A/N: Thank you so much for everything - the follows, reviews, favorites. I appreciate it more than you know! Shout out to Le26199, karmen238, foreverdream7, Teamvampirebarbie22, Tinyflyer02, DevilJolie, lateVMlover, Cloeyhds, Teamvampirebarbie22, MelodiousVengeance, EmLouD, Aliyah, jessnicole, secile, chibichibi98, CMT1992, Hopelessromanticatheart26, and all of the guest reviewers.

With Klaus' help, I finally got back to my room. He still didn't have much to say which seemed odd for him, but I was grateful because he didn't linger. I wanted to get a nice, long shower, go through my things and try to forget about the entire ordeal I'd just been through. Thinking of my friends and my mom and hoping they were okay helped with that.

Taking off Klaus' jacket, I turned in the mirror to take a look at my back. Seeing it looked the same as it always did, and not peppered with jagged holes, I blew out a sigh of relief and got started. I'd showered, put on some fresh clothes, and restored my hair to its normal style.

When I considered all of my boxes, and Klaus had every single belonging of mine brought here, I wondered what to do. If I completely unpacked, and then everything got resolved, it would be that much more time packing up and heading back to Whitmore. I decided to sort everything into immediate needs, might be needed, and don't unpack. I felt better with some of my things around me.

I had no idea how long I'd been doing my thing. The sun was setting when someone knocked at my door. I wasn't surprise to see Rebekah there. I was surprised by the wariness I saw in her face.

She also didn't say anything which made things a little awkward.

"Hi, Rebekah," I greeted her.

"Hi." Her gaze dropped.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

That got her attention.

"I'm fine," she said with caution. "I just wanted to talk to you about dinner."

"Okay." Standing back I let her walk in the room. "I didn't realize it was so late."

"You've done some unpacking." Rebekah looked around the room, spying my laptop.

That reminded me.

"Klaus said you guys have internet but I don't know the password."

"I'll write it down for you," she told me, still not quite acting like herself.

"Okay, Rebekah? Spill. What's wrong?" I kept a smile on my face as I spoke, but I didn't want to keep playing the eggshell game with her.

She blew out an exhale. "So you're not mad at me?"

That was the Rebekah I knew. Straight to the point.

"No," I told her.

She nodded. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"You stood up for me to Nik. If you hadn't been here, I would probably be in a box right now."

"If I weren't here," I explained, "the entire incident wouldn't have happened. Well, it would have but they would have attacked you and you would have handled it."

Her shoulders lifted a little at that. "I would have."

"So, I'm starving. You mentioned dinner?" I grinned at her, plopping down on my bed to sit at the edge.

"Yes, I thought it might make us feel better," Rebekah explained. "When it's just us, we have a couple of servants who make meals, mostly to make sure Hayley is well fed. For the rest of us, sometimes we'll dine, sometimes not. Haley grabbed left overs earlier and plans to stay in her room to get some extra rest. My brothers are in the middle of some world domination plot."

"So basically you're looking for an excuse for comfort food?" I teased her.

Rebekah grinned back at me. "I guess so."

"So let's get a ton of take out," I told her. "What's good here? And do they deliver?"

Her face lit up at that idea. "You haven't ever been to New Orleans before, have you?"

I shook my head, caught up in her enthusiasm.

"Lucy's," she said. "It's wonderful, Cajun and Creole food. We've got a menu in the kitchen."

"Let's go!"

I could hear Klaus and Elijah talking elsewhere in the house as I followed Rebecca down to the kitchen. She searched through a couple of drawers, finally spotting the menu she wanted. Excitedly she began explaining different dishes to me. Alligator bites, shrimp etouffee, red beans and rice, jambalaya, gumbo. At least those I'd heard of. I had no idea what a po' boy even was.

"Well, clearly we're going to have to try everything," Rebekah announced, making a list before calling and placing an order that likely had the kitchen of the restaurant in question scrambling. They asked for thirty minutes and Rebekah kept me entertained with stories of their family's arrival in New Orleans and what it was like then while we got out plates, utensils, glasses.

"Oh, wine," Rebekah said. "Want to see the wine cellar?"

"Wine?" I could handle that.

"Or champagne. Or both." Rebekah grinned. "Come on."

I followed her down a long hallway, coming up on the sound of Klaus and Elijah's voices.

"Rebekah?" Elijah asked before we even reached the doorway.

I followed her into what was actually a massive library. Yes! I knew they had one. Klaus and Elijah were sitting in comfy looking leather chairs before a roaring fire as we walked in.

Klaus barely gave his sister a passing glance, telling me he was still unhappy about what happened earlier. He glanced my way and a slow smile formed on his face.

"What are you two up to?" Elijah asked, smiling.

"Caroline has never tried the local cuisine," Rebekah explained, "so we've called for takeout."

"She ordered enough food to feed most of the city," I teased her.

"You look well, Caroline," Elijah studied me for a moment, his expression kind.

I nodded.

"I feel fine. Thank you both," I told them, my gaze lingering Klaus. "Well, I'm fine for now. I'm being led off to get wine and champagne apparently."

"Champagne is it?" Klaus asked, winking at me.

"Yes," I informed him, "and if you can be nice, you can join us for dinner."

"Nice is a bit of a stretch for me, love, but for you I'll give it my best effort," Klaus said to that.

Elijah nodded. "Why not?"

"Good," I told them. "Everything will be here in a few minutes."

"Let's head on," Rebekah told me, her enthusiasm slightly diminished now that her brothers would joining us.

"Rebekah," Klaus called to her before she reached the door. "Get the Krug."

Nodding, she made her way out. I stopped before I exited the room. Looking at Klaus, I mouthed the words "be nice to her."

Rebekah waited until we were nearly in the cellar before she spoke.

"My brothers are joining us." She sighed.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I thought maybe over some food, we could all have a good evening and forget all about earlier."

Glancing at me over her should, Rebekah frowned. "If you think Nik is going to get over it that easily, then you don't know him."

"There is also wine," I pointed out, grinning at her.

"Yes, and champagne," she mused, pulling a bottle from one of the racks. "What's that all about?"

"What's what?" I asked innocently.

She handed me an elegant bottle that showed Krug on the label. It was from 1996.

"You, my brother, champagne?"

Now she was teasing me.

"He thinks it our thing," I said, shaking my head.

"You and my brother have a thing?"

"He thinks we do. There's a difference," I said, chuckling.

"Hmmm." Rebekah pulled down a bottle of what looked like red wine, then went back and grabbed another bottle of champagne.

"Seriously? Another bottle of champagne?"

We laughed. Rebekah shrugged.

"If you have enough champagne, perhaps Nik will get lucky tonight." She waggled her eyebrows at me. "That would definitely improve his mood and get him off my back."

"You don't have enough champagne for that," I told her, trying to keep a straight face. "You truly are the most evil Mikaelson."

"I am, baby, and don't you forget it." And she had the evil laugh to back it up.

Despite Rebekah's worries, dinner went fabulously. I tried a little of everything we ordered, and that was saying a lot because there was enough food to feed a village on their enormous dining room table. Actually, there'd been no room to sit at that table to eat because of all of the food items so I announced, to the surprise of Klaus and Elijah, that we'd be eating in the living room.

Two maids I'd never seen before appeared along with the guys from earlier, set up a small table for the four of us near the cheery fireplace. I guess the maids were new to Rebekah because she snorted.

"That's new, Nik," she told him, motioning towards the women in their professional gray uniforms. To me, she said, "Normally, he has a handful of scantily-clad, leggy blondes here to serve the same purpose."

That earned her a look. Elijah smirked, winking at me.

"I wouldn't mind the leggy blondes," I teased Klaus, "as long as we also had service that catered to the female population of the house."

His eyebrows shot up at that. "What did you have in mind?"

"I don't know, some cabana boys. Shirtless, muscular waiters. That sort of thing."

"I second that," Rebekah chimed in.

"I'll consider your request carefully," Klaus directed at me.

"That means no," Rebekah informed me.

Shaking his head, Klaus let that go. To his credit, he made the effort to get along with his sister. Probably for my benefit but I didn't care as I watched her enjoy the meal with her brothers and I. Her laugh was that of a teenage girl. Klaus and Elijah also seemed at ease, talking as any family would at dinner.

Family night with the Mikaelsons. It was an experience that I never would have imagined having. I listened to them talk about times past well after our meal was over, marveling at how they could make memories from hundreds of years ago seem like tales of what happened yesterday. I wondered if it would be that way for me if I managed to live that long.

I was pretty proud of myself for engineering the entire thing and I was content to mostly listen. Klaus's gaze met mine several times, letting me know he hadn't forgotten I was there. And I had a nice time. It didn't hurt that my glass of champagne was always full and it had definitely gone to my head.

The maids worked at clearing the table before us and Elijah pushed back from the table. "This has been an enjoyable evening."

"Nothing short of a miracle for us," Rebekah mused as she and I stood and the three of them laughed at that, making me wonder how bad things normally were.

"It's time for me to say good night," Elijah bid me, giving me a brief hug much to my surprise. Saying good night to his siblings he made his way out the room.

Rebekah looked torn as to what to do. I was guessing she wanted to do something girly next. We'd had so much fun planning dinner. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized that she was just lonely. Her famous temper and surly attitude had been non-existent all evening. She'd even seemed sorry about what had happened with the attack. Maybe her loneliness was her reason for lashing out.

"You two seem to be getting along well," Klaus observed, smirking.

Rebekah and I exchanged glances, nodding. It was nice to maybe have a friend while I was here.

"That being the case, perhaps the three of us might take a little trip tomorrow," he proposed.

"Where?" Rebekah asked.

"Baton Rouge," he said. "I have some business to take care of but I won't be long. I thought perhaps we could make a day of it."

Rebekah lit up like a Christmas tree. "Is Elijah coming too?"

"No, he has plans here tomorrow," Klaus explained.

They were both looking at me.

"Do you like to shop?" she asked me, excited.

"Love to," I answered honestly, laughing with her.

Klaus smiled, happy to get his way so easily. I could tell. But I had to wonder what business he had to take care of. Somehow I felt like it was the main, underlying reason for the trip.

"Oh, the shops, Caroline." Rebekah grinned, looking from Klaus to me and back. "I'm going to go plot out where we have to go tomorrow. You're going to love this."

She was heading for the stairs, leaving me with Klaus. "See you in the morning!"

"Do you need any help?" I tried.

"Nope," she called out, already gone.

"I see what you're doing," I yelled to her as Klaus chuckled behind me.

The male helpers were clearing away the table and chairs now. Klaus came to a stop next to me, the flames reflected in his eyes.

"How are you feeling, love?" he asked gently.

"Really, I'm fine." I shrugged, having a seat on the antique sofa that had been returned to the room.

He took a seat next to me, staring at the fire as I was. He stretched out his long legs, his arms spread along the back of the sofa. We looked up to see one of the maids enter with two flutes of champagne. Before I could give him the business about trying to ply me with champagne, he held up a hand to let the woman know he didn't want them served. All of a sudden, his demeanor seemed serious.

"You were attacked this morning," he said, the normal underlying menace there in his voice as it always was when he talked of things that upset him. "Right outside my house."

"There was nothing you could have done to prevent it," I said matter-of-factly.

"But Rebekah could have," he pointed out.

"She was hurt, rejected." I glanced at him, he didn't take his eyes off the fire before us. "She lashed out. She's not the only one I know who does that."

His smile didn't reach his eyes as he looked at me. "Is that a shot?"

"Not just at you," I said honestly. "Damon's done the same thing quite a few times."

"And you're not angry with Rebekah at all?" he asked in disbelief.

I shook my head. "She didn't intend for me to get hurt. It sucked, don't get me wrong. But it was obvious she felt bad about it. And I'm all healed."

"Back to Damon," he said. "You said he used you as his blood bag and plaything."

"Note to self, don't bring up stupid things in anger," I said, hoping he'd let it go.

His gaze searched my face. He wasn't going to let it go. I blew out an exhale.

"This was when you were human," he pressed on.

"Why do we have to talk about that? I shouldn't have even mentioned it," I told him, mentally kicking myself.

"What happened?" Klaus asked.

"No," I said firmly.

"Can't friends ask such questions about ex loves?" his voice was low, his face a study in intensity.

"Yeah, when the teller is pretty confident that the tellee isn't going to hunt down the ex and rip out his spine," I said.

Klaus smiled at that, flashing those dimples at me. "What if I agreed to simply maiming him?"

I crossed my arms across my chest. "No deal."

"Please," he implored me with those incredible blue eyes. "Tell me."

I hoped I wouldn't regret telling him later.

"Stefan showed up in Mystic Falls and he was the new guy at school, you know. He had all the girls talking about him, including me and Bonnie. But he was only interested in Elena. I mean, he turned me down very bluntly. I didn't know until later that he'd come specifically for her, to get to know her. I took it as just another rejection in my life. Damon showed up in town later, and he went for me. I thought. But it was all about sex. He never cared about me beyond that and the blood. He'd use me in his schemes and then leave holes in my memory because of the compulsion. It was like the old saying, be careful what you wish for..."

"He used you," Klaus said, his gaze never wavering.

"Only because I allowed it," I admitted. "It's that desperation thing I mentioned. When someone showed the least bit of interest in me, I gave everything of myself. I was that stupidly grateful for whatever attention I got. But Damon made me rethink all of that, to care more about what I did, what choices I made. In a weird way, he helped me grow up a little."

One of Klaus' arms rested along the sofa behind me. I felt his fingers shifting in my hair, a gentle, barely there movement. I let it go.

"After I was turned, I remembered all the things Damon did to me but compelled me to forget. I struggled for a long time with the memories, with him." I looked down at my hands, afraid if I didn't he'd see I was struggling with telling him the story. "In time I came to accept him for Stefan's sake, because it was his brother. In time, he became slightly less of an evil jackass and actually did some good things here and there."

"And when Elena chose to be with him?" Klaus asked. "Did you feel she betrayed you?"

"I could have chosen to feel betrayed," I explained. "But I love Elena and I want her to be happy. It would be selfish to remind her of the bad things he did to me, to make her feel she had to choose between us. I love her, so I can't make her choose. And we mostly all get along. It's okay."

"I'd quite like to rip Damon's heart from his chest for what he did to you," Klaus said quietly.

"Please don't," I asked, looking into his eyes.

Klaus didn't say anything, his lips pressed into a thin line.

"With all the hurts you've endured, how… can you forgive so easily?" he asked.

"Who said it was easy?" I told him with a humorless laugh.

"But you do forgive," he said, amazement in eyes. "I've always considered kindness and mercy to be weaknesses that I couldn't afford. I've always punished those who cross me, Caroline, you know this. Even those I care about, my family."

Staring into my eyes, the emotions behind his own held me mesmerized. "You speak of forgiveness and mercy and for you, it's a strength."

"Not all of us are indestructible and all powerful," I told him.

"Damon's relationship with Elena poses no physical threat to you but you endure it," he said.

"Because dealing with Damon means I still have Elena in my life," I explained. "Her friendship is worth more to me than my pride and the past."

"I've done terrible things," he admitted, "to your friends, to you, to those you love. Why are you here with me now?"

"You made me?" I teased him, earning me one of his smiles. But he waited for a real answer. "Maybe because you've given me something I've never found before."

His brows lifted. "What have I given you?"

"A sense of self-worth," I admitted. "I get that from my friends too. I know I matter to them. But with you, it's different. I don't even know how to put it into words, Klaus. In the relationships I've been in, it's been about sex or being friends with benefits. With Tyler, he showed me he cared and put me first. Most of the time."

Klaus waited for me to continue, his fingers still twirling in my hair.

"You… You make me feel like something… precious. I feel beautiful when I'm with you. I feel like no one else matters when we talk. And deep down I realize I want that. What girl wouldn't? But it scares me too. How would you recover from being that adored even if you lived a dozen lifetimes? You know?"

His lips had curved up into a gentle smile as I talked. "So you automatically assume at some point I would tire of you?"

"That's what usually happens. With humans, vampires, werewolves, hybrids. And you… you're the hybrid. You're like the most powerful creature on the planet. How could I ever hope to be enough for someone like you when I've never been enough for anyone else?"

"I've been around for a long time, Caroline," he voice was barely above a whisper. "And in all those years, I've learned one very important thing about our kind. The ideology and belief system from their time as humans often remains the same throughout their immortal existence. You come from a time and society where instant gratification is the norm and marriage isn't necessary. Women offer sex in hopes they will win a man's heart, his devotion to her."

"In my time, women were regarded differently. A man pursued the woman who caught his eye. Beauty mattered, of course, and sex was something never far from a man's mind even then. But marriage was necessary in my time. You married and had children to continue your family's name, to keep the machine of humanity turning. Even though marriage and children aren't necessary, I find at times I'm still very much in that mindset on a personal level."

His hand moved to the back of my neck, tracing light circles on my skin.

"You would have been the most beautiful girl in our village, Caroline, and I would have made it known that I sought your hand." The emotion in his blue eyes nearly took my breath away. "Unless you or your family rejected my intentions, the marriage would be arranged quickly. We'd spend time together before then but always with a chaperone present. Always in plain view. The anticipation of things to come would have been breathtaking. They would have consumed my every thought until you were mine."

"Thinking about the wedding night?" I meant it to sound casual but missed casual by about a mile.

"Of course. But first I would have thought about what it would be like to kiss you. I'd wonder if your lips were as soft as they looked. I'd want to know what they tasted like."

His gaze was on my lips. My breath caught. Every inch of me felt lit up with crazy tingles even as my battered heart tightened with every romantic word out of his mouth.

"You've kissed me before," I reminded him in a weak voice.

"With someone else's mouth," he said. "I enjoyed that immensely, believe me. But I want to experience that again - as myself. I want a kiss that's for me alone and –"

I cut him off by leaning forward, pressing my lips to his gently. Klaus moaned against my mouth, one hand gently curved around the back of my neck, the other lifting to cup my cheek. I was used to fast and furious and soon realized I didn't know what to do with the slow kiss I'd started. Within seconds, he took over, his lips gently caressing mine in no particular hurry.

My hands slid up his chest, clutching in the dark blue shirt he wore while he overwhelmed my senses with a kiss meant to entice, to savor. His lips were so gentle, his hands never wandered to other parts of me. His tongue slowly traced my lower lip but he didn't try to deepen the kiss.

When he finally pulled back, I was breathless, realizing I wouldn't have purposefully ended the kiss myself if the sofa had been on fire. While I struggled to catch my breath, he smiled, triumph and something softer lingering in his eyes as he studied me.

"Thank you, love," he said gently, meaning it. "Why don't you get some sleep for our trip tomorrow? Make sure you have some comfortable shoes. If I know my sister, you'll be dragged into every shop in Baton Rouge by day's end."

I nodded, trembling in a good way, as I rose from the couch and headed for the stairs. I could still taste him on my lips.

"Good night, Caroline," he whispered.

"Good night, Klaus."