'You know if you didn't jump into everything feet first Nik-'

'I don't jump into everything feet first,' Klaus scowled at Stefan. Stefan sucked in a calming breath.

'What I'm saying is planning is everything, you taught me that when we were town planning remember?' Stefan licked his lips. Klaus followed his tongue with his eyes. They had been apart several weeks, and Klaus was irritable because they had yet to reunite properly.

'I didn't jump into you feet first,' Klaus pointed out. 'As I recall, you jumped into me. Repeatedly.'

Damon made a noise of disgust and Marie shook her head. Faun, after almost a decade traveling over Europe with them, still blushed and scowled when Klaus made any kind of reference to their sex life.

'Nik, you're embarrassing our friends,' Stefan said.

Klaus muttered something rude and Stefan rolled his eyes.

'Okay, can we get this very uncomfortable meeting over with so you two can do whatever. Katherine has just left England for Boston,' Faun said. The night she hid herself and Stefan from Katherine and Mikael she stole a bracelet that Katherine had been wearing. Stefan had recalled giving it to her before Klaus arrived in Mystic Falls. At first Faun had intended to use it to find Katherine in the hopes that Katherine could save her from Klaus but she soon realized that Katherine was running from Klaus. She also realized she didn't need to be saved.

'We're not ready to follow her yet,' Stefan pointed out. 'Besides I found some new friends in the Black Forest.'

Klaus gave his lover a sharp look. 'What friends?'

'Well I didn't introduce myself, but I found out they live in a village there, and they're very secretive, and once a month they keep a terrible racket, first with the screaming and then the howling...'

'A pack?' Klaus asked.

Stefan nodded. 'A pack.'

'Well, I don't know about any of you but I'm bored listening to this - so I'm going to go anywhere,' Damon said.

'Me too,' Faun said as she stood and followed her sister and Damon out of the room.

'Good luck Stefan,' Damon called over his shoulder.

Klaus smirked. 'Your brother seems to think that I'm going to ravish you.'

'He does, little does he know that it's you who's in for a treat,' Stefan growled as he backed Klaus from the sitting room to the bedroom and shoved him back. 'Get you clothes off.'

'Look at my boy taking control,' Klaus murmured proudly as he undressed as quickly as he could. Vampire speed wasn't allowed in the bedroom, not when Stefan was like this. Klaus loved it, loved the control Stefan held over him, the dark look Stefan gave him.

'Tell me about who you chose to feed on when we weren't together, who did you fancy Nik, who did you desire?' Stefan undid his jacket buttons slowly and shrugged it off.

'There was a young woman, redhead, with green eyes and a soft voice who was terrified and aroused by me,' Klaus said as Stefan's fingers reached for his ascot tie and slowly undid it. He tossed it to the side and started on his vest next.

'You've stopped talking and undressing,' Stefan reminded him. Klaus smirked and reached for his shoes.

'I didn't kill her, but I did turn her,' Klaus gave Stefan a guilty look. 'She is divine Stefan, you're going to enjoy her company. She has a wicked sense of humor and her skills on the harp are the best I've heard in decades.'

'Is that all you enjoyed, her company and her music? Did you mount her?' Stefan asked as he shrugged out of his suspenders and reached for his shirt, tugging it from his pants to pull over his head.

'No, no I didn't mount her. I haven't mounted anyone else since 1864,' Klaus said. Stefan faltered.

'Not even when you left Mystic Falls, when we were apart for those months?' Stefan asked.

Klaus shook his head. 'I tried a few times, but I could barely kiss them without your face appearing in my mind,' Klaus said.

Stefan finished stripping then grabbed Klaus' pants and pulled them off. Both gloriously naked, Stefan crawled over Klaus and dropped a gentle kiss on his lips.

'We have been together twenty one years lover, and you've never took another,' Stefan tilted his head and brushed his lips along Klaus' jaw.

'That surprises you?' Klaus asked as he buried his fingers in Stefan's thick hair.

'Thrills me more like,' Stefan said as he nipped Klaus' earlobe. 'My Original Hybrid truly is mine.'

'Always,' Klaus said as he kept his throat bared in submission. 'Do you know why the werewolves you found didn't sense your presence?'

'I smell like you, I have a wolf in my bed and even a few weeks apart can't diminish the scent,' Stefan said.

'That's right love,' Klaus pulled Stefan over his face to kiss him properly. Stefan let Klaus slip his tongue into Stefan's mouth and for a moment he submitted to the vampire below him, then he caught Klaus' wrists in one hand and took over the kiss. Klaus moaned and bucked his hips up to Stefan. Stefan ground down, meeting each of Klaus' movements with his own.

'Can you come like this?' Stefan asked. 'Or do you want something else?'

'I want you to fuck me until I can't breathe,' Klaus said.

'Keep your hands there, you can move them when I say you can,' Stefan warned. 'If you don't do as you're told I have those leather straps with the vervain sewn into them.'

'Maybe I want that,' Klaus said. Stefan regarded him for a moment, his bright eyes and full lips and his scruffy chin, and Klaus looked back, open, sincere, honest.

'Okay,' Stefan slipped from the bed and a moment later returned with the straps. The vervain didn't actually touch the skin, so it didn't burn, but Stefan could feel the weakening effects it had on him as he wrapped Klaus' wrists. Klaus watched him with wide eyes, and Stefan marveled that this dangerous paranoid vampire who was almost nine hundred years old trusted him with this. It humbled Stefan, and he gave Klaus a tender kiss on the lips as a thank you. 'Now roll over.'

Klaus did as he was asked and rolled. He turned his head to the side and let Stefan loop his belt through the leather strap and attach it to the headboard. Then Stefan tested the bonds. 'Comfortable?'

'Weak,' Klaus murmured gently.

'Good,' Stefan said. 'Trust me?'

'Always,' Klaus said.

'Can you break them?' Stefan tapped him and Klaus lifted his hips so Stefan could slip two pillows beneath. He spread Klaus' thighs and gently moved Klaus' hard cock so it was between his legs. He couldn't resist a gentle kiss on Klaus' balls. Klaus gasped in surprise.

'No,' Klaus said. Stefan could see his arms straining. 'They won't break.'

'And if you want out of them?' Stefan settled between Klaus' thighs and leaned close to his face.

'I say my mothers name,' Klaus said.

Stefan screwed his nose up but kissed Klaus on the neck. 'Good. Now tell me what you want.'

There was silence, and for a moment Stefan didn't think Klaus would answer. 'You, I want anything you want to give me.'

'Do you want the redhead vampire? Would you like that, to sink your cock into a slick hole?' Stefan nipped Klaus' ear. Klaus arched his back. 'I'd watch, in the corner, like we almost did in Paris, I'd watch you fuck her and then I'd fuck you. Would you like that sweetheart?'

'Yes,' Klaus buried his face in the sheets but Stefan turned his chin and kissed him gently.

'I'd like that too, I'd like to watch you, I'd like to join you, I'd like you to watch me, if that's what you want,' Stefan said. 'Is that what you want?'

'Yes,' Klaus practically sobbed.

'Good, then someday, we'll find a woman, and we'll do it, but for now, you're mine,' Stefan sank his fangs into the spot at the back of Klaus' neck. Klaus moaned and arched his hips up as Stefan took his blood. He lapped the closing wounds clean and then licked and sucked his way down over Klaus' back until he reached his ass. When he pulled Klaus' cheeks apart and licked over his hole Klaus cried out and pushed back onto Stefan's face.

Stefan licked and sucked until Klaus was mewling and then he reared forward and reached for the jar of oil on the bedside table. He pressed two slick fingers into Klaus' hole and watched as Klaus arched and begged. 'No more, I want it tight,' Klaus said as he tried to look over his shoulder.

Stefan removed his fingers and slicked his cock. 'If you want it tight then close your legs.'

It was awkward, straddling Klaus' hips and pushing his cock into Klaus' tight hole, but this was how Klaus wanted it, and as Stefan knew Klaus often said he couldn't deny Stefan anything, the same was true for Stefan. Denying Klaus was a betrayal of something basic and honest between them.

When Stefan was fully inside he relaxed and lay over Klaus, peppering kisses along his shoulders, neck and cheek. He had intended to be rough, to fuck Klaus until they were both raw but Klaus' weakness and vulnerability due to the leather strap had Stefan picking a different path. Soon resting on top of him wasn't enough, and Stefan pulled his hips back slightly before pushing forward. He kept his thrusts shallow, but he could tell each time be brushed his lovers prostate. The angle was perfect for Klaus, and Stefan grit his teeth and held back, gave Klaus what he needed.

'I'm going to... I'm going to come,' Klaus panted into his arm. Stefan turned his head for an awkward kiss and Klaus cried out into his mouth as his ass clenched around Stefan's cock. Stefan snarled and fucked into Klaus as Klaus rode his orgasm, coming a few moments later. He collapsed in a heap, his half hard cock still inside Klaus.

'Don't move, not yet,' Klaus said. Stefan rubbed his cheek on Klaus' hair.

'Okay,' Stefan said.

'Stay in me, fuck me again,' Klaus pleaded.

'Give me a few minutes,' Stefan licked the hinge of Klaus' jaw.

'Fuck me rough next time, make me feel it,' Klaus said.

'Whatever you want lover,' Stefan was already planning it, resting on his knees and fucking into Klaus until the bed rocked.

'I want you, always you,' Klaus murmured. Stefan kissed him again and let his hands slip under Klaus to feel as his heartbeat finally returned to normal.

Stefan had a good plan, Klaus liked his plan, on the whole, but there were details he was uncomfortable with, such as Stefan's involvement.

'Who says they'll attack me?' Stefan asked again. Klaus wanted to bang his head off the wall. It was the first time in twenty one years together that Klaus was tempted to compel his lover to just do as he was told. He knew Stefan would be furious at the thought, but he had discovered dishonesty was not the way with Stefan. Stefan hated secrets and compulsion - a result of Katherine's use and abuse of he and Damon.

'You're making me want to compel you to listen to me,' Klaus warned.

Stefan's eyes darkened. 'If you do that, you know I'll leave you.'

'I know, that's how seriously I'm taking this threat. Stefan, if a werewolf bites you then it's fatal to you. I don't want you to die, do you understand?' Klaus got up from his chair and paced the room. His hands were shaking so he squeezed them into fists in the hope that Stefan wouldn't notice.

'And if we meet them during the day and earn their trust then what reason do they have to bite me?' Stefan pointed out.

'The shift, the pain, it changes most werewolves. They lose their mind, I did. I shifted once, Stefan, and I lost myself in the pain and the power. I had no mental control. I was the beast and nothing would stand in my way,' Klaus explained. He needed Stefan to understand the nature of the wolf, what they both could lose.

'Okay I get it. Then I'll lock myself up at night, you chain me up, chain me to our bed,' Stefan's smile was saucy.

Klaus rested his head on the window frame and watched as Faun and Yvette lifted the little orphan boy they'd adopted into their arms. They were aging, and he expected they would soon be leaving him, returning to Corsica. Faun was Stefan's best friend and Klaus worried about how Stefan would fare without her. Lately he'd noticed the witch thirsting for stability, and while Stefan hadn't mentioned it, Klaus knew Stefan noticed as well. Stefan was only thirty nine if you counted his human years, twenty one of them a vampire by Klaus' side.

'Immortal you may be but unlike me your immortality can be taken away. I'm just saying this because I care,' Klaus said.

'I care, I care enough to follow you all over Europe, to chase werewolf packs for you, Nik, let me do this, I'm more diplomatic than you, you know that, let me help you break this curse, I want it as much as you do,' Stefan slid his arms around Klaus and kissed his neck.

Klaus leaned back into his lover and closed his eyes. 'You'll be my undoing,' Klaus sighed in defeat.

'I love you,' Stefan brushed his nose along Klaus' skin.

They spent the next year or so in the Black Forest befriending the werewolf pack. They negotiated for weeks, and established a treaty that allowed the pack to maintain their own Alphas and in turn a selection of warriors would be at Klaus' disposal should he manage to break the curse. They warriors were loyal to Klaus, and were willing to join his entourage when next he moved. They made massive progress in an alliance of the species that had never been seen before. Klaus beamed in pride, not at the treaties, but at his Stefan who had worked tirelessly to establish strong futures for both of them. Stefan who cared enough to work to break the curse that had burdened Klaus all of his life, and in doing so making allies of their enemies.

Stefan too was happy in Germany, he took the time to learn the language and enjoyed the local delicacies, and for a time there was peace, but all that was about to change.

Klaus was sketching by the firelight. The drapes were wide open letting the light of the moon into the room. Stefan lay back on the bed, naked, with a book in his hand. Stefan knew he was the subject of Klaus' interest, he could tell by the focused looks he was getting from his lover. He was Klaus' favorite subject and used to being sketched like this but the way he'd chosen to lie was quickly becoming uncomfortable.

'Hey Nik, mind if I roll over?' Stefan said. He had a foot planted flat on the bed, his knee risen. His elbow rested on his knee and the book was held loosely between his fingers.

'Of course I mind, I'm getting a great view,' Klaus muttered without looking away from his sketch pad.

'You've seen me like this for eight thousand nights, give or take,' Stefan said.

Klaus looked up from his sketch pad. 'Did you really just count the amount of days since you've been turned?'

'I do it all the time,' Stefan admitted.

Klaus nodded and smiled. He had once too, when he was a youngster like Stefan. 'Go back to your book, you can roll over soon and I'll maybe sketch that gorgeous arse of yours.'

'I'd rather you mount it,' Stefan muttered as he dropped his eyes back to his book.

Klaus growled and Stefan bit his cheeks to keep from smiling. There was a howl outside the window and Klaus turned to look out. 'They've shifted then.'

Stefan hummed. He was lost in his pages when there was a scream. The fire had died down, and it was hours after the first howl. There was another scream, and then another and Stefan hurried to the window next to where Klaus stood peering into the darkness.

'Do you know who it is?' Stefan asked as he reached for his pants.

'You can't go out there,' Klaus warned him as he dressed himself.

'So I stand here and let people die?' Stefan snapped.

Klaus sighed and nodded. 'There's no stopping you is there?'

The scene outside was carnage, but at least the wolves were away. The thick scent of blood hung in the air, so strong it forced Stefan's fangs to slip from his gums and the veins around his eyes to pulse. He hurried to where the bodies laid but they were mauled beyond saving. Stefan frowned as he examined them, and then his heart sank when he recognized Marie, Faun's sister and Damon's lover.

'Nik,' Stefan whispered softly as Klaus peered over his shoulder. 'We have a problem.'

'I'll kill them,' Damon cried as Stefan tightened his arms.

'Damon no,' Stefan said.

'Stop protecting them - stop hiding them from me,' Damon said but Stefan was stronger. Damon had exhausted himself fighting his brother and eventually he slumped into Stefan's arms. 'I loved her.'

'I know you did,' Stefan stroked Damon's back. 'I know.'

When Klaus saw Faun arrive he sucked in a breath and slipped over to where Stefan was calming Damon down. 'You're tired,' he told Damon, compelling him for the first time since he met him. 'You're tired and you need your rest. Go to bed, and sleep until you are completely rested.'

Stefan watched as Damon walked away then turned to Klaus.

'I suppose you're going to scold me,' Klaus said to his lover.

'No, thank you, that was appropriate of you,' Stefan said. He squeezed Klaus' hand then went to where Faun was weeping over her sister.

'Do you know why she was out?' Klaus asked her. He tugged a handkerchief from his pocket and for a brief second he thought of Elijah.

'She was doing a fertility spell for a human couple in the village, they'd been trying for years to have a child and Marie decided to help them,' Faun said as she wiped her eyes.

Klaus watched Stefan close his eyes and sigh. With an awkward hand Klaus reached out to squeeze Stefan's shoulder.

'I have to go home,' Faun said. 'I can barely look at the werewolves. I understand that they have no control, but I -' Faun collapsed into tears and Stefan pulled her into his chest and stroked her hair. Klaus swallowed and turned away from them. He made his way over to the elder meeting, but he already suspected he knew the outcome. Sure enough the elders had decided to leave.

'It's not what we want,' one of Klaus' warriors, Gertrude, explained. 'But we must leave now. We made an agreement with the few humans who know of our existence They keep our secret as long as we don't attack humans. There was a human girl who had followed Marie into the woods.'

Klaus nodded. He would never forget the dead weight of Henrik in his arms as he carried him home. That weight was still on Klaus' soul, one of only a handful of deaths he would never forgive himself for.

'Some of us will stay, a few of us too old or tired to move on, but most will leave,' Gertrude shook her head.

'Allow me to help,' Klaus said. 'Why don't you make your way to America, I'll assist you in any way that I can.'

'That's generous, I'll take it to the elders, we'll consider your request,' she said.

Klaus walked home alone, his mind lost in thought. He took a seat on one of the stone benches outside the home he shared with Stefan not ready to go inside. A few minutes later Stefan joined him.

'This was our fault,' Stefan said.

'No love, it wasn't. It was a full moon, they knew the risks,' Klaus explained gently. Stefan shook his head, and Klaus knew there was no talking Stefan out of the burden of this guilt today.

'Faun is leaving,' Stefan said after a long pause. 'She has a gift for us.'

'What is it?' Klaus asked.

Stefan shrugged. 'She wants to meet us tonight.'

It was almost midnight by the time they arrived in the clearing. Faun knelt next to a stone bowl and Yvette laid out two strips of cloth.

Klaus watched patiently until she looked up. 'I've created an unbreakable spell. A bond. I know how much you both mean to each other, but there will be times your love and bond will be tested. You both gave me the greatest gift, love. I love Yvette and will be with her for eternity, but you're both cursed to live forever.'

Faun unfolded the cloth. Two small pebbles, no larger than Klaus' thumbnail, lay in the middle. There were carvings and markings on them that he didn't recognize.

'When was the last time you blood shared?' Faun asked.

'It's been a few months,' Stefan admitted.

'You will need to. Now,' Faun said.

'Faun blood sharing is intimate, and it weakens us,' Klaus said.

'Trust me,' Faun said. 'And not just a sip. I want Stefan's blood in your body, I want you sustaining Stefan.'

Klaus looked around the clearing but Faun nodded encouragingly at him. The shimmer of a spell domed over them; they were safe.

With a smile Klaus turned to Stefan and kissed him, gentle at first. Stefan arched into the kiss as his fingers worked to remove Klaus' jacket and shirt. Stefan shivered as Klaus eased his shirt off and his nipples hardened in the cool night air. Had they been alone Klaus would have given them the attention they deserved. Soon they were pressed chest to chest. Stefan dragged his fangs over the junction of Klaus' neck and shoulder, and Klaus fit his teeth on Stefan.

'Comfortable?' He murmured.

'Yes,' Stefan whispered.

They bit together, and at first only the taste of blood coated Klaus' mouth but then, like a flood, Stefan's feelings and memories slammed into him. It was blissfully painful, and he ground against the sudden erection in Stefan's pants. Love and sorrow wrapped itself around Klaus. He was intoxicated by it. Never had he felt this way about anyone before, and he probably never would again.

When Klaus opened his eyes they were on the ground, and he had no idea how he got there. Stefan was on top of him licking the already healed wound. Klaus didn't speak, words weren't necessary, so he brushed his thumbs over Stefan's cheeks.

'Here,' Faun startled Klaus. He had forgotten they had an audience. They sat up together both watching the witch. She took Stefan's hand first and sliced the knife across his palm. She did the same to Klaus a moment later. Klaus watched their blood swirl in the bowl.

Stefan grunted and leaned heavily into his chest. 'You still with me?' Klaus murmured into Stefan's hair.

'I am,' Stefan said.

'I'm sorry,' Faun said. She placed the stones in the bowl and Klaus watched a tiny red flame dance across their blood for a moment. Then the blood disappeared into the stones.

She reached for Stefan's left hand first and turned it over. Where the skin was thin and smooth she used the knife to slice him open. Stefan hissed and Faun lifted one of the stones. She placed it under the skin and said an incantation. The skin healed before their eyes.

'Your turn Klaus,' she said. Klaus reached out his left hand and ignored the pain of the knife. The stone was hot when Faun placed it, and he could already feel Stefan's heartbeat through it.

'Oh,' Stefan breathed.

'That stone cannot be removed,' Faun said. She handed each of them a copy of the spell.

'You married us,' Stefan said with a soft smile.

'I suppose you could say that,' Faun said. 'Now go make love and blood share and make these moments special and intimate and treasure them.'

They hugged Faun and Yvette, gathered their things up and with their hands locked together walked home.