The movies always show those moments in space where time stands still and the world freezes mid-action while the protagonist contemplated the scene before herself. While this might have been useful for Caroline after what she was pretty sure was Nik trying to ask her out, she managed to clear her head much faster than she could have ever imagined. Nothing had slowed down or paused like a buffering video. Everything was normal, but her thoughts raced.
This was Klaus, the Klaus of her earlier high school dreams and fantasies, asking her if she was free. Her younger self would be swooning or screaming right about now. Present Caroline, not so much.
That fluttery teen love feeling in heart wasn't there. That morning incident of hers had been a mishap made of old feelings and confusion. The only vibe she was getting from her heart now was disinterest.
He was holding her gaze through the seconds she turned over his question. Klaus reigned in the urge to chuckle. He had stunned her back into silence, only by speaking to her. What was it that Stefan had told him? She was different now? Hardly, he wanted to scoff. By the looks of it, she was struggling to just speak coherently to him.
As he waited for her response, he thought about what kind of date he would have to sit through just to prove a point to Stefan. He assumed she would either ramble incessantly or be as quiet as a mute. It didn't matter much, which way she went. He supposed he could sit through an hour dinner.
Caroline caught sight of Tyler over Nik's shoulder. He was across the lot, talking to Jeremy Gilbert. He was nodding along with whatever the young Gilbert was saying when his eyes met hers. His lips formed a smile and he raised a hand in a small wave as he continued on with his friend.
"Actually, now that you mention it, I do have plans," She answered, a warm feeling filling her stomach.
"I would be honored then if-," Klaus stopped, brow furrowing. "Wait, excuse me? You have plans?"
Her shoulders straightened and her eyes were flames, "Yes, I do. Now if you could move so I can get to my car?"
He moved to the side wordlessly, unable to process what she had said. She brushed past him and slid into the driver's seat. The door slammed shut that pulled him out of his state of shock. He stepped back from the car, bumping into a few kids.
How on Earth could she have plans? His fingers balled into a fist as his mind wrapped around the fact that he had been blown off. His wounded ego stung like a mother. No one had ever declined any of his invitations, male or female. He was positive he wasn't being cocky. It was a simple truth based on factual dating history. A part of him briefly wondered if this was how all rejected highschoolers felt. If so, he regretfully sympathized with them.
Klaus slowly walked through the sea of living emotional rollercoasters. He eyed a couple as they passed. The boy whispered in the girl's ear as she blushed and laughed aloud. It had been much too long since he had to actually "woo" a girl, but it couldn't be too hard if Clearasil's before model was acing it. That is beside the point, though. Why should he need to woo her? She has been positively in love with him for years. Or, at least, she had been.
He mentally shook himself. This incident (he worded it so because that is all it was -not a rejection) bothered him way too intensely. It was hardly anything to worry about. He was fine. The girl just need a little bit more flirtation before she was ready to be open about her feelings. There we go! He smiled to himself at the realization. Obviously, she was only trying to play indifferent so as not to seem too into him. That was clearly what had happened.
Within the mob of students, Klaus noticed the familiar messy head of his brother. He seemed to be maneuvering through the crowd with a destination. Upon further inspection he realized that his brother was trailing behind a peeved brunette, who seemed to be doing her best to lose him. His smile increased by a hundred watts and he was slightly comforted (although he would never admit it) that his little brother was having more trouble with the romance department than himself.
"Leave me alone, Mikaelson," Bonnie repeated the order tiredly. She threw a quick glance to check if he was still behind her. "Don't you have other girls to creep on?" Sometimes she wondered how she hasn't slapped him with her books yet. Her patience amazed even herself sometimes.
"I could never leave you, my dear." Kol caught up to her, matching her gait by her side. He flipped his shaggy hair to the side, peering at her. "I would have to deal with girls who actually tolerate me." He made a gagging sound.
"Kol! What are you doing?" Klaus appeared in front of the two with his arms crossed above his chest. He scrutinized the girl briefly and confirmed that she was indeed annoyed. She was a pretty thing too. A little bit out of Kol's league.
His brother's carefree countenance shifted to caution. "I am just walking my friend to her car," He nudged Bonnie lightly with his arm.
Bonnie raised an eyebrow at him and then to the older boy, bored confusion plain to see on her face. She tilted her head to the side and looked at Kol expectantly.
"Oh, yes, sorry. This is one of my elder brothers, Niklaus,"
"Please," He put out his hand, "Call me, Klaus."
Bonnie grabbed his hand and shook. "Pleased to meet you, Klaus. I actually have to go now, but could you tell your little brother to stop making flamboyant entrances every day? It gets a bit irritating." She shifted her backpack to the other arm before making her escape.
Klaus watched her curls bounce and mold into the crowd. His body shook with laughter. Oh, yes. He definitely felt better about his interaction with Caroline now. He turned back to his brother, failing to maintain a straight face.
"What on Earth has that poor girl done to gain your affectations?" He raised his eyebrows.
Kol straightened his posture, irritated at the interruption. He made a face at his brother before responding. "Obviously, she has been chosen by the gods to be the sun of my existence."
Klaus raised his eyebrows. "It seems the gods enjoying watching you're awkward attempts at courting her."
His little brother rolled his eyes, "Get out of the middle ages, Nik."
"I will when you finally get a date."
"Why don't you take your courting and shove it where—"
Matt walked down the hall of Mystic Falls High with pep in his step. His backpack was slung over a shoulder as he whistled tunelessly. The entire day had been spent in division between talking to Rebekah Mikaelson and talking about her with his friends. They had been together throughout the entire lunch period. He swore he complimented her way too many times. It was obvious to everyone how he felt. He just hoped she felt the same way. Homecoming was getting closer and he was tired of putting it off.
He pushed through the masses, through the open doors to the outside. A familiar laugh caught his ears. He immediately turned his head and saw her a few feet behind, laughing with April Young.
His heart constricted at the sight of her. Her face was open and her blond hair was being blown about by the wind. He swallowed, disregarding a building fear.
"Hey, Rebekah," He waved a hand to catch her attention. He had to shout a few times before she finally heard him.
She gave him a Hollywood worthy smile then said something to April before walking over to him.
"Hi,"
Keep it to the point. "Do you have a dance for Homecoming?"
The question increased the girl's heart rate by twofold. Her books suddenly were very heavy. She tilted her head back, flipping her hair to the side in fake consideration. Rebekah never was one to let her emotions affect her composure.
"N-no, I don't thi—I mean, I—,"Bloody hell, what happened to calm and composed?! Matt's lips hinted at a smile. She cleared her throat and willed her body to maintain some shred of dignity. "No, I do not."
"Do you want—" Matt paused, "Would you do me the honor of going to Homecoming with me?"
Rebekah's eyes were saucers of happiness and excitement as well as a little shock. She counted to ten in her head, however, before answering. If she didn't, she would have joyfully screamed her answer back.
The silence provoked a self-conscious fear in Matt. Had he made everything up? Maybe she only saw him as a friend. Maybe all those moments he thought said something more said nothing at all. He stood awkwardly before the oblivious torturer. The suspense was painful, to say the least.
"I would love to,"
The couple looked at each other in realization of what had just happened and huge smiles cut the silence. Matt let out a huge sigh of relief.
"Awesome, so it's a date,"
She nodded, "I guess it is."
"Donovan, hurry up! Practice is going to start soon!" Tyler Lockwood's impeccably timed shout ended their conversation.
"I'm coming!" Matt shouted.
Rebekah watched him jog away, allowing the oblivious students to bump into her. She pressed her books against her chest while white fingers clasped onto their sides. The books barred her body from skipping around like a five year old. Instead she practically ran through the crowd in search for her best friend.
"Care!" She threw open her friend's car door and slid into the passenger seat. "Matt just asked me to Homecoming."
Caroline's expression mirrored Rebekah's and the two girls shrieked in delight.
B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B
Caroline was dressed and ready for her mall day with Tyler two hours before he told her he would pick her up. She had set her outfit out the night before (a gorgeous blue summer dress, ballet flats and a comfy white cardigan). She ran a straightener through her hair twice as a cautionary measure because nothing clashes with a great look like frizzy hair. After all her preparations, she decided to work on her homework. Once all the homework for the next week was finished, she decided to clean the house. Her mom gave her a curious look before dashing out the door for work.
"Everything fine, honey?"
"Oh, yeah! Just wanted to do something productive!"
Two hours never dragged on for so long. Half the reason why she busied herself was to avoid thinking. The reality that 1) Klaus had been trying to ask her out and 2) she was going on a day date spending a day with Tyler Lockwood was a dream come true. There was a huge part of her that wanted to burst out into song and dance for her success. She wished she could go back to her sixteen year old self and say Look where we are now!
The doorbell rang and she stopped re-vacuuming the living room carpet. She peeked her head out of the room and saw Tyler's familiar face.
She walked over with utter calmness and opened the door. "Hey, Ty," Ty?!
The dark haired boy's eyes looked her over in one glance, landing to match her gaze appreciatively. "Hi, you look great."
"Thanks."
"Shall we?" He offered his arm, jutting out his chest.
She laughed, grabbing her purse off the side table. "We shall." They locked arms and walked to his car.
Tyler didn't seem like the type to enjoy a shopping outing. Most football players didn't. Except for Brad Haisle, who shopped with his boyfriend every other weekend. Caroline had a nagging fear that he would get bored and leave. Oddly enough, however, Tyler was perfect throughout it all. He sat through her continuous browsing; ranting about what was vintage and just plain old and even carried her bags (despite the fact that many had shirtless models on them). By the time lunch came around, Caroline was out 100 bucks and Tyler's arms were tired. They stopped at the mall cafeteria and shared a meal.
He leaned over the table as she was telling him about the new plans she had for the annual fundraiser and kissed her. The kiss was short and sweet. It ended as soon as it started. He pulled back with a small smirk on his face while she gaped at him.
Everything following that was a happy blur. They finished their lunch in content silence, drove back to her house and told her goodbye—this time sans heart melting kiss. She practically ran into the house. Her lips were still warm. She could practically feel the touch of his against hers. A delicious warmth settled in her stomach and Caroline knew this was the start of something that could be amazing.
B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B B+F+B
He wasn't sure what he was making yet. The strokes flew from his hand without any thought, forming the figure of a woman. He had been working at the table in the living room on a sketch for sometime, throwing away half-completed pieces endlessly. Kol had left to spend the day with some friends (Matt and John, no—Jeremy) while his father and mother had taken out Elijah and Katherine to a "friendly" lunch. He had almost snorted when his father had brought it up. Friendly lunch was just the family code for interrogation. That meal would make or break their relationship. That or it would—
A rapid fire of knocks on the door broke the silence of the house. He sighed and rose from the table.
His sister shouted from the upper level, "I've got it!" A thunder of heals against the stairs followed the sentence.
He rolled his eyes at her speed. Oh, my sister. Ever the eager bunny. He could hear the sound of the door being opened.
"How did it go?" Rebekah's voice echoed into the room. He could hear a new pair of heels enter the home.
"Well, we hung out in the mall, I shopped and then we had lunch." Caroline answered. Klaus paused at his spot in the middle of the room and listened, curiosity sparked. She went out with someone? She sounded nonchalant, so obviously it wasn't exciting. He wanted to laugh. She could have had a perfectly lovely time with him had she chosen to.
"Did he make a move?" His sister probed, looking for some juicy detail.
Klaus examined the pencil he had been using, waiting for the expected negative answer. Of course, nothing would have happened.
"He kissed me."
Huh, interesting.
How on Earth did that pencil break?
A/N: Well, lovelies, how did that pencil break? ;) I hope you enjoyed this installment. I noticed many of you requested I not rush into Klaus/Caroline's relationship. Never fear! Their road to love is not an easy one in this story. Klaus is still a big jerk and Caroline isn't into douchebags. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. It helps better the story and my story telling skills!
Some of you asked about seeing how K/C used to interact in the past. There will be flashback scenes in the coming chapters. You'll get to understand why Klaus is so cocky and why Caroline is so vehement in not falling for him. As for how Nik feels about her at the MOMENT, well, Caroline is just a conquest to him that he thinks he has wrapped around his fingers. yourloved: yes the mikaelsons are british in this piece. :)
What's happening next time in BFB? Klaus finally meets Tyler, someone's old flame comes back, and Kol gets hit by a car.