Klaus' bed was quickly becoming Caroline's favourite place to be, and she had no intentions of leaving it for the rest of the year.

It was warm, and he had more pillows than she could count and, best of all, he was there with her, currently trailing wet, open mouthed kisses down her stomach.

She had one hand in his hair, pulling it tighter every time he hit a particularly sensitive spot, and the other was clutching the discarded sheets beside her. She couldn't help but let out a long, strangled noise when he stopped moving his mouth just before he got to where she needed him.

"Problem, love?" he asked, looking up at her through lidded eyes, with an overly confident smirk on his face, and a lilt in his voice that told her he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

She let out a long, frustrated sigh at that. "Klaus," she protested, rolling her hips up underneath him, trying anything to get closer, even if it just made him smirk more and move his hands to her hips so that he could hold her down.

"Patience, love," he muttered, the air from the words brushing across her skin exactly where she wanted his mouth to be, and sending shivers down her spine.

She was about to protest again, when he finally lowered his mouth and flicked his tongue across her clit, sending shockwaves of pleasure throughout her body. She wanted him closer, and she wanted him there now, so she lifted a leg and draped it over his shoulder, trying desperately to get his tongue back on her.

"Tell me what you want, love," he insisted, his voice low and gravelly and, combined with his accent, almost more than she could handle.

"Klaus," she pleaded, slightly embarrassed at what he wanted her to say and just how desperate her voice sounded, even though it was far from the first time they'd done this.

Of course, Klaus wouldn't let her off the hook that easily. "Come on love," he said softly, finding altogether way too much pleasure in torturing her, as his breath tickled over her core but did nothing to actually satisfy her.

"Klaus, please, touch me," she finally demanded, her voice strangled and her cheeks flushed bright red as the words came out of her mouth and he reacted immediately.

His mouth was back on her clit, his teeth biting down gently before his tongue swept over it soothingly, the contrast sending waves of pleasure throughout her body. He'd also moved one of his hands off of her waist, and was brushing a finger across her opening, and then it was inside of her and all she wanted was more.

She was about to beg for just that when, somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered a sound coming from outside of his room, and then a woman's voice broke through the silence.

/

More than anything, Klaus loved having Caroline on his bed, writhing underneath him, begging for more. She was beautiful, and magnetic, and he loved that he got to see her fall apart.

And then she was pushing him away, and he heard Rebekah call out, "Nik, it's me," from somewhere inside of his apartment.

He saw the panicked look on Caroline's face, and muttered, "Shit," to himself, before he took in the situation and realized that he definitely didn't want his sister walking into the room, so he yelled, "I'll be out in a second," and scrambled out of bed, searching for their clothing.

Of course, Rebekah had never been one to wait around patiently, and she was already at the door by the time he said that. "Jesus CHRIST, you could have warned me," she yelled at them, covering her eyes and turning her back, but not moving out of the room.

"And you could have knocked," Klaus replied wryly, grabbing his pants off the floor and pulling them on, before he found a shirt and tossed it towards Caroline, who had scrambled under his covers and currently had them pulled up to her neck, with a sheepish look on her face.

"You're the one who gave me a key," Rebekah countered, leaning against the doorframe and making herself at home, facing away from them.

"For emergencies," he stressed, not bothering to hide how exasperated he was with the whole situation, which Rebekah made a point of ignoring.

"Yeah, well, I didn't expect anybody to be here with you," she said easily, before adding, "I thought you'd be done with her by now," with a shrug to accentuate her point.

Caroline let out a strangled laugh at that, and Klaus felt a wave of anger roll over him at the comment.

"Rebekah," he started, straining to keep himself from yelling, "Get out. Now."

She actually had the nerve to sigh at that, before she shrugged and said, "Fine. I'll be in the kitchen," and marched out of the room.

With her gone, he looked back over to Caroline, with what he hoped was an apologetic smile on his face. For her part, Caroline had her lips pursed together and her eyebrows raised.

"What is she doing here?"

The look on the blonde's face told him not to test her, so he let out a long sigh before he said, "I don't know, love."

Caroline did roll her eyes this time, before she pushed the covers aside and stood, revealing her bare legs, which she quickly covered with the jean's she'd been wearing when she'd arrived the day before.

"Well then, let's go find out."

\\\\\\\

Most of the time, Caroline could tolerate Rebekah Mikaelson, but not when she walked in on her and Klaus. She wanted the woman gone, and she wanted her gone now, and she knew that sending Klaus to get rid of her wouldn't do any good, so she marched out of his room and towards the kitchen.

"Rebekah," she smiled pleasantly when she got there, finding the woman sitting by the table with a glass of water she'd poured herself.

"Caroline," Rebekah returned the greeting, eyes raking up and down Caroline's body, clearly judging her dishevelled appearance. That alone, was enough to infuriate Caroline, but she refrained from saying anything.

Luckily, Klaus had come in behind her. "What is it that you want, Bekah?" he asked, his tone not exactly friendly, though it was nicer than anything Caroline would have managed, and for that she was grateful.

"I'm here to get you," Rebekah said simply, "It is New Year's Eve, after all. What, you get some blonde to sleep with you more than once, and suddenly you forget all of our family traditions?"

Caroline faltered at that. She caught the insult, and she didn't want to let it slide, but first she looked to Klaus for explanation. "Family traditions?" she prompted, after he stayed silent for several moments.

Of course, Rebekah never missed an opportunity to talk, and she jumped to explain. "We always ring in the New Year together, as a family," she said, her emphasis on the word family not getting past Caroline. "Apparently Klaus forgot about us this year."

That piqued Caroline's attention. Her and her mom didn't have very many family traditions, and she'd always wondered if things would be different if she had siblings. "What do you do?" she asked, turning towards Rebekah and away from Klaus entirely.

"Back when we were kids we'd watch movies and stuff our faces with whatever we could convince our parents to buy- nowadays, we just find a club and get shitfaced," Rebekah shrugged.

"That sounds nice," Caroline replied wistfully, meaning it.

Rebekah apparently noticed that, because she smiled then. "It is," she agreed, before adding, "You're welcome to join us, if you want- it would be nice to have another girl around for once."

Caroline was about to say yes, but then she realized that she might be overstepping, so she looked back to Klaus with raised eyebrows, to see what he had to say.

For his part, he simply rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "Fine, let's go," he agreed, not sounding at all enthusiastic, though a smile did play at the corners of his mouth, indicating otherwise.

/

Klaus was a world class criminal lawyer. He won all of his cases, and he was feared by more people then he could count, and yet he couldn't manage to say no to Caroline.

Truthfully, he hadn't forgotten about his family's tradition- he'd just have preferred to spend the last bit of the year in bed with Caroline.

Leave it to Rebekah to show up and make him feel bad about it, and leave it to Caroline to actually want to spend time with his dysfunctional family.

At the moment, he was sitting in the kitchen, waiting for the girls to appear. He'd gotten ready quickly, throwing on a pair of jeans and the first shirt he could find and a leather jacket over top, running a hand through his hair before deciding that it was fine. It was taking Caroline a lot longer to prepare.

Her and Rebekah were currently in his guest room, where Rebekah kept some spare clothing, trying to find something for Caroline to wear, and Klaus was starting to get impatient. He was positive that she would look beautiful in whatever they found, and he really just wanted to get the whole night over with, and then she came walking down the hall and he was speechless.

Every inch of her dress was covered in golden sparkles that played with the light wherever it fell. It was a little bit too loose on her, but still fit well enough to accentuate every one of her curves and hug her figure, and it fell about a quarter of the way down her thighs, leaving most of her legs exposed. She'd paired it with a pair of ridiculously high heels, and a leather jacket, topping the whole look off by leaving her hair as it was before, curly and hopelessly disheveled.

He made it a point to stare at her, and she clearly noticed.

"What do you think?" she asked, holding her arms out slightly and looking down at herself, before she looked back up at him, biting her lower lip.

Klaus was across the room and in front of her in seconds, one hand on her waist and the other moving a lock of hair behind her ear. "You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," he said softly, trying to convey just how much he meant the words.

From behind her, he heard Rebekah clear her throat, but he didn't bother to move away from Caroline.

"You two are disgusting," his sister muttered, but she did so in good nature, and Klaus could tell that Caroline was quickly growing on the girl.

For her part, Caroline had flushed at their exchange. Choosing that moment to become modest, she took a step back, but held firmly onto his hand.

"Come on, let's go."

\\\\\\\

The ride to the club mostly consisted of Caroline and Rebekah exchanging notes on fashion, and Klaus staring out the window, while Caroline tried her best to ignore him. That became difficult when he decided to rest his hand particularly high up on her bare thigh, reminding her of their unfinished business.

Still, it was New Year's Eve, and she looked hot, and she planned on having fun, even though she hadn't originally planned on going out.

Despite that, she faltered slightly when they pulled up the one of the most elite clubs in the city.

Caroline looked to Klaus for confirmation that they were in the right place, and he simply opened the car door and stepped out, waiting for her to follow.

Rebekah was a couple of steps ahead of them already, heading straight for the front of the line that worked its way down the street.

Caroline felt her eyebrows raise even higher than they'd been before, but all Klaus did was place a hand on the small of her back and use it to guide her forward, whispering, "This way, love," into her ear as he did so.

They walked past the line and the bouncer let them in without question. The inside was dark, and loud, and crowded. Everywhere she looked, people were moving and dancing to the throbbing beat of the music, illuminated by the flashing lights that were coming from just about every direction.

She turned to comment on it to Klaus and found that he was already looking back at her, despite everything else going on around them. For some reason, Caroline smiled at that, and reached up to place a quick kiss on his cheek, before pulling back.

He smiled at that, before saying, "Come on, let's find the others," and grabbed her hand, leading her further into the club.

/

Elijah and Kol were exactly where Klaus thought they'd be, sitting in their usual booth, with drinks in hand, greeting Rebekah, who'd arrived at the table moments before they did. Both of them seemed to perk up when they noticed Caroline was with him.

"Nik, you didn't tell us you were bringing your lovely friend," Kol greeted them, his usual shit-eating grin on his face.

Klaus wanted nothing more than to smack it off and never let him look at Caroline again, but for her part, she just laughed.

"It's good to see you too, Kol," she said, far more civilly than necessary, before turning to his other brother, who at least had the decency to look ashamed of Kol. "You as well, Elijah."

"It's always a pleasure, Caroline," Elijah agreed, at which point Rebekah let out a brief laugh, before rolling her eyes.

"Alright," she said, looking from one brother to the next, before settling her eyes on Caroline and ignoring Klaus altogether, "If you four are done with pleasantries, we need drinks."

Beside him, Caroline giggled slightly at that. "Agreed," she said, which was apparently all the invitation Rebekah needed, to grab her by the arm and pull her in the direction of the bar. She sent an apologetic look over her shoulder at Klaus, but then she was gone and he was left with his brothers.

"So Niklaus," Kol started, "That's two family events you've brought her to in almost a week; must be serious."

Rather than denying his feelings for Caroline, he simply levelled his brother's gaze. "You'd do well to remember it," he said evenly, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

"Right then," Kol broke the stare-down first, turning to Elijah with the grin back on his face, "Looks like you and Bekah owe me fifty bucks."

Elijah was far too proper to roll his eyes, but he certainly looked like he wanted to when he reached for his wallet and pulled out his half of the money, without saying a word.

"What was that about?"

"Well, brother, we had a bit of a bet going- Bekah thought you'd skip out on us altogether, Elijah here figured that you'd show up for a bit, and I reckoned you'd be here with Caroline," Kol explained, ignoring the glare that Elijah sent his way.

"Of course you did," Klaus rolled his eyes, not entirely surprised about the whole thing- he'd taken part in similar bets with his siblings in the past, after all. "I suppose I should thank the two of you for having such faith in me."

"Anytime, brother," Kol agreed, his phony enthusiasm enough to prompt a laugh out of Klaus, and something close to that out of Elijah. It was then that he got distracted by something behind them, and nodded his head in the general direction. "Hey, looks like your girl's found a friend."

\\\\\\\

Rebekah and Caroline had ordered drinks for themselves and Klaus, and were leaning against the bar waiting for them, when a familiar voice appeared in Caroline's ear.

"Caroline Forbes?"

"Jeremy Gilbert? Are you even old enough to be here?" Caroline exclaimed, shock washing over her as she took in her best friend's baby brother, all grown up and standing in front of her in a bar, of all places. Rather than waiting for a response, she threw her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug, before stepping back to get another look at him.

"Yeah, yeah," he agreed, waving off her affections as a blush crept up his cheeks, "It's good to see you too."

"But what are you doing here?" she demanded, cutting herself off when a familiar face peered over his shoulder, and she panicked because Elena Gilbert could not be there. If Elena was there, Damon was there, and she could not deal with that.

But then the girl spoke, and Caroline realized her mistake.

"Why, he's visiting his favourite sister, of course," Katherine drawled out, draping one arm across her brother's shoulders and looking Caroline up and down, with a hint of mischief in her eyes.

Caroline couldn't stop the wave of relief that washed over her when she realized that it was Katherine and not the girls twin, Elena, so she also pulled her in for a hug.

"You would take your baby brother to a bar on New Year's Eve," Caroline admonished, though they all knew she wasn't actually judging- while her and Kat had never been as good of friends as her and Elena had, they'd grown to tolerate each other over the years, and they'd come to an understanding long ago. They'd both grown up in the shadow of Elena, and they'd both spent their lives trying to escape. Caroline had done everything in her power to beat Elena at everything, while Katherine rebelled completely. Despite their different methods, at the end of the day, they were more similar than either would admit.

"Come on Care, Little Gilbert here is all grown up," Katherine insisted, reaching up to ruffle his hair, causing him to duck out from under her arm, and Caroline and Katherine to break out into laughter.

It was then that Rebekah cleared her throat, pulling Caroline's attention away from the Gilbert's.

Caroline couldn't help but wince at how rude she'd been, ignoring Rebekah entirely, so she tried to remedy the situation.

"Guys, this is Rebekah, my- we work at the same place," Caroline cut off her introduction, not entirely knowing what Rebekah was to her. She shook her head slightly, and continued nonetheless, "Rebekah, this is Katherine, and this is Jeremy- we all grew up together!"

"It's a pleasure," Rebekah said, the small smile on her face the only indication that she actually meant the words, before she nodded her head towards the drinks on the bar in front of her, and picked up two. "I'm going back to our table."

"Right," Caroline agreed, before making a spur of the moment decision. "Do you guys want to join us?"

Rebekah let out a small sigh at that, which Caroline choose to ignore. Jeremy looked hesitant to take her up on the offer, but Caroline rolled her eyes and looked to Katherine, who simply shrugged.

"Lead the way, Care."

/

Caroline and Rebekah were headed back to the table, and the boy she'd hugged was coming with them. Klaus was not jealous. He was not jealous. He was irritated, but that was nothing new.

And then they were standing in front of them.

"Everybody, these are my friends from back home- Katherine and Jeremy," Caroline introduced them, suddenly sounding nervous, but continuing anyways. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited them to join us."

The girl- Katherine- took that as an invitation to slip past Rebekah and slide herself into the booth beside Kol, who was the first to speak up.

"Not a problem at all, love," he said, before turning to Katherine and holding out a hand. "Kol Mikaelson, it's a pleasure to meet you."

For her part, the girl looked Kol up and down, before ignoring the hand completely. "You too," she said, tilting her drink towards him, before she turned away and downed half of it in one go.

The boy- Jeremy- seemed to have more manners than the girl, and waited until everybody else had taken a seat before he sat down, on the other side of Caroline. Klaus took the opportunity to wrap an arm around her shoulder and pull her into his side, before taking a long sip out of his drink.

"So, how do you all know each other?" Elijah asked, breaking the silence that had fallen with the question that seemed to be on everybody's mind.

"Kat and I went to school together- I used to be best friends with her sister," Caroline jumped to explain, but then faltered slightly before picking herself back up. "Jeremy's her baby brother."

That was an explanation that Klaus was glad to hear, but Jeremy apparently disagreed.

"Come on Care- I've been taller than you since we were 12," he protested, gaining a sympathetic look from Kol and a chuckle from the rest of them. "I think I've earned the right to just be Elena and Kat's brother- not baby brother."

"And you two live here as well now?" Elijah prompted, asking more questions than he usually would, and clearly addressing them to Katherine, which was strange for him- normally Kol was the one jumping on pretty girls.

"I do," Katherine answered, "Jer's just visiting for the holidays- turns out New York is a lot more fun than Mystic Falls."

"Are you still at that art school in New Mexico?" Caroline asked then, directing the question towards the boy, who perked up upon being addressed.

"Yeah, I've got one semester left," he answered quickly, piquing Klaus' interest.

"What school is that?" he asked, joining the conversation easily.

"Santa Fe University of Art and Design?"

"I've heard good things about them," Klaus said conversationally, recalling the acceptance letter he'd received from the school, and how he'd ended up declining it, along with many others.

"Right, well, not to be rude," Kol interrupted, indicating that he was about to do the exact opposite, "But all this talk of school is downright depressing. I finally got out of it last year, and I'm doing everything I can to forget the whole experience- would you just let me?"

Everybody at the table laughed at that, expect for Elijah, who would probably never get used to how crass Kol could be.

"That's understandable," Jeremy agreed, before asking, "What did you study?"

"Law- the whole lot of us did," Kol said, making it sound far less impressing than it actually was. "That's how we met our dear Caroline, actually."

\\\\\\\

Caroline wasn't exactly embarrassed that she was in some sort of relationship with somebody who could be considered her boss, but she also wasn't entirely proud of it, and she knew how Katherine would see it.

The girl's interest piqued when Kol mentioned that they'd met through law, and her eyebrows shot up, as if she could smell a scandal from a mile away. "Oh really?"

"Indeed," Kol said, playing along with the whole thing, and taking way too much joy in it, "She's one of Elijah's best interns."

Caroline had expected laughter, and for a few salacious comments to be made upon the revelation, but was surprised to see that Katherine abruptly narrowed her eyes, and directed the look towards Klaus.

Her gaze was level, and she held in for several moments, until it became awkward, and she turned to Caroline. "I need to pee. Come with me."

Caroline furrowed her brow at that, but decided it was best to play along. "Alright- uhm, excuse us, please- sorry," she said to the group, and then to Klaus, and then to Jeremy, who she had to crawl over to get out of the booth.

Caroline trailed behind Katherine, making their way to the washroom. When they got there, Katherine spun around, startling Caroline into stopping.

"Kat, what's g-"

"Is he like Damon?" Katherine demanded, cutting Caroline off and stunning her into silence, as she registered the question. Her answer didn't come quick enough for Katherine, whose face was pure stone at the moment, so she continued. "He's your boss. Is he taking advantage of you?"

"I- no," Caroline stuttered, confused by the turn that the conversation had taken. "He's- no."

"You're sure?" Katherine asked, her hands resting on Caroline's shoulders as she searched her face, looking for something that Caroline knew wasn't there.

"I'm sure- Kat, he's technically not even my boss and he- Klaus would never hurt me," Caroline insisted, knowing that she was telling the truth, before a realization washed over her. "Wait- I never told you that we were together- I don't even know if we are together. How did you…?"

Katherine laughed at that, her serious demeanor fading into her normal, casual one. "Please, Care- the man hasn't stopped looking at you since you sat down- or touching you, for that matter. It's sickening."

Caroline rolled her eyes at that. She had a feeling that Klaus had been somewhat jealous of the attention she was directing towards Jeremy, and Katherine's observation confirmed it.

"Right," Caroline laughed, before it faded away and she felt something else creeping up. It was like nostalgia, but it left something dark in the pit of her stomach, and she couldn't shake it. "But Kat- about Damon…"

"Don't," Katherine cut her off then, shaking her head and looking away, "Look, I dated him before you- I know what he's like, and I know how he treats people. But we don't have to talk about that, alright?"

"Alright," Caroline agreed quietly, smiling softly, trying to hide how sad the gesture actually was. Taking lead from Katherine, she shook her head and snapped herself out of it. "Come on- we should head back."

/

Kol had pulled Jeremy away from the table soon after Katherine and Caroline left, insisting that he needed a new wingman because apparently Klaus and Elijah were no longer worthy of the position- not that either of them were particularly upset about the demotion.

It left him at the table with Elijah and Rebekah, so he got to watch with great amusement as Rebekah eyed Elijah until he finally cracked and asked, "Is there a problem, Rebekah?"

"Oh no," Rebekah said, shaking her head before giving him a pointed look and continuing, "I was just trying to figure out what you, of all people, see in that Katherine girl, but please, don't mind me."

For his part, Klaus simply raised his eyebrows and sat back to watch the exchange.

"Did it ever cross your mind that we may not all by thoughtless elitists?" Elijah shot back, prompting an abrupt laugh out of both Rebekah and Klaus, which he protested immediately. "I don't see what's so funny."

"Nothing, nothing at all," Klaus insisted, while Rebekah took a drink from her glass, putting it down only when it was empty.

"I need another drink. I'll be back."

She left swiftly after that, though Klaus and Elijah weren't alone for long, as Katherine and Caroline drifted back over to the table.

"Everything okay, love?" Klaus whispered into Caroline's ear, once his arm was back around her shoulder and she was glued to his side.

She nodded into his chest, but he felt like something was off. Before he could ask for confirmation, Katherine spoke up.

"So tell me, how is my little Caroline faring in the big city?"

He felt Caroline's shoulder's shake, indicating that she was laughing, before she asked, "Really, Kat?"

"What? I worry," Katherine insisted and, through the smile on the girls face and the dramatic wink that she sent Elijah's way, Klaus could tell that there was some truth behind the words.

"Well don't," Caroline cut her off, and ignored the statement, opting to change the subject. "You never did say what you're doing here though."

"Oh, you know, same old story," Katherine rolled her eyes and brushed it off before continuing, "I went to college, I dropped out, I backpacked around the world, my parents cut me off, I moved here and got a job as a bartender- the usual."

"But you got out of Mystic Falls," Caroline said, "That was always the goal, right?"

"I'll drink to that," Katherine agreed, lifting her drink and clinking glasses with Caroline, before they both emptied their drinks.

"What are we drinking to?" Rebekah asked, sliding back into her seat beside Katherine, and placing a tray of shot glasses in front of them.

"Escaping Hell," Katherine said, prompting another laugh from Caroline and a confused look from Rebekah.

"Alright then," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes but not questioning it, before she indicated that everybody should take a glass. Katherine did so willingly, before handing one to Elijah, who accepted it with more ease than he normally would. Caroline grabbed hers, while Klaus opted to pass. "To escaping Hell."

\\\\\\\

Katherine's questioning had shaken Caroline more than she wanted to admit, but the drinks helped with that.

First there was the gin and tonic, and then the shot of something that tasted suspiciously like tequila, and then another, and then another, and then she lost track, but she didn't care because they made her feel good, and that was all that mattered.

They stayed at the table for a while, making idle small talk and getting to know each other more. Klaus didn't say much at all, but his arm stayed where it was around her shoulders, and his other hand occasionally wandered down to her bare thigh to trace patterns, and she felt warm and happy and at home.

If anybody noticed then they didn't say anything, and she was grateful for it.

But the alcohol did hit her eventually, and she couldn't stop herself from eying the dancefloor, and of course, Kat noticed that.

"Come on, let's dance!" she exclaimed, before reaching across the table and grabbing Caroline's hand, pulling her up and out of the booth with her, before casting a glance back at Rebekah. "You coming?"

Caroline noticed the way Rebekah perked up at that, and it was nice to see the girl happy, so she grabbed her hand and pulled her along with them, not waiting for an answer.

Once the girls were on the dancefloor, they realized that there wasn't much room for dancing, but that really didn't faze any of them- instead, they threw their hands in the air, and swayed back and forth with everything inside of them.

Generally speaking, Caroline was a busy person. She was in law school, she had her internship, and neither of those things left her with very much spare time. Because of that, she hadn't been out in what seemed like forever and, all of a sudden, she realized how much she'd missed it all. The dancing with friends, and the drinking, and the music, and the feeling of being connected with so many people. She loved it, and it left her practically delirious.

Kol and Jeremy joined their little group soon after they started, so she turned to Jer and dropped her hands down onto his shoulders, throwing her head back to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Out of all of the people Caroline had expected to ring in the New Year with, Jeremy and Katherine Gilbert were not on the list, but seeing them reminded her of how much she missed everybody back home.

For his part, Jeremy reached out and let his hands rest safely on her hips, a smile on his face saying that he felt the same way- they'd never been close, but being around old friends in a new place was always nice, so they danced.

/

Watching Caroline dance was hypnotizing.

The way she moved to the music, and the way she laughed and smiled the whole time, and the way everything about her somehow was just a little bit brighter than everything else around her, was enough to put Klaus in a trance.

That trance was quickly broken when that boy- Jeremy- joined her, putting his stupid hands all over her.

Klaus was out of his seat in a second. He vaguely noted that Elijah was following behind him, but he didn't particularly care.

And then he was across the floor, and he reached out to tap the boy on his shoulder, crossing his arms as he turned around.

"Mind if I cut in?" Klaus asked, his voice carrying loudly above the music, and making it clear that he wasn't really asking at all.

"Be my guest," Jeremy agreed, taking a step back and raising both of his hands up, before sending a crooked smile in Caroline's direction. "I'm going to grab another drink."

Caroline smiled back at him, and then he was gone and Klaus was relieved.

He closed the distance between them in an instant, letting his hands fall on the small of her back and pulling her as close to him as possible, before leaning in and whispering, "And do you mind, love?"

She laughed lightly at that, before reaching up to place her hands on either shoulder, just behind his neck, and grinding her body against him in response.

Klaus laughed darkly at that, before he placed a kiss on her cheek and warned her, "Trust me love, that's not a game you want to play right now."

Caroline smirked at him then, looking up at him through lidded eyes before she repeated the action, causing him to let out a muffled groan at the contact. "Oh really?" she asked, and then she was kissing him, her lips on his mouth, wet and wanting and insatiable.

A part of Klaus reacted immediately, a hand grabbing onto the back of her head so that he could guide her actions as his tongue found its way into her mouth and she moaned in response, but an even bigger part of him knew that he couldn't continue.

"Caroline, love," he pulled back reluctantly moments later, waiting until she opened her eyes and blinked a few times before he continued, "You're drunk."

She rolled her eyes at that, and let out an indignant sigh. "I am not," she insisted, "I only had… like... a few drinks, alright?"

"Did it ever cross your mind that you might be a lightweight?" he laughed gently, still holding her close to him, and watching a slew of emotions cross over her face.

She looked like she was trying to form a response, but eventually settled on spitting out a half-hearted, "Fuck you," and leaning her head against his chest.

Klaus had to laugh at that, before he whispered, "Another time, love," into her ear, and continued swaying back and forth to the music, for both of them.

\\\\\\\

Caroline's head was spinning but somehow, leaning against Klaus with his arms around her and hers around him, she felt incredibly grounded.

The music was loud, but it was distant, and she knew they were surrounded by hundreds of people, but she didn't really care about any of them.

And then they started counting down, and she lifted her head to join them.

10

9

8

7

6

5

She was smiling then, and he was smiling back at her, and she kept chanting, because suddenly she couldn't wait for what would happen when they reached the end.

4

3

2

1

The room erupted into cheers, even louder than it had been before, and balloons were falling from the ceiling, and another song was playing, but Caroline only had eyes for Klaus.

Her hands were back in his hair, and she stood on her toes, and he met her half way, and then they were kissing. It was soft, and chaste, and she wanted more, but he pulled back.

"Happy New Year, love," he said softly, kissing her forehead, and then pulling him back into his chest, this time for a hug.

Caroline was more than unsatisfied with that being her first kiss of the year, but then she felt somebody tap her on the shoulder, and she was pulled away from him by Katherine, who had a surprised looking Elijah left behind her.

Katherine was smiling brighter than usual, and it was contagious, and then they were dancing again, and Klaus was there, and it was perfect.

/

Klaus got Caroline out of the club and into a cab only a few hours after midnight, and she'd barely protested.

He'd given the driver her address, and then settled into the backseat beside her, entirely unsurprised when she rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep moments later.

When they got to her apartment, Klaus paid the man, and then assessed the situation.

He could wake her up, but he really didn't think that it would do any good or make anything easier, so instead he slipped out of the cab and then reached back in, picking her up and carrying her the rest of the way.

She was light and soft and he practically melted when she curled her head into his shoulder, and grabbed onto his jacket with one of her hands.

It was only when they got to her door that Klaus had to wake her.

"Come on love, we're going to need your keys to do the rest of this," he prodded gently, shaking her lightly, and placing her feet on the ground when she looked conscious, though he still held up most of her weight.

"Just let me sleep," she muttered, burying her face into his shoulder and throwing her arms around his neck, latching on.

"Not quite yet, sweetheart," he muttered, keeping one hand wrapped firmly around her waist, while the other went straight to her pockets, finding the keys.

The next step was to get her into her bed. Klaus quickly gave up on trying getting her to walk, and opted to lift her up again, before going straight to the bedroom, and depositing her in the bed.

He pulled her shoes off, but that was all of the undressing he was willing to do. After that, he simply pulled the covers up over her neck, and went to grab her a glass of water.

When he came back, she'd curled up into a ball, and seemed to be fast asleep, and Klaus took that as his queue to leave.

He bent down and pressed a light kiss on her forehead, not wanting to disturb her, before whispering, "Goodnight, love," and turning to walk out.

He was half way to the door when he heard her say something that he couldn't quite make out.

"What was that, love?"

"Don't leave," she repeated the words, slightly more coherent this time, as she tried to sit up.

When he turned around and saw the look on her face, he couldn't bring himself to say no. Instead, he said, "Whatever you want, love," and changed courses, walking around the bed and getting in on the other side.

He kept a respectable distance between the two of them, which Caroline snorted at. "You're choosing now to be a gentleman?"

"I've always been a gentleman," Klaus argued right away, before he lifted up an arm and waited for Caroline to crawl underneath it, resting her head against his chest.

"Yeah right," Caroline muttered into his chest, causing him to laugh at her resolve.

"Whatever you say love," he repeated his words from earlier, before placing a lingering kiss to the top of her head, and listening slowly as her breathing steadied and she fell asleep on top of him.

AN- SO I've decided to continue this story! I'm really enjoying it, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about this universe and it's the first time I've been inspired in a while, so yeah!

I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter, and please let me know what you think! I wrote about 10 different versions of it before I settled on this one, but I think I'm finally happy with it- I mostly just wanted to get it posted before midnight, and I succeeded with that, so yeah!

ALSO fair warning, this story started out pretty fluffy, but it will get angstier, though I promise there will be a happy ending! So yeah- enjoy! :)