Because Of The Night

Klaus awakens to see Lola still asleep beside him. He watches as she stirs softly in her sleep as her chest rose and fell in a calm rhythm. Already growing impatient waiting for her to wake he moves closer to her, leaving gentle kisses against the corner of her lips towards her cheek.

Lola wakes with a hint of a smile, she slowly opens her eyes adjusting to the sun creeping through the windows and gazes up at Klaus who hovers over her, "Good morning."

One of his hands grazes along Lola's stomach before finding a place against her waist, pulling her closer to him, "Good morning, my love."

Lola's hands run through the back of Klaus' hair, smiling to herself as Klaus leaves a trail of kisses against her neck and collarbone. She tilts her head, looking down at him, "We've only been asleep for an hour."

"One hour too long." Klaus mumbles between kisses.

His hand slowly moves up Lola's leg, a smile curls a corner of his mouth as he lifts her knee his hand now firmly against her thigh. Klaus hovers over Lola again, his lips instantly colliding with hers, them both moving together in perfect unison. Lola's hands grab Klaus' neck as she spins around until his head is against the pillows.

Klaus looks up at Lola breathlessly, her unruly hair fans around her face as she leans down leaving soft pecks against his neck and his jawline. His breath catches in his throat and his hands snake around her bare waist as he sits up still allowing Lola to straddle him.

He runs his hands through her hair as he pulls Lola away slightly to see her smile that shines brighter than the sun. They both lock eyes with each other, not saying anything but staring at each other in complete and utter awe until Klaus breaks the silence,

"Marry me."

Lola pulls away slightly, her breath catches in her throat as her eyes dance around Klaus' face to read him, "What?"

Klaus' right hand finds home against Lola's cheek, his thumb softly caresses her cheek, "What's important to you is important to me. What makes you happy, makes me want to keep you so. What scares you I want to tear apart. You are all I think about when I'm with you and even more so when I'm apart from you. Even the times where you vex me, which can be rather frequent at times." A nervous laugh falls from Lola's lips at the same time the same laugh falls from Klaus as he cups both of her cheeks, "It just makes me love you even more than before."

Lola watched as Klaus leaned back slightly to take hold of a small velvet box from the nightstand. He swallows hard as he opens the box to reveal a stunning ring,

"Marry me, Charlotte Salvatore."

Her name runs off his tongue like smooth honey. Both of their hearts beat so harshly it's as though they will explode out of their chests any moment.

The mere seconds of silence between them feels like forever to Klaus as he tries to read Lola. Is it hesitation on her face or just complete and utter astonishment. When she places her hands on his arms, it sends electricity through his veins, she stares down at the ring in amazement, her breathing becoming heavy,

"Yes."

The almost inaudible word that falls from Lola's mouth makes Klaus' heart skip a beat, "Yes?"

Lola locks eyes with him, her eyes shine brighter than ever before, her smile beams from ear to ear. The ins of her brows pull upwards. Pools of tears form in her eyes as she laughs breathlessly and nods her head slightly,

"Yes."

A shaky breath mixed with nerves and relief escapes Klaus' mouth as his slams his lips against Lola's. His hands go to the side of her face, one hand still clutching the ring box as Lola's hands find places against his forearms. They can both feel each other's smiles against one another.

Klaus pulls away, taking hold of Lola's hand and placing the ring onto her finger, his hand not letting go of hers once he does so.

Lola's cheeks ache from smiling but she doesn't even care, "You do realise there won't be a day that goes by where you won't vex me at least once?"

The corner of Klaus' mouth quirks up into a smirk as he spins them round, he towers over Lola laying on the bed. His lips brush against the side of her face beside her ear, "Is that a promise?"

"Had you always planned to propose when we're both in bed, naked?"

Klaus smirks as he takes hold of Lola's left hand, looking at the ring, "What could be better than you wearing this and only this."

Lola cups Klaus' cheeks, tracing her thumbs against his cheekbones. He looked at her directly in the eyes and gave her the most sincere smile the faint lines around his mouth were so prominent; genuine happiness. His eyes said it all on their own, "I love you."

Lola could feel a rush of weakness run through her veins, just seeing Klaus' eyes light up made her feel this way. He would always make her feel weak when she was around him. Lola had spent years building up walls around her along with a strong persona but that all crumbles away when it's just her and Klaus.

Lola runs her thumb across Klaus' lips before lowering him down until his lips hover over hers. She softly kisses his lips, the kiss was so soft it almost hovered, "I love you."

They press their lips against each other, moving together in unison once more. Lola sinks deeper into the pillow as Klaus slowly kisses the corner of her mouth, her cheek and then down to her neck. He lands on her pulse making Lola tightly shutting her eyes until she turns her head and glances up at her watch on the nightstand.

She sighs when she notices the time, "I have to go."

Klaus pulls away slightly from the nape of Lola's neck, breathing against her skin until he pulls back with a mischievous grin, "I simply will not allow it."

He kisses Lola's lower lip languidly, he pulls back until they both stare at each other while his thumb plays with her lower lip.

"Stefan will be waiting for me."

"Let him wait for a while longer."

Klaus' hand finds place against Lola's cheek once more as he pulls her in another deep kiss, refusing to let her leave this bed.

Lola's hands rest against Klaus' chest as she breaks away from the kiss, "Then I can just imagine him in the middle of the woods on the verge of another emo phase."

Lola quickly pecks Klaus' lips, "I won't even be gone long." She moves out from under Klaus and gets out of the bed walking towards the bathroom to get ready.

Klaus rolls his eyes as he drops onto the bed, burying his face into the pillow. He turns over and can't help but smile as he watches Lola get ready, totally captivated by her.

Once she is dressed, Lola descends down the stairs towards the front door. She's greeted by two men standing at the door, she looks at them confused, "Uh, can I help you?"

"Ah, perfect timing." Klaus announces as he descends down the stairs shortly after her, smiling over to the men, "The bedroom is upstairs, at the end of the hall to the left."

They both nod and enter the house, heading straight to the stairs. Klaus turns to face them, "And don't take too long or the walls will be re-decorated with your blood."

He turns round to see Lola looking over to him with a raised brow, "You're decorating?"

"Kol's bedroom." A soft smile forms on his lips as his hands rest against Lola's waist, "It was time to get rid of that grotesque red colour."

Lola's hands go against either side of Klaus' face as she leans towards him, pulling him in a blazing kiss that leaves him powerless. She hopes this fierce kiss will keep him satisfied enough until she returns home later. His grip on her waist tightens as he moves closer to her, their bodies pressed against each other until she pulls away and smile up at him with mischief in her eyes,

"I'll be back soon."

Lola opens the windows in her car to allow the cool breeze to blow in, her body temperate feeling like a hundred degrees after the heated morning with Klaus. She smiles down at the ring on her finger as she starts the ignition before taking the ring off and placing it in her jacket pocket before driving away.

-------------------------------------------------

"He's took her to New York?" Lola scoffs as she punches agains the boxing pad in Stefan's hand, "Last time I checked a road trip to New York isn't included in the no humanity package deal. What's next? Share a bag of popcorn whilst on the ghost train at Coney Island?"

Stefan sighs as he shrugs, "Yeah well, Damon thinks this will be good for her." He straightens his posture, holding out both boxing pads in his hands, "Taking a trip down memory lane when he had no humanity in New York."

Lola rolls her eyes, punching one of the pads again, "What, when he trapped Lexi on the roof? The next time we seen each other after that was in '87 and he loved to gloat about it even then."

"He's on the hunt for the cure."

Lola moves away momentarily to catch her breath, "Shocker."

Stefan clears his throat, "Damon apparently knew that vampire that attacked Hayley." Lola glances over to him, intrigued, "They knew each other when Damon was in New York. So, he's gone to see if he can get any more information on where Katherine is hiding with the cure."

Lola nods, she punches against the pad once more with the last amount of strength she can muster. She takes a deep breath as she moves away, taking the boxing gloves off her hands.

Stefan laughs slightly, ripping the pads from his hands, "Nice, your upper body strength is getting  stronger."

"Wish I could say the same about my lower body strength." Lola mumbles under her breath as she sits on a fallen tree in the middle of the woods.

Stefan frowns, not hearing what Lola said, "What?"

Lola clears her throat as she twists the cap off a water, "Nothing. Nothing at all." She looks over to Stefan who starts to pace around, "Are you okay?"

Stefan shakes his head, flashing a fake smile, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Lola gives Stefan a classic older sister, formidable no bullshit stare, "Come on, Stef. Do you really think you can lie to the person who is constantly lying that they're fine? You can talk to me about this, you know that right?"

Stefan sighs as he sits beside Lola, "I'm trying to not let it get to me. The whole Damon and Elena situation. Some days are just harder than others."

Lola's heart breaks as she watches how torn up her little brother is over everything that is currently happening with Damon and Elena. Even now he still loves Elena so much and she can't even begin to imagine the pain he must be feeling to watch his brother fall in love with her. Exactly how everything happened in 1864 with Katherine.

Her eyes soften as she nudges closer to him, "It will be like that for a while, it will suck but it's gonna get easier. Just think, if you were capable of feeling so much towards someone who was not always gentle with your heart, imagine how beautiful love will be when it's right." She takes hold of his hand, making Stefan look over to her, "Imagine how beautiful that love will be when it stays."

Stefan smiles over to his sister, appreciating her words but also knowing they weren't entirely just towards him, "Where is Klaus?"

Her face drops slightly, she wants to tell Stefan about Klaus proposing but is scared of his reaction. There's a part of her that doesn't want to tell Stefan without Damon also being here, maybe Stefan being there when she tells Damon will make it though Damon wouldn't get as angry; but who is she kidding.

She clears her throat, glancing down at the water in her hands, "Back at the mansion I assume."

Stefan narrows his eyes at his sister, trying to read her, "Is everything okay between you both?"

"Couldn't be better actually."

Stefan watches Lola as she starts to shift uncomfortably, chewing the inside of her lip just like she did when she was younger and she was hiding something, "So then why are you pulling that face?"

"It's not about Klaus." Lola quickly responds, she at the ground as she clears her throat. Although she does want to tell Stefan about the proposal, there is something else she has been meaning to tell him since she came back from New York.

She turns slightly in her spot to face Stefan, "Can you remember when we were growing up and there would be some nights Damon would have to rush into my room to wake me up because of the dreams I was having?" Stefan nods, "They've been happening again. They have happened a few times since then over the years."

Stefan only vividly remembers those nights back when they were children, given he was younger than both his siblings. However he does remember one night where he heard Lola screaming which woke him up. He went to her room and he seen Damon cradling his sister telling her everything was going to be okay. He knew it would happen whenever their father was more harsh on Lola than usual.

"Why have you never told me about this? Does Damon know?"

"I think he did have a feeling they were back, especially when I first came back to this town." Lola glances down at her hands that have pretty much healed since that night but can still see faint scratches on her palms, "They started again when Kol knocked me out and I was down there not knowing what was going on. I seen father and he just said everything to me he used to always say. But then I seen you and Damon, down in the tunnels." Her eyes begin to sting with fresh tears, "I am so sorry I put you both through that. Looking back now I should never have hidden everything that happened with Cora."

Stefan's eyes fill with guilt as he pulls Lola in a hug, "You never have to apologise, Lo. It's not exactly like we ever made it easy for you to explain it to us." They both pull away from the hug as Stefan takes hold of his sister's hand, "We should be the ones apologising to you about how we've been and how we've treated you since everything has happened."

Lola smiles softly at him, "We've both done things we regret."

"Are you okay now?"

"I will be. It will take time but I'm getting there." She smiles at him genuinely, "So will you. Okay, I think that's enough of the working out and heart to hearts."

Stefan nods, standing up from the log, "I should probably go back to the house, Caroline is there cleaning up after a party Elena started last night."

"Speaking of Caroline..." Lola walks over to Stefan, hands behind her back as she purses her lips, "You two seem close."

"Lola..." Stefan drawls out, can tell just by his sister's tone of voice she is up to something, "What are you thinking?"

Lola shrugs as her brows shoot up, "Maybe the love I was talking about is closer than we think."

Stefan shakes his head, looking at her unimpressed, "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Don't matchmake. Caroline and me are just really good friends, that's it." Stefan watches as Lola is about to say something back but he points at her, "Just friends."

Lola's lips form a thin line as she shoots her hands up, "I'm just saying, you are similar to me in this type of situation."

"What situation?"

"We don't realise what's right in front of us." Stefan looks at Lola confused, she shrugs, "Took me five years to realise what I wanted was right in front of me with Klaus when we first met. Hopefully it won't take you as long."

Stefan rolls his eyes as he grabs his jacket from the floor, "Nothing is gonna happen with Caroline."

"Whatever you say." Lola sings out, "You owe me fifty bucks when it does happen."

Stefan turns to face Lola as he puts his jacket back on, "Are you gonna follow me in your car to the boarding house?"

Lola shakes her head, "I'm gonna go back home but I'll see you later?"

Stefan puts his hands in his pockets, "I'll see you later."

Lola watches as Stefan walks away towards where both of their cars are parked. When he's far away enough, she goes into her jacket pocket and takes her ring out, placing it back on her left hand.

She is just about to put her jacket back on until she feels hands against her waist, rushing her further into the woods. Her back is against a tree, she looks to see Klaus wearing a roguish grin, "How long have you been waiting around?"

"Long enough to grow rather impatient waiting for Stefan to finally leave."

Klaus' patience lessens even more, with a strong pull he presses his lips against Lola's, a kiss even more blazing than the one she left him with this morning. His grip tightens around her waist, pressing his body against hers.

Lola pulls away to catch her breath, "We were having a sibling moment." His hands reach down to the waistband of Lola's yoga pants, tugging at them slightly as he leaves a trail of kisses against her neck and collarbone. Lola's breathing becomes shaky, "I thought the fact we have only slept for an hour would have sufficed for the time being."

Klaus pulls away from her, his eyes gazing at her, "How can I think of anything else, love, when you look as beautiful as you always do." He takes hold of Lola's hand, looking at the ring, "You never told him?"

Lola shakes her head, "I want to tell them both at the same time."

"Well then," Klaus steps back, stretching his arms out slightly with an up to no good smirk, "How about we put to the test to see if all this working out you have done has helped you fight those who oppose you."

Lola throws her hands up, "Fine."

Before she can even do anything, Klaus whooshes behind her, one hand gripped onto her waist while the other gently goes against the side of her neck. He lowers his head, "It would appear I have bested you, my love."

Lola closes her eyes for a moment, internally calming herself down as she feels Klaus' breath against her skin. She elbows him in the stomach, "You didn't even give me a chance."

"Vampires don't give you a chance, you should know that."

A hint of a smirk appears on Lola's face, knowing what her next move will be, "Invisique."

He can't help but laugh at Lola's antics as he glances around the empty looking woods, "This is cheating, love. I highly doubt-"

Klaus is interrupted when he feels something hit against the back of his legs, making him fall to the ground. Lola appears once more, on top of him with a smug grin, "Maybe I am the one who has bested you, my love." She mocks his accent before standing up proud of herself, "I think I won that round. What's my prize?"

Klaus stands up, walking towards Lola as he grins. He closes the gap between them both, crashing his lips onto hers. They both pull away breathless, gazing into each other's eyes before they wear the same smirk until they crash their lips onto each other once more. Klaus vamp speeds them against a tree as Lola pulls his jacket off him without breaking away from him, Klaus rips Lola's shirt off her, throwing it to the ground. They pull away, only for a moment to catch their breath before their lips collide and move in unison once more.

Clothing has been removed within an instant, Klaus' hands move from Lola's waist down to her thighs, picking her up with ease as though she is as light as a leather. Lola wraps her legs around Klaus, they gasp into each other's mouth as they move together as one. Lola arches her head back giving Klaus the access to leave an array of kisses against her exposed neck. The feeling of them both together feels even more euphoric as any time that has came before this one. One of Lola's hands grips onto the back of Klaus' head as the other digs into the back of his neck. Already missing Klaus' lips against hers, Lola slams her lips against his, kissing him deeply as she wraps her legs around him tighter pulling him closer to her.

They don't break apart straight away, their foreheads rest against each other's as they both catch their breath. Klaus lowers Lola back down before leaving soft peck against her lips for them then to both re-adjust themselves.

Lola picks up her now ripped shirt, looking over to Klaus unamused, "You ripped my shirt, again." She puts her jacket on, zipping it to the top when her phone starts to ring.

Klaus shrugs, "Your clothing should stop getting in my way."

Lola rolls her eyes as she answers her phone, "Hey, Stef."

"Hey, where are you? I've just went to the mansion but no one was home."

"I'm still in the woods."

"Why are you still in the woods?"

"I uh," She glances over to Klaus who has a smug grin as he puts his jacket back on, "I felt like working out some more. What's up?"

"Can you stop by the house? Klaus too, there's something we need to talk about."

--------------------------------------------

As Lola walks into the boarding house she sees Caroline in the living room collecting trash. She finds a cup that still has alcohol in it and finishes it off before tossing it in the rubbish bag.

Lola clears her throat as she steps further into the room, "You know there's a drinks cabinet that could quench your thirst a lot more than that. It would be far more sanitary also."

Caroline smiles over to her, "Lola, how are you?"

Lola purses her lips as she glances between the mess around the house and a tired looking Caroline, "Better than you from what I can see."

Klaus follows Lola into the room, hands behind his back, "Desperate times, I take it?"

He stands beside Lola which is when he notices a leaf in her hair, which he pulls out. They both try to fight back their smiles as Lola fixes her hair slightly and zipping her jacket up even further.

Caroline glares over to Klaus, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out chasing Tyler to the ends of the earth? Or are there still some hopes and dreams you wanna crush around here?"

"Depends. Do you happen to know where the young Brutus is?"

"I know where he's not-- with me." Caroline scoffs as she throws more trash into the rubbish bag, "And he gave Matt the deed to the house, so he's gone for good."

Klaus shrugs as he takes a seat on one of the sofas, "Tyler made it his life's mission to kill me. You can't hate me for driving him away."

"Oh I can, and I do. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to spiralling, so go away."

"Actually, I asked him to be here." Stefan speaks up as he enters the room, "We need his help. I think Silas is in Mystic Falls."

Lola frowns as she sits beside Klaus on the sofa, "What makes you think Silas is here?"

Caroline sits on the opposite sofa to them, "My mom has had reports of a large number of blood bags going missing from multiple hospitals."

Stefan sighs as he crosses his arms against his chest, "He's been down in that cave for two thousand years, he'll be trying to find as much blood as he can."

"So some blood went missing from a few hospitals. What about Elena?" Klaus retorts as he walks towards the drinks cabinet, pouring himself a bourbon before facing Stefan with a smug grin, "Don't vampires with their humanity off tend to overindulge in human blood, or were you the exception?"

Stefan ignores Klaus' jest, "It's not Elena."

"Well, let's say for a moment that it was Silas." Klaus sits back on the sofa beside Lola, "I'm struggling to see how this affects me."

"Look." Stefan begins to pace in front of Klaus and Lola, "Silas wants to die and be reunited with his one true love, but he's supernatural, so if he takes the cure and dies, he gets stuck on the Other Side."

"How Shakespearian." Klaus remarks with a grin as he takes a sip of his drink.

"But if he destroys the Other Side altogether, he can take the cure, die, and pass on, but in destroying it, every dead supernatural being will return to our side."

"That means every werewolf, every witch, every vampire." Caroline scowls at Klaus, "I wonder how many of those you personally killed. Care yet?"

"My interest is piqued." Klaus responds with hesitation, "How do we stop him?"

"Bonnie said Silas needs to complete three massacres to do this spell." Stefan re-informs, "Before Professor Shane died, he convinced the pastor to blow up the Council. Next, he had you kill your hybrids, and now he only needs one more massacre, so if he's here, that's what he's doing. We need to find him."

Lola sighs, "So, where do we look first?"

"Shane's office. That's our best bet."

"Shane's office?" Lola echoes pulling a face, "What do you think you're gonna find? Shane's diary where he confesses all the creepy stuff he was planning?"

Stefan shrugs, "Maybe we will. You coming?"

"I just need to go upstairs first." Lola stands up from the sofa, glaring back down at Klaus as she whispers, "For another shirt."

--------------------------------------------

By the time all four of them get to Whitmore College, it's night. Stefan walks into Shane's office first, checking the surroundings before opening the door wider for everyone else to walk in. Lola walks in after him, looking around in disgust at all the tat Shane has collected.

"What are we even looking for?" Lola picks up a book from the bookshelf, flicking through the pages before dropping it on the floor.

"Well, if Shane really was working with Silas, chances are he was helping him plan his next move." Stefan answers as he flicks through some scattered papers.

"Where, on his evil villain to-do list?" Caroline retorts as she looks through the bookshelf beside Lola, "'Steal blood, perform 3 massacres, pick up dry cleaning'?"

"Actually, not to nit-pick, but we evil villains usually use minions to pick up our dry cleaning, that sort of thing." Klaus quips.

Caroline looks over to Stefan unimpressed, "Why is he necessary again?"

Stefan shrugs, "Well, we don't know what Silas can do, so if we do have to go head to head with him, an Original hybrid who can't die might come in handy."

Klaus silently laughs at Stefan's remark, "Besides, Stefan and I work well together, or at least we did in the twenties."

Stefan scoffs, "Well, granted my emotions were off."

"And that's why you were more fun." Lola remarks as she walks over to the pair, leaning against the chair Klaus now is sitting in.

Klaus hums in agreement, "Just as Damon is probably relishing in Elena's emotionless company in New York."

"My brother knows what he's doing."

"Does he?" Klaus retorts, "Don't underestimate the allure of darkness, Stefan. Even the purest hearts are drawn to it. Still, I'm sure it'll all be fine."

"I think I found something." Lola mumbles, noticing a book on the top of a filing cabinet behind Klaus. She picks the book up and places it on the desk, ""Symbolic Figures in the Dark Arts." Didn't you say Bonnie spoke about Expression Triangles? Here."

Stefan leans in closer, narrowing his stare at a symbol on one of the pages, "In some schools of magic such as Expression, human sacrifice can be used as a focus for power. It is rumoured that the addition of two supernatural sacrifices compounds the mystical energy, creating an Expression Triangle."

Caroline points at a circular symbol on the page, "Humans-- that was the council fire." She points at another, "Demons-- Klaus' hybrid failure."

"Well, I wouldn't exactly call it a failure." Klaus quickly dismisses her, "What's the third?"

Caroline's eyes widen staring down at the third symbol, "Oh, no. Witches."

All three of them look over to Lola who glances between them all, pursing her lips, "Suddenly I'm feeling a bit perplexed about breaking the spell."

Stefan and Caroline leave Shane's office to try and get in touch with Bonnie. Leaving Lola and Klaus alone in the office, Lola pulls a map of Mystic Falls off Shane's wall, laying it out onto the desk.

Grabbing a ruler and a pen, she begins to draw lines on the map to form the expression triangle, "There've been two massacres. Pastor Young's farm is here, and the old Lockwood cellar, where you dramatically slaughtered 12 of your own hybrids, is here." She has drawn a line connecting the two locations, "According to the book, the Expression Triangle is equilateral, putting it here."

Lola draws another two lines, forming a triangle on the map. She stands up straight, smiling to herself she figured it out. She glances over to Klaus who has remained quiet the entire time, making her realise he wasn't even paying attention to the map instead taking this as an opportunity to look down her shirt.

She hits his shoulder slightly, "Stop looking down my cleavage."

Klaus shrugs, "There was an opportunity so I took it."

He glances down at the map, shaking his head in amusement, "Perhaps someone should join their brother in high school and attend some geometry classes." Lola frowns as Klaus picks up the ruler and pen from the desk, "There are actually two places where the third massacre could be." He draws two more lines, forming another triangle opposite of Lola's then looks up at her smug.

Lola rolls her eyes, trying to fight back a grin as she puts her hands on top of Klaus', leaning closer to him, "Well, you didn't let me finish."

Klaus' warm smile soon disappears which is replaced with a frown as he looks down at Lola's hands against his, "Where's your ring?"

"Well, I-" Lola quickly moves her hands away from Klaus, looking over to him as her eyes fill with guilt, "We've been busy helping out Stefan I forgot to put it back on after working out."

Klaus' mouth parts like he is about to say something back until the door swings open. Lola quickly turns around, smiling broadly over to Stefan and Caroline who have walked back in, "Hey. What's going on? Did you find Bonnie?"

Stefan shakes his head, "No, but I talked to her dad. We think we've found Silas."

---------------------------------------------------

It was decided that Caroline and Stefan would go to one possible location where the sacrifice is going to take place and Lola and Klaus would go to the other. Klaus has been acting cold towards Lola since they were in Shane's office, she has barely been able to get a single sentence from him as the walk further into the woods.

Lola follows Klaus as he walks ahead of her, "Let me see the map."

"No." Klaus grunts as he places his phone in his pocket, "We're almost there."

"I just want to see where we are."

"You know, when we split up you did have the option of going with Stefan and Caroline."

"Do you even know how to read a map?" Lola retorts in an impatient tone.

"Yes, and do you know who taught me? My friend Magellan." Klaus bites back as he continues walking.

"Wow!" Lola drawls out sarcastically, "You had a friend. Why are you being extra moody than usual? Are you worried you are going to get your boots dirty?"

Klaus stops walking, turning to face Lola, "Do not worry about my boots."

Lola mimics the same cold expression Klaus has on his face before kicking some dried dirt against his boots. Klaus shoots her an unimpressed glare, making her smirk, "Oh, someone is definitely worried about their boots." Klaus' cold expression doesn't change making Lola scoff, "Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

Klaus merely looks at her, stone-faced, "Nothing."

He turns away from her and continues to walk, she rolls her eyes and starts to follow him again, "Maybe I should have gone with Caroline and Stefan. I bet they are having a much more interesting conversation. Perhaps Stefan is going through his step by step guide on how he grooms his hero hair."

Klaus glances around at the empty woods, annoyed that they aren't at the correct spot, "We're here, although judging by the lack of witches, here is not the correct location."

By the time Klaus and Lola reach the other location, Stefan vamp speeds away from the circle of witches chanting around Bonnie, he backs into a tree, groaning in pain. Lola rushes over to him, "Are you okay?"

"They're linked." Stefan breathes out, he holds onto Lola for support, "Bonnie's gonna kill them."

"Not if the witches kill her first." Klaus vamp speeds towards Stefan, pushing him away from Lola, slamming him up against a tree.

"Nik, stop!"

Caroline anxiously glances between the three of them and her best friend screaming out in pain as the witches continue to chant, "We need to save her."

"How?" Klaus snaps, "The only way to stop the witches is to kill them, and then Silas gets what he wants."

Caroline's anxious stare catches Lola's helpless one, "Isn't there some spell or something you can do?"

Lola opens her mouth to say something but Klaus interrupts her before she can, "Lola isn't to go anywhere near those bloody witches!" Lola flinches at the hatred and anger fuelling his words. He looks over to her with a don't-even-think-about-it glare.

"Spirits, take her soul." The witch, Aja, shouts out, "Free her from darkness."

Aja holds a dagger over Bonnie as Bonnie screams out in pain, her eyes are milky white. Caroline vamp runs into the circle, grabbing the dagger out of Aja's grasp, stabbing her in the chest.

Klaus moves away from Stefan, watching the scene horrified, "No!"

Aja drops down to the floor, dead. Caroline watches as the witches forming the circle begin to drop dead and the torches' flames burn out. A wave of guilt begins to swallow her up until she looks over to her friend, "Bonnie." She kneels down in front of her, "Bonnie!"

Bonnie opens her eyes - they are still milky-white, she smiles eerily, "The triangle is complete."

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After quite a bit of convincing, Lola manages to talk Stefan into taking Bonnie and Caroline home leaving her with Klaus as he digs up graves for the dead witches. Neither of them have spoken since Caroline killed the witches, the air grows more and more thick with tension.

"There." Klaus throws the shovel to the ground, "Twelve graves for twelve witches. Like it never happened." He glares over to Lola as he rolls down his sleeves, "Only it did happen, and now Silas has everything he needs to open the gates to hell on earth."

Lola sighs, feeling the animosity between them both, "You were just gonna let Bonnie die."

Klaus walks towards Lola, the soft, gentle look that complimented him only a matter of hours ago is now replaced with anger and frustration, "I know arithmetic isn't your strong point, but one is still less than twelve. Since when have you cared about the witch?"

"Since she is one of Caroline and Stefan's closest friends." Lola shoots back as she steps closer to him.

Annoyance covers his entire face as his eyes darken, "You tell yourself whatever you need to so you can sleep at night."

Lola scoffs slightly, she glares at him, "What is wrong with you?"

Klaus laughs sinisterly, "Nothing, nothing at all. It has nothing to do with the fact I have just spent the night digging up graves for witches that your friend killed."

He spits the word friend as though it's venom. Lola narrows her eyes at him, "Why say it like that?"

"Do you really class Caroline Forbes as a friend to you?"

Lola shrugs, "So what if I do?" Klaus turns away from her, laughing spitefully making Lola roll her eyes, "Well, apparently I'm a comedian now."

Klaus sharply turns back to face Lola, pointing in her direction, "That girl wouldn't even take a second thought to stab you in the back, which has happened before. Everyone in this town has and yet you'd side with all of them before you would side with me."

"That's not true!" Lola yells as she gets defensive.

"Really?"

The bitterness that is coming from Klaus takes Lola by surprise. She scoffs, glaring at him, "Okay. How about we stop pretending that you are angry about what happened tonight and address the real reason you're being the way you are."

"And what would that be, love?" Klaus gestures down at Lola's bare left hand, "You're still not wearing your ring I see. I wonder, did you get confused as to when you removed the ring? You said you took it off before you seen Stefan this morning, yet when I seen you after that you were wearing it. So was it before or after we arrived at the boarding house? Perhaps there was one split second you realised you could do it without me noticing."

"Why are you getting so worked up about when I was and wasn't wearing the ring?"

"If you didn't want to accept my proposal you should have just said this morning. It would have been far less embarrassing than watching you lie about wearing it." Klaus lowers his voice into a threatening one, "After all, it wouldn't be the first time you've refused a proposal from me."

Lola laughs in an exasperated manner, gesturing at the dead witches, "It hasn't exactly been the best of days to announce something like this, especially when Damon isn't even here."

"And it's really so important that he is told straight away? Before you even wear the ring for others to see?"

"I can't believe you've just said that!" Lola exclaims, "He is my brother!"

"You've said so yourself that he only acts like your brother when it's convenient for him; both of them act that way." Klaus steps closer to Lola as he grits his teeth, "Whether you tell them together or not, they won't approve of it. Then no doubt they will try to talk you out of it all together. Maybe that's what you want."

A weight hits Lola's chest as she sees the pure fury in Klaus' eyes. She glares at him, "Excuse me?"

"Am I wrong?" Klaus throws his arms up, "Can you honestly tell me there isn't even a fraction of doubt in your mind about accepting the proposal and in doing so you will allow your brothers to add to that doubt."

"You know what, I think-" Lola laughs dryly, running her hands through her hair, "I think I'm just gonna leave."

Klaus' cold expression drops as he watches her walk away from him, riddled with guilt instantly, "Lola, wait."

"No." Lola snaps as she continues to walk away, "I don't want to be around you when you're like this."

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Stefan walks into the library of the boarding house, feeling deflated and defeated after catching Bonnie up on everything that's happened. He takes the lid off the crystal bottle full of bourbon but then he notices Lola curled up fast asleep on the sofa.

He places the bottle back onto the drinks table, he grabs a blanket and walks over to Lola. Carefully he places the blanket on top of his older sister but the sudden movement makes Lola flinch awake.

She looks around confused before she notices Stefan, "Hey."

"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine." Lola mumbles, she rubs her eyes as she stands up from the sofa as Stefan walks back over to the drinks table, "How's Bonnie?"

Stefan sighs heavily as he pours himself a drink, "The last thing she remembers is being in the cave with Jeremy on that island. Caroline is with her now."

"Does she know about Jeremy?"

Stefan bows his head as he nods making Lola sigh. He gestures to pour Lola a drink but she declines, he clears his throat as he walks back over to her, "What are you doing here? Not that I'm against it or anything. The house is a lot quieter now you aren't here all the time. But your room is still exactly how you left it, you didn't need to sleep on the sofa."

"I didn't even realise I fell asleep, it was a long night." Lola sits on the edge of the sofa, burying her face into the palm of her hands until she feels a dip in the sofa beside her, "I don't wanna talk about it."

Stefan scans Lola's face, behind the tiredness he can tell there is something she wants to talk to him about, the same look she had earlier, "But there is something you want to talk about."

Lola shakes her head, "It was just to see if Bonnie was okay."

Lola leans back and sinks into the sofa as Stefan's phone rings. He sees the ID as Damon so he answers and puts it straight on speakerphone, "Damon."

"We've hit a big of a snag on the search for the cure, brother."

"Damon, what did you do?" Lola drawls out in a mocking tone.

"Little sister, I might have known you'd be joining in on the gloating. Let's just say it involves a 5' 7" brunette and her blonde accomplice."

Stefan sinks further into the sofa beside Lola, "Please don't tell me this is going where I think it is."

"Wrong fantasy, brother. Unless you're into betrayal and snapped necks. The lead I had on Katherine, Elena stole. If you're searching for the words to tell me how badly I screwed up, save your breath."

"We didn't stop the massacre."

"Guess Silas has everything he needs."

"Everything but the cure."

"Listen, Elena and Barbie Klaus have took my car and gone to search for Katherine on their own leaving me stranded in New York."

Stefan scoffs, "Huh, a bit like you did with Lexi."

"Can we stop with the irony right now? Just come and get me so we can find them before they do anything else reckless."

Stefan hangs up the phone as he stands up from the sofa, "I'm gonna speak to Sheriff Forbes, see if she can track Damon's car and figure out where they were going next. Are you coming with me to get Damon?"

Lola shakes her head, staying in the same place on the sofa, "Honestly, I could really do with being alone."

Concern floods Stefan's face, "Hey, talk to me. What's going on?"

Lola takes hold of Stefan's hand as he stands beside her, giving him a squeeze of reassurance, "It can wait until you get back. Don't try and get it out of me. I could do with our idiotic brother here also when I explain everything."

"Okay." Stefan walks around the sofa, leaving a kiss on the top of Lola's head before he walks out of the library, "We'll be back soon."

"Stef!" Lola calls out as she turns to see Stefan standing in the doorway looking back at her, "Remember to gloat for the both of us."

Stefan chuckles slightly before continuing to walk out of the library. Lola sinks back in the sofa, sighing deeply, staying there for a moment before dragging herself upstairs to wash away the negativity from the day.

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AN: POV: you make an edit of your OC as a vampire and wanna share it🥲 missing vampire Lola😩

Also I do have a ring in mind when I pictured Klaus proposing so if you'd like to see it just let me know and I'll add it to the end of the next chapter. It may not be to everyone's taste but it is unique just like these two🥰

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Holly x