A/N: Hey all! I know that it's been entirely too long and I'm sorry for that. My laptop crapped out. So, it was really hard to write. I'm working on getting back into the swing of things! I have a new laptop and I'm excited to get back into writing. Thanks for bearing with me! I appreciate you all and your patience! Expect lots of updates! Special thanks to Ciara for reading this over! You're the best!

Lots of love,
Anneryn

Background: Bonnie is no longer in Mystic Falls. Silas is a non-issue. She and Jeremy never got back together. (Thank goodness.) Klaus and his family are relatively safe. His parental units stayed gone and Hope is alive and well. The rest should be explained in story.

I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES OR THE CHARACTERS.
Song Suggestion/Inspiration: "I Just Wanna…" by Elijah Blake featuring DeJ Loaf

I moved my body against the mass of gyrating strangers in the club. I felt hands on my hips and I moved closer to them. I felt the heavy vibrations flow through my body and even if it was just for a moment, I didn't feel so alone. I relished in it. Nowadays, this is the only time that I can let my guard down and not be afraid of being drowned in my own thoughts. It's nice to let go. It's nice just to feel.

I felt lips on my neck and I leaned my head back to give the nameless stranger easier access to my body. I moved shamelessly against whoever it was and enjoyed the welcomed distraction from it all.

To say that my life is complicated is a massive understatement. I'm no longer a part of the Mystic Falls group, but things haven't really gone back to normal, either. I don't know how to fit in, anymore. I've been through too much. How does anyone go back to normal, after dying and being brought back, not once, but twice? I wouldn't know what normal was, even if it hit me in the face with a bulldozer.

I do my best, but it feels half-assed at best. I have shallow conversations with casual acquaintances, because I don't trust anyone enough to actually build a friendship with them. I don't know how to act or what to say. When they try to get closer to me, or find out more about my past, it takes everything I have not to shut down. I'm not willing or ready to relive it all. I've tried so hard to get past it all, but it feels like no matter how hard I try, I always fall short and managed to get sucked back in.

Hands gripped my hips and jolted me back to reality. I felt a hickey growing on my neck and I didn't care. I moved my hand back to the stranger's thigh and moved closer.

"Bonnie!" A loud voice filled my ears and I stilled. I looked around and tried to place the voice with a face among the crowd of people. My eyes flitted from one nameless face to another, before I saw a face that I never thought that I would ever see again – Klaus. I stepped away from the person I was dancing with and heard a small protest, but brushed it off before moving towards him, before I realized what I was doing.

His hands were on me, before I could fully comprehend what was happening. He moved his hips against mine in the most sinful way. I looked up at him and saw a dangerous glint in his eyes. I couldn't deny that I was drawn to it. It was almost hypnotic. His lips were against my ear and I couldn't fight the shiver that made its way through my body.

"You've fallen so far. Haven't you, sweetheart?" He breathed. I shook, but didn't try to move away from him. "When I heard that you were in town, I couldn't believe it. The great Bonnie Bennett, reduced to nothing more than an empty whore." I flinched at the words. I couldn't deny them. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't pretend to. I've been going through the motions for so long… I didn't know how to get back to where or who I wanted to be. I was stuck. I knew it and I guess Klaus did, too. I just don't know why he suddenly cares. He's never given a damn before.

"Takes one to know one – doesn't it?" I whispered. I knew that he heard me. He stilled against me, before rolling his hips and we fell into a tension-filled, deafening silence. He hands roamed my body and I never moved to stop them. I didn't care if he wanted to touch me. This is why I came tonight. I just wanted someone to fill the void for a little while and pretend that I wasn't as alone as I felt. It didn't matter who it was. It never did. I just need a warm body and his would suffice just as well as anyone else's would.

"You honestly don't care. Do you?" Klaus asked. I looked up at him and met his penetrating gaze. I shook my head. His hands dipped lower and gripped my ass.

"Why should I?" I challenged him. He didn't say anything, but moved me towards the back of the club. We ended up in an empty back room. It was a lot quieter back here and I doubted that we would be interrupted.

"You can't keep doing this. This will slowly kill you, but you know that. Don't you?" He asked me, quietly. I looked at him, but didn't say anything. "I couldn't believe it, when Emily told me." That got my attention. I flinched at her name. He couldn't possibly mean… Could he…? "She's persistent. Isn't she? She wouldn't leave me be, until I assured her that I could come and find you." He crept closer to me and for the first time tonight, I wasn't entirely sure that I wanted him to.

I haven't heard anything from the witches, since I left Mystic Falls. I left and I did my best to block everyone and everything out. I just couldn't stay there anymore. Too much had happened… sure. I had lost too much… everyone knew that. I just couldn't do it anymore. I didn't have it in me. I was drained. I felt like I didn't have anything else that I couldn't possibly give. I didn't care if I lived or died and that's what scared me. That's how I knew that it was time for me to leave. I knew that if I stayed there, that I would end up dead and I wouldn't find a way back. I knew that if I stayed, that I would truly have nothing, not even the tattered shell that I claimed as my body.

It took every ounce of self-perseverance that I didn't know that I even still possessed to walk away from it all. I knew that no one would like my decision or support it, so I ignored them all and just left. That was the last time that I talked to any of them or practiced magic. Sure, I'm sure that I probably still could, but I couldn't bring myself to touch that part of my life. I left that behind, when I left Mystic Falls.

Sure, once upon a time, I did love magic. I still loved the friends that I left behind. I knew that. I did. But, I still didn't know how to love myself or how to pick myself back up or how to be okay. I was doing my best and I wasn't deluded enough to think that it was good enough. I knew that it wasn't.

"The world still needs you. The witches still need you." He spoke softly this time and I looked everywhere, but at him. I didn't want to see his face, right now. I can't believe that Emily went to Klaus, of all people. It annoyed me, because I couldn't figure out why. Why him? Out of everyone, she went to him?

"So?" I breathed. I shrugged. "I don't have anything left to give them. You're wasting your time here. You should just go." I told him. He moved his hand under my chin and tilted my head, so I had to look up at him and look him in the eyes.

"I can't do that." He argued. I rolled my eyes.

"Because you're afraid of Emily?" I taunted him and laughed humorlessly.

"You're blocking her out and she knew that you wouldn't listen to anyone else." He tried again.

"And why would I listen to you? Pray tell." I stood a little bit taller and challenged his gaze.

"I don't know, but she seemed to believe that this was the only way." He admitted.

"And what has helping them ever got me?" I spoke louder. He touched my arm and I flinched. Heat radiated through my body and I immediately knew that he was telling me the truth. Well, that's a first. I saw the conversations that he had with Emily replay in front of me. I was a witch, a Bennett witch. I was supposed to help keep the balance in the world. I wasn't doing my job. And I really didn't care. His other hand gripped my free arm and I felt another electrical charge run down my body. I gasped and Emily appeared in front of me.

"We have allowed you time to try and heal, Bonnie." She spoke softly and clearly. I glared at her. "You cannot just walk away from this. We cannot allow you to. You are needed. There are forces at work that cannot remain unchallenged. Klaus and the originals are no longer the greatest threat that we face. We realize now that not all abominations are unwelcomed. He needs an ally – a partner. He needs to be balanced. His daughter is meant to do more good in this world, than he has done evil. He finally has the link to humanity that he has needed to be able to do more harm than good. He needs you to stay on this path."

"It's not my problem." I brushed off what she was telling me. It only seemed to feed her determination. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that I wasn't going to be able to escape this. The more and more life goes on, the more and more it feels like I have less and less of a choice in anything that happens.

"Helping him with help you. He can help heal you. You need purpose. Walking around aimlessly is not healing you. You need more than you can give yourself. You need a family who will protect you, as much as you try to protect them."

"How can you be so sure that Klaus and his family are that family for me?" I challenged. Her face softened and for the first time tonight, she seemed to be at ease.

"I know, because I have seen it. If you allow it to, it shall come to be. They will help bring you back to nature. You will help show his daughter the right path. She will need all the help she can get. There are many who believe that her life causes more danger than good and they wish her dead." As soon as the words left her mouth, I knew that I couldn't ignore her. I couldn't just walk away from this. How can I walk away from a little girl, whose life is in danger, just by being alive? She hasn't done anything. It's not her fault. "Hope needs you. Klaus needs you. He may not see it yet, but he needs a mate who is just as powerful as he is."

"What about Hope's mother?" I asked, clearly confused.

"She has her own part to play. She is indeed Hope's mother and is part of the bigger picture, but she is not meant for Klaus. They both know this now." She explained and I saw some of the things that had come to pass in Klaus' life. I understood. "It is your choice, but you cannot survive on your own." She faded away and I was left staring at Klaus.

I don't understand it. I'm not going to lie and claim that I do. By the look on Klaus' face, he doesn't either. I think we both know that this isn't going away, anytime soon. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't think this is something that we can ignore, either. This is literally the last thing that I want. The last thing I ever wanted was to be sucked back into this world again. The truth is, I don't know anything else. I don't know how to be anyone else. I've tried and I have nothing just months of emptiness to show for it. What's the worst that could happen? I tried not to think about the endless possibilities of pain and failure. I'm not afraid of it. I'm more afraid of never being able to feel anything else again. It's been so long, since I've just been able to feel.

"You heard that. Didn't you?" I asked him, but it wasn't really a question. I already knew that he had. He nodded. "Do you believe it?" This time I meant the question. I wanted to know what he was thinking about all of this and how he just accepted it so easily. Why should he have any reason to trust me? He doesn't even know me anymore. He never really knew me. I never really knew him.

"I have learned that anything is possible, when it comes to my daughter and protecting her. I would do anything for her, to ensure her safety. There is no doubt in my mind that you would be a great asset." He admitted. It was more honest, than I thought it would be, but I believed him. If Klaus is known for anything, it's for protecting his own. "You've always done everything in your power to protect those you care about. I have always admired that." He added. I wasn't sure if I had heard him right, but the serious look on his face, told me that I had.

"What happens now?"

"We try this." He replied, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," he echoed. Before I could say anything else, his lips were on mine. I gasped against him and felt a surge of heat and emotions flood through my body. It felt like everything that I haven't been able to feel for months was coursing through me now and being with Klaus was responsible for it. He didn't make any signs of slowing down. I clung to him, like my life depended on it, and truth be told, it probably did. He picked me up and backed me up against a nearby wall. We fused our lips together and I felt his hands roaming my body.

I heard something clatter behind him and I jumped. I moved my mouth away from his, panting. I saw Elijah staring at us from the doorway.

"Bonnie agreed to come back with us, I take it, Niklaus?" Elijah asked. Klaus smirked.

"There is something to be left desired about your timing, brother." Klaus mused, instead of answering Elijah's question. Elijah just looked amused. "Well?" He directed his question towards me. I nodded.

"Yeah," I panted. Klaus' smirk deepened.

"Very well, I'll leave you two. Hayley and I will be at the bar." Elijah excused himself. Klaus nuzzled my neck and bit down, playfully, before setting me down on my feet. It took me a minute to will my legs to stop feeling like jelly.

"Why did you come here tonight?" He asked me. I shrugged.

"The same reason I come every night. I just wanted to forget. I just wanna get fucked up…" I told him, honestly.

"We don't have to go back to the morning. Shall we? I think we should get to know each other better, anyway." He offered me his hand. I took it and nodded. I followed him to the bar and he ordered a couple round of shots. Hayley shrugged and did them with us. It took Elijah a minute to get him to loosen up enough to take his. By the way they were acting towards each other, I'm guessing that Elijah and Hayley are together and Klaus doesn't seem to mind.

Klaus and I ended up back on the dance floor. This time, I felt all of his movements. It felt like every time he touched me, I was slowly being brought back to life. It was nice, refreshing even. I missed it. Maybe this won't be such a bad thing. Maybe things will finally be looking up for once.

I moved, so I was facing Klaus. He brought his lips to mine and I felt it deep inside myself. It felt like something I had buried long ago was slowly stirring back to life. I don't know what he's doing to me, but it feels like a good thing.

"We'll get through this… together." He promised. And for some reason, I couldn't help but believe him.

"Together," I repeated. He nodded and captured my lips with his. I couldn't do this alone, but maybe together will be different.

A/N: So, this isn't exactly where I thought I was going to go with this, but as I kept writing, this is what happened. This is more than likely a one-shot. I will say that there are a handful of one-shots that I will eventually be continuing, so I won't say never.

Reviews would be lovely.
Xo,
Anneryn