A QUIET SIGH LEFT AURELIA'S sleeping form as Kol raised his head from his pillow to gaze down at her. His large hand trailed up her body, and stopped at where her hair had fallen over and was covering her face.

He smiled, delicately taking the smooth blonde hair between his fingers to move it away from her cheekbone so that he could get a better look at his dearest love, whose features and expression remained sweet and calm, despite her fiery temper while she was up and awake.

He chuckled softly, letting his lips come in contact with her nose.

A tiny 'chu' sound was let out when he pulled away from her and sat up in his bed, reaching down to the floor next to him to take his jeans. His eyes diverted to Aurelia several times as he wore them, making sure that she was sound asleep.

There was a chance that she was, of course. It was four in the morning, and they had only gotten to sleep an hour before that.

Quietly throwing off his covers, he pulled himself up to his feet and then made his way towards his closet, his feet making little to no sound from hitting the floor. It was his intention; Aurelia may have been asleep, but a simple noise could wake her up, and he didn't want that.

As he wore his shirt, he pulled out another, smaller shirt of his and kept it on the bed to make up for her torn shirt sitting on the ground just feet away from him. He had grimaced once earlier, knowing she preferred to keep her clothes intact.

He then walked towards a table at the far corner of the room with a soft sigh, staring at the piece of paper and pen sitting there, like it had been just hours ago. He took it between his fingers and flipped it over, examining what little he had written before he heard Aurelia in the house.

'Darling Aurelia,' He mouthed slowly, his eyes dimming and flickering down to the pen that was still on the table; a harsh reminder of his plans that still stood strong and stubbornly.

He'd have to write even if he was wrong.

"DAMON!" DAMON SALVATORE WINCED at the high-pitched and strict tone through the phone. "WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN PICKING UP MY CALLS?!"

"I don't like you, that's why." He replied with a frown, genuinely curious as to why she had suddenly become so clingy and desperate for him to pick her calls up. The last time he had checked, Caroline hated him with a passion that burned more than a vampire's skin when it was set on fire. "What do you want from me?"

"Aurelia slept over at yours last night, didn't she?" This made his eyebrows shoot up as he heard the tone of her voice become concerned in a matter of seconds. "She did, right Damon? She never texted me about where she was crashing, and Rebekah isn't picking up—"

"Hold on," He shot, narrowing his eyes. "How do you have Barbie Klaus' number?" A loud growl- from what he could make out- instantly emitted at his evidently unnecessary question.

"Do you think this is the time to ask me that?!" Caroline snapped furiously. "My sister is missing! She's-she's been kidnapped! Who would do that? She's on Klaus' side ever since you and Stefan pulled that stunt of yours last night, and none of us have seen her."

"You're suggesting that the creepy, sadistic family has nothing to do with this?" He tried to make a statement, but let out a question instead. "How? You know they're not to be trusted." He paused, letting out a loud huff. "Okay, you relax and leave the dirty work to me. I will singlehandedly find Aurelia, and I'll do it all by myself."

"You didn't have to say the last part; 'singlehandedly' got through to me." He rolled his eyes. "A-And you're incompetent!" This time, an exaggerated gasp passed from him.

"How hurtful it is to know that yet another person underestimates my flawless skills." Another pause. "I'll find her and call you."

"...okay." He then ended the call and looked up the stairs.

"STEFAN! I NEED A LITTLE BIT OF HELP!"

"DEAR DIARY," DAMON STARTED, looking at Stefan, who shut the book. "A chipmunk asked me my name today. I told him it was Joe. That lie will haunt me forever." Stefan rolled his eyes as he looked up at his brother with a 'leave me alone' look. "What? That was a great joke." Pushing himself up from his seat, the younger Salvatore made his way to a shelf filled with diaries that looked just like the one in his hand.

"What do you want?" His voice was laced with irritation as he posed his question. "You just left my room, like five minutes ago."

"And I'm back." Damon added on, a cheeky smile on his face. "Did you not hear my call from downstairs? The last time I checked, you were a vampire with supernatural hearing."

"I did, but I decided to ignore you." He mumbled, pushing his book in between a few of his older journals. "Since you came up here, I assume it's something that you can't do yourself; however, I have no interest in saving your ass or helping you out again."

"Aurelia went poof." Stefan's head snapped to look at him. "Hah, it worked."

"She's missing?" His neutral expression fell to one of slight concern. "Since when? We just saw her last night, with Klaus..." He trailed off as the memory of the pain inflicted on him flashed through his mind. "Shouldn't she be at his place?" He asked. Damon shrugged.

"We can call them, but it's better if we go there to catch anything they're hiding." He proposed. "Who knows? Aurelia could be one of them. After we find her, we can discuss a little family history."

Stefan opened his mouth to question Damon, but a small creak from the front door caught their attention, making them look outside Stefan's room. "Who could that be?"

As they made their way downstairs, they made sure not to make any noise, hoping to catch whoever had walked into the house and kept so quiet so easily. They were sure that the person was trying to hide, which only meant that there was trouble coming for them.

Much to their surprise, a blonde stood near the door, her hands placed on the wooden surface in a position that made them assume she was trying to close it. "Aurelia?" Stefan asked, making her whip around to face him with a slightly shocked face. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, Damon once said that I was welcome here." She said, her voice just the slightest bit hoarser than it usually was. "I took advantage of that invitation. And I don't care if you decided to uninvite me." She cleared her throat. "You never informed me of any change either."

"Yeah, that's not the issue here." Damon spoke up. "But I have to ask, why did you decide to come here? You have two other homes—"

"None of your business." She snapped, pushing backwards for the door to shut entirely with a small 'thud'. "How many bedrooms are in this house and which one lies the furthest away from the both of yours?" She glanced between the two brothers, who exchanged perplexed glances before looking at her properly.

She looked relatively normal except for her usually perfect hair, which was a slight bit messy. Her makeup, especially eyeliner had noticeably bled out, and her signature lipstick was untraceable on her lips which showcased her natural, pink-tinted color.

"Hello?" She snapped her fingers impatiently to get their attention. "Answer me." They blinked a few times, before Damon took the chance to speak.

"Uh, third bedroom on the left as you go upstairs..." He began to say, making her nod once and walk towards the space between the brothers, presumably to pass them to get to the stairs.

However, a white sheet in her hand caught Damon's eye, making him raise an eyebrow and grab her upper arm to stop her from going further. As expected, a low growl emitted from her as she took a look at where he had gripped her, and then up at his face.

"What's this, now?" Her aggressive expression faded away as she realized what he was referring to, and began to take the letter away in vain; Damon had been faster and snatched the letter away from her, holding it up and out of her reach.

"Are you bored of living?" She almost yelled, standing on her toes to reach his hand. "Want to take a one-way trip to death's door?" She was getting angrier and angrier with each word she said, but Damon knew well that she wouldn't kill him over a mere letter—

His eyes widened as he read the first line of the handwritten message, quickly comprehending that he might as well have been knocking on death's door. "Well shit, this is why you're so cranky and disheveled!"

"What did you just say?!" A snarl was worn on her features as he began to read the letter aloud. "Say it again, I dare you."

"I'd rather read this lovely little letter I'm holding right here." He said, making her jump up. "Ah, ah, you wouldn't want me to rip this apart now, would you?" Her eyes shot wide open in horror, making his laugh softly as she shook her head. "No? Then let me read it." Stepping down and away from him, Aurelia's sneer never left her face, not even as she glanced at Stefan. Damon figured it was because she was cursing him for just standing there and watching the two...friends... or whatever they were...argue.

"DAMON SALVATORE!" Aurelia finally screeched, raising her head to reveal a violent snarl on her features. "IF YOU WANT TO DIE—"

"What's that?" Stefan suddenly spoke up, his eyes fixated on the blonde's neck. A small bruise was made visible as her hair moved out of the way from her sharp movements. "What the hell is that?" He then repeated himself; it was clear he had figured out what was going on.

"It's called a result of sex, Stefan!" Aurelia snapped at him. "I don't know if you've heard, but hickeys are more common than you think they are!" As soon as she let out those words, Stefan's eyebrows arched high in surprise while Aurelia turned her attention back to Damon and finally snatched the letter away from him. "Assholes; the both of you." She mumbled, straightening out her oversized shirt- which evidently didn't belong to her- before trying to push past the brothers. "I want these bruises to heal now; I'll have to drop into your little blood bank in the cellar, and that's not a request."

"How long haven't you had blood in?" Stefan asked, holding her arm. "You should've healed if you..." He gritted his teeth. "...got them last night." Aurelia's frown turned into a smug smile as she eyed him up and down.

"Who's to say I haven't?" She asked curtly, tilting her head to tease him. "I mean, most of them have; the ones you see now were just a little deeper than you think." Stefan bit his lip at her implication. "You see, sweetheart, not all of us women prefer our men- or women- to be gentle." She was clearly enjoying his unpleasant and possibly envious reaction to the fact that she had some fun. "As for your question..." She pulled her arm out of his grasp. "I haven't had blood in a while; if I had fed recently, then you wouldn't be able to visually tell that I got laid."

"It's obvious, all right." Damon remarked, making her whip her head towards him. "You reek of sex."

"I said visually, Damon." She enunciated. "Besides, I like to let people know what they're missing out on." She snuck a glance towards Stefan. "It's just so fun to rile them up, whether I like them or not." A large smile appeared on her lips. "Now, like I said, I want a blood bag. It should be out in a glass by the time I'm done showering."

"And why should we listen to you?" He asked, watching her as she began to walk away from them.

"Because," She paused, stopping at the foot of the steps to look at them. "I'm sticking to you two for the day; I need a change of surrounding, and what better than hanging out and drinking with the legendary Salvatore brothers?" She dramatically spoke at she got closer and closer to the end of her statement. "And if you do me favors; I won't kick you where it hurts." She smiled yet again, before walking up the stairs to look for a room.

"You heard the lady," Damon began, patting his brother's shoulder. "Get her a blood bag. I like nice Aurelia, not bitchy Aurelia."

"AURELIA," STEFAN CALLED OUT, walking into the room where he had heard the running shower. "I have your glass and blood bag." He continued, mentally slapping himself for abiding by her rude request, despite having no obligation to her. He knew she'd act up whether or not she got what she wanted.

Regretfully to him, it was what the Aurelia of the 21st century was like.

His eyes fell on the folded white sheet on a table he had approached to place the contents he was carrying on. "Hmm.." He placed his hand on the table; it involuntarily began to shake, the tapping sound of his ring echoing across the room.

His temptation for the human blood in the bag began to evaporate as he focused on the sparked curiosity of the letter's contents.

"Stop doing that." He looked up to see Aurelia walk into the room, her eyes on his hand. "It irritates me." Much to his surprise, she wasn't smugly standing in only a towel in order to tease him; she was fully dressed with damp hair and a face with her usual amount of makeup. "If you wanted to ask, I had left a few of my things and clothes from my first stay here." She said, referring to around when she had just appeared in Mystic Falls weeks ago. "I have everything I need in this room; you'll notice that it's the only reason why I'm not in a room farthest away from the both of you." Stefan hummed in response, taking a look at her door- she was right, her room was rather close to his.

"...Who were you with last night?" He asked, making her part her lips to show a slightly exaggerated expression of shock.

"Stefan Salvatore," She started as she took a seat on her bed. "Curious about my sex life?" Stefan refused to answer her, causing her amused manner to turn bored. "Wow, way to ruin the mood. You know I love it when you overreact."

"I actually don't." He replied curtly. "I don't know things when you don't explicitly mention said things."

"Ah, but if you're so curious to know who I spent the night with- even if it's none of your business but hey, I'm totally not in the position to oppose," She was being sarcastic, much to his irritation; he just wanted her to tell him what he wanted to know. "You just need to think." She ran her hand through her hair in an attempt to comb it out of her face.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She rolled her eyes at his forward and stupid question.

"Think." She answered, lowering her hand from her head to look at her nails in an attempt to let him know that she was losing patience and would walk out of the conversation if he continued to act like a dumbass. "I'm currently straight; so which men in town could possibly be interested in me?" She added on slowly, noticing that they had passed a while by in silence. "Except for you, of course."

"I—"

"Hush," She cut him off. "Don't deny it; you wouldn't be prying otherwise." He glared at her, hoping to faze her the slightest bit. It was quite obviously in vain, as she only looked at him with the same self-satisfied expression she wore when she walked out of the shower.

He remained quiet this time, leaning back against the table. It wasn't long before she could hear the same 'tap-tap' noise that infuriated her to no end. It was clearly from his large and tacky daylight ring- one that none other than Katherine Pierce had given him and Damon- and it didn't seem like he'd stop fidgeting anytime soon.

"What's going on with you?" Her smirk dropped as she posed the question that broke him out of his apparent trance. "You've been zoning out and it's honestly creepy." A huff left her lips as she stood up and made her way towards him.

"Uh.." He began, eyes on her as she neared him. "I...It's a blood thing." She quirked up an eyebrow as his answer sparked her interest.

Yes, she was a vampire, she was sadistic and ruthless, but Stefan was a certain kind of vampire- a Ripper. Having seen little to no such vampires in her almost four centuries of existence only added fuel to the flame of her curiosity. "So I've heard. You get ruthless around human blood, don't you? Only, unlike me, you can't control your bloodlust." Stefan looked at her in slight wonder as she spoke. "Klaus shares rather interesting stories. You've been on a roll for the last few months. I wonder if your sanity's finally caught up to you; considering your emotions were absent until recently." She stated, referring to both his chain of murders to satiate his Ripper nature and his humanity switch.

"How would you know that?" He asked. "That I've turned them back on?"

"Like I said," She started, stopping just in front of him. "You would've ripped into Elena a long time ago, had you not turned them on again." She explained briefly, leaning forward to reach for the blood bag and the glass as she left Stefan to remember her words at the ball.

"You're not humanity-less Stefan Salvatore anymore."

"Mm." A small moan pulled him out of his thoughts as he saw Aurelia's closed eyes compliment her pleasant smile. His eyes trailed down to the glass in her hand, where the deep red pigment of the blood was clear on the transparent wall. "Finally. I should've taken it at the Mikaelson Manor last night... but you know, I was a little distracted." She said, taking another sip.

Stefan stared at the blood in the glass, and it didn't take much for the same tapping noise to start over once again, much to Aurelia's dismay.

"Stop." She forced, her left hand slamming down on his right hand to interrupt the noise. "What the hell is wrong?" Her relaxed expression was now stressed and irritated at she intimidatingly stared at him.

As he didn't reply, an answer dawned on her.

"Don't tell me," She said, furrowing her eyebrows together. "Are you actually feeling guilty? For real?" Stefan suddenly began to avoid her gaze. "And you can't control your bloodlust because you're switching to animal blood? Again?" At this point, he questioningly looked at her, quizzing her sudden knowledge about his unique diet. "Is that what the tapping is about?"

"How would you—"

"Klaus, whatever." She dismissed his question with a wave, before she began to smile. "Well, would you look at that? I have something to pass my time with." She took another sip from her glass. "You. I can correct your supposedly impure ways, if you want. It'll help with my boredom." She then proceeded to down the rest of the drink. As the blood left the glass, the lust left Stefan's form. The stress in his features dissolved as he relaxed from the absence of the scent of human blood.

"T-Thank you." He said softly, making her scoff and place the glass and the emptied blood bag on the table.

"I was thirsty." She replied, dismissing any sort of assumption he had, especially one that involved pity for his lack of restraint. "And see, no hickeys." She gestured to her neck, confident that her bruises were completely gone. "No need to be jealous anymore, lover boy."

Stefan rolled his eyes.

"SO, THIS WAS YOUR IDEA?" DAMON HAD TAKEN the words out of Stefan's mouth by posing the question the both of them wanted to ask the blonde walking ahead of them. "Take my bloodthirsty brother to a place full of humans?" He looked around the inside of the Mystic Grill, which was filled with people.

Throughout the day, Aurelia had bothered them and poked Stefan with