A/N: Hello amazing readers! Your reviews are so kind and the number of follows and favorites is absolutely amazing! I have an extra long chapter for you today (almost double usual!) so please enjoy and review if and when you can! Thank you so much! I would love to hear what you guys think is coming up! I also LOVE suggestions about what you guys want to see, so please PM me or review with any suggestions and if they work with the story I will do my best to incorporate them!

~cinders44

Disclaimer: I own nothing. :'(

Mystic Falls, 1955

I walked into the Grille on May 8th, 1955, exactly ten years since the end of World War II. Damon and Stefan were not there yet, so I got a table and sat down. I was really looking forward to seeing them again. The deal we had made in New Orleans over ten years earlier had kept me going through a particularly lonely decade.

Over the next few hours, I looked at the door exactly every thirty seconds. I had gotten there a little late, and hoped they'd already be there. With every passing hour, old wounds were opened. I finally got up when I couldn't take it anymore and went to the bathroom. When I got back, there was someone in my booth, but it wasn't either of my brothers.

He turned around and saw me. He got up from the booth where I had been sitting and came up to me. "Hello, Grace." He said timidly, unsure of what my reaction to him will be.

"Hello, Niklaus." I said cordially. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I never thanked you for saving my life in 1922." He said. "I'm not used to be saved by other people. This is uncharted terriotry for me, love."

"I can tell." I noticed that he was clearly uncomfortable. "Would you like to have dinner with me?" I said and gestured to the table.

"I'd love to." He said and we sat down. "So, what brings you to Mystic Falls of all places?" He said to change the subject.

"I grew up here and I was here to meet my brothers." I said simply. The past tense was like a knife in the heart.

"Was?" He said.

"Well, they're a little late." I said, defeated. "I wish I could say this is the first time they haven't been here for me."

"Tell me." He said.

"It's a long story. And not one with a happy ending." I said. "You don't have to feel obligated to be nice to me or repay me for saving you. I didn't even really do anything. You would have gotten away anyway."

"True." He said with a twinkle in his eye. "But, he took me by surprise. I was scrambling. You bought me some time. And risked your life for me. I'll never be able to repay you for that."

"You don't have to." I said. "So, tell me, if you don't mind. If it's too personal, feel free to not answer. But, I have been very curious for the past thirty years. Who was that man who showed me a drawing of you and Rebekah?"

I could see anger and fear flash in his eyes. "That is too personal."

I tried to not push it. "That's fine. So, I'm guessing you haven't seen Stefan since that night. He's super boring now. All sobered up and back to his brooding self."

He smiled. "That's a shame."

"Yeah, but at least he's not a murdering dick who insults me to my face now." I said jokingly and laughed. The responding smile from Nik told me that we had gotten past the question I had asked.

Three hours later, I hadn't looked at the door for my brothers even once. I was having too much of a good time with Nik. He was really quite funny. Especially when he got a few drinks in him. I noticed the time and was debating whether to go home or not when a band started playing and some people got up to dance. Nik got up and offered me a hand. I happily took it.

"Just like when we met." He said.

"I suppose it is." I replied. We danced for an hour without stopping, never tiring thanks to vampire strength. He made me laugh so easily, and I relished the way he tilted his head back when he truly laughed. I loved making him look so happy. Eventually, the band played the last song, and the Grille was closing. "Thank you for a wonderful night, Nik."

"You're welcome, love." We walked outside and it was a lovely spring night. "Grace?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Earlier, when you asked me about the man who asked about my sister and me, I'm sorry I snapped at you. You were being so kind about it." Nik looked uncomfortable apologizing. It was obviously something he did not do often. Or ever.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me anything about him." I replied.

"I know, but you deserve to know." Nik took a deep breath and said, "He is my father."

"What?" I said.

"It's a long story." And he was not kidding about that. He spent the next twenty minutes telling me about Mikael. "So, I've been running from him for a very long time."

"That is awful, Nik. I'm so sorry. No one should ever be treated the way he treated you." I tried to comfort him.

"Thank you. It was a long time ago." He looked down at his watch. "I'm sorry your brothers didn't show up."

"Thanks. It's okay. I'm used to my brothers not really caring about me." I wished I could be strong and not care about that. But, when your family, the people who are always supposed to love and accept you, turn their back on you, it's impossible not to be affected.

"I'm sure they care about you. Family is just about showing how much you care in peculiar ways."

"I hope you're right." I said. I wanted to believe him he was right so much. It wasn't for another forty years that I learned he was.

I take a look around the apartment and see something wonderful. Katherine Pierce is sitting in a chair and is wearing an expression I had never seen her wear before. Fear. There was a time when I would have tried to help Katherine. That was a long, long time ago. Besides Katherine, there is a man in the kitchen who is making a drink.

"Hello, Katherine." I say to her. "I see my brothers were wrong. To be fair, I knew they were. Killing you is too kind to Nik. Although, I am curious. How did he finally capture you?"

Nik walks up behind me and says, "She put her trust in someone who didn't drink vervaine."

"Idiot." I chuckle. "What's your game here, Nik?" I turn around to Nik. "Why tell me you're in this body? You know I cannot help you."

"Can't I have motivations for revealing myself to you that aren't about this curse?" He counters and takes a step towards me.

"No." I say and unconsciously take a step towards him.

The man who was in the kitchen coughs. "All I could find. Guy likes his bourbon." He goes to hand the glass to Nik, but I reach out and take it instead.

"Knew there was something about him I liked." I say. After I chug the drink, I reach into my bag and pull out what I had brought for Nik. I throw it to him and he catches the most quintessentially 60s jacket I could swipe from Stefan's clothes. "You can wear this to the dance. Don't want you to stick out." I chuckle under my breath.

"Klaus, who is this? I saw her with the younger Salvatore and the doppelganger today." The man asks. There was no need for me to ask who he was. It was beyond obvious that this was one of Klaus' witches.

"This is Grace Salvatore." Nik says.

"Salvatore?" He questions.

"Long story." Nik and I say at the same time.

I say, "Yes. And that is why I'm trying to find out why Klaus here told me he was in a history teacher's body."

"It's just to get inside information on how your brothers are protecting the doppelganger." Nik tells me and pours himself more bourbon. "This Alaric is close to the doppelganger. And I told you because we need to talk."

"How long have you been in this body?" I avoid the question.

"Since last night." He answers, but I know he is not giving up that easily.

His presence is starting to affect me. Memories flow through my mind and I have to focus to not lose myself in memories of happier times with Nik. Those are over. The effect is definitely muted because he is not in his own body, but just being in the same room as him is making my mind foggy. All I want in the world is to get out of that room and never leave it at the same time. Katherine is looking at me. She looks broken. Scared of every movement Nik makes. It's quite pathetic for her, a woman who is defined by her confidence. Nik has put on the jacket. "What do you think?" He asks.

I laugh. "Very sixties, unfortunately." The sixties had not been my favorite decade. The Beatles had kind of saved it. I knew of Nik's mutual judgement of that particular decade.

Nik chuckles. "What if Stefan notices his jacket?"

"I'll just tell him I let 'Alaric' borrow it. I have to go. They're expecting me at the dance soon." I say. "Nik, listen. I'm not going to help you break this curse. You know that, right? Why did you not want me to tell my brother's that I know you? They're going to be pissed at me when they find out."

"I know. I know. It's just, I need a chance to talk with you about..." Nik starts.

"OK OK!" I cut him off before he can go any farther. "We will talk about that, but not right now."

"When?" He asks.

"After." I say, ending the subject. Putting off that conversation as long as possible is essential. "Nik, please be careful that night. That witch is willing to kill herself to kill you."

He laughs. "Don't worry. I'm prepared."

"I have no doubt about that. But that witch is willing to do anything to kill you." I inform him before I turn to leave. "Oh, and Nik? I'm going to need my necklace back."

I pull up in front of the school and find a parking spot. Damon is waiting for me. "Hello, little sister." He says and offers me his arm.

"So, that's Damon and Stefan's sister?" I hear an unfamiliar male voice say with my vampire hearing.

Bonnie answers. "Yes. Her name is Grace."

"What's she like?" The male voice asks.

"I'm not really sure. All I really know about her is that she's their sister and she knows a lot about the Originals. She's friends with Elijah."

"Can we trust her?"

"I'm not sure. Damon and Stefan seem so happy to have her here, so I want to." Bonnie says.

I pull myself out of their conversation and back to Damon. "Who's that with Bonnie?" I ask.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" He elbows me playfully in the ribs.

I roll my eyes and elbow him back. "Just answer the question."

"Elena's little brother, Jeremy." Damon says. We walk into the highly decorated gymnasium, which smells strongly of sweaty feet.

"Let's dance!" I say to Damon, who immediately spins me around and pulls me onto the dance floor. After a few fast dances, a slow one comes on and Damon grabs me and pulls me close.

"So, where have you been for the past decade?" He asks.

"Oh, you know. Here and there. Lot of moving around." I tell him. "What about you? Up to no good I'm sure."

"You know me. Am I ever not up to no good?"

"Not that I know of." I laugh and it is wonderful being with him and having it be so easy. I rest my head on his shoulder and see Stefan walk in with Elena, her brother, and Bonnie.

"They're here." I say to Damon and point to them. Just then, a girl gets up on stage and the song stops.

"Thanks for being here everybody!" She says and everybody cheers. "We have a special shout out tonight. This is for Elena. From Klaus."

I see the look of pure terror on everyone in our little groups face. I also see Nik standing off to the side trying his hardest not to laugh his ass off. And not doing a very good at it. I tried. I really did. I tried not to burst out laughing. But, I could feel it coming on. "There's Alaric. I'm going to go see if he's seen anything." I say to Damon and walk away before he can see my face. The second my back is turned, I can't control it anymore. And Nik watching me does not help. And then I notice what song he picked and I burst out laughing at the corny love song.

"Get it together, love. You're going to make me laugh, too." Nik whispers to me

"It's your fault for choosing to make an entrance in such a funny way. Well, not funny to them." I say and collect myself, wiping a few tears away. "Okay, I'm good. I'm good. You always knew how to make me laugh." The song changes and that helps me stop the laughing.

"That I do." He says. He looks into my eyes and I cannot take my gaze away, all traces of humor gone. Damon walks up to us, breaking the spell.

"Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted." Nik says when Damon gets there.

"I'm not impressed." I say.

"Me, neither."

"No?" Nik says, winking at me when Damon isn't looking.

"Let me know if you see anything out of whack." Damon says and pulls me back out to the dance floor. I see Stefan with Elena and point to them. Damon nods and walks away.

"Mind if I cut in?" I ask Elena when I get to them.

"Not at all. Caroline's here. She doesn't know what's going on." Elena goes up to a blonde girl who had just walked in as Jackie O with a boy dressed as JFK.

"I told you I'd get a dance out of you." I say as I go into Stefan's arms and we start dancing.

Stefan smiles and twirls me around. "You know I can't say no to you, Grace."

"I've missed this." I say. "Being with you and Damon. I know we haven't exactly been the closest family for the past century and a half, but whenever we are together, as infrequent as that may be, it's always so nice."

Stefan looks at me with a tortured expression. "I'm sorry for all we've done to you, Grace. We have been horrible brothers to you."

"Stefan and Damon's WHAT?" I hear a voice say with my vampire hearing. It's the girl who Elena went to talk to. Caroline.

"I know, I know. It's crazy. But, she's here now and so is Klaus." Elena says.

I look up at Stefan and say, "Who is Elena talking to, again?

"Caroline. One of her friends. Katherine turned her a while back." Stefan explains. "She's with Matt. Her boyfriend and Elena's ex who has no idea about any of this."

"Alright, good. Now I'm up to date on all things Elena." I look around the room and see Damon dancing with Bonnie. Elena and her brother are talking and Jeremy seems upset. Jeremy walking out of the room and Elena gives Stefan a look.

"I'll be right back." Stefan says, and signals to Damon to dance with me.

"Shouldn't we be doing some chaperoning or something? It seems like the adults here shouldn't be dancing." I say when Damon comes up to me. "It seems like we should be going up to grinding teenagers and sternly saying 'Leave room for the holy ghost?' with a ruler in our hand?"

Damon throws his head back and laughs. "Well, I think the other chaperones can pick up our slack." He says and then twirls me. After another song, Stefan looks angry and comes up to us. "Come here." He says and pulls us off the dance floor. "Please tell me you didn't know Bonnie was on a suicide mission."

Damon replies before I can say anything. "Oh great. Jeremy told you and of course you told Elena."

"Yeah, I told her." Stefan says. "You promised her no more secrets."

Damon gets a fierce look in his eyes. "I changed my mind." Just then, it clicked for me. Damon is in love with Elena. It makes so much sense once I knew it and I felt stupid for not figuring it out earlier. This town really hadn't changed in a hundred and fifty years. Salvatore siblings in love with a doppelganger. My mind automatically started making connections between Elena and Katherine, but I stopped them in their tracks. Making unfounded snap judgements about Elena would be a mistake. I knew my brothers would pick her over me. If I wasn't firmly on Team Elena, I would lose my brothers again. And I could not let that happen. I barely knew Elena, and while she didn't strike me as particularly different from Katherine, she also wasn't like Katherine. I pull myself out of my own mind and come back down the dance.

"Wait. You didn't know that Bonnie would die?" I say. This is actually news to me. I thought they would have had to know. No witch could channel that much power.

"You did?" Stefan says angrily.

"Of course. It's pretty common witch knowledge that you can't channel that much power without some serious consequences. I honestly thought that you knew." I was never actually nervous that Bonnie would die. Nik would find a way to survive. And if he was hurt in this history teacher's body, he would just go back to his own, or take somebody elses'.

Stefan storms off and Damon and I follow him after a shared tense look. Damon and I hear a fight breaking out in the hallway at the same time. Stefan is right in front of us, and together the three of us run towards the sound.

"Hey, idiots!" I yell and see the person that was getting beaten up. Elena's little brother, Jeremy. As we approach, they all whip out crossbows with wooden stakes in them. They shoot two stakes at us, one aimed for Damon and one aimed for me. I catch both of them no problem.

"Let me guess, Klaus says hi." Damon says. Before he is even done with 'Klaus,' I have sped up to them and half of them are on the ground, unconscious. By a few seconds after he finishes talking, the rest are unconscious on the ground. Damon and Stefan look at me with disbelief. I swear I could see pride in Damon's eyes.

"What are you staring at? Let's go find Elena." I say and run out of the room, leaving them in my dust. A few seconds later, I hear the history teacher's voice.

"I just had to get away from that dance." He chuckles. "The sixties, ugh. Not my decade. I mean, whose call was that anyway? I mean, I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz." At that point, I know he knows I'm listening. I walk into the room.

As I walk into the hallway, Elena says, "Alaric. Are you on vervain?"

"Now, why would you ask me that question, Elena?" Nik's eyes fall on me and don't leave. "Hello, Grace Salvatore. Now, which did you prefer? Twenties or sixties?"

I decide to lie just to mess with his head. "Sixties, obviously. I believe the twenties were ghastly. And, you can't top the Beatles."

"What is going on?" Elena and Bonnie say at the same time.

"I'll give you one hint." Nik says tauntingly, pauses for effect and then slowly says, "I am not Alaric."

"Klaus." Elena says, horrified.

"Surprise!" Nik says annoyingly.

"Bonnie, Elena, get out of here!" I say to them. "I'll handle him." I take a step forward so I'm between them and Nik. I hear them start running, but before they get to the door, Nik is flown through the air and crashes into a trophy case at the end of the hallway. Once I hear the doorway close and Elena and Bonnie walk far enough away, I walk over to him and offer him a hand.

"Thanks, love." He takes my hand and stands up. "I thought you weren't helping me."

"I'm not. Helping you up is not helping you kill my brother's girlfriend." I deadpan. "You okay, Nik?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I told you I was prepared." He starts digging around in his pocket for something. He pulls out something I hadn't seen for a decade. "I brought this with me after you mentioned it at the apartment. I've kept it since you forgot it on my bedside table."

In his hand is the heart-shaped locket that, before I left it with him, I had worn everyday for almost 150 years, ever since Emily Bennett had given it back to me in 1864. It was made of gold and had intricate carvings engraved around the locket. Inside, on one side was a miniature portrait of my family (Damon, Stefan, my mother, my father, and me) in 1855, a few months before my mother died, and on the other side was a portrait of Damon, Stefan, and me about a week before I turned. I immediately put it on and I instantly feel so much more calm. The past decade had been crap for a variety of reasons, but the necklace was definitely one of the bigger ones. "Thank you, Nik."

"That necklace is magical, isn't it?" He asks pointedly and I look at him curiously.

"Maddox could sense it had magic when I got it before I left." He explains. "So, what is it?"

"Emily Bennett put a protection spell on it as gratitude after I saved one of children's life. It protects against certain magic." I explain. I have no qualms in telling him that. Despite everything that had happened between us ten years earlier, I still felt like I could tell him anything. It was ineffable, really. There was no logical explanation for the connection that Nik and I had. Ever since we met, we could tell each other anything.

"We should get going. Your brothers will be coming any second. Or Bonnie will come back to kill me." He says.

"Okay, but can you do me a favor?" I pull out one of the knives I had hidden on my body. "Stab me?"

He is taken aback by my request, obviously. "What?"

"Well, they're not going to believe that I walked away from the big, bad Klaus unscathed." I held out the knife for him to take and he does. "I just need a little blood to get on my dress. He shrugs nonchalantly and stabs my stomach. It hurts like a bitch, and I bite my tongue to stop the scream bubbling up in my throat from escaping my lips. After a second, the pain is gone and the wound is healed. I look up at Nik and see how pained his face is. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." He says and hands me back the knife as if he can't get rid of it fast. "Are you okay? Are you really hurt? I'm sorry."

"I'm fine. I asked you to do it. It doesn't hurt. I'm fine. Thank you." I turn to leave before I can think he feels bad about stabbing me, that he might care if I was hurt. Those thoughts are dangerous. It would make no sense for him to care for me. No one cared like that, they couldn't care for me. People only left. My head is swirling with memories, and one in particular stands out. Stefan in Gloria's in 1922, saying 'I don't care about you.' and 'Good riddance.'

I walk into the next hallway and see Bonnie looking very determined about something. "Get out of the way, Grace." She says.

"Bonnie, what are you doing?" I ask. I grab her hand and see the conversation between her and Damon. She was going to pretend to die so they would have the element of surprise against Klaus. But, I knew this mind-game was a two way street and Bonnie looks at me differently than she had before. She had seen what Stefan had said to me in 1922. She looks like she feels bad for me. I can see the pity in her eyes. "Go do what you have to. But, know that while you are here to protect Elena, I am here to protect my brothers, no matter what they have done to me."

She nods and stalks off down the hallway. Stefan and Elena burst into the hallway, while Damon slowly walks in from the other end.

Elena sounds absolutely panicked. "What are you doing? Where's Bonnie?" She asks and I know the question is directed to Damon.

"She's doing what she has to do." Damon answers calmly.

"What?" Elena says while at the same time Stefan says, "Where is she?"

I step to the side to not get caught in the cross-hares of this one. "I'm going to get the spell at Elijah's. Klaus knows about it now. He might try and take it. I have to go now."

"You're right! Be careful!" Damon says and Elena and Stefan run off to find Bonnie. I run in the opposite direction until I am out of Damon's eye-line and then slow to a walk. When I get to my car, I drive to the nicest hotel in Mystic Falls, and compel the concierge to give me the key. I walk into the room. It is impeccably neat, and I would expect nothing less from Elijah. I go to the closet to see if it is in the safe. There is no safe there, so I check under the bed, but still no safe. I tap my foot against different parts of the wood floor. Eventually, I find a hollow spot and lift up the loose floorboard to see that Elijah had moved the safe there. It is still locked, so I try entering in different combos. I first try his birthday, but no luck. Then, I try each of his sibling's birthdays in succession. No luck. I then try the date when they were changed to vampires. The safe flashes green and the door swings open. The spell is the only thing in the safe. I grab it and a new suit to give Elijah when he wakes up and I get out of that room.

I drive back home and see Stefan's and Damon's cars in the driveway. I walk in just in time to see Elena slap Damon. They don't hear me walk in, but I hear them talking. "You need to listen to me and prepare for what I am about to say. Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body? Total surprise. And he wasn't going to stop and we weren't going to be able to stop him until he knew she was dead. He had to believe it. She cast a spell. Bonnie's okay." I can see the relief in Elena's eyes. I understand it, if I had thought Elijah was dead, and then found out he wasn't, I would have the same expression on my face. Damon walks out of the room without looking at me. Stefan and Elena see me and acknowledge my presence, but I leave the room to give Elena time to decompress. I walk into my room and take off my blood stained dress. I wash off the blood in the shower and put on sweatpants and a tank-top.

I tiptoe down to the basement and into the miniature cell where I had guessed they were keeping Elijah. I see that I was right when I open the door and see his desiccated body lying limp on the floor. I walk up to the body and quickly remove the dagger. I sit down and wait for him to wake up.

"What are you doing down here?" I hear Elena's voice, and it breaks me out of a daydream about Nik I was having.

"I think the better question is what are you doing?" I say and slide over so she can sit next to me.

"Probably the same thing as you. What happened to waiting to undagger him?" She asks as she sits down.

"Well, I couldn't let him just rot down here." I look at Elijah's body, and while I know that he is fine and he is going to wake up soon, it is still not a sight I am exactly okay with seeing.

"I guess we just wait now." Elena says.

"Yes." I say. "So, tell me about yourself, Elena."

New York City, December 13th 1999

I had been looking forward to that gallery for weeks. I spent about an hour getting ready and picking out the right dress. I had finally landed on a short, deep blue, sleeveless, A-line dress with silver stiletto heals. I walked into the gallery when the party was already in full swing. I picked up a champagne from one of the tuxedo clad servers wandering around the space. I took a moment to figure out which painting I wanted to look at first.

I went up to one that caught my eye. It depicted a mountain side with clouds dotting the crystal blue sky. It was mesmerizing. I felt like I could almost jump into the painting and be on that beautiful mountain. I stared at it for ten minutes before I looked down at the plague with information about the painting on it for the painter's name, but found 'By Anonymous' instead.

I stared at it for another few minutes when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Nik Mikaelson, of all people. Damn, he looks good in a suit. I thought. I immediately did not know what to do. A handshake was too formal, but a hug might have been too familiar. Before I could get too panicked, he says, "Hello Grace," and goes in for a hug. I was wrong. It was not awkward at all, it was the absolute perfect thing to do.

"Hello, Nik." I said and smiled. "What brings you here?"

He looked at the painting I had been looking at and inclined his head toward it. "Painting is a bit of a passion of mine."

"You painted this?" I asked, amazed.

"Yes." He said confidently. "I didn't want to advertise my name, so I just put it under anonymous."

"Wow. It's incredible, Nik." I said sincerely. "You are very talented."

He smiled. "Thank you. What brings you here?"

"One of the artists is a friend." I answered. "It's a nice surprise that you're here."

"Likewise." He said. "Come get a drink with me."

"Alright." I said and walked with him to the bar. We spent a while discussing the art in the gallery. I came to the conclusion that his painting was by far the best in the show. After a while, the gallery grew quite boring.

"Are you hungry, love?" Nik asked. "Would you like to get dinner?"

"I'd love to." I answered. He grabbed our coats from the coat check and we left the gallery together. He led me to one of the diners around the corner from his apartment, he explained. We were led to a booth in the back of the restaurant.

"So tell me, are you living in the city?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. I hadn't lived here since the early 60s, and this has always been one of my favorite places to live. So I found an apartment and decided to live here for a while."

He smiled. "It is one of my favorite places, as well. But for me, nothing will ever top New Orleans."

"Well, you are one of founders of that city, so I say you're a little biased." He laughed and I thought, Is there any better sound in the world?

"True." He admitted. The next hour was spent discussing the pros and cons of different cities, favorite films and books, and other trivial things. The conversation was so natural, flows so easily. There was never an awkward pause or uncomfortable silence.

After Nik paid the bill, we walked out onto the streets on New York. It had started snowing while we were eating and we had not noticed.

"Wow, it's so beautiful." I said.

"Yes, it is." He agreed. We walked side by side towards his apartment. When we came to the front of his building, and I was presented with the same conundrum I had faced when we ran into each other at the gallery. Neither a handshake or a hug or just a spoken goodbye felt like the right ending to the lovely night.

And once again, he solved the problem for me. And once again it was the perfect thing to do. He looked me in the eye before taking my face in his hands and kissing me passionately. It was the kiss to end all kisses. The kiss that I knew I would forever compare all kisses to. His lips were strong against mine, moving with mine and making my heart go crazy. I return the kiss immediately and eagerly. I wound my hands in his hair and felt his hands go to the small of my back as he pressed me close to him. I broke the kiss when I need air, and I rested my forehead against his. When I found my voice, I said, "Let's go upstairs."

In response, he kissed me again and grabbed my hand and led me up to his apartment. I took off my coat, gloves and scarf. He closed the door and turned to me. "You are so beautiful tonight, love."

I blushed and walked to him. I kissed him timidly at first, then he turned it into another dizzying one. I grabbed for his shirt and pulled off the tie and then started to unbutton the shirt. He picked me off the ground and pressed me against the wall. I jumped up and wrapped my legs around him. He picked me up by my full weight and carried me over to the bed before gently putting me down. I broke the passionate kisses and turn so he could unzip my dress. The dress fell to the floor and then Nik's pants were off, and then my bra and underwear were. We fall onto the bed together, and for the first time in over 140 years, I did not feel alone.