A/N This was written for Klarosummer Bingo 2021 using the prompt, "Waterfall."

I'll Be Seeing You

"Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love." – George Eliot

Klaus was in town. Again. Caroline knew she never should have asked him to break his promise after the first time they'd made love in the woods. At the time, she'd lied to herself and almost managed to believe she was just getting him out of her system. If there was anything the last few years had taught her, it was that she would never get him out of her system. The first time she'd called him was after the truth came out that Hayley's baby wasn't his. She told herself she was being a good friend and while that was true, her motivations were entirely selfish. She was free of Tyler and he was free of the supernatural chaos of New Orleans. The 'what ifs' nagged at her until she picked up the phone.

Klaus was there the next day.

In the few years since, he showed up at random every few months to remind her that he wanted to show her the world. Caroline turned him down every time, forever entrenched in the drama of Mystic Falls. Whenever he came to her doorstep, she'd tell herself that she wasn't going to fall back into bed with him. She was wrong every time. He usually stayed only a day; this time, it had been three. The baby vampire knew there would be repercussions for that third day; she'd missed Jo and Alaric's wedding. Her excuse was going to be that her phone broke and she lost track of time, but she somehow doubted her friends would accept that at face value. They wouldn't ask… but they would know she was lying.

When it came to Caroline's relationship with Klaus, Mystic Falls had a strict "Don't ask, Don't tell" policy.

Summer stars twinkled overhead as they walked the long distance from his mansion to her house, neither eager to say goodbye but both knowing it was time. He'd asked and she'd said no. He never demanded an explanation, always quietly accepting her decision. This time felt different. The eternal teenager wanted to tell him why she kept declining despite her heart breaking every time she watched him walk away. She wanted to understand it herself.

"It's just…" Caroline's voice trailed off; she was at a loss for words. How could she possibly explain the conflicted thoughts swirling in a maelstrom where her heart should be? What were the right words to say that she did want to go with him but was afraid of what it might mean? No, of what it would unequivocally mean. Klaus' love for her was enormous and earth shattering. It wasn't the paltry affection she'd shared with Matt, or even Tyler. Klaus would move mountains and conquer kingdoms just to stand in her orbit. She didn't know if she even loved herself that much, and she certainly couldn't claim to feel the same for him. As they walked closer to her house under the full moon, she was only too aware of her own shortcomings. It would be so easy to give in and let him shower her in adoration; part of her even wanted to dive in head first and never come up for air. But if she did know and couldn't even fathom the depths of his love for her, would she even be worthy of such veneration? It wasn't fair to him – he would argue this, of course – but she would always know he deserved more. She simply didn't have that much to give, not yet. Perhaps after seeing the world on her own and getting to know herself in a way she never could with him at her side, the day would come that she could reciprocate.

Unfortunately, that day was not this day.

But how could she explain all that to him? She would have to be graceful, poised, her words eloquent and meaningful. The sentences would flow off her tongue, her cadence a flowering lilt that would leave him breathlessly in awe of her composure.

Prepared to express herself as beautifully as one of his paintings, Caroline came to a stop and looked over at Klaus with wide eyes that saw too much and knew too little. "I'm so young, you know?" Her lids slammed shut the second the words fell off her strawberry lips as she internally cursed her incredible lack of wit. He had to resist the urge to lean over and kiss her. He saw her as the epitome of perfection as her cheeks burned and she couldn't even look at him.

It clearly wasn't her most articulate moment, but such things only endeared her to him more. Klaus' upper lip curved up in an amused grin as he tilted his head slightly in agreement. "I know." And he did know. There were so many things he'd seen and done in a thousand years; the list was endless. He wanted nothing more than to show her all that she was missing, but he knew she wasn't ready to accept his offer. Yet. Still, it was so much fun to tease her. The light was low, but it was bright enough for his hybrid eyes to see the flush coloring her cheeks. She was never more adorable than when she was flummoxed. He waited until she finally opened her eyes and looked over at him tentatively. "In all fairness, so am I. We always will be," he teased in his British lilt, enjoying her annoyance.

Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."

"I do." He chuckled as he stepped forward and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb over the back of her knuckle. He looked at her contemplatively. It was hardly his first trip back to Mystic Falls, but it would be his last. Seeing her but not truly having her was more than he could bear. As he watched her throughout the evening, he could see the ambivalence weighing heavily on her shoulders. He'd pressured her enough. It was time to let the decision fall to her. "So, how about this? When the day comes that you're ready-"

"Oh, when?" It was a ridiculous presumption; she couldn't help but smile at his confidence. "Pretty sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I am when it comes to you," he replied, a hint of dimples peeking out from beneath his gruff stubble. "So, as I was saying, when the day comes that you're ready to commit to this – to us – you can come to me."

"What?" Caroline's sapphire eyes widened in surprise, voice catching as it came out more like a squeak than anything else. The balmy southern air was suddenly suffocating; her lungs ached as she struggled to keep her breathing even. Struggled not to let him know her world just tilted on its axis. "You mean you aren't coming back?"

Klaus shook his head, dirty blond curls brushing the tips of his ears. "Not this time, sweetheart. You know what I want, but you need to want that, too. I can't keep walking away. The temptation to remain is simply too strong, even though I know it would only lead to ruin if you haven't asked me to stay. The next time I see you, it will be on your terms when you're ready to stop saying goodbye."

Considering his words, Caroline kept her hand in his as she continued along the road to her house, growing more and more conscious of how little time they had left. For now. "How will I find you?" she finally asked as her porch came into view in the distance, a single light burning in the dark. "You have a tendency to disappear, and it's not like you have a Facebook or anything."

Klaus chuckled at that. She'd grown up in the digital age; but to him, the internet was still new and bewildering. Social media baffled him to no end. After running for a millennium, he couldn't imagine a world in which anyone with a cell phone could track his every movement. She was right; he never left her a way to reach him after changing his number when he left New Orleans. It wasn't that he wanted to leave her in the dark, but the thought of the phone not ringing day after day was too much. It was easier to hide and then seek.

"Do you remember the story I told you about my time in the Andes?" he finally asked, hoping she did. It was a split second in his endless existence but it was perhaps the most significant. And no one knew that but her.

"The hummingbird," Caroline replied quickly, a soft smile lingering on her lips at the memory. It was the first time she'd seen him as a man and not a monster. In retrospect, it was hard to remember he'd ever been anything but someone who loved her. "I remember."

The hybrid smiled when she smiled. He remembered every word she'd ever said to him. It only reassured him that she'd held on to his story. Their time would come. "There's a sanctuary for them in the Cocora Valley. Pass it and you'll find a waterfall, the highest one in the region." As they reached her porch, he took her other hand in his and turned her to face him, eyes boring into hers. "Ten years from this day, I'll go there and wait for you."

It sounded simple enough. A decade was a long time… wasn't it? He'd told her once that she'd have to adjust her perception of time. Maybe it wasn't that long, not when compared to the eternity he was asking for. She gnawed her lower lip, peering up guiltily at him from beneath long lashes. "What if I'm not there? What if I'm not ready yet?"

Leaning forward, Klaus tucked a stray blonde tendril behind her ear, letting his thumb lightly brush her cheekbone. "In that case, I'll try again in another ten years. And again ten years after that, and after that, until you come to me," he promised softly, reluctantly letting go of her with a barely audible sigh. "When the time comes, at the top of the waterfall, where the river falls off the edge of the world, is where you'll find me." Gulping down her emotions, Caroline slowly nodded her head in understanding. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to her cheek, stubble rough against her smooth skin. The feel of his warmth was the last thing she had to cling to as his final words still rang in her ear long after he'd flashed off into the night. "Until then, know that you're worth waiting for. However long it takes."

A/N What do you think? Do we need a follow up? Let me know in a review! (No concrit please.)