Caroline's responsible for throwing a kickass Halloween party for her sorority, and she has no qualms roping the Mikaelson boys into helping her out. (For Klaroween Bingo: Costume Contest)

"Kol, for the love of all that is holy," Caroline pleaded, pinching the bridge of her nose, "leave the skeleton alone and come help me hang these streamers."

Pouting, Kol reluctantly tossed the life-size, plastic skeleton aside. "You're no fun anymore, darling, not since you've seized power at Ho-mega."

Caroline rolled her eyes and shoved the box of tacks in his chest. "Shut up. If anyone's a ho, it's you." Seriously, she loved her best friend and everything, but if slept with just one more of her sorority sisters, then she was banning him from the house. It was a perk of her sudden presidency, the expanded authority to grant or limit access to the organization's property - and one she expected to enjoy wielding should their partner fraternity decide to escalate the friendly prank war between pledge classes. "And I did not seize power, it was graciously afforded to me according to the sisterhood's bylaws."

"And Lexi dropping out to play groupie and follow some band on tour," Kol snorted. "Lord help the poor Omegas faced with your two-year reign."

Shrugging, Caroline didn't bother arguing the sentiment. She was going to whip the house into shape, that was for sure. "Just get up on the ladder," she ordered. Stepping onto her own step stool, she kept a keen eye for balance as they tacked the streamers to the wall. "An inch higher, please."

With a bored frown, Kol did as asked knowing it was the quickest way to be released from duty. "This is pledge work, Caroline," he whined.

"Like I can trust your pledges. I've already had to hold their hands through every step of cleaning the house this morning," she said, checking the floors for spilled beer or dust bunnies they might have missed. As a fraternity, Alpha Lambda had fewer restrictions against hosting parties; in her mind, though, it was almost worth the infraction fines to be able to host their traditional Halloween party at her own Omega Gamma house. Still, she played along and let the Alphas absorb the risk, even if she barely let them touch the decorations. "Oh, but I will need a couple of your guys to set up the stage."

"Stage?"

She pinned him with a glare, unappreciative of the deliberate misunderstanding. "For the costume contest, which you've promised to help me judge."

Kol grinned, the mischievous and pointy smile that Caroline associated with disciplinary meetings and migraines. "About that, I've been relieved of my duties on that front. I've been superseded by the powers that be."

Caroline's face fell slack. "No."

"A president for a president," he pointed out with a careless lift of his hands. "It's only fair, I suppose, that you two should negotiate the dignity of our fair houses and dole out awards based on merit as opposed to petty grudges."

Pursing her lips, Caroline fought the urge to push Kol off the ladder. "You didn't-"

"And here I thought you liked me, sweetheart." She turned to find Klaus watching her from the doorway, his face shiny with sweat as he smirked. "The stage is set up, by the way."

She sighed when he walked toward her and held out a hand to help her down from the stool. Landing in his arms, she couldn't help but lean up for a kiss from her sweaty boyfriend. "Thank you. But judging the contest was supposed to be a me and Kol thing."

"Because we like to judge people," Kol helpfully supplied. His hand was slapped over his eyes at their cuddly embrace, yet he managed to make his way down the ladder despite Caroline's scared yelp that he might fall. "Fear not, sweet Caroline," he said with an elaborate bow. "I shall play emcee and make my opinions publicly known and adored."

"Hey!" He darted away at her shout, and Klaus's arms tightened around her waist before she could follow. Undeterred, she raised her voice. "We still need people to participate, so save the mean stuff for drinks after!"

Klaus's lips landed on her shoulder with distracting softness. "I thought we could slip away after the contest. I do have a room upstairs."

"You don't want to stay for the rest of the party?" Caroline plumped out her bottom lip as her arms circled his neck. "But my outfit is so cute, and it'll be wasted on your bedroom floor."

"Will it though?"

She shoved at his shoulder, only to laugh when he leaned down to kiss her. "You don't even know what my costume is yet," she pointed out. "You might prefer I keep it on for a while."

"If it's so good, I'm surprised you're not entering the contest yourself," Klaus said with a suspicious grin. "It's not like you to defer from any competition."

Jabbing an elbow into his side, Caroline shook herself free from Klaus's hold. "The only thing I like more than winning-"

"And me."

An indulgent smile pulled at her lips, even as she busied herself with more decorations. "And you," she conceded, "is having all the power in any given situation."

"See? You totally seized power!" Kol yelled from the other room, only appearing with the plastic skeleton held at his side, now wearing a jaunty top hat. "And I really don't need to know so much about your sex life darling. Don't get me wrong, I would enjoy the details immensely if they didn't happen to include my brother, but they do. Unless you've expanded your tastes drastically and in a hopefully entertaining way that I can tease Nik about for the rest of my life?"

"It would be a short one," Klaus warned in a menacing tone.

But Caroline placed a calming hand over his heart, effectively putting herself between the brothers. "No squabbles, not until this place looks perfect."

Kol muttered to himself, something about demanding blondes, as he and his skeleton buddy traipsed back toward the kitchen. Klaus, on the other hand, pulled her back into his arms and hooked his chin over her shoulder. "Do I get a hint about your costume?"

Rubbing his arm lightly, she pecked his cheek. "Nope," she answered with a pop. She went back to work, glancing over her shoulder to send him a heated look. "But I better get a consolation prize after we're done with the contest."

Klaus smirked, even as she pushed a box full of fake cobwebs into his arm. "Anything for you, love."