Antoinette was nervous about meeting up with Cami. What if she didn't know what to say? What if Cami found her boring? What if she got scared by a loud noise or some car passing by, and freaked them both out?

She stayed awake for quite a while, wondering if she should call Cami sometime and ask when she wanted to meet up. She constantly asked herself more questions. What if Cami actually was involved with Klaus Mikaelson? What if she ended up not liking Antoinette after all?

Why do I keep asking myself these things? All I'll do is find a way to not make a new friend and eventually end up becoming a hermit.

She lay awake, tossing and turning about with her eyes open, until she fell into a fitful sleep.

~~~~~~

Antoinette was woken up early by the sound of her phone buzzing. She thought she'd turned it off. When she grabbed it off of her bedside table and looked at the bright screen, she saw that she had a text from Cami.

Are you awake? I'm outside your building.

Antoinette rubbed her eyes, making sure she was looking at it right. It was from the very same number Marcel had given her so she could call Cami, which meant Cami was down on the sidewalk now, waiting for her.

I'm awake now. Give me a few minutes.

After hurriedly getting dressed and making sure her hair looked as neat as possible, Antoinette slipped out of the apartment and out onto the sidewalk. Sure enough, Cami was standing there waiting for her.

"Hi," she said with a smile. "I'm sorry if I woke you up."

"It's all right," Antoinette said. "I was having trouble sleeping, anyway. I, um, wasn't expecting a text from you, though."

"I was a little surprised myself. I mean, I...well, we've only just met, and we don't really know each other, but I would like to get to know you better, if you want."

Antoinette nodded. "I feel the same way."

The two women stood there together on the sidewalk for a long moment, until Antoinette asked, "Shall we walk? I think it's going to be a nice morning."

Cami nodded. "I think so, too."

As they walked down the sidewalk together, Antoinette said, "Tell me a little about you. I'm curious."

"Well, it's not anything very happy, to be honest," said Cami. "My parents are dead, my twin brother is dead, my uncle is dead. I'm a regular bartender now, and I've done studies in psychology. I'm kind of like an amateur therapist."

The word 'therapist' startled Antoinette. "You...dabble in psychology and...that kind of therapy?"

"Yeah. Are you okay? You just...got a weird look on your face."

Antoinette quickly turned away. "I'm fine. I just...don't have a good history with that kind of therapy."

"Oh. Well, I can understand that, then. Bad past?"

She nodded. "I don't like to think about my life before Marcel turned me. There aren't many things worth remembering. But, to be honest, my vampire life hasn't been anything very exciting, either. Like I said on the phone, I can be described as antisocial, or maybe just really introverted. The only friends I seem to have are Marcel, Davina Claire, and Josh Rosza. I'm not good at starting conversations, and I only know Davina and Josh because Marcel is close with both of them."

"Well, I know Davina and Josh myself," Cami said, "And I know for a fact that they make good friends." She paused. "Okay, I don't really want to go all therapist on you right now, but you know, whatever trauma you went through while you were still human, you can move past it, figure out a way to live with it."

"I know," said Antoinette. "Marcel has been trying to get me to be what he thinks is a normal vampire since he first turned me. It hasn't worked out so well, and I continue to frustrate him every day."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get it. Not everyone is the same, so you can't have the same approach to everyone's case. Maybe you're just something unique."

"I don't know about that. But I do know Marcel wishes I were a little more ordinary. That's why he brought me to the party last week, where you and I met."

"Ah. Then maybe it's a good thing he did. We wouldn't be here now, would we?"

Antoinette nodded. "That's true. I'm beginning to think that I should try to get out more, and be a little more social than I've been in the recent years, basically my entire vampire life."

Cami shrugged. "I guess the good thing about being a vampire is you'll have a long time to work on that. Do you want to walk with me to Rousseau's?"

Antoinette nodded again. "I'd be happy to."

When they arrived at the bar, Cami asked, "Can we be friends? I like you, and I want to be friends with you."

"And I'd like to be friends with you. If you want to get together sometimes, I'll be happy to."

Cami smiled. "Okay, then. I'll see you soon."

Each woman went her own way, Cami to her job and Antoinette back home. Each one thought of the other as they did so.