Bold As Love

They arrived at the house late, washed in the moonlight. The sounds of waves crashing against the shore buffeted the silence between the two. Klaus had grabbed both of their bags as Elena punched in the code to get into the house. He pressed himself to her back, listening to the percussive music of her heart.

It was so quiet that Elena wondered if her friends were actually still out, she peeked into each room and paused in the kitchen.

"I don't think anyone is here, but Marie left a note. There is a queen bed open in the back." She held up the note as if she needed proof that it wasn't coming from her.

"Alright then, love, lead the way."

"No. We aren't sleeping in the same bed."

"And exactly why not? We already have once before."

"Just because there is precedent, doesn't mean it is happening again. Besides, I'm not comfortable with it. You could take the couch or I will." She tried to block the path down the hallway.

"Elena," he leaned in close, "Precisely why are you so uncomfortable with me?"

"I didn't say I was uncomfortable with you, just sleeping with you."

"Are you afraid of sharing a bed with me?" He kept invading her space, forcing her back down the hall. She felt strangely trapped and she could feel her pulse in her throat. His eyes kept flitting down and back up. He knew too. She needed to stop acting like prey.

Her back almost slammed against the back bedroom door, but even that didn't stop Klaus from stalking ever closer. She could feel his breathe on her, somehow threatening and inviting at the same time. She wasn't sure if she should run away or launch herself into him.

"I'm not afraid. I wasn't the one who ran away before I was even awake the last time," she managed to blurt out before she opened the door and fell through. She tried to close the door on him, but she just wasn't fast enough. He held it open and gave her a look that let her know just how absurd he thought her.

"Is that what you think, that I was scared and left?"

"Isn't that exactly what you did?"

"I didn't know if you'd want me there in the morning."

"So, you left so you wouldn't have to find out?" She knew it was true with his abrupt shift. "You weren't brave enough for the truth."

"Elena, love, do you not care for your bag?" He ignored the jab and offered her the strap, playfully. "Would you really force to me to sleep on the couch? To endure small talk from whoever woke up first to await for you to come to my rescue." Klaus offered her his best helpless face. Elena laughed into her hand, deciding that it was cute but weird to see him like that.

"I would actually," she stared at him until he finally gave up and dropped her bag, walking back to the living room. She watched him go, telling herself it was to make sure he was really leaving.


Klaus lay awake, listening to the steady rise and fall of Elena's breathing from the other room. So, he thought, she was bothered by him leaving that morning. He was pleased with himself. He imagined what she did when she woke up, seeking him out.

Did she get up to look for him? Did she miss him?

He closed his eyes and traced the line of her face, her heavy lids and full bottom lip. He drifted down to her neck, her chest. Imagining what she'd look like further down.

What would be different if he'd met her ten years ago. Would they have known each other half as well?

For the first time since the night he'd shown up at her door, thinking she'd betrayed him and finding her ill instead, he considered the sacrifice.

Could he kill her? Even now?

He had to be the one to do it. If he was to fully embrace himself and meet his destiny, he had to drain her of every drop. Had to watch her body turn blue and cold. Klaus briefly wondered how his mother would think of this problem of his. He had lusted after Tatia. He wanted her so badly, his first love. She had been the reason for his first falling out with Elijah. She would be cruelly delighted in his conundrum.

He'd distanced himself so intentionally from Katerina and she still ran away. Now, he was hell-bent not just on occupying the third's bed, but also her heart. He was finally where he wanted to be at the start of all this. But he wasn't the same man anymore and Elena wasn't Tatia. He had time, he told himself. He'd let the full moon pass them by. Everyone deserves to celebrate their birthday, he had rationalized. He'd kill her in a month. He could do it.


Klaus woke up the next morning, irritated to find the kitchen already busy with laughter and the sounds of what he was sure was a banal conversation. He pushed himself up on his elbows and the movement caught Marie's eye.

"Good morning! Sleep okay? We didn't wake you up?" She cast flirty eyes at Adrian, who blanched.

"Is Elena awake?"

Marie nodded towards the open patio doors.

The sight of her caught his breathe when he found her on the patio, looking out at the sea. The wind tickled her hair and he was filled with envy. The sun illuminated her skin and he was filled with jealousy. The voices from the kitchen pierced the moment and drew her attention and he was filled with rage. He wished so fervently that he was here with her alone.

"Good morning, Nik." He sat and smiled, entirely forgetting his flimsy determination to kill her. He could let himself be in the moment and deal with that later.

"Coffee?" she asked, holding out her cup.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He took the cup from her, holding on to her fingers for just a beat longer. He held her eyes for just a moment until she was distracted by movement at the doors.

Adrian and Marie joined them and Klaus felt immediately irritated. They were intrusions into the world he was working hard to construct in his head.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Marie asked, she motioned towards the cup and the comfortable, casual air about them.

"Not for too long. I met Nik after I met you all." Adrian looked skeptical at her words in the face of what seemed like an established intimacy. "It feels like we've known each other forever though." She added. And they both did, in their own ways.

"Sometimes, it isn't time that builds a bond, but a strong, indescribable connection." Klaus's eyes flashed up to Adrian, a prodding comment.


Later in the day with the sun high, they made their way to the beach. Klaus kept to himself while the others played in the surf. He seemed so unsure of himself in a breezy setting. His normal dark uniform having been shed for a borrowed pair of trunks.

"Is he your boyfriend then?" Marie asked

"Nik? No! We are just friends." Elena thought about kissing him on the plane and the feeling she'd had last night when he had tried so passionately to convince his way into bed.

"See, I told you!" Adrian seemed so triumphant and Elena felt a little deflated. Suddenly, Elena felt her body lift up as Adrian playfully flung them both under the waves.

Klaus watched them from the distance, his mouth twitching when Elena referred to him as a "just friend" and he had to restrain himself from ripping the boy's throat out when he grabbed at Elena. He did think boyfriend was a laughable term. They were neither and so much more. Their lives and fates were so intertwined that even with her running from him, he'd still found her. He'd always find her.

Still, he couldn't let such a audacious attempt go as if it didn't matter.

As Elena emerged from underneath the wave, her laughter was halted by something she spotted on the beach. She was just about to turn to Marie when she felt another pair of hands circle her waist from behind.

"Adrian!" She struggled to get away and the arms tightened around her, too strongly. She craned her neck and was met with Klaus's chest.

"Not quite, love," he whispered, "Disappointed?" She shook her head side to side and he beamed.

Klaus spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach alternating between glaring at the other man and finding small ways to touch Elena, claim his ownership over her. He felt a crushing sense of triumph every time she reached back for him, taking his hand in hers as they jumped up through incoming waves.


Marie had insisted on taking them out to a bar for her birthday and Elena was worried about Klaus in a room full of living, breathing people but she couldn't exactly use that as an excuse so she agreed. She'd just have to be vigilant about keeping tabs on him. Walking in though, Elena was glad she'd come. The bar was carved into the cliff's rock, which was at least interesting. Being here made her think of Bonnie and Caroline and the nights they spent dancing with each other, drinking in the woods.

The music was loud enough to be heard from outside. "Marie, you said bar not club," Elena had to yell.

Marie shrugged, "Same difference?"

Once inside, Klaus grabbed Elena's hand and lead her to a bartender while Marie led Adrian off to the dance floor. Klaus ordered them drinks and turned to Elena.

"This isn't precisely what I'd imagined when you'd invited me on this trip."

"I didn't!" He looked at her, confused. "I didn't invite you. You invited yourself."

Klaus chewed the inside of his cheek. "Would you have me remove myself then?"

"What? No, I didn't say that. Why are you being weird?" Pouty, he was being pouty, but she didn't dare say that to his face.

Klaus looked around the room, not entirely sure how to answer her. Dealing with Adrian's clear feelings was one thing, but Klaus was having difficulty with so many lusty gazes staring at his doppelgänger.

He leaned into her, brushing her hair past her ear. "You do look stunning, love. Though, I doubt a more obvious statement has ever been said." Elena felt like a kite, being pulled at by the winds of Klaus. She smoothed her hands over her dress, teal and sparkling cut short on her thighs.

"Thank you," her mouth felt dry as she took a sip from her drink. "Did you want to dance?"

Klaus appraised the dancing though he wouldn't have referred to it as that. He wanted to say no, but the thought that she might dance with another was more than he could stomach. He held out his hand as if asking her for a waltz and there was a hint of laughter in her smile. He didn't mind it as much with her as he would with anyone else, especially not when she so readily took his hand.

The music, Klaus determined, was terrible and he couldn't understand how ecstatic these humans danced to songs about dying young. The beat, though, he appreciated if not for the way it caused Elena to move against him. Her hands on his chest at first as her hips moved in rhythm. He grabbed her hand and pulled it up and over his shoulder, drawing her in closer to him. He'd have loved to twirl her out and back to him had there been enough space. As it was, people were crowing in far too close for his comfort. But, he supposed, this was part of the new world. Certain aspects, he could never adjust to completely.

Elena couldn't believe Klaus was out here, dancing with her. It all felt so bizarre even if you took away his desire to kill her ultimately running her out of town when she was just a teenager. He just didn't seem like much of a dancer in the hours they spend talking over coffee or drinks, or walking from museum to museum. Now, he almost seemed awkward.

She liked how surprised he looked when she turned away from him, dancing against him and molding her body to his. Marie pulled Adrian closer so they could dance in a group. Elena could feel Klaus stiffen behind her before he draped his arm across her chest. For the first time in recent memory, she felt like she did in Mystic Falls with her friends, before the supernatural invaded her life. She liked being a part of this foursome, mouthing the lyrics with Marie and encouraging Klaus's hands on her body. In this moment, she felt normal.

She reached her arms up and caressed his face before her hands settled on his neck. He moved her heavy curtain of hair out of the way and leaned, kissing her neck softly. His hand drifted down to the hem of Elena's dress, playfully tugging upward.

"You're bold," she whispered, turning her face to the side and into his chest.

"Oh Elena dear, you've no idea."

She froze. Not because of anything Klaus was doing, but she had spotted a woman in the corner of the bar. She'd seen the same woman at the beach earlier and hadn't thought much of it, outside of how weird she'd looked standing next to the other tourists. But the way she looked at Elena now was giving her pause.

Recognition paved into a cut-throat certainty.

No, Bonnie's spell should have worked. Should be working. Elena watched in horror as the woman kicked off the wall and started making her way towards them. It could be nothing, or it could be a passenger. Elena knew that the ring was only supposed to make her face look different enough that she wouldn't immediately be recognized, but maybe they'd done magic of their own or maybe the ring only works briefly and not if they stand staring at her like creeps.

She turned back around, facing the more attractive of the two evils. She reached down and grabbed Klaus by the belt, pulling him closer as she wrapped her free arm around his neck. "Take me home?"

Save me?

"My pleasure," he purred. She locked eyes with Marie and motioned to the door to indicate her intention. Marie waved her off and went back to grinding on Adrian.


A/N: My intention with this initially was a smaller scope, but now I have ideas that I want to get to so I'll probably be updating a little more frequently. Thank you for reading! Leave a review if you like. I'd love to hear your thoughts and I'm open to constructive criticism.