Note: Sorry for taking so long to post this. I've been thinking about going down an angsty road with this story, but I kind of like the fluff of it and will most likely keep the angst to a minimum. Hopefully, you'll like this chapter! Enjoy! :)

Part V - December 29, 2010

Caroline let out a huff of frustration as she pulled her suitcase off the baggage carousel. The moving belt made her stumble and silently she cursed herself for packing so much for a one-week trip to California. She nearly fell over the suitcase when she finally managed to pull it off the belt and she glanced around to make sure that no one had seen her. There was a kid a couple of yards away who was laughing, but Caroline decided to pretend that it didn't have anything to do with her.

She ran her fingers through her hair and then pulled on her hat to protect herself from the cold. It was much colder in Virginia than it was in California, that's for sure. Caroline picked up her phone and sent her mother a text message quickly to inform her that she was at the airport. Then, she sent one to Rebekah to check if she was waiting outside as she had promised she would.

CAROLINE

[11:28 PM]:

'Hey, Bekah! Plane just landed. I know it's late, but I really hope you're out there because I'm pretty sure that since the delays didn't kill me, the cold might!'

Caroline stood in line with the other people, trying not to think too much about all the time that had passed. Her plane had been delayed several hours due to the unpredictable weather. She was exhausted, cold and a hundred percent ready to just go to bed. Her mother was working, as usual, which was why Rebekah had promised to come and pick her up. They hadn't seen one another for over a week and Caroline missed her best friend. She was more than ready to catch up on everything that she had missed in Mystic Falls while she had been visiting her father and his husband.

Caroline's phone chimed and she glanced down at the screen, dread filling her with every word that she read.

REBEKAH

[11:31 PM]:

'I am SO SORRY, Care! I can't pick you up but I couldn't get a hold of you! I had an accident earlier today and sprained my ankle badly.'

CAROLINE

[11:32 PM]:

'Oh no! What happened?!'

REBEKAH

[11:32 PM]

'I'll tell you everything when you get home… I've arranged for someone else to pick you up.'

Caroline found herself frowning again. The worry she felt for her best friend faded a little as her confusion grew. If her mother was working and Rebekah was in the hospital, who was picking her up? She knew that Bonnie and Elena were both away visiting family over the holidays. To be honest, she wasn't really close with anyone else in town, except for maybe Matt and Tyler. She knew for certain though that Matt would want to stay by his girlfriend's side if she was hurt and Caroline hoped that Rebekah had enough sense not to send Tyler to come and get her. First of all, she didn't want to lead him on because after the Winter Ball, she had made sure to tell him she only saw him as a friend. Secondly, Mystic Falls was a small town and after going with Tyler to the ball, she knew that people had gotten talking about how cute they looked as a couple. She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea and she was sure that having Tyler pick her up at the airport this late would send some major boyfriend-girlfriend vibes to some people in town.

Her phone sounded again, forcing her out of her thoughts. Caroline looked down to see the new message from Rebekah.

REBEKAH

[11:33 PM]:

'Just trust me, okay? And get back to me once you get to Mystic Falls. The roads are slippery tonight.'

Caroline headed toward the exit, contemplating whether or not she should text Rebekah back to demand answers. She stepped out in the cold, still staring down at her phone as she pulled her suitcase along. When the wheels got stuck in a pile of snow, she quickly pocketed her phone and then proceeded to pull with both hands.

"May I help you with that, Ms. Forbes?"

Caroline startled, jumping and embarrassingly enough, nearly slipping on a small patch of ice. She turned around, hair whirling in the frosty wind as her eyes widened, because she knew that voice. A flash went off and Caroline blinked a few times, surprised to see Klaus standing in front of her with a camera in his hands. He was wearing a black coat and there was a thick red scarf wrapped around his neck, shielding him from the biting cold. He wore fingerless gloves and Caroline could see that the tips of his fingers were a bit red, just like his nose. Whatever he wore underneath the coat was covered, but she could tell that he was wearing a pair of dark faded jeans and boots. They looked a lot more practical than the high-heeled boots that she was wearing. There was no hat on his head and Caroline couldn't help but appreciate the sight of his unruly hair. For a moment, she almost wished she could run her fingers through it. Maybe even tug on it a little as she pulled him down to her height and kissed him senseless.

But she couldn't.

"Klaus!" Caroline said, eyes wide. She couldn't help the smile that spread over her face. Another flash went off and Caroline looked down at Klaus' camera. "What are you doing?" she asked, laughter bubbling up inside her throat.

"I do believe I remember making a promise to take a better picture of you the next time I saw you," Klaus said, his own smile wide and a little boyish, to be honest.

"I don't think you ever specifically promised me that," Caroline said. "I just remember you mentioning that you could take a better picture than Tyler did at the ball."

Klaus shot her a look at the mention of Tyler's name and something inside of Caroline's gut twisted. There was something hidden in Klaus' eyes and she wished that she could just figure out what it was. The problem was that as soon as it appeared, it went away, leaving Caroline to just wonder.

"Semantics, love," Klaus shrugged, stepping over to her. His camera now hung around his neck as he reached for her suitcase. He stopped right in front of her, staring down at her with those blue eyes that made Caroline's entire body burn with emotions. God, she really needed to get over herself and this crush on him.

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Caroline asked, ignoring the way that his closeness made her want to close the distance between them even more.

"My dear sister slipped down the stairs when she got tangled up in tinsel while chasing after Kol," Klaus said evenly. "She mentioned that she had promised to pick you up and after seeing the distress on her face, I decided to sacrifice my time to come get you myself."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him, but Klaus didn't back down. "You missed me, didn't you?" The teasing quip fell from her lips before she could stop it. Klaus' eyes seemed to shine at that though, so she was certain that he wasn't offended.

"As much as you've surely missed me, love," Klaus replied.

Oh, Klaus. If you only knew.

Before Caroline could respond though, Klaus motioned with his head toward the parking lot. "We should get going. I left the car running, but with the way the roads have frozen over, we'll be lucky to get back to Mystic Falls by early morning."

Caroline followed after Klaus to his car, hating how easily he pulled her heavy suitcase along. He put it in the trunk and Caroline got into the front passenger seat before she put the seatbelt on. Warmth flooded her and she was grateful that Klaus had gone ahead and left the car on. The seat was warm too and Caroline sank into it, closing her eyes momentarily to enjoy the heat that seeped into her body.

"You good to go, love?" Klaus asked.

"Yeah," Caroline nodded, the smile never falling from her face.

-§-

While Klaus drove them slowly toward Mystic Falls, Caroline told him a bit about her time in California. At first she had been a bit hesitant to share, not wanting to be annoying, but Klaus insisted she share in order to make the time pass. She wondered whether he'd asked her to speak just so that things wouldn't get awkward between them, but honestly, Caroline couldn't remember the last time she'd been so comfortable with anyone who wasn't Rebekah.

"...and then my dad was so distracted by the neighbors dog barking at the reindeer decorations in the garden, that he literally dropped the ham in the middle of the kitchen!" Caroline laughed, remembering the moment fondly. Of course, at the time she had freaked out because she had wanted Christmas to be absolutely perfect, but now, she could laugh about it. She was still giggling when she turned around to look at Klaus and noticed that he too was smiling.

"What?" she asked, her hand reaching over to nudge lightly at his shoulder. "Don't you like my stories of epic Christmas fails?"

"Quite the contrary, dear," he said. "I enjoy your company immensely and hearing you talk… It's… nice."

"'Nice'?" Caroline repeated with a scoff before laughing again. She could feel her cheeks heating up. She tried not to think too much about the terms of endearment.

"More than nice," Klaus smiled. "You cannot fathom how much joy your stories bring me. You have a very calming voice."

"Well, as long as I'm not making you sleepy," Caroline said, sounding sheepish.

"Hm… I'm not tired, but I can hardly see from the snow at the moment. Would you mind if we stopped by a diner I saw on the way up?" he wondered.

"I could use a cup of coffee," Caroline agreed, butterflies acting up inside her belly.

A few minutes later, Klaus pulled up by a small diner that Caroline had never really noticed before. She wrapped her jacket around herself tightly and as they walked toward the door, Klaus' hand somehow found her lower back, leading her inside. There was an older woman working, but she smiled at Klaus and Caroline as they entered the diner, not looking tired at all despite the fact that it was past midnight.

"I'll be with you in a moment, sweethearts," she said, carrying some dishes into another room. Caroline noted that besides herself and Klaus, there was only a trucker in the corner of the room, looking half-asleep and two young girls, probably around Caroline's age, in a booth. Together with Klaus, she made her way to one of the other booths and sat down. Klaus sat down in front of her and she rubbed her palms together, trying to warm her frozen fingers. She noted that the girls whispered amongst themselves and then started giggling, all while not-so-subtly staring toward Klaus. Much to her annoyance, Caroline realized that they must find him attractive.

The woman who worked at the diner came over and they both ordered a cup of coffee. Caroline wasn't sure that she wanted something sweet to go with the drink, but Klaus ordered a piece of pie.

At first, they didn't really talk much. Both of them were too busy trying to warm up from the cold. Caroline glanced toward the girls from time to time, noticing that they were still whispering while watching Klaus and she couldn't help but grit her teeth and glare down at the table.

"Here you go, dears," the older woman said, putting the coffee on the table and a slice of pie in front of Klaus. "I sure hope your girl isn't on one of them diets, young man. You better be taking care of her. Some sugar isn't all bad, you know."

Caroline looked up sharply when the woman had mistaken her for being Klaus' 'girl'. She wasn't his girl; she wasn't really his anything. But then again, that didn't mean that she didn't want to be.

She looked at Klaus, almost expectantly. Wasn't he going to correct the woman? There wasn't even a blush on his face as he smirked, looked at the lade and then turned back to Caroline. "I'll be sure to feed her some of my pie," he said and winked.

The older woman seemed pleased and smiled at him. "Good, son," she said, before telling them to enjoy. Caroline didn't say much, but Klaus thanked the woman and then took a sip from his mug. He picked up his fork and turned the pie this way and that, as if inspecting it for a moment before picking up a bite of it. Caroline wasn't really sure what to do with herself so she just wrapped her fingers around the mug and frowned at him.

"Something on your mind, love?" he asked her. He put the fork in his mouth and chewed the pie.

Caroline didn't realize at first that she was looking at his mouth, but when she did, she knew her cheeks were red. Fortunately, she could blame the cold for that if he pointed it out.

"Doesn't it bother you?" she asked, her words coming out in a whispered hiss. She knew very well that the annoyance was evident in her tone.

"Does what bother me?" Klaus wondered, looking perplexed.

Caroline motioned not-so-subtly toward the girls who were sighing and giggling, still staring at Klaus, who seemed to be oblivious. He looked in the direction that she had motioned and Caroline watched as a smile blossomed on his face before he turned back to face her.

"Jealous, love?" he questioned, clearly teasing her.

"No, but they're looking at you as if you're a piece of man-meat and nothing else," Caroline huffed. She leaned back in her seat and moved to cross her arms, but Klaus reached out and took one of her hands in his. She paused.

"They can look at me any way they want, Caroline," he said. "At the moment, you have my undivided attention, and nothing, not even some giggling girls, is going to change that."

She wasn't sure what she should say, so she just nodded and pulled her hand out of his, feeling as if his touch alone was burning her skin. "Good," she said, wondering if she managed to hide her joy at his words. Probably not since Klaus only seemed to smile wider.

"I've been meaning to ask you," Klaus started, "if you'll be watching the fireworks in town this year?" He seemed almost hesitant in his way of asking, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that had just been holding hers.

"I think so, yes," Caroline answered. "I mean, Rebekah and I are always there, so I don't see why we wouldn't be this year too."

She just had to bring up her best friend. Somehow, she needed to get herself under control when it came to this man and mentioning his younger sister was like being doused in cold water. It reminded her of the betrayal that she was currently committing toward her best friend, who trusted her not to have any feelings toward her brother.

"I'll be there too this year," Klaus informed her, once again looking sheepish. He swallowed and she noted the way that his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "I hope I'll at least get a glimpse of you there."

It was a sweet confession, Caroline thought. Was it a confession, though? Was he telling her that he wanted to see her during the New Years party in town? Did this mean that he felt something more between the two of them too?

"I hope so too," Caroline said, smiling over the edge of her cup at him. They took a sip from their respective mugs and for the rest of their time at the diner, Caroline didn't look twice at the giggling girls.

-§-

It was so, so late. Caroline wasn't even bothering to look at the time anymore because she knew that she and Klaus had been delayed at the diner. She'd texted her mother and Rebekah, and she had told them not to worry because she and Klaus were driving slowly so they wouldn't get into an accident due to the slippery roads.

Her mind was heading into dangerous territories, though, because of what had happened shortly after they had pulled out from the diner. She'd had such a great time with Klaus. He had shared stories from his time in New York and given her a couple of suggestions at which schools she could apply to besides Whitmore. He made it very clear to her that if she were to come to New York, he'd be there to help her get settled and the offer was really sweet. However, despite Klaus hinting at wanting her to come to New York, the thing that she hadn't been able to get out of her head was when they had gotten back to the car.

Klaus had turned on the heater, but Caroline had been shaking from the cold. She'd put her hands up against the warmth, trying to stop her mind from traveling into the depths of what she was feeling for the man beside her, when Klaus had shocked the living hell out of her.

She had been startled when Klaus had spoken after ten minutes of silence as he drove out on the main road. "Are you still cold?" he asked and she noted that there was real concern in his voice.

"Eh, no?" Caroline stuttered. "I just like the heat, I think."

Klaus didn't speak, but he was very gentle when he reached over with his hand and touched the back of hers with his fingertips. Goosebumps rose all over Caroline and she swallowed thickly, not daring to look at him in case it would give her away. Ever so lightly, Klaus moved his fingers so that they could slip through hers, intertwining their hands. He rested their hands between their seats, staring straight ahead at the road without saying another word and Caroline had to bite her lip in order to stop herself from speaking. She knew that she needed to stop overthinking things, but what the hell was he doing? What did this mean? He wasn't even saying anything. He had just casually intertwined their fingers, as if they were lovers or something.

Still, Caroline reached over with her other hand and placed it over their connected hands. She tried desperately to tell herself that it was only because of the heat that Klaus somehow seemed to radiate. The man next to her was insufferable, sometimes, but she couldn't for the life of her stop whatever it was that continued to happen to her heart whenever he looked at her.

When they finally reached Mystic Falls, Caroline felt some kind of dread pass over her. She knew that as soon as she left the car, she would have to force herself to forget about all the nice moments she'd had with Klaus during this small trip. She couldn't do that to her best friend and she wasn't going to lose Rebekah, no matter how good Klaus made her feel.

Klaus pulled up outside of Caroline's house and helped her carry the suitcase up to her porch. When she'd finally gotten it inside the house, she stepped back out on the porch to thank Klaus for coming to pick her up at the airport. He looked at her in that curious way of his and Caroline felt as if her heart might beat straight out of her chest.

"Well, thank you for tonight," she said, her voice pitched a little higher than normal. She blushed and Klaus smiled.

"You're very welcome, Caroline," he said with a curt nod.

Caroline pressed her lips together and nodded back. "I'll text Rebekah that I made it home safely, but I'd appreciate if you could tell her too, in case she's awake."

"Of course."

"Okay then," Caroline said. "Good night, Klaus."

She turned around when suddenly she stopped. There was a small, barely noticeable tug of her hand and she turned her head back, looking down and realizing that they were still holding hands.

"Caroline." Klaus said her name in a way that she had never heard anyone use it before. It was said in a cross between exasperation and a sigh, a murmur and something more. She lifted her head slowly and met his gaze. He was looking at her and she was staring at him, her heart quickened in her chest and she moved without thinking.

Her other hand, the one that wasn't tangled with his, rose up and somehow, the tips of her fingers brushed over lips, that parted at her touch. His hot breath warmed her to her core, it seemed and when he took another step forward, an almost choked "Caroline," falling from his mouth, she was shaken out of her haze.

Her vision focused on where her thumb was brushing gently over his lower lip and she realized just how close together they were standing. Her toes were touching his and their faces were close enough that she could smell the pie on his breath.

God, she wanted to taste him.

But instead of giving into her deepest desire, Caroline cleared her throat and took a step back, releasing his hand and looking away. She was embarrassed by her reaction to him, but it wasn't as if she could go back in time and change the fact that she had been close to rubbing up against her best friend's big brother like a cat. She most likely would have purred too, considering how close she'd been to just losing control.

"Good night," she said and this time, her voice was hoarse. She turned her back to him and walked into the house.

"Good night, Caroline," was all she heard before she closed the door and leaned back against it. She put her hand to her forehead and then her chest, trying to calm her racing heart. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly and counted backwards from twenty. Before she could reach fifteen, she jumped when her phone went off. It was a text message from Rebekah.

REBEKAH

[03:56 AM]:

'Hey! Did you make it home all right?'

Caroline hesitated, not really knowing what to write, but paused once another message came in.

REBEKAH

[03:56 AM]:

'I hope my brother treated you right. I know how he can be sometimes.'

Oh, Rebekah, Caroline thought, thinking back at all the sweet things that Klaus had done for her while they had been on the road. She still couldn't get the softness of his lips out of her head and her fingers were still tingling from his touch.

You have no idea.

Note: Reviews feed my muse! Until next time! xx