Thank you to all who have learned to be patient with my horribly busy schedule. I truly appreciate it.

Hayley stared at the funky and psychedelic artwork that was displayed before her. She had to be honest; a lot of it seemed unimpressive and common. But there were others that she very much appreciated.

"I despise the modern wing." Nick said next to her. Hayley smiled and stifled a laugh since everyone around them was being quiet. Some had even looked over at the two of them from the loud comment.

"Don't be such a snob." Hayley shushed through a smirk. "Just because it's not old and classic doesn't mean it's not art." She encouraged. Her eyes barely glanced over to see him smiling at her, intrigued by her remark.

Hayley had agreed to let him take her to the art museum down town. Klaus didn't know where the trust had come, but he knew that it was very significant. Over time, they both learned they shared a passion and interest in the arts. And Hayley started to truly see him as a friend, but she couldn't get over the sense of mysterious that surrounded Nick. And she sincerely wondered how he saw her in return.

Klaus glanced into another room and saw that there was a restaurant on the floor. "Care to grab some brunch?" He asks politely with that charming smile of his. Hayley narrowed her eyes at him. Klaus grew to learn that his charms didn't work on her. And whenever he tried, her reply was always suspicion or eye rolling.

Hayley looked at the painting to hide how much she was thinking about the question. "Fine." She said quickly, almost as if she had to respond before she changed her mind.

A few minutes later, the two of them were sitting at a table. Through the windows, they could perfectly see Millennium Park and the skyline. Hayley watched Nick carefully as he looked at the menu. "Nick?" She grabbed his attention.

"Yes, sweetheart?" He replied without looking up. She glared at the pet name and threw a sugar packet at him. That finally caused him to look up. "Where are your table manners?" He accused her.

"They're perfectly intact. You know you deserved it." She replied confidently. Then there was a moment of silence. "Nick…we're friends." She stated slowly, but there was a questioning that lingered between them.

"I should hope so." Klaus replied, hiding his entertainment.

Hayley then cleared her throat. "I just…" She paused, uncertain of how she wanted to say this. "I just don't want you to think this is something it's not." She knew it was awkward, but it needed to be put out there. But when Hayley glanced up, Nick was leaning back in the chair, his arms crossed, and a smirk on his lips.

"I didn't forget when you said you were spoken for, love." Nick answered. "But I'm curious as to where this mystery man is. I've known you for a month now and not once have I seen him or heard you talk about him." He challenged.

"He travels a lot." Hayley replied curtly.

Klaus smirked even more. "A teenage boy who travels a lot?"

She glared at him. "He's not a teenage boy."

"An older man?" Klaus asked theatrically stunned to play up his part.

"You knew?" She gasped. "You knew this whole time?"

"I figured it out." Klaus said calmly.

"Then you can figure out the rest, because I'm not telling you anything about him." Hayley made it clear that she wasn't going to be swayed. A part of her felt weird, telling him about Elijah. But then there was the necessary lying. It wasn't like she could tell him the truth. There were too many secrets she knew she had to keep. Even as a child, Hayley understood Elijah needed to be kept quiet.

"You've meddled in my love life. What about yours?" Hayley twisted the subject around with a mischievous smile.

"If there was someone, do you really think I would be spending so much time with you?" He said mockingly. In response, Hayley threw another sugar packet at him, which Klaus caught effortlessly. "I swear, I can't take you anywhere." He muttered. But then he looked up to see that Hayley's eyes were distant. He knew what she was thinking about. It was Elijah. She was so good at pretending she was unaffected by anything. Klaus was able to recognize it so easily because it was exactly what he did. But suddenly, Hayley realized she'd been caught. She forced a smile through closed lips. But Klaus only saw the sadness in it.

Hayley was quiet the whole way home from the city. Klaus glanced at her every once in awhile. Usually, he would use indecent methods to get her thoughts out. But Hayley was different. She was the first person he ever saw as a true friend. She was ignorant to his power or his deadliness. So they didn't become acquaintances through fear like all of his companions.

Hayley still hadn't said anything as Klaus pulled into her driveway. She opened the car door, not expecting him to get out and walk her to her door. But he did anyway. He still hadn't been invited inside of her home. And to be honest, he never expected her to. Klaus could always compel her to do so. His silly brother never snuck her vervain of any kind. But Klaus didn't want to force such a thing. He didn't want to use his habitual schemes on Hayley; she didn't deserve it.

"You don't have to walk me to the door." Hayley murmured through a sad smirk. She didn't like how nice he was being to her. Usually there time together was spent picking on each other and acting like they didn't enjoy spending time with one another. But Klaus ignored her command. He stood on the bottom stair to her front door, leaving a gap between them. He didn't want her to feel like he was pushing something more than friendship. That was never what he wanted from her. The prophecy was clear: Hayley was meant for Elijah, not him. And although Klaus could see her beauty and everything that would appeal to his brother, he could never fall in love with her like his brother had.

Klaus now watched, with his arms crossed, as Hayley shuffled through her purse to get her keys for the front door. He glanced at the large and dark house; already knowing it was completely empty. She finally grabbed her keys, the metal jingling in her hand. But Klaus looked up to see her studying him closely.

"You and me…" Hayley started. "We're so similar." She said sadly.

Klaus tilted his head and slowly walked up the stairs so he was now standing right next to her. "How so?" He purred with a sneer even though he knew perfectly well what she meant.

"You're lonely." She whispered. "But you refuse to let anyone see it. You never show any emotion that you haven't planned out in advance." Klaus didn't know what to say. He was speechless. "Where is everyone you love? Where are your siblings? Your friends?" She questioned. Klaus didn't know how she was so sure he had siblings. He'd never spoken about them before. But then again, he knew Hayley had a sister without her ever talking about it. They read each other so well because they hid the same things.

Klaus stepped closer to her, dancing along the edge of friend and intimate. "My family doesn't care about me." He told her clearly. "They didn't choose me. So I abandoned them." Then his eyes glanced at the ground. "It left me with nobody." Then he felt something cold grab his hand. Hayley had intertwined her fingers with him, covering his hand with hers. Klaus never talked to anyone like this. Not even his sister, whom he was the closest with in his desiccated family. To express such feelings showed his vulnerability and his weakness. But Hayley would never use such things against him because she knew what if felt like.

"That's not true." Hayley whispered. "You have me." Then she wrapped her arms around him. Klaus didn't know how to embrace her back. Such an action was completely foreign to him. But it only took a moment for his body to react. His hands wrapped around her tiny frame and rested on her back. As he felt her heartbeat against his chest, Klaus realized he'd never felt so human in his millennium of being a vampire. Hayley then pulled away. "You're always going to have me." She quickly said before going inside and leaving him alone on the front porch. Her back rested against the door as she breathed heavily. Had she just crossed the line and pushed the limits of their friendship too far?

Hayley was drawing in her sketchpad. Her pencil slowed as Elijah started consuming her thoughts. It started getting harder and harder to focus on the paper in front of her. She felt ridiculous. While he was out, trying to kill his brother, she was left alone here to wait. Hope: that's all she was able to do. Hayley had never felt so helpless in her entire life. She dropped her pencil on the table and stood up. Slowly, she walked to the window, staring out at the forest behind her house.

It was dark now; the sun had set over an hour ago. Even though it was dangerous, Hayley decided she wanted to go for a run. With no ignorance of vampires, she somehow didn't allow it to affect her life. Perhaps it was her stubbornness or her refusal to let the fear control her. But Hayley put on her running shoes and went outside. She decided the least she could do was stay out of the woods. She made sure to stay on sidewalks and streets. But oddly, there was hardly any people or cars around. Only one or two had passed her so far. It was like a disturbing silence at enveloped the town.

After Hayley had run a few miles, she slowed to a walk. She took out her headphones and was even more bothered by the strange feeling that was falling over her. She was walking toward a bridge and was surprised to see two figures in the distance. As she got closer, Hayley saw that they seemed to be fighting and could hear their raised voices. Then her eyes squinted and recognized Luke. She sprinted forward, hoping she could stop a fight from breaking out.

"Luke!" She yelled once she was a few feet away. The stranger that he was talking to had his back to her and didn't even acknowledge her. "What the hell's going on here?" Hayley asked carefully. Her eyes nervously went back and forth between the two boys. Then she recognized the stranger as one of the guys on Luke's hockey team. She believed his name was Joey. But there was something in his eyes that Hayley found strange. They didn't match him.

Luke stared into them. Hayley could see the rage running out of him. "What's your problem?" He said to Joey as he shoved him back. Hayley placed a hand over Luke's chest, trying to get him to move away. She remembered what happened last time she tried to so such a thing, but he didn't retaliate against her this time.

"I know what you did! Everyone on the team does. They told me what you did. They told me you slept with my girlfriend! You slept with Sarah!" Joey yelled.

"Dude, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. I haven't even talked to Sarah since we were in Elementary school." Luke said calmly. Hayley could tell Joey was unconvinced.

"Come on, Luke. Let's just go." Hayley said calmly as she grabbed Luke's hand.

"You're gonna let the bitch pull you from a fight?" Joey snapped.

With that comment, Luke shoved past Hayley. He grabbed Joey by his t-shirt. "I didn't sleep with your girlfriend. Get your facts right." The words seethed out of him before he shoved his so hard that he fell back to the ground.

"Luke!" Hayley said. He turned. "Please, let's leave." She pleaded. He saw the desperation in her eyes and he slowly nodded his head. But out of nowhere, Joey tackled him to the ground. Before Luke could react, Joey punched him. Hayley went into panic and rushed over to pull Joey off of him, but he shoved her away and she flew back, hitting her head on the metal railing of the bridge.

A sparse of rage surged through Luke. He flipped Joey over so he was above him and punched him. Luke didn't stop. He continued to land punch after punch. But Joey stopped moving. Luke seemed to snap out of it then. Hayley slowly got up and walked over to them, already sensing something horrible. Luke jumped off of Joey, slowly backing away with his eyes filled with horror.

Hayley bent down next to his body. Her hand shook as her fingers reached at his throat to find a pulse. She slowly turned and glanced up at Luke. "He's dead." Her voice shook. "Luke, he's...he's dead."

"No." Luke whispered. His hands went through his hair. "NO!"

"It's going to be okay. We'll tell the cops it was self-defense. I'm not going to let you get in trouble for this. It's not your fault." Hayley stared down at Joey's lifeless body. "I don't understand…it was like he was possessed or something."

Unexpectedly, Luke dropped to his knees. He let out a cry of pain as his hand went to his stomach. Hayley rushed over to him. But when he looked up, Luke's eyes flowed a glowing yellow. "It's happening." He whispered. Beads of sweat already covered his face from the agony.

"What? What's happening?" Hayley urged.

Luke ignored her question and looked up at the sky. "It's a full moon."

Hayley followed his gaze. "So?" Then he let out another yell and fell onto his back. "Luke, what's happening?" She yelled at him. He shook in pain and his limbs started stirring in unnatural ways. His eyes were squeezed shut.

Hayley lay a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him in some way. But the action made his eyes snap open. "Hayley..." Luke panted. "You need to get out of here. GET AWAY FROM ME!" His yell turned into a growl. She fell back at the surprise, holding her body up by her hands.

"Please, Luke, just tell me what's going on!" Hayley begged.

"I'm already changing. I know you'll believe this." Luke gasped. "There aren't just vampires, Hayley. There are things. There-" But he was interrupted with another wave of pain. As soon as it stopped, his eyes locked with hers. "RUN!" But with his command, his eyes turned yellow again and his teeth were replaced with fangs and canine like teeth. Hayley jumped to her feet at the sight. With one last stare at his distorting body, she sprinted away and didn't look back.

Her heart was racing. As Hayley sprinted down the street, she heard Luke yell. But what was more disturbing was how it quickly turned into a howl. He's a werewolf, Hayley thought. But how, do they exist too? She wondered. But her thoughts were interrupted when she heard another howl. It was closer than before. Hayley's heart dropped when she realized the wolf, or Luke, was chasing her. The adrenaline rushed as her sprint turned even faster. If werewolves were anything like vampire, there was no way she was going to outrun it.

By some miracle, Hayley had gone running with her cell phone instead of with her regular iPod. She sprinted in between two houses, giving herself just a seconds rest. Her fingers shook as she went through her contacts and found Elijah's number. She didn't know what she expected it to do, calling him. He was on the other side of the country. As the phone rang, her mind thought of what he'd said to her. "I will always try to be there for you." She knew to never trust it, but over time she had. Except, here she was in danger and she knew that no one was going to save her. While, unknowingly, Elijah was daggered in the basement of the Salvatore Boarding House.

Hayley almost wanted to break down when the phone went to an automated voice message. She wished she could have just heard his voice, even if it was a voicemail. It was a comfort her heart yearned for. If this was how her life would end, it was the only thing she wished for before it happened. Then she heard the howl again and her body went into a surge of adrenaline once again. She weaved in between houses at a sprint, hoping to lose the wolf or at least confuse it.

Hayley took a turn through a backyard, realizing she wasn't far from her house. She didn't understand how Luke hadn't caught her yet. But she didn't know the first transition was the hardest. The body didn't know what form to stick to. But Hayley didn't slow down. Her heart leapt in her chest when she saw her house from a distance. But her small victory was crushed when she heard the wolf howl again and it was closer than it had ever been.

As her feet hit her driveway's pavement, Hayley looked at her phone again. She started dialing a number as she slammed her front door closed and bolted the lock. Maybe werewolves are like vampires, she thought. Maybe they need to be invited to get inside. I'm not that lucky, Hayley then said to herself. She waited through the ringing for someone to pick up. But as she did so, she rushed to her kitchen and reached for the cabinet above her fridge. Her dad stored a gun and bullets there ever since they were little. But the bullets were in a package that was taped such a dozen times, making it nearly impossible for easy access.

"Hello, love." A voice said the second the phone was picked up.

"Nick, I…I don't know what to do. I didn't know who else to call." Hayley was too panicked to hide her fear and pretend to be okay. Her voice shook and it was easily heard how terrified she was.

"What is it? What's happened?" Klaus immediately snapped.

"Umm…it's an animal, a wolf. I got inside my house…but-I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think that's going to stop it." Hayley held her breath, scared that he was going to say she was being ridiculous, that there weren't any wolves in Chicago.

"I'll be right there." He replied before hanging up the phone.

Hayley didn't know what she expected him to do. She suddenly became upset with bringing him into this. If anything, he would only get killed along with her. She shook the thought out of her head as her fingers frantically tried to open the case of bullets. Even if she managed to get it open, did she honestly plan to kill Luke? I won't aim for the heart; I'll just slow him down. Hayley mentally promised herself.

"Come on, come on." She hissed at the duct tape that was impossible to rip off. Even if she did get it open, she had no idea how to use a gun. She would literally be basing it off of all that she'd seen in movies. But she could hear Luke howling right outside. The sound caused shivers to go down her spine. But then, all at once, the sound abruptly stopped. It was followed by a knock at the door. Hayley's entire body froze. She didn't know if she should answer it or not. Then there was another knock, more urgent this time. Hayley slowly walked toward the door. The gun was still in one hand with the bullets in the other. She could only see a shadow through the mosaic glass. Had Luke gone back to his human form?

Hayley's hand shook as she reached for the doorknob. There was a moment of hesitation before her skin touched the cold metal. Her nerves caused her to whip open the door. Hayley let out a gasp of relief when Nick stood on her porch. She wrapped her arms around him. He immediately reacted, holding onto her tightly as her face became buried into his chest. She was shaking uncontrollably.

"We have to get inside." Hayley rushed. Her hands gripped his shoulders as her eyes tore into his.

"Hayley, there's nothing out here." Klaus stated calmly. She was never supposed to be there when Luke transitioned. He would never put her in such danger. The plan had been set so she was nowhere near the stupid boy when Klaus compelled his peer to upset him.

Hayley's eyes now feverishly looked around outside, expecting Luke to pop out at any moment. But then she felt Nick grab her hand softly. Her eyes flickered to his. "Perhaps it was just a rabid dog." He offered, even though he knew the truth.

Hayley shook her head, neither arguing nor agreeing with him. Klaus could hear her heart still racing a mile a minute. "Do you…would you like to come in?" She offered. But really, she just didn't want to be alone. Nick's jaw clenched before he nodded firmly. He'd wished for this for quite some time, just to know she trusted him enough. But it felt wrong happening this way.

Hayley only took a few steps inside before she sat on the stairs. With her elbows balanced on her knees and her face hidden in her hands, Klaus watched her completely break down. Her entire body was trembling but she wasn't crying. Klaus didn't know what to do. He'd never handled anything like this before, because he never had any friends who needed him like Hayley needed him now.

After a few moments, Klaus slowly sat down next to her on the stairs. "I'm losing my mind." Hayley whispered, her voice shaking through every word.

Klaus stared straight forward. "We all lose our minds at some point, darling."

Hayley slowly uncovered her face from her hands to look at him. She narrowed her eyes at him even though he was staring into space. "You don't have to stay. I'm fine now." The fear had gone. But now her body was aching and tired from all of it and the adrenaline that came with. Her stomach still felt sick, but she could handle being on her own. It was what she'd gotten best at. She'd thought Nick's presence would make everything better, but it did nothing. He wasn't the one she wanted sitting at her side. Hayley didn't understand why she constantly compared him to Elijah, that she put so much expectation onto Nick.

"Do you want me to go?" Klaus asked her roughly.

Hayley looked at the ground as her jaw tightened and her lips pressed. "Yes." She stated loud and clear. Klaus got up immediately. Before she could watch him go, Hayley raced up the stairs to her bedroom. It was a test he would not pass. She wanted to him to stay but she didn't think it was right. She was testing him to see if he would stay because he could read that it wasn't what she really wanted. But only Elijah would realize such a thing, not Klaus.

Klaus watched Hayley as she slammed her bedroom door behind her. Before he walked to the door, something on the floor caught his attention. It was her cell phone. He picked it up and looked at her recent calls. He read Elijah's name on the screen and that she'd called his brother only minutes before him. He dropped the phone on the ground, almost shattering the screen. He turned and walked to the door. His strong grip on the front door's handle hesitated before he opened and slammed the door shut.

Outside Hayley's house was three of Klaus' vampire followers. They stood patiently for him, waiting for further instruction. Two males and one female: their bodies were all stiff once they saw he was clearly angry.

"Who was the fool that compelled the fight to happen by her?" Klaus said slow and deep. It was more terrifying than if he were screaming at them.

"She came out of nowhere, Klaus. She'd been running and saw Luke from a distance." One of the men stated.

"Then why did you not kill the beast as soon as he started transitioning in front of her?" Klaus growled.

"You gave us specific order not to kill the boy!" The girl spoke up. The second she said it, Klaus raced in front of her. His hand shoved into her chest. He waited to watch the pain in horror spread across her face. Then he ripped out her heart dropping it to the ground along with her dead body.

Klaus then turned to face the other two. "Clean up this mess." He instructed. "Watch over the house for the night. If anything happens her, I promise you'll join this one." He stated as he gestured to the corpse now sprawled on Hayley's driveway. The two vampires simply nodded their heads, knowing better than to say even a single word.

A) I know that was very similar to how Mason got turned...but whatever lol

B) I hope it's not annoying/confusing that I keep switching between call Niklaus Klaus and Nick...

Please review! If it wasn't for reviews, I probably would've just stopped writing this fanfic.