AN: This is a short Christmas drabble, written for the Klaroline Secret Santa. It was written for Tonya (lilbreck). Thank you Dani, for proofreading this for me. You are amazing.

Since Tonya asked for fluff, I made this fluffy. So any cavities you might get from this, the dentist's bill is on me. :)

Happy 2015!

(And yes, working on BOF, apologies for taking so long.)

Winter Wonderland

She was the one, for me,

She opened my eyes, to see,

She was the one, for me,

Well alright.

Caroline twirled with her arms stretched out around her. A happy smile was adorning her face, her eyes were closed, her forehead relaxed and her hair down. She kept twirling and a giddy laughter escaped her. Snow was falling down around her and she hasn't been this happy in ages.

Klaus observed her from the sidelines, he didn't make his presence known, and he was hiding in the shadow, cloaked in darkness and a black coat, just observing her, his Caroline. His heart clenched in his chest from seeing her that happy and he has, not for this first time, realized how much he has missed her. He was sure they had something back when he was still in Mystic Falls and their little rendezvous in the forest proved that. However, Caroline was not ready yet and she probably wouldn't be for a while, but in the meantime he'd savor every moment he could get with her.

He had know Caroline hasn't been outside Mystic Falls, not really, and he also knew she wanted to experience a real winter, he had only hoped she take the opportunity. And she had.

…

Her mom was working again for Christmas, Elena was dealing with her stupid Damon drama, Bonnie was gone and Stefan had left town. And Caroline, Caroline was alone, and she hated it. She could celebrate with Matt and Tyler, but that would be awkward and she didn't really want to. Lately she has been waking up, dreaming of foreign cities, of culture, art and music. She wanted to see the world, she wanted to experience life.

There was always one crisis or another in Mystic Falls, her and her friends were all falling apart and maybe it was time to just take a break. She remembered Klaus' words and that bastard was right – Mystic Falls would never be enough for her. However, that didn't mean she'd go down to New Orleans and admit defeat. She was not there yet.

About a week before Christmas, Caroline went downstairs to make herself some coffee and get some blood ready when she noticed an envelope under her front door. She slowly walked to it and bent down to pick it up. She recognized the writing immediately and she scoffed, wondering for a moment if he somehow had superpowers and just knew that her resolve had been cracking.

She opened the envelope with her shaking hands and pulled out a plane ticket and a note. The ticket was for Chicago of all places and the note said: You deserve a true white Christmas experience. Go and have fun.

Caroline humphed and threw the envelope with the ticket and the note in a drawer, turned around and got herself some breakfast. The idiot had promised to walk away and never come back. She knew he'd find a way around that promise. Jerk.

After two days she couldn't do it anymore. Every time she walked pass the drawer, her dead heartbeat sped up, she got excited and her palms sweaty. On one hand she didn't really want to give him the satisfaction but on the other, she really wanted to go. And would it really be fair to deny herself the pleasure of a true white Christmas just because she wanted to spite him?

So, Caroline had dealt with her mother, and boarded the plane. She arrived in Chicago and loved it immediately. She went shopping, sightseeing, indulged in a great hotel and just had fun. The blonde loved the snow; she spent as much time as possible outside.

And that was how she found herself twirling around it in the middle of a park, under some streetlights.

…

"You can come out, you know," Caroline said, her eyes still closed.

Klaus froze for a second and then a grin formed on his face. He flashed down to her, "How did you know I was here?" She usually didn't rely on her vampire instincts as much as she should have.

"I didn't," Caroline smiled. "But I know you."

Caroline decided not to point out how creepy this made him and she also decided not to dwell on how much she didn't mind.

Klaus stayed silent, watching her. "I should have known you'd a find a way around your promise," she said, not looking at him. She didn't dare look at him, afraid that her eyes would betray her. She had meant what she said in the forest that day, they had a connection and she was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. She also knew that sooner or later she would give in, she would go to him and she would love him. She already did a little but still, that day was not today.

"I always do, sweetheart," he said in a low voice.

"It's not fair, you know," Caroline protested.

Since she didn't elaborate, Klaus had to ask, "What isn't fair?"

"You," she said and turned around, looking him into his eyes for the first time that night. She didn't gasp, she didn't shiver but she felt it, she felt whatever it was that flowed between them and she wasn't scared. Maybe she had made peace with it, maybe she has finally accepted it, and the important thing was that it made her feel alive. "You should be this big bad and in a way you are," she continued, "but I can't, for the life of me, figure out why you are so different with me."

She saw him open his mouth and she beat him to it, "No, don't answer that. I do know." And she did, she knew exactly why but she didn't want to dwell on it in that moment. Every now and then she let herself have these moments, when she opened her heart and let him in, even though he wasn't anywhere near her. And she'd have one of these moments later, when she'd be alone again, and in that moment she'll admit herself the secrets in her heart and she'll treasure them before locking them safely back up.

Klaus just kept looking at her, not adding anything, while she smiled at him and then twirled around once more. "I just want to say one more thing and then no more heavy or serious stuff, okay?"

He nodded.

"Thank you," she said and kissed him on the cheek.

Klaus' breath caught in his chest.

"Now how about you live up to some of your promises and show me some good time," she laughed.

"I can certainly do that, love." Klaus' smirked.

…

Klaus showed her some sights, walked her around the city, they went to dinner and all through that he kept her entertained with stories from the previous times he had been in Chicago. And some stories they were.

Caroline let her guard down completely and just had fun. She enjoyed herself immensely and it was a glimpse of what could have been and what she, no they, one day would have.

They were walking down the sidewalk, and they were talking about everyday things. Neither of them mentioned Mystic Falls or New Orleans, it was like they took a time off from their lives and just took some time for themselves.

"I love snow," Caroline chirped. "This is real Christmas, this is what it's supposed to look like."

Klaus just watched her, an amusing smile on his face. He loved seeing her that happy, that open. He never had before, certainly not when they were together.

"I always wanted to go sledding when I was little or have snowball fights. And we had them but never with this much snow, never with real snow." Her eyes sparkled with energy and amazement.

Klaus steered her back toward the park. He let her walk ahead and took some snow into his hands. If he was honest with himself he hadn't done this in years. No, not years, centuries. He never had time for silly games and that just wasn't him but something in Caroline brought it out of him.

Caroline noticed he wasn't next to her anymore and she turned around. A smile came over her face, seeing Klaus with a snowball in his hands.

"What are you doing," she said slowly, yet couldn't hide the excitement in her voice.

Klaus just kept gathering snow together in his hands. There was a carefree grin on his face and she half-seriously warned him, "Klaus, don't you dare."

A few moments later the snowball hit her chest.

Caroline let out a gasping laughter, shook the snow off her and told him, "You're going down."

They kept their speed completely human and didn't put too much force into their throws but they both had good aim, nothing could be done about that, and in minutes they were both covered in snow. Caroline was laughing, smacking the snow off and she run away.

Caroline couldn't remember the last time she laughed so much. She left every problem, every worry, every issue back in Mystic Falls and in Chicago, she was just Caroline.

Klaus was right behind her, cheating only a little, making sure snow kept hitting her. She squealed and ran faster but she wasn't fast enough. In moments he was behind her, catching her by her waist.

"Now where do you think you're going," he asked, laughing.

Caroline couldn't stop laughing and Klaus turned her around. She was still giggling when she reached up to brush away a few snowflakes from his cheek. He stilled and didn't move. Caroline's laughter died down and she let out a deep sigh.

"Thank you for this," she said.

"You're welcome, love," he responded.

Before he could say anything else, Caroline closed the gap between them and pressed her lips to his. While he kept one hand around her waist, the other one move to cup her cheek and he returned the kiss. He had dreamed about this since the day in the forest and even before that if he was honest with himself. He didn't know what it was about her, but somehow she has managed to wrestle herself through his walls, straight into his long dead heart.

Klaus groaned and deepened the kiss. He was a selfish bastard and he'd take what he could get. Caroline's arms went around his shoulders and she held him close, moaning into his mouth while they kissed. Breathing seemed secondary when each of them wanted to taste, to take, and to give as much as possible and just never let go. He angled her head to get better access and was rewarded with her hand under his Henley. Klaus shivered, even though her hand was covered in a glove.

Caroline nibbled on his lower lip, kissing him gently before pulling away slowly. She just looked up at him, her lower lip caught between her teeth and her eyes told him what her mouth couldn't in that moment. He nodded and they ended up in her hotel room.

…

When Caroline was flying back home two days later, there was a huge grin on her face, her skin was tingling with delight and her mind was filled with wonderful memories. Best Christmas ever.

Lyrics from Indian Summer by Stereophonics.

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