So, TVD last night was like, "Whoa." Alaric and the ring were like blowing my mind and confusing me all at the same time. And I think I'll like Sage. We'll see. "Dear Diary, a chipmunk asked me my name today. I told him it was Joe. That lie will haunt me forever." Ha! Oh, Damon. Anyway, chap 4! Don't own anything, blah. Blah. Blah.

Who ever loved

That loved not at first sight?

-Christopher Marlowe

Now

March 2012

The moment Klaus came down from upstairs and sat on the couch, his mother tried to talk to him. Esther started chattering about the ball from a few weeks ago; all Klaus could think about was how Emily had refused to go because she was so shy and she didn't want to have to talk to hundreds of people that were only there because they were scared that if they didn't, someone from the family would come for them. Rebekah convinced her to come by saying that she only had to come for a few minutes and then she could leave if she wanted. Emily ended up staying for the whole night.

Realizing that his mother was still talking, Klaus heard various questions like if he thought it would end up snowing one more time or, again, about the decade dance Rebekah was talking about a couple of days ago when she came to talk to him. Klaus gritted his teeth, just trying to block her out. What he wanted to say was Stop trying to act like nothing happened. Because something did happen, and ignoring it won't make it go away.

Instead, he looked up to her when she touched his face and he forced a smile.

"Niklaus," Esther said, "could I ask you a few questions?"

Klaus felt like he was under arrest. She probably thinks I should be, he thought. His mother sat in front of him on the burgundy chair beside the couch. She was leaning forward, practically balancing herself on her elbows which were on the arm rest. "Could you tell me about…that night?" Esther asked.

Klaus expected as much. There was no reason now to throw a fit or refuse. He would simply tell her. He leaned forward and folded his arms on the coffee table and cleared his throat. "Emily had gone out to lunch with Rebekah that afternoon and when she got back, she asked me if when it got dark if I would want to go up to the hill with her."

"Did you two walk?"

Well, duh. The woods had no trail and were so densely populated with trees that it would be pretty impossible to even think to try the drive through them. "Yes," he answered.

His mother nodded. 'What else?'

"We brought stuff to drink…"

"What stuff?"

"Alcohol."

"We?"

"I brought it."

"Why?"

Klaus shifted. He didn't understand why it mattered that they brought alcohol with them. They weren't some irresponsible teenagers. As if understanding that she was pushing too hard, Esther asked another question. "Did you bring the stake with you?" Well, that was a random question.

It was only then that Klaus realized that Elijah and Kol were in the dining room in the next room. Probably hanging on to every word. Or getting ready to crucify me, he thought.

Suddenly, the monster inside of him uncoiled. They should know the truth. They should know that they were completely wrong.

"Yes. I did."

Esther looked at her son intensely. "Why did you have the stake, Klaus?'

"Because Em asked me to."

"Why did she ask you to bring the stake?"

Klaus took a breath. His eyes, involuntarily, started to dampen. He looked his mother dead in the eye and answered her.

"Because Emily was going to kill herself."

Then

June 1065 A.D

"Ready, set, go!" Emily yelled across the hill. Racing down this hill was something they'd been doing since Em learned to even walk. Once every month, both Klaus and Emily's families would get together and have a big race. At least the kids would. The adults would sit back and watch.

Right now, it was Klaus and Emily facing off. Even thought Em was pretty fast, Klaus was seventeen, older, and he had longer legs. He would beat her without breaking a sweat.

Jasper was at the bottom of the hill, ready to announce the winner. With Emily's yell, they were off. Racing down the hill, they both picked up speed. Klaus, however, was gaining ground. He looked back at Em, still trying to catch up. Suddenly, there was a whistle.

Tatia Petrova was watching. She smiled at Klaus and winked. Klaus found himself slowing down, to busy looking at Tatia to even notice the race.

Emily was absolutely dumbfounded that she was now catching up to him. Why the hell was he slowing down? Then she saw her.

Tatia Petrova was staring at Klaus were her little brown eyes, doe-eyed and reeling him in like a fish. Out of some pit buried deep inside of her, jealousy raged through Emily. She swerved to Klaus and pushed him so hard that he grunted and fell face first to the ground. Emily jumped over his body and raced to her brother, who declared her the winner.

Emily saw Tatia giggle and walk away, pity on her face. Em smiled, a cruel one. Klaus got up, clearly raging, and marched over to Emily.

"That was cheating!" he declared. "You can't just push someone down!"

Emily's face contorted. "I did not cheat! Nobody said there were any rules anyway!"

Klaus and Emily stared each other down, each too far along in pride to give in to each other. They looked at somebody, anybody, to tell them the ruling. James and Mikael both looked at each other. Mikael stood. "Since, technically, none of us actually made any rules, Emily's right. She wins."

Emily shrieked and clapped. Klaus's face turned eighteen shades of red. How the fuck did a thirteen year old girl beat me, he screamed to himself. Then, he tried to calm himself down.

It's just a stupid game. It didn't really matter. Feeling charitable, he offered to have a rematch. Without pushing people down. Emily stuck up her nose.

"God," Klaus said. "Now what?"

"You owe me an apology," Emily said.

"What for?"

'You said I cheat. I don't cheat." Her eyes were dark and heavy on him.

"Fine, you don't cheat. Let's go again."

"I don't think so," Em huffed. "You have to say it like you mean it."

Klaus narrowed his eyes and turned around. Who the hell did she think she was? Fuck the race, fuck the apology, and fuck Emily. Who was she to humiliate him, anyway? Sure she could be a lot of fun sometimes. But sometimes he just wanted to kill her.

A few weeks later, Klaus found Emily running around the entire village. Practicing, she said, for the next race.

"If you were really practicing, I'd think you'd want to go and push people around," he spat.

Emily stopped jogging and turned around. Her clear blue eyes now filled with tears. "I'm sorry," she whispered. Her best friend was mad at her and to her that was all she could do. Apologize for asking him to apologize.

"I tried practicing on the hill behind Ms. Leons' house," she said.

At that, Klaus looked up. Ms. Leons' hill was one of the steepest hills in the whole town. It twisted and bucked randomly and was full of many deep holes where gofers had tried to make a home. They had tried to race there before, but Em was so scared that he actually had to help her down because she refused, half way down, to keep running. She was probably about seven then. All he could think was that she was lucky she didn't hurt herself.

Suddenly, something unfurled inside of Klaus. He could get back at Emily for last night, and so easily. She was feeling guilty, that was clear enough, so she'd be willing to jump through whatever hoop he asked. He'd take her down a hill tougher that Ms. Leons', one that would have her shaking in her boots by the time she made it to the bottom.

Klaus looked at Emily, and smiled a smile that represented his dark mood. "Em," he said. "I have an idea."

Mystic Falls' most dangerous hill was actually one where a falls was located. It was the highest hill in a 50 mile radius, probably high enough to be classified as a mountain if you thought about it. And right now Emily was shaking like a leaf at the top, with Klaus in front of her yelling. "Come on Em!" he screamed at her.

Cautiously, Emily started down the mountain. She started off good enough, but then her foot was caught in a pile of twigs and she ended up in a tangle of arms and legs. "Ouch," she said.

"Well, that's the easiest part," Klaus smiled nastily.

She was seriously considering taking off and walking down the mountain at this point, but she wanted to get back in Klaus's good graces. After all, it was her fault that Klaus had spent a good deal of his time angry at her. If Klaus was being charitable enough to let her run with him, then she'd sprint upside down, if that's what he wanted.

Taking a deep breath, Emily ran after Klaus, watching him run easily down the hill. At the very least, she reasoned, he'll break my fall.

She picked up speed and tripped slightly over her own foot. Klaus turned around to Emily. "Just slow a little down and focus in front of you!" She almost laughed; did he really think that she had that much control over herself at this particular moment?

She tried to slow down, but she looked down at her own feet. She got to see her right foot come in contact with a rock and see her ankle snap in half. The bone protruded slightly out of her skin and by the time that her face fell to the ground and she tumbled further down the hill, the only thing Emily felt was relief.

"What the hell were you thinking, taking her down that thing!" Klaus's father roared. Emily had been taken to her house, where her parents' were probably caring and doting over her.

"You're lucky she only broke her ankle," his mother said, a bit more calmly.

"But now she's going to miss the race tomorrow!" Rebekah whined.

"I just hope you understand how bad that could have been," Esther sighed. Everyone then left Klaus to himself.

Emily had tumbled almost all the way down the hill by the time Klaus had caught her. He expected her to be out cold, but she was wide awake for the entire ordeal. He picked her up in his arms and her head cradled on his shoulder. Tears silently streamed down her face. Klaus ran through the woods and spotted Alex. When she turned around after he called her name, her gasp could be heard through all the chatter and space between them.

Em's parents had taken her back with them and Klaus's had scolded him and left him here. He hadn't wanted to hurt her, just scare her a little. Now she had a snapped ankle that probably hurt like hell and cuts scattering her face and body, and it was his entire fault. Klaus leaned his head back on his pillow and lets his eyes drift shut. In that instant he decided that for the rest of her life, he would be Emily's guardian angel.

The next day was beautiful and sunny, perfect racing conditions. Except that Emily couldn't go. Everyone had agreed that they would postpone the race until Emily's ankle healed, but Emily didn't want to ruin anyone's fun. After much arguing and consideration, James and Alex agreed to let Emily stay at home while they went off to the hill. But Klaus refused to leave Emily's side.

"I don't feel like it," he said, and nobody pushed him.

Alex sat down beside her daughter. "Now Emily, are you sure you're fine without us? We could stay and just-"

"My leg hurts," Emily said. "I don't have the flu."

"I think you're leg is a little more than hurt," Elijah pointed out. But they all left Emily and Klaus to themselves and went up to the hill.

They sat on the floor with Emily's leg propped up on a few pillows. They played guessing games and wondered who would win the race. Mostly they just talked about nothing in particular, killing time until everyone else came back.

After about 45 minutes, Em fell asleep. She leaned against him, and she was sort of heavy, and uncomfortable. He felt the damp heat of her cheeks against the sleeve of his shirt; measured the amazing length of her eyelashes. Emily shifted against him and woke up. "Oh, sorry," she said.

Klaus looked down at her. "It's fine," he whispered. Emily lifted her head slowly to look into his eyes. Something happened between them at this moment. Em, his best friend, a sister to him, was now a complete mystery to him. And now Klaus had a sudden urge to find out the mystery.

He bent his head down to her direction and she leaned up to reach him. She closed her eyes and he smiled. Then, their lips met.

"My God. It's so hot out here!" Esther exclaimed.

"Do we have anymore water?" Alex asked.

Mikael leaned down to find that the buckets of water they had brought with them were now already gone. James got up from the ground.

"I'll go get some more," he offered.

"Hurry back, darling," Alex joked.

James weaved through the woods and to his house, the empty buckets in hand. He opened the door and went searching for one more bucket, knowing that all the water would be drunk again in about another hour.

He knew Em and Klaus were in the main room, which is why he was so surprised to find the house awfully quiet. Carefully and quietly, he peered into the room to check in on them.

And found Klaus and Emily kissing.

Stunned at first, James could only stare in stunned silence. They were practically kids, for Gods sake. The incident on the mountain was still fresh in his mind and he could not believe that these kids would be stupid enough to do two things, in quick succession, that they shouldn't be doing.

Then he realized that Klaus and Emily were doing exactly when everyone always hoped that they would.

He backed away and closed the door behind him. By the time he arrived back to the race, he was smiling. Alex spotted him, anger visible on her red cheeks. "What took you so long?"

Grinning, James told them what he had seen. Alex and Esther laughed, delighted; Mikael shook his head. "You're sure," he said, "they were just kissing?" The four settled back into their seats, all smiling. They would have toasted the kids, but no one seemed to notice that James had forgotten the water.

Well, that was a doozy. Hope you guys liked it. By the way, in my story Esther isn't trying to kill her kids. Mikael still is bad, we just haven't gotten to that part of the past yet. I almost didn't write today. I'm just so tired. But I did! Yay! Review, review, review, please!