I own nothing but the plot...
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"Caroline what are you doing in there!" Bonnie called out. Caroline was sitting on the side of the tub biting her fingernail. She kept glancing back at the timer on her phone.
"Um...stuff!" Caroline yelled back.
"Well hurry up I have a date with Jamie," Bonnie said and the timer on Caroline's phone went off. This was it. She took a deep breath and flipped the pregnancy test over.
There it was.
Positive.
She was going to have a baby.
Shit.
Crap.
Stupid accent.
She was never going to go out with a man with an accent ever again.
Present
"Okay, I'm here," Katherine said appearing in the doorway with a garment bag in her hand. "And I brought a present."
"Oh, thank you," Caroline said taking the bag from her. To Caroline's annoyance she had been majorly stressing about what she was going to wear to this dinner with Klaus, but thankfully she has a friend like Kat with connections. Kat was looking at her strangely. "What?"
"Why are you dressing up for him?" Katherine asked and Caroline blanched.
"I am not certainly not dressing up for him," Caroline answered.
"Sure," Katherine said not believing her for a second. "Then why did you say you wanted to look like Princess Grace of Monaco hot?" Caroline glared at her friend but Katherine only grinned.
"Fine," Caroline said, "I might be dressing up, but he is being a jerk and I want to rub in his face that while he isn't a person to be messed with, neither am I."
"That's my girl," Katherine said proudly.
"And I brought the shoes," Elena said appearing from around the corner carrying a box.
"Perfect," Caroline said and closed the door.
K&C
"This is a disaster," Kol said to Bonnie in the apartment across the way. Ella was fast asleep on his bed with no clue what was going on around her. "They are both just such hot headed, controlling people. They clash. There is going to be a nuclear explosion."
"I am sure it isn't that bad," Bonnie said trying to make him feel better.
"Trust me, darling, it is," Kol said taking another sip of his drink, "And what is worse is I am the one that is supposed to be the calm one in all this. Since when I am I voice of reason? I am the reckless brother always getting into trouble, I am never the sensible one. I should have just asked you to come with me to the wedding and not Caroline."
"Why didn't you?" Bonnie asked and Kol froze.
"Um...it was a whole thing. I had Caroline pretend to be my girlfriend to get my Mum off my back," Kol said, "I...uh...didn't want you to have to lie and pretend we were together."
"But you had Caroline lie?" Bonnie said and Kol rubbed the back of his neck.
"She had done it before so I thought it would be no big deal," Kol said trying to shrug it all off.
"I would have said yes you know," Bonnie said looking at her hands and not at him, "If you had asked me to go I would have said yes."
"Really?" Kol said and Bonnie nodded. A silly grinned started to form on his face. "You like me, don't you?" He asked in a teasing tone.
"What?" Bonnie said.
"You like like me, don't you?" Kol said and Bonnie rolled her eyes.
"I do not," Bonnie said, but her cheeks were turning pink. Kol just continued to grin. "Shut up."
"Hey Bonnie?" Kol said.
"What?" Bonnie grumbled.
"Do you want to go out with me tomorrow night?" Kol said and Bonnie's frown turned into a smile.
"Okay," She said softly.
"Okay," Kol repeated.
K&C
"Okay, remember you are Miss Mystic Falls, you don't take shit from anyone," Katherine said as Caroline got ready to leave. "Be strong and firm."
"Be nice though, don't stoop to his level," Elena added, "Show him that his attitude doesn't bother you and that you are taking the high road." Katherine just looked at her twin and blinked. The girl was too damn nice.
"Got it," Caroline said, "Be firm and don't take his crap, but try and take the high road. I am going to be the better person."
"Perfect," Katherine said, "But are you sure you want to do this?"
"Klaus doesn't seem like he is going to give up, and I do give him credit for that," Caroline said and Katherine rolled her eyes. She was surrounded by people with halos over their heads, "Don't give me that look Katherine."
"Fine, but remember I do have two people on my phone who could kill him for you, just in case," Katherine said.
"Thanks Kat, but I don't think killing Klaus is the best way to handle this," Caroline said but Katherine only shrugged.
"At least you have the option," Katherine said.
"Okay, enough of that," Elena said standing in front of her twin, "Good luck tonight, don't worry everything is going to be fine. You can do this."
"I can do this," Caroline repeated, and then with one last wave, left.
"Do you really have two people on your phone who would be willing to kill for you?" Elena asked Katherine after Caroline was gone.
"Yep," Katherine replied, "They are also very good at making it look like an accident."
K&C
Klaus sat at the table waiting for Caroline. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. The name Elijah appeared on the screen. This was the second call today. Truthfully Klaus really wanted to talk to him. Elijah had been the closest thing Klaus had to a father growing up, but that was a long time ago. Too much had happened since then. Some of it was his fault, some of it was Elijah's, but you can't go back. It won't ever be as it was. Klaus was so deep in thought he didn't even notice Caroline coming up to the table. She looked stunning in her blue dress. It wasn't too provocative, but it left you wanting to find out what was underneath it. He stood up and pulled out her chair.
"Thank you," Caroline said sitting down.
"We have quite a lot to discuss," Klaus said getting right down to it.
"Can you wait to serve me with some kind of paternity document until after dinner?" Caroline asked, "I haven't eaten all day."
"I do have a lab on call to take the test," Klaus said not phased by her comment, "All I need is a cotton swab from the inside of Ella's cheek."
"Okay," Caroline said, "I can get it tomorrow."
"Good," Klaus said and Caroline wanted to kick him.
"You are used to getting things your way, obviously," Caroline said leaning forward, "You seem like the kind of guy that when you snap your fingers people bow to your will, but that isn't going to work with me. Ella is the most important thing in my life. She is my whole world. I am not going to let you disrupt her life."
"I don't want to disrupt her life, love, I just want to be in it," Klaus said and against her better judgment felt some of her walls cracking.
"Why?" Caroline asked, "I have heard from numerous people that you are not the "Dad" type so why are you doing this? Is it pride? Guilt? Obligation? Do you feel responsible? I assure you we are doing fine without any help."
"I didn't know my father, and I don't want Ella to live her life not knowing hers," Klaus informed her.
"Wait, you didn't know your father? I thought Mikael was your father." Caroline said confused.
"No, I was the result of an affair my mother had. I never knew who my real father is. All I know is that he died and Mikael was probably responsible for it." Klaus said his face blank. Caroline's eyes widened.
"I'm sorry," Caroline said softly.
"Don't be, I am not the father type, but regardless of that I am a father," Klaus said, "I do feel responsible for my child, and I want to do what is best for her as well. Ella is surrounded by people who love her, what is one more person?"
Caroline still wanted to kick him. Not because he was being an ass, but because he was giving perfect answers to all her questions. Damn him!
K&C
"Damn," Elijah said looking down at his phone.
"What is it?" Tatia asked and Elijah put his phone in his pocket.
"Niklaus is not picking up," Elijah said, "I was hoping to catch him before his dinner with Caroline."
This got Tatia's attention.
"Dinner?" She said trying to sound as indifferent as possible, "I thought he was too upset to talk to her and was going to do everything through his lawyer."
"Kol persuaded him otherwise," Elijah said and turned to face his wife, "Things not turning out as you had hoped?"
"What do you mean?" Tatia said still faking ignorance.
"I know why you told Niklaus about Ella, you wanted him to be angry at Caroline and therefore eliminate your competition," Elijah said calmly, "Whatever game you are trying to play this time, it appears you are losing."
Tatia glared but Elijah only smirked. He left the room leaving her fuming. She grabbed her phone and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and shattered.
K&C
"Tell me more about yourself," Klaus said once they had ordered. They had made a little more small talk regarding Ella and the paternity test, but they thought it was best to learn more about each other considering they might be raising a child together.
"What do you want to know?" Caroline asked.
"Your hopes, your dreams, everything you want in life," Klaus replied and Caroline laughed.
"That might take a while," Caroline said.
"Let's just start with your job," Klaus said taking a sip of the wine they had ordered.
"I work at an event planning agency," Caroline said.
"Oh really?" Klaus said interested, "Do you plan a lot of events?"
"I am still an assistant to one of the planners, but hopefully one day," Caroline said, "A lot of the job is knowing the right people, and I haven't really had the time to go out and try to meet those people. Like I said Ella comes first. I do make a decent living and my boss is nice."
"Seems to me all you need is your big break," Klaus said and Caroline nodded.
"Just need an opportunity to show what I can do," Caroline said and drank a sip of her wine. "Your mother mentioned you like things like that. Planning parties and whatnot."
"I always did enjoy a good party," Klaus said with a half smile, "In college over at Oxford planning those parties always seem to fall on me. Damon, an old friend of mine, was mostly in a drunken daze and wasn't good for much. I can't believe he somehow managed to get his degree. He is a decent lawyer too. Comes in handy to know someone like that." Caroline's eyes went wide. It couldn't be, could it?
"Wait, your lawyer is Damon Salvatore?" Caroline said almost dropping her fork. Stefan had mentioned his brother went to Oxford and that must have been where he met Klaus.
"Yes, have you heard of him?" Klaus asked.
"My lawyer is Stefan Salvatore," Caroline replied and Klaus raised his eyebrows.
"Really?" He said surprised. "Small world."
"It almost might have been worth it to see them go against each other," Caroline said, "They do call Stefan The Ripper you know, because of his ability to rip the opposition's case apart."
"Damon is pretty ruthless himself," Klaus said.
"I know, I was set up on a date with him once," Caroline told him and Klaus nearly choked on his food. Caroline didn't notice and went on, "It didn't work out. Ella got a stomach ache and I have to leave in the middle of dinner to go be with her."
"Too bad," Klaus mumbled.
"What was that?" Caroline asked.
"Nothing, love, tell me more about your job," Klaus said, "What agency is it?"
K&C
When the waiter stopped next to their table with dessert menus, Caroline knew they couldn't postpone the subject any longer. The waiter was barely out of earshot before she placed her arms on the table and leaned closer.
"Here is my offer," Caroline said getting down to business, enough of the small talk and the legal issues. Now was time for the big issue, introducing him to Ella. "I can't outright introduce you to Ella as her father."
"Why not?" Klaus said not liking that at all.
"I don't want to overwhelm her, Ella is only 4 remember?" Caroline said and then went on, "Ella knows Kol. She loves him and trusts him. So I am going to introduce you to her as Kol's brother first."
"Wait..." Klaus started to say but Caroline cut him off.
"I am going to introduce you as Kol's brother first because if you decide that you can't handle this, Ella won't be heartbroken when you leave," Caroline said, "That is the deal." Klaus was silent for a moment thinking it over.
"Fine." Klaus said obviously not happy, but knew that was the best way to handle this. To his surprise Caroline started laughing. "What is so funny?"
"Ella has that same look when something doesn't go her way," Caroline said a smile still plastered on her face.
"Really?" Klaus said and Caroline nodded.
"The same hard look and stubborn jaw," Caroline told him, "There were times when Ella was growing up and I would think, "Who is this kid?" Sometimes she would get so serious and intense. It all makes sense now though."
"It does?" Klaus said.
"Yeah, she got it from you, and the artist thing of course," Caroline said and for the first time tonight Caroline saw an actual, genuine smile on Klaus' face. Not a smirk, not a mocking laugh, but a true smile. He had a really great smile. "So...um...it has been awhile since Ella and I have gone to the zoo. I was thinking about taking her there this weekend. You can come too if you want."
"Yes," Klaus said without hesitation, "I would like that."
They sat in a comfortable silence for a moment both taking it all in when someone came up to their table and said, "Caroline?" Caroline looked up and her eyes went wide.
"Tyler."
…...
What did you think? The dinner was going good and then bam here comes the ex-boyfriend.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, alerted, everything.
And thank you to my consultant. I wouldn't be able to do it without you!
As for those who read Only Human, I am working on it. For some reason the next chapter is getting really hard to get out. I only have like a page written, but I will update when I can.
