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"I give up. You win Elena," Caroline groaned, head cradled in her hands. Caroline and Elena had been at The Grill for the last few hours, drinking and having fun. It had been an impulsive decision, something Caroline wasn't altogether known for. In fact, Damon had once called her Prudy Trudy, an insult that still bothered her. Not that she would ever give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Their lives seemed to be consumed by everything Supernatural, and even though they were vampires themselves, it was nice to have a break from it all every once in a while. So, in a friendly competition, Caroline and Elena had made bets on who could drink the most. Caroline had lost.
She had thought that now, being a vampire and all, that she could win at this, but she should have known better. Even whenever they were humans, Elena had always had a higher tolerance for alcohol.
"Thought you could keep up blondie," Damon commented, mocking her. Caroline lifted her head to glare at him through narrowed eyes, her vision blurred. He was sitting beside Elena, knocking back shot after shot. She hadn’t known that Elena was going to invite Damon here. She hadn’t even noticed his presence until he had spoken to her.
"That’s my cue to leave." she replied, standing from the stool. It was no secret that Caroline wasn’t fond of Damon, and she was even less prepared to deal with him in her intoxicated state.
A wave of dizziness hit Caroline and she swayed on her feet, hands clutching the cool surface of the counter for support. This was ridiculous. Elena didn’t seem to be nearly as drunk as Caroline was…but then again, she hadn’t tried to stand either.
Grabbing her purse, she stuffed her car keys inside. She would walk home, and then come back tomorrow to get her car. It was bad enough that she had been drinking, if her mom found out that she had been driving while under the influence, she would kill her.
"Want Damon to drive you home? Or we could call someone else to pick you up." She heard Elena offer, her voice concerned. She must have noticed how off balance that she was, and that only served to embarrass Caroline further.
"No, thanks. I’m fine, really." Caroline assured her, walking towards the door and trying not to stumble in her heels. Caroline hadn’t gotten drunk in a while, and had always been a light-weight when it came to drinking. "Never again." she muttered to herself, intending for this to be the last time that she allowed herself to get so wasted.
Once outside, Caroline breathed in the fresh, cool air. Surprisingly, it helped. Inside The Grill it was stuffy, filled with people and overly warm, but it felt nice outside. Caroline smiled and blurred away without a second thought.
It was probably a funny sight. Caroline would blur off into the night, then stop to regain her balance. This continued for a good five minutes, all the while Caroline was laughing as if it were the most entertaining thing in the world. Eventually, she stopped and looked around, unsure of where she was.
As she was standing there, the bright lights from a car came around a corner and temporarily blinded her. She closed her eyes against the glare, glad whenever it went away. However, her eyes shot back open whenever she heard a familiar voice.
"Caroline? What are you doing out here in the middle of the road?" Klaus’s confused voice asked. Caroline, drunk as she was didn’t even think of replying with one of her usual sarcastic or snarky comments. She hadn’t expected to see Klaus, and so she had none of her usual defenses up against The Original Hybrid.
"I was trying to get home. I got lost." Caroline admitted, giggling again whenever she thought about how silly it was that she had gotten lost in Mystic Falls. A tiny town that she had lived in for her entire life.
"You’re drunk." Klaus said, stating the obvious, an amused expression on his face. "Why is it that we always seem to run into one another whenever there’s alcohol involved, hm?" he asked, moving towards her before guiding her slowly towards his SUV. "Let me take you home." he said gently, helping her into the passenger side before closing the door.
Caroline waited until he had gotten inside the car as well before turning her head to the left to look at him. “Maybe it is our thing after all.” She replied teasingly, remembering how Klaus had once asked if drinking was their ‘thing’.
Klaus smiled at her, and she thought about how charming he could be. Even his smile was adorable with those dimples. It was sometimes hard to remind herself of all the horrible things that he had done, and right now she didn’t even want to. All she wanted to do now was sleep. They drove in silence on the way to her house, Caroline leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes.
She must have dozed off because whenever she opened her eyes again, they were at her house and Klaus was carrying her to her bedroom. “Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep,” She murmured against his jacket, eyes half closed.
"It’s alright, love." Klaus said, lowering her down onto the bed. Whenever he straightened up, Caroline was watching him and noticed the strange expression on his face. It was a look that she had seen before. Caroline knew that Klaus was in love with her. She had once confronted him about it after he had bitten her, and the tears in his eyes along with his lack of denial had confirmed it.
Without thinking Caroline stretched her arms out towards him in an almost child-like gesture. “Lie down with me?” She asked quietly. Normally this wasn’t something that Caroline would ever say, but in this moment she wasn’t in the mood to fight against whatever there was between them.
Klaus chuckled, smirking as he looked down at her. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. I imagine you wouldn’t be too happy with yourself in the morning whenever you sober up.” Klaus pointed out.
Caroline sat upright in the bed, already noticing that she wasn’t quite as dizzy as she had been earlier. Standing on her knees, she moved to the edge of the bed and grabbed his hand. “I’m not asking you to have sex with me. I’m asking you to cuddle with me.” She said bluntly, pulling his hand as she attempted to lie down once more.
"I don’t cuddle," He protested, an expression of disbelief on his face, but moved to get onto the bed all the same. The small mattress dipped as the extra weight was added onto it, causing Caroline to slide towards him. Klaus settled onto his left side, facing Caroline and watching her.
Caroline blushed whenever she noticed his intent gaze, and dipped her head until her face was pressed against his chest. After a few moments, she felt him lift her slightly one arm going beneath her and the other going around her as he held her against him.
Caroline was still extremely sleepy, but now her thoughts were keeping her awake. She kept reminding herself that she and Tyler were broken up. Tyler wasn’t even in Mystic Falls anymore, and besides..it wasn’t like she and Klaus were doing anything bad. She was just drunk and over-analyzing things like she always did.
"Goodnight, Caroline." He said, and unknown to him, Caroline was smiling against his chest as she closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep, perfectly content in that moment, both with where she was at and who she was with.