Hey guys :)
I was very happy to see a few new readers and even reviews after the last chapter. Thanks a lot for that!
I'm pretty slammed right now, but I thought it would only be fair to finally post a new chapter for this story. I hope you're ready to hear more about Klaus and Rebekah's father and siblings, because you will. Naturally, there's also Klaroline content since we need to get over this little fight they had. ;)
Enjoy!
"What's gotten your panties in a twist? Is the new job really so bad?" Marcel asked when Klaus dropped the freshly washed glasses with too much unnecessary force on the counter.
The Friday crowd was just beginning to come in and he had stepped in for Davina, who had been sick for a couple of days now. It suited him well enough; his first week at the insurance company had been fine but the job bored him to tears. He needed to talk to Vincent about switching his shifts around a bit, so he could fit in the full-time job and seeing Rebekah regularly. Marcel was done with his classes and only needed to finish his thesis and then he could start looking for a more permanent job in his desired field. Sooner or later, Klaus might take over his weekend shifts.
"What do you mean?" He asked, glare on his face which might have scared away everybody except for Marcel. The broad-shouldered man raised an eyebrow, watching his friend curiously.
"You've been nothing but grumpy since you arrived and from what Josh told me, been like that during your other shift as well. Hence, my inquiry about your new job."
"The job is fine. Soul-sucking and dreary, but fine. It pays decently and I feel like a teenager interning at his neighbor's office for school credit, but it's fine."
"Okay, I get it. And since your vocabulary apparently doesn't include any other adjectives except for 'fine' now, I'll accept that answer for now. So, what's the cause for your bad mood? Rebekah?"
"Frankly, my friend, it's none of your business."
Marcel chuckled at his tone and leaned back against the counter, oozing charm and positivity like usually. He was quite the contrast to Klaus' perpetual solemn attitude and mood swings.
"Oh come on, don't make me guess. If it isn't the job or Rebekah, then it has got to be a lady problem."
Klaus glared at his amused face and shook his head. "You think the whole team wouldn't already know if I had something resembling a relationship with a woman? You're all worse gossips than high school students."
His friend chuckled and nodded affirmatively. "Yeah, that might be true. Though, I would have expected you to have made some progress with a certain foster mother by now."
Klaus' mood only darkened some more at the mention of the lively blonde. "What makes you think that?"
Marcel shot him a teasing look. "Because she's gorgeous and the sexual tension between you two the other day could have been cut with a spoon."
The other man snorted and turned his attention to a customer, who ordered several rounds of shots for his obnoxiously loud table of friends. Marcel finished putting the clean glasses in place and checked his watch. They maybe had around another half hour before the place would be packed and apparently, he was determined to keep grilling Klaus about that matter.
Once he finished up the client, he sighed and turned back to face his waiting friend. "Fine, we got into a fight."
"Which led to hot make-up sex?"
Klaus rolled his eyes. "Disregarding the fact that it would be completely inappropriate for me to have an intimate relationship with Rebekah's guardian; do you really think that having a serious fight would be resolved by sleeping with each other? What kind of problem-solving methods do they teach at Columbia?"
"Have you tried it?"
At Klaus' unimpressed look, Marcel sighed and crossed his arms. "Okay, I'm all ears. What did you fight about?"
The grumpy bartender hesitated. "I told her about our family history. Specifically, about our begetter."
Marcel's eyes grew wide, understandably. The messy Mikaelson family history had hitherto been privy information only shared with him and Cami. It did honestly surprise him that Klaus had decided to tell Caroline about it so soon after meeting her. The young woman must have made one hell of a positive impression on his wary friend.
"And? Was she somehow insensitive about it?"
Klaus hesitated, fidgeting with the dish rag. "Not necessarily. She alluded to me having to inform Rebekah about that man's existence."
Marcel nodded, signaling him to continue.
"And I told her if I tell Rebekah or not is none of her business and that she's just a means to an end before I get custody back."
His friend nodded again, face serious. "Yep, you screwed up."
Klaus straightened up, immediately offended. "Me? She was the one who was offering her opinion on a matter she knew nothing about."
"Well, it's not like you're not going to tell Rebekah about your father eventually."
"So? That's still none of her business!"
Marcel grimaced. "I mean… she is fostering her and takes care of her. Good care from everything I've been told. She might have been a bit too intruding, but she probably means well. I'm sure you told her as much in a calm and pacifying manner."
The older Mikaelson thought back at their conversation; there had been nothing calm about his outburst on the young woman.
His friend rolled his eyes. "You yelled at her, didn't you? Klaus, you have got to stop antagonizing every person who means well. If Cami and I weren't so stubborn, you probably wouldn't have any friends at all."
"Well and look what you get for being friends with such a charity case."
Marcel looked at him disappointed. "Dude, no. I'm not susceptible to that 'woe is me' bullshit anymore. Try communicating with people properly and apologize to Caroline. She's good for Rebekah and might be good for you too if you get over yourself."
With that, he walked to the backroom and left Klaus to contemplate his words. Marcel rarely lost his cool and hearing him be so austere always caused the desired effect: Klaus thinking his behavior over.
After spending the whole Saturday in a bad, brooding mood, Klaus finally decided to take Marcel's advice to heart and apologize to Caroline. He went back and forth on the idea of getting her flowers and ultimately decided against it. He always thought that flowers were an exceptionally uninspired gift and barely had any symbolical value – they simply died too soon. As if it would have any use apologizing to the stunning blonde by handing her a bunch of already dying plants. He was more the type to give his lovers personal drawings he had worked on while thinking of them. But since he and Caroline were not romantically linked, it seemed too much to overwhelm her with such a gift.
In the end, he appeared at her doorstep on Saturday evening, completely unannounced and empty handed. He maybe should have reconsidered the first part, but that might have given Caroline the possibility to avoid him again, like she had done all of last week. He braced himself and knocked at the door (the young woman's neighbor had let him in again without hesitation and he thought that there might be something to Caroline's theory of him disliking her).
When the door opened, he did not see Caroline but was face to face with a rather attractive brunette, who grinned mischievously as soon as she saw him.
"Hi there, handsome."
She flicked her curly hair back in an elegant gesture and her eyes roamed over him from head to toe, making him rather uncomfortable to be honest.
"Hello. Is Caroline home?"
"Ah, the brother of the brat. Came to lick your wounds?"
His eyes narrowed at her words and he looked warily at the woman in the dangerously high heels. He had already met Bonnie Bennett, one of Caroline's best friends. A doctor, smart and very pleasant to talk to. Chances were high that this was the other friend Rebekah had already talked about. Not fondly he might add.
"Whatever business Caroline and I have is between the two of us, love. Is she here or not?"
The brunette chuckled at his words, apparently very amused.
"Oh my, not as charming as I had expected. Wait here, I'll get her."
She stepped back and closed the door in his face. He stared at the dark wood in disbelief until he heard footsteps approaching. The door opened again and he was finally facing Caroline, who smiled apologetically.
"Hi. I'm sorry that you had to meet Katherine. She's not as bad as she might seem at the first impression."
He highly doubted that part, but nodded nonetheless. Caroline's hair was slightly wavy and her face was completely devoid of make-up, making her look even younger. But she was radiant as ever, maybe even more so.
"So, what can I do for you? Rebekah's at the movies with April; they won't be back before nine." Caroline's words interrupted his creepy staring and made him blush lightly.
"Oh well, I didn't come here for Rebekah. I came to say sorry. To you."
He kicked himself internally, cursing his inability to stick to the beautifully worded apology he had perfected beforehand.
Caroline seemed surprised. "Oh. Thanks. I mean… you were right, though. I definitely shouldn't have been all judgmental about the whole issue. I should be the one apologizing to you. It's none of my business anyway, right?"
She added the last part jokingly, but her eyes didn't convey the same humor as her tone.
He sighed. "That's not true. Caroline, I'm insanely grateful how well you have been taking care of my sister and how involved you are in her life. You only had her best interest in mind and it caught me off-guard. I really had no intention of insulting you like I did."
She eyed him intensely for a moment, making him sweat profusely. After what felt like forever, she finally smiled and nodded.
"Alright, I think we've both recognized our mistake and owned up to it. That's not too shabby for such stubborn people like us. Do you want to come in? We have wine and pasta."
"Oh, I wouldn't want to intrude on the evening with your friends."
She waved him off. "Nonsense. You haven't just trekked across the whole city only to be sent on your merry way without getting some refreshments at least."
All his protests fell on deaf ears and she dragged him inside. He was relieved to find a friendly smiling Bonnie at the dinner table, next to a very mischievously grinning Katherine.
"Klaus will join us for a drink. Take a seat." Caroline ordered while getting a glass from the kitchen.
"I apologize for interrupting, but she wouldn't let me leave despite my protests."
Bonnie giggled and Katherine nodded. "Yes, our Care Bear can be very stubborn. So, is it safe to assume that you two kissed and made up?"
"Katherine!" Caroline snapped from the kitchen, hands occupied with opening a fresh bottle.
The brunette shrugged non-plussed. "What? Brother dearest would hardly be sitting here with us if he hadn't grown a pair and apologized."
Klaus stared at the woman incredulously and Bonnie smiled at him apologetically. "Don't mind Katherine. It takes her a while to get out of her combative mood if she was in court."
"Are you being sued? You seem like the type to assault a waiter." Klaus asked and Caroline sat down next to him, snickering at Katherine's unimpressed face.
"Actually, I'm the one doing the prosecuting. But I usually don't take low-level petty crime clients, so you're safe."
Klaus frowned again, already annoyed at the woman's apparent inability to keep from mocking him. Though, it could just be that he was feeling extra insecure around three very successful young women with his non-existent career. Better not think too hard about it.
Bonnie cringed and took a sip from her glass. "See, combative. She's just annoyed that she had to settle today when another lawyer was finally able to give her a run for her money."
Kathrine's slightly smirking face now contorted in affront and turned towards Bonnie. "Just a lucky coincidence because I'm not used to British lawyers."
Caroline chimed in. "Didn't he have to pass the bar as well to practice here?"
"But he is used to a completely different juridical system and managed to throw me off my game. It won't happen again though. Mr Fancy Pants won't know what hit him once I'm done with him."
"Your clients just agreed to settle. Do you want to drag everybody back to court for another round?" Bonnie asked, surprise evident on her face.
The agitated attorney rolled her eyes. "Of course not, Bon Bon, I'm not stupid. But we'll meet in court again sooner or later and then I'll show him who's boss."
As the two brunettes continued their discussion, Caroline leaned closer to him and whispered: "One of Kat's law firm's rival companies recently hired a new lawyer and he seems to be quite good. Oxford graduate, involved with several high-stake cases in the UK. I'm sure couldn't tell, but she hates losing."
Klaus chuckled lightly under his breath. It did not take much to notice her friend's ambition and apparent irritation about her new competition. He took a big sip of his wine and nearly choked when he heard Katherine say "…and I'll be damned if some Elijah Cadogan thinks he can beat me at my own game."
The three women turned towards him in surprise as he coughed violently, trying to get the grapey liquid out of his trachea. Caroline slapped his back a couple of times, slightly amused but his mind was racing. He had not expected to hear that name here of all places and from a woman he did not know of all people. Cadogan. How high were the chances of that British lawyer being related to his and Rebekah's father? It was not really a common name across the pond; on the contrary, it was a rather respected and aristocratic name associated with a highly influential family. Unfortunately, also with the man his mother had decided to have a decade long affair with.
"Are you okay?" Caroline's voice pulled him back to reality and he abruptly stood up.
"Yes, but I have to go. I'm sorry for being so impolite but… I don't feel good. Thank you for the invitation, love."
He did not even wait for any of them to react to his words and quickly made his way down the hall, out the door and down the stairs. He only stopped when he was standing outside, taking a deep breath to calm down a bit. Cadogan. Hearing that name so utterly unexpected had thrown him completely off course.
He slowly started to walk away from the building, making his way towards the nearest subway station, lost in thought. For several years now, he had kept himself from doing any research on his biological father. He knew it would only lead to him obsessing over the man and his family, trying to find out every little detail possible. He would have eventually slipped up in front of Rebekah and the chaos would have been perfect. He only knew what his mother had told him before her death: he was a wealthy, influential, married man named Mikael Cadogan with some legitimate children. He did not know how many, but it had never been of much importance. It was not like he would ever consider them as siblings and the feeling would probably be mutual, if they ever learned about his and his sister's existence.
When he finally reached the subway station and waited for the train to arrive, he reasoned with himself. It was pretty unlikely that this Elijah Cadogan was in any way related to them. If anything, he was probably only some distant cousin of his begetter and hence only distantly related to him and Rebekah. Moreover, Katherine did not even mention that man's age. For all he knew, he could just be a man in his late fifties, making him much too old to be his brother.
The train arrived and he entered, leaning against a pole. Maybe he should google the name. Just to be sure. If the man was a lawyer, he would probably have a very private social media presence, if he even had one at all. But if he really was as renowned as it appeared, there had to be some news articles about him online. Katherine's rivaling law firm most likely also had some profile on every attorney working for them. It would not hurt, if he just did a bit of research and confirmed for his peace of mind that this man was of no importance to him.
As he was still quite a few blocks away from his stop, he pulled out his old smart phone and opened the search engine. Before being able to talk himself out of it once again, he quickly typed "Elijah Cadogan" into the search bar and hit enter. For a split-second, he contemplated adding the term "lawyer" to his name but it proved to be unnecessary. One of the first results was the website of Gilbert, Griffith & Saltzman; he opened the link. He found a section listing all the attorneys working for the firm, their alma mater and some accomplishments but there were no photos available. Figures. He scrolled to find Elijah's name and scanned over the facts. Graduated from Oxford University, worked in some esteemed law firm in London, high-profile white-collar cases, involved with many children's charities. Very proper and prestigious, but it did not tell him anything about his age or relation to a certain father of his.
Klaus returned to the search results and checked out the other links. There was an article about Elijah Cadogan and his sister, Dr. Freya Griffin, donating a very large sum to a children's hospice in New Jersey. Many praising words but no pictures.
He opened the next link. Elijah Cadogan doing a pro-bono case for an orphanage in Queens, busting a scam company for embezzling money from potential adoptive parents.
A British article from two years ago, honoring Mr Cadogan as lawyer of the year. Pictures of a fancy gala attended by the Queen herself, but no photo of the man he was looking for.
He sighed and put his phone away. Noticing that his destination was approaching, he positioned himself near the door and waited for the train to stop. His phone chimed, indicating a message and he took it out again. It was from Caroline. He quickly opened it and scanned over the words, a small smile escaping him at the worried tone it conveyed.
He answered quickly, citing a bad headache and thanking her again for the invitation.
"Okay, feel better. But you'll have to join us for another movie night soon."
The phone chimed again, revealing another message. "Me and Rebekah of course. I won't let you suffer from Katherine's presence again."
He chuckled lightly, thoughts of her radiant smile pushing the Cadogan family matter to the side and he answered her with a promise of joining them soon again.
The distraction only lasted until he reached his apartment though. He stood in front of his fridge, his stomach growling angrily and he reached for some leftover food he had brought from the bar the day before and a light beer. He quickly reconsidered his choice of beverage though and poured himself some Bourbon. As he waited for the food to heat up, he pulled out his phone again and decided to try once again. This time however, he entered "Dr. Freya Griffin" into the search bar and was immediately flooded with numerous articles and medical research papers. He skipped the section with the medical journals and opened an article about Dr. Freya Griffin, the youngest doctor in the UK to ever receive a Buchanan Medal for her contributions and research in neurological science.
Another newspaper article mentioned Freya Cadogan working with Doctors without Borders in Central Africa for two years after finishing her internship at a hospital in London.
His microwave beeped and he took out his plate, taking it to his little dining table. Whoever these two over-achievers were, they seemed to have a heart for children.
He slowly started eating his food while working through the other search results. One of the older articles involving Dr. Griffin was about the sudden death of her husband, an artist named Matthew Griffin. Killed by a drunk driver, brain dead for a couple of days before the plug was pulled. How horrific.
He shook his head at his display, ready to stop his research altogether when another headline caught his eye: Elijah Cadogan and Freya Griffin leaving the church after their father's funeral.
Klaus started sweating, his food completely forgotten now. He clicked on the article and was immediately greeted by a photo of a young blonde woman and a similarly aged brown-haired man dressed in black walking down the stairs of a cathedral. She was wearing big sunglasses and her face was stoic, he looked directly into the camera, eyes sharp and accusatory. The article was four years old, which meant Elijah Cadogan was not some 50-something old man as he had tried to convince himself of.
He took a deep breath and started reading the story.
Pictured above are Elijah Cadogan and Freya Griffin, née Cadogan, as they are leaving the church after a mess was held before their father's funeral. Aristocrat Mikael Cadogan passed away on Wednesday morning from a presumed heart attack. The 62-year-old politician was found unconscious in his office by his secretary, who proceeded to call an ambulance. The arriving paramedics tried to revive the man, but he was declared dead upon arrival at Royal Berkshire Hospital.
Mikael Cadogan was known for his position at the House of Lords and conservative political stance, which his children did not seem to share. He was also well-known for his many extramarital affairs with young starlets, which only increased in number after his wife's passing in January 2014. The politician had last been linked with up-and-coming actress Olivia Parker.
The deaths of the Cadogan patriarch and matriarch are not the only tragedies the successful siblings had to endure. Their father's passing occurred just ten months after a horrific car accident took their younger brother Kol Cadogan's life unexpectedly. The young man, who was known to be a troublemaker, had just been accepted into King's College and working on becoming serious and bringing honor to the established family name like his accomplished siblings tried to do.
What crimes could this have family committed for them to suffer so many tragedies in a row? The two remaining Cadogans will need to help far more poor children to make up for their ancestors' mistakes it seems.
Klaus did a double take at the last paragraph, disgust etching his features. That was some low-quality journalism, even for a British boulevard magazine.
It took him a while to get his ragged breathing under control and process all the information he had collected in one measly click-bait article. His begetter had passed away four years before. He had two extremely successful half-siblings and would have had a third if he had not died as well.
His one tumbler of Bourbon turned into the whole rest of the bottle and sometime later, he was a drunk mess. His emotions went from cursing his father to anger at his mother to grieving her death and the death of Kol, whom he did not even know but was partly his brother nonetheless. He was heartbroken for Rebekah, who would never meet her father even if he seemed to have been an absolute arse. He was furious at himself, for searching for information about his secret family and even more furious about doing it too late. He thought about how he would never get to confront his begetter about all the ways he wronged them. About never acknowledging his existence. About wanting his mother to abort Rebekah. About sending their mother to an early grave because she had to work herself to death to be able to raise them. About breaking his mother's heart countless times without ever losing her love. There were so many things he had wanted to say to that man and now he would never get the chance to do so.
It took another couple of hours of self-loathing and loathing Mikael until he finally passed out on his sofa. He hardly could get any rest though, tossing and turning, his sleep plagued by the faces of Elijah and Freya and the disfigured shadow his brain created as a stand-in for Mikael's visage, which he had never seen.
Klaus woke up to a shrill ringing next to his head. Confused by his surroundings for a moment, he wondered when he had ended up on the floor without waking up from the fall.
He hit the ignore button to stop the ringing, which was worsening his headache. Maybe Rebekah was right and he should finally put that thing on vibrate for good. His eyes still closed to blend out the incessant sunlight streaming through the window, he blindly reached for the device as it announced a new message.
Of course, it was his sister. He wondered for a moment why she was up so early on a Sunday morning until he noticed the time. He had slept past noon, something he had not done since college despite working late nights at the bar regularly. He sighed and pushed himself up, the sigh quickly turning in to a groan. If there was any indication of getting older, it was sleeping on the floor after drinking too much alcohol. He leaned against the couch and tried to focus on the text message his sister had sent him.
Since he had still not processed all the new information about his origin and he really could not face Rebekah like this, he turned her invitation to hang out at the park down, claiming to not feel well. Granted, it was very cowardly and highly unusual for him to bail on his sister like that. However, he really did not want to say something to her he might regret later. Besides, she was well cared for by Caroline, who could conveniently confirm that he had not been feeling well the day before either. He also promised to take her out to the movies on Friday and his sweet and compassionate sister wrote back: "Whatever, I guess. Have fun wallowing in your man pain today."
But as he had no intention of doing that for the rest of the day, he finally lifted himself off the floor and shuffled towards the bathroom.
Klaus spent the next few hours thinking about his next course of action. As he had started processing his newly acquired information, he wondered if he should do something about it. Elijah and Freya both lived in New York now, so he could technically meet them if he wanted to. But that thought seemed more and more ridiculous the more he thought about it. He also considered meeting Marcel to talk about the issue with him, but he was probably way too busy working on his thesis and he did not want to distract him. He could also stop by Cami's, but she would just postpone whatever plans she had with Eva on that nice day to psychoanalyze him, which he really did not want to ruin for her.
In the end, he decided to process everything the way he usually did: art. He grabbed his thick, leatherbound sketch book with his stamped initials, which had been a birthday present from Marcel. He had not admitted it that day, but it had been the most thoughtful gift he had ever received in his life and he dreaded the day it reached its full capacity and he had to get a new one.
The next few hours were spent by him sketching some images in his head. The picture of Elijah and Freya leaving the church, a crashed car, his mother's face, a man in a suit with his back turned to him and a little Rebekah. Okay, so maybe he was wallowing in his man pain a bit, but Rebekah did not need to know that she had been right.
His obsessive drawing was interrupted by his phone ringing on the coffee table. He sighed and rose from his seat, stretching his stiff muscles and walked over to check the caller ID. He smiled as he saw Caroline's name flash on the screen and quickly picked up.
"Careful, love. If you keep contacting me so much, I'll get the impression that you like me."
He heard scoffing on the other end of the line and grinned. "What's this, kindergarten? I just wanted to ask if you're alright. Rebekah said you turned down her invitation to hang out and she decided to go out with a boy from her class instead. Congrats."
Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling his headache returning. He had accepted early on that Rebekah would always have boys swarming her, but her track record had been less than ideal in that regard.
"Don't worry, they went to the Armory and Enzo promised to keep an eye on her. I met the kid when he picked her up and he seems nice enough."
He sighed. "I trust your judgement on that, Caroline. Bekah doesn't react well if you try to forbid her from seeing somebody, she's interested in. Believe me."
"Well, thanks for that. I've been a teenage girl with a…let's say, questionable taste in boys. I think I know what I'm dealing with." She chuckled and he smiled at the sound.
"Anyway, I just wanted to check up on you. Rebekah said you barely ever get sick, so I was contemplating asking Bonnie to take a look at you just to be safe."
Despite being pleasantly surprised by her concern, he quickly dismissed the offer.
"Thank you, love, but I'm sure your friend has better things to do on a Sunday than visiting patients for free. Besides, it's just a headache and I feel better already." Talking to you calms my probing thoughts about my fucked-up family – he thought, but naturally did not say to her.
"So you're not in need of a healthy green smoothie and some warm soup? Damn, what am I supposed to do with it now?"
Klaus paused at her words. "Are you insinuating that you're coming over?"
"Sure, if you count standing in front of your building as coming over."
Once again, Klaus started sweating and quickly checked his living room/kitchen area. It was somewhat orderly, since he had cleaned it the day before while trying to come up with an apology to Caroline. The kitchen was a bit messy and he quickly closed the door to his even messier small bedroom. She really did not need to see it that way. Not that he would want her to enter his bedroom. Well…at least not during his identity crisis.
"Hello, earth to Klaus? If you're telling me that I can't come up because you have a lady friend over, I'll leave. But be prepared to be lectured by me for ditching your sister for a date. Not that Rebekah wouldn't understand it; she keeps saying how grumpy and unsatisfied you are and that you really need to get-"
"Please stop talking. Of course, you can come up, I'm alone. I didn't lie when I told you I wasn't feeling well."
He buzzed her in and tried to tidy up the kitchen while she walked up the four flights of stairs leading to his two-room apartment. Sooner than he would have expected he heard a knocking at the front door. He sighed deeply, straightened his slightly wrinkled t-shirt, debated changing into jeans from the worn jogging pants but decided against it in the end. It would add to the whole "I'm sick" image he had been trying to convey.
He opened the door to a beaming Caroline, hair up in a ponytail and arm outstretched with a dangerously green looking beverage. "Hey. So, I guess it might be kinda rude and strange of me to just come over unannounced but to be fair, you did the same thing yesterday. And I brought some home remedies, so I'm definitely the better intruder."
He smiled at her rambling and watched her observe his apartment, the green concoction discreetly disposed on his shoe cabinet.
"Your apartment is in some serious need of a deep cleaning. You should definitely take care of that once you're healthy again. And you know what will help with that? The green juice you just abandoned over there." She nodded at the cupboard and he sighed, walking back towards his front door to pick it up and give it a try. Surprisingly, it did not taste half bad.
"And this healthy vegetable soup I bought with love will not be too bad for you either."
She put down her little bag and moved to sit on his sofa. The image of her in his apartment was so surreal, especially after they had still been on non-speaking terms one day prior.
"Can I offer you something to drink? I heard this green juice is quite tasty."
She shot him a look. "Funny. No thanks. But you could tell me what's bothering you."
Klaus was taken aback and tried to sit down in the chair opposite her, trying to act non-chalant. "Pardon, love?"
"Oh, cut the crap. You were perfectly fine yesterday one moment and then left in a hurry the next in the middle of Kat's story. And you blew off Rebekah today. I don't know you that long but even I noticed that's unusual for you."
She crossed her arms and leaned back, waiting for him to start talking. He was sweating bullets. On one hand, it was quite flattering that she had bothered to think about him so extensively. On the other hand, he really should work on his acting skills.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said casually and took a sip from the green drink. It was starting to grow on him, but he would have preferred a good cup of coffee instead.
Caroline stared him down and sighed after a while. "Fine. You don't have to tell me. It's understandable, it's not like we're close friends or anything and it's also none of my business. But maybe you should still talk to somebody instead of bottling it up – you seem to be the kind of person who does that regularly. What about Cami? She's a pretty good listener."
Klaus raised an eyebrow at her words. The bartender slash hobby psychologist had mentioned her run-in with Rebekah's guardian and talked very fondly of her. She had also lectured him about being a jerk to her. He was all for female solidarity and all, but he would have a hard time if those two decided to gang up on him. While he thought about that horrible possibility, the blonde continued her rant.
"I'm just saying, it's unhealthy to keep your emotions bottled up all the time. You know what happens if you do that a lot? You'll inevitably snap one day and hurt somebody by lashing out on them. Worst case, it'll be Rebekah and you'll say something unforgiveable. But if you consider-"
"My father is dead."
The young woman was stunned to silence and looked at him with big eyes. "What?"
"I found out yesterday after coming home. He died around four years ago, nearly a year after my younger half sibling."
Caroline leaned forward slightly, watching him closely and whispered "Seriously?"
And then he told her everything. How Katherine's story had propelled him to search for information about Elijah online. How he found out about his living half siblings and his one deceased half-brother in a disrespectful news article. How his siblings were both very successful and living in New York now. And how he could not face Rebekah after learning all of that without processing it first.
Caroline listened patiently and let him voice all his frustrations and insecurities. It felt really good to do that, but was terrifying at the same time. He was afraid she would judge him again, but once he had started talking, he could not stop.
After he finally finished, he leaned back exhausted and took a big sip from the drink in his hand, craving something stronger again. Caroline mimicked his gesture and stayed silent for quite a while.
"I'm sorry you had to hear about the deaths from a newspaper article. It sucks that you can't ever confront your father in person now."
She hesitated before speaking her next sentence. "Do you want to meet your siblings?"
Klaus shrugged, not having come to a real conclusion on the matter yet. "I don't know. I'm not sure if I even have the desire to get to know them. And even if I did, I can't really imagine that they would be thrilled to hear about Rebekah's and my existence. For all I know, Mikael could have produced several bastard children and we're not the only ones. They are probably already used to vultures claiming to be his children and circling the family fortune."
Caroline nodded understandingly. "That's true. Do you want me to ask Kat to do some snooping? Finding out people's secret is basically her job and she'll probably do that for Elijah anyway. I won't mention your connection of course."
Klaus shrugged, unsure about his next course of action still. Maybe it would be better to just ignore the whole issue and move forward with his life without thinking about his half-siblings anymore. As he voiced those thoughts to Caroline, she looked skeptical. "Sure, you can try that. But will it work?"