so, this one will probably be like five or six chapters long. a similar length to "Burning For You", i'd imagine. honestly, it's just another drabble that got a little out of hand. woops. but, i made a graphic thing on tumblr which you can find at emmascaptn, and i couldn't resist so... anyways, hope you all enjoy this one!

- shauna! xo

Ansel leads her out of Niklaus' dressing room a few moments later, when he catches the glare that is directed at his son. He presses his hand on her back as he gestures, and she follows, pressing her lips together, as she tries to keep her comments to herself. Well, mostly.

She is a professional, after all. Caroline's almost positive she can manage it.

(Almost.)

And it's only a few months. Right? No problem.

Really, it's not like he was any different to most of the asshole's she meets, other than she has to work with him, and as she stated, she is a complete professional, she could totally pull this off. Even if his dimples were a little distracting...

Her head suddenly snaps up, when she hears Ansel cough, and her cheeks burn when she realise that he'd been talking to her.

"Sorry," she mutters.

He grins, and Caroline suddenly berates herself for not seeing that they were related before, because the had the same smile, and eyes, come to think of it.

"Don't worry about it, Caroline. It can be a lot to take in, I know that, and I know my son won't make that any easier. I do apologize for that. Just don't let him push you're buttons too much, and I hope this won't be an issue?"

His voice rises slightly at the end in question, but Caroline is already shaking her head. She has a feeling this isn't the first time he's apologised for his son, and she has a gut feeling it won't be the last.

"Of course not. It will be fine. Besides, we'll only working together for a few hours a day, if that sometimes. I'm sure I can manage that," she tells him.

Honestly, though, she's not sure who she's trying to convince. Her boss or herself.

He grins once more, as he continues guiding her through the halls.

"Excellent," he says, a smile pulling at his lips.

He suddenly comes to a stop, outside a room.

"Here's your dressing room," he tells her, as he pushes the door open, and she smiles slightly at the bright colours.

She walks in with him, dropping the bag she'd been carrying on the table, as she smiles, her head dropping. Ansel stops some yards behind her, and when she twists to look back at him, he's backed up to the door, with his hand resting on the handle.

"The shoot should behind in a few hours," he tells her.

She raises an eyebrow.

"Should?"

Ansel shakes his head, chuckling slightly under his breath.

"Some people have a knack for delaying it, now and again."

She doesn't ask him to elaborate on that comment. She knows what he means.

Niklaus, his son, has a habit for trying to push his father's buttons, if what Caroline has seen so far is any indication. She thinks of mentioning that if he didn't let it bother him so much, it probably wouldn't occur that often, because it practically has teenage rebellion written all over it, even if it was a little belated, but she shrugs it off. It really wasn't any of her business.

She nods, muttering an, "Okay".

Ansel smiles, and returns her nod.

"Well, Elena, who's the head of makeup, should be here in a few minutes, and the rest of the team will be here once your make up is done."

Caroline smiles at him.

"Thank you," she tells him.

He nods.

"Of course."

He turns to go before he turns back, a smile on his face, eerily similar to that of his son's.

"Rebekah will be here sometime after to show you to where we're shooting. If you have any questions, ask her. I'm sure she'll answer any you might have, and she'll explain the week's schedule to you. We're starting with the 50's theme."

Rebekah's here? She opens her mouth to ask something, but she finds that Ansel is already retreating.

When he disappears through the door, she lets out a sigh of her own, at hearing the door click.

She had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

-/-

Elena's probably one of her favourite people on the make up and fashion team, and she's probably the only one who smiles at her. She's patient, when it's clear that Caroline's freaking out, and when she doesn't sit still. Even more so when Caroline tells her it's her first biggest shoot.

"It'll be fine," the brunette tells her. "I think you'll surprise yourself on how natural it will all come to you."

Caroline smiles at her, thankful for the comment, and she smiles when Elena steps back.

"Right," Elena says. "Done. And you look perfect."

With one last fluff of her blonde curls, Elena nods to someone over her shoulder, and then gives her one last smile.

"Rebekah should be here in a few," she tells her, and then she grins at her overwhelmed expression. "Don't worry," she assures the blonde. "It may be crazy over here, but give it a few days, and I promise you'll get use to it all. And Klaus is actually on time today, Ansel said he's already ready and on set, so we should be good for the schedule. I'll be on set, too, in case you need touching up between breaks, so I'll see you soon."

Caroline nods.

"Thanks, Elena."

Elena grins back, and then shrugs.

"Just don't let Klaus get to you too much."

Caroline raises an eyebrow.

"Funnily enough, you're not the first person to tell me that, today," Caroline tells her, her voice low.

Elena laughs, shaking her head, before she ducks out of the room.

She's barely stood up, having a moment to herself when the door busts open once more, and she sees Rebekah's smug face.

Caroline raises an eyebrow.

"You could knock, you know," she tells her, slowly.

Rebekah snorts, rolling her eyes.

"You wish," but she pauses, raises an eyebrow at Caroline's appearance, and then she smirks, "You look hot, Care."

Caroline narrows her eyes, when she remembers why she was a little pissed at her, but she eventually nods anyway, muttering a "Thank you", underneath her breath because her mother's a sheriff, and would berate her for not using her manners.

Rebekah shakes her head, a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Come on then," she sighs, "Let's get you to set."

Caroline glares, but she willingly goes with her, because the last thing she needs is to be late on her first day. She has a feeling Klaus would nit pick at something like that.

"Don't think we're not talking about your brother and how much of an asshole he is," she warns, pointing a perfectly manicured fingernail at the blonde.

Rebekah grins.

"Please, he's my brother. I'm well aware of how much of a tosser he is."

Caroline's eyes narrow.

"Well, then, thanks for the heads up, friend," she emphasises.

"You're welcome," Rebekah chirps, even as she sticks her tongue out, guiding them in the right direction.

Seriously, Caroline swore that all Mikaelson's gave her whiplash. What was with them?

-/-

Her first shoot is successful. Sort of, anyway. If not the longest few hours of her life, and honestly, she's quite sure she comes close to murdering her costar a few times, and from the smiles on the crew's face, they damn well all know that.

Ansel assures her that they're going to start of simple for today, as they want to judge her chemistry with Klaus, and honestly, she'd deny that she had any sort of chemistry with him, if her job didn't depend on that small detail.

Rebekah smiles infuriatingly at her, when they finally get to the set, as Ansel approaches and she bows her head slightly.

"Rebekah," Ansel greets with a smile.

Rebekah turns her eyes over to the man in front of her, nodding in greeting.

"Ansel," she returns, before she takes a step back. "I'll go make sure the team are set up."

Caroline watches as Ansel's lips twist up.

"Do try to play nice, Rebekah," he tells her, as though a reminder, and Caroline grins at that, having a first hand experience at how mean-girl like Rebekah can get.

Rebekah shoots him a mock incredulous look, full of false innocence.

"Me? Always."

She pops her lips as she walks away, a sway to her hips, and Caroline rolls her eyes, as she twists around.

"Caroline, you look..."

She raises an eyebrow in question, "Like I was born in the 50's?"

He grins, shaking his head, and he steps beside her.

"Come along," he tells her softly. "I'll introduce you to a few more of the crew, and then we'll get you all set with Niklaus."

Honestly, she wants this job but the thought of working with his son makes her teeth grit and her jaw clench. Really, she wasn't even certain that the two of them were related. They were far too different. Rebekah too. Rebekah was nice, to her at least. Klaus was just an ass.

Well, no one couldn't say that Caroline Forbes doesn't strive for excellence, and so she plans to give it her 110% best efforts.

Even if she plans to kill him at the end of the shoot.

Seriously, though, how could anyone be that infuriating?

She smiles politely as her boss introduces her to more people, and if her eyes meet Klaus' as her head snaps up, she merely turns it in the opposite direction and presses her lips firmly together, even if she can still feel his eyes on her the entire time. She goes along, when Elena wants to touch up her make up just before the shoot, and there's a ready fake-plastered smile on her lips when she finishes, and she feels a tap to her shoulder when she turns around.

That smile soon vanishes, howver, when she finds Klaus, staring down at her in all his smug glory.

Her teeth grit together.

"Klaus," she greets, and judging by his raised eyebrow, her lack of warmth is not lost on him.

"Hello, sweetheart," he greets, his lips twitching.

She glares at the nickname, her eyes narrowing.

"Not your sweetheart," she tells him firmly.

He raises an eyebrow, but he doesn't comment further.

"My father says everything is prepared for our shoot," he pauses, his lips pursing, as he takes a step back, and that surprises her a little, because wasn't he supposed to be a womanizer with no regards to anything else other than himself?

"Oh," she mutters. "Good."

He smiles up at her, a genuine one, that makes him look boyish and much younger than he usually does. His eyes are bright as they gleam up at her, and honestly, she can't help but smile back at him. He's infectious.

"Indeed," he murmurs.

Caroline watches as he angles his elbow out towards her, as he nods, "Shall we?"

She blinks for a few seconds, at how nice he's being, and honestly, it probably takes her longer than it should to realise what he's up to, but when she does, she narrows her eyes, her lips twisting down, and her face scrunching up into a nasty scowl. Her shoulders stiffen, as she straightens up, and she takes a step towards him, aiming to march straight passed him.

"Let's be clear," she mutters, her voice firm. "I am way too smart to be seduced by you. I will not be your next bed partner."

Klaus, just looks entirely too amused, and he shrugs, a grin on his lips.

"Well, maybe that's why I like you," he tells her.

She glares, but doesn't give that an answer, and her shoulder pushes past his, as she marches on, though she can feel his eyes on her.

"I thought Ansel was ready for us," she passes over her shoulder.

She doesn't hear him reply, but he's suddenly at her side, with an arm wrapped around her waist, and seriously, he's extremely lucky she hasn't murdered him.

Her head twists to the side to tell him exactly that, but he's staring down at her with a smug smirk.

"Hush, sweetheart," he admonishes. "We're supposed to be show casing our chemistry."

She glares harder.

"Not your sweetheart," she hisses. "I have a fine name, thank you very much. It wouldn't hurt to use it."

Secretly, she wonders if he's already forgot it. He does have quite the reputation, doesn't he?

"Whatever you say, love."

And if that wasn't enough, his hand travels down her form, until it rests on her ass, and he can feel her in his palm.

(Yepp, she was seriously not going to last a few months before she killed him.)

And if Ansel asks why Klaus' left forearm is slightly red, she merely shrugs, and looks up at her costar with a grin.

"Why I can't say," she says with false innocence that is fooling nobody. "He must of fell, right Niklaus?"

Because if he was determined on using nicknames, she wasn't going to call him Klaus just to keep him happy.

"Right," he mutters.

And it's only as Ansel is walking away, and they're changing the angel of the photoshoot, does Klaus allow his hand to dip lower than is socially appropriate, where the cameras can't see, however, and his lips lower to her neck, as instructed by the directors.

"Don't think you're going to get away with that, love," he tells her.

His lips press lightly against her throat, and she hears the flashes of the camera, followed by the happiness of the directors, who encourage them to do more.

She's agitated by his movements, slightly, but she smirks, nonetheless, because it looks like she will, because what can he do about it? Even if the feeling of his lips on her skin raises goosebumps, and creates butterflies in her stomach.

"We'll see," she mutters back, her lips barely moving, as she pouts for the cameras.

"Yes, that's it. Excellent," Caroline vaguely hears in what she remembers is David's voice.

Klaus smirks against her neck, and his arm twists around her bare back, as he shuffles on his feet slightly.

"Well, sweetheart," he murmurs, as he lifts back, and his eyes are intense but so soft as they stare into hers. "I guess we have chemistry."

She has a sassy retort on her lips but Klaus is suddenly dipping her, his hand burning through her skin, and her leg is wrapped around his hip, as the cameras continue on below, and she can't remember help the gasp that escapes her throat.

Though, by the look on his face, Klaus catches it, and he bends towards her once more, his forehead pressing against hers.

"We most certainly have high levels of chemistry," he murmurs.

But honestly, she's still dizzy, and surrounded by everything that is Klaus.

Maybe, she wouldn't get away with it after all.