Summary: Klaus has a crush on Caroline, who turns up as Marcel's (supposed) date to Rebekah's wedding. He's upset and has a few drinks. Luckily, not all is as it seems. Kind of fluffy. AU/AH.
For the entire semester, Klaus had doodled her in his notebook during History of Gothic Literature, actively attempting to ignore that no matter what he started out trying to draw, it always ended up being Caroline, the girl who always sat a few desks to the left and down two rows.
He'd resisted the urge to sketch her face, knowing that there was a limit to how creepy he could be, instead just drawing endless faceless sketches of the girl.
He'd developed a bit of a crush, he was rather ashamed to say.
They'd met in passing a few times through Stefan, who was dating his sister and was one of Caroline's best friends. Once the other man had found out, he teased Klaus mercilessly, and when Klaus found out that she was coming to Rebekah and Stefan's wedding the week after finals, he was almost certain he'd have his chance to ask her out.
Unfortunately, when he arrived, he saw her with his friend Marcel, both of them laughing and looking quite cozy. He'd snapped at her when she greeted him, ignoring the look of hurt that flashed over her face before sitting down at the bar.
He'd lost count of how many shots he'd had (though it couldn't have been that many, since he could both form a coherent sentence and see straight).
Klaus knocked back another shot, feeling a bit unsteady in his chair, and turned to see Caroline walking up next to him.
"You okay, there?" she asked, an eyebrow raised, and he shrugged.
"Just fine, sweetheart."
"You're slurring," she said dryly, and he shook his head.
"Wasn't."
"Yeah you were," she said, her lips twitching. "Stefan asked me very nicely to get you back to the hotel because you're drunk out of your mind."
"I thought you were busy being Marcel's date."
"What are you talking about?" she asked, frowning. "I'm not his date."
"Are you sure, love? Because you looked quite close."
"Yes, I'm sure. My brother backed out of coming and so did Marcel's sister, so he offered to be my friendly date so that we wouldn't be sitting here awkwardly," she said, her tone indicative of her brother not being in her good books. "I mean, not that it's any of your business anyway," she added as a clear afterthought, although her tone wasn't mean, so much as teasing.
"What if I want it to be my business?"
"Well, you've made that pretty clear, but I think you're too drunk for this conversation," she said, continuing before he could respond. "C'mon, we have to go."
"Why?"
"Again, because you're drunk, and Stefan doesn't deserve to have his wedding ruined. It's my job to get you out of here."
"Your job? What's Stefan paying you?"
"Unlike some people, Stefan doesn't have to buy friends. I'm just nice."
"I take offense. I don't buy friends."
"Oh, I know. You're too charming for that. Your sister, though? Total friend buyer. No offense."
"You think I'm charming?" he asked stumbling slightly, as she moved to hold open the door to the hotel's reception hall for him.
"Please. You're not that oblivious. Although, I guess it's good that you're probably drunk enough to forget everything past an hour into the reception because I'm pretty sure your ego shouldn't be any bigger than it already is."
"Oh, I'll remember you calling me charming, love. Even if I forget anything else."
"No petnames, and if you do remember, I'll deny it," she said firmly. "Which is your hotel room?"
"Dunno. Card's in my blazer."
"Well?" she demanded. "Get it out."
He fished around in his pockets, his hand finally closing around the card, and he handed it to her, suddenly too tired to pretend his vision wasn't blurry.
She glanced at it and stuck it in her bra before turning back to him. "Do you need to like, lean on me or whatever? You look like you're having some balancing issues."
"I'm fine," he said, stumbling slightly as he moved to follow her, but righting himself quickly enough that she merely sent him a judgmental look before gesturing to the elevators.
"Let's go."
He followed her to the elevator, leaning against the bar as she pressed the button for his floor. They rode the elevator in silence for a few seconds before Caroline spoke. "Why?"
"Why what, love?"
"Why me?"
He gave her a confused look and she huffed. "I know you like me. Why?"
"You're smart and beautiful, and you have a nice face for sketching. Why not?" he asked as the elevator dinged, still sure he was slurring his words.
"You never sketch my face," she said as she climbed out after him before her mouth snapped shut.
He raised an eyebrow, slightly impressed he had the coordination to do so as he walked slowly down the hotel hallway.
"I know you draw me," she said awkwardly.
Klaus was luckily sober enough to decide that the best course of action was to stay silent.
"It's really creepy, and you're not subtle at all, but I talked to Stefan right before he asked me to get you out of the reception. He says you're not as much of an ass as I thought you were. Apparently you're still stuck in Kindergarten and think the best way to get a girl's attention is to be irritating."
"Did it work?" he asked dryly, and she huffed.
"Well, no. Not really."
"Then why are you bringing it up, love?'
She bit her lip as they arrived outside his hotel room, and she pulled the card out of her dress. He looked away, determined to not give her more reason to dislike him.
"I kind of wanted it to," she admitted.
"Wanted it to work, you mean?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, there's no reason it can't."
She swiped the card and the door clicked. She opened it, following him in.
"That's true, I guess."
He stripped to his boxers, trying not to grin when her face flushed. He was sobering up quickly, gaining his wits back a bit, and he enjoyed watching her expression as she tried to be subtle about eyeing him.
"What can I do to acquit myself?"
She bit her lip. "Tell me why I should give you a chance."
"Because you want to," he said, shrugging as he sat down on his bed. "And because I fancy you as much as you do me. Probably more, though once I'm sober I'll deny I said it."
She laughed. "Okay. Fair enough."
"Can I take you out?" he asked.
"For the purpose of not having to overanalyze this later, ask me when you're sober. Right now, though, I need to make sure you're alive and in bed so that the friend-in-law won't kill me."
"Friend-in-law?" he asked, his lips twitching. "And you're welcome to take me to bed any time, love."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You know, Stefan is my friend, he married Rebekah, she's my friend-in-law. And you can stop being creepy. I might take back my date acceptance."
"You didn't accept, you just said to ask you when I'm sober."
"Yeah, and I'd say yes. Pretty sure I made that clear."
He nodded, eyeing her, and she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, hovering near him until he laid down.
"You're feeling okay, right? Not going to vomit?"
"I'm fine, love. Just need to sleep it off."
She nodded and left with a good night, and he leaned back against the pillows, about to close his eyes and attempt to sleep when he heard his phone buzz in his jacket. He groaned and climbed out of bed to get it and check his text.
[From: Bekah]: Did it work?
[To: Bekah]: Did what work?
[From: Bekah]: Oh my god, please tell me you took advantage of my perfectly executed matchmaking plan to ask out the stupid girl so you can stop whining about it to my husband?
[To: Bekah]: You've literally been married to him for less than four hours and you're already referring to him as your husband.
[From: Bekah]: Well, he is.
[From: Bekah]: And you didn't answer my question.
[To: Bekah]: She told me to ask tomorrow when I'm sober.
[From: Bekah]: Good.
[From: Bekah]: You owe me, btw.
I hope you enjoyed this! Please tell me what you thought :D
Hugs!
-Angie
