"People are starting to arrive, quick Nik, get the ice out of the freezer, first impressions are everything." Rebecca was frenzied; she really wanted this party to go off without a hitch. If the Mikaelsons were going to establish themselves here they needed to start climbing the social ladder from the very start.

"Relax Bex, we've got this. Kol is out the front to greet everyone, Elijah is ready to take coats and you and I can show people out to the garden, the drinks table is all set up, it's a beautiful day, and everything is going to be perfect."

First to arrive was the mayor and her son, she introduced them as Carol and Tyler Lockwood. She took in the Mikaelson's house with awe.

"I've live in Mystic Falls my whole life and I never knew there was a property this big on this land, its really stunning."

"Yes, we were delighted when we came across it, its perfect for the four of us, plenty of space to avoid the others when we start to rub each other up the wrong way. There's even enough space for my brother Finn and his wife and kids to come and stay if they ever decide to take a break from dreary England" replied Kol before pointing the Lockwoods towards Elijah.

There was now a steady stream of cars descending the driveway, Kol introduced himself to each and every person that came by, he made a point of remembering everybody's name and who arrived with who, Alaric Saltzman and Jenna Somers were accompanied by Jeremy and Elena Gilbert, the latter hand in hand with Damon Salvatore. That's a pity, thought Kol, she's pretty cute.

Next was the town sheriff Liz Forbes with her daughter Caroline and Caroline's friends Matt Donovan and Bonnie Bennett. A few more teachers from the high school arrived, the pastor and what appeared to be a whole football team packed into one car. Last to arrive was Stefan Salvatore and his girlfriend Katherine Pierce, Kol smiled to himself, Katherine was the spitting image of Elena, both men had the same last name, he was sure there was an interesting story behind that one.

Out in the garden, the long-time citizens of mystic falls seemed to be having a great time, nothing ever really happened here, it was refreshing to have new faces around and the Mikaelsons seemed very charming, if not a little mysterious.

Caroline, Bonnie, Tyler, Matt, Jeremy, the Salvatore brothers, Elena and Katherine were all gathered in the centre of the garden with their drinks. This was a tight knit group of friends, there weren't many young people in Mystic Falls and once you found a friend you did your best to hold onto them. They'd had their ups and downs of course, but for the most part they'd got through it all.

"It's a bit much don't you think?" Tyler scoffed, "I mean these guys look like they're the same age as us, who do they think they are with their big pretentious house and their garden parties.

"Seriously Tyler? Give it a rest, you haven't even spoken to any of them yet, you have to give people a chance" the tension between Caroline and Tyler was tangible, it had only been a few weeks since she had walked away from their two year relationship. Damon decided to break the ice.

"Listen, anyone who is handing me free booze at three in the afternoon is starting off pretty well in my books. Is anybody ready for another?" he drained the last of his drink and counted as Jeremy, Stefan and Katherine nodded their heads.

Elena smiled after him as he made his way over to the table, she couldn't help it, most other people would have seen that as a him being arrogant and self-centred, but she knew him well enough to know that it was his way of displacing the tension without drawing attention to the fact that it had been building, it was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

Damon returned to the group at the same time as a laugh was erupting, Matt must have been telling jokes again, at the same time, Nik was approaching the group from the other side, he stepped into the middle of the group and looked around them all.

"So glad to see you are all enjoying yourselves, my name is Niklaus Mikaelson, welcome to our home." He locked eyes with Caroline as he finished speaking, she could have sworn her heart skipped a beat.