Ariana opened her eyes to nothing though she expected no different. Her hands could feel foreign silken sheets below her and as her hand patted around her immediate area, she practically flew across the room as her gentle hand touched a much larger one. A familiar one.

"Hello Love" she instantly relaxed but she did not want to admit that his presence had that effect on her. She didn't want to allow herself to get too close to the hybrid for she was certain that he would inevitably choose Caroline over herself. She could not see a single reason why he'd choose her. "Are you okay?" his voice was hushed and she did not say a single thing as her eyes closed. The pair still lay beside one another Klaus reached his hand across and placed it gently on her cheek, caressing the satin smooth skin affectionately. Her eyelids tightened as she tried not to cry but tears burst through and she was soon shaking.

Niklaus pulled the gorgeous girl into his chest, his hands softly stroking her hair in an attempt to calm her as she sobbed and he could not blame her. He couldn't imagine how terrified she'd been in the clutches of his mother. If only he knew that it was not just Esther that had caused her to feel such pain. After a long moment of tears and hiccups, she managed to calm herself and merely breathed heavily. She soon recognized how bare her body felt and she patted herself down, realizing that she wore nothing but underwear.

The little brunette blushed furiously and pulled the sheets up over her head so he couldn't see her. This earned her a chuckle from the hybrid who tugged softly at the covers that were clenched in her tiny fists. Suddenly he appeared beside her beneath the covers and his arms circled her incredibly slender waist. She squirmed before squealing loudly as his fingers tickled at her sides. Ariana kicked out around her and Klaus laughed loudly, mischievously as he held onto her, not letting her escape. He was in awe of the feel of her body against his but controlled himself so as to not scare her.

Soon, they relaxed into the mattress once more though Klaus was filled with rather reasonable concern for she hadn't spoken to him. He worried that he had upset her in some way for the night of the meal between the Mikaelsons and Salvatore's, she had been incredibly quiet and upset, then at the ball she had practically avoided him the entire time.

"What is wrong little love? Something tells me this is more than just my mother" he spoke in a rather hushed voice as she lay beside him, her arms were wrapped somewhat protectively around her partially nude form and it made him frown, he inwardly wished that she would just be comfortable with him.

"No... it is more than that" the adorable breathed out, she figured it was best to crush her dreams now rather than later. "Are you just friends with me because I look like Tatia?" she wondered and he frowned deeply, stumped by her question, in all honestly he barely remembered the original doppelganger, it hadn't much occurred to him that she and Ariana were identical.

"Absolutely not Sweetheart, you are so profusely different from her. You are so gentle and innocent and as I look back at what Tatia was like, it is easy to see how selfish she was." he sighed, Tatia played both brothers in a way that Doppelgangers seemed to enjoy doing, except Ariana of course though it was clear why he had gotten in a bad mood when he'd witnessed Elijah and Ariana dancing. Elijah would protect her innocence in a way that Klaus could not.

"... Do you fancy Caroline?" she wondered, attempting to keep an unfazed expression as she didn't want to reveal to him that she had a huge crush on the blond hybrid that was growing day by day no matter the harsh things he did to her friends. What shocked Ariana is that Klaus laughed at her question loudly and she glanced down shyly, her cheeks inflamed. She did not know what that laughter meant.

"Oh Love" he sighed and his left hand came up to gently caress her right cheek softly, she involuntarily leant into the warmth of his fingers and his lips tugged into a smile. "I have absolutely no feelings for Caroline" he assured and Ariana frowned.

"Why not? she is pretty... isn't she?" Ariana almost questioned herself.

"Well I suppose so... but no one is as beautiful as you" he chuckled and she flushed again, it concerned him that she was so self loathing, almost as much as he was and he wondered how she hadn't managed to catch up with his hints yet. He'd decided that life was always going to be dangerous for her, what with being a doppelganger but he was going to protect her. He decided he wasn't going to force himself to stay away from the adorable girl anymore.

Klaus Mikaelson had always been a firm believer that love was a vampires greatest weakness but as he looked down at the beautifully warm girl in his arms with the dazed eyes, he couldn't help but feel that his emotions for her made him strong...

"Ariana... do you have feelings for Elijah?" Klaus wondered suddenly and she was completely caught off guard to the point that her eyes widened.

"Elijah?" she suddenly giggled cutely, it warmed the hybrids heart but he focused on the conversation at hand. "No of course not"

"Do you have feelings for anyone?" he asked worriedly, whilst they were putting everything out on the table he'd decided they should at least be fully honest.

"I... I don't know... I think so" she stated and he frowned, she didn't need to be able to see to know that she needed to give a further explanation "I have never had feelings like this for anyone before so ... I don't know what it means" she said shyly and flushed, for the first time in a long time she was glad she could not see, she didn't want to have to look at his expression.

"Who?" he asked lowly, incredibly worried now that she was developing feelings for someone. For the first time in a while, Ariana attempted to look at him, he guided her face so they were looking at one another, inches apart. She could feel his breath on her face and her heart hammered, he heart it and his head tilted in silent wonder, even though she could not see. She was incredibly worried that she was about to ruined everything.

"You"

In that moment, Klaus decided to seal the gap between the two for the first time, it had been long awaited but he was filled with emotions he thought he had long since lost the ability to feel and her reassurance was all he required.