A/N 1: Hi again everyone. Hope the first chapter was taken well and this one will be too. Next chapter bumps the rating to an M by the way.

Please keep in mind that this is meant to be an easygoing story. I'm not trying to win awards with it. If there's any grammatical mistakes or if it just seems stupid, that's my own fault and I apologise.

Enjoy the next chapter and thank you to everyone who's supported it so far!

"Where villains spend the weekend,

The deep end,

We're swimming with the sharks until we drown."

Vegas Lights | Panic! at the Disco

Chapter 2: Second Guesses

"Nope, I can't," Caroline sighed to herself for the fifth time since finding Klaus' number. She'd been going back and forth between calling him and leaving him hanging for a few minutes, debating with herself what Elena Gilbert would do.

Back in Mystic Falls Caroline Forbes had always been second. Didn't matter for what (prom queen, student council president, cheerleader captain), Caroline's enthusiasm and good looks only got her so far in the world of high school bitches and drama queens. She'd grown used to being second best, always behind Elena. Elena was the golden girl with gorgeous long brown hair and haunting eyes that bore into your soul every time you glanced her way for a millisecond.

When she left for university, when she broke away from her small town life and away from the Gilbert's, Caroline thrived. People adored her and boosted her up on a pedestal (one she did not exactly deserve, but she wasn't about to tell people that). College brightened her horizon, gave her the opportunities she'd missed out so often during high school. Suddenly people came to her for fashion advice and boy problems. Professors called on her for the answers and gave her a million A's on her papers and projects. She was a somebody.

Of course, being a somebody was not met without trouble. Boys had a habit of falling in love with her quite often and it dampened her spirits when they'd turn out to be losers not worth her tears or time. Most were the bad boy type, which Caroline admitted to falling for more often than not. But she'd learned from her mistakes.

Coming home after four years away was almost a culture shock. Maryland's young adult life thrived a completely different colour to Mystic Falls. Just a state away, Maryland was dangerous and thrilling where Mystic Falls was drab and pointless. Despite this, Caroline had set goals for herself, goals that started and ended in Mystic Falls.

Old and new neighbours didn't treat her differently. Everyone smiled when she arrived, but Elena Gilbert was slated to come back the day after her, so why bother with celebrating the blonde's return when you could praise the sparkly brunette (who definitely spent money on getting tanned).

Her parent's were paler than ghosts and Jeremy had told her once that he saw a bill for a tanning salon somewhere in Fairfax. So, yeah. . .she wasn't that perfect if she had to travel so far north just to get tan. At least Caroline was happy being blindingly pale.

Regardless, Caroline maintained her status as Elena's shadow. It almost didn't hurt. Partly because she could complete her evil genius plans without interruption. And when she announced that she'd be starting her own newspaper for the town—well, suddenly everyone wanted a piece of her.

Elena Gilbert included.

She picked up the sticky note again. It was beautiful. She'd have to preserve it forever and ever even if she decided not to phone. But why shouldn't she?

Elena Gilbert wouldn't, that's why. Elena was too busy being engaged to Stefan Salvatore. She didn't do one night stands.

Ha, Caroline laughed in her head, better tell that to Damon before he tries anything again.

But what about Bonnie?

Bonnie said sleeping with random people sort of quelled her feelings for Jeremy. Caroline had jokingly called her a whore, and Bonnie did nothing to deny it.

"You don't understand, Caroline," Bonnie had said, exasperated. "You've never been in love with someone who just doesn't want you back."

Caroline nearly objected to that statement, but that would've revealed something to Bonnie that she'd never even talked about with herself. And she talked to herself a lot more than most insane people.

"What to do, Caroline? What do we do now?" She asked herself, pacing back and forth on the grimy, pink carpet covering her hotel room floor. The fluff stuck between her toes and if she stared at it long enough the carpet flashed alive, roaring like a pale flame dancing underfoot. Her brain was no closer to figuring out how to handle the Klaus situation despite the hidden beauty in the disgusting carpet fibres.

Pro: He's fucking adorable.

Con: He can sometimes be a narcissist.

Pro: Who the hell cares? He's too handsome not to be a narcissist.

Con: He probably only wants you for tonight. I'll bet he does this all the time with girls. Girls in the 'Vampire' section, the 'Romance' section. . .Hell, probably even the 'Geology' section.

Pro: He's only going to get me for one night, though. Why not just do it? Do him?

Con: It'll break your heart. You did this with Tyler, remember?

Pro: Shut up, we do not speak that name! And so what? My heart needs a little sorrow. All the good vampire novels have sorrow.

Con: Your reasoning is flawed. So, utterly flawed.

Pro: But he's so good looking.

Con: So are you. Go find someone in Mystic Falls. Matty's still single.

Pro: Matty's still hopelessly pining after Elena. Give this to me!

Con: Flawed reasoning, Caroline. Flawed.

Pro: You know what? I'm gonna call Bonnie. You're no help.

Con: Hey, no, this is a teamwork thing. Finding the pros and the cons. You can't just call Bonnie.

Pro: I can and I fucking will. You suck anyway. You never let me have fun.

Con: You don't like fun.

Pro: I do. You just wouldn't know that because we never have any.

Con: Fine. Get your heart broken.

Pro: Don't mind if I do.

"Okay, I'm. . .weird," mumbled Caroline. She searched through her purse and grabbed ahold of her phone, pressing the number 4 down for a few seconds before Bonnie's number popped up on the screen. She heard a faint ringing, put the phone up to her ear, and waited.

There was a crackle and a breathy squeal and then Bonnie's voice blasted Caroline's eardrum. She flinched away from the phone.

"Why are you calling me?" Bonnie asked, still breathless.

Caroline scrunched her nose and stopped pacing. "Oh, God. You aren't having sex, are you?"

A pause.

"Well, not right now."

"Gross. That's just too gross."

Bonnie giggled childishly. "I'll repeat, Caroline, why are you calling me? You're on your last day in New Orleans! Go do something fun!"

"That's actually why I'm calling." Caroline moved in front of the window in her hotel room and stared down at the street below. Everyone looked so busy. She wondered where they were going in such a rush.

"Calling me doesn't sound like much fun, Care."

Caroline shook her head in exasperation. "No, no, Bon. I need advice on how to have fun."

"You're such a loser."

"Geez, I'm having a bit of trouble remembering why I called you."

"Because you're a loser who needs help on having fun!"

"Yeah," Caroline exhaled. "Just a bit of help."

"Okay, loser, what have you got for me?" Bonnie asked, like she was the answer to the world's problems.

"Ugh. This is frustrating."

"Just tell me. I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything."

Caroline bit her lip, an inkling of guilt stirring in my tummy. "Right, right. Okay." She nodded her head and started pacing again. "So I went to that bookstore I told you about and met this really attractive guy. Kind of blondish, got these really weird eyes that change colour if you don't look at them long enough, and he's obsessed with vampires. He's British too. And tall. And he's got a lisp. He's kind of like perfection if perfection were a British male with a lisp and a vampire fetish."

"Vampire fetish? Ew."

"Well, no. Not a vampire fetish. That does sound kind of weird. But how would I know? It's not like I've slept with him!" Caroline exclaimed, throwing her free hand around and smacking her forehead.

"I'm kind of confused why you need help. You met a cute guy, who cares?"

"Bonnie! He gave me his number and I don't know how to deal with it!"

"Call him or don't call him. Two options. You're not deciding whether or not America should go to war. Just choose." There was a another pause. Caroline thought she could hear a man's voice. Bonnie gasped. "Wait," she said in all-too-serious tone. "You're not planning on sleeping with him, are you?"

Caroline didn't say anything.

"Oh my god! You little minx! I taught you well! Why are you debating? Hot, British, and vampire-crazy. He's your soulmate."

"Bonnie, I leave tomorrow." She hated herself for going into the store on her last day. For meeting such a charismatic, fantastic guy on her fucking last day.

"Then he's your soulmate for tonight. You deserve this, Caroline. Just—go for it."

Go for it? Could she do that to herself? Did she have the strength to sleep with someone, let someone see every scar, every vulnerability, and then pack up her bags and leave?

One night, Caroline. She tapped her foot against the carpet, watching it flame around her red-painted toes. He's your soulmate for one night.

There was something oddly poetic about that thought. She'd give herself to Klaus tonight and he'd hold up no fight against letting her imprint on him. He'd see her at her ugliest and then at her most spectacular. She could do it.

". . .Okay."

Bonnie squealed some more. "Tell me about it when you get back, okay?"

"Of course," she promised, her heart already beating faster and faster with every passing second. She could hear it in her ears, banging against her brain.

No inhibitions, Caroline. Just let go.

"Go call him!" Bonnie shouted. And then hung up, probably to drape herself over some guy. She never did like to drag out goodbyes.

Caroline squeezed the phone against her ear and huffed, pulling it down so she could stare at the screen. She swiped at a few keys and brought the number pad up, her index finger hovering over the first button of Klaus' number.

It's a fucking five, Caroline. Just press it.

Eventually the entire number splayed out before her eyes and her thumb moved to press the "CALL" key.

Just do it!

She pressed down, feeling her anxiety spike and her belly coil so tight she thought she might throw up.

The phone started ringing. It made her sees flashes of light.

"What the fuck do I say?" She asked herself, rubbing a hand against her forehead and wishing she could curl up and die. "What the fuck do I say?"

"I seem to remember you telling me you'd work on that whole foul language thing," a smug, British accent replied.

Caroline gasped and, on instinct, yanked the phone away from her ear and pressed the "END CALL" key.

"Shit," she breathed. Her hair stuck to the back of her neck. God, it was hot in there.

Her phone vibrated in her hand. Without thinking, without giving herself time to think, she pressed "ANSWER" and spoke as calmly as she could muster, "Hello?" Her voice wavered significantly. Shoot me now!

"Caroline, hi. Did you just hang up on me?" There were hints of a smile in his words.

"I—uh—it was an accident. Sorry." Caroline now knew what her heart tasted like.

"No, no, don't apologise. I'm glad you phoned. Didn't expect it so soon, but I'm all for a girl taking the lead." If she were with him right then, she'd probably see his eyebrows go up suggestively.

She shook her head in embarrassment. "I'll bet."

"So, did you call just for a chat of nonsensical things or did you have plans for an actual conversation?"

"What if I did just call to spout nonsense things?"

"Then I could tell you that after his brother got lock jaw as a result of tuberculosis, Henry David Thoreau suffered from sympathy symptoms well after his brother passed away. Or I could also say Washington Irving is the reason the New York Nicks are called the New York Nicks. Mm, also, Mark Twain, or Samuel Clemens as he was known before his writing days, joined the Confederate army for just two weeks before fleeing to Nevada during a gold rush." Klaus gasped on the other line, having spoken all those facts in one breath.

Caroline didn't know how to reply.

"Wow." She settled on simplicity. "That's—you really like books, don't you?"

"I do own a bookshop."

"Part of a bookshop," Caroline reminded him, smiling.

His laughed and it sent shivers down her spine. Her head spun as he spoke, "Well, I majored in English. Books are my thing."

"Hey, broadcast journalism. We're kinda similar."

"Kind of, I suppose," he giggled. She followed suit, unable to stop herself. "Did you call for a reason, Caroline? Because while I could listen to you speak in your crackly voice all day, I have paperwork to get back to. . ."

"Shit, right. Shit, sorry. Shit. God, I need to stop saying shit. I did it again! Ugh!" There was no mistaking the cackle that tumbled out of Klaus' mouth. "Shut up. I called to ask if you wanted to go out tonight," she rushed, closing her eyes and hoping she wasn't making the biggest mistake of her entire life.

"Caroline," he said seriously, but she could still detect the lifting edges of his mouth. "I'd love to."

"Great! Fantastic. I mean, yeah, that's totally okay with me." She cringed, flopping down on her bed and burying her face in a pillow.

"Wonderful. How about you meet me at the pub next to the shop at around seven?" If she didn't know any better, she'd say he sounded nervous.

Seven. That left thirteen hours until the airport required her presence. That wasn't so bad. Provided she didn't get wasted.

"I can do that," she said, more to herself than Klaus.

"Wonderful," he said through a smile.

"See you at seven, then," Caroline rolled slowly.

"Can't wait. Oh, my siblings will be there too. Just a fair warning, they're not the most polite bunch."

Before she could react, before she could say she'd changed her mind and couldn't go, Klaus hung up and she was left listening to her phone beep.

His siblings. His many siblings? Even the blonde with the bubblegum?

"Shit."

..1..

Caroline spent an hour in the shower, banging her head against the cold tile and groaning. The universe hated her, that must be it. That was the only explanation for her current predicament.

She shaved her legs (because who knows? maybe she'll be a little more like Bonnie tonight) and washed her hair and scrubbed her face and cut her leg on accident and cursed out her razor for being so shitty and cursed herself for saying that word again and hopped out the shower on one leg with exfoliating scrub burned on her cheeks, conditioner in her hair, and blood bouncing down her leg, splattering the white shaving creme in its thick redness.

It looked pretty.

After cleaning herself up, she plastered a band-aid on her leg and finished washing her hair and face. She slipped on the one dress she'd packed with her, a pale blue sundress with spaghetti straps that dug a bit too deep into her shoulders. Loosening them, she felt the pressure ease and her heart flutter.

Books were Klaus' thing, but shoes were Caroline's. Two weeks meant fourteen different pairs of amazing footwear that she had to pay extra to get to New Orleans because it required adding a whole other suitcase to her luggage. She browsed the sparkling collection of flats, stilettos, boots, and toms. The little red ballet flats called her name and she gently curved her foot into them.

Standing in front of the mirror, Caroline admired her beauty for a vain minute. Hair up to reveal her to-die-for collarbone, pink dusted cheeks, deep red lips, and a line of mascara on her upper lashes. Magnificent. Wonderful.

Boring, but wonderful.

Second best, but wonderful.

She checked the time. She had to leave now if she wanted to get to the pub before seven.

It was cool, but hot, outside the hotel. Sunglasses were not needed, the sun was too far away from her. She clung to her purse, stretching the strap around her neck until it tucked neatly between her breasts, and started walking. Men and women, boys and girls, lovers and haters, all turned their heads to watch the magnificent, wonderful blonde as she swayed her hips. Allowing a small smile to pull at her lips, she occasionally gave someone a full on stare, giggling as they would turn away abashed.

The pub looked very European on the outside, like it had been stolen from some movie set. She walked in carefully and the door swung shut behind her. She flinched when the patrons, drunk and loud, stared at her in mild annoyance.

It was like any old bar inside, but it held a rustic feel. There were no scantily clad women with aprons roped tight around their waist, nor were there any televisions playing a random sports game.

Music wafted through speakers mounted above the bar.

Her head moved around and she watched for any sign of Klaus. Or anyone who looked remotely like him. No one popped out to her, though, so she strode to the bar and hopped up on a stool. Two men sat a few seats away from her, both giving her a sideways glance as she placed her purse on the wooden countertop. She raised an eyebrow at them and they looked away.

Behind the bar, a man wearing a towel draped over his shoulder hopped in front of her, clapping his hands loudly as if to get her attention even though she'd already been watching him.

He grinned and his teeth sparkled white. "Can I get you anything?"

Caroline thought for a moment, tapping her finger against her chin. "Um, gin margarita." She decided she'd need a little liquid courage if this evening were going to work in the slightest.

"Right away," the bartender said, winking. Unlike when Klaus did it earlier that day, she tasted acid in her mouth.

The drink was placed on a coaster by her right hand, but she didn't look up to thank him. She dipped her head and immediately wrapped her fingers around the glass, taking a sour sip and sadistically enjoying the painful pinch as it slid down her throat.

It'd been a year and a bit since Caroline had gone out on a date and she was slightly rusty on the etiquette. Not that this was a date. It was a get together. It wasn't a date because Caroline left the next morning. She couldn't let it be a date.

An arm slung around Caroline's shoulders and she took too long to turn her head.

A childishly handsome face stared back at her, wide-eyed and smirking. "Why is someone as stunningly beautiful as you drinking alone?"

Before she could reply, his arm twisted off her skin and she heard a muffled 'Uncle!' escape his lips as someone pinned his arm against his spine. Caroline scooted back, suddenly frightened as she watched this man writhe. Her eyes flashed to see who the attacker was.

"Klaus?" She said, but it came out like a question, the word, his name, slipping up. He glanced at her, blew her a smile that could melt Antarctica, and slammed the boy's face into the countertop. Caroline gasped. "Klaus, stop it!"

"No, no, love," Boyish Face mumbled, his lips smacking against wood. "He's my brother."

Caroline moved her eyes between the man-boy squashed against the counter and Klaus, still smiling like a shark high on fish blood. "That's your brother?" She asked. Boyish Face nodded. "Let him go, Klaus."

"Ugh, fine," Klaus mumbled, letting his brother's arm go. The boy rotated his shoulder and massaged his hand.

Caroline smiled strangely at Klaus, unsure why she didn't feel a little offended that he automatically came to her rescue. When Tyler—no. She wouldn't go there.

"So, you're the reason we're going out on a weeknight," Boyish Face noted, his brown eyes rolling over Caroline. She got the sudden urge to cover herself up. "Fantastic." This one also had a British accent, but it was less pronounced than Klaus'. She wondered how long they'd lived in America.

"Uh, yeah," she whispered, meaning for it to come out louder. "Caroline," she said firmly, holding her hand out.

"Kol Mikaelson," he responded thickly, grabbing her hand hard and bringing her knuckles to his lips. She blushed when she felt his tongue dip out and wet the small scar she had on her middle knuckle.

"That's enough," she heard Klaus clip.

Kol released Caroline and brought his head up, a gleam in his eye like he'd done something sinister. Perhaps he had. . .

"What has gotten into you, brother?" The younger man asked, patting Klaus on the chest. Klaus pulled away and moved to sit the other side of Caroline. She felt sandwiched between sin and then even more sin.

"I told you to be on your best behaviour tonight, Kol," Klaus said indignantly, motioning for the bartender. The sly man approached and winked again at Caroline; she thought she could hear the scraping of a chair and startled a bit when Klaus' thigh brushed hers.

Klaus ordered drinks, not looking at Caroline, but keeping their legs pressed.

A swarm of giant moths began eating her insides and she quickly moved her head to look at Kol. He was harmless. A flirt.

"So, how long have you lived here?" She chirped, swallowing a moan when Klaus' leg slid against her own as he moved closer to Caroline, no doubt to eavesdrop.

Kol smiled lazily and moved his arm in front of Caroline to grapple at the drink Klaus had ordered him. It smelled like vodka as it passed under Caroline's nose. "Years. Far too many, if you ask me."

"Why do you say that?" Caroline bit her lip, a scalding flame burning her outer thigh.

"Because while I adore New Orleans, I've never felt at home here. Granted, England was never home, either. But this place isn't mine. It's more my elder siblings."

Caroline bowed her head in understanding. "I get that. Minus the older siblings part."

"I thought you said Mystic Falls was home," Klaus pipped, his mouth dangerously near Caroline's ear. She burned red and prayed he couldn't see.

"Mystic Falls is home," she replied, not looking at him and trying to contain the quiver of her voice. She shifted a bit so she was facing forward and spoke to the bottles of liquor lined at the bar. "But I went to university in Maryland and struggled with wanting to go back every month or so. My roommates didn't know what to do with me."

"Tell me more about this magical land," Kol gleamed, brushing shoulders with Caroline. She shifted closer to Klaus absently.

"Maryland? Or Virginia?"

"Both."

"Hey, Kol," Klaus interrupted. Caroline watched Kol's head turn to his brother. "Why don't you go sit with our dear brothers and sister while I stay here with Caroline." It wasn't a suggestion. Caroline smiled at the jealous tone attributed to his words and wondered if he was always like this.

Kol mumbled something under his breath that sounded obscene and jumped down from the bar, strolling to a table filled with three other boys and a female. She recognised her as the girl from the register and saw a disapproving look cross her eyes before turning away and facing Klaus.

He was too close. Or maybe she was too close.

"Sorry about him. Now you can tell me all about Mystic Falls and Maryland," he lilted, tilting his head ever so slightly that Caroline caught sight of a few moles decorated on his throat.

"Do you have a vampire fetish?" She asked without thinking. Good job, Caroline. You definitely haven't been on a date in more than twelve months.

Klaus didn't look offended. In fact, he smiled even wider, showing off his bicuspids. "I do not. Do you?" He raised an eyebrow and looked up at her through his lashes.

Shaking her head, Caroline sighed out a heavy, "Nooo. . . My friend wanted to know."

"You spoke to your friend about me?" He sounded lighthearted and flattered. She watched him place a hand over his shirt. "I didn't think we'd gotten so far in our relationship that we could mention each other to friends."

"Oh, bite me, Klaus." She rolled her eyes painfully, staving off another blush attack.

"I told you I don't have a vampire fetish. Biting's not really my thing." He clamped his teeth together in demonstration and his jaw clinked magically.

"Mhm."

"So, Caroline," he droned, lowering his head so he was staring straight into her soul. "Tell me about yourself."

His gaze was so intense she had to blink several times to think properly. It's been too long, Caroline. Your body just doesn't know what it's doing.

That was easier to think than Oh my God, I think I'm in love with a guy I've only known for a few hours.

"Um, what do you want to know?" She offered with a fluttering laugh.

"Anything." His eyes melted.

"I could give you a short biography."

"Make it a long one, please. I desperately don't want to go home."

Her heart seized. Did he want to stay because of her? Or did home just suck in general?

"I'm waiting, Caroline," he sang gently, clinking his glass of amber liquid against hers.

"Okay, well. . .I was born—"

"No, no." Klaus pressed a finger—a warm, slender, sweet-smelling finger—to her red lips. Her breath got lost somewhere and so did her words. "Not that long. Just, tell me about yourself. Your passions, dreams, desires. Fetishes, maybe, if you feel so inclined."

She jerked back and saw a small amount of her lipstick staining his pale hand. She didn't tell him. "Right. I don't have fetishes, by the way. Just thought I should clear that one up."

"Oh, I'm sure you have some tucked underneath that angelic smile of yours."

"What do you hope to gain from my back story, Klaus?" She asked, paying no attention to his suggestion.

"A little more information about you. Was that not obvious?"

"Why do you want to know about me, though? Because I was standing by the vampire novels in your store?"

"Just want to know, love. Don't think too much."

"Is it about Mystic Falls?" Caroline pressed. Given her history, telling people things about herself, often lay on the back burner.

"Can't I be a little curious? Does it have to come with ulterior motives?"

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Do you feel seduced?"

Caroline recoiled. "No." She shoved the word out her mouth like it was lead burning through her tongue.

Klaus only laughed. "I'm not trying to seduce you. Come on, Caroline. Tell me something. Anything."

She relented, and, thanks to the few sips of alcohol she'd consumed (always a lightweight, huh, Caroline. . .), her mouth was a little more nimble than usual. She told him about that one time in high school. . .and that other time at the swimming pool. . .and then she told him about that frat party at college. . .and the time her mother walked in on her. . .when her skirt got caught on. . .the day Tyler broke someone's. . .seven minutes in heaven with. . .her newspaper. . .her father. . .

"Okay, that's way too much information. And you've just been staring blankly this whole time. Tell me something about you," she said through fits of giggles. She was only halfway through her first margarita, but her head swam, and if she moved her eyes too quick the room spun.

"But you have such a fascinating life. Tell me that story again. The one about the gum. . ." he let his sentence trail off with glee, a glossy smile playing at his lips, tightening his forehead and swelling his cheeks. She was two seconds away from pouncing on him.

"Hey, that was traumatic. And no else one knows about it," she berated jokingly.

"I can imagine. Having to cut your hair because some person stuck gum in it. That's actually quite disgusting, love. You're sure you've no idea who carried out the dastardly deed?"

"Gonna beat them up for me ten years after the fact?" Caroline asked sarcastically.

"Never hurts to get a reminder of your horrid past," Klaus defended, crossing his arms and leaning closer to Caroline's face.

"They put gum in my hair. They didn't set me on fire," she lulled, her eyelids drooping. "Tell me something about you, Klaus," she whined sleepily.

"I've got too many stories to share." He'd been evasive all night.

"Why do you look so sad?" She asked, surprising herself with the blatancy of her question. But now that she looked at him in a harsher light (albeit a slightly drunk light) she saw the trail of lines surrounding his eyes and the hollow grey circles shadowed under his lower lashes.

"I think you're a little drunk," he said with a smooth laugh.

"And I think you're terribly lonely." Again, she surprised herself. Caroline bordered on bold daily, but she was spitting out words with no filter, a trait she could've sworn she'd gotten rid of during high school.

"What makes you say that?" He sounded a little frightened. And a little wounded, like he'd been hoping no one would ever figure out his dark riddle.

"It's written on your lips, Klaus." She felt a little something stir inside her as Klaus' eyes moved from hers to her lips to the glass clenched in his fist.

"My lips?" He questioned disbelievingly, not looking at her still.

"Mm, your lips."

"You're drunk."

"Tell me."

"Will you remember in the morning?" He jerked his head in her direction. His eyes looked extraordinarily blue.

"Maybe," she trilled with a sway of her head.

"You're beautiful," Klaus dripped, observing her with a scolding leer.

"Is that the secret behind your sadness?"

"Beautiful women are my weakness."

Caroline blinked. "So I'm not the only one?"

"What do you mean?" He let go of his drink and set his hand a few inches away from her fingers.

"Girl you've chatted up in your shop."

"I chat to women at the shop. It's a part of the job, communication skills." He was trying to be sarcastic, but it wasn't working too well.

"But do you take them out and get them drunk and then sleep with them? Only to toss them out in the morning?"

"Okay, first off, you're getting yourself drunk." He snatched her drink away and she wobbled trying to get it back. He shot her a smile and she frowned back. "And second, who said anything about sleeping with you?"

"I did," she said a bit too bravely. Her blood started boiling in her veins, heating her neck and chest and cheeks.

"I'm not one to take advantage of drunk women on the first date."

"Aha!" Caroline almost shouts, wobbling a bit more. "So his is a date. I knew it."

He laughed merrily and patted her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her flesh. "Yes, I believe so."

"I have something to tell you," Caroline whispered, leaning in. She wasn't really that drunk, she knew what she was doing. But she couldn't help it. He smelled so good. Like spices and the woods and books. "I'm leaving tomorrow."

Klaus sucked in a sharp breath that looked oddly painful and straightened his back. The words hurt her too.

"Tomorrow? Back to Virginia?" He asked, his head moving from side to side like he didn't want it to be true.

"Don't look so sad. We've got tonight," she warbled sweetly.

"Are you trying to seduce me, love?"

"If I say yes, can we get out of here?" He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. Caroline grinned. "Then yes!" She squeaked, hopping off her stool and magically landing on her feet. She opened her purse and threw a few bills on the bar counter.

"How drunk are you?" He asked, waving to his family and placing a warm hand on her back. She could feel five fingers pressing through the fabric of her dress.

"Not even slightly," Caroline insisted, twisting her neck to gauge the reaction of his siblings. They all stared after her and Klaus, jaws slackened and eyes wide.

"Prove it."

"Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q—"

"Okay, duly noted," he smiled, opening the pub door and pushing her through. Darkness was about to befall New Orleans and it looked stunning. He looked stunning.

"You really don't do this?" She asked, hoping he'd understand the insinuation.

Stopping their movements, Klaus turned around and put his hands on either of Caroline's shoulders, moving his eyes between hers and landing his gaze on her right eye. "Not for a long time. Not since I was young and stupid."

"Now you're old and stupid?" There was heat spreading from where he touched her bare skin, flushing her entire body and sending warmth to her core.

"I'm only thirty. And not too stupid," he defended quietly, refusing to break their staring contest. He moved his attention to her left eye.

"I think I might be stupid," she admitted, flicking her eyes to his lips. They looked so smooth.

"What makes you say that, Caroline?"

She didn't answer, she just continued staring at his parted lips. And when his tongue darted out to wet them. . .well, she lost her mind.

With no breath in her body, Caroline leapt forward and blindly found Klaus' mouth. He stumbled back, but righted himself quickly and flung his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and closer and closer until her nipples peaked against her dress and pressed into his upper torso. She groaned into the kiss and grappled at Klaus' neck in an attempt to just get him closer.

She needed him closer.

Her hand got lost in his hair and his fingers painfully brushed her spine. Their jaws hung open, his tongue heavy and thick in her mouth, brushing a sensitive spot and making her shiver despite the heat crowding her nerve-endings.

She was buzzing, alive. Electricity coursed through her and sparked at her fingertips. Caroline sucked on Klaus' lips, trying to get the air from his lungs, to capture his life.

They tore apart with panting breaths and crooked smiles, neither aware of the audience watching them. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered the words that flung her completely over the edge and left her with no hope of ever resurfacing.

"Come home with me."

A/N 2: Fun fact, I lived through that gum story when I was in fourth grade. Some random person in my class (I still have no idea who!) stuck bubble gum in my hair and I never told anyone. Just cut it out. Luckily I have really curly hair so it wasn't noticeable, but it was really disgusting.

"Pro" and "Con" are meant to read like Caroline's shoulder angel and devil. Like they have in cartoons for comic relief. My favourite is in Emperor's New Groove when Kronk's got his shoulder buddies chatting up a storm.

And all that random information about authors was true. My eleventh grade English teacher was super obsessed with author's history. We had a quiz every week on all we'd learned and it seems that a bunch of odd details stuck with me.

Anyway, hope this one was well received. Next chapter will pick up back at Klaus' place and will get considerably less safe for young eyes, I'm warning you now.

Thanks a million!

-LoveIsATemple