So I have a new boyfriend. He's called Kleenex. I am officially sick but I'm not feverish so I can still write and stuff even when my head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton.

I don't think I did this prompt right. But whatev, I'm also good at crack it seems. Can't claim any credit for some of Kol's revelations in this story, I shamelessly stole them from Tyrion's in GoT.

"Are you in touch with all of your darkest fantasies? Have you created a life for yourself where you can experience them? I have. I am fucking crazy.
But I am free." -redscarbaby

There isn't really a step-by-step guide for vampire teen girls on the run. And if there is any of such thing made she can really use one right now.

Panicking, scared and heartbroken over the loss of the love of her life, Caroline is barely able to grab some clothes and knick knacks she can't bear to leave without.

Her mom hands her all the money she has stored around the house with her which is barely even three hundred dollars but what the hell, it's all she has and Caroline exchanges a tearful goodbye with her mom before she's driving away in her car and is out of Mystic Falls within half an hour.

She constantly looks back behind her to see if anyone is following, not turning the radio on in since she needs her superior hearing for any danger that's just lurking, ready to strike. She reaches the next town and the next and just keeps driving on until she's running low on gas. She stops at the nearest gas station and while her car's being filled up, she goes inside the convenience store, buys some hair dye and junk food and then she's back in her car and driving off into the night again.

Caroline arrives in Washington and the first thing she does is sell her car. She's barely had any sleep, her eyes blood shot and she's barely had any blood in two days but she knows better than to disregard her mom's advice on how to be inconspicuous so she sucks it up and replaces her car, the one her dad bought her for her seventeenth birthday, with a second hand Volkswagen that looks twice as old as her. It's pale yellow but she loves it instantly.

She has lunch in a diner, keeping her head low and wearing a hoodie to hide her hair and face before she's on the road again. She stops at Baltimore for gas, spends the night at a motel where she dies her hair blood red and then she's in New York, the city that never sleeps.

She goes to the address her mom wrote down for her and meets a Hispanic fellow who asks for her the details he needs for her fake I.D. and papers, then he takes her picture against the crème white wall and then in an hour, she's officially a different person. She pays him the money required then compels every single person that saw her to forget about her.

She's barely out the shady building when her fangs start to lengthen without her consent when her abdomen lurches in protest, in hunger. She practically jumps into her new (old) car and grabs one of the blood bags in the glove box. An empty blood bag is in her hands within a minute and she closes her eyes, trying to control herself. She's still hungry but damn it, she only has five left.

She spends two days at a motel in downtown Manhattan before she begins looking for an apartment to stay in. She has to take a job and yeah, she could just compel the landlord but she's the daughter of a Sheriff and a Forbes, it wouldn't be right and she can almost feel her dad's disapproving glare from wherever afterlife he's in.

She finds one in the lower West Side and it's small, just one bedroom and a shoebox bathroom and it's a far cry from that beautiful home she grew up in and although cold at times, is still hers. This feels like a downgrade but God, she's so exhausted she just drops her meager belongings on the floor and collapses on the mattress.

She's always been a bit of a snob, everyone had always said so. And she always did look down at menial labor but even if her I.D. said she was twenty-two, she didn't look a day over seventeen thanks to vampirism and the only people who would hire her were the coffee shop a few blocks from her flat or a couple of guys with a camera and leather outfits with a dark specific fetish.

Guess what she chooses.

Yeah, barista is not one of the jobs she and her parents considered for her to take but hell, she didn't even have time to graduate high school thanks to the supernatural phenomenon in her hometown so lattes and pastries it is.

It's been two months since she's settled into her new 'home', though 'home' feels a bit of an exaggeration for her new surroundings. 'Home' is Mystic Falls, her mom, Elena, Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and…and Tyler. 'Home' is where she feels like she can be herself and not have to look over her shoulder every time she hears a noise when going home from work. 'Home' is not a crowded city of strangers whose names she doesn't know because she didn't go to school with them her whole life.

'Home' isn't this and she misses it every day.

Still, she has to move on. Forbes are survivors, leaders and they are strong. She won't let this break her and maybe someday, she can go back to her home. Maybe in a few years, a decade, a century – when everyone she knows will be dust and no one will even remember her name.

She's making an iced latte when she feels an electric charge, power dark as time alerts her survival instincts and she's bearing blunt teeth and turning towards the door to the intruder before she knows it.

There in all his Original fucking glory is Kol Mikaelson, Klaus' brother, the craziest Original brother maybe even more than his hybrid brother and oh God, he sees her and smirks as he realizes who she is.

She hands the lady her ice latte before she tries to look busy, hearing Kol's footsteps approach the counter as she looks anywhere but his direction. She has her back turned and is wiping the shiny clean black counter when her co-worker, Erin, whispers to her, gushing. "Cute guy at twelve o'clock."

Caroline tries to play cool, showing panic will show that she's afraid and that she even knows who the 'cute guy' is. "Really? Who?"

"That guy who just walked in. You know the one who's coming over here." Erin answers, nudging her with her shoulder. "You mind if I take this one?"

Caroline gestures carelessly but is secretly rejoicing. "Please."

Erin rushes to the counter and Kol's British lit confirms to her even more that it's him. How could she forget that voice? It's like one of those posh accents straight from Downtown Abbey. And he was alive during that time so it just makes it more authentic.

She needs an escape plan now. Her apartment was just four blocks from here, she can reach it in minutes at full vampire speed, collect her things, get in her car and be in Boston by the next day.

Her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she tries to keep her appearance composed and glides out from the counter, heading to where their manager. Cynthia is talking on the phone with someone. Cynthia gives her a smile when she approaches and nods when Caroline gives the time out gesture, signaling her break.

She goes to the backroom, discarding her apron and grabbing her coat before she's scurries out the backdoor. She gasps out in surprise when she sees Kol leaning on the brick wall outside, arms crossed over his chest and looking amused.

"You weren't trying to escape were you, sweetheart?" He says. "And I was so looking forward to catching up with you."

She tries to swallow her fear, letting her bravado take over. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

He rolls his eyes. "It's gonna take a lot more than dying your hair to fool me, Forbes. Kindly drop the act. I know who you are and you know who I am so let's stop making arses of ourselves."

Her shoulders slump and she glares at him unhappily. "What do you want?"

"So testy," He tsks. "Maybe your new hair color does suit you, red like fire, red like blood – fucking feisty."

"What do you want, Ko- Mikaelson?"

"I don't know, Caroline, what do you think?"

"I don't know. You want to fuck with my head cause you're a sadistic son of a bitch?"

He grins, a fucking full out grin and it would be nice on any other boy but that manic gleam in his dark eyes made it look feral. "I knew there was reason Nik was so fascinated with you."

She scoffs, looking away from him. "Do you really need anything? Cause I have to get back in-"

"You were just about to high tail out of here two minutes ago."

'No, I wasn't." She denies. "I was planning on quitting anyways."

"No, you weren't."

She glares at him. "Yes, I was."

He nods. "Okay. Then looks go to another coffee shop then. Somewhere where the coffee doesn't taste like gravel."

"No. "

She suddenly feels more trapped than ever when she realizes there's really no escape here. He's faster and stronger than her. And he has a thousand years of living experience and honed skills. Trying to escape him would be futile unless she has a white oak stake and she doesn't really have one of those on retainer.

"I have to go back to work."

"Good." He pushes off the wall and walks towards her, making her take a step back but he brushes past her, his warm breath tickling her ear. "I didn't get my coffee yet."

Erin keeps checking out Kol from where he's seated by the table in the corner, sipping bitter black coffee as dark as his twisted, crazy soul and tinkering around with his phone. He's probably texting one of his equally as demented siblings and telling them that he found Vampire Barbie.

"Do you know him?" Erin asks, not taking her eyes off Kol. "He said he was a friend of yours though he called you a different name, Carol or something."

Caroline shrugs. "I must just look like someone he knows."

"Well, yeah but then he left when you did and you guys went back in together." Erin grins at her. "Is he an ex or something? Come on, Candice, you can tell me."

Caroline resists the urge to roll her eyes but puts her hands up in surrender. "Okay, you caught me. We do know each other."

Erin leans forward in interest. "Oh?"

"We used to sort of…date."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, but it was all physical, just crazy, hot sex all the time. He was really like into kinky stuff like Fifty Shades of Grey stuff." She widens her eyes in exaggerated faux-innocence. "And I didn't think I would be into that but he was just so…so convincing and then before I knew it, I was doing all these kinky, weird, disturbing things with him and I just had to get out!"

Erin's looking at her like she's an alien with three heads – shocked, confused but very intrigued. "So what happened?"

"He wouldn't leave me alone after that. He just kept calling and coming over and threatening me and that's why I had to leave town. I can't believe he found me again!" She shakes her head, mustering up a few crocodile tears. "I changed my name, dyed my hair, hoping he wouldn't find me but now he's here and-"

"Okay, okay." Erin stops her, rubbing up and down her arms in comfort before sending a determined look at Kol. 'I'll take care of this."

Caroline watches between her fingers as Erin asks – demands Kol to leave the coffee shop. When he refuses, Cynthia comes out and Erin explains the situation to her, prompting the entire coffee shop to shout and boo at him. Already making a scene, Kol glares at Caroline for a heated moment, stomping out of the shop.

Caroline grins to herself at her victory.

"I didn't know you were such the little actress, Candice."

Caroline rolls her eyes, not even bothering to turn around as she continues to walk home. Kol quickly follows her, catching up to her shorter stride without any effort.

"That was quite the performance. A little more theatrical than required though."

Her mouth quirks at the critique and she sends him a sidelong glance before answering. "Well, it did the job, didn't it?"

"Well, you successfully banned me from your work place but that doesn't mean you can keep me out of whatever hovel you're living in."

She smirks before she super speeds out of there, the sights and sounds a blurry canopy before she's outside her apartment building. She skips up the stairs in a little faster than human speed and is on her floor, fishing out her keys and into her apartment in a minute. She sighs in relief when she goes to open her fridge which is right beside her bed since the place is that small.

"I've seen rat holes bigger than this."

She loses her grip on the bottle of apple cider but Kol's there in a millisecond, catching it and placing it on the sink.

"How'd you get in here?"

"One of your neighbors let me in. I said I was visiting my girlfriend."

She scowls at the idea of even being his anything. How horrific would that be? What completely lunatic girl would want to date this borderline sociopath?

Sighing in defeat, surrendering herself to the fact she can't escape him save for staking herself, she scurries away from the Original, grabbing clothes from her tiny drawer and heading into the bathroom.

Freshly showered and dressed in her baggiest and ugliest clothes, Caroline comes out of the bathroom and sees Kol sitting on her mattress, flipping through channels on her miniscule TV. She scowls at the sight of him. "You're still here?"

He looks up at her and smirks. "You never said I have to leave."

"You need to leave."

He ignores her as if she's never spoken and picks up something on the bed beside him – her freaking wallet from her bag and takes out her driver's license. "Candice Accola? Candy Accola. Accola Dracula. Candy Dracula. Cute. Can't escape who you are can you, Forbes?"

She narrows her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why? Are your aliases any better?"

He takes something out of his coat pocket and throws it at her. She catches it with ease and opens the booklet which turns out to be a passport. "Nathaniel Buzolic? Buzolic? What's that like from some sort of non-descript European country?"

"Croatia, actually. I've always had a fondness for that country."

She blinks at this new information and throws the passport back at him. Not in the mood to deal with his quirks, she goes back to towel-drying her hair. She glances at Kol who's eyeing her like the way Jeremy used to stare at the dead bird he found in the yard when he was six and then proceeds to dissect it. She shudders and looks away.

"It's Friday, you know." He says, not letting her ignore him. "Is this how you spend your Friday nights? In your apartment like some anti-social loser, not even getting laid or going out for some O Neg?"

She makes a non-committal noise and sits down beside him on the bed since there really is no room for a couch so it's that or the floor even if sitting beside him feels like a betrayal.

"Come on, Forbes, even Finn was more entertaining than this. Yeah, he could be a drag with his unrelenting self-loathing and constant sucking up to our mother but once you get the mead into him, he wasn't so bad."

She stares at him.

"What? You don't believe him? Let me tell you a story of when we were at English court during Henry VIII's reign, he just married that Anne Boleyn bird and-"

"And I'm sure it was a great time but I'm tired and I'd really want to catch up on some rest so if you'd kindly leave-"

"Let's go out."

She balks at him. "What?"

"Let's go to some bar and get pissed. There's this rather shitty one nearby but they except anyone there so you'd have no trouble blending in with the riff raff."

She narrows her eyes at him. "No. Go by yourself."

He pouts like a young boy denied of that one special Christmas present he wants. "But it's no fun alone!"

"It's not my fault you don't have any friends!"

This is probably the worst day of Caroline's life. Well, second worst after the werewolves kidnapped and tortured. Okay, third after her dad tried to 'fix' her vampire nature.

Fine, it's in the top ten at least.

She sulks as they enter the 'rather shitty' bar Kol drags her into. She barely had time to do her hair and makeup, only able to brush her hair, apply some lip gloss and get into the black dress and ankle boots before Kol got impatient, grabbed her by her wrist and vamp sped them away.

Not like anyone really cares how she looks anyway, the patrons mostly drunk college kids, desperate women in their thirties and middle aged perverts who keep eyeing her like she's veal. Kol walks like he's the King of England and goes right up to the bar ordering tequila shots and making her sit down beside him, three shots lined before him and three on hers.

"Let's play a game, Candice." He says. "One shot for every secret."

She looks at him like he's delusional. He probably is. "I'm not going to tell you my secrets."

He looks at her, eyes soft, almost sincere. "It doesn't have to involve your friends, Candice, I just want to know about you."

She stares at him disbelieving. "Why?"

"Cause I get a kick out of knowing things about my brother's girlfriend that he even he doesn't know."

"I'm not Klaus' girlfriend!" She protests.

"So you're Elijah's? Or don't tell me, Finn's?" He looks down at her with narrowed thoughtful eyes. "Now that I think about it, you do remind me a bit of Sage, hair and all. But he was daggered at the time…unless you gave him a hand job while he was-"

"Take a shot!"

She's blushing red as her hair now and just wants him to stop with that disturbing imagery. Daggered Originals are no better than corpses which meant he's implying she's into necrophilia or something close to it. But then again, she is undead so maybe- Eww, just eww.

"Okay, I'll start." He smirks. "I give a secret and then you give one."

He reaches for a glass and swallows down his first shot, not even wincing as the alcohol goes down his throat. His eyes do close for a moment before they open again and he's staring into her eyes, that dark brown almost black searing into her very soul and for a moment she's mesmerized, reminding her of when Damon used to use compulsion on her. Wait, was he-

"I never hated my father."

She blinks as he continues his explanation, eyes unusually soft, lost in some memory.

"Even after everything he did to us, to me. He was still my father and...my-my first memory was of him. I was taking my first steps and he was smiling, so happy, so proud of me and he lifted me into the air and it was…I felt…" He cleared his throat, snapping out of whatever trance he's previously in. "Your turn."

She takes the shot glass and swallows the amber liquid down, licking her lips as her throat burns. She tries to think of a secret, one of the few she keeps because she's such an open book and keeping secrets are hard for her but there are still a few, the few she's always been afraid to let others know, afraid of their judgment, the backlash so keeps it to herself.

But after Kol revealed his secret, it seems wrong not to reveal something equally as honest as her own.

She looks at him, expression wary. "You won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Who would I tell?"

"I don't know. Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah, some random vampire you know…"

He shrugs. "Does it matter that much, Forbes? I just told you something deeply personal, you can't back out now, it just makes you a coward."

She huffs. She is a Forbes and Forbes aren't cowards so despite his obvious manipulation, she tells him. "My first kiss wasn't a boy."

His eyes widened almost comically before that dirty, intrigued grin comes out. "Oh. Who was it?"

She bites her bottom lip. "Elena."

"Gilbert? The Doppelganger?" His expression is equal parts shock and glee. "Seriously?"

"We were thirteen and we don't have big sisters to give advice so I thought it'd be-"

"You suggested it?" He laughs - howls in delight and she just glares at him because ripping out his spleen would alarm the humans in the bar. He grins at her after he comes down a bit and reaches for another shot. "I change my mind. I love this century."

Those three shots become six then nine and before she knows it, they've told each other the most intimate secrets about themselves.

"I once ejaculated into some turtle soup and I'm pretty sure my sister ate it…or I hope she did."

"I once had a sex dream about Alaric."

"One time when Nik was swimming in the lake, I stole his clothes and he had to go back to the village butt naked."

"I don't think I really loved Matt that much."

"I once loved a human girl."

She pauses and stares at him with wide eyes. "What?"

He looks down at the empty shot glasses on the bar counter, eyes lost in thought and she nudges him with an impatient finger. He makes a grunting noise.

"What do you mean by that? You mean you actually loved a-"

"Her name was Sam. She was seventeen, blonde hair, blue eyes, pretty."

She blinks at him, not able to comprehend this new information. But wait, he's an Original and they are always about vampire superiority and how humans are just food, prey. So how it's possible that he fell in love for a human girl, something he considers beneath him is staggering. "What happened?"

"Nik, he…he wanted to teach me a lesson …and I learned it."

There's a small silence, filled with unspoken words and thoughts and she can't take her eyes off him, just beginning to understand the enigma of one of the oldest vampires in the world. It was like he's a two-dimensional picture in her head that's slowly colored and is now becoming something more than just an idea.

And it's terrifying and overwhelming and she feels stupid and foolish for characterizing him as a one-note being without any layers. He's human, isn't he? Or at least he was, once upon a time.

He looks back at her and smiles wryly, trying to break the tension and gestures to her last shot. "Last one. Make it good, Forbes."

She takes the glass in her suddenly nimble fingers and gulps it down, never taking her eyes of Kol. He waits for her to speak and she does so with a sigh. "I don't hate you…or at least I don't anymore. Maybe I never did."

He scoffs. "That's no good. I already knew that!"

She gaps at him. "What do you mean?"

He smirks at her like she's dense. "I'm entirely too lovable and irresistible to be hated. Of course, you don't hate me."

Her earlier pity for him evaporates and she banters with him until the bar closes.

They're walking back to her apartment, her leaning heavily on him as he -surprise, surprise- has a higher alcohol tolerance than her and while she's completely wasted, he's just barely tipsy, supporting her with an arm on her waist and tugging her along when she trips.

"I had a fun night." She says, grinning happily up at him.

He rolls his eyes and smirks. "You're a happy drunk. I'm telling Nik that."

She giggles for some reason because she's at that place where everything Kol says is comedy gold. They make it to her apartment and he helps her up the stairs and up her floor, kicking her door open when he gets annoyed with her fumbling with the lock.

She laughs and titters towards her bed, landing face first, her vision clouded with a curtain of red when she looks up. Kol is standing by her bed, smiling even sort of nicely at her, no nefarious hints or anything and she grins up at him, giggling.

He leans down and she's mesmerized with dark brown again. "Thanks for the night, Candice."

"You're welcome, Nate."

"Now forget it."

And she does.