A/N: Sorry this took so long, but my beta had a term paper to write before he could actually beta my chapter, so I had to wait. To make it better though (hopefully), I'm uploading this chapter and the next one.

I also thought I should put another note on this because I realized that I hadn't thoroughly put a warning on this story, and I should have, so here it is now: This story is about a girl who had nothing in her past. She had nothing but heartbreak and her past is full of abuse, both physical and mental, and she had no one she could trust so she learned how to be her own shoulder to lean on. There will be flashbacks and mentions of abuse, attempted suicide, self-mutilation (i.e. cutting herself). You have been warned.

A week passed, and on Friday, Caroline found herself of the front porch of the Gilbert house, ready to ring the doorbell. She hadn't actually been at this house since she had moved to Richmond when she was fourteen, and she had a lot of memories at this house. Elena had been her best friend for as long as she could remember, and she had been the one shoulder Caroline could cry on, and the one person that, even though she didn't understand everything that Caroline was going through, she at least tried to understand. Elena had tried to help Caroline through everything that she had been through, and that was mostly why she was her best friend.

C'mon, Caroline, she thought to herself, you can do it. All you have to do is ring the freaking doorbell.

Before she had a chance to ring it, though, the door flew open and Caroline saw Jeremy Gilbert standing there. She smiled weakly, "I, uh, I'm looking for Elena."

Jeremy shook his head, "Elena doesn't really stay here much. She spends most of her time with Stefan. You're welcome to come in, though. Bonnie's making dinner." He stepped aside so Caroline could go through the front door, and she walked into the kitchen, where she saw Bonnie cutting vegetables.

"Hey, Care," Bonnie said, setting down the knife. "Stefan taught me this really neat recipe for homemade spaghetti sauce."

"What're you doing here? I came here expecting to find Elena."

"I live here now," Bonnie said, picking up a wooden spoon to stir her sauce. "Elena's usually at the boarding house. She spends most of her time with Stefan."

"Well, I've got your dress in my car. I can go out and get it."

A few minutes later, Caroline returned to the kitchen with Bonnie's dress, and she waited patiently while Bonnie tried it on. Caroline smiled when Bonnie came down the stairs, wearing it. The dress was knee length, lilac purple and satin. It was one of Caroline's best pieces.

"Purple is really your color, Bon," Caroline said, making sure the dress fit. It fit perfectly.

"Thanks for the dress, Care. How much do I owe you?"

For a moment, Caroline looked confused, "You don't have to pay me anything. This is just a favor from one friend to another."

"Absolutely not, Caroline. I'm paying you for this dress, just like I know that Damon's going to pay you for the fancy suit you made him. How are you going to keep business if you're giving stuff away for free?"

"Don't worry about it, Bon," Caroline said nonchalantly. "I do well enough. This is no big deal."

-x-

When Caroline found out that Elena was practically living at the Salvatore boarding house, it made her feel better. Ever since the abuse in the first couple of homes she was in, Caroline was afraid to be alone with guys – any guys at all. One thing that she had learned throughout the years was that it didn't matter what a guy said, so much as what he did. Caroline almost felt guilty because she was even scared to be in the same room with Jeremy alone, and this was a guy she had known practically her entire life. Part of her was angry for everything she had ever been through – and Caroline had been through a lot. She had learned that the only guy she could depend on was Klaus. He had always helped her out with no ulterior motive. Because of that, she knew a little bit of what it was like to be loved. She wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Klaus.

Klaus limped through the house, looking for Caroline. He was vaguely aware of this girl living in his house, even though he just had gotten back from Afghanistan on medical leave. True, when he was at the VA hospital, his mother had brought Caroline with her to visit him from time to time, Klaus still wasn't sure about her. This girl seemed to be an enigma. Sometimes she was just happy and bubbly, and other times, she just wanted to be left alone.

As he went past the bathroom, he did a double take. There was Caroline, lying on the floor, razor blade in her hand and cuts on her wrist and forearm. He went over to see how deep the cuts were, and he gasped at the depth. She had to have been really determined. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her arm, adding pressure to try to get the bleeding to stop, and then called 911.

Klaus heard the siren of the ambulance as he knelt beside Caroline, keeping pressure on her wounds, but she had lost a lot of blood. For the first time in a long time, he was genuinely afraid that somebody might die. War does awful things to a person, and while he was away in Afghanistan, he saw people die on a daily basis. However, this was not like that.

They got her to the hospital, and she had required stitches. Of course, they had to put more blood back into her as she had lost quite a lot. Klaus did not leave her side the entire time. After a few days, when she was able to move around again, they had made her a bed in the psychiatric ward of the hospital, and, even though she didn't get up and see anybody, Klaus visited her every day. Usually he would just chat with the nurses and find out how Caroline was doing. Technically, the nurses weren't supposed to give information to someone who wasn't Caroline's biological family, but Klaus could be very persuasive.

When she was finally strong enough to go to visitations, Caroline was pretty surprised to see Klaus. He sat there at the table as she came up to him, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm checking on you," he stated, matter-of-factly. "I had to make sure you were alright."

"I don't understand why you saved me," she said, her gaze fixed on the table in front of her. "You should have just let me die."

"I couldn't do that, Caroline. You're so young, and you have so much to live for."

Caroline laughed bitterly, "You don't know that."

"Can you at least tell me what happened? My mother has been so good to you, so why did you choose right now to do this?"

Caroline's gaze never left the table as she answered, "Really, it's not a big deal. It's done, it's over with." Her eyes came up to meet Klaus' and she added, "You really shouldn't have saved me."

"C'mon Caroline, you can talk to me. I know that I haven't known you for very long, but I did save your life. You could at least give me an explanation."

"You did not save my life; you interrupted my death. I'm not worth it to save. I'm tainted, I'm dirty and the only thing I actually own is the garbage bag full of clothes that I've towed around from house to house. I don't have a real family; I don't have anything."

Klaus' eyes darkened as he recognized the words, "Caroline, that's not you talking. It sounds more like my sister, Rebekah. She's gotten to you, hasn't she?"

"It's not important," Caroline said, avoiding the subject.

That's when Klaus took Caroline's hands in his, "Caroline, I know you've been through hell. You've been through way too much to go through any more alone, and I promise you that I'm going to be there for you, to protect you. I'm going to be the big brother you never wanted."

Klaus had definitely kept his promise. When she started dating Tyler, though, Klaus had been in Iraq. There was nothing he could do there. Besides, Klaus was serving his country and Caroline respected that. Of course, when he got home and found out what had happened between Caroline and Tyler, she had to talk him down. He was ready to find Tyler and beat the shit out of him. Caroline didn't want Klaus' hands dirty over someone so worthless.

Caroline grabbed the suit that was in the back of her car. She went up to the front door of the boarding house and knocked.

Stefan opened the front door, "Caroline, what are you doing here?"

"Wow, Stefan, that sounds kinda rude when you say it like that," Caroline joked. She smiled at him, "I'm here to bring Damon his suit."

Stefan stepped aside and Caroline stepped inside. She smiled politely at him and headed upstairs.

-x-

By the time she had fitted Damon's suit, Caroline was tired, and in no mood to drive all the way back to Richmond. When Elena suggested that she stay there at the boarding house that night, Caroline decided against her better judgment that she would take her up on her offer.

"I didn't bring any clothes with me, though," Caroline said, sitting on Stefan and Elena's bed, watching her best friend dig through her closet. "I don't have anything to wear."

"We're practically the same size," Elena said, taking a moment to look back at Caroline. "I'm looking for something for you to wear."

Caroline nodded, and it went silent, so Elena took this opportunity to say what was on her mind, "Care, I want you to go to the founder's party with me tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Well, technically, you are from a founding family, so you belong there. It's just a bunch of people from founding families who dress up, drink and dance like they are somebody important. Bonnie and I always go to those parties with Jer and Stefan. Besides, I think it'd be good for you to get out and socialize a little.

There was a moment of silence before Caroline spoke up, "Carol Lockwood is a founding family member, right?"

Elena nodded, not sure where this was going.

"I can't go. Not since my relationship with Tyler…" Caroline's voice faded off.

"Don't worry about that. This year is an election year. Carol isn't going to do anything to risk her reputation, I can promise you that. Besides, you are going to that party, even if I have to tie you up, throw you in the trunk of my car, and take you there myself."

Caroline looked at her friend, wide-eyed, but did not say anything. She didn't need to; the look on Elena's face told her everything she needed to know. Elena was serious.

"Fine," Caroline said, conceding the point. "But I'm going to need something to wear."