Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

Summary: AU/AH: Blue eyes, dirty-blonde curls and accents. They were the root of all evil. Caroline Forbes doesn't just think that, she knows it…

The Rules of Attraction

Prologue

Senior Year

June 3rd 2017

This wasn't the first time they'd been in a position like this. Two bodies trapped in a dark, closed and confined space with barely enough room to breathe. They'd been in closets bigger, smaller and equal to the one that they were in now, but this time it felt different. The air seemed thicker, more tense, than it had ever been before.

A muffled bang from somewhere just outside the closet door caused her to shift slightly against him and his mind went instantly blank to the feeling of warm curves against hot skin.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," she murmured. "It's only a game." Her hand moved through the darkness and rested lightly on his chest. "Klaus?"

"It's not that," he growled out angrily. "It's her. This is so typical, putting me in a closet with another girl. Fucking classic Hayley Marshall."

She nodded even though she knew he couldn't see her through the darkness. "I think she's onto us," she whispered and Klaus' mind wandered once again as the warmth of her breath caressed his collar bone. "The jig is up."

His jaw ticked as the friction of her nails scratched his chest through the cotton of his t-shirt and he attempted to suppress his animal urges to screw her right then and there. She was Caroline Forbes after all. She was hot, popular and willing, right?

Even in the darkness he could sense her mouth hovering inches away from his and he let out a vexed sigh. "Caroline…"

"We only have six minutes left of this heaven, Klaus," her brow arched slightly. "Do you really want to spend it talking about your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend," he frowned, attempting to catch her gaze as he began to adjust to the lack of light.

Her eyes, despite the darkness, were a sharp, feline blue. Observant. Smart. Confident. But there was a glint of playful danger that he'd seen so many times before and fuck if it wasn't a turn on. "Besides, I thought you were friends," he added in an effort to try and regain control of the situation.

"We have never been friends," Caroline hissed. "She tried to steal my boyfriend."

His eyes narrowed. "So, that's what this is about then? You want revenge."

"Revenge has never been part of the agenda and you know it."

She took a step closer and his body immediately reacted to the plaint warmth of hers.

"Caroline-" he clenched his jaw as her hand began to slide down the front of his shirt, "We shouldn't."

"Says who? It's not like anyone would hold it against us. It was Hayley's idea." She paused and a beat of silence lingered between them. "How long has it been since you and I…" She cut herself off and let the question hang in the air to answer itself.

She was so close now that Klaus could practically feel the heat radiating off her. She was scattered and curvy and smelt of strawberries and tequila, and in any other circumstances he would be enjoying this, but he was relatively sober and tried to remind himself that it was wrong. Caroline was with Tyler and he had… Well, he had whatever it was with Hayley. Not that that had stopped the brunette from shoving the both of them into the closet they were in now and it certainly hadn't stopped her from trying to fuck Tyler a few months back.

"You sure you want to go down this road again?" his lips quirked. "I thought you wanted to go on the straight and narrow. You know, let Tyler cure you," he donned a sarcastic smile. "You're straying a bit off course."

"As if I would ever stray off course with you," she scoffed, and again, despite his dour mood, he smirked at her bluntness which he'd always found oddly sexy.

"And yet," his face took on an expression of mock-bewilderment, "you're not exactly backing up."

He felt her shift and try to move back, but his hands instinctively slid down the curve of her waist and grip her hips, keeping her pressed up against him.

She shot him a dry glance through the darkness. "Careful, Klaus, your envy's really starting to show."

He scoffed at the ridiculous idea of being jealous of Tyler. "You'd like that wouldn't you, love. It's too bad you seem to have forgotten that I've been there, done that." His eyes, suddenly unable to resist, dropped to her mouth. "If I really wanted it I'd take it."

Fire ignited behind her lashes and burned so ferociously through the darkness that he could feel her gaze rather than see it. He'd sparked something inside of her that hadn't been triggered in a long time. It'd been ages since they'd played this game and he was almost not sure he knew what to do now because it felt like forever since he'd last been this close to her.

"You're a dick," she snapped and he snorted at the vain attempt at an insult.

"What do you want, Caroline?" His grip on her waist tightened.

"What I want-," her eyes blazed as she got on her tiptoes and rested her palms on his chest causing her breath to dance along his jaw, "-is for you to let fucking go."

Rolling his eyes, Klaus dropped his arms to his sides. "How long are you going to fuck with me like this, huh? Because you know I'm all for fun and games but this one's getting kinda' old."

"What if I don't want to play anymore?" she muttered and Klaus frowned at the sudden sincerity of her tone. He hated that he couldn't see her face clearly. Hated that he couldn't see her expression. Hated that he couldn't read her body language so that he'd know what to do next. "I'm going to go find Tyler."

He felt her begin to turn away from him and he gritted his teeth at the mention of that prick's name. "You've been avoiding me for weeks," he called her up on their recent issue. He was grasping at straws and it was obvious. Why couldn't she see what to him was so clear? "I know he doesn't do it for you, love," he drawled, lips twitching as he tried to lighten the mood. "At least, not the way I do."

"Don't," she snapped, shaking her head.

Frustrated he ran a hand through his hair. "You know where I stand, Caroline. Stop leaving me hanging. What do you want?" He asked again, his voice inadvertently beginning to rise.

"I don't know." Her hitched breath rippled through the darkness, her thoughts snagging as the topic of conversation hit a little too close to home.

She held his gaze for an extended beat, silence ringing in the air around them, and for a second, he thought he might've actually struck something within her. But the hope vanished when her eyes turned steely, countenance prickly. And just like that her guard was back. "Why do you even care? To you I'm nothing more than a good fuck. At least Tyler listens to me."

"He doesn't even know you!" He yelled, his calm demeanour finally cracking. How could one girl be so frustrating? How could this one blonde tornado of a girl be so infuriatingly blind? "I know you. I listen to you. Even when you don't utter a single, fucking word I hear you. And do you know why? Do you have any idea why?"

Her stare held his for a moment. And then, "Why?"

He snorted sardonically. "Are you seriously asking that?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because I fucking love you!"

-x-

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One!" She glanced down at the timer on her iPhone before flinging open the closet door.

"Because I fucking love you!"

Bonnie's jaw instantly dropped in shock as she looked at her blonde best friend.

Tyler walked into the room and wondered why everyone had suddenly gone so deadly quiet. His eyes followed the direction of everyone else's and they faltered on Caroline and Klaus facing off from the inside of a closet. Frowning he pushed past a guy from his history class to make his way closer to his girlfriend.

"Caroline?" he asked, causing everyone's attention to rapidly shift onto him.

Attempting to repress the sudden burst of emotion that had bloomed inside of her, Caroline's distant stare snapped into focus. Avoiding eye contact with Hayley, who was still standing there, eight or so feet away, Caroline began to move from the closet. She wasn't three steps out the door before Klaus was pulling her back towards him.

"Where are you going?" He asked in disbelief. "Did you not hear what I just told you?"

"Don't-" she began, a hitched breath interrupting her, and the smallness of her voice hit him like a train. "Please don't do this."

Klaus dropped her wrist and backed away dumbfounded.

"Care-" Bonnie was cut off as Caroline distractedly shook her head, her posture tense.

"Please take me home, Tyler," she asked in a jittery voice and took the hand Tyler held out for her.

Watching them leave Klaus fought the urge to run after them. How could she just walk away from him like that? Had the last few months meant absolutely nothing? He scowled at anyone looking in his direction and everyone quickly turned their faces to engage themselves in other matters.

"Did you ever care about me at all?" Hayley approached him, a false mask of devastation adorning her face, and strangely enough he felt cold.

Not one bit of regret plagued him when he said, "Trust me, Hayley, we were shoved into that closet long before tonight."

He could sense Hayley still looking at him but his own eyes were glued to the door through which Caroline and Tyler had just left. Surely she didn't love him. She'd be back any second, right?

Everyone started to leave the room and he felt Bonnie attempt to capture his gaze, concern flooding her own, but he merely shook his head in response.

"How could you do this to me?" Hayley whined. "I thought we were good now!"

The sound of her voice cracking didn't hurt him in the least. It was all a façade.

"We're not even together!" He yelled, his anger at the situation beginning to erupt within him. "And don't pretend like you haven't been looking for any opportunity to fuck Tyler these past few months. How can you stand there and look so surprised?"

He brushed past her and went straight for the front door. On his way he heard her dissolve into fake sobs but he didn't turn. They'd all made their choices nearly two years ago.

It was time they finally started dealing with the consequences…

A/N: To be continued.