Anonymous asked: 16 klaroline

LOVE a good opportunity to write Caroline thanks babe

16. "I'm going to kiss you now." + Klaroline (The Vampire Diaries & The Originals)

Caroline liked making plans.

She liked lists, and dot-points, and three-ringed binders–colour-coded, of course. She wasn't an animal.

The point is, Caroline liked things a certain way. She liked them neat and tidy and according to plan, and that was how she'd always been. Growing up, she'd had a spreadsheet on the old computer her dad used for work, detailing exactly which stuffed animals she'd sleep with on which night. Her mom had limited her to two per night after she nearly suffocated in a mound of them one night, so she found it necessary to create a roster to ensure that none of them felt left out.

Caroline arranged everything; nothing arranged Caroline.

So, taking the day off from working at the Armory and getting into her car was an impulsive decision. Driving to New Orleans, even more so. But she had hours between the departure and the arrival to plan out her every move: what she'd say, what she'd do, how it would end. She knew what she was doing.

She pulled up to the compound with her heart hammering in her chest. Ridiculous, and she ordered it to stop–it didn't, the traitor. She'd once met a 700 year old vampire who could control their own heartbeat. She'd have to ask them how.

For now, she had no magical abilities to stem her nervous reaction. She wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt and got out of the car before she lost her nerve.

You know what to do, she told herself. You know how this works.

Marching up to the door, Caroline kept an ear out for the sound of heartbeats inside. There was only one, slow and steady, accompanied by the rasp of paintbrush fibers on a canvas.

Klaus.

She knew the others were gone; Hayley had assured her as much when she called her before she left. She hadn't even voiced her question before the other woman answered it, such was their friendship by that point.

Sucking in a deep breath, Caroline rested a hand against the gate at the entrance of the compound. Trust the Mikaelsons to not have an actual front door to knock on.

She swung it open with a creak, feeling the cool air sweep through the courtyard, rustling dead leaves on the stone floor. She'd been there once or twice before, but never alone. Not like this.

"Hello?" she called, making her way toward the stairs leading up to the second level. "Klaus?"

The sound of brush kissing canvas had stopped.

"Klaus, I know you're here," she continued. She arrived in some sort of sitting room, one that smelled like sage and witch hazel and Freya's perfume. A scattering of salt and unlit sticks of incense on a table in the corner indicated that she performed spells in this room quite frequently.

A gust of displaced wind at her back and the smell of acrylic paint told her that he'd found her. She didn't even turn her head as she said, "I know you're there."

Klaus sauntered around in front of her, arms tucked behind his back. "Hello, love. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I–" Caroline felt herself floundering. "I need you to not talk."

Klaus frowned. "Um, wh–"

"Because I planned this out, and I can't have you hijacking it."

"You … planned our interaction."

"Duh." She didn't feel the slightest bit embarrassed; Klaus knew who she was. "So I need you to know that I'm ready now. It took a while, for both of us, after what happened to Stefan and Camille. But I'm ready to try and figure things out now. So we're going to make it work."

Silence reigned for a moment.

Klaus cleared his throat. "So … you've planned it all out."

"Yep."

"Did you plan this?" He reached out and swiped at her cheek, leaving something wet and cold in its wake.

Horrified, Caroline reached up to wipe her face, her palm coming away smeared with blue paint. "You–" She choked on her indignation, looking down at his paint covered hands. "That's so not fair. I wasn't ready for it!"

"You didn't plan it, you mean." His shit-eating grin made her blood boil.

"I–I plan things, okay? I'm not ashamed of that. I work hard and I plan things, and it's what makes me good at my job and–and a good person to boot. I will not be made ashamed of that–"

"Love, I'm not saying you should be ashamed of it," said Klaus, stepping toward her. His hand came to rest against her upper arm, thumb circling gently. "I'm just saying that we can't plan for everything. That's what makes it a risk."

Caroline closed her eyes tightly. "I don't like that."

"And yet, it's the reality of the world we live in. You make plans, they go awry, and then … you make new ones." His eyes were sparkling when she opened her eyes again. "What's your new plan?"

She didn't need a moment to think about it. "I'm going to kiss you now."

His grin reappeared. "No arguments from–mmf."

Suffice to say, he didn't get to finish his sentence, and by the time they were done, they were both covered in blue.

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