Attention readers: There is NO Klayley baby in this story. There mabybe be a baby at some point but it is NOT Klaus and Hayley's. Anyway are you ready for more Klaroline goodness to get us through the dry spell? Without further ado…
Chapter 4: We Meet Again
The next day Caroline got up early and had coffee with Bonnie before going off to class. Walking in the door to her English class, she heard Rebekah shouting, "Caroline, over here." Sighing, Caroline knew she should have compared schedules with her roommates.
"Hey, Care," Stefan and Tyler called.
"Caroline," Elena said from behind her.
"Blondie," Damon murmured beside her.
"Gah, Damon. Go away," Caroline growled.
"It's a free country," Damon retorted.
"Are you sure about that, darling?" Kol called from behind Caroline. She felt him rest his hand on her shoulder. "Did you miss me, my lovely?"
"No," Hayley told him. "She didn't. Now, sit down."
"Hello, folks. This is Intro to Composition. I hope you are all ready to write a lot this term. If not, there's the door." Caroline heard shifting beside her and then she heard something plop back down.
"Sit down, Damon," Stefan snapped at his brother.
"I am not going to be tortured this term," Damon snapped quietly.
"Too bad," Elena told him. "You have to take this class to graduate. Now, be quiet."
They listened attentively and wrote notes. Caroline sat back in her chair recording what the woman said in her mind. When the class ended they decided to get lunch as a group. "That is a lot of work," Damon complained.
"But it will be fun," Elena told him.
"Your idea of fun is reading and writing," Damon told his girlfriend. "My idea of fun is going to a bar, getting drunk and dancing the night away."
"That is not how you will finish your education," Rebekah told Damon.
"And you care why, Sister of that?" Caroline imagined Damon sneering at Kol.
"Ho ho, I feel the love, mate," Kol called to Damon from across the table they were sitting at.
"Whatever," Damon snapped. "So, Blondie Number Two. What are you majoring in, an MRS. Degree or fashion design?"
"Pre-Law," Rebekah answered smugly. "Currently my major is listed as Philosophy but I intend to go to law school."
"Why, because you equate bitchiness with argumentation?" Damon questioned Rebekah and Caroline wanted to kick him. But he was too far away. For once.
"Whoever is close to Damon, kick him for me," Caroline ordered the group.
"Ow," Damon yelped.
"Thank you," Caroline called.
"You're welcome," Elena, Stefan and Hayley answered.
"I hate all of you," Damon muttered.
"We hate you, too," Caroline snapped at him. She didn't hate Damon. He had been there for her occasionally when she stopped by the Salvatore Boarding House after something had happened and she had no one to talk to. Usually she would be looking for Stefan. But sometimes he wasn't there. Then she would find comfort from Damon, who wasn't the prick he wanted everyone to think he was. That was probably why when he acted like one it made Caroline twice as pissed.
Then there was the bit where they had almost gotten involved. It was before Elena and Damon had started dating. Caroline had come over one night looking for Stefan and found Damon. He was is in a bad mood and she was in a worse one. They had sat down on the couch to talk. Just talk. And then he had kissed her.
It was kind of out of nowhere because Damon had never made a move before. The next thing she knew she was lying underneath him on the couch and they were all twisty limbed and things were moving quickly when he suddenly leapt up.
"We can't do this," was all Damon had said before he left. She didn't hear him leave the room but she heard a door close upstairs.
Ever since they had made an effort to keep a certain amount of distance between them. "What class do you have after this?" Stefan inquired, forcing Caroline's mind back to the present.
"Acting," Caroline replied, swirling her straw in her iced coffee drink.
"Are you majoring in drama?" Stefan asked.
"Makes sense," Damon muttered and then groaned when he was kicked again. "Stop it. Now. Or I will kick back and I have steel toed boots on."
"Is anyone else taking an acting class?" Caroline inquired to a chorus of nos. "Well, I need to go." Collecting her things, Caroline got up to leave.
"Bye, Caroline," her friends called while she made her way around the tables to leave. "Hey, Blondie. Wait up," Damon called and Caroline's back stiffened.
"Let me walk you to class?" Damon asked and Caroline was shocked that he was asking rather than just doing.
"Okay," Caroline said cautiously. Damon placed his hand on her back and led her out of the restaurant.
"I had to get away from them. All they want do is to talk about their classes, and books and blah, blah, blah. At least I know you have something, anything else to say," Damon told her as they walked toward the creative arts building. "Now, why are you taking acting? I thought you wanted to be a journalist or news anchor. Whatever you call it."
"Broadcast journalist," Caroline retorted, shaking her head. "Have you ever seen a blind journalist?"
"Yes, I have," Damon told her. "Have you ever seen someone fall off a stage before, because that is painful."
"Yeah. What would you know about it?" Caroline snapped.
"Been there, done that," Damon replied before turning her toward the door and taking her hand, easing it toward the handle. Pulling the door open, Caroline walked in with Damon behind her. "The door is being held open," Damon whispered as he directed her through it. "Now, thank the nice young man."
"Thank you," Caroline told the man, who had held the door. When she heard it close she turned around and elbowed Damon in the ribcage.
"Ow, what the hell, Caroline?" Damon muttered and she imagined him rubbing at his ribs.
"I am not a child. You don't need to tell me who to thank or help me get through doors." Caroline snarled before reaching for the railing and missing. It was her anger at Damon that was making her unable to focus, she told herself. After the third try and mounting frustration Caroline felt Damon's hand cover hers and place it on the railing. Without another word they walked up and he showed her where the door handle was.
They walked in silence into a large room. There were many voices echoing throughout. Taking a step forward, she felt Damon's hand wrap on her waist, stopping her, "Stairs," he whispered. "There are stairs in front of you and I do not think you want to make 'break a leg' into a literal statement."
Rolling her eyes and gritting her teeth, Caroline decided to take a moment, "What does it look like?" She questioned Damon.
"It looks like a theater," Damon replied and then chuckled when Caroline tried to elbow him again and he caught her arm. "It's large. Spacious. There are rows of seats on either side of us. I would say you could probably seat about five hundred people in here. The ceiling is about twenty feet above our heads. They have a nice sized stage for a small college. So, you have less chance of falling off. And there's Klaus."
"What?" Caroline gasped. "Where? Did he spot us?"
"No. Hold on, I'll get his attention," Damon began to yell, "Yo, Kl-" when Caroline spun around and slapped a hand over his mouth.
"Damon, please, don't," she whispered desperately.
When she pulled her hand slowly Damon seemed confused. "Why?"
"It's a long story. Just don't draw attention to us. Please," Caroline begged Damon placing her hands on his shoulders, she felt him shrug. "Now, tell me if he's looking at us."
"Nope," Damon replied. "He's talking to some chick."
Sucking in a deep breath, Caroline knew she would regret her next question. "What are they doing?"
"They're talking and smiling," Damon told her.
"Are they talking or are they talking?" Caroline asked, wanting to know and not wanting to know.
"What?" Damon asked and she placed her hand on his face to feel his brow wrinkling.
"Don't be dense. There's the way a guy talks to a woman when he's just talking to her and then there's the way he talks when he's trying to get somewhere with her." Caroline explained, feeling annoyed because she knew Damon knew exactly what she had been talking about.
"Well, he seems to be playing it coy. And she's really into him. Oh, she just placed her hand on his shoulder. Now, she's giggling. Ah, and the hair tuck. A classic… now, she's writing something down. And there we go. Touch down. He just scored her digits or her room number by the looks of it. She's walking over to her friends. Real subtle that one. Working the hips all the way over to the other girls."
Damon stopped talking and his facial expression changed under Caroline's palm. "Now, what is our young protagonist up to? Oh, he did not just do that? Dude, you have got to be kidding me."
"What did he do?" Caroline asked, not being able to control her curiosity.
"He just walked backward toward the trash can and tossed that chick's number. Man, she was hot. Unbelievable." Damon shook his head in disbelief.
"You have a girlfriend," Caroline reminded him.
"Yeah. I also have eyes. And I'm not over there trying to pick her up, am I? So, don't get all judgey on me, Forbes," Damon became quiet. "He spotted us. And now I'm giving him a finger wave. He's all yours," pressing a quick kiss to her forehead, Damon backed away. "Have a nice second day of classes."
"I'm going to kill you," Caroline swore after Damon's retreating footsteps.
"Fancy meeting you here, sweetheart." Klaus said behind Caroline's back and she shifted away from him, feeling his heat too close to her body. "I should have known you were a drama major given the performance you gave yesterday."
"Oh, really. You seem to be quite the actor yourself," Caroline snapped before walking around him and taking a step forward.
Then she felt an arm wrap tightly around her, just below her waist and tug her backward against a now familiar body. "Careful, love, wouldn't want to see you making you acting debut in a wheelchair, would we?" She could feel his lips twisting into a smirk where they were pressed to her ear.
"You need to stop touching me," Caroline told him quietly.
"As you wish," Klaus replied and then his body was moving away. She heard the sound of feet descending the stairs and she assumed he had left. Reaching out a shaky hand to place it on the railing, she began to make her way down the stairs slowly. It was funny, she could swear she heard footsteps behind her and then she inhaled. "Klaus, stop following me."
"You did not ask me to do that. You asked me to stop touching you. I am not a genie who grants you three wishes. Rather, I am a man who desires nothing more than to grant you one wish." Klaus told Caroline and his scent came closer, enveloping her.
"What would that be?" Caroline whispered, frowning.
"I think you already know the answer to that one, Caroline," Klaus told her and she felt his breath tickle her neck.
Finding her way down the rest of the steps, Caroline took a seat and sighed when she smelled Klaus next to her. "Can't you sit somewhere else?"
"I prefer to sit here. I have a lovely view," was his response.
"You have an answer for everything, don't you?" Caroline snapped. "Fine. If you won't move, I will." Getting up, Caroline walked away to sit somewhere else. When she found an empty seat, she felt satisfied. That was until she heard a voice.
"Excuse me, do you mind switching seats with me, mate? You see, my girlfriend likes to sit on this side of the room." There was the sound of movement, "Thank you."
"Seriously!" Caroline groaned as Klaus sat down beside her.
"Shush, love. Our teacher just arrived and he has an excellent reputation," Klaus sat back in his seat and Caroline felt his arm rest on the back of her seat.
"Hello, ladies. Gentleman. Thank you for choosing to take Intro to Acting. This is going to be exciting. Oh, looking at your lovely faces makes me thrilled to be working with you all. Youe excitement is making the air sizzle, people, it's exhilarating, I tell you. I'm going to be your teacher for the term. My name is Marcel DuChamp. You can call me whatever you like. Just don't call me mother or Marcie. Had that name in high school and boy did that piss me off. "
"Who called you mother?" Klaus cried out.
"Long story," Marcel called. "And you are?"
"Klaus Mikaelson," Klaus replied smoothly.
"Well, Mr. Mikaelson, today, rather than going over the syllabus that you can read in your spare time, I thought we should go ahead and jump into things. Since you decided to speak first, would you like to join me up on stage for a little exercise? And I need another volunteer. Anyone… anyone at all," Marcel called just as Klaus pinched the back of Caroline's neck.
Caroline jumped to her feet. She was about to start yelling at Klaus when Marcel spoke to her. "Look at that, folks. You ask for volunteers and they are literally jumping to their feet. Now, it's that kind of enthusiasm I like to see in my classes. What's your name, Miss?"
"Caroline. Caroline Forbes," Caroline replied with a wide smile.
"Well, Miss Caroline Forbes. Thank you for volunteering. Could you and Mr. Mikaelson make your way up here to the stage?" Marcel called.
Caroline had no idea what to do when Klaus took her hand and led her toward the stairs. "I'm right behind you, love."
When they were on the stage they walked over to Marcel, who clapped and Klaus turned Caroline toward the audience gently. Taking that opportunity to make it look like an accident, she turned to take a step toward their teacher like she had something to say and stepped on Klaus' foot, hard.
"Ow," Klaus yelled.
Marcel stopped speaking and began to clap. "Wow! I think we have some live ones here. I love how eager they are to start before I tell them what to do. Okay. Caroline. Klaus. I would like you to give me a bit of improv. But you've already begun, so go. Make magic. Show me what's one your minds."
"You are a slimy jerk," Caroline shouted at Klaus without thinking.
"Oh, am I, love? Well, this slimy jerk seemed to be good enough for you yesterday and at my party. Who was it that was running her hands over who, then?" Klaus fired back.
"You know why I did that," Caroline yelled at him, feeling exposed in front of all these people. She turned to try to find the stairs but couldn't remember where they were. She felt her eyes begin to well up.
"Because you're blind? Yes, everyone, she's blind. Can't see a bloody thing and walks around like it's not true. Well, apparently it's not just a physical disability or she would see how damned much I fancy her." Klaus bellowed and she could feel his rage.
"I didn't even know his real name until yesterday," Caroline told the audience quietly. "I didn't know anything about him when I went back to his room with him. It was stupid. I was being stupid. I just wanted to loose myself for a moment, to forget about who I am."
Turning to Klaus, Caroline stepped toward him, "I wanted to loose myself in you. With you. I didn't want you to know I was blind because I wanted you treat me like any other girl. I wanted to be just a normal college freshman. Not the girl you ask if she needs help with every little thing. I wanted you to look at me and see me. Not some girl you were afraid would go walking into a wall if you took her on a date."
"Caroline, I would not treat you like that," Klaus whispered, walking closer to her, his voice slow and gentle.
"How am I supposed to know that, Klaus? I don't know you. I hear you like to sleep around and break girls' hearts. To make them vulnerable and then just dump them like they have no meaning. I refuse to be another one of those girls," Caroline told him calmly feeling her heart breaking as she stood there hearing silence from Klaus.
"That was great," Marcel told them, beginning to clap. "Weren't they great, people? Let's give them a round of applause. Thank you both. I will see you next time."
Caroline stood on the stage, hearing people flooding out the doors. And then she smelled Klaus right in front of her. "Do you think so little of me, Caroline?" He asked his voice hoarse and Caroline felt her throat constrict.
"I don't really know you," Caroline replied, hearing how distant her voice sounded.
"Fine. Then have a nice life, Miss Forbes. I will not attempt to bother you again." Caroline heard Klaus run off the stage and up the stairs.
Opening her mouth to ask him to wait, Caroline felt her words choked off because her throat was closing up. Tears began to flow and she slid to her knees beginning to sob quietly in the middle of the stage.
"They say that to be an actor you must be in touch with you emotions," Caroline said, bitterly to the empty room. "I guess that won't be a problem this term."
Ouat-in-vampirediaries: Thank you. Big sigh of relief. I will be updating as long as I have chapter and I have quite a few.
MissDK: I know. That is not a good reason to have sex even if it isn't your first time. However, the first time should never be rushed. And trust me it is not in this story. Although I tease readers with the idea that they're going to a few more times before the event takes place.
Maytesalvatore: I love all the whole Mikaelson clan so I wanted include all of them. As for Klaus being a womanizer… the story is called appearances can be deceiving… then again sometimes things are what they seem… I love Hayley and Elijah as a couple. Personally, I was not a big Hayley fan when she was on TVD but then they had her interacting with Elijah. Then I was hooked. And I did want to explore a different version of who she is.
AurorMartinez23: Katherine will be making guest appearances like in the first two seasons of TVD. Sorry, no, Rebekah is not going to be with Matt in this story. Here's a clue. Her love interest will be introduced in next chapter. They meet in for the first time in chapter six. Although it will takes them some time to get together because there are things that happen that are not pleasant latter in the story. And I'm happy people are enjoying the inaction between Stefan and Caroline so far.
Thank you reading, faving, following and reviewing: Ouat-in-vampirediaries, Guest, Miss DK, maytesalvatore, AurorMartinez23 and redbudrose.