A/N: I just wanted to give you a head's up that this chapter is a lot of dialogue and not much action.

I came home and found C in the living room. She stood as soon as I opened the door. "We need to talk."

"Those four words should never be allowed to be altogether in the same sentence."

"Why?"

"Because no good comes after that sentence."

"I wanna talk about what happened at the Founder's dance last night." I had no clue as to what she was referring to, and when I didn't say anything, C continued. "I can't believe you danced with Klaus. Especially the first dance. That's like telling everyone there, 'Hey, we're together!' "

"I'm sorry, but did you not tell me that you danced with him at the Mikaelson Ball?"

"That was different."

"How was that different?"

"I wasn't willingly spending time with him; either at or outside of that Ball."

I shook my head at her. "A dance is just a dance, C."

"What's going on with you two?"

"We're friends."

"Friends? No. I've seen the way he looks at you, Ri. And he sent you red roses."

I groaned. "Ugh, again with the roses?"

C continued speaking as if she hadn't heard me. Maybe she hadn't. "Though honestly, it's weird to think of Klaus like that."

"Like what?"

"That he likes girls."

"He is a man. And he did tell you that he 'fancies' you. Though, that would sound a lot better if I had an accent."

"Yea, that accent is about the only good thing he's got."

"That's not true."

"How can you stand to be around him, Ri?"

"We've had this conversation before, C."

"And I still don't understand."

"You don't need to. It doesn't involve you."

"Will you just explain it to me? Please!"

"I can understand where he's coming from. And you should too. You know what it's like to have a parent abandon you. You know what it's like when your own father wants nothing to do with you. And how much that can screw up a person."

"We all have daddy issues, so what, that bonds us? No way, Ri."

"You may not see it, but underneath everything, Klaus is insecure. He covers it up by being controlling and demanding, and keeping everyone at arm's length."

"And by being psychotic."

"And you're neurotic."

"And you push everyone away because you're too scared to let anyone get close to you. You say you're talking about Klaus being controlling and insecure and keeping everyone at arm's length, but it sounds like you're describing yourself, Ri."

"Exactly! You don't seem to realize how alike we all are."

"I am nothing like him."

"Minus the killing part…"

"But the killing part is important. How can you overlook all the blood he has on his hands?"

"We all have blood on our hands, C."

"Not as much as he does."

"Maybe we would, if we spent a thousand years on the run. What about forgiveness?"

"He doesn't deserve forgiveness."

I gave her an 'oh, please' look. "I seriously doubt that you believe what you just said. I don't think Caroline Forbes would be unwilling to forgive anyone. You forgave Damon for abusing you when you were human?"

"He didn't try to kill me."

"He would have; you were just another disposable human to him." C scoffed, even though she knew I knew this because she was the one who told me. "And not only did you forgive Tyler for biting you–"

C cut me off. "That was Klaus's fault!"

"He still bit you! Those were still Tyler's teeth sinking into your skin. And he could do it again!" We were both yelling now.

"He wouldn't!"

"See! This is my point. You defend every other vampire and hybrid in this town when they do something bad. You forgive them. Why do you draw the line at Klaus?"

"Klaus is…" C trailed off, not finishing her sentence.

I spoke more calmly this time. "Tyler bit you, causing a wound that would have killed you. And you not only forgave him, you let him back in. You let him get close to you C, and he could do it again. Even an accidental bite would still be fatal."

"You can't be asking me to forgive a murderer, Ri; a psychotic, mass murderer."

"Did you not tell me that Damon once snapped Jeremy's neck right in front of Elena? And she's forgiven him for that; hell, she's in love with him."

"I'm not Elena!"

"I know you're not."

"What about Matt, Ri? Or Jeremy?" She was turning the conversation around to focus on me now. "You were friends with both of them. But now you're always around Klaus. When did you last spent time with either one of them?"

"I see Matt at the Grill all the time."

"That doesn't count."

"And Jeremy was here just the other day. We talked and worked on our English assignment together, right here in the living room."

"Wow. Once. You hang out with him once. And how many days of the week do you spend with Klaus? All of them?"

"I wasn't aware you wanted me to hang out with Jeremy so badly."

"It doesn't have to be Jeremy, Ri. Just someone other than Klaus."

I opened my mouth to speak, but C cut me off. "And don't even get me started on Rebekah."

"I can't spend my life trying to live up to your expectations of it. I'm not you, C. We have different opinions of people and things. You know I love you, but you're wrong."

"I've told you all the evils they are responsible for in this town and you still defend them?"

"I'm not defending them. I just don't see them the way you do."

"You're view of them in biased."

"I want you to answer some questions for me, C — keeping in mind that you're the one who told me what happened. Did you not, at the Mikaelson Ball, tell Klaus that he needed to get to know people, to actually understand them?"

"Yes."

"And then the very next day, when you lured him out of the Grill, away from his brother, what did he dare you to do?"

"Get to know him."

"And what were the next words out of his mouth?"

"He said, 'I wanna talk about you.' "

"Exactly! Do you not see how amazingly rare that is? Most people only want to talk about themselves; even as they're listening to someone else, they're really just waiting for an appropriate moment to shift the focus of the conversation back to them. But here's this guy who wants you to get to know him, and then immediately turns the conversation around so he can learn more about you. He tried to do what you told him to — he tried to get to know you — and you pushed him away. Seriously?"

C didn't say anything, so I went on. "I wish you could look past what he's done and see him for him. From what you've told me, I think he's given you a reason to live. Literally, of course, since he's saved your life twice, but I think he also gave you an idea of life, or of what your life could be. If you weren't a vampire, what would you do with your life? What was your plan before you turned?"

"I don't know. College maybe. Marriage definitely. Having children and growing old."

"Here?"

"Of course," she answered immediately.

"But now you can't. People will notice that you're not changing. What was your plan after you turned?"

"I didn't have one. I didn't know how to live for an eternity. I still don't."

"I don't think that's true, C. I think you want to get out and explore. See the world. See everything you can. And it was Klaus who put those thoughts and plans into your head. He told you about all the wonderful and amazing things you can see and experience.

"You told me about your birthday party / funeral when you turned 18. I think you needed the funeral because you were lost. You had to officially close one part of your life, in order to accept and embrace the next part."

"You're right about me needing the funeral to help me accept and move on. And yes, maybe it was Klaus who told me about experiencing what the world has to offer. But I would have figured that out on my own when I left here. I know I'll have to leave Mystic Falls eventually. But do not turn this around on me, Riley. We're supposed to be talking about you and Klaus."

"There is no me and Klaus — not that way. He is my friend. I like spending time with him. He's interesting and unlike anyone I've even known. And I know that sounds like a cliché but it's true." I sighed. "Can we just agree to disagree about him or something? I'm so tired of having this conversation with you, C. It feels circular and it seems to go nowhere; you clearly aren't going to change your opinion and neither am I."

"I don't like it, but okay."

"Good." I got up and started walking to my room when C spoke again.

"There is a way you can make it up to me."

"We agree to disagree and I have to make it up to you?"

"Yes you do."

"Okay. What is it?"

"There's a football game Friday night. Come to it."

"I don't like football."

"I don't want you to watch the game, Ri," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I want you to see me cheer. You haven't seen me cheer once since you arrived."

I opened my mouth to speak, but when I couldn't think of a reason why I couldn't go, I closed it again. C took that as a sign of her triumph; she lightly clapped her hands together and gave her famous smile. "Great! The game starts at 7pm. See you there!"

I groaned as I walked to my bedroom, deciding to leave the room before C blackmailed me into doing anything else unpleasant.

I was sitting in my chair when Klaus came into my room through the window that night. I had a book in my hand but I wasn't reading; I was trying to think of how I could get out of going to that stupid football game.

"Must you always enter my bedroom through the window?"

"It's more exciting than the traditional entrance through the doorway," he responded with a smirk. "You seem very pensive."

"C is emotionally blackmailing me into doing something dreadful and I'm trying to think of a way out."

"I could compel her to forget."

I shook my head. "It wouldn't work; she's on vervain."

"What is this dreadful task?"

"I have to go to the football game on Friday to watch her cheer."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

"No, it's awful. I don't like football."

"Since you seem to be stuck going, how about I accompany you? I rather enjoy the sport."

That was unexpected.

"Seriously?"

I went to Rebekah's house after school on Monday. We spent the entire afternoon and early evening sitting in her room, talking. It was actually fun, and I was shocked to admit that I enjoyed it; I was never someone who had a lot of female friends, so this was a new experience for me.

I stayed with Bekah longer than I had intended to.

"Why don't you just stay the night, Ri; we could actually have the sleepover that you told your Aunt we were having when you spent the night here."

"You knew about that?" She only nodded. "Thanks for the offer, Bekah, but I have to decline. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye."

I walked downstairs and out the front door. As I was leaving the Mikaelson property, I noticed Klaus exiting through the front door and heading in my direction. I walked through the woods for only a moment or two before I spoke.

"You suck at tracking, Klaus. I could hear you the moment you left your house."

"I wasn't trying to be sneaky, love."

I turned around to face him. He had stopped walking; he was just standing there, with his arms crossed against his chest.

"What are you doing, Riley?"

"Walking home..."

Klaus took a few steps forward until he was standing in right front of me. Too close.

"Through the woods?"

"Yes. It's the most direct way from your house to mine."

I turned away from him to head in said direction. Before I could take a step, Klaus grabbed my arm gently and spun me back to face him.

"Have you lost your mind? Must I remind you about the vampire hunter that's lurking around?"

"No, Klaus." I pulled my arm free from his grasp. "You don't need to remind me of when I was captured and held for three days!" How stupid did he think I was? I hated that he was trying to tell me what to do.

"I have half a mind to tie you up and never take my eyes off you." His voice came out as a half-growl.

"Over my dead body," I responded, enunciating every word.

"That's precisely what I'm trying to avoid, love."

I held up my hand in front of my chest, the back of it was facing Klaus. "Are you going to take this away," indicating my ring, "and use vervain on me, too?"

"Riley..." he said as a menacing warning.

"No, you know what? Go ahead; you're going to do whatever you think is best anyway, without listening to me. But know this: you do that and I will never speak to you again."

I turned away, again, and walked home. Klaus didn't try to stop me, but he followed right behind me. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at his actions, even though he couldn't see me.

Once I got in front of my house, Klaus flashed away. I unlocked the front door and went inside, quickly noticing that C and Aunt Liz were not home.

I went straight to my room and found Klaus sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Ugh. Again?"

"I thought people say you should never walk away angry."

"What? No. People tell couples to never go to bed angry."

"So, I'm paraphrasing."

"Though, that's actually not bad advice for anyone."

"To never walk away angry?" I nodded. "You're angry at me for trying to protect you?"

"No. I'm angry at you for not listening to me. You follow whatever plan you come up with and I never have any say. And when it involves me, I think I deserve to have some input."

"I'm trying to protect you; I'm not ready to risk losing you again. You were gone for three days and I was afraid I had lost you."

I sat down on my bed, facing him. "I am not the damsel in distress that you keep making me out to be. I can defend myself."

"I know, but I still worry."

"I'm okay. I'm still here."

I was drinking my morning blood bag in the kitchen when C came home. She greeted me with a "Hey."

"Hi. Where were you last night?"

"With Bonnie at Elena's."

"Is everything okay?"

"No," C responded as she grabbed a blood bag from the freezer. "Elena's a struggling, new vampire and Bonnie's fighting the temptation of dark magic."

"And you and Tyler are fighting."

She paused with the freshly-opened blood bag halfway up to her mouth. "How did you know that?"

"Basic deductive reasoning," I said with a shrug. "You and Tyler have been basically inseparable since I arrived, but he hasn't been around here in a few days. I've seen him at school, so I know he hasn't left town. Again."

"You never said anything about it before now," she said as she sat down beside me at the table.

I shrugged again. "I figured you'd tell me when you wanted me to know."

C nodded. "Yea, we're fighting."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. He just left out something huge and incredibly ridiculous when he was telling me about being in the Appalachian Mountains, where he broke the sire bond. And he doesn't even see how stupid and wrong he is. He's mad at me for 'over-reacting'," she said, using air quotes. "Tyler and I were going to run away together once the Founder's Council found out about us. We were both prepared to spend the rest of our lives on the run; we were okay with that because we would have been together. And now he's acting like that means nothing anymore."

"What an idiot."

C chucked at that. "I'm sure you'd say that even if I was wrong."

"Maybe..."

"I thought when I told you, you'd run around the room cheering."

I gave her a look. "I may not get along with Tyler, but I don't want to see you upset. And you obviously are. Was a girls' night with Elena and Bonnie any help?"

"No. We didn't talk about my issues."

"Ah." This was something I've noticed ever since I've arrived. I know Elena and Bonnie are C's best friends, but sometimes they are too preoccupied with their own dramas to ask C about hers. "That sucks." I stood up from the table; I had just finished my blood bag. "I'll give you your space now, but you do know that you can talk to me, right C?"

She nodded. "I know. Thanks, Ri."

A/N: Please review. Let me know if you think Riley is right or wrong about Klaus.