The coffee was freshly ground, the linen pressed, the orange juice squeezed. The table was like a spread out of Good Housekeeping, with the snowy white table cloth, red napkins and delicate snowflake rimmed porcelain and silverware. Caroline eyed the scene with a critical eye. A sound outside sent her rushing over to the window, where her eyes quickly swept over the snowy countryside, the wooden porch and front drive, rimmed with tall pines. Nothing still.

With a sigh she turned back to the table, chewing her lip and trying to see anything that might be improved.

"Caroline, wow! This looks great" her best friend Elena enthused as she came through the kitchen door, a blast of freezing air following her in, and stood on the stoop, stomping snow off her boots.

"Thanks, I'm just so nervous… is it done right?" Caroline asked, obsessively straightening the flatware once more.

"Relax, it's great. I have to go changed before they get here, and then I'll introduce you. They are really nice… for super rich people." Elena said with a roll of her eyes, wriggled her feet out her snow boots, setting them to drip on the drying rack by the door and padded away along the low ceilinged hall.

Caroline eyed the water pooling off the boots and grabbed the mop to get rid of it, seeing as there was nothing else for her to do but wait.

Caroline Forbes had never been outside her home state before, and had never had a real job before, never mind one in Vale. Elena, her best friend from her home town had been coming here since she was young, however, and knew the job down to the ground. She even knew the family socially. To stay and work in an Alpine ski resort, in one of the most beautiful and luxurious chalets there was a dream come true, and exactly what Caroline needed to get over her latest breakup from her childhood sweetheart, Josh.

Caroline sighed as she moved the mop over the icy puddles on the floor. Whenever her thoughts strayed to Josh, she felt the usual tug of disappointment and heartache his name had been evoking in her, for a good deal longer than she had let herself realise, for far too long. After high school, everyone had thought they would be the couple who'd make it. But it was only a few months into college when she started to feel him slipping away, less excited to answer her calls, more eager to spend time with his team buddies. After the death of his father, he had withdrawn more and more, and Caroline felt they had lost their connection somehow, their wonderful, precious connection, and it had cut her apart.

Josh had been her first everything, and losing him really really hurt. To add to the horror that the last six months of her life had been, she had lost her own father in an accident, and that was when she really realised how far Josh and her were from each other. She had broken things off then, needing to be alone.

She heard the phone ringing through the enormous house, and heard Elena pick up. Nerves strummed in her stomach as she heard the conversation come to an end, and Elena hurry along the passage.

"Ok, five minutes and we are no longer alone! I have good news and bad news…" Elena was saying as she snapped her earrings into place.

"Which is…" Caroline said, joining Elena at the mirror as she quickly plaited her hair in a long braid.

"Well, Mr and Mrs Mikaelson Sr aren't coming, good news. But the younger ones are, and bringing some friends." Elena said, whipping a mascara wand out her pocket and swiping her lashes.

"That's a bad thing?" Caroline asked, toying nervously with her hair.

"Well, it is if you are not looking to join in the fun" Elena said with a laugh as she looked over her shoulder at the window. Lights shone in as a car pulled up.

"This is it!" Elena said with excitement, as she pushed her feet into sheep-skin slippers and made her way to the rustic wooden staircase leading up to the upper floors.

Caroline clenched her hands together and followed her. She was here for a change of scenery, to experience something new, and to start seeing the world, something she had promised her father she would do. First though, she had to save up some money. With her father gone, and her mum happy in her job as local head teacher, money was a little tight around the Forbes household these days. One of the biggest draws of this job was that the family paid the flight out, and for all living expenses for the entire four months, plus a great weekly wage.

Upstairs, a huge open fireplace warmed the cabin, which was decorated in what Caroline though of designer rustic chic. Earthy colour tones, leather, luxurious rugs and lush blankets filled the space. A grand piano sat in the corner by the French windows, leading out onto a porch that wrapped around the entire chalet. The walls were decorated by exquisite works of art, and windows were generously placed all around, revealing the snowy peaks that stood just outside the door. The chalet was practically on the piste, and Caroline could hardly begin to imagine what a place like this must cost. She and Elena crossed the polished beam floor and reached the massive front door, drawing back the traditional looking locks and bolts, letting the black, starry night in.

Out front, a large black Range Rover had drawn up was coming to a slow, crunching stop. Almost as soon as it had, the back passenger door was opening and spilling out people.

"Elena Gilbert! Love, you have no idea how long I wait to see you every year, it's practically torture." A strong male voice sang out across the snow. There was the sound of car doors slamming and people approaching.

"Shut it Kol, you don't need to be coming onto the help right off" a female voice snapped sarcastically.

Soon the party were in view of the porch light, and Caroline made out one girl, blonde and beautiful, if a little remote looking, dressed in fur and skin tight trousers, with killer heels, though how she was managing to walk in them here was a mystery. Following her and holding a couple of bags came an older man, and finally a younger. The two men were dark, and attractive, without a doubt, and Caroline glanced at Elena, wondering how she managed to work with them all Winter, and had never mentioned it.

"Elena, how wonderful to see you" the older man said, his dark eyes and creased smile seemed kind as he put down the bags on the porch and embraced her friend a little stiffly.

"Likewise, you guys all look great"

"As do you Elena darling… I'm sorry about Kol, he has only gotten worse I'm afraid" The girl said as she hugged Elena hard.

"My dear sister, I have only improved with age, like a fine wine" the youngest, presumably Kol joked, also embracing Elena, but actually lifting her up and spinning her around. He suddenly caught sight of Caroline and paused.

"Oh, hello, you're a new face. I'm Kol Mikaelson. The most eligible bachelor in this whole resort" he said, stepping in front of her, and surprising her by lifting her outstretched hand to his mouth and pressing a kiss on it.

"Pleased to meet you" Caroline stammered, already sure that whatever Kol's game was, she would not be playing it.

"Enchante" he murmured, before he choked, spluttering as he received an elbow in his stomach from the petite blonde at his side.

"God, Kol, stop being such a creep" she muttered, turning back to Caroline with a narrowing of the eyes.

"I'm Rebecca Mikaelson. You must be Caroline."

"Yes, nice to meet you."

"This is my younger, and dumber brother, and my older and much more respectable one, Elijah" Rebecca said as she presented the oldest sibling.

"Wonderful to meet you Caroline, Elena had so many lovely things to say about you when we mentioned we were thinking of hiring another chalet girl this season."

"Nice to meet you too" Caroline murmured, feeling a little overwhelmed by all these beautiful, self-possessed British people and manners.

"Right, I'm going inside, before I freeze my bollocks off", Kol announced breaking the lull the introductions had left. Movement started on the porch, with Elena calling over to Caroline.

"We need to get the bags out the car" she said, and was then drawn to the side by Elijah who was discussing the next few weeks they would be in residence.

And so the work begins, Caroline thought as she pulled snow boots on over her thick slipper socks and pulled the hood of her woolly cardigan over her head and trudged out to the car.

There was that unnatural stillness that snow brings, with the white swirls of a new drift playing in the black night overhead. Shivering slightly, she wrapped her arms around her middle and walked to the back of the car. Slipping her fingers out of their woolly warmth, she felt for the catch to open the trunk. She found it, and pulled. Nothing. It was locked. She glanced up, seeing Elena and Elijah standing on the porch still, and hearing Rebecca and Kol bickering inside the house. With a sigh she turned on her heel and started to march around to the front of the car. As she leant forward to grasp the door handle, she found her feet suddenly slipping out from under her.

The snow cushioned the blow to her ass as she found herself lying face up looking at the stars, with the cold snow already starting to melt through her jeans. Snow -1 , Caroline – 0.

"Soph, are you ok?" Elena's voice called from the house. Caroline automatically lifted her hand in acknowledgement, glad it was too dark for anyone to see her blushing face.

Gripping the car door again, she managed to open it this time.

"Not even bruised!" she called to Elijah and Elena as she guided her delicate bottom onto the soft car seat, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Except, my ass, and my dignity" she muttered in the dark, warm interior of the car as she gingerly shifted her posterior against the heated seat. It was quiet inside, not even the howl of the wind penetrating that little cocoon, and she sat for a moment, gathering her breath.

"I can offer assistance with the first, but you're on your own with the second" a dry voice remarked from the back, and Caroline shot forward on the seat, hitting the horn, at the same time as letting out a deafening shriek which threatened to break the car window.

Scrambling around in the seat, her fingers pushed at buttons randomly until a light flickered on over the rear view mirror, as well as turning on the hazard lights, windscreen washers and radio, as she finally managed to twist around in the seat, peering into the barely illuminated back seat.

"Look, I'm going to have to go. The usual family drama. I will call you when I get set up in Michael's office." Klaus said as he took in the blonde sitting backwards in the seat in front of him, her legs crossed, her back against the steering wheel. Her eyes were wide, yet she was calming from her double fright of falling and the surprise of finding him in the supposedly empty car.

He hung up his phone and slipped it into a jacket pocket, before looking up at his visitor.

Their eyes met, and he was surprised at the blueness of hers, still wide, looking at him a little accusingly, her creamy cheeks hinted with a rosy blush. He remembered seeing the back of her head as she had made her way cautiously past him, only to suddenly disappear into the snow.

"What are you doing in here, sitting in the dark?" Caroline demanded, feeling embarrassed, realizing he had witnessed the entire escapade.

"Klaus Mikaelson. What are you doing, breaking into some else's car?" he said, irritated that his business call had been interrupted and her accusative tone.

"I… I need into the trunk" Caroline muttered. All she received in response was a raised eyebrow in question, and silence. They sat staring at each other a beat longer, as the song on the radio changed again, and then the windscreen wiper thumped across, scratching dryly at the glass. Caroline squirmed around, thinking she better stop it before it did damage to this no doubt expensive windscreen. She stared at the complex array of buttons and gear sticks. Damn European cars, she thought as she started pressing things.

"That would be the back wiper" that irritatingly dry voice remarked as she started up another dry scratching noise. She signed and pressed another one.

"Handbrake" the voice said beside her ear, as a large, warm hand passed over hers to switch it back on.

"Unless you'd like to end up in France, I'd recommend not touching that one" he continued. His head was close to hers and she felt his warm breath across her cheek and jerked her head to the side.

"Well, why don't you just tell me which one it is." she ground out, reminding herself to stay as polite as possible to one of her new bosses.

"I'd adore to love, I'm just not sure what you're looking for."

"The trunk, you know, to get your bags" she said slowly, as though speaking to a child.

"Right, the boot, of course." He leant forward again and pushed another bottom, and Caroline heard the lock of the trunk pop. Breathing a sigh of relief she leant forward, away from this sarcastic stranger, and witness of her first fall, no doubt not the last. She pushed the door open and gingerly put her foot to the snow, not wishing to repeat her earlier mistake in her rush to exit the car.

"That's right, go gently, and you're welcome, sweetheart." He chuckled in the back and she resisted rolling her eyes as she went to slam the door.

Caroline ground her teeth in irritation and avoided the darkened back window as she shuffled past.

"Caroline, allow me to help" she saw Elena and Elijah appearing around the other side of the car.

"Oh, it's fine. I got it open"

"Ah, you must have met Klaus in that case."

"Klaus is here too?" Elena asked, her brows knitting together as she spoke, and Caroline saw the concern in her expression. Elijah nodded as he pulled large suitcases from the car.

"Yes, but worry not he is on his best behaviour" he said with a wry smile at Elena. Caroline felt her curiosity heighten at the words, and wondered what they could possibly mean. She grabbed hold of a large suit bag and some ski equipment just as she heard the car door open and close.

"Well, well, my ears are certainly burning" came that low, gravelly voice and Caroline got her first glimpse of her back seat tormentor. He was dressed in black jeans, which sat low, a Henley and leather jacket, battered but expensive looking, seeming just as out of place as his brother in his suit, with the snowy forest scape behind him. He had curly dirty blonde hair, cropped close to his head, but grown a little wild. His face was bestubbled, a golden hue around full, smirking lips and piercing blue eyes. He practically screamed bad boy and Caroline almost physically recoiled. He sauntered up to them, sure footed even in the deep snow.

"May I?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at her even as he was pulling the heavy bags from her hands. She went to answer, found herself out of comebacks, polite or otherwise and spun around to grab something else from the trunk, but found it empty.

"Elena, how lovely to see you again" Klaus said, and Caroline saw her friend wrap her arms around herself and nod a little distantly. They started back to the house, with Caroline making a studied effort not to show how careful she was being not to fall. Klaus chuckled, and she shot him a narrow look, as they made it to the wooden stairs. Stamping up them, Caroline carefully removed her boots before she stepped inside the house. Inside the fire was particularly the only source of light and she could see Rebecca and Kol setting a couple bottles of Champagne into ice before it. The bags were brought upstairs, and Caroline took the opportunity to go into the kitchen and sort out the glasses for the Champagne. She took down four crystal flutes and set them on a glass tray carefully.

"I think you're missing two" a mischievous voice called from the door, and she saw the youngest brother, Kol leaning against the door jam, grinning at her.

"Oh, are your friends arriving?" she asked politely.

"Not till tomorrow, and they're blokes anyway, where's the benefit in getting them tipsy on Dom?" Kol said as he came into the kitchen, and reached past her to grasp two more glasses from the cabinet behind her. He placed them on the tray, and then placed his hand on her arm, Caroline stiffened.

"You and Elena must join us, so we can start getting to know each other"

"Not necessary, I'm just the help" Caroline said lightly, as she moved backward out of his touch.

"Not at all…" Kol persisted.

"I am honestly not that interesting either" she joked rather desperately as she turned to get something from a low unit, and move further from Kol.

"I think she means she's not that interested in you, dear brother." Caroline heard a female voice from the door, and breathed a silent sigh of relief.

"You'll succumb to my charms, given time, I assure you both" Kol said, backing off and picking up the tray, with the two extra glasses and whisking out the room.

"Ignore him, everyone does" Rebecca said, taking up her brother's former place, leaning on the door jam and staring. Caroline kept busy, tidying, preparing whatever needed to be left in the fridge.

"What?" she asked nervously after a while.

"You're pretty, do you know that? Really pretty." Rebecca said in a musing tone and Caroline inwardly cringed. Great, one weird car sibling, one weird creep and now three.

"Erm, thanks?" Caroline said, unsure of how to respond.

"Do you know the Salavtores? They are locals, local millionaires anyway." Rebecca continued, seeming lost in her thoughts.

"No, I only got here the day before yesterday"

"Oh, so, you really are brand new!" Rebecca exclaimed, looking at Caroline in a new light. Caroline nodded.

"Yup, I guess so" she said.

"Well, don't worry… we'll soon show you around." She said, turning to go in a swish of long straight hair and fur.

"Actually… Rebecca? You really don't have to… I'm just here for the job, to work. nothing else." Caroline said suddenly, needing to remind someone, perhaps herself, that she was not here for a vacation. She was here to heal, to earn and to move on, spend some time on her own.

"Sure, whatever you say" Rebecca called over her shoulder, barely breaking her step.

Alone again in the quiet kitchen, Caroline sank into a chair and buried her head in her hands. This was not how she had imagined her work experience starting out. It was supposed to be hard work, all consuming, no room for romance, for men or for thinking about things that made her heart break. She heard the tinkling sound of glasses chiming in the sitting room upstairs, and Elena's voice saying her name. Rebecca spoke up saying that she didn't think Caroline was coming.

Well that was that, it was a good thing to have explained her position straight away to Rebecca. Set the record straight.

Standing, Caroline surveyed the immaculate kitchen and realised there was literally nothing else to do no but go to bed. She slowly climbed the creaking stairs to the staff quarters. More simple than the rest of the house, it was still a thousand times fancier than anything she had at home. She went into the room she shared with Elena and started to change. Slipping on extra furry, fleecy pyjamas bottoms and slippers, and vest top and cardigan she shoved her hair up into a high ponytail and stuck her toothbrush into her mouth as she grabbed her wash bag and headed to the bathroom. As she stepped out onto the landing, she stopped up short as she came into hard contact with someone standing out there. She felt a hand go to her shoulder and her toothbrush be pulled from her mouth.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, finding Mr Bad Boy himself standing there, looking down at her, slightly bemused, slightly angry, holding her pink toothbrush in his hand. He frowned at it.

"You really shouldn't walk around with that in your mouth. Forgive me for saying you do seem to be a little accident prone, wouldn't want you to choke to death" he said as he reached for her hand and put the toothbrush in it. Caroline suddenly realised she was standing in her nightwear in front of this fully dressed man, her boss no less. She reached for the tie to her robe and secured it.

"I'm sorry, did you need something? I left dinner in the fridge" she said, breaking him out his reverie as he looked down at her.

"No, not hungry. I was actually just looking for an adaptor, I'm sure there must be one around here somewhere" he said, holding up an Apple charger.

"Erm, I thought I saw one, just a sec." she said, hurrying away and going into her room. She searched the drawers beside her bed, and then, pulling open a drawer, she spied what she was searching for.

"Here you go, I was sure I saw it before… I guess the last chalet girl must have been British too" she said lightly, and saw him eyes turn serious, and meet hers, searching them for something.

"What?" she asked self-consciously after a moment. He swallowed and looked back to the adaptor.

"Nothing, I guess she was. Goodnight, Caroline. Oh, and new girl, if you need any help with that injury, be sure to let me know" he called as he sauntered away down the hall.

Caroline was not sure what time Elena made it into bed, but when she rose and crept out the room her best friend was still sound asleep. The house was warm even in the morning, the luxury of being rich, Caroline supposed, as she dressed warmly in jeans, a thick cable jumper and snow boots and went outside onto the terrace, after making herself a cup of coffee. Outside was blissfully still and quiet, and the air was so fresh and pine-scented it almost hurt to breath in.

She walked around the to the back of house, where there was an uninterrupted view of the slopes. The sun was over the mountain, bathing the house in early morning light and the ski lifts were just starting up, thought there were practically no early risers hitting the slopes yet. She sat on a creaking swing seat and tucked her feet under her as she gazed out.

She felt calm and filled with the empty peacefulness of being completely alone, and as always when she was, she felt her father join her. Whenever she was too quiet or too alone, he was there, her mind always just waiting for an opportunity to think of him. He was with her on the seat, watching the sun warm a snow filled valley in the Italian mountains, a thousand miles from home, and everything she knew, surrounded by silence and otherworldly beauty, and she had brought him here. Through her, he would see it all.

"Good morning dad" she said quietly into that calm morning, and raised her coffee cup slightly in a gesture of toast.

Suddenly she was aware of the slight smell of cigarette smoke permeating the air. Wrinkling her nose, she glancing sideways, and saw nothing. She shook her head, wondering if she was imagining it, yet there it still was, following her, stronger now. Leaning forward slightly on the seat, she looked down at the lower level, but found nothing. Standing, she moved to the edge of the terrace and turned and looked back and up. Looking directly up, she could just make out the toes of leather boots poking over the roof edge. Someone was sitting on the roof, smoking, and she could bet her bottom dollar which someone it was. Her peace shattered, she turned back to the house and went inside preparing to make breakfast.

It turned out to be a quieter affair than she had imagined it would be. Rebecca and Kol slept clear past the usual breakfast time of 8.30 am and had still not appeared by 10. Elena had shuffled downstairs and sat vigil at the kitchen table in case someone came who needed something. Elijah requested breakfast in the office upstairs, and Caroline made him a goat cheese and mushroom omelette as he requested, and brought it to him, with fresh coffee and orange juice.

"Thank you Caroline, this smells delicious. Do you mind if I enquire, if you have plans now?" he asked, sitting at a desk surrounded by papers, with at least two computers open in front of him. Caroline shook her head.

"Elena mentioned going into town and checking out the local ski equipment store, see about renting things for the season" she said.

"Very well, It's a good idea to get a jump on the season, it will be very busy in a few days."

"Yeah, that's what she said" Caroline said, staring toward the door.

"Before you leave, may I ask you to do something for me?"

Caroline knocked at the old, heavy wooden door, and waited patiently, the cup of coffee steaming in her hand, a veggie smoothie in the other. After a few minutes of knocking, she decided she might as well check to see if he was inside or not, and not waste anymore time.

Gently pushing the door open a crack, she called inside,

"Mr Mikaelson, I have your breakfast for you" she said softly, and waited again. No response. She pushed the door wider and stepped inside. The room was freezing inside, and she could immediately see the window was wide open, the one onto the roof. She set down the coffee and drink and went over to it. Outside there was an empty champagne bottle, holding old butts, sitting on the ledge next to a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She pushed the window closed, cutting the cold draft off abruptly. Then she turned to survey the room. Her OCD type need for cleanliness kicked in as she saw wrinkled jeans and t-shirts on the floor, and a leather holdall bulging with clothes, half in, half out. She only started by innocently straightening up a couple of things, and before she knew it, she was folding clothes and separating them into piles.

"You are certainly more hands on than Elena" came that low voice, making Caroline freeze. She carefully put down the top she had been folding and located the voice, the sight of which made her spin around and clap a hand over her eyes. Klaus stood in the door that connected to his private bathroom. His chest and hair was wet, a towel was slung around his hips, of which Caroline had never been more grateful.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry. I was just bringing you breakfast, and…."

"You decided to organise my life?" he enquired, moving into the room to survey the breakfast she had brought him.

"A liquid meal. Are you trying to tell me something Caroline?" he asked, looking at her. She blushed a little realising what he was insinuating, and by the glimpse she'd gotten, it was a stretch.

`'Hardly! Elijah just suggested -"

"That I might like something healthy?" Klaus asked with a snort. He picked up the coffee and motioned to her to take the smoothie.

"You might as well take that away right now" he said, moving to the window, and presumably his cigarettes.

"Are you sure, it's really good. " Caroline said lightly as she picked up the green smoothie.

"I am sure it is, but I don't think I can let him win so easily, sending such a pretty face to tempt me" Klaus said shortly and Caroline glanced quickly up at him, wondering if he was trying it on with her, much as his brother had done the night before, but his face was closed and he was looking out the window, lost in thought. Caroline guessed that the conversation was pretty much at an end as she picked up the drink, and started from the room.

As she went, she spied an easel in the corner, and suddenly connected the fumes she had been smelling in the room.

"Is this yours?" she asked, looking at it, though it was shrouded in a sheet.

"Are you an artist?" she asked, and he was quiet for so long, that she started to think perhaps he wouldn't answer her.

"I was" he suddenly said quietly, with a finality that brooked no further discussion. She nodded, and quietly slipped out the room.