A/N: Okay, so I'd like to preface this by saying 1) Merry Christmas, xKittyPetrovax3 [a little early, I know, but still] and 2) this was hard for me to write. Good, in a way, because it made me step outside my comfort zone and expand my horizons as a writer, but also tricky because clearly this is a LucienxCamille oneshot, and I'm a fairly intense Klamille (KlausxCamille) shipper. But! The wonderful xKittyPetrovax3 asked me to do a LucienxCamille oneshot, and I didn't want to disappoint. So here we are. :)

Anyway, I had to make it AU, because my brain couldn't handle a canon-'verse one-shot where Camille ends up with Lucien. So...the Mikaelsons are a rich (non-vampire) family living in New Orleans and Cami is Klaus's ex.

A slight warning for a sort-of sex scene at the end. I say "sort of" because I didn't want to put anything too intense in, simply because...I dunno, lemons make me twitchy sometimes. XD I could have made things really hot and steamy, but it's a Christmas one-shot for crying outloud. So I kept it pretty tame, all things considered. Still rated M under the Fiction Ratings system because...well, the sex. XD

The Mikaelson family would like to

cordially invite you to our 5th Annual Holiday Celebration, held on the 23rd of December.

Please R.S.V.P. at your earliest convenience.
Sincerely,

Elijah & Hayley Mikaelson,

Niklaus Mikaelson,

and Rebekah & Marcellus Mikaelson-Gerard.

Happy Holidays!

Camille held the gilded invitation in her hand and had to stifle the urge to tear it into little pieces.
She would rather go jump into a pool of poisonous pit vipers than go to that party.
She'd always loved those celebrations in the past, but now that she and Klaus had broken up, she honestly didn't want to have anything to do with any of them anymore.

It didn't help that the break-up had been spectacularly rough and heart-breaking. She wasn't even sure what they'd broken up over, really. It seemed to have been an accumulation of smaller, seemingly inconsequential things, like how she'd always been too busy with her college classes to go out to dinner with him as often as he would have liked, or how Klaus had a tendency to bottle up his feelings and not talk to her when he had a problem with something. A lack of communication had probably been the overarching problem in their relationship from the start, and instead of improving over time, things had simply escalated, until one day they'd both ended up screaming at each other and throwing things. Things had been said that could not be taken back, and she'd realized that as much as she'd cared for him, this wasn't what love should be like. Camille had moved her things out of his high-rise apartment the very next day, and Klaus hadn't bothered to even try and stop her, seeming perfectly content to let her walk away. She'd seen him a few days after that, chatting up one of Rebekah's friends, some Caroline girl, and he hadn't seem torn up in the slightest over losing her, so Camille was certain she'd made the right decision.

Well, almost certain. There were still days where it felt like she had a massive hole in her chest where her heart used to be, but she chalked that up to standard heartbreak angst.

So, yes, she didn't want to go to that party. She certainly didn't want to help organize the damn thing, but a visit from Rebekah and her sister-in-law Hayley had left her with little choice in the matter.
"Don't be such a ninny," Rebekah had said. "Sure, break-ups suck, but you can't let it ruin you. Now, helping us set up this ridiculous gala, that'll help you get your mind of things. Besides," she'd added with a wink, "you might even meet Mr. Right there."
Cami had tried to argue, but the two other women had refused to take no for an answer. And now Camille had a massive list of things she had to take care of before the party. One of which was apparently helping to scope out the party hall the Mikaelsons wanted to rent for their celebration.

When she arrived at the hall in question, she was horrified to discover that Klaus was there, along with a dark-haired man Cami had never met before; he did look vaguely familiar, though, so she figured she must have seen him in some of Klaus's old school photos or something.

Klaus obviously saw the unhappy look on her face, because he put his hands up in an I-come-in-peace gesture. "I know, I know, I'm the last person in the world you want to see right now. But Rebekah insisted I come along and introduce you to Lucien before I go join my brother at the board meeting. Can't have the two of you working together without even knowing each other now, can we?"
She stared at him, nonplussed. "Wait, what?"
Klaus gave her a look that she was all too familiar with; impatience, with a hint of condescension. "This is Lucien Castle," he told her, indicating the man beside him with a nod. "He's an old friend of mine from Cambridge. He's in town for the holidays and my sister roped him in to help with the preparations for the party. He'll be accompanying you today to assist with your errands."

"I don't need any assistance," she told him curtly. "I can manage fine on my own."
"All the same," Klaus said, "I'd feel better if Lucien tagged along. I shudder to think of the trouble he could get into by himself, unsupervised."
"You make me sound like such an awful human being," Lucien remarked, slanting Klaus an amused look. "I assure you, I wouldn't get myself into too much trouble."
"With you," Klaus replied, "any sort of trouble is too much, and more than enough to make me regret our agreement to bail each other out of jail regardless of the circumstances."
Lucien made a disparaging sound. "Unlike a certain someone who shall not be named, I have only ever called in such a favor once, and only under extreme duress."

"It was two nights in the drunk tank!" Klaus replied. "Hardly an unbearable hardship. Certainly not worth the outrageous cost of your bail."
"And yet you paid it anyway."
"What can I say," Klaus said sarcastically. "It's your charming smile that won me over."

Lucien beamed at him, and Camille had to admit: it was a charming smile.
"Okay, fine," she said grudgingly. "You can come along, Lucien. But," she added warningly. "I won't put up with any sort nonsense that'll get in the way of setting things up for the party. Understand?"
Lucien flashed a flirtatious smile in her direction. "Yes, ma'am."
She tried to ignore the adorable dimple that made her heart skip a beat when he smiled and just narrowed her eyes at him. "I mean it," She said. "No funny business."

Two hours later, she was about to either murder Lucien and hide his body, or slap him and kiss it better.
He was an outrageous flirt, and seemed to have no trouble with invading her personal space at the most inconvenient times. Camille would have chalked it up to that just being his general attitude, but she'd caught him looking at her with real interest and genuine desire, and had been forced to admit to herself that he was attracted to her and that maybe, just maybe, she was more than a little attracted to him, too.

Damned if she was going to make the first move, though. Her heart was still hurting from the debacle with Klaus; no way was she going to open herself up to that kind of pain again, even if Lucian was irresistibly sexy in that fancy suit of his.

The tension between them crackled as they continued their tasks around the city. The party hall had met their standards, and they'd also managed to arrange for the small orchestra that would be responsible for the music. They were now on their way to speak with a caterer they hoped would be amenable to providing the food and drink they needed.

Which was how Lucien somehow ended up hand-feeding her a chocolate-covered strawberry on the excuse that they needed to "sample the wares" before deciding to hire the chef.
She bit into the delectable treat and couldn't decide if she wanted to strangle Lucian or kiss those sinfully attractive lips that were curled into an amused smirk. She contented herself with the knowledge that the two options weren't necessarily mutually exclusive, thanked the caterer for her time and promised to be touch, then grabbed Lucien by the arm and hauled him out of the shop.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded, whirling to face him once they outside.
Lucien, for his part, looked utterly baffled. "What are you talking about?"
"What am I talking about?" She crossed her arms. "I'm talking about the flirting. The sideways looks when you think I'm not looking." A terrible thought occurred to her. "Did Klaus put you up to this?"
A horrified expression crossed his face. "Good God, no! Camille, I assure you," he went on earnestly, "the interest I have in you is purely my own. Nik has nothing to do with it, other than introducing us."
She eyed him skeptically, but he seemed to be entirely sincere, so she let the topic drop. "Okay," she said grudgingly. "I believe you."
He grinned like she'd made his day with that admission. "I'm glad. I'd hate to think my chances were shot to hell already."
She smiled at him despite herself. "Well, we can't have that. Not yet, anyway."

The next day, they returned to the caterer they'd spoken with the day before and hired her officially. After running over the details of the menu with the chef, they then made a stop at a high-end wine store to procure the champagne and wine that Elijah and Rebekah wanted to serve, and then detoured to a slightly less classy liquor store for a case of the scotch that Hayley, Marcel, and Klaus wanted. Lucien had insisted that they buy some bourbon, too, "just because" and even though Camille had tried to veto that decision, all he'd had to do was smile and give her a little wink and she'd caved.

Which was how they ended up together in the party hall, putting up holiday decorations while sipping on a big bottle of Jim Beam. It probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world, drinking hard liquor while in the presence of someone she found obscenely attractive, but Cami couldn't find it in herself to want to leave. She liked it, being there with Lucien. Spending time with him wasn't difficult, like it had been with Klaus. She wasn't constantly walking on tiptoe around him, hoping she wouldn't say or do the wrong thing. With Lucien, nothing she said was ever wrong, or annoying. He seemed to delight in her sassy attitude and her straightforward way of doing things.

She was just tying a bright red ribbon around one of the banisters when she felt a hand on her waist. Craning her head back, she saw Lucien behind her, holding a sprig of mistletoe above their heads.
"May I have this kiss?" he asked softly, lips quirked into a smile that was both flirtatious and uncertain.

She wanted to think that it was the bourbon that made her twist around in his arms and kiss him, but she knew that that wasn't true. She'd wanted to kiss him since the day she'd met him, and the bourbon might have emboldened them into lowering their inhibitions a little, but it wasn't responsible for the heat zinging back and forth between him. That attraction was completely natural and entirely mutual.

So she kissed him underneath the mistletoe, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself so close to him it was as if there was no separation between them. Lucien responded eagerly, dropping the mistletoe and twining one hand in her hair while the other hand came up to stroke gently across her jawline, his touch so soft that it was like a velvety caress across her skin that sent little sparks of fire through her veins.

They kissed for what felt like forever, and then gradually moved on to something more, the touches becoming more intense, more intimate, until finally clothes were being tossed to the floor with careless abandon and Lucien was kissing her all over, lavishing her with affection and running his fingers across her skin in ways that sent shivers up and down her spine. The love-making itself was slow and sweet, and the way Lucien held her and murmured her name like a prayer made her feel like she was most beautiful person in the world. And when her climax came and blew through her like an explosion, he held her close and kissed her as she arched up and cried out his name. He ran his hands gently down the length of her spine as the aftershocks left her trembling, pressing soft kisses into her hair while she panted for breath.

Eventually, she ended up dozing off with her head on his chest and his arms wrapped around her in a snug embrace. She fell asleep feeling warm and sated, with the sound of Lucien's strong and steady heartbeat just under her ear. And when she woke up the next morning, there was none of the embarrassment that should have accompanied waking up on a cold marble floor in the arms of a man she'd known only a few days.

Regardless of where they were, waking up in Lucien's arms...felt like coming home.
So instead of snatching up her clothes and bolting for the door, she leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to Lucien's lips.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," she said when he opened his eyes and gave her a hesitant smile. "How're you feeling this fine morning?"
"Like I'm the luckiest man in the world," he replied, and gave her a good morning kiss that made her toes curl.

Camille smiled as they kissed, her heart pounding with joy and exhilaration as Lucien pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

She felt pretty lucky, too.

A/N: And there you have it, folks! My first successful AU oneshot. :) I actually got pretty fond of this AU world of mine as I was writing, so I might come back someday and do some more oneshots. This was also my first real "lemon", so...yeah, that's different. I hope everything was okay for you guys; I'm never sure how far to take sex scenes, so I left things pretty simple for this one, nothing too explicit. Drop me a review if you've got a second, I always appreciate feedback, and make sure to thank xKittyPetrovax3, too, because I never would have written this if she hadn't asked me to. ;)
Anyway, I hope you liked it, xKittyPetrovax3! Merry Christmas!