AN: Hello lovelies, here is the next drabble, though it's actually part 1 of 2 and includes two Firsts (First Guy Time & First Fight) and will lead into another one (First Birthday, yes I know it's Will's second birthday but it is the first one with Klaus in the picture). I hope you enjoy.
Thanks to klarolineepiclove and klovec for their help.
"Love, you are not going to accomplish anything if you do not leave." Klaus declared matter of factly.
"Are you sure?" Caroline asked her teeth worrying her bottom lip as her eyes darted back and forth between Klaus and her son who was playing on the floor.
"Yes, I am. I would not have offered if I wasn't." He reminded her. "I must say though,
your hesitancy in trusting to leave Will with me is giving my ego a hit."
Caroline's shoulders slumped a little at his statement, feeling bad that she made him think that she felt that way. "It's not that I don't trust you with him, you know I do. And you are great with him, it's just you've never been alone with him and he can be a handful."
"So can his mother," Klaus replied cheekily, wiggling his eyebrows a bit to punctuate the veiled meaning behind his words as well as relax her a bit.
Caroline couldn't help but laugh a little at his teasing, which she knew was his intent. It was two days before Will's second birthday and she still had a few things left to do for his party. Normally she would have had everything planned, arranged, and double checked, but thanks to a nasty spring cold that first hit Will then herself, she had been unable to until now.
However the timing had not been ideal considering that it was the week that her mother was scheduled to work the night shift, therefore unable to watch Will. She had planned to simply take him with her, an idea she wasn't fond of since there were a few things she wanted to surprise him with, when Klaus had offered to watch him. Grateful for the offer, she had readily accepted, but now that it was time for her to leave she was feeling a bit uncertain.
What she had told Klaus was the truth, she did trust him around her son. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that in the six months that her and Klaus been dating, he had never been alone with Will. True, there had been times when Klaus had kept an eye on him while Caroline was busy cooking or whatever but he had never been truly alone with him and she really hoped that Will didn't get a sudden bout of separation anxiety when she left.
Pushing her worries aside, Caroline kneeled down to place a kiss on Will's head. "Okay little man, Klaus is going to stay here and play with you for a little bit while I go to the store. Be a good boy okay?"
"Looks like we will have to cancel the wild party Will." Klaus teased from behind her, causing her to roll her eyes, which threw Will into a fit of giggles.
"Yeah, he's a big party animal." Caroline replied as she gave Klaus a quick peck before she started towards the door, waving to Will as she did. "I'll be back before
bedtime."
Klaus watched as Will waved back to his mother, but it was evident that the toddler did not know that he was waving goodbye because as soon as he heard the front door slam, his smile dropped. "Mama?"
Dropping the blocks he'd been playing with, Will got to his feet as quick as could before hurrying towards the door. "Mamamamama!"
Cutting him off, Klaus leaned down and scooped Will into his arms. The boy fought him a bit, intent on going after Caroline but realized quickly that it was futile. By this time, his bottom lip was quivering and fat tears were running down his cheeks. "Claws, Mama go?"
"Your mum will be back soon." Klaus assured him. Before he could say another word, Will wrapped his little arms around Klaus' neck, hugging him tightly just before the tears started to coming faster.
After a few minutes of trying to soothe him, Klaus started to feel a bit panicked. Caroline had been gone less than five minutes and he had a very distraught little boy on his hands. "Don't you want to build more with your blocks? We can build a big tower so we can knock it down."
Normally the boy would find that activity lots of fun, but this time all it did was earn Klaus a headshake, or at least as much as Will could with his face buried in Klaus' shoulder. Spotting another favored toy, one he himself had given Will for Christmas, Klaus carefully bent down to pick it up, making sure to keep a hold on Will so he didn't fall, and held it up so that Will could see it. "How about Mr. Elephant?"
For a moment, Klaus thought that the stuffed elephant was enough to soothe the boy but he was mistaken. Will did take the toy, however while he held it close, it didn't stop the tears. Looking around for something else to use to distract Will, Klaus finally spotted a large toy that he thought might do the trick.
It was brightly colored; with the picture of a farm animals riding in a train and various numbered buttons. Klaus didn't remember seeing it before and wondered how it had gotten placed on top of the cabinet but it made Will's cries stop so he didn't care. "Oh, you like this do you?"
Will nodded his head, not taking his eyes off the toy. Smiling a bit at Will's wide-eyed gaze, he lowered him back to floor and placed toy on his lap. "Then have at it."
The boy quickly started pushing on the buttons, making the plaything erupt in noise, as well as giggles from Will himself. Klaus sat down on the chair next to him, breathing a sigh of relief and watching the boy play.
Klaus was almost positive that whoever had created the blasted toy was the devil incarnate. Who else would design a toy that he was positive was created to drive adults to madness?
Will had been playing with the infernal thing for the last hour, banging on the various keys, sometimes two or more at a time, the tunes released hurting Klaus' ears. He had tried to ply Will's attention away from it, so that he could put it back in it's hiding place but it had quickly became apparent that the boy would not give up the toy without a fight.
Then suddenly it stopped, and the noise was replaced with Will's little voice. "Claws, I thirsty."
"Do you want some water?"
Shaking his head, Will answered. "Milk."
"Just a small glass," Klaus replied, "Do you want a snack with it?"
"Yes," the boy said with a nod before he darted towards the kitchen.
Klaus stood up quickly to follow, taking a second to kick Will's toy out of sight under the couch, and found Will standing in front of refrigerator, bouncing slightly in anticipation. "You really want that milk don't you?"
Though the question was meant to be rhetorical, the two year old still nodded and Klaus couldn't help but smile. He quickly retrieved one of Will's sippy cups before opening the fridge to get the milk, after which he turned back around in search of a snack within. Digging amongst the labeled bowls of leftovers, he found something he thought Will would like. "How about some fruit salad? Or yogurt? Maybe those crackers you like?"
When he was met with silence, Klaus looked over his shoulder only to find the spot Will had been just moments ago empty. Searching the room quickly, it was obvious that he was the only one in the kitchen. He slammed the fridge door shut as he started to call out for absent child. "Will? Will?"
After returning to the living room and finding it empty as well, Klaus felt a sense of dread as well as fear overcome him. He quickly checked behind the furniture as well as the curtains. "WILL! Right now isn't a good time to hide."
Convinced that he had searched every hideable spot in the living room, Klaus moved over to searching Caroline and Will's bedroom, bathroom and still found nothing. The fear had now turned to terror, his mind racing with the various worst case scenarios. Did Will somehow get out one of the doors? He was about to go upstairs to make sure he hadn't somehow crawled up them when he heard a soft giggle coming from the small dining room.
Racing towards the sound, Klaus was shocked when he saw Will, half shielded by the large wooden buffet, sitting on the floor happily painting the wooden legs white with a small paintbrush. He didn't know how he had neglected to see him but there the toddler was, safe and sound. He was so relieved that it took him a few moments to remember that Will shouldn't be doing what he was.
"Hey, I don't think your mum or grandmum would be too happy with you refinishing the furniture." Klaus stated as he squatted down next to him. It was then when he noticed that it wasn't paint, but white out. Glancing up at the dining room table where an assortment of papers, files and other things were spread out, Klaus quickly figured out where Will had gotten the white out. Sighing, he went back to the kitchen to find something to clean up the mess.
Several paper towels, and a tantrum later, the two of them had just gotten comfortable again in the living room when the doorbell rang. Klaus tried to ignore it, after all Caroline hadn't mentioned expecting anyone, but when the doorbell rang again and again followed by an incessant knocking, he knew that wasn't a possibility. Keeping an eye on Will, he went to answer it.
To say Klaus was surprised by the sight of the person on the other side of the door would be an understatement. He had thought it might a lost delivery man, or some kid trying to sell a fundraiser, not a strange dark haired man leaning against the door frame, a hand on each side. However, he felt some consolation in the fact that the stranger seemed to be as taken aback to see him as he was.
"Well look at this, Goldilocks didn't tell me that she had gotten herself a manny." The man declared, surprising Klaus even more when he heard an accent similar to his own coming from his mouth. "Be a good mate and tell her that she has a visitor."
The stranger attempting to step over the threshold broke the trance that Klaus was in and he brought his hand up to the other man's chest to stop him. "Sorry mate, but I can't do that considering I have no idea who you are or who you are expecting to see."
"Why Caroline, of course." The man answered, his lips turning up into an annoying smirk and a mischievous look in his brown eyes that rubbed Klaus the wrong way. "As for who I am, I'm…"
"ENZO!" Will squealed in delight, interrupting as he rushed towards them, his little arms extended and before Klaus could stop him, he wrapped them around 'Enzo's' legs.
"Little bear!" Enzo exclaimed, as he reached down to ruffle the toddler's curls. "How are you buddy?"
Klaus watched the exchange between them in confusion. He had no idea who the man was, he appeared to be a couple of years older than Caroline, though not quite the same age as himself, and his accent definitely said he wasn't a local. Yet he could not remember ever hearing Caroline mention someone named Enzo. Nevertheless Will seemed quite familiar with him so it was obvious that she knew him.
Turning his attention away from Will, Enzo looked back to Klaus. "So since she has yet to make an appearance, I'm guessing that Gorgeous isn't here at the moment?"
"No, she's not." Klaus practically snarled, bristling at the obvious affection in Enzo's voice as he spoke of Caroline. The more the other man talked, the less and less he liked him. Truth be told, if Will wasn't there, Klaus would have decked the man the moment he uttered the word 'gorgeous' in relation to Caroline. Granted, she was, but that didn't mean he liked hearing another man calling her that. "I'm Klaus, by the way, her boyfriend."
"Ah, the boyfriend. That makes a bit more sense and I should have guessed that. Good to put a face to the name, she's told me a lot about you." Enzo declared, smiling a bit as he watched Will shuffle away, obviously bored with the grown up talk and lack of attention on him.
Klaus' eyebrow rose at that. "Yet she never said a word to me about you, about your existence let alone that you were stopping bye."
"Well she wasn't exactly expecting me yet." Enzo commented with a lift of his eyebrows and a shrug of his shoulders. "Knowing how much she'd be stressing over Will's party, I thought I'd bring her a little something."
Leaning down he retrieved what looked like a basket, one that Klaus had not noticed until that moment, and held it out. It looked to be full of things he knew that Caroline liked, the fizzy bath things and lotion like she had gotten Rebekah for Christmas as well as various snacks that his girlfriend enjoyed. There was even a bottle of the god awful sweet wine that she loved but he thought tasted like apple juice. The items the other man had picked for Caroline told him that Enzo was quite familiar in what she liked and Klaus was pretty sure he was about to crush the handle of the basket in his grip.
A gesture that he saw Enzo's eyes focus on. "It looks now is a good time to take my leave. See you at your party little bear, you too Klaus. It was a pleasure."
And then before Klaus could say a word in reply, Enzo was off the porch and headed towards the vehicle he assumed was his, leaving him to stew in his anger.
Though she was thoroughly exhausted, Caroline felt a bit of a bounce in her step as she walked through her back door. She'd managed to get everything done that needed to be done, so now she had one full day before Will's party to spend time with him, thanks to Klaus' offer to babysit. A devilish smile spread across her face as she thought of ways to 'thank' Klaus for the favor the next time they were alone.
Going in search of her two guys, Caroline made her way into the living room where she saw Klaus sitting in one of the chairs, her son no where in sight. "Hey you, are you all by yourself in here?"
"I put Will down about fifteen minutes ago." Klaus answered.
"I hope everything went okay?"
"It was rough in the beginning but we managed."
Caroline paused for a minute at his answers, his voice sounded a bit off but she quickly dismissed it as exhaustion. It was probably why he had yet to move to give her a hello kiss as well like he always did. So instead she moved towards him, and leaned over to kiss him briefly. "I'm sorry I did not make it back before he went to bed, you must have really worn him out for him to already be asleep."
"I think the credit for that goes to the visitor we got earlier."
"Visitor?" Caroline asked, her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion. "Who?"
"A friend of yours apparently, a chap named Enzo?" Klaus replied.
"What was Enzo doing here?" She inquired. "He wasn't supposed to be in town yet."
"So he mentioned, but he is and thought he'd stop by to bring you a gift, a basket full of your favorite things." Klaus answered, nodding with his chin towards the basket he'd tossed onto the side table by the door. "Who is this man, love?"
"Enzo is a friend, " Caroline explained.
"I gathered that, especially when Will went running to him in welcome. Imagine my confusion though given that I have never heard you speak of him." He stated. All he had done since Enzo had left was think on the matter, his anger growing more and more until he felt like he was about to snap.
Caroline just shrugged, not liking the tone of Klaus' voice at that moment, nor the look in his eyes. "Like I said, he's a friend. We met in college, but we've kept in touch over time. He doesn't live in the area and travels a lot, but on occasion he drops in for a visit. I'm sure I've mentioned him at some point."
"No, I am quite positive that you haven't." Klaus declared. "Which I find curious."
"Curious?"
"Yes, curious. Curious to know if perhaps there wasn't another reason why he had not been mentioned before." He explained, the bitterness apparent even to his own ears.
Catching onto what he was alluding to, Caroline felt her face flush with irritation. "I don't know what is going on with you but I don't like what you are insinuating nor the tone you are using."
"Sorry sweetheart if my tone is upsetting to you, but imagine how the whole situation looks to me." He professed.
"Ahh," Caroline growled irritated, her fingers running through her hair frustration. "I wasn't hiding Enzo from you, if I was do you think I would have invited both of you to Will's party? Hell I'd have introduced you earlier if you hadn't been out of town during his last visit."
"What did you say?" Klaus asked, standing up suddenly.
"I said that I would have introduced you to Enzo if you weren't out of town when he came." Caroline stated.
"The only time I've been out of town since we've been dating was around the holidays." He acknowledged. "That was three months ago, I assume it slipped your mind to tell me that bit of information."
"Okay, one, just because we are seeing each does not mean that I have to tell you everything I do or people I see, and two, I did tell you. Remember, I told you I had some friends visit during the holidays, I guess I just didn't mention names."
"How convenient." Klaus snapped. "How would you feel if the tables were turned and you were the one to discover that I had been holding back about who I had spent my time with? If you were at my house and some unknown woman had appeared on my doorstep, one that I had apparently had a close relationship with?"
Caroline's anger stumbled a bit at his argument, mainly because a part of her knew that he was right. She probably would be feeling a bit like he was but she'd like to think that her head would rule over her feelings. "If that were to happen, then I would ask you about before I started making assumptions and getting angry. I would trust you."
"For there to be trust there has to be honesty." He countered.
"So you are saying that you don't trust me?" Caroline asked. "That Enzo is just a friend?"
"Perhaps he is to you, but I am finding it difficult to imagine after meeting this Enzo character, that all he is wanting is to be friends."
Reeling back as if she'd been smacked, Caroline glared at him. "So you're saying that the only way he could possibly want to spend time with me is because he wants in my pants?"
Klaus tipped his head towards her in a slight nod. "Did you not tell me once that every man you knew around your own age only wanted women for one reason?"
She opened her mouth to argue only to shut it just as quickly. Caroline had said that to him once before and now he was using it against her, and that only infuriated her more. Something she had a feeling he was doing on purpose and she refused to play along, escalating the argument more. She was so relieved that Will was asleep, though if their voices got much louder that might not be the case. "I think it's best if we call it a night."
Klaus opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, Caroline cut him off. "I mean it Klaus, I can't see you right now."
Not one to stay where he was not wanted, Klaus stormed out of the Forbes' house. He needed to get away before he exploded.
Well? I know some people do not like Enzo but I assure you, I am using him here in purely a Brotp fashion. I needed a guy friend who Caroline was good friends with (You'll find out more about that in the next part) and since I already had Stefan and her having a different kind of relationship in this story, I went with Enzo (Originally it was Jesse.)
And don't worry, they won't be separated for long. I just needed for them to have a bit of fight because they wouldn't be them if they didn't. That and love isn't sunshine and rainbows.
