Hello dear readers, I'm not quite sure where I'll be going with this; it's my first non-oneshot fanfic so I hope you all enjoy it. It takes place after the events of the Season 3 finale. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything pertaining to TVD; I just love its characters.

"The hardest thing to do in this world is to live in it."

Damon and Stefan were sitting and drinking in their library when they heard a knock at the door. Stefan got up to go answer it.

"Where is she?"

There in front of him stood Klaus, looking very determined.

"Klaus. Elena is a vampire now. I'm sure you already know that. But with that being said you should also know that her blood is no longer useful to you," Stefan calmly spoke.

"Yes Stefan. I am aware of Elena's…new lifestyle. However I was not referring to her."

Stefan frowned. He now knew who Klaus was referring to and now felt compelled to keep her away from him. "Klaus, she can't be near anyone right now. She doesn't want to be. Caroline has been through too much to deal with you right now."

Stefan heard a loud sigh coming from behind Klaus. "Bloody hell I need a drink. Move aside Stefan," as Rebekah pushed her way past her brother and into the library. Stefan and Klaus followed.

Damon raised his eyebrows when he saw Rebekah stalk in. "Haven't you had enough of me?" Damon joked.

"Do shut up Damon. I'm not here for you. We are here to collect Caroline. Nik is infatuated with her but I don't understand why. He can do so much better," she drawled on as she poured herself a glass of bourbon.

"Sorry. We're all out of Carolines. Guess you two will have to look somewhere else," Damon spoke sarcastically.

"I know she is here, Damon. You'll do well to not lie to me," Klaus threatened.

"Or you'll what? Kill me? You know you're gonna have to come up with some new threats because that one has definitely gone stale."

Klaus growled and started walking toward Damon until Stefan stepped in front of him, "Ok, let's not do this right now. Klaus, why do you want Caroline?"

"I'm leaving Mystic Falls."

"…and you want to tell her goodbye?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, "On the contrary Stefan. I plan on taking her with me. Rebekah and I no longer have a reason to stay in this godforsaken town of yours and Caroline doesn't deserve to waste away here while the lot of you continue making fools of yourselves," he paused for a moment, staring at Stefan, "You know you're welcome to come with us, mate. I still haven't quite gotten over the fact that you, who I consider to be a brother, desiccated me but I'm willing to give you a chance to make it up to me."

Stefan stood there with his arms crossed. He smiled and nodded his head a bit, "Klaus, you know I can't leave."

"Ah because of that Elena of yours. Did she finally make a choice? Or is she still loving your own brother behind your back?" He then sent a wicked grin at Damon.

Rebekah had had enough of all this male ego banter. "Nik!"

"Alright Stefan, tell me where Caroline is."

Damon had also had enough of the conversation, "She's downstairs in the cellar…by choice…good luck getting a word out of her. She's currently a crying vegetable."

Klaus frowned at Damon's words. But before he could make his way downstairs Rebekah interjected, "Nik let me talk to her."

"Rebekah I don't have time for your antics."

"Honestly Nik, I have the best intentions in mind. Stay here." And then she made her way down the stairs leaving the three males to an awkward silence.

~TVD~

Rebekah made her way to the cellar door and peered through the small barred window. She saw Caroline huddled in the corner with a tear stricken face. She opened the door and walked over to Caroline.

Caroline glanced up for a moment. "If you're going to kill me go ahead and just do it. I could really care less."

"Hello Caroline."

She didn't respond so Rebekah took a deep breath and then spoke, "I'm sorry for what happened Caroline. Truly I am."

Caroline continued to stare forward.

"Listen. I know we never got along, I mean I hate you. But you see, my brother doesn't. I know you hate him and I can understand why. But I'm not here to defend his actions…"

"Then why are you here?" Caroline asked through her teeth.

Rebekah ignored Caroline's tone. "Nik and I are leaving. He's upstairs right now actually. He came here to ask you to come with us but the truth is," she started pacing back and forth contemplating what she was about to say, "you see the truth is I also want you to come with us."

Caroline looked at her first with annoyance but then with confusion: "Why?"

Rebekah threw her hands in the air. "Bloody hell," she sat down next to Caroline, "because I'm tired of it just being me and Nik. Don't get me wrong, I love my brother but I…you see…"

Caroline could not believe how nervous Rebekah sounded.

She continued, "…I've never had a sister. I hate you because you have everything I've always wanted. You have friends and a loving mother. Boyfriends that actually love you back. You're talented too. You're the cheerleading captain. You organize all the school events. I never got the chance to do any of that. Nik and I were always too busy running from Mikael to ever settle down anywhere. Your life is perfect."

~TVD~

Klaus was now sitting comfortably, drinking while he waited for his sister to return.

"You know what happened to her. Why do you think she'll go with you?" Damon asked him.

"Because she needs to escape from this cage."

"She's in the cellar by choice!" Damon threw his hands up and then downed the rest of his drink.

"Not just from this house but from this town," he glanced over to Stefan who was deep in thought.

"Oh come on Klaus, you can't say you didn't have a little fun terrorizing all of us," Damon teased.

"You know mate, you really are begging for some pain aren't you?" Klaus drawled.

Stefan walked over to the window and began staring out of it. He turned back to Klaus with his arms folded. "Okay, I'll go with you and Rebekah."

Klaus smiled at him, "That's the spirit, mate."

"Wait, what!" Damon looked at Stefan with wide eyes.

Stefan looked at his brother, "Damon, you and I both know who Elena really loves, and now she is going to need you more than ever."

"Dude she told me she loves you! She basically broke up with me over the phone," he muttered.

"You two need each other."

"Seriously Stefan. Come on, we finally made a good team and now you want to leave. You know that as soon as you leave with grandpa over here," he pointed his glass toward Klaus, "you're gonna start reverting back to your Ripper ways and then Elena is gonna make me track you down again!" He poured himself another drink and then downed it.

Stefan smiled to himself, "No you two are going to be fine. And so will I. I'll be fine Damon."

Damon looked back at him and then after a moment of contemplation he just nodded.

~TVD~

Caroline let out a small laugh and then began to tear up, "I don't have that life anymore Rebekah. I can never have that life again. We both know that."

"Then come with us! I really would love to have a friend and Caroline, oh you would love all the things we see."

She couldn't believe she was hearing this. She could not believe Rebekah was asking her to be her friend. She sighed and then closed her eyes contemplating what Rebekah said. She didn't want to deal with Klaus and his I-Fancy-You remarks. But she did need to get away. She looked at Rebekah who sat next to her with a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. She actually looked nice, beautiful even. She wondered if there was ever a time Rebekah was genuinely happy. She turned her head away and looked down at her own hands and noticed she still had blood underneath her fingernails. She turned back at Rebekah and finally spoke, "Alright."

"Thank you Caroline."

"I don't have anything to bring with me," Caroline pointed out.

"That won't be a problem. Come on, let's get out of here."

With that the two blondes stood up and began making their way upstairs.

~TVD~

Rebekah walked back into the library with Caroline following behind her. Klaus took in her features. Caroline looked tired. She had been crying and blood was still on her clothes. But even like this he still thought her to be beautiful. He got from the sofa chair and walked over to Caroline.

"Hello, love."

Caroline looked into his eyes and then looked away. She looked back at him and then took a step closer to him, surprising him with her action, "Alright. Listen. I've agreed to going with you and Rebekah but I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for her," Caroline swayed a bit from exhaustion. Being brave toward Klaus took a lot of energy from her. She swayed a bit more and Klaus grabbed her upper arms to steady her. She let him hold her for a moment and then shrugged out of his grip. She took a deep breath and continued, "And I won't have you trying to win me over with romantic drawings or expensive jewelry."

Klaus gave her a moment in case she hadn't finished: "Very well, love."

They stared into each other's eyes.

"Excellent! Well we'll be on our way then," Rebekah said. Bringing them back to reality.

"Oh and our dear friend Stefan will be joining us, Rebekah," Klaus added as he walked toward the door.

"Ugh, fine," She glared at Stefan who only gave her a small smile.

"Damon,…" Stefan said turning towards him.

"Yeah yeah I know. Be careful. Take care of Elena. Don't kill people. You do realize I'm the older brother right?" Damon smirked.

"Damon…goodbye brother, for now."

"Goodbye brother, take care of yourself," he walked over to a shelf and picked out a journal and then walked back over to Stefan, "Here. So you won't forget yourself. Try to stay broody."

Stefan laughed taking the journal, "Okay Damon." And then he walked out the door. Rebekah followed.

Damon turned to Caroline. "You sure want to do this Blondie?"

Caroline could only nod at him. Her and Damon never really got along but she could tell he was genuinely worried for her. "Yeah. What else am I going to do around here? Tell Elena not to worry okay? Tell her that I didn't leave because of her. Don't let her worry about me okay? Promise me."

"I promise," he said while giving her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.

Caroline turned and started walking toward the door where Klaus was waiting for her. He offered his hand for her to take but she walked right past him. He followed her, just happy she was going with him. The four of them got into a black escalade and drove off.