All Apologies
The following morning, she splashes cold water on her face and presses a cool, jade roller under her eyes to subdue the puffiness. Quietly she walks downstairs for coffee and a bowl of cereal, but Klaus is already in the kitchen opening a box of donuts. She sits down, grabbing a chocolate glazed and he sits next to her, setting his coffee cup next to her. His head is down, but when she looks over at him, he glances up eagerly. The corners of her mouth tilt just barely and she reaches for his cup, taking a sip.
They sit, neither quite knowing what to say but both comfortable in the shared, complicated silence. She's finished her third donut and the coffee is nearly gone when she clears her throat and asks, "Would you like to see my progress with the nursery?" She's not sure how to address her feelings yet, but she's always happy to share her project.
She loves the way his cheeks look when he smiles and even more so the way he says absolutely like he's taking a long drink of water on a hot day.
"It's not much," she gestures to the boxes, partially open. "I kind of got overwhelmed with the instructions for everything, but I did paint! It just got hard to think about everything. Where does the crib go? How do I even put it together? I just pushed it all off." She's rushing to fill in the space so full of her excitement so no disappointment has a chance to creep in.
"It's a lovely color, Elena," he tells her, and she thinks maybe they could get through this co-parenting thing together.
"Yeah, well. I had asked Jer to paint a mural for me, but…" she trails off, tapping her fingers along the windowsill trying to expel the awkward air with repetitive taps. Soon, his hands are on the soft part of her upper arm, and he's leaned into the space over her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, love. Of all that I've done and put you through, I regret what I didn't do the most. I should have been here for you when you lost your brother." When she turns to him, he's careful to swipe his thumbs just below her eyes, soaking up her tears.
"I haven't even been able to look through his things," she laughs trying to stop her lip from quivering.
"Time is a blessing and a curse. We never have enough, but what we have we get to decide how to spend. You'll be able to do what you want, in your time," he reassures. "I know how important family is to you. This is a great weight to bear, but you'll find the strength."
"Are the wolves your family now?"
"My family is my family. You are my family. He is my family," Klaus gestures to her stomach but stops short from touching her. "The wolves are part of my life, but not family in the same sense as you. If that was your question."
"And Hayley?" she asks, looking out the window trying to downplay the importance of the question.
"Insignificant." She suppresses her smile behind her hand when she turns to nod slowly at him. "And your human?"
"Liam?" She shifts uncomfortably under his gaze when he doesn't respond. "Complicated."
"How so? Do you have feelings for him?" The calm of his voice disturbs her more than if he'd sounded jealous or angry.
"I've enjoyed spending time with him," she equivocates.
"That hardly means anything. I've seen you enjoy your time with practical strangers. Doesn't mean you want a future with them."
"I don't know how he could possibly fit in to my future."
"If he could? If you could find a way to fit him in, would you?"
"No," she admits after a while. They stand together in a half-finished room with their hearts stretching out over a chasm of broken trust. Klaus is content to stand next to her for as long as it takes to heal, but Elena is the first to move. "I should go. I have something I need to do."
He watches as she leaves and afterwards, he takes in the potential of the room without her.
The couch suddenly feels too lumpy or too scratchy or maybe it's the way Liam looks at her like she's just grown an extra body part that has her wanting to run out of the room.
"So," he starts slowly, "You want to break up because your kid's father is suddenly in the picture." He asks it with certainty like he's preparing for a debate.
"Well, break things off," she adjusts the phrasing, so it doesn't feel as official to her. "It's just complicated and I feel like I'm dealing with so much. I don't want to drag you into it all."
"What if I want to be dragged?"
"Liam. That's not fair to you."
"You don't get to decide what's fair to me."
"Fine, then it isn't fair to me."
"Are you trying to get back together with him?"
"That's not, it's not why I'm doing this. He's the father of my child and he's back and he is trying and it's only fair to give him the chance to be here for his kid and I just don't want to make the situation harder than it is by dating someone." She pauses to catch her breathe. "I need to be alone right now to focus on raising my son and how to do that effectively with his father. Regardless of who I'm with, I need to focus on that relationship for the sake of my kid."
"Elena, you can focus on that and have a relationship. I'm not pushing for anything," he reaches out to touch her but she's too far and he has to awkwardly slide on the couch until he's closer.
"I just think this is for the best for everyone involved."
"Well, it doesn't feel like the best. What are you going to do if he walks out on you again? You need me!" his voice is too sharp, and he shakes his head, clearing his throat. "I want to be there to support you, no matter what."
"I appreciate that, but this is something I need to do alone. At least at first. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let things get this far."
"And if he leaves?"
"Then I'll figure it out. I'll be fine on my own."
"You don't have to be though!"
"I know, but I can. I'm capable and it isn't the worst thing to be alone. This is what I want, and I need you to respect that." She fights rising to the level of argument he seems to be pushing for like he can debate her out of this decision. Ultimately, while she spends longer arguing with him than she'd meant to, she leaves him with the understanding that they are done. He looks dissatisfied but finally agrees.
Elijah is the first to find her on the couch, curled up under a massive blanket trying to block out the world from her little cocoon for just a moment. She opens her tiny world for Elijah and he sits with her, halfway under her blanket.
"I had to break it off with Liam," she explains. "He didn't take it well. I should have done this sooner." She reflects, thinking on the times she could have invited Liam out but chose Elijah instead.
"I can't imagine any man would react to that with particular grace."
"Yeah, well it sucked."
When Klaus walks in, she expects him to bristle at the image of her leaning against his brother, but he just silently lifts up the other side of the blanket. He slips in fully, molding his body to the other side of hers and resting his head against her shoulder. It's easy to fall asleep, between them she feels warm and loved. Rebekah passes by the room, making eye contact with her brothers who are careful not to move too much so they won't wake Elena.
It doesn't occur to her as terribly odd that after all this time her brothers would willingly share the affection of a Petrova doppelgänger; though it does surprise her that even after everything Klaus is the one garnering the lion's share of Elena's love even if she tries to hide it.
"Oh great, it's you," Ric answers the door with a crying Grace in his arms and a milky substance trailing down his shirt. "I thought you bailed?"
"A temporary lapse in judgement."
"Right," he elongates the word as he assesses Klaus. "What are you doing here?"
"Do you intend on inviting me in or forcing me to make my request outside like a dog?"
Alaric's upper lip curls. "Honestly? I like the sound of the second option. You've done a lot to hurt Elena. Why should I care what you want?"
"Yes, I have though you aren't exactly the picture of gentle nobility either. Your first wife had requested restraining orders twice before agreeing to be with you, isn't that true?" As good as he's been around Elena in the last few days, a part of him will never be entirely good.
"What the fuck? You looked me up?"
"How could I not? I want to know the kind of company the people I love keep. Would you not do the same for her?" he asks and Grace coos back a response. Alaric's face is stony and resolute. "I want to look through Jeremy's sketches for Elena's nursery. Replicate them and give her the design she wanted. Frame them perhaps. I vow to you that is the extent of my intentions here this evening."
Ric relents and leaves Klaus with Grace in the living room while he rummages through still-packed boxes in his spare room looking for Jeremy's belongings. He returns with a box in hand and to Klaus dangling a toy in front of his entertained daughter.
"You seem shocked, Alaric. What did you find in those boxes?"
"Nothing abnormal, just surprised to see her so…at ease with a monster."
"Worried she'll wind up like her Aunt Elena?"
"Nothing wrong with wanting my kid to grow up safe and normal."
"You know better than that, Alaric. There's a little monster in each of us. I just have the decency not to hide mine."
As Ric keeps on eye on the vampire in his home, Klaus oscillates between playing with Grace and opening another box in his search for the sketchbook he needs. Unknowing and innocent, Elena's niece regards Klaus with the kind of wonder only a child can give a stranger.
"You're pretty good with her."
"I've all sorts of life experiences, Alaric."
"I don't doubt that."
"How are you adjusting to parenthood as a single father?" Klaus asks and Ric's eyebrow raises slightly.
"I'm adjusting," he answers, and the question throws him off enough that he offers Klaus a little extra. "The hardest part is knowing she'll never know her mother or her uncle. Having Elena call and come around helps."
"You'll keep their spirits alive."
"So, is this your plan to win her back?"
"I only wish to give her what she wants. Make her happy and be present for my child."
"Then you don't love her anymore?"
Klaus cuts his rummaging short and glares at Ric without answering his question.
"No shame in admitting you want to win her back then. Do you have any idea how many times I had to come with a grand romantic gesture for Jenna? Especially in those early days. We didn't know each other, and it was incredibly easy to fight." Klaus listens to Ric who has clearly been waiting to talk to about Jenna to someone who didn't share in his grief. He listens about the times they fought and how they made up. Ric explains how it was so easy to choose her every day and how that helped them get through hard times.
In the end, all Klaus does is listens because even though they'll never be friends, sometimes it's the best thing to do.
By the time he makes it back home, the house is dark and settled. It's only when he's partially up the stairs when he hears someone fumbling in the kitchen. Curiously, he walks down the hall and into the kitchen where the artificial light from the fridge illuminations Elena's frame. He leans against the counter watching her bend over to dig into the depths of the fridge
"Dissatisfied with the selection, love?" he asks, grinning when she jumps.
"Oh god! Klaus! Do you just live in the shadows constantly waiting to scare the shit out of me?"
"Only half right. What are you looking for?"
"I thought I had a jar of spicy pickled okra, but I may have eaten the rest of it."
"I can't imagine anyone else would have." She shoots him a saucy look that does nothing but amuse him. "Would you like me to drive you to a store?"
"Everything's closed."
"Yes, in Mystic Falls." Her expression lightens as she considers it. Between the promise of okra and the way he looks at her in the dark, she grabs her purse and heads to the front door.
Driving to the nearest town large enough for a twenty-four-hour store, he sneaks glances at her between the flashing lights along the highway. The windows are rolled down and she leans her head back enjoying the way the wind whips her hair around her face.
Being alone with her under the cover of darkness driving away from Mystic Falls, he can almost pretend that the last five months hadn't happened. He can pretend that their night in Paris went uninterrupted and he was now driving them to a different city somewhere in Europe if he ignores the pine trees. In this fictitious world, her family is still alive and the only heartache she's had is the difficulty decision of which fantastic city they should visit next.
"Do you insist on ruining my car, Elena?"
"I'm sure you can afford a detail," she responds casually, crunching on her third helping.
Sitting in the parking lot with him feels so utterly average to her like they are just two normal people with no knowledge of centuries old witches or men who can return from the dead. In this car, she can be a simple woman with a simple craving.
Their exchanges are light-hearted and conversational, edging close to gossiping in a way she secretly relishes. Klaus isn't surprised that Kol has homed in on one of the Fell girls, especially when he learns her father is the deputy mayor. He's slightly annoyed when Elena brings up a boy that's been hovering around Rebekah.
"Finn and Bonnie?"
"Yeah! I know."
"I had not seen that coming, love."
"Me either! I kind of figured he was going to leave before your dinner based on our first conversation. I did not see him staying as long as he did, and I definitely did not see him dating my best friend." Their shard laughs fades into a stunning silence until he breaks it with a deep inhale.
"I'm sorry for how that dinner went."
"Klaus…"
"I shouldn't have called you that, Elena. I didn't mean it."
"I didn't bring up the dinner to shame you."
"That it happened at all shames me."
She rubs her teeth over her top lip, thinking until she reaches out and grabs his hand. "One apology, Klaus. One more and then I don't want to hear about the past anymore. I'm done with the past after this. Deal?"
He squeezes her hand twice but doesn't let go. "I'm sorry, Elena. For each time I hurt you and every time I failed you. Truly. I'm sorry."
"Technically that was two, but I forgive you," she tries to lift the mood with a twinkling smile and a joke. They go back to talking about his siblings as she catches him up on all they've been up to since he left. In the imperfections and pain of their lives, Klaus prefers this world over his perfect, imagined reality. In this world, she's forgiven him with a slip of her hand into his and the best part of it all – it's real.
A/N: Hey! Thanks for reading and getting this far with me. 71/81 chapters down and I'm really excited to wrap this up.
I feel like I should clarify something from my perspective. I don't think Klaus sleeping with Hayley was cheating given how things went down. Also, Hayley isn't his mistress. He's been avoiding her since that night and she's pretty cross with him for splitting up the pack. I also don't think women are weak or insecure for making decisions to stay or leave a relationship. Life gets complicated and those are the kinds of stories I enjoy reading and the kind I would like to tell.
Whew, sorry about that tangent. Anyway, I'm working on small daily one-shots for this AU prompt month and that will take focus for awhile. Check them out if you'd like - mostly Klena but all of them are Elena-centric.