Name: Clean Start

Time: A couple of years from now

Setting: OOC/AU – both regarding canon and 'My Elijah'-canon.
This story takes place in an emotional environment where all the Original siblings are getting along fairly well (annoyed by each other and IC, but no hate). Kol was resurrected and all the drama surrounding that has played out.

Summary: When Elijah decides to help his brother's love-life, he has no idea what he's actually getting into. (Rated M for many reasons, lemony goodness being one)

Characters: Elijah Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Karin (OC), Anna (OC)

Mentioned Characters: Klaus, Rebekah, Caroline, Lisa (OC)

Pairing(s): Elijah/Karin, some Kol/Anna

Rating: MA/NC-17

Warnings : Explicit adult content in later chapters. Violence. Swearing. 18 and over to read this, please!

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4 months back
'Karin, seriously! Stop finding excuses. It's time for you to get out of your funk; a change of environment will be good for you!' My best friend Anna was beginning to get annoyed at having to listen to my arguments as to why it wouldn't be a good idea to simply pack up and move to New Orleans with her.

'Anna, seriously!' I responded with a cheeky grin when I echoed her own, rather silly, words back at her. 'You know it's not that easy for me! I have a dependent, and even though your friend at the embassy somehow managed to get Green Cards for both of us, …' I paused for a second and couldn't help the unbidden thought. Just how good of a friend was he to be able and willing to arrange that? 'I can't simply rip Lisa away from her life just so that you will have a friend with you and feel less desperate when you move halfway around the world for this man.'

'And why not?' Anna would not be deterred. 'Ever since the accident it's not like you have had any kind of family or security net here, anyway!' She looked loath to speak of the event that stole my parents and my husband, the father of my child, from me; as well she should as she knew how much it hurt me. 'In fact, the only one you have to rely on right now is me, and I will make this move. Excuse me for trying to make it possible for you to come with me! I love you and I do not wish to leave you – but after two years of giving up everything to be support to you, am I such a terrible person that I want to try to capture this chance of happiness for me?'

She took one look at my stricken face and immediately regretted her words. 'Oh Karin, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to throw that in your face. You know I always want to be there for you if I can – it's only… He… I mean…'

'You love him.' I stated calmly. 'You love him with every fiber of your being and you want to go be with him.' She nodded and averted her eyes, blushing at the overly blunt reality check she had just served me. 'And, for you to feel like you are not abandoning your best friend to follow your own ray of light, you need me to come with you, right?' She nodded again, too embarrassed to speak and not finding the words in any case.

Suddenly I felt ashamed. She was right, she had been my everything these past two years. Keeping control when I lost it, never allowing me to push her away as I did to all my other friends, taking the place of both parents and husband in her support and unwavering confidence in me. And now, when her heart was screaming to be with its mate, I was too afraid to leave the comfortable area I had grown up in, had always known, to give her the only thing she needs to allow herself this happiness? Shame on me! I reached out and lifted her face so she would look me in the eye as I forced a smile to show both on my lips and in my eyes. I could do this, for her.

'Then what kind of friend would I be if I did not support that? I love you Anna, of course we will come with you. I'm sorry for being stubborn.' Her beautiful smile felt like sunshine breaking through the clouds. I could see how she visibly relaxed and how, a moment later, her enthusiasm took over.

'You will love it Karin, you'll see! You will love him, you will love the area, and you will love the possibilities. I have already rented a house for us, it's big enough that Lisa can have her own room, and you don't need to pay any rent. With that, your widow-pension should hold you until you can get a job.' I raised an eyebrow at her statement and she just laughed. 'I know your need to be independent. Don't worry; there are plenty of opportunities with the 'high and mighty' of Louisiana for a well-schooled, old world European housekeeper. They'll be fighting over you as a prize to be had, you'll see. You'll be a status symbol!'

Her enthusiasm was infectious. I could not help but feel a small part of that enthusiasm reflect inside myself now when the decision was made. At the same time I could not believe that I was leaving my home town, my country, even my continent for an unknown future in the US. Although I had been to many countries, of course, the thought that I would make any of them my home had seemed to be almost an insult to my beloved Austria. Now I would be leaving the beautiful and serene alps for a near-tropic, overcrowded flatland. But, I would do anything for Anna. I owed her this much.

And, if this 'Kol' she kept talking about was anything like her description of him, maybe she finally had found her knight in shining armor. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

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A/N:
And so it begins...