Klaus and I were still standing in the middle of the ballroom. "I should change out of this." He gestured to his tuxedo.

"You're going to leave me alone here? You do realize that your house is ridiculously large and I may get lost."

"If you prefer," he said with a smirk, "you could come watch me change. Or help."

"Mmm, tempting." I extended my arm, pushing against his chest to push him away. "Just go so you can hurry back." Klaus locked his fingers around the wrist of my extended arm before he stepped back, pulling me with him. We had taken a few steps before I realized he was not going to let go.

Klaus flashed a mischievous grin before he sped up. Just like last time, one moment I'm downstairs and the next I'm in his bedroom. He dropped my wrist as soon as we stepped over the threshold of his room.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No worries, love; I'll protect our modesty and change in the bathroom." He winked as he pointed over his shoulder to the door that I assume led to his bathroom. I rolled my eyes. He grabbed a few articles of clothing from various dresser drawers before going through that door.

When the door closed, I looked around his bedroom. I was here the other day, but I hadn't paid attention to the room. I inhaled as I took in the room and realized it smelled like him. It resembled him, too; it looked ancient yet modern at the same time.

Almost every surface was covered with some type of art item: sketchbooks, pencils, loose pieces of paper, charcoal containers. His bed was made neatly; the bedspread was black with dark red accents. I sat down on the edge as Klaus came back into the room, now wearing his usual dark jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that button only near the top. He sat down next to me.

"I had an odd encounter with your cousin the other day."

"Really?" I was looking at my feet as they dangled, not quite touching the floor as I sat on the bed. I had already guessed this would be the Caroline-as-a-distraction story.

"She was outright flirting with me. Several months ago, I would have enjoyed that; but not now." He placed his left hand over my right one and intertwined our fingers. His other hand reached across his body and tucked some of my hair behind my ear.

"It appears as though she's arguing with the idiotic Lockwood boy. But I saw them this morning when I dropped Rebekah off to finish decorating and they certainly weren't arguing."

I kept my eyes down. "They're not fighting."

"I think Caroline wanted me to think they were."

I bit my bottom lip.

"Perhaps she was a distraction, again," he mused. "You know, don't you."

I glanced over at him to find that he was staring at me. He hadn't phrased the words as a question, but was he waiting for an answer?

"You don't have to answer; I can see it on your face."

I looked down again, until he placed his hand under my chin and gently raised it until I met his eyes.

"I'm not asking you to tell me what's going on, Riley. I would never expect you to betray your loyalty to your cousin. I already know that I can trust you; you never told her the truth about sire bonds. But I imagine Caroline isn't sure what to think, now that we are getting closer." He shifted closer to me, as if to convey every meaning of the words he spoke.

I raised my hand, the one not still entangled with him, up to the side of his face. I laid my palm against his cheek; he leaned into my touch and closed his eyes with a soft sigh.

"Thank you," I whispered. It wasn't enough to convey what I meant, or what I felt, but I think he understood. He wasn't making me choose a side.

He looked so peaceful, with his eyes closed momentarily.

When he reopened them, they looked bright, despite the dull lighting.

I didn't notice that he had moved his face closer to mine, and I didn't remember leaning closer to him, so I was surprised when our lips met. My eyes closed at the sensation of his mouth on mine. His soft lips caressed my own as his hand slid around to the back of my neck and up into my hair. My hand went to the back of his head and grabbed ahold of his curls. He took this as encouragement, holding me tighter as his tongue made its way into my mouth.

This time felt different. It felt as though we had been kissing forever. There was no hesitation; our lips didn't fumble or land awkwardly. It felt like old practice, but not in a boring way — in an incredibly welcome way.

What started out as gentle soon became rough and urgent. Klaus pulled me into his lap and attacked my throat. His lips sent shocks down my spine. Everywhere his lips touched seemed to ignite. I gasped when he nipped at my throat with his human teeth.

Klaus returned his lips to mine, invading my mouth with his tongue. I repositioned myself so that I was straddling his lap. He ran his hands up my leg and dug his fingers into my thighs. I ground my hips into him, unconsciously but loving the friction.

"Klaus," I breathed, breaking away slightly. We were both shaking. I sat atop him, as his hands remained firmly on my thighs. His eyes met mine as our foreheads touched. My chest heaved from our kissing.

One of his hands left my thigh and went to the side of my throat, just below my ear. He kissed me again. Softer this time. I let his tongue slip past my lips. It was strange, how I could feel suffocated yet comforted at the same time. This kiss was slow and sensual, but the intensity was building.

Suddenly, Klaus pulled his lips away from me with a groan. "What's wrong?" I asked while gasping for air.

"Rebekah's home."

Sure enough, I could now hear her steps on the stairs. Why did my hearing reduce to that of a human's whenever I kissed Klaus?

I groaned too. I raised myself onto my knees and crawled off him. I stood and straightened my clothes. As I sat back down on the edge of the bed, I decided that wasn't very comfortable any more. I slid back and moved until I was sitting with my back against his headboard. Klaus stood up, walked with vampire speed around his bed, and sat beside me. I turned to face him, leaning my side against the headboard instead of my back, and he mirrored my action.

I let my wrists lay on my knees. Klaus placed his hands around mine and held them in his. For some reason, this action made me feel bold enough to ask him a question. I usually waited until he told me more at his own leisure.

"Will you tell me more about your siblings?"

He smiled softly and looked at our interlaced hands for a moment before speaking. "Elijah was the oldest. Mikael's favourite. Brave, smart, moral, fast — he was a decent fighter. Made Mikael proud. Elijah and I played together when we were younger, but as we got older, this playfulness turned into competitiveness. Especially over Tatia.

"The original doppelganger," I whispered.

"We even came to blows and drew blood over her. But Ester fixed that." His face clouded over as I remembered what happened. Ester used Tatia's blood to turn her family into vampires.

I broke out of my memories as Klaus continued. "Finn was the second-born; Ester's favourite. We had been vampires for roughly a century when he became a nuisance. No one hated being a vampire more than Finn; not even the current doppelganger. He was the first one I daggered.

"Kol was born after me; favourite to no one but himself. After Finn, he was daggered the longest. I had to dagger Kol; he was more reckless than I was, and he attracted too many suspicions.

"Rebekah was the baby, and the only girl. Stubborn and too trustworthy, I always felt immensely protective of her. And she was good to have around — she has an uncanning ability to tell when someone is lying. It has been very convenient." He met my eyes and smiled. "Most of the time," he amended.

"I've been with Elijah the longest. He's also spent the least amount of time daggered. He undaggered everyone just last year."

"Where are they now?" My voice was scarcely louder than a whisper. "Besides Bekah, obviously."

"Elijah and Kol are back in Europe. Separately. Elijah is checking in on and maintaining our family properties and businesses. Kol is causing terrors, I'm sure. And Finn is dead."

"Dead?" I was not expecting that. "Like actually, properly dead?"

He nodded. "The Salvatores and their band of merry followers killed him with a white oak stake. Almost a pity; he had just been undaggered after 900 years and had been reunited with his love, Sage."

"And they killed him?"

"Yes. Stefan, the doppelganger, and the busboy."

I felt my eyes widen. "What?"

He nodded again.

"Was this before they learned about the vampire bloodlines, or after they found out you had created their bloodline?"

"From what I gather, Finn's death, and subsequently Sage's, was how they figured out about the vampire bloodlines."

I was shocked. I couldn't believe it; they killed him?

Klaus saw my shock. "You're astonished that they killed him?"

"Part of me is surprised they actually succeeded; from what C has told me, hardly any of the plans that come from either of the Salvatores — or both — actually work out. But I'm also shocked in a curious way: why would they feel the need to kill a vampire who had been daggered and laying in a coffin for 900 years?"

"That would be because of Ester. After the Bennett witches released her from her coffin, Ester requested that we throw a ball, in celebration of our family being reunited. It was all rubbish, of course; merely a ruse. At the ball, she used a spell to link all of her children together. That way, what happened to one would happen to all."

"So if one of you died, then you all would."

"And Finn, naturally, played sacrificial lamb."

"Because he hated being a vampire or because he was Ester's favourite?"

"Both. When Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, and I foiled Ester's plan, Stefan, the doppelganger, and the busboy went after Finn. He was killed because he was an obviously easier target. Two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. Or in this case, five Originals with one white oak stake. But fortunately, I had us unlinked before Finn met the sharp end of that stake."

Klaus then began the appalling litany of actions Ester made so she could kill the children she tried so hard to save a thousand years ago.

"Woah, stop. What? Ester took over Rebekah's body, then went back into her own to turn Alaric the history teacher / used-to-be vampire hunter into an actually immortal vampire hunter?"

"Rather annoyingly persistent, Ester was. But the witchy loophole was that she tied his life to the doppelganger's."

Something finally clicked inside my head — pieces of what C had told me that never made sense suddenly did. "Is that why you tried to drain Elena of all her blood?" He nodded. "That part never made sense until now; I could never figure out why you'd want to kill her."

"Caroline never told you about when Alaric tortured her in the school before trying to kill her?"

"No. She doesn't like telling me about the times when she's captured and tortured. Which makes sense. She only mentioned you draining Elena dry when she was talking about how Tyler broke the sire bond. Though I suppose 'thinks he did' would be the appropriate phrasing."

He smirked before continuing. "When the doppelganger died, so did the hunter. But before that happened, he managed to stake my desiccated body, using the white oak stake."

I gasped. "I knew you had been desiccated, but he actually staked you?" I untangled one of my hands from his, brought it up, and pressed my palm against his chest. I found feel his heart slowly beat beneath my hand. "How are you still here?"

"Witchy loopholes. Wonderful things. Your witchy friend protected me by putting me inside the Lockwood boy's body."

I may have choked on that statement. "Pardon?"

"When my body was staked, I thought it would burn up and I'd have to find a replacement. But it didn't. And when the witch restored me back to my own body, he got his body back too."

I still couldn't wrap my mind around this. "You were walking around in Tyler's body?"

"Caroline never told you this?"

"No!"

"Interesting…"

"Where was Tyler, when you were looking like him?"

"Blacked out, for all intents and purposes."

"And Bonnie helped you?" That seemed incredibly unlikely.

"No. She was helping her mother, Caroline, and Tyler. I sired their bloodline; if I died, so would they. You really didn't know this?"

I shook my head. "C never told me. She mentioned Tyler breaking the sire bond and then how they were going to run away when the Council found out about them. But she definitely left out the part about you being in Tyler's body. So weird." I muttered those last two words.

"Probably not her favourite moment."

"Yea, probably not — realizing her boyfriend's body was inhabited by someone she—" I cut myself off.

"Hates? Despises? Loathes entirely? You don't have to sugar-coat it, love; I know how your cousin feels about me."

"But it must sting a little. I mean, you did fancy her."

"I used to see her hatred as a challenge. Something I could make her overcome."

" 'Used to'?"

He nodded. "Now, Caroline's hatred of me is insignificant. Well, it's more of nuisance." As he revised his statement, he brought one of his hands away from where they rested with one of mine in between us. He pressed the palm of his hand against his own chest, trapping my hand between his chest and his hand. I thought I felt his heart rate increase, but maybe I was merely feeling my own do so. "It bothers you, which upsets me. But personally, her feelings towards me do not matter in the slightest."

"You're right; I shouldn't let it bother me that she hates you."

"But your life would be easier if she didn't hate me."

I let out a humourless "ha." Then, "I should know better than to expect the easy road through life. Or this existence."

"It's still a life, Riley. You had a beginning. And there is still a potential for an end." He spoke the word 'potential' with a slight sneer. "But the time between those is longer than you're used to considering." I knew I was still making the change from thinking about time like a human to viewing it as a vampire should. I didn't want to get into that with him, not right now. I still had some questions.

"Why did you dagger Rebekah?"

"We were running from Mikael, as we had been ever since we turned, and in the 1920s, that running led us to Chicago. While there, Rebekah met and fell in love with a fairly young vampire: Stefan Salvatore."

"Stefan?"

"He was the ripper then. He was twisted, even by my own standards. The three of us got along splendidly and were quite close.

"But the inevitable happened: Mikael caught up with us. He always did, eventually. He raided the bar we frequented. Rebekah and I escaped, but once I saw that Rebekah was safely out, I returned only long enough to compel Stefan to forget us."

"I still find it odd that Originals can compel other vampires," I mused.

"When Mikael found Stefan, the Salvatore had no memory of us. Rebekah didn't know what I had done to Stefan and she wanted to wait for him. I knew we didn't have the time— we couldn't risk it — but she was too stubborn to listen to my logic, so I daggered her. To keep her safe. I only ever daggered my siblings for their own protection.

"More recently, the doppelganger daggered Rebekah on the night I killed Mikael. The plan was to kill me, but as always, I was three steps ahead of the idiotic Salvatore plan. I left Rebekah daggered then because she knew I had killed Ester."

I pursed my lips before asking another question. "Would you have ever told Rebekah the truth, had she not been told by someone else first?"

"No." I admired the bluntness of his answer; no hesitation, no indecision. It was the truth. "I always said I would tell my siblings what I had done eventually, someday, but I knew I would put it off for as long as I could." He removed his hand from his chest and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, letting his fingers linger there, just beneath my ear; I leaned into his touch. "It doesn't bother you, that I killed my mother?" His voice was the breath of a whisper.

I looked into his eyes. They blazed. "Perhaps if we were different people, it would bother me. But it doesn't. If we were both human and you told me that you killed your mother, it may cause me some concern." I raised my hand from where it still was, splayed out against his chest, and brought it up to rest against the side of his neck. "But as things stand, you had way too many factors and forces working against you."

"Are you saying it was inevitable?"

I shrugged. "You were blamed for her indiscretion. And instead of owning up to what she did, she forced you to exist at only half of what you were capable of. She left you to be alone — the only one of your kind.

"I think your anger and rage, which to my understanding comes from your werewolf side, is what killed Ester." As I continued my explanation, my fingers slid down the back of his neck, where they played with what showed of the necklaces he always wore. "She obviously spent enough time around a werewolf to know this. What did she expect, that you would just sit back and accept the fact that she inhibited your true nature? That's absurd."

"I'm sure she wasn't thinking about me at all; Ester was trying to appease Mikael."

"Lot of good that did for her."

I was just starting to feel sleepy when Klaus suddenly sat upright. "We almost missed it." Because we had moved closer and I was now lounging against his chest, I moved too. "Come with me," he said as he brought me to a standing position as he did the same. "I want to show you something." I took his offered hand and we walked out of his room and down the hall, in the opposite direction of the staircase.

"Missed what?"

I received no answer.

We walked past three doors, I think, before we entered another room. This one consisted of only chairs and small couches. A sitting room, I suppose. But instead of going to a chair or couch, Klaus led me to the French doors, which he opened and we stepped onto a balcony. "This balcony exists for this very purpose," he said as he pointed straight ahead of us. All I saw were the dark shapes of trees, black against the night sky.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Just have patience, love, and you'll see."

I rolled my eyes at him and softly shook my head as I continued looking in the direction he pointed. Gradually, eventually, the sky began to lighten. The sun rose. Was it dawn already?