My Best Friend's Sister

But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road, get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you

- Sunday Morning, Maroon 5

"Remember when you got drunk at Jason DiLaurentis' party during senior year and you ran over Mrs. Fell's cat with Elijah's A4?"

Klaus glares at Stefan as the later looks at him expectantly, the glint of an evil plan twinkling in the Salvatore's bottle-green eyes. The crime was was committed two years ago, he can hold his alcohol better now and Elijah's even traded in the Audi for a Cadillac CTS – but unfortunately Mrs. Fell never got over her precious Sparkles' death and the hunt for the coldhearted cat-killer is still on, three grand reward withstanding.

So no, Klaus does not really want to remember.

"Why are you bringing that up now?" he mutters grudgingly, taking another snappy bite of the celery stick he's been snacking on.

Stefan shrugs, pretending to go back to reading the hardbound Varian cradled in his lap. The two were hanging out in their shared off-campus apartment during that particularly uneventful Wednesday afternoon, noses buried in economics textbooks in preparation for an exam the next day when Stefan oh-so-subtly broke the silence.

"I'd just like to remind you that I totally had your back that night. I drove us to my house, I cleaned cat guts off your brother's car, and the next day I told Logan that we have no idea who run over the poor thing."

"And the point of this conversation is?"

"To make you realize that I'm probably the best friend you will ever have in this world, and that you owe me big time."

Klaus snorts. Fine. Stefan Salvatore has been his best friend for most of the twenty years of his life, but even if he weren't it was impossible to argue against the fact that the guy did clean cat chunks off Elijah's car so okay, Klaus owes him.

"Fine. What do you want?"

"I need a favor, man."

Oh so that's what this is about.

"Hm."

"CanyoutakeCaretoprom?"

Klaus tilts his head and stares at his best friend. He thinks he heard Stefan say something about him taking Stefan's sister to prom, but clearly his ears are playing tricks on him. One, Caroline Salvatore is practically the queen of Mystic Falls and saying that she needs help getting a date is like saying that Daniel Gillies needs help being fabulous. Duh, no. Two, if there was an award-giving body for Most Overprotective Older Brother on the Face of the Earth, then they would have a giant portrait of Stefan Salvatore in their hall of fame. There is no way in hell that he's going to pimp his sister, and to Klaus too, of all people.

"Run that by me again."

"I said, can you take Care to prom?"

The celery stick falls unceremoniously on the floor as Klaus realizes he didn't hear it wrong the first time.

"What?"

"I know, and I swear I can't believe I'm asking you to do it either." Stefan sighs, putting Mr. Varian aside to sit up and look exasperatedly at his best friend. "But it's prom at MF Prep this Saturday and it turns out that Noel Kahn was cheating on her so she dumped him. Now she doesn't have a date and Bonnie says she's completely hysterical -"

The Mikaelson raises a mindful brow. Good luck to anyone who's stupid enough to cheat on Caroline, because Stefan Salvatore is Michael Corleone incarnated: you hurt his sister, he'll hurt you back bad. Just ask Liam Court, who woke up one morning to find fifty or so Rhode Island chickens inside his precious Porsche Cayman, the leather interiors ruined beyond repair by vast amounts of chicken poop that had accumulated overnight. Or Carter Baizen, who had to move away to New York due to unbearable shame after literally crapping his pants at school, thanks to ingesting a handful of laxatives that he never knew were mixed in his lunch time iced tea.

Yeah, Stefan's creative like that.

"This means someone's going to get taught a lesson soon, eh?"

"Damn right, but that's not priority number one right now." Stefan replies. "So you're okay with it?"

Klaus runs a hand through his ash blonde hair, honestly hesitant. "Mate, not that I don't like your sister, because I do -"

Wait one bloody second Niklaus Mikaelson that sounded awfully wrong

"– no, I don't mean I like your sister, I assure you that I have never even remotely thought of -"

Okay stop right there don't even think about lying to your best friend you have more decency than that

"– what I'm trying to say, Stefan, is that I'm cool with your sister -"

Oh for crying out loud you know very well how hot Caroline is so just zip your bloody howler

"- but there's at least a dozen other guys waiting in line for her to give them the time of the day so I don't understand why you have to ask me to be her date." Klaus at last manages to get a coherent sentence out.

Stefan purses his lips into a semi-frown, the way he does when he's helplessly frustrated. "Apparently Noel still wants to get back with Care and he's like the alpha of MF Prep right now so nobody wants to mess with him by asking Care to prom. Look, I'd take her myself, but it's social suicide to bring your brother as your date so I figured you're the best guy I've got."

"The entirety of Mystic Falls knows that I'm your best friend, how is that not social suicide?"

"Well at least you're not her brother. Plus you totally owned MF Prep when we were in high school and these kids were already sophomores then so they know that you're a big deal."

"Really, Stefan, you're willing to go through the lengths of arse-kissing just to get me to agree to this?" Klaus says, rolling his eyes.

The Salvatore bursts into laughter. Jesus, how could he have even thought of sucking up to Klaus. The guy is his best friend and knows him inside out, he should've totally just been honest.

"Okay, okay. I don't just need a trophy date for my sister. You know what happens after prom so I'd rather she goes with someone who I can trust to bring her home right after the dance." Stefan admits.

See? 2013 Most Overprotective Older Brother on the Face of the Earth trophy right there. Awarded. Done.

"So basically you want me to babysit your seventeen year-old sister at her prom."

"Hey, if something like this ever happens to Rebekah next year I swear you won't even have to say two words. I'll be your guy."

"Highly unlikely, mate. She's practically married to Lucas Gottesman already."

"Come on, Nik, the prom's just going to be a few hours and I'll be eternally grateful."

Klaus lifts a hand to rub his temples. He doesn't even understand why it's so hard to do this – it just is.

On one hand, Stefan is his best friend and this 'Can you take my sister to prom' favor should really be treated like any other random favor that his best friend might ask of him. Like if Stefan said 'Can you hand me a beer' or 'Can you help me get rid of the dead body in my trunk'; Klaus wouldn't even spend half a second thinking about it, he'd just do it right away.

On the other hand, it's Care. He's known her all his life as shy little Care Bear with the pretty blue eyes and the timid smile, and things would have been easier if things just stayed that way. But no, sometime six or seven years ago when Klaus wasn't paying much attention she turned into Caroline Salvatore - beautiful, strong, full of light okay stop with the Shakespearean shiz. So maybe she's a tad competitive and a bit of a control freak, but still Klaus would've been bonkers if he didn't find himself taking a second look.

But the thing is, she's Stefan's younger sister. So no matter how many times Klaus thought of maybe talking to her a wee bit longer or maybe going to more MF Prep football games to watch her cheer or heck maybe actually hanging out with her, in the end he just kept his distance.

And this, taking her to prom – this is not keeping his distance. This is the exact opposite of keeping his distance.

"Nik?" Stefan says, snapping his best friend out of the mental self-debate that the latter had immersed himself in.

Christ, Klaus groans inwardly.

He is so screwed.

-o-

"Klaus."

"..."

"Klaus is taking you to prom."

"Look, it was Stefan who asked..."

"As in Niklaus freakin' Mikaelson."

Caroline cringes miserably while Elena looks at her, a funny expression written all over the brunette's face. When she and Bonnie called Stefan earlier to tell him about Caroline's I-dumped-my-prom-date situation, she expected the older Salvatore to talk his sister out of her hysterics, not sign his best friend into the vacated Prom Date slot.

"Well why aren't you running around jumping for joy?" Bonnie quips. "You were totally crushing on him when we were kids."

"When we were kids." Caroline emphasizes. "I've obviously moved on."

Elena pauses from braiding her friend's blonde locks into a swishy fishtail. "Really. Is that why you always complain that he never says anything more than 'Hi' to you when he's at your house hanging out with Stefan?"

"That is so not a complaint. That's... an observation."

"Oh so you're observing him, where 'observe' is synonymous to 'watch' and 'watch' is synonymous to 'check out'." Bonnie teases enthusiastically.

Caroline's eyes widen at the accusation, making Elena burst into laughter. "Oh Care. I don't know why you don't want to admit that you like him. He's nice. He's smart. He's cute. If I wasn't with Tyler I'd take my chances with him."

"Okay, guys, that is not the point. It doesn't matter if Klaus is nice or smart or cute or if I like him because he doesn't like me and a guy who doesn't like me is taking me to prom." Caroline says, and her friends can feel her utter misery. "You know what prom meant to me."

Bonnie sighs. It's not common knowledge in Mystic Falls Prep that Caroline Forbes, over-achieving straight-A Student Council President / Head Cheerleader / This and That Committee Chairperson / former Ms. Mystic Falls extraordinaire is... well, a virgin. Since there's always a boyfriend or a guy trying to be her boyfriend or a guy trying to replace her boyfriend, it's easy to assume that she gets her fair share of action in the sack. But nope, that's the truth folks. Caroline Forbes has not given up the V-card.

"Look, Care. You wanted to sleep with Noel after prom just to get it over with and now you found out he was cheating on you all along. Don't you feel like this is a sign that you should think things through?"

"Think what through?"

"This whole 'sleeping with somebody just to lose your virginity before you go to college' thing. So what if you're in college and you're a virgin? No big deal."

"Easy for you to say because you're not the virgin." Caroline shoots right back at her friend. "In a couple of months we'll go to Chicago and I don't want to be the naïve freshman who's never been laid."

Bonnie sighs again. You know, there was a time when Caroline said that she wouldn't have sex until she was sure she was in love with the guy she finally does it with, mind body and soul blah blah blah. Which is why she's been holding on to the V-card for so long in the first place. Now Bonnie doesn't understand why her best friend is suddenly rushing to get her virginity over with just because they're going to college soon.

But Caroline is her own person and if she doesn't want to listen to Bonnie's advice then well there's not really much that anyone can do about it.

"So you're bummed that Klaus is taking you to prom because you know that he's not going to sleep with you afterwards." Elena says somewhat sympathetically. "It's okay, Care... I mean I know you like planning and you always want to have a plan, but sometimes there are things that happen only when they're supposed to happen."

Caroline winces. "...I kinda made a reservation for a room at Coworth?"

"No way!" Bonnie exclaims, her mouth gaping into a huge goldfish-esque 'O'. "You seriously blew three hundred dollars on a hotel room for Noel Kahn?"

"Well it's more like five hundred since I got a premium suite or whatever…"

"Ugh, now I feel bummed too." Elena laments. "I mean we could've spent that money on a day at the spa or a month's worth of dessert buffets or maybe donated it to Somalia or something."

The blonde gives her friends a small, sheepish smile. "I actually wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to have a sleepover at Coworth sometime after prom? I could have the reservation rebooked for a later date."

"...so does that mean that your mission to lose the v-card has been aborted?" Bonnie asks, ready to grin.

Caroline considers the question carefully. "Well, not really... I mean if I meet a nice guy over summer then I'm totally going for it. But I really don't want to think of it right now since it's not going to happen on Saturday anyway. So at prom I just want to have as much fun as I can with my two best friends regardless of my stopgap date who better say something other than 'Hi' or I swear I'm going to scream at him until he screams something back at me."

Bonnie and Elena both laugh.

-o-

When Stefan opens the door to let Klaus in on Saturday night, the first thing that the Salvatore does is give his best friend a Bro Hug.

"I knew you'd come through for me." Stefan says with a grateful grin, and he's so glad about the 'my-baby-sister-dumped-her-prom-date' problem being solved that he does not notice how Klaus can only utter a muddled 'Umyeahsure' in reply. For his part, Klaus' chest is pounding so hard that he can barely understand what Stefan just said, hence the inexplicit answer.

He waits downstairs in the living room while Stefan goes to get Caroline, and all that the Mikaelson can do is to let out long, drawn breaths as his feet anxiously tap on the floor without him even noticing. He hasn't been this nervous since eight years ago when he was twelve and went on his first date with Tatia Petrova – but heck, he shouldn't even be comparing this to that because this is not a date, he's merely taking his best friend's sister to prom as a favor.

Yet no matter what he tells himself, the thought of him being with Caroline makes something flutter in his stomach.

(Earlier tonight he even went to Elijah's room to ask for advice whether he should wear a steel gray tie or a slate gray tie with his navy suit – Elijah raised a disgraced brow before promptly instructing him to change into a tailored black wool tux, no vest, both buttons closed.

"Don't make it look like you're trying too hard." His dapper older brother told him. "Just keep it clean and sharp.")

He hears Stefan's voice call his name so he looks up – and his heart all but stops when he sees his best friend lead Caroline down the staircase.

She's wearing a mauve, cap-sleeved dress of layered chiffon and lace, the graceful bodice snugly hugging her figure while the light, full-length skirt falls just above the floor so her open toe heels are out of sight and she's able to walk with ease at the same time. Her wheat-blonde hair is free of the tight cheerleading ponytail that she usually wears and instead gathered into a loose, side swept chignon secured by a glittery silver barrette, which complements the small diamond necklace that her dress' acceptably low neckline frames to perfection.

Klaus has never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life.

He doesn't even remember how they got out of her house. The next thing he knows, they're sitting inside his car and his hands feel so cold and he's positively certain that they're shaking and Jesus Christ he needs three tries to get the European piece of technology to start.

What the bloody hell, Niklaus Mikaelson? Pull your bloody self together!

"So what did Stefan pay you to get you to say okay to this?" Caroline asks him with a warm and seemingly determined smile as he begins the drive to Coworth Hotel. Oh yes she is going to talk out the entire thirty minutes to Coworth if she has to just to make sure that his brother's best friend actually says something other than 'Hi', which he didn't even say to her at the house.

For the first time that evening, Klaus relaxes when he looks at her and sees her smiling at him, and he eases to smile back at her while he thinks of a safe answer that won't betray the feelings that he's been keeping at bay.

"It's on the Bro tab, love. Stefan's family to me and you're his family, so you're family to me as well."

The lights from the streetlamps make quiet shadows from the neatly trimmed shrubbery that line the neighborhood streets. Caroline nods quietly at Klaus' words, though inside she feels a slight pang of disappointment.

Family. Of course that's how he sees her.

She'll never know that at that exact same moment, Klaus swallows thickly while thinking Yes, family.

Family, as in there's a part of him that wishes there was a chance she could be his future wife.

-o-

"I don't understand how you could have ever thought that bringing him as your date would be disaster… 'cause Care, he's perfect."

Elena can't do anything but to nod in agreement with Bonnie as the three friends watch Klaus make his way to the bar for the drink he offered to get Caroline. Stefan Salvatore's best friend was not only a delectable eye-candy in his debonair tux, he was the perfect gentleman as well. He stayed by Caroline's side, his eyes never strayed to any of the sixty other girls in the hotel ballroom and he was perfectly attentive to everything she needed, whether it be a conversation-starting comment to avert awkward silence or more recently a drink after laughing too much at his funny anecdotes about their MF Prep teachers. ("Mr. Fitz there made us perform A Midsummer Night's Dream for a class presentation in junior year – but the roles had to be reversed and your brother made a very pretty Queen Titania.") He was even nice to Tyler and Matt, Elena and Bonnie's dates, though Klaus doesn't know them very well.

"I guess so…" Caroline says softly, a faint blush tingeing her cheeks. Every time Klaus offered her his arm and she took it, every time she felt his hand rest lightly at the small of her back, every time she looked at him from lowered lashes when his eyes were not on her – she became little Care Bear once again and the childhood crush came gushing right back.

"I am so glad you dumped Noel." Elena adds. "Imagine the jerk taking you to prom – now that would have been a disaster."

Bonnie suddenly frowns. "Speaking of the devil."

Caroline turns to follow Bonnie's line of sight, and her eyes land on her cheating ex-boyfriend who's smugly making his way towards her, followed by two of his mindless sidekicks. Noel Kahn looks pretty dashing himself in a crisp navy suit and a light blue shirt dress, but Caroline by now knows better than to fall for the guy's athletic charm.

"Care." He greets her, but his hands stay inside his pockets when he sees the death glare that she shoots at him.

"What do you want." Caroline hisses.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing… a little bird told me that no one had the guts to ask you to prom after our fall out."

"Your fall out?" Bonnie scoffs, folding her arms across her chest. "You mean after you cheated on her with Jenna Marshall?"'

"I don't remember talking to you, Bennett, so please don't go chucking yourself into a conversation that you're not part of." The cad has the gall to reply. "Anyway Caroline, seeing as I'm sure you're miserable going to prom without a proper date, plus the fact that it's very likely that we'll win prom king and queen tonight anyway, I'm here to say that I'm willing to put the past behind us so we can start over with a clean slate. How'd you like that?"

It takes every ounce of self-control for Caroline to hold herself back from stooping down to Noel's level and making a scene by slapping him in the face, which is really what the guy totally deserves. He never even apologized for what he did. And how dare he talk to Bonnie like that!

"Get lost, Noel. For your information I'm here with someone so you can get out of my face and go fuck yourself."

Noel raises an arrogant brow. "Oh you have a date. And which loser might that be? Ozzie Cardoza? Artie Abrams? No, wait, don't tell me that your brother took you to prom."

Caroline's hands ball into fists at her sides, her anger white-hot and almost unbearable. God. Why on earth did she even allow this douche to call her his girlfriend at one point in their lives? And to think, she almost gave herself away to him!

She feels a cool, calming presence take its place beside her, close enough to be reassuring but not close enough to be possessive. She looks up and sees Klaus holding the glass of non-alcoholic cocktail he fetched for her.

"Is there a problem, love?" He asks her, his voice imperturbable.

Noel stares at the Mikaelson, eyes suddenly narrowing in frustrated surprise. He knows who Klaus is and he's sure that the latter took Caroline to prom only because he's her brother's best friend, but regardless of that fact he still recognizes the reality that he's going to bite off more than he can chew if he challenges Klaus.

"It's nothing, Nik. My ex-boyfriend just came by to say Hi." Care huffs.

Klaus turns to the dark-haired boy, catching his date's drift. "Kahn. Fancy seeing you again. I heard your horse had a bad one at Fleetwater a few weeks back?"

"Yeah, kind of." Noel answers, forcing himself to smile. Klaus was team captain of MF Prep's equestrian team two years back when he joined as a sophomore so they know each other fairly well – and the younger Kahn is certain that Klaus is aware the equestrian team was toppled off its nine-year reign as the state's junior rider team champions under Noel's watch this year.

Well it wasn't his fault that his new mount, which was totally supposed to be advance level, flatly refused to 'listen' to him during the dressage phase; as in he was supposed to perform a lead change and it totally did not happen and the blasted horse began rearing instead. MF Prep never got to rebound from their captain's hapless performance and their rival school Parklane-Witt ended up with the trophy.

"I don't blame you mate, I heard your horse was an Arab cross - hotbloods can be difficult to handle and require a degree of proficiency." Klaus replies.

Noel, taken by surprise at the supportive answer, ends up nodding. Just as he's about to breathe a sigh of relief thinking his former captain is going to let the embarrassing performance pass, Klaus drops the follow-up.

"Perhaps you should go back to riding merry-go-round ponies."

One of the sidekicks actually snicker, earning a sharp elbow jab from his humiliated boss.

"That's it, I'm out of here." Noel declares, motioning at his minions to follow. Before he leaves, however, he gives Caroline one last conceited glance.

"See you latter at the king and queen's dance, love." He says, mocking her date's term of endearment.

Klaus frowns as Noel and his sidekicks disappear in the crowd of students. "How the bloody hell did you get Stefan to let you see that guy? He was a git when he was in Form II and he's an even bigger git now."

Caroline shakes her head, closing her eyes and feeling a horrible migraine from all the drama descending upon her. What did she ever do in her past life to deserve this?

"Hey, MF Prep!" The band vocalist suddenly greets over the microphone. "The next song we're going to play is a special request from your school mate Blaine Anderson, dedicated to the love of his life, Kurt Hummel. This is Maroon 5's Sunday Morning. Enjoy!"

The first few notes of the sweet jazzy music fill the ballroom as couples start to make their way to the dance floor. Elena and Bonnie join the crowd together with Tyler and Matt, and soon almost everyone has taken part in the dreamy, laid-back dance that Blaine and Kurt began.

Sunday morning rain is falling
Steal some covers, share some skin

Caroline just stands there motionless. You know, prom is supposed to be one of the best memories that a girl would have in her entire life. She's supposed to be with the guy of her dreams, not with a last-minute substitute who's there only because he's doing it as a favor for her brother. She's supposed to be excited to win Prom Queen, not dreading having to dance with her cheating ex who's a shoo-in at the King title. She's supposed to feel like she's the most beautiful girl in the world, not inadequate and insecure of all these people around her who have exactly what she wants to have.

She opens her eyes again. Her vision is slightly blurred, so she has to blink twice when she finds herself staring at the open hand that Klaus offers.

And clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in

"Well Stefan would be mighty pissed if I just stood here and let you watch all of them, wouldn't he?"

Klaus. The one saving grace that this disastrous night has.

She rolls her eyes mockingly, but she gives up and blinks the looming tears of misery and frustration away, replacing it with the courage and strength that she wills her blue orbs to show.

"Fine, let's do this."

Klaus smiles as she gives him her hand and he gently leads her to the dance floor. He's a lot closer to her now than he has even been all his life, but strangely he feels none of the anxiousness that almost ate him alive barely a few hours before. When Caroline places her hand on his shoulder and he wraps his arm around her waist, their free hands meeting together to intertwine, he feels like everything in the world is in its rightful place.

My fingers trace your every outline
Paint a picture with my hands

And suddenly he's no longer a Bro doing his Bro a favor. He's just a guy dancing in a high school prom with the girl that he wants to be with tonight.

"So how's your second prom?" Caroline asks, sniffling slightly but doing her best to beam at him if only to thank him wordlessly for at least being there for her right when she needs someone.

He looks at her eyes and smiles sheepishly. "Well, sweetheart, this is actually my first prom."

"What? No way!"

"It is. If you remember, Stefan and I spent junior year abroad, and on senior year he fell off his horse at Hilltop and broke his collarbone two days before prom. I couldn't go back to Mystic Falls to enjoy myself while my best friend was in a hospital in Maryland and his parents couldn't get there sooner because they were in Italy. So I stayed with your brother and we both missed out on senior prom."

Caroline flinches, slowly recalling what happened. Yeah, that was Stefan's worst injury ever, and it was a couple of months before he was on horseback again. She knew that her brother missed out on prom because of it, but she didn't know that Klaus was a friend enough to miss out on prom too just so Stefan didn't end up alone in the hospital.

"Wait, is that why Katherine Pierce broke up with you?"

"To be honest, I was the one who let her go. She told me to choose between her and your brother, and what kind of man would I be if I left Stefan on his own like that."

Caroline smiles back at Klaus. "I guess Stefan's really lucky to have a best friend like you."

"It all worked out for the best, I suppose. As much as I couldn't abandon Stefan, I couldn't leave Katherine without a prom date either so Elijah went in for me. They're horribly indecisive about what they really want, but they're still seeing each other."

"Well, so how's your first prom then?"

"It's fantastic."

The blonde laughs, for a moment forgetting all things that almost made her cry barely a few minutes ago. "Good. Because I ran three prom committees to make sure that tonight is perfect, even if it's a complete disaster for my part."

Klaus laughs with her, and Caroline's heart skips a beat when she feels him hold her hand tighter.

And back and forth we sway like branches in a storm
Change of weather, still together when it ends

From the corner of her eye she sees Noel Kahn watching them as he dances with some random girl, his face still twisted into an expression of immense displeasure. Caroline smiles sweetly at him before she turns her head the other way and slowly lets her cheek rest on Klaus' shoulder.

"Nik?"

"Yes, love?"

"I'm glad you took me to prom."

"And I'm glad you're with me tonight."

That may be all I need
In darkness she is all I see
Come and rest your bones with me
I'm driving slow on Sunday morning
And I never want to leave

-o-

"And your Prom Queen is…"

Drum roll…

"Caroline Salvatore!"

The crowd erupts into shouts and cheers as the other nominees gather around Caroline, congratulating the blonde for winning the coveted title even though she practically won it the moment she was nominated. Principal Montgomery and Coach Sylvester both smile proudly as they approach their dear Student Council President and Head Cheerleader, now also this year's Prom Queen. Beside the stage lectern, Noel Kahn grins triumphantly, having correctly predicted that he and Caroline will be crowned prom royalties.

The tiara is placed on hear head and the sash draped across her chest. Caroline sees Bonnie and Elena happily waving at her, beside them a smiling Klaus, and she can't help but break into a delighted beam. Of course she's glad that she won, she's wanted this for herself her entire life and has been preparing for it just as long. But now that she finally has the crown, she realizes that it doesn't matter as much as it used to. Compared to the fact that she has two best friends who will always be there for her, a brother who's willing to cajole his twenty year old best friend into attending a high school prom just so she has a decent date, and a date who's actually said much, much more than his usual 'Hi' to her tonight, the happiness that being Prom Queen gives her pales.

Principal Montgomery leads her to the lectern to allow her a minute for her acceptance speech before the King and Queen's dance. Caroline has an entire speech memorized, that's how prepared she is for this, but when she finally takes the spotlight she realizes that the address she prepared is no longer what she wants to say.

"I would like to thank everyone who believed that I deserve the honor of being your Prom Queen for 2013. I really appreciate this and I will be forever grateful to all of you. There are many things that I realized tonight and I hope you don't mind if I share some of them with you."

She takes a deep breath. "I am, as many of you know, a bit of a control freak."

Her audience laughs and louder cheers follow.

"I always have a schedule, a plan, a routine. I used to hold on to the belief that if you prepare enough for something, then it'll happen as perfectly as you want it to be. Until a few days ago a certain plan of mine, which I thought was perfect, blew up in my face. And I didn't know what to do. Thankfully I had friends who stayed by my side and where there for me throughout the whole ordeal."

"Tonight I realized more than ever that things don't need to be perfect. The only thing they need to be is genuine. We can all do without a perfect schedule, a perfect plan or a perfect routine – the only things we need are genuine people who will be there for us when the perfection we strive for falls apart. Family. Friends. Classmates. Team mates. Maybe including your brother's best friend who never even used to talk to you that much before."

Klaus tilts his head down just as he breaks into a grin at her special mention. He knows he shouldn't make meanings out of what Caroline said, but he can't help himself from feeling an odd warmth that swells inside his chest.

"That having been said, I hope you all understand and support my decision to concede wearing this crown. I share it instead with everyone in this building today who's been there for someone in their lowest moment and helped them stand up again. To real friends – you're the true royalty, and your crown is the person whose life you changed forever just by being there for him or her."

Caroline steps away from the lectern, and she's met with thunderous applause. She smiles, truly happier than she has ever been, before removing the Prom Queen Tiara and placing it back on the cushion in front of her.

The Salvatore walks down from the stage, leaving the Prom King alone with Principal Montgomery, who quips "Well, I guess that's it for the King and Queen Dance." Noel's eyes are filled with something akin to regret as they trail his ex-girlfriend's descending form, but Caroline never even once looks back.

Sure, she doesn't have a crown on her head, but she's never felt more like a queen.

Bonnie and Elena hug her the moment she reaches them.

"Oh, Care. I'm so proud of you." Elena says into the hug, and Caroline feels Bonnie hug her tighter in agreement.

She beams at her friends as the break apart, and then she turns to Klaus, who's standing behind her best friends, lighting up the room with his dimpled grin.

"Nik?"

"Yes, love?"

"I think I'm ready to go home now."

He nods and quietly follows her as she walks towards the ballroom's exit. Somewhere on the way out, her hand finds his, and his fingers spontaneously lace together with hers. His hand feels comfortingly warm against her own, and Caroline can't recall ever being this happy simply because of holding someone's hand.

And just like that, she decides that Prom really is one of the best memories she will ever have in her life.

-o-

"Are you certain you want to leave now, sweetheart? It's just ten-thirty." Klaus asks as Caroline settles into the passenger seat of his car. From his dashboard view, Mystic Falls' skyline twinkles mischievously like a grinning Chesire cat foreboding a wicked evening that's just begun.

It's Caroline's turn to nod. She feels like she's done everything she needs and wants to do at prom tonight… maybe it's time for after prom.

"Nik?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"No, I mean not just for agreeing to be my stopgap date… I know we're not really close, but everything you did tonight means a lot to me. I couldn't have asked for anything more."

Klaus looks at her, right into her eyes, blue against blue. Should he tell her…?

He never gets to choose his answer because she decides for him when she suddenly closes their distance and plants her lips on his, initiating a brazen kiss that wreaks havoc in his head and makes that beating thing in his chest thrash like a hummingbird in flight. His hands find their way to cup her face and bring her even closer to him, and he kisses her back before he can even think about what he's doing.

A dizzying wave of adrenaline surges through his veins and his mind blanks out any other thought that has nothing to do with Caroline and the feel of Caroline's lips on him. She moans against him as his tongue dances with hers and the indulgent sound sends ripples of electricity pulsing throughout his body. Her arms wrap around his neck, beckoning him for more, telling him how much she wants him.

They kiss again and again and again and bloody hell he's never tasted anything sweeter. Why on earth did he hold back from this for so long when it feels like it's exactly what he should be doing?

Then, as abruptly as the kiss began, Klaus stops. His reasoning finally kicks in, albeit a bit late, and he suddenly pulls away from her as he remembers the answer to his question.

Caroline thinks he just needs some air and turns to kiss him once more, but this time he stops her before he drowns himself in her and loses self-control again.

"Love, we're in a parking lot –"

She lowers her lashes. "I-I have a room reserved at Coworth…"

"What?"

"It was supposed to be for me and Noel. Before I found out that he was cheating on me."

Klaus runs his hands through his hair. Jesus Christ. She has a reservation at Coworth. Somebody – anybody stop him or he's really gonna -.

"I can't do this to you, Caroline." He forces himself to say, and he feels like he wants to stab himself with a screwdriver or something when she sees the distraught look that washes over her face.

"Why not? I thought you…"

"I do. I like you. Immensely. But I can't do this to you just days after what happened with Kahn. You're vulnerable and I don't want to take advantage of that."

"No, this isn't about Noel." Caroline tells him, shaking her head vehemently. "I want this, Nik. I want you. I've wanted you since that day when I was five and I tagged along with you and Stefan to that art workshop and you showed me that blue and yellow paint make green. I thought it was a childhood crush that I'd grow out of, but tonight I realized that it's more than that."

Klaus swallows. Oh crap. She's had feelings for him longer than he's had for her and they both just kept quiet about it all these years.

She wants him just as much as he wants her.

And that makes it alright to… right?

"Nik, I lo-"

He holds his hand up, stopping her before she can say what she wants to. If she tells him that she loves him, he might say it back and they might end up in that room at Coworth. He simply can't let that happen.

"Please don't say it, Caroline. You're… emotional right now. You don't mean it."

Her eyes widen. Her heart begins to pound ominously in her chest and suddenly tonight is not as beautiful as she thought it was.

"How can you say that I don't mean it?" she snaps at him, her vision blurring as tears start to well up. "Why do you think I became a cheerleader? Or ran for Student Council? Or joined Ms. Mystic Falls? It's because Tatia and Katherine and Camille and Charlotte and all the other girls you dated were either cheerleaders or student council members or Ms. Mystic Falls winners!"

Shit shit shit

"Why can't you see it, Nik? I wanted you to want me."

"I do, sweetheart, but –"

"But what?" she yells in exasperation.

Klaus sighs. Christ, he's a bigger fool than Noel Kahn, he really is. "But you're my best friend's sister."

Caroline stares at him, mouth parted open, but no words come out. It's like she's not even sure what to say.

"You know what Stefan told me when he asked me to take you to prom? That he wants me to be your date because he doesn't want some stupid jerk to take advantage of you after the dance. And I'll be exactly what your brother wants me to protect you from – a stupid jerk - if we do this. I respect you and I respect Stefan so no matter how much I want this, I'm saying no. I'm sorry."

The blonde lets out a deep breath and seemingly calms down after she hears Klaus' explanation. "Well, I guess we can take things slow…"

Klaus winces, closing his eyes as he wishes to God that he didn't have to say this to her… but he has no choice.

"No, love, you don't understand. We can't… we can't have a thing."

His own heart shatters when she sees the heartbroken look on Caroline's face.

"I… I don't understand… You said you like me and you want this too… Now you're telling me that you don't want to be with me?"

"I never said that I don't want to be with you and if I did then it's a piss-poor lie. But I can't be with you. Your brother – sometimes he's even more of a brother to me than my own family is. And whatever happens between the two of us, it's going to affect my friendship with Stefan. You have to understand, Caroline. I can't take a chance with you right now. I can't risk my friendship with your brother."

At this point Caroline's face twist into an expression of anger and hurt, something akin to a victim of a cruel, heartless game.

"Then why did you even do everything you did tonight? Why did you have to be so perfect? Why did you lead me onto thinking that you wanted us?"

Good question.

Because I thought that maybe, for one night, for just this one night, I could finally be the man that I want to be for you.

He opens his mouth to speak, but this time she's the one who shuts him out before he can even get a word out.

"You know what, don't even answer that. Just – just take me home."

"Caroline -"

"I said just take me home!"

-o-

When they finally arrive at Woodcote Place, he parks his car on the street parallel to the Salvatores' home and bites on his lower lip as he pulls on the hand brake. He doesn't even know what to say to Caroline. Not that he has the chance to say anything, because Caroline is out of his car before he can even blink.

He hastily gets out and runs after her.

"Caroline –" he tries to grab her arm to get her to stop and listen to him, maybe a little more forcefully than he meant to.

She sends a sharp glare at him and he inwardly utters a profanity directed at himself when he sees the look of pure anger in her eyes.

"Don't touch me!" She lashes out between gritted teeth, trying to yank her hand away from him.

"Caroline, love -"

She stops struggling. For a moment she just looks at him, trying to find something in his eyes – but it seems that she never sees what she's searching for because her eyes narrow and she returns to glaring at him with all the hatred in the world.

She bared her soul to him and this is what she got.

"Don't call me 'love'." She snarls at him, wrenching her arm out of his grasp. "Don't try to talk to me. Don't even think of showing your face in Woodcote. I never, ever want to see you again!"

She makes her way into the house without looking back at Klaus. Not even once.

He stands still on the street, rooted in his place, too devastated to move. He can't even remember how to breathe.

He closes his eyes as he hears a door slam shut.

But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do
And Sunday morning rain is falling and I'm calling out to you
Singing someday it will bring me back to you
Find a way to bring myself back home to you

-o-

A/N:

1. Whew! This is the longest thing I've ever written and sorry if I bored or annoyed you guys to death with the cliché scenes and sappy lines. There are a lot of things about this fic that I hate, but I guess this is all I can write it to be.

2. Just to clear it up, Caroline isn't angry because Klaus didn't sleep with her, she's… mortified because she bared her soul and Klaus replied that he's not ready to take a chance with her. As for Klaus, he values his friendship with Stefan and he doesn't want to put Stefan in a situation where he would be forced to side with either his best friend or his sister, like if Klaus and Caroline fight or break-up. But of course, Klaus shouldn't have lead Caroline on in the first place.

3. Will there be a happy ending? I'm not sure. I mean, this is a High School / Young Adult genre and many high school relationships don't end in happily ever after. (But Van if you read this I hope to God that ours does. :D) Still I'm interested to know what you think so please review. :)

4. As always, please check out my multi-chapter fics (she. dreams. in. colour) and my tumblr (erica-dreams-in-colour), links are in my profile page. Till next time!