Nik leaned against the wall and watched Caroline dance with Elena. The strobe lights flashed and the bass from the music made the liquid in his glass ripple. Her hips swiveled and her hand ran through her hair with her neck tilted back, the light picking up a sheen of sweat as she twirled around in the hot crowd.

She looked over to him and smiled. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. He didn't tear his eyes away from her until she turned away to face Elena again. He glanced up at the glass staircase, waiting to see the Salvatore brothers come back downstairs. They thought they were so smart, slipping away and leaving him with the girls while they made their deal. As if he didn't know exactly what they were doing.

Damon and Stefan were begrudgingly letting this Nik guy tag along with Caroline when they all went out to Heartbeat that night. They had some business stuff to get to, but this wasn't one of the clients who liked having eye candy around while they made a transaction, so they just reminded Elena and Caroline a few thousand times that they had to be out of sight and take Nik with them when it was time for them to meet the client in the 3rd floor VIP section.

After the deal was done the two brother ventured back down to the first floor to join Nik and the girls for drinks. Damon eyed the new guy warily, and made sure to stand between him and Elena at all times. Stefan had loosened up and started being friendly with Caroline's new boy, but Damon thought he was creepy and still had suspicions about him. He saw the way his hands were all over Caroline, their Caroline. It made his blood boil to see this relative stranger slipping his hand up the back of her shirt, running his thumb along the strip of skin that showed between her shirt and skirt, kissing her bare shoulder, smirking as he whispered in her ear. She was falling for it, looking back at him with doe eyes, smiling at everything he said. If she thought she could just bring this strange man into their tight knit group she had another thing coming. How much longer was she going to keep this up? He was fine with her sleeping with whoever she wanted, but turning it into a relationship was out of the question. They couldn't risk this guy finding out what they did for work. Stefan might allow it, but Damon was ready to put his foot down.

Nik was buying a round of drinks for everyone. "Stefan, what're you having?"

"Nothing for me, thanks, I have to drive out the the airport in a half hour. I have a guest coming to stay with us."

Damon raised his eyebrows. Elena looked to Caroline for an explanation.

"A girl." Stefan added.

Everyone gave him a confused look except Caroline, who looked elated.

"Oh. My. God. Ohmygod. Did you? "

Stefan grinned sheepishly.

Caroline squealed and nearly knocked Damon over running to jump on Stefan for a bear hug. "This is the cutest thing ever! I'm so excited! I can't wait to meet her!"

Stefan was blushing while the others waited for an explanation. "I. Uh. I've been talking to this girl for a while now and I really like her. Caroline kinda gave me the idea to invite her here to stay with us for a while. You guys will be nice to her, right? She's important to me."

"I'm always nice" Damon feigned.

"Yeah, and I remember you being a little too nice to my prom date."

"That was B.E., before Elena. I'm a different person now."

Stefan was fidgeting. "You know what? I can't wait here any more. I'll just go now. In case she gets there early."

They watched him practically run out of the club to get to the airport.

"You didn't tell me?" Elena asked.

Caroline smiled. "He wanted me to keep it secret until now."

"Yeah, but you could have told me!"

"Then it would't be a secret."

Nik pulled her closer, planting a kiss on her forehead. He could never tell her his secret, but somehow knowing that she could keep one made him like her even more anyway.

They parted ways, Damon and Elena heading up to the penthouse and Caroline and Nik going back to the 5th floor.

When they got back to her room, she poured herself a glass of water and leaned against the bathroom counter.

"Now that looks familiar" he was slowly walking towards her.

"Oh?" she smiled, setting her glass down. "I remember this being the spot where a very persistent guy bandaged me up."

"Well as much as I enjoy bandaging you up, lets try to go a full day without you getting injured, shall we?

"And how are we going to do that?"

"Hmm, I think you'll just have to stay right here where I can keep an eye on you"

He was standing in front of her, gently pressing her against the countertop. She pulled him closer and he brought his lips down to meet hers.

She pushed herself against him and deepened the kiss, moving to cover one of his lips and then the other before letting his tongue find hers. His hands slid under her shirt and pulled it off, and he trailed kisses all over her as he ran his hands along her stomach, inching up.

He turned her around so he stood behind her, both of them facing the bathroom counter and the mirror that stretched out behind it. He was in control, there wasn't much she could do to him from this position, but his hands could reach all over her. Frustrated that she couldn't run her hands all over him or kiss him, Caroline swiveled her hips, grinding figure eight shapes like she did when she caught him watching her dance at the club, only this time she was pushing right on to him.

He kept looking in the mirror, watching her expressions and seeing himself run his hands all over her. The move she was doing with her hips was positively evil it felt so good. He could feel himself getting harder and her smiling with satisfaction as she felt what she was doing to him.

He pulled the rest of her clothes off, piece by piece, watching her squirm and bite her lip as he pealed each piece away from behind her. He drew a hand across her thigh and grazed lightly as he worked his way up to find the heat between her legs. She let out a surprised noise, but moaned in appreciation and pushed her ass against him harder. He kissed her neck and looked into the mirror, enjoying the sight of her expressions and himself causing them.

She couldn't take it anymore. She pulled herself around and kissed him hard, breaking only so she could hastily take off the clothes he still had on. She needed more of him and right away.

He scooped her up so she was sitting on the counter. Just like on that first night when he bandaged her knee. Only now he would be able to actually do what he had only fantasized about that night. He pulled her so she was on the edge and positioned her legs around him.

Her mouth found his as he slid into her, and she nipped at his lower lip as he pushed farther into her.

"Nik, more, please."

What had started out slow and romantic was quickly becoming fast and rough. He slammed into her with a force that knocked her back towards the mirror and as she pushed back she slid down the side of the counter. She felt herself slip into the sink and tried to steady herself by grabbing the faucet but she ended up turning it on, feeling the cool water splash against her. He pulled her out of the sink and propped her against the wall instead. As he lifted her, she grabbed handfuls of the water and dripped it over his shoulders, making him shiver as the cool droplets ran down his chest and back.

She locked her legs around him and held on tight as he had her pressed against the wall. He wouldn't drop her. They were pressed close together as she ground into him, feeling the tension build inside of her. He was the only thing she could hold on to for support as she felt herself getting closer.. closer..

"I can't hold on much longer" he growled.

He didn't need to. She was at the edge, and once he saw her start to shake he let himself join her.

"I'm about to... oh god... Nik!" She felt herself go over the edge as she said his name and he followed her.

Caroline woke up to a pair of eyes looking back at her.

"Thats creepy, you know, watching someone sleep."

"My apologies, sweetheart, I couldn't help it. You look so beautiful when you're sleeping."

She scoffed and shook her head. "You need to cut that stuff out."

"What stuff?"

"All the sweethearts and romantic comments. It's too much. You're going to spoil me for any other guy because no one else talks like that and I'm going to end up getting used to it."

"Thats the idea, love."

"What, that I won't be happy with any other guy once you're gone?"

"No, that you won't want any other guy, because I have no plans for going anywhere without you."

He meant it. He didn't know what was happening, but he wanted to find a way to be with this girl. He barely knew her, but she was already the most important romantic relationship he had ever had. He was going to find a way to keep her.

"There you go again, saying those things. You're going to break my heart if you keep this up. You know this can't really go anywhere."

"I don't want to pretend this is some casual thing, Caroline. I know it's fast, but I want to be with you. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Nik, you don't want to get involved with me, with us. We're always traveling. And I tried to tell you before, we're not good people. It isn't fair to you."

"I don't care. I want to find a way. I don't want a life without you in it." He said. Emily was going to kill him for this. She would know, and she would worry what it would mean for his cover, for their profits. It was all worth it, though. He had lived through hell growing up with Mikael, getting involved in the business of killing way too young. He never got a chance to be in love. She was someone he could see himself falling in love with. He couldn't just walk away.

They lied on their sides, facing each other. She looked worried, but she nodded yes. She would give it a chance, even though it scared her. He pulled her closer and rested his head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat.

Her phone buzzed and she begrudgingly checked the text.

"I'm going upstairs to see Elena, she said she needed to talk to me about something important."

"Alright, love, I need to make some phone calls for work, want to go to the pool after?"

"Yeah, don't forget we're meeting up with the others for dinner. Stefan wants us all to meet his girl."

"Sounds good." he opened the door as they both walked out of the room. "Try not to get into any trouble today."

Elena looked worried when she opened the door. There was a police officer in the room. Damon was sitting next to him. It was clear by their body language that he wasn't there to arrest them, but Caroline still felt nervous. She may have grown up with a local sheriff for a mother, but that wouldn't save her if anyone busted their group for all the drugs they moved.

"You're Caroline Forbes?" The officer asked.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but we have bad news regarding Tyler Lockwood."

"Oh." she replied, keeping her tone even.

"There appears to have been an accident."

"An accident?"

"We found a boat that had been rented out to one Tyler Lockwood floating a few miles off shore. It was full of suitcases of clothing and personal effects that Mr. Salvatore had just identified as Mr. Lockwood's property. It appeared abandoned, and there was a bloodstain on the side of the boat that indicated that Mr. Lockwood had probably slipped, hit his head and fallen overboard."

Her mouth hung open. She knew Tyler had left, but she hadn't expected this.

"We haven't found a body yet, but the blood indicates he fell over yesterday around noon, and he was most likely knocked unconscious by such a fall, so if he wasn't found by another boat, it is unlikely he survived."

"Wow." She sat down and stared off into space.

"Mr. Salvatore and Ms. Gilbert informed me that you were with them at the cafe in the south tower during this time period, along with your companion the other Mr. Salvatore and Ms. Gilbert's twin sister, who seems to have already checked out this morning. Obviously, this appears to be an unfortunate accident, we have no reason to suspect foul play, but we need to confirm your location at the time just to cover all the bases."

She just nodded.

"I'll be back if we have any more information, Ms. Forbes, until then, I'm sorry for your loss."

Elena and Damon immediately tried to comfort her once the cop was gone. She felt herself smiling.

"Care? Are you ok?"

"I'm great."

"Care, did you hear him? Tyler's probably dead."

"I know" she felt like she was walking on clouds. "Oh, god. Damon, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. He was your friend. I didn't mean to look so happy. I just.. I don't feel sad. I'm not sad he's gone. You don't have to cheer me up."

Elena and Damon just looked at each other, dumbfounded as Caroline practically skipped out of the room.

Nik heard a knock on the door and opened it. Caroline was on the other side wearing only a bathing suit and a smile.

"Ready to go to the pool?"

"If you're trying to get me to go outside, you're going about it in entirely the wrong way" He pulled her into the room and kissed her. His hand was pulling on the string of her top before the door even swung shut.

"Tyler's dead." she said, expressionless.

He froze and dropped his hand. His mouth started to open, trying to find the right words to comfort her without lying too much.

She broke into a huge smile. "Probably, anyway. Come on. I want to get some pool drinks to celebrate."

He scrunched his brow. "Are you alright?"

"Can I tell you a secret? And you promise to keep it?"

"Of course."

"I felt relieved when I heard he was dead. And then happy. And now, it's like I have all this extra energy. It makes me feel good. Does that make me a terrible person?"

She was like him, he thought. She didn't react to death the way people expected. "No, you can feel however you want. Now lets get you some pool drinks."

They had found some chairs and dropped their towels and clothes and waded out to the bar in the low end. He ordered drinks for them and smiled as the bartender scanned his wristband, catching Caroline looking at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention. When he looked at her he wished he had worked more jobs and saved more money, if only he had enough to take her away and keep her forever in the lifestyle she deserved.

They sipped their drinks in the pool and she playfully splashed him a few times.

"You're on dangerous ground, love." he warned, and she let out a playful squeak as he chased her around the pool, trying to catch her long enough to splash her back. He finally caught her, but their splashing quickly subsided when she spotted something off in the distance.

"That's Stefan!"

She motioned to a couple sitting on a lounge chair off to the other side of the pool. The guy was defiantly Stefan, she could tell from his tattoo. The girl was straddling him and they looked like they were in the middle of a serious makeout session that was bordering on obscene for a public place. All she could see of the girl was the her back and her pin straight blonde hair, which had Stefan's hand knotted in it.

"Oh." Nik responded, raising an eyebrow. "I guess that would be his girl."

"I'm dying to meet her. I've known Stefan for a year and he's never liked someone this much. Even all the exes he's told me about don't hold a candle to this new girl. She must be incredible."

"Yes, I'm sure she's great but they certainly don't look like they want to be interrupted right now, so perhaps we should just wait until dinner to say hello."

Stefan and the girl broke apart. They were chatting about something and Caroline could see him laughing and smiling. It made her happy to see him like that. If anyone deserved it, he did.

"Look, they're just talking now. Let's go over and say hi, the suspense is killing me."

"Why do you care so much about meeting this girl?"

"Because I love Stefan. He's a great friend. She makes him happy in a way I haven't seen before, so I want to meet her."

He smiled "Stefan is important to you."

"He taught me how to... well, lets just say my life with Tyler was pretty unconventional and Stefan helped me adapt to it."

He nodded. Of course it would have been hard for Caroline to adapt. She didn't seem like the type of girl who naturally fit in with a circle of dealers and designer drug manufacturers. And she was so worried about him being around her and the people she associated with. As if they could corrupt him or put him in harm's way.

Nik glanced over at Stefan and back at Caroline. She said she loved Stefan. He had heard her say "I love you" to Elena as well. The type of friendship where you love someone was foreign to him. He was loyal to Emily, he got along well with his associates at work, but he didn't love them. Love was something he only understood when it came to him siblings. He was a little jealous of Stefan's special relationship with Caroline, and wondered if anything romantic had ever happened between them.

"You and Stefan, did you ever..."

"Nik, don't look at me like that. Nothing ever happened between Stefan and I. He's my friend. Thats it."

"Alright, lets go say hello." he conceded.

Stefan caught sight of them and waved. The girl turned around and gave a hesitant smile. Caroline walked ahead of Nik. She pulled the girl into a warm hug.

"Hi! It's so nice to finally meet you! I'm Caroline, Stefan's friend."

"Rebecca" the girl smiled back, a little uneasy. She didn't warm up to new people right away, and she was a little uncomfortable with this strange girl being so friendly. As soon as she could break away from the hug, she wrapped her arms around Stefan's waist letting one hand rest on the band of his bathing suit trunks, a gesture that clearly said 'He's mine, bitch, so back off'.

"I'm so glad you're here! How was your flight?"

"It was delayed a bit, so Stefan and I took a nap up in his room and then we just came down here and..." Rebecca stopped, looking spooked.

"Are you ok?" Caroline asked "Oh, this is my friend Ni-"

"Niklaus" Rebecca whispered, looking like she was caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Caroline turned to face Nik. He looked frozen in place, shocked. The shock faded away to be replaced by fury. His hands balled into fists at his side as he glared at Stefan.

"Becca" he finally managed to speak.

Stefan looked anxious. "You two know each other." He seriously hoped Nik wasn't an ex. That would make things really messy.

"Becca, it seems you have some explaining to do."

"Nik, if I told you that I was visiting a boy you would have sent the hounds of hell out to stop me."

"After what happened in Budapest, can you blame me?"

"I'm more careful now, Nik."

"You're not as careful as you think. For a smart girl this is extremely stupid behavior."

"You want to lecture me on stupid behavior?"

Nik was glaring at Stefan. "What on earth are you doing bringing my baby sister out here?"

Stefan looked startled. "I didn't know..."

Caroline looked shocked "Your sister?"

Rebecca snarled at Nik "You leave him alone."

"Becca, I'm sending you back to Elijah right now."

"No, Nik. I'm staying with Stefan. I just got here."

"Out of the question Becca."

"You can't tell me who to see or where to go!"

"Of course I can. You're my sister and I'm telling you not to be here or with him. You should be focusing on school, I'm not paying for..."

"I'm an adult, Nik! I can make these decisions for myself. And just because you're paying for half of my school doesn't mean you control my life. I'm not Kol, I'm not going to waste it and drop out. And I didn't spend a cent of your hard earned money on this. Stefan flew me out here."

"Becca you don't even know him. If I could talk to you in private and explain some things..."

"Nik, I'm not stupid.I know from a lifetime of our family how to tell when someone isn't being forthcoming. You think you're going to shock me by revealing Stefan's real job? I don't care what it is, or how awful. And you only have yourself to blame for that, because I still love you even with what you do."

"Elijah and I have worked too hard to protect you from these kinds of things."

"I'm not leaving Nik. I'm staying with Stefan."

"Very well. Enjoy prison."

"You're a hypocrite." She retorted.

Nik stormed away. Stefan looked rattled. Rebecca sank down into a chair and put her head in her hands.

Stefan sat next to Rebecca. "Becca, I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about my job. I really like you and I didn't know if you would still like me if you knew. It's not the kind of thing we can tell people when we first meet them."

She smiled "You tell me you like me because I'm smart. If you really believed I was so smart, how can you be surprised I saw straight through you? You're not a very good liar."

"You knew?"

"Stefan, I don't care. I knew you were lying about your job the whole time. I understand. You're not the only one who has to keep a secret."

"Caroline, what did you tell him about us?" Stefan asked.

"Nothing. I didn't say anything. I don't know how he knows... I don't understand."

"Becca, is your brother a cop or something?"

She snorted, amused by the notion. "No. Don't worry, he won't report you to anyone. He won't tell anyone what he knows, he was just trying to protect me."

"What does he do?" Stefan asked. This guy was clearly something other than a paramedic.

She looked at him sadly. "Don't ask me what my brother's job is, because I can't tell you. It's not my secret to tell."

Caroline excused herself and began walking back to the rooms. She wasn't going to let this go. Nik was hiding something and she needed to know what it was. She was going to find out what was in those mysterious boxes in his room if it was the last thing she did. Stefan and Tyler had taught her and Elena a few cons so the girls could do things that were low risk and where a cute girl would be more likely to get off with a warning. She knew how to break into a hotel room.

Caroline tried to see where Nik had gone. She spotted the back of his head at one of the bars, a bottle set in front of him. Good. She only needed a few minutes alone in that room.

She worked her magic and smuggled a key card to his room from the front desk, walking away just as a middle aged man lugged a few heavy bags to the front desk. The clerk handed him his card and receipt.

"There you are Mr. Smith, your room is on the 5th floor of the East tower."

"Please, call me Mikael."