I pull on one of Damon's signature black shirts as the sound of someone pounding on the door of the boarding house wafts up to us.
"I got it." I say as I slide out of his bedroom and down the stairs. I swing open the door and find Niklaus on the stoop looking furious.
"Is there something you needed?" I ask innocently as I stare at him.
"I'm gonna get in the shower." Damon says as he walks up and kisses the side of my head.
"Niklaus, is there something that you needed?" I repeat myself and he glares at Damon's retreating figure.
"Considering the fact that you'll sleep with anyone, perhaps it's better that we didn't get married." He responds with venom in his voice. I stand in the doorway in shock before slamming it hard in his face. Before I can stop it, the tears spill down my cheeks and I retreat up the stairs. I choke back the sobs as much as I can, passing Elena on the stairs.
"Are you okay?" She asks and I move past her into Damon's room. I gather my clothes and pull them on with tear clouded vision.
After a moment, I just sit on the floor and sob quietly to myself. Above me the lightbulb shatters and I don't even flinch as the glass rains down on me.
Before Damon gets out of the shower, the cries are barely audible. I've made it to the entrance of the boarding house, trying to confirm if Niklaus is lingering outside to be even more viscous towards me. Finally, I decide to just run for it. I made the mistake of letting Damon drive me so now I truly have to run.
I step outside and it's almost nightfall. I stuff my hands into my pockets and walk slowly down the sidewalk.
I pull on the opera gloves, almost giddy with excitement. Niklaus agreed to an engagement party, as if I really had to twist his arm. He's just as excited about this as I am, he just refuses to show it.
There's a soft knock on my door before August pokes his head in.
"Are you almost ready, Emerald? Everyone is waiting." He says and I nod.
"Just another moment August. You only get to announce your engagement the love of your life once." I say calmly. "And I'd rather have things as close to perfection as possible."
"I understand but you cannot keep our guests waiting." He reminds me and I smooth my dress one more time.
"I think I am ready now." I say and turn to m brother. He leads me to the stairs and I can't help but to grin when I see Niklaus. I slip my hand into the crook of his elbow and let out a nervous sigh.
"It's not that scary." Fletcher says and I roll my eyes.
"Yes but you also never went through with your wedding." I point and look to Niklaus.
"You do plan on going through with this wedding?" I ask almost jokingly.
"Nothing in the world would stop me from marrying you." He responds and I smile wider.
"And nothing would stop me, either." I promise.
I step inside of my house, silent tears streaming down my face now. I don't even look towards Fletcher when he asks me something. And barely register the puddle of blood on our floor.
"Why is there a puddle of blood on our hardwood floors?" I ask flatly and look at Fletcher.
"Niklaus tore out Darcy's heart." He responds and I sigh heavily.
"Even now I'm cleaning up his mess." I mutter as I walk into the kitchen. I pull out the paper towels and the bleach cleaner.
"So help me god if our floor is bloodstained, I will rip out the floorboard and plunge it through his heart myself." I say as I begin scrubbing.
"This is the most you've spoken about him since we came to this town. What changed?" Fletcher asked.
"He showed up at the boarding house and basically called me a whore. And then told me he's glad we didn't get married." I say with anger evident in the force I'm using behind scrubbing.
"That definitely didn't help him win any points in his favor." Fletcher remarks and I roll my eyes.
"He has a tendency to lash out when he's truly feeling hurt." I say defensively. "He hasn't ever been one to be able to openly express his emotions."
"He just about calls you a whore and you still defend him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you still love him." He responds and I scrub harder.
"You still love him after what he did?"
"There's been a part of me that's always wanted to believe that it was some misunderstanding. But mother always raised me to know my worth. That's why I walked away. I didn't want to accept an explanation and then turn out to be wrong." I tell him as I finally get the blood up. And unsurprisingly there's a stain.
"It looks like I'm paying the Mikaelsons a visit." I say and stand up.
"You aren't going to drive a floorboard into his heart, are you?"
"Absolutely not. I need to confront him about staining our floor and about how he just treated me." I say as I grab the keys to my car.
I pull to a stop in front of the Mikaelson house and steel myself for this. I walk slowly to the door and knock loudly. After a minute Elijah pulls open the door looking confused.
"I'd like to talk to Niklaus if he's available?" I ask calmly as Elijah let's me in. He looks concerned for a moment.
I stand in the entrance for a long while until I hear a set of footsteps approach me. Niklaus looks at me for a long silent moment.
"You stained my floor when you ripped out the wretched bitch's heart. Do you understand how much time it's going to take me to fix that?" I say and he just stares at me for even longer.
"Also you don't get to judge who I sleep with and throw our broken engagement in my face. You had a hand in it too, sir. If you hadn't spent so much goddamned time pursuing Katherine for whatever reason you had, we wouldn't be here like this." I state and cross my arms in anger.
"What is that supposed to mean?" He asks sounding angry.
"What is that supposed to mean? You spent so much time with your stupid little schemes that eventually I grew tired. I grew tired of waiting for you to finally be ready to marry me. For you to be ready to finally stop vying for power and realize that someone saw you as enough. But that never happened, did it?" I say almost in tears again. The room goes silent around us until he crosses the room to me. Before I can react, I feel his lips on mine and I don't feel like pushing him away.
Suddenly, my phone pings from my back pocket so I break away from him. He lingers close as I check my message. An urgent one from August came through. Without a word I turn and walk from the house, almost panicking.