Veronika sat on a beach and watched Lake Michigan from Grand Traverse Bay, watching the water had some sort of a calming effect on her and it gave her mind peace for the first time in however long she could possible remember. Veronika had been here for five days since the incident with Klaus happened a week ago. She couldn't go back to Paris or Bulgaria, not even her apartment back in D.C. because that was the first place that Klaus would look for her when he needed her back. As hard as Veronika tried to block him out, Klaus still invaded her thoughts and her dreams, it was if her mind was torn between going back to him and running away. There were two sides to Klaus; the nice side and then there was the darker side to him. Veronika was so no saint either but everything she had done over the years had paled in comparison to what Klaus; the most feared original had done in his thousand years of living. Veronika wasn't scared of Klaus but he did scare her, even more so since the incident last week.

"Now what aren't you telling me Nica and this time I want the truth!"

As she watched the calm and still water Veronika could still feel Klaus' hand around her throat, squeezing tightly as he demanded an answer for her about why she had reacted to the news that the original Petrova had a child out of wedlock.

"How do you mean similar in more ways that one? And you will give me a proper answer Veronika Petrova!"

Since she had become a vampire there wasn't anything that Veronika had really been afraid of. The only thing she had been afraid of was someone hitting her Klaus' had spent close to ten years helping Veronika to get over that to which she no longer flinched when someone moved their hands anywhere near her.

"Very good Nica!"

The day that she finally stopped flinching Veronika couldn't remember a time that she had ever seen Klaus so happy since she had met. He was proud of her although Veronika didn't really understand why he was so happy, when she felt that she had been burdening him with her problems. First he had saved her life from Evgeni, help her kill him and then help her face her fears and recover from them. He had given Veronika back her confidence, something that she had lost ever since she had gotten married and Klaus would often remind that her that she had changed and become a stronger person since she had started her new life.

"Your not weak Veronika and I don't want you to ever think of yourself like that again… Little Petrova, your parents gave you to a monster who knew nothing except for using his fists and cruelty. What he did to you was not his fault, you need to remember that along with the fact that he can no longer hurt you."

No matter how many times he had yelled and lost his temper over something over the years, Klaus had been the one to save Veronika's life, even if that involved killing her to turn her into a vampire. She owed him for the many things that he had done for her over the five hundred years that she had been alive and free thanks to him.

"I want to help you Veronika, I want to right the wrong that you have suffered. A beautiful woman like yourself should not be harmed by a man who does not deserve to have you at his side. I promise that if you come with me that I will not let another man lay a hand on you, and if one should I will kill him with my bare hand.

That statement was highly ironic considering what had just happened between the two of them. But yet Klaus with all his faults and temperament issues was still charming, generous not to mention very handsome and when needed to be he could be very kind despite Klaus' reluctance to show it. Veronika wasn't certain that she started falling in love with Klaus that night, he had been the man to save her from her misery and gave her light at the end of tunnel that she thought that she would never see.

"Come with me and you'll never have to worry about things like that again…"

When Klaus said things like that to her it filled Veronika with hope especially during her darkest days such as this one. She needed him here with her now but she also needed some distance away from Klaus. She was in love with the man who had murdered practically everyone she had ever known and loved. Despite the fact that Veronika was aware of the fact that the feelings weren't mutual on Klaus' part. It wasn't like Stockholm syndrome as Klaus didn't kidnap her but it was complicated. The two of them were complicated and scary.

"Don't be afraid Nica…"

The memory of Klaus saying that to Veronika was so clear that it was as if he was sitting next to her, there and then. The day Klaus had said that to Veronika, it had been a nice day in Paris during May 1721. The two of were sitting outside in the gardens of a beautiful estate and Veronika had caught Klaus staring at her and when she had asked why he had been staring he told her 'Don't be afraid Nica' before kissing her. It had been their first kiss. Even after two hundred and eighty-eight years Veronika could remember how soft and delicate the kiss had been, not like any of the kisses she had shared with Evgeni that were forceful and harsh. Veronika had received kisses before but not one like that. Despite Klaus' often bitter and sour personality at times, whenever he kissed Veronika it was something else entirely and even to this day she still got butterflies in her stomach.

"Your happiness is important to me."

It had been over five hundred years since Klaus had turned Veronika and she still had his attention and affections, they drove each other crazy in more ways. The two of them made Bonnie and Clyde look normal with everything that had gotten up to. But despite the craziness Klaus made Veronika happy, he also made her sad not to mention that he had made cry. Hell he had even almost chocked her to death a week ago. But she was his Little Petrova and she loved him.