Stefan and Rebekah took a long time to meet them, stopping for a snack before their main course but Klaus didn't care, greedily feeding on the girl they'd brought him when they finally arrived. Charlotte was half asleep by this point, her headache had returned because of all the champagne she'd drunk and so she'd shut her eyes knowing it would help. While they'd waited on the couch, Klaus fiddled with his phone while Charlotte drifted off into a light sleep, light enough that she could hear Stefan and Rebekah as they returned.

"My girl's dead I'm bored," Rebekah said.

They'd been back for a little while now but there'd been silence between the group as they eagerly fed on the three compelled girl's. It was an uncomfortable sound listening to three people die and so Charlotte was doing her best to tune it all out as she dozed.

"You weren't kidding about being hungry," Klaus was speaking now, to Stefan or Rebekah she wasn't sure.

It was Stefan, Charlotte realised as she heard him reply, "It's been a long day."

"Try being related to her," Klaus said and Charlotte opened her eyes to look at him disapprovingly, he caught her watching and she rolled her eyes at his cheeky grin.

"You're being mean," Rebekah said to Klaus then turning to Stefan, "Why are you being mean? You used to love me."

"It's been 90 years, Rebekah, give him a minute," Klaus sounded exasperated, pushing his girl he'd been feeding from away as he spoke. Charlotte flinched at the thud of the body hitting the ground and Klaus' hand rose to land on her leg, thumb rubbing gently in a half apology.

Rebekah looked affronted at Klaus defending Stefan, "Why are you taking his side?"

"Because, my dear sister, I feel pity for any man who doesn't give you what you want."

Rebekah looked particularly hurt as he spoke while Charlotte felt uncomfortable with the argument, looking to Stefan who seemed to be enjoying it. While thus far she wasn't exactly a fan of Rebekah, she didn't like it when Klaus was cruel and she didn't like Stefan acting that way either. She suspected there was a reason behind it, Stefan was rarely cruel but it still made her frown at the way he teamed up with Klaus against someone.

"Will you stop making me out to be a brat. I am not a brat."

"A thousand years of life experience says otherwise," Klaus retorted and Stefan laughed.

"Nik you're far from an angel," Charlotte cut in, smiling cheekily when Klaus gave her a glare.

"Oh yeah, you're certainly no picnic," Stefan agreed with Charlotte, "We've only spent one summer with you and I feel like I wanna blow my head off." Charlotte and Rebekah both laughed and Rebekah clapped her hands with glee Klaus' take down. Klaus looked between the two smirking Salvatore siblings and his eyes narrowed when Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him.

"Pretty sure that's just the company of your dear sister, mate," Klaus retorted.

"Ahh yes," Charlotte agreed, "my company that was acquired through an abduction. Certainly my unwanted company that did it not your tantrums," Charlotte was giggling as she spoke. Klaus wasn't truly being cruel to her and neither was she, their argument was almost a game now, more teasing than taunting.

"My tantrums," Klaus argued back, his voice turning high to mimic hers, "'You know, as a hostage taker, you must remember us silly little humans need real food, not college girls and gas station workers.'" Charlotte was laughing as he spoke, tears reaching her eyes as his voice mimicked hers not only in tone but in his poor American accent.

"Nik, I literally collapsed from malnourishment, It wasn't exactly an unjustified statement," Charlotte retorted, Klaus glared back at her, his lips pursing as he fought to keep a smile off of his face. Rebekah was grinning between the couple, primarily Charlotte's anti Klaus take down, but Stefan seemed disinterested and distracted.

Suddenly Stefan pushed the girl he was drinking from to the ground. She fell with a thud that made Charlotte jump and Stefan stood with a blank look on his face, "I need to go," he told them coldly, walking directly to the door.

Charlotte shifted as though to stand and follow him but Klaus' hand fell on her arm stilling her and she sat back down, she didn't want to cause problems for Stefan where he didn't need them.

"Where's he going?" Rebekah asked causing Charlotte screwed up her nose.

"To write a name on a wall," Klaus replied, pausing a moment before adding, "It's a long story."

The trio sat in silence again, Charlotte felt wide awake now after the teasing between Klaus and her. She was eyeing the three bodies abandoned by the vampires when suddenly Klaus grasped her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Lovely talking with you dear sister but we'll have to be off now," Klaus said, smiling when both Charlotte and Rebekah furrowed their faces in confusion, "Not to worry, we'll be back later, try not to kill too many of the Chicago residents now will you."

With that he tugged Charlotte and suddenly they were outside, he'd sped them away and with a grin they were now standing out the front of a restaurant.

"Nik what-" Charlotte asked before she was cut off.

"Charlotte darling, would you like to have dinner with me?"

Charlottes face split into a grin and she nodded.

-

As it turned out, the restaurant that Klaus sped them to turned out to be reservation only. Klaus of course leaned forwards to compel the poor hostess into giving them a table but Charlotte apologised and pulled him from the restaurant.

Together Klaus and Charlotte walked down the streets of Chicago, Klaus knew them surprisingly well considering he hadn't lived there in 90 years but Charlotte was clueless as to where to go, leading them only based on her whims. She was enjoying this Nik and Charlotte time that was happening in Chicago, as opposed to the majority of the trip when she was just tugged alongside him on their quest. They felt like a team together. Right now, just them she could ignore their problems, pretend they were normal people and just be happy for a moment.

"Nik," Charlotte spoke suddenly, as she heard a faint beat of a club nearby, "shall we go dance to the sounds of a cable car accident?"

Klaus was hard pressed to say no to anything Charlotte requested and remembering how she smiled when she danced he easily agreed. He downed several shots as they entered whilst Charlotte watched with amusement. She was already giggling and stumbling so Klaus drank alone before he pulled her to the dance floor and they began to move.

The lights were bright and pulsating around them and the beat of the music was so loud Charlotte could feel it in her chest. Her head still hurt but she felt happy enough that she could pretend it didn't, she could ignore it.

They were moving together, each pulse of the beat in her body felt like the beating of her heart in anticipation. Charlotte felt happier than she could remember being in her old life. She felt freer than she had ever been. She wondered briefly if she would've felt this way if she'd know Klaus in 1864. If he'd tried to court her. She didn't know, what was exciting was the freedom she felt with him. She trusted him to not hurt her, to be there when she was hurt, to make her heart race.

1864 Charlotte would've sat still as Klaus talked. She would've danced with him if he asked properly and only once they were introduced. She would've waited until he began to court her and she would only have been kissed when he decided to kiss her. After an engagement. This Charlotte lived in a world that one could've never believed, it was overwhelming and exciting.

She was the one who could kiss him.

Kiss him she did.

Charlotte looked up, opening her eyes that had been pulled tight to help her dance she saw Klaus watching her. He had the same soft expression in his eyes that she'd seen with his sister. A fondness in him even as she looked bedraggled and off beat and flushed. Charlotte let go of Klaus' hands allowing them to rest around her waist instead as she moved hers up to circle his neck, tugging him down a little. Klaus leaned in closer, thinking she was going to say something to him, forgetting he could hear anything even in this din. As Klaus leaned down, Charlotte stood up on her toes and smashed her face against his.

Klaus had an inability to dance and kiss at the same time apparently.

While Charlottes body continued to move as they kissed, his froze, only tugging her closer to him. At last Klaus pulled his head from hers, tired of being bumped and pushed by college kids he pulled away and with his arms still circling her waist, pulled her from the middle of the dance floor to the wall to continue.

Unfortunately, despite being blessed with a multitude of supernatural abilities, his focus was only on Charlotte and as he pulled her away from the crowd a college student knocked into them, spilling his drink over both Charlotte and Klaus.

Klaus was mad, he wanted to rip the head off of this poor boy apologising profusely, but when he turned to see Charlotte in a fit of giggles his anger broke and he softened. They both agreed they were a little too disheveled to continue and Charlotte pulled Klaus from the club. She turned left with confidence, walking them to their hotel to change clothes.

"Darling, are you seeing someone else?" Klaus asked, Charlotte's face furrowed with confusion, "because out hotel is that way."

Pushing Klaus playfully her face split back into a grin when his hand reached out for hers, pulling her towards him in a kiss and then turning them to the correct direction for their hotel.

Charlotte had gone into the bathroom to change but as she stared at herself in the mirror she had an idea. She was having fun with Klaus, she didn't want the night to end, she wanted more with him. Standing in her bra with her trousers on, the damp shirt abandoned by the sink Charlotte knew what she wanted to do.

Charlotte was tipsy now, not drunk, she knew her idea wasn't a result of her lowered inhibitions but of the emotion that had been brewing between her and Klaus for the past weeks. That being said, the alcohol was providing a little bit of courage that she perhaps may have lacked otherwise.

Before she could change her mind, Charlotte stripped her trousers from her body, folding them up she stood now in her bra and underwear.

Klaus could hear her heart beating fast, she knew that. He would always comment on it when she was nervous and she knew he could hear her heart even though the bathroom door. She wished she could make it quiet down but it was thudding so loudly she could hear it in her ears herself as her hand lay on the doorknob.

Charlotte tugged the door open, a nervous mixture of anxiety and excitement, she couldn't believe she was doing something like this with someone she'd only known for a few months. Her father would actually have killed her.

Klaus looked up at the sound of the door handle, he'd heard her heart racing and had been preparing a quip to make about it to tease her when she came out but before he could say anything his breath caught in his throat. Charlotte watched Klaus nervously as he looked up from where he was sitting on the end of the bed, scrolling lazily through his phone. She heard his breath hitch but Klaus didn't say anything as he stared in admiration, only moving to place his phone face down on the table nearby.

"Oh darling," Klaus sighed at last.

Charlotte felt a blush cover her cheeks as she walked closer, confidence lulling and anxiety returning. She was standing in front of him now, nervous and unsure of what she was supposed to do next.

She hadn't really thought past this point.

Klaus' hands rose to catch her, grabbing her waist softly and pulling her closer. Charlotte stumbled as her knees hit the bed before she realised what he wanted and she climbed up like the first night they had kissed. She was sitting in his lap again, her legs crossed around him, their faces at an equal height.

This time Charlottes hands didn't surround his neck to pull him close, they were crossed awkwardly over her stomach and they'd begun to tap with anxiety. She felt very naked in only her underwear as he sat fully clothed and her mind raced with criticisms of her actions.

"Is this weird?" Charlotte asked, she was beginning to regret her decision, "Oh goodness this is weird."

Klaus laughed and Charlotte felt even worse. God what an idiot she was, just because they kissed and went dancing didn't mean he wanted her naked right now. Her face was flushed with embarrassment and she could almost picture Klaus taunting Stefan with the memory of it when the met up again.

Klaus laughed again as he saw Charlottes head filling with worry, his hand rose to the back of her head that had started to turn away and he pulled her towards him in a kiss. When they broke apart Charlotte was grinning again, she didn't want to let go and leant back towards him before reconsidering and pulling apart. Klaus was confused at her indecision until Charlotte tugged at his shirt, before pulling him back in.

Charlotte and Klaus stayed like that for a while. Her hands tugged his hair and his hands roamed her body, settling on her waist and her butt as he pulled her towards him. Finally Charlotte pulled away again, shifting around, she moved so her legs weren't crossed around him anymore and now lay kneeling either side of him.

Klaus was pleasantly surprised when Charlotte pushed him onto his back, falling on top of him before continuing their make out session. His hands were roaming over her body pulling her closer as she moved against him, his face splitting into a surprised grin when her hands pulled his wrists back and held them beside his head.

She was looking down at him cockily now, Klaus was allowing her to believe she could pin him for a few moments but he was growing ready to take control again and his wrists had begun to twitch beneath her hands, itching to touch her again. Her triumphant grin grew when she leant down to kiss him, moving her body against his for a moment before pulling away again teasingly and she heard him growl in annoyance. He allowed her success for a few moments more but when she tried to tease him again he moved quickly, flipping them over and moving further up the bed so Charlotte's head lay on the pillows.

"Now my darling. You seem to be in a bit of a compromising situation here," he was on top now, grinning as she giggled. Her hands rose to his neck and tried to pull him back towards her for another kiss but he resisted, enjoying teasing her as penance for her teasing him.

"Nik," Charlotte whined playfully as he unlinked her hands from around his neck and pushed her back towards the bed.

Klaus sat up with a grin, straddling her now and examining her beneath him, "What am I going to do with you darling?"

The hair on her arms shot up as he ran his fingers lazily along her arms, ignoring her head that kept reaching up to try and kiss him again.

Charlotte laughed as the flush returned to her face. She'd never been in this situation before, she felt out of her depth, but she was loving it. She could feel his trousers against her skin, the rough feel of it tickled her as he half sat on her legs and waist.

Klaus loved the blush that returned to her cheeks as he teased her. She was in a blue bra and underwear with nothing else on but her necklace while her hair fanned around her like an angel. He could see more freckles on her when she was laying like this, not just on her face but littering her stomach and chest.

His fingers were walking along the skin just above her bra and she was writhing beneath him with frustration at her inability to move. Her head still kept poking up towards him and each time he pushed her back a playful scowl would cross her face. Her hands reached up towards him again and each of his hands caught a wrist holding it beside her head like she'd done to him earlier

Charlotte laughed again before whining, "Nik, this isn't very fun."

liar

Klaus grinned back as his hand released hers and fell between her legs, "Darling I think you're certainly having fun right now."

Charlotte reached for Klaus' neck with her now freed hands and this time he let her pull him back down into a kiss. As they kissed, this time his hand reached down, tickling along her side before moving to her legs and then back up to her underwear, resting there again. Charlotte giggled and pulled him closer to her, shifting her legs apart a little while Klaus' hand slipped beneath her underwear.