A/N: This chapter contains aspects that have me out of my depth as a writer. I have no idea if this is decent or just awkward and awful and crappy. Please let me know.

I'm just going to hit 'post new chapter' and then hide from the computer.

Please review.

I was sitting at the desk in my room, going over my English notes before school, but my thoughts kept veering elsewhere.

My conversation with Lewis was constantly popping into my mind. I think once the shock of knowing that he killed me wore off, I realized there was an even bigger question surrounding the accident: why? Why did he kill me? What kind of life with magic does he have that made him decide it was better — safer, I suppose, since he kept talking about this being protection — for me to exist as a vampire than as a witch?

I probably will never get any answers about this without going to the source, without asking Lewis; but he was the last person I wanted to speak with.

Does it matter now, anyway? I was a vampire. Whatever magic I could have had is gone now. This reminded me of a saying my mother was always quoting: "Don't cry over spilt milk." And it's true; knowing won't change anything. I can't decide I want to be a witch again and become one.

But that doesn't make me want to know any less.

Why can't I have a semi-normal life — one that isn't surrounded in mystery?

I have to stop thinking about this.

I stood up and walked over to my window. I could see the tree's branches quivering in the slight breeze.

I thought back on my time in Mystic Falls. It feels like I've been here for a year or more, not merely a few months. I remember dreading the move here; I never wanted to come. But now, I cannot imagine being anywhere else. This town really has come to feel like home for me.

I thought back to when I was talking to Matt one night at the Grill. I told him then that I wasn't like C and Stefan, who I saw as desperately clinging onto their humanity. I thought I had accepted that I was no longer human.

I was wrong. The incident at Klaus's the following evening proved that to me, very clearly.

The incident also taught me that everything I thought, at the time, was wrong – the incident turned it all upside down; I had scoffed at C and Stefan and all the others who hold onto their humanity, but when pressed, I did the exact same. I shouldn't care so much about humans. Or my humanity. But I do. Maybe I'm jealous that humans still have something that I didn't appreciate until it was gone — their humanity.

I meant what I said to Rebekah. I had been thinking about being a vampire the entirely wrong way. I needed to accept that I was now a vampire and move on.

I have been holding onto my humanity far too much, or too hard. It's almost as if I was pretending that I wasn't a vampire at all, and those blood bags were just energy drinks. But I am a vampire; maybe it was time I started acting like one.

Now, I'm not going to go out and make the town rain blood. (I promise.) And I'm going to stick with my plan of finishing high school, which means I can't vamp out and draw attention. Or suspicions. Or stakes. And I'm not going to start compelling humans to get whatever I want.

Maybe accepting that I'm a vampire, and therefore no longer a human, means just that. I'm accepting it. I'm not desperately clinging to my humanity, but I'm also not going to change how I am right now.

Okay, so it's a lame realization: my attitude has changed, but my actions probably will not. Lame, agreed. Pointless even? Probably.

This realization doesn't seem to change anything in the here and now, but that doesn't mean my future won't change. Of course it will.

As a vampire, I won't have to go to college after I graduate high school if I don't want to. And I won't have to get a job so I can have money to pay for things. I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want. I could travel once I leave Mystic; I could see the world. I could spend years in places before people would become suspicious of the fact that I'm not aging. I could see sights and learn new languages. I literally have the entire world out there, waiting for me.

I think I'm finally starting to adjust my view on time from a human's to that of a vampire. Starting. Just as Klaus said I needed to.

Klaus…

Even when I wanted to, we couldn't seem to stay away from each other for too long. Maybe that means something.

It's not that I don't want to spend time with him; I definitely do. But it's annoying to have almost everyone around me always telling me that I shouldn't be spending time with Klaus.

They don't understand.

I've never cared about what other people thought of me or my actions before; why am worrying about them now?

I stopped watching the tree and turned around to face my room, leaning against the window sill, as the realization set in. I hadn't meant to, but I could see now that I had been fighting what I was feeling. But no more. I'm not going to let myself ignore how I feel about him. Not anymore.

With that, I walked out of my room and out of the house, leaving my books and my school bag in my room.

I knocked on the front door of the Mikaelson mansion. I wrong my hands nervously as I waited.

Why was I nervous?

The door opened to reveal Klaus on the other side. I found myself breathing a sigh of relief as I laid eyes on him — not that I didn't want to see Rebekah; but I realized I was glad to see Klaus.

"I'm sorry."

He raised an eyebrow. "For knocking?"

"No."

"You don't need to apologize for anything, Riley."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry for saying that I needed time. I didn't, not really. I just needed to make an attempt at organizing my thoughts. But I'm done; I'm through with worrying. About anything."

I could see the confusion written on Klaus's face.

This would be so much easier if I could just speak articulately.

Instead of trying to rephrase what I had said, I decided to show him what I meant. I took a deep breath and met Klaus's eyes head on. I stepped into him and pressed my lips against his.

My hands linked around his neck and I leaned into him. My thoughts halted and my mind went blank as I revelled in the new sensation. His lips were warm and soft.

Klaus quickly recovered from whatever shock he may have felt; his one arm wrapped around me, holding me tightly, as he ran his hand down the side of my face and raked his fingers through the ends of my hair.

I sighed into his mouth and his tongue slipped past my lips, dancing with mine.

When the kiss became interspersed with quick breaths, I decided to pull away. I stepped back until we weren't touching anymore. I wouldn't be able to think straight if we were, and I was already inarticulate enough.

I bit my lip before I spoke. "I was scared so I pushed you away. And I'm sorry for that. I'm not saying that I'm not scared anymore; I still am."

"Scared of me?"

"Of course not, Klaus."

"You should be afraid of me." He was trying to sound threatening, but it wasn't working; didn't he realize that I was already too far gone?

"I'm not scared of you. You won't hurt me." I had confidence in that statement. "I'm scared of—" I sighed. "I'm scared of us." It was probably too early to use the word 'us,' but I didn't know how else to explain. "But I'm tired of trying to push you away. It's exhausting and seemingly pointless.

"I ran away from you when we were in the woods and you showed up at my front door. I ran away from you at your house and we found each other at the clearing in the woods. I asked you for time and my feet led me to your house anyway. Something always seems to pull me back to you."

He didn't speak, but I could see his confusion.

"I hate how quickly you have become so important to me. I'm not used to this. I don't have people in my life that I trust who are not family. And then you come along, and I can't help but be drawn in by you. You always seem to find me exactly when I need you, even when I'm not aware that I need you. It's annoying! And I hate how you don't even speak half the time; you just listen to me ramble on and somehow you make everything better. You tell me to breathe, or to listen to your breathing, and it… it helps. It's so frustrating."

"Are you trying to tell me to stay away from you, Riley?"

"No." I shook my head. "I—" I threw my hands up in the air before running my fingers through my hair. "I don't know. I don't know what I'm saying. I just… I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of fighting you. I'm tired of trying to keep you out.

"I tried to fight against how I feel about you because I don't know how to deal with these emotions. I still have no clue what I'm doing, but I know that I like how I feel when I'm with you — whether we're talking as you rest your arm around my shoulders or we're just sitting in silence — and I don't want that to stop."

I took a step closer to him, but still not close enough to touch. I wanted him to know — to see — how true my next statement was. "And furthermore: I'm tired of listening to everyone else. I'm only listening to myself from now on. I'm here right now because I can't get you out of my head. You've crawled underneath my skin, and—" I paused, gathering my courage. "And I want to be with you."

Time between us had ceased to exist, or it passed excruciatingly slow, as I watched Klaus's face, trying to determine his reaction. He may have been speechless, but he wasn't without action.

He stepped even closer to me — impossibly close — and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me forcefully into his embrace as his lips met mine. The contrast between the strength of his hold and the softness of his kiss made me melt.

I felt like a floodgate of pent up desire and yearning had been let loose. All the feelings I had repressed were propelling me forward. I got lost in his embrace.

I stopped thinking; I just kissed him back. I reached up to run my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. Klaus's hands began to wander across my back; his touch sent sparks running down my spine.

Rebekah walked by, but I didn't hear her until she spoke.

"Is that the reaction I would have received too, had I been the one to open the door?"

Klaus and I pulled apart.

"It wasn't exactly first come, first served, Bekah." I sent a smirk in her direction. "Sorry." She rolled her eyes at me.

"Always do know how to ruin a moment, don't you Rebekah?" Klaus mumbled.

I managed to smile at Rebekah — or at least I think I did — before Klaus pulled at my hand and flashed us up to his bedroom. It happened in less time than it took me to blink. One moment I'm in the foyer, and the next I'm lying down on Klaus's bed and he's kissing me again.

His soft lips caressed mine. His hand slid up my neck and into my hair. My own hands moved and fisted in Klaus's curls. I gasped as he responded, holding me tighter and forcing his tongue into my mouth.

Just like earlier, every thought was wiped from my mind. This was what I needed! Not to think, not to worry; just to feel. Feel the way his lips on mine sent jolts of electricity throughout my body. Feel the way my heart pounded as his fingers pressed into my side.

Klaus began a trail of kisses, first along my jaw, then down my neck. This allowed me to speak. "This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I came over."

"This is harmless, love." As he spoke, between kisses, I could feel the vibration against my neck. "Rest assured that the first time we are together will not be when Rebekah is downstairs."

I think I blushed; I probably did. That wasn't what I meant, but now I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Uh," came Rebekah's voice from outside his bedroom door. "I don't mean, or want, to interrupt — believe me." I stifled a laugh. "But if we don't leave now, Ri, we'll be late for school."

I propped myself up on my forearms and bit my lower lip in thought; Klaus stayed close. "Don't go," he whispered into my ear, answering my unspoken question as he drew light patterns on my neck with the tips of his fingers. "Stay with me."

I pulled away enough to look into his eyes as I spoke to Rebekah. "I'm not going to school today, Bekah." Klaus smirked in triumph.

"You're not?" Even through the door, I could sense her shock.

"I have more important plans for today."

"More important than school? For you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Opinions change, Bekah?"

"Ewh. Please remember that is my brother in there." I laughed. "And Nik, she is my friend, so just — ewh! I can't. Gross. Bye." I heard Rebekah walk down the hallway, towards the stairs.

"You're a bad influence," I whispered to Klaus as we heard Rebekah leave the house.

He smirked as he brought my face gently closer to his. I closed my eyes at the touch of his lips. My hands got lost in his hair, just like his tongue soon got lost inside my mouth after he nudged for permission by licking my upper lip. I offered no resistance. Eventually, we stopped kissing.

Klaus pulled away slightly. "You need to be aware of some things before we go any further." He pulled back completely and I sat up.

"Sounds ominous, but okay…"

"You spoke the other day about being alone and how you don't know much else." I nodded; I remembered when we spoke at the falls.

"I can relate, Riley. I've spent decades — centuries, even — on my own. Sure, Elijah and Rebekah have been around for most of that time, but I was still alone."

"Alone or lonely?" I asked. There's a huge difference between these two words.

"Alone." The way he said the word told me that he understood the difference between those two words as well. "I experienced lonely times, of course, but the times when I was alone far outweigh the lonely moments."

Something else we had in common. "I think in order for this, between us, to work — and to work well — we'll have to accept that about each other. We need to be alone, sometimes. I know I start to freak out if I'm surrounded by too many people. Or if I haven't been alone enough or recently."

He grabbed my hand, and I felt as though he understood. "We need to agree, then, that we may need some space from one another. But we must always remember that 'alone' does not mean 'go away completely' and that it will not last forever."

"That sounds good. Smart." I gave him a look as I continued. "But I may need reminding at the time."

"Fair enough. I have another note to mention."

"More?"

He nodded. "This one is more important. I will always protect you, Riley. Always. And sometimes, that might mean going against your wishes or what you'd like in order to protect you."

I thought about that. "Okay," I finally ceded. "I will accept that only if I'm allowed to make conditions along the way." I pointed my finger at him. "I get to have a say in anything that even remotely involves me or the people I care about."

Klaus sighed but reluctantly said, "Fine, I'll abide by that." He narrowed his gaze in jest. "But only because I know you won't let me reject that one."

"That's right," I said with a nod. "May I add one?"

"Of course."

"I think we should keep the 'don't walk away angry' rule."

He smiled. "I agree."

"We've made this rather diplomatic, haven't we? This sounds like the makings of a peace treaty."

"Should we write them down on paper and sign it?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I have something for you."

"You do?" I asked as he stood and walked over to the desk in his room. He opened the top side drawer and pulled out a picture frame before coming back over to the bed and sitting down next to me. He paused for a moment before handing the frame to me.

It was a drawing — in pastels — of the falls. Mystic Falls.

He spoke as I examined the drawing. "It was either the falls or the view from the top. I thought the falls would work well with the beach painting."

I laughed. "Water themed."

From the corner of my eye I saw him nod.

"This is beautiful." I looked up at him. "Thank you."

I leaned over and kissed him gently on his cheek.

Our faces lingered close together as our eyes met. He smiled at me before drawing his hand up to my hair and brushing it aside. The contrast between his delicate touch and the fact that he's the most powerful creature on the planet left me breathless and sent a shiver down my back.

He closed the gap between us and I closed my eyes as he pressed his lips to mine, tenderly. He moved his hand through my hair and stopped at the side of my neck.

My hand — the one that wasn't holding the framed drawing — found its way to the back of his neck, where I was unconsciously playing with one of his necklaces.

The kiss ended as tenderly as it began. He gently pulled away, but not before placing a light kiss on my lips.

This time he didn't pull away, so I could feel the feather-like way his lips brushed against mine as he looked into my eyes and spoke. "I know exactly what you meant when we were talking earlier; I find myself constantly drawn to you, like gravity."

I smiled at him; he returned it and placed one more soft kiss on my lips.

I didn't want it to end.