Cami stepped aside to let Antoinette enter the apartment. She offered to make tea or coffee or some kind of drink, but Antoinette politely declined, not quite looking the other woman in the eye.

They sat next to each other on the sofa, Cami looking expectantly at Antoinette, waiting for her speak, while Antoinette stared down at her shoes, apparently trying to think of a way to start.

"When I was younger," Antoinette began, "I used to think there might have been something wrong with me. The story was always that boys and girls were attracted to each other, not any other way around. But I never liked any boys, just girls. Boys, I would happily be friends with if they wanted to be friends, but I always had more...romantic feelings towards girls. As I got older, I realized that I was gay.

"There was one girl whom I constantly admired: Janie Melrose, a girl my age who lived down the street from me. We always liked each other, went to all the same schools, knew each other for almost our entire lives. Everything changed when we started going to the same local university together. It was during those years that we fell in love.

"I wish I could say things were easy for us, but they weren't. My parents were very strict people, and were not happy when they discovered I was having a romance with a woman. But I was an adult by then, so there wasn't really anything they could do to stop me at that point. Janie's parents were the same. I got into a few terrible fights with my parents, and the same happened with Janie and her parents. Eventually, we dropped out of college and moved into to the French Quarter together, thinking we could still get on just fine.

"We found an apartment and both got jobs, but they were long hours and not much pay. We saw each other less and less, and when we did, we fought. We were...slowly becoming miserable, but we stayed together. I loved her, and I wasn't going to leave her. Honestly, after what we had given up for each other, I think we were both too stubborn to walk away, so we stayed miserable.

"One night, we were invited to a party an old high school friend was throwing. Janie was having fun, but I started feeling sick, so we ended up leaving early. We got a taxi, but started fighting again on the ride back. The driver looked back at us in the mirror and asked us to stop, and then...we were hit by another car."

There were several seconds of silence, as Antoinette continued to stare down at her floor, as if in some sort of reverie.

"When Marcel found me," she continued, "He said that Janie and the driver were already dead, and that I was just barely alive. He told me later that if Janie had still been alive, he would have turned her too, and I think he would have. He turned me, and I was terrified. I thought vampires were a myth, something to scare kids with. It's taken a long time for me to adjust, as you may have been able to tell. But I love Marcel, and I have Davina and Josh on my side.

"But I didn't quite get over Janie. There are so many things that remind me of her, and I haven't gotten into a car since that night, even though it was years ago."

Antoinette finally looked up and Cami, who had been listening silently and patiently the entire time. Then they moved closer and wrapped their arms around each other.

"Klaus told me it could have been a lost love," Cami said.

"You talked to Klaus Mikaelson about me?" .

"Yeah, I might have mentioned you. Wait 'till he finds out he was right. He likes being right about things."

"I got that feeling from him," Antoinette said. "Well, I think I should be heading home. I'm sorry I came over so late."

"It's not that late," Cami said, walking her to the door. "Antoinette, I'm sorry for what you've been through, that you had to lose your girlfriend."

She nodded. "I'm...moving on. I feel like Janie would have wanted me to do something good with my life, and be happy in life. I'm still working on all that, but I'm getting there."

"Well, good luck with that," Cami said.

She slowly closed the door and leaned up against it. Klaus was right. Antoinette had been getting over losing someone when they met.

What if she was still grieving? What if she wasn't ready to move on?