A/N: Thank you so much for your patience!

I felt so heavy the next morning when I woke up. I was aware of having strong arms hold me all night and maybe that's why I slept so well. I knew I was safe. That was all my exhausted mind was able to confirm but there it was.

I stretched luxuriously in the huge bed, realizing after a moment that I was alone. Where was Klaus? Sighing, because nothing was ever predictable with him, I climbed out of bed and headed for the bathroom. My clothes looked slept in, because hey, they were and my hair… I looked like I survived a plane crash. Great. I scrambled around, finding my tote bag. I'd stashed some essentials in there when Damon called yesterday. Enough to make myself presentable even if I didn't have a change of clothes.

I'd showered and got myself put together. I'd pulled on my bra and panties, my jeans. My shirt was wrinkled cotton and I cringed at the thought of having to wear that. Well, I was in Klaus' room… I entered his huge walk in closet and just shook my head. Did he have anything in his wardrobe besides drab and drab? Just because he was a villain, most of the time, did that mean he was required to have an aversion to color?

I found a dark gray Henley shirt of his and pulled it on, pushing the long sleeves up to my elbows. Well, it was his fault I was here so I was helping myself to whatever I required. I pulled on my shoes and resolved to search the house until I found someone.

The house was immense but as soon as I reached the bottom of the staircase, I heard kitchen noises, smelled coffee. I followed the sounds and aroma until I found a good-sized kitchen. Elijah was there minus his normal suit coat, his shirt sleeves rolled up as he worked at making breakfast. A lot of breakfast.

Sensing my presence, Elijah said, "Good morning, Caroline."

He never glanced in my direction but his tone was friendly.

"Good morning," I returned. "You cook?"

He grinned at that.

"I would have guessed you had people to do that for you," I explained lamely.

"Normally, you'd be correct. But the things we need to discuss are sensitive in nature and we don't want to be careless." He was taking a cover skillet from the stove. I noticed he was in the process of making Eggs Benedict and they looked perfect. "Besides, I rather enjoy showing off my culinary skills from time to time."

"I'm definitely not complaining," I told him, my mouth watering. It didn't help that I hadn't eaten last night.

"Would you like some coffee?" he offered.

"Would love some coffee. I'll get it." There were cups and saucers set out next to an enormous silver coffee pot. The fragrance of dark roasted, caffeinated goodness had me smiling.

"Caroline?"

I finished pouring my coffee and found Elijah staring at me curiously. "What?"

"I didn't realize your relationship with my brother had… escalated," he said carefully.

"What?" Then I noticed his gaze shifted to the shirt I wore and back. "No. No! I'm so not doing the walk of shame. Are you kidding me?"

Elijah put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, fighting a smile. "My apologies."

"Did you see me with a suitcase?" He actually thought I'd slept with Klaus? Really? "I wasn't prepared to be swept away to New Orleans."

"I understand." He was smirking now.

"Speaking of your brother, where is he? Aren't we supposed to be having some big meeting about what I know that Silas wants and stuff like that?" I added cream, sugar to my coffee because really, what else did I have to do?

"He'll return soon," Elijah explained, still regarding me a little more closely than I was comfortable with. "Let us have a chat while we wait."

"Okay." I sipped at the hot coffee, enjoyed how it burned its way into my stomach even as I wondered what Elijah was getting at. He was very different from Klaus. Darkly handsome, calm, quiet. He was a gentleman, his manner put you at ease. If you didn't know he was the eldest of the original family of vampires, you could easily fall at his feet.

But Elijah's polished surface was just the tip of the iceberg. He was every bit as dangerous as Klaus but in a different way. Elijah stayed in his head, rarely acting on emotion alone. He was brutally honest, quick witted, and nearly impossible to fool. I hadn't had a lot of interaction with him myself, but Elena had. And I took her stories of this original vampire very seriously.

"I have to admit I've been puzzled up to this point by my brother's fascination with you," he began.

I didn't know how to take that and indignation threatened to rear its self-righteous head. I tried not to act on it as I wanted to tread carefully with Elijah. Something must have shown on my face because Elijah ceased in plating breakfast, his expression kind.

"Obviously, Caroline, you're a beautiful young woman. I didn't mean to insinuate that you were lacking in any way."

Was I that vain then? Because having another original vampire tell me I was beautiful? With all the women they'd seen over the centuries? That was the sort of compliment a girl burned into her mind and saved for bad hair days and break ups.

"You're so young. How old were you when you were turned?" He asked.

"Seventeen. A filler year," I grumbled.

A corner of his mouth lifted at that but he went back to plating food.

"Has it been a year since you were turned?"

"Is it that easy to tell?" I had to ask.

"Not necessarily…" He paused again in his task. "A shiny new vampire. What is it about you that fascinates my brother? We've established that you're beautiful but then Klaus has known dozens of beautiful women over the centuries."

"Vampires?" I asked without thinking.

Elijah nodded. "Of course. Niklaus has little regard for human women unless he's hungry. Most his romantic choices, however, have been jaded, worldly women."

"Unlike me." And why was I listening so intently to Elijah's account of Klaus' love life? "I've really never been out of Mystic Falls. Until now."

"I see." Finishing his task, he again met my gaze. "Curious."

"It doesn't even matter. I have a boyfriend."

"Yes, my brother's first hybrid. It's a shame Silas has gotten to him."

I just hoped Tyler was okay after Klaus staked him to the ground in my front yard.

Elijah was inches away from me in the blink of an eye, his gaze intent. Instinct had me trying to step back but one of his hands shot out, clutching the back of my neck and bringing me in a little closer. Gazing deep into my eyes, Elijah's pupils contracted.

"You will answer my next question with nothing but the absolute truth," he informed me.

Oh, crap. He was compelling me?

"Are you and your friends plotting against Klaus or any other member of my family?"

The compulsion pulled one word from my lips. "No."

"Make sure it stays that way," he warned me. "Because if I believe, for any reason, you that pose a threat, thing may get unpleasant."

Unpleasant? Yeah. Elijah's nicey-nice way of saying if I made a wrong move, he'd rip my heart out. Note to self, try not to piss off Elijah.

"Why are you here?" Rebekah asked as she entered the room. Her blonde hair was swept up into a casual bun, and she was dressed as if she were a normal teenage girl.

"I'm wondering that myself," I admitted.

Her gaze raked over me and her mouth curled into a smirk. "Looks like someone's sleeping with Klaus now."

Gah! Why did I think putting on one of Klaus' shirts was a good idea?

"In his dreams," I shot back.

As if she were suddenly bored with me, she turned her attention to Elijah.

"Haley's throwing up again," she informed. "She'll be joining us in a moment."

Haley.

"Haley?" I asked.

Rebekah turned her best Barbie smile on me now. "Yes, you remember Haley. Tyler's werewolf friend."

"Why is she here?" I wanted to know. Wasn't it bad enough that Tyler was apparently in Silas' clutches? Now Haley, a she-wolf I knew had more than a passing interest in my boyfriend was staying here under the same roof I was stuck under? Really?

"Rebekah," Elijah's voice held a note of warning.

Her smile only widened.

"You haven't heard?" She paused for effect, letting me know that whatever was going on would be something I wouldn't want to hear. "Haley's expecting."

"She's pregnant?"

"Yes."

"Rebekah, enough. We'll talk about this over breakfast. In the proper context," Elijah told her, his gaze on me.

"Okay," I said, not understanding why she was watching me so expectantly. "So?"

"Aren't you the least bit curious who the father is?" she asked.

"Unless it's Tyler, which we all know is impossible, why would I care?"

"Perhaps you won't care." Even with her eldest brother glaring her down, she continued. "It's absolutely amazing what is possible actually. The father happens to be our brother Klaus."

"What?" No way Klaus could be the father of Haley's baby. He'd been dead for how long? Vampires couldn't procreate. All of us knew that.

"Klaus is the father," Rebekah stated each word distinctly and slowly as if I struggled with English.

Whoa. Klaus the all-powerful original hybrid could procreate? Elijah wasn't denying it and that confirmed it as true for me. Didn't see that coming.

Still, why should I care?

But I realized, deep down, I kind of did care. Klaus had slept with Haley? He was the second guy to claim that he cared about me only to turn around and sleep with the she-wolf. Was she the real reason that Klaus left Mystic Falls for New Orleans? Even while he was supposedly wooing me? Wow.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Caroline," Rebekah taunted. "What bothers you more? The fact that you no longer have my brother wrapped around your finger? Or the fact that the last two men who were interested in you sought excitement in someone else's bed?"

"Rebekah!" Elijah looked ready to take her head off.

I glared at Rebekah but forced myself to stay silent. While her remark about Tyler and Klaus both sleeping with Haley had just backed up my own insecurity, what she said about not having Klaus wrapped around my finger any longer made me curious. Was Klaus with Haley now? Was I the third wheel again? It didn't make sense considering Klaus had gotten me a mini-fridge and a lot of money, came to the dorm to see me and spent a couple of days trying to comfort me. He'd flirted with me.

Was he regretting telling me he intended to be my last love?

Gah! Could this get any worse?

Rebekah waited for me to reply, gloating when I had nothing to say. Elijah's expression was almost apologetic. Before I could even think of a reply, the she-wolf herself walked into the kitchen.

She looked pale and shaken, Rebekah had hinted that she'd been sick. No evidence of a baby bump yet. She immediately noticed me and it didn't improve her pallor at all.

Rebekah turned to Haley as if I weren't in the room. "How are you feeling?"

Was that genuine concern I heard from the original blonde?

Haley finally took her gaze away from me to look at Rebekah and nodded. "I'm okay."

"Haley, have a seat in the dining room." Elijah was actually looking stressed at this point. "You need to eat."

Haley nodded, looking in my direction again. At the shirt I wore. The misery I read in her face made me wish that I'd never worn it. Yes, underneath it all, I was still insecure Caroline, still trying to get my mind around always being second best – first to Elena and now to Haley. But as much as I wasn't Haley's biggest fan, I didn't want to make her feel any worse than she obviously felt.

My sigh came out louder than I intended for it to. Rebekah was trying to steer Haley in the direction of the dining room, glaring at me the entire time. My intention was to make my way around them and upstairs to get my things, put my shirt back on, find another room. Maybe after this debacle, I could ask Elijah when no one else was around if he knew of a room I could use.

And to top it all off, I was no closer to figuring out why I was here anyway.

I'd almost made it out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going, Caroline?" Elijah asked.

Damn. So much for slipping away.

"I'm not hungry. Thank you for the coffee," I said, leaving the mostly empty cup on the counter, the line meant to mark my exit.

"Caroline, you need to stay because we're all going to have a talk," he informed me.

My gaze cut to Haley and back. "We'll talk," I assured him. "But right now might not be the best time."

I didn't want to further upset Haley. But I also had a selfish motive. I wanted time to process everything. If that were even possible… And I wouldn't be able to do that until I got my items out of Klaus' room, took off his shirt.

"Let her go, Elijah," Rebekah said with a wicked glint in her eyes. "Haley is sick enough as it is."

"Rebekah?" Haley tried to get her attention.

"Rebekah, you'll be quiet," Elijah warned, coming from behind the island at the kitchen's center to get in his sibling's face. "Starting now."

"You're defending her?" Rebekah jerked a thumb in my direction.

"Rebekah?" Haley's voice sounded a little more urgent now.

The blonde disregarded her. "Why? She shouldn't even be here."

"She is our guest and you'll treat her as such."

"Rebekah, I'm …" Haley didn't look well at all.

Rebekah spared her a glance. "Speaking of guests, this scene is upsetting Haley. And you might not care about her well-being and that of our nephew or niece but – "

"You question my honor?" He cut her off by grabbing her throat. Rebekah was trying to pry his grip away, starting to look a little fearful of her angry brother.

Rebekah struggled to free herself from Elijah. Haley, who had turned a really sickly color was trying to get around us but we'd created a bottleneck at the kitchen entrance. I stood there trying to figure out how I could escape the kitchen too.

No one heard Klaus enter the house. When he reached the kitchen entrance, to say his expression was one of shock was an extreme understatement.

"Elijah, what in the bloody hell is going on here?" he spoke through a tight jaw.

Elijah released Rebekah, his frustration obvious. His sister took a step back, her fear quickly changing to anger as she looked from one brother to the other.

Klaus scanned the room, lingering for just a moment on Haley before he spotted me. His gaze moved over me, a small smile forming on his face.

To his right, Haley doubled over, vomiting on the floor.

"See what you've all done!" Rebekah shouted, glaring at her brothers, then me before she dashed to the werewolf's side to help.

I'd lost my friend, my boyfriend was being controlled by Silas, I'd been dragged away from my family and friends to New Orleans. I was staying in a house with the other man who cared about me so much that he'd slept with Haley who was also staying here. Elijah had warned me not to threaten what was his. Haley was carrying Klaus' child and my being here wasn't making her feel any better. Was I forgetting anything before returning to my pity party?

"You look delectable in my shirt, love," Klaus announced to the entire room.

Oh that's right. The damn shirt.

I couldn't help it. I burst into tears and used my vampire speed to push Klaus back and race up to get my things out of his room.