"Elijah did you know that our girls are planning a fun night without us?" said a voice from the doorway, and I looked up from my paperwork to see Kol leaning against the door to the study. He moved further into the room and sprawled onto the leather couch by the fireplace.

"I am aware of that fact" I replied dryly, returning my attention to the ledgers in front of me.

"I say we crash the party" he said with a smirk

"You want to invade the sanctity of a female bonding night?" I asked with raised eyebrows, again looking up from my work.

"Yes… and if you saw the dress that Caroline has picked out on her bed you would want to go too" he wiggled his eyebrows at me and I sighed and looked down again.

"Kol I do not own Caroline Forbes and I trust her to make good choices when she… why would she need a dress?" I asked as the question dawned on me mid-sentence. An image of Caroline walking down a staircase toward me came unbidden to my mind. Black mask barely hiding the rebellious smirk when her mother saw her costume for the first time… I shook my head slightly to clear away the memory and focused on what Kol was saying.

"Because those three are sneaking off to Richmond tomorrow and not Miss Bennet's house like good little girls"

"And how do you know that?"

"Bekah's bank statement" Kol said smugly, clearly proud of his sleuthing skills

"And you believe that the girls will get into trouble by themselves?"

"I am not worried about the girls intentions Elijah, I am worried about a huge target painted on Caroline's perfect chest" I narrow my eyes at Kol for the innuendo but he continued, "and by association my very human lovely could be in danger"

"Does Bonnie know that you keep referring to her as that?" I asked wryly

"Not yet" he said defensively, rising from his slumped position into an upright one, "But what better time to take things to the next level then at a night on the town?"

"And you need my presence there why?"

"I can't handle all three of them by myself!" he exclaimed, "They'll tear me to shreds if I show up… but if you and Stefan surprise them with me then-"

"You are now including Stefan Salvatore in your plans?"

"You know how pouty Bekah would be as a fifth wheel"

"Kol this is not a good idea…"I sighed, but Kol must have seen an opening.

"Your girls safety is important Brother, and to be honest your 'relationship' is a bit depressing" Kol replied, using air quotes around the word relationship.

"And what are you implying with the air quotes Kol?"

"That you treat Caroline more like a science project than a 21st century girlfriend… just think about it! They leave Saturday morning" and then he jumped to his feet and left me alone with my thoughts.

I hadn't meant to treat Caroline in the way Kol described, but even I had to admit that things had not progressed in a while. I was just so out of my element with our situation and was terrified of making a mistake that would drive her away. But something about the word 'girlfriend' bothered me. That simple word didn't seem to encapsulate the history that Caroline and I had… but maybe it was the right word since only one of us remembered it. But didn't courting couples in this century go on dates? Fool around? Our current relationship revolved around keeping Caroline alive and getting her memories back. Maybe taking Kol's advice for once wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. And if I was being honest with myself, finding an excuse to spend time with Caroline outside of our magical situation would be a plus. I kept debating it back and forth in my head for the next hour as I stared aimlessly at the papers in front of me, and before I could talk myself out of it I grabbed my cellphone and pulled up Kol's name.

Kol Mikaelson: Call Stefan, I'm in.

Just after 11 that night, after a tense car ride filled only with Kol's incessant chatter, we finally arrived at the hotel that the girls had gotten a room at.

"I just don't get why we had to leave so late" Stefan complained as we got our bags out of the trunk

"Because we had to wait until the girls would definitely be out of the hotel. If we ran into them in the lobby they would just pitch a fit" Kol replied

"Won't they do that anyway?" Stefan asked and Kol shook his head in exasperation

"How you two have ever had a woman I will never know… but to answer your question, yes they may still be upset. However, I assume they have had a fun day and spent time getting all dolled up and are already a few drinks in. This is the time when their defenses will be lowered as well as their inhibitions. This is the time to strike." Kol said casually as we made our way through the lobby. Stefan looked sideways at me as we trailed behind Kol up to the check-in counter.

"He is a frightening individual" he murmured to me and I had to smirk.

"Only when he wants something he can't have" I murmured back, but instead of thinking of Bonnie Bennet and picture of Caroline in an evening gown flashed across my mind.

"He can hear you, you know" Kol muttered before turning on the charm with the check-in girl, "Hello love, we would like three rooms please"

"Oh- uh- I'm af-fraid that only our premium suites are still available" she stammered back, blushing furiously.

"Not a problem beautiful" Kol said as he handed over a platinum card that looked suspiciously like Niklaus's.

"Okay Mr. Mikaelson here are the room keys for 776, 777, 778; those will be on the seventh floor, just take a right when you get off the elevator and they will be at the end on the right"

"Thank you lovely" Kol said, reaching across the counter to take her hand a plant a kiss on the back of it, but instead of making me shake my head in exasperation I had another vision flash across my mind of the countless times I had kissed Caroline's hand in the past. Her soft porcelain skin so warm as it rested against mine-

"Elijah! Come on" Kol said from halfway across the lobby, and I looked back at the girl at the counter to see her staring strangely at me. I nodded politely to her and quickly followed Kol across the lobby and into the elevator, avoiding both of their stairs as the doors closed.

"Okay so we will have an hour to get ready in our rooms and then we will meet in the hall and track them down"

"The more you talk about this the more rapey it sounds" Stefan said with furrowed brows and I choked back a chuckle at Kol's surprised expression.

"I- that is not a word!" Kol huffed in response as the doors finally opened.

It was a relief to close the door to my room behind me and have some peace and quiet. Now that the uncomfortable car ride was done with and Kol's incessant chatter had ceased I could feel the anxiety creeping in for what I was about to do. Caroline Forbes in this time was a totally different person than she was in the past. She was much more feisty and strong and I couldn't predict her reactions like I could in the past, and it made me nervous. I sat down on the bed and put my head in my hands, picturing the worst case scenario in my head of this evening. The three of us show up at whatever bar or club the girls were at, like young pups in heat and the girls spurn the effort. Or worse, we interrupt an intimate moment with another. Caroline and I were complicated in this time. I was both terrified of her and obsessed with her. She occupied most of my thoughts yet I barely speak with her. I imagine dramatic conversations where I explain my feelings and she accepts my explanations and understands the importance and desperation of our situation. But I couldn't risk scaring her away with the depth of my feelings. I was pretty sure that Caroline was still attracted to me, I just didn't have a clue how deep her feelings ran. I constantly felt this battle in myself where I was fighting to be near her but then I was terrified of scaring her away or overwhelming her, and I couldn't bear to lose her again. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, rolling my shoulders as I picked my head up from my hands. I numbly prepare for the evening ahead. I didn't have any expectations for the night, I would be happy just to spend any time with Caroline outside of Mystic Falls, away from all of the tension and responsibility and reminder of our situation. I slid on a pair of casual navy blue dress pants, a white button down shirt and black dress shoes. I sprayed on some cologne that Caroline had once complimented and brushed out my hair, foolishly playing with it in the mirror like a teenager. It seemed like forever with my thoughts until there was finally a knock on the door.

"Come on Brother, the night is young and our lovelies await" I heard Kol say through the door as I gathered my coat and wallet. When I opened the door I could tell from Kol's grin that he had already partaken from his own mini fridge and I wondered if he was as nervous as I was.

"Alright lets go get our asses chewed out for crashing the girls trip" Stefan said with a sigh, and I had to chuckle, Rebekah was not a woman you wanted to cross.

"All will be well Stefan" Kol tipsily assured him, slapping him on the back. When we got back down to the lobby I asked the same front desk girl is she remembered our girls. She was hesitant to answer my questions and I actually appreciated her female loyalty, and I had been trying to cut down on compulsion since learning of Caroline's past.

"You see my friend over there" I said, leaning over the counter a bit as I pointed to Stefan, and she nodded, "That guy is proposing to my sister tonight. She was the sassier blonde most likely and we are surprising them" I said with what I hoped was a charming smile. It must have worked because she suddenly started gushing and said that the girls had actually asked her for recommendations on clubs to go to that night. I thanked her and we started with the club closest to the hotel but after a quick walk around the dance floor we knew they hadn't been there. We then tried a club that was only two blocks away from the hotel and as soon as we cleared the crowd that was around the front entrance I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

"They're here" I said to Kol and Stefan, confident they could hear me over the music.

"How do you know? I can't see anything" Stefan asked, craning his neck to see over the crowd

"I just do" I muttered back quietly. I make my way through the crowd at the bar and came to the edge of the dance floor. Through layers and layers of bodies I caught a glimpse of her bouncing blonde curls, and just as a pause in the music came I heard her familiar laugh. I slowly made my way around the edge of the dance floor, my eyes never leaving her and the trio. All three girls had the biggest smiles on their faces as they talked and laughed as they danced to the beat. I noticed her wide smile just before my eyes were drawn downward to what she was wearing, and my jaw nearly hit the floor. She was wearing a very short black sparkly dress. Her long perfect legs seemed to go on forever and I could see her calf and thigh muscles flexing as I focused on them. My eyes slowly traveled up her long legs to see her hips swaying to the music. I could feel my control slipping as I was hypnotized by her movements. I started making my way very slowly through the dancers as I watched her. I could faintly hear the bass of the music in my ears and the lights flashing in my eyes, my senses were taking everything in, but I was hyper focused on Caroline as I got closer. But before I could be noticed by any of the girls, my focus was jarred by a random guy coming up behind Caroline and putting his hands around her waist. I could see from her profile that her smile faded and she whirled around and shook her head in a definitive no, but instead of backing off he tried to take hold of her wrist. I felt a white hot fury shoot through me and I took a half step forward, prepared to intervene, when I saw her smile very sweetly up at him, right before she took his wrist and broke it. I faintly heard over the music as she said "No means no loser" and the guy tripped over himself to get away from her. She turned back toward Rebekah and Bonnie and the trio burst into laughter and I couldn't help the pride that washed over me. Turns out our girls can handle themselves.

I held back for another moment as Rebekah signaled someone, who turned out to be a waitress with a drink order. All at once the lights and music hit me again and as Caroline resumed dancing this fog came back over me. I could feel it clouding my thoughts and for the briefest moment I fought against it, but I couldn't help the hypnotizing pull of Caroline. Before I knew what I was doing I was right behind her, sliding my hands lightly over her waist. I could feel her tense beneath my touch and my eyes flicked up to see Rebekah and Bonnie staring at me openmouthed. Caroline spun around, anger clear in her expression but it was quickly replaced with a look of shock. I held my breath as I studied Caroline's expression, and I could see the change that came over her eyes right before she closed the distance between us. I froze as she ran her hands up my chest to my shoulders slowly, her hands leaving a trail of fire in their wake and my blood ignited. I slid my hands back to her waist and then we were moving together. Caroline's hips moved to the bass of the music and mine followed hers. Caroline gripped the collar of my shirt as she tipped her head back and smiled. My hands traveled from her hips up her back, getting as close to her as I could. When the next song started Caroline turned in my arms so that her back was to me, and then she started to grind against me. My hands gripped her hips tightly as I briefly lost control, but it did nothing to halt Caroline's dancing against me. She put her hands over mine where they still rested on her hips and she guided my hands back and forth over her hips and then down to the hem of her dress. When Caroline tipped her head back and rested it on my shoulder my lips found her exposed neck and I felt a shudder run through her. She lifted one of her hands off of mine and raised it to run her fingers through my hair, scraping her nails against my scalp, causing a shudder of my own to run up my spine. I tightly gripped Caroline's hips again and spun her around roughly, and just as a flash of light illuminated her face I saw her vampire features come out as she lost control. Without thinking I took her by the hand and led her through the dancing couples around us, including Stefan and Rebekah, and I didn't stop until we were back outside and I was pushing Caroline against the wall of the club in an alley. Without pausing I take Caroline's face in my hands and then I am kissing her. I'm unable to form a coherent thought as her lips battle mine and I find myself grinding against her, and I harden even further when she moans against my lips. One of my hands travels down her body to feel the smooth skin of her legs and I slide my hand under the hem of her dress, desperate to feel her skin against mine. I didn't care about consequences or complications, the only thing I cared about was getting Caroline back to the hotel and getting that dress off of her, but when I felt my own vampire features flash again I knew I had to calm down. I was able to pull away from Caroline's tempting lips and look down into her desire filled eyes, and I knew that my own desire mirrored hers.

"Come" I said to her as I grabbed her hand again, my voice thick and raspy with desire. We all but blurred across the street and back to the hotel. A frenzied desperation was still thrumming through my veins and I couldn't seem to stop touching Caroline. As we waited for the elevator I had my arm around her, stroking her hip over her dress, and as soon as the elevator doors closed I was kissing her again. My body was pressing hers against the door to the elevator until we heard a beep. I quickly led her down the dimly lit hallway and after sliding my card through the door I led her in to the darkened room.

I'm not entirely cruel... the next chapter is written, it just needs to be tweaked. It could be up by Sunday, or tomorrow...

I know that the romance of this story has progressed at a much slower pace than the previous story, but things are about to heat up 100% so to everyone that has stuck with me for 2.5 years, your patience is about to be rewarded.

Read. Review. Enjoy!