Burning of the Midnight Lamp

With the few vampires who had managed to flee the massacre that night, Klaus's reputation precedes himself in a way it never has before; it provides protection. They enjoy a relative peace though Klaus is still hounded daily by their requests to make them hybrids.

Hayley's smaller faction is still across the border in West Virginia and with defectors crossing south, Klaus is delighted to learn that she's headed further away each day in an attempt to keep wolves from leaving for what he has promised. Each request feeds and preens his ego though Tyler is at his side relentlessly tying him back down to the ground.

A particular hectic day with a chorus of voices persistently asking the same question – When? – chase him out of camp and into town. He douses that anxious buzzing feeling he gets whenever he doesn't have a plan with drink after drink. Holed up in a corner of the room, he scrolls through the different photos that Elena had insisted on sending him during better times. His thumb hovers next to her pixelated face as if he could actually touch her if he wanted it bad enough. Her letters to him are still in his dresser drawer in the mansion. They are the one thing he would have taken if he'd had time enough. Though, he doubts she would have let him have them without a fight.

As the sun sets, Klaus makes a quick stop at a dingy gas station for some overpriced toiletries he knows they are running low on. He hopes that if he comes back with something it won't seem quite like he left for nothing. He loads his arms with toilet paper when he catches a feral scent. When he turns, he just makes out a flash of stringy blonde hair before she ducks behind the candy aisle.

She's stuffing her pockets with all kinds of chocolate nonsense when he hovers over her and clears his throat. "You're certainly not very clever." She jumps but to her credit, she doesn't drop anything and turns to him slowly. "Not very nutritious."

"And who the hell are you?" She doesn't look more than thirteen, but her eyes are sadly much older.

"Someone who could help if you wanted."

"Not interested, creeper." She pushes past him, shoving him with the hard edge of her shoulder.

"I know what you are," he whispers. It's enough to get her to stop and assess him fully. "Wolf child. Such a young age to have triggered the curse."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Debatable." She's petulant and childish but so is he and his tone matches hers perfectly.

They lean against the hood of the truck he picked up in Kentucky sharing the spread of nougat and caramel as he tells her about the pack. She has a lot of questions and so does he, but the only one she's willing to answer is her name. She considers it like she has several in front of her and she's trying to pick the right one for the occasion. Finally, she settles on what she considers the best one – Fox.

"Surely you must be joking. That's an animal, not a name."

She shrugs like it doesn't matter to her what he thinks and Klaus admires her more for it. A foster family and her deeply held secret are the reason for her thieving. She's run away from home, from the people who don't understand her or what she is.

"I've run before. Many times. You don't have to though. You belong with people like me. Like you. You can come back with me if you want. I venture to guess we have an extra tent lying around."

Excitement flits across her face before her counseled indifference returns. "Yeah, sure. I could check it out."

She settles in well and soon it feels like she's been with them always. Though, Klaus refuses to call her Fox. Instead, he's begun calling her little kit and the name starts to stick. The new addition does little to squash the demand for hybrid transition and once Kit learns of it, her voice chimes in along with the rest.

Her hair fans out in a bun that's haphazardly held together with a fraying tie and when it snaps, she feels like she might break along with it. All the books Bonnie has brought over are mostly useless, but Elena pours over them with the dedication of a poisoned woman seeking out the antidote. She's written a note "How can you create more Hunters now?" and is puzzling over the question when Elijah interrupts her train of thought.

"Would you care for dinner?"

"No, thanks. I told Bonnie I'd stay in and do some research for her."

"I don't want to overstep, Elena; however, I have been unable to concentrate over the sounds of your stomach. I tried to ignore it, but it seems I have failed. When have you last eaten?" he asks and then eyes the bag of chips next to her. "A proper meal, I mean."

A flush creeps up her neck and she doesn't respond, but she grabs her purse and it's enough of an answer for Elijah to follow her out the door to the car.

At the Grille, she spots Finn and Bonnie leaning closer to each other over the table and she makes a start to them before Elijah stops her with a hand on her forearm.

"Don't. They seem…involved."

"I just wanted to say hi. I wasn't going to invite us to join them."

"And yet, they are so absorbed with each other that I think any interruption, no matter the size or intention, would be unwelcome. Even if she would never say it aloud to you."

"I know Bonnie."

"And I know the look of a man falling deeper in love with each light touch of a beautiful woman. Leave them be, Elena."

She relents and they find a booth far enough from her friends that she'll go unnoticed, but with a decent enough angle that she can still see them. Elijah is only half right. Finn may be falling in love, but Elena can tell that so is Bonnie even if she won't admit it to her.

Splitting her attention on Elijah, she watches when Bonnie laughs softly into her chest and Finn beams with the reward of her smile. She knew there were feelings, but Bonnie had done such an admirable job downplaying the intensity of them that Elena wonders just how good her friend is at smothering her own feelings because she can't believe Bonnie is this good of a liar. She may feel guilt over Damon, but she wasn't just curious about Finn. The look on her face is more than a mild interest.

"Will you ever allow yourself to fall so deeply again?" he asks her and it seems like such an unfair question coming from him and she feels too conflicted to give him anything beyond a noncommittal shrug.

"I can't predict the future, Elijah."

"No, but you know where your heart is. Are you broken or have you healed?" She's forgotten how well he knows her. In some ways, better than Klaus ever will. He was so often her only foundation in those running years. The one constant that she has left. "Are you in love with the human?"

"No, no Elijah. How could I be?" She means it. The idea of falling in love with someone so fragile is laughable. How long would he last in her world? Long enough to realize how much of a mistake it was to ask her out?

Bonnie and Finn outlast them and are still deep in conversation when they leave. This time, Elijah doesn't have to stop her from walking over to them. She recognizes two people lost in their own world and knows that even with the best intentions, she is still an intruder.

As July lazily stretches into the beginning of August, Rebekah is busy planning her modern wardrobe for her first day of school. She and Kol have already been to several parties and they've made an impact. Kol toys with the girls and to his delight, infuriates their boyfriends. The ripples of his actions affect Rebekah, who is an easier target for their jealously, and they hound her for details about her brother. Their fights crescendo throughout the house and Elena silently giggles to an unamused Elijah.

Elena manages to paint the nursery a dark forest green, but she's left the stack of boxes in the corner hoping that Elijah and Finn will offer to help with that project. She's satisfied with the color, but wishes she'd been able to recreate Jeremy's initial sketches for her son's room.

Liam is persistent in taking her out. When he has the time, he takes her out to dinners though the Grille is not his favorite place. He insists on driving into the city for fancier locations and Elena eventually caves and allows Rebekah to pick out appropriate dresses, so she no longer feels out of place. The movies and concerts in the park are more her speed, but it seems clear that he'd rather have the extravagant dates he plans than the simple ones she prefers.

Slowly, she stops inviting him to the activities she enjoys and instead Elijah accompanies her on her blanket to watch local musicians entertain her small town. Though she still accepts his requests for her to join him for dinner or on the rare occasion, a fundraiser event for the hospital.

She never quite gets the same traction with researching the Hunter's Curse for Bonnie though she still manages to meet up with her to re-read through the same books. Bonnie's anxiety over finding the answer has waned in the attention Finn gives her. Candlelight dinners he's cooked and slow dancing in front of the fireplace are soft compared to how her and Damon fell in love. The only time he touches her is when they dance or he offers to massage her neck and though she yearns for more, she relishes in the buildup.

Her dates in comparison with Liam are consistent, but shallow. He's predictable in ways that should feel comforting, but are already beginning to bore her. Even her first time at his home is lackluster though she knows that potential of what could happen should be exhilarating. His home is neatly ordered with every item clearly in its home and he watches her with concern when she looks through his possessions, picking them up and putting them down just out of place.

She recalls the night she invited Klaus into her home in Sicily. How he relished in her little world. She tries to look at Liam the same way Klaus had looked at her that night. An engaged interest that bordered on ravenous, but she can't muster the appetite.

Even after dinner, with his hand between her legs and his adequate fingers coaxing her to a place she's been hungry to visit for weeks now, her mind is somewhere else. She feels guilty knowing that when she kisses him back, the way his cheek slides smoothly against her own makes her feel out of her own body and she longs for something different. She misses the rough friction and hands that feel certain of their possession over her. Still, her heavy breathe in his ear seems to be all he needs to believe she's taken with his efforts.

"It's late, Liam. I should get going soon."

"Why? You don't have anywhere to be in the morning?" He knows she is unemployed, but she hasn't been able to find a way to explain her different projects. His impression of her is a kept woman. A cast off from some rich guy who left her behind with his family. Certainly an odd situation, but one he hasn't thought much about.

"I want to go," she says flatly.

"Stay with me," he says it with the up tilt of a question even though she knows he meant it more firmly than that. She bristles at the assumption of power and even more so the lack of will to use it.

"No, I'm going."

"Please, Elena." Begging was never the way to her heart and she's concerned by the way his eyes frantically follow her through the room as she grabs her bag and keys. "I'm sorry. I was being pushy. I didn't mean it. Honestly, I don't know what's come over me."

She thinks he means it, but that doesn't stop her from leaving. A gnawing voice whispers to her that this is her fault, that this was not his normal behavior. She tested the waters with him and he's the one who went overboard into the dark, swirling whirlpool.

Nesting in between pillows and hugging the u-bend of the one Elijah bought for her, Elena wakes up again needing to pee. She's growing more used to this, but familiarity has not bred out her annoyance for her new nightly schedule. She's learned it's easier to close her eyes and feel her way to the bathroom than it is to find the light. As she's feeling her way down the wall, a pair of glowing yellow eyes follow her movement.

On her way back to bad, she pauses to feel out the room. A creeping feeling prickles along her skin like she's being watched. Just as her eyes are focusing, she can make out the line of what looks like a shoulder and as she squints, she can see the person sitting in her reading chair.

Wild curly hair and a beard longer than the scruff she is used to seeing on him, Klaus sits there in her chair waiting for her to notice him. They watch each other in silence. She can't believe he's here in her room and she waits for him to disappear into her imagination while he's quietly enjoying being back in her gravitational pull.

Finally, mostly satisfied that he's real, she asks, "What are you doing here?"

"You blocked my phone number."

"I had a pretty good reason. You killed my friend."

"He survived," Klaus takes in a deep breath and lets out a steady exhale. A technique he's picked up from Tyler. "Even so, I'm sorry I did that. As well as using his body to get closer to you."

"I told you I never wanted to see you again." Her voice hitches in her throat a little when he stands up.

"You did," he concedes, walking slowly to her. "I'm hoping never is not as permanent as it sounds." They begin pacing around the room and each other, unknowingly circling closer to the other.

"You could have written." She cranes her neck to look at him, keeping her back to him.

"Would you have read such letters?" His hands spread out at his sides, chest open to her.

"You could have come during the daytime like a normal person. Knocked at the front door." She stops when she finally recognizes how close they are and he continues circling her until he's close enough to touch her.

"We both know," he says as he reaches out to gently brush against her arm, "I'm anything but a normal person." When she turns with guarded eyes, his defensive bravado fades and soberly he tells her the truth. "I am a selfish man, Elena. I wanted to see you. I had to see you and so I came. I would apologize, but the relief I feel now in your presence…I wouldn't mean it. And with all my faults, I'll never say something just because I know you'll want to hear it."

"So, what? You are here because you want to be and you'll leave when you don't feel like being here anymore?"

"I've never not wanted to be near you, love. Pushing you away. Debasing you with those names and running away? If I could take those back, I would. If I could have been a better man for you then, I would. But I am not a good man."

She wets her lips and looks up to him. He's so close that she needs to tilt her neck back more just to see his face. "I'm with someone else now, Klaus."

"I know. I can smell him on you. A weak scent, but he's there." He's careful not to touch her, but he occupies the space the same as if his hands were all over her.

"I thought you'd be angry when you found out."

The look on his face is hard to dissect though staring up at him she feels like she has an eternity to try. He swallows hard and aims for neutral though the twitching at the corners of his mouth reveals him. He's so close to her now that when his hands glide along her arms she's too shocked to react. Even more so when he kisses her so softly on her forehead that she barely feels it and only knows for sure he has when he pulls away from her.

Walking to the door, he turns to look at her standing still in the middle of her room. "Whatever may have happened or will happen between us, my Wolf-Kissed, know that I will never leave again. I intend to wait, but I won't make him wait for me. Our son needs his father. On that, nothing could change my mind."

When he shuts the door, she blinks and shakes her head at the noise. She walks to the door, intent on going after him but stops just short. Her hand presses flat against the wood where, on the other side, his back is rested. She's ready to convince herself that it was a dream when she hears his shuddering growl on the other side and backs away, retreating to the safety of her nest.

Klaus struggles to maintain his hard-fought composure and his eyes cycle between green and yellow. Liam's smell was much stronger on her than he'd let on and he can fill in the missing information with his vivid imagination. His nostrils flare and his teeth grind against each other. He does give himself a point though. He hadn't lied to her if not answering counts. He wasn't angry with her. He is pissed at himself.