Tearing her lips away from Klaus's and breaking his hold on her, Charlotte stepped away; feelings the stares of her brothers bearing into her. She had been so caught up in the kiss that she had not given a second thought to what would come afterwards.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Damon spat out; glaring at his best friend with rage.

It had taken Damon a few seconds after kissing Elena when midnight came and the new year began, to realise that Klaus was grasping his younger sister tightly in his arms and kissing her as if his life depended on it.

Klaus had been gazing at Charlotte and had not truly understood the consequences of his actions until he heard Damon address him with nothing but venom and betrayal in his voice. Swallowing, Klaus turned to look at Damon and Stefan. From the corner of his eye, he could see Caroline's etched with worry and silently swore to himself that he would tell of her involvement in keeping his and Charlotte's relationship a secret.

Knowing that things would only get worse if given the chance, Charlotte stepped forward and placed herself between Damon and Klaus. Focusing her sights on her oldest brother, Charlotte spoke directly to him.

"Damon, it was just a new year's kiss. Calm down."
"Calm down?! That was not just a new year's kiss! He kissed you like I kiss Elena!"
"Damon…"
"Charlotte, just keep quiet. This is between me and Klaus."
"I will not keep quiet! You're acting like a complete jackass. You're over-reacting!"
"I have every right to be pissed about my so-called friend molesting my sister!"
"He was not molesting me! Christ, Damon. Have you ever thought that I actually might have enjoyed kissing Klaus?"

Damon stared at his sister, gob smacked. He had been so caught up in being angry at Klaus that he had not entertained the thought for even a second. It seemed so absurd to him that his sister would want to kiss his best friend.

"I think we should talk about this outside. We're making a scene." Elena stated to those around her.

At Elena's suggestion, Charlotte immediately stalked off outside, followed quickly by Klaus, her brothers, and Caroline and Elena. From the murderous expression on Damon's face, Charlotte knew he was only minutes away from beating the living daylights out of Klaus and she racked her brains for a way to diffuse the situation.

"Damon, just listen to me. It was just a kiss. That's all. There's nothing for you to be upset about."
"I'm not upset. I'm pissed off!"
"It was a kiss! Nothing more." Charlotte repeated, almost screaming at her oldest brother.
"Damon, if she says it was just a kiss then believe her."

Elena spoke softly, trying to calm Damon down. She was all too aware of how protective Damon was over his only sister and like Charlotte, she too could see that Damon's self-control was stretching thin.

"Stay away from my sister." Damon spat at Klaus as a warning.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."

Charlotte groaned. They were so close to Damon letting the situation go. She cursed Klaus for not staying silent.

"And why the hell not?"
"Because I love her, Damon."
"What did you just say?" Damon asked; wanting to make sure he had heard Klaus correctly and that his mind was not playing tricks on him.
"I love her. It wasn't just a kiss. We've been sleeping together for three months."

A second later, before anyone even knew what had happened, Klaus was falling backwards as a fist collided with his jaw. Running to Klaus's aid, Charlotte helped him up and was about to tell Damon to go to hell when she saw that it was Stefan, and Damon as she had thought, who had punched Klaus.

Charlotte had almost forgotten that Stefan was also there during her argument with Damon. He had not uttered a single word or shown any indication that he was furious about Klaus and Charlotte's passionate kiss.

"Stefan!" Charlotte and Caroline shouted in unison.

Stefan was shaking his hand and wincing. Punching the face of his best friend, it seemed, had caused quite a considerable amount of pain to Stefan as well as Klaus.

"He slept with my sister!" Stefan shouted; never having felt so angry in his life.
"Why are you all acting like this is Klaus's fault?"
"He's six years older than you, Charlotte." Stefan replied. "He's meant to be our friend!"
"He is your friend! I seduced him! He's only human!" Charlotte argued, trying to make her brother see sense.
"Don't make excuses for him." Damon interjected.
"I'm not! Klaus didn't go after me. In fact, he warned me off. I didn't listen. So, if you want someone to be mad at, then be mad at me."
"I'd rather just kick his ass." Damon argued, moving towards Klaus.

Using her body to block Damon's path, Charlotte stood in front of her brother with her back so close to Klaus's chest she could feel him breathing. Staring up at her brother defiantly, Charlotte stood her ground and refused to move.

"You will do no such thing, Damon."
"Move, Charlotte."
"No."
"Get out of my way or I'll move you myself."
"I said no."

Damon sighed heavily. He loved his sister so much, probably too much, and he hated just how alike they were. He saw his own level of stubbornness reflected back at him in his sister's eyes and he knew she would not budge while he was ready to harm Klaus.

"Fine." Damon said through gritted teeth; admitting defeat. "We're going home."

Klaus grabbed Charlotte's arm, preventing her from walking away from him any further, and caught the attention of the two Salvatore brothers once more.

"She's staying with me." Klaus spoke calmly.
"Over my dead body, she is."
"She is my girlfriend, Damon."
"She's my sister!"
"Stop!" Stefan shouted; having cooled off a little and not wanting there to be anymore arguing. "Damon, just let her go. We'll deal with this tomorrow."
"Stefan…"
"Damon, she's our sister but she's still an adult. Just let it go for tonight."

Looking at his brother with bewilderment plastered on his face, Damon found it hard to understand how his brother could be so willing to allow their sister to go home with a man who had been their friend since childhood, but had been fooling around with their only sister for months without them knowing.

"How are you even okay with this?"
"I'm not, but there's nothing we can do about it. You kick his ass and then what? Huh? She's still going to be with him."
"No if I have any say in the matter."
"You don't, Damon, and neither do I. Let's just go home and sleep and we can deal with it in the morning."
"Fine, whatever. I give up."

Storming off, Damon turned his back on Charlotte and Klaus and was quickly followed by Elena and Stefan. Walking up to Charlotte, Caroline smiled reassuringly at the young girl and hugged her tightly.

"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine, Caroline." Charlotte smiled back at her and was instantly thankful and appreciative of the close bond she had formed with Caroline since returning to Mystic Falls.

Watching as Caroline disappeared, Charlotte eventually focused her attentions on Klaus and turned around to find him smirking. She shook her head in disbelief. She didn't believe what she was seeing. The last thing Klaus should be doing was smirking.

"Stop smiling."
"I can't, love."
"What, did Stefan knock out some of your brain cells too? You have no reason to be finding this funny. My brothers want your head on a stick."
"Charlotte, my love, I don't care."
"You're insane."
"Nope, just in love."
"Stop saying that." Charlotte said, rolling her eyes.
"Why? It's the truth."
"Let's get you home."

Leading the way to his car, Klaus smiled all the way home and allowed Charlotte to tenderly place an ice compress to his jaw line before finally going to bed; choosing not to worry about his friends until the morning.