Hey guys,
So I'm a massive shipper of Klaroline and felt like I had to get it out on paper. This version is based off the show, not the books, so please do not be surprised if it doesn't match the books, or even the show entirely, because this is my story and it doesn't exactly fit into the timeline of the show. Let's pretend it takes place after Caroline shows up at Klaus's house to get rid of the white oak stake that Silas left in his back. That being said, I do not own these characters or this world. Enjoy!
Caroline Forbes couldn't sleep. As she tossed and turned, she tried to rationalise the thought process going through her head.
There were at least a million reasons why someone who'd been through everything she had would be struggling with insomnia. She hadn't seen or heard from Tyler in weeks, she'd seen so many people die, Silas was free and planning to bring back every dead supernatural creature on earth, including those she'd helped kill, her best friend was an out-of-control vampire with her humanity turned off, she had a prom to plan, and she was an undead creature of the night.
Any one of these things would keep a girl awake. But deep down, in the guiltiest part of her heart, she knew that none of these things were stopping her from sleep. None of these things was what she saw every time she closed her eyes.
Because every time she shut her lids and tried to get some sleep, she saw a face. His face. Klaus.
Again, this could be reasonable. Klaus had done abhorrent things. He was the greatest evil in their world, next to Silas. But again, it was not his evil deeds that she saw.
It was his face, twisted in pain and fear – Klaus, the Original hybrid, who should be fearless. But when she looked in his eyes, she knew he was scared. When he realised that it was actually her, and not Silas come to hound him again, the relief in his eyes nearly melted her. Sure, she acted tough, but she was afraid too – afraid for him.
He'd looked in her eyes, his filled with tears, and said her name like a prayer. Like it was his deliverance.
And then he'd begged her. He had begged her to help him, and she knew there was not another soul on earth that he would appeal to in such a way – not his brothers, nor Rebekah, and certainly neither of the Salvatores. For some reason, he had felt so close to her that he was comfortable enough to be vulnerable around her that he would never be with anyone else.
She knew he was in love with her. At first, it hadn't made a difference – she was so sure that it meant nothing, that she could never forgive him the things he'd done. And she still believed that, but there was a part of her that wished she could forget those things, so she would be free to feel the way she felt without the guilt hounding her.
Sighing, Caroline rolled over in bed yet again, turning to face her alarm clock that flashed 1:53am on its face. In the glow of the clock's numbers, she could see something else sitting on her bedside table. A piece of paper, curving at the ends from being rolled up tightly, a faint inscription visible. She reached over and grabbed it, staring at the page for the millionth time, her vampire eyesight having no trouble focussing on the details in the darkened room.
The pencil strokes were beautiful, somehow emanating a sense of gentle compassion – no angry lines. Caroline got the sense that Klaus never drew anything when he was angry – that art was the human part of him on paper, the gentlest part of his soul being expressed. He'd left this one for her as a gift after the ball at the Original mansion, where he'd told her he fancied her and she'd snapped at him. It was a picture of her and a horse, beautifully drawn, and below it was an inscription in rough, spiky handwriting: Thank you for your honesty. Klaus.
He had gotten under her skin then, and she had been unable to get him out. She kept noticing things: the way his body moved beneath his shirts, the gentleness in his voice, the open vulnerability in his face that he showed to nobody else.
Totally exasperated, Caroline threw the covers off, put on a jumper and shoved her feet into some shoes, grabbed her phone and tip-toed out of the room.
Klaus' POV
Klaus was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing. It was at this point he realised that he didn't like being awoken at 2am, and that he was going to murder whoever was calling at such a disgraceful hour. Imagining the sound of his or her neck being snapped, he reached over and picked up the phone.
"Hello?" he growled.
"Klaus?" The high pitched, familiar voice drifted from the other end of the phone, reached through his chest, and squeezed his heart – at least, that's how it felt. Murderous rage totally forgotten, a smile crept over his face at the sound of Caroline's voice.
"Hello, love." He grimaced at the obvious affection in his tone.
"um…" He could hear the uncertainty in her voice and his enjoyment at having her call him was rapidly replaced by concern.
"Is everything okay, Caroline?" he asked quickly.
"no, I mean yes, everything's fine, but – "She paused. Klaus stood very still. Nothing was wrong. Which mean Caroline was calling him for something else, something that made her nervous. He felt something bloom in his chest – hope.
"But what?" he prompted, eager now.
"Um… can you come meet me somewhere?" She asked, sounding nervous but sure of what she was asking.
Klaus felt a smile he didn't know he possessed break across his face. It was 2am, and the girl he was in love with wanted to meet him.
"It would be my privilege and my honour, love," He said, already throwing on some clothes. She might want to meet him, but she might not be completely ready for the naked-rendezvous yet. Something we can work on, he told himself laughingly. To her, he said "Where do you want to meet?"
"Well, I'm sort of… outside your house?" she said, finishing the word like it was a question. On cue, he heard her feet on the steps in front of the house, and he was at the front door before she had the chance to knock.
He opened the grand wooden door to reveal Caroline, still with the phone pressed to her ear, her other hand curled into a fist in mid-air, ready to knock. Upon seeing his face, she smiled, embarrassed, lowered her hand and took the phone away from her ear. She was wearing a black satin pyjama set with a white wool cardigan on top and her feet were shoved into a pair of simple ballet flats. Her face, devoid of makeup, looked younger, more vulnerable and her golden hair was curling naturally around her shoulders.
She was glorious.
Caroline's POV
Caroline could see the muscles underneath the thin white shirt Klaus had hastily thrown on. They rippled when he moved, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, looking at her. No, she realised, he wasn't just looking at her, he was looking at her – looking at her the way she'd sometimes caught Damon looking at Elena, like she was the brightest and most beautiful star in the sky. The way his eyes took her in, from her satin pyjamas to her raggy old jacket to the plain ballet flats – it made her feels naked. Like he was undressing her with his eyes. Guardedly, she crossed her arms over her chest.
Then he smiled, and the smile was so broad and beautiful that it disarmed her. It made him look boyish, not like the man who had hurt so many people and whom Caroline was so confused about. He stepped aside and gestured towards the entrance.
"Come on in," he said.
Klaus's POV
Walking beside Caroline, leading her to his bedroom, even though they weren't touching, reminded Klaus of the hummingbird story he had told her, only this time, he was the hummingbird, with his heart beating so quickly it was likely to fly right out of his chest. They walked in silence, the sound of their feet on the polished floorboards the only noise accompanying them. When they reached his magnificent bedroom, she took it in with widened eyes. He closed the door behind them and retreated across the room to lean against him bedpost, leaving Caroline standing near the doorway. He had to get some space between her and him or he was not likely to be able to stop himself from touching her – he wanted to kiss her so badly it hurt. Klaus had never really practised impulse control before, especially not with something he wanted this badly, but he knew that if he tried, whatever was happening between the two of them right now would shatter, and he would get hurt, and lash out, and people would die, and Caroline would never forgive him. So he spaced himself from her, and took three steadying breaths, filled with the scent of her perfume.
"What can I help you with, love?" He asked when he was sick of the silence.
She looked up at him and he could see her resolve harden in her eyes and he smiled – her strength of will was one of the many wonderful things that drew him to her.
"Klaus, I need to ask you something."
"So ask," he said.
"Okay…" he could tell she was searching for the words she needed.
"What I need to know is about your feelings for me," she began, looking straight at him.
Klaus liked where this conversation was going. He liked it very much.
"What do you want to know about them?" he asked, prompting her to continue.
"I need to know, and I need to know tonight – Do you really love me? Or is this just another cruel Klaus trick that plays with people's emotions?"
Klaus was stunned. It had never occurred to him that she might think that he was faking his feelings for her – although, he thought bitterly, it should have. He was despicable.
"Caroline," he began, her name like chocolate on his lips. He swallowed thickly. He was never this vulnerable with anyone, and he found it hard to show as much of himself as he was about to.
"You are by far the most beautiful, strong, incredible woman I have never known in my thousands of years. I've had sex with millions of women all over the world, some human, some supernatural, but not one of them could do to me in bed what you do to me by simply standing there. I displayed mercy, and compassion, and kindness to you. I have let you see me hurt, and I have let you see some of the most personal parts of me. How could I possibly fake the truest thing that I have ever felt in my whole life?" Klaus was standing close to her now, his hands on her shoulders, his face so close to hers that they were sharing a breath. He wanted to kiss her, needed to kiss her, desired her in a way he had never desired anyone or anything else in his thousands of years.
Caroline's POV
Caroline felt as though she was on fire. With his body so close to hers, his desire written all over the planes of his face, she couldn't form a single coherent thought. All she knew was that she wanted him, and something inside her was still screaming that she shouldn't, that he was evil, but it was quickly being drowned out by the rest of her that was shouting that he loved her, that he wanted her, and that she realised she wanted him just as badly.
"Klaus," she breathed, raising her hands to cup his face.
"You have done horrible things – you've murdered innocents, you've murdered my friends, you stabbed your own family- but when I'm with you, when you're looking at me like this, I can't seem to remember any of those things." She said softly, looking in his eyes and monitoring his reaction. She didn't want to ruin this.
He looked down at his feet, bowing his head, and then glanced back up at her, his eyes full of something Caroline could only describe as shame. Did Klaus really feel shame for his actions? Did she make him feel remorse?
"Despite all of that," she continued, her eyes beginning to fill with tears, "You make me feel differently than I ever have with anyone else. You've gotten under my skin, and I just can't shake you off. Klaus," she said, moving even close to him, so that their lips were almost touching, "Despite all reason, or rational thought, or morality, I have fallen totally, passionately, in love with you."
Klaus's POV
Klaus felt as though his heart was going to take flight. He was so choked up with emotion, he found himself unable to speak, unable to put into words the things he felt – how he loved her so desperately, he felt it with every breath, he felt it in the tips of his toes and in the tingle of his lips, he felt it in his chest and in his throat when he looked at her, and he knew he could never, ever hurt her, and that he would kill anyone who tried. All he could do was smile.
Unable to hold back anymore, he leaned forward and closed the remaining distance between their mouths. As soon as his lips touched hers, it felt as though an explosion went off inside both of them. His mouth captured hers with a sudden, hungry, desperate fury, and he was kissing her with all the love and all the hate and all the anger and all the passion he possessed, with everything inside him, and she was pushing back, kissing him back, just as fervently. He was running his hands along the length of her body, feeling the soft curves of her, letting his fingers tangle in her golden hair, and it still wasn't enough, he still wanted more, it still didn't express how he felt about her. He pushed her against the wall behind her and lifted her up, and he kissed her harder when he felt her legs wrap around his waist. Her strong, deft vampire hands ran up the front of his shirt and tore it in half with a simple flick of her fingers, and then he felt her hands on his bare skin, trailing her fingers down the length of his body, and he threw his head back and groaned. "God, Caroline," he gasped as she began to kiss at the exposed skin of his throat.
Releasing the final bit of restraint he didn't realise he was still holding on to, Klaus, pulling his mouth back to Caroline's, carried her over to his four-poster, king-sized bed and deposited her unceremoniously on the covers, and their hands were everywhere, and he didn't know how it happened, but somehow his clothes were on the floor, and Caroline lay before him, naked as the day she was born, the most glorious sight he had ever seen, her beautiful hair thrown out behind her, and desire for him written all over her face. He took her in for a moment, revelling in her beauty, before she pulled him down on top of her again, and he lost himself in her, saying her name over and over again, the most beautiful sound in the world. When they were done, he buried his head in her sweet-smelling neck and whispered "I love you."
And to his delight, she whispered back, "And I love you. Klaus. My Klaus."
And they fell asleep like that, with their skin touching, and Klaus had never known such complete happiness.