A/N: What's this a new story? Yup, something I've been working really hard on and I'm extremely excited to share with everyone. A huge thanks to queenofklaroline, klaroline-heaven, and klovec for beta-ing and being a big help, go check them out they're all amazing writers. Now to the best part, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The Other Woman
Chapter One
"It wasn't logic, it was love."
Sex and the City
This is wrong.
So, so wrong.
But why does it feel so good?
Caroline Forbes couldn't stop thinking these thoughts that with every brush of his lips against hers; it shouldn't feel right but it does. When his lips travel down her neck, it shouldn't send shivers down her spine but it does. When he whispers sweet nothings in his accented, husky voice, it shouldn't send her heart skyrocketing though her chest but it does.
Caroline Forbes, easily defined as the neurotic, control freak, former cheer captain and honor student, was over all a good person. Her truest desires were never to become that girl, the other woman, the mistress. Yet, everything she once held dear to her, who she thought she was all changed when she slept with Niklaus Mikaelson.
It wasn't for the first time, nor would it be the last. See, Niklaus, or Klaus as he preferred, was her true love. He wasn't her first love but she was determined that he would be her last.
Back track two years and you have Klaus who had other ideas at the time. That they had been dating for a year and a half, on and off, and that after all that time he couldn't commit. He didn't want to get married, he had already been married and hated it. Caroline had pushed him too hard and he backlashed by pushing her away.
So they went their separate ways, she dated but never found love. Klaus, well he got married again. Tatiana Angelou, an Italian model, a long body with longer arms and legs.
Caroline found out through page six, the page of the newspaper dedicated to announcements. It read: "Niklaus Mikaelson, 30, finally settles down, engaged to beautiful model Tatiana Angelou, 22. Planning a spring wedding with a guest list of only New York's elite."
That stung. Her truest love, her last love, getting married when he said he never would? Caroline spent a good month and a half getting over it. Her sadness and denial turned to anger, pure unadulterated rage at the man.
Fast forward a year, Caroline was happily dating Matthew Donovan, a bar owner. She loved him as best as she could but there was still a piece of her heart that belonged to someone else. Someone who had stolen her heart years ago and refused to give it back.
She knew the happy couple had been married a few months later. She read about their wedding on page six, again. This time it read: Mr. and Mrs. Niklaus Mikaelson married in the Hamptons, two hundred of their closest family and friends were in attendance. It was a fabulous affair with the bride looking like an angel in white."
Caroline expected that to have a bigger effect on her life but she had run out of tears to shed for that man. She knew him better than anyone else, the marriage wouldn't last, and he wouldn't last. So she moved on with Matt, taking another step further in their relationship.
Matt and Caroline had moved in after dating for sixth months, he spent most his time fixing up her apartment to make it livable. She had to put up with the noises of renovating and the barking of his dog, Elvis. Her thoughts not straying too far from what it would have been like if she and Klaus had made that step forward in their relationship. No doubt she would have moved into his expansive apartment on the Upper East Side.
They hadn't seen each other in over a year, so it was a surprise to see Klaus sitting at the end of the bar in The Grill, the place Matt owned and Caroline frequently visited. He looked miserable, his tie hung loosely off his neck, his hair stood up at all angles like he had ran his hands through it one too many times, and it looked like he hadn't shaved in days.
He sat there with a scotch in hand, two empty glasses already in front of him. Caroline took pity on the man, he was clearly there alone and looked like he needed company. This was the first moment in over a year that she had seen or even spoken to him. It was a mistake she would realize later on.
So Caroline sat with him, neither saying a word as she watched as Klaus got drunk. It almost felt like old times, but this Klaus was different. He was drinking to ease the pain. She wasn't sure what pain he held because he was supposed to be his happiest, being newly married and all.
"What are you doing here?" She whispered when she was at his side.
"Drinking," he replied, waving the refreshed glass of scotch in his hand. He quickly drained the contents, slamming it back onto the counter.
She looked around, thankful the place was busy and Matt was in the back. She didn't want him to know about Klaus, not that he was a dirty secret to be kept. Klaus was just a part of her past and that's where she wanted him to be kept.
"You need to go."
"But the fun's just begun now that you're here." he smirked, his eyes raking over her body.
She scoffed, "yup, time to go home to your wife."
"I don't want to. She's so boring, always working out and designing my apartment. All white. Who wants to stare at white walls, not a single T.V. either," he complained.
"You chose this life, Klaus," she said, bending down to throw his arm over her shoulder.
Caroline helped him out of the bar, his arm slung over her shoulder which he used as support. As they waited for a cab, Klaus stood up straight and peered down at her. His face completely serious, his eyes however were clouded over. "I want out of my marriage."
Caroline looked at him, not saying a word and studied him. She knew him inside and out and, deep down she knew there was a hint of honesty to his voice. Yet, she had been down this road one too many times with him and left her guard up. "You're drunk."
"I'm getting a divorce."
She rolled her eyes, "We'll see about that."
"I'm serious, Caroline, I'm not happy in my marriage. She's not you."
Caroline didn't say anything, she nodded slightly as she kept reminding herself that he was drunk. But weren't drunken words sober thoughts? She pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, pushing him into a cab when one pulled up in front of them. She gave the driver some money and gave his address, somehow knowing they lived at his old apartment.
She saw him off and went back to her apartment, curling up in bed with Elvis and waited for Matt to come home. This was her life now and she wanted nothing to do with Klaus, he had moved on and so had she.
A month later and Caroline had seen Klaus more times than she cared to admit. She had grown accustomed to his phone calls and found herself waiting for them before she went to bed while Matt was at work.
She found out that he truly was unhappy with his marriage and was planning on getting a divorce. It didn't help that his wife was jet setting all over the world for her career and he was stranded in the city for his.
It all came to a head weeks later, their phone calls and shameless flirting had built up to the very moment where they turned off all inhibitions and gave in to baser desires.
This was where their story really began. Not when they met. Not their first kiss nor date. But rather the moment when Caroline Forbes became the other woman to Niklaus Mikaelson.
"Can you turn that down?" Caroline yelled, the loud noise from the tool Matt was using was starting to grind her gears. She had a deadline, an important one with that, and she couldn't concentrate while Matt renovated.
The tool cut off and he pulled down the mask from his mouth, "What'd you say?"
"I can't concentrate with you doing whatever it is you're doing!" She exclaimed, waving her arms in his direction at the tool in hand. She was across the room at her desk, laptop open ready to write the article that was due in a few days, yet couldn't from the excessive noise.
"I'm sanding the floors, it needs to be done," he shrugged.
"It needs to be done right now?"
"I only have tonight off from the bar, so yes it has to be right now."
Caroline groaned, getting up off her comfy work chair and got changed, if she was going to get any work done she would have to do it far away from her apartment. She changed into a pair of yoga pants and an oversized sweater, hoping she was presentable for travelling across the city.
She grabbed her laptop and a few books and threw them into a large bag and slung it over her shoulder. Matt watched on confused, "Where you going?"
"To a hotel for the weekend, somewhere quiet where I can concentrate," Caroline explained, slipping on her favourite pair of sandals. She made a move to walk around him but Matt grabbed hold of her waist and pulled her into his chest.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine," she replied, fighting to pull away from him. In reality it wasn't fine but she didn't want to cause a problem. She would get her space and clear her head while finishing up with the dead line.
Lately she had felt like Matt was smothering her; he was always around and in her space. The apartment was small, too small for two adults and a dog, which was why Matt was renovating it. He bought the apartment beside hers and was joining the two together which inevitably gave them less space for the time being.
"I love you," he whispered into her ear as he held onto her, his grasp tight.
She didn't say anything back when she pulled from his arms except offer a weak smile. He didn't notice, oblivious Matt, didn't notice that the light that was once in her eyes had disappeared. That over the past month she began to drift away from him and the love they shared as she got sucked up with Klaus.
Klaus, the man who self-destructed. The man who broke her heart two years ago. The man she gave all her heart to four years ago. The same man who was pulling her back in again, who was allowing her to feel something that she hadn't felt in so long.
She would have given anything for Matt to be that person. The one who made her want to love again, the one that warmed her heart and not just her bed. But life, she learned, didn't work that way. Her heart belonged only to Klaus and Matt was too oblivious not to notice.
Matt went back to sanding the floors, the noise resumed and so did Caroline. She made her way across town to her favourite hotel, one of luxury, one that she had spent many times with Klaus in during their relationship.
It was grand, bright colours of gold and red lingering on the walls and accents on the black couches that sat in the lobby. The bar that was off to the side was empty mostly, save for a few business men having a drink. Caroline got a room, her key and made her way upstairs to get to work.
She hoped this would work, that there would be no distractions and she could meet the deadline, save her ass from being eaten alive by her boss.
Her wishes were not heard by the gods above because half an hour into setting to work her phone rang. The only person who would have her number would be Matt and she knew he was too busy working to call her. So Caroline hesitantly picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Caroline, it's me, I'm downstairs." An unexpected voice rang through the phone. -Klaus.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I called your apartment, that guy at your place told me. Funny, you never mentioned being in a relationship."
"You talked to Matt? I thought I told you not to call my house!" She snapped.
A low chuckle came from the other end, "Desperate times, love. I need to talk to you, I'll be waiting for you downstairs."
Caroline hung up the phone, slamming it hard onto the desk. She closed her computer and grabbed her coat, throwing it on over the tank top she was wearing.
She made her way down the elevators and looked around the lobby with no signs of him anywhere. She took a left, towards the bar, where Klaus was already sitting with a drink in hand.
Caroline felt her anger rise as she made her way towards him, "What are you doing here?"
"Sit down, have a drink," he smirked, waving at the stool beside him as he took a drink of scotch, no less.
"What are you doing, Klaus?" She asked annoyed, grabbing the glass out of his hand and putting it on the bar counter away from him.
"Would you please sit down?" He asked, exasperated by her wanting all the answers, answers that he couldn't answer.
Caroline obliged, taking the seat beside him and turned to look over at him. His blue eyes bore down into hers and she saw a hint of uncertainty in them, along with confusion and hurt. When Klaus didn't say anything, Caroline spoke. "I don't have time for this. I have a boyfriend and a dead line." Then she looked over at him, sizing him up, "You have a wife and apparently a drinking problem."
"I'm not drunk."
"Klaus," she said, gaining his attention back to her when she noticed he was staring at something over her shoulder. He was lost in his own little world.
"I love you, Caroline," he finally said after a few moments of silence. His eyes held sincerity; they always gave him away, what he was really feeling. She saw the truth yet she refused to believe them. "I don't want to be married to her anymore. I just want you."
Caroline pushed herself off the barstool, "You're two years too late, Klaus." With that she turned on her heels and quickly made her way to the elevator, pressing the button repeatedly hoping it would arrive faster.
Klaus was hot on her heels, "Caroline, would you just wait!"
The doors opened and Caroline ran inside, pressing the floor number and waited for them to close but Klaus was able to hop on before they closed for good. "Caroline, please."
"No! This has to stop, Klaus. This flirting and jerking me around and calling my boyfriend! For the first time in two years I am happy; Matt makes me happy and you're ruining it! So just stop," she yelled, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.
"I made a mistake. I miss you." he said, closing the distance between them until he was right up against her. "I made a mistake," he grabbed her arms and leaned in just enough to kiss her.
"Fuck you," she spat, pushing him away. Unfortunately her strength only allowed her to push him back by an inch and he was right back in her face again.
"I love you," he whispered, his voice soft and sincere. He lowered his head, his nose softly brushing hers before their lips crashed together.
Caroline pushed him away again, "fuck you!"
Klaus used his strength and pushed her up against the wall of the elevator, his hands holding her up and not allowing her to move. He kissed her again, but this time his kiss was gentle and slow, savoring her body flush against his as his lips gently brushed hers.
Caroline didn't push him away, instead her hands grabbed onto the curls at the back of his head to hold him to her. The kiss deepened, his hands roaming her body. He pulled away, dragging his lips down her neck causing Caroline to moan.
"Fuck me," she whispered.
Klaus smirked against her skin before attacking her neck with open mouthed kisses before moving back to her mouth. Taking her in a searing kiss, his tongue battling with hers for dominance. He bent down griping behind her knees and lifting her, Caroline wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him tight against her body.
She missed it, the feel of his body against hers. The feel of his lips against hers. When his calloused hands brushed against her sensitive skin. She missed running her fingers through her curls. But over all, she missed him.
A/N: So what'd you think? Want more?