Chapter 1:

She was annoyed with everyone that happened to look at her. She wanted to punch them in the face and move on with her life. Honestly, was it that hard to get some space? Of course it was, this was Mystic Falls and everyone had to be in everyone's business at all times because if they weren't, the earth would tilt off its axis. It was bad enough that Damon couldn't back off after their breakup, but did Stefan have to follow her around like a lost puppy? Absolutely not. It was ridiculous.

She sighed, looking at Matt from across the empty bar. "I feel like I'm about to do something completely crazy." She explained, "They are smothering me. I feel like one of those stupid china dolls that everyone holds with special gloves because I'm so fragile. I am not fragile. I am strong. I've been tortured, beat up, killed twice, stabbed a few times and I'm not broken yet. I just don't understand why they can't let me breathe."

"Probably because you've been killed twice, tortured or whatever you just said." Matt must have been sneaking liquor from the bar because he was sounding a little out of it. "Do something irrational, Elena. Feel free. Break the rules. Just don't kill anyone, please…that's the last thing we need in this town."

"Do something irrational? Like what?"

"I don't know, have a one night stand." Elena could see what he was getting at through those baby blue eyes. He wanted her. He would always want her and it broke her heart to think that he would. Matt really needed a fantastic girlfriend that would make him forget her name.

Elena shook her head, "You're drunk."

"As a skunk." He quoted Caroline Forbes, "I'm just kidding… maybe. I don't know anymore. Do you think you could drive me home in twenty minutes? My shift ends then."

"No one is even in the bar." Elena told him, "We could leave now."

He rolled his eyes, "And what if your drunk of an ex-boyfriend walks in here, drinks the bourbon again and I get blamed? Hmm? I need this job."

"Not when you have your sugar mama…" Elena giggled, "Matt and Rebekah, sitting in a tree-"

Matt rolled his eyes once more, "See. What did I tell you?" He pointed towards the opening door, "You are a bad influence."

"Says the guy who just told me to have a one night stand to let off some steam." She yelled behind her, while Matt cleaned some of the dirty tables. "Who would I possibly have a one night stand with around this town?"

"I could think of a few names." Elena set down her drink at the sound of his accent. The last person she wanted to have a conversation with today had to sit by her. "I'm sure, if you thought hard enough, you could as well. Like your pals, Damon and Stefan. They'd be eager, I suppose."

"The point of a one night stand would be to keep the emotion out of it." She informed him, "Seeing as this is a small town and there aren't that many attractive men that are single…It's just not an option." She motioned towards Matt, "I'll have whatever you've been drinking all night."

He chuckled, "A little white lightning and some cheap whiskey coming your way."

"I'll have what she's having." Klaus smirked. She wanted to punch him in the face. No, she wanted to tear his head off. It was Klaus. Klaus had taken Jenna from her. Klaus caused this plague of death in her small town. It was probably his fault there weren't any unavailable men to have one night stands with.

They knocked back their first glass of Matt's mix. She winced at the god awful taste and he laughed at her. They knocked back another, and then another and another until Matt claimed he really had to shut down the bar. "I guess getting a ride from you is out of the question." She giggled at the thought of her driving. She would swerve, hit a tree and walk away without a scratch because she was a vampire. Elena nodded.

They walked out of the bar together, Matt going in one direction and Klaus and Elena lingering in front of the bar. "I am so wasted right now and I have a feeling you are too." She said.

"Yeah, I am." He half smiled, "Just so you know, I think Matt's right. You need a good night of passionate, unattached sex."

"You're offering?"

"Of course I'm offering. I'm a man and you are an extremely attractive young woman." He nodded his head, "You aren't completely annoying, either."

"I'm not?" She squinted her eyes, "I'll be sure to fix that."

"See, sense of humor as well."

"Oh, what the hell?" She said, "Lead the way to your great big house."

XXX

She stumbled across the threshold, holding onto his arm for support. He touched her hip firmly, a sweet smile on his face. He watched her eyes light up when she entered the house. She spun around like a young girl, looking at the light fixtures. "This is the most beautiful home I've ever seen." She squealed, "Do you ever just look at it, you know, when you're not slaughter people's families?" He ignored the undercut jab she threw at him.

"Sometimes." Klaus shrugged, hands deep in his pockets. "I don't know why it looks better when you're in it. Is that strange to say? I think that's strange to say…"

"Not when you're intoxicated." She told him, "Well…maybe. I don't know, I don't get drunk a lot." She stepped over to him, "I'm not promising the night of your life, I'm sure you've been with a thousand other girls…"

He shrugged, "It doesn't matter about the quantity of the girls I've been with, Elena Gilbert. Most of them lacked redeeming qualities. Selfish creatures that sought power or benefits of lustful decisions… I don't see that in you. You have heart which, among other reasons, is why you're still alive."

"I don't feel alive." She told him, "The only reason I'm alive is because I have her face… I'm not me. What if I was supposed to have a flat nose or something?"

He laughed at her, "You're beautiful."

"Superficial, much?" She turned on her heel, facing him directly. They were so close. She could feel the heat radiating off of him and she could taste the alcohol that covered his mouth… She knew she was about to turn down the wrong road. She'd watched enough lifetime to know that people couldn't detach themselves from a sexual encounter in a small town- but she was willing to take the risk.

She touched his face, "I suppose the gentleman thing to do would be to ask you if you're sure you want to do this?"

"But you're not a gentleman."

"No, I'm not." He closed the small distance between them with a hard kiss. He picked her up by her waist, wrapping her legs around him while he slammed her against a few walls, knocking down picture frames. She didn't mind the crushing pain- in a way, it felt good. His lips were greedy, as expected… they ran down her neck to her shoulder to the top of her breasts. He carried her up the stairs, throwing her on his soft bed instantaneously while he tore off his clothes. She watched him remove everything from his body except his boxers from her position on her elbows.

He wasn't a bad looking guy. He was fit, strong, and capable and that turned her on to know that he was ruthless. God, he was so ruthless. He climbed to her, his legs on either side of her- pining her down against his mattress while he kissed her. Somehow, his touch heightened her senses. She could taste him- she could taste everything including the cologne he wore on his skin. His touch scent a ticklish feeling up her spine while he undressed her.

It crossed her mind that he could end her life right there. She was vulnerable, weak-even. But for some unknown reason, she felt an odd safeness in his hold. His hand trailed down her legs, up her thighs and then over her stomach until he placed a hand over her heart. It was a weird move, in her opinion- well, not exactly weird- just not the usual move she was used to. He seemed to be monitoring her heart rate. In made her blush because her heart was beating like a birds and she couldn't control it.

A loud gasp pushed through her lips when he inserted himself into her. She closed her eyes as she drowned in the pleasure of his thrusts. Their tongues were at an unwinnable war while her leg wrapped around him. One hand rested on his shoulder, the other had a hold of his short hair.

All she kept thinking was, I'm so screwed. I'm so screwed. I'm so screwed. Because she was letting herself think they had a connection. Would he laugh at her? It was probably best to disregard the unwanted emotions. She couldn't connect to him. It was wrong. It was so wrong.

It was so wrong to think the scene was beautiful. She thought it was beautiful, though. She thought he was beautiful even though he wasn't. The way his eyes closed and then opened again because he wanted to see her face…The way he kissed her passionately while she moaned softly… It would be beautiful in someone else's story but it just wasn't possible in hers.

Klaus was Klaus. Elena was Elena. Nothing on earth would change them. She would always be compassionate, she would always have a weakness- a point that would bring her back from the pits of her own hell and remind her that she cares whether it be Matt or Jeremy or Bonnie- she was that girl.

And he was the opposite of everything she stood for. Where she was white, he was black. His soul was completely destroyed in the fires of his personal hell. There wasn't a face that could bring him back. There wasn't a button someone could press. He was just bad.

But there they were, as if their differences didn't exist. His mouth running down her body like he hadn't drained her of her life with those same lips. Her hands touching his skin like she didn't use them to betray him once upon a time… she didn't know if it was sad or a form of progression in their personalities that made them forget all the awful things they'd done to one another.

XXX

She waited for him to fall asleep, which took forever and a day. He kept playing with her hair and commenting on what they'd done. Part of her enjoyed it, the other part just wanted him to go to bed. He was kind to her though and that shocked her. He seemed like the type of person that would destroy your self-esteem before sending you on your way.

Once he was asleep, she grabbed up her clothes and bolted out of the house. She ran all the way back to her car, trying to push what they'd done out of her mind. "One night stand, right Elena? You're such an idiot. You're such an idiot." She wanted to wash his kisses off of her immediately- she needed to because she'd done something wrong.

She was sober enough to drive. She got in her car and turned on the radio, trying to drown out her deep thoughts about him. She connected her cell phone to the car radio and pressed "Shuffle" on her playlist. Of course, it had to be one of those couple songs with that slow beat. She decided to sing along because she had to get Klaus out of her mind and singing was all she had. "We're so happy even when we're smiling out of fear… let's go down to the tennis court and talk it out like yeah, yeah…"

Her head was pressed against the seat while she started to cry. Her emotions were being sent through a blender and she just wanted it to stop. Was she happy? Sad? Ashamed? Proud? God, her vampire emotions needed to get a grip because she couldn't walk into the boarding house with the look of a criminal plastered on her face.

Should I have left?

Damn…what if I should have stayed…

Idiot.

Ugh.

"I'm so screwed."