AU/AH. Best friends but more.

Klaus Mikaelson was barely seven years old when he first met Caroline Forbes, and it would be the biggest lie in the whole, wide world to say that they immediately became best friends.

No—at first, Klaus felt nothing but annoyance towards the five-year-old girl with the perfect, blonde pigtails and the cheerful, giggly laugh.

The first time he saw her, she had just moved to Mystic Falls with her mother, and was dressed in all pink, bows and ribbons as she introduced herself as his new neighbor. She smiled widely and looked up at him with those big, blue eyes of hers—the perfect representation of a good, little angel—but when he refused to shake her hand (because ugh, girls had cooties!) and narrowed his eyes down at her, she stomped her right foot on his left one so hard that his yell managed to wake up his baby brother Kol, who usually slept like the dead.

Her mother had profusely apologized for her, while Esther had simply jovially laughed it off, even giving Caroline a few cookies and cooing over how cute she looked. Rebekah hadn't turned out to be the sickeningly girly daughter that she had hoped for, so Klaus was pretty sure that his mother would have been more than willing to adopt Caroline and her pretty dresses into their own family instead.

As the Forbes left, Esther lightly scolded him for being rude to their guest, and as he mumbled and huffed he caught sight of Caroline grinning proudly at him over her shoulder before the door closed between them.

In that very instant, he pledged to make it his life's mission to ruin hers.

What he hadn't predicted, though, as he pulled prank over prank on her for a whole year, was that he would become so bloody attached to the bubbly, little thing she was to the point where he felt like he was the only one allowed to make fun of her. Ever. A fact that everybody else learned pretty quickly as school rolled around again exactly twelve months later.

It was Caroline's first day ever of elementary school, and between the fact that she had never gone to kindergarten and that she wasn't Mystic Falls born and bred, she didn't have many friends yet.

Klaus' heart broke a little when he noticed her playing alone on the swings, her eyes sad and downcast. He knew girls her age (or every age, really) were mean by nature, and Elena Gilbert—whom every other female first grader loved to dutifully follow around—was no exception. Even his own sister was at her every back and call, which he found extremely ridiculous given the fact that Rebekah always complained that she couldn't even stand the brunette girl. But, apparently, for some unknown, mysterious reason, that was how girls worked; and it meant that, for now, Caroline had been relegated to spend most of her mornings on her own.

It irked Klaus to no end, made him glare at the Gilbert girl every chance that he got. He was used to an always cheerful and annoyingly talkative Caroline after all, and the sight of her so different made him somewhat sad too. He would have bet a whole week of his lunch cookies that Elena was simply jealous of the fact that Caroline was much prettier than her anyway. Well, uhm—not that he thought Caroline was pretty, though. He was simply trying to make guesses.

But Caroline was a tough one, he could tell by how she was handling having moved away from her hometown on top of having gone through her parents' divorce at such a young age. She was going to manage.

So, no, it hadn't been Elena Gilbert and her stupid pettiness to make him snap. Tyler Lockwood had.

It was Friday, and the first week back to school was coming to an end. Children were happily trotting through the hallways, laughing and racing each other to the open doors.

Caroline was calmly and slowly walking behind the rest of her class, holding her sparkly, pink backpack close to her chest and wearing a small smile on her lips, excited to have two days of normalcy ahead.

Klaus heard the suspicious snickering behind him, Caroline's surname being passed around, but it was too late to react as Tyler sprinted forward and grabbed onto the pink bag, pulling.

Caroline yelped, her eyes widening in panic as her small hands reached out for her backpack and her body fell forward as a consequence, quickly hitting the ground.

Everyone around her stilled for a moment and then started laughing, Tyler arrogantly grinning down at her as her chin trembled and big, fat tears started to form at the corners of her sad, ashamed eyes.

She looked down and sniffed, the quivering of her bottom lip getting more prominent. Klaus followed her gaze and noticed the wide tear now present on the side of her backpack, a backpack that he knew she loved, as he could still clearly remember the way he had sort of affectionately rolled his eyes at her when she had come over to show him all the new things that she had bought for school a few days prior (he would swear that he hated the way she would show up at his house out of the blue at least once every couple of days). She had been so excited about it all then, and now...

It was the last straw.

He strode towards Tyler with narrowed eyes, smirking as the dark-haired boy turned to him as if he expected a pat on the back for what he had done. Instead, he gasped loudly and then shrieked as Klaus forcefully pushed him down to the ground. At the unexpected action, everybody else immediately quieted and then quickly dispersed, Tyler too scurrying away with a now dark, embarrassed look on his face.

Once everyone was finally gone, Klaus slowly approached Caroline, who was still sitting on the ground and uselessly trying to put her backpack back together somehow.

He offered her his hand, and she looked up at him with wet, blue eyes.

"Come on."

She sniffed, wiping her tiny nose against one sleeve of her dress.

"But you hate me," she murmured, unsure, looking between Klaus and the nice-looking boy behind him (his best friend, Stefan Salvatore), who was gently smiling down at her.

Klaus' features softened slightly. "I don't hate you, Caroline. We're friends," he said, although somewhat hesitantly.

The little girl blinked up at him, her eyes now dry and surprised.

"You want to be my friend?" she asked in a whisper.

Klaus smiled softly, helping her up with one hand and collecting her backpack with the other.

"Let's go home."

She nodded as her small hand tightened around his, genuinely smiling for the first time that week.

From then on, Klaus and Caroline became pretty much inseparable. And that had been just the first time of many that he ever comforted her and managed to make her feel better somehow.

Which was why he immediately frowned and became alarmed when, now thirteen years later, he opened his apartment's door only to find a very distressed-looking Caroline crying almost desperately on his threshold.

She fell into his arms without a word, her whole body trembling as she sobbed against him. He held her close, closing the door behind them and carrying her to the couch arranged right in the middle of his living room.

"What's wrong?" he finally asked, once they were both seated, trailing tentative fingers down the side of her face.

As always, he enjoyed her proximity, the warmth of her body and the sweet smell of her skin. He had come to terms with the fact that he was in love with Caroline—his best friend—a long time ago already, and he had quite mastered the art of pretending by now. Especially when–

–"We broke up," she whispered, eventually, a shiver shaking her small frame as she gulped,–

–especially when she was dating his other best friend.

Klaus felt his hands balling into tight fists at his sides, his teeth grinding together in anger at the thought that Stefan might have hurt her somehow. He had always known their friend could never be the man she needed, but never voiced his opinion, not wanting to hurt either of his friends, and also not sure if he was even the best person to judge the situation given how he actually wished to be in Stefan's place.

"What happened? What did he do?" he almost growled through pressed lips.

Caroline sniffed, drying her tears the best that she could with the long sleeves of her hoodie. It was such a Caroline thing to do that Klaus' heart tightened slightly beneath his ribcage.

She avoided his gaze and shook her head.

"I don't wanna talk about it. Can I just stay here tonight?" she asked with trembling eyes, biting down on her bottom lip as she finally looked up at him.

He smiled, gently; as if he could ever say no to her.

"Of course you can, sweetheart."

He started to stand up again, wanting to lead her to his bedroom while he would take the couch for the night, but her fingers immediately curled around his wrist and brought him back to her.

"Just... here," she pleaded, and Klaus' breath stopped for a moment as their eyes met.

He nodded, slave to her every wish and desire, sitting comfortably against the dark leather as she snuggled up into his side. He wound his right arm around her and tucked her closer against him, smiling as he heard her release a content sigh as he did so.

He kissed the crown of her head and then caressed down her covered arm, whispering to her to sleep and get some rest.

The events of the day had probably taken a really huge toll on her, and in just a few minutes she was already dead to the world.

He observed her for a bit longer, marveling at how beautiful she could look even with mascara staining her still wet cheeks and with her features slightly sad and worried as she slept. He tightened his hold around her almost unconsciously, breathing her in and trying to keep the many thoughts swirling around his mind at bay.

After a while, he finally made a decision.

Making sure she was really sound asleep, he slowly and carefully untangled himself from her and stood up. He swiftly put on his jacket and collected his keys, allowing himself one last lingering look towards the blonde beauty softly snoring on his couch before leaving the apartment with one, clear purpose.

The quick ride to his chosen destination did nothing to quell his anger, and, once arrived, he knocked loudly on the wooden door without caring about the already late hour. And not even the sight of Stefan obviously tired and just as distressed as Caroline saved the Salvatore from Klaus' rage.

Before the other man could even form a single thought, Klaus' right fist hit him right on the jaw, sending him stumbling backwards a few steps.

"What the hell?!"

Klaus walked in and quickly slammed the door closed behind him.

"I had told you, mate," he hissed, and if looks could really kill then Stefan would have probably been long gone already. "I had warned you not to hurt her."

Stefan's frown suddenly disappeared at those last few words, replaced by a somewhat resigned air shadowing his features as he put all the pieces together. He sighed, carefully massaging the side of his face where Klaus had just punched him.

"I didn't; I didn't do anything," he finally said, "She's the one who broke up with me."

The news took Klaus by surprise, and he had to shake his head once to make sure he had heard his friend right.

"Wait–what? Why?"

Stefan chuckled, tiredly and almost a bit breathlessly, looking defeated. He let himself fall down against the soft cushions of his couch and sighed.

"You two are so stupid."

"I'm sorry?" Klaus' brows furrowed together in confusion.

"She loves you, you idiot. And don't even try to pretend that you're not in love with her, too."

Klaus gasped at his friend's words, his eyes widening and his heart beating frantically beneath his chest.

Could she really... ?

"No, I–what? No, I mean–no," he stuttered, feeling his whole body suddenly heating up in both shock and excitement.

Stefan laughed again, a hint of amusement coloring his features. But Klaus could still notice the hurt hidden just beneath the surface, and mentally cursed life for making everything so difficult all the time.

"It's okay, man. I should have seen it from the start, really," he sighed again, shaking his head to himself. "It's obvious you two are meant to be."

"But... why didn't she tell me anything?" Klaus asked, hesitantly, deciding that lying about it once again would have been useless at that point anyway.

"She was afraid, she still is. She doesn't know that you feel the same way," Stefan shrugged.

Klaus nodded, almost absentmindedly, trying to process all the new informations.

"I'm sorry that you've gotten dragged into this," he eventually said, his voice low and genuinely worried and apologetic. Stefan still was his oldest friend, after all, and one of his best ones too.

The other man managed a feeble smile. "Nothing I won't get over. But do not make it be for nothing, you hear me? She's a special one, so make sure you treat her right."

Chuckling, Klaus nodded again, his mind finally starting to understand what the whole situation really meant.

He finally was going to have a chance with Caroline. Because she loved him, apparently.

His heart shuddered and bursted beneath the confines of his chest at the knowledge. It was the greatest feeling that he had ever experienced in his whole life.

"Go away, now," Stefan urged him, jokingly, slightly rolling his eyes.

Klaus didn't need to be told twice, and immediately rushed to the door, a newly-found spring in his step.

He stopped for a moment, hovering on the threshold and turning around to face his friend once again.

"Thank you, Stefan."

The Salvatore boy waved him off but, before Klaus finally left the apartment, the two shared a knowing smile, wishing each other the best.

When Klaus finally arrived back to his own apartment, he was happy to see that Caroline was still sleeping soundly on the couch, looking serene and comfortable enough.

He got rid of his jacket again, and toed his shoes off. Making as little noise as possible, he walked to the couch, sitting down with his back against the armrest and gathering Caroline back into his arms.

She whimpered softly at the slight shift of position, but quickly relaxed against him and sighed in her sleep.

Looking down at her, Klaus smiled. He knew that they still had a long way to go, and that none of it was going to be easy; but he also knew that it was worth it–

–that she was worth it, and that she always would be.