Author's note: This was written for klarolineauseason Klaroline AU Season 2022, June 12th, Week 2: All Human. The last thing Caroline wanted to do was talk to Klaus' scary dad. But the rent was past due and her mom didn't give her a choice. But then her day gets even worse when Klaus is there to witness her humiliation.
Warning: Implied child abuse.
"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."
― Plutarch
She'd always hated their house. The Mikaelsons' mansion was perched at the top of the highest hill, judging everyone else in the valley below. It was too clean, with its perfect columns like something out of Caroline's Greek mythology book. And they had hedges in the shapes of animals like that one old scary story where the animals came alive and chased that little boy. She wouldn't be surprised if the Mikaelsons' animals did the same. They were a scary family.
Their oldest, Finn, was off at a fancy college up north, but when he bothered to come home, he went around loudly talking about how awful their little town was compared to the big cities back north. Rebekah was in her class and ruined Caroline's life when she told the whole middle school how all of Caroline's outfits came from clothes the Mikaelsons had donated to Goodwill. She even posted pics online that proved all of Caroline's clothes were once worn by Rebekah and her older sister, Freya.
And then there was Klaus. But Caroline really didn't like to think about him. All those Mikaelsons were what her Grandma Forbes used to call "proof the good Lord sometimes gave with both hands and then gave again with his feet", but Klaus was...Klaus. Angelic curls and dimples with a devil's smirk, Caroline knew she thought about him way too much and it was so annoying! He was hot and popular and rich and he was in high school, so there was no way he'd ever notice her.
She shook her head angrily, continuing to pace back and forth along their fancy rock wall that bordered the mansion. Kicking at the gray rock in the wall, Caroline glared at the silver sparkles she saw — even the Mikalesons' rocks were fancy. Quit stalling — mom gave you a job to do.
Heaving a frustrated sigh, she stuffed her hands in the pockets of her old jeans, the frayed bottoms almost black from dragging the ground. She could feel the crumpled bills, and quickly jerked away from its touch like they burned her. Money always smelled bad to her — like rusty metal and sometimes even shit. Seriously, what did people do around their money that it would smell like shit? She was sure she didn't want to know.
It didn't matter how bad money smelled — she just knew that her mom never seemed to have enough (like now) and their rent was due. The Mikaelsons owned a lot of the town, including the apartment building where she and her mom lived. She'd watched her mom count out the crumpled bills at their wobbly card table, hands shaking as she shoved everything across the scratched surface in front of Caroline.
"It's not exactly the right amount, but you take it over to Mikael and just don't say anything. You're a kid — he's not going to yell at you about it — he's got class."
Her mom was crazy — it wasn't even half the amount of their rent. And Mikael was the scariest one out of all of them. Caroline once saw him yelling at the bakery store clerk writing specials on the outdoor chalkboard until the poor guy just crouched on the sidewalk and cried. Yeah, Mikael had lots of class.
Fists clenched in determination, she finally marched up to the front door, finger hovering over the fancy gold doorbell as she bit her lip until it bled. She was scared. Maybe she could just stuff the money in an envelope and shove it in their mail slot?
"Are you alright?"
Klaus' unexpected voice made her jump, tripping over her sneakers on their tall steps. She hadn't been this close to him since that disastrous talent show when Rebekah had spilled fruit punch on her shirt on purpose just moments before she was supposed to go on stage and Klaus had given her his pullover to wear. She'd just stared at him in shock, not understanding why he'd been nice to her. She'd even started to blush as his t-shirt rode up, but then she saw the dark bruises along his ribs. She knew she wasn't supposed to ask about them; her mom always told her she asked too many questions and to not bother people, so instead she just stammered out thanks. He'd darted behind the stage curtains without another word, and Caroline had done her best to forget the whole thing.
She sure didn't like how he was looking at her now. Like he was sad or embarrassed for her or something. "I'm okay," she replied, forcing a smile to show him just how okay she was. "Just um...you know, paying our rent." Seriously? Why did her voice have to get so high on that last part?
Klaus was staring at her way too long, and whatever he saw on her face sure must've been something because he awkwardly asked, "And are you...uh, is everything all set with that?"
Caroline frowned, hands on her hips as she replied defensively, "It's fine. I'll just give your dad the cash I've got now and if he asks about it, I'll just tell him my mom's working on it. No big deal."
Klaus' gray eyes went wide and he quickly pulled out his wallet. She watched him rummage through it, cheeks flaring red with embarrassment as she saw the wad of cash he shoved in her face. "Hey, no, I don't need your help," she stubbornly told him, hating the crisp feel of his money in her hands. Why did he have to be here and see her like this?
She couldn't look him in the eyes anymore; it was like he was trying to tell her something. He probably just felt sorry for her. But then she saw the bruises on his forearm where his sleeve got pushed up. He caught her staring and pushed his sleeve back down, urgently hissing, "Take the money."
The front door opened just as she shoved his money into her pocket.
