Title: until the stars burn out

Timeframe: Undetermined

Characters: Klaus and Caroline

Requested by: JuseaPeterson and klarolineforever2795

"Tell me, Caroline, when did you first know?" It was late in the night—or early in the morning, depending upon how one viewed it—and for both Klaus and Caroline, it had been a hard day. Yet, hard days can often be softened by simply being with the one you love.

"Know what?" She asked, tucking a hand underneath her pillow.

He gave her a look as he slid into his side of their bed. "I pursued you for nearly a year in Mystic Falls. Clearly something changed during your time here, in New Orleans. So, tell me, when did you know you felt the same?" Klaus brushed a bit of her hair back from her face, the golden curls fanning across her pillow.

Caroline let out a contented sigh. "It's more complex than just realizing I had feelings for you. I… There's a lot of pressure in this relationship. Not exactly from you or your family, but there are expectations. I wanted to be absolutely sure that this was it for me before entering into…us." She yawned, scooting up on the bed, reclining on the multitude of pillows. She had always had a fondness for pillows. "I felt something back in Mystic Falls, shortly after you left. It was more than just the attraction between us, and occasionally emotional moments we had had before, and it scared me. I was supposed to be Tyler's happy girlfriend, not feeling intense things for another man. Anyways, I pushed it away for a while. Even when coming down here, I attempted to suppress my feelings. I was going to get Katherine cured and give her a happily ever after, and then I was going to go back to my life."

"But then you fell in love with New Orleans." Klaus said. "You told me once that you were going to stay no matter what."

"I fell in love with New Orleans." Caroline smiled, agreeing. She reached over and took his hand, playing with his fingers. "And we became friends. Real friends. You became someone I could count on with all I had, and I could tell it was mutual." The lady laid her head on her partner's shoulder. "I can't give you an exact time, because I don't know one, but I can tell you that I knew for sure that I was completely and utterly in love at Rebekah's birthday party. We… You got me all flustered and irritated like usual, and I walked off. And I remember looking back and thinking 'I'm going to spend the rest of my life with him'." Caroline grinned, placing a light kiss on Klaus's jawline. "When did you know you loved me?"

Caroline did not get her answer for a moment, as she was flipped onto her back, Klaus capturing her lips in a deep kiss as he hovered over her. "When I let you go." He brushed an errant piece of hair out of her face, kissing her once more. "I have never loved someone enough to set them free from me, Caroline. And then you blew into my miserable existence, full of light and defiance. I could not find it in myself to keep you as I did my siblings."

"So you left town. And left me to be with another man."

"It was what you needed at the time." He agreed.

"I love you." She laughed. Caroline flipped them over once more so she was on top, and peppered his face with kisses, the stubble on his cheeks scratching her face lightly.

AN: Yes, I know, it's short, but it's adorably fluffy, so tell me what you thought!

I know a lot of you wanted Caroline and Klaus to talk during ATCl about their status, so I sort of translated that to here, and people wanted more solo couples, so this happened! Anyways, I've been working on a longer oneshot about Caroline and Bonnie, so hopefully that will be up soon enough. I also have plans for Kalijah, but as I'm *cough* spoiler alert *cough* working on their prequel story, I'm not sure how soon I'll get their drabbles up.

So sorry for the long wait, but I just got back from summer camp yesterday, and my muse has been gone a lot lately. Hopefully I'll be updating sooner from now on!

-Abi