Living parents Alternate Universe. Violet is 18, Klaus is 16. Begin!

~Normal POV

Klaus Baudelaire hates parties.

He was sitting at a table in his family mansion's lavish ballroom as he quietly watched his parents conversing with their guests. Bertrand and Beatrice Baudelaire were hosting a huge gathering of their wealthy, high-society, friends and associates tonight. Unfortunately, whenever the Baudelaire parents would have one of these parties, their children were forced to attend. Klaus was the middle child, and only boy, of the three Baudelaire heirs. His younger sister Sunny was only 4; meaning she got out of attending because of her strict bedtime.

"Lucky," He thought grumpily, "I wish I was in bed right now. Preferably with my book; I was almost finished with it..."

He glanced briefly at his older sister Violet who was standing a little ways from him. She was talking to a boy just her age; they appeared to be flirting, but Klaus couldn't hear their conversation. He didn't want to. Listening to his sister flirt with a cute boy was something that would just make him sick to his stomach. He inwardly sighed as he noticed his mother approach him; she was accompanied by a guest. Klaus politely stood up to greet them.

"Klaus, I wanted to introduce you to my best friend from when I was your age," Beatrice said, "This is Mrs. Karen Quagmire."

Klaus politely shook Karen's hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Karen smiled, "Bea, you were right, you and Bertrand did raise a gentleman."

Beatrice smirked, "Speaking of a gentleman, is that your son talking to my daughter over there?"

Karen chuckled, "Yes that's Duncan; he's the oldest of my triplets."

"He's certainly a charmer."

"Just like his father."

Klaus wanted to gag. Secretly, he was a romantic, but these conversations were something he would never get used to. He didn't notice Karen had left him and his mother alone after a few moments.

"Klaus, you could at least try to have a good time. I know you don't want to be here, but your father and I appreciate it. Violet is having a good time over there."

Klaus scoffed quietly and muttered, "Yeah but that's got nothing to do with the party..."

"Don't get sassy with me, son, or I will call your father over here," Beatrice warned with a strict glare. He momentarily forgot she had amazing hearing.

"I'm sorry mother," He replied guiltily, "I was almost finished with my book earlier, and I'm just a little frustrated that's all."

Beatrice patted his back, "Honey you can get back to it after the party, ok? I promise! In the meantime, try following your sister's example and find yourself a new friend to talk to," She smirked before adding, "Or perhaps a nice young lady."

Klaus blushed and sheepishly pushed his glasses up his nose in an attempt to cover it. He agreed to his mother's wishes to appease her. She nodded in satisfaction and went to join Bertrand across the room. He sighed in defeat. This was not going to end well.

Klaus was a very well-read person. He enjoyed reading more than anything. One would even guess that he had probably read more books in his 16 years on this earth than most people have in their entire lifetime. He'd read any book, even if it ended up being one he didn't enjoy. But for all of Klaus' intelligence there was one thing he'd never figure out with his reading skills: girls. He just couldn't talk to them, and it wasn't for lack of trying. His mother knew this. Of her two oldest children, Beatrice knew that Violet was the more outgoing of them, while Klaus was shy and liked to keep to himself. Beatrice knew her son's comfort zone, but she wanted him to at least put in the effort.

Klaus was so wrapped up in his concerns on how to approach the situation that he didn't notice Violet and her new friend Duncan had come over to join him.

"Klaus, this is Duncan Quagmire. This is my younger brother Klaus."

Klaus politely shook Duncan's hand, "Nice to meet you, I noticed you two talking earlier."

Violet's cheeks turned pink, "Well, his mother Karen introduced us. Duncan where's your sister? I saw her with Quigley and his girlfriend a while ago, but I haven't seen her since."

"No idea," Duncan chuckled, "We can't ask Quigley either cause he's a little distracted."

He pointed across the room where his identical triplet brother, apparently named Quigley, was dancing with a darker-skinned, raven haired, girl with triangle-shaped glasses. Most of the guests were watching the two with excitement as they tangoed across the dance floor.

"Your brother likes to show off doesn't he," Violet commented.

"I'm more surprised he got Fiona onto the dance floor to begin with," Duncan replied, "She's usually pretty shy."

Violet smiled flirtatiously at him, "Do you want to join them?"

Duncan replied with a charming smirk, "I thought you'd never ask."

He offered his arm to her and the two walked off to dance together, leaving Klaus alone once more. He was happy for his sister really. Duncan was a nice guy, at least as far as he could tell; he just hated to watch Violet flirt. It was so weird.

Klaus carefully watched the area for any sign of his parents before noting that it was clear as he quickly stepped away from where he had been sitting. He walked around the area where all the other guests were and went through a set of doors that led out onto the balcony. He breathed a sigh of relief when he shut the door behind him and felt the cool evening breeze hit his skin. It was so good to be out of there. He needed a minute alone to save whatever was left of his sanity.

He walked across the balcony and leaned against the marble railing. He glanced up at the starry night sky. He inwardly wished that this party had been held outside on the family mansion's lovely gardens, it would have meant that he could have slipped back to his room undetected.

"Oh, I didn't know anyone else was out here."

Klaus jumped and quickly turned around to see someone had joined him on the balcony. It was a girl, and he could tell from her overall facial features that this had been the Quagmire triplet sister that Violet had been referring to earlier. Her black hair went down over her shoulders gracefully, which partly fell over her eyes, and it complimented her pale skin. She smiled at him and he suddenly felt his insides turn to mush. She was pretty; very pretty.

"I'm sorry did you want to be alone? I could go back inside; I just wanted some fresh air for a second."

He swallowed nervously and stammered out a reply, "Um, if you want to be out here that's fine I don't mind. I mean it is my house so..."

She giggled, "Oh, so you're the Baudelaires' son? Your mother told me about you."

His eyes widened, "She... did?"

She walked up to his side, "It wasn't anything embarrassing if that's what you're wondering."

She held out her hand, "I'm Isadora Quagmire."

He timidly shook her hand, "I'm Klaus Baudelaire."

Her expression grew concerned, "Are you ok? Your face looks kind of red and your hands are shaking."

"I'm fine! Really I'm ok..." He ran a hand through his messy hair nervously and felt his face grow even hotter. He was sure she was about to laugh at him for being so awkward. Pretty girls don't usually smile at him, he was too much of a shy, book-loving dork, and he was certain that this lovely girl wouldn't be an exception.

"Ok, if you say so," Isadora replied; it was pretty obvious that she didn't believe him.

She leaned against the railing and looked up at the sky. Klaus attempted to regain his composure. Was he seriously crushing on a girl he just met?

"Get a hold of yourself you idiot! You've already embarrassed yourself enough."

"Parties in ballrooms aren't the most comfortable sight, but at least it is a lovely night."

He glanced at her in surprise and blurted out, "That's a couplet! Ogden Nash uses them!"

"Whoa, where did that come from? Klaus, you moron, it might have been unintentional."

Isadora, however, perked up at his statement, "I know I've read all his work!"

"You like poetry?"

She nodded enthusiastically, "I'm a poet myself actually, I only write couplets though."

Klaus smiled shyly at her, "I um... I really like poetry too..."

She grinned, "Who's your favorite?"

"I don't really have a favorite I like reading almost every kind of poetry."

"Then who's your least favorite?"

Klaus groaned, "Edgar Guest."

"I hate him too! His work is so tedious!"

"And his topics are overly sentimental!"

The two smiled at each other and continued talking about different kinds of poetry. Klaus couldn't believe this was happening. He was having a real conversation with a girl. A very pretty, nice girl... His insides were shaking. How could he talk to her like this when he also felt so nervous? Her smile was gorgeous and her lovely wide, brown eyes were twinkling in the moonlight as she gushed about her interests to him.

Isadora glanced at the party through the balcony doors, "I want to get home soon. I have a book waiting under my pillow that I need to get back to, or I'm going to lose my mind."

"You want to finish a book too?"

Isadora blushed sheepishly, "Oh, don't take offense to that please! I don't mean that I don't enjoy talking to you I just-"

"You're almost finished with it and you want to get back to it so you can see what happens next," Klaus smirked.

Isadora smiled, "How did you guess?"

"I have the same problem with my book... only mine is a mystery novel and I was about to find out the reveal. The suspense has kind of been killing me slowly throughout the night. But mother and father insisted that Violet and I come to the party to be good hosts."

Isadora giggled, "Well my novel is a little less urgent and probably one that you wouldn't enjoy anyway."

He raised a brow at her, "Try me."

"It's this romance novel about a traveling girl named Serana and her horse Blackjack. She falls in love with a man named Darien and they have to go on the run together-"

"Because King Fredrick wants to execute Darien because he thinks he killed his son, James!"

Isadora's eyes widened, "You've read it?"

Klaus blushed deeply and ran a hand through his hair, "Um... promise you won't tell anyone that I read romance novels?"

"Your secret is safe with me! I just finished chapter 24," She suddenly looked worried, "Please tell me they don't kill off Blackjack! She injured her leg two chapters ago and it still hasn't healed yet!"

Klaus chuckled, "Well, I wouldn't want to spoil it for you, but since you asked, yes Blackjack survives."

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief, "Ok good! She's my favorite character! I know she can't talk, but her sassy interactions with Darien are hilarious. Especially when he tried to ride her and she bucked him into the river!"

"Because the only person who can ride that horse is Serana," Klaus replied chuckling.

"Exactly, Darien is such a dork and Serana is cool as a cucumber like all the time; now don't tell me anymore please because I want to see what happens next!"

"I won't I promise," Klaus paused for a moment, "So... you like romance novels?"

Isadora blushed, "I'm kind of a hopeless romantic. Just the simple idea of meeting some handsome guy on a moonlit night, looking out at the pretty stars, maybe standing on a balcony; you find out you have things in common and just click with each other on a level that you can't understand yet..." She smiled shyly, "It just sounds wonderful to me..."

Her already wide eyes went even wider with realization at what she had said. And the words had not gone over Klaus' head either. The two quickly averted their eyes away from each other. Klaus suddenly felt himself grow uncomfortably warm again. He briefly glanced at Isadora and could see that she was embarrassed. She was looking at the railing as she rested her hands on it and fidgeting with her fingers. After a moment, she glanced at him then went back to looking at the stars. She stopped fidgeting and rested her hands on the cool marble.

Klaus cleared his throat, "If I'm making you uncomfortable at all-"

"Oh no, of course you're not! I don't mind being out here with you..."

He took a deep breath, "Well that's good because I don't mind being out here with you either."

He remembered how the scene had gone as the two of them quoted the book they had been talking about minutes ago. He carefully reached out and interlocked his hand with Isadora's. The two blushed and smiled at each other. Klaus suddenly felt a spark of courage within him as he stared at the beautiful girl beside him. But before he could do what he had planned, Isadora apparently remembered how the scene in their book had actually gone: she kissed him first.

Klaus wrapped his arms around her waist as her arms went around his neck. It was a soft, gentle, first kiss. And Klaus felt like he was on cloud nine. Isadora liked him! He couldn't believe that this beautiful girl he had just met was interested in him too! It was like a dream. It was too good to be real.

"Ahem."

Definitely too good to last. Klaus and Isadora quickly jumped apart at the sound that interrupted them. They turned to see Violet and Duncan standing in the doorway smirking. Duncan looked a little pissed off, but that's probably because Karen mentioned he was the oldest triplet; he was probably protective.

"So, Klaus, I see you've met Isadora," Violet was choking back laughter.

Klaus had never felt so embarrassed. And he could see Isadora wasn't holding up much better.

"Izzie, mom says we have to go home now," Duncan said, "Come out to the car when you're ready."

"Oh, ok Duncan I'll be right with you..."

Duncan nodded and left with Violet to say good-bye to her. Klaus gave Isadora an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry for embarrassing you like that I didn't mean to."

"It's ok Klaus," She was blushing, "I enjoyed it..." She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a pitch black notebook and pen. She wrote something down on a page and tore it out and handed it to him.

"That's my phone number. I'd love to talk about more books with you sometime. Maybe when we're able to really be alone together?" She winked at him and left to go home with her family.

Klaus stared at the small scrap of paper in shock. His shock didn't go away when he went to bed that night either. He was so distracted that he completely forgot about his book that he had been so eager to get back to. He didn't even bat an eye when Violet teased him about the balcony incident the next day. He didn't listen when his mother gushed about her son getting a girlfriend. (even though it had just been one kiss; Bertrand was way more interested in Violet having planned a date with Duncan for next week) But he did know one thing for sure.

Klaus Baudelaire was absolutely looking forward to the next party his parents would have.

~The End!

The book that Klaus and Isadora were talking about isn't real; just a made up one I put in for story purposes.