A/N: This is the prologue, so it's kind of short. You might recognize part of this as a one-shot I wrote for Klaroweek awhile ago, which people have asked me to make into its own story. I've rewritten parts of it and added the bit at the end, so even if you've read the one-shot, you'll want to reread this chapter.
Thank you to queenvampirebarbie for the cover. This story is dedicated to her and Bex.
Enjoy!

-Angie


Klaus hated planes, especially small ones where all the seats were cramped together.

This was such a plane. There were four seats per aisle, and barely any room in the glove compartments. He cursed himself yet again for not checking what kind of plane the flight was scheduled for.

If there was anything that Klaus hated more than planes, it was sitting next to people who talked (or chewed loudly, snored, drooled, had to climb over him to go to the bathroom every five seconds, or had babies).

This girl sitting next to him looked like a talker. She was also blonde, gorgeous, and very clearly terrified out of her mind. She sat silently, reading her magazine while she waited for the plan to take off, though her hands were shaking slightly, and she was pale.

She clutched the pages even harder when the plane started to taxi to the runway, and he coughed quietly. "Err...are you all right?"

Please don't puke on my suit. It was expensive.

"Yeah. Yeah I think so," she said, slowly, her voice shaky. The plane gave a small lurch as they pulled onto the runway and she suddenly shook her head frantically. "No, no, actually I'm really, really not."

"Are you afraid of flying?"

She nodded wordlessly, her eyes scrunched shut as she dropped her magazine to grip the armrest. He gently placed his hand on hers, and when she didn't tear it away, he spoke softly to her. "It's all right, love. Just breathe."

She nodded, trying to take deep breaths, and he coached her through it, wondering how horrible of a person it made him to be thankful that the rest of his family had forced him to be the one to deal with Kol's panic attacks during thunderstorms.

"What's your name, love?"

"Caroline."

"May I ask where you're headed?"

"Miami," Caroline said distractedly.

He bit down the sarcastic 'really, I never would have guessed', instead saying, "I see. So am I, actually."

"For what?" she asked, clearly realizing that he was trying to get her mind off the plane, which was now hurtling down the runway.

"My brother's college graduation."

She nodded, accepting the ginger ale the flight attendant handed her and sipping from it.

The flight was a red-eye, and it would be a long six hours, he was sure. He kept making small talk with her, trying to get her to calm down, and felt incredibly relieved when she finally did so about half an hour after take-off. They continued to talk quietly, and he found that she was surprisingly witty and giggly when she wasn't almost hyperventilating.

She yawned about an hour and a half into the flight, and Klaus smiled slightly. "You should probably sleep. We'll be on the ground before you know it."

He winced at the look on her face and realized she must have forgotten that they were thousands of feet above the ground. "Probably," she agreed, gulping, and he sighed.

"It'll be fine, love."

She nodded, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes before opening them again and looking at him. "What's your name?"

"Klaus."

She gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Klaus."

Klaus nodded and pulled out a book and a portable reading lamp so as not to disturb Caroline, who fell asleep fairly quickly. About forty-five minutes later he felt a weight drop onto his shoulder and turned to see Caroline's head resting there.

Her floral scent filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes, trying to center himself. It wasn't like he'd ever see her again.

XXX

Okay, he'd been wrong.

He watched her attack his brother in a hug, dressed in an identical cap and gown. Kol wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her over to where he and Elijah were standing (Rebekah having decided that she was too cool for her brother's college graduation, and Finn busy with his wife Sage).

She frowned when she saw him and was about to speak when Kol introduced them.

"This is Caroline. Caroline, these are my brothers, Elijah and–"

"Klaus."

Kol raised an eyebrow.

"We've met. On the plane."

"Oh," Kol said shortly, giving Klaus what could only be described as a suspicious look.

Caroline seemed to realize where it was going when she elbowed him in the side. "Kol, it's fine. He talked me down. He wasn't mean, or anything."

"Yes, I'd had quite enough practice with you to be getting on with," Klaus said dryly, ignoring Kol's 'you're embarrassing me' look, trademarked by little brothers everywhere.

"Hey, don't be mean," Caroline said, pinning Klaus with a startlingly chastising look.

"Sorry, love," he said without thinking, and Kol and Elijah both turned to him, mouths agape, completely floored by his response.

"What?" he and Caroline both snapped.

Kol burst out laughing, and Caroline huffed. "Stop it, Kol."

"I can't."

"Bonnie's over there, she's going to think you're weird," Caroline hissed, and Kol immediately stopped laughing, looking in the direction that Caroline had pointed in.

"Who's Bonnie, little brother?"

"Just a friend," Kol said hastily.

Caroline smirked but changed the subject. "So, how long are you guys going to be here? I know Kol said that his family was staying for the week before we leave. Is that just you guys?"

"Before you leave?" Elijah asked.

"I told you, brother. Caroline, Bonnie, and I are taking a roadtrip for the summer."

"Bonnie is the one you were giving longing looks to, correct?"

"Shut up, Elijah."

"But she agreed to this?" Klaus asked. "Does she know what she's getting into?"

"Of course she did. I invited her," Caroline said waspishly. "It's all part of Kol's grand master plan to set them up."

"Excuse me, darling, it's your grand master plan. I just exist in your orbit of planning."

"Well, I don't know about that, but I think it'll be fun."

"I should hope so, since in true 'you' form, you've already reserved hotel spots and planned our itinerary, complete with color-coding," Kol said teasingly, before turning to his brothers. "We're off next week, so you'll have to have cleared off by then."

"Oh don't worry, I will have," Klaus muttered before Caroline spoke over him.

"Hey, you can't blame me for planning, okay? You know that I've never really been anywhere but home and here."

"Where are you from?" Klaus asked interestedly.

"A really small town in Virginia."

"That's nice."

She shrugged

"Okay, well, just so you know, I'm staying with Kol for the last few days of the week. I'm shipping my stuff home, and there's no point going back to Virginia for only a few days. Especially, since, you know…"

"You'd have to fly," Klaus finished for her.

She nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah. Thanks for that, by the way."

He nodded, and they stood there awkwardly until a girl came up to them and hugged Caroline to congratulate her, giving Kol a very obvious once-over before leaving, her hips swaying a bit too much. "What are your plans for the summer, Nik? Elijah?" Kol asked, pointedly not looking at the girl.

"I must return to the office as soon as possible," Elijah said stiffly. "I was planning on staying only the night."

Klaus could see Kol deflate just a fraction, and he felt a bit bad. The significant age difference between the older brothers and Kol, Rebekah, and Henrik combined with the fact that their parents didn't really parent all that well meant that Elijah was somewhat of a parental figure to Kol, and him leaving as soon as he possibly could had to hurt.

"Well, perhaps we should go to dinner and celebrate, then," Klaus said, giving Elijah a prompting look.

"Ah, yes, that sounds like an excellent idea."

"Are you staying the week, Nik?" Kol interrupted, clearly uninterested in whatever Elijah had to say.

"Yes. My next gallery showing isn't until August. I have quite a bit of time."

"Excellent."

"Shall we, then?" Elijah asked, straightening his suit jacket, which he hadn't taken off despite the ninety-degree heat.

Caroline looked vaguely uncomfortable. "So, um...I should–"

"Do you want to go to dinner with us?" Klaus interrupted before she could excuse herself.

She smiled slightly. "Sure. I think I'd like that."

He nearly missed the significant look Kol and Elijah exchanged, but him taking an interest in a girl wasn't that unprecedented, was it?

XXX

"Hey, Care," Bonnie said when Caroline answered the phone, her voice tired. "I have some bad news."

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"No," her friend said, and Caroline heard her start sniffling. "My...my Grams died."

"Oh, Bon, I'm so sorry!"

She could hear Bonnie trying to even her breathing. "Yeah. I...Well, my dad wants me to come home, you know?"

"Of course, Bon. It's totally fine," Caroline said sympathetically. "Let me know if you need anything. Call often too, okay?"

"Yeah. Okay. I'll talk to you soon, Care."

"Yeah, you too."

"I'm sorry I can't go."

"Don't be sorry, Bon! It's fine."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye," Caroline said, hanging up and putting her phone down next to her, biting her lip.

"What's going on, darling?" Kol asked when he walked into the room.

"Bonnie can't come. Her Grams died."

"Oh," Kol said uncomfortably.

They were silent for a few minutes, just sitting there in a semi-awkward silence before Caroline spoke again. "Ugh, this sucks. Now we have like, one extra ticket to everything."

"Maybe you shouldn't have planned so early," Kol said, his voice only half-teasing.

"But I don't want to waste them."

Kol shrugged. "We could ask someone else to go?"

"Like who? You hate Elena, Katherine has her internship at Vogue, your sister hates me," Caroline said, ticking the options off on her fingers.

"Nik could come," Kol suggested.

Caroline shifted uncomfortably. "I guess."

"You don't like him?"

"No, no. I mean, I like him fine."

"I just haven't been able to spend much time with him since I left for school," Kol said in a rare moment of vulnerability.

And really, how could she say no to that? Kol's family wasn't very close, and though he was quite closed off about their family's history, she knew that they had a rocky relationship.

"Okay. Well, you can ask him," Caroline said, shrugging.

"All right. Thanks, Care."

"Of course."

Kol grinned at her and left, coming back less than ten minutes later. "He says he'll go."

"Great!" Caroline said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

It wasn't that she didn't like Klaus. She was pretty neutral, to be honest. However, she didn't like how he made her feel when he was in close proximity, the way her skin heated and her stomach clenched. Being in very close quarters with him for the entire summer wasn't something she was sure she could handle. However, Kol was already excited, and who knew, it could turn out to be fun. She'd just have to make sure that things stayed platonic and professional between them.

Yes, platonic and professional. It would be easy to pull off, right?


A/N: Please tell me your thoughts! I have a rough idea of where this is going, but I still need to write it down as an outline. I'm excited to write Kol, Klaus, and Caroline together on a roadtrip. I can't get enough of writing Kol. It's starting to be a problem. He's just too much fun...
Let me know what you think in a review, since that's the only way I'll improve as a writer! Again, this chapter is a prologue, so it'll be a little bit shorter than the usual chapters.
Hugs!
-Angie