So this was written for the Secret Klaroline Valentine. Just something cute.
Queen in disguise
She was in her final year of college. She was supposed to have forgotten all about him but he made it incredibly difficult. Every so often she would receive a letter in the mail were he updated her about his life in New Orleans. At first she hadn't opened them but when they kept coming curiosity over took her and she had caved. She had opened her collection one day and read them all in a night.
There was just something about the way Klaus described New Orleans, all the things he believed she would love there. She soaked in every last of his words.
The need to travel, to leave Mystic Falls, has grown with every letter but it had been more than that. She couldn't ignore the parts that weren't about her or the sightings in the city; the personal parts of the letters. There was a sense of trust in those parts, a part he didn't show to many.
He confided in her what was happening in New Orleans, the troubles he had faced, the ones with his family, his daughter… There was so much and part of her wasn't sure if she was even supposed to read these letters. They felt too personal. Maybe he just wrote them to her because he figured she wouldn't read them, yet she had.
She had continued reading them, never answering, just taking in everything that was going on with the Mikaelson family, the conquering of a city and a constant war with witches. When the city was back in their clutches and Hope's safety was guaranteed the letters changed. She still didn't know if he even knew she opened his letters but the invites that accompanied them made her suspect he just assumed.
As the "King" of New Orleans there were the required parties to show the strength and influence of his reign. She had received invites for all of them. She had never once attended them of course; she didn't want him to know she was even reading his letters. He would read in more than it meant; that she still cared, that he still played a part in her life, which she told herself he didn't. Still she was tempted to see the city she had read so much about.
She looked down at the invite that had arrived in the mail that day. A ball on Valentine's Day. Masked. He never even needed to know she had been there.
She walked in the courtyard and she wasn't sure what her expectations had been but it hadn't been like this. The whole courtyard was decorated beautifully, Rebekah's doing she had no doubt, and vampires and human mixed around. Everyone was masked like required but from the groups forming it was clear almost everyone here knew each other. She almost felt like she was intruding on a private event and had to remind herself she was invited. This was harder than she expected, she took a deep breath and took another step in. People were parting for her but she ignored them, making her way to the bar. She needed a drink. Several.
Before she could reach the bar she was handed a glass. Champagne. She accepted the glass automatically and looked up in surprise when she heard a deep chuckle. "You look ravishing, love." A grin played on his lips like he couldn't believe she was actually here. His eyes raked over her red dress, the sweetheart neckline showed just enough of her cleavage and the split around her mid thigh just enough leg to drive him mad.
"You know, the whole purpose of a masked ball is that no one knows who you are," she commented while she took a sip, trying to stay calm. She couldn't believe he had found her that easily but at the same time she couldn't believe she had thought she could evade him either.
"Why would you deny anyone here the pleasure of knowing you, Caroline?"
"Well what's the point if I would be leaving tomorrow anyway?"
"You know you could always stay," he mentioned while he offered her his hand. She ignored his words, they both knew her answer, but she accepted his hand while he led them on the dance floor.
The first notes of Give me Love started playing and it brought her back to their first dance together. "So how did you plan this?" Caroline wondered while she felt Klaus hand rest on the small of her back. She didn't believe the song had been an accident.
"I have my ways," Klaus mused while he twirled her around. His smile grew when he heard her laugh in response.
"Must be nice, getting your way with everything," she quipped, thinking back to that first ball where they had a similar conversation. Where she had said it out of anger back then, she was only teasing now.
"If only life was that easy."
"I guess it's not," she admitted, thinking back to everything that had happened in Mystic Falls and what his letters had told her about New Orleans. "Still it seems to have worked out in the end. You got everything you wanted," she gestured around her and noticed for the first time how all eyes were upon them dancing.
"Not everything," he murmured and she looked back, surprised at the intensity in his eyes.
His true meaning wasn't lost on her, it wasn't like he was subtle but she didn't want to acknowledge his words either. She had known the risks of coming, knew the message Klaus could interpret but she just wasn't ready. Not yet. Of course he could read her perfectly and she didn't need to explain that she was growing uncomfortable under his admission. The night was young and he wanted to spend as much time with her as she would allow so he quickly changed the subject.
"So how is Mystic Falls these days? You know all about what I've been up to the past years, yet I know nothing about you."
She scoffed, "Really? Why do I find that hard to believe?" He always had a way of knowing things in her life that she hadn't told him. She hadn't forgotten her Miss Mystic application.
"Well maybe I know a little," he acknowledged, "You're graduating soon. Do you have any plans after?"
"I'm going to travel," she admitted. "Looking like seventeen will get noticeable eventually, especially in a small town where they've known me my whole life."
"You would be surprised with what people ignore or don't notice, too involved with their own lives... You don't have to leave if you don't want to."
"Well I guess you get away with a lot here but it's more than that, I- I kinda need to leave Mystic Falls for a while. There's a whole world out there, and I think that maybe, maybe I'm finally ready to see it." She paused their dance for a moment to take in his response. She was getting a whiplash of herself. She knew what she wanted and what she shouldn't want but what if they were the same thing?
"Where do you plan to go?" Klaus inquired. He recognized her choice of words off course but at the same time he didn't want to assume. Just because they left each other the last time in more than amicable terms didn't mean that they could just continue from that point.
"Well I heard Europe is pretty great."
"It is," he agreed, "You would love it over there."
"Well isn't this a surprise," she looked up at the new voice and was greeted by a face she hadn't thought she would even see again.
"Kol," she breathed out. She had read he was back but seeing it was a lot different.
"You remembered. Told you she liked me better, brother," Kol said, "And if you need someone to guide you around Europe, I'm an excellent guide."
Caroline rolled her eyes but noticed Klaus stepping in front of her, almost shielding her from his brother. She put a hand on his arm and pulled him back next to her. "I'm afraid I have to decline. There are just so many things that sound like more fun."
"You wound me Caroline. Well I'm off to find a certain witch, Caroline I advise you to visit his art room while you're here. I'm sure it would be an interesting experience for you." Kol left them alone while Caroline turned to him.
"So your art huh?" she asked and smiled when she noticed his little headshake.
"It's not interesting. Just a few paintings of beautiful things I've encountered in the past," he evaded and cursed his brother for bringing up the room.
"So why did Kol think I had to see it?"
"He just wanted to annoy me." When he noticed her incredulous stare he gave in. "It's possible there's a painting or two of you there."
She gasped. "I need to see those," she hurried off in the house, looking for the room that would hold his art but before she could open a door she collided with a heavy chest. "Umph," she looked up to see Klaus smirking in front of her.
"I wouldn't open that door, love," he warned while she walked around him. She couldn't resist and opened it anyway only to walk into a bedroom that could only belong to Klaus. She turned silent when she noticed the bed and heard Klaus walk in after her. The door closed loudly and the tension that was always present between them seemed to play up again.
"So no art here," she said softly, looking for anything to make this feel less awkward.
"Well that's not exactly true. I see one work of art." That wasn't helping. Not one bit.
She turned to Klaus and swallowed deeply. "Stop doing that!"
"Stop doing what?" he walked a step closer to her, enjoying the way she licked her lips while she was nervous.
"Being you! You're making me want to-" she walked closer to him, "Want to do this," she pressed her lips against his and enjoyed how –for a second- he stayed completely still like he couldn't believe she was doing this again. Then he snapped out of it and she felt him move against her, his lips opening slightly and the kiss being deepened. His arms wrapped around her, pressing her tighter against him and she could feel his hand wander around the slit of her dress.
It was too late to back down. She had made her choice.
Her head rested on his chest and she could feel his hands draw shapes on her skin. "You know I could show you around." Klaus suddenly spoke and she looked up in surprise.
"I would love to but I have a plane to catch in a few hours," she looked at the clock. "We really do need to leave the bed," she said but the words sounded unsure even to her own ears. Still she knew she couldn't stay here, they had been there for half a day already.
"I didn't mean New Orleans. I meant Europe. I could show you everything I had offered all those years ago."
She looked up at him in disbelief. "But what about this place? You just got your city back, your family, everything you wanted." Caroline pressed a kiss on his neck. "You can't give that up for me."
"I wouldn't. This city survived for nearly a century without me. I'm sure it can handle a few months while I take some time to travel with you, everyone is entitled to a vacation."
"And your family?" she breathed out, unable to believe she was considering his offer.
"They would probably see my time away as their vacation as well. It's not like I'm not coming back. And who knows, maybe by that time you will want to come back with me."
"We'll see," Caroline mused.
"Is that a yes?"
"Show me what the world has to offer me," she leaned in and captured his lips for a quick kiss. "But I really do have to go." She jumped out of the bed and grabbed her dress. When she saw him start to protest she smirked at him, "You once told me you would wait a century; don't tell me four months are too much for you."
"I can wait. But you better respond to my letters this time, one sided conversations are only fun for so long."
"I promise," she said while she put on her dress.
Klaus studied her while she covered up her body, memorizing the way she looked in that moment for a new painting. "Good."