Odd and peculiar were was just two of the many words Addie would use to describe her boyfriend but he had been acting particularly unusual since their camping fiasco. He had accused her of pushing him away so she had made a point of spending more time alone in her room, where he could pop in and they could spend time together but he had only been coming by quite late, around the time she was ready for bed. He probably only even did that so she wouldn't have nightmares. The defensive training had become a little more relaxed once he got rid of the ten mile run and she proved to him that she could handle herself against him in a hand to hand combat situation if he didn't use too much of his vampire advantages, it would be unrealistic to expect her to ever defend herself against him at his full power. However, he had once again become very insistent and assertive about her strength and combat training. He argued that now that she wasn't studying for the PSAT she had time for more important things. Each session left her emotionally and physically exhausted. And she still had to go to school. The only positive thing were nightly massages, his fingers deftly easing the pain of her sore muscles. Alaric had been quite supportive of Damon pushing her to the point of exhaustion each morning. Addie suspected it was because they were concerned about the "unknown" killer on the loose.

Damon was still convinced that Meredith Fell was the one attacking people. Alaric wasn't sure what to believe. Elena was convinced that Alaric's luck with women couldn't be that bad. The stake that had been used against the medical examiner had match the stash of weapons of Alaric's that he kept in Damon's trunk. Damon argued that his car was at the charitable fundraiser where she had a spat with her ex-boyfriend, who ended up dead. She had access to his car and had motive. He was still convinced the doctor had been trying to turn Bill Forbes into a vampire and stole one of Ric's knife's so he would take the blame if the cops got too nosy. In his theory, Dr. Fell was some unknown supernatural creature since Alric had told her the ring protected him from death at their hands and she wanted to get a kick out of killing him over and over again.

Addie believed her boyfriend had a particularly active imagination and could use it to make two plus two equal five if he really wanted to. Once Damon had made up his mind it wasn't easily swayed. Elena, on the other hand, couldn't make up her mind. While Elena had been able to convince Stefan to heal Alaric, it kind of bothered Addie that her sister's first instinct was to turn to Damon. Closer examination over the next few days showed an annoying pattern. Elena went to Damon with everything, good or bad. She needed an oil changed. Damon. As soon as they got back from camping who had Elena run to, dramatically bawling about Caroline's dad dying? Damon. The worst part was that he just accepted all of it with no problem. Damon never did Addie's oil change…. Of course he had given her a brand new car less than two months ago and she hadn't put enough miles on it to need one. Still.

The driveway was empty but perhaps Damon was parked in the garage. That wouldn't be unusual. And it wasn't like she was spying on her boyfriend or checking up on him, he just hadn't been answering his phone or been at the Grill and she was concerned about him, especially since he had been acting so off.

Prepared for a reprimand for being at the boardinghouse, where Klaus was invited in, Addie knocked on the old, heavy door. When no one answered she repeated this processes louder, despite knowing that was pointless. Damon either wasn't home or he was ignoring her. He wasn't the type to give the silent treatment but she had no clue where he could be.

Addie briefly debated the morality of entering the home while no one was there as she selected the proper key on her keychain. It wasn't like she hadn't come and gone and roamed the house without anyone being there before. The mansion had come to feel like home in the time she spent staying with Damon. But she wasn't staying with him anymore. And Stefan was living in the house again and if his humanity was on then that could mean he could care if she was there. Though, he had never seemed to mind her near constant presence before he had left with Klaus. Or if he had said something to Damon about it, Damon definitely hadn't told her.

Deciding not to concern herself with Stefan's feeling - he definitely hadn't considered anyone else's feeling when he almost drove Elena off the bridge - Addie quietly entered the house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" she called out.

Unsurprised by the responding silence Addie headed to the study, where Damon was most likely to go first upon his return. Dropping into the plush couch she pulled out her cellphone and began to play Sudoku while she waited. She quickly became so absorbed in the game that she didn't hear the door or the conversation between the people who entered about an hour later.

"Hey!" she said in a whiney gasp when the device was suddenly snatched from her hands.

Damon leered down at her, jaw clenched, lips pressed into a hard line and a vein throbbing along his temple. Addie felt herself scoot back into the couch a little bit, wishing it would simply swallow her up. Damon wasn't just angry. It was pure fury that flickered in his piercing blue eyes.

Through clenched teeth he softly demanded, "What the hell are you doing here?"

It was difficult to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat. This was Damon, though. No matter how mad he was, he wouldn't hurt her. Trying not to let his mood affect her, Addie made a conscious effort to make sure she sounded extra sweet when she answered, "Waiting for you. I've been… just… is there anything you want to tell me? Is something going on?"

"No." With that single word she sensed a grayness surrounding Damon.

"You're not telling me something."

He scowled. Screw whatever the hell made her sensitive to vampires lying or deceiving; it was precisely why he had been avoiding her. If she asked him no questions, he told her no lies. Technically, he wasn't deceiving her if he didn't tell her what he was up to. He wasn't trying to make her believe everything was ok when it wasn't. Apparently that little loophole in her superpower hadn't worked out for very long. His eyes closed to slits as he glared at her, determined to figure a way out of the situation. However, she knew he was hiding something and that something happened to be standing in the entryway to the study. It wasn't exactly like he could just order her to leave without out her figuring out what was up. Of course, she

Believing he was reducing the tension, Elijah made his way further into the room and greeted, "Addison. It is such a pleasure to see you again."

At the sound of the English accent Addie's head had snapped around to gape at the Original. The last she knew of him, he had helped Rebekah become acquainted with the 21st century. This was of course after he had betrayed Addie and her friends by savings Klaus' life but before Klaus had lovingly daggered his brother. She had never quite figured out his reasoning behind that.

"You're not in a pine box, daggered," she stated obviously.

"It was a Mahogany coffin," Elijah politely corrected. "Though, no, I'm not daggered."

Her eyes narrowed perceptively as she caught the quick, quizzical expression the Original gave Damon. She felt an unpleasant knotting in her stomach as her cheeks burned up in anger. Pointing an accusatory finger at Damon she hissed, "You."

Damon crossed his arms defensively and raised one shoulder in a noncommittal shrug. "And if I did?" he challenged.

"Why?"

"Klaus needs to be killed. The guy who most likely knows how to do that is the guy who already had a plan to kill him once," Damon explained reasonably, his voice eerily calm but his posture still conveying how upset he was. Addie had three acceptable places to be, with Bonnie, at school, or at home. How was he supposed to protect her if he didn't know where she was and she chose to frequent places where enemy vampires were invited in?

Addie snorted in disbelief and reminded him, "You had a plan to kill Klaus. Yo-"

Abruptly cutting her off he snarled, "You fucked up that plan by telling Klaus all about it and that is the only reason he's still walking around today, leaving me with a need to find another method of killing him. Or did you forget about that?"

"To save your life! Or did you forget about that?" she retorted smartly, mimicking his tone. "If your reasoning is that Elijah had a plan to kill him so he should know how to kill Klaus again, by that logic you should know how. You undaggered the guy who sold us out to Klaus on the basis of faulty logic!"

"My logic was that I have no fucking ideal how to kill Klaus but his brother, who has known him for 1000 years, probably knew his weaknesses. And Elijah has just as much reason to hate Klaus as we do. Klaus never reunited him with his family entirely and he killed their mother. He's primed for revenge," argued Damon. It was an odd role reversal for him to be the one championing Elijah. He had to wonder if it was simply Addie being hot headed or if he had truly made a mistake in undaggering the Original.

"I thought the plan was to leave Elijah daggered and use him as leverage against Klaus! How are we supposed to blackmail Klaus if our blackmail is undaggered?" she challenged.

"Klaus still wants the locked coffin. We control him as long as we have control of that," Damon pointed out.

"A threat is only good if you actually plan to follow through with it," Addie sneered at him. "Are we actually going to drop that box in the ocean? No."

"Look, we just need to stall and distract Klaus while Bonnie and her Mom work on getting it opened."

It was Addie's turn to cross her arms and pout as she glared back at Damon. Was he purposely being dense or did he not see what this was really all about? "Did I sleep through the discussion where we talked about you undaggering Elijah? Or have we reverted back to old habits and you simply don't care about what I think? I'm pretty certain we both agreed not to do anything without talking to the other first. I thought the plan was to leave Elijah daggered and use him as leverage against Klaus!"

"Well, see, I had the conversation with you in my head and I knew you wouldn't necessarily be rational about it so I decided to make the decision on my own."

She scoffed, looked up towards the heavens and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Typical Damon," she spat. "And here I was thinking you were maturing and our relationship was progressing."

"Before I wouldn't have discussed anything with you. Now, if I know you're going to agree or if I believe I can persuade you to see things my way, we talk about it," Damon said as if he were offering a reasonable solution to a very complex problem. "I've been set in my ways for over a century and a half. You gotta give me credit for baby steps."

It was such a pitiful excuse that she couldn't muster up more than a cold glare. Instead Addie turned her focus to Elijah. "Why did you help Klaus educate your sister on all things modern so he could have her spy on me?"

"He promised to awaken the rest of my family if I did that. Had I known my repayment would actually be a dagger to the heart, I wouldn't have done him such a service. He said had no interest in hurting you and was quite clear that he would dagger Rebekah again should she hurt you. I didn't believe you to be in an immediate danger. Either way, I apologize for the role that I played in that situation," the Original professed in a very formal tone. He moved closer and held out his hand in a gesture of apology.

Addie stood up and moved to shake Elijah's hand. She still hadn't approved of what he had done but she didn't get any vibe to indicate that he was lying. As soon as the handshake finished Addie felt a possessive, protective arm wrap around her lower back as Damon tugged her back closer to him. She pushed his hand off of her hip. He didn't get to be annoying and over-protective. Still, he placed his hand on the small of her back, ready to move her out of harm's way if Elijah decided to attack.

"So do you have a plan on how to kill your brother?" she demanded of the elder vampire. When Addie caught his eyes flashing to Damon she snapped, "I want the truth. I don't want to know what only Damon wants me to know."

Slightly taken aback, Elijah nodded at her slowly. "Of course. I believe Damon has the right idea at the moment; whatever is in the coffin should help us kill Niklaus."

"Any idea of what is in that coffin?"

"I have also gathered information from Damon and Stefan on what has transpired while I was out of commission. From that and the new stories of ancient history that Niklaus has confessed to me I have an idea but I cannot say with 100% certainty that what I think may be in the coffin is correct," Elijah replied, trying to keep out information that wasn't directly related to her question, things Damon would not want her to know, like what they had just done that evening.

Annoyed that she obviously had to be more specific Addie huffed, "What do you think is in the box?"

"I believe it to be my mother's corpse."

Klaus had killed their mother a thousand years ago. Her corpse would be nothing more than a pile of bones. Struggling to understand she asked, "Why would Klaus cart around the remains of a woman who hated him and whom he killed over a millennia ago in a casket he can't even open?"

"That's essentially the point. My brother wants to make sure that coffin remains closed. My mother was a very powerful witch who hated what Niklaus was so much so that she tried intervening in his plans to make more hybrids from the other side. I speculate Niklaus believes she can come back and kill him."

Addie looked incredulously from Damon to Elijah and back to Damon again as she gawked, "Your plan of killing Klaus relies on a spirit crossing over from the other side and having a corporeal body instead of being just bones and we have to figure out how to open a magically locked coffin? You know, you've had some stupid plans but bringing the dead back to life has to top them. This woman already tried to kill Elena to prevent Klaus from making more hybrids."

"With Klaus dead she has no reason to want Elena dead. I know it sounds crazy but remember when the ghost were in town? The wreaked all kinds of havoc. It all started with Vickie, though; the Original Witch knew how to send her to our side. Why can't she do the same thing to herself?" Damon scowled as he defended his idea.

There wasn't really an answer she could give to that. Every time she thought she figured out the laws of the supernatural universe they seemed to change. Thankfully Damon's ringing cellphone saved her from having to answer.

"Unless you've opened my coffin we have nothing to talk about," he greeted the caller curtly. It had to be Bonnie.

The conversation was mostly one sided, with Damon adding the occasional grunt of acknowledgement. Addie studied his face carefully, noticing the corners of his mouth tip further and further down, his eyebrows knitting together and the three creases on his forehead that he always got when he was deep in thought. Just before hanging up he said, "I'll take care of it."

Tucking his phone away Damon looked knowingly at Elijah. Addie's lips pursed as she pouted. Of course Elijah had heard the other end of the conversation with his super hearing. Once again she was the only one in the dark.

"I better get home. I'll let you know if anything happens," Elijah said before quickly disappearing

"What was that about? What's going on?" she demanded, spinning on her heel to stare Damon in the face.

In place was the guarded mask of anger again. "You should go home."

Addie crossed her arms defensively. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Damon sighed, running his hand through his hair. The mask briefly faded to show how tired he was; but, as soon as it appeared, it was gone. He wasn't in the mood for a fight. "Bonnie and her mom finally opened the coffin. Whatever was in it knocked both of them out before they could see what it was."

"So, your plan released an enemy?"

His mouth opened but he quickly closed it again. The fastest way to get her back to safety didn't involve bickering over little bullshit. Fuming he growled, "Go home, Ads."

"I suppose you're not going to tell me why you've been such a dick then."

"Addison, take your ass home right now or I will take you," Damon hissed threateningly.

Her eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. It wasn't typical for Damon to speak to her in such a manner. However, as angry as he was she didn't doubt that would do as he said. Odd thing was that, for once, she honestly had no idea what she had done to upset him.

Addie held up her hands in surrender, "Fine. I can take a hint."

Addie finished her nightly routine with her methodical brushing of her teeth. When she returned to her room, ready for bed, she was surprised to find Damon already settled down. He definitely hadn't been in the room when she'd gone to the bathroom. Judging by his earlier behavior she hadn't anticipated him coming to hold and sleep with her just to keep away the nightmares.

Slowly approaching the bed Addie cautiously asked, "Are you still in dick mode?"

"No," he grumbled. Damon's arm slung across his eyes mostly hid his expression but she could still hear the trace of irritation in his voice.

"That sounds quite reassuring," she mumbled. Addie fumbled with plugging her phone into the charger, stalling to avoid laying down. Damon wouldn't hurt her but she didn't really feel like laying with him if he was just going to be an pain.

He sighed loudly, "I don't suppose you would just lay down and we could go to bed like a normal couple."

Sitting on the edge of the bed, her back towards him, Addie tentatively asked, "You were really pissed off at me. Are you still mad?"

"Guess that's a no on being a normal couple," he muttered bitter and sardonic. "I was extremely pissed off. You weren't safe."

"What? I was just at the boardinghouse."

"Where Klaus and Elijah have been invited in. We agreed that you'd stick to being with Bonnie or me or at school or here. At least here only Elijah can get in," Damon explained, his voice weary.

Damon's protectiveness, while appreciated, had become too extreme for Addie's liking. He was so unbelievably mad over such a little thing. Her mercurial boyfriend and his judgement were very baffling.

"I'm confused. Do you trust Elijah or not?"

He scoffed in disgust, "Of course not. However, I do trust him more than I trust Stefan right now. He's so absorbed in hating me right now that he's not exactly willing to work on vanquishing Klaus with me. I have no idea what his plan about Klaus is beyond pouting and sulking like an adolescent."

"What about vampire puberty and maturity?" Addie wondered aloud, distracted from her original thought.

"Yes, being unreasonable and overreacting are common in puberty. As you are so highly affected by both I thought you'd get that."

She looked over her shoulder to glare at him. Damon didn't respond except to raise a challenging eyebrow. "If you're just going to be a dick then you can just leave."

"I get to be a dick; you put yourself in serious danger! I'll try to scale it back, though," he amended.

"What danger?! Damon, you act like I'm going to be attacked at every turn. Is there something more than you undaggering Elijah that I don't know about? And if anyone gets to be a dick, it's me. Did I sleep through the discussion where we talked about you undaggering Elijah? Or have we reverted back to old habits and you simply don't care about what I think? I'm pretty certain we both agreed not to do anything without talking to the other first," ranted Addie. The fact that Damon had gone behind her back and basically ruined the progress that had been made when they worked together against Klaus made her so upset because she actually believed it was a step towards functional in their dysfunctional relationship.

Damon stifled a groan; he didn't want to argue about their relationship. He already knew Addie would win and then he'd just feel like shit. He decided to address the only part of her ramble he could fight. "You could be attacked at any moment. Klaus is running loose, even if we think we have control of him. I had just undaggered another Original who could kill you. And I probably should mention that you need to be even more cautious now. Elijah thought having to handle the rage of the siblings he has staked would keep Klaus distracted from the coffin issue and you. So now we have two more Original brothers and Rebekah to contend with."

"Plus whatever was unleashed from the coffin," Addie contributed sullenly. His overbearing manner made more sense now that he explained that he had awaken another Original. Damon didn't trust Elijah and if something happened to her because Damon had pulled the dagger from him, he'd never forgive himself. And he had decided that waking up three more ancient vampires, only one of whose temperament they knew about, was the route to take in killing Klaus.

"Yeah."

As she got into bed, laying on her side, facing away from Damon Addie decided, "I forgive you for being an overprotective dick. I'm still mad at you for undaggering Elijah without consulting me."

"Mmm… I don't remember apologizing for either one of those," he replied lightly, "nor do I plan on it."

"I know. You're too proud for that. Plus you're convinced you're right; you won''t change your mind. You're annoyed with me for going to the boardinghouse and I'm upset with you for making a move without discussing it with me," she pointed out. "This is the same old cycle. By morning we'll have both gotten over it."

Damon sighed as he moved so Addie's back was pressed against his chest and curled a protective arm around her waist. "If we have a road map for our fights, it's probably a signal we argue too much," he murmured as he buried his face in her hair, the familiar scent of cucumber melon filling his nose.

"We do. We always have. We both knew that we can frustrate the hell out of each other going into this," she said softly, pushing herself further into him and getting more comfortable.

"Before we bitched and bickered. Don't you think we're having more real arguments?"

Addie gave a noncommittal hum. It was too late to start another argument. She'd figured they'd go back to just bickering once they started to work together. Clearly Damon was still going to fly solo, though. For her what they fought about mostly boiled down to how much he respected her independence and treated her like an equal. Damon would just use his usual argument of trying to protect her.

She was drifting between sleep and consciousness when Damon very quietly admitted, "I know I was supposed to discuss undaggering Elijah with you and our plan to distract Klaus. I just worry about you so much already that I thought one of us deserved to be a little less stressed out about your safety."

Addie wasn't certain if Damon had meant for her to hear that or not; it would have been easy to mistaken her for being asleep. "If you keep worrying so much, we're going to keep having real arguments."

It was a while before he concluded, "Then we're going to keep fighting. You're my everything. I can't fathom what would happen, who I would be if I lost you."

As much as he infuriated her, Damon could really tug at her heartstrings when he said things like that. She tried to sympathize with his concern. He was really important to her and she was concerned about him and his safety. It was a struggle to grasp how it was even possible to have feelings ten times stronger than what she had for him. Addie definitely didn't envy his heightened emotions.

A/N: I apologize for the short chapter. It just felt like the natural stopping place. Next chapter is really fun, especially if you like Klaus and Addie. Lots of things I could say about this and what I plan on changing but I think I need to redesign how I'm doing this. I also need to change when I'm writing this so I don't end up with messes like the last chapter. Comment or PM if you have ideas of what you want to see or what you'd like changed.

Thank you all so much for reading, following, adding this to your favorites and commenting.