"Whatchya reading?" She asked, placing her chin on his shoulder. Her cool cheek pressed against his.
"Are you actually interested in knowing?" He asked. His eyes didn't move from the pages in front of him.
"Mhm," She nodded, squinting her eyes to see the print as if she were still human, one of her many habits she refused to break.
"It's the Illiad,"
"By Homer?"
"I was unaware there was an Illiad written by someone else." He feigned shock, making her roll her eyes.
"I was just checking,"
They both were quiet, he reading and she pretending to read. The only sound in their apartment was the turn of the pages in his book. As he began the following chapter, he felt her fingers in his hair, tugging softly at the sandy locks. He responded instinctively, his eyes closing momentarily at the touch. He mental shook himself and attempted to ignore her and focus on the words on the page. This proved impossibly. The feel of her fingers in his hair was too distracting.
"Could you stop that?" He broke the silence.
"Stop what?"
"That," He caught her hand as she ran it through his hair again.
Her eyebrows shot up. "Since when does that bother you? You love it when I play with your hair."
He released her hand. "I have never told you that."
She moved her head off his shoulder, crossing her hands over her chest, "You don't have to say it, your body does."
"You aren't a behavior analyst, love,"
"And you're a bad liar." She glared.
"I'm a horrible liar?" He shut his book and turned to give the young vampire a look, "I have been deceiving humans, vampires and werewolves for centuries, quite successfully if I might add."
"This isn't about your ability to lie," She pointed a finger at him, "This whole you-not-liking-me-to-play-with-your-hair isn't new. You do this all the time with things like holding hands, and cuddling. You always tell me how you hate intimate things. You know, I'm sorry to break this to you, Klaus, but we" She gestured to the both of them, "Are in a relationship. That happens to involve cuddling and holding hands and, yes, me playing with your hair."
"Where does it say that those things are needed in a relationship?" He got up from the coach and walked over to her. "Nowhere. And why is that? Because they aren't essential for a relationship to work. We have done just fine without them."
"This is the twenty-first century." She told him slowly as if he were a child, "Relationships don't consist of long courtships and the occasional hug. They do include, and this might be a shocker to you Lord Niklaus, display affection."
At the sound of her condescending tone and the use of his old title, his green eyes narrowed. "I have thousands of more years of experience, Ms. Forbes and I find it highly unlikely that your relationship requisites are really needed." He stepped forward, his voice mocking, "And it's not as if your past relationships proved they work to secure happiness," He half smiled.
Her eyes widened. He did not just go there. That jerk. He knows Ex-es are off limits. Her blue irises changed from the clear day's sky to that of a storm. That son of a -"For your information, one of those relationships ended because of you. "
"Oh, that's typical, Caroline. " He laughed humorlessly. "Let's pretend that I am the cause of that break up and not your silly romantic ideals. Alright, love, whatever you want."
"You know what," Caroline snapped, "This isn't about me! It's about you and your intimacy issues."
"I do not have intimacy issues," He rolled his eyes at the notion.
"You could have fooled me, Mr. Signs-of-Affections-Are-Useless," She raised an eyebrow. "It actually makes sense now. You weren't hugged enough as a child and now here you are, a man who hates intimacy. " She leaned forward to pat his arm, "That's okay I am here to help you overcome this problem." She gave him a world famous, faux Caroline smile. "See this?" She kept her hand on his arm, "This is good. This shows I care. Caring is good, Klaus."
He shook her hand off his arm, "Very funny, love."
She moved her head side to side. "This is a sign of a serious problem, character wise. Honestly, it kind of makes you seem cowardly."
He glared at her. "I am not a coward."
"Only a coward wouldn't show his affections," She shot back.
"I know what you're trying to do, Caroline," He crossed his arms over his chest like she had earlier. "It won't work on me."
"I know," She sighed. Pouting, she started towards the door that led out of their apartment.
"Good then I guess this discussion is over." He called out to her, returning to the couch.
"Sure thingy, Klaus!" She replied, about to close the door as she left. "It doesn't matter to me that your self-made hybrid and my ex-boyfriend is more brave than you. I can live with loving a coward." She blew a kiss to him, smiling innocently.
The door slammed shut.
Klaus's hands clenched together, breaking the covers of the hardback epic he held. How dare she compare me to that worthless new hybrid! And then to say I am the cowardly one!
A rational part of him pointed out that she probably did this to rile him up and that he should continue reading as if nothing happened.
The irrational part of him suggested he should do something else.
Caroline pressed the button for the elevator, humming happily to herself. Well done, Caroline. She mentally patted herself on the back. Sure, she didn't get him to surrender and do the intimate things she wanted, but she did end up screwing with his mind at the end. You only screw with the ones you love. In her mind, it was only a matter of time until she got him to do what she wanted.
The door to the elevator opened slowly and she stepped forward to board.
She was jerked back and shoved against the opposite wall. She gasped in fear momentarily, thinking she was under attack. Then she saw he assailant.
"Klaus," She sighed, "What do you want?"
"I am not a coward, Caroline," He snarled. Wow, looks like a hit a nerve there.
"Sure you're not. Now can you let me go?"
He grabbed her arms and held them tightly. "Just because I don't cuddle, that doesn't mean I am a coward. I have fought against things that would terrify vampires and werewolves alike. There is no way I can be a coward." He finished through his teeth, his eyes glowing with anger and hurt pride.
"Then why are you afraid of being intimate?" She asked.
His grip tightened.
Suddenly she was heaved over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and he started walking back to the apartment.
"Let me go!" She pounded her little fists on the back of his chest, which didn't faze him at all. He entered their apartment, but continued to carry her. "What are you doing?""
He moved towards their bedroom.
"I am going to prove to you, love, that I don't have any intimacy issues."
So this was originally going to be based on boredom but instead it turned into a story on Klaus's intimacy issues, which he claims are non existent. I loved to see these two argue, they are two worthy opponents. I feel that Caroline won this round. She managed to get him to be intimate. ;D
Anyway, this is going to be last one shot for a few days because I am moving. (Check my profile in a few days to see where!) I will have plenty of time to work on more Klaroline writings like one shots and Admit It. So wish me luck! And I hope you enjoyed the one shot! Thanks for anyone who reads this and thanks to my faithful readers. Love you all! It means soo much to see that you like my writing. Thank you!
PS I am thinkin about working on an Xmas based one shot for them? What do you think about that idea?