.

An Unlikely Match

Prologue

New year, new life, even if it wasn't January, but August. For a doctor the calendar year was irrelevant. For a resident time was irrelevant altogether. She had lost control over her life the moment she started med-school all those years ago. And as each step to becoming a doctor was left behind, more of her life belonged to her career and less to herself.

But Caroline Forbes didn't regret any of it. She loved being a doctor. Scratch that, she loved being a surgeon. She wasn't simply a practitioner, she was a surgeon. Too bad those seven years weren't passing any faster. But her internship was finally behind her, and that meant it was one less year until she finally finished her residency. And although the first year of the rest of her learning experience had been tough, it wasn't the working part of it that nearly killed her. Literally. No, that belonged to a boy, a man actually, only a few years older than her. A man who broke her heart in so many pieces she couldn't count, let alone put them together.

But she tried to ignore Dr. Lockwood's role in her first year. She tried to ignore she had to see him and work with him and for him for the next six years. But that wasn't the worst part.

"How is it coming back, Caroline?" the chief of surgery, Dr. Alaric Saltzman asked.

"Good," the blond answered honestly. It was a good feeling being a resident and not at the bottom level of the surgery chain.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked politely.

Caroline was one of his favorite students and everybody knew why. Of course Alaric thought Caroline was doing well, but he had seen she grow up in these corridors. Her mother was after all his wife's best friend since they went to Columbia. As far as anyone could say, Isobel had been the only human being Liz had shown any sort of emotion to. Liz had lost two years in her academic career because of her complicated and unplanned pregnancy. She had had to spend her theentire pregnancy on bed rest because of an early placenta disruption and also because of pre-eclampsia. She was never able to find a way to make up for the three months she lost in her senior year, and later she lost another five because of other complications she had after Caroline was born. But Alaric suspected that wasn't the main reason why she resented Caroline. A couple of years after Caroline was born, her father, Grayson Forbes left Liz and married with a nurse named Miranda. Liz had always been a proud woman and Alaric wasn't sure what hurt more, losing her husband or losing him to a nurse. And somehow she blamed it on small Caroline.

That was when Isobel and Liz met, in their first year in med-school and somehow they had become friends, probably because they had very similar personalities. Alaric and Isobel were already married at the time, even though they were very young, but they had been dating since their freshman year in high school. They had been high school sweethearts and once they finished pre-med, they decided to get married as they already lived together throughout their years on pre-med.

Both women were very career driven, and Isobel made sure what happened to Liz wouldn't happen to her. They almost got divorced over the surgery, but in the end Isobel Saltzman removed both her ovaries at age twenty-four. She hadn't regretted it once in the following twenty years and Alaric was sure she would never change her mind about having kids.

When he first met Caroline she was a little older than two, and he fell in love with her the moment he saw her blond, curled pigtails flying as she ran around the hospital where her mother studied. Caroline knew the university campus and the hospital better than the janitors. She had been raised by those walls, and the few people who cared about the innocent little girl. When Liz started her residency, it only got worse. Caroline was only six back then, but still she went to the hospital every day and every time her mother was on call, the little girl would also sleep at the hospital. It was usually Alaric, or any of the older nurses, who would take Caroline from the hospital care and to one of the on call rooms to sleep. Liz didn't even pretend she had forgotten. She simply didn't care. She would never understand why Grayson, who had wanted such a big family, didn't take Caroline with him when he decided he wanted a nurse, and not a surgeon as his wife. She had never wanted to have a child in the first place, but she somehow was left with the burden, as she used to call her daughter.

And if Liz never changed her ways with her daughter in the past twenty-four years, neither did Alaric. He still loved Caroline as if she was his own, the daughter he never had, and the young blond looked at him at the same way. They had a father-daughter sort of relationship, but that wasn't the main reason why the chief of surgery liked Caroline. The young woman was a survivor, had been since a very tender age, and nothing seemed to have the power to bring Caroline Forbes down. At least that was what he thought until Rose Lockwood entered his hospital a little over than a month ago. Caroline had been through much harder experiences, having Elizabeth Forbes as her mother, but still it was Rose who broke her seemingly beyond repair.

"Yeah, alone time with Katherine in a hotel bedroom in Hawaii was all I needed," she smirked, making it become a grin when she saw her chief's reaction.

"Uhh," he mumbled uncomfortable, "I have to go," he rambled before walking away.

It would never get old making her father figure uncomfortable. Alaric sometimes seemed to be older than just forty-five, at least when it came to her. He had always been so attentive and overprotective about her, so much so that even Isobel developed a soft spot for her best friend's daughter, though she covered it the best she could around Liz. Isobel didn't want kids, but she had learned to love Caroline more than she expected. Maybe if she didn't have the now young woman in her life, she would have regretted her decision of giving motherhood up all those years ago. Caroline was full of life, despite her difficult emotional life, and it melted Isobel's heart as she grew even closer to the girl. Especially when Liz died just a month ago, almost killing Caroline in the process.

Nobody knew how Caroline would react. Her relationship with her mother was the oddest thing anyone had ever witnessed. Many people thought the young blond would be relieved, after all Liz being the chief of one the hospital's departments, made Caroline's life there even harder. She didn't want anyone to think she was doing her daughter any favors, and the only way she found to make it clear to everyone was making Caroline's life a living hell. Not only had she ignored, resented and criticized her daughter her whole life, she also started being cruel and extra hard on Caroline when she started her residency. But Caroline didn't give up. She knew what to expect when she decided on the Presbyterian, her skin had become thick a long time ago. That was one of the few up sides about being raised by Elizabeth Forbes. And the biggest proof of Caroline's endurance was how she sat down and did her internship exam just a week after burying her mother, her own body still covered with stitches and scars. But the ones that hurt more couldn't be seen by the eyes.

She remembered entering this same hospital, New York's biggest hospital, known worldwide: the New York Presbyterian Hospital, with a lot of hopes, a big smile on her face as she was introduced to each of the facilities. Just twelve months ago she entered its first OR, empty, with no one saving a life, but she felt good. Back then she expected her life to be different as she finally started her residency. For once she hoped her mother would finally notice her or maybe even approve of something she did. She also hoped to build a name for herself, of course not as big as Elizabeth Forbes, a myth in heart surgery, with more than one procedure named after her on her belt. She knew she would never be as good as Liz, but as she walked down those corridors for the first time she felt like that could be at the start of at least a decent career. But that was just a foolish dream and she knew it. Her mother may not have done a great job in many things as a parent, but she had truly and absolutely convinced Caroline that she wasn't brilliant enough, or focused enough, or committed enough or tough enough to be anything but ordinary, but that at least she wasn't wasting her life in a musical career as Caroline had always dreamed. Ever since she was a little girl she dreamed of being in the Broadway musicals. But as she looked for the past nine years of hard work at school, med-school and internship she was happy her mother convinced her to be a doctor. As much as she loved singing nothing fulfilled her life more than having someone's skin open and saving their lives. Yeah, that was fulfilling and that was the one thing she had her mother to thank for.

"Forbes," the blue-eyed man greeted somewhat carelessly from the back of the resident's locker room. That was a great progress, although she didn't have much to complain about the interns' locker room. Although this one was much bigger as it also had to attend many more people.

"Klaus, how was London?" she asked, opening her new locker and moving in her stuff. Apparently he hadn't slept at the house, his bedroom's door left open when she woke up that morning.

"Fine. Hawaii?" he asked, although he didn't look up from the sketch pad in his hands.

"Hot," she shrugged because she knew that was as long as a conversation would go with Niklaus Mikaelson. He was a man of few words, if any, and most of them weren't pleasant. They had started their internship together and she was surprised that one day he asked if she had an available bedroom in her house to rent for him. Caroline lived in her family house all by herself since she entered Columbia. Liz moved to an apartment just by the Presbyterian as soon as she could find one once Grayson left them. Even though the house already belonged to him when he got married to Liz, he decided to leave it for Caroline. As if a mere house would ever make up for having a child, Caroline had heard her mother complain to Isobel more than once throughout the years.

When she started her internship some of her fellow interns soon became close to her and she decided to rent the rooms of the huge house to them, after all New York was quite the expensive city, especially for an intern's wage. Bonnie and Stefan had been living with her for at least eight months now, but Klaus had only moved in a couple of months ago. She never quite understood why the two men decided to live with her, but she supposed she understood Stefan's reason better than Klaus'. Both had attending brothers working at the Presbyterian and while Stefan and Damon had a close relationship, Damon's womanizer ways were too much for Stefan to keep up with. Simply put; they had opposite personalities. Damon Salvatore was a cocky, selfish, womanizer, rude, short-tempered plastic surgeon, while Stefan was more of a brooding, quiet, timid, polite surgery intern. So it only made sense for him to try to live somewhere else once he started med-school. But ever since he was out of the dorms he had been having a hard time finding a good place to live. Any place to live.

The Salvatore's used to have a lot of money – Damon still did – but their father, Giuseppe, had lost the family's fortune to gambling and the boys barely made it to school. But as soon as Damon started making money as a surgeon he had used most of what he made to help Stefan pay for his studies. In all honesty Damon had a reason to be as cocky as he was. He was a legend in plastic surgery. A prodigy since early age. He finished high school two years earlier than most did and at the early age of thirty he was already a certified plastic surgeon, and now, at age the of thirty-three he was the head of his department at New York's biggest hospital.

But it was still never enough for Giuseppe who didn't approve of anything his son had ever done. With Giuseppe out of the picture the boys were left orphans when Caroline had met them. Stefan said their mother had died when they were still kids. Giuseppe having died three years ago the victim of cirrhosis because there was only one thing Giuseppe did more than betting since Cecilia died: drink. He hadn't stopped since his late wife's funeral and neither Damon nor Stefan was surprised when he was diagnosed with the disease a few years prior to his death. The diagnosis only made Giuseppe drink more.

But Klaus was a different story. His brother, Elijah Mikaelson was older than Damon, being almost forty, and had just been promoted to Liz's previous position: the head of heart surgery department. The hospital had several heart surgeons, all of them Elijah's seniors, but Elijah had been Liz's protégée since he had entered the program and she had taught him well. She had made him the best surgeon, only after herself. Caroline was convinced her mother saw the potential when he started at the Presbyterian twelve years ago, because her mother never made an empty bet or had ever been embarrassed or disappointed by those she favored. Alaric had always counted on Liz's good eyes to invite the residents to stay at the hospital by the end of their residency. He trusted her assessment and in ten years he had never been disappointed. And with Elijah it wasn't any different. The man was a god in the OR. But it seemed as if gods didn't have family. Mikaelson wasn't a common name and when Klaus entered the program, the staff concluded the men were related, but neither said a word about it. It wasn't until much later when Alaric finally asked Elijah his relation to Klaus that they found out they were actually brothers.

They were opposites, just like the Salvatore's, with their physical features in contrast as much as their personalities. Klaus had sand blond hair, blue eyes, and white cream skin, while Elijah had dark eyes and hair, and a beautiful olive skin. Elijah was also the epitome of politeness. He was a gentleman to everybody, always dressed in a pristine suit under his lab coat — unlike most surgeons — his hair was a legend of its own and he had the best bed side manners at the hospital. He didn't care only about the physical heart of his patients. He was a compassionate and gentle doctor, as well as humble, and the kind that was hard to find in any hospital. The only thing he had in common with Klaus was their need to speak only when necessary. Elijah, though, didn't spare words when talking to a patient or teaching a resident, whereas Klaus almost never opened his mouth in any circumstance. The younger doctor was also very polite, but not in the same way his brother was. There was warmth in Elijah's politeness, while Klaus' was plain. His words while polite, were sharp and more times than not, he didn't say enough. He was laconic to the point where he was cold. Especially when it came to his brother. If Klaus didn't have a lot of words to patients and fellow doctors, he had none to his brother. Klaus did everything he could to stay away from Elijah and once the whole hospital found out they were brothers, he made it clear that there wasn't any lost love between them. Liz didn't seem to like the younger Mikaelson as she liked the older, but she always went out of her way to make sure Klaus was with herself or any of the other heart surgeons at the hospital. Caroline had no doubt it was a favor to her protégée, not to the intern.

Unlike the Salvatore's though, the Mikaelson's were very rich. That was what Katherine found out through Elijah, but later when the brunette made a very deep research on the family she found out they were actually royalty, as in related, even if distantly, to the British Royal Family. It made her wonder why Klaus had asked her for a room to live in, as long as it wouldn't be more expensive than seven hundred dollars. That was an answer Caroline never had, as nobody dared to ask it to Klaus and Elijah was very discreet about his personal life. Katherine found out about their wealth when he let it slip he used the family's private jet to visit his mother, during an emergency a few months ago. But Caroline didn't mind the mysterious man. As long as he wasn't rude to her – and he had never been – and didn't break any of the house's rules, she was okay with him living with them.

"Did you go to the grocery?" she asked after changing on her scrubs, not bothering that he was in the room with her. As a doctor the human body wasn't much more than work most times and she had nothing to be embarrassed. She had been blessed with a thin figure even though she ate like a crazy person.

"I think Bonnie did. Not sure, sweetheart," he continued drawing, his eyes not moving from the pad in his hands once. Like Caroline, he thought human anatomy was something too common. Many of his fellow female residents had been down to their underwear in his presence, still he had never looked their way. But his cool demeanor around them while they were at work didn't reflect his behavior outside the hospital. Only one man in the hospital bedded more women than Klaus Mikaelson: Damon Salvatore. None of them minded their position or line of work. Klaus had slept with the entire accounting department who was single. That being the reason why Damon had slept with more women. Apparently Klaus didn't sleep with women in a relationship, or who were married, while Damon never cared. There was a reason why he wasn't in a relationship and that was because he didn't want to worry about it. If the women weren't happy with their partners and wanted to go in a ride in Damonland, as he used to call his body, it wasn't him who would stop them.

"It was your turn!" Caroline answered annoyed. He never went to the grocery store. He always relied on Stefan to do it for him, and Stefan being the saint he was, just added to his chores to go to the supermarket twice a month. She doubted Bonnie had gone though. The brunette would rather rot in hell than do Klaus any favors since he had slept with a nurse the same night the residents had slept together. Bonnie knew how Klaus was, but she didn't think he would actually leave her bed in the morning to sleep with a nurse in the afternoon in one of the hospital's on call rooms.

"There's something you should know, love" he changed the subjects, and Caroline knew it couldn't be good. Klaus rarely started any conversation, and every single time she fought with him for not doing the grocery, he would just shrug in response. He wasn't looking for an out from their conversation and she was afraid to ask what it could be.

"Your half-sister is among the new interns," he broke the sudden silence between them. He didn't know why he was telling her that though as it was none of his business. He never cared about anyone other than himself. Not even his patients as he delivered bad news to their relatives as if he was talking about the weather. He was cold, careless, detached and sometimes even cruel with his few words. And that was why people called him the Original Evil in the hospital's corridors. No one would despise a brother like Elijah if they weren't evil inside. The older Mikaelson was the gentlest doctor in the world according to the staff. But Klaus never minded the nickname. He saw people simply as means to an end, and his ends were quite simple: become the best plastic surgeon in the country and seduce as many women in process, regardless if they were co-workers, patients, nurses, waitresses or whatever else. He didn't have any prejudice about what they did as long as it didn't affect his position in the hospital and they gave him what he wanted. And they always did.

"How come?" she asked, pretending that she wasn't affected by having another Forbes around.

"We met at the interns' mix and she introduced herself as Elena Forbes. Quite the vision…" he smirked remembering how he had more than just met Elena two days before.

"Do whatever you want with her, I just don't want her around in the house," Caroline demanded, before leaving the room. She knew Klaus well to know what his tone implied.

"Talk about family issues," he muttered to himself as he continued to draw another beautiful woman in his sketch. His inspiration to change women who weren't very fortunate naturally was always going to be the goddesses he drew carefully. Dr. Salvatore was probably late, as usual, and there was nothing else he wanted to do until his mentor arrived, though Isobel had been clear about them not picking a specialty until the fifth year of their residence. There was no way he was going to the vagina squad, or even worse, carpentry. No way in hell. Good thing he had slept with the residents that were currently making their schedules. The promise of a redo had been enough for them to make sure to schedule him with Dr. Salvatore as much as possible, though he didn't mind any of the Saltzman's or Dr. Lockwood.

Caroline headed to the nurse station where she was supposed to meet her own interns in a while. That was the lone reason why she had been there thirty minutes earlier than usual. She wanted to give them a good impression. She didn't want to be as restricted – and scary – as Isobel Saltzman, her previous resident, but she definitely didn't want to be late or too friendly to her own interns. She just hoped anyone above would help her to stay away from this Elena girl. She knew her father had had other children with his new wife, but she didn't want anything to do with any of them.

"Welcome back, my favorite dirty mistress," Damon said approaching her, smelling her hair from behind and stopping himself just an inch from biting her bare earlobe.

"Damon!" she playfully hissed.

"I heard you're in the market again," he smirked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Seriously. You can't be serious, Damon. Do you really want to get a scar on your godlike face?" she giggled back at him. They had hit it off immediately, especially because of the once close relationship between him and her ex. They used to be best friends, but Rose had also come between the old friends.

"No. In fact I was thinking maybe we should have some action to liven up our reputations. We would do a great team Forbes, my dashing looks and incredible bed abilities and your sexy legs and dirty mind," he looked at her the way he looked at all the girls he tried to seduce, but she was somehow immune to his charms. Her guarding angel definitely helping her in that department. She could only imagine how much more difficult her first year would have been if she had had an affair with Damon. But I doubt he would have hurt you more than you had been, she thought to herself.

"No. No sleeping with inappropriate men this time," she answered avoiding eye contact. He was sex on legs and as much as she was still immune to him she wouldn't test her luck. She knew she didn't have much of it and she was counting on having it when it came to her new interns. As long as none of them had Forbes in their name, she was would be okay.

Katherine seemed to have missed Caroline's mother more than the daughter herself as Liz was the only reason Katherine left Los Angeles and moved to New York. She wanted to be the best in the country and the best way to do that was by learning from the best, who just so happened to be her best friend's mother. Although Katherine never hid from Caroline that her mother was the reason why she was at the Presbyterian, they didn't become friends out of the interest on the part of the brunette. Especially because it was no secret in the hospital corridors that Caroline had always had a very difficult and distant relationship with her mother. Katherine was much closer to Liz in the few months they had worked in the same place and Caroline had actually felt jealous of her best friend when she heard her mother, purposefully, worshiping the brunette's talent and focus. Of course, Liz never lost the chance to compare the two of them in those occasions – regardless of who was around them, and the comparison was never in favor of her daughter. Actually it was always a chance to show the world her low opinion of the younger Forbes.

"Forbes, Hills, Baker, Thompson," Klaus called and three guys, along with Elena, walked towards him. Isobel had just lectured him in the locker room, before giving him his list. He had forgotten he was now responsible for the stupid interns. Why was there always someone making his life harder? And three guys? Wasn't it bad enough that he had to babysit the clueless doctors' wannabes, it had to be three men? At least Elena was among them, and she was hot enough to make him forget about the other rascals.

"I'm Dr. Mikaelson, your resident. Take your pagers and follow me," he ordered, lacking some of his usual politeness that Caroline was used to. He was after all an English gentleman, but she also knew he didn't have many words with men.

"Adams, Burton, Salvatore and Smith" Caroline called. "I'm Dr. Forbes and I'll be your resident. Here are your pagers. I will show you the hospital and explain you some rules. Please follow me," she explained with a firm, but also somehow friendly voice, being her usual kind self.

Mason had been looking at her from the stairwell. He knew she would make a great resident. She had a way to teach and to lead people around her, and a light that would balance the required fierceness and softness to the job. She was amazing and he couldn't believe they weren't together anymore. But now that he was indeed free, he wasn't going to waste his second chance. He would do everything in his power to have Caroline back. And he wasn't used to losing.

"Any hope?" Damon asked, approaching the man that had once been his best friend.

"Not sure," Mason sighed, shaking his head, before walking away. Things had been a little strained between the two of them since Damon, unknowingly, tried to seduce Caroline when he started working in the Presbyterian, just a few months ago. He had no idea she was the girl his friend was dating. All he knew was that she was blonde, and a resident – Mason failed to comment she was an intern, and when the neurosurgeon entered the bar across the hospital to find his best friend - whom he spent months convincing Alaric to steal from Sinai - trying to kiss his girlfriend, he saw red and wasting no time he punched Damon in the face, rendering Caroline shocked. The blond took the plastic surgeon back to the hospital and helped him with the stitches in his face, although he assured – and proved – her he could it much better than her and only needed her help to hold a mirror in front of his face. But maybe the main problem between the two friends was a different shade of blonde that was now approaching Damon.

"Morning," Rose Lockwood offered, her smile weak and small.

"Rose," he said sporting his famous smirk to the young female doctor, "Congratulations on the position," he completed, before wrapping his arms around her.

"Thanks," she answered, blushing slightly, but also looking quite unexcited about now being officially part of New York Presbyterian Hospital's staff. She had worked at the hospital with a couple of critical patients in the past few months, as she was one the few doctors the head of pediatrics at the Presbyterian, Dr. Martin, trusted. He had been trying to add her to his team since she finished her residency, but she had preferred the Sinai at the time. And after the episode with Mason and Caroline he thought it'd be impossible for the doctor to change hospitals, but Liz had helped him back then, and made it nearly impossible for Rose to continue at the Sinai.

"What's up Lockwood?" he addressed what his eyes quickly saw. She was having a hard day. Rose was one of the tough cookies. She was strong and never let it show, but he knew her too well. They'd been friends for over thirty years, after all.

"My marriage is over," she said trying her best to hold back her tears.

"Mason is just stupid. His loss. You deserve better," he said trying to comfort his friend. And that was the other reason why his friendship with Mason was now strained. He took Rose's side in the story, not only because he really cared about her, but especially because she was the victim, if there was any victim in their wrecked situation. She was the one who got cheated on, although Mason considered them already over and separated when he started a relationship with Caroline.

Rose was one of the few people that cared about Damon and didn't judge his manwhore behavior. The only other he could name at the moment was Caroline. Both blonds were understanding and supportive, and that couldn't be said of any other female in the hospital. But unlike Caroline, he had his share of nights with Rose before he introduced her to her future husband, over a decade ago. The couple of blonds had been married for nearly eight years, but things hadn't been working out for them for the past year.

That was when Mason met Caroline at the hospital and fell for her. At the time Rose and Mason were separated, but the pediatrician still had hoped to be reunited with her husband. They had been together for ten years, and she knew crises were common in long term relationships. They hadn't talked about divorce yet back then, although Mason was living in their house in Belford instead of the Manhattan apartment, where she still lived. They were both old money and the properties were passed from their families to them once they got married, and for any reason they kept both houses functioning. Mason chose to live in the house his father gifted him, while Rose stayed in the apartment she had been living since she moved to the city. Her family was from New Orleans, but had as much, if not, more money than the Lockwood's.

"Yeah, maybe you're right, but I love him, Damon," she wiped quickly a couple of tears that insisted on falling. It had been such the scandal when she visited the hospital two months ago to work in a difficult case involving young twins. There were at least eight doctors named Lockwood working at the Sinai and somehow few doctors at the Presbyterian knew Mason was married to Rose and unlike the nurses, the attending doctors didn't spend their scarce free time gossiping about other people's life. Mason didn't wear a wedding band when he started working at the Presbyterian, and there had been rumors about their separation, so they just assumed they were in fact separated for good. And that was how Mason also thought.

In his head he wasn't cheating on anyone. He already considered his marriage to Rose over, but the two women involved didn't think so. Rose, because he had never mentioned divorce, thought they were only going through a bad patch and Caroline because Mason never mentioned being married in the first place. When a new Lockwood doctor was announced to work with them that week, nobody in the staff was surprised as there were more Lockwood doctors in New York than Smiths in America. But when Rose started to introduce herself as Mason's wife, people started to whisper and look at her with pity. She hadn't met Mason yet, because he had been in a complicated surgery when she arrived. Alaric surprisingly didn't know the two had ever been married, and had no idea he had just set up a bomb that would explode around one of the few people he really loved. Rose started early in the morning and by noon everybody was talking about the love triangle. Caroline who had also been busy most of the day – and who had always done her best to stay out of the nurses' gossip – felt her heart almost stop when she walked towards her boyfriend, only to see another woman excitedly say 'surprise' before kissing him.

"Shh. It'll pass. I know it hurts, but it will pass and you will get something much better," Damon tried to comfort his oldest friend.

"Thank you," she nodded, offering him a small smile.

"But until then if you want me to comfort you. My apartment number is the same," he wriggled his eyebrows smirking.

Rose looked straight to him and shook her head. But she knew that was just Damon being Damon.

"Seriously, Salvatore," she left him behind her with a smirk plastered on his face.

The day passed quickly, thankfully for Caroline. Her interns weren't any geniuses, but at least she wasn't with her half-sister. She had avoided her and Mason all the day and finally she was going home successful in her escape. But she knew she shouldn't say, or even think such a thing before leaving because before she could leave the residents' locker room, Mason entered. She wasn't surprised to turn and see him standing by the doorframe; she could feel his presence from afar. She tried to ignore his presence, but he made it very noticeable

"How was your first day as a resident?" he asked walking towards her.

"Fine. My interns aren't that bad," she answered without looking at him.

"That's good, I heard there's another Forbes between them?" he tried to make small conversation, but they both knew there was only as much small talk he would do before moving to the subject he didn't seem to leave behind him.

"So I heard. I think she's with Klaus, but I'm not sure," she hoped that would end the conversation. Her relationship with the green-eyed attending had been intense and overwhelming. Things with her and Mason weren't like any other relationship she had ever heard of, as she never had any serious boyfriend before him. Liz wouldn't allow her to be distracted by stupid things such infatuation or crushes, because in the world of Elizabeth Forbes, love was not only a weakness, but a tale altogether. It didn't happen in the real world. Caroline was positive that her relationship with a married man was one of the causes of her mother's sudden heart attack, the one that resulted in Liz's death, and that almost killed herself as well.

"How was Hawaii?" he asked, as she put away her belongings in her purse.

"Fine. I should be going. See you tomorrow," she hung her purse on her shoulder and tried to leave, but Mason didn't allow her to even reach the door

He purposely blocked her way and she lowered her head "Mason, I need to go," she nearly pleaded, avoiding any kind of contact physical contact between them, even if only with their eyes.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Home, I need to unpack my things and do the laundry," she answered, still looking at her shoes.

"Caroline," he said slipping his hand over her arm, making her body shiver at the contact. That was why she was trying to keep her distance. Her body still betrayed her.

"Please, Mason, let me go. We don't have anything to talk about. We're done if this is why you're holding me here," she said stepping from one side to the other trying to leave, but he was easily following her movements, still blocking her way.

He reached for her arms, holding her still, looking at her with the soft, breathtaking gaze she still loved. "Please, Mason, don't make it harder than it already is," she openly pleaded this time.

"Did you hear her?" Klaus asked behind him, looking as dark and dangerous as he sometimes managed to look, which was another reason for his nickname among the hospital staff. People still talked until this day of when Klaus punched a patient's relative just a few months after he started at the hospital. Only Alaric and the resident knew the reason for the event, and Klaus had been suspended from work for a week, but he didn't lose his job with his violent behavior.

"This is between only Caroline and I, Dr. Mikaelson," Mason said softly, his eyes never leaving Caroline's.

"And I guess the girl made herself clear, mate" Klaus retorted, not slightly intimidated by his superior.

Mason wouldn't do it just because Klaus asked, but looking down at Caroline he could see she was seconds away from crying and the last thing he wanted was to make her cry.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Care," he stroke her cheek softly, but she didn't answer. She couldn't, and the moment he stepped aside, she quickly left, the tears in her eyes barely waiting for her to completely pass by him before falling.

"Give her some space and time, Lockwood. It's the only way she can heal what you broke," Klaus suggested, as he turned to reach Caroline.

Mason only watched both residents leaving, and sighed. Klaus was right. He had indeed broken Caroline, even if he never really intended to.

AN: so this my Klaroline AH. I do hope it has more response than my canon, that got not one single review (and that I'll probably delete, as it must suck if no one cared about it).

If you ever watched Grey's Anatomy and found any resemblance, it's no coincidence, though this isn't a crossover and I'm not replicating GA's storylines here. Caroline and Meredith Grey couldn't be any more different characters and that will remain true in this story (despite they having a lot of things in common: a mother who died and didn't care about them, a boyfriend who hid a wife, renting rooms in their house, etc...). Meredith and Caroline are opposites and they will remain this way in this story. It was only than when I thought of this story I thought of Liz being a distant mother, a reason to have a heartbroken Caroline and a reason for Klaroline share a roof. It's all just a big coincidence, sort of :P

The other pairs are indefinite my focus here is Klaroline, so the rest if fair game, unless a lot of people ask for something specific, there will be a lot of dance of chairs between the other couples.

Now how about you guys be kind and leave me a review?

I also want to thank Erin for being my beta to this chapter, even after it was posted and she had already read it. Such a sweetheart! Thanks, lovely.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Vampire Diaries (or Grey's Anatomy for that matter) or any of its characters.