Notes: Part Four! We hang out with Kol, Caroline and Klaus in this one. Next one will probably be Caroline with Rebekah and Stefan, just to warn you. Thanks for reviewing! This one's dedicated to the lovely anon on Tumblr who gave me a nudge.

OCTOBER - MONDAY

CAROLINE:

Entering her apartment Caroline is dragging her feet. How is it barely 6 PM? She sets her bag on the table by the door and violently kicks off her heels. She pads over to the couch, irrationally happy to see its comfy, inviting plushness and throws herself down on to it face first. Her legs are hanging awkwardly over the arm and her face is buried in a throw pillow.

She's sorely tempted to scream into it. And it was only Monday.

"Alright, love?" a voice asks.

Caroline stills, than groans. Right, her foray into living alone was officially over, as of yesterday. Stefan had seen her in far less dignified positions but she wasn't nearly that comfortable with Kol.

Or Klaus. The owner of the familiar voice.

Turning her head to the side, swiping her hair out of her face, she sees Klaus, beer bottle in hand, looking at her with amused concern. Heavy on the amusement, light on the concern. The jerk. He's seated on one of the kitchen island's stools but he's swung to face her.

"I hate rich people," Caroline states.

"Rude!" Kol exclaims, without turning from where he's messing with something on the stovetop, "though I am, of course, currently economically challenged. So really, you've just insulted our guest."

Caroline buries her head back into the pillow. 'Our guest' sounded so weird.

Klaus raises an eyebrow at her when she turns back. Not looking the least bit offended he says, "I'll forgive the slight, Caroline. The attempt on my life will take a bit to get over," he nods to her shoes, sitting haphazardly in the middle of the living room floor.

She had put a fair amount of force into removing them, it was true. Still he'd been safely out of their path and she pointed that out, "Oh please, they missed you by a mile."

"Still. From the looks of them it would have been quite painful. I'd have needed stiches, I'm sure."

Caroline scoffs, decides not to respond. Of course he's a smart-ass, over fond of his own wit. He's a Mikaelson, after all, and obnoxiousness runs in the family (sorry, Elijah).

She considers if there's a graceful way for her to get vertical, quickly realizes that there is not. So she resolves to get it over with as quickly as possible. She should really have worn pants this morning. Heaving herself up on her elbows Caroline pulls her legs over the arm, to the side, and rolls off of the couch.

Klaus is watching her (still amused) and Kol has turned around just in time to observe and add commentary, "I'd give it a 7.5. The dismount was shaky. I'm a fan of the outfit though. Right out of my naughty librarian fantasies, darling."

Without looking Klaus tosses a bottle cap over his shoulder. It hits Kol square in the forehead, causing him to smack a hand over his face and burst out, "Ow. Fuck!"

Klaus smirks, pleased with himself, and Caroline can't help but start giggling.

"Not the face, Niklaus! I need it!"

"I apologize, Kol. You're gargantuan head just made the best target."

Kol gets a look on his face, a look Caroline knows it from the many (many!) times Kol has tried to hit on her, "No!" she yells, before he can get a word out, "don't you dare turn that into a sexual innuendo, Kol Mikaelson. I mean it."

"But Caroline," Kol whines, "it's so perfect. 'Gargantuan head?' Come on."

"No," Caroline growls.

Klaus chuckles, "Would you like a rolled up newspaper, love? Maybe a spray bottle?"

"Maybe later," she replies. Kol's looking between her and Klaus irritably so she decides to distract him. "Dinner smells good, Kol."

"Obviously," he sniffs.

Caroline is unable to stop an aggravated sigh from escaping her mouth. She was trying to be nice!

Klaus gets up, pulls another beer out of the fridge and makes a 'want one?' gesture. And isn't he mighty comfortable in her home? Although, she doesn't recall there being beer in her fridge so she should probably cut him some slack since he must've brought it. "You should ignore him," Klaus told her, nodding towards Kol, "He's insufferable about it but he really does make good food."

"Wow, Nik. A compliment? Did you pre-drink? Ingest some funny mushrooms, maybe?"

"After all," Klaus continues, as if Kol hadn't spoken, "life would not be so cruel as to leave a man without a single talent."

She makes 'gimme' hands at the beer and Klaus smiles and ducks back in for another bottle. She murmurs her thanks when he hands it to her and takes a healthy gulp. Perhaps Kol (and Klaus) will be easier to manage with the help of alcohol? Her friendship with Rebekah hadn't really taken off until they'd spent a Wednesday night drinking Screwdrivers and bitching about the two girls who shared their suite (one of whom thought hemp was an acceptable sartorial choice and the other who had a framed purity pledge on her bedside table). Worth a try, Caroline figured, taking a second, slightly daintier, sip.

The silence stretches a little too long. Kol's still pouting, a bit. Caroline settles herself on a stool and snatches a slice of cut up avocado from the chopping board that's in reach. Kol gives her a warning look and Klaus clears his throat. "So. Rich people?" he prompts her.

And is he really going to act as if casual conversations were a thing that they did? From the expectant look on his face as he waits for her to respond it appears so. Caroline gives a mental shrug and resolves to get to the bottom of the issue later. Perhaps drop some hints to Rebekah who will hopefully let her know if Klaus suffers from some kind of personality disorder.

"So I have this client. I planned her fourth… no wait, fifth wedding, two years ago. She. Was. A nightmare. One of those people who thinks she's way more stylish than she actually is, you know? And husband number 5 is a diehard Denver Bronco's fan…"

"American football," Kol groused.

"…and insisted the wedding colors be orange and navy."

"Ew," Kol said.

"Exactly! She could not make a decision to save her life. Spent a fortune on cancellation fees for vendors and called me after hours every other day for months."

"So now you're stuck planning her sixth wedding?" Klaus asked.

"Worse. Her only daughter's. And the daughter is a piece of work, let me tell you. And I don't even do weddings anymore but the mother specifically asked for me, and threw a lot of money around, so my boss couldn't say no."

"Well, Nik sprung for the good beer, so drink up," Kol says, tipping his own bottle towards her.

"And let's toast to husband number 5 being the one, hmm?" Klaus asks, leaning his bottle towards hers.

"Yes, please," Caroline replies, tapping his bottle with hers, "Thank god her two sons were already married."

Klaus smiles at her and Caroline finds herself enjoying the sight (stupid dimples!) and smiling back without really planning on it. And for a moment she forgets that they're not alone.

But Kol's not really fond of being ignored, as it turns out, "If you two will stop making heart eyes at each other dinner will be ready momentarily. I do not set tables, or do dishes, FYI."

Caroline looks away from Klaus to glare at Kol, "You absolutely will do dishes. Not when you cooked for me, 'cause I'm fair like that, but otherwise you dirty it, you clean it."

"Such a slave driver, Caroline," Kol leers.

"I have a bottle cap of my own now," she hefts it threateningly, "and I'm not afraid to use it. Seriously, do I need to start a perv jar? A dollar every time you're creepy."

"Probably not a bad idea," Klaus interjects. "I'll wash the dishes tonight, since I've no idea where you keep anything."

Okay, this amiable version of Klaus was beginning to freak her out. Pod people weren't actually real, right? But hey, she wasn't going to turn down clean dishes.

"Fine by me," Caroline confirmed. "Just watch me. You can set the table next time, and I'll handle clean up."

Caroline turned away to hide a wince, once she processed her words. Shit. That sounded like an invitation, didn't it?