To Feel - Part 12
When the lunch bells rings the next day, I pack up my bag and head to my locker to grab my lunch and books.
I walk a little slower than usual to the cafeteria – not because I'm nervous or anything.
Well, maybe I am a little nervous. More excited than anything, but nervous nonetheless.
Elena is waiting for me at the cafeteria doors, just like she does everyday. I take a deep breath, ready to tell her.
"Hey," she greets me and turns to walk with me into the cafeteria.
"Wait, Elena," I say, reaching out and grabbing her arm.
She turns to look at me. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," I nod. "I just wanted to let you know I won't be having lunch with you guys today."
"Oh, okay," she nods. "Going to the library to finish up a paper or something?"
I shake my head. "No, I'm having lunch with Klaus," I say and wait for her reaction.
She merely lifts her eyebrows at me. "Really?"
"Yeah," I say. "We're kind of…dating."
She blinks. "Really?"
I roll my eyes. "Yes, really Elena."
"Sorry, I just-" she sighs, seemingly trying to get her thoughts together. "I didn't know you two had gotten so serious."
"Yeah, there's been a lot going on," I muttered. "I'll tell you about it sometime? We haven't gotten a chance to talk much the last couple of weeks."
"I can see I missed out on a lot," she says, looking over my shoulder. I turn my head to see what she's looking at, catching a glimpse of Klaus leaning against one of the cafeteria columns, waiting for me.
"You have no idea," I say, turning back to her. "Soon, okay?"
She nods and give me a small smile to she me we're okay. "Soon."
We hug for a couple of seconds before we pull away. I watch as Elena walks towards our usual table before turning to face Klaus. He smiles a little, but I can see it's forced.
Even after our talk yesterday, I know we still have a long way to go before we can trust each other unconditionally. My little chat with Elena just now probably has him on edge.
I smile brightly at him as I walk in his direction, hoping to appease him. His own smile widens, but it doesn't reach his eyes.
When I'm close enough, a get up on my tippy toes and kiss him on the cheek.
"Hi."
"Hello, love," he's smiling down at me, genuine and beautiful.
"How's your day been?"
I hadn't seen him since yesterday. After our talk, and had reluctantly had to leave, not wanting to be late to practice. He had let me go with a quick peck on lips. I had promised that we would have lunch together today, to prove I wasn't hiding.
"Same as everyday," he shrugs. "But it just got better."
I feel my cheeks heat up at his comment, and I hear him chuckle at my response.
"Come on," he says, reaching out to lace his fingers through mine. "Where do you want to sit."
"Where do you usually sit?" I ask. He smiles, pushing off the wall and giving my hand a gentle tug, signaling for me to follow him.
I focus on walking and not the way people are looking at us as we pass by tables.
I realize this is the first time Klaus and I have held hands.
I remember being so nervous to hold Tyler's hand the first time. We did it often – walking down the halls together, hanging out with friends at parties or after games. It was our first half way intimate touch. It had always felt like something we had to do. At least for me.
"What's got you thinking so hard?"
I glance up at Klaus, who's looking at me with a bemused glint in his eyes. We've seemed to reach the table where he has lunch.
"We just held hands," I say, looking down at our joined hands.
He chuckles, bring my hand up to his mouth so he could drop a kiss on my knuckles. "Yes, we just did."
I sat down, Klaus following soon after.
"Everyone saw us holding hands," I continue.
"Yes," Klaus nods carefully, his expression falling a little. "They did."
"Which means that every girl that says they've slept with you will know about it by the end of the day," I smirk a little, opening my bag and pulling out my sandwich.
"I suppose so," he muses, but I can still hear the confusion behind his tone.
"Which means they'll know that you're all mine," I smile, grabbing one half of my sandwich and taking a bite.
When Klaus doesn't respond I look over at him. He's looking at me with some weird look in his eyes, a smirk plastered to his lips.
"What?"
He lets out a single laugh, shaking his head, pulling out his own sandwich.
"And here you hand me thinking you were a sweet, innocent girl, when in reality you're a possessive little minx."
I laugh. "Sweet, innocent, and possessive, yeah. I don't know about the minx part," I say, shaking my head and taking another bite of my sandwich.
I feel his hand on my hip, and then I'm sliding down the bench. He's pulled me closer so that there's barely any space between us. He drops his head so that his lips are right next to my ear. "Oh, but you are. You just haven't had a chance to let it out yet."
He presses a quick kiss to my cheek and then pulls away, smirking before taking a bite of his sandwich.
I swallow.
"When will I get the chance?"
He's quiet, so I look over at him. He's stopped chewing, and he's looking over at me, slightly shocked.
"When do you want the chance?" He asks.
"Today?" I say, but it sounds more like a question than a statement. "Will you come over after school?"
He's still looking at me, still shocked. He puts his sandwich down, wiping his fingers on his napkin before reaching up to cup my cheek.
"Caroline," he starts. "I don't want you to feel in any way pressured to do something you don't want to please me."
I frown. "I don't feel pressured," I say, shaking my head.
"I'm telling you that if our…physical relationship doesn't move forward as quickly as it had been before, I'm fine with it."
I chuckle, shaking my head again.
How I ever believed Klaus didn't care about me was beyond me. He was always taking measures to make sure I was comfortable, that I felt okay with whatever we were doing. That I usually was the one initiating everything.
I reached up, cupping his cheek just like he was doing to me.
"I've never felt pressured with you, Klaus. Everything I've done, I've wanted to do," I say. In reality, all we only ever did was kiss, rather haughtily with I do say so myself.
Thinking of kissing him makes me look down at his lips. Those plump, full raspberry lips.
God, I've never seen anyone with those lips before.
"I want to kiss you," I say before I have a chance to filter. But I can't bring myself to care. I do want to kiss him.
He takes in a breath. "You can kiss me whenever you want, Caroline."
I swallow, ready to do just that.
I wet my lips and I see him swallow, his breath shallow, his jaw doing that…thing.
"Come to my house after school."
"Huh?" He asks, sounding dazed.
It gives me a second to pull away and compose myself. "Come to my house after school," I repeat.
He blinks at me, then narrows his eyes.
"I know what you're doing," he says.
Of course he does.
"What are you going to do about it?" I ask, quirking a brow at him.
His eyes remain narrowed, but his lips quirk up into a smirk. A deliciously, devilish smirk that turns my insides into molten lava. I shiver, the feeling completely foreign. He's smirk grows.
"I guess you'll find out later," he says, turning back to his sandwich, seemingly unaffected.
I blink and swallow, trying to pinpoint the moment when he had turned the tables.
(: My New Years resolution is to complete all of my fics by the end of the year :)
(; And since I know you guys love Klaus POVs, next chapter will be from his perspective ;)