Some Nights (Klaroline Fanfiction)

Chapter 11

On an average day, Caroline was a master at compartmentalizing. Every issue, every worry, the good, the bad and the ugly, all had their own individual box in her head. It was how she stayed sane - it was how she stayed efficient. But lately the lines were all blurry and her mind was nothing but a jumbled mess.

Somehow the 'work' box had clashed with the 'personal' box over the last week as Caroline devoted her time to closing the Patterson case with Vaughn. Maybe it was just the effect of being cooped up in close quarters together on so many late nights. Maybe it was some closeted fantasy about an illicit office affair trying to work its way out of her system. Or maybe Galen Vaughn was just that charming and sweet. Then again, maybe it was the accent. Maybe it was all of these things. Could be it was none of them.

Normally, Caroline would be able to sort through how she felt about all of this but once again the usually neat boxes in her head were collapsing and one mess ran into another. She couldn't think about Vaughn without thinking about Klaus. Klaus who she hadn't heard so much as a whisper from since he'd left for London a month ago. It was unfair how he occupied her thoughts since she was so clearly the furthest thing from his. But thinking about work led to thinking about Vaughn and thinking about Vaughn led to thinking about Klaus and Caroline desperately missed her ability to compartmentalize.

Though an annoying inner voice reminded Caroline that it hardly mattered. All roads led to Klaus. She could be out buying ice cream and be slammed by the memory of late nights eating Rocky Road ice cream and watching trashy horror films with Klaus. Caroline could be out jogging while listening to music and a song he suggested to her would come on - bringing with it the memories of sharing music over a takeout dinner. The worst was when she saw a taxi and immediately thought of his brother - immediately remembered the way Klaus had returned to his apartment that night drunk and angry and broken.

Caroline wondered where exactly Klaus was now and what exactly he was doing. She mostly wondered if he'd started to heal yet. If he still blamed himself...still blamed her.

"Caroline?"

Her mind was still so far away that her name said in that accent was almost enough to convince Caroline that Klaus was here. Almost.

She snapped out of her daze and looked up at Vaughn who was shooting Caroline a confused look across the table, files open and scattered between them.

"Yes?" Caroline asked, shuffling papers around in an attempt to hide the fact that she had just checked out for God knows how long.

Vaughn's confused stare turned into a slow, teasing grin. "Where were you just now?"

"What do you mean?" She asked quickly, feeling her face flush.

"Hey don't be embarrassed," Vaughn said with a slight laugh, "this is pretty boring stuff, I'd check out too." He gestured to the files covering the table.

"Just a little hungry is all." Caroline replied, knowing there was no way she'd tell him where her mind had really gotten off to. This wouldn't be a problem if Klaus hadn't shattered her ability to compartmentalize.

Vaughn rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Well we've been at this for a while." He glanced down at his watch. "Why don't we grab some dinner, we'll put it on the firm's tab."

He grinned at her but Caroline could practically feel the hint of hesitation beneath it. She didn't exactly blame him after the way drinks had gone last week when he'd joined her and Elena. Caroline didn't know a lot about mixed signals but she knew she'd been giving them off in spades that night. In her defense, it was hard enough being in Klaus' bar for the first time since he'd left. It was made even harder by Stefan's almost constant appearance, interrupting every time he thought Vaughn had leaned in too close.