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Nearly there!
"Bourbon?" Elijah offered in an attempt to diffuse the growing tension.
Damon nodded slightly, "Always." He said taking a glass from Elijah. Elijah sent a concerned look in his brother's direction, as the hybrid sat, his eyes unmoving as they fixed upon the body of his (former?) fiancée's body.
"You never answered my question." Elena reminded them, staring insistently at Elijah.
"I thought we'd agreed to accept it was a secret." Elijah replied, his patience with the ever-questioning Elena growing short.
"Not why you're helping Elena, I meant my question about why Finn would target Caroline of all people. I mean," She paused, confusion evident on her face as much as it was in her tone, "He barely knows her, she barely just got back from the past. So why did he go for her?"
"He's a dick." Came a voice from the hallway.
"Ah, Kol." Elijah stated. "You've decided to join us."
"Yes well, it is a bit of a turn off when you can hear your brothers discussing killing our other brother downstairs."
"Wait! He's been up here the whole time?" Bonnie asked only to be ignored.
"Sorry to interrupt." Klaus snarked, finally looking up from Caroline's body to face his younger brother, who was currently pouring himself a large glass full of blood. "You haven't fed enough?" He asked his eyes flickering to upstairs, referencing the girls Kol inevitably had in his room.
"You've been-" Bonnie trailed as she glanced towards the staircase, as though she could see through the walls, "With people."
"How come we didn't hear you?" Elena asked, a disgusted expression set on her face.
"It's Kol," Bonnie replied, "Probably not much to scream about."
"Au contraire." Kol responded, his trademark cocky smirk on his face, "Noise used to be too much of a problem, my brothers," Rebekah huffed slightly, "And sister," Kol added, "Got annoyed at hearing my name being yelled all over the house. So we got some witches to put noise cancelling spells on the rooms."
"A life saver." Rebekah added.
"Did you," Elena paused before restarting, "Are there dead bodies up there now?"
It was now Kol's turn to look disgusted, "Eating," He began, "And playing," He continued wiggling his eyebrows over his innuendo, "Are two very different things. Which shouldn't be mixed."
"Well..." Damon trailed off with a knowing look towards Kol.
"Yes, you're right." Kol replied to the older Salvatore brother, "You can eat where you play but not play where you eat."
"Kol that makes no sense." Elijah interrupted.
"What I mean to say is, you might eat while you play but once you play, the people you play with you don't kill."
"Why must you say everything in the most confusing way?" Rebekah bemoaned. "Just say that you don't kill the people you sleep with."
"Right." Kol nodded, "That's exactly what I said." Rebekah rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, as Elena and Bonnie looked at the Mikaelsons' interactions with confused glances - Damon and Stefan more used to their behaviour by now.
"She's waking up." Klaus said softly interrupting their conversations and capturing everyone's attention. The blonde's eyes flickered and she sat up, her hand rubbing her neck.
"Ow." She said looking pointedly at Rebekah.
"Sorry." Rebekah replied sheepishly.
"What's going on? Why is everybody watching me?" Caroline asked confused, as she stood up, scanning the room around her before turning to face Klaus.
"We're making sure you're not still compelled, love." He said softly, and realisation filled Caroline's eyes as she suddenly remembered the events of the past week, "You don't still hate vampires do you?" He asked, biting his lip slightly, fully aware of how scared he was for her answer.
"I'm so sorry." Caroline said softly, her eyes welling up as she looked directly at Klaus, ignoring everyone else around her, Klaus let out a relieved sigh, smiling slightly as he realised this meant Caroline was no longer compelled. "I didn't mean it, I didn't mean any of it." She rambled.
Klaus stepped forwards lightly touching her hand, Elijah stopped Damon from interrupting with a firm arm as the vampire tried to 'protect' Caroline, the rest of the room stood divided, the Mikaelsons all looked at the scene smiling (even Kol - though maybe the glass of blood in his hand he'd just refilled was part of the reason), the others seemed stilled with shock, watching the interaction between Caroline and Klaus.
"It's okay love, everything is okay now." He reassured her as she threw her arms around his neck. He slowly reached his arms around her waist, gripping her tightly and pulling her closer to his body, as though making sure she was really there and this was really happening. Caroline was doing the same, nestling her head on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms as tight around him as she could, unable to stop a tear straying down her cheek.
"What the-" Damon started, "What the hell did you do to her?" He interrogated angrily, trying to push forwards but his strength was no match for Elijah's who's single arm held him back. Damon's words seemed to spur the others out of it, Elena pushing through her shock, and Stefan's eyes opened in realisation.
"Caroline?" She asked inquisitively, unaware at what had spurred such a change in the blonde's character. But Caroline continued to ignore them, ignoring her friends in favour of her fiancé, her family. Her hands went higher up his neck before stopping spontaneously, Nik's breath hitched as he realised she'd felt the cool metal of his necklace. Caroline reluctantly pushed herself away from him slightly, her hands tracing down the necklace, following the metal. Nik stiffened slightly as she pulled it out form under his shirt, a ring.
"You still have it." She breathed out, almost unable to breath in shock as her eyes flickered between the ring and the man who'd given it to her over a thousand years ago.
"Of course I do." Nik replied softly
"What the hell is going on?" Elena asked getting more angry as she's repeatedly ignored.
"I love you." Nik continued, "For a thousand years," He said with a small smile, "Like that song from that awful movie." Caroline laughed slightly, "Since when do vampires sparkle." He added, deflecting slightly, his nervousness growing as he realised he'd outed their relationship to all of Caroline's friends - something he knew she hadn't wanted him to do. But the blonde didn't seem very angry, only laughing at the pout on Nik's face as he recalled that movie.
"I love you too." She smiled, before gently pulling him forwards, using her hold on the ring to lower his face to hers before kissing him. Ignoring that all of her friends were watching, ignoring Bonnie's gasp of shock, and Stefan's simple "Oh" of realisation as he put the pieces together - that Klaus' time-travelling vampire fiancée was Caroline, their time-travelling vampire who's death had separated her from her fiancé (and in that moment the younger Salvatore brother felt incredibly stupid). Caroline ignored Elena's angry muttering, and Damon's repeated questioning on what had they done to Caroline to make her like this - of what spell they had cast on her to make her love this 'monster'. Caroline even ignored the knowing, arrogant smirk on Kol's face, the proud expression on Elijah's face and the happy smile on Rebekah's face. "I love you." She repeated as she pulled away for a breath. "And as far as I'm aware," She started, with a almost cheeky expression on her face, "We never officially broke up did we - what I did when I was compelled didn't count." She quickly added as an aside.
Klaus smiled, though a slightly confused expression rested on his face as he waited for Caroline to continue her train of thoughts.
"I think you have something of mine." The blonde said with a soft smile, her finger toying at the ring on his necklace, resting around his neck above his heart as it had for the last millennia.
"I do?" He asked, looking for extra reassurance in her eyes, making sure that his ears weren't playing tricks on him. Caroline nodded.
"I think that's my line though." She said with a small laugh. "Not to be old fashioned or anything," She paused, "That's kind of your thing anyway."
Nik stared at her almost disbelievingly, as though he couldn't comprehend that not only was Caroline here and alive, but that she wanted him, that she loved him.
"Come on Nik, hurry up. I don't have all day." Kol interrupted, "You know places to be, people to-" He was cut off by a sharp elbow to his stomach and Rebekah standing by his side with a proud smirk.
Nik pulled the ring of his necklace, not caring that he broke the chain - he didn't need that anymore. He held the ring in his hand, "Will you marry me."
"What the hell." Elena intruded loudly, "What is happening? Is this some kind of sick joke or did you actually just make out with the guy who killed my aunt, and tried to kill me, and Stefan, and who has probably killed thousands of people. Caroline, he's a monster!"
"No he's not. No more than Damon is, or Stefan is." She shot an apologetic look in Stefan's direction (completely ignoring Damon's sputtering protests), before continuing her angry tirade, "You excuse Damon's behaviour, why, because you love him, because he was heartbroken by Katherine? You excuse everything he did to me, you acted as though what he did didn't even require forgiveness, that he did nothing wrong."
"It isn't like you didn't say yes. Multiple times." Damon said with an angry smirk.
"I was compelled you asshole." And with that the entire Mikaelson family seemed to put together the pieces of Damon and Caroline's past, the group seemed to take a combined step forwards but before anything could happen Elijah had snapped Damon's neck. His jaw clenched in anger. Caroline held onto Klaus' hand tightly - not for her own comfort this time, but for his.
"You think Klaus isn't worse?" Elena retorted angrily, choosing to ignore Caroline's accusations. "It is pretty obvious he has a spell over you right now, compelled you to love him?"
"Elena." Stefan warned quietly, the only non-Mikaelson (as Caroline is effectively a Mikaelson), who understood the history of Klaus and Caroline's relationship.
"He isn't compelling me, you idiot. It's him, do you not understand? My fiancée from the past, the one I was so heartbroken at having left, it's him. It's Nik. Klaus is Nik."
Elena scoffed slightly, "And you don't think he compelled you then?" She asked, her voice confident, feeling so sure that she was right.
"He wasn't a vampire then." Caroline replied angrily but quietly, watching with an emotion on her face almost akin to joy as Elena's eyes lit up in realisation (that she wasn't right, that she didn't know everything, that Caroline was choosing him).
Elena scoffed angrily before storming out of the house, quickly followed by Bonnie, the witch casting a glance over her shoulder loaded with so many different emotions, of confusion, anger, shock, (regret?).
Stefan stood conflicted, "I'm sorry." He said simply, but the words were full with emotion (in that moment Caroline realised that Elena and Bonnie had never been her best friends), "About everything." He said, his eyes glancing to Damon, and then to the door that Elena had just stomped out of, and Bonnie had left to. Caroline nodded softly, releasing her hand from Nik's and asserting to him that she was fine with a smile, before walking over and hugging Stefan.
"Thank you." She muttered quietly in his ear (for accepting me, for accepting him, for accepting us). Stefan nodded.
"I should probably take him." He said, his voice bitter as he looked at his brother, realising how much he'd let Caroline down by being so fixated on Elena he hadn't realised how Damon was manipulating and compelling Caroline. The action of Stefan carrying Damon out of the door might have seemed like brotherly affection and love, but glare in Stefan's eyes made it clear that him and his 'brother' wouldn't be being friendly for quite a while. Stefan cast a small apologetic smile over his shoulder as he walked out of the door.
The group left in the living room stood in silence. Caroline walked slowly over to Nik.
"Ask me again?"
Nik looked at her carefully, as if to make sure that she was certain of her choice (that she was choosing him), "You're sure?" He asked, just to make sure.
"Always and forever, right?" She replied with a smile, and Nik held out the ring, a relieved smile on his face.
"Will you marry me."
"Yes."