He waits anxiously by the arrivals looking for any sign of the familiar blonde with the sunny smile in the midst of the crowded airport.
Nine months.
It had been nine long months since he had seen her off at this same airport and now he shifts impatiently, glancing down at his phone to check her flight information again when he sees her.
Caroline.
She's running toward him with that smile he would kill for and she lets out a laugh when she reaches him. She wraps her arms tightly around him and he does the same, unable to stop himself from thinking he's never letting her go again.
His Caroline.
The girl who made his life impossible growing up ever since Rebekah brought home her first -and only- friend in the fourth grade.
The woman who captured his heart and held it in her hands even if she did not know it.
xxx
"Quit being a grump."
"I am not a 'grump'," he scoffs with a hint of offense hours later as he continues working on disentangling the Christmas lights from hell.
"He says in a grumpy tone," Caroline retorts teasingly as she sifts through the box of old ornaments, trying to find ones that aren't damaged.
When she hears him growl at the tangled mess that he only seemed to be making worst, she can't refrain from laughing, earning her a reproachful look from him and an actual pout.
"I'm so glad you find this amusing," he scowls as he tosses the tangled mess aside.
"Oh come on Grinch, where's your Christmas spirit?" she laughs.
"You do remember that the Grinch stole Christmas right?"
"And you also remember his heart grew three sizes and he saved Christmas right?" she points out with a smug grin. "So what do we need to do to make your heart grow a size or two Mr. Grinch?"
He rolls his eyes but can't stop the smirk that forms on his face as he takes in her teasing smile.
"They do say the quickest way to a person's heart is through their stomach…" she starts. "I was thinking take-out? Chinese?" she finishes with an adorably hopeful smile.
"I'll go get the menus," he chuckles.
She replies with that beaming smile that he's tried countless times to capture but has just never been able to properly do justice to.
"Yay! I seriously can't tell you how much I've missed the food from there," she exclaims a little dramatically, making him grin amusedly. "Okay, while you do that, I'll go get the other boxes of ornaments from my car," she adds happily, hurrying toward the door. "Don't forget to order extra egg rolls because I love you, but I'm seriously not sharing with you tonight."
"Really getting into the holiday spirit aren't we love?" he quips with a smirk earning her one of her signature glares that he's missed more than he'll ever let on.
He watches her go and releases a small sigh as he takes in the other four large storage bins already crowding his living room.
He knows he's going to be in for one hell of an evening, no doubt decorating for the next few hours, or rather he would more than likely be moving decorations around while she orders him on where they go (this wasn't his first rodeo with her), but at least he'll be doing it with her.
Caroline.
The girl who made his life impossible growing up, plotting with Rebekah whenever he and his dear sister were in a fight, or fighting with his sister and he would be forced to mediate.
His Caroline.
The woman who made a claim on his heart and held it in her hands even if she did not know it.
Even if she did not want it.
It had been almost a year since she had unknowingly crushed his heart, almost a year since that drunken night on New Year's they spent together where he had allowed himself to hope.
But it was all false and fleeting hope.
What else could it be?
Deep down he had always known it had been too soon. She had just broken up with her boyfriend not two nights ago, or rather, he had broken up with her.
That was the reason that led to their drunken state. That was the reason she ended the night in his arms.
He knew but still, he had allowed himself to hope.
So when morning came and she had been gone, and when she walked out the door after they spoke about that night, effectively crushing any semblance of hope he had, he knew he only had himself to blame for daring to allow himself that hope in the first place.
But that night had been almost a year ago and things between them had eventually returned to normal. Well, as normal as they could be.
She had been gone halfway across the globe for 9 months due to work but they managed a way to keep in touch despite their busy schedules and time zone differences.
They made it work and she promised him they always would because they were friends.
Always and forever.
And now she was back. She was here, with him.
He watches her walk out of the room, his eyes drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
It had been almost a year since that night but still, he loved her. He had loved her for longer than he'd care to admit.
"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be."
Dickens may have been a dark man but he knew what he was talking about.
Yes, he loved her. Always and forever.
Even if she did not know it.
xxx
"I think that's the last of it," Caroline says happily hours later as she steps back to admire the newly decorated room. "It actually looks like someone likes Christmas in here and no one will be the wiser to your Scrooge ways."
He lets out a derisive laugh as he lets himself fall back on the couch.
"I should certainly hope so. My entire living room looks like it's been transformed into Santa's workshop. Certainly felt like I was working in it too," he complains jokingly. "The elves should be thankful they don't have you to order them around."
She turns to glare at him and scoffs.
"You are such a baby! I've known 5 year olds that complain less than you!"
"That's because at that age they don't know any better."
She shakes her head with an incredulous laugh.
"Sometimes I think you're worst than Kol."
"Oh really?" he challenges, raising an eyebrow before reaching out and grabbing her wrist and pulling her back onto the couch with him.
After being away from her for so long, he feels like he can't get enough of her and just needs to feel her close. He also enjoys the way she playfully shrieks and her body shakes with laughter against his.
"Care to say that to my face sweetheart?"
She looks down at him with a barely concealed smile on her face as she raises her eyebrows challengingly.
"Oh I'm sorry, did I stutter?"
The next thing she hears is him growl before she feels herself being flung down on the couch and his body pinning hers in place while his hands start tickling her sides.
Between her bouts of laughter and playful screams for him to stop, she manages to grab one of the couch throw pillows and uses it to try and fight back.
For the next few minutes, all that can be heard is the sound of their laughter and a pillow repeatedly hitting him wherever she can reach.
Somehow during their little battle, they end up falling off the couch and land on the floor with a loud groan, their limbs tangled, both still laughing as they each surrender and their laughter eventually subsides.
"I've missed this," she confesses quietly as she makes herself comfortable and rests her head against his shoulder just like she has so many times throughout the years. "I've missed you."
More than you can imagine.
She breathes him in, finding comfort in the familiar scent she's missed for too long and for a moment she feels her chest ache at the memory of all the times she looked around for him during the last 9 months, wanting to show him something, to share a joke, or simply just…be.
He wraps an arm around her, holding her against him, and she smiles at the reminder that he's here now and he feels his lips curl up into a small smile of his own at her confession.
"Me too," he speaks quietly into her hair.
They fall into a comfortable silence and he absentmindedly draws random patterns on the side of her arm with his fingertips all the while reveling in the fact that she's really here. That she's in his arms again.
His Caroline.
He brushes her hand with his and frowns when he feels a couple of small scars he knows weren't there before.
"What happened?" he asks, brushing his thumb over one of them.
She looks down at their joined hands and shrugs slightly.
"I don't remember," she says. "They're old," she murmurs almost sleepily.
He feels her shift her head to glance at the time and hears her release a soft sigh before she disentangles herself from him and sits up, eliciting a sigh from him too.
Call him selfish, but he doesn't want her to leave. He's been without her too long.
"It's snowing," she says in surprise and he follows her gaze to see the thin white sheet sitting on the window ledge outside. "And it looks like it's coming down hard," she frowns as she stands up and walks over to the window to get a better look. "Figures," she mutters sarcastically. "I haven't driven in the snow in months, it hardly ever snows here but it decides to come down the day I get back."
She looks back at him to see that he's also sat up.
"Well Mikaelson, this evening has been fun but I think it's time I head out," she sighs.
"Or you could stay."
She blinks at him, almost as if in surprise.
"You could wait until it stops snowing," he suggests, hoping she can't hear the almost pathetic pleading in his voice.
He walks over so he's standing right beside her, a part of him crowding into her space and he could've sworn he heard her breath hitch.
"That could take hours," she reasons. "I should just go now."
"It does look like it's coming down hard," he agrees as he turns to face her again. "Stay. I'll pour us a drink, you pick something for us to watch. Anything you like. Even that dreadful Dancing with the Stars."
She scoffs at his comment about one of her favorite shows.
"Come on love," he cajoles with his irresistible puppy dog eyes. "It's cold out there. Wouldn't want you to get caught in the snow and get pneumonia now would we?"
She snorts and rolls her eyes.
"You're very pushy you know?" she smirks.
"I like to think of myself as opportunistic," he replies with a cheeky grin.
She shakes her head with a light laugh.
"Stay Caroline," he says in a much more serious voice than before, his eyes boring into hers. "Please."
His eyes stay locked on hers even though he wants to look away. He doesn't want her to see what he knows she'll find there.
"What kind of drink?" she finally says and he smiles, forcing himself to keep from audibly sighing in relief.
With what ease she puts a smile on his face and she smiles too.
A soft but warm smile only for him.
He loves that smile. That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.
xxx
He spots her standing across the room as soon as he walks in. It's been a couple of weeks since she returned but at times, he still can't believe that she's really back.
He quietly makes his way over to her, his eyes never leaving her as they desperately drink in, leaving him in awe of her beauty.
Genuine beauty.
She must feel his gaze on her because she slowly looks over her shoulder, a small smile tugging on her lips as she finds him standing there.
"Nice painting," she comments motioning toward the one she had just been studying. "It's a new one isn't it?"
He nods, trying not to appear too embarrassed about the fact that she's studying his work. It's not like she hasn't in the past.
"It's nice but did you run out of any other color that isn't black, navy blue or grey?" she continues with a teasing lilt to her voice and he chuckles. "It makes it seem like… there's something lonely about it."
"I'll take that as a compliment," he replies with a smirk that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "What are you doing here love? Not that I'm complaining," he adds with a cheeky grin. "Just surprised to see you here."
"I finished my Christmas shopping early. I was in the neighborhood and was wondering if you maybe wanted to grab some lunch?" she asks with a sheepish smile and this time it's his turn to blink at her in surprise.
So maybe when she said she was in the neighborhood she actually meant she was on the opposite end of town but before she knew it, she was making her way to his gallery to see him. She just needed to see him.
When he doesn't answer right away, however-
"If you can't it's fine. I know you're busy-"
"Caroline-"
"I know you have your new showcase you're getting ready for-"
"Sweetheart-"
"I should've called first-"
"Caroline, I'd love to," he finally interrupts, effectively cutting off her nervous ramblings, his voice laced with amusement, a part of him wondering why she was so nervous anyway?
"Yeah?" she smiles in a way that it makes his heart ache.
It aches for the bubbly blonde in front of him that was never the one. Always second best. An afterthought to those who dared to call themselves her friends. Sometimes even her own parents.
But not to him. Never to him and it saddened him that still after all this time, she still couldn't see that. That she still couldn't believe that.
"Yeah," he assures her with a small but dimpled grin.
Always.
xxx
"No! You're doing it wrong! You need to do the dance too, it's a classic!"
"Kol if you don't knock it off!"
"I shan't it's Christmas!"
Klaus pauses at the loud commotion going on inside Caroline's home later that night.
Jingle bell,
jingle bell
jingle bell rock,
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancer and Prancer in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
He recognizes Caroline's melodic voice singing along to the annoyingly catchy tune and he hears her laugh and that's when he sees her with a bright red ugly Christmas sweater and little elf hat.
He stands back and silently watches, not making his presence known. Not like this. He doesn't want to ruin Caroline's night.
He's not even sure why he came. Maybe it's because he just had to see her. To make sure she was happy.
Even his siblings Kol and Rebekah are there. He sees Rebekah smiling into her cup and wearing some ridiculous furry Santa hat that matches her ugly Christmas sweater.
It was Caroline's Christmas party and unofficial welcome home party and he didn't trust her friends not to bail on her or ruin the night somehow. It's not like this would be brand new behavior for them.
But he sees her happy, singing into a microphone with the guy he recognizes as Enzo. Her coworker she went on the trip with and talked about quite often while she was away.
He hates the jealousy he feels at the sight of the two of them together and while a part of him demands he acts and make his presence known, he can't.
She looks happy.
He stands there for a few moments longer before he quietly walks away before anyone can notice.
He doesn't even make it to his car when he hears her calling his name.
"Hey," she says a bit breathlessly when she catches up to him. "Where are you going? You weren't leaving were you?"
"I…" he starts to lie but knows she'll see right through him.
She always does.
"Are you okay?" she asks quietly with a slight frown.
"I'm fine," the words come out mechanically but she looks at him skeptically.
Skeptically and almost a little mad. She knows what he's doing and she hates that he still does this. That he still tries to close himself off and deal with whatever it is all on his own.
And she supposes that's how he is and what he's used to but still, she wants to help him. She has this innate need to want to see everyone she cares about happy.
Especially him.
He notices the way she's wrapped her arms around herself, trying to ward off the cold and he automatically moves to take off his jacket but she acts before he can and wraps her arms around his waist so he's holding her, trying to shield them both from the cold with his jacket.
He rests his head on the top of hers and breathes her in for a moment. A part of him still needing this to reassure himself that she's here. With him.
"I'll be fine," he finally sighs after a moment.
And he will. Mikael may have brought him to his knees before but he always found a way to stand again. This time would be no different.
Besides…
"I have you here with me again," he continues and she looks up at him with her soft blue eyes and he sees the warmth and gentleness in them.
That's all I need.
"Caroline! Where the hell did you go?"
They both sigh in unison before laughing a little quietly.
He sees something cross her eyes but before he can question it, she quickly looks away.
"Come on love, we should get you back to your party," he says as he pulls back, immediately missing her warmth as he does.
"The party can wait," she counters stubbornly. "Tell me what happened."
He gives her a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.
"That's a story for another time."
The look she gives him actually makes him chuckle.
"I promise we'll talk about it later…just not tonight," he says quietly.
She looks at him for a few moments before nodding reluctantly.
"But I hope you know I'm holding you to that."
"I wouldn't expect anything less from you," he laughs.
"Are you coming inside?" she asks and he can see the hopefulness in her eyes, hear it in her voice.
"Of course, love. It's not really a party until I arrive anyway," he adds teasingly.
She rolls her eyes with a laugh but then looks up at him with that smile.
He loves that smile.
That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.
xxx
He takes another sip of his "egg nog" that's really more alcohol than anything else while he watches his sister take her turn at the microphone.
She's not as bad as Kol but that's also not saying very much.
He may need a whole case of this eggnog though if he's expected to make it through the night.
"Hey," Caroline says beside him just then and he turns to see that her face looks a little flushed and she looks almost nervous? "Come on, there's something I want to show you."
She takes his hand and he follows her upstairs to where he knows her bedroom is and he can't help himself from remembering one of the last times he was in here, a part of him wondering if she does too.
He follows her inside and stands there awkwardly, memories of that night rushing to the forefront of his mind.
"You can sit down you know?" she tries to tease but he sees the pink on her face and he wonders if she's thinking about that night too or if it's about something else.
Still, he walks over and takes a seat on the edge of her bed while she rummages through her closet for a couple of minutes and comes back with a small gift bag and places it on his lap.
"Merry Christmas Klaus," she says with a smile as she takes a seat beside him and he smiles too.
Ever since they were growing up, they had made it a tradition to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. He should've expected that to remain the same even if she was having her party.
"Thank you love," he grins a bit sheepishly. "I'm afraid I'll have to owe you your gift until tomorrow though."
"That's fine just open it," she says eagerly and a bit nervously.
She bites her bottom lip, almost as if in contemplation.
"Or you can wait," she quickly adds. "If you want to wait until you're at home alone, I understand."
He looks at her questioningly, not sure what she's going on about.
"Are you alright sweetheart?"
"Yeah," she answers quickly.
A little too quickly.
"I'm fine."
He notices that her eyes never leave the small gift bag and his curiosity gets the better of him and when she bites her bottom lip again, he's left even more curious and he takes a look into the bag.
Whatever he expected to find…it was't that. For a few moments, all he can do is stare at what he finds.
"Do you like it?" she asks nervously…timidly. "Enzo and I found this place where they gave classes, well actually this vendor from one of the plazas told us about this place. I saw the vendor's post and immediately thought of you and how much I thought you would like it so you know, I started telling him about you and then he told me about these classes so I dragged Enzo with me the first time and-"
"You made this?" he interrupts, his voice a mixture of awe, surprise and maybe even a little disbelief.
"It was a process and a hell of a learning experience," she laughs sheepishly, showing him her hands and the scars suddenly make sense. "It was a lot of hits and misses."
His eyes widen and he's left speechless.
He looks down at her gift again. A carved hummingbird sitting on top of a carved wolf's head.
A carved hummingbird and wolf just like the ones he and Henrik used to do as kids. Just like the stories he told her long ago.
He looks up at her and he knows she must see the whirlwind of emotions stirring behind his eyes.
"You made this," he repeats and it's no longer a question. "You went through all this trouble…for me."
All for him.
She nods sheepishly but he sees something in her eyes that he can't quite identify.
"I would do anything for you," she says softly, her voice unwavering.
His chest tightens as she repeats his words. As she repeats the promise he made between jokes and drunken confessions that led to their one time tryst.
He keeps his eyes on hers and he sees that look again. That look she gave him when their fingers were intertwined above her head when he finally eased himself into her. That look that allowed him to hope.
Hope. What a fragile and fickle thing it could be and sometimes how unimaginably cruel.
But maybe sometimes...
"Caroline…" he says quietly, a part of him suddenly terrified that this is all a dream but he sees a hint of that smile.
Maybe sometimes it can be something more.
The door bursts open and just like that, the spell is broken.
"There you are," Rebekah practically stumbles into the room, having clearly had a little too much of the eggnog and unaware of what she just interrupted. "It's your turn to sing with me Caroline because Nik is an awful singer. Come on!"
She grabs Caroline's hand and starts to tug her away while he remains behind and sighs in exasperation.
Right before she leaves the room, Caroline briefly meets his gaze and he sees that look is still there.
That look and that hint of that smile reserved just for him.
And that's all he sees before Rebekah drags her away and he's left with the gifts from her.
His Caroline.
The girl that became his partner in crime, helping him wreak havoc across the small town of Mystic Falls. The woman who made a claim on his heart and held it in her hands but maybe…
xxx
"Klaus!"
She walks through the empty gallery, looking for any sign of the man in question. He had texted her earlier asking her to meet him here but despite the fact that the front door had been unlocked, he was nowhere to be seen.
She walked down the hall toward the back room where she saw a light was on, wondering if that's where he was.
When she gets there however, she's disappointed to see no sign of him. Instead, she finds herself in an empty room surrounded by paintings she immediately recognizes as his.
Is this what he had been working on that he wouldn't show her?
She wonders if she should be in there and contemplates leaving but her curiosity gets the best of her when one of the paintings catches her eye.
She recognizes the place he's painted.
It's the park they used to play on growing up. She sees he's painted the swings they used to go on all the time and compete against each other to see who could go the highest.
The painting beside it also catches her attention.
It's a painting of a small hand brushing over the tall and unkempt grass in the fields. The same fields they hid out in for two hours one time when he was trying to hide from Mikael. The same fields where she sat down and cried for a long time after her dad left while Klaus sat beside her the entire time.
The same field where they promised each other they would always be friends.
Always and forever.
There's another one of a cloudy night on Bourbon street. Where they danced for hours during her first trip to New Orleans.
The wide open road on Route 66. That was their first road trip they took for her and Rebekah's high school graduation.
Big Sur in Northern California. Their final destination on that road trip.
She feels the tears pool in her eyes and looks around at the various paintings and sees their story being told all around her. Memories captured in time, forever immortalized on these canvases.
She stops in front of one off to the side that's of a rainy day in Seattle and she frowns as she looks at it. It's a dark and gloomy painting. The people all blend in with the shadows. There's only one bit of color and that's on a pair of electric blue rain boots. Just like the ones she bought.
She remembers that day and she's not sure why he chose to depict it on canvas.
She hears quiet footsteps behind her, making her spin around immediately and she feels her breath catch.
She hates that he has this effect on her where it sometimes literally feels like he's taking her breath away.
She sees his smile. That dimpled smile she loves so much.
That smile that feels like a safe haven for a lonely and damaged heart like hers.
He stops right beside her, his hands behind his back as he turns to look at her.
"What is all this?" she asks a little breathlessly, motioning to the paintings surrounding them.
"It's what I've been working on all year," he confesses a bit sheepishly. "What I'll be showcasing at the new opening in a few weeks."
She looks at him with eyes wide in surprise.
"You've been working on this all year?" she repeats.
He nods.
"I thought my muse should get to see it all beforehand," he chuckles lightly.
"Why?" she asks in a voice just above a whisper. "Why this?"
He looks at her and gives her a look. One that says she already knows.
She opens her mouth to speak but nothing comes out and he turns his attention back to the painting with the rain boots.
"This one is one of my favorites," he admits with a small grin. "That was quite a day."
To put it bluntly, it was a shit day. They messed up their hotel reservations. They got a flat tire on their way to visit the Space Needle. It was pouring outside. She dropped her phone in a puddle of water. There was major road construction going on so they got stuck in traffic for two and a half hours and missed their dinner reservations.
"It felt like everything that could go wrong did," he continues with a small chuckle.
"It was our own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day," she jokes, still a little breathless.
She remembers that by the end, as they were left wandering to find another place to eat, all she could do was laugh and she finally did what she had been wanting to do all day since she put on her rain boots. She went and she jumped into a large puddle like she used to do as a little girl while he looked at her like she was insane.
"Why'd you choose to paint that day?" she asks curiously.
"It was your first day in Seattle and it was a disaster. But when I saw you jumping in that puddle with your bright blue boots, laughing like it was the greatest thing in the world, like we just hadn't wasted our entire day with one frustrating situation after the next…" he explains with a hint of a smile and she eagerly waits for him to continue.
He turns so he's fully facing her now.
"That's when I knew I was in love with you," he confesses, a hint of vulnerability in his voice. "And I've loved you ever since."
She gasps and for a second, she forgets how to breathe.
"I don't expect-"
Whatever else he's going to say, he never gets to finish because in that next moment, his arms are full of a bubbly blonde who's claiming his lips the same way she's claimed his heart and perhaps…
xxx
She sighs and runs her hands through his curls while she feels him nip and suck on her skin and lets her head fall back against the pillow. She's thankful that they actually made it back to hers because it was seeming a little questionable on the car ride here.
She cries out in pleasure when he bites down on her collarbone before soothing it with his tongue and open-mouthed kisses and she smiles against his skin.
She can't imagine being anywhere else, with anyone else.
A part of her always knew they would end up here. A part of her wished for it.
He takes his time kissing and exploring down her body, reacquainting himself with every curve, every crevice, every inch of skin, making a trail with his hands and fingertips for his lips and tongue to follow.
He intends to worship every inch of her but when he swirls his tongue over one of her nipples and feels her tug on his curls impatiently, he smirks against her skin, knowing she has other plans.
He looks up at her and acquiesces when she pulls his head up, bringing his mouth to hers for another heated and hungry kiss.
He readily swallows her moans when he cups and then palms her breast, his other hand continuing its journey south, down her sides, her hips, her thighs, before finally reaching its destination.
She breaks the kiss and moans loudly when his finger comes in contact with her swollen bundle of nerves. She rests her head in the crook of his neck and tries to stifle her cries as he inserts another finger and bites down on his shoulder causing him to moan in approval.
"Klaus…" she pants breathlessly, quickly pressing her lips against his once more. "I need you."
He bites back a groan, her words and that heated look in her eyes alone making him almost come undone.
He looks down at the blonde beauty underneath him as he positions himself.
He takes in her red lips swollen from all their kisses, the pink flush of her skin, the hungry look in her eyes.
He sees the hunger but he also sees something else. Something that leaves him breathless and he's kissing her again.
He's kissing her slowly, tenderly as he finally eases himself inside her and she breaks the kiss with a loud gasp, her body arching up into his as he cups her breast.
Her hands wander down his back, her lips make a trail down his neck and across his shoulder blade before inevitably finding his lips again as he picks up the pace and she wraps her legs around his waist, crying out at the sensitive spot he hits with this new angle.
He kisses every inch of skin he sees too. Every kiss a silent confession.
I love you.
A silent promise.
Always and forever.
She comes undone with a loud sob, his name on her lips and he continues moving, prolonging her pleasure before he follows her over the edge.
He rests his head in the crook of her neck as he gasps for breath as he comes down from his high.
He feels her fingers gently combing through his curls.
"I love you too."
Her voice is so soft, so quiet he almost wonders if he's imagined it but when he looks up at her, he sees it in her eyes, in her smile.
She's not afraid anymore. A year ago she was dating boys she knew she had no future with, trying to convince herself of something she knew wasn't the truth. She liked them yes, but deep down there was Klaus.
There was always Klaus.
It always came back to him and she was afraid. She had been since before that night they spent together. Afraid that she would lose him. Afraid that she would lose herself because she knew that a love like theirs, it would be an all consuming love. She knew it was the forever kind and she wasn't ready. She was afraid then but now…
"I love you," she repeats, her lips curling automatically into a smile.
He kisses her again, letting himself revel in the words he'd never thought he hear come from her.
He breaks the kiss and he lightly brushes his fingertips over her lips, tracing that smile he loves so much.
That smile that feels like a welcome home for a lonely and weary heart like his.
She kisses his fingertips before he moves off her and she settles her head on his chest, directly over his heart.
She sighs in contentment as she feels his fingertips lightly brushing up and down her spine and the two just lie there for a long while, neither one making any attempt to move listening to the music carrying in from the neighbor's party and Caroline doesn't think this moment could get anymore perfect even if she were to plan every detail of it herself.
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest place
So have yourself a merry little Christmas
After a while she can begin to feel that sleepiness start to settle in but before it does, she looks up at him only to find his gaze already on her. His gaze is filled with what she could only describe as pure unbridled adoration and she doesn't know how anyone could ever look at her that way. But he does.
He always does. Always has.
He gives her a smile that she returns.
Those smiles they both love so much.
Those smiles that were a home and a safe haven for damaged and weary hearts like theirs but maybe, they didn't have to be lonely anymore…
So have yourself a merry little Christmas