AUTHOR'S NOTE: Before you say anything, I know this part is shorter than the last few. But I have been a bit blocked this last week and am honestly surprised I was able to get this much out.

Despite it's length, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks to CeceVolume for betaing this and Melanoradrood for her help to get me past my block. If you haven't checked out her amazing Role Reversal story, go read it after this.

Caroline hurried along the slick sidewalk, weaving through people and objects towards her destination. She glanced at her watch when she saw the glowing sign ahead. She was going to slide in just in time, which for her actually meant that she was running late. She reached the door a minute later and went inside. She found the coffee shop warm and the smell of coffee inviting. As she pulled her scarf loose, she saw Dean waving to her from a nearby table. She waved back before moving to the table.

Dean stood as she approached and reached to take her coat. "You made it."

"Barely. I wasn't sure for a minute."

"I got your text so I wasn't expecting you for at least another ten minutes or so," Dean stated as they took their seats. A barista came over and took their orders quickly.

"I wouldn't have thought I'd be late but as I was saying good-bye to the twins, Henry spilled his drink on me so I needed to change," Caroline explained with a smile. She had just finished getting ready to go out and had gone to say good-bye to the twins when it had happened. They were eating dinner with their father and Henry had knocked over his milk when he got up. It had splattered all over the front of her top and jeans. He had quickly apologized and she told him it was fine before rushing off to change. Stained clothes were not a good thing to wear on a date, especially when it was milk.

Dean chuckled. "Must be a familiar haphazard of the job."

"Not usually. While Henry does tend to have more falls and scraps than Lexi, neither one of them are messy," Caroline commented. Lexi was steady on her feet, something that wasn't a surprise considering her skill in gymnastics, but Henry tended to be a bit of a klutz. He hated it, and complained about it often. But both of them were pretty neat kids, as long as you reminded them on occasion to pick up after themselves.

"Maybe he did it with the hope that it would get you to stay," Dean teased.

Caroline just smiled. "I highly doubt that."

"If he did, he's even smarter than I thought," Dean stated as the barista returned with their order. Once she had dropped it and left, he continued. "I'm glad you were still willing to meet me for coffee, thought I might have scared you off."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well my schedule has been crazy lately," Dean answered. "I know I told you that when I asked you, but I thought it might still turn you off."

"I'm the last person to complain about a crazy schedule, mine usually is," Caroline stated. "Besides, I've been working pretty much the same schedule as you since Klaus has been so busy at the office."

"True, I hadn't thought of that," Dean replied before he took a drink of his coffee. "So did you always want to be a nanny?"

"No, well kind of. It wasn't the job I dreamed of as a little girl, but I'm pretty sure you can't go to college to be a princess," Caroline answered with a laugh that Dean joined her in. "I started volunteering at my church's nursery at the end of high school and decided I wanted to get into a career that involved children. Started going for my teaching degree when a classmate who was working as a nanny told me about it. I looked into it and really liked what I saw. Started working part time for a family a few months later."

"Well, I know the boss man loves having you around," Dean stated.

"Wh…what?" Caroline replied as she choked a little on her coffee. She hadn't expected to hear Dean say something like that.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked as he reached forward to pat her on her back to help.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She coughed to clear her throat before she went on. "It just went down the wrong way."

"I hate it when that happens."

"Anyways, you were saying?" Caroline asked, trying to get back to what he was talking about. She knew she shouldn't care what Klaus had said to Dean about her, but her curiosity got the better of her.

"Oh, just that I've heard Klaus talking about you over the last few months, mostly to Mindy or one of his brothers. He seems very happy with you taking care of the twins, at least by some of the stories he's told. Your name is almost as common around the office as the twins," Dean stated. "It's one of the reasons I asked you out."

"Seriously?" Caroline replied.

"Okay, I didn't mean for that to sound so stalkerish," Dean said with a nervous laugh.

Caroline couldn't help but smile as he tried to back step over what he had said. "No, it didn't sound that way."

"It's just when I saw you that day I picked you all up, and I saw the face that matched the name, I couldn't help myself," Dean stated.

This time Caroline outright laughed. When she saw confusion come over Dean's face, she quickly explained, "Sorry, I'm not laughing at you. It's just that morning was crazy; I had just gotten back the night before from a trip home for Christmas, so I was exhausted. Then the twins were trying to pack everything under the sun and suddenly I answered the door and you were on the other side and you weren't want I was expecting. Klaus had said a driver was coming so I guess I just expected some older uniformed chauffeur."

"And instead you got my handsome face," Dean teased causing Caroline to roll her eyes at him. "Anyways, that wasn't the best morning to make a first impression."

"Well, you seemed pretty put together to me," he said with a shrug.

"Thankfully, I didn't really have to do anything for that trip; Klaus handled on the details. I was just along for the ride," Caroline replied.

"Seems like it all worked out. It looked as if you had a good vacation when I picked you up."

"It was a good, great even," Caroline said with a small smile as she thought back over the week. She could not truly remember a vacation like it, not that she had a lot to compare it to. And it had been unbelievable. Barbados had been beautiful, but it was also the company she had while there. The only thing to sully her memories of it was the dream she had had, not because it had caused her to realize that she had more than friendly feelings for her boss but because it also made her realize that part of the reason she had enjoyed the trip so much was because of those feelings. While she had made sure to point out the boundaries to him the first night they were there and reminded him that she was there as an employee she herself had found herself forgetting during most of the trip.

Realizing that she was on this date with Dean to try and get her mind off of those feelings she had for Klaus, Caroline pushed the memories away and focused on the man in front of her. "So enough about work. Um, have you always lived in Boston?"

A couple hours later, Caroline said good-bye to Dean and returned home. The date had been…sweet. He didn't make her go weak in the knees or send her heart racing, but she did think he was good looking, seemed like a nice guy, and was funny and easy to talk to. He had asked if she would like to go out to dinner with him and she had agreed. She couldn't help but have a small smile on her face.

By the time she unlocked the front door, Caroline knew she would find a quiet house. It was past the twins' bedtime and their father would have long put them to bed. She hoped that he had then retreated to his studio but as soon as she entered the foyer, she found that was not the case.

Klaus sat on one of the sofas in the living room, facing towards the television. She recognized one of the few television shows that Klaus watched, a science fiction show on the BBC, playing but his attention quickly turned towards her. A grin appeared on his face as he greeted her. "Caroline."

"Hi," she responded before inching towards the stairs. She hadn't really talked to him since she had recovered from the virus that the twins had given and she felt horrible about it. He had gone out of his way to take care of her, not just the first day but the next as well. He had taken care of her duties with the kids and stayed with her while they were at school, making sure that she didn't have to go any farther than her bathroom for anything that she needed. She had found that when she wasn't sleeping they were talking. Nothing big, just little things from their pasts or things that they liked but it was still more than they had talked in weeks. Moreover, she found that she didn't want to stop, despite her promise to distance herself from him. She had granted herself the reprieve until she had gotten better.

"I see you had a nice time out," Klaus stated as he took in the smile he saw on her face. He quickly paused the TV and swung his legs around so he faced her.

"Sorry to interrupt," Caroline replied. "I'll just head upstairs."

"Actually, I've been waiting to talk to you. Would you sit?" Klaus asked then when she hesitated, he added, "Please?"

Caroline nodded in agreement as she moved to take a seat on the sofa across from him. "Nothing's wrong is it?"

"Oh no, sweetheart, nothing like that," Klaus assured her. "I just needed to ask you something that is a bit last minute, so I didn't want to risk not catching you."

"Then ask."

"I wanted to know if you would be available to stay with the twins on Saturday night?" Klaus asked. "A business associate contacted me this evening, he is coming in from New Orleans and will only be in Boston for the weekend. He wants to meet for a business dinner."

"Oh, Saturday night?" Caroline repeated.

"Yes, sorry for the late notice and intruding on your time off but, as I said, he just contacted me," Klaus explained. "I thought that perhaps you would be free?"

"Actually, I'm not," Caroline stated. "I just made plans."

"Would it be possible to change them?" Klaus asked. "I anticipate the meeting to last most of the evening, but if your plans are with Elena and Bonnie, by all means invite them over."

"That's a thoughtful suggestion, but my plans aren't with Elena and Bonnie," Caroline declared with a pause. She didn't know why it was suddenly very hard to talk about something she had been happy about moments before. "They're with a guy...I have a date."

"Oh," Klaus said. He was sure that the surprise was evident in his voice to both of them. Of all of the replies Caroline could have given him, that was not one he had considered. There was a sudden ache in his chest, as if Kol had just hit him with one of his bats. "You have a date?"

"Don't sound so surprised," Caroline snapped. She wasn't sure why his question had struck her the wrong way, but it sounded as if he found the idea as ludicrous which she had to admit hurt a little.

"I just didn't realize you had started dating someone," Klaus explained. When had she started seeing someone? It was just over a month ago that the two of them had sat on these very sofas and she had talked about her breakup with Tyler, why had she not mentioned that she was dating again? Perhaps she hadn't been at the time. Could this be why she had become distant as of late?

"I'm not, I mean this would be our first real date, we're going out to dinner," Caroline explained. She didn't know why she felt like she needed to, but that didn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. "I can cancel it, I mean change it to a different day .. "

"No, you shouldn't cancel it," Klaus retorted. "I will ask one of my siblings to come over."

"But…."

"Caroline, it's fine. Do not feel as if you are obliged to change your plans for me," Klaus declared. "Go on your date."

She wasn't sure, but Caroline thought she could hear anger in his voice. He had already turned away from her and back to the TV, so she couldn't see his eyes which would have given her some kind of clue as to whether he was angry or not. But why would he be angry?

She had said she would cancel her plans if he wanted her to. She stood up and headed out of the room but despite her confusion about his reaction, she found herself turning back to him. "I'm sorry."

Her words pulled his attention back to her and their eyes locked. At that moment Caroline wasn't sure if she was apologizing for being busy or because she had a date.

Well? like it? Hate it?

Don't worry, there is more of jealous Klaus to come.