Chapter 3 – Let the Flames Begin

September 28th, 2015

And just like Katherine predicted, the ball started rolling…

They hook up again within a week. This time at a party held at Katherine's house. It started with bickering. Klaus called Caroline 'neurotic' and she responded with an equally petty 'you're a dick.'

From her spot in Kai's lap, Katherine could almost see it coming.

Caroline was stood with a bunch of girls from the squad and when Klaus walked past, bottle of Absolute Vodka hanging limply in his grip, the blonde fixed him with a stare so fiery that Katherine couldn't believe no one else noticed. Talk about being discrete.

Not five minutes later, when she was headed for the bathroom, she walked past the upstairs guest room and in there spotted a very familiar pair of blonde heads of hair.

Klaus had Caroline pinned up against the wall, kissing her so hard that he must have been afraid of bruising her. Smirking, Katherine silently closed the door on them before continuing to the bathroom.

Yep. She definitely saw that one coming.

-x-

October 10th, 2015

"Happy Birthday!"

Caroline flinched upon entering the Salvatore Boarding House as the chorus of 'happy birthdays' rang out from the living room. "Guys," she gasped, clutching her chest, before her face broke into a bright smile.

Stefan, Bonnie, Elena and Matt were clustered around one of the sofas, which she herself had spent many a movie-night sprawled over, their own faces showcasing wide grins.

Pop!

A rabid cork went flying, barely missing Stefan who had to duck, sparing what likely would've been his right eye. His harassed stare flew over to Matt who was gawking after the cork, a startled expression present on his face.

"Sorry?" Matt offered with a casual shrug, the frothing bottle of champagne hanging limply from his hand as he began to pour five glasses.

"You know you didn't have to," Caroline said, gesturing toward a wrapped present on the sofa as she took a full glass of champagne from Matt. "I thought we were just finishing off party prep."

Bonnie's gaze veered ceiling-ward because of course they had to. Birthdays, Christmas and sometimes even Thanksgiving, Caroline would go out, buy gifts and sign the card from all of them as if it had been a joint venture. But they all knew it was her.

"Hey, Care," Stefan motioned for her to come through to the kitchen with him.

"What's up?" she asked, jumping up to sit on the kitchen counter. Watching as he closed the door behind them, Caroline couldn't help but think he looked kind of skittish as he ran a hand through his hair as if he was having a heated internal debate. "You're doing that look."

His brow furrowed. "What look?"

"The 'woe is me, I have the weight of the entire world on my shoulders' look," she smirked. "Party planning is meant to be fun, Stefan."

"Has your mom told you anything about the latest Town Council meeting?"

Surprised by the random direction he'd just taken the conversation, her brow rose a fraction. "No. Why would she?"

"I overheard my mom and dad talking last night." In typical Stefan fashion he released a gusty sigh causing Caroline to shoot him a quizzical look. "They were saying that your mom and mayor Lockwood have been building a case against Klaus' dad. Apparently they have a new lead or something –"

Caroline spluttered, almost choking on the champagne she'd just taken a sip of.

"- and I was just wondering whether you'd heard anything," he finished.

Her pulse spiked irrationally. She was vaguely aware of Bonnie, Matt and Elena laughing in the other room, but it was nothing more than a muffled clutter of noises. There was no way Stefan would bring this up with her unless -

"Why would I have heard anything?" She asked, fighting to keep her voice even.

His face crumpled in confusion. "Because your mom's the sheriff?"

"Oh!" She broke into an awkward, instinctive smile, relief easing the line of her shoulders. "Obviously." A forced chuckle tumbled out past her lips before she attempted to pull her face into what she hoped was a neutral expression. "Sorry, Stef, I haven't heard anything."

He moved to sit next to her on the counter. "Look, I know you don't like the guy-"

Caroline's lips ticked into a half-hearted smile. "Right."

"-but when he's not being a dick he's actually alright-"

It felt weird. Like super strange Stefan not knowing about her arrangement with Klaus. It wasn't as if she'd actually lied to him about it. She'd just… omitted a few things about her life recently. But even that was weird as they'd always told each other everything. When he'd finally decided to pluck up enough courage to ask out Elena, she'd been the first person he'd called. When she'd lost her virginity back in sophomore year, he'd been the person she was most eager to tell. Back in the 8th grade they'd been each other's first kiss - if only for the simple reason that they were thirteen and wanted to know what it was like. Of course, they'd been immediately repulsed, but the point still stood. They went through things together.

Inhaling, she opened her mouth. He was Stefan. He had to know.

"-do you think I should tell him?"

"I… uh… what?" That caught her completely off guard.

"Klaus. Should I say something?"

Oh, the irony.

"I, urm… no. Don't say anything." She jumped off the counter and began to move back towards the kitchen door. She needed to end this conversation otherwise she might start to realise things she wasn't ready to confront just yet. Resting her hand on the door knob, she turned back to look at her friend and noted his puzzled expression. Focusing on keeping up her nonchalant demeanour, she said, "You don't know anything for certain. What's the point of mentioning it to him if it turns out to be wrong?" She gave him a casual shrug and he nodded in understanding before also crossing the kitchen to join her.

"I guess you're right."

She smirked. "I'm always right."

Opening the door, she waited for Stefan to walk back out into the living room and downed what was left of her champagne before inhaling deeply and following him out of the kitchen.

What she saw should have horrified her.

Matt was clumsily placing party decorations all over the place without a second thought. However, after the bomb Stefan had just dropped she found herself rather distracted.

Forcing herself to focus, she tossed a sheet of blonde hair over her shoulder and marched over to the quarterback. "This is the ugliest display I've ever seen," she deadpanned, and he rolled his eyes at her trademark control-freakiness.

Ignoring the slightly uneasy feeling she could feel tugging at the back of her mind, she attempted to fix her concentration onto the night ahead.

She was Caroline Forbes, after all.

And she had a party to plan.

-x-

Her party was in full swing by the time she entered one of the guest rooms in the Salvatore Boarding House, exactly eight minutes after Klaus had given her 'the nod'.

She was happy with how the party had turned out – "The party of the year!" Lexi Branson had yelled before flinging herself onto the slip 'n' slide outside which was by now probably more drenched in vodka than it was water. She didn't care if Katherine thought all the weeks she'd spent planning and organising had been 'unnecessary', it had paid off.

Upon entering the room, she closed the door and rested her back against it.

Hearing the click of the latch, Klaus turned to face her. "You're late," was all he bothered to say, his heavily accented voice gruff with frustration at having been left waiting and she supressed a smirk – his accent always came out thicker whenever he'd had a drink.

Her brow rose in a slow, caustic arch. "Yeah, it's like I have a party to host or something." He began to cross the room, closing the gap between them, and her gaze skittered over him, faltering on his boots where the leather had that over worn, faded look. "I'm glad you dressed up for the occasion," she said before she could stop herself. She couldn't help but to try and get some kind of rise out of him. After three years it was almost engrained in her subconscious. She herself was dressed in a sparkly green dress that cut off just above her mid-thigh and she'd paired it with her new black heels Katherine had given her earlier. It was her birthday – of course she was going to go all out.

"I saw you dancing with Jesse." His voice was low, and as he rested his right hand on the door next to her head, effectively boxing her in on one side, his hooded gaze dropped to her mouth. Something flickered behind his eyes as they came back up to meet her own, the usually amused glint had been replaced by something darker, more sharp than normal. She couldn't quite place it. And then -

"Oh my God, you're jealous."

He stiffened, stare thinning. "No."

"Yes," she nodded, chuckling as irritation bloomed on his face. "You are."

"Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart," he muttered, voice laced with a simmering annoyance as he attempted to retract his previous statement.

She rose a sardonic brow. "It's perfectly normal to be jealous," she smirked as he rolled his eyes. "Just human emotion." She paused, and then her stare brightened with amusement as she remembered something. "At least it proves you are one. Apparently, my theory's been wrong all these years."

His jaw ticked before his brow furrowed slightly. "Wait, you didn't think I was human?"

Laughter unexpectedly tumbled from her mouth at his confused expression. "It was just a hunch."

His lips quirked upwards into a mischievous smirk. "I believe I've shown you I'm man enough numerous times now."

Her gaze snapped to the ceiling in a severe roll. "If all you wanted to do was to prove me that you are in fact a human then I believe I have a party to get back to."

She moved to reach for the door handle but his other arm came to rest on the wall the other side of her head to block her path.

Annoyed, she fixed him with an icy stare. "Klaus, what the fuc-"

"I wanted to say Happy Birthday," he cut her off, and his eyes bloomed a dark, suddenly humourless blue.

She blinked. Never in a million years would she have thought she'd hear those words leave Klaus Mikaelson's mouth.

She was suddenly hyper-aware of how close he was. Not that she hadn't noticed before, and they'd certainly been closer and definitely more naked in the past, but the sincerity of his gaze was not something she was used to. It wasn't hungry, or even lusty, but assessing. Incisive. Perceptive.

And it threw the hell out of her.

Before she could say anything, his lips grazed hers in a slow, warm kiss. Her eyes instinctively fluttered shut and she expected to feel the warmth of his hands slide up her bare skin under the fabric of her dress. She waited for him to attempt to take it further. To keep it light-hearted. Casual. Like they'd agreed.

Instead he pulled back.

It had been affectionate. Intimate, almost. Exactly what they didn't do, and her pulse spiked to an uneven staccato.

After a beat of thick silence, she glanced up.

He was just staring down at her, the amused glint back in full force.

"What?"

His shoulders eased up. "Don't you have a party to get back to?"

"Right," she nodded, clearing her throat. "The party."

Smirking, he stepped back, and this time when she moved to grab the door handle he didn't attempt to stop her.

Irritated that she'd let herself get so flustered over a simple kiss, she swiftly exited the room.

Refusing to let herself delve too deeply into what that could have meant, she buried her previous delusional thoughts, and rather chalked it up to having had one too many tequila shots. After all, he was Klaus Mikaelson – the guy was a player and was interested in practically every girl at the school. Sure, she was happy enough to keep their 'deal' going - the guy certainly knew what he was doing. But she was too smart to be seduced into believing the idea that he'd ever want anything more serious.

As she descended the stairs to re-join the party, however, she noted the sudden niggling feeling at the bottom of her spine.

Forcing a fake-sunny smile onto her face, because what else did people expect from their head cheerleader, she realised that it was the sudden guilt seeping into the pit of her stomach that confused her the most.

Not the kiss.

Not the Happy Birthday.

But, rather, the fact that she felt guilty not telling Klaus what Stefan had mentioned earlier.

Two months ago, she wouldn't have given a crap.

And that's what scared her the most.

-x-

October 15th, 2015

"Are you sure this is ok with Katherine's dude?" Klaus asked somewhere on the way to Charlottesville whilst attempting to keep his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

Attempting, because next to him in the passenger seat of his car, was a half-naked Caroline who was busy getting out of her formal dinner dress and the mere sight was mouth-watering.

"It's fine," she said, only half paying attention to what he said as the rest of her concentration was fixed on trying to successfully manoeuvre out of the complex maze of straps and fabric. Eventually she succeeded and pulled the dress up, over her head, and his jaw ticked at the sight of her naked chest in the corner of his eye. "Plus, at this hour the entire Sigma Chi house will be drunk off their asses anyway."

She turned and reached for her duffel bag in the backseat causing her perfect breast to rub against his arm. If they weren't on their way to the University of Virginia, he'd pull over at the next available spot and ravish her. It was dark and at 11 PM on a Thursday he doubted they'd be caught.

"Thank for saving me from that boring hell," her stare met his in the rear-view mirror. "Of course my mom only wants to spend time with me when she can show me off to the other officers. I thought she was going to throw a bitch fit when I got up and left," she chuckled, but it was cold. Empty.

He considered saying something. To try and be comforting, but they didn't do that sort of thing. She'd already been acting kind of strange since her party and all he'd said then was Happy Birthday, so he didn't know how she'd take it. Instead he slid a hand up her thigh and said, "I guess a bitch fit wouldn't make that much of a difference with Liz."

She started to shimmy out of her hold-ups, and she was either not aware that she was driving him insane or she was doing it on purpose to tease him. The way she pointed her toes and slowly pulled the thin material down her calves one at a time made him pretty sure it was the latter. He continued to half watch the road and half watch the blonde in the seat next to him and he found himself wondering what she'd say if he suggested they just stop off at the nearest motel.

"I hope you're ready for tonight," her voice cut through his fantasies. "Kai can be a liiitle crazy sometimes," she said as she leant forwards and pulled the sun visor down to check her makeup in the mirror.

He dragged his gaze over her outstretched, naked torso in a luxuriating once over and he suddenly couldn't distract himself any longer.

In a lethal move, he took both hands off the wheel in order to cup the back of her head and plant a kiss roughly against her lips.

In that moment he didn't care whether they were caught.

And who knew, maybe hand cuffs would spice it up a bit.

-x-

It was midnight by the time they walked into the Sigma Chi house and despite his efforts to look cool, he still ended up trotting behind Caroline like an insecure geek. It's not that he's fazed by it being UVA, he's recently been considering going to New Orleans for college, but the prospect of entering a frat-house full of older guys doesn't exactly comfort him either.

Caroline seemed perfectly at home and entered the house with such a cool, knowing air that he guessed she and Katherine must have spent plenty of time up here with Katherine's guy. He doesn't know Kai, but of course he knows of him.

Stefan never shut up about the quarterback with number seventeen on his jersey. The guy had made a name for himself in his freshman year by working his magic on the field, and now, as a sophomore, was according to Stefan – 'the biggest UVA legend since 1994'.

"Do you see Katherine anywhere?" he muttered, placing a hand on the small of Caroline's back as they made their way through the crowd of guys stood in the hallway. Somewhere from across the room a loud cheer erupted.

Turning to face him, Caroline rose a sardonic brow. "If you beat his time, I'll give you a prize."

Letting his gaze follow her line of sight he internally groaned. In the middle of the big living room, Kai was fist-bumping some other guys from the team after completing what, by the sounds of the roar of the crowd who'd been watching, was a phenomenal keg-stand.

Caroline's smirk was vicious. "I'll warn you though, Katherine's pretty badass and Kai holds the record."

The thought of Katherine doing a keg-stand caused his lips to quirk. The girl was such an ice queen at their own parties and she'd never be caught dead attempting one.

Caroline appeared to notice her slip of the tongue, as her eyes widened ever so slightly, before they narrowed mischievously. "If you ever mention that to anyone," she paused and, without any kind of warning, her hand slipped down and took a hard, unapologetic fistful of his cock. "You can say goodbye to the possibility of that prize tonight."

Then, before he could so much as blink, she'd dropped her hand and taken a step back, an amused expression present on her face.

He gritted his teeth at the sudden loss of friction. Even from that slight, albeit forceful, touch he could feel himself getting hard.

Snapping his stare to meet hers he couldn't help but scoff, because of course he was going to try and beat Kai's time. The challenging glint in her eyes and the unspoken 'I dare you' was all it would take. And she absolutely knew it.

"Watch and learn," he grinned cockily at her before walking up to Kai and asked if he could have a go. Katherine's boyfriend, or hook-up, or whatever he was, gave him an amused nod before shooting Caroline a curious look as he took a step back to join the watching crowd.

Record, huh? He silently thanked his MIA parents for all the times he'd been able to stay at home and raid their liquor cabinet without them breathing down his neck. Kai might have the high-score on the football field, but if there was one thing Klaus knew then it was how to drink.

It was ridiculous as hell, but in some strange, roundabout way, he felt like it was an excellent way to prove himself to the dimpled blonde with the world's greatest legs. It was a fucking amateur move, but for some reason he figured if he beat Kai's time then Caroline will happily go upstairs with him later. He wanted that prize she talked about badly.

As he approached the keg he could hear Katherine laugh so loudly she almost choked on her drink.

"Seriously, Klaus?"

But when he lifted himself up with ease, his arms straining ever so slightly, the curly brunette shut up.

And when he came back down, some unidentified amount of time later, the crowd yelled and cheered, and she didn't laugh anymore. More importantly, across the room a certain blonde grinned and pointed toward the stairs.

Time to claim that prize.

-x-

October 28th, 2015

"Can I ask you something, man?" Klaus slurred one night as he collapsed onto a couch next to Katherine's significant other.

Kai's brow rose a fraction in surprise. He'd seen the boy a total of four times, simply because Caroline had brought him along on several occasions over the past few weeks, but this was the first time he'd ever really spoken to him past the usual greetings and farewells before and after an event. Despite their lack of conversation, Kai had no problem with the kid.

"Sure, shoot," he patted Klaus' shoulder like he would with one of his frat-buddies and then nodded his head for him to continue.

Klaus gave him a sloppy smile and looked into his now empty cup of alcohol. His smile rapidly transitioned into an expression of disdain and Kai shook his head. The guy was smashed and one sip away from passing out.

"You know Caroline, right?" Klaus blearily squinted at him and he chuckled.

"Yeah, I know Caroline."

"Do you know about our," the blonde paused and pursed his lips. "Our situation?" he finally finished and slumped further back into the couch.

Kai eyed him with sceptical curiosity. Katherine had informed him about the arrangement Caroline and the blonde boy next to him had entered into. Instinctively he felt protective over the bubbly blonde that reminded him so much of his sister, but instead of voicing his concerns, Katherine would 100% castrate him in his sleep if he said anything, he decided to listen to what the guy had to say. "What's on your mind, bro?"

"How-" Klaus' brow furrowed. "Just how twis-" he stopped and sighing, leant his head back on the couch. "I think I like her," he groaned before shutting his eyes.

"Like her," Kai nodded slowly as he mulled the words over. "Care to elaborate?"

Klaus' eyes shot open. "I can't stop thinking about her sometimes," he grumbled. "And it's like, whenever I'm with Hayley, or whoever, I just want to piss them off so I can be with Caroline again."

"So why don't you just ditch Hayley or whoever?" Kai asked. Surely, that was the simple answer. Why over-complicate it? God, he hated high school drama.

Klaus scoffed. "You don't get it, mate. Caroline doesn't do relationships, and even if she did, she wouldn't get with me."

Kai's brows ticked up. "Why not?"

Klaus' mouth formed a flat line and his eyes scrunched a little in the corners as he pondered the older guy's question. "Because," he drunkenly drawled, shoulders slumping slightly, "Her mom wouldn't approve. And even if she can be the biggest arse to Caroline, Caroline wouldn't do that to her. Not to mention Mikael…" he trailed off, caught in his own muddled whirlpool of thoughts.

Kai nodded in understanding. "So, what's the problem then?" Klaus' distracted gaze slid up to meet his. "You're sleeping together behind your parents', and everyone else's, backs, right?" It took Klaus a beat to comprehend what was just said. For fucks sake, what had the guy been drinking? But he finally gave a slow, upwards tilt of his head to signal he was following. "Why change it?"

"Why change it?" Klaus echoed distractedly.

Following his line of sight, Kai spotted the distraction. Caroline was sauntering past and when she spotted them she smirked, the mischievous glint in her stare gleaming so ferociously that Kai had to supress an eye roll. Katherine was right. He couldn't believe subtle was meant to be part of their playbook.

"Because then-" Klaus cut himself off when Caroline nodded towards him. When she'd gone, disappearing into the throng of people, Klaus turned back to Kai, a pleased expression plastered all over his face. "What was I talking about?"

"Nothing," Kai shook his head. "Nothing you know the answer to anyway."

Klaus' face scrunched in confusion, but he appeared to not be too fazed. "So, good chat, mate. But I uh… I gotta…"

"Go?" Kai supplied, shooting him an insouciant smirk as he settled comfortably back into the couch.

"I got the nod," Klaus said, as if it was a statement that was supposed to carry all the powers of explanation and understanding.

The blonde boy stood up from the couch, swayed a bit, and then made his way across the room and up the stairs towards the room that Caroline was waiting in.

Then, just as Kai was about to make his way over to the keg to get another drink, it hit him. The answer to Klaus' question hit him so squarely in the face that he was almost annoyed it hadn't occurred to him straight away.

The reason for changing their arrangement was something neither Klaus or Caroline wanted to admit to.

They wanted it to change, but their parents were in the way.

They wanted it to change, but that meant being out in the open.

They wanted it to change, but what if it worked out?

Then they'd have nowhere to hide.

-x-

October 29th, 2015

A sleepy nose twitch.

A lazy shuffle.

A loud eruption of laughter from some distant place finally caused him to stir.

Begrudgingly cracking open an eye, Klaus noted that he'd been sleeping on a pile of clothes in a room he didn't even remember entering. The sunlight streaming in through the slats in the blinds stung his eyes and his head felt like it was going to explode.

What happened last night?

He tried to see whether he was mobile enough to roll off the pile of clothes.

The clinking of dishes downstairs made him wince and clench his eyes shut momentarily. He reached out for his shirt but immediately dropped it, recoiling in disgust. It smelt like beer and vomit and a sinking feeling instantly entered the pit of his stomach. He glanced around and wondered whether he'd puked in his sleep or something equally embarrassing. His jeans were a mess and his shirt was equally ruined. He couldn't even begin to remember where his shoes or socks could be. All he had on was his black cotton boxers and more laughter from downstairs sent a pulsing pain ricocheting around his skull.

Then he saw it. A bottle of aspirin and some water had been placed to the side of his makeshift bed like an angelic care package from God. Whoever had left it for him was his hero.

After he'd guzzled down three pills, he heard the creak of the stairs, indicating someone was on their way up, and he braced himself as he waited upon who was about to enter. When it was Kai's face that peeked round the door, he instantly relaxed. Quickly glancing around the room, he determined that it must have been Kai's room he'd been crashing in as no one else would have allowed his drunk arse to pass out on their floor. He didn't know anyone in the Sigma Chi house except Kai, so he was pretty sure he must have made an absolute fool of himself the night before. The likelihood of another visit was probably slim to none, even if he was accompanied by Caroline.

"Oh, good. You're up," Kai shot him an unfazed glance as he stepped over him to get to his closet. "You were pretty wasted last night, Preppy," he chuckled, rummaging through his draws for something.

Preppy? Since when had that start - you know what? Whatever. He was still slightly drunk and had more pressing issues to worry about. Like whether he'd been sick last night and if he'd been sick on anyone else. "Yeah, uh, my bad, mate," he sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Did I hurl everywhere?"

Kai glanced at him over his shoulder as he continued to look through his draws. "Nah, you actually weren't sick at all. That was my buddy Aaron who just so happened to have had a few more than you." Turning back to face the draw, he chuckled, shaking his head. "You took it like a champ, though. You didn't even bat an eyelid. You just stripped right on the spot. If it hadn't been for Caroline I think we all might have gotten more than you anticipated for us to see when you came here last night."

Klaus scrubbed a hand over his face. "I didn't mean any disrespe-"

"Save it, Preppy," Kai stood up, finally finding what he'd been searching for. "The girls vouched for you. Plus, Caroline took care of you so it wasn't like I had to babysit your drunk ass," he explained, tossing Klaus a pair of grey sweats.

Klaus blinked. Caroline took care of him?

"Oh, shit," Kai's mouth fell closed, lips forming a flat line, "I wasn't meant to say that." He paused for a beat. Then he shrugged. "Oh well." He turned and started to exit the room. "You coming? The girls are downstairs cooking breakfast."

Klaus snorted as he followed Kai down the stairs. "The girls are cooking? As in Caroline's cooking?"

Kai chuckled. "Relax, Katherine knows the risks. She won't let Caroline within two feet of the stove."

Klaus smirked. "Which is good because Caroline wouldn't go within three feet of one anyway."

When they entered the kitchen, Kai settled himself at one of the counters and began muttering something to Katherine who turned around and winked at him. Klaus' gaze continued to roam around the kitchen before it snagged on Caroline who had her back to everyone.

His brow ticked upwards, blood heating a bit.

She was in a flimsy little pyjama set that was like 4% silk, 96% skin, and she'd been moaning his name less than seven hours ago.

He really couldn't help it if his brain wandered.

She was busy pouring orange juice into cups so didn't notice as he approached her from behind. As he got closer he slid his arms around her waist and pressed his lips to the nape of her neck.

"What the-"

Startled, Caroline flinched, her body jolting forward with such force that she almost dropped the pitcher containing a gallon of juice.

"Jesus, Klaus. I just spent like fifteen minutes making this."

Chuckling, he tightened his arms around her waist. "All you have to do is add water, love."

Craning her neck, she shot him an 'are you dumb?' look. "Yeah, but you have to add exactly the right amount otherwise it tastes like crap." Her brows pinched together in the middle and she turned around in the circle of his arms to face him. "How are you feeling?" she asked, reaching up to gently press her palm against his forehead.

A low hum began slipping over the air between them and after a few moments her gaze met his. Quickly she averted her stare and pulled her hand back. Spinning on her heel, she attempted to walk away but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back towards him, causing her palms to slam into his chest so she could steady herself.

"Klaus, stop," she hissed.

"Hey," he muttered, hands sliding down her waist to rest on the band of bare skin in between her top and shorts.

Fixing him with a long, pointed stare, she sighed. "What?"

Her hair caught the light in a bright, wild halo, and for a second, his focus snagged on how entirely… innocent she looked. A fresh, unembellished, girlish sort of beauty that was at violent odds with the manicured, vixeny vibe he'd always seen at school. The Caroline Forbes he knew was always dolled up, an appearance she always managed to maintain in the mornings after their hook ups, but today he seemed to have caught the 'before' shot. It was… endearing. A dishevelled ring of golden hair, a sleepy scowl, and, his eyes squinted slightly, freckles. She had a small scattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose.

He'd never noticed.

"Thank you," he murmured. "For last night."

She lapsed into a snort. "Geez, don't make a big deal out of it."

But when he dipped his head down to capture her lips with his, her eyes immediately softened, and she let him kiss her for as slow and as long as he wanted.

It wasn't until Katherine cleared her throat that they finally broke apart, the realisation that everyone was watching washing over them. Kai helped Katherine serve the rest of the house breakfast and Klaus pulled Caroline onto his lap at the counter. When their two friends come back into the kitchen they all eat and talk about the night before. Caroline remained in his lap throughout the entirety of breakfast, and although it felt amazing…

It kinda made him nervous.

-x-

A/N: Sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks and this chapter's taken a while, but on the plus side, it's the longest one yet! I super exhausted and haven't had time to proofread, so there's a SUPER strong chance there's a HUGE number of mistakes/typos. I'll go back and edit any mistakes when I'm not sleep-deprived from work and studying, so drop a line about what worked for you/what you liked and I can take that into account moving forwards! THANKS FOR READING!