8. Home, sweet home

Caroline had the funniest dream. Well, it started out funny anyways. She and Klaus were playing miniature golf dressed like Scoot and Skip. They were actually having fun, him trying to teach her how to bend her elbow to do the perfect hit. And then suddenly out of nowhere her father appeared. "What have you done Caroline? Married this lowlife? You ruined your career, your life …" and she woke up gasping for air. But she wasn't on a miniature golf court, she was in a plane back to LA, no father in sight, but her dear hubby was sitting next to her. He was sleeping. He looked so peaceful when sleeping; he looked so young and vulnerable, not like a man that has in his 31 year of existence been through what most people couldn't even imagine. A stroke of his hair fell on his forehead and she felt a funny urge to put it back, to touch him. She was obviously losing her mind. Because despite of the fact he looked like a true fallen angel while sleeping, she knew he was as far from that as possible. Their last fight before boarding the plane was clear evidence of that. Since their marriage was more or less a business transaction she tried to look objectively at it, she was looking for best solutions to make the next six months bearable to both of them. But of course he wouldn't listen to her; he never did listen to sane people … Just him crazy self …

"So, since we'll be spending these six months together we will have to make some adjustments."

" Why? You can live in your place and I'll live in mine buttercup."

" You know that won't work Klaus." She said in a serious tone.

" The media would be on to us in a matter of hours. You agreed to this so there's no backing out now. We'll just have to adjust to a common life … First we'll have to find a place to stay, since the house I'm renting right now is obviously too small …"

"I still can't believe you let douche bag keep the house."

"Could we stop mentioning Tyler in every conversation we have? What are you obsessed with him or something?"

" Just curious how you managed to marry such an asshole."

" Yeah, and my second choice turned out to be sooo much better, ha?"

" I bet I'm better than him in at least one thing." he said and winked at her.

And noo, she wasn't wondering at all who was better, she was keeping a cool head in all of this, remember?"

" Whatever, I don't care. All I care about is for us to find a house big enough so we can both live there and barely see each other. Too bad those two parts of the house have to even be on the same continent, but oh well … Can't have it all when you marry the man of your dreams." she gave him her sweetest look but her eyes were throwing daggers again.

"Since we know who's the boss in this relationship I say we'll live in my apartment."

" What? What apartment?"

" My one bedroom apartment on Hollywood Boulevard."

" Look, I am in no mood for jokes. If it's money you're worried about, don't be, I'll pay for the rent of our gigantic never have to see you house. "

" I love my apartment. It has this great waterbed; I have very fond memories attached to that bed. Maybe we could make some more, what do you say babe?" he rolled the babe out of his tongue trying to sound American and redneck, but although he lived in this country for years his British accent could never be masked completely. She hated his stupid accent, she hated how alluring and sensual it sounded. He could recite a phone book and probably all panties on Earth would drop. Stupid jerk.

" Stop it, ok? I know you love pissing me off, and there is nothing that I love more than pissing you off, but this is kind of serious now. We are in a messed up situation and I'm only trying to make the best of it."

"Can't fix everything Scoot …"

"Don't have to make everything so difficult either Skip …"

" Call me crazy but I love a good challenge. So I say my one-bedroom apartment and that's the end of it."

"I'm calling you crazy, crazy as fuck. And who are you to make all the decisions, especially the stupid ones?"

"Look, that's where I'm living, and the rest is up to you."

Her head ached like crazy. She saw it would be his way or the highway, and she saw this would be the most difficult six months of her life.

There was a car waiting for them at the airport. But when they got in Klaus didn't go towards Hollywood Boulevard but the Hollywood Hills. She wondered what he was up to this time, but was too afraid to ask. She had enough shock in the last day and a half to last her a lifetime. I mean, could this get any worse? In a few seconds when he stopped in front of a gorgeous two storey stone colonial house with six arched windows she almost ate her words.

"What is this?" she asked in surprise.

" Home, sweet home my love."

She felt relief; she knew he was only kidding about the one- bedroom apartment, or at least she hopped he did. Well this wasn't on two different continents but she could see it work. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, spoken too soon …

"Who's house is this?" she seriously doubted it was his, she could only imagine him renting it

if even that. So when it comes to Klaus, she was pretty much used to anything by now, and she thought nothing could really surprise, not even seeing him snorting cocaine out of a dead hooker, or having a threesome with a pizza boy, but what he was about say, for some foolish and naïve reason, oh it shocked her alright.

"It's my girlfriend's house."

It was good she was leaned against the rental car or she would have blacked out. What?

" Please tell me your kidding."

" No, a girl lives here and she's very special to me."

Omg, he actually looked serious. The son of a bitch actually looked serious; she was going to be sick. Would it be appropriate for her to throw up in front of his GIRLFRIEND'S house?

"Since when do you have girlfriends?" she managed to say somehow although she barely recognized her voice, it was that squeaky and unnatural.

" A girlfriend Caroline, not girlfriends." he said even trying to pull of an offended look. Oh please, like they just met.

" And there's a first time for everything. I didn't think I'd be married to you yesterday, and look at us now."

" Yes, please do look at us. Standing her, fighting in front of your girlfriend's house. You don't really expect me to leave there, do you? Do you?"

" Well you have to explain to her what happened."

" Me? Are you freaking kidding me?"

" What, I'm supposed to let her read it in the papers tomorrow? Don't you think I should be more sensitive towards the woman I love?"

" Ok, now I know you're just messing with me. You've never loved anyone in your life. You only love yourself and that's a given fact."

"Maybe I've changed … Reformed … Finally found the woman who brought me on my knees."

" Well, unless she's a she devil straight from hell itself I seriously doubt it. And don't forget we aren't telling the truth about this little arrangement of ours to anybody. Not my friends, not even my father, and not even to your little girlfriend." Caroline didn't want to admit it to herself but she was getting more than just annoyed and severely pissed, she was also getting pretty jealous. Who the hell was this girl that made Klaus care? Was that even possible?

"If she's serious about me she'll keep her mouth shut and wait this out." he said dead serious again. Who the hell was this man standing in front of her? Because she seriously didn't recognize him anymore. Was he being honest, or just that good of an actor?

" And why the hell do you think any woman would stoop so low?"

He lifted one eyebrow and looked at Caroline with that sex God look that made woman across the world scream his name and long for that one eyebrow look of his to make them wobbly in the knees.

"Let's be honest sweetheart. When have you ever known a woman that could resist my charms?"

He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Wow, he had a key, which meant he did actually live in this beautiful house, with his girlfriend. She mustn't forget that unpleasant part. And she was about to meet her and tell her she just sort of, kind of, married her boyfriend. Should be fun … No, no … She had to stop it, it couldn't end well …

Klaus didn't say much, he just tilted the head towards the kitchen and said: "Kitchen's that a way. Maybe you should prepare some coffee to ease her up a bit."

"Klaus for the last time I think this is a horrible idea. As one woman to another, this could only end in a cat-fight."

" Then I'll go get her right away. I always had a thing for two women fighting over me. Well if it was a good night there were at least three and some oil but … One takes what one can get. Be right back wife. "

She sat on the steps and put her head between her knees. No, this was not happening. It was just surreal. Yesterday her life was normal, well, as normal as it could be being a famous film star recently dumped by her famous husband, but yes, nooormal. And now she was married to Klaus Mikaelson, the man she hated, and she was about to meet, what, the love of his life? Even Tim Burton couldn't come up with a plot as twisted as this one.

She finally rose up and started walking about. She had to pull herself together, she shouldn't come off as the biggest loser in the world, who ever this hussy was, she was Caroline Forbes, and God damn it, it still meant something.

But all of her hopes flunk lower than Rose's Heart of the Ocean from Titanic when she saw a female figure approaching her. She was just the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Long blonde hair, baby blue eyes and full lips that probably made men jump through hoops just to get near her. She also had a body to die for, skinny but curvy. And she was walking with such confidence like she was royalty. She looked like she didn't have an ounce of insecurity in that perfect body of hers. So this was a woman that has captured Klaus's heart, damn even Hayley couldn't compete with this one. Hayley, this still unnamed beauty, it all made Caroline feel so small. But she raised her head high and she pulled out her best inner actress, in the end, this was what she was paid to do, right? She could act confident and not threaten and hope the two of them wouldn't give Klaus the show of his life.

"So …" the blonde said and stared at her like she was going to jump any second and bite her head off. But even in all of this anger and rage she was so sexy it just wasn't fair.

Caroline did the same thing as her, head up and staring. It was a full on staring contest, while Klaus was standing on the side, probably having the time of his life. Jerk.

"So you're the girl that Nik married." the girlfriend finally spoke.

Nik? She couldn't remember anyone calling him Nik, in his first interview when he came to the States he said he wanted to be known as Klaus, and everyone called him Klaus. Nik … It seemed so intimate, she hated it. She hated her calling him that.

" I never liked Scooter, I always thought that she was such a pathetic character. Don't like romantic comedies either, neither the actresses in them, I always think they're overrated."

"Go easy on her B; will you?" Klaus finally said something.

And that, that made Caroline so angry she thought she could literally feel fire going through her ears.

"I can speak for myself Klaus. And I long stopped to care about opinions of people who don't matter. At least I earn my living. What do you do? Sleep with washed out celebrities wanting to be one as well?"

"Hey, he may be a screw up, but I won't let you talk about my brother that way."

Wait? What the hell was going on here? Who was her brother? Nooo, it can't be … But she realized it was when Klaus finally stepped in and said: "Caroline, I'd like you to meet my step sister. Rebakah Mikaelson, Bekah for friends. A warning, she can be quite mean.

" Nik, don't be an ass." she said and poked him in the ribs.

Caroline was so shocked she didn't know what to say. He truly was the biggest asshole in the world making her believe she was his girlfriend. But now that she looked closer, the resemblance was more than obvious, blue eyes, full lips … Oh fuck, she had to say something before she came of like a total loony, although she was pretty sure it was waaay too late for that.

"Hey, I'm Caroline, as you probably know from the show and the romantic comedies you hate so much, it's nice too meet you." damn she didn't mean it to sound so ironic but the girl did hurt he feelings.

"Whatever …" the girl rolled her eyes, and showed that Klaus wasn't kidding when he said she could be quite mean.

" I'm off Nik, I have some business in town and then I'm having dinner with friends so don't wait up for me. FIY, I live in the guest house right there." she showed towards a small house in the back.

"But I go here, mostly to get food, so try to contain yourself from walking around naked and having sex on every single surface. Thank you. Bye."

And just like that she was off, and they were left alone. She didn't know what she would do to him first. Roast him over a hot barbecue? No, not punishment enough. Pull his eyes out and then make him walk over broken glass? No, still not good enough. Throw him into a tank full of the most deadly sharks and watch them tear him limp by limp? Close, but still not good enough for the embarrassment she just had to go through because of his cute sense of humour.

" I thought plenty of you, but I never knew you were the incestuous type."

" What can I say, I have a thing for blondes?"

"You idiot, you moron, you asshole, you lowlife." she started punching him in the chest, at first lightly, but she did have a few classes of boxing for one of her roles, and she just needed to vent. As she was punching him she lost balance and fell onto something soft. The couch … And he fell with her. He was lying on top of her while they were both breathing heavily. She could feel him so close to her core, and she needed to close her eyes to focus, to forget that his lips were only a few inches from hers, and how she actually wanted him to kiss her. And then to take her then and there. But no, that was the bad Caroline talking …

"You know, now that Rebekah's out for the night we could christen this house properly."

He leaned in closer and whispered into her ear: "On any and every surface you desire."

It sent cold ice shivers down her spine, and she knew he could read the answer in her eyes. She licked her lips a bit, while he started stroking her hair.

"You know, I never told you this, but you always used to drive me crazy when you did that Scoot …"

And just like that the spell was broken … She remembered who was laying on top of her, and as attractive as he was, he was still the same jerk he was eleven years ago, but she wasn't the same person anymore. And he wasn't getting into her panties anytime soon.

"Get off me, I'm bored." she exclaimed and pushed him a bit. Luckily he did take a hint and stood up.

" You sure? You didn't seem so bored a second ago."

"How would you know? You were never really an expert on reading women's minds, that's too much for a strain for that tiny little brain of yours."

" Well, not all on me is tiny …"

"Seriously, that's your best comeback? I guess you really are tired …"

"Maybe I'm just sex deprived. I hadn't had one for over 24 hours now. "

"So sex is also one of yours addictions. Can't say I'm surprised."

"I'm just a normal guy, who likes to have sex. So sue me. But there's no way I'm staying celibate for six months."

" Oh yes there is … We have a deal, remember? Maybe it is a fake marriage, but there's no way I'm letting you cheat on me so it gets into the tabloids that I was cheated on yet another husband of mine."

"He really did do a number on you, didn't he?"

" That is none of your business, so don't even pretend to care. The only important thing is that we have a deal here and …"

" and sex was never discussed …"

" And we are not discussing it, I say cheating is out of the question and that is that."

"Fine, cheating is out of the question. I'm not talking about cheating, I'm talking about sex."

"That is out of the option too. I'll find a room to stay in. And call Matt to bring me some things. I'm tiered. I just want to go to bed. Alone. So goodnight."

She turned her back on him and ran up the stairs as fast as her legs could carry her. She, she wasn't mentally stable enough at this point in her life to deal with this. To deal with him, and her feelings of hate, and of lust towards him … She found the first bedroom that seemed available and that seemed empty and yes, that had a key, and locked herself in. What had she done with her life? She should have just annulled the marriage and be done with her. But … Too late to cry over spilt milk now.

"Welcome home Caroline." she told herself bitterly, and threw herself onto the bed.

I loooove you guys sooo much for all the support and lovely reviews ... So happy a lot of you really like this story and my writing. And also so happy a lot you do understand and support my decision not to bring a baby into it at this point.

So onto this chapter ... I had soooo much fun writing it, maybe my favorite chapter so far. So that is why I'm dying to read your reviews, did you like it? Did you think he actually had a girlfriend? Did you think it was going to be Tatia :p? Rebekah has become my favorite TVD female character so I'm enjoying writing her (in the original story the male character didn't have a sister). Unfortunately I made Stefan gay, so I'm not going to be able to write Stebekah (and I've become a huge Stebekaf fan since the last episode) but I am going to try to make your proud by really making her kick ass :). SO PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS, your reviews keep me writing ;)

P.S. Spoiler alert, in the next chapter we are finally going to learn a bit more about our mysterious Klaus ;)