Another Klaroline fic? What about Dangers of Deception? Are you really going to get yourself started on another one? Well if you want to be that stupid, go ahead.

If that's what you're thinking right now I don't really have a good counter argument against any of it. I just couldn't stop myself from writing this. It practically wrote itself. I don't own TVD!

Caroline Forbes twirled the half empty glass of rum and coke in front of her. She was still trying to figure out how she had ended up sitting alone at the bar instead of having the girl's night out with her two best friends that she had been promised.

It wasn't that difficult, actually.

Elena had called her up about two hours ago and pretty much begged her to go out for drinks with her and Bonnie. Caroline was never one to say no to drinks and girl talk so she had happily accepted. She had met up with Bonnie and Elena at the local bar. Before Caroline had even started on her first drink Elena had broken the news. Or – as Caroline now thought of it – the real reason why she had wanted to hang out.

"I have to tell you guys something," Elena said. She looked like a puppy that had just been caught chewing on a shoe for some reason. "I'm seeing someone," she revealed and bit her bottom lip.

Caroline's mouth fell open in surprise. Bonnie managed to hide the surprise a little bit better and only raised her eyebrows slightly.

"What?" Caroline exclaimed. "That's not possible!"

The three of them were best friends. They knew everything about each other. Even though they had only known each other for three years it might as well have been a lifetime. They spent all their time together and the minute they had anything important to share they called each other to prattle on about it for hours. If Elena was seeing someone Caroline would have known the second Elena laid eyes on him. Should have known.

"How come we're only hearing about this now?" Bonnie asked but she sounded excited.

Caroline refrained from huffing loudly. Okay, if Bonnie was going to be all smiles and hand clapping about this she was probably meant to do the same thing. She could be petty and pout about Elena not sharing the news until now later.

"Tell us everything," Caroline brought her drink closer and took a sip. It happened to be a big mistake because that's when Elena decided to spill the beans which caused Caroline to spit out the liquid in surprise.

"It's Damon."

"Ugh," Caroline said out loud as the thoughts came back to her. She took a long gulp of her drink and gave a silent thank you to the man upstairs for inventing alcohol.

The bar was almost empty tonight. The Virginia small town was usually crowded with Whitmore College students but since there was still a week left of summer vacation there weren't a lot of people around to throw money on drinks. It was probably a good thing too. Caroline didn't put it past herself to get drunk and badmouth her friend for dating the living, breathing scum that was Damon Salvatore to the first best person that knew who the people concerned were.

Caroline took another sip of her drink and looked around. Two of the boots were occupied and two older men were sitting by the window in silence. There was only one other person sitting by the bar. Caroline was surprised she hadn't noticed him before. Not only was he really hot but he was also nursing a glass of bourbon while reading a book. Who the hell came to a bar to read a book? Was that the moment when a person had gone too far for AA meetings to help?

In a not so subtle way Caroline leaned forward and tilted her head to the side to get a look at the cover of his book. Her chin almost dropped through the bar when she saw the title. So he was a Dickens man. Caroline had never actually admitted to anyone that A Christmas Carol was her favorite book ever. When Christmas started rolling around Caroline would get her old copy out and read it over and over again until everyone had packed away their decorations and thrown away their Christmas trees. Sometimes when she felt especially nostalgic or homesick she would curl up in bed and read the famous Dickens novel no matter what time of year it was.

Since the man seemed unaware that she was blatantly staring at him Caroline continued to do so. He had to be older than her, she decided, at least by a few years. The light brown locks that crowned his head were cut short and neat but the five o'clock stubble on his well-defined jaw ruined the otherwise completely put together look he had going for him. He was wearing a white dress shirt with a tie that was slightly loose around the neck. Caroline had always loved a man in a tie.

All of the sudden the older guy got out of his seat. He pushed the barstool back into place after getting up and closed his book. He didn't glance Caroline's way once when he started walking her way. The stranger finally came to a stop next to her. Caroline's breath was caught in her throat and she was sure her heart had jumped up there too. She stubbornly stared straight forward, refusing to acknowledge him now that he was right next to her.

"You know love…" he finally spoke and Caroline inwardly groaned at the sound of his accent. Of course he had a British accent. It wasn't enough for him to be ridiculously good looking and share the love of the same author as her. Oh no. He had to have the most charming accents of them all on top of that. Caroline slowly turned around to face him and found that he was staring at her. Twinkling blue eyes met hers. "It's rude to stare," he finished with a smirk tugging at his lips revealing two perfect dimples.

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. Even if he was a hot British guy with dimples and a Dickens novel tucked under his arm that gave him no right to be a self-assured idiot. She wasn't in the mood for that tonight since she was already thinking about one specific self-assured idiot that her best friend was now screwing.

"I wasn't staring," Caroline lied blatantly. She had never been a good liar but the alcohol and anger she was filled with helped make it sound believable. "Maybe you're just a little too pompous," she added, mentally patting herself on the back for finding a way to use the word of the day from her nifty little calendar.

Her harsh words only seemed to amuse the man because the smirk widened and his eyes gleamed. There was a bad news vibe about him that was practically screaming at Caroline to run for the doors. But there was also something that made Caroline remain glued to her seat in anticipation of what would happen next.

"I'm quite sure you were actually," there was repressed laughter behind his words which made Caroline's cheeks turn red. He was laughing at her! He was actually making fun of her right to her face!

"I wasn't staring at you," Caroline shot at him and put as much venom as possible into the last word. "I was staring at your book. No offense, but you're not exactly Dickens," she huffed.

For a moment he actually looked taken aback. Caroline's words seemed to have genuinely surprised him but he quickly went back to the smug idiot look he had been playing poster boy for before. God, he was annoying. Why couldn't he just be ugly and speak English in a way that did not make her squirm in her seat in the best way possible?

"I wouldn't have pegged you for a Dickens fan," he told her honestly. Without asking he pulled out the stool next to her and sat down. "What do you like about him?"

Caroline was ready to shoot an aggressive insult at him but was left with her mouth half open when she realized he had just asked her a friendly question. She couldn't exactly ask him to crawl his way to hell and tell the devil she said hi for asking what she liked about her favorite author.

"His characters," Caroline found herself saying instead. "I like his characters. Especially Ebenezer Scrooge. He's just so full of… hope," she left the last word hanging in the air, not sure how to explain what exactly she meant by that. Whenever a guy sat down next to her at a bar they didn't usually ask for her thoughts on literature. It was a pretty nice change, actually.

"I have to disagree," the man said. "Scrooge is just a sour old man who gets help from the right people – or ghosts, I suppose – which changes his life for the better. He would never have gotten out of that old rut he called life on his own."

"Well, you can't do everything on your own!" Caroline argued. "You wouldn't understand anyways. You're a man. Man can't accept help from anyone," Caroline had to stop herself from sticking out her tongue at him. The argument was childish enough as it was.

A throaty chuckled escaped him and it sent shivers down Caroline's spine. God, he had a nice laugh.

"Maybe I don't need help. There's a difference."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're too cocky?" Caroline asked in an overly sweet voice with her head tilted to the side.

"Yes. But I've also been told that it's quite charming," he replied without missing a beat.

"Well, I happen to disagree," Caroline shot back. She was doing her best to keep the smile on her face in check but it wasn't working very well. She was enjoying this easy going banter way too much.

"Are you sure about that sweetheart?" he had leaned forward while speaking and his face was so close to hers she could feel his breath against her skin. For a moment Caroline almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. His close proximity was making her dizzy and his tie looked perfect to hold onto. She wouldn't want to fall over after all.

"Yes. I am," she defended herself instead of grabbing onto his tie and pulling him even closer than he already was. "Why are you even reading a book at a bar? Isn't that what libraries are for?" banter was safer than staring into his dreamy eyes she decided. As long as she kept up a good string of insults she would be fine.

"I just moved in to one of the apartments across the street. My furniture is being delivered at the moment so I figured I'd get out of the way and enjoy a drink in the meantime. The book was just for company," he explained. He seemed thoroughly amused by this whole exchange if that smirk of his was a reliable source.

"Don't you have a girlfriend to keep you company?" the words just slipped out. She hadn't meant to say it. Honestly. She hadn't meant to go for the pathetic, swoony teenager thing she was currently pulling off so well.

"No. No girlfriend," he drawled slowly and his dimples actually deepened slightly. Was he laughing at her again? "Now why is a beautiful woman like yourself drinking alone?" Caroline scoffed at the obvious line but decided not to scold him on it. Instead, she offered him the sad truth.

"My friends ditched me."

"You're dating DAMON?" Caroline hisses without bothering to hide the anger in her voice.

Elena didn't answer and avoided meeting Caroline's glare. Bonnie looked like she was considering cutting in before it got too out of hand but Caroline didn't give her a chance to do so.

"What are you even thinking Elena?" Caroline demanded.

"Look Care, I know you're upset. I get that he was your ex and –" Caroline didn't listen to the rest of Elena's sentence. She had just realized something she had forgotten in the anger and surprise.

The only thing Elena and Bonnie knew of the on and off again romance between Caroline and Damon was that it had ended badly. Caroline had come crying to the two girls and they had spent the entire weekend watching old chick flicks and eating ice cream. But Caroline never actually told them what happened and since their relationship was always on shaky grounds her two friends hadn't made much of an effort to find out what it was. They had just figured it had been something along the lines of Caroline's ordinary neurotic control freak tendencies getting out in the way and had left it alone when she said she didn't want to talk about it.

The truth was a lot worse than that. But Caroline had kept quiet about it. She had promised Damon she wouldn't tell anyone and for some reason she didn't really understand herself she had kept that promise. Elena just thought Caroline didn't want her to be with Damon because it was her ex when the truth had nothing to do with that.

"Why him?" Caroline tried to calm herself down. She had to make Elena understand that Damon wasn't a good guy. Even if she couldn't straight out tell her what had happened she had to make her understand. "You know you can do better, right? I mean I know that he's hot but he can be such an ass and he never changes his socks," Caroline lied, fishing in the air for reasons why Elena shouldn't be with Damon; other than the fact that he was a sociopathic narcissist.

Elena and Bonnie sighed at the exact same moment and exchanged a look that Caroline clearly wasn't supposed to have seen.

"Well I'm happy for you," Bonnie defended Elena and Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Thank you Bonnie," Caroline wanted to roll them again when Elena squeezed Bonnie's hand. God. Were they going to preschool her into apologizing now? "I just wanted to tell you guys in person. I really like him and I don't know it… it feels real," Elena's face was shining and it was impossible to deny how happy she looked. Caroline didn't think she had seen her friend that happy about a guy before.

Caroline pursed her lips into a thin line. She wanted to tell Elena every lie she could think of that would make her dump Damon's sorry ass. She was itching to spill the truth too. She wanted her friends to know the real reason she didn't want Elena to be with Damon. She knew that if she did they wouldn't call each other later to discuss how selfish she was being for not getting a Team Elena + Damon t-shirt. But the thought of being the one to ruin Elena's newfound happiness almost killed Caroline. The girl had been through so much and if she was finally happy… well, Caroline didn't want to ruin that.

"Fine," she finally spat. It didn't sound nearly as sincere as she had been going for. "I give you my blessing. I guess that's why you asked to hang out tonight, right?" so she was still being a bitch. But at least she wasn't trying to convince Elena to dump the definition of the word douchebag anymore. Progress was always progress, no matter how small the steps were.

"You know what Caroline," Elena began angrily. "I wanted to tell you this because you're one of my best friends and I'm happy. I was hoping to share my happiness with you. But since you're obviously just going to be a bitch tonight I might as well leave!" with that she got out of her seat and stormed out of the bar.

Carline and Bonnie exchanged a quick look but Caroline already knew what was coming. Bonnie barely had a chance to utter the word 'sorry' before Caroline interrupted her.

"Yeah whatever," Caroline sighed. "Go make sure she's okay."

Bonnie gave Caroline a small smile before running after Elena.

"I'm fine though," Caroline promised after having finished telling him about how she got ditched at a bar by her so called best friends. "I'm used to it. About it always being about Elena. She's the center of the universe according to pretty much everyone," Caroline had been drinking too much to feel ashamed of her ramblings. It had been a while since she let herself feel sorry about everyone kissing the ground Elena walked on even if it meant pushing Caroline out of the way to do so.

"I don't see what's so special about this Elena girl," he brought the glass to his lips and took a long swig. Caroline's eyes were glued to his lips when he licked away some remaining liquid from them. Was he doing that on purpose? He had to be. "I've always preferred blondes anyways."

She wasn't sure what prodded her to do it. Maybe it was the alcohol in her system. Maybe it was his moist lips so very close to her. Maybe it was because he was saying she was better than the girl Caroline couldn't keep herself from being jealous of. Maybe it was a mixture of all of it. But for some reason Caroline closed the final space between them and pressed her lips against his.

The kiss wasn't soft or romantic in any way. Their lips moved frantically against each other and they nipped and sucked at every chance they got. His hand found its way to the back of her neck and pushed her closer to him. The legs of her stool scraped against the floor when it moved with her and Caroline giggled against his lips. His tongue took the chance to gain entrance to her mouth and Caroline gladly accepted.

Their tongues dueled for dominance. It was a frantic, heavy game and Caroline refused to give up. She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him. Every fiber of her body was on fire and she wanted more. She wanted to feel his body pressed up against hers. She wanted him to suck so hard on her breasts it left marks. She wanted to feel him hard against her.

Caroline pulled away from him. A barely audible growl left him when she broke the contact and Caroline smiled. Her arms were still around his neck and she was already out of breath.

"I forgot to ask… what's your name?" she bit her lower lip to keep from laughing.

"Klaus," he told her and she could almost see the impatience surrounding him.

"I'm Caroline," she said in an overly chipper voice. Then she leaned forward so that her lips were right next to his ear. "And I believe you have an apartment close by?" she whispered seductively. The tip of her tongue graced his earlobe for a moment before she pulled back.

The smirk on Klaus' lips was devilish. He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the stool.

"Let's get going."

Now this is mostly just a little introduction. You know, say hi to the characters and watch them make-out kind of thing. A few quick pointers:

1. Caroline is twenty years old and a Junior in College. If you're wondering why she's able to drink at a bar you're with Klaus and will get that question answered next chapter.

2. Hopefully they're done moving in furniture by the time they get to Klaus' apartment because he will kick them out if they're still there.

3. This story is AU/AH and a teacher/student romance but it will have a lot of dark themes in it and isn't just about the romance. Be prepared!