Notes: Whoops, I posted this on tumblr a few weeks ago but forgot to add it here. I'll hopefully be back soon with some AU Week things!
The Kindness of Strangers
(Based on an "Am I The Asshole?" Reddit post where a guy was like, "AITA for leaving my gf in the emergency room to go to the gym?" I had that imagine your OTP thought bubble pop up. Rated K+)
It takes a good half hour for Caroline to realize that she's been ditched.
In her defense, she's not exactly at her best.
She can't stop coughing, her chest hurts. She's freezing, still wearing her coat and scarf even though she's been indoors, waiting for her turn to see a doctor, for three hours. Caroline will admit that she's never been an ideal patient. She hates every single part of being sick - the gross fluids leaking from her body, disruptions to her carefully plotted schedule. She loathes weakness, isn't used to having to count on other people. She's lived in Chicago for just under a year, doesn't have many people to rely on.
She'd been self medicating for days, guzzling DayQuil and NyQuil in turn, googling home remedies and forcing down cup after cup of chamomile tea with honey.
The medicine hadn't helped, nor had the tea and the best medical advice Pinterest had to offer.
Hence why she's sitting in an uncomfortable plastic chair, in a packed waiting room, braving screaming children, bloody wounds, and even more airborne germs.
She's staring dumbly down at her phone, at the picture that's just popped up on her Instagram feed. Posted just a few seconds ago it features her boyfriend at the gym, his face strained as he lifts a kettlebell. She hadn't bothered to read the caption, knows it's some nonsense about reps or mile times that she's only ever feigned interest in for the sake of politeness.
He'd been yammering on about his workout plans since he'd picked her up. Caroline had been humming in acknowledgement at regular intervals but she'd figured it didn't need to be explicitly stated that leaving her in a hospital waiting room was so not cool.
Apparently she'd been mistaken.
"Please tell me he's some sort of useless relation. A cousin you're only nice to because your mum insists."
Caroline's head swivels to the speaker, a touch surprised by the accent. The guy next to her is looking down at her phone, his expression disbelieving. She'd nodded tiredly at him when she'd sat down, some part of her brain cataloguing a general impression of an attractive man in her age range. She hadn't been in the mood for conversation and he hadn't attempted one either. She'd felt him shifting next to her, restless, and probably in pain judging by the impressive rainbow of purple-black bruises covering his bare left foot.
She should probably snap at him, demand he mind his own business but, if her own freaking boyfriend can't be bothered to skip a workout when she's in the emergency room, it's probably a good idea to expand her social circle.
"My mom has even less time for useless relations than I do."
"She sounds like a smart woman. Does she like your boyfriend?"
Her mother had yet to be introduced. Caroline had planned a trip to Mystic Falls for a long weekend but Stefan's brother had called last minute with one of his bimonthly crisis's so Caroline had made the trip solo. In hindsight, maybe she should have read more into the lack of effort. "Very smart. And handy with all manner of firearms."
A warning, just in case he happens to be a serial killer.
His brows rise, a hint of amusement beginning to curl his lips. Caroline's forced turn away and bury her face in the crook of her elbow as she's wracked with coughs. She slumps back when she's done, needs a moment to catch her breath.
When she peels her eye open her neighbor's expression has softened with concern. "I'm Klaus," he offers.
"Caroline."
His arm nudges hers on the armrest between their chairs, a weird approximation of a handshake that Caroline returns. "It's a pleasure to meet you, even if the circumstances are less than ideal."
She's naturally nosy, and he's given her an opening, "What happened to your foot?"
"Stupid accident. I was helping my brother move, he got distracted. A rather heavy sofa came down on my foot."
Caroline winces in sympathy, leans forward to peer around Klaus. She hadn't noticed him talking to another guy but, as she hadn't really noticed Stefan taking his leave while in her fog of misery, that doesn't mean much. "Is he here?"
Klaus makes a low noise of denial, "God, no. Kol can only sit still as long as the average five year old. I'll be storing this incident away for later, when I need a bigger favor than a ride to the hospital."
Caroline doesn't know much about healthy sibling relationships but she can admire a strategic mind.
"How long have you been waiting for?"
"I got here about an hour before you did."
"Ugh," Caroline grumbles, crossing her arms and yanking her sleeves down over her hands, "maybe I should have just made another pharmacy run and gone back to bed."
Klaus leans forward, pulls a jacket and a scarf out from under his seat. He shakes them out, offering them to her. "Here. I'm finding it quite warm but you're obviously suffering."
She shakes her head, "No, I wouldn't want to infect you with whatever I have."
"Did you just fall ill?"
"It's been a few days."
Kat, her boss, had bullied her out of the office when Caroline had nearly passed out after standing up after a meeting. Caroline had tried to protest but Katherine Pierce is excellent at getting her own way. Caroline had been in the back of a town car, under a blanket, with a driver who'd had strict instructions to only stop once, at a restaurant for the giant takeaway container of chicken noodle soup Kat had ordered.
She'd texted Stefan when she'd gotten home, had gotten sympathy followed by an apology. He'd told her to rest, that he hoped she'd feel better soon, but he'd claimed that he couldn't rick catching anything, not when he's training for a marathon.
Alone on her couch, trying to muster the energy to get herself to her bedroom so she could change out of her pencil skirt and blouse, Caroline had told herself that she shouldn't be pissed. That ambition was sexy, goals were admirable, and she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.
That it wasn't at all annoying that, just a month ago, she'd spent a whole weekend refilling a hot water bottle for Stefan every half hour after he'd pulled a muscle. He hadn't asked her, she'd offered, and relationships shouldn't have scorecards.
Maybe they had different love languages. That didn't mean they were incompatible.
Reciting the bullet points from Cosmo relationship articles hadn't stopped Caroline from feeling resentful.
Klaus shakes his jacket gently, drawing her attention back to him, "I doubt you're contagious at this point."
The jacket looks to be wool, heavy and lined and probably super cozy. She only hesitates for another second before taking it, draping it over herself like a blanket and looping the scarf around her neck.
She manages to avoid obviously tucking her nose into the fabric, to better appreciate the light touch of the very nice cologne Klaus must use.
"Thank you," she murmurs. "You can tell your significant other that you've earned a pile of gentleman points."
It's not the most subtle fishing Caroline's ever done but she'll just have to blame that on the large doses of over the counter meds swimming through her system.
Klaus doesn't seem to mind, his smile widening as he leans back in his seat. He rests his head back against the wall and sprawls a bit, closer to her than he'd been before. "There's no significant other."
She probably shouldn't consider that good news but she totally does.
"And you?" Klaus asks, "how long have you and the… fitness aficionado been an item?"
Caroline suspects the moniker he's settled on is far more polite than he'd like to be.
"About six months. But we've known each other since we were kids."
"Let me guess, you were high school sweethearts who reunited years later."
His distaste is obvious and Caroline laughs softly. "Um, no. Not even close. I had a ginormous crush on him but he was really into my best friend."
Who'd waffled between being into Stefan right back and being into Stefan's older brother.
Klaus sighs, "So he's got an appalling lack of taste in addition to his other less than stellar qualities."
It's instinct to jump to Stefan's defense. "He's really a great guy."
"I'm sure."
"He's training for a marathon. It's a lot of work."
"Is this marathon tomorrow?" Klaus asks pointedly. "Because otherwise I don't understand why he couldn't take a day off when you're so ill you can barely walk."
Caroline deflates, presses her lips together as she swallows the argument she'd been about to make. She's had plenty of practice lately. When she'd first moved, and Stefan had shot her a message offering to take her out for a drink to celebrate her new job, it had been easy to fall back in with her old friends. He'd been familiar, Elena and Damon too, and she'd been busy with her new job and settling into a new apartment. It had been easier to relearn how to be around them than to meet new people.
She's a people person though, has started getting closer to a few coworkers, and Enzo, Rebekah and Kat all have certain opinions about Stefan that Klaus is mirroring.
"Perhaps this is none of my business," Klaus says, after her silence has stretched on. He's watching her carefully, like he's wondering if he's pushed too far.
"It's really not."
"Lost those gentleman points, did I?" he jokes.
Caroline laughs, willing to roll with his attempt to lighten the mood. "Maybe not all of them." Because she is warmer now, with his layers piled on top of hers. "Where are you from, anyway?"
He'd given her the perfect opening to pry and Caroline's not going to waste the opportunity.
All in the interest of broadening her social circle of course.
A month later, after a breakup, and rearranging her entire apartment (three times), she's decided to make more of an effort to turn her coworkers into real friends.
Rebekah's throwing herself a birthday party. There's even a dress code. Enzo informs Caroline that all of Rebekah's brothers are ridiculously hot, so clearly she needs a great new dress. And heels. And some lingerie and a new lipstick because, why not?
She sees Klaus before he sees her. He's planted on a loveseat in the living room, his casted foot resting on an ottoman. He's flitted through her thoughts more than once since they'd met and Caroline had regretted not getting his contact info. Or at least a last name.
Klaus might be a unique name but her attempts at social media stalking had all failed.
Caroline grabs a flute of champagne from a passing server (seriously, Rebekah knows how to throw a party) and hugs the perimeter of the room. She approaches Klaus from behind, sitting down on the arm next to him and chirping, "Well, fancy meeting you here."
His eyes snap up, widening when he recognizes her. "Caroline," he says, something like wonder coloring the tone.
It's enough to confirm that she's not the only one who's spent way too much time thinking about those few hours they'd spent together.
"Glad you remember me," she teases. "How do you know Rebekah?"
"She's my sister." He shifts over, threading his finger through hers to pull her down next to him. Caroline has no objections, not even when he's pressed along her side, leaving enough room for another person beside him. "And you?"
"We work together."
"Small world," Klaus murmurs, very pleased about it.
Caroline can relate.
She nods down to his foot, "What was the verdict?"
He groans, "At least six weeks in the cast. I'm right sick of it. I've barely left my place since it happened because I can't drive and the simplest things are infinitely more annoying."
"I'm glad you made it out tonight."
He's still got her hand clasped in his but his free arm comes up, resting loosely around her shoulders. He speaks more softly and Caroline leans closer to make sure she can hear. "Likewise, love. I'll never complain about Rebekah being a shameless nag again."
Somehow, Caroline doubts that.
She spends the duration of the party at Klaus' side but she meets a whole pile of new people. There's Kol, the brother whose couch had maimed Klaus' foot, Elijah, who is a little scary, with his appraising eyes and aggressively perfect manners. She gets some tips about thrifting vintage clothes from Gia, a classical violinist, and when she chats with Marcel he says he hopes he sees her around, promises that he knows plenty of embarrassing stories about Klaus.
She's kind of kicking herself for falling back into old habits when she'd first moved to Chicago. Clearly, she's pretty kickass at making friends.
She leaves with Klaus' number in her phone and a dinner date set for the next night.
Sunday brunch plans follow, with Rebekah, where there are bottomless mimosas and vague threats.
It's easily the best weekend Caroline's had since moving.
Though not for long.