Hello, everyone! Thank you for continue reading this far! I hope you have been enjoying Klaus and Raelyn story since the beginning. Looking at the reviews, a number of you guys were quite shocked by Klaus' past rough life. Believe it or not, that's not all that there is to his story!

Read on to find out!

Enjoy!

A jab, a hook, an upper cut. Dodge, tackle, then an elbow jab. Sprung back to his feet, rinse and repeat.

Klaus stopped after the burning feeling in his muscles was too much to be ignored. He dropped to the floor and stared blankly at the ceiling. He knew that he was way slower, and possibly weaker than the Alpha he had been in his prime.

At this rate, Craig would…

Truth to be told, if Craig had been here to finish him off, he would have taken it as a favor. But, if Craig truly made good of his words… it wasn't his life he was after.

I cannot let him know about her. And she, too… at all cost, she can never know.

He didn't know how long he had been walking. He didn't know how far he had walked. He didn't even know where he was walking to. All he knew was that Nik was dead, and dead because of him. All that he could see was Nik's hollow stare at the space and pale skin.

This was not the first time he encountered a corpse; this was not the first time someone he knew met their end in a gang fight, but Nik's was one death too many for him.

The last of his energy spent, Klaus simply dropped to the ground. He struggled to roll over his body, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face in the midst of the pain from all of his injuries.

Would his parents be proud of him?

Maybe he should have written to Iris and Mistel—he had never done so ever since they were taken by their distant relative. He hoped they were doing well.

Klaus let out a long breath. His eyelids began to feel so heavy. He could hear someone's voice in the distance.

"…oh my God, he's still breathing!"

Perhaps, not for too long… he thought.

Iris let him know, through a small note, that until this morning, she had been staying at Raelyn's farm under the pretense of research for her new story.

Everything is fine over there. I wish you would not isolate yourself too much and actually pay her a visit. Now that things had turned the way they are, I feel that it is only a matter of time she learned the truth, and I believe that it would be better if she learned it from you yourself rather than other sources.

What do you have to lose, Niklaus Adler?

Klaus folded the note and put it away on his desk. For all of the stories they had exchanged when they were reunited, it occurred to him that he had never told her one particular story, because her name brought such bitterness in him…

She stretched out her hand. "Alycia Weatherby, you can call me Allie."

He looked around. This place was certainly foreign to him. "Klaus… where am I?"

She took her hand back gingerly. "Uh… my house? I found you lying on the ground unconscious, so I brought you here."

"Ah, I see… I'm sorry."

"Where do you live? I don't think I've seen you around."

Klaus averted his gaze. Thankfully, she did not press the matter further. "You can rest here until you recover and you can… continue your journey."

That evening, he met Mr. Weatherby, who had returned from his long travel. Much to his surprise, the patriarch of the house was not offended to find a male stranger in his house. Instead, he invited him to dinner. Just like his daughter, he did not press on matters that Klaus did not wish to answer and reiterated the invitation to recuperate at their place. When Klaus refused but unable to give them an answer as to where he would stay the meantime, the invitation turned into something they insisted upon him.

Resolving not to be dead weight, Klaus began to help out in the household. There was no other young man in the house, so they appreciated his help. One day, when he was cleaning the hallway, he noticed that the door to Mr. Weatherby's study was slightly ajar. He could also hear low crackling noise coming from inside the room and decided to take a peek. The old man was standing in the midst of complicated arrangement of glass tools and liquids of various colors. Klaus watched as the color began to change when he mixed two liquids together. It was like magic.

"Is that you, Klaus?"

Startled, Klaus took a step back. However, the old man laughed and walked over to the door and opened it. "Are you interested to see what I'm doing? Come on in."

Klaus nodded, and before he knew it, he was learning what Mr. Weatherby's trade as a biochemist together. The old man introduced him to various herbs and roots that could be used for medicinal purposes, as well as some simple concoctions that could come in handy.

Allie had also been learning under her father and was more than happy to help Klaus in catching up. They spent their free time by studying together, if not doing some housework. It was her who noticed Klaus' acute sense of smell, and suggested that perhaps Klaus would be more suited to be a perfumer. Mr. Weatherby told him that he happened to have an old friend, a perfumer by trade, who was looking for an apprentice. Klaus immediately agreed to be sent away.

Allie helped to prepare his transfer, and he braved himself to ask her out for a walk. She happily agreed.

"Allie, I cannot thank you enough for what you and your father had done for me."

"To think that it all began with me finding you dying on the street…" Allie mused. "I am glad you decided to stay with us, although now that you are moving, I will be lonely again."

Klaus took a deep breath and mustered up his courage. "I… I will write to you, if that alleviates your loneliness. And I will visit as soon and often as I can."

"Klaus…"

"I… one day, after I have become a proper man, I… will you have me?"

He could see her cheeks began to flush red. He counted inwardly, wishing that she would give an answer and not leave him hanging.

He thought he couldn't be happier when he saw her face beamed into a smile and nodded. "Yes, I will."

They continued their walk, now hand in hand. Allie assured him that her father would surely approve of him, and they began planning for the future, their future together. When they reached the marketplace, they noticed a commotion near one of the stalls.

"I wonder what happens there."

Klaus began to feel uneasy. "Allie, stay here, I will be back soon."

She nodded and he went closer to the crowd. Apparently, some street thug was harassing one of the vendors but no one dared to intervene. Without further thought, Klaus jumped straight between them and subdued the harasser.

However, he did not expect that someone else would jump into the conflict and attacked him instead. Klaus immediately jumped back, but his sleeve was torn in the process, revealing his right arm for the first time ever since he had been in this town. Much to his surprise, those thugs froze in their place when they saw his arm.

"This… cannot be! You're the Alpha, right?!"

The Alpha, a name he had not heard for so long and did not expect to hear. Especially now, when he thought he could turn over a new leaf.

Realizing who they were up against, the thugs scampered away in fear. Receiving the merchant thanks absent-mindedly, his thoughts wandered to Allie. He hoped that she stayed still where she was and did not hear the name that was just being said. The crowd began to disperse, but one figure remained.

"The Alpha… what is that? Who are you, really?"

Left with no choice, Klaus told her his story. She said nothing then. He moved two days later, and he made good of his words of sending her a letter. There was never a reply.

Just as he completed his apprenticeship, he heard that she had moved away and was no longer Allie Weatherby.

Over the course of his recollection, Klaus had navigated himself to change his clothes to a more proper attire and walked outside of his house. He actually welcomed the chill. He decided to sit down on a nearby bench, staring the empty playground.

Sometimes, Klaus wondered what would have happened if he had ignored the commotion and stayed with Allie. Maybe if she had not found out in such manner, she would have stayed. Then again, he was at fault too, asking for her love while keeping a part of him in the dark from her. He was too naïve back then, thinking that his past would not matter.

He was such as a fool.

The first few months were hard, she would not leave his thoughts. But as months turned into years, memories of her would only resurface at rare moments, although it was still as vivid. Every time it happened, he consoled himself by keep telling himself that, at the very least, that one afternoon, he knew how it felt to have a happy dream.

"…Mr. Klaus?"

Klaus turned with a slight jerk. Sure enough, Raelyn was standing behind him. He immediately scanned their surroundings. Except for a few visitors, hers was the only face he could see.

"Raelyn, I did not expect to see you today."

The young woman nodded slowly. "Miss Iris told me… you have been very busy with work, so you have not been out often. She forgot her scarf this morning, so I thought… I might drop by." She reached into her basket and took out a black takeaway bowl with a transparent plastic cover. From where he was, he knew what it was: bouillabaisse. "I think you might need to heat it first."

Klaus was so touched by her kindness that for that moment, he forgot that he wanted and was supposed not to see her. In that moment, what mattered to him was her, him, and that bowl of cold bouillabaisse.

"Thank you, Raelyn, truly…"

He could see the corners of her lips turned up slightly as her cheeks were dusted in rosy color.

Just for a moment, Klaus is reminded how Raelyn cares for him. And yes, it is still in the present tense

So, for fangirlasfxck, they might seem distant after the separation and what-not, but I would not really say that the feelings are gone, y'know? Sometimes, the apparent coldness is to hide something beneath...

In any case, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Thanks for reading! Rate and review ^^