Established AU Klaroine, where Caroline forms a habit of tying Klaus' tie, which leads to him proposing using a tie.

Requested by t-pak

"What's that?" Caroline asked, stopping short after exiting the bathroom and into their bedroom where Klaus was currently getting ready for the Mayor's dinner and drinks they were attending that evening.

"What?" he asked back, looking up in the middle of shrugging on his suit jacket with furrowed brows and concern etched on his features.

"That thing around your neck!" she spat in disgust, dumping the make up bag in her hands on the vanity table before slipping into the silver heels she had picked out to go with her violet dress.

Klaus glanced down at himself, smoothing a hand down his chest as he did so. "I believe its my tie, love," he replied bemusedly.

"No, that's a tie. That is not the tie I picked out for you to wear tonight," Caroline pointed out with a huff, turning to give herself a once over in the floor length mirror that decorated one side of their walk-in closet. When he failed to reply, she looked over to see a blank mask on his face. "Jeez, Klaus! The one thing you needed to do and you totally ignored me when I was telling you, didn't you?"

"You were half naked when you were doing so, Caroline. I will admit, it wasn't your words I was paying attention to," he conceded smugly with a shrug, a smirk forming on his handsome features when her glare failed to portray her true annoyance due to the smile tugging at her lips.

Clearing her throat, she turned on her heel and found the dark purple silk tie she had chosen for him on his side of the closet (the part she hadn't taken over), neatly placed with the rest of his collection. "Nuh-uh. No sweet talking or cheesy lines. Tonight has to be perfect, and to be perfect, we have to look perfect. Got it?" she demanded, pointing a finger in his direction as she walked over to him.

"Perfectly," Klaus repeated lightly, not fighting her as she unceremoniously tugged away his current tie, throwing it haphazardly in the direction of the bed, before looping the tie she had selected around his upturned collar. He laid his hands on her waist, pulling her into his body until she elbowed him in the solar plexus to allow her some room to work.

"Shut up," she muttered indignantly, concentrating on the task at hand as she secured his new tie with a Windsor knot. It wasn't something she had great practice with, but after fifteen years with Klaus, there had been a few instances where her Miss Mystic Falls training had come handy. Happy with how it turned out, she nodded to herself and turned down his collar, patting the knot in pride. "There, now we match!"

"And everyone knows I belong to you," he added teasingly, to which she scoffed.

Pressing her lips to his briefly so not to ruin her lipstick, she sighed contently when she pulled back. "Oh honey, everyone already knows that."

…

"Wait!" Caroline gasped, stopping him in his stride towards the bedroom door. Giving him the once over, she took in his sleek form and pondered what it was that seemed off to her. They were hosting a small party (a ball, really, considering the namesake room they were using) to bring together the different factions of the city in a superficial imitation of peace. It was more to remind them all who was really in charge once again. "Bowtie. A bowtie will look better."

"You are kidding, aren't you?" Klaus asked skeptically, unsure what was wrong with his casual silver tie. Allowing him no heed, she raced quickly into the closet in her barefeet before he left. "Very well."

Finding the drawer housing his ties, she quickly flicked through the small collection of bowties (seriously, a collection of various styles, colours and materials) until she came across an interesting one that would actually match the design of her dress. "Hey, I found this diamante studded one-"

"Not in my very long lifetime, sweetheart," he cut her off quickly and sharply, making her smirk.

"Fine," she brushed off, picking up the plain black one and making her way over to him. She smiled at the fact that he had already undone his tie, currently hanging loosely from his fingers. Pulling it into her hands, she tucked it into the crook of her elbow before setting about to tie his bowtie. "Why do you have it if you won't wear it?"

"It must have been a gift or something," he said offhandedly, and she could feel his eyes burning a hole into the top of her head. Glancing up through her lashes, she blushed at the heated gaze in his eyes. It was amazing how much adoration and love he could portray in one simply look.

Going back to the tie, her nimble fingers worked the smooth material into place before getting started on it. "Why would anyone give you a bowtie? Don't they know you?" she asked half-heartedly, crooking an eyebrow dubiously.

"You buy me ties all the time," he pointed out, dragging a finger down her bare arm until she was forced to slap it away to regain her concentration from where her mind had wandered into dangerous erotic territory.

"I'm your girlfriend; it's my right to dress you how I want," Caroline insisted, finishing up his bowtie with a wide smile and a pat to his cheek. "There! Handsome as ever."

...

"The red," Caroline advised when she passed the closet to see Klaus peering into the tie drawer.

"You're wearing black, though," Klaus called out, confusion lining his words but she heard the telltale sounds of rustling material and the drawer being closed.

Smirking to herself, she picked up the ruby earrings she was planning on wearing to the cocktail party that evening. "Not underneath, I'm not."

...

"You're late! We're going to be late!" Caroline snapped angrily as she re-entered the bedroom to find Klaus finally present and getting ready. She had gone to look for him throughout the house, but when she failed to find anyone let alone him, she had frowned in confusion before padding back to their room.

"Its our dinner, love; we can be as late as we want," Klaus reminded her, buttoning up his crisp white shirt. She didn't even bother to hide her roaming eyes at his toned chest, slowly being covered up until she ripped the shirt off him (if he could ruin her clothes, she would do the same to him) later that night.

Shaking her head when she realised she was being pulled into his suggestive words, she pushed away those thoughts for later. "That hasn't worked every other time you've used it on me and it won't work now," she huffed, hands on her hips as she unashamedly watched him tuck his shirt into his pants. Averting her eyes when she caught his smug smirk, she dragged her eyes over the bed and saw there was an item missing from the rest of the clothes he had left to put on. "Where's your tie? I put it right there not half an hour ago!"

"Its probably in the closet. I must have taken it back in there when getting changed," he shrugged dismissively.

Caroline eyed him suspiciously before rolling them at the innocent look he shot her, dimples and all. Muttering under her breath about him being a thousand year old teenager at times, she headed into the closet, hoping to find the sky blue tie with ease.

Luckily for her, it was the first thing she saw. Laid out on the chest of drawers in the middle of the closet, she frowned when she caught sight of the small, velvet box atop of it. Picking up the box, she wrapped the tie around her hand before curiosity got the better of her.

"Do you have your cufflinks? Because you've left a box here on to-" she began, cracking open the small box to see what he had chosen to wear when she cut herself off at the solitaire, diamond ring that was inside. "Oh, my god."

"Got my cufflinks," Klaus informed her with a soft smile, leaning against the doorway as he watched her turn towards him. Shock was clearly written on her face, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. "Do you like it?"

Caroline finally managed to tear her eyes away from the ring in her hands for a second, bouncing them from him and back again. "I- Is it-? I mean- Huh?"

Chuckling, he pushed himself away from the doorway and stepped up to her. "Let this be known as the first time I have ever had you speechless," he teased, but she merely blinked back at him. Taking the jewelry box from her hands, he dropped down onto one knee and presented it to her the way he had seen in many of her 'rom-com' movies. "Will you marry me, Caroline?" he proposed, watching as her face softened from shock to surprise but still failed to reply. "Now would be a great time to regain your ability to speak."

His tone was amused with a very obvious mix of worry at her lack of answer. He wasn't sure how long he was meant to keep waiting (the movies were very misleading with the immediate replies), and he was considering perhaps he had judged the pace of their relationship and the hints he thought she had been dropping the last five years wrongly when she let out a small gasp. A smile immediately curved her lips as tears began to fill her eyes.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Caroline emphasised, her voice getting louder and more excited with each repetition. "Of course I'll marry you!"

Letting out a breath in relief, he barely got the time to realise what was happening when he was almost knocked off balance (almost) as she flung her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his. Sliding his hands up her legs, he stood up with his arms around her waist without breaking their passionate embrace.

Pulling away only when he realised he hadn't completed one important aspect of the engagement, Klaus pecked her lips one final time before bringing the hand clasping the ring box in between them. Looking up at her through his lashes when she giggled in anticipation, holding her left hand up for him (blue tie still wrapped around her palm), he plucked out the ring and slid it onto the correct finger. It fit perfectly; snug against her knuckle with the diamond glinting beautifully in the light.

Caroline held up the hand against his chest to admire the sight, leaning her forehead against his as the giggles failed to stop bubbling out. "I love you," he murmured, lips brushing against hers.

"I love you," she replied before following through with a heated kiss that effectively stopped the (probable hysteric) giggles in her throat. "We're really going to be late now. I need to redo my makeup and I kinda wanna just take you to bed first."

Smirking, Klaus tossed the empty jewelry box behind Caroline onto the chest and reached up to brush her hair back from her face, all the whilst keeping his other arm around her waist to keep her to him. "Its a good thing that dinner is just for the us two then, hmm?" he informed her slyly, tugging her gently with him back towards the main area of their bedroom.

Curling her fist into his shirt, she tossed back her head with a sigh of relief. "God, my fiancé's a genius."