"Hello, mate."
"Hey."
"What can I do for you?"

Letting Damon in, Klaus was acutely aware of the fact that his best friend's sister was lying naked in his bed just a few feet away. He prayed that she would stay where she was and not come to check on him. He did not fancy getting into a fight with Damon. He was pretty sure that he could hold his own against the oldest Salvatore brother, but he didn't want to risk facing his wrath if he found out about his antics with Charlotte.

"I need you to talk to Charlotte for me."
"Charlotte? Why?"
"The stupid girl came home the other day with a god damn love bite on her neck. She's not dating anyone that I know of and I don't want to think that she's letting some guy screw her like she's nothing. She's worth more than that, Klaus."
"Damon, I don't know what you want me to do."
"She's not going to listen to me after the other day which means Stefan is out of the question too."
"What about Elena?"
"No. Caroline too. Charlotte would never tell them. Please, Klaus. She might actually tell you."
"I doubt it. She'll know you sent me."
"Then convince her otherwise. I don't care how you do it, just get her to tell you who the hell it is she's been fooling around with so I can happily beat the crap out of the guy."

Klaus gulped. If only Damon knew that he was the guy his sister had been giving her body to. He suspected Damon, and Stefan for that matter, would not be too pleased about that.

"I'll do my best but Damon, she is eighteen now."
"As Elena keeps reminding me." Damon sighed. "Klaus, I don't give a damn how old she is. She's still my little sister and I do not want some guy taking advantage of her."
"I promise you, mate, I'll try my best. Now, I have to leave soon. I'm meeting Finn and Elijah soon."
"Ah. Well, I don't want to make you late."
"Cheers, mate."

A few minutes later, Damon was gone and Klaus leaned his head against the cool wood of his front door as he contemplated the words of his friend. Cursing quietly to himself, Klaus banged his fist against the door lightly.

"That was close."

Klaus let out a breath at the sound of Charlotte's voice. He was conflicted. He wished Damon had never turned up on his doorstep. It was one thing knowing he was betraying his friends, but it was another when he was required to lie to their faces.
The seconds ticked by in silence as Charlotte waited patiently for Klaus to respond. She had been panic stricken at Damon's presence so she could only imagine how Klaus must have felt.

"If you want me to go, I will."

Klaus sighed heavily and took a second to think about what it was he wanted.

"No."
"Klaus?"

Turning around to face the girl, Klaus kept his face straight and walked towards where she was stood; stopping just a few inches short of her.

"I want you to take of that damn underwear I specifically told you not to put back on and get into my bed."
"Okay."

It was the wrong choice, he knew that, but he couldn't help himself. One night hadn't been enough. Another day hadn't even been enough. His desire for the girl in front of him was stronger than his loyalty to his friends, he realised with a little sadness and a pang of guilt. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to care enough to stop. He didn't know when he would have had enough but he knew it wouldn't be anytime in the near future.

The end of September arrived quickly and the month of October passed in a blur. Klaus and Charlotte met whenever they could; whenever his job and her school work would allow them to. After Damon's visit and request of Klaus to find out who Charlotte was sleeping with, Klaus had agreed to be more careful and only mark her in places her family and friends would not be able to so easily see.

Klaus, it turned out, enjoyed leaving the secret marks; covering her breasts and inner thighs with the small, red markings. It gave him immense satisfaction every time he undressed her to see them and know that her body was his to play with. They had not yet talked about the nature of their relationship and whether or not they were allowed to sleep with other people, but Klaus found that he held no desire to go looking for pleasure from anyone other than Charlotte.

Thankfully for both Klaus and Charlotte, Damon had stopped asking about the love-bite from weeks past after Klaus had insisted on numerous occasions that Charlotte had not revealed to him who the giver of the mark was. This, coupled with the lack of visible love bites, seemed to sate Damon's curiosity and the two were able to relax more when around Damon.

Now that November had arrived, the cold weather had finally taken its hold over Mystic Falls, and Charlotte was extremely grateful for warmth of the fire as she sat with Klaus, her brothers, and their respective girlfriends one cold night.
"We finally set a date." Elena exclaimed happily.
"That's great!" Caroline squealed. She adored weddings and was excited about being a bridesmaid.
"We're getting married on the thirteenth of March. Save the date!"
"Elena, darling, they're all in the wedding. They know they have to be there."
"I know that, Damon. I was making a joke."
"It's so cute when she tries." Damon said to the others as he tried and failed to avoid the swatting of his girlfriend's hand on his arm.

Stefan smiled at the sight of his brother and Elena. It was hard for him to believe that he had once been so hopelessly in love with the girl who was about to marry his brother. Looking at Caroline, he felt foolish for wasting all those years pining after Elena; Caroline was everything to him now and one day he would marry her too.

"C'mon, Damon. Don't tease her like that." Stefan said, laughing.

Ignoring the conversation the two brothers were having, Caroline turned her attention to Charlotte who was sat on the rug in front of the fire with her legs crossed. She was the only one sat on the floor and Caroline noticed that she was not involving herself completely in the conversation.

"I thought you'd have been with Emma tonight, Charlotte." Caroline directed towards the girl.
"Nope. She's too busy with Kol. Now that she's eighteen her parents can't really say anything about her and Kol. Although, we all know she was shagging him long before she was legal."
"That brother of yours is a whore, Klaus."
"It's not really any of my concern what he does, Caroline, as long as he doesn't hurt her or get her pregnant."
"Well, they'd have to be stupid not to use condoms wouldn't they?"

Charlotte resisted the urge to make eye contact with Klaus at Caroline's rhetorical question but from the corner of her eye, she could see him smirk slightly. Charlotte and Klaus had not used a single condom since getting together. Her period the previous week had indicated that they were baby-free and they had continued to use only her pill as protection.

"I don't really care what she does, I just wish she'd do it with someone other than Kol. He may be good looking but he's an absolute jack-ass." Charlotte stated, making her dislike of the boy well known.
"Yeah, well, it's not like any of the Mikaelson boys have ever been without offers. They're not exactly bad to look at."
"Why thank you, Caroline." Klaus teased.
"Shut up, Klaus."

Everyone in the room was well aware of the very brief relationship Klaus and Caroline had shared over seven years before. They had not shared any real feelings with one another back then but they had stayed good friends, and Stefan did not find it awkward that his best friend and girlfriend were once an item.
"She has a point actually. You don't have a girlfriend, Klaus." Elena pointed out.
"Yeah, mate, you need to get yourself a girlfriend." Stefan chimed.
"You all need to concentrate on your own love lives rather than mine."
"We would if you actually had one."
"There isn't anyone who's caught my eye, okay? Let's just leave it at that."
"That's so unlike you, Klaus. I think this is the longest dry spell you've ever had." Damon teased.

Charlotte stood up, catching the attention of those around her with her sudden movement. They had almost forgotten she was there.

"I'm going making some tea. Does anyone want anything from the kitchen?"
"Tea sounds great." both Elena and Caroline said, giving their specific requirements to Charlotte before she left the room.

A minute later, Klaus also stood.

"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to go help your sister, mate. It's much better than being ambushed about my love life in here." Klaus said.

In the kitchen, Klaus stood against a counter as he watched Charlotte make a pot of tea and prepare milk and sugar.

"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"You didn't need to hear that in there."
"I'm not your girlfriend, Klaus. You don't have to apologise for my brothers talking about your love-life."

A moment passed before Klaus plucked up the courage to ask the question that had been on his mind since the conversation in the other had began.

"What are we then, love?"
"Friends with benefits?"
"What if I want to be more than that?"
"Do you?"

Klaus gazed into Charlotte's eyes as she looked back into his. Their bodies were so close together they could feel each other's heart beats. Crashing his lips into hers, Klaus let his tongue slip beyond the barrier of her soft, pink lips.

"Ooops. Sorry." They heard Caroline say.

They broke quickly away from the kiss; Charlotte moving herself further away from Klaus as she continued to stand his ground.

"I came to see if you had any biscuits for the tea, but I can that you're obviously very busy."
"Caroline! Please don't say anything." Charlotte pleaded.

Caroline stared at Charlotte and saw the fear in her eyes as she looked at her. It was clear from the kiss she witnessed that it wasn't just a one-time lapse in judgement, but she knew it wasn't the time or the place to go delving into such a complicated matter when Charlotte's brothers were not far away.

"As far as I'm concerned, I didn't see anything." Caroline smiled, trying to reassure the girl. Once she saw Charlotte turn back to making the tea, Caroline afforded herself a glare of disapproval at Klaus.
"I think I'm going to back into the other room." Klaus stated, leaving Caroline and Charlotte to finish preparing the tea.

The rest of the night went quickly and Charlotte barely uttered another word. She prayed to herself that Caroline would keep her promise and not tell her brothers, or anyone else, what she had seen happen between her and Klaus. It was the kind of trouble she did not need.

Three updates! I love you guys too much :D Please let me know what you think. I do so enjoy reading your reviews :) xxx