Focus, Cami… One more paragraph…
Camille rubbed her tired eyes and sighed, placing her laptop on the coffee table. Her concentration had reached its limit and she could no longer focus on the dissertation at hand. She flopped back onto the couch, reaching for a blanket and draping it over herself, intending to shut off her mind for five minutes before continuing her work.
Surely one little catnap can't hurt?
Camille awoke to the sound of tapping on the window pane. A quick look at the clock told her she had been asleep for two hours. She mentally chastised herself for sleeping so long, given that her dissertation was due in the following morning. The same tapping sound that woke her moments before, returned. There was someone or something at her window; that much was clear, and this realisation gave Camille pause for concern. In a town like this, Camille knew she was vulnerable. She imagined that leaving Klaus' hideout and living back in her own house, in her own space, would be an easy, comfortable familiarity; like putting on your favourite pair of shoes. In actual fact, it had turned out to be the opposite. Without Elijah's calming presence, she felt unsettled and defenceless. Without his company, she was bored and restless. She had grown used to the vampire, forming a bond with him in only a matter of weeks. She had been disappointed that she hadn't heard from him since their return. Then again, she hadn't heard from Klaus either. Now that she appeared to be out of harm's way, he had left her alone, only calling on her the day of the wedding to babysit Hope. It spoke volumes that he trusted her with his daughter but she couldn't help wondering: Do I matter to these people or am I just good for the odd therapy session?
The tapping continued as Camille took her final steps towards the window and cautiously opened the blinds. The Original Hybrid who had just invaded her thoughts stood before her, drenched in rain from the steady downpour that had been ongoing most of the night. Camille's breath caught in her throat at the sheer shock of his untimely visit. She stood stock-still, separated only by glass with Klaus' eyes boring into her. Camille forced her eyes away from him and her attention turned to the lock on the window. Once the window was opened she signalled for Klaus to step inside. He nodded in acknowledgement of her invitation and entered the apartment he had become accustomed to. They had shared a number of intense moments in this quaint living room. No matter how many times Klaus entered, that familiar smell remained, he couldn't pinpoint it but it was similar to vanilla. It was Camille's scent. She was everywhere in the apartment and it was both a comfort to him to be in this space and undeniably gut-wrenching.
"I've had a...dreadful day. If my moods controlled the weather, it'd be on par with that monsoon out there." Klaus eyes darted over the room, unwilling, it seemed, to focus on the concerned human before him.
Camille's brows knit together in a frown. "You're soaking wet, Klaus. Do you want a towel? Here, let me get you..." Camille turned to walk away and Klaus grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
"No…I'm quite fine. I don't mean to put you out."
Camille looked down at Klaus' lingering hand on her arm before raising her eyes to look at him. "Klaus, why are you here?"
The simple directness of her question threw him. He answered back with simple directness of his own.
"Because I want to be."
Camille stood slack-mouthed, with her eyes raised, her confusion evident. Klaus had barely spoken to her in months. Yet, here he was; on a random Thursday night, completely soaked by the rain, at one in the morning. She had no need to speak her next question aloud, her face spoke volumes.
"You're probably wondering why. Why do I want to be here? Why is it you I run to every time my demons come knocking at my door? Why is it your face I see when I react in my usual abhorrent manner? Why do I find it so hard to trust, yet I trust you? I don't have the answers to these question, I'm afraid, so you're just going to have to do without." Klaus shrugged. His slumped shoulders and bowed head betrayed his typically confident demeanour.
"Okay…well, I'm not sure what to do with that." Camille was baffled. Klaus had caught her completely off-guard. She gathered herself and regained her composure, adopting her usual shrink-like persona.
"With regards to your dreadful day, do you maybe want to talk about it?" Camille probed.
Klaus spent the next two hours, over a bottle of rum, explaining the developments with Freya, his arguments with Hayley and Jackson. His inability to trust anyone but himself with the safety of his daughter; His somewhat detachment from Elijah, the body situation with Rebekah and the loss of his brother, Kol. Camille listened intently throughout, offering no opinions, simply letting Klaus vent and air out all his problems and concerns. She realised it had been such a long time since they had sat down together; she had missed this. She missed helping this wounded, tortured soul. Her influence over him was apparent in his story telling as it had become clear that he had not made any rash decisions or gone on any killing sprees in spite of his anger. For that alone, she was proud of him. As time wore on, Camille struggled to stifle a yawn. Klaus stopped mid-sentence, noticing that she was exhausted.
"I can see you're tired, love. I'll leave you to get some rest. My apologies for keeping you up so late."
"No apologies necessary but yes, I am beat." Klaus stood up to leave and offered a supportive hand to Camille who accepted, clasping his hand in her own as she rose to face him. "Listen, you can come and speak to me any time. Don't be a stranger, okay?"
"Thank you for inviting me in and hearing me out. You're a true friend, Cami. I don't know many people I've had the pleasure of saying that about in my long life…" Klaus stared at Camille for a moment, lost in thought. "That is probably the answer to my many unanswered questions I shared with you earlier tonight." Camille's brow furrowed in tired confusion.
"What questions?" She asked, struggling to hold back another yawn, as her exhaustion crept over her.
"Why I always seek you out." Klaus replied, a hint of a smile, behind his stony expression.
"Ah, I see. Well, I am your therapist. On call 24-7."
Klaus snickered. "Precisely the reason why your survival is of upmost importance to me." Camille returned Klaus' smile, blushing. In spite of everything, she cared about this man before her and it touched her to know that he saw her as more than a therapist; as a 'true friend.' At some point down the line, they had made that leap. Klaus nodded and turned to leave through the window he came in.
"Hey, Klaus?" Camille called after him. He turned back to face her. "Could you tell Elijah I was asking for him?" Camille swore she could see a slight grimace on the Original Hybrids face for a split second, but before she could be sure, he had vanished. Camille locked the window behind him, shivering as the last gust of wind entered through the open space, sending chills up her spine. She shuffled towards the comfort of her beaten old couch and lay back in the same place she had fallen asleep earlier. Her exhaustion had taken hold and it wasn't long before thoughts of Klaus carried into her dreams as she drifted off into an easy, peaceful slumber.