#t-pak

She nodded, trying to take deep breaths, and he coached her through it, wondering how horrible of a person it made him to be thankful that the rest of his family had forced him to be the one to deal with Kol’s panic attacks during thunderstorms.

“What’s your name, love?”

“Caroline.”

“May I ask where you’re headed?”

“Miami,” Caroline said distractedly.

He bit down the sarcastic ‘really, I never would have guessed’, instead saying, “I see. So am I, actually.”

“For what?” she asked, clearly realizing that he was trying to get her mind off the plane, which was now hurtling down the runway.

“My brother’s college graduation.”

She nodded, accepting the ginger ale the flight attendant handed her and sipping from it.

The flight was a red-eye, and it would be a long six hours, he was sure. He kept making small talk with her, trying to get her to calm down, and felt incredibly relieved when she finally did so about half an hour after take-off. They continued to talk quietly, and he found that she was surprisingly witty and giggly when she wasn’t almost hyperventilating.

She yawned about an hour and a half into the flight, and Klaus smiled slightly. “You should probably sleep. We’ll be on the ground before you know it.”

He winced at the look on her face and realized she must have forgotten that they were thousands of feet above the ground. “Probably,” she agreed, gulping, and he sighed.

“It’ll be fine, love.”

She nodded, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes before opening them again and looking at him. “What’s your name?”

“Klaus.”

She gave him a small smile. “Thanks, Klaus.”

Klaus nodded and pulled out a book and a portable reading lamp so as not to disturb Caroline, who fell asleep fairly quickly. About forty-five minutes later he felt a weight drop onto his shoulder and turned to see Caroline’s head resting there.

Her floral scent filled his nostrils and he closed his eyes, trying to center himself. It wasn’t like he’d ever see her again.

Okay, he’d been wrong.

He watched her attack his brother in a hug, dressed in an identical cap and gown. Kol wrapped an arm around her shoulders and dragged her over to where he and Elijah were standing (Rebekah having decided that she was too cool for her brother’s college graduation, and Finn busy with his wife Sage).

She frowned when she saw him and was about to speak when Kol introduced them.

“This is Caroline. Caroline, these are my brothers, Elijah and–”

“Klaus.”

Kol raised an eyebrow.

“We’ve met. On the plane.”

“Oh,” Kol said shortly, giving Klaus what could only be described as a suspicious look.

Caroline seemed to realize where it was going when she elbowed him in the side. “Kol, it’s fine. He talked me down. He wasn’t mean, or anything.”

“Yes, I’d had quite enough practice with you to be getting on with,” Klaus said dryly, ignoring Kol’s ‘you’re embarrassing me’ look, trademarked by little brothers everywhere.

“Hey, don’t be mean,” Caroline said, pinning Klaus with a startlingly chastising look.

“Sorry, love,” he said without thinking, and Kol and Elijah both turned to him, mouths agape, completely floored by his response.

“What?” he and Caroline both snapped.

Kol burst out laughing, and Caroline huffed. “Stop it, Kol.”

“I can’t.”

“Bonnie’s over there, she’s going to think you’re weird,” Caroline hissed, and Kol immediately stopped laughing, looking in the direction that Caroline had pointed in.

“Who’s Bonnie, little brother?”

“Just a friend,” Kol said hastily.

Caroline smirked but changed the subject. “So, how long are you guys going to be here? I know Kol said that his family was staying for the week. Is that just you guys?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, well, just so you know, I’m staying with Kol for the last few days of the week. My parents are coming to get my stuff so that we can drive home with it, and I didn’t want to ship it because then I’d have to…you know.”

“Fly home,” Klaus finished for her.

She nodded, blushing slightly. “Thanks for that, by the way.”

He nodded, and they stood there awkwardly until a girl came up to them and hugged Caroline to congratulate her, and Klaus hissed under his breath for Elijah to leave. His brother rolled his eyes, but obliged, and when Caroline turned back around to find only Klaus, she smiled slightly. “So, um…I should–”

“Do you want to go to dinner? With me?” Klaus interrupted before she could excuse herself.