"Charlotte..."
The light silhouette next to her immediately made her freak out, and she wasn't far from screaming. She wasn't used to it, and although she didn't have a clue about it, but neither was Klaus.
Actually, he has been sitting on the edge of her bed for at least 10 minutes now, and he couldn't say a word. She was so beautiful it made him speechless. He came with the intention to talk to someone who is willing to listen, but when the opportunity was there, he just got mute. He was staring at her like he didn't have the chance to do it for a million times lately - he still couldn't get enough of her. After all, she was his Charlotte.
"What the hell is your problem?" she hissed as she sat up in her bed, hands tightly on her chest, right above her heart. She might have been a vampire that has been conserved for over a thousand years, but she still wasn't that brave when it came to Klaus. He was her first and last love, and at the same time, the person that caused her death. It wasn't easy to fraternize with this fact.
"I did not mean to scare you, Lotte," he managed to say as quietly as he could. This house was too small for all of them to not hear every little noise. Including their talk, which was the last thing Klaus wanted Damon to know about, for example. Or worse: Caroline.
"Don't call me Lotte, Nik," she sighed, less frustrated by that time. He just gave her a little smile, then shrugged.
"Don't call me Nik."
"Deal." The reaction was short and emotionless, which really disturbed Klaus, but he wasn't in the mood to start a conniption fit. Maybe next time. "What do you want? It's... almost 2 AM."
"I want to talk."
The simply answer has surprised Charlotte pretty much, and the way she looked at the hybrid almost made Klaus laugh. He missed these little moments with her: it's been way too long time ago to remember them, but now, when he could finally relive them, they were much more intensive. They were almost... real. And it felt really good, even if he didn't want to admit it.
"You want to talk. To me. Now." Maybe she wanted these words to sound as questions, but they definitely didn't sound like that. An amused smile has moved to Klaus' face as he was swimming in the deep, ocean blue eyes in front of him, and when Charlotte realized there's no escape from this situation, she sighed. It was typically the Klaus she knew. "Fine. How are you, Klaus?"
"I'm doing fine, even if you're considering the fact that I've been spending the last 1000 years with running from my father and killing people. Or searching for your doppelgangers. Yeah, it was entertaining," he smiled mockingly, and Charlotte couldn't help but got serious by this answer.
"I've heard that," she told on a more silent tone, but Klaus wasn't touched by the new topic they were talking about. He didn't know what was the sense of this whole conversation, but it seemed he only wanted to have it because he wanted Charlotte to know what he has been through since she was gone. And it was a depressing feeling to realize, but he didn't have a chance.
"Which part? The pointless mission after your lookalikes, or that we were Mikael's fair games in his hunting game?"
He knew he sounded bitter and disappointed, but he couldn't help it. It was devastating to remember those years, but he was more thankful that he could put an end on them. That way, he saved not only himself, but Rebekah as well. It was in everyone's best interest.
"Both. But don't pretend like you don't care, Nik. I know you better."
Her look was so piercing he felt guilty for the half of a second for behaving like this, but then again, he put that 'Klaus-smile' on his face again like nothing had happened.
"You remind me of Elena. She talks to Damon this way all the time," he sighed, but he was well aware of the fact that Charlotte couldn't be fooled this easily. She's always been a pretty good observer, and one of her downsides was her helpfulness. She wanted to support everyone, no matter who the ominous person was, and at the moment Klaus didn't know if he needed that, or if he wanted something else. If he just wanted someone he could talk to, about all of his doubts: he didn't want advices. Now it was inevitable.
"You've always suffered, Niklaus," she started silently, and he understood this way of talking. It wasn't the right time for him to cut her off. "But I will be honest with you."
"Do I want to know... the truth?" he asked carefully, but her glance was hard on him, and he couldn't do anything but swallow and wait.
"I didn't die to see that now you've become this monster, Klaus. And don't tell me you didn't have any other choice, because I always know if you're lying. You had another choice, and you could've made it right."
Her voice sounded disappointed and when the guilt and all of those uncomfortable feelings started to fill in his chest, Klaus tore his glance from her and stared right into the darkness. He didn't want to see her judgement in her eyes, he didn't want to feel guilty for choosing the life he had. Because if he felt that guilt, he would've wanted to change it, no matter what. And it was the worst feeling in the world: knowing you can't change your past, because that is one thing that's totally impossible. Even for him.
It took a few minutes until he could rise his head again. His heart was beating harder now, but he tried to avoid the fact he felt human again. It couldn't be an option at that moment: he felt vulnerable enough without this little experience.
"You have no idea what it is like to keep on living without the only person you truly love, haven't you?" he smiled bitterly, and he tried his best to swallow the lump he had in his throat. "Well, how could you, when you were dead?"
"Oh please, at least don't blame me for being dead to save your ass!" She was close to shouting at him, but she tried to control herself. She didn't want to wake anyone in the house: at least they had to rest even if she couldn't because of this idiot hybrid that's been keeping her awake all night and blaming her for dying in a sacrifice ritual. That was the last thing she expected.
"Where did you learn cursing?" he furrowed his brows, but Charlotte just rolled her eyes in disbelief.
"I've been spending days with Elena and that blonde, curly haired... -"
"Caroline," he immediately cut her off, and it obviously made her surprised, because her brows suddenly rose, and she was blinking with slightly shock in her eyes.
Klaus himself was a little bit suprised as well, especially about his body's reactions of the name of the most chipper one of them, or 'Vampire Barbie' as Damon liked to call her. He had time to get used to the fact that she totally turned his world around, and nothing was the same as it's been before that night he saved her life. But he's always been shocked when he experienced the same butterflies in his stomach and the warm touch of caring on his soul whenever she was around. He just couldn't get used to this, and he had this intuition that it's not going to be better anytime soon.
"Nik... You really care for her?"
Charlotte's voice immediately shook him up from his wondering, and like he was woken from a dream, he just blinked a few times before he could react anything. And it was still too hard.
"No, I'm not."
"See? I always know when you're lying," she grinned, keeping back a silent laugh, and Klaus felt like he was caught on stealing chocolate or something. And it wasn't the best feeling in the world. "When Elena told me about all of those horrible things you've done, I couldn't believe it at first. You know... I can see it on you when you're in love, but I just couldn't figure out who you fell for this time. It makes you more... Cultured. And that's why I didn't believe all of those things about your bloody businesses."
"What are you talking about? I am not falling for anyone, especially not for someone that doesn't even like me," he defended, trying to stay as calm as he could. But in reality, he wanted to shout all of her hair off of her pretty head, because it couldn't be true. It just... couldn't be true that Charlotte simply woke up and everything got that clear again, as things once were. She made everything so obvious, and it drove him crazy.
"You don't know if she likes you or not. You only know you like her, and you can't help it. You always act nicer when you think of her, Nik. Just embrace it, don't deny it!" she was smiling like it was so normal for his ripper lifestyle to suddenly fall in love and get a better person in no time. It wasn't that easy, but that's never been a problem for Charlotte. "Does she know it?"
"Are you kidding me? She doesn't have to know anything, because I feel nothing for her!" He got more desperate with every passing moment, but it didn't frightened Charlotte: it even made her more and more entertained, actually.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, dear. Nik, you knew this time would come, sooner or later."
"What?" he seemed really puzzled, so Charlotte just sighed, and leant a little bit closer to Klaus, who now regretted the second he came and woke Charlotte up. It was the biggest mistake of the century, it was sure by now.
"To forget me and search someone new." Her voice was silent, but she didn't seem broken or sad. And it made him even more confused. Her face was clear in emotions, she was full of love, and Klaus started to calm down slowly. It was a magical feeling, and he thought it must have done something with her witchy family, but he didn't care about that right now. "Look, you remember what I told you before the sacrifice, don't you?"
Klaus slowly closed his eyes, than inhaled, and nodded. How could he ever forget that day? That was something he was thinking about every day in these centuries, but Charlotte didn't have to know it.
"You told me to be brave enough to love again."
"Then now," she smiled slowly, then she caressed his face gently, making him shiver with only one touch, "don't be afraid, Nik. Don't feel guilty because we both knew back then that our time is gone."
He couldn't say anything. Even if he wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to find the right and appropriate words - if there were any right words at all. He slowly opened his eyes just to get lost in hers, then he forced himself not to look at her lips while he moved closer and put his hand on her soft fingers that's been resting on his cheek. It was the most beautiful moment in a really long time, and he didn't want to just simply let it go. It was too precious, and maybe their last moment shared as old lovers who both knew it was the end for them. And their love was harder to let go than he expected - her point of view was totally unknown.
"What are you going to do now?"
The question he asked was sudden, even for Klaus himself, but it had to be made. She slowly moved further from him, then a smile started to form on her pretty face, and she shrugged.
"I don't know. After it's all done, I probably supposed to go and live my life. But for now, I should be sleeping because it's not you who is going to cast a spell on a bunch of rebellious hybrids," she laughed softly, and pulled the blanket all over herself as she tried to find a comfortable position in her bed.
He was smiling as he stood up and just watched the love of her life slowly falling asleep again, then he took a deep breathe, and turned around.
It was time to be brave.