Title: A Little Help to Remember
Pairing: Klefan
POV: Third Person
Rating: K+
Summary: Klaus decides to take Ripper!Stefan on a little walk down memory lane as they dive into one of Stefan's old journals.
A/N: Just a little drabble I wrote in class. Nothing much, just a little cute Klefan interaction. Enjoy it
Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or any of its vampires.
"Enjoying your little snack, Stefan?" asks Klaus as he enters the room where Stefan is busy draining the blood from a few college girls, only days after he'd learned of their past friendship.
"Yes I am, Nik, thank you for asking. Where's Rebekah?" he asked, dropping the dead girl in his arms to the floor.
Klaus waved his hand in a dismissing manner, "Out."
Stefan walked over to his old friend, the only family he had left after leaving Mystic Falls. He was sure Elena and his brother had given up on him, or at least, he hoped they had. "What do you have planned for me today, Klaus?" he asked him, clapping a hand on the hybrid's broad shoulder.
"I'm up for a little blast from the past, how about you, brother?" Klaus said, walking over to the blood stained sofa and pushing the well placed bodies off of it to make room for himself and his forcibly loyal friend.
Stefan said nothing, but followed Klaus' lead and sat next to him on the couch.
"How much do you remember about our time together in the Twenties?" the older vampire asked him.
Stefan shook his head, "Barely anything. I remember the blood. Every kill. Screaming. But there are short bursts of light, happiness, dancing. With you, and with Rebekah."
Klaus smiled, leaning forward to him, "Do you still keep a journal, Stefan?" he asked suddenly.
"I always have." Stefan blinks, surprised by the original's question, "It helps me when I don't know what I've done."
"Yes, I know." Klaus says, a smirk playing on his lips, "You kept one in the twenties, as well. You'd never let Rebekah or me have a look at it, no matter how much we begged. Rebekah used to pout at you for weeks about it. She's very curious, you see. I'm surprised you never gave in to her, to be honest. My sister can be very… persuasive."
Stefan frowned, slightly annoyed by the interlude to whatever Klaus was planning for them, when he was so curious to know just where the werewolf was going with this. "What's your point, Klaus?" he asked.
Klaus stood, walking away from the sofa toward a trunk near the wall. "My point… Stefan, is that I have that journal. I kept it. I kept my word, and never looked inside. But now that you're here, I wonder… Are you not curious to see what it is you're missing from your past?" Klaus came back, holding an old leather book, flipping the pages with his thumb, "Care to take a look into the mind of the old Stefan?"
He held the book out for Stefan to take, looking down at him interestedly, awaiting the young vampire's next move. Stefan hesitated for a moment before reaching out and taking the book from Klaus' hand, turning it over and over in his hands as the hybrid settled back down on the couch next to him.
"I don't remember it." Stefan commented.
Klaus smirked, "More fun when we find out what's inside then."
Stefan slowly lifted the cover of the book, seeing his own name scrawled in his handwriting, recognizable even after decades, on the inside cover. He flipped the page to a relevant date, cleared his throat, and with one last look and nod of approval from Klaus, began to read aloud.
"October 5th, 1922.
I woke up covered in blood again. I pretend I don't care, but Nik knows that I really do. Some days I don't know what I would have done had we never met, or what I would do without him. He took me in, cleaned me up, treated me as he would a brother. He teaches me how to survive. He's like a brother to me. We eat together. We drink together. We sleep together. We kill together.
Yesterday I woke up underneath a body, thinking it was Rebekah's. I was so terrified when her head rolled off of her shoulders. What possessed me to rearrange that girl on top of myself that way? Niklaus told me to laugh about it, but it frightened me. Needless to say, Rebekah wasn't very pleased.
I don't love her. Not really. I thought I could love her, but I'm not even sure I know how to love anymore. I don't think I am capable of it. She thinks I love her anyway, and god knows she loves me. I think that makes Nik jealous to be honest. He gets angry when he gets jealous.
Some days I almost miss Katherine, and Damon. But then I remember how he left me, and the way Katherine played us both. I'm better off without Damon. And she is better off rotting in Hell where she belongs.
No, the closest thing I have to family, to real love, is the love I share with Niklaus. Real friendship. Brotherhood."
"Real friendship." Klaus repeated, "Brotherhood."
"This means nothing to me anymore." Stefan said.
Klaus raised an eyebrow at him, leaning closer to him again, "Oh really, Stefan? Do you really not love me the way you used to?"
"I have a brother, Klaus." Stefan tells him.
Klaus stands, enraged, "Who? Damon? And where is Damon now? Stefan? Where is your brother? The one you sold your soul for? The one you gave everything to me to save his life? Where is he now?" he yells.
Stefan doesn't answer him, knowing well not to mess with the hybrid when he loses his short temper.
"That's right." Klaus says quieter, "He's not here. And he's not coming. He's probably given up on you, and already stolen your girl. I am the only thing you have left, Stefan. I am your only real friend."
Stefan sighs and stands to be on Niklaus' level, walking over to him and placing a hand on the vampire's arm. "You're right, Nik. You are the only thing I have left. I'm loveless, brotherless. I've lost Elena, and my brother didn't come to kill you. I am all alone, with nothing but the thirst to keep me company. Again. And I bet you think you're saving me, just like you did all those years ago. But do you know what the difference is between then and now, Nik?"
Klaus doesn't answer him, waiting for him to go on, daring him to say what he knows he is thinking. Daring him to go ahead, and keep ruining his fun.
"Free will." Stefan tells him calmly, "We could have been brothers, Nik. We could have even been more. But you ruined all that when you compelled me. When you forced me to be here. That's not friendship. That's slavery."
Stefan gently patted the other man on the shoulder before turning away and walking out of the room.
"It was for your own good, you know." Klaus whispers to himself, "I was doing you a favor. What we had was real. Is real. Real friendship. Brotherhood. You said so yourself, all those years ago. All I did was help you to remember."