I do not own TVD or TO.

This chapter features some smut in it.

2011

He came to a sudden stop in a second floor bedroom and pressed her to the solid oak door with his hands on her hips.

She dragged her eyes up from his parted lips to his eyes; concern had flooded the irises. Her gloved fingers came to rest on his broad shoulders and it took every ounce of self-control not to bury her hands in his hair and tug on the silken strands.

"Are you alright?" He breathed, afraid to break the silence and the spell that had descended on them. The thought that she had been playing along with his flirtation and at any moment she would scream for help crossed his mind.

Her scent was entirely human, but one thing she had said stuck out: 'ninety-seven' years. The exact length of time he had 'slept' in his coffin.

"Are you going to be ill?" He searched her eyes. Her name and teasing manner might have been coincidence, but her locket wasn't. He already knew what he would find if he opened it.

"I'm fine," she whispered. "I got over any motion sickness I might have had a long time ago."

She ran her fingers over his lapels, flattened her hands on his chest and felt his heart beat against her palm. Between his body and the door she was boxed in place; the look in his eyes suggested he was afraid to let her out of his sight, that if he were to turn away for even a moment she would disappear.

"Are you really here?"

She nodded.

"They told me you were dead," he breathed. He could still picture the scene as Elijah described it. One hand left her hip to cover her left breast – whole and unharmed. Her heart beat fast under his palm and his skipped a beat beneath her hand.

"But you're here," his thumb stroked her collarbone, "you're alive," he inhaled the sweet ambrosia that had haunted his dreams. "You're human…"

"No," she cut him off. With her right hand she unhooked the silver bracelet and lowered it to a nearby shelf.

She knew what he smelt when the charm was gone, but for good measure she allowed the veins beneath her eyes to darken and her irises to flood with red. He didn't say anything and she began to feel self-conscious, fearing that he had only wanted the weak human girl he saved in the cemetery.

"Thierry?" He breathed.

"Safe," she bit the corner of her lip.

"Are you gonna ask how?" She hated the meekness in her voice. She was not some helpless girl anymore; she was a grown woman who against all odds had survived everything life had thrown her way.

"No," he shook his head, "later."

"Later?" She questioned.

"You waited ninety-seven years for a decent dancing partner, darling," he stared into her eyes, "but do you know what I've waited for?"

She shook her head, felt her heart leap into her throat. The intense look in his eyes made something inside of her swoop as warmth grew wherever he touched her.

"You," he murmured.

That was the only warning Elena got before his mouth was on hers. She gasped and gave into her desire, threading her fingers through his short hair and pulling him closer until she could feel his heart against her chest.

The kiss was electrifying, and the heat only increased when he swept his tongue along the seam of her lips and into her open mouth. He stole her breath; he stole her heart and gave back his own as replacement before finally dragging his lips from her mouth and down her throat.

The kisses pressed to her neck were gentle, but no less passionate. He moved lower, groaning as he felt the maddening rise and fall of her bound chest.

"You smell divine," he nudged her collarbone with his nose.

Elena drew his chin up and met his dark eyes; she suspected her pupils were as blown as his.

Their joint breaths all but masked the string quartet a floor below.

She tilted her head and placed a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, moving to his jaw. She needed him closer. She needed to feel him – feel the way his heart skipped under his skin – so with deft fingers she pushed his jacket from his shoulders, tore his bowtie from his neck and slipped the vest from his body.

"Elena," he groaned. His hands grabbed her hips and as she unbuttoned his shirt he took fistfuls of her full skirt.

His back hit the wall beside his bed.

He grunted, glancing to where his hands were pinned at his sides.

"If you rip my dress," she dragged her mouth down the center of his chest and back up, "you'll have to steal clothes from Rebekah again."

His blood boiled at the mention of his traitorous sister, but he swallowed his anger for the beauty currently nipping at his throat.

"I'll be careful, love," he smirked when she looked up, "promise and I always keep a promise."

She released his wrists from the symbolic hold; they both knew he was a vampire she couldn't best.

She took a step back at his urging and watched him remove his shirt with the utmost care before draping it on a chair. Her eyes followed the rippling muscles in his back until he turned and stood in front of her again.

"Tease," she pouted.

"You could say it's what I was born to do," he flashed an impish grin.

He spun her in his arms at vampire speed and bent to lay kisses on the smooth curve of her throat. A sensitive spot behind her ear turned her knees to water.

"Do you know what you do to me?" His breath fanned over her flushed skin.

"I have a pretty good idea," she rolled her hips. The choking noise he made and the feeling of him through the layers of fabric had desire curling down her spine.

He forced his feet to step away and took a deep breath while reaching for the almost invisible zipper at her back. He pulled it down revealing inch after inch of smooth skin until he could see the entire length of her spine.

He wanted to touch her. He wanted to press her onto his bed and kiss every vertebra until he reached her perfect behind when he would roll her over, spread her thighs and taste her, but then she let the material fall and turned to face him.

She still wore her gloves when she took his hands and placed them on her waist he felt two kings of silk, but the skin under his palms was preferable. Her fingers slid up the length of his arms and dug into his hair before she finally pulled his head down to kiss him.

His large hands pulled her closer and slipped over her body. She moaned and he felt it in his chest; a groan reverberated through him as her hands traveled down the length of his abdomen and pulled his belt free.

She heard the distant sound of voices: Stefan and Damon looking for her, Finn asking Elijah if he had seen her, and Klaus asking after both of them.

She quickened her movements, shedding the last of his clothes.

"What's the rush darling?" He breathed heavily.

"People have noticed were gone."

He chuckled, but allowed her to pull him down on the bed and between her parted thighs; it was the precise place he wanted to be anyway.

"Why should I care about that?" He hooked a finger in the band of her underwear: the last barrier separating them.

Elena blanked for a moment. Her first thought was that nobody could know about her, but that didn't matter anymore, not to her; she had finally found him.

"I don't want someone interrupting us."

Stop staring," Damon followed her gaze to Caroline and rolled his eyes, "it's creepy."

Rebekah tore her gaze from Matt and glared at the clueless vampire. She decided to use his assumptions to her advantage – or rather to her brother's advantage; everybody thought she was a jealous bitch, so she leaned into the curve and sneered.

"Of course, she looks beautiful. Nik gave her everything she's wearing."

"Well, you're no dog yourself."

She focused on his features and narrowed her eyes. The corner of her lips lifted.

"Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"You tried to kill Elena last night," he scoffed, "you don't get compliments."

"Caveman," she snorted. She could remember the previous night clearly. She had left the mansion with every intention of causing the girl some pain, but then she saw the silver locket.

"Where is Elena?" Damon frowned.

The music had shifted to something new on the floor below, and she could hear the sound of people mingling in the hall, but none of that mattered to her because Kol's hands were exploring every inch of skin he could reach as his hips shifted.

She moaned, hooked her thigh over his waist and flipped them over. Her hands fell to either side of his head as his found a home on her waist.

He breathed against her lips, groaning as the angle of her hips shifted and she kissed him, sucking his bottom lip into her mouth.

"Bloody hell," he sat up, guiding her hips with an arm around her waist, "you'll be the death of me, darling."

"I'd better not be," she gasped, "I pre…"

He cupped her breast his free hand, scraping his thumb over her stiff nipple, and she forgot for a second what she was going to say. He made matters worse by trailing hot kisses up her throat.

"… Kol…" her whispered voice turned to a whine, "… please…"

"What do you prefer, darling?" He coaxed. "Tell me what you want."

"I wa… I want…" she rolled her hips, "I want you…" she gasped, biting her lip, "… alive… here… with m… me."

"I think I can arrange that," he smirked, flipping her onto her back and hooking her leg over his shoulder.

She knew she was there as a show of muscle and that she was supposed to be distracting the Salvatore brothers so they wouldn't get in Elena's way, but Elena had already pulled her disappearing act. Although she doubted her friend had gone to meet with Esther since she had overheard Klaus and Rebekah discussing a missing brother by the name of Kol.

She knew she should be distracting them, but the best thing she could do was wait for them to comb over the ballroom because if she confronted them they would know Elena had planned her vanishing act.

She held her hands in front of her and fingered the diamond bracelet; Klaus' birthday present that said 'sorry-I-sent-your-cheating-ex-to-bite-you-on-your-birthday-I'm-not-that-bad-love'.

She hadn't meant to wear it or the dress, but Elena had asked her late so she had nothing to wear, and Klaus – homicidal maniac that he was – had exquisite taste.

She rolled her eyes when the psychopath in question appeared on her left. She deliberately turned away from him and focused her attention on the horses.

"I'm not talking to you until you tell me why you invited me here."

"I happen to fancy you," he watched her stroke the horse's nose, "is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes," she scoffed, glaring over her shoulder. "What are you doing out here?"

"Why is it hard to believe?" He tilted his head and smiled. "You're beautiful, you're strong, and you're full of light. I enjoy you."

"I'm not yours to enjoy," she rolled her eyes, "and you didn't answer my question."

"You're out here, do I need another reason?"

"I've been out here for nearly an hour alone, so I'm gonna say yeah."

"I was looking for Elena," he relented, "she's pulled a disappearing act."

"Did you ever think that she's avoiding the guy that killed her?"

"Does that mean you know where she is?"

"Somewhere inside," she shrugged. Her eyes narrowed when he nodded and turned towards the mansion. "I thought you 'enjoyed' me."

"I thought you weren't mine to enjoy," he countered, with dancing eyes.

She was laying half on top of him with her heart against his chest and lips pressed to his neck, and for the first time in as long as he could remember he felt happy. He forgot about the siblings who were never on his side and the horrendous acts that had weighed on his conscience for years and allowed the peaceful bubble to surround them both.

He dragged the tips of his fingers up her spine and back down with the barest touch until she squirmed against him and giggled.

"That tickles."

"Why do you think I'm doing it?" He smirked. He flattened his hand on the small of her back and rolled her over his body to pin her down. The sheet had been dragged with her and he had every intention of pulling it away to find further ticklish spots, but before he could the door opened.

It closed a second later and they were greeted by a blonde doing her level best to keep her eyes above the cream coloured sheet.

"You really like interrupting us, don't you?" Kol snapped, sitting up and tucking the sheet firmly over Elena's chest.

"The first time was unintentional," she pointed at him. "I bought you as much time as I could, but Nik isn't he only one looking for you now. Elijah's also looking for Elena."

Kol exchanged a look with her, reading the confusion in her eyes.

"What does the noble stag want with her?" He frowned at Rebekah.

"How am I supposed to know?" She scoffed. "All I know is that Elijah is looking for you," her blue eyes turned on Elena, "and you've got about ten minutes before his search moves to the second floor."

"A lot can happen in ten minutes," he turned to Elena, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Unless you want Elijah finding you naked and in the throes you'd better get dressed," Rebekah looked around, reaching for the door knob. "Nik would dagger you for this."

"You'd know all about that, sweet sister," he muttered, "since you were the reason I was daggered last time."

Rebekah stiffened and slowly turned back around.

Elena felt a sudden desire to sink into the mattress and disappear. The last place she wanted to be was between feuding Original vampires.

"I never betrayed you, Kol," Rebekah met his flaming eyes.

"You told them about her," venom dripped from his tongue.

"I nev…"

"Don't lie to me!"

Elena shot up so fast the sheet nearly fell, and she knew she was giving Rebekah a good view of her bare back, but she didn't care.

"Kol," she pressed one hand to his chest. When that didn't work she moved her hand up and cupped his cheek, forcing him to look at her. "Rebekah didn't tell them."

A line appeared between his brows when he turned his angry gaze from his sister to Elena; his look softened for her, but the anger still simmered beneath the surface.

"You don't have to defend her, love," his hand settled on the base of her spine.

"I'm not defending her Kol. I'm telling the truth. Rebekah didn't tell them, and I know because it was Mary Alice." She read the disbelief in his eyes. "She used magic to send Klaus a letter from the cottage – confessed to it when I was inside; actually seemed thrilled at the prospect of me dying."

"If you'd bothered to read my note you would have already known this," Rebekah tore open the door, "I'll be waiting for your apology downstairs."

Elena stood up from the bed, walking around the end to pick up her dress. She fixed the bodice in place and turned her back to him; the zipper was drawn up in silence.

Locating her gloves, she slipped them on and turned around to face him.

"Mary Alice?" He reached for her hands.

"I told you she didn't like me," she smiled sadly.

"But to do that…" he shook his head. "She signed your death warrant."

"My human life was always going to be limited," she squeezed his fingers, "at least when it ended it wasn't permanent. I've got you to thank for that."

"Me?" He frowned.

"I'll tell you later," she smiled. "I've gotta go. Elijah's looking for me and I bet it's got something to do with your mom wanting to talk to me. Where's my bracelet?"

"Side table," he nodded to the door. He stood and started dressing while she went to collect the jewelry. "My mother wants to see you?"

"Yeah," she moved back towards him, hooking the bracelet around her wrist. "Do you have any idea why?"

"None," he shook his head.

Elena stepped into her heels but paused, her eyes draw to the exposed skin of his chest.

He noticed her stare and left the shirt to hang open. "Like what you see, darling?"

"I didn't think I needed to say yes," she smirked. Her hands slipped over his stomach. She tipped her head up and kissed him twice because once wasn't enough.

"You'd better go, darling," he kissed her again, "before I barricade that door and rip off your dress."

"Don't you dare," she gave his chest a playful slap. She snatched a piece of paper from a notebook on his nightstand and scrawled a series of numbers on it before folding it and slipping it in his pocket. "Go apologize to your sister."

"Must I?" He pouted.

"Yes," she reached for the doorknob. "She helped and you accused her. She was actually the one who got Thierry out of the house before Klaus and Elijah got there."

"Fine," he sighed.

Elena smoothed her hair over her shoulder and opened the door. She was halfway down the hall, resisting the urge to go back, when she felt a hand on her elbow. She found herself grateful for the bracelet that masked her scent and Kol's when she came face to face with Elijah.

She knew everyone was going to find out eventually, but she didn't want to have the conversation yet. The 'you're sleeping with my brother' would lead to the 'you're a vampire' which would lead to the 'I left you to die in New Orleans' which would inevitably lead to a slap across his face; she was floating too high for that.

"Elena," he smiled tightly, glancing down the hall, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I got a little turned around," several times… by your brother… forgot which was up for a bit.

"The house is rather large," he met her eyes. "I understand my mother requested an audience with you."

"Yeah," she nodded, "why, is something wrong?"

"Well," he moved to stand in front of her, stopping their path, "her ability to forgive my brother after everything he's done to destroy this family strikes me as a little strange to say the least."

Elena blinked up at him. Now that she was thinking about it she found it a little odd as well; her children weren't particularly forgiving in nature and that was often a trait learned from parents.

"Do you think it's an act?" She felt her mouth turn down; her elation dropped.

"It has me asking questions I never thought I'd ask," he looked over her shoulder before taking a step closer and lowering his voice. "Can I depend on you to tell me what she says?"

Standing so close she didn't know how he couldn't see who she was, or remember what he had done to her in 1914. If she were one of his siblings she would have refused outright, but she wasn't. She doubted her grudge against him would hold much longer, so she nodded.

"Of course," she managed a small smile. "I'll find you later, okay?"

She didn't wait for a response before walking around him and down the hall. The study was easy enough to locate because the door was open; she closed it at Esther's nod and blinked.

When she opened her eyes again she was on the ground floor standing alone amidst a sea of people. She blinked at the crowd and tried to clear the fog in her head; the task was so much work that she didn't notice Elijah sidling up until he was beside her.

"So," he gave her a charming smile, "how was my mother?"

She got a glimpse of the study in her mind and pressed her lips together. She could only come up with one word to describe the woman and associated memory.

"Intense."

"I see," he plucked two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, "and for what reason did she wish to speak with you in private?"

Elijah offered her a glass of champagne at the same moment she noticed Esther on the stairs. A voice whispered in her mind and told her she needed to reassure him, but it didn't sound like her voice.

There was something important she needed to remember, pressing on her brain along with a tingling sensation she knew to be magic.

"Elena?" Her eyes snapped back to him. "Should I be concerned about my mother's intentions?"

She opened her mouth to speak and the voice that came out was hers, but the words were not. She was standing a quarter mile away listening to herself talk to Elijah and wondering where the syllables were coming from because they certainly weren't originating on her tongue.

"She just wanted to apologize for trying to have me killed." Her facial muscles strained under the smile; there was something important.

"So it's true then?"

She strained her memory: candles, blood, a spell…

"She's forgiven Klaus?"

… Frozen muscles, horror, pure terror…

"Elena?"

… 'If one goes'… a needle…

"It's true," her heart skipped a beat. She knew he could hear it, but he didn't get a chance to say anything before the crystal rang and their attention was drawn up.

She welcomed Esther's speech for the distraction it was and took a moment to breathe and search her head for the source of the fog and the reason why she felt like a marionette on strings. She needed to find the puppeteer, but first she needed to pull back the curtain and make sense of the snippets she had summoned.

… 'They all go'… 'They are abominations'… 'Betrayed nature'…

It hit her over the head with the force of a bag of bricks. Esther – the woman talking about the joy of a family reunited p was planning to slaughter every Original vampire by linking them together as one. The question remained of how she planned to do it.

She heard her own voice in her head: 'I couldn't help if I wanted to, and I don't want to'.

'Your blood is only useless to my son'.

Elena's head snapped up; the voice hadn't been from a memory. Her eyes locked on the Original Witch as glasses rose.

"Cheers," Esther smiled at the crowd, raising her glass; something metallic glinted under her pearl bracelet. The call was echoed by a hundred voices.

Elena's eyes fell to the glass in her hand. She had lived for over a hundred years, attended some of the highest parties of New Orleans society and planned even more, but she had never once seen pink champagne in that particular hue.

Her eyes narrowed.

Don't drink the champagne, she thought the words, pushing them over the crowd of people again and again, but nobody showed any sign that they had heard.

Across the room Kol heard the faintest of whispers and stiffened because he knew the voice; it was the same one that had whispered against his skin less than an hour before. He glanced at Rebekah to see if she had heard it too and found her looking sideways at him with the smallest of lines between her brows.

Elena turned back to face Elijah and against her will clinked her glass with his. She prayed he had heard her and lifted the flute of sparkling liquid, pressing her lips to the glass tightly because her tongue still didn't belong to her.

Kol glanced over his shoulder to where she stood with Elijah. Her mouth was too tight to allow the champagne between her lips. He turned his attention to Rebekah and clinked glasses with her.

"Cheers," he smirked, but it didn't meet his eyes. He tipped the glass up and allowed the liquid to touch his mouth, but it didn't pass his lips.

Klaus frowned at the whisper that he couldn't quite make out before shaking it off and drinking the toast. From the corner of his eye he saw Elijah drink.

Elena deposited her glass on a passing waiter's tray after the toast was done and smiled at Elijah before murmuring an excuse and rushing out into the night.

"Elena?"

She turned to see Caroline racing towards her with a sparkling shawl. The blonde was followed closely by Damon.

"Elena," he grabbed her arm, "where the hell have you been?"

"I had a meeting," she glared at his hand.

"You shouldn't have gone alone."

"Are you seriously mad at me right now?" She pulled her arm free when he tugged her towards the cars.

"I'm mad at you because you made a stupid decision like you always do, and put your life in danger," he snapped. "Sue me for trying to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me," she crossed her arms over her chest, "so just stop it."

"I can't," he stepped toward her.

"Why not?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Because I love you, dammit!"

Her breath caught as the ninety-seven year old memories surfaced. Damon fancied himself in love with her, but time had let her see that what he wanted was a replacement for Katherine that he could control.

"You don't love me, Damon."

"Yes, I do."

"Then you should stop," she met his eyes. The words were cruel, but they had to be said. "I don't love you Damon, and I never will, not the way you want me to."

"About time someone told him," Caroline muttered. She was going to hand the shawl to Elena, but it was pulled from her hands. She watched a dark haired young man drape the glittering material over her friend's shoulders.

"Alright, darling?" His hands held the shawl closed around her front.

Heat curled down Elena's spine at the sound of Kol's voice.

"I'm fine," she sighed, but she could hear her heart skipping. She just kept from leaning back into his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Damon snapped, glaring at Kol.

"Well, it is my family property," he smirked.

"Take your hands off her," he growled.

"Certainly," Kol slid his hands up her arms and kneaded her shoulders, "as soon as she tells me to."

"Well," Caroline cleared her throat, "as fun as I'm sure this verbal sparring match is gonna be, I am tired and I think Elena is too, so we're just gonna say goodnight."

"What she said," Elena nodded, "so as nice as this massage is, I'm gonna need my shoulders back."

"As you wish, love," Kol sighed.

Elena turned around to face Kol and smiled softly, mouthing the words: 'please don't kill him'.

She was halfway to Caroline's car when she heard Damon hiss and shove Kol because he had her scent 'all over' him.

"Keep walking," Caroline gripped her arm. "It's high time someone put Damon in his place."

I've left some clues through the story that answer the question of how Esther managed to do what she did. Can anyone guess? :)