Title: Save Me A Dance

Rating: T

Pairing: Klaroline

Summary: How I'm imagining the prom episode ending. Not super thrilled with the spin off idea and Klaus being in NOLA with Haley. BLECH. So, it's a little angsty, more than a little unfinished. But sweet over it all, I hope.

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Caroline really thought she'd feel more…more at watching the culmination of all her prom handiwork. The glow of accomplishment had long since faded and instead she watched from an out of the way corner. It was strange, she mused, vampire vision usually made colors crisper and bright but tonight even the fairy lights seemed muted.

God, she sighed heavily, I am not this morose. Shaking the funk off Caroline moved to a side door, aiming for a quiet escape. Elena was playing a cruel game of ping pong between the Salvatore brothers, Matt was entertaining Rebekah and Bonnie was curiously watching the show. Her friends, it seemed, were safely occupied and it was easy to slip out for a breath of fresh air.

Caroline let out a deep breath as she stepped onto the empty quad. It was warm for a spring night and stars sparkled overhead. She let out a sharp laugh at the absurdity of it all. Caroline Forbes, former Miss Mystic Falls, cheerleader, event planner extraordinaire stood alone at her senior prom. This was not how it was supposed to go at all.

The crunch of feet on gravel had Caroline spinning on one delicate heel. The stark figure of her new "friend" Klaus moving down the path toward her had her suck in a breath in pure feminine appreciation. He may have been the Big Bad but he moved with a predatory grace. She knew, oh how she knew, that long, rangy body was held together by strong, lean muscles. The unrelieved black of his suit was off set by the slash of white collared shirt. Unbuttoned at the throat with a casual elegance, he was every inch the fallen angel. His face, though, was surprisingly somber. Caroline had seen those fierce features through a spread of emotions but the haunting sadness unnerved her.

"Good evening, love, " Klaus' smoothly accented voice punctured the night. "Aren't you a vision this evening." With his last word he stepped into her personal space. The gap between them mere inches of electrified air. It seemed they were always closer than they should be.

"What are you doing here?" Caroline asked bluntly trying for emotional, if not physical distance.

"Ah. I thought dances were our thing. One for the road perhaps?" Klaus slipped intimately closer, pulling Caroline into a slow sway. Fire ignited along her skin from where their palms met. He spun them slowly, vampire ears picking up the slow beat of the song that no human ears would've heard.

"Wait." Caroline halted them. "The road. You're leaving?" Her heart hitched at the thought of Tyler. "Why?" But Klaus pulled her smoothly into the dance again.

"Just some long overdue business to attend to. It seems you've been quite the distraction, sweetheart." At that, he finally smiled. "Just some business dealings, nothing more." Caroline released the breath she'd held and smiled up at the Original hybrid. They both heard the music stop but Caroline couldn't bring herself to move from the embrace.

"How long will you be gone?" Caroline found herself asking.

"Going to miss me then, are you?" Klaus smirked with satisfaction. Glowering at this presumption that wasn't altogether wrong, Caroline muttered a "not now" and made to pull away. Klaus' arms firmed to steel and Caroline found herself trapped there.

"There will be some things about this miserable place I will miss." Klaus began quietly. "Things I wish to have done. " They were so close now, his eyes a sea of blue before her.

"You, the immortal, has a bucket list. Yeah, right." Caroline scoffed.

"Indeed I do."

"So, what's first on the list of things to do before you continue to live forever."

"That's quite simple, love. Kiss you." Klaus rumbled, his lips so very close to her own. Then there was nothing separating them. His hands spanned her back, crushing Caroline to his tall frame. He simply devoured her and she let him.

All too soon, to Caroline's taste, Klaus pulled away, smoothing his hands over her bare shoulders. "Well," Klaus murmured. "At least one thing will be checked off my list."

"Will you come back?" Caroline let the question slip through her lips.

"Perhaps. In a year or a century. Will I find you here waiting, my dear?"

"I…" before she could finish he had blurred away. Caroline's hand flew to her mouth to keep in the words she'd almost said. She let her fingers linger over her bruised lips. Maybe she could say the words, in a year or maybe a century.