Hey Guys! I'm back! I really do try and update quickly, but life happens and I never have time to write. Also with this chapter, it took me a week to decide what I wanted to do with it. Something happens here that I didn't know how to go about doing, hence my lateness
I want to thank you guys again for all the follows, favorites, and reviews you give. They keep me going when I get stuck. Lets me know I do something right.
This chapter is part two to the last one, so a refresher on the last one might be a good idea before going into this if you don't remember it. I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Another thing, this story really does focus a lot more heavily on Allison and Klaus because I adore them. They're just too interesting to not have the spotlight. So, let me know what you think!
I don't own TVD.
Mates House
"Are you ready?" That'd been the question, and Klaus was more than ready to answer it with a sarcastic remark, and then he turned around. Immediately, all thoughts of speaking were gone and he was left mutely staring. She was gorgeous, stunning. But he'd sooner die than admit she'd left him speechless. Her curled hair fell softly around her shoulders. Her dress was simple but elegant, black with lacy roses trailing down the bottom. She had an amused smile on her face and he realized he had been silent for a while, so he shook himself out of his stupor.
"Of course, love." His charming smirk was back, and they both pretended the last minute hadn't happened, because admittedly Allison was just as mesmerized by the annoying hybrid wearing the tux. They both headed for the door, with Allison reaching for the keys to her car, well she was before a hand came and snatched them instead.
"What kind of gentlemen would I be if I let the lady drive?" Klaus asked 'innocently.'
"A reasonable one, considering you don't know how to get to the hall anyways."
He didn't even blink. "I'm sure I'll manage, somehow." Allison would've argued on any other occasion, but they were going to be late, and she wasn't in the mood to deal with a grumpy Klaus the entire way there. So, without giving any answer, she walked out the door and towards the car sitting in the drive. She didn't have to turn around to see the smirk on Klaus' face. It seemed to be the only facial expression he was capable of most days.
She wasn't wrong either, for Klaus did have his signature smirk on his face. He walked leisurely to the car, and got into the driver's seat. He put the keys in, and they were off towards what could turn out to be one of the best or worst nights ever.
It was silent for about ten minutes before Klaus decided to speak. "So, what's this event for?"
Allison, to his surprise, hesitated a little before answering. "Raises money for abused children, I've been donating for a long time, so I regrettably get invited to these things quite often."
That struck a chord in him. After a pause he spoke again. "So, why do you donate?"
Her face morphed into something that was a little bit annoyed. "Am I not allowed to do something good unless it gives me some sort of benefit?"
"Of course not, just asking." Her defensive posture and her words said a lot more about Allison than he would ever get her to admit. And for some reason, that really bothered him. Not just that she'd never mentioned her own past and seemed to know everything about his, no he was more upset about what it all implied. He gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter and silence reigned over the car.
Another 20 minutes and Allison sighed. "So, why did you really want to come with me?"
He shrugged. "I wasn't lying. I had nothing better to be doing, and I just love spending time with you." The last bit was said dripping with sarcasm. Still, none of it had really been a lie, just not the whole truth. In all honesty, Klaus wasn't terribly sure why he'd come. Sure, he didn't have anything better to be doing, but he didn't have to do this.
Allison gave a nod, accepting his answer, but not really believing it. "So, how long are we expected to be at this thing?" Klaus asked her.
"A few hours at most. Just talk with some of the other donators for a while, sit through a speech that nobody cares to hear, drink, maybe dance a little if we're particularly unlucky, and then we should be fine to leave." All of this was said in a tone that said Allison was dreading the entire thing.
Klaus chuckled. "You really don't like people, love."
"It's not that I don't like them, it's more that I hate listening to them chat about what they deem important, all the while I sit there pretending I care about the unfortunate fate of Mr. Boots."
"Mr. Boots?" He threw her a strange look.
"The cat of a woman that goes to some of these events. She has to have at least 8 of the things, considering how many times she's started crying while telling me about how they've been hit by a car. The woman lives on a highway, so she should be anything but surprised." Her voice was full of disdain.
"So kill her." Klaus replied, it seemed simple enough to him.
"No, she donates to this charity and the woman's rich. She's far more useful alive, at least then someone's getting some use out of her existence." Klaus nodded in understanding, perfectly logical. It was a shame the most annoying people somehow ended up being the most useful. This conversation completely proved that vampires had very skewed morals.
"Got it. So, if people just never talked, you'd have no problems with them whatsoever?"
"Exactly." Allison replied, ignoring the amused expression that went along with the question.
Klaus just shook his head and continued driving. Allison looked over and studied the man next to her. He looked good without a scowl on his face, he seemed content. Of course he went and destroyed it by looking over and catching her staring. "Like what you see?"
She scowled at him. "Just wondering what terrible accident could've possibly made you look like that." Her words didn't have their usual bite, which made Klaus smirk, but this smirk was a borderline genuine smile.
"I'm sure you'd find many people that would disagree with you there."
"I didn't know that many people were blind." Allison joked. She usually said these things with a sneer, which made them insults, but there was no sneer on her face now. Just a little upwards twitch of her lips.
"Speaking of accidents, you know as well as I do that Kol and your sister both went to the same party last night."
"I'm more than aware. And I'm sure you know as well as I do that there's no way in hell that they didn't end up meeting somehow."
"Obviously. My brother never was one to be able to control himself." Klaus rolled his eyes at just the thought of Kol.
"So, knowing Rosaline as I do, do you think they'll come to town pretending they never met and sneak off to parties together, or do you think they'll not even bother coming home and head off to another party?"
Klaus pretended to think about it for a minute. "I'll take option three. They'll come with a marriage license they got in Las Vegas. The pictures will show Elvis as the officiator."
Allison thought about it, then started laughing. A real laugh, not the chuckles she'd given before. It was a beautiful laugh, in his opinion. Her nose crinkled, making the few freckles on her face even more pronounced. When she finally stopped laughing, she smiled a little. "You know, Klaus, if you were like this all of the time instead of your usual insufferable self, I could almost say I like you."
"I almost feel the same, love."
And truly, this was the most civil they'd ever been with each other. One could argue that they were being friendly. And neither of the two occupants of the car felt the need to rip the heart out of the other, for once. Maybe it was just the fact they both were stuck in the same car and didn't want to be irritated for the entire drive. Whatever it was, it was almost enjoyable.
Somewhere in South Carolina
Rosaline was just a little panicked. Sure, telling Kol he could in fact come with her, to wherever it was she was going, seemed like a good idea at the time. And so they both got into her car and drove in the general direction of Mystic Falls. Now she could either drop Kol off wherever he said he lived, and drive off, pretending that she was no one special and never have to deal with him until they were introduced with Allison's approval. Or she could do the stupid thing as she usually did, and tell Kol about who she was now. Rosaline was not aware that Allison already knew they'd met, and she didn't know that Allison didn't really care because there really wasn't much of a point hiding from the Originals at this point. If she had known this piece of information, she would know it wasn't necessary to panic as she was now. She wasn't terribly sure why Kol had asked to come with, she thought this would be a one and done kind of deal, but apparently not.
"So, what's your name?" Kol asked from the passenger seat.
Instead of answering, Rosaline deflected. Deflecting could buy her time to figure out what to do. "We've been in each other's continued company for almost a full day now, and you're just now asking my name?"
Kol sighed, irritated. Maybe that was good. Maybe he'd get so irritated with her, he will want to leave and she won't have to deal with an angry Allison. "Well I'm asking now, so answer."
She huffed. "I don't know your name, and that's just rude of you." Well, she did know his name, but he didn't need to know that.
"Kol. Your turn." He seemed less annoyed now and more amused at her obvious attempts at dodging the question. Great.
"Rosaline." She answered, not having another reason to avoid the question.
"Okay, Rose. Where are we going?"
"Do not call me Rose." She all but growled.
And then he had the nerve to smirk, as though he had the right. "Okay Rose, I'll remember that, but my other question still needs to be answered. For all I know you could be kidnapping me."
Kol, even with his fantastic hearing, couldn't quite make out what she said. It was something along the lines of 'Rose….annoying…..kidnapping….return you.' He grinned. She was going to be fun, he could tell. "While that answer was insightful, I'm going to need a bit more."
Rosaline used that moment to make a life-changing decision. To deal with Kol or not to deal with Kol. She took a deep breath, and let it out. Decision made, she pulled out her phone and was looking for something before she grinned. "Ah, what the hell!" With that statement, she slammed on the brakes and turned the car around. Then, she turned to Kol. "We, my ever annoying passenger, are going to Florida. It's party season, and I just happen to have some friends that want my company. You in?"
Instead of a verbal reply, Kol just matched her excited grin with one of his own. As far as he was concerned, staying with Rose was the best decision he ever made.
Rosaline was happy with herself. Screw the consequences, Kol was fun, and Florida was the place to be right now. She'd explain everything to the vampire next to her when they would eventually have to go back to Mystic Falls. Then, she got a phone call. And it just had to be Allison. It was a very nervous Rosaline that answered the phone. "Hello?"
"If you come home any later than 5 days from now, and with any story other than the truth, I will kill you. Have fun in Florida." And then Allison hung up.
Well damn.
Event Hall
After they reached their destination, moods were still good. The happy chatter had continued throughout most of the ride. They walked into the hall after showing the invitation to the man at the door. Klaus took this as an opportunity to look around. It was a big space, there was a stage on the wall opposite of the entrance, and tables circled the room with the center being reserved for a dance space. The bar was tucked in the corner of the room. Around the walls were pictures of different children the organization had helped, as well as some stories about the history of the charity. It was what he had expected, nothing special.
"Alli!" There came a shout of a voice from somewhere to the left. He looked over to the source to see a middle-aged woman walking over.
"Mrs. Ferris, lovely to see you again." Allison said from besides Klaus, she unhooked her arm from his and went to give the lady a hug. Klaus was trying not to look surprised. Despite not liking people, Allison sure knew how to pretend she did. If he didn't know what she was like, he'd assume that Allison wasn't acting. She seemed very genuine. Of course, he could act the same if needed, but it was still impressive.
"How have you been, I was shocked to hear you had moved over to the states." The jolly woman continued.
"So was I, but we needed a change of pace, not to mention James got accepted to University here." Allison replied.
"Yes, you poor dears," She looked sympathetic for a moment. "but good for you! And I'm so happy to hear little James turned himself around."
If you looked closely enough, it was obvious Allison was trying not to laugh. Klaus was a bit lost. "Yes, James certainly did, he told me to tell you hello, and sends his apologies for not being able to make it tonight." Allison told the Mrs. Ferris.
"Oh well no trouble, I see you've brought someone else." She gave a knowing look to Klaus.
"Oh yes, how rude of me, Mrs. Ferris this is Nik. Nik this is a good friend of mine." Klaus shook her hand.
"Pleasure." He smiled as though being called 'Nik' didn't bother him.
"Oh and so polite!" Mrs. Ferris squealed. She turned towards Allison. "I like him. You've got yourself a good one." She leaned closer to Allison. "About time too." She gave the red head a conspiratorial wink. Neither of the two vampires felt it was necessary to correct her about the status of their relationship, or lack thereof. There wasn't much more time for chatting as the announcer called for everyone to take their seats. Klaus grabbed Allison's arm and pulled her over to a table where they wouldn't be heard.
"What was that about?" He demanded, not sure whether to be angry or just curious.
"Calm down, you'll draw attention." She whispered. "That was Mrs. Ferris. I met her a few years back at one of these events. She thinks my name is Alli Warren and that my family lived in Britain until very recently. We grew up with abusive parents, and were able to escape when I became 18 and inherited a lot of money that my grandmother left me in her will. She thinks that's why we donate, and decided to take us under her wing." Allison snorted at the thought. "She also thinks James was a drug dealer because he came with me to one of these events when he hadn't drank in a while, and like an idiot, said he was fine. He was moody during the entire thing and snapped at her when she asked what was wrong. I had to come up with something, and it was a little payback watching Mrs. Ferris lecture James like there was no tomorrow. She's irritating, but she doesn't pry so I let her be."
Klaus nodded. "But why am I Nik?"
"For the same reasons I'm Alli. Klaus is way too unique of a name, if anybody heard there was a Nik and Alli at the party, no big deal. But if somebody overheard that there was an Allison and Klaus, well, that would be bad."
"But why? Anybody that becomes a problem can be killed." His eyes sparked with understanding. "But not if you're hiding from someone, but who is it?"
"I could say the same about you." Allison replied coolly. "Now that's enough talking, the speech is starting."
Klaus ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. She would say things like that, and then would never explain herself. She knew so much more about him than him about her. He didn't like feeling this…..uninformed. He'd get his answers one way or the other.
The speech was not anything spectacular. Just a thank you with a plea to donate more. It lasted about 20 minutes. After that, they had another hour and a half to socialize before a guest speaker and the announcer spoke again. During this time, Mrs. Ferris had made her way back to the table and continued chatting, this time with the both of them.
After her, was a little old lady named Ms. Wig. Ms. Wig was the owner of Mr. Boots, and her new addition, Boots II, in honor of her dead cat. Thankfully, she only had time to explain what scratching post the cat preferred (the one next to the kitchen window) before they were interrupted again. Apparently, Allison was very popular and it was not uncommon for her to be pulled from conversation every ten minutes. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were two very arrogant people, and coming from Klaus, that was saying something. They believed the world owed them a favor or five for all of their good deeds. The only reason they donated at all was so they could brag to their neighbors about how much of a help to society they are. There were a few people after those two, none really had anything important to say. Until Richard.
Richard was what some would consider handsome, not Klaus, but others. He walked over to the table with a purpose, his eyes never straying from Allison. He got to the table and cleared his throat, pulling Allison's attention to him. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you care to dance?" He asked her. Klaus noted that there were many people on the dance floor, dancing to the slow song that was currently playing. Allison opened her mouth to reply, but he beat her to it.
"Terribly sorry, but she just agreed to give me this dance. Maybe next time." He stood up and gave out his hand to Allison. She took it, so as not to be rude, and he led her to the dance floor. They left an angry Richard behind.
Allison smirked at Klaus. "Was that jealousy I saw?" They reached the dance floor and he pulled her to him, putting one hand on her waist.
"Of what? Him? I have absolutely no reason to be jealous of that worthless thing that likes to think he's human."
"Must've been my imagination." Allison replied, still smiling.
"Must've." Klaus agreed. And then they danced. Klaus was a beautiful dancer, Allison thought. He gracefully moved around the floor, completely sure of himself. She let him lead her around, but still held her own. They moved as though they were one. By the end of the song, Allison found herself just a little bit breathless, and not just because of the dance. He was showing her a side of him she didn't know existed before tonight. And in return, she did the same. She wasn't sure if any of this was on purpose or not, or if was just happening naturally, but she found she didn't really care. Most of all, however, she was happy. She liked this Klaus, he was good company, someone she could be friends with. This was something new to her, and by the look on Klaus' face, she could see he thought much the same.
The song came to a finish, and she looked around to see many people staring, in something akin to awe. Mrs. Ferris was squealing and crying at her table. Allison looked at Klaus. "You're a decent dancer, who would've known?"
He chuckled. "You're not so bad yourself, love." He led her back to their table. The rest of the night went quickly, and before anyone knew it, it was time to leave. They walked out to the car, arm in arm, and Klaus opened her door.
"Thank you." She told him. "For tonight, I mean. I would've been killed by boredom without you there. You at least made it somewhat tolerable."
"Glad to help. But at least now we can agree that I was right, just like always."
Allison groaned. "And you ruined it. Pity. Here I was thinking you might not be absolutely dreadful, and there you go ruining it."
"Come on, love. I'm not that bad, you said it yourself." Klaus grinned.
"You must've drugged me."
"Drugged Mrs. Ferris as well, did I?"
"Mrs. Ferris thinks drug dealer James is a great man. Her opinions don't count for anything."
"You wound me."
"I'm going to." They both smirked and started the long trip back.
Boarding House
Reading was not usually Damon's thing. He left most of it to his diary writing brother, but with nothing else to do, no one else to bother, and the bar being closed, he cracked open some random book. It turned out to be a very boring encyclopedia for the different types of trees of the world. After three pages, he slammed the book shut and walked over to put the thing back. He was about to turn away when something caught his eye. A book that was sticking out from the shelf. He'd never seen it before, and he was fairly certain he knew what was in his library, even if he never read any of it.
The book was very old, that much was obvious, the pages look ready to crumble, and the cover had a large tear in it. It was brown leather, hints of gold were still there and Damon assumed that designs of some kind or another had been done in the gold. He carefully opened the book, just in case this was a trap, and nothing happened. Pulling the book closer, he read the first page. Surprisingly, the letters were still very easily read.
And after the first page, he read the second. The book seemed to be full of legends. A lot of them were interesting, a few about how werewolves came to be, some about the witches, and then one caught his attention. It was about the Originals. Well, not them specifically, but about 5 people very close to them. Damon's eyes widened, he recognized a lot of this stuff. And the more he read, the more things became clear. And then he got angry. It was becoming very obvious who the traitor was. Revenge may not be a good motivation for betrayal, but love sure was.
Mates House
By the time they got back, it was very late, so they just walked upstairs, not bothering to see if anyone was up. Nobody would be. They walked into Allison's room and shut the door behind them. Then they stared at each other. Not the usual glaring contest, but twin looks of assessment. Both trying to figure out where they would go from here. They didn't loathe the sight of each other anymore, but was friends really the right word for whatever this was? They didn't know. Friendship was an entirely new concept to the two emotionally stunted people. They both seemed to reach a silent agreement to not label this as anything and just go with whatever happens.
And then Allison realized she'd need help getting the stupid dress off. "Can you unzip me?"
Klaus shrugged and walked over to do as she asked. But when he started to pull down on the zipper, he noticed something. "What's that?"
"What?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the ginormous scar that probably shouldn't be there."
Allison tensed and turned around quickly. "Nothing."
"It sure looks like something to me."
"It's nothing." Allison repeated with gritted teeth. "Just leave it alone."
It was at that point that Klaus got angry. "It's always the same response with you, isn't it? Nothing. It's fine. Leave it alone. I've been patient with you, love. If you were anyone else, I'd have ripped you to pieces by now."
"As if you could." Allison interrupted him.
"And I wasn't done talking!" Klaus yelled at her, and she took a small step back. "I am not here to obey you, I don't listen to anyone, least of all you. You know a lot about me, and I know nothing about you, I think it's time you repaid the favor." By the end, his voice was low and dangerous.
And then, Allison got just as angry. "Are you trying to threaten me? That's a big mistake you're making. I didn't ask you to be here, and I certainly didn't want you to stay. This was all you, so don't you go making it seem as though you're entitled to something, I owe you nothing!" She spat.
Klaus laughed darkly. "It's not like you made any attempt to make me leave. No, you were fine as long as I played along and didn't ask questions. Isn't that right? Well, I'm done sweetheart. It's high time you learned your place, below me." And then he knew pain.
White, hot, burning pain. He dropped to his knees and tried not to yell out. He looked up to see Allison doing much the same. And then the pain stopped, and Klaus could think. And then he laughed. "You can't do that without it hurting you as well, am I right?" Her silence was as good as an actual answer. "I'm right. You're totally useless against me!" He breathed out another crazed laugh, and got up and slammed her against the wall, holding her by the neck.
She snarled at him. "Don't think this doesn't work both ways. So go ahead, kill me, try it and see where it gets you."
"You're lying!" He wasn't thinking very clearly at this point, neither of them were.
"Remember your shoulder, I'd imagine it hurt something terrible. So. Kill. Me." She repeated, her frosty green eyes glaring at him.
He dropped her with a frustrated growl. She stood up. "You want to know something? Fine. I hate you! There's something for you. You happy?"
"Out of everyone I have to be stuck with why does it have to be the one I'd give anything to kill?" He yelled in retaliation.
"Don't worry, the feelings mutual!"
"I've heard rocks give better comebacks than that!"
"And I've seen puppies scarier than you!"
"Why are you so intolerable?"
"Why are you such an imbecile?"
"Because I Love You!" He shouted before realizing what he said. Silence. Alison stared at him with wide eyes, all of the anger seemed to disappear. And then Klaus realized what he said was true, at least partially. She was a manipulative idiot who was paranoid of her own shadow. But she was also who he'd seen earlier tonight. The strong, confident, stunning woman who didn't need others to fight her battles for her. Somebody who didn't agree with almost anything he said, but who also made him laugh. A walking contradiction. But he didn't love her, or maybe he did. How was he supposed to know? He had barely even tolerated anyone before. And by all means, he should really hate Allison, and he kind of did. But at the same time, he didn't. It would be so much easier to open his mouth, take the words back and walk away, never look back. But, he couldn't, he was physically unable. And so they were both standing there, confused.
"Get out of my house." Allison whispered after a few minutes.
"Why should I?"
"Out!" She said, pointing to the door. She needed to think. This wasn't part of her plans. She didn't have a backup plan for when she actually fell for Klaus. She had never imagined loving him, liking him maybe, but not love. And for the girl who had planned for every situation, no matter how unlikely, she was completely blindsided by the idiot in front of her. He just had to go and be a decent person, and then try to pry into her life, as though she'd never shown him anything. He'd seen her at her worst, and then he had to demand more from her. He knew more than anybody ever would.
"No." The simple word shocked her back into reality. He refused to leave her house.
"You were the one who couldn't wait to leave five minutes ago."
"Times change." The conversation was lighter, more controlled, than it had been when Klaus made the disastrous confession.
And she had nothing to say to that, because what could she say? Her emotional shield was destroyed and she needed to get herself back together. Arguing with the wrecking ball would not help her. So, she let out a defeated sigh, and just walked over to her bed and got under the covers, not caring she was still wearing the dress with the stupid zipper that started this all. She sat, staring blankly at the covers that protected her from real life. She didn't acknowledge the covers being pulled back or another person getting under them. Nobody acknowledged the deafening silence as two people stared at the ceiling, wishing for sleep, but neither finding it.
Two broken people sat in a bed, would they ever become whole again?