ANONYMOUS: Klaus and Caroline are co-anchors on a news show. AU

A/N: OMG this was so much fun to write, it kinda goes a little crack-y but I hope you like it :)


A FORECAST WITH A CHANCE OF ROMANCE

"Monday night will be a high of 30 degrees, so bundle up out there!"

Caroline smiled lamely at Mystic Falls News NBC's meteorologist, Bonnie Bennett, as she turned to her to close the evening broadcast.

"Thank you, Bonnie! Looks like it's going to be a cold first week in December," she remarked, smiling widely at the camera.

"Very! It's about that time to break out those electric blankets," Bonnie responded, winking at the camera.

Caroline looked over at her producer, Marcel Gerard, who was motioning for them to continue the conversation. They'd had an interview earlier in the broadcast that had ended prematurely, which meant they now had a few extra minutes to kill before they went off air.

"I love this time of year," Caroline said wistfully. "I just love curling up on the couch with a cup of coffee, a book, and my electric blanket. It's so cozy!"

"Wouldn't you rather curl up with someone, though?" Caroline's co-anchor, Klaus Mikaelson, cut in smoothly.

Caroline had to refrain from rolling her eyes as she turned to him. He was looking at her with his familiar smirk, his blue eyes gleaming at her knowingly.

Forcing a fake smile on her face, she shrugged. "I personally think my couch is warm enough."

"But rather quite lonely and chilly still," he remarked, his smirk widening at the irritated look that was growing on her face.

"It's not like my couch is outside," she gritted through her teeth, turning back to look at the camera.

She caught Marcel's eye, annoyed to find her producer grinning at them. Apparently, watching her and Klaus banter on TV was more entertaining than half of the news stories that MFN NBC aired. Their newscast was one of the most popular in Virginia, based mostly on all the hijinks between her and Klaus. His constant flirtatious comments towards her made women viewers swoon and her determination to shut him down constantly was attractive to the male viewers. Her co-anchor was arrogant, annoying, and a pain in her ass. They'd been working together for the past year and a half, and they still could never quite get along on and off camera.

"Perhaps you should take up camping," Klaus mused, casting an eye to the camera.

"Camping?" she asked, furrowing her brow at him.

Her heart thudded uneasily, flashing back to the MFN NBC company camping trip that the network had taken just a month prior. Certain… events had occurred during the trip that Caroline would rather never, ever discuss.

"I heard it's a very popular American way of life," Klaus said, winking to the camera.

Stupid British charm.

"It's too cold to camp in December," Caroline chuckled nervously, wondering where he was taking the conversation.

"Well, I heard the best way to keep warm in a tent while camping is to snuggle with someone while you are nak–"

"And that is all the time we have left today," Caroline shrilled, flashing a fake smile to the camera.

She ignored Klaus' chuckle, kicking at his ankle underneath the news table. He let out an "oof," and Caroline smirked victoriously.

"Join us tonight after Nightly News with Alaric Saltzman for an exciting interview with Mystic Falls' very own Miss Mystic Falls," Caroline continued.

"Weren't you Miss Mystic a few years back, love?" Klaus countered.

Glaring at him, Caroline forgot the camera was on her. Klaus raised his eyebrows as if to challenge her.

"We will see you back at 6," Caroline finished, turning back to the camera.

Marcel and the rest of the crew looked highly amused as the anchors froze for a moment, waiting for the all-clear.

"And we are off!" her producer announced.

Caroline immediately turned to Klaus, smacking him on the shoulder. "You are such an ass."

Klaus grinned at her. "What did I do? I just merely pointed out how fun camping was."

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she growled.

Klaus raised his eyebrows at her, leaning in closely. "Have you been fantasizing about that night too?"

"No!" she squeaked, answering too quickly, to Klaus' amusement.

Her face reddened, flashing back to that fateful camping trip. Somehow, during the team bonding experience, Klaus and Caroline had ended up having to share a sleeping bag for the night. One awkwardly timed body heat joke from her had caused one thing to lead to another and she'd found herself on her back with Klaus' head between her thighs.

"It's okay, love, you're not the only one who has been thinking about it," he winked, standing to leave.

She fumed at the table, nearly biting off the head of the makeup artist who came to touch up her makeup. Blowing her bangs out of her face, she read her notes for the interview with the beauty queen to distract her from irritation. The young girl was brought into the studio, gasping with surprise when she noticed Caroline.

"Oh my God! You're Caroline Forbes!" the girl gushed, nearly running over to the news table.

Inwardly rolling her eyes, the news anchor pasted a bright smile on her face. "Michelle Fell, I presume?"

"That's me," Michelle said brightly. "Wow, you are gorgeous in person."

"I agree," Klaus said smoothly, interrupting the conversation.

"Oh my God, you're Klaus Mikaelson," the young girl said, eyes wide as she took him in.

"At your service," he replied politely, taking her hand in his and kissing the back of it.

Caroline glared at them, unable to deny the sting of jealousy that flared up at seeing his lips touch the beauty queen's skin. Klaus smirked at her cockily, almost as if he could feel her annoyance.

"I cannot believe I'm in the presence of Klaroline!" Michelle squealed.

Klaus and Caroline looked at each other, exchanging mutual expressions of confusion.

"Klaroline?" she asked hesitantly.

The teenager nodded. "Yeah. There is a whole bunch of us that love to watch the news with you guys. You make the best couple."

"But, we aren't one," Klaus said, creasing his forehead in confusion.

"Yet!" Michelle said. "Seriously, I'm such a huge Klaroline shipper. You guys would be so awesome together."

Caroline chuckled nervously, looking away from Michelle. Klaus had a smirk plastered on his face as he crossed his arms.

"I think so too," he replied, pointedly looking over at her.

Michelle squealed, picking up her phone. "Oh my God, I need to tweet about this!"

"No, you don't," Caroline protested, trying to push the phone away from Michelle.

The teenager waved her off, bouncing over to her seat at the desk whilst she kept typing on her phone. When she was out of earshot, Caroline smacked Klaus on the shoulder, hard.

"Ow!" he hissed, glaring at her. "What was that for?"

"For spreading rumors! Now everybody will be tweeting us and commenting on Facebook wanting us to get together instead of caring about the news," she ranted, brushing a stray hair out of her eyes.

Klaus rolled his eyes, reaching his hand out to fix her hair. Caroline froze, her breath catching as his fingers brushed against her cheek lightly. His eyes were incredibly blue up close, and she found herself hypnotized by them. She bit her lip, stepping away when his fingers tangled into her curls.

Shaking himself out of his Caroline-stupor, Klaus cleared his throat. "Sweetheart, you do realize that we get those comments usually anyhow?"

She sighed, willing her pulse to calm at his near proximity. "It doesn't matter."

"Why not?"

"Because," she swallowed, "it's never going to happen."

Klaus stepped closer, invading her space again, once again making her lose the ability to breathe. "Why not?"

Caroline opened her mouth to respond, deny the attraction, how unprofessional it would be, to say something, but nothing came out. Klaus was looking at her intensely, as if challenging her to find a single reason why they couldn't be together.

"I–"

"Klaus! Caroline! We are back in five," Marcel interrupted, looking between them. "Everything okay?"

Caroline swallowed, breaking eye contact as she looked away. "Everything is fine."

Klaus let out a sigh, walking past them to go to the table. She felt oddly empty, and her stomach was uneasy, almost as if she'd said something wrong.

Walking on stilted legs, she slid in next to Klaus at the table, pasting on a fake smile for Michelle who continued to write on her phone. Reading through her notes, she side-eyed Klaus, realizing that he was just staring ahead, not bothering to look at the information in front of him. They were supposed to be looking over the interview questions for Michelle so the interview would go smoothly.

"Why aren't you reading?" she muttered, jostling him with her elbow.

Klaus gave her an unreadable look. "Because I don't need to."

She frowned. "Did you read them earlier?"

Klaus smirked. "No."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Someone is cocky."

Right away she wanted to slap herself for that comment.

"The offer is still on the table, love, if you want to find out just how cocky I am," Klaus suggested, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll pass," she said primly.

"What a shame–"

"And we are back in 3, 2," Marcel interrupted, counting down with his fingers. "1!"

He pointed to both of them, signaling the beginning of the newscast.

"Good evening, welcome to the 6o'clock news here at MFN NBC, I'm Caroline Forbes," she rattled off, smiling awkwardly at the camera.

"And I'm Niklaus Mikaelson," Klaus continued, lacing his fingers together. "Tonight, we are joined by the newest Miss Mystic Falls, Michelle Fell. Good evening, Michelle."

The teenager giggled nervously. "H-hello."

Caroline gave her a lame smile, looking down at her notes. "Michelle, can you tell us what it was like to be crowned Miss Mystic Falls?"

"Um, sure," Michelle answered, but looked down at the table. "But I actually have a question."

Klaus and Caroline exchanged surprised looks. Marcel was behind the camera, frowning at Michelle's deviation.

"Uh, okay!" Caroline recovered quickly, turning to give the camera a curious but professional smile.

"When are you guys going to finally date?" the teenager burst, looking at both of them hopefully.

Caroline's throat made a choking noise, Klaus snorted, and Marcel shook his head with a grin.

"Uh…" she answered, looking at Klaus like a deer in headlights.

"I mean, Klaroline is trending in Mystic Falls right now," Michelle said, wiggling her phone at that.

Klaus laughed, making Caroline send him a death glare. He stopped, clearing his throat.

"Michelle," Caroline started, her face kind but voice dangerous.

"Yeah, love," Klaus chimed in. "When are you going to go out with me finally?"

The whole room erupted into whispers, Michelle watching with her jaw dropped and Caroline blushed furiously.

"I–"

"Come on, what's stopping you?" he murmured, reaching over to take her hand. "We're inevitable, sweetheart."

She opened her mouth to deny him once more, but maybe it was the fact that everybody was staring at her, or the way he was looking at her like she was the sun, or the fact that she was tired of denying herself what she really wanted.

Him.

"Fine," she said, grinning at the wide eyed expression he had. "You're on."

"Oh my God, I have to tweet this!" Michelle cheered.

The studio broke out into applause to Caroline's annoyed amusement, and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Anyways–"

"Another camping trip?" Klaus interjected, groaning when Caroline kicked him under the table.

"Maybe," she said coyly, her pulse jumping at his slow, sexy smile.

"Anyways, Michelle, let's return to your interview," Caroline cleared her throat, turning to the teen.

"Actually I think I want to hear about the first camping trip," she replied, her eyes wide as saucers.

"One of my favorite– ouch, love!"

"I'm sorry, I thought that was my own foot."