"Tell me again why we're going to another high school dance when we're not in high school?" Charlotte asked. She was sitting on Klaus' bed as he pulled open the garment bags Rebekah had given them when she'd forcefully invited them to the latest high school decade dance.

"Because Rebekah's making me go and if I have to go you do too," Klaus replied, grinning as he admired the suit he was to wear.

Charlotte wrinkled her nose, "Things always go terribly at these dances I attend."

"Like what?"

"Well the last one involved a five hour hospital visit," she said, moving on quickly when Klaus' face darkened, she still sported the bruise on her face although it was healing fairly well all things considered, "and the one before this guy kept harassing me all night."

Klaus stiffened, the suit he was holding falling to the bed as his neck snapped to face her, "Who?"

"You might know him," Charlotte said nonchalantly, fiddling with the ends of her hair so Klaus didn't catch the smirk on her face, "Tall, dirty blonde hair, pretty old," here Klaus' eyes narrowed as he caught on to the game, "weird accent."

"You know most people find my accent charming."

"Really?" Charlotte furrowed her brows as she caught his eyes, "Huh, the more you know I suppose."

"You've become awfully brave recently darling," Klaus began stalking slowly towards her, a playful from on his face, "did you not know I'm the most powerful being in the world."

"Ooooh," Charlotte teased, "terrifying."

Klaus sped over suddenly and before she could react he'd pressed her against the bed with her hands pinned above her head, Charlotte was giggling so hard tears were squeezing out from the sides of her eyes when a phone rang behind them. Unable to move her upper body, Charlotte wrapped her legs around Klaus' waist in an attempt to keep him with her on the bed. This unfortunately did the exact opposite of keeping him in place when he simply stood with her legs wrapped around him and his arm around her waist as he sped to the ringing phone.

"Charlotte's phone," Klaus answered, tugging it away when Charlotte reached her hand out for it.

"Is this Klaus?" she could hear Caroline's voice through the phone, obviously confused as to why a member of the Mikaelson family, much less Klaus, was answering her phone

"It's me. Hi," Charlotte had finally snatched her phone back and pulled it to her ear, "Caroline, what's up?"

"So I told Matt to tell you like weeks ago but you know how terrible at these things and so I don't know if he did say anything to you, but theres a decade dance tonight," as Caroline spoke, Klaus who was still holding Charlotte sped them to the wall, grinning when her breath caught in her throat in surprise as she was pressed against it and he began to kiss her neck, "it's the twenties which totally sucks because I had this great seventies idea all organised but then that bitch Rebekah-"

"Yes," Charlotte cut her off a little more breathily than she'd intended, "Rebekah's making me come."

"You talk to Rebekah?" Caroline sounded surprised, Charlotte remembered how quickly things had changed between her and the entirety of the Mikaelsons in the recent days. She wasn't exactly sure how much of everything that had transpired had been relayed to the entirety of the group.

"Kind of, I've been at Klaus' a bit recently. She, you know, lives here too."

"Oh," Caroline sounded a little deflated for a moment, "No that's good. So you're coming? Okay, great!"

"Did you need me to do something?" Charlotte asked when there was a gap in the conversation, Klaus' kisses had grown more urgent and she was eager to end the conversation quickly. She'd never been pressed against a wall in the air as she was kissed before and she wished there weren't so many layers between them both.

"No no," Caroline sounded happy again, not noting the urgency with which Charlotte was inadvertently conveying, "I just wanted you to feel welcome.

"Thanks Caroline, that means a lot. I can't wait to see you there, so Matty will be there too?" Charlotte nearly let out a yelp here as Klaus' kiss turned painful for a moment and his hand slipped down her trousers at the sound of Matt's name, "I haven't talked to him in a bit."

"Of course!" Caroline replied, cheerfully and then faltering, "Are you alright Charlotte, you sound a little out of breath."

"I just got in from a run," she replied, curling her fingers up and flicking Klaus on the ear when he let out a louder than necessary chuckle, his fingers had slipped inside her now and she was struggling to focus fully on the conversation, "Listen Caroline I should go shower, but I'll see you at the dance later. Okay?"

"Okay. See you then!"

Charlotte's phone was hung up in moments and she'd barely had the time to toss it to the chair beside them before Klaus had sped them towards the bed. His kisses were growing more urgent and rather than him teasing her until she begged it was him who reached for his belt and her shirt first.

Charlotte certainly didn't want him to stop but at the victorious grin that sat on his face as his hand slid back beneath her trousers she suddenly wanted to mess with him the way he'd messed with her.

"Wait," she told him suddenly as he shifted back on top of her now his trousers were gone, "I should go shower."

Klaus' face registered disbelief. It was almost hard for her to fight back a smirk as she watched the emotions cross his face, first concern that something was wrong, then confusion, maybe he'd heard her wrong, then disbelief, that she'd really stop him so close. He almost didn't know how to react, he was sure she was messing with him but he didn't know what to say in case she was sincere.

"Are you-" he stammered out as she wriggled out from underneath him.

"You don't mind do you?" she asked, furrowing her brows as she feigned innocence, "I wouldn't want us to be late for the dance."

"Darling-"

"Thanks, love," she told him, leaning over to peck him on the cheek before she firmly shut the door behind her.

It was a dirty move, certainly, but so was Klaus teasing her whilst she was on a phone call and literally trapped against a wall in the air. She smirked as she tugged off the remainder of her clothes, she was sure to pay for that one later tonight but for now she was victorious. The water was cold when stepped into it but she was glad for the chill at first, she had gotten a little too into that just then and the water cooled her off before she returned to him.

Klaus had barely moved from his position since she'd left, it'd been a quick shower but when she walked out wrapped up in such a small white towel his eyes glued to her in an instant. Busying herself around the room, Charlotte tugged open the garment bag that Rebekah had gotten for her to wear, knowing she wouldn't have anything, and examined it carefully. Arms wrapped around her waist and she felt Klaus' lips at her neck again in a moment.

"Nik," Charlotte scolded, spinning in his grip and leaning back to wrap her arms around his neck, "I'm all clean and I have to change."

"You can't really expect me to-"

"I thought you were the most powerful being in existence, you can't wait a couple of hours?" she asked, cocking her head to the side before pressing herself up on her toes and using her hands to tug his head down so she could whisper in his ear, "Tonight."

"Darling," Klaus groaned out.

"No. I'm not turning up smelling like sex and covered in hickies."

"I can get rid of the hickies for you."

"Go shower," Charlotte laughed, unwrapping her arms from him and pushing him towards the bathroom, "you smell like sex."

"Doubtful," she heard him mutter playfully as he walked to the bathroom.

-

Although Charlotte certainly wasn't pleased to turn up to a dance that she technically had no reason to attend, she did enjoy the dressing up. The thought of the twenties made her a little sad if she was really honest with herself, she could've been alive in the twenties, she should've. She would've been old and probably not as fun but she could've been there and experienced the time rather than only watching from behind the veil.

Looking around the gymnasium though, she was impressed with Rebekah and Caroline's decorating efforts, the room was filled with silver stars that trickled effortlessly from the roof. The students too seemed to love the theme, donning flapper dresses and feather boa's they laughed while they danced to the dated music.

Charlotte didn't know if it was just her bad history with dances and balls in this century but she couldn't unknot her stomach, she felt so sure that something terrible would happen even Klaus could see although he didn't push the issue. As a result, neither was in a particular hurry to change for the evening in earnest so when they finally arrived as the dance was in full swing.

Wasting little time, Klaus was quick to tug her to the dance floor, ignoring the wary gazes shot to them by some of the other students. It was a slow song that was on first and Charlotte felt relieved to be pulled into Klaus' arms where she could close her eyes and pretend it was only the two of them.

"You would've loved the 1920's, darling," Klaus told her, he was speaking softly into her ear as they danced slowly, her head leaning against his shoulder, "The girls were reckless, sexy, fun. They literally used to dance until they dropped."

"I don't suppose that happened to their dance partners?"

Klaus stiffened against her for a moment as though shocked by her snark, "What's going on?"

"Sorry," Charlotte replied quietly knowing he could hear her even as her head was pressed against him, "I could've been there for the 20's, I would've seen it myself. I did see it, I sat and watched the world go by for a century all alone. I got to watch everyone living in these times where they had so much freedom and I was just stuck, waiting. It's great that I'm here now and all, but sometimes I miss the way the world was. I feel like I was supposed to live a life in that time, I don't feel like I really belong here, I just feel sad about what I missed out on."

Klaus was quiet for a moment, his thumb grazed back and forth across her back where it sat and he pulled his head back to press a gentle kiss to her forehead, "I miss the sounds the most, this world is so loud," he confessed, "I miss the peacefulness of walking in a field or working for a day without any distractions. The world was much simpler then, the days more steady."

He wished he could do something to fix it, he could tell she felt cheated from her life at times and while he was glad he knew her now, he wished it was something she'd chosen, to wait on the sidelines for a century. It made him regret daggering his siblings even, knowing how much the time jump had affected her, even though she could watch it all, how she felt so cheated.

"Me too," Charlotte lifted her head from his shoulder and looked to him with a smile. Of course he understood, it was like Klaus could read her mind sometimes, understanding what she meant so implicitly, "things are always beeping and ringing."

Klaus laughed and they swayed a little longer in silence, less melancholic than earlier until Klaus broke the silence, "Darling, there's something I need to tell you. I'm leaving town tomorrow," Charlotte's face swung to his in shock, her eyebrows furrowing while her lips parted as Klaus barrelled on, "I want you to come with me."

"What?" Charlotte asked, shocked by his revelation, "How long have you known you were leaving?"

"A few days," he admitted sheepishly.

Charlotte's hands fell from where they lay around his neck and they both stood still, Klaus' hands still wrapped around her waist while hers fell between them to fiddle with the buttons on his vest. She wasn't angry at him but she couldn't understand why he hadn't told her earlier, did he even really want her to come? And even if he did, would she go? She would miss her brothers if she did, but she didn't feel like she had a real life here in Mystic Falls, it was just her trailing after Matt or her brothers or now Klaus.

"I need to think," she stepped back and away, catching sight of her brother standing alone. Sighing she looked back to Klaus, grabbing his hand and squeezing softly, "there's Stef, I'll be back, okay?"

Klaus had barely nodded in agreement before Charlotte pulled herself away, Stefan turning to catch sight of her approaching with a smile.

"Charlie," he grinned, his eyes looked like they were studying her as he let her pull him to the floor. Stefan always knew what was wrong and he always knew what to say to fix it.

"Where's Elena?"

"Talking to Caroline," he said pointing at Elena with Caroline who had a suave looking Tyler beside her, "So, do you think you'll go with him?"

"I wish you lot would stop eavesdropping," Charlotte told him off with a frown that twisted up into a smile at Stefan's cheeky grin. Stefan didn't reply and she knew he wasn't going to forget the question he asked, "I don't want to leave you guys again."

"You can always come back," he told her gently, "I feel bad that so much was taken from you Charlie, you shouldn't lose your second chance."

In truth, Stefan wanted to drive a stake through Klaus' heart and send him and every single Original away for good but he could see how Klaus made her feel. In the short time Charlotte had been alive again, the times he'd seen her most happy was when she was with him, and the times she'd been the most sad was when they were apart. He wished he could keep her with him and Damon forever but he could see already she felt frustrated at times with how little there was for her in Mystic Falls.

"You'll always have a home, but if you want to see the world we wouldn't blame you."

"I wish it was simpler," Charlotte told him softly, laughing when he spun her under his arm and back to him they fell into a calm silence.

The song was nearly over when Stefan broke their silence, "I miss the quiet too," he told her, "the peace, reading with no distraction or sleeping when the sun sank down. But there's good things about the world now too, there's so much to see and experience. You can't get caught up in what there is to miss, you have to focus on everything that the world has now. If you spend all your time missing the past you'll miss out on the future too, Charlie."

"I'll miss you guys."

Now Stefan grinned again, swiping his phone out of his pocket with a laugh, "FaceTime Charlie!"

Charlotte laughed, Stefan always knew how to cheer her up and they were laughing as the music turned fast and Stefan began to try and teach her some moves. They were twisting and she'd half tripped when she caught sight of Klaus stalking towards Tyler and Caroline, Elena having disappeared. Stefan nodded in understanding when she looked back at him and after tugging him into a hug, she pulled away towards Klaus, hoping to stop whatever destructive mission he was on.

"Where've you been, mate?" she heard Klaus ask as he approached the swaying Caroline and Tyler.

"I just got back into town," Tyler replied. Charlotte had almost reached them and she caught sight of Caroline's face, it remained neutral but she could see the fear in her eyes.

"That's funny. I don't recall giving you permission to leave in the first place."

"Nik," Charlotte called as she grasped his hand and tugged him back.

Klaus grinned at the grip on his hand, squeezing tightly but not turning to face her, "Just chatting with one of my wayward hybrids, darling."

"Why do you always have to prove you're the Alpha male?" she asked with exasperation when he stayed steady in his place, his eyes on Tyler's staring him down.

"I don't have to prove anything, love," he replied, finally turning to grin widely at her, "I am the Alpha male."

Charlotte had learnt at Gloria's the best tactic for dealing with a stubborn Klaus wasn't arguing or violence, it was distraction and so with a sigh she tugged her hand back away and turned towards the door.

"Charlotte," he called, hot on her heels.

She was fighting back a smile at how easily she could persuade him now as she walked out the front door and away from the building, figuring the farther she got away the more likely Klaus would have forgotten his original tiff once he caught her. He'd very nearly caught up to her when suddenly he let out a sound of shock as he reached a barrier she'd easily stepped through.

"What is this?" Klaus growled causing Charlotte to turn back in surprise.

"Your mother's back," Stefan said, suddenly beside him with a concerned look on his face. Looking down, there was a ring of salt surrounding the school that evidently kept vampires in but not humans.

Hesitating for a moment, Charlotte stepped back inside the circle towards Klaus who grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him in a hug. Stefan motioned to the side to lead them inside to a classroom a little away from the gymnasium. Neither said anything as they approached the room, but she could feel by Klaus' grip on her hand he'd been worried with her outside the circle and him stuck in. Squeezing his hand in comfort he was quick to return the gesture, pulling her into a quick kiss before they followed Stefan into the room.

-

They stood in near darkness, the room lit by candles which Bonnie stood over chanting. Inside the room stood Damon and Jeremy as well as Bonnie's date Jamie who looked a little terrified at the supernatural situation which he'd somehow fallen into.

"What's taking so long," Klaus snapped, "All boundary spells have a loophole."

"Patience is a virtue," Charlotte muttered under her breath, snickering when she received a gentle elbow to her ribs from Klaus beside her and a snort of laughter from Damon.

Suddenly the doors behind then swung open and Matt stormed in, "People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier," he told them.

"I could leave too but Nik got stuck, I think it's just anyone who's supernatural," Charlotte explained.

"If Matt and I can leave, we can stop Esther ourselves," Jeremy said, "We've gotta find out where she is."

"You shouldn't go alone," Charlotte told them, she knew if only Jeremy and Matt left there were high chances they wouldn't both come home. Charlotte wasn't sure what she could actually do to help Matt and Jeremy, she doubted she could fight a human let alone a witch, but she couldn't leave them to face the most powerful witch they knew alone.

"Suicide, Jeremy," said Stefan.

Suddenly Klaus sped from his place beside Charlotte and grabbed Jamie by the throat, "Suicide would be disappointing me."

"Nik!"