The Only Hope For Me Is You: A Klaroline Fanfiction

24.

Caroline hurried along the slick sidewalk, weaving through people and objects towards her destination. She glanced at her watch when she saw the glowing sign ahead. She was going to slide in just in time, which for her actually meant that she was running late. She reached the door a minute later and went inside. She found the coffee shop warm and the smell of coffee inviting. As she pulled her scarf loose, she saw Dean waving to her from a nearby table. She waved back before moving to the table.

Dean stood as she approached and reached to take her coat. "You made it."

"Barely. I wasn't sure for a minute."

"I got your text so I wasn't expecting you for at least another ten minutes or so," Dean stated as they took their seats. A barista came over and took their orders quickly.

"I wouldn't have thought I'd be late but as I was saying good-bye to the twins, Henry spilled his drink on me so I needed to change," Caroline explained with a smile. She had just finished getting ready to go out and had gone to say good-bye to the twins when it had happened. They were eating dinner with their father and Henry had knocked over his milk when he got up. It had splattered all over the front of her top and jeans. He had quickly apologized and she told him it was fine before rushing off to change. Stained clothes were not a good thing to wear on a date, especially when it was milk.

Dean chuckled. "Must be a familiar haphazard of the job."

"Not usually. While Henry does tend to have more falls and scraps than Lexi, neither one of them are messy," Caroline commented. Lexi was steady on her feet, something that wasn't a surprise considering her skill in gymnastics, but Henry tended to be a bit of a klutz. He hated it, and complained about it often. But both of them were pretty neat kids, as long as you reminded them on occasion to pick up after themselves.

"Maybe he did it with the hope that it would get you to stay," Dean teased.

Caroline just smiled. "I highly doubt that."

"If he did, he's even smarter than I thought," Dean stated as the barista returned with their order. Once she had dropped it and left, he continued. "I'm glad you were still willing to meet me for coffee, thought I might have scared you off."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well my schedule has been crazy lately," Dean answered. "I know I told you that when I asked you, but I thought it might still turn you off."

"I'm the last person to complain about a crazy schedule, mine usually is," Caroline stated. "Besides, I've been working pretty much the same schedule as you since Klaus has been so busy at the office."

"True, I hadn't thought of that," Dean replied before he took a drink of his coffee. "So did you always want to be a nanny?"

"No, well kind of. It wasn't the job I dreamed of as a little girl, but I'm pretty sure you can't go to college to be a princess," Caroline answered with a laugh that Dean joined her in. "I started volunteering at my church's nursery at the end of high school and decided I wanted to get into a career that involved children. Started going for my teaching degree when a classmate who was working as a nanny told me about it. I looked into it and really liked what I saw. Started working part time for a family a few months later."

"Well, I know the boss man loves having you around," Dean stated.

"Wh…what?" Caroline replied as she choked a little on her coffee. She hadn't expected to hear Dean say something like that.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked as he reached forward to pat her on her back to help.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She coughed to clear her throat before she went on. "It just went down the wrong way."