Caroline looked at him with hooded eyes, her lower lip caught between her teeth.

"Klaus… oh, Klaus… I need you, baby…" She purred, her back arching against the mattress.

Klaus practically snaked on top of her from between her thighs to her chest, his lips caressing her skin all the way.

"Oh Caroline, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." He said before placing hot, open mouthed kisses on her neck.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, pressing their naked torsos against each other, and then ran her hands down his back.

Soft, sensual moans rolled out her lips.

Klaus couldn't be happier. He finally had this gorgeous woman in his arms, moaning his name, with her legs open for him…

and all he wanted to do was make love to her, slow and tenderly. To memorize every inch of her soft and curvy body, the smell of her hair, the blueness of her eyes…

He felt her hands pushing him away so he leaned up, resting his weight on his elbows. As he looked down he found her gazing at him so intensely, he thought she would see right through him.

"Kiss me…" She whispered. Her voice was soft and low, but to him felt like such a strong order, probably because he would never deny her anything she wanted.

He leaned and kissed her, lips crashing, tongues tangling with passion.

"Ummm sweetheart…" Klaus mumbled opening his eyes. There he found Spots licking his face. "What the…?" Startled, Klaus rolled out of the couch and fell on the ground.

Spots whined and barked at him.

"God, no…" Klaus groaned. It all had been a dream. Did his brain love torturing him like that? Giving him images of what he most desired but couldn't have? So much cruelty! And now he had an awkward boner.

He sat up on the floor and Spots walked closer to him.

"Did you have to wake me up with a kiss?" Klaus asked in disgust before wiping his hand across his mouth. "I'm not a Disney Princess, you know?"

Spots just whined and poked Klaus' chest with his nose, coaxing Klaus to pat his head.

Klaus thought that maybe Caroline kicked Spots out of the kitchen and now the dog was bored and looking for attention. It was Thanksgiving and Caroline was a mad woman in the kitchen, getting everything ready for dinner. He offered to help her earlier that day, but she refused, saying she had everything under control. To be fair, the penthouse smelled great. Whatever she was cooking in there, would definitely be delicious.

Klaus got up from the floor just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

"That's odd, it's still early…" He observed as he fixed his jeans before opening the door. There he found a young man wearing a heavy coat and holding a bottle of wine. "Yes?" Klaus asked confused, not knowing this man.

"You must be Klaus. I'm Stefan Salvatore." He said extending his hand. "I'm friends with Caroline." He added with a wide smile. He looked friendly enough…

"Right." Klaus said shaking the guy's hand. "Come on in."

"Thanks. Your place is awesome." Stefan commented as he looked around.

"Thank you." Klaus mumbled.

"I brought wine. I wasn't supposed to stop by until later, so Care didn't tell me what food to bring."

"That's alright, I think she's cooking enough for an army." Klaus said while taking the bottle of wine from Stefan. Now that he had both hands free, Stefan took his coat off and hung it by the door.

"Classic Caroline." He said with a laugh.

"Stefan?" The two men turned to see Caroline skipping out of the kitchen and into her friend's arms. "What are you doing here? I thought you were having dinner with your dad and Damon first."

Stefan picked her up easily with his arms wrapped around her waist and squeezed her against his chest. All the sudden Klaus found himself struggling to stay in control.

Yeah, Stefan looked real friendly.

"Yeah well, dad and Damon got into a fight, as usual…" Stefan said annoyed. "So dad is off to play golf and Damon is God knows where finding comfort at the bottom of a glass. I guess we're skipping dinner this year." He explained.

"Oh I'm so sorry Stef." Caroline said softly.

"It's alright." He shrugged. "I get to spend Thanksgiving with my two favorite girls. Didn't you say Bonnie is coming too?"

Caroline nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! She should be here soon."

"Do you need any help?" Stefan asked. Klaus was about to laugh and tell him not to bother, but it died in his throat as Caroline nodded again.

"Yes, that would be great." Weird, she let Stefan help but not Klaus? Klaus frowned and tilted his head. "Oh, I'll take that." She said while taking the bottle of wine.

"Anything I can help with?" Klaus offered. Maybe she changed her mind?

"No, it's fine." Caroline replied. "You just go get ready."

Klaus' shoulders dropped as he watched Caroline and Stefan walk towards the kitchen. He might have imagined himself strangling Stefan's neck when he saw the man placing his hand on the small of Caroline's back. He just wouldn't admit it out loud.

Jealousy is a bitch!

He never felt jealous before. He always got what he wanted, specially of what he wanted was a woman. He's witty, charming, good looking and has a buttload of money. Why couldn't Caroline be interested in him? Probably because she's too smart to be seduced by him, and to be fair, that's exactly why he liked her.

Klaus decided to do what Caroline said and get ready. He took a quick shower and threw some fresh clothes on. He did it all in record time, worried about leaving Stefan alone with Caroline for too long.

Meanwhile, Stefan helped Caroline with the salads while she finished the turkey. Spots stuck around, trying to coax Caroline into giving him some of that delicious food.

The two friends took their chance to catch up, so Stefan told her about a recent trip to Haiti and his new classes at college. It was comforting for Caroline to know that even though her life had its ups and downs, she still had some awesome friends, like Stefan.

"So… you have a nice life here." He observed after a moment.

"Yeah, I do." She said with a shrug. "I guess it's better than living on the streets."

"Better? Care, you live in one of the most prestigious buildings in New York." Stefan said impressed. Caroline looked down.

"You know I don't care about that stuff. I'm just glad I have a roof over my head."

"True." He agreed. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's great to see you doing so much better." Stefan added with a smile and then tilted his head. "Just wondering though, do you pay some sort of rent?"

Caroline shook her head.

"No, I don't… Klaus never brought it up…" She then opened her eyes widely. "Oh my god! I should pay rent, right? It's the right thing to do! He probably never noticed because he has so much money I don't think he knows what rent means!"

Stefan stepped closer to put his hands on her shoulders and shook her lightly.

"Care, you're hyperventilating. Calm down. Jesus! I shouldn't have said anything." He said with regret.

"No, you're right, I should probably talk about it with Klaus."

"I only asked because I don't see how he would ever accept your money. So I guess I'm not surprised." Stefan commented.

Caroline frowned.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, he got you a job and a place to stay, I'd say he's dead set on keeping you around…" He said as if it was so obvious. "Is there something going on between the two of you?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… do you like him?"

Caroline blushed, and of course Stefan saw that.

"No. He's just my roommate." Caroline denied. "And we're just god friends. I mean, I owe him so much."

"Since when does Caroline Forbes owe anyone anything?" He taunted.

"You know what I mean." She said rolling her eyes. "I try to be independent, but he helped me get back on my feet. I don't know how I would ever repay him."

"Ooooh I can think of a few ways." Stefan teased, making Caroline blush even more.

"He's not like that, okay? If he wanted to get on my pants, don't you think I would know already?" she hissed. Stefan lifted his arms in surrender.

"Hey, I'm not saying he has ulterior motives, but surely you know about his massive crush on you."

Caroline felt like time stood still. No one ever said something like that out loud. She could keep pretending there was nothing between them as long as they denied it, but hearing someone say Klaus had a crush on her made it harder.

"He doesn't have a crush on me." She replied, her voice barely audible. Stefan arched an eyebrow and looked at her unimpressed.

"Caroline, I'm pretty sure he tried breaking him hand when he shook it, it's still sore!" He said. "And the way he looked at you when you walked in, that look is clearly of a man in love. Not to mention the hateful looks I got."

Caroline shook her head, her blonde hair bouncing.

"He SO does not have a crush on me." She said emphatically.

"And I assume you don't have a crush on him either?" Stefan teased.

Caroline gapped at him a few times and when nothing came out, she turned, took a bowl of boiled potatoes and pushed it against Stefan's chest.

"Start smashing, Salvatore. We need smashed potatoes to go with turkey."

Stefan smiled, knowing better than pushing his luck, and just nodded.

"Yes ma'am."

Caroline turned back to the stove and continued getting the gravy ready. Seconds later, Klaus walked in and Caroline couldn't be happier that he didn't walk in earlier. That would've been awkward.

She noted his hair was wet and his face was flushed. She quickly looked away, just to find Stefan giving her a knowing look. Caroline couldn't do other than roll her eyes.

"What did I miss? What are you two talking about?" Klaus asked. There was some tension in the air.

"Nothing!" Caroline replied quickly. Both men looked at her startled. "Um, Stefan was just telling me what he's been learning in college." She added.

Klaus looked at Stefan for him to continue.

"Medical school."

"A future doctor. Impressive." Klaus mumbled. A weird staring contest started between the two of them and Caroline rolled her eyes. Men could be such alphas sometimes.

"Why don't you open a bottle of wine?" Caroline suggested.

The phone went off so Klaus walked out to pick it up while Stefan opened the bottle and poured the wine in three glasses.

"…Yes, she's right here brother." They heard Klaus say as he stepped back into the kitchen with the cordless phone close to his ear. "It's Elijah." He told Caroline. "He wants to speak to you."

Caroline took the phone and walked out of the kitchen.

"Elijah?"

"Caroline, hello. I hate bothering you during a holiday, but this is important." Elijah said, and Caroline noticed he sounded distressed.

"Of course. What's wrong?"

"Every year the company throws a huge party to celebrate New Year's Eve. Usually by this time of the year we're already working the details since it's such a big party and we invite our biggest clients. But Camille, the event planner we usually hire, just emailed me telling me about this horrible accident she had while skiing in Aspen, so she had to step back from this year's party."

"That's terrible." Caroline said with a frown.

"Indeed. And all the good event planners are probably booked by now. However, I remember you mentioned in your resume some impressive planning skills."

"Oh! I'm flattered but this is way over my league. This is a lot bigger than my days as Miss Mystic Falls." She replied with concern.

"You wouldn't be alone. Katerina is more than willing to help." He said.

Caroline smiled at how affectionate he sounded about his wife.

"Alright. If you're sure no one else can do it, then I'll do it."

"Wonderful! I'll give you the details next Monday at the office."

They bid each other goodbye and hung up.

By the time she walked back into the kitchen, Klaus was enjoying a glass of wine and Stefan was sitting on the floor playing with Spots. They looked like they hadn't said a word since she walked out.

"Everything alright?" Klaus asked.

"Yeah, just Elijah asking me to organize some New Year's eve party."

Klaus looked at her surprised.

"I thought he always hired someone for that."

"Yeah but she quit. Sky accident." Caroline explained simply with a shrug. "Do you have any photos of previous years? I'd like to see how they were."

"They were elegant but a tad boring." Klaus said. "Leaving aside the good food and wine, they weren't that great. I always dreaded having to go there, my family posing as if it was perfect and happy, the looooong and boring talks with the clients." He said shaking his head.

Caroline smiled.

"Aw you poor baby, I'll make sure this year you have fun." She said.

At that, Klaus smirked. For the first time, he couldn't wait for the New Year's eve party, only because she would be there.

Bonnie arrived shortly after that, and then Rebekah was next. Caroline couldn't help but notice how the youngest Mikaelson only had eyes for Stefan. Perhaps she could play matchmaker again, like she used to do in high school.

They all sat around the beautiful table that Caroline prepared and commented on how good the food smelled.

"Now, before we eat, we must say what we're thankful for." Stefan explained.

"Who starts?" Klaus asked, sitting at the head of the table.

"This is your first Thanksgiving, right?" Bonnie asked while looking back and forth between Klaus and Rebekah. "Maybe you should go first."

"I'll do it." Rebekah said. "I'm thankful for my brothers." She said smiling to Klaus from across the table.

"And I'm thankful for my little sister." Klaus said back raising his glass.

"I'm thankful for my job and the chance to start over." Bonnie said.

"I'm thankful for my two favorite girls." He said smiling at Bonnie and then winking at Caroline.

Klaus gripped the edge of the table so he wouldn't smack the back of Stefan's head.

Caroline smiled softly.

"I'm thankful because this year I'm not spending Thanksgiving alone." She said. Everyone went quiet. It was something so simple, yet so meaningful. The silence started to get uncomfortable so Caroline raised her glass. "Let's eat!"

Klaus watched Caroline for a few seconds.

He was thankful she was there.

He was thankful she was happy.

If she ever let him, he would make sure she would never spend another Thanksgiving alone.