With one swift motion, a loud crack sounded through the graveyard by Fell's tomb. Silas was dead.
"Well done, Brother," the Hyrbid spoke looking down at their beaten enemy sure that it had been his big brother that incapacitated Silas.
"Let us have this conversation out of this rain, shall we?" Leading Katherine with one arm, Elijah motioned them into the tomb.
Caroline felt like a drowned rat as she plopped down on one of the benches within the stone walls. Damon lifted one leg over the bench, straddling the spot next to her.
Klaus, looking both serious and tired, took his place sitting across from the blonde. His body leaned forward slightly as he scanned her for any injuries.
She noticed and smiled, "I'm fine."
His face remained stoic as he nodded and turned to his brother.
"As to your praise, Niklaus," Elijah began standing off to the side, "You owe it to Miss Forbes."
Caroline stared intently at the hands she had folded in her lap trying not to smile or cringe; she could feel Klaus' eyes boring into her.
"You may be interested to know, Brother, that you did not have the cure in your possession when we came to this place tonight." The slow tilt of his younger brother's head and the heavy glare behind his eyes would have terrified even the toughest of adversaries, but Elijah was nonplussed by his predictable response.
Klaus' tone was deep and laced with anger, "Excuse me?"
"I had it with me," the elder brother continued even when the Hybrid tensely shot to his feet ready to throttle his sibling. An impressed smile curled along Elijah's mouth when his hand hovered over his breast pocket and he peered over at Caroline, "At least that is what I believed. Fortunately for us, we were both mistaken as to the location of the cure." A short chortle rattled in his chest. "To be honest, I am quite perplexed as to how she managed it."
Klaus was quick to pick up on the meaning in his brother's words as he spun his head down towards his lovely blonde vampire.
Once again, the epitome of well timed injections, Damon spouted, "You stole our only weapon from Elijah?! . . . color me impressed, Barbie."
"Silas got to your 'cure' first," Elijah said gesturing to Klaus, "when he 'staked' you. He then discovered that it wasn't real and turned his focus on me. He took my 'cure' second when he fooled me into believing he was our baby sister come to join the fray."
Caroline waited for Elijah to continue, but he did not. A long silence filled the room. She could feel every eye on her, and it was making her squirm. Taking a cleansing breath, she looked up at the man standing in front of her. "I told you the plan was flawed. You were so certain it would work. I saw Elijah with the cure this morning in your room, but I played it off as if I hadn't. I didn't realize until after our meeting, though, that he had taken it from you." A slight, confident smile lit her face. "At first I was going to tell you, but then I realized that it was exactly what needed to happen. I couldn't take the cure from you. You were too guarded. I wouldn't have gotten close enough. But Elijah. Elijah was over-confident. He thought no one knew and therefore didn't bother to notice when a certain someone swapped out the real cure for a fake one."
It was now Elijah's turn to be stared at by all in the room. His jaw tensed as his own glare now turned over to the place Katherine had slid down the tomb wall and planted her bum on the stone floor.
Seeing the unworded accusation, Katherine put her hands up in the air. "Don't look at me! I just played pretend."
The elder Original's brows furrowed, "If not you, then—"
"Katherine would have been the obvious choice," Caroline said gently, yet matter-of-factly, "But she would be with you three." Her small finger pointed to Klaus, Elijah, and Damon. "She couldn't know I had taken it or else Silas would have known too." She paused briefly, feeling giddy and simultaneously guilty about revealing the final bit. "Good thing there is more than one Petrova Doppelganger."
In one split second, three things happened. Damon smiled sardonically and rubbed his hands across his face. Elijah tensed both appalled and embarrassed. And Klaus sat back down on the bench, a look of intrigue and respect giving him a smirk of his own as he gazed over at Caroline.
Taking a moment to absorb what he heard, Elijah rounded on Katherine. "You impersonated Elena this afternoon."
Katherine smiled, "Not my favorite trick."
"But . . . your bracelet."
"Yeah," Katherine drawled, "It's a good thing Elena and I have the same ring size and our little show was in a basement on a stormy day." Her smile became slightly bitter, "How was it? Was her performance a pleasure to behold?"
Elijah's eyes grew to three times their normal size. "Am I to believe that—" He couldn't finish. Leaning up against one of the resident coffins, he lifted his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Remind me to turn Elena's emotions back on the minute we return to the boarding house." The Original was very distraught by this new revelation.
"Why do you look so upset?!" Damon piped in indignantly. "I'm pretty sure— now, correct me if I'm wrong—you macked with my girlfriend. Perspective, please."
Lifting his eyes to the ceiling, Elijah sighed.
It was then that they heard footsteps coming toward the tomb. Still on alert from the fight, they all stood poised for anything. When Stefan's head poked around the wooden door, a collective breath was released. He mosied in supporting a weak and bloody Elena. He was followed shortly after by an exhausted Bonnie.
At the sight of the Bennett witch, tension returned to the room.
"Relax," the dark girl said. "I'm me."
"Keep goin'," Matt's voice chimed from outside the door. "Some of us are still getting rained on." The quarterback squeezed into the lit tomb beside Bonnie. He looked around at the group huddled inside making a mental count. Satisfied with the number, he gave a small nod and his classic, debonair smile. Throwing his thumb up over his shoulder, he gestured outside. "I'm guessing the dead guy is Silas?"
Loud music blared from the speakers in the sitting room of the Salvatore boarding house. It had been hours since they had returned soggy and deflated. Many showers later, they had been called downstairs by the boisterous beats of Pink's "So What!" It had been surprising to enter the room and see the two Doppelgangers elbow deep in the good bourbon as they danced around the room enthusiastically, jumping and smiling insisting that the victory party had begun. Even though they disliked each other, both were glad to get the ball rolling. Damon was more than happy to join in the festivities. Stefan and Bonnie had smiled as they settled into the couch to watch their uninhibited housemates. Katherine eventually went and dragged Elijah down to join them, dancing her way down the stairs while firmly toting him behind her with a firm, over-the-shoulder grip on his tie. Caroline had also been drawn by the laughter and "woo"s jovially expelling from the Doppelgangers. She couldn't find Klaus, and there was nowhere better to be. Their last partygoer came in shortly after the heavy drinking started. Rebekah was excited that the threat was gone but incredibly disappointed that she had missed the action. Damon easily distracted her with a goofy, inappropriate dance and two fingers of scotch.
"So wait! You did what?!" Caroline yelped spitting out some of her vodka-soda. It was officially the wee hours of the morning and the party had mellowed to the group of them drinking and talking rambunctiously from their respective places around the room.
"I hate to say I told you so," Elena said lifting her glass to Matt.
"I didn't know what else to do!" Matt said shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "Elena was bleeding everywhere, Stefan was screaming like a little girl in the mud—"
"Thanks!" Stefan yelled drunkenly.
"Sorry, Man. You were. And I was talking to a tiny, little Bennett wall! I panicked!"
Caroline could not stop laughing, "So you kissed her?!"
"It was Elena's idea!" He pathetically blamed.
"So Bonnie," Damon said smoothly. "How was it to kiss the quarterback? Obviously it did something for you." His smile became roguish as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Everyone laughed when an upholstered pillow collided with his face thrown by the petite witch herself.
Caroline was chuckling loudly when she heard the quiet click of the front door. Glancing around the room, it seemed no one else noticed. The blonde stood and walked to the hallway while everyone carried on making fun of Bonnie's fairytale kiss. There wasn't anyone in the hall, but motion at the top of the stairs caught her eye. Though he disappeared quickly into the east wing, she knew it was him. Turning around, Caroline decided no one would miss her and began to make her way up the stairs after him.
She felt nervous. She had deceived him. She didn't know what to expect.
Timidly, she crept down the hallway towards his room. Upon reaching it, she considered knocking, but the act seemed silly considering he was probably very aware of her presence outside his door. Reaching forward, she turned the knob and hesitantly stepped into his space.
Klaus sat on the edge of the bed wearing his signature henley and dark jeans. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and fingers clasped in front of him. Her feet tapped over the hard wood on the floor, and he peered up at her. His expression was fatigued and contemplative.
"Are you angry with me?" She muttered feeling like a little girl in trouble.
Closing his eyes, he raked his hand over his face, "I don't quite know what to think of you."
"Klaus, I—"
"I try to understand," he began, "but your actions puzzle me." He smiled without any happiness or amusement and stood. "Let's go back in time in our most recent adventures, shall we? First, when asked to accompany me to London you tell me to drown in a puddle."
Caroline cringed slightly remembering her words.
Klaus continued, using hand movements to illustrate. "Then in an odd turn of events you show up at my home mere hours later to tell me you were quite willing to take the trip. We arrive in my London flat where I discover you snooping around in Elijah's office looking for what I can only imagine was information on your estranged mutt." His demeaner altered to one of irritation as his story forged ahead.
"I then don't speak to you until two days later, minus a few offhanded statements thrown over your shoulder in passing, where you proceed to take me out on a dance floor and grind up on me like it was something you actually enjoyed but we both know was just some sort of diversion. I don't know what you were trying to accomplish, but it was hardly a subtle deception. And a bonus for the evening, you tell me you do not hate me and don't want to lie to me anymore. Then again, you also say that you are keeping things from me.
"Let's skip ahead to the next day where we share a pleasant day together followed by a lovely encounter in the ranch stables only to be followed by an argument by the car on the way back in which you say the whole thing shouldn't have happened and accuse me of manipulating and seducing you." Klaus' eyebrows lifted, and he took a few steps forward as he asked, "You having fun yet, Love? Because there's more."
"Klaus—" she tried to interject.
"Fast forward to that night," he went on in a full blown rant. "This is where things get fun. You flippantly brush me off and reassure me that our outing had meant nothing to you and then low and behold, I have a certain blonde enthusiastically responding to my advances while I've got her legs wrapped tightly around me." He pauses for effect. "Confused? Me too. But things level slightly as you not only show up to save my brother and myself from certain failure, but more specifically, you betray your boyfriend by choosing to prevent Katherine from curing me. You even go as far as to not cure me yourself while holding onto the very thing that could have prevented me from hurting you or your friends ever again. Why? Who knows?
"Not two hours later, after I save you from my crazed brother mind you, you join me in my room to once again press yourself against me. From then on we journey to Miami where we spend an incredible night together, but one day back in Mystic Falls and you not only fail to inform me that the cure was stolen out from under me but you also scheme against me yourself with Elena and the woman I've been hunting for five hundred years."
The hybrid took in a deep breath and expelling it out with a drop of his shoulders. He shrugged slightly, "Tell me, Caroline. What in the bleeding hell am I supposed to think of you?"
She didn't respond immediately. She didn't know what to say.
Feeling at a complete loss, Klaus let out a frustrated breath and turned his back on her, one hand moving threw his hair restlessly.
"Let me tell you a story." Caroline said softly stepping forward. "I was depressed and lonely because my friends were M.I.A. and my boyfriend had been exiled on pain of death. So when the man that sent him away approaches me about going to London with him, I lash out. You can imagine my fear when I get a phone call soon after from said boyfriend saying that he was in London himself and working with one of my least favorite people to bring down a man that was easily 10 times stronger than him and eager to kill him anyway. And bonus," she said mimicking his earlier tone, "the call cuts out before I can tell him to get the hell out of Britain. I run to you hoping to keep you away from London, but you can't be persuaded to stay. What else could I do but follow you in hopes of warning Tyler?"
Listening to her version, he turned slightly to look at her.
"I get to your London flat to find out that you are already on Katherine's trail. I have no idea how to reach Tyler, so I snoop into Elijah's pictures trying to find a clue as to where he is. All I find in the pictures of use is a street sign." She took a deep breath, tucking a curl behind her ear. "That day and the next I'm scouring that street trying to find any sign of Tyler. During my search, I happened upon a dance club. I needed to blow off some steam, and I thought, 'Looks like fun.' Silly of me to take Rebekah to the very street I knew Tyler and Katherine were near, I know." She said laughing at herself and shaking her head. "But nonetheless we go.
"Low and behold what do I find but my boyfriend grinding and macking on the neck of my least favorite she-wolf." It was now her turn to grow irritated as she shook off the skin-crawling memory of Tyler kissing Hayley on the neck. "Before I can start screaming at him though, I have to go into crisis mode because he unwittingly is in a building with people that want to kill him. I ignore my broken heart and unresolved issues to pull his would-be killer onto the dance floor while he sneaks out the back with his newest squeeze."
The realization had Klaus turning fully towards her, the muscles in his jaw defining as they tensed.
"My act is rewarded with some very disturbing revelations." Caroline paused taking a deep breath. Using air quotes, she continued, "I did 'actually enjoy' dancing with you. Like a lot. Not only that, but I felt guilty. Not guilty for rubbing up on you in front of Tyler, but guilty for all the lies I was telling you. And, in a moment of drunken candor I apologized for keeping secrets."
Klaus softened slightly at her words.
"But what kind of person would I be if I handed a friend, if not a boyfriend anymore, over to someone who wanted him dead? Not a very good one. So I still refused to tell you what I thought you didn't know. That Tyler was in town and on some idiotic warpath with doppelganger #1."
The blonde stepped up to him, her eyes gazing into his as she continued with a small smile. "The next day I'm taken off-guard when you surprise me with the best possible day trip ever. I was pulled in by everything." Lifting a hand, she rubbed her fingertips along his jaw. Letting it fall back down she went on, "You were wonderful. By the time we hit the stables, what with the close call the night you caught me spying and that dance and the picnic, I was holding onto some seriously repressed sexual tension, and, hey, I was a free agent after Tyler's display with Hayley the night before. So I gave in. Immediately after, I realize, 'Holy crap! I just made out with the man I'm suppose to think of as the enemy.' Insert more lashing here as all I can do to make myself feel better is blame you for seducing me onto the dark side."
Klaus' eyes shone brightly riveted by her words.
"But I was lying to myself. So when you followed me into my room that night, my walls came crumbling down and boom! I'm kissing you again.
"When I showed up at June's shop, I didn't have any sort of plan," she said laughing at herself again with a shake of her head. "I went to keep you from killing Tyler, I didn't care about your plan against Katherine or the cure. But when I saw her, I couldn't help myself but smash the vervain in her face. Preventing her from curing you was a knee-jerk reaction. I cared for you much more than I cared for her, so the decision was instantaneous. The decision to not cure you myself was something else. There I was, Tyler begging me with his eyes to do it and all I could think of was what you had told me at the picnic. Why you didn't want to be human."
He released a soft breath and his eyes glittered with water.
"I knew it would have made my life easier to just do it, but I couldn't do it . . . to you. Then you had to go saving me from your brother, and rubbin' up on me, so, shocker, I kiss you again."
Caroline's voice became cheerful and reminiscent as she recalled the days that followed. "Miami was amazing, and it totally tipped the scales in your favor. But, the next morning we get summoned to the fight against Silas. You tell me this half-cocked plan for taking down the oldest, most powerful, telepathic super-witch, and then you refuse to see reason when I point out holes in the plan." She shook her head sadly, "I didn't want to see you or my friends get hurt. When I realized Elijah had taken the cure, I was going to tell you. But what would that have done? A fight would have broken out and the location of the cure made known to everyone.
"I wasn't about to finagle the cure out of Elijah's hands. Rebekah wasn't here, so I used what I had. Doppelgangers. It may feel like a betrayal, Klaus, but you have to see that I did it to keep you safe." Caroline gave a secret, loving smile as she remembered what he had said in the car. "I also have something to keep. Something to protect. And I will protect it." Her hands came up and settled on either side of his face.
"Thinking you were dead made something very clear to me. I'm not afraid of you anymore. I don't care what you've done."
Klaus' eyes closed as he listened to her words, his own hands lifting to press into hers.
"I don't care what everyone will think. I don't care . . ."
His eyes opened slowly and stared intensely into her blue ones.
Looking at him made everything click, "Do you know why?"
The Hybrid shook his head lightly.
Caroline closed her eyes briefly before gazing at him in such a way that whatever she said would drip with importance, "Because I am totally and completely hung up on you." Her hands slowly made their way from his cheeks down to his neck.
There was a silence in the room as his eyes jumped back and forth between hers. He seemed to alternate between disbelief, confusion, and vulnerability, his breathing shallow as he considered her declaration. Klaus' hands softly slid from her hands down to her wrists, and he looked to the floor.
"So, Klaus," she inquired playfully, "What do you think of me now?"
His eyes remained on the floor and his jaw clenched. When his face finally rose up, a drop of water fell from beneath one eye. In one swift motion, Klaus leaned forward claiming her mouth with his own.
The feeling behind his kiss was overwhelming. The way one hand wrapped into her blonde curls and the way the other pulled her body close to his had her feeling lightheaded. Caroline pushed onto her toes as her arms encircled him. Her body a perfect fit with his.
Their lips moved in a well timed dance, the tempo slow but strong. He took her lips one at a time then pushed forward as their tongues melded together, touching and tasting.
Her words, the feel of her under his hands, and the sweet texture of her mouth had him quivering at the mercy of emotions that he had never felt before. Never thought he could feel. She was the only thing to him in that moment. Everything all at once.
Their kisses slowed to small pecks before they parted, their breathing slow but desperate. When their eyes met, Caroline reached behind her back grasping his hand in hers. Klaus was pulled forward as she backed up until her knees touched the edge of his mattress. Dropping his hand she rose her arms up over her head. Understanding her intentions, he fingered the bottom seam of her shirt, lifting it up over her. His eyes admired every curve made visible to him. Licking his lips lightly he raised his own arms. Caroline followed suit slowly removing his shirt for him. Smiling sweetly, she let his shirt fall to the floor.
Klaus heeled off his boots, and she quickly did the same with her flats. He stepped forward lowering his head into the fragrant bend of her neck. Inhaling deeply, his hands trailed down unbuttoning her jeans. His mouth left soft, wet kisses on her skin as it trickled down her torso, his hands easing her pants down to the floor for her to step out of. Standing, he grazed his sight up her supple skin ending his survey at the bright blue of her eyes. Reaching, Klaus smoothed his hands around her small waist.
Delicate hands traced down his chest. He watched her as her eyes followed their path downward, her soft finger pads pressing into the lines defined between the muscles beneath the skin. The clink of his belt and pants sinking to the floor and their slowed, eager breaths were the only sounds to hit the air. Each other's eyes the only things they saw.
Caroline moved back sitting herself down on the edge of the mattress. Gently, she scooted back never once looking away from him. She felt a deep need for him to be closer. Gripping his hand, she pulled him lightly down with her.
Klaus followed her down to the bed pressing her into the duvet as he layed his body into her, his mouth moving against her lips with a tender, loving pressure. He couldn't understand what force of fate had granted him this moment, but he was eternally grateful for it. Finding Caroline had been unexpected. The last thing he could have anticipated. She was young and stubborn, but she was also perceptive and disarming. One of the most intoxicating, infuriating women he had ever encountered in all of his years. This radiant, baby vampire had slowly crept into his very being. Had burrowed in. He knew, without any doubt, that he would never tire of her, would never hurt her, could never leave her.
-Epilogue-
The air was warm and heavy with the early day's humidity. Caroline leaned over the twisted railing surrounding the tilted balcony and inhaled the sweet smell of coffee and horses that permeated the air. It was only mid-morning, and already the drawn carriages clacked and groaned down Rue Royal and the first of the day's tourists were chatting and giggling their way through the streets of the French Quarter carting dogs and small children along with them. Bright flags waved in the light breeze, and the lingering aroma of orange juice and croissant wafted over from the glass patio table.
A long, contented sigh fell from her mouth as she took in the view of New Orleans' most well-known neighborhoods. It was just as she had imagined it: colorful buildings, each with balconies jutting out in nice rows, the larger, more modern buildings of the city visible a few miles down. Smiling widely she looked across the way at the cat-sized rubber bat that hung from her neighbor's porch, jewel toned mardi gras beads hanging from its neck as it spun in the breeze. Somehow, it seemed to epitomize the feeling that the French Quarter radiated.
It had been six months since her and her friends had vanquished Silas in the Mystic Falls Cemetery. It hadn't taken long for Caroline to throw caution to the wind and reveal her feelings for Klaus to the rest of the group. Sure, Bonnie was incredibly unhappy, but emotionless Elena was a blessing in disguise as she took the development in stride, well, more like didn't care. Matt had a moment where he just seemed tired, and the Salvatore's accepted the news as something out of their control (even though Damon had a few choice words about her taste in men).
Graduation came and went. She had been pleasantly surprised to find the car waiting for her afterward ready and waiting with a certain Hybrid prepared to fulfill his promise to show her the world. They lingered in France for a time before moving on to Italy, but the school year was fast approaching and Caroline could not be persuaded to postpone her college plans. It was lucky that days before they were to pack up their belongings from Elijah's Tuscan villa, Klaus got word that something was brewing in one of his favorite places. It didn't take him long to convince his blonde companion to transfer her college plans to Tulane.
While Caroline hadn't been too excited to step back into drama miles from the school she had planned to attend in Virginia with her friends, she was relieved to have Rebekah sit down next to her in her first class lecture.
"What are you doing here?" She had asked with a smile.
The Original just gave her a bored shrug, "I'm over high school. Besides, I can irritate Nik more from underneath his own roof."
Elijah had followed suit to Louisiana as well, staying instead in his house near the outskirts of town with his new curly-haired, Doppelganger shadow.
Life wasn't half bad. Even with Klaus out most nights trying to wrangle in the French Quarter vampires and trying to reestablish peace and a new order in the supernatural community, she had no complaints. The first few weeks had been dodgy, and she quickly realized her Original classmate was more of bodyguard than anything, but it didn't really matter. At least she had a thousand year old vampire to help her with her homework and someone to keep her company on the quad.
Caroline smiled when the sound of a violin player in the street below brought her from her thoughts. Her smile widened when she heard the rustle of curtains and boots on the balcony behind her.
"Crawling back home at this hour. Be careful, I might get suspicious," she said jokingly.
Klaus' long hands curled around her waist as he stepped up behind her giving her a soft kiss on her exposed shoulder. "You look beautiful this morning, Love."
Turning towards him, she smiled, "You say that every morning."
"It's true every morning," he purred.
A soft tinkle of a laugh jumped from her mouth, "How did it go?"
Klaus gave a tired sigh sidling over to the railing and leaning his back against it, "The secret of the daylight ring is lost. As of today, they will all find themselves incapable of remembering the secret to daywalking. The witches and wolves have agreed to my terms and will be conducting business as usual with the understanding that they will be expected to maintain discretion amongst the human populace."
"You did have a busy night," she said leaning forward again on the railing to look out. "And Marcel?"
"He's just glad I let him keep his ring in exchange for his unflinching loyalty as my second."
"You think you can trust him?" Arching her brow, she glanced over at him briefly.
"He has a taste for leadership now. He will have to regain my trust." Seeing her nod out of the corner of his eyes, he turned towards her. A small smile curled up the side of his mouth. Lifting off of the railing, he returned to his place behind her. "I have something for you." Wrapping his arms around her, his fingers entangled with hers against the cold metal they rested on.
A sharp laugh came out of her. "You just gave me a present last week. I feel like a kept woman."
His embrace tightened around her, "You are kept."
Caroline scoffed, "You know what I mean."
Klaus smiled into her hair as he reached back into his pocket. Holding out the small box in front of her, he twisted it in the air. "So, you don't want this?"
Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the little black box. He had given her jewelry on many occasions, usually to accompany her to lavish events, but this wasn't just any box. "A ring box," her brain screamed.
Don't freak out, Caroline. Maybe it's earrings.
From over her shoulder, Klaus chuckled at her hesitation. "Okay," he drawled pulling the ring box away from her to put back in his pocket.
"No! No," she yipped grasping for the box in his hands. "I want it."
"You sure, Love. I would hate for you to feel like I was trying to buy your affection," he teased. Bringing it back around, he settled it in her hands and waited for her to open it.
"What's in it?" She asked quietly, her fingers fiddling with the seam of the box like they itched to answer the question themselves.
The Original ran his thumb over the large blue stone fitted in the ring on her pointer finger. "An upgrade," he said lowly, his breath tickling over her neck.
Caroline could feel her heart in her throat as the tiny box creaked open. "Oh my god," she breathed. Inside the box was the most brilliant princess cut diamond ring she had ever seen. Bringing it closer, she admired the inlaid tiny blue stones that flattered the platinum band. She didn't need to ask. They were lapis lazuli. She turned slowly in his arms until she faced him.
Klaus couldn't help but admire the color in her cheeks and the light behind her now widened eyes.
"Klaus?" she asked timidly.
"Every king needs a queen, Love." Lifting his hand, he tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
"Are you . . . ?" She couldn't finish.
"Yes," he replied confidently. Tilting her face up with his finger, he searched her eyes. "Will you?"
Caroline's eyes seemed to sparkle and dance as a light sheen of water glazed over them. "Yes!" She giggled lifting her free hand to his cheek and planting a long, happy kiss on his lips, parting only to stare at him once more.
Wasting no time, Klaus pinched the ring from the box in her hands and slid the delicate metal over her left ring finger. In a flourish, he removed her first daylight ring from her pointer finger and while tilting down to kiss her again, threw the chunky piece of metal over his shoulder onto the floor of the balcony.
She giggled through the kiss, amused by his obvious dislike for her former ring. Feeling his arms curl around her waist, she hopped up securing her legs around his hips and kissing him deeper. She barely noticed when Klaus ducked them under the windoor into their room and sat down on the edge of their canopied bed.
Letting go of her lips, he drifted away a few inches. His hands pushed the blonde curls from her face, and he stared into it. Lowering his arms, he knotted them around her tiny body.
His adoration made her cheeks flush further. Having a thought, a smirk splashed across her lips. She teased, "You made it my daylight ring, so I wouldn't throw it at you like the last few diamonds you've given me."
"Can't blame a bloke for trying," he hummed with a humored, raised eyebrow.
She giggled. "Well, I wouldn't worry. I'll hold on to this one."
Klaus' grip around her tightened, "Me too."
With a roll of her eyes, she quipped, "You are on a roll today with the pretty words." Ignoring his arrogant smile she looked down at her ring. Her expression changed to one of nervousness, "You sure you want to marry me. Til' death do us part is a different vow all together for us. "
Leaning forward, his lips rubbed softly against her ear. "Always. Always and forever."
Hugging him to her, she cuddled her face into his neck. "I love you."
He pressed his face against her shoulder inhaling the tropical scent of her hair, "As I love you."
The End