It wasn't long after I put Caroline to bed that a knock rang on the door. I thought about it ignoring it and actually crawling into bed with Caroline anyways, when the knock grew more persistent. I strolled over and opened it wide to find Damon leaning against one of the white pillars making an arch over my door.

"So, you're back."

"Yes, as per the deal, which I think you might've broke by locking Caroline away."

"Nah. There were never any specifics. I just played with them a little bit."

"What do you want, asshole?"

"Ooh," Damon grinned, "Someone's had a bad day." I rolled my eyes and waited for Damon to put his big man pants back on.

"I want to kill you, but unfortunately I've been denied permission. Apparently Elena has seen the light after a long soulful talk with Stefan that I wasn't allowed to be a part of. So, I came instead to impart on you an early wedding gift."

"We're not..."

"Okay, a very very early wedding gift," and before I could even register what was about to happen, Damon shoved the final white oak stake into my stomach, even though I could've sworn was in my sock drawer. But, I guess I'd been gone for some time. I slumped down to the floor to my chagrin and Damon chuckled before disappearing in the time it took me to blink. I muscled it out of my chest, panting heavily, and rested my head on the cold hard wood floor. I don't know how long I laid there, but long enough for Caroline to wake up and come down to help me up.

"I'm going to kill that bastard," she said.

"No you're not, Caroline. He'll just keep retaliating until someone actually gets seriously hurt."

"You're seriously hurt," she cried.

"No. Tis but a scratch."

Caroline laughed and kissed me on the cheek. "Only you would quote Monty Python to change the topic. I didn't even know you'd seen that." I grinned down at her and wrapped her in my arms, resting my chin on her head.

"I wasn't sure you had either. Oh, I thought you should know that Elena is on our side now."

"She is?"

"Mmm," I murmured, delighted to hear the forgiveness and excitement in her voice at the prospect. "You should go call her."

"I will," Caroline replied, slipping out from my arms. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Take all the time you need, love. I'll be fine." It was mostly true, but I actually never wanted her out of my sight ever again. Unfortunately, love wasn't always about getting what you wanted, which was something I'd learned from Caroline in the last couple of days. And since my entire life had been about getting my way, you can imagine how life-changing this realization had the potential to be.

Caroline's POV

"Elena?"

"Caroline! Oh my god, I was so worried you'd never talk to me again. I had no idea, okay, and Klaus had done horrible things in the past to..."

"I know," I interrupted. "I get it Elena. I wish you had trusted me but I get why you didn't and I forgive you."

"Who told you I'd changed my mind?"
"Klaus, via Damon. You're boyfriend is psychotic mind you."

"I told him off, don't worry, but it didn't change anything. He simply did what I asked without question, which is amazing."

"Don't you think you need someone who challenges you?" I sighed, hoping Elena would just be with Stefan again.

"He does. I just think he agreed with me on this matter. Or at least the Klaus part of it. He's always wanted to stake him...permanently."

"Are you happy?"

"Very," Elena said.

"Then I'm alright with it," I conceded.

"Are you happy, Caroline?"

"I haven't been happier in my entire life. I didn't even know what I'd been missing this entire time, but I do now and I don't intend on letting him go."

"What's he like?"

"He's caring, considerate, protective, drop dead gorgeous as usual, funny, and so desperately in love with me it's almost sad or funny. I haven't decided which yet." And then I felt arms wind around me, brushing across some skin that had become visible when I lifted the phone to my ear. His lips touched my neck and I shivered.

"Sad," he whispered. "It's the saddest thing in all of human history."

"Apparently it's sad," I laughed into the phone to Elena. She joined the laughter, and pretty soon she was the only one because my breath caught as Klaus's hands explored up my shirt and started tracing circles around my belly button."

"I got to go," I breathed.

"Wear a condom."

"Ha ha," I laughed shortly and ended the call. "Stop doing that," I groaned. "It's driving me insane."

"That was kind of the goal."

"Well, congratulations. Let me go."

He complied and I turned to face him. "Can I say something without you interrupting me once?"

He nodded and waited patiently not even touching me to distract me from my thoughts.

"Remember that kiss in Richmond? And how you asked me what it meant and how I told you I'd think about it? Well it meant I love you, more than anything. I haven't met anyone like you Niklaus, and I'm sorry it took me so long to catch on the the fact that you were meant for me. You challenge me, make me laugh, you love me, and you always have. And most importantly, you make me happy. Happier than Tyler or Matt ever made me. And I don't know why. I think it might have something to do with the fact that my emotions regarding you are just much stronger, whether it's hate, irritation, or love. And I just wanted you to know that. I wanted you to know that I'm not going anywhere, that I'm yours and you're mine and that no matter what is happening I will always fight for that because I love you and that's what I think love is."

He didn't say a word but was in an absolute state of bliss. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him tight. "I can't...I can't...not anything like that," Klaus whispered. "I don't know what...I just..."

"Shh. I know."

"I love you too Caroline Forbes, more than I can express." He kissed me on the top of the head before pushing me away slightly and using his index finger to lift my face to his. Hie eyes were swelled to the brim with tears and the lighter tinges of blue were sparkling. "You're so beautiful," he smiled before bending down and kissing me.

I don't know what time or dimension we were in, I didn't even know if we were on planet earth any longer. I just knew it didn't matter because I was with him. I would always be with him. And that was the beautiful thing about love. Five days ago I wouldn't have been able to say, let alone believe that any relationship could last forever because none of mine ever had. But I believe it now. More than I believed in curling my hair every morning, or taking a shower every day, or being strong for those you care about. And I believed it because those blue eyes staring down at mine as we speak were the exact same color with the exact same emotions swirling through them.

Those blue eyes.

*I had to write you guys a final chapter. I felt bad just leaving it. But this is officially it for this story. I'm so glad so many of you read it and I love you all for doing so. I hope you enjoyed this story almost as much as I did and I hope the ending suited you alright. It's a little bit of overkill but what can I say, I'm hopeless for these two.