Caroline prided herself on being punctual.
Anyone who knew her would never deny it. She had meltdowns when she realized was late, and even bigger meltdowns when she missed something when she was late.
So, following a disastrous incident involving a grocery store, an old woman, and a very big bag of caramels, Caroline had vowed never to be late in her entire life.
Except for today.
Stupid Stefan and his stupid brain for coming up with that stupid idea for stupid one-night stands.
Stupid Caroline for listening to her stupid best friend.
Stupid hot, sexy, accented, British guy who made her go weak at the knees with his unbelievable godlike sexual abilities.
Overall, Caroline felt pretty stupid.
It had been two months since that horrible break-up with Tyler, and Stefan had encouraged her to go out on the town with nothing but a pretty black dress and a sexy smile on her face.
"Come on, Care, it's been a long time since Tyler, and you've had a dry spell for what, even longer than that," Stefan had said that night.
Caroline buried her face in her hands. "God, Stefan, I don't even want to know how you remember that. And who cares anyway, it's not like I need sex to live."
"Maybe not, but you got mad at Elena yesterday when she let slip what she and Damon—"
"You got mad too!" Caroline protested hotly.
"Yeah, Care, but he's my brother and we were having lunch."
Caroline sighed dramatically, earning an eye-roll from Stefan. "Fine. Why not? I'm not looking for a serious relationship right now, anyway. But I don't do one-night stands, Stefan, you know that."
"Try something new, then, Care. Go on, it's not like the guy is going to get you arrested or something, people do things like this all the time."
She really shouldn't have caved.
She woke up to sunlight shining in her face, and found herself stretched out on the sheets.
White sheets. Not light pink.
The first sign that she had completely shitted the situation.
Whatever Caroline had heard about from one-night stands, she was supposed to leave said sexual partner in his bed after one night.
And Caroline had somehow managed to forget that.
Cringing, she slowly turned to her side, where her chosen suitor was still sleeping. Caroline had to admit, he still looked just as attractive as he had the last night. Dirty-blonde curls, high cheekbones, and raspberry lips.
Lips which looked very kissable at the moment.
Caroline was extremely tempted to stay in the bed, but a quick glance at her phone told her that she had somehow managed to make the situation even worse.
She was late.
Swearing under her breath, she gathered up her clothes and shoes without waking up the guy, who, by the way, had had his hand on her stomach when she had woken up, and had an adorable case of bed hair Caroline found extremely attractive on him.
Stupid hot guy.
It was like he wanted her to fall for him.
She didn't have time for that.
She snuck out of the door, only making a bit of noise while closing the door. Feeling only slightly guilty, she walked down the stairs, clutching her purse in one hand and her stilettos in the other.
"You're late," Stefan said as she walked through the door.
"How very observant of you," Caroline said dryly, shrugging on her lab coat. Stefan grinned.
"You're never late. Does this mean you took my advice?"
"Yep," she said, trying not to feel too guilty at the prospect of Dimples waking up to find no trace of her except a note that she had scribbled and left on his table.
After all, she wasn't an animal.
Stefan looked at her expectantly. "How was it?"
It was amazing. It was hot and sweaty and wild and probably the greatest sex I've ever had.
"It was ok," she said, shrugging.
Sometimes it surprised her how good of a liar she was.
Stefan looked exasperated. "I'll need more details than that, Caroline."
"I'm not sharing details of my sex life with you, Stefan," said Caroline, as she opened her drawers, searching for a bottle of aspirin, preparing to deal with the hurricane of questions Stefan (and Kat, obviously, once she heard) were surely going to bombard her with.
"At least tell us his name, then," said a voice from the doorway, and Caroline turned to look at Stefan exasperatedly.
"You told her?!"
"What was I supposed to do? She flirted with me, Care! Took off her shirt and everything!" Stefan protested. Kat smiled indulgently.
"I always knew you were easy," Caroline muttered. "Fine, he said his name was Nik."
"Sexy," said Kat, making herself at home on Caroline's chair, taking a swig from her coffee. "Rhymes with—"
"Please do not complete that sentence, Kat," said Caroline, rubbing her temples. "I have enough to deal with today. Kat shrugged.
"How was he?"
"Ok, apparently," said Stefan, frowning at her. Caroline shifted uncomfortably, and snatched the coffee from Kat.
"Can I tell you all of this later, please? I have patients. You have patients. Plus, we have that new guy from London joining. I'm supposed to give him a tour today," she grumbled, glaring at Kat when she saw traces of her glittery red lipstick on the coffee cup. Kat shrugged.
"I nearly forgot about New Guy. He's from London, huh? He's apparently very qualified. And accents are hot."
Oh, yes they are. Especially when it's a British guy with dimples and—
Stop it, Caroline!
"I suppose," she shrugged. "Get out of my office, come on, you guys, it's already ten."
Stefan got up and strode out, but Kat remained in her seat, earning a series of the GLs from Caroline—glares, glowers, and glances. As usual, she ignored her, and looked at Caroline, unaffected.
"Was Mr. One Night Stand hot?"
"Get out, Kat."
"Hi, Dr. Forbes."
"Hey, Tanya. How are you?"
"Good. Mom and I went to the park yesterday. The breathing thing's eased up a bit."
"That's great, Tanya, good progress. We'll just run a few tests, then you're off to Dr. Greene."
"Ok," the girl said, and promptly lay down on the examination table. Caroline poured a generous amount of sanitizer of her hands and pulled on her gloves anyway, and put her stethoscope to her ears.
"How's your dad, Tanya? Have you seen him recently?" Caroline asked as she hooked Tanya up to a blood monitor. Tanya shrugged.
"He's ok. Still in shock from the news, I guess."
Caroline winced. Tanya Stevens was a young, twelve-year-old girl who had recently been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma six months back. Her parents had been heartbroken, but she, surprisingly, had taken it quite well. To make matters worse for her, her parents had gotten divorced four months after her diagnosis.
"He'll be fine. Don't worry, he needs time to process. My parents went through a similar thing when I was eighteen. Both your parents will be fine."
Tanya nodded absent-mindedly, looking out the window. Caroline took the monitor off her arm and smiled at her warmly, trying to make her feel at ease.
"Dr. Greene for you, now, Tanya."
"Ok," the girl said, and hopped off the table and walked over to the next room, where one of Caroline's colleagues was waiting. Caroline sighed and took off her gloves. According to her phone, she still had fifteen minutes before she had to go to Dr. Saltzman's office to show the new guy around. Might as well get breakfast.
"A little birdie named Katherine Pierce told me that you had a one-night stand last night," said Bonnie, flopping down next to her, staring at her with wide, brown eyes. "Care to elaborate?"
Caroline groaned. "Please don't tell anyone."
"By anyone, I'm assuming Kat and Stefan already know."
Caroline sighed. "Yeah."
"Care, you don't do one-night stands."
"You think I don't know that?" Caroline hissed at her over her sandwich. "This was all Stefan's idea."
"Was he any good?"
"Oh my god, why does everyone keep asking me that? Yes, he was good, no, he wasn't, how does it matter?! I'm never going to see him again!"
Bonnie raised her palms. "Just curious, Care."
Caroline rubbed her temples the second time that morning. "Yeah, I'm just tired. I didn't get much sleep last night."
"Of course you didn't," said Kat casually, sitting down on the chair next to Bonnie. "You were too busy screwing some hot stranger's brains out."
"Kat!"
"Or getting your brains screwed out," added Bonnie unhelpfully.
"Bonnie!"
"Either way, a lot of screwing happened," acknowledged Kat, taking a bite of Caroline' sandwich.
"Ok, first of all, what is it with you and stealing my food? Get your own, Kat, we're in a freaking cafeteria. Second of all, why is everyone taking the news of my sleeping with a stranger so differently?! I mean, Kat does it almost thrice a week!"
"Not true!" Kat protested. "It's only twice a week now."
"And, don't take this the wrong way, Care, but you don't seem like the one-night stand type," said Bonnie gently. "You look like the committed type, with cuddling and watching movies together, and dating, and having sex after at least three weeks."
"So what if I like all that?! I am not like that! Am I like that?!" Caroline asked them hotly.
"Well—"
"It was a rhetorical question, Kat," snapped Caroline. "I'm not that predictable!"
"You kind of are," Bonnie piped in again.
Maybe it was good that they were at a hospital, because both Kat and Bonnie were in danger of going to the ICU due to the reasons having excessive blood loss because of the actions of one furious Caroline Forbes. She buried her head in her hands and groaned. "I don't want to talk about this anymore, you guys."
Bonnie nodded sympathetically. "You must be tired."
"Of course she is," Kat smirked.
Caroline was this close to ripping out Kat's thyroid gland.
"Can't you go five seconds without making some kind of sexual innuendo?!" Caroline hissed at her.
Kat shrugged. "His name was Nik, apparently," she informed Bonnie, ignoring Caroline.
"Cute name," Bonnie said, winking.
"It rhymes with—"
"Oh, shut up, Kat!"
"Caroline, you're here," said Alaric, peering at her over the huge stack of papers on his desk. "The new guy will be here in a minute. Just received a message that he's parking his car."
"Cool," Caroline said, and sat down in front of Alaric's desk, wringing her hands. Alaric looked at her warily.
"A word of caution before you meet the guy, Caroline," he said, leaning towards her. "Klaus isn't the nice, warm, happy doctor guy you'll be expecting. He's kind of…difficult," Alaric finished lamely, lingering on the last word.
Just great. This is exactly what I need. An asshole doctor wandering around in this place, making my day worse.
"His name is Klaus?" she asked.
"Yep," said Alaric. "And he's very good. Extremely qualified. He's currently doing his PhD."
PhD, huh? Now, he's a smart asshole. Perfect.
"In what?"
"Oncology," Alaric said promptly, and Caroline barely stifled a groan.
This day keeps getting worse and worse.
"So he'll be with me?" she asked, and Alaric shot her a sympathetic glance.
"He's not all that bad once you get to know him. I met him a couple of days ago, and he seemed fine after a few hours."
"How old is he?"
"Twenty-five. I know that's a bit too early, but he's exceptionally intelligent."
Caroline scowled. This guy must really be really smart, or Alaric wouldn't be talking about him like this.
"He's really not that bad, Caroline. You'll get used to him soon enough." There was a knock on the door, and Caroline started.
"Ah, there he is," said Alaric, looking pleased. "Come in, Mr. Mikealson."
Caroline pasted her best 'Welcome to Whitmore Hospital' smile on her face, ready to greet Dr. Asshole.
The door opened, and Caroline's smile slid off her face like grape jelly off a window on a hot summer's day.
"Klaus, so glad to see you again!" said Alaric jovially, shaking his hand. "Welcome to Whitmore. This is—"
"Caroline?" he asked, looking astounded.
"Nik?" she screeched. Loudly.
Oops.
Nik—or Dimples—or Caroline's first and last one-night stand—or the greatest sex she had ever had—was staring right back at her, a shocked expression on his face.
"You know each other?" Alaric asked, an eyebrow raised. The look of shock melted off of Nik's—or Klaus's—face, and he smirked.
"You could say that."
How dare he. How fucking dare he. He had the nerve to fake-name her, and then, just smile at her like that like a fucking five-year old?!
She looked at him, choosing not to reply, quietly fuming. Alaric smiled.
"Well, that's even better! Caroline's going to show you around and help you get used to the place for a few days, Klaus!"
What?!
Excuse me?!
What?!
Alaric can't be serious. I'm so not showing this asshole around after what he did.
"Actually, I—"
"Great! I'll see you both at lunch!" Alaric finished happily, and shepherded them out, smiling broadly.
Caroline huffed as Nik—or Klaus, whatever, she was just going to call him Dimples from now on, seeing them forming as he smirked at her.
"I must confess, love, I didn't expect to see you again. Or at least, so soon."
"Shut up," Caroline growled at him. "Are you being serious right now? You fake-named me last night? After I slept with you?! Seriously?!"
Dr. Dimples raised his palms. "I didn't fake-name you, love. My name is Nik."
"Then why was Alaric calling you Klaus?!"
"My name is also Klaus," he said, smiling infuriatingly. Caroline wanted to smack that stupid smile off of his face.
An attractive face.
Stop it, Caroline!
"What kind of person feels the need to have two names?" Caroline screeched at him. "Doesn't that get sort of confusing? Is your name Nik or Klaus?!"
"Niklaus," answered Dimples, with the same indulgent smile on his stupidly attractive face. "It's the name my father game me, although nobody refers to me as so, with the exception of my stuffy older brothers. People call me Klaus. People I like, however," he said, eyeing her up and down. "Call me Nik."
Caroline flushed. "I thought you were British."
"I am."
"Then why are you here?"
"I work here," he smiled, and Caroline wanted to scream.
"Shouldn't you be in London or something, then?"
"My boss thought it was best to transfer me here," Dimples replied cheerfully. "I was hesitant, although," he continued, looking around the place with a slight curl of his lip. "Maybe this place needs someone more experienced anyway."
"Oh my god, and just when I was starting to think you weren't a total douche-bag," Caroline groaned. "Just stay out of my way, ok?"
"That's going to be a problem, love," said Dimples, cocking his head at her. "Alaric Saltzman informed me that you too, are an oncologist when he called."
Sometimes, it was astounding how unfair the universe was towards her.
She forced a smile. "Ok, Dimples, let's get something straight. I am here to show you the ropes around this place and how it works. I'm going to give you a tour, introduce you to a few people, show you to your office, and then I'm never going to see you again."
His lip curled again. "That's along the lines you were muttering last night, love, don't you think? Sound familiar?"
Oh my god, he's turning into a bigger douche every time he talks.
Caroline shot him a poisonous look and turned away. The sound of footsteps behind her informed her that he was following.
"Right, so you've seen the cafeteria, all the medical wings, the conference rooms, your office, my office, which you insisted on seeing, and everything on every single floor. I'm pretty sure we're done now. So, I'm leaving. Goodbye, Dimples," Caroline said, turning away.
"I do have a name, you know," said Dimples/Nik/Klaus, leaning against the wall, hands shoved in the pockets of his lab coat casually. It was infuriating how he managed to look so attractive even while in an unflattering lab coat.
"I haven't been told what to call you yet," Caroline replied scathingly.
"I said that people who I like call me Nik. I thought last night made that abundantly clear, Caroline."
Ass.
"Look, Nik, we just need to forget last night, ok? For the sake of professionalism."
Klaus leaned closer towards her, making her shiver. "What if I don't want to forget? What if I want more? It isn't very easy to forget how ravishing you looked last night, Caroline, both with your dress and without. I must admit I found myself quite taken with you, something I haven't felt in a long time."
Caroline pressed her lips together. "Klaus—"
"Nik," he corrected her.
"Nik," she said irritably, growing more annoyed by the way his eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "We work together now. We can't get involved with each other. It's not professional."
"I don't care," he replied, looking her in the eyes, making her gulp.
He's an arrogant ass, he's an arrogant ass, he's an arrogant ass.
"I—"
"Take a chance, Caroline," he murmured, inching closer towards her.
"Caroline!" a voice called out loudly, and Caroline cringed, and Klaus drew away from her at the same time. Kat was walking over to her, her shoes click-clacking on the floor.
"Adamson needs you in OR nine. And Stefan…" she trailed off, catching sight of Klaus standing next to her. "Who are you?"
"The new guy," Caroline said quickly, before Klaus could speak. "The transfer."
"Oh," said Kat, giving him a once-over. "Anyway, I came here with good news. You know the quarterback who broke his leg? The one Steele's treating?"
"Yeah?" Caroline said slowly, not sure where this conversation was going.
"Well, apparently, according to Steele, Matty-blue-eyes likes you. Wants to ask you out."
"Oh, I don't think—" Caroline started.
"And Stefan and I thought that it would be a good idea considering last night and the mediocre sex you had last night."
Caroline wanted the earth to open up underneath her and swallow her whole.
Klaus turned to her. "Mediocre sex? You wound me, love."
Caroline swallowed. "It was just a way to get my friends off my back…"
Kat looked between them "I don't understand…"
"I have been given various reviews but never has the term mediocre been used," Klaus continued, his expression disgruntled. Caroline closed her eyes. Kat's eyes were flitting between them, starting to put two and two together.
"It wasn't that you were bad, you were good—"
"Good?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Great," Caroline grumbled. "Amazing—"
"That's more like it," he said, satisfied.
"OH MY GOD!" Kat screeched. "You're One-Night-Stand Guy?!"
Klaus turned back to Caroline. "You need to stop coming up with nicknames for me. I have a name, you know."
"Shut up, Klaus," Caroline snapped. "And, Kat, calm down. He's just a guy, not Ed Sheeran."
"My sister's a fan," Klaus piped in irrelevantly.
Kat looked between them wordlessly, her mouth gaping like a fish.
"Nik, this is my best friend Katherine. Kat, this is Nik, my…well, you know who he is."
"No, love, do tell, who am I to you?" Klaus asked, smirking. Kat's jaw dropped even lower.
"Go away, Klaus," Caroline said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Kat, can I talk to you? Alone? Please?"
Kat nodded, struck speechless for once in her life. Caroline grabbed her arm and dragged her away, leaving Klaus in the hallway.
"I'll see you around, love!" he shouted after her.
Caroline swore she could almost hear him grin.
"Oh my god!" Kat shrieked again, once they were alone in her office. "What's Mr. Meh Sex doing here?"
"Ok, first of all, don't call him that. Second of all, his name's Klaus."
"You called him Nik," said Katherine suspiciously.
"It's complicated, and don't interrupt. Thirdly, I lied. The sex was awesome. Best I ever had. Don't interrupt, Kat! Fourthly, the reason he's here is because he's the new super-qualified oncologist Alaric's transferring from London. And fifth, no, I am not going out with him again."
Kat closed her mouth, was silent for a few seconds, then opened it again. "He's hot."
"Please say something helpful, Kat."
"Why aren't you going to see him again?" asked Stefan from the phone. Kat had immediately called Stefan and ranted to him about the liar Caroline had become in just a night, and then promptly put him on speaker so that he too could hear Caroline's tale of The-One-Night-Stand-Gone-Horribly-Wrong. Caroline sighed.
"Are you guys kidding me? We work together. He works in my department, Stefan!"
"So? I dated that French doctor a year ago, remember? Vanessa, wasn't it?"
"Valerie," Caroline corrected him, irritated that Stefan didn't bother to remember the names of his girlfriends. "And look how well that turned out."
"Hey, it wasn't my fault Alaric transferred her to Seattle! We could've had a happy, drama-free life together!"
"Was this before or after your messy break-up?" Caroline asked dryly. She could almost see Stefan wince.
"I am not dating Klaus. We had a bit of fun last night, and it's over. Isn't that what one-night stands are for? And I'm not even looking for a relationship!"
"Well, yeah, but Care, this guy seems good," Kat said, placing a hand on her hip. "He's smart, rich, and sexy. What more do you need?"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "I'm not like you, Kat. I don't even know him."
"Then get to know him, Care," came Stefan's voice through the phone. "Like you said, he's in your department, so you'll probably get to know each other well."
"But it's highly unprofessional," said Caroline, placing the phone on the table, and looking for her aspirin. "Plus, if this goes wrong, it could jeopardize my career."
"You're making way too big a deal out of this, Care," said Kat, shrugging. "Plus, Dr. Memorable Sex might not even be here for a long time. Didn't he have a British accent? Who's to say Alaric won't send him back after a few months?"
"Uh, for one, he's apparently insanely smart. Alaric loves the guy. He's not going to London any time soon."
"But—"
"No buts, Kat. Same goes for you, Stefan. I am not dating Nik, no matter how attractive he may be! I'm going to just ignore him, and get on with my work."
"Hello again, love," said Klaus, sidling up to her. "Didn't expect to see you any time soon again, not after our little incident in the hallway today."
Caroline glared at him. "I have patients, Klaus, and so do you, so go away and let me work."
"It's Nik for you, love," he reminded her. "But alright. Just wanted to tell you that you look very beautiful today."
She snorted. "I'm wearing a lab coat and jeans, Klaus. It's not anything special."
"You don't need to look special to look beautiful, Caroline, you look beautiful almost all the time."
Caroline exhaled. "Right, I'm going to need a drink."
"It's nine-forty-five in the morning," Klaus said, an eyebrow raised.
"Day-drinking's a well-known thing. Even if it's not healthy. Even doctors need breaks sometimes," Caroline muttered. Klaus raised an eyebrow.
"Whatever you say, love."
Caroline narrowed her eyes at him and turned to the patient in front of her. "Hi, Jerry, is it? I'm Dr. Forbes, and if it's fine with you, I'll be handling your check-up today. Dr. Smith's out of town."
The boy, who looked no older than seventeen, looked at her apprehensively. "Are you sure you'll be able to do it?"
"I'll be fine," Caroline assured him, although she knew where he was getting his doubts from. Edwin Smith was a very experienced man, in his late forties. Next to him, she probably looked like a girl scout.
Next to her, Klaus snorted. "Don't worry, mate, I assure you, she's very good at handling things."
Caroline groaned. Looks like she would be needing that drink sooner than she thought.
'This,' she thought. 'Is going to be a long day.'
XXX
AN: Hey there, thanks for reading!
I'll probably be making this into a chapter fic, so please stay patient if you've liked the first chapter, I'll be uploading soon.
Please review, it's my only source for feedback!
Thanks,
Sophia