A couple hours had passed and they where all finally at home, sitting in the living room with a bourbon in hand and celebrating the night away; Rebekah had dropped Davina back at the compound, Marcel was more than relieved to see her safe and sound, so much he even sent Elena a message expressing his gratitude. Elena was really enjoying be in New Orleans, she had everything she could possibly need.

"I can't believe we actually survived that hell hole of a house, never mind The Order," a half drunk Rebekah mused.

"At least you weren't trapped in a tunnel underground," Elena smirked slightly, both of them laughing away; she was admittedly more drunk than the others, the downside to being the only human in a vampire family.

Everyone was happy and merry, all except for Klaus; Elena had noticed he had withdrew from the conversation and had sat in an arm chair away from them all, he was buried in thought, his own mind plaguing him.

Elena stood from the sofa and walked towards him, she wanted to give him as much space as she needed but she had spent so long without him that she couldn't bare the thought of being away from him any longer. She held out her hand towards him, a kind smile curling up on her lips, "shall we go to bed?"

He nodded his head and placed his drink on the table beside him, standing up, he took Elena by the hand and they went upstairs; he was still quiet, he just watched her as she pottered around getting ready for bed, she wasn't quite sure how to approach him, he was clearly troubled but she didn't want to pry, she'd never seen him like this before.

She sat down on the bed beside him, taking his hands in hers, "everything will be okay, we'll get through this."

"You shouldn't have to get through this, Elena," his voice was quiet and filled with sadness; using his hand, he brought his fingers to her chin and raised her head slightly, revealing the bite wound on her neck, "I fed from you again, I nearly killed you."

"It wasn't your fault, I know you wouldn't have if it wasn't for that spell," she argued, taking his hand once again and attempting to draw his attention away from the bite, "I'm not angry or upset, I'm relieved to have you home."

"You should be angry, the way I've treated you-"

"Stop," she shook her head slightly, placing her hand on his cheek, "I just need you to be here with me, don't think about the bad, think about now."

"I can't, you shouldn't want me here, you should be running as far away from me as possible," he felt strongly about this, he could barely even look her in the eye.

"I'm not running anywhere, I'm staying right here beside you, like I always promised I would, I love you, Klaus, whether you like it or not," she spoke adamantly, a small smile curling up on her lips.

"I'll always love you but I'm just not good for you, I can't let you down again."

"Then tell me to go, tell me you don't want to see me again and to have a nice life," she waited a long and quiet moment before she slid into his lap, her legs wrapping around his back; she cupped her hands on his face and pressed her forehead against his, "Tell me.."

"I can't," his hands slipped around her waist and landed on her back, he didn't know why she was so adamant on staying with him, he'd never met anyone like her before, he knew he should hold onto her as tightly as he could for as long as he could.

"Then stop pushing me away, I want to be with you, all the good and all the bad, it doesn't matter," her voice was quiet, all she wanted to do was enjoy being in his arms, he felt strong and weak all at the same time, he was everything to her, "I love you, Nik and I'm going to keep loving you."

"You called me Nik.." his lips curled up into a small smile, "that's the first time you've called me that."

"Oh god," she laughed lightly, barely even realising what she did, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean too, I hear it a lot, I guess it just slipped out."

"No, don't apologise, you never have to apologise for anything, if anyone should call me Nik, it's you," he pulled her in closer to him, her hands wrapped around his neck and she buried her head into his shoulder, "I love you, Elena, always."

She enjoyed his warm embrace for a long minute before nearing her lips to his, placing soft kisses all along his cheek and jawbone; his hand moved up to her head and he entangled his fingers in her hair, enjoying the moments they had to just be together.

Her lips found his and she sunk into him, her body pressed against his and she poured all the love and passion as she could into the kiss; he pushed his hand further against the back of her head, bringing her as close to him as she could be. They spent the entire night in perfect and loved up bliss, using the time they had to be together completely and get to know each other all over again, there minds and bodies.

-w-

The next day, Elena had been surprised with breakfast in bed,a romantic bath drawn and prepared by Klaus, filled with rose petals and candles all around the room and they decided to take a walk together through the local park, it was a hot and bright day and they refused to spend it stuck inside the mansion worrying about The Order.

They where strolling along the lake, watching the sun reflect against the water and the wildlife swimming across it, it was perfect; there was plenty of people around enjoying the weather also, Elena often forgot what it was like to have a normal and human day and to be around other people.

"I know we have to head back soon but I've really enjoyed this time with you," Elena spoke kindly, a small grin appearing on her lips.

"As have I," he smiled, he extended his arm out towards her, catching her hand in his, "it's a beautiful day."

"The weather in New Orleans is temperamental, first heavy rain and now scorching hot days, not that I'm complaining but it's definitely something I'll have to get used too," she smiled amusingly?

"It is strange," his sentences where becoming shorter and he kept staring off into the distance, Elena could see his mind was racing with something.

"Klaus," she stopped walking and turned to face him, using her free hand, she brought it up to his face and trailed her fingers across his cheek, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing I want to worry you with, i'm alright, my love," he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss, even after all this time, her cheeks still flashed red when he kissed her.

"We're in this together, you need to tell me if something is bothering you," Elena tilted her head slightly, watching as his expression changed to worry and stress.

He exhaled a shirt and sharp breath before turning slightly and continuing with there walk, he knew she was right but he hated to plague her with his thoughts, "I was thinking that after all this is over, would it not be better to leave? Start again somewhere new, away from all the battles and constant trouble?"

"Where would we go?" She asked, curious as to what envisioned for there future.

"Anywhere you would like, we could even travel for a while, I want to show you all the art and beauty in the world, then maybe when I've shown you everything, you can pick your favourite and we can live there," the excitement in his voice only increased the more he thought about it; he turned to face Elena and he saw only smiles and curiosity.

"That sounds incredible," she had always wanted to travel, she never thought it possible to do it with someone she loved, she thought she'd be trapped in the vampire drama forever, "and you want to do all that for me?"

"I could give you the whole world, Elena, and it still wouldn't be enough, I'd take you anywhere your heart desires," he had so much passion and excitement in his voice that it was contagious.

"Then let's do it," a wide grin appeared on her lips, her curiosity had turned to excitement and she was already planning it in her head.

He stopped walking once again and turned to face her, his hands moving to her waist and pulling her into him, "I can't tell you how happy you make me."

"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," she placed her hands on the back of his neck and she pulled him in, landing her lips on his in a long and passionate kiss, her heart was racing faster then it ever had done before and in that moment, she couldn't be happier.

They continued with a light stroll through the park, talking about all the places they could go, the things she could see and how they where going to do it all together; they hadn't discussed much of the technical details but the fantasy was enough for now.

-w-

There blissful afternoon together had to end at some point and much to there dismay, they had to return to the plantation to discuss what they where going to do before the next full moon; the entire family where present, none of whom where happy about the next battle.

"It"s time to be fully honest with me," Elena started, she was stood in the centre of the living room beside Klaus, her arms where folded across her chest and the others where sat around her on the sofas, she was tired of being in the dark and afraid of what to expect next, "before we can beat them, I have to know who they are."

"Adding to what you already know, The Order are a cult of 13 supernatural creatures, the warlock you met is Ivan, we always assumed he was the leader due to his power but there are some we still haven't come across; we've met the werewolves, There are 4 of them in total, Luca, Kya, Henry and Nicolas, I'm not particularly worried about them, there still werewolves and there is 't anything more powerful about them, they have only one vampire working for them, they detest our kind but they wouldn't deny have one on there side is useful, we've encountered 2 other warlocks and 2 witches, the other 3 we haven't met," Elijah explained, his voice calm and collected.

"So, why are they attacking now after centuries of being on the other side?" She asked, taking a seat on the arm chair next to the sofa, Klaus stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder.

"The death of our parents triggered the magic that would return them to the world of the living, they knew they couldn't perform the ritual with a powerful witch and a whole family of original vampires against them, also the doppelgänger, Tatia, had been murdered to complete the vampire ritual, the next one wouldn't have been born for another 500 years."

"They gave it there best shot though," Kol continued, a small smirk appearing on his lips, "several of them attacked us but our mother banished them to the other side, my father hunted the werewolves down and killed them and we destroyed there village, Ivan had performed the spell before the attack could finish that would reawaken them once our parents where dead."

"You knew this all along?" She turned to face Klaus, her eyes piercing his, "did you know they would return after we killed your parents?"

"For the most part, yes," Klaus answered, his eyes averting from hers, "we couldn't be completely sure but it was confirmed the day after we killed Esther."

"Is that why you took me that night in Mystic Falls when Damon woke up Mikael?" Her voice had a hint of agitation in the tone, she was starting to wonder if he had ever been truly honest with her.

"Elena, my love, can we talk about this later? You know it has nothing to do with that," Klaus tried to sound as sympathetic as he could, it always seemed like he had some diabolical plan up his sleeve and she was caught in the middle of it.

"Fine," she turned her attention back to the others, Rebekah and Kol both had smirks on there faces and they where dying to make a comment, Elena just shot them daggers with her eyes and shook her head slightly, they both averted there eyes, holding in the laughter that was trying to escape.

"Can I continue now?" Elijah asked, looking to everyone in the room.

"Please do," Elena responded hastily.

"We believe the last few members we aren't aware of are witches, between them all, they have more power and strength than we can possibly imagine, are only way to defeat them is to get to the weaker members, the werewolves and vampire, deal with the witches last," Elijah offered up the start of a plan.

"How can we get to them? I made a deal with Ivan, we aren't to interfere or they'll kill everyone I love, I can't risk anyones lives," Elena was stumped, she didn't know how to defeat them without someone getting hurt.

"How about we just wait till the day of the ritual? The full moon," Rebekah interjected, "as long as we do it properly, we could kill the werewolves in a heartbeat, we may just need reinforcements."

"My hybrids are awaiting my call," Klaus suggested.

"And I think I have a little idea," Elena smiled smugly, standing from the chair and pacing back and forth, "the one person we need is the one I haven't spoke too since that night."

"Who?" Rebekah asked, the suspense killing her.

"We need Bonnie," she spoke, folding her arms across her chest, "she's the strongest witch I know, between us, the hybrids and a Bennett witch, they don't stand a chance, I just don't know how willing she'd be to fly out here and help us, I haven't even called her."

"She's your best friend, Elena, of course she'll come," Rebekah spoke without hesitation, she knew the bond of friendship was a strong one, she felt the same about Elena, "call her, you might actually enjoy talking to her again."

Elena's eyes glanced towards Klaus, as much as he had wanted to delay her inevitably talking to her family again, he knew it was time, he just had to trust she'd stay with him, "I think it's a good idea."

"As do I," Elijah agreed.

"Me too," Kol was the last one to agree and they had the makings of a plan.

"We'll go over the plan of attack if and when Bonnie agrees to come, we have 6 days until the next full moon, we might actually be able to do this," Elijah concluded there discussions and they each started to leave the room.

Elena went straight up to the bedroom, it was barely 7pm but she was exhausted with everything had happened in the past week, she still wasn't physically recovered from the tunnel or Klaus' bite; all that mixed with a slight annoyance towards Klaus, she knew he would soon follow her up and they'd end up fighting, so she chose to get a shower and calm herself down.

Just as she switched the shower on, she heard the bedroom door open and footsteps lead inside, "Elena?"

"I'm just getting a shower," she called through the bathroom door, "I won't be long."

Klaus sat on the bed waiting for her, he seemed to do this a lot when he messed up; he would anxiously wait whilst she'd vent her frustration in the shower, it was becoming routine. It wasn't long before he heard the shower switch off and Elena had climbed out.

She wrapped a towel around herself and exited the bathroom, her hair was tied up in a bun and the where was a small split in where the two towels edge should meet and revealed her perfectly tanned and smooth leg, Klaus couldn't help but stare as she walked past him.

She caught his glimpse and couldn't help but swoon, the fact that he still looked at her with such adorning eyes made her heart flutter ever so slightly; she shook this fro, her mind and continued to dress, she picked a pair of shorts and a skin-tight t-shirt to wear to bed, easy and comfortable.

"Are you going to talk to me at some point?" Klaus spoke, his patience thinning slightly.

"I haven't decided yet," she quipped, as much as she was trying to be just as sarcastic in return, she still hasn't processed all of the information.

"You have to talk to me at some point, I can't stand it when we fight," a small sigh escaped his lips as he stood from the bed and approached her.

"Fine, let's talk," she simply folded her arms across her chest and stood with a straight and firm back, "where shall we start?"

"I don't know how to answer that question.." he spoke somewhat innocently, as much as it seemed to be an excuse, he knew he was going to fall into a trap whichever way he answered.

Elena just rolled her eyes at his words, if they hadn't been attempting to talk through there issues, that would have been a laughable moment, "did you take me that night from Mystic Falls because of The Order? Did you know they would need me?"

"I was a completely different person then, Elena, any answer I give you isn't going to make you happy."

"So, you're just trying to make me happy so this discussion can be over? I don't get any real honesty?" Her words where like daggers to him, as much as he was used to fighting battles and waging war against his enemies, she was the first person to walk this earth that could silence him.

"Of course not," he placed his hand on his forehead for a long moment, any attempt to relieve his frustration, "but I was different back then, how would you feel if I said yes? Yes, I took you from Mystic Falls because I feared the return of The Order and I needed hybrids to fight my enemies? No, I didn't know they needed you in the ritual but now that I am aware, I'm glad you're here with me, where I can keep you safe and protected."

"You can't keep lying to me," she exasperated, walking a few steps away from him and towards the bedroom door, "all you've done is lie since the moment we where in that car and driving away from Mystic Falls, I'm surprised I trust you at all."

"That's not true," he defended, watching as she paced around the room, "you're the only person I have ever met that I have been honest with, as much as I can be."

"No," she could feel the anger and frustration bubbling away within her, "no, there just can't be anymore of the 'as much as I can be' excuse, you're either with me completely or lying to me, there's no in between, we keep getting hurt because you refuse to be open with me."

"It's not that simple, Elena-"

She cut him off mid-sentence, she hadn't intended too but she began yelling, "it is that simple, Nik, the whole time you where with The Order, you told me trust you whilst you acted like a jerk towards me, it didn't benefit anyone, if you had just told me from the start, we could have fixed it but it was just lie After lie."

"I was doing what I thought was best for you, to keep you safe, so that when all this was over, we could be together," he argued.

"You don't get to make those decisions," her voice was at an all time high, she'd never yelled like this at anyone before, if she wasn't so mad, she'd feel guilty, "we're supposed to make them together, if we had of done from the start, then we wouldn't be in this mess and arguing about who's right."

"Im not trying to be right-"

"You're always trying to be right, you don't see that all these lies and pushing me away has hurt me, Nik, you've known all along that they where coming for me and instead of working together, you pushed me away, I was locked in a tunnel and you had me doubting us, then only to find out you knew all this was going to happen anyway."

He took a few steps towards her, still leaving a small distance between them, "Elena-"

"Just, don't," she stopped his sentence short and took a step away from him, her hand wrapping around the door handle, "I need some air."

With that, she exited the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind her, she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen; she switched the coffee pot on and went straight out the back door, her eyes closed as she felt the cold breeze across her skin, it was a quiet night, all that could be heard was the sound of the coffee machine brewing away.

"Elena?" She heard Elijah's voice behind her, she turned around to see him standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Elijah," she returned into the house and closed the back door, placing herself by the coffee machine, "would you like one?"

"I would, thank you," he watched as she grabbed the mugs and set them down in front of the machine, she waited for the ding and poured, adding her sugar and cream to both cups; she picked them both up and handed to Elijah.

They both sat down at the kitchen table, Elena was sipping at her coffee and nursing the mug in her hands, she was just staring into the cup, her mind kept wandering.

"Is everything alright?" He tilted his head slightly to try and catch her gaze.

"Yep, I'm fine," she lifted her head and met his gaze, a small smile creeping on her lips, "you don't have to check on me every time me and Klaus have a fight, you'll be forever sat at this table drinking coffee with me."

"I have noticed my caffeine intake has drastically increased since living with you," he smirked, bringing the cup to his lips and taking a large sip; Elena laughed slightly, she tended to have that effect on people.

"You're a good friend, Elijah, I'm glad you're here," she spoke with a kindness in her tone of voice, she liked how close they where, considering how messy her life was, she needed a constant, he was hers.

"I'm happy to be here," he smiled kindly towards her, he'd never met anyone with such compassion before; to him, it was only fair that she received the same, "do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm probably just overreacting," she paused for a long moment, taking a small sip of her coffee, "but I'm tired of all the lies and the deceit, it still feels like he's holding back from me."

"The thousand years I've known my brother, this is the most honest I've seen him with someone, it's hard for some of us to let go of our past turmoils and even harder to be honest about them, he may not have had the best intentions with you when he took you from Mystic Falls but he has changed and above all else, I see he is trying to be different, there will come a time when we can all in live in peace but until then, we just get through the difficult times the best we can, even if that does include poor decision making on his part, he always has your safety at heart."

"I guess I didn't see it that way," she admitted, although she was feeling somewhat better, something was still keeping her from seeing past it all, "it's just hard, it seems like my feelings don't matter at all."

"Of course they do, yours are the most important, if you didn't feel the way you do, you wouldn't care enough to want to be here and this family would lose you, none of us want that," his words where kind and made her heart pang slightly, "so, go and finish your fight and make sure your feelings are heard, so you can both move past it."

She smiled out of amusement before standing from the chair and walking towards him, her arms wrapping his neck, "thank you, Elijah, if it wasn't for you, I probably would have killed Klaus by now."

"And I wouldn't blame you," they both shared in a moments laugh before she left the room, ready to return to Klaus, she only hoped they could work past there differences.

She opened the bedroom door and she found his pacing back and forth, as soon as he saw her, he approached her, pulling her into a tight embrace, "I'm sorry, my love."

"I don't want to fight, Nik but I think we have too," she placed her hands on the top of his arms, her eyes locking onto his, "because if we don't resolve our issues, we'll end up hating each other, I don't want that."

"So tell me, what's on your mind?" He took her hand in his and lead her to the bed, they both sat down beside each other and a small sigh escaped her lips, "you constantly make decisions without involving me first and I end up getting hurt, you keep things from me, make a whole plan to avoid me and not tell me anything about it and once again, I get hurt."

"I've been on my own for as long as I can remember, Elena and I still think like that, as much as I love you and want to be with you, I'm struggling being part of a relationship, I've always thought just for myself; for most people, decision making and thinking what's best is naturally something to discuss but for me, it's a big adjustment; I do care about your feelings and I never want you to feel dismissed by me again, I'm a completely changed man from the day we first come together but i'm still learning, you're worth every change, I actually like who I am when we're together, im just a work in progress."

Elena fell speechless for a long moment, she hadn't expected him to say so much and be that honest with her, she was half expecting some resistance from him, it's hard to have an argument with someone who is trying to be so reasonable, "I get it, being with a thousand year old hybrid is new to me too, I struggle sometimes, especially with how you handle things but if you promise to keep me involved in the future, no matter what, then I think we can move past all this, that's all I want."

"I give you my word," he rested his forehead on hers, placing a soft kiss, "I'll never lie or keep things from you again."

"I love you," she placed her hands on his cheeks, her thumb stroking his skin.

"I love you too, always."