The outfits were terrible.

Caroline stumbled around her room, stuffing things into the black handbag that hung over her shoulder. Lipstick, purse, keys, hand sanitiser.

"Ironic, isn't it Caroline, that you're dragging me along to your 'work party'… and yet, you're the one making us late," Klaus taunted from the bedroom doorway, twirling a tube of mascara between his fingers.

"Hey, I was looking for that!" She lunged for the mascara, but he held it just out of reach. "Not funny, Klaus. We have to go!"

He turned it over to her with a smirk, gesturing for her to lead the way.

Caroline drove.

It was her party, after all.

"Before you start complaining, we are staying for at least three hours. You aren't going to get drunk, flirt with any of my co-workers, or feel me up," Caroline lectured, glancing at Klaus. He was leaning back comfortably in his seat, suit making him look unjustly gorgeous, smiling as he watched her talk. "Are you even listening, Klaus?"

"Of course, love."

She huffed, focusing her attention on the road.

Klaus wasn't bothered. His wife always got like this before important events. She was anxious to make sure the event went perfectly smooth, and it usually made her a little snappy.

He reached out, intertwining his hand with hers and giving a quick squeeze.

"The party is going to be fantastic, love. You helped plan it after all, and I promise I'll behave." Klaus gave her a quick wink as they pulled into the building's car park.

"Yeah well…" Caroline forced a smile, fiddling with her hair in the mirror. "Do I look okay?"

"You will be the most beautiful woman in the room, Caroline. You always are."

He opened her door for her, and she stepped out in heels that made them exactly the same height. Taking his arm, Caroline indicated the way as though he hadn't been here a hundred times before.

When they finally entered the party room, Caroline seemed perfectly in control of her nerves. Their entrance elicited a few gasps and murmurs from amongst the guests, but that was always to be expected. The pair's undeniable good looks coupled with their high-profile careers made them stand out whether they liked it or not. Luckily, Caroline and Klaus both happened to like it.

The perfect illusion was shattered mere moments later, when April Young, one of Caroline's co-organisers, came rushing over to her.

"Caroline, hey, you look amazing," the younger girl stumbled over her words, looking nervously at Klaus who was still attached to Caroline's arm.

"Uh, thanks April, I love your dress. Did you need something?"

"I just thought you might, y'know, want to know that Elena's in the bathroom throwing up… and, ummm, I think she forgot to make sure the waiters let out the appetizers in rounds because, well, we're almost out of mini salmon souffles…" as April continued to talk, Caroline seemed more and more irritated, until the girl simply decided to stop talking.

"Well, tell the kitchen to make more. They aren't supposed to close for another hour."

"That's the thing, I told them to but they said it was going to cost another two hundred-"

"Tell them to add it to the bill."

April went to protest again, but Caroline cut her off with a flick of her hand. Without another word, she turned away and led her and Klaus deeper into the throng of people.

Caroline took the first glass of champagne she saw, downing it far quicker than she should. Klaus stopped her when she went for a second glass.

"I always love to see you intoxicated love, regardless of what you are intoxicated on," he added with a grin, "but I don't think this is an ideal time or place."

Caroline shook her head, face filled with an emotion Klaus couldn't quite place. Looking around nervously, Klaus decided that the party could spare her for a few moments and dragged Caroline outside.

"Caroline."

"I'm fine Klaus, my alcohol tolerance is like," she reached her hand up, "up here.".

"I do not doubt that love. What has you so worked up all of a sudden?"

"Okay, so, you know Elena, right? We're both up for the same promotion, and she's totally going to get it, even though she's drunk out of her mind in the bathrooms at 9pm when she's supposed to be helping manage this stupid party. Just because her parents were some town royalty and she's dating that ass Damon Salvatore, she gets whatever she wants. Well, I can do what I want too."

Caroline went to go back inside, but Klaus stopped her.

"Caroline."

She shot him a look.

"I'm fine, Klaus. I'm going to go… check on the souffle or something."

Half an hour later, he found her nursing a glass of straight gin in the corner of the room.

"I should call Matty on that girl, because denim at a black-tie event is probably legitimately a crime," Caroline spat out, bypassing greetings in favour of skipping straight to shit-talking. That was one thing she had always loved about Klaus; he had no reservations about gossiping with her.

"I don't know how she was let in," Klaus agreed, taking quick note of the looser manner in which she held her body. Her speech wasn't slurred though -yet-, for which he was grateful.

Caroline finished off her drink, setting it down on a nearby table and heading back into the centre of the room. She was a girl on a mission- some confusing and apparently confidential mission- but she still took Klaus's arm when he offered it.

"Red is not her colour," Caroline pointed at a blonde who was trying to chat up a clearly disinterested man. Klaus nodded along with her, smiling politely at people as they passed through the crowd.

Caroline reached for another glass of champagne when a server came their way, lazily surveying the vast array of outfits throughout the room. She certainly had something to say about each one.

"I mean, how did someone design that dress and then get other people to agree that it looked good. And someone actually bought it? Hideous," Caroline accused a bit too loudly, garnering looks from a few people nearby as she finished yet another drink. What was this, her third- no fourth- in the last hour?

"Caroline," Klaus warned softly, "tone it down a bit, love."

As if things couldn't get worse, now there was someone approaching them who he did not recognise in the slightest. Klaus racked his memory for any recollections of this young woman, but they evaded him.

"Caroline! And Klaus, it's lovely to see you both." The woman was clearly not paying any attention to Caroline, so he desperately hoped she wouldn't realise the girl clinging to his arm was doing so largely so that she wouldn't fall over.

"Good evening, love. That's a lovely dress, is it-" Caroline cut him off with a pointed snort.

Klaus nudged her sharply in the ribs, before continuing, "is it from the new collection, I think I recognise it." At least he recognised something, because it turned out he was right, and the woman was delighted enough to forget Caroline's interjection.

"Caroline, honestly," he chided, once they had finally escaped, "this is ridiculous. Should we just go home?"

Caroline chuckled for no apparent reason.

"Maybe," she said finally. "What sort of orange is that?"

"Caroline!" Klaus directed her away from the man in the strangely offensive suit who was glaring at the couple, affronted.

There was a moment of sweet serendipity at last, because Klaus spotted April Young giving out orders to a couple of servers. When she was finished, he approached her.

"Hello, love," he greeted, watching her visibly shrink back.

"Hi… Klaus. What do you need?"

"Perceptive. You see, darling Caroline seems to be a bit sick, so we are going to have to head off now. That won't be a problem, will it?" He obviously wasn't asking, but April shook her head anyway.

"Of course, of course. Thank you for… I don't know. Have a good night!" April smiled strangely before scampering off, back into the kitchen.

In the car, Caroline was wasted.

"The food was severely lacking, Kl-aus," Caroline ranted from the passenger seat, "and all the outfits were terrible."

"Yes, well, you made that very clear tonight love," Klaus replied, smiling a little. She was very drunk and slightly bitchy, but she was his very drunk and slightly bitchy.