Elena awoke the next day with a smile on her face and love in her heart; she placed a kiss on Klaus' cheek before rolling out of bed and leaving the bedroom, she dragged herself down the stairs and into the living room. She wasn't the least but surprised by what she saw, all three siblings passed out.

Rebekah was on the sofa, one leg and arm hanging over the edge of the seat cushions and her face buried into a pillow, Kol was spread out across the floor and Elijah was in the armchair with his head completely hanging over the back of it.

She saw this as an opportunity for revenge, countless times they teased her and made her hungover mornings worse, it was her turn; she walked over to the docking station and slipped her phone into the socket, she opened the player and had a quick scroll through her playlist.

"Perfect," she mumbled under her breath before pressing play, increasing the volume as loud as it could go and blasting 'alice coopers - poison' track; all three siblings woke with a fright, Rebekah rolled off the sofa and onto the floor, Kol banged his head of the floor and Elijah used his speed to stand as if there was an attack but wobbled to the side.

"What the-" Kol murmured, his hand rubbing the back of his head.

"Rise and shine," Elena called out, pulling open the curtains and unleashing the bright sunlight into the room; they all groaned and tried to block there eyes, Elena couldn't help but laugh,

"Do you hate us? Is that what it is?" Rebekah spoke, peeling herself from the floor and forcing her body to stand, "you're evil."

"If I could kill you, I would," Kol reached towards the sofa, grabbing a pillow and hurling it towards Elena, quickly caught it before it could collide with her face, a small and cocky grin appearing on her lips.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are you hungover?" Elena mused, turning her attention to the eldest original, "No comments, Elijah?"

"I tend to prefer the silent treatment," he forced his eyes to fully open, averting his gaze to Elena with a smirk present on his lips; she chuckled lightly in response, throwing the cushion she was holding towards him, it bounced of his chest and landed on the floor.

Elena tutted, "your reflexes are terrible today, guys, maybe I should have let you sleep,"

Rebekah and Kol moaned and groaned at her words, trying there hardest to block out the sunlight and the music, "go away!"

"I'm just surprised you're not all hitting on me today," she teased, walking past each of the siblings with a small laugh and entering the dining room; all three of them paused for a long moment to stare at each other before following behind her, scrambling to find words.

"Wait..." Rebekah started, confused by her words.

"Did I?" Kol spoke, vaguely remembering something from the night before.

"Surely I wouldn't.." Elijah trailed off, trying to remember anything from when she visited the night before.

She pointed her finger towards Elijah, "You kept standing close to me and trying to persuade me to stay and drink with you, you told me you enjoy my company so I took that as medieval, noble vampire talk for something less than honourable."

Rebekah laughed slightly at her words but she came to a sudden stop when Elena turned to face her, moving her finger to point at her, "I didn't know you where a fan of dirty dancing."

"And you," she approached Kol, shaking her head slightly, "you might as well have just said 'let's have sex',"

"Last night was a disaster," Rebekah shook her head, following Elena into the kitchen, "we drank so much, I don't think I'll be able to feel my liver for a week and I'm supposed to have supernatural healing."

Elena continued to laugh whilst she prepared a pot of coffee for everyone, she threw in an extra heap of coffee for the hungover ones and let it brew; she fetched four mugs from the cupboard and placed them beside the machine, getting the cream and sugar ready also.

"So, where is our darling brother this morning?" Rebekah asked, taking a seat at the dining table.

"Oh, I'm sure he's listening to our entire conversation," Elena responded teasingly and took a seat next to the blonde vampire, her gaze turning to her, "we had an incredible night last night."

"We don't need to know," Kol huffed, rolling his eyes slightly at her words, "you've tortured us enough."

"She's not talking to you, idiot," Rebekah shook her head lightly and turned her attention back to Elena, "so, what happened?"

"We had this huge talk, he made me a romantic meal, there was flowers and candles and lots of wine," a small grin appeared on her lips, "and it didn't stop there, We spent the whole night-"

"Alright, that's enough, I'm gonna hurl," Kol interjected, refusing to listen to the rest of the story.

"It's beautiful, Kol, you're just too immature to appreciate a good romantic story," Rebekah was brave and indestructible on the outside but on the inside, she was as soft as they come, "I'm actually jealous of my deranged hybrid brother, what is going on?"

The coffee machine stopped and the pot was full, she stood from the chair and grabbed it, filling up each of the cups and added the desired amount of cream and sugar to them; she was still pleasantly shocked that she knew how they each liked there drinks. She walked over to the drawer and grabbed the aspirin, she began handing them all out along with there coffees.

They all sat down together at the table, Kol and Elijah had there heads buried into a newspaper and Rebekah and Elena where casually talking, the guys occasionally contributing to the conversation; it was strange to her how normal things had become since Esther died and they hadn't heard any bad news regarding Marcel.

"Where is our brother? He surely isn't still sleeping," Elijah asked, raising concern between them all.

"I thought he would have woke up an hour ago when I put the music on," Elena pursed her lips together out of confusion and worry before standing from her chair, "I'm going to go check on him."

She exited the kitchen and walked through the mansion and up the stairs; she entered the bedroom and saw Klaus laying asleep on his back, he was covered in sweat and he was speaking, she couldn't make out what he was saying but he didn't seem to be in a good way.

Elena sat down on the bed next to him, placing her hand on his chest and moving it slightly, "Klaus?"

"I can't," he mumbled, still delirious and his eyes still closed.

"Klaus, wake up," she exclaimed, shaking him a little bit harder but to no avail, "you're having a bad dream"

"I didn't mea.." he trailed his sentence off, continuing to sweat and fidget around.

Elena was starting to panic, she brought her face closer to his, placing a soft kiss on his lips before pressing her hand against his chest once again, using more force to try and wake him, "Klaus!!"

He shot up into a sitting g position, his eyes yellow and the veins beneath his eyes darkened, his hand wrapped around her neck tightly within seconds, he growled slightly with a blank expression, he looked right through Elena as if he wasn't there.

"Klaus, it's me," her voice was croaking and her breathing laboured, she tried to pull at his hand and slapping it slightly but he didn't let go, "it's me, Elena, you're hurting me."

His eyes began to change colour, returning to there usual shade of blue and the veins dissipated; a loud gasp escaped his lips as he realised what had happened, he immediately pulled his hand away from her neck and he was frantic.

"Elena?" He seemed somewhat confused, he recognised it was her but he couldn't fathom what he done, "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," she spoke, her voice shaken and her neck sore; she saw how pained he was and she couldn't help but wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into her, offering comfort however she could, "what happened?"

"I'm not sure," he slowly wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his head into her shoulder, "I think I had a nightmare."

"Is that even possible? What happened?" She ran her fingers through his hair, holding him as tightly as she could."

"I'm sorry I hurt you," he avoided her question, his guilt overwhelming, "I can't believe I did that."

"It was an accident, it's fine," she moved her hands towards his face and cupped his cheeks, bring his line of vision to hers; she placed a soft kiss on his lips, his hands smoothing up her back and pulling her in closer.

-w-

Elena went back downstairs, joining the others in the kitchen; her look of confusion caused questions amongst the siblings, Elijah instantly saw the bruises around her neck and Rebekah and Kol where concerned.

"What happened?" Rebekah spoke, her voice slightly more high pitched than usual from shock.

"Did my brother do this to you?" Elijah asked, he approached her and placed his fingers on her chin and raised her head slightly to get a better visual, "we'll murder him."

"Shh, he'll hear you," she moved Elijah's hand, her own lingering in his for a long moment before she dropped it; she couldn't help herself, his protectiveness of her drew her in and he comforted her better than anyone, "he's showering."

She sat on the sofa in the living room, the others following her in; Elena had no sadness about her, only a wild confusion and extreme worry, "I went up there and he was still asleep, covered in sweat and he was talking to himself, when he woke up, his face was in hybrid mode and he grabbed me, he didn't know what he was doing, he snapped out of it and said he had a nightmare."

"What?" Rebekah exclaimed, her gaze flickering between her two brothers, "that's concerning."

"Indeed," Elijah muttered under his breath, his brain starting to fire with possible explanations, "even if we do have a nightmare, we're easily woken from our disturbed sleep, we very rarely attack."

"Unless we feel threatened," Kol interjected, sitting back on the sofa beside Elena, his mind wandering as well, "I wonder what he dreamt about."

"Shh," Rebekah pointed towards the upstairs and everyone fell silent, "the shower has stopped running."

Elena stood from the sofa and walked into the kitchen to grab herself another coffee, she filled the mug up and slid the pot back into the machine; she took a large sip and give herself a few minutes to collect herself, she wasn't angry at Klaus for what he did, more concern and than anything else but she couldn't get the image of his face out of her head.

She tried to shake it off and returned to the living room, just as she entered, he came down the stairs, he was showered, dressed and perfect looking as per usual, the mere sight of him is enough for heart to skip a beat.

"I'm sorry again, Elena," he walked over to her, his eyes locking onto hers, "I don't know what came over, I hope you can forgive me."

"Of course I do, I'm just worried," she looked deep into his eyes, looking for any sign of doubt or concern within them but he was holding a poker face and he was unreachable.

"No need to worry, it was just a nightmare," he placed his hand on the back of her head and placed a small and soft kiss on her forehead, "I love you."

"I love you too," she smiled kindly towards him and watched as he approached his siblings, his main focus on Elijah.

"Can we speak, brother?" His voice turned suddenly serious and his eyes changed, she knew he was hiding something; Elijah simply nodded his head and they both continued to exit the living room and they went outside.

"He's hiding something from me," Elena spoke, her tone of voice full of suspicion, "he clearly doesn't want me to hear him."

"It won't be anything serious," Rebekah tried to reassure her, "he probably had a bad dream about our parents or something and he doesn't want to embarrass himself."

"I hope so," she didn't believe a single word Rebekah said, she knew Klaus, she could always tell when he was lying.

She sat patiently in the kitchen, waiting for Klaus and Elijah to return; it had been 30 minutes since they went outside and Elena's frustration was growing by the second, her mind was racing with what could be so bad, that he had to keep it from her. She understood that he was entitled to his own privacy but when it concerns his well-being, she shouldn't be kept in the dark, especially if he was in danger.

She had already prepared herself a fresh pot of coffee, she was trying to keep her hands and mind busy, so much that she was about to drink her fourth cup of the morning.

Elena couldn't take it anymore, she stormed through the house and pulled open the front door, "what's goin-"

She came to a sudden stop when she realised they weren't there; her brow furrowed, she stepped onto the patio and glanced around the surrounding area, there wasn't any sign of them and the car was gone, they'd left.

"Rebekah?" She called out, spinning on her heel and walking back into the house and straight to the living room where she found the blonde vampire curled up on the sofa, half asleep, "you're supposed to be a thousand years old, I thought you could handle your liquor better."

"What's wrong, snappy?" Elena just rolled her eyes at her, walking to the front of the sofa and sitting by her legs on the edge.

"They've gone," she spoke, her voice solemn.

Rebekah sat up, rubbing her eyes and trying to shake out of her self-loathing mood, "what do you mean they're gone? They where just talking."

"Not anymore," she reached onto the coffee table where her phone lay and unlocked it, dialling in Klaus' number and pressing it to her ear, it rang several times before going to voicemail, "somethings wrong, we have to find them."

"Elena, relax, if there's one thing I know about my brothers it's if they don't want to be found, then no-one will be able to find them," a small sigh escaped her lips when she saw Elena's expression change, she could see the clear worry and panic in her face, "I'm sure everything is going to be just fine, they'll be back soon and he'll tell you everything."

-w-

They didn't return until the evening, Elena had spent most of the day trying to distract herself; she watched some casual television, cleaned the house, organised her room and bathroom and even scrubbed the floors, cleaning was always a good way to vent frustration.

She was stood in the kitchen, pouring herself a small glass of red wine when she heard the front door close and soon enough, Klaus was standing in the door frame behind her attempting to pinpoint her mood, "I didn't mean to leave so unexpectedly."

"You could have sent me a quick text," she wanted to be angry at him, she had been all day but now that he was standing there, all she could feel was relief; she put her glass down and went to approach him but as she turned, he was already there, pulling her into him and holding her in a tight embrace.

"I know, I should have," he spoke quietly, burying his face in her hair and placing a small kiss on her forehead.

"I was so mad," she nestled her head against his chest, her arms tightly wrapped around him, "you can't just leave all day and not say anything, I thought the worst."

"I needed answers," he spoke, his voice full of despair.

"What answers?" She questioned, completely puzzled.

"You have to trust me," a small sigh escaped his lips, holding her as tightly as he could without causing her actual physical harm, "I can't tell you just yet."

"Why?" She spoke more abruptly than she had intended but she couldn't handle lies and secrets.

"It's for your own protection, Elena, please just trust me," he brought his hands to her face, cupping her cheeks and pressing his forehead to hers, "I will tell you everything just not now."

"Klaus-"

"I give you my word, everything will be fine soon enough and you're completely safe, I just want to keep it that way," he interrupted her before she had the chance to object and argue, he didn't want to fight or eventually be worn down and tell her everything.

"I don't like this, every time someone keeps secrets from me, someone gets hurt and it's usually someone I care about, I can't risk that," she grabbed his hands gently, lowering them from her face, "I thought we where past this, all the lies and secrets, we're supposed to be in a relationship, Klaus."

A deep sigh escaped her lips, she turned to grab her glass of wine and proceeded to exit the kitchen and go up to her bedroom; she sat on the bed for a long moment, sipping at her wine and processing, she was trying to reason with herself, that maybe she was overreacting and that a long history of vampire trouble made her weary when secrets where being kept from her.

Klaus walked in a few minutes later with the full intent of fixing this, he was full of confidence until he saw her just sitting there, the paranoia and worry etched in her facial expressions and how sad she seemed.

"We need to talk about this, Elena, I can't bare the thought of fighting with you or have you disappointed in me," talking about his emotions and trying to mend a problem was all new to him, he had never in his entire existence cared enough to try and save a relationship but she changed all that, she was worth it.

"I'm not disappointed in you," she set her wine glass down on the bedside cabinet and shimmied into the centre of the bed and crossed her legs, tapping the space in front of her; he sat on the edge of the bed opposite her, his eyes locked on hers, "I can't help but feel like you're keeping this huge and dangerous secret from me and it makes me nervous, it's never ended well for me or the people I love when this has happened before."

"I understand but I'm not doing this to try and hurt you or be deceitful, only to protect you," he tried to reassure her, "I'm not entirely sure about what is happening and I don't want to drag you into it unless I absolutely have too. Last night, we spoke about our future and how normal we want to live, I can't ruin all that until I know I have too."

She took his hands in hers, she was finding it incredibly hard to argue with him, especially considering she wanted them to go back to there normal selves, "fine, tell me when you can but I just want you to know, all the drama and trouble we have in our lives will never ruin us, I'm here for you always, what will ruin us is lying and secrecy, I need to be able to trust you."

"You can trust me," he looked down to there now interlocked hands, his thumb stroking along her skin, "you can trust that I will always want you to be safe and the least involved as you can be in any danger that we may face and you can always trust that I love you, more than anything in this world."

She couldn't help but sheepishly smile, his words made her heart race as fast as it could go, "I trust you, Klaus."

He pulled her into him once again, holding her in a tight embrace; all her problems seemed to wash away in that moment, they where safe and in love, that's all that mattered.