O Come, All Ye Faithful

"How much longer are you expecting me to stay trapped here?" Lola questions impatiently, laid on the sofa as she watches Klaus paint, "I'm absolutely fine!"

Klaus sighs not taking his eyes off his artwork, "Sweetheart, you sprained your ankle in the middle of the night."

"It was two days ago! See?" Lola lifts her leg up slightly, turning her ankle in a circular motion, "No swelling, I'm fine! It wouldn't have happened if you didn't leave the grimoire in the middle of the room."

Klaus turns to face Lola looking unamused about to quip something back but Stefan enters the room before he can. Stefan smiles over to his sister, "How's the patient?"

Lola glares over to her brother, "I'm not a patient!"

"She's being stubborn." Klaus mumbles under his breath as he continues to paint.

"I'm not stubborn!"

Lola takes the fork that was in her bowl of fruit, throwing it over to Klaus but it bounces on the floor nowhere near Klaus.

He glances down at the fork and looks over to Stefan, trying to contain himself, but couldn't help letting out a stifled laugh, "Her aim continues to be abysmal."

"Motus." Lola throws an apple in Klaus' direction with magic, Klaus catches the apple by stabbing it with the paintbrush he's holding. He glances over to Lola who is looking smug, "Abysmal is it?"

Stefan leans against the sofa Lola is laid on, "So you're still the same as yesterday. How's the head?"

"I've already told you there is nothing wrong with my head, I didn't hit it."

"Yes but you went dizzy, love." Klaus smugly reminds Lola, "You almost passed out."

"Hear what you just said?" Lola glares towards Klaus, "Almost. I almost passed out which means I didn't. That was just because I forgot to drink water." Both Klaus and Stefan give Lola an unamused stare, making her scoff as she picks up her water, "Which I am now! Jesus."

"You know, this sorta reminds me of that one time we were kids, and-"

Lola hits Stefan against his chest, pointing up at him as her eyes widen, "Do not even finish that story."

Stefan laughs slightly before turning his attention to Klaus in the adjoining room, he leans against the doorframe looking at Klaus' artwork, "Looks like a giant snowflake."

"I prefer to think of it as an expression of postmodernism." Klaus sets aside his paintbrush and looks towards Stefan, "It's my donation to the Winter Wonderland charity event."

Adrian, a hybrid, walks into the room, "You said it was urgent."

"Yes." Klaus gestures towards the painting, "Take this to the Mystic Grill immediately."

"You want me to be a delivery guy?"

Klaus walks forward closing the space between him and Adrian, "What I want is for you to do whatever I say. Without the attitude." Adrian grimaces and walks over to the painting. He picks it up and starts to leave the room before Klaus speaks up again, "And be careful with that. It's still wet."

"Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, you know." Stefan quips making Lola laugh silently.

"What is the point of my hybrids being sired to me if I can't maximise on the benefits of free labour?" Klaus retorts, he narrows his eyes towards Stefan, "What are you doing here?"

Stefan shrugs as he steps further into the room, "Well apart from the fact I wanted to check up on my sister? Elena is sired to Damon."

Klaus looks over to him amused, "I intuited as much."

"Which means I need to find the cure now more than ever and yet here you are making postmodern snowflakes."

"I've delivered." Klaus grabs a cloth from nearby and wipes the paint off his hands, "I retrieved the Hunter's sword from Italy which we'll use to decipher the map hidden in the Hunter's mark. You're the one who is supposed to deliver the Hunter and his mark."

Stefan scoffs, "Well, Jeremy is the hunter, and he has to keep killing vampires to complete his mark, but we can't quite figure out how to keep him from killing us."

"Sounds like quite the chore. Which is why I feel perfectly justified doing a little charity work."

"Hmm, or maybe you're lying about having found the sword."

"Why would I lie to you, Stefan?" Klaus questions, he walks into the room where Lola is, "We're in this together." Stefan follows Klaus into the room as Klaus opens up a vault and takes the sword out, "The hilt acts as a cipher which we'll use to decode the marks on Jeremy's tattoo when he's killed enough vampires to complete it."

Klaus places the sword onto the table then takes a seat on the sofa beside Lola, propping his feet up on the table as he watches Stefan examine the sword, "I heard you moved out of your house. Bit of a martyr move, hm?"

Stefan looks at Klaus in amusement before placing the sword back onto the table, "I'm not here to bond, Klaus."

"Oh, on the contrary, I think right now I'm the best friend you've got."

Without saying another word, Stefan walks out of the room but Lola soon follows him, "Hey." Stefan stops in his step as he opens the front door and smiles over to his sister who steps closer to him, "Thanks for coming to check on me."

Stefan looks at her confused, "Why wouldn't I? You're my sister."

"I know, it's just with everything that has happened with Klaus I didn't expect you to come round here the past few days to see if I was okay."

"It doesn't matter where you're staying or who you're staying with, Lo, I'm gonna come and see you no matter what." Stefan smiles sincerely at his sister before pulling her in a hug, he steps closer to the front door again, "Look after yourself and don't sprain the other ankle."

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Lola stands in the Mystic Grill, admiring the artwork that Klaus was working on this morning until she feels his arm wrap around her waist. She hums to herself, her gaze not breaking away from the canvas, "Stefan was right." She tilts her head as she purses her lips, "It does just look like a snowflake." Klaus pinches Lola's side slightly making her laugh as she pulls away, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

"It's as though you enjoy insulting me, love." Klaus quips, he takes two glasses of champagne from a waiter's tray, handing one to Lola, "Champagne?"

"Thank you." Lola takes the glass, she crowd watches for a moment smiling to herself as she remembers how much she used to enjoy the holidays, "Me and my brothers always loved Christmas, it was one of the rare moments our father wouldn't lay a hand on us." She scoffs slightly, "Though that never lasted long, he'd be back to his usual abusive self the next day."

"You always loved Christmas as much as Rebekah did."

Lola laughs, she looks over to Klaus with a teasing look on her face, "Ah, how could I forget the annual Mikaelson bonfire, your favourite thing."

Klaus rolls his eyes, "Now you really are insulting me if you think that was my favourite thing."

"See, you say I'm stubborn but you are more so because I remember the gleam in your eyes whenever Rebekah would arrange the bonfires, especially in the first few years I joined in on the tradition. I personally think you enjoyed it more than Kol did."

"Yes well, that gleam in my eyes would be because one of the wishes I would burn would be for you to sleep with me." Klaus casually responds, Lola looks over to him, too stunned to speak as Klaus looks down at the glass in his hand, a devilish smirk on his face, "I had to make the same wish for five years before it eventually came true."

Lola's jaw slacks as she playfully hits Klaus against his chest, "You are such a-"

"Charming man whom you love dearly?" Klaus jests as he takes Lola's hand, pulling her closer to him and kissing her cheek.

"Charming isn't exactly the word I would use."

"Your conversation with Stefan this morning sparked my curiosity."

Lola rolls her eyes, "I knew you were going to bring this up." Klaus gestures for Lola to tell the story, she scoffs, "I think I was twelve and it was one summer's day, Damon and Stefan were both outside playing with a soccer ball they had just got. But I was stuck inside doing things that were appropriate for young women like piano lessons and lessons in proper ettiequte and I was jealous of them both. So when my father went into his study for his daily drinking binge, I went outside to join in with my brothers."

Klaus raises his brow as his interest peeks, "So you sprained your ankle playing sports?"

Lola purses her lips, humming to herself, "Not exactly. I was pretty good at it even though I was in a floor length dress and with it 'not being a girl's game' as Damon would say. Then it was Damon's turn to be in goal and I may have kicked the ball rather aggressively and sort of broke his nose."

Lola laughs at the memory of that day before continuing, "Then the fight or flight instincts kicked in so I picked flight because Damon was bigger than me, he would have kicked my ass so I ran into the woods and hid there until Stefan found me. Stefan was so quiet and small, I never knew when he was around because he was so damn quiet so when I was hiding in a bush he crept up behind me making me jump and I sprained my ankle in the process. I was trying to stand but couldn't and I was also trying to calm Stefan down because he was crying like a little girl thinking I was dead."

Flashback 1854:

Eight year old Stefan continues to panic, tears stream down his face as he looks at his older sister on the ground, "What if they cut off your foot?!"

Charlotte rolls her eyes, "Stef, don't be so stupid. You just need to calm down, okay? You need to be brave and help your big sister. Can you do that?" Charlotte takes hold of Stefan's hand, he nods in-between sniffles, "You're the strongest boy I know so I know you can help me stand."

Stefan tries to help his sister stand, not wanting to let go of her hand. Charlotte attempts to put weight on her weak ankle but fails and falls straight to the ground again, she winces in pain at the throbbing feeling in her ankle.

"I've just killed my sister!" Stefan begins to panic again, "Help! Someone help!"

"Stefan, you need to shut up!" Charlotte warns her younger brother, "If father finds us like this then he will kill us both!"

Damon comes storming further into the woods where his younger siblings are, he is holding a handkerchief to his bloody nose as he glares down at Charlotte on the floor, "You broke my nose!"

"You broke my nose." Charlotte repeats in a mocking tone, she glares up at him, "You deserved it!"

"The game was to kick the ball into the goal, not to kick it in my face!"

"Oh, I'm sorry but your nose is bigger than the goal itself so it was rather hard to avoid it!"

Damon kicks some loose dirt towards his sister as he scoffs, "We have the same nose."

Charlotte gasps dramatically, looking at him in disgust, "Take that back."

Damon flashes a smug smile at her, "No."

"Take it back!"

"Stop fighting!" Stefan shouts as he stands between his siblings, "Charlotte is dying we need to get her home."

"For heavens sake, Stef, I'm not dying!"

Damon rolls his eyes as he puts the bloody handkerchief into his pocket, he kneels down and picks his sister up and begins to carry her back towards the house, "Stef, run ahead and make sure father is still in his study." Stefan nods and speeds up towards the house. It's silent for a moment between Charlotte and Damon before he glares at her in his hold, "For the record, I still hate you."

"I hate you too." Charlotte wipes away a bit of blood from Damon's nose, "I do think I have improved your nose, however."

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After receiving a text from Caroline to say that Lola and Klaus are at the Mystic Grill, Stefan goes to the mansion to look for the sword. He heads straight towards the vault he seen Klaus retrieve the sword from earlier this morning. Stefan rips off the handle from the vault and opens it up to see the sword is no longer there.

He looks around the rest of the house searching for the sword but hasn't had any luck, he dials Damon's number, "I can't find the sword anywhere. It's not in the vault."

"Well, he's not walking around with it." Damon responds on the other end as he paces around outside of the Gilbert lake house, "Check the rest of the house."

Stefan sighs as he paces around the room, "I am. I haven't found anything."

"Try the sock drawer. People leave the sketchiest stuff in sock drawers."

"I'm gonna need real ideas, Damon."

"Here's two: Kill Tyler before he goes to Klaus or, since Klaus has suddenly become MVP in our relay race for the cure, tell him about the hybrids and he'll kill Tyler."

"Nobody's killing Tyler."

It falls silent on Stefan's side of the phone call as he notices a book on the coffee table he is too familiar with, Lola's copy of 'The Three Musketeers' Damon got her when they were younger. A picture falls out of the book as Stefan picks the book up, he sits down on the sofa and picks up the picture to see it is an old picture of all three of them when they were younger. Stefan's heart sinks as a wave of guilt clouds over him, all he wants to do is to be on good terms with his sister but by doing what he is doing, it's never going to happen.

"Hello? Stefan?"

Stefan continues to stare down at the picture, "We can't do this."

"What do you mean?"

"By going behind Klaus' back we're also going behind Lola's. She doesn't deserve this." Stefan puts the picture back in the book and places it back down onto the table just how he found it, "I'm not going to break our sister's trust again."

Damon stops pacing, bowing his head slightly as the same cloud of guilt lingers over him, "I know, you're right. So what do we do?"

"I don't know but if Lola finds out-"

"She will not be happy."

Stefan stands up from the sofa and opens up a trunk in the room, "She is getting more and more powerful each day with her magic and I don't know about you but I don't really want to be at the end of that." Stefan looks through the trunk to see hundreds of written letters.

"You and me both. I always thought Lo was scary before being a witch but now this takes the cake. Deal with Tyler, make sure his plan doesn't happen."

Stefan is silent for a short moment, debating with himself whether or not to bring Elena up but eventually he does, "Look, I know it's a touchy subject, but do you know where Elena is today?"

Damon looks incredibly guilty on the other end of the line, "I think she's running around...trying to figure out how to deprogram Jeremy."

"How'd she take it last night? You telling her to stay away from you?"

"Not well."

"You okay?"

"Peachy." There's a moment of silence between them which Damon breaks quickly, "Gotta go. Bonnie has enlisted Dr. Evil in her plan and I have to thwart him."

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

Stefan is leaning against the wall in the alleyway outside the Grill waiting for Caroline who soon walks out towards Stefan, "Hey."

Stefan stands up straight from the wall and faces Caroline, "Hey."

"Did you find the sword?"

Stefan shakes his head, "Nope."

"What are we gonna do now?"

"Klaus is the only shot we have at finding the cure. We need him. Tyler has to call it off."

"Well, that's not gonna happen." Stefan turns around to see Tyler standing at the top of the stairs, Tyler glares over to Caroline, "You told him?" He walks down the remaining steps towards Caroline and Stefan, "I've had twelve hybrids sworn to secrecy for a month. I have Hayley and a witch risking their lives and you're blabbing my plan to him?"

Stefan steps forward, closing the gap between him and Tyler, "Look, all I'm asking you for is a little bit of time, okay?"

"How long? An hour? A day? Because every minute that goes by that we don't do this, they're at risk. You and Klaus already served one of them up for Jeremy to kill." Tyler looks over Stefan's shoulder at Caroline, who looks down shamefully. He looks back at Stefan, "I don't owe you anything. I'm taking him out."

Tyler turns to walk away but Stefan vamp speeds in front of him, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you do that."

"Stefan." Caroline warns.

Stefan looks over Tyler's shoulder to Caroline, "I'm sorry but I can't."

It's then he notices that Caroline's stare isn't at him, she is looking behind him, "Stefan!"

Stefan turns around and sees a half dozen of the hybrids standing on the stairs behind him. Caroline turns around and sees the remaining hybrids in the alleyway, blocking any means of escape.

Tyler steps closer to Stefan, "Sorry man, but you don't have a choice."

Tyler and the hybrids take Stefan and Caroline to the Lockwood cellar to keep them there while Tyler carries out his plan to get rid of Klaus.

Caroline glares over to her boyfriend as he grabs chains, "Tyler!"

Tyler glances over to one of the hybrids, Kim, "Keep them down here until we're ready to bring Klaus in." He drops the chains in front of her, "Use these if you have to."

Stefan steps closer to Tyler, "Come on, Tyler, this is bigger than you. It's about more than revenge for us."

"I know what it's about for you, Stefan." Tyler sneers as he closes the gap between himself and Stefan, "It's about the cure. You know what happens to a hybrid when he's cured of being a vampire? We go back to being werewolves; turning on every full moon. We could give a rat's ass about the cure."

Caroline looks over to Tyler in shock at how he is acting, "Tyler, come on."

"I needed you on my side, Care." Tyler snaps, "That's all I wanted."

Tyler is about to walk out of the Lockwood cellar until Kim puts her hand out to stop him from walking any further, "The witch is glued to his side, gonna be tough to do this with her there."

Tyler shrugs with an indifference look on his face, "As far as I'm concerned, Lola is collateral damage."

Caroline's jaw slacks, brows shoot up in shock, "Tyler!"

Stefan clenches his fists as he steps closer to Tyler, "What did you just say?"

Tyler laughs spitefully as he turns to face Stefan with hatred in his eyes, "Don't pretend like you give a crap about your sister when I know the only thing you care about is getting the cure for Elena. If Lola gets in between us and our plan I'm not going to be responsible for what happens to her."

"You aren't going anywhere near Lola, do you understand me?" Stefan threatens, "I'll kill you myself before Klaus can even get his hands on you."

"Your empty threats aren't gonna work on me, Stefan."

"Dammit, Tyler, I'm warning you! Stay the hell away from my sister!"

"Whether you like it or not we are seeing our plan through and if that means we have to harm Lola I don't care. I'll gladly do it." Tyler shrugs as he steps backwards from the pair, "She is nothing but Klaus' weakness."

Stefan's anger builds up more hearing Tyler talk about his sister, he starts to step closer towards him but Caroline stands in front of Stefan with a look of warning in her eyes, "Stefan, stop."

Tyler flashes his hybrid eyes at him, "You don't want to even try, Stefan."

"You think I care if I get a werewolf bite?" Stefan scoffs as rage flowed through him like lava, "I don't."

Tyler grimaces at Stefan before facing Kim, "You heard him, if they try to break out don't hold back." Tyler storms out of the Lockwood cellar and heads straight back to the Mystic Grill.

Caroline paces around the cellar, growing more and more agitated, "Ugh, this is ridiculous. We are not hostages!"

Kim looks at Caroline with a smug grin as she folds her arms, "Sure you are, sweetie."

Caroline glares at Kim, she vamp speeds closer to her but before anything else can happen Stefan's phone rings, all the hybrids step closer to him.

"Relax." Stefan puts his hand out slightly making them stop in their tracks, "It's my brother." He answers the phone, "What's up?"

"Don't ask how or why or who, but I just found the answer to your Tyler problem."

Stefan listens to the rest of what Damon, he scoffs, "You're kidding." He hangs up the phone and looks over to Caroline, "We don't need the sword."

The hybrids let Caroline and Stefan go after they come up with a new plan of putting Klaus into Rebekah's body instead of Tyler's.

Caroline rushes out of the cellar, trying to ring Tyler when Stefan speeds in front of her reaching his arms out, "Caroline, wait!"

Caroline moves past Stefan and continues to walk away, "We don't have time, Stefan. We need to find Tyler and tell him the plan about putting Klaus into Rebekah's body."

Stefan sighs staying in his place, putting his hands into his pockets, "I don't want to do this."

"What do you mean?" Caroline turns to face Stefan, "This is what we need to do!"

"Yeah and by doing that I'm breaking the trust I'm slowly building back with Lola. I'm done with hurting her."

"Like Tyler said, it won't be forever it's just until all the other hybrids have fled."

Stefan scoffs, turning away from Caroline for a second, "Listen to yourself, you really think Lola will be okay with that? Of course she won't be! We need to make sure Tyler doesn't go through with his plan."

"If this is about getting the sword you don't need to worry about that anymore! Like Damon said, Shane can take you there without it."

"This is bigger than the cure, Caroline! This is my sister!"

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

"This is going to be our first Christmas together since the fifties." Lola says as both her and Klaus walk around the town's square taking in all the decor put up around the town, "Things have definitely changed when it comes to the holidays since then."

"Any other traditions you picked up over the years?"

Lola shrugs, "Not really, I was never up for celebrating it. Although, I would always make sure I'd watch 'It's a Wonderful Life' at least once." She looks over to Klaus who has a mixture of amusement and disgust on his face, "What's that face for?"

Klaus laughs slightly as he raises a brow, "'It's a Wonderful Life', really?"

"What's wrong with that? Have you even seen it?"

"I've never really been one to subdue to the torture of hearing about the enchantment of everyday life."

Lola rolls her eyes as she looks towards the fountain, "It's more than that. I don't know, it just made me realise that one day it just clicks. You realise what's important and what isn't. You learn to care less about what other people think about you and more about what you think of yourself. You realise how far you've come and you remember when you thought things were such a mess that you would never recover. And you smile. You smile because you are truly proud of yourself and the person you've fought to become."

Klaus leans down, brushing Lola's hair away from her neck, exposing it, "That's very deep for a festive film."

"Shut up."

Lola elbows him in the stomach as Hayley walks up to the pair, "I need to talk to you." Lola nods stepping closer to Hayley but she glances over to Klaus, "To both of you."

Lola glances at Klaus before her confused stare fixing over to Hayley's anxious one, "What's going on?"

"Tyler and the rest of your hybrids are plotting against you."

Klaus clenches his jaw as he tries to take a step closer to Hayley but is stopped by Lola putting her hand on his chest, "Let her speak."

"You didn't hear this from me but they've broke all of the sire links to you."

Klaus removes Lola's hand from him as he steps closer to Hayley as anger stirred within him, "And why should I believe a single word that comes out of your mouth?"

Hayley looks over to Lola, guilt filling her eyes, "Stefan is in on this too." Lola's heart drops, swallowing the lump in her throat that has quickly formed as Hayley's expression turns cold as she looks at Klaus, "They plan on putting you in your sister's body and then bury you. Now you can call me a liar or whatever, I don't care but I am telling the truth. Lola knows whenever I'm being truthful or not."

Hayley walks away leaving them both standing in shock coming to terms with everything she has just said. Klaus' breathing starts to become erratic but Lola taking hold of his hand calms him down instantly. A million things are running through Lola's mind, she knows Hayley helped all of the hybrids break the sire bond and she knows that Klaus is going to take his anger out on someone and she doesn't want it to be Hayley.

She clears her throat as she moves away from Klaus slightly, "I'm gonna call Ade." As she walks away she sees Stefan approach Klaus, with a shaky hand she dials Adrianna's number.

"You're taking this whole witch thing to another level." Adrianna says on the other end of the call, "I was just about to dial your number!"

Lola sighs heavily, running her hand through her hair, "I need your help, Ade."

"What's going on?"

"I don't have time to tell you details but something has happened with Hayley. She's okay, don't worry." Lola looks through the crowd to try and find Hayley but it's starts to get too busy and she can't spot her, "But I need her to get out of Mystic Falls tonight."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Where are you right now?"

"We're in New York. Tell Hayley to come here."

"Perfect, I'm gonna go and get some cash for her then send her to you. I'll call you later to explain everything."

"Look out for yourself, Lo. Please stay safe."

Lola starts to walk back towards Klaus until she can hear his conversation with Stefan, she keeps her distance but not far away enough that she can't hear them. She watches as Stefan glares over to Klaus, "Because I don't trust you."

Lola watches as she notice Klaus beginning to tense up at his conversation, his face dropping ever so slightly no one would notice other than Lola, "I showed you the sword. I explained its value. I've been on your side the entire time. What do you want from me? A secret brotherhood handshake?"

Stefan looks over to where Lola is standing before looking back at Klaus, "I found the letters. You've had a few pen-pals over the centuries."

Klaus smiles smugly at him, "Well, is keeping my victims' letters really so different from writing their names on a wall? Like you did, Ripper?"

Stefan doesn't respond, he looks away from Klaus again. Making Klaus' smug smile even broader until he sees Adrian over Stefan's shoulder and his face falls. He begins to walk away from Stefan until he stops and turns around to face Stefan again, "Loneliness, Stefan." Stefan turns around and faces him, "That's why you and I memorialise our dead. There's the briefest of moments before we kill where we literally hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away. And we're left with nothing. So, gathering other peoples' letters or writing their names on a wall is a reminder that in the end we're left infinitely and utterly alone."

Klaus turns and walks towards Adrian and Lola who is now standing beside the hybrid, she places her hand against his chest, "I spoke to Adrianna. We're going to sort out this mess, you go and sort yours." Klaus takes Lola's hand, squeezing it slightly as reassurance before his attention going towards Adrian and they both walk away.

Lola stands on her own for a moment before looking over to a guilt ridden Stefan, she starts to walk away but Stefan stops her, "Lo, wait!"

Lola pushes past Stefan, avoiding his gaze, "I really don't have the energy for this right now, Stefan. I honestly thought we were over this."

Stefan takes hold of Lola's wrist softly, spinning her around to face him. Stefan lowers his head to be eye level with his sister, "I've tried to make sure Tyler's plan wasn't going to happen, Lo. You have to believe me."

"I want to believe you, I really do. It's just getting harder and harder to believe your intentions are good anymore." Lola pulls away from her brother with glossy eyes, she stops in her step but with her back to him, "We've all done horrible things, Stefan. I just wish you would understand that instead of acting like Klaus is the only one in this town who has done horrible things."

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

Lola pulls back up outside of the Mystic Grill after going home and grabbing as much cash as she could find for Hayley. She walks through the crowd trying to find her which is when she sees Hayley speaking to Tyler.

Lola approaches behind Hayley who watches Tyler flee away from her, "Hayley, come with me." Hayley turns to face Lola, ignoring her and attempts to walk past Lola but Lola grabs hold of her wrist, "Hayley. Now."

Hayley winces in pain, looking down at her wrist to see a red aura surrounding Lola's hand and her own wrist, "What the hell are you doing?"

"You either come with me right now or I'll keep going!" Lola threatens, Hayley nods slightly making Lola pulls away. They both walk towards the Mystic Grill and head straight to the toilets, Lola locks the door behind them both before she looks over to Hayley, she takes a deep breath to try and lower her anger, "Why did you do it, huh? Why be part of all those hybrids breaking the sire bond? Were you part of their stupid plan to pathetically attempt at putting Klaus into Rebekah's body?"

The guilt weighs heavy on Hayley's chest, she didn't want to hurt Lola but she had no choice, "It was never my plan for them to put Klaus down. I just needed twelve unsired hybrids."

Lola's eyes furrow together as she narrows her eyes, "Twelve? Why twelve?"

"There needed to be twelve for the sacrifice."

"Okay, you're really not making sense. What are you talking about a sacrifice?"

"It sounds crazy but I've found someone who can help me find my family, it's Professor Shane. In order for him to tell me he needed the hybrids for some creepy sacrifice."

"You didn't think to ask him what the sacrifice was needed for?" Lola retorts as her anger spikes, "They're your people, Hayley!"

Hayley bows her head slightly, looking down at her hands joined together shuffling around anxiously, "I just want to know who my family is."

Lola scoffs, she closes her eyes, running her hands through her hair as she begins to pace, "You're such an idiot, Hayley."

"I deserve to know who my family is!" Hayley raises her voice, "Shane knows about them!"

"Shane doesn't know anything!" Lola snaps as her eyes remain shut, she sighs as she looks over to Hayley, "At least not as much as I do."

Hayley's eyes widen as she looks over to Lola, paralysed with shock unable to move from her spot, "What?"

Lola drops her hands against her sides, "I know who your family is."

"How long?"

"Hayley-"

"How long?!" Hayley repeats in a more agitated tone, stepping closer to Lola.

"Since the first day I met you." Lola gestures towards Hayley's shoulder, "That mark on your shoulder, it's not just a standard birthmark. That mark belongs to a wolf pack that used to thrive throughout Louisiana."

Lola's heart breaks as she sees the hurt in Hayley's glossy eyes, "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Lola's stomach twists, her mouth opens but clamps shut straight away not being able to fathom any words. She cautiously steps closer to Hayley, "I wanted to protect you."

"Did you know my parents?"

"No I didn't. I knew your ancestors. When I lived in New Orleans I formed a somewhat alliance with them."

Hayley shakes her head in disbelief, looking away, "Vampires and werewolves hate each other."

"Not on this occasion." Lola sighs as she softly places a hand against Hayley's arm, "Hayley, I know it's hard but you have to trust me when I tell you that there is more to this story."

Hayley clenches her jaw as she grabs hold of Lola's neck, pinning her against the wall, "Tell me everything you know right now! Your stupid boyfriend is going to kill me so you better tell me."

Lola pushes Hayley away forcefully with magic, she grabs hold of her throat as she gasps for breath, "Klaus isn't going to touch you."

Hayley laughs spitefully, "What makes you so sure of that?"

"He knows everything too, I told him everything."

"Tell me."

"There was a purpose why I decided to go to New Orleans in 1887." Lola begins to explain, "Before I became a vampire I learnt that my father had numerous affairs when my mother was alive. One happened when he was out of town, and he was in New Orleans."

"What does this have to do with my family?" Hayley interrupts.

"I'm getting to that. So when I first arrived in New Orleans I wanted to see if this half blood related family were still living there and I found them. They were part of the Crescent wolf pack, your wolf pack."

"Wait, we're related?"

"It's very distant. My father had an affair with your ancestor, he had plans to leave my mother, all of us, to be with this woman until he learnt of her background. When he found out that she was a wolf he was disgusted and came home to us straight away, abandoning the woman and leaving her to raise their child on her own."

Hayley leans against the sink in shock at Lola's confession, Lola closes the gap between herself and Hayley, lifting Hayley's head up to look at her, "This is a lot to take in, I understand that. Take this, its more than enough money to get you to New York. I've already spoke to Ade and she's waiting for you there, you need to stay there and stay safe. Do you understand?" Hayley lowers her head and slightly nods, Lola pulls Hayley in a hug and sighs, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, truly I am. You need to go now, I'll follow you there in a few days."

Hayley starts to walk towards the door until something clicks in Lola's mind, "Wait." Lola has made sure Klaus wasn't going to take his anger out on Hayley, but that just leaves some other people part of this plan. Hayley slowly turns back around to face Lola, already knowing what Lola has realised, "The sacrifice wasn't just to break the sire bond was it?"

Hayley shakes her head slightly, "I'm sorry, Lo."

Lola nods, she places both hands against the sink and attempts to control her breathing, "Just go. I'll see you there soon."

Lola rushes out of the Grill, not knowing where to check for Klaus first. By the time she leaves the Grill the square is empty, everyone has left. But it's then she hears the muffle screams of a woman close by, she follows the sound but freezes in her spot. Her breath hitches in her throat as she sees Klaus towering over a body hunched over the fountain. As she slowly steps closer she sees that it's Carol Lockwood.

Klaus quickly turns around to where Lola is standing, not realising it was Lola he shows his hybrid features making Lola step back taken aback. The veins under his eyes leave as soon as he realises it's Lola, he lowers his head looking towards the ground not saying a word. Lola slowly approaches him, she clenches her fists a few times to control the shakiness.

Lola takes the bottle of champagne out of his hands, throws it to the ground beside them before placing her hand against his cheek making him look at her as she faintly smiles, "Let's go home."

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

By the time that Lola called Adrianna again to tell her that Hayley knows everything and that Hayley is on the next flight to New York, when she goes into her and Klaus' bedroom he's already showered and is sitting on the edge of their bed, staring straight ahead with a blank expression.

Lola stands in front of him, she runs her hand through his hair, "I heard what you said to Stefan tonight." Klaus looks up at Lola as she cups his face, "Listen to me, no matter what you are feeling today, yesterday or 100 years ago whether it was good or bad. Just know, you are seen, you are loved and you are never alone."

Klaus frowns as he notices redness around Lola's neck, he moves his hand towards her neck but Lola takes hold of his hand instead, smiling at him, "Don't worry about it, it will heal eventually."

Both lay beside each other in bed in silence, the kind of silence that only comes when two people understand each other.

Lola traces her finger across Klaus' chest tattoo, deep in thought until Klaus speaks up, "What are you thinking about?"

Lola jumps out of her thoughts, she smiles at Klaus, "I'm just thinking about how much I love you."

"Even after tonight?"

Lola places a soft peck against Klaus' lips, "I'll love you no matter what. That's never going to change."

Klaus pulls Lola closer to him, "I'd be lost without you."

"Likewise."

Their comfortable silence gets interrupted by Lola's phone ringing, she doesn't turn around to answer her phone instead she buries her face further into Klaus chest, tightly closing her eyes hoping that ringing will soon end.

"Do you want to answer that?"

Lola shakes her head, "No, let it go to voicemail."

Lola sighs with relief when the phone stops ringing but it's only a few seconds of relief before her phone starts to ring again. She groans as she turns around and grabs her phone from the nightstand. Anger begins to grow once more tonight when she sees that it's Stefan who is calling her.

Klaus shifts closer to Lola who continues to stare down at her brother's name on her phone, "You should answer it."

Lola shakes her head yet doesn't look away from the phone, "I don't want to talk to Stefan right now."

"Love, I know you think he was part of everything tonight, which he was to begin with. But he tried to stop everything for the sake of your safety. Talk to him."

Lola hesitates for a moment as she takes in what Klaus said, she drops her head onto the pillow as she answers the phone, "What do you want?"

"I'm sorry, I just-"

Lola immediately sits up at the tone of Stefan's voice, she can hear the shakiness in his voice, "Stef, what's wrong?"

"I-I don't know where else to go. I really need my sister right now."

"Where are you?"

"I'm outside."

Without even thinking twice, Lola hangs up the phone and rushes down the stairs towards the front door. She opens the door to see Stefan standing with his head low, looking down at the ground. His shaky breathing matches his shaky exterior, he takes a deep breath, "They're together."

Stefan looks up at his sister with a tear stained face, his face matching his broken heart. Lola has only seen him like this once before and that was when Stefan found out about Damon and Katherine in 1864. Lola's heart sinks at how broken Stefan looks in this very moment, she opens the door further for Stefan to walk in and she pulls him in a tight hug straight away. Totally forgetting the annoyance she felt towards him only five minutes earlier. It's as though all the tense feelings Stefan was feeling had left his body as soon as he was in his sister's arms, he wraps his arms around her, tightly shutting his eyes to fight back more tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Lola asks softly, without pulling away from the hug Stefan shakes his head. Lola pulls away from the hug and gestures towards the kitchen, "Come with me."

Stefan follows Lola into the kitchen, he takes a seat beside the counter as Lola walks towards the cabinet and grabs two glasses, "Do you remember when we were younger and you would always beg me to take you to the park?"

Stefan smiles slightly at the memory, "Damon would always get annoyed when we went without him."

Lola places the two glasses on the counter and opens up the fridge, "Then we would always come home and there would be homemade lemonade waiting for us, mother used to always make it."

"When she died you would make it yourself."

Lola laughs slightly as she pours Stefan a glass of lemonade, "I always thought mine was nicer."

The smile leaves Stefan's face, he sighs looking down at the glass of lemonade, "I'm sorry about tonight, I don't know what I was thinking. I just needed to get the cure for Elena as fast as I could."

Lola shrugs as she pours herself a glass, "You never realise how far you're willing to go for the people you love until you're left with no other option, believe me I know."

"You're not mad about it?"

"I was."

"What changed?"

Lola takes a seat beside Stefan, "I heard that eventually you came to your senses and that was good enough for me."

It's silent between both siblings for a moment before Stefan speaks up again, "Do you miss her?"

"Who?"

"Mother."

Lola sighs as she thinks of how to answer Stefan's question when in truth she doesn't miss her mother, she can't remember a time she ever did. Lola shrugs as she takes a sip of the lemonade, "It's hard to miss someone when they tried so hard to not be part of your life."

"Come on, Lo, that's not true." Stefan places his hand against Lola's, "She adored us all."

Lola shakes her head and scoffs, "She adored you and Damon, she resented me. Ever since everything happened with Cora when you were so little, things went south really fast. She would never verbally say it but I know she would blame me for father's outbursts. There was this look in her eye and she would only give me this look which was just pure emptiness. It was like whenever she looked at me she felt nothing, beneath her eyes was nothing but darkness. But then when she seen the two of you her eyes lit up so much."

Stefan looks at his sister confused, "It never seemed that way, especially from your side. It always looked like you adored her as much as Damon and me."

"That's because I've been the world's greatest actress from when I was six years old." Lola places her other hand on top of Stefan's, "I made a vow to myself I wasn't going to let that darkness poison the two of you as much as it poisoned me."

"I should go, probably not ideal being in the same house as Klaus after tonight."

They both come to stand and Lola takes hold of Stefan's hand, "Just remember one thing, I am your big sister. I'm always going to love you and I'm always going to protect you, no matter what, okay? Never deal with anything on your own. You've got me, Stef. Always."

Stefan hugs his sister, thanking her for being there for him. She follows him to the front door and watches as he begins to walk away until she speaks up, "Stef?" Stefan turns around to face her at the bottom of the outside steps, Lola smiles faintly over to him, "I know you wanted the best for Elena but it's time you want the best for yourself too."