"So how was last night?" C asked the next morning. I know she was asking about going out to dinner with Klaus, but of course, the kiss came immediately to my mind.

"It was nice," I replied.

"Oh my god, Ri. You're blushing."

"No, I'm not," I said, even though I could feel my cheeks warming.

"Yeah, you are."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed at her. "Don't you have cheer practice or some important school event to plan?"

"No. Not on a Sunday." She sat down on the couch next to me. "But actually, I wanted to talk to you about Prom."

"Again with the prom? What about it?"

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "Are you bringing Klaus?"

"No."

"Oh, thank god!"

I laughed. "I meant no, I'm not going to the prom, so obviously I'm not taking Klaus to something I'm not attending myself."

"What?!" C looked like I was talking about hurting kittens, not skipping a school dance. "Ri, you can't skip the Prom!"

"It's just a school dance, C. I have no interest in going."

"Prom is not just another school dance. It is the last one. It's the biggest, grandest, fanciest, best one. It's the reason most people don't drop out of high school."

I rolled my eyes. "It's your prom, C; not mine."

"Junior Prom is super important."

"It doesn't matter; I don't wanna go."

"Ugh, fine," she said with a massive sigh. "Bring Klaus."

"This has nothing to do with Klaus." I stood up and grabbed the book I had been reading. "I'm not going because I don't want to." I told C I would talk to her later as I went to my room, putting my book down on my desk. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Klaus.

"How did you know I needed to hear your wonderful voice, love?" He said, by way of greeting as he answered his phone.

I rolled my eyes and laughed as I closed my bedroom door. "Good timing, perhaps."

He hummed in agreement.

"Actually, I was wondering if I could hide out at your place for the next… week or so?"

"Sure. Who are you hiding from? Caroline?"

"Of course. She's going crazy. And she's driving me crazy too. The prom is next week. She keeps telling me that I need to go. 'Junior Prom is important, Ri,' " I said, partially mocking and partially out of frustration. "I keep telling her that I'm not going, but it's like she doesn't hear me. Selective hearing, I suppose; she's only hearing what she wants to hear." I sat down on my bed. "Though now that I think about it, Bekah is on the dance committee too. She may be just as crazy about the prom."

"Unfortunately, she is; the front living room is full of sample decorations and her room is full of dresses."

I groaned slightly.

"Do you want to go?"

"To the prom? Not at all."

"Then why don't we make plans for that evening. Or for that entire day, even. You can't go if you've made plans already."

"That's true." I sat up straighter, noting his logic. "Okay, I like it. It won't please C, but I'm okay with that too."

"I'll come over now and we'll discuss the details."

"You can come over, but you'll have to hang out with C; I won't be here. I'm meeting up with someone. Actually," I said as I glanced at my alarm clock, "I'm running late. Gotta go. Bye."

I hung up and quickly left the house.

Matt was just walking towards the bar, probably to stand behind it, when I walked in the door of the Grill. He saw me immediately and smiled as he halted his steps. "Hey, Ri. How's it going?"

"Not bad, Matt. How are you?"

"I'm alright." He stepped a bit closer to me. "It's nice to see you without an Original at your side. But since Rebekah is sitting at a table by herself, I'm sure that's where you're headed."

"Yes. I am." I know Matt technically had a good reason for hating Rebekah, but it still annoyed me. Just as I went to side-step Matt, he spoke again.

"I saw you at the game the other night."

"Oh, yea. C forced me to attend. First and last football game for me, I hope." As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized who I was talking to. "No offence. You were good though; good quarterback…ing."

He chuckled. "Thanks, Ri. You're not into football?"

"Not at all."

He shrugged in understanding. "It's not for everyone." He took a step, then stopped again. "Do you want me to bring anything over to the table for you?"

I nodded. "A hot chocolate, please. Thank you."

I walked over and sat across from Rebekah in the booth. "Not fair," she said instead of greeting me.

"What's not fair?" I noted her pout.

"You're a vampire and he doesn't seem to hate you. He even laughed with you."

"Who? Matt?" She nodded, staring at him. "I didn't know you liked Matt."

"He was nice and sweet to me. He gave me a chance, even when Caroline and the doppelganger were telling him not to. Until…" she trailed off.

"Until you forced his truck off Wickery Bridge and killed Elena. Everything in this town seems to come back to that night for you, doesn't it?"

After Matt brought over the hot chocolate I ordered, Rebekah ordered one too. I'm not sure if she actually wanted one, or if she just wanted an excuse to talk to Matt. But poor Rebekah: Matt never once looked at her, not when he took the order nor when he brought it over.

We were sitting in our booth, laughing about something not Matt-related, when I heard "Hello, ladies."

We both looked up and saw Klaus standing beside our table. I never noticed that he had come in. I slid over in the booth and he sat down next to me as Rebekah said, "What brings you here, Nik?"

"Riley," he said as he placed his hand into both of mine as they lay in my lap under the table.

I looked at Rebekah, shaking my head. "I never told him I was here."

"You're not terribly difficult to track down, love. Rebekah had plans in town; you had plans…" he trailed off.

"And what, you think we don't have any friends either than each other?" Rebekah asked, defensively.

I gave Rebekah a look and half-shrugged. "Well, I know I don't," I said and half-laughed.

Rebekah looked back at her brother. "Nik, stalking is not appreciated."

I rolled my eyes at the both of them before turning a little to face Klaus. "Did you come here for a specific purpose, or just to prove you could, indeed, find me?" I asked him.

He squeezed my hand, as if to suggest that was the purpose. He leaned closer to me and lowered him voice, even though Rebekah would obviously be able to overhear. "I plan to steal you away from my sister, here."

And certainly, she had overheard. "Too bad. Riley and I were making Prom plans."

I choked out a laugh. "Uh, no we weren't."

"We were about to," she informed me before going back to glaring at her brother, "before we were so rudely interrupted."

"Well in that case, I'm glad he showed up."

"I bet you are."

"Ugh," I groaned as Klaus and I left the Grill after I told Rebekah that I would see her later. "Has everyone gone loopy over the prom?"

"Does seem that way."

"It's my own fault; I should have known better than to surround myself with dance committee members."

"I'm your buffer?"

"Absolutely."

"I know one sure-fire way to avoid the madness; get away from it."

I stopped walking and held up my hand to stop him from saying any more. "If this is another one of your attempts at getting me to leave town, or to offer to take me to another country, please stop now."

"No, love; though I hope you know that offer is open-ended. No, I just meant we should get away for the afternoon. Just for a few hours."

"Okay."

"Follow me."

Klaus's SUV was parked outside the Grill. I didn't even bother asking him where we were going. I'd never admit it out loud, but sometimes it is nice not to know what to expect.

Klaus had just left the town limits when he turned onto a dirt road that consisted of only two wide tire ruts. After a few minutes, the trees pulled back a bit from the path we were traveling on and a clearing appeared in front of us. Klaus parked the SUV; we got out and began walking further down the path.

I broke the silence. "Is Rebekah the only one who calls you 'Nik'?"

"No. Kol does as well. Elijah calls me 'Niklaus.' " From the corner of my eye, I saw Klaus looking at me, but I continued looking straight ahead as we walked. "Why do you ask?"

"I never noticed it before, how Bekah calls you Nik and everyone else calls you Klaus. Maybe because I'm usually at your house when Rebekah talks about you — or to you — and now we're out in public, surrounded by the people who call you Klaus." I paused, looking around me; I could hear water nearby. "Where are we?"

"Approaching the falls."

We were off the path now, walking up and down the sides of small hills, passing trees and boulders. "I guess I never thought about it, but it does seem logical that a town with the word 'falls' in its name should have at least one waterfall nearby."

"You've never been?"

I shook my head.

"Fantastic!"

I stopped walking as the falls came into my view. The trees were bare of leaves; we had an almost perfectly clear view of the waterfall. It was beautiful. "Wow. I almost feel bad, knowing I've been here over two months and have yet to visit this place. It's amazing."

Klaus turned to look at me; I heard him turn, felt his eyes on me, and felt him step closer, but my eyes remained on the waterfall. "Quite some time has passed since my last visit here, and when I thought of coming back here, I knew I wanted to share that moment with you."

As I smiled, I noticed a bridge that spanned the width of the waterfall. I ran to it, human-speed. I stood against the railing of the bridge, right in the middle. Klaus joined me, standing close enough that his upper arm brushed against mine as he leaned against the railing. "This is nice," I said after some time had passed. I looked over at him and he nodded. We both pushed off from the railing and continued walking along the bridge. "When I hang out with you, I feel like I don't have to worry or think about anything else."

"I'm glad, but this isn't merely 'hanging out.' " I smiled because he used my terminology, but I was hesitant at where he was taking this conversation. "I know you see us as friends, but I see us as more. And I'm not just imagining this, love; we're together right now because we both want to be here."

His comment made me halt my steps. I whirled around to face him, unable to come up with a single response.

"How can I convince you?"

"I don't know," I said, looking at the floor of the bridge, instead of at him. "Time, I suppose."

He gently grabbed my arm, forcing me to look up at him. His hand slid down my arm until it found my hand, leaving goosebumps behind. "We have endless time." He was quiet for a few moments until he lightly tugged on my hand, pulling me into step beside him as he continued walking. "Come on; the best view is from the top."

We hiked mostly in silence. I fell only once; my foot got tangled up in some long, fallen twigs. I tried to laugh it off; Klaus was kind enough not to laugh out loud.

The sun was high in the sky when we reached the top. I can't even begin to describe the sight before me: we were taller than almost every tree; I could see the hills or mountains that sloped down to the valley where Mystic Falls was located; and the blue sky went on for miles. The river flowed calmly, right until it went over the edge. I took in the panoramic view surrounding me once more before I found a semi-flat patch of grass and sat down. Klaus continued to look at the view. Eventually, he turned and sat down beside me.

"If you have your way, you'd never bring up what I mentioned on the bridge below, would you."

He didn't phrase it as a question, but I answered. "No."

He took both of my hands from my lap and held them in one of his. His other hand brushed the shorter hairs out of my face and tried to tuck them behind my ear. "I know you're scared and I know you're hesitant; I see that. But you're not alone in this, Riley." Why did it always sound so good when he said my full name? Hearing 'Riley' from anyone else sounded awkward.

His thumb traced circular patterns lightly across my cheek as he leaned in closer. He sighed before continuing. When he spoke, his voice was a gentle whisper. "But what I do know, Riley, is that you have caught my attention in a way that hasn't happened for centuries; and for the first time in a very long time, I feel something that is not hatred or bitterness. I can't claim to know how to deal with whatever this is that I'm feeling, and I don't have any ideas what I want to make of it; but I do know that your presence makes me smile and laugh more than I have in years. I also know that I am addicted to your smile, when you let it show. And I would be a fool to let go of something as fascinating as you, or to ignore feeling as joyous as I feel with you."

My words were caught in my throat as I listened intently to his words. They left me feeling a mixture of pure awe and utter shock. I couldn't speak — I daren't — for fear of ruining this moment as his gaze became more intense and locked with mine. "I do not know what is happened here, Riley," he continued, his posture and his gaze never changing, "but it is something that I would love to explore."

I felt as though I could not breathe. I pulled away from him, slightly, getting some air and putting a tiny amount of distance between us. My hands remained in his.

"I like you, Riley. I like you very much; you know this and I know this. It terrifies me. I didn't want to like anyone; I think I always believed that I would never know love. Sometimes though, I have found myself beginning to think that, with you, maybe it would be possible. Now I see I was just indulging in a fantasy."

I shook my head, pulling one of my hands from his so I could touch the side of his face lightly. "No, Klaus, it's not just a fantasy. I have feelings for you too."

He leaned into my touch momentarily before speaking. "Then what is it? Something is holding you back. Talk to me, Riley. Sweetheart, please."

"I can't. I don't know how to do this."

I stood up quickly and took a few steps closer to the waterfall, putting further distance between us. I ran my hand through my hair. Klaus stood up too, but he didn't step any closer to me.

"Do what?"

"This." I turned and gestured to the space between us. "I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to maintain any kind of social interaction. I don't have friends. I'm a loner. And I'm good at it. I'm used to being alone. It's all I've ever known. And then I come to this town and I'm thrown into things that I'm not used to. Not just the supernatural things, but the ordinary, normal, human things I never experienced as a human. I kind of actually have friends here. And Caroline. And then there's you. I just—"

"Riley. It's okay." Klaus stepped forward, put his hands on my shoulders, and looked into my eyes.

"No. No. Stop that." I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Stop what?"

"You're too close. I can't breathe properly when you look at me like that. And I can't think straight when you're this close."

He forced me to look up at him by cupping my chin and tilting my head up. I could see it — I could see the honesty behind everything he was telling me. And I could see that my hesitations and fears were hurting him; they confused me, but they were actually hurting him.

But the silence only lasted for two minutes before he blurted out, sharply but not undeserved, "Just so you know, Riley, if you ever do decide to do something about what you claim you feel then you'll have to open up. You'll have to let me in."

"I know." I nodded. It scared me, but I knew he was right. "You deserve so much more. You deserve someone better."

"I don't deserve anything, Riley. But I want you." He let go of my hand and my chin and pulled away from me; I missed his closeness already. "You need time."

I didn't respond. I didn't even nod.

"I'd better get you home; can't have the Sheriff worrying about you." I think he was trying to make a joke, to ease some of the intense tension between us, but it didn't really work.

"It's actually the Sheriff's daughter that you have to worry about," I mumbled as we began our downhill hike back to Klaus's SUV.