A drabble request from shiva-snowi on my tumblr (dragonqueenofall) for some happy Klaroline.

(Feel free to send me drabble requests by PM or on tumblr.)

"Caroline."

The breathy word caused her to freeze in place, a chill seeming to suddenly encompass her body. That voice.

Caroline slowly turned around, half hoping she was wrong about her mental identification of its owner, half hoping she was right. When she saw the familiar blonde curls and the blue, expressive eyes looking at her as if the rest of the world had melted away, she knew she had been right in her assessment. Klaus.

"Hi," she said shyly, mentally smacking herself for not being bold and aloof like she had always imagined she would be when she finally saw him again; not that she ever thought about that, of course not. After all these years he still managed to make her stomach do somersaults.

"What brings you to Paris, love?" he asked as he walked up to her, closing the space between them. "Finally tired of small town life?" he teased, familiar smirk crossing his face.

Caroline smiled back, ignoring the underlying taunt. "Well, some of us haven't been everywhere on the planet a billion times already," she teased back, his answering chuckle sending shivers running along her spine. "Got to start somewhere."

"Indeed." he said, staring at her intently, making her feel like squirming. "Would you perhaps like a tour guide, love? I haven't been here in a few decades, of course, but I think I remember the highlights."

Caroline looked at him for a moment, weighing her options. It had been almost ten years since she last saw him in the woods, after they had… done things. Would it be so bad if she took him up on his offer? She may not have centuries under her belt, not yet anyway, but she liked to think she had grown some over the years, that she was not the same naive little Caroline anymore.

She knew now that he was no different than her. She had the same potential to wreak havoc as Klaus, she just controlled herself better. Hell, Stefan had slipped a few times over the years, and he was still a good person. Surely there was hope for Klaus?

When she did not answer right away Klaus tried to backtrack. "If you have other plans, of course, don't let me keep you," he said hurriedly, averting his eyes and staring at the cobblestones.

Caroline quickly made up her mind as she watched his walls begin to rebuild right before her eyes. "No, I mean, I don't have any plans," she quickly said, surprised to find her hand reaching out to touch his arm, though not as surprised as Klaus was, surely. "Who better to show me around than a guy who was probably around when the city was founded," she added with a wink, finding herself unwilling to remove her hand from his arm. Her fingers tingled where they touched his coat.

"Not quite," he chuckled, watching her eyes as he brought his hand up to cover her own, clearly enjoying the flush that spread across her cheeks at the contact. "Shall we then, Mademoiselle?" he asked, seamlessly drawing her hand down his arm until he could grasp it in his.

Klaus watched her face intensely as his fingers wrapped around hers, taking care not to grip her as tightly as he wished, afraid she would disappear through his fingertips. When she only smiled brightly up at him and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, he broke into a wide, dimpled grin.

"We shall," she said resolutely, not sure if she was only answering his proposed question and not anything he had asked her long ago.