Breakups suck. Caroline Forbes knew this better than most people. She had suffered her fair share of breakups, many of which she had caused. She was more than familiar with the it's-not-you-it's-me speech. What she wasn't familiar with was the it's-not-me-it's-you speech, and that was the speech that Tyler had given her.

The worst part was that she had actually believed, for one brief moment, that Tyler was the one. She had been foolish enough to think that maybe, just maybe, they were meant to spend eternity together. She had believed that they would ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after.

She should have known better. She should have known that happily ever after wasn't real. After all, her own parents had split because her father was gay. There had been no happily ever after for them. Why would there be one for her?

Caroline let out a shaky breath and pushed her key into the door, turning it and stepping inside. She would not cry. She would not cry. She was Caroline freaking Forbes, and she would not cry.

She placed her bag on the kitchen counter, staring at the stack of mail beside it. On the top was a picture of the eiffel tower with the words 'wish you were here' written across it in cursive. She picked it up, reading over the letter that Bonnie had written. She wished she was there. Hell, she wished she was anywhere. She wished that she was with Bonnie and Enzo in Paris, or visiting Stefan with Damon and Elena, or at the cape with Ric and the girls.

She wished that she was anywhere but here. Alone on Thanksgiving because Tyler had decided that she wasn't the one.

She could really use her mom right now.

Caroline was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She glanced around, wondering who would be knocking on Thanksgiving afternoon and came up with nothing. Did the postal service deliver on Thanksgiving?

Caroline crossed the room and yanked the door open. She huffed as she took in the man standing in front of her. Niklaus Mikaelson: single father, starving artist, and her neighbor. Her annoying neighbor.

"What do you want?" Caroline demanded.

Klaus studied her for a moment, taking in her disheveled appearance and her tear stained cheeks. "No need to get your feathers ruffled, love," he said, "I was only going to invite you to dinner."

"What?" Of all of the things that Caroline had been expecting him to say, that was not one of them. "Why?"

"Because I have it on good authority that you're not doing anything tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to join my family for dinner." The way he said 'my family' implied that it was more than just him and his daughter, Hope. Caroline hadn't been aware that he had anyone besides Hope. He had never talked about a family, but then again they didn't really talk.

"You have a family?" As soon as she said the words she realized how rude they sounded.

Klaus chuckled. "I do, and just so you know my inviting you is purely selfish."

"How?"

"I am the last remaining single family member," Klaus said, "and the last thing that I want is to have to put up with my mother's pestering."

"You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend?" Caroline couldn't think of a dumber idea. Not only was it dumb, it was foolish, completely irresponsible, and untrue. She would never date someone like Klaus Mikaelson. He simply wasn't her type.

"I want you to be my date," Klaus said, "You can enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner, while I get the pleasure of your company. What do you say?"

What did she say? She should probably say no. If she were thinking straight she would have said no, but she wasn't thinking straight. Her boyfriend had just broken up with her, her mom was dead, her friends were gone, and she was alone on Thanksgiving. She just wanted something to take her mind off of how miserable she was.

"Let me change," Caroline said, and closed the door on Klaus. This was not a good idea, but it was better than nothing.

Forty-three minutes later, they pulled up in front of a large white plantation house that was more of a mansion than a house. Klaus parked the car and looked at her. "Do you have it straight, love?"

Caroline laughed. "You're family is the most complicated family that I've ever heard of, but I think that I've got it."

"Good." Klaus exited the car, and opened her door before she could reach it. Despite herself, Caroline blushed like a schoolgirl and accepted his offered hand. That was...nice. Together, they walked up the driveway.

Only a hour ago, Caroline had believed that Klaus had no family at all, but boy was she wrong. On the trip over, he had explained his family to her, and she had come to the conclusion that they were more messed up than the Salvatores, and that was saying something.

First there was Freya, who was thirty-six and, as of two months ago, dating a doctor named Keelin. Then there was Finn, who was thirty-four, boring, and a widower. Following Finn came the thirty year old Elijah. From what Caroline could gather, Elijah and Klaus were very close, and(this was where it got complicated) Elijah was in a relationship with Klaus's baby mama, Hayley. Hayley had once been married, but her husband had died, and she was now engaged to Elijah. After Elijah came Klaus. Then there was Klaus's former foster brother, Marcel, who was a year younger than Klaus at twenty-six. Marcel and Klaus had once been best friends, but that had ended when Marcel had started a relationship with Klaus's younger sister, Rebekah, who was the same age at Caroline. After Rebekah came Kol, who was just out of college, and dating a completely normal girl named Davina. Last, but not least, there was their mother, Esther, who, according to Klaus, was the devil incarnate.

Complicated didn't begin to describe the Mikaelsons.

They came to a stop at the front doors and Klaus rang the doorbell. Caroline could hear it as is echoed through the house. Moments later, the door was thrown open by a small freckled girl with bright red hair who looked a shocking amount like her father.

"Dad!" Hope Mikaelson jumped into her father's arms, and Klaus scooped her up. Caroline watched them with a smile.

"Hope, what did I tell you about opening the door without asking who it is first?" A woman with brown hair and hazel eyes appeared in the doorway. She studied Caroline for a moment before offering her hand. "Hayley."

Caroline accepted it. "Caroline."

She smiled and then proceeded to elbow Klaus in the side. "You didn't tell me that you were bringing a date."

Klaus glanced at Caroline. "It was kind of a last minute adjustment." He looked at Hope. "What is this that I hear about you answering the door for strangers?"

"It's not for strangers," the little girl insisted, "I'm too short to know who's on the other side."

"Keep this up and you're going to get yourself kidnapped, young lady."

"Dad."

Hayley shook her head. "Come on. We were about to start dinner without you."

Klaus set Hope down and they followed Hayley through the house, which was huge. Caroline didn't think that the Lockwoods house had been this big. They came to a stop in a dining room with a large table stretching the length of the room. Seated around the table were an assortment of people, who were conversing amongst themselves. The room fell silent as the four of them entered.

A second later, "I'll be damned, Nik has a date." It was the young man sitting at the end of the table next to a petite girl who broke the silence. Caroline glanced at Klaus and he mouthed 'Kol'. Right. Kol, the wily fox.

"Right," Klaus said, "Everyone, this is Caroline Forbes. Caroline, this is my family."

"How nice it is to meet you." The woman at the head of the table stood up and hugged Caroline, patting her on the back before stepping back to admire her. "Finn, get an extra seat for Caroline." The man sitting to the right of Esther Mikaelson dutifully left the room. A moment later he appeared with an extra chair and place setting, which were placed next to the only other empty chair at the table.

Klaus pulled out the chair and Caroline took a seat as Finn finished setting the table. None of the Mikaelsons were being subtle as they took turns assessing her. She could feel the lingering eyes of both blonde girls on her and had to force herself not to look at them. Let them stare. She had nothing to hide. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

The man sitting on Caroline's other side was grinning at the blonde beside him. She glared at him which only caused the man to grin wider. Caroline watched as the two lovers, whom she had deduced were Rebekah and Marcel, had a nonverbal conversation with only their eyes. Rebekah huffed and turned her attention away from her boyfriend.

Klaus sat down next to her, a small smile on his face. On his other side sat Hope, who was more than ready for the meal to start.

"Let us say grace." Esther Mikaelson took her seat at the head of the table and began her prayer. "Heavenly father, we thank you for allowing us to come together under one roof. We thank you for the upcoming union of Hayley and Elijah." Caroline's eyes wandered to the mentioned woman and watched her eyes roll. Across the table, a familiar-looking man in a well tailored suit, Elijah nudged her with his foot, which only caused her to grin.

"We thank you for Kol graduating University-"

"In one piece," the petite brunette, Davina, muttered, which caused Kol to snicker. Finn's eyes snapped open and he glared at his brother, but Kol ignored him.

"We thank you for Finn's promotion. We thank you for bringing Keelin to Freya. We thank you for Caroline Forbes." Caroline glanced at the head of the table. Esther Mikaelson had her eyes closed, but Caroline felt as if her eyes were upon her. Why would they be thankful for her?

"Amen." The prayer ended and the few eyes around the table that had been closed opened. The food was passed around the table as Finn began carving the turkey and conversations started around her.

"Caroline Forbes," the impeccably dressed Elijah started, "How do you know my brother?" The question felt like a double edged sword, like no matter how she answered she would be giving Elijah some tidbit of information that she shouldn't be.

"We're neighbors," Caroline answered. Elijah nodded.

"What is it that you do exactly?" Finn asked.

Sitting next to Finn, Freya sighed. "Try to have some manners, would you?"

"I have manners." That caused the rest of the Mikaelsons, and Marcel, to laugh. Finn glared at each of his siblings in turn.

"I would hardly call asking Caroline about her job condescendingly having manners," Klaus pointed out.

"Boys," Esther Mikaelson cut in before her children started arguing. Both of them fell silent, and Esther turned her cold gaze on Caroline. "I'm am most interested in discovering more about you."

Caroline gulped. "I'm an event planner."

"That's wonderful."

"It is?"

"Of course it is," Esther said, "It provides a stable income with a regular paycheck." She was glaring at Klaus, who rolled his eyes in response. "Plus, it would be helpful to have an event planner in the family, all things considered."

Caroline wasn't sure what Esther meant, but she was too afraid to ask. Something about this woman scared her. Actually, most of the family scared her. Rebekah had yet to talk with her, but the other blonde had bitch written all over her. Caroline was sure that it would be a struggle for the two of them to get along.

To prove her right, Rebekah chose that moment to scrutinize Caroline. "Do you have any kids?"

Did she have any kids? Well, yes, and no. It was complicated. "Kind of," Caroline explained, "My friends, Alaric and Jo, was married and had twin daughters, Josie and Lizzie. Jo was killed a few years ago, and I've been helping out since." She was their legal female guardian, a godmother of sorts.

"How very interesting." The way that Elijah said the statement made it sound like he genuinely found her story interesting. Caroline was struck again by how familiar he looked and tried to figure out why. A second later, it came to her. Politics. Elijah was a senator. She had seen him on TV a couple of times.

The conversation turned away from Caroline as Rebekah and Marcel started a conversation with Esther and Klaus turned his attention to Hope. Hayley and Elijah were talking about something that had to do with a big company consolidation while Kol and Davina played footsie under the table.

Caroline watched the family with interest. It was all so...normal. They were a family. They may have been missing a father, but none of them seemed to mind that. Caroline wondered idly where he'd gone, or if he'd died. If he was still alive, he was certainly missing out. This family was powerful together.

"Who took all of the mashed potatoes?" Finn inquired as the dish made its final stop at him. He glanced around the table, his eyes narrowing as he took in the heapings on Kol and Davina's plates.

"It wasn't us," Kol said, "We weren't the last ones to get potatoes. If you want to blame somebody then blame Hope."

"I can't blame Hope. She's an enfant."

"Hey!" the offended party exclaimed, "I am not."

"Yes, you are," said Finn.

"I'm five." Hope held up five fingers to prove her point.

"Yeah," Kol agreed, "She's five."

"Are you insulting my daughter?" Klaus demanded indignantly.

"I was simply saying that…"

Caroline shook her head as the siblings started arguing. Across the table, Keelin's eyes met Caroline and she smiled. "You'll get used to them. I swear."

Caroline smile in return. "I don't think that I will."

Caroline pushed against the door and nearly fell out of the stairwell. The elevator was broken. Again. Caroline wasn't sure how it had managed to break in the short amount of time that they'd been at Esther's house, but it had. This was what she got for living in a shitty apartment.

"Thank you for coming with me," Klaus said as he walked her to her door, which was right across the hall from hers.

"Thanks for asking," Caroline said, "I had fun."

"My crazy family didn't scare you off then?"

Caroline shook her head. "No."

A smile crept across Klaus's face. "That's good." He leaned against the doorframe as Caroline stuck the key into the door and turned, kicking the door open. "I don't suppose that you'd like to do it again sometime?" Klaus asked before Caroline could vanish behind her door.

Caroline raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me?"

This was a bad idea. Klaus was two years older than her, had no sustainable income, and was very moody. Plus, he wasn't a jock, which was her tried and true type. He was a question, an enigma, a bad idea.

"Pick me up on Friday at eight," Caroline said, "I want to go dancing." Before she had the chance to regret what she just did, Caroline entered her apartment, closing the door behind her.

Klaus was a bad idea, but she was willing to give it a chance. Who knew maybe they'd end up riding off into the sunset together. Caroline laughed at the thought.

Author's Note

So, this is part one of Home for the Holidays. I'm not sure how many chapters there'll be, or how long this will be, so hang in there. There will be plenty of Klaroline, but I also plan on writing some stories centered around the other couples. Each story will feature a Holiday(as celebrated in the US), so if you have any ideas feel free to suggest.

Meg