/|\ Tourist /|\
/|\
Klaus is ready to go traipse off into the sunset with her in tow, ready to leave their long separation behind them, left in the past and go off to explore more together. But Caroline loves Venice, and she has only been there for several days and wishes to experience it with him.
They're lying in the bed at her hotel, blankets kicked to their feet, their legs and arms tangling together as he holds her close. Their combined heat keeps their naked bodies warm. Her fingers run down his chest; the blonde hairs feel like peach fuzz underneath her finger pads.
"Did you bring any bags with you?" She murmurs, tilting her head up and resting her chin on his chest.
One of his rough hands reaches up and fists in her hair. "No, I was so focused on finding and being with you that I left everything behind."
"Klaus without his sketchbook? Oh, who would've thought! That thing is practically attached to your hip," She teases, pulling him closer and placing a kiss on his collar bone. She feels him shudder slightly at her intimacy.
"Actually," He says warily, catching her attention. "I burned it."
Caroline is silent as she takes this in. "You – you burned it?"
"Yes." It is a curt reply.
"Every single page?" Her voice rings with alarm.
"Yes."
She blinks at him, an incredulous expression spreading across her face. "All of it?"
"Yes."
Caroline frowns at his monosyllabic responses, feeling like she is pulling teeth to get answers. "But why?"
She hears him sigh, his head flopping back on the pillow as he stares up at the intricate designs painted on the ceiling. His silence claws at her heart, and she physically tenses her body as she impatiently waits for his explanation.
"I thought that if I burned all of my drawings of you, I would destroy whatever happiness you have given me. All of these memories that are probably from the happiest time of my life. Burn my feelings away..."
And then Caroline is staring at him again, but he won't look at her, and he practically radiates childish embarrassment and stubbornness.
"Hey," She breathes, her soft hands wrapping around his muscular arm and gives it a comforting squeeze. "Look at me."
He doesn't.
She straddles his waist, pressing him down into the mattress as one of her hands cups his cheek, turning it to look at her. Even though it works, she regrets it immediately because then he's sitting up with her being cradled in his lap, arms wrapping around her naked back and kissing a line from her jaw to her shoulder, and then down her chest. Fire blooms in her insides, and she lets out a breathy sigh. She is happy to let him continue his precise ministrations, but her hand grips his chin and pushes up, so he's finally meeting her eyes. His blue eyes are enveloped completely by his black pupils, and she feels herself being caught up in his insatiable lust.
"You can't kill feelings, Klaus," She whispers finally, one hand pulling at his coarse and springy curls, kneading gently at his scalp, massaging the tightness away. His eyes close and he just rests his forehead at the curve of her neck. She rocks them back and forth in companionable silence.
In that moment, she knows that he has abandonment issues, and she has them too. Abandoning each other hurts them more than any other bullet, vervain, daggers, or a wooden stake could make to their bodies. But they are together, and they will always have each other, and she can't imagine her life without him.
"I regret ever telling you to leave me," He finally mutters, his warm breath raising miniscule hairs on her body. "When that door slammed back in Chicago I kept waiting for you to come back. I cleaned the room, but when you didn't return... I just destroyed it all over again."
"I took the train back home. Stayed at the Salvatore's Boarding house for a couple of weeks, then went out traveling again. I was... lonely. And probably brooding more than Stefan."
He nods solemnly. "You're never leaving my side again."
It isn't an order or a question, but more of a statement. He recites this fact in a tone used to discuss the weather.
"I wouldn't want to leave it in the first place," She says with a smile, her finger nails running down his back gently. She hears him moan softly, and she rolls her hips against him with a sly grin.
"You said you'd take me anywhere," She hums into his hair.
"Wherever you would like," He responds in agreement, basking in the pureness radiating from her.
"I know exactly where I want you to take me," She purrs in his ear suggestively, and she rejoices inwardly at the groan escaping from his lips. He utters the word minx under his breath.
And then Klaus smiles at her the way the devil must have smiled moments before he fell from heaven – deviously, cunningly, and full of confidence. That smile alone alights her nerve endings and her veins with fireworks as he pulls her towards him roughly, capturing her lips in an intense kiss that makes her flush red and feel like thrashing with wild abandon.
/|\
He wakes up twisted in the covers and alone, to his disappointment. He's sitting up in bed, scratching his scalp as his eyes flick across the room. But then he hears the door open, her humming a tune to herself, balancing two expressos in her hand and a plastic bag around her shoulders. The light returns to his life and the room brightens and he sighs automatically with relief.
"Damn, you are already awake," Caroline sighs, sitting down on the bed fully clothed. "I wanted to run some errands before you woke up." She hands over the drink, which he accepts happily.
"I also have a present for you!" She adds excitedly, her hand fishing around in the bag, before pulling out a large rectangle wrapped in paper.
"It's not my birthday, sweetheart," He teases her.
She shakes the present from side to side, still waiting for him to accept it.
Klaus gives her a curious look, but takes it and rips off the wrapping paper. The gift suddenly feels heavier, and he swallows at the sudden tide of emotions washing over him.
At his lack of response, she starts to ramble with nervousness. "See, your other one was um, ruined, and I thought you would like a new one. I mean – you don't have to use it. I saw it in the window this morning and I just decided -"
"I love it," He croaks, the new sketchpad resting in his hands gingerly.
Caroline's relieved smile momentarily blinds him. "I'm glad."
He places it gently on the night stand, before pulling her into his lap, his hands gripping her hips.
"Allow me to show you how glad I am," He growls, tugging at her polka-dot skirt.
Afterward, he's sitting up against the backboard, and her back is pressed against his chest. He's holding her and tracing patterns on her stomach with his finger.
"Would you ever consider me drawing you nude?"
She snorts, her head resting on his shoulder. "What, you want to 'draw me like one of your french girls?'"
He chuckles at her quote, but nods.
"I hardly think I need to pose for a reference. You have a good enough memory."
Klaus grins, reaching over for a pencil and his new present to begin.
/|\
She tells him the tale of when she went to the aquarium and brooded over her dead father and their separation. To cheer her up, he brings her to the Caribbean. The first thing she does is drag him to go scuba diving. But without the masks, because they are already dead, and do they need to breathe anyway?
Caroline watches the fish, smiling under water as they swim so close to her body that they tickle. The fish come in every color she can imagine, different sizes and personalities, and she sits on the sand at the bottom, her hair spreading out and flowing around her like a glowing yellow halo, illuminating everything around her.
He watches her in awe instead of the colorful coral reefs. She's like a mermaid or an angel, pale and golden and so bright he just wants to stare at her and worship at her feet. And stare at her he does, until she looks at him with a puzzled expression. But she grins, and it's so contagious he can't help but smile back at her like a fool.
A dolphin flashes by, and she grabs its fin and is pulled along, listening to the clicking noises it emits as they twirl together in sync.
Later, when the sun sets and the sky turns pink and the blue water reflects all of the rays, they swing back and forth on a hammock, Klaus holding her, half-asleep as she reads another one of her many travel book. It's finally dark, though, and she wakes him up, dragging him down to the deserted beach, making a small campfire.
They relax by the fire, basking in the warmth that licks at their skin, and Klaus falls asleep curled up next to her. She also stares at him when he doesn't realize it – just watching the way the red and orange from the fire flicker and contrast with his skin tone and hair.
Somehow, she ends up looking for seashells by the shore, and she hears him approach behind her, offering her his hand. She wipes the muddy sand off on her legs, and sits up to takes his hand. He holds her right one out, placing her left hand on his shoulder.
"You want to dance?"
They are already swaying back and forth, and his forehead rests against hers. All she can see is his eyes, large and blue and staring at her.
"What a keen sense of observation you have," He laughs.
"With no music?" She ignores his jibe.
"Who needs music anyway."
Caroline snorts, her eyes rolling, but acquiesces at his romantic gesture. "You are so cheesy sometimes."
(He secretly likes the way her nose crinkles, the light dusting of freckles on her nose disappears in the caverns of the wrinkles.)
"We all need some – as you put it so eloquently – 'cheese' in our lives." Klaus elongates the word cheese, drawling it in his British accent that he knows drives her up the wall.
She smiles, resting her head on his shoulder and looking out at the sparkling water, her eyes following the dolphins jumping up from the surf and splashing about – carefree and happy.
/|\
They sleep in a rented cabana by the ocean, and when the sunrise brushes against her face, she rolls off quietly, planning to take a walk. Caroline's foot prints trail behind her, gradually disappearing into the high tide waves. It isn't warm yet, but it is her favorite time of day, when the sky was a gray and pink color and the endless breeze coming from the ocean smells of salt and freedom. She feels free here – free form the clutches of her home town.
Her new found sense of happiness quickly disappears when she returns back to their cabana, and sees him packing up their things.
"Why are you packing? We've only been here for a day -"
All he says is, "I just got a call, Caroline."
At her name, she feels cold dread well up inside of her.
"What happened?" She whispers.
Klaus looks at her for a long time, searching her face for something she couldn't determine. Her tongue feels heavy in her mouth, and she struggles to form her next demand.
"Tell me."
And then he is reaching towards her, his hands clasping around her shoulders and stroking them with his thumbs. Her eyes are wide.
"It's your mother."
/|\
Hmm. I feel bad for them, I just can't let them stay happy, can I? Hope you liked this update. I'm practically dying because there was no new TVD episode tonight.
The wonderful DGfleetfox suggested the underwater moment - thank you!
Please leave a review!