Loving you Forever

Chapter 12

Caroline looked out at the beautiful sunset in front of her, the colors playing off the ocean beautifully. She downed the rest of her glass, glad that Nik had thought to water down his blood with some wine, as it had made the taste more bearable. She put the glass down on a table that was on the balcony, it made a chime ring out in the silence.

"Are you sure about this?" Nik asked, wrapping his arms around from behind, "You can still change your mind, live a long life and die of old age."

"No, my decision was made for me the second you laid your eyes on me. I just don't think either of us realized it that early on." Caroline told him, enjoying the warm breeze on her face and strength of his embrace.

"That day almost seems so long ago, it is strange to think that is was only 4 months since I first saw you." Nik whispered, pulling her closer to him, "I will never let you go if agree to this Caroline, it will be the two of us forever."

"And that is exactly how I want it to be." Caroline said as she relaxed in his arms, "Have you decided on how to do it?"

"I have." He answered and pulled away so she faced him, "Do you want to know?"

She shook her head, "No, I would rather not. I trust you to pick something quick and painless."

Nik smiled and cupped her face with both of his hands and brought their lips together in a kiss. "I love you." He told her as the lips parted, and she smiled at him. He kept her eyes locked on his as he moved his hands to her neck and snapped it.

Nik carefully placed Caroline's lifeless body on their bed, and went downstairs to prepare a glass of blood for her, so she could complete the transition. He was sure that she would want to do it this way, it would easier for her to control after she was a full vampire. The first time was never the best time to take from the vein, he had never seen it end well.

"Is it done?" Rebekah asked as he came down the stairs, she had been enjoying her own meal of a boy she had picked up at some winery or something like that.

"Yes, she just needs to wake up." Nik said and took a long gulp of some whiskey he had acquired, and then looked at the compelled man next to Rebekah, "Can you share a bit or do I need to go find my own?"

"I would share with Caroline any day." Rebekah said and held the boy's wrist, waiting to slit it until Nik had placed the glass underneath it.

Once the glass was full, he took it away and headed back upstairs, over his shoulder he called, "I am going to go wait for her. We will see you sometime tomorrow Bekah."

"I understand." Rebekah called, a smile on her face as she continued to drink from the boy in front of her.

Rebekah was interrupted a few moments later when Edward and Raymondwandered in from other parts of the house. Raymondspoke first, "Did I hear right, he finally did it?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes, "Yes Kol. The next time we see Caroline she will be a vampire."

"I think Caroline will make an excellent vampire." Edward commented as he went to pour himself a drink of Nik' whiskey.

"So do I. I just wish he had done it months ago before Father nearly killed us because she is our weakness." Raymondexplained, and looked at his brother, "Can you pour me a drink?"

Edward raised his eyebrows, but did has he was requested, Raymondusually didn't ask, he demanded. He slowly moved to sit in the chair adjacent from Kol, and across from the couch that Rebekah and her toy occupied, handing Raymondhis drink as he passed.

"Did either of you think that Nik would be the first of us to find love?" Raymondasked before taking a small gulp of his drink.

Rebekah compelled her boy to leave before turning to Kol, "He was the second, if you think about it." She answered, and took in their confused faces, "I ran into Sage this morning when I was out looking for my friend there."

Raymondrolled his eyes, "Sage? Why is she always following us? We should give her some credit, she is much better at tracking us than Father."

"She wants Finn back, at least that is what she told me." Rebekah told them, "Should we move again? Sage could always tell Jasper where we are as a way of revenge."

"She would have done that decades ago if that was her plan." Edward spoke up, "I am sure we are fine. We will discuss Sage with Nikolas and Caroline tomorrow, there is no need to concern either of them with such problems right now."

Caroline awoke with a start, her hand immediately going to her throat.

"Caroline." His rich voice said, and her head snapped in his direction.

"You snapped my neck." She replied, not sure what to think of his method.

"It seemed the quickest and least painful way I could think of. How are you feeling?" He asked, moving from his place in a chair looking out a window to sit beside her on the bed.

"Strange, and my throat is scratchy. Is that from the neck breaking?" She asked, her hand rubbing her throat once again, "And what is that delicious smell?"

"No, the scratching feeling is because you need this, which is also the smell." He reached for a goblet resting on the night-table and held it in front of her, "Here, drink, you will feel so much better."

Caroline looked at goblet, the smell coming from the object was so inviting and she felt her entire body screaming for her to drink it. She gently took it from his hands and brought to her lips, drinking the coppery liquid down in two large gulps.

As the blood coated her throat, she felt her entire being come to life with new sensations and feelings. She could pick up the movements of her siblings downstairs, even hear some of the words they were saying. Her more intimate surroundings called to her, mostly the steady, faint thump of her husband's heartbeat. When her blue eyes met his, she felt her body surge with a nearly overwhelming amount of love. She had believed she had loved him completely before, but the intensity of her feelings in this moment were so greater than anything she had ever felt.

"I love you." She whispered, giving him a smile to match her words.

"As I love you." He responded at brought their lips together in a tender kiss. He pulled away slowly and cupped her face, "Are you feeling overwhelmed or confused on anything?"

"No, mostly I just want more blood." She answered honestly, feeling that thirst return, just not with the same searing need as before.

Nik smirked at her, "That feeling will always be there, the hard part is controlling the urge to act on the feeling. I will help you with that control. Your experience as a young vampire will be much more pleasant than mine, I will make sure of it."

"I never doubted you would." Caroline responded with a smile of her own before lying back down on the bed, "Will all my feelings always be this intense?"

"They are stronger at the beginning," He explained as he lowered himself to lie down beside her, "As you gain control over the desire for blood, you can also gain control of your emotions. There are even ways to shut of your emotions entirely, but I would not recommend doing that, I have never seen it end well."

"Why would anyone turn off all of their emotions?" She asked as she curled her body into his.

"There are times when the bloodlust overtakes the control, and a vampire will kill those he, or she, is feeding on. The guilt from that act can be too much for some vampires, and so though choose not to feel the guilt, but in doing so they also turn off their other emotions. Leaving them as an emotionless monster." Nik explained, he had seen it happen to many a vampire they had turned over the last few centuries.

"Have you ever turned off your emotions?" Caroline asked, keeping her head planted firmly on his chest.

Nik was silent for a moment before answering, "No. I have considered it a few times, but I could never bring myself to turn it off. If I did, I would lose what little bit of my humanity I still had intact after all the horrible things I had done. I needed that humanity to love my siblings and to fear Jasper." He smiled down at her, "I glad that I never turned it off, if I had then I could have missed out on loving you."

"You would have found me anyway, we are meant to be." She whispered before her breathing even out and she fell asleep in his arms.

Nik smiled at her, "Yes, we are." He whispered to her sleeping form before he followed her into the void.

Caroline walked down the stairs with a large grin on her face. Her entire being felt lighter yet stronger, she would like being a vampire, she could already tell. As she approached the dining room, she could overhear Rebekah talking to Nik, who had gone down a few minutes before her, "I ran into Sage yesterday."

Nik groaned in response, "What did she want?"

"To talk, about Finn." Rebekah replied, her eyes glancing up to Caroline as she entered. A smile grew on the Original's face, "How are you feeling?"

"Excellent." Caroline responded and moved to give her fellow blonde a hug, "I have never felt more alive."

"It is a wonderful plus side to vampirism." Rebekah agreed as she released her from the embrace.

Caroline took a step back and looked at her husband, "A redhaired woman named Sage came up to me at the market the same day I ran into Jasper. It slipped my mind with all the upheaval that Jasper caused."

"What did she say to you?" Nik asked, his eyes settling firmly on hers.

"Just that she wants a chance to live her life with the man she loves, the brother you keep locked in a box." Caroline replied, giving her husband a long hard stare and not even flinching to look at Rebekah when she let out a gasp, "You have never mentioned another brother to me before."

"Haven't you learned to not keep secrets Nik?" Raymondasked as he sauntered into the room and plopping himself down in one of the chairs at the table.

"Keep your mouth shut Kol." Nik snapped at his younger brother.

Raymondhuffed in response before taking a bite out of a piece of bread, all the while smirking at his angry brother.

Nik growled and was about to take a step toward him when Edward intervened, "Enough of this childness. We are all adults, lets try to at least behave like it through breakfast. Every, please, take a seat and lets explain a bit of our history to Caroline."

Rebekah was quick to take her place at the table, Caroline slipping into the seat next to her while Nik sat at the head of the table to Caroline's right, and Edward sat at the opposite end, with Rebekah on his right and Raymondon his left.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Caroline asked, "So who is Finn?"

Edward answered first, "Finn is our elder brother."

"Why isn't he here and who is Sage?" She then questioned.

"Sage is the little red headed wench Finn turned into a vampire after we turned. He claims to love her, and her him." Raymondreplied quickly.

There was silence once he finished his recount, and Caroline waited to see who would answer her second question. When no one moved to speak, and Nik refused to meet her gaze she asked again, "Why is he in box? And how is he in a box?"

"There are these daggers that a witch made for some vampire hunters." Rebekah started to explain, "There are six of them, and what they do is put us, the Originals, into a sort of death sleep. As long as the dagger is in our heart, we are basically dead. That is how Finn has been for the last two centuries or so."

Caroline sighed in annoyance when again someone only answered half her questions. She turned to her husband, "Nikolas, why is your elder brother in a box? I would like a straight answer please."

Nik gritted his teeth while taking a deep breath before he said, "Finn wanted to leave. He was sick of our constant movement because of Jasper and just wanted to live a peaceful life with Sage."

Caroline waited to see if he was going to continue before asking, "And why was this a bad thing?"

"I was an angry person at the time, haunted you could say. I saw Finn's decision to leave as a betrayal, and I didn't handle it with the best grace. We had recently acquired the daggers from the hunters, and in my rage I plunged one into Finn's heart. He has been that way ever since." Nik told her, all the while never looking up from the plate of food in front of him.

Caroline looked around the table at her family, surprised that none of the other three did anything to stop this. Caroline closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, "Are you still angry with him for wanting to leave?"

"No, I understand it now." He admitted, still not looking up.

"Good, so are we going to let him out so he can be with Sage?" Caroline asked her gaze resting on everyone at the table before stopping on Nik.

"It was not something that I have given a lot of thought to." Nik replied finally lifting his gaze to meet with the cold blue stare of his bride.

Caroline let out a huff and said, "Tomorrow, we are having Sage over for tea. It is better to have her as a friend rather than an enemy."

She watched as her family shifted in their seats, all waiting to see how Nik would react, and he didn't say a word. He just slowly raised his glass of wine to his lips.

Edward broke the silence, "I agree with Caroline. Sage has learned our habits too well, if we continue to deny her she can to Father with what she knows. Our only choices are to have her join us, or to kill her. The latter would turn Finn against us, for he cannot remain in that coffin forever."

Nik turned his glare onto his older brother, not sure when suddenly his entire family was against him. His eyes slowly drifted to Kol, who looked more confused than anything else.

Raymondgulped and said, "I for one do not miss Finn, he was always a downer. However, I do feel that Sage is a greater issue, and if all she wants is Finn back, I feel we should just wake him up and let them go on their way."

Caroline could sense that her husband was furious at her and his family, she calmly said to him, "We are not moving against you, we are just voicing our opinions."

Nik continued to silently stare at them before he got to his feet quickly, his chair falling to the floor with a clack before he sped from the room, leaving the other in shock.

Caroline made a move to get to his feet when Rebekah stalled her, "Trust me, he needs some time to think on this, alone."

"I am surprised that went as well as it did." Raymondcommented before he resumed his meal, earning a raised eyebrow from Caroline. He elaborated, "Usually if we tell him we think he is wrong he end up with threats or something sticking out of us."

Rebekah rolled her eyes before looking at Caroline, "How would you like us to look around the grounds while your husband sulks? Things will seem a bit different now that you are a vampire."

"I am not sulking." Nik replied suddenly from the doorway, causing four pairs of eyes to jump to him, "I was just doing as requested." He stepped aside, revealing a man standing behind him.

Caroline smiled, though they had never met, she knew instantly that this was Finn. She could even see the relation to his siblings, well to Edward and Raymondat least. Caroline slowly got out the chair and approached the man, giving him a sweet smile, "Hello I am Caroline, Nikolas' wife."

Finn's entire body reacted to her words, his head snapped up to Nik, as if trying to see if she was lying by looking at his brother. Then his eyes slowly drifted to Caroline, and he stared at her intently, his eyes drifting over her body and stalling all her left hand for a long moment before their eyes met, "Finn Jasperson, it is a pleasure." He told her, and his eyes drifted back to Nik.

Caroline nodded at him, "It is wonderful to finally meet you. Now, we can truly start our new lives as a whole family." She took a few more steps and stopped in front of her husband, "I am glad you agreed." She told him before giving him a nice, long kiss on the mouth.

When she pulled away he looked at her with surprise, but quickly recovered, "I was just shown the errors of my ways."

Caroline smirked before turning to go back to her seat, and she noticed that Raymondhas already placed another one next to him on his side of the table.

Nik and Finn slowly walked to their seats, it was clear that Finn was still unsure about to handle things.

Edward broke the uncomfortable silence once his brothers had been seated, "Now, what should we discuss first?"

Three weeks had passed since Finn's resurrection and Sage's inclusion into the family fold. Things were often stressed between the newly reunited couple and the rest of the family, but it was getting easier with each day.

Caroline walked to her bedroom after a long day of visiting the local markets with Rebekah and Sage, an attempt at womanly bonding. Though she did find herself liking Sage, she could already tell that their friendship would never match the level that she shared with Rebekah.

Arms wrapped around her as soon as the door had shut behind her completely, "You are so beautiful." Nik whispered in her ear before dropping a kiss on her neck.

Caroline laughed, "You say that everyday."

"That does not make it any less true." He responded and spun her around, "I was thinking that you and I deserve sometime to ourselves for awhile. How would you like to see Athens?"

Caroline c****d her head and gave him a questioning look, "You wish to leave your family?"

"Not forever, only for a few months, maybe a year. I want to spend some time focusing just on us." Nik explained to her, ending his sentence with a quick kiss to her lips.

"We cannot leave until after the wedding." Caroline reminded him, spinning away to walk toward the window.

"I wasn't suggesting we did, I was just suggesting that we get time to focus on us, and no one else." Nik insisted, not understanding her resistance, "Are you afraid to be truly alone with me?"

"Of course not." She scoffed, and turned to look at him, "I just never took a moment to realize that we have never been completely alone."

"Then why are you resisting?" He asked, coming to stand beside her once again.

Caroline looked away for a moment before she looked into his blue eyes, "What if we leave and something happens to them?"

Nik sighed in understanding and placed his arms on her shoulders, "They are more than capable of looking out for themselves. Besides, Jasper is more interested in getting to me than he is them."

Caroline nodded, she had gathered that from all she had learned of Jasper since his attack on her at the market. Caroline smiled at him and said, "Yes, Nik. Let's go to Athens, I will travel this entire world with you."

Nik smiled, it was the first time she had used the nickname that was previously only reserved for use by his younger siblings. He lent down and captured her lips, this time pushing all of his emotions into it. When he separated their lips, he asked, "What are the places you wish to see?"

Caroline paused for a moment before saying, "Everywhere. Egypt, China, all the great cities of the world. And, one day, I want to see the land where you were born."

"That place doesn't exist to the civilized world." He replied, finding her smile contagious, even if it was not his favorite idea of all time.

"For now, one day it will be and when that happens, I want to see it. Can you promise me that Nik?" Caroline asked, smirking up at him as she was held in his arms.

"Yes my love. I promise you that one day you will see the land where I was born." He told her, their eyes never breaking contact during the promise.

Caroline's smile grew greater and she wrapped her arms around his waist, waiting for the day when his promise would be fulfilled and knew that she would love this man forever and always, no matter what changes life threw their way.