you and me, forever.

8. What Kind of Friends?

Despite Caroline's protests to her sister coming with her, she eventually gave in, and the two were outside of the boarding house in no time. Caroline was worried about how dangerous Klaus could be, and didn't want to subject her sister to any harm. At the same time, Katie knew she was only human, but she was still Caroline's big sister, and she would do everything to protect her too. She couldn't let her go alone, even though she knew that her little sister was now more than capable of holding her own.

"So this is how I get to first meet the guy you and Elena think so highly of...great." Katie sighs.

"I know, but remember all I told you about him. He was such a good friend to me throughout my transition and adjustment to my new life. And he's great to Elena. This just isn't him right now...and Klaus, I never met him. But he is dangerous, so if you get uncomfortable leave quickly and I will protect you," Caroline says quickly before the two barged in.

Two men were standing in the living room that Katie didn't recognize. Elena was seated on the couch with Bonnie, Damon and Tyler stood behind it, next to the bourbon stock.

"Well well, who do we have here?" A smooth accent asks, whisking his way over to the girls. He was tall and lean, but muscular. His blonde hair was neat, and his eyes were piercing. Katie immediately knew this must be Klaus. He was staring at the pair intently, his large figure directly in front of them.

"That's Caroline and her sister Katie," Elena says almost panicky.

"Hmm what pretty sisters. I can see effortless beauty runs in the family," he says reaching for Caroline's hand and placing a kiss on the back, before doing the same to Katie's.

Not what I was expecting from the big bad hybrid. Katie thinks.

As he let go of Katie's hand, a gust of air past her, and Damon was behind her. She could practically feel the anger bubbling up inside of him. She couldn't help but wonder if it was Jealousy or just anger towards Klaus for what he had done and continued to do to his brother.

"What do you two want?" Damon says bringing everyone's attention to his Brother, who was still standing in the living room. Katie looked at him and immediately saw he looked exactly like what Caroline had described, except the soft, brooding demeanor was replaced with an arrogant and rugged exterior.

"It seems as though Elena's loophole of staying alive after the sacrifice may have prevented Klaus from making more hybrids," Stefan says looking to Damon.

"Indeed. So we are here to figure out what to do about that little issue," he says turning his attention back to Elena before Caroline follows him further into the room.

Katie didn't know if she should follow her sister, but just as she was debating what to do, she felt Damon place his hand gently on her low back, guiding her to follow into the room, before breaking the contact but remaining close at her side.

"Well it's not like you can redo the sacrifice," Damon says.

"Exactly, it's not. But I have a few theories and a witch on the way, and I would love to try them out," Klaus says smiling, not wanting to give too much detail to his plans.

"But, I will leave you all to stir for the rest of the day. My family and I are moving back to Mystic Falls for a while, and we have lots to unpack. Stefan, will you please help me drop everything off at the house then return to keep a close watch on Elena?" He asks and Stefan immediately gets up to start the car.

"Oh and you two ladies," he says looking between Caroline, who was now being guarded by a jealous Tyler, and Katie, still being trapped closely next to Damon, "I would love to get to know you both away from the sub-par men you seem to associate with."

And with that he leaves quickly.

"What was that?" Katie whispered to Damon who quickly responded,

"Yeah I don't know what his agenda is,"

"Not Klaus. You. This," she says pointing out their proximity to one another. Just as he was about to say something back, Elena interrupts.

"So. I assume Elijah is with them, maybe we can talk to him and see what these theories are?"

"Yeah, let's go see if we can find him," Caroline says.

Looking at the time, Katie reluctantly decided she should probably get home to do some school work. "I should go, I have a paper to write that's due at midnight,"

"Yeah I promised Matt I would go to the grill with him, but if you need anything text me" Tyler says giving Caroline a kiss on the cheek before leaving.

"So just us and Damon?" Elena says looking at him, almost hopeful. Katie caught the look in her eye, and she couldn't help but wonder if Elena had fallen for Damon in the midst of her boyfriend going a-wall.

"You two go, I'm going to see if any of the Gilbert Journals have anything on making hybrids while Bonnie looks through her spell books," he says going to text her.

Caroline and Elena agree and turn to leave. Caroline gave her sister a warning glare before exiting the house and shutting the door.

"Well I'm gonna go too," Katie says heading towards the door, trying to make a swift exit in order to not further discuss the awkward interactions her and Damon just shared.

"Great, me too! Where are we headed?"

"Excuse me?" She stops in her tracks.

"I'm great at writing papers, plus I work best with a partner," he winks, grabbing the box of journals and following Katie out to her car.

"You better not distract me, friends don't let each other fail" she emphasized, seeing if he had any reaction. He gave her a slight questioning look, before joining her in the car.

•••

The sheriff was at work, so the house was empty when they arrived. Soon enough they were settled in Katie's room, her seated at the desk with her textbook and laptop open, and Damon sprawled out on her bed with scattered journals surrounding him. They had sat there in a comfortable silence for a while, both lost in what they were doing.

"5 journals down and no hybrid information," he announces.

"Distractinggggg" Katie sang turning in her chair to look in his direction.

"How's your essay?"

"Fine, just boring. It's a case study analysis so it's hard to get through," she groans in annoyance at her paper.

"You know I have 3 degrees," Damon brags.

"First of all, I cannot see you actually attending a class in college. Partying? Yeah. Lecture halls? No way," Katie laughed, earning a smile from Damon in return.

"Second, what did you even major in?"

"First time around I got a Bachelors in History, then a Bachelors in Psychology, and lastly a Bachelors in English," he boasts.

"Interesting," she thought out loud.

"I could help you," he says.

"It's almost done it's just a matter of one more paragraph," she sighs, "but it's kind of you to offer."

"What can I say? I'm a giving man," he smirks.

"You need to stop that"

"Stop what? Didn't we have this conversation before?"

"We did. But I wasn't clear. Besides my sister, I don't really have a friend here anymore. And I don't think you have had a friend in years. So, i think it's best to put the awkwardness behind us and be friends," she says staring at him.

"What kind of friends?" He teases with a smile, and she rolled her eyes, going back to her work.