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xoxo Ascha

Chapter 24:

"Did you just pinch my butt?" I grumbled.

"Of course not," Klaus said innocently. "I'm just trying to tie your laces."

I rolled my eyes and turned around, noticing that his eyes were fixated on my back. I made him meet my gaze and saw a grin form on his lips.

"I apologize, but it's hard not to look when you're wearing such fine lingerie…" He growled, making me blush immensely.

"I think it's about time I get that dress on before you go all Viking and rape me."

Klaus chuckled and pulled me in for a kiss, pushing me gently down onto his bed even though his fine suit would get wrinkled. I couldn't stop myself from giggling, but I enjoyed the fiery kisses and nearly let him remove the black laced corset I was wearing.

"We're going to be late to your ball…" I said in between the sweet kisses.

"So what? It's fashionable to be late." Klaus said teasingly.

I snorted and managed to roll him under me, pinning his arms above his head. "In this case it's not, but maybe after the party we can have a little fun."

Klaus smirked and pulled his hands out of my grip, picking me up and carrying me to the walk-in closet in his bedroom. He put me down and fetched my dress from me – a beautiful scarlet dress with a floral beading and ivory white fabric underneath.

After Klaus had helped me pull the dress on and tied the back, I began curling my dark hair and put on some old jewelries that I hadn't worn for decades.

"Save me the first dance, will you?" Klaus said, slapping my ass as I passed him.

"Oi! No touching! That's my ass!" I grumbled.

"That's not true! Your ass became my property when I turned you."

I rolled my eyes. "I swear, ever since I decided to go back to you you've been extremely annoying…"

He just smiled and placed a kiss on my cheek, then offered me his arm like a gentleman. "Shall we go, love?"

I nodded and took his arm, letting him usher me downstairs to where the arriving guests were greeting Klaus' other siblings. I instinctively looked for my brothers and wondered if they were even going to show up after that big argument I'd had with Damon.

The last thing I wanted was them hating me too.

"They'll come," Klaus said, noticing my anxiousness. "My mother has invited Elena, so if she comes then they're coming too."

"They're still going to be mad at me. I can't make them understand why I love you. I don't even understand why I do that." I said.

Klaus raised an eyebrow and decided to cup my face with his hands. "Stop worrying, Althea."

"That's easy for you to say. Your siblings already hate you."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, then keep worrying. But while you do that I'll find someone else to dance and have fun with."

"No! I'll stop worrying. Just-just get me a glass of champagne or something!"

Klaus laughed and gave me a kiss on my cheek before leaving to find some champagne. While I waited at the staircase I spotted Elijah talking with Kol about the ball and the second he spotted me he looked… speechless.

I felt my cheeks turn rosy and wanted to look away, but I liked when he looked at me like that and wished that I hadn't fallen so hard for both of them.

Kol noticed the longing looks between us and pushed his older brother towards me. Elijah awkwardly walked up to me and kissed my hand gently.

"You look beautiful tonight, Althea," he said. "I see you are wearing the earrings I helped you get."

I nodded and sighed weakly. "Elijah, I–"

"I'm gone for two minutes and you're already trying to steal my date," Klaus said, returning with two glasses of champagne. I downed my drink a little quicker than I meant to, earning a weird look from both of them. "Having a good time, brother?"

"I was, until you showed up. Now excuse me, but I have other things to do." Elijah said coldly, leaving us behind.

"Thanks, Klaus. Now he's pissed off!" I grumbled.

"It's not my fault he's… well, it is, but he is the one who took you away from me first."

I groaned. "This isn't about who took me away! This about you being an ass towards your brother when you're supposed to forget about the past."

Klaus downed his own drink and left in frustration, leaving me alone once again. I sighed and looked around, hoping to find someone I knew, and saw my brothers enter the mansion with Elena.

I didn't feel like talking with any of them anyway and went in to another room before they noticed me. Of course I knew that I couldn't avoid them all night, but I was still going to try.

However, after Elijah had held his toast at the top of the staircase we were all supposed to move in to the ballroom and dance, so I was forced to be in the same room with them. Even though Klaus and I had had a small argument, then we still danced together.

"I'm sorry about what I said. I will try not to annoy him again," Klaus said as we danced. "But you need to remember that I'm still getting used to having heightened emotions."

"It's ok. I understand and let's just relax now and enjoy this evening." I said.

He nodded in agreement and kissed me just before we changed partners. The smile on my lips disappeared when I ended up with Damon.

"Hello, sister… Don't you look ravishing tonight!" he said mockingly.

"I wish I could say the same about you, but Father always told us not to lie to each other," I scoffed. "Why are you here? I was expecting you to sit at the Grill and drinking a glass of Bourbon."

"Ha-ha, very funny, but no I came here to talk some sense into you. You're making a huge mistake by choosing Klaus over us."

"I'm not choosing him over you. I'm choosing him over Elijah – something completely different that has nothing to do with that war you have going on with him!"

"Althea, this has everything to do with the war. You're sleeping with the enemy! This man turned your own brother into a ripper and took everything from him. How can you trust him when he has daggered his own siblings and killed his parents?"

"I can't and I don't, but I don't need to trust him to love him. I don't want to be a part of this war. I don't want to fight! All I want is a somewhat normal life with a man I love. Is that too much to ask for or do you want me to be alone and miserable like you and Stefan are?"

Damon didn't answer, but he had no time to do it either, because we changed partners again and this time I ended up dancing with Stefan.

Could this night get anymore awkward?

"You here to yell at me too?" I asked.

"As much as I want to, then no," Stefan answered much to my surprise. "I wish you hadn't left that night in 1862 and met Klaus, but I have made plenty of mistakes in my life too. I can't make you change your mind, so I'll just have to hope that Elijah can."

I sighed. "Can you please tell Damon that? I can't stand the thought of him hating me. If he's going to stay like that, then I might as well take my necklace off and stand in the sun."

"I promise I will talk with him, but I can't promise that he will change his mind. He is just as stubborn as us, but aren't all Salvatores like that?"

I smiled weakly and felt less like a bad sister, but then I returned to Klaus and was reminded of how this entire argument begun.

"I'm guessing you had a talk with Damon…" Klaus said.

"Is it that obvious?" I asked. "Why can't he just let me be happy for once?"

Klaus was silent at first and then pulled me a little closer to him. "Perhaps he's afraid of losing you. I would too if Rebekah started mingling with your brothers."

I groaned. "Lovely (!) I can't make anyone happy and when I try someone ends up hating me."

He sighed and gave me a gentle kiss. "I don't hate you nor have you failed in making me happy."

I smiled and ended the dance a little earlier than the others did to give him a kiss he definitely deserved. He could be sweet when he wanted to and made me feel almost carefree and happy.

We went back to the entrance again and stood by the stairs with the others, listening to Esther's brief toast. I didn't know why, but ever since that time we met and she warned me about being in love with her sons, I had sensed a certain… concern in her as if she dreaded I would do something.

What that thing was I didn't know, but I had a suspicion about her being up to something other than seeing her family being reunited.

"Come. There's something I want to show you." Klaus said as we had drunk the delicious champagne.

He took my hand in his and ushered me to a room in the back of the mansion where he stored several old paintings and drawings that looked centuries old.

Among the beautiful paintings was one of me from 1862 where I lay almost naked on the floor, my hair hanging loose around my head and the only thing covering my body was a piece of red satin.

"I knew you kept that one! You're such a perv!" I said teasingly.

"It was that or selling it to someone and you already know that I don't think sharing." Klaus said.

"What else did you keep, my pervy friend?"

Klaus chuckled and took out a drawing of me sitting in the carriage I crashed in. The curtains of the windows were tied up, so Klaus had been able to see me inside it.

"You drew that in the middle of the night?" I asked incredulously.

He shook his head. "It was two days before you left. I'd seen you as you were visiting someone you knew and… well, already then you somehow caught my attention." he answered.

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a long passionate kiss before saying: "Thank you, Klaus. I… needed this."

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