A/N: I'm so glad everyone liked the last chapter! Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews! You guys are amazing :)

-xxx-

Caroline, Elena, Bonnie, and Damon were all crowded around a table in the Grill discussing possible arrangements to keep the peace in Mystic Falls. They decided to leave Stefan out of this one since he was off the rails and would be too stubborn to agree to anything, but it turned out that Damon was the real challenge here.

"I will not risk Elena's life just so Blondie can live happily ever after with her pet wolf," he insisted.

"That's why we'll only hand over the coffin if he promises to leave me and my blood alone," Elena said.

"You really think that after a thousand years of waiting, he would give up on creating hybrids just to get a coffin back?" Damon responded incredulously.

"Yes," Caroline chimed in. "The reason he wanted a hybrid army in the first place was so he wouldn't be alone. He has me now, so there wouldn't be a need to keep making them."

Damon was relentless. "Still. If he wants this coffin back so badly, whatever's inside must be a huge threat to him. I'm not going to give up our last hope of killing him that easily."

Caroline still hadn't told them that it was Klaus's mother—the Original witch—inside the coffin in question.

Bonnie spoke up. "We aren't going to kill him, Damon."

"Why? Because Barbie has a thing for him?"

"Damon," Elena said in a warning tone.

Caroline leaned forward, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "Please, Damon. If you do this, Elena will be safe. He won't touch her ever again. I promise."

"What guarantee do we have that he won't go back on his word and drain Elena as soon as we give him what he wants?" Damon's eyes flashed in rage at the thought of Elena being used as a human blood bag.

Caroline answered calmly. "He loves me. He knows that if he doesn't keep his end of the deal, he'll lose me for good this time."

Damon snorted. "Right. Like you of all people could stop Klaus from doing what he wants."

Caroline sat back, raising her eyebrows. "It kept him from killing Jeremy last time."

Damon's smirk vanished as he realized Caroline was right and he really didn't have many arguments left. He sat in a thoughtful silence, thinking the entire thing through. After realizing the pros outweighed the cons and he'd be gaining more than he was risking, he agreed. "Fine."

Caroline smiled. "Great. I'll tell him to meet us here in five minutes."

"What?" Damon practically shouted. "No way!"

Elena placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's fine."

Damon peered down at her in concern. "I don't want him within fifty feet of you," he said in a much softer tone than he was using before. Elena smiled at him and took his hand in hers.

Caroline shot a glance at their joined hands, exchanging a look with Bonnie before sending Klaus a text message.

Meet me at the Grill.

She had considered waiting until they could meet at her house or the boarding house, but she thought it would be better to meet in a public place so they would refrain from letting things get out of hand. It was mostly Damon she was worried about.

Already here, was Klaus's reply.

Caroline looked up and saw him enter the Grill, spotting their little group immediately. He put on a forced smile as he approached them, taking a seat next to Caroline. "Hello, love," he greeted her as he leaned in for a swift kiss.

Damon didn't even bother hiding his grimace while Bonnie and Elena just looked away awkwardly. "Geez, you two. Get a room," Damon chided, earning a glare from Klaus.

Caroline intervened quickly before Klaus could make his snarky retort. "So Damon agreed to give you the coffin if you agree to stay away from Elena."

Klaus could feel everyone's eyes on him, gauging his reaction. He had a feeling this would be what was asked of him, and he already thought it through so he wasted no time with his answer. "Deal."

In his mind, there wasn't even really a choice between risking facing his mother, who was likely to be very vengeful, or giving up making hybrids. He had Caroline by his side now, so he wouldn't need them.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock. They all assumed that Klaus would need more convincing than anybody to go along with this plan.

"But I want one more thing in return," the Original continued.

Damon smirked. There it was. The dealbreaker.
"What?" Elena asked, narrowing her eyes.

"My sister seems to be missing. I'd like to know where she is."

Elena opened her mouth, but closed it once she saw the warning glare Damon gave her.

"Come on, guys," Caroline piped up. "Just give him Rebekah."

Damon shook his head. "No way. He undaggers her, she goes after Elena."

"I can keep her under control," Klaus promised.

"That's not a risk I'm willing to take," Damon replied.

"You won't undagger her," Elena said, never taking her eyes off Klaus.

Klaus tilted his head. "And why is that?"

"Because she knows you killed your mother," Elena deadpanned.

Klaus glared at her, his fists clenching. He had to remind himself that he was in a public setting and he had agreed not to hurt the girl sitting in front of him. He kept his composure, mostly due to Caroline's presence. "So will you return the coffin and my sister, or do we not have a deal?"

Damon was about to argue some more, but Elena ignored him, standing up. "Follow me."

Klaus got up to follow Elena as she led him out of the restaurant, Damon staying close by her side for her protection. Caroline and Bonnie opted to stay and have lunch at the Grill since they were no longer needed, it seemed.

"So you two looked happy together," Bonnie observed, watching Caroline closely.

Caroline shrugged. "I am happy. I'm always happy when I'm with him."

Bonnie shook her head in awe, still not completely over the weirdness of it all. "Could you see yourself with him years from now, though?"

Caroline smiled, not even having to think about her answer. She just knew. "Yes."

-xxx-

After returning Rebekah to her coffin, Klaus put her and Esther in the room with all of his other siblings, shutting the doors quietly behind him.

"I see you've found Rebekah," Elijah's voice came from behind Klaus.

Klaus turned around slowly. "I made a deal with the Salvatores."

Elijah's eyebrows raised in surprise. "What did you promise them?"

"Elena's safety. I can't touch her," Klaus answered.

Elijah's mouth twisted upwards for a brief second, but he hid it well. If Klaus didn't have the perceptive skills of a thousand year old hybrid, it would've slipped his notice. "Good," Elijah said emotionlessly before heading towards his room to retire for the night.

"Elijah." Klaus sauntered towards his brother, stopping when his face was merely inches from him. "I'm not an idiot. Do you really expect me to believe you aren't planning your revenge on me for daggering you?"

Elijah's eyes flicked to the room where Klaus was keeping their family, but they snapped back to his brother just as quickly. "Goodnight, Niklaus." He made to leave, but Klaus grabbed his arm forcefully.

"You know where our family is now. You should want me dead."

It took a few minutes for him to respond. "You're different, Niklaus. I see a light in your eye that wasn't there before and I assume it has something to do with Caroline. After all these years of you unable to feel anything, I finally get to see you with someone who makes you a better person. I'm not going to miss out on that by killing you."

Klaus wasn't convinced. "You want our family back."

Elijah nodded. "You've assured me that you will undagger them."

Klaus dropped his arm. "Yes. One at a time."

"I have your word?" Elijah asked.

"You have my word," Klaus promised.

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

-xxx-

Caroline had just finished brushing her teeth and walked into her room as she threw her hair up in a messy ponytail. She went straight to her dresser and pulled out a tank top and a pair of pajama bottoms and began to undress when she heard Klaus's voice from the bed behind her.

"This is quite the hello," he snickered, referring to the shirt that she was beginning to pull off.

Caroline whipped around and slapped a hand to her mouth. She fixed her shirt and glared at her boyfriend who was currently stretched out casually on her bed, his hands folded behind his head. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"I wanted to see you. I was feeling a little cramped," he replied.

Caroline scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, because you're house is so small," she said sarcastically.

Klaus smirked and sat up, scooting to the edge of her bed. "Elijah's planning something," he explained.

Caroline tilted her head and watched him dubiously as he took her hand and held it in one of his own. "Are you sure you aren't just being paranoid? I mean, since you aren't focusing all your attention on the Salvatores, it makes sense that you'd spend all your efforts worrying about your brother."

Klaus shook his head. "No, I can tell. He wants our family back, he doesn't want to wait."

Caroline knit her eyebrows in concern. "You think he's going to undagger them?"

"The thought crossed my mind."

"Then what are you doing here? You should be at your house making sure he doesn't—"

Klaus cut her off. "Even if he tries, he won't be able to get in the room. I had it spelled."

"Wait, Bonnie agreed to put a seal on the room?" Caroline asked, confused.

Klaus sighed. "I have several friends in the witching community. Bonnie isn't the only one I know."

Caroline chuckled without humor. "Friends, or people who value their lives too much to refuse you?"

Klaus grinned at her. The latter, then.

Caroline grabbed her pajamas and headed back towards the bathroom to change, but she couldn't break free of Klaus's grasp on her hand. "Let go, I have to get ready for bed," she complained. Instead of letting go, he stood up and wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, getting close enough so that their lips were just barely brushing against each other as he said his next words.

"I'd much rather you continue what you were doing before I interrupted you."

Caroline smiled slightly and breathed in his scent, relishing the feel of his arms around her. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. He pushed her back into the dresser as his hands wandered down her back and his lips travelled down her neck, stopping at her pulse point. Caroline brought his lips back up to hers and kissed him again, pulling away after only a few seconds, a devilish smile in place on her features as she saw Klaus's disappointed expression.

"You don't always get what you want," she whispered as she bit her lip and disappeared into the bathroom to change into her pajamas.

When she came back out, he was waiting for her on the bed again. She smirked at him and laid beside him, pulling the covers up over herself and stretching her arms out, releasing a huge yawn. "I'm so tired." She could tell by his disgruntled expression that she was annoying him. She was having fun, making him want her and then becoming unavailable, only making him want her more. In the beginning, she had thought he had only liked the chase, but not her. She knew now that it was her he liked, and the chase was just the cherry on top. So now and then, she would play these kinds of games with him where she would make him wait, only to make their next time much more satisfying.

She reached over and turned off her lamp, rolling over so her back was facing Klaus. "Goodnight," she said tiredly, her eyes fluttering closed.

Klaus wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Goodnight," he whispered, his cool breath tickling her ear.

Caroline curled her hand around his arm to keep it in place and smiled in contentment as she drifted off. All was well in her world. She and her friends could continue being friends and she could spend the rest of her existence with Klaus without worrying about what the Salvatores latest diabolical plan to kill him was. She was the happiest she had ever been.

-xxx-

A/N: Sorry this was kind of a short chapter. The next chapter will be the epilogue and then sadly, it will be over. I'll save my goodbyes and farewells for then. Please review, especially if there are things you aren't satisfied with! Even if there aren't, I love hearing your thoughts! Thank you so much for reading, you wonderful people :)