25 Days of Klaroline + Marriage. Thank you to Kate - MrsAgentCooper - for the beautiful cover art. Thank you so much for this gorgeous present, I love it so much!
Okay, I'm soooo late, but anyway this drabble is dedicated to the gorgeous and lovely NikMik who is one of my most favourite reviewers. I love your thoughtful and kind comments so much, so please don't ever stop!
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes marriage is nearing its end. So what's to be done exactly? A divorce party, of course.
Tuesday
"That's it; we're throwing you a divorce party!" Katherine said excitedly, already consulting her iPad for weird party favours no doubt. Caroline wasn't quite sure what they'd be but she was pretty sure she wouldn't like them. Engagements, weddings, birthdays and anniversaries she understood but this recent phenomenon didn't sit quite right with her.
"I'm not really the divorce party kind of girl," she murmured.
"But you've been waiting for this day for so long. What's wrong with celebrating in style?"
"Well, it seems kind of morbid to begin with, Kat."
"There will be no trace of black in the decorations Care, I promise. Nothing but upbeat yellows and rejuvenated greens," she smiled brightly, Caroline was already scared about what she was planning and she wasn't thinking about the colour scheme.
"Don't you think people might find it a little tasteless?"
"Exactly why I'm not inviting your judgy parents," she noted. "Just the gang, I promise. I mean Kol lives for this sort of drama, Bonnie has to engage his love of said drama, Rebekah lives to celebrate anything and Enzo..."
"Has to engage her love of events," she finished. "How about Elijah?"
"He has to appreciate my interest in planning such events, even if he is bloody antisocial most of the time," she growled. "So, it's all perfect really."
Perfect. That word sticking in Caroline's throat like stale bread because nothing about this situation was perfect. Divorce wasn't something to be celebrated in her eyes; it was something to be mourned, especially in her unique situation. The problem was Caroline didn't have the heart to tell Katherine otherwise because then she'd see right through her feelings. Those feelings that would completely betray her. She didn't want to divorce her husband because she was completely in love with the idiot.
"I'm not sure Klaus will go for it," she murmured, knowing his aversion to parties in general.
"He's on board." That news hit Caroline with a dull thud. He was actually entertaining this madness? Obviously he couldn't wait to get away from her and that thought hurt like hell.
"Excuse me? We're talking about Klaus Mikaelson, right? Grouchy, anti-social at times, hates parties and being the centre of attention?"
"Yes, your soon to be ex-husband," she reiterated. Katherine had said it, those two words that had been tormenting her the past month. "Now that's settled, what do you think about penis straws? Too much?"
Wednesday
"Oh come on," Kol argued. "It's a divorce party, how much more fun can you get? An endless supply of alcohol, food and multiple empathetic women just waiting to heal your wounds, big brother."
Klaus was struggling to come up with a response. Mainly because Kol's suggestion was idiotic but also because he loved his wife so much his chest constricted just thinking about her golden waves, expressive, blue eyes and that fiery look she got in her eyes when was about to tell him he was wrong about something.
"I'm not the party type person."
"Coming from someone that's known you all your life, I must say it's a complete shock. You always were the party animal of the family, Niklaus." Klaus scowled, not in the mood for his brother's sarcastic take on humour right now. "Scowl at me all you like, Niklaus, but even Caroline likes the idea of a party." His eyes shot up to meet his brother's brown ones. Caroline agreed to this ridiculous idea? Kol's words felt like a blow to his chest, it hurt that much.
"We're talking about Caroline Forbes right?" He baulked. "Blonde, blue eyes, feisty and about yea tall?" He asked, gesturing with his hand.
"Yes, I'm talking about your soon to be ex-wife, Niklaus," he groaned in frustration. "So really I think it's best you just get on board because this party is happening whether you like it or not." Klaus couldn't really concentrate past the words ex-wife and the effect it was having on his stomach.
"Well, when you put it like that Kol, how can I refuse?"
"Glad to see you're finally into the party spirit," he grinned. "Now, what do we think about strippers? Yay or Nay?" Klaus sent him a dirty look, hoping that was enough of a response to get that stupid idea out of his head, well he hoped so anyway.
Saturday
"Well, I never thought I'd be going to a divorce party," Caroline murmured as they approached the Bar. Kol and Enzo part owned a speakeasy in Chelsea called Bathtub Gin, hidden behind a non-descript coffee shop. They had generously offered their premises for the intimate occasion; Caroline had to remember to thank them for their generosity.
"You and me both," he replied, his hands stuffed into his pockets to ward of the winter chill. "I'm, uh, actually surprised you agreed to this to be honest. It didn't really seem like your thing, love." Caroline immediately felt sad that this was probably the last time he'd call her that familiar endearment she'd come to like.
"Trust me, it isn't," she said, before continuing. "But when Katherine said you were happy about it, I didn't want to look like a stick in the mud."
"Excuse me?" He asked, stopping still and turning around to face her. "I only agreed because you had, Kol told me you were on board."
"You really believed Kol, of all people, Klaus?" She baulked.
"Okay, you have a point," he conceded. "But you believed Katherine too. I cannot believe their nerve, deceiving us just so they could throw a party."
"You and me both," she muttered. "I have a mind to turn around right now and not even show up, that would teach them."
"If I wasn't so annoyed at Kol and wanted to give him a piece of my mind right now, I'd agree. Come on, let's go in and get this over and done with." Caroline wasn't quite sure whether he meant just the party or their marriage as well.
The concealed entrance meant they had to approach through a cleverly hidden door behind wood panelling at the other end of the coffee shop. Caroline steeled her nerves, dreading the onslaught. The last thing she felt like doing was celebrating something she had just come to appreciate in her life. The bar was quiet, in fact it seemed like no one was there, and even the lights were out.
"Well, this is a little creepy. Is this the part where they jump out from behind the furniture and all yell surprise in unison?" Caroline asked.
"Well, that would seem weird given it's not a surprise party," Klaus muttered. "Can you all just hurry up and do whatever you're planning to do?" He yelled into the darkness.
"They are doing a good job of holding out the suspense and so quiet too, usually Kol can't keep his mouth closed for more than 30 seconds," Caroline quipped, before hitting a hard object and nearly falling, Klaus grabbing hold of her before she could. Even in the darkness, there was no hiding her intense attraction to him and their close proximity wasn't helping matters, especially since she could feel his heart thudding against her chest he was holding her that tightly. His aftershave was also doing a stellar job of infiltrating her senses. She coughed to break the tension and moved away slowly, wondering what the hell she'd almost run into.
"This isn't funny anymore," Klaus growled, patience never was one of his best virtues but even Caroline was beginning to feel strangely claustrophobic as the darkness enveloped them. "Where's the damn switch when you need it."
"Feel along the wall, there has to be one somewhere." It took them another two minutes of stumbling around to locate the switch, their eyes slowly adjusting to the light and realising the room was completely empty.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Caroline mumbled. "Although, it might have something to do with all of those." Almost every surface had been covered with photographs of them. Looking around at them, Caroline felt her heart lurch because they both looked so happy. In fact they looked just like a couple in love. Caroline wouldn't have believed it but seeing these pictures proved what she'd long suspected. She was totally and utterly in love with Klaus from the very beginning.
"Remember that trip we all took to the beach over summer?" She asked, her hand grazing over the picture of him piggybacking her by the water, almost hoping to channel some of that happiness from then.
"I remember throwing you into the water about thirty seconds after that photo was taken because you kept hitting me on the back," he chuckled. "How about Thanksgiving?" He pointed to a picture of them looking at their cremated turkey curiously, Caroline's nose wrinkled.
"I remember how excited Rebekah was to have us to dinner and she proceeded to burn just about everything."
"Except the cranberry sauce," he laughed. "We had to order in take-out Chinese and all vowed that she would only ever have salad duty henceforth."
"Speaking of your sister? Where is she and everyone else? And don't you find it a little creepy that they decorated for our divorce party like this?"
"Well, judging by their no-show and these strategically placed and chosen photos, I'm pretty sure we've been set up," he surmised. "No wonder they were so excited about this ridiculous party this week, they had other more sinister plans."
"At least I know what I ran into earlier," Caroline grumbled, approaching the easel in the centre of the room with a collage of even more photos. "Someone sure had fun with the glue and scissors."
"My bets on Kol given he can't cut straight to save himself and takes any opportunity to eat glue even at this age," Klaus joked. "Looks like they left us a note."
"What gave it away that it was meant for us?" Caroline teased, holding up the envelope addressed to the two idiots that are getting divorced.
"Do you want to do the honours?"
"I'll let you do it," he replied, taking a seat on a nearby bar stool. If he was going to be subjected to something awkward and frustrating he could be comfortable while doing it at least. Caroline opened the flap and pulled out the Wedding card and began to read aloud.
"Yes, you are idiots…" Caroline began; obviously they thought the address on the envelope would suffice, "who shouldn't be getting divorced but are too stubborn and pigheaded to see that. So, instead of sitting back and watching you both stuff this up for good we wanted to show you just what you'd be missing if you go through with this divorce.
"Your meeting and subsequent marriage was unorthodox yes, in fact you weren't even in love and fought like an immature couple of school children. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement so Klaus could get a visa and Caroline could get her overbearing parents off her back. We thought you were cuckoo at the time but your relationship has become so much more than that and just because your pre-arranged time is supposedly up doesn't mean you have to do this." Caroline was struggling to continue, the tears she'd kept at bay for so long threatening to spill.
"This past year has been filled with some of the best memories of our lives and they are all due to you. If you weren't married we never would have met each other and we owe our individual happiness to you (even if Kol annoys us all)."
"Rebekah definitely wrote this," Klaus interrupted, Caroline could tell he was attempting to keep things light but the rasp of emotion in his voice was telling her otherwise.
"So, please don't do this. They say pictures are worth a thousand words and the ones around you are no different. These aren't two people in an arrangement; these are two people in love. So please, just think about it."
Caroline finished, her voice shaking now. Why the hell did she have to read that out given it was this close to turning her into a blubbering wreck? Everything she'd thought had been articulated in one note.
"Obviously some people have nothing better to do," he murmured, his dazed expression not lost on Caroline. "Maybe we should just go?"
"Oh hang on, it looks like there's more," she said, noticing some scrawl on the back of the card. "P.S. We have taken the liberty of locking you inside until you come to your senses." She read. "Seriously?"
"They are like those two little girls from that movie who scheme to get their divorced parents back together."
"You mean The Parent Trap?"
"You were sick and insisted I keep you company and watch it with you. I remember you telling me that you always watched that when you were little because you thought it magically made you feel better."
"You remember that?" She asked incredulously. He got to his feet, moving towards her, his blue eyes never leaving hers. Caroline felt breathless in anticipation of his reply.
"I remember everything Caroline," he said huskily. "How you love to bring stray animals home and take care of them, how you hate mushrooms because you think they taste like dirt, how you can recite every word from Legally Blonde, how protective you are of your friends and how upset you were that your parents weren't around when you were growing up but you'll never tell them that. I can go on if you like?"
"Why?"
"Because I love you Caroline and I'm pretty sure I have since the day I met you at that bar in Soho and you were moaning about your parents unrealistic expectations, even if you do frustrate me at times."
"I frustrate you?"
"Okay, I probably should have said that before the whole love declaration because then you would have gotten the point I was trying to make," he smiled. Leaning forward to brush a stray lock of hair from her eyes.
"You love me," she whispered, a few stray tears making their way down her cheeks.
"Yes, I do," he grinned. "Although I hope I'm not the only one who feels that way, otherwise this would be really awkward."
"I love you too," she murmured. "Even if you frustrate me sometimes."
That was all he needed to know dropping his head and brushing his lips against hers. Caroline melted into the kiss, wondering how she had gone so long without his touch. They stood there for a few minutes exploring each other, he tasted like mint and Caroline didn't think she could ever get enough moaning against his lips from the sensations he was causing.
They eventually broke apart, panting slightly as their lips curved into matching smiles. This was where she belonged, with him. Klaus was her home.
"They are going to be so pleased with themselves and no doubt we'll hear about it forever," Klaus joked. Trust him to come out with that after their first kiss.
"Well, we don't have to tell them straight away," she offered.
"Make them sweat a bit, I love the way your mind works, Caroline Forbes," he smiled devilishly. "Maybe I might just keep you as my wife, after all."