She had tossed and turned all night, barely getting any sleep and when she did it was sub-par. When she finally woke, she heard Klaus come in through the front door. Had he been gone all night? She got up and used her vampire speed to quickly brush her hair, change clothes, put on flats and she packed the remaining few things, before dragging her bag down the stairs and rushing to greet him.
He looked very dishevelled. Messy and tired. He didn't even close the door behind him, just kept moving forward, finding the liquor cabinet and downing half a bottle of expensive scotch.
"Are you okay?" She asked after closing the door, following him and carefully waiting until he took a break from drinking.
"Oh, I'm fine, love," he said sarcastically, "I'm not the problem here."
She swallowed hard and whispered: "But I am?" He shook his head and looked up at her.
"My whole bloody family is." he stated, taking another gulp of the bottle. She watched him quietly, as she waited for him to explain, sitting down close to him. They sat there for a while, an eerie silence spreading throughout the whole house. Caroline couldn't muster up the courage to speak first however, so she just sat completely still, enduring the awkwardness, as he took another swig of the scotch.
"They didn't want me to go at first," he began, "they were thoroughly against it, actually." He sipped the amber liquid and looked at her. She almost never saw a monster when she looked at him anymore. Right now all she saw was a man, a very lonely man, needing comfort. So she got up from her seat and went to rub his shoulder reassuringly. He placed a hand on top of hers, but she didn't move away.
"But after many hours of discussing it, they finally went along with it." He sighed and continued. "I wish they weren't so hard to convince."
"You know, if you're tired, we can just leave later." She removed her hand from him and took a step back, trying to hide her disappointment at the thought.
"No need. I already bought the tickets, the plane leaves in a few hours." He smiled and fanned her with the tickets.
"How much do I owe you?" She asked flatly, knowing that he probably wouldn't let her pay him back, but it wouldn't be for a lack of trying.
"Nothing."
"I can't be bought, Klaus, I've already told you that."
"I am not trying to buy you, lo- Caroline." He furrowed his brow. "I just wanted to make you happy." She rolled her eyes and looked at him, looking as serious as she could.
"How much?"
"You don't need to pay me back, I have quite enough to-"
"How. Much." She stood her ground. She was a strong, independent woman, who didn't need a man to pay for her. Ever.
"Well, since I bought tickets for first class, they are quite expensive."
She gulped. Maybe it was alright for a man to pay every once in a while? "Uh... Would you settle for a hug?" She said jokingly almost without thinking, but quickly corrected herself, "handshake! I meant handshake. Or a song. Maybe a dance or something." He laughed at how flustered she was.
"How about a kiss?"
"What? No!"
"Seems only fair with the high price I paid for these." He teased. Looking at her with a boyish smirk.
"No!" She screamed frantically. "I am not going to pay you back with kisses or anything like that! You would just keep increasing the price until you had everything!"
He chuckled. "That's why I like you, Caroline," He gently patted her cheek, "you are so perceptive."
She jerked away from his touch and he sighed, "I'd love to dance with you again sometime. I'll ask you on a more appropriate time." He said calmly. "But I do hope that you one day will give me your everything."
"Christ, why can't you just be happy that we're friends?" She huffed.
"I always get what I want." He watched her intently, as if she was his dinner and he was very, very hungry. She rolled her eyes and tried to fight the slight uncomfort caused by his stare.
"Well, you already have my friendship and that will have to do." She said, her voice filled with confident finality.
"I'll take what I can get. I do value our friendship, Caroline, don't get me wrong."
"But?"
"But I will always want more."
She took a step back. "I'm beginning to regret my decision of travelling the world with you as my only companion."
"Don't worry, love." He said, quickly continuing talking to prevent her from cutting in. "I don't want you against your will. I want you to want me. So I won't overstep my bounds." Smiling reassuringly he stepped towards her, closing the gap between them. "But until then," he bent down and gave her a hug and a quick squeeze, pulling back fast and letting go of her, before she had even registered what he was doing. Her breath hitched and she coughed with equal parts surprise and a fluttering feeling in her stomach.
"I'm hungry." She said, swiftly speeding to the refrigerator and taking a bag of blood, draining it in seconds, replacing it with another and placing it against her mouth, as she closed the door. "What?" She said as she saw him looking at her, smug and pleased with himself. When he didn't answer she just explained herself clumsily. "Well, I'm hungry, and it would be best if I didn't go all crazy vampire on our way to London, so I just thought I'd drink some extra now and..." She trailed off, not really knowing where she was going with it.
"Have you even packed?" She asked accusingly, throwing out the empty blood bags. He just chuckled, reaching up to brush some of her hair off of her shoulder.
"Of course I have." He smiled. "I have been ready for this trip for quite a while now."
"You are so cheesy." She rolled her eyes but smiled, turning and walking towards the door. "Are you coming?" She asked over her shoulder and could almost hear his smile in his voice. "Of course. Always."
She scoffed as he used his vampire speed to get his suitcase. And as they went to the car she thought to herself: 'Alright, Caroline Forbes, you can do this!'
