COLBY ASKED KLAUS to stay until she fell asleep, but when the sun began to come up in the morning, she felt bad for making him stay. She didn't know him very well, but he still came when she was possibly in danger, and she didn't want him to waste the rest of the night because she thought something was possibly in her apartment. Klaus had insisted several times that it was fine, and he didn't mind staying, but that only made Colby feel a tiny bit better.

However, the night wasn't a total waste, as the two stayed up talking in an effort to take her mind off of the strange happenings in the apartment. Colby told Klaus about her late mother and run-away father and in turn, Klaus told her about his family. Colby recounted the vague facts she knew about her father — which were very few and far between. He stuck around for approximately two weeks of her life before taking off, not leaving a note or even a 'good luck with the kid' card. Colby vaguely knew what he looked like, pulled together by a mismatched pile of memories she had formed.

Klaus explained to Colby how he and his siblings ended up as vampires, and Colby listened intently for hours, like a child hearing their favorite book being read to them. It was hard to believe that they were all over one thousand years old, but she supposed it wasn't entirely unlikely, seeing as vampires were now real to her.

When the sun eventually came up, Colby groaned before kicking Klaus out of the room so she could get dressed, ushering him out with the assisted force of her pillow. Putting on a pair of jeans and whatever t-shirt she saw first, Colby slipped out of her room, grinning at Klaus. Looking at her now, it was like you couldn't even tell that she spent the night awake and in fear.

"Alright, Klaus, let's go." Klaus looked puzzled as Colby picked up a set of keys. She paused to give him a grin,  jangling the keys in her hand, "I don't know how to get to your house, and I'd like a way home of my own this time. So, you're riding shotgun." Klaus scoffed, rolling his eyes in mock annoyance as he followed Colby out to her Jeep. It was a little dirty, but all black. Klaus climbed in, slamming the door. Colby hissed, placing a hand on the dash, patting it lightly.

"Be nice to my baby, you jerk." She said jokingly, but with a sharp tone. Klaus looked at her in disbelief, raising an eyebrow.

"You refer to your car as your baby?" Klaus asked, and Colby rolled her eyes playfully, turning the key in the ignition.

"Fight me."

–•–•–

As Colby was driving, her phone began to ring. Colby looked at Klaus expectantly, who threw his hands up in exasperation, grabbing her phone out of her bag. Every movement was given an extreme exaggeration, proving to be all the more dramatic.

"You've reached the phone of Colby Scott, this is her secretary speaking." He answered, his tone sarcastic and annoyed. Colby shot him a look, scowling at him.

"Who is this?" Came a surprised shout from the other end. Colby quickly pulled over, grabbing the phone from Klaus, and holding up a finger, telling him to be quiet.

"Claire?" Colby asked once the phone was pressed to her ear. Claire let out a relieved sigh, the sound echoing through the phone.

"Colby, who was that, where are you?" Colby looked at Klaus, who looked amused, raising his eyebrows and gesturing for her to continue.

"That was Rebekah's brother! I stayed at her place again, and I asked him to grab my phone because I was, uh, eating." Colby quickly stuttered out. It wasn't a complete lie, not really.

"I'm so glad you're hanging out with friends again, Colby. I'd rather you be out with your friends than cooped up alone in that apartment all day. Be safe, I love you." Colby managed out an 'I love you' in response before Claire hung up, hurrying to get back to work. Colby stared at her phone for a moment, wondering what Claire would say if she knew who she was truly hanging out with. She just met these people, could she even really consider them friends?

"You really should be driving." Klaus said, snapping her out of her thoughts. Colby smiled tightly, dropping her phone into an empty cup holder before pulling back onto the road.

–•–•–

"I cannot believe you disposed of those vampires with me. You know how I love to set things on fire." Rebekah said in mock-exasperation. Colby snorted from her spot next to Hayley in the other room, reading Elijah's journal over her shoulder.

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard to rot? Besides, they were my responsibility. They attacked the helpless pregnant girl who's carrying my child, and our poor little mystery girl." Klaus said confidently, smirking at his 'victory.' Rebekah rolled her eyes in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Oh, I am so moved by your newfound sense of fatherly duties towards the werewolf carrying your hybrid bun in her oven." Rebekah snapped at her older brother. Hayley and Colby entered the room, Elijah's journal held firmly in Colby's grasp.

"The werewolf, and mystery girl, would like to know what the plan is." Hayley said, wrapping an arm around Colby's shoulders.

"Well, that depends on what you mean, love; my plan for global domination, or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world." Klaus said, his 'joke' clearly not being very amusing to Rebekah. The blonde grabbed a pencil from the desk next to her, throwing it in Klaus' direction. Klaus caught it with ease before it even got the chance to reach his face.

"The plan to rescue Elijah. You know, the good brother. The one who is in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed him in the back." Hayley said, tone short and clipped as she spoke. Klaus smirked at Hayley, enjoying her annoyance.

"In the front, if we're being specific." Klaus quipped quickly. Hayley ignored his comment, continuing on.

"You two said that you would get him back. So is there a plan, or what?" Hayley asked finally, and Colby looked between the pair expectantly, with a raised eyebrow.

"Okay. Well, firstly, Marcel is not my mortal enemy — he's my friend, albeit one who is unaware that I'm trying to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless. And secondly, I daggered Elijah in order to gain Marcel's trust. If I had known he would place my brother in the hands of a particularly nasty teenaged witch, I certainly would have weighed my options a bit differently. And thirdly — sister, please." Rebekah turned to face Hayley, sighing at her brother's command.

"And thirdly, the plan, as you have demanded, is for Niklaus to simply ask Marcel for Elijah back." Rebekah explain simply. Hayley looked at her in disbelief, as did Colby.

"That's not the whole plan, is it?" Colby asked hesitantly, and Rebekah glanced at Klaus. "I mean, I think Marcel is a nice guy, and I don't know the whole story between you two, but this seems like a big deal. Are you sure that would work?"

"Please, Klaus may be a miserable excuse for a sibling, but there is none more diabolical." Klaus looked pleased with Rebekah's comment as he began to speak to Hayley.

"And that's only plan A, love. There's always a Plan B." He said with a smirk that made Colby almost afraid to ask, but she spoke up anyways, swallowing nervously.

"And what's Plan B?" She asked quietly. Klaus got a dangerous look in his eyes, and he seemed almost as if he wanted everything to fall into Plan B.

"War."

–•–•–

Colby went home after the mornings events, attempting to get a nap in. She was asleep for a couple short hours when there was a loud knock on the apartment door. Groaning, Colby stumbled over to the door, opening it to reveal Rebekah who seemed please that she answered after the first knock.

"Hello, love. Get yourself presentable, we're going to Rousseau's to see that friend of yours." The vampire said, and Colby brightened up at the mention of Camille. Inviting Rebekah in, Colby quickly moved to fix her hair, and slip on a jacket and shoes before meeting Rebekah in the living room, who was holding a framed picture in her hands. "Is this your mom?" She asked, showing the picture to Colby. There was a seven year old Colby standing in front of a beautiful woman with long, curly brown hair and a bright smile. Her warm brown eyes practically sparkled, even in the picture. Colby smiled at the picture, gently grabbing it out of Rebekah's grasp.

"Yeah, that's her. Claire took that picture when they took me to an amusement park for the first time. I hadn't even gone on any of the rides yet but I was still super excited. I also learned that I absolutely hated roller coasters." Rebekah laughed along with Colby, who placed the picture down. "Shall we?" She asked, holding an arm out. Rebekah smiled, looping her arm through Colby's without hesitation.

"We shall."

–•–•–

"And so then I moved back here to be closer to my brothers because, let's face it, family's important, right, Camille?" Rebekah rambled to the bartender, Colby only half-listening as she drank her chocolate milk.

"Cami. I have to change this name tag. Drunk guys keep hitting on me in French. You sure you haven't been in here before? Your face looks so familiar." Camille asked, eyes studying Rebekah's face. Rebekah paused for a moment, sipping her drink, eyes shifting around before landing back on Camille.

"You must have seen me out and about. Aren't you dating Marcel Gerard? He's a pal of mine — sort of. I heard he had a crush on the blonde bartender at Rousseau's." Rebekah said slyly, raising her eyebrows in question. Camille scoffed, laughing softly.

"I would hardly call it dating. He's wooing me, sort of. I mean, he's very charming, which probably means I should run for the hills." Camille said jokingly, and Colby wanted to speak up, to defend Marcel, but she also didn't want to let Camille get hurt. She didn't truly think Marcel would do that, but the possibility was still there.

"I'm kind of in an on-again/off-again thing myself at the moment." Rebekah trailed off. Camille let out a sigh of understanding, leaning against the bar.

"Those are the worst, aren't they? The ones you can't shake, even though you know better, and you always know better?" Camille said with a roll of her eyes. Rebekah smiled, slightly lifting her glass towards Camille.

"I like you, Cami. Most girls have the unfortunate tendency of being whiny little twits." Colby let out a quiet laugh at Rebekah's words, Camille laughed awkwardly.

"Thanks, I think." Camille said in confusion, causing Rebekah to glance at Colby, who looked back at her, raising her eyebrows.

"Hey, I'm supposed to go to this posh charity thing thrown by this philanthropist tonight. He's a bit of a Gatsby, throws a mean party. Any interest?" Rebekah asked casually, and Camille shrugged. Colby leaned against the bar, arms resting on top of it with a smile.

"Come on, you can be my date and we can go dress shopping together." Colby said with a bright smile, making Camille laugh, taking her now-empty glass.

"Alright, Col, you got a deal."