Author's note: This was created for the Klaroline Fall Bingo Event.
Prompt: "Vampires do NOT sparkle."
Warning: Some angst.
He'd lived countless lives, and the face Klaus showed the world rarely was his own. And yet, pretending to be 'Nick', the charming college preparatory tutor, left him...unsettled.
Caroline smiled triumphantly from across her kitchen table as she dutifully recited, "And that's how Margery Russell successfully negotiated with the English government and gained ownership of two Spanish ships. The letters of marque she demanded against Spain was a standard practice for merchants as their cargo often was targeted by pirates."
Klaus couldn't help but feel a sense of pride in his enterprising pupil. Initial surveillance of the doppelganger indicated that she'd surrounded herself with similarly vapid teenagers and the hilariously incompetent Salvatores. When he learned that the young vampire intended to seek out a tutor from the local college, he saw an easy opportunity.
But Caroline had become more. "That wasn't in the reading I gave you."
"I read ahead for extra credit," she replied with an impish wink. Her tone grew more serious as she reminded him, "Besides, you know how important this placement test is. If I can pass it, that's six credit hours of humanities I won't have to spend time taking at college next year."
Amused, he watched her shuffle the notecards, recognizing the meticulous, color-coded highlighting that he'd quietly started using as he mapped out his darker schemes. In the other life. The one he no longer took pleasure in planning. "As a vampire, the one thing you have in abundance is time, sweetheart." He frowned at the stack of course books from Whitmore, asking curiously, "Why are you bothering with a lowly state school? You're certainly clever enough for something much more grand. And even if you weren't, there's always compulsion."
Caroline kept her gaze on the notecards, and Klaus realized he'd inadvertently embarrassed her. "My mom's drowning in debt and I'm nervous about taking on a bunch of student loans. As long as I can start college with enough credit hours to be considered a sophomore, the tuition at a place like Whitmore is more manageable. And I don't use compulsion unless it's an emergency."
He didn't miss the flash of fear in Caroline's gaze. Someone had hurt her. He clenched his fists under the table, breathing deeply to get his temper under control. He vowed to address the issue with his henchmen that evening. Perhaps a bit of downsizing would inspire the rest not to leave out crucial surveillance information. Seeing Caroline's discomfort, he quickly asked, "What's your dream school then? A clever creature like you surely plans to attend university multiple times?"
"Berkeley," she said without hesitation, "Someday I'd like to go there to study global peace and conflict issues. A lot of global social programs are failing because they don't have enough volunteers to go where help is needed the most." Shrugging, she added, "As a vampire, safety is less of a concern, so I'd like to do something to help."
Klaus couldn't stop the warm smile that crossed his face. Caroline's earnestness was refreshing — and unique. Usually, new vampires became lost to the bloodlust, eager to act on long-hidden, dark impulses. But not her. Instead, she was spending her immortality aspiring to a grander calling — when she wasn't foolishly sacrificing herself for the idiotic schemes of the Mystic Falls group.
"Have you ever been there," she asked shyly. "I know you have a couple of centuries on me, so you've probably been all over."
Right —just two centuries. Because he told her he'd been turned in the 1800s to avoid arousing her suspicion that 'Nick' had anything in common with 'Klaus'. As she'd started to open up to him these past few weeks, her horror stories about Katerina and his other henchmen who were preparing for his arrival left him...disquieted. The terror Caroline felt was real. He was starting to despise 'Klaus'. He finally answered her with, "I was in the San Francisco area a while ago, but that's the closest I've been."
"That sounds exciting! What did you do there?"
Tortured witches into giving up the moonstone's last known location. "I took a few walking tours. The eclectic mixture of Victorian and modern architecture was...illuminating."
Caroline rolled her highlighter back and forth across the table's surface, her voice wistful as she said, "I'm excited about having all this time to travel and really experience the world. Once I got over being turned, I realized that was a bonus."
"The superior strength wasn't a positive?"
"Well, yeah, but I just thought there would be other stuff, you know..." she trailed off, a faint blush staining her cheeks.
Klaus chuckled at her adorable pout. "For the last time, Caroline, "vampires do NOT sparkle."
"Maybe we sparkle on the inside."
There was something in that statement that was just so light and happy and Caroline that he was kissing her before his brain registered what he'd done. She pulled back, wide-eyed and panting as a thousand thoughts seem to race through her mind. Perhaps she saw it as a conflict because he was her tutor? Or, was she still pining over the useless quarterback?
Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "Fuck it," she surged forward, surprising him with her enthusiasm as she vigorously returned his kisses, pushing him onto the table.
Klaus loved the feel of her in his arms; the easy flow of energy they passed back and forth electrified his blood and made him shudder. He was an Original, about to unlock his wolf to become the most powerful creature in the world, and little Caroline Forbes from nowhere, U.S., made him weak. And he loved it.
With a seductive smile, Caroline ripped away his henley, running her palms along his abs all the way to his chest. Suddenly, she froze, a look of horror on her face. She leapt away, racing to the bathroom before he could ask what was wrong. The noise, though, was unmistakable — she was vomiting.
Vampires did not vomit. Apparently, Caroline was proving once more that she was a unique creature. When she came back out, he raised an eyebrow, telling her wryly, "I've witnessed a variety of reactions to intimacy with me, but yours is certainly the most...visceral." He realized she was staring fixedly at him with dawning recognition. With a sigh of regret, Klaus said, "You know who I am. How?"
"Alaric drew your tattoo. You may have compelled him to forget your face after you stole his body, but you never told him to forget those birds and feather on your chest," she said angrily, regarding him with a look of deepest loathing.
And the evening had been going so well.
