Notes: Another tiny fluffy AH thing.
Keepsakes
(Prompt: A secret admirer. It would be interesting if Caroline was the one with the crush. Rated T.)
Klaus' SUV is parked on the street and the garage door is open when Caroline pulls up to their house. She creeps slowly up the short driveway, curious, trying to see what Klaus is doing. He's surrounded by piles of boxes – not an unfamiliar sight lately – but she'd thought that they were finally done unpacking. He glances up and smiles as she coasts into her spot, brushing his hands off on his jeans. He opens the door for her, standing back to let her climb out. Klaus drapes an arm around her waist, pressing her lightly against the side of her car. "You're home early. Everything all right?"
"Yup!" Caroline chirps, settling her weight against the door. "The construction workers on the street hit something they shouldn't have and the power went out. Boss sent us home. I thought we'd go out for dinner? Someplace nice?"
She and Klaus had bought a house, moved in six weeks ago. They've found the whole process – painting, deciding on furniture placement, merging her things with his things - exhausting. Dinners have almost exclusively been eaten while wearing sweatpants. Caroline wants to put on a pretty dress and flirt with her fiancé across the table at a place with dim lighting and good wine.
She runs her hands up Klaus' chest, curls one around his neck and tugs at a necklace, "You can pick the restaurant," she wheedles. "Anywhere with cloth napkins."
Klaus doesn't seem to need the coaxing. He laughs softly, stepping back, "Sounds good to me, love. You can shower first and I'll pack away this stuff."
He bends to pick up a box and Caroline steps forward, flicking aside a flap and peering inside. The boxes are pretty mangled, dusty, with shipping labels attached. "What's all this?"
"My mother's selling the house, remember?"
"Right!" She'd known that, Esther had informed them that she'd be doing some renovations in preparation at the last monthly Mikaelson family dinner. Klaus had mentioned last week that his mother would be shipping whatever remained in his childhood bedroom to them. She examines the content of the box she'd opened, her curiosity piqued. She'd grown up with Rebekah, had nursed a major crush on Klaus (and a briefer one on Kol but they didn't talk about that) for the bulk of her adolescence. She'd never set foot inside his room back then, remembers casting furtive glances and getting a peek at dark blue walls and a lot of posters as she'd walked passed.
Klaus approaches her from behind, having dropped his box next to the doorway. "Snooping, are we? Can't say I'm surprised."
Caroline whirls, gasping theatrically, "Are you accusing me of nosiness? Rude, Klaus."
"And yet you don't deny it."
"Sure don't!" Caroline turns back, digging into the box shamelessly, slightly disappointed when she comes out with only a handful of X-Men comic books. "I'm hoping for something a little juicer then your not so secret nerd tendencies."
His hand brushes her side, the exact spot where she's most ticklish and Caroline shies away and yelps, circling the stack of boxes. "I wasn't complaining!"
"I should hope not. I seem to remember you picking up the lab coat and glasses the last time we tried our had at role playing. You seemed fond of them."
He'd looked really hot in the glasses. "Oooh, maybe we can break those out again later." Klaus appears intrigued, his eyes going a little distant, and Caroline uses his distraction to her advantage, shifting to another box. There are certificates in this one, a couple of trophies. He'd played soccer in high school, had won a bunch of art competitions. Pushing a few of them aside she spots a shoebox on the bottom. Now this has potential.
Caroline digs it out, gives it a gentle shake. She eyes Klaus, checking to see if he's perturbed but he doesn't seem uncomfortable. "Do you remember what's in here?"
"Nothing all that important. Photos, concert ticket stubs. Silly mementos."
She's always found his hoarder-ish tendencies charming, took it as evidence of his carefully hidden sentimental streak, the one he'd strenuously deny having. She leans in, twisting her hand into his shirt to steal a quick kiss. "Softie," she teases.
He grunts, annoyed and Caroline opens her mouth, deepening the kiss before he can formulate something sarcastic, licking into his mouth with a pleased hum. She pulls away after a moment – they'd totally already christened the garage and it hadn't been the comfiest – pulling the lid off the shoebox in her hand.
There's a garish homemade card on top, Klaus' name spelled out in thick lines of pink glitter. A startled giggle spills from Caroline and she almost drops the box. She recognizes that sparkly monstrosity.
"Oh my god!" she exclaims. "I had no idea that you actually got this! Bekah never said anything!"
She glances up to see that Klaus' brows are furrowed in confusion. "Why would Bekah know about an insanely treacly love note one of my classmates sent?"
Caroline snorts, slapping a hand over her mouth, bending slightly as another wave of laughter shakes her. It takes her a moment to be able to speak again. "Oh no, which poor girl did you think did it? Did you deep freeze her?"
"I thought it might have been Aurora de Martel. She never hid her interest in me."
Caroline sort of remembers a pretty redhead by that name. Feels a brief pang of guilt – Klaus had dated another redhead for most of high school so maybe he'd had a type and she'd inadvertently killed Aurora's shot at landing her crush by sneaking the card into his locker.
Not that it would have mattered in the long run. Klaus is very firmly hers now.
"It wasn't Aurora," Caroline confesses. "I made this."
Klaus mouth falls open in shock and his eyes drop to the card. Caroline clutches it tightly, just in case he tries to make a grab for it. She doesn't remember exactly what she'd written but given the stuff she'd poured out into her diary around that time she imagines it's super embarrassing.
Twelve year old Caroline's flair for the dramatic had been impressive.
"It was actually Rebekah's idea. She didn't want to risk you recognizing her writing. It was supposed to be a prank and I kind of jumped at the chance."
"Because of the tremendous crush you had on me?"
Ugh, he remains way too pleased about that little fact. She's already resigned herself to the fact that it's going to feature heavily in their wedding toasts. Caroline glares at him, "Crushing on older boys is totally natural, thank you very much. All the boys in my grade were shorter than I was. And you know what your dimples can do. How was a girl supposed to ignore all that?"
Klaus nods, attempting seriousness even though she can see his lips twitching, "Of course, love. Height and dimples. Your attraction to me was perfectly natural."
His smugness so isn't appreciated. "You were the one that was all over me at the beach house the summer after Bekah and I graduated college." She'd been over her crush on Klaus by that point in time, hadn't seen him in years. It hadn't taken more than a few conversations by the fire pit for it to rage back to life. Neither Rebekah nor Kol had been pleased but Caroline hadn't been willing to ignore the chemistry she'd felt.
Klaus shrugs, shameless. "A beautiful and intelligent blonde in very small shorts with a penchant for cheating at board games is hard for a twenty five year old man to ignore."
Slightly mollified by the compliment Caroline nods sharply, "That's right. Also, I did not cheat."
Klaus grins and Caroline cuts him off before he can restart that old argument. "How about Ihelp you move those boxes. Then you can join me in the shower."
"Somehow I don't know if that will help us get out of the house for dinner."
Caroline can admit that he has a point. However, she's stubborn. "I'll help you clean up only. We'll keep in PG13. We haven't installing those handles we bought and I'd rather not have to explain any sex injuries to an emergency room doc."
His expression turns calculating and she knows he's about to attempt a negotiation. Caroline tucks the card into her dress pocket, peels her blazer off her shoulders. Klaus' eyes follow the movement hungrily, tracing her newly bared skin, and Caroline pats herself on the back for successfully making him forget about her little love note.
She's gonna have to hide the card really well if she doesn't want it popping up to bite her again.