Work Text:
Rebekah opened the door, sneering at the blonde waiting on her doorstep. "Oh, it's you."
"Hello, Bekah," Caroline greeted cheerily, her smile only slightly clenched. "Is Kol home? He was supposed to meet with me at the restaurant, but he didn't show." She shook the box she was holding. "I brought extra tarts from the lunch special."
"Now that sounds more like it." Kol's carefree voice floated through the siblings' shared apartment. "I do love tarts."
"The dessert, Kol, not your prostitutes," Rebekah answered snidely. Turning back to Caroline, she crossed her arms in annoyance. "What do you want?"
Handing the box of sweets to Rebekah, Caroline used it to push the girl out of her way so she could enter the apartment. Before the irate blonde could kick up a fuss, however, Caroline held up her hands in defense. "I need your help."
Rebekah rolled her eyes as Kol plucked the dessert box from her hands. "What could you possibly need our help for?" he asked, chewing a tart with his mouth open.
"I'm surprised you even dare to claim a close enough acquaintance to be asking favors," Rebekah chimed in. "Aren't you the one pretending not to be dating our brother? You're too good for him, right?"
"Look," Caroline said, dropping the polite veneer. "I know you don't like me-"
"-for good reason," Rebekah pointed out. "You let Nik squire you around, but only on your terms and without the commitment he deserves."
Kol snorted. "I'm with Carebear on this one," he said. "Nik taught me everything I know about romance, or lack thereof. Can you blame the girl for not trusting he can make a commitment?"
"Anyway," Caroline broke in before the siblings could start squabbling. "I was hoping you could give me some advice."
"Your pants are too tight, your shirts too low cut, and your cardigans are hideous," Rebekah rattled off.
"Your pants aren't tight enough, your décolletage is cruelly hidden, and I happen to agree with Bekah about your cardigans," Kol added, just to be a dick. "They're plain disrespectful to your figure, darling."
Caroline sighed, wondering why she thought this would be worth the effort. "Never mind, this was a bad idea." She fled the apartment before Kol could give any more helpful suggestions or Rebekah actually managed to kill her with that death glare.
It wasn't like she hadn't played some part in earning the girl's ire, though. Rebekah had every right to hate her considering the imbalance of her relationship with Bekah's favorite brother.
That still didn't mean she couldn't resent the brat's impression Caroline was a gold digger out for Klaus's money.
As a hostess for one of New York's premier restaurants, Caroline was used to being treated as the pretty little blonde available for a grope. In fact, it was how she met Rebekah's precious Nik. She had just led him and his date to their table when his hand pat her ass and slipped her a fifty-dollar bill. Not only did she take his money, she gouged out a good part of his foot with her stiletto heel.
Leave it to the smug bastard to take that as a challenge.
Six weeks of dining alone or only with family at her restaurant, a few bouquets of flowers, an apology or twelve, and finally a groveling offer she couldn't refuse was what it took for her to accept a date from the well-documented playboy of the city's art world. Hell yes, she Googled him. It wasn't until she saw his paintings first-hand that she admitted he might be the real deal. He had invited her to his studio, apparently wanting to prove his interest was genuine.
While the front gallery was full of abstracts and landscapes, his warm and messy studio was full of her. Her face, her hair, the dress she wore the night they met were all waiting for her, peeking out from canvases propped all over the room.
Even in the two months since, Klaus always pulled out all the stops for their dates. Caroline insisted on not being his arm candy, part of the reason she wouldn't agree to being exclusive. Not only did she lack faith he could be a boyfriend guy, but a small part of her also whispered that he would throw her away like he did all the other girls. It was best to keep herself as detached as she could.
Klaus hadn't taken her decision gracefully, but it also seemed to motivate him to really work at earning her trust. For every fancy dinner invite she turned down, he would find a better alternative: a sailboat ride, a scavenger hunt in the Natural History Museum, exploring his favorite library together. One weekend, he took her to this cottage he has on the beach where they cooked and laughed and made love.
Realizing she was wanting more and more of those moments with Klaus, Caroline needed to make a leap of faith. She knew she wanted to be with him, but how did she go about it?
Kol and Rebekah were a bust, and she really didn't want to try Elijah. At least Bekah was upfront about her dislike for Caroline's work in the service industry; their elder brother embodied a cool, more insidious disdain for her job status. He would be less than helpful, which left Caroline only one option. Marcel would have been her first choice, considering he actually liked her, but he couldn't keep a secret to save his life.
She would just have to work fast.
The gallery was quiet for business hours, though Caroline chalked it up to the bad weather outside. She supposed she was lucky to have Klaus's business partner all to herself when Marcel was able to personally greet her with a smile.
"Caroline, cher!" His arms opened wide as she walked in. At least someone was happy to see her. "Klaus isn't here."
"I know," she shrugged. "I was actually hoping to talk to you."
Marcel raised a curious eyebrow, but his smile told her he was game. When she laid out her problem, he shrugged easily. "I think I've got just the idea for you."
Reaching the deserted gallery, Klaus pulled out his phone to give Marcel a call. "I'm here for the meeting you called," he said irritably, "and you don't bother to show up?"
"Call it misleading in the name of friendship, Klaus," Marcel answered. "You might want to check out your work space."
"What-?" Marcel hung up before Klaus could even ask for clarification, his temper flaring at being kept out of the loop.
Worse, he had been planning to pick Caroline up for dinner before his partner insisted he stop at the gallery first. If he valued punctuality, then Caroline revered it. Dialing her number next, Klaus headed upstairs to his studio in the attic loft. The call connected as soon as he saw the light glowing from under the usually locked door. "Love, I hate to tell you this, but I'm going to be late."
"Oh," she answered, sounding put out. "Did something come up at the gallery?"
Before he could respond, however, the loft door slid open to reveal Caroline herself wearing a soft, flannel robe. She smirked when he froze, watching her toy with the robe's tie. "Or is something about to come up?" she asked in a sultry voice.
Chuckling, Klaus was finally spurred into action, taking her waist in his hands as he gently pushed her back into the room. He raised an eyebrow at the easel set with a fresh canvas and his favorite oils. "What's all this?"
Caroline smiled shyly, her eyes focused on tugging at his shirt collar. "I wanted to do something nice for my boyfriend," she answered, attempting nonchalance. Fear bled into her expression as his eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline. "Is that okay?"
His hand raised to her cheek, and Klaus gently stroked her face with his thumb. Dimples peeked out as he just looked at her with a dumb smile on his face. "That depends, sweetheart," he teased. "Do I know this boyfriend of yours? Because I'll share if I have to, but I definitely won't be gracious about it."
Shoving him lightly, Caroline giggled as he pulled her in for a kiss. "I want you to be my boyfriend," she said breathlessly. "Just you."
Klaus pressed his forehead against hers, smile wider than she'd ever seen it. "Well, then. What's this nice thing you're doing for your boyfriend?" He had a feeling he would never tire of saying that out loud. Sliding her robe down her shoulder, he placed a few open-mouthed kisses against her skin. "I must say, this is a great start."
"I care about you, so much," she declared as she leaned into his kisses. "And part of being in a real relationship is trust. I thought about how to show you that trust, and with Marcel's help, I…"
Caroline pulled away, walking backwards as she slowly discarded the robe. "I want you to paint me," she said softly, dropping onto the small couch he kept in the studio without a stitch to cover her. "I trust you not to make me look terrible."
Sensing her hesitance, Klaus knelt by the couch where she sat. He took her hands in his to bring them to his lips. "I could never," he promised. "And I would never betray your trust."
She wiped a tear from her eye, overwhelmed at Klaus's declaration. "Okay," she said with a watery smile. "Let's do this."
"Agreed," Klaus said, ignoring his easel altogether in favor of joining Caroline on the couch. Showering her with kisses, his lips finally landed at her ear. "I hope to paint you many times over in our future," he whispered lovingly. "Right now, I just want you."
Caroline sighed dramatically, "If you insist."