A/N Thank you all for reviewing!

FORBES RESIDENCE

"Okay, question number four."

Cherie decided to ignore Damon's feigned groan of exasperation as she sifted through her thoughts. She drummed her hands on the countertop which jostled her plate and glass when one popped into her mind.

"Got one!"She reached out to catch her glass before it tipped over."What did you do before technology?"

Cherie quirked an eyebrow triumphantly as Damon pressed his lips together thoughtfully. She reached for her fork as she waited for his response and dug into what was left of her chocolate cake.

"What do you think?"

She tried to bat his hand away when he placed another slice of cake onto her plate. He leaned back with a grin when she, with a half-hearted glower, made no actual move to return it to the box.

"Instead of one night stands you courted,"Damon waved his hand pointedly."and instead of texting you had to put pencil to paper."

His eyes glittered with delight when she straightened on her stool, rushed to finish the forkful of cake in her mouth, and leaned forward with a captivated breath when she did.

"So basically it was the stone age?"

Damon rounded his eyes in a pretense of offense. He slanted forward to meet her halfway from where she was leaning. Cherie pushed herself up so they were at eye level with a daring hum.

"Hey, that's―"He chuckled around his teasing frown."If you want to call a century and a half ago the stone age then yeah."

Cherie reached up to swat at the finger he was wagging at her with a breathless huff. As she did she thought over his response and her lips parted with a gasp.

She crinkled her nose in realization."Oh, you're old. Care said you were old but wow."

Damon rolled his eyes and nodded, pulling back to pick at his cake.

"And yet I don't look a day over twenty-five."Damon countered with a smug smile."Eternal youth has its benefits."

"Twenty-five?"Cherie repeated around a scoff."Yeah, right."

"It's true."He insisted with a feigned offense. He licked at the icing on his thumb."Hey, you try and keep a youthful glow when you're, I don't know, working your fingers bloody."

He raised his eyebrows when Cherie shamelessly let her eyes skate over him.

"If you say so."

Damon's teasing smile gradually dulled into a frown—a curious one that drew Cherie's amused eyes. The stool beneath him creaked in protest as he hunched over across the counter, crooked a finger under her chin, and tilted her head up.

"Hey."

Cherie blinked over at him impatiently, glancing now and then yearningly at her cake. Her fork clattered against her side plate so she could raise a hand and lock her fingers around his wrist.

Other than that, however, she made no move to reject his touch. Damon watched her closely and silently with a thoughtful furrow of his brow. He caught himself when he realized it had been quiet too long and met her searing gaze.

"Now you've had a front-row seat up close, Cherie,"He drawled her name with an expectant wink."what do you think?"

His eyes flickered to her lips when a gentle smile blossomed at her mouth.

"It doesn't matter how gloriously attractive you are to look at though, does it? I'm sure I know what your true face looks like."Cherie peeled his hand from her face."And I've got a clue of what you're capable of, don't I?"

Damon's fingers flexed in her grasp, and the grin he was donning slowly began to falter, but he made no move to snatch his hand back.

"But you're a person of a different world than mine. An undead one, yeah, but still…"

Cherie trailed off with a downturn of her mouth, studied his startled features, and reached for her fork again. Damon let her place his hand down on the table, his pulse jumping when she touched his forearm briefly, and cleared his throat.

"I was a total dick to your sister."He hoarsely declared, peering over at her through hooded lids.

Cherie stilled momentarily but kept her eyes on her chocolate cake. She swallowed, he noticed, as she thought over his sudden words.

"She forgives you."Cherie murmured after a moment."Sort of."

He imitated her whisper as he frowned."Have you?"

"It's not my place to forgive you. It's Caroline's place."Cherie solemnly replied, unwaveringly resolute."But she's tolerable of you, sort of, and if she can tolerate you then..."

Damon's lips pulled up when she lifted her head to look at him with sunny eyes, cheeks heated, and wielding a fork in hand.

"I'll bring you all the cake you want until you…"

It all happened so fast – he caught Cherie's smile vanishing then, out of the corner of his eye, a blurred hand dropping her fork. A second or two later a palm met his cheek and then all he could make out was an unfocused family picture hung on the furthest wall.

Once the ringing in his ears decided to relent he faintly heard Cherie rummaging around in the bag he brought.

"Did you bring me a carrot cake?"

Damon could only bring himself to nod his head as he turned back to face her, his hand coming up to feel his heated cheek.

He worked his jaw with a huffed laugh."What was that for?"

"I got the right cheek last time."She let herself drop back onto her stool with a shrug."Now I got the left."

Damon accepted the slice of carrot cake she slid over to him with the beginnings of a grin. He watched Cherie shamelessly as she happily dug into her slice.

Huh. How about that?

MIKAELSON MANSION

"Oh, she's pretty."

Klaus' hand stilled from where it had been resting on his sketchbook, his fingers motionless around his pencil, and he tore his eyes away from the etched ones gazing up at him from the page.

"Who is she?"

"Nobody."Klaus promptly answered. He glared up at his sister when she breathed a laugh.

"That's a fib."Rebekah accused with an amused arch of her eyebrow.

Klaus rolled his eyes heavenward and let his eyes drift back to the sketch, directing his pencil gently over the bow of the smiling lips. He bit back a frustrated sneer when his sister inched closer, looming over him and casting a shadow on the page.

"Is she the reason you came home all quiet the other night?"Rebekah persisted in her questioning, hands clamped down on her hips."Is she also the reason you've been smiling at the sketchbook since?"

Klaus' head snapped up and he wielded his pencil threateningly.

"I do not appreciate such slander."

Rebekah batted his hand away, plucked the sketchbook from his grasp, and turned away before he had the chance to snatch it back.

"Rebekah!"Klaus growled out through clenched teeth."Hand that back right this second before i-"

He flashed his eyes at her when she nudged him with her hip until he complied and let her perch herself on the arm of his armchair. The sofa across from them was bare but of course, she was insistent on annoying him just that much more.

He leveled her with an unamused glower when she stretched her arm across the back of the couch and flicked through the most recent of his sketches of the nameless woman.

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

He fired the question at her before snatching back his sketchbook, flipping through the pictures so he was back to where he'd left off. Rebekah rolled her head to the side with a shrug.

"History is first period, and I lived through it."Rebekah waved her hand dismissively."Stop changing the subject and tell me who she is."

"Her name is Cherie."

Klaus pointedly refused to meet his sister's gaze once he relented. Instead, he busied himself with putting his pencils back into their case, each one in a certain over of his most used and to be considered worthy enough to be wielded.

"Cherie who?"Rebekah asked once she tried to place a face to the name. She frowned down at him.

"You're assuming I know her surname. Why?"

Rebekah made a show of rolling her eyes, imitating him from earlier, and handed him a loose pencil when he narrowed his eyes at his case. He took it from her with an appreciative nod.

"You never bother with anyone who hasn't got under your skin."Rebekah responded knowingly."You certainly never recall their face unless they're more than a passing thought."

She touched his shoulder when he stiffened and waited until he leaned back into the sofa until she was sure that he was willing to offer answers before she questioned him again.

"Tell me?"

Klaus' eyes closed momentarily before he divulged, tipping his head back to catch Rebekah's searching eyes.

"She's the older sister of that newborn vampire you can't stand."

Rebekah's lips parted."Caroline Forbes?"

Klaus' gaze wavered and he turned his head to the side before he nodded once. He avoided eye contact as Rebekah pushed herself up with disbelieving scoff.

"Why must you become involved with the most infuriating women? If she's anything like the ones that came before-"

"She's not."Klaus scowled up at her. He glanced at the sketchbook clutched between his hands."She's something else."

"Is she now?"

"When I thought i'd figured her out, she surprised me."Klaus murmured under his breath, looking up at his sister with clouded eyes."She gave me a run for my money."

Rebekah pressed her lips together and nodded with an understanding as her brother stared up at her—him and his obsessions. She touched her brother's shoulder reassuringly when he snapped his sketchbook shut.

"I trust you."

Rebekah preened with a triumphant glint in her eye."You want my help, don't you?"

Klaus blinked up at his sister, and let himself be smiled at until he felt a smile pull at his mouth.

"I want her, Rebekah."

Thank you for reading!