She knew she wasn't supposed to be there. She and Klaus were at a bad place and she shouldn't have been in this house. But she had to be there. She couldn't stop a part of her from missing him and needing to be near him. Being in his house could satisfy the part of her that needed him. She knew he was out and that was why she had come at that time. She strolled through the house. Walking into his study, she smiled weakly as she was an unfinished painting on an easel. It was beautiful. She wasn't quite sure what it is, but it was amazing. All of his art was. She sighed softly, before she walked over to his desk and began looking through drawings, all of which were exquisite. She sat in his chair and opened a few of his drawers, curious as to what they contained. There was nothing of too much interest in there. A pocket watch or two, a few necklaces, mostly small things he'd collected over the years. Then she stumbled upon something that surprised her. She saw a small notebook. It looked very old, but it was obviously very well looked after. The brown leather cover was curled slightly and it was clear it had once been a different shade of brown, but other than that, the spine and pages seemed in good condition. On the front it had 'Bekah' written in Klaus' beautiful handwriting. Her brows furrowed slightly as she opened the book to the first page. As she saw what was on that first page, her eyes widened. It was a sketch of her, smiling. She remembered that day. It had been back in the early 1700's. Klaus and Rebekah had been to a ball that day and as usual, it had ended in Rebekah flirting with a man and Klaus letting his jealousy get the best of him. They'd fought all the way home. She'd been furious that he refused to her live her life and try to be normal, and he was furious that she wanted normality and that the life she had with him wasn't enough. It ended in tears on Rebekah's part. Later that night, she'd sat in her room and sobbed. Klaus had then gone to her and held her in his arms and all was forgiven. Unfortunately, that was a common occurrence. A vicious circle. The same sort of thing happened a lot with them over the years. It would always end the same, no matter how long it took. Rebekah would forgive him and all would be okay until they argued again.
Rebekah flicked to the next page. She saw another drawing of herself. Looking through some more of the book, she saw that page after page contained beautiful drawings of her. She completely adored looking at all of these and knowing that they meant enough to Klaus for him to keep them. The good condition of the book just proved how much it meant to him. Each drawing was perfect, as if he'd spent hours on them until he got them right. Each drawing was of her smiling. It was like he wanted to remind himself of the good times they'd shared. There had been so many bad times that they both regretted. Fights that were meaningless and petty and lasted for years, times they'd mistreated and betrayed each other… But ultimately, they'd never been apart. He always kept him with her, whether she was in a box or by his side.
Rebekah flicked through a few more pages, thinking about each drawing and remembering how amazing the time was when it was drawn. The drawings were in chronological order, spread out over centuries. Each was more beautiful than the last, more intricate. The blonde felt herself begin to tear up slightly. Blinking these tears away, she shook her head and continued to look at the drawings. She came across one of her in the twenties, and on the next page was something she hadn't expected. It was a drawing of her wearing clothing that was fashionable after the twenties, clothes she was sure she'd never worn. Her brows furrowed, and then she realised and her expression softened. He'd been thinking about her, even when she was daggered. He'd been imagining her by his side, what she would wear, how she would have her hair. Even the smallest details, such as what lipstick she would wear or what she would put in her hair. She smiled, tearing up once more. This time, she couldn't find the strength to hold back these tears. A few small crystalline drops flowed down her cheeks as she kept looking through the drawings. As she neared the end of the book, she found drawings of herself from after she was undaggered. She could match them to dates now. One of them was directly after she'd been undaggered and Klaus had taken her shopping. Another was when he had left town to make more hybrids. As she turned the third to last page, she saw a drawing of herself that was done recently. She could tell by the way her hair was in the drawing. It could have been drawn less than a few weeks prior to then. She continued to cry, silently and softly. He did care. He was still thinking of her, despite everything that had happened. He stillloved her. To her, that meant the world.
She heard footsteps approaching and she glanced up. He was there. She stood up, putting the notebook on the table. She didn't attempt to stop her tears. Klaus glanced at the book and knew she'd found them. Granted, he hadn't put any great effort into hiding them, but he never really thought anyone would find that book. It contained some of his greatest work, but also his most private work. Each drawing was so intricate and perfect because he knew he owed it to her. He'd treated her horribly and they both knew it. Yet, she always managed to forgive him. He'd taken all of his frustration and guilt and put it into each drawing, which is why all of them were so breath taking. Well, that and the fact that they were of Rebekah. She was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. He would never tire of drawing her or being around her.
"Nik?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow. Her voice was teary and weak. "You did these?" As she asked, he nodded simply. A few more tears fell down her cheeks as he did.
"You weren't supposed to see them."
"But I have. Nik, why didn't you ever tell me?"
"They weren't meant to be seen by anyone else but me, Bekah. Put the book away now."
"Why? I've seen them now, I can't exactly erase the images from my mind… And why is my seeing them a bad thing? Nik, they're wonderful."
"They could be improved." He said, his words dismissing hers. He knew none of them came close to capturing her beauty. To him, it seemed impossible to capture her beauty.
"Oh, shut up, Nik." She shook her head and sighed. She moved from behind his desk and walked over to him. She took his hand softly. He glanced into her eyes, before his gaze drifted down again.
"What a lovely way to repay me. I spent a lot of time on those drawings."
"I know… Thank you, Nik. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything I've done. I know we've both done horrible things that are really unforgivable, but somehow… I forgive you, Nik. I forgive you for all of it." She whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks, despite her efforts to hold them back. Klaus looked into her eyes and nodded once.
"We've been a pair of fools, haven't we?" He asked rhetorically. They both knew that these fights they'd had wouldn't ever last. It was impossible. Their relationship was one that didn't allow that.
"I really am sorry, Nik. Everything we've been through has been so ridiculous. So strange and I know we lose ourselves a lot. I'm sorry, Nik. We're fools for this and I'm so sorry." Rebekah sighed. Klaus shook his head. She kept apologising. He knew they were both to blame for the mess they'd become and he hated that she was the one taking the blame.
"Stop apologising. Just…" He couldn't fathom his thoughts into words. He wasn't sure what to do. So, he acted impulsively. Cupping her face, her pressed his full lips to hers and began to kiss her. He needed a way to show her how sorry he was and this was what seemed best to him. It wasn't the first time they'd kissed, but Rebekah was surprised. Not at all unpleasantly, though. Tangling her fingers in his curls, she kissed him back. The kiss was filled with passion and frustration, love and anger, sorrow and forgiveness. It seemed an eternity before they pulled away, but they did. Klaus kept one hand on Rebekah's cheek, his thumb lightly caressing it. They both knew this wasn't the last time they'd fight. It was the vicious circle, starting over again. But they didn't care. They had each other for now and that was all that mattered.