Hiii,
I know, I'm the worst. I was pretty stressed and didn't have time to write anything and Klaroline content isn't coming that easily nowadays. Nevertheless, I'm determined to update more regularly and also to finish this story one of these days.
Thank you for your patience. Enjoy!
Klaus would love to say he had spent the days since the charity event like a level-headed, mature adult. Truth be told though, he was a mess. When he finally arrived home that evening after Caroline gave him her blessing to leave that god-forsaken party, he did the most logical thing he could think of: he got drunk.
Trying to erase the odd feelings of having to talk unexpectedly with his secret half-brother, sitting at the same table and laughing along to the jokes of his secret half-sister, watching them talk to each other and wondering if they were discussing him and Rebekah and lastly, seeing Caroline stand in that foyer and look like a remorseful princess even though she had just wanted to help.
He passed out some time around dawn and regretted his earlier decisions immediately after waking up again, when he sprinted towards the toilet and emptied the contents of his stomach. So long, several course gourmet meal.
He trudged back to his bed and tried to fall asleep again, but the nausea kept him awake and sent him to the bathroom two more times that early afternoon. He still had to deal with those unpleasant feelings he had tried to drink away the night before, but now bodily discomfort had been added to the mix. Sometimes he wondered where his stupidity and self-destructive behavior stemmed from until he remembered that his mother had managed to fall pregnant twice while maintaining a secret affair with a married high society politician.
The guilt of thinking badly about his mother and the thought of his horrible begetter made him run to the toilet for a fourth time.
He ignored Rebekah's incessant texts about his night out with Caroline and just sent her a string of emojis. That usually satisfied her for some time before she started going full Sherlock on him. The thought of how blissfully unaware Rebekah was about the mess they had found themselves in and how she might react once she did find out nearly made him retch again.
Monday at work was hell. The people in the office were used to him not being the most talkative or sociable person but he usually at least did not look like death reincarnated.
Kaleb, one of the young interns he shared a lot of his work with, returned from an errand with a big coffee-to-go cup and put it onto his desk wordlessly. Klaus offered him something resembling a smile and made a mental note to repay that kindness one day.
Going through insurance claims was tedious on a regular day and barely manageable after the weekend he had endured. Caffeine was essential for staying awake and their office coffee was questionable at best.
He had two more hours to kill before lunchtime. Then he would have to meet up with Caroline. She had contacted him earlier and asked to get coffee together. He knew that she would want to talk about the event, and it was understandable to be fair. However, he still had not necessarily processed the whole thing and did not know how to even form the thoughts he had into words. Besides, he was wary of lashing out and hurting her feelings. Caroline had a way of seeing through him that was alarming, especially for someone who has not known him for very long. Talking to her could unleash his innermost demons and he was not willing to scare her away when he wanted the opposite for their relationship.
As Caroline walked towards the counter to take her order after greeting him, his smile fell again. That woman was like a ray of sunshine on this bleak day and he still could not believe how lucky he and Rebekah were that she had decided to take on the monumental task of becoming a foster parent.
Once she returned to the table with her beverage, he wasted no time and asked her about work. Better try to keep this casual with menial small talk. Besides, contrary to him, Caroline had managed to earn herself her dream job and it was quite fascinating listening to her talk about it.
The small smile she offered him lit up his whole world and he tried to take a mental note of it to be able to bring it to paper later.
"Yeah, but that's not why I wanted to meet."
He tried to stall. "No?"
"Klaus…"
He sighed and leaned back, started playing with his cup instead of answering. Then he let his eyes wander towards the window, but he did not take notice of anything going on outside.
What was he supposed to tell her? His life had been a mess ever since their mother died, but he had finally thought that everything was getting back on track. Naturally, he was not exactly living a perfect life or working his dream job, but he had a stable income at a reputable place and might be ready to take custody of Rebekah soon again. That of course would mean she would have to leave Caroline's care and he did not know how either of the two felt about that. Thinking about the fact that the blonde sitting opposite of him would one day not be a constant presence in their lives was already unbearable, after only so few months of knowing her.
He also did not know how his moody sister might react to the appearance of the Cadogan siblings. He had been thrown for a loop ever since he learned about their existence, and he was a grown man. She might resent him and Caroline for keeping it a secret and that was something he would not be able to bear.
"I'm so sorry you have to go through this. Is there any way I could help you?" Caroline's gentle voice brought him back to reality and he turned his attention back to her. Her look was full of compassion and understanding and despite the circumstances, he let out a small smile. That woman would be the death of him.
"You're taking care of Rebekah and incredibly supportive during this whole mess we have found ourselves in. I don't know what more you could do. I just want you to know how much I appreciate your kindness and honesty. I don't know how I would have managed to stay sane if it wasn't for you."
The next evening, he had his only weekday shift at Rousseau's. When he started working at the insurance company, he had asked Vincent to get more weekend shifts, as working nights during the week might kill him in the long run. Fortunately, his boss was quite understanding and quickly made it possible. He still worked Tuesday nights, but those were not very busy and Roman, their newest barkeeper and another NYU student, usually just told him to go early when the bar quieted down.
As he entered the bar and saw Cami's blonde head behind the counter, restocking the bar butler with various spirits, he sighed. Working alongside Roman meant listening to his college escapades and stressing over papers and midterms. Working alongside Cami meant he would inevitably be interrogated about the causa Cadogan in between mixing cocktails and loading the dishwasher.
"Wow, you look happy to see me. Way to make a girl feel special, Klaus."
"As if you are craving my approval."
The young woman shrugged, her hands firmly on her hips. "Women sometimes like to be cherished, no matter what your relation to them is. Better keep that in mind if you ever want to win over Caroline."
He got up from his crouching position in front of the refrigerator and shot her a look. "Now that was a fast change of subject I did not expect. And here I thought you would grill me about the whole secret siblings situation."
The bartender smirked and threw a dishrag over her shoulder. "I was just teasing you. I'm definitely grilling you about that, but I'll keep the whole 'Caroline' topic in the back of my mind."
"Terrific, I can't wait for that. Why don't we talk about your life for a change?"
The blonde shrugged and leaned on the counter. "I'm an open book. Ask me anything."
"So, you're pretending to not be bothered about Marcel's new job and him barely ever showing up here?"
Low blow, but it had the desired effect. His friend shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, but her eyes betrayed her real feelings. "That was always going to happen. He's way too smart and idealistic to not get a fantastic job right out of college. Staying here would just be a waste of potential and drag him down."
Klaus raised his eyebrows at her words. While true, she was most definitely not just talking about Marcel and his prospects. "Cami, you know it's never too late for you to continue your studies. If anyone can make it work, it's you."
"Are we having this conversation again?" She asked tersely, mood uncharacteristically bad for her. Not that they did not have their quarrels in the years they had known each other. But something was different today.
"Alright, what is the matter? This cannot be just about Marcel."
Cami shot him a look and turned her attention to the young man waiting for a drink. She prepared four Gin Tonics for him and then reached into the back pocket of her jeans and shoved a letter into his chest.
Klaus scanned the contents and then smiled.
"An acceptance letter to Cornell University? You didn't even tell me you had applied anywhere, lest of all to such a fancy school. I would congratulate you if you didn't seem so upset about it."
The bartender snorted and crossed her arms. "I'm not upset about the acceptance but about myself. Applying was a moment of weakness and I just wanted to see if I could get in."
"And what now? Are you going to waste this opportunity?" Klaus asked, being kind of confused and overwhelmed by their role-reversal. Usually it was Cami, who was the tenacious one in their 'going back to school to fulfil your potential' discussion. He normally just gave up after a while because her arguments were always better than his.
"I'm already nearly 200,000 dollars in debt because of dad's medical bills and my first student loan. My NYU-credits might make it possible to skip two years at most. That means I'd still have to do two more years of undergrad and two years in grad school to even think of being able to work as a psychologist. Not to mention how I'd need to move and find new jobs to cover my living expenses and bills. I'm not even sure if I'd be able to get another student loan in my situation."
"Have you checked your options for financial aid already?"
"Have not and won't. It's a waste of time and money and I'll just be even more stressed out than I am now. I'd also be away from New York and everybody I care about."
"But it would be good stress! You love learning and you especially love learning about psychology. And you'd easily find new friends; people instantly warm up to you. It's kind of annoying, actually."
The blonde chuckled, but then sighed again. "I'd be so much older than everybody else, though. How am I supposed to befriend or – heaven forbid – date 20-year-old students?"
Klaus laughed and went to tend on a customer before replying. "Now you're just looking for excuses. You get along swell with Rebekah and she's a teenager. You'll hardly be the only student at Cornell who's a bit older than usual. And I think women dating younger guys or girls is less frowned upon in college than anywhere else."
She shot him a look. "You are hilarious."
"I mean, you could always go for a professor. Or hell, just straight up seduce the dean. It could help you secure better financial aid."
"I really don't know why I'm talking to you."
"Seriously, Cami. I know that you're worried about the money aspect and if it was anyone else, I'd probably call them an idiot. But you are so passionate about psychology, were born to help people and you'll probably regret it for the rest of your life if you don't take that opportunity. You wouldn't have applied if you didn't really want it deep down."
His friend looked at him silently and after a while, she shrugged and went back to work. "I'll think about it."
"Hello Klaus. This is Bonnie, Caroline's friend."
Surprised, he pinned his phone between his head and shoulder while trying to open his apartment door. He had just gotten back from work, picking up some food along the way, and was looking forward to mindlessly lose himself in some dumb show or movie. Trying to paint the other evening had been a disaster and the finished picture would probably offer enough to dive into his psyche for Cami to write a whole thesis about. So, trying to turn off his brain was the next logical step. When the unknown number called him, he had not expected to hear Bonnie's voice and panicked immediately.
"Bonnie? Did something happen to Caroline?"
There was a pause on the other line, and he suspected the worst. "No, no everything's fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to stress you out."
He let out the breath he was holding and finally managed to stumble into his apartment. "No worries. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
He heard her giggle on the other end as he put down his food. "I wanted to invite you to Caroline's birthday infestivity."
"I'm sorry; did you just say 'infestivity'?"
He could hear her laugh. "Yeah, exactly. Caroline doesn't celebrate her birthday anymore because…uhm, private reasons. So, we always do something unusual for her to feel special without partying."
He shook his head. Those three women were certainly a curious bunch but the love for each other was apparent.
"Of course, I'll be there. When and where?"
"Friday, at the Natural History Museum. There's a special exhibition about Mythic Creatures. Caroline will love it. Meet us there at 7:30."
"Isn't that a bit late for a visit at the museum? Is it even open at that time?"
"Nope, but that's the best part. Katherine knows someone and we'll have the exhibition to ourselves. I already told Rebekah about it. It's a secret, obviously."
Now it was his turn to chuckle. "Of course, why doesn't that surprise me. My lips are sealed. How is Caroline's stance on presents though?"
"Oh, she loves those. You better bring your A-game, mister. Care is the best gift giver I know, so she won't settle for something bad." She paused for a moment. "I just realized, how this sounds. It doesn't have to be expensive or anything. I'm sure she wouldn't be bothered if you don't get her anything at all. I'm sorry, I obviously didn't think this through. Two days aren't really that long to get something and you work a lot…"
He stopped her embarrassed rambling, before she could feel any worse. "It's okay, don't worry about it. I'll think of something nice."
As soon as the call ended, it hit him: he had no clue what to get for the woman, who was significantly improving his sister's life and whom he might or might not have some feelings for.
Two days and massive amounts of stress later, he was coiffed and dressed and debating his gift choices for Caroline. One on hand, the new task had provided him some distraction from his family situation and his mind was finally occupied by something else. On the other hand, it was horribly stress-inducing, and his anxiety level was skyrocketing. He had never been good at giving gifts; the few friends he had in grade and middle school were pacified by low budget but creative gift ideas his mother had had. Rebekah had always been surprisingly easy to please despite her otherwise high-maintenance attitude – a result of living the foster life, no doubt. Naturally, he had always done his very best to surprise her with something nice on her birthday, but she knew about his financial situation and had always pretended to be happy with whatever he gotten her.
Finding something for Caroline was simply impossible though. He did not want to give her something generic, because she was extraordinary. He did not want to waste a lot of money he did not have because he knew she would refuse to accept something pricy. And now he was standing in front of his small dining table, a bottle of Caroline's favourite wine on it, next to a pencil-sketch he had made of her and Rebekah. It was actually a really nice picture if he could humbly state so himself. But he was worried if she would look at it as a nice gesture or think he was creepy for drawing her. She would most definitely be creeped out if she knew just how often he had put her face to paper already.
The clock was ticking, and he had to settle on something or he would be late. Finally, he decided to take the bottle and stuff the rolled-up picture into his inner pocket – he could always decide to give it to her later. Somewhat satisfied, he made his way out of the apartment, ready to face the birthday girl of his dreams.
"Aw, will you look at that? Grumpy brought Care's favourite wine as a present." Katherine mocked as soon as she spotted him coming up the steps of the impressive building. Bonnie elbowed her and smiled warmly at him.
"It's so great that you could make it, Klaus. Care will be happy to see you."
He nodded and noted the absence of the coffee shop guy. When he inquired about it, Bonnie sighed.
"Yeah, he caught the flu. He actually wanted to come but I forbade it."
Katherine chuckled and threw back her mane. "Have we considered the fact that it might just be an STD and not the flu?"
"I'm sorry, who's the doctor among us?" Bonnie asked, eyebrows raised.
"A biased doctor to be honest. You just don't want to admit that you've dated the biggest man slut of New York."
Klaus shot Bonnie a surprised look, who had blushed at Katherine's words. "Will you ever shut up about that? I don't tease you about your former lovers."
"Because I'm not ashamed of any of them, unlike you. I wear it as a badge of honor."
"More like a badge of gonorrhea." Bonnie answered and Klaus' mouth dropped. Their dynamic was certainly…interesting.
Katherine just chuckled and hugged her friend. "I'm so proud of you." And turning towards Klaus she said: "You should have heard her trying to bicker with me when she just moved to the city. She was basically a Disney princess."
The two laughed and were only interrupted by Bonnie's phone buzzing. "Ok, that's Rebekah. They're almost there. Let's head inside."
The trio made their way through the doors and past the portier, whom Katherine caused to blush by winking at him. They walked past dinosaur skeletons and insect exhibitions to one of the central rooms of the museum.
Once inside, it was like stepping into a cryptic fairytale. Various creatures out of different mythologies were positioned around the room, the diffuse lighting giving it a near magical setting. Next to a giant unicorn, there was a table set with quite the spread;
appetizers, entrees, deserts and several bottles of champagne and vine. Caroline's friends had certainly gone out of their way to guarantee a fantastic, albeit somewhat unusual birthday evening for her.
"You do realize that you're a terrible liar, right?"
They could suddenly hear Caroline's voice echoing through the other room.
"Or maybe you're just a naturally suspicious person? You should be more trusting towards people, Care."
"By believing you that outrageous story of your cheerleading coach winning night tickets to the museum because a T-Rex bone fell on her? And that she had to give them to you because she's out of state for her brother's wedding? Who was still a sister yesterday, by the way."
Bonnie chuckled quietly and Katherine groaned towards the ceiling. He could have told them that his sister was a really bad liar and absolutely inept for such a mission if they had asked him beforehand. A very convenient trait of hers to be honest, but well, not exactly ideal for surprises.
"Well, duh, have you ever heard of gender reassignment operations?" Rebekah shrieked and Katherine shook her head, grabbing a champagne bottle from the table.
"One day before the wedding?" Caroline's amused voice sounded close and alas, they stepped into the room soon after.
"Surprise?" Bonnie offered and Katherine popped the bottle with utter precision, not spilling a single droplet of the fancy liquid.
"Kid, you had one job!" The lawyer sighed and Rebekah crossed her arms, pouting. "I really tried, okay? She's just not easy to fool."
"Nobody would have been fooled by that story, Bekah." Klaus chuckled, making his sister scowl affronted.
Caroline just laughed and hugged the teenager. "It's okay; I was kind of expecting something to happen today. Your story just made it more amusing."
"Cheers to that. And to Caroline, of course." Bonnie smiled while handling champagne flutes to the adults in the room, filling one with sparkling apple cider for Rebekah.
They ate their delicious dinner while listening to the guided tour of the room, hearing stories about the origin of unicorns, mermaids, centaurs, griffins and many more.
"I always wanted to have a unicorn as a kid." Caroline sighed and looked up at the giant horned beast next to them. "I annoyed my parents so much that they finally relented and let me take riding lessons when I was eight."
"Awww, how long did you take the lessons?" Rebekah asked and Bonnie snorted a laugh.
"She didn't. First day at the stables, we had to brush the horses and Caroline's pony moved his head to remove a fly from his back. She was out of there so fast, even a horse wouldn't have been able to keep up with her."
The whole table erupted into laughter and Caroline blushed into her drink. "I did not expect that to happen, to be honest. My dad was relieved, my mom kind of amused and I kept admiring horses from afar. Bonnie was a much better rider anyway."
"And how long did you pursue that hobby? It's pretty time consuming, no?" Klaus asked, not necessarily surprised. He had already taken notice of Bonnie's patient and calming nature, which made her perfect to deal with anxious patients or nervous equids.
"Pretty much until Caroline begged me to join the cheerleading squad in middle school. I had to choose eventually, and riding was costing a fortune anyway. I also wasn't particularly good, even though it may have sounded differently in Care's story." Bonnie chuckled and the birthday girl winked at her.
How admirable, that those two had managed to stay friends since childhood, not being separated by going to different colleges and pursuing time-consuming careers.
"Speaking of cheerleading: guess who's going to be the main dancer in our new routine?" Rebekah announced with a proud smile on her face.
"What? You didn't even tell me about that! Beks, that's amazing!" Caroline cheered, making his sister's smile even wider. Klaus heart swelled at the sight and he quickly offered his best wishes before he could dwell on the warmth in his chest.
"Ah, I wish I had stayed a cheerleader as well. Our team would have kicked your school's ass at any competition if I had been the leader."
"Kat was a tennis pro in high school and won several tournaments. But I do resent the statement; there's no way that you would have been able to beat my squad." Caroline grinned, stealing a grape from her friend's plate.
"Exactly. We were undefeatable." Bonnie added, clinking her glass with Caroline's.
After they had consumed copious amounts of food and alcohol, Katherine played some music over the speakers, and they all separated to wander around the exhibition. Klaus found Caroline admiring a large painting. It was quite the masterpiece, depicting the The Abduction of Persephone by Hades in exquisite detail and colors, clearly depicting Demeter's fear for her daughter.
"I loved fairytales as a kid. Eventually, I went through all of them and got bored, so my dad started reading Greek mythology to me instead."
"Well, that's…surprisingly macabre." Klaus mused and Caroline chuckled at that.
"He left out the worst parts of course, but I loved it. It felt like there was always a lesson to be learned from the stories and my imagination went wild. I always envisioned myself to be one of those pretty goddesses, whom guys just were drawn to and couldn't stay away from. Of course, I figured out eventually that this wasn't exactly the healthiest mindset." She chuckled, fully unaware much he was drawn to her from the first night they had met.
He shook his head, embarrassed by his thoughts.
There was a brief silence between them, but Klaus enjoyed it. It was fascinating, really. How he liked talking to her just as much as simply being in her presence without feeling the need to fill the silence. He wondered if she felt the same way or if she would go running for the hills if he ever admitted the extent to which his attraction to her went.
"Klaus…I have to tell you something." Her hesitant tone surprised him. For a second, he wondered if she had been thinking the same as he was but a look to the left revealed her very conflicting looking expression.
"What is it, love? Is something wrong with Rebekah?"
She grimaced. "Not…exactly. Will you just let me explain everything? You can flip out afterwards if you need to. Just…let me talk first."
He nodded at her to go ahead. But he already had a feeling where the conversation was heading.
"I had an encounter with both Cadogan siblings this week. The other day, Elijah showed at my office and wanted to talk to me about you guys. I was shocked how much he knew about you and your mother. I swear, I barely told him anything, just that you recently figured out the connection."
Caroline paused, sighing deeply and reaching into her pocket. She handed him a business card with Elijah's contact information. A phone number had been added above the business numbers, written in precise and sharp handwriting.
"He said he just wanted to meet you and talk. But it's up to you, of course."
Klaus nodded, floored by the news but somewhat relieved. Even if it was certainly shady how Elijah had obtained information about him and his sister and the questionable act of dragging Caroline into the chaos, he was still relieved that he felt some sense of control about the situation again. Now the ball was in his court, and he could decide if he would contact him or not.
He looked back at Caroline, who was nervously twirling a blonde curl.
"Why do I get the feeling that this isn't what was bothering you the most."
She let out a deep breath and offered a pained smile. "I visited Freya yesterday. And…I might have overstepped my boundaries a bit."
Klaus raised his eyebrows. That did surprise him after all. "You seemed to be getting along just fine at the gala."
"Yeah, and she seems to be a good person, generally speaking. I was just mad because…"
She threw her head back and groaned, obviously struggling with this conversation.
"I really don't know to sugarcoat this. I confronted her initially because I thought she might be easier to read than Elijah. And she was super easy to read when she told me that she didn't wish to meet you and Rebekah."
A bizarre mixture of relief and anguish spread through Klaus, and he tried to suppress it.
"That is definitely not what I expected." He finally said, barely able to look into Caroline's compassionate eyes.
"I know, me neither. I thought she might have been the instigator in the whole matter, who had to convince Elijah. Turns out, he's the one who wants to get to know you and Freya is reluctant."
Still struggling to believe that little factoid, curiosity now flared up within him. He put the fluctuation of emotions and surprising calmness onto the amount of alcohol he had already consumed.
"That is certainly something to unpack. I do wonder however, what you could have possibly said to Freya."
She blushed a little and he could not help but find it adorable. He probably should not drink too much around her anymore unless he wanted it to result in something horribly embarrassing like confessing some confusing feelings or making a clumsy move.
"I wasn't really that mean or anything. I've mainly outgrown that part of my personality after high school. So, I told her that I understood her inhibitions but that she might regret it eventually if she brushed you off without even trying. And that you're both pretty amazing and she doesn't want to miss out on that."
She shrugged a bit helplessly and as he looked into those sincere, beautiful eyes, he knew he had fallen in love with her.
