Klaus was lying in bed, naked except for the sheets covering him from the waist down. After a round of fairly fantastic sex, Suzanne had seemed energized and hopped up and off of the bed, throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a loose t shirt before walking into the kitchen. Klaus could smell the coffee she was brewing and was actually somewhat enjoying the Icelandic music that Suzanne was playing.

He knew of course that she had no idea what the song was about, she just liked the way it sounded. The same had applied to a French song that was apparently the top played song on her iTunes account. Little idiosyncrasies like these made Klaus much fonder than he knew was smart. However, he couldn't help liking nearly everything about Suzanne.

It was a problem. One he knew he would have to face sooner rather than later – she knew about the supernatural and Klaus knew it was an impossibility to keep his status as a vampire from her forever. Though of course he didn't plan on telling her that he was one thousand years old – he figured that might be the sort of thing that deeply disturbed her, especially after she'd once gone on an hour long rant about how the over-sexualization of teenagers on television was disgusting when the actresses portraying the teenagers were often in their late twenties or early thirties.

Yes, their age difference might cause an issue. But he didn't know how he could accurately explain it. Klaus was one thousand years old, that was true. But he was also twenty-nine. He would always feel like he was twenty-nine.

Suzanne's quiet singing made him finally get out of bed. It was somewhat funny to hear her botched version of the Icelandic language, and he snorted as he grabbed his jeans and t shirt off of the floor. He and Suzanne were alone in the house – she'd let him know as Klaus had kicked the door of the bedroom shut that Damon was going out on the town to grab something to eat after lunch, explaining that his stomach was a bottomless pit.

As if arriving on cue due to Klaus's wandering thoughts, he heard the front door open and Damon loudly announce himself with the shout of, "Suze, if you and Nik are having sex in a shared space, stop unless you want me to get an eyeful!"

Suzanne laughed loudly and Klaus could hear the movement of fabric signaling that the two of them were likely tussling. Walking into the kitchen, he immediately saw that Damon had Suzanne in a headlock and was messing up her already sex-mussed hair.

What he realized a moment later, however, was much less entertaining.

Damon smelled like blood. Not the small hint that would alert Klaus to the fact he had scraped an elbow. It was to the degree that he immediately knew that Damon had just finished draining someone of their blood.

Damon was a vampire.

Before he could react, Klaus watched as Suzanne squawked at the treatment Damon was giving her and jabbed him in the side, causing him to let out an involuntarily laugh. Releasing her a second later, Suzanne showed no remorse as she hopped up and mussed up his own hair to the degree that Damon looked outrageous.

Damon was a vampire. And he was Suzanne's best friend. Her vervain tattoo suddenly made perfect sense – she had to know what he was. And she was his friend anyway. There was a brief moment of relief at knowing that Suzanne's tattoo wasn't due to being a hunter or being from some sort of magical family. He'd never sensed any magic around her – Suzanne was an average human; she simply was aware of the supernatural.

Klaus announced his presence with a loud clearing of his throat. Damon and Suaznne whipped their heads to look at him in perfect sync, causing him to let out a laugh. Klaus had been jealous of their relationship before meeting Damon, but the last three days he had spent in the Outer Banks with the two had made him feel much more secure about his own relationship with Suzanne. She and Damon were incredibly close, and he knew that she loved Damon, but it was entirely platonic.

Klaus privately was more jealous of the closeness they shared, having never had a friendship quite like theirs.

"Hey, Nicholas. I'm pretty-ing up your girlfriend at the moment, hope you don't mind."

Klaus didn't correct him on the assumption regarding his name, instead letting out another small laugh at the way Suzanne suddenly looked incredibly embarrassed, shooting Klaus a self-conscious look.

Wanting to remedy her expression immediately, he said back, "Impossible. Suzanne already looks lovely."

To his disappointment, Suzanne didn't blush. Instead she narrowed her eyes and looked back to Damon. They searched each other's expressions for a moment before Damon nodded slightly. Once more turning to face him simultaneously, they spoke in tandem.

"Fine."

It seemed like a bizarre thing to say in response to a compliment, but before Klaus could voice his confusion Suzanne started speaking.

"We've decided to start fining you every time you say something sappy. You're rich and do that a lot, so the money I'm saving for a rainy day is going to quickly increase."

Klaus stared at the two of them, trying to gauge their seriousness, but when he only saw expectant expressions, he let out a resigned sigh.

"You two are utterly mad. You're aware of that, right?"

Damon snorted before saying in a patronizing tone, as if the answer should be obvious, "Of course."

Their penchant for high fives was slowly growing on him.

Damon was feeling on edge. Or maybe on edge by proxy since Suze was getting riled up. It was subtle, sure, but he knew all her tells and she was feeling majorly antsy. The reason for it was pretty obvious.

Nik had been acting weird for the last day and a half. Not obviously, but his behavior had definitely changed after their first three days in North Carolina. They were only staying for another few hours so Damon figured he might as well address it before he and Suze left for Virginia and Nik went to wherever the hell he wanted.

The thing that was throwing him - and he suspected Suze - off was that the guy's behavior had changed towards Damon. It was a little insulting, actually. He'd thought that they were getting along alright and had even started considering the guy as a future drinking buddy. God knew one human friend was more than enough, but if Suze was keeping him around for now Damon knew she would want him to play nice. And it hadn't been hard at all - Nik was able to keep up with the banter he and Suze spoke as a first language, so casually hanging out had been pretty easy.

Damon knew that he hadn't screwed up. He'd been feeding one town over and had been sure to put on the whole 'human act' the whole time they were here, even when he had been so tempted to hurl Suze into the ocean after she'd accidentally-on-purpose spilled soy sauce on his third favorite leather jacket after he made a comment about the woman in the group doing the dishes.

Maybe it was deserved, sure, but she had better be fucking willing to shell out and get him a hell of a birthday present to make up for it.

Anyway, Damon had been his charming self and kept the mocking to a minimum. So Nik suddenly watching him more and acting strangely wary when he and Suze were together was really starting to piss him off. When his best friend was running to the grocery store to stock up on food - and likely going to the liquor store next door for more alcohol - he decided to confront the guy whether he was Suze's boyfriend or not.

"You need to stop acting weird around Suze and I. I'm not trying to steal your girl or whatever. And I mean technically she's been mine longer. So I've got dibs anyway."

Nik's face had turned into an expression that looked like a cross between intrigue and annoyance.

"You have dibs on Suzanne?"

Damon wasn't exactly cowed, so he shrugged and walk to the fridge, grabbing himself and Nik the last two beers. After sliding one down the counter for Nik to grab, he twisted off the cap and took a look sip.

"Seriously, though. I don't know what your problem is. If anything, I should be the one giving you the shovel talk. I meant to earlier, actually. So, you know. If you hurt Suze I'll rip out your spine and beat you with it, yada yada. She's my best friend."

Nik's annoyance had faded and a smirk briefly covered his face before his eyes narrowed and he seemed to be assessing Damon. He had no idea what was on Nik's mind, but after a minute or two of them sitting in silence and sipping their beers, Nik addressed him.

"It's not you, mate. I've been off, but I think I've resolved what was troubling my mind. Cheers?"

Damon nodded, glad that the chick flick moment was over, and tapped his bottle against the other man's.