Katherine reluctantly made her way to Rebekah's room, having no choice but to ask her for a gown for the evening. She was sure Rebekah would say no, but it was worth a shot.

"What do you want?" Rebekah asked before Katherine could even knock on her slightly open door.

"I need a favor."

Rebekah raised her brow. "A favor? It must be something really important since you're asking me of all people."

"You're the only girl around here, so I didn't exactly have a choice. I need a dress for later."

"Why would I help you?"

Katherine groaned. "Ugh, Rebekah for once stop being so petty. I've already suffered enough because of what you did."

Rebekah looked Katherine up and down and snorted at her disheveled look. Her curly hair was tangled, her mascara smudged, and she still wore her clothes from the night before.

"I can tell," she crossed her arms. "I guess I'm more mad at myself than anything. That I used the cure I was saving for myself on the likes of you. I acted on my emotions and I regret it, so I'm not exactly happy about the situation either."

"Great, I guess we can try to see eye to eye then. Since none of us benefit from this situation, just help me out. Klaus was the one that told me to dress well, anyway."

"I guess I have no choice but to help you out since it's what Nik wants," she rolled her eyes before continuing. "I'll see what I can come up with, is there anything else?" Katherine was about to shake her head before Rebekah cast a look at her again. "On second thought, you need some hair and makeup fixing, can't have you walking around like that at a party hosted in my family's name. Come by my room later."

Katherine encountered Rebekah at the top of the grande stairs. She started to make her way down them, but Rebekah just sped past her down the hallway and into another room, seemingly not ready just yet. Katherine took a deep sigh as she neared the bottom, where a man dressed in a slightly fancier suit than usual was waiting. Elijah had been assigned Katherine's date for the evening, which only meant they would dance a few songs together before eventually splitting up so Elijah could go help Klaus with his business.

Katherine took the last step down the stairs and grabbed the arm Elijah had reached out to her without saying a word. "You look lovely," he murmured, glancing down at her deep blue dress.

"Thanks," she mumbled as they started making their way over to the crowd of people. Elijah gently placed a hand around her waist and another in her hand, blending the two of them into the crowd's dance. Katherine, in turn, put a hand on his shoulder and started slowly moving her feet intact with the rhythm of the music. As Elijah didn't seem like he would talk anytime soon, Katherine took the initiative. "It's been a while since we've talked."

Elijah looked down at her. "It has. I've been meaning to ask you, where do we stand?"

Katherine had been waiting for this question. He had only broken up with her because he put his family first, but that didn't mean they didn't love each other anymore. However, he had used too long to come to his senses, and she had been deeply hurt in the meantime, so she couldn't take him back now. "Where we left off. Friends."

Elijah sighed. "Friends... Have I used my chance, Katerina? I still love you, I don't want to live without you."

"Elijah, we can't be together. I love you, but I... I just can't. Okay? You used too long, I gave you too many chances, and now I'm dying. Even if I did take you back we wouldn't have much time." It pained her to reject him, but her feelings were too complicated at the moment. She was also not ready for love when her end was so near. She had pushed Nadia away for that exact reason, and she had even more reason to push away Elijah, so she simply could not take him back.

Elijah nodded in understanding, but he looked saddened. "I understand. It was selfish of me to ask. You deserve better than a man who left you all alone." He moved his hand from her waist to cup her cheek as the next song started playing, making her glance intensely into his eyes. "I'm sorry for leaving you, Katerina. If I never did, none of this would've happened. If I never gave my sister the cure, you wouldn't have been dying. I'm sorry."

His eyes were so sad, yet sincere as he gazed into her deep brown eyes with longing. He was admiring her so intensely that he didn't notice Rebekah and Klaus joining their side in dance, only a couple of meters away. Katherine did notice, however, making her respond to him in silence. She moved his hand from her cheek back to her waist as they continued dancing to the music.

Katherine could tell Elijah wanted to say something else, but just as he was about to open his mouth, his eyes set on something in the crowd behind her that she couldn't see. "Will you excuse me, Katerina. I have to go," he excused as he spun her around one last time and let her go, making her land in the available arms of the man next to her. Suddenly, the face she was looking up at belonged to none other than Klaus, and he did as his brother before him, placing a hand on her waist and another in her hand.

"That dress looks familiar," Klaus murmured as he started moving them around the dancefloor. Katherine had yet to place a hand on him, suddenly tensing up by being so close to Klaus, so he had to lead the way.

"I borrowed it from Rebekah," Katherine mumbled, looking to the side, over his shoulder, or wherever that wasn't Klaus's eyes.

"You got the ice queen herself to give you a dress," Klaus chuckled as he spun her around. "You should get a medal for that."

"Well, seems like your name holds a lot of power over her, so I suppose I have you to thank for that," she snorted. "Speaking of Rebekah, I have to talk to her." That was a lie, but she just wanted to get away from him.

Katherine let go of him and started walking out of the ballroom, heading over to the minibar to have a drink.

"Hey pretty lady. What do you want?" The young, handsome bartender smiled at her as he grabbed a glass from the shelf.

"My own house, immortality, new shoes... I could go on." When Katherine noticed the guy's confused look, she simply sighed and rolled her eyes. "Anything, surprise me."

As Katherine received her drink, she realized she was drinking way more lately than she probably should. Drinking multiple times a day with her weakened human body couldn't possibly be good for her, but she kept forgetting that she didn't have the same tolerance she did as a vampire.

She discarded her concerns and started sipping on the drink anyway until she noticed Elijah eyeing her. He was talking to one of the guests, but she could feel his eyes on her. She turned her back for one second to put her drink down, but when she looked back, he was gone. A sigh escaped her lips as she poured down the neighbor's shot of vodka.

"Elijah," Klaus interrupted as he headed over to his brother and the man he was talking to. "I need you outside, Cale is stirring up something with the witches, get it under control."

Elijah nodded and excused himself to the other man as he headed outside as Klaus had asked him to. Klaus then continued down the hallway, looking for the doppelganger he had let run loose earlier. He hadn't seen her in almost an hour, and he just had to make sure she was still staying out of trouble before he went to find Rebekah.

However, he didn't have to search for long before he spotted her by the bar, all giggly with some guys next to her. It was clear even from a distance that she had been heavily drinking. Klaus hurried over to her and took the half-full glass out of her hand. "That's enough of that."

"Why," she sulked, stretching her hand after the glass, but Klaus just held it further away.

"You're intoxicated. Go to your room," he demanded, annoyed that she hadn't been drinking more responsibly when he had strictly told her of how dangerous this event would be. He didn't want her to cause a scene or accidentally reveal that she was a human, nonetheless a doppelganger.

"No, I wanna stay here," she whined and stumbled to stand up, only to fall straight forwards into Klaus's chest, making him spill the drink on the floor.

Klaus sighed in annoyance as he caught her with one arm while putting down the now empty glass with his other. She had already passed out.

"Clean up this mess," he ordered a nearby vampire underling before picking up Katherine and carrying her upstairs. He kicked open the door to the first available bedroom he could find and laid her down on the bed. However, as he was about to get up and leave, she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket and mumbled something.

"Stay."

Klaus froze, turning slightly to look back at her before sitting back down. She seemed to be still asleep, or at least half-asleep, as her eyes were closed. He was sure she was just in a drunken frenzy and didn't know what she was saying. She probably didn't even realize who the person next to her was. She must have mistaken him for Elijah.

"I have to go back."

"No..." she complained, before slowly raising her upper body from the bed, her eyes slightly opening as she was regaining consciousness. "It's rude to just leave a girl when she..." she didn't get to finish her sentence before she drifted off to sleep again, falling right into Klaus's lap.

Klaus tensed up again, looking down at the girl that had fallen face-first into his lap. She seemed to find his leg to be a comfortable pillow as she didn't wake up again and simply continued sleeping peacefully, breathing soft sighs as she did.

Klaus considered lifting her off him and leaving her to get some rest while he went back to the party, but for some inexplicable reason, he didn't want to leave her. Perhaps it was the fact that this girl, that was so scared of him, was wrapped up in his lap and sleeping soundly as if she had no fears in the world. For some reason, Klaus felt a strong urge to protect her. As long as she trusted him enough to fall asleep in his embrace, he would fend off the world for her. But he didn't know why, and he couldn't understand it either. Maybe it was an instinct of whatever remained of his humanity, or maybe it was just madness.

He sighed in annoyance for the 10th time that evening and pulled up his phone to call Elijah, telling him he would have to manage things alone until he got back.

"Klaus," Katherine mumbled before stirring in her sleep. Her eyes fluttered open soon after as they adjusted to the lit room, almost as if she had woken herself up by her own voice. She blinked a few times as she started to wake up and scope her surroundings, realizing she was laying in a very uncomfortable position, on something that couldn't possibly be a pillow due to how firm it was.

"You're awake again. I thought I heard you mumbling my name, then I heard moaning," Klaus teased as he put his phone away and looked down at her. To Katherine's surprise, he was right above her as she was lying on his lap.

As soon as she realized this, Katherine sprung up and sat straight against the headboard instead. Her cheeks began to burn red as she realized what she had just uttered in her sleep, and where she had been sleeping. Her head was also pounding with a headache—that damn alcohol.

"What're you doing here?" she glared at him.

"Quite frankly, Katerina, I should be asking you that question. Why would you drink to the point of blacking out, when you should know the importance of image."

Katherine groaned and was about to remove her heels when she noticed they were already off. She removed her bracelets and earrings instead. "Don't bother. I know what you're going to say."

"That you're irresponsible? You're a guest at our house, which means you are a representative of the Mikaelsons. What will people think when you suddenly pass out on the floor? They'll think of you as weak, then target you to get to us."

Katherine could feel her head starting to throb, and the scolding didn't help much either. "Oh please. It's been a rough couple of months, I needed an outlet."

She got up to get some water, but Klaus blocked her path.

"Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom. I'm thirsty and my head hurts," Katherine mumbled, annoyed by being monitored like a child.

"Lay back down, I'll get it for you."

Katherine reluctantly sat back down on the bed as Klaus went into the bathroom. When he actually returned with a glass of water and some aspirin, Katherine's curiosity peaked.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"Because I don't want to walk into the bathroom one day, seeing you bleed to death because you slit your wrists," Klaus responded simply.

She doubted that was the only reason.

"I won't kill myself," she assured. It wasn't a lie. After having some time to reconsider, she had decided that it was better to let time take her when it was ready, rather than rushing it. It had simply been a spur-of-the-moment thing.

"You say that like I trust you enough to believe you."

"What do you really want from me? Surely there must be a reason as to why you're treating me nicely. It's not just because you're on suicide watch, I'm not stupid. You're not just granting me freedom. You're providing me with a home, clothes, food, protection... I don't get it."

"Is it that hard for you to believe that it comes from the kindness of my heart?"

"Yes, absolutely."

Klaus sighed in defeat. "Fine, you're right. I am after something. Your blood, as you know, is useful to me. There was no hope for the future of hybrids until the cure for vampirism came around."

Katherine scoffed. She wasn't surprised. Of course, it came down to him needing something from her. Why else would she be there if she wasn't of any use to him? "No thank you. I don't wanna live as your personal blood bag for the rest of my life."

"For the rest couple of months, you mean? Maybe even weeks. You said it yourself... You're dying. What if I told you I could find a way to cure your aging?"

Katherine raised a brow. "You couldn't. There's no cure."

Klaus smirked. "You know as well as I that I usually get things my way. If I wanted to, I could find you a cure, in exchange for a little blood. Every spell has a loophole."

Katherine thought about it, as if she had a choice, anyway. Klaus didn't have reason to lie to her, which made her trust him just a little. The deal would work in favor of both of them. Of course Klaus would want her to live when her blood is useful to him, and if she got cured, she could give her relationship with Nadia a second shot. Or, do anything else with her life. As a human, she had endless new opportunities. She then gave Klaus the answer he wanted to hear, as if he wouldn't have forced her if she said no.

"Fine. I accept your deal."

Klaus beamed. "Great! I knew you would come to your senses. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a party to get back to. You just stay here and stay out of trouble, okay?"

Katherine nodded. It's not like she wanted to go back. The crowd's white noise wouldn't help with her headache, and she was still quite drunk and dizzy.

She watched as Klaus left the room before she laid down on the bed and groaned. It would be a long couple of weeks.