A/N- I'm back!

They're deep into their dinner before Nik begins speaking.

"When I was born, I became my mother's favourite," he begins, seemingly out of nowhere but Caroline suspects that he'd been preparing himself over the last few hours.

"My oldest brother Finn was the suck-up, the golden child that ran and tattled to her every time one of us misbehaved, but no matter how hard he tried, I was her favourite."

He settles back into silence and Caroline tries to act as casually as possible, as if he'd been talking about his day and not opening up about his tragic past.

"Perhaps that's why Mikael hated me," he theorises and she stuffs food in her mouth to try and hide how that sentence broke her heart, "I can't think of anything I ever did wrong as a child that was any worse than what my siblings did but I always remember him having hated me."

Another shovel of food because there's nothing she can really say except 'It wasn't your fault.'

Which she does once she's managed to swallow without choking.

"After my mother died…he'd never really pretended to like me when she was around, he'd mostly just ignored me and made up excuses to beat me…once she was gone, he didn't even bother to hide it,"

Reaching over, Caroline rests her free hand on his knee to offer comfort while he was lost in reminiscing.

"Finn blamed me, my younger siblings didn't understand and just wanted to turn a blind eye, Elijah tried to help me but our teachers either didn't believe him or didn't care. Until one night when the police came to our door asking questions, father charmed them and talked them into leaving but he must have realised that eventually someone would find out the truth about him, because it was that same weekend that he drove me hours away into the woods and warned me not to go home."

He falls silent then, returning to his meal and Caroline wants to prompt him to continue but knows better than to try and force him to speak. They're in the kitchen loading up his dishwasher before he finds his voice again,

"I'd never been allowed to have friends and we didn't have any family that I knew of, there was nobody I could have called for help, even if I had been near a payphone. I started walking, hiding every time a car drove past because I was worried it was him coming to kill me. Eventually, a man- a priest- saw me and drove me into the nearest town, we went to the police but all they did was place me with social services and then…within a month I was being shuffled around the foster system."

He doesn't invite Caroline to stay the night but she couldn't even imagine going home and leaving him alone while he's stuck remembering his traumatic childhood, so she follows him to his bedroom and they take in turn showering and she borrows an old t-shirt he'd got from a convention, slipping between the sheets and shifting over until she's close enough for him to hold if he needs to.

"I know it sounds ridiculous but…becoming a porn star was probably the only chance I had to ever lift myself out of poverty. I was being moved from home to home, school to school, I barely got a GED and college would never have been an option for me even if I could manage to read beyond an eighth-grade level. Actually, having to read scripts for my shoots helped me a lot and then having to educate myself for our business helped too."

In spite of everything, Caroline smiled at the knowledge that she'd- unintentionally- helped Nik improve himself in some way.

"I'd sometimes wondered what would happen if my family found out, I've had foster parents come out of the woodwork to ask me for money or try and 'save me' by taking me to church but when I heard people talk about their family finding out what they did, I always wondered how my siblings would react."

"Rebekah seemed to handle it well," she points out, "Better than I would have at her age."

He hums in agreement, but she can feel the tension radiating off him, the anxiety clawing away at any positive thoughts he'd had today.

"I was always her favourite," he offers as an explanation, "But my brothers? I can only imagine what they think of me."

There's really nothing she can say to make him feel better, after all, he probably isn't wrong, so she settles for giving him a comforting kiss,

"Try to get some sleep," she suggests, "We can worry about that tomorrow."

Even though they arrived at Mystic together, Caroline is first in the door because she liked to power-walk everywhere.

Also, she was more caffeinated than he was.

Which is why she nearly collides with Luke who was lurking just inside the front door.

"Is Nik okay?" he blurts out as she regains her footing and drags him to a dark corner.

"Is he what now?" she demands, keeping her voice low and he clears his throat nervously,

"Well, when you dragged him and that blonde out of here yesterday, it didn't take a genius to figure out that she was either a sister or a girlfriend and considering how many hours the two of you are putting in here, he probably doesn't have the time for a girlfriend right now and you told me once that you're an only child."

Caroline threw her head back and took a deep breath, "Okay, yes, that was his sister and it's complicated as hell so if we could just pretend like nothing happened, that'd be great."

Luke pursed his lips and nodded, "Right, I'll get word out to the crew and Marcel and Aya should be here in an hour."

She gives him an appreciative smile just as Nik makes it through the door.

"Okay," she calls as they reach the main area and she catches everyone's attention, "We have a busy day ahead of us! Get your coffee now and remember to stay hydrated!"

Aya arrives first and settles on the first couch on the floor, which had jokingly been dubbed the casting couch even though Caroline had laid down strict laws against anyone so much as holding hands on it.

She's deep into the latest issue of Vogue when Marcel arrives, and they lead them into the meeting room to make sure they'd read the script for their shoot today. They were doing a simple romantic shoot, the two of them on a bed in a candlelit room, general vanilla stuff but Caroline wanted to go over everything one last time to show that she was a hands-on kind of manager.

Nik meanwhile was laying the charm on thick, not flirting with Aya, who was probably sick of being hit on while working- God knows Caroline was- but being polite and making sure she was comfortable, had everything she needed and letting her know that he was available if she had any questions.

Meanwhile, he and Marcel were discussing sports.

Caroline listened just enough to pick up the key words and then immediately tuned out.

She could fake orgasms, fake attraction and fake confidence but she could not fake an interest in sports.

Because they're all professionals, they manage to actually start filming on schedule and, seeing that she isn't needed, Caroline thinks of all the admin work she has on her desk and is heading back to her office when she sees someone coming in the front door.

She takes him in with two quick glances and her stomach drops.

Because he's too well and too conservatively dressed to be a part of their world.

Which probably meant…

She looks over her shoulder, the set up was partially hidden from the entrance but she could see that Nik's back was turned.

He hadn't spotted their latest visitor yet.

Caroline wondered if she could maybe get away with shoving him back through the door into the parking lot and politely requesting that he come back in two hours?

Since he'd woken up that morning, Nik had clearly been pretending that yesterday hadn't happened, pushing down the drama and emotions until their work day was over. And while Caroline knew that wasn't one-hundred-percent healthy, she understood and appreciated that he was putting Mystic first.

Figures that another one of his siblings would crawl out of the woodwork right as they were filming a sex scene.

At least it wasn't one of theirs.

But maybe they should start investing in some sort of security system if this was going to keep happening.

She decides to do as much damage control as possible and heads over with a friendly smile fixed on her face, ignoring the judgemental look in this man's eyes.

"Hi," she greets, stepping to the right so that he'd focus on her and have less of a view into the studio,

"I'm Caroline Forbes, and you are?"

"Elijah Mikaelson," he manages to speak through nearly gritted teeth, not offering his hand to shake, clearly unhappy to be in the building and speaking to her,

"I'm here to see my brother."

Her entire acting ability goes to maintaining her polite expression, "Okay," she says, "He's busy at the moment but if you can wait for him in my office…"

"I'd rather not," he interrupts, and her lips automatically purse before she forces them back into a friendly smile, "I'll wait outside."

She tries to hide her relief, "There's some café's a few blocks over," she suggests, "We could meet you at one of them?"

The look of disdain on his face is impressive, she didn't know such an expression was possible outside of a British period drama. He could be an Austen love interest with that kind of physical ability.

"I'll wait in my car."

Okay then.

If he wanted to sit and be bored for the next two hours, that was fine with her.

The door is barely closed before she heads to the window and peeks out into the parking lot to see the expensive Bentley sticking out like a sore thumb in the midst of the used and mid-range cars.

She grabs Josh on his way to the bathroom and drags him into her office,

"The second that they've finished filming, get Nik in here," she orders in a hiss, "Whatever you do, do not let him step foot outside."

His eyes are wide with fear, but he nods so she lets him go back downstairs while she hurries to her laptop and starts typing rapidly.

Considering the number of horror stories there were about people in their industry who'd been discovered by their family or loved ones, there had to be a self-help site somewhere for dealing with it?

Or maybe even just a blog?

She's on a free education site about to sign up for a psychology course when Nik gives the barest knock on her door and stumbles in, sinking into one of the chairs.

"I just tried to go outside for a smoke," he begins, his lips twisting in a wry grin, "And poor Josh nearly had a heart attack."

Caroline's formulating a lie without even really processing it before he continues, "Is one of my siblings outside right now?"

She releases her breath and clenches her hands so that she doesn't run them through her hair because she doesn't want it to get greasy.

"Your brother Elijah," she admits, and he goes pale, "What can I do?"

He shakes his head ruefully, "I don't think there's any way out of this for me,"

Standing he manages a weak smile, "Is it bad that I was hoping it was Kol?"

From what Rebekah had told them yesterday, it sounded like Kol would be the most accepting of his work.

With their luck, he was probably going to drop by tomorrow.

She wants to follow him to the parking lot, to support him through his latest emotional upheaval but he goes without her, so she pretends to be reading traffic stats for their website and not watching the confrontation from her office window.

As Nik approaches the car, Elijah climbs out with a book still in hand and the two of them stand awkwardly before he draws him in for a one-armed hug that stretches on until they break apart and he says something to which Nik nods. It looks to be going well until Nik looks up towards her window and she pushes her office chair back, digging her heels into the floor so that it doesn't collide with her desk.

She's not sure whether she's been caught spying until an hour later when she heads down to see Marcel and Aya off, making sure the two of them are happy with the day's work and checking in with everybody when Nik joins her in the dressing room, leaning against the wall as she gives the make-up counter a second wipe down.

"I assume you don't have listening devices in the parking lot?"

She rolls her eyes, "I'm not that bad."

He chuckles, "We have an invitation to dinner tonight, at a restaurant called Cecile's."

She hadn't heard of it and is already worrying about the dress code for him both before she even realises that she was invited to go along as well.

"He wants me there as well?" she asks and Nik shrugs,

"Possibly not, but I want and need you there, so it's a reservation for three."

Cecile's is an Italian restaurant with plastic checked tablecloths and fake candles.

Caroline is glad that she looked it up before picking out their outfits tonight, because she would have hated for them to stand out in any way by either being over or under dressed.

As it was, they could have probably got away with wearing tracksuit pants.

Or at the very least, leggings.

Instead, she'd put Nik in one of his nicer pairs of jeans and a button-down while she was wearing a nice dress with wedges.

She hadn't even really worried about their outfits, beyond her usual nervousness until she sees that Elijah had changed from his earlier conservative suit to another conservative suit.

Caroline wonders if it's the similar colouring or the fashion that has him reminding her of Patrick Bateman.

If he offers her a business card, she's faking a call and booking it out of there.

Nik had clearly been suppressing his nerves all day and when he sees his brother again, he doesn't take her hand, but he does rest his hand on her back as they make their way over to the table.

Elijah stands when he sees them and Caroline awards him one point for manners, a second when he greets her with a polite nod and they all take their seats.

Both points are deducted when she figures within thirty seconds that he's never been to this restaurant before.

She'd been hoping that he'd picked it for its casual vibe or because it was close to him but if she had to guess, she'd say he'd chosen a place where he wouldn't run into anybody he knew.

She tries to hide her annoyance as she peruses the menu but lets her pettiness get the best of her by not warning him when he orders the steak.

Even without reading the Yelp reviews, she could have told him a place like this wouldn't have good quality beef.

Barely five minutes of noting the décor and making some inane comments about the weather and they'd fallen into an awkward silence which Caroline agonises over as they all take sips of the unfiltered tap water before she dives right in and takes control.

"So, Elijah," she begins cheerfully, "What is it that you do?"

He takes that conversation starter with clear relief and enthusiastically launches into a description of his job.

Which just sounds like a lot of fancy words for businessman and if it hadn't been for the books she'd assigned them both for starting up Mystic, it would have gone right over their heads.

As it was, she could sense boredom settling on their shoulders like a cloak but manages to ask some basic questions before the food arrived.

Unfortunately, the arrival of their dishes seemed to signify some marker for Elijah, he clears his throat and turns to Nik who freezes in the middle of twirling his pasta.

"I know that our childhood was abusive," he begins, and Caroline drops her chin to study her carbonara,

"There is a lot of trauma for us all that we should process both individually and as a family…"

Caroline was a fan of self-help books. She liked the idea that the secret to a more productive, fulfilling life lay in the forty dollar, two hundred page tome that she picked up from Borders every few months.

It was because of these kinds of books that she was able to recognise the keywords that Elijah was peppering throughout his sentences. And it was because of her career that she could tell when someone was being scripted.

Elijah had clearly rehearsed the words he was speaking now. He had planned out the evening in his mind either with the help of a therapist or having got advice from somewhere.

She's half-tempted to ask if he managed to find a relevant website and if so, could he give her the link.

But her focus is on Nik and she turns to him to see that he's come to the same conclusion she has.

She wonders if he's flattered that his older brother went to so much effort or upset that he felt everything had to be planned out?

It's a little hard to tell because he's expressionless, taking in what's being said but not reacting until he slowly gets to his feet and mutters about going to the loo.

Caroline would offer to go with him, but she doubts a restaurant like this had unisex bathrooms.

They both watch him weave his way around the tables, into the grimy corridor and disappear through a door opposite the kitchen.

"Miss Forbes," Elijah prompts and she shifts in her seat, "I was hoping to speak with you alone."

She raises her eyebrows and reaches for her wine, trying to assure herself that he wasn't about to proposition her or ask if she was single.

Past experience had proved this was usually why men tried to get her alone.

"Oh?"

He nods, clearing his throat, "I understand that you and Niklaus are joint partners in your…little business venture."

Condescending jackass.

"We are," she confirms, "It's going great."

"That's nice," he offers, and she buries her nose in her terrible red wine, "Tell me, how much would it cost to buy my brother out?"

She's too classy to do a spit-take but she does have to swallow carefully, "I'm sorry?"

Elijah clears his throat again and adjusts his cufflinks, "As I'm sure you understand Miss Forbes, had my brother not been kicked out of home when he was young, he would never have gone into this…line of work and now that he's been reunited with his family, he can finally get out and pursue something respectable and worthwhile."

Caroline is too classy to throw a glass of terrible red wine at someone in a family-friendly restaurant, but it is so, so tempting.

"Shouldn't you discuss this with your brother first?" she points out, trying to keep her voice from becoming loud and shrill, "Before you make decisions on his behalf."

Elijah gives her a patronising once over glance which makes her regret her earlier decision not to throw her wine at him.

"Please understand Miss Forbes, the best thing for my brother is to leave and cut all ties with the industry and people like…"

He manages to stop himself, but Caroline doesn't have to be a genius to figure out where he was going with that sentence.

"People like me?" she finishes, and he has the grace to look embarrassed.

It's not enough though, not after the way he's treated her, looking down on her and her choices without bothering to learn the first thing about her.

She stands up and grabs her bag, making some excuse about having to wash her hair and walking out of the cheap restaurant.

She's halfway up the street and looking for the nearest bar before she remembers that she'd arrived with Nik, that tonight was about making sure he was okay, that she couldn't abandon him to his asshole of a brother.

Except, that his asshole of a brother was offering him the opportunity of a lifetime.

One he'd be crazy not to take.

So, she decides to go bury her feelings in a decent cocktail.

A/N- Thanks for reading