Prompt: Can you write something with Nerd!Klaus/Popular!Caroline, I just love nerdy shy Klaus. Lol

This was originally made as a short one-shot or more in my drabbles series Songs of the Moment. BUT, do to popular demands for more of this I have decided to make it into a short mini-series all of its own! Chapter 1 is a repost from before but chapter 2 is all brand new!

The Girl. AH

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Caroline huffed in exasperation as she rounded the corner that led to the Library and computer lab on the second floor of the high school. She was late to class no thanks to Tyler and the ever present argument that they seemed to be having all the time lately. She shifted her backpack on her shoulder and pulled her cheerleading shirt back into place from where it always got caught up with the bottom of her bag before pulling the door open and walking into the library with what she hoped to be a bright enough smile to hide the chaos and pressure she felt.

Caroline groaned silently as she glanced around the room noticing everyone was already paired up and working on the newest assignment. Bonnie tossed her a half grin with her green eyes widening slightly as if to ask, where the hell were you?

Caroline could clearly see the irritation on Bonnie's face. They had spoken before class, and before Tyler had pulled her away claiming he had something important to talk to her about, both girls promised to pair up together for the assignment. But since Caroline was late, due to Tyler, the teacher had forced them to work with someone else.

Though, at least Bonnie was paired up with Stefan. He worked hard and would carry his own weight. Who knew who she would be left with.

"Miss Forbes, so good of you to finally show up."

"I'm sorry Mr. Saltzman I was…"

The teacher waved his hand to cut her off, "I, like the rest of the class, have no need for your excuse. Just go find your partner and get to work."

With as much dignity as she could manage Caroline smiled as she took the paper Mr. Saltzman held out for her. Her blue eyes quickly scanned the assigned subject and the name of her partner written across the top, Greek Gods. Niklaus Mikaelson.

Caroline hadn't had much interaction with him since he moved to Mystic Falls a few months back halfway through their senior year. Unless you count the one time she spoke to him, welcoming him to the town and school. She had stood there yammering on about all the best places to hang out, who and where to avoid. After about five embarrassing minutes of her talking and him staring at her like she had something on her face, the bell had thankfully rang sending her back to her seat. She had tried every now and again to wave and say hi to him before finally giving up. There was only so much ignoring a person could take.

In the beginning she had tried not to take it too personal. He seemed shy, always had his head pressed between the pages of a sketchbook that he kept well-guarded and he didn't seem to be making any other friends in the few months he'd been here.

Then there was the fact that he moved in with Dahlia. The town's eccentric resident who was a bit too much of a hippy, as the older town's folk called her, for their taste. Caroline could never see what the big deal about her was. She actually envied her. Dahlia did what she wanted, when she wanted and didn't care what other's thought of her. And with everything going on in her life right now Caroline yearned for that kind of freedom.

Rumor around town was that she had a wealthy sister who lived overseas in England that she never spoke to. The rumor seemed to be true when word had spread that she suddenly had a teenage nephew moving in with her. Caroline couldn't help but wonder if the yellowing black eye Niklaus had had that first day of school had anything to do with why he moved here and why his Aunt never spoke to or about her family.

Klaus licked his lips nervously, his fingers fiddling with his pencil as the door to the Library swung open revealing Caroline. Caroline in her tiny snug cheerleader's uniform. Caroline with her bouncy golden curls pulled up in a high ponytail showing off her radiant face.

Caroline Forbes. The most popular girl in the school. The girl other girls wanted to be and the girl all the boys want to have.

And she was to be his partner for this assignment.

His hand rose of its own accord to push his thick black framed glasses further up his nose. He wondered how this would go with them being partners for this assignment. Caroline was smart, beautiful, kind, the type of girl poets wrote sonnets about and she was…so out of his league. Klaus sighed quietly to himself running a slightly shaking hand through his thick mop of curls on top of his head.

He could still remember in vivid details the first moment he saw her. It was months ago on his first day as a senior, he had just shut the passenger door to his Aunt's car and begun the trek across the grassy lot in front of the school when he heard the most beautiful laugh he had ever heard. She had been standing with a group of her friends, her long blonde curls shining in the sunlight as she threw her head back in riotous laughter. In short, she was magnificent. He never dreamed that she would actually talk to him so when she had bounced up to his desk casting a ray of her own bright personal sunlight onto him he was left in awe.

He remembered screaming at himself to; say something! Anything at all! But in the end he had just stared at her like the buffoon she no doubt thought him to be.

And now here he was; trapped in his own personal Heaven that just so happened to be his personal Hell as well. He watched her as she scanned the room, her brows furrowed and her lips pressed tightly until she found him. She gave a small grin that he attempted to return, sure that it had been more of a grimace than a smile, before making her way over to where he sat.

The closer she came the more his palms began to sweat, why on earth did he have to choose a table all the way in the back? One so far off from the rest of the class that they would be trapped, alone, on their own little island with nothing but the bookshelves to keep them company.

If he was more like the other boys their age he would greet her properly. If he could just gather the courage to act out one of the thousand scenarios he had played out in his mind when he was home wishing nothing more than to speak to her, it would go something like this;

She made her way to the table in the back of the room, dodging around all the other students in their chairs. A light smile would grace her face as she set her book bag on the tabletop.

He would glance up at her from beneath his thick lashes, a cocky smirk painted on his lips, his voice dropping low as he'd say, "Hello Love."

Her breath would catch; a slight shiver would ghost over her skin at his husky murmur causing his eyes to sparkle with mischief. Then she'd greet him in return in that sweet symphony that was her voice.

She'd sit down in the chair beside him, allowing him to slide his arm across the back of her chair. He'd brush the strand of hair that always escaped from her ponytail behind her ear, looking her straight in her lovely eyes, "You look lovely today Caroline."

She'd blush and giggle, biting that lower lip of hers like she always does, setting him on fire and then…

A thud hitting the table knocked him out of his thoughts and drew his attention to Caroline as she huffed and sat down in the chair across the table from him. Her obvious annoyance clearly written on her face brought a cursed blush to his cheeks.

He watched her as she shuffled her things about, pulling out her notebook and pen as she switched between grumbling under her breath and pressing her lips into a thin line.

Klaus took a deep breath, trying to dig deep down into himself to find any scrap of courage and strength he had to force his mouth to work. Clearing his throat and gulping down he managed a paltry, "Hey."

Caroline's head popped up from her notebook, her narrowed blue eyes she aimed at him nearly making him shrink into his chair. She folder her arms across her chest with a huff, "Oh look! He speaks!"

Klaus's eyes widened at the pure venom that laced her tone.

Caroline placed her folded arms on top of the table leaning closer to him as she hissed, "Can I ask you something?"

He gave her a hesitant nod of his head, flinching slightly when she scoffed.

"Are all boys' self-involved jerks?" Caroline gave him no room to respond as she tossed her hands up into the air, "I mean seriously! I say hi, I start rambling on about the assignment and how excited I am since I love Greek mythology and you just sit there!" Her hands gestured wildly about, "Staring off into space with some weird smirk on your face! Do you find it amusing? Me rambling on like some idiot?"

Klaus sputtered, trying to assure her he meant no offence, but she still gave him no quarter.

"Is this like some hoity-toity British thing?" She began butchering his accent to the point where, if she wasn't so angry and spitting fire out of her mouth at him, he would find it utterly adorable, "Oh let's allow the little American chippie to ramble on and on looking like a bloody chump." She scoffed, "Not like I'm surprised. You're just another tool to the book of boys in my life. I tried to be nice to you before. I figured, hey. He just moved here from another country Why not make him feel welcome and offer him a friend. But no, you have to be all…"

Caroline was shocked out of her rant by his low growl.

Klaus's eyes hardened, "I have no need for your pity Caroline."

The harsh tone of his voice as he spat his words at her drew her up short and shocked her for a second. "What?"

Klaus pushed his glasses up his nose harshly, not caring that the nose piece pinched the bridge of his nose before he spoke slower, "I have no need for your pity." He scoffed, "What? Did you think I could be your newest charity case?"

Now it was Caroline's turn to attempt to sputter out a response only to be cut off by him.

"Oh let's befriend the poor foreign boy with the black eye and the broken ribs. He's such a loner maybe I can fix him." Klaus sneered, "Let me tell you something Sweetheart, I have no desire to be fixed. So if we could just get through this assignment we can both be on our way. Me alone as ever and you with your bright smiles and sunshine life can go elsewhere."

Klaus felt his heart pound in his chest as his hazy angry vision cleared and he finally truly looked at Caroline. There she sat across from him, her face drawn and pale, her mouth hanging open and her wide tearful eyes staring at him as if he had grown two heads. He didn't even want to imagine what she must be thinking of him at this moment.

He had no idea where all that had come from. Never before had he ever had the audacity to snap at someone like that. And that he had done so to her made him want to lose his lunch.

He slid his sweaty palm across the table, but with all his fire and courage failing him, he could barely bring himself to feather the tips of his fingers on the skin of her hand. The hand that he had longed for months to touch. The skin he had spent hours wondering whether it would be as soft as he imagined it to be.

"I…I'm sorry Caroline. That…That was rude of me." He flinched when she snorted. Looking down to the table he began to slide his hand away only to stop when she gently placed her hand on top of his. Her soft voice caressed him, soothing him in a way he never thought possible. He focused on her words as a part of his mind rejoiced in the fact that she was touching him, that her skin was just as soft as he had imagined.

"Hey I'm sorry. I guess I never thought about it that way. And I tend to have a problem with saying things without thinking." Caroline's eyes darkened slightly as she thought over the words he had said to her. "But I never thought you needed to be fixed." The way she spat the word told him there was more to her derision then just his own heated words, "How about we just start over?"

She slowly pulled her hand off of his, leaving him strangely cold until she aimed that sunny smile of hers directly at him with her head cutely cocked to one side while holding her hand out for him to take.

"Hi! I'm Caroline. Welcome to Mystic Falls."

When he sat there, his wide grey eyes flicking between her face and her hand from under his thick black glasses Caroline giggled. He was so cute when he looked like a startled puppy. The thought brought a slight heat to her cheeks which she covered with a hiss with a giggle through the side of her smile, "This is where you take my hand and introduce yourself."

Her humorous tone and sparkling blue depths brought forth a confidence he was just now beginning to discover.

Klaus had no idea where this new bout of self-assuredness came from, though he thought that maybe it was just his natural instincts kicking in from the etiquette classes he was forced to take at a young age.

But somehow he knew it was all because of her.

He covertly wiped his sweaty palm over his jean covered thigh before placing it in Caroline's waiting hand.

When she moved to shake his hand he rendered her speechless as he turned her hand in his, gently holding her fingers in his palm before bowing slightly over it and placed a soft kiss to her knuckles. She stared at him in speechless wonder as his eyes flicked up at her from over the tops of his glasses, his hot breath coasted over her skin and the combination sending tingles through her that she had never felt before.

"Charmed." His head rose from her hand, "You may call me Klaus."

Their eyes stayed locked, searching the others, his hand still held hers gently over the table as their lips parted on matching gasps. And then the moment was broken by two other students laughing as they passed by.

"Watch it Caroline, Art Boy here looks like he might eat you alive."

"That or she'll give him a stroke just from touching him!"

Klaus's face flushed a deep scarlet and he quickly removed his hand from hers and forced his eyes down at the paper on the table. After the way she had just gazed at him he had no desire to watch as she came to her senses and see the look of disgust flit across her lovely features.

"Hey." Caroline's soft voice whispered between them and he cursed himself for being so drawn to it that he raised his eyes.

Caroline smiled softly as he hesitantly looked at her, "Remember how I said boys are all self-involved jerks?" she grinned deeper as the hesitation left his grey eyes with a hint of relief.

Klaus could feel the blush lessening on his cheeks as he grinned back, "Not all of us are Love."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that." She blushed prettily at his pet name.

Klaus gulped down, his insides shaking under her obvious praise. Clearing his throat he swiped his tongue over his lips, "Yes well, maybe we should," He inwardly cursed his stuttering speech, "Get to the assignment."

"In a second. I'm curious, why Klaus?"

"Why what?" Klaus nervously asked feeling panic rise in his gut that she had discovered his secret crush on her.

"I mean your name is Niklaus so why go by Klaus? Why not your full name or Nik instead?" Caroline bit her lower lip at his visible flinch when she spoke his given name and the shorter Nik version. "Sorry," She eyes him sheepishly, "See? There I go again saying things without thinking."

"My given name, as well as the shorter version, carry with them a ton of baggage I'd rather not recall." He replied gruffly.

Caroline could easily read that there was more to the story, and just how much he hated speaking of it. The words, black eye and broken ribs, floated through her mind. Shrugging her shoulders she brushed it off as she knew he wanted her to, "Hey it's no big deal. I mean we all have a ton of baggage we'd rather not have anyone else know right." Her eyes darkened a touch as she thought of all the things weighing heavily on her own shoulders at the moment.

Klaus furrowed his brow, wondering what the perfectly angelic creature before him could ever have going on in her life to cause such a dark and tired look.

"Besides, I like Klaus. It's unique and different." Caroline grinned as she watched his cheeks fill with a blush, she really got a kick out of just how much she could do that to him.

Klaus scoffed, "Yes and different is just so well received here."

"Please! If you came out of your sketchbook every once and a while, smiled with those adorable dimples you have and add in the British accent you'd have girls falling all over you." Caroline's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said, and judging by the full redness covering his face and his open mouth he was just as stunned. Thinking quickly to cover her own embarrassment she shot her hand forward to the sketchbook laying on the table, "What do you draw in here all the time anyways?"

Klaus wasn't sure if his heart was pounding so roughly in his chest over the things that she had just said about him or the fact that she had her hands wrapped around his sketchbook ready to crack it open.

He quickly stood half out of his chair, snatching the book from her delicate hands before sitting back down and hastily stuffing it in his bag. "Sorry. It's…it's private. I don't like showing my work. I've rarely even showed my closest friends back home."

Caroline easily picked up on the fact that he didn't even mention his family; pieces of the puzzle he was began to fall into place even as more holes opened up.

"I get it. It's kind of like a diary. All your personal thoughts go in it as pictures instead of words right?" At his nod she rolled her eyes, "I totally caught Elena flipping through my diary one time, it's not like she found anything I wouldn't want her to see but still! It's like super private. Maybe one day you'll let me see? I mean I'm assuming you are really good since I know the art teacher here has been begging you to enter something for the town's raffle we have at the end of every school year."

"You know about that?" His eyes widened and pleasure filled him that she knew anything about him at all.

Caroline rolled her eyes, "Well duh! I'm on like every event planning committee. Besides, I happen to be Miss Mystic Falls."

Klaus chuckled as she sat up in her chair straighter with an air of pride, "I know."

Caroline blushed beautifully at the intense look he gave her before he bashfully lowered his head, his fingers itching to pull his sketchbook back out and draw this moment before it was gone.

Caroline cleared her throat, knowing they had to get back on track and make some decisions before class ended. "So what would you think about instead of us doing what everyone else is going to do, we try something different for our project?"

Klaus felt himself tremble at the look in her eyes, he had a feeling he wouldn't like what she was about to suggest. "What do you have in mind?"

"Well, we have a few weeks to get this done and with everything I already know about the Greek Gods, it won't take long to pull all the information together for the report side of things. And maybe instead of just printing pictures off the internet you might think about drawing them?" She gasped excitedly, "We could present it like an art showing at a gallery! You being the artist and me being the curator!" She couldn't help but giggle as his mouth floundered open and closed as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

She pressed her lips together at the blatant relief in his eyes as the bell saved him from answering. "Hey, no pressure. Just think about it and we'll talk about it tomorrow in class. Oh! Wait!"

Her sudden outburst caught him by surprise as she began digging in her bag and pulled out her phone. Caroline seemed to be full of more surprises than he originally thought. She reminded him of some type of bird, a hummingbird maybe, always flitting about from one thing to another, captivating those around her with her light and carefree attitude.

After she clicked a few icons on the screen of her phone she handed it over to him. "Just put your number in and I'll text you back so you have mine. That way we can talk about the project outside of school too."

Klaus tried to steady his shaking fingers as he entered in the number to the cell phone his Aunt had gifted him with when he moved here. The shock of having the girl that held his affections phone number still not registering in his mind. His fingers brushed her hand as he handed it back to her sending shivers up his arm that he quickly pulled back, worried that he would no doubt find a way to embarrass himself again.

He watched as Caroline nibbled on her lower lip, biting back a grin as she clicked out a message then turned her phone back off. She hopped out of her chair after placing it back in her bag, sending her golden ponytail swaying around her neck, "There all done. Text me back after school and we'll set up a time and place to meet." A look of contemplative grew over her face, "Though it might be best of we just do our work at my house."

Klaus jolted in surprise as he stuttered, "Your place?"

"Well yeah. We're going to need a good internet connection and the local library will be filled with way too many people for that. Plus I like to focus and seeing that all my other friends will be wandering around not working and then begging me to help them like they always do I would rather be somewhere more private so we can actually get our own project done." She rolled her eyes with a frustrated laugh, "Really, you have no idea how many times that's happened to me. Sometimes being at the top of the class can be a real pain in the…well, you know." She sighed dramatically.

Klaus felt his heart pounding once again in his chest. His mind focusing on the fact that he would be in Caroline's home, with her. Alone. It took him a moment to catch onto something else she had said, "You said your other friends. Are we," He gulped down, expecting her rejection, "Friends then?" He shakily asked.

Caroline rolled her eyes teasingly and smiled, "Will you show me your art work?"

Klaus opened his mouth before closing it slowly with a look that spoke of how unsure he felt.

Caroline pressed her lips fighting back a smile. He really was just so cute when he was nervous. "One day I'll talk you into it Klaus." She said in a singsong voice as she slung her bag over her shoulder and spun on her heels taking one step away from him before grinning over her shoulder, "See you later friend."

Klaus smiled widely as she bounced away from him, a bashful chuckling huffing from him as he watched her walk away. His smile quickly fell as reality smacked him in the face.

Tyler Lockwood stood outside the Library doors waiting for her.

Klaus scoffed at his own stupidity. Tyler Lockwood. Star of the football team. Most popular boy in school. Loved by all. And worst of all, he was Caroline's perfect little boyfriend.

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