Eira was at her house in the morning. She had just gotten dressed and she had called Klaus. She was on the phone with him.
"I can't come over today," Eira explained. "It's Caroline's birthday and she's my friend so..."
"So tomorrow then?" Klaus asked.
"Yes," Eira smiled and she turned around to go out her bedroom door to find Stefan leaning against the doorway. Eira's mouth opened little in shock and her eyes widened.
"I have to go," Eira spoke into the phone and then she hung up.
"Stefan," Eira smiled and she walked up to him, slowly to give him a hug but Stefan stopped her.
"Who were you on the phone with?" Stefan questioned.
Eira was taken aback,"Why does that matter?"
"Just answer the question, Eira," Stefan commanded.
"It was no one," Eira lied and she went to walk out of her bedroom door but Stefan was in the way.
"Can you move? It's Caroline's birthday and I have to go to school," Eira stated, meeting Stefan's eyes.
Stefan knew she was lying, he didn't know why but he moved out of the way. Eira went out of her bedroom but before she left the hallway she turned around.
"I'm glad your here, Stef," Eira announced. "I missed you."
With that Eira turned and walked away. Stefan felt sadness run through him that he didn't hug her, greet her the way she wanted him to. But he pushed the feeling away and focused on one emotion: anger. Anger towards Klaus.
______________
Stefan was talking to Damon as they walked to the old witch house where Bonnie was at. He had a question on his mind the entire time so he decided to voice it.
"What is Eira hiding? She lied to me this morning about who she was talking to on the phone?" Stefan asked.
"Yeah, I know. She's been lying. She's been making up lies saying she's with Caroline," Damon started. "When she's actually with Klaus. She's been like his little puppy dog."
"And you didn't stop her from going to Klaus?" Stefan questioned.
"What was I supposed to do? Lock her in the cellar?" Damon asked.
"Well, it would've kept her from Klaus," Stefan answered. "If you won't do anything, then I will. Klaus is not seeing Eira anymore."
______________
Elena and Eira were at Caroline's locker, decorating it. Elena picked Eira up this morning so they could get to school early and decorate her locker. Eira was putting the balloons up when Bonnie showed up.
"Hey, sorry I'm late, I...I got held up," Bonnie stated, not bringing up the fact she was at the old witch house.
"It's okay. We just got here too," Elena started. "What got you running late?"
"I was...working on some new spells," Bonnie lied. "You?"
"Working out with Alaric, Jenna and I agreed that we should become better at protecting ourselves. And I picked Eira up," Elena explained and Bonnie handed her the sign to put on Caroline's locker.
"So, I have something I need to tell you, and you're not gonna like it," Elena stated as she taped the sign.
"What happened?" Bonnie questioned.
"Jeremy is gonna be leaving town for a while. He'll be staying with some old family friends in Denver, until this whole Klaus thing blows over," Elena explained.
"Jeremy wouldn't just leave you to deal with Klaus on your own," Bonnie stated.
"I know.... I asked Damon to compel him," Elena revealed.
"You what?" Bonnie questioned, disapproving.
"I know, Bonnie. But it's not safe for him here anymore. Leaving will give him a better life. The only reason I'm telling you is because I know that you two haven't really worked out your stuff. And I thought that maybe you'd wanna say goodbye," Elena explained.
Eira thought that compelling Jeremy was a step too far. But she understood where Elena was coming from. Elena wanted to protect Jeremy like Eira would try to protect her brothers.
______________
Stefan went to see Klaus to get him to stay away from Eira and to send his hybrids away. Stefan was leaning against the edge of one of the walls that was still being renovated.
Klaus sensed him,"I'm surprised you're still in town. I gave you your freedom, you could have gone anywhere."
"I live here, Klaus," Stefan replied.
"Well, if we're playing this game, then...I was here first," Klaus responded.
"You know, I don't like you being around Eira," Stefan started. "And your hybrid friends, I want them gone."
"Yeah, well I kind of like having them around. As for your sister, I think you'll find it troubling to get her to stay away from me," Klaus started. "You know, I'm hurt. I hoped that when I freed you, we'd pick up where we left off. But here you are, guzzling vervain like the rest of them, I'm sure. So much for friendship."
"Friends don't strip friends of their free will," Stefan responded.
"Okay, granted, yeah, that was a little extreme, but I get a little moody. Just ask my siblings," Klaus admitted. "Speaking of whom, isn't it time you handed them over?"
"Klaus, stay away from my sister," Stefan demanded. "And get your hybrids out of Mystic Falls or I will remove them myself."
"Hmm. You see, if you continue to threaten me, I'm gonna be forced to retaliate. Kill people. And it will get messy again," Klaus explained.
"Do whatever you want, I don't really care. Or you know what? Maybe I do. Maybe I care so much, that I'll drop Elijah in the Arctic," Stefan threatened.
"Well, maybe I'll be willing to lose one brother if it meant killing yours," Klaus threatened back.
"Try me, let's find out," Stefan stated.
The hybrid, Mindy, walked in and asked,"Is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine, Mindy. Stefan was just leaving after failing to make his point," Klaus answered.
Stefan waited a moment but then he grabbed a saw from the work table he was next to and he used vamp speed and chopped Mindy's head off.
"Well, one down. You may want to, ah, send the rest of them away before it gets messy, again," Stefan said and then threw the saw back on the table before leaving.
________________
Caroline had ditched school so Matt, Elena, Bonnie, and Eira were all waiting for Caroline to come to her house so they could surprise her and celebrate her birthday.
Caroline walked into the house and they all jumped out and yelled,"Surprise!"
"Happy birthday!" Matt stated.
"What are you guys doing here?" Caroline asked.
"Well you blew off school and missed our work of birthday art, so...," Elena took off the birthday crown she was wearing and put it on Caroline's head.
"Change into warmer clothes, we are going to the Falls. S'mores, camp fire..," Bonnie stated.
"Cake! Like when we were little," Elena said.
"Except for tequila," Matt inputted.
"Thanks, guys. Really, um, I'm just not feeling my birthday this year," Caroline said and everyone frowned.
"I'm sorry, what? You've already claimed your birthday as everyone's favorite day of the year," Bonnie said and Eira nodded.
"Yeah, and now, it's just a reminder that technically, I'm dead. Look, I didn't even like 17. And the only point to being 17 is to get to 18. It's a filler year; I'm stuck in a filler year," Caroline explained.
"You're not stuck. You get to live forever and live however you want, be whoever you want. You're not defined by years as a vampire, Care. There's too many," Eira stated and Caroline smiled.
"Yeah, you're not stuck," Elena agreed.
"Maybe not. But I just need some time to wallow in it," Caroline said.
"Okay, well I think I have another idea," Elena stated.
____________
Elena's idea was to go to the cemetery. They all went there and they had flashlights. The Fell crypt was in front of them and Elena shined her flashlight on it.
"There it is!" Elena said.
They all entered the Fell crypt and Bonnie said,"This is creepy, even for us."
"No, Caroline was right...technically, she's dead. Sorry. But you don't need a birthday, you need a funeral. You need to say goodbye to your old life, so that you can move on with your new one," Elena explained as she set down the cake and Caroline smiled.
"Okay," Caroline set down the birthday crown. "Here lies Caroline Forbes...."
Elena was putting the candles on the cake,"Cheerleader, Miss Mystic Falls, third grade hop scotch champion."
"Friend, daughter, overachiever," Bonnie inputted.
"The bubbliest, most hopeful person that is truly amazing," Eira stated.
"Mean girl, sometimes, no offense," Matt said.
"Ah, none taken," Caroline agreed.
"She was 17, and she had a really good life. So rest in peace, so that she can move forward," Elena said and walked over with the candles on the cake.
"That's what you really need. What we all really need. Amen, or cheers or whatever. Bonnie?" Elena said.
Bonnie lit the candles on the cake with her mind and they all smiled. "Okay, make a wish," Elena said to Caroline. Caroline closed her eyes and made a wish, then she blew out the candles.
They had all gotten a piece of cake and were sitting on the stone benches inside the crypt. Matt was getting his second piece, bringing along the tequila bottle. Eira had tasted the tequila but then she coughed a bit, and made a face at the bitter taste. Eira did not like the taste of alcohol and so didn't drink it after that. Caroline was standing near the cake, texting.
Elena noticed,"Caroline, what are you doing?"
"What? Nothing," Caroline lied and hid her phone.
"Okay, you're a bad sober liar. You're an even worse drunk liar," Elena stated.
"I might have texted Tyler," Caroline revealed.
"Caroline...," Elena said in disapproval.
"What? I'm delicate," Caroline explained.
"Give her a break! You can't control what everyone does all the time," Bonnie said and started an awkward silence.
"Wow," Elena said in disbelief.
"Ouch, Bon," Matt commented.
"Sorry, I know it's Caroline birthday, funeral or whatever but, I just feel it's really wrong that you compelled Jeremy to leave town," Bonnie stated her opinion.
"I'm doing it to protect him, Bonnie. I want to give him a chance to have a quiet normal life," Elena explained.
"He should be able to choose how he wants to live it, you're taking his choices away," Bonnie argued.
"Bonnie, you can't tell him," Elena said.
"Why? Are you gonna compel me not to?" Bonnie questioned.
"You know, you guys are ruining a perfectly good funeral," Matt commented and Eira made a silent thank you to him in her head.
"I'm sorry. I'm just gonna go sleep it off or something," Bonnie got up and looked at Caroline. "Happy birthday."
Bonnie left and after awhile they all went back to birthday festivities. Caroline was laying on the bench and Elena was sitting next to her. Matt and Eira sat on the other bench facing them. They were all laughing. The crypt door opened and Tyler was revealed. Matt stood up in defense.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to crash the party," Tyler apologized.
"So don't," Matt said coldly.
"No, it's-it's okay," Caroline stood up and looked at Tyler. "Hi."
"Can I talk to you for a sec? It's kind of important," Tyler asked Caroline.
Caroline nodded and she left the crypt with Tyler. Matt sat back down and Elena looked at him.
"Are you okay?" Elena asked him and he took the tequila bottle.
"Yeah, I want her to be happy, you know?" Matt started and took a swig of tequila. "It's what I want for all of you guys, in the middle of this crazy life you got stuck living."
"Is that how you see it? That we're stuck?" Elena questioned.
"I'd say it's attached itself to you all pretty tight, yeah," Matt said and looked at Eira. "And Eira, you don't even have a choice. Your brothers are vampires."
"It's not that bad," Eira responded.
"Bonnie is right, you know, I have no business messing in Jeremy's head. I just don't know what else to do. He is in danger here. I can't lose anyone else that I love," Elena confided.
____________
They all got worried for Caroline since she hadn't come back so they went looking for her. They took the flashlights and they shouted her name.
"Great, we've been abandoned. Okay, we're going on a search party, I don't trust that she won't get back together with him," Elena stated.
"Caroline!" Matt shouted.
"Come on, Caroline we don't have anymore drinks!" Elena shouted then joked. "Matt's being haunted by the Fell ghosts."
Elena playfully nudged Matt with her shoulder and Matt nudged her back and smiled. All of the sudden, Matt is thrown against a crypt wall and knocked unconscious. It was revealed to be Stefan as he put a hand over Elena's mouth to keep her from screaming and then he vamp sped her away.
Eira knelt down next to Matt and tried shaking him awake. He didn't and she had to wait for him. He eventually woke up and Eira sighed in relief.
"What happened?" Matt questioned.
"Stefan happened," Eira explained. "But we need to find Caroline."
Matt nodded and he stood up along with Eira. They went looking for Caroline, shouting her name and shining the flashlights everywhere.
They found her sitting at the base of a tree with her legs pulled to her chest. She was writhing in pain and they both ran over and knelt down next to her. Eira saw blood near her shoulder and she moved her shirt a little to see a bite mark.
Eira brought her wrist up to Caroline's mouth,"You need to drink my blood. It'll heal you."
Caroline took a hold of Eira's wrist and bit into it. It stung for a moment but then Caroline pulled away. Caroline's bite healed but she still seemed a bit dazed and she passed out.
"Let's get her home," Eira said to Matt who looked a little shocked.
"Yeah," he nodded and he picked Caroline up, holding her bridal style.
Matt and Eira brought Caroline to her home. Eira opened the door for Matt since he was holding Caroline. Liz was near the door when they walked in.
"What happened?" Liz worried for her daughter.
"Tyler bit her," Matt said.
"But she'll fine," Eira explained as they brought Caroline to her room. "She drank my blood so the bite healed."
Matt set Caroline on her bed and Liz sighed in relief that her daughter would be okay. Liz looked at Eira and said,"Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me," Eira said.
_______________
Stefan was in his car with Elena. He was driving the car at a high speed along the road. Stefan was planning to turn her into a vampire if Klaus didn't do what he wanted.
Stefan called Klaus,"Stefan, how nice to hear your voice."
"Lose all contact with Eira and tell your hybrids to get out of town, Klaus," Stefan demanded.
"Well that's not gonna happen until I get my coffins back," Klaus said.
"Okay, well then I'm gonna drive your blood source off Wickery Bridge," Stefan threatened.
"I don't believe you Stefan. You won't kill her," Klaus disbelieved.
Stefan bit into his wrist and force fed Elena his blood. The car swerved as he did and Elena coughed as she swallowed the blood.
"No! No! No! What are you doing?" Elena questioned in alarm.
"What's going on?" Klaus asked in concern.
"I just fed her my blood. No more hybrids if she's a vampire," Stefan answered.
"You won't do it," Klaus stated.
"Really? Try me, because your coffins are next to go. Say goodbye to your family Klaus," Stefan said and he pressed down on the gas even more.
"Stefan, slow down! Stefan! Stefan, stop it!" Elena screamed.
"Fine, I'll stay away from your sister and I'll send them away. You win," Klaus said. Stefan kept driving the car, not believing Klaus was being serious.
"Stefan! Stefan, stop!" Elena screamed as they drove onto Wickery Bridge.
"Stop the car, Stefan!" Klaus shouted into the phone.
Stefan hit the brakes and the car skidded to a halt. Klaus heard this and he hung up, furious. Elena had blood on her mouth and she was breathing heavily in shock. Elena got out of the car, not wanting to be near Stefan.
Stefan got out,"Get back in the car, Elena."
"Stay away from me," Elena stated.
"Elena, get in the car," Stefan ordered.
"How could you?" Elena turned on Stefan with tears going down her face. "My parents died going over this bridge. I almost died. You knew that. You're the one who saved me."
"Look, he had to believe that I would do it, all right? Your fear sold it," Stefan explained.
"What if he hadn't?" Elena questioned.
"He did," Stefan answered.
"Well, what if he hadn't?" Elena questioned, louder.
"He did Elena! He backed down! He has a weakness. If I know his weakness, I can destroy him," Stefan shouted.
"After everything, that's what mattered? Destroying Klaus?" Elena questioned, baffled.
"I have to destroy him, Elena. He has Eira wrapped around his finger. I can't have that," Stefan explained and he got back in his car and drove off leaving Elena there.
____________
Eira walked down the steps of the Forbes' residence to go home. She was surprised to find Klaus at the bottom of the steps about to walk up.
"What are you doing here?" Eira questioned.
"I came to heal Caroline," Klaus answered. "I realized I didn't want to make you upset with her death."
"I already healed her with my blood," Eira explained.
"It seems you aren't the only one that can heal a werewolf bite, then," Klaus replied.
Klaus grabbed Eira's hand and held it,"I can't see you anymore or talk to you."
"What? Why?" Eira questioned, frantically.
"Stefan threatened to end Elena's life making me unable to make hybrids. I complied to his demands," Klaus frowned. "You were one of them."
"I'll talk to him, I'll get him to change his mind, I'll...," Eira rambled and Klaus put his hands on her shoulders, shushing her.
"I can assure you, there is no changing Stefan's mind. He is your brother, after all. He doesn't want to see you with anyone," Klaus explained and Eira sagged in defeat.
"Allow me to take you home," Klaus offered.
Eira wrapped her arms around Klaus' neck and rested her head against Klaus's chest. He vamp sped her home. It took only moment and then they stopped. Eira lifted her head from Klaus' chest and looked at him.
"So, I guess this is goodbye then until I see you again," Eira stated.
"Yes," Klaus simply answered.
Eira looked at him and she thought about what Caroline said. You like him, she repeated Caroline's words in her head. Eira did like him, she cared for him immensely, in a way that she hadn't cared for anybody before. She constantly wanted to be around him, like she needed him for some purpose her heart had not quite revealed to her.
"Why were you going to save Caroline for me?" Eira questioned. "Why do you not want me to be upset?"
"I thought I made it obvious," Klaus frowned.
"I'm not exactly good with picking up on how people feel about...me," Eira said rubbing her forefinger in a circle on Klaus's shoulder, driving him crazy. And as he looked at her in that moment, he knew his goodbye.
"Then allow me to make myself perfectly clear," Klaus stated and then he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her.
He kissed her gently, delicately, afraid she would run off if he kissed her any differently. Eira was more than surprised but she ever so hesitantly pressed her lips to Klaus', deepening the kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through the ends of his hair.
Eira felt like all the feelings that ran through her veins for him suddenly reached her heart, forever lighting its match. The act of kissing him made the world around her disappear, it was just the two of them and she found that was all she wanted. The kiss took her breath away but she didn't care, he felt like the air now.
Klaus wrapped one arm around her waist and the other held her cheek. He pulled away from her, slightly so she could breathe. Her lips trembled from the soft caress of his lips she had just experienced. She took deep breaths and her mind came back to her then. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Goodnight, Eira," he whispered against her lips and he then he was gone.
Now Eira would forever be a permanent fixture in his mind. Already, the only thought he had running over and over again was that kiss and he smiled. All thoughts of her consumed him.
Eira's heart pounded wildly against her chest, she thought it might be broken or out of tune as she stood outside her house. She clutched at her heart and then she reached up and touched her lips. It was her first kiss.
Her first kiss was taken by Niklaus Mikaelson and she couldn't have been happier.
Author's Note: I'm pretty sure you readers liked this update. I just want to clarify that Meredith does not get with Alaric. Jenna and Alaric are together. They stay together and yeah.