Chapter Six

After Caroline had climbed into the cab and sped off, Klaus was left standing on the sidewalk in the rain. He groaned inwardly before heading back inside.

Once he'd returned to his apartment, the first thing he spotted was the underwear on the floor, where Caroline had previously thrown it at him. In a moment of anger, he stormed over and scooped them up in his hand, proceeding to throw them in the trash. He felt like such an idiot – Caroline was right to be angry with him. He had messed with her head – kissing her on her doorstep and then jumping into bed with another woman less than an hour later really wasn't the right thing to do, but he couldn't help it. He sat at the table, balling his fists into his hair angrily.

The callbox buzzed. He wandered over to the telephone, hoping that Caroline had forgotten something. "Hello?"

"It's Elijah," a cool voice replied. Klaus rolled his eyes before buzzing his older brother up. He'd forgotten that he had arrangements with his brother tonight, despite the fact that Caroline had written it across both of his planners, and left them out on the kitchen table. He quickly rushed into the bedrooms and changed into one of the clean suits that Caroline had dry cleaned, and when he was presentable he walked back into the kitchen. Elijah was sitting there, dressed impeccably in a sharp grey suit, not a hair out of place. "I've made reservations at the NoMad," Elijah told him. "For six thirty, so we should make a move quickly."

Klaus nodded, and followed his brother out of the apartment. They took Klaus' car downtown to the NoMad, and got seated pretty quickly. Klaus knew that they were here to discuss the Kol situation, and he wasn't looking forward to arguing over his brother once again.

Elijah ordered a bottle of Leoville Barton red wine without even looking at the menu and sat opposite Klaus, his fingertips pressed together. "So, Klaus," he began. "We have a lot to discuss."

As their starter arrived, they had already begun discussing Kol. "I think you're being a little too harsh on him, brother," Elijah was saying. "Yes, he's reckless – but that's exactly why we need to keep helping him grow and teaching him to be more like us."

"I don't want him in the office, Elijah. He's a bad influence on Caroline, and—"

"—I didn't realise that this was about Caroline," interrupted Elijah. Klaus pursed his lips.

"It's not. But that's not the point."

"We need to come to an agreement," Elijah continued. "This is our company, and I don't want to turn Kol away from a job. Yes – he's idiotic, and completely unreliable – but he just needs a chance to flourish."

"If that's the case, brother – I think we need to be in separate offices."

Elijah raised an eyebrow, allowing Klaus to continue.

"Well, you want to help Kol…flourish…and I want him out of my sight. I think it's about time we opened up the offices at the back of the floor. Kol can take over Caroline's desk and you can have our office to yourself, and Caroline and I will move into the back office."

Elijah continued to watch Klaus carefully. "You mean the back office that hasn't been used in three years – mostly because it doesn't have quick access to the main elevator and it doesn't have its own kitchen – why on earth would you want to move back there?" he paused. "Unless the rumours are true, and you really are trying to establish something with Caroline. It would explain why you want to keep the two of you holed up in your own little private area."

"What rumours?" Klaus demanded to know.

"Word spreads, Niklaus. People talk," Elijah refilled their glasses with the expensive red wine.

"They know that Caroline has been spending the last few work days at your apartment – but I must say, the biggest scandal is what Kol and Caroline caught you doing."

"My private life is no one else's business, brother," muttered Klaus into his glass. "But the rumours are just that – rumours. Caroline got involved with Kol, and ended up having an accident, which meant that she couldn't work. Though, she should be able to have her stitches out in the next few days, so everything will go back to normal. I would prefer us to be out of the main office because we have had some employee to employer differences in the last few days, and the most conflicting one stemmed from Kol's influence. So, I would like to leave it at that."

Elijah tipped his glass in Klaus' direction. "Then we have an agreement, brother. I will have Kol's contractual agreement re-established, and set him a position as my personal intern. I'll make a good man out of our baby brother yet, Niklaus."

Klaus gave Elijah a look of disbelief, but didn't pursue the matter.

"Onto our next agenda," Elijah continued. "Your relationship with Caroline."

"Nothing to do with you, or the office," finished Klaus.

"Maybe not, but it's still becoming an obvious distraction. I saw you both arguing on the roadside like a married old couple. Just what is happening between you both?"

"It's complicated," Klaus responded briefly. He didn't really want to discuss something so close to his heart with Elijah – they had never been the type of brothers who shared deep, intimate secrets – but he could sense that Elijah wasn't going to give up easily.

"Would you care to elaborate?"

Klaus slammed his wine glass down, and glared at his brother. "You want the story? Okay, fine, I'll give you the story. Caroline clearly has feelings for me, and I am proud enough to admit that yes, those feelings are somewhat reciprocated. But I'm not going to stop behaving the way I normally do, just because a girl I have known barely a month has a schoolgirl crush on me." He grabbed the wine bottle, and refilled his glass again.

"When you say 'behave the way you normally do'…" Elijah quoted vaguely.

"I meet a lot of women. I entertain a lot of women. I don't care, Elijah!" Klaus' voice was rising. He had drunk almost the full bottle of wine, as Elijah was only on his second glass. "It's the only thing that makes me feel…that…"

"I understand, brother," Elijah concluded for him. "But you need to admit it, and then I can help you."

Klaus rolled his eyes dramatically. "I don't need you to fix me, Elijah. I'm not Kol."

Elijah ignored his comment. "You're lonely, Niklaus. Anyone can see it. That's why you won't spend an evening by yourself; that's why you won't try to entertain the idea of getting closer to Caroline. You don't want her to reject you, so you constantly fill your life with these random women, at a brief chance to try and feel fulfilled."

Klaus stared at his plate, feeling anger boiling up in his stomach. He wasn't angry because Klaus was actually saying it – he was angry because it was true, and he hadn't even realised it. He was angry because Elijah knew him better than he knew himself, and that wasn't right. Klaus liked to imagine he was elusive, unpredictable, a force to be reckoned with. But Elijah could see right through him.

"Even if you don't pursue something, you have a chance to make a real friend in Caroline," Elijah continued. "You work well together, you have a great rapport. She makes you smile and she's a great addition to the office, but if you carry behaving like this, you're going to push her away," he paused. "If you're finished, I suggest we go and find Caroline, so you can apologise properly."

"She doesn't want to see me, brother. She made that perfectly clear."

"So you just apologise and leave," Elijah threw down his napkin. "Grab your coat, we're leaving."

Across town, Caroline was having a great time with Lexi and Kol in a smokey bar downtown, drinking cheap beer and playing pool. She had met some great people – Lexi had brought along with her a friend called Stefan, and his older brother Damon, who didn't really say much apart from the odd, sarcastic comment, and spent most of his time sat at the bar. But nevertheless, Caroline

was having a great time.

The awkwardness she had felt between Kol earlier was gone. They were all sat in a booth together while Kol told her about the fortnight he spent in Thailand – over the bottles of Budweiser that they were drinking one after the other, Caroline was howling with laughter.

"…and then, I had her laid down on the bed, right," Kol slurred. Lexi was perched on the table, listening to his story with bated breath. "…and she's just lying there, doesn't say anything at all! I was so drunk, I didn't even notice…I pulled her knickers down…and it all fell out!"

"Oh, my god!" Caroline laughed, tears streaming down her face. In her merry-drunk state, everything that Kol was saying was hilarious. Lexi was laughing too, leaning up against Caroline.

"She was bigger than me!" Kol continued, and suddenly he was laughing too. Stefan, Lexi's friend, wasn't laughing quite as much, but shaking his head with a humorous look on his face. Caroline was so glad that she was able to drown out a seriously awkward day with friends in a bar – it was the best start to what she hoped would be a much more positive weekend.

Or so she thought. The sound of someone clearing their throat caused the four of them to look up. Much to her distaste, Klaus and Elijah were stood at their table. She groaned inwardly, and shot a meaningful look at Lexi. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? All she wanted was to take some time away – to have her weekend without sparing Klaus a thought. But she couldn't even get a couple of hours into her weekend without him just showing up.

For Elijah's sake, she turned her head and offered them both a smile, which wasn't as easy now that she was slightly drunk. She knew her cheeks were flushed, her eyes too bright, and her smile a little too toothy. Lexi was also grinning at them both. Kol, on the other hand, looked as though he was desperately trying to shrink as far back into the corner as he could, and Caroline didn't really blame him – Klaus was glaring right at him, with a look that could kill.

Lexi was the first one to speak. "Well, this is a surprise, bosses!" she greeted playfully. Elijah gave her a small, tight smile.

"Nice to see you having fun, Ms Branson," Elijah responded.

Lexi took a look around at the empty bottles on the table. "Well, I think it's my round. Can I get you anything?" she asked Klaus and Elijah.

Klaus didn't reply; he was still staring at Kol. Elijah smiled at Lexi, but politely said no. When Lexi hopped off the table surface to go towards the bar, Stefan jumped up too, muttering something about helping her with the tray. Finally, Klaus pulled his gaze away from Kol, letting it settle on

Caroline. "I'd like to speak to you, Caroline," he told her.

Caroline stared back at him, her face ambivalent. "I'm sorry, Klaus – but I'm busy."

"With my brother?" he replied in a low voice, and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Caroline, if you won't speak to Klaus, would you consider speaking to me?" asked Elijah in his smart, smooth tone. Caroline jumped at being addressed by Elijah – she was generally always nervous around him, but she didn't really expect him to take any particular side in this argument. "It is all to do with your job at the office, and I think Klaus could do with some time to discuss our new working arrangement with Kol, anyway."

Klaus didn't look impressed at the thought of having to sit down and talk to the brother who he was currently extremely irritated with at the moment – and judging by the way that Kol tentatively placed a hand to the bruise on his eye, he didn't really want to speak to his big brother, either. But, nevertheless, Caroline climbed to her feet, and breezed past Klaus, stalking after Elijah.

He led the two of them outside, into the alley by the side of the bar. Amongst the litter-strewn pavement and the stinking garbage bins, Caroline couldn't help but notice how odd the impeccably dressed Elijah looked. This definitely wasn't the kind of environment he was used to.

"I'll get straight to the point," he started, apparently becoming aware of his surroundings. He started by explaining to Caroline the situation with the office move, and adding some more detail to Klaus' feelings on Kol.

Klaus had been right. Kol did have a reckless background. He had dropped out of college in his first six months, and immediately ran off on his world tour once his fortune had been sent to his bank account. Elijah told her that each of his siblings had been to the ICU or to the police station to collect Kol at least ones, for numerous offences – most of which included drug use, drug possession, assault and thievery. As Caroline was about to protest that she understood that Kol was a little off the rails, Elijah simply held up his hand to silence her. He wasn't the type of man that you interrupted.

"He has a funny way of showing it, but he does care about you," Elijah continued. "And he has always detested the lifestyle my brother leads, so he will find it personally upsetting to see you travelling down the same…path."

"I'm not travelling down any path, Mr Mikaelson," she assured him (she hadn't yet been ready to call Elijah by his first name, at least not to his face). "It was a one-time thing. Kol and I are just friends."

Elijah nodded, and continued. After an awkward pause, he relayed everything he had already said to Klaus at the NoMad – about his issues with being alone, and why he chose to behave the way he did. The more Elijah talked, the more Caroline seemed to soften. She was upset with Klaus, and hurt by the way he had behaved, but it seemed there was a reason for everything. Though, she wasn't ready to forgive him completely, and when Elijah finished talking, she leaned back against the wall.

"I'm not going to carry on letting him act like he does with me, Mr Mikaelson," she told Elijah. "I understand that he may have these loneliness issues, but I don't want to have it consuming my own life. I'll continue to work for him, but I'm not going to go back to his apartment. I don't want the rides home, I don't want the awkwardness that always seems to happen when we're left alone with each other," Caroline didn't really know why she was telling Elijah all of this, but she felt like she needed to explain herself to someone. "I'll go to the hospital for my stitches out on Sunday. I think this is the way we need to be."

"Well, I appreciate your adult approach to this situation, Caroline," Elijah replied, reaching out and patting her on the shoulder. "Your job could very much have been on the line if the pair of you continued to act like this, so I think you're making the right decision. I only hope it will rub off on my brother."

Caroline shrugged, and then said a hasty thanks to Elijah. They both re-entered the bar, and Klaus looked over at her immediately. As much as she wanted to see the loneliness in his eyes and feel a little pity for him, all she could feel was confusion. But she needed to make peace with Klaus, so she walked straight up to him, to the spot where he stood at the bar.

"I'm sure your brother will explain this better than I can," she told him quickly, before he could speak. "I'm sorry you have a problem with women – but I'm not going to hang around and let all your negativity rub off on me."

Klaus' bottom lip shook. "Caroline."

"No, seriously. It's not happening anymore – the weird moments and the flirts and the kiss – it has to stop. We need to work together properly."

There was a brief silence, but then Klaus' dull look lightened. "Whatever you wish, love," he drawled at her, and smirked. "So, friends?"

Caroline's heart lifted, and she smiled back at him. "Friends," she agreed. She told him that she would see him in the office on Monday, and then started walking out of the bar, before he could comment that he would pick her up or that she had to be at his apartment. She turned back, and waggled her fingers in his direction as she walked out of the door.

"Friends," Klaus repeated, swirling the liquid around in his tumbler. "For now."