Notes: Four more chapters after this one and I'm going to try to get them out at a decent pace. Thanks for everyone who's still reading!

MARCH – TUESDAY

CAROLINE:

She's comfy, on Klaus' couch, having changed into Klaus' clothes while he made dinner earlier. They're not doing anything special, Caroline's engrossed in a magazine article while he watches some gory crime show (Caroline's pretty sure the guy she recognizes is the murderer but she's trying not to be a spoiler-y jerk). Her phone buzzes on the coffee table and she can just make out Rebekah's name. Caroline leans over to get it, smiling when Klaus' hand loops around her calf to steady her.

Rebekah (7:46 PM): What are you doing on Friday?

There are several ways to answer that question. Caroline, egged on by the tiny devil on her shoulder, chooses the most obnoxious one.

Caroline (7:47 PM): Your brother, hopefully.

Rebekah, predictably, does not react well. Caroline presses her lips together, her shoulders shaking with quiet giggles as she watches the rapid string of replies.

Rebekah (7:47 PM): VILE.

Rebekah (7:47 PM): AND JUVENILE.

Rebekah (7:47 PM): I LOATHE YOU.

Rebekah (7:48 PM): I deeply regret convincing you to allow Kol to live with you. I'm sure this is his entire fault.

Klaus squeezes her ankle, drawing her attention. His brows rise in question. "It's Bekah," Caroline explains. "I'm being a little mean."

He doesn't seem to object, slouching slightly and turning back to the television, "I'm sure she probably deserves it."

In the beginning of Stefan and Rebekah's relationship Caroline had walked on them in various stages of foreplay at least a half dozen times. She'd spent some time googling whether or not brain bleach was an actual thing, had been disappointed to find out that it wasn't. So yeah, Bekah totally has the payback coming. And Caroline's being generous and not counting all of Rebekah's recent nosiness against her.

Caroline (7:50 PM): I resent the implication that I would allow Kol to influence me.

Rebekah (7:51 PM): I suppose your sense of humor has always been lacking.

Caroline's eyes narrow, "Rude," she mutters. "I am hilarious." She glances up at Klaus, finds he's unbothered by her talking to her phone. Probably a good thing.

Caroline (7:52 PM): Ha ha.

Caroline (7:52 PM): I'm gonna be nice and let that slide.

Caroline (7:52 PM): What's happening on Friday?

Rebekah (7:53 PM): Dinner. My place. For Kol. As a congratulations.

Caroline (7:54 PM): Aw, Bekah, that's really sweet.

Kol will protest, pretend he loathes the experience, but Caroline would bet that his gooey marshmallowy center will grow three sizes.

Rebekah (7:55 PM): Elijah suggested it.

Rebekah (7:56 PM): And by suggest I mean nagged, but in that weirdly effective passive aggressive way he has, until I agreed to do it.

Caroline would assume Rebekah's exaggerating but she imagines Kol's going to be tough to replace, that Stefan will have to deal with disgruntlement from the patrons Kol's been charming for the last few months. From the stories she's heard certain customers tend to be very particular. Bekah will likely be happy for Kol, but only after Stefan gets things smoothed away at the restaurant and stops bringing his work aggravation home with him.

Caroline makes a mental note to suggest pie more often when she meets Rebekah for lunch.

Caroline (7:57 PM): I'll be there. Let me know if I can bring anything. Do you want me to let Klaus know? I'm at his place.

Caroline (7:57 PM): Fully clothed. Promise.

Rebekah (7:57 PM): Caroline. Must you?

Caroline (7:58 PM): I must. At least until it stops being fun.

Rebekah (7:59 PM): Again, juvenile.

Rebekah (7:59 PM): But yes, please inform Nik his presence is required. If he tries to wriggle out of it I'll sic Elijah on him.

Caroline (8:00 PM): Will do!

She pokes Klaus' thigh with her toes gently and his head rolls in her direction, "Hey, did you have plans for Friday?"

"Wasn't there a movie coming out we talked about seeing?"

Crap, Caroline had forgotten about that. It hadn't been a firm plan, something she'd written in her planner. They're still figuring out where their tastes intersect. He has limited patience for the quality cheese of modern rom coms but can totally get immersed in period pieces. She's not into anything too bloody and the straight horror flicks Klaus likes makes her jumpy. More complicated thrillers are sometimes okay and they both kind of love big action movies, even the dumb ones. That's the kind they'd been planning on checking out.

"Would you mind doing that Saturday? Maybe early afternoon? It'll probably be less crowded." That might be a good thing. They both get annoyed with subpar movie etiquette (which is kind of inevitable in a packed theater). Caroline is a silent seether but Klaus isn't afraid to turn and stare down a yapper.

She finds it weirdly hot, honestly.

He shrugs, unperturbed with the change of plans, "That's fine. Did you have something else in mind?"

"Bekah's getting everyone together for dinner."

Understanding dawns and Klaus nods, "Right. For Kol."

Caroline nudges him playfully with her toes again, "How did you know that? Is this where you confess you have psychic powers?"

"I stopped by Elijah's office today. Mentioned that I was going to lend Kol some money and why."

She feels a momentary pang of worry - what if Elijah had tried to talk Klaus out of it? Caroline does her best not to let any apprehension show, aims to appear merely curious. "Oh? What did he say?"

Klaus draws her leg up, setting it to rest on her bent knees, shoving up the hem of his sweats so his palm rests on her bare shin. "I think he's going to track down the restaurant's business plans. And, if everything is as solid as Kol seems to think it is, we're going to offer to do more than just cover Kol's living expenses for the next few months."

"Like?" Caroline prods, after a beat of silence.

"Like front him the funds so he can invest."

She's shocked for a moment, her mouth hanging open. Caroline's not sure just how much money it takes to open a restaurant but, judging by how much she sometimes ends up paying to rent them for a client for a single night, she'd bet it's a figure with a lot of zeros. Not the sort of sum most people would just casually offer, even to family. "Klaus, that's amazing."

He shrugs, "Well, upon a time Elijah covered my tuition payments when art school was deemed an unacceptable path."

"Seriously?" Klaus nods, and Caroline huffs in disbelief, offended on his behalf. "Idiots. You showed them, huh?" Between the graphic novels and the upcoming TV adaptation, there's no one who can reasonably claim that Klaus is unsuccessful.

Klaus smiles, tiny but with a smidge of self-congratulations. Deservedly so, in Caroline's opinion. He traces idle patterns on her skin. "Elijah gave me the chance to pursue something I loved. I suggested that it's only fair if we allow Kol the same opportunity."

"I'm definitely going to have to film Kol's reaction," Caroline decides. "And then when he's a super-rich celebrity chef type, because you know Kol will totally try to get his face on The Food Network, he'll pay me big bucks to not put the video of him trying to pretend like he has no squishy emotions on YouTube."

"Devious," Klaus murmurs, but it's admiring, and his hands drift up a bit higher. "Also, optimistic."

Traits Caroline owns proudly. "Yup, that's me."

"Elijah's going to let me know when he's gotten all the research together. I'm going to stop by the hotel tomorrow and double check what Kol told me about it, and then we'll make sure everything matches up."

"Kol's not an idiot," Caroline points out. "He just likes to pretend he is sometimes." A strategy, Caroline can admit, that has advantages. Lord knows she's used people's tendencies to underestimate her based on her appearance to make her life easier. "And it took a lot for him to suck it up and ask you for a loan. Do you really think he's getting scammed?"

"No, but it's better to be safe than sorry. It wouldn't be hard to find out Kol's well off, to assume he can be taken advantage of. Plenty of smart people have been conned, love."

A fair point. Caroline had googled Kol before he'd moved in, had found plenty of pictures of him splashed across Instagram drinking fancy booze at expensive resorts. There'd been mentions of him in blogs that tracked rich society types, breathless write ups of the lavishness of the parties he'd attended. She's never mentioned her findings to Kol, of course. The preening and swaggering that would follow would have been insufferable. "I really hope that's not what's happening here," Caroline says.

"I highly doubt it is," Klaus assures her.

Slightly mollified, Caroline sinks back into the arm of the couch behind her, stretching her arms out. "I need to get changed and get going, I think." It comes out kind of grumpy – no one wants to cram themselves back into a pencil skirt and heels a second time in one day – and Klaus notices.

"You could stay," he says lightly. He slides over, so her thighs are now draped over him, slips his arm under her back and lowers his voice as he leans close enough to press his mouth to the side of her neck, "I don't mind a bit."

Ugh, so tempting. "I can't be late tomorrow. I have a meeting with my bosses first thing. I'd have to rush back to my place to grab clothes…" she trails off, reaching out to set her hands on either side of Klaus' face. "Trust me, staying here is way more appealing than schlepping back to my place. Being a responsible grown up is annoying but..."

His expression changes, from coaxing to something a bit more contemplative, "Would you be comfortable leaving a few things here? Some office clothes, whatever makeup you feel you need, that sort of thing."

"Would I be…" she repeats, kind of floored. Klaus guards his space pretty strictly, abhors drop in visits. She'd expected this kind of offer to be slow to come. He still watches Rebekah and Kol suspiciously whenever they're over, distrustful since the incident with the pranks that had happened months ago. "Would you be?" Caroline shoots back.

He doesn't even twitch, shows not a hint of regret. "Wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."

"Then yeah," Caroline says slowly. "I could do that." It's an simple decision, being with Klaus has been remarkably easy, the vast majority of the things she'd been scared of happening hadn't occurred, hadn't even threatened to occur. Their chemistry hadn't fizzled; Bekah and Kol had adjusted with minimum (okay, a medium) amount of fuss. She's pretty confident that they can figure out how to stay friends if things don't work out romantically and she's fairly certain that's an unlikely outcome.

Caroline's not psychic but she doesn't see how things could turn sour at this point, Klaus' ease in offering to let her begin carving out her own space in his home tells her he doesn't either. This leap feels natural, a no brainer.

"Good," he says simply, wrapping one of her curls around his finger.

"I'll bring it over this weekend." She keeps talking, making a mental list. "Work outfits, comfy around the house stuff…"

Klaus shakes his head, "Not necessary." He glances down at her chest, clad in his t-shirt and sans bra, "I'm willing to give you free reign of my things."

Caroline rolls her eyes, reaching out to tip his chin back up. Men, so predictable. "I bet. Should I bother with pajamas?"

He scoffs, dismissive, "I don't see why you'd need to."

"I like to be prepared," Caroline reminds him.

Klaus feigns a sigh and Caroline runs her hand through his hair. His eyes flutter when she threads her fingers through the strands at the back of his neck, easing him towards her. "Whatever makes you happy," he murmurs, just before his mouth covers hers.

He wastes no time, licking into her mouth with a hum. Caroline figures it'll take her another hour to get home at this point but the delay will totally be worth her while.