Author's note: This is a sequel to Chapter 114 in this series. There was nothing romantic left in this infected world and Caroline would rather face the zombie hoard alone than deal with a dimpled asshat who gives her a gift that speaks volumes about this unspoken thing between them.
Also, the KC Awards are happening now on tumblr (kcawards), and A Beautiful Symmetry was nominated for Best one-shot series! I also was nominated for:
Best AU human one-shot: A Beautiful Symmetry, Chapter 116: The Moral in the Mafia
Best comedy one-shot: A Beautiful Symmetry, Chapter 113: Did You Ever Find Your Pants?
Best Angst Multi-Chapter: Corks and Claws
Best Comedy Multi-Chapter: A Pregnant Pause
Best comedy author
Thank you so much for supporting my work and please remember to vote for all of your favorite Klaroline authors starting December 23-31, 2020!
Warning: Klaroline sexytimes!
"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and has taught me to understand what your heart used to be. I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape."
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
It was an ugly bracelet. Just like their world now overrun by the infected. Caroline ran a ragged nail over the cheap glass beads and tarnished silver butterflies. How dare he. Klaus risked his life to bring her this stupid bracelet that was useless and grimy and meant nothing. Except it meant everything. She'd foolishly fallen under its spell the moment she spotted it at the landfill. It reminded her of a life she'd had before everything had gone to shit in this world.
Before the virus.
When she spent her days obsessing over follower analytics and optimizing her fan base on multiple social medial platforms. A nightmare of luxury-branded perfection in a spray-tan lacquered package. But her father had loved her when she couldn't love herself, and his final gift to her had been a gleaming, glittering bracelet of platinum and diamond butterflies.
It was nothing like what she held in her hand now, but it made her tremble all the same. She'd shouted at Klaus because she didn't think he'd understand. In the dark years since the world had died, Caroline had lost her humanity and when she spied that cheap bracelet on their scouting mission, she felt the first stirrings of hope. Maybe remains didn't have to be mourned.
But first, she needed to go yell at Klaus for being so reckless. And that kiss. He kissed her and then stormed off and who the hell even does that?
She paused in her furious pacing, a knowing grin suddenly gracing her lips as she realized that Bonnie's bedroll was still tucked away on the crooked shelf by the ration packets. It looked like Enzo's 'garden stroll' ploy had been successful. As seduction techniques went, it had been a smart one — Bonnie's family had run a florist shop for years. And Bonnie still got teary-eyed whenever they came across a patch of wildflowers stubbornly growing through a broken sidewalk.
Caroline quietly shut the warped cabin door, not wanting to disturb the group out on the hammocks who'd holed up to sleep before their guard shifts started. When their disheveled group of survivors had stumbled upon the abandoned summer camp, it had been a blessing none of them felt they deserved. The spider-infested cabins and rusted out sinks didn't once detract from its potential. They found a home.
As much as she hated to admit it, Klaus had been the reason why. He'd taken shell-shocked strangers who jumped at every noise and turned them into an elite unit of soldiers, capable of thriving in this broken shell of a world. Still, she felt a twinge of remorse as she spied the old swing set with its knotted chains, already envisioning how it could be repurposed to strengthen the barbed wire that protected their camp from the mindless, evil creatures that still roamed the woods. This was their world now. She hated it.
Caroline paused in her determined march when Klaus' cabin came into view. She'd been so fired up; she hadn't considered what she was going to say. But apparently, Aurora didn't have that problem. That coy, lilting voice of hers seemed imbued with all of the words Caroline stubbornly kept leaving unsaid.
"Thanks again for all of your help burying those old freezers. Turning them into root cellars was really smart, Klaus."
He replied gruffly, "That was Caroline's idea. She's quite the clever little thing."
"Yes, but we all know it's your leadership alone that's keeping us alive," Aurora told him with an inviting smile. "Come on, I owe you my life. The least I could do is offer you a good time."
It was the sudden flicker of interest in Klaus' gaze that made Caroline turn away. Aurora had warm sunset in her hair and emeralds for eyes. She carried herself with the grace and dignity of old money, while Caroline was loud and gaudy and had a quick temper that demanded she win every argument. Let Klaus have what he wants. What he deserves.
But then that damn bracelet jingled against her skin. Caroline stared at it, feeling the pain that only comes from knowing what it was like to have everything and nothing all at once. She thought back to her old life and realized that somehow she had more now. Because she finally had what she needed. She was tired of the pointed looks and loud whispers around the camp. The threat of zombies could never create the thick tension of everyone knowing what she and Klaus were too afraid to say.
She could be dead tomorrow. Klaus too. Fuck that. Caroline loudly stomped through the old forsythia bushes, words tumbling out of her mouth before she figured out what she was going to say. "I need Klaus to help me with um...bandages! Yeah, bandages because we need to go over the bandages supply because you know that last supply run when we brought back those canvas tarps that were more moth-eaten than we realized, and we're definitely going to need more supplies to make those bandages...because um, yeah. Bandages."
"Yes! Bandages! Caroline and I have a lot to discuss concerning those troublesome bandages and how our supplies could be better improved with the uh, bandages," Klaus blurted out, the tips of his ears reddening as he stared at Caroline.
Aurora raised an eyebrow, coughing awkwardly as she failed to hide a smile. "Sure, it looks like you two have a lot to discuss — about bandages." As she gleefully left them standing on Klaus' crooked porch, Caroline wondered how long it would take for the rest of the camp to hear about this. Kol's betting pool must be enormous by now.
The silence stretched between them and she felt herself grow warm under Klaus' penetrating gaze. "So, what kind of bracelet did you give Aurora?" Huh. Apparently, a zombie apocalypse can kill global currencies, centuries'-old governments, and complex infrastructure, but pesky, completely irrelevant jealousy refused to die.
"I take it we're not talking about bandages, then?"
It was that dimpled smirk that sent her over the edge. "Seriously?! You threw a hissy fit and said I jeopardized the mission and nearly got us all killed over this stupid bracelet and then you kissed me and risked your life to go back alone and to fetch it for me?"
"Yes." His voice was low and seductive as he stepped close. "It seems there's any number of foolish tasks I will perform only for you."
Caroline snorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she peevishly said, "And Aurora."
Suddenly, he snapped, grabbing her forearms as his gray eyes turned feral. "Only for you," he whispered harshly.
"Good." Their second kiss was just as fierce and punishing and the first. They stumbled into his cabin, kicking off muddy boots and groaning against each other's lips. Her fingers grappled with the rough fabric of his camo pants, eager to find the zipper.
He twitched against her palm, and she felt her cheeks grow warm as he growled against her neck. "Fuck. Right there, sweetheart." He impatiently yanked away her torn green hoodie, attacking her breasts with teeth and tongue. His rough stubble against her nipples made her cry out. A little more pain please. It had never been her way before, but this ugly world made her crave all the snarling things. He'd let his curls grow out, and now she raked her fingers through them, noting with interest how his breath hitched when she pulled too hard. Make it good.
Those wandering hands of his found their way to her squirming core, and Klaus paused when he felt Caroline's hand between her legs. "Naughty minx," he hoarsely whispered against her lips.
With a sly smile, she took his finger and lovingly stroked her clit, the feel of them working together to bring her pleasure making Caroline pant with need. Slick, wet circles slowly built her up until that final press inside made her explode. In and out, she rode their fingers, chasing that high until her knees shook.
Klaus made her squeal in surprise as he tossed her to his makeshift bed, the thin pallet boards shifting along the dusty floor. She pushed up the ragged hem of his dark Henley, relishing in the feel of his smooth muscles, honed to perfection from the physical labor of their new reality. She stretched up to lick along those delicious edges, but Klaus held her down with a possessive snarl that made her tingle.
"I want your taste on my tongue," he ordered her, dipping down his head as he pushed open her thighs.
How he made her tremble. He curled his tongue to her center, gulping her down in greedy bites that made her hips buck against him. Her skin crackled and nearly split as the sensitive nerves danced to the surface. Klaus' fingers dug into her thighs, wordlessly demanding she wrap them snugly around his punishing tongue. That tongue.
"Fucking hell," Caroline gasped as Klaus pulled away with a smirk. She reached down with both palms, baring her slick cunt for him to see. "I want you in me," she told him breathlessly, but as Klaus lunged forward, she quickly flipped over to all fours, tossing back her tangled blonde waves as she winked at him. "Fuck me like this."
Klaus met her demand with a helpless groan, jerking her body against his as he teased and stroked her eagerly. She craved his wetness, whining when he barely grazed his tip to her opening. He wanted to play. He stroked at her mound, tapping it with his aching cock to make her squirm. "Of all the ways I imagined fucking you, this was my favorite," he confessed, lightly smacking her ass as they both moaned.
When he suddenly plunged inside, she swore, digging into the scratchy wool of the blanket bunched around her knees. She reveled in the stretch of him, so tight and hot. Klaus' delectable accent was in her ear as he confessed, "I saw you gathering water at the creek one day; you arched your back to the sun, nipples poking out of the t-shirt you stole from me. Now all I see is you on your knees as you mouth my cock," he grunted, his hips rutting in time to his filthy words.
Caroline lost all reason with his confession, fucking back against him as she decided to tell her secret. They needed this. "I wear your shirt when I ride my fingers." She tightened around him, squeezing just enough to make him spill inside. "I smell you when I taste myself."
"Fuck me," Klaus growled at her revelation, flipping her over as he continued his frantic thrusts. Gripping his cock, he jerked it free, shoving it between her breasts as he marked her with a howl.
They collapsed in a sweaty heap, breathing in the cabin dust and noting with tired smiles that several of the bed slats had splintered open along one side. The got wood jokes would be even more irritating than the cheeky winks and high-fives from their people.
Klaus lightly flicked a butterfly on her bracelet, his face open and content in a way Caroline had never seen before. A gentle moment had broken free, momentarily wrapping them in a cocoon where nothing terrible could bleed through.
At first light, there would be a leaky roof to fix and the northeast wall still needed to be fortified from the last attack, but all that mattered right now was two ridiculously stubborn people. And a grimy bracelet with cheap glass beads.
