Klarosummer Bingo prompt: Baseball

Company-mandated organized fun sucked every bit of enjoyment out of any activity. Caroline rolled her eyes, checking her watch again to see how much longer the game would go on. As she squinted at the scoreboard, she realized she had no idea what it meant by 'ball' and only vague understandings of 'inning'. Baseball rules were almost as confusing at football rules, but she was pretty sure there were nine innings in baseball versus four quarters in football. Probably.

As general counsel for Mikaelson Inc., her position was too high profile to discreetly slip away like she wanted to, and she noted that CEO Klaus Mikaelson kept glancing her way, so it definitely would be poor etiquette to leave the corporate event while he was watching.

Klaus was an enigma, a formidable presence in the boardroom, and typically surly and taciturn with subordinates. Which was probably a blessing considering how achingly beautiful he was. The last thing she needed to do was give into the inconvenient crush she'd been harboring.

He rarely showed another side to himself which is why her coworkers had been surprised when he gleefully announced during their department meeting that he was sponsoring a company-wide day at the local ballpark. Based on his uncharacteristically broad grin that showed off his adorable dimples, he apparently was a huge fan of the Augustine Tigers, who'd be playing their local team, the Mystic Falls Lightening.

An excited murmur from the crowd caught Caroline's attention and she glanced over to see one of the players wandering over from the dugout to greet some of the fans. She giggled when she spied Klaus rush forward with an awestruck expression on his face, excitedly shaking the player's hand and having him sign a baseball and a hat and even the jersey he was wearing.

"Caroline? Caroline Forbes?"

She blinked in surprise, trying to figure out how the player knew her name. She gave a friendly wave, taking in his handsome features — especially that mischievous grin — and finally it hit her. "Enzo?!" She didn't remember getting out of her seat, but suddenly she was racing to the edge of the railing and hurled herself into his arms as soon as he'd climbed into their section.

He lifted her up, twirling her until she teased, "I'm totally going to hurl my nachos on your head if you keep doing that, you know."

As Enzo set her down, he wiggled his eyebrows, reminding her, "Wouldn't be the first time you vomited on me, gorgeous."

Caroline was suddenly aware of loud throat-clearing and she glanced over at Klaus whose voice had grown tight. "And how might you two know each other?"

"Enzo and I went to middle school together," she happily explained, remembering how he'd gotten into multiple fights on her behalf when some of the boys had teased her about her braces and awkward, gangly limbs. "He was my fiercest protector and knew the absolute grossest but somehow best food combinations with peanut butter and jelly."

He slung a companionable arm around her shoulders, bumping her with his hip as he said mildly, "Yeah, but once I got you to try jalapenos, soy sauce and Doritos with peanut butter and jelly, you ate them so much, mom started keeping a separate 'Caroline' grocery list."

"So you knew each other quite well then," Klaus asked, his tone oddly accusatory.

She tucked a blonde curl behind her ear, choosing to ignore whatever weird possessiveness Klaus felt toward his baseball idol. "We were best friends all through middle school; he beat up people who teased me and I protected him from Mrs. Gilbert's evil Chihuahua." She smacked Enzo's chest, adding playfully, "When you're rounding the bases, do you pretend Damon's still chasing you?"

"Gorgeous, that dog was evil and you know it. I still see those crazy bug eyes when I go to sleep."

She rolled her eyes, jokingly telling him, "You're such a baby. Does your mom still iron your underwear?"

"I'd be happy to show you, gorgeous."

Klaus' grip tightened on the team merchandise in his hands and he practically snarled at them, "Right. Well, I'll make myself scarce so you two can catch up. Although Enzo might want to finish his game first."

Caroline narrowed her eyes as she watched Klaus storm off, not entirely sure what happened. Was he seriously acting like an asshat just because she happened to know his favorite baseball player first?


Klarosummer Bingo prompt: Tiki bar

He felt the crystal tumbler splinter in his hand, the shards embedding themselves in his palm as he cursed. It was the third glass he'd broken in the past hour, and he doubted it would be his last before this infernal fundraiser was over. Bloody hell, he was touching her again.

Klaus Mikaelson didn't consider himself a patient creature, but that woman seemed to delight in testing what tenuous limits he possessed. As he carelessly set aside the chunks of broken crystal, his gray eyes narrowed as he watched Tyler Lockwood teasingly caress Caroline's back. She looked amazing tonight, the red satin of her evening gown gleaming in the firelight of the torches. He preferred her in blue.

As he watched the bounce of her long blonde curls, he recalled exactly how silky they felt in his fingers and how she loved it when he tugged on the ends just so. He knew exactly how soft her skin was, the delicious twitch of her as she came apart under his touch. And now Tyler was experiencing everything he'd foolishly thrown away.

Caroline smiled brightly at the bartender behind the tiki bar, accepting the fruity cocktails with colorful umbrellas jauntily perched on top. As she handed one to Tyler, he leaned down to whisper something, causing her to dissolve into giggles. She looked happy. And it wasn't fair — not when he was this miserable. Or, maybe it was exactly what he deserved. After all, he'd made her cry. And even worse, didn't chase after her that night.

But that was all going to change tonight. He'd been furiously searching for a way to make her see reason, to get her to understand that he needed her, that he wanted her for no other reason than because she was Caroline. His Caroline. And now, he'd received the information he needed to prove that Tyler didn't care for her. Not the way that he did.

Klaus maintained a rigid control on his monster, which was no easy feat as he watched Tyler gently kiss her cheek. He willed away the urge to unsheathe his fangs, and waited patiently for the upstart wolf to leave Caroline's side. The moment she was alone, Klaus flashed in front of her, doing his best to appear casually interested rather than devastated at the look of disdain that came across her lovely face.

"What do you want," she hissed at him, briefly turning to wave at Governor Donovan and his wife, her friendly smile making his heart give a funny little tweak, despite it melting away as soon as they were alone once more.

"I need to speak with you, love."

She scoffed, setting her carved coconut drink on the tiki bar and starting to walk away. When he grabbed her hand, she snarled, "Don't call me that. And there's nothing more to say, Klaus." A few of the Samoan fire-knife dancers must have picked up on the distress in her voice, because they paused in setting up the bamboo stage to look at her with concern. She favored them with a reassuring wave, purposely stepping toward the shadows to avoid further interruptions.

"Fine. Speak."

"Tyler is using you to gain support from the human factions." He winced at the harshness of his words. He hadn't meant to blurt out what he knew, but there was something about having Caroline so close and yet so far away that set his teeth on edge. He hadn't missed the way her piercing blue eyes kept flicking around the lush venue, clearly looking for Tyler.

Disbelief mixed with anger colored her tone. "Seriously?! As opposed to you? Don't forget I overheard Elijah and Finn telling you about the importance of currying favor with the human factions by making our relationship more visible. For fuck's sake, they referred to me as the 'Caroline Effect' and you didn't say anything!"

Klaus wisely left out his brothers' other shrewd observations about Caroline's close ties with the witch community, not to mention how several werewolf packs had invoked lifetime protection for her after she fought her school district to allow pack children's post-full moon care not to count against their attendance. Underneath sunshine curls and her bubbly personality, she was a gifted teacher, not to mention fierce and loyal and everyone gravitated toward her. Especially him.

Their last day together, they'd attended her school's carnival, and she'd cleverly sweet-talked him into helping her with the face-painting booth. He was a bloodthirsty Original, ruling the vampire faction for centuries, and yet, he found himself grinning foolishly and feeling lighter than he had in decades as he painted unruly children's cheeks.

Later on, he'd left her sleeping in his bed to foolishly see why his brothers decided to visit him in the middle of the night. He'd sat there, listening in disbelief as Elijah and Finn rattled off ridiculous statistics from their market research staff, encouraging him to use his relationship with Caroline to strengthen alliances with the human factions. He'd been taken aback by their proposal. Not to mention tempted — after all, one could never have too much power. However, he knew he couldn't hurt Caroline in that manner; he cared about her too much.

His instincts told him to be cautious in revealing the depth of his feelings to his brothers — his family was ruthless and opportunistic and couldn't be trusted not to see her as a weakness to exploit. Unfortunately, he realized too late that Caroline had stumbled across them.

The look of utter betrayal on her face was heart wrenching, but he couldn't seem to find the words to fix things. Instead, he seemed rooted to his chair as he watched her stubbornly set her jaw, blue eyes blazing in fury as she stormed out of his house. And out of his life.

Caroline's voice was quiet and bitter as she pulled him from his unpleasant memories. "You weren't angry with your brothers; you weren't even offended on my behalf! Instead, you just muttered that you'd 'take it under advisement'!" She glared at him once more before she stomped off, joining Bonnie Bennett, the newly crowned head of the witch factions, at the limbo game set up across from the tiki bar.

As Klaus watched her angrily walk away in a delectable cloud of red satin, he couldn't help but admire her fiery spirit. Tyler couldn't handle her fire. He didn't deserve her fire.

It was time to get Caroline back.