Notes: And here's the past I meant to post last night, before I realized that I'd forgotten to post 'Tuesday.' Enjoy and thanks for the follows/faves and especially the reviews! These are meant to be done quickly so their not as carefully edited as my other stuff. Sorry for any mistakes.

OCTOBER – WEDNESDAY

CAROLINE:

When Caroline steps off the elevator she's met with the sight of Mrs. Harris, the nosy widow who lives down the hall, gesticulating wildly at Klaus Mikaelson, while Mrs. Harris' miniature pinscher growls ominously from their feet.

Caroline debates retreating and heading back downstairs. Maybe she'll go out and buy herself some hump day cupcakes? She thinks she deserves them. Her finger is hovering over the 'close door' button when Klaus looks up and catches her eye.

Damn. So much for her great escape.

Klaus looks harried, but then Mrs. Harris will do that to a person. She's not particularly fond of people in general (she'd only just tolerated Stefan enough to offer a perfunctory greeting when they met at the mailboxes and that had taken years). She likes Caroline well enough, mostly because Caroline had won over her dog. Caught by Klaus harassed gaze, Caroline shifts her bag so it's over her shoulder and walks down the hall to meet them.

"Hi, Mrs. Harris! Is there a problem?" Caroline greets in her perkiest tone before bending to give Goliath (the miniature pinscher) a quick head rub. He stops growling at Klaus for a moment and accepts the attention.

"This man," Mrs. Harris spits, eying Klaus up and down suspiciously, "claims that his brother lives with you. I was just about to call the police. He looks disreputable, dear."

Klaus shoots her 'save me!' eyes and runs his hand through his hair. From the mess of it, Caroline's sure it's not the first time. She reluctantly takes pity on him, "That's alright, Mrs. Harris. He was telling you the truth."

"Thank you," Klaus mutters, with a triumphant look at Mrs. Harris.

She's clearly not convinced, "Are you sure? I've met Stefan's brother and he was far more handsome than this one. That was a man who makes a girl's pulse race."

Klaus looks affronted, and Caroline has to bite the inside of her lip to keep from giggling, "Stefan moved out, remember? I have a new roommate. His name is Kol. He moved in on Sunday. This is his brother, Klaus."

Mrs. Harris purses her lips and adjusts her glasses to give Klaus one last assessing look, "If you're sure. And may I say, Caroline, you should really stop surrounding yourself with all these strange men. No one's ever going to want to marry you if they have to fight through a crowd, you know?"

Caroline fights the urge to roll her eyes. Mrs. Harris has been dropping husband snagging tips into conversations for ages. She looks at Klaus out of the corner of her eye and he's biting back a grin at her expense. "Thank you, Mrs. Harris. I'll keep that in mind."

"Have a good evening, dear. And I'll be keeping my eye on you, boy." Mrs. Harris gives Klaus a poke in the shoulder before she turns to go. Goliath, with a last sharp bark at Klaus, follows.

Klaus waits until her door is shut before he turns to her incredulously, "Did she just call me boy? That woman is a terror and her rat is a menace. And Damon Salvatore is not better looking than I am."

"She's not that bad. And Goliath is a sweetheart once he gets to know you." Lie. Caroline had snuck that dog treats for months before it had stopped growling at her. And she wasn't going to touch that last comment.

"Tell that to the person who loses a hand to the little demon."

"He weighs like 9 lbs. It would be a finger, at most."

"I happen to enjoy my fingers, love." Klaus paused, grimaced. "That sounded wrong."

Caroline can't help but laugh, "Luckily, Kol's not here to run with that. You knew, right? He's got his first training shift tonight."

"I know. I'm here to see you, Caroline."

Surprised, Caroline's eyes fly to his. He's got his hands behind his back and it staring directly at her. He looks relaxed, but she can't quite read the expression on his face. "Oh. Uh… that's…" Caroline has to force herself to stop stuttering like an idiot. God she hopes Rebekah hadn't ignored her wishes and talked to Klaus about the things Caroline had said yesterday. "I mean, why don't you come in? That's what I meant."

She turns away to focus on unlocking the door, suddenly really, really glad that no one else is here to witness her turn into a rambling mess. She'd not been so disconcerted by a cute boy since she was about fourteen. Could he wear a baggier t-shirt, maybe? It was distracting. Klaus thankfully seemed to be ignoring her obvious nerves but she's sure Kol would not be so kind. She takes a deep breath in, forces herself to seem composed, and pushes open the apartment door.

"Can I get you anything?" Caroline asks, pleasant hostess tone firmly in place, as Klaus follows her in.

"No. Thank you. I spoke to Rebekah this morning…"

Caroline's dread spikes, "Oh god. I'm going to murder her. But first I'm going to make her watch as I shred all of her clothes and light them on fire." She busies herself with taking off her coat and slipping off her heels, "Whatever she said to you, please ignore it. It's not like you don't know you're attractive. I assume you have mirrors."

When she looks at Klaus again, his hands are in his pockets and he looks like he's trying not to laugh, "I do own mirrors. They came with my apartment. That's not actually what we spoke of, though I appreciate the compliment. I do like to feel pretty."

That's it. Caroline gives up. With a high pitched noise of frustration she walks over to her couch and throws herself down on it, much like she had the last time Klaus had been in her apartment. At least she's wearing pants this time, so it's slightly more dignified, "Just leave me here to wallow in my humiliation, please."

Klaus merely chuckles and seats himself on the coffee table. He patiently waits her out and with an annoyed huff, Caroline eventually turns to look at him, "You Mikaelson's are a plague. Except Elijah. Elijah's okay."

"And also very handsome," Klaus says with a smirk at her.

"I can't even decide which one of you is the worst."

"Do let me know when you figure it out. But, going back to what I came to speak to you about, what Rebekah actually indicated, was that I might have made you uncomfortable, with my past treatment of you."

"I wouldn't say uncomfortable…" Caroline hedged.

"Yes, well. However you felt, I will admit that I've often ignored the niceties, with you. And I'd like to offer my apologies, and I hope that we may start fresh."

He looks so earnest, peeking out from below unfairly thick lashes, with his hands held loosely between his knees, palms open and facing her. Caroline cannot help that her initial reaction is mistrust, "That's it? Just a clean slate?"

"If you'd permit it, of course."

"Can you tell me why? Did I do something?"

He looks away from her then, fidgets uneasily, and she watches his jaw clench, "You did nothing, love. And I'm fairly certain the why will become apparent in time."

Caroline sighs, begins to sit up, nearly flings herself off the couch in the process, but he rights her before it happens. She's never noticed quite how large his hands are until just now, staring at his fingers wrapped around her upper arm, where it's left bare by the cap sleeve of her blouse. She swallows, knows she'll consider his hands later, at length, in private, and cursing herself for it. Looking back at his face, she notes that his attention is also on where they're touching. She pulls her arm away gently, gaining his attention, and asks, "Why so cryptic?"

Klaus scrubs a hand over his face, shifts back a little on the table, "It's a bit embarrassing, sweetheart. I'd rather spare myself that. Surely you understand?"

She does. But she still wants to press the issue. She opens her mouth to demand an explanation but Klaus speaks again, "I'll tell you what. When you figure it out, I'll be happy to answer any questions you might have, even if it'll kill me."

Caroline mulls that over. The challenge, of figuring out his secret, appeals to her, she can't lie. And free reign to ask all the questions she likes? Well, Klaus clearly didn't know who he was dealing with, here. She nods decisively, "You have yourself a deal. I'll ferret out your little secret in no time, and you have to deal with me pestering you afterwards. No complaints!"

Klaus' expression holds the faintest tinge of dread, "Agreed."

Caroline stands, straightens the necklace that had begun to choke her, "And in the meantime no staring at me like a weirdo, capisce? You've proven that you can talk, and you're slightly less annoying than Kol, so use your words."

Klaus bows his head slightly in acknowledgement, "As the lady demands."