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“Is there a reason for your glum expression, or is it simply stuck that way?” Kol asked, eying Stefan out of the corner of his eye as he lined up his shot on the pool table.
Stefan glared at the young Mikaelson.
“Har-har.” He replied dryly, sarcastic, moving forward for his turn as Kol scattered the balls across the green felt with his shot.
Klaus chuckled, arriving with their three drinks, precariously balancing the pints between his two hands. He lowered them to a nearby table, his younger brother quickly taking one pint out of his hands and taking a sip. Klaus raised his own glass to his lips as Kol handed him the cue, the brothers sharing a grin. “Kol does have a point, mate.”
The Mystic Grill was quiet, especially for a Thursday night, very few people at the bar or ordering food at the tables. Preferable from the alternative of a Friday or Saturday night, when all the young teenagers flocked to the only place to eat in town, with its tacky lighting and cheap liquor. Honestly, on a normal day, Klaus would never have been caught in the place, but ever since he had moved from his apartment in Chicago back to his hometown - a move that was meant to be temporary after the death of his mother - beggars couldn’t be choosers. Then his sister had got engaged, roping the entire family in preparing for the ‘wedding of the century’ and Klaus thanked whatever deity existed that he had decided to rent a flat in town, rather than stay at the family house.
When Stefan asked to hang out and meet up for drinks that morning, Klaus had jumped at the chance, ecstatic to get away from his sister’s overbearing complaints over the phone about how her wedding plans were not going to plan and you have to come over Nick, Finn is hopeless .
Naturally, Kol had followed him, desperately grabbing any excuse to avoid helping their sister pick out flower arrangements .
“Well, what’s wrong?” Klaus placing his drink back on the table and clapping Stefan on the back after he finished his turn, taking his place at the pool table. “Care to enlighten us?”
Stefan sighed. “How do you two do it?”
Kol, clearly not fully engaged with the conversation, winked at a girl across the Grill he had been sneaking glances at for the last five minutes. “Do what?”
Stefan gestured to him, as if to prove his point. “Do that. Stay in the game so long.”
Kol grinned, the smile smug. “Why that’s down to a great many things, Stefan - personally I think it’s my handsome good looks that makes women flock to my open arms.”
“Then he opens his mouth and scares them all away.” Klaus chuckled, lining up his cue and taking a shot, sending the pool balls scattering into each other.
Kol glared at his brother. “Piss off, Nik.”
“Look.” Stefan said, gaining back their attention and stopping the sibling standoff. “I need advice. After Elena…” The Salavatore avoided their eyes. “It’s been months.”
“Since you dated?” Klaus asked with a frown.
“No, since I.. you know .” At both Klaus and Kol’s blank looks, Stefan sighed again, eyes flickering to the few patrons littering the bar, lowering his voice. “ Had sex. ”
Klaus winced. “Bloody hell, mate, that’s sad.”
“Thanks. Not like I don’t know that already.” Stefan said dryly.
“No, Nik’s just being polite. That’s so sad and horrifically pathetic I think it may be kinder to just kill you.”
“It’s not that bad. I’ve learnt to appreciate the finer things in life. Like the birds singing, or what colour the sky is.”
“The sky’s blue, Stefan, and I had sex yesterday.” Kol declared, taking his shot, managing to get two balls into the hole at once. Klaus snickered at Stefan’s expense, earning himself another glare.
“Ok, fine, yes I need help.” Stefan admitted, sounding defeated. “Happy now?”
“What kind of help do you need?” Klaus asked, frowning as he moved to take his turn again at the pool table.
“I have a date tomorrow. It has to go well.”
Klaus leaned down, debating which balls to hit. “Advice then?”
Kol snapped his fingers in realisation. “Oh! I have something!”
Klaus leaned over to Stefan, clapping him on the back and whispering in his ear. “You’re officially doomed, mate. All hope is lost.”
Kol scowled. “Shut up, Nik, this is a good idea.”
“What is it?” Stefan asked curiously.
“It’s this story I came up with, very romantic. I swear, any woman that hears it they’re like putty.”
“Really?” Stefan’s eyes lit up with eagerness. “Well, then, tell it to me.” He leant against the wall, folding his arms.
“Okay, now you’ll want to have sex with me when you hear it, but you have to remember it’s just the story.”
Klaus jolted, eyes widening at Kol’s words and completely missing the shot, hitting the green felt of the pool table instead of the ball.
Stefan unfolded his arms, regarding Kol dryly. “I’ll try to restrain myself.”
Satisfied, Kol cleared his throat. “Years ago, when I was backpacking across western Europe-”
“You were backpacking across Europe?” Klaus interjected, snickering.
“I’m trying to help our desperate friend here, Nik-”
“I’m not desperate .” Stefan protested, voice a low whine.
“Yes, you are. Your enthusiasm to take advice from Kol says otherwise.” Klaus countered.
“-so would you do us a favor and shut it .” Kol growled, glaring at his brother.
Klaus raised his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. I will endeavor to let you tell your story in peace.”
Kol waved the cue stick at him. “You’re just bitter because my version is better than yours.”
“Everyone knows women love animals, Kol.” Klaus said with a roll of his eyes.
“But hummingbirds? Really , Nik?”
Klaus clicked his jaw, hating the fact his brother had befriended Caroline - a woman Kol knew he fancied - so successfully, earning a place in her small circle of friends. Close friends, if she had told him about that .
Kol also knew that despite his brother’s advances, Caroline had yet to make a move. In fact, Klaus was quickly becoming worried he had been thrown into the same bag as Kol, nothing more than a friend . Ergo - his brother was deliberately trying to piss him off.
Klaus was going to punch him.
“Unlike you, dear brother, the women I choose to associate with like the finer things in life, and are not ready to jump someone’s bones at a moment's notice. So yes, hummingbirds . Extraordinary creatures for extraordinary women.” He ground out, biting back a snarl.
“Pushover.” Kol coughed as he spoke, deliberating being irritating. Klaus debated whether it would be more entertaining to stab him with the cue stick or pour the pint of beer over his head.
“Can we get back to the story? Or are you two going to continue squabbling like five-year-olds?” Stefan remarked dryly.
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” Kol said pointedly, glancing at Klaus, who narrowed his eyes and growled slightly in warning, “I was just outside of Barcelona, hiking in the foothills of Mount Tib-i-da-bo.” Kol rolled the word off his tongue, causing Stefan to raise his eyebrow. Klaus rolled his eyes again. Kol ignored them both, carrying on. “I was at the end of this path and I came to a clearing, and there was a lake - very secluded - and there were tall trees all around.” Kol dropped his voice, leaning towards the two as his voice grew softer. “It was dead silent. Gorgeous . And across the lake I saw a beautiful woman, bathing herself. But she was crying.”
Stefan, caught under the spell of Kol’s performance, seemed genuinely intrigued by the story, even emotional. His voice wavered when he spoke. “Why?”
Kol shrugged, reaching past Sefan for his pint. “Doesn’t matter. By that point clothes are normally already coming off, mate.”
The spell broke, Stefan shaking his head as a deep frown settled across his features.
“You can’t be serious. That actually works? ” Stefan asked, tone incredulous.
Kol grinned lecherously as he sipped his drink. “Every time.”
“Are you sure it’s not the accent?” Stefan accused, eyes narrowing in disbelief.
Kol looked outrageously offended at the very thought.
“No, it's not the accent. It’s my irresistible charm.”
Klaus chuckled, taking his shot, the pool balls scattering across the table. “If you say so.”
Kol grabbed a coaster off the table, throwing it at his brother’s head.
“I thought I told you to shut it , Nik.”
“KLAUS! KLAAAAAUUUUUS!”
The front door shuddered with the force of each bang, each urgent knock so loud it probably could be heard ten doors down. Cursing, Klaus stumbled out of the bathroom and hurried towards the door, hand drying his wet hair with a towel as he went.
“KLAUS! KLA-”
“ALRIGHT! Bloody hell, will you shut-” Klaus yanked the door open, ready to deliver a few choice words, only to freeze at the sight of the woman before him. Standing on the doorstep, hand poised to knock, blonde tresses elegantly falling down across her shoulders, was-
“ Caroline. ” Klaus breathed.
She narrowed her eyes, sending him a sharp glare. “Did you not hear me the first time?” Caroline’s free hand landed on her hip, giving her quite the irritated demeanor. Her other arm was occupied, carrying a large white box with eggshell blue tissue paper peeking out the lid.
“Of course I heard you, Caroline.” Klaus rolled his eyes, leaning on the door jamb, gathering back his senses from the momentary surprise. Wasn’t she supposed to be out with Kol? “I’m pretty sure the whole of Mystic Falls heard you.”
“Then why didn’t you answer?”
“Because I was in a shower.” He gestured to himself, to the clearly fresh clothes, the towel hanging around his neck, wet hair curling as it dried. “Though if you’d prefer me to answer the door in nothing but a towel next time I will.”
She blushed, hiding it with a scoff. Klaus smirked, catching it anyway. Caroline glared at him, pushing past him into his apartment. “Look, it doesn't matter. Are you free right now?”
“I haven’t got any plans.” Klaus said cautiously, closing the door behind her with a frown. He turned around, sending her a suspicious glance as she walked towards the living room. “Why?”
“Your brother is an ass!” She called over her shoulder.
Right. One of those nights, then.
Klaus sighed, heading towards the kitchen. Ever since they had met, Caroline had become an immovable object in his life. Their friendship had taken time to form, but when it had, Klaus had spent countless nights listening to Caroline’s grievances, and she, his. He couldn’t remember a time where he hadn’t relied on her caring support.
Klaus opened a cabinet, reaching up for two wine glasses, and grabbed a champagne bottle from the wine rack. As he searched a drawer for a bottle opener, he tilted his head in the direction of the living room. “Which one?” He called out.
He could faintly hear something being dropped on his coffee table, probably the box, before she answered him, voice a low snarl.
“ Kol. ”
Klaus paused as he began pouring the champagne.
“Why?” Klaus asked hesitantly, drawing out the word. “ What did he do? ”
He grabbed the now full glasses, walking through the open archway that connected his kitchen to the living room, walking up to where she had made herself comfortable on one of his old tan leather couches.
“ What did he do? ” She echoed with visceral fury. She pointed a finger at him. “I’ll tell you what he did. I gave him the wedding invitations for your sister’s wedding weeks ago, to send off to the guests - the only job I gave him.” She threw her hands out, shuffling along the couch to give room so Klaus could sit down. “The easiest job even! Elijah is looking after the rings, Finn has been a godsend and helped me with a lot of the big details like the reception, and obviously you let me and Rebekah drag you to the groomsmen fittings-”
“In fairness I am Marcel’s best man-” Klaus tried to cut in, but Caroline was having none of it.
“And Kol can’t even finish the simple task of posting a few envelopes . I’m going to kill him.”
“He hasn’t sent them?” Klaus asked, finally realising what the large box contained, pulling it towards him and lifting off the lid. Inside were dozens upon dozens of invitations, clearly not wrapped or stamped.
“Oh, it gets worse.” Caroline declared, making Klaus raise an eyebrow. “Not only did I find out today that he hadn't done it, but at first he couldn’t even remember where he had put them. I just spent the whole afternoon turning his apartment upside down to find them and he has the gall to then ditch me, leaving me to do them alone, claiming he has a date and can’t help me.” She let out a tortured groan, head falling into her hands. “They need to be sent out tomorrow, otherwise they will not get out to the guests in time. And then Rebekah will be upset, because half of the guests won’t be able to come because of the late notice. I can’t believe the first time I’m a maid of honor I’ve already messed it all up and the wedding day isn’t even here yet.”
“Now, surely that’s a little harsh, love.” Klaus tried, pushing one of the glasses into her hand. She took it without protest, not really paying attention.
“ARGH! I should have never trusted that idiot with the job!” Caroline exclaimed in frustration, raising the glass to her lips and taking a long sip. She blinked, looking down at the golden sparkling liquid. “Is this champagne?” She looked up at him. “Why did you pour champagne?”
He shrugged. “Because it’s our thing. And you look like you need a drink.”
She scoffed. “We don’t have a thing.”
“Oh, don’t we?” Klaus asked with a grin. He nudged her shoulder with his, smile widening. “The night we met, at the Founders party, I offered you champagne-”
“After you laughed at me for having sushi all over my face.” Caroline recalled bitterly. Klaus smiled, eyes only on her.
“You looked adorable.”
She glared at him. “And you looked like an ass. I mean, instead of introducing yourself and pointing it out like a gentleman, you just laughed .”
“You should be thankful I wasn’t Kol. He wouldn’t have let it go.” Klaus said smugly, sipping his champagne as he started picking through the invitations.
Caroline sucked in a deep breath, the last of her patience spent. She sent a deadly glare in his direction, grinding out the words she spoke. “Do not speak his name.”
Klaus pressed his lips together, clearly trying not to laugh. At her increasingly murderous glare, he quickly did the logical thing: change the subject.
“So, I’m guessing you brought over these invitations for a reason?” He said, barely hiding a smile. He gestured to the box, taking another sip of his glass.
“Will you help me?” She asked anxiously, leaning towards him as she put her glass down. At his considering expression, Caroline’s eyes immediately lit up. “ Please , Klaus, there’s hundreds and they have to be done tonight-”
“Alright. Where do I start?”
He smiled, and Caroline found herself returning it.
“ Thank you. Seriously. You are a lifesaver. ” She dramatically declared, beginning to unpack the invitations, gathering the cards and envelopes onto separate piles.
“I aim to be of service.”
She laughed lightly, handing him a list of addresses so he could start writing the post codes on the envelopes. He immediately understood her non-verbal request, setting to work, his clear block writing much more suitable than her chicken-scratch scribble she had never been able to shake.
“It’s just, Rebekah’s wedding has just been so stressful, you know?” She said after a while, releasing a sigh. He paused in what he was doing, turning to look at her. “I mean, when I offered to help organise it I thought it would be fine. I was on the Prom committee, for god’s sake. Event planning is what I’m good at. But your sister is just so-so-”
“Spoilt? Bitchy? Impossible to please?” He supplied, grinning.
“ All of the above.” Caroline released a long, suffering groan. “I mean if I have to hear one more- ” She raised the pitch of her voice, mimicking a highly unflattering english accent. “ Make sure to check the flower arrangements, Caroline. Be careful with the dresses, Caroline. I want eggshell blue, Caroline, not baby blue, Caroline . Only the best of the best, Caroline. ”
Klaus pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile at the accurate impersonation of his little sister. “Evidently, I’m guessing you no longer like your name, Caroline. ”
Her name rolled off his tongue, exaggerating the syllables just like she had.
She closed her eyes in response, rolling her jaw. “I swear I am this close to murdering her.” She growled, pinching her fingers together to exaggerate her point.
Klaus chuckled.
“Please , don’t stop on my account. Life would be so much more peaceful.”
His smile widened when she laughed, the stress and tension leaving her shoulders a little. For a second, he was pleased he had gotten her to relax, but then her expression fell, changing like the direction of the wind.
Caroline picked up her drink, a certain anxious air about her now. “Do you remember at Rebekah’s engagement party, how that night you asked me to dance…”
“And how I offered you champagne?” He suggested with a smile, raising his glass to toast. Caroline shook her head, his smile contagious. She raised her own, clincking it against his.
“And how you offered me champagne.” She agreed. They both raised their glasses to their lips, taking a sip. Caroline looked down to the golden champagne twinkling like sunlight inside her glass. “Seriously though,” She began, her voice softer, “that night, on the balcony, do you remember how we almost…”
She trailed off, but Klaus didn’t need her to elaborate.
She had asked if he remembered, and oh, did he remember that night. Rebekah’s engagement party, the night when he realised…
When he realised he was falling in love with her.
That night, she wasn’t wearing a ball gown like the night they met, but something much more modest, a sundress - yellow, it had been yellow, because he remembered the way it had glowed with vibrance and light, just like her.
She’d laughed at him, when he had asked her to dance. In order to avoid the sight of Marcel blatantly groping his sister, and the various drunken displays of affection from the other couples in the room, she’d dragged him out to the balcony. There had been no music outside, the party further away, and she had scoffed at the idea of dancing without it. Klaus wasn’t one to take no for an answer though, and he’d dragged her into his arms, the two of them stumbling a little, slightly inebriated. They’d danced energetically at first, her joyful laughter filling the silence, before they had slowed down, swaying to music neither of them could hear.
Their eyes had met, something unsaid travelling between them, and for a second he could have sworn her eyes moved down to his lips.
She had leaned forward, whether deliberately or from tiredness, he wasn’t sure, but in the end it didn’t matter. Just as he had leaned forward to meet her, Kol had bounded onto the balcony, interrupting the moment.
Klaus swallowed.
“I remember.”
How could he not?
Caroline took a while to speak after that, avoiding his eyes, almost as if she was afraid of the answer he would give. “Did… Did you want to?”
Klaus didn’t look away from her, not for a second. “I…. I did. I just wasn’t sure if you wanted to.”
“Why?”
“You had only just broken up with Tyler. I didn’t want to overstep.” He explained, forcing a clearly fake smile to stretch the corners of his face. Her breakup with Tyler hadn’t been clean, and Klaus still owed Elijah for talking him down from breaking into the bastard’s house and breaking his jaw. Or his spine.
Really, it would have been the luck of the draw.
Klaus laughed lightly, a nervous sound. “Is there a reason for this interrogation?” He asked.
“I don’t know. Just-” She sighed. “Rebekah getting married… we’re not getting any younger are we? And guys don’t really notice me like they notice Elena, or Rebekah.”
“It would be impossible not to notice you, Caroline.” He said, voice low and sincere, keeping his gaze locked with hers. She was the one to look away, a faint blush to her cheeks, but when he saw her smile out of the corner of his eye, he looked down at the invitations, hiding his own smile.
They settled into comfortable silence, happy in each other’s company as they began to work.
“Klaus?”
“Hmhm.” He hummed in answer, halfway through sealing an envelope.
“Did I ever tell you about the time I went backpacking through Western Europe?”
Klaus froze.
Months Later
Rebekah stared at Caroline and Klaus who were sitting on the couch, hands entwined. She narrowed her eyes, gaze focusing on her brother.
“Did you do it on our invitations?” Rebekah hissed.
To the side, Caroline winced, her head falling into her hand. Klaus avoided his sister’s eyes, nervously scratching the back of his head.
“...Not on the ones we sent out.”