Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or its characters. If I did, The Originals would never have happened, Kol would be alive and happily causing mayhem somewhere, and Klaus and Caroline would be travelling the world and sexing it up.

This request came from Angelikah, who asked me to write Klaus before he sees Caroline at the yuletide ball in Chapter 10. This is when he goes home to be with his father while Thomas is ill and the days following while they're separated.

For me as a writer, when they were reunited at the Yuletide Ball Klaus had well and truly realised that he had feelings for Caroline. Chapter 10 of Uneasy Lies was such a joy for me to write, so Angelikah I hope you and everyone else enjoys!

His official summons back to the palace comes in the form of text message from his sister. It's barely decipherable and full of emoticons and other strange characters that he has no idea the meaning of, but he gets the general gist of the message.

He'd been counting on avoiding the annual Yuletide Ball this year, especially now that he was pretty much duty bound to attend it to keep an eye on Caroline, albeit from a distance. Given that he was also a Windsor and now the sole representative of his family at Court, he had twice as many reasons to attend.

Two weeks had passed since he'd left the palace, more than enough time for his father to recuperate and be on his feet again. In truth there was really no need for him to be here. His father had always been more than capable of taking care of himself, and had his own household staff to assist with meals and medicine where required.

No, he hadn't needed to be here. And his father had figured that out right away, almost as soon as he'd showed up on the doorstep in the middle of the night.

"You're running from something. What is it?" Thomas questions him one night while they're sitting by the fire.

There's a blanket tucked around Thomas' knees, a bowl of soup balanced on his lap. The heat from the fire is almost too much for him to bear, but his father had always ran a little hotter than normal, as crazy as it seemed.

"I'm not running from anything." He replies promptly, glass of whiskey held in hand, fire glinting off the glass in an odd pattern. He holds the liquid up to the light, giving it an experimental swirl before taking a long sip.

"It's Caroline isn't it?" Thomas sighs as he sets his bowl of soup aside on an end table. "Do you have feelings for her?"

"I am not having this conversation with you." He drains the rest of his drink, getting to his feet quickly.

"Sit down." His father snaps suddenly, and he jumps in surprise. He could count on one hand the number of times his father had raised his voice in his presence in recent years.

But he acquiesces, sinking down into the lounge chair and turning once more to face his father.

"What are you afraid of?"

He stops to ponder his father's question. What was he afraid of really, when it came to Caroline?

The most obvious fear was that he wasn't good enough for her. She was so beautiful and strong, so full of light and life. She came from a respectable family, had a university degree under her belt, and was successfully running a small country.

She hadn't done questionable things, awful things, in the name of her country. She hadn't been exposed to torture and bullets and blood.

It was the intensity of his feelings that surprised him as well. He wasn't really sure when they solidified into something real looking back he couldn't exactly pin point the exact moment when he realised that his idle curiosity had turned into respect and affection towards her.

It was a less obvious fear, that she didn't reciprocate these new feelings that were both strange and awful to him. It felt strange, to not be the one to have control in their dynamic, relying on her to act upon any intentions she might have had towards him.

"You are a Windsor." His father begins softly. "You come from a long line of rulers and conquerors and warriors. The blood that runs in your veins ran in theirs. And even if you might not believe it, you are good enough for her. Perhaps it's time that you start believing it yourself. Now tell me again. What are you afraid of?"

He takes a deep breath, settling for the most obvious answer.

"Everything. I'm afraid of everything."

This time when he gets up to leave, his father doesn't stop him.

He's painting with a quiet, mindless intensity when his phone rings loudly, startling him out of his reverie.

He drops his paintbrush and reaches for a rag to wipe his hands on, white and gold paint spattered all over his hands.

He glances only once at the name on the screen before hitting the speaker button on his phone and picking up his paintbrush once more.

"Stefan." He greets his old friend mildly, bringing brush to canvas once more. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Stefan's call although unexpected is not entirely unwelcome. As always though, he senses an ulterior motive here, something that is confirmed with Stefan's next words.

"Rebekah would like to know if you received her message. She hasn't yet had a reply from you or so she says."

"I did receive the message. I chose not to reply." He corrects Stefan in a sing song voice.

Taking another glance at the portrait that he's painting, he flings down his brush with a growl and scoops up the phone, pushing open the glass doors to the balcony beyond.

"Let's not beat around the bush mate. Tell me why you called."

There's silence on Stefan's end for only a moment.

"I'm worried about Caroline actually. If your father is well I think its best that you return to the palace."

He sighs, massaging his temple with one hand, no doubt smearing paint into the skin and hair there.

"And what makes you think that I'll be able to do anything about it?" He asks patiently.

Stefan scoffs.

"Both of you are ridiculous. You're kidding yourself if you think that she doesn't miss you, that she doesn't think about you while you're gone. She's never been one to show her emotions outwardly. A trait you seem to have in common it would seem."

His breath catches in his throat at Stefan's words as he stares out over the grounds of Chatsworth, over the neatly manicured lawns and gardens that he'd played on as a child.

"She cares for you Klaus. A great deal if I know Caroline as well as I do. And she'd never call you back before you were ready because she's selfless like that. I know you hate the idea of the Yuletide Ball. But I want you to be there, and step into my place."

"Are you aware of the sort of message that would send?" He asks the youngest Salvatore pleasantly. Stefan makes a noise of assent.

"More than aware actually. But I think both of you need the push. I'm honestly sick to death of the two of you dancing around each other. Look just think about it okay? You don't have to give me a definite answer right now, but just let me know either way what you're doing."

Stefan hangs up abruptly as he just pulls the phone away from his ear and shakes his head.

And paints through the rest of the afternoon and well into the night and finally, finally he steps back and views the portrait through tired eyes.

It's done in renaissance style, every detail painstakingly created from memory, elegant strokes of paint forming a breathtaking portrait of their current Queen.

It had been a cathartic sort of process, to get all of his emotions and feelings out onto a canvas. A way of forgetting. A way of pushing down his feelings.

It also hadn't worked, he realised as he sat and stared at the portrait. There's a gentle tapping on his door, but he doesn't turn his head, knowing that it's going to be his father.

"It's exquisite." Thomas says softly, leaning forward to inspect the still drying paint on the canvas. "You should show this to her."

"One day, maybe." He muses out loud, wiping wearily at his hands with the same rag from before.

He accepts the plate of food that Thomas hands him gratefully, digging into the meal with relish.

"They want me to return to the palace. To step in for Stefan at the ball." He says only after he's finished his dinner and set aside the plate.

"And is this something you wish?" His father asks gently, a steady hand reaching out to rest on his shoulder.

"I'm worried about what people will think if I do."

He's surprised when his father starts to laugh, hand squeezing his shoulder imperceptibly.

"Oh Nik. Since when have you ever cared what people thought about you?"

Well then.

"Your timing as always brother is impeccable." Kol begins as he falls into step with his younger brother.

He was cutting it a bit close for time, choosing instead to set off for the palace in the morning rather than late last night. As such he hadn't arrived until late afternoon, the traffic in the Capital absolutely horrendous as the car had drawn closer to the palace.

Kol pulls out his phone, hitting speed dial and holding the device up to his here.

"He's here. Yes in the flesh Bekah." Kol explains patiently to his sister. "I'll see him to his suite and see that he's properly attired yes."

He rolls his eyes as Kol wraps up his phone call, taking the back way towards his suite, which was in the adjacent hallway to Caroline's. He wasn't expecting to run into her, but all the same he thought it best to play safe and go along with the surprise that his siblings and Stefan had decided to cook up.

"Rebekah organised you a tux." Kol says as he shoulders his way into the suite. "As I recall she said something along the lines of she can't trust you to find something suitable for yourself. Apparently it's Armani you lucky bastard. I have to settle for Lanvin." Kol says somewhat enviously.

"You realise that those labels hold absolutely no meaning to me whatsoever? By all means help yourself." He waves dismissively towards the garment bag hanging from the doors of his wardrobe, a white piece of paper pinned to the outside.

Don't fuck it up

-R

Delightful as ever, his little sister was.

"You should probably shower, Stefan will be here soon to brief you on the waltz. This is going to be fantastic." Kol pronounces with great relish as he claps his hands together. He sighs, wondering exactly what frame of mind he was in when he agreed to Stefan's request.

Obviously not a sane one, since he was here and stripping off his clothes. Kol settles in on his bed, texting furiously away on his phone as he closes the bathroom door behind him with a snap.

He showers quickly, stopping to use the sandalwood body wash that Rebekah had got him as a present upon arriving to start work at the palace.

Kol is in the exact same place that he left him as he emerges from the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist and steam billowing from the room. The sun is just beginning to set, earlier than usual considering the season.

Kol is dressed in his tux, hair artfully disarrayed in a way that makes it seem like he'd just rolled out of bed.

Stefan's leaning up against the doorway, amusement sparkling in those ridiculous green eyes of his.

"I couldn't believe it when you rang me last night to say yes. Your sister has incredible foresight." Stefan allows with a wicked smile.

"My sister knows me too well." He grumbles as he grabs the garment bag from the door and disappears back into the bathroom to change.

He's never been one for bow ties, and Rebekah had very pointedly left him one in the garment bag. He was absolutely hopeless at tying them, and Kol and Stefan as he quickly discovered weren't much better.

It's Kol that comes up with a solution for them, calling Rebekah once more on his phone.

"We're having a crisis of the bow tie variety." Kol tells her jovially, and Rebekah emits a string of colourful curse words that makes his eyebrows shoot into his hairline. She certainly hadn't learnt them from him.

Not even a minute later Rebekah comes storming into his room, gaze softening when her eyes land on him. Gently, she sits him on the edge of the bed, stepping between his knees and reaching for the scrap of material around his neck.

She goes through the steps one by one, explaining gently what she's doing and why she's doing it that particular way. It only takes a minute as she makes some last minute adjustments here and there.

"Thankyou." He tells her softly, hand squeezing her hip briefly before he stands. Rebekah nods once to him before turning to her brother and Stefan.

"I suppose you two require assistance as well?" She asks with a sigh as Stefan nods sheepishly.

"Actually I seem to conveniently have misplaced my own bow tie. What a shame." Kol announces to the room with an exaggerated sigh.

"You're an idiot Kol." Rebekah spits towards her brother as she quickly knots Stefan's bow tie as well. The youngest Salvatore stares down at her with an awed smile before pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead, perhaps very much aware that there were two of her brothers in the room with him that could creatively murder him in half a dozen different ways between the two of them.

Undoubtedly Kol would probably carry his methods out with less finesse, but it was the thought that counted really.

"I'd best get going and help Caroline into her dress. Stefan can you please make sure that Nik makes it to the ball room in one piece? Gloves and shoes are in that box there." She motions with a regal tilt of her head before sweeping out of the room as quickly as she'd entered.

Stefan helps him into his jacket, handing him white gloves to pull onto his hands. They're only required once a year at this particular event, something that he's eternally grateful for because he hates wearing them.

It's Kol that finally ushers them out of the suite and into the hallway like a concerned mother hen, pulling the door to the suite shut behind them.

"It's just a simple waltz, nothing fancy." Stefan begins as the three of them wind their way towards the centre of the palace and the ballroom. The sound of voices gradually reaches his ears, and he cocks his head curiously towards the source of the noise.

"You'll wait for her in the middle of the floor and she'll come to join you. She'll be expecting it's me of course, so I imagine she'll be rather surprised and happy to see you." Stefan continues as they join the stream of well dressed partygoers entering the ballroom.

Damon steps into their path suddenly, bright blue eyes giving him an obvious once over, an approving smile settling on his lips.

"You scrub up well Windsor. Good to see you." Damon allows with a nod, one that he returns almost on auto pilot.

He allows his gaze to drift around the ballroom slowly, taking in two hundred or so guests that were lucky enough to get an invite. There were no foreign dignitaries save the ambassadors of differing countries. Undoubtedly Serisa and Acamos would be having their own celebrations to begin the Christmas season.

"She's on her way. Klaus, it's time." Stefan cuts in gently, startling him from his thoughts.

Stefan nudges him gently out onto the floor, and he's very much aware of two hundred or so pairs of eyes that swivel to follow his every step.

He lets an impassive mask slip into place as he steps further into the centre of the floor, hands clasped calmly behind his back as he turns towards the doors and waits.

The whispers start at the same time that the herald bangs his staff on the floor and announces Caroline.

And then the doors open, and his breath catches in his throat.

Caroline has always been stunning but tonight she looks powerful. She looks beautiful. Her gown is creamy beige, long sleeved, delicately beaded, her tiara sparkling from where it's perched in her curls.

He sees her sweep her gaze quickly around the ball room, skirts held in her hands. Her face falls and her gaze casts towards the floor as she drifts closer towards him. He holds out a gloved hand towards her as she draws nearer, and she reaches out and takes it dismissively, almost on auto pilot as she drops her skirts.

And he racks his brains, thinking of a way to make her smile again, because she looks so sad and so disappointed.

"Chin up sweetheart, and let me see that smile." He cajoles gently and her head jerks up to look at him with shock.

Her eyes drink him in hungrily, like it's been a lifetime since she's last seen him. Her mouth is still slightly agape as she continues to stare, and he winks quickly at her as he squeezes her hand reassuringly before guiding it to his shoulder.

"You're here." Is all she can say as he places his hand on her waist, holding out the other for her ever patiently.

"I never planned on missing it." He answers, and it's true really now he thinks on it. He couldn't imagine not being here tonight, not seeing her dressed like this. "Stefan was gracious enough to step beside tonight. I hope you don't mind?" He asks of her cautiously, because despite his feelings he's still unsure as to whether she reciprocates them.

He's surprised then, when she leans forward and rests her forehead against his chest. He has to bend to hear her next whispered sentence, but he's helpless to stop the smile from spreading across his face when he does.

"I was hoping you'd come."

They dance. He's been brought up on the waltz, his father bringing in instructors so that he might learn when he presents himself at court one day. He hadn't particularly enjoyed dancing lessons, but he'd taken to it like a duck to water.

A born natural, his instructors had declared. As such he's infinitely glad that his lessons seemed to have paid off as he steers Caroline around various couples and pairings, before looking both ways and tugging her out of the ballroom.

Her hand is warm in his and he squeezes it gently, turning suddenly to take in the sight of her from head to toe. She shifts from one foot to another, blush colouring her cheeks and a shy smile upon her face as she blinks up at him.

"You look beautiful. As always." He finally admits to her, realising just how much he's missed her, just how much he missed having her around. He can't stop himself from bending down and brushing his lips against her forehead gently, the first time he's made such an obvious overture towards her. "Hello."

They exchange pleasantries as he offers her his arm, wishing more than anything that he can steal her away for the rest of the night. They wander languidly across the entrance hall, finally settling on a cushioned bench just outside the ballroom.

They talk only for a few moments before he relinquishes her to Damon, and then he loses her for an hour or so. He dances with his sister mainly, before retiring to the bar, eyes tracking Caroline carefully until she's safely in the arms of Stefan.

"You are so smitten." Rebekah pronounces with glee as she waves down the bartender for a drink. "This is great." She adds, echoing Kol's words from earlier.

"Stop smirking, it doesn't become you." He scolds his younger sister, who rolls her eyes towards him good naturedly.

Both of them turn just in time to see Caroline jam her heel into Kol's instep, their brother bending over in obvious pain as he hisses out a curse through gritted teeth.

Rebekah just sighs, placing her glass on the bar top.

"I suppose I should go and see what that's about." She admits, even as Caroline glides towards them, serene smile on her face.

He motions to the bartender, drink placed in front of him within seconds. He takes the opportunity to palm the glass to Caroline, enjoying the warmth of her hand against his for a moment, apparent even through the heat of her elbow length white gloves.

Time drags, and he has to stop himself from yawning as he dances with her in his arms once more. They soon shed all sense of formality as the night begins to wind down, and soon enough he notes that she is just as seemingly as exhausted as he is.

He doesn't hesitate to sweep her up into his arms once they've left the hall, shoes dangling from her fingers as she rests her head against his chest with a wearied sigh. It's a comfortable weight, reassuring as she digs her fingers into his chest absentmindedly with a soft hum.

It takes a bit of manoeuvring to get into her suite, but she lets him set her down, and she doesn't stop him when he gently pulls her tiara from her head.

It's heavier than he was expecting, the weight of dozens of diamonds intricately crafted with precious metal pressing into his hands. And he wonders how she could have worn such a burden on her head for so many hours.

And he realises that she carries this sort of weight with her every day, even if it isn't necessarily in a physical form. Carefully, almost reverently he sets the tiara on a side table, where tomorrow no doubt it'll be returned to the high security, temperature controlled vaults in the depths of the Palace.

He feels gentle hands on his waist, looking down just in time to see Caroline bury her head into the fabric of his shirt with a content sigh. Her hands tighten on his waist and he hears her breath hitch when he smooths some errant curls back from her forehead.

And when she looks at him his mouth goes dry. He does the calculations quickly in his head. It would take less than a second to close the distance between them and kiss her, another before he could have her legs wrapped around his waist.

It would take perhaps five seconds for him to cross the short distance to press her into her mattress, taking into account the weight of her in his arms. Maybe two minutes to get her out of the dress.

But he doesn't want it to be like this. He has all the time in the world, to wait for her to come to him. And he thinks that it's something that she needs to do, to be brave enough to let him into her life fully.

So he won't ever push her. She's still blinking up at him, blue eyes dark with desire and clouded with tiredness. He forces his lips into a ghost of a smile as he shakes his head imperceptibly.

"Not like this." He murmurs gently to her, pressing a ghost of a kiss to her cheek.

"Will you spend the day with me tomorrow? I want to show you something." Caroline returns quietly, hand tightening on his jacket, preventing him from stepping back like he knows that he should.

He agrees quickly, hand cupping her cheek.

"You're making it incredibly hard for me to leave you know."

"You don't have to leave." She counters with a shrug and another one of those unsettling gazes.

"Yes I do." He replies, untangling her hand from his jacket and pressing it to his lips. He takes a step back. "Tomorrow, usual time."

Caroline nods, not bothering to hide her yawn this time.

"Tomorrow then."

AN:

I quite enjoyed writing this one, good choice Angelikah! I loved writing more of the dynamics between the Mikaelson siblings, the small moments between Klaus and Rebekah and Kol and Klaus were amongst my favourite parts to write.

Getting to flesh out Klaus a little more for you guys was an interesting challenge as well!

At this point in time the requests I have from you guys are as follows:

IamKatherine: Date to the ballet (from the moment that Caroline descended the stairs)

Peanutmm: I'm probably going to do honeymoon. Hope you don't mind!

Guest (Sage): First time Klaus and Caroline met and she offered him the job- starting with Klaus seeing Caroline before they formally met

NikMik: The moment Klaus realizes that he's fallen for Caroline

Au courant: I'm trying to clarify yours, but it's on the list!

I will try my hardest to stick to the order that these were requested in!