Suzanne found herself embarrassingly leaning against the door of her bedroom, trying to take deep breaths in and out. Damon had told her as soon as they figured out that Katherine was in Mystic Falls and had chopped off Uncle Gilbert's fingers but fucking hell - she hadn't expected the vampire to show up at her goddamn house. Her home. The place she had always been able to relax and honestly, had kind of mentally separated from all supernatural bullshit. While she and Damon had made sure their house had been stocked with what she'd thought was quite honestly, an absurd amount of vampire repellant weapons that were easy to grab, Suzanne hadn't really considered that she would ever have to use them.

The vervain condensed spray under the bathroom sink had made for several - fuck you, Damon - hilarious bouts of lifting it up and threatening to spray her bestie like a cat when he ate her leftovers. But Suzanne had honestly not thought about in too much depth how she would react if she actually had to use the arsenal they'd stored around the place.

And - Katherine terrified her. She was more than half a millennium old - which, holy fuck, if they weren't on awful terms Suzanne would have handed over a beer and immediately grilled her about history -more powerful than anyone she'd ever met. Nik hadn't talked explicitly about his past, which Suzanne understood and for the first time in her life didn't pry about, but she didn't think he could be more than a few hundred years old. So meeting this woman in less than ideal circumstances scared the shit out of her.

Suzanne had friends and a boyfriend that were powerful, yeah, but she wasn't about to spill about bullshit Mystic Falls teenage drama to summon her man only for him to get his ass kicked and possibly dusted a la Buffy.

So. Suzanne had to be a big girl, stand up for herself, and nearly pee herself with terror while trying to come across as entirely nonchalant.

The second that Katherine seemed to have left and Suzanne had locked herself in her soundproofed bedroom, she called Damon.

"So your ex was here. I know I was told all about the clone thing but it is so so freaky how much they look alike. I was kind of picturing like a human twin thing, where one of them has eyebrows a little bit lower or a stronger jaw so she would look like Elena, but not-like-Elena -"

"Suze. Are you okay?"

Suzanne took a deep breath in and out, trying to ensure that she wouldn't seem as freaked as she was before responding to say "Yeah, I'm unharmed and everything. I knew she wasn't Elena so I didn't let her in and I brandished that wooden bullet gun. But fuck - Damon. I'm really scared."

It was more than she had wanted to admit. Realistically, it wasn't like she was only looking out for Katherine now. The vamp bitch had the power to compel anyone around Suzanne. Walking to work, she could be hit by a car whose driver had the misfortune of coming across the vampire. Anyone at her workplace could have a weapon and kill her. Christ, anyone in the neighborhood could snipe her the second she left her the front door -

"I'll be right there."

After hanging up, Suzanne didn't feel much better, which was kind of rare after she talked to Damon. She had a life to get back to, but right now, the safest option essentially came down to 'stay in my vampire protected house with guns that could take down any compelled humans in the foreseeable future forever'.

This was of course, not conducive to the fact that in less than 24 hours she had to head to the airport and fly up to meet Rebekah. Suzanne was already dealing with her nerves of meeting Nik's favorite sibling the last few days - being worried about whether or not Katherine or any of her lackeys would kill her didn't exactly soothe her.

Suzanne obviously didn't regret getting to know Damon - he was her best friend, someone who knew all of her good parts and bad parts but loved her anyway the same way she did him. But the drama of the teenagers a town over had always seemed kind of periphery. Like, Suzanne was more than happy to chill in bed sending job applications and not even thinking about the weird shit going on at the high school in the town over unless Damon was spilling details, when it seemed like another episode of some bullshit supernatural show she'd binge on Netflix.

But Katherine had been here. She knew that Damon lived here and that they were friends. For the first time since becoming Damon's friend, she felt like she was in actual, constant danger.

Seeing as she didn't know who she could trust and who was and wasn't vervain-ed, Suzanne had to play it smart and assume everyone was trying to kill or capture her. Which was going to be fucking exhausting.

When Damon got home he was typically over-protective, which was basically what she wanted right about now. Since her flight was the next morning, they made what should be airtight plans for him to drive her to the airport and essentially hand hold until security.

Of course, it was nearly expected he would compel his way past and escort her to the goddamn plane before trusting she was in safe hands.

Klaus was quite honestly a bit apprehensive. He understood on a basic level that if he wanted Suzanne in his life she would have to meet his siblings at some point or another, but introducing her to Bekah was perhaps the greatest hurdle he'd seen.

His little sister was his favorite. It wasn't exactly a secret and when there was a family with as many siblings as theirs, certain bonds happened. Suzanne hadn't obliquely stated it, but she seemed to anticipate that she would eventually be turned into a vampire. While this was something he delighted in - it also meant that his girlfriend and sister would presumably be around one another for eternity.

As Klaus and Bekah sat down at their appropriately posh restaurant waiting for Suzanne to arrive, he had to deal with his younger sister's relentless questioning.

"So, it was pure happenstance? Just a twist of fate that brought the two of you together?"

Klaus tipped back his champagne glass, draining the rest of it before letting out a sigh and responding.

"Less a twist of fate, and more her dog attacking me in a highly popular area of New York City."

Bekah let out a frustrated sigh, as if she'd anticipated him to suddenly be awestruck by the idea of love at first sight or something along those lines. After one thousand years, she should know better. His aversion to those kinds of sentiment is what had allowed him to trust in his own feelings.

Klaus had not glimpsed Suzanne for a moment and become overcome with instantaneous infatuation. She had been a human to shag and possibly dispose of. But she had - she'd gotten under his skin, answered all of his underhanded comments with equal sharpness, and ultimately made his life a bit brighter. Despite the unorthodox manner of their relationship, he did truly feel love for her. He woke and wished she was with him, even if she occasionally drooled on his arm. When a clever comment came to mind he wanted her beside him so he could mutter it and make her laugh.

In summary, yes, he was nervous about this.

However, his nerves seemed to leave his body as she walked in.

Suzanne wore a loose fitting dress that flowed over her, hitting just below the knees. It was something that even Klaus was able to recognize had become fashionable once again. The tried and true leather jacket on top of it was very likely acting as a safety blanket.

When she approached the table more slowly than she would usually amble over, Klaus stood to embrace her.

Immediately after pulling her into an embrace, Suzanne whispered just next to his ear.

"If I start to fuck up, please just throw a french fry at me or something to signal that I need to shut up."

Before he could formulate a response, they pulled back from one another and Suzanne sat on the chair that he had pulled out from her. He watched as his girlfriend smiled surprisingly genuinely and extended her hand to his sister, speaking in a calm voice.

"I'm Suzanne. It's really nice to meet you. Nik has told me a lot about you."