A drabble in which Caroline helps a drunk Klaus home.
"Klaus!" Caroline's clear voice rang through the air. Klaus turned his head towards the musical sound, smiling in appreciation. It sounded amazing, hearing her call his name out.
"Ah, Caroline. Care to join me for a drink, love?" he slurred slightly. Truth was, that night he already had drank too many drinks to count, and he was feeling decidedly woozy. It was a common occurrence to see him rip roaring drunk at the Mystic Grill. His life had been filled with sadness lately, with the death of his brother, Kol. He had thought to kill the whole lot of them leave town on many occasions, but something had always held him back. Or someone, he thought.
"Come on. You're drunk. Let's get you out of here," she said wearily, pulling him to his stumbling feet and tossing a couple twenties to cover his tab. As he stumbled more, she put his arm over her should and her arm around his waist.
"Ah, she finally comes around," Klaus breathed into her neck, feeling her warm arms wrapped around him. He felt the heat of Caroline's blush as she sighed and tugged him towards the door. "You're so beautiful when you do that, sweetheart," he breathed, taking in the delicious smell of her neck. How long had he waited to be so close to her, to have her take him in her arms and to feel her body press against his. And when it finally happened, he was drunk, too drunk. He knew he wouldn't be able to remember this incident in the morning. And that disconcerting fact mad him unbelievably angry. He was finally getting a moment to impress Caroline, and he wouldn't even remember it. Or worse, he would remember all the foolish things he knew he was about to say.
Throwing caution to the winds, Klaus put both of his arms around Caroline and held her in place, turning her face towards his with one hand. He hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking, and he dimly noted that they were now standing on the curb in front of the Mystic Grill.
He looked into her glowing blue eyes, which were pointed at the ground, and were full of resignation. "Why are you helping me?" He asked, mystified. He couldn't fathom why good, sweet Caroline, who had made it clear how much she detested him, was now suddenly taking care of his drunk arse.
Her eyes quickly flicked to his, full of nervousness and annoyance. "Look, it doesn't matter that much. For your information, I couldn't have you going on a murdering spree through town. I happen to actually like these people, and I don't want to see them dead." She stared at him pointedly, not so subtly reminding him of all of the people that he had killed.
Klaus grinned. Her strength and lack of fear enthralled him. She stared him down, not having the slightest fear for her own safety. He smirked at her. "Point taken, love. He took his hand off her chin and stroked her bare arm gently. He was satisfied when he felt a gentle shiver run through Caroline's body, suddenly incredibly aware of the intimate way that their bodies were pressed together. "I can be… quite.. unpredictable… when I'm drunk." He looked at her hungrily, not even bothering to hid the desire in his eyes.
Caroline's breath caught for a moment as Klaus grinned stupidly, now aware of the affect he had on her body. He leaned his head in a little closer to her, taking in her sweet scent, a combination of sea and citrus that was uniquely Caroline. He could feel the curves of her warm body, the way it was molded to his. As he moved in to lean his forehead into hers, he caught her staring at his lips. Fuck it if I can't remember this, Klaus thought. Might as well take the only chance I can get.
Suddenly, a horn beeped and Caroline suddenly pushed him away from her. The absence of her heat felt like he had just stepped into a blizzard. The loss of the sensation of her touch, her scent, of her, infuriated Klaus. His insides were screaming at him, to take her back in his arms and crush his lips to hers, and kiss her with enough passion to make her head spin.
He normally had more self control when he was sober, but he couldn't handle the closeness of her, especially now that they had almost kissed.
He was about to make his move, but her voice stopped him. "Klaus, this is your ride." She opened the door for him, and he attempted to move towards it, wobbling unsteadily on his feet. She sighed and half carried, half pushed him into the cab. Her hands on his body felt like firebrands, touching his very soul.
As she leaned back to slam the door shut, Caroline felt an iron grip around her wrist. Klaus stared at her beseechingly as she tried to pull her wrist away. Klaus grinned. Even drunk, he was stronger than this newbie vampire. "Caroline," he demurred. "I'm still very drunk. What if I'm driving by one of your lovely neighbors houses and I start getting a little… thirsty?"
"You're like, a billion years old. Shouldn't you be in control of yourself?" She scoffed, still trying to pull her wrist away.
"Please," he said, coming out a little more vulnerable than he intended. The truth was, he wasn't ready for Caroline to leave him. He felt a little lonely and needy, as usual, but his inebriated state allowed him to succumb to the impulse to beg Caroline.
Caroline looked at him surprise evident in her eyes. She studied his face for a moment, and Klaus thought she was going to refuse him again, like she always did. He hung his head, sighing as he loosened his grip on her wrist.
To his immense surprise and satisfaction, he felt her slide into the cab next to him, pushing on his chest to move him over to make room for herself as she quickly shut the door and the cab started. He let her push him over, enjoying the feeling of her hands on his body as her scent permeated the air.
Feeling a little sleepy and lonely, Klaus slowly incased he in his arms, resting his head in the crook of her neck, inhaling against her skin. Caroline shifted somewhat uncomfortably, sitting up straight, eyes straight ahead, hands on her lap.
"You never did tell me why you were helping me, sweetheart." Klaus murmured against her neck.
"Well, I told you that-"
"No, that's not it. If you were really worried I'd kill someone, you wouldn't be here." He lifted his head to stare into her eyes, sounding dazed. He tucked an errant curl behind her ear as he waited for her to answer him.
"You wouldn't kill me," she said absently.
"How do you know?" He scowled, knowing it was true.
"Because of your weird obsession with me!" She burst. "You think I don't notice the way you've been looking at me? I'm not an idiot."
"Neither am I, love." He replaced his head on her neck. "Don't think that I haven't noticed the way you look at me either, sweetheart. I've seen the hungry look in your eyes. I feel how your body reacts when I touch you. And tonight, when you showed up to save me from a drunken incident, I know that you care about me."
Caroline tensed up, sitting up straighter as the cab lurched to a stop in front of the Mikaelson mansion.
"Are you finished," she spat, pushing him off her.
"Come now Caroline, it-"
"You have a nice night now," she said coldly, turning away from him as he ran his hands through his hair.
Frustrated, and realizing how his dickish drunken behavior may have made her feel uncomfortable, he opened his mouth to apologize. "Caroline, I-"
Klaus was cut short as he felt a rush of air and her lips crashed onto his. He froze in surprise for a millisecond, but the quickly wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hungrily. He opened his mouth and she parted her lips and sighed, allowing him access into her mouth. They kissed passionately, Klaus feeling her warmth and affection pouring into him. They kissed for what felt like hours, but it wasn't enough, as the cabbie loudly cleared his throat, cutting them off.
"Oops," Caroline said with her eyes wide. "I didn't mean to do that."
"It's quite alright love." Klaus smiled. "I enjoyed it." He was lying. He hadn't just enjoyed it; kissing her consumed him, awakening feelings and emotions he didn't know he had.
Oh, the humanity of it all, Klaus thought, chuckling to himself at his lame pun. He got out of the cab, still teetering slightly. He suddenly gasped, realizing something as he turned to shut the door.
"Are you okay?" asked Caroline with concern, seeing the expression of centuries worth of sadness on his face. She hoped her kiss hadn't affected him that badly.
"Nothing, love." He sighed and looked away. "It's just," he stopped for a second and then continued resignedly. "I'm so drunk I'm not going to remember this in the morning." He looked away, the sadness registering on his face.
"Oh," was all Caroline could say, as he shut the door and stumbled into his home. One of the reasons she had kissed him was because she knew he wouldn't remember it in the morning. But seeing him at his most vulnerable had touched her. But there were too many things in the way of them getting together.
Maybe it was for the best that they both forgot about this evening, Caroline thought, shaking her head sadly as the cab pulled out of the driveway, casting it's headlights into the depths of the night.
A/N: So here it is! My first attempt at writing something interesting. Please let me know what you think! I love criticism/anything you can tell me to make my writing better!