They make it to the lake house in the evening as the sky begins to spread out in a hue of pastel colours. The wood cabin faces out on to the lake, surrounded by trees and flowers that begin to close as the sun goes down.

"It's beautiful," she breathes, stepping out of the car with his help. "I've seen better," he whispers, staring straight at her. She turns to face him and he quickly looks away, the pair of them blushing. "How long do we get to stay here?" She asks him as he pulls their cases from the boot of the car. "Your mother said I can steal you until Monday, because you have a test in History class," he smirks. "So, we have four days?" She grins, "That's fine."

He nods and leads her up the steps, unlocking the door and letting her step through as he locks the car and moves the cases inside. She spins around and smiles at the genuine cabin-in-the-woods feel of the house.

The walls are thick logs, sealed shut with various nature landscapes pinned up. A fur rug lies in front of the fireplace, log sofas with piles of cushions on them form a V shape facing the small television with a heavy stack of DVDs in the right hand corner, next to the eccentric, wooden fireplace.

She walks through the rustic, oak kitchen that has a coffee maker, microwave and fridge. She skips through the hall and in to a bedroom. A four-poster king sized bed lies in the middle of the room on an exquisite red rug. Red oak furniture lines the room with a music player on the dresser and the vanity lined with hair care things. Hairdryer, straighteners, curlers, hairspray and gel.

"Rebekah and Kol were here last," a voice says behind her. She turns and smiles at Klaus. "Elijah had the fridge packed up last night, too, but we can order something if we don't feel like making anything." She nods and blushes as his arms move around her waist.

"If you want, I'll sleep on the-"

"No," she jumps in, turning red as he smirks down at her. "I mean, I don't mind. I don't want you to leave me," she whispers, looking down as he presses a kiss to her temple. "Come on, unpack, we're going swimming in five minutes," he whispers in her ear, kissing her cheek and passing her her suitcase.

She throws it on the bed and sneakily hides her stuff in a towel. "I'll meet you outside," she tells him, disappearing in to the bathroom. He shakes his head at her shyness and puts on his swim shorts and a t-shirt.

It's early autumn, the leaves just changing colours and the flowers beginning to bow with limpness in their dying stems. It has a strange beauty, the natural death of summer as it turns in to winter slowly over a few months. He looks up at the purple sky and smiles, thinking how beautiful it is that the world is so small and still so new and bright and mysterious. How there are things out there that they'll never understand, no matter how many lifetimes a person has.

The sand beside him shifts as Caroline sits down. In a baggy jumper that stops at mid this with her hair caught up in a messy bun, she looks stunningly natural. Her make up is cleaned off and she looks more breath-taking than usual.

"I have scars," she tells him quietly, "On my body. They're... disgusting." He frowns deeply before pulling off his shirt. "So are mine," he shrugs in a hushed voice. She looks over slowly, her eyes landing on his scarred back. She reaches out slowly as he stares out of the water and begins running her fingers over them. His entire body tenses for a moment before he realises what she's doing as she moves behind him. He feels her lips on every scar.

She looks at his damaged skin and feels tears prick at her eyes, stinging as they threaten to trickle down her cheeks. His hand runs up and down her shin, as if to coax her back over to him. Fingertips trail over his scars as she hugs him, holding on to him tightly. He shifts slightly and pulls her on to his lap clumsily.

He waits as she hesitantly pulls off her jumper. Her stomach and back are littered with smaller scars, from punches and kicks rather than the abuse he suffered with the belts and golf clubs. Between her breasts in the red bikini, a thick scarred line trails down. It's a scar of survival, inches from her heart. His finger lightly traces the almost purple skin and she looks away from him.

His other hand strokes up and down her back, feeling the small bumps of flesh on his calloused hands. A single curl falls from the messy do as she turns to meet his eyes again. He kisses away the tear rolling down her cheek, moving her legs so she straddles him with her legs out behind him. Their foreheads rest against each other as they share a powerful look filled with emotions that are too complicated and confusing to voice.

"You're perfect, Caroline," he whispers, voice husky. "Absolutely perfect." She blushes and gives him a shy smile. "So are you, Nik," she whispers softly. "Absolutely perfect." He kisses her gently and scoops her up. She squeals and wraps her legs around his hips tightly as he carries them in to the water.

They float around for a while in content silence before it turns in to a wild water fight. The moon is high in the sky and the air is cool by the time they get back inside. Klaus starts a fire as Caroline changes in to pyjamas. She walks back in, hair soaked in the messy bun, wearing his shirt and her pink flannel pants with bare feet.

"Do you have a thing against your own shirts, love?" He teases, pulling her down with him and lying back on the sofa. "No, yours are just comfier," she shrugs, snuggling down with her back against his bare chest. He pulls the blanket over them and presses play on the DVD, groaning because Caroline chose a children's animation.

"Why do I even have this DVD?" He complains, wrapping his arms around her waist. She playfully slaps his arm and rests her head on his chest. "Because it's an awesome film," she counters, "I bet you've never even watched it! Rise of the Guardians rocks." He sighs, smiling at her childish ways as they fall in to comfortable silence as they watch the film.

A ringing phone scares them both awake. Klaus rolls off the sofa, bringing Caroline with him, her high pitched yelp echoing in the large room slightly. His arm is still around her, holding her up off the floor with him so they don't hit their faces on the wooden tiles. "Urg," she groans, reaching up and grabbing the loud contraption.

"Yours," she grumbles as he pushes them back on the sofa with a grunt. The ringing stops as he puts it to his ear, answering with a curt, "Yes?" There's a sigh on the other end and he mutter under his breath. "Niklaus, Katarina wishes to join Caroline at the Lake House. Would it be okay if we joined you?"

"Oh, for the love of- FINE! But I'm not happy about it," Klaus huffs, ending the call. "What are you not happy about now, Nik?" Caroline giggles, turning over so she lies on top of him, looking down at him innocently. "Katherine and Elijah are joining us, apparently," he pouts, feeling a little less guilty when she frowns. "I wanted it to be us," she whines, quickly kissing his pouted lips. "So did I," he agrees, kissing her again, deep and slow.

AN: going on a bit of a hiatus until I figure out how to fill in chapters until the dramatic one. Beware, I think this will be a bumpy ride for Klaroline ;)