Summary: Klaus wants to keep his and Caroline's relationship a secret for her safety, and she walks away. He runs into her at the drugstore later, and he attempts to make amends.

"I just can't be your dirty little secret, Klaus."

"You're not my dirty secret, sweetheart. It's just not safe."

"Seriously? It's not safe?"

"I have enemies, and-"

"Enemies," she repeated, a bitter laugh falling from her lips, nails against a chalkboard to her own ears. "And what are you going to do, exactly? Kill 90% of the supernatural population and then ride off with me into the sunset?"

"Caroline..."

"It's never going to be completely safe for me to be with you, Klaus, and we can't sneak around forever. I refuse to be in a relationship with you when you're not even willing to acknowledge my existence."

"Caroline, you know how much I care for you."

Caroline scoffed, turning away from him to hide the tears welling in her eyes. "Do I? Do I really? Because right now, all I know is that you're worried it'll hurt your image. You're worried that it'll make you look weak, and that people will exploit your weakness."

"That's not true," he said, reaching for her arm, but she moved quickly, pulling on her clothes and grabbing her purse.

"I can't deal with this right now. I'm not going to wait around for you to decide that I'm worth the hit to your big bad image. I'm worth more than that."

She swallowed, not looking back to see his face as she walked away, because she knew she'd get sucked back in.

She sniffled as she closed the bedroom door behind her, wrapping her arms around herself and speeding back to her apartment. The first thing she saw was the vase that Klaus gave her, which he sent flowers for every week (anonymously, of course).

She threw it at the wall, watched with no small amount of satisfaction as it burst into small shards, and felt her heart sink as the pieces scattered on the floor.

Klaus and his fucking bullshit excuses could take a hike, she decided, even as she burst into tears, punching a hole in the wall and stalking off to change into her pajamas and falling into bed.

XXX

Klaus normally was not a fan of regret or guilt (and he still wasn't), but he'd been tossing and turning all night, trying to pretend that those weren't the feelings that were clawing at his skin.

Caroline had been in his bed just days before. He could still detect her scent on the pillow, could still smell the shampoo she used, and the small dots of ice cream that had fallen in the sheets when he pushed the bowl onto the side table to suck the sweetness from her lips.

He just wanted to taste her again.

He swore as he got out of bed, sliding on jeans and a henley and grabbing his house keys, not bothering with the car and speeding to the nearby drugstore, for some reason needing to buy a bottle of the shampoo she used to remember the way she smelled, the ice cream she favored in late nights or very early mornings, the terrible cereal she kept in the back of his cabinet for days when she didn't leave in the middle of the night, when he woke to find her draped across him, her blonde curls tousled, lips slightly parted as she slept.

He grabbed a basket, easily finding her shampoo and the cereal before wandering to the ice cream aisle to pick up the specific brand of chocolate ice cream that she ate, stopping when he saw a very familiar figure staring intently at the flavors available.

Her eyes were red as though she'd been crying recently enough that her powers hadn't healed the puffiness of her skin, and she was wrapped in the sweater she'd 'borrowed' from him weeks ago, rolling her eyes as he made her promise not to wear it out for fear of someone figuring out that she was connected to him.

And now she was, either to remember his scent or to just to be contrary.

"Caroline," he said quietly, and she turned, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of his sweater and glaring at him.

"Aren't you afraid to talk to me in public?" she asked, her voice more tired than upset, and he winced.

She looked at the basket in his hand, her eyes narrowing. "Is that my shampoo and the cereal I keep in your cabinet? You know that restocking my favorite things in your house won't make me come back, right? I'm not a bear. I don't track the scent of Lucky Charms and fall into a trap."

He snorted, shaking his head. "It smells like you," he said simply, and she rolled her eyes, though he thought he saw a hint of a smile on her face as she turned back to the freezer, the arms of his sweater long enough to conceal her hands.

"I love you, Caroline," he said abruptly, and she stiffened, determinedly not meeting his gaze.

"I know that you're in love with me," she said quietly, and he felt his heart clench as he remembered the first time she'd said those words, the time that he thought he might have done something horrific enough to lose her forever.

And he knew that's what she was trying to say, knew that it was her way of reminding him that he had no excuses, that he was going to have to prove that he wanted her, and she wouldn't give him a gold star for meeting her lowest expectations.

"I want to host a ball to introduce you as my consort," he said quietly, and he'd never heard her laugh so derisively.

"You think that'll make it up to me? A party to introduce me as your lesser half that tags along wearing a tiara?"

"You know that you're much more than that to me," he said, feeling anger tug at him.

He was essentially shouting from the rooftops that he loved her. What more did she want from him, exactly?

She seemed to know what he was thinking though (as she somehow always did), and she pulled out a carton of ice cream from the freezer, plopping it in her basket before turning to look at him. "I want you to stop being an overprotective asshole," she said simply. "No stalking my phone or tracking me. You can give me a bodyguard as long as they don't bother me and only intervene when it's a proven threat. You will respect my choices and understand that you have literally no say in my life unless it's a decision that affects both of us. Got it?"

"Yes, sweetheart," he said immediately, and she smiled slightly.

"And a ball's fine as long as I get to organize it."

"Agreed."

"And that painting you have over the fireplace is hideous and we're getting a different one."

"Done."

"And I love you too," she said, her voice quivering at the end despite her determined expression, her fists clenched so hard around the container of ice cream that it exploded, covering her in giant globs of Mint Chip.

He tried valiantly to fight down a smile as she glared resolutely up at him, gritting her teeth, the lurid green drips of ice cream clinging to her nose and cheeks.

"Don't you fucking dare laugh," she grits out as Klaus attempted to keep his face straight.

He cleared his throat, looking awkwardly at the ceiling as he took a calming breath.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Please let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading :)
Hugs!
-Angie