It was sometime around your third drink that Matt began to worry. You were no stranger to the Grill and often met your friends there for a drink or two. But you never drank alone. And never this much this quickly. It was clear to him, you were trying to forget something—or drown something—and you were well on your way to doing so.

Whiskey number five was when he sent a text to Rebekah. He was on the clock until closing and someone needed to come keep an eye on you. He'd never been so relieved to see Niklaus Mikaelson walk through the door. He gestured to the back corner where you'd holed up in a dark booth.

Klaus found you staring at the glass in your hands, a sad expression on your face that tore at his heart. He approached slowly, afraid to scare you off but he needn't have worried. You didn't even realize he was there until he stood next to you and cleared his throat. You glanced up at him briefly before turning your attention back to your glass.

"Mind if I have a seat, love?"

You shook your head and he sat across from you. Still you did not look up. He'd never seen you like this and he understood why the quarterback had contacted his sister. All of your usual spark was gone. It was as if someone had just...deflated you. He didn't like it.

"What are you doing here, Y/N?" he finally asked. "It's not safe for you to go out alone. You know that."

You sniffed and took a sip of your drink. Well, you tried but the glass was empty. You signaled for another but Klaus motioned for Matt to bring you water instead. "I wanted to go out with Nik but he doesn't like me anymore."

Pain pierced right through his heart as he swallowed past the lump in his throat. His mind raced trying to recall whatever he might have done that would make you feel like you were less than everything. "Why would you think that?"

***

You huffed a laugh and a tear rolled down your cheek. "Because he likes Caroline." God, it hurt to say that. It was what you had always feared happening though you knew the day would come just like it always did. "Caroline is my sister. Did you know that?"

A new glass was pushed into your hand and you sipped at the liquid, frowning when you weren't met with the pleasant burn you'd been expecting. You shook your head. "Most people don't believe me when I say she's my sister. We don't look anything alike after all. Mom and Dad adopted me then got pregnant a few months later." You laughed again. "She was one upping me even before she was born."

You shifted in your seat. "And it's okay, you know. She's gorgeous and chipper and outgoing. And I'm...well, I'm nobody, aren't I?"

"Don't say that," the man across from you snapped and you took a moment to frown at him. Why was he so angry? What did it matter to him anyway? For a moment he looked familiar but your brain was too fuzzy to care.

Instead, you shifted your gaze back to the table in front of you. "It's okay. Everyone likes her better. I'm used to it. But this hurts." You rubbed at your chest as if that would take some of the ache away.

"What hurts, sweetheart?"

Tears ran down your face and you did your best to wipe them away as you sucked in a shaky breath. "Nik. She knows how I feel about him and she just didn't care." Images of Caroline's lips on his flashed through your brain for the hundredth time that day. "And I thought he saw me but I was wrong. No one sees me. I'm invisible."

The man cleared his throat. "You like Niklaus?"

"No, you idiot. Haven't you been paying attention? I love him. I have for ages."

"I see. And you think that he cares for your sister?"

God, this guy just didn't get it. "I know he does. I saw them kiss. He never kissed me. Well, not like that anyway."

And suddenly you just wanted to be alone. You got to your feet, holding on to the edge of the table until the room felt steady. "Could you tell Matt I'd like to go home now?" Your voice was little more than a whisper.

"I'll see you home, love." His voice was sad and you wondered if he'd had his heart broken too.

***

When you woke, you kept your eyes closed as you assessed your current state. Headache? Check. Dry mouth? Check. Upset Stomach? Check. You were obviously hungover and you were still tired so why the hell were you awake? Your phone vibrated on the nightstand beside you and you groaned.

You kept your eyes shut as you felt around until your hand closed around your phone. Why did your nightstand seem higher than normal? "Hello," you answered. When your voice sounded more like a croak than anything else, you cleared your throat. "Hello?"

"Y/N? It's Caroline."

"Peachy." Just who you wanted to talk to this morning. You tried to recall if there was any alcohol in your apartment.

"What's that supposed to mean?" you sister sniped and you stayed silent. She wasn't worth the effort of speech. Once she figured out you weren't going to answer, she continued. "Listen, do you know where Klaus is? He's not returning my calls."

It was probably wrong of you to feel a little giddy about that, wasn't it? You couldn't find it in you to care. After all, it was wrong of your sister to kiss the man you were in love with but that hadn't stopped her. You gave yourself a mental pat on the back even if you hadn't said any of it out loud.

"Y/N, this is important."

You groaned and turned over onto your back, covering your eyes with one hand. "To you."

"Excuse me?"

"It's important to you, Caroline. I don't give a shit."

There was a stretch of silence. You'd actually managed to strike her speechless. Well, there was a first time for everything. When she spoke again her words were clipped letting you know that you'd succeeded in pissing her off. Yay, you.

"Look, Y/N. I can't help it if Klaus likes me. You should just shift your attention to someone else. It's what I would do."

"I'm not a whore, Caroline." Did you just say that out loud? Oops.

You were almost certain you heard someone laugh, but when you tried to look the sunlight was far too bright and you quickly returned your hand to your eyes with a hiss.

"Did you just imply that I am a whore?" Your sister practically growled the words.

"I wasn't implying shit. And Caroline?"

You waited for her to make a questioning sound so you knew she was listening. "Fuck you."

You terminated the call and tossed the phone to the side. Almost immediately it started to vibrate and you ignored it. "Should have turned the fucker off," you mumbled to yourself.

"Allow me," an accented voice said from near your bed.

You let out a little scream and scrambled up, grabbing your head as pain spiked through it. Curtains had been pulled over the windows and the light was far more tolerable than it had been a few minutes before.

It only took you a moment to realize that you were not in your room at all. Even if the hybrid himself had not been sitting beside the bed, you would have known this was his room. It just felt like him.

Your heart pounded—only partly from being startled. "Why am I here?" your voice was quiet.

"It was brought to my attention last night that you and I are overdue for a conversation." He pressed his lips into a flat line as he looked you over.

God, what idiotic thing had you done now? His scrutiny unnerved you and you shifted uneasily. "Listen, I appreciate you taking care of me or whatever but just forget whatever stupid thing I said or did."

He shook his head and moved to sit beside you on the bed. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

You closed your eyes and sighed. Of course, he couldn't. That would be too easy.

"First, I think we need to discuss Caroline."

Pain pierced your heart again. "No, we really don't. I already know you're together. I'm happy for you." You had no idea how you managed to keep from choking on the words.

He huffed out a humorless laugh. "I never realized what a skilled liar you were, Y/N. I wonder what else you've lied about."

You jerked your head up and frowned at him. You started to protest but he laid a finger against your lips.

"My turn, love." He dropped his hand and used it to grasp yours. "Your sister came onto me yesterday. As I am sure you aware, she does not like to hear the word no."

"I'm not certain she's ever heard it before to be honest." You hadn't intended for your tone to be quite as snarky as it was.

"Well, she heard it yesterday. And then she kissed me, as if that would turn my affections in her direction when I'd already made it very clear where they lie." His tongue darted out to moisten his lips. "You may believe that you are invisible, Y/N, that I don't see you, but you couldn't be further from the truth. I see nothing but you."

You tore your gaze from where it was locked on your intertwined hands to look at his face, searching for any sign that his words were not 100% true.

He chuckled a bit. "Don't look so shocked, love. The only reason that I have not said anything before was that I feared you did not return my feelings. I was reluctant to risk our friendship on the off chance that you might."

"Wait. Are you saying..." you trailed off, afraid to finish the thought in case you were wrong.

He shook his head. "What I'm saying is that your worth has nothing to do with your sister. The reason Caroline is vibrant and loud is because you overshadow her in every way. She is screaming for the attention that you get simply by being you."

A tear ran down your cheek before you could stop it. You knew the hybrid well enough to know that he believed every word he was saying. He wasn't simply trying to make you feel better.

He reached out and rubbed his thumb along the curve of your cheek. "You are brilliant and stunning and brave. You are kind, compassionate and selfless. In other words, you are everything your sister is not. Why would I want her when you're around?"

"Nik, I—" your voice cracked and you cleared your throat.

He grasped your chin in his hand and leaned forward to close the distance between you. Your lids fluttered closed in anticipation of the kiss but he stopped a breath away. Close enough that his lips brushed yours when he spoke. "Be mine, Y/N. Be mine and I promise you will never doubt your worth again."

"Nik." His name was little more than a whisper as your chest grew tight with anticipation. "Shut up and kiss me."

e.+Fall+w