A/N- So this is my first every R/L fic, so please be nice and if you read it do let me know what you think, or I'll end up thinking this was a waste of time. Again, since I don't know Candice or Joseph, I have basically imagined their characters and all so this is all mine basically. This is just a one-shot; please do let me know what you think. REVIEW tc...

The amazing amazing people at tumblr have made posters for this fic. The links are posted on my profile, be sure to give them a shout out if you like...

I do not own Candice Accola or Joseph Morgan (Dammit), if I owned JoMo he would have long forgotten how clothes feel on his skin.

The five lettered word

It starts with a simple, common, over-used and in her opinion the most underestimated word in the dictionary.

It seemed that no one other than her understood how a simple five-letter word could be the beginning (and the promise) of so many more to come.

"Hello" he says softly, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his faded brown pants, a boyish grin on his face and a customary nod to aid his greeting.

She smiles in response, feeling like a child getting a new gift.

Expect she's not, she an actress greeting a new member of her show. She extends her hand out and shakes his surprisingly small hand as she introduces herself. She almost shakes her head when he tells her his name, blurting that she already knows. She was always that girl who did her homework above and beyond the expectations of her teachers. She knows his name, his birthday and whatever information Wikipedia could give her... which is a lot.

She is Candice.

And he is Joseph.

She is Caroline.

Vampire Barbie.

He is Klaus.

Evil Hybrid.

She bursts out in laughter at this and his brows furrow in such a comical way that it makes her laugh even harder. Forever she will associate this moment to when she realized that he has really funny expressions... like really funny one's, without even trying.

"What?" he asked politely, seemingly quite amused.

And she wonders how Paul could have mistaken him for an American. He reeks of English, and she likes it (Hey! Who doesn't like that accent?).

"It's just..." she stammers at first, controlling her silent chuckles "I just can't imagine you being remotely evil"

If someone had repeated these exact words to her, she would have taken it as an insult to her acting skills. She almost expects a raised brow and a glare when her laughter dies out.

But she doesn't get it.

Instead he chuckles with her and shakes his head slightly, swaying on the balls of his feet. His raises his eyes to look at her and there's almost a 'Wait-and-watch' threat in it, and she finds even that expression funny. He tilts his head when Julie calls him out to run lines and she nods at him.

She wonders if Klaus and Caroline will even get one scene together.

It's the end of the second season and she's just finished her last scene of the season and she almost feels sad. This was a good season, she feels proud of Caroline and how much she's grown, how much Candice has grown with Caroline.

She sees him standing in the distance with Nina and Daniel, watching their last scenes again on the tiny screen and she works on instinct and walks up before she can help it.

She saw them too, in fact she watched as Joseph and Nina and Paul were filming.

She taps him on the shoulder lightly and he turns around with a smile on his face and a coffee mug in his hand.

"Hello" he says, again with that boyish grin.

"I take it back" she says defiantly

"Uhm, what?" he asks confused as Nina the ever observant turns her attention away from Daniel to them.

"I take it back" she says in an almost scolding tone "You are very evil" she adds in a purr emphasizing the evil and he laughs riotously, nodding his head slightly.

"That I am" he assures her

She playfully rolls her eyes and walks away, but not before she narrows her eyes at Nina who winks at her, the underlying message heavily laden in her not-so-secret wink.

Again she wonders if Klaus and Caroline will ever have a single scene together.

One day they both end up at the food table, he likes his coffee and sandwiches; she's more of a burger girl. And she's going to need her burgers today; Michael and Zach are in a fun mood today, which means hours to shoot one decent scene. She can still hear them mock laughing and wrestling and what not.

She loves them really, but she can't help but wonder if she'll ever get a scene with Klaus.

She projects her thoughts to him and he gets a playful smirk on his face that suddenly reminds her of Ian. He sips his coffee while sifting through the basket to chose a sandwich, and by the twinkle in his eyes she can tell that whatever he has deduced has thoroughly amused him.

"Maybe he's killing or sacrificing or torturing you or something" he laughs reflecting on how that's all Klaus seems to do.

She laughs along with him, nodding her head.

Damn Klaus is really evil.

"Hello" he says softly, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black pants, a boyish grin on his face and a customary nod to aid his greeting.

She closes the door to her trailer and smiles when she smells the fresh coffee he's holding out for her, along with a burger... bless him.

They both can't help but catch each other's eye and laugh in silent understanding when they hear what Julie wants to try.

Klaus saving Caroline's life, not ending it.

It looked like he was finally getting that love interest he had been pushing for.

And she was getting an answer to if they would ever get a scene together.

The scene is a hit, in his exact words. He calls her from some crappy hotel room; first complains about the crappy room and it's crappy TV and tells her how apparently people are really into this pairing, then goes on to describe that there are like literally hundreds of fan video's all over YouTube. Once he comes down from his surprise and excitement he even mentions how they are fighting over ship names.

In her sleepy and drowsy state she literally sees titanic in front of her eyes. Grumbling angrily she mumbles nonsensical words into her phone, hoping he gets the message.

"Sleeping... tired... not now"

And she bangs the phone on the bed.

But there's a smile on her face when she pulls the covers over her head.

It really is a hit, and even she's pleasantly surprised at how excited the fans seem over the unexpected pairing. She takes pride whenever their acting skills are praised.

"See I was right" she jibes when they're practicing for the ball that she's very excited about (Pretty gown, Ancient waltz and all that jazz).

"Right about what?" he asks confused, looking steadily downwards to avoid stomping her foot.

"People wouldn't be all gaga over this" she waves her hand in between them "If you were so evil. I told you, you have this undertone of a cute puppy that can't be missed"

He mouths the words 'Cute puppy' in distaste and she rolls her eyes, both stumbling a bit as he loses concentration.

"It's called layers to a character" he corrects wisely and she snorts

"Whatever, the point is you can't play someone who's only evil" she retorts wondering how she's going to dance like this in a heavy gown.

"Why is that?" he asks curiously, she notices that his stares are quite intimidating.

"Because you're too nice to be only evil, even if you may be the best actor of ever" she adds incase his ego gets bruised.

He only laughs at her explanation and shakes his head.

"Have you been to Rome?" she asks conversationally when they're waiting for the set to get ready.

It's the big scene, where Klaus shows Caroline his hobby and she only rolls her eyes and rejects him like no one has ever been rejected before. Her gown is already itching on her shoulder blades and she wonders how he doesn't feel stuffy in that suit.

"Nope" he replies simply picking up a small object from the table and examining it.

"Hmmm" she hums "How about Paris?" she adds

"No again" he says putting the figurine down and looking at her through playfully narrowed eyes.

"What about..."

"I'll take a wild guess and say Tokyo is your next question?" he cuts her across, with a chillingly Klaus smirk and then she realizes that this is a Joseph smirk not a Klaus smirk.

She can't help but wonder how many if any have noticed this.

She quirks her brow warningly at his condescending tone, and like everything else he finds it amusing too.

"Yes" she says for good measure, clicking her tongue and it's clear he's fighting the urge to laugh.

"No" he says diplomatically "I've been in London most of my life"

"Oh" she says trying to remember what she had read in Wikipedia.

"Oh what?" he catches her surprised tone.

She watched him slightly still thinking before replying.

"Well I just always thought since you were in those old age, roman style, men wearing skirts and talking funny movies you would have been to Rome at..."

She stops when she realizes how stupid that sounded. You could walk into Universal Studio and get Rome, Paris and Tokyo available on rent... hell you'd probably even find a Mars set there. She smiles cheekily and turns to protect herself from getting a blonde bimbo stamp.

But of course, he doesn't grasp anything but one tiny little detail that she has completely forgotten from her rant.

"You've seen my movies?" his voice his thick with surprise and almost awe.

Her nervous gulp ends the whimpery squeak developing in her throat, her eyes widening as she considers what possible answer could save her some dignity.

She thanks every deity when the assistant declares that the set is ready.

"Hello" he says softly, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his moss green pants, a boyish grin on his face and a customary nod to aid his greeting.

She closes the door to her trailer and smiles when she smells the fresh coffee he's holding out for her, along with a burger... bless him.

"Evil right" she chides as she bites into her burger, and he has the audacity to look confused.

"Evil can be a gentleman too?"

"Am I talking to Klaus or Joseph?" she inquires

He smiles like a devil "Whatever you want"

She nervously mock laughs and struts, yes struts away.

One day she properly explains how 'Ship names' are made.

He's wondering what exactly in his story of how some fan asked him about 'Delena' and he had politely replied that he had no clue what that means(He was pretty sure from the glare he got that he had lost that fan for eternity), she interprets as him asking her to explain how ship names are made.

But he humors her, she looks far too excited as she grabs a paper and pen and shoves him on the couch in her trailer.

"So basically" she starts by writing names on the paper, pushing him back on the couch when he tries to peek "You just take parts of two people's name and join them to form one word, that doesn't sound too weird"

"Like Delena" she demonstrates turning the page to him and he sees Damon and Elena written and the D and Lena highlighted. "That becomes Delena, and you have Stelena, Elejah..."

"Elejah?" he asks, his eyebrows almost conjoined

"Elena and Elijah" she says with a roll of her eyes and he makes an 'Oh' sound.

"And people fight over the names?" he asks incredulously

"You're the one who told me that" she points out and he simply nods.

"So what all are mine?" he asks, since they're on the topic... no other reason.

"Well there's Klaroline" she says and he smiles recognizing this one immediately, he prefers it to Carlaus or whatever. "Klonnie, Bonnie" she adds at his incredulous expression and he nods again

"And my personal favorite Klefan" she says with a naughty smirk and suddenly he's recalling all the female characters on the show, and he decides this ship names making business is much harder than it looks; he already has a headache thinking of every woman he has come across as Klaus.

He's got nothing expect a thoroughly funny expression on his face as she watches his confusion in glee.

"Is it someone I killed?" he asks and she giggles

"Don't just think of women here..." she offers and curses herself for not having a video recorder when his eyes widen in realization.

"Klaus and Stefan?" he asks half fearfully and she nods vigorously, her curls bouncing in their place.

"Don't lie, you guys have a total Bromance going on and you know it" she waves a warning finger in his face and he just smirks. He really did like the Stefan/Klaus relationship... or Klefan apparently.

"Which is your favorite?" he asks cautiously judging her face for any sort of reaction.

He doesn't see that all her hair hides her sudden gulp.

She takes the easier route.

"Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet aka Kleo" she says dreamily tilting her head to the side and he looks at her like she just spoke in Greek.

"When were they in vampire diaries, and how did I miss that?" he asks mockingly

"No, not in the show" she admonishes "In real life"

It takes him a while to understand what she is saying, and almost as if to busy herself she gets up to organize her bag.

"How can you ship people in real life?" his question is met with her cocking one hip to the side and resting her hand on it, her face clearly showing the disbelief she felt.

"Because they are perfect for each other, that's why" she says it with such devotion and certainty that it could be easily comparable to declaring the presence of gravity.

It is clear to him from her tone that he dare not go against her opinion; unfortunately she takes his fraction of second response time as a sign of his disagreement with her statement, prompting her to point her finger at him angrily.

"You don't like them?" she demands, again it almost sounds like a challenge to say no.

"I-I... I don't know them" he stutters

"They have been friends for 13 years, which is like eternity in this business. And like I said they are perfect for each other" she repeated and he threw his hands in the air in defeat.

"Nina and Ian are Nian btw, I think it's cute" she adds with a small laugh

"So what's our ship name?" he asks with the same tone he would use to ask for the time.

She crinkles her nose and looks at him funny, her hand back on her hip "I just said it..." she says dubiously

"No I mean... not on the, like... not on the show" he mumbles regretting speaking before thinking.

He's almost certain that she blushes slightly.

Almost.

"Uhm... I don't know" she shrugs burying her face with the effective veil of her hair.

That day she sits with a paper and pen and see's what the best combinations of Joseph and Candice are, just for fun.

"Only one way to find out" he says ominously and she turns around while reciting her lines.

Those kinds of words usually aren't followed by good things; she's an actress she should know. But she doesn't suspect something completely disastrous when she sees a laptop in his hand and smiles, knowing full well what he's talking about. She sits down on the table ready to take part simply to humor him.

How the tables have turned.

He's on YouTube 1st, nada.

Then he proceeds to Google, nada.

He even suggests searching Craig's list.

Nada, duh!

Finally she gets fed up, wrenching the laptop from him and placing it in front of her, she gets to work.

"Oh and where are you going to search?" he patronizes.

"Tumblr"

"Who?"

She can't help but giggle, he tweets around every 15 minutes but he doesn't know about tumblr. But then of course, she only knew about it because of Kat, no need to tell him that.

"Jodice" she declares

"Who?" he repeats

She rolls her eyes and pushes the laptop towards him and watches as he flits through the page, an impressed look plastered on his face.

"Oh! No, another social networking site" he mock curses and she laughs.

"Jodice has a nice ring to it" he says after a while when they're all working on their lines and she doesn't exactly control her huge smile, while Nina who they unfortunately and wrongly assumed would not be aware of any such thing as 'Jodice' smirks and nudges Ian's attention towards them.

"Yes" she agrees softly forgetting whatever lines she had memorized.

She panicking because there is kiss, and no she is no virgin, but still she has to kiss him and him her and vice versa... she was even thinking funny. All the slow build up to this particular moment that she had previously found endearing and a delight to execute, she suddenly cursed it. Why couldn't it be some simple peck on the cheek or something... oh no, it had to be all passion and teeth and tongue.

She's pacing in her trailer dreading the practice session, coz Julie has declared that this needs to be epic simply epic, and he's watching her pace worried that she might permanently etch the floor. She might also be rambling, channeling her characters personality. It had never been that difficult before, neither with Ian or Zach or Michael.

Then why why was this one so scary?

She didn't even notice when he got up from his seat, she only noticed when she all but walked into him with a squeak to match. He rolled his eyes, grabbed the collar of her jacket and pulled her in, slowly and simply attaching his lips to her and it lasts all of about ten seconds but it's enough. He set's her back on her feet and whispers something that sounds like 'Ian gave me a few pointers' and walks out the trailer, telling her to stop worrying so much.

Oh but she worries, not about it being weird or anything. She worries about later. She worries about what happens after the shot.

Apparently he doesn't coz when it's done and Julie has smiled her smile and said that she loves it and Nina is winking at her behind the camera, he acts like nothing is different. So she goes with it.

The rest of the season goes by in a blur; it's a lot of Klaus and Caroline, hell they even manage to add in a hint of Elijah and Caroline. They're still friends and she makes him watch Kate Winslet's 2009 Golden Globe acceptance speech; he does his best to pretend to be moved to his core. All the while it was much more endearing watching her watch the video than the actual video. He realizes that she can find happiness in the smallest of things.

What they always knew was going to happen happens... and it isn't easy. They all love him, he's a great friend, just a great guy overall.

But in the end it is about the triangle.

They get an incredibly emotional goodbye piece and they both love it, but it feels a little bittersweet. She doesn't feel like she's saying goodbye only to Klaus, she's even saying goodbye to Joseph. Goodbye to their talks by the food table, to him barging into her trailer every time he finds a new video, her incessant talks about Leonardo and Kate and their perfectness, to the little knowing smirks and glances Nina keeps throwing their way while Ian rolls his eyes at her romantic heart, to his 'hellos' that held so much promise every single morning.

But then again, they always always knew it was going to happen. So she sucks it up and gives the performance of her life, and quickly excuses herself to her trailer under the pretense of going to the restroom.

"Hello" he says softly, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his faded jeans, a boyish grin on his face and a customary nod to aid his greeting.

Just like always.

She closes the door of her trailer in surprise "I thought you would have left by now?"

He genuinely looks like he can't believe she thought that. So he laughs instead "Kat is throwing me a going away party, aren't you coming?"

She goes to say no but ends up nodding her head.

"Good" he chides "I'll drive you"

"Oh btw" he says suddenly when they're walking to his car "I have to go to Paris next week, something I got invited to, you want to come?"

She blinks for a full minute before clearing her throat, being the sassiness queen that she is she pretends to think for a full minute before clicking her tongue and saying 'Eh!' like she was only agreeing to go coz she has nothing else to do.

He smiles and shakes his head, once again amused by her antics and opens the car door for her.

When she cocks a brow he says "Evil can be a gentleman"

She's about to get into the car when she pulls back and glares at him angrily, pouting her perfected pout "Where's my coffee and burger?"

He rolls his eyes and all but shoves her inside.

As it turns out, he didn't have an invitation to any damn thing in Paris.

As it also turns out, she doesn't care.

A/N- So what do you think? This was the hardest thing I have ever written so any comment is very much appreciated.