I was sitting in the chair in my room later that night. I hadn't stayed much longer at Klaus's after I regaled him with my tale. I didn't even wait at the mansion for Rebekah to return from school; I just wanted to go home. And to put on my own clothing. But once it darkened, I couldn't sleep; every time I closed my eyes, I could feel the heavy manacles around my wrists and ankles. Even though I knew they weren't there, I couldn't shut my eyes and not feel them. So I didn't shut my eyes. I sat up. I didn't sleep. I didn't read. I just sat in the chair, trying not to think about being captured. Or just trying not to think.

I jumped when I heard someone at my window, opening it. Somehow, Klaus sensed my alarm.

"No worries, love. It's me," he said from outside.

"Klaus?!" I said in a harsh whisper as he entered my room through the window. "What are you doing here?"

He came over and stood in front of me. He pulled me into his arms for a hug.

"I needed to make sure you were all right," he whispered against my hair. "I apologize for frightening you."

He pulled away slightly. He raised one arm and cupped my face with his hand. I wrapped both of my hands around his forearm and looked into his eyes. "You should be resting, sweetheart. You look exhausted."

"I know. But I can't —" I sighed. "I can't sleep."

"Nightmares?"

I shook my head. "I don't get to the sleeping part. All I have to do is close my eyes and I feel like I'm back there. Or maybe I'm afraid this is the dream, and if I go to sleep here, I'll wake up there."

"This is not the dream, sweetheart. But you do need sleep; you're starting to look like the walking dead from your fatigue."

"Ha ha," I managed to say before yawning.

Klaus walked me over to my bed and we both sat down. He tucked some hair behind my ears. "I'll stay with you tonight, Riley. That way, even with your eyes closed, you will be able to sense my presence and know that you're not still being held captive."

I looked at him warily. But as usual, he wouldn't take no for an answer. He moved over to the middle of the bed and sat back. I sat next to him and he pulled me closer to him. I rested against his chest and realized just how tired I actually was. I whispered a thank you before quickly falling asleep.

Klaus didn't sleep that night. He stayed up, listening to her steady breath; it was steadily becoming his favourite sound, and he was glad that nothing had happened that could have prevented him from hearing it again. As he sat on Riley's bed, he looked out the window into the dark night and restated his vow that he would protect her, no matter the cost.

Rebekah came by the next morning and offered to walk with me to school. I hadn't really seen or spoken with her since I was captured, so I agreed. She even hugged me once I left the house.

"I'm so glad you're safe, Ri."

"I missed you too, Bekah."

Thankfully, she waited until we were out of vampire-hearing range of the house before she spoke again. "I suppose you're the reason my brother left after dark last night and didn't return home until moments before I left to come here?"

I didn't answer her — I didn't even look at her — but I could feel my face warming and I knew my blush would be answer enough for her.

"I'm glad you two have stopped fighting the obvious."

When I felt my face cooling down, I spoke. "What do you mean?"

"I know most of this town will advise you against it, but I'm so glad you two are smartening up. You belong together. And I'm not just saying that as his sister; I'm also someone who has observed, up close, how you two interact. I'm not blind to how you two look at each other."

"Be careful, Bekah. You're starting to sounds like a romance novel."

"It's a bit scary, at times, how alike you two are. Hiding behind sarcasm."

I was shocked when she compared me to Klaus, but I realized how spot-on she was. "You're right. About the sarcasm part, not the 'belonging together' part. I still think that is debatable."

"Interesting. You think it's debatable, while I think it is inevitable."

" 'Inevitable'?"

"Yes. You two are good for each other. I've noticed a slight change in Nik lately: he seems lighter; he's obviously opened up to you. And you seem happier too." I was shocked to hear Rebekah use the word "light." Just before I was abducted, I had used that work in reference to Klaus as well.

"He's still rather closed off to me, but not as completely as he was before. And I think I'm okay with that; I don't need to know everything all at once. I'll take what I can get. Plus, his history is a lot longer than mine."

"I'm constantly astonished at how simple and laid-back everything is with you, Ri."

"Should I make things more stressful for myself?"

"I usually do." We both laughed at that as we walked into the school parking lot. "I cannot even begin to tell you how much it means to me, to know that there is someone else who gets to see how amazing my brother is. Nik isn't as evil as he seems to be. But I don't need to tell you that; you're already figuring that out, aren't you." It wasn't a question, but even if it was, Rebekah didn't give me a chance to answer; she spoke the last part over her shoulder as she walked away, heading to her locker.

I was only home after school long enough to put my book bag down in my room before I heard a knock on the front door. I answered it and found Jeremy standing on the other side.

"Hi, Jeremy."

I tried to hide my shock, but apparently I was unsuccessful. His face fell. "You forgot, didn't you?"

The moment he spoke, I remember. "Oh! We're supposed to work on our English assignment."

"Yeah. I know we made plans for this before you were taken; it's okay that you forgot. We can do this another time."

"No, now's fine." I gestured to the living room. "We can work in here; I'll go grab my books." I grabbed my English binder and the novel we were reading. "Do you want anything to drink?" I asked him as I set my books down on the coffee table. Jeremy had his books and papers spread out there, and he was sitting on the floor.

"No thanks." He handed me a stack of papers; I saw it was divided into sections with paperclips. "These are the notes you missed. In all the classes we have together."

"Oh, great. Thank you."

As we worked on our assignment, I realized how glad I was to have alone time with Jeremy. He had been avoiding me lately. I'm not stupid; I know he doesn't like that I've been spending time with Klaus and Rebekah. And I understood why: one killed his aunt and his sister; the other killed his sister again. I know I'll never sit at the same lunch table with Jeremy and Rebekah at the same time.

It sucks when my friends hate each other.

But Jeremy was here now. And I realized how much I missed talking to Jeremy. With him, I actually managed to have a conversation that doesn't always revolve around something supernatural. Even if it is only about the book we were reading in our English class. Jeremy had become my tie to the semi-normal. Probably because he's not a vampire or a hybrid.

Though he does see ghosts…

Jeremy and I were working on our English assignment when someone knocked on the front door. I didn't recognize the man on the other side. But his hat was the same dark blue as his shirt, so I knew he was wearing a uniform.

"I have a delivery for Miss Davis." He handed me a thick tablet and its pen. "Sign on the bottom line, please." When I had signed, he looked behind him and nodded. It was only then that I noticed the other man behind him, dressed in the same colours. That second man leaned into the back of the delivery truck and grabbed two large bouquets of red roses in vases. As he carried them up the walkway and came into the house, the first delivery man jogged to the truck and grabbed another one.

The man carrying the two vases asked "Where do you want them?"

The two of them were too big for the table by the door, so I told him to put them on the end table in the living room. When the man carrying the third vase came up to the door, I pointed to the table by the door and said "That once can probably go here."

Once all three vases of roses were set down, the two men told us to have a nice day and they left. I looked at the roses by the door. "Wow. That's a lot of roses." Their smell was filling the house.

"Here's a card." Jeremy had stood and walked over to the roses closest to him in the living room. He plucked it from the roses and glanced at it. His face clouded over as he handed it to me.

Thank you for unraveling some of the mystery. -K

I appreciated the message on the card more than the roses. Just as I was walking over to the coffee table so Jeremy and I could continue working on our assignment, my phone rang.

I was not surprised to hear the "Hello, love" once I answered.

I turned away from Jeremy as I spoke into the phone. "You have good timing; I just received an extravagant delivery of red roses."

"Roses, really? Should I be jealous?"

"Oh absolutely," I said. "You already know I'm feeling better; you didn't have to send me get-well flowers."

"They're not get-well flowers; they're I-missed-you-and-I'm-so-glad-you're-back-and-safe flowers."

"Those are very expressive flowers."

"There's one arrangement for each day you were gone." He paused before speaking again. "Flowers are also the first step of courting."

I nearly choked on that word. " 'Courting'?"

"Yes. Recent events have allowed me to see how important you are to me, Riley, how much I care about you. And you obviously don't hate me or you wouldn't spend all the time with me that you do."

"Of course I don't hate you."

"Good. I want to do this properly."

" 'This' meaning courting?"

"Yes. See you soon, love."

"Kl—" But he hung up before I could respond.

As I pocketed my phone, I turned back to Jeremy and found him packing up his notes. "Are you leaving?"

"Yea. We're basically done this assignment, Ri," he said as he closed his book bag and slung it over his shoulder. "I'll leave you with your flowers." And without letting me comment, he left.

I thought girls were the only ones who were supposed to storm out of a room?

I slid my notes into my binder, grabbed my novel, and took them both to my room. On the way, I paused to look at the roses. I suppose they were pretty, but they were definitely not my taste.

I walked into my bedroom and received another surprise: Klaus, stretched out on my bed. "What, did you call me from my own bed?"

"Of course not, love. You would have heard me." He pointed to the window. "I called from the woods, after watching the delivery; then I came in here."

I set my books down on my desk.

"Did you like the flowers?"

"Sure," I replied while still facing my desk and therefore not looking at Klaus. "They're lovely."

"You're lying," he simply said.

I whipped around to face him. "I—No—" I sighed. "I hate how much of an open book I've become to you. It's not fair; I can't tell anything about you."

He chuckled and flashed me a smirk. "Were they not up to your standards?"

I shrugged. "I know it's supposed to be the thought that counts, but I don't like flowers; I never have." I walked over and sat at the head of my bed. "As a human I had allergies. And now all they do is briefly look pretty before they die. But I suppose I can appreciate the gesture behind them." I shot him a look as I leaned back against the headboard. "Though, roses are a little clichéd."

He mocked hurt at my words, but said "Noted."

He sat up and leaned back so that he too was resting against the headboard. He grabbed my hand from where it lay in between us and held it between both of his in his lap. He let my hand rest in his one hand; the fingers of his other hand started tracing light patterns all over my hand and wrist. It almost felt like he was using his own hand to memorize mine.

"What's going on between you and the Gilbert boy?" Klaus asked.

"He has a name; it's Jeremy." I wondered why he never seemed to use anyone's actual name. Tyler was the mutt. Stefan and Damon were the Salvatores. Or the idiotic Salvatores. Elena was the doppelganger. Bonnie was the witch. Matt was the blonde busboy. And now Jeremy was the Gilbert boy. None of his nicknames were wrong, but I thought the point of nicknames was to make the person's name shorter. Blonde busboy is not shorter than Matt. The only people who didn't have a Klaus nickname were Caroline and Rebekah; I suppose not having a nickname was more of a term of endearment to Klaus than actually having a nickname from him. If Klaus could be described as endearing…

"His name is of no importance, love. Is there something going on between you two?"

"Something? He's my friend. Though at this moment, that statement might be a stretch."

"Why's that?"

"Jeremy's not too happy with the company I've been keeping as of late."

"Does the young Gilbert boy have a problem with you spending time with my sister?"

I looked at Klaus. "Not just with her, but yes."

"That boy is far too judgmental for someone who killed one of my hybrids and apparently sees ghosts."

A/N: I was going to post this chapter yesterday, but I wasn't sure who would be reading fanfiction on season premiere day.