Notes: Another one bites the dust! This fic started with a tiny little, 'Hmm, what if Caroline and Kol were roommates?' nugget of an idea and became what it probably my favourite of the AH AUs. Thank you so much to everyone who's read and commented and encouraged along the way!

CAROLINE – MARCH

SATURDAY:

"Cold, cold, cold," Caroline chants, rising up on her tiptoes and darting across the freezing bedroom floor. She yanks futilely at the hem of the shirt she wears, Klaus', goosebumps crawling up her bare legs.

She's going to have to invest in some more fuzzy socks. Or possibly see if she can convince Klaus to get another rug to line the short hallway that leads to his ensuite bathroom. The chill seeping out of the concrete threatens to wake her up too much and she'd really prefer to dive back into the comfortable toastiness of the bed. It's way too early to be awake on a Saturday.

Unfortunately, sleeping in is not meant to be.

She's bleary, her eyes only half-open, and she doesn't spot the tiny plastic chicken sitting on the floor before it's too late.

She steps on it, yelps when she feels the stab of pain in her instep. "Damn it," she whispers, hopping on her uninjured foot and crashing into the side of the bed.

Klaus' side.

The sheets rustle and he groans out a noise, unintelligible but concerned. He's been sleeping on his stomach and he makes to roll over, only to pause when he finds that he can't with Caroline sprawled half on top of him.

"Ooouuuuch," she grumbles, sitting up and bending her knee, grabbing her foot to make sure she's not bleeding. The area rug under Klaus' bed is a pale grey and would be a bitch to clean blood out of.

She sees Klaus pushing himself up in her peripheral vision, feels his legs moving underneath her. She wiggles so she's no longer sitting on him and he shoves the covers down as much as he can. "What happened?" he asks, his voice sleep rough and concerned.

"I stepped on…" she squints down at the floor, looking for the source of her injury, absently rubbing at the sole of her foot. Klaus' room is pretty tidy (his studio is another story) and the color scheme is entirely neutral. Caroline spots the culprit immediately. She leans down to swipe it off the floor, offering it to Klaus on her open palm, "Why in the world is there a plastic chicken on your bedroom floor?"

It's tacky bordering on ugly, painted bright yellow with a creepily grinning beak. So not what she's come to think of as Klaus' aesthetic.

He blinks down at it for a long moment, clearly confused and distractingly adorable. "I've never seen that before." Klaus is quick to discard the mystery, reaching for her ankle, his long fingers wrapping around it. He tugs gently, running his hand gently over the sole of her foot, "Are you alright?"

She seriously considers chucking the weird chicken aside (someplace where it will not be stepped on again) and taking advantage of the fact that they're both now wide awake and scantily clad, when said chicken erupts in her hand and shakes, ringing shrilly.

They both jump and the chicken falls to the bed. Klaus slams a pillow overtop it, muffling the sound. Caroline relaxes, but only for a moment, because an identical, equally annoying, ringing starts up from the bedside table.

"Oh, for…" Klaus releases her and rolls to reach the nightstand, wrapping his fist around the cow that had been perched there, unnoticed until it announced its presence. Caroline digs the chicken out from under the pillow, examines it carefully. There's no off button the dashes and numbers printed around the chicken's middle are self-explanatory. She twists until it quiets, sighing in relief when Klaus follows her lead.

They're quiet for a moment, awake enough to process now. "You sure you didn't have any barnyard egg timers lying around here?" Caroline asks, even though she has a sneaking suspicion about what's really happening.

She'd thought Klaus had confiscated all spare keys to his place after the incident where he'd lost all his underwear but she wouldn't put it passed Kol to have done something sneaky and gotten his grubby little mitts on one.

The look Klaus levels her with is incredulous, "And what, they just became sentient and wandered into my bedroom overnight?"

Never one to pass up the opportunity to reference a Disney movie (she'd been Sexy Jessie for Halloween in college) Caroline opens her mouth to respond but another round of ringing, this time from outside the bedroom, cuts her off.

Then another, tinny and farther away, starts up a few seconds later. Caroline presses her lips together. She's awake and the pain in her foot has faded so she can kind of see how the situation is funny. Klaus, his expression darkens and he sucks in a breath she thinks is meant to be calming, hasn't quite gotten to the same place.

His attempt at serenity proves inadequate because his exhale is an irritated huff. Klaus' hand rubs at his face, "Are you okay to walk on your foot, love? I'll shut those up and then go and murder my brother."

She rises from the bed and Klaus is quick to follow. She steps experimentally, feels only a small twinge. "I'm good."

"Excellent. Feel free to offer suggestions for discrete body disposal."

She takes a moment to enjoy the view of Klaus stalking away. His sweatpants sit low and crooked and his upper body is bare, he's tense and irritated and the flexing of the muscles along his shoulders and spine deserves appreciation. She makes a pit stop in the closet before leaving the bedroom, is just pulling her hair from the collar of an old sweatshirt she'd brought over when she finds Klaus glaring down at the kitchen island.

It's more cluttered than usual. Last night's dress is draped over one of the chairs, her heels, clutch, bra and underwear piled on one corner. Klaus' clothing is neatly folded in its own stack. Neither she nor Klaus are responsible for that, had hastily discarded the clothing as they'd stumbled towards the bedroom last night. She'd had a brief thought about tidying up while she'd been falling asleep but Klaus' hand had slipped over her stomach and he'd fitted his body to hers, and Caroline had decided to stay put, figured the dress was due for a trip to the dry cleaners anyway.

"Huh," Caroline says, attempting to sound cheerful in hopes Klaus will lose the murder face. "Guess all my nagging about how clothes don't belong on the floor paid off."

The cow's been joined by a pig, a sheep, a dog and a cat. All of which have the same excessively smiley expressions. Caroline sets the chicken down, nudging it so it stands in a neat line with the rest. The kitchen is warmer than the bedroom had been and she detects a hint of something delicious cooking. She sniffs, turning to look at the wall oven. The elements inside are glowing orange and a pan rests on a shelf in the middle. "Is that… cinnamon?"

Klaus sighs, the sound long suffering. "Quite likely," he slides a piece of paper in her direction. "Kol sends his regards."

She grabs the paper, takes a second to try to decipher Kol's cramped and messy boy scribble, "Niklaus and Dearest Caroline," she begins. "As a token of my appreciation for your efforts last night I have provided you with breakfast. You must be famished.

Klaus says something that's too quiet for Caroline to understand but the tone is distinctly threatening.

She skims over the next part, "Ugh, he just can't help himself, can he?"

Klaus shakes his head, reaching out to give the pig a spin. Caroline would bet a hefty chunk of her savings that he's considering his options for vengeance. She clears her throat and continues reading, "I'm sure Caroline will insist on thoroughly clean the counters given her high standards of cleanliness and the activities I assume you enjoyed upon them recently." She glances up to check Klaus' reaction, thinks he's leaning more towards exasperated than pissed which she will totally take. "…hence the early wakeup. You're welcome. P.S. Bonnie would like to have you both over for dinner sometime next week. P.P.S There's a bourbon glaze is in the refrigerator. Apply before eating."

Well. Bourbon glaze definitely sounds like something Caroline needs to eat ASAP. She circles the island, slipping behind Klaus. She runs her fingers down his back as she moves and he jolts. He spins and grabs for her but she's already out of his reach. Caroline opens the fridge door, leaning down to hide her smugness. She spots the Tupperware container from her place immediately and grabs it. She smirks over at Klaus, popping the lid, "I'm just going to assume that you don't have an issue with my cooties at this point."

That coaxes a tiny smile from him, "I do not."

Caroline swirls her finger in the pale white icing, licks experimentally before sucking the rest of it off with a pleased hum. It's sweet and just a little spicy, the hint of liquor saving it from being too sugary. Klaus watches avidly, drifting closer. Caroline backs up against the fridge, flinching slightly when the cool metal door presses against bare skin. Klaus' hands brush her thighs, sliding up to rest on her hips under the layers she's wearing. "Good?" he asks and it's a pretty obvious hint.

"Obviously," Caroline scoffs, offering him her finger this time. She wrinkles her nose once she realizes what she'd said, the offended tone she'd immediately adopted, "Oh my god I've been living with Kol for too long, haven't I?"

His laugh is soft enough that she feels it more than hears it. His teeth scrape the pad of her finger before he pulls back, "I'll admit I didn't think you'd last this long in the beginning. I know I certainly wouldn't have."

"I'm not a quitter." Plus, Kol has an uncanny knack for knowing just how annoying he can be before he needs to pivot and do something endearing. Probably the only reason he'd survived to adulthood given how quick and hot the Mikaelson tempers seem to flare.

"No," Klaus agrees, hands squeezing, "you are not that."

"And really, Kol's not that bad. "

This time Klaus' laugh is louder, disbelieving, and Caroline knocks her foot against his. "Shut up. He turned out to be totally trainable. Has shown an impressive amount of growth. Last time he broke into your place he stole things. This time he left a gift!" Multiple gifts, if they include the menagerie of egg timers. Which she will not.

No need to remind Klaus of their rude awakening.

"It's really more of the breaking in that I have an issue with," Klaus counters. He dips his own finger back into the glaze Kol had left so he can't be that perturbed.

"I mean, if you wanna get technical he used a key both times. I think." Caroline cranes her neck to the side, trying to see if the door's ajar, but Klaus hands still her before she can go and investigate.

One of Klaus' thumbs begins to trace absent circles just below her bellybutton. It's distracting enough that she almost misses his words. "There's no damage to the door. I'll have to figure out how he managed to get a key."

"Agree," Caroline says firmly. Kol has the worst timing of any human on the planet and Caroline quite enjoys the privacy Klaus' place offers them. "He'd never shut up about it if he walked in on us having sex and I can't perv jar him outside of our apartment."

"I do admire your entrepreneurial spirit."

Caroline narrows her eyes because that had sounded a little like he was making fun of her. Klaus smiles innocently, dropping a kiss to her neck before he pulls away. He heads directly to the coffee maker so Caroline decides to be magnanimous and let the mockery slide in the interest of getting some caffeine in her system. She grabs two plates from the cupboard, tucks the container of glaze under her arm as she fishes out forks from a drawer. "So, dinner with Kol and Bonnie. Do you want to do it?"

"If you'd like," Klaus replies. "I have several stories about Kol's… exploits that I haven't yet had the chance to tell.

She thinks about admonishing him but the needling he and Kol do seems to be more of a dysfunctional bonding ritual than anything malicious at this point. Admittedly, Caroline doesn't get it but she doesn't have siblings. "I'm sure he'll be happy to return the favor."

Klaus is not even a little bit diverted. "Are you saying he hasn't been bending your ear?"

Caroline grins and perches on a stool. "Oh boy, has he ever. There's been visuals too. BabyKlaus was cute as a button. All that hair and the dimples." She doesn't mention the awkward stage in his teens where he'd been painfully lanky and hadn't quite grown into the angles of his face but Kol had, of course, trotted those images out first.

His back is to her but his motions still for a moment, his hand suspended in digging coffee grounds out of the can. Caroline wishes she could see his expression because she's sure he's cringing and that's something she's never seen from him. "Of course he has," Klaus mutters.

Oops. And she'd just finished distracting him from his murder Kol plans.

"I'll give you free reign over the photo albums when we go to Mystic Falls for Easter," Caroline promises. "In the interest of fairness." She's sure Klaus will have plenty of commentary the lengthy glitter phase she'd gone through in middle school. "Plus, it's a small town. I'm sure plenty of people will be happy to tell you my greatest hits. I once fell off the side of the stage and into the audience during a spring choral show."

A wave of old embarrassment hits her and she feels her face twisting up into a grimace. She'd been nursing a serious crush on Logan Fell, had been distracted when she'd spotted him in the audience. Not for the first time she thanks the higher power that had done her a solid and ensured her tumble hadn't been caught that on video.

With her luck that footage would have been played at her graduation.

Klaus flicks on the coffee maker before turning to face her, leaning back on the counter. He watches her carefully for a long moment before he moves, settling down onto the stool next to hers. The length of his thigh presses against hers and he waits until she looks at him. "I look forward to it."

Ugh, she kind of regrets the offer.

She's about to make a joke but Klaus speaks first. "Speaking of trips, I got an email from my agent that I'll need to go to L.A. at the end of April. I was wondering if you'd like to come. There's a party for the show before filming officially starts. You can meet the actress who's been cast as Violet then."

Visions of new dresses dance in her head but Caroline shoves them aside.

"Sure you want to plan something that far in advance? Mystic Falls might change your mind about me," she jokes.

Crap. That's probably too illuminating.

She's come a long way from the girl who'd been abrasively enthusiastic, who'd been willing to do just about anything, crush anyone who got in her way, to win a beauty pageant. Her old teachers, neighbors, acquaintances have never managed to clock the changes. They still tend to treat her with an indulgent amusement, to toss a lot of 'bless her hearts' and assume she does little more than hang streamers and arrange balloons.

Caroline has given up trying to set the record straight years ago, nods and smiles and doesn't offer any details about her life. Is a master at self-deprecating jokes whenever comments about her love life fly. She bites her tongue when the conversation inevitably turns to her classmates, knows she comes up short in the townspeople's minds. Tyler Lockwood's going to follow in his dad's footsteps. Matt Donovan works with her mom and admittedly manages to look great in the super unflattering uniform pants. Elena is a doctor, set to take over her dad's practice and has mastered Dr. Gilbert's saintly benevolent vibes. Silly little Caroline flitting around New York City is barely worth any mention, is the general consensus.

"I've been sure about you for ages," Klaus replies, perfectly calm and nonchalant. He grabs the top plate from the stack, a fork, set his place as if her mouth hasn't fallen open in shock.

Is he not aware that he just said a big thing?

"You…" she manages to stutter out.

Klaus twists to look at her, brows furrowed in confusion, "You must know that. I seem to remember you being concerned about beginning a relationship. You fretted about how invested you saw me to be after reading my work."

There had been an awful lot of fretting. Kol had even managed to be sensitive about it.

"So you're still…" It would be nice if her brain would allow her to formulate an articulate sentence.

"I'm still," he confirms.

Yeah, she's going to need more than that.

Caroline elbows him and Klaus laughs, turning to face her fully. He shifts back enough to pull her so her legs are sandwiched between his, leans forward to wrap his palms around her knees. "I wasn't in love with you," Klaus tells her. "I didn't know you well enough. I liked what I knew, itched to know more."

"Drew me into your comic book because you're a little bit of a creeper," Caroline teases.

Completely without ire and Klaus grins, his dimples flashing. "Guilty, sweetheart."

It's kind of a struggle to stay in her seat, her heart's beating quickly and she squeezes her hands into fists, knows they'd visibly shake with how nervous and excited and freaking thrilled she is. Being with Klaus has exceeded even her most optimistic expectations and hearing that he's on the same page, that he hasn't brewed a single qualm since they've made things official is a relief.

"Then Kol moved in with you. And I took advantage of his living situation to invite myself into your company."

She stops trying to force down her smile, hops down from her stool to slide her arms around his neck, "And here I thought you just really liked not having to cook your own dinners."

"That was just a small bonus," Klaus murmurs. His lips brush her cheek, stopping to linger under her ear. She feels him inhale deeply, like he's psyching himself up, and her hands grip his shoulders tightly. His next words are quieter but there's no way she can miss them, not with how close he is. "I love you, Caroline."

She curls a hand into his hair, turns her head, finds his lips waiting, and hums into a kiss that's slow and languid. A kiss that has all the time in the world. She smiles when he withdraws, ducks her head to rest on his shoulder. She rests a hand on his chest, feels the rapid thump of his heart against her palm.

She has to kiss him again.

This time Klaus' lips are soft under hers and she follows his lead, shivers when they part to allow his tongue and teeth to taste and tease.

The oven timer blares out before their embrace can flare hot. They leap apart, their lips wet and breathing heavy. Klaus looks pisses and Caroline giggles, slapping a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound.

Honestly, Kol's god awful timing is truly a magical thing.

Klaus curses, a string of very creative threats. Caroline laughs louder and retrieves the oven mitts. She can't bring herself to mind the interruption, not when she remembers she needs to tell Klaus that she loves him too.

She savors his reaction, the widening of his eyes in surprise, the way he lurches across the kitchen to seal his mouth over hers once more. His hands shake as they touch her face, angling her head when she moans against him. This kiss is all heat and grasping hands, hunger and eagerness.

The breakfast casserole burns but they carve out the middle where it's edible, douse it in the glaze. It's the best breakfast Caroline's ever had and, before Klaus distracts her again, she makes a mental note to con Kol into teaching her how to make it.

In the future, their future, she'll make it on special occasions.