A/N: Please review, if you read.

I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES OR THE CHARACTERS.
Music Credit: "Blurry" – Puddle of Mudd

~*.*~
'Everything's so blurry and everyone's so fake.
And everybody's empty…
And everything is so messed up…
Preoccupied without you, I cannot live at all.
My whole world surrounds you.
I stumble, then I crawl.

You could be my someone.
You could be my scene.
You know that I'll protect you from all the obscene.
I wonder what you're doing – imagine where you are.
There's oceans between us, but not very far.'
~*.*~

Chapter Ten:

It's been a little over two weeks, since my meltdown in the movie room. I wouldn't say that things got easier, but they got a little better. I went back to work and I was going through the motions. Fake it, until you make it. Right? Or something like that, anyway.

I didn't feel like I was still being watched, but I wasn't delusional enough to think that Damon was actually keeping his distance. The second I let my guard down, is the moment that he'll show up and tear everything to hell.

I glanced at the clock across the coffee-shop and saw that I still had an hour left of my shift. I like working. It gives me something else to focus on, for a little while. It's nice. It just… sometimes it makes me feel like I'm a sitting duck, out in the open.

Darla would never admit it, but I know that Stefan showing up here scared her. She doesn't let me out of her sight for more than ten minutes at a time. I know that I should be offended, that she doesn't think that I'm capable of looking out for myself, but it's nice. It's nice to know that she cares enough to look out for me, even if she is only my boss.

"Hello sweetheart," someone breathed, from behind me. I jumped and managed not to spill any of the coffee I was holding. I set down the coffee pot and whipped around. I saw a smirking Klaus and I held a hand to my heart. "I didn't mean to scare you." He apologized, but the twinkle in his eye told me that it was half-hearted at best and he was enjoying my discomfort. I scowled at him. He smiled at me.

"Right," I replied, sarcastically.

"I have something for you." He told me, successfully changing the subject.

"What is it?"

"Why don't you open it and see?" He countered. I frowned. I hate surprises. He placed a package on top of the countertop in front of me. I looked at it, skeptically. "Open it, sweetheart." He prodded. I placed my hands on it, gingerly and started to slowly open the box. There's so much in here. I saw a stack of letters and I pulled them out. They're all addressed to me, but the address is to a PO Box two towns over.

"Klaus," I breathed.

"They're from Caroline and Matt." He told me. "There are even a few from your mother." He added, quietly.

"My mother?" I asked, shell-shocked. I haven't seen her, since she split town when I was a kid. "How?"

"I reached out to them. Caroline and Matt already had letters written. They've been writing them, since you left town, but they had nowhere to send them. I encouraged your mother to make an effort with you. I told her that you deserved at least that much. Keep looking. There's more." He tried to refocus my attention on the package at hand. I did as he asked and moved the rest of the letters out of the box and set them off to the side. I saw an envelope that was blank and that wasn't sealed. I looked at Klaus' for an answer, but his face remained impassive.

"What is it?"

"Open it."

"You're impossible."

"You love it." He smirked, smugly. I rolled my eyes and opened it. I pulled out a folded piece of paper and straightened it out. I read over it, quickly. It's a gun permit and a license to carry a concealed weapon.

"How did you even get this without my knowledge?" I asked him.

"I have my ways. Elijah and I will be teaching you to shoot, if you're comfortable with that. We'll also be giving you self-defense lessons. You shouldn't feel helpless, because you don't know how to defend yourself." He revealed. My jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?!" I asked him, a lot louder than I intended. He nodded. "I… Thank you." He nodded and motioned to the box, again. I pulled out an antique silver hand-held mirror, a wrapped package and a small box with a bow on top.

I unwrapped the package, first. It was a painting of me. I wasn't smiling or dressed up. I was in normal looking clothes and my hair was down. I didn't look happy, but I didn't necessarily look sad, either. I looked… strong, but my eyes look haunted. I stared at the picture, transfixed. I look… so much different. He painted me with more life than I feel like I have. My lips are full and my eyes are defiant. I don't look pale or weathered. I look… He made me look…

"Beautiful," he breathed. My eyes jerked up to him and then back to the painting. He made me look beautiful. "You are beautiful. Eventually, you'll see yourself as I see you. That's what the mirror is for." He explained, gently. My hands shook, as I set the painting down, back into the box, along with the mirror. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to believe that one day I might believe that, but I don't. Right now, I don't think that's even remotely possible.

I played with the bow on the tiny box, afraid to see what else he gotten for me. He seemed to sense my hesitation, because his hand settled down, on top of mine.

"That is from my mother." He told me.

"Your mother?" I echoed. He nodded. I nodded, back. That makes it slightly less intimidating. I took a deep breath and lifted the small lid, before I lost my nerve. I glanced down and saw a beautiful pendant necklace. It looked familiar, like I had seen it somewhere, before. "I can't accept this." I whispered. "It's too much, Klaus." I pushed the necklace to him. He shook his head and placed it in front of me.

"Do you recognize it?" He asked me, instead. I nodded.

"It looks familiar, but I can't place it."

"It's the Mikaelson family crest. This necklace has been in my family for generations and my mother would like you to have it. It doesn't come with strings, Bonnie. None of this does. I'm not trying to pressure you into anything. Whether whatever is between us grows into something or withers away, you will always have a place among the Mikaelson family. That is what my mother wants you to know. She considers you to be part of the family. We all do. You have a place here. You matter to us – to me. You don't have to wear it, but we would like you to have it. We all have one. It's the Mikaelson way." He explained. I heard every word that left his lips, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it.

"I…"

"Bonnie, please," he asked me. I looked up at him and into his eyes. He looks so sincere and vulnerable. I knew that I wouldn't be able to tell him no. I'm not sure that I wanted to tell him no. I… What's the harm? He's right. It feels right. I haven't been with the Mikaelsons long, but they do feel like family to me. I'm not sure when it happened, exactly, but it did happen.

"Will you…" I whispered. I cleared my throat and looked down at my feet. "Would you mind putting it on me?" I asked him, quietly. He smiled, softly, at me. It was a smile that I learned that he reserved for me. Klaus doesn't smile often, but when he does, it's always around his family, or around me. It's almost like he shows me the soft side of himself that he hides away from everyone else.

"Of course, love," he agreed. I turned around and I felt his fingers tickle the back of my neck and gingerly move my hair off to the side. I lifted my hair for him and he fastened the necklace for me. I let my hair drop and I turned to face him. "You wear it well." He complimented me. I gave him a soft smile.

"You didn't have to do all of this. You don't have to do a lot of the things you do." I told him.

"I want to, sweetheart." He assured me. I nodded and watched him.

"Why?" I asked him.

"There's something about you, Bonnie. You captivate me – fascinate me. There is something between you and I. I would very much enjoy the opportunity to explore what that might be and what it could grow into. You make me feel things that I haven't felt in quite some time."

"I could be your someone." I guessed, surprisingly myself that I actually said it out-loud. He nodded and leaned over the counter, closer to me.

"I think you might be, sweetheart. I'm a patient man and I don't mind waiting for you. It's completely up to you. With me, things will always be up to you, but know that I do want you. I have feelings for you, Bonnie." He admitted. Warmth seeped through my body and my heart soared at his confession. It's something that I think I already knew, but it means so much more, when he can actually say it.

"I have feelings for you, too." I whispered, so quietly, that I'm surprised he heard me. "I don't want things to change. I like slow. Slow is good. I can't… I can't be more yet… I can't. I'm sorry."

"You never have to be sorry with me." He promised. He packed up the gifts in the box he had brought them in. He leaned forward and placed a small, chaste kiss on my lips, before pulling away. I gave him a small smile. "How about a cup of coffee, love?" He asked me.

"Coffee?" I echoed.

"Coffee."

"Right, coffee." I poured him a cup and started to process everything he had told me.

~*.*~
'Everyone is changing.
There's no one left that's real…
To make up your own ending and let me know just how you feel…
'Cause I am lost with you, I cannot live at all.
My whole world surrounds you.
I stumble, then I crawl.

And you could be my someone.
You could be my scene.
You know that I will save you from all the unclean.
I wonder what you're doing.
I wonder where you are.
There's oceans between us, but not very far.'
~*.*~