Klaus feared the day that the flower shop would open for business, because it meant that Caroline would be inside the shop all day, instead of walking in and out as she got the place ready, giving Klaus many chances to look at her through his window. Yes, he felt like a creep for watching her like that, but it wasn't his fault! She was a vision. With her hair sometimes up and other times down in waves… with her flowery dresses, sometimes with high heels, other times with flats. It didn't matter. Klaus knew she could wear a garbage bag and still look wonderful.

But the day had come and the shop was about to open. Caroline had the idea of leaving a board outside where she could write something different every day. For now she would just write "Big Opening Day!" and draw a few flowers, leaving the inspirational quotes for the next day. And of course Klaus couldn't help but watch. He thanked God that he wasn't with any costumers at the time. He couldn't get distracted like this while inking someone permanently.

"You're staring again…" Stefan said from his station without even looking up. Klaus only managed to mumble something incoherent.

"Staring at what?" Kol asked from behind the counter. He worked part time at the tattoo shop by taking care of the appointments and telling the costumers how to take care of the tattoos. It gave him something to do while studying to get his master in communications. Besides, he couldn't pass a chance to bond with his brother –and by bond, I mean annoy-.

"Caroline." Stefan replied. At the sight of confusion in Kol's face, he continued. "The blonde next door. You know, the one from the flower shop."

Kol smirked.

"Ooooh so that tasty little thing has a name…" He said, which earned him one of Klaus' angriest looks. Stefan looked from one brother to the other and sighed.

"Don't call her that, she seems like a nice girl. And by the way Klaus looks at her. I'd say he likes her."

"I don't like her. " Klaus mumbled. "I just… I'm not happy with a flower shop opening right beside us. It can't be good for business." He said turning back to the window right before he could see Stefan rolling his eyes dramatically.

"Whatever. We're stopping by the flower store later. We're gonna be good neighbors and wish her luck."

The door opened and the little bell on it ran. A tall, leggie redhead stepped in and walked to the counter. Kol had switched his charms on before anyone could say "idiot".

"Hello, I have an appointment. The name is Genevieve Dubois." She said and Kol checked her name off the list.

"Of course, Nik will be taking care of you." He said pointing at his brother. Genevieve turned to him and let's just say she wasn't subtle at all when she checked him out. She looked up at him up and down and Klaus saw her lower lip getting caught between her teeth.

"It's nice to meet you Nik." She practically purred.

"It's Klaus, actually." He corrected her, throwing an angry glare at his brother. "Follow me this way…" He said while leading her to his station. When he turned his head over his shoulder he saw Kol giving him two thumbs up. Klaus rolled his eyes.

To be honest, he couldn't blame his brother. Genevieve was a very beautiful woman and Klaus wasn't a shy man, this wasn't the first time a costumer checked him out, and in the past he had flirted back.

Usually whatever started on his work station could only end as a good fuck. How could a relationship between a punk girl with daddy issues –the reason why most of them got the tattoo in the first place- and a man that worked even during the weekends –many times writing cliché quotes on a side boob- work? He dated Tatia during college, but that had been a fiasco.

So no, no one really caught his attention so far. But hey! A man has his needs, right? So when a pretty redhead flirts with you, you flirt back…

So why couldn't he? Maybe she was being too obvious with the longing glances and her hand touching his arm as he got ready the design for her tattoo –hello! He needs that arm and you're making him move!-. Being so desperate is a turn off.

And her tattoo was some weird ass symbol that looked like it came out of the Lesser Key of Solomon–and he had seen his fair share of weirdness. What people were willing to put on their skin permanently made him question humanity-. Add the bracelets and rings with more symbols and you get an idea of what kind of stuff she's into. Now he was even less interested. There are places he wouldn't put his dick in, and some crazy dark magic witch is one of them.

Two hours later and he was done. He saw her shudder, maybe more than naturally, when he applied the cream on her skin. Then he patched her up and sent her on her way. She left a generous tip along with her phone number.

"Someone might be getting some soon…" Kol commented as Klaus put the money in his wallet.

"Nah." Stefan said from his chair. "That was too easy." Klaus couldn't help but smirk. His friend knew him so well.

"What's wrong with easy?" Kol asked arching an eyebrow.

"Unlike you, some men aren't desperate for women's attention." Klaus replied. "We're allowed to be a little picky."

Kol glared at his brother and was about to give his comeback when suddenly the door opened and the bell rang again.

And just like that, the room got a thousand times brighter. Caroline stepped in, her dress waving from one side to another as she closed the door.

"Hey!" She said cheerfully.

"Caroline!" Stefan greeted. "How's the big opening going?"

"It's going great, thank you!" She said with a wide smile. Klaus smiled back.

"That's good. Caroline, this is my brother Kol." He introduced them and Caroline stepped closer to the counter to shake hands with the boy. She stood just a few feet from Klaus and suddenly the room felt a lot hotter to him.

"Nice to meet you." She said while offering him her hand to shake.

"The pleasure is all mine." Kol replied. Klaus barely managed to stop himself from groaning when Kol kissed Caroline's hand.

At the slightly disturbed look on the girl's face, Klaus couldn't help but joke.

"Forgive him, love. Mother dropped him many times when he was a baby."

Her laugh echoed in the room, making Klaus smile proudly.

"You're just jealous because you're not as charming as I am, Nik!" Kol snapped at Klaus. Stefan snorted.

"Rebekah has better luck with girls than you and she's not even into them." Kol looked like steam was about to come out his ears.

"Nik?" Caroline mumbled confused.

"Short for Niklaus. I prefer to be called Klaus." He explained with a shrug. "So what brings you by?"

Caroline's eyes opened comically.

"Oh, right! I was wondering you had a hammer I could borrow." She said with her best smile.

Stefan jumped from his seat before Kol could make sexual innuendo out of that and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah we do, it's probably somewhere in the back. Come on Kol, help me find it." He said while dragging Kol.

"Why do you need my help? It can't be too hard to find…"

"Because I say so." Stefan said before disappearing behind a door.

Klaus realized then he was alone with Caroline. She seemed okay, busying herself by looking at some designs that laid on the counter as display.

"Did you draw all of these?" She asked curiously.

"Most of them, yes."

"Woooow that's amazing. I wish I could draw like that!" Caroline said. Klaus smiled and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Were his palms sweating?!

"Oh I don't know love, I've seen those ladybugs you drew on the board." He commented and Caroline laughed again. If Klaus' smile got any bigger, it would break his face in half.

"They're just red dots with smaller black dots inside!" She shook her head, her hair waiving freely. "But I like them, they're supposed to bring good luck."

"And has this been a first day filled with good luck?"

"I guess so. Although I just left Matt alone at the store, and good luck with him doesn't last long." She commented with a giggle. Klaus frowned and tilted his head.

"Matt?"

"Yeah, he's my friend and he will be also doing the deliveries. You've seen him." Caroline replied.

"Right." Klaus mumbled relieved. Relieved of what? He didn't know. Seriously though, how long could it take to find the goddamn hammer? Caroline went back to look at the designs and Klaus couldn't help but take step closer to her, facing her left side.

She smells like vanilla and flowers. He thought. It was intoxicating.

"Do you like tattoos?" He asked curiously. She pursed her lips adorably as she thought about it.

"I guess I do. But I'm not sure I would get one…"

"Why not?" Klaus asked.

"I've had my fair share of needles in my life." Caroline mumbled. Something on her face changed, but Klaus couldn't place his finger on what exactly, seeing only half of her face. It took him a moment to realize she looked sad.

"What do you mean?" He asked with a frown. Caroline quickly straightened and turned to face him.

"Oh nothing. It's nothing." She said, her hands moving to her sides as she hugged herself.

Weird…

"But lets just say for a moment that I wanna get a tattoo. What do you think I should get? I wouldn't want to get something incredibly cliché."

Klaus was a little surprised by the change of topic, but let it slide.

"In that case you should pick something that has a personal meaning to you. So even if other people have it or becomes some trend, it wouldn't be cliché, not to you." He replied.

Caroline pursed her lips once again and hummed.

"I always thought flowers looked pretty… I know I know, I already see enough flowers every day, but they mean something to me."

Klaus smiled.

"There you go! That's your answer."

Caroline smiled back widely and Klaus felt a tug in his chest that left him breathless.

"You didn't have to hit me so hard!" Both Klaus and Caroline turned to the voice, finding Kol walking into the room, his hand rubbing his side. "Specially with a hammer!" He added.

"Well, it's your own fault for being an ass." Stefan said as he followed him. "Besides, I didn't hit you THAT hard." He walked to Caroline and handed her the tool. "There you go. I'm sorry we kept you waiting. We have a mess back there." Caroline smiled and took it.

"It's fine. I'll bring it back as soon as I can. We still have a lot of things to fix at the store." Stefan waved his hand and shrugged.

"Take your time."

Caroline smiled and started walking towards the door.

"Thank you! It was nice seeing you again. And nice meeting you Kol." She said before walking out.

Klaus turned to Stefan and tilted his head.

"We keep the hammer on a shelf, what took you so long?" He asked confused, but his friend didn't reply. He just smirked and winked.

.

Later that day Klaus got ready to leave the store. He always left early on Mondays and Stefan and Kol knew very well why.

When he stepped out of his tattoo shop, he found Caroline fixing some flowers on a vase outside her store.

"You're leaving early." She commented.

"Yeah, Mondays are special. I have plans." He said nonchalantly. Caroline smiled and handed him one of the flowers.

"Take one." She said, and he took it carefully, trying hard –and failing- not to read too much into the electricity he felt when his fingers touched hers. "These are some flowers that got a little bit ruined in the trunk on their way here, so I'm not selling them. But I think they're still beautiful, so since it's my first day I'm giving them away." She explained after seeing the confused look on Klaus' face.

That's when he saw the little sign beside them. It said "Take a flower with you. You might bright someone's day!" There was also a stack of cards with the store's address and phone number.

Smart girl.

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow." Klaus said, earning a nod from Caroline.

It was only a few blocks away when he started get worried. What if she thought he was going on a date? Did she give him a flower expecting him to give it to some other girl? He groaned.

After stopping by his apartment for a moment, which was located a couple of blocks away from the tattoo shop, Klaus got in his car and drove outside town. He knew that road like the back of his hand. And how could he not? He drove there every Monday. He would hold the wheel a little bit tighter whenever he drove by one specific spot beside the road. The memories were still fresh in his head. He could still see the pieces of twisted and dented metal that were once a car. He could still hear the sirens and see the lights flashing. The blood.

Klaus took a breath and kept driving until destination, his parents' big old manor. His father was still at work, and his mother was busy organizing some charity event, so after a quick kiss on her cheek, Klaus walked to the room at the end of the hall.

"Knock knock." He said while pocking his head inside.

Henrik, who sat with a book in his hands, turned his head and smiled widely at his brother.

"Nik!" He greeted cheerfully before turning and rolling his wheel chair towards Klaus.

Seeing him like that after all those years was still painful for Klaus. If it wasn't because of Henrik's strength and sense of humor, Klaus probably wouldn't have survived the heartache. Henrik was only 15 and he spent a big part of his life on that wheel chair.

"Hello kiddo. How are you today?" Klaus asked before leaning to wrap his arms around his baby brother's shoulders.

"I'm okay. I got my report card this morning and I'm doing great at school. Father said he'll get me a new video game console." He said with excitement. Klaus chuckled as he sat down on the couch, Henrik surely was the spoiled baby in the family. And with good reason, not just because of the accident but because he was a sweet and hard working kid.

"Are you getting ready for prom?" Klaus asked with a smirk, making Henrik sigh.

"Yeah… it's hard!"

"Why? Can't find a date?"

Henrik blushed and bit his lower lip.

"It's the opposite actually. I've been asked by three girls to be their date."

Klaus' eyes opened so widely that Henrik thought they would fall down.

"THREE GIRLS?!"

"Yeah, at first I thought it was because of the wheel chair, but I've been told it's because of the accent and my awesome poems for my English class."

Klaus laughed hard.

"Kol will be proud." He commented.

"What's with the flower? Did you get it for a girl?" Henrik asked when he noticed the flower in Klaus' hand. Klaus smiled.

"I don't know. Last time I checked you were a boy." He joked as he passed the flower to Henrik.

"Har har, hilarious!" Henrik said, but he accepted the flower anyway. "You should get a girlfriend."

"Not all of us have as much game as you do, mister "3 prom dates"." He teased before smiling. "Perhaps someday. Now, wanna play some videogames?"

Henrik's face lighted up with a big smile.

"I race you!" He yelled as he wheeled his chair to the game room.