Hello readers. This is one of the fun and light chapters leading up to the Sacrifice. I know I keep talking about it but I'm really excited and I hope you like it as well as this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 21: The Morning After

Caroline Forbes yawned and rolled over into a warm, naked body. She yawned again and curled up against the form next to her. Lazily opening her eyes to see her sleeping companion, Caroline yelped and jumped backward. "Good, you're awake." Caroline turned her head in the direction of where the voice had come from. Elijah was standing at the bottom of the staircase holding a pink, satin robe. Caroline got up carefully trying not to disturb Tyler.

Elijah kept his gaze averted while Caroline slid her arms through the sleeves. He held out a small bag. Caroline peeked inside and found a brand new pair of underwear. "Thank you," she said quietly. Elijah turned around while Caroline pulled the panties on. When she was done he turned back to her. "Caroline, there are things we need to discuss. However, I do not believe that this is the time or the place. So, may I escort you upstairs? I'm sure that you would like to take a warm shower and if you would like to eat, I have prepared breakfast."

Without turning, Elijah addressed Tyler, who was waking up. "Mr. Lockwood you may join us if you would like to. There is a bathroom on the first floor. I can direct you to it while Miss Forbes makes herself presentable." Tyler nodded and grabbed the black robe and boxers which were laid out on the mattress next to him.

The three went up the stairs and spilt off from each other. Tyler and Elijah went down one side to find the bathroom and Caroline headed toward the staircase. Caroline was surprised when she found Klaus sitting in a chair by the window with his sketch pad in his lap and his feet on his desk. She quietly went to the closet and pulled out a work shirt and pair of pants. Klaus had had some things brought into the home specifically for Caroline yesterday.

"Where did you go last night?" Caroline hated that her voice was trembling when she asked this question.

"I thought you needed some privacy. So, I went hunting." Klaus continued to work on his sketch. He refused to look at Caroline. He did not want to see the guilty look on her face. There was no way that nothing happened between her and the Lockwood boy last night. Klaus, himself, could not have endured being near her and not giving into his desire for her.

Caroline's lower lip wobbled. She just did not know what she did wrong. They seemed to be so happy yesterday and now he was acting like she ate his pet rabbit. 'Seriously, did I have to fall for Mr. Mood Swing?' Caroline thought as she walked toward the bathroom.

"Caroline," Klaus called. She stopped and turned around to face him. His face held no expression and she froze. This man in front of her was not her Klaus. This man was closed off and distant. This was the other Klaus, the ancient vampire, who had terrorized countless people. This was the monster, who wanted to kill her friend.

The couple stared at each other until Klaus broke the silence, "I'm going to be gone for a week on a bit of business. You'll keep me informed of what happens around here, won't you, love?" Klaus cocked his head to the side, smiling brightly.

There was something about his smile which made Caroline's blood run cold. She smiled, weakly at her boyfriend. "Of course," she replied. "Is there anything else you want me to do for you?"

Klaus had already turned from her. "No, sweetheart. Now, go and have yourself a nice bath. I'm going to go downstairs and inform Elijah of my departure."

Caroline went into the bathroom and Klaus put the finishing touches on his sketch. The work was not his usual style but it suited his plans. When he was done he placed the pad in a drawer and locked it. Inside the drawer was a sketch of Caroline. She had a delicate tiara on her head. Her long blonde locks were swept off her shoulders and locks escaped, falling down her back. She wore an ice blue almost white gown which touched her feet. She was holding a bouquet of blood, red roses. Her eyes glowed in the picture and Klaus was beside her in a black suit. They were in a field and the only people present were his family and a witch who was binding them together.

Behind the sketch of Klaus' vision of their nuptials was a vision of the night he would attain his greatest goal and would become his true Hybrid self. Before that sketch was another of the doppelgänger in his arms, her blood drained from her body. Caroline was there in that sketch as well. She would help him. All he had to do was retrieve the moonstone from Katerina and then everything would be moving along nicely.

Klaus ran down the stairs and came into the dining room. Elijah was having a discussion with the Lockwood boy on the ethics of superheroes. At any other time this type of discussion might amuse him - to see his older brother discussing something other than the classic works of literature was amusing. However, Klaus needed to get away from the Lockwood boy before he killed him right then and there.

"Elijah," Klaus stood in the doorway staring at the table with a sober expression. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

Elijah nodded and stood. The two walked into the living room together. Klaus kept his hands behind his back. "Elijah, I'm going to have a bit of business I need to attend to out of state. You will keep the business running and keep an eye of Caroline and the others for me won't you?"

"Yes, of course, Niklaus. When should we expect you back?"

Klaus smiled, "I should only be gone for a week. I was thinking that if Kol can take a week, so can I. Actually, you or Bekah should consider doing the same. That way we will all be well rested in a month."

Elijah smiled back at his younger brother. "Yes, you're right. We all need to take a little time off from the day to day stresses."

Klaus was satisfied that things were in order and flashed out of the room. Minutes later Caroline came down. She saw Elijah waiting for her and expected to see Klaus but he was gone. She sighed and followed Elijah down into the dining room. "Whoa, were you expecting the Mystic Falls football team?" Caroline questioned but she was thrilled to see fresh fruit in a bowl, yogurt, three kinds of eggs, including omelets, pancakes, waffles, blueberry muffins, bacon, sausage, Orange juice, Milk, coffee and tea. This was great and Caroline was soon beaming.

Caroline could get used to this. "Did you make all of this?" Caroline directed her question at, Elijah, who shrugged.

"I rarely sleep through the night and I thought you might be hungry in the morning. I really had no idea what to make. So, I went with a little bit of everything." Elijah couldn't help the feeling of pride that washed over him as he watched the two young people begin to dig in.

Caroline was moaning. She pointed at her plate with her fork. "This is so good. I don't think I have ever eaten anything this good before. How did you learn to cook this well?"

Eliajh smiled at the bubbly blonde. "I've been alive for a long time, Caroline. From time to time I would delve into the art of culinary cuisine. I studied in France, Italy and China for a time."

Caroline's eyes brightened even more. "That sounds wonderful. I've never really been anywhere other than Mystic Falls."

"I'm sure that will change with time, Caroline. You are quite young. Soon you will go to college, that experience alone will change the way you see the world. Explore your options, take a trip over seas. I'm sure there are colleges which will allow you to study abroad. All you have to do is keep you mind open to the possibilities the world has to offer."

"Wow," Tyler chuckled. "Colleges should be knocking down your door, dude. All you have to do is make that speech and parents and prospective students would be running into an admissions office."

Elijah laughed, "I will keep that in mind."

They were silent for a while as they ate. Elijah decided that it was time to get to business. "Caroline, I have noticed that you seem to getting along with my brother, quite well."

Caroline choked on the bite of cheese omelet she had just placed in her mouth. "Yeah," she said quietly. "We were."

Elijah frowned at her wording. "Were?"

"Klaus seemed pissed off this morning and then he told me that he was leaving." Caroline glared at her omelet like it had come between the couple. She then viciously stabbed it with her fork.

"Hey, Care, what did those eggs ever do to you?" Tyler joked. He had an amused expression on his face. The idea that Caroline and Klaus were not getting along did not bother him. He reached across the table and piled some more pancakes, a couple pieces of bacon and sausage and fruit onto his plate.

"Well, Ty, when you find a girlfriend you can hold onto for more than five minutes I will be sure to rub it in your face the minute you begin fighting." Caroline glared at Tyler, who was sitting next to her.

"That's not how I meant it." Tyler was confused. So, Klaus starts treating Caroline like crap and now he was at fault. In what universe did that make sense? He shook his head staring at his food.

Elijah cleared his throat and his two companions looked up. "I am truly sorry that you and Niklaus are having a problem but I am sure that it will pass." Caroline looked at him her lower lip sliding between her teeth as her hope that this was true became obvious. "My brother is prone to fits of temper but they rarely last too long."

"Sounds like someone I know," Tyler muttered and Caroline kicked him in the shin beneath the table. "Seriously, Care?" He leaned down to rub the spot.

"Seriously, try to curb your happy," Caroline elbowed Tyler in the ribs.

"That is it," Tyler got up, grabbing his plate, he went around the table to sit beside the older man.

Elijah watched this display carefully. He would need to figure out how to convince the youths in the group he wanted to assemble to keep their emotions in check. The way they were behaving at the moment would be destructive. If they were to fight Niklaus everyone would need to be calm and think rationally or this would never work.

Elijah began to speak, "As I was saying earlier, Caroline, my brother seems to be fond of you. For this reason you need to know more about him. Things that he has probably not been forthcoming about. Things that you need to know before this relationship proceeds further."

Caroline looked at Tyler, who was chewing his pancakes slowly and concentrating on his cup of coffee. She turned her gaze to Elijah. "What do I need to know?"

Elijah linked his fingers together underneath his chin, contemplating what to tell the girl. "Niklaus is a very dangerous man. If he were to trigger his werewolf side he would be the most dangerous creature on this planet. As I have said he is prone to fits of temper and if he were to become indestructible I am afraid of what that kind of power could do to Niklaus. Do not misunderstand what I am trying to say here. I love my brother but he is …" Elijah trailed off thinking of the right adjective.

"Crazy," Tyler offered and Caroline kicked him again. "God damn it, Caroline stop kicking me." Tyler yelled his face flushing.

"Why don't you make me?" Caroline snapped.

Tyler was beginning to lose his temper and threw his coffee cup in Caroline's direction.

Caroline ducked under the table. Her head popped up seconds later. There was a grin on her face. "Missed me," she taunted. Tyler grabbed a pancake and threw that. It smacked her shoulder and she scoffed. Soon there was food all over the two of them, with remnants piling onto Elijah's suit before he excused himself. After Elijah's departure Caroline and Tyler sat at the table like two children, who had been scolded. This did not last long and soon they were chasing each other around the table throwing more food.

Tyler finally caught Caroline and was holding a bottle of maple syrup over her head before she surrendered. They decided to take any leftovers to work and see if Mr. Brown was hungry. He had also had a hard couple of days and it was easy to forget about the humans in their midst with all the supernatural activity.

When they headed into the living room Elijah informed them he was going to go to the store to open and he would see them later. They nodded and said good-bye. Caroline decided that she needed to clean up again. She and Tyler went up to Klaus' room and Tyler sat on the toilet while they discussed what Elijah had told them. "That was weird, huh?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah," Caroline was scrubbing waffle and strawberry out of her hair. "I don't know what to think. I mean, I want to trust Klaus, but Elijah is his brother and he's known Klaus for a really long time. Plus Klaus has not exactly been a hundred percent honest with me."

Tyler looked at her outline behind the shower curtain and sighed. "I think we need to be careful with the whole family. There's just something off about all of them. Not to mention they're dangerous, Care. To be frank, I hate that you're involved with Klaus. Why couldn't you date a nice, normal guy?"

Caroline scoffed, "I did date nice and normal. Matt, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember."

"And look at how well that turned out," Caroline looked at the assortment of body scrubs that Klaus had purchased for her. She decided to try the peppermint. She loved Christmas, so why not?

"I wasn't really thinking about Matt…" Tyler let the words slip out before he had fully processed what he was saying.

"Hmm…," Caroline was enjoying the smell of her body scrub and not concentrating on Tyler's comment. Then she realized what he had just said. She grabbed the edge of the curtain and pushed it back so that she could look down at Tyler, who now had his face buried in his hands. She placed a wet hand on his back. "Tyler," she said, softly. "Tyler, come on look at me."

Tyler moaned and then sat back to look at Caroline. "Tyler, you know that I love you. But this thing with Klaus, it's just happened. I didn't expect to meet someone like him but then there he was. This isn't a whose the better guy thing. It's not a competition. You don't get me as the prize at the end of the game. I don't want to hurt you, Ty. You have changed so much this past year and we are all so grateful for that…"

Tyler put his arms behind his head. "Well, if Klaus turns out to be evil will you at least consider going out with me?"

Caroline smiled, "Of course. Now, I need to dry off and get dressed." She looked at him expectantly.

Tyler just smiled at his friend. "Don't mind me." To answer that statement Caroline began to splash him until he got up and left.

Soon they had traded spots and Tyler took a shower. "Gee, your boyfriend must like body scrubs because there are a lot in here," he told Caroline. There were at least ten.

"Try the apricot. I want to know how it smells." Caroline replied. She had gone into Rebekah's room and stolen a bottle of nail polish and was in the process of giving herself a manicure. The vampire seemed to have about a hundred bottles of nail polish at her disposal. 'Buffy the vampire won't miss one,' Caroline had thought with a smile. She had found a bottle with contents that was so pale pink it looked white.

"Why don't you just smell it," Tyler held the bottle of body scrub out to Caroline.

"That would defeat the purpose, Tyler. You want to know how something will smell on someone, not how it smells in the bottle."

Tyler sniffed at the scrub and then decided to go with it. When he was done with his shower he allowed Caroline to sniff him and tried to concentrate on other things, rather than, the fact that his blood had begun to circulate toward his lower extremities. He was in love with a girl, who was with someone else. Someone, who would kill without a second thought. However, to be with Caroline in any capacity was enough for Tyler.

He dressed and came downstairs with Caroline. She drove them to work or where work should be. They found Elijah sitting on the curb staring at the empty space where the restaurant used to be. "Umm… where did the building go?" Caroline looked at the place where 'Amp Burger was supposed to be.

Elijah just stared at the empty space. "I have no idea."

Thank you redbudrose and my guest for the reviews.

Hello my guest reviewer: I hope you enjoyed the Klaroline reunion. They have their ups and downs. That will continue through the rest of this story and the sequel. However, they will get their happy ending at the end of the sequel. I have an idea of a story which will pick up where that one leaves off.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. We are moving toward the end. I have to say it has been a long journey and I've really enjoyed it. Thank you to everyone who has stayed with me and continued reading this story from my crazed mind. If you are new to this story I show you the same affection. We still have a lot of ground to cover before we wrap this story up and move locations.

Love,

LL