A/N: Okay guys, here's the second part to the last chapter. I hope you don't hate me too much, heh.
I just want to say thank you so much for sticking with this story in lieu of my infrequent updates. It means so much. Reading your reviews is what keeps me motivated to write during any free opportunity I get.
With that said, I just want to warn you not to expect another update until after December 18th. I'm going into exam hibernation and will probably not get any writing done. I hope to have a chapter or two for you over Christmas though.
My fantastic beta, livingdeadblondegirl deserves a shout out for editing this chapter so fast and providing me with her lovely comments. They motivate me and make each chapter 100% better.
Oh god, did she really just ask him to draw on her? What the hell was wrong with her? They had already gotten past their earlier awkward moment, and now she was creating a new one.
She looked at him, cautiously gauging his reaction. He looked confused.
"What?" Klaus asked suddenly.
She shrugged, trying to play it cool.
"I...I...uh...just thought if maybe you drew it on me first I could decide if I liked it or not," she clarified, deciding that there was no use now in trying to backtrack.
Klaus was looking at her with an awkward half-smile.
"You don't have to...I just..." she began to stammer again.
"I usually stick to paper and canvas..." he started.
"It's okay..." she assured him, as she screamed on the inside from embarrassment.
"I think I saw a black marker in the drawer in the kitchen by the phone," Klaus said unexpectedly, jumping up from the couch once more.
Surprised by his sudden willingness, she followed him with her eyes into the kitchen as he peered into the drawer.
Locating the marker, he examined it carefully.
"This should work, and it's washable," he concluded, staring at her expectantly as though he was waiting for her to come to him.
She grew flustered.
"You want to do it now?" she asked.
"Sure, why not?" he shrugged.
For some reason she felt nervous and she debated the whole idea. God, she had the worst ideas, she thought to herself.
Klaus pulled out one of the dining chairs.
If she didn't go through with it she would make things even worse. There was no reason for this to be strange anyways. They were friends. Klaus, she assumed, could be professional. He was just drawing some flowers on a suggestive part of her body. It's not like they were going to have sex.
But you tried to have sex with him last night, a tiny voice whispered to her.
Scowling slightly, she brushed her concerns aside and rose from the sofa.
"Sit on the chair backwards, lean against the back," he said as she handed him the sketch.
"You sound like you've done this before," she pointed out.
He shook his head.
"It will just be easier in this position," he said, laughing under his breath at the double entendre he alluded to.
Her body temperature began to rise.
No, she wasn't going to make this weird.
She casually removed her tank top in front of him, trying hard to remind herself that this was not a big deal.
Her eyes averted his quickly and she tossed her shirt on the table before straddling the chair, her back towards him.
She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as she attempted to avoid thinking about the quick glance he had stolen of her bare torso and her cleavage that was tucked behind her pink and grey bra.
Listening, she heard Klaus pulled up another chair beside her and set the drawing down on the table.
She heard the cap on the marker pop off.
"You know this won't look nearly as good as the drawing or an actual tattoo, right?" he confirmed.
"I know," she assured him. "I just want to get a sense of what it will look like if I'm going to have it on my body for the rest of my life," she said.
Her entire body tensed when she felt him place a warm palm against the small of her back. She could see him lean in from the corner of her eye and her side clenched just above her hip as the marker kissed her skin.
Well, she certainly hadn't expected to end the night bent over a chair in nothing but her shorts and a bra while Klaus drew on her.
She really was her own worst enemy.
The silence was deafening and the energy buzzing through her with his simple innocent touches was unnerving so she decided to carry on their prior conversation while Klaus worked.
"Can you think of anything else we should do before CPS pays us a visit again?" she asked.
"No," Klaus responded, clearly sounding preoccupied. "Can you?" he asked her.
She thought about it for a moment, grateful for the distraction as his hand moved a little higher.
"Well you should probably clean up your room a little and make sure they don't come across your cigarettes," she said warningly.
"The cigarettes are in the trash," he informed her. "The room will take some effort," he chuckled.
She smiled, impressed by his determination to quit smoking.
"That's good," she commended him. "The smoking thing," she clarified. "If you need help with the room, just ask," she mused, silently cursing herself for how that came out.
Why did she have to offer to help him with his bedroom? She was an idiot.
"It's fine, love," he replied. "I just need you to sit still," he laughed.
She hadn't even realized until he pointed it out that she had been shifting in the chair.
"I can't help it," she complained. "The marker tickles."
"So, you're ticklish like Grayson. I'll have to remember that," he said deviously.
"Why?" she smirked.
"Well in case I ever need to use it against you of course," he conceded bluntly.
She could think of many other ways he could use his touch against her.
"That's not fair," she protested, covering up her inappropriate thoughts. "I have nothing to use against you."
"My feet are ticklish," he revealed.
Her face scrunched up in disgust.
"I'm not touching your feet," she refused.
"Exactly," Klaus said triumphantly.
She let him continue drawing on her in silence, focusing on the way the marker brushed her skin in no discernible pattern.
"I think we just need to focus on what Meredith and Stefan said last night," she said. "The case workers were probably just trying to remain objective, they might have really loved us," she suggested, attempting to think positively. "And like Stefan told us, our names are the one's listed in the will and courts really try to honour the wishes of the testators."
"Perhaps," Klaus agreed.
She could hear the smile in his voice.
"What?" she asked, attempting to look at him over her shoulder.
"Nothing," he laughed.
"What!?" she demanded.
"You definitely weren't focusing on what Meredith had to say last night," he teased. "In fact, she couldn't say much of anything since you were keeping her mouth busy."
She groaned and lowered her head against the back of the chair.
"You aren't going to let me live that down are you?" she complained.
"Nope," Klaus confirmed.
"It's not funny," she protested. "Stefan and Meredith could be really annoyed with me. What if they fought about it when they got home?" she wondered. "What if they break up because of me?"
Klaus laughed harder.
"Why would they break up? Because Meredith has some unresolved lesbian feelings for you? I'm surprised you're so small," he said.
"What?" she asked confused.
"Because your ego is huge," Klaus joked. "Relax, sweetheart. Stefan and Meredith know you were drunk last night. There's no need to be dramatic. You're no home wrecker. They aren't breaking up. Actually, they'll be doing the opposite," he sighed.
"Klaus, ew, I don't even want to think about that," she grimaced at Klaus's lewd suggestion.
"For once, I didn't actually mean it that way," Klaus said in his defence. "Who's the one with the dirty mind?" he chuckled.
She paused to consider what he was implying.
"Well, what's the opposite of breaking up then?" she wondered.
"Forget I said anything. I've said too much already," he said, deflecting her question.
She craned her neck to glare back at him.
"Klaus...what do you mean they'll be doing the opposite?" she asked warningly as she waited for him to spill whatever secret about Stefan and Meredith he was hiding until it suddenly clicked for her.
A smile grew on her lips.
"Stefan is going to propose to Meredith, isn't he?" she asked giddily.
"You need to sit still or this is going to look terrible," Klaus told her.
"Don't evade my question!" she chastised.
Klaus exhaled in defeat.
"Yes, Stefan is planning to propose. He told me last night," he admitted. "Don't say anything to Meredith."
"Oh my god," she squealed. "Meredith is going to be so happy. Did Stefan tell you when he was going to pop the question?"
"No," Klaus replied flatly.
"Ahh, that's so exciting," she beamed.
Klaus groaned unenthusiastically.
She frowned.
"Let me guess, you tried to talk him out of it?" she concluded disapprovingly.
"I may have tossed out a few counterarguments," he conceded.
She rolled her eyes.
"Not all marriages are doomed to fail," she argued.
"Half then," he corrected himself.
"And the other half work out," she countered.
"It doesn't mean they're happy," he retorted. "My parents are a prime example of that."
She scoffed in annoyance, dropping her head back down in defeat.
"So when the caseworkers asked you about where you see yourself in five years, you really don't see yourself with anyone...ever?" she wondered curiously, thankful she could ask him a question that had been nagging at her since yesterday without actually looking directly at him.
"No," he replied simply. "I want to focus on my work and putting it out there. Between that and making sure Grayson is taken care of, I don't have the time anyways even if it was something I wanted; and given how fleeting relationships are, it's not something I really want to get involved in now that we have Grayson. Besides, Grayson already has a mother," Klaus answered.
Her chest tightened at his reference to her as Grayson's mother. It was a bittersweet feeling. On the one hand, it filled her with happiness. On the other, it made her feel sick. She didn't want to replace Elena in Grayson's life.
"That sounds lonely," she found herself replying.
"It's not," he answered quickly. "I have my work, friends, family, Grayson..."
"...Me," she said, feeling an unexplained dull ache in the pit of her stomach.
"You," he finished his list.
"So you really think you're never going to get married one day?" she persisted.
"Never," he laughed.
"What if you met a woman who was sexy, smart, shared a million things in common with you, was great in bed, and cared about you, you still wouldn't marry her?" she challenged, peering over her shoulder to gauge his reaction.
He shook his head in amusement.
"I bet you a hundred dollars you would," she argued.
"You know I like challenges, sweetheart," he mused. "I might not ever get married now just to spite you," he said.
She snorted.
"You would sacrifice your future happiness for a hundred dollars and bragging rights on a bet?" she groaned in dismissive amusement.
"I never lose a bet," he shrugged.
"You would if you were in love with her," she stated.
"I suppose I can't really comment on that," he said.
She raised her eyebrows curiously and laughed.
"Really? Since when do you have nothing to say?" she asked sarcastically.
"I've never been in love before," he confessed.
His revelation surprised her and she twisted her body without a second thought to give him a questioning look.
"Caroline!" Klaus complained in annoyance.
She noticed the smudged marker just below her ribs caused by her sudden reaction.
"Sorry!" she winced apologetically. "I didn't mean to," she added in an effort to relax his accusatory glare.
He returned the marker to her skin without an answer to her curious expression nor an elaboration to his confession.
She turned back around, tucking her arms along the back of the chair and draping her chin over her forearm, contemplating whether or not to pursue the subject or not.
"So, you've never been in love?" she pressed boldly.
Her gut instinct was to laugh at how silly it seemed, but Klaus's admission seemed genuine.
"I can't say that I have, love," Klaus replied, stressing the last word intentionally.
"Really?" she found herself questioning again, still trying to wrap her head around what the implications were of his admission.
Klaus laughed at her reaction.
"You say that like it's hard to believe," he observed.
She shrugged.
"I don't think I know anyone who hasn't been in love at least once in their lives," she clarified.
Klaus mimicked her shrug as he wisped the marker across her side.
"It's not that difficult. I've never been with anyone long enough for it to become anything serious. I've never wanted it," he explained.
"But you've had girlfriends?" she pointed out, trying hard to think back to high school and the girls he used to hang out with.
He snorted.
"Not since high school and I highly doubt semester-long flings would be considered love," he countered. "Remember what I told you about teenage boys, sweetheart?"
A knowing look crossed her face and she quickly reminded herself of Klaus's reputation back then.
"Not to impugn your relationship with Tyler..." Klaus trailed off.
He may not have been implying anything about her relationship with Tyler, but at the very least, he had brought it up for a reason.
"You were in love with Tyler?" he half-asked, half-stated after her silence
Involuntarily, her legs and arms clenched as she considered Klaus's question. That was a question she often asked herself in the past tense.
"I don't know," she said carefully.
Klaus raised his eyebrows curiously.
"The way you talked about him before made it seem like he was going to pop the question at any moment," Klaus probed.
She found herself thinking back to her relationship with Tyler, when her life was a lot simpler and the only thing she had to worry about was her school work and the distance between her and him. When Tyler wasn't trying to engage her in phone sex, sometimes they would talk about marriage. They'd laugh about his mother's pressure on him to ask her, and then he'd attempt to impress her with talk of their future. They would marry at his parents' home, outside in the gardens; everyone in Mystic Falls would be there, along with his parents' high profile friends; they would live in Washington; they would have two kids; he would work for the government, and one day he'd introduce her to the President.
On the surface, it had all sounded so perfect, but as they got older, the less appealing it became to her. When they were teenagers, she had every detail of their wedding planned right down to the napkins and tablecloths, but that enthusiasm waned as the years went by and the threat of it becoming real grew. She started to realize that it was Tyler's fantasy, not hers. Tyler was the one who wanted to marry at his parents' house, Tyler was the one who wanted to live in Washington. He barely mentioned her in any of it. She felt like a prop. When she asked him what she would possibly do in Washington, he would give her a patronizing laugh, suggesting she design dresses for The First Lady.
She might have loved Tyler then, but in hindsight, none of what he wanted was what she wanted. She didn't want to get married with hundreds of unfamiliar spectators. Washington bored her along with its politics, and she was content to stay in New York. She wanted to pursue her fashion career. She didn't want to become a stay at home wife and mother.
But she stayed with him.
Finally, she nodded in response to Klaus's inquiry.
"Had it not been for my impromptu trip to Washington that spring when I found him with Hayley, we probably would have gotten engaged before Elijah and Elena," she revealed. "We had been talking about marriage prior to that, and Carol spilled the beans that he had been shopping for a ring."
"But you don't know if you were in love with him?" Klaus wondered.
She exhaled and contemplated her answer.
"I was probably as in love with him as much as a sixteen year old girl could be," she started, "but I grew up. He grew up. We became different people, who wanted different things. He was aiming for a political career in Washington and wanted a dutiful wife. I knew I wanted to stay in New York after college. We drifted apart and the physical distance between us exacerbated that. Phone calls and visits became less frequent over time, and neither of us cared enough to make it work. When I found him with Hayley, and we broke up, I wasn't nearly as devastated as I should have been," she revealed. "I mean, I hated him for cheating on me and betraying me like that, but a part of me felt relieved," she shrugged, hoping it made sense.
She noted an amused smile tugging at Klaus's lips, attributable to the fact that Tyler Lockwood had never been one of his favourite people.
"But you stayed with him all that time?" Klaus queried.
"I wasted a lot of time because I was scared," she revealed, a little surprised that she was allowing herself to talk to him about things she had only talked about with Elena and Bonnie. "I cared about Tyler, but I wasn't in love with him anymore. We had been together so long that I was terrified of what life would be like without him. I was in love with the idea of him, but he wasn't what I really wanted," she said cryptically.
"What is it that you want?" He asked her.
"I want what everyone wants," she swallowed. "Well, maybe except for you," she said, feeling compelled to make a joke to break through the serious tone their conversation had taken.
He arched an eyebrow at her.
"A love that takes my breath away," she said unconcerned by how cheesy it sounded, "friendship, excitement, adventure, commitment, intimacy, passion," she breathed, shivering as his fingertips glided across her back unexpectedly.
Evading her stare, he looked back down at his work.
She laughed.
"My standards are too high, aren't they?" she concluded, judging by his reaction. "You can be honest," she urged him.
He smiled and lifted his gaze.
"No, sweetheart, you deserve everything you want," he told her.
His sincerity took her off guard and she quickly looked straight ahead.
They both sat in silence as Klaus continued to draw on her until she felt the marker stop.
She looked down and noticed from her angle, that he had the sketch on her skin had reached just below the edge of her bra.
"I think it's done," Klaus said, though he knew she wanted it to extend further up her torso.
"Can you draw it higher?" she asked, noting Klaus's reluctant reaction as he looked at her bra that was impeding his path.
Truthfully, she probably could have gotten a good idea of what it would look like without Klaus continuing, but she wanted to see it complete.
She wanted him to continue so she could continue to feel his hands on her, a small voice whispered to her.
She didn't know what had gotten into her. She couldn't figure out what pushed her to ask him to draw on her let alone suggest something that was even less innocent than her original request.
They were losing their balance again on a very fine line.
Disregarding her concern, she turned back around and reached her hands behind her, unclasping the bra.
The material fell to her sides and she held the cups against her chest to maintain some semblance of modesty, though that was hardly a concern of hers. She didn't feel uncomfortable like this with him, and that's what unnerved her most.
She felt far from uncomfortable, she realized. She closed her eyes as Klaus's palm inadvertently ticked the centre of her back while the other continued to draw higher as she had requested.
Although she felt relaxed, her body was burning.
She shouldn't have encouraged this, but she couldn't help herself.
It wasn't that she needed a reminder of how his hands felt on her skin, it's that she had too vivid of a memory and yearned to feel them again.
She wanted him to run them along her spine, over her shoulder blades and against the tops of her arms. She wanted to feel his fingertips brush against her neck and dip against her collarbone.
More than that, she wanted to guide his hands around her front to cup her breasts as his lips traced over the path his fingers had left behind on her back.
Her body trembled and she fought to dismiss the heated throb that rumbled between her legs.
She loved and hated the effect he had on her with equal measure.
"Can I ask you something?" he questioned suddenly, dragging her out of her increasingly inappropriate thoughts.
Her chest tightened nervously.
"What?" she said, wondering what he could possibly want to ask her with such an important tone as she sat with her back to him half-naked.
"What did you ever see in Tyler Lockwood," Klaus snorted before turning in to full out laughter.
She wanted to thank him and punch him at the same time; thank him for distracting her mind with humour, punch him for making fun of her past choice in boyfriend.
Instead of either, she simply mirrored his laughter, a little surprised by his random question.
"What did you see in Vicki Donovan?" she retorted with a grin.
"Ouch," he chuckled.
"I was a cheerleader with a reputation to uphold and flattered by the hot football captain's attention," she shrugged.
"I forgot what a preppy bitch you were back then," he grinned as she shot him an offended glare.
"That didn't stop you from trying to get in my pants," she remarked coyly. "More than once."
"I was only offering you a ride home from school," he clarified innocently.
She narrowed her eyes at him in disbelief.
"What was it you said about teenage boys again?" she reminded him.
Klaus grinned.
"That's what I thought," she concluded. "You know Tyler would have kicked your ass if he found out about that, right?"
"If you were so annoyed with my advances, why didn't you tell him?" he wondered.
"I was trying to protect you," she laughed mockingly.
"I would have had that kid on the ground before he could throw the first punch," Klaus scoffed.
She rolled her eyes at Klaus's ridiculous bravado.
"Maybe I was flattered by the attention of the high school's senior bad boy, just as much as the football captain's?" she proposed playfully, scolding herself for flirting with him.
A year ago, she would have never admitted that to him.
Klaus's expression seemed to light up with her confession.
"Don't read too much into it," she said sternly, with a small smile. "It never would have happened."
It never would have happened then but it did certainly happen eventually, and she knew Klaus was thinking the same thing, but he wasn't going to mention it.
"I wonder what Tyler would have read into it?" Klaus mused.
"He would have read his fist into your face," she laughed.
"Why are jocks such insecure pricks?" he wondered. "Tyler always talked a big game. Was he compensating?" he asked her curiously.
She laughed at Klaus's presumption as he waited for a response.
"Do you seriously want me to answer that?" she gasped, as Klaus eyed her expectantly. "Tyler wasn't compensating," she shook her head.
Klaus frowned.
"But that doesn't mean he always knew how to use it," she revealed.
The shocked expression that crossed Klaus's face was priceless.
"Tyler was a virgin until we started dating," she recalled.
"I knew it!" Klaus declared with a triumphant look on his face.
She tried to hide how amused she was by his immature reaction with a groan.
"Everyone was a virgin once," she said, feeling the need to come to Tyler's defence. "Even you," she pointed out.
"Don't remind me," Klaus cringed.
Now that they were on the topic of virginity, she found herself intrigued to know how Klaus lost his.
"How did you lose yours?" she asked him, only feeling bashful for asking after the fact.
"I think you know how one loses their virginity, sweetheart," he teased.
"You know what I mean," she bemoaned.
Klaus raised his eyebrows.
"Well, I think that's a rather personal question," he countered.
"Since when did you become so modest?" she countered challengingly, sucking in a breath as the knuckles of his drawing hand brushed dangerously close to the side of her breast.
"I haven't," he denied. "I just believe those types of personal questions are deserving of reciprocation," he replied cunningly.
She contemplated his proposal before shrugging in annoyed acceptance.
"I was sixteen," he recalled. "I lost it to an older woman back in England when Elijah and I spent a summer there with cousins."
"An older woman?" she remarked curiously, her mind automatically imagining one of the elder women of Mystic Falls seducing a teenaged Klaus into bed Mrs. Robinson style.
"Well older to me then," he smirked proudly. "She was twenty-three."
"Isn't there a law against that?" she wondered with a teasing grin.
Klaus looked up at her incredulously.
"She thought I was older. Elijah and I spent most weekends getting drunk at the pub. I used a good fake. That's where I met her," he explained. "I bummed a smoke off her and the next thing I know I'm at her flat completely dumbfounded as to what to do as she was kissing me and ripping off my clothes," he admitted disparagingly. "When she handed me the condom and I fumbled around with it, she guessed straight away that I was a virgin," he said, a seemingly embarrassed but cute dimpled smirk forming on his cheeks. "I thought for sure she was going to kick my ass out..."
"But she didn't," she guessed interestedly.
He shook his head.
"She decided to take one for the team, I guess," he joked. "She made sure I was well versed in foreplay that night before she even considered handing me another condom and showing me how to put it on. It started and ended with her on top. I think I lasted a whole of two minutes," he scowled.
Unable to help herself, she erupted into laughter as Klaus's face reddened.
He glared at her as if she had so seriously offended him.
"What did she say?" she asked.
Klaus shrugged with a small smirk.
"She didn't say anything. She climbed off me, got herself off and then we tried it again."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"We hooked up a few times that summer. I think by the end I was at five minutes," he mused.
She laughed a bit more, garnering another glare from Klaus.
"Sorry," she apologized in between giggles. "I just can't imagine you...like that," she admitted.
It was true. It was difficult to imagine Klaus as a nervous sixteen year old boy. She couldn't see it.
"Not everyone can be Tyler 'the eternal stud' Lockwood on their first go 'round, sweetheart," Klaus smirked.
Now it was her turn to narrow her eyes at him.
"Please, I think you had a good thirty seconds on Tyler," she revealed, much to Klaus's amusement.
"Are you sure you even remember it?" he wondered.
"I had it all planned out," she answered.
Klaus snickered.
"Of course, only Caroline Forbes would plan sex," he bellowed.
I didn't plan it with you she thought, outwardly ignoring his remark.
"I just turned sixteen. It was Homecoming. Tyler won the football game. We were crowned Homecoming King and Queen at the dance. His parents were gone for the weekend. It was supposed to be perfect," she started.
"And..." Klaus interjected.
"Tyler ended up inviting everyone at the dance back to his house when he promised it would be just us. He was drunk. I was angry. He told me he loved me. I went through with it anyways. He was on top of me for a few seconds, and before I could even think about what was happening or the pain, he was passed out next to me and it was over," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's not that big of a deal to me now, but at the time I was devastated. I mean, I wasn't expecting an earth shattering orgasm, I just expected it to be different than it was," she laughed lightly. "Ironically, it started to get better just when we both left for college, but I don't suppose you want to hear about that," she said quickly, realizing how awkward she was probably making him feel.
"Not particularly," he smiled appreciatively. "Although I hope you slutted it up after he cheated on you and gave him a taste of his own medicine," he joked.
"Not really, not until..." she started, stopping only when she realized what she was about to say.
"Right..." Klaus stated quickly, obviously having realized that she was about to refer to him.
And there's been no one else really since, she thought.
"And...since then?" he asked hesitantly, as though he was reading her mind.
She shook her head quietly as she met her eyes with his.
Instantly she scolded herself for revealing that small detail to him as though she thought he might be able to use it against her somehow.
He averted her stare and pulled the marker away from her skin along with his hands.
Clearing his throat, he stood up and put some distance between them.
"All done," he declared.
She nearly jumped up from the chair forgetting that the only thing holding her bra in its place was her hands, eager to quash the tension between them.
Surely barring her chest to him would have made for quite an icebreaker she thought sarcastically.
With the material firmly clutched against her, she stood up from the chair and approached the back door. The light from the kitchen and the darkness outside allowed it to serve well as makeshift mirror.
She turned herself to the side and lifted her arm behind her head for a clear view of the sample tattoo.
Through the glass, she could see Klaus's marker sketch on her skin.
She smirked at the small imperfections and smudges that were no doubt due to her own carelessness as a result of squirming too much.
Still, the impromptu drawing was pretty perfect; almost an exact replica of the drawing. Though some detail had been sacrificed, it was still beautiful.
The flowers looked amazing and she appreciated the way the curling vine seemed to bend with the natural ridges and curves of her skin.
"So, what's the verdict?" Klaus spoke up.
It wasn't hard to notice the table in between them. He was trying to maintain his distance for some reason.
"Did I convince you?" he wondered.
She flashed him a small smile before looking back down at the drawing reflected to her in the window.
"I think you have," she concluded, continuing to admire the artwork and contemplate the thought of having something on her skin to permanently memorialize her mother and her best friend. "I'm still not sure about the actual tattoo though. It's one thing to have it drawn on me with marker..." and by your hands, she thought "...it's another to have it done with a tattoo needle," she winced, not really a huge fan of needles of any sort.
"Like I said, love, it doesn't hurt that bad," he reminded her, "but I'll hold your hand if you'd like," he teased her mockingly.
Regardless of his tone, her skin still involuntarily responded with goose bumps. She would never tell him the prospect of him being there to hold her hand as she went through the experience for the first time actually eased her mind a little.
"Just like Marcel held yours?" she shot back with a spiteful grin.
Klaus snickered at her comeback.
She took a third look at the image on her skin.
"I think even my mom would approve," she mused, recalling how strict her mother had been when it came to the notion of piercings and tattoos. "You're very talented," she spoke, meeting eyes with him once more.
The intense look he was reciprocating was unmistakable and just that alone was enough to make her skin rise again.
Reminded of her half dressed state, she looked down at herself self-consciously.
"I'll let you get dressed," Klaus mumbled quickly, practically dashing into the family room with his back towards her in order to give her some semblance of privacy.
With her back away from him and the window, she let her bra dangle loosely in front of her as she reached behind her to affix it back into place. She grabbed her for her tank top speedily and threw it over her head.
It was then that she noticed Klaus standing in the family room, remote in hand, staring blankly at a blurry frozen image of him and Elijah as they waited for Elena to walk down the aisle on the screen.
"You can turn that off if you want. I'll watch it another time," she offered sympathetically.
While she was genuinely concerned about Klaus's reaction to the video, she had also suggested she would watch it at another time so she wouldn't run the risk of bursting into tears at any moment throughout the video in front of him.
Klaus peered over his shoulder reluctantly.
"Do you think we could watch the rest of it now?" he suggested.
She hadn't expected Klaus would ever want to watch it. One, it was a wedding video. Two, it was the wedding for his deceased brother and sister-in-law. Unlike her, she didn't think he would want to relive that day now that the two of them were gone.
"We don't..." Klaus started.
"Sure," she cut him off, sensing that he wanted to watch it, and that he wanted to watch it with her.
It could be good for him to watch it. Despite her tears, she had enjoyed watching the first part. Perhaps it would give him some comfort too? She didn't want to discourage the possibility.
Taking the remote from his hand, she resumed her spot on the sofa.
A few seconds later, he was seated next to her.
She held her breath as she pressed play.
It was just at the part where the bridesmaids were beginning to make their way down the aisle.
"Your sister's hair turned out perfect that day. I was a little jealous," she observed as they watched Rebekah take her place beside Elena.
Klaus snorted.
"Jealous of my sister? Don't let her know that. You'll hear about it for years," he joked.
That sounded exactly like the Rebekah she had known in high school, though not the one she knew now.
"Can we pause this image and send it to Kol? He's practically salivating over Bonnie," Klaus laughed as they watched Bonnie. "Look at his face!" Klaus laughed harder.
She smirked at the thought of showing the video to Bonnie. She would probably laugh alongside Klaus and make fun of Kol equally.
When she saw the camera focus in on her she bit her lip anxiously.
She hated watching herself on camera or seeing herself in photographs.
"I was so nervous walking down the aisle," she cringed. "I thought for sure I was going to trip."
"You looked beautiful that day," Klaus said, taking her a little by surprise.
Ignoring the way her body tingled, she smiled at him appreciatively, not wanting to read anything more into his words. Surely, he was just paying her a polite compliment.
"But Elena looked radiant," she said quickly, ignoring his comment, as the video showcased Elena starting down the aisle.
Her lips tightened and she curled her fingers against her palm, resisting the urge to cry at the sight of a beaming Elena heading towards an equally enthusiastic Elijah.
A few tears escaped her eyes despite her effort and she quickly reached for a tissue to cover them up.
She didn't know if she was crying because she was reliving their wedding day all over again, and she tended to get emotional at weddings, or if she was crying from her sadness, in knowing how short Elijah and Elena's wedded bliss would truly be.
"I'll never get over the way he looks at her," she sighed, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to.
Klaus gave her a questioning stare.
"He looks at her with such adoration, like the only person he can see is her. You can tell how in love he is with her," she clarified.
Klaus stared back at the screen without much of a reaction.
"I know you're 'anti-marriage,'" she groaned, "but how can you argue against that?" she wondered, referring to the looks exchanged between Elena and Elijah as she reached the end of the aisle.
"I don't suppose I can," Klaus conceded.
She smiled.
"Elijah was so nervous that morning," Klaus revealed with an amused grin.
Her eyebrows rose curiously.
"Elijah doesn't strike me as the nervous type," she admitted.
"He hides it well," Klaus told her. "I had to give him a bit of a pep talk before the ceremony," he recalled. "His nerves and the scotch we drank put him a little on edge," he chuckled.
"The best man is supposed to look out for the groom, not get him drunk before the wedding!" she chastised.
"Calm down love, we had a bit of scotch and watched some football. You make it sound like we were pounding back shots as strippers danced on the furniture," he mused.
"I'm sure you would have preferred that," she replied sarcastically.
He shrugged receptively to her accusation.
She hit him playfully across the head with the pillow beside her.
"So you gave him a pep talk?" she inquired, trying to get their conversation back on track as he captured the pillow from her grasp. "What was your pep talk, 'Elijah run while you still can?'" she teased.
He swiped her over the head with the pillow in retaliation.
"Actually, that was our father's pep talk," Klaus explained. "Mine was damage control."
She frowned instantly at Klaus's mention of Mikael.
"It wasn't the day time drinking or his impending nuptials that had Elijah on edge so much as it was the visit our father paid us," Klaus revealed. "We were all having a good time. I guess our father thought he would come to spoil it."
"What did he say?" she asked, not having heard of this until now.
"He tried to convince Elijah that he was making a mistake," Klaus told her. "Nothing really surprising, but it was enough to upset Elijah."
She gritted her teeth in annoyance. She couldn't believe Mikael would attempt something like that on his son's wedding day.
"That's horrible," she complained, adding this to her growing list of reasons why she loathed Klaus's parents. "What did you say to him?" she wondered.
"Just the typical brotherly stuff," he shrugged. "Or best man stuff."
She looked at him suspiciously.
"Does that surprise you?" he questioned.
"What did you say?" she pressed.
"I told him if he didn't get married to Elena then he wouldn't get to go on his honeymoon vacation," he smirked.
She scowled, not amused by his joking.
"After we commiserated over what a prick our father is, I just got him to think about all the reasons he wanted to be with Elena, all the reasons he mentioned when he first told me he was going to propose to her. That seemed to do the trick," he recalled.
Her heart clenched at the obvious bond that had existed between Klaus and Elijah.
"That was sweet of you," she admired, offering him a sympathetic smile.
Klaus nodded quickly and looked back to the screen.
She could tell their conversation had gotten to him as she watched him try to swallow back his emotion, so she decided not to press him further.
Instead, they both continued to watch the ceremony and the start of the reception, laughing at Kol's attempts to impress the camera and fighting over whose speech was better.
It wasn't until Elena and Elijah's first dance that she began to bite her lip anxiously.
In the background there was a clear shot of her and Klaus dancing together. It was clear she was chastising him about something. They both looked unimpressed with one another, and yet they both seemed thoroughly enthralled.
She didn't know whether she should mention it or not. Surely, he had noticed them too.
"Do you remember what we were bickering about?" he asked, amusement in his voice.
"I was probably calling you an ass, and you were probably being one," she snickered, attempting to recall their first dance that night.
She couldn't remember much about it save for the fact that he'd been a surprisingly good dancer.
"Where did you learn to dance?" she asked curiously.
Klaus scowled, seemingly embarrassed by the answer.
"When Rebekah was nine or ten she got it in her head that she wanted to take dancing lessons. Mother made me sign up with her so she would have a partner," he groaned. "I think that was the worst few months of my life," he laughed.
"You took dancing lessons?!" she squealed, falling back against the couch in laughter.
"Don't get any ideas with that information. I'm sure I can get Kol to find out something equally as embarrassing about you from Bonnie," he threatened.
Her laughter died down promptly in response to his warning. The last thing she needed was Bonnie spilling some humiliating detail about her past for Klaus to use against her. He already had last night to tease her with.
"Actually, the only thing I regret about those lessons was being Rebekah's partner. We fought more than we danced. The dance moves have actually come in handy," he revealed, obviously referring to the fact that he could use them to win points with women.
She rolled her eyes.
"How many women have you seduced by your amazing dance moves?" she groaned sarcastically.
He shrugged.
"You, for starters," he teased.
"I didn't sleep with you because we danced," she argued.
Clearly, that wasn't the case since they had slept together once before they even shared a dance.
"Then why did you sleep with me?" he asked her bluntly.
She turned her head to the side against the sofa and looked at him suspiciously.
"I don't know," she started with a yawn. "I was drunk and horny, and you were attractive?" she laughed.
Klaus frowned, and for a moment she thought she might have offended him.
"I was attractive?" he questioned her.
"I suppose you still are," she conceded reluctantly with a teasing smirk that mirrored his own, unwilling to reveal just how attractive she thought he still was. "Why did you sleep with me?" she asked, feeling brave enough to ask him what he had asked her.
"You surprised me," he confessed.
Before she could encourage him to elaborate, both their attentions were brought back to the screen as the crowd erupted into cheers as Elena tossed her bouquet.
She wanted to crawl under the blanket and hide, knowing the footage they were about to view next.
"Oh my god," she cried. "Can we turn this off?"
"Why?" Klaus mused, knowing exactly why she wanted to stop watching.
"I don't want to relive one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. How would you feel if I made you watch a video if you and Rebekah dancing as children?" she pointed out.
She cringed as she looked at the TV from the corner of her eye, noticing Elijah getting ready to throw the garter.
Puling the blanket up, she tucked her face in between the couch and Klaus's shoulder.
"I enjoyed myself," Klaus said nonchalantly.
"Of course you did," she hissed, her annoyance stifled by the blanket over her face.
With her face pressed against Klaus's shoulder, it was only then she realized how close they had become on the couch.
It was then was reminded once more of how delicious he smelled.
It was then she realized how warm he was and how good it felt to be next to him.
"You can look now," Klaus told her.
She lifted her head out from under the blanket warily only to see them both still on screen with Klaus's hands buried in her bridesmaid's dress as he secured the garter around her thigh.
"UGH!" she scowled, punching him lightly in the shoulder as he mocked her with laughter. "You didn't even do it right," she criticized, forcing herself to continue watching.
Klaus cocked an eyebrow at her.
"You're supposed to do it with your mouth," she lamented.
"I'm sure that would have went over well with you," he scoffed. "Sorry, I didn't feel like a knee to the jaw that night."
"I probably would have done more than just knee you in the jaw," she corrected him.
"Exactly," he concluded. "Besides, I think I more than made up for the faux pas when I took the garter off later that night," he remarked suggestively.
Outwardly, she scowled with disgust at his comment but inwardly a waterfall of heat rushed down her body as she recalled the seductive way he looked up at her as he removed the garter with his mouth on the bed of her hotel room.
She reclaimed her position under the blanket, this time to mask the evidence of her desire written on her rose tainted cheeks.
Things went quiet between them after that.
He said nothing, and neither did she.
Still, she remained next to him on the sofa, her head nestled against his upper arm as they continued to watch the rest of the video.
He said nothing, and neither did she.
She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again they had reached the end of the video as the wedding guests began to recite their well wishes for the newlyweds.
"The videographer didn't even get to the best part of the night," Klaus sighed disappointedly.
She glared at him in response to his insinuation.
"Klaus..." she said warningly, unsure of where he was going with this.
His eyes were set upon hers fixedly.
She swallowed hard in nervous anticipation.
His hand brushed over her bare thigh underneath the blanket.
Her stomach dropped excitedly.
He continued to stare her down, his eyes aflame with lust.
Her body shook in response.
His hand moved higher.
Her heart raced faster.
"You have no idea how badly I wanted you that night," he told her.
She let the blanket drop.
He pulled it away.
"How badly I still want you," he breathed.
"Klaus..." she repeated, the determination in her voice faltering.
"Caroline..." he mimicked.
He dipped his head into the crock of her neck.
She dropped her head to the side to receive him.
He tickled her inner thigh.
She inhaled the fresh scent of his body wash unashamedly.
"Tell me you want me," he whisper pleaded, his lips fanning against her collarbone. "Tell me," he said, his mouth now against her ear. "Tell me it's not too late."
His words hit her deeply.
Her body ached with desire.
"I want you," she gasped, as though her admission granted her air she had been denied, as though a weight was lifted off her chest. "I want you more than anything," she sighed. "I've never stopped wanting you."
He pulled back to look at her, his ocean eyes inviting her in to swim.
She pulled him in closer by his shirt. She couldn't fight this anymore. She didn't want to.
This seemed inevitable the moment he stepped back into her life.
"Kiss me," she demanded.
He pressed his lips upon hers.
She kissed him back hungrily.
"I should have never left you," he whispered against her lips.
He caressed her bottom lip with his.
"I'll never leave you," he said sincerely.
Rather than offer him a verbal reply, she grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him as forcefully and as passionately as she could, as though every kiss she had longed to give him over the past year was expressed into one.
Shifting her position on the couch, she parted her legs and invited him in between before leaning back against the armrest and bringing him along with her.
She had imagined this very moment on so many nights spent alone. The fact that it was happening now so suddenly seemed completely surreal to her.
Despite that hesitation, she was at the complete and utter mercy of her body which was betraying any of her rational thoughts.
This is what she longed for, to feel his body blanket hers, to feel his hips rock against hers, to feel his hands possess her body, to feel his lips claim every inch of her skin; it's the craving she had been trying to suppress for over a year.
She combed one of her hands through his hair while the other explored the contours of his back. Her hands couldn't get enough of him.
His lips wandered down her chest as his hand palmed her breast through her shirt. Her hips thrust upwards to meet his in response. He cupped her ass to bring her even closer.
She whimpered at the pleasurable pressure building between their bodies.
"I've thought about this a million times," Klaus revealed with ragged breaths, lifting himself off of her and kneeling between her legs.
He ran his hands from her feet to her knees.
"I thought about what it would feel like to touch you again, to feel your body writhing against mine, to be inside you when I make you come," he explained, "to see your beautiful face in that moment."
Heat pooled instantly between her legs.
His hands glided along the outside of her thighs as his lips and stubble marked the insides.
"I've craved the intoxication that comes by the scent of your perfume and your arousal," he murmured as his lips ascended up her thigh.
She looked down at him with lust filled eyes.
"I've wanted to taste the way I make you feel," he continued, his hot breath teasingly close to where she wanted him most.
His one hand griped the edge of her shorts while he pressed he heel of the other against her most sensitive spot.
"I've yearned to hear..."
"Klaus," she gasped, as she pressed herself against the palm of his hand desperately.
"...you say my name," he grinned, "just like that."
"Please," she begged. "I need you," she groaned, her mind growing cloudier by the second with her need for release.
Her eyes clenched shut in frantic pursuit of relief from his torturous hand. She was so close. She could feel it. Every muscle in her body went tense and she held her breath expectantly.
And then suddenly it stopped.
Her eyes shot open to reveal unfamiliar surroundings.
It was no longer dark; early morning sun illuminated the room.
No longer was she draped over the couch with her legs spread and Klaus in between.
She was still on the sofa, but now she found herself wrapped in the blanket curled tightly against a hard warm body.
Still a little disoriented, she lifted her head slowly to discover that the body she had been using as her own personal pillow belonged to a sleeping Klaus.
A/N: So don't hate me for doing that to you okay guys? I know you may not see it, but this is progress. I warned you this would be a slow burn. Caroline having sexy dreams about Klaus is definitely a step in the right direction though. Caroline's feelings for Klaus are starting to become clearer.
Next up: Klaus and Caroline are left to deal with another awkward morning. The day leads to more discomfort when Caroline decides to host an impromptu dinner party and certain guests fall in between. Caroline and Klaus reach a late night truce that leaves things more uncertain between them.
And later…the masquerade is just around the corner…and Klaus and Caroline's relationship is also about to turn a major corner. What do you think is going to happen?
Review me maybe?