Klaus.

He was lying on his bed with the most wonderful woman sleeping peacefully in his arms, but his mind was a hundred kilometers away from his body. A few minutes ago he learned some very important things about his curse, but the only thing that he could think about was the pain that Thalia went through.

He was terrified when the woman that a moment ago was just catching her breath after the pleasure that he gave her, called out his name but this time without even a hint of pleasure in her voice. She gasped in panic, her eyes turned white and before he could ask her what was wrong, he found himself in her vision. And what a vision that was! He wanted to scream with joy when he saw himself breaking the curse, the moment that he dreamed about for centuries finally occurring right before his eyes.

As soon as he came to his senses he turned to her with a huge smile on his face, ready to cover her with kisses and to give her the pampering she deserved, but she wasn't out of it yet. He had to wait a few more seconds before she gasped and her eyes changed back to normal indicating the end of her vision. He asked her if what they saw was the future, and felt a huge weight being lifted from his shoulders when she confirmed it with a smile on her face.

He wasn't able to ask any more questions as her eyes changed once again and he appeared in another of her visions. This one wasn't as happy and promising as the previous one, far from it. He could feel his blood running cold in his veins when he learned that he wouldn't be able to create more hybrids. But surprisingly that realization wasn't as painful as he thought it would be.

This vision was a lot longer than the previous one and he learned that it made great difference when she came out of it once again, but this time looking so much worse. She was lying there, suffocating, with tears running down her face, and he could do nothing about it, he could do nothing to take away her pain. He had never felt that helpless in his life.

And when he thought that it couldn't become any worse, her eyes turned white yet again. He wouldn't be able to forget that terrified expression on her face for a very long time.

The last vision was painful to say the least. The thought that his mother hated him that much, made him nauseous. Nevertheless, he was glad that it was quick, as he was worried about Thalia more than he thought he would be. This time it took her a while to come to her senses. He was already out of it, but she was still in there, her white eyes opened widely, her breathing shallow.

And it broke his heart when she finally opened her eyes after blinking away the remnants of her vision and said that she couldn't see anything. She looked so vulnerable, he'd never seen her like this before. He immediately gave her his blood and sighed with relief when it cured her.

He remembered how she asked him to stay with her, how she said that she felt safe with him. It was then that he realized how much she meant to him. He could remember the moment he saw her for the first time, the way she stood awkwardly in a corner, looking gorgeous in her black dress. She was beautiful and he couldn't take his eyes away from her.

Then turned out that she knew that he was a vampire but still accepted his offer for a short walk. She saved his life and accepted him even when he revealed that he was the Hybrid. She made him feel things he'd never felt before. In such a small amount of time she actually changed him and he didn't mind at all.

Then he remembered guiltily how he'd lied to her. The very first day, after the attack, he really did a research on her, but it wasn't little by any means. He learned everything about her... and her family. Especially about her sister that looked exactly like one certain bitch that he had been hunting down for five centuries now.

At first he was extremely glad, but something stopped him from going to Mystic Falls and kidnapping the doppelganger right away, as he would've usually done.

Something... or someone. He didn't know what got over him but he... did nothing. He assured himself that there was no point in taking her away now when he didn't have the moonstone yet, that he would just observe her for now, but he knew that he was lying to himself.

And he hadn't even realized that he'd fallen in love with his little witch.

He thought about her visions once again. He broke his curse in them, that meant that he really killed the doppelgänger... and he was confused thinking, what had happened between him and Thalia if he really did that to her, if he really killed her little sister?

He gently caressed her beautiful hair. She was like a blessing. A blessing that he didn't deserve, but he wasn't going to question it, he may be a monster but he wasn't a fool. He would just hope that she would be able to forgive him if she ever finds out.

He hugged her tighter against his chest and let the exhaustion take over him.

Thalia.

I woke up feeling hot. Moving sleepily to remove the blanket I realized that it wasn't the case, when my hand touched a bare chest which turned out to be the source of heat. I slowly opened my eyes and almost purred at the delicious view in front of me.

I was lying on Niklaus' chest, both of us in our naked glory. I looked up and saw that he was still sleeping. I watched him, admiring the view, my fingertips itching to trace his features, his delicious lips that I finally had the right to kiss whenever I wanted, to play with his messy hair, but most of all, I wanted to kiss the tattoos on his shoulder. Yesterday I was too distracted to notice them, but now... Wow. I've never imagined he would have a tattoo, but it strangely suited him and made him look even hotter.

After resisting for quite some time, not wanting to wake him up as he was cute while asleep, I eventually gave up and kissed one tattooed bird on his shoulder. Then another one, and another one. Until I reached his collarbone and stopped hesitatingly.

"Why did you stop?" His raspy voice startled me a little, as I was too concentrated on what I was doing and didn't notice when he woke up.

"I ran out of birds," I answered with a hint of amusement. "You want me to go on?" I asked teasingly, seeing as he still lay there with his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips.

"Mmm." He answered idly and I decided to tease him a little bit.

I planted another kiss but this time in the crook of his neck, sucking and nibbling as I went up to his chin, then to his lips. He wasn't smiling anymore, I realized proudly sitting on his waist. I kissed him gently in a corner of his lips, and as he slightly parted his lips waiting for a kiss, I quickly stood up and ran to the bathroom with a happy giggle.

"Thalia!" I heard him cry through the shut door, but it made me laugh even more. I went to his shower and turned on the hot water, then looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I was a mess. Literally. My hair was everywhere and there were spots of dried blood and paint on my body but mostly on my hands. But then I realized that there was something missing, and couldn't help but groan loudly.

Second later a slightly worried Nik appeared behind me, eyeing me up and down, looking for injuries.

"Are you hurt? What happened?" He asked confused when he noticed that I was seemingly fine.

"Nothing. Everything's fine," I answered, blushing furiously.

No way in hell I was answering that question.

My tomato red face had picked his interest, as he stepped closer, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Tell me, love. What is bothering you? I'm not gonna leave until you answer." He sneaked his hands around my waist, pushing my hair off my shoulder so he could plant kisses up and down the column of my neck, torturing the answer out of me.

"It's nothing, I swear..."

He obviously didn't like that answer, as he turned me around and sat me on a sink, standing between my thighs, making me blush even more at the intimacy of our position. He continued kissing my neck, going up to my lips, planting kisses and small bites everywhere.

"Tell me," he whispered in my lips in a deliciously raspy voice, making my knees weaken. I swear I would have stumbled if I wasn't sitting already. "What made you upset?"

"I was upset.. because... I found out..."

It was so hard to speak when he was doing this to me.

"Found what?" He murmured encouraging me with another breathtaking kiss.

"That your hickeys... have healed." I moaned when he suddenly bit on my lower lip.

He looked me in the eyes then his expression went dark with lust, dark veins appearing and disappearing under his eyes as his gaze trailed down to my neck, my breasts and my stomach before returning back to my face.

"Indeed, you are right, my love" he said, his voice a mixture of whisper and growl. "We certainly need to fix that."

An hour later we went down to the kitchen to restore the calories spent overnight. I just made French toasts along with some salad, he cut some fresh fruits and was helping me serve the table when I noticed that he looked a little troubled, frowning from time to time, as if wanting to ask me something. I smiled discreetly at his antics and decided to help him out a little bit.

"Spit it out," I said with a teasing smile, pouring us some orange juice. "You look like you want to ask me something."

"You know me too well," he said with a hint of amusement taking a bite of his toast. "I wanted to talk about yesterday. I remember you telling me that you were a Seer a couple of times, but I also remember you saying that you didn't have visions anymore. So... what changed?"

"I haven't had any visions since my grandma died, true. Yesterday when I did that painting, it was actually the closest thing I had to a vision in a long time. So I was thinking about what'd changed as well." I looked at him thoughtfully, taking a sip of my juice, then continued. "I think it's your blood. I've been improving lately with my magic, I already told you that I was halfway through breaking the seal, and yesterday when I went into a trance with that painting, I thought it was a huge progress. Then you gave me your blood, because of my weakened state, but I drank far more than I ever did in one go, especially not just blood from a bottle, but directly from your vein. I think it gave my magic some kind of a boost or something, because today I've found out that the seal has weakened immensely since yesterday. That's why I was able to have an actual vision in a first place."

"But it's not all, is it?" He asked seeing my troubled expression.

"You know me too well," I replied with his own phrase teasingly. "I think those visions were meant for you to witness. As some kind of a warning. That was one possible way how the future could turn out to be. Now when you have seen it, it won't be the same. The Universe wants you to fix it, I guess."

We both fell into silence, thinking about the possible future. Then I remembered the last vision and suddenly felt sorry for him.

''I'm sorry for what your mother did to you," I said gently, squeezing his hand, receiving an interrogative look. "Not only she cursed you in the first place, but she made sure that you won't be able to create any hybrids. That was really cruel."

He silently squeezed my hand back, then took his hand away, suddenly looking guilty.

"I killed her," he admitted quietly. "I killed my mother. After everything what she did to me, I came to her in hopes of receiving some answers and she confessed that she never loved me, that I was her greatest mistake, an abomination. I got so angry that I lost control. I didn't intend to do it but still ended up killing her." At the end his voice was nothing more than a whisper.

I looked at him, shook with his sudden confession. That was so messed up. Then I remembered my own... biological mother and totally understood how he was feeling.

"It wasn't your fault. No mother should ever say or do such things to her child," I said firmly.

"I told them that it was our father's doing," he whispered as if he didn't hear me at all. "I told my siblings that he killed her. They will never forgive me."

I couldn't take it anymore so I stood up, went to him and sat on his lap, startling him out of his gruesome thoughts.

"They followed you, because they love you. The fact that you killed her doesn't make her saint all of a sudden. I heard about her some rumors and whispers, Nik. She really hates you, not just you, but your siblings as well. The witches from the Other Side brain washed her quite hard, but she already hated what she turned you into, before she even got there, didn't she?" I asked caressing his hair.

He laid his head on my chest, closed his eyes and hugged me tightly, giving me easier access to his hair. We sat like that for a while enjoying each other's presence, it felt so right to be in his arms, to see him showing his softer side.

"What do you think about your second vision? About me in it?" he asked quietly as if sensing what I was thinking about.

"Oh love, you forget sometimes that I know exactly who you are and what you are capable of," I smiled gently planting a small kiss on the top of his head. "But I really think that it was a bit too much. I mean, I remember how your mysterious companion asked you why you were so sure of your future hybrids' loyalty, so I'd really want to know the answer to that question."

He was silent for a few moments before finally answering my question.

"Every werewolf goes through unimaginable pain on a full moon, hybrids on the other hand, can shift whenever they want... or not shift at all."

"So... that's why you're so sure of their loyalty, because you will be the one to free them from that pain," I nodded thoughtfully. "But you do realize that it won't be enough if you'll treat them like slaves, right?" I asked cautiously. He froze, he even stopped breathing for a second, before giving a heavy sigh. I waited for a minute but when he remained silent decided to continue. "Wouldn't it be better, if they were loyal not because they had to, but because they wanted to? If you will change everyone, even those that don't want to have anything to do with the vampires, sooner or later, the gratefulness won't be enough for them. They can turn out to be like Finn, don't you think? Hating what they would become and hating you for changing them, like your..." I stopped when he flinched, biting my tongue when I realized that I might have gone too far.

"Like my mother did to us," he finished for me.

"I'm sorry," I said cupping his face and kissing him gently on his lips. "I didn't want to hurt you. Let's just... finish our breakfast."

I kissed him again and stood up heading to my seat. The rest of the breakfast went in silence. I felt really bad for hurting him and understood that he probably didn't want to talk to me.

I was in Nik's studio, observing my painting once again. Nik left, after receiving a phone call from someone named Maddox, and I couldn't help but think that he probably left because he didn't want to see me. My own thoughts full of guilt were killing me, so I decided to take a look at the painting once again, just to distract myself.

I gently caressed the crow on the older man's shoulder and closed my eyes feeling a pull of my magic.

It was a cemetery. I looked around a little confused and noticed someone sitting by a huge gravestone. I couldn't see their face yet, but the names on a gravestone were very clear, and I felt my heart squeezing in pain seeing my parents' names. I haven't been there since the funeral so it wasn't surprise that I didn't recognize the place right away. I still couldn't move, as it always happens in my visions, I was just an observer. Suddenly I noticed the fog coming out of nowhere, unnaturally crawling on the ground. Then a crow appeared on a nearby gravestone scaring the person and making them lift their head. I couldn't help but gasp seeing my little sister standing up and shooing it away. She might have been writing in her diary. The fog and the crow scared her, but then she looked around and saw a figure standing behind a huge gravestone and immediately ran away with a look of fear plastered on her face. I tried to see the man's face but the fog was too thick...

I gasped quietly, taking my hand away from the painting. It wasn't a full-blown vision, just a premonition, which every witch can experience, but being a Seer meant that even my premonitions were stronger than they usually were. Thank Magic they weren't as draining and painful as visions.

I looked at the painting thoughtfully, it looked like my sister was in danger but I still haven't sensed any bad intentions from the figure. That was weird. I tried to get another premonition from him to get more answers, but didn't succeed no matter how many times I tried.

After admitting my defeat I finally turned to the second figure, the one that was giving me strange vibes. I hesitated slightly, my fingers inches away from it, before finally touching it. But alas, I didn't see anything, no visions, no premonitions... I just got the feeling.

Hunger. It was so overwhelming that I wasn't able to take my hand away for some time, immersed in the feeling. I could feel myself starting to suffocate, my mouth suddenly going dry and my throat spasming in agony, so I gathered all of my strength and finally managed to take my hand off of the painting.

I cursed slightly, being left with even more questions than before, and decided that I needed a drink. I took Nefeli's Grimoire with me and went to the living room.

I was scrolling through the Grimoire, sipping from my glass of scotch, when my phone started to ring. I looked at the name and immediately picked up, smiling widely.

"Hey, Lena. Suddenly remembered that you have a sister?" I asked teasingly.

"Ha ha, very funny," my sister said dryly. "Tell her we are saying hello!" I heard Jeremy shouting in the background. "Okay okay, Jeremy and Jenna are saying hello." I could almost see her rolling her eyes at that moment.

"Hello to them too," I laughed. "What are you guys doing?"

"We are going to watch the "Avatar". Jeremy picked it. We are waiting till Jenna prepares our snacks."

"Wait what? You are gonna watch it without me?!" I cried out, shocked by their cruelty.

"Jeremy said you've seen it already!" She answered defensively.

"Yeah, but not with you! You know how I love watching movies with all of you!"

"You watch them alone first and then watch them with us, giving us spoilers that we don't want!" She exclaimed accusingly.

"But I love when someone gives me spoilers!" I whined.

"Yeah, cause you are a weirdo," she mumbled to herself but I still heard it. "Anyways, I called to ask when you'll be back? My birthday's soon!"

"Tomorrow. I already booked a ticket. I'm never gonna miss your birthday, you know that."

"You better! Okay, Jenna brought snacks, and Jeremy already started the movie, so... bye, see you soon!" Elena said cheerfully.

"Okay. Enjoy your movie. Bye!" I hung up the phone and took another sip of my drink, smiling warmly. I was away just for a few days and already missed them.

"You are leaving tomorrow?" I suddenly heard Niklaus asking from behind me, and turned around. He was standing in a doorframe with his hands in his pockets, his expression neutral. I couldn't say if he was still angry with me, so decided to be careful with words, not wanting to upset him even more.

"Yeah. My sister's birthday's in a few days, I can't miss it or she would kill me," I said with a small smile.

He went to a bar and poured himself a drink, before taking a seat on a couch right next to me.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked quietly.

"For leaving so soon? I mean I'm upset, yes, but not angry." He shrugged.

"No, I mean for what I've said earlier. I didn't mean to say it like that, I'm sorry," I said, without even looking at him.

I was waiting for his answer tensely, so I was completely surprised when I felt myself being lifted up and sat down on his lap. How I managed not to spill my drink was a mystery. I looked at him, surprised by his sudden gesture, and saw him smiling warmly at me.

"I'm not mad at you, love. I was thinking about what you've said, and could see the terrifying resemblance with not only my mother but with Mikael as well. Throughout my life I've done a lot of awful things to others, things I hated them doing to me and my family. I didn't want to accept that, that's why I was upset, but I could never be mad at you," he finished stroking my hair gently. I felt so relieved that he wasn't mad at me, that I almost missed the second part of his speech. When his words slowly sank in me, I leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on his lips.

"It's not your fault, you just didn't know anything better. And the fact that you are admitting that you were wrong is a huge step forward. I know what I'm talking about love," I smiled sadly caressing his cheek. "I went through it myself. My parents adopted me when I was four. They found me lying on the side of the road, starved and battered. They thought that I was abused at home by my drunk guardians or something, but the truth is... I've never had a family. I didn't know nor have I ever seen my biological parents. There were these very bad people who experimented on supernatural creatures, trying to create new species or something like that. They knew that my mother was a witch, so I was held in a bunker from the very first day of my life. I've never seen the sun, the trees, the sky. I didn't have a name just a number. Everything I knew was the pain and cruelty. So when my adoptive parents have found me, I was like a wild animal. I knew nothing. They taught me what the family is, what is good and what is bad, everything there's to know about life. They made me who I am now. If they've never found me, I would've been a totally different person."

He was shocked, looking at me with huge eyes. I actually was surprised as well, as I've never told this to anyone, not even my psychiatrist or my parents. That was showing how much he meant to me.

"Why... Why didn't you tell me about this before? It's..." He was at a loss of words.

"You are the first person who I told this. Every time when someone asked me about my past, I pretended that I didn't remember. But the truth is, I remember everything. Every time when they tried to make me use my magic and do a lot of other things. Every experiment they subjected me to, every... operation and every ritual..." I admitted quietly, but seeing his expression getting darker and darker with my every word decided to change the subject. "I don't really want to talk about it, it wasn't even my point in the first place. What I wanted to say is, if you see only pain and cruelty, that's everything you'll know. Everyone needs parents or guardians to teach them what is good and what is bad, but if the parents are incompetent... if they don't know what is what themselves like in your case, or if there aren't any parents in the first place like in mine, we just need to find someone to teach us. To show us how to be friends, how to share, how to laugh, how to love..."

At the end my voice was nothing more than a whisper. I was looking into his eyes, pressing my forehead against his, stroking his lips gently with my fingers.

"Will you be that someone to me?" he gently whispered, and the sincerity of his words had completely melted my heart and brought tears to my eyes.

Instead of answering his question, I kissed him passionately pouring my feelings into it and felt him instantly kissing me back. This kiss was different. We both poured so many emotions that we were scared to put into words in that kiss, loneliness, pain, hope... love.

He was so gentle, touching my face so tenderly as if scared that I would break into million little pieces if he put a little more pressure. I tangled one hand in his soft hair, pulling him closer, while the other one went down, gently stroking his neck in the process, till it stopped on his chest, right against his rapidly beating heart. I could feel myself being lifted as he stood up and then a second later laid me down on his bed.

This time there wasn't any rush in our movements, just hunger and longing. We were savoring each other as if for the very first time. Our kisses were sweeter, longer... wetter. We were exploring each other's bodies, giving due attention to every freckle, birth mark and scar in the process. It seemed like he knew every sensitive spot on my body, making it sing under his soft lips and fingers. His gentle fingers moved down to my core, making me dig my nails in his back in pleasure, before replacing them with himself.

It was madness. We couldn't get enough of each other, kissing till we ran out of the oxygen, burning every touch into each other's skin. We both knew that it was our last night together and tried to make the most of it.

I woke up in the middle of the night due to the feeling of emptiness. I touched the spot beside me and frowned opening my eyes. I was alone in the room.

I stood up and looked around, spotting our clothes scattered across the room, or at least what was left of them. I picked up my t-shirt and sighed, seeing it damaged beyond repair. So I went to his closet, picked up one of his oversized t-shirts and put it on.

It didn't take me long to find him, as soon as I left the room I saw the light coming out of his studio. I walked in quietly, trying not to distract him from what he was doing.

He was standing in front of a huge canvas, with a paintbrush and palette in his hands. I stood there quietly, watching his rapid movements and couldn't help but feel turned on. He was shirtless and barefoot, just in his sweatpants hanging low on his hips, with his hands covered in paint. And it was the sexiest view that I've ever seen in my life.

"I can feel you undressing me with those beautiful eyes of yours, sweetheart," he said teasingly without even turning back, still concentrated on the painting in front of him.

"Oh I'm not only undressing you, there are some interesting things going on in my mind right now, and you are wearing only your necklaces in them."

Oh I've never felt that bold flirting with him before, but I guess it made sense after everything that we did to each other... two nights in a row.

"Someone's being naughty," he said, smugness dripping in his voice and finally stopped painting.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to distract you," I said guiltily.

He didn't answer, just took a few steps back observing his work and gestured me to come closer.

"You didn't distract me, love. I just finished." He pulled me closer as I stopped beside him and went to stand behind me, sneaking his hands around my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder. "What do you think?"

I finally was able to take a good look at his painting and froze, gobsmacked. It was me. He actually painted me. And it was beautiful. He obviously saw me prettier than I thought about myself.

I was smiling while lying on my side on his bed. My naked body was covered with a blanket in strategic places revealing only my long bare legs and arms, the blanket only barely covering the apex of my thighs and my breasts hidden behind my arm. But what really caught my attention were my eyes, which he seemed to put an emphasis on. They were shining with love, tenderness and care. He actually painted it the way that even the person who knows nothing about art would be able to see those feelings.

"It's beautiful. You portrayed me much prettier than I am. I like it," I finally answered caressing his hands that were resting on my waist.

"You are the most beautiful woman that I've ever seen in my life, my dear Thalia. And I lived long enough for those words to actually mean something. When I first saw you, you took my breath away. I was never shy with women, but you were radiating so much power and confidence that it took me a while to actually approach you," he whispered in my ear, before giving it a gentle kiss.

"I was a nervous mess when we first met," I said, trying not to moan.

"You know what I'm talking about, love. I know how strong and independent you are, and I love the way that you are with me. So open and tender, melting from my slightest touch." And as if trying to prove his own words, his hands wandered down my body to my hips, caressing them gently, giving me goosebumps. I couldn't hold a moan when he grazed the delicate skin of my neck with his teeth "And I love the way you enjoy when I bite you. Did you know that it's really intimate for vampires to share blood? I would like to try it with you someday." Then he suddenly went serious and hugged me tighter to his chest. "Now tell me please, where was that place where those... bad people held you?"

I froze by the sudden change of the subject. It must've been bugging him, I thought.

"You don't need to know that," I said and quickly continued ignoring his growl. "They are all dead."

"Did you...?" he asked quietly after a few seconds of silence.

"No, but I wanted to. They were going to utilize me, you know? I was a failure, so they said that I was not of any use to them. One of them took me to the forest to kill me, but couldn't go through with it for some reason. So she just let me go. I told her that they were all dead, meaning that I will return and kill them all. Those were my very first words. When I was sixteen, and became more confident in my powers, I returned there, but found only dead bodies and a destroyed bunker. They were all dead. Some of their experiments went rouge and killed them all, I think. No one survived."

"They were lucky then. I would've never given them a quick death," he said darkly.

"I don't want to talk about them," I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck. "There's a much more pleasant activity on my mind."

"Oh, and what is that, my little witch?" he asked teasingly, but I shut him up with a kiss.

He didn't ask any more stupid questions that night.