Longest chapter I've ever written for any story. I've been on this site for six years so that's a real feat for me. I didn't intend for it to be so long but I knew where it had to end and things kept popping up to fill the middle. Anyways, hope you like it. I'm so pleased with the response I've gotten so far. Someone mentioned something about it being light for being canon-esque (in a good way) and I strive for that. So many canon stories are dark (and excellent) but I wanted to provide a little fluff for our favorite couple. I'm trying to keep everyone as close to who they are as possible so let me know if I'm doing something too OOC and I'll try to fix it. Glad people are happy to see Katherine. If I can't bring Kol back from the dead, she'll have to do for problem-causing. Anyways, here's chapter 3. As always, let me know what you think. Thanks!
Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.
"So, uh, how soon might this proposal happen?" Caroline asked Klaus later that night as they drove away from her mother's house.
"Patience is a virtue, sweetheart," he reminded her. "Once planning begins, we both know that between you and Rebekah, I won't have much to do so you have to let me do this one thing my way."
"But it has to be soon," she whined. "It's already almost May and I want a June wedding."
"Oh, I know better than to make you wait too long for anything," he assured her. "Your birthday two years ago taught me that."
She giggled, thinking back to it. "It's not my fault you're terrible at hiding presents and I found the necklace. But you didn't have to make me wait three extra days for it."
"Had to teach you a lesson," he smirked. He looked over to see her pouting and sighed. "Just don't make any plans for tomorrow evening."
"Okay!" she perked up. "Now, are you sure you want to sleep in a guest room tonight? I really think we should celebrate my mom's answer."
"Celebrate?" he repeated. "I think your idea of celebrating and mine are rather different, love. I'm willing to discuss it if you're willing to call a truce."
"No," she shook her head. "I'm winning our bet. We're going to a beach."
Klaus eyed her pointedly. "I think we can agree that regardless of who wins, we'll end up on a beach. You'll certainly wear me down on that."
"Well, only because you'll let me," she shot back. "And if you know that, why even go through with this stupid bet? Just sleep with me tonight."
He shook his head. "Even if I give you what you want in the end, I still want to win."
"Why does everything have to be a competition?" she grumbled. "Can't you just gloat about getting to have me around forever? Isn't that enough?"
He grinned. "Of course it is. But why not go above and beyond if I can?"
She just made a face but said nothing as he drove back to their house.
Everyone was still awake when they arrived, waiting to hear about Sheriff Forbes' answer.
"Geez, she said yes," Caroline muttered. "Did you all honestly believe my mother would stand in the way of my eternal happiness?"
"Yes," Katherine nodded. "Well, maybe hoped is more like it. I don't know why you all insist on getting married. What good does it do? We're dead."
Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Spoken like someone who won't ever be asked."
Caroline looked to Elijah. As the oldest and most traditional of the Original family, she knew he probably did want to marry Katherine. But Katherine was like Klaus in her beliefs on it; Klaus was just willing to do anything to please Caroline whereas Katherine still cared more about herself than she did about Elijah.
"When are you gonna propose?" Stefan asked, breaking the tension.
"From what I can tell, tomorrow," Caroline answered. "I'm not allowed to make plans for the evening."
"Oh, darn," Katherine deadpanned. "I was hoping we could have girls' night with Rebekah and my dull as dishwater descendant."
"Katerina, why don't you go upstairs?" Klaus suggested, looking her directly in the eye. "And stay there for the rest of the evening."
"This is why you should let me drink vervain," she grumbled to Elijah as she did as she was compelled to do. "'Oh, no,'" you say, 'no one in my family will compel you anymore.' Wrong."
"Niklaus," Elijah sighed. "Why?"
"I let her live," Klaus reminded him. "Don't ask for more than that."
Caroline laughed quietly as Elijah followed behind Katherine. "You didn't have to do that."
Klaus shrugged. "Sometimes I like to remind her of her place in our family."
Hearing him call her, and Stefan, family always made Caroline's heart swell. Klaus had always valued family above all else so being a part of that now was comforting, knowing they'd always be together. In the last ten years, she'd gotten closer to their small group than she felt to Elena and Bonnie anymore but it was nice to plan her wedding with the friends from childhood she'd always expected to plan it with, even if Rebekah would play a bigger part.
"Why don't you boys go occupy yourselves while Caroline and I discuss dresses," Rebekah suggested.
"I can tell when I'm not wanted," Stefan laughed, standing up from the couch.
"I'm going to paint," Klaus declared. He took Caroline's hand and pulled her to him. "I imagine this will take up the rest of your evening and seeing as we're not sleeping in the same room, I'll bid you goodnight now."
Caroline frowned. "I still stand by the belief that this is ridiculous. My request is perfectly normal."
"It is," he agreed, "but there's no chance I could sleep in the same bed as you and keep my hands to myself so to honor your wishes, I'll sleep elsewhere."
"For now," she smirked, pressing her body into his. "I know you'll eventually give in."
Klaus just smiled and kissed her softly. "Goodnight, love."
"Night," she whispered as he backed away.
"Come on," Rebekah called over to her. "If you want a June wedding, we aren't going to have much time to plan."
"Okay, okay," Caroline relented, joining her fellow blonde on the couch. "Hey, Bek, I'd really like it if you'd be my maid of honor. I know Stefan is technically my best friend and some people might expect me to choose Elena or Bonnie but you're the girl I'm closest to these days and I trust you to help me with this more than anyone. Plus, I was yours and fair is fair."
Rebekah beamed. "I'd be happy to. Stefan can just be Nik's best man." She picked up her iPad from the coffee table and pulled up a website. "Now, this is the dress I'd like to wear," she explained, not giving Caroline the option to reject it.
Caroline scoffed. "Of course it's designer. Bonnie is a therapist in a small town. She might not be able to afford Monique Lhuillier. Elena has Gilbert and Salvatore money to buy hers but the Bennett's aren't a Founding Family so Bonnie doesn't have unlimited funds to blow."
"So buy it for her," Rebekah shrugged indifferently. "The color options are yellow, mint green, a soft pink, and ivory. Seeing as you'll be in ivory, that's out. I personally like the yellow but I'm willing to let you choose."
"Oh, thank you," Caroline rolled her eyes. At this point, it irked her to agree with Rebekah but the yellow was pretty. She thought for a moment. "Fine, we'll do the yellow. Yellow and a dove gray will be our colors so the guys can wear gray suits with yellow ties. Elijah's tailor can make them, I'm sure."
"Sounds lovely," Rebekah nodded. "Now, what kind of dress are you looking for? It's summer so a ball gown is out of the question. And that's what I wore."
"No, I'm thinking mermaid," Caroline declared. "It best accentuates my figure."
"And Nik likes that style best," Rebekah muttered knowingly.
"Well, I don't want a dress he'd hate," Caroline shrugged. "It's his wedding, too."
Rebekah smirked but said nothing. "We should look in DC. You aren't going to find anything decent around here."
"Sure," Caroline agreed.
Rebekah groaned. "Caroline! How are we going to plan the perfect summer wedding if you—the bride!—won't even participate?"
"I'm sorry," Caroline apologized. "It's just, your brother and I made this stupid bet and I don't like it."
"What bet?" Rebekah asked.
"I took a page from your book and said I wanted to stop having sex until we were married," Caroline told her. "You know, have a little traditionalism in this whole thing. When you guys were human, sex was literally only for like, making babies or whatever."
"It wasn't if you were Nik," Rebekah remembered. "But go on."
Caroline cringed at mention of Klaus' past with the original Petrova doppelgänger but continued. "Anyways, he said the only way that could work is if we don't even sleep in the same bed. I haven't slept apart from him in ten years, Bekah! He's being outrageous."
"Well, not exactly," Rebekah denied. "Stefan grew up in the Civil War era, when the women were sweet and modest and the men were gallant and courteous. To him it was a romantic gesture that made our wedding night that much more special. Nik isn't like that and you wouldn't like him if he were. He's part wolf so he's primal and animalistic. Abstinence is not in his wheelhouse, as you of this time period would say. Expecting him to like that isn't very fair of you, especially when he compromises for you quite a bit already, with the occasional blood bag and sporadic compulsion. That he's even attempting to do it for you shows how committed he is to giving you whatever you bloody well please."
Caroline frowned. "I guess you're right. So I should just give up?"
"Oh, no," Rebekah shook her head with a devilish grin, very reminiscent of Kol. "Now that the bet is in play, you have to win. What are the terms?"
"Winner picks the honeymoon destination," Caroline answered. "He wants some museum tour of Europe which, you know, we've done a hundred times before, and I want a private beach."
"That's the prize?" Rebekah said, scrunching her nose. "He's such a sucker for you, Caroline. There's no way he'll turn down a private beach with you in favor of some boring sculptures he probably saw when they were first made." She smirked. "But, it will be entertaining to see him squirm."
"Well, I don't want to torture him," Caroline sighed. "But it might fun to tease a little."
Rebekah lit up. "And I have the perfect way to start."
Two hours later, Klaus was finishing up his latest landscape when he noticed that the temperature in the house had gone up. Because he was dead, the heat wasn't unbearable but it was certainly noticeable. He stormed out of his studio and ran into Stefan.
"Air's out," Stefan explained, wearing only a pair of cotton pajama pants and a thin t-shirt. "Can't get anyone in to fix it until tomorrow morning."
"We're going to stay with Damon and Elena," Rebekah grumbled as she came up behind her husband with an overnight bag. "Yippee."
Stefan chuckled and wrapped an arm around his wife. "Damon promised to be nice."
"I can handle Damon," Rebekah said as they walked down the hallway. "It's Elena I can't stand."
As the temperature continued rising to stifling levels, Klaus went to check on Caroline. As the youngest vampire in the house, she still reacted as a human to such things. What he found when he reached their room, however, was definitely unexpected. His almost fiancée was sleeping soundly over the blankets, wearing only a see-through camisole and nearly nothing else, as her underwear left very little to the imagination.
"Bloody hell," he muttered, quietly clearing his throat.
"Klaus?" Caroline stirred and sat up. "What's wrong?"
"The A/C is broken, love," he reported. "But I see you're hardly put-out. What's that you're sleeping in?"
"Pajamas," she replied coyly. "It's hot."
"That's what you're going with?" he asked with a knowing smirk. "Caroline, I see exactly what you're doing here."
"I'm trying to sleep," she yawned, feigning innocence. "What are you doing? Did you finish your painting?"
"All right, I'll play along," he grinned. "Yes, I did finish my painting. Did you and Rebekah make any progress?"
"We got a bit distracted," she smiled, "but we made plans to go to DC on Wednesday to dress shop. It's my mom's day off. I just have to make sure Elena and Bonnie can go. I would like you all to wear gray suits though; we did decide on that."
Klaus was having a hard time concentrating while she wore so little. He cleared his throat again. "What? Oh, fine. Yes, gray is fine."
Caroline bit the inside of her cheek to keep the giggle from escaping. She could see he was incredibly uncomfortable by the whole situation, which meant the plan she'd cooked up with Rebekah was working in her favor.
"Are you all right?" she asked him, crawling out of the bed slowly, only making it worse. "Is the heat getting to you? We could sit outside for a while."
"No, I'm fine," he shook his head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay in the heat. Now that I know you are, I'll head to bed."
Caroline stood in front of him. "Okay then. Goodnight, Klaus." She pressed the softest of kisses to the corner of his mouth. "I love you."
"You aren't playing fair, sweetheart," he whispered.
"I know," she whispered back as she slowly backed away from him. "Enjoy the guest room. It's gonna be a very long eight weeks."
"Yes, it is," he muttered as he left the room.
Early the following morning, Klaus watched as an aging repair man crawled around his basement, looking at the heating system.
"The problem, Mr. Mikaelson, is simple," the man spoke up, as he stood. "Someone flipped the fuse."
"You don't say?" Klaus mused, shaking his head in amusement as he handed the worked several bills. "Well, I appreciate you coming out so early." He stared at the man as his pupils dilated. "Now you'll leave and forget you were ever here."
Caroline made her way into the kitchen a couple hours later—fully clothed—and found Klaus sketching. "Morning."
"Good morning, love," he greeted her. "Did you sleep well?"
"Like a baby," she nodded, pouring a cup of coffee. "I forgot how comfortable that bed is. What about you?"
"Just fine," he assured her. "I'm not surprised you slept well. You must've been exhausted with all that fuse flipping you did so late."
"What?" she laughed incredulously. "What fuse?"
He flashed to stand dangerously close to her. "I could compel it out of you."
"You wouldn't if your life depended on it," she shot back, kissing him. "And besides, it was Rebekah. I didn't even know where it was." She ducked away from him. "We never made any rules so all's fair in love and war."
"War?" he repeated. "Is that what this little game has become?"
"I suppose," she shrugged. "But before you go plotting your own strategy, you have to remember that I'm all vampire so I'm not driven by animal instinct like a certain hybrid might be. It would take a hell of a lot of persuasion for you to break me."
"Oh, I think you underestimate me and overestimate yourself," he told her. "But we'll see."
"I don't know what you two are talking about and I don't care but I don't want to hear it," Katherine announced as she and Elijah joined them. "What the hell was up with the heat last night? At first I just thought it was us but even after we finished, it was still hot in our room."
"Ew," Caroline grimaced.
"Katerina," Elijah warned. "Neither the time nor place."
The brunette simply rolled her eyes and took a blood bag from the fridge. "So, when will I be fitted for my bridesmaid dress?"
"Please," Caroline scoffed. "You'll be a bridesmaid in my wedding when pigs fly."
Katherine pouted facetiously. "But Elijah is in the wedding!"
"Because we like him," Caroline replied. "And for that, we tolerate you."
"Well, well, well, look who thinks she's tough now that she's marrying the big, bad hybrid," Katherine murmured. "Don't forget who turned you and essentially gave you the opportunity to have eternity with Klaus."
Elijah saw the look on his younger brother's face and knew when to rein Katherine in. "Katerina, come. You're the one who wanted to go into Richmond for the day so we should get going." He held out a hand and gave her no choice but to follow him.
"I hate that bitch," Caroline said loud enough so the departing duo would hear. "She killed me and now gets to hold it over my head forever?"
"Is that how you see it?" Klaus asked her. "She forced this life upon you?"
"Yes," she answered honestly, "because she did." She moved to stand in front of him again. "But I don't regret it for a second. You're the one who first pointed out that I like being a vampire—strong, ageless, fearless." She grinned. "Did I get it right? Isn't that what you told me?"
"Yes," he nodded, reaching up to caress her cheek. "And you are all of those things and so much more."
"I know," she breathed. "You showed me that. So, what time should I be ready tonight?"
"Say, 7:00?" he suggested. "Nothing too formal so you don't have to worry about dressing up."
"I'm intrigued," she admitted. "Am I going to cry?"
"Perhaps," was his vague response. "I have some business to attend to so will you be all right for the day?"
"Klaus, we're in my hometown," she reminded him. "Of course I'll be okay. Tell Marcel I say hi," she said over her shoulder as she headed back towards the foyer to the stairs, knowing that was who he would be doing business with.
"Will do," he chuckled, watching her go.
"Uh, hey, Care," Matt said a while later when they ran into each other in the town square. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm taking a walk," she replied, noticing his dodgy behavior. "What's going on?"
"Huh?" he replied nervously. "Oh, nothing."
Caroline eyed him. "You're a terrible liar, Matt Donovan. Tell me or I'll compel it out of you."
He frowned. "You wouldn't."
She caved. "No, of course I wouldn't, but I'd like to think you could tell me anything."
"Not this," he denied, looking around. "Not now."
Caroline heard a soft whoosh behind her.
"Hey, Care."
She turned slowly and felt as though the ground fell out from under her. "Tyler?"
"It's good to see you," her ex-boyfriend muttered. "How have you been?"
Part of her, the high school part, wanted to slap him for his belief that he could just show up so suddenly after ten years and ask such a nonchalant question, but a bigger part of her was just happy to see her old friend alive and well.
"I'm good," she answered. "How about you? It's been a while."
"Yeah," he nodded.
Matt instantly felt awkward standing there, knowing the conversation was about to go a lot further than he wanted to witness. "I should go. I'll catch up with you both later."
Caroline sat down on a bench and Tyler followed suit.
"I've been living out west," he spoke up after a long silence. "I joined a pack in California about seven years ago and I'm their alpha. They don't care that I'm half-vampire and I sort of turned that side of me off."
"I'm glad you're happy," she replied genuinely.
"Have you stayed in Mystic Falls?" he wanted to know.
Caroline's stomach knotted as she realized he didn't know and hadn't heard anything. "No, I left town nine years ago and have visited only briefly to see my mom. I live in London now."
"London?" he repeated. "Alone?"
"Not exactly," she denied. "I live there with Stefan, his wife, and my fiancée."
He was momentarily silent. "You're getting married? And you live with Stefan?"
"His wife is my fiancée's younger sister," she explained carefully, knowing the truth was coming.
"Huh," Tyler said. "I always thought he'd end up with Elena but I assume she's with Damon?"
"Yep," she confirmed, glad to move onto another subject. "What about you? Any girls in your pack?"
"A few," he reported, "but none are my girlfriend or anything. We're like a family. I assume your fiancée is a vampire?"
"Something like that," she smirked before she could stop herself.
Tyler eyed her. "What does that mean?" A beat passed as understanding crossed his features. "Care, tell me you're not." When she said nothing, his face twisted in a mix of horror and disgust. "You're marrying Klaus?!"
Caroline had always thought that if anyone could ever make her feel a bit ashamed of the happiness she'd found with Klaus, it would be Tyler, but hearing him spit out his former sire's name like he did only angered her now.
"Yes, I am," she snapped. "You can sit there and be angry and start rattling off all the terrible things he did in the past but you won't make me feel bad for my decision, Tyler. I love him and he's not the same person he was ten or eleven years ago."
"He killed my mother!" Tyler cried. "He made me leave town and that forced us apart, Care. He's a monster!"
"No!" she shook her head vehemently. "He sent you away for a few months. You could've come back, Tyler; you chose not to."
"And what? You just ran to his arms?" he demanded.
She calmed down, knowing a scene in the town square was the last thing she needed. "No, but we became friends. He was there for me when everything was falling apart. You were gone, Elena turned off her humanity, Bonnie went crazy, and Silas was here, determined to open the gates to the Other Side and wreak havoc on earth. Klaus was the only person, except for maybe Stefan, who noticed I was still around. Matt, too, but he tried to understandably distance himself from all of the madness."
"If you were 'just friends,' how did you end up together?" Tyler wondered bitterly. "Hayley and I were always just friends but you never trusted us. And I know he was in love with you back when you and I were together."
"Well, the more time I spent with him, the more I saw his human side," she admitted softly. "And during the final battle with Silas, just as he was about to plunge the white oak stake into my heart, Klaus jumped in front of me and took it instead. I knew, in that moment, that I was in love with him and had been for longer than I wanted to admit. But I was so afraid that I was losing him that I didn't care anymore. Bonnie came then and did some spell that just barely stopped the stake from reaching his heart and he survived. We haven't been apart since."
Tyler was silent as he digested all of that information.
"I know it sounds crazy," she went on, "and I'm not asking you to like it even. But it's what is now and I'm happier than I've ever been. And let's be honest, Tyler; you were always going to identify with your werewolf side more than the vampire part and that never would've worked for us. You belong in a pack and they wouldn't have accepted me."
He frowned and shook his head. "We could've tried."
"That would've started with you coming back when you had the chance, but you didn't," she pointed out. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, Elena and Matt only tolerate him for my sake and Bonnie still hates him, too."
"Marrying Klaus," he grumbled. "I don't even know who you are anymore, Caroline."
She stood up. "And that's okay because honestly, I'm a lot different than the girl you once knew and loved. But I am going to invite you to the wedding and if you're my friend, like you once were, you'll come and you'll see how happy I am and that'll be enough for you." She walked away before Tyler could respond.
"She's gonna love it," Stefan told Klaus after the hybrid finished telling his friend of his proposal plan as they sat in the parlor. "It will mean a lot to her."
"I hope so," Klaus murmured. "Caroline is far less high-maintenance than Rebekah so I knew proposing on the Eiffel Tower was out."
Stefan rolled his eyes at the dig; his wife had loved his proposal on the Parisian landmark. "Do you know what you're going to say?"
"Yes," Klaus nodded. "Well, I think so."
"Wow," Stefan breathed. "You know she's going to say yes no matter what you say and yet, you're way more nervous about asking Caroline than you were to talk to Liz."
"I want to do right by her," Klaus reasoned. "She deserves the best of everything."
"To Caroline, you're the best of everything," Stefan told him. "As long as she gets to walk down an aisle and have you waiting for her, that's all that matters."
Klaus would never admit it out loud but he liked having Stefan as his genuine friend again. The Stefan he knew in the 1920's, the Ripper of Monterey, was fun but that wasn't the real Stefan; this was and he still seemed to like Klaus, too. Granted, it happened after years of Caroline and Rebekah forcing them together but it was a true friendship now and they'd even blossomed into family.
"Still," Klaus went on, "I want tonight to be perfect."
"If you don't want to spoil anything unintentionally, you'll stop talking now!" Caroline called out as she walked into the house. Moments later, she found her two favorite men in the parlor. "Hi."
Stefan looked to her. "I um, heard from Matt a little bit ago."
"Ahh," she muttered. "And I take it he mentioned running into me?"
"He did," Stefan replied, standing up. "I'll let you two talk."
Caroline walked over to sit next to Klaus on the couch. "Tyler is back in Mystic Falls."
His jaw visibly clenched. "And you saw him?"
"I did," she said. "We spoke for a few minutes."
"Did you tell him about us?" he asked. "I'll understand if you didn't."
"Of course I told him," she smiled. "I'm not ashamed of you, Klaus. I'm not saying what you did was right or justified and I never will but you did give him the opportunity to come back and if he had loved me like he swore he did, he would've. You aren't the sociopathic Original ass who came here eleven years ago." She paused. "Well, you can still be an ass but you're an ass I fell in love with along the way."
He chuckled. "You have quite a bit to say about my ass, love."
"Oh, God," she rolled her eyes. "Forget I said anything." She stood to go before remembering something else so she sat back down. "Oh, yeah, I might've mentioned to Tyler that we're gonna invite him to the wedding." She winced instinctively, waiting for him to erupt.
Klaus breathed deeply. The absolute last person on the planet he wanted to see as Caroline walked down the aisle to him was Tyler Lockwood but if it made her feel better to have him there, he would allow it. Besides, it would be fun to rub it in the mutt's face that he got the girl in the end.
"Fine," he agreed. "Tyler can come to the wedding."
"Thank you," she smiled, leaning into him. "How's Marcel?"
"Same as always," he replied, wrapping an arm around her as they lounged on the couch. "He's still fighting with Sophie everyday but Davina has apparently really come into her power so he's been using her instead."
"And Camille?" Caroline seethed, referring to the college girl who'd made it clear her feelings for Klaus back when they were in New Orleans. "How's that little tramp?"
"Old," he laughed, playing with the ends of her hair. "Camille is 30 now, sweetheart. You have no reason to be jealous of her anymore. Not that you ever did. Camille doesn't hold a candle."
"Duh," she scoffed. "But I still didn't like her. The way she threw herself at you? It was pathetic."
Klaus just chuckled softly. "I love you, Caroline."
She snuggled into him. "I love you, too. And I love lying here like this. It's a shame we can do it every night."
"Oh, we could do so much more than this every night," he whispered, letting his hand fall to stroke her arm.
Caroline knew he was playing her now. "This is going to be awful, isn't it?"
"Indeed," he confirmed. "You know, we technically aren't engaged yet so if we went up to our room right now, we wouldn't be breaking any rules of the bet. It was just start tomorrow, as it should."
Caroline considered this for half a second before jumping up. "No way! Cause if we have sex right now, you'd win. It isn't night so we wouldn't fall asleep together in the same bed afterwards. You're trying to trick me."
"I almost had you," he smirked knowingly.
"I'm gonna go see Elena," she decided, knowing she had to get away from him for a while to calm the temptation. "And I'll get ready at the boarding house so you can pick me up there. It will be like a real date."
"All right," he approved. "Remember, dress casually and I'll see you at seven."
"Okay," she said, leaving him alone in the parlor.
"Blondie!" Damon cried twenty minutes later when he opened the door to the boarding house to let her in. "You look...the same."
"Ha-ha," she deadpanned, pushing past him. "Is Elena here?"
"She's not," he shook his head, following her to the sitting room. "But you're welcome to hang out with me til she gets home."
Caroline frowned but agreed. She looked around. "It's different in here."
"Well, Elena has made some changes," he explained. "She said it was too dark for her to live in all the time. Stefan was the one who liked the old, antique-y look."
She couldn't help but laugh. "That's funny because the house in London is all light and modern. It's mostly because of Rebekah but he goes along with it just fine."
"Weird," Damon mumbled. "Never in a million years did I think my baby bro would marry Barbie Klaus. You marrying original recipe? Yeah, I saw that coming."
"How?" she scoffed. "It's not like you and I were very close when I still lived here."
"No, but you're attracted to darkness because you think you can fix it," he explained. "I mean, come on. You liked me when I was darker."
"I liked you because you were hot and Stefan rejected me for Elena," she corrected. "And then I didn't like you but you still made me."
Damon frowned. "I wasn't the best guy back then. I hated my brother and I wanted to make him miserable in any possible way. But I've changed. And you're about to marry the worst thing to ever happen to this town so why do you still hate me?"
"You never apologized," she admitted quietly. "And then you just went on and acted like nothing ever happened. You told me I was worthless, Damon, at a time in my life where I felt like that every day. And then you basically treated me like that for two years. I was always just collateral damage to you." She sighed. "But you've been good for Elena so I sort of let it go. I just won't forget about it."
"Understandable," he nodded. "But I do feel bad for how I treated you. You were still adjusting to this life and you deserved better. I'm sorry."
Caroline smirked. "I like how you say it now, just a couple hours before I accept a marriage proposal from the only guy who's ever really scared you."
"Oh, please," he shook his head. "I was never afraid of Klaus."
"Okay, Damon," Caroline said with an eye roll. "But I appreciate your apology and I'll consider it."
He just gave a tight smile. "You want a drink?"
"Yes," she declared.
"How's Klaus asking you?" he wanted to know as he split a blood bag into two glass tumblers.
"No idea," she shrugged. "I'm supposed to dress casually so it won't be too fancy." She eyed him. "Think you and Elena will ever take the plunge?"
"Nah," he replied. "Human Elena wanted to get married but human Elena and vampire Elena are two different people who want different things. I'm surprised Klaus wants to get married."
"I don't know that he really does," she murmured, "but I do so he'll do it for me."
Damon chuckled and sat back down. "Who'd have thought big, bad Klaus' one weakness would be our very own Miss Mystic Falls?"
"It's my light," she joked.
"Well, you are full of it," he agreed. "Even when everything was going to hell, you always kept everyone together. I probably wouldn't have a relationship with my brother if it weren't for you, Blondie. And I definitely wouldn't have Elena. So thank you; I owe you one."
"Wow," she breathed. "I should've worn a wire in here today cause no one will ever believe that you apologized and thanked me in one sitting. Only took ten years to do."
"Don't think it'll ever happen again," he warned. "Cause it won't."
"Once is plenty," she assured him as the front door opened and Elena walked in.
"Hey," Elena greeted them uncertainly. "Well, it doesn't look like anyone has been staked."
"Damon and I are making amends," Caroline told her. "Or starting to."
"Good," Elena beamed. "I'm happy to hear that. So, Care, what's up? I wasn't expecting you, was I?"
"No, but tonight is the night Klaus is proposing and I want him to pick me up somewhere like it's a real date," Caroline said as she followed Elena upstairs.
Elena laughed as she walked into her bedroom. "You guys don't go on dates?"
"We do," Caroline sighed, "but this is huge deal. It's not the same if I meet him in the foyer and we just go from there. This is like high school. Oh! Speaking of high school, Tyler is back in town."
"What?" Elena cried. "And you saw him?"
"Yeah," Caroline nodded, sitting on Elena and Damon's bed. "We talked. He's the alpha of some pack out in California or something and he's happy. Not so much about me marrying Klaus but happy in general. And we're inviting him to the wedding."
Elena spun around so fast she felt whiplash. "Klaus is letting you invite Tyler to your wedding?! God, he really is wrapped around your finger."
Caroline grinned. "So, how was it having Stefan and Rebekah last night?"
"Fine," Elena answered. "I miss Stefan and I'm willing to try with Rebekah. She still hates me but for his sake, I won't indulge her."
"She still feels threatened by you, even though she's the one he married," Caroline reported, knowing Rebekah would never want her to tell Elena that. "Give her another 100 years or so of wedded bliss and she'll come around."
Elena laughed once. "I guess it's a good thing that's an option for us. So what was up with you and Damon?"
"We were just talking," Caroline shrugged. She knew Elena deserved to know what had been said between them but she wanted to tell Klaus first. "Let's just say I won't hate him as long as Rebekah is likely to hate you."
Elena tossed a pillow at her friend. "Thanks a lot."
Caroline fidgeted with the diamond necklace Klaus had given her for her birthday a couple years ago. "Do you think I'm pressuring him into this?"
"What?" Elena asked. "Care, no. As much as he loves you and wants to give you everything, he'd never do something he was adamantly against. He might not say it, but he likes the idea of marrying you."
"I hope," Caroline sighed. "Hey, can you go to DC on Wednesday to dress shop? That's my mom's only day off and we don't have much time."
"Sure," Elena agreed. "I usually go to the kids' home on Wednesdays but I'll just go Thursday instead."
"Um, don't be mad but I asked Rebekah to be my maid of honor," Caroline whispered. "But you're still my best friend; Bonnie, too." That wasn't entirely true anymore but she did feel bad about it all.
"It's okay, Care," Elena chuckled. "You're with her almost every day. And besides, we both know Stefan is really your best friend. You two are good for each other."
"I guess," Caroline nodded. "And you and Bonnie are still my bridesmaids and will be as much a part of the planning as you want to be."
Elena hugged her friend. "I'm really happy for you, Care. And I'll do whatever you need me to. Now, let's get you ready for that diamond. Casual or not, your nails have to be perfect."
At seven o'clock on the dot, Klaus rang the doorbell of the boarding house.
"Klaus," Damon muttered as he let him inside.
"Damon," Klaus responded, knowing that was as pleasant as he could be with the elder Salvatore brother. "Is Caroline ready?"
"Hey, Blondie?" Damon called. "Your date is here!"
Caroline checked her reflection in Elena's full-length mirror one last time. She abided by the casual rule but still wore a gray cotton sundress and matching sandals. She'd softly curled her hair and applied light makeup.
"How do I look?" she wanted to know.
"Perfect," Elena gushed, handing over a light denim jacket. "In case it gets cold. Now, go get that ring."
It was difficult for Klaus to be around Damon without having any threats to warn him of so the two men stood silently in the foyer, waiting for Caroline to come down.
Elena descended first. "She's coming."
Klaus took a deep breath as he heard Caroline's footsteps on the stairs. He smiled as she appeared, wearing a simple dress and jacket.
He walked over to take her hand. "You look beautiful."
"Thanks," she whispered. "Ready?"
"Yes," he confirmed.
"Elena, I'll call you tomorrow," she said over her shoulder as he led her to the door. "Bye, Damon."
"Later, Blondie," Damon replied, a hint of newly-found fondness in his voice.
Caroline stood in the drive and looked around. "Where's your car?"
Suddenly he was behind her, covering her eyes with a silk blindfold. "We aren't driving."
"Klaus, no!" she cried as he swept her up into his arms. "You're carrying me there? This is crazy."
"It's the easiest way to surprise you," he explained, flashing away from the Salvatore house. "Just hold on tight."
Caroline clutched onto him as he ran, but before she could try to figure out where they were going, he stopped and set her down. She felt soft ground beneath her feet and could hear the sound of animals all around.
"Are we in the woods?" she scoffed.
Klaus reached up to remove the blindfold.
Caroline gasped and looked around, immediately recognizing it as the exact spot where Silas had staked him for her ten years ago. "Why are we here? I don't like this place."
"I know," he said, taking her hands to comfort her, "but it's an important place, love. This is where everything changed for us and I wouldn't take it back for the world. I brought you here because despite what happened the first time we stood on this ground, we survived and get to spend eternity together. I wanted to bring you back to this place because I want a happy memory here."
Caroline's breathing slowed. "Okay."
He counted backwards from three before he began his speech. "I never expected to fall in love, least of all with a baby who more than a millennium younger than me. The only other girl I'd ever loved was toxic and she drove a wedge between me and my brother so from then on, I decided love was a weakness and as the most powerful creature on earth, a weakness was the last thing I needed in my life. And then I came here and met you. You were beautiful and stubborn and resilient. Though your friends were always trying to kill me, I liked that you were always willing to do whatever they asked of you because you were loyal. For most of my life, I valued loyalty above all else. But, as you know, it was your light that I was drawn to most. I'd roamed this earth for a thousand years in darkness, the alpha male of all alpha males, and I never thought I'd see the light again. But you brought it back into my life, whether you wanted to at first or not. I know I didn't make it easy for you to like me but despite every terrible thing I did, you managed to bring out the humanity I thought I'd lost long ago. And I tried so hard to be better, if only to show you that I could be trusted and was worthy of your friendship. More than anything, I hated Tyler because he had you and I didn't. When I sent him away, it was out of spite and jealousy. I needed time to show you the part of me I wanted only you to know and that never could've happened with him here. And when I gave him the opportunity to return and he didn't, I couldn't remember ever being happier because you didn't push me away." He looked around. "And then we ended up here that night. I watched in horror as Silas cornered you against this tree and knew in that instant that I would protect you in any way possible so I willingly sacrificed myself. I know you still sometimes have nightmares about that night but I'd do it all over again if I had to, love, because I can't imagine a world without you in it, even if I weren't." He smiled and ran his thumbs across her hands. "But here we are, ten years later, and all I've known in those ten years is happiness and that's because you're with me every day. I wake up and you're there, I go to bed and you're there. I don't deserve you, Caroline, but I'll do everything in my power to keep you." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the tell-tale box before getting down on one knee. He opened the box to reveal a stunning princess-cut diamond on an antique setting. "So, Miss Forbes, will you do me the great honor of being my wife and shining your light on me for another thousand lifetimes?"
Tears filled her eyes as Caroline let his words sink in. His speech to her mother the previous night had been sweet but this was so much more.
"Yes," she finally answered, nodding her head. "I'll marry you."
He slid the ring onto the appropriate finger and stood up to take her into his arms. "I love you, Caroline."
She kissed him. "I love you, too, Nik."
"I can't wait to call you my wife," he told her.
"You're the only person I'd give that privilege to," she teased, pressing her forehead to his. "Thank you for making this a happy place."
"Anything for you," he whispered, pressing his lips to hers once more. "Absolutely anything, sweetheart."
Caroline squealed and jumped up, wrapping her legs around him. "June 30th can't come soon enough now."
"June 30th?" he mused.
"Yep," she confirmed. "As of June 30th, you're stuck with me forever, Mikaelson."
"I can't think of anything that sounds better," he replied. "Though I'm not sure forever will be enough."
Caroline just kissed him.