A/N: Sorry for the gap in updates, but the semester picked up pace and the muse got flighty. I also dealt with some crippling self doubt about steering this story before I rallied and decided to forge ahead with the vision I have. Thank you for all your support and reviews, they mean the world!
She doesn't know how long she's been asleep when the truck comes to a halt. Her body is curled against the door, feet drawn up, arms folded, cheek resting on the window. It's dark outside, and she's barely oriented herself before Klaus opens the passenger side door.
He offers her a hand which she reluctantly uses to climb out.
"And how is your ankle?" His grip is warm and solid, his words laced with just enough concern, that Bonnie has to battle her sleepy, exhausted senses from swaying into that warmth and solidity.
She pulls her hand away. "It's fine. Where are we anyway?"
A river flows nearby. She can make out the shape of dark mountains encircling the valley, a sky speckled with more stars than she's ever seen in her life, and trees crowded thick and close.
"Crescent Hills, Montana," Klaus fails to mask his contempt for the trite name. He leads her up a stone pathway. "These mountains were once home to some of the most powerful wolf packs on the continent."
She shivers a little in the cool air. "And we're here because...?"
"My father's pack was made here." Klaus doesn't venture more information.
Bonnie glances around at the vista of forest. Her eyes, adjusting to the darkness, can make out small lights in the distance, campfires clustered among the shadowy trees.
"There's people...in the woods."
"Scavenger wolves," Klaus growls, "they will be gone soon enough. With your help of course."
"How am I going to help with that?" she asks warily, looking at the those flickering lights, wondering if feral eyes were looking back.
"A simple Land Binding spell should make the terrain untenable for them," Klaus moves a branch out of their way and a giant ranch-house looms before them, big enough for a hotel. He ushers her in the towering oak door, beneath the deer antlers curving like branches. Bonnie feels small and overwhelmed, hemmed in by mountains and forest and hidden eyes and now, this cavernous, empty dwelling.
"I built this place many decades ago, in anticipation of breaking the curse. I had not planned on abandoning it for quite so long," he says, seemingly lost in a moment of time long before she even existed.
Bonnie takes in the massive wooden staircase and hallways, the rooms stretching out further than she can see. Klaus built this? Usually she would've assumed he compelled a crew to carry out the task, but something in his voice, some undercurrent of quiet possessiveness and pride, hints otherwise.
Still, that realization does little to dull the looming emptiness of this place. She can see the outline of hunting trophies in the dim light, strange sentinels that feel almost alive.
"You may choose your room. Although, be warned the western wing does get a little drafty at night," he informs her, walking back to the door.
"Where are you going?" Bonnie cringes at how tiny her voice sounds. So what if she's going to be alone for a bit in a place that looks like a setting for a Stephen King novel? She's fine. She will be fine.
Klaus grins a little and she hates him for that, just like she hated him for letting her lie there on his chest after the river washed them ashore. "I thought you might like your luggage for the night," he says dryly.
"I'll help," she strides towards him.
"Now now, love. I might be a scoundrel but I do have some manners." He continues when she arches a quizzical eyebrow, "A woman in your condition should hardly be carrying heavy weight around."
Bonnie fixes him with a weary glare. These little comments about her pregnancy, usually accompanied by holding a door for her, offering her his jacket or inquiring about her appetite, peppered throughout their two-day drive to Montana, were starting to unsettle her. There's a sense of mocking amusement underlying his gestures that she finds extremely irritating; like he thinks her predicament a particularly subtle joke she's sprung on herself.
"I'm pregnant, Klaus, not an invalid."
He holds up his hands in a gesture of innocence, though a smile still dances in his eyes, "I was merely trying to reassure you that chivalry isn't dead."
"Looks pretty dead to me," she mutters, brushing past him. "And you can stop, by the way."
"Stop what, love?" he falls in step beside her as they retrace their path to the truck.
"This whole Nice Guy routine, checking on me constantly...Just, drop it ok? I know you don't mean any of it," she adds under her breath.
She waits for him to open the back of the truck but he leans against the door instead, tilting his head and giving her a curious look. "Does it bother you you that someone is aware of your needs? Or does it bother you that it's me?"
"You bother me period," she huffs. "Just open the truck, Klaus."
He grins and complies. Bonnie gathers up her luggage and starts heading back to the house.
"Just out of curiosity," Klaus begins in a casual kind of voice that sets her teeth on edge, "how did it happen?"
She rolls her eyes as they start climbing the stairs, "Did your parents never explain where babies come from or...?"
He gives a disarming laugh, "I was simply wondering how a practical, level-headed woman like yourself finds herself in such a position. What did he say, this mysterious bloke?"
"Well, he opened with not threatening my friends."
Klaus sounds scandalized. "Did he say anything worth remembering?"
Bonnie stays quiet as they reach the landing. Truthfully she doesn't remember her and Jake talking very much. She hadn't wanted to stop and think. She just wanted to feel wanted, to forget that Jeremy had chosen a dead girl over her.
"Although," the hybrid continues, "I suppose a landed fish seems eloquent compared to Gilbert Jr. Your taste in men leaves does leave a great deal to be desired, love."
"You want to pass judgement on my lovelife?" she scoffs in disbelief. "When was the last time you even had a date with a woman who wasn't your dinner?"
He lifts his brows and there's a thoughtful quirk to his lips, like he's conceding her question. Then a glint appears in his eye. "By that definition, you and I have been on a date since we left Mystic Falls."
"Right."
Bonnie swallows another tart response. She's starting to enjoy verbally sparring with him too much for her own comfort. The long hours and miles between them and her hometown, plus the shock of discovering her pregnancy, has whittled away at her emotional resilience. She needs to be alone with her thoughts and regroup, figure out how to get Klaus what he wants so she can deal with her own life.
She starts down the hallway, not bothering to bid him goodnight.
She can feel his eyes on her for a few moments before he disappears back down the stairs.
She finds a modest sized room with an attached bathroom. The lighting flickers a little, and the water runs brown for a few moments before clearing. She makes a face, wishing Klaus had hired real plumbers and electricians when he decided to build his own version of a cabin in the woods.
Still, any shower feels like a luxury after two days in a truck. Bonnie changes into pjs and starts combing her hair.
Her mind paces like a caged animal, and the blinking missed-calls and texts on her phone gnaw at her until she puts the device out of sight.
She can't talk to anyone back home until she figures out what she's going to do about her... 'condition' as Klaus called it.
Catching sight of herself in the mirror, Bonnie walks over and lifts up her oversize t-shirt. Her stomach is still flat, she still looks the same. She tries to picture herself going about her life with a round belly, waddling in those terrible Crocs she's seen on other pregnant women.
There's something almost comically unreal about that image.
Her anxiety drains away, leaving a heavy, hollow feeling. What am I thinking? I don't know crap about being a mom.
It's not as though she's had many examples either. Abby Bennett had disappeared when she was five years old.
She lets her t-shirt fall back and resumes untangling her hair. Tomorrow, she'd look up local clinics and find the nearest abortion provider. Money wouldn't be an issue, she's sure Klaus would rather the witch he's 'employing' not be pregnant. He'd said as much when they were trapped together in that strange place.
Bonnie starts braiding her hair when she sees the flash of movement in the window behind her. A face vanishes as quickly as it appeared.
She screams.
She pulls open her door and rushes into the dark hallway...smack against a bare chest.
She almost screams again before realizing it's Klaus, her heart pounding in her ears.
"Easy, love," he pushes wet hair away from her face, "you alright?"
"T-there was someone - my window -,"
"Yes, we have an intruder. I heard them a few seconds ago."
"This place needs a security system," she manages shakily. He has an arm around her and she sags against him a little. Later, she'll deal with the fact that she voluntarily lingered in Klaus Mikaelson's grasp. But right now, she huddles infinitesimally closer to the thing that will keep her safe.
He cocks his head, listening, "They are on the roof." A grin appears on his face. "Just as I was craving a midnight meal too. Wait here." He gives her waist a light squeeze before disappearing down the corridor.
A/N: This is a short chapter because it's more a of bridge to situations that will blossom later. Hope it was still enjoyable!
