Darling, you wound me.

O

"Wait, what? You turned it back on tonight?" She sat up in her seat and turned to look at me with curiosity.

"Yes." I didn't know what else to say, but she clearly wanted an explanation.

"What made you do it?" She asked. I could see the curiosity in her eyes, lighting them up.

"I was hunting, and saw you running, and failing at it. So I followed you. I saw you at the falls, crying. Then you broke off the limb from the tree and were about to stake yourself. In that moment, something clicked and I ran and threw the stake out of your hand before you could go through with it. I had gone through that exact same thing before, and I began to feel again. For the first time in a thousand years, I felt my humanity, begging me to turn it on, so I did." I still had no idea why I was telling her all of this personal information. Maybe I felt that if my brother could trust her, then I could too.

"So I caused you to turn it back on?" She was still looking at me. I couldn't help but smile. I could tell why she had brothers fighting over her, the same as Katerina and Tatia before. She was very beautiful, even after crying. But her compassion and innocence separated her from the other two.

"I believe so, darling." I said as I continued to drive, now on the highway. The sun was just above the horizon. I could feel the irritation, but it wasn't nearly as bad with the tinted windows. I looked over and she was playing with my ring. She had put it on her finger, still on the necklace, and twirling it around while looking at the sunrise. I smiled.
"You don't have to be worried, love. I won't let anything hurt you." She looked over at me and relaxed a little.

"How long will the drive be?" She asked, I could tell she was tired. She had a long night, what with dying and being turned into a creature of the night and all.

"About 10 hours. Get some sleep, darling. You will be safe, you look exhausted." I said she nodded and leaned the seat back, closing her eyes. After a few minutes I could hear her breathing even out and I knew she was asleep. I could hear her undead heartbeat steadily increase as she began to toss and turn in the seat. She must be having a nightmare. I could hear her mumbling.

I took off my jacket and carefully slid it over her, so as to not wake her. I watched her quickly clutch onto my jacket and pull it up towards her face. In a few seconds, she was back into a peaceful sleep, still holding my jacket.

I drove for about 7 hours and had to get gas. The one part of driving I didn't like. I did it quickly and quietly, trying to to wake her. As soon as I got back into the car, I saw her starting to stir.

"Where are we?" She asked, still in a sleepy voice. It was kind of adorable. Wait, what was I thinking?

"We are about 2 and a half hours away." I told her, watching her still holding my jacket, she looked outside and began to stretch.

"So we are going south?" She asked, looking out the window at the flattened and warmer landscape.

"Yes, darling. How did you sleep?" She looked down at my jacket and then looked at me.

"We'll I had a nightmare, then I felt warm and it stopped, I guess I could thank you for that." She said getting ready to hand me back the jacket.

"You can wear it for now, love. I know you are cold." I told her, she hesitated for a few minutes and the slid it on.

"You are much nicer than I expected." She said. I couldn't blame her, I had been a cold, heartless monster for a thousand years.

"I seem to have had a change of heart, it seems." I told her, looking back at the road.

"You know, with your humanity on, you remind me some of Elijah. You are definitely more like him than Klaus or Rebekah." I turned to look at her, to me that was a compliment. I had always looked up to my brother.
"I will take that as a compliment. Everyone has told me that I look like a younger version of him." I told her, she smiled.

"You do. How old were you when you changed?" She asked out of nowhere. I looked at her and smiled. She actually wanted to know more about me.

"Well back then, we didn't really care about ages. But I remember that I had been alive for 19 winters. My birthday was in the spring, so I was almost 20 years old when we were turned." I told her. She looked happy, smiling, then she started laughing. I was confused.

"What is so funny?" I asked quickly.

"Oh, nothing, just that we are now both eternal teenagers. I'm 18, and you are 19." I started laughing as well. I knew it wasn't that funny, but she wasn't used to her heightened emotions yet.

"Okay, I'm getting hungry. Or thirsty, or whatever it is. I want blood." She said, calming down. I pulled the car off to the side of the road, and ran to the trunk. I opened it, and to the average person, it would look normal. But I hit a button under the lid and the floor of the trunk rose, showing my hidden blood cooler. I grabbed two bags and closed the lid, flashing back to the drivers seat. I was back on the road in a matter of seconds. I could see her looking over at the blood bags in my hand. I knew the first feeding would tend to get a little messy, but she needed to feed.

I watched as I started to hand her the blood. Her face immediately changing. Gods she was gorgeous as a vampire. Why was I thinking like that, I'm only here to help the girl that gave my humanity back. She grabbed the bag out of my hand, snapping my back into reality.

I watched as she took the cap off and started sucking the dark red liquid out quickly. Some spilled out of the side of her lips, I could keep myself from looking. As soon as she finished the bag, a lot messier than I imagined, she took her finger, wiping the extra off her chin and licking it. That was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I had to keep my eyes focused on the road, or else I wouldn't be able to control myself. I took off the top of my own blood bag and began sipping at it. I could feel her watching me as I drank the blood.

I had about half of it when I felt the bag being snatched from my hands. I looked over at her in amusement as she quickly finished it off, then looked at me with guilt.

"You know, if you wanted it you could have just asked." I laughed.

"I'm sorry, I thought I could resist, but clearly I couldn't." She said looking guilty.

"Don't worry, love. I'm not mad. I'm amused. You have much better control than any other newborn vampire I have ever seen. Normally there would have been blood all over my car by now. I'm impressed. However, you owe me for taking my snack." I said with a smirk.

"And what do I owe you?" She looked at me laughing. I smiled back at her and put my eyes back on the road.

"I don't know yet. I will tell you when I figure it out though." I responded.

"Will your siblings be mad that you just left without saying anything?" She asked, to be honest it kind of caught me off guard.

"No, I tend to just disappear without reason, so they will assume its that." She turned to look at me, I could see the wheels turning in her head. "What about you? Won't they look for you?"

"Before I took off through the woods, I left a letter on my bed telling them how I didn't want this life and that I would be gone by sunrise. They probably think I am dead. But they won't give up hope. I have a new addition to our deal." She said, looking at me seriously.

"And what would that be, love?" I asked.

"You can't leave randomly, and you have to keep me hidden. I don't want them to find me." I didn't want them to find her either. I wanted to kill them, but I promised no killing.

"And what do I get in return?" I asked jokingly. She cocked her head to look up at me, smiling.

"Anything you want. Within reasonable terms." She said teasingly. Gods I could think of so many things I wanted right now, but none of them were reasonable.

"You have my word that I will not disappear and I will hide you, which is something I can do well." I made eye contact and she nodded.