"What?"

Klaus rubbed his eyes tiredly. "It's really not that big a deal, Caroline."

"I'm pretty sure pretending to be your date at your little brother's birthday party qualifies as a big deal," she snapped.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, it's just that, I haven't seen my family in a year, and it's not that I don't regret not visiting them, but it's Henrik's birthday and he's been begging me to come visit, and I can't really say no to them, and Mother's been badgering me to bring someone along, and Finn, Kol, Elijah, and Rebekah will all be there with their respective significant others—"

Caroline let out a snort at that. "Significant others? Really, Klaus?"

Klaus looked at her tiredly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, I knew you were British, but I never expected this much Britishness to just come oozing out of you."

"And so much preppy blondeness to come oozing out of you," he shot back, to which she gave him a withering look. He sighed.

"Alright, what if I pay you?"

"Pay me?!" she asked, her voice rising higher. "I don't need to be paid to hang out with you, Klaus!"

"So, you'll do it, then?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I didn't say that."

Klaus huffed; why did she have to make it so difficult for him? He forced a smile on his face. "Then what are you saying, love?"

A shrewd look crossed over her face. "What's in it for me?"

Klaus groaned; of course there was a price. He would've been better off paying her, she would surely demand something extravagantly expensive. He briefly wondered if he would've made a better choice bringing that bartender Camille he had met a few days ago at that pub he had gone to for Stefan's birthday.

Perhaps not, she had a tendency to psychoanalyze people who crossed her way. She really was lovely girl, but Klaus doubted his mother would appreciate being told that her handbag choices matched the color of her eyes and therefore the nature of her soul, which probably wasn't a good idea since his mother usually favored black handbags. Of course, Klaus had no doubt that Camille would be right in her analyzing—the color would indeed match his mother's personality.

Rebekah would have most likely strangled the girl if she would have been told that her excessive liking of vodka was due to the fact that she was spoiled rotten by her parents and favored over her brothers. She would go ballistic and possibly even ruin the party.

No, Klaus owed it to Henrik to have a proper party. He was turning thirteen, after all. He looked back up at Caroline to still see her wearing that awful expression of cunning.

"What do you want, love?"

A grin spread across her face. "Three things: the new Jimmy Choos that Elena's been wearing and has been throwing in my face that she has them and I don't."

"Of all the things you could want, you choose shoes?"

"Be quiet, Klaus. I could just as easily cancel on you."

"Next item, love."

"I want you to take me shopping."

"I thought I was buying you shoes."

"Well, yeah, obviously, but your family is like, stupid rich, and the fanciest thing I have in my closet is a dress with bows on it. And it's pink."

"Shopping, then," Klaus grumbled. He hated shopping, he had always been the one to take Rebekah and indulge her whims when she had been younger. "Third item?"

"Set me up with your brother."

Klaus gaped at her; she could not possibly mean that, could she? She burst out laughing.

"Oh my god, you should've seen the look on your face. Don't worry, none of your brothers are my type. Elijah's too formal, Kol's too pervy, Finn's too boring, and Henrik's too young."

Klaus felt compelled to point out that she had conveniently missed a particular brother, who in fact, was standing right in front of her, but ignored it. "What's the last thing?"

Caroline shifted in her seat. "Can you buy me some medicines?"

Of all the things Klaus was expecting to hear, this was not one of them. "Begging your pardon, love?"

Caroline looked uncomfortable. "My mom's getting sicker, and she or I don't have the funds to pay for this particular—"

"I'll do it," he said immediately. Caroline relaxed visibly, her shoulders dropped.

"It's not that I haven't been trying to pay for them myself, but with college and classes and everything, I'm not able to…and you know I just hate asking for help from absolutely anyone—"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Caroline. I'll do it."

Her beautiful face lit up, and at that moment, Klaus thought that she was the most beautiful person he had ever come across. "Really? Thank you!"

Klaus nodded. "It's the least I can do for you so gracefully agreeing to accompany me."

She snorted again. "Ok, if we're going to do this, you'll have to drop the formal-ness."

"My…my what?"

"All those words—accompanying, and the whole begging your pardon, and all that. It's seriously really funny. I'll laugh in front of your family if you talk like that."

"The noun for formal is formality, Caroline, not formal-ness."

She rolled her eyes. "That's what you got from that?"

"Yes, as you so diligently pointed out, I'm too British."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Wow," said Caroline.

They were at the house, and Caroline was standing open-mouthed in front of it, gaping.

"That's your house?" she asked, pointing a finger at it. Klaus sighed.

"Yes, and now you know why I never brought you over."

"It's huge," she said, moving forwards. "And so…white."

Klaus laughed; the mansion was in fact, painted white everywhere. His mother had grown fond of the color when she had moved in and not put a spec of any other color anywhere.

"That's Mother for you. Shall will go in?"

She gave him a look; he grumbled. "Can we go in?"

She smiled brightly. "Yes, we can."

He took her arm and led her inside.

The sitting room was packed to the brim with kids Henrik's age, either talking to their friends or at the food table. The house was decorated festively, with streamers and balloons and other decorations hanging off the ceiling. A large golden banner was hung on the wall over the fireplace, where Henrik himself stood, talking to a young, dark-haired girl.

"Would you like to dance?" asked Klaus, as the music started and many boys stood up, holding a girl's hand.

Caroline started. "I—of course." She took his hand and was led out on to the dance floor. She put one hand on his shoulder and entwined the other in his, sending a spark of electricity through him. he cautiously put the other hand on her waist, taking it as a good sign that she didn't get uncomfortable. He spun her around and she laughed softly, before coming back into his arms.

"This is a very formal party for a thirteen-year-old," she whispered. Klaus grinned.

"Mother is very particular about our birthday parties. No games, no loud talking, no fun, basically."

"And you guys are alright with that?"

He shrugged. "We've accepted it."

She said nothing, merely sank her chin onto his shoulder. "Tell me about your birthday parties."

He laughed. "Nothing much to tell, sweetheart. I used to have the whole neighborhood over because Mother used to tell me to, and they would have a depressingly dull time, and I would have a depressingly dull time, and then I used to receive my presents, have food, cut the cake, which I didn't get to cut, by the way, the butler did it—"

She looked at him. "You didn't even get to cut your own cake?!" she whispered indignantly.

"Mother didn't like the Happy Birthday song. It was cut in the kitchen and then served."

"That's so sad," she murmured, and then looked at him. "Don't worry, you have me now, I'll give you a proper party. One with ice-cream, and pizza, and booze, and cake which you can cut by yourself."

"Thank you, love."

"No problem. So, a butler, huh?"

He groaned. "He was a snob. Happy to cater to my mother's every whim. She trusted him with her life, which meant he was always spying on us."

She laughed. "Sorry."

She was beautiful when she laughed; her eyes lit up and the blue of them seemed to sparkle through, and her hair bounced back in all its golden glory, and her face just got even more gorgeous, which made Klaus want to pull Caroline closer to him and kiss the living daylights out of her.

No. He couldn't do that. She thought of him as a friend.

"You look beautiful tonight," he said, clearing his throat. She smiled.

"Thank you, and you should know, you bought this for me."

He had. It was on their shopping trip when Caroline had been walking through the different aisles and aisles of clothes, and Klaus was so bored he thought of ribbing off Caroline's hair ribbon and hanging himself with it, when she had let out a squeal and grabbed a dress of a rack.

"What do you think?" she had asked.

It really was a pretty dress, but Klaus didn't see the greatness in it that Caroline had supposedly seen.

"I don't know. Try it on."

She had scowled at him and had run into the dressing room, clinging the dress to her chest. She had emerged a few minutes later, wearing it. "What do you think?"

That was the problem.

Klaus couldn't think.

She had looked so incredibly beautiful.

The dress was a light shade of lavender, with small lilac flowers adorning the hemline and gold swirls of thread stitched along the waist and neckline. Her golden curls had been cascading down to her elbows and she had looked at him, biting her lip nervously.

Klaus had wanted to kiss her so badly then.

"It—it's beautiful," he had stammered.

He had meant to say you're beautiful.

Caroline had beamed. "So I should buy it?"

"Definitely," he had said, and let out a shaky sigh when she had gone back into the dressing room to change.

Caroline laughed at the memory of it. "You looked like you had seen a ghost."

"Something like that," he said, smiling faintly. She suddenly stumbled forwards and he grabbed her to keep her from falling, and she looked at him.

"Shit, sorry."

"Are you alright?" he asked. She frowned and looked down.

"Someone bumped into me. It's fine, no harm, no…foul…" she said, trailing off, realizing how close they were. Her chest was pressed to his, and their noses were nearly touching. Her leg brushed against his pants and his fingers grazed her hip.

"I…" she trailed off. "Klaus…"

"Caroline…" he whispered back. Was it his imagination, or did she start drawing closer to him? A quick sweep of her face meant that he was not dreaming.

…shit.

"Your eyes are beautiful," she murmured, echoing the thing he had been thinking.

"You're beautiful," he said, and leaned forwards, desperate to close the distance between them.

"Nik!"

Caroline jumped away from him, and Klaus swore under his breath, turning around.

Yes, he was aware that it was Henrik's birthday, but couldn't he have waited at least a few more seconds to yell?

Klaus turned to Caroline reluctantly. "I'll be right back."

She nodded absent-mindedly, looking away from him. "Ok. Are those shrimp?"

Klaus held back a laugh. "Yes."

"How many of them can I have?"

"As many as you want."

"Stay away for as long as you like," she muttered, running away. He laughed.

She turned around. "Actually, come back soon. You still owe me a dance."

His smile grew even wider. He nodded and made his way over to his youngest brother, who was sitting on the couch with a dejected look on his face. The moment he saw Klaus, he brightened.

"Nik! You made it."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, mate. Happy birthday."

"Thanks!" he said, grinning. "Who's your date, Nik?"

Klaus groaned. "Are we really getting straight to that?"

Henrik nodded, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Is she a date or a girlfriend?"

Klaus pondered. "Girlfriend." Why not make the whole thing a bit more believable? Rebekah, Finn, Elijah, and his mother were more likely to be friendlier to Caroline if they thought she was dating him and wasn't just a one-time date.

Henrik grinned. "How long have you been seeing her?"

"None of your business," Klaus shot back. Henrik raised an eyebrow. He sighed. "Three months."

"And you never told us?" Henrik shook his head in mock disappointment. "Mum will not be pleased to hear about this."

Ah. He hadn't counted that little bit of information. He turned to his younger brother. "I'm going to be the one to tell her, mate, not you."

"I can't believe you've never mentioned her before," said Henrik interestedly, craning his head to try to get a look at Caroline, who had disappeared between the food tables. "She's very pretty, Nik."

"Beautiful," said Klaus automatically, and Henrik grinned even wider.

"Well, aren't you smitten? Are you already in love, Nik?"

"No," Klaus snapped. "I haven't even met her parents yet."

Strictly, that wasn't a complete lie. He had met her mother once or twice, but he hadn't met her father because Caroline didn't have the greatest relations with him. Henrik hummed.

"I'm going to go talk to her," he decided. Klaus started.

"What? No."

If she's dating my favorite brother, I need to meet her sometime, don't I?"

"Henrik—"

But Henrik had already started to make his way to Caroline, who had been spotted near the windows. He tapped her on the shoulder, a smile pasted over his face.

"Hello."

Caroline turned towards him, her expression surprised. "Hi."

"Judging by the look of complete disbelief on your face, I assume Nik has been rude enough to not tell you my name, or tell me yours, for the matter," Henrik said cheerfully.

"Nik…" Caroline trailed off, a recognizing look coming onto her face. "Are you Henrik?"

"In the flesh," Henrik said, grinning. "Looks like my brother's politeness extends only to the girl he's been shagging for the last three months."

Caroline spat out her drink, thankfully dodging Henrik, and Klaus choked. Henrik smiled. "Oh, don't be such prudes, both of you. Everyone knows you've been shagging."

"I hope everyone consists of you and your imagination, mate," Klaus said through gritted teeth. Henrik shrugged.

"Maybe. I still haven't been told your name."

"Caroline," said Caroline, still blushing furiously. Henrik grinned.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," he said, then paused. "Or, as Nik prefers it, beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

Caroline's blushed even harder, but not before she looked at Klaus, shooting him a quizzical look.

"Beautiful?"

Klaus shrugged. "I did tell you how ravishing you look in that dress yesterday."

Caroline turned even redder, if that were possibly. Henrik gagged.

"Alright, this is quickly getting disgusting. It was lovely to meet you, Caroline."

"Nice to meet you too. Happy birthday," she replied, her cheeks still glowing. Henrik smiled at her and walked away, not before shooting Klaus an approving look.

Caroline turned to him, fanning herself. "That was weird."

"Yes, I—" he stopped as he noticed an all too familiar figure walking towards them, her hand in the air. He stifled a groan and quickly turned to Caroline.

"Run."

"Excuse me?"

"That girl who's coming towards us? That's my sister, who will probably mentally torture you if she sees you holding my hand. So run. Quickly."

Caroline huffed. "I am so not running from your sister, Klaus."

"Caro—" he was cut off as another blonde woman stood next to him, smiling sarcastically.

"And here I thought being the only sister earned me the affections of everyone in the family."

"Rebekah," Klaus said curtly.

"Do I not get a hello, Nik?" the woman—Rebekah—asked.

"Hello, Rebekah," Klaus said stiffly. The woman sighed.

"Perhaps it's been too long. But I think I've found out the answer we haven't seen you in over a year," she said, eyeing Caroline, her lip curling. "Found another blonde to shag, have you Nik?"

"Don't be vulgar, Rebekah, I beg of you," said Elijah, appearing next to them. "Niklaus," he said curtly.

"Oh, lovely," said Klaus. "Now all we need is Kol and Finn and our family reunion will be complete."

"Did I hear my name?" said Kol's voice, and Klaus let out an audible groan. Now that Kol had arrived, he would do what he was best at: make sexual innuendos and drive Caroline away from him.

Or possibly make her kick him in the balls.

Either way, it would be something that would provoke her. Caroline was looking frantic now, not knowing his siblings, and the arrival of another one was sure to make her panic increase. Kol stepped from behind and immediately shot him a grin.

"Nik! I was starting to miss you! Have you missed me?"

"No."

"Doesn't matter," said Kol, turning towards Caroline. "Hello, darling. Who might you be?"

Caroline seemed unfazed by his sweet-talk. "Caroline Forbes." Kol smiled delightedly.

"The same Caroline Henrik just told me about? Well, well, well. This is turning out to be a fun party, isn't it? I'm Kol Mikealson, the most delightful out of all my siblings. And the most fun. You look very beautiful, darling. Took my breath away," he said.

"Your breath must be pushing her away," Klaus growled back at him. "You're dating someone, Kol."

"Ah, yes, Davina. Don't fret, Elijah, I hadn't forgotten about her. Can I not appreciate another woman's beauty while dating someone else?"

"And with that note, I'm going to go," said Caroline, and she wriggled out of the circle Klaus's siblings had formed around her.

"I didn't like her," said Rebekah immediately, after Caroline had left.

"Of course, you didn't," muttered Klaus.

Rebekah glowered at Caroline, who was walking towards the lawns. "She seemed rude."

"Are you really calling her rude, Bekah?" Kol asked, eyebrow raised. The latter gave him a filthy look and turned back to Klaus.

"Get rid of her, Nik."

"No," Klaus said plainly, and Rebekah growled.

"I got rid of Alexander when you told me to."

"No, you got rid of him because you said that he was too boring and had the intelligence level of a muffin," Henrik pointed out, who had clearly been eavesdropping.

"And since when do you tell me who to date, Bekah?" Klaus asked pointedly.

"I don't tell you who to date, Nik, I just warn you about the girls who aren't good for you."

"Don't go after her, Rebekah, she seems like a pleasant woman," Elijah said tiredly.

"She didn't to me. And you and Nik are a pair of filthy hypocrites, you go after and scare my boyfriends all the time."

"That's because the men you date are generally complete idiots and don't have enough brain power to count to ten," said Kol jovially. "Not to mention you've said a number of them aren't great in the sack."

Henrik snorted, earning a smack on the head from Elijah. "Ouch! What the hell, Elijah? Kol's the one with the fetish for remembering Bekah's romantic partner's sexual stamina, not me!"

"Be quiet, Henrik! Kol, I will cut out your tongue and stick it in your arse if you say that again."

"Rebekah, you seem to have forgotten that you have a thirteen-year-old brother standing right here," said Klaus, at which Henrik rolled his eyes.

"I'm not a baby, Nik. And what are you talking about, you found out about all of this when you were—"

"Sixteen," Klaus said promptly, covering his mouth with his hand, earning a suspicious look from Elijah. "Sixteen, Hen. And so will you, or Mother will have all our arses."

"Really, Niklaus, you too?"

"Oh, go stuff it, Elijah," Rebekah said irritably. Henrik snorted, earning another smack on the head, this time, by Klaus.

"I still don't know why you've chosen her," grumbled Rebekah, still stuck on Klaus's date choice of Caroline.

"She's nice, Bekah, don't be mean to her," piped up Henrik. Rebekah turned towards Klaus.

"How old is she, Nik?"

"Twenty," he replied, knowing that Rebekah wouldn't be satisfied with his answer.

"She's younger than you," Rebekah said immediately.

"By a year, Rebekah. Really, if you're going to argue with me about her, do it properly."

Rebekah growled at him. "She looks like a gold-digger."

"For your information, she's studying to become a doctor," Klaus said, gritting his teeth. Caroline was many things but she certainly was not a gold-digger. Rebekah called every girl her brothers told her about that name, and while he hadn't made any effort to stop her before, he was now. Elijah looked pleased.

"How long have you been going out with her?" he asked.

"Three months. We met at a bookstore."

That part was true; he had met Caroline at a bookstore five months ago. He had seen her looking through a book which he recognized the cover of, and because he was in a bad mood that day, he had spoiled it for her by telling her the end. He had expected to throw him a withering look and be on her way, but instead she had been furious and then given him a long lecture about how he was supposed to ask her if she had read the book first and then talk about it, and she had gone on and on for ten minutes until he had snapped back, telling her that he had some place to be.

He had run into her again at a pub, talking to her friend. Long story short, he had recognized her and she him, and they had started talking again, her friend awkwardly sidling away. He had gotten inordinately pissed at the end of the night and she had taken him home, and left after that.

But not before exchanging phone numbers.

They hadn't dated, not even tried it. He thought that she felt better as friends, and that's why he hadn't made a move. But it wasn't as if he was completely oblivious. He had noticed her. And not just her beauty, everything about her. Her intelligence, her wit, her honesty, her kindness…

He knew almost everything about her now, her favorite color, her coffee order, her favorite store to shop in, her favorite place to eat, what she was majoring in. He knew that she was only child, had an absentee father, and that her mother was suffering from cancer while she was desperately trying to pay the bills. He also knew that she was too proud to ask him for help. She had asked him a few days ago, but that was it.

"How romantic," Rebekah sneered, interrupting his thoughts. Elijah closed his eyes in frustration.

"She's very beautiful, Nik," said Henrik, smirking at him.

"Yes, she certainly is a tasty little thing, isn't she?" said Kol.

"Say another word and I'll rip out your liver," Klaus growled.

"And the death threats begin," said a monotonous voice from behind them. "Niklaus, please refrain from threatening to murder your younger brother at your other brother's birthday celebration."

"See, Nik, Finn's sticking up for me!" Kol said cheerfully. "Don't you think that Nik's a bit too mean towards me? All I said was that Nik's new girl seemed to have a pair of very pretty—"

"Oh, bloody hell," Rebekah muttered.

"There are children present," said Finn, looking pointedly at Henrik, who gave his eldest brother an evil look.

"Eyes," Kol finished, smirking at Klaus, who was snarling at him. "Eyes, Nik. Very pretty eyes."

"Beautiful, you mean," said Henrik, snorting.

Rebekah narrowed her eyes. "I didn't like her," she repeated. "She didn't say anything to me or compliment me."

"Really, Rebekah, must you be so ignorant? You insulted her and you expect her to compliment you?" asked Elijah, fiddling with his tie.

"If not me, then at least my shoes," Rebekah sniffed. "They're Louis Vuitton."

"I should know, you bought them with my money," said Finn quietly. Rebekah shot him a poisonous look.

"She must be like you, Bekah," said Kol gleefully. "She seems to like shoes too, hers looked expensive as well."

"Caroline's nothing like Bekah," said Henrik, sticking his tongue out at his sister.

"Is that supposed to be a compliment, Hen?"

"No, I'm sure he means that she's not spoiled and is a hard-working, sincere girl," said Klaus, smirking at his youngest brother.

"Do shut up, Nik."

Klaus spotted Caroline in the lawn, her hands wrapped around herself, a strange expression on her face. "Excuse me, I'll be right back," he said, stepping away from his siblings. He did hear the last comments his sister decided to grace him with.

"Oh, joy, looks like the lovely Caroline is looking unhappy with the party and Nik's out to satisfy her with his sexual prowess. Whatever you do, Nik, please refrain from shagging in my bedroom."

"I thought I told you not to be vulgar, Rebekah!"

"Are you alright?" asked Klaus, walking over to her.

"No," she said, shaking her head.

"What's wrong?" he asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. She turned to smile at him weakly.

"I guess you're familiar with a woman called Esther Mikealson?"

"Oh, bloody hell," Klaus muttered. "What did she do?"

"She introduced herself, and I told her my name, and somehow she made the connection that I was your girlfriend," she said, putting the word in air quotes. "Then she interrogated me a bit, and I told her that I temporarily worked as a waitress, and then she got all hmm, and you're the one dating my son, and then she just left."

Klaus winced. His mother had a knack of making people feel bad for no reason even though they didn't have to.

"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone, especially people my siblings and I bring home for her to meet."

Caroline nodded absent-mindedly. "Thanks for bringing me here anyway," she said, smiling dryly. "I know I was reluctant at first, but this turned out to be fun. Henrik's really sweet."

"And my other siblings?" he asked playfully. She closed her eyes.

"Not now, if I have to think about what I have to say, I'll have a migraine."

I understand," said Klaus, grinning. "Everyone except Rebekah seemed fond of you, love."

She smiled briefly. "Even Finn and Elijah?"

"Yes. Is a surprise that they would like you? It's very hard to dislike you, sweetheart, I'm sure you must've noticed that."

She closed her eyes and laughed. "You're sweet. This pretend girlfriend thing isn't so bad after all, I guess."

He felt a brief sharp pain in his chest when she said pretend, and he turned towards her hesitantly.

He was tired of being cautious.

"Caroline."

"Hmmm?" she asked, looking at the sky.

"Caroline."

"Yeah, Klaus?"

"You know this fake dating thing we're doing?"

She looked at him. "What about it?"

I wanted to know if you'd be interested in removing the fake from it and putting real in its place.

"I have an event at college I have to go to next week, and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me there too."

Shit.

A brief look of disappointment crossed her face. "Yeah, ok, why not?"

"Excellent," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

This was not excellent at all. This was the opposite of excellent.

"I still have three things I want," she said, turning to him. He grinned reluctantly.

"What do you want?"

"The new edition of a book that's coming out the day after tomorrow," she said immediately, and Klaus laughed.

"Alright."

"Chocolate and ice-cream. Lots of it. And I want to go to try every single flavor of chocolate from Ben and Jerry's at once. I've ever tried all of them."

"Done. And three?"

"You ask me out on a real date this time," she said, looking him squarely in the eyes. Klaus stumbled.

"What?"

She rolled her eyes, and Klaus noticed for the thousandth time how blue and beautiful they were. "I'm sure you know how dating works, Klaus?"

"I—I do, I just never thought you'd be—" he stuttered.

"Interested in you?" asked Caroline, and she put her hands on his shoulders. "You're sweet and funny and smart, Klaus. You've been my best friend for five months. Why wouldn't I be interested?"

Klaus was struck speechless.

"I always thought—"

"Well, clearly, you thought wrong," she said rolling her eyes. "I've been flirting with you and giving you hints since months, Klaus," she said, her tone irritated.

"Have you?" he asked dazedly. She smacked him on the head.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Seriously, Klaus, do you still need an invitation to ask me out?" When he still didn't respond, she glared at him. "Talk, Klaus."

"I do not," he finally managed to get out. Caroline rolled her eyes so hard he was afraid she might rupture her retinas.

"Then say something!"

"Caroline," he said, finding his voice. "Would you like to have dinner with me this Friday?"

She grinned widely. "I would."

Then she did something very forward.

She leaned forward and kissed him, straight on the lips.

Her lips were soft on his, and she tasted like strawberries and Henrik's chocolate cake. He grinned against her mouth and pulled her closer to him, delving his tongue into her mouth, making her gasp softly. She ran her hands over his shoulders, while he gripped her by the waist and kissed her harder until they both drew away, panting and gasping for breath.

"Wow," Caroline said, breathing heavily.

"Yes, yes, that was very enjoyable, now let's repeat it," he said, moving closer to her, eager to kiss her again. She stopped him with a finger on his lips, wearing an apologetic smile on her lips, which were swollen from kissing him.

"As much as I'd like to do that, I have to remind you that we're at a birthday for a thirteen-year-old kid, who just so happens to be your brother. Also, the house we're in is also hosting, like, ninety-nine percent of your family."

Klaus groaned and dropped his head, earning a bubbly laugh from Caroline. "Why are you so upset? I'm going out with you, aren't I? We'll have time to do this later."

"For lots of time?" he asked, earning yet another laugh from her.

"Lots and lots of times, Klaus," she promised, trailing a finger over his shirt-encased chest, making him stiffen. She smirked.

"And, if I'm happy, maybe even more."

Klaus had never been so desperate for Friday to arrive.