Kaitlyn's POV

The past week has been irregularly quiet in Mystic Falls. Everyone has been minding their own business and things have been jolly around here. Ric apologized to me and we made amends. He said he realizes how tough things must be for me to suddenly have all these people from my past show up out of the blue. In his words, 'I handled it all like a champ'.

"Mom, Dad, we're going dress shopping today. You guys wanna come along?" Josie asks as she enters the living room, where me and Ric I are lying on the couch as I read a book and he watches some show on the TV. Ric shakes his head 'no', only half-listening.

I smile at her, "no sweety. Just take my credit card and get whatever you guys like. I think we'll stay in and rest a little today. It's been a rough few days," I tell her and she nods, walking out of the room.

I then take a book from my bedside table and lie down, resting my head on Ric's shoulder as he wraps an arm around me and we stay in for one comfy day at home with no drama. Or so we thought.

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3rd person POV

For Miss Mystic Falls, the twins take Hope shopping with them. Josie finds herself a beautiful strapless black dress from the store but even after hours of looking around, Lizzie and Hope don't find anything. In the meantime, it's Ryan and Madeline's anniversary so he finds his sisters to help him get his girlfriend a gift.

"Come on, Lizzie, Josie, you can get a dress tomorrow. Please!" Ryan pleads them.

"We don't have enough time, Ryan! Just get her a necklace or something," Lizzie suggests.

"I got her a necklace last year. I can't get her another now this year as well," he nags, "come one, what are sisters for?"

"Okay look, Josie already found her dress so take her with you while me and Hope looks for our dresses. How does that sound?" Lizzie suggests.

"Well I guess one is better than none," Ryan nods as Josie rolls her eyes at them and Lizzie gives them a victory smile,

Then Josie leaves with Ryan as Lizzie and Hope decide to raid their mom's and Aunt Rebekah's dress collections, respectively and see if they find anything.

When Lizzie gets home, she runs up to the attic and pulls out boxes full of Kaitlyn's old dresses. There, she finds a beautiful black dress. She considers it for herself but then remembers Josie got a black dress already and she wanted to wear something different than her sister, so she thinks of offering the dress to Hope. She sends a text to Hope saying, "I think I just found the perfect dress for you."

Soon, Hope replies with, "I think I found one for you too."

They then decide to meet at the town square and exchange the dresses ASAP as the competition was two days away.

Little did Lizzie know how that one dress could open one big can of worms for her mother and a certain hybrid.

After exchanging the dresses and getting home, both love the dresses the other had found for them. While Lizzie is obsessed with how 'her style' the blue dress from Rebekah's collection is, Hope is in awe of the dress Lizzie had given her. It was that dress. The one Kaitlyn had worn to the Mikaelson ball all those years ago. She shows it to Davina, Hayley and Freya but decides to keep it a surprise from her dad, wanting to see his reaction later on.

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17 April, 2028

3rd person POV

The day was finally here. The much awaited Miss Mystic Falls event was today. Spirits were high everywhere while a sense of nervousness and scent of hairspray lingered into the air. Kaitlyn and Madeline had reached the Town Hall early into the day to ensure everything would run smoothly.

Soon, the event begins and as Madeline runs around barking orders, Kaitlyn stand under a tree, away from the stage and watches the show go on.

All of a sudden, she feels a presence around her. She turns around to find it was Klaus she had felt the presence of.

"Where's Hayley?" Kaitlyn asks him as she notices her absence.

"Hayley...she isn't here," he tells her.

"What do you mean she's not here? Hope's participating and I told Elijah already-" she starts to ramble.

"I know but they aren't in town. Everyone went out on a trip back to New Orleans for a bit. I stayed back with Hope," he tells her.

"Did they know about today?" she asks him and he nods.

"And they still went?" she asks, surprised, "I mean, I don't know about the others but Elijah still went?"

"They had to," he tells her and she rolls her eyes.

As she goes to say more, Madeline starts announcing the participants and so they stand and watch as Alaric joins them. He wraps his arms around Kaitlyn's waist and she rests her head on his shoulder as they wait for their girls to take the stage. Klaus' body surges with jealousy but he controls himself, thinking he was here for his daughter right now.

Josie is the third to be announced. Penelope escorts her and Alaric cheers from afar for her as proud tears pool into Kaitlyn's eyes. As Josie and Penelope walk around, a council member approaches Alaric and he excuses himself, leaving only Kaitlyn and Klaus standing there.

The next to be announced in Lizzie. Rafael had kindly agreed to escort her. She gets on stage and waves in Kaitlyn's direction as Kaitlyn laughs and waves back.

"And now, last but definitely not the least, is...Hope Mikaelson escorted by Landon Kirby!" Madeline announces.

Both Kaitlyn and Klaus audibly gasp as they see Hope walk on stage and notice her dress.

"Isn't that your..." Klaus trails off, unsure of what to say.

"Yes," is all Kaitlyn says in return.

"I'm guessing by your reaction that you didn't know about this?" he whispers.

"No, I didn't. Must've been the girls. She looks great in it, though," Kaitlyn compliments.

"Just as good as you did," Klaus whispers into her ears as a waiter approaches them and offers them more champagne.

"No, it's alright we've already got..." Kaitlyn tries to decline but Klaus quickly chugs his glass of champagne and places the empty glass of the tray, giving Kaitlyn an amused look.

"Actually, I could use some more," he tells her. Kaitlyn looks at him with an amused look before turning to the waiter again.

"Of course, make sure no guest's glasses go empty," she tells the waiter as Klaus grabs two more glasses for him and Kaitlyn.

"I really shouldn't be drinking, I'm supervising," Kaitlyn says as Klaus hands her a glass.

"Come on, when has that ever stopped you," Klaus retorts and Kaitlyn lets out a chuckle.

"You know, all this is reminding me of when asked me to be your date to that once," Klaus smirks at her.

"I asked you to be my date?" Kaitlyn asks in disbelief, "have you hit your head and lost your memory?"

Klaus chuckles, "you did ask, just indirectly. I believe your exact words were 'Give us one of your hybrids and I'll go on a date with you' and so I did," he teases her as she rolls her eyes at his words.

"Yes, it was a negotiation. Not me asking you to be my date," she clarifies.

"Whatever you say, love," Klaus goes to say more but gets interrupter by Madeline's words.

"And now to announce Miss Mystic Falls 2028, the judges have chosen...Hope Mikaelson!" Madeline announces as the crowd bursts into cheers. Lizzie and Josie rush to hug Hope and from far away, Klaus and Kaitlyn watch them celebrate and Hope get crowned. Klaus looks so proud of his littlest wolf and Kaitlyn looks happy for Hope but even happier to see Klaus being able to witness this for his daughter. Klaus walks away to greet his daughter as Alaric approaches Kaitlyn.

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Backstage, while the girls are changing into comfier clothes after the crowing, Josie pulls Lizzie away into another hallway with an irritated look on her face.

"Why would you give Hope that dress, Lizzie?" she whisper-yells.

"What do you mean? What's wrong with giving Hope a dress? She got me one," Lizzie replies, looking confused.

"But why that dress?"

"Because it looked like her style," Lizzie shrugs and Josie sighs loudly.

"Do you even know where that dress came from?" Josie yells again.

"What do you mean 'where it came from?' It's mom's. Some friend of hers gifted it to her," Lizzie states.

"Not just any friend, Lizzie," Josie replies, emplacing on the word 'friend', "it was a gift to her from Klaus Mikaelson, Lizzie. Hope's dad. He got it for her when he asked mom to be his date at this ball they once hosted here. That's why mom kept it locked away upstairs," Josie clarifies and the color drains from Lizzie's face immediately as Josie walks away from her, leaving her alone in a dark hallway with guilt surging through her.

After the awards, all the kids approach Alaric and Kaitlyn, who were talking together.

Hope rushes to her dad and hugs him as Klaus wears a proud look on his face. Later, they both join Kaitlyn's family as well.

Lizzie looks at them and says, "there's our Miss Mystic!"

"Congratulations, sweety," Kaitlyn greets Hope.

"Thanks, Miss K. And thank you so much for the dress, as well," Hope elaborates.

Lizzie and Josie exchange a guilty look and Ryan looks angry.

"Now as part of the deal, whoever wins takes the group for lunch so Hope, where are we going?" Lizzie cuts in and asks with excitement, trying to not address the dress situation yet.

"Wherever you guys want," Hope replies with a smile.

"I think I know where we should go," Landon chimes in.

"Lead the way," she tells him as he holds out his arm for her to take, as a joke and Klaus rolls his eyes.

"Mom, we're taking your car," Lizzie states.

Kaitlyn raises a brow at them, "was that a request?"

"No it was a statement. Now bye!" she exclaims as the group walk out of the Hall and drive off.

"Well, we have a date so we'll get going too, I guess," Ryan states.

"Oh, about that, I kind of need to stay here till they're done with all the cleaning and stuff," Madeline replies in a guilty tone.

"No, it's okay. You guys go ahead, I'll stay back here," Kaitlyn reassures them.

"Are you sure, Miss K? I don't mind staying," Madeline asks.

Kaitlyn shakes her head 'no' and Radeline leave too.

Alaric then turns to Kaitlyn, "well I have a surprise to take care of. See you at home?" he asks.

"Yeah, see you at home," Kaitlyn says with a small smile. Alaric gives her a small kiss on the cheek and walks out as well, leaving Kaitlyn and Klaus behind.

"You sure you both are 'just friends and coworkers'?" Klaus asks, trying to mask his jealousy, "because it doesn't look that way."

Kaitlyn glares at him, "well I have work to do so, see you later," she avoids his question and goes to walk away when Klaus holds onto her wrist. She turns around with a raised brow.

Klaus then lets go of her wrist, "this looks like boring work. Let me keep you company, love," he offers with his signature smirk.

"No, I'll be fine," she declines.

"Oh come on, you know you're going to get bored as well. This used to be Caroline's job and I remember how she had to drag you along to help her with it," he reminisces, "besides, today seems like flashes of history, one after the other. I stayed back with you that day too. Let me today as well."

Kaitlyn rolls her eyes at him, "fine, whatever," she says and Klaus gives her a victory smile.

"So what surprise was Alaric talking about?" he asks her curiously.

"Oh, its Ryan's birthday tomorrow. We make a big deal out of birthdays in our family. Not like posh balls but it's basically anything the kids want that day," she jokes as Klaus nods, with a chuckle.

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After all the work is done, Klaus offers to take her out for drinks.

"Are you trying to get me drunk?" Kaitlyn asks him teasingly.

"No but if you want me to," he gives her a suggestive smile.

Kaitlyn rolls her eyes at him, "just take me home," she tells him.

Klaus mock-bows at her, "as you wish, love."

Klaus goes to walk away but stops when he realizes Kaitlyn is still standing there.

He gives her a questioning look and she looks up at him with puppy eyes.

"My feet hurt from wearing these heels for hours," she tells him.

He chuckles and walks back to her, "you want me to carry you home?" he asks.

Kaitlyn shakes her head, "no that wouldn't be right. Just lend me your shoulder so I can take off these damn heels," she complains.

"Let me, love," Klaus replies as he leans down before her. Kaitlyn rests her hand on his shoulder for support, not having the energy to protest, as he lifts her feet to take off the heels one after the other.

Kaitlyn then holds out her hand from him to hand her the heels but he shrugs, "I've got it. Let's get you home now," he says as he holds the heels in one hand and rests the other on her back.

By the time they get to her home, Klaus notices that Kaitlyn has fallen asleep. He parks outside their front door and gets out of the car to get to the passenger seat door.

He opens the door and Kaitlyn tries to walk out but he carries her bridal style to her front door, "I've got you, love. I've got you," he whispers.

"Love, you have to invite me in," he whispers to her and she half-wakes up.

"No it's alright. I can hear Ryan inside. Let me down," she mumbles and Klaus obliges.

She turns to walk into the house when Klaus holds onto her wrist.

Kaitlyn turns back to see a longing look on his face. She smiles at him, "thanks for keeping me company today," she says as she frees her hand from Klaus' grip and walks into the house.

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"Hey kiddo, how was your date?" Kaitlyn asks Ryan as she sits on outdoor chair on the backside lawn, where Ryan is waiting for her.

"It was good," he replies nonchalantly.

They sit in silence for a while before Ryan turns to her, "where were you? What took you so long to get home?" he questions.

"You know I was at the Hall. The cleanup took a while," she answers.

"Hm and how did you get here?" he questions again.

Kaitlyn gives him a confused look, "why?"

"Just answer the question, mom. Did he drive you home?"

"Are you talking about Klaus? Yeah, he drove me home," she answers truthfully.

"And why did he do that?" Ryan asks, clearly irritated.

"Maybe because it was late and I didn't have a ride back home?" Kaitlyn replies, getting just as irritated.

"You could've called me!" Ryan yells.

"Okay, that's enough. What is up with you? Why do you hate him so much?" Kaitlyn questions.

"That's not the main question here, mom," he retorts, "the main question is why don't you hate him? After everything that you went through because of him and his family, I understand you accepting Hope because you're right, it's not her fault but after everything, how can you go back to being buddies with the rest of this family?"

Kaitlyn lets out a sigh, "look, I want you to listen to me very carefully because I'll only say this once, what happened in my past was sixteen years ago. Yeah I was hurt and all but all those events led to me to getting this amazing family I now have. You, the twins, your dad, the school- all of it. And it's not like I've forgiven them completely but something you kids should know too is that time and time again, me and my friends have hurt their family too. One time, Alaric stabbed Klaus with the white oak stake, another time Jeremy Gilbert killed Kol, Elena daggered Rebekah once, Damon daggered Elijah. We even killed their brother, Finn one time. So it's not like we're the angels and they're the devils. We've all done good and bad but that was years ago. Everything is different now. We can't hold onto events from sixteen years ago or we'll never be able to fully move on. And I want to move on. So no, I haven't completely forgiven them but I can't hate them either when I've been a part of damage towards their family as well, in the past. These things are way more complicated than what you kids could ever comprehend. But now, for the first time in forever, we all have a chance to co-exist peacefully and stop history from repeating itself and that's one thing I want. I want it for this town, I want it for you kids and I want it for myself. I don't want you and your friends to have to constantly live your lives on the edge, fearing which moment might be your last and I don't want any of you involved in a situation that extends past many decades. We want peace and safety for our kids, trust me, we all do and we've proven time and time again that we'll go to extreme lengths to ensure that happens. Your dad and Stefan didn't sacrifice themselves for nothing, they died knowing it's the only way for you kids to grow up and have a better life. Back in New Orleans, Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus spend 5 years in mystical sleep with daggers in their hearts and then they all spent over 7 years away from each other because that was the only way to protect their family. Only way to protect Hope. You know why Kol was around here so much all those years? It was because he couldn't be around his own family and he missed them so much that being around us brought some comfort to him. Klaus practically didn't get to see his own daughter grow up because the only way to protect her was for him to stay away from her. When Kol told me all this, I thought about what I would feel if I had to stay away from my kids, even if it meant that I was protecting them. And the thought alone broke my heart. So all I'm trying to say is our lives are way more complicated than they look but we've made it work, me for nearly the last 40 years now and the Mikaelsons for over a 1000 years. It's all for family and I'll be honest with you, I can try all I want but I could never hate them, not even after everything, I never really hated them. Yes, I was hurt and disappointed but I never hated them and I still can't. I know you just want to protect me and I love you for that but you need to understand, I can protect myself and as your mom, it's my job to protect you and not the other way around. So let me do what I know I have to do for my family and if I ever need you to help me out, you know I will ask you. You don't have to be worried about any of this, okay?" Kaitlyn finishes her rant and both her and Ryan are in tears by now.

Ryan nods as tears trickle down his face and Kaitlyn places her hand on his cheek, wiping away the tears.

"Okay," she exhales and gets up from the chair.

"Mom, is he your soulmate?" Ryan asks her in a whisper.

She hesitates for a second before answering, "that's what the Original Witch once told us," she whispers back.

"The Original Witch?" he asks.

"Yeah, she's their mother. She came back to life this once and tried to kill all her children by linking them. I was with Klaus then so no one told me their plan but all my friends helped the Original Witch in trying to kill them. What they didn't know was that she had linked me to her kids as well because apparently, I was her bastard son's soulmate. Obviously, she failed in killing them and me but their brother, Finn didn't survive. See what I mean by all my life has been one big, supernatural mess?" she chuckles.

"Well if he is your soulmate and you're willing to forgive him and his family, I promise I'll try to give them a chance as well. I just want you to be happy, mom. However that is or whoever it is with," he reassures her.

"Thanks, Bubbah. You know that means a lot," she answers back with a smile.

"Now can you please call and see where your sisters are? And then you should get some rest as well. Last day as 17 is a lot of responsibility," she jokes.

Ryan nods and she walks back inside the house and upstairs to her room.

Little did they know, a certain hybrid had heard their entire conversation as he hadn't yet left when he heard screaming from the other side of the house and decided to see if all was well and to return Kaitlyn's heels that she had forgotten in his car.

Author's Note

Well, that was one long rant-chapter but nevertheless, one I enjoyed writing. The next two chapters, however, I AM SUPER EXCITED FOR! It's gonna be great and hopefully you guys will like them!