Sorry that this chapter is short and uneventful, it's really just a filler chapter. The next chapter will be longer and more interesting. Thanks for reading. :)

Ava's POV:

Klaus kept on asking me if I was ok. Did I feel ok? Did anything hurt? Did I need blood? Did I want him to take me out so we could find someone I could feed on? I answered all these questions as patiently as I could. I was fine, I wasn't human so my wounds had healed relatively quickly. He knew that as well as I did. I wished he would stop with the persistent, worried questions."I'm fine, Klaus. Really!" I cried in exasperation when he opened his mouth again, no doubt to ask another question. He shut his mouth and gave me an embarrassed sort of smile. "Sorry. I just thought we'd lost you for a while there." Stefan, on the other hand, said nothing at all the whole way home. That didn't strike me as anything odd, though; Stefan had barely said 2 words to me in months. He spoke only to Klaus when they would engage in their in depth plan developing of which I was allowed no part in, unless they needed me as a distraction or something of that sort. I did, however, have a general idea of what they were up to. They frequently forgot that my hearing was just as good as theirs.

In the days following my rescue from Adeline's crazed ex, Klaus started to pay more attention to me. It was just little things like if we were sat down together, he would run his fingers through my hair or brush his fingers against my skin. Like I said, it was little things, but it made a difference. Before, he'd barely look at me, except for when he wanted sex. Initially, my sole purpose for accompanying Klaus and Stefan on their travels was purely because I hadn't wanted Stefan to be alone with Klaus. I wanted Elena and Damon to know that Stefan would be safe with someone that he knew, but in all honesty, I hadn't done anything that might have helped Stefan cope with the emotional stress of complying to Klaus's wishes. In addition to this, I'd done something that was worse than not helping Stefan. I'd never had feelings for anyone but Elijah before. Not strong feelings, yet the more time I spent with Klaus, the deeper I felt myself falling. That wasn't to say, though, that my feelings for Elijah had dispersed. I hadn't seen him for months, he was dead. Deep down I knew that I would always have some sort of feelings for Elijah. Had I not still had feelings for him, I wouldn't have hated him for involving himself with Adeline 500 years after it had happened. I suppose, the best way to put it was that I had feelings for both of them, torn between the two of them, a rose between two thorns, though I hated to admit it.

It wasn't until 2 weeks after the incident with Adeline's ex that me and Stefan had our first proper conversation in months. Klaus had gone out for some reason unknown to the pair of us; there were still some things he kept close to his chest because he didn't fully trust me or Stefan, and the two of us had been left alone in the house. We were both sat in the kitchen, watching the news and drinking blood, though neither of us were particularly interested in the news. An awkward silence fell between us whenever the newsreaders paused, a silence which I usually tried to fill by downing some of the liquid in my glass and tapping my fingers against the kitchen surface. After around half an hour of awkward news watching and finger tapping, Stefan spoke.

"Do you miss him?" He burst out, not taking his eyes off the tv.

I turned to face him, confused etched upon my expression. "Who, Klaus?"

"No. Elijah."

I stared at him for a few moments, trying to fabricate an answer.

"Why would I miss Elijah?" I asked finally, frowning.

"Well, you were engaged to him once. You loved him, I assume. Do you not ever miss him? Or does his brother fill his shoes?"

It wasn't hard for me to guess, from the bitter tone in his voice, what the real meaning behind his questions were. He was worried that, in his absence, Elena would forget about him and become closer to Damon.

"Me and Elijah were together a long time ago. That would be like me asking you if you miss Katherine." I said, trying to avoid the question.

Stefan didn't seem satisfied by my answer, but he didn't question it.

"Do you love Klaus?"

I considered his question for a few moments before answering. I hadn't thought about it much before, I hadn't ever asked myself whether or not I loved him. "Yeah, I do." I replied quietly, tearing my gaze away from Stefan's and fixing them unseeingly on the TV. It wasn't a lie, but I'd never even admitted it to myself before, never mind said it out loud.

The front door banging shut told us that Klaus had returned and the two of us fell silent, averting our gazes from the others, Stefan returning to his sullen silence and me, a nervous silence. I was hoping Klaus hadn't heard me and Stefan talking. If he'd been outside the house whilst we were talking, there was a good chance he'd heard since his hearing was 100 times stronger than the majority of vampires given the fact he was an Original. If he had heard us, he didn't give anything away. He sauntered into the kitchen with his usual smirk, seemingly careless. He didn't say anything as he walked around the room, getting himself a glass and pouring blood into the glass.

"Anything interesting?" He asked as he sat down next to me, gesturing towards the television.

"Not at all."

"I wouldn't expect anything else." He said, draining his glass and setting it down on the counter.

"Did you find anything?" Stefan asked him, not bothering to take his gaze of the television.

"Nothing," Klaus said bitterly. "But, I did manage to get a lead on Katerina." He didn't seem too bothered by this. Neither did Stefan. I supposed that now Klaus had broken the curse, the obsession to kill Katherine had subsided some.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"New York, apparently."

"Are you going to go after her?"

"Not yet. I thought it'd be nice to lure her into a false sense of security before hunting her down."

I counted myself lucky that I was part of Klaus' inner circle and not someone he wanted dead. I'd seen how seriously he took revenge and how seriously he took the infliction of pain on another being. It wasn't a desirable situation.