"Can you tell me why your sister can't seem to think straight?"

I set down the bouquet of flowers and glance up at my blonde friend. "What did she do now, Care?"

A frown appears on her lips, "She and Stefan broke up, which is terrible because he won't attend the pageant now!"

My eyes widen at the news, taking this all in. It was now time to renew the Miss Mystic Falls Beauty Pageant and Caroline asked me to volunteer and help. I mainly agreed so I could get my community service hours up.

"I had no idea," I tell her, crossing my arms.

"Oh, she's right there. Let's go," She grabs my hand. "And why are we going over to her?" I question. "Because you and I are going to shake some sense into her clearly diseased brain."

I stop her, "Okay, and what's wrong with her diseased brain?" I ask. She crosses her arms, "Your sister has feelings for Damon!"

"Oh..." The mention of Damon crossing through my mind made me irk. I reject him, so now he moves onto my sister? That thought alone didn't sit right with me.

Elena is arranging flowers in a vase at a table and Caroline and I walk over to her. "Look, I'm your best friend and I would never pick sides, but are you sure that this is what you want? Because Stefan is your soul mate."

Elena looks up at her and Caroline sighs, "Sorry. Picking sides."

"It's not like I don't love Stefan anymore, but I can't deny that ever since I turned, my feelings for Damon have become more intense." Elena responds and I scrunch my nose in disgust.

Caroline looks down, "Yeah, I know. Stefan filled me in on all the gory Damon details."

"He did?" Elena looks at her for a second, worried. "Is he okay?"

"No, he's heartbroken." Caroline responds. "Well, what was I supposed to do? Lie to him?" Elena questions.

I purse my lips and decided to agree with my blonde friend, "Can't you pretend your feelings for Damon aren't there for one night? Stefan deserves to be there."

"Yeah!" Caroline nodded rapidly, "Damon's just confusing your newbie vampire heart."

"Well, he did and that's exactly what I am," she states, "...confused. I need to figure out what these feelings actually mean."

"Excuse me, I'm a little lost. I'm here to interview contestants."

I turn around, facing a man with curly brown hair. "You're Professor Shane." Elena realizes and all three of us exchange looks.

Professor Shane was the teacher at the Whitemore College who took over Bonnie's Gram's class. Bonnie told me a lot about him.

"Yeah, that's right. Professor by day; pageant judge by other day. In spite of being absurdly unqualified, I'm apparently awarding a scholarship." he says.

"Uh, inside by the parlor." I tell him, and he points up towards the house. "Right in here?"

I nod. "Mhm."

"All right, I'll just follow the scent of hairspray and world domination." he jokes and Caroline laughs quietly as Professor Shane walks away.

Elena turns and looks at us, "He's the one who told Damon how to break the hunter's curse."

"He's also the one that has Bonnie so obsessed with practicing magic that she bailed on pageant prep."

"And now he's judging Miss Mystic Falls?" Elena says as Caroline raises her eyebrows.

"Jack of all trades or kind of creepy?"

§

"Where are you, sweetheart?"

"Oh," I pull my phone away from my ear to check the time. Cursing to myself, I put the phone back and bit my lips. "I'm sorry. I got lost track of time... Caroline put me in charge of the outside while she finishes up inside."

I exhale a sigh, looking around the Lockwood mansion that will hold the pageant. I was supposed to meet Klaus later, but time seemed to slip away.

"Turn around."

There's a whoosh from behind and before I know it, a certain hybrid stands next to me. "What time am I picking you up tomorrow?" he asks, an amusing smile on his lips.

"You want to go to the pageant?" I inquire, putting down my clipboard. "Well, I must support the local activities of Mystic Falls, shall I not?" he answers.

"You're going to have to meet me here." I tell him and give him a specific time. "And will you accept another dress at your doorstep?" Klaus asks with his hands behind his back, his grin never leaving.

"Sorry, Klaus," I give him a small smile, "but Caroline beat you to it. She made me go dress shopping with her earlier."

"Yeah, and I picked out the perfect dress for her." Caroline chimes in the conversation out of the blue.

Three girls pass us with flower arrangements and Caroline automatically stops them, "Those flowers go in the back as indicated by the floral chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize."

She nods as they walk away, "Yeah, thank you..." She turns to us, "Seriously, why does no one pay attention?"

"You don't get paid enough for this, Care." I giggle.

§

The very next day rolled by and April holds up two dresses for us to choose from. We stand in a room to help pick out the best dress for the judges to choose from.

"Blue." Caroline, Elena, and I answer in unison.

April furrows her eyebrows, "Really? The blue seems a little safe."

"Safe is what the judges will pick." I tell her, taking the red dress from her fingertips. Caroline nods, "She's right. Gracie Lockwood had a three-foot slit her year and practically got laughed off the court."

"She got my vote."

Damon enters the room and I inhale sharply, turning my gaze away. Caroline throws an object at his chest to shoo him away, "Get out, lurker!"

"Ouch." Damon sarcastically whines. Caroline walks over to him as he continues to speak, "Where's Professor Shane?"

"Check the judges' table." Caroline replies and starts to close the door on him, but Damon puts his hand up and pushes it back open.

"Red one, definitely." Damon tells April and she nods, taking in his opinion.

Getting angry, I cross my arms. "We didn't ask for your input, Damon. We know what's best for the pageant. Not you."

"It's a pageant. That's the whole point. My opinion matters." Damon responds and I narrow my eyes as Caroline places her hands on her hips, "Did you win Miss Mystic last year? No. I don't think you did."

"Neither did Elena and she wore blue." he points out. "And if I recall, Maya's dress was safe and guess what? She didn't win."

"Nobody cares what you think." Caroline spats, but April steps in, "I care."

"See? April cares. Red, right, Elena?" Damon asks Elena and I turn to her.

"The red is pretty." Elena bluntly responds and my face falls. Damon smirks, "And my work here is done." he soon leaves the room.

My eyes watch as he leaves and I turn my attention back to my sister. "Um, I thought we listened to the judges opinions, not Damon's." I tell her.

"Yeah, what happened to thirty seconds ago when you hated the red one? What happened to safe is good?" Caroline questions with an attitude.

"You don't need a man to decide things for you." I say with a huff. Elena ignores us and looks at the contestant, "Whichever one you want to wear, April."

Elena exits the room. Caroline watches her leave and turns around, confused. "What just happened?"

§

I stand near a table, exhaling a sigh as I watch the backyard of the Lockwood's mansion grow more and more by the minute. Caroline was running around, desperately trying to keep everything in check.

"You look beautiful," I hear a certain voice whisper behind my ears. I whip around with a smile and find Klaus in his suit and tie. "You look..." I gape.

He leans in to grant a kiss on my cheek, but I pull his tie and lead him behind a bunch of tall bushes. Then, I pull him into a long kiss that I needed to disregard the overwhelming feeling of today.

"Hm, I suppose I should greet you more often then?" Klaus says as soon as we pull away.

I laugh and fix his tie, "If you wear a suit more often, you'd get as many kisses as you'd like."

"Hi, everyone. I'm Caroline Forbes." Caroline's voice beams through a microphone. I give Klaus a look, "Let's get back."

We walk back to the main area where we find Caroline on stage with her usual smile. "As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court."

My hands press together as I clap along with everyone else. Music starts flowing through our ears, indicating the introduction of the girls. They call out their name one by one, and I was getting excited for Jeremy to make his appearance.

"...And finally, we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert." Caroline smiles and puts her card down.

April continues to walk down the steps but stops when there's no sign of Jeremy. I cross my arms, finding it unbelievable that my brother would ditch her. "This has to be a joke." I mutter.

Matt walks up to where the escorts were lined up and holds out his arm for April. Everyone applauds and April breathes a sigh of relief. She walks down the remainder of the stairs with a smile and takes Matt's arm.

The girls and their escorts bow to each other and begin the dance. "Excuse me," I tell Klaus and strut towards Elena and Damon. "Where the hell is Jeremy? Why is there a last minute escort change?"

"I'm calling him right now." Elena tells me, then soon hangs up after a couple of rings. "He's not picking up."

"Do the math. Emo teen, open bar, it's fine." Damon jumps in. I try my hardest to avoid his eyes at all cost. What he said to me a few days prior still struck inside of me, and I can't stand the sight of him at the moment.

"Matt said that Jeremy's been having nightmares about killing vampires and he's been hiding it from me." Elena says.

"This is news to me," I state in surprise. Damon shrugs, "Relax, I'm sure he's fine."

"I don't know. I have a bad feeling." Elena sighs.

"If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried. Let it go. I'll go look for him." Damon tells us and I finally look at him, "Why shouldn't I be worried? He's my brother. Not yours."

"I said I'll look for him." Damon repeated, giving me a hard glare before leaving us alone. My fists clench into a ball, and turn to my sister. "Go home. I'll catch Caroline up and we'll start asking around."

Elena shakes her head, "Maybe Damon's right. Maybe he grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off to the woods."

"Jeremy isn't like that anymore, and you know that. Damon is never right. Damon is sneaky and manipulative and rude, but he's never right. How can you not see that?" I snap.

"I don't know, but why do I think that you won't hesitate to tell me?" Elena asks. "Fine, twin-tervention. I think your so-called 'feelings' for Damon are really starting to cloud your judgment and I don't like it."

"And the thought of you two together really makes me want to throw myself down a cliff and drown. God, you're just like Katherine. The minute you're over one brother, you move onto the other one." I slip out, crossing my arms.

"Easy, love, you're making a scene." Klaus says from behind me. I straighten my position, seeing that nearby people were looking at us.

"Wow, Maya, thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier. And I am nothing like Katherine." Elena walks away from and I stand there with a blank expression on my face. "How did I become the bad guy?"

Klaus moves from standing next to me to standing in front of me, "Let's get you a drink. I'll tell you all about being the bad guy." he smirks.

§

"I think Damon is the worst." I start out the conversation, his harsh words still fresh in my mind. Klaus walks beside me as we near the bench by the pond.

"We all have our fair shares of good and evil." Klaus says, holding two glasses and a bottle of champagne.

"No, this is different. Damon... I don't even know how to start. Please open that," I gesture to the champagne bottle when we take our seat at the bench.

He glances at me before popping the cork off tne bottle and pouring me a fresh glass of champagne. I take a sip, "He just... says whatever is on his mind and doesn't think about how the other person might feel."

"I am starting to believe this does not only affect your siblings." he raises an eyebrow. I let out an exaggerated sigh, "No, you're right. It doesn't. He and I... aren't on good terms anymore."

"Mind if we talk about it?" he asks, but I'm sure he wants insight on the drama that doesn't necessarily involve him.

"I am being biased right now." I disregard his question, "But, Elena is my sister and I want to look out for her. It's not like her to pick his side over everything. I don't even know who she is anymore."

"So, being a vampire's changed her?" Klaus asks me. "Being a vampire only amplifies who you already are. It doesn't turn you into a completely different person. At least, that's what I've learned over the past few years."

"It's very peculiar." he grins and looks as if he knows something I don't. I furrow my eyebrows, "What's that look for?"

"It'll all make sense eventually." he tells me. "You need to find the cure as soon as possible before I move out of my own house because of her." I quip.

"I'm working on it."

"Would you ever take it?" I ask him. I've been wondering ever since I found out about the cure and now I have a chance to ask him. "Now, why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet? Hm?"

"So there's not one single moment in your whole life that you wanted to be human?" I question.

Klaus takes his first sip from his glass and pulls it away from his lips. "Unfortunately, love, that is not how this works. I ask a question, you answer and I will do the same. Now, what happened between you and Damon?"

"What? Are we playing a game?" I roll my eyes and exhale deeply. "He blamed me for Elena's vampirism."

"And why's that?"

I close my eyes, taking a minute before answering. "I had plenty of times to kill you when you were linked to your siblings. But, because your charm got to me, I couldn't pull through and well, Rebekah killed her."

"My sister's actions are not your responsibility." he says and before he could continue on, I nod my head. "I know. I know."

"Perhaps Damon's loathing towards you goes deeper than Elena." Klaus states and I furrow my eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"He wants something he cannot have."

I nod slowly, "I'm that something he wants."

After sitting and talking, we found out the new Mystic Falls; April. Klaus and I start to walk around the Lockwood property until he stops me. "I suppose I ought to keep your end of the bargain."

I nod and he continues. "Once, I was on a trek in the Andies, and a hummingbird flew up to me. It just hovered there, staring at me, its tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun. And I thought, what a thing, you know, to have to work that hard every day just to stay alive. To be constantly on the verge of death and how satisfying every day must be that it survived. And that was the only time I thought about being human."

§

I stand behind the mirror, looking straight at myself, admiring my beautiful dress. I put my hand by my zipper, but it won't budge. Klaus is in the bathroom, taking off his tie and shirt.

"Klaus, can you help me here?" he nods and walks towards me. His hands push my hair away, as they pull down my zipper. I feel his hands graze over my skin as they fall down to my hips.

His lips lightly touch my skin, and places small, short kisses across my neck. His hands lightly turn me around, facing him. "You're so beautiful, you know that right?" he whispers, his lips extremely close to mine. I ignore his statement and put my lips onto his. He pulls off my dress, I look down watching it fall. I kiss him again.

I detach our lips as he pushes me against the wall. My breath hitches as his lips start leaving trails on my neck, once again. I put my hands behind his head, and push his face closer to mine, and kiss his lips.

And the night was ours.