Kc+ "You thought it would be romantic for us to go and watch the stars on top of your apartment building but now we're locked out and you left your phone inside what are we going to do?" AU

"Okay so this is a little different to our normal dates." Caroline begins a little hesitantly as she follows him up the stone staircase towards the roof of the apartment building.

Klaus shoots her a winning smile over his shoulder, a bottle of champagne tucked under his arm. Even dressed down in jeans and boots and a Henley his clothes scream money.

She'd met Klaus at a yacht club of all places, when she'd accompanied Elena to one of the many high society parties that the great families of New York seemed to have all the freaking time.

It was usually Damon Salvatore that took Elena to these parties, but Elena had begged, and she didn't have anything better to do on that particular evening.

She wasn't made of money like Elena or Damon. Elena had very graciously lent her the use of one of the many designer dresses that she wore once and then never looked at again.

Despite the dress and the shoes she'd still felt out of place in the well bred crowd, all of whom seemed to know each other, and know Elena. Her friend had been immediately drawn into a conversation, and Elena had gone, leaving her by herself.

She feels out of her element as she slowly drifts around the room, just people watching for now, a glass of champagne held in her hand. She takes a sip. It's good, as to be expected with this set.

"That wasn't very nice of your friend, to leave you alone like that." An accented voice comments to her left, an insanely gorgeous guy stepping into her field of vision, holding a glass of what definitely wasn't champagne. Bourbon maybe.

"She tends to do that a lot actually. I'm sort of used to it." She replies with a sigh, turning to get a really good look at this guy. Her first impressions were correct, he was gorgeous.

He was tall and broad shouldered with the curly hair and the brilliant blue eyes. His smile was kind, a stark contrast to everyone else in the room.

"Niklaus Mikaelson." He introduces himself, sticking out his hand. She takes it with a shy smile, trying to hide her sharp intake of breath.

"Caroline Forbes. Lovely to meet you."

Even though she wasn't privy to the inner workings of this world, even she still knew who the Mikaelson family were. Their name was branded across most of the buildings in New York, the Mikaelson patriarch making his fortune in shipping.

While the eldest, Elijah, was set to inherit the company and the billions that came along with it, it was Niklaus Mikaelson was the one that everyone was really interested in. As soon as he'd turned 18 he'd disappeared from New York. There had been rumours of course, that he'd popped up somewhere in Africa, but nothing ever substantial.

"Well Caroline Forbes, it's my absolute pleasure. And since your friend has seen fit to ditch you so to say, tonight you're going to be my friend."

That had been the beginning. They'd been together for almost four years now, and although his mother didn't particularly approve of her, she genuinely enjoyed the other Mikaelson siblings.

Nik's voice brings her back to the present.

"I'm sick of going out and having to share you with the rest of the world." He begins, pushing his shoulder against the heavy iron door and leading her out into the cool night air. It's the height of summer in new York right now, and even the evening could bring a bit of a bite to it.

She pulls her jacket a little more tightly around herself as she squeezes his hand with a smile.

The door slams shut behind them, and Nik leads her over to the set of lounges that he'd had placed on the roof. They're as good as any bed, and she sinks down onto one with a content sigh, waiting until he'd settled in next to her before snuggling into his chest.

Nik wraps an arm around her shoulders, kissing the top of her head.

"Is this okay?" He murmurs into her hair.

"This is perfect."

Nik stiffens suddenly, leaping up from the couch and running a hand through his hair.

"Shit." He hisses under his breath. She watches in confusion as he strides over to the door leading back down into his penthouse, tugging at the handle a couple of times with a frown on his face.

"Do you have your phone on you?" He calls over as she stands, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No I left it in my purse downstairs. Why?"

Nik sighs, crossing the distance between them and pulling her back down to the couch.

"I think we might be trapped out here for the night sweetheart. I forgot the door locked behind us."

"What!" She shrieks, turning towards him. "Oh god we're going to die." She whispers, more to herself than anything else.

Klaus looks faintly amused at her reaction, but doesn't seem overly concerned himself. Instead, he pulls her into his lap, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Elijah and Kol are supposed to be coming over tomorrow morning for brunch. I'm sure they'll put two and two together when they see that everything is still in the apartment."

She just sighs again, leaning a cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Nik rubs a soothing hand up and down her back, fingers pressing into skin with gentle reassurance.

"It'll be fine sweetheart. It sort of threw a spanner in the works for me as well."

"How so?" She asks curiously, fingers slipping under the material of his Henley, caressing bare skin.

"Well I was going to ask you to marry me tonight, but the ring is in the pocket of my other coat."

He delivers it so nonchalantly it almost doesn't register for a moment. But then she's sitting up, her back ramrod straight as she stares at him with wide eyes.

"What?" She whispers as his lips quirk into a smile.

"I love you." He begins. "And I would very much like to spend the rest of my life with you, if you'll have me. Although I don't have a ring right at this very moment, I figured it was still worth asking the question, before I lost my nerve, just like I did at Christmas last year, and on your birthday."

She swipes a thumb over his cheekbone, smiling reassuringly at him as he takes a deep breath.

"So sweetheart, the question remains. Will you marry me?"

The press of her lips against his is gentle, reassuring, an answer in and of itself. When she pulls back he is hesitant, eyes unsure.

So she breathes one word into the space between them.

"Yes."