A/N: Just finished with exams, thank you all for sending me good luck wishes. This chapter is a little bit of a filler, I could've just keep writing until things got more interesting, but I didn't wanna keep you waiting any longer.

I hope you like it. Please remember to leave a review! Enjoy!

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She was in trouble, and she knew it.

After two years since her mother was diagnosed and one year of living on the street, Caroline was just starting to get back on her feet. She had a roof over her head, she had hot food on her plate and she had a decent job.

So having a crush on the man that made all of that possible was a bad thing.

Klaus Mikaelson would be her doom.

Caroline couldn't decide if he was an angel sent by the heavens above to help her or a devil in disguise.

He took care of her, made sure she had everything she needed; he welcomed her into his home and made her feel safe for the first time in a long time. He dark blonde hair always styled in messy curls that made her wish she could just run her fingers through it. His eyes were pools of deep blue and his dimples… Oh, those dimples… She sighed dreamily whenever she thought of them. One smile from him could make her feel all kinds of things.

But he was her roommate, and for what she heard, someone with a really bad side. She didn't wanna make things awkward or bad between them. This was her entire life on the line. One mistake and she could end up living on the streets again.

She tried telling herself it was just a silly crush and that nothing between them could happen because Klaus didn't see her that way. But that's the thing… even though Klaus never expressed any interest in her and his kind actions towards her could be just politeness, Caroline wasn't really sure he didn't feel something for her. Every now and then she would find him looking at her with admiration in his eyes, like she was the most interesting thing in the room. And that surely didn't help to discourage her crush.

Caroline was determinate on getting over him. She would keep things platonically with Klaus and eventually she would move on–she hoped-.

If only it didn't hurt so much…

That day Klaus left the office early, saying he had a meeting to attend. So when Caroline headed home and spotted Genevieve leaving the building with her hands fixing her hair and her clothes all wrinkled, she was shocked and heartbroken.

And she didn't know what hurt the most, the fact that Klaus was with someone, or that he was with her. Genevieve, who was rude and said hurtful things, both to Klaus and Caroline. Who clearly didn't see the goodness in Klaus and thought he was heartless. And now Caroline had to go home and face him.

As she took the elevator to the penthouse, she started filling sick in her stomach.

She was in trouble, and she knew it.

.

Don't get him wrong, he adored Caroline and he wanted to make a move on her, but until he had the courage to do so, he needed something else to keep him distracted. He was a man, and men have needs.

Enter Genevieve, who surprisingly accepted Klaus' proposal to meet again outside of work. She had always been good to release some frustration, but Klaus never needed to picture himself with someone else before. This time however, he couldn't help imagining she was certain blonde with blue eyes.

After blowing some steam and making sure his balls weren't blue anymore, he laid on the bed lazily and watched her pick her clothes up.

"I'm surprised you agreed to meet me." He commented.

"I'm surprised you called." She said back. "I thought I would never hear from you after I insulted you."

"It takes a lot more than that to bruise my ego, love." He said. She sat on the edge of his bed to put her shoes on and shrugged.

"Same. I realized something though. I might be a good fuck." She said quoting his words. "But baby, so are you." Genevieve gave him a wink and Klaus smirked at her. "I don't see why Caroline living here would be a problem, although she doesn't strike me as the kind of girl that would agree with your ways." She commented nonchalantly. Klaus frowned and sat up on the bed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well… is she okay working for you, knowing you fired Hayley specifically so she could take the job?" Genevieve asked, her lips curled into a smirk and with mischief in her eyes. Klaus swallowed hard. He skipped that tiny yet important detail in his conversations with Caroline, knowing she wouldn't be happy with it. Genevieve grinned and got up. "Unless she doesn't know at all…" She said teasingly. "Um… I wonder how she would react."

How did she even know he got Hayley fired?

"So that's what this is about? You're blackmailing me?" He asked.

"You bet!" She walked to him and tried to kiss him, but he turned his head the last second and her lips barely touched the corner of his mouth. She sighed, clearly annoyed, and straightened up. "I'll see you next time I get an itch only you can scratch." And with that she was out of the door.

Klaus groaned. If only he didn't think with his dick!

He got up, put some clothes on and headed to the kitchen for a bite. That's when he heard the door opening and a set of high heels walking on the floor.

Caroline was home already? Klaus glanced at the clock on the wall and realized he spent more time with Genevieve that he first anticipated. He thanked God that Caroline didn't walk in while Genevieve was still there. They would surely have a few words to say to each other.

Speaking of words, Caroline hadn't say anything yet, which was weird. He grew used to hearing her say "I'm home!" whenever she arrived, or saying "Welcome home!" when she was already home waiting for him.

It was nice, really, having someone there to receive him. He never realized how empty his flat was until she came along.

Leaving the sandwich he just made on the kitchen counter, Klaus walked out of the kitchen and found the living room empty.

"Caroline?" He called out.

"In here!" He heard her say from her bedroom.

When he reached her door he found her sitting on her bed with Spots resting his head on her lap and her hand scratching him behind his ears.

"Hey." He said leaning on the door frame.

"Hi." She replied simply.

"How was work?"

"It was okay." Caroline shrugged. Klaus frowned at that, she usually had a lot to talk about. In fact, sometimes Klaus wondered when she would stop talking, although to be honest he found her rambling white endearing.

"Are you alright, love?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. But I think I'm taking Spots out for a walk."

Klaus chuckled.

"He could surely use some work out." He commented. The dog lived like a king, getting all the kisses and belly rubs from Caroline that his heart desired, and obviously he looked a little less skinny since Caroline brought him in. He looked a lot healthier, chubby and happy. His white and grey fur with black dots was clean and shinny, and if Klaus thought he was big at first, well he was a lot bigger now.

Caroline looked different too. Now that she could eat healthy every day, she was starting to gain weight, and it was all happening in all the right places. She was no longer that skinny, fragile girl he saw the first night they met, with legs so thin he thought they would break. She was still slim, but looked more like a woman than a chopstick. Her hair was shinny and her skin looked smooth. But most importantly, she looked healthy.

Spots looked up at her, as if he could tell they were talking about him. Caroline gave the dog a small smile and got up from the bed.

Sometimes Klaus felt a little pang of jealousy when he saw how much attention Spots got from her.

Caroline changed her high heels for something more comfortable and walked out the room with Spots following closely behind. Klaus stood there for a moment, wondering what made Caroline act so distant that day. Did she see Genevieve on her way up? Surely she would've mentioned it, right? Perhaps something bad happened at the office… was Elijah too hard on her? Or maybe she just had a bad day. Either way, he came to the conclusion that he was way too used to seeing Caroline smile and be bubbly. He took that for granted, and now that she wasn't her usual happy self, he missed it.

He would get to the bottom of it and make things better.

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Caroline walked aimlessly around, her hand holding Spots' leash while the dog did his business and skipped all around his owner, happy to be outside.

She didn't know how to feel. She had a crush on a man she could never be with, she was hurt that he was with someone else, and she felt betrayed, because of all the people he could be with, he chose "her". Klaus could do so much better.

Caroline knew she had no right to feel jealous or hurt, but feelings aren't rational. She stopped on the side walk in front of a coffee shop and looked down to Spots, who sat on his butt and wiggled his tail a little.

"At least I have you, don't I?" She asked softly. Spots let out a high pitched noise and nuzzled her hand. She couldn't help but smile as she stroked Spots' head. He was her guardian angel and no matter how bad she felt, he was there with her. Maybe things weren't perfect, but they weren't bad either, and she had a lot to be grateful for.

"Caroline?" A voice called out. Caroline turned and saw Bonnie walking out of the coffee shop.

"Bonnie?!" Caroline called back in surprise. "Oh my god, what are you doing here?!" She asked throwing her arms around her friend.

"I work here." Bonnie replied while hugging her back. "Oh god, it's so good to see you."

"You too." Caroline said softly, so glad to have found her friend again. "You look great, by the way." She added while stepping back.

"Me? What about you, Miss Fancy clothes!" Bonnie laughed. Caroline looked down to her clothes and giggled.

"I work at a fancy office, ergo the fancy pants."

"Come on in, grab a cup of coffee. We have so much to talk about." Bonnie said holding her hand.

Caroline looked down at Spots and sighed.

"I can't, I don't wanna leave him outside. Rain check?"

Bonnie smiled. Classic Caroline.

"Of course. Please tell me there's a phone number where I can reach you."

Caroline smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

.

There wasn't much Klaus couldn't do, but cooking was one of them. The only decent thing he could cook was spaghettis. He never learned to cook because he never needed it. They had a cooking staff at home while growing up and when he moved out he would eat out or order in. The last few days, Caroline did all the cooking, and he had to admit it was nice having homemade food on the table. Maybe it wasn't gourmet, but Klaus didn't care. It tasted way better.

He couldn't say the same about his spaghettis. They were just that, spaghettis that his housekeeper bought at the supermarket. But after seeing Caroline tired –he was convinced it was more than that, she wasn't just tired, she was upset- he decided he should do something nice and cook himself instead.

For the second time that day, he heard the door open and Caroline walk in. He also heard the sound of Spots' pawns as he skipped to the couch and jumped on the cushion. They tried teaching him not to sit there, but he wouldn't listen to Klaus, and Caroline would often let him win once she caught a glimpse of his "puppy dog eyes".

"We're home." She announced, unlike earlier.

"In the kitchen." He said. Caroline walked in.

"I thought you said you didn't cook." She commented, remembering one of the numerous talks they had in the living room after having dinner –one of Klaus' favorite moments of the day-.

"And I don't. So we might have to order something in later." He replied jokingly.

Caroline nodded and turned to leave, but then she stopped and turned back at him.

"I was hoping we could talk about something."

Klaus stiffened.

There it was. He was about to get slapped by words, he could feel it. She was going to tell him he was a pig, an idiot, a fuckboy –yes, he knew what a fuckboy is, Rebekah always complained about those-.

"Okay?" He mumbled so she would proceed.

"I know you probably don't celebrate Thanksgiving, but I was hoping you would let me make a Thanksgiving dinner. I feel like there's no better time for me to be thankful for everything that's happened this last month. I wanna thank you and your family and maybe invite a friend or two. This is your house so I want to make sure you're okay with it."

Klaus stood there in silence for a second. No slap. No harsh words. Just sweet, loving Caroline, proving him once again she was just too good and he didn't deserve her.

"Sounds good." He replied. "Elijah usually spends that holiday with Katherine and her family. But Rebekah should be happy to attend."

Caroline smiled softly and nodded.

"Thanks." She turned around once again, but this time Klaus stopped her.

"You know, Caroline... This is your home too."

They held each other's stare for a moment and then Caroline just walked to him, wrapping her arms around him. Klaus was a little surprise by the gesture, they hadn't hug since the day she had that job interview with Elijah. He took his chance to hug her back and smell her hair, promising himself he would memorize the feeling of her body against his.

"Thank you." He heard her say, her voice muffled against his Henley. Klaus rested his cheek against the side of her head and sighed.

"Anything for you, sweetheart."