Oh my gosh it's been like 3 WEEKS, right? Almost? Sincere apologies loyal and beautiful readers. Many reasons as to why it took so long including massive revisions, lack of confidence, busy life, and then getting sick this past week and rolling around in bed for a few days. However here I am with a hefty update I hope you all will enjoy.
I originally planned to double update (remember the old days, my old readers?) however this chapter is pretty long, as is the next one, and then the chapter after that is very short. And trust me, you'll probably want both of those chapters together. Good news though, you can expect another update super soon. Like, I'm talking within a day or two :)
Enjoy!
Caroline was having a lovely dream about a French beach and a naked Klaus when the loud ring of her cell phone woke her up. She moaned and grumbled, Klaus echoing her distaste by her side. They had only fallen asleep an hour or two before dawn-Klaus eager to break-in his apartment by ravaging Caroline on a variety of surfaces. She thought that without a job, she could enjoy a nice lie in with her boyfriend for a change, but whoever was trying to rouse her at an earlier hour had other plans.
She rolled over and grabbed her phone off the nightstand, answering it with a groggy hello.
"Caroline Forbes?"
"Yes, this is she."
"You're live on the air with Eric and Kathy on XL 101.1!"
Caroline rubbed at her eyes. "Huh?"
"We just wanted to know, what's it like dating Niklaus Mikaelson? Is it true about the whole cover up with Elena Gilbert? Will you two stay together now that the secret is out?"
Caroline sputtered for a moment before she felt the phone being lifted away from her. Klaus snatched it and pressed hard on the call end button before silencing it and tossing it away. She was barely awake enough to catch on to what was happening, but apparently Klaus had over heard the snippets of conversation.
"Bloody ingrates," he grumbled, falling back on the bed.
"What was that?" Caroline asked.
Klaus sighed, dragging his palm across his face. "We're going to have to get you a new phone number."
"What? Why?"
"Because someone has let it leak," Klaus said, "no doubt you'll be hounded by incessant radio stations and gossip journalists day and night until you acquire a new one."
"Damn it," Caroline said. She wondered if maybe it was a one-time thing, and Klaus was jumping the gun on her needing to change her number. However, when her phone lit up again on silent ring two more times, she thought maybe he might know what he was talking about.
Klaus looked over a Caroline, there eyes meeting, and the moment of bother melting away. She gave him a small smile.
"Good morning," she said, placing her hand on his cheek.
He reached up, threading his fingers through hers and returned her smile. "Morning."
"You know," Caroline's eyes flicked down and then back up again, "I was having the best dream just now…"
"Oh really?" Klaus replied. "Would you like to share with the class?"
"You. Me. Beach…" Caroline leaned forward to kiss him.
"A cliché, but a classic."
"Well," she smirked. "Someone once told me 'old tricks are the best tricks'."
Klaus gave her a rakish grin and she squealed as he threw his arm around her and rolled her over, crashing his lips into hers. Yes, this had been just like the dream. She cupped his face and kissed him, as his hands slid down her body still covered by the sheet.
Just then a loud, demanding knock sounded at Klaus's door. He groaned against Caroline's lips, and rolled away from her and out of bed.
"If that's Elijah I swear I'll kill him," he grumbled as he retrieved a pair of pants from the floor and put them on before answering the knock. Caroline heard the door squeak open and Klaus ask what are you doing here. Wanting to see who it was, she grabbed a pair of Klaus's boxers and a tshirt and put them on, heading out to the living room.
"Is it Elijah?" She asked coming into the room.
"No. Worse."
Caroline saw Klaus standing in the center of the room, between the living area and the kitchen. In front of him was a woman with thick curly hair, clad in skintight jeans, stiletto booted heals, and a purple top that revealed toned arms and a significant amount of cleavage. The woman smiled at Caroline, but the smile didn't look at all friendly.
"Um, who's this?" Caroline asked, not at all thrilled to see a very sexy woman knocking at her boyfriend's door so early in the morning.
"Caroline Forbes. Katherine Pierce."
Katherine sauntered forward, holding her hand out for Caroline to take. The woman moved like she was walking through jello, her hips swaying to and fro. She was polished and beautiful and Caroline wished like hell she wasn't wearing Klaus's baggy sleep clothes, with no makeup and unbrushed hair.
"Always a pleasure to meet one of Klaus's girls," Katherine said shaking Caroline's hand, "you are much prettier than his usual victims."
Caroline took the taunt in stride, flashing Katherine a friendly smile. Her usual policy when it came to mean girls was kill 'em with kindness.
"Alright Katherine, that's enough," Klaus frowned in their direction, shutting the door.
Katherine let go of Caroline's hand and made her way toward the kitchen, grabbing the coffee pot and making herself right at home.
"So how do you two know each other?" Caroline asked following her.
"Katherine used to be my PA. Now she works for my brother," Klaus replied.
"Yeah that's the short version of the story," Katherine said rummaging through the cabinets, "where are your coffee filters?"
"What exactly are you doing here?" Klaus asked, letting the full amount of his annoyance slip into his tone.
"Well I'm not going to hang around Elena Gilbert's house," Katherine said finding the filters and popping one into the coffee maker, "not exactly eager to be around Elijah and his perfect girlfriend. You understand?"
"I meant," Klaus said, the annoyance obvious in his tone, "what are you doing in Mystic Falls?"
"Obviously I'm here to help with the press," Katherine replied leaning up against the counter and facing them, "Elijah told me to come down here before filming started. Your dull as dishwater fake ex-girlfriend caused more problems than she fixed with the little stunt she pulled on the radio yesterday. Not that Elijah will ever admit that she did anything wrong."
"What do you mean?" Caroline asked from her seat on the barstool. She had been observing their back and forth silently.
"Here," Katherine said slipping her smart phone from her back pocket. Caroline was surprised with the tightness of her jeans that it even fit in there. Katherine tapped a few keys and then passed it to Caroline. On the screen was a website, with the photos that the photographer had taken of her and Klaus the previous night. She read the headline and skimmed over the article. It didn't sound too unforgiving. In fact, it sounded rather curious about who this "girl next door" was that seemed to have captured Klaus's heart.
"I don't see what's wrong," Caroline said passing the phone to Klaus.
"People only like seeing a happy couple for so long. They get bored," Katherine explained, "Secrets will start to come out in attempt to break the two of you up. Trust me, they'll build up your relationship as much as they can and then tear you down just as fast. You've made yourself a target of the press Caroline. At some point, they'll want to see your tears, not your smiles."
"That's enough Katherine," Klaus said tossing the phone at her. She caught it in her arms and slipped it back into her pocket.
"I'm just being honest with your girlfriend Klaus," Katherine said turning to Caroline and flashing her a saccharine smile, "Caroline seems sweet and I'd hate to see her get hurt."
Klaus walked forward, his eyes narrowing at Katherine. "You can leave now."
She held her ground for a moment longer. "Fine," she shrugged, "only trying to help. Maybe you two should chat alone anyways. Reveal any other lingering secrets," she looked at Klaus meaningfully, "it's always nasty when the truth gets out."
Klaus followed her, slamming the door behind her as she left.
"What just happened?" Caroline asked when Klaus returned to the kitchen. The coffee pot beeped on the counter, the smell of espresso filling the air.
"That was Katherine, being the unremitting bitch she always is."
Caroline ducked her head, looking back up at him through her eyelashes. "Do you have history with her?"
She hated herself for asking, for letting her insecurity show. But she couldn't help asking after observing the animosity between the two of them not to mention Katherine's snide comment about the "short version" of the story. It was clear that relationship was born from something deeper than mere dislike. She focused on her fingers as she walked them across the surface of the counter, waiting for him to answer.
"My brother trusts Katherine, and she's clever and good at her job. But I've never liked her."
"That didn't really answer my question," she sighed her resting her chin in her hands.
"You know what they say about misery loving company," Klaus said coming around to her side of the counter and brushing the hair from her face, "that phrase was invented for people like Katherine. Don't let her spoil the morning."
"Okay," Caroline relented. She gave Klaus a half smile and straightened up. "I'm gonna go shower."
She slipped off her barstool and headed toward the bathroom. Klaus watched her go, keeping the soft smile on his face until she was out of sight. It dropped when he heard the water turn on and the sound of the shower door open and close. He would have to keep Katherine away from Caroline as much as possible. She would complicate things. It was obvious by her veiled threats that she was there purely to stir up trouble. Elijah was an even bigger fool than Klaus realized. He needed to have a talk with his brother.
Klaus was meeting Elijah for lunch, so Caroline took the opportunity to grab Elena for some girl time. They hadn't spent much time together since the summer, and even though they had cleared the air since then, they really hadn't hung out much since their fight back in London. It was ages ago. Too long, in Caroline's opinion. They decided to head out of Mystic Falls and over to the neighboring town for some lunch and a trip to the mall.
"So you met Katherine?" Elena asked as they strolled along the sidewalk of the strip mall, passing a cart with a variety of cheap and flashy jewelry and accessories.
"Yeah," Caroline said, "what a…"
"Psychotic bitch?" Elena offered.
"Not the words I would have chosen, but close enough," Caroline laughed. "I take it she was just as friendly to you has she was to me?"
"Even less so I'm sure."
"Why's that?"
Elena stopped at one of the carts, picking up a floppy black hat and trying it on. "Well she and Elijah used to date."
"Hold on," Caroline said, "what?"
Elena then launched into the brief story of how Katherine and Elijah had dated for a month when she first started working at his PR firm. Elijah had hesitated to become involved with someone he worked with, but eventually gave in. After they had ended things, Elijah had offered to let Katherine keep her job, noting that she was a good worker and that he would hate to loose her talents. Katherine agreed and stayed on and had been working at the PR firm ever since.
"Wow, that's so…mature. I don't think I could work with Tyler if I had to, no matter how awkward we promised not to be," Caroline said.
"That's just Elijah," Elena replied, "he's really good at separating work and personal stuff. Trust me, it took some getting used to."
"So I'm guessing it was a clean break then if they were so cool about everything."
"Umm yeah…" Elena replied. The hesitation caused Caroline to look up from the fedora she had been admiring. Elena was concentrating hard on not making eye contact with her.
"Okay. What aren't you telling me?"
"Nothing," Elena said, "do you feel like frozen yogurt? Cause I have this huge craving."
Elena turned and walked away from the hat cart, avoiding eye contact. Caroline rushed after her. Now she knew something was up.
"Elena Marie Gilbert you better spill this instant."
Elena stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and faced Caroline, whose raised eyebrows and wrinkled forehead said that she was about a half second from strangling the story out of her.
Elena sighed. "You promise not to freak out?"
"You asking me not to freak out is kind of freaking me out."
"The reason that Elijah ended things with Katherine," Elena said, "is because she slept with Klaus while they were together."
Caroline's felt her heart drop to her stomach. She swallowed, unsure of how to respond. Unsure of exactly how the revelation made her feel. "What happened?"
"Elijah caught them together one night at Katherine's apartment," Elena explained, "he said that Klaus and Katherine both said it had only happened that once. But once was enough for Elijah to completely cut off the relationship."
"Oh my god," Caroline said, her mind reeling, "how did he not completely kick Klaus's ass?"
"Not really Elijah's style. He said he was angry, for a very long time, but at the same time it was also his brother. You know they're family history…they're all each other has."
Caroline nodded, understanding that Elena was repeating Elijah's words and not her own opinion. If anything, Caroline knew that would only give Elena another reason to hate Klaus. Right now, she wasn't too happy with Klaus herself. She had just known in her gut that something was up with them earlier that morning.
Klaus slept with Katherine? Katherine?
Caroline wasn't naïve. Klaus had that reputation. She had been well aware of it. But Caroline also assumed that all the girls he had dated or fooled around with prior to her were girls that he no longer had any ties to. All one-night stands that were no longer in the picture, so she didn't need to worry. But Katherine was still around. Katherine who oozed sultry confidence and sex appeal. She wasn't just some faceless random girl Klaus had screwed, she had been Elijah's girlfriend. How could he have gone and done something like that? Elena was right, the Mikaelson sibling bond was important to Klaus; she knew that from the stories she had been told about their past. So why else would he risk it unless Katherine was someone important to him? Why else would they want to keep her around?
"You okay Care?" Elena said placing a hand on her arm.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," Caroline said, making a bee line for the closest bench. She sat down, trying to breath and calm down.
"Look maybe I shouldn't have told you," Elena said sitting next to her.
Caroline let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah. Too late for that now."
"Elijah this is beyond stupid. You think Katherine is here for anything besides causing trouble?" Klaus yelled at Elijah.
Elijah had chosen for them to have a "working lunch" at Elena's house, knowing that he needed to meet with his brother to discuss his upcoming film and new publicized relationship without Caroline around.
"Hello? I'm right here. I can hear you talking." Katherine said from her seat at the other end of the dining table.
"Klaus I assure you, Katherine is here to do her job. If anything, we need her connections to keep Caroline out of the press as much as possible."
"Unless you want everyone in the world knowing about the former Miss Mystic Falls and how she used to pine after Elena's high school boyfriend too," Katherine said, "I'm sure the gossip columns would love to hear all about that."
Klaus glared at Katherine. The fact that Katherine already knew about that after being in Mystic Falls for less than a day was another reminder to both him and Elijah just how good she was at her job. Katherine was good at secrets. She always knew how to discover them and how to work them to her advantage. "Are you threatening me?"
"No," Elijah said holding his hand out, "what Katherine is trying to say is that if this press uncovers details like that, they can exploit them and undo everything Elena tried to fix with her radio interview."
"Which hurt more than it helped," Katherine mentioned for the second time that day, "seriously, if the little blonde beauty queen could have sucked it up, the press would have gotten over it. But like I told her, now they'll want to build you both up and see you fall. Right Elijah?"
Klaus shot a glance at his brother, who looked pained to admit that Katherine was in fact correct. "It would have been better if I had been able to deal with this, no matter how good Elena's intentions were."
"Exactly," Katherine smiled, "Elena fucked up."
Klaus stood up from his place at the dining table and paced the dining room, trying to dispel the urge to wrap his hands around her throat. Klaus could have a violent temper, his arrest records were proof of that, but hitting a woman was a line he had never crossed. "Well that simply brings me to my next point," he said, feeling like he held the ace, "Katherine, being the vindictive bitch that she is, will obviously spill all the dirty little secrets about the three of us and our history."
"Please Klaus," Katherine said, "don't flatter yourself. Like I would risk my job just to mess up your relationships."
He narrowed his eyes. "I wouldn't put it past you."
"It doesn't matter if she does have that intention," Elijah said, interrupting their bickering, "I've already told Elena the entire story."
"You what?!" Both Klaus and Katherine said at the same time. The two them stared at Elijah. His eyes slid knowingly from Katherine to Klaus. He wasn't as big of a fool as his brother seemed to think.
"I told Elena the story," Elijah said, "I find that honesty is usually a good policy in relationships."
Katherine was quiet then, sitting back in her chair and finishing her lunch. With one last bite of salad, she put down her fork and stood up.
"As fun as this has been," she said, "I'm going to see if there is a place to get a decent manicure in this godforsaken town. Call me if you need anyone else to hurl insults at."
She grabbed her purse from the back of her chair and strutted out the front door, leaving Klaus and Elijah alone in the dining room. Elijah ignored his brother's scowls, typing away at his laptop keyboard.
"What Niklaus? Speak."
"You know Elena will tell Caroline," Klaus said, "she loathes me. There is no way in hell she approves of our relationship."
"Well if she doesn't approve she hasn't mentioned it to me," Elijah said, "why don't you talk to Caroline? Take the high road."
"I can't do that," Klaus replied, "I've already dodged her questions about Katherine and our history together."
Elijah looked up at Klaus. "I suggest you backtrack. And tell her the truth. The sooner the better."
That evening, Klaus took Caroline to dinner across town to a tiny French bistro. He had no interest in being at the Mystic Grill, under the watchful eyes of the townsfolk. Fame garnered him no approval from these people. The restaurant he had discovered was tiny and charming and much more intimate. He also hoped it would lessen the tension that would result from the conversation they needed to have. They ordered wine and then food, mumbling short sentences to one another as their waiter came back and forth. Klaus kept trying to think of a way to begin, and the minutes ticked on.
On the opposite side of the table, Caroline wondered if she should confront him about Katherine. Hadn't she already once before though? That hadn't worked out so well, and if he evaded and lied to her again…
Between Klaus's apprehension and Caroline's irritation, neither one of them noticed that they hadn't been saying much of anything to one another throughout dinner. It was all short, clipped answers about their separate days. Klaus had gifted Caroline with her new phone and phone number, which Katherine had set up for them that afternoon. She thanked him and tried not to concentrate on how annoying it was to have to change it in the first place.
Dinner was finished and the check came and Klaus still hadn't come clean to Caroline. As they walked toward the parking lot he reached for Caroline's hand, but she flinched away. Klaus tried to ignore how much that action stung.
"Something the matter love?"
"No," she lied.
"You've been quiet tonight," he remarked, "did you have another fight with Elena?"
"No," she repeated as they reached her car, "in fact we had a really good talk today."
"Is that so?" Klaus followed her over to the passenger side, unlocking the door and opening it for her.
"Yeah. About Katherine. And how you slept with her while she was dating Elijah." Well there it was, the story was out. Klaus cursed, glancing away from Caroline. Elena had beaten him to the punch, just as he had feared, making everything a hundred times worse. "I'm trying very hard not to jump to conclusions, but you lying to me about it doesn't make it any easier."
"I didn't lie about anything," Klaus said.
Caroline scoffed. "I point blank asked you if you had history with her and you blew me off. That's as good as lying."
"Well it seems you got the full story from Elena so you don't need to hear it again from me." Klaus turned away, walking around to the driver's side of the car. Caroline didn't make any movement to step inside the car.
"So that's it? You're going to say nothing about this?"
"What do you want me to say?"
Caroline crossed her arms. "An apology would be nice, for starters."
"I have nothing to apologize for. Katherine has nothing to do with you sweetheart. What happened was long before I ever met you."
"Klaus how am I supposed to trust you when you lie to my face? I've been honest with you about Tyler. I even told you about Stefan."
"I never asked you to tell me any of that," Klaus replied, his voice rising, "just because you feel the need to tell me every detail of your past love life does not require me to reveal mine."
"It's called intimacy Klaus. It's what people in a relationship do."
They stood on opposite sides of the car, arguing with one another, not noticing that other restaurant patrons had started to gather in the parking lot and stopped to observe the drama unfolding before them. A few of them, recognizing Klaus, had pulled out cellphones and cameras and started taking video.
"Caroline, just get in the car," Klaus said, cutting a glance to their audience.
"No," she said stubbornly. It was childish and dumb, but at the moment she didn't care.
"Caroline…"
She let out a frustrated huff and slammed the door, spinning around and walking away. Klaus chased after her, following her across the street and nearly getting hit by a car in the process. The driver honked and yelled at him, but Klaus ignored it as he stumbled around the car after Caroline.
"Caroline! Stop!"
She spun on him then, her blonde curls whipping around. "Take a hint Klaus."
"You're acting like a child."
"So what if I am?" She shouted at him. Her eyes fell on the crowd behind him in the street that had followed to see the scene. She sighed, knowing that by the next day-hell by the next hour-their little spat would be all over the Internet. "Look, take the car home. I'll catch a cab."
Before he could protest, she spun away from him and headed further down the street.
Because cabs didn't frequent the roads in Mystic Falls the way they did in London or New York, Caroline was forced to call for one. Thirty minutes later it showed up a few blocks away from the bistro where she had parked herself on a bench. As she sat there, she realized how dumb and dramatic it had been for her to run away from Klaus and her own car. But when Caroline Forbes made a dramatic exit, she would stick to it at all costs.
The cab dropped her off at her house. She paid the driver and got out, walking to her front door and going inside.
"Hey, what are you doing home?" Her mother came out of the living room to greet her just as she sat her keys and purse on the table by the door.
"I do live here." Caroline laughed, walking past her mother and into the living room. Liz had set up a movie and some popcorn in preparation for a relaxing evening at home. Caroline plopped down on the couch, grabbing a handful and scarfing it down.
"Well not lately since Klaus has come to town," Liz remarked, leaning against the doorway, "did you just take a cab home?"
"Yeah," Caroline said staring at the movie.
"Where's your car?"
"With Klaus."
"And why didn't he bring you home?"
"Cause he's a jerk."
Liz walked forward then. "He left you stranded without your car?"
"No," Caroline sighed, sensing her mother's protective hackles rising. "I left him with the car. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
Liz nodded, walking closer to her daughter and taking a seat on the couch.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Caroline sighed. "Not really."
Liz didn't pester her any further. Instead she sat back and focused her attention on the movie while Caroline remained quiet beside her. After a while, Caroline released an exasperated groan, throwing her arms in the air.
"It's just so frustrating. I tell him everything about me and then I ask him about his past girlfriends and he just shuts me out. I think I have a right to know."
"Well sweetie, you don't have a right to know someone's past. It's a privilege."
"But when I ask him a question point blank, he shouldn't lie to me about it." Caroline tried to explain to her mom about her conversation with Klaus that morning that followed her meeting Katherine, and then her subsequent conversation with Elena. Liz nodded and listened while Caroline talked at a furious pace. When she was finished, Liz spoke up.
"I'm not a big fan of your relationship with Klaus," Liz said, "I worry that dating someone like him is a bit too much for you…but I have to be honest when I say that I think you may be overreacting."
Caroline gaped at her mother. "Overreacting?"
"Just a little," Liz said, "you're an open book Caroline, you always have been. You never shy away from welcoming people fully into your life, but not everyone is like that. It sounds to me that Klaus simply wasn't ready to tell you this morning about this part of his life."
"So he doesn't trust me?"
"No. But he might have been afraid of your judgment. It's difficult to come clean with people we care about sometimes, because their opinions matter to us more."
Caroline sighed again, realizing her mother's point. It made sense. Klaus had been forth coming in some areas of his past, but not in others. She remembered their brief conversation about his ex, Tatia, and how clammed up about that he had been. He wasn't an open book, like her mother said; he revealed things about himself in his own time.
"I'm going to make some cocoa," Liz stood up from the couch, "do you want some?"
"Sure." Caroline smiled.
She watched her mother leave the room. They had never been super close. Growing up, Caroline had always gone to her dad or Stephen for boy advice instead of her mom. But it seemed that Liz Forbes knew a thing or two. She resolved to talk to her mom more in the future.
A knock at her front door interrupted her thoughts and she lifted herself off the couch to answer it. Peeking around the doorway she saw Klaus through the front window, his hands clasped behind his back, waiting for her to answer. His face was blank, she didn't know if he was there to deliver the apology she had hoped for or if he was simply going to drop off her car and leave.
Steeling herself and remembering her mother's words, she walked toward the door and opened it.
"You didn't come home," Klaus said, "I worried."
"This is my home," she replied, missing the twitch of his eye when she said it.
"I brought back your car."
"Thanks."
They stood in silence, staring at one another. Caroline remained in the doorway, her hand on the door, not blocking Klaus from coming inside. Even though she believed what her mother said, and was beginning to understand, she still felt hurt.
"I want you to know that I didn't tell you about Katherine because she's not important to me," Klaus said, "just another past mistake that I've tried to move on from."
Caroline nodded. It wasn't an apology, but it was something. "I understand. I wish you would have been honest with me when I asked you though." Her eyes flicked down to his shoes before meeting his again. "You can tell me things, you know. When have you ever told me something about yourself that I've judge you for?"
"Never," Klaus replied, letting her know that during their time apart, he had also come to this conclusion. He stepped forward and lifted his hands to cup her face. "Come home with me?"
Caroline let out a breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a laugh, closing her eyes. She opened them again, the intensity of his gaze melting her resolve.
"Do you always have to be so…"
"Charming?" He grinned.
"Infuriatingly so." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in a chaste kiss. "Let me just go say goodbye to my mom."
Klaus nodded and let her go, choosing to wait on her porch. Caroline found her mom in the kitchen, warming up milk on the stove.
"Hey mom, cool if we take a rain check on cocoa? I'm gonna go over to Klaus's."
"I heard," her mom said, "no problem. We'll do cocoa another night."
Liz gave her daughter a hug, squeezing her tight. "I do mean what I said though. Be careful with him. It's not just the bad boy thing I'm worried about, it's the fame thing. All the publicity. I don't want you getting in over your head."
"Don't worry mom," Caroline said, "I can handle it. Klaus won't let anything bad happen. We'll be fine."
With that Caroline went to her room, grabbing a fresh change of clothes and some other provisions. She met Klaus on the porch, this time taking his outstretched hand for reassurance as they walked out to the car.
Klaus wrapped his arms around Caroline, pulling her tight against his chest as they spooned together in bed. His room was dark, except for the few small white candles that Caroline had lit. Soft music played from the stereo on the dresser. He buried his face in her curls, inhaling her familiar scent of vanilla and warmth. Caroline sighed in contentment. Most of her worries were gone now. Klaus had told her about Katherine, and the story didn't deviate too much from the one she had already heard from Elena. Still, it was reassuring to hear his version.
She could hear the remorse in his voice when he spoke of it and read between the lines. Klaus had been self-destructive back then, with the booze and the drugs, that part she already knew. But with Katherine, the tendencies pushed even further. Not having any sisters of her own, she couldn't imagine what she would do if she caught one with someone she was dating. She couldn't imagine handling it the way Elijah had, choosing to honor his family even when Klaus didn't. It made her respect Elijah even more for seeing through Klaus's well-hidden insecurities. But it was obvious Elijah's forgiveness and judgment had paid off. Klaus wasn't that person anymore. At least not to Caroline.
Klaus didn't show it often, but he was capable of goodness and kindness, and of over-coming the selfish, spoiled persona he had crafted for himself. She'd caught glimpses of it the more she had gotten to know him in Europe. Seeing that side was the reason she had started to fall for him. She knew that even if he didn't always thinks so, Klaus was worth all of the second chances.
"Can I ask you something?" Caroline said.
"You just did," Klaus teased, running his hand across her body. Caroline shivered under his touch.
"Okay something else," she rolled over, turning to face him. They were very close, their noses almost touching and Klaus's arm still around her waist. "If you had the chance to live a normal life, and not be Niklaus Mikaelson Rock Star would you do it?"
Klaus chuckled, reaching up and pushing one of her curls behind her ear. "Now why would I want to give up the throngs of adoring fans, the money, the opportunity, and the fame hmm?"
Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're telling me there isn't one time where you thought about walking away from it all? About living a regular life? Having a normal job and a house and kids and stuff?"
"There isn't much point in thinking about it," Klaus replied, "it's not something that is realistic for me now." He kissed her, trying to let her know that he wasn't being evasive on purpose, but that he really didn't spend much time thinking about how things could be different. In spite of the fact that he didn't much care for being a musician, he liked his life the way it was. Things were much better now than they had been before the success and fame. "What about you? What do you want out of life?"
Caroline thought for a moment, her mouth twisting to the side. "Travel more, I guess. See the world. Find a career. Fall in love, get married, have 2.5 kids and a nice house and grandkids and be blissfully happy."
Klaus chuckled. "So you're not asking for much then."
"Not at all," she giggled. "I guess I just want the things most people want." She looked down at his chest, absently tracing circles on his skin in the small space between them. She tried not to think about where he might fit into all of that, and where she might fit into his future. It was too soon. Too scary.
He sensed the tension then and kissed her; their bodies reconnecting, distracting her from her thoughts. Klaus was distracting himself too, trying to shut off his emotions and just be with her. But it was becoming increasingly hard to separate the desire he had always felt for her with the other feelings—of the more long term variety-that were beginning to creep in.
The next day Caroline sat outside of the Grill enjoying a glass of sweet tea and skimming through the local want ads. As nice as it was sleeping in with Klaus everyday and relaxing, filming would start soon which meant he would be busy and she would be bored. She needed something to do. She needed a job, other than just being Klaus's girlfriend.
"I'm sure I could find you a job on set," Klaus had suggested as they got dressed that morning.
"Thanks but, I should probably be looking for something more permanent," Caroline had told him. Plus, she had no idea what she would be doing on a film set. She didn't think it would be a good place for her to work.
She chewed at the end of her red pen as she scanned the ads in the newspaper, unaware that she was being watched.
"You always look cute when you think too hard," Caroline looked up to see Tyler standing near her, "you always get those little wrinkles between your eyebrows."
"I do not get wrinkles," Caroline said, holding out her hand for Tyler to take a seat. She grimaced, noticing the black and blue bruising on his face, courtesy of Klaus. "That looks bad."
"Tell me about it," Tyler said, "my mom freaked. You're lucky she bought the boxing gym accident story I gave her." Caroline gave him a grateful smile. She was very glad that Tyler had chosen to cover for Klaus, instead of pressing assault charges. He had absolutely no reason to do him any favors, which deep down showed what a good guy he could be. "What with the newspaper?"
"Looking for jobs," Caroline said, circling one that seemed halfway promising.
"People still use the newspaper for that?"
She gave him a sour look. "Shut up."
"I could talk to my dad if you want, get him to give you your old job back." He had that guilty look on his face. Caroline knew that he was regretting having jumped the gun on getting back at her for their breakup.
"No it's fine," Caroline said, "he was right. I should move on. Use my talents elsewhere. Although I'm not sure where elsewhere might be yet."
"Yeah I didn't think you'd wanna stick around here after the break up."
Caroline gave Tyler a confused look. It was a blunt statement. Sure she had thought things would be weird between them, and the fight in the parking lot probably hadn't helped things, but it was easy conversation like the one they were just having that made her think everything was going to be okay. Now she was confused again. Did Tyler hope she would leave? Well if he thought he could push her out—
"I mean since Klaus is filming here and going to be around."
"Wait, what?" Caroline asked. She was missing something.
"Now that you two broke up," Tyler said, realizing the mistake a moment later. "I'm guessing that story was fake." In answer to Caroline's confused look, he pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen. "Someone sent me the link to this YouTube video. Here."
He passed the phone to her and she watched as the video played on screen. It was a crappy cell phone capture of her and Klaus and their fight outside the restaurant the night before. Most of their conversation was too low for where the person filming had stood, but whoever had posted it was kind enough to provide the viewers with their own commentary about the fight.
"We had a fight, we didn't break up," Caroline said as she watched, "not that it's anyone's business." She scrolled down the comments of the video a few of them catching her eye.
What a slut. He's too hot for her anyways.
I never thought this would last long.
I can't stand this girl. You can do better Niklaus!
From what I heard about her, she sounds like a gold digger. Hopefully he finally figured it out.
"You okay?" Tyler asked. Caroline looked up, handing his phone back to him.
"Yeah," she said half heartedly, "I mean you can't listen to people on the internet."
Tyler nodded, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
"Hi Caroline?" A short, stocky blonde woman with a choppy a-symmetrical haircut approached their table. Neither Caroline nor Tyler recognized her.
"Um, yeah?"
"I just wanted to get your comments on your recent breakup with Niklaus Mikaelson. It seems like everything has happened so fast, don't you think you should have your turn to say something?" The woman was waving someone over as she spoke. Caroline turned around, only to be blinded by the flash of a camera.
"Actually I don't. We aren't broken up," Caroline said, "and this isn't really a good time, if you wouldn't mind—"
"We saw the video online last night…what were you two fighting about?"
Caroline began to gather her things, leaning far away from the intrusive woman who continued to invade her space and prod her with questions.
"Hey lady," Tyler snapped, "she's not answering your questions. So why don't you get the hell out of here."
"No Tyler. It's okay." Caroline held out her hand to stop him, not wanting to cause a scene. Him getting mad wouldn't do them any favors.
"And who is this?" The woman asked becoming very interested in Caroline's protector.
"I'm her ex boyfriend."
Caroline groaned, covering her face with her hand as the camera shutter began to click over even more wildly than before. It was the absolute worst possible thing Tyler could have said. The woman's eyes lit up with excitement as the plot cooking in her mind began to thicken.
She shouldered her bag, telling Tyler that she would call him later. The woman seemed to debate with herself for a moment, before resolving to follow Caroline all the way to her car. She was still shouting questions and the man was still snapping pictures as Caroline sped away. Instead of driving straight to Klaus's, she circled around town for a while, just in case she was being followed. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she didn't want to take any chances.
Using the key that Klaus had given her, she let herself inside his apartment, finding him set up with a small easel and some paints that he had purchased from an art supplies store the week before. It wasn't anything too extravagant, just something to pass the time. Caroline had actually been happy that he felt like painting again, since she knew deep down it made him happy too.
"What's the matter love? You look a bit flustered," Klaus asked, setting down the brush in his hand.
"Did you hear we broke up?" She asked walking over to him and straight into his arms.
"Elijah mentioned something about that," Klaus said hugging her. Caroline sighed into his chest. "I suppose the backlash has started already. Katherine is releasing a statement and contacting the website about having the video removed."
"It's fine," Caroline said, "annoying but fine." She closed her eyes, letting Klaus hold her, breathing in the smell of cologne that clung to his t-shirt, combine with the hint of linseed oil from the paints.
"Was there something else troubling you?"
"Just some dumb comments people made on the video," Caroline said trying to play off how much it bothered her.
"What kind of comments?"
"Jealous fan-girl type comments."
"Caroline look at me," Klaus put his hands around her face, forcing her to look at him, "you're extraordinary. Don't listen to what ignorant people say about you."
"Is that what you do? Just ignore it?"
"I stopped caring about what other people thought a long time ago," he pressed a kiss to her forehead and she smiled. "Trust me. The world will move on from us. Soon you will be yesterday's news. Old and boring."
"Hey!" She gave him a playful shove in response to the dig, returning his laugh. Caroline knew that dating Klaus would come with its own source of infamy. She had thought she could handle it. Klaus and Elena always made it seem so effortless. Now that she was getting a taste of it herself though, she wasn't so sure. She wasn't like Klaus. She couldn't easily wave off the opinions of others. How she looked and presented herself was very important to her. The idea that people thought bad things about her or hated her for no reason was one thing; knowing it was a fact that was something else.
As Klaus led her over to his easel to show her his new painting, she gave him an encouraging smile, secretly hoping that he would be right about the short attention span of the public.
So congrats to all of you who guessed that Katherine was the character making their return in this fic! I love writing her!
p.s. all those fan girl comments are ACTUAL comments I read on youtube videos of celeb couples. I went researching and wow! people say some heinous things about strangers! I certainly hope none of you do that ;)
The conversation about having a "regular life" between Caroline and Klaus was meant to mirror the convo they had in 4x07, when she asked Klaus if he would ever take the vampire cure. I just like throwing in things from TVD when I can and subtly adapting them to my AU world.
Also, to any of you who might feel a bit prickled over the Klaus/Elijah/Katherine history. You'll find out even more about that later.
review and let me know what you think.
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