The swing took her up higher, her hair flowing in the wind as her mother 's hands hit her back pushing her up, "Faster!" she called behind her as she fell back again.
Her mother laughed, "I can't," she called to her, "you're getting too tall," Liz insisted making Caroline throw her head back in laughter.
The swing slows in a matter of seconds after Caroline attempts to get off to better plead with her mother, "Please," she asks as her mother takes a seat on the bench.
"Play with him," Liz tells her instead smiling at the new boy that has appeared with his older brothers seemingly ignoring him to play on the see-saws.
She grins turning away from her mother to run over to him stopping just short of knocking him over, "I'm Caroline," she says excitedly taking his hand.
He looked surprised as he uttered his own name, "Nik-laus," he answered unsure of which to go with as she pulled him back to the swings.
"Can I call you Nicky?" she asks as she sits down on the swing and spins it to look at him before spinning back.
"No," he answers her bluntly.
She giggles, "Can you push me?" she asks him as she drags her feet in the rocks.
"Yes," he says before he pushes her straight off of the swing.
"Caroline," Klaus' low timbre wakes her with a shiver for a moment she thinks the dream has just drifted into another more adult but he calls her name again.
She grimaces, her mood turning absolutely foul while rubbing the side of her face with her pillow as she heard him walking into her room sensing him beside her. Reality meant Klaus wasn't going to touch her, it meant her harboring crush on her best friend was best kept quiet.
"Hey!" she sighed mournfully, "Why'd you wake me? I was having a dream about us," she says as she leans on her elbow to look up at him.
"Good kind?" Klaus jokes not knowing how close he was to the truth as he wipes some drool from her cheek making Caroline blush as pink as the flowers of her bed set.
"Yes, the day we met," she confesses because it was true, even though when she does she misses the small slip of his smirk by burying her face in her pillow once more if only for a second.
"What brought that on?" he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed setting down one of the mugs he held on the side table trying not to run his fingers through her rumpled hair.
"No idea," Caroline replies sitting up as he took a sip from his tea and Caroline stole his mug doing the same.
Klaus pouted, "Coffee," he said gesturing to her mug on the table so she would relinquish his tea and he could escape her morning, er, beauty.
"I love how that's not even a question," Caroline expresses him with a grin happily moving in her bed to reach for the coffee and pass him back his warm drink.
"You're absolutely maddening without it," Klaus bites with a bit of humor making her eyes playfully narrow.
"You love it," she mutters with a tilt of her head and smile.
"I do, but I'm protecting society," he taunts her as he gets up.
"Ugh, shut up, so good." She answers back as she takes a gulp of the hot liquid he's poured for her.
"Said the English Major," he said making fun of her lack of finesse so early in the day.
"I will hurt you," she promises for trying to ruin her coffee buzz.
"Not too hard I hope," he winks as he walks out narrowly missing the heavy beaded throw pillow she's tossing his way.
"Just enough to leave a mark," Caroline bites back calling after him.
Klaus ducks his head back in, "Don't tease me with a good time, Love," he laughs out.
"Out, gotta shower. Pop quizzes to give out today," Caroline says climbing her bed to get over to the door shutting it.
"Oi," she hears once it's shut making her smile in satisfaction.
He hopped out of the elevator still smiling at the way Caroline looked in the morning sun of his guest bedroom that was now quickly becoming her permanent home. It had been eight months and Caroline hardly seemed like she was in a hurry to move out though she insisted whenever he brought up the fact that she should stay. Or joked they could share a room.
"Klaus, fancy meeting you here," And just like that his morning joy was gone, he looked up finding the familiar voice of his ex.
"Well I do live here and so do you Genevieve," he reminds her needlessly as he makes himself busy with checking the mail in the building's lobby.
"Who's the girl I saw coming home with you?" the redhead inquires him with a sort of coquettish smile that turned his stomach over in a depraved sort of way.
"None of your concern," he replies simply as he gathers his mails and shuts the metal door locking it back up.
Her arm reaches out grabbing his curled bicep, "Oh, come on," she declares as Klaus snatches his arm away from her grip.
Caroline comes down the elevator right afterwards smiling as she pecks him on the cheek, "Have a good day," she utters.
"You too, Love" the sentiment slips as his eyes lock with his ex and he winces internally at the hard look of her eyes.
"Still going to tell me there's nothing going on?" Genevieve mutters.
"There's nothing going on," he says because she wouldn't believe him anyway before he leaves her in the lobby eager to get back to his work.
"Bit of red here," he urges, "smidge, bugger, no," he cries wiping his brow as he holds his brush between his teeth, "Drink," he reaches behind him.
"Too early," he mimics Caroline's voice in his head before he sets down the bourbon, "Water," he says as he sets down his colors and brush leaving his at home studio.
Klaus looks around his eyes landing on the pile of mail from earlier spotting the words 'Mystic Falls Committee' all together, "Bloody hell," he mumbles reaching for the envelope.
Curiosity got the best of him as he held it to the light his fingers running over the expensive paper he recognizes as the one Caroline picked out when they were younger. Not seeing through it he only forced him to improvise by using his resources. Essentially he used his kettle to melt the glue seal only to have to hide it just as the door swung open.
"Honey, I'm home," Caroline called from the door as she whizzed inside finding him hunched over the sofa looking back at her with wide eyes.
"Louder Caroline," Klaus uttered sardonically, "I doubt the other end of the city heard you," her face shifts and her eyes flare frightening him.
"Ouch, grumpy," Caroline mutters instead of acting on that little feeling of snapping back at him choosing instead to let him live.
"Sorry, stuck on a certain spot," Klaus mumbled out knowing she had let is commentary slide which was big of her.
"I figured," the blonde replied without pause, "Brought dinner from Carmelo's your fave," she says holding out the white plastic bag.
"I adore you," he sighs with a grin that leaves her heart fluttering.
"I know," she articulates clearing her throat and averting her eyes only to land them on the stack of mail, "Oh mail! My mom called earlier to tell me something was coming."
"She did?" her friend queried her, his mind racing, his eyes darting to the peeking out envelope on the squared carpet.
"She calls every day," Caroline jogs his memory for him without a need because Klaus is the subject of most of those calls as a matter of fact he talks to her more than Caroline.
"Of course," Klaus says with a grin thinking fondly of the sheriff as he walks to the kitchen stretching upwards to grab for two wine glasses in the cabinet.
"Hmm, nothing," he catches Caroline saying as he reaches into the fridge for the bottle he's had chilling since noon.
"Wine? White?" he asks her arching his neck upwards to look at her.
"You even have to ask?" she asks making herself comfortable when she sees something peeking out from the bottom of the sofa.
Her eyes dart down to her bare feet as she moves her shoes out of the way finding a corner of a paper sticking out, "Klaus, what is this?" she asks.
His eyes shoot out of his head, he's sure of it, "That, nothing," he says darting forward to reach her before she can read and he sees the moment it's too late.
Realization dawns on her face, "So it isn't what my mother sent my way?" she enquires with a tone that causes pause on his part.
"Don't open it, I beg of you," Klaus falls to his knees before her his hands held together in prayer.
Caroline considers him for a moment and then rejects his idea reading it, "Your sister is going out for Miss Mystic and you didn't tell me?" she exclaims.
Klaus' hands fell to his sides, "She asked me not to," he says timidly, "With your pull," he reminds her that she is still very connected to the council.
"She wanted to earn it," Caroline finishes his thought for him, "Ah, I get that but wow, I would never… This is so exciting!"
"We're not going," Klaus puts his foot down.
Her face fell, he hated he did that, "What? Why not?" she cries flopping down on the sofa so that she's eye level with him because she's too pretty to get on her knees.
"Because of reasons," Klaus utters looking as red as the throw pillow he insisted she not buy behind him.
Caroline stares him down, down, he feels when he cracks, "It's possible that most of the town including your mother think that you and I, are, er, Sympatico?"
Her wine glass dropped to the floor making him thankful she preferred white. The rug was antique. She would have hated him for this after she calmed down from what she was about to experience.
"Are you telling me the whole town of Mystic Falls thinks that we are together and I never freakin' knew?" Caroline screeches.
"That about sums it up," Klaus says with a wince pursing his lips to keep from smiling because that is so not something that needs to happen right now.
"Stop smiling," Caroline demands throwing her hands down.
"Honestly, I'm not," Klaus tries but his face does the bloody thing anyway, he smiles.
"Oh, you know we're going to this right? We are." Caroline says pointing a finger at him before she points it at herself, "But together –together?"
Hours of silence followed Klaus before bed, even sleep seemed to be angry with him because it sure as bloody hell wasn't coming to him. He sighed frustrated as he crawled himself out of bed putting on some sweatpants to comply with the silent 'clothes on' rule they had. Not that is stopped him from gazing at her appreciatively every now and again in her tiny sleep shorts.
That kind of thinking now however only would lead to a tent in his pants so Klaus pushed it aside and exited his bedroom hoping to find his best friend not girlfriend. The stove light was on, he smiled, Caroline was in the kitchen probably just as tired and just as disappointed in him as he was. Probably eating her feelings too, the thought told him to not provoke her with a joke.
Instead he spoke with swift bluntness, "Caroline, are you ever going to talk to me?" asking her a serious question because he honestly wasn't sure Caroline could forgive him. He actually wasn't sure he was equipped to handle Caroline hating him.
"Next weekend," Caroline snipped after recovering from the shock of his voice in the dark behind her as she relaxed for the ben and jerry's he made sure to keep stocked for her.
He groaned in agony as he stalked into the kitchen, "That isn't fair," he answered back knowing he was getting off easy because she hadn't blown up at him but still.
Caroline threw him a withering glare as she nearly dropped her ice cream, "Fair?" she hissed as she stabbed her metal spoon inside the dairy goodness.
She ate a bite as she spoke, "You let the whole town believe we were together and-" Klaus took advantage of her pause to jump in and acquit himself.
"And I knew then how you felt about being talked about," he promised, "And I know now it was wrong," Klaus reasoned with her, "But it was right after the Damon thing."
Caroline's eyes lit up, "So Tyler never even happened?" she said as his words weakened her resolve to stay angry at him because oh, boy, that relationship was a mistake.
"We both know that relationship was a sham," Klaus remarked because she apparently had said that out loud, "He didn't even tell his mother." Which now was a good thing. For them.
"Good thing too," Caroline says as if reading his thoughts, "Or we would have been found out sooner," Caroline reasons as she digs her spoon back into the pint.
"I'm sorry," he says again meaning it just as much as the four times he said it before in that one day which was a sad blow to his ego.
Caroline rolled her eyes, "I know you are and I forgave you already just let me be pissed for a little bit longer okay?" she asks of her best friend.
Klaus backs off knowing when to quit, "Alright, plane ticket is paid for," he mumbled off as Caroline nearly threw he spoon at him.
"I swear you are so perfect and annoying ugh," she cried as she dropped her spoon and ran over to him filling the space left between them. Klaus paying meant first class.
"I know," he uttered, he really was trying to make it up to her, if he enjoyed the hug that was just a bonus for the shower later.
AN: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. I'd love your input and ideas...