A/N- Hey Guys, remember me? The friend with benefits who will turn up unexpectedly and rock your world before disappearing for weeks on end without returning any of your calls?

I'm back!

P.S- Sorry Klaroliners, you won't be liking this chapter.

In the end, they had to walk three miles to the car Elijah had rented and been forced to abandon on the side of the road after his tires had been destroyed.

From there, they'd been able to get cell reception and Klaus' brother had called one of his many compelled men across the country to bring them two SUV's.

For the hour they waited they walked briskly, not using vampire speed because Caroline's mom was with them, but putting as great a distance as possible between Mystic Falls and themselves.

Elena had linked her arm through Caroline's as they'd walked, seeking comfort in her best friend, with Elijah leading the way and Klaus falling back.

She'd turned her head to look at him at the very back of the group and been worried about him,

"He's protecting our rear" her mom whispered at her side, "Keeping an eye out for threats"

"Oh right" Matt suddenly raised his head, her mom's words apparently prompting his memory,

"Uh Elijah, I don't know why but Katherine thinks you're dead so you might want to call her"

He rounds on Matt with confused eyes, "Pardon?"

"Katherine told us you were dead" Jeremy offered as explanation and clearly unsatisfied Elijah looked over the group to his brother,

"I felt a piercing ache in my heart when you died but Katerina already knew when she called me" Klaus calls casually from the rear.

"I did promise her the hearts of those who had killed you but perhaps a call from you shall suffice?"

Caroline watches as Elijah pivots on his heel and reaches into his jacket, she drops her head and deliberately tunes out so that she won't hear the reunion.

She tightens her grip on Elena and looks up at the setting sun.

It truly was a beautiful day.

Twilight had descended upon them, the sky had turned lilac and the world was finally beginning to cool, the cicadas were buzzing quietly and the trees were whispering above them. The road was still warm under their feet and completely empty of other humans.

So for a moment she pretends that they're just a large group of friends going for a walk at the end of a long summer day.

Friends and family who were chatting about unimportant things and were walking towards their home rather than away from it.

She pretends that she still has a home to go to.

Caroline draws in a shaky breath and blinks rapidly- she can't fall apart now. Not when there could still be hunters waiting for them out there.

And she's momentarily distracted when Elijah staggers and holds his phone at arms lengths while an oh-so-familiar voice curses him out in several different languages,

"Do you have any idea how heartbroken I was you son of a motherless whore?!"

"Sign of a functional relationship right there" Stefan deadpans, falling in step with them, "Why don't you ever talk to Damon or me like that Elena?"

"Yeah" Damon throws an arm around her shoulders and Caroline releases her friend, shuffling closer to her mother. "Don't you love us?"

A little frown creases Elena's brow as she brushes her hair behind her ear and listens to the conversation between her doppelganger ancestor and his girlfriend, which despite Elijah's best efforts to apologise for the unintentional pain his death caused, is getting louder and louder as Katherine Pierce varies from the mainstream insults to historical ones,

"What's a g-?" she asks curiously but both brothers shrug, "Not a curse word I've ever heard"

"Now that takes me back" Klaus interjects, grinning as he reminisces fondly, "G- is an interesting insult, long story and even more complicated context but suffice to say even I rarely earned that level of abuse"

Caroline raises her eyebrows, "Wow, it must be bad then"

She realises belatedly what she said, typical of her to always say the wrong thing but Klaus simply laughs,

"Bad enough that I assume Elijah will be sleeping on the most uncomfortable couch we own for quite some time when he gets back to New Orleans"

New Orleans.

Of course, after this Klaus would be going back to the French Quarter.

He would be going home and Caroline…

She fidgeted and distracted herself by turning to her mom, "Are you okay?" she asks quietly,

"We can stop if the need is dire" Elijah offers, having finally ended his call,

"However, I would rather that we not rest until we are in the cars and as far away from Virginia as possible"

Her mom shakes her head, "I'm fine, I can't move as fast as a vampire but I can keep up at this pace"

But even with the vampire blood she'd drunk after being wounded at the hospital, Caroline can see that the day has taken its toll on her mom, as it had on all of them.

Damon was quieter than usual and Stefan was babbling to try and fill that void.

Elena was watching Jeremy almost exclusively but every few minutes would give her head a little shake as if to try and banish bad thoughts.

Perhaps the memory of that one particular body lying dead in the forest.

Caroline hadn't told her yet about Bonnie.

No.

She blinked and focused her thoughts on the beautiful day around them, sighing with relief when she sees the yellow glow of the approaching headlights.

"They're here" she announces gladly and the cars pull to the side of the road.

Two young men climb out, both of them wearing plaid shirts with thick glasses and scraggly beards. They resembled the post grad men on Whitmore campus, the ones who studied ten hours a day and emerged from their books only long enough to drink themselves stupid on imported beer and then pass out only to wake up and repeat it all over again the next day.

Elijah took the keys from them and the two men then pulled matching scooters out of the large backseats of the SUV's.

"Wait!" Elena stepped forward just as Elijah turned to hand Damon a key, "We can't just leave them here!"

Elijah blinked in surprise and Klaus stepped in, "They'll be fine love, my big brother always pays his students exceptionally well"

"And I asked them specifically to bring modes of transportation capable of getting them back to Richmond" he assures her,

"I didn't want them to travel with us unless we encountered more danger"

Elena clearly wasn't satisfied and climbed into the backseat of the second car to sulk as Damon took the keys and the order to follow them.

Elijah would be driving the first car with Klaus taking shotgun, Caroline was already in the backseat with her hand on the door handle when she saw her mom cast a glance to the second car. She felt a stab of hurt but with Jeremy and Matt in the backseat with Elena, she wouldn't have a choice but to ride with Caroline and the brothers.

"So," Caroline waits until they've pulled out and are driving about fifty miles over the speed limit before asking,

"Where are we going?" with as bright a tone as possible,

She can see Klaus frowning in the passenger mirror and open his mouth before turning to Elijah,

"Richmond airport I suppose"

It took them an hour longer than they'd expected to find a hotel.

Not because it was summer or there was some convention in town but because Klaus apparently had veto power and used it on every hotel they came across.

Double Tree by Hilton- too many entry points and the staff couldn't offer them all rooms on the same floor.

Courtyard by Marriot- same issue and all those windows were a sniper's daydream.

Caroline eventually used her phone to draw up all the hotels within a two mile radius of the airport. Which was apparently a necessity on Klaus' mental checklist and handed him her phone so they could stop driving around town.

Treating the website like it was a Tindr page for accommodation, Klaus swiped through every option until he found one that he believed suited their needs.

So it was after eleven when the eight of them pulled into Motel Six.

The motel had clearly seen better days, with seventies architecture and a swimming pool that had tarp pulled over it, a reception that boasted one computer as it's 'business station' and offered a bank of vending machines in place of a bar.

But it had clear vantage points so Klaus could see the road, it bordered on a small forest so they had an escape route if they needed one.

Caroline really hoped they wouldn't need one.

They all took rooms on the second floor, as close to one another as possible, splitting up as the rooms only offered two beds maximum.

Klaus and Elijah took the room closest to the stairs, assuming that the human attackers would need to come up that way with Matt and Jeremy in the room next to them so they had ease of access in the event of escape.

Elena, Stefan and Damon were next, ignoring the curious glance of the young man at the reception desk as they grabbed the two keys and went upstairs to push the beds together.

Caroline and her mom were in the final room, with one businessman and one couple in the two rooms between them and their wonders why she is so far from Klaus before figuring out that if they were attacked, she and her mom would be the furthest from danger.

They break away to their rooms, checking out the bathrooms, locking the windows, idly channel surfing before deciding there wasn't anything to watch and languidly contemplating whether or not to raid the vending machines.

Very few words were spoken by the Mystic Falls coven, not due to their exhaustion but rather their shock.

That very morning they had woken up with the knowledge of their place in the world and their sense of security in its permanence. They'd had their houses, their places of sanctuary in the town where they had grown up, where their family had lived for generations and where they had known what times their favourite stores closed, which librarian would help them avoid late fees, where to buy the best coffee, which swimming hole was the best in the hot summer and which parks were the best for what little snow they managed to get in the winter.

Mystic Falls had been their home.

It had been theirs.

And in the space of one day it had been taken from them.

And they couldn't just head back tomorrow and hope to take it back. The hunters could still be there for weeks or months waiting for their payment or for the vampires to return and if witches had managed to spell the town perimeter to stop them leaving once, what was to stop them from spelling it again? Or reworking the spell so that they couldn't enter?

So they weren't just mourning the loss of property or possession, they were mourning the loss of the last vestiges of innocence that had remained within them.

Still, Caroline Forbes is an optimist. So after half an hour of moping, she notes how pretty the blue feature walls are and how comfortable the beds are, not to mention clean.

However, she also notes that Klaus had walked past their room twice already, not even looking in the window to try and catch a peek or anything, his eyes had clearly been on the parking lot below.

But seeing him makes her think about tomorrow.

After all, they aren't two miles from Richmond airport in case they get a sudden craving for really dodgy canned fish sushi. They're there because tomorrow they'll be getting on planes destined for 'the hell away from Virginia'. They might not have to leave America but they sure as hell can't stay in the state where people are literally hunting them for sport.

The only question is- where are they going?

Caroline has a suspicious feeling that her mind is already partially made up.

It makes sense.

But Klaus walking past her room for a fourth time…not so much.

Her mom is in the bathroom so she slips outside, onto the dark balcony lit only with the light emanating from the rooms where their friends were staying. It was midnight by this point.

She is waiting at the end of the balcony, watching as he strides in and out of the light, his features being highlighted and then cast into shadow.

"Hey" she greets him softly as he reaches her, he gives her a small nod and grips the balcony railing, gazing out into the night lit with the street lamps and occasional passing cars.

"Hello sweetheart"

"Okay, should I be worried?" she asks, leaning against the railing next to him, crossing her arms and studying his profile. He shakes his head,

"I'm just keeping an eye out"

"Four times in an hour?" she points out only to receive a shrug in response,

"Elijah called Katerina again and managed to calm her down sufficiently enough for the conversation to turn to discussion of what clothes they were wearing" he meets her understanding gaze with a grimace, "I made myself scarce and I'm not in the mood to sleep anyway"

She knows what he means.

She too is restless.

Emotionally exhausted but physically she's full of energy.

And perhaps…

She leans over and strokes his cheek with her fingers, taking his chin and drawing him towards her for a lingering kiss,

"I don't feel like sleeping either" she whispers, stepping back to where the balcony rounds the corner by a few feet and unzipping her tracksuit top slowly.

He follows her, his eyes gleaming predatorily,

"Are you sure sweetheart?" he asks, always desiring her vocal consent, forever wanting to hear her choosing him.

She drops the top on the ground and plays with her bra strap, "Uh huh, come and get me"

He presses her against the wall, his lips on hers in a bruising kiss as she clutches his shirt in her fists and his hands land on her hips and slide up her back to the clasp of her bra. She pulls him closer and can feel him responding through his denim so she lifts a leg to straddle him and rub herself against him until his erection is pressing against his zipper.

They break apart for air when they hear the sound of a door opening, there's a faint cough and Caroline can hear Matt and Jeremy arguing about sodas and chocolate bars. They wait, panting, until the boys are downstairs and then Klaus presses his erection to her juncture and she moans,

"Right" he hisses, looking around, "Forest" he nods to the trees, "Go"

She nods quickly and leaps over the balcony, landing gracefully on the oft-fixed asphalt of the parking lot and remembering belatedly that her top was still on the second floor. She speeds into the cover of the tree line and is rewarded seconds later when Klaus joins her, wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her against him for another passionate kiss.

It's good. It's great but…

She wants more.

She breaks away from Klaus, pulls his blood-splattered t-shirt off, with him lifting his arms to help her and pushes him harshly to his knees. He goes down with a look of surprise but watches her intently as she toes off her flats and wriggles out of her track pants and panties. She runs a hand through his golden curls and yanks his head back, he licks his lips, and she swings her leg over his shoulder, drawing him to her vagina. He scrapes his blunt teeth against her thigh and she trembles with delight at the sensation before he runs his tongue along her folds and circles her clit before delving in.

Caroline throws back her head with a breathy moan as he licks and sucks up every drop of her arousal, drinking her up like a man dying of thirst.

She runs her free hand through her hair, the other still clutching Klaus' curls, tugging on them in what must be painful for him.

But…it's not enough, she can't…

She lifts her leg back and shifts away from him slowly. His tongue runs along her folds until she is out of its reach and he groans pitifully, his lips covered in her arousal, "Come back sweetheart"

She shakes her head, "No"

She shoves him to the dirt and sees the surprise on his face as he falls back and lands on his elbows, she knows she's never been this aggressive before.

Confident yes, rough- a little bit, but never like this.

But he's not frightened or unwilling so what does it matter?

She straddles his knees and undoes his belt, tearing it from the loops and tossing it aside somewhere, she almost rips his jeans as she pulls down his zipper and realises belatedly that if Klaus hadn't been wearing boxers he'd probably be bleeding momentarily. But she gets him free and wraps a hand around his large throbbing cock. He hisses with pleasure and pain as she squeezes it just a bit too hard before stroking him. She can smell both their arousal and her nipples pebble, protesting against the silk of her bra. She pulls it off, revealing her breasts to Klaus who grins and tries to reach up, to capture her globes in his mouth but she pushes him roughly onto his back.

His eyes flash black momentarily and her fangs drop and she surges forward, burying her face in his neck as she tears his skin open and drinks deeply. He rolls his hips up, the tip of his cock finding her wet folds but she lifts her ass to deny him, he hisses as she sucks greedily on his blood and when his hands move to her hips she takes them and holds them down in the dirt, level with his head.

She pulls her mouth back, her lips wet with his blood and flares her blood red eyes at him, he growls at her display of dominance, the wolf in him refusing to submit to this vampire.

He uses his strength to flip her over onto her back, capturing her hands and holding them above her head,

"I'm the Alpha love" he points out, his eyes dancing black and gold before he steals a passionate kiss and she moans, pressing herself against him eagerly,

Yes.

This, this is what she…

She throws the lamp across the room first and when he dodges it easily the pillow follows. She's telling him to get out, to stay away from her but he's ignoring everything she says and when he raises his head, his eyes are red and he…

"No" she shrieks into the night, bucking wildly and kicking out, "No, no, no…get off me now!"

"Caroline!" Klaus releases her immediately and throws himself backward, scrambling to his feet and holding out his hands at arm's length, palms up in a non-threatening manner, watching her with deep concern as she curls up into a foetal position and struggles for air and justice before she can bring herself to calm down and push herself up to her feet.

Klaus is clearly confused and scared and she feels herself go red with humiliation and shame.

"I'm sorry" she squeaks, sobbing, "I…just…not like that"

"Forgive me" he entreats quickly, "I didn't see the signs"

"Because there weren't any" she chokes, turning sideways and covering her eyes with her hand, "Because I'm an idiot"

"Oh sweetheart" Klaus is at her shoulder, his hand hovering above her arm before he pulls it away,

"I don't know what I want" she shouts, "I mean I want to fuck you and break you and make you beg while you dominate me but without hurting you or actually being dominated"

She realises how dumb she sounds and breaks off with a sob, "God I'm so stupid"

He shakes his head, "No, you're simply aroused, emotionally fragile and confused. You want pleasure but aren't currently sure how to obtain it"

He glances around with a thoughtful look before freeing himself of his boots and jeans and striding into the forest. She hears the shifting of earth, dirt and twigs falling to the ground before Klaus returns with a boulder in his arms. He drops it down and perches on it, holding out his hands for her.

Sensing his patience, she makes sure that she has her emotions under control before she skittishly moves forward and smiles when his hands cup and squeeze her bum, giving her a quick pinch to make her squeal and laugh before he solemnly leans forward and kisses her thigh,

"Use me tonight sweetheart" he proposed, "However you like for as long as you like with no worry for my pleasure"

Her tears are still drying on her cheeks but his eyes show no resentment or selfishness, but still she shakes her head, "I don't want to hurt you"

Tonight, even his smirk is kind, "You couldn't possibly sweetheart, firstly I heal and secondly I know well how to find my pleasure in pain. Use me however you wish and know that it shan't change anything I feel for you"

She strokes his cheek and he leans into her palm, nuzzling it with complete and utter trust.

"I do love you" she whispers as she bends down to brush her lips against his before she straddles his lap. He guides his penis into her and she hums at the delightful, familiar sensation of him filling her completely. Her vaginal walls clench and stretch around him and envelope him in her hot, soaking arousal. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and he rests a hand on her back to keep her steady as she tries to find purchase on the boulder and crosses her legs tight around his back. He waits motionless as she makes herself comfortable and then she kisses his jaw and bites his earlobe,

"Suck my breasts" she orders him in a husky voice, feeling so dirty just for saying that to him.

And he obeys her, her breasts are level with his mouth and he licks and laves them in turn, sucking until she gasps and rolls her hips, grinding against him and his fingers dig into her skin.

His golden curls tickle her and she gazes down upon him lovingly.

He was her angel. He was her monster.

Either way, he was hers.

"Drink" she whispers, riding him slowly and guiding him with a tender hand back down to her right breast when he mistakenly lifts his head to her neck,

"No my love, here"

He takes a shuddering gasp but gently sinks his fangs into her soft breast as she surrenders herself to the wondrous sensation of his venom finding its home in her veins and her orgasm rushing up from her vagina to her brain. He lifts his head and she kisses him tenderly before she lies back on his knees, looking up at the night sky as his penis presses against her front wall. He holds her hips to keep them balanced as he thrusts determinedly, chasing his release now that she has hers. She murmurs his name and breaths deeply as he comes apart inside her, their arousal mingling and dripping onto the boulder, marking this rock and this forest as their territory.

She shivers and leans against the pool fencing as Klaus retrieves her tracksuit top from the second floor balcony.

"Thanks" she whispers bashfully as he helps her shrug it on, smiling when he playfully kisses her shoulder, she falls back knowing that he will catch her and he wraps her in his embrace, burying his nose in her hair and breathing in her scent,

"I forgot to give you my blood again didn't I?" he moans, "Bloody hell"

She giggles, "You did, but…not yet"

He tugs her closer and they enjoy the sounds of the night around them, the faint roar of traffic, night birds calling to one another, even the harsh mumble of the television in the reception area.

"We should come up with some safe words" she muses aloud, "You know, in case I freak out again in the future"

He hums in reluctant agreement and she's certain that soon he'll demand to know the cause of her panic but tonight, tonight they pushed their boundaries and discovered new trust in one another, so tomorrow can be delayed because their tonight, their now is perfect.

"I'll go back to New Orleans with you" she promises, reaching down to clasp his hand with her own,

"I can't promise that everything will be perfect, because it won't be and the next few months will probably be hard on me, on us" she tilts her head back to meet his eyes, "But my choice is to be with you Niklaus"

A/N- What's that Klaroliners? I lied to you? Why yes I did, you can't trust me.