Enjoy 3
A view of Florida; I wake up to the sound of the city coming to life. They get a late start on Saturday mornings. The moms and children get to sleep in later than usual; the workaholic businessmen are on the roads, but even they've taken the time to eat breakfast with their families, kiss their wife goodbye, and stop for coffee on the way to the office.
I can't call it home, because we still have unpacked boxes; the possibility (probability) of us moving on is still here; still tucked away comfortably in the back of my mind.
I've come to terms that my life will never be normal. I am forever seventeen, in a world that I'm still learning to understand. I am not human, I have killed people, but I refuse to be a monster. I will never have children, but I could never see myself as a mother, even before. I don't know when I will die, how or why—but I know that it won't be for a long, long time.
My friends are scattered around the world, and they're happy. Getting letters from Elena and Damon; Stefan; Matt and and Bonnie they're beautiful windows into what is going on with the people that I love.
My in-laws are thousand year old vampires; but whose family is perfect? My parents are dead, and there is a part of me that will forever ache for them. Sometimes if I close my eyes and think hard, I can almost remember what it was like when I was just a teenage girl; just Caroline Forbes, dealing with the usual dramas of high school and boyfriends; best friends and bad grades.
I used to miss my life. I mean my old life. But this... I wouldn't trade this for anything.
The late morning light slices through the curtains, and I stretch out on the queen-sized mattress which we lazily dropped in the middle of out floor the night before. Those days when there's nothing on the agenda and you feel like you have all the time in the world... I can't remember the last time I had a day like this.
Sitting up I let the light fabric of the bed sheet fall off of me. I stretch once again, smiling to myself and rubbing my eyes sleepily. I consider going back to sleep, but when I hear movement in the living room, spending the day with my husband sounds much more enticing.
Standing up, I put on the thin cotton robe I wore last night over top of Klaus's crumpled shirt I slept in, I run my fingers through my tangled curls.
The rustic wood floor of the studio apartments makes small creaking noises as I pad down across the open room, slipping out the door, following my ears to the wide open space of the 'living room'; which consists of more boxes, one with a lamp precariously perched on top; and our couch, placed crookedly in the centre.
It's here that I find my husband.
He lounges low on the couch; one foot on the ground; the other stretched out and resting on a nearby box, a sketch pad open, propped up in his lap with one hand; his other fisted in the front of his hair. He's wearing a well warn pair of jeans with holes in the knees and two necklaces.
One his usual beaded string; the other is one I purchased in Barcelona. A hand-made leather necklace with gold stitching through the middle, with a simple, thick Celtic symbol stitched onto it—the initials C.M. branded onto the inside of the leather string.
Caroline Michaelson.
I gave it to him for our first anniversary...
XXX
We're sitting cross-legged on our bed, across from each other. I was nervous about this time of the night... What do you buy your thousand-year-old husband when he seems to have everything?
"Look on the inside." I point with my chin, biting my bottom lip at his clear appreciation of my gift; and he hasn't even seen the best part.
He skims his fingers along the thin leather strap, folding it inside out, his eyes scan the paler side of the necklace until his eyes land on the branding. My heart hiccups with nervousness at this very personal gesture.
His eyebrows pull together slightly as he looks at the two small letters, he hasn't gotten it yet. After a moment, his expression softens, his confusion only lasting a few seconds before he understands. His blue eyes are bright when he looks up at me, his lips twitching a little, with a smile?
"You changed your name?" His voice is incredulous, he blinks, and suddenly he looks very young.
I release my lip from between my teeth and allow my shy smile to take over my face. "I figured... it was about time." I lifting one shoulder, and try and act like this wasn't a huge step—although I know it is—especially for him.
He looks back down at the necklace in his hands, then back at me, then down again; he smoothes his thumb over my initials a few times, as if they are a precious thing; but he stays silent.
I press my lips together, the nervousness from earlier trickling icily into the pit of my stomach.
"Say something..." I whisper after he's been quiet for far too long.
But he doesn't. He leans forward, pushing his fingers into my hair he tilts my lips towards him, capturing my mouth against his. I melt against the intimacy of the kiss, my own hands finding his chest; I slide my finger from his sternum up to his shoulders, pulling him in to deepen the kiss. His other hand, which is still holding my gift, finds my feet, pushing me out of my cross-legged position, he pulls me into his lap, my feet of either side of his hips; chest to chest.
He kisses my smiling lips, and I giggle.
"You like it?" I ask against his mouth, draping my arms across his shoulders, pulling away just enough to see his electric eyes, dancing with some expression I can't describe.
Tilting his forehead onto my own, he skims his nose against mine.
"Yes."
XXX
I watch as his concentration is consumed with the sketch in his lap, the skin between his eyebrows puckers subtly, his head tilted to the left ever so slightly. And I think for the millionth time, how much we do not make sense.
This man in front of me... is an open flame. Stand too close and I get burned; badly. But stand too far away and I stand alone, icy cold, and aching for comfort. It's a balance; the two of us, it's never been easy and it never will be.
There is always going to be a piece of me that strives to fix him, and there is always going to be a piece of him that is broken; fractured and scarred. How could there not be? A thousand years of anger and abuse does things to a person I will never fully understand. And I have no doubt that a hundred years down the road, I will still be learning new things about this unbelievable creature.
I shake my head and sigh, my heart aching as I watch his every move.
Hearing me now, he lifts his head, his eyes focusing on me he pushes his hand through the rest of his hair, scratching the back of his neck, offering me a warm smile.
Jesus.
"Morning." Pushing his sketching pencil behind his ear, he slides himself into a straighter seated position.
Taking this as a welcoming gesture I walk across the floor towards the sunbathed man in front of me, our fingers interlacing in the space between us before I fold myself into his side; tucking my legs under myself, laying my head on his shoulder.
The sun-warmed leather of the couch is welcomed on my bare feet and legs.
"Good morning." I whisper, turning to nuzzle his shoulder with my nose.
I stare down at his drawing; what looks like an old English landscape, with soft lines and deep shading. It looks like he's familiar with the place. He's drawn it in his mind a thousand times.
"Hungry?" reaching over, he pulls my tucked legs across his lap, curling his fingers into the soft skin behind my knee; he pulls them again his chest, sighing contently. I don't think I've ever seen him so at ease... It's beautiful.
"No," I shake my head, slipping my hand around his neck, turning his face to mine I press my mouth to his gently; savouring his taste, and the way his lips respond to mine; easily and gently.
His kisses aren't selfish. From the beginning they have always been all giving. Easing away, and then coming back stronger than before, he keeps me reaching for him; leaning into him. His thumb and finger pinching my earlobe.
In all his imperfections, all his anger and revenge, building and building over the years... he is still a monster. He still hurts the people he loves the most, because he knows no other way to deal with his all-encompassing need for power and protection. Unknowingly, his heart yearning for the happiness he was never allowed to have.
I scoot myself forward, pulling myself fully into his lap, his fingers skim along the skin of my thigh at the hem of my robe, spreading goose-bumps like wildflowers; starting at the tips of his fingers, crawling across my entire body.
I can't change who he is; and I don't want to. Because this is the man I fell in love with—and with every single mistake and flaw... It has made him into the strong person he is today.
"Klaus," I move my hands from his shoulders to my leg, finding his hands, and guiding them up, helping his fingers find the tie of my robe.
It's slow, less desperate than when our vampire lust takes over and there seems to be no way to get close enough fast enough. When we're angry, and fervent, and have just finished screaming insults at each other. When our blood and pumping and my cheeks are flushed—and as in one second we're clutching for each other; like we've been starving for this moment our entire lives.
This time it's simple, easy; like every move is deliberate, each touch has a thousand different things to say. Our mouths don't move away from each other's. My feverish whispers are said against his lips, and his replies are returned in the air we share between us.
"I love you."
"God you're beautiful."
"Jesus, what you do to me..."
The unbridled pleasure that hypnotizes us both is unrelenting, and when we spiral, it's a miracle we ever recover.
On the sun-bathed leather, wearing nothing but him, it's understood that with every down there is an up. With every bad day there will be a good one. Because these are the people we've decided to be. And no matter how tomorrow will be, today is perfect; and we will take forever, one day at a time.
Tracing my fingers from his sternum to just below his navel, I make the trip several times before both of our breathing has returned to normal.
"Do you want to have a work out?" I sit up on my elbow, resting my chin on his stomach and blinking up at him through the late morning sun that shines in from behind him.
"I thought we just had one?" his sleepy smile is so enticing I can't help but slide up and kiss it.
XXX
I pull on a pair of Klaus's boxer-briefs, and a white tank top with Klaus's favourite grey sweater over top; it still smells like him. I feel so human, so alive as I exit the bedroom; finding Klaus leaning against the door jam, having put on clothes I don't think I've ever seen him wear before. Shorts and a t-shirt—who knew he could look so human?
"Running?" His voice sounds amused as I lock our new studio apartment behind us.
I nod, "human speed, good old-fashioned running." I smirk and peck him quickly on the cheek as I pull him outside. "You'll like it I promise."
We must look like any other couple, having a good time, jogging down the streets of Florida. Except for the fact that we won't get winded or sweaty, or need to stop for rest...
Klaus stays close; I can feel his heat as he runs close by. I bite my lip, often pulling ahead of him easily before letting him quickly catch up. I haven't run at human speed for so long... It feels so freeing, so much more liberating than our unnatural way of whooshing around. Somehow this is far more satisfying.
We run across the city, down near the beaches, the midday sun is hot and warms my skin; I pump my arms, catching up to him quickly, then reach over, easily plucking his aviator sunglasses that are hooked into the V of his t-shirt, and place them on my face. He reaches for them, and I jokingly smack his hand away, childishly sticking out my tongue at him.
"They look better on you anyway." He states casually.
I roll my eyes though he can't see them, and he reaches over, hooking his arm around my neck and pulling me in, causing the glasses to sit crooked, and places a kiss into my sun-warmed hair. I push him away, and pick up our pace again.
We run through the day; my body feeling loose and limber and strong as we talk; discussing our new destination and memories from past few years. Everything from art to food to the first time we met.
"You were terrifying." I state; he doesn't even try to deny it. Smart man.
We stop at a pretzel stand, with some insistence from me, and sit on the falling apart park bench that shows off a row of funky beachfront shops. Pushing myself into a lying position, I rest my head on his leg, sliding his sunglasses into my hair and squinting up at him.
"Do you not remember?" I raise my eye brows at him, reaching over and taking a piece of pretzel from him, popping it in my mouth. "The moment you realized you liked me?"
He's quiet for a while, looking up at the sky, the clouds beginning to gather overhead, heavy with rain.
"Do you?" he asks, finally looking down at me.
I sigh, crossing my legs on the bench, bouncing my foot in the air, I think hard. "Gosh, it was so gradual I can't even put my finger on it..." pressing my lips together I mentally sort through months of memories. "...When we danced at you party..." My voice sounds distant to my own ears as I recall how gentle his hands were on me. Like I didn't know such lethal weapons could be so kind; feel so warm on my body.
"Don't underestimate the allure of darkness... Even the purest hearts are drawn to it."
"You offered to show me the world... No one had even done that for me before..."
"I'll take you."
"My freaking Miss. Mystic application," I cover my face, and Klaus laughs.
"I really enjoy your use of when here, it's very confident."
"...When you told me you'd never hurt me."
"Just know that if Tyler was still sired to me, he never would have hurt you. I wouldn't have let him..."
I look away for my pretzel back up at my husband. "I fell in love with you a long time ago Mr. Michaelson..." I breathe.
And then we're running again.
He looks so natural; for a man who probably hasn't gone jogging in a few hundred years. I fall back, watching the muscles in his legs and back ripple fluently, effortlessly. The mild breeze whipping through his thin t-shirt. The sunset lighting making the entire scene look like a painting. Watching him is like watching power at bay; an atom bomb, completely under control.
"Why are you running behind me?" His voice is easy—he sounds so young and sarcastic.
"I'm just enjoying the view!" I call back.
Turning around, he doesn't quit moving, he flashes me his wicked, crooked grin as he effortlessly jogs backwards in front of me.
"I guess this does have its advantages." He's suddenly stopped, and I scream as I inadvertently jog right into his arms. I giggle as he captures me around the waist, lifting my feet off the ground easily. I laugh and look down into his eyes, bracing my hands on his shoulders. Turning us in small circles, passer-byers smile at us; the young newlyweds, head-over-heels for each other—nothing more. Not right now.
Lowering me down to eye-level, he sets me on the low stone wall that runs the length of the beach, overlooking the ocean. The stone is cool against the skin just under my shorts, I swing my legs gently; he steps between them, bracing his hands on the wall on either side of me.
I'm a few inches taller than him sitting up here. I lean down to kiss his temple and his sun glasses fall off my head and land sloppily on my nose. I giggle, and pull them off, placing them over his eyes.
Beautiful.
I push my hand through his hair, and I can see myself in the reflection of the lenses. And as the rain starts to fall down around us, dampening our skin, cooling the air, I can see us—a year from now, a decade, a century… another city, another day of my life, committed to living it. I don't know how many years I have on this earth, I don't know how many I have with him... But I'm starting with today.
I just want to say, thank you all so much for the amount of support and love and comments and commitment you guys have given throughout the writing of this story. Remember when it was supposed to be a one-shot? How things change... :) I hope that you have all enjoyed my story, and please look forward to more writing from me, because I'm not just going to stop here. Gosh! I didn't want to finish this one! But everything has to come to an end right :)
I hope that you have enjoyed this final instalment of Loving the man she hates the most.
And I know I haven't been saying this every chapter, but I do not own these characters or the Vampire Diaries. Duh! :)
Cheers and blessings to all of you lovely people