So here it is. An actual update that I'm really sorry has taken me forever. I've had trouble with my writing in general but this particular story became impossible to write so I really want to thank Sophie (justanotherfiveminutes) & Helen (klarolinessecondbreakfast) for all their hard work and encouragement with this chapter and to Wind (onlyklarolinefeels) for all your help and listening to my never ending ramblings, and to every single one of you that dropped by my inbox over the last few months showing your support and encouragement. Thank you guys so much for your reviews, your follows and favorites. All of your support has really meant a lot and I'm really sorry I couldn't get this to you guys sooner, believe me it wasn't always for lack of trying.
I've poured over this chapter too many times to count now but I probably still missed mistakes so please forgive any I didn't catch and as always, thank you guys so much for reading! Hope you guys enjoy. :)
xxx
Caroline rolled onto her back after the most frustrating and restless night of sleep she's had in a while, glancing at the time and trying to determine if Stefan and Klaus would be gone for the day by now. Stefan usually left early and she had overheard when Klaus and Marcel were discussing wanting to get an early start since apparently it was their inventory day at the bar.
It's not like she was hiding out...okay so maybe she kind of was and she wasn't proud of it, she would just rather avoid what would be guaranteed to be a super awkward encounter with the three of them thank you very much.
It sounded relatively quiet out there, so she changed into a pair of sweats and tank before heading out.
"Good morning sleepy head," she heard her brother's teasing voice and turned to see him walking out of his room, still fixing his tie.
"Oh Stefan? Hey," she tried to smile brightly.
"How was the grand adventure yesterday?"
She bit the inside of her lip. Something told her answering, "Oh it was great. I went shopping, caught the parade, rode around the city on the back of a motorcycle with your best friend and totally made out with him in his office," wouldn't go over so great.
"It was fun," she smiled, feeling a sense of guilt for keeping this from him.
She just...needed time.
"Good," he smiled as he adjusted his collar, not noticing anything amiss.
"How was your day?" she asked quickly, trying to change the subject.
"Like walking on sunshine and rainbows," he replied sarcastically.
"That bad?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later. Just be thankful you're not a lawyer. But hey, I'm actually glad I ran into you because I wanted to talk to you about tonight. Do you remember how I told you about my business dinner tonight?"
Was that tonight?
"I had forgotten about that," she frowned.
"Yeah, it's tonight," he said a bit apologetically. "But Elena called this morning and wanted to invite you to girl's night tonight."
"Girl's night?" she repeated with an arched brow.
"Yeah, she's having a girl's night with her cousin and a couple of friends and wanted to see if you'd like to join," he explained. "It could be something fun for you to do so you're not all alone again tonight-"
Oh, if only he knew she hadn't exactly been alone all of last night either.
"-and it would also be a great opportunity for you and Elena to get to know each other better, since you know, you two might be future sisters, it might not be a terrible idea."
"Oh you really went there," she playfully narrowed her eyes at him.
He responded with an innocent smile.
"Just think about it," he insisted. "It would make me feel a lot better knowing I'm not leaving you on your own again."
"Has anyone ever told you that you can be annoyingly manipulative?"
"I'm a lawyer, Care," he grinned, making her roll her eyes at him. "And I'm also late," he added with a sigh as he glanced at his watch. "Just promise me you'll think about it? This could be a whole other adventure waiting to happen."
She snorted and shook her head.
"Just go before you lose all points for cheesiness."
"You call it cheesiness, I call it words of wisdom," he joked with a grin and for just a moment, it felt like old times. Before their mother died and all this distance had come between them. "I'll see you later, Care."
With that, he left her alone for the day with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company...and wasn't that just fantastic?
Releasing a sigh, she pulled out her phone and looked at the message she had received up an all too familiar contact before eagerly pressing the phone to her ear.
"Hey Bon!" she greeted her friend a little too enthusiastically once she got her voicemail, though a part of her was disappointed that her friend didn't answer.
"I was just calling to say hi and see how your date went last night," she continued with a small smile. "Please tell me he at least didn't try to pay with an expired coupon," she added jokingly.
It was something they laughed at now, but back then Bonnie had been extremely annoyed when her date took her to The Grill and tried paying with an expired voucher and then proceeded to throw a small fit over what Bonnie ordered, claiming she was too expensive to take out.
Needless to say, there hadn't been a second date.
"I also wanted to say sorry about not texting you back last night," she continued, feeling her face begin to flush a bit. "I got..distracted."
She was on fire. It felt like every nerve ending in her body was being set ablaze under his touch that was everywhere. Her face, her neck, her arms, her back, down her sides.
Her body shook with desire as she pulled down on his necklaces before wrapping her arms around his neck. She did not know it was possible to be kissed like this where it felt like this person was consuming you, possessing you with just their lips alone.
His body was pressed flush against hers so she could feel every hard plane of his chest from where he had pinned her against his desk but it wasn't enough. She was drunk on his scent. On his taste. On the feel of his firm muscles she felt under the pads of her fingers through his Henley as she allowed her hands to wander and explore too. No, it wasn't anywhere near enough. She wanted more. Needed more.
No sooner had she thought that when she felt his hands drop down to her thighs and lift her slightly up on the desk without breaking the kiss. She gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss as his tongue delved past her lips, his tongue sliding slickly against hers.
"But I'm alive and fine," she continued with a light laugh. "Everything's great over here."
Yep. Just great.
It was becoming increasingly hard for her to hold onto any coherent thoughts or to think straight as her mind became muddled with nothing but thoughts screaming to feel his skin against hers when he suddenly pulled back, the need for air having become too great.
She sat there, perched on that desk while he stood between her legs, foreheads pressed against one another's as they panted for breath before he leaned in again, pecking her lips again before pulling back slightly.
Her gaze flickered up to his when he cupped the side of her face, and for just a moment she was left breathless by the way he looked at her. She could see that devastating dimpled smile tugging on his lips but there was none of the smugness or even teasing she might have expected. No, there was the obvious lust and desire there of course, but aside from that, he looked at her with a look of almost awe and a hint of vulnerability that left her rooted and speechless for a moment because she's sure no one's ever looked at her that way before. When he brushed her hair back with surprising gentleness, she was the one to lean in again but their lips barely brushed over the other's when a loud knock on the door suddenly had her pulling back.
"Uh, boss man?" they heard Dean's voice from the other side of the door. "You might want to come out here. A fight broke out and cops are on their way and uh, your brother was involved."
Klaus grit his teeth and closed his eyes, exhaling in frustration and something told her she didn't have to be a mind reader to know he was cursing his brother to hell and back.
"You should go boss man," she tried to joke as she got off the desk rather self-consciously, feeling her cheeks redden as the situation all really started to hit her. "Duty calls."
"Boss?"
"I'll be right there," he snapped, glowering at the door despite the fact that his bartender couldn't see him.
"Go," she urged him, stepping back and putting some much needed space between them as she tried to regain her bearings. "They need you."
"I'll be back as soon as I can," he said almost apologetically, tracing her chin with his thumb one last time.
He reluctantly released her then, and quickly moved to hand her the shirt he had originally gone in there to get for her, before leaving her with another lingering look.
She waited a couple of minutes after he stepped out before heading back out towards the bar area and she noticed Klaus furiously snapping at Kol who was sporting a bloody nose. She hung back and when she saw the cops walk in, she took the opportunity to slip out of the bar.
"Caroline Forbes survived her grand adventure," she joked before releasing a soft sigh. "Anyway, call me back when you get this? I miss you."
xxx
Klaus walked into the bar at the usual hour, wearing his usual Henley and jeans just like any other day, but today there was something noticeably different about him that had Marcel doing a double take. He noticed Klaus walked in with a lighter step, a slight bounce to his walk and a grin on his face. It was both amusing and a little frightening to those who knew him.
When the hell was Klaus ever this happy?
"You're in a good mood," came Marcel's voice from behind the bar where he was checking some of the inventory, eyeing Klaus curiously as his friend came to a stop in front of him and rested his hands against the bar countertop, goofy grin still on his face as he simply shrugged. "What or whom got into you between when I last saw you and this morning? Because I remember your cranky ass last night before you disappeared on us."
Klaus simply chuckled and shook his head, further solidifying Marcel's suspicion that there had to be a reason, a very big reason, behind the often moody asshole's inexplicably good mood this morning.
"You know what they say about the wonders a good night's sleep can do for a person," Klaus responded simply.
"I somehow doubt that goofy ass smile on your face is the result of a little extra shuteye," Marcel countered.
Klaus smirked and simply shrugged again.
"That good huh?" Marcel laughed. "Was it that girl we saw you talking to or another mademoiselle?"
"A gentleman never kisses and tells," Klaus smirked all too smugly.
"I see no gentleman here," Marcel shot back and Klaus simply laughed.
"As invigorating as this conversation is mate, I'm afraid I have a lot of work to do as do you," he said pointedly.
"Says the guy who's just rolling in," Marcel retorted but Klaus simply ignored him. "Whoever she is, you should see her more often," he called after him
Klaus didn't acknowledge that he heard but simply smiled to himself.
Oh, if only he knew.
Marcel watched Klaus walk away, the curiosity burning inside of him. In all his years knowing Klaus, he could not remember another instance of him acting like he was this morning, and he'd be damned if he didn't find out why.
Klaus stepped into his office and his eyes almost immediately landed on the stapler lying on the floor. It was one of the items they had undoubtedly knocked over during their heated kissing the previous night and Klaus felt his smile widen at the memory of it.
This wasn't entirely one sided. Whatever 'this' was.
He picked up the stapler and set it down on his desk with a smile still on his face.
A smile he knew would be going nowhere anytime soon.
xxx
Caroline stared down at the mixing bowl with a slight frown before glancing back at the recipe she had pulled up and while she had followed every instruction to a T, she just felt like something wasn't right. But what?
She tasted it and her frown grew more pronounced. She thought it tasted fine, but still, she felt like she didn't do something right.
Maybe you're overthinking it.
It's not like she hadn't been doing enough of that today or anything…
The entire day she had tried to distract herself, as proven by the fact that she had wiped down the entire kitchen after baking two batches of cookies, doing a little intense session of yoga, checking work emails (okay she may have been doing that everyday since she arrived regardless) and then baking some more. Still, no matter how hard she tried, inevitably, her mind always ended up wandering back to last night and a certain blue-eyed, dimpled Brit and it was driving. Her. Crazy.
She didn't know what to think and she hated it. She hated that over 12 hours later, she could still practically feel his lips on hers, the way her body melded against his, the way he held her.
He kissed her. And she kissed him back. She can't believe she kissed him after how annoyed she was with him. Why had she done that?
But why did he kiss her? One minute he's acting like a jerk over Jesse and the next he's planting one on her. He wasn't actually jealous...was he?
Maybe he had to drink too much last night too...
"Ugh! Stop thinking about it Caroline!" she huffed, glaring down at the bowl like it had personally offended her.
Then there was the matter of her brother. She felt horrible she hadn't told him about last night but truthfully, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to. At least, not yet. Aside from the fact that she knew he would get all protective on her again, she knew telling him would mean answering a million different questions she didn't exactly have answers to. She just needed time to think through everything and...yeah.
She huffed again, blowing some hair out of her face and stared at the bowl for a moment, before immersing herself back in it, adding an array of ingredients to salvage it, anything to distract herself.
After a while, she was contemplating just throwing the whole thing out and starting from scratch when she heard a familiar tune start playing through the speakers connected to her phone, making her pause and she felt her lips quirk up despite her current frustration, as she turned up the volume.
It reminded her of home and low-key girl's night with Bonnie, the couch littered with junk food wrappers, the sound of giggling as the two friends danced along with the people on their screen. This was a tradition that started for them in middle school and continued well into their post-college years.
Things look clear in black and white
The living color tends to dye our sight
Like dynamite
Just imagine my surprise
When I looked into your eyes and saw
Your disguise
She smiled to herself, thinking of the dance both of them had done for years and perfected and could do in their sleep by now. Enzo had recorded them doing it while drunk once and still held the footage for blackmail.
Jerk.
If we dare expose our hearts
Just to feel the purest parts
That's when strange sensations start to grow
It wasn't long before she found herself dancing along, reliving some of her greatest memories with her best friend and recreating the dance scene from one of her favorite movies.
We are not alone
Find out when your cover's blown
There'll be somebody there to break your fall
Maybe if she hadn't been so distracted and caught up in her own world, she might've heard the sound of the front door opening or she might've heard the footsteps coming down the hall. Or she might have noticed the audience she suddenly had watching her from the kitchen entryway.
She laughed quietly to herself remembering how she nearly tripped over a cord last time doing this particular move and was mid-turn when-
"Jesus!" she cried out startled, her eyes widening the size of saucers as her face began to flush three shades deeper when she finally noticed her very attentive, very amused audience.
"Is he enjoying the show too?" came his cheeky response as he looked over his shoulder.
She moved to turn off the music and glared at the all too amused Brit leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his dimpled grin appearing as if permanently etched onto his face and the mirth dancing in his eyes visible even from where she was standing.
"Please don't stop on my account."
"What are you doing here?" she asked a bit defensively as she fought to regain the normal color on her face.
"Last I checked, I live here?" he smirked as he pushed himself off the wall and walked into the kitchen.
Of course his comment and all too clear amusement only earned him a scowl from her in response.
"So that gives you free reign to creep up on people and nearly give them heart attacks?" she quipped with narrowed eyes, her cheeks still flushed with embarrassment.
This was so not how she expected their next encounter to go.
"My apologies, love," he responded with barely concealed laughter, not sounding sorry at all. "I didn't mean to frighten you, much less cause you a heart attack," he continued with a smirk. "I enjoy you far too much for that. I was merely coming to pick up some things and got curious about the commotion I heard in here. You were magnificent by the way," he added with an all too innocent grin she found infuriating. "You know, you really are quite the dancer. Was that part of your Miss Mystic training too?"
She turned to glare at him again.
"Hm, cute," she said sardonically with narrowed eyes.
"So I've been told," he said cheekily, earning him an honest to goodness Caroline Forbes classic eye roll.
"You talking about how cute you are, or think you are, isn't as cute as you think it is, Klaus," she said sarcastically and he raised his eyebrows before he shook his head with a laugh.
"Well at least I can count on your honesty to keep me in check," he smirked and she rolled her eyes again, trying to fight back a smile too.
She turned to look at him when he stopped directly across from her on the other side of the counter. Her gaze snapped up to his and while she could see the hint of mirth still lingering in his eyes, she saw something more. Something she couldn't quite describe and she felt an involuntary shiver run down her spine and her retort die on her tongue.
Suddenly, she was back in his office and he was pushing the hair out of her face. She could feel his arm around her waist holding her close, his heat and scent enveloping her, his warm body pressed against hers.
Judging by the heated look in his eyes, he was thinking along the same lines as she and so she forced herself to look away after a moment turned to look back at the abandoned mixing bowl with a renewed interest.
"I missed you last night," he said almost nonchalantly after a brief silence, but she could still feel his heated gaze on her.
"I knew you were going to be busy with the fight and didn't want to be in the way," she answered with a slight shrug, going for the same level of nonchalance as him but knowing it didn't come out anywhere near as convincing.
Of course, she was unable to keep herself from glancing in his direction when he didn't answer, and saw him quirk an eyebrow almost disbelievingly.
"And here I thought you were simply trying to run away after our kiss," he quipped.
She could feel her face flush a little. So he was just getting straight to it then.
Sighing, she glanced at the bowl for a moment before looking up at him feeling tentative but willing herself to appear confident.
"Why'd you kiss me?" she asked, keeping her gaze on his. "Did you have one too many drinks last night too?" she continued, keeping her voice steady despite the way her heart was racing in anticipation as she awaited his response.
He looked taken aback for a moment, almost like he wasn't expecting the question, or perhaps it's because he didn't know how to answer. With a sinking feeling she was beginning to wonder if he really did have too much to drink when he finally responded.
"I think we both know that was never the case, love," he finally replied, bringing up his gaze again and fixing it on hers. "At least, it wasn't for me."
She tried to tell herself that wasn't relief or butterflies she felt at his words, tried to fight the smile that threatened to form on her lips.
"Do you regret it?" he asked quietly before she could say anything and she noticed a hint of fear in his eyes then.
She kept her gaze on his even though she wanted desperately to look away. Did she regret it? She felt a lot of things. Things that had kept her up almost all night thinking about them. About him. Even now, she found herself wanting to lean closer into him, her mind and body two competing forces that seemed to be at war with each other whenever this man was around. She had come here with the intention of reconnecting with her brother and now here she was in an incredibly messy situation with his best friend and roommate.
She felt a lot of things, but was regret one of them?
She saw him waiting for her to respond, could see himself almost steeling himself and she knew she had to be honest with him.
Closing her eyes, she shook her head quietly.
"No," she finally said quietly. "I mean, you were acting like a total ass right before," she continued with a pointed glare and watching as he cringed and shot her another apologetic look. "Which, what was that by the way?"
She watched him shift uncomfortably, almost like he didn't want to talk about this but knowing there was no way around it.
"I know I have no claim but I saw you with Jesse...and I didn't like it," he responded after a moment, not quite meeting her gaze and looking like every word was more difficult than the last for him to say. "And I'm afraid I took it out on you and for that I apologize."
"So you really were jealous?" she asked almost in disbelief.
He really looked like he would literally be having any other conversation in the world right now and she could almost laugh because was Klaus Mikaelson really blushing right now?
Oh my god, he really was.
She didn't know what to make of all this information but she didn't get to ponder it for long when he was speaking again.
"Will you call him?" he asked almost hesitantly but kept his gaze fixed on her.
Now it was her turn to shift uncomfortably and wish they were talking about anything else but just like him, she knew there was no getting out of this one.
"Jesse seems like a nice guy but I'm not interested in him," she replied almost sheepishly, not quite meeting his gaze at first either.
When she finally looked up at him after he didn't respond, she saw the smile that hinted at his dimples now gracing his handsome face almost like her response pleased him, almost like they- The whole situation seemed to really hit her then and she shook her head, a humorless laugh escaping her.
He looked at her questioningly then and she just shook her head again.
"What are we doing, Klaus?" she finally sighed, forcing herself to meet his gaze. "You're Stefan's best friend-"
"So I've heard," he interjected wryly.
"So that kinda makes you like the worst option for some fling," she all but groaned as she took a step back away from him, pushing her hair out of her face almost absentmindedly as she felt herself grow increasingly flustered.
"Some fling?" he repeated with an almost hard edge to his voice.
"What else would it be?" she responded, hating the pang she felt in that moment.
She sighed.
"I know you prefer...casual and 'not intimate' or whatever and let's face it, I'm only here for a few weeks which would literally make this the definition of a fling," she said.
He looked away, and was silent for several moments before he finally answered in a quiet but firm voice.
"It's true that I have a history and a recent one at that, but you should know, you could never be simply some fling to me, Caroline and it has nothing to with your brother," he spoke with an honesty and conviction that surprised her.
Surprised her and maybe scared just a little because of the way her heart sped up and how she felt rooted to the spot because of his words ringing with raw honesty, or maybe because of the way he was looking at her.
"I haven't made it a secret to you that I enjoy you. You fascinate me, Caroline. You intrigue me and I find myself wanting to know everything about you," he continued as he took a step closer to her so he was now almost directly in front of her. "I find you're quite often on my mind ever since you arrived. It's a bit annoying really."
She looked at him with raised brows only to see the teasing glint in his eyes that matched his mischievous smirk before he seemed to become serious again and she tried to suppress a shiver when he tucked back a strand of hair and tried to focus on something else instead but it was hard to think of her own freaking name when he looked at her the way was now. Just like he had last night.
The corners of his lips tugged up into an a half smile, his eyes softening slightly as they met hers.
"I fancy you."
He must have seen something in her expression because his smile grew ever so slightly in subtle amusement.
"After everything I just told you, surely it can't be that hard to believe?" he said, tracing the side of her cheek with surprising gentleness.
Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how one saw it, before she could think of what to respond, they both heard the sound of a loud and familiar voice coming from the hallway.
"Man, what are you taking a dump? I thought you said this was going to be a quick stop?"
Caroline let out a small and almost surprised laugh despite the tense situation she had just found herself in, while Klaus looked downright annoyed especially as he watched her take a step back and he was grudgingly forced to do the same.
"And I thought I told you to wait in the car?" he responded dryly.
Caroline looked up from her mixing she had returned to, trying to give her brightest smile to the newcomer that appeared at the kitchen entryway just then.
"Why hello again, ma cherie," Marcel greeted with a brilliant smile of his own.
"Hey, Marcel. What are you guys up to?" she asked conversationally, a part of her thoroughly relieved for the interruption.
Klaus for his part was more than a little irritated at his friend's inopportune interruption but was determined to play it off and not let it show.
"We're overlooking the setup at one of the bars for the band we hired out through the weekend. Last year we had a pretty good gig with them so we decided to book them again, give our place a little edge over the others you know? They're some of New Orleans finest bands out there trust me. We're heading over to check everything out, or rather we're supposed to be heading out to oversee the setup but my man over here seems to want lag today," Marcel answered with a pointed look in Klaus' direction.
"Or perhaps you're simply a little too impatient to see a certain brunette, hm?" Klaus shot back with raised eyebrows. "You know, they do say absence makes the heart grow fonder, mate," he added with a smirk.
"Really? You wanna do this today? You're really gonna try and give me shit right now when you're the one who walked in this morning looking like you were one goofy ass smile away from breaking out into a rendition of Madonna's, Like A Virgin?" Marcel retorted, smiling at the way Klaus' smirk immediately fell off his face.
Caroline's eyes immediately flew to Klaus as she bit the inside of her lip to keep from smiling or laughing. Or both. But now it was apparently Klaus' turn to avoid meeting her gaze.
"Did you try one bottle too many while completing inventory today, mate?" Klaus quipped with an eye roll.
Marcel simply smirked before turning his attention back to her.
"And what are your plans for the evening ma cherie? Going out with Stefan somewhere?"
"Uh, no. He has a business dinner. I'm actually having girl's night," she smiled a bit tentatively.
It's not that she had any type of aversion to girl's night, it's just that she had never really had one with people she didn't really know but Stefan's words kept ringing in her head. He knew exactly what he was doing when said them. Jerk.
"With Elena and your sister-in-law actually," she added, looking back at Klaus.
"Katherine?" he asked, arching a brow.
Klaus felt himself tense when she nodded, not sure how he felt about his nosy sister-in-law spending time alone with Caroline, especially after the way she tried to grill her on information last night.
"I'm surprised Katherine's not still recovering from her last girl's night out," Marcel laughed while Klaus rolled his eyes. "Half the Mikaelson clan made the local paper the next morning."
"Why?" she laughed in surprise.
"Trust me, you don't want to know," Marcel laughed again. "Just remember to pace yourself and don't accept any mixed drinks from Katherine tonight. You all should just play it safe and swing by the bar instead, check out the band."
"Promoting even while off the clock?" she joked.
"I'm all work all the time," he smirked. "One of us has to be."
Klaus scoffed at his friend's jibe before turning to him with raised brows.
"I'll remind you of this when you're trying to make your escape with your feisty brunette this weekend," Klaus retorted with a smug smirk.
Caroline laughed a little at Marcel's scowl but then she made the mistake of looking over at Klaus again, her gaze falling on his lips, thinking how much she liked that sexy smirk.
Of course, the only problem with focusing on his lips was well...focusing on his lips. Those damn tempting raspberry lips that were able to stir up some incredibly pleasurable, sinful feelings inside of her. Feelings that seemed to come to the surface at that very moment...
It wasn't until she saw those lips curl up that she realized she had been openly staring and of course, he had noticed it too.
"That's Greta," Marcel said just then, seemingly occupied with the phone in his hand, something she was incredibly thankful for as she felt her cheeks flush a little at the thought he might have seen. "The band just got there."
Klaus sighed in frustration, knowing what this signified.
He wanted to continue their conversation from before but he knew he'd never be able to do so with Marcel there and even though he was more than tempted to tell his friend to go without him, he knew he would never leave without asking questions or picking up on something Klaus would rather he not pick up on just yet.
"And apparently there's a problem with one of the taps and we're short on dark beer," Marcel informed him with a tone of annoyance that matched the look that spread on Klaus' face. "Never buy your own bar, Caroline. The problems never end and if you're not careful you'll wake up one day with a beer belly. Just don't do it."
She laughed and gave him a sympathetic smile.
"I'm going to call Mindy and see how much dark beer they have over there," he added before turning back to her. "Ma cherie, it's been a pleasure, hopefully we'll see you ladies stop by later tonight."
"Yeah, maybe," she smiled, not daring to glance at Klaus though she could feel his gaze burning into her. "Good luck tonight."
He smiled before turning away, already bringing his phone up to his ear and walking, leaving them alone again though not entirely alone as they could still hear his muffled voice down the hall.
"So I guess duty calls huh boss man?" she asked jokingly, no doubt to break the slight tension that had been lingering in the background since Marcel walked in.
Still, he smirked at her words, reminding him of last night.
"Yes, it usually tends to do so at the most inconvenient times."
"Speaking of time," she sighed, glancing at the clock on the oven. "I should probably start getting ready, Katherine's going to be picking me up."
"Ah yes, my benevolent sister-in-law," he muttered sarcastically. "Please do heed Marcel's advice about accepting any drinks from Katherine. She never did quite learn how to find the balance between enough alcohol to get you drunk or to kill you."
She raised her eyebrows with a small laugh and as cliche as it was, he found himself smiling too at the sound.
He looked at her, looking like he wanted to say something. There were still things to be said but they both were both very aware of Marcel's presence and the fact that he was waiting.
"Enjoy your night, love and perhaps we'll be lucky enough to see you ladies at the bar later tonight?" he settled on saying instead with a faint and almost apprehensive smile, as he waited for her response almost sighing in relief when she responded that she would try.
His smile widened and she returned it, wishing him a good night and she watched him as he left her with another lingering look.
As he walked away, he thought about what happened before Marcel interrupted. He hadn't missed the skepticism in her eyes earlier and he knew, she didn't quite believe him and a part of him supposed he couldn't blame her.
But he would show her. He would show her he meant it.
Right before he closed the door, he heard the sound of baking pans clanging against the counters and her music resumed and he was reminded of her little dance and he smiled.
Yes, he would show her.
Thanks again so much for reading! Fun fact: I don't think I've been this nervous posting a chapter since my first chapter for my first fic I ever posted :P