Present day – Chicago

Katherine knew she was late, but it had taken her some time to find an Elijah approved dress. Most dresses she owned were probably way too revealing for a dinner date with Elijah Mikaelson. And she was glad that she'd taken the time for a nice dress, because the place that they were meeting was expensive and high society. If Katherine had worn one of her usual dresses, she would've looked cheap. So, she sucked it up and channelled her sister. After a shopping spree and getting a headache of Nik's complaining about the boring dresses, she'd found a decent dress. It wasn't exactly something Elena would wear, but it came close. It was a burgundy floral-lace covered dress, with a v-neckline and some metallic-golden touches, with a black underdress. It didn't cling to her body like her usual dresses, it was more dynamic and it came above her knee. It was still raining when Katherine finally arrived at the restaurant.

Elijah glanced at his watch. Katerina was late, as usual. He was getting ready to leave when he finally saw the girl arrive. She looked stunning, but then again, this was Katherine Pierce, she always looked good. She made her way to Elijah's table. Elijah watched as Katherine approached him. He got up and pulled out the chair for her. She smiled shyly at him. He figured Katherine wasn't used to having dinner with a gentleman.

"Hi." Katherine said as she sat down.

"Katerina. I see you managed to find something appropriate to wear. I hope it wasn't too hard to find." Of course, Katherine thought, he would make a remark about that.

"Glad you approve." The waitress came to order their drinks.

"Vodka-cola, please." Katherine said. Elijah ordered a gin-tonic. Katherine looked at the menu, trying to cover the awkwardness. Why had she let Nik talk her into this? This was by far the most ridiculous and impulsive thing she had ever done.

Elijah was amused. It was obvious that Katerina hadn't thought this through, but what else was new. He had been surprised that she'd shown up and wore an appropriate dress. He'd always found her an attractive young woman, ever since he'd first taken a good look at her. It was sometimes easy to forget that she was only twenty four.

"Are we going to order a bottle of wine?" Elijah inquired.

"Sure, why not?" Katherine said as she peeked over the menu and looked at Elijah. She noticed the amusement in his eyes. No way that she was giving him the satisfaction of finding this amusing. She put the menu aside, just when the waitress arrived with their drinks.

"Are you ready to order?" She asked.

Elijah ordered some appetizers and a filet mignon. Katherine went for the chicken. "And could we get a bottle of Merlot, please?" Elijah asked and then the waitress took off.

"I hope you're paying." Katherine said as the waitress was out of earshot.

Elijah chuckled. "Of course. Now, how exactly do you propose we proceed?"

Katherine bit her lip, trying to come up with an answer. "Well, we can't just announce an engagement out of the blue." Katherine started. She was a master in coming up with things, she should be able to spin a believable story about her and Elijah falling in love.

"I'm all ears." The amusement was obvious in his tone. He was going to leave the work up to her. She'd turned twenty four in June, so she still had some time before she actually got access to her trust fund. It was also important that her mother didn't think anything was weird or forced. But how would she explain dating Elijah Mikaelson? The last time she'd seen the guy she'd been travelling through Europe. No wait, she'd seen him in the hotel while she was there for some conference thing. "Saint Petersburg." Katherine said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Elijah had been watching as Katerina was trying to figure out how to make the scheme work.

"What about it?"

"We were both staying in the same hotel. Let's say we ran into each other in the bar and we had a very hot and passionate night? We decided to give the dating thing a try?"

It never ceased to amaze him how good she was at just coming up with things. "Because people are actually going to believe that?"

"Please, one night with me will leave you begging for more." Katherine said without a hint of sarcasm.

Elijah chuckled. "Alright, but that happened a couple of months ago. How exactly are we to explain that?"

"Given our history, we decided to keep it quiet to see where it was going. Besides, I'd been in Russia and Bulgaria for most of the time. I only got back last week." The waitress arrived with the food.

"And now that you're back we've decided to go all in?"

"Exactly." Katherine said as she took a bite. They still needed a timeline. Both for the past couple of months as for the engagement and wedding. The wedding needed to be after her twenty-fifth birthday. "Okay, what did you do for Christmas?"

"I worked. Why?" Elijah asked, sounding confused.

"I spent my Christmas with Nik. How about we spent Christmas together? With Nik? He's already in on this, so he'd have no problem to say that you were there too." Katherine started thinking further ahead.

"Our past relationship was mostly long distance, so we had a lot of time to get to know one another. Let's say you propose in a month or two? That way we give everyone the time to get used to us dating. And when you pop the question it won't be that weird. After all, we have known each other for about five years."

In less than half an hour, Katerina had come up with a whole scheme and backstory for the two of them dating. "It never ceases to amaze me how easy it is for you to come up with a story."

Katherine shrugged. "It's a gift."

"How long are you planning on being Mrs. Mikaelson?" Katherine had just taken a sip of her wine and almost spit it out in his face.

"I'm not changing my name, Elijah. And I don't know. A year or so? It all depends on how things develop."

"If I'm going to be fake marrying you, you're going to become Mrs. Mikaelson, if not, you can go find someone else." Katherine sighed, but she had to fold. Why was he so old-fashioned? She had to admit, that it was nice to go out with someone who held the door for her and who would pull out her chair and stuff, but she was a grown woman. And it was the twenty-first century.

"Fine. Anything else you like to add to your demands?"

Elijah thought it over. "What about a contract?" The words had barely left his mouth, or Katherine was already shaking her head.

"We're not going to leave a paper trail. Besides, we're not going to involve anyone else in this. Nik knows, and that's all."

"It was only a suggestion. Why didn't you ask my brother?" Elijah inquired. It was a legitimate question. Katerina and Niklaus had been close friends for the past couple of years. They'd travelled around Europe together and they were both master-schemers, it would be a lot more convincing.

"I love Nik, but honestly, that guy wouldn't be able to go two years without sex. Besides, you're the successful one."

"Did you say two years?" Elijah understood her point. "Yes. If everything goes according to plan. It's for both of us. No infidelity."

"Are you sure you can do that?"

Katherine tucked a stray strand behind her ear. "Have a little faith, Mikaelson."

"Says the girl who slept her way through Europe."

She glared at him, but then decided it wasn't worth the trouble. "That was to gain experience and to see what was out there." Katherine said with a wink. Elijah resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her. Katherine noticed his annoyance.

"Come on, Elijah. I had fun."

"Sometimes a bit too much." He said with a knowing look. He was referring to the fountain incident that almost got her arrested. Luckily, Elijah had been around and knew how to speak Italian.

"So, when are we going to make this public?" "

Let's tackle it one person at a time. Maybe we can get Nik to help us with that, drop some hints or something?" Katherine suggested. Nik could scheme just as well as she could. With his help, she and Elijah could most definitely make it work.

"How about we have dinner with Nik tomorrow?" Elijah suggested.

"Sounds good to me." They talked some more about the upcoming week, and who they were going to be seeing. Katherine wasn't looking forward to telling her mother. She didn't like dealing with Isobel, so she was going to postpone this for as long as possible. Caroline and Stefan wouldn't be that much of a problem. It was hard to judge what her father would think, after all, Katherine's last stable relationship had been when she was in high school. She'd just roll with it.

Elijah started thinking about how he was going to explain this to his family. His mother would be somewhere between surprised and shock, especially because it would be Katherine Pierce. His father would be doubtful about this, but he would go along with it. Rebekah would be furious he didn't tell her right away, but she would just have to deal. Finn wouldn't mind and Kol would be pleased, after all, it was Kol who had set him up with Katerina so many years ago.

Elijah paid for dinner and they walked out together. It was still raining. Elijah hailed a cab for the both of them. Katherine told him she could get home alright, but he insisted. Stupid Elijah Mikaelson and his need to always be a gentleman. Who the hell did he think she was? Some damsel in distress who couldn't take care of herself? At least he didn't actually walk her to the door. And he would have to pay for the cab ride. All in all, the night could have been worse.

He watched Katerina get into her apartment. It would be a long two years. She wasn't the worst company, but she was unpredictable and impulsive. Elijah wondered what it was going to be like to be living with her. And then it hit him, if they were getting married, people would expect them to be living together. It would probably be a good idea if they were sharing an apartment before actually getting married. Katherine wasn't the only one who could plan.


Author's note

First of all, thanks for reading/reviewing/following/favouriting. I appreciate it.

Secondly, I wish you all a happy new year. May 2016 bring love, joy, happiness, laughter and amazing stories to you.

Thirdly, some answers to the lovely reviews.

Thanks everyone for reviewing, it always makes my day ;)

There will be a Klaroline pairing, but that will be on the background, the same goes for Bonnie and Kol and some other pairings as well ;) but the main focus is on Katherine and Elijah. I just like to include several ships, just because I can.

Thanks again and have a great Hogmanay and a fantastic New Year!

Love