak to Klaus privately.

"Dote upon the werewolf? Of course that's where you'd rather be," Rebekah scoffed. "So just between us girls, Caroline, why are you here?" she asked, leaning forward.

"Rebekah!" Klaus scolded.

"Oh, I see how it is," Rebekah complained. "This is why you aren't my favorite brother."

"I'm crushed," Klaus deadpanned.

"You should be; my love is a blessing few receive," Rebekah retorted. "Don't even think about saying something crude. Bye, Caroline."

And with that, Rebekah flounced out of the room.

Klaus looked expectantly at Caroline.

"Thank you for the flowers," she started awkwardly, sitting across from Klaus at the table.

"You're welcome," Klaus said, equally uncertainly. "But I'm sure that a bouquet of flowers wasn't enough of a reason to drive to New Orleans to see me in person."

"Why shouldn't it be?" Caroline asked, stalling. "But while I'm here, there are certain residents of Mystic Falls who are concerned that you don't appear to have used the cure. The longer you have the cure in your possession, the more they worry that you're planning to use it against them."

"I'm saving the cure as part of a contingency plan," Klaus answered. "The baby that Hayley is carrying has the ability to create hybrids. If Hayley were to die in childbirth, she would have the baby's blood in her system and be reborn as a hybrid. As a werewolf, Hayley hates vampires and has no desire to be one, and I have no desire for her to live forever. Therefore, if that happens, we've planned for Hayley to complete the transition, then immediately take the cure and return to being an ordinary, if not more annoying than average, werewolf," he explained.

"Where is Hayley? From the sound of your plan and the fact that I don't see a baby in the house, I assume that she hasn't given birth yet, but she must be due soon, right?" Caroline wondered.

"No, she has not," Klaus confirmed. "She found her wolf pack, and she has been staying with them ever since—making up for lost time, bonding with the other members of the pack, that sort of thing. It turns out that she is part of the royal family, such that it is, of the wolf pack, so they've been welcoming, and far more hospitable than I would have been if she had to live here, I can tell you that."

"Hayley is the Queen of the Werewolves, is she?" Caroline chuckled. "That figures. There's a magic loophole that allows you to procreate with a werewolf, and of course you'd go for the queen. Do you know if you two are having a little wolf prince or a wolf princess?" she asked.

"It's a girl," Klaus answered.

"Klaus Mikaelson with a baby girl; I assume you've already ordered bars for her windows?" Caroline teased. "Seriously though, I think having a girl will be good for you. You might eventually become rivals with a son, but with a daughter, I think your first instinct would be to protect her, no matter how powerful she gets."

"I appreciate your faith in me," Klaus said sincerely.

"Well, I've never actually been a parent, so what do I know, but I'm pretty sure the most important thing is just to love your child and be there for them," Caroline offered.

"She'll need you," Klaus announced. "She'll need someone in her life who can show her how to be good, and strong, and compassionate, and light. Human."

"Will she be?" Caroline asked. "Human, I mean. Just because of what you are…"

"She'll be a werewolf, because she'll have inherited the werewolf gene from both her parents," Klaus glanced at Caroline apologetically. "Caroline, not that I'm not thrilled you're here, but just based on your reaction to finding out about her, I'm sure that you didn't come here to discuss my daughter?"

Caroline was stunned for a moment, still taken aback by hearing the words 'my daughter' come out of Klaus's mouth.

"I think you were right when you said that she would need me," Caroline started. "Between Hayley ruling her werewolf pack, and you trying to rule the world, I think she's going to need someone around who doesn't have huge supernatural responsibilities and goals, or enemies. I know that I'm not her parent—that's yours and Hayley's job, and I don't want to interfere if I'm not needed or wanted, but if between your family and Hayley's wolf pack there's room for me, I'd like to help."

Now it was Klaus's turn to be stunned.

"I appreciate that, Caroline, and you know that there is nothing I would like more than to have you here, but I can't let you give up your entire life just because Hayley and I are sure to be terrible parents."

"I didn't spent my entire day in the car, on Valentine's Day no less, just to drop by and say 'if you ever need a babysitter, call me,'" Caroline reached across the table for Klaus's hands, lacing their fingers together. "I'm here because I want to be here. I'm here because you sent me roses for Valentine's Day, without expecting anything in return, but when I prepared Valentine's gifts for my friends, I got a halfhearted thank you at most before they all moved on with their day. I'm here because when I left this morning, I left a note for Elena and Bonnie because they weren't there, and I haven't gotten a single text message from Elena, which means she hasn't even noticed I'm gone yet, because she'd be furious if she knew I was here. I'm here because I've felt so lonely without you around, even when I wanted to be upset with you, so I applied to some of the universities in New Orleans so that I could transfer and stay here with you. I'm here because you aren't the first person to leave me, but you are the first to seem like it was hurting you to walk away. I'm here because you sending me flowers that mean 'I love you' reminded me that you love me, because you loved me enough to walk away when I asked you to, so you can't tell me every day like I know you want to. I'm not here because she needs me, I'm here because I want you," Caroline finished, taking a deep breath and looking up at Klaus.

Klaus's lips twitched like he wanted to smile, his hands twitched like he wanted to hold hers, but he held himself back, refusing to let his guard down for fear that anything he did might wake him from the wonderful dream he was having, because he was convinced that this moment couldn't possibly be real, that he couldn't really be sitting in the dining room of his house in New Orleans, across from the love of his life as she told him that she wanted to be with him.

"I tried to tell you before you left, but then you made me close my eyes so I wouldn't have to watch you leave, and then you were gone before I could even realize what you were doing, so I want to make sure I get to tell you now," Caroline paused, steeling herself for what she was about to say. "I love you, Klaus."

A year ago, Caroline could have never imagined a scenario in which she would tell Klaus she loved him and honestly mean it, but now she couldn't imagine a scenario in which she didn't love Klaus, in which telling him she loved him didn't feel as natural as saying hello to a friend. She expected to feel nervous before she said it, and like her entire life had changed forever after she said it, but she felt completely calm—a challenging feat for someone as high-strung as she was.

Then, somehow, so quickly that she didn't even notice she was moving, Klaus had pressed Caroline up against the far wall of the room, holding her in place with his body, one of his hands on her hip and the other wrapped in her hair. He was holding her so close that Caroline could feel his heart thumping against her chest, his breath hitting her face.

"Do you really mean that?" Klaus asked, his voice tight and raspy from holding back emotion, but his eyes betrayed the joy that Caroline's words had inspired in him.

"I do," Caroline answered, giving him a sweet smile that showed that she'd deliberately chosen those words.

Klaus pounced on her like the wolf he was. He kissed her fiercely, pulling her even closer to him, so that the entire length of her body was pressed against his, leaving no space between them. Caroline kissed him back just as passionately, wrapping her arms around his neck, one of her hands reaching up to tangle itself in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer and keeping his lips on hers.

Minutes later, they finally broke apart, both gasping for breath.

"I love you," Klaus whispered to Caroline as he pressed kisses along the length of her neck.

"I love you," Caroline sighed out in response, blissfully happy both from his words and from the way she felt so safe and cherished in Klaus's arms.

Klaus pulled back so he could look into Caroline's eyes.

"She's going to love you, almost as much as I do," Klaus said sincerely. "You're going to be her favorite person in the whole world. What can I offer a child, except my best attempts at protection? Hayley will teach her how to be a wolf; how to be a strong, tough young woman who can withstand the aggression and the transformations, but that will be many years off, if I can help it. But you will teach her how to be kind, and loving, and honest; how to be a good friend, and a devoted daughter."

"How to get her daddy to buy us both diamonds," Caroline added with a mischievous smile.

Klaus gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.

"All you've ever had to do was ask," he told her. "There's something I want to show you."

Klaus led Caroline upstairs to a balcony that overlooked the French Quarter, but on a clear day, most of the city was visible. The sun was setting, casting a golden light over all of the city that she could see. She could see people walking along the sidewalks below her, and she could hear jazz music—a trumpet here, a saxophone there—float towards her on the wind, and she could smell warm pastries baking and fish frying.

Caroline was awestruck by the view. After a few minutes, though, she turned to Klaus and asked, "What exactly am I looking at?"

"Our kingdom, my love," Klaus answered.

Caroline laughed and rolled her eyes.

"I should have known that roses would be a far too low-key and mainstream Valentine's Day gift for you," Caroline teased.

"Well, Happy Valentine's Day, and welcome to New Orleans, my queen," Klaus pronounced formally, wrapping his arms around her and leaning in for another kiss.

Thank you so much for reading, and Happy Valentine's Day!
I would love to know what you thought, so please leave a review; I love reading them!
lots of love,
charlotte