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"Caroline," the original greeted as the blond stepped out of the car.

"Elijah," she offered a smile - broken and hopeless.

"I'm happy you're here," his lips also curled up, but his was genuine.

"I don't think we've ever talked before," she offered showing clearly her discomfort with this situation, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"I'm afraid we didn't," he extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you and to know what Elena and Stefan said about you is true," she accepted his stretched hand, leading him to take hers on his and kiss it. She blushed slightly at the old-fashioned gesture not only because of the gesture itself, but because things like that reminded her of Klaus.

"I feel flattered by your words and trust, Caroline,"

"Thanks for keeping this between just the two of us," she offered, her smile just a little bit more honest than the first attempt.

"Elijah," Marcel greeted approaching them after giving one of his vampires' instructions about collecting Caroline's baggage.

"Marcel, thanks for your help and loyalty to my brother. If anything goes wrong I'll let him know I left you no other option," Elijah turned to the man standing by Caroline's side now.

"I did have other options, Elijah," the big vampire stressed. Marcel didn't know Caroline and he definitely didn't know why she was important to Klaus, but he knew for sure she was. That was his biggest motivation agreeing to her plan. He knew her presence closer to Klaus would be good to the hybrid whenever the teenager decided to meet his sirer.

"And we both know why you agreed with me," Elijah read his brother's oldest friend closely.

"I don't know why she's important, but I know enough to know she's very important,"

"Always perceptive, Niklaus is lucky to have you, Marcel,"

"I also want to thank you," Caroline turned to the man she had met only a couple of days ago.

"You trusted me and although I could have come here without your help, it's easier knowing you will keep my presence in the city a secret from everyone else and especially Klaus," she completed.

"I was asked to protect you, Caroline, not to question your decisions. Klaus asked me to help you with everything you needed and if you need to come here, then that's what I'm going to provide," he answered in such a way, and with a passion that comforted Caroline's heart. But what touched her weren't the lengths Marcel was willing to go to protect her, but the affectionate way he talked about Klaus. She felt good knowing that at least someone was loyal to him like that.

"I appreciate,"

"Marcel, I'm going to introduce Caroline to her new roommate, make sure Klaus doesn't find out about your presence in the city. Once I'm done here I'll go to you," Elijah offered, and nodding, Marcel excused himself from both and left with the other vampire that came with him.

"I'm really thankful for the living arrangements," Caroline offered, as he helped her with the luggage.

"Chloe is a sweet, southern girl. I'm sure the two of you will become great friends,"

"Does she know…" Caroline asked as they approached the two-store house front door.

"About the supernatural? Yes. Unfortunately she found herself dragged in the middle of it," he said in a tone that mixed sadness, disappointment, but also something else she couldn't identify, but knew it was positive.

"Is she human?" Caroline asked curious.

"No, she's a werewolf,"

"Did she trigger the curse?" she asked worried. A lethal roommate wasn't what she had in mind when she decided to move to New Orleans.

"No, she only carries the gene," he offered in such a way, that she knew he wouldn't allow her to live with a werewolf that could kill her.

"Let's make sure it stays like that," Caroline offered a nervous and relieved smile as they finally reached the door.

Elijah knocked and after a moment the door opened to reveal a beautiful girl, with blonde curled hair, heart shaped face, small features and sparkly green eyes shining in a beautiful way under long eyelashes.

"Elijah!" she greeted, hugging him and Caroline couldn't help but chuckle. It was funny to see someone jump on always-so-collected-and-refrained-Elijah like that.

"And you must be Caroline," the petit blond turned to Caroline with a big smile.

"I am, nice to meet you, Chloe," Caroline answered.

"It's my pleasure," the smaller blond offered as they shook hands.

"Let's come inside. I would help you, but as you're both vampires and I'm with children, I guess I'll have to leave you to that," the girl offered with a bright smile while caressing her stomach softly.

"Are you pregnant?" Caroline asked surprised.

"Yep!" Chloe offered excitedly.

"Congratulations!" Caroline offered before she looked at Elijah with a confused face, but he only shrugged.

"Thank you!" the girl answered enthusiastically, as if being pregnant was the biggest blessing of her life.

"I'm going to take Caroline's luggage to her bedroom, Chloe, why don't show her around and then meet me there?" Elijah suggested.

"You seem really excited about the pregnancy," Caroline offered, looking at the girl that couldn't be a couple of years older than Caroline.

"I am, that's been a dream of mine for a while now," the southern woman offered as she showed Caroline the kitchen and dining room.

"And do you live here all by yourself…?" Caroline and both girls knew what she meant with the question.

"This is an independent production. I'm not lucky with men and I thought maybe I could do it all by myself, I just didn't expect twins," the older girl continued to rub her small belly.

"Oh yeah, you said children earlier. Wow, that's… challenging," Caroline widened her eyes, but Chloe was upbeat.

"Well at least I won't have to go through this twice,"

"Do you know the sexes yet?" Caroline asked as Chloe showed her the office.

"No, my doctor said if I'm lucky I'll find out the next appointment," she clapped her hands in excitement and Caroline could only thank Elijah for finding someone so contagious to be around her. She could use the cheerfulness and maybe find her way back to herself.

"And what do you want?"

"I'd be happy either way, but I guess I'd be happier if it were two girls,"

"No correctly political answer, I like you," Caroline offered, smiling genuinely for the first time in longer she could remember.

The pregnant woman showing her the place she would be living was just everything Caroline used to be before the supernatural world, sans the twins part.

And as she babbled Tulane – where she was going to be a senior in architecture major – Caroline let her mind wonder about the changes she could already feel.

She had barely left Mystic Falls for a few hours and things were already brightening up. She couldn't say if it was the atmosphere in New Orleans, her new roommate, the prospect of having babies around in less than a year or the fact that she was closer to him. It was probably a combination of all that and she was convinced she did the right thing coming there and going to Elijah. Chloe seemed to be exactly what she needed at the moment. Caroline smiled back at the girl, sharing that she would also go to Tulane the next week – thanks to Elijah, although Caroline didn't comment on that small detail.

From upstairs Elijah heard the girls talking, and he could realize Caroline's subtle, but still present change of demeanor. Just the day before Marcel had given him a very detailed report about how Caroline was and he had seen it with his eyes as much when she arrived just ten minutes ago. But he sort of expected that effect – although perhaps not to fast – as Chloe was a very special girl.

Elijah stayed around, waiting for a moment to talk to Caroline all by himself and later rather than sooner, Chloe informed them she was going to have a shower, leaving the two vampires in the living room.

"Thank you so much for everything, Elijah. Chloe is such a sweet girl! I think we're going to be great friends," Caroline said almost enthusiastically. That was the cheerier she felt in so many days.

"I thought as much. She's sweet indeed,"

"Do you know anything about the babies' father? She deserves someone to be there for her!" Caroline couldn't help herself.

"I asked her if she wanted me to kill the guy, but she said it was okay, that she had been trying to get pregnant for a while and that it was less expensive this way than looking for a sperm donor and doing an insemination,"

"She really wants it, doesn't she?"

"Yes,"

"How do you know her?"

"Klaus has been protecting the werewolves in the city, there aren't many of them left and he wants to allow them to live here again," he explained watching her closely as he brought his brother's name to the conversation.

"Oh," she answered surprised by it. She didn't expect something like that. "Well, I suppose an alpha needs a pack," she said after giving it some thought.

"He doesn't want to be simply the alpha, he wants to be New Orleans' king,"

Elijah was nearly frightened by her reaction, as she started almost hysterically.

"I have to be honest, Caroline, I don't understand what's so amusing," he asked slightly confused.

"It's just funny that Klaus want to go all True Blood on us… in the 21st century nonetheless. Come on, Elijah, that's funny,"

"It is the best characterization of vampires among the latest productions about us," he reasoned.

"Now that's unexpected. I didn't think you'd know what True Blood is,"

"Don't let the suit convince you I don't entertain myself with modern's life poor culture, Caroline. It's far from human race's best productions, but there are some salvageable among the rubbish,"

"I apologize," she offered, still chuckling.

"I have to ask you, Caroline, because although I have a few scenarios in my head, I think it's more productive and trustful if you are the one to answer it," he changed the subject, leading her to be as serious as him.

"What is it?"

"What brings you to New Orleans?"

The blond was deadly serious then, playing with her fingers as she thought about the answer. She could easily just lie and say the first that crossed her mind, but Elijah had been nothing but kind to her since she contacted him. She didn't feel like she didn't want to find something else to distress her and lying to someone that was showing real concern about her would do just that.

"I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that question," she looked briefly at him, before looking away.

"Let me ask it slightly differently… who brought you here? Why are you here?"

"If you made a point to reformulate the question like that you already have an answer,"

"Fair enough," he agreed, while she still avoided his gaze.

There was a conforming silence between then. He didn't ask anything else because he knew she was honest in her lack of answers. She didn't say anything else because that was a can of worms she wasn't ready to open yet.

"Maybe I should find the questions before I learn the answers," she offered after long minutes.

"I've been around for a while now, Caroline, maybe I could help you finding them?" he offered softly.

"Would you help me?" she stressed and he knew exactly what she meant.

"I must admit that's a pertinent question," he admitted.

"I wouldn't have thought any differently,"

"I must admit Niklaus is challenging and more often than I like it, I don't know what to expect from him. He had been living in a way I'm not even sure he understands or controls anymore. I've spent almost fifteen lifetimes with my brother and I can't honestly say I know him. He's unpredictable, unstable, impulsive, careless, even cruel and evil, but from time to time I have a chance to ephemerally see something that resembles me of the boy he was when we were human. He was warm, caring, carefree and loving. He would have died for any of us without thinking twice. But he's been betrayed, attacked, unloved and unappreciated by his family – some more than others – and it had burned him. He's broken, Caroline, and I don't know if it's possible for him to be fixed, but amidst the tragedy that is Niklaus' life something changed. I've watched him shut his emotions down without turning off the switch, I saw him ignoring even the smallest display of affection and the simplest feelings for a thousand years. Nothing ever affected him, nothing ever disturbed him, he's never allowed the consequences of his actions and our family's and enemies' actions to affect him. He blocks everything out, but now he's open to something. He's allowing himself to feel or maybe even him has a limit and he can't control it anymore. The fact is he allowed himself to feel for you, to care about you and that gave me hope," he offered her a small smile at the end of this speech contrasting with his distressed expression when he started talking about his brother.

"That's putting a lot of pressure on me, isn't it?" she asked playfully although she looked very nervous.

"You don't have to do anything about it, Caroline, but I do believe if there's someone that can do something for my brother, that's you. But you don't owe doing something to him or anyone else,"

"Thank you," she offered slightly relieved.

"And to answer your question, Caroline, yes, I would help you to find the questions and maybe even learn some answers,"

"I miss your brother, I miss him,"

"There's nothing wrong with that," he offered seeing how she avoided his eyes, embarrassed.

"I guess there's one question I may already know," she offered after a brief silence.

"Go ahead,"

"Is it wrong to love someone like him?" she asked, looking at him expectantly.

"No, it isn't. But it isn't easy either,"

"I'm fighting with everything I am to prevent it from happening, maybe it even happened already, and I'm just denying it," she confessed, a lone tear falling dropping slowly from her eye.

"It's understandable, Caroline. As I just said, loving someone like Niklaus is difficult, it comes with a high price to pay,"

"I know," she nodded.

"Chloe just finished her shower, I better get going," he offered, leading her to shake her head positively again.

She walked him to the door, feeling more conflicted and torn than ever.

"Caroline, there's something else that I might tell you as well,"

"And what that is?" she asked, feeling even more anxious. Was there anything else about Klaus that she was yet to know? Something that would make her situation only harder and more challenging?

"Fighting against love is futile and exhausting, even if everything about it is wrong," he said with his usual somber expression, before opening the door and leaving a very confused blond behind him.

"So, Chloe, I can't help but ask myself and I hope I don't offend you in any way, but I wonder why a pregnant human girl would agree with living with a vampire," Caroline asked later that day, as they had dinner together.

"I've been drawn to the supernatural since I was born, Caroline. I don't know if Elijah commented, but I carry the werewolf gene," the curly haired girl answered.

"Yes, I'm aware,"

"But I guess he didn't mention anything about my parents?" the older girl asked, and for the first time since Caroline met her earlier that day she didn't look cheery.

"Actually he didn't,"

"You see, longer before Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah came here centuries ago the wolves already lived around this area. For as long as Klaus ruled the city, the wolves lived peacefully with the vampires, although confrontations and blood baths happened from time to time, but he simply didn't care. He couldn't choose sides and the vampires knew that during the full moon they should careful,"

"Do you also know Klaus and Rebekah?"

"I've known about the Originals since I've known about my roots,"

"Oh," Caroline offered surprised.

"My family's clan is one of the clans that had been here since before Klaus and the French came, but after Klaus left a little bit more than a century ago things started to change. The vampire population was growing faster although Mikael killed a lot of them before he left, and as the wolves became a real threat to the vampires, a cold and silent war started between the species. My family along with others flew and only came back a couple of generations later. My father had triggered the curse when he was involved in a car accident that killed a guy. My mother never triggered it and having to live Ohio behind them, they decide to come back to their grandparents' city,"

"When they arrived the city wasn't as dangerous for werewolves as it used to be and they have lived peacefully here despite my father's situation every full moon. My mother had the same fertility issues I have and it took her a while to get pregnant, but she finally did and I was born a day after my parents thirteenth anniversary. But between the time they moved here and now a lot of things changed and about a year ago there was this rumor that Klaus had finally broken his curse and decimating packs around the country to create his hybrids. The vampires here were scared about the new species. The peace between them and the wolves was already frail and when the threat became bigger they decide to act before Klaus could and tracking down every clan they could, they simply ambushed the wolves and killed as many as they could, my parents included,"

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry Chloe," Caroline moved a hand to cover her open mouth.

"It was during last summer and I was in Europe. I don't know if they failed to track me down or if they simply ignored me, but somehow when I came back to plan my parents' funeral I wasn't caught," the green-eyed girl completed, leading Caroline to feel guilty about asking about the supernatural in the first place.

"And now I have to be even more careful, as my babies could be in danger. That's why Elijah brought you here, Caroline. He said we were exactly what the other needed and I think he's right," Chloe smiled softly.

"Don't worry if you're under Klaus' protection, nothing will ever happen to you," the younger girl offered, as that was one of the most certain feelings she had. She felt safe because of Klaus.

"Yeah, or so Elijah keeps saying… I don't know Klaus and I don't trust him, but Elijah is trustworthy,"

"Klaus is… complicated,"

"So let's hope we'd never have to meet him, I've heard stories saying most people who meets him don't survive to tell the tale" Chloe offered finishing her soda.

"Yeah," Caroline distracted agreed. She couldn't meet him, but that was what killing her.

AN.: sorry for the long delay, but this was my last semester on college and I had so many things to do the past month. I still have some things to do, so I don't know when I'll update the other two stories and this one again, but rest assured I will complete all of them. I always complete my stories.

I hope you guys are still with me and there's much to Chloe story than it shows, and with time I'll cover that.

Reviews are love, and inspiring, so keep them coming. Thanks a lot to all of you who reviewed the previous chapters.

xx

Babi