Elena awoke the next morning and found herself alone, she stepped out of bed, grabbed her dressing gown from the chair adjacent to the bed and wrapped herself up in it; she exited the bedroom and entered into the living room to find Elijah staring blankly out of the window.

She approached him, her arms wrapping around his waist as she followed his gaze out of the window.

"Good morning," He spoke to her, his voice low and full of sorrow.

"Good morning to you too," She stood on her tip toes and landed a small kiss on the back of his neck, "Are you okay?"

"Just pondering this battle we now face with the demon king, I'm concerned it's not going to end well." He responded, his hands now intertwined in hers, his thumb stroking her skin, "I don't know what I will do if any harm will befall you or my siblings."

Elena hadn't had the time to really process the upcoming battle; she was already an anxious mess because of it but now that Elijah was raising his concerns, she was terrified all the more; if an original vampire with over 1000 years of strength and experience at his dispense was fearful then it was definitely time to panic.

"We'll get through this." She tried to reassure him.

"Even if we do, we still have to deal with my brother and breaking you from your arrangement," He bent his head downwards to stare at the interlocked hands, wishing for all this to be over so they can have the life they desire.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better," She tried to speak as confidently and as lovingly as she could regardless of her own fear, "But I promise, we can get through anything."

"I know, you're right." He spoke, just about convincingly, he wanted very much to believe that they where going to make it through all there troubles unharmed and there relationship intact.

Bang, bang, bang.

Elena jumped slightly at the sudden bang on her door, they broke free from there embrace and Elijah had stepped in front of her, his demeanour changing to defensive.

"Elena, it's Rebekah, I hope you're ready to leave." The blonde vampire called through the door.

"Damn, I forgot all about her," She tilted her head to the side in annoyance, just one more hour alone with Elijah would have sufficed but of course she would arrive at the crack of dawn.

"Elena! Our flight to London leaves in 2 hours, we have to get going."

She spun on her heel to face Elijah, placing her hands on his face and bringing him closer to her, "We'll get through this together."

They shared an intimate and passionate kiss for a long minute, completely tuning Rebekah out.

"I better go," He smiled kindly at her, "Be safe. I'll see you soon."

And within seconds, he was gone.

"Elena!" Rebekah shouted, followed by more knocking.

Elena ran to the door, acting like she just woke up by yawning and stretching, "Sorry, slept in, come in and wait for me, I won't be long."

"Fine." She spat, entering the room and sitting herself on the sofa.

Elena quickly ran into the bedroom, threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before slipping into a pair of trainers; she ran into the bathroom, washed herself quickly, brushed her teeth and ran a comb through her hair.

She entered the living room with her packed bags and carrying her jacket, "I'm ready."

"Finally."

-w-

They went straight to the airport, her siblings already waiting for them to arrive; once they had joined the rest of the family, they where ready to fly.

"It's about time you lovely ladies joined us," Spoke Klaus, a grin appearing on his lips; he walked towards Elena, gesturing for her to step away from the others momentarily, "I assume you had a restful night?"

"Yes, the room was lovely, thank you." She smiled at him.

"I wanted to thank you," He spoke in a lower voice as to not allow his siblings to hear him, "For not leaving, I believe we can get to a place where I can trust you."

"I told you already, I'm not going anywhere."

"Don't make me regret this," His voice still low and his head nearing hers slightly, "I believe you, I trust you won't leave."

Her heart momentarily raced, he was so close to her and his words so kind that she couldn't help it.

She took a deep breath, collecting herself before nodding her head.

"Let's return to my family, we have a plane to catch." He smirked at her before walking towards the others, Elena turned her gaze to Elijah whom was staring intently at them, she just shook her head and acted if it was nothing.

"Tickets." Kol said as he passed them around.

"First class I presume?" Klaus replied.

"Is there any other way?" He smirked.

They had got through customs fairly quickly, she was sure Klaus or Kol had compelled the staff but she just pushed it from her mind as they boarded the plane; she threw her bags in the compartment above her seat and sat down next to the window, she was lost in thought when Klaus had approached her and spoke, bringing her back to reality.

"I hope you don't mind the window seat, love, I'm more of an aisle guy," He smirked, taking a seat next to her.

She looked around the rest of the plane searching for Elijah, she found him sitting next to Rebekah leaving Kol to sit alone.

"So, we have a 12 hour flight to get through, let's see how we do," He adjusted himself on the seat to find a comfier position, "I hope you like old movies."

"Fine by me, I hope you like lots of talking; all about our thoughts and feelings and our deepest darkest secrets." She teased, both of them chuckling at the idea of it.

"Is it too late to change my seat?"

"I'm afraid so, Klaus."

"Looks like I'll just have to deal with it then. Make it interesting."

-w-

A few hours had passed, the sky was dark and night time had arrived; most of the other passengers had fell asleep but Klaus had made her sit through a movie that was in black and white; she wouldn't have minded but it was in French and subtitled so she pretty much had no idea what was going on. A wasted opportunity for some rest.

"So Elena, tell me something about you that no-one else knows." He requested, half sarcastically and in hushed tones in attempt to not wake anybody. He knew once the film finished they would have to talk eventually.

"I'm terrified of goblins." She whispered jokingly, both of them once again laughing and actually enjoying each others company.

"Well, I understand your fear, of course," He rolled his eyes, a small grin appearing on his lips, "But something serious."

For the most part, Elena was faking her interest towards Klaus, all she wanted was to be away from him but in order for her and Elijah's plan to work, he had to believe she was sincere.

Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

"Well," She cleared her throat and shifted her body weight to the side to face him, "For as long as I can remember, I've felt as though I'm not that good, like there's something evil in me."

"Why do you think that?" He met her gaze, intrigued by her honesty.

"I feel guilty about everyone that has died around me, starting with my parents, it still feels like it's my fault," She looked down briefly, unable to look him in the eye, "Not just that, I hurt everybody; I broke Matt's heart, Caroline is a vampire, Bonnie is a witch and Jeremy sees dead people. The only thing in common with all this is me. I've felt empty my whole life, I've tried to believe it's all in my head but I can't deny it has something to do with me, anyone who meets me has some kind of evil forced into there lives."

There was a brief silence, Klaus has never been in a situation before where someone was actually completely honest about themselves to him, he didn't know how to react, all he could do was trust in himself that he wasn't a complete monster. She made him feel like he could better.

"I've been alive for a very long time, Elena, saw things you wouldn't believe and done things you would detest me for but through all those years of violent and bloody hell, I've never met anyone as pure and as good as you," He stared directly into her eyes, his facial expressions softening, "You're not evil, I can feel it."

Elena was also clueless as to what to say in response, this was Klaus, they where in uncharted territory; she expected him to laugh or make some inappropriate comment, not to be so enlightened and reassuring.

The hard part, she actually felt reassured.

"You really believe that?" She asked, her line of vision returning to meet his.

"With every fibre of my being."

Silence once again befell them, Klaus had to break there eye contact, he could feel himself softening towards her, something he couldn't allow to happen. He peered his head around the seat and waved towards a flight attendant; he waited until she approached before requesting two scotch on the rocks to be delivered to them. Elena was still in shock at his words before, she couldn't stop staring at him.

"Your turn," She said, breaking the awkward silence, "Tell me something nobody knows about you."

The flight attendant brought there drinks, both instantly taking a large swig.

"There's a lot of things nobody knows about me," He finally responded, taking another large sip of his whisky, "I like it that way."

"Well, it's only fair," She shot a smile at him, "So, spill."

"Fine," He returned her smile, "I've always enjoyed the finer things in life; art, beauty, an aged wine, a good book and even black and white movies and no-one has ever cared enough to ask why."

"Why?" She said, before he could continue speaking in attempt to show her caring towards him, no matter how fake.

"Regardless of all the things I find beautiful in this world, it was never enough, it filled a hole but what I long for is passion; to love somebody unconditionally and to receive the same in return, I'm not scared of being alone because of the reasons everybody thinks, it's because what I actually want, I fear I'm too far gone to have." He hadn't looked her in the eyes once, he was actually anxious about a response from her, he didn't want to be seen as weak.

"You're not too far gone, Klaus," She fought the urge to reach for his hand with every ounce of strength she had, "You deserve love; there will be someone out there who will look past all of the evil you have done and see only the goodness in you."

"Do you believe in redemption?" He asked.

"Yes. I believe that everyone deserves a chance to be happy, truly happy; I also believe anyone can change if they allow themselves too."

"Even me?" She could hear the pain in his voice and she saw the fear in his eyes that he had about being alone, she couldn't fight it anymore, she placed her hand on top of his, his heart beating that ever so slightly faster.

"Even you, Klaus."

"How?" He looked down at her hand in disbelief, the only physical contact he had ever received was met with a violent response but he enjoyed this, he was starting to want more of it.

"Live by who you actually are," Her grip of his hand becoming tighter, "I understand why you have fought your whole life and why you have lived in fear but you don't need to anymore, be who you actually are deep down."

"For a thousand years, you've done something to me no-one else has been able to do, make me feel something other than pure hate." He didn't want to regret being so honest with her.

"I'm starting to feel closer to you, I'm not sure what it means." She responded with the honesty he had shown her.

"I'm just as confused as you are."

just as she was gazing into his eyes, seeing all the emotion that had flooded to his surface, she noticed that he was staring at her lips; her heart was racing as he leaned in slowly towards her, she didn't know what do, she'd froze; she could feel his lips grazing hers, this had to stop.

"Klaus," She whispered ever so quietly and gently on his lips before he could kiss her, "We can't."

"Why?" His lips remaining in place.

"I'm not ready," She had butterflies in her stomach, she hated to admit that there was feelings there considering how she felt about Elijah, she felt like she was betraying him.

"You're not moving away from me." He wanted to just do it, smash his lips against hers and show her the passion he could feel.

"I'm finding it hard too," She felt compelled by him, she hated that she felt anything towards him, she had to force it, remember how she felt about Elijah and the life she wants with him.

She pulled away from him, sitting back in her chair and taking a deep breath, collecting herself.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Don't be," He smirked, "It's going to take time to prove to you that I'm not the monster you see when you look at me and I'm willing to do just about anything to convince you."