Elena woke up the next morning in her room at her family's lake house. She'd decided last night that that was the best place to go with Klaus and Rebekah. There really wasn't anywhere else they could go. Rebekah had been staying at the boarding house, which was out for obvious reasons. And Elena couldn't bring them to her house with Jeremy and Alaric. This was the best option. Not too long ago, Elena would've thought it would be a cold day in hell before she invited Klaus into any home of hers, but things had changed dramatically in the last twenty-four hours.

Elena decided it was best to get up and start the day. It was likely to be very eventful, though hopefully not as eventful as the night before. She grabbed some clothes, which she thankfully kept in this house just in case. She'd even had enough to give Rebakah a change of clothes.

Elena showered quickly and got dressed before returning to her bedroom. She grabbed her phone and saw that she had dozens of missed calls from Bonnie, Caroline, and Damon. She would definitely be ignoring Damon's calls. She didn't fully blame him for what happened. It had been stupid for her to get in between two vampires and a stake. She knew that, however, she'd asked Damon to stop multiple times and he refused. He carried some responsibility too. She was also pretty sure he was calling to berate her for trying to save Klaus.

Elena also quickly decided not to talk to Bonnie right now either. Bonnie was going to bombard her with hundreds of questions and judgements. She'd already started that last night. She'd gotten upset that Elena had empathy for Klaus. She wasn't ready to deal with that. That left Caroline. Caroline had at least seemed to understand how overwhelmed this whole thing had made Elena, and while she'd asked questions, she'd made no judgements.

Elena called Caroline and waited for her to pick up. It didn't take long.

"Elena! Thank God! Are you okay?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Caroline. You don't have to worry," Elena assured her.

"Stefan said he saw you leave with Klaus and Rebekah," she said.

"I did. I felt it was best that the three of us go somewhere alone and try to process things. I'm sorry I didn't answer your calls. I went to bed as soon as we got here," Elena said.

"Where are you? We were really worried about you. Bonnie was ready to do a locator spell," Caroline said.

"Tell her not to do that. It's unnecessary. I'm at the lake house. Don't come down here though. I'm fine. I don't need to be rescued or anything. What I need is to be left alone today. There's a lot of family drama that the three of us have to deal with," Elena told her.

"You mean more than finding out that your father isn't who you thought he was again and that you're related to Klaus?" Caroline asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I can't get into it right now, but we have a lot going on. We need time to deal with it," Elena said.

"Are you sure you'll be okay with Klaus?" Caroline asked with concern in her voice.

"Klaus isn't a threat to me. He proved that last night," Elena said. She had actually been quite surprised by how quickly Klaus had jumped in to defend her, even if it wasn't necessary. Sure, she'd done it for him, but it was different. This was a man who hadn't shown any concern for anyone but himself since she'd met him, and he'd stepped in between her and a man he feared. It was the first time she'd seen any humanity in him.

"Alright. I don't like the idea of you being alone with two originals, especially when one of them is Klaus, but I trust your judgement. If this is what you say you need then do it. I'm here for you. I'll try to keep Bonnie under control too," Caroline said.

"Thanks, Care. I'll call you soon," Elena said before hanging up. She then heard arguing from the other room. As soon as she left her room, she could hear Klaus and Rebekah fighting. She immediately ran towards the fighting.

"It's your fault! You brought him here knowing he would kill me!" Klaus screamed.

"You murdered our mother!" Rebekah snapped back.

"It was an accident!" Klaus yelled. Well, it wasn't technically an accident. It had happened in a fit of rage, but he hadn't been planning her death either.

"Stop!" Elena yelled before getting between her brother and sister. "This isn't solving anything."

"He wants to go on the run again, only he wants to drag you with us this time," Rebekah told her sister.

"It isn't as if either of you have given me a choice! You brought him here and then tricked me into walking into a trap!" Klaus snarled.

"It wasn't a trap, Klaus. Maybe we thought it was at first, but Mikael only wanted to talk to you," Elena told him.

Klaus laughed bitterly. "Oh, is that what he told you? You know, I would think even you would be smart enough not to fall for that one, Elena. Now get whatever things you have here together. We're leaving within the next ten minutes."

"No. We're not going anywhere," Elena said.

Klaus moved closer to her so that their eyes were inches apart. "I don't remember giving you a choice, little sister. Perhaps you'll thank me when you're not getting beaten bloody every day for eternity."

Elena took a deep breath to keep herself from lashing out. That wouldn't be helpful. He was being a dick, but in this case, it came from a good place. He was scared and he was trying to keep them safe. "Klaus, you need to calm down. You don't have to be afraid anymore. No one is going to hurt us or you. Just calm down and listen to us for a minute."

"You only say that because you don't know better! Because Mikael was kind to you last night. I promise you, it won't last. He is a monster! You will see that one day, or you would if I allowed it. Rid yourself of the fantasy you have of a protective father who will protect you from the monsters! He doesn't exist," Klaus said.

"Nik, just stop raging and listen for five minutes. Things aren't the way we thought they were," Rebekah said.

Klaus scoffed. "Then how are they, sister. Go ahead, I'll indulge you."

Rebekah sighed. "He was mocking her, but it was the best chance they had of getting him to listen. She didn't know how much good it would do, but it was worth it to try. "Father was brought here to kill you. That much is true. I had a hand in it, but I doubt I would've been able to go through with it."

"It didn't matter because that wasn't what Mikael wanted. Mikael came to see me the next day. That was when he told me the truth about his connection to all of you," Elena said.

"And that is when the hero worship started, I'm sure. Here was your chance for a brand-new family," Klaus sneered.

"Oh, yeah, that's just what I wanted, to find out I was related to you," Elena said sarcastically.

Klaus said nothing in response. He couldn't deny that her hatred for him was justified. However, despite that, she was his sister, and he'd do anything in his power to protect her, whether she liked it or not.

"I'd already had more than enough paternity revelations to last me a lifetime. That's beside the point though. Before he told me that, Mikael made it clear to me he had no intention of hurting you. He didn't want to hurt you. He never did. He said he went from loving you to hating you without any explanation why. Then when he was woken up from desiccation, that hatred went away. All he saw when he thought of you was his son," Elena explained.

"That's a lie! The bastard always hated me! He told you that to get on your good side. Perhaps he thinks he can start over with you, but he can't change who he is," Klaus said.

"Klaus, I understand why you don't believe it, but you didn't hear the way he spoke of you. He defended you to me when all I could see you as was a monster," Elena said.

"Nik, I know it's difficult to accept, but you and I know what can happen when magic is involved," Rebekah said.

Klaus looked at Rebekah in disbelief. "You have fallen for this, sister. I get Elena. She's never seen Mikael as his worst, but you know better. Are you that desperate for a parent's love that you'd believe such nonsense?"

Rebekah knew her brother was trying to bait her, but she refused to rise to it. "I didn't believe him at first, Nik. I was as sure as you are that he was lying, but then he gave you the white oak stake. He not only handed you the one thing he had to kill you, but also the one thing you could use to kill him."

"It's a mind game! It's nothing more than that," Klaus said.

"That was never his style. He used brute force to cause pain. Plus, it's not the only thing he did differently. He defended you to Damon Salvatore, and when he was ready to kill him, Elena stopped him. He stayed his hand for her. He has never stopped when he's made up his mind to kill someone," Rebekah said.

Klaus looked at his sister as though she'd gone insane. She truly believed this story, and that frightened him more than anything, because he knew the damage that his father could do when he and his siblings were expecting it. He didn't want to think about what he could do to them if they actually thought he was a decent person. He needed help. He needed to get Elena and Rebekah far away from his father. He could handle Elena by himself, but not her and Rebekah. "You've lost your mind to even contemplate this. The two of you are to stay in this house. I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Rebekah asked.

"To get reinforcements," Klaus said before walking away.

"Honestly, that went about as well as I expected. He was never going to believe it right away," Rebekah said.

Elena nodded. She didn't expect him to believe it at first either, but she'd hoped it would at least stop him from wanting to flee the town. "What does he mean by reinforcements?"

"My guess is he means Elijah, which means this is going to get worse," Rebekah said.

"I always considered Elijah to be rational," she said.

"Yes, but the thing you need to understand is that given the life we've led, this new Mikael isn't rational. I do sound as though I've lost my mind. Nik is seeing danger right now. Elijah will see it as well, and he is seriously protective, especially when it comes to Father. YOU think Nik will be hard to convince? Elijah will be much harder," Rebekah said.

Elena sighed and took a seat. That didn't bode well, but right now, all they seemed to be able to do was wait and see what Klaus did next.