Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Thank you so much for your awesome feedback! I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Thirteen - We were born with nothing and we sure as hell have nothing now

She had watched Nik acting oddly the whole Friday afternoon. His family was coming over for dinner. Caroline didn't know what her part was in all this. It was a family dinner, so she didn't expect to participate. Was she to just sit in her room? She wanted to ask, but Nik looked so on edge that she didn't want to bother him with her musings. Caroline had dressed accordingly though, just in case.

The apologies they had exchanged had patched things up with them, but they were still not back to normal. They hadn't even shared a kiss. Nik seemed to be avoiding her, and she wanted to ask about it, but more than that she wanted him to be able to trust her enough to share his worries. She assumed it was because of this family dinner.

It was eight o'clock when Bekah came barging in.

"I still can't believe you're actually doing this, Nik," she said, smiling happily. Caroline didn't know Rebekah all that well yet, but she could see that family was the most important thing in her life. She had stick with Nik after all, through thick and thin.

Nik just ignored his sister and kept drinking his whiskey. Rebekah took a seat next to Caroline. Nik avoided looking either of them. The door swung open and both Kol and Elijah walked in. Nik stood up faster than Caroline's eyes could see. Everyone was looking tense, and no one said a word. Caroline felt like she was in the wrong place.

"I should leave you to it," she murmured, and stood up to leave. Finally Nik turned his eyes to her and he shook his head.

"Please stay," he asked. She nodded and sat herself down, smiling on the inside. This was a family dinner after all, and he was asking her to stay.

"Well, now that that's settled, can we get to it? I was promised dinner," Kol said with a smirk. Elijah had yet to say a word. His eyes kept darting between Nik and Caroline. Nik grunted and led them to the dining room. Before he took his place at the end of the table, he drew Caroline her chair on his right hand side. Caroline could see Elijah frown at the gesture. Or was it because of where he was seating her?

Rebekah quickly took a seat next to her, and Caroline smiled at her gratefully. She just wasn't comfortable around the other Mikaelson brothers. Kol took the seat from across her, and Elijah sat himself to the farthest corner, well away from Nik.

"It's been too long since we sat together as a family," Nik finally said, making Kol snort into his glass of wine.

"As if that was our choice. I didn't keep any of you locked in a damn coffin for two hundred years." Nik looked grim as his eyes rested on Kol.

"You didn't give me much choice, brother. You lost it completely after that whole Nasya fiasco in Russia. You were a liability." Rebekah just stared at a painting on the wall, and Elijah tried to hide his interest in Nik's words. If Kol had been in a coffin for the past two centuries, Elijah had no idea what had been going on in Russia before Nik staked Kol. The look on his face that he tried so hard to hide showed Caroline that he had missed his family so very much. He was regretting his choices, choosing Katerina. She felt bad for him. Nik could be a stubborn ass, and it had probably been very difficult for Elijah to leave his family behind, knowing that his brother would hate him for it, perhaps for all eternity.

"There's no need to dwell in the past, brothers. How about we talk about the matter in hand? Anyone still remember that Katerina is loose in the city and we have no idea what she's up to?" Rebekah said as the maids brought their appetizers to the table.

"Yes, Elijah, you know her the best. How about you tell us about your thoughts in all this?" Nik asked, still not looking at his brother. His eyes were on her instead. His hand was suddenly on her knee. Caroline looked up to his eyes and found herself unable to look away. It looked like he was in agony and the only thing that could save him was her. Caroline found his hand under the table and squeezed it, trying to tell him without words that everything was going to be okay. He would have his family back.

"Well, I am willing to bet that she has been following you around for a while now. She is a firm believer in keeping her friends close but her enemies even closer. I do not mean to offend you, Niklaus, but I do not think you will be able to find her. She is an expert in hiding. She will probably contact you soon. She likes to do things on her own terms."

"But if she's been following Nik, she must know about Caroline," Rebekah said, her voice filled with worry. It warmed Caroline's heart.

"Yes, I would think so. And her being human is certainly something Katerina would not hesitate to use against you, Niklaus," Elijah warned.

"Just turn her and get it over with," Kol said with his mouth full of food.

"She will be turned whenever she wishes it," Nik hissed, his grip of her knee tightening. His eyes flashed red.

"Nik, I know you told me to take a month, but I don't really need a month," she said, the red in his eyes still visible.

"Even if I turned you right now, a new born vampire is almost as much as a liability as a human, love. You won't be able to control yourself and if you do not wish to go on a rampage, you will need looking after." Caroline swallowed. She did not like to think herself unable to control her cravings. Caroline needed control. She thrived on it. But it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. For the power, for the strength, for the forever.

"More reason to do it quickly. Not all baby vamps go on a sick killing spree, you know, Nik. I've turned a few who were pretty much in control of themselves right from the beginning. And if she will go on a spree, the faster she does it, the better," Kol said. Nik rubbed his forehead angrily.

"This is Caroline's decision, so shut the hell up," he said quietly.

"Exactly, Nik. It's her decision. Can't you see that she wants this? When you had your stupid fight with her she was scared that you would not turn her, and I had to promise that I would do it if you continued to be an ass. You didn't see her then. She wants this, needs this." Rebekah somehow always managed to find the right words.

"It makes no difference if it's going to be a week from now, or in a month. I have nothing left for me in the world of humans. My mother is going to die soon. My friends have pretty much abandoned me because of what I want. I have nothing, Nik. And I want it all," she whispered, and for a moment she could forget that all his un-staked siblings were staring at them. He held her gaze for a long while.

"I will give you everything you want, Caroline. You know that." She heard Kol snickered at his brother's words, but she did not mind him. She wanted to savor these moments with Nik. The moments when he looked at her like nothing in this whole wide world was more important to him that her happiness.

"Then give me this," she whispered. His hand grabbed hers under the table and suddenly he brought her hand to his mouth, kissed it and continued holding it.

"Just say when," he promised. Of course the moment was shattered when Kol had to open his mouth.

"He must be changeling, because the Nik I knew didn't do this," he said and pointed at them.

"Shut it, Kol. Or you'll spend the next two centuries in a coffin as well," Nik grunted, still not looking away from Caroline. Kol lifted his hands up as a sign of surrender.

"Just telling it as I see it, brother. Not that I blame you, she is exquisite."

"Shut up, Kol!" Nik, Rebekah and Caroline shouted at him all at once. Kol just laughed and kept eating. No one else really touched their dinners.

"The dessert shall be served in the salon," a pretty maid announced, and it seemed like no one else than Caroline saw her. Would she be like that one day? Would she just ignore humans unless she meant to take their blood? She decided she wouldn't be like that. When she would become a vampire, she would still be herself. It would not change who she was. Or would it?

When Rebekah had realized that her brother was in love with Caroline (not that he would admit to it), she had been jealous. Nik had never wanted this. All he had ever wanted was to break the stupid hybrid curse, make himself an army and kill Mikael. He'd never had any interest in settling down with someone. He thought love was a vampire's greatest weakness, and there he was, sitting as close to Caroline as he possibly could without actually sitting on her.

She had always wanted that. Someone who would love her just as she was, the good and the bad in her. Someone to share this depressing eternity with. Sure, she had fallen in love more times than she could count, but she now recognized how shallow her feelings had been. Stefan was something new, something exciting, but he did not love her. Probably never would. He was fun, she enjoyed him, but she could not see herself establishing a stable future with the Ripper.

And that was why she had looked at Caroline and Nik with such envy. Nik might not think so, but where Rebekah was concerned, he's got it all. She desperately wanted the same, she wanted someone to sit by her, promising to give her anything and everything she ever wanted. She wanted someone to look at her like Nik and Caroline looked at each other.

They sat next to each other, but Nik was constantly touching her, her hand, her knee. They never kissed, but somehow watching this was more intimate. Rebekah wanted to look away, but she couldn't, she felt like she was intruding on a very personal moment, but she was held captive by the beauty of it. Two people, head over heels in love with each other.

She loved her brother dearly, and he deserved some happiness in his life, and Caroline was just that. She made her brother smile. It had been so long since he had been truly happy.

Even though it made Rebekah happy to see him like that, it also worried her. It worried her how easily Caroline could be taken away from him, and if that happened, what would happen to her brother? Nik had never dealt with loss in ways that would be considered healthy.

"I'm still having hard time believing that our brother is in love," Kol whispered in her ear, but loudly enough for Nik to hear. He ignored it though, his attention never leaving Caroline, who was trying to have a conversation with Elijah about his travels all over Europe.

"At least Caroline is a good person. She's actually really nice. I like her."

"Who cares if she's nice now? A decade with our dear brother and she will be just as corrupt as he is." Rebekah frowned at Kol's words, but his concern was a real one. Rebekah had enjoyed seeing the change in her brother, and she worried that if Caroline's humanity was the thing that caused that change, then perhaps Caroline losing her humanity would set Nik right back to where he started, or worse.

"Just minutes ago you were arguing that she could actually be able to control herself."

"She needs to turn, the faster the better. And I was not lying. I have seen vampires being in control of themselves right from the beginning. And I do believe that she will be one of those vampires. But I don't think she will be able to cling to her humanity if she continues spending time with him. He's too old, too set in his ways. She's so young, and even if she's suffered, she doesn't truly know how cruel this world it. She will lose it, mark my words."

Klaus looked at Elijah with conflicted feelings. He had taken him aside to change words with him. He knew that making peace with Elijah would probably prove to be an advantage, but Klaus was a proud man and he did not easily swallow his pride. Yes, Elijah had apologized over and over again; even now he was trying to apologize. And deep down he wanted to forgive him. Family was his number one priority, and he was his brother even after all that had gone down between them. Tatia, Katerina…

"I am truly sorry, Niklaus. Not a day went by when I did not wish to be there with you, Rebekah, Kol."

"You could have been there for us, but you chose otherwise." He was trying to keep his bitter thoughts at bay.

"I did what I thought was my only choice. If you would have been in my situation, wouldn't you have chosen the same course? If Caroline was forced to run from me for the rest of her life, would you just have abandoned her, leaving her to die?"

Klaus rubbed his forehead. He thought of Caroline telling him that it had not been Elijah's fault, that he had simply fallen for the wrong woman. And now that he considered it… Caroline was everything. His world. He wouldn't have hesitated. He would have abandoned everything. For her.

He didn't answer to Elijah. His brother didn't press the matter any further. He probably could see it on Klaus, the realization. That there could be someone who changed everything. Someone you could do anything for, kill, run, and abandon your family…

"I will forgive you. I need you, you are my brother. And Katerina poses a threat, you know her better than anyone. We need to be a family again," Klaus said, even though it pained him, to let go of his resentment towards Elijah, towards his betrayal. But he was his brother after all, and family was all he had in this world. And Caroline.

"I'm glad, brother. Glad that you could forgive me, glad that we are all together. Glad that you found someone worth adding to our family," Elijah said with a smile.

"Caroline is not – She's –," Klaus stuttered, trying to find the words, but nothing really suited. What was she to him? All he knew that she meant more to him than anything else.

"She sits on your right hand side on a family dinner. What else she would be if not family?"

The truth was that she was so much more.

His siblings had finally taken their leave and now he had Caroline all to himself. The study had been redecorated, the windows had been replaced, and a first edition of Wuthering Heights was left on the coffee table.

Caroline walked to it and slid her hand across the cover. She sighed, and opened it.

"This must have cost a fortune," she mumbled. Klaus walked to her, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I've told you a thousand times, I want to give you everything" Caroline turned to face him.

"Thank you," she finally said.

"You know you don't have to do anything you don't want to, right? I know my siblings can be a bit persuasive, but if you don't want me to change you at all, or so soon, just let me know." Caroline nodded with a smile.

"Your siblings were right. There is no point in waiting. What would I gain from another month of being human?"

"It's your choice." She touched his arm and pulled him closer to her, and he happily obliged. Nothing was better than feeling her close to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he mimicked her movements. Her chin was titled, just waiting for his lips to meet hers. He sighed happily and captured her mouth. She tasted like champagne, cigarettes, and just Caroline. The kiss was sweet, and he could feel Caroline smiling against his lips.

He didn't pull away from her, but he placed his lips against her forehead. She was breathing more heavily than normally. Her chest was pressed hard against his, and he could feel her heart racing.

"Is everything okay, love?" Caroline's teeth nibbled his neck, her heart racing faster and faster. It made Klaus hungry.

"I want you to turn me, soon," she whispered against his neck. She placed a small kiss there, making shivers run down his spine. He had no control over himself when he was with her. She made him feel things, and right now he was feeling highly aroused.

"How soon?" he asked, his hands roaming all over her body.

"Tonight." His hands stopped at once. Caroline didn't move away from him, instead she gently bit his neck.

"Are you sure? This is what you want?"

"Yes." Her breath was hot against his neck, her heart still beating wildly. "There's just one thing I would ask of you before you turn me."

"Anything, love. Anything."

"I want one last human experience. I want you to have sex with me."

AN: I know! Cliffhanger and all. But hey, sex in the next chapter, whaaaaat. Please tell me what you think. Reviews are so very much appreaciated!