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Caroline awoke to the bang of her bedroom door opening, though the piercing pain in her temples quickly took precedence. "Ow," she moaned. Pressing her face into the pillow helped to block the offensive morning light; unfortunately, it couldn't do the same for her roommate.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Katherine teased, jumping onto the bed to throw off the covers.
Cringing from the onslaught of light and noise, Caroline reluctantly accepted her fate. "Hangover cure, please." She held out her hand, grateful for the aspirin and the protein shake Katherine passed her. Choking down the chalky drink, Caroline winced when she finally opened her eyes. "What happened last night?"
"I'm so glad you asked." Katherine smirked as she pulled up her Snapchat story. "Remember your adamant plan to finally suss out Klaus's deal with you?" she asked smugly.
Caroline racked her brain for any memories of the night before, but they all ended around Kol's birthday dinner with all their friends - and Klaus. "He showed up at the Grill late, right? I don't know anything about a plan."
Though she could guess.
When she met Kol Mikaelson in college, he was just the trust-fund baby looking to sleep his way through college (both literally and figuratively). After weeks of feuding and Caroline snapping back at his smart-ass remarks, a grudging respect was born. Over the years since, that respect grew into an iron bond of friendship.
His brother, on the other hand, never seemed to care very much one way or the other about her witty banter. Klaus had been the one to take pity on a recently graduated Kol whose trust fund access was cut off when he didn't want to move back home to join the family business. With Caroline moving to Chicago for her first big-girl job, it was a no-brainer to live with his follow, ne'er-do-well brother just a few blocks away.
It was during Caroline's apartment-warming party a few weeks earlier that she realized Klaus Mikaelson was weirdly quiet. She and Katherine, a fellow Whitmore grad with better closet options and cleaning habits than Kol, encouraged everyone they invited to bring a friend in an effort to widen their social circle in a new city. When Kol bought his artsy architect of a brother, she thought he'd be a natural fit for their group.
Honestly, tolerating Kol was the first task to master, and the guy was living with him.
Katherine had called dibs immediately upon seeing his tousled curls and delicious scruff, but Klaus's nonverbal reactions to her blatant come-ons were too much work for her. Caroline had rolled her eyes at Kat's annoyed declaration, determined to strike up a conversation with him. She had noticed him glancing in her direction throughout the night. Being Kol's brother put him firmly in her 'friend' pile, but Caroline wasn't above a little innocent flirtation among friends. Hell, it was the best way to survive both Kat and Kol.
Still, Klaus hadn't risen to the occasion. He nodded appropriately, attentively listening to her babble about linen closets for some reason, but he had nothing to offer in return. It was like talking to a mirror that would now and then hum noncommittally in response. Every time she asked a direct question, he would pensively take a drink, pause, then quietly answer with the barest explanation. While she was all for people doing what they needed to in social situations, Caroline hated that he felt so uncomfortable in her presence; Klaus quickly moved from the 'friend' pile to the 'guy standing alone at the party' corner.
According to Katherine, though, she had apparently decided enough was enough at Kol's birthday party.
"Your plan to, and I quote, 'find out Klaus's weird grudge against hot blondes' involved slamming back the tequila shots Kol gleefully fed you," Katherine explained just as gleefully. "After about an hour of thinly veiled comments about 'actual conversationalists' and 'judgmental staring,' you decided that Klaus wasn't blushing hard enough and took to the stage for karaoke."
Caroline frowned, unsure why she let herself get so worked up to actually unleash the hell of her overactive mind on Klaus. She usually had more tact than that, especially after Kol explained his brother was just super shy with strangers. Caroline had shrugged that first meeting off, then, figuring he would warm up to her over time. It wasn't until Klaus had formed biting retorts to Katherine's constant needling that Caroline was officially offended.
"How did I become persona non grata before Kat?" she had asked Kol furiously. The little jerk just shrugged and smirked at her frustration, swearing he had no idea.
It was a lie, and Caroline knew it - which was probably why she had allowed Kol to feed her shots and fuel whatever confrontation Kat had inevitably captured on her phone. "Show me," Caroline demanded, resigned.
Scrolling past drunk selfies on her story, Kat landed on a surprisingly loud video. Caroline automatically recognized Joan Jett's 'Do You Wanna Touch?' playing, though she could hardly believe the blonde girl giving an exaggerated lap dance while singing was her. "I-is that-"
"-you grinding on Klaus's lap in front of the whole bar?" Kat finished with a smile. "Yep. You had moves, too, ended up with some bills thrown for you. Mostly from Kol, but still."
Embarrassment burned her cheeks as Caroline squeezed her eyes shut. "Oh, my god. I'm such a bitch."
"A sexy bitch," Katherine supplied unhelpfully. She just shook her head when Caroline groaned in misery. "Get over it, Forbes. Dimples got under your skin, so you called him out in your...own, particular fashion. What's the big deal?"
"A, it was Kol's birthday I turned into a personal sideshow." Caroline held up her thumb before adding a finger for each additional point. "B, you published a video of me giving a lap dance. C, I gave that lap dance to Klaus, Kol's painfully shy brother who can barely speak to me after a month of knowing each other. He must have been mortified."
Katherine snorted, replaying the video. "No, sweetie," she mocked. "He was too busy staring at your boobs. As fun as this whole dumb blonde thing has been for me and Kol, I really need you to wake up and realize Klaus is stupidly into you."
Scoffing, Caroline finally got out of bed to get dressed. "He'd actually have to hold a conversation with me to like me." It was an old argument since moving to Chicago, one of Kol's favorites. "Like you said, he's too focused on my boobs." Wrangling them into a bra under her dress, Caroline waved goodbye.
"Where are you going?"
"To straighten out this mess you did nothing to help me avoid!"
With that, Caroline slammed the front door shut as she fled the apartment.
As loud and determined as she left for Klaus and Kol's place, Caroline felt a rare timidness when she finally stood in front of their door. Summoning her courage, she knocked twice and bounced on her toes while the footsteps inside came her way. Klaus was the one to open the door, a tired hand running through his rumpled curls. "Caroline?"
"Hi," she greeted softly. He only seemed surprised to see her, not angry or dismissive like she had feared. "Can I come in?"
Stepping aside, Klaus pointed toward his couch. Caroline took the hint and sat, though her eyes roved around the neat, minimalist apartment. "I'm surprised you can keep the place so clean with Kol as a roommate. He's a walking tornado."
"Part of the agreement we made when he moved in," Klaus answered. He rubbed his neck as he watched her fidget on the couch. Rather than addressing the oddness of the situation, he just waited her out.
Caroline wasn't good with silence. "So, where is Kol? Too hungover to get out of bed?"
Almost instantly, the tips of Klaus's ears flushed pink. "He didn't make it home last night, actually," he said quietly. "I saw him leave with that Enzo chap."
Caroline frowned. "But my coworker Bonnie brought Enzo to the party, I thought they were dating."
Coughing, Klaus shook his head. "No, love, I think Bonnie left with them, too," he explained, his face cutely bashful.
"Ah," Caroline smiled in realization. "Happy birthday to Kol, I guess." Her smile faded as the reason for her visit came back to mind. Glancing down to her knees, she picked at the hem of her dress. "But I should be honest and tell you that Kol wasn't the one I came to see. I think I owe you an apology."
She peeked up to see Klaus's expression; he seemed curious, as opposed to upset. Interpreting that as silent encouragement, she took a deep breath to prepare herself. "As you can probably tell, I don't remember a lot of what happened last night, because I was completely wasted, and Kat showed me a video that I wish she hadn't had the opportunity to take, not only because my voice was a little pitchy during karaoke, but also because of the inappropriate dancing that might have been fueled by tequila," she rambled. At his blank stare, however, her mouth decided to keep going. "You know, the dancing that breached all personal space and proper manners." Holding out her hand, she gestured broadly below his belt. "In that general area."
Curling his lips into his mouth, the dimples in his cheeks betrayed Klaus's smile. "Caroli-"
"-and I know you're shy, and I probably embarrassed the hell out of you in front of so many strangers, and I can't begin to apologize enough for basically forcing my insecurities onto you because I can't figure out why I'm the only one you don't even try to talk to, when that was so not the way to go about broaching the subject because you're a person with your own needs and habits and you don't need me barging in with my own expecta-"
This time, the interruption came from Klaus sitting next to her and reaching for her hand. Caroline's mouth closed with a snap; her eyes were automatically drawn to the light circles he drew on her wrist with his thumb. "Perhaps I needed the push," he admitted.
"Push for what?" Her voice was hesitant, breathy as the space between them shrank.
Quiet as always, Klaus just leaned in to place a soft kiss on her cheek. Small pecks lingered on a path to her lips, where he brushed his mouth against hers until she sank into the kiss. For a long moment, she breathed him in when he pulled away. "Oh," she finally sighed. Remembering her spat with Katherine earlier, Caroline's brow furrowed in confusion. "But you don't talk to me."
Rubbing his nose along hers, Klaus seemed to be searching for the correct words. "I listen more than you think," he answered. "I'm not used to sharing much, but I enjoy listening to you talk. You love your work, your apartment, your family, your friends. You hate the color of your kitchen, the latest episode of your favorite show, and whoever thinks casual Fridays include velour tracksuits."
Caroline stared in shock. "It's just babbling," she pointed out. "You can't really remember all that."
"You're passionate, love." His hand was drawing those distracting circles on her wrist again. "I place high value on passion."
"What are you passionate about?" she asked softly, letting her lips brush his as she spoke.
Smirking, Klaus kept that inch of distance between them. "I've taken a sudden liking to karaoke," he whispered against her lips.
She shoved him lightly, giggling. "That might be the first joke I've heard you make," she said. "But seriously, I know nothing about you, save what Kol tells me."
"Don't believe a thing he says."
"I don't, trust me," she snorted. "So, what are your passions? I want to know."
Klaus ran a hand along her side, and she tried not to react to the warmth. "You're welcome to find out," he said. "I have a makeshift art studio in a spare room, my work desk is right over there if you'd like to see a blueprint. There's also a great bottle of wine I've been keeping for a special occasion."
"Those are great and varied passions." Caroline noted the way his eyes traced the freckles across her nose, smiling as he realized he was caught staring. "Any others?"
"I can think of one," he murmured before kissing her again.
For a guy who didn't talk much, Caroline wasn't embarrassed to admit that Klaus certainly knew how to use his mouth.