Chapter 1 - Lines Crossed - Edited 7/19/2015
A/N This is a writing exercise to help me get in the mood to writing for my other fics. It will be a drabble at most. This story idea has been in my head so I'm taking it out and putting it out there. Hope you like it!
Klaus POV
Before I even see her, I know she's here.
My heart rate quickens and my eyes leap to where the red carpet of the Oscars begins, trying to get a glimpse of my best friend.
I hadn't seen her in months since Tyler died. She readily pushed me away, insisting she was fine. She swore to castrate me and block my number if I made any move to go to her to my dismay.
"Just promise me to walk away from this and never come back," she had pleaded with me.
I couldn't understand why she couldn't see I wanted to be there for her as she had been for me.
But she hadn't, my calls eventually going unanswered, bringing forth fury and hurt.
Who was she to deny me? She was nothing but a small town girl with a small town life and if that is all she wanted, why did it matter to me?
It didn't.
But it did.
I had stopped calling, and told myself I was done with Caroline Forbes.
Then the Oscar nomination came through and in my happiness, all I can think of is how I wanted her to be there, the person responsible for me making me believe I can be so much more than what I had been: a mediocre actor in a failing TV show.
So, after months of no contact and in a leap of faith, I sent her a ticket to be my plus one, a dress, and the card bearing the prepaid order number of the limo service that would pick her up, hoping she would take the bait. I didn't want to come on too strong, offering to pick her up myself after all. I even threw in an all expense paid spa treatment in there to leave her with no excuse.
It seems to have been the right move.
When Caroline turns the corner, waving behind her with a brilliant smile painted on her flawless features, my breath runs off and my jaw goes slack.
She is nothing short of ravishing.
Her blonde locks had grown to her back, cascading like a river full of waves. Her lips are blood red, enticing and that dress...
Nothing good can come from that dress.
I had half expected her to burn it upon arrival, but she worn it, pride and adoration soaring through me. Clearly, the goody good, all morals, demure councilman's daughter is gone out the window, and Bill Forbes, more than likely, would be standing in line to stake her daughter for wearing such a revealing...
Jaw dropping...
Luscious dress.
The nude color shade of the dress is made of a silk fabric that shimmers like crystals in a chandelier under the flashes of cameras and bright headlights, leaving little to the imagination but remained tasteful and elegant in style.
The dress is both naughty and regal all at the same time, so like her.
She choose to wear diamond tear drop earrings and necklace set that accentuates the long curve of her slender neck. I can't help but visualize wrapping my hand around it to tilt it back so I can take those teasing red lips into my mouth finally and..
"Pick that jaw up from the floor Mikaelson. You're embarrassing yourself," she says with a laugh under her breath, sauntering to my side. Her arm wraps around my waist in affectionate side hug, forcing me to look down at her and I note how right that feels against my will. Her perky breasts threaten to spill from the deep v cut exposing her cleavage and GOD is that a beauty mark on her left tit?!
Bloody hell sweetheart...
I let out a grunt and a hiss when she pinches my side sharply, her smile never leaving her face as she says through gritted teeth:
"You're staring."
I recover quickly some semblance of normalcy to reply smoothly with a smirk:
"It happens when one is in the presence of genuine beauty."
She rolls her eyes, but her smile brightens, my smile broadening in return.
"I told you, I'm..."
"...Too smart to be seduced by me. I know."
"Then why do you bother?" she asks, curious, looking up at me.
I suck in a breath at that and I opt not to answer, unwrapping her arm around me to take her hand and move us along the line so we don't hold it up any longer.
She doesn't let the conversation go however.
"Klaus?" she presses.
"I'm glad you came," I say abruptly, meeting her eyes as they widen at my admission.
She clears her throat, uncomfortable with the serious tone in my voice. "Well. It was either this or rewatching my wedding videos," she tries to say lightly but the shadow that crosses over her face says different, her pain evident. I hated Lockwood with a passion and would gladly dance over his grave, but to see how much the lost of him still weighed on her heart...
"Caroline..."
"Don't. Seriously," she says sharply. "I'm not here to do this with you. Not with you."
I clench my jaw, biting back the rejection and the need to push her but I give her a stiff nod, turning away, walking forward.
She pulls me back with a sigh, finding her eyes apologetic.
"I'm...sorry. That was...I don't want to talk about Tyler tonight. I came here because I missed my best friend and want to be here for his big night. Forgive me?" she says hopefully, batting her eyelashes and grasping my arm.
I want to be angry at her, I truly do, but I'm failing, especially when she lets her lower lip fall into a pout and I relent.
"Very well sweetheart."
She lets out an excited squeal, giving me a quick kiss that sends electricity surging through me as I close my eyes briefly at the feeling despite the camera shutters clicking full blast, capturing the moment.
She pulls away and I yearn for her to get that close again. As always, she is oblivious of my feelings. Being her bubbly self, she asks about everything she has missed in all the months she's been gone: Leaving Interview with the Original Hybrid cast after my divorce with Tatia, the movie audition, landing the role, my rise to super-stardom, the Oscar nomination.
I tell her all of it, and her honesty about everything is bittersweet, reminding me how much I missed this.
Missed her.
Missed us.
Three hours in the club that the Oscar After Party is taking place, alcohol accentuating the adrenaline coursing through me after my Oscar win, I find I don't recognize my best friend having the time of her life with Rebekah on the dance floor.
This is not the Caroline Forbes I was used to.
The Caroline Forbes I knew is always restrained, inhibited, in control.
But the girl before me is free, unleashed, vibrant.
I've never seen anything so beautiful.
"She's a tasty little thing," says Kol talking beside me, pointing his glass at the dancing Caroline and Rebekah in the middle of the floor.
I see his desires a mile a way, throwing him a glare.
"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver," I growl.
He smirks. "It just might be worth it. I can't believe this is the little friend you've been talking about, that you dedicated your Oscar to. Shame on you and Rebekah from hiding her from us all. Truth be told, I can see why you fancy her, if that acceptance speech is anything to go by. Still in the 'just friends' zone?"
I look away, uncomfortable, taking a gulp of my drink with his accurate assessment.
"I'll take that as a yes," he says with a laugh and swig of his drink.
I shrug.
"And you're unhappy about it?" Kol says, perplexed, eyebrow arched.
I let out a huff. "Is there a point to these meaningless observations of yours?" I say irritably.
"I never knew you had problems getting women. Maybe Tatia messed up your style," he teases.
"This has nothing to do with that cheating whore," I seethe, not appreciating the reference. "Caroline is...different."
"How? She would be just another shag right?"
"Not to me."
Kol looks taken aback. "Nik. Don't tell me you want her want her?" he says, like the very notion is ludicrous. "She seems nice but at the end of the day, she's spoiled goods. A widow from some backwater town that no one cares about, a brainless blonde from the looks of it. And you're an A list, Oscar winning actor who can have any model, any woman..."
I slam the glass down hard, some liquor spilling on my hands at the force, so furious I was with Kol at his belittling of Caroline. If he wasn't my brother, I would have snapped his neck. "Caroline is light years away from any of them and I don't want them! Don't you think I've tried to forget her while I'm in the arms of said models, actresses Kol? It doesn't work! Hers is the only face I see, her voice is the one I want to hear and it's driving me mad! I..." I run my hand through my hair in exasperation. "I don't know what to do," I confess softly, unable to stop talking now. I have a sneaking suspicious it's the alcohol but who bloody cares.
"I want more, but she's still doesn't see me more than a friend. I doubt she's even attracted to me..." I say mournfully.
Kol lets out a derisive laugh. "You're Klaus freaking Mikaelson!" retorts Kol in shrilly. "Even I know that means something to a wide variety of the female population!"
I give him a dismissive wave, continuing in my wallowing. "Not to Caroline. She's still hung up on that dog Tyler who did nothing but cheat on her till he died and she loves Mystic Falls too much to even think of leaving even though..."
I turn to look at Caroline fondly as she takes a break from dancing to talk with group of models and actors who laugh wholeheartedly at a joke she just made.
"She's made to be so much greater," I say longingly.
There is a long pause, then:
"Holy shit Nik. You love her!" says Kol mindblown.
I whirl at the accusation, eyes wide, ready to deny.
"I..."
Then I think of all the times Caroline and I shared, how she made me feel whenever she would touch me, how complete I feel in her presence, how I pined for her for months where other women would be forgotten in a night.
By God...I think, the realization dawning on me.
A body collides with mine, knocking me out of my revelry.
I catch her while she brushes the curls from her face, revealing the woman who I just realized holds my heart in her hand.
"Sorry Klaus. I tripped," Caroline says with a hiccup, smiling.
I steady her, reading her face. She's wasn't quite drunk, but it's clear she's getting close.
"I'm cutting you off love," I say to her, my concern evident.
She goes ramrod straight, upset. "You are not! Besides. You're more drunk than me!" she cries petulantly.
I give her a lopsided grin. "Without a doubt, but time to slow down."
She grabs onto me boldly and slips her hand in the opening of my dress shirt, the top buttons having gone undone during the night. I suck in a deep breath, my smile falling from my face, unused to Caroline touching me in such a way. Her fingertips glide over my necklaces, my chest and I'm hard in under a second.
"Klaus," she whispers in my ear. "You need to be a good friend and get drunk with me," her lips brushing against the shell of my ear. I swear the word friend never sounded so dirty.
Kol chimes in, jumping off his stool. "Well. I'll leave you two to it. Hate being a third wheel."
She smiles brightly at him. "You can never be a third wheel Kol. Klaus barely gets to see you so please don't go away because of me. He won't say it, but he misses you."
Her easygoing honesty hits its mark, as usual, unbeknownst to her.
A strange look comes over Kol's face, assessing her as she takes a free drink off the counter and gulps it down in one go. I wince.
"If you are determined to get drunk, then perhaps I might recommend something a little more sanitary," I say.
She quirks an eyebrow at me, then glances at my unfinished glass behind me. She grabs it. Without breaking eye contact, she slowly drinks the glass and when finished, licks the rim.
I swallow hard at that, my lips seconds ago being where she is licking so lasciviously.
"That was mine love," I say huskily.
She kisses the rim for good measure before putting it down. "I know."
My heart turns to lead and I forget to breathe.
"Okay. I'm out of here," I barely register Kol running off, too focused on the alluring woman before me.
I manage a response to her comment.
"Well then. You showed me."
I hear the refilling of the drinking glass, our eyes locked, so many unsaid words between us. The air thrums not from the music but the sexual tension around us.
"Mind putting two straws in that?" she says to the bartender, her gaze boring into mine. "I need to share."
Okay. We are definitely crossing some new territory here.
"Caroline," I say, my voice strangled. "What are you doing?"
"Having fun with my Oscar winning bestie, what else?" she says in feign innocence, watching herself stroke my chest, her finger brushing against a nipple occasionally.
"Are we?" I mumble into the crown of her head, her touch making my mind foggy with the liquor. "Having fun?"
"Did you mean it?" she says suddenly, her tone no longer teasing, looking up at me beneath her lashes. "What you said when you won?"
My expression softens, my hand lifting to caress her cheek to tuck a stray curl behind her ear.
"Every word."
She breaks eye contact with me to grab the now filled drink behind me.
I follow her every move, waiting for her to say more.
She brings the drink to her lips and tilts the extra straw to my lips with her finger in invitation, and I slowly take it between my lips. Our noses brush as we slowly sip, our eyes reading the other's. Hers darken with apparent lust when I roll the straw on my tongue before my lips close on it to sip again. She draws closer, and I drop my straw, eyes closing as we nuzzle.
Our lips are a hair away from meeting, my mind growing irrational with the need to close the distance.
"Caroline..." I groan, still baring some sobriety to see where this is going. I can hear the other part of me ready to kill myself for rejecting her. "We can't..."
My next words turn into a puff of smoke the second her lips brush over mine.
I feel the glass fall from our hands and I hear a faint crash as I enthusiastically pass my hand over her cheek, under her hair and kiss her the way I've wanted to all night.
She lets out a moan of delight, deepening our kiss and my blood boils in my veins like liquid fire.
Was this really happening right now? Was there something special in the drinks making me hallucinate?
Her tongue passes my lips to play with mine, and things really become wild then. I get greedy and she doesn't complain when I grab her roughly to kiss her more deeply. Her hands are more daring, and my free hand drops past her waist wrapping around it so I can have her in intimate embrace that leaves no space between us.
She bites on my lip and I grind into her, making her gasp and breaking the kiss. Her chest raises and falls heavily with mine. My eyes devouring her.
I had to have her.
She agrees, for she demands breathlessly:
"Your place."
The door to my mansion slamming, panting breaths and clothes coming off is the only sounds resonating from the walls.
She pushes me on the nearby leather sectional, the material cool on my heated skin. My mouth goes slightly ajar as she peels her dress off her shoulders, her breasts spilling out with no bra or fabric to hold them. Her nipples are hard and ready, the moonlight playing off her skin nothing short of otherworldly.
Paint worthy.
She pulls her dress down, and I see she is wearing no knickers underneath.
The thought makes me harder than I've ever been and my mouth goes dry.
"Come here," I command, my voice coming off stronger than I feel because the mere sight of her naked makes me feel weak.
She smiles softly as she slides over me like a cat, her knees caging my torso when my hands go up impatiently to pull her down for another one of her kisses that has quickly become my new addiction.
I can do that for a thousand years.
As if hearing me and disagreeing, she pulls away to rain kisses down my neck, my eyes rolling back at the sensation. I push her into me by the arch of her back against my erection, bucking into her and her rubbing her wetness back on it till the head of my cock tries to plunge in to her entrance and finds my dress pants still there.
So close...
She bites gently on my neck and I grip her arm in response. My brain is nearly mush at this point, but becomes coherent briefly when I hear Caroline unlatch my belt and starts to tug on my pants and boxers.
I grab her wrist, stopping her. Despite the dim lightning, I can see the blue green of her eyes wanting me, her puffy lips begging for another tussle with mine.
She continues to rub her bare sex over my hard on, and I moan.
"You're killing me moving like that," I say breathlessly.
"I want you inside of me Klaus," she whispers. "I always wondered how it would feel like, even when I was with Tyler."
My eyes grow wide at her confession, knowing she had to be far gone to admit something like that to me.
I'm not a good person. I've never been so sure of that until now, because I can't stop myself from taking advantage.
I tilt her head with my hand to look at me.
"What else have you wondered about?" I ask.
I see her slide down, missing her body heat immediately, till her face is above my erection and she smoothly yanks the pants and boxers successfully this time, so entranced I am with the image before me.
She is over my manhood, licking her lips, when answers my question, my full attention on her.
"Do you taste as good as you look..."
Those are her final words before she takes all of me into her mouth and I'm stunned she's able to take it all.
It's a whirlwind after that.
Caroline's skill in the bedroom, to my delight, rivals my own. The liquor makes her confident, me, impulsive. After I come in her warm mouth, I pleasure her with my own, hearing her cry out my name for the first time.
I'm determined, possessed to hear it more, my name sounding so great from her lips.
We shag all night. On the couch, on the floor...
By the end of our fourth time, we are on my bed in my room, exhausted.
She instantly falls asleep at my side, allowing me to caress her hair, her face. I'm more sober now unfortunately, and more than aware that this night had officially crossed the line of friends to lovers.
We are amazing together. There is no way now that I've had her, that I'll allow myself to be only her friend. Her stubbornness and aloofness be damned, she's mine.
Last night proved she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Loyalty to her dead husband, family and social ties to her hometown, were keeping her acting on it.
No more.
She's mine.
And I'm not letting go.
I squint at the bright light hitting my face, then groan, turning away from it.
I pull the blanket over my head and stretch out my hand across the mattress.
It takes me a full minute to realize that mattress is not what I should be feeling.
I bolt up out of the bed, wide awake, looking frantically around to find Caroline gone.
I glance down at my naked body, just to confirm that what I thought happened last night happened.
Then the rage comes in.
How dare she treat me like some sordid one night stand?!
I throw some clothes on and run out the mansion. It is in a secluded area, and if she tried to call a taxi, they would need to use the buzzer at the gate to get in and since I didn't hear it, she still had to be in the property.
Unless she walked.
Even then she would need a key and then:
I stop in my tracks when I get to the end of the winding driveway to find Caroline bent over the gate entrance in her evening gown, picking the lock.
I smirk. So much more than a pretty face.
"Come on," she says listening to the key tumblers as she picks the lock. "Almost...YES!" she shouts, leaping in triumph when the lock gives.
I watch her wait for the gate to open, but her smile turns to a frown when a side compartment opens up, revealing a screen requesting a thumbprint.
"Seriously Klaus!" she cries in exasperation. "Who the hell is that paranoid?"
I scoff, folding my arms. "Look in the mirror sweetheart. You're just as bad."
She spins at my voice, startled and her face going pale.
It is void of makeup, but clean, clearly taking the time to make herself presentable before making her escape. I berate myself for not catching her sooner and quietly applaud her for leaving so stealthily.
"Klaus."
My eyes narrow at her as I close the distance between us.
"Sorry to disrupt your smooth getaway sweetheart. I am nothing but a one night shag after all."
Her eyes widen, mortified. "Klaus. No. That's not what you are."
"Then what am I Caroline?!" I snap at her, furious.
"My friend!"
" 'Your friend?' " I spit out incredulously. "I don't think friends scream each other's names out in ecstasy and make love all night!"
She averts her gaze, flustered but I grab her face, not letting her escape at all. "I don't think friends make the confessions you made last night," I add, giving her a meaningful stare.
She steps away as if burned, glaring at me.
"I was drunk and you took advantage!" she accuses.
My anger flares. "We didn't do anything you didn't want to do!"
"I would NEVER sleep with you in my right mind! You KNOW that!"
"Because I'm a drunkard, a man whore and in general, a rotten person?" I offer up bitterly.
"Yes!" she says immediately and I'm hurt she thinks so low of me.
"You wanted me and I wanted you!" I say angrily. "Yes, I'm not a good person and we were drunk and maybe we wouldn't have had sex but it doesn't change the fact that you're attracted to me. Admit it!"
"Fine! You're hot and you got killer dimples and an amazing accent and I had the biggest crush on your character from IWOH till season 3 and maybe that spilled on to the real you but whatever! I love Tyler!"
"Tyler is dead! He was a fucking lowlife cheater that didn't give damn about you and fucked his secretary Hayley Marshall till he dropped dead!"
Fuck.
The words are already out of mouth, hanging in the air and landing on its intended target with killer accuracy.
Caroline's eyes widen, welling up with tears.
"Wh-What?" she squeaks.
I can stab myself for revealing this to her this way. "Caroline..." I start in apology.
"Oh...Oh God!" she cries, her hands going to her hair, her eyes big, falling apart in front of me. I rush to her, wanting to fix it, wanting to take it back, but when I touch her, she recoils from me.
"Don't EVER touch me again," she lashes out at me venomously like a whip.
It is in that moment that I knew I had lost her completely.
Not a lover, not even a friend anymore...
Nothing.
She fights to compose herself, staring at me coldly and I nearly step back at the hate I see there.
"How long did you know?" she demands.
I swallow hard.
"I..."
"HOW LONG NIKLAUS?!" and I blink at her using my full name, feeling like chastised child.
"A year."
She gapes at me and shakes her head.
"I didn't want to hurt you love..." I try to explain softly.
"Open the gate," she demands abruptly.
I clench my teeth at her cutting me off, and I come to terms she is too angry to listen to reason, to give me a chance. A real chance.
I brush past her, unapologetic for brushing my body against hers as I put my print in. I stare down at her as the gate opens, her eyes staring stoically ahead.
This can't be it. I can't lose her because of this.
"Let me drive you back," I say.
"No."
"You can't walk, especially in those heels back to town..."
She bends over to pull off her shoes, leaving them in the ground, straightening up pridefully.
"I'll send the dress back to you after I've gotten it dry cleaned."
I frown. "I don't want it. It's yours."
"I'll just burn it then," she says flatly and the symbolism doesn't pass my radar for one second.
I grab her roughly by her arms, snapping. "So that is what you want?!" I growl in her face. "To burn me from your life? Erase me like I never happened?!" The hurt is swelling in his chest, attempting to choke the life out of me.
"Now that you mention it..." she starts spitefully and I can't take it.
"You can't go," I say, emotion clogging my throat. "You have to let me explain. We have to talk about last night."
"I don't have to do anything. Last night was a mistake."
"Not for me."
Her mouth drops and I plow forward, using her stunned silence to talk.
"You asked me if I meant what I said in my acceptance speech. I did. You were the only one to make me believe I could be more than what I was. I would of never gone to that audition if it wasn't for your brutal honesty the day we met."
"Klaus..." she says, her eyes softening, shaking her head as my hands fly up to her face, my thumbs stroking her cheeks like the most precious treasure.
"You, out of everyone, was the one person I wanted beside me as I went to get that Oscar," I say, vulnerable with nothing more to lose.
She bites her lip, about to cry.
"You Caroline. You! Why do you think that is?" I finish earnestly, needing her to understand.
Her eyes snap up to mine, and something she sees in my face scares her, making her pull away from me.
"You can't..." she mutters softly, and I can see her finally connecting the dots.
"I lo-"
"No! NO Klaus!" she cuts my off strongly. "I can't. You can't mean it!"
I step into her space again, my anger crawling back to the surface. "I didn't finish," I growl.
"It doesn't matter. We're done," she says dismissively. "Just forget about me."
And a bullet to the heart would have been a more gentler pain than the one her words invoke.
She turns away from me, stalking off and taking my heart with her.
After some time, I manage to robotically walk back to my front door. I waste no time raiding my bar and taking bottle of scotch to the sectional. I automatically turn on my TV, and freeze.
"So it looks like the bombshell blonde Klaus Mikaelson had on his arm during the red carpet and dedicated his Oscar to are more than friends!" says the female reporter excitedly. "In the E! Exclusive photo shot shown here from the Oscar After Party last night, the two can't keep their hands off each other as they make out!"
Shit.
A/N Well. That's that. Feel free to leave a review!