A/N: Hello! I'm so sorry for the delay. I've been busy with the childcare course I'm doing and haven't had time to reread through the chapter and upload it. I wanted to say that I have the completed fanfiction written for Still Breathing, so you don't have to worry about me not finishing posting it.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. We see a bit of Klaus, a WHOLE lot of Katherine, and a smidge of Kalijah. Don't forget to leave a comment and if you have an account you'll get a sneak peak of chapter four in your private messages.

CHAPTER THREE:

'Leave unsaid unspoken,

Eyes wide shut unopened

You and me

Always between the lines.'

Between the Lines by Sara Bareilles.

KLAUS' P.O.V.

The table shattered into pieces as it connected with the wall. I let out an earth shaking roar as I felt my face transform. Turning towards my current work in progress, which I had spent countless hours working on, I held it in my hands and took in each delicate brush stroke, the paint still wet from my earlier painting session. I gripped the canvas in my hands, staring at the picture with venom instead of the usual adoration. I was angry that she wouldn't do what I had asked of her. Angry that she was now a human, and even more out of reach that she was before.

I raised the painting above my head, and felt my muscles tense in preparation of me throwing the canvas against the wall, which was filled with other portraits of the blue-eyes girl that filled my every thought.

As I moved to release the painting at full-force, a tight restraining hand wrapped around the edge of the canvas and pulled it from my grip, placing it back on the easel as if I hadn't just been about to destroy it.

I glared at my brother, reaching around him for the painting, only to be pushed back with such force that I went flying across the room and landed against the doorframe. The wood buckled slightly under the force of my body, but I ignored that as I sped to my feet, looking at my brother with as much malice as I could muster.

"Get out, Elijah." I said, my voice coming out in an animalistic hiss. He didn't even flinch as I spoke, standing his ground glaring across at me.

"Niklaus, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?" I stepped forward, fists clenched at my sides as I advanced on him. "I will not calm down. I can't calm down. Not now. Not after this."

He remained still, his hands in his pockets, with the blank and worried looked on his face. I walked forward, wrapping my hand around his throat and held him off of the ground. In one swift movement my hand was knocked away and I was flying through the air and crashing into the door again.

I landed on a heap on the ground, looking up at my brother, preparing myself to counterattack. He zoomed forward and kicked me out of the room and threw me down the flight of stairs. I ignored the pain as I tumbled down to the ground floor.

I shot to my feet and bared my teeth as Elijah as he descended the stairs as if he hadn't just swung me around like a ragdoll. I let out a feral noise and flashed my fully extended teeth. Crouching low, my body was screaming at me to shift and attack. He stopped a few feet in front of me. Close enough for me to pounce, bite into his-

"Niklaus. If you're having anger issues take I out on something that will easily fix itself. Destroying your whole studio will only cause you to hate yourself more than if you spar with me." He said, voice relaxed, as if he was suggesting something as simple as a chess match.

"I don't want to fight you. I want to get rid of everything. I can't look at the paintings anymore. I can't have them here, taunting me with something I can never have." I straightened up as I spoke, letting my fangs sink back into my jaw, and the veins under my eyes to blend back into my flesh.

"If you can't stand to look at the pictures of her, then you pack them away in storage. You don't destroy them all and throw a tantrum." He said, his voice dripping with condescension. "I understand that you're in pain. I understand that it's hard for you to hear about Caroline's current situation. But, think about it this way: she now has a limited amount of time left on this earth, and when she's gone you'll at them pictures and remember the feeling you had when you first realised you had feelings for her. In a hundred years from now, you'll look back and remember the person she was, not the person that she could have been."

"It's not that easy Elijah. I can't just pack them up and ignore the fact that I'll never get my chance. When she was a vampire, I had the small possibility of a chance. It didn't matter how long I had to wait. There was a chance that she would one day decide that she had feelings for me too. Now she's mortal, and she's going to want to settle down with some dull human and she's not going to want me."

"That's not true." Rebekah said, walking out from the kitchen door, watching us carefully as she stepped closer. "If I know Caroline, which I hate to admit that I do, she wouldn't be the type to want to settle down straight away. She's going to want an education, a career, and then a family afterwards. But even then, some people prefer to live their lives with their career and never decide to settle down."

"It still doesn't change anything. She didn't want me before, why would she want me now."

"You shouldn't give up just because there's another bump in the road, Niklaus. Wait until you speak with her again before you give up completely."

#

KATHERINE'S P.O.V.

Tapping my foot on the ground impatiently, I waited for Caroline to stop looked at me guiltily. She was fidgeting and pulling at a loose thread on the grey sweater she was wearing, her wet hair pulled up onto the top of her head.

"It's really not that bad. I mean, Klaus knows that I'm human now, so it should be easy for us to get past him to see the witch. He didn't exactly mention wanting to hunt you down and killing you."

I crossed my arms across my chest and tilted my head to one side. "But Klaus now knows that I'm with you, near New Orleans. He's going to send out his goons to find me, and I doubt he's going to lenient when he finds me. Why did you have to tell him?"

Caroline threw her arms up in the air and stood from the chair she had been sitting on, pacing across the carpeted floor. "Because, I happen to trust him. I didn't want to lie to him, so I told him the truth. It's not that big a deal. I'm sure I can talk him out of doing anything while we're here."

I scowled across at her and rose from my own seat, storming closer until I came to stand directly in front of her face. My mind having moved from my own safety, to the safety of Nadia and Kida, who I had dragged into this mess. "And what about Nadia. If Klaus finds out who she is, he'd have a field day. Who knows what he'd do to her if he wanted to get to me?"

Caroline glared at me and stamped her foot on the ground, resembling a two year old. "He doesn't have to know about Nadia and her connection to you. We can figure something so that you can go into the city, see your witch, and you won't even have to encounter Klaus or the other Originals."

"You obviously don't know that much about Klaus." I bit out, turning around and storming over to where the copious bottles of alcohol sat. I poured myself a drink and swallowed it in one gulp. Why couldn't she have just kept her mouth shut?

My hands shook as I refilled the glass and sipped at it with shaking hands. I knew that in coming to New Orleans I would be running the risk of encountering Klaus, but I was hoping to make my presence known on my own terms, not because of some over-emotional phone call.

Every instinct in my body was telling me that I should run away as fast as I could, but I knew that wasn't an option this time. I couldn't just up and leave Caroline, or leave Nadia after I had promised her that I would stay and get to know her.

Nadia. Just thinking about her made my heart beat quicker in my chest. The daughter I had lost a long time ago, come back from the dead to dredge up all of the bad memories that I had. I took a deep breath before sipping my drink again, closing my eyes shut tight and trying to steady myself.

"You won't tell your friends about what happened, but you'll tell one of the oldest, deadliest people in the world. I will never understand how your brain works."

The door to the room opened Nadia walked in in all her glory. When I had first met her I had made the assumption that she was a descendant of the Petrova bloodline, like Isabelle. Someone who was from further down the bloodline and just bore similar features to me.

Little did I know that I had been very wrong. When she had sat down across from me in the small booth in the diner she had tracked me down to, and looked over at me with her brilliant emerald green eyes, I saw everything that I had left behind me in Bulgaria 500 years ago. Every moment I had shared with her father had come rushing back to me, and I had the urge to run away as fast as I could.

And I did.

But here she stood, barely tolerating my presence, as I dodged her every question. Her dead-straight hair shone in the sunlight that came through the large window, and she looked between Caroline and I in confused disdain. She greeted Caroline politely before walking over to the cupboard where I had poured myself my drink, and began rummaging around looking for something specific.

"What are you two arguing about?" She asked, her arm disappearing to the back of the cupboard as she continued her search.

"Nothing." Caroline replied, making herself comfortable on her chair.

I scoffed at her words, causing her to glare up at me. "Caroline went and told Klaus Mikaelson that she was human and in New Orleans with me."

Nadia's hand shot out of the cupboard and she stood up, slamming her hands down on the table sending a loud bang throughout the room. "You what?"

"I didn't tell him where I was. I'm not an idiot. I wouldn't put you guys in danger like that." Caroline stared at Nadia with apologetic eyes.

"So," Nadia started, looking between Caroline and I, "you called the original hybrid, and offered up all this information? Exactly how close are you two?"

"We're not close." Caroline insisted, not convincing anyone. "He called me because he wanted to talk. He has a certain affinity towards me."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't believe for one minute that he was calling her just to talk. Klaus always did stuff with some ulterior motive in mind. Especially where Caroline was concerned. He wanted something, that's for sure. But Caroline's news probably got in the way of him asking for it.

Caroline continued to protest as Nadia went back to the cupboard and reached deep into it to retrieve a very old bottle of bourbon. I ignored both of them as I walked back to my seat and sat down, mind racing over every possible outcome of my presence in New Orleans.

"Besides," Caroline was saying as I tuned her back in, "it's none of your business who I decide to tell my business."

"It is if it puts my family in danger." I hissed out between clenched teeth, not paying any attention to the fact I'd slipped up and called Nadia family. "You may think that Klaus won't hurt you because of his feelings for you, but I have known Klaus for 500 years. He's ruthless, cold hearted, and he'll dagger his own siblings if he doesn't get his way."

"I know that Katherine, but I trust him enough to know that he isn't going to hurt me."

I was about to bite back at her, but a sudden vibration in my jean pocket had me pulling my mobile phone out. I smiled as I took in the caller ID. Elijah. "Well, we're about to find out…Hello Elijah."

"Katerina. How are you?" His voice floated through the phone, melting my carefully placed exterior as it washed over me. I watched as Caroline leant closer to me in her seat, trying to use her human hearing to pick up on what was being said.

"I'm as good as I've ever been. And you, 'Lijah?"

"I'm fine." He paused, clearing his throat before continuing. "I'm calling because Klaus spoke to Caroline earlier, and she said that she was currently with you."

"Did she now? And why does me being with Caroline warrant a phone call from you? I was under the impression that you didn't care about what happened with me." I stood up from the chair and walked past Nadia to where the window sat. I looked out towards the trees, imagining Elijah probably doing the same thing on the other side of the phone. He was probably wearing one of his perfectly tailored suites, without a single hair out of place as he stood…or sat, all business.

"My brother is rather fond of Caroline, as I'm sure you already know."

"Really," I cut in, trying to make myself sound as over-the-top and incredulous as I could. I had no idea."

"Don't be so childish, Katerina. He's worried about her wellbeing while in your presence. And I can't say that I disagree with him. No doubt you have some major scheme on how you can use her to your advantage against my brother."

I rolled my eyes as I ran my nails against my scalp in my hair. Of course Klaus was worried, I was most likely getting this phone call after some long-winded hissy fit. And of course they all thought I was going to hurt Caroline. That was exactly why I didn't want them to know that she and I were here.

"You can tell your brother that Caroline is perfectly fine. I haven't touched a single blonde hair on her pretty little head. And I don't plan to."

"You can understand why Klaus and I have a hard time believing that." I scowled at the tone in his voice. There was a time when Elijah wouldn't even dare condescend me. Damn Elena and her pushing herself into other people's business.

"If I had planned to hurt Caroline, you can guarantee that I would have been the one to call Klaus instead of Caroline."

He stayed quiet for a moment. In the background I could hear the soft scraping of glass against wood. "And no doubt you'd use her as a bargaining chip for your freedom, Katherine. Why is it that you aren't doing that? Why are you with Caroline at all?"

"It's none of yours, or Klaus' business, Elijah. If Klaus wanted to know what I was doing, all he had to do was ask Caroline." I flinched at his use of the name Katherine. He very rarely used the newest adaption of my birth name, and when he did it was always when he was upset, angry, or disappointed in me.

"I'm not arguing with you right now. I called because I'm worried about my brother." He sighed. "I think it would be a good idea if we could all meet up. Let Klaus see for himself that Caroline is okay. He might calm down a bit is he sees that she's not hurt in any way."

"You sound tired, Elijah." I said, changing the subject. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

The quiet ripple of a growl travelled down the phone, sending shivers down my spine. "Don't try and flirt with me Katerina. I'm trying to be civil. It took a lot for me to rein Klaus in so that I could call and arrange something with you. Now, he mentioned that Caroline was close to New Orleans. How close, exactly?"

Turning away from my view of the trees I looked between Caroline and Nadia. Nadia had gotten herself a glass of the old bourbon and was perched on the arm of the chair that Caroline was still sitting, cross legged, on. Both of them were watching me with wide eyes. Nadia looked thoroughly confused, whereas Caroline had a knowing smirk on her face.

I scowled and turned back to the window.

"We're near the outskirts of the city, staying with a friend of mine."

"And why New Orleans? Out of all of the places in the world you choose New Orleans. It seems as if you have every intention of using Caroline as leverage."

"Not everything is about your brother, you know. There's someone else in New Orleans that I need to see. I offered to help Caroline find out more about what the cure did, and someone I know might be able to help us. The fact that your family is currently living here is purely coincidental."

"Is it Marcel?" He asked, his interest piquing. I immediately wondered why Marcel was of such an interest. I knew, from the time that I had spent with Marcel back in the early 1900's that he and Klaus were like family.

"Not directly." I answered. "Although, it has been a while since I last saw Marcel. It would be nice to catch up with him."

"Who do you want to see here?"

I raised my brow even though he couldn't see me, and smiled. Something big was happening in New Orleans. Something that threatened the Mikaelson's in some way. A sweet taste coated my tongue. There was no other reason why Elijah would be so interested. But what could it be? Would it make it more difficult for me to see who I needed to?

"A witch. I'll need to see Marcel first, of course. To get him to grant me his permission. Why the sudden interest in my involvement with Marcel? Jealous?"

"I'm just curious."

"Of course you are." I said, pausing for dramatic effect. "Well, I'm sure I could bring Caroline to New Orleans, but I have conditions."

"I didn't doubt that you would." He let out a long breath. "Let me guess, you want your freedom." I flinched, tapping one of my fingers on the window pane as I watched the sun dance across the trees.

"I've come to the realisation that life wouldn't be any fun if I was completely free of Klaus, so I'll pass this time. Like I said, I have no problem arranging a meeting between the two lovebirds, I just want assurance that I'm not going to be killed on sight. The same goes for anyone associated with me while I'm here. I don't want some innocent acquaintance of mine having their heart ripped out because they know me. I'm not here to stir up anything, I'm here to help Caroline and then I'll be on my merry way."

I could almost hear his mind ticking as he took in my words. I pushed away from the window, ignoring the stares I was still getting, and sat back down gently in the chair, picking up my glass and drinking what was left inside.

"Why do you want to help Caroline? Being compassionate isn't something you do, Katerina."

"If Caroline hadn't have stepped in…I would the human one." I fought to keep the lightness in my voice, hiding how grateful I actually was.

"I'll talk to Klaus and call you back." I didn't get the change to say anything else because he hung up straight away. I blew out the breath I had been holding and placed my phone on the arm of the chair, laying my head against the back.

"That was…weird." Nadia said, making my head shoot up. She had moved from her position on the arm of Caroline's chair and was now standing back over near the alcohol, pouring herself a drink.

"Yep." Caroline took a teacup off of a tray that Kida was holding. When had she come into the room? "Nothing is ever normal where Katherine, or the Mikaelson's are concerned. I've heard much weirder conversations…I've had weirder conversations."

I rubbed my hands over my face, groaning. If only Caroline hadn't spilled her guts to Klaus, then I could have approached them myself and they wouldn't have known we were so close.

"So, what's going happen?" She asked, shifting in her seat as I looked over at her.

"I don't know. He'll talk to Klaus, who is 'seriously worried' about by the way. I'm guessing that Klaus threatened him copiously to get him to do it."

"I told him that I was fine." She said, avoiding my eyes as she looked down at her cup.

"He seems to really like you, Caroline." Nadia announced from her spot near the cabinet behind the couch. Caroline looked immediately uncomfortable and started to fiddle with the edge of her pants.

"He just likes the thrill of the chase. He's only interested as long as I say no. I bet you that if I gave in, he'd drop me in a hot second."

"I doubt that. If Klaus wanted to have his way with you, he'd make it impossible for you to say no to him. From what I've seen, he's given you the freedom of choice."

"Let's talk about something else. Like, oh I know…'Lijah." Caroline said, smiling across at me. I curled up my lip. I didn't want to talk about Elijah, especially with Nadia here.

I was still angry at Elena for having caused my relationship to break up. The only relationship I actually felt comfortable in, and would want to settle into. I had been with heaps of men over the centuries, but Elijah was different. I felt more than I had ever felt with any other man, with him. And Elena had ruined that.

"Yeah." Nadia agreed, walking closer. "I actually wanted to ask you about that."

"There's nothing to talk about." I said defensively.

"Okay. If you feel uncomfortable talking about your current relationship status, why don't we go further back. Why don't you tell me something about my father?"

I froze. I should have known she would try to get more information out of me. I looked up at her blankly, noticing the hopeful look in her eyes. I could see Caroline sink lower into her chair, avoiding any sort of confrontation that might happen between Nadia and I.

I took a long, rattling breath, closing my eyes and trying to bring myself to say anything that would get me out of this situation. I had spent the past three days avoiding this. Why did she have to be so persistent?

I opened my eyes again and looked at her. Hopeful that I would give some kind of response. Her green eyes wide and unblinking as she watched me. I shook my head. I couldn't do this. I'd never spoken about him to anyone before. Not since I had been a human in Bulgaria. Long before I had been banished to London.

I turned my eyes to Caroline who was looking at me encouragingly, motioning her head in Nadia's direction then pulling her phone out and unlocking it.

I felt my heart pick up speed as if the room around me was closing in closer and closer.

#

I stood completely still as I listened out to hear if anyone was around to catch sight of me sneaking out of the house. When no noises came, I cracked the door open and peeked out around the edge of our back door and into the garden. There was nobody there. I smiled to myself, straightening out my new dress before silently slipping out the door and making a run for it to the stables.

I was out of breath as I reached the large door, and even more out of breath as I heaven it out of the way, walking inside and heading directly for the end stall. I was alone, but I knew that that wouldn't be the case for too long. It was just after midday, and Andre would be returning from town, having bought this months' supply of horse feed.

I grabbed a blanket off of the stall door. A tattered, old horse blanket that Andre and I used to cover the dirty ground whenever we met.

I laid it out on the ground and sat down, my large skirts spreading out around me. I fiddled with the sewn-on details on the skirt and listened for his arrival.

It was no more than five minutes later when I heard the stable door opening up and the sound of footsteps and hooves walking in. I stayed quiet as he unloaded the horse and tethered it up, just in case he wasn't alone. I sat entirely motionless as I listened to his every movement, watching the sun reflecting off of the straw around me.

This particular stall was the perfect meeting place for the two of us. It was the furthest from the front of the stable, hardly ever used for anything other than storage, and at this time of the day the light came in and lit the stall up perfectly.

I heard his footsteps walking towards me and my heart hammered faster within my chest. I smiled as he came into view, climbing over the closed stable door and landing softly on his feet. His green eyes shining in the afternoon sun as he stared at me mischievously.

"Hello, Katerina." He said, sitting down on the blanket and pulling me into his arms. He pressed his lips to mine, kissing me deeply before pulling back to look into my eyes. "How are you, my love?"

"I'm well, Andre. Very well now that you are here. How are you? How was your trip into town?"

He pulled me even closer, pressing his lips to my temple, and then letting his lips trail down to my cheek and then to my the hollow of my throat. I smiled, relishing in the feeling of his soft lips on my skin. "My trip into town was rather successful. Brutis was in a haggling sort of mood, but I got the feed for the proper price."

I ran my fingers through his short, dusty blonde hair, pulling his face back so that I could look into his eyes again. He smiled cheekily up at me and I couldn't help but smile in return. I laid myself back on the blanket, pulling him down with me. Looking down at me adoringly, he propped himself up on his elbows.

I was mesmerised by his bright green eyes, an abnormality in a town such as ours. Green eyes were considered exotic. It was one of the many reasons that I had fallen for him. His dazzling green eyes burnt into mine, and sucked me right in from the moment that my father had hired him as the stable hand.

"You are so beautiful." He whispered, leaning in closer to me and tickling my skin with his breath.

"And you are so handsome." I replied, placing a soft kiss to his jaw. He growled low and pressed his lower waist again mine. I let out a shrill laugh and pulled him the rest of the way down so that he lay all of his weight on my body.

"How long will you love me?" His voice swam in my head as the sensation of his body on mine took over.

"Forever." I choked out, as his hands grasped at my many skirts.

"Forever is a long time, Katerina."

#

"Katherine." I snapped my head around, meeting Caroline's worried eyes. I looked back to Nadia, whose brows were furrowed as she stared at me. All of the hope in them now gone.

"I…I need some fresh air."

I didn't wait for either of them to respond before I fled from the room and out the front door, not stopping until I passed the tree line. I breathed in shakily, squeezing my eyes closed and forcing back the tears that were threatening to fall. I leant against one of the trees, throwing my hands over my eyes and trying to zero in on only my breathing.

I hadn't thought about Andre this much in centuries. And now that I was around Nadia, it was like in every room that I entered a new memory was popping up to haunt me. Pain stretched through my chest and across my whole body. I pulled at my hair restlessly as I tried to push my mind to forget those green eyes.

"Forever is a long time." I whispered, pushing the thought further into my mind.

"Yes. It is."

My eyes shot open. Nadia was standing in front of me, arms crossed across her chest. I ran my hands through my hair again, trying to straighten myself out so that I didn't look so…broken.

"I said that I needed some air."

"Yes, I got that. But, I thought that I'd come and check that you were still here. I wasn't sure if you'd run or not." She spoke in monotone. Her voice even as she stared at me curiously.

"I promised you that I wouldn't run this time."

"Yes, you did." She said. "But considering how unforthcoming you've been, I wouldn't be surprised if Caroline and I woke up to find you gone."

I winced at her words, knowing that she wasn't too far from the truth. I did prefer to pack up and run when things got tough. But, I wouldn't just run off now. Against all my better judgement, I felt like I was obligated to help Caroline.

And even though I found it difficult to be in around her, I wanted to get to know Nadia.

"I won't run this time."

Scoffing, she flicked her hair over one shoulder. I looked her up and down, still getting used to the similarities between the two of us. I doubt I would ever get used to it. My whole life I had an image in my mind of what my long lost daughter would look like, I never would have guessed the similarities we shared.

"And why should I believe you. Sometimes you act like you can't even stand me. I just don't understand how you could hate me so much."

"It's not that I don't like you. I really do want to get to know you. It's just that, when I'm around you, I can't…"

"You can't what? Stand to be near me?" She asked, hurt coating her voice. "Is that it? If any of my children were still alive, I would jump at the chance to spend some time with them. I wouldn't avoid them."

"It's different for me. You got to meet your children. You got to hold them, and watch them grow. You were torn out of my life, just like your father was, and I can't go through that again. I won't survive it this time." I quickly shut my mouth, straightening up my body as I slipped up, mentioning Andre. Nadia's eyes widened considerably and she took a small step forward.

"You have me now. No one is going to tear me away this time. I promise."

"Do you know how many enemies I've made in my 500 years as a vampire? The list is a very long on, and any one of them people would take our connection and use it against me."

"I don't care about that. What I care about is getting to know the woman I spent the majority of my life searching for. I don't care about the risks. Did you honestly think I didn't know what danger there was when I approached you?"

"You have to understand how hard this is Nadia. You come jumping out of the woodwork, centuries after I thought you had died, and I'm supposed to be okay with that. I've been running from my past for as long as you've been alive, and it's taking all of my strength to slow down and stop. I just need time."

"Fine, I'll give you time." She said, moving to step slowly back in the direction of the house. "But I won't wait forever."

I followed her slowly as we walked back to the house, still breathing heavily after my panic attack. We didn't speak as we made our way past the trees and across the front lawn.