Katherine watched from the upper level of the club as Caroline nearly stomped inside followed by the whole Mikaelson clan. They trailed after her, like little ducks in a line and it brought a small smile to her face to see. Her eyes trailed along them, Klaus looked like he was trying to reason with Caroline, Rebekah looked guilty, Finn was solemn (but when was he not), Kol was curious, the wereslut was seething as she attempted to keep her dirty paws on Elijah's arm, and Elijah… was… hurting.
Seeing the distress clear in Elijah's posture and expression made the smile drop she sucked in an involuntary breath. She didn't like seeing him like this and she shut her eyes tight against the sight. Her name floated to her ears through the chatter and noise of the club, and she wondered if he was this frantic for an answer, this desperate for her, or if there was a conversation she missed before they arrived. Was he worried for Hayley? The wereslut had been digging her claws into him since the moment she stepped foot into their mansion according to her sources. She did send someone to kill the mutt, after all, so maybe he was worried she'd do it again.
Katherine wished she had ignored Caroline's insistence to not go searching them out. She wanted answers and the only ones she had was that Hayley had moved into their mansion villa and, from the little they had gleaned for her, it would seem Elijah treated her like she was a Queen around here. The way it all added up seemed like he ran to Hayley the second he had dropped her. She swallowed thickly as she tried not to grind her teeth together. Katherine Pierce was fierce, confident, and strong. She was not anyone's second choice, not anyone's last choice. That was a lesson she tried to instill into Caroline from the moment she turned her. Long before their friendship really bloomed when she walked into the dorm room, frail and human and dying.
She stood there, hands no longer resting gently on the railing; she now gripped it tightly as she breathed slowly through her nose, trying to relax her features and stop squeezing her eyes shut. The chaos around her seemed to dull into a hum that just barely buzzed in her ears. Without looking she felt the presence of the server who was bringing her the drink she had ordered right before they had waltzed through the doors. Taking it with closed eyes, Katherine held it gently in her fingertips. With a breath she turned and opened her eyes, ready to leave the railing and blend into the crowd.
She froze.
In her distraction she hadn't heard the approach, hadn't heard the sound of footsteps nor the swoosh of wind. Letting herself take time to feel her emotions had really affected her. Had it cost Katherine her touch? She was always so perceptive, she had to be, and giving herself a moment to feel had taken precious time away that she would usually use to slip away unseen. She couldn't anymore. Not when He was feet from her, staring intensely at her, his jaw slack and lips parted as he looked at her with such desperation.
Tears pricked at her eyes unbidden. He threw her away and he had the gall to stand in front of her and look broken? Her lip wobbled almost imperceptibly at the very thought. Slowly he slid forward a step, and before he could finish that step she flashed away from sight, hiding herself expertly amongst the busy crowds of the club. She, in her newfound gifts, was becoming even more of a quick-change expert than she was before, and her entire appearance was altered in a way that completely transformed her and allowed her to be unnoticed even should they look right at her.
Her eyes were narrowed as she peered at him from her new hiding spot, tensed and focused more than she was a moment ago. In the same moment she disappeared from his sight he immediately seemed to tense up, that desperate look intensifying as his head twisted like it was on a swivel in order to find where she had gone. His hands ran through his hair roughly and he pulled at his tie as though it were constricting his breath. He managed to look even more of a mess within a moment or two after seeing her face than he had walking in to the building breathing her name.
"Katerina!" he said her name again, "Please." he begged her, eyes still unseeing, ears still unhearing in his search for her. "Please". Had he begged her like this in the early years, before she learned not to lean on her emotions because it would get in the way of her survival when running from Klaus, she would have broken and run to him. She wasn't as naive as she used to be. Once upon a time, she had let herself take the time to feel everything as it hit her, and it had led her straight to her death. She would not be fooled by this act of misery, she promised herself.
She wouldn't. Not anymore. Not again. Never again.