AN: Still having a hard time but I have more chapters written for this so there'll be a few updates over the next couple of weeks just to get you all by. I'm a bit bogged down and there's some mental health issues so I won't be doing anything by schedule, sorry. Hope you like the new chapter and thank you for your support and sticking with the story during the wait. :)
Caroline puts the key in to the door and bites her lip, twisting it until the click breaks the silence. Klaus shifts nervously behind her as she opens the large front door to the white house. The driveway is long and curves around a fountain at the top, the surrounding wall and hedges leaving them with privacy to the front yard on either side of the drive. The porch is white stone with a bench swing on one side and flower pots on the other with pillar supports at the front.
The door opens to a large, open lobby with dark wood flooring and light white walls. There's an open arch showing a dining room; large windows line one wall and the other has a large open door frame that leads to the kitchen she can't see yet. The staircase is a few steps from the arch to the next floor. She turns left, in to the lounge where the light shines through a wall of windows with a bench running beneath. A fireplace sits with a large white oak mantel framing it, book shelves on either side of the chimney bare and daunting with their emptiness. The other two walls are bare and she's glad they already know what they're doing to the room otherwise she'd feel pressured.
The next room is the den, filled in her mind with a vision for the almost all glass room with the glass roof and blue walls. She walks through to the monochrome kitchen with him trailing behind, no longer weary as he looks at her thoughtful face, knowing she's thinking about everything they'll do to the house. Island counters run through the middle of the room with a sink at one end and a food disposal slot at the other, cupboard on the side nearest the counters that line the wall. There's an oven and a fridge, but she doesn't like how small they are for such a big house.
Skipping through the dining room, she spins around and plans the room out. She's thankful it's large for when all the family are round, and realises that she and Klaus will be eating mostly in the kitchen so it's not too empty around them. She blinks and the image of a golden haired girl and sandy haired boy with big blue eyes and dimples flashes in front of her, the four of them eating at the table with a toddler in a high chair at the end where she feeds him. She shakes her head, her heart swelling at the image but her min screaming for her not to think that far ahead yet.
She runs up the stairs excitedly, his heavy feet taking two steps at a time behind her. He guides her to the right in to the master bedroom, large windows leading out to a balcony that overlooks the back yard that is complete with pool and patio. The room has an airy feel to it despite the dark colours, black oak and burgundy walls - she'd rather have navy walls if they have to be dark. The door on her left is the largest wardrobe she's ever seen, a walk in with shelves and rails that her whole closet would fit in three times over.
Connected to the bedroom is the en-suite; a large bath that can easily fit three people in it and a large spacious shower in the corner. Monochrome tiles line the walls with matching laminate on the floor. A black marble sink and white gleaming toilet are on the other wall, clean and sparkling under the scattered lights of the ceiling.
The other bedrooms are the same but with different colours; pastel pink, mint green and sky blue. Large windows and lots of room in each with large, spacious wardrobes and a bathroom nearby if not next to them.
The study - Klaus' study - faces out on to the back yard with large windows and a smaller balcony than that of the bedroom. The balcony also leads to the office, the smallest room in the house with a quarter of the room taken over by the stairs to the attic they apparently need to clear out from the old owner. she turns to him and nods towards the stairs. "No time like the present," she chirps, skipping up the stairs and looking at the mountain of boxes that came with the house. "Great," he grumbles, "Nothing says moving in like clearing out other people's crappy leftovers." She turns and glares at him before returning her attention back to the boxes. "Lets do this!" She puffs out her chest and releases her breath in a huff before they begin moving boxes down in to the office.
Two hours later and they're rifling through the stuff, finding everything from clothes to scary pot dolls and from photo albums to papers. Klaus holds up a dress for Caroline and she laughs in shock; a red beaded flapper dress perfectly preserved in a plastic covering. She holds up a man's cotton three piece suit with a spiral stripe tie and crisp white shirt, the whole thing an off white but not damaged in the slightest.
"How old were the last people that lived here?" She asks, pulling out more old clothes. "The house had been passed on for generations," he tells her as he lifts up a puffy fifties skirt and spins around with it against his hips, her laughter filling the room. "The last owner was a forty year old woman who had to go to Brooklyn for work and she never had kids so she had to sell the house on. She was an old family friend but I don't remember her parent let alone her grandparents."
"So, she doesn't want any of this?" She asks sadly, looking up at him as he lies the skirt down and kneels in front of the box again. "No, she doesn't have room in her new apartment to keep it and she sold everything from the house but this in case we wanted anything," he shrugs, "She knows what is in here but didn't want it and couldn't bring herself to chuck it away." Caroline purses her lips and nods, flipping her ponytail over her shoulder and opening a music box. Inside are old pieces of jewellery with beautiful stones and real pearls. "She's really missing out, then," she breathes, showing him the box. "Some of these are my grandmother's," he tells her with a smile. "She couldn't trust Esther or Mikael not to pawn off her stuff so she gave them to a friend. I bet that's why they were left behind!"
He pulls the box from in front of Caroline and looks through it happily.
"She was the only one that took care of us," he explains as he pulls out photo albums and chuckles relieved, "I was so hurt that we weren't able to keep anything of hers but... It's all here. These are hers, most of this is. Those must be my grandfather's suits. I never met him, he died in a work accident - the army, building bombs...one went off in front of him and killed him. Wow, I never thought I see this stuff again!"
She smiles as she watches him go through the stuff, leaving him to show her things; her watch, her perfume bottle ("thank god it's empty, it was disgusting!"), her photos, little gifts they'd given her and thought were lost. "I'll have to take some of this back to the others and show them," he mumbles to himself, looking through the photos. They begin moving it all downstairs, ignoring the dust covering them and choosing what they'll take back to the family house for now.
Rebekah pulls Klaus to the side and hands him a ring; their grandmothers. "You want me to have all the jewellery, but I don't want this one," she tells him quietly, looking over across the room as Caroline enters wearing the flapper dress, Katherine close behind in the 50's skirt and a tied denim shirt she's stolen off Kol over her white tank top. "You were always her favourite, she wanted you to have it. Elijah told me once that she'd already planned what we were to have and she talked of you having her ring... You need to keep it and give it to her when you're ready. I've always wanted a sister like Caroline."
With that, Rebekah walks away, leaving him to pocket the ring before Caroline walks over to him. "What do you think?" She asks him, spinning so the beads spin out around her and jangle together. "You look beautiful, my love," he smiles, her heart skipping a beat at the new endearment he absently said. "You would've loved the 20's, Caroline. Girls were reckless, fun, sexy. They literally used to dance until they dropped. It was a time of illegal alcohol, jazz and wild acts of passion. My grandmother told me the story of how she met my grandfather, back in the 20's. She probably wore that very dress."
She pulls him over to the sofa and sits down, curling in to his side as he wraps an arm around her. "She was out at a club with her brother, barely 21 and drinking cocktails in a jazz bar. She was higher class, sat in the booths at the back overlooking everyone. Her brother, older by six years, kept his eye on her at all times. So, when the place was raided, he grabbed her and tried to run, but she'd met a man whilst dancing and didn't want to lose him. Her brother left her, deeming her hysterical. My grandmother and the man were arrested but released once their families - rich and well known - had come to buy them back. They'd go dancing every night afterwards, never getting caught again and causing as much trouble as they could. A year later, she fell pregnant and he married her immediately, saying it was long overdue anyhow since he was too scared to ask her beforehand. Apparently my grandmother was rather headstrong and intimidating, so he was weary to ask her in fear of rejection. They married, she gave birth to my uncle and so began the Gideon generation - my mother's family." She smiles and kisses his cheek before getting up. "As adorable as that story was, I need to get out of this dress. Not comfortable to sit in," she tells him before sauntering off with Katherine out of the room to change in to whatever else they can find.
They put on a fashion show, finding old 60's and 70's clothes with mini skirts and flared pants in horrendously bright colours and bold patterns until they run out and begins rifling through photo albums, finding some baby Mikaelson photos and laughing at their newly extended family despite their protests.
The next two weeks consist of them shopping and renovating; decorators rushing in and out until the walls are repainted, the wood polished and the windows refitted. An alarm is set up, along with security cameras and a buzzer/pass code system on the front gates. Delivery men set up the house, listening to the couples bickering until they finally settle on where to put what (Caroline wins every time but she's sure he moves things around himself when she isn't in the room).
Collapsing on to the sofa, not even bothering to take off the plastic, they lean in to one another with groans. "I never thought it'd be so exhausting," she complains, closing her eyes and trying not to slide off the plastic in her super soft jeans. He pats her leg tiredly and nods weakly. "We've got to bring our stuff in from our rooms, too," he reminds her, smirking when she groans loudly and dramatically. "We'll do it later..." he offers, trailing off as they both fall asleep, waking up hours later when they finally slide off on to the floor.
She lets out an excited scream, bouncing up and down when she unpacks the last item they have ad throwing the box out of the bedroom door. He laughs, bracing himself as she runs over and tackles him on to the bed that is now covered with new bed sheets and is way more comfortable than their old beds. She sits up and dances as he lies underneath her, smirk in place as an idea begins to form in his mind.
Grabbing her wrists, he spins them over so he's pinning her down beneath him. She bites her lip, only adding to his need for her. Hands sneak under shirts, feeling each other until they hear something thud downstairs and Kol's voice drift up the stairs. "ONLY MEEEEEEE!" He bellows, obviously hoping to avoid any intimate moments they might be having. Klaus growls and removes his hands from inside Caroline's bra, leaving the blonde huffing at the loss of contact and interrupted moment. "Later, my love," he purrs, pulling her up with him from the bed as they walk down the stairs.
The door opens again and Rebekah drops an amazing amount of shopping bags in the foyer. "You know you don't live here, right?" Klaus checks, earning a sneer from Rebekah before she turns to Caroline. "Me and Katherine bought you more clothes as a house warming gift because we saw that wardrobe and knew you would have plenty of space," Rebekah tells her before looking at Klaus expectantly. "I'll put them away, then, shall I?" He asks sarcastically, but Rebekah nods and grabs Caroline's hand, leading her away from poor Klaus who grumbles and picks up the mass of bags on his own. "Katherine is currently being tied up by Elena for not alerting the media to her engagement sooner since it's overshadowing you and Nik moving in together and... I don't even know anymore! Elena is crazy!" Rebekah huffs, pushing her hair from her face.
They enter the kitchen to find Kol already sat eating from a family sized bag of crisps, shovelling them like there's no tomorrow. "You're a savage," Rebekah sneers, earning a show of the half-chewed crisps currently in Kol's mouth. "You know, you two are adults, remember?" Caroline points out tauntingly, receiving scowls from the siblings as she opens up the large silver fridge and pulls out a beer and a bottle of water. Whacking the beer top on the counter, the lid pops off and bounces in to the bin whilst the sibling watch her with wide eyes and opened mouths. Holding it out, Klaus walks in and takes it from her, still muttering about Rebekah's 'gift' almost killing him when a bag ripped and he almost fell down the stairs.
"Did you know that Caroline does this thing with the beer where she pops the lid in the bin?" Kol asks him amazed, pointing between Caroline, Klaus' beer and the bin. "Yeah, she does it all the time," he shrugs, coming to his girlfriend's side and kissing her sweetly. "Thank you for the beer, sweetheart," he finally says, smiling down at her. "Are we intruding?" Rebekah asks, reminding the couple of the siblings existence. "Yes," they both snap, turning to them with the same unimpressed look. "Well, sorry!" Kol sasses, throwing his arms out dramatically with the bag almost spilling out, "we wanted to welcome you in to your new home but apparently we're not wanted!" Klaus simply raises his eyebrows in silent agreement to the statement whilst Caroline sighs.
"No, we love you guys, it's just that... we just finished moving in and we didn't expect interruptions in our own house," she explains, looking at them sympathetically as well as scolding them silently. "Okay, okay, we'll call or whatever beforehand," Kol relents, raising his hand in surrender. "Sorry, we were just excited," Rebekah mumbles before covering her sincerity and minor vulnerability by stealing a handful of Kol's crisps and eating them slowly with a smirk on her lips.
After Kol has happily rid them of their snack and Rebekah's convinced that they'll let her throw them a house warming party, the siblings leave with the promise to inform everyone to call before coming to the house... Or at least knocking on the front door before entering. "So, is Henrik going back to England?" She asks as he grabs her hips and sits her on top of the counter, fitting himself between her legs. "Nope," he replies, popping the p. "He's transferred himself here, tricked Esther in to signing his forms and is now a student at a high school in New Orleans for the net two years." She smiles, happy that he's staying since he's much better off here with his brothers and sister than with Esther. She opens her mouth to ask him something else, but he dives his tongue between her parted lips an begins kissing her like his life depends on it - not that she's complaining.
Next time she opens her eyes, they're both naked in the bed and panting as he thrusts in to her hard and fast. The bed shakes, his eyes boring down in to her own. His jaw is tense with his hold on his release and she claws at his back when she screams out his name, moaning when she feels him explode inside her and groans her name. He pulls her on top of him, both lay in be with smiles on their faces. "I love you," she whispers, stroking his face adoringly. "As I love you, sweetheart," he smiles back, cupping her neck and kissing her until they end up making love again... and again... and again... At least they broke in the be before falling asleep.