KINDA-SORTA, NOT REALLY A PROMPT, PROMPT: Any thoughts on the look Klaus will give Caroline and that 'I know how to make you scream' smile he's going to give her when they meet again?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to gooddame on Tumblr for accidentally inciting this drabble-of-sorts. This one just kind of happened...?

Happy reading!

xx Ashlee Bree

He'll study her like a vintage yet avant-garde painting, pushing aside the cobwebs of time and distance to revere a beauty forever unrivaled. To worship the iridescence of an angel incarnate whose hips sashay to the plucking harps of heaven as she crosses the threshold. Closer. Each step she draws nearer will pound percussive tremblings into the dead nerves of his fingers. Of his toes. It'll drown them in a waterfall of blood, engorging them—and him—with the sensation of what it means to feel alive: pulsation and palpitation.

Klaus will have forgotten, you see, but Caroline will make him remember—

—How tenderness enchants.

—How it blinds, deafens, and dizzies him into delirium.

—How it tastes as lovely as honey dribbling across the tip of the tongue, but smells as delicious as flower venom. Perfect despite its poison.

—How the devoted dragon that lives somewhere deep in his chest spews fire at each day that passes without mention of her name or without the sound of her tinkling voice, charring the empty space where her memory forever haunts him. Whispering to him about hopes he never dares to harbor. Encouraging him to keep dreaming disillusioned dreams because anything is possible.

—How the fragile universe never quits expanding and never stops shattering those pesky barriers called Expectation.

—How the Grinch's heart continues to thaw until it reaches the rawest of raw. Stripped of all leather protection.

—How unbridled passion sleepwalks in rainbow crevasses within his lonely, arid soul, but never truly rests. How it thrives amid snores and sleep apnea. How it never, never stops breathing; it never dies.

—How the evolution of sentiment persists and pervades, corroding away everything except that one absolute truth: Beauty this eternal never fades. It overwhelms the senses and ignites the soul; it carries a heart away on the tattered edges of a magic carpet. Forever aflight.

One.

Caroline will bite Klaus back to alive with one look, one smile, one moment.

Just one—That's all it will take; that's all it ever did.

At first sight, eyes will caress the creamy silk of her cheekbones; they will brush the rose-petal pursing of her mouth with the precision of a thistle and mark the diamond radiance of her face, of her lilted lips, as the wind breezes open the blonde curtain of hair that hides an expression now free of trepidation or uncertainty. Eyebrows will plié into arches of surprise and hands will collapse into vertical splits at his sides. Eyelashes will remain still. Static. Too afraid to blink in fear that she will poof! Disappear.

Lips will part, baited between teeth, and wait for oxygen that will never come. His Adam's apple will gulp, gulp, gulp along the smooth line of his trachea and tiny hairs will prickle the skin against the back of his neck, raising goosebumps across the surface of his forearms. Disbelief, perplexity—sheer astonishment—will crinkle his forehead, right above the nose. Posture will become statuesque as the sound of hummingbird wings flap and flutter near his ear, his heart flying hard and fast and afresh with revitalization as she drops her bags to the floor in arrival…

…in finality.

"Oh, come on!" Caroline will half-cluck, half-scold. "Couldn't you at least muster a measly Hello, love or something?"

Her voice will unfurl him like a buttercup blossoming beneath the spring sunshine. Petals begging for replenishment, the kind only her photosynthetic precipitation can provide.

"This whole wide-eyed gaping thing is creeping me out," she'll add, scrunching her nose and shifting uncomfortably. "I never thought I'd prefer your tacky hybrid endearments to silence, but I do."

"Say something—say anything," she'll press. "I promise you'll escape with nothing worse than a sassy snort or a roll of the eyes…please?"

Crawling out from his wintry cocoon, Klaus will be reborn. He'll transform into a butterfly speckled with unexpected possibility…and open sky as far as the eye can see.

"I'm afraid I'm fresh out of eloquence at the moment, sweetheart," he'll admit with a rueful smile.

Caroline will approach him in lithe, calculated steps, her blue orbs penetrating him with unfamiliar caution and anxiety.

"That's a first," she'll laugh.

"And here I thought there'd be no shortage of words tumbling from your mouth right now—" she'll slink her arms around his neck and tickle her fingers through his curls "—on the day that I firmly decided—"

She'll pause. Rubbing her lips together and lifting her chin, a warm smile will slither across her lips as she proceeds with a nervous sigh,

"—I'm officially ready for you to show me what this world, what this life, truly has to offer," she'll say. "That is," she'll hum sweetly, seductively, against his stubbled cheek, "if there's still an open space for me by your side…?"

Klaus will hook her around the waist, fingers tangled in the loops of her jeans. He'll pull her into his chest and brush tendrils of hair over her shoulders before he pulls back. Peering hard into her eyes.

"I do have one," he'll say.

"Do you?" she'll blink.

"One eloquent word to say, I mean."

"Okay…"

Caroline will trail off. Biting her bottom lip. Waiting, waiting. The stalled seconds ticking by like endless years…

Eyes will meet eyes—open and unguarded. Sparkling with anticipation, their brightness tainted only by a dash of fear. Smiles will meet smiles—dimpled, pleased, and flushed, but also slightly vulnerable. Lips will curl to speak the one word never to be forgotten, but always to be remembered.

"Finally," Klaus will breathe, his lips pressing the word into her forehead like a love letter. Sealed with a thankful yet fervent kiss. Face glowing with contentment indefinable and indescribable, but written into the calligraphy of one spectacular human feeling…ALIVE.

Reviews are lovely.

P.S. Thank you all for your continuing support. You rock my forever-doubtful writing socks! *hugs*

xx