A/N: So it looks like I'm on track to break 1,000 reviews with this fan-fiction before it's completed, and I know it gets repetitive, but thank you so much for taking the time to pass along some encouraging words. I appreciate it, as do I appreciate anyone who has read this story/favourited/followed etc. You all are pretty swell.
Anyways, if you've been following me on tumblr, then this update is a little late - but since I haven't slept yet, I'm still technically updating in the timeframe I said I would.
When I started the next update, I had intended for one long chapter, but this seemed like a natural break. So, expect one more filler chapter before prom. The next update shouldn't take too long since I'm already a little over half-way done.
We're coming close to the end folks. I expect three/four chapters to follow after this one.
This is an angsty, fluff and feels chapter. You were warned.
Enjoy and pass me along your thoughts if you have a minute! :)
She looked at him worriedly as his entire demeanour seemed to shift on a dime.
One second he had been calm and collected and the next he was fuming with anger.
"It has to be here," she said to him, "this is where you left it."
She began to scan the room as he stood up angrily from his chair.
"It's not here!" he shouted. "I put it in that drawer," he hissed. "I should have burned it last night," he scowled as he stormed towards the study doors.
Following him reluctantly with her dress, she was stunned when he lunged at Rebekah.
He pinned Rebekah up against the wall, holding her by the neck.
"Where is it!?" he demanded.
Adrian stood up clearly bewildered.
"What are you talking about?" Rebekah choked out.
"The white oak stake! Where is it?" Klaus badgered.
He pushed her harder into the wall.
"I don't have the stake," Rebekah cried as she fought against Klaus's hold.
"Klaus! Stop!" she urged him, stepping forward. "She doesn't have it," she said, attempting to reach out and pull him back.
She jumped when his head shot around to glare at her. His eyes were burning threateningly. Frightened, she receded.
Before things could escalate further, Elijah flashed into the room and violently pushed Klaus away from Rebekah.
"Niklaus, what the hell are you doing!?" Elijah shouted as he stood in between him and Rebekah.
With Elijah mediating between Klaus and Rebekah, she took it upon herself to compel Adrian to leave, handing him her unfinished prom dress and to forget what he saw.
"The white oak stake is missing," Klaus growled, his chest heaving with anger.
Elijah looked to Rebekah.
"I don't have it," she spat defensively.
"She doesn't," she interjected, coming to Rebekah's aid.
Klaus eyed her suspiciously.
"Rebekah didn't even know about the stake until I told her this afternoon, and even then she didn't know where you put it. Plus, I was with her the whole time!" she explained.
"You both changed into your dresses in my study, surely Rebekah had time to snoop around then," Klaus pointed out.
Rebekah scoffed.
"I had to help her get into her dress. I was with her the entire time," she emphasized. "She doesn't have the stake," she repeated.
"See, Nik?" Rebekah said, crossing her arms bitterly. "I don't have the stupid stake."
"Well somebody does," Klaus hissed.
"Kol has been out all day. Moreover, he doesn't even know about the deal you made with Damon and Elena," Elijah pointed out.
Rebekah glared at her before looking to Klaus.
"Maybe you should ask your girlfriend? Or Elijah?" Rebekah said, playing devil's advocate.
Her eyebrows furrowed at Rebekah's complete disregard at her effort to defend her.
"I mean, you've completely looked past them both," Rebekah continued.
Klaus's jaw and fists clenched as he looked between her and Elijah.
She rolled her eyes and threw her hands up.
"Seriously? Why would I take it?" she scowled. "I've been here the entire day, Rebekah should be able to vouch for that," she added, narrowing her eyes at Rebekah.
Rebekah nodded reluctantly.
Still, she felt like Klaus was staring her down with suspicion.
"Search my things if you want," she offered with a shrug.
Klaus looked to Elijah who shook his head promptly.
"I offer the same as Caroline, brother," Elijah said. "I didn't take the white oak stake. What motive would I have?" he posited.
Sighing in frustration, Klaus looked at Elijah.
"Don't make me regret this," Klaus said with a pointed finger as he headed for the hall determinedly.
"Where are you going?" she called after him.
Klaus gave no reply save for the slamming of the front doors.
She looked worriedly both at Elijah and Rebekah.
"The Salvatores'," Elijah concluded.
Both she and Elijah raced to the boarding house in an effort to intercept Klaus who seemed set on doing something rash.
When they arrived, they found a groaning Damon on the foyer floor with what looked to be a chair leg lodged like a wooden stake in his stomach.
She could hear Elena pleading with Klaus to stop from the Salvatore living room.
Bolting into the room, she found Klaus astride Stefan, pinning him down to the floor with one hand around his neck and the other holding what appeared to be another splintered chair leg against his chest.
Elena glanced at her pleadingly as Elijah arrived behind her.
"Thought you'd steal the stake to bargain for the cure for yourself, didn't you, mate?" Klaus hissed.
Stefan shook his head and mouthed out a "no."
"How many times do I have to remind you fools that if you kill me, you kill yourselves?" Klaus scowled. "Or maybe you thought you'd threaten to kill one of my siblings, Elijah? Kol? Rebekah maybe? Hmm?" Klaus spat.
"Damon already told you we made that deal in good faith. Stefan and Damon both want to find the cure for me. Why would they jeopardize that by alienating you?" Elena reasoned.
"Elena is right, Klaus," she spoke up, eyeing Elena apologetically.
"I found Stefan sleeping on the sofa this morning and I was with him until the three of us left. He doesn't have the stake," Elijah said.
Damon stepped into the room behind Elena, a blood stain visible on the white shirt he was wearing where Klaus's makeshift stake had been buried.
She approached Klaus apprehensively.
Extending her hand, she touched his shoulder, uncertain about his reaction.
"Klaus, come on," she urge softly. "He doesn't have the stake. None of us do," she said.
He kept still above Stefan for a few moments longer before dropping the stake in his hand and releasing Stefan's neck.
She stepped back and let her hand fall down his back as he stood up.
Stefan stood up cautiously with his eyes set on any sudden movements from Klaus.
"We don't want that stake out there somewhere any more than you do, Klaus," Stefan said warily, keeping his distance. "If you're at risk, then all of us are at risk," he added, looking around the room.
Klaus exhaled with a frustrated sigh before helping himself to the decanter of liquor on the sofa table.
"Indeed, you are," Klaus mumbled before swallowing down the entire contents in the glass he just poured. "Assuming none of you are lying through your teeth," he started as he began to pace the room, "someone else out there has the stake in their possession."
"Any ideas?" Damon pondered.
Klaus shrugged.
"Whoever it was knew about the existence of the white oak stake, and they had a pretty good idea of where to find it," Elijah suggested.
"Which is precisely why I am having trouble believing it wasn't one of you lot," Klaus groaned as he slammed his glass back down on the table. "But, if we're going to start tossing out other names here, my bet is on this hunter fellow, Connor Jordan," he said, "which means we need to find him before he finds us."
"How do you propose we do that?" Damon asked critically with crossed arms.
Klaus shrugged.
"He seems to have a knack for evading us. He's done so several times. Elijah is working on the Council," he said.
"And I'm gonna talk to my mom about tracking down any leads," she offered.
Damon, Stefan, and Elena all seemed unconvinced.
"Why don't we just round up the human citizens of Mystic Falls and threaten a mass killing if the hunter doesn't give himself up. That sounds easy enough," Damon suggested.
Klaus smirked at his idea.
"We can't deal with this impulsively," Elijah said. "If we are too reckless we could lose our chance at capturing him."
"Or if we don't act we could all end up dead," Damon retorted.
Elijah sneered at Damon
"If we accept for a moment that it was the hunter who took the white oak stake and that it was the hunter whose traps we encountered earlier today, then we can conclude that the hunter is growing bolder. Giving him a false sense of security may be the way we finally get him," Elijah pointed out.
Damon scowled at Elijah's suggestion of a careful approach.
"Elijah is right," Klaus finally said, putting Damon in his place. "And the last time I checked, you're doing things our way," he reminded Damon. "If you choose to make any scenes, our deal is off. Moreover, if I find out that one of you took the stake, I already told you how I would permanently end the sire bond," Klaus hissed as he turned to leave, making eye contact with her as he did.
Both she and Elijah followed Klaus with their eyes as he left.
"My apologies for my brother's imprudent behaviour this evening," Elijah said to them. "We'll keep you informed," he added before disappearing after Klaus.
Damon jeered at no one in particular as they heard the front door the house open and close.
"It was great to see you too. Thanks for stopping by," Damon mumbled sarcastically as he moved to the table Klaus had previously been at to pour himself a drink.
Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the impromptu stake on the carpet - a reminder of Klaus's violent behaviour towards Stefan.
"Are you okay?" she asked Stefan.
He nodded.
"Is Stefan okay?" Damon asked incredulously. "Hybrid Ken is the one who staked me in the stomach with an antique chair leg," he scowled. "I'm fine though, thanks for asking."
She scoffed at Damon before noticing the faint smirk playing on Stefan's lips. Stabbing Damon in the stomach was probably something Stefan had inwardly wanted to do for a while now.
"You know how he can be, Stefan," she said, referring to Klaus, disregarding a self-pitying Damon and a bewildered Elena.
"Psycho-murdery?" Damon interjected.
"No...vulnerable and insecure," she corrected. "You haven't exactly given him a million reasons to trust you," she added, thinking back to their attempts to kill him and then have him desiccated.
"We understand," Stefan said.
Damon's brows furrowed.
"We do?" Damon asked.
Stefan nodded.
"After all we've tried to do to Klaus in the past why wouldn't he suspect us? I mean, if you were him Damon who would you confront if the white oak stake went missing?" Stefan inquired.
Damon shrugged, conceding Stefan's point.
"I would probably confront everyone," Damon acknowledged.
"There was a time when you didn't trust Stefan," Elena spoke up.
Damon nodded reluctantly.
"And empathizing with Klaus is now over in three...two...one," Damon mused as he lifted his glass to his lips.
Stefan eyed her apologetically.
She knew this was about as much of an understanding she would get - particularly out of Damon and Elena - so she decided it was her cue to leave. Besides, the tension between Stefan, Damon, and Elena was palpable.
"I should go," she stated.
Stefan went to follow her but Elena stepped forward and obstructed his way.
She stopped and looked between Stefan and Elena a little startled.
"I'll see Caroline out," Elena offered.
She nodded politely, trying to hide her surprise as she turned for the foyer of the house.
"He listens to you," Elena said vaguely as they reached the hallway, "Klaus."
She turned around to face Elena.
"You got him to back down tonight, so thank you," Elena continued. "And thank you for convincing him to help us find the cure," she added.
"I-I..." she stammered, unsure of what to say to Elena's unusual conciliatory words.
"I know, you didn't do it for me," Elena assumed. "It still means a lot though after everything. You didn't have to convince him at all," she said. "But you did."
She nodded as she tried to discern whether Elena was being sincere or if she was simply trying to fulfill the terms of her agreement with Klaus.
"And I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but I know that neither Damon nor Stefan have the white oak stake," Elena told her.
She nodded once more.
"I know...and I think Klaus knows that too," she replied.
Elena smiled at her meekly.
"Bye, Elena," she said simply before leaving.
Outside she found Elijah waiting for her, leaning against the brick of the porch as he stared across the front lawn and into the darkness.
It was raining faintly.
"Elena sounded like she was making an effort," Elijah noted as he turned around to greet her.
"I guess," she agreed reluctantly. "You didn't have to wait for me," she said as they began to walk down the driveway.
Elijah shrugged as he removed his jacket and offered it to her to shield herself from the barely falling rain. She accepted it with a thank you.
"Waiting was of no inconvenience. Niklaus requested that I escort you back," he informed her.
She arched one of her eyebrows incredulously, both annoyed by the notion that she needed a chaperone and by the fact that Klaus had selected someone other than himself.
"And Klaus could not accompany me himself?" she wondered.
Elijah clasped his hands behind his back.
"As you saw, he's in one of his infamous moods. He's better when he's had some space...some time to himself, as you know," Elijah said.
She nodded, fully aware of what Klaus's moods could be like. It wasn't something she wanted to be around, so she supposed he did her a service. As Elijah said, he would be better when he had time to calm down.
"Try not to take it personally," Elijah said.
"I'm learning not to," she answered.
"I was referring more to my brother's display of mistrust this evening towards you, towards me and everyone else," Elijah clarified.
"I'm trying not to," she said.
"You have to understand the kind of life Niklaus has led for the past millennium," Elijah started. "His early life was marked by the betrayal of our father. He himself was the product of our mother's betrayal. His life as a vampire has been scarred by deceit from those who have attempted to undermine him. He's perceived deception in each of his siblings' actions - even where there was none - including my own. Our mother wanted us dead. It is in his nature to suspect duplicity. He expects that eventually each one of us will let him down," Elijah explained.
She sighed.
"That's tragic," she said.
"Indeed, it is. Trust is not a quality Niklaus possesses readily. His first instinct is to second guess everyone, even you...even me. I do not foresee things ever being any different. He questions us because he values our loyalty most. Our deception would be the ultimate betrayal," Elijah continued. "Deep down he wants to believe that we would never double-cross him - and a part of him truly does - but it's what he fears most. His insecurity is only exacerbated by this situation with the hunter."
"I would never betray him. The last thing I want to do is hurt him," she confessed.
Elijah nodded.
"Niklaus prizes actions over words. If you stand by him despite his flaws he will come to believe your intent all the more," Elijah informed her. "The sacrifices you have made already are not lost on Niklaus."
"Thank you," she said, genuinely appreciating Elijah's reassurance.
"As for me, I'm not sure I'll ever regain my brother's complete trust," Elijah admitted with a regretful sigh.
She frowned as she dwelled on that prospect.
"He obviously trusts you with me," she offered.
Elijah smiled appreciatively before looking off into the night.
"It has to do with Katherine, doesn't it?" she assumed aloud as Elijah confirmed her suspicion.
"Yes, Katerina," Elijah said. "He thought I had intended for her to run. I surmise a part of him still believes that."
She shook her head.
"I don't think he does," she told him.
Elijah looked at her curiously.
"What makes you so certain?" he inquired.
She shrugged with a faint smile.
"Just something he said last night," she offered cryptically.
"He discusses Katerina with you?" Elijah asked surprised.
"That was the first time," she admitted. "He understands why you wanted to try and save her along with breaking his curse," she clarified.
Elijah's ears perked up and he seemed even more intrigued.
"Because he loves you," Elijah concluded under his breath, finishing her thought for her.
She nodded.
"And because of that, he truly understands what motivated you then," she added.
"Because I love...loved her," Elijah finished.
They walked silently for a few moments.
"Niklaus professed his love for you?" he asked.
"He did," she said softly.
A grin appeared on Elijah's face.
"Perhaps he has more faith in you than you know," Elijah inferred, "if he's entrusted you with his heart."
She and Elijah used their vampire speed the rest of the way back to the house after another one of their familial heart to hearts that she had become so fond of.
It had crossed her mind once or twice to ask Elijah what his plans were once it was time for her and Klaus to leave Mystic Falls. She didn't expect him to tag along with them. Surely he had his own immortal life to live, but the impending estrangement from him unnerved her. On a basic level she would miss him as anyone would miss a good friend or sibling. Increasingly though, she had come to rely on Elijah for support when it came to Klaus. He was the only one who seemed to have a keen grasp at all whatsoever on Klaus. She and Klaus had never really been alone together for more than a couple of hours. Would she be able to handle his complexity on her own? Would he be able to handle her?
Of course, she wouldn't be entirely alone. Thanks to modern technology she could keep in contact with Elijah and everyone else she thought, as she climbed the stairs to Klaus's room with a glass of blood in hand.
Rebekah stopped her in the hall before she entered the bedroom to inquire about Klaus's whereabouts and their mission to the Salvatore boarding house. She only gave her a brief summary, still annoyed by how Rebekah chose to express her anger over being singled out by Klaus earlier.
Klaus had not returned home yet despite having left the Salvatores' before she and Elijah had.
His absence concerned her, but she tried to concentrate on what Elijah said about him needing space. Still, the white oak stake was out there somewhere, and while Klaus was obviously capable of taking care of himself that thought worried her.
She had already gone through grieving his death once. She didn't want to mourn for him again. She didn't believe his death was something she could survive at this point. She really didn't have to worry about that though anyways, because she knew wouldn't survive it. Eventually, after all the vampires who descended from his bloodline before her followed in his footsteps and ceased to live, she would ultimately succumb to her own death. Strangely, she took comfort in that. Klaus had become her future and without him she had nothing. She would rather meet him in death than roam alone for centuries.
In lieu of Klaus's absence, she took the time to call her mother and inform her of the latest turn of events. She also spent time on homework she needed to catch up on - including the homework Klaus had assigned.
It was just past eleven o'clock when she decided to get ready for bed. The previous night's activities coupled with the lack of sleep influenced her choice.
She wanted to wait up for Klaus but knew trying to sleep instead was the better option. She texted him a goodnight message before she opted to get ready for bed. She couldn't let her worry for him consume her.
Assuming he wouldn't mind, she slipped into one of his t-shirts - oversized for her body - for her pyjamas and the headed for the bathroom to wash up and brush her teeth.
When she emerged from the bathroom she was both relieved and surprised to find Klaus sitting on the bed.
He looked up at her as she stared back at him from the corridor.
"Hey," she said faintly, trying to ignore the scent of fresh blood that had entered the room with him, along with the questionable red droplets on his t-shirt.
Her first instinct was to question where he had been and what he had been doing, but she decided to leave it be. That was what trust was. She trusted him. Her second instinct was to call him out for his earlier behaviour, but her talk with Elijah kept her lips sealed on the issue.
"I hope you don't mind, but I borrowed one of your shirts," she said laughingly, hoping to lighten the air between them as she climbed onto the bed behind him.
"Its fine," he murmured as he removed his cell phone from his jacket pocket and placed it on the nightstand.
That prompted her to check her own phone. He had actually responded to her text from earlier, with an assurance that he was on his way back. She smiled inwardly at the gesture.
"Sorry I missed your message, I was probably getting ready for bed," she said.
He nodded.
She played awkwardly with her phone for a few seconds that felt like minutes before deciding to take some initiative.
Rising onto her knees, she rested directly behind him, pulling back on the collar of his jacket to remove it for him.
Being this close to him she inhaled further the scent of blood, but also the outdoors; he smelled like trees and rain. Hence why his hair was damp, she thought.
Responsive to her actions, he pulled his arms from the sleeves of his jacket with a sigh.
"It was wrong of me to have accused you earlier," he finally spoke as he dropped his jacket to the floor.
Knowing he was working himself up to say more, she kept quiet as she lifted the hem of his stained t-shirt over his stomach, chest, and head.
He slid it off his arms and placed it in the same pile as his jacket.
"In my anger I jumped to conclusions. I overreacted," he explained.
She ran her hands up the bare skin of his back tenderly before draping her arms over his shoulders as she embraced him from behind.
He seemed to relax against her as she kissed his neck gingerly before resting her chin there in place of her lips.
"I would never hurt you," she assured him simply. "I love you, Nik," she whispered.
The both of them tensed at the name she had let slip. It wasn't intentional on her part; his name had just escaped her lips that way.
"I know," he said, his body resuming its languid posture.
"Do you?" she asked meekly, only hoping to open up a dialogue and not an argument.
He swallowed hard.
"I trust that more than anything else," he admitted.
It wasn't an absolute vote of confidence in her on his part, but it was something; and something was better than nothing coming from him, particularly in this regard. His confession was significant to her. It meant something to her. With time, she would continue to prove her loyalty so that he would come to trust in her completely.
She pulled back a little to rub her hands against his shoulders.
He moaned quietly under his breath in appreciation.
"I needed to clear my head tonight. I needed to hunt; to feed," he revealed to her.
His words alarmed her, but she remained calm, as she kneaded his skin with her hands.
"I know," she sighed, focusing on the fact that he had even decided to tell her about it in the first place.
"I didn't slaughter anyone if that's what you're worried about," he mused softly.
"I trust you," she said definitively.
She pressed her knuckles under his shoulder blades eliciting from him a pleasant groan.
For a while his head leaned back against her as she rubbed his lower back before he slouched forwards with a drawn out breath.
"It's just the Council, the hunter, and now the stake," he listed.
Through his complaint she was startled to feel his stress and to hear a vulnerable tone to his voice. He sounded worried.
She chewed anxiously on her lip as she pulled him back closer to her once more. She wound her fingers in the curls of his hair against his neck.
"We don't have to stay," she told him, kissing the skin behind his ear. "We can leave."
He shook his head slowly.
"We can't let this go; not now," he sighed.
"So then we don't. We'll stay here, we'll find the hunter and the stake, get the cure, and be done with it," she said confidently.
He chuckled, causing those infamous dimples to appear on his cheeks.
"You make it sound so easy," he said.
She shrugged.
"I prefer to be optimistic," she explained as she brushed her lips against the stubble on his cheek. "Everything is going to be fine."
"I don't want to lose you," he relented, repeating a fear he had expressed to her before.
She smiled against his skin.
"You won't," she said soothingly.
He released another frustrated sigh as the weight of things seemed to grow heavier on his shoulders despite her efforts to console him.
"We need to find this hunter," he said determinedly.
He felt ready to stand up, but she held him in place.
"Not tonight," she said as she wrapped an arm around securely around his waist. "Stay."
She fluttered her lips along his jaw and back under his ear while her free hand continued to play in his hair.
"You promised me, remember?" she whispered before sucking playfully on his earlobe. "Just relax."
Her lips soon found their way from his neck to his shoulder, where she nibbled and licked at his skin there in wanting as her fingernails lightly skimmed down his spine.
She could feel the tension that had consumed him begin to subside, granting him a reprieve, while her lips continued their path to his right shoulder.
His breathing slowed as he focused his concentration on her, and immersed himself in the feeling of her lips and hands, rather than the thoughts in his mind about the hunter that had been plaguing him.
Once her lips had found their way to his other ear, she sucked in a breath.
"Make love to me," she said to him lowly.