Always and Forever

Okay, not a lot of Elejah here, that was not the plan. This chapter ended up much longer that I had intended, so I cut it in half! But I really like where I'm going :) I don't want to rush things, but you'll understand where I'm going next chapter… hopefully.

I'm not a selfless man
I'm not a man of wealth
If I had all the world,
Probably give it to myself
But the trees begin to walk
And the ground begins to talk
And myself

The River – Imagine Dragons

Chapter Ten

"Whoooa! Stop! Stop! Those flowers go in the back, as indicated by the flower chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize!" Seeing the girls turn back, she did not miss the roll of the eyes as well as the whispering about the crazy control-freak in charge on everyone. "Yeah! Thank you!"

She took another look at all the charts, and wondered for the millionth time how exactly she was supposed to pull this off. She only had a couple hours left, and there seemed to be so much left to do. And, of course, she still needed to shower as well as blow dry her hair and curl it. Of course, she needed to make time for make-up and… Ugh she'd never be ready on time! The worse was that she could not leave for even a second, because clearly the staff was too dumb to read a chart correctly. She'd die before accepting that she could not organize this thing alone! Which reminded her that she would be alone all night long, no date to adorn her arm.

"Now, how did I know I'd find you at the helmet of this ship?"

Obviously, he would be there to laugh at her while she was spending all of her energy on this event that probably seemed so pointless to him.

"Go away, I'm busy."

Klaus mentally laughed at her futile efforts. The more she fought the harder she'd fall.

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow."

Did he really have the nerve to just decide she was her date and expect her to just nicely follow around? Clearly, he was about to know how mistaken he was.

"How about a quarter to never," Caroline gave herself a high five, feeling proud of her retort.

"Well, a little bird told me you found yourself in need of a date for this grand event that is the crowning of Miss Mystic Falls. Surely the reigning Miss Mystic Falls won't be hosting the party alone. And I assume you are not taking Tyler, not after his indiscretion with his lady werewolf friend."

Bringing back Tyler and the were-slut was a cheap shot, but she considered his offer. She indeed would benefit from a date, as she was expected to dance later and would be in a predicament in she was to take the floor alone.

"Fine! If you insist on coming, meet me here, 2 pm. Black tie optional." She started to walk away from him, and then remembered something important, "And I already have a dress, so don't even think of getting me so much as a corsage, you understand?"

Klaus only nodded, enthralled by the magnificent person that was Caroline Forbes.

Elena was fidgeting. Both Salvatore brothers were at her house, hovering around her, asking for news, worrying about her. While it was most welcome to know they would always be there for her, she had an appointment she could not miss. They had made her explain hundreds of times everything that had happened and she'd had to lie just as many times. She did not hide the murders, because she knew that to accept her responsibility in the situation, she had to stare at her mistakes straight in the eye. That way, she could also tell her mistakes to go to hell.

No, what Elena lied about was her unwavering trust in Elijah. She could not explain it, and did not want the brothers to get angry for something they should be thankful for, but she just knew some things were meant to be kept hidden.

As predicted, Damon had been condescending, trying to soothe her by telling her of how much worse he had been before he'd found her. He told her of some horrendous things he had done, as if it was supposed to help her. Once again, Damon proved to have the mentality of a child, unable to think about anything else than himself and his feelings for her, completely oblivious to her feelings for him, or her feelings for herself. The fact that he had done worse and that only her presence at his side kept him from going back to his old ways did nothing to appease her discomfort.

Stefan acted as the comprehensive boyfriend, playing his part with perfection. He showed concern and understanding, but none of it was what she needed. He had blamed Damon for taking her in that bar, and himself for not noticing earlier that she could not keep the blood down. Elena knew better than to blame others for her own mistakes, and laughed at the irony that Stefan seemed to be the martyr now.

She had planned her day very carefully, knowing Caroline would never forgive her if she were to miss the crowning of Miss Mystic Falls. She needed to be ready at 2 o'clock, and time was running short. Through all the craziness, Elena's attempt at normalcy had to remain unnoticed.

"Guys, I already told you, I'm fine! I feel guilty for what I did, but it is my guilt to bear, not yours. Damon, stop blaming Stefan, and Stefan, please stop blaming Damon. I created this whole mess, not you!"

Both brothers proceeded to deny her of any responsibility, but she would have none of it.

"No, really, stop! Today is Miss Mystic Falls Day, and I want to enjoy myself on this very normal day. Let's have a drama-free day okay?" slowly moving toward the door in an attempt to show them out.

But of course, Damon was not done, "Wait a little, Elena. You still haven't told us what happened after Elijah found you!"

"Nothing happened. We stayed in separate rooms, and then we came back!" surprisingly, the lie did not burn her throat as she had expected.

"Elena, Klaus told us about the hallucinations! You don't have to keep it all in, talk to us!" begged Stefan.

"Look, I was not in a very good place, but I'm perfectly fine now, and I'm not ready to talk about it yet."

Always unable to accept her refusal to answer, Damon pressed the issue, "But you didn't have any trouble talking to Mister Original-Backstabber about it, though?"

"He was there, and he kept me alive, Damon! What more do you need to know? I wanted to kill myself, and I tried multiple times, and he kept me from doing it! So instead of acting like an ass, maybe you could thank him!"

Elena opened the front door, motioning them to go out, too exasperated to care about hurting them. "I have to get ready. I'm meeting Caroline in fifteen minutes! I'll see you both later!"

As soon as she was alone, she went upstairs and changed. So many lies today and none of them made her feel guilty. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if she had unknowingly turned her emotions off again. But she felt such apprehension about her appointment that she knew she was still herself.

Taking her purse and her jacket, she checked to make sure they had left, and she exited her house. Putting her keys in the ignition, she suddenly felt nervous about meeting this old lady for the first time. She had only spoken to her through the phone, and if her voice matched the mental image Elena had created, she would be very patient and very refined. She had been the first on her list, and as soon as she had heard her voice, thick with a British accent, she knew she had found the one.

Feeling somebody behind her, Caroline loudly sighted and asked, "What Klaus?"

"Try again."

Recognizing the voice, Caroline turned to face Stefan and quickly apologized, "Sorry, my bad. Aren't you a little early? You know I love you, but I'm a little busy, so quick!"

"I was just looking for Elena, where is she?"

Caroline mentally cursed at his forgetfulness, "You know she's not here, I was the one who told you to arrive at 2 pm!"

Stefan looked dumbfounded for a second, then quickly put on a warm smile, "Yes, of course. I don't know why I got everything so mixed up. So, do you know where she is now?"

"No, sorry. Now, I have to get back to my crew before the ship sinks!"

"Ship?" asked Stefan with a little smile.

"Shoo! Leave me alone, find someone else to bug!"

Then Caroline ran to a table full of, again, the wrong flowers. A toddler could understand her flower chart, what the hell was wrong with her workers?

After her appointment, Elena had literally run home, took the fastest shower in girl's history and got ready to go meet up with Caroline. They had some last minute prepping to do with April.

On her way, she bumped into Stefan, too lost into her thoughts to realize he had purposefully come out of nowhere.

"Where were you?" asked an accusative Stefan.

Elena felt slightly annoyed at the question. She was not doing anything bad, but she just wanted to keep it for herself. She should have told Caroline that she was her cover.

"I was nowhere in particular. I just needed to take a walk and relax!"

"And you could not do it at home? Elena, you love your home, you always feel at peace there!"

"Not with Damon and you crowding me with endless questions!"

"Then why did you lie?"

"I just did not want you to worry. I do appreciate your concern, it's just that it's not exactly what I need right now."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how they could be interpreted, and she saw that Stefan too did.

"What do you need Elena?"

Elena could not deal with this at the moment, so she chose to flee, "Right now, I need to get to Caroline. We'll talk later Stefan.

"Red or blue?" asked April, nervously putting each dress in front of her.

"Blue." Answered both.

"Are you sure? Because I'm not!"

"Yes. Trust me, I won!"

"And she lost?" pointing to Elena.

"Yes."

"And what color were you both wearing?"

"I was in green and she was in blue, why?" answered Caroline.

When she saw April's already huge eyes just threaten to pop right out of her sockets, Elena tried to reassure her, "The color of the dress does not matter that much, it's you who matters. And you will win!"

"Elena's right! Now, go change!"

April took a deep breath and left with both dresses.

"Elena, I did not ask yesterday, but are you sure you're alright? I mean, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but what exactly happened to you? You just seem so… so feral in a way. My friend instinct tells me you are still you, but my vampire instinct tells me you could kill me in a second if you wanted too!"

Elena's eyes started to tear up and her breath was becoming irregular. "You think I will kill you?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no! That is so not what I meant! Please don't cry, please! I just meant that I feel you are stronger than me, but like much much more stronger than me!"

"I'm sorry I killed those people, I really am! But Caroline, I would never do that to you!" added a horrified Elena.

Caroline felt bad for upsetting her friend. She should have been more tactful and should have thought of her words. Knowing Elena was a young vampire and probably would not get a hold on her emotions anytime soon, she wondered what to do. But without her having to add anything, Elena's sobs suddenly stopped, as she seemed to completely relax.

"I'm sorry I overreacted, I don't know what got into me."

"And I'm not sure how you did that…" Caroline remembered spending a whole day crying because she had broken a hairclip.

"Did what?" asked a confused Elena.

But a knock on the door prevented Caroline from further explanations. As she opened the door, she was surprised to see none other than Elijah standing behind it.

"Hello, Caroline," a light smile on the lips.

Caroline seemed dumbstruck for a couple of seconds, but answer with her chin high in the air, "Hello Elijah, how can I help you?"

"It is not me you can help. I believe my brother is looking for you. And you know how he gets when he has to wait."

"He's not gonna start killing people at my event, no?"

"It was a poor attempt at humor, Care. You'd think that after a thousand years he'd be better at it, but he lacks practice."

Caroline was surprised to hear a low chuckle from the Original. She was at a complete loss as of what was happening.

"I hoped I would find you here, Elena. There is much to discuss."

"No, there is not! You saw her only yesterday, and there has been no crisis since then. Whatever you have to say can wait! I need her." But she noticed that Elijah had stopped listening to her, as his eyes were now fixated on Elena. She gave him a slight nod and he excused himself, leaving the two of them to talk.

"What was that?"

"What was what? Caroline, today you're talking in riddles. You usually go straight to the point, but now, it's like you're having a private conversation in your head and only informing me of the conclusion!"

"Okay, I swear I won't ever ask about the people you killed, and about what you did when you, hum, went away, but what happened between you two?"

"I have no idea what you mean, but if you are implying what I think you are, I don't really have anything else to tell you. I'm with Stefan and you know that."

"You really have no idea, do you? If only you could see yourself! It's like… I don't know how to explain it! I did not think you had cheated on Stefan by the way. You are both like... a habit! I don't expect to see a change in your relationship anytime soon! But with Elijah, it's like… it's like you can both read each other's mind. You both gravitate around the other. I don't know how else to say it."

"You're kidding right? What, he's my sun?" asked a disbelieving Elena.

"Don't you see it? Just then, you were an emotional mess. And I think you felt him, somehow, and you just calmed down. And that tea and coffee thing! He chose coffee!"

"So what?"

"He prefers tea. He only chose coffee because you wanted him to!"

"This is nonsense. Stop looking for things that are not there." Answered an uncomfortable Elena. There really were no feelings. It was normal to develop some sort of companionship when you spend a week practically locked up with the same person.

"But there is something. Something you know is important and something you are hiding from your best friend!"

Elena knew when a battle was lost, so she gave up, "I drank from him," she mumbled.

"OMG!"

Elena just laughed at that, a light dancing in her eyes as she remembered of the last time she had heard that same expression.

"Well, I'm not the only one having private conversations! You do know what blood sharing means right? Especially between two vampires?"

"Blood sharing? No, Stefan never told me anything about it."

"It's… I guess you could compare it to human intimacy." To which Elena only laughed, "Caroline, I think you've got this backward! I attacked him."

"You attacked an Original? And you survived?"

"He smelled good, and my inhibitions were running low. Anyway, he stopped me. Can I please go now, inspector?"

And right then, April came back still looking as nervous as before, but with the red dress on.

"I'm sorry it took so long, I kept trying them both on."

Elena looked at her with a small smile, "Definitely the red, April. Gotta go, see you both later!"

Before Caroline could say anything, her friend was gone.

The man's body was covered in black ink. It started at his fingertips, weaving itself in a familiar pattern, but unlike Jeremy's tattoo, it did not stop at his wrist. It circled his arm, crawling all the way to his shoulder and finally stopping where his heart was, always moving and changing, as if animated by a life of its own. To some, it looked like a map. To others, it would look like a spell. To many, it just looked like skin, for eyes untainted by the supernatural could not see the black pattern, even when it was complete. However, no matter what others thought of the drawing, the Hunter knew what mattered. Witches would see the spell. However, those that came to him knew exactly what spell it was, and what it would bring him. They had cast it in exchange for a help he was already fated to give. There was no trust between them, only the knowledge that each had a part to accomplish, and each had enough motivation to carry on no matter the cost. Both could only see the prize at the end, though the Hunter had no idea what was the prize for those witches.

The spell had brought him strength, amazing strength. He was now much stronger than his prey. He had yet to test it, but he knew; it was in his nature to hunt, and as any good predator, he knew without a doubt when he was at a disadvantage. Now, the tide had turned, and the wind blew in his favor. However, even with the improvement of his other physical abilities, such as reflexes and speed, he would not have been enough with the sword. They had brought it with them, a parting gift to add to his growing debt. He could only repay them with the head of his prey. His sword hungered for it, and a name had carved itself in the steel overnight.

His long hair the color of ash was teasing his eyelashes while he tested the sword. Had it been another sword, he would have checked the edge. But this was no ordinary sword, and even a thousand years later, it was still as sharp as ever. Flexing his muscles, his started to exercise, knowing he would need it. Fighting with guns and vervain-laced bullets indeed required different abilities than fighting a one-on-one combat with a sword in hand.

However, none of that mattered, because his sword had named who she was thirsty for, and the Hunter would happily oblige.

The witches had also asked for another name, a human girl they found bothering. He was not a killer, but he would dispose of anything and anyone that was in his path, including an innocent girl. From his point of view, she was far from innocent if she consorted with vampires, and her death would not be a loss for anyone.

Bonnie had never planned to be there for the crowning, but she had news that could not wait to be delivered. She knew Caroline might lose it if she showed up in jeans, so shad had taken the time to steal a dress from her best friend's closet. She knew a lot of people would be there, and it might be difficult to get in touch with Elena. She would never trust the Salvatore with her new information, just Elena and Caroline.

Her other concern was her magic. It was still so weak she wasn't sure if she'd be of any help to anyone. She had become the bookworm of the team, while all of those she cared about were out fighting. When she had lashed out at Kol, she had remembered what it was like to be powerful. He might not have feared her, but had she been able to keep her magic a bit longer, he'd been licking her feet in fear.

She noticed all of the Miss Mystic Falls applicants arrive at the arm of their partners. Much to her surprise, seeing Jeremy accompanying April did not stir any unresolved feelings in her. She just looked at him and hoped she would make him happy. More so, she hoped he would make her happy, and not mourn one of his dead girlfriends. He deserved to be happy, with a human girlfriend who would grow old together with him.

She surveyed the area and saw Kol, looking extremely disturbed, talking to an equally disturbed Elijah. Caroline was on stage about to announce the victor, with Elena at her side holding a small cushion. Well, that was easy.

"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is… April Young!"

The audience started clapping, while April needed a little reminder of what she was supposed to do. She was so amazed she wasn't moving at all.

Caroline quickly left the stage to give April some space. She found Klaus already waiting for her.

"You're late."

"No, I'm not."

"It's 3 pm, and I said 2 pm. You're late."

"I arrived precisely at 2 pm. You were busy. Instead of burdening you with my presence, I watched you from afar while you were ordering people around."

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't have to order them around if they did their jobs properly!" She saw a table with empty glasses and quickly put them of some waiter's tray. "Hey, why am I bussing your tables? I said no empty glasses!"

She was about to say something about Klaus' smirk, but she saw the musicians and snapped again, "Hey, will you guys pick up the tempo?" snapping her fingers, "This is a pageant, not a funeral!"

"Careful, love, wouldn't want to jinx us."

"What would they do if I wasn't there?"

Klaus chose to answer wholeheartedly, "I really don't know, love."

If Caroline understood the underlying meaning of his answer, she carefully chose to ignore it, and let the silence stretch, until he broke it once again, "And how am I doing?"

"You're –" Caroline had wanted to lie, but in this very moment, she realized she did not want to lie to this man, "perfect. Just so beyond annoying I can't even look at you."

"Shall we?" as he held out his hand for her to take, leading her toward a small path.

She laughed a little at his speech, "Yes, we shall."

They walked in silence for a while, but Caroline was no good with silence, especially when she needed to vent out her emotions.

"Elena's mad at me because I pressed her into telling me what happened in New York, and then she got even madder about my reaction when I told her! I mean, how did I become the bad guy?"

"Let's get you a drink, I'll tell you all about being the bad guy."

Though Caroline knew that not a word he'd just said was false, and that should be just one of the reason to make her run away, she found she could not. Actually, she found he was just more irresistible. He took a bottle of Champaign as well as two glasses from a waiter, and led her toward a small bench.

"It's just, as her best friend, it is my duty to know everything about her life, even if she doesn't want to, right? Oh, never mind, you don't have friends."

"So being a vampire has changed her?" asked Klaus with a knowing smile.

"But being a vampire only amplifies who you already are. Doesn't turn you into a completely different person."

"It's very peculiar." Klaus loved to see Caroline getting so worked up over something so obviously… obvious.

"What's that look for?"

"It will all make sense eventually." wishing she would stop talking about his brother and Elena.

"Whatever, just hurry up and find out who those witches are."

"I'm working on it," as he poured the golden drink into both glasses and handed her hers.

Unknown to them was a dark figure, looking at them from afar, murder in the eyes. He had come back to apologize to her, to tell her that the werewolf meant nothing, and he had found her in his arms already. How dare she?

"Life used to be a lot easier. Don't you miss the days of being, –" he took out a folded paper of his jacket and started reading "Chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification committee, and the director of the Policemen yearly raffle?"

Her breath hitched when she realized where that was coming from, and she stood up, trying to get the paper back from him, "Is that my Mystic Falls application? Where did you get that?"

But Klaus continued on, not minding her the sightless, "When I am chosen, I intend to redefine excellence. Now, I'm really enjoying your use of "when", here. It's very confident. And above all, I promise to aspire, inspire and perspire. Obviously, we found a shortage of words ending in spire."

"Yeah, it's very funny. It's hilarious. Just…" and she got her fighting spirit back, trying to get the application once more.

He just held it too far from her, looking at her with his blue eyes and smiling this adorable smile. It was too much, she just laughed and chose to sit back on the bench. She finally admitted to herself there was nothing she could do, and decided that if she were to be so helpless against him, she might as well as enjoy herself.