wait...i need to know more about this disastrous dinner that klaus & caroline had where there could've been a proposal
Angst!! Mini flashback for this and this
Caroline glanced around the restaurant, far fancier than their usual dates. Butterflies danced in her stomach as the waiter appeared with champagne. “Klaus, what’s going on?”
Smirking, Klaus reached across the table to take her left hand, and she stopped breathing. “I have good news,” he promised, playing with her fingertips. “I got the job. They want me to start on Monday.”
“That’s amazing!” She wanted to leap into his lap and hug him, but settled for squeezing his hand. If she could bottle the happiness on his face, she’d keep it forever. “You’ve worked so hard for it, I’m so proud of you. The museum will be so lucky to have you, curator.”
He smiled, only for a flash of nerves to cross his face. “And I was thinking, in terms of moving forward in our life, that maybe it’s time to- Hold on. I want to do this right.” Reaching for the freshly poured champagne, he handed her a glass with a slight tremble.
Beginning to feel lightheaded with excitement, Caroline glanced down into the flute, confused when it just had the drink. But she shook it off, giving Klaus her full focus.
“I love you, and I think it’s time for us to take another step in our relationship.” With a deep breath, his thumb ghosts over the edge of her wrist. “Let’s buy a place. Together. We can be closer to both the museum and your work, not to mention Bonnie lives clear across town, and I know you’d like to see her more. I’ve called a few realtors to have some profiles for you to look at before we pick one to work with, but I’m sure you’ll have a hundred more names to consider once we go home and-”
Klaus broke off at the blank look of shock on her too pale face. “Sweetheart, please say something.”
Her voice was quiet, almost faint. “That’s what you’re asking,” she said, to herself really. “That’s why the fancy dinner, the champagne. You want to buy a house.”
Brow falling, he gave a helpless shrug. “I want us to buy a home, for our future.”
Though Caroline nodded, it didn’t feel like she was saying yes. “I-” She pressed her lips together, eyes watering, and not in the joyous way he’d imagined. “I thought you were going to propose,” she admitted, looking down to her lap. “It’s dumb, I’m sorry, I just- New job, maybe moving. Great!”
“Propose?” Klaus blinked a few times, and suddenly Caroline felt even stupider. “That never even occurred to me.”
Heart dropping all the way through the floor, her tears were falling before she could even try to stop them. “Oh,” she sighed, visions of what she thought they were building toward crashing down in her mind. “Oh.”
She slipped her hand from his, and Klaus seemed to panic. “Love-”
“I just need a minute,” she said, hurriedly standing from the table. He looked ready to follow. “Bathroom.”
Reluctantly, he sat back down, confusion still clear in his expression even as he nodded. Caroline fled to the front of the restaurant, truly intent to freshen up and do her best to enjoy the celebration Klaus had planned. Just not the one she wanted, she thought bitterly to herself. But the hostess gave her a look of pity, already moving toward the coat check for her, and she found herself sliding into the heavy wool. The weight of it was grounding as she pressed her arms tight to her stomach, not at all ready to face the cold waiting for her outside.
