Amelie

Summary:"You have loved and you have lost, all while I have succumbed to: the darkness, the light, to my wildest dreams and deepest fears. I have loved you while you have lived your life to its fullest, now I must live mine." Klaus kept his last love a secret for a lifetime but now it's time to reintroduce her to the world.

Chapter Nine

Jon didn't waste any time with Amelie and took her words in to consideration, he wasn't going to waste any more of his time with her; Alexander would be able to keep the Regent on their side without him. Avoiding the booth, he took Amelie to the dancefloor. The music was slow and tranquil and gave Jon the perfect opportunity to remind Amelie why she should pick him. Keeping her body close to his, he led her into a sort of waltz which swept her off her feet. It was the dance that she had practiced with him over and over for their wedding and she was stunned that he recalled every step as perfectly as he did over eighty years ago.

"I hope you're holding onto me tight," he beamed down at her with a sense of self-assurance, "I'm going to blow you away."

"You're already starting to impress me." She became entranced by the reminiscence of him as she stared into his grey eyes; was it a bad thing that she loved the old him more than this Jon that was trying to keep her? "I used to love sneaking you into my mother's house after dark and making you do these steps until you got it right."

"I got there eventually." He reminded her as he joined her in her memories.

"And now you're better than me. You had the advantage of being able to enjoy the freedom of walking around and smelling the roses."

"I can't imagine what it was like to be locked away in a prison of sleep for all those years."

Amelie looked up at him, taken aback by what he said. "I've never told you where I was for all those years."

He tried to play off the fact that he was shocked by her comment and shook his head. "You had to have told me, I mean, how else would I know?" he kissed the back of her hand as the music ended and held her at arm's length. "I searched everywhere for you for years and I couldn't find you, even with all the spells that Alexander cast."

She shrugged off the suspicious feeling she had and smiled a little. "I must've mentioned it. You couldn't have known where I was. Do you mind if I get a drink? I'm a little thirsty." She placed her hand on her throat as she gave him a pleading look.

He nodded and held out his arm as she looped hers through his. "Of course, let's cure that thirst of yours."

The bar was packed, but from where Klaus was standing he could see Amelie approaching it with Jon on her arm perfectly. He didn't let himself be seen but he observed the way she reacted to him; she appeared to be enjoying herself but anytime that there was silence between them, she would glance away from him as if she was scanning the room. Perhaps he had the false hope that she was looking for him, but maybe he wasn't wrong.

Seeing Elijah and Hayley happy together and spending all their time together at this event made Klaus secretly jealous; he should've been the one that had Amelie as his date and not the pompous Jon that tried to have her kidnapped or threaten an innocent child. He waved a member of the bar staff over and leaned into him.

"Send a gin and tonic to that beautiful girl with the blonde curls," he pulled a small note out from his inside pocket and handed it to the young man, "and keep this under the glass. Make sure the man she's with doesn't try to take it from her." He stepped away from the bar and watched his compulsion work from the side-lines. As the bar man kept Jon distracted, Amelie found the note under her glass and read the letter with a hint of excitement in her eyes, it made Klaus grin.

Amelie sipped at the gin and tonic until Jon paid the bar man for the set of drinks he bought. When he looked at Amelie he leaned on the bar and examined the glass from his distance. "Who bought you that?"

She caught a glimpse of Klaus at the fire escape of the gallery and smiled to herself and then to Jon. "I must have an admirer. Perchance the bar man sent it to the wrong girl. There are a lot of lonely hearts here." She finished the drink and kept the note safely tucked away under her sleeve. "I need to go freshen up, the gin has gone straight to my head."

"What do you want me to do with the drink I've just bought you?" he watched her grab her clutch from the bar.

"See if Margot wants it, I'll come find you when I get out of the ladies' room." She leaned in and pecked his cheek, leaving a small pink lipstick mark on his cheek. "I shouldn't be too long if that line isn't horrendous."

"I'll be at the booth." He said, grabbing the two fresh drinks from the bar man.

"Perfect." She tiptoed towards the toilets until he wasn't watching her anymore and then made a Z-line towards the fire escape.

The winter night was almost unbearable without a coat, but Amelie braced the cold so that she could escape Jon for a moment and talk to Klaus properly. She followed his instructions on the note and made her way up to the rooftop, holding onto herself for heat as she stepped towards him. When he heard her footsteps, he turned around and flashed her a white smile and edged towards her, she couldn't help but return his smile. He embraced her tightly, not wanting to let go of her now that she was back in his arms. Her teeth rattled against each other as she started to show effects of the cold. He took off his blazer and placed it around her shoulders, wrapping her up in it.

"I'm so glad you came out here, I couldn't resist the temptation of stealing a moment of your time while you were here."

"I can't lie, I enjoyed the idea of a secret meeting between us," she admitted boldly as she looked at the lights of the city below her, "I did make you promise to save me a dance."

"Then we shall dance and chat." He held out his hand and when she took it he pulled her closer to him.

"There's no music."

"We don't need music." When she placed her head on his chest, he rested his head on hers and sighed contently. "I don't know if Jon has told you, but you look stunning in that dress."

"He may have told me once. I don't know if you've been told, but you look handsome in a suit."

"This old thing? I just threw it on." He joked with a smirk. He looked down at her and held her as close as he could. "Apart from the idea of a secret meeting, why did you agree to come out here?"

"When I saw you here tonight I thought that it was going to ruin my night with Jon, but you actually saved it." When Klaus furrowed his brows, Amelie shook her head a little and pressed her lips together. "Jon was a bit of a dick earlier but he's trying to make up for it now."

"But while he's trying to show you a good time, you decide to come out here with me?"

"It's selfish, I know that but I haven't saw you properly in weeks and I miss being around you." She admitted confidently.

"And is that how you feel when you're not with Jon?"

"I'm not sure how I feel about him, I love him but there's something off with him." She wrapped her arms around Klaus' neck and gazed into his eyes. "I need a favour from you."

"Anything for you."

"I think Jon knew that I was spelled asleep and I didn't tell him. Can you try to find out something about him, because he's telling me nothing. He won't let me in."

Klaus smirked at the prospect of ruining Jon's relationship with Amelie, but it was conditional; Klaus had to find something damning, Amelie would forgive almost anything for the people she loves, he knew that from experience. "I'll see what I can dig up."

Amelie stood on her tip toes and planted a kiss on Klaus' lips, lingering longer than she wanted to. She took the blazer from her shoulders and handed it back to Klaus. "I'll see you soon."

He watched her walk back towards the fire escape and when she looked over her shoulder at him with the angelic smile she had, he felt butterflies in his stomach. He knew he needed to find out something or he would lose his angel forever.

When Amelie returned to the booth, Jon was left as the third wheel as Alexander and Margot were up close and personal with each other, whispering in each other's ear and sharing the occasional peck. She sat beside him and took his hand, giving it a small squeeze. His face lit up as he looked at her but he caught the slightest hint of cologne hanging from her and he knew straightaway that she had been with Klaus.

He wasn't an idiot, he knew that he deserved to have her slip away from him for a while, his behaviour earlier in the night was uncalled for; but he spent years searching for her and he wasn't going to give up easily.

"Shall we end this night early? You can come home with me, we can catch up properly with a bottle of Bordeaux…" he spoke in the raspy voice that he knew Amelie couldn't resist.

She leaned into him and smiled as he placed his forehead on hers. "Come home with me."

"How could I refuse that offer?"

"I'll go get our coats." She kissed him quickly and took the tickets from his hand.

When she left, Jon turned to Alexander and patted him on the shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Is she taking you home?" Alexander glanced over at Amelie and then stared up at his brother as he nodded. "Don't get too caught up in the moment, you're there for a reason, remember?"

"I want her to be all mine, I'm not going to forget." He stepped away from the booth and looked over his shoulder to see if he could spot Amelie's other lover but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you ready to go?" she said as she handed him his coat and then put hers on.

"Let's get out of here." He smiled as he placed his arm around her shoulder, leading her out of the gallery as if he was walking home with the masterpiece that everyone wanted.

It was the first-time Jon got to have a proper inspection of the place that Amelie called home and it wasn't what he imagined. Her apartment was beautiful and it was like a homage to their culture and as Amelie drew her blinds, he noticed the little violin he had bought her sitting by her sofa. He picked up the case and opened it up, as he looked down at the instrument she loved so much he felt his emotions building up inside him. He didn't know how to handle them, he was never good at showing Amelie his softer side. She noticed him looking down at it as he picked it up in his hands as carefully as he could; he treated it as if it was the most fragile thing in the world.

"I remember this little fiddle." He said softly as she stood beside him.

"I took it with me to Chicago and I used to play in the jazz bars; I would sing or play, it was the only thing I could do to earn a bit of money." She smiled a little as she reminisced and glanced up at him. "I only remembered a few days ago, that you were the one who bought me it."

"At least you loved something of mine when you forgot about me." He put the violin back into the case before he had to show his softer side. "How about that Bordeaux?"

"I thought you didn't drink?" she asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

"I didn't want to start a row with Alexander, but it's just the two of us now and I know my limits." He sat down on her small sofa and glanced over at the painting that hung above the bed behind him. "That's a nice painting."

Amelie emerged from the kitchen with a couple of glasses and a bottle of the fanciest red wine she had. When she looked at the painting, she smiled. "Klaus painted it for me. It's a painting of the park he took me to during our first date."

Jon grimaced a little and uncorked the bottle of red eagerly. "So, he's artistic, what else can you tell me about him?"

"You actually want to know about the other man that's in my heart?" she crossed her arms and took the seat beside him.

"Well I like to know about my competitors, there has to be some similarities between the two of us. It makes it easier for me to justify how you fell for someone else if he has one quality like me."

Amelie took a glass of wine and nursed it in her hand as she thought hard about the two men in her life. It took her a while to think of something that was similar between the two but Jon had one thing in common with Klaus. "You're both strong minded, you know what you want and you go get it."

"So, what you're saying is, I'm not going to win you back easily?"

"And neither will Klaus. You both want me and you're both going to try anything to get me to pick you. That's why you came here tonight."

Jon tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "What do you mean?"

"You're trying to get me drunk so that you can lure me into bed." She pointed at him and took a sip from her glass. "I know your game, but I'm not that easy."

Jon smirked a little and stared down at his almost empty glass. "I know you're not easy, I'm sure Klaus had the pleasure of taking you to bed, but I've waited for you to be ready."

"You were going to marry me when I was sixteen, I wouldn't call that waiting for me to be ready, I would call that waiting for a commitment from me."

"Maybe if I had have met you when you were in your twenties, I would be the one with the deeper hold on you."

She swallowed back the truth with her mouthful of wine and shook her head. "Klaus doesn't have a deeper hold on me."

Jon leaned in towards her, setting his now empty glass on the floor and touched her warm, rosy cheek with the back of his fingers. "Then prove it."

As Amelie stared into his grey eyes, she couldn't resist his lure. As she kissed him his hands travelled along her body and she felt the tingles of desire. She unbuttoned his shirt as quickly as she could and ran her hands along his rugged chest as he pulled her onto his lap. When he stared up at Amelie, he knew that this was everything that he had wanted, but he couldn't go through with the deed; he just needed to know for himself that she still loved him.

"I need to go." He whispered tenderly.

"Stay the night, I can't spend another night alone." She almost whimpered.

He placed his hands on her hips and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Choose me and you'll never have to spend another night alone."

"I can't choose right now because I don't know what I want." Her whimper turned into a roar, she was so frustrated by the whole situation but it seemed like Jon didn't care about the turmoil in her mind.

"I have to go, Amelie." He looked up at her sternly until she got off him. "I'm sorry."

She turned her back to him and picked up the glasses and the bottle of wine. "I'll see you soon, just leave." She was hurt and she wasn't going to hide that but instead of being comforted by Jon she had to comfort herself with whatever was left in the bottle of Bordeaux. Being left again by Jon reminded her of those weeks leading up to her memories being taken; he left her alone in her misery once before but the first time she had a wedding to distract her, this time she had another man that she loved to keep her busy.

A:N So what do you guys think about Jon? Let me know with a review!