I hated hiding in my room. But C had Tyler over and I had nowhere else to go. It was either be the awkward third person in the living room with them or hang out in my room. And as amusing as it has become to annoy Tyler, I couldn't stand watching them make googly eyes at each other. Gag!

I was reading when I head Tyler's voice: "I don't think that's a good idea." He and C had been quiet since he arrived; were they fighting?

My answer came when the voice responding to Tyler was not C's. "That's not for you to decide." This voice was male and had a British accent.

Uh oh.

I opened my bedroom door to see Klaus at the front door. He and Tyler were standing two feet apart. Tyler's back was to me, and he was leaning slightly towards Klaus; I just knew Tyler would have a glare on his face. Klaus's gave away nothing of his emotions: his face was blank and he was standing with his hands in the pockets of his jacket. C was standing behind Tyler, slightly to his left.

Suddenly, a smirk broke out on Klaus's face. "You really need to learn to control your temper, mate."

I saw Tyler's hands clench into fists. Moving quickly, I put myself in between the two hybrids. I looked at Tyler. "What is going on?" I asked harshly. Tyler didn't say anything; he kept flaring at Klaus over my head. I turned to Klaus. "What did you say to him?" My question directed towards Klaus was softer, for some reason.

Klaus shifted his gaze from Tyler to me. "I merely asked if I could speak with you."

"You shouldn't be hanging around with him, Ri. He's bad news."

I turned back to Tyler. "I don't see how this concerns you, Tyler."

"You're Care's cousin," he replied, as if that explained everything. "And besides, she doesn't want you anywhere near him anyway."

It was my turn to glare as I crossed my arms. "Do you speak for C now?"

C took a step forward; she was now standing beside Tyler. "No, of course he doesn't. But he's right, Ri. Klaus is evil and he's only using you to manipulate us."

That hurt. "Of course he is. Because someone couldn't possibly want to spend time with me because of me — it would have to somehow be about you, right C?"

"That's not what I m—"

I cut her off. "Save it. I don't care. Are you actually siding with Tyler against me?"

C couldn't look me in the eye; that meant yes, and she knew that I knew it. She tried to explain. "Klaus is—"

I cut her off again. "I don't want to hear how bad Klaus is. I actually thought you would listen to my side, instead of rushing to judgment. I thought our bond, as family, would trump your hormonal lust for Tyler. Clearly I was wrong." I reached over to grab my house key from the table beside the doorway. "I need to get out of this house before I say something I'll regret."

As I turned to walk out the door, I heard "Ri, don't" from C and felt Tyler's hand grab my left arm. Before I could react, Klaus stepped forward, pulled Tyler's hand off my arm, and was standing between us.

Klaus leaned forward, towering over Tyler. His voice had a menacing tone to it. "Touch her again without her permission and I will rip your arm off."

Before Tyler could respond, I put my hands light on Klaus's right arm. His posture softened slightly but he did not look at me. I lightly pulled on his arm as I barely whispered, "Let's go, Klaus. Please? They're not worth it." I couldn't look at C or Tyler as I spoke.

Klaus glared at Tyler for a few more moments before straightening up and turning towards me. Once I was satisfied that they weren't going to get into a fight, I opened the door and just started walking. I didn't know — or care — where I was going; I just couldn't be around C. Klaus quickly caught up to me.

"That was exciting."

"I hate arguing with C. But she's too stubborn to realize how wrong she is."

"Is she wrong?"

I glared at him. "Yes."

"She's understandably upset with me after what I made you do. I can see where her hostility is coming from. After the … incident," he said, using my previously-established word.

I paused, unsure if I should tell Klaus what happened yesterday.

It was dark by the time Klaus and I left the woods. C beat me home; Aunt Liz was, not surprisingly, still at work.

"Hey," C greeted me from the living room. "How was your day? Did you 'refocus'?"

I nodded. "Yea, I'm good now."

"What happened?"

I knew how C would react if I told her about the incident with Klaus. For some reason, I didn't want her to know. Of course, I didn't want to admit to C that I had killed someone, but I also didn't want her to know about Klaus's involvement. So I decided to be vague. "I just felt overwhelmed, I guess."

"C doesn't know about that," I said to Klaus.

"You didn't tell her?"

I shook my head but kept walking, not looking at Klaus's face to gauge his reaction.

Klaus broke the silence as we walked. "What now for you and Caroline?"

"I don't know. I mean, I know she didn't really mean what she said, but I'm still angry with her. I'm afraid to go home; I may say something hurtful that I'll regret."

"You could spend the night at my house."

I chuckled. "Yea, right."

"I'm serious, Riley. And what are your other options? The Gilbert household? Perhaps the Salvatore boarding house? Or sneak back home, hoping Caroline's vampire sense won't hear you?" Klaus did have a point. When I didn't respond, he must have thought I needed more convincing. "You could have a 'sleepover' with Rebekah. Is that what it's called? A sleepover?"

"Yes, that's the correct term. But I'm not sure Rebekah and I are on 'sleepover' terms."

"It's just an excuse, love. You wouldn't have to spend the night with Rebekah. You wouldn't even have to see her at all."

"And where would I sleep?"

Klaus shot a mischievous grin at me. "With me. Or in a guest room. There are plenty of options, Riley." That didn't sound too bad, actually. "We're nearly there, anyway," Klaus pointed out.

"Oh." I stopped walking and looked around me; Klaus was right. I hadn't even noticed the direction we were walking in. "Okay. I'll have a 'sleepover'." I even did air quotes that time.

I thought it would be awkward, sleeping at the Mikaelson mansion, but that might be an inappropriate term. Strange would be better suited. It was strange having Klaus show me to a guest room. The room itself was incredible — it had a large bed, a desk, two comfy chairs, a two-seater couch, and its own bathroom — but I expected nothing less in this house. And he was right; I didn't even see Rebekah.

I called Aunt Liz immediately after Klaus left me alone. I didn't go into the specifics, but I did tell her how C and I had a fight and how I didn't want to go home for fear of saying something I would end up regretting. Aunt Liz, for the most part, seemed to understand.

I think it helped that I said I was spending the night at Rebekah's — not Klaus's — and that I didn't refer to the evening as a sleepover.

When I awoke the next morning, I wasn't sure what to do. Should I go into the kitchen to find a drink? That seemed intrusive and pushy. Should I just leave? That seemed rude. Should I wait in my room until Klaus comes? That sounded odd.

Luckily, I didn't have to wonder for too long. I heard someone on the stairs, heading down. I took a chance, hoping that it was Klaus and not Rebekah, and did the same. I ended up in the kitchen and luckily, Klaus was standing behind the island.

"Good morning," he said as he threw something at me. I caught it easily.

A blood bag?

"This is not something I expected to find in this house," I said as I stared at the bag in my hand.

"Only for special reasons, love." I noticed Klaus was drinking blood from a glass, but I didn't care to know about the source. It obviously wasn't from a bag.

"Thank you. And thanks for letting me spend the night."

"Neither was an issue, Riley."

We stood in the kitchen, in silence, until we had both finished our blood.

"Would you like a tour of my home? I realized last night that you haven't seen much more than the kitchen and the living room."

"No. I'm gonna go home. Thank you for your hospitality."

I turned and walked out of the kitchen; Iwas nearly at the door when Klaus spoke again. "Do you really have to rush home to make up with Caroline already?"

I turned around to face him. "I'm not rushing anywhere," I responded. "I just shouldn't stay here much longer. For the record, I'm still angry with you."

"Yet here you are, and not at home as Caroline and her mutt would have preferred."

I shrugged. "I enjoy ruffling Caroline and Tyler's feathers occasionally."

"So stay a bit longer." He waited for me to answer; when I didn't, he spoke again. "Or are you afraid you won't be able to control yourself around me?" he asked with a smirk.

I knew he wasn't talking about controlling the bloodlust, so I rolled my eyes. "Oh please." I took a deep breath before I continued. "The truth is that I'm not nearly as strong as I let on. And I'm not nearly as strong as I like to believe I am. And that night here, with those humans — I don't ever want to feel like that again."

"Like what?"

"Out of control. And scared. It felt like I was tapping into the dark side or something."

"It can be exhilarating, Riley. It's only frightening because you let it scare you."

I rolled my eyes. "What does that even mean?"

"You're still learning how much control you have. Over everything — not just the bloodlust. I could help you."

"I get it. I do, sometimes, see the appeal of letting go of your humanity and let the vampire nature and instincts take over. Sometimes, I would love nothing more than to just… not care anymore. It's exhausting, sometimes. It would be so much easier to just let go. To just give in."

"And you can. You don't have to lose complete control and turn into a ripper. Just live a less-strict lifestyle that you do now."

Before I could even comprehend how to respond, Rebekah spoke from the middle of the staircase. "Good morning. Riley, I hope you slept well in the guest bedroom." Klaus and I both gave her a look. Rebekah turned her head to her brother. "I'm not stupid, you know."

Klaus grinned, about to respond, when his phone rang. As he pulled it from his pocket, I said, "I'm going home. Bye." Klaus nodded and walked back into the kitchen as he answered the call.

As I turned to leave, I noticed Rebekah was wearing a pair of skinny blue jeans that C had spotted in a store in town and would not stop talking about how "gorgeous" they were. The only reason I remembered them was because they were ridiculously expensive, but C kept going on about how they were "so beautiful."

"Nice jeans," I said to Rebekah, and then I wondered why I was complimenting her clothes.

Rebekah seemed surprised, too, but she replied anyway. "Oh, thank you," she groaned, looking down at them.

"You don't think so?"

She shrugged. "They're all right. I prefer darker jeans, but there weren't any in stock."

"I think C has the store magazine at home; I could… bring it here so you can order a darker pair," I offered. I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth! "I'm sure she wouldn't notice if it went missing for a day or two."

Rebekah smiled a little, then stopped. "I suppose that is part of your charm, isn't it? How completely ignorant you are of the fascination most women have with fashion."

"You say 'fascination,' I say 'obsession.' "I wasn't sure if she was insulting me or not. "I don't know what you mean."

"Exactly. Caroline would definitely notice if the magazine went missing. But thank you for offering. It's unnecessary, though; I plan to go shopping elsewhere in town to satisfy my jeans needs," she told me.

I nodded in response.

Rebekah shifted uncomfortably. "I don't suppose you would like to join me."

"Oh. Like you said, I know nothing about clothes."

"That's obvious. But I'm not asking you to come along for fashion advice, Riley. It just might not be completely awful to have some company," she replied, trying to seem uninterested as she picked some imaginary lint from her sleeve.

I realized something at that moment — despite being able to have anything she wanted, there was something Rebekah didn't have and wanted desperately: a friend.

"Sure," I agreed. Because honestly, I was lacking friends as well. It normally didn't bother me; I enjoyed being a loner. But what little time I have spent with Rebekah, I've enjoyed. Though I'm sure even Rebekah couldn't make me enjoy shopping.

"Good. I'll meet you at your house tomorrow morning." Before I could respond, Rebekah turned and walked towards the kitchen.

Guess I'm going shopping with Rebekah tomorrow. And I headed out the door, going home.