Caroline was staring around the lobby of the Empire State Building with curious eyes and pleasant shock to be in such a famous place. Arms wrapped around one of Klaus', she allowed him to guide her to where he clearly knew where he was heading to. His thumb gently stroked the back of the hand that she gripped in a repetitive motion that she was now use to. Neither said a word as he led them to the end of the lobby, him allowing her to soak in the sight around her and her too involved in doing so.
"We have a reservation for the 102nd floor," Klaus told the man on the other side of the desk. That snapped Caroline's attention back to them, and she tried not to show her surprise at his words, instead keeping quiet for the moment.
"Of course, sir. Please follow me," one of the men dressed smartly in a red uniform nodded, walking away towards another hallway that she saw was lined with elevators. They followed and Caroline noticed that they were bypassing everyone else.
"Do we really have a reservation?" she asked quietly so only the man next to her could hear. It wouldn't surprise her if he had simply compelled them to open up the highest floor just for them. Klaus simply offered her his boyish smile and glanced at her from the corner of his eye, making her sigh. "Of course we don't. Why would we when you can just force your way into the freaking Empire State Building? Klaus, this could be dangerous! How do you know they won't call the police or the FBI on us?"
"Are you done, my love?" he asked in amusement as they entered the elevator. Caroline glared at him; ok, she tended to overthink things - so sue her! She had only been a vampire for a few decades as opposed to his centuries. Her morals were still aligned with the ones she grew up with. "Always one to doubt me," he tsked, squeezing her hand in his. "I did reserve it, but only to make sure no one else would be there when we are."
"Oh," she replied, looking over him sheepishly. "Sorry."
"No need to apologise, Caroline. I did compel them to keep it free for us," Klaus added in a whisper so that the man with them couldn't hear, a smile on his lips.
Huffing, she rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder for the moment. "What is the point of your wealth when you don't pay for anything?"
"Because you do quite well with spending it for the two of us," he teased, feeling him drop a kiss to the top of her head just as the elevator came to a stop. Standing straight, she continued to hold onto Klaus' arm as they exited. This time, she clearly saw him compel the man. "Leave us the key to the elevator and make sure we are alone for the rest of the night."
She kept her mouth shut about it because it wasn't harming anyone and she had to admit, she rather liked the idea of being alone with Klaus for the evening in an isolated place. Without another word, he guided her through a door to a set of stairs that took them upwards. It didn't take them long to ascend, and the view that the 103rd floor offered them was truly amazing. The wind played with her hair and so she let go of his arm to tuck it behind her ears as she approached the edge of the deck to look out at the majestic view of downtown New York City late at night.
"This is beautiful," she murmured when she felt him come stand next to her. She tried to take in everything at once but even with her heightened sight, it was hard to digest the entirety of the city that never sleeps. "Everything is so small when you see it from above."
"Close your eyes," Klaus instrusted after allowing her a moment to soak it all in.
"What?" she asked in confusion, reluctantly taking her eyes off the city to look at him questioningly.
"Close your eyes," he repeated slowly and Caroline paused before doing as he asked. Feeling his arm wrap around her waist and pull her tightly into him, flush against his body as his hand gripped her hip, she was about to question his motives when suddenly there was a rush of cool air. She opened her eyes before she knew what she was doing, a strangled sound escaping her throat when she saw where they now were. The 103rd floor observation deck was far below them, though she could only see the railing from current position. There were masts and satellites around them, which she assumed were used for communication means. And when she glanced up, letting out another involuntary squeal of surprise (and a hint of fear), she saw that the spire of the Empire State Building wasn't that far, nor as tall, as it had been before.
"Holy crap!" she exclaimed, hands going to hold onto Klaus tighter, one clasping his leather jacket at the back whilst the other found his top.
"We can go further up, if you like," he offered jokingly, and she finally brought her seeking eyes back to his amused ones.
"Don't you dare!" she retorted sharply. He chuckled and nodded, pressing his lips to her temple as she glanced down once again. "Oh my god, I feel like I'll fall off the building if I even move an inch! Are we even allowed up here? Is anyone?"
"I believe the maintenance workers come here once in a while," he assured her in a light tone before leaning in closer to whisper in her ear as if he was about to tell her a secret. "Just don't break anything and no one will need to know."
"Hilarious," she muttered, gripping onto him hard even when he pulled away. His grin never faltered and she promptly ignored his roll of the eyes because hello, they were at probably the highest point in the city so of course she was worried about falling. He helped her sit down without a word, holding onto his hand until he was seated next to her and gently removed his hand from her grip. She stretched her legs out in front of her and took in the sight that New York City posed at 11pm.
"What do you think?" Klaus asked softly, headed tilted towards her with a much more relax expression than she had seen in the recent days. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him swiftly.
"I hope you can remember this because unless you have a canvas and paints hidden on you somewhere, it's going to be pretty hard for you to paint this for me," Caroline replied matter-of-factly, trying to keep as much of a straight face as she could muster.
Laughing, he leaned away on the arm he placed beside him. "You could always take a photo."
"But where's the fun in that? Gotta live in the past sometimes. A painting sounds like a good idea. Oh! We could put it up in our room! Above the bed. A huge panoramic painting," Caroline explained, using her hands to frame the view in front of her which she thought would be perfect for their room. "What do you think?"
"As you wish, my love," he simply replied, squinting slightly at her hands as he took in the picture that she was imagining. "Remind me next time to compel them to bring up some art supplies too," he added jokingly .
"'Next time'?" she asked, dropping her hands and turning to look at him.
"We're going to be here in this city for a while. I'm sure we'll make more trips up here, even if it is simply to escape my siblings," he muttered wryly and Caroline laughed at that, knowing that they would need a place of their own to escape to if she had to keep Klaus from daggering or staking his brothers or sister.
They talked about mindless things for a few hours, simply enjoying their own piece of sanctuary and quiet. It had been busy over the last few weeks since they had first shifted to the city, with the two of them sometimes not seeing each other all day, even on a couple of occasions, the whole night too. Klaus had people he knew in New York, and the family had their fair share of drama that their sudden appearance had caused to deal with. It was nothing too serious, thankfully, and Caroline had gotten to enjoy the city as a tourist with either one of his younger siblings, only having spent time with him outside of their new home a few times.
This made up for it, though. As they fell back into a comfortable silence, she glanced over to the man next to her, one knee brought up with an arm resting a top of it, the epitome of cool, sexy and perfection in the moonlight. There was a soft smile gracing his features and his body was relaxed in a way that she only ever saw him when they were alone. Glancing away, she looked at the city with a grin on her face, stomach twisting and heart racing because oh wow, this man was actually hers and here they were atop of the most famous building in the world that he had secured off just for her. Even after their decades together, it still felt the same as it had that first time she had given in to him and accepted that she loved him and wanted him oh-so-badly.
"Thank you for bringing me up here, Klaus," Caroline whispered earnestly.
"Of course, sweetheart. It's my pleasure," he replied smoothly, taking hold of her hand from her lap and pressing his lips to the back of it.
"I don't know what it is about city lights, but they always calm me down. Makes me feel smaller and insignificant, but at the same time, powerful. Like, New York is obviously huge - massive - but from up here, I can see it from one end to the other. Or at least it seems. I dunno, I just like it. You've made me realise that power isn't always a bad thing and I know it's not real, but right now, I feel like I have an infinite amount of power, partially just because we're up here where no one else goes and New York City is literally at my feet." Wriggling her sandal covered feet, she shook her head and laughed at herself. "And I'm babbling on again. It's what you get for being with a 17 year old though," she teased, grinning when he rolled his eyes at her before smiling gently but seriously.
"Caroline, wanting power is not a bad thing. Power itself is nothing. It's what you do with it that's important. You've made me realise that power doesn't come just from fear. It can come from love, too. And that makes it a strength, not a weakness like I had always claimed and believed." Klaus had shifted as he spoke, coming to squat in front of her as she pulled her legs to the side. He still held her hand and she had to stop herself from reprimanding him to keep still otherwise he might hurt himself. He was the original hybrid after all; his coordination and balancing skills were far more superior than hers. "I know you love the city lights, anywhere we go. But that power is nothing compared to the one you have over me. You are powerful and you do have all the power in the world because I would do anything to keep it this way."
Caroline raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You like being under the power of a baby vampire?"
Klaus shook his head, eyes boring into hers as he carried on. "I like being under your power and being the one to make you happy by being so. This is all for you. Everything I do, it is all for you, Caroline." She still hadn't gotten over the way her name sounded when rolling of his tongue. The soft pronunciation of each and every vowel, wrapping around her heart like a warmth she needed to survive. "And I will keep on doing so for as long as you'll allow me."
Just as she was about to say that she would let him until the end of time, because truly, she was undeniably in love with him to the point where she could no longer imagine her life without him, he did something that made her freeze in her place. Pulling out a small cloth from the inner pocket of his leather jacket, he let go of her hand so he could unfold it. The moonlight glistened off the solitaire diamond before she noticed the platinum ring it was attached to and suddenly nothing made sense to her. A frown pulled at her lips to show this and Klaus chuckled when he caught it, discarding the dark cloth onto the side and holding the ring in his fingers.
"I have had this for a few months now. As for the somewhat casual storage, I couldn't risk a box because you have a habit of wearing my jacket and I feared you would notice," he informed her with a smile that Caroline reciprocated, albeit shyly. "There was no real plan, just an idea that one day there will be a moment like this and I would need a ring to do so."
"Sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't say yes otherwise," she shrugged nonchalantly before gasping when she realised what she had just said and trying to backtrack to correct herself. "Not that I'm saying yes! I'm not saying anything yet. I don't even know what the question is! Oh my god, I'm ruining this. I'm sorry. I've told you so many times why you shouldn't be with someone who's eternally 17-"
"Shhh, calm down," Klaus interrupted her, which was probably wise before she carried on and talked him out of his own plans. Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, she nodded quickly as he took told of her left hand with his, and the other holding the ring between them. "Caroline, would you do me the honor of marrying me and giving me your forever?"
Splitting into a bright smile that she was sure she had never shown before, she nodded as she was finally allowed her turn to speak. "Yes. Yes! A thousand, million, billion times yes!"
Klaus slipped the ring onto her finger, fitting snugly against her knuckle and shining brightly in the moonlight. It was simple but mesmerising; a ring she could only have dreamed of as a child imagining her fairytale future. Enjoying the unfamiliar but pleasant weight of it on her finger, Caroline reached forward with both hands to rest on either side of his neck and bring him to her. He knew her intentions before she even acted, lips claiming hers with all the love and passion that could only be expressed through actions rather than words.
"I won't ever let you regret it," he murmured between small featherlike kisses against her mouth. There was no doubt that she would ever regret it, but all she could do was nod and smile. Her mind had still not caught up with both the proposal and the kiss. Pulling away, Caroline couldn't help but avert her gaze back to the ring that now adorned her finger; Klaus gently stroking her cheek, pushing away the hair that had fallen forward. "Do you like it?"
Looking back at him, eyes filled with a hint of nervousness that she found both adorable and amusing, she giggled and ran her thumb against his jawline. "I love it. It's beautiful. Perfect, even." Just as their forever was going to be, she was sure.