Prompt: The Lizzie Bennet Diaries AU

"The worst person in the world."

"-terrible, haughty, smug ass-"

"Who invited him, anyway?"

As Caroline continued to watched the video, her heart dropped more and more. She had gotten used to staring at her face while editing a final product, but this was different. This was a fan edit, a new interpretation on her own words through the lens of an anonymous viewer out there in the world.

"Seriously," she asked in a broken whisper. "Am I really this mean to him?"

Bonnie, her best friend and video goddess, only smiled sadly. "You've always had a dearth of opinions on Mikaelson," she pointed out, always the realist.

Caroline huffed, more helpless than angry. "But you're telling me that I've ranted enough for a fan to make a super-cut that's more than an hour long?!"

Shrugging, Bonnie paused the video over Caroline's protests. "He got to you," she said.

"But he knows about these videos," Caroline groaned. "What if he sees this?"

"And now she cares," Bonnie muttered to herself. Seeing Caroline's despondent look, though, she felt the need to come up with a bright side. "Since everything's out in the open now, maybe you and he can start fresh. A clean slate."

Caroline wasn't so sure, given everything that had happened over the year.

When Elijah Mikaelson moved to town, Carol Lockwood was beyond excited for her son's friends - all languishing in their mid-twenties with nary a boyfriend among them. While her Tyler had already married Liv, Carol held a soft spot for Elena Gilbert. Since the girl's parents had passed, Carol was determined to find her good match. Caroline and Bonnie fell lower on the list of eligible ladies, so Elijah Mikaelson was clearly meant for Elena.

He had hosted a housewarming party, and Carol nearly fainted when there were two Mikaelson brothers and a sister, as well. Their wealth and good breeding was abundantly clear, and Carol was in heaven. She couldn't have been more obvious if she tried, but Elijah took a shine to Elena anyway. They made polite small talk before easing into more enjoyable conversation about their careers and books they were reading.

Soon, the couple was inseparable. Caroline would have found it endearing had Elijah not come as a group package with his terrible siblings.

Rebekah, as the baby of the family and the only girl, was a completely spoiled brat. She had nothing but "helpful suggestions" for Caroline's personal style, and she worried for Bonnie's "weird obsession" with supernatural television shows. Had she bothered to get to know them, Rebekah might have learned that Caroline quite enjoyed her fashion sense and Bonnie's obsession was going to get her a killer job making her own TV show someday.

After all, that's how they started Caroline's vlog in the first place. Bonnie needed to practice her editing skills and to compile a reel for the inevitable job hunt. Caroline, a poor sociology grad student, loved talking about how fashion evolves with society itself and how it's a much larger influence than people realize. In need of a unique thesis project, Caroline realized she watched more makeup tutorials than normal TV. Why couldn't she do the same for an elevated conversation on clothes? It only made sense for them to put their heads together and maybe make some extra money to pay off their student loans in the meantime.

Even though only Elena's views were probably the bulk of their ad revenue from YouTube, they took pride in their site. Rebekah's comments did nothing but poke fun at their hearts' work.

But she wasn't nearly as bad as her other brother, Klaus.

Sure, he was hot, disgustingly so. But honestly, so was Caroline the night they met, and he still chose to stand off to the side rather than join her on the dance floor. Rude, much?

It certainly didn't help his case when she overheard him talking to Elijah about how dull the partygoers all were. "You've already snagged the only one that might be decent," Klaus decreed, sipping at his glass of bourbon.

Elijah let his eyes wander over the crowd, and Caroline ducked when he clearly gestured toward her. "Miss Forbes was lovely enough when we met," he said. "She even asked you to dance, that couldn't hurt."

"She's tolerable enough," Klaus grumbled. "But I was under the impression you moved us to this backwater so I would stop wiling away my time with vapid blondes."

Fuming, Caroline accidentally spilled her beer on him that night and only referred to him as "Mikaelson" ever since.

And even as her videos grew more distracted from fashion and focused more on her personal life, she didn't expect have so much time devoted to complaining about Klaus's behavior. He just always seemed to get under her skin, especially when he stopped treating her like the shallow bimbo he expected her to be. Caroline was constantly off-kilter after that, unsure how to take his tentative conversation attempts and sometimes playful banter. It was even worse when he offered to take her wherever she wanted, just so she could see the world outside her small town. What did he want from her?

Even now, as she stared at the video counter buffering the rest of her rants, she wasn't sure how to process their relationship anymore. She had been on the phone with Elena when Bonnie told her about the fan video, effectively distracting her from Elena's renewed bliss.

Despite their nauseating behavior when they were around each other, Elijah still ghosted Elena at the behest of his siblings. They had convinced him the girl was unworthy, and when Caroline found out, she was livid. Had the Mikaelsons bothered to stay in town, she might have been able to keep her anger limited to Internet rants.

But no. Caroline just had to get an internship with an art museum in the big city, her sociology degree coming to help in describing context of the artworks and movements. Her first introduction was at least a pretty nice guy, once she got past the lewd jokes and flippant comments.

He actually caught her filming a video in one of the exhibits, laughing when she tried to take down her camera in a panic. "It's fine, Caroline," he assured her. "I work communications here, so I've been assigned your welcome your. We know all about your videos already, and I brought all the release forms you'll need to film here."

Bashful, Caroline accepted the packet he handed her. "Thank you," she said shakily. "What do you mean we?" For some reason, she was more comfortable plastering her personal life all over the Internet than to share with people she would be working with.

"Well, it's not so much we as me," he clarified, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Big fan."

"O-oh, well, thanks again," she stammered. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

His friendly grin turned mischievous. "Kol," he answered. "Kol Mikaelson."

"There are more of you," Caroline cried out before she could melt into a puddle of embarrassment. She had a fan, and he was the brother of her very personal villain. "How can you be a fan after everything I said about your family?"

"Because it's mostly true," Kol replied with an unconcerned shrug. "Nik can be a right prat, and Rebekah tends to be harsh on the female population when it comes to her brothers."

Confused, Caroline tried to process quickly. "Nik?"

"Niklaus," he explained. "He prefers Klaus now, but Bekah and I like to pester him with Nik. You'll see when he arrives this afternoon."

"What?!"

Of course, her fantastic internship just had to be at the museum Klaus freaking Mikaelson ran. He always seemed to be just around the corner when she was leading a tour, or sitting alone in the cafeteria when she took her lunch. Being the nice person she was, and nosy as hell wanting to figure out what happened between Elijah and Elena, Caroline would join him. Over the weeks, their conversation was less vitriol and more camaraderie.

And then the news came. Her mother was in the hospital, and Caroline had to go home. Klaus put her in a car and hired movers to send her things, without even blinking. Things had calmed down since, but Caroline had yet to hear from him. She did hear from Elena, who was happier than ever considering Elijah had a sudden change of heart.

Caroline wondered what, or who, gave Elijah the confidence to make his own decisions.

Still, she stared at the paused fan video, noting the pinched skin between her eyebrows practically etched in rage. Caroline had ranted and raved about the terrible Klaus Mikaelson, but just as he saw her as more than a vapid blonde, shouldn't she give credence to the changes she's seen in him since that godawful first impression?

"I've got to go," Bonnie said behind her, startling her from the confusion of her musings. "I've got to prep for my student film proposal."

Waving idly, Caroline barely registered the door shutting with Bonnie's exit. Needing to work through her thoughts, she turned on the camera in hopes of catching some stray moment of wisdom. When a knock sounded a minute later, she assumed her bestie forgot something. "It's open," she called, not moving from her computer screen and the fan video burning into her retinas.

Footsteps made their way toward her, and she felt the warmth of a person standing behind her. "I haven't seen that video before," a familiar and distinctly male voice said.

With a jolt, Caroline slammed the lid of her laptop down and turned to find an amused Klaus. "It's a fan video," she explained in a rush. "Apparently, I'm really funny when I completely tear into people, even though they're all convinced we're secretly in love with each other, and it's just ridiculous because there's more than enough evidence to the contrary, I know, I filmed it, and-"

"Caroline," he interrupted, chuckling. "I've seen all your videos, and there's nothing in that one that could worsen my opinion of you."

She winced. "Because I'm the worst already," she nodded, closing her eyes. "I get it."

"No, love, that's not what I meant," he clarified. Reaching for her hands, he waited until she met his gaze. "I only meant that I enjoy you, and not just in spite of your fiery descriptions of me. Because of them."

Her mouth fell open in surprise, and she glanced down to their joined hands. "Um," she said softly. "Why did you stop by? You don't even live here anymore. I haven't heard from you since I left the city."

Stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, a smile formed deep dimples in his cheeks. "Did you miss me," he asked, slyly stepping forward. Seeing she had no answer, he stepped closer again. "Because I missed you," he admitted quietly.

"Maybe," she answered, voice small and shy. "Just a little."

"Your internship is finished, and you don't have to go back to school for another month," he said, brushing a curl behind her ear. "I hope your mother is feeling better."

Caroline nodded, but she didn't know what he was getting at. "Her surgery was rough, but they got everything. She even gets to go back to work next week."

"And Elena?"

"Happier than ever," she answered, smiling. Her assumption that he was somehow involved seemed to be correct.

"Good," he replied, cupping her neck with a warm hand. "I know I didn't do much to endear you to my last offer of running away and seeing the world. If I am no more successful this time around, I promise to leave you in peace."

Her breath caught in her throat as his eyes bored into hers.

"You captivate me in a way I couldn't predict, or even understand," he said. "Caroline Forbes, my feelings have only grown since the day you soundly rejected everything I had to offer. I can only hope yours might have changed course."

She nodded slowly, not moving her eyes from his. "What was it you promised," she asked huskily. "Rome, Paris, Tokyo?"

With a smirk, Klaus leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek. "Which shall it be, love?"

"Yes."

It wasn't until much later that Caroline realized her camera had been rolling the entire time.