"Why'd you come back?" She whispered quietly, crossing her arms over her chest in a protective gesture. His head was down; he had refused to look at her since he had told her. Told her about Hayley and why he was leaving. She just- she couldn't figure out why he would come back.
Klaus raised his head slowly, looking at her as though it was the last glance he would ever get. "For you. I had to see you, one last time."
A sob bubbled in her throat, and she wiped away a few stray tears from her face, trying to calm herself, to breath deeply before answering him. "I don't want you to go." Her moment of honestly, her voice breaking, tears building in her eyes, surprised them both. He opened his mouth to speak, but Caroline cut him off. "I know you have to, and you're doing the right thing for your family. I just-" She broke off, unable to speak past the lump in her throat before she pressed on. "You've become a part of my life Klaus. And I don't want to lose you, I don't want to lose that."
His eyes had softened, and she thought she saw the glint of tears in his own eyes. Then he was moving forward, tugging her into his arms. She relished it, knowing that this could be the last time for a very long while that she would even see him, and she cried softly against his chest, jumping slightly when she felt one lone tear, that she knew was not hers, hit her shoulder. He pulled back after a few minutes, his hand moving up and down her arm comfortingly. "It's not forever Caroline. When you're ready, if you still want me, I'll always be there." He leaned in, and she closed her eyes trying to squeeze her tears away, trying to fix the picture of him, as he was then, in her mind. His lips brushed her cheek gently, softly, and she leaned into him before feeling the pressure on her cheek, her arm, disappear.
When she opened her eyes, he was gone.