At 8:30 PM on Christmas Eve, Caroline was finally leaving work.
Her friends thought she was crazy for accepting the hours that her boss demanded, but the Mikaelson's law firm was by far the best in town, and she was honored to intern there, no matter what the hours were.
She was standing on the elevator and watching the doors slide close in front of her, when a briefcase came out of nowhere at the last second, sufficiently stopping them. The doors automatically opened at the disturbance, and Caroline couldn't help but roll her eyes at the man who was standing in front of them.
"Caroline," Klaus Mikaelson drawled in his infuriatingly hot British accent, as his trademark wolfish grin grew on his face. "What a pleasant surprise."
"Mr. Mikaelson," she greeted him with a curt nod, doing her best to keep it short and sweet without seeming rude. Technically, she worked for his brother, Elijah, but she was still employed by his families firm, so she tried her best to keep their relationship professional, no matter how obviously he wanted the exact opposite.
"Nobody calls me that, and you know it," he chided her, stepping onto the elevator and moving to stand beside her. He faced her, while she continued to face the wall, praying that the elevator would hurry up. "It's Klaus."
Caroline pursed her lips, and closed her eyes for a moment. She nodded again, but didn't offer a response. Instead, she focused on the small screen that was counting down the floor numbers.
37, 36, 35, 34, 33
"Right then," Klaus said, her lack of a response not deterring him, as per usual, "What's got you staying at work so late tonight? Shouldn't you be on your way home for the holidays? God knows Elijah left hours ago…"
She was going to let him ramble on until they got to the first floor. She didn't owe him any answers. He knew she worked hard- everybody knew that- and it wasn't the first time she'd stayed late. He didn't need to know that she didn't have anywhere to go for the holidays, and that the only thing waiting for her back at her apartment was a cheap bottle of wine and a Netflix marathon. He didn't need to know anything about her, so she let his assumptions flow freely and ignored them completely, until the words were suddenly cut off by the elevator coming to an abrupt stop.
/
For the first time since Klaus got on the elevator, Caroline turned to look at him. Her eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion, her lips still pursed together, and somehow she still looked as beautiful as ever.
The stop they'd come to had cut of his sentence, but after a few seconds went by and they didn't start to move, he spoke again.
"Shit."
"Helpful," Caroline snapped at him, before she uncrossed her arms and reached a hand out, pressing the ground floor button a few times before she moved to the open button.
"Right, because your contribution is working so well," he shot back, nodding to the buttons that weren't lighting up no matter how many times she pressed them. No matter how beautiful Caroline Forbes was, she was also the most infuriating woman Klaus had ever met.
She scoffed at that, before crossing her arms and popping her hip to the side. "I'm sure it'll start working again any second."
She was probably right about that, but Klaus didn't feel like agreeing with her. Instead, he let out a long breath of air, before grabbing his phone from his pocket. He had a few missed texts from Rebekah asking what time he'd be at her place the next day, but that was it. When he went to respond to them, he came to the stark realization that he didn't have service.
He did the only logical thing he could think of, and lifted his phone above his head, hoping to get at least a bar, but he had no luck.
"Really?" Caroline demanded, apparently realizing the predicament and reacting accordingly. She let out an exasperated sigh, and Klaus was convinced that she was going to stomp her foot next. Instead, she reached out and opened the drawer underneath the buttons, pulling out the phone.
He scoffed at that. "You really think somebody's going to answer that?" he asked, his voice heavy with doubt, which she rolled her eyes at but otherwise seemed to ignore. He could hear the dial tone ringing throughout the elevator and, after it became clear that nobody was answering, he spoke again. "It's Christmas Eve- I can guarantee you that everybody's gone home by now."
She flashed him the dirtiest look he'd ever seen. "Everybody can't be gone."
"Yes they can," he assured her, knowing that he was right, even if he hated what that meant.
"So what- we're just going to be stuck here until Boxing Day?" she ran a hand through her hair, and unzipped her jacket slightly. She was clearly growing more and more nervous by the second, and suddenly he felt bad that he'd been the one to discourage her to begin with.
"Surely somebody will come looking for one of us before then," he reassured her with a shrug, "That, or the elevator will start working again,"
\\\\\\\
The elevator hadn't started moving again, and her phone wasn't working, and Caroline hadn't felt this trapped in a long time, and Klaus Mikaelson staring her down, which didn't helping matters at all.
"Don't worry love," he said, breaking the silence after several minutes, "I'm sure you'll make it back to your one horse town in time for Christmas."
"How do you know where I'm from?" she snapped before she could stop herself, turning around to face him and finding him leaning leisurely against the back wall of the elevator.
A smile grew on his face at that, and she silently cursed herself for having broken her vow to not engage with him. Klaus Mikaelson was tricky, and smart, and evil, and talking to him wouldn't serve her any good at all.
"You work for my families company. I like to know a bit about the employees," he shrugged in his nonchalant way, as if it explained everything.
"I highly doubt that," she called his bluff, with a small smirk on her face. There was no way that he cared about his family's employees. She was pretty sure that he didn't care about anybody other than himself, the occasional client, and possibly his siblings.
"Well then you must think very lowly of me, love," he said quietly, the smile dropping from his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and adopted the predatory look that she'd grown used to seeing on him. It was the same look he wore in the court room, when he defended murderers and criminals and whoever else could afford his services.
"Of course not. That would imply that I think about you at all, which I don't."
His eyebrows rose slightly at that and then, before she realized what was happening, he pushed himself off the wall and closed the distance between them in one step. She went to move back at that, realizing quickly that the wall was behind her and there was nowhere for her to go. She'd known the man for months, but she'd never been this close to him, and with that closeness she became acutely aware of how good he smelt- like cool air, as if he'd been outside all day, which she knew wasn't the case. She also noticed how dark his eyes were, and how sharp the angles of his mouth were, and how close his lips were to hers.
He stood there for seconds while she studied him and then, just when she'd almost forgotten how much she hated him, his lips turned up in a smirk. "You really expect me to believe that, sweetheart?"
She let out a small, bitter laugh at that, and forced herself to look away from him.
"Alright then, whatever you say," he muttered, his voice low as he lingered for another second, before he took a step back and retreated to his spot against the wall with a smug look on his face.
She would never, in a million years, admit that she missed having him so close to her.
/
"So, you never did answer my question," Klaus pointed out, bored out of his mind after five minutes of silence that felt like forever. He'd taken up a spot on the floor, while Caroline was still standing in front of the buttons, ready for whenever the elevator started moving again. "Shouldn't you be headed home for the holidays?"
"I didn't realize you'd asked," she said, turning back to face him as she did so. The lines on her face were sharp, like she was still ready for a fight.
"Sure I did," he responded easily, trying to keep things casual despite her unusually tense demeanor, "When I first got on the elevator. I made small talk, and you ignored me? Ring any bells?"
"I do remember ignoring you…"
He couldn't help but roll his eyes at her show. "Cute."
"I try," she smiled, with a small, triumphant shrug that said the exact opposite.
"Still haven't answered the question, love," he said dryly, his lips pursed together as he waited for a response. He didn't know nearly as much about Caroline Forbes as he wanted to, and he couldn't figure out for the life of him why somebody as brilliant, and beautiful, and young as she was would be spending Christmas Eve alone in an office.
For her part, her face clouded the second he asked the question, and he almost regretted doing so. "I'm staying in town for Christmas this year. Not that it's any of your business," she said pointedly, her guard up once again.
"That sounds lonely," he said bluntly, watching a range of emotions cross over her face at the words. The girl really was an open book, and she was one that he loved to read.
It was a simple matter of fact that Klaus was one of the best criminal lawyers in town and, because of that, not many people were willing to fight with him, but Caroline was the exception. She squared her shoulders, raised her eyebrows, and spat, "What, like your plans are any better?" with nothing but vile in her voice.
"Actually, I'll be at Rebekah's the whole day tomorrow. Presents in the morning, turkey dinner at night, the whole thing."
"That… sounds nice," she finally settled on. Klaus could practically see the fight inside of her disappearing, and he kind of missed it.
"Yeah, well, if you think that, then you obviously haven't spent much time around my family," he said, only partly joking. The whole lot of Mikaelson children had become lawyers, which made for lots of arguments, lots of competition, and ridiculously tense family gatherings. "Do you have any siblings?"
"No, it's just me and my mom," she said, her lips now pursed together in a straight line, as she avoided eye contact with him, "We're not very close."
For some reason that made him mad. Caroline was possibly the most brilliant woman he'd ever met, and there was no doubt in his mind that she was the best thing to ever happen to her mother. The woman would have to be crazy to not want a daughter like her in her life. "Well, I'd say that's her loss," he said, trying to stay casual, but knowing that he meant every word of it.
The only response he got from her was a small nod and a tentative smile, but it was better than nothing.
A couple minutes later Caroline leaned her back against the wall and slowly slid down it, so that she was sitting across from him on the elevator floor, and he counted it as a victory for himself.
\\\\\\\
Caroline had been interning at the Mikaelson's law firm for 3 months, and this was the first time she'd actually had a real conversation with Klaus. He'd flirted with her before and she'd shut him down, and every once in a while they discussed work, but that was about it. She had to admit, she didn't entirely hate talking to him. He was being surprisingly decent, but one thing was still bothering her.
"I'm not lonely, you know," she said, obviously surprising him with her small proclamation, so she backtracked. "You said I sound lonely. I'm not. I have a lot of friends; they're just… not here right now."
"Alright, love; whatever you say," he replied, but his forehead wrinkled in confusion and his voice held a hint of disbelief, and suddenly Caroline was mad again.
"I do. It's just- it's complicated, okay?"
"Sure it is," he nodded his head, obviously aiming to sound earnest but missing by a mile.
She'd been wrong. He wasn't decent; he was infuriating. "You don't know anything about me."
"You sure about that, sweetheart?" he asked, putting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward, interrupting her before she could respond. "You work harder than anybody else here. You hate losing. You refuse to back down from a fight, and you need to be in control of everything, constantly. That stems from insecurities, I'd assume. You're also absolutely stunning, but anybody with eyes could tell you that. How'd I do?"
She was not going to break eye contact, and she was not going to wince, and she was not going to do anything else that would let Klaus know how right he'd been. His trademark smirk was back on his face and he looked like he was getting ready to keep talking, and she couldn't have that.
"What's my middle name?" she asked point-blank, leaning forward so that their faces were closer than before, letting her stare him down.
"Excuse me?"
"When's my birthday?"
"I-"
"What's my favourite food? My favourite movie? What TV show am I binge-watching right now? What's my favourite color? How old was I when my dad left? Who's my best friend? Why did I decide to move to New York?"
By the time Caroline finished her rant he'd stopped trying to interrupt her, but he didn't look away. There was something in his eyes- a look that she'd never seen before- and it scared her, so she did what she knew how to do, and she kept talking. "You don't know anything about me- at least not the important things."
The elevator fell silent after that, and Caroline thought she'd put an end to the conversation. She was still a little bit on-edge over Klaus' original description of her, but she could ignore that. She worked for his brother after all; he must have heard all of that from Elijah, or something. She'd just convinced herself that that was the case, when he spoke again.
"So tell me."
/
Klaus could only handle so much of the girls' hostility before he snapped, and he was reaching that point. She looked startled by his outburst, so he took the opportunity to continue.
"What's your favourite color, Caroline?"
"That's what you want to know? That's what you're taking from this?"
She looked taken aback, and that was fine by him. "I'm trying to get to know you- is that a problem?"
She laughed at that, her eyes widening for a moment before she looked up at him. "Yes," she declared, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, and causing a wave of fury to wash over him.
"Why?"
"I don't want to know you."
"Why?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why don't you want to know me? What have I ever done to hurt you? Is there something that I've done to earn your hostility, or are you like this to everybody you meet?"
She let out a humourless laugh and rolled her eyes before she turned back to him and spoke with nothing but disdain in her voice. "You're Klaus Mikaelson," she said, as if that meant something.
"And?" he prompted her, confusion washing over him as he waited for her to elaborate.
"And you're the best criminal lawyer in the damn state, alright? You defend terrible people, and you win every single case, and the bad guys just walk free," she finished, waving her hands to accentuate her points, before letting them drop to her side as she stared at him.
He had to admit that that wasn't what he expected, but looking at her he knew that there was more. He could tell that she was holding back. "That's my job love," he pointed out, keeping his voice soft and even so that he wouldn't start yelling his next point. "But you know that. Why do you really hate me?"
He could hear the breath she let out from where he was sitting, and then she spoke. "We studied one of your cases in law school," she said, clearly uncertain, but still unwilling to admit defeat and back down. "The one where you defended your father's killer."
His blood ran cold at that, and he felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. It was like her words had flipped a switch causing all of the air to grow heavy in the elevator, and for a moment he felt like he was back in the courtroom, those few years ago.
"Let me be clear on two things, Caroline," he finally broke the silence when he was sure that he could speak without yelling, "First of all, that man may have been married to my mother, but he was not my father. Secondly, getting hit by a drunk driver was the best thing that he ever did for me."
He watched her react to every word- first her eyes grew wide in shock, and then her forehead wrinkled in disgust, and her lips pursed together, and he knew what was coming next. She was going to call him a monster, and look at him with nothing but hate, and for some reason he couldn't stand the thought of that. It was nothing he hadn't heard before, but coming from her, he doubted he could take it, so he kept talking.
"Tell me, when you studied the case, did your teacher mention that Mikael was also a drunk? Did you ever talk about how he would throw his empty bottles at me until I got him more? Or about the time when I decided to find my real father, and came home to find that the locks were changed and my mother in the hospital?"
By that point he'd lost all hope of keeping his voice steady, but he didn't care. He had nothing but disdain for the man who'd raised him, and those feelings surfaced all too quickly whenever people brought up Mikael. Still though, this wasn't what he wanted- yelling at Caroline about past traumas wasn't helping anything, so he cut himself off with one final statement.
"The man who killed Mikael did this world a favour."
\\\\\\\
When it had come to law school, Klaus had been infamous, so Caroline had been wary of him from the second she'd set foot in the Mikaelson's law firm, and he'd lived up to every expectation that she'd had. He was ruthless in the courts, sharp-tongued everywhere else, and his casually detached demeanor was more than a little bit unsettling.
She'd never bothered to look past that, and now she felt ashamed.
At the moment, he looked like a sad, kicked puppy, and she had no idea what to say. She wasn't a stranger to abuse, but that didn't seem like the direction to go.
"I don't have a favourite colour," she finally admitted tentatively, biting her bottom lip and growing defensive when he looked at her with nothing but confusion on his face. "You asked what my favourite colour is- I think it's stupid to choose a favourite one when there are so many great ones- like, can't I just like them all? Why do I have to choose?"
He kept staring at her, until one eyebrow slowly started to rise, and then a single, abrupt laugh burst out of his chest. "That's what you're taking from his?" he demanded, repeating her words from earlier before he started laughing again, shaking his head at her while he did it.
She couldn't stop a smile from growing on her face and she only tried to hold back laughter for a moment before she gave into it. "Come on- you wanted to get to know me," she protested, "Now's your chance- what do you want to know?"
His laughter died down and in its place was the smile that she'd grown used to, but all of a sudden it left her feeling vulnerable. "Anything?" he asked, an eyebrow still raised and a hint of mischief in his voice.
"Within reason," she countered, not wanting to back down from a challenge, but also having no idea what direction he was going to go.
"Why aren't you going home for Christmas?"
"I told you-"
"That it's complicated?" he cut her off, "Forgive me for wanting a bit more of an explanation."
"And if I said that it's personal?" she tried, because there were certain things that Caroline just didn't talk about, as a rule. Her past was one of those things.
"I'd say that you can trust me."
There was a time when Caroline had been willing to trust openly and honestly, but those days were far behind her. Still, there was something in Klaus' eyes that told her to open up and, despite how much it scared her, she decided to listen to it.
"When I was in high school I dated a guy who was a lot older than me…" she started off, the previously unspoken words sounding foreign on her tongue, and her voice shaking slightly, "He… he hurt me. A lot. I got out of it when I left for college but I… I almost didn't."
"Caroline, I-" Klaus started during her pause, catching her attention. His gaze was more intense than she's ever thought possible, and she had to look away.
"It's fine- I'm fine," she interrupted him, saying it both to him and as a reminder to herself. "I got out. But a few weeks ago I found out that my best friend is with him and I just… She saw the whole thing, you know? She was there, and she saw the bruises, and she visited me in the hospital, and she forgives him."
"I'm going to go out on a limb and say that maybe it's time you found some better friends, love," Klaus said softly, surprising her with just how kind he sounded. After that he reached out and placed a hand on Caroline's knee in a comforting gesture. "You deserve better."
"Yeah," she agreed, having come to that same realization a long time ago, but still finding comfort in hearing somebody else say it. These days she was okay more often than not, but finding out that Elena was 'in love' with Damon had still shaken her. "I just can't go home right now. I just can't."
He didn't say anything, but when Caroline snuck a glance back at him, there was nothing but compassion painting his face, and he squeezed her knee gently to reaffirm that.
/
Klaus wanted nothing more than to hunt down Caroline's asshole of an ex-boyfriend and kill the man himself, but something about Caroline's demeanor stopped him from expressing his rage. Her sadness was calm, and it calmed him, and it made him want to comfort her, even though he had no idea how to do that.
And then, in the blink of an eye, she was okay again. "So, what else do you want to know?" she asked and, even though the cheerfulness in her voice seemed forced, he let it slide. She obviously wanted to move away from the conversation, and that was something that he understood.
He let a grin form on his face and waited until she started to look somewhat concerned before he asked, "What's your favourite type of food?"
"Italian. Why?"
"I know a great place just around the corner- it'll make for a perfect first date."
She let out a full on laugh at that, and it was quite possibly Klaus' new favourite sound. "What makes you think we're going on a date?" she demanded lightly, her tone nowhere near as confrontational as it normally was, as a smile danced on her face.
"Well, you're still talking to me, aren't you?"
"We're stuck in an elevator together- it's not like there's anything else for me to do," she pointed out, though her cheeks were turning pink, which told him something else entirely.
"Right, so you don't fancy me at all?" he prodded, tapping her knee with his outstretched foot until she looked up at him.
She bit her lower lip and looked at anywhere but him, until she finally declared, "I think we should be friends."
"Friends?"
"Friends."
"Fine then; as my friend, you can accompany me to my family's Christmas dinner tomorrow night."
If her cheeks were pink before, they were bright red now, and her eyes were as wide as he'd ever seen them. "Mmmmm, I don't know about that…" she protested, sitting up straight before leaning forward, placing her elbows on her crossed legs.
"Well, as my friend, I can't let you spend Christmas alone, now can I?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on hers as he watched her desperately try to come up with an excuse.
"But Elijah will be there."
"Well he is my brother, last I checked, that does make his attendance at a 'family dinner' quite likely," Klaus replied, altogether finding a lot of joy in teasing her.
"He's my boss- it'll be weird."
"Nonsense- he adores you," Klaus brushed her concerns off, "All he ever talks about is how you're the only competent intern he's got, and Rebekah doesn't hate you either. Now that I think about it, Kol might actually fancy you, but I'll have a talk with him about that."
"I-"
"Please, Caroline?" he interrupted her, trying one last time to get her to agree. He didn't know why it was so important to him that she come, but the idea of her alone in the city on Christmas seemed unbearably sad, so he continued to pester her. "Come on- with you there, my family might actually be tolerable."
"Well, when you put it like that…." she trailed off, rolling her eyes, but clearly agreeing to go.
"Dinner's being served at 6; if we ever get out of here I'll pick you up at 5:30."
"You know this doesn't count as a date, right?"
He couldn't stop himself from leaning forward at that, so that their faces were just inches apart, before he all but whispered, "Trust me love, when I take you out on a date, you'll know it."
\\\\\\\
Caroline was very aware of the fact that she was flirting with Klaus and, surprisingly enough, she was actually okay with it.
"Again with the arrogance? Really?" she taunted him, tilting her head slightly but otherwise not moving away from him.
"I'd prefer the term confidence," he corrected her with a nonchalant shrug and a shit-eating grin, "But whatever you'd like to call it doesn't change the fact that you'll go out with me eventually."
"And no matter how 'confident' you are doesn't change the fact that that'll never happen if we die in this elevator."
He snorted at that, caught off guard by her rapid change of topics. "I highly doubt we'll die in here love."
"But you also thought that somebody would find us eventually- it's almost been two hours," she countered, checking her phone and growing slightly concerned- she hadn't realized how much time had actually passed and, no matter how much she'd grown to tolerate Klaus, she wanted out of the elevator.
Of course, he didn't show any signs of worry. If his nonchalance about everything weren't so infuriating, it might've actually been endearing. "I've been known to work later than this on holidays," he shrugged, "But my siblings will notice my absence sooner or later- it's just a matter of being patient."
She couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at that, and he clearly caught onto her frustration. "You know, sweetheart," he continued, mischief shining through his smile as he shifted so that they were even closer together, "If you're bored I can think of quite a few ways to pass the time…"
No matter how much disdain she had held for the man, even she had to admit that Klaus Mikaelson's looks were godlike. More often than not, it was the talk of office gossip and, while she'd tried to tell herself that she was above all of that, it didn't change the fact that she'd fantasized about a very similar offer once or twice…
And then he winked, and the corny gesture broke the spell.
"Yeah right," Caroline scoffed, shaking herself out of whatever trance his words had put her in, setting her mind on the task at hand, and checking her phone. "You still aren't getting service?"
"None at all."
Caroline told herself that she imagined the hint of disappointment in his voice at her change of topics, and she busied herself by standing up and putting at least a little bit of distance between them. She turned away from him and held her phone above her head at just about every possible angle, and still got nothing.
"If I thought that'd work don't you'd think I would have tried it by now?" Klaus asked after a few seconds, his previous skepticism back, which Caroline chose to ignore.
She wasn't stupid, no matter what her blonde hair lead people to believe, and once she set her mind on something, she got it done. They were getting out of the damn elevator.
/
Caroline was a vision with her hands on her hips and a pout on her face, and it took Klaus a moment to realize that she was bossing him around again.
"Stand up."
"What?"
"I've got an idea- would you just get up?"
He was used to fighting people on just about everything- as a lawyer it was his job- but he found that he was willing to listen to her without much hesitation, so he stood and was greeted with a satisfied smile from her.
"Okay, now you need to lift me up," she instructed, completely and entirely serious.
"Excuse me?" he stuttered, positive that he'd imagined the request.
"You'll lift me, and I'll move one of the ceiling tiles- they look loose enough."
"And then what?" he asked, becoming partly convinced that their time in captivity had driven her crazy, if this was her plan to get them out.
She was silent for a moment, apparently stumped by his question, and then she shrugged. "Maybe I'll get service from up there? Or there could be an escape hatch or something?"
He didn't say anything at that, and it only took her a few seconds before she jumped to her own defense. "I don't know, okay? But it's not like you have a better idea, so you can't say anything."
She was right about that and trying couldn't really hurt anything and, for some reason, he really didn't want to let her down, so he just returned her shrug and said, "Fine by me, love," awaiting further instruction.
\\\\\\\\
Ignoring how little distance there was between them, Caroline let her eyes trail up and down Klaus' body, telling herself that she had strictly strategic intentions in mind. She was not focusing on the fact that he clearly worked out, or how his suit hugged his lean muscles perfectly, or that if she just stood on her toes and leaned forward she could…
He interrupted that train of thought by clearing his throat. "I am right here love…" he trailed off, apparently reading her mind and leaving her face a shade of bright red.
"Right," she said quickly, shaking off her embarrassment and trying to focus, "Here… Uhm, turn around."
His eyebrows shot up at that.
"It'll probably be easiest for you to lift me up on your shoulders," she explained, sounding as business like as possible as she raised her eyebrows and waited for him to oblige.
"Alright then," Klaus shrugged seconds later, letting out one last, resigned sigh, before he turned around and kneeled down in front of Caroline. She faltered for a second at that, unsure of how to proceed because really- this was just about the most awkward plan she could have come up with. "Problem, love?"
"No, no," Caroline shook her head quickly, sending a reassuring smile in his direction before she let out a deep breath and laughed slightly. "Just don't drop me."
"I wouldn't dream of it," he promised, and it was all the encouragement she needed.
She threw a leg over one of his shoulders, and caught her balance, waiting until he had a firm grip on her upper thigh before she mirrored the action with the other leg, and then she was sitting.
"You alright love?" Klaus asked, apparently not at all fazed by her weight, which she was slightly relieved about.
"Of course I'm alright- I was my cheer captain for years. This is nothing," she reassured him confidently, weaving her hands through his hair to adjust her balance just a little bit.
Underneath her legs she felt Klaus' shoulder shift, laughing at her comment. "Of course you were," he said softly, catching her off guard with the sheer amount of affection in his voice, and then shifting, and standing up straight in one swift motion.
She held back a squeal at the sudden movement, and then went to work quickly. She was close enough to reach the ceiling of the elevator, and when she reached up and pushed tentatively at the tile closest to her it shifted. She smiled at that, happy that her plan hadn't been a complete failure, before she moved onto the next part.
"Can I have your phone?" she asked Klaus, dangling a hand in front of his face and waiting for him to fish it out of his pocket, all while using her core strength to hold herself steady.
She heard Klaus mutter something that sounded like, "I can't believe this is actually working," which she chose to ignore when he placed the phone in her hand a second later.
"Password?"
"1-2-3-4."
"That's not very secure," she couldn't help but chide him and, even though she couldn't see him, she just knew that he rolled his eyes in response. "I guess I'll call Elijah?"
"Yeah, that'll do- put him on speaker."
/
The ringing filled up the previously silent elevator, though it barely distracted Klaus from the way that Caroline was absentmindedly running her fingers through his hair.
Having her so close to him was intoxicating, even if it was in a situation even stranger than he could have ever imagined. He had almost convinced himself that the whole thing was a mass hallucination, when his older brothers' voice filled the small room.
"Niklaus? Rebekah's been trying to contact you for the past hour- what is going on?"
"Good to hear from you too, brother," he replied easily, looking up towards the phone, and resting the back of his head against Caroline's torso in the process.
"If you're planning on skipping tomorrow, you'll have to tell her yourself; I will not get in between that again."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Caroline raise her eyebrows, so he spoke before she got any ideas about missing the dinner. "I wouldn't dream of it- in fact, I'll be bringing a guest," he said, squeezing her thigh where his hand rested on it.
Apparently annoyed by the turn the conversation was taking, Caroline cleared her throat, drawing Elijah's attention in the process. "Is somebody there with you, Nik?"
"Actually yes," Klaus said, purposefully taking his time with the admission, because he couldn't resist torturing Caroline, "You see, I ran into a bit of a problem leaving the office- the elevator stuck again. Luckily Caroline's here to keep me company; otherwise I would have died of boredom ages ago."
"Wait," Caroline snapped the second he finished talking, "Again? This has happened before?"
"The elevator's get a little bit questionable at night and I have a tendency to work late," he admitted, noting how he felt her legs tense and her hand grow still in his hair, "It may have happened once or twice in the past…"
"And how have you gotten out in the past?" she demanded, apparently ignoring the fact that his brother was still on the phone and opting to yell at him.
"Well normally I have service, or there's somebody working downstairs," he explained lazily, knowing that he probably should have mentioned it sooner or later, but also that it wouldn't really have made a difference.
"Right, so you just left it out. Thanks for that."
"I really don't see what it would have changed, love."
Elijah cleared his throat then. "I'll make some calls and get you two out. Try not to kill each other."
"Thank you," Klaus said, drowning out the 'no promises' that he swore he heard Caroline mutter under her breath, and then the phone beeped and the dial tone filled the elevator.
\\\\\\\
"Well would you put me down?" Caroline demanded after Elijah hung up the phone and she was still stuck on Klaus' shoulders. A part of her knew that it was unreasonable to be mad at him, but she opted to ignore that part.
"That depends," he drawled out, as slowly and infuriatingly as ever, tapping his fingers on her leg the whole time, "Are you going to go back to ignoring me?"
"Well, that depends. Are you going to lie to me again?"
"Caroline, I withheld a truth, and you knowing it wouldn't have made a difference," his voice was steady but slightly annoyed, and that was fine by her.
"I'll jump off."
"You'll get hurt."
"I was a cheerleader- I can handle a 6 foot drop."
She could have sworn that Klaus muttered something about her being a 'stubborn piece of work' under his breath, but she choose to ignore it, because he knelt down and finally let her climb off of his back.
With her feet on solid ground again, Caroline took a step back from where Klaus was moving to stand up and leaned against the elevator wall. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips and when he turned back around to look at her, she knew that Klaus was met with a look of pure disdain.
"We're doing this again, are we?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied coolly, doing her best to keep her shoulders squared and hold her ground, even as he took a step towards her, invading her personal space without a second thought.
"Sure you do love; you know it all too well," Klaus said, closing the last of the distance between them with a small step, before resting his hand against the elevator wall beside her head and looking at her with his steady, intense gaze. "You pretend to hate me, I chase after you, you pretend that you aren't dying to have your perfect little feathers ruffled…"
Whether or not Klaus had more to say didn't really matter, because Caroline needed him to shut up, and there was only one real way to get him to do that.
Her mouth was on his before she could stop herself. He was obviously surprised so she took advantage of it, grabbing either side of his face with her hands, pulling him closer, and kissing him deeper. Of course, he didn't stay still for long, and it was only a matter of seconds before he had one hand tangled in her hair, the other grabbing her waist, and his tongue begging for entrance into her mouth.
Kissing Klaus demanded all of her attention- it was consuming, and he pulled back way too soon.
"See love, that wasn't so hard, now was it?"
/
With her lips bright red and slightly swollen, and her hair entirely messed up from where his hand had been moments ago, Caroline Forbes was as beautiful as ever.
For a moment she looked conflicted, but then she simply rolled her eyes at his comment and went back to pursing her lips together. She looked ready to scold him, and he was sure that she was going to push him away, but then she was kissing him again, and he never wanted it to end.
Where he was hard lines and rough edges, she was soft and gentle, and she felt heavenly beneath his hands. He had her pressed back against the elevator wall, with his hands running up and down her sides, and his lips pressed firmly against hers, and they fit perfectly together.
He bit her lip, and she let out a low moan. Her tongue danced against his, and he pulled her closer. He left her mouth and trailed wet, open mouthed kisses down neck, and she writhed against him. It was a game of give and take, and they were both playing to win.
Caroline was the first to take it further, trailing a hand down his side and sneaking it up his shirt. He pulled back for a second at that, taking the chance to truly look at her.
"Caroline," he said, more as a warning than anything else. He knew what he wanted; he just needed to know that she wanted it too.
"Please Klaus," she replied instantly, her voice not much more than a gasp as she looked at him with nothing but exasperation on her face.
He didn't need any more of an offer, before he all but jumped back on her, pouring everything inside of him into the kiss, and knowing that she was doing the same, before they were interrupted by a shrill, beep, and then they were moving.
AN- OKAY this whole thing turned out to be WAY longer than I anticipated, but if you guys want an epilogue let me know- I meant for it to be a oneshot, but I definitely wouldn't mind writing the Mikaelson family dinner tomorrow with Caroline as the guest of honor, so yeah! Review are always appreciated!
(ALSO, as with pretty much all of my writing, this is un-beta'd, so please excuse any mistakes!)