Elena sat alone on her bed lost in her thoughts, roughly half an hour after all the drama of dinner. Her life had changed so much in a week and she couldn't quite comprehend the changes in herself. She barely recognised the person she had become. She hadn't even been particularly happy to see her friends, and Damon and Stefan had both been an arse. Mind you, Kol and Rebekah hadn't been much better. Elijah had been lovely and even Klaus had been a gentleman. She was pleased he hadn't taken the opportunity to inform her friends about their kiss, which she thought he might enjoy. God, it made her like him even more to think he was respectful of her feelings. He hadn't said a thing out of line, that wasn't the Klaus she once thought she knew.

She'd even accepted Kol's invitation to come stay in Mystic Falls sometime. What was wrong with her? Were all the thoughts and opinions she had before this week completely unimportant and irrelevant now? She couldn't deny that she thought kind of highly of Kol. Sure he annoyed the hell out of her and knew exactly how to wind her up, but wasn't that actually like Damon? She'd never held all of Stefan and Damon's wrongdoings against them, so why should she with the originals? Sure, the originals took evil to the next level, but still, Elena seemed determined to forget all the bad things they'd done.

There was a light tap at the door and Bonnie and Caroline snuck in slowly, trying to make it clear they came in peace.

"Elena, are you ok?" Bonnie said, walking over and sitting one side of Elena on the bed, whilst Caroline took the other.

"I'm fine, guys. Dinner was just…a mess" Elena replied.

"You're telling me! It was pretty funny though, I kinda wish we had a photo of Damon and Stefan's faces when Kol let slip." Caroline smiled, Elena loved how Caroline could make a positive out of any negative. Elena smiled with her, maybe she really had missed her friends.

"About that…what's going on with you two?" Bonnie asked, subtly.

"Nothing, really. Just friends. He kind of wasn't the focus of my attention this week…"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked.

Elena paused, unsure of how to broach the subject.

"I spent a lot of time with Klaus, actually. He kinda surprised me… He's not at all what we think of him. He's only a monster like 20% of the time, the other 80% he's, well….wonderful."

"Elena what are you saying? Have you gone mad? Has he got you compelled? Did you hit your head on a rock? How can you forget all the awful things he's done?" Caroline snapped, a little hurt since she believed she was always the focus of Klaus' strange attention. Elena hadn't really expected Caroline to react that badly, that quickly.

"I haven't forgotten, Caroline, I'm just moving on from it… When you know the real him, it's easy to"

"Oh girl, don't tell me you fell for that…that…shit! It's all fake, he's probably covering some master plan to have us all massacred!" Caroline snapped, again.

"God Caroline, how could I forget that you're always right?" Elena snapped back at her sarcastically. Before Caroline could reply, Elena continued.

"And of course there's no way he could care for me, no way I could be enough to make someone change! And not forgetting that fact that god forbid I wasn't Damon and Stefan's possession for just a little while, of course they own me!"

Elena burst into tears and the room went silent for a few moments, almost as if the dust from the argument was settling.

"Elena, I just care about you and I don't want you to get hurt. I'm sorry. All I have to go on is what I know about Klaus from before…" Caroline said, putting her hand on Elena's shoulder to comfort her.

"We know you're not Damon or Stefan's object, Elena. We always thought you liked the relationship you had with them…" Bonnie added, laying her head on Elena's other shoulder.

Elena tried to stop herself from sobbing and wiped the tears from her cheeks with her jumper sleeve.

"I did. I loved being looked after and protected all the time, I even used to love them fighting over me a little. But I'm stronger now, more independent, or at least I want to be. They're best friends to me, but this week has made me realise it's no longer anything more…"

Both the girls pulled Elena into a group hug. They had never realised Elena felt this way, but as soon as the words left her mouth they understood. Her relationship with the Salvatore's was intense, and they understood that sometimes it must've felt like she wasn't even breathing her own air. This week had given her space, and allowed to just be Elena for a few days. For so long they'd hadn't known Elena without Damon and Stefan, perhaps Elena didn't even know just Elena either. For one of the first time's ever Bonnie and Caroline were thankful to Klaus and his family. If what he was saying was true, and truly had no ulterior motives, then this week really had been a good thing.

Meanwhile…

Klaus, Damon, Stefan, Elijah, Tyler and Kol all sat in Klaus' library, each one with a glass of scotch in hand. They all sipped their drinks in silence, none of them particularly happy with the company they were sharing.

Although Klaus cared about Elena, he had never particularly cared for the Salvatore's and he found Tyler completely irrelevant. Klaus was happy Damon and Stefan had fulfilled their duty of keeping Elena safe (most of the time), but he found the way they act with Elena too much. They were overbearing, controlling and manipulative. Klaus was no saint to Elena, he knew that, but he wanted her to live with her own free-will. To be happy with herself. He had made mistakes with Elena in the past, but he wanted to make up for it. Everyone is entitled to redemption, right?

Klaus did his usual, he pondered his way around his library occasionally stopping to open a book and flick through the pages. He had no interest in sitting and enjoying the awkward silence between the men, and so he left them all sat whilst he walked around the room.

Of course it was Damon who piped up first and broke the silence.

"So please, Kol, enlighten me about your time here with Elena? We didn't quite get to finish that conversation."

Elijah sighed. He really did not want to hear about it and he certainly didn't want to break up a fight between Damon and his brother.

"If Elena wants to talk to you about it, she can. I'm not spreading anymore gossip or disrespecting her wishes." Kol replied, looking deep into his nearly empty glass, regretting the things he had said earlier.

"Well, you've changed your tune" Damon scoffed back, "C'mon Klaus, aren't you even a little annoyed your brother might've got in the way of your plans with your doppelganger"

He was trying to wind Klaus up now.

"I was never the least bit worried about Elena and Kol" Klaus replied, not even looking up from his book or turning towards Damon.

"Damon, let's leave it. We're taking Elena home tomorrow, whatever happened this week will be forgotten about" Stefan scoffed, putting his hand on Damon's shoulder comfortingly.

"Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure of that" Elijah added, before downing the last bit of his Scotch, standing up and walking out of the room, followed by Kol.

Klaus put his book back on his shelf, and laid his glass down on his desk. He smiled at the three men left sat on the sofa, who were all a little unnerved by Elijah's comment.

"There's three bedrooms on the left at the end of this hallway, I trust you can find your way to them and I'll see you bright and early in the morning before you leave for Mystic Falls. Goodnight Gentlemen."

And he was gone.

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