Klarosummer Bingo Prompt: Peach festival

Peach jam was not a weapon. Caroline would resist the urge to hurl one of her heavy Mason jars into the smug face of Elena Gilbert as she pretended to care about how she was doing post-Tyler breakup. Because that's not what that nosy bitch really wanted to know. She wanted to know the same thing everyone else did — why she attacked Tyler in the middle of class weeks after he broke up with her. Caroline hadn't been back to school since, so those desperate for gossip apparently had decided to corner her while she was working her family's booth at the Mystic Falls Peach Festival.

"I'm doing great, Elena. In fact, I bet I'm doing way better than Tyler's balls these days," she answered with a vicious smile. When she was feeling depressed or angry about her situation, she just recalled the way Tyler's skin turned the color of sour milk when she hit his balls with multiple uppercuts. The one bit of good parenting her sheriff mother had provided was making sure Caroline could throw a punch. "If you have follow-up questions, I'd be happy to make you throw up just like he did," she added cheerfully.

Elena gasped, doing an excellent impersonation of the pearl-clutching society bitches who loved to look down on townies like Caroline. Caroline gave her a cheeky little wave as she stormed off, almost running into Klaus, another of their classmates.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at his approach — the timing was suspicious. While they had a couple of classes together at Augustine Prep, they'd never spoken more than a few words to each other. Clearly, he wanted to revel in her misery. She didn't like how that thought seemed to hurt her more than the breakup with Tyler. Damn it — she'd thought she was over her stupid crush on Klaus.

At first, she'd been happy with Tyler, flattered even that he didn't seem to care that she was a scholarship kid from town rather than from an affluent, East Coast family like him and the majority of their classmates. The first time she saw his temper had been after they lost their homecoming game. When he roughly shoved her against the side of his SUV, she hit the back of her head, and the heavy thudding noise seemed to pull him out of his rage. She reasoned that as quarterback, he was under a lot of pressure, and his dad expected him to excel at both sports and grades, so she tried to ignore it. But the next time he pushed her, she slammed into a row of lockers hard enough to make her teeth rattle, and she told him she had enough.

Klaus' assessing look gave her pause. She wasn't sure what he saw in her expression, but whatever it was had him choosing his words carefully. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here today."

"I never miss the peach festival. Certainly can't afford to these days," she muttered, unnecessarily straightening one of the stacks of peach jam to avoid his penetrating gaze.

"What do you mean," he asked carefully, "are you in trouble?"

She thought of all the plans she'd carefully made, plans that Tyler had tried to destroy. "Nothing I can't handle," she replied stubbornly.

"Look, I know we don't know each other that well, but anyone who was even slightly paying attention knows you aren't upset about the breakup. Something else happened and I'd like to know what it is." At the obvious flash of anger in her eyes, he hastily added, "I'd like to know so I can help, I mean. If you'd let me."

The pink flush that stained his dimpled cheeks was amusing — and confusing. Was Klaus seriously asking because he was concerned about her? She was pretty sure this was the longest conversation they'd ever had other than the time he'd asked to borrow her notes for World History and Tyler had glared at him the entire time it took her to dig through her backpack.

The words unexpectedly tumbled out, and the relief she felt made her realize that she hadn't had anyone to really talk to in a long time. "Everyone knows I'm a scholarship kid, right? But what they don't know is that it was from the Lockwood Foundation. Then, I broke up with Tyler and I refused to get back together with him even after he did this weird, passive-aggressive begging/stalking while reciting Shakespearian sonnets outside my bedroom window for like a solid week. So, he convinced his dad to withdraw my funding and now I can't afford to go to Augustine Prep."

She noted with interest the way his fists clenched at her words. "Bloody hell. I knew Lockwood was a bastard, but I never knew he'd stoop so low." He studied her carefully, cocking his head to the side in a way that was more familiar than she'd care to admit. She'd glimpsed it enough times whenever she stared at him in class when she thought no one was looking. "So, what's your backup plan, then? By now, you've had time to construct half a dozen safeguards."

"How would you know that?"

He smirked at the apparent surprise in her voice. "Because I wouldn't expect anything less from the girl who painstakingly catalogued the intricate, mind-numbing relationships of the Greek and Roman pantheon as her Latin midterm project."

He'd been paying attention. To her. The thought filled her with unexpected warmth and she did her best to downplay the silly grin that she was sure she was wearing. Shrugging, she replied, "I'm back to being a townie. I'm finishing out the semester at Mystic Falls High and I'm applying for every scholarship I can find to get back into Augustine Prep next year."

There was a fierceness to her voice that she didn't both trying to hide as she growled, "And even if that doesn't work, nothing's going to stop me from going to a great college and getting a first-rate education. I refuse to let Tyler fuck with my future."

"You are fierce and determined and bloody brilliant and I have no doubt that you're going to change the world one day." Klaus looked just as surprised by his confession as she did, and the blush staining his cheeks was even more pronounced as he stuttered, "I, uh, what I mean is that...that's what I plan to tell my dad anyway. He's on the Board of Directors at Augustine Prep and in charge of discretionary scholarship funding. He can help you."

She'd been burned before when she trusted a boy with her future. But Caroline took in Klaus' earnest expression, heart pounding in her chest as she fought the urge to kiss him for giving her hope.

Maybe this time it would be different.


Klarosummer Bingo Prompt: "So, can we turn this into a Weekend at Bernie's situation?"

The werewolf didn't look that intimidating. Of course, that's probably because he was missing his head now. With a long-suffering sigh, Caroline stepped over the decapitated body, careful not to get any blood on her new boots. As she hopped up on a barstool, she flexed her toes in irritation, mentally weighing several scenarios to determine the best course of action.

"Nice boots, love," Klaus teased, deepening his accent on purpose because he knew what it did to her.

"Thanks. A gift from Kat for making a rat problem go away," she said flatly, refusing to get pulled into his usual flirtations when she was pissed at him for potentially derailing the negotiations she'd worked for months to set up.

"Python skin? I thought you were a pacifist."

She straightened her spine, an edge to her tone as she corrected, "They're faux snakeskin — I'm a vegetarian. And do you seriously think I could stomach this job if I was a pacifist?" She thought back to some of the sick shit she'd helped cover up over the years and would've shuddered if she felt anything other than general disgust for the whole of humanity.

She'd grown up in politics, the Forbes family steeped in government shenanigans since the Eisenhower Administration. It's what made her a brilliant fixer, something that even members of the supernatural community had noticed. It had been quite a shock with Kat approached her for help, revealing that she was a 500-year old vampire in the middle of a touchy situation with the Originals and a voracious werewolf pack. Caroline was still proud of how quickly she'd adapted to the knowledge that there was a completely hidden supernatural world. A world with vampires and even older ones called Originals and werewolves and who knew what the hell else.

Once she set aside the shock of immortal creatures, she viewed the situation just like any other political mess she needed to untangle and she expertly negotiated Kat's freedom and secured all of the properties Kat had abandoned over the centuries she spent on the run. While she'd been surprised to get a loyal friendship out of Kat, it never occurred to her that anyone else in the supernatural community was paying attention.

"So, can we turn this into a Weekend at Bernie's situation?" She rolled her eyes at Klaus' downcast eyes. Feigning remorse was not one of his strong suits. "You know, you hired me to help you with your image problem as a ruthless hybrid dictator. It would help if you didn't keep acting like a ruthless hybrid dictator, you asshat."

That sexy smirk should come with a warning label. "He was a useless wolf unfit to be alpha of that troublesome pack. They should thank me for my thoughtfulness." Draping his muscular form across the bar top, he leaned in close as he said in amusement, "And how, pray tell, do you advise we turn this mishap into that dreadful movie?"

She rolled her eyes at his blatant attempts to flirt, wanting to stay focused on the potentially explosive political fallout bleeding onto the oak floor. "The upcoming conclave I negotiated between the factions never specified the location. Logistics and agenda items were on my to-do list this week."

She pulled out her iPad, scrolling through her contacts until she found the right one. "So, we're now declaring the venue to be a video conference. These wolves are so prideful, they'll jump all over themselves trying to prove how they're just as in-demand and jet setting as the hybrid king is, and therefore couldn't possibly make time for an in-person meeting. We'll spread the word that their alpha has joined you here to work on pre-meeting agenda items and will appear beside you on the video call. And the best special effects team in the country owes me a huge favor after some unfortunate tentacle porn surfaced right before Oscar nominations were announced."

Klaus looked impressed, but tried to quickly hide it so he could poke and prod at her well-constructed plan. "Marvelous — so we'll pop back on his head and store him in a freezer when we're not trotting him out for public appearances? Seems a bit shaky for a long-term solution, sweetheart."

"Seriously?!" She playfully nudged his leg with the pointed toe of her boot in mock anger. "Even after you've seen me in action for the past three months, you still doubt my unshakable planning skills? If I had feelings, they'd definitely be hurt."

Glancing through her calendar, she considered the supernatural landscape for the next few months, weighing potential fallout scenarios. "The alpha suddenly will get a severe case of wanderlust, and at some point during his well-documented globetrotting, an unfortunate scandal will surface, complete with irrefutable social media posts that will cause him to renounce his title and membership within the pack."

His gray eyes darkened, fiery wolf gold flickering momentarily as he appraised her. "I absolutely adore your clever mind; your brilliance was wasted on human politics. This actually would put us in a favorable position to sway that irksome pack into selecting an alpha of our choosing. Bravo, sweetheart."

Caroline didn't like to admit what that rumbling praise did to her. Clearing her throat, she said, "Agreed. In fact, I pre-vetted potential candidates back when this pack first came on our radar. I sent you a slide deck earlier today that you should review. It contains brief bios and pertinent stats such as number of kills, relationship diagrams, susceptibility to compulsion or subtle bribery..." She trailed off when she realized that his face was entirely too close, breath ghosting over her lips.

"When are you going to give in, Caroline?"

She pushed back slightly, needing to get a grip on her emotions before she did something unprofessional. "I did give in, remember? Right before I signed a contract with you."

"If you think one deliciously decadent night with you was enough to sate my curiosity, you've greatly underestimated my wolf, love," he purred in her ear, nearly causing her to combust as she recalled flashes of that unbelievable night.

She cleared her throat again, hopping off the barstool to wander closer to the decapitated alpha. "The timing was on purpose, Klaus. I told you I'm not a boss-banger." Gesturing toward the bloodstains seeping into the floor, she said breezily, "If we're putting my plan into motion, we need to get started."

Klaus stalked toward her, a seductive sway to his hips to accompany the predatory gleam in his eyes that left her breathless. "Of course sweetheart. Let's begin."