•|•

"What do you mean you're not coming?" Caroline asked as she walked down the steps of the Lockwood Mansion with a clipboard in one hand and her phone in the other. "I don't need to remind you that your Miss Mystic Falls attendance record totally sucks."

A year ago Caroline had won Miss Mystic Falls while Isabel got second. Carol and the judges didn't want to show favoritism by having Isabel win with the Mayors son on her arm so she got second place. Which she was fine with because the look on Caroline's face as she realized she won made her losing worth it.

"Come on, Stef." Isabel pleaded from beside Caroline as she absentmindedly went through some papers the blonde vampire gave her. "You're a founding family member, and by being so you have to be here." Her eyes shoot to the phone for a second before she looked up to see a girl named Gabby arranging some flowers the wrong way. She looked at her chart and scanned it to see what the actual selection was before going to her, grabbing the flowers from her hands and rearranging them according to the flower chart.

"Try and make it this way each time. Please. Thank you." She offered a short smile before walking with Elena and listening to Stefan.

"Elena and I broke up. I don't need to be anywhere." Stefan retorted. He had been doing push ups all morning to keep himself cooled off when Caroline called him to ask if he was coming.

Caroline glanced at Isabel for a moment. "Did that sound as depressing to you as it did to me?"

"Yeah Stef. What you do shouldn't always revolve around Elena. That's sad."

"Oh, I'm not depressed or sad. I just want to rip into someone's artery and feed until I can't breathe anymore."

"Well, you can't." Caroline told him. "As your sober sponsor, I am not going to let that happen. Try and sublimate."

"She said she has feelings for Damon." He finally told them as a frown etched on his face. He stared up at the sky in hopelessness from his spot laying down in the woods.

"Oh. Gross." Isabel muttered. "Out of all the people..."

For a moment Isabel remembered a time where she didn't know about the supernatural creatures and that even if Damon had a bad boy type air around him she thought they could be friends. He was even the one to tell her about vampires when she saw Stefan's hand miraculously heal when it was cut and then when she spotted blood on Damon when she ran into him once. She had demanded answers and since she was wearing a beautiful old timey watch filled with vervain that Stefan had gotten her after learning her love for history, Damon couldn't compel her and she refused to go anywhere not public with him. So she got what she wanted and he promised not to hurt her or her friends if she kept quiet and she thought she could trust him. He was convincing and she wanted to see the good in a vampire like him. She thought they could be friends especially if Stefan was going to be hanging out with her to. But whatever she saw in him died when she found Caroline with bite marks and found out Vicki was a vampire because of him.

"What?!" Caroline outraged as she looked up from the flowers she and Isabel were fixing. "She can't have feelings for Damon! He's...Damon." She raised her clipboard up and down as she moved away from the table. "And you're...you. And I'm - revolted." She sat the clipboard down as she looked at Isabel, the frustration clear in her eyes. "You know, I'm gonna talk to her. I'm going to shake some sense into her clearly diseased brain."

"Yeah, well I don't know what good that'll do. Elena's right, being a vampire really has changed her."

"And apparently her type in men." Isabel added.

"All the more reason you need to cure her." Caroline argued.

Isabel saw Tyler in the distance and she quickly turned around to see Elena just before Caroline turned to see her standing there as well.

"Look, we got to go." Isabel told him.

"And be careful." Caroline added. "And remember, there is sublimating and then there is insanity."

"I'll be fine." He sighed. "Bye."

Just as he hung up she nodded for Isabel to go and take a break.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

Isabel walked out front to see Matt and Jeremy picking up boxes from the back of Matt's pickup and setting them on the ground. A smile lit her face as she walked down to them and scared her brother with a hug from the side.

"Hey Matty. Hey Jer."

"Hey Iz."

"Hey Izzy."

The boys chorused.

"Need some help?" She asked standing between the two as they went back to to boxes.

"If you wan-"

"Yes." She cut Jeremy off. "I do."

Immediately she got to work and helped them out. It was quiet for a moment before Matt remembered Elena.

"So, Elena is making me be her date. Think I'll have to do that weird dance thing?" He asked as Isabel passed him a box from inside the pickup.

"I think you're safe Matty." Isabel laughed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's just for the contestants." Jeremy added looking up from his box he just sat down.

"I heard that you're April's escort." The human asked, looking at Jeremy with an amused expression. "How'd that happen?"

"Well, she needed a date and apparently you were taken."

Matt grinned and laughed.

"Oh so someone has a crush on my brother?" Isabel raised a brow before sliding another box towards Jeremy.

"No." Matt denied before going to grab one of the kegs but when he tried to lift it up it was too heavy for him.

"Okay, let's just take these in and we'll come back for the kegs."

"No, wait." Jeremy stopped Matt before jumping up into the bed of the truck next to Isabel. "You want to see something cool?" He then picked up one keg in each hand as if they weighed nothing.

"Wow," Isabel said, surprised he could pick something like that up. She was just about to offer to take them in by herself but now it seemed like he could do it just fine.

Jeremy jumped down from the bed of the truck, and placed the kegs on the ground while Matt looked at him with a mix of expression; one being impressed and the other being worried.

"How did you just do that?" Matt asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, Her. Where'd all that muscle come from? The boy I knew could barely even pick me up." Isabel mused as she slid off the edge of the bed of the truck.

Jeremy raised his arms with a cheeky smile on his face. "Ever since I was awoken as a Hunter, I've had all this energy, like all the time."

Matt crossed his arms, the worry taking over. "Jer, I think you need to talk to someone about this. I mean, look what happened to Connor, okay. A byproduct of this energy is that you're gonna want to kill vampires and you happen to live with one."

Isabel noticed Matt's worry and pursed her lips slightly. "He has a point. What if this gets out of control? Most our friends and family are vampires."

"Hey, I would never hurt my sister or our friends." The young hunter said softly. His face grew a smile before he started to walk to his cart of boxes. "I'll be fine." He started to push it towards the house while Matt watched him leave with a look of worry on his face.

"He'll be okay Matty." She laid an arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "Let him have his fun and if a problem arises. We'll fix it. We always do."

Matt wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled slightly. "...Okay. Alright."

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

Caroline stood outside the Lockwood Mansion in front of the steps with her clipboard in hand while Isabel stood next to her continuing to try and memorize the chart Caroline gave her.

In all honestly Isabel couldn't believe the amount of different flowers and tables setting there were but at least the flowers were pretty and she'd get to boss people around a bit which was a secret pleasure of hers that she didn't do very much.

Three girls walked towards them with flower arrangements which Isabel was busy looking over.

Caroline put her arms out in a frantic motion. "Woah, woah, woah, stop, stop!" The girls come to a halt at Caroline's voice. "Those flowers go in the back as indicated by the floral chart that you guys had plenty of time to memorize." She chastised the girls with a hard look on her face.

The girls stared at her blankly for a moment and Isabel finally looked up from her papers to see the girls. "And she means that in the nicest way possible."

The girls nod slightly and turn around and scurry off in a rush. "Yeah, thank you." Caroline called after them.

"You know that's my job. That I didn't know I had until like an hour ago." Isabel muttered the last sentence. She wasn't really bothered by it though more amused that Caroline was so frantic to get things done. "It's funny that I thought helping you would be a little bit more fun. But your just crazy." The wolf laughed.

"They were getting the flowers wrong and you weren't paying attention." Caroline smiled amusedly at her friend.

"Yeah. Okay. I'm not you. I can't memorize this thing in point two seconds." Isabel laughed before noticing Klaus walking towards them.

"Now, how did I know I'd find you with Caroline at the helm of the ship?" The hybrid asked amused as he stopped beside her.

Caroline look up from her clipboard and to Isabel. "And that is my cue to leave." Caroline mused as she looked from Klaus to Isabel with a sly look. "Good luck Izzy."

"Nik, I'm busy." The werewolf stated as she turned to face him, holding up her papers to show him what she had to look over.

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tomorrow." She dropped her hands but kept her finger in the ring of her papers not wanting them to fall and get dirty.

"How about no?" She asked sarcastically yet her face looked like she was serious.

"I was promised a date in return for one of my hybrids." He reminded her.

Klaus walked a bit closer to her and she sighed remembering she promised she'd go in a date with him if he agreed to let a hybrid of his be slaughtered by Jeremy so that it would cure Elena. "Yes, a date. How could I forget?" She asked sarcastically. "I meant like to a movie or to a dinner where my friends aren't around."

"Well, surely you're not taking Tyler tomorrow. Not after his indiscretions with his lady werewolf friend." Klaus looked up at her with puppy dog eyes.

Isabel opened her mouth to object but the look in his eyes and the way he made himself look sort of vulnerable and pleading made her give in. He was being to adorable to resist and he knew it. "Fine. If you insist on coming and being my date, meet me here at two p.m." She started to walk away towards where the girls with the flowers went so she could check if everything was good. "Black tie is optional." She quickly turned around and pointed at him. "And I already have a dress, so don't even think of getting me anything. Understood?" Klaus looked down submissively with a sly smile and nodded.

Isabel nodded while walking up the stairs.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Bel." He smiled at her back, his dimples on show.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

Isabel, standing outside, picked up empty champagne glasses from tables. She smiled at the attendees of the pageant and walked hurriedly over to a bus boy with a frown on her face.

"Hey, why am I bussing your tables?" The werewolf whispered angrily as she slammed the champagne glasses onto his tray. She and Caroline were under a lot of pressure today and she was not in the mood to get things wrong and ruin today for her friend and Carol. "Caroline clearly said no empty glasses. You're lucky it's me you're dealing with." The bus boy walked off and Isabel strided over to the orchestra. "Will you guys please pick up the tempo?! This is a pageant people, not a funeral. And I don't need a lecture from Caroline." She told them. She knew Caroline was helping the girls upstairs and so she was left to fix things which was clearly needed.

Isabel turned around to walk away but was greeted by Klaus.

"And how am I doing?" Klaus asked. His hair gelled slightly and his body clad in a dark blue tux that fitted him nicely with a light blue undershirt and grey tie and he looked like he tried his best to look good for her today. And he happened to be wearing her favorite color; light blue.

Isabel stopped and looked at him, her state slightly frazzled with warm pink cheeks slightly wide eyes and a fast heart beat. "You're...perfect." Klaus smiled.

"You look stunning, Bel." He complimented her, his eyes running up the light pink flowy dress she wore.

"It's proof I can pick a dress for myself, Nik." She teased her free hand holding onto the side of her dress, swishing it back and fourth as she smiled slightly.

Klaus' attention was suddenly over Isabel's shoulder looking at Hayley and Tyler who were walking up the lawn towards the house together, their shoulders almost brushing. Hayley wore a really short tight red dress while Tyler wore a black tux with a white shirt and black tie.

"They didn't waste any time, did they?" Klaus asks causing Isabel to furrow her brows an turn around to see Tyler and Hayley together.

Isabel's face dropped as she watched them walk together before she looked at Klaus. He saw the look on her face and pulled her into a hug. She slowly wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. "Thanks. I needed this." She mumbled.

Klaus kissed the top of her head. "Always."

That was his promise. To always be there for her. No matter what. If she needed him, he'd be there.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

"Hi, everyone, I'm Caroline Forbes." Caroline stood on the bottom right of the stone stairs below the ladies that were lined up for the competition. "As the reigning Miss Mystic Falls, it is my honor to introduce this year's Miss Mystic Court."

Everyone in the crowd clapped for the girls as Damon and Elena exchange looks which Isabel caught from where she was standing just a a few feet behind Elena.

Music started playing for the introduction of the girls as Caroline talked into the microphone. "We begin the procession with Valerie Fell accompanied by Dylan Clark." There is a round of applause for Valerie as she walked down the stone steps.

Isabel walked up to Elena's left side and crossed her arms. "You know I'll never approve of your feelings for Damon? Right?"

"Next, we have Mona Basem accompanied by Hector Lindsay."

Another round of applause is given for Mona including Isabel.

"Yeah. I know." Neither Elena nor Isabel looked at each other and instead watched Caroline introduce the girls.

"At least that's settled. Now all I have to ask is why? After all he's done to everyone and after all Stefan has done for you? I just don't get it."

"It's not something you have to understand. I'm still working on things, Izzy. And I appreciate your honesty. I really do. But stay out of it." Just as she finished her words Matt approached the two and wrapped an arm around Isabel and made room for him to be in the middle. He could tell his sister was feeling a little ruffled after whatever Elena said and he decided distance was good.

"Have either of you seen Jeremy?" Matt asked looking from Elena to Isabel.

"He's probably up there with the escorts." Elena furrowed her brows as more applause are heard when another girl was introduced.

Isabel, Elena, and Matt looked over at the escorts to try and spot Jeremy but none of them could fine the new hunter.

"Yeah, Caroline told me to wrangle the escorts. He's not here." Elena's face grew worried not knowing what happened to her brother. "Did he tell you about his nightmares?" The human asked looking slightly uncomfortable.

"What nightmares?" Elena asked as she looked over at Matt.

"The ones where he kills you." Matt told her hesitantly.

Elena raised an eyebrow in surprise, not having heard this from her brother. Isabel eyes what open wide, this being the first she's heard about his nightmares.

"Katherine Wilson accompanied by Eric Hanson."

Another round of applause for Katherine.

"I'll find him, but..." Elena looked up to see April descending the stairs causing Matt to look up at her as well. Elena sighed. "April's about to get abandoned."

"I got this."

"You go Matty!" Isabel smiled and pushed her brother forward. Some people turned to look at her but she no longer cared what people thought like she once did.

Matt looked at her and shook his head as walked away.

"And finally, we have a last minute entry, April Young accompanied by Jeremy Gilbert."

April continued to walk down the steps but stopped and looked around for Jeremy only to see he wasn't there.

Caroline also looked around for Jeremy but still kept a large smile on her face trying not to panic. Matt soon walked up to where the escorts were lined up and held out his arm for April. Everyone applauded and April breathed a sigh of relief and walked down the remainder of the stairs with a smile as she took Matt's arm.

Isabel smiled as she watched her brother have a little bit of fun. She noticed Elena and Damon glancing at each other and when she got tired of it she stepped in the way of their eyesight before Elena finally walked away

After noticing Caroline quickly walk down the steps and over to Elena, who is on her phone Isabel followed.

"Hey, what's with the last minute escort change?" Caroline asked as her eyes switched from the dancers to Elena. "Where is Jeremy?"

"I'm calling him right now." Elena informed her just as Damon walked up to them. "He's not picking up."

"Do the math," Damon said not even looking at them. "Emo teen, open bar, it's fine." He finished just as he looked at the three girls.

"Matt said that Jeremy's been having nightmares about killing vampires and he's been hiding it from me," Elena said, seeming shocked that he'd hide something as serious as that from her.

Caroline looked surprised and worried but Damon seemed the opposite when he shrugged it off. "Relax, I'm sure he's fine."

"I don't know," Elena said, shaking her head in disagreement. "I have a bad feeling."

"If I'm not worried, you shouldn't be worried." He looked right at her and Elena looked at Isabel and Caroline. "Let it go. I'll go look for him." He promised her.

"Okay." She agreed, her voice just above a whisper.

Caroline and Isabel smiled at Damon sarcastically and he smiled back before walking away.

"Okay, you go home, we can start asking around here," Caroline told Elena as she leaned in slightly, thinking they wouldn't be listening to Damon.

"Maybe Damon's right. Maybe he grabbed a bottle from the bar and snuck off to the woods."

"No, Damon is not right." Isabel detested. "He's almost never right. Damon is sneaky and manipulative and rude, but he's never right. How can you not see that?"

"I don't know, but why do I think that you won't hesitate to tell me?" Elena asked, starting to get defensive.

"Because you are one hundred percent correct. I think your so-called "feelings" for Damon are starting to cloud your judgment."

Klaus walked over to them and stood beside Isabel.

"You keep agreeing with him and it's ridiculous." Caroline added. "And honestly the thought of you two together really makes me want to barf."

"Easy, you two, you're making a scene." Klaus told the two blondes.

Isabel glanced at him and huffed, crossing her arms.

"Wow, guys, thank you for making this very difficult time so much easier," the doppelgänger said sarcastically.

As Elena walked away Isabel glared at her back. "No problem!"

Caroline looked after her with a blank look. "How did I become the bad guy?"

"She's guilting you Caroline," Isabel told her. "Don't let her. You're just trying to help. Albeit not in the best way possible but at least you aren't hiding how you feel."

"I'm so done with today," Caroline said before walking away.

Isabel sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration.

Klaus moved from standing beside her to standing in front of her.

"Let's get you a drink. Hm? I think you need it after that little scene." Isabel nodded before walking away with hybrid.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

Klaus sat next to Isabel on a bench as he sat the two flutes down between them. They sat near a tree across the lawnand out of ear shot from every human at the party.

"Would you ever take the cure?" She asked curiously. These last few days with the cure being such a big deal to all her friends she hasn't thought about how much things could change in Mystic Falls. And seeing Klaus, doing something so normal as to asking a girl he liked on a date made her wonder about the cure.

Klaus smiled at her, dimples and all. "Now, why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet? Hm?" Klaus asked which earned him an eye roll from the teen mom.

"So there's not one single moment in your whole life that you wanted to be human?" Klaus looked at her with a pointed look and popped the cork off the champagne bottle, avoiding her question.

"How about you?" He asked instead. He smiled cheekily at her as he slowly let go of his problems for now. "Have you ever wanted to go back to being human?"

He poured them both a drink.

Isabel didn't have to think before she answered. "No. I did what I did for my daughter and I'd definitely do it again. Besides. I'm better now. I like this me."

Across the lawn, Tyler walked at a distance away and saw Isabel and Klaus sitting together and drinking champagne. He felt a tinge of jealous and decided to listen into their conversation and heard them laughing together.

"Life used to be a lot easier." Klaus stood up and pulled a piece of paper out from inside his jacket. "Don't you miss the days of being..." He opened up the paper and started to read from it. 'Co-Chair of the Mystic Falls Beautification Committee' and the 'Captain of Mystic Falls Pottery Club' oh and the 'Leader in Clothes 4 Kids Donation.'"

Isabel looked up at him with wide, horrified eyes. "Is that my Miss Mystic application?" She stood up and smacked the paper out of his hands. "Where did you get that?!" Klaus just laughed as he reached behind him to catch the paper.

He continued reading. "'When I am chosen I intend to go above and beyond.'" Isabel ran a hand through her curled hair in frustration. "Now, I'm really enjoying your use of when here. It's very bold." Isabel looked at him and laughed sarcastically. "'And above all, I promise to aspire, inspire, and perspire.."

Isabel placed her hand on her hips and continued to nod and smile, clearly not enjoying this torment but Klaus cannot stop laughing at her words that were actually Caroline's. She asked her what else she should write and didn't think much of it as she wrote it down. Now she really regretted her advice. Cause it sounded ridiculous. "Obviously, we found a shortage of words ending in 'spire.'" He laughed along with his words.

Isabel tried to grab the paper out of his hands again. "Yeah, it's very funny. Just beyond hilarious." She continued to try to take the paper from Klaus, but he kept pulling it out of reach laughing at the shorter girl. "Now give it. Just-" She tried grabbing onto him and hopping up to get it but he held the paper out behind him and away from Isabel's reach. He looked at her with an expression that clearly said, 'try and take it from me.'

Isabel stopped trying and cracked a smile before she began to laugh genuinely. Klaus laughed with her enjoying the sound he hasn't heard often.

"You're gonna give that back sooner or later." She stated as she sat back down on the bench and started to drink her champagne with Klaus following lead.

Tyler stopped listening to the duo and walked away.

"It was a very lovely application all in all." He mused tucking it in his pocket.

"Shut up." She laughed at him.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

"And now, the moment you've been waiting for." Carol announced from the stage. "Caroline, would you do the honors?"

Caroline walked to the mic with Isabel walking behind her with the tiara and sash. The mother stopped just on the right of Caroline and looked at sheriff Forbes to see her holding Rose to her hip, the baby facing her mother and sucking on a pacifier.

"This year's Miss Mystic Falls is..." Caroline opened the envelope. "April Young." Everyone in the crowd applauded. April smiled and looked as if she's about to cry. Isabel stepped up with a smile as Caroline took the tiara off the cushion she was holding and walked over to April.

Caroline placed the tiara on April's head. Once Caroline muttered a congratulations she came back and took the sash to put it on April as well.

≪≫•≪≫•≪≫

Isabel and Klaus walked across the lawn together when Klaus offered his arm to the dirty blonde to which she gladly accepted.

"Why didn't you bring Rose?" He asked curiously, having noticed Rose with mama Forbes.

"I didn't think you'd want me to bring my baby on our date. I may have only had one boyfriend in my life but I'm sure that's not normal on a date."

"Well next time you can bring her. I don't exactly hate her." Klaus informed her.

Not thinking much of what he just said she just nodded along. "Good to know."

Klaus stopped walking, halting Isabel as well. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"You know, I never answered your question; if I ever thought about being human." She gave him a genuinely curious look and fully turned to face him to show he had her full attention. "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 at one time, I was on my way to a play, one of my favorites, Le Huguenots. And I saw this woman and man with their little boy and they were laughing and enjoying their time. The boy was so excited to see the play and he ran ahead and tripped and hurt himself. He bled and cried but his parents kneeled beside him and comforted him and cleaned him. And they managed to make him smile and get him up and they continued on their way with all their hands linked. I thought what it would have been like if I had been human and not some monster. What it would have been like to have a family of my own." He admitted, his expression growing dim at the memory. "And those were the only times I thought about being human."

Isabel smiled at the confession and looked to her feet for a moment. She could tell he was being honest and she liked that. This was a different side of him. And she wouldn't mind seeing more of it. "Thank you," she said glancing back up at him.

"For what, love?" He asked curiously.

"For being here for me. And for answering a question that shows more to you then most people will ever know."

So I added some to his little confession. I like it honestly.