The Girl By The Window
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries
Author's Note: This is an AU story. The original version of this fic is actually a KPOP one :) This is set in the present time, 2013, despite the fact that all the Mikaelson siblings will appear in this story
o-o-o-o-o
"HURRY UP, DAMN IT!"
"KLAUS, GET YOUR LAZY ASS OUT HERE RIGHT THIS FREAKING INSTANT."
"HOW CAN I DO THAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO FLY?" Klaus Mikaelson yelled back out the window, stepping away as he shook his head. "Impatient idiots."
He finally put on a shirt, grabbing his keys from his desk before finally leaving his room. Now that he and his siblings were going out biking, he didn't want to risk two things – getting locked out of the house and Kol stealing the key to his car. Sure, Elijah was surely going to lock up before they left. He was responsible like that… but he just didn't really want to risk it, especially when it came to Kol
"About time, brother." Kol made a face at his older brother. "Come on, Klaus. Let's get going."
"I said I was changing, remember?" He rolled his eyes as he closed the front door behind him, moving aside so that Elijah could lock up.
"We've been waiting for fifteen minutes already." Rebekah rolled her eyes right back.
"Stop that." Henrik called out from his bike; Finn nodding in agreement behind him. "We won't get anywhere if you keep fighting."
No one really bothered to argue against that; Rebekah, Kol, Henrik and Finn waiting a tad bit more patiently as Klaus took out his bike from the garage and Elijah mounted his own. "Where to?" Elijah asked.
Klaus grinned, putting his feet on the pedals of his bike. "Anywhere."
With a grin that matched his own, they sped off away from his house; Elijah leading the way this time around. Giddy smiles crossed their faces as the wind swept past them; their hair fluttering around. It was an exuberating feeling; one of the reasons why they loved to go biking so much. It had a sense of adventure and freedom that they all craved for.
"Elijah!" Finn called out as they slowed down, unsure of which direction to go to in the intersection. "Let's try the left one. We haven't gone there before."
Elijah carefully raised a hand and gave him a thumb's up; everyone following his lead as he turned left. The area wasn't really familiar to any of them; the road seemingly leading to a more isolated part of the neighbourhood. Little by little, the houses that they passed by lessened in number until trees were already greater in number. It was refreshing sight to see, especially in a place that was nearly more urban that it was supposed to be rural.
"Look at that!" Henrik pointed at the many trees to their left. "It's like a hidden park or something."
"Hey, let's look around!" Kol suggested; his bike coming to a stop as he parked it by the curb.
The rest of the boys and Rebekah easily followed suit, leaving their bikes to run around amongst the trees. Well, everyone did, except for Klaus. He stayed on his bike, smiling goofily at how his siblings made fools out of themselves. They were embarrassing but it's not like anyone cared, right? Besides, they were all having fun and as snarky and hot-tempered as he may be most of the time, his brothers and sister mattered a whole lot to him.
Sighing, he looked around to see the area; his eyes falling on the intimidating house across the street. It was grand alright, with its high, metal gates, well-manicured garden and cobbled paths. It was a mansion to be honest. But as grand and intimidating as it looked, the house still looked lonely to him. Klaus wondered why. The sun glared down at him and he used his hand to shield his eyes as his gaze drifted upwards; his eyes freezing on a window in the second floor.
There was a girl.
She seemed like she was younger than him but not much so. Maybe she was around Rebekah's age Seated on the windowsill, her golden blonde hair cascaded past her shoulders. She looked pale to him, like she hadn't been out much. Engrossed in the book she was apparently reading, she pulled her pink knit sweater tighter around her frame unconsciously it seemed. Who was she? Klaus didn't know. He'd never seen her around before.
"Klaus!" Rebekah yelled. Klaus blinked and realized his siblings were already with their bikes a couple of meters ahead of him. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"
"Yeah." With one last look at the girl by the window, he went off.
It wasn't the last time he went there.
It wasn't the last time he saw her.
Sometimes they returned to bike; Klaus subtly insisting that they should explore the area more. Sometimes he went on his own. Sometimes she wasn't there. Sometimes she was and when she did appear, she was always by the same window, just like the first time. He had lived in the area since he was born and he'd never seen before. Who was she?
It was on his sixth visit that she finally noticed him.
She was neither reading nor writing. She wasn't sewing or listening to music. She was seated by the windowsill as always but this time, she had gazed outside the window and watched as the sun set. Klaus had hid partially behind of the trees, watching her, when she lowered her gaze and her eyes met his.
His faze heated up in an instant and he looked away, embarrassed. Klaus wanted to hide, to escape but his feet didn't budge. He cursed himself. He probably looked like a stalker to her, or some crazy psychopath or whatever. Hesitantly, he looked back up and found that she was still watching him. She seemed curious and it surprised him that she didn't look afraid. Instead, she looked amused.
Slowly, she smiled.
Life was such a surprising thing.
o-o-o-o-o
"Hey." Kol gently smacked his fist against Klaus's chest, snapping the younger man out of his thoughts. "Back on Earth now, brother?"
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever."
"Hey." Rebekah took the time to swallow a sip of her bubble tea before she spoke again. "Are you okay?"
"Well…" He licked his lower lip in thought. "Remember where we've been biking recently? That place full of trees?"
His two siblings nodded simultaneously. "Why?"
"There's this huge house across the street, right?" Klaus didn't wait for a reply before he continued. "I saw a girl by the window… and I haven't seen her around."
"Really?" Rebekah's eyebrows shot in interest. "That's odd. How does she look like?"
"She looked thin... blonde hair. Pale skin." His shoulders lifted in a shrug. "There isn't really much I can see from where I look at her."
Kol rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you go and ask?"
He shot the younger man a look. "And who was I supposed to ask? There was no one outside."
"Let's go there, then!"
Rebekah's eyes widened. "You can't be serious?"
"What have we got to lose?" Kol helped Klaus to his feet. "Let's go!"
They left their table and were soon riding their bicycles, going off to the direction of the mysterious house. Klaus could feel his heart hammering in his chest as they went and he hoped that they could discover something this time around. He was certain that that girl didn't live there on her own. It was just matter of catching any member of her family or whoever it was who resided with her there.
"Klaus!" Rebekah pointed ahead as they entered the street; the trio watching as a dark haiired young girl walked towards the house they were heading to. "Look!"
"I'll take care of it." Kol smirked, pedalling faster so he went ahead.
The girl was just about to open the gate when Kol came to a screeching halt near her. Surprised, she dropped her hand from the gate. "Can I help you?"
He panted to catch his breath yet he still mustered his most charming smile. "Hi."
"Uh… Hi." She smiled awkwardly at the complete stranger. "Can I help you?"
"I'm Kol Mikaelson and these are Klaus and Rebekah, my siblings." Kol gestured to the two others when they finally arrived. "We were just biking around when we saw you. Are you new around here? We've never seen you before."
"Sort of." Her smile stayed in place. "I'm Bonnie Bennett ."
"You live on your own here?" He asked.
"I… Uh… I live with some friends."
Klaus straightened up. "Friends?"
"Yeah…" Bonnie nodded slowly, trying to hide the suspicious look threatening to creep onto her face. "I really better go in already. It was nice meeting all of you."
"Same here. We'll see you around." Kol grinned.
The three Mikaelsons rode past and Klaus glanced up at the window.
She wasn't there.
o-o-o-o-o
Klaus kept vising her.
At first, he went every couple of days.
Then, he went every other day.
Every other day became every day.
And each time he went, she was there.
Klaus had a favourite tree by now whose shade shielded him from the sun and whose trunk kept him hidden when Bonnie or their other friends were outside. His visits varied. Sometimes he stayed for a few minutes. Sometimes he stayed half an hour. Sometimes, even an hour. He watched her as she did what she normally liked to do, listen to music, sew, write, read. And every time he came, she'd always greet him with a smile and a small wave; two things that he always returned within a heartbeat. When he wasn't watching her, he drew her. He brought his sketchbook with him and drew her the way she looked through the window.
It was on one certain day, just as the sun was about to set, that he watched her write something on a piece of paper with a marker; his jaw dropping when she pressed the said paper against the window for him to read.
Don't you get tired?
Klaus gawked at the question – their first real means of communication – and shook his head in reply.
She took another piece of paper and wrote again.
What's your name?
Klaus scrambled towards his bag that he left on the ground, hoping that he didn't forget to pack his sketchpad and pencil. Finding the two most important possessions of his at the moment, he wrote his name, darkening the characters so that she could read them from where she was. Happy with his work, he got to his feet and showed her his answer.
Klaus Mikaelson
"Klaus Mikaelson." He watched as she mouthed his name carefully. "Klaus."
He dropped the paper and pointed at her, silently asking for her name. She wrote again.
Caroline Forbes
He went home happy that day although a question plagued his mind; one that became more and more urgent as time went by.
How come she never went out?
o-o-o-o-o
"I'm coming! Who is it?" Bonnie yelled from somewhere inside the house as the doorbell rang once more. She opened the gate and nearly gasped at who she saw. "Klaus."
"Hi." He greeted awkwardly.
"Hi…" She hesitated. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to see her."
Her eyes widened. "Who 'her'?"
"Your friend." Klaus answered evenly. "Caroline Forbes."
This time around, she really did gasp. "How… How did you know about her?"
"It's pretty hard to explain but listen." The curly haired man pleaded. "I want to talk to her."
"I don't think that's such a good idea."
He frowned. "Why not?"
Bonnie sighed, joining him outside the house before closing the gate behind her. "Take a walk with me?"
o-o-o-o-o
"Caroline… We're the only ones she has left and we love her like family. Her parents died a few years ago… Car accident." Her voice was soft as she spoke; she and Klaus heading to nowhere in particular. "This house was left to us and we moved here after they were cremated."
"I'm sorry…"
"I don't know how you and Care met… how you even came across her." She took a more serious, steadier tone. "But she means the world to me and I can't just let anyone hurt her."
"Hurt her?" Klaus repeated incredulously. "Why will I–"
"She's paralyzed from the waist down."
He paused mid-step. "What?"
"Care was in that car accident too." Bonnie sucked in a sharp breath. "She's paralyzed, Klausi. I don't know what you think of her, why you keep whatever relationship you have with her. She's been through so much in life already… I don't want her to get hurt anymore."
"I…"
"Now that you know, Klaus…" Bonnie stood before him. "Does this change anything?"
He was standing outside their house again. The lights in her room were out. She must be asleep already. His knees gave way and he sunk to the ground. Paralyzed. Car accident. He might not know much about her except for what little she could say on paper, what he saw when he watched her and kept her company. But Klaus was sure she didn't deserve any of this. She deserved a happy life; one where she was free to live it. Not this.
Now that you know, Klaus… Does this change anything?
It did.
It changed a whole lot.
o-o-o-o-o
The gate swung open again and Bonnie found herself face to face with Klaus. "Klaus."
"You asked me if knowing changes anything." He said without preamble. "It does."
"What…"
"I'm going in to see her… and you can't stop me."
Bonnie stared at him for a moment or two before she stepped aside, letting him in the house. Muttering his gratitude, he waited until the gate was locked, following close behind the young girl as she led the way into the house. It looked just as grand inside as it was on the outside and immediately, he was greeted by a family portrait when he reached inside – a mother, a father, and a young Caroline.
He took a minute to stare at the picture, moving away when Bonnie beckoned him over. Silently, they went up the staircase, turning right when they reached the second floor. Mumbling absently about how a certain Damon always carried Caroline's wheelchair while another person named Stefan carried her whenever she wanted to go down while she and a girl named Elena assisted however which way they could, Bonnie gestured at the lone door in the east wing.
"She's in there." She said simply.
Klaus flashed her a grateful smile. "I owe you one, Bonnie."
"Just promise me one thing… Klaus." Bonnie gave him a small smile in return. "Never hurt her."
Bonnie gave her an earnest nod before turning away and focusing intently on the door of Caroline's room. Slowly, he made his way closer. He was starting to feel nervous; something that he wasn't feeling when he went to the house. He was so close now. Wrapping his hand around the doorknob, he sucked in a sharp breath and willed himself to calm down. Counting up to ten in his mind, he slowly twisted the doorknob, carefully pushing the door open.
She was sitting on the windowsill again, clad in a maroon-coloured dress. Her legs were covered by a blanket and by her bed he found the wheelchair. Caroline turned at the sound of the door; a gasp escaping her lips and tears pooling in her eyes when she saw who it was. Maybe it was out of instinct as she tried to cover her legs from view; her breathing becoming more ragged. She couldn't move and she gave up, closing her eyes as she tried to even out her breathing.
Klaus watched silently by the door as she opened her soulful chocolate brown eyes again; his gaze locking with hers. Slowly, almost painfully slow, he made his way to her. He offered her a hesitant smile; one that she didn't return thanks to her shock. Sitting on the vacant space of the windowsill across her, he allowed himself to just look at her, as if he was seeing her for the first time. In a way, it really was the first time – the first time they were face to face, the first time there was no glass between them.
He reached out a hand, smiling more fully when she didn't jerk away from his touch as he cupped her face with his hand.
"Hi…"
She leaned into his touch; a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "Hi…"
With his free hand, he took something out of his bag; one of his sketches of her. In the drawing, she was watching the sunset with a peaceful smile on her face. On the bottom corner of her the paper, he had written a message. He showed it to her, just the way they did it before.
You don't have to sit here alone anymore.