"Welcome! Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight's pick is a century-old waltz so if all of you could find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom." Elijah announced to everyone before making his way down the staircase and leading everyone to the room next door.

Havana stood by the steps of the grand staircase along with the rest of the Mikaelson clan sealing her status as an official non-official Mikaelson. Her arm was laced with Klaus's while they descended from the stairs following the crowd.

"You look absolutely ravishing, little dove." He whispered into her ear as he helped her down from the last step.

"It's the dress. It's very beautiful, Nik. Where did you find such a beautiful gown on such short notice?" Havana blushed looking down to admire the red floor-length dress she wore. It was adorned with intricate sequins all over the upper portion of the gown and its silhouette swooped down like waves hugging her petite frame.

"I had it for quite some time now. I honestly do not know why I held onto it for so long but deep down I knew that I was reserving it for someone special to come along." He answered with his signature dimples showing.

They turned towards each other and smiled lovingly until a loud laugh interrupted their moment.

"Oh, brother! I regret being stuck in that box and not witnessing the moment you became so pussywhipped!" Kol held onto his sides howling in laughter.

Havana's eyes immediately widened at the statement while Klaus looked like he had flares blowing from his nostrils.

"I just learned that term only a few hours ago. Oh boy, do I love this new century. Vulgarity is finally accepted in society." He continued speaking while still laughing at his brother's display of affection.

"I will shove you into that box again and make sure you will never eve-" Klaus started marching towards his little brother with a murderous look on his face. His tone had completely changed from a few seconds ago. Havana had to physically step in the middle blocking Klaus from doing any potential harm.

"I think it's time for a dance! Dance with me, Nik?" Havana started leading Klaus away from the scene until he stopped her.

"I'm sorry, my love. There's something urgent that needs my immediate attention. I will be back shortly though to give you that dance." He gave her an apologetic look. Havana nodded understanding and he kissed her head before he went to another direction.

Not wanting to have a part in whatever drama that was about to unfold, Havana had intentionally not asked him where he was going or what he was about to do. She wanted to enjoy the night by dancing a lot and drinking a lot more just like how she used to when she was free from this supernatural world she unwillingly discovered.

"I'll take it from here then." Kol offered his hand inviting Havana to dance.

She graciously accepted his invitation with a smile.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The dance commenced with Kol leading the way. Havana thought of Kol to be a really good dancer especially given the fact that he did have a thousand years' worth of experience. Havana considered herself to have great experience in dancing as well...if one would count dancing drunkenly in clubs. Surprisingly, Kol was patient with her when guiding her movements and even laughed when she stepped on his foot a couple of times.

"My brother was stupid not to dance with you tonight." Kol suddenly said catching Havana off-guard.

"He will dance with me tonight. He is just busy as usual but he'll be back." She defended.

"I don't think that my brother should be busy at a party while his date who is looking so gorgeous by the way is dancing with someone else." He winked at her spinning around.

Havana laughed before pretending to be shocked, "Kol Mikaelson, are you flirting with me?" She dramatically asked.

"Maybe I am." He confidently admitted with a sly smile on his face. The pair laughed as they continued dancing. "Seriously though, I do not say this a lot or at all but we see you as one of our own, particularly Elijah, Rebekah, and me. Even though we have not known you for long, you're like a sister to us. And since we care about you and I am the only one not scared of Klaus to warn you about his tendencies..."

"Tendencies?" Havana scrunched her brows in confusion.

"...As in all the girls he has gotten serious with end up either heartbroken or dead or most of the times both," Kol's dancing partner stopped moving in shock.

"What the hell?" Havana said loudly prompting other people to look at the two but she did not care.

"I am just letting you know what usually happens. I'm not saying that it will happen to you."

"Nik and I are fine. Just because he had something to do and couldn't dance with me for now, doesn't mean that there is something wrong Kol." Anger and confusion started to bubble inside of her.

What had he known about my relationship when he had just woken up for twenty-four hours? Havana thought to herself.

"He doesn't look that busy flirting with that blonde girl there." Kol pointed out staring right behind her.

Havana whipped her head and froze catching two people under suspicious circumstances in her vision. Lo and behold it was Ms. Mystic Falls herself Caroline Forbes fawning over Havana's fiancé with her pageant smile. Klaus Mikaelson though did not have his usual scowl on his face as he appeared to have been enjoying their conversation as well. They laughed and smiled at each other as if they weren't from two opposing sides who wanted to kill each other. Havana's eyes followed each movement of theirs closely like a hawk and wondered what in the hell the two had to say to each other for them to clank their glasses together. She felt her body heat up as she saw Klaus then lead Caroline into a room she knew all too well no one was allowed into--his private art room.

Social etiquette had left Havana's body as she cursed out loud and made a run towards the suspicious two but before she could leave the dance floor, a hand roughly pulled her away from the scene and onto a hard chest. Coincidentally, everyone as well had changed partners as part of the dance.

"Let me go, Damon. I need to chop someone's hotdog off now." She growled looking up into his piercing blue eyes with much flare.

"And leave me dancing alone? No way." Damon said with his naturally sarcastic tone.

"Damon!" She tried wriggling out of his tight grip while he made them both dance. However, it was a lost cause as the vampire was much stronger than her. Havana had even stomped on his foot making her best friend groan in pain and curse at the small woman hurting him yet remained in his position. Feeling defeated, she huffed in frustration looking up to him again. "I know you heard my conversation with Kol and you hate Klaus so I don't get why you are not letting me go."

"Cause I'm telling you that there is nothing to worry about." The Salvatore brother nonchalantly answered as if his best friend was not about to explode.

"You're kidding right?"

"All you saw were two acquaintances enjoying a night where for once won't be any violence."

Havana looked at him as if he had grown to heads, "...Again, you're kidding right?"

There were a lot of questions swirling around her mind and it was hard for her to focus on one as she was still processing what she had just witnessed between her fiance and supposed friend.

Was Klaus truly busy? Or did he just say that to spend time with Caroline? Does Caroline really like Klaus? Does he feel the same? Are they having an affair? and why the hell is Damon Salvatore of all people defending Klaus?

"Just trust me Havana. Nothing is going on with Klaus and Caroline. I may want to kill him but I know that he loves you and Caroline loves Tyler." It was unlike Damon to not jump at an excuse to hurt Klaus who was obviously hurting his best friend. It was as if he knew something and was deliberately hiding it from her.

Havana took a few deep breaths while she was being twirled by Damon trying to control her shaking hands and the heat from her face. Maybe she was just overthinking the situation. She replayed the memory of Klaus and Caroline just a few moments ago and in doing so, it definitely looked like they genuinely enjoyed each other's presence. However, analyzing it further, maybe they did so because they did not want any further conflict to ensue and for this ball to go through smoothly. Maybe Klaus being "busy" was code for him to make peace with his enemies although that did not sound like him maybe it was Esther who was behind this. Havana was just filled with emotion because of what Kol had said and maybe she took things the wrong way.

The series of 'maybes 'had started to make her head spin even more and worsened the knot in her chest. The worst part about Havana overthinking is that she was doing it sober.

"Argh!" A man in front of her yelped.

They had switched partners again so Havana was spun from Damon into another partner's hands. He was a stranger and was unfortunately stuck dancing with a preoccupied Havana who was busy drowning in her thoughts while staring at Klaus's gallery door that stayed shut. The sound of the stranger in pain brought Havana's focus back to dancing.

"Oh shit! I'm so sorry." She embarrassingly apologized.

"It's okay. It happens all the time." The man laughed the pain off yet it was still evident noticable on his face.

"What? Girls stepping on your foot?" She joked.

"No, just girls not looking in my direction." Havana looked up at him apologetically not knowing what to say. He smiled light-heartedly ignoring his own reply. "So why are you staring at that door as if it is going to burst into flames any second now?"

"Oh trust me, it's going to be up in flames if I find out my fiancé and friend are doing something they shouldn't be doing inside right now."

The man was surprised with his mouth forming an 'o' in the process. "Oh, I see...Um so they're fuc-"

"What!? No. Oh hell no!" She grabbed a champagne glass from an elderly woman's hand and downed the contents of it in one gulp before giving it back to the distraught owner. "I didn't actually see anything but they did go there alone."

"So you're losing your marbles over two friends who just stepped out for a moment?"

"But they're not friends. It's complicated but they're not friends. They couldn't be...Or maybe they are secretly!" Havana shrieked freaking out even more. She searched around for more champagne when her new acquaintance led her away from the guests holding them.

"I think you're good on the booze for now." He commented that Havana's eyes were still actively on the lookout for more alcohol to enter her system. "Do you trust your fiancé?" He asked which brought her attention back to him.

Havana thought about it hard and after a moment she replied with an honest "Yes".

"Okay good." He nodded. "Trust is important. Without it, there is no relationship. So for you to say that you trust him means that you can let him go wherever with whomever without having to worry because there is-"

"-Trust." Havana finished for him before shaking her head. "I don't know what had gotten into me. It's been a weird past few days." She pinched the bridge of her nose laughing at herself. She looked up to this stranger again and held up her for a handshake. "Hi, my name's Havana."

"My name is Luke. Nice to meet you, Havana."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I'd like to thank you all for being a part of this spectacular evening. Cheers!" Esther toasted to her children.

Everyone including the Mikaelson siblings followed in their mother's actions in raising their glasses and sipping from them.

"Cheers, my love." A voice coming from behind Havana made her turn back. She clanked her glass with Klaus's before taking a sip. Klaus noticed that his fiancé was visibly upset since her eyes were glued to the floor refusing to meet his gaze. In an attempt to make her feel better, he asked "Are you ready to have that dance?"

"The ball is almost over. No one's dancing now Nik." She softly said sipping her drink again and finishing it all at once. "Where have you been anyway? You were gone the whole night."

"I was just dealing with some business with some friends of mine. No one that you know." The lie rolled off naturally from his tongue. Havana stared into his eyes intensely noting how talented he was at being dishonest. "Although it was important, I do realize that it was still wrong of me to have invited you as my date only to leave you to yourself tonight. There is no excuse for it. I apologize for my inexcusable behavior. Allow me to make it up to you tonight, my love. What do you say? A little after-party in my art room?" He wiggled his eyebrows winking at her.

Havana stood silent staring at the stranger she once knew. Her feelings were mixed with both anger and hurt but she was too in shock to have said or done anything. Instead, she turned around hiding the tear that had slipped from her eye, and whispered. "I-I think I'll stay with Elena tonight. With Jeremy being based out of town now, I think it is best if she has company. I'm the only family in town she has left." She walked towards the door leaving the Original to follow after her.

"Havana, what is wrong? Did someone hurt you? I will burn them to the ground when I find out who did this to you."

"It's you Nik! You just hurt me in the worst possible way and you're acting as if nothing is wrong." She turned around pointing at him. Her voice suddenly raised as well.

Klaus looked shocked and opened his mouth to state another lie but it was no use. The betrayed look on her face said it all. "You saw." He stated defeated. "Look, I can explain. This is all a big misunderstanding. "

Havana shook her head with more tears falling down her face, "You're too good at lying Nik. Kol was right, you would either break my heart or be the cause of my death. My heart is in pieces now and I don't want the second one to happen so leave me alone." She turned around one last time and left the house.

Klaus stood still with his face in his hands mumbling curse words at himself. He wanted to chase after her but Havana was too stubborn to ever believe him now. It all looked too bad. Regret filled his heart as his eyes followed her to enter the car where Damon and Elena were waiting for her. Klaus made eye contact with Damon who shot him an angry look.

"You idiot," Damon mumbled softly so that Havana could not hear, but Klaus did.

"Shut up Damon and help me fix this." He instructed the eldest Salvatore brother on what to do. Damon was hesitant only wanting what was best for his best friend. Nevertheless, he agreed.

Seeing the car drive out of the property, Klaus pulled out his phone and started typing in a number.

"Hello?" Carlone answered.

"I think you need to come back. It's time for her to know." Klaus said on the phone before ending the call. He stared at the empty driveway still holding out hope that he did not lose the most important person in his life.