"This is a disaster!" I groaned and cradled my head in my hands as Caroline shrieked at Stefan.

"Look, we don't know anything for sure." Stefan reasoned as he folded the blanket he'd used last night.

"Yes we do! Elena is sired to Damon. Which means her most singular burning desire is to make him happy! Just like Klaus and his hybrids." She continued to rant as I left the room to place my mug in the sink.

"No. It's not. A vampire sired to another vampire is one in a million; maybe it won't affect her the same way." I heard Stefan attempt to reason as I leant against the sink. Images of Damon and Elena swarmed in my head much like they had all night.

"We already know it's affecting her; she's acting like Damon's lapdog." Caroline sneered as I re-entered the room. "It's true!" She insisted as Stefan raised his eyebrows at her. "Everything he says, she agrees with. Everything he asks her to do, she does." Caroline glanced over to me as I stiffened at her words, disgust pooling in my stomach as I sat down.

"We need to do something." She whispered at Stefan while she got her phone out but I heard her anyway.

"Wait; no Caroline." He placed his hand over her phone. "This isn't gossip. You can't just spring this on them before we know for sure."

"I need to talk to Tyler ok? Maybe he'll know what to do."

"Alright, talk to Tyler but please don't tell anyone else. If this is true, it may have influenced Elena's every action and emotion since she became a vampire." He told her. She nodded and left the room to talk to Tyler. Stefan joined me on the sofa.

"Did you sleep ok last night?" I asked him, referring to the fact that he insisted he slept on the floor.

"Yeah, fine. You?"

"I suppose. I couldn't sleep; I kept thinking about tem, about him. How he deceived me for so long." Stefan was quiet for a while before he spoke tentatively.

"Char?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going back to the house. Do you wanna come?" I sighed but nodded.

"We should be able to live there too Stef. Plus, I need more clothes." He laughed as I shrugged the last comment at him.

"C'mon then." He stood up but winced when his back clicked.

"I told you not to sleep on the floor." I chastised him as we waved to Caroline and left the house.

We sat in the car looking up at the Boarding House.

"Let's do this." Stefan said as he gripped my hand before jumping out of the car. I sighed but slid out too.

Slowly we made our way to the up the small portion of the drive where Stefan insisted he carry my duffel bag. Then, just as I reached out to push it, the door opened of its own accord.

"Hey." Elena said, wide-eyed.

"Hey." Stefan replied as I just stood there looking past her and Damon and staring directly at the fire place.

"See you in History?" She smiled at him.

"Yeah." With that she left the house and headed to her car. Stefan and I entered the house and I motioned for him to pass me the bag.

"Hey." Damon said quietly. I glared at the blue-eyed vampire before storming upstairs.

I sat on my bed and willed my tears to not fall. I took a deep breath and collected myself before unpacking my stuff and re-joining them downstairs.

"Sired?!" Damon exclaimed after Stefan told him our theory. I stood off to one side and watched as they faced each other from two separate sofas. "Really Stefan? That is the most pathetic nonsense I've ever heard come out of your mouth and you've said some crap in your day."

"Well you are the expert on pathetic and crap." I spat. He looked up at me, his eyes wide before Stefan interrupted his oncoming sarcasm.

"Look, it was your blood that turned her. Right? I mean she's been different since day one because of you. You can't deny that."

"The expert on not denying anything too." I mumbled.

"Sure I can!" Damon exclaimed to Stefan. "I finally got Elena to good place…"

"I bet you did." I muttered again.

"About being a vampire and you two idiots can't stand that she's happy because of me." I gaped at Damon.

"Idiots!?" I hissed at him.

"You know what, prove us wrong; tell her it's okay to drink from a blood bag." Stefan interjected before I ripped Damon's head off although it would solve our sire problem.

"She can't. Her weird doppelganger body rejected the blood from the bag."

"Because you told her too!" Stefan told his brother who rolled his eyes. "You said she had to drink warn human blood from the vein. She almost died to make you happy!" Damon seemed to consider it.

"Look, just ask her to drink from the blood bag." I sneered at Damon.

"Make sure to tell her how happy you'll be if it works." Stefan added. "If we're wrong. I'll be the first to apologise."

"When her body rejects this blood - which it will, your apology better be epic." With that he left the room. Stefan and I stared at each other and he sighed before falling back into the sofa.

Care, when you see Elena, pretend I told you nothing. It's better she doesn't know that you know.

I watched as the text sent to Caroline and I threw the phone onto my bed. I returned to my wardrobe and pulled out ore clothes before placing them into another, bigger duffel bag.

"Char?" Stefan appeared at my door.

"I have a hunch about the sire thingy. I'll be back in a couple of days." I told him.

"You want company?" I smiled at him.

"Go to school Stefan. Pretend like I never spoke to you last night. Learn something." I smirked at him as I zipped the bag up and hauled it onto my shoulder. "Like I said, I'll be back soon." I kissed his cheek before leaving the house, throwing my bag into my car and setting out onto the open road.

"I talked to Tyler." Caroline said through the phone.

"And?" I asked as I sped down the highway.

"The sire bond exists because the hybrids are grateful to Klaus for relieving them of the pain of having to wolf out every full moon. That's why they have to turn until they aren't ruled by the pain anymore."

"Alright but Elena's not a werewolf so what's the vampire equivalent?" I asked no-one I particular but I know Caroline heard me.

"That's the problem, there isn't one."

"Great. Just great. Have you told Stef?"

"Yeah, he told me to tell you. Hey where are you, you sound kinda strange."

"In my car. I gotta go Care, talk to you later?"

"Ok, I gotta get to class anyway." With that I hung up and settled into the hard, worn material of the cab I'd flagged down at the airport then smiled as we sped past a large road sign that I'd only needed a short flight to get to:

Welcome to New Orleans.

New Orleans, 1942

I entered a smoky building filled to the rim with loyal patrons all vying to get the attention of the bartender that was run ragged making cocktails and other beverages. I cast my around the faces of the various man leaning over the bar and smirked as I heard their blood rushing through their veins. I licked my lips in anticipation but just as I began to make my way up to a future victim I was intercepted by a beaming face and striking blue eyes.

"Damon?!" the man in question's smile grew even bigger as I breathed out his name and placed a hand on my lower back before guiding me to a secluded tale not far from the bustling bar.

From my seat I had a great view of the band where the played on the small stage. I felt myself dance slightly as the tempo picked up and before long I was unconsciously doo-whopping along with the main singer.

"Drink?" His voice broke me out of music filled haze and I smiled at him expecting him to get up and venture to the bar when he clicked his fingers and a young girl came running over in an over eager manner.

"Yes Damon?" She squeaked out.

"Miss Charlotte meet the original Miss Charlotte." He gestured between the two of us and I acknowledged her with a slight nod of my head while she scowled.

"Who is she?" She spat as she sized me up.

"I am able to speak for myself you know." I smiled a sickly sweet smile at her. "Not that it is any of your business." Damon smiled and turned to baby vampire.

"Get us a drink doll-face?" I was convinced she would slap him but instead her face broke out into an all pleasing smile. "Bourbon and a…?" He looked expectantly at me.

"I'll have a dry martini." He smiled and turned to Charlotte.

"You heard the lady." With a flick of his wrist she was gone and fighting for a place at the bar.

"Explain please." I ordered him and he smirked.

"Ever heard of a sire bond?"

"And then one night I tell her to watch my drink and show no mercy and when I come back, she's snapped some sailor's neck and I have to prop him up on a bar stool to avoid suspicion!" He exclaimed and I almost spat out some of my drink in laughter.

"Well, you have certainly been busy Mr Salvatore." He smirked.

"I have to keep myself entertained when my best friend is otherwise engaged in another state."

"I had to help with the war effort Damon." I chastised. "And now my service is complete and you and I get to spend eternity together."

"I'll toast to that." He smiled and lifted his glass which I mirrored. "Eternity." He said simply. We clinked glasses and drowned their contents.

"Well, unfortunately Mr Salvatore I have to find accommodation for my stay in New Orleans. So that was my last drink and now I have to depart." I stood up, swaying slightly as the alcohol I'd consumed took effect.

"Stay at my place. I insist." He pulled a key out of his pocket. "It's across the street and the numbers on the key. I'll be home soon." He pressed the metal object into my hand. "And if anyone asks;" He leant in to whisper to me. "We're lovers." I laughed as he pulled away and I swiftly left the bar, a smile sitting happily on my lips.

Just as I was about to cross the busy street a hand reached out, grabbed me and flung me into an alleyway.

"Stay away from my man." A woman's voice seethed from the shadows.

"Your man?" I asked in disbelief. "I'm assuming that I'm speaking to Charlotte regarding Damon." I taunted and she stepped in to light.

"Yes, my man." She pinned me to the wall and bared her fangs. I let my face take on mock horror as she smirked and her face vamped-out before I switched places with the girl and slammed her into the brick wall, where I heard a few bones break just for good measure.

"Out of the two of us, I can guarantee that I am the one to be feared." I warned her as my face morphed into that of the killer I was. "Are we clear?" A quick nod from her made me smirk and let her go. "Good." With that I was off and crossing the street towards Damon's apartment.

As soon as my heeled foot made contact with the cobbles of Bourbon Street I felt the city burst to life. Mardi Gras music blared in my ears as the masses danced and drank. I joined in the festivities till night fell and I parted from my new friends to stagger down the street looking for a place to crash.

My foot made contact with a particularly disobedient cobble and I fell slightly until a pair of arms wrapped around my waist and caught and steadied me.

"Whoa there." A male voice filled my ears and the velvety tone sent me into chills in my intoxicated state.

"Thanks." I flicked my hair slightly and smiled coyly up at the man expecting to be face with a stranger but of course, the exact opposite happened. "You." I spat as humour filled Damon's eyes and I pushed him away from me. "What are you doing here?"

"Brother bonding." He nodded towards an uncomfortable looking Stefan.

"We're looking for a witch." Stefan clarified.

"Let me guess: Valerie La Marche." I drawled.

"Yeah." Stefan said.

"Fantastic."

"Sorry." The younger brother apologised but I shrugged at him and smiled. "Wanna join us?"

"Sure. Someone's gotta keep you as the innocent brother." He smiled. "After all, it's not your fault that he's your idiot brother." I pointed at Damon who scowled at my words.

"Well hello there." I spun around as I heard someone address me in a low voice. My eyes connected with a blonde in a red dress who was staying it seemed purposely away from the bar. "You don't know me but I know you. Well: of you." I continued to stare at the stranger while she smiled at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked, sure the woman was crazy.

"Alexia." She held her hand out to me. I took it and slowly shook it. "But you can call me Lexy."

"Charlotte."

"I know." She smiled again. "I'm Stefan's friend/mentor."

"Oh." I said, realisation dawning. "Is Stefan in town?" I inquired eagerly.

"He's with Damon right now." She pointed to the bar where Stefan and Damon were hugging. "So you're the sister he misses." She said as she looked me up and down. "I think we'll be great friends." With that she looped her arm through mine and led me over to the brothers where Stefan scooped me up into a hug and I cooed over his uniform like a proud mother.

"Egypt?" I asked Stefan who nodded eagerly. "Egypt?!"

"You'll get to see the pyramids." Damon interrupted me before I started shrieking at Stefan for going so far away.

"I doubt I'll be doing my sight-seeing driving an ambulance through the front lines but, Uhhh yeah; Egypt." Lexy smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder while Damon wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"He'll be fine." He soothed. "He's an adult."

"Barely." I mumbled and Lexy laughed at my pout.

"Think they'd have room for another driver?" Damon asked his brother who broke out into an excited grin. "I could handle some war. If it means spending time with my little brother." He said nonchalantly while I gaped at him.

"You know what; I'll talk to my CO." The brothers clinked glasses. "I'll get us another round." With that Stefan got up.

"So, Egypt huh?" I asked Damon who smiled.

"You're not going." Lexy said through her teeth as she moved into Stefan's seat. Damon and I frowned at her.

"I don't like you." He said back while I elbowed him in the side.

"In 1912, you pressured Stefan to drink human blood; he's been trying to put his ripper days behind him. He needs to death and blood and deal with them as a part of life. He needs balance, restraint." She preached.

"What makes you think I'm not balanced and restrained?" Damon asked obviously affronted.

"The fact that you never have been." I had to agree with her on that one. "You think of what you want 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Stefan's better off alone than in your company."

"Well I beg to differ." Damon seethed just as Stefan returned with our round of drinks. We all plastered smiled on our faces.

"To the Salvatores in Egypt." The brothers clinked glasses again as Lexy and I stared at each other menacingly.

"Cheers." We all said in various different tones.

"Damon." We all eyed the woman with a dead body resting on her shoulder warily. I sighed once I noticed it was Charlotte. "Did you forget that you were supposed to meet us for dinner?" It was then I noticed the blood under her lips.

"Sorry I lost track of time." He laughed as he gestured to our little group.

"I brought you left overs." She breathed before exposing the dead woman's bloody neck to us.

"Charlotte!" Damon whispered anxiously while I looked around the bar for any witnesses. She then pushed the woman to Stefan who stared at his now bloody hands and I watched as his face began to change.

"Get away from him!" Lexy pushed Charlotte out of the way.

"Stefan. Stefan?" I grabbed his arm and tried to pull his gaze away from the crimson liquid. "C'mon." Lexy and I began to pull him out of the bar but she turned around to give Damon a piece of her mind as I continued to guide Stefan outside.

"She's better off without you too." Was all I caught her saying before following us.

"Look okay, just because I'm not ecstatic about this sire bond, doesn't mean I want you to get hurt." Stefan explained gently to his brother while I snorted at his words.

"Don't get all warm and fuzzy on me yet." Damon said as he stopped in front of a house I vaguely recognised. "It's where the witch lived." He said as he pointed to the front door.

"You weren't expecting to find the same exact witch in the same exact place, were you?" I asked him dryly with a single eye-brow raised.

"No." He replied stubbornly.

"You can't remember where the store is. Can you?"

"Just covering my bases."

"Sure." I drawled.

"Do you think Charlotte is still in New Orleans?" Stefan asked.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Where was the last place you saw her?"

"The corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. Kind of told her to count every brick in every building in New Orleans and I'd meet her at the corner."

"We were gone by morning." I added. "Where are you going?" I asked Stefan as he turned and began to walk back the way came from.

"The corner of Bourbon and Dumaine. To see how literal a sire bond is."

"You're not seriously going after that bag of crazy are you?" My question went un-answered as Damon followed Stefan. "I guess we are." I muttered as I stepped off the pavement and caught up with the brothers.

"There's no way she's going to be in the same spot after 70 years." Damon muttered as we reached the corner where we deposited Charlotte all those years ago.

"Damon, what are we doing here?" A drunken Charlotte draped herself across the raven haired vampire as I lurked in the shadows.

"I need you to do something for me." Damon gripped her by the shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"Anything." She breathed, expecting him to kiss her.

"I need you to count every brick of every building in New Orleans and I'll meet her at this corner once you're done." She frowned at his words and went to protest but Damon placed a finger over her lips and continued. "It will make me truly happy if you do this."

I watched as a switch seemed to flick inside her and she nodded eagerly.

"You'll be here?" She asked. He nodded and with a smile she set off down the street focusing on the bricks of the buildings.

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair and held a hand out to me which took as I emerged from the shadows.

"This seems mean." I contemplated as we linked arms and made our way in the opposite direction, away from Charlotte.

"It's necessary." He told me as we crossed the street. "If I want to spend time with you." I chuckled.

"Yeah, she doesn't like me, does she?" He smirked at me before helping me into an awaiting taxi.

"What are we going to tell Elena?" Stefan asked his brother.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to tell her anything." I rolled my eyes at the older Salvatore's words.

"We can't just lie to her." Stefan exclaimed as I leant against one of the pillars belonging to a building that didn't occupy this street 70 years ago.

"It's not a lie. It's an omission for the greater good." Damon informed his brother.

"Is that how you justify your actions?" I asked him bitterly. "Or is it Damon speak for; let's not do the right thing, let's do what's right for me?"

"Really?" He asked me.

"Really." I seethed as we went toe to toe.

"Well it looks to me like you two just want to break the sire bond so a) Elena's feelings for Stefan come back and b) to get back at me."

"You vain son of a…" He interrupted me,

"I'm gonna go get a drink. Call me when you stop being a bitch." With that he swaggered off.

Stefan watched as I punched the pillar I had recently been leaning against.

"I hate him." I whispered still facing the pillar.

"I know." Stefan said as he hugged me. "I know."

The sound of a loud 'oof' made us break apart and speed to the source of the sound. It was there we saw Damon on his back with a woman astride him. I rolled my eyes as Stefan flung her off him and helped his brother up.

"What the hell just happened?" Stefan asked, wide-eyed.

"She kissed me." Damon told him.

"Found her." I pointed at the woman who was getting up off the ground while receiving a glare from Damon.

"Damon." She breathed, joy filling her voice as she approached us. "I always knew you'd come back for me. I must have counted literally every brick in the whole of New Orleans."

"What number did you get?" I asked sarcastically as the boys shared a look.

"Literally every brick." Stefan reiterated as Damon sighed.

The redhead wrapped her arms around Damon's neck as Stefan and I watched on.

"Uhhh Charlotte, please tell me you've had a full life and you've done something other than counting bricks." Damon pleaded as he pushed her arms off him but she kept replacing them.

"Of course I have. I'm not crazy."

"That's debatable." I muttered and she turned to glare at me. I responded with a little wave.

"Then why are you still here?" Stefan asked her as delicately as possible. She turned back to Damon and stared lovingly at him.

"You know when someone breaks up with you, and there's this song that reminds you of them? At first you hate it but then it brings back all the good memories of them. Counting the bricks is my song and I've been playing it for decades."

"Yeah, totally not crazy." I joked and I saw the corners of Damon's mouth twitch at my comment.

"That's a really long time stuck listening to the same song." Stefan said slowly.

"Yeah well," Damon held Charlottes hands away from him. "In the plus column; you know New Orleans better than anyone else in the world; which is really nice because we need your help finding someone." She smiled up at him.

We followed Charlotte all the way to a small store that supposedly housed the witches of New Orleans.

"Thanks Charlotte." Damon shook off her hand which she had insisted on holding all the way to the store. "Go have a drink, on me." He told her as he handed her some money. With no hesitation she leant forward, kissed his cheek and practically skipped off.

"Thank God for that." I muttered to her departing form as we pushed open the shop door and made our way in.

As we entered the store I felt a distinct aura that was naturally witchy and smiled when I saw a lady enter the shop floor from behind a curtain.

"How can I help you?" She asked us as we browsed the contents of the store.

"We're looking for a witch. Sorry no time for pleasantries." Damon said charmingly.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." She narrowed her eyes at him and I instantly wanted to hit him for making an enemy within 5 seconds of meeting her.

"Look…Nandi is it?" He began after catching sight of her name on a chalkboard behind the counter. "Let's skip the part where you pretend you don't know what we're talking about; we need a spell that can break a vampire sire bond. Now, there's a witch here named Val, ring any bells?"

"She was my great grandmother." Nandi replied suspiciously.

"She had a grimoire that had a spell."

"The magic you are talking about is dark. Powerful. Magic like this doesn't come cheap."

I walked around the shop floor eyeing the products on show while the witch served Damon. I reached the end of the counter and smiled at the young girl sitting in the back of the store at a table, practising how to write her name. I smiled at the young girl and she waved sheepishly back.

"How much?" Damon's words made me re-join him at the till.

"Money won't cut it here, pretty one." I stifled a laugh as Damon's charm got shot down. "Dark magic draws power from dark places. Casting the spell you need requires the sacrifice of 12 human souls." Damon and I raised our eyebrows at the witch's words.

"A sacrifice?" the disdain in Stefan's words flooded through me. "You brought me here knowing the spell would need a sacrifice?" Stefan looked at me, disappointment in his eyes.

"I was hoping the recipe had changed." I muttered.

"There's no magic like that here. I sell herbs and homeopathic remedies and dress it up with a little witchy woo-woo for the tourists but I don't practice." I smiled at the woman's choice of words.

"Okay, fine, listen; just tell us where we can find someone like your great grandma who can break the sire bond but won't flake out on us like old' Val did." Damon demanded.

"There's no-one." Damon's face darkened. "All of her stuff has gone. The grimoires, the journals; we lost it all in Katrina. If a spell like that existed, it's gone for good." I sighed.

"The witch is lying." I raised an eyebrow at Damon as we walked down the almost deserted streets of New Orleans. "Doesn't practice magic my ass!"

"A human sacrifice. Did you really think I would go for this?" Stefan asked us; obviously he had wanted to confront us before but was only now getting it off his chest.

"Extreme circumstances call for extreme measures."

"Did you kill those twelve people in 1942?" I hung my head as Stefan spoke.

"Absolutely I did!" Damon spat. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat if it meant a clean slate with Elena! Now, are you going to help me good cop/bad cop this witch or not?"

"Why can't Char do it?" Stefan asked.

"I thought we were in this together?" Damon eye-balled his brother.

"I don't have any experience with good cop/bad cop." Stefan argued.

"Fine." He spat before turning on his heel and arching back to the store.

"You better go." Stefan told me as I glared at the retreating form of his brother.

"Yeah, Lord Damon awaits." He smiled as I jogged after Damon.

Silently Damon and I crept into the shop. We exchanged glances that we'd perfected over the years that let us know what the other was planning. With a nod I let Damon emerge from the shadows first.

"What are you doing here?" Nandi asked as Damon approached her.

"I'm calling you out. You're not Val's great-granddaughter,"

"You're her daughter." I emerged from the shadows as I spoke. Nandi's eyes widened and she turned away from us as she realised that I remembered her: she was the child writing her name over and over again in 1942.

"80 years old and you don't look a day over 50." Damon observed as we slowly closed in on the witch.

"You're a practising witch." I added as we stopped moving forward.

"Get out of my store." She told us with her back still turned.

"Give me what I want." His voice was dripping with unspoken threats. She whirled around, her hand outstretched as Damon's face contorted and he fell to the floor clutching his head.

"I gave you a chance to leave with your life." She seethed.

"We don't want any trouble." I told her sincerely. "We just need your help."

"I told you; there's no-one here that can help you." Damon cries filled the room but I retained eye-contact with the witch. "The magic my mother practised; it's unnatural! Witches don't even call it magic, we call it expression." She slowly released Damon from hell.

"Is that like black magic?"

"Worse; channelling the power of human sacrifices calls on darkness that cannot exist on this plain without swallowing it whole. She sold you a bill of goods about breaking the sire bond when all she was doing was getting access to that magic. And you gave it to her when you killed those 12 people." I swallowed nervously, realising that I'd allowed Damon to let the mother of this woman access this dark power. I looked down to see Damon crawl to my feet before getting up.

"Are you saying there's no spell?" He asked.

"The bond can't be broken by magic. A vampire only bonds to her sire when she has feelings for him before she turns; human feelings. Vampirism only heightens those emotions." I saw Damon hang his head in disbelief. "You want her free, you have to set her free; tell her to live her life without you, to never think of you again, to stop caring about you. And then leave her. That's the only way around the sire bond."

I stood back as Damon informed Stefan of our new found information. I ran my hands over the magnificent bar and ordered another drink just as Stefan slid onto the stool beside me.

"Hi." I said. He nodded and signalled for a drink. "He tell you?"

"Yup." I frowned as I saw Charlotte sit down opposite Damon and get progressively more upset.

"What's he doing?" I nodded over to them.

"Breaking the sire bond." He told me before gulping down his drink and motioning for another.

"Oh." I let my hearing drown out everyone else as I pinpointed their conversation.

"Please stop crying." He begged her as she wiped her eyes.

"I'll never be able to forget you."

"Yes, you will. And I'm never going to be happy until you realise that you're never going to have the life you deserve while I'm in it."

"The same applies to you." My head snapped around to face Stefan. "You're never going to have the life you deserve while he's assing about in it." I smiled at my baby brother and poured my drink into his glass before patting him on the shoulder and leaving the bar.

It was moments later I felt the two brothers join me on a bench in the street where I'd been enjoying the sound of a lone trumpeter.

"How'd it go?" I asked Damon who was on my right.

"I set her free."

"Must have been hard; doing the right thing. Especially when it's something you didn't want to do."

"The point of this?" He asked.

"You aren't selfless enough to set Elena free." Stefan answered for me.

"One of these days you'll realise you don't know me as well as you think." Having enough of their spat I got up and waved for a cab.

The cab pulled to a stop just outside the station.

"You sure about this?" I asked Damon as his hand reached out for the door.

"I want; no I need to spend time with him Char." I nodded and let him help me out of the taxi.

Smiling we grabbed hands and ran across the road towards the train station.

A conductor showed Damon where to place his tuff before boarding the train. As he placed his bag down we locked eyes. Within seconds we were in a tight embrace.

"Look after yourself." I whispered to him, tears pooling in my eyes.

"I will." Pulling apart I smoothed down his collar and relished in the feel of his arms still round me.

"And Stefan. Look after Stefan." He smiled down at me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I pulled out of his embrace and peered out of the window onto the platform. Spotting Stefan I smiled at how smart my boys looked in their uniforms.

"Char?" I turned to face Damon. "Look after yourself too."

I smiled at him and slowly made my way out of the station.

Standing on the pavement outside I felt my shoulders drop; after only just finding them again I was losing them. Sighing I raised my hand and a taxi pulled up. Climbing into the vehicle I collected myself and just as I opened my mouth to give directions, the door that I had just closed, opened and Damon climbed in. confusion flooded through me but before I had chance to speak he turned to the driver.

"To the border." With a nod we pulled off."

"Damon?"

"I'll explain later." I smiled as our hands intertwined and the next stage of our lives began.

"I didn't know about that." Stefan told his brother who rolled his eyes. As they continued to bicker I let a small smile grace my face before sliding into a taxi and rushing off to the airport without either of them noticing.

I made my way into the boarding house and my eyes probably popped out of my head as I saw the state of it.

"What the hell?" I asked as I dropped my bag and entered the living area to see Caroline, Bonnie and Elena sheepishly picking up bottles.

"Hi." Caroline said as my eyes narrowed upon sight of a crate.

"Is that my crate of Dom Pérignon?" All their eyes widened.

"We didn't know. Damon said that…" I cut Elena off.

"Well if Damon says it's okay then of course it's okay!" I said as I flopped onto the couch grasping a half full bottle of Dom and bringing I to my lips as the three girls exchanged looks.

"Char?" Elena asked warily. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I sighed. They didn't look convinced but I didn't care.

"She saw you." Caroline said quietly. I ignored her and continued swigging from the bottle.

"What?"

"She saw you and Damon then spent the night at my place." I let myself look over at the girls who had different levels of shock on their faces; Caroline was shocked that I hadn't thrown anything at her yet, Bonnie was shocked about…well everything I assume and Elena looked shocked and sad.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't Elena. I don't care." I placed the bottle on the floor and got up. "Just clean up before they get home." With that I left the house and ran to the only place where I could talk to someone.

I looked deep into the eyes of the man I was lying in bed with.

"Hey." I said quietly.

"Hey." His accented voice made me smile. Tentatively I reached out to stroke his face. He smiled into my palm and kissed it slowly. I leant over and pressed my lips to his. Without hesitation he rolled us so he was bracing himself above me.

"You're not going back to him this time?" I shook my head at his words before he resumed our previous activities.

Talking to Klaus had led to crying. Crying had led to a quick make-out session and that, well that had led to the bedroom.

As I locked eyes with my hybrid lover, all thoughts of Damon and his betrayal left my head. With my memories now intact I could resume the life I had lived for 7 years before returning to Mystic Falls. I promised myself that I'd give Klaus a second chance. That he deserved it. That I deserved it. So with Stefan's advice in mind I became one with Niklaus Mikaelson.

A.N. Hi everyone! My exams are OVER! (for now :( ) anyway, I promised another chppie and her eit is! Tada! Okay so I'm exploring the relationship between Charlotte and Klaus at the moment so bear with! However I really do want Damon and her to get back together but I guess we'll all have to wait for an opportunity! Anyway, au reviour for now!