I don't know why, but I am a HUGE Katherine and Klaus shipper. But there isn't enough stories about them on Fan Fiction. So… here I am, writing one with what I hope is an interesting twist.
So this story will be AU with human characters and all. Also, Mystic Falls is a city not a town in this story.
Another thing: the title of this story, A Beautiful Indifference, is the name of a song by a band called Rise Against on their album, The Black Market (2014)
I do not own the character from the Vampire Diaries and the Originals. I am just simply using them for creative purposes.
Chapter I
Where Did Things Go Wrong?
"Elena!" Katherine Pierce shouted angrily, storming out of her twin sister's room and down the hall, while holding a pair of stylish, black heels. She raged through the kitchen – her Aunt Jenna was making breakfast and raised an eyebrow at her as she passed – and into the living room, where Elena sat watching the morning news to check the weather. "Stop taking my heels!" She dangled her heels close to Elena's face. "These shoes are expensive. Do you know how long I had to save up to buy these? Forever."
Elena looked up from the TV and said, "You take my clothes, too, Katherine.
"That's completely different."
"Not really." Elena said, nearly rolling her eyes. Katherine could be very childish at times.
Katherine huffed. "Just don't take my shoes without asking next time." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her iPhone, waving it around. "Just text next time and ask."
"Fine then."
"Good." Katherine shot back, liking to have the last word. She then spun on her heel and walked away.
Jenna looked up from the eggs she was whisking to look at Elena. "You two," she said, shaking her head, "have a very weird sisterly bond and relationship."
Elena shrugged and flicked the TV off. She tossed the remote aside and stood up, stretching out her still-tired limbs. "I need to finish getting ready. I have class in the morning…" She sighed, adding, "And then I have to meet Matt for lunch."
Jenna now raised an eyebrow at Elena. "You don't sound too excited about that. Is something wrong?"
"No." Elena denied, just a little too quickly. "Nothing is wrong." She smiled, though it looked a bit forced. "I love Matt. I really do."
"Okay," Jenna said, knowing when to back off. If she tried to force Elena to talk too soon, nothing good would come of it. She would have to wait a little bit; she knew – or well, she hoped – that Elena would eventually come to her and tell her what was wrong with her and Matt. "Can you make sure Jeremy is up? He keeps sleeping in."
"Yeah, sure." Elena said, striding through the living room, past the island where Aunt Jenna was preparing breakfast. She headed straight down the hall to the entry foyer, instead of down the hall where her and Katherine's rooms, as well as the utility room and the door to the garage were.
Jeremy's bedroom was all the way down the first hall that branched off the entry foyer; his bedroom was located across from Aunt Jenna's master bedroom in the corner and it was the smallest room in the house. There had been a guest room, which was the second largest room in the house, but neither Jeremy, Katherine nor Elena had wanted the room as it was so close to the entry foyer. As such, it had been converted into a lounge and game room since Aunt Jenna, Katherine, Elena and Jeremy didn't have any extended relatives that would be staying over.
Elena briefly knocked on Jeremy's bedroom door before pushing it open and sticking her head. As she had expected, the bedroom lights were off and Jeremy was passed out on his bed, his limbs sprawled out all over the mattress as he snored away. Grinning, Elena stepped into the room, tip-toeing to make sure she was quiet. She picked up a pillow that had obviously been kicked off the bed and chucked it, with all her might, at the sleeping Jeremy.
The pillow Jeremy right in the face.
Jeremy grunted and jerked awake, pushing the pillow away from his face. He blinked his blurry, sleep-filled eyes several times as he looked up; finally, his eyes adjusted and he realized that Elena was standing in his dark bedroom. "Elena!" He glared at her. "What the hell!"
"Breakfast soon." Elena sniggered, turning around and flicking on Jeremy's bedroom light. He groaned tiredly. "So get up and start getting ready. You can't be late for school again." She stressed the last word.
Jeremy threw one of his pillows across the room at Elena, but she ducked out of the room and closed the door, hearing the soft thump of the pillow against the wood. Elena headed back down the hallway and through the entry foyer.
"Thanks for waking him up." Jenna said while laughing as Elena passed the kitchen.
"No problem." Elena replied. She walked down the hall and opened her bedroom door, stepping inside and closing the door. She looked around, noting that she would have to clean her room soon; unlike her twin sister, Elena didn't much prefer having a messy room.
As Elena went about getting ready for her morning class, she couldn't help but dread this afternoon. She didn't know why, but things just weren't the same with Matt anymore. Every time Elena thought about her boyfriend of nearly seven years, Elena couldn't help but feel all these tumultuous emotions. She just didn't share the same enthusiasm as Matt did whenever he talked about their futures together.
Elena had no idea where all of this was coming from. She hoped that all of these feelings would go away soon. Perhaps she was just having a small moment of doubt. Yeah, she told herself, that's it. I love Matt! I really do.
But Elena wasn't sure at all.
Katherine stood waiting for the bus, the warm rays of the sun shining down on her. It felt like she had been standing here for hours waiting for the bus to come – though, in actual reality, it had only been ten minutes. Sighing impatiently, Katherine turned to check her reflection in the glass of the bus shelter. She made sure her hair was still perfectly curled – on very bad days, the heat made Katherine's hair frizz and become out of control – and that her outfit, consisting of a knee-length grey skirt and a dark blue blouse, was still impeccable and smooth.
Peering down the street, Katherine squinted her eyes, trying to see if there was an approaching bus. Her expression brightened as she spotted the distant shape of a bus rumbling down the street. Soon enough, the bus came to a slow and careful stop in front of Katherine.
Finally, Katherine thought as she stepped up through the open doors into the bus, flashing her bus pass to the driver. Her nose immediately wrinkled in disgust. The bus had a fairly unpleasant smell – a mix of stale body odor and some sort of weird, old food – and it seemed to fill the entire bus.
"Ugh," Katherine mumbled, heading down the aisle to the back of the bus and choosing a corner seat. She quickly cracked open one of the bus windows, allowing the soft summer breeze to roll through the window, directly onto her face. It helped with the horrible smell of the bus, making it bearable for her.
As the bus drove through traffic, Katherine gazed out the window, watching the passing scenery of everyday life in Mystic Falls. She allowed her thoughts to drift back to Bulgaria and her small little hometown, where she had lived for a brief, short five years. Katherine and Elena's mother, Isobel, had not survived childbirth; she had only lived long enough to name her two daughters, hold them, and take a picture. Isobel had then passed away shortly afterwards on June 5, 1995.
The loss of their mother had hit their father hard. Katherine could distantly remember her father always being up late into the evening, day after day, sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room with a glass of bourbon in his hands and tears glistening on his cheeks. He didn't ever know that Katherine had stood in the doorway of the living room many times, listening to him cry and call out their mother's name. Eventually, it had all become too much for their father to handle and he made contact with Isobel's sister in America – Miranda Gilbert – asking for help. Within a fortnight, Katherine and Elena were shipped across the world to America to live with Miranda and Grayson.
Katherine and Elena's father had set up bank accounts for them to access when they were eighteen years old. The money in the accounts were for schooling and everyday life, and, as soon as Katherine had turned eighteen, she had wasted no time diving into her bank account to spend her money.
As such, that was how Katherine had arrived to the situation she was in right now: sitting on a bus on her way to a job interview for some fancy hotel.
Katherine was in law school and, hopefully, on her way to becoming a successful lawyer. She still had money in her bank account, but pretty much all of it was tied up in her schooling, so she couldn't really use any of it for her everyday life expenses, such as clothes, makeup, snacks, or anything of the sort.
Seeing as how Aunt Jenna was stuck being the responsible adult raising a teenage boy and handling two young adults, while trying to balance a new job, Katherine had decided that it would probably be wise of her to go get a job. She couldn't keep relying on Aunt Jenna to help pay for her things.
"Hopefully this all goes well." Katherine mumbled softly to herself.
Klaus Mikaelson stepped back from his finished painting for a better look; his eyes roamed over it, double-checking the painting, making sure it was exactly the way he wanted it.
And it was.
The painting depicted a dark forest with a sky above that was bathed in red. The entire landscape of the painting had a surreal saffron hue as Klaus' careful brushstrokes had made the clouds reflect the fading sun's red and orange glow. It was breathtaking and beautiful.
"Klaus! There you are!"
Setting his paintbrush down on the edge of his easel, Klaus turned around to see his wife standing there with her hands placed on her hips and an irritated look on her face.
Caroline Mikaelson was truly a beautiful young woman with a slim, yet toned and athletic figure due to her years spent cheerleading during high school. Her eyes were a captivating, blue-green that sparkled whenever she laughed and her medium-length hair was blonde, and always done in a different style ranging from straight, curly or naturally waving. Today, Caroline's hair was done in a cascade of blond curls which bounced as she moved across the room to where he was standing.
"Klaus," Caroline repeated, snapping her fingers to draw Klaus' attention back to her. "Why have you been ignoring all my texts and calls?"
"I was busy," Klaus gestured to the drying painting behind him. "As you can see."
Caroline now crossed her arms. "That is no excuse." She told him sternly. "We were supposed to go out for breakfast this morning. Did you forget?"
"Yes, love, I did forget and I am sorry. I got caught up in my painting." Klaus partially lied. He had come to his personal art studio early this morning – long before Caroline had risen from bed – and started painting. He had turned off his cellphone and allowed himself to get lost in his painting, pushing the breakfast date he had planned with Caroline to the back of his mind.
"Oh," Caroline looked disappointed just for a second, then she straightened her posture and looked at Klaus. "Well, do not forget that Rebekah –" Caroline grimaced. She and her sister-in-law did not always get along. "- are going to the airport to pick Freya up around noon. Her surprise 'welcome home' party starts at 6:00 tonight."
"I shall not be late, Caroline." Klaus told her, trying to keep his tone of voice patient and calm. He didn't know why, but every time he was around Caroline, listening to her ramble on in her bossy voice, he always became quickly annoyed.
"Good," Caroline replied, pulling out her buzzing cellphone. She looked down at her phone then back up at Klaus. "I have to go. I have a meeting with a client soon. I will see you later, sweetie."
"Goodbye, love, I will text you later." Klaus said, leaning in and lightly kissing Caroline on the cheek.
Caroline gave him a very forced smile and then turned on her heel, leaving Klaus' art studio. When the door closed and Caroline was gone, Klaus couldn't help but feel better and relaxed.
Klaus and Caroline had been best friends since they were children, growing up together and always being there for one another. And, of course, as was expected, when Klaus and Caroline graduated from high school, they immediately decided to get married. Klaus had been convinced that Caroline was the only one for him and that he would love her forever – now he wasn't so sure anymore.
However, as of lately, Klaus and Caroline's marriage had slowly, but surely, been falling apart. It had started a few years ago when Caroline had discovered she was pregnant –
Klaus shook his head, cutting off that trail of thought. He didn't want to go there right now. He just wanted to be at peace – which was why he had come to his art studio.
Turning to look at his finished painting once more, Klaus wondered what was going to happen to him and Caroline and their marriage.
That's it. That is the first chapter.
I am just starting to lay some of the plot. Katherine needs a job, Elena is having doubts about her relationship with Matt, and Klaus and Caroline's marriage is having difficulties.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
Please review and let me know what you think!
~ Yuki
