Summary: Project Runway AU. For those of you who have not seen Project Runway, it's a reality show where fashion designers go through a challenge each week and get eliminated one by one. The finalists have a few months to make a collection to show at New York Fashion Week.

Hope you enjoy it! :)

Caroline's hands twisted as she sat in the row of chairs, trying to ignore Rebekah's glare boring into her skull. They were waiting for their next challenge, and Caroline had a bad feeling about it for some reason.

She'd auditioned for Project Runway twice before she was accepted for this season, and they were a bit more than halfway through the competition now. There were only eight designers left, though Caroline personally felt that only three of the others were strong enough to be considered competition.

One of them was Rebekah, who had been the bane of her existence since the team challenge. They'd won, but only after a lot of fighting and a day of not speaking to each other. Bonnie was also annoyingly good, and Jeremy was strong when he didn't procrastinate.

Matt had a questionable taste level, though, and Luke seemed to make the same dress over and over in slightly different ways. Lexi's garments were boring (though she was also probably the nicest designer there), and Stefan was a wildcard. Some of his designs were good, and others were just horrible.

Either way, Caroline was determined to win, if only for the huge amount of prize money.

And the car. The car would be cool too.

"Good morning, designers."

Caroline looked up to see Katherine Pierce on the runway, holding the velvet button bag and smiling like the demon she was.

The button bag could only mean that they were picking something in order. What would they have to do this time? Pick teams for another horrible team challenge? Re-pick models? Choose what decade they were designing for?

"Today, we'll be doing a challenge with some familiar faces," Katherine said with a wide smile. "Let's bring out your models."

When the first person walked out, a tall dark-haired man, Caroline's mind started to race through the possibilities. Menswear? A B-list actor she didn't know?

It was only when she heard Stefan mumble the name of the brother he'd talked about that she realized what this was.

It was one of those challenges where they had to work with family members of other designers.

As the "models" continued to file out, she realized that the challenge must be menswear, and when her best friend Enzo walked out, she gave him a small smile, which he returned, mouthing 'hello, gorgeous' and sending her a wink.

"Boyfriend?" Rebekah asked, her voice mocking.

"Ew, no," Caroline said, wrinkling her nose.

"You'll be designing a menswear look for an event coming up for the client. Keep in mind that your client's reaction to the look is very important and will affect your overall score. Let's introduce them."

Katherine went down the line, listing the names of the men, though she didn't mention who was the family member or friend of who.

"Since Bonnie has immunity, she gets to choose first."

"You on the end," she said, and Katherine smiled.

"Kai. Luke's brother. Now, I'll pick your names out of the bag," she said, pulling out a button. "Caroline."

She bit her lip, considering her options. The man who was obviously Stefan's brother was good-looking, but he wouldn't fit her aesthetic. There was also a guy that she suspected was Rebekah's brother, as they looked a bit alike, but he would be perfect. Hopefully he wasn't as high strung, though he was scowling as though he'd rather be anywhere else.

"You. Sorry, what's your name again?"

"Klaus," he said unenthusiastically before waiting for Katherine's nod and walking away, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Clearly not excited to be participating. Great.

XXX

"Hey. I'm Caroline," she greeted once they got back to the workroom, a small smile on her face as she stuck out her hand.

Klaus gave her a calculating glance before he shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, love."

She tried not to bristle at the endearment (keeping on your client's good side was essential to this sort of challenge), and pulled out her sketchpad, tugging a pencil out of her purse. "Okay, so. What's your event?"

"My sister's birthday party," he said dryly.

"Oh, that's nice," she said, quickly brainstorming a list of possibilities. "Is it formal?"

"It had better be," Rebekah said from over her shoulder.

Caroline couldn't help but roll her eyes, and she could have sworn that Klaus was fighting down a laugh.

"Rebekah, aren't you supposed to be helping your client?" Caroline asked through gritted teeth.

"Probably," she said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Just don't make him look bad."

"I don't think that's possible," Caroline said, her point being that she was too good to ever dress him horribly, but Klaus seemed to take it differently, a smirk stretching across his face. "Not what I meant," she said waspishly, and he just grinned.

"Of course it wasn't, love."

"So. Is a suit okay?"

"Of course."

"Colors? Fabrics?"

"I'm sure I can trust you."

She nodded, deciding not to argue. She'd done menswear before, mostly because she knew the challenge might come up and decided to be prepared. "All right. Let me just get your measurements, and–"

She looked up to see Klaus pulling his shirt off and averted her eyes quickly, but not before getting a glimpse of some tattoos and a very nice set of abs.

"You don't need to strip for me," she said dryly, ignoring the camera guy next to them who was clearly fighting down a laugh.

"I'm happy to help you in whatever way I can, including to get the most accurate measurements possible."

She collected herself quickly, grabbing her tape measure and resolving to be professional, pretending not to notice his smug smirk (and his unashamed perusal of her body as she moved).

She could do this. It was going to be fine.

She shot a look up at Klaus as she knelt down to measure his inside leg (thankfully he'd left his jeans on), and when she saw how he was looking at her, eyes dark and calculating, she looked back down, fighting the blush spreading over her cheeks.

This was so not going to be fine.

XXX

Caroline took a deep calming breath and splashed some water on her face. They were about to have their first fitting, and she needed to stay professional. She fluffed her hair, freshened her lipstick, and walked out just in time for their mentor to send in the clients.

She busied herself with arranging what she had, waiting until Klaus cleared his throat next to her.

"Okay, so I have the pants and jacket done. Just keep on your shirt and change behind the screen."

She handed him the garments and turned to pick up the half-finished shirt, inspecting it critically, wondering if she should change the style of it. Klaus tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to face him.

The jacket and trousers fit perfectly, and she nodded to herself. "Sorry, I'm going to have to touch you to adjust them."

"Oh, touch me all you want, sweetheart. I don't mind."

"Don't," she said firmly. "I'm not interested, especially when we're on national television."

He just gave her a dimpled smile.

Once he'd changed out of the garments again, he had about an hour before he had to leave, so he leaned against the table and watched her work. Caroline had never been good with long silences, and she cleared her throat uncomfortably. "So, Rebekah's birthday, huh?"

"It's an event," he said. "She's very particular."

Caroline's lips twitched. "Yeah, I know. Do you guys have other siblings?"

"Quite a few, actually. Elijah was supposed to be the one to come on the show, but he had a business trip at the last minute, and we decided not to inflict Kol on the poor unsuspecting contestants."

"He's trouble, then?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Do you have siblings?"

For some reason, she felt like the conversation wasn't just small talk, and he truly wanted to know. "Nope. The closest is Enzo."

"Ah, the one my sister is currently torturing?"

"Yep. He can handle her, though. No offense."

"None taken."

They were quiet for a few seconds before Klaus spoke again. "So, do you design for a living? If you don't mind me asking."

"I don't, actually. I work for a tutoring center in Brooklyn. I taught myself to sew as a hobby. What do you do?"

"I work in marketing. Nothing special."

Caroline nodded, sticking a pin between her teeth to hold it as she rolled the cuffs of the shirt slightly.

She couldn't shake the feeling that he was watching her, though she didn't turn around to check, and when the mentor came back in the room to say it was time to say goodbye, he gave her a dimpled smile, his hand stuck in his pockets.

"Until tomorrow, sweetheart."

"Yep."

XXX

Caroline gave a hurried explanation to the hair stylist of what she wanted for Klaus's hair before practically sprinting down the stairs again, cursing herself for wearing heels.

She grabbed the almost-done shirt and pushed it through the sewing machine. She had been mostly done when he came, but she always seemed to have more to do to make the garment completely perfect.

When she finally slowed down to consider the finished look, she had to fight to keep her face straight, giving herself a mental pat on the back for making him look good.

Well, better than he had before.

Frankly, that was hard, so extra kudos.

He seemed content as well, and Rebekah came over to shoot him an assessing glance.

"That doesn't look terrible," she said slowly. "This button is off, though."

"Well, I'm sure you can fix it once we all go home," Caroline said sweetly.

This time she was sure Klaus was trying not to laugh. Rebekah's lips curled into a small smile, though. "It'll do."

Caroline didn't have a chance to respond before they were all herded to the runway room, and she was directed to her seat on the side.

The show was a blur, and when Caroline walked back to the waiting room with the rest of the designers, Rebekah sat down beside her, her legs primly crossed at the ankle, hands in her lap.

"He likes you," she said quietly.

"I don't know what you mean."

Rebekah scoffed. "Look, I don't like you, but I'm not blind. If he doesn't ask you out at the end of this I'll eat my Louboutins."

"We can't talk about this now," Caroline said quietly, her eyes darting to the cameras pointedly.

Rebekah shrugged. "Well, you'll have plenty of time while you're making your collection for fashion week."

"You think I'll make it to fashion week? Rebekah, was that a compliment?" Caroline teased.

"I'm not going to answer that."

They were called back to the runway a few seconds later, and when Caroline was told to stay for the judging portion, she felt the fear build in her gut, as it did every time she got comments from the judges.

Klaus stood beside her, his hands in the pockets of his trousers, and he seemed to sense that she was anxious because he nudged her lightly with his shoulder. "Relax, sweetheart."

"Let's start with Caroline," Katherine said. "Tell us about your look."

Caroline rattled off her prepared speech, and the judges nodded a long, giving her small compliments.

"And how is this for you?" Katherine asked Klaus.

"It's exactly what I wanted," he said, honesty prevalent in his tone, and Caroline couldn't help but smile.

When they filed off the runway (after a particularly scathing critique of Stefan's football-inspired look for Matt's friend Tyler), Caroline sighed in relief.

"All right, love?"

"I always get nervous," she confessed. "I mean, I know I'm good, but it's different when people are tearing apart every single thing you do."

"They seemed to like it," he pointed out.

"Yeah. That's true."

He was herded out with the rest of the models to the other room to wait while the designers stayed in the waiting room. Rebekah was clearly nervous now (having also been in the top three), but she shot Caroline a small smile.

Were they friends now? Whatever.

Caroline smiled back.

XXX

[From: 212-555-1045]: Hello, Caroline. Rebekah gave me your cell phone number. I hope that's all right. Now that you're preparing for fashion week and have some more free time, I was wondering if you'd allow me to take you out to dinner.

[To: Klaus]: Yeah, actually. That would be great. Are you free Friday?

[From: Klaus]: For you? Of course.

[To: Klaus]: Flattery will get you nowhere.

[To: Klaus]: Pick me up at the tutoring center at six. I'll text you the address.

XXX

[To: Klaus]: I had a lot of fun on Friday. Do you want to get together next week? Maybe for drinks?

[From: Klaus]: I'd love to. Tuesday at eight?

[To: Klaus]: Sure. Should I meet you when you get off work?

[From: Klaus]: That's fine, sweetheart. Shall I text you?

[To: Klaus]: Yeah, sure.

XXX

[To: Klaus]: Do you want to come to Enzo's birthday party on Saturday?

[To: Klaus]: You can bring Rebekah.

[From: Klaus]: I'm sorry sweetheart, but I can't. Business trip.

[From: Klaus]: I'll miss you.

[To: Klaus]: I'll miss you too.

[To: Klaus]: Kind of sad. I have an awesome dress. You'd like it.

[From: Klaus]: You're beautiful in whatever you wear. The only place your clothes could possibly look better is if they're on my floor…

[To: Klaus]: That was SO bad.

[From: Klaus]: But true.

[To: Klaus]: I'll send pictures.

[From: Klaus]: With or without the dress?

[To: Klaus]: We'll see.

XXX

[From: Klaus]: Good luck, sweetheart.

[To: Klaus]: Thanks!

[To: Klaus]: I'm really nervous.

[From: Klaus]: I'd be worried if you weren't.

[To: Klaus]: No seriously though.

[From: Klaus]: Rebekah is a very sore loser, but I'm sure you can handle it.

[From: Klaus]: Don't tell her I said that.

[To: Klaus]: You're a terrible brother.

[To: Klaus]: I expect very enthusiastic congratulatory sex.

[From: Klaus]: Obviously.

XXX

[To: Klaus]: My hotel room. 15 minutes.

[From: Klaus]: Escaped the party already?

[To: Klaus]: You have thirteen minutes left.

[To: Klaus]: Don't keep your famous fashion designer girlfriend waiting.

[To: Klaus]: I will start without you.

Please let me know what you thought! :)
Hugs!
-Angie