Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", Jeremy meets Allison Whitmore and Damon opens up to Elena about a painful part of his past.

Chapter Four

New Orleans – Later…

Hayley sat in front of her vanity mirror, brushing her hair. She wanted to look presentable for Elijah, though she knew that he'd say she looked beautiful in his eyes. Sighing softly, she placed her brush down and gently placed her hand on her belly. "What do you think about this, little one? Do you think Uncle Elijah is going to surprise me with something romantic?" she asked quietly. She only got a kick in response, making her laugh. "Yeah, you're probably right. I should wait and see what he's going to do."

She got up then left her bedroom, heading downstairs where she found Sage sitting on the counter of the kitchen island. The redhead smiled at her then said, "Hi, Hayley."

Hayley returned her smile as she said, "Hey, Sage. What are you doing?"

"Just hanging around, mostly," Sage replied. "I'd ask what you're doing, but would I be wrong in guessing that you're looking for Elijah?"

"You are very correct. Where might I find him?" Hayley asked.

"Oh, he, Finn, Rebekah and Niklaus decided to have a 'family meeting'," Sage replied.

Hayley raised an eyebrow then asked, "A 'family meeting'? Did they say about what, exactly?"

"I really don't know, probably something big."

"What…" Hayley started to ask, but Sage put her finger to her lips in a 'be quiet' motion then tucked her hair back behind her ear and listened to the conversation that was going on in the study. She could hear her boyfriend's frustrated back-and-forth pacing as his younger brother interrogated him.

Hayley joined the redhead in listening to the conversation. While she knew that spying wasn't nice, she was curious about what Finn, Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah were talking about. "You still have not told us why you are back, Finnegan," Klaus said with a spiteful tone.

He and Finn had never gotten along, before AND after being turned into immortal creatures. Finn growled. "I know about your desire to take the city back from Marcellus, Niklaus, so I've come to help you."

"And the reason that the lovely lass who is listening to our conversation," Klaus called out loudly enough that Sage could hear him. She scowled in frustration then climbed down from the counter and looked at Hayley.

"I'm going for a walk. I'll be back later," she told the werewolf before heading out the back.

Hayley watched her go and sighed. Damn that Klaus. She only hoped that when Caroline arrived, he'd be easier to live with. Finn growled at his brother when he yelled at Sage then sped off after her, finding her down by the waterfront. "Sage, love, I didn't realize that you'd be listening to the conversation," he said, trying to apologize for his brother's actions.

But she simply held up her hand and put her fingers on his lips. "Your brother is more at fault than you are, Finn. I am only worried about you, and us, and our future here in the Quarter," she told him.

Finn nodded. "I know. I'm worried about that as well. I'm only hoping that Caroline can help. Niklaus needs to be redeemed and I think she's the one who can do that."

"I know you are and I hope that Caroline can be the one to tame the "wild beast" in your brother," Sage said. She stepped closer and brushed her lips over his softly.

Finn returned her kiss. "Judging from the way he spoke of her, I think she has a fighting chance."

Sage turned around in his arms and Finn smiled again then took her silent offer, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend's waist. Sage smiled and leaned against him, enjoying the moment between them. His lips kissed the side of her head with silent, tender affection, his hand intertwining with hers.

Back at the mansion, Caroline pulled into the driveway and when she saw the mansion in front of her, she smiled in amazement. It was almost like the one in Mystic Falls, only a bit bigger and more beautiful. Reaching over, she tugged gently on the handle of her car then stepped out, the heels on her shoes immediately making two soft thuds onto the gravel outside. Elijah looked out the window and smiled. "It looks like your guest has arrived, Niklaus."

"So it would seem," his brother said with a smirk before blurring out of the house and into the vision of Caroline, who started at the sight of the hybrid. "Did you miss me at all, love?"

Caroline didn't answer at first, but after a few minutes, she said, "As much as I hate to admit it, yes, I did. I guess you could say that my life was pretty boring after you left."

"I see. So, you find me a little more exciting than that small-town life?" he asked.

Caroline nodded. "Yes. As I said on the phone, you were right. The small town life wouldn't be enough for me."

"Well then; my love, let me show you what New Orleans has to offer," he said, turning until he was beside her and offering her his arm. Caroline took it and walked beside him into the mansion doorway, where he said softly in her ear, "Please, come into my humble abode, Caroline."

Caroline giggled and followed him into the mansion, marveling at the interior. "You have a very nice place here, Klaus. It's even more beautiful than the one you had in Mystic Falls."

"You better not say that to my brother Finn. He has plans for that home," Klaus said.

"He does?" Caroline said. "What does Finn plan to do with it?" She didn't wait for him to answer and then said, "Wait a minute, isn't he supposed to be dead?"

"He was dead," Klaus said. "But, by some miracle, he's alive again, and so is that redhead he fancies."

Caroline heard the disappointment in his voice. "You don't sound too happy about it."

"That's because I'm not," Klaus said. "Finn and I haven't gotten along very well, both before and after our mother made us what we are."

"Right," Caroline said. "Because you had never supported his relationship with Sage, since you thought she wasn't good enough for your brother?"

Klaus nodded then said, "Exactly. I thought he was wasting his time with a girl like that, but Finn, being every bit the romantic that he was, told me that it wasn't my place telling him who he should or shouldn't be with."

"I'd hate to say it, but I agree with him," Caroline said. "You can take this however you want, but I think that if Sage makes him happy then let them be together. The heart wants what the heart wants, Klaus, and Finn's heart obviously wants Sage. Instead of being against them, you should at least try to be supportive of them."

"Love is a weakness and we should not succumb to it, Caroline! Finn doesn't deserve to have her love! She only held him back, pulled him away from his family," Klaus said in a vindictive tone.

Caroline pulled back from him, crossing her arms. "Oh, really now? You didn't view it as a weakness when it came to me! What was it you said to me after the barrier spell was lifted from Elena's house? You showed kindness, forgiveness, pity and all because of me? So, I think you shouldn't view it as a weakness for your brother and Sage!

"She's right, Niklaus. For once, I have to side with someone else," Finn's voice said from the doorway. Behind him stood Sage, wearing the same ravished look that the eldest Original sibling wore. Caroline then noticed that Finn's shirt was pulled out from the waist of his jeans, half tucked in and half tucked out.

Caroline gave them both a knowing smile and then looked at Klaus, her smile fading to a stern look. "I realize that your family is important to you, and there's nothing wrong with that. But, if I'm going to be part of your family, then there are going to be times when we're going to disagree on certain things, like this." Klaus huffed then stomped out of the living room, speeding off upstairs. Caroline gave the other couple a quick concerned look then rushed off after him. She found him in his room, obviously still angry from what she told him. Instantly feeling guilty, she carefully approached him, saying softly, "Klaus?"

"Have you come to chastise me some more?"

"No," she replied. "I've come to say I was sorry for scolding you. I care about, really I do, and I didn't mean to get you upset like that. I just wanted you to see my point." She sighed. "In fact, I'll understand if you don't want me to be here after what happened."

"Please, don't go," he said in a soft tone. He turned around and Caroline noticed that he had one tear streaking down his cheek.

Seeing that tear really made her feel guilty and she went over to him, hugging him. "Don't cry, please, I'm not going anywhere. I really am sorry for scolding you."

He hugged her tightly to him, chin resting on her shoulder. "Today is the day that…" he said in a solemn whisper.

Caroline rubbed his back in a soothing manner. "Hush, its okay, you don't have to explain," she said softly.

Klaus nodded. "I'm glad you're here, Caroline. You have no idea how much I appreciate this."

"You don't have to thank me," she said. "There's nothing for me in Mystic Falls anymore; my home is here now."

He nodded then stepped back. "I'm sorry for my angry outburst earlier," he tried to apologize, but she shook her head.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," she said. "You should really apologize to Finn." She lifted her index finger when she saw he was about to protest. "Ah, ah, that's an order, mister. It's time you put the past behind you and focused on the future. Isn't that what your…I mean, our daughter would want?"

"No," he replied. He did as she asked, walking downstairs in a normal pace, finding Finn and Sage talking quietly, but he could see tears in the redhead's eyes, so he knew it was kind of bad to interrupt them.

However, Finn sensed him and looked at him. "What do you want, Niklaus? Have you come to make things worse?"

"No, brother," he replied. "I've actually come to make amends. I treated you unfairly and I know you don't want to hear it, but I am deeply sorry for anything I might have said or done to cause this tension between us."

"Your apology is accepted, brother," Finn said with a smile then gave Klaus a brief hug before stepping back. Klaus nodded then left his brother and the woman he'd sired alone, with Finn once again turning to her.

Sage smiled. "I'm guessing that Caroline is already working her magic on him."

"I think so," Finn said. "She got Niklaus to apologize to us."

"She did. But, Finn, what did you want to talk to me about before he interrupted us? I know you're concerned for our future here…" she started to say, but he mimicked her earlier motion, pressing his fingers over her lips to gently silence her.

Back in Mystic Falls…

Damon had a determined look on his face as he went out to his Camaro. He wanted to find Stefan, who had been missing since the summer. The last time he was seen was before he went to drop the safe containing Silas' shattered remains in the quarry, where he would never be found. While it was true he wanted to move to Italy with Elena, Damon didn't want to leave without at least trying to find his brother.

Before he got into his car, Damon dialed a familiar number, waiting until the person that it belonged to picked up to say, "Hello?"

"Long time, no talk," Damon responded quickly.

"Damon, to what do I owe the favor of this call?" Katherine Pierce asked from her end. She held the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she balanced a tumbler of bourbon and some darts, throwing one dart at a time after putting down her glass.

"I need you to help me find Stefan," Damon said. "He hasn't been seen since he left town to dispose of Silas' remains."

"And where was this?" Katherine asked, throwing another dart at the dart board.

"The quarry," Damon said. "There's a lake there that's deep enough to bury something you don't want to see again."

"I see," Katherine said. "So, that's the last place Stefan was?"

"Yeah," Damon said. "Something tells me his efforts to get rid of Silas went south. But, the only way to know for sure is to search the quarry and see what happens."

"Where do you want to meet me?" Katherine asked.

"I'll come to you. I need to do this without Elena knowing," Damon said, climbing into his Camaro then started the engine and peeled gently out of the garage portion of the boardinghouse.

Katherine smirked on her end then said, "Ooh, a secret mission. Sounds like fun. Very well, I'm here at the Grill. You can't miss me; I'm the cute brunette playing darts."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'll be there in about five minutes."

"Can't wait," his sire said before hanging up the phone and putting it back into her pocket. Her head turned to look at her companion when they heaved a sigh. "Oh, relax…he doesn't know that I've already found you. So, now, we have to hide you."

"Damon's not stupid, you know, Katherine. He's going to find out that you're lying."

"I know he's not," she replied. "But, for now, we have to make it look like you're still lost."

He sighed again then did as she asked, heading toward the back, where he remained out of sight of Damon but still in sight so that he could keep an eye on Katherine. Five minutes later, as promised, Damon walked into the Grill, where he found Katherine by the dart board. She smiled at him when he approached her. "Right on time…Good, I knew you were a man of your word."

"Will you stop with the flirting? You know that I'm with Elena."

Katherine pouted. "Well, you can't blame a gal for trying, right?"

"You know that I can just as easily have Sheriff Forbes help me instead."

"You mean, the Blondie's mom?" Katherine asked. "Oh, right, I forget that you're still friends with her. I mean, after all, you did hurt her at one point…and you played the horizontal tango with her only child."

"Will you please not bring that up?" Damon said. "That wasn't my finest hour, you know. I was in a bad place when I made Blondie my human blood bag and I don't think I need to remind you of who was responsible for that."

"Poor little Damon…always wanting to find the right woman after me, but never quite getting there," Katherine said with a smirk. "Oh, that's right. You did find that special woman, and she's my doppelganger. She was also responsible for shoving Silas' CURE down my throat!"

Damon growled and grabbed her neck none too gently. "And unless you want me to crush that same throat, I suggest you don't say anything about Elena, got it?"

"Got it," she ground out, her voice hoarse from the way he was holding her down.

Damon let go of her throat. "Come on, let's get going. I want to do this while there's still daylight." Katherine nodded and cleared her throat as she followed him out of the Grill to the awaiting Camaro.

After they were gone, Stefan finally came out of his hiding place in the Grill, where he was soon nearly colliding with Jeremy. "Stefan…? Or is it Silas?"

Stefan lifted his wrist and bit into it with his fangs. "Would Silas do that, or this?" he asked, both guys watching as it healed.

Jeremy shook his head. "No." Curiously, he added, "But, I don't get it. Damon and Katherine are out looking for you. Why are you here?"

Stefan sighed. "Katherine doesn't want Damon to know she already found me, so she's leading him on a wild goose chase."

"But…oh, now I get it. She's still in love with you, isn't she?" Jeremy asked.

Stefan sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

Jeremy whistled low. "Damon isn't going to be happy when he finds out he's been tricked."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Which is why I'm going to need your help," Stefan said.

Jeremy nodded. "Sure, Stefan…What do you need me to do?"

"First, I need to find someplace to hide out that isn't in Mystic Falls, or anywhere close to where I can come into contact with your sister/cousin," Stefan replied.

Jeremy nodded. "Well, there are plenty of abandoned hunting cabins in the woods you can use or you can go to the lake house."

Stefan immediately shook his head. "The lake house won't work for me, Jeremy. That was one of the places I was with your sister," he told the hunter.

"Right, forgot about that, sorry." He got an idea. "What about the place you had in Chicago? I doubt you'll come into contact with Elena there."

"Only one problem, Jeremy, I did. She and Damon went to look for me there."

Jeremy nodded again as he began to wipe down the tables in the Grill. "Okay. What about the old Mikaelson mansion?"

Stefan raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"You can hide out there," Jeremy said. "No one's lived there since Klaus moved to New Orleans. I think you'll be safe there."

"That's actually not a bad idea. Thanks, Jeremy," Stefan said, clapping the hunter on the shoulder before blurring out to head to the mansion.

Jeremy nodded as he watched him go. Then, more to himself than anyone else, he said, "You're welcome."

"Who are you talking to, yourself?" a familiar voice said from behind him and he whirled around, literally coming face to face with Allison. Because he was startled by her presence, Jeremy managed to drop one of the glasses he'd been cleaning and it shattered right at his and Allison's feet.

Jeremy let a curse slip past his lips as he knelt down to start cleaning up his mess. "Allison, you scared me," he said once he was at eye level with her again. "And, no, I was actually talking to my friend, who left in a big hurry."

"You mean the guy with the sandy blonde hair? I figured that's who you were talking to, but not after he left," Allison said, and was reaching for the mess of the glass in his hands, crying out in pain when she cut the palm of her hand on one of the shards.

Jeremy heard her cry and quickly took her to the kitchen, where he found a First Aid Kit. He first cleaned her wound with peroxide and then, after applying ointment on it, he wrapped it in a bandage. "Here you go, all fixed."

"Thanks, Jeremy," Allison said. "I'm sorry I just reached for the glass like that."

"We all make mistakes," he replied. "That's how we learn."

She smiled shyly at him, biting gently on her bottom lip. Jeremy found himself leaning closer to her upon seeing that action, and he brought one hand up to caress her cheek gently while bringing his head down closer to hers. "Jeremy…" she said softly.

Before he could stop himself, Jeremy captured her lips in a tender kiss. Allison returned it, moaning against his lips and enjoying the feeling that was coming off of him. Jeremy deepened the kiss slowly then walked her backward toward the counter, where he gently picked her up by her waist and put her on top of the said counter. Allison gently ran her hands through his hair, shivering as she felt his hands on her. Although she wasn't expecting this, she didn't stop it from happening. Jeremy suddenly pulled back, shaking his head. "I can't do this," he said.

Allison grabbed the back of his head. "Jeremy, it's okay. We can do this. You were enjoying what we were doing, right? So, there's nothing to be ashamed of. We were giving in to what was growing between us since we met."

"It's…been a while for me. My last girlfriend ended things because I'd kissed a girlfriend before her, but we eventually reconciled…and then she recently died, so I'm not really sure if I'm ready for this," he said.

"Its okay, we can take it slow," Allison said. "I'm not in a hurry. I really like you, Jeremy."

"I really like you too, and slow it is," he said, giving her a soft smile.

Author's Note: Okay, so this hasn't gotten too well of a response as some of my other fan fictions collaborations with Erin have, but I hope that you come to read this one!