Hello, everyone! So so sorry for neglecting this story for too long. Life has been crazy and a writer's block kept me from my keyboard for literal months. A few days, I was having a bad day and I got a comment asking to continue this story, and crazily enough, that gave me the inspiration to finish up chapter 4, which I had half of it already written up. Thank you to everyone else who commented, favorited, and followed this story. Hopefully, the next update won't take months. I have exciting stuff planned. Spoiler alert! Kol is coming very soon.

Without further ado, here is chapter 4!

I'm completely blindsided when Elijah leaves town. He leaves me a text that I read when I wake up. It was sent some time after dawn, just after I went to sleep. It's a short and classy text, explaining that he has business he needs to oversee out of town and that he'll be back in a few days. A week tops.

I grip my phone in my hand, squinting against the bright screen. It's noon and the curtains of my room don't completely block out the sunlight. For some reason, I feel... unsettled. Elijah's gone.

This should have no consequence to me. In fact, I bet I could wiggle out of my bi-weekly blood donation because Elijah is usually the one to call me. The last couple of times, he picked me up because he was on his way back from something.

With the freeing thought that I could have a week free of being stabbed with needles, I flop back onto the bed and only get up when I feel like I might fall asleep again.

The next few days are so identical and hazy that I can't tell the difference between them. I think it's day...3? when the doorbell rings. I roll my eyes and put my spoon back into the Nutella jar with an angry clink that's smothered by gooey chocolate.

The doorbell only rings once, but the person goes on to almost immediately heavily knock instead. I pick up the spoon one more time and shovel in a big spoonful of chocolate goodness. I have a distinct feeling and a dread in my stomach about who's on the other end and I want chocolate in my mouth if I have to deal with him.

"I can hear your slothy breathing, Elena," Klaus calls out rudely, and I gasp. My hand covers my mouth and nose. Slothy breathing?

"I'm just… breathing," I say defiantly. To myself.

I cautiously make my way from the living room to the front door. The moment I open the door- Wait! Klaus isn't invited!

My next few steps are rushed, my advantage racing to the front of my mind. I actually smile when I open the door to an annoyed Klaus. He's dressed in a short-sleeved henley and expensive jeans. Combat boots. And a deep line within his brows.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else right now?" he demands haughtily.

Safely inside the threshold to my house, I raise my eyebrow and hold eye contact with the eternal hybrid as I put the spoonful of Nutella in my mouth. Laziness has made me quite bold.

Klaus understands perfectly what I mean to portray. An equally challenging light is clear in his eyes. "Invite me inside," he coaxes.

I pull the spoon out of my mouth with a pop. It's clear of chocolate. "Nope."

"This could go a lot easier for you if you invited me in," Klaus says in a mock-caring tone. So caring that I know he's threatening me. "Think about it. You won't even have to get out of your…" His sharp blue eyes look me up and down. From the top of my barely dried hair from my earlier shower to the hem of my skimpy shorts. To say I'm not dressed for company is an understatement. I'm dressed for Nutella and a weekend of rewatching Sense8.

"I'm not inviting you in," I tell Klaus. I think he's in a good mood because he doesn't fight me on this, but he does straighten his shoulders a little.

"Then we have an appointment," he tells me. "Get dressed and come out."

I shuffle on my feet a little. I don't want to go out. "Well, fine, but I'll have to take a shower first." I stall.

A reddened smile curls Klaus' lips. He's darkly amused. "Twice in a row?" he nods his head to my wet hair. I don't let the oh fuck on my mind show on my face.

"Yes," I say. "Klaus, I would graciously like to invite you-" his eyebrows raise. "-to wait on the porch while I get ready."

He actually snorted. "Get fucking dressed."

15 minutes later, I'm all decked out in a clean tank top and light sweatpants and my best sneakers. I sneak a spoonful of chocolate before I open the door. I also grab my phone from its charger and tuck it in my pocket.

Klaus isn't on the porch when I come out. He's leaning against an SUV. I almost snort. Of course Klaus will drive one of the largest cars out there.

The eternally-in-my-business hybrid looks up, and I slow my already slow gait when I see his facial expression is bored. He's bored. Great. More hybrid personality to deal with.

"Get in," he orders me.

I readily shake my head. My car keys on a Batman keychain juggle as I take them out of my pocket. "I'm not going to leave myself stranded at the Mikaelson Manor."

"You know I do intend to take you back?" Klaus asks, though he's already pushed off his car and taken a few steps towards me, pocketing his car keys.

I try to shrug nonchalantly. "I need to run a few errands after." Maybe I can restock some sweets.

Klaus narrows his eyes at me for a moment then nods. I make to move towards my car and am just about to open the driver's door when a shadow falls over me. Klaus, blocking the sun and looking entirely too imposing.

"Elena," he says quietly, but he might as well have been shouting from how much he takes over my world at that moment. I'm at that dreadful night of the sacrifice. Jules' screams are so loud that my ears must be bleeding. I'm so sweaty I can't breathe. The fire circle is scorching, so hot that the world is wavy in front of me.

Unaware of me reliving the second-scariest night of my life, Klaus leans in, not a hint of a mocking smile lessening his severe expression. "I know you and Elijah have this...growing affections for each other, but just because he's gone at the moment doesn't mean you're free to roam as you wish."

I'm trapped against the car door, with nowhere to go. I wait a moment for him to speak again, holding my breath despite my lungs wanting to scream.

Klaus' eyes briefly fall down to my chest, but I think it's more because he's hearing my wild heartbeat and all the breaths trapped inside my ribcage than wanting to check me out. His electric baby blues snap back to my face.

"Get inside your car. No detours."

Today, a nurse is here to take my blood. She's expressionless and unresponsive, so she's definitely compelled. Klaus settles in his leather chair opposite me, smiles meanley, and sits back comfortably, content to watch me wince under the thin needle.

There is no conversation. No colorful drinks waiting for me. No lunch or extra to take home for dinner. No ancient battle stories or celebrity encounters throughout the ages- yes, Elijah claims he hung out with Shakespeare and Edmund Spenser, but I'm not sure I believe him. I'll need more details the next time I see him.

This is how it goes for the next sessions as well. And the one after that. When next week rolls around, I'm on a diet of toast, nutella, and ramen.

Which is why when I'm stalling going home by excusing myself to the bathroom at the Mikaelsons, the bathroom floor tilts a little and I curiously follow it and almost fall down out of dizziness, I'm only slightly surprised.

"Okay," I say to myself. "Okay. Oh, fuck."

The fancy marble floor is blurry. I grip the cold counter of the sink to steady myself. I wait a few moments before I calm down.

See, easy? I can take care of myself. I straighten up, look at my reflection in the mirror and notice I'm a little pale. I turn on the faucet and hold my hair back as I wash my face to give it some color. One moment I'm washing my face, the next, blacks spots fill my vision too quickly to react.

What feels like immediately after I momentarily lose consciousness, my eyes lazily blink open, those nasty spots still half blinding me like a laptop screen savor bubble rolling in.

Klaus is next to me on the floor.

Wait- Klaus is what?

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Klaus snaps. He doesn't sound very gentle. He grips my face roughly, forcing my eyes to widen as I try to concentrate why he's with me in the bathroom.

"Dizzy," I whisper, concentrating very hard just to say that one word. "Hospital."

The last thought on my mind before the world gets black again is how strange it feels to have someone holding on to me. Then I'm out.

"But, what if I, like, pass out again?" I say hesitantly. Klaus gives me a blank look- actually, no. He's giving an incredulous look, as if he's saying if I know who I'm talking to. We're at the hospital. Apparently, even the immortal, immoral hybrid doesn't know what to do with an unconscious doppelganger. And he's too afraid for my "health" to let me go without a doctor giving the all clear.

The doctor just left the room, saying that I had low blood pressure, was probably most definitely anemic and needed more blood work to find out- ha ha- and that I'm free to go home.

Except...I'm scared. I've never been to the hospital alone. And I've never been alone while I was feeling unwell either. Last time I was under the weather, Jenna and Jeremy made brownies while we watched True Blood.

"Elena…"

"I'll just," I say, putting my lips together and averting my eyes, as if this is no big deal. "Stay at the hospital. They can watch over me."

Hospital. As in people. Friendly doctors and nurses coming in and out, checking on me- like no one has done for months now except for one very distant friend.

And two psychotic ancient vampires, but their intentions aren't exactly pure, so they don't count.

"Seriously," I tell Klaus, my mind made up. I want to be waited upon and I can't afford a hotel. The hospital bill will get sent to my health insurance. "Leave. I'll be okay."

For once, Klaus looks like he would rather have Elijah back here. "Elena," he says once more, trying again with a different tone. "I will not leave my doppelganger alone in a strange hospital all night. Get up. I'll take you home."

"This isn't a strange hospital," I argue. "Look, here's Dr. Robert-" I point at a gray-haired doctor standing a small distance away from my room, talking to another doctor. "He's been my family doctor for as long as I've been alive. He delivered Jeremy."

This time, Klaus rolls his eyes. He suddenly moves closer to me, making me tense up. We keep eye contact until he reaches my bedside and I'm so on guard that I forget to flinch back when he condescendingly lowers himself slightly to meet my eyes.

"Elijah isn't here," Klaus states in that smooth drawl, sweet poison dripping with every word. "I don't have neither the time nor the patience for this. Unless you would like for me to leave you and arrange for one of my employees or hybrids to come pick up, you will stop acting like a brat."

At that very moment, a nurse walks in. Her smile falters at the threatening pose Klaus has. "Miss Gilbert," she says. "Are you alright?"

I look back at Klaus. It's like staring into the eyes of a tiger- like in one of those YouTube videos where they show you wild tigers confined to cages staring menacingly at its handlers. Given the chance, Klaus will rip the nurse's throat out.

"Peachy," I snap, then I break the tension-filled stare off with Klaus and smile prettily at the nurse, whose name tag reads 'Daisy.'

I breathe/laugh tiredly at her, running my hand through my hair to messily push it back. "Did the doctor say if I should stay overnight or not?"

Nurse Daisy's expression is apologetic. "He signed off on your checkout papers. He did leave some vitamins you need to take because you're so anemic. Make sure to pick them up at the pharmacy as soon as possible."

Maybe I can take the vitamins between blood-drawing sessions at the Mikaelsons. I try to make my expression as pleasant as possible for nurse Daisy's sake- and for my pride in front of the scary hybrid.

"We'll be sure to pick them up," Klaus answers for me when I take too long to respond. He's straightened up as well, his leather jacket rustling as he adjusts it. He directs a megawatt charming smile at her. "Thanks for all your help."

When the nurse looks back at me for confirmation, I nod.

"You'll also need someone to be with you and drive you home," the nurse adds. "I trust this gentleman will stay with you?"

Klaus and I connect eyes.

"Yes." he answers. A heartbeat passes. "I'll stay with her."

"I'm not sure this isn't some sort of bad luck curse to have a doppelganger under your roof," Klaus snarks jokingly, lips turning up like a wolf at my annoyed expression. He's leading me inside the manor, carelessly shutting the door behind him.

"But, alas," he continues, not breaking his stride. We're up the stairs. "C'est la vie and all. You'll be staying in a room far away from mine. You're not to wander into any closed door. Should you feel the need to explore, feel free to leave the home to do so in the woods."

"Har fucking har," I say. "That's such a considerate thing to say for someone coming back from the hospital."

"We were there for, like, half an hour," Klaus counters. "Now, come on. I want to put you in a room and get it over with."

We've stopped in a fancy, cathedral-ceiling hallway with a giant, marble-top side table that's like, like, five feet long. It's glorious. An equally gorgeous mirror is hanging over it. I can see the impatient muscle ticking in Klaus' jaw in his reflection. It's a lovely mirror.

"Say," I start. "Where's Elijah's room?"

Klaus' head snaps up. That clenched jaw locks down. "No," he says immediately

My eyes widen in surprise. "No?" I almost laugh out of disbelief..

"No," he repeats, firmer. He comes back to me. He towers over me, blocking our reflection in the mirror. "I will repeat what I said earlier about you and my brother's budding relationship. I don't agree with it. Falling for the first doppelganger was a mistake; falling for the second was a stupid mistake. The third? I don't intend to know what that mistake will be like."

My eyes are still wide. "Seriously?" I say. "I just where his room was. Not if he was single."

That was the wrong thing to say. Klaus' head tilts to the side, and I regret pushing so much for not being alone. If I was home alone, the only person glaring at me would be just me, not a 1,000 year old hybrid.

"You've thought a lot about this, huh," I continue, not stopping. Maybe it's the lack of blood flowing through my body, but I'm very brave and ticked off. "Does Elijah talk about me?"

Klaus' expression is set in stone. I move and almost knock the fancy vase piece off the beautiful marble table. When Klaus moves at vampire speed to catch it, I startle back and accidently start giggling out of nervousness.

"Alright, alright. Sorry about that." I breathe. The moment is broken. "Kidding. I was going to ask about Rebekah's room next, anyway. Just curious about how you immortals live."

"You have surely seen the Salvatores' home," Klaus shoots back, but he's calmed down. He places the vase back in place and physically grabs me by the elbow to move me away from it.

"Yeah," I answer. "But they're babies compared to you. Do you still have mementos from your Viking days? You're a Viking, right? Elijah mentioned that. And then you were nobles. Do you still have those white wigs people used to wear in France? Did you guys really hang out with Shakespeare?" I rattle off all the questions that have been floating in my head since Elijah left. Elijah used to answer those. He was amused by them.

"I can show you Elijah's room if it will keep you quiet."

Klaus doesn't show me Elijah's room after all. But he does show me an entire hallway of empty rooms and tells me to choose a room. He stands in the middle of the hall as I go in and out of each room.

They're all expertly decorated, sharing a neutral, elegant theme but not looking identical. I settle on a room that has a pastel color scheme, mostly gold and white. It's very dissimilar from my own room back home. Mine is all pinks, reds, and colors. This room feels nice, calming.

"This one," I say hesitantly, feeling kind of shy. It dawned on me while I was in the room with the blue, flowery bedspread that I'm all alone with a man who literally killed me a year ago and has continued to terrorise me and my friends for months after.

And I'm here willingly. Am I that lonely?

But then I look at Klaus, whose phone hasn't rang throughout the entire day, who is also here alone with me, and who has nowhere to go but to babysit a lonely doppelganger on a Friday night.

"Thanks for letting me stay," I tell him genuinely. I think I would have slept on the wicker chair on my front porch if he hadn't. "I promise I'll be out of your hair tomorrow once my blood sugar is up."

Standing a few feet away from me, Klaus still looks menacing, but I swear he's not scowling at me anymore. "Go to sleep, Gilbert. Don't steal anything."

I heave a sigh. Doesn't he know I used to be rich? "Whatever."

It takes a few moments before Klaus nods. Without saying goodnight or anything, he walks away. I'm tempted to see where he goes- he is still the crazy, dangerous hybrid from last summer, but I don't want him to think I'm thinking about him that much.

I step back into the room, shut the door behind me, and lean my back against it. My head, bandage and all, softly slams against the seven-foot, giant door that should belong in a Victorian mansion. Guess I'm staying the night at the Mikaelsons.