Chapter 37: Goodbyes.
Jeremy sat staring at his sketch pad, the picture before him had taken him days to finish He started before they found the witches and completed it just this morning.
It was of the three brothers, Kol sitting in a chair while Elijah stood behind him to the right, his hand on his should, Klaus in the same pose to the left. Jeremy had placed Elijah in a suit he had seen in the future, his hair was also short and combed the way it had been the first-time Jeremy had seen him. The man looked elegant and proud. Klaus wore a black jacket over a deep blue shirt, a beautiful wolf drawn on to the shirt, Klaus wouldn't understand why until the future but Jeremy had felt the need to include the wolf. Kol sitting in the middle, his face wearing a smirk, his cloths less elegant then Elijah's but more dressed up then the everyday clothes Klaus wore. It was how he saw them.
He wanted to leave something for Klaus and Elijah, he hadn't placed himself in the picture because this picture was to remind the brothers to care and stay safe. He needed them to make it to his time. He would worry about the problems of it when he was home.
He got up from his chair and found on of Klaus's sketch books, he carefully hid the picture inside and placed the book back where he found it.
Leaving the room, he entered the living room. Klaus stood by a window his back to the rest of the room. Elijah was sitting in a chair sipping his drink, and Kol was off in the far corner of the room reading.
Jeremy sighed.
Ever since they had learned the day and time, the witches could perform the spell, there had been this tension in the air. He knew they all felt it, but none seemed to voice anything about.
He had tried the first day, asking what would happen once they were gone but Klaus had quickly put an end to the conversation. He had tried talking to them separately, Klaus again ended the talk. While Elijah simply told him that Jeremy not time would pass so he needn't worry about it. And Kol told him that it would be fine and that he should practice a speech for Elena. None really wanted to talk details. He felt frustrated but decided to let them have their way and stopped bring it up.
He had spent the second day, alone with Klaus painting and talking about different kinds of art. He had even slept that night in Klaus room. He knew he was saying goodbye and from the way Klaus had held him that night he knew that vampire knew it as well.
The next time was spent walking around the woods with Elijah, they talked a little some about the future but mostly about things that had come to pass since Jeremy had been back in the past. They stayed out until the sun set and that night he spent wrapped in Elijah's arms.
Then finally it was the day to go home. Jeremy couldn't stay still, he was moving none stop. He tried painting and reading but his mind just wouldn't focus so he started cleaning.
…. ….. …. ….. ….. ….. … ….. …. ….. …
Elijah watched the young hunter trying to clean the house, a house that was already clean and sighed. The nerves from the other man were making him jumpy. He already had his reservations about the spell tonight, but he knew it was their only chance.
He closed his eyes and remembered the night before, they had just returned and Jeremy was asleep on his feet, so he picked the human up and sped them into his room. After helping Jeremy out of his shirt and shoes, he quickly undressed and slipped into the bed with him.
It hadn't taken the young man long to fall asleep, leaving Elijah awake to watch him. He hadn't been able to stop himself. Despite everything he had learned about the hunter, the man had looked so innocent sleeping in his arms. He wondered if chasing a relationship with him would change that, but some part of him doubted it. It seemed that since Jeremy had joined them, they had been the ones to change. Kol seemed less rash and Klaus less angry. He wasn't sure about the change in him, but he was sure there was something.
He still did not know how this young man could cause such emotions to come forward, not only in him, but his brothers. Elijah had fallen in love before but this was different. It seemed deeper. At first, he wanted to blame it on the spell they all seemed caught up in, but he knew that he would have been drawn to Jeremy with or without the spell.
He did not want to say goodbye tomorrow. He had reassured Jeremy that he would return home right when he left, but Elijah and Klaus would not have that, they would have to spend however long waiting to meet the man again.
As he had fallen asleep that night, he couldn't help but pray that when they did meet again, their feelings remained.
A curse muttered across the room brought him out of his memories. Kol had tossed a book at Jeremy, causing the hunter to curse and glare at him.
"Jer, mate, it's not getting any cleaner." His brother smirked and dodge the book that flew back at him.
He was about to tell them to behave, when Klaus spoke, "It is time to go."
….. ….. …. ….. ….. ….. …. ….. ….. ….. …. ….. ….. ….. …. …..
"It is time to go." His brother's voice held no sign of real emotion. Kol knew Klaus was trying to hide his emotion. His brother had closed off earlier this morning when Kol handed him two bottles. One a large wine bottle and another a small bottle, each holding the memory potion. He brother had thanked him and then put up all the walls, Kol knew used to hide behind.
He understood how his brother felt, he was scared, not that he would let it show either.
He couldn't let it show, if he did then Jeremy would see it and his friend was already nervous enough. He made sure to walk close to Jeremy as they left the house and headed towards the same spot that had met the witches before.
The walk seemed longer than before, he wondered if they were all dragging their feet, trying to draw it out as long as they could. Or maybe it was just in his mind.
They weren't the first to reach the clearing. It seemed the witches had been there for a while, they had a large circle of stones and candles made. The center big enough for him and Jeremy to stand. There were symbols etched into the stones, Kol didn't have to look at them to know what they were. He had designed them. They were a sort of map for the spell, telling the energy to return them where they belonged.
Carrick was walking towards him and Kol had to suppress a growl the man just irritated him.
"We have followed your spell and have set up everything like you suggested. My coven is still a little worried this spell will not work. But I do not share their concern this spell, is beautiful and it will achieve what you wish. Now about the payment..."
"My brother's will handle that once we are returned." He cut the witch off. The man nodded and walked back towards his witches.
"Think this will hurt?" Jeremy asked coming to stand next to him.
"It didn't the first time." Jeremy gave him a look, "Yeah but the first, whoever did this seemed to know what they were doing. We are guessing and counting on a group of strangers."
Kol chuckled. "True."
"Jer…" He stopped, "Jeremy, it will be okay. Think about like this in a few short hours we will be home, I'll even take you to that bar, and by you a cheeseburger." Jeremy looked at him and started laughing.
"Sounds like a plan." The hunter smiled, letting Kol relax a little.
It wasn't long after that that the witches pushing them towards the circle. The spell was ready.
As he was about to enter the circle, he felt Elijah grab his arm. "Be safe brother." And then he was wrapped in a hug. One he willingly returned. Once Elijah let go of him, Klaus swept in and hugged him, "See you in the future." Klaus pulled away. He watched as both his brothers approached Jeremy, this time Klaus hugged him first, then Elijah.
His brother seemed to hesitate as he started pulling away, then Elijah looked at him and then back to Jeremy. Then faster then Kol could track, Elijah pulled Jeremy into a kiss. He watched the hunter freeze for a second, and Elijah went to pull away, Jeremy reached around and pulled the vampire in. After several seconds, it seemed the two weren't going to stop.
Kol let out a growl, causing both his brother and Jeremy to pull away and look at him. His brother looked a little guilty while Jeremy's face was red from blushing.
Klaus being the only one that found it funny started laughing.
Kol glared at both his brothers and walked into the circle.
Turns out he was right, there was no pain. One minute they were outside surrounded by chanting witches and the next he was stumbling against the gilbert kitchen counter, as the dizziness swept over him.
…. …. …. …. ….. … … … … … ….. … …
Klaus watched as his brother and the hunter disappeared. It was not what he expected, there was no bright lights or strong winds, just a simple heat in the air and suddenly they were gone.
He looked over at Elijah, his brother stared at the circle a look on his face that Klaus could not quite narrow down.
The silence was broken when the witches all started talking and moving around, their excitement not missed. They all wore looks for delight and some were looking at him and Elijah like they wanted to keep them.
Klaus growled and then bit it off. He needed to play nice for just a few minutes longer. Once they had drank Kol's potion he could forget about them and worry about his brother. Who still looked crushed.
He smiled at the leader and walked towards him, "You have done it. We thank you." He pulled out the wine bottle, and showed it to Carrick, "My brothers and I brought this to celebrate the spelling working. Would you please join us for a drink?"
The man nodded and called his people over.
Klaus watched as each member of the coven took a drink from the bottle, not one suspicious. Finally just as the last member was drink, the leader swayed. He had been the first to drink and was now being affected by the potion.
The man looked at Klaus, "What have you done?" and then the man collapsed, his coven all rushed to him, some standing in front of his unconscious body as if trying to protect him. But it was no use, as soon they were all dropping.
"Niklaus?" His brother asked from next to him.
"Relax, Elijah, I did not harm them. It is a memory potion Kol made. We could not have them remembering any of this. They will wake in a few hours here, not sure what happened but unharmed. Come let's go home." He reached out and took his brother's arm and they both sped home.
… ….. ….. ….. …. … ….. …. … … … … … … …
The house seemed empty as Elijah turned about the living room. With Rebekah and Kol gone and now Jeremy and Kol returned home, it was just him and Klaus. He was not sure he liked it.
Maybe he would push Klaus to leave soon to rejoin their siblings. Rebekah's need for love and Kol's misbehaving would be a welcome distraction.
He sat down and tried to work through how he felt, it did not take long for Klaus to place a drink in his hand and take the sit just opposite of him.
"Are you alright?" Klaus asked.
He was not sure, he knew it was right to send them home, and he knew that someday he would see them again. But right now, he felt lost and heartbroken. He wanted to scold himself for falling for the hunter but he knew it was pointless. He would have fallen not matter what.
"I will be." He replied and tried to smile. He took a drink and looked back at his brother, "What about you? No deny your feeling for young Jeremy."
His brother closed his eyes, "I will be." He said smirking.
He could not stop the small laugh that he let out. As he laughed the room seemed to spin.
He took a breath and tried to right it. He coughed and pushed himself to his feet.
Something was wrong. He tried to put his drink down on the table, but heard it shatter on the ground as it slipped from his hand.
"Klaus?" He tried to focus on his brother as his knees gave out.
…. … … ….. ….. … …. …. …
The moment Elijah stood up, he knew the potion had started working. He tried to ignore the guilt as he watched his confused brother, stumble. As the glass shattered against the ground, he quickly swallowed the rest of his drink and rose to his feet. He was just fast enough to catch his brother, as the other man started to fall.
"Klaus?" He heard the confusion.
"I am sorry 'lijah," He said as he picked his brother up and started walking up the stairs towards his Elijah's bed room. "I could not watch you pine for him for the next 100 hundred or so years. It would tear you to pieces. This way you will not remember."
As he laid his brother down, "Niklaus, please do not do this." His brother was fighting the potion, but his eyes were slowly dropping.
"When the time is right, brother you will remember. You can be angry with me then."
And then Elijah was out.
He sat there until he felt the effects of the potion start to work on him, shaking his head he made his way to his own bed.
Just before the darkness overcame him he wondered how long it would be before they all met again.