Late one evening, I heard a knock at the front door. I knew Caroline was in the front room and would answer it so I decided to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water. I never particularly cared much for whoever was at the door; it was always someone for C anyway. As I stood up from the desk in my room, I heard the voice of the person at the door and immediately recognized it: Klaus. "Is Riley home?"

I stepped out of my bedroom in time to see C put her hands on her hips and say, "Yes, but she's already sleeping."

"Riley is sleeping?"

"Yes." C sounded annoyed.

Klaus looked past her to me but spoke to C. "In that case, I think your cousin might be sleepwalking," he said with a slight chuckle in his voice. C looked over her shoulder to see me standing a few feet behind her.

"Hi C."

C looked back at Klaus, "Okay, she's not sleeping, but she could have been." She turned back to me. "I don't keep tabs on you every single second."

"I'm grateful for that."

The three of us stood near the front door in silence until I broke it.

"C, could you give me and Klaus some privacy please?"

"I'd rather not."

I tilted my head and gave her a look. "Caroline."

She looked between me and Klaus, huffed in annoyance, and stomped off to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. I watched her leave, then turned to face the front door. "Klaus. Good evening."

He smiled, but before he could speak, I spoke again. "Thank you for last night. At the Grill. Thank you for keeping me company."

"Nonsense, Riley. It was my pleasure."

We were silent for a few moments. It's odd: even though Klaus is intimidating in every way, silence with him is never awkward; it's actually comfortable. It was completely the opposite of the silence earlier between Caroline, Klaus, and me.

"Actually, I came by to ask if you wanted to have dinner with me tomorrow evening."

We could clearly hear C's huff of frustration, even though she was in her bedroom.

That little eavesdropper.

I glanced back at C's bedroom door and chuckled. I said to Klaus, "If you're trying to give C a mental breakdown or something, I think you're doing a very good job."

"While it is fun to annoy Caroline, my question is genuine. Would you care to have dinner with me?"

I was unsure of how to answer that question, or even how to handle this situation. It wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with Klaus, but I knew how C would react and I wanted to avoid that. Klaus sensed my hesitation.

"I understand," he said before turning around and leaving.

As he walked down the front walkway, I tried to stop him. "Klaus, wait."

Klaus turned, looking disheartened, almost. "I get it. Can't disappoint Caroline and her friends. It's okay. I'll maybe see you around. Good night, Riley."

I felt terrible, watching him walk away.

As I sat in bed later that night, just about to turn the light off, C knocked softly on my bedroom doorframe. "Hey, Ri."

"Hi."

"So. I heard your conversation with Klaus."

"I had no doubts about that, C."

"I'm so glad you said no; you don't want to spend time with a psycho like him."

"I didn't say 'no.' "

"But you didn't say 'yes' either."

I didn't know how to respond to her, so I simply said, "Good night, C."

I didn't like how I had left things with Klaus. His words kept echoing in my mind: "Can't disappoint Caroline and her friends." Since when did I let other people determine my opinions?

As I drifted off to sleep, I knew what I had to do tomorrow.

I woke up early and was just heading out the door when C was going to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Wow, Ri. What's got you out the door so early?"

"Just an important errand. See you at school, C."

I wanted to apologize to Klaus before school; I knew I wouldn't be able to think about anything else until I did.

I had never been to the Mikaelson mansion before, but from C's descriptions of the "uber palace," I knew it wouldn't be too hard to locate. And it wasn't.

I took a deep breath before knocking on the door. I hoped it would be Klaus who would answer the door and not one of his siblings; I hadn't had any interaction with any of them and I did not want to start at this moment. But upon seeing Klaus's face when he did answer the door, maybe I should have wished for Rebekah instead. Because unlike our previous encounters, Klaus did not look at all pleased to see me. And the silence between us was definitely awkward this time.

I realized he was waiting for me to speak. "I've come to apologize."

Klaus didn't look surprised or understanding; he looked angry.

"Is this some sort of distraction? Tell them to get some new ideas; I will not fall for that one again."

"What? "They"? No, they don't know I'm here. No one does. I really have come to apologize." I paused, and when he didn't comment again, I continued. "I judged the book by its cover. No, worse actually: I judged the book by its reputation. It was wrong. I should have waited for enough time to pass so I could come to my own conclusions or opinions about you, instead of taking up everyone else's. I'm sorry."

Klaus seemed unsure of how to react.

"Look, I believe that everyone deserves a second chance and I'm asking you to give me one. Please."

"You want us to start over?"

"No. With the exception of my rudeness last night, I've enjoyed our previous encounters; I don't want to pretend those didn't happen. I would just like to forget that last night ever happened. Skip over it."

"Okay."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Thank you. I really am sorry." I started walking away. "I'll talk to you later."

"Where are you going?"

"School," I called back, over my shoulder.

"Spend the day here. With me."

I turned around. "I can't. I have classes to attend."

"Skipping is good. Healthy even," he replied with a smirk.

I laughed. "Not for me. But I'll see you later." I said "bye," and flashed off to school before Klaus could actually talk me into staying here with him.