Hello everyone! This story is basically almost completely written and should end up being five chapters. I'm planning on once-a-week updates. This is for mon-amour-eternel on tumblr. The prompt was a prompt based on The Other Side by Jason DeRulo and then it just...became this trope fest. Thank you to goldcaught for the beautiful cover and to garglyswoof and chica-cherry-lola for being wonderful betas! I hope you enjoy this!

What's it like in New York city?
I'm a thousand miles away
But, girl, tonight you look so pretty
Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear, it's true

~ Hey There Delilah (Plain White T's)

"How'd it go?" Caroline asked, and he could hear the shuffle of papers in the background and the clink of a cup. It was easy to imagine her stacking her notes on the side of her desk and fiddling with a coffee mug, the french press he'd bought her as a graduation present sitting half-full by her textbooks.

He hadn't seen her in the past few months other than during their weekly Skype chats. He looked forward to Thursday evening all week, the brightness of her eyes and the sound of her laugh made wading through the sea of Hollywood rejection slightly more tolerable. Sometimes they could find extra time to talk if he didn't have a shift and she wasn't in class. Tonight, he'd managed to catch her just before she went to bed, asking how her midterm had gone, and he could hear in her tone that she was a little stressed. If the movement of objects she was fiddling with in the background hadn't been enough of a hint, her abrupt switch to asking about his audition would have.

"Good, I think," Klaus said, sensing that she wanted a distraction. "It's always difficult to tell. Sometimes they like you, but not for that specific role."

She hummed softly, and he heard the sound of sheets rustling as though she was laying down on her bed. "Well, not to like, blow up your ego any bigger than it is already, but they'd be dumb not to hire you. You're really good."

He chuckled. "I know, love."

She huffed, shifting slightly, and they sat in a comfortable silence for a few seconds before she spoke again. "Just remember us peasants when you get famous, okay?"

He smiled, looking out his bedroom window at the streets below. It was still rush hour in Los Angeles, the loud sounds of honking and groups of people making their way to after-work obligatory happy hours easily bleeding through the thin walls of his studio. "I don't think anyone who's spoken to you for more than ten seconds would associate you with the commoners, love," he teased, and she scoffed.

"Are you calling me snobby?"

"Am I wrong?"

There was a pause that he was almost sure was her rolling her eyes for her non-existent audience—though he'd gone into acting, Caroline could certainly give him a run for his money in general dramatics. "I mean...no," she admitted grudgingly. "But still, like... I just don't want to see you on the cover of People at a grocery store and not be able to call you and complain about how annoyingly photogenic you are."

He smiled slightly, his pen tapping on the pages of his sketchbook, feeling reassured that she held some of the same fears he did should his career take off. He'd always liked her, but she was rather practical by nature, and it still rankled him a bit to know that she'd had to have considered the pros and cons of a relationship at least once and decided the benefits of choosing him didn't outweigh the possible cost.

To be fair, he'd never wanted to press too much, afraid of scaring her away. A friendship with Caroline was undoubtedly better than not having her at all.

"I'm not going anywhere, love," he said, not missing her sharp exhale on the other end of the line.

"Okay," she said slowly, though he could tell from the slight drag of the vowel that she had something on her mind. He stayed quiet, knowing that if he waited long enough she wouldn't be able to stand the silence. "Just so you know, I'm not going anywhere either," she said, a frank finality in her tone that made him grin.

"Yeah?"

"Um, duh. We promised we were ride-or-die in the third grade, remember?"

"If I recall correctly, I believe you used the term "biffles", which I feel I must inform you nearly made me reconsider."

"And you would have been missing out if you had," she said cheerfully.

He grinned, leaning back in his chair and propping his feet on his desk. "True." He heard her yawn, the sheets shifting again, and he chuckled softly. "Tired?"

"Yeah. I know it's just after dinner for you, but it's late here and I've been crazy busy. Actors aren't the only ones who need their beauty sleep."

"You should sleep, then."

"I know. I'm sorry we didn't get to talk as much. Are you free this weekend? Maybe we can talk like, Sunday afternoon?"

"Sounds perfect. Good night, love."

"'Night."

The line went dead, and he set his phone down on the desk, frowning and fiddling with his pencil before bending to shade a few dots along Caroline's cheekbone, closing his eyes to try to remember exactly how the sprinkle of her freckles spread out in the summer sun. He was just finishing the shading of her right eye when his phone rang again, and he took a deep breath when he saw it was his manager. She usually texted if he didn't get a part or if she had a potential audition. She never called.

"Hello, Meredith," he greeted, trying to keep his voice calm despite his racing heart. "To what do I owe the—"

"They want to do a chemistry test with Tatia," Meredith interrupted. "If you nail it, you definitely have the role. Can you come to my office tomorrow? 2 o'clock?"

"Yes."

"Good. See you then," she said, hanging up without waiting for a goodbye, and Klaus stared at his phone, having difficulty processing what had just happened. He had no doubt that the chemistry test would go well, and he knew exactly who he wanted to tell the good news to first. He dialed the number before he realized he was doing it, wincing as it rang, hoping Caroline hadn't fallen asleep in the last fifteen minutes..

"Hey," Caroline said sleepily. "What's up?"

"Meredith just called. I got the role."

"Seriously?" Caroline squealed. "Oh my god, Klaus! That's amazing! I'm so excited for you."

"Thank you, love."

If anything felt better than getting the role, it was hearing how happy she was for him, how proud she was. He found himself more tempted than ever before to confess his feelings to her. He swallowed, gathering his nerve. "Caroline, I..." he trailed off, suddenly unable to find the right words.

"What?" she asked, and he could imagine the little furrow in her brow. The purse of her lips. He suddenly realized that it wasn't the right time. No matter how true it was and how much he wanted her to know, he couldn't do it over the phone. If it went well, he wanted to see her smile, and if it went badly, if he told her how he felt and it ruined their friendship, he'd never forgive himself if he didn't get one last glimpse of her face.

"Everything okay?" she asked, her voice penetrating his thoughts.

"Thank you," he said after a beat of silence.

"For what?"

"Being supportive."

She laughed, the sound making him smile in spite of himself.

"That's what best friends are for, you dork."

His heart clenched at the word 'friends', and he leaned back in his chair, reflecting that perhaps it was best he hadn't told her.

"I suppose it is, isn't it?"

Thank you for reading! This chapter is short, but it's the prologue. The actual chapters will probably be around three thousand words each once I separate them.

Are you interested to see more of their friendship and backstory? Any favorite parts or lines of dialogue? Are KC in character? Is there anything that I could have done better? I love to hear from you guys, and reviews are truly what inspires me to sit down and write things, so please let me know what you think!

Hugs!