A/N This was written for Klaroline Fall Bingo using the prompt, "Mooncakes." Please let me know what you think!

Desperate Times

"I cannot believe I'm doing this," Caroline muttered to herself as she banged on Klaus' front door. "Klaus!" she called out over and over, but he didn't answer. Finally, she just decided to let herself in. Surprisingly, the door wasn't even locked. She stomped into the living room and found him morosely staring at the fire. Well, whatever had him in a bad mood was just going to have to wait. This was an emergency.

"Hello!?" she shouted, trying to get his attention. "Did you not hear me?"

Klaus didn't even turn to face her. His tone was beyond irritated. "Of course I heard you, Caroline. I think the whole of Mystic Falls heard you. I'm in no mood for company."

Caroline scoffed, undeterred. She'd come for help and damnit, she was going to get it. "Well, I'm sorry that you're having personal issues, but I have a real crisis on my hands." She growled slightly when he didn't even acknowledge her. "Elena stole my pumpkin fritters recipe!" Finally, he turned, staring at her like she had to be kidding. "I went to submit it to the contest and the judge said that somebody else already did. And when I asked who, she said she couldn't remember." She looked at him like he was an idiot when he said nothing. "Hello? The vervain is out of the town water supply. She was compelled!"

The hybrid had heard a lot of ridiculous stories in his thousand years, but this one took the cake. He covered his mouth and did his best not to laugh. "It is not funny," she scolded him, growing angrier by the second.

Klaus tried, and failed, to stifle a chuckle. Nobody could improve his mood like that baby vampire. Whatever she wanted, they both knew she was going to get it. But he wanted something in return. "No, I know; I know."

"Then stop laughing!" Her face softened, voice dropping when she saw how hard he was trying to keep it together. She knew she was being ridiculous, but she didn't care. She had to make him understand. "Look, I know that the contest isn't important to you, but it's important to me."

The Original knew that he had her, but it was so much fun to play along. "Well, surely finding another recipe is well within your substantial vampire capabilities?"

Caroline felt herself growing more frustrated by the minute. Why was he being so difficult? She spun around dramatically. "But I don't want just another recipe." Turning back to face him, she stomped her foot. "I wanna win. Like Iron Chef win." And that's when she offered up the fluttering eyelashes and Miss Mystic smile. "So... could you please go into your creepy trophy case of family cookbooks and dig me out something of TV caliber?"

Klaus stood there with his thumb and forefinger on his chin, pretending to mull it over. "What's in it for me?" he finally asked with an arrogant smirk.

The blonde's spine instantly straightened, her entire body on alert. She felt her lower belly clench at the heat behind his gaze. "Well, what do you want?" she asked warily, afraid she was only too willing to give in.

The hybrid's grin only widened at the obvious affect he had on her. He flashed her an innocent smile. "How about a second date?"

Caroline scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "You wish."

Turning back to the fire, he held up his hands. "Well, fine, fine, if you don't want to win..."

The vampire knew then that she was beat. "Ugh!" she squealed, knowing she was probably giving in too easily but not really caring too much. "Fine!" Klaus turned to her, an evil grin lighting up his handsome features. Before he could say anything else, she held up a pointy finger and wagged it at him. "But I get to pick where we go."

"Well, that hardly seems fair," he argued. "You got to pick the last time."

"Take it or leave it."

Klaus looked her over with a feral gleam in his eye. She looked absolutely delicious in her lacy cream top and tight jeans. He wanted nothing more than to rip off her jacket and get a better look at her beautiful, porcelain skin, but instead, he conceded. "Deal." She held her out her hand to shake. He looked down at it, amused, before taking it and bringing her knuckles to his lips. Her eyes dilated; his cock hardened. Holding her gaze, he pulled back. "Wait here." She simply nodded, blushing furiously.

The hybrid disappeared up the stairs, leaving Caroline tapping her foot and pacing in circles. After ten seriously long minutes, he reappeared holding a very old yellow recipe box. "What do you have for me?" she asked a little more forcefully than she'd meant, smiling impishly when he raised a brow at her impatience.

"Well, I have a few options." He set the box on the mantle, pulling a few that he'd thought looked suitable. He held up the first card. "A recipe for pumpkin ravioli from 15th century Dolomites-"

"No," she said immediately, waving her hand dismissively. "It has to be dessert. What else you got with pumpkin? I'll teach that bitch not to steal my fritters."

Klaus chuckled lowly at her vitriol, quickly clearing his throat to cover it up. "Pumpkin pie from Colonial times," he offered, holding out a card.

Caroline didn't even reach out to take it, waving her hand again. "Klaus, no!" she whined, rolling her eyes. "Everybody is going to make pumpkin pie. I need something new, something unique, something... exotic."

The Original frowned, quickly flipping through the recipe cards. He shook his head at several before stopping on one. He took it out, humming, and flipped it over and over in his hands as he considered it. "How about mooncakes?"

The vampire squinted at him, shaking her head. "What's a mooncake?" He handed over the recipe; she groaned, stomping her foot petulantly before pressing it against his chest. "Klaus, this is in Japanese or something."

"Chinese, actually," he corrected. "My family spent some time there around the 12th century, but this is even older than that. It was a favorite of Rebekah's. They're eaten during the mid-autumn festival of lunar appreciation." Seeing her confusion, he added, "People sit around eating cake and watching the moon."

"Ohhh," she said, nodding her head in understanding. "So, what are they? Are they good?"

"Well, as I said, they're a family favorite. They're crunchy on the outside with filling on the inside. There are many varieties, but this one is Cantonese. It has a flaky, buttery crust, seed filling and salted egg yolk in the middle. Definitely meets your requirement for unique. I'll warn you, though, the recipe is a bit complicated."

Caroline narrowed her eyes, snatching the card back. "I can do it." She looked it over and realized it was still not in English. She looked between him and the card before commanding bossily, "Type it up and email it to me."

"Don't have your email," he replied flippantly. "How about a hand delivery?"

"How about I text it to you?" She smiled sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes. He exhaled through his nostrils before nodding. It had been worth a try. "Can you get it to me by tonight?" It hadn't really been a question. Before he could say no, she turned around and walked back to her car. This was going to get her that trophy.

Her email ping went off before she even got home. Groaning, she picked up the phone and called him immediately. "Klaaauuuussss," she whined down the line, "this is impossible!"

"I thought you said you could do it?" he teased playfully.

"I can," she spat defensively, affronted. After a beat, she ordered, "But you're helping. And bring ingredients. Be here tomorrow after school. Bye!" She hung up before he could object.

The next 24 hours were the longest of Caroline's life. She'd been bouncing back and forth between loving and hating this idea ever since she'd ended their phone call. Baking with Klaus Mikaelson? Seriously? He was the big bad wolf after all... But, she had a bitchy no-humanity Elena to beat. Desperate times called for desperate measures. Sacrifices would just have to be made. But was it really a sacrifice to spend time with him? She kept trying to push the thought away, but it kept gnawing at her. Her heart jumped through her chest when she heard a knock on the door, anticipation filling her lower belly.

"Hello, sweetheart," Klaus greeted easily, carrying several bags of groceries. He was dressed in an olive drab Henley and loose-fitting jeans over leather boots. And he did not look good. Nope. Definitely not. And she definitely hadn't picked out a cute strapless mini-dress just because it made her boobs look good. That didn't happen.

"You're here to cook," she said firmly, taking half the bags and leading him to the kitchen. He stared at her ass the entire time, smiling with dimples when she turned to him. She pointed her index finger at him again. "No funny business."

"Hadn't occurred to me," he lied. Of course it had occurred to him. He set the bags on the counter, standing way too close. "But if you've got other plans..." He trailed the back of his knuckle down her cheek, laughing out loud when she smacked it away. He backed up and held up his hands innocently. "Alright, just cooking."

"That's right." She inhaled a shaky breath, straightening her dress. "Where do we start?"

Klaus was actually surprisingly at ease in her kitchen. It was almost artistic watching him stir the thick, yellow batter that would become the crust. "This recipe comes from the Guangdong and Guangxi provinces," he explained, setting the bowl aside to start his work on the filling. He passed her an egg carton. "Crack four of these and blend the yolks. Toss the whites. The yolks represent the four phases of the moon."

"You really know your pastries," she observed with a shy smile. He flashed her his dimples and they shared a comfortable moment as each worked to make the Chinese delicacies.

"I've been around a long time. Hand me the seeds." He poured five traditional seeds, including pumpkin, into a food processor. "Get me half a cup of water, please." She rushed over to the fridge and got a bottle of water, quickly measuring out the correct amount. "You have to fry the filling, so it needs to be just the right consistency." She was impressed watching him add tiny amounts of liquid to the mixture until he was finally satisfied. He moved over to the stove, and she found herself staring at the exposed skin of his forearms beneath his rolled-up Henley. "Come. Watch how I do this. When frying, you need to constantly flip the paste. If you don't, you might end up with a burnt taste. The finished paste should be quite dry and easily foldable into a solid block." He turned to her, handing over the spatula. "Wet paste would make assembly very challenging. It also causes excess steam during baking. It'll make the mooncakes lose their shape."

"We have to shape them, too?" she asked skeptically, gnawing her lower lip. Klaus smiled at her, walking over to the final brown paper grocery bag. He pulled out a metal press and showed it to her. "Umm, is that like 800 years old? It might not be super sanitary..."

The hybrid chuckled. "I admit that I had it overnighted from Amazon."

Caroline couldn't help but smile. "You ordered me a cake mould?"

"Well, you want to win, don't you?" He looked over at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She found herself getting lost in the sincerity of his cerulean eyes. A sizzle broke them from their reverie. Caroline looked down and sucked in a deep breath at the frying pan. "Here, let me take over," Klaus offered kindly, using vamp speed to pick out the black flecks of burnt filling. "Add the flour to the batter and shape it into dough, would you?"

"Yeah, sure." She kneaded and folded the dough until it thickened, occasionally stealing glances at her cooking partner as he finished up the paste. "What next?" she asked, wiping her hands on a festive pumpkin kitchen rag.

"Now you use the mould, and I prepare the egg yolks." He handed her the metal contraption and showed her how to use it.

"This is kinda fun," she admitted, shaping and perfecting the shell of the cakes.

Klaus looked over and smiled to himself, enjoying watching her obsess over the exact shape. "I'm glad you think so." He pulled out a spray bottle and set to work lightly misting the yolks on a baking tray. "This is called Baijiu. It's a Chinese liquor."

Caroline fanned the air in front of her. "It smells like rotten fruit." Her face twisted up in distaste.

"I don't recommend drinking it," Klaus agreed with a smirk. "But it'll add a little extra flavor, and it helps the eggs maintain their shape." He opened up the oven and slid in the tray, the heat warming his face beneath his gruff stubble.

They chatted idly while they waited on the paste to cool and the eggs to cook. She wouldn't admit it, but she found herself really enjoying his company. He had a lot of stories about life in the 12th century that she couldn't help but find fascinating. He'd once told her she'd have to adjust her perception of time now that she was a vampire. She wondered if the day would come that she'd have centuries-old stories. Then the thought occurred to her that maybe those memories would involve the man in front of her. Fortunately, the oven timer went off before she could think too closely on what that meant.

"Now what?" she asked chipperly.

"Now, we shape the paste and add the yolks to the middle."

Caroline blinked a few times, hand on her shapely hip. "Could you have picked a more elaborate recipe?" Klaus said nothing, dimples digging into his cheeks. She rolled her sapphire eyes, blowing a strand of floury blonde hair from her face. "Show me what to do." Assembling the cakes was surprisingly difficult; he ended up doing most of them. "Did you go through a pottery phase or something?" she asked teasingly, admiring the way his fingers shaped the cakes.

"I've gone through every phase."

"Guess that happens when you're like a billion or something," she joked, smiling brightly.

Klaus flicked his gaze up and down, taking in the sight of her sky-blue mini dress. His eyes darkened as he imagined what she was wearing underneath, and how much he wanted to find out. "I could teach you a thing or two." His husky whisper and delicious accent sent shivers down her spine. The tension between them was thick; it was a challenge to move on to the final cake. After it was finished, he mixed up one last bowl. "We'll baste them with this egg wash before we cook, and again after five minutes. They'll be done in fifteen. When is your contest?"

"Day after tomorrow."

"Perfect. They're best served after a day or two. Refrigerate them until about two hours before you leave." He turned to her after setting them in the oven. "And sweetheart?" She found herself so distracted that all she managed was a hum of acknowledgment. "Do be sure to tell me how it goes."

Caroline won first prize at the Mystic Falls High Annual Cook-Off. Elena was livid; she was elated. Rather than rubbing it in the bitchy vampire's face, she found herself eagerly dialing Klaus' number as she practically skipped to her car. "I won!" she squealed before he even said hello.

The hybrid smiled brightly across town, setting down his paintbrush. He'd been adding the finishing touches to a tiny speck of flour she'd had on her nose as she'd laughed at one of his stories. She was ravishing. "That's fantastic, love. Congratulations." She babbled on and on about the competition, and how pissed her former best friend was like they'd been friends forever; he was enchanted. When she finally stopped talking, he interjected, "Are you free tomorrow night?"

"What for?" she asked, not thinking too clearly.

"For our date." She felt heat rising up her cheeks as she walked up to her front door. A bright bouquet of yellow roses was waiting for her. "Caroline, are you there?"

"You sent me flowers?" she asked in a small voice, clearly pleased.

"I did," he confirmed, grinning. "Now, about tomorrow night..."

"What?" She had to shake her head to clear away thoughts of exactly how she wanted to thank him for the roses. "Oh, yeah. I'm free."

"Have you decided what you'd like to do?" he asked somewhat warily. What did teenagers even do in the 21st century besides drink and have sex? Not that he had a problem with either of those activities...

Picking up the newspaper, a bright smile split her face in two. "I know just the thing."

A/N I have the sequel to this all written up and will post it in a few days. Please let me know what you think!