AN: Hey! Thank you so much for the reviews! This is the longest chapter I have written, so far. It's kind of the turning point in this story. I hope you all enjoy!
The next couple days flew by. Caroline thoroughly enjoyed being around the Mikaelsons. She spent most of her time with Kol, Rebekah and Stefan. And of course Layla. Sometimes Klaus and Genevieve would join them. And sometimes when Genevieve was pouting due to Klaus' alleged mistreatment of her, just Klaus would join them. The first couple of times that Caroline witnessed a shirtless Klaus, she was completely floored. Matt had been muscular, but he was beefier. Klaus had a lean muscular look to him. And even Caroline had to admit, it was sexy. She didn't fail to notice that when Genevieve wasn't all over Klaus, he got plenty of stares from the women at the resort. Though Klaus wasn't blind either. He had an even harder time controlling himself around Caroline when she was running around in her sexy little bikini. Despite having had a baby, Caroline had a very toned body and she didn't seem the least bit ashamed to show it off a bit. He didn't like the looks she got from other men, nor did he enjoy witnessing men hitting on her and flirting with her. Most of them even did it while Layla was walking hand in hand with Caroline. It was like these men had no shame.
As they were finishing up dinner on New Year's Eve, Kol decided to begin his plan. "So what's everyone's plans for tonight?"
"Stef and I are going to the party on the beach. What a romantic way to ring in the new year, with that view." Rebekah looked out the window at the beautiful blue water and white sand beach. Kol wasn't surprised by this. In fact, he had hoped that given time to think about it, Rebekah would fall in love with the idea of attending a new year's party on the beach.
"Your mother and I will be in our room." Mikael said curtly. Not that anyone actually expected him to want to spend any more time with his children than absolutely necessary. Once again, Kol had hoped for this.
"Finn, Ryan and I will be together in our room. We have a few traditions we are trying to keep." Sage said. Kol was beaming. Not that he didn't love Finn, Sage, Ryan and even Rebekah and Stefan. It would be easier for him to execute his plan if there wasn't a lot of people at his party.
"Well, that leaves the 7 of us. Lijah, Nik. What were you guys thinking?" Kol looked at his big brothers.
Elijah sighed. They had tried horseback riding today and he had fallen off the horse. "I think I am going to spend New Year's Eve in bed." Katherine looked at him, with a sultry smile. "Sorry, Katerina. Not in bed like that. In bed, resting, most likely with pain killers strong enough to knock out an elephant." Kat's face fell.
"Looks like I need something to do. Kol, did you have a plan?" Katherine looked at her soon-to-be brother-in-law. Kol looked at Klaus waiting for his reply.
"I want to go to the beach party." Genevieve pretty much whined.
"Hmm, well I was thinking that since Caroline here will be sentenced to her room, we grab some bubbly and party in our room. You ok with that Care?" Kol looked hopefully at Caroline.
"Yeah, as long as we don't keep Layla up. It would be great to have company. I usually spend new year's eve alone." Caroline perked up for the first time since the conversation began.
Klaus still hadn't expressed his opinion yet. He knew Genevieve wanted to go to the beach party. She had been droning on and on about it for the past two days. But Klaus didn't want to pass up the opportunity to spend time with Caroline. Caroline and alcohol. Klaus smirked. "I don't think I am in the mood for being around a huge group of people. I think spending time with my family, drinking champagne sounds like a nice relaxing way to ring in the New Year." Kol was ecstatic. This was what he had hoped for. He figured if he could eliminate a lot of distractions, and get both Caroline and Klaus drunk, maybe the truth would come out. Or they would sleep together. Either way, Genevieve was his only obstacle now.
"But Klaus, we don't have to be right in the mix of everyone at the party. Or we could have a party in our room. Just the two of us." Genevieve was getting desperate again. Klaus had brought her to this paradise, but he had barely touched her since they got here. He rarely looked at her or talked to her. It was almost like he was over her already. She couldn't let that happen.
"If you want to go to the party, you can. I plan to spend New Year's with Kol, Kat and Caroline." Klaus replied.
Genevieve knew she wasn't going to get anything if she wasn't with Klaus, so she gave in. "I'd rather be with you than at some beach party. I'll join your party too, Kol." She smiled her best winning smile.
"Wonderful." Kol smiled in Caroline's direction. If only she knew what he had in store for her. "I will procure the champagne and liquor for the night. You each need to obtain some sort of snack and pick out something nice to wear. Just because we are meeting in a hotel room, doesn't mean this isn't a classy party." Kol's entire purpose for a dress code was purely so Caroline didn't wear sweats and a ratty t shirt. He knew her way too well and that wardrobe wouldn't help her cause. "9:00. Don't be late." Kol winked and left to get the alcohol he would need.
Kol stepped out of the shower at 8:00 and started getting ready. He put on a pair of black jeans and a plain grey t-shirt. He decided that he was casual classy. He might have made it up, but it was his party. He walked into the living room around 8:45 to see Caroline setting up. She had just put Layla to bed. Caroline had decided to wear a mid-thigh length turquoise colored dress. It had spaghetti straps and showcased her cleavage. Kol had to admit, she looked good. Katherine showed up first, wearing skinny leather pants and a white blouse. At 8:00 exactly, Klaus and Genevieve came strolling into the suite. Klaus wore a navy blue button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and dark jeans. Genevieve was wearing a mini skirt and a green halter top. Kol looked disapproving at her attire, thinking there was nothing classy about a mini skirt. Caroline set out the chips, fruit, and cheese and crackers and Kol began to pour drinks. He had a plan of attack in his mind and he just needed to execute it. Rebekah would be impressed when he tells her about it. He had been watching Caroline, Klaus and Genevieve all week. He knew that Caroline had been checking out Klaus whenever he had his shirt off. He also knew that Klaus got extremely jealous when Caroline was given attention by other men. Finally, he knew that if Klaus ignored Genevieve long enough, she would throw a hissy fit and either leave on her own or Klaus would dismiss her. He only had four hours to get rid of Genevieve and get Klaus and Caroline drunk enough that their filters stop working.
Kol decided to break the ice by pulling out a deck of cards and calling everyone to the table. They sat in a circle, Kol sat next to Katherine who sat next to Caroline who sat next to Klaus who was obviously sitting next to Genevieve. "Here's the rules. We are playing poker." Kol began.
"But I didn't bring any money." Kat cut in.
"Strip poker?" Genevieve winked at Klaus. Maybe she could make the most of this night.
Kol laughed. "No money needed and no stripping will be done. The winner of each hand gets to pick a person to reveal a secret." Caroline looked at Kol like he was crazy. "Oh, I forgot to mention that to begin each round we all take a shot and each time you fold, you take a shot." Kol pulled out a few various bottles of liquor. "You can choose from Bourbon, whiskey or tequila." He handed each person a shot glass. "A shot to begin the fun. Pick your poison darlings!" Kol poured each person a shot of their desired alcohol.
The first couple of rounds weren't too exciting. But as they started to get closer to drunk, Klaus and Caroline got really flirty. Kol smiled knowing that Genevieve was growing more and more frustrated with being ignored. Kol won that round and decided to take a gamble. "Care, darling, spill a secret."
Caroline thought for a minute. She looked shyly at Klaus and blurted out "Klaus was my first kiss." This actually surprised Katherine and Genevieve. Kol had actually seen Klaus kiss Caroline all those years ago, so he knew. Klaus was proud of himself for being her first kiss.
"And how was it?" Katherine laughed.
Caroline smiled wistfully. "Magical." Then she burst out laughing. Kol shook his head knowingly. She was quite close to being drunk and drunk Caroline had no filter. This night would get fun, very soon.
Genevieve was insanely jealous that Klaus had kissed Caroline, even if it was many years ago. Plus he just kept looking at Caroline. Almost like he wanted to kiss her again. "Next round!" She announced.
Somehow a nearly drunk Caroline won the next round. "Hmm, Kat, gimme some dirt."
Katherine chuckled. She could hold her liquor quite well, so she wasn't nearly as far gone as Caroline. "I think I want to have kids with Elijah someday." She admitted.
The next round was won by Kol. He decided to irritate Genevieve a little more. "Nik, what have you got?"
"I broke up with Tatia because she wanted to get married and have a baby, but I just didn't love her." Klaus admitted looking Caroline in the eyes, almost as if saying he didn't love Tatia because he loved her. Kol was right in his assessment of this getting to Genevieve. She looked ready to explode.
Klaus won the next round and picked Caroline. "Um, I might be running out of secrets." She chuckled. "I don't think I actually have feelings for Tyler." She said, kind of confused. "I mean," Caroline stumbled over her words a bit. "I like him. As a friend. Nothing more." Kol had already had a feeling about that, but the confirmation helped.
Genevieve won the next round and choose to play it safe and pick Kol. "I want to be 100% serious with Bonnie. I'm falling in love her." Caroline smiled at her best friend. She leaned behind Katherine and rubbed the back of his arm, not needing words to let him know she supported him.
Kol won the next round and picked Caroline, again. He knew sooner or later she would admit that she liked Klaus. But what she admitted this time was even better. It opened the whole night wide open. "I, um. I miss Matt, a lot." Caroline could feel the tears. "But I think I am ready to move on. I don't love Tyler, but he helped me get to this point. I think I am open to the idea of being in love again." The entire room was silent. Kol and Katherine relishing in the idea that maybe Klaus will finally make his move. Klaus was shocked that Caroline arrived at this point and trying to drunkenly think of ways to win her heart. Genevieve was ready to rip Caroline apart. Caroline broke the room out of its thoughts. "It's 11:30. I say one more round!"
The last round was amazingly won by the completely trashed Caroline. "Nikky, end the game right." Caroline used the nickname she had given Klaus when she was only four years old.
Klaus was quite drunk, too. His filter was completely gone and he knew this was his only chance to clear the air between him and Caroline concerning the red head sitting next to him. "I'm only with her for the sex." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Genevieve. Genevieve looked completely stunned. She knew he wasn't in love with her, but she thought he was at least interested in more than sex with her. Klaus turned to face her. "Sorry, sweetheart. It was bound to come out, soon or later. And this is me officially ending it. I think I need to finally grow up and go for a real relationship without any secrets." He smiled at Caroline, who drunkenly smiled back.
Genevieve got up from the table, huffing. "Well, I refuse to just sit around and be treated like this." She looks at Caroline intimidatingly. Apparently the blonde forgot all the threats she had told her. To be honest, Genevieve hadn't really thought of Caroline as viable competition until this trip. "I'll see you later, Klaus." She refused to believe he would really end things with her. He had always told her just how much he appreciated her abilities in the bedroom, plus they worked together. He couldn't really be rid of her for good. She made her way down to the beach party and spent time flirting with a lot of handsome guys. However, she felt her heart break when she arrived at their room at 2:30 in the morning to find all of Klaus' stuff gone. He was going to sleep somewhere else.
No one seemed bothered by Genevieve's exit, but that could also be caused by the enormous amount of alcohol they had consumed. They left the table and went to sit on the couches to watch the ball drop on TV. There was a small love seat and a larger couch positioned in front of the TV. Katherine looked at Kol, knowing now that his whole plan was to get Klaus and Caroline together. She winked at Kol and dramatically threw herself onto the larger couch. Kol conveniently had already placed the champagne and glasses on the coffee table in front of the larger couch. He was pouring the champagne as Klaus plopped down on the love seat and Caroline stumbled over.
"Kaaat" Caroline whined. "You can - hic – can't take up the – hic - whole couch." Caroline stumbled a bit more, as she made her way to the couch Katherine was occupying.
"Caroline, darling, why don't you sit with Nik." Caroline looked in Klaus' direction. Klaus patted the seat next to him. "You know I can't sit that close to my brother." Kol said dramatically.
Klaus rolled his eyes at his little brother's dramatics, however if it earned him some time with Caroline, he could appreciate it. "Come sit, sweetheart. You look like you need a break." Klaus held out a hand to lead Caroline to the love seat.
Caroline placed her hand in Klaus' and smiled shyly. "Thanks." She sat down, closer to Klaus than her sober self would have allowed.
Kol finished filling the glasses and as the clock struck midnight and the ball dropped, the four friends quietly cheered and toasted to the New Year. Kol finished his glass and looked over at his brother and Caroline. They looked cozy, but he had one last trick up his sleeve. "Katherine." He called. Katherine looked over at Kol. "Since Bonnie is not here, I am in need of my first kiss of the new year. Pucker up, darling." Kol puckered, but Katherine refused.
"No way, Kol. I will never be drunk enough." Kat shook her head and continued to sip her champagne.
Caroline jumped up from the couch and leaned over to kiss Kol, tenderly, on the cheek. "Happy New Year, Bestie."
"Happy New Year, Darling." Kol loved how sweet Caroline was. She would never leave him hanging. Kol looked at his big brother who appeared to be slightly jealous. "Now go give my brother a kiss too. He looks jealous." Kol whispered.
Caroline sat back down next to Klaus and drunkenly debated her next move. She could kiss him on the cheek too and save herself the embarrassment. Or she could do what she had been thinking about since the first time she saw him again at his family's ball. She was just drunk enough to throw caution to the wind. Caroline placed her hands on Klaus' cheeks and turned his face to look at her. Then without warning, she crashed her lips on his. There was nothing tender or sweet about this kiss. However, it wasn't quite passionate or romantic. It was a drunken and spontaneous kiss, that somehow still left both parties dazed, when Caroline pulled away. "Uh, happy new year." Caroline stumbled out.
Katherine cleared her throat. "Well, I'm going to get my first kiss of the New Year from my handsome fiancé. Thanks for the party, Kol. Good night." Katherine made her way to the door as a chorus of good byes sounded.
There was a strange and awkward tension in the room and Kol decided to make it a little worse. He knew they would have to address the Genevieve issue so that Caroline and Klaus could work out their stuff. "Nik, where are you going to sleep tonight?"
"In my room." Klaus answered. "Why wouldn't I?"
Caroline, who had started to sober up after kissing Klaus, caught on to what Kol was saying. "You kinda broke up with Genevieve. Are you still going to sleep with her? Or are you kicking her out of the room?"
A part of Klaus wanted to kick Genevieve out of the room. But he knew that she hadn't really done anything wrong to deserve being thrown out like that. Plus it wouldn't gain any points with Caroline. "I guess I didn't think of that. I can't kick her out. But I can't stay there with her either."
"Stay here." Caroline blurted out. Kol wasn't actually expecting Caroline to be the one to offer their room as the place for Klaus to crash. "You won't have a bed, unless you share with Kol, though." Both men shook their heads adamantly.
"It's only 3 nights. We can alternate who sleeps on the couch and who sleeps in the bed." Kol offered. "I'll even give you the bed tonight." Kol wanted a front row seat to the awkwardness that the morning would bring. The three of them agreed and began to clean up. It didn't take long and Caroline headed off to the bed she shared with Layla.
Klaus was on his way to the other bed room when Kol's voice stopped him. "I'll support you the whole way." Klaus looked back at his little brother, full of confusion. "If you want to be with Caroline." Klaus nodded. "We all know you like her. Just, don't hurt her. If you hurt her, I'll tear out your liver." Kol laid down and closed his eyes. Klaus shook his head at his brother as he walked into the bedroom. He did want to be with Caroline. He knew that Caroline and Layla were a packaged deal, and even though he wasn't ready for kids with Tatia, the idea of helping Caroline with Layla seemed ok. It seemed more than ok. He had gotten to know the spunky little girl pretty well on this trip and he would love to be a part of her life. To be a part of their life. Klaus smiled like a school boy, thinking about Caroline. He would wait until they got back to NYC to talk to Caroline. Then he would properly court her. He had ten years to make up for.
Caroline woke up the next morning, way too early. She had a pounding head ache from all the alcohol and was exhausted. She hadn't fallen asleep as quickly as she had hoped last night. Her mind was running circles. Running circles around one person, Klaus. In one night, she had admitted she wasn't in love with Tyler, but she was ready for a real relationship and then she kissed Klaus. Caroline knew that facing him in the morning was going to be awkward. Especially since Klaus had kind of broken things off with Genevieve. Caroline had stayed up much too late, drunkenly trying to make sense of her and Klaus' romantic lives and how, or if, they intertwined.
"Mommy!" Layla was now laying on top of Caroline, poking her cheek. "Mommy, please wake up. I'm hungry. I want to go to the buffet downstairs for breakfast." Layla moved from on top of Caroline to jumping on the bed. "Please, mommy! Please!"
"Ugh!" Caroline opened her eyes and immediately all her frustration melted. It was 8:30 in the morning. Layla had slept in and honestly it wasn't Layla's fault that Caroline was tired and hung over. "Ok, baby girl. Let's go wake up Uncle Kol." Caroline smiled at her daughter.
Much to Caroline's surprise, Klaus was already up and making coffee. "Hi, Klaus!" Layla chirped. She was on her way to go jump on Kol as he slept peacefully on the couch.
Klaus smiled at Layla. "Hello, sweetheart. Caroline."
Caroline smiled shyly, as she pulled her unruly bed head into a loose ponytail. "I hope we didn't wake you."
Klaus laughed. "I'm a morning person. I'm usually up early."
Caroline shook her head and winced slightly. "How are you not hung over?"
"I didn't drink nearly as much as you did, love." They had unconsciously stepped closer to each other as they had been talking, almost like they were being drawn towards each other.
"GAH!" Kol's scream pulled Caroline and Klaus out of whatever trance they had been in. They looked over to see Layla standing next to the couch holding an empty cup looking sheepishly at Kol. Kol's hair, face and chest were drenched. "Layla, now who in their right mind taught you to wake someone up like that?"
Klaus and Caroline were hardly containing their giggles. "You did, Uncle Kol."
Caroline handed Kol a towel to wipe his face. As he did, a huge smile emerged. "Of course I did!" He exclaimed. "And you are quite the student, my darling." Kol pulled himself off the couch and started to walk towards Layla. "And now, I think you need to give your favorite Uncle Kol a big good morning hug!" Kol began to chase Layla around the room, making sure to wipe the water on her face and pull her into bear hugs.
"Ok, children." Caroline got everyone's attention. "Let's all get dressed. Layla requested the breakfast buffet downstairs." With that, the four of them all showered and got dressed for the day.
They made their way downstairs, Klaus was holding Layla's hand as she spilled all of the other pranks that Kol had taught her. Klaus took the extra time to bond with the young girl, by telling her of a few more harmless pranks he knew of. Kol and Caroline were a few feet behind, with their arms linked. "So, you and my brother…." Kol wiggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Too early, Kol." Caroline shot Kol a look. "Let's just get through the rest of this vacation. I mean, Genevieve still has to ride home with us. How awkward is that going to be?"
"Well, I guess we are about to find out." Kol said as he was eyeing the dining room. Ester and Mikael had actually reserved a table that the family could use at any time during their stay at the resort. And there, sitting at the table with Finn, Sage, Ryan and Katherine, was Genevieve. It was clear that Klaus had not noticed Genevieve, and Layla was oblivious to what had happened between the couple the night before. So Klaus led Layla to the buffet and began to help her get food, while Genevieve looked on with a look that was full of jealousy, fury and hurt. "This is going to be fun!" Kol clapped his hands and skipped off to the buffet, hearing Caroline grumble something about needing coffee in order to deal with this.
Klaus noticed Genevieve sitting with his family as he helped Layla bring her plate to the table. Layla took the seat next to Ryan and looked up to Klaus. "Klaus! You need to sit next to me. I want to know more about that story."
Klaus inhaled sharply. Sitting next to Layla would put him sitting directly across from Genevieve. But one look at the pleading eyes of the little girl melted Klaus. He sucked it up and sat down. Kol sat down next to Klaus and Caroline took a seat across the table, next to Katherine. "What stories are you telling dear Layla?" Finn asked.
"Ah, just some wonderful tales of our youth." Klaus shot Layla a wink and Layla giggled back.
Genevieve took in the whole exchange and decided that she needed to win Klaus back. She could not let Caroline and her daughter steal Klaus from her. "I bet you were quite the trouble maker?" Genevieve said, as she ran her foot up Klaus' leg.
Klaus coughed and pulled his chair away from the table.
"That would be an understatement." Kol chuckled.
Caroline looked over at Katherine and decided to change the subject. "So how's Elijah doing?"
Katherine just shook her head. "He's gonna be out of commission for today. So once Bekah and Stefan make their way down here, we can decide how to spend our final days here."
The remaining days went by relatively smoothly. Genevieve kept quiet during mealtimes and spent most of her time at the spa, at Klaus' expense. She had figured giving him space would be the best way to get back into his good graces and his bed. Klaus continued to spend almost all of his time with Caroline and Layla. Taking the opportunities to bond with Layla and to flirt with Caroline. Finally, the morning that they would be departing came. By this time, Ester and Mikael were the only ones not privy to what had happened in Kol and Caroline's room on New Years Eve. The consensus was same for the whole family. Good riddance to Genevieve, welcome to the family Caroline and Layla. Rebekah was especially pleased, so she extended her favorite brother a kindness, by knocking on Genevieve's door to let her know that they were heading out to the airport. They all boarded the plane around 6:00 in the morning. The only difference in seating was that Klaus was sitting with Caroline, Kol and Layla. Genevieve was sitting by herself, but it didn't bother her too much. She spent the entire plane ride thinking of a plan to get in between Klaus and Caroline.