I was sitting in a chair on the front porch the morning after the Founder's dance, reading, when I heard footsteps. I looked up from my book to see Klaus standing on the walkway. Even though I've seen him in jeans and that jacket countless times, it seemed strange; I guess I got used to seeing him in a tux last night.

"Wow. He walks up for once, not just appearing."

Klaus didn't respond. He simply said, "Come with me. There's something I want to show you."

"What is it?"

"Just come with me Riley. Please."

I went inside and put my book on the table by the front door. Klaus didn't move; he just waited for me.

I followed him as he walked down the sidewalk, around the corner, down the street, and entered the woods.

We hiked for only a mile or two. I couldn't feel the sun through the canopy of the trees. Neither of us said a word.

Why have long silences in the woods become a thing of ours? Wait — No. We don't have "things."

I was about to tell him to stop, or at least make him tell me where he was taking me, when he did stop. I nearly bumped into him before I realized. We were standing on the outside edge of a large, oblong-shaped clearing. Well, I supposed at one time it was a clearing. There weren't any trees growing in this area, but it was full of wildflowers, long grasses, and weeds. Because of the lack of trees, the sunlight streamed through and bathed everything in a warm yellow colour.

"That night, at the bar, you asked me why I stayed in town after the doppelganger died." Klaus spoke to me, but he was staring into the clearing.

"I remember. You said this was your home." As I said the words, suddenly it clicked. "This? Right here?"

"Mystic Falls was my home long before any of you lot landed here. The town wasn't built directly over my old village, as you can see. But it's close. This is it." He stepped into the clearing. He turned around to face me, his arms outstretched on both sides. "This is where I lived out my human existence. Where all my siblings did."

Klaus gestured for me to enter the clearing as well. He continued speaking as I looked around. "This sad, small place had once been my home. A long time ago, before time even existed. I was born here. And I grew into a man here. In these very woods, though some now long lost to development and urban sprawl, I learned to hunt, wrestle, fight, and survive. I fell in love for the first time here. And I lived with my family, for the most part, in peace."

I sat down in an area of the clearing where the grass was a bit shorter. Klaus sat next to me, close enough that his arm brushed against mine. "Somewhere over in that direction," he pointed, "is the cavern that served as an entrance to the underground tunnels that run across the entire area." He smiled. "Elijah and I often played in there when we were boys. And when Rebekah and I were older, we snuck in there and carved our names into the walls. It was our way of leaving a piece of ourselves here. And to let anyone else who came here after us know that this place belonged to us first.

"Of course, this was all before our parents killed us and turned us into vampires."

I was still thinking about human Klaus, and human Rebekah, when Klaus broke the silence. "We should talk."

"I thought we were."

"We weren't talking, love; I was."

"I like listening to you speak." It wasn't until Klaus chuckled that I realized how differently that statement sounded in my head. "I mean — I didn't — Ugh, I'm just going to stop trying."

Klaus ducked his head until his lips where next to my ear. I could feel his breath when he whispered, "You're rather adorable when you blush, Riley."

Yea, that won't help my face lose any of its redness.

I took a deep breath and turned to face him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"About me courting you."

I sighed. "Must we talk about it?"

"Yes. You never reacted when I told you I wanted to court you."

"No, I had a reaction; you just couldn't see it because we were talking on the phone."

"And what was it?"

"I rolled my eyes."

"That's not surprising," Klaus said as he brushed some hair out of my eyes. "You roll your eyes at everything."

"True."

"Why do you roll your eyes at courtship?"

"It's outdated and old-fashioned."

"I am old-fashioned, Riley."

"I just don't know what it means."

"Courting is the attempt to win the affection of someone."

"I know what the word means; what I don't know is what it entails."

"It's a simple step-by-step process. Step one was declaring my intentions."

"Which you did. Over the phone."

"And now. And with the flowers, which turned out to actually be a bad idea." He frowned slightly, remembering how I didn't like them.

I laughed softly at his frown. "What's step two?"

"Asking your guardian for permission."

"You're going to ask Aunt Liz for permission? Are you completely out of your mind?"

"This is the way it used to be done."

"Aunt Liz is the sheriff and a member of the Founder's Council; she's just as likely to shoot you with vervain-soaked wooden bullets as to give you her permission. Or wolfsbane-soaked wooden bullets, perhaps."

"Very funny."

"I'm not sure I was joking."

I looked up, watching the sunlight on the leaves in the canopy.

"It's extraordinary, isn't it?" Klaus must have known what I was looking at; I looked over at him and found him gazing up to the canopy as well. "The way the sunlight dances on the leaves and changes their colour."

I looked back up at the canopy. "It's just sunlight on leaves, Klaus."

We spent all day sitting in that clearing, talking. By now, I was sitting on the ground with my back against Klaus's chest. He wrapped his arms around the outside of mine as I leaned back against him; his chin rested on my shoulder. My hands were in his and I was lightly running my fingers over his hands.

In moments like these, just sitting like this and being close to him, I often found myself thinking not only of how much I enjoyed the feeling and how comforting it was, but also of how it was a decidedly human interaction. I never expected to experience moments like this with Klaus, but they showed up. Sometimes. In little ways that somehow managed to draw me closer to him. The way his hand lingers a little longer on my lower back when he opens a door for me, how he keeps his fingers in my hair for an extra moment as if savouring the texture after he moves some strands out of my face, how he brushes his hand against mine when we walk side by side. It was exhilarating and scary all at once. Scary because I came to this town wanting not to get involved or attached, and that is exactly what's happening. But I can't stop spending time with Klaus; I don't want to.

"May I ask you something, Riley? And I'd like you to answer without getting defensive and walking away."

I smirked, but part of me was scared that he knew me so well.

"No promises."

"How can we have moments like the one the other day — when you sat in my home and told me so many details of your past and you answered all my questions — or moments like today — where we sat here most of the day and talked — and you're fine. But other times, I ask a simple question or I make a statement and you push me away."

I shrugged against his chest. "It's what I do. I push people away."

"Why?"

"When you let people in — when you let them know more about you — that is when they are able to hurt you. And in my experience, that is what always happens. The ones I trusted the most always left. So I go on the defensive and I push people away before they get close enough to hurt me when they leave. I call it self-preservation."

"You seem to have let Caroline in?"

"It's different with family. I know being related doesn't mean they will stick around, but you have a different kind of faith in them. Plus, what's not to like about C?"

"What about me?" I could tell Klaus asked this question with hesitancy; he probably feared that asking would result in me pushing him away or at least giving a sarcastic remark. "You're not pushing me away. At the moment."

"You're an entirely different kind of exception."