Klaus had run as quickly as he could to the town square. He saw the crowd gathered and Caroline burning up in the sun, tied to some sort of grotesque stage. He had gotten there right in time to see the executioner plunge a stake deep into her chest.

His lungs vibrated with the sound that ripped from his throat, expressing everything he felt at that moment. It was like someone was ripping his inisdes out. Caroline's head dropped in a final nod of death. Once again he had failed. Failed to save and protect someone he cared about. She was now gone forever and nothing would bring her back. The angry tears brimmed in his eyes.

The entire crowd turned their attention on him. He heard his hybrids follow up behind him. His pupils dilated as he used his compulsion to hold the entire crowd still. They would pay. This was their fault. They would pay for what they had done to Caroline. His sweet, brave girl who had always defended them and protected them. This was what she got for her kindness. To his right he heard car doors slam and footsteps running toward him.

He turned his head just in time to see Damon run toward him. Klaus dodged the vampire's tackle. His fangs dropped and he hissed. Damon ran for him again. This time Klaus caught him by the throat and slammed him into the ground.

"You've gotten in my way one too many times vampire," he growled. Damon snarled back at him and rolled off the ground. His eyes flicked to something behind them.

Klaus twisted around and saw Bonnie and Elena running for the stage. For Caroline. He started to move toward the girls when he felt a sting on his arm. Someone was shooting at him. It was Alaric, with Jeremy right beside him. Alaric was armed. Klaus redirected his path towards the humans. The crowd remained silent and still throughout everything.

Klaus was on them in the blink of an eye. He yanked the gun from Alaric's hand and tossed it across the square. His hand shot out and he grabbed the two men by the throat. His jaw clenched as his squeezed their necks harder. He could feel their pulses beating rapidly beneath the skin.

"Klaus! No!" He froze, about to make his kill. He knew that voice. Suddenly he dropped Alaric and Jeremy. They hit the ground hard and coughed as air returned to their lungs.

He spun around and saw Caroline running toward him. She was alive. She was bleeding from her chest and was badly burned but she was alive. He stared at her in disbelief and she stumbled through the still crowd toward him. Caroline!

Before he could take a step towards her, he felt something sharp and hot slide through his body. He looked down to see a large piece of wood protruding through his stomach.

"Damon!" He heard Caroline scream as he dropped to his knees and groaned in pain. She flashed forward and was beside him as the pain brought him down. This wouldn't kill him of course, but it bloody well hurt.

"Oh my God, Klaus. Are you ok?" Caroline dropped down beside him.

"Yes. Big bag hybrid remember, nothing can hurt me," still he winced in pain as he pulled the splintered two-by-four out of his torso. He glanced over her, refusing to meet her eyes. "How are you not dead? I saw it happen."

Caroline shook her head. "Matt was behind the mask. We set the whole thing up as another failsafe. Since I had the close call before, I could show him just where to stake me so it would look like he hit my heart but wouldn't really. Just in case something happened and Bonnie couldn't stop him. Good thing too."

Klaus still couldn't believe he was looking at her alive again. Even though it turns out she had never really been dead. He reached up to push her hair away from her face, but stopped himself.

"What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be going after Stefan and getting your family back? He'll be gone by now."

Klaus looked up at her questioningly. "How do you know about that?"

All of a sudden she looked contrite. He noticed she began pulling at her fingers, which Klaus observed she always did when she was nervous. "Well who do you think tipped off his location to your hybrid minion?"

He couldn't believe it. "Why would you risk it?"

"Well it wasn't a huge risk. I had word sent to him as well. I gave you a head start though. Stefan would have no choice but to leave all that cargo behind if he wanted to get out alive."

"But still—"

Caroline placed her hand over his mouth and began talking a mile a minute "Because I love you and I was sorry for not telling you right away and I may have died and I just wanted you to have your family back. Even if they are all as evil as you. I didn't want you to be alone." She took a deep breath at the end of her speech and exhaled dramatically. The pair of them just sat there, looking anywhere but at one another. After a few moments she remembered she had her hand over his mouth. She removed it, smiling nervously.

"Caroline are you helping or shall I do all the work as usual," Damon called to her. She rolled her eyes to herself and looked at Klaus. He had a weird half-stunned look on his face.

"You have them compelled to be still right? Can they stay that way for now?" Klaus nodded once. Caroline looked at him anxiously, but then slowly stood up off the ground. She stumbled a bit; clearly still weak from all of the vervain, sunlight, and stake exposure.

Klaus watched her get up and walked towards the crowd. One by one Damon and Caroline compelled the entire town of Mystic Falls. After each person was compelled they all left the square in a ghost like trance.

Truthfully he felt like he was in a trance himself. He vaguely noticed that his hybrids had run off. Bonnie and Elena tended to Jeremy and Alaric, who kept throwing dirty looks in his direction. But none of it seemed real.

The hybrid lifted himself off the ground, the hole in his stomach already completely healed. He watched Caroline. All he could think about were those four words she had said to him. So quickly and easily they had fallen in her mouth. Because I love you.

Two Weeks Later

"See you and everyone later at The Grill?"

"Yeah definitely," Caroline replied with a smile, "Just gotta run home and shower first. I reek from cheerleading practice."

Matt chuckled and gave her a friendly tap on the shoulder. He said goodbye and walked over to his truck, throwing his football gear in the bed, and heading for home.

"So Matt and you are pretty friendly again," Bonnie nudged her friend playfully. The girls gathered up their pom-poms and made their way towards Caroline's car.

"Yeah well staking really has a way of bringing people closer together," Caroline quipped. Bonnie gave her one of those looks. "Seriously. Just friends. No guys for Caroline Forbes for a long time."

"I take it still no word from Klaus," Bonnie said.

Caroline sighed and tossed her pom-poms and duffle bag into her back seat. "Nope, haven't talked to him since I accidentally told him I loved him."

"You know I couldn't believe it when Elena told me about you guys after everything that had happened."

"Yeah, well it doesn't matter. He's gone and even if he does come back it will probably be only for Elena's blood to make more hybrids. Then he'll disappear again." She frowned as she readjusted her ponytail.

"Sorry," Bonnie offered, "I guess you really liked him."

"Yeah I did," Caroline gave her a half smile. I still do, she added to herself. She appreciated that both Elena and Bonnie had been so supportive of her recent heartbreak. Even if it was because of Klaus. A car beeped its horn behind them and the girls turned to see who it was.

"There's Jeremy, gotta go," Bonnie said giving her a little squeeze," see ya later tonight."

"See ya." Caroline said wistfully, slightly jealous as she watched Jeremy kiss Bonnie hello and wrap his arm around her. She got in her own car and backed out of the space, heading for home.

Over the past two weeks, Caroline had been trying not to feel to sorry for herself. Thankfully her and Damon's compulsion had worked and the town was back to normal. It seemed that Mystic Falls had completely forgotten the existence of the vampires. Everyone except her mom, Matt, and Carol Lockwood. But they now trusted that if any actual evil vampires came around, the town would be in good hands.

Caroline was happy to be back in school. She was really glad that she had kept up with her assignments. She couldn't help but feel a little smug at the fact that Elena and Bonnie seemed to be struggling a bit. Even though she was back to cheerleading and planning bake sales and dances, she couldn't quite forget her time as an outcast. Mystic Falls definitely had an ugly side that she hoped she would never have to see again.

Still in spite of having everything back to normal in her life, she couldn't help but miss Klaus. It would have been nice to hear something from him. Anything. Even if it were to tell her that he still thought she was a horrible, lying, awful vampire at least she would know where she stood. What had even happened? After going through that day over and over in her head she had thought he had come there to rescue her. So clearly he had forgiven her right? But then he just disappeared to God knew where. The only other thought Caroline could come up with was that she freaked him out of something when she dropped the L word on him.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to hold back the tears for the umpteenth time this week. She would not cry. Everything was over now and in the past. She would move on and get over Klaus and not think about him ever again.

Which would have worked out perfectly if only he hadn't been standing there when she pulled into her driveway.

She put the car in park and turned off the ignition. What was he doing here? As he sauntered towards her car, in his tight brown pants and long sleeve tee, she silently wished she didn't look so messy from cheerleading practice. God, she must smell and look disgusting.

Klaus lifted up the handle and opened the door for her, sweeping his hand out grandly. "Good afternoon Caroline."

Caroline crept slowly out of her seat and stood there facing him. A million things were running through her mind but she couldn't seem to make her mouth work.

"How was your day?" He asked, the signature smirk on his lips.

"How was my day? How was my day! How about how was my last two weeks?" She snapped.

"Pardon?"

"Two weeks! That's how long you've been gone and I haven't heard a word. The least you could have done was send me some sort of rejection text or something for me to know what the hell has been going on!"

"I don't understand," Klaus replied, the smile fading from his lips.

"You know what, it doesn't even matter," she said slamming the car door and brushing past him, "Go! Go and get your doppelganger blood and make more stupid hybrids and just go off on your rampage for world domination or whatever it is you want to do!"

Klaus caught her arm and spun her around. "That isn't why I came back here."

'Then why are you here?" Caroline glared at him.

Klaus chuckled lightly, "Do you really have to ask?" Then he dipped his head down and kissed her.

Caroline felt her knees go weak and her heart explode. Klaus wrapped his arms around her body and squeezed her firmly against him. As always his kiss was fierce and possessive, but Caroline found that every time she kissed him it was like a brand new experience.

"Wait," she said pushing away from him so that she could look into his eyes. He still held onto her tightly. "But I told you I—"

"I know." He replied with a slow nod"

"And then you left." Caroline looked at him sadly. He released his hold on her and cupped her face reverently.

"Love, I've been alive for hundreds of years but never once have I been..in a..relationship," he replied slow and serious.

Suddenly it dawned on her. Her shoulders relaxed and all the stress of the past couple of weeks drained out of her. She felt like the world's biggest idiot. She understood exactly what Klaus was trying to say. He was trying to apologize.

"Yeah, it's usually standard practice for a boyfriend to tell his girlfriend where he is going," Caroline chided, a smile spreading across his face.

Klaus shook his head playfully, "Boyfriend? Well I guess I'll have to get used to having to answer to someone from now on won't I?"

Caroline nodded her head between his hands, "Yes you will."

"I suppose I will also have to try not to jump to conclusions when my girlfriend tries to explain to me that she did not mean to lie, she just made a mistake."

"I am sorry for that Klaus."

"Don't worry love, all is forgiven. If you can forgive me for being an occasional what-do-your friends call me …psychopath?"

Caroline smiled and stood up on her tiptoes to give him another kiss. He captured her mouth once again with his, cradling her face between his palms. The two of them stood there in each other's arms for quite some time. The glowing sun painting them orange and pink as the day gave way to the dark blue night sky.

Eventually, Caroline pulled away. She gazed up into to Klaus's eyes. He bit his lip playfully and smiled at her, brushing the fallen strands of hair out of her face.

"So what now?" Caroline asked nervously.

"Now I have to get my family back," Klaus replied seriously.

"I guess that means you're not staying," said Caroline. Klaus nodded. "What about the hybrids?"

"That project is on hold for now. So you can tell your friends to relax for the time being," he told her brushing her cheek with his thumb.

Caroline gave him a half smile. "Will you kill Stefan whenever you find him?"

"I'll try very hard not to," he offered with a wicked smile. Caroline rolled her eyes at him. "Caroline I know that it's important for you to continue your life here in Mystic Falls and I want you to have that. But also know that I want you with me for the rest of eternity." He leaned forward and touched his forehead to hers, "You are mine now and I will always come for you."

Her heart soared at his words. She wrapped her hands around his waist and held onto him. This wasn't going to be an easy relationship, but she was all in, and it was good to know that he was too. Maybe they couldn't be together right now, but Klaus was right. They were immortal after all. They had the rest of eternity.