"There's a whole world out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music. Genuine beauty and you can have all of it. You can have a thousand more birthdays. All you have to do is ask."
Caroline closes the door and takes a deep breath. Her eyes wander around the room. The corners of her mouth lift slightly before her grim expression returns.
The heavy drapes are pulled aside, the balcony windows left bare to admit as much light as possible. Tiny dust motes dance in the beams of the setting sun. Filtered spotlights are tucked into a corner. Paintbrushes and pallets are scattered across two large tables. The dresser and vanity are covered with sketch paper, charcoal and tubes of acrylics. The sheets on the bed are rumpled and stained with paint. A large canvas sits propped up on an easel at an angle to the balcony.
Caroline is drawn to the sketches on the table. She picks up the one on top. It's a charcoal rendering of Decatur Street with the bustling French Market on the right and the brick buildings with small shops and apartments on the left.
She places the sketch aside and reaches for the next. Her brows raise as she takes a closer look at the soft watercolors of Jackson Square in front of St. Louis Cathedral. A girl is resting on one of the benches, her face turned towards the church, bright blonde hair gleaming in the sunlight.
Caroline shakes her head and continues her snooping. She walks to the dresser and pulls out the top drawer. T-shirts and socks. She rolls her eyes and closes the drawer. The second one reveals more shirts. She slams it shut and drags out the huge bottom drawer.
"Bingo."
Six large albums bound in dark brown leather. The tomes are heavy when she pulls out each one individually and sets it on the floor. She sits down in the middle of them with her legs crossed under her.
She picks one volume at random and flips open the thick cover. 1945 to 1970 and below it the words New York – London – Vienna – Paris – Rome are written across the top of the first page in Klaus's elegant scrawl. The edges of the page are beginning to stain with age.
She flips the page and discovers a black and white photo. Underneath it are the words 'Candy – Summer 1945' At first it looks like a picture of an old movie star. Then she looks closer and recognizes the familiar face. Klaus is straddling an old fashioned motorcycle with a big round headlight. His gloved fingers are wrapped firmly around the handlebars, the pose pulling the studded leather jacket tight across his shoulders. The look in his eyes suggests that he is annoyed, but his smirk is flirtatious. On the same page is a couple of old ticket stubs: Winter Garden N.Y.C., Admit One, 40 cents. Klaus's caption scorns: Delightfully Dangerous was rubbish! Tasty cigarette girls, though.
Caroline snorts and turns the page. Then another, and another. A few more pictures of Klaus. Cocktail napkins with sketches, postcards with picturesque sites and famous views. Images of New York and Paris; pretty girls in pretty dresses. Opera programs and ticket stubs from Rome. Klaus's immaculate handwriting adds description and snark to every memento. She gorges herself on all of it.
Three of the six books are back in the drawer and the light outside is almost gone by the time the door to the room quietly opens and closes.
Caroline only looks up when the ceiling lights come on, snapping the room into artificial brightness.
Klaus looks exhausted. The blood on his clothes is a vivid red. His eyes are immediately drawn to her. He finds her on the floor with an open book in her lap, recognizes the tomes around her with a lift of his eyebrows.
Caroline's grip tightens around the leather binding. "You're back."
Klaus doesn't say anything. He nods once, then veers off to the en-suite bathroom. The door closes behind him with a quiet snick.
Caroline sits frozen on the ground. When the shower comes on with a loud hiss, it makes her jump. She quickly puts the last three books away where she found them and closes the drawer. In her haste to get away from the dresser, she almost runs into the easel in front of the balcony. She steadies herself at the last moment, hands held up to keep them from crashing into the canvas.
Caroline stares at the image of her own face. Her gaze moves over the elegant lines of paint, snagging on the ridges of four large furrows, where the canvas has been torn and repaired. She reaches out tentatively to trace the path of one gash with the tip of a finger.
The Caroline in the picture smiles brilliantly, despite the scars. Her hair falls in perfect ringlets. Her eyes are lit up with the joy of a secret she won't share. The expression on her face is bright and more alive than that of her real life doppelganger.
Caroline finally turns away, just in time to see Klaus step out of the bathroom. Her eyes widen.
He is rubbing his hair dry with one towel, while a second one is slung low around his hips. The blood is gone, leaving nothing but unblemished pale skin underneath. There isn't a single scratch on his body to prove that he spent the last few hours fighting a group of ferocious werewolves.
Caroline crosses her arms and shifts uncomfortably on her feet. "Is it over?" She cringes at her hushed tone.
Klaus looks up, blue eyes unreadable. "For them. Yeah."
"Did anyone..." She stops then tries again. "How many..." She bites her lip and finally looks up with a determined expression. "Elijah?"
"Still alive when he left." Klaus smirks, wraps the towel around the back of his neck and holds the ends tightly in front of his chest. "No idea where he's gone." His nonchalant shrug looks forced.
Caroline nods to herself. "And Tyler?" Her eyes gleam under furrowed brows.
"Took off with what's left of his pack. To go home, I presume, wherever that may be."
She nods again and swallows heavily. Her eyes are getting wetter."I should go." She quickly moves towards the door.
"Stay."
Caroline opens her mouth to say something.
"Just for tonight." Klaus is right behind her, his hands resting lightly on her arms.
She turns around and lifts her chin, pushing her sharp pointer finger into the middle of his chest. "I'm not going to be the spoils of your victory."
"Are you sure?" Klaus tilts his chin with an amused look, dropping his hands to her hips. "It's not every day you can use 'we won the war' as an excuse to do whatever you want."
"God, you're awful." She drops her head and pulls her hand away from his chest, chuckling under a shaky breath.
Klaus shrugs. "You want me anyway."
"You're suddenly terribly confident."
"No, just too tired to play games anymore."
Caroline looks at him quietly for a long moment.
He looks tired. His expression is smooth, the lines around his eyes and mouth barely visible. His shoulders are slumped, his hands resting lightly on her hips as he looks back at her.
Her brows smooth out as she takes a slow breath through her nose and lets it go. It takes one half-step to close the distance between them and she leans into him, her head resting on his shoulder.
"Just for tonight," she says against his neck. "No promises, no expectations."
Klaus brings up his hand to comb his fingers gently through her hair, coaxing her to pull away from his neck. His eyes search her face before he slowly moves in to brush his lips over hers.
She slides her palms up his back, leans into the kiss and flicks her tongue out to explore his lips; pushes forward to press herself as close as possible.
The towel around his hips comes loose and drops to the floor with a soft thud. Klaus smiles into the kiss, wraps his arms around her and holds on tight as they stumble the few steps to the bed, never breaking their lip lock, until they land in the middle of rumpled sheets.
Cold moonlight is streaming in through the balcony windows when Caroline wakes up next to Klaus in his bed. They are both naked under the sheets, her clothes scattered on the floor alongside the two discarded towels.
Klaus is awake, lying on his side with his head propped on one hand as he watches her, his gaze following her movements.
She slowly turns around and sits up against the headboard, wrapping the sheet around her chest. Combing one hand through her tousled hair, she stares at the sheets bunched in her lap with a contemplative frown.
"We need to talk," she says.
Klaus laughs softly. "That didn't take long."
She turns her head with a sharp look. "I'm leaving tomorrow."
He flinches, blinking rapidly for a moment before his face goes smooth. "Running scared already?" he sneers.
"Not at all." She pulls her legs closer and turns toward Klaus, leaning on her elbow, her other hand keeping the sheets in place. "Back in the maze, you asked me what I want."
Klaus's expression is guarded, his lips slightly pursed as he scrutinizes her. "The things you're afraid of wanting because of me."
"I'm not afraid anymore." She smiles, her nose crinkling as her eyes sparkle with excitement. "I want everything. A thousand more birthdays, art and music, genuine beauty, great cities all over the world. I want it all."
His expression lightens up as a smile starts to curl up the corners of his mouth. He parts his lips to say something.
"But!" Caroline cuts him off with a pointed finger. "I have to do it on my own."
His face falls. His eyes narrow.
"Hear me out!" She licks her lips and carries on. "My whole life, since I was old enough to date I've gone from one boyfriend to another and never spent any time just to be by myself." She chews on her bottom lip, her expression determined. "That needs to change." She sits up straight, too excited to care that the sheet is dropping to her lap,.
Klaus looses his guarded expression as his eyes stray to her chest before they move back up to her face.
"So, I will leave tomorrow. I'm going to go back to college, and after that I will travel the world and explore everything it has to offer, on my own."
He purses his lips, furrowing his brows as he looks at her silently.
"And when I'm ready, I'll come find you. Here, or wherever you are. And then, if we're both still interested, we can give this whole 'last love' thing a shot." She meets his eyes, looking at him searchingly. "Do you think you can handle that?"
Surprise and disbelief war for dominance over his expression. Finally, acceptance settles his features into a resigned smirk. "Do I have a choice?"
Caroline shakes her head, smiling. "Not really."
Klaus takes a deep breath through his nose, exhales with a quiet sigh and finally shrugs. "Then I guess I'll handle it."
Her smile is as brilliant as the one in her portrait. She's practically vibrating with excitement.
Klaus rolls his eyes, but his lips are curved in a fond smile. "Now that that's settled, I believe we still have a few hours until the sun comes up?"
Caroline nods. "Give or take a few, yeah."
"Splendid." He grabs her arm and pulls until she lands on top of him. His hands start groping as their mouths collide.
The kiss is messy and a bit awkward, because she's too busy giggling to show any finesse and her hair is getting in the way.
Neither one of them notices when the sun comes up a few hours later.
The End