so here part four is, even though i said it would be done in two parts. eh. writing is weird and i'm very incapable of writing one shots/drabbles. we should all know that by now. on the bright side, this one is nearly finished so i can focus on my other projects. anyways, hope you all like this one.
- shauna! xo
As it turns out, the coffee place that Klaus knows isn't too far, so they walk, and it's nice, for the lack of a better term. There's a slight breeze out, and it's almost relaxing, as they walk, side by side, the air ruffling her hair slightly, and the quiet noise of people walking by fills in the silence between them.
Klaus keeps his hands to himself, his left hand tucked into his pocket, and it's strange, different. Caroline's not quite sure how she feels about it, but she knows it's what she needs, for them not to blur the lines here. Still, it doesn't stop the thoughts from going through her head that his arm should be wrapped around her waist, and she should be cuddled into his side, or at least holding his hand. She always did like the feel of his fingers weaving through hers, and she knows Klaus liked knowing that she was his, as they walked.
She tries not to let the silence get to her too much.
It's almost peaceful in a way, and it's not awkward, but she's never done too well with the quiet.
They've barely been walking for ten minutes when Klaus stops her with a smile, shooting her a small nod.
"Here," he murmurs.
Her head twists towards the sign in the small building only to furrow her eyebrows slightly.
"I know it doesn't look like much," Klaus is saying, "But they have the best coffees in town."
She smiles slightly.
"You've never taken me here before," she realises.
Klaus shrugs, looking almost bashful.
"I suppose we've never really gone out for breakfast, or coffee at all really."
And she supposes he has a point. They've mostly gone out for dinner, or for drinks, or to some high-end restaurant. Even to one of the many balls that Klaus' family throws, or a benefit or two. But never breakfast.
So, she nods, takes a deep breath in, and shoots him as genuine a smile as she's able.
He coughs quietly, and his left arm sweeps towards the cafe.
"Shall we go in?" He requests.
Her lips twist at the slight nervous tone his voice takes on, and she shakes her head, biting her lip to keep from grinning at him. It was such a change to see him this way. He was usually so confident, arrogant even. She wasn't really used to dealing with this Klaus.
"Of course," she allows.
That confidence soon comes back, however, and he holds his elbow out for her to take.
"May I?" he requests.
She snorts, rolling her eyes, but she doesn't deny him.
"You're such a dork," she tells him, even as she weaves her arm in between his.
He dimples in response.
(She knows, it isn't the first time that she's told him that before. She had in fact, on their first date, but it's true nonetheless, and his old-world manners, as she usually refers to them as, never fail to make her swoon.)
(Not that she'd ever admit that to him.)
-/-
The first thing that she includes in their totally not a coffee date but still a date is that there is some sort of story behind his eyes. He almost seems guarded as he regards her with that intense look of his, but it's one that she's not seen before, one she can't quite place.
Still, she smiles at him, as she orders a coffee (him a tea and god, if they were still a thing she'd tease him about how characteristically British he is but they're not and honestly, she's really uncertain about how the two of them stand and she doesn't want to start blurring the lines between what they are) and they take a seat in the corner table by the window.
Klaus' tongue swipes across his bottom lip as he hesitates briefly before he starts to talk.
"So," he breathes deeply, as he runs a hand through his hair. "How have you been?"
She almost frowns at the question, because how did they get here? To use small talk to actually have something to say.
He's nervous she realises, and it's almost adorable how far he seems to be going out of his way not to upset her.
"I've been," she wants to say happy, she does, but she knows it isn't true so she lets out a deep breath and she finally settles on "Busy. Katherine's barely left me alone, and rehearsals have just begun so I doubt that's going to slow down any time soon."
"Indeed," he murmurs, and he almost looks happy at her response.
What was he expecting, really?
She waits for him to speak again but he doesn't, and she sighs, her fingers uncurling from her coffee cup as she pushes it away from her slightly.
"Let's not do this, Klaus."
His head snaps up from his previous position where he was staring very intently at the table top. His eyes are slightly wide as he stares at her, as though she's caught him off guard.
She sighs at the look she finds, and shrugs slightly.
"No more than a month ago we were dating," she pauses slightly and her eyes flicker away for a moment before finding his again, "We were happy," she settles on. "There's no need for this awkwardness to remain between us. We were friends before, there's no reason why we can't go back to that."
And Klaus suddenly looks like she's punched him.
"Friends," he repeats.
She raises an eyebrow, her forehead crinkling slightly.
"Yeah, friends. You know, as in, when two people break up and they go to get coffee together? It's called an outing between friends," she tells him, and she tries very hard to keep the spite out of her voice but it's difficult because the hurt she'd felt when Klaus walked out on her without a word is still very fresh and it's not something she can forget very easily.
She hated that he had that kind of power over her.
"Our families our friends," she points out quietly, as an after thought, and it almost seems as though she's trying to convince herself that they shouldn't get back together at this point because he had hurt her and it sucked. "It would be rather inconvenient if we couldn't stand to be in the same room as each other."
He still doesn't say anything in reply, just stares her down, and she shakes her head, sighing again. Caroline crosses her arms over her chest, a loud huff escaping her.
"Come on, Klaus. What did you think this was?"
That seems to bring him out of it, with a smile that Caroline knows is the one he usually gives to his mother when she asks him if something is wrong and he says no but Caroline knows there is. She frowns in response.
"Nevermind," he murmurs, almost dismissively, though there's a look of sadness in his eyes that she finds she doesn't like. "Why don't you tell me about how your rehearsals have been going, hm?"
She smiles, even if it's because he's taking an interest in what she does, like he's never done before. She'll label it as personal growth.
So they talk, and they talk.
Caroline tells him all about her costars, and the director, and he promises that he'll get a ticket to see her first show, that he hadn't already got one yet, but her director has promised him the first one, as soon as they're all available. It turns out his mother had got a few, but only for her colleagues.
"It's your first big performance," he tells her, almost slowly, his eyes bright. "How could I not see how wonderful you will be and be there to see everyone else realise it too?"
She tries and epically fails to hide her grin.
(It's nice to know she has a fan at least.)
(Even if she knows, deep down, that it's more than that.)
"I suppose," she tells him slowly, "If you want to come, you are free to do so. It is a free country after all."
He dimples in reply and she smiles right back, even if she'll deny that she did so later.
(Maybe she still loves him, just a little.)
