Chapter 13: The Lovers Are Losing
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It wasn't everyday that a gentleman like Elijah would ponder over human feelings and emotions, considering he had long since been called a human. But he took a chance that day, while his brother Niklaus was away, still trying to find the Petrova doppelganger. He, himself, was getting tired of the hunt. They've lived for millennia after millennia and still there was no sign of the key to breaking his brother's curse.
He leaned against the house's doorway as he watched his sister and his brother's newest collectible on the grass, giggling and waving at the stable boy who was putting away their horses. They liked taunting men, especially Rebekah. Rebekah had no regard over human hearts. They took them and broke them in more than one way. Blair, however, was still trying to adjust to her new life. She had been with them for merely a decade now and she seemed to have adapted to Rebekah's way of living.
She would join his sister in town to feast on the adoration of mindless men. They were both irresistible so they didn't really need to do anything to amuse their selves. He found it childish and pathetic. Niklaus, however, let them do as they pleased as long as they went home to him, wherever their home might be at that moment.
Niklaus surprisingly wanted to keep her longer, not that Elijah was protesting. He actually developed a fondness over her. Despite her innocent façade, she was actually quite intelligent for someone who has never had proper education. She's only read five books before they met her and now it seemed like she knew everything there was to know about life. Niklaus would always give her a new book to read. As they travelled, he exposed her to the most glorious of art and music.
There was so much potential in her, he thought, as Rebekah sat in front of her to let her hair be braided. Soon flowers would decorate the golden tresses and then they would switch and her head would be filled with a crown of reds and oranges. And the two ladies would go into the woods to play with a lost stranger.
He remembered teaching Blair how to navigate in woods. Always go where there's water, listen for animals, and listen for people. He had taught her most of her survival skills and he's let her delve into his personal thoughts once or twice as a reward for being a good student.
Once he let slip that sometimes he thought of leaving Nik, their family. Blair only smiled at him and told him that his brother thought highly of him, which he never really got. Niklaus only thought highly of himself. But somehow this little girl thought there was something more to his self-absorbed little brother that meets the eye, that there was something inside all of them that no one, not even them, knew of. And when that realization hit him, everything else crashed down along with it.
He liked her. He liked her because she was still human. She liked her because she would disagree with Niklaus and he would shut up when she was talking. She liked her power over him, over all of them. It has been a while since they acted like a normal civilized family. And he liked the effect of her on them. And he liked it so much so that he acted so opposite as to what he actually felt to the point where he wouldn't even look at her. And for good reason.
Niklaus didn't like sharing his toys.
"It is hard to break away, is it?" He heard a voice beside him. He suddenly felt nervous. He was thinking of his brother's current muse in such a disturbing way that was inappropriate. What's more inappropriate was the fact that he was afraid his brother might have developed a mind-reading skill while he was away.
"Such beauty could be so captivating." Niklaus added.
"When are you going to dispose of her, Niklaus? She's slowing us down." Elijah deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I am truly sorry, brother, but my Blair's not going anywhere anytime soon. I've decided I'm keeping her." He smiled and waved when Blair caught sight of Niklaus and she looked delighted, as always. She and Rebekah stood up to walk up to the house.
"So I suggest you stay away from her because she's mine."
Elijah turned his head to the side to see his brother still smiling at Blair as she approached them. Niklaus took a few strides forward to capture her lips in his as he always greeted her when he went away. It made his blood boil. But Niklaus was right. He shouldn't even try to do anything even remotely as to make a romantic advance towards her. He might not say it, but his brother's smitten with the girl. She was not just a toy after all.
To stare at her in present day, in a different light, was so eerie that it bothered him. She looked almost the same since the last time he saw her when they left her to get the Petrova doppelganger, only now she held her head up high and she exuded self-confidence that was overwhelming. She was no longer the poor orphan girl that his brother saved out of pity. She was Blair Waldorf. And as much as it scared him, it felt like she didn't need them anymore.
Who could really blame her? Niklaus dropped her like a forgotten fork in the middle of the height of their relationship. Of course anyone would dishevel from that experience. Only she found a way to come back stronger than before. Again, it was frightening for him.
They settled inside a house too expensive for anybody to buy. It was type of house that felt empty—no ghosts and no humans—lifeless. No family has ever vacated it. No soul has ever owned it. It was brand new. Unlike them: decaying souls in immortally beautiful bodies. He felt her distance even when she greeted him with a tight hug. He felt it when they walked back to the car to a sulking Rebekah who couldn't get out without her ring. He felt it right at that moment as Niklaus wrapped his arm around her shoulder to mark his territory.
"They tortured her, apparently," Rebekah said.
"Ah yes," Niklaus said, "why don't you tell us what about the feeble attempt they made at making you talk?"
"I'm not really in the mood," Blair rolled her eyes.
"Come on, love,"
"I'm sorry, Nik, but I'd rather not talk about the way they shot me up with vervain and stakes right now." She rose from her seat and grabbed her jacket from the table behind Elijah.
"Where are you going? It's a full moon and we have a wolf on the loose." Rebekah tried calling but Nik shushed her.
"I don't care." She called out and slammed the door at them. All she wanted to do was runaway, as fast and as far as she could. There was no way she was going to completely abandon them now since they saved her. But the hard truth was that no matter how much she was crushed with how they all lied to her, she didn't want to be saved. She liked being around Ric and Caroline, and sure, Katherine was bearable too.
And sure, being around Damon wasn't a bad addition too.
But she wasn't going to think of that. All that mattered to her was to escape. She considered taking her ring off but then what? She'll combust into flames helplessly? And then one way or another Klaus would find out about Damon and he'll rip him to shreds. There's always reincarnation, Blair foolishly thought to herself. When she dies she'll be another person in the next life, and so will Damon, and so will everyone else who dies. At least, that was the theory.
As she walked up into the Mystic Bar and Grill she decided she didn't need theories. What she needed was music and dancing and liquor. And it's a good thing some ass was throwing a party to top off the summer before classes started after the weekend.
x x x
"Klaus knows by now that his precious doppelganger is alive and kicking due to the fact that he probably asked Blair or she blurted it out because she hates you for torturing her—"
"Why are you so invested in Blair so much, Damon?" Katherine asked.
"Moving on. We need to kill Klaus."
"Tell us. We need an explanation." Elena said. He wanted to roll his eyes. He still hasn't forgiven her for going along with Katherine's torturing.
He sighed, took a sip of his scotch, and scanned the room. Everyone's eyes were eager. They wanted to know what was going on. And maybe he owed them an explanation.
"We met December 11th 1863," he decided that if they were going on board with his plan to get Blair and Dan back then they at least deserved to know what was up. Or at least, part of it. He wasn't going to give out his soft spot.
They were at the Salvatore's and they all decided that it was the best place for everyone to be at the moment since it was a full moon and no one really wanted to be alone at night with the possibility of Dan Humphrey out there somewhere. Damon figured he had to start explaining somewhere. Serena and Stefan already heard part of the story. And that's the only part he was willing to share with everyone else.
"I just quit the service," he looked at Stefan who confirmed the time line, "and the troops and I were in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We just stopped by for something to eat actually and we were going to head down south. But of course I met Blair."
"And let me guess? She liked you. You got engaged in a very R-rated affair and then you woke up one morning and she was gone." Katherine said. He stared at Katherine for a brief moment, contemplating on what to answer, but then he thought he'd just get on with it.
"Yes. She liked me. So much so that she compelled me to forget about me ever meeting her."
"So she abandoned you?"
"Yes." He simply nodded.
"If she abandoned you then why are you so persistent on getting her back? She wasn't even yours to begin with."
He opened his mouth to say something but a different voice has already spoken for him.
"Because he loved her, of course."
Behind him stood an old gentleman in an old English accent that eerily reminded them of a certain hybrid at hand. He crossed his arms on his chest and leaned against the doorframe. Damon turned, eagerly and when he caught sight of him, he immediately felt like he's seen him somewhere before.
"Who are you?" He demanded. He didn't know if he was more angry with the fact that he was inside his house, or the fact that he just revealed Damon's greatest weakness.
"My name is Mikael."
x x x
The night was a blur, as she remembered most nights were in the different places she's been to in her life. Somehow being the Blair Waldorf of New York City required for her to be the perfect upper class citizen who didn't drink out of tequila bottles while dancing around in a room of stupid adolescents who don't know what they're getting their selves into by chugging down all of that alcohol. It was a good thing she did know how to have some fun every once and a while. And her first bottle's only half empty.
The thought of Dan being out there, alone, on uncharted waters, or in this case woodland, did enter her mind a couple of times. What if he got lost? What if someone finds him in the morning naked in the middle of the street? But she pushed all of those thoughts away by gulping down the rest of the bottle of whatever it was she was holding in her hand that moment.
She was impressed by how the children were passing alcohol around and how the bartended didn't seem to care if everyone was wasted. There was this one kid who was trying to press himself against her, to dance, she guessed, and she felt like ripping his throat out. He followed her all night, trying to talk to her, give her a drink. She only rolled her eyes and left him. But when she tried to touch her again he ended up flying across the floor. Before anyone could look up to see who threw him across the bar, arms gripped around her and carried her outside of the party. She didn't resist. She was in shock of what she did, too.
Once outside she was hauled into the passenger's seat of a car. She still had her latest bottle of Patronin her hand. She groaned to see Elijah getting into the driver's seat.
"I was enjoying a perfectly enjoyable party, Elijah." She took one long gulp of the alcoholic substance and slumped into her seat.
Elijah sighed as he pulled out of the grill and started driving. "Get rid of that." He said. He sounded awfully calm. Too calm. Not good.
"Or what?" Blair challenged. "You're not the boss of me. Stop the car and let me out before I kick the door off."
"You've had too much to drink and with the diet you're on the alcohol is going to affect you, Blair."
"Let me out!" She yelled. Elijah shook his head and kept his eyes on the road. Drunk and overwhelmed by all of the emotions that were surfacing, she tried to pull on the door but the minute it opened, Elijah has already reached to her side of the car and shut the door, locking it from his side.
"This is not the time to be playing games like that, Blair." He said.
"What? You think you can just come back to life and boss me around?" She took another long drink but before it fulfilled her needs it was snatched away from her.
"No more alcohol for you," he rolled down his window and threw the bottle out.
Blair stared at him, frustrated and angered, but hurt mostly. He left her too.
"Now where is this coming from?" He just had to ask the stupidest question she's ever heard in her entire life.
"If I didn't respect you as much as I do your head would be flying down the coastal road by now just for asking me that." She sneered. "You, your family. You can't just come into my life again like nothing happened after leaving me for a doppelganger bitch who just stupidly turned herself into a vampire!"
"Are you done?"
"No! You! You left me. You told me you wouldn't. You didn't even say goodbye. You just left."
"I didn't mean to, Blair, I'm sorr—"
"No, you're not! If you were then you wouldn't have left in the first place!" She continued yelling. Elijah only kept silent as he pulled over at the house's driveway.
"I'm used to being alone now, you know. I don't need any of you!" Her door opened and Klaus carried her out of the car. She knew she should shut up but she couldn't help it. She has lost the ability to control herself.
"And you!" She pointed at him as he carried her into the house and up the stairs. "I loved you and you abandoned me." She was sobbing now.
"Calm down, love," Klaus whispered.
"No. I will not calm down just because you said so. You don't own me!"
Niklaus found it amusing how her words suggested violence yet she had her arm around his shoulder as he carried her to her room.
"I loved you and you left me," she sobbed as she set her down. Elijah and Rebekah were at the door. They've never seen Blair so… destroyed in all of their lives. She was always the collected one. The flawless one. The one who did everything right. They were as shocked, or even more, to see their brother panicking while trying to soothe her. Once he noticed their stares, Klaus ordered them out.
Her head rested on his shoulder and her eyes closed. She was still murmuring her drunken rants but he didn't really want to decipher each word especially when she spoke in mixed languages that were very much alike. Some of it even sounded like Latin.
"I never meant to hurt you, Blair," he started whispering, knowing that Elijah and Rebekah were nearby.
"Right," she scoffed.
"The truth is I was afraid." He took her hand in his and weaved their fingers together. "That's why I had to leave you behind."
"The great Niklaus? Afraid? Of what?" She looked up at him and met his green eyes. She really did miss them. So much so that she despised everyone else she's met with green eyes.
It took him a while to respond for he wasn't sure if revealing himself to her was a smart move. He concluded that if he wanted her to return to him he'd have to give her everything he had. And he did really want her back. He needed her back.
"I was afraid of you, my darling." He offered a smile but she shot him down with a glare. "I was afraid that if I allowed myself to be with you any longer than I already have then the possibility of me losing myself to you-" he had to stop himself for a moment before continuing. "But when I left shortly thereafter I realized it was already too late. I had already fallen for you."
"You have a fancy way of showing it."
"You don't know how much I loathed myself after that. You don't know how many times I've stood in front of your front door, tempted to knock, tempted to go back to you."
"But you didn't, Nik. That's the point. You didn't."
"In New York I did. Please, Blair. I love you," he sighed, "I love you."
Her heart broke as he said it. She's never heard anything more sincere. And as she was caught in the whim of his charm and the alcohol in her system, she smiled up to him and said, "I love you, too."
N/A: I know you guys are going to hate me for the lack of Blamon but trust me when I say it will all be worth it in the end! It's just Klaus needs to be vulnerable right now because he's adorable like that. Also, hello new readers. Welcome! Thank you for taking interest in our little story here. I hope you stay tuned :] And for the regular readers. You are amazing. Give yourselves a round of applause for not abandoning Clocks yet even if sometimes it seems pointless :} XOXO.