AN: A short Christmas fluffy one-shot: Caroline isn't feeling the Christmas joy this year. Something is missing. Klaus decided to come to MF and secretly leave her a present.

This is a short Christmas story I wrote for klarolinedrabblings over on tumbler. It's part of the Klaroline Secret Santa exchange. Jess proof-read it and Cindy created the amazing cover. Thank you to both. PM me for links to their tumblr pages. Without further ado here is the fluffy Christmas piece. Hope you enjoy it.

If you love somebody
Better tell them while they're here 'cause
They just may run away from you

You'll never know quite when, well
Then again it just depends on
How long of time is left for you

Christmas was right around the corner and Caroline wasn't feeling any of the usual holiday cheer. She had always adored Christmas and New Years. It was a time when family and friends came together and were happy and joyful. A lot had changed in the past few years and ever since she became a vampire things were different but that had never before stopped her from raining the holiday cheer down on everyone. But this year no matter how hard she tried, she just didn't feel it.

So much had happened over the last few months. All she wanted was a normal college experience, but everything went south when they found out Silas was still pretty much alive, Bonnie wasn't and Stefan was missing. On top of that, the college where Elena and she enrolled was also home to a secret society that used vampires for experiments, tortured them and turned them into blood-thirsty monsters. The only thing that brightened up her days in these months was surprisingly Katherine. She never saw it coming, but she formed a bond with her now human creator. Katherine had spunk and she was sassy and Caroline liked that. She had enough of doom and gloom for a while and wanted to embrace her inner vampire a bit more. As a certain someone once told her, she preferred the girl she was now to the one she once was.

Caroline drove straight home from Whitmore and decided to decorate their house. Her mom was working and she had the house all to herself. She might not feel very festive but that didn't mean she would just sit around and do nothing. No, she was Caroline, she would go all out and decorate the house, put presents under the Christmas tree and try to shove the holiday cheer down her own throat if need be.

All the gifts had already been bought and all she needed to do now was wrap them. She despised the little holiday bags, a real gift needed to be wrapped. Caroline was a perfectionist and she would do this the way it needed to be done. So, after she had decorated the house – she possibly went a little over the top – she sat down and started working on the presents.

Klaus sat in his newly acquired old family home, dictating to Cami as she typed furiously. He was talking about the time Tyler and Hayley unsired all of his hybrids and he killed them all, and for once Camille didn't have any comments. He wanted to sound furious, show how betrayal was the last thing you would want to do to him, but all he could think about was Caroline. Every time he mentioned something that happened in Mystic Falls, his thoughts went straight to her. He tried to put her behind him, to forget her but he couldn't. And every time he would see Camille she reminded him of her. Not because they were similar, because they weren't. But she was blond and had blue eyes and that was enough. It was probably the reason why he wanted to protect Cami, because she sometimes reminded him of Caroline and even though he knew he was projecting and humans didn't mean anything to him, he couldn't help himself.

"Enough," he barked at Cami. "That's it for today, you can go now." Klaus was frustrated and needed to be alone.

He didn't even look at her when her eyes shot daggers at him. When she exited his study, he turned to his table and poured himself a drink. He started sipping it slowly when he noticed the bracelet he had once given Caroline in his half opened drawer. He gulped down the remainder of the drink and sat down behind his desk, opening the drawer fully and taking out the bracelet.

He chuckled, remembering how she threw it in his face on the night of the ball. He sat there, reminiscing about their moments for a while longer, playing with the bracelet at the same time. She really was something special and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get her out of his head. Even when he was at war, when he fought his own family or when he was dealing with werewolves and the witches, Caroline was always at the back of his mind. He was carrying her with him always, whether she was there in the flesh or not.

Klaus got up and went to stand at the window, looking at his kingdom. He noticed holiday decorations everywhere and suddenly remembered it was Christmas in a few days. Once again, his thoughts returned to his favorite blonde, thinking about how she must enjoy the holidays. He had a protection detail on her of course, but they have reported nothing out of the usual expect for a few mishaps the Scooby Doo gang had gotten themselves into. She must be so annoyed with everybody and he hoped the holidays would bring her some peace and joy. He took one more look at the bracelet, an idea already forming in his mind, and flashed out of the room.

Caroline celebrated her favorite holiday with her closest friends. Nobody was completely relaxed, there was too much going on but they still had a nice enough time. Presents were exchanged, alcohol was consumed in abundance and holiday music was blasting throughout the boarding house. There was bickering and snarky comments flying around but Caroline was happy they were all in one place again, the whole gang together.

When evening came around, she told them goodbye and walked to her car. She had a nice Christmas dinner planned with her mom. She had missed her since has she started college, she missed her more than she thought she would.

When she was driving back home, her thoughts drifted to the big bad hybrid. When the original family left at first, she missed him for a while, but then she told herself it was better this way. Tyler would be back soon and everything would be back to normal. But when Tyler returned, all they did was have sex, because the minute they started talking or just hanging out, she felt empty and uninterested. It wasn't like it was supposed to be and she knew it was too late for them. She tried so hard, she begged him when he left her, but after all was said and done, she also felt relieved. He would always be her friend, but she knew she would never be in love with him again.

And in that moment the thoughts that she had tried so hard to suppress came rushing to the surface once again. And her time with Katherine didn't help either. Caroline realized how much she still missed Klaus; she missed his snarky comments, his dark humor and his piercing eyes. His dimples and his oh so rare smile he only occasionally bestowed on her.

She thought back on how hard she fought any feelings she might have for him, how she tried to resist but how every time when she went to sleep, those feelings took over in her dreams. She dreamt of his touch, his lips on hers, their bodies entwined. She always woke up frustrated and at first she didn't want to do anything about it which only led to her snapping at everyone, so for everybody's sake, she started taking care of her problem after she woke up every morning.

Caroline was now blushing when she entered the house. She heard her mom in the shower and went to the kitchen to start on dinner. Liz had already done most of the preparations so Caroline only put the dishes in the oven and prepared the table. She wondered how and if the original family celebrated Christmas. She snorted; they probably killed each other before the dinner was even over. She knew how Klaus could get, he threw temper tantrums when everything didn't go his way and more importantly, he never expected anyone to be there for him, so he acted distant and cold. But she knew that wasn't truly him. She has seen his brighter side. There was some humanity buried underneath all that darkness. He hid it well, but it was there.

Klaus stood outside of Caroline's home, watching her with Liz. They had dinner first and then they went to unwrap the presents. He smirked, knowing that Caroline probably couldn't wait till morning. After the presents were unwrapped, Caroline made some hot cocoa – Klaus smiled again when he saw she poured a generous dose of rum into her cup – and her mom put in a movie. It was some Christmas flick but they seemed to enjoy it.

He buttoned up his black coat. He didn't feel the cold but the wind was quite strong and he realized he didn't miss this weather in New Orleans. Making the best of the opportunity, he went to Caroline's bedroom – through the window like he was a love-struck teenager instead of the most powerful being on the planet – to leave her his present.

Stealth was a useful thing when one mustn't be overheard. He walked to her bed silently and put the blue case on her bed stand. Looking around her room, he saw the bed was neatly made but clothes were everywhere. She probably couldn't decide what to wear. Women, he thought to himself and shook his head. His gaze stopped on her other bed stand where he noticed an open jewelry case. He walked to it and picked it up in his hands. It was full of earrings and necklaces but what stood out to him was a neatly rolled up piece of paper. Holding his breath he unrolled it and saw it was the drawing he gave her on the night of the Mikaelson Ball. She had kept it all this time. A smile appeared on his face before he could stop it. Knowing that time was of the essence, he rolled the drawing back up and put it inside the case once again. With one last look at her room, taking a deep breath inhaling her familiar scent, he quickly exited the room.

Caroline noticed her mom had fallen asleep. She gently stood up and covered her with a blanket. She turned off the TV and the lights, leaving only the Christmas ones on, and walked up the stairs to her room. Immediately upon entering her room, she caught his scent. She looked around frantically, but her room was empty. She walked further in and her eyes settled on a blue jewelry case on her bed stand.

Taking the smooth velvet in her hands, she opened it slowly and let out a gasp. In it was the all too familiar bracelet and a small folded note. "This belongs to you. Merry Christmas, Klaus," the note said in his neat handwriting. Dropping the note and bracelet on the bed, she flashed down the stairs and out of the house. She tried picking up his scent and couldn't be sure if she was right but followed it nevertheless. Being a vampire came in handy when one was wearing high heels.

After a few minutes of running she noticed a dark silhouette in the distance and when she got closer, he stopped but didn't turn around. Almost right behind him, she stopped too, suddenly unsure what she wanted to say. Maybe she acted too quickly when she decided to run after him.

Klaus slowly turned around and his gaze fell on her face. How he had missed her. If his heart could beat it would skip a beat right now. She was absolutely beautiful, standing in from of him in the dark. She didn't say anything but her eyes were overwhelmed with emotions. The wheels were turning in her head, he could see that clearly but before he could say anything she moved closer.

Caroline didn't know what she was doing but after looking into his eyes and seeing the glimmer of hope behind them, she felt a pull and stepped forward. His eyes never left hers but he didn't move. She realized after a few moments, he was letting her decide what was to happen next. She took another step towards him and was now standing right in front of him. He was completely still, so she took one more step and was now gently pressed against him. His hands finally moved and he grabbed her hips, pulling her even more into him.

For a moment in time, nothing mattered and everything spoke but much was exchanged through their eyes. Her hands moved to around his shoulders, one grabbing his neck while the other was holding on to him, so she wouldn't fall if her knees gave out. Time stood still when their faces moved closer, she could feel his warm breath and then his lips descended on hers. It started out slow, and Caroline was in heaven when his lips danced with hers. He took his time and just continued kissing her gently. Caroline reveled in his soft yet firm lips. She parted her lips slightly and grazed his with her tongue. Klaus let out a groan, his hand moved to her neck and then to her hair. He accepted the invitation and their tongues met and the world exploded.

The kiss wasn't slow anymore, it was needy and demanding, each took what they had been missing for so long now. Their souls connected in the most intimate manner, igniting them. Passion sizzled in the air and Caroline was thankful she didn't need to breathe. She played with his hair, while her tongue hungrily devoured his. Her other hand moved inside his coat, under his Henley and up his back. Even though Klaus enjoyed her touch, they were standing in the middle of the street and he pulled away slowly, his eyes silently asking her a question. She seemed to understand and just nodded and he smiled a devilish smile and pulled her back towards him, attacking her lips with his once more. He sped off to his mansion with her in his arms.

It was the holiday season and this year they both got the miracle they wanted and experienced a timeless passionate bliss.

Waiting on this for a while now
Paying my dues to the dirt
I've been waiting to smile
Been holding it in for a while
Take you with me if I can
Been dreaming of this since a child
I'm on top of the world

Lyrics from On Top of the World by Imagine Dragon

Hope you enjoyed it. Merry Christmas and happy holidays, darlings.

Also, I love reviews. *hint*