He passed a cup of tea over to her and propped the box of cereal up on the bed. They were sitting up with their legs still under the covers, enjoying a quiet breakfast of nonperishable food. There wasn't any milk so they were just grabbing handfuls of the cereal out of the box as they sipped their tea.

She let herself lean into him a little as she held the warm cup in her hands. She was trying not to look at him, but she kept sneaking glances, and he was usually looking back at her.

It was different now. She had a better understanding of who he really was. It freaked her out, but it made sense. He wasn't some random psycho who just started killing people out of nowhere. There were reasons for why he was the way he was. There were parts of him that matched up to the Nik she thought she knew, but there was so much different as well.

"It's good." She said to him, motioning at the cup of tea he handed her.

He wrinkled his nose "It's dreadful. Water from the microwave, no milk in here. terrible.

She shrugged "I can't tell the difference."

He shook his head and grabbed another handful of cereal.

"I'll make you better tea once we're out of this place."

"I thought you weren't coming with us." She said.

He reached over and grabbed some of the cereal. "All you have to do is ask."

"What makes you think I want to ask you to come with us?"

"Because you don't hate me." He said, remembering his words from the night before.

"Not hating someone and wanting to be with that person are not the same."

He nodded and took another sip.

"Well, as soon as you're ready" he said.

She looked at him, confused.

"We can go now. No need to stay here any longer. I'll help you get back to the island so you can meet your friends."

"We're not going to the safe house where they are?"

"No need." he shrugged. "They can meet you at the airport. I'll come with you until you get on the plane that'll take you directly to the island, and then you're free."

"You're just going to dump me on a plane by myself?"

"I thought you would prefer the solitude."

She bit her lip. She wasn't ready for everything to be over, to never see him again, but she also didn't want to admit that to him.

"I think we should wait another day."

He looked surprised. "Why?"

"Your arm is still pretty bad. I don't want to have to sew it up again. I think you should give it another day to rest."

He noticed she was looking away as she spoke to him. She was trying to hide her face.

"Ok" he agreed.

"And I don't want to go on the plane by myself either. Then I'll be wandering around the airport all alone and I think you should be there. Just in case someone's still after us. It's the least you could do after kidnapping me."

He smiled. She wanted him around, even if she wasn't saying it. "Very well. I suppose I can stay with you until you meet up with the Salvatores and my sister and then I'll leave."

"Maybe you should stay for a while."

"You want me to stay?"

"No. I just think maybe you should stay for a while because your sister is there, and I know you care about her and you didn't really get a chance to be around her because of everything that happened."

He looked at her. She was still looking away as she spoke to him, a blush creeping up on her cheeks.

"I wouldn't mind spending some time with Becca, since I don't have anything else to do anyway."

"Family's important." She said, still looking away to hide her smile.

"It is." He agreed.

"That's not a word." Rebecca said.

She was looking down at the scrabble board. Damon had just put down a scramble of letters she was certain didn't make any word in the English language. Stefan and Elena had both gone to bed but the two of them stayed up and were playing the game to pass the time.

"Oh, really? I thought you were so smart. You've never heard of this word?"

"Because it isn't a word." She laughed.

"You wanna bet?"

"I'm certain."

"Then let's make it interesting."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Loser has to cook breakfast?" he suggested.

"Naked." She added, calling his bluff.

"Even better" he smiled.

She extended her hand and he shook it. She walked out of the room to find a dictionary and came back and tossed it at him.

"You know, I can see why my brother likes you, you're a lot more fun than I expected you to be. And you're the only person I've ever met who could kick my ass this hard at scrabble. Too bad you've got that brother."

"Hey, be nice about Nik. He's saving all our asses."

"Yeah, from his mess!"

"He wouldn't have been anywhere near you if you hadn't hired him. Honestly Damon, how can you be so judgmental about what he does when you're the one who hired him?"

"I'm not judging what he does, I just don't like that someone who does what he does is all dating my friend. It's creepy."

"Funny. Nik feels the same way about Stefan and I."

"Stefan isn't a killer."

"Nik doesn't want me involved in this world. He's kept me as far away from it as he could. You and Stefan, your lives are like his, the moving around, the secrets, the looming fear of a lifetime of jail or worse if you ever get caught."

"So why are you with Stefan?"

"Stefan is... He's like no one else. I'd rather be with him and risk everything than have a normal life with someone else."

He nodded "I still think you and Stefan make more sense than Caroline and your brother."

"I don't think they're together anymore anyway." She shrugged.

"Really? It seems Elena left me out of the loop, gossip wise."

"I talk to him as often as possible, the way he talks about her, it sounds like she doesn't like him anymore."

"Can you blame her? He lied to us about everything. She finds out he's a killer by watching him kill his own father, than he kidnaps her and takes her out to the middle of nowhere. Not exactly a great third date."

"You don't understand him."

"Obviously. I don't speak psycho."

She rolled her eyes. "Be nice."

"Why should I?"

"Because he really cares about her. She's the first person I've seen him feel this way about for as long as I can remember. I don't think he's had a girl who lasted longer than a weekend since before our mother died."

"So I should be cool with it because he has feelings for her? Thats like throwing my friend in a tank with a hungry shark, but oh, the shark really likes her."

"He's not so bad. You should give him a chance. Now stop stalling and look up that word that is certainly not in the dictionary."

He leafed through the pages. "You know, I was saying I could see why Stefan likes you, but I guess tomorrow morning I'll really see why he likes you."

She just shook her head. He stopped on a page, looking smug, and suddenly his expression changed.

"What? Can't find the word?" She laughed.

He tried to hide the dictionary, but she was quicker and wrestled it out of his hands.

"Ha! Not a word at all! I'll be seeing you at breakfast. I like pancakes, by the way."

The next morning Stefan got out of bed after Rebecca. He could hear her laughing with Damon and Elena in the kitchen, and something was cooking that smelled amazing. He walked in and kissed Becca on the forehead and walked towards the coffee pot to get a cup.

"OH NO. GOD, WHY?" He screamed, covering his eyes.

A very naked Damon just smiled and put a plate of pancakes on the middle of the table.

"Don't blame me, It was your girlfriend's idea for everyone's pancakes to be served with a side of sausage."

"I can't deal with this." Stefan grumbled, feeling around the countertop for a cup, pouring one while looking away from Damon. He walked out of the room shielding his eyes.

"It looks like some things run in the family!" Rebecca shouted over at him as he walked out.

Mason Lockwood looked around him. The hallway was clear. He hovered over the door and set to work picking the lock.

Once he was in he checked all of the rooms. No one was there. It looked like the maids had been by, because the towels were all untouched and the beds were all made. He looked around. There were bags of makeup and toothbrushes on the bathroom counters, suitcases with crumpled clothes falling out on the floors, and a few half empty bottles of wine sitting on the counters.

They could have been out all day, it was hard to tell. He wasn't sure when they would be back. He looked around the rooms for the best place to hide a camera, deciding on a shelf that faced the main door. He slipped out and went back to his room.

He set up the laptop and waited. Any minute now and they'd be walking back in. He was only one floor below them so he could get there fast. The Salvatore brothers had something to do with Tyler's death and he intended to make them pay.

Nik smiled at Caroline, who was sitting on the bed reading one of his books. She was still wearing just one of his shirts. It might have had something to do with the fact that he turned the temperature in their little shelter up a bit, making it entirely too hot.

He was just wearing the pants, he hadn't bothered to put a shirt back on after taking his off to re-bandage his stitches. He was sitting at the computer desk, sketching her. He didn't tell her what he was drawing, and he didn't plan on showing her. She had been so engrossed in the book, so still and fixated on it that she hadn't even noticed until she put it down to take a break.

He watched her shift and sit up and he could see that she was wearing a pair of his boxer briefs under his t-shirt. She hadn't had time to pack clothes when they ran, and she couldn't keep wearing the outfit she wore they day they got there. It was hard for him to remember that she wasn't his girl. She was sitting on his bed, wearing his underwear and t-shirt, reading his book. He could sit there for hours, just looking at her, imagining her as a permanent fixture in his life.

He looked down at the sketch he was working on. Her, laying on her stomach, absorbed in the book. He was just putting a few finishing touches on it.

"What's that?" She asked.

He closed the sketchbook and put it in a drawer. "Just writing a list of things to get ready for our trip tomorrow."

"No, you were drawing something."

"OK I was drawing something."

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because?"

"Yes."

She got up and walked over to him. "I want to see." She said, holding out her hand.

He smiled at her brazenness, but there was no way he was going to show her. "Not a chance."

She tried to get past him to reach the drawer he slid the book into but he blocked her way. She darted from side to side, trying to get past him, but he was quicker. When she kept trying he picked her up and carried her a few steps away, while she flailed to try and get away. His arms caught on the shirt as he carried her and the boxer briefs she was wearing were in full view. She was so glad she decided to wear underwear, even if they were his.

His hand grazed across the side of her stomach as he set her down and she made a scrunched up face.

"What was that?"

"What?" she asked, trying to dart past him.

"You're ticklish."

"No, I'm not."

He reached over to touch the same spot and she flinched away, but she was smiling. He caught her and lightly grazed his fingertips over the spot. She scrunched up her face again and giggled.

"You are!" he laughed, pinning her down so he could keep making her squirm.

"No, stop it!" She was laughing harder.

He kept at it and she wiggled around, trying to get away but laughing and making that adorable face.

"Thats not fair" she stammered out, reaching for him.

He let her move her fingertips over the same spot on his stomach, the light touch felt wonderful, but it didn't have the effect she was looking for.

"No you have to be ticklish somewhere.." her hands were all over, trying to find a ticklish spot. He let her try, but she was getting frustrated, pawing at him without results.

She grazed along his spine with a fingernail and he shivered.

"Ticklish?" She asked, feeling triumphant.

"No, just, that feels nice."

She did it again. He stopped tickling her and touched the side of her face.

"Flip over" She suggested, and he hesitantly got off of her and laid down on his stomach.

She swing a leg over him and sat on his butt, lightly tracing up and down his back with her fingernails.

"That's nice" he murmured.

She traced different shapes and patterns and watched his eyes flutter shut.

"Keep doing that." he said and she repeated the motions.

Slowly, she swung a leg over so she was sitting to his side instead of over him. She looked over at where his sketchbook was, still tracing shaped along his back.

She jumped up suddenly and ran to the desk, pulling the sketchbook out before he could even notice what she was doing. He looked up, confused about why she wasn't scratching his back anymore and he saw her holding it,

"No!" he shouted, running over to grab it, but it was too late. She had seen. Caroline was flipping through the book. There were landscapes, animals, still life objects, some people, each with a date next to it. Then there was her. The first one was her lounging at the pool, looking up at someone with contempt. There was one of her in the dress she wore the first night they were at the club. One of her dancing in her hotel room, holding a bottle of champagne. He had left out the bruises that were on her face at the time. The pictures of her were from every day they spent together, and there was nothing else. The latest one was from just earlier that day. Her laying on the bed reading.

"They're all me." She looked stunned. "You drew all these pictures of me."

He nodded.

"Why?"

"You're beautiful."

"You can't just go drawing pictures of me like this!"

"I already did."

"You can't do stuff like this! People don't do this."

"I don't understand."

She shook her head. "You have to stop this, whatever your game is, trying to get me to fall in love with you or something."

"I didn't want you to see them!"

"Then why do you have them? Why do you keep drawing me?"

"Because you're going to leave!" He shouted.

"What?" She whispered.

"You're going to leave. I wanted to have something, so I could still look at you every day."

"Klaus."

"No. You tried to warn me not to get involved with you, you tried to protect me from what you're involved in. It should have been the other way around. But I'm not good like you. I'm never going to try to push you away even though I know you're better without me. You'll decide that yourself sooner or later."

"Stop it! Stop talking like that!"

"It's true, isn't it?"

"Klaus."

"Isn't it?"

"This isn't fair. You can't expect me to know! I don't know what to do about you. Everything keeps happening so fast and you're demanding that I make some kind of decision and I can't."

"Just be honest, Caroline! Be honest with me and with yourself."

"I don't want you to go away. I want more time with you. But I can't promise you forever or that I won't be afraid of you. I was trapped when I was with Tyler, I couldn't leave when I wanted to, because of what he would do. I don't want to go through that all over again."

"I'm not Tyler."

"I know. But I can't figure out what you are. You're scary."

"That's not who I want to be with you."

"I need more time."

"Well, love, I happen to have a month off from work, so I think that's plenty of time for me to convince you that you should keep me around."

She gave him a wary smile. "I'm not going to make it easy for you."

"I'll take that as a challenge."