"There are good things, Klaus."
Cami searches his face for some small sign that he's hearing her and she's not wasting her breath, but he still has that same haunted look in his eyes that appeared when she asked him what he was fighting for. She doesn't know what he's thinking about and she doubts he's going to tell her, but she's come too far to back down now. Cami reaches for his hand, her gaze dropping in surprise when he brushes his thumb against hers. It's not much, but it's something.
"And you need to see that too." Cami looks up at him, but now he's looking away, his eyes trained downward. She feels the steady strum of his thumb against her finger and glances down at their joined hands. It's a good sign that he hasn't pulled away so she places her free hand on his shoulder. He doesn't hesitate to place his hand on her waist and now they're swaying to the music in the empty bar.
She swallows hard and does her best to ignore the ridiculous tempo her heart is beating in her chest. Cami imagines they probably look like middle schoolers at their first dance, but Klaus is still there and he's moving with her and just maybe she's broken through the brick wall of defense he hides behind. Maybe after all this time, he's finally ready to let her in.
They turn in a half circle, her eyes never leaving his face, silently begging him to look at her and he lifts his head, his eyes locking on hers instead of the floor. She can't help the way her heart suddenly beats even faster. He watches her and she keeps her gaze steady, wanting him to see her and remember that he's not alone. The warmth of his hand seems to be seeping right through her shirt and she sucks in a sharp breath at the sensation, doing her best to ignore the knowledge that he can hear her out of control heartbeat. She orders herself to focus.
"There's no real peace in revenge." Her voice sounds strange inside her head and he's watching her so intently that it makes her feel exposed, which is insane because this isn't about her – it's about his problems and she's there to help him. She's just reminding him life has other things to offer than payback. She needs to take his mind off murder and keep hers off the gentle brush of his thumb over her finger.
Klaus leans in closer and Cami's not sure how she manages to continue moving when the heat from his body engulfs hers. She anchors herself to him, spreading the palm of her hand against the cool leather of his jacket as his cheek brushes hers. They're still swaying to the music or she assumes they are – the only sound she can hear is her heart.
He just got under my skin, I guess. She wants to laugh at herself for that understatement to Vincent in their session earlier because this is so much more complicated than just getting under her skin. The feel of his cheek pressed against hers and his body so close is too much and not enough all at once. His nose brushes hers and he's pulling back and she can't stop her hand from tightening around his. But he's not letting go, his eyes drop to her mouth and time moves in slow motion, everything inside of her stilling all at once.
She's never wanted anything in her entire life more than she wants him to kiss her right here in this moment.
The thought startles her, but it's gone in an instant, lost to the magic of the moment. Cami lets her eyes flutter shut and then his breath is warm against her lips and the anticipation is almost too much for her. She waits to feel his lips against hers, her heart practically leaping out of her chest, but he changes direction and she's spinning away from him, barely finding her bearings as the familiar rush of wind tells her that he's long gone.
Her eyes open and she stumbles back, not entirely sure how she manages to remain upright when she'd been floating on air seconds earlier. Her chest heaves, tears burning in the back of her eyes and a lump rises in her throat. Defeat, disappointment and longing war for her attention and Cami wraps her arms around herself, wondering what went wrong. She'd been getting through to him – he'd danced with her and he'd held her and –
What the hell is wrong with you? He's going to murder your friend. Cami mentally berates herself as she crosses the bar back to her table and grabs her jacket, tosses out a few bills out of her purse to cover their drinks and stalks toward the door. She's not supposed to be thinking about dancing or Klaus' lips or how much she misses the solid warmth of his body pressed against hers. She needs to stop him from hurting Davina and getting himself killed in the process. She's not a teenage girl with a crush and she refuses to acknowledge the way her heart beat too fast or her breath caught in her throat when she waited for Klaus to kiss her.
The cool night air sends a chill through her system and she takes a deep breath, forcing herself to get a grip as she yanks on her jacket. She reaches for her cell phone and presses Davina's name. Voicemail picks up on the fourth ring and Cami ends the call and places another one, only to get the same response. Cursing loudly, she waits for the beep.
"Davina, it's Cami. Klaus knows where you are. Leave now." Cami ends the call and sends a text relaying the same information. She gets no response from that either and lets out a frustrated noise, glancing around the empty parking lot. Naturally Klaus took the car and she has next to no shot of getting to the cabin on foot, at least not in enough time to keep him from doing something stupid.
She crosses the small parking lot to the road and holds her thumb out as she walks along the shoulder, awkwardly using her other hand to send more text messages. Her fear grows with each moment and after three cars pass her by without slowing down, she takes a chance and steps into the street when she sees an old pickup truck heading in her direction.
A squeal of tires coming to an abrupt halt pierces the night and Cami marches to the passenger side and opens the door. The middle-aged, balding man in the driver's seat opens his mouth, presumably to yell at her and she just shakes her head and gets into the passenger seat. "Look buddy, I'm having a bad night. I have a black belt in karate and a taser and you do not want to test me." Cami raises an eyebrow and pulls the door closed behind her. "I need to get to the bayou."
He just stares at her and she thinks he's going to protest, but he turns his eyes back to the road, muttering under his breath as he steps on the gas. She ignores him and sends another frantic text to Davina. She's already lost count of her messages and she prays the younger girl gets her warning in time. Cami knows she's powerful, she's seen what her magic can do and she needs to believe that she can hold her own against Klaus because if she can't, if the unthinkable happens, it'll be her fault because she let herself get distracted by sad eyes and warm fingers.
Seriously, what is wrong with you? Cami catches her lower lip between her teeth and fights the urge to scream and scare the driver more than she probably already did when she walked in front of his truck. She should have known this would happen, she should have known that Klaus wouldn't listen to her because when does Klaus ever listen to her? And it's not like she's seen him in four months or has any idea what's been going on in his head because he'd stayed away until his parents reappeared with murderous intentions.
This is exactly why you were supposed to stay away from all of this. Cami rolls her eyes at her inner voice. A lot of good those intentions did her considering it took her less than a minute to agree to go off with Klaus on this misadventure. Damn him and his crooked smile and damn her for thinking about it or the way his hand felt on her waist or the brush of his nose against hers or…
"STOP!" She doesn't realize she shouted the word until the driver takes her literally and slams on the brakes. Since she didn't think to put on a seatbelt, she's pitched forward and hits the dashboard hard enough to know there's going to be a mark there later. "I didn't mean you." Cami turns to look at him and he's watching her like she's insane and god, she probably is. "Never mind," she mutters. Cami can see the road leading into the bayou up ahead and it's probably best if she doesn't drag this stranger with her into a vampire and witch fight.
So she opens the door and starts to run. Cami hears the truck driving away, but she doesn't look back. Her boots were not meant for running over uneven ground and maybe she needs to stop skipping Pilates' sessions in favor of extra sleep because her heart already feels like it's going to give out at any moment. But it felt like that when she was dancing with Klaus too and that certainly wasn't physically taxing – only emotionally and mentally exhausting because no matter what she tells herself, she's in too deep.
Dirt and leaves crunch beneath her feet and she hears howling in the distance because of course the only thing missing from this nightmare was a pack of werewolves. But she couldn't think about that now. She needed to get to Davina before Klaus tries to take his revenge for bringing Mikael back and oh god, Klaus' insane father is back from the dead for the sole purpose of killing his son. What if she's worried about the wrong thing? Davina brought Mikael back and Klaus said she had control over him so what if she lets him…?
"No," Cami mutters. She's practically gasping for breath and her legs hurt like hell, but she pushes herself harder, praying she's almost there. She can't believe Klaus was stupid enough to go after his father with no backup other than Papa Tunde's blade, but there was no guarantee that would work. What if she gets there and it's too late and Klaus is hurt or worse?
Her eyes start to burn and she doesn't know if she's crying or if the wind is blowing dirt in her face, but her brain remains stuck on the worst case scenarios. Davina could be hurt. Klaus could be hurt. All he had to do was stay with her in the bar and let her help him. Why couldn't he have let her in when she'd practically laid her heart at his feet and begged him to take it?
Except that wasn't what she was doing – her heart was not a factor in any of this. She'd wanted to get through to Klaus to help him because he needed someone and she wanted it to be her. Damnit, she wanted it to be her and this is all so wrong and she should have stayed away from everything after she ended things with Marcel, but seeing Klaus again triggered something in her, something she'd done her best to ignore in spite of all of her training and knowledge of how the human mind works.
A light through the trees pulls her back to the situation at hand and Cami runs faster, tearing along the path until she sees Klaus up ahead, standing with a bloody stake in his hand. Fresh panic pushes her the short distance and despite her lack of breath, Cami shouts, "Where is she?"
She's panting as she comes to a stop in front of Klaus, but she's not about to back down until she knows her friend is safe. "If something happened to her, Klaus, I swear to God…"
"Davina's fine," Klaus replies calmly. "She'll awake with a spectacular headache, but given her intentions for me, she should count herself lucky."
Cami sighs with relief and drops her head to her chest, doing her best to stop panting and get her heart to at least attempt to beat at a normal speed. Davina's okay, Klaus is in one piece and she can relax now because they're safe and…
"Of course if you drop dead of a heart attack, I may have to kill her on general principle." Even as she's gasping for air, Cami catches sight of the smirk on his face and the humor that absolutely does not belong in the moment and suddenly she's furious – at herself for being momentarily pacified and at him for refusing to ever take anything seriously.
"You're the one who ditched me at the bar." Cami hates that she still can't catch her breath, but her anger overrides her need for air. She wants Klaus to know that just because she's relieved everyone is alive does not mean that she's okay with any of this. "I had to hitchhike and then run on the back roads of the bayou."
He's watching her with that same amused look in his eyes. "Well your perseverance is duly noted."
His cheerful condensation makes her want to kill him. "Oh shut up! I'm so mad at you I can hardly speak!" She takes a step closer to him, struggling with her breathing and fighting the urge to slap him. He has enough sense to wipe the smirk off his face, but that's not enough.
"But I am here. And it is to tell you – not to bargain with you and not to shame you." She wants to make that perfectly clear because Cami knows that's what he's used to – people coming to make deals with him or to try and make him feel guilty for his actions. That's not her job. "It is to tell you that under no circumstances will you hurt that girl. Do you understand me?" Her voice trembles on the last word, but she keeps her eyes on his, needing him to see how serious she is.
He looks away and for a second, she thinks he's going to give her another flippant comment, but he meets her gaze once more. "You have my word."
She's surprised by his response and Cami searches his eyes for any sign that he's not being serious or that he's just humoring her until he can do whatever he pleases like always. But she recognizes the look in his eyes and she knows his vow is genuine. Cami lets out the breath she's been holding and everything hits her at once. Without thinking twice, she steps forward and wraps her arm around Klaus, pulling him into a hug.
He goes completely still in her embrace, but he doesn't pull away and for a moment, Cami lets herself relax against him. Everyone she cares about is safe and the anger and fear inside of her deflate, leaving behind nothing other than her need to just be close to him for another moment and not think about the ramifications or pay attention to the little voice in her head screaming at her that she's making another mistake. She doesn't care. She needs this and even though he's not moving, she knows he does too. Cami turns her head and lets her cheek rest against his, her hair creating a barrier that wasn't there when they danced earlier, but she can still feel the warmth of his skin.
She pulls back, her hand lingering against his neck as her eyes drift and for the first time, she notices the body lying on the ground. "Is that Mikael?" It's a stupid question because who else would it be, but her brain hasn't exactly been firing on all cylinders tonight. "Is he…?" She can't quite get the words out because her mind is having trouble processing a back from the dead Original vampire, let alone a back from the dead Original vampire that might be dead again.
"He's still alive and in complete and utter agony," Klaus replies. He turns to her and the hint of a smile is back on his face, but she's too shocked to be bothered by it. "I decided to take your advice and keep him that way."
Klaus watches her, and she knows he's waiting for a reaction, but all she can do is stare back at him because she can't believe she actually got through to him. Cami can see that he's proud of his restraint and she knows she should say something, but after everything that happened, this is the thing that's somehow too much to process. Klaus listened to her. He might have ditched her in the bar and scared the hell out of her, but he listened and she can't seem to stop her eyelashes from fluttering and she's really starting to think she needs to have her head examined.
She swallows hard and is grateful that her breathing is finally under control. But the night is suddenly far too quiet and her thoughts are so loud inside of her head and none of them are the kinds of things she should be thinking around Klaus or about Klaus. She's just grateful vampires can't read minds. She catches sight of the cabin out of the corner of her eye and decides to take an easy out because she needs to pull herself together. "I'm going to check on Davina."
"I'll put Mikael in the car." Klaus starts to walk toward his father's body and then glances back at her. "Would you like a lift home or do you fancy another evening stroll through the bayou?"
"Shut up," Cami tells him again. But this time she can't help smiling and when he flashes a grin in return, she feels her heart start to beat just a little bit faster.