Archive of Our Own ^beta

In all of her years in this school, there were two things Caroline had never quite gotten used to.

The first and easiest to explain was the rain. It wasn’t that her small town in nowhere, Virginia, was known for the excellent weather, mind you, but she had just never really adapted to the ever glooming sky and sad, but constant trickling down of water of England’s countryside. Caroline liked sunny days and infinitely blue skies, a warm breeze and sunlight on her face.

She missed it. Summers with strawberries and popsicles and barbecues in someone’s backyard. Winters that had actual snow, not just more cold water and cold mud and ever present shades of grey. But those days belonged to her past now, to what felt like a distant childhood that was simply beyond her grasp.

She hadn’t cried when her mom had told her about the boarding school. She had been eleven, and the idea of going to study in England had made her feel like she was in Harry Potter. But Caroline had cried at the airport, when she finally realized that her mom wasn’t going with her. That her dad and Stephen were taking her away, closer to where they lived, but that they weren’t going to keep her either.

It had felt a little bit like abandonment, but that she had gotten used to.

The other thing that she had never been able to understand, even after five years, was of a much more complicated nature. And, no, it didn’t feel wrong to think of him as a thing, because she wasn't sure she was convinced that Klaus Mikaelson was human.

They had butted heads from day one, when he, a year older, had been the student assigned with helping the new students settle in. The school had this program in which they divided the first years into groups and selected a few older students to help them out with whatever they needed — class directions, where the cafeteria was and what food was edible, how to get your library card etc. Only… Klaus hadn’t taken his job seriously. 

Between pranks and wrong information and borderline rudeness to any of the students who tried asking him for help, the first years of her group either feared him or pretended to be unbothered out of desire to be seen as cool by Klaus and his friends.

Only Caroline hadn’t backed down. And when she had filed an official complaint to Headmaster Alaric, and apparently word had gotten back to his family… He had found her and told her that he would make her pay.

And thus five years of plotting and revenge schemes had taken place. Their mutual hatred was too big for their small school, and it infiltrated everything. Amicable sports competitions between the boys and girls’ houses turned into war zones, at least one professor of the (thankfully) few classes they shared had requested time off, and the two of them had been prohibited by all of their friends and classmates from playing any board or card games against each other.

So, really, it was just her luck when she found out Klaus was one of the few other students staying at school during the winter break.

December 19th

Caroline forced a smile to stay plastered across her face all day.

It was fake, she knew it was fake, all of her friends knew it was fake. They let her pretend everything was okay. Answered to all of her pestering questions about what they would be doing for the holidays, and if they were excited and if they’d be going home or travelling with the family and-

It was fine. It was okay that she was staying here, really. She didn’t mind, not at all.

Bonnie fixed her an all-too-knowing look. She could see right through her, of course. Five years of being her roommate gave her that power — or maybe Bonnie really might be a witch with a sixth sense for when her friends needed help. It didn’t really matter either way… She knew how much Caroline was secretly hurting.

“I know- I know it might be too late to get a plane ticket to see your mom, Care, but you could still call your dad and stay with them in London. You know he and Stephen wouldn’t mind having you.”

Caroline forced the smile to stay in place. “I know, Bon. But I just- I think it’ll be better this way, really. Besides, I have a lot of things to do. Some homework I still haven’t finished. And we only have a year until college applications, you know?”

She knew Bonnie was fighting the urge to roll her eyes.

The truth was, Caroline could definitely find something to do to keep her occupied if she wanted to, but the idea that she had fallen behind schedule or actually needed to catch up on her work was ridiculous to anyone who knew her.

But the problem was, Bonnie wasn’t wrong. Her dad and Stephen wouldn’t mind having her over, but that was just it. They wouldn’t mind it, but they didn’t actively want it, either. When she had texted her dad to tell him she wasn’t going to be able to make it, he had replied with ‘of course, carebear, maybe you can come over for easter’ and that was it.

No fighting for her, no pleading, no questioning.

Maybe she was being a little unfair but, well… History was on her side, if she was being completely honest.

And going back to America to see her mom just wasn’t an option. She had tried a few times. It was good for a couple of days, her mom took a few days off of work, and they filled the time with Caroline’s updates about her life. Updates about her mom’s life were less frequent, nothing ever really happened in a town that small. But soon… Conversation died down. The enthusiasm of seeing each other for the first time in so long morphed into a silence that amplified all the ways in which they had grown apart. In the end, they felt like strangers living in the same house and her mom could never hang on long enough for them to really get to know each other again. There was always an excuse to pull her back to work.

“If you’re sure,” Bon said, though she didn’t sound convinced. She sighed. “I just wish you had told me sooner, I could’ve talked to my granny and you could’ve stayed with us.”

Caroline knew. And she was beyond thankful for Bonnie’s friendship. Knew that some of her other friends might have offered the same if she had told them sooner that she’d be staying here for the holidays. But the idea of imposing on them didn’t feel right to her either.

Her smile turned a little more sincere. “I know, Bon, I really do. But I think I just need this this year, yeah? I promise you to call you and text if I get really bored.”

Bonnie finally smiled at her too, breaching the distance between them to envelop her in a tight hug. “You better, ok? I will know if you don’t.”

Caroline didn’t doubt that.

Deciding she might as well be useful, she helped Bonnie pick up her bags and went with her downstairs to the school’s entrance. It was already chaos outside, students running to and from the cars waiting outside, bringing their luggages only to realize they’d forgotten something and speeding back to the dorms. Families mingling, greeting each other. Many parents had been students here themselves back in the day, even Caroline’s place had been secured because Stephen had graduated from the school.

Caroline helped Bonnie load her things into the bus that would take international students straight to the airport, and hugged her one more time for good measure before turning away.

She got back to the steps to the school’s door, but didn’t go inside just yet. It wasn’t raining for once, although it was quite cold, but she took a moment to enjoy how busy it was today. Knew she would have to contend with silence the coming weeks. So for a while she just people-watched. Waved at a few colleagues, hugged Elena and Stefan as they passed by her. Ignored Damon.

She watched parents meet their kids for the first time in months, irrational envy spiking up inside her at those who were greeted warmly. A sense of connection with those whose parents didn’t even get out of the car to hug them. Most of the kids in this school were pretty rich, so cold detachment wasn’t exactly uncommon. In reality, she probably didn’t have that much to complain about.

Speaking of which…

Her eyes landed on a man with dark brown hair and an impeccable suit. Not at all out of place here, except he looked a little too young to be a father and a little too old to be a student. Caroline realized she knew him. Well, knew of him through photos Rebekah had shown her of her family.

For better or for worse, there were three Mikaelson siblings she’d never gotten to meet, and three Mikaelson siblings she did. Klaus was the bane of her existence. Rebekah had hated her for almost that entire first year of her war with Klaus, and had often acted as his ally… Only to one day decide that she and Caroline were friends — probably to piss off her brother — and she’d had little choice on the matter. And Kol had always liked her. Or at least really liked that she could annoy Klaus. In any case, they got along.

Two out of three. She wasn’t sure she wanted to meet the other three siblings, afraid she might find another archnemesis among them.

Still, she curiously watched. It wasn’t long before Kol approached him, appearing out of nowhere, as was usual for him. They greeted each other with a hug that wasn’t cold, but was definitely awkward and stiff. He started talking to Kol, though she was too far away to know what he was saying, but she could see the way Kol rolled his eyes dramatically and started gesturing widely.

Next, Klaus showed up. She frowned. She had heard through Bekah that he would be staying here through the holidays — not that she would have a problem with him changing his mind, of course. She’d much rather she wasn’t stuck with him for two weeks.

He greeted his brother even more stiffly than Kol. And ah, he was still wearing his school uniform, unlike everyone else leaving today, she noticed. Shame.

“It’s not polite to stare.” A high-pitched voice admonished her.

Caroline turned in surprise to find Rebekah standing next to her, arms crossed in front of her body. Her blond hair fell down her shoulders in perfect waves, she was wearing a Burberry trench coat and black Chanel boots. Of course she wouldn’t waste a second before being covered in designer clothes.

“Hello to you too, Bekah,” she greeted, pulling her into a side hug. “I wasn’t staring. I was just curious.”

Rebekah scoffed. “Right. That’s Elijah, by the way. I’d introduce you, but I’m sure you don’t want a lecture about the best career paths and investment opportunities.”

Caroline smiled. The Mikaelsons had a way of talking poorly about each other all the time, but everyone knew that, deep down, they were loyal to the bone.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Rebekah hummed in agreement. And, despite having accused Caroline of staring, she stood there doing the very same. Her brows were furrowed, lips pursed. It was clear she was displeased, but with Bekah that could either mean something was very wrong or that she simply didn’t like the tie Elijah was wearing.

Caroline looked, too. Elijah now had a hand on Klaus’ shoulder and was saying something they couldn’t hear. Kol was uncharacteristically quiet, looking down, hands stuffed in his pocket.

She watched as Klaus shook his head, his arm moving to bat Elijah’s hand away from him. He took a step back, putting more space between them. Whatever he was saying, it seemed final.

Rebekah clicked her tongue beside her.

“Fuck, I wish Nik would just-” She cut herself off, shaking her head. Then she turned and fixed her eyes on Caroline. “Look, I know you guys have always hated each other. I know that. I’m not asking you to suddenly like him. But if you could just – I don’t know, maybe if you can keep from antagonizing him these next few weeks-”

“Me?” Caroline all but shrieked, indignant. “He is always the one who starts-”

Rebekah rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, I know. Just- for me, Caroline. Please? Promise me that you won’t go out of your way to make him more miserable. Just these two weeks. Then you can go back to doing whatever it is the two of you do. Please.”

Caroline had the urge to fight the request out of principle. But- Rebekah very rarely said please. And she had said it twice now. She looked almost desperate and, fuck. She was almost an adult, right? She could totally not fight with Klaus for just two weeks.

“I- Yeah, okay. Sure. I won’t go out of my way to make him miserable. I promise.”

Rebekah took a deep breath, looking relieved. “Thank you. The holidays are hard on him, you know? Anyway. I must get going. Otherwise Elijah will lecture me about the importance of being on time.” She rolled her eyes, and pulled Caroline into a tight hug. “Text me if you get bored.”

Caroline nodded, knowing that it was nothing short of an order, but she smiled all the same.

She watched as Rebekah approached her siblings. She hugged Elijah without a hint of the awkwardness of her brothers and even turned away from him to also envelop Klaus in her arms, holding him until he was hugging her back. She really had her siblings wrapped around her fingers.

It was getting colder, but Caroline couldn’t help but keep observing as the three of them got into the car while Klaus stepped aside and waved them goodbye. He stood there, watching them drive away before he turned to get inside himself, finding Caroline’s eyes fixed on him.

Shit.

She quickly looked away, though she could still feel his eyes trained on her. This was a classic start to one of their fights. And well, yes, she probably wouldn’t have loved it if he had been the one observing a private family moment of hers, but, also, it wasn’t as if she had never stood her ground on petty issues she didn’t even care about, or had never fought him even when she knew she was in the wrong, except… She had just promised Rebekah she wouldn’t fight him, right?

She could try to make her promise last a few hours at the least. So, before he could come to confront her, she turned away, heading straight into the girls’ dormitories.

December 20th

It had been easy to avoid any confrontation with Klaus the previous day.

She had gone straight to her dorm, even smiled to herself as she realized, for the first time ever, she would have the room all to herself. She had turned up some music on her phone, took advantage of the fact that the only few remaining girls in the school were a few dorms away from hers, and sang Taylor Swift as loud as she could.

It wasn’t anything scandalous and perhaps a little silly considering it was her first moments of privacy in forever, but it had felt freeing.

She’d gone down to the dining room at 7pm sharp, just as it opened, knowing that Klaus favored having dinner later, closer to 8pm when it closed — and she wished she didn’t know his schedule as well as she did, but it had come in handy a few times for her schemes.

In any case, they hadn’t run into each other, so it had all worked out.

Except… She had met Headmaster Alaric and Headmistress Josette at dinner and they had informed her that, since so very few students and staff were currently staying at the school, it made no sense for everyone to eat at a different time and that they would all be eating their meals together. Like a family, they had said with enthusiasm. Caroline had smiled out of politeness.

That wasn’t ideal, but surely they could behave themselves in front of the headmasters.

So, the next day, Caroline woke up, showered, and headed for breakfast at 8am, all the while making plans in her head.

While everyone acted like they all went to the same school, technically, they had two: Mystic Falls, which was responsible for the girls’ housing and education, and Crescent, which was responsible for the boys’. However, as the years had passed and differences between boys and girls curriculums faded, while there were still two separate schools with two different buildings for the dormitories, they had the same classes and communal spaces. They ate their meals at the same dining room, studied at the same library, and even had some living rooms where they all could hang out.

It was, of course, strictly prohibited that boys visited the girls dormitories and vice-versa, and there were curfews for the communal spaces.

They’d have to eat their meals at the same time, and they might run into each other at the library. But surely they could mostly avoid each other for a few days, right?

Caroline smiled at Meredith, a senior and one of the few girls remaining at school, as they went into the dining room. She scanned the place to see who else was left. All of them were seniors. There was Vincent, he was cool, kept to himself, hated Klaus which worked in her favor as he usually sided with her when they were fighting. Vicky, Matt’s sister, who didn’t like Caroline much because they’d both had a thing with Tyler at some point, but usually didn’t get involved in either of their schemes. And Kai, who was, well… Deranged. Also not usually used in schemes because he couldn’t be trusted.

She grimaced. When had she started cataloguing everyone in school as either an ally or an enemy in her ongoing feud with Klaus? Maybe her friends were right when they accused her of taking this too far.

In any case, Caroline smiled politely at everyone. She wasn’t close with any of them, but it was a small school in the end, and she was mostly friendly with everyone. Still, she felt a little out of place, she was the only non-senior student staying for the winter break. Probably because no one stayed unless they had to, and only seniors needing to work on their final projects and concerned with university admissions and A-levels were willing to sacrifice their time away from this place.

It’s fine, she reasoned with herself. You knew what you were doing when you chose to stay. This is better.

It was hard to remember that when he walked in. Dark blond curls artfully messed up, as if he had just woken up with the perfectly irreverent look. His blue eyes were cold and focused, as always, as he strode into the room with confidence. He walked into every room as if he owned the place, and given the influence she knew the Mikaelson name carried, maybe he wasn’t too far off.

Caroline squared back her shoulders, preparing herself just in case. He raised his brows at her, a cruel upturn to the corner of his lips.

What are you doing here? he seemed to ask; she ignored him.

Breakfast passed without any incidents. Caroline made small talk with everyone but Klaus, asked the senior students about their projects, chatted with Vincent about his college applications. A little boring, but bearable. Lunch was much the same. She pointedly ignored Klaus, though she could tell he often watched her. He never partook in small talk, she didn’t think he was capable of politeness, in any case. So he stared at her, eyes sparking with mischief.

That was the thing about, well, their thing. It was often so stupid. This could easily be his attempt at riling her up: staring at her until she snapped and asked what? and he called her prissy and it escalated to a whole new thing that they would try to pin the blame on the other when a professor finally got fed up with their shit.

But she had promised Rebekah, so she stayed quiet.

She spent the afternoon alternating between reading in her room and rewatching Gilmore Girls on her computer, still enjoying the feeling of doing nothing, though, well, she knew herself. And she knew it wouldn’t last. She’d have to find some new project at some point.

Soon, it was time for dinner.

It was nice enough, the food was slightly better than usual, maybe the school was investing in better meals since they had to cook fewer of them. It could’ve been a perfectly pleasant evening if it wasn’t for Klaus.

Maybe he had realized he wasn’t going to get a reaction out of her just by looking at her. So he decided to try harder.

With false concern in his voice, he poised ever so innocent questions to the table. Have you ever seen a student who wasn’t a senior having to stay over the holidays? My, my… Maybe the teachers were being more demanding this year, because it seemed like not everyone was able to catch up so quickly… Of course, he had never seen anyone have this kind of trouble before…

No one really bought it. But no one really defended her either. That was the thing: when you pulled the whole school into your fights for five years, somehow it suddenly made people very unwilling to include themselves in the narrative. Go figure. Even the professors, unless they were moments away from homicide, rarely intervened these days.

And Caroline knew, of course she knew they were cheap provocations. And she even knew that no one believed in them. But fuck. It was so hard not to rise to the bait. Not to tell him how her grades were great, that in the few classes they’d happened to share she had beaten him more often than not, thank you very much.

But she didn’t.

Still, her cheeks burned. Because, well- even if she wanted to defend herself, what would she say? My grades are perfect, thank you, it’s just that my family didn’t really want me home for Christmas, and-ah, pass me the potatoes, please.

She got through the rest of the meal in silence, gripping the cutlery a little too tightly, and excusing herself as soon as she had finished.

Caroline lingered in her room for a little while, replied to some texts from her friends. Bonnie had arrived safely to her grandma’s house, and Elena sent photos of the Salvatores’ house in Italy — she had gone the holidays with Stefan’s family which, in her opinion, was a recipe for disaster considering that Stefan’s family very much included Damon. There was a simple text from Rebekah: So?

She rolled her eyes. She loved Bekah nowadays, she really did, but, man, were the Mikaelsons an entitled bunch.

Zero fights so far, she replied dutifully though, if only because Rebekah had seemed genuinely concerned.

Caroline looked around her room. Fun as it was having it all to herself, the truth was that she had spent almost the entire day within these four walls. It was still 8:30, she had until 10pm, when curfew took place… She might as well get her book and go read it by the fireplace.

She grabbed an extra sweater, knowing it’d be cold going from and to her building. But then again, by a small miracle, at least it wasn’t raining. She’d take her small blessing. And, well… Apparently small blessings was all she was going to get tonight.

Klaus was in the shared living room, sitting on the couch with a sketchbook in hands, looking deep in thought, brows furrowed as he dragged pencil against paper. He didn’t look up as she walked in, so she ignored him, too. Thankfully, Vincent and Meredith were also there, playing chess in the corner. She smiled at them before sitting down at the armchair furthest away from Klaus and, conveniently, closest to the fire.

She almost hummed in content. She could ignore him, of course. Enjoy the warmth and her book and completely ignore his presence.

And so she did, getting lost in Pride and Prejudice as the fire crackled by her side. Caroline barely felt time passing, barely remembered where she was. It was true, she wasn’t nearly as overworked as the senior students, but she was tired from this semester, and having a day where she could do nothing but read and watch tv shows was really all she needed.

She almost didn’t notice as Meredith and Vincent bid their goodbyes, didn’t realize that meant she was alone in the room with Klaus.

Deep into the book, she paid no attention to any of it. She switched positions, sitting sideways across the chair, her head resting on one of the arms as her legs swung across the other, her body sinking into the softness. It felt perfectly comfortable, even though she knew her neck would probably hurt a little bit later. But she felt so cozy. She didn’t know how long she spent lost in another universe before something called her back to her own reality.

The unmistakable smell of smoke.

Caroline snapped her head to the side, book falling open on her chest as she looked to see Klaus, still sitting on that couch, a cigarette dangling from his fingers. His eyes were fixed on her as he brought it to his lips, taking a long drag before blowing the smoke.

Her lips parted in surprise. It wasn’t as if it was uncommon for them to smuggle cigarettes or alcohol or anything really into school. But everyone was usually more careful to hide it.

For a moment, she just watched, transfixed, mind struggling to find the words to reprimand him. He took another drag, but his eyes left her face in favor of wandering down the rest of her, stopping at her thighs. Caroline looked down to see how much her skirt had risen with this new position. She swung her legs, sitting up straight on the armchair, fixing her skirt. She was wearing tights, it wasn’t as if he had seen anything, but- her cheeks still burned.

“You can’t do that in here!” She blurted out.

He scoffed. “What are you gonna do, sweetheart? Tell on me?” He said, sarcasm dripping in his voice. And, well, she could, in fact she probably should, promise to his sister or not.

But-

Klaus outstretched his hand holding the cigarette in her direction in a clear offer.

She wasn’t a smoker. Not usually. She’d maybe smoke if she had too much to drink and everyone was having one, but she didn’t particularly care for it.

Only… She didn’t know what it was. Maybe she was feeling lonely. Maybe the idea of not having a home to go to was affecting her more than she thought it would. Or maybe the idea of having a few drags to take off the edge after having to hold herself back from punching him the whole day just sounded appealing.

Caroline carefully placed her bookmark on the page she was reading, closed the book and placed it on the small table by the armchair. Klaus watched her like a hawk, a small smile on his lip as if he knew what she was doing. How she was just stalling to make him wait. Gaining any victory she could, no matter how small.

She walked up to him slowly, stopping in front of him as she finally took the cigarette from his hand.

There was a challenge in this. One she hadn’t quite figured out yet.

Still, she wasn’t going to back down. Not now. Not ever. So she brought it to her mouth, trying not to shudder at the intimacy of placing her lips where he had just pressed his.

She closed her eyes, lips touching the cigarette. It wasn’t pleasant, not really. But she felt a thrill at doing it, something she definitely wasn’t supposed to do. And once she had started, she had a hard time stopping finding new wrong things to do.

She started by plopping herself on the couch next to him, miscalculating just a little bit and ending up sitting far too close. Her right thigh was pressed against his.

Caroline met his eyes. A new challenge, this one she understood. Would she move away? Of course not. Everything was a competition, and she always wanted to win. She passed the cigarette back to him in silence. He smiled approvingly and she hated, hated, hated how much it ignited in her.

She didn’t need his approval. She didn’t want his approval. But when she passed one of his tests and he gave it to her… She was so angry. And she was so… not angry. She didn’t know what that other feeling was. She knew she didn’t like it.

They didn’t break eye contact. His eyes were an intense shade of blue today, almost black. She noticed, she always did. She wished she didn’t. That her eyes didn’t spend considerable time tracking every inch of his face, that she didn’t have it memorized. The bow of his lips. The arch of his nose. They had unraveled too much of each other over the years, by force, exploring for weaknesses.

Her friends had, more than once, begged her to stop with the childish fights, but the truth was they couldn’t.

They knew too much. They were too bare, too exposed to coexist in peace. Every silly argument was an attempt to cover up, to defend themselves.

Klaus passed the cigarette back to her, their fingers brushing against each other.

Caroline broke eye contact first in favor of sinking further into the couch, resting her head back and staring at the ceiling, watching the smoke she blew fog the air before she gave the cigarette back.

“You’re not worried someone might show up?” She asked just in case.

She saw him shake his head by the corner of her eyes. “They are understaffed. And, quite frankly, I don’t think they care that much. It’s their holiday, too. I doubt they want to spend it admonishing the youth.”

She hummed in acknowledgment. Klaus was known for getting away with most infractions, anyway, so she figured that, in this, she could trust his judgement. “Okay, then.”

“You were strange today,” he commented. “Less… you.”

She frowned, taking the cigarette from him. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t fight me, not once. Highly unusual.”

Caroline scoffed. “Wow. Now you’re complaining when I don’t argue with you?”

“Caroline.” It was just her name, but he said it so firmly it had her turning her head to look at him.

He had rested his head back, too, and now, with their faces turned towards each other they were far closer than they should be. She could feel his breath on her skin. And maybe it was the proximity or the hues of blue in his eyes or the tone of his voice when he said her name.

“It’s nothing,” she blurted out before she could stop herself. “Rebekah just told me to-”

He sat up immediately. “Rebekah told you what?”

She sat up, too, her heart speeding in her chest, unsure of where this was going. The strange quietness they had going just a moment ago had vanished, his expression was hard and guarded “Nothing!” She assured him, unsure as to why she felt the need to explain herself. “She just asked me not to fight with you over the holidays. She made me promise.”

Klaus stared at her, as if trying to gauge whether or not she was lying. If she was hiding something.

And maybe she was — “The holidays are hard on him, you know?” Rebekah had said almost carelessly. But Caroline kept it guarded deep in the back of her mind, not showing the questions that plagued her mind to Klaus.

He blinked, nodding once at her, as if he had found her answers acceptable. But his movement was calculated when he reached for the cigarette in her hand. She handed it over easily, but watched him carefully, still unsure.

Klaus took a long drag, closed his eyes for a moment as if savoring it. And then he opened them, fixing his gaze on her alongside a smile that edged between warm and cruel.

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Caroline raised her brows. Was he giving her a free pass to what? Fight with him? Without telling on her to his sister? God, maybe they were stupid. Maybe this was beyond silly. Maybe the just needed to-

Before she could register what was happening, Klaus moved quickly, pressing the lit end of the cigarette against her arm.

“What the fuck, Klaus?” She shrieked, standing up in haste and jumping away from him.

She was wearing three layers, it wasn’t as if it had any chance of actually hurting her but- fuck. Her brand new sweater now had a small, round, unmistakable cigarette burn branded into one of its sleeves.

Without thinking and seeing red, Caroline just moved to push him hard by the shoulders. But he just wrapped his hands around her wrists, causing her to lose her balance and fall forwards toward him. And she did. Her right knee fell on the sofa, right by his left thigh, and she had to grip his shoulders tight to keep from falling onto him completely.

And for a moment there she stood.

Half on top of him, their faces once more far closer than they should be. Her breath hitched in her throat, heart hammering against her ribcage. She could count his lashes if she wished, she could easily, so easily get lost in his eyes, and if she leaned forward just the tiniest bit- fuck. Their noses brushed against each other. Once. Twice.

And it would be easy. It would be so fucking easy to lean in, close that insignificant distance between their lips, but- Neither of them moved. Whoever did, whoever gave in… Oh, that would be losing, wouldn’t it?

And that was the one thing neither of them could stand.

Caroline pulled back, standing up straight. She fixed him with a glare.

“You’re an asshole,” she said, but was ultimately unable to keep a small smile from her lips. “Game on.”

December 21st

It’d been a while since Caroline had slept so well.

Not having to wake up early for classes was always good, but what really had lulled her into her dreams, in the end, had been Klaus’ offer. It was strange how much it comforted her, the idea of opposing him. It was all she knew how to do; at this point, it felt as natural as breathing.

Lazily lying in bed, Caroline took a moment to consider her options.

If a newcomer asked her to explain whatever this thing between her and Klaus was, she wasn’t sure how she would describe it. She knew there was a PowerPoint presentation that her friends and his friends had put up together to explain their on-going war against each other to the first-year students at the beginning of each school year.

The truth was: it was hard to define it.

Over the years, they had resorted to everything. From prank phone calls, to sabotaging dates; from getting each other in trouble with professors, to just studying their asses off to get a higher grade than the other; from coaching their teams to exhaustion in school competitions, to animated chess matches they weren’t allowed to play anymore.

So when Klaus said she was free to fight him, that he wouldn’t say anything to Rebekah… It could mean screaming matches over who got the last croissant at breakfast, or coming back to her bedroom to find out she no longer had a mattress, or- well, pretty much anything, really.

Caroline figured pranks were a safe bet. No real harm would get done. And if word ever did get back to Rebekah, then she could claim she wasn’t really antagonizing him. Just a few, fun, harmless pranks.

She went through a list of options. A mental one, of course. She didn’t trust Klaus not to get his hands on it if she had a physical or even a digital copy. She hated him, but she knew better than to underestimate him — he would find a way if he wanted to.

Caroline had an idea she liked. One that she felt would rattle him just enough, and would satisfy a curiosity that had been poking at her for many months now. But she would need help for this one.

She headed down for breakfast with a spring in her steps, feeling completely justified in her plan when she was reminded of the burn mark in her sweater. Jerk.

She greeted everyone as she normally would, sat down next to Vincent and started talking. Nothing serious. Not at first. She asked him about his project — something about gothic literature and witches — and, really, it was interesting enough that she could hold onto the conversation all throughout breakfast, very much knowing that Klaus was watching, that he knew exactly what she was doing.

When Vincent stood up to go to the library, she offered to join him and he politely let her.

Outside, rubbing her hands against each other to fight off the cold as they headed toward the library building, she looked at him, giving him her best puppy eyes.

“So, I wanted to ask-”

“No!” He cut her off immediately.

“W-What? You don’t even know what I was going to ask!”

He snorted. “Right. Like you weren’t going to ask me to help you with some ridiculous plan against Mikaelson.”

Caroline felt her cheeks heating. “It isn’t ridiculous, I-”

Vincent took a deep breath. “Listen, Caroline. You know I hate him, too. But I am far too busy to deal with the two of you right now. I really need to work on my project. Can’t you guys just give it a rest for the holidays?” He looked so hopeful, but-

Well, no. But fine.

“Right. Okay. I mean- If you don’t want to help, that’s okay.”

Vincent groaned, as if it wasn’t that answer he was hoping for. He shook his head, marching towards the library and leaving her behind, though she was sure she heard him mumbling something like ‘fucking idiots’ as he walked away.

Well… That was disappointing. Ideally she needed someone with access to the male dormitories.

Caroline didn’t really have anything to do in the library, so she let Vincent go. She went to the shared living room, where she found Meredith and Vicky, both sitting on the couch with books in hands, and Kai, sitting by the window looking outside.

“Hey, guys!” She greeted cheerfully. “So… I was thinking-”

“No.” Vicky said, without so much as looking up from her book.

Meredith gave her a small smile. “Sorry, Care. We told him no, too, I promise. We’re just really busy.”

Even Kai turned to look at her, a grin on his face. “Even I’m not crazy enough to get in-between you two.”

Caroline’s cheeks burned.

She hated this. When everyone else got tired. A lot of the time, the other students were willing participants, basking in the chaos of their fights. A lot of them picked sides. And, yes, she knew it was maybe because Kol had ongoing bets and lots of people had money on whoever was going to win whatever competition they had going on at the time.

But when no one else wanted to participate… When she started talking, and they all immediately knew what she was going to ask and what she wanted to do, and all of them refused… It was hard not to feel a little inadequate. Like this fight with Klaus really was as childish as she had been told many times.

Caroline smiled, telling them all that she understood and that it was fine, and made her excuses to go back to her room. Fuck. She was going to have to figure this out.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. She wanted to think of something else she could do alone, but had fallen short of coming up with any exciting ideas. Maybe Klaus felt the same way, because she didn’t acknowledge her during lunch or dinner, and hadn’t sought her out for any reason during the afternoon.

Once again feeling bored, Caroline went to the living room again after dinner, hoping at the very least to continue her book. But she didn’t even get to pick it up. She couldn’t help the excitement that ran through her when she saw Klaus was sitting at the same spot she had found him yesterday.

Vicky was also there, but before Caroline could so much as sit at the armchair by the fireplace, the girl had already stood up, muttering under her breath about having forgotten something in her room and leaving them.

Klaus snickered openly. Caroline rolled her eyes.

“No one wants to play,” she complained.

“They are boring,” Klaus said. It felt like they were agreeing about something for the first time in forever, so they both looked away.

But she watched from the corner of her eyes as he reached into his pocket, producing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. That picked her interest. Klaus raised his brows at her in a silent invitation and, well… She found herself leaving Pride and Prejudice behind for the second night in a row.

Caroline sat by his side, a little more carefully tonight, so that they weren’t so close that their legs were touching. She sank down onto the cushions, letting her head fall back as she waited for him to light the cigarette.

“Are you going to burn me again tonight?”

She heard the smirk in his voice even if she couldn’t see it. “Ah, stay at your own peril.”

Klaus passed her the cigarette. He had a whole pack, and obviously Klaus Mikaelson could afford to waste one or two of them on her, but she knew that he wouldn’t. That- this, the proximity, the sharing of the same cigarette… This line they danced so precariously was something he enjoyed far too much. How much he could push until she lost her balance.

She took a drag, unbothered.

“So, what would your masterplan have been if one of them had accepted?” She asked.

He chuckled. “Not my best work, probably. The audience here is lacking anyway. But if Vicky had helped, I would’ve dressed the old Silas’ statue in the courtyard with your clothes. You do so loathe when I ruin them.”

Caroline’s heart treacherously skipped a beat at the implication of ruined clothes. Not that he had meant- Not that they had ever or would ever get their clothes ruined in that sense. But accidentally spilled wine, or mud, or paint or a red sock among her white clothes on laundry day… She really did hate it.

She hummed in acknowledgment. “I wanted to steal your sketchbook.”

He took the cigarette from her as he scoffed. “Not a very good prank, I have about a dozen. Might not even have realized it was missing.”

Caroline paused. “Not just any sketchbook. The sketchbook. The purple one with the golden markings?”

The one you hid away from me when I saw you with it at the library all those months ago. The one he had slammed shut immediately when he had seen her.

She turned her head to the side to see him freeze, cigarette halfway to his mouth. Watched as his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Klaus took a long dreg, stalling, then turned to face her too, eyes very guarded. It caused her to smile. Got you.

“Why would you want that sketchbook?”

She shrugged. “You seem to want to keep it a secret.” She said, as if that explained everything. But she had been curious about it for months. Klaus wasn’t shy about his art. Had participated in every art exposition the school had thrown, and even she had to admit he was good (not to his face, of course).

“Am I not allowed to have them?”

He was, but she was allowed to unravel them. Exploit them. He knew that, so Caroline didn’t even answer him.

“Show me what is inside that sketchbook and I’ll tell you a secret. Whatever you want to know.”

It was a tempting offer, she knew, if a little bit desperate. She could see the engines turning behind his eyes, the multitude of things he could ask her, what would be the best thing to find out, what could he use against her…

But in the end, he shook his head. “I already know everything about you.”

He offered her the cigarette, she took it as a laugh escaped her throat. “Sometimes I think that might be true.”

It was a scary thought, and at the same time, it was not scary at all. Klaus took her admission with a moment of silence, but then answered all too quietly. “I wish it was”

Caroline wasn’t sure what he meant, so she didn’t reply. And, for a few long minutes, they just sat there, passing the cigarette back and forth between them, fogging up the air. She didn’t think they had ever spent so much time in silence in each other’s company; it wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t comfortable. There was always something charged between them, a sparkle waiting to erupt into flames.

Anticipation about when everything would blow up always caused them to act erratically, always wanting to be the one to light the match. They both found some semblance of control if they had been the one to start it.

There were millions of things she could say to pick up a fight right now, but, well. Maybe she could wait just a second longer.

In the end, he beat her to end the silence, but he wasn’t confrontational.

“Do you ever get tired of what we do?”

His question was surprisingly gentle, his tone was soft. His eyes weren’t cold or guarded when she met them this time, maybe not exactly warm, but- curious. As if they were just two regular people with a regular relationship, and he was just asking her a simple question.

Caroline took a moment to consider it.

Hell, it was exhausting sometimes. She could never relax when he was around. Could never relax when he wasn’t around. He consumed so much of her thoughts, and there was no reason why. He had been an asshole when he was 12, and she had never been able to move past it. I mean, granted, he was still an asshole, but she could have easily learned to ignore him. She had many friends who disliked him, but they didn’t actively seek him out to show him again and again how much he bothered them.

Only she couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t let go of whatever this thing between them was.

So she shook her head. Was it such a terrible confession? That after so many years of hatred and childish rivalries and hurting each other… She still wasn’t done with it. Done with him.

“No, I don’t.” She said firmly. “Do you?”

Her question came out almost quietly, a contrast to the way her heart seemed to be beating so loudly in her chest as she waited to hear his answer.

Klaus smiled at her, a genuine smile that wasn’t a smirk and it wasn’t teasing or cruel or cold. “Never.”

It sounded like a promise, one that she breathed in with relief.

Caroline looked up at the ceiling again, reaching blindly for the cigarette, which he gave willingly. She closed her eyes, taking a drag. The taste… Well, she would never really grow to care for it. But she couldn’t help but enjoy this moment.

It felt almost peaceful.

December 22nd

It wouldn’t last, of course.

Whatever semblance of truce they had found the previous night, it would inevitably end, she was sure of it. Still… She slept soundly through the night, waking up well-rested for once.

If she told her friends that she had spent hours sitting side by side with Klaus in quiet contemplation, they would have thought she was losing her mind. But the truth was that it didn’t really surprise her. They had known each other for so long, and she knew they had an understanding. They didn’t really need to be at each other’s throats to prove how much they hated each other. At least not to themselves.

It was almost a performance, in a way, what they did when other were watching. As if they did have to prove it to the everyone else. And so it wasn’t that strange that, now that no one was paying attention, they could share that moment.

Caroline sighed to herself. It meant nothing and everything. Or well, it didn’t change anything, but it did mean what she had always suspected: they knew each other far too well.

She balanced the thought in her mind, halfway between haunted and soothed by it. On one hand, there was comfort in knowing that she wasn’t alone in her obsession; if she had memorized his tell-tale signs and could anticipate his mood swings, then he could read her emotions perfectly behind her eyes. There was a synchrony to it; she would reach to push his buttons to find his outstretched hand already pushing hers too.

And that was just it: while it felt good that she wasn’t crazy, that he felt this desperate need to fight back, too… On the other hand, it simply meant that he had far too much power over her.

Caroline shuddered as she got dressed and then headed downstairs.

It was raining today, which she hadn’t noticed and, too lazy to head upstairs and grab her umbrella, she took off her jacket, pulling it above her head so that she’d be covered as she began running towards the main building for breakfast. Until she heard someone calling out.

“Caroline!” She turned her head, shivering from the cold as she saw Vincent, a few feet away from her, coming from the boys’ dormitories. An umbrella in hand, which he raised in a silent offer.

Grateful, Caroline jogged towards him and the protection he offered from the dreadful rain. Ugh, could she never catch a break from it?

“Thanks!” She grinned at him. “Five years and I still forget to look outside my window to check if it’s raining. And guess what? It always is.”

He chuckled. “Not a fan of the rain, then?”

“Not really,” she said. “But how’s it going? Any progress on your project?”

Vincent's eyes sparkled as they always did when he started talking about his studies. He was bound for Oxford, as far as she knew, for an English major. And, while Caroline was probably bound for a business degree, she was a good listener and she did like hearing people talk about their passions. So she listened to him talk about 18th century literature and the impact it had on our current vision on any number of topics.

He was still telling her about it as they reached the main building, pausing to leave his umbrella by the entrance, when some walked in hurriedly, knocking into Vincent carelessly.

“Hey!” He protested, stumbling backwards. Caroline turned her head to see Klaus marching on, as if nothing had happened, throwing his own umbrella to the corner. “Asshole,” Vincent mumbled under his breath. Then paused, looking at Caroline with concern. “This still doesn’t mean I’m-”

“Relax,” she grinned. “I’m not asking you to, I promise.”

He seemed to relax. “Good. Because he seems to be in a delightful mood.”

Caroline snorted, pretending to be unbothered, although she was curious. It wasn’t that Klaus didn’t have it in him to be a jerk just for the sake of being a jerk, but still. It was in her nature to want to investigate what was going on in his mind.

Maybe she’d unravel something boring, like he was running behind on his final project (unlikely, he was known to be a control freak like her), or Kol had found a way to get under his skin from wherever he was. Or maybe she’d discover something fun, something she could poke and prod at, something that felt like a win.

She kept on talking to Vincent throughout breakfast, sending furtive glances in Klaus’ direction, but he seemed fully focused on his food. He didn’t look at her once.

Which was strange. Usually, even if he was upset by something that hadn’t been her doing, his concern that she might find a way to make it worse often caused him to size her up like the opponent she was.

But he didn’t look at her, and she had to find the urge to pout. Fine. She could ignore him, too.

After breakfast, the girls were headed straight to the library, so Vincent offered to take her back to the dorm under his umbrella, and, as the rain had worsened, she couldn’t say no to.

Strangely, as they walked away together, Caroline felt that prickling in her skin that meant that she had his attention. Fighting back a smirk, she looked back to see him standing by the building’s entrance, arms crossed in front of his body and a sour expression on his face that she was too far away to decipher.

Still, he was looking. And in her book that counted as a victory as clear as any, so she smiled insufferably at him before turning away.

Back in her room, Caroline replied to her friends’ messages. Photos of Rebekah’s shopping spree, concerned questions from Bonnie, panicked texts from Elena about awkward family dinners. She smiled through it all. It had only been a few days, but she missed her friends so much already.

Nik has been awfully quiet… You two good?

She rolled her eyes. Every day Bekah would ask her if she’d kept her word. Every day she’d reply dutifully, Yep, all good.

She threw herself back on her bed. It wasn’t usually her thing, not doing anything, but with her limited options, Caroline found herself relaxing onto the mattress and closing her eyes. She ended up napping until lunchtime.

This time, she remembered to grab her umbrella. It was still raining, though it had subsided a little, more an annoying drizzle than anything.

Lunch in and on itself was unremarkable, except Klaus was nowhere to be seen. Which, of course, had been the only thing she could think about. He had been strange at breakfast. Everyone was probably okay back home, otherwise Bekah wouldn’t have texted a billion photos of her new clothes, so it was likely nothing serious like that, right? Maybe he was just being dramatic over nothing. Maybe he was plotting something.

That lit up her senses, her skin tingling in anticipation. They hadn’t promised they wouldn’t do anything, after all. Was it fucked up that the thought that he was planning something to upset her made her a little giddy?

After lunch, in no mood to head to the library or go back to her room, and enjoying the brief reprieve from the rain, Caroline decided to go for a walk.

While she didn’t love rainy days, there was something pretty about the grass and the hills lit up by the silver sunlight that passed through the clouds. She liked to complain, but it had been a few years now that this place had started to feel like home.

She walked the fields surrounding the school until her feet were sore. She wasn’t exactly the outdoors-y type, but she wasn’t used to being alone for so long and she’d started to feel restless. Walking helped ease her racing thoughts just a little bit.

Up a hill, there was an old tree that casted a large shadow on the rare sunny days. She’d sat there with her friends many times, but today she found him, back resting against the trunk of the tree, brows furrowed as he scribbled furiously against paper.

The purple sketchbook.

Caroline approached him with a smile on her face.

“So that’s where you’ve been hiding,” she teased, surprisingly good-naturedly.

Klaus snapped his sketchbook shut immediately, dropping the pencil he’d been using to the ground. His eyes were a storm when they found hers, lips curling into a scoff. Still in a bad mood, then. Well, she could work with that.

“What are you doing here?” He all but barked, demanding an answer.

She rolled her eyes. “I was just walking. What are you doing?” She asked, eyeing the sketchbook pointedly; her curiosity an itch she couldn’t scratch.

“None of your business,” he informed her simply, moving to stand up. “Where is Vincent?”

He sneered at the name as if it was a curse. Caroline frowned. “I don’t know? Working on his project, probably.”

Klaus scoffed again, like she had said the wrong thing. She felt her heart racing in her chest, adrenaline cursing through her veins as she tried to make sense of whatever game he was playing at. She loved it and hated it, when he started a new contest to which she didn’t yet know the rules.

Maybe he thought she had started something? That Vincent was helping her? Well, she could let him believe that.

He took a few steps towards her, until they were standing face to face. His eyes fixed on hers, as if he was trying to uncover something. “Is that why you stayed over break?” He asked, his voice harsh. He sounded angry.

“W-What? What do you mean?”

“Caroline,” he drew out her name. “Rebekah wouldn’t tell me why you wouldn’t go home for Christmas. But I guess this makes sense… You stayed because of him?”

Her eyes widened. “Because of Vincent?.”

“I saw you today.”

Caroline’s mind rushed through a recollection of her day. Her interactions with Vincent. What Klaus could have seen- She remembered him walking in right behind them this morning for breakfast. She had been talking to Vincent, had shared his umbrella and listened to him talk about his project. And Klaus… Klaus hadn’t looked at her all day.

Her heart skipped a beat. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say he was jealous.

“There’s nothing- I mean, Vincent and I are like, friendly at best. He saw me walking in the rain and he offered me his umbrella and we talked about his project. That was it.”

Why the fuck was she even explaining herself to him? Even if there was something going on with her and Vincent, it’d be none of his business, honestly. But he was so close, looking at her so intently, she couldn’t look away; she had a hard time lying.

“Then why did you stay?” He pressed as if unconvinced. And then she saw it, amid his anger that spark of cruelty. The corner of his lips twitched. “Oh, don’t tell me. Sweet Caroline is just like the rest of us at the end? No home to go back to?”

She fought a grimace as best she could. “Shut up.”

He fully smiled at her, all teeth, seeing right through her. She knew she was bleeding in front of a shark.

“The oldest story in the book, isn’t it? Mommy and daddy couldn’t bother to have you home for Christmas?”

She grit her teeth. “What about you? Your family is home, they are all together. And you’re here all alone. Guess they couldn’t be bothered to have you at home either.”

His eyes were cold, but his smile didn’t waver. “Careful.”

She scoffed. “Can’t handle the truth?”

“Can you? Oh, this explains so much, truly. Why you are the way you are. You always try so hard, don’t you? Hoping it will fill the void they left…” He clicked his tongue. “I see you. Mom and dad didn’t love you, so you are so desperate to be friendly with everyone. Hoping someone will love you enough to stop the bleeding. So lonely, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

Her breath got stuck in her throat.

Because that was the thing. It was always silly. Silly pranks, silly fights over silly, petty things that didn’t matter. Until it suddenly wasn’t silly at all. Until they found something that actually hurt and couldn’t bring themselves to stop.

Klaus was being mean for the sake of being mean. She knew that, she knew him. But he knew her, too. I see you. He did, maybe better than anyone. And if he looked at her and that was what he saw… The desperation and loneliness and hollowness… Caroline felt a prickling behind her eyes.

She shook her head, unwilling to cry in front of him.

“Not as alone as you,” she replied, but it sounded weak, lacking the bite she needed to make it land.

Something like surprise shone in his eyes, but she was already turning her back on him.

December 23rd

Caroline hadn’t showed up for dinner last night, nor had she gone downstairs to the shared living room like the previous nights, though curiosity ate up at her.

Would he be there? Did he expect her to show up?

She sighed to herself in the morning. Maybe she was being weak, maybe she was being stupid. It wasn’t as if she didn’t already know the things he had said about her. It wasn’t as if she was surprised by the lack of text messages or calls from either of her parents when they knew she was staying all alone at school for winter break. But it just… It hurt.

Because Klaus had been right. She did feel so painfully lonely.

You always try so hard, don’t you? Hoping to fill the void they left…

Caroline felt small, exposed. She’d always used her sunshine disposition to hide the cracks in her armor, but Klaus could see right through it. Was she truly so bad that parents just didn’t care? That her father had left her when she was five? That her mother couldn’t bear to deal with her on her own?

She wanted to call them and ask them. She wanted them to read her mind and call her and explain.

In the end, none of it happened. She forced herself to get up and get changed and hunger if nothing else made her brave enough to go downstairs for breakfast. Everyone was already there, including him. Caroline ignored him, sitting as far away from him as possible.

“Are you okay, Care?” Meredith asked, genuine concern in her eyes, as she sat beside her.

She smiled, grateful. “Yeah, I wasn’t feeling well. My throat was sore.”

Meredith grimaced with sympathy, offering to take her to the school nurse if she wanted, but Caroline assured her she was feeling better already.

And it was nice. Meredith was nice. Most people were; and she really was friends or at least friendly with pretty much everyone. So why on Earth did Klaus’ words from yesterday keep ringing in her ears? 

He was looking at her, she could tell. Had developed a sixth sense for it a long time ago. But she refused to look back. Refused to let him see how deeply it truly had affected her. Although, perhaps her unwillingness to fight back already told him all that he needed to know.

Today, she didn’t really care.

So much for Rebekah making her promise that she wouldn’t antagonize him… Maybe she should have been more worried the other way round.

Maybe she was being dramatic. She knew she had friends who cared about her, who would gladly offer her a shoulder to cry on or, hell, who would’ve offered her a home to go to during the holidays if she had asked them to. It was just- She didn’t want to have to ask for it. Which was probably silly and immature, but she wanted someone who would just know.

She wanted her mom and dad to know that, no matter how busy they believed her to be, normal parents should want their kid home for Christmas. They should fight for her to see them more often. They should care enough to have her there.

She wanted friends who could read her mind and family who would cherish her, and the more she thought about it the more childish she felt, but she didn’t care.

Caroline wanted to feel wanted, and right now she felt as if she’d been forgotten.

Texts from her parents had been scarce, and her friends were either too busy with whatever was going on at home or trying not to make her feel lonelier by telling her all about their vacations, but either way, she hadn’t gotten a full conversation out of any of them today.

She laid in bed most of the day, feeling sorry for herself and then hating herself for wasting so much time when she could at least try to be productive, but it was to no avail.

Lunch and dinner went by mostly the same, pretending to care about whatever small talk she was included in and ignoring Klaus’ ever-present gaze on her. The day flew by without her notice, too preoccupied with her troubling thoughts to care about any of it.

She was ready to call it an early night when she heard a knock on her door.

Caroline sighed, half-tempted to ignore it and pretend she’d already been asleep, but Meredith had been kind all day, believing her to be sick, and she didn’t really want to make her worry for her health. So she got up and opened the door, an assurance that she was feeling okay ready on her lips, but-

It wasn’t Meredith who stood there.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed, eyes searching the corridor for signs anyone else might catch him there.

Because Klaus Mikaelson was most definitely not allowed to be in the girls’ dormitory. Especially not in her room.

But he just offered her a smile and raised his hands to showcase the two bottles of (expensive) wine that he carried with him. “I brought these.”

Caroline eyed him, suspicious. “What is this? An apology?” She mocked.

Klaus’ eyes widened for just a second, and she half-expected a snarky reply out of him, but he shook his head. “An offer of companionship.”

Her brows shot up. He sounded sincere, which was the strangest part. Caroline was ready to slam the door on his face, but- he looked at her. Maybe she was reading far too much into it, maybe she saw what she wanted to see. But she had spent the entire day feeling so very alone, and there he was. Someone who saw her. He might not like what he saw, but he did see her.

Caroline stood aside, opening the door wider to let him through.

“If anyone sees you…” She mumbled under her breath.

“No one will,” he promised. For some reason, she believed him.

She closed the door behind her, and couldn’t help but lean against it as she watched him take step after step into her room. It was weird having him there, invasive. Dangerous. But there was something comforting about being on edge when it came to him.

Caroline waited as his eyes scanned the room as if awaiting his judgement. His gaze paused on her bed, uncharacteristically messy. She hadn’t made it today, her computer was tossed carelessly on the mattress as well as the clothes she’d only worn to go out for her meals before changing into the sweatpants and tank top she was currently wearing. Her cheeks heated irrationally, and she felt the need to explain herself, that this wasn’t how she usually kept her room, but Klaus didn’t make any comments. Instead, he sat down on the floor, resting his back against Bonnie’s bed.

She followed his lead, sitting across from him, back against her own bed. The room wasn’t very large, her legs were outstretched right beside his, nearly touching.

Klaus didn’t say anything. He got a corkscrew from the pocket of his pants, and opened one of the bottles before bringing it to his lips for a long sip. She tried not to stare at his lips as he licked the red from them and failed. He noticed it, too, judging by the way his eyes lit up.

He offered her the bottle. Just like they had with the cigarettes, they would share. Even if he had brought two bottles and they could just take one each, even if she could easily find them two glasses to drink from.

But that wasn’t the game.

She took the bottle from him, keeping her eyes locked on his as she brought it to her lips. Red wine coated her tongue, tasting a whole lot better than the cheapest brands she and her friends would sneak into school.

For a while, they remained quiet, passing the bottle back and forth, staring at each other. Until silence was too much to bear or until enough alcohol had finally buzzed through their veins and made them a little braver.

“You were wrong,” he said, voice distant as if lost in thought. “My siblings would have me home. I was the one who said I wouldn’t go.”

Her hands trembled a little as she took the bottle from him. This was dangerous territory. She braved through anyway.

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Never liked the holidays. Us, Mikaelsons, were not raised with the Christmas spirit, you could say. Ever since Mikael died, Elijah has tried to make it more… normal, I suppose. But it rings hollow. Too many ghosts.”

Caroline hesitated, passing the bottle from hand to hand. “Mikael…. was he your dad?”

She had heard Rebekah say the name before, had wanted to ask that very question to her, but… Children calling their dad by his given name was never a good sign.

Klaus scoffed. “Technically.”

She didn’t know what that meant and wasn’t drunk enough to press, so she just passed him the wine. “Well, you were right. Or, I guess, not completely right, but close enough. If I’d told either of my parents I wanted to go home they would’ve been okay with it. But when I told them I wasn’t going home they were okay with it too. Didn’t seem to care either way.”

He hummed in acknowledgment and took a sip. “Well, they’re idiots.”

She meant to snort, but it turned into more of a giggle. Maybe because they were already nearly through the first bottle.

“Yeah, well. I don’t think they really know me, you know? They sent me to this place in the name of it being a good opportunity. And since I’m away most of the time I think they grew used to not really having a kid.”

Klaus took another long sip and then raised the bottle of wine. “To shitty parents!”

Caroline took it from and mimicked him. “Here, here!”

He didn’t laugh, but he offered her a genuine smile.

She felt a little small out of a sudden. Years of their rivalry, years of hurting each other and scheming and planning each other’s downfall and for what? When this was the reality of who they were. Two messed up kids with shitty parents who had sent them to a boarding school so they wouldn’t have to deal with them. And yes, maybe she was unfair, but who cared?

Her heart felt heavy as something twisted in her chest. She had put too much effort into this — into them — for it to be irrelevant.

Caroline brought the bottle to her lips and turned her face upwards, drinking the remaining mouthfuls of wine in quick gulps. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked at him with a dare in her gaze.

His eyes were dark and treacherous and she didn’t care.

He picked up the other bottle, holding it up in a question to which she eagerly nodded. He was smiling as he picked up the corkscrew. And maybe she watched his long fingers work a little too eagerly. Maybe her blood felt too hot in her veins. Maybe she was just really messed up.

Caroline moved, going to sit beside him rather than across him, shoulders pressed together, legs touching. He was smirking when the second bottle touched his lips.

They fell once again into silence, but they both had smiles on their faces as they passed the bottle back and forth. Caroline felt her mind getting hazy — it wasn’t even that much wine, honestly. She had consumed a whole lot more alcohol in her life without feeling this affected. But there was something about this strange intimacy they’d found. The way it touched upon the loneliness she’d been feeling far too softly… It was driving her crazy faster than the wine.

“Everyone thinks there is something wrong with us,” she mused, accepting the bottle he handed over.

His eyes sparkled. “They’re probably right.”

“It doesn’t really feel wrong,” she admitted, voice quiet.

He hummed in agreement. “No, I suppose it doesn’t. It feels-”

Familiar. Easy. Warm. Her mind supplied.

“- important.” He finished.

Caroline’s breath got caught in her throat. Important. She considered the word in her head. Valuable, cherished, precious. It meant something, this connection, no matter how hostile. He felt it, too. She could see it in the way he looked at her — like she was important. Like it mattered.

There were barbed wires connecting them, and, instead of severing them, they held on tightly until their hands bled.

She leaned in or maybe he did. For once, it didn’t really matter. Because this mattered.

Important. This was important.

Her eyelids fluttered, cheeks warm, heart hammering in her chest. There was lightning in his eyes when she looked into them, and it transferred to her until it was running through her veins.

Their noses touched, and for a moment they stood there, waiting. Waiting to be interrupted, waiting for reason or divine intervention, but none of it came.

Slowly, Klaus reached out, placing his hand on her waist. Her own hand came up, cupping his cheek. It was torturously soft. The kind of gentleness that would be difficult to overlook tomorrow, difficult to pretend it was something else, although, in her heart, she already knew they would try.

She couldn’t tell who finally closed the distance.

Their lips touched and it was familiar and unknown all at once. There was little she didn’t know about Klaus, and in that moment she bridged the gap in her knowledge even more. His lips were soft, his tongue was skilled, and — and this was really more a knowledge about herself than about him but — she really liked the way he would tease her lower lip with his teeth. All of that was new. But the delicate balance of taking and giving and the sweet punishment of raw, reddened lips… That wasn’t new at all.

And it felt like all of those things. Familiar, easy, warm. Valuable, cherished, precious.

Important.

They pulled away just slightly, only to catch their breaths, lips still brushing against each other. She pressed hers to the corner of his, to his jaw, stubble prickling her skin. His hand on her waist found its way inside her shirt, fingers teasing the skin of her ribcage.

“Caroline,” he said. He had said her name a lot of times. It had never sounded like this — breathless, like a plea.

She kissed him again. Tongue slipping past his lips, tasting him. Unraveling every inch of his mouth, like she had with every bit of information she had collected on him over the years. He let out the softest of sounds when her nails scratched against the nape of his neck. His fingers dug into her side when she pulled at his curls.

She knew so much, and yet there was so much to discover. And she was nothing if not thorough.

But Klaus was eager with his exploration, too. Of course, he would never let her gain any knowledge on him without getting the same in return. His other hand curled into her hair and pulled it back, forcing her to pull away from him. She gasped in surprise; it was rough and it wasn’t, because as he held her there, neck extended, he began placing the sweetest kiss down her jaw.

He found the sensitive place on her neck with ease, peppered it with soft kisses before scratching it with his teeth and soothing it with his tongue. He would probably leave a mark and she didn’t have it in her to care.

His hand slid up until it was cupping her breast, squeezing it. A soft moan escaped her lips before she could stifle it and she felt him freeze against her neck. She froze herself as he pulled back to look at her, letting go of her hair, eyes so dark there was barely any blue left in them.

Klaus squeezed again, and her head fell back, resting on the mattress, as his thumb swept across her hardened nipple. She watched as his gaze left her face to stare at his own hand, half hidden beneath her crumpled tank top, cupping her breast.

“Fuck,” he muttered. And then his lips were on hers again, vicious and desperate. His other hand dove beneath her shirt, too, to pay attention to her other breast.

She buried one hand in his hair as the other gripped his shoulder. Fuck. Whatever this was, whatever the rules were to this particular game, she was most definitely losing. There wasn’t a single coherent thought in her mind as Klaus pinched both of her nipples, and her traitorous back arched into the touch.

Her breath was ragged against his lips. She closed her eyes as he peppered kisses against her jaw again, and then moved his way down. All across her neck, then her collarbone. One of his hands pulled her shirt up, exposing her breasts. His mouth was around one of her nipples.

“Fuck!” Her own voice whispered this time as his teeth teased sensitive skin. She held him there, hand buried in his hair. She opened her eyes, needing to see it and at the same time almost unable to bear the sight of Klaus moaning against her breast.

One of his hands traveled down, to the waistband of her sweatpants. He expertly unlaced the string holding it up, and she didn’t stop it, didn’t even think to stop him, when his fingers sneaked beneath her panties.

Shamelessly, Caroline spread her legs to accommodate him. He groaned at her willingness, shifting to press himself against her side and fuck. She could feel his cock against her hips, still trapped in his jeans.

She should help him out. That would be the polite thing to do. But suddenly all she could think of was the throbbing between her own legs, that pressure in her lower belly. And his fingers so, so close to where she wanted them.

They inched closer, pressed against her slit. Klaus pulled back to look at her, and she wondered what she must look like. Lips red and swollen, eyes dark with want, shirt lifted, legs spread for him.

She always thought he would ruin her, but never quite like this.

“Okay?” he asked, his middle finger brushing against her folds. She didn’t miss the way his breath hitched when he noticed how wet she was.

Caroline nodded feebly. “Y-Yeah. Yes.”

An obscene sound escaped her mouth as he pressed his finger against her. She couldn’t look away from his face, though his eyes stayed fixed on his hand, disappearing beneath her sweatpants, for a moment before they looked back at her.

“You are stunning,” he said. It sounded like a confession.

Despite how much her body wanted to focus solely on the way his fingers were teasing at her entrance, her mind wasn’t too far gone that she didn’t register those words. Didn’t capture them and kept them safe in a little box in the back of her mind. She felt warm all over, so close to burning up when they had barely done anything yet.

Klaus pressed the tip of a finger inside of her, and her hips moved out of their own volition, seeking out his touch. The corner of his lips curled up. “Shut up!” She hissed.

“I didn’t say anything,” he protested, but didn’t wipe the smirk off his face.

Suddenly his finger was inside of her. And that was it. She would have to live the rest of her life knowing how it felt to have Klaus Mikaelson — if only his finger — inside of her. Fuck. How had it come to this?

She gasped as he began moving ever so slowly, in and out. “Fuck, Klaus. I need-”

“Tell me,” he demanded, eyes trained on her face.

“More!” She gasped out.

And maybe he was in some sort of trance, too, because never, not once, had Klaus given her exactly what she wanted without having to be coerced. But he gave in easily today, pressing another finger inside of her, moving faster.

“Fuck, Caroline!” He breathed out.

In the back of her head, she could register that he was rocking himself against her hip, noticed how his other hand had moved to unbutton his pants and drag down the zipper. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw him slip his hand underneath his briefs. Fuck- Should she-

And then he was kissing her again, swallowing her moans with his lips, and her thoughts drifted easily.

Focused on his tongue against hers. On the feel of his fingers inside of her, curling against her walls. She clenched around them, needing more. Always wanting more.

“Do you need-?” he whispered against her lips.

She didn’t really get his meaning until he shift his hand a little, his thumb sliding up until- oh.

“Yeah-Yes. Right there.”

She sounded rough, her voice hard to find. But it was difficult to focus when he began circling her clit like that, adding just the right amount of pressure to make her legs tremble. She pulled her head back, needing space to breathe, her breath far too ragged. Her hand reached back, grabbing onto the mattress behind her tight.

The pressure in her lower belly grew tight. Her hips bucked against his hand shamelessly.

“You look perfect like this,” he praised, voice a whisper against her ear. “Can you come for me just like this? I want to see you.”

On one hand, it would be giving him what he wanted. On the other, it would be giving her what she wanted. And there was a hint of a challenge in his voice… She had never backed away from those, and she wasn’t about to start now.

His thumb brushed against her clit again and — oh. Her vision became hazy, everything became hazy. She lost herself in that feel, in that undoing.

She might even have said his name, she wasn’t sure.

Caroline remained there, staring up at the ceiling, vaguely aware that he slipped his hand out of her sweatpants. That he pulled her shirt down so she’d be covered. Again, with that gentleness that they would try their best to destroy tomorrow.

But it was still tonight and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips.

“I rather like this way of shutting you up,” he teased.

Caroline mumbled something, but wasn’t coherent enough to come up with anything clever. He just chuckled at her as she rolled to her side to face him, limbs feeling heavy. Her eyes met his, and this strange acknowledgment passed between them. As if they were the only two people in the world in on a secret, as if they knew they had done something wrong. They both smiled.

She rested her head back, looking at him, and he did the same.

This silence was filled with things they wouldn’t say, but she felt comforted by it. Comfortable enough to close her eyes.

December 24th

Caroline woke up in her bed.

Which was strange, because she definitely remembered dozing off on the floor. She also definitely remembered Klaus being there, but there was no sign of him this morning.

Well, that wasn’t quite true. There were signs that last night had not been a dream. There was a tenderness between her legs. The two bottles of wine remained on the floor. Asshole. He snuck out without even bothering to take out the trash. And-ah, yes. As she looked in the mirror, yet another sign: a stain of red and purple on her neck.

She brought her fingers up to trace it. It was only then she noticed her hands were trembling.

Caroline considered herself in the mirror. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were wide, there was a hickey on her neck left by none other than Klaus Mikaelson. She was still the same person, but a whole lot of things had changed last night.

“Oh, God.”

Why had she- How could she have let this happen? How could he have let this happen? There were two people who loathed each other in this relationship. How come neither of them stepped and said ‘uhh, what the fuck are we doing’?

They were drunk, she tried to reason. They had been drunk and that was why-

Except she didn’t even have a headache. Her stomach wasn’t practicing somersaults in her body. She had not been anywhere near drunk enough to claim she didn’t know what she was doing. And neither had he.

Fuck.

They had been lonely, she tried again. Two lonely people who had known each other for far too long and who needed to be comforted. It didn’t have to be a thing. They could go back to acting as if this had never happened.

Right?

Right. So, if nothing had happened, then the normal thing to do would be to get dressed — yes, maybe with a turtleneck today due to the evidence — and go downstairs for breakfast. Make small talk and eat her eggs and glare daggers at him over something silly and have everyone roll their eyes at them. She could do that.

Only-

Klaus wasn’t at breakfast. That threw her off. Because why would he skip breakfast if nothing had happened? 

She kept her eyes trained on the door the entire time, hoping he’d show up late, but he never did.

A whole new sense of dread took over her as the idea that Klaus could very well choose not to ignore this. That he could use this against her in their neverending games. The idea of him telling others about what had happened, about how willing she’d been… The idea of him using it to mock her left her feeling sick. Spreading word of how easy it had been to manipulate her into letting him touch her.

For the first time since she woke up, Caroline felt ashamed.

Was that what had happened? No. He hadn’t even gotten anything out of it. She hadn’t even gotten him off. And if he did want to use it against her, then he’d be up bright and early to gloat.

Her brain kept conjuring up possibilities as to what this could all mean and how they were supposed to act about it all morning.

She was walking to the dining room to have lunch when she saw him, or rather, he saw her. Called out her name and all but ran to her as she stood there, paralysed, heart racing in her chest. She’d wanted to see him to rip off the band-aid, but now that he was there-

“You weren’t at breakfast,” she mentioned, trying to seem casual but it sounded accusatory anyway.

He winced. “I overslept.” He did sound sincere. “I just wanted to make sure… Are you okay?”

She frowned, his question catching her off guard. “What do you mean?”

His eyes were so very blue and so very concerned. “We had been drinking. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t- Well. Are you okay?”

Her brows shot up. She had never heard him sound so anxious before. It tugged at something in her chest. And fuck- out of all the ways she had imagined this going, she hadn’t thought about this. About him checking up on her. Making sure that she was okay with what had happened.

Who was him and what had he done with Klaus Mikaelson?

“I’m fine,” she managed to say. “We didn’t even have that much to drink.”

Her own words made her cringe. It sounded too much like an admission — she had made it impossible for them to blame it on the wine now. She found herself staring at her shoes. Klaus probably understood the weight of what she’d saud because he stayed silent for a few moments.

“Right. Yes.”

“We don’t- We don’t need to talk about this.” She said, almost pleading as she met his eyes.

She had trouble reading him today. As if something had shifted last night and her sense of who he was had been smudged. She couldn’t focus when it came to him and none of it made sense. But he didn’t look relieved at her suggestion, that much she could tell. Shouldn’t he feel relieved?

“As you wish,” he said slowly. “Come on, or we’ll be late.”

And for a few hours, that was it. We don’t need to talk about this. She repeated it to herself like a mantra all through lunch and then all afternoon as she paced her room, trying not to stare at the floor where it had happened. Dinner had been hell. The food was good, but the remaining professors and staff had aimed to make it festive and the conversations kept going on and on. She had pointedly not talked to him, but it was hard to completely ignore him when he kept his eyes trained on her. She almost wanted to tell him to be more subtle, but well. That would be talking about it.

A few days.

They just needed a few days to absorb this and digest it and then they could move on. In a little over a week everyone would be back to school and they’d be distracted and then things would go back to normal. It truly would be like it had never happened.

Caroline threw herself on her bed after dinner.

Except… When she closed her eyes, it all played out like a movie in her head. The way her name sounded when he was breathless, the way his lips felt against hers, his hands all over her body…

She bit her lower lip, lost in thought. The more she reminisced, the harder it was to ignore that pulsing between her legs.

The truth was, she had thought of little else all day. However crazy this was… Well, it had taken her mind off of the misery she’d found herself in just yesterday. Of course, if he was the one to put her in a bad place, it made sense that he had the ability to get her out. She hated how much power he had over her.

That was perhaps the worst of it all. How good it had felt to fall apart for him. How he got to bring her off the edge and-

“Son of a bitch!” She all but yelled, suddenly sitting upright.

He was winning.

He had gotten her off and she hadn’t even touched him. All she could see was a scoreboard in her head — Klaus 1 - Caroline 0. And that? That just wouldn’t do. She couldn’t bear it, not for a second longer. Not when he was winning. Not when he hadn’t even offered her a chance to equal the scores.

Without a second thought, Caroline stood up and left her dorm.

She was being insane, but she didn’t mind. Not when there was a competition to win against him. That was all that counted. It didn’t matter if no one else would understand it, he would understand it. She was sure of it.

Still… She knew she was being careless. Girls really weren’t allowed in the boys’ dormitories. But if Klaus had been able to sneak into her room yesterday…

Caroline thought of a million plans and back up plans, in case she needed to charm a school employee into letting her through but in the end it was a whole lot easier than she’d assumed. Maybe Klaus had been right and the school truly was understaffed during winter break, or maybe they really didn’t care enough to ruin their holidays by supervising students that were generally pretty well behaved.

In just a few minutes, she was standing right in front of his door and, before she could stop herself, she knocked.

Klaus opened it a few moments later. Shirtless and with wide eyes that told her he was genuinely surprised to see her and then with a stupid grin on his face and shirtless and- fuck.

Before he could say anything, Caroline placed both her hands on his chest and pushed him inside, causing him to stumble backwards. She didn’t care, she followed him in, slamming the door behind her.

“You’re winning,” she said simply, as if it explained everything.

For once, he didn’t seem to be on the same wavelength, because he just furrowed his brows, lips parted as if he was about to ask her what the fuck she was talking about, but she didn’t give him the chance. She grabbed his arm, pulling him until he was standing by the edge of his bed, and then pushed him again on his shoulders so that he would sit.

She was straddling his lap a second later.

“Sweetheart, what are you doing?” He asked, though his hands had already found their way to her hips.

“You’re winning,” she repeated, voice a little softer now that he was so close. His impossibly blue eyes staring right at hers.

She could see the moment it dawned on him. The moment he realized she had turned even this into a competition. There was exasperation and fondness that were quickly melted into something very warm behind his eyes.

“Well, far be it from me to keep you from trying to beat me.”

She gritted her teeth, feeling bolder already. “Oh, you’ll see.”

“I’m counting on it, love.”

He squeezed her hips in encouragement as her hand came to cup his cheek, trying very hard not to dwell in the way he leaned into her touch. 

Caroline lowered her head, letting their mouths brush softly. A shiver ran down her spine at the touch and she knew it was going to be a problem, how soft his lips felt. How good it felt to kiss him.

His tongue darted past her teeth in a careful exploration. It wasn’t fair how quickly he disarmed her, how quickly she melted with his kisses and touches. She had come here for a reason. She had a plan. None of it seemed to matter anymore.

His hands slipped lower, squeezing her ass, making her move a little further against him. The slim fabric of his sweatpants didn’t do much to stop her from feeling the outline of him. She hadn’t really had the chance to do anything last night and now-

She pulled back to look at him. His broad shoulders, the narrow waist. He was lean, but there were some muscles hidden underneath the Henley’s he favored.

Caroline slid her hands down his chest, marveling at the feel of his skin against hers. And he just sat there, letting her run them down his stomach, then around his back. Patient, but looking far too smug. She was too enthralled to pay it much attention.

“What do you want, Caroline?” He prompted after a moment.

Her eyes shot up to meet his. “I want to touch you,” she said, ignoring the flush she knew was on her cheeks.

“Like I touched you yesterday?” He asked carefully.

She paused, considering it. She could, of course. It’d be easy to shove her hand down his pants and make him come. But she hadn’t- She was ashamed to admit that she didn’t really have a plan. She just wanted to equal the scores, to make it fair.

“I could,” she said, running her hand through his hair.

He read through her immediately, eyes sparking. “Ah, no game plan? Highly unusual.”

He was just teasing, she knew, but she felt a little less brave anyway. She worried her lower lip between her teeth for a moment, fingers still threading through his curls.

“I just- I didn’t like that I didn’t touch you yesterday,” she admitted, a little too honestly. “Did you even come?”

His eyes widened. “Caroline.” He sounded incredulous, letting out a chuckle. “I came in my pants. Do you know how long it’d been since I’d come in my own pants?”

That sent a thrill down her spine. The idea of him getting himself off while he touched her. Being so worked up by her that he couldn’t wait, having to seek out his own pleasure hurriedly. Messily.

“How undignified.”

He laughed. “Indeed. See? Far be it from me not to claim a victory you’re trying to give me, but I assure you, you don’t owe me-“

Caroline cut him off with a kiss. Partially because the idea of him getting himself off was making her skin feel feverish, and partially because maybe it was better if they didn’t talk about it too much.

“I’m still going to win,” she vowed in-between kisses.

He smiled against her lips. “We’ll see.”

Klaus maneuvered them with ease, gripping tight onto her hips to keep her steady as he turned around, bringing her with him to flip her onto the mattress. His body was on top of hers a moment later, lodging a leg in between her thighs as she scooted back until her head was on the pillow.

His lips attacked hers bruisingly as her hands caressed his back, teased the skin with her nails.

He reached for the edge of her turtleneck sweater, pulling it off alongside her shirt before throwing it somewhere over hus shoulder. She grinned as his eyes darkened when they clocked in the mark he had left on her neck. His lips descended onto the spot, kissing it with lightly, with reverence.

It had her hips bucking against his thigh. Fuck.

She kicked off her shoes and wiggled off her socks with her feet. She lifted herself up just a little to press herself against him, her breasts pressed against his chest, as he reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. And, damn, the feel of her nipples touching his skin felt obscenely perfect.

His hands ran down her sides as his kisses trailed down. She buried her hand on his hair as his tongue licked a path down her sternum.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered against her skin. She shivered.

His lips closed around one of her nipples, sucking at it, teasing it with his teeth. And she couldn’t keep still, not when she was throbbing in between her thighs. She grinded against his thigh, the amount of friction she got too underwhelming, just driving her to try harder.

At least she wasn’t the only one affected, because she could feel his hips rolling against hers, the bulge of his cock pressed against her.

She reached in between them, palming him through his sweatpants, taking in his desperate groan with a smile on her face.

She was about to ask him what he wanted. If he wanted her hands or maybe even her mouth. But, before she could, he was reaching for the button of her jeans and then quickly unzipping it and fuck. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to touch her there — fuck, she really, really wanted it — but it made it so much harder to think straight and she had a mission.

Klaus didn’t seem to care. His lips returned to hers, and she had almost resigned herself to the pleasurable fate of having his hands in her panties again when he instead grabbed the waistband of her pants and tugged.

“Lift your hips for me,” he instructed against her lips.

She complied without thinking, even helped him pulled her pants down along with her panties, her brain taking far too long to register what was happening. That she was completely naked on Klaus Mikaelson’s bed.

Caroline tried to think back to how this happened and well. Showing up to his bedroom in the middle of the night, straddling his lap and demanding he let her win. Clearly she hadn’t thought this true. She had imagined the satisfaction she’d feel by getting him off. She hadn’t thought of this, her legs spread to accommodate the weight of him.

Klaus reached down in between them, rocking his hips against hers as his fingers found her folds. He pulled his head back, searching her eyes.

“You are perfect,” he whispered. 

Perfect.

Beautiful. Stunning. He needed to stop saying those things. He especially needed to stop saying those things like he meant it, because her body seemed to want to believe it. She felt warm.

“Klaus,” she tried to say in protest, but she just sounded breathless.

He smiled, shifting his weight back to his calves. She felt exposed, lying naked on his bed as he stared at her, eyes so dark there was almost no blue left in them. He reached for the bedside table, opening the drawer. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the condom in his hand.

He leaned on top of her again, pressing his lips against hers. It took her a moment too long to respond.

He pulled back. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed, though she sounded a little unsure.

His eyes widened. “Have you ever-?”

She scoffed. He grimaced, noticing he had asked the wrong thing.

Always a competition. She would never admit to being inexperienced in front of him. Even if, well, her experiences were rather limited.

Matt’s fingers, too soft and too quick to truly give her pleasure. That one night with Tyler’s weight on top of her, more awkward and painful than pleasant.

She didn’t know what he saw in her eyes. If he could read her as well as she feared he could. But in any case he reconsidered, fixing her with a concern gaze. “Do you want this?” He asked instead, firmly.

Caroline took a moment to consider.

It’s not what she had imagined. It felt more… complicated. Less like an innocent mistake they could brush off.

But at the same time… Any concerns she had were doing nothing to sooth the overwhelming need she felt for him. There was a pulsing heat in between her legs, insisting and all consuming as her lower belly felt so tight, curled up in itself.

“Yes,” she replied, the confession burning her cheeks, but her voice didn’t falter.

Klaus nodded, as if assuring himself. “Good.”

“Good,” she repeated. She reached out, looping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

He went easily, lips meeting in a messy kiss.

This is happening. Fuck. Her heart hammered in her chest in excitement. She reached for the waistband of his sweatpants, pulling it down. He helped her drag it off of his legs, kicking it out.

Curious, she pushed him away to take a look, licking her lips absentmindedly at the sight of him pressed against her hip, hot and heavy. Klaus didn’t seem to be breathing as she reached for him, tentatively wrapping her hand around the length of him.

“Fuck, love,” he hissed. 

It was such a thrill, watching him like this. Eyelids fluttering as she stroked his cock. There was such power in this, in knowing that she could unravel him if she wanted to.

And she really did want to.

She grinned as she kept on pumping him, cataloguing every hitch in his breath. Every sigh. The way he trembled when she ran her thumb against the tip of him.

Suddenly his hand was on top of hers, stilling her movements. “Enough teasing,” he demanded.

She clicked her tongue. “Can’t take it?”

His smile was dangerous. “Oh, you’ll see.”

He sat back on his calves, and she watched as he stroked himself a few times before unwrapping the condom and rolling it down his length.

She spread her legs wider to accommodate him, wrapped her arms around his back as he drew in closer. He ran a finger along her folds, slowly, before pressing at her entrance. “So wet for me,” he hummed against her ear.

She’d be embarrassed if she couldn’t feel how hard he was against her.

Klaus pushed a finger inside of her, running it in and out a few times before he pressed a second one and oh. Her hand flew to grip tight onto his hair.

“Klaus,” she breathed in a warning. “Please.”

He chuckled. “Now who can’t handle the teasing?”

She shut him up with a kiss.

Finally, he pulled his fingers away, making her moan pathetically at the sudden emptiness. She could feel his smile against her lips. Asshole. But it was really hard to care when he guided himself to in between her legs, the tip of him pressing against her entrance.

“Yes?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Klaus pushed in, inch by inch, torturously and deliciously slow. Her nails dug into his shoulder as her lips fell open in a perfect ‘o’. And he kept his eyes on her, too concerned, too careful, too gentle. This was a mess she had no idea how they would untangle themselves from, but she would have to think of it tomorrow.

All she could think of was this. The feel of him inside of her, stretching her. The weight of his on top of her, intimate instead of restricting.

She drew her legs in, causing the angle to shift just a little and fuck. Her vision was already darkening.

“You can move,” she said, voice rough, but trying her best to seem in control and not as desperate as she felt.

Klaus seemed to be fairing little better. He immediately rocked his hips, testing. She couldn’t help the sound that escaped her throat, but she wasn’t sure he heard, not with the way his head fell on the crook of her neck, lips pressed into her skin.

“You feel so good,” he breathed. “So much better than I- fuck.”

She must be delirious, because surely he hadn’t been about to say ‘so much better than I imagined’. As in, he had imagined this, thought of this before. Fuck. She’d worry about it later.

She rocked her hips up to meet his every thrust, arching her back into him. This felt far too good. Far better than it had any right to.

“So perfect around me. Do you realize how insane you’re driving me? Showing up here, knowing you’d get what you wanted… The others don’t see it, do they? How amazingly perfect you are. So determined. You can do anything you set your mind to… And this is what you chose. So beautiful”

Her walls clenched around him, needing more. Needing him.

He fucked her hard and fast and perfect. Like he knew what she needed before she did. Like all those years of gladiating against each other had made him an expert on all things her. And he could capitalize on it now, leaving her without any rational thought in her mind.

She gripped onto him, one hand on his shoulder and the other on his hair. His breath was hot against her neck as he peppered her skin with kisses.

“Fuck, I need-“ she pleaded, grabbing one of his hands and dragging it in between them.

Klaus groaned, getting the hint. He was quick to find her clit, pressing against it with his finger, rubbing against it in tight little circles. She couldn’t help but wrap her legs around his waist, pulling him closer.

The angle shift got him to go deeper, each thrust making her eyes roll back. And that perfect teasing of her clit…

“I’m close,” she breathed. “Just a little-“

“Come for me, love.”

Klaus redoubled his efforts, his attention on her clit nearly torturous as he fucked her hard and fast until every thought had slipped from her mind. Until it all erupted into white, blinding pleasure.

She was vaguely aware he was still moving, the thrusts of his hips growing erratic, but it felt distant. Too dissolved into blissfulness to fully notice. She just knew she wanted him to keep going until he felt as good as she did.

It took a few more moments until she heard her name, ragged and spent, being grunted against her ear, and the grip on her hip tightened.

Klaus let his weight fall on top of her, and for a few seconds they just laid there. Her hand caressing his hair, his breathing heavy. Slowly, he pulled up, pressed a kiss to the corner of her lips and shifted to his side as she moved to do the same so that his singles bed could accommodate the both of them.

“This,” he claimed, “is the best competition we ever came up with. We should’ve started this sooner.”

He devoured whatever answer she would’ve come up with with his kisses. And she allowed herself to believe it.

Maybe this didn’t have to be difficult. Maybe this could be like everything else they’d ever done. A competition with winners and losers — one in which losing wasn’t too bad of an outcome.

They both rested their heads on his pillow, facing each other.

She couldn’t help but smile.

“Merry Christmas,” she found herself saying.

He chuckled. “Merry Christmas, love.”

December 25th

She woke up in his bed.

That was a mistake. What they had done these two previous nights… It had been a transgression, a violation of the clauses of their relationship. But staying the night? That felt like an even bigger one. Too intimate.

If they wanted to play this like a game, then there had to be rules. This had clearly been an unspoken, important one. And they had already broken it. She had already broken it.

Caroline groaned. No matter how much they tried to pretend otherwise, this was going to be complicated.

Perhaps Klaus knew this, which was why he wasn’t in bed when she woke up. Offering her a chance to exit gracefully. She was sure as fuck going to take it.

As she rose, body protesting — both because it was still sore from last night and because it didn’t particularly want to leave a warm bed to face such a cold morning —, she heard the shower running. Great, she had at least a few minutes to get the hell out of here.

If they were going to keep playing… Well, maybe she’d email him a set of rules later today. That’d be easier.

She located her clothes, scattered around the room, quickly putting them on. 

Messiness of the situation aside, she did feel… well, maybe not happy, not exactly, but warm. There was a hint of a smile on her face anyway, her mind already filled with ideas and schemes. Whatever it was they were doing, it opened a whole new set of possibilities. It was bound to at least be entertaining. She had spent years fighting him tooth and nail, she figured she deserved a few orgasms for her efforts.

Ready to turn and leave before he got out of the shower, her eyes caught sight of something she’d nearly forgotten about. Something purple.

His sketchbook lay on top of his desk.

Sending a quick glance to the bathroom door, she could hear that the shower was still running. It gave her just enough time for a quick peak… She’d been curious about it for months, after all. Even if it’d probably be something boring, she couldn’t help but want to know everything about him.

She moved quickly, opening it up randomly only for her heart to nearly stop.

Her breath got caught in her throat. She flipped through the pages, thinking she’d find something different, thinking it’d only been a coincidence, but-

It was her.

Again and again and again. Her face. Various expressions, various moments of her life captured on paper by him. He was talented, she knew that, but she looked- She looked beautiful. Put together. Radiant. She couldn’t breathe, staring at those images of herself.

Was this how he saw her?

This wasn’t what she looked like. Not really. Not all the time.

Distantly, she heard the shower stop running. Understood, vaguely, that it meant she had little time. But her hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

Because Klaus knew her. It was one of the few things she was certain of. And yet- why was he drawing her like that? 

You are beautiful. You look stunning. You are perfect.

He had said it so many times last night, but he didn’t really mean… It was just a spur of the moment kind of thing. She wasn’t like that.

Did he see her like that?

Caroline hurriedly put the sketchbook exactly where she had found it and rushed to the door. She couldn’t face it, couldn’t face him. Not until she had thought this through.

Like a coward, she ran away.