Developmental Biology

It had taken him longer to warm up to Freya that he'd ever admit. The blow of finding out about Ansel had still been fresh on his mind and in his heart. When a surprise older sister had arrived, he had naturally chosen to ignore her. For months, deleting her emails and trashing her letters. It was only when her final overture came that he relented. An offer to meet in public. She was in New Orleans for research and told him she'd wait for him at a bar. If he showed, they could talk and if he refused then she'd leave him alone forever.

She was close and his curiosity high. It was too tempting to pass up and it delighted him that he might finally know something that not even all-knowing Elijah did. So, he went.

And was entirely astonished to find out how much they had in common.

She was a celebrated author and he a new, hot commodity on the art scene. They could bond over the creative process in ways he couldn't with his other siblings. As well as the fame they had garnered with their work. And they vented over the innate feeling that their parents didn't want them. Her because she was given up for adoption and him because Mikael made it painfully clear to him every day of his miserable life. A riddle only solved once he found out about his true parentage.

Their mother had certainly been busy, starting little fires all over the place.

They'd kept in touch and in time she'd replaced the intimacy he had shared with Elijah before their fall out. And because his inner circle rarely ever grew, her admittance was cherished.

"Dangerous territory, Klaus." Their bloody marys perspire on the table between them. She's grown to know him a little too well. Knowledge and judgement of him in her raised brow. "Crushing on your student like that."

"Please Freya. I will admit that I may be… interested in her. Hardly anything as embarrassing as a school yard crush." He takes a bite of his omelet, contemplating her words. Letting his heart beat steady before addressing them again. "And what danger? I'm not bound by the same constraints as a real professor. I'm at the school to fulfill a promise and bring in more money to their coffers. It's not as though I'm meant to take any of this seriously."

"Dangerous for your reputation." Her finger raps against the side of her coffee mug, punctuating her concerns.

"Which is already tarnished." Crowds pass them on the street. He glances out at them occasionally. New York City cared little for celebrity. His distraction spurred by an irrational part of him worried that she's uptown with her friends. Might see him out with Freya and make assumptions. Every flash of dark hair forms a pit in his stomach. "Careful, dear sister. You are beginning to sound like our brother."

"A great subject change!" Excitement sends her bangs flying out of her face as she leans forward. "Speaking of siblings, when exactly are you planning to make introductions?" Her hands fly in the air, landing on his and giving them a squeeze.

Another excuse and a promise to throw a grand dinner as a way to apologize for prolonging their reunion. Her return smile is tight. He can see her patience wearing thin. "Next time you're in town for your book promotion. I'll work through my issues with Elijah by then."

"I'll hold you to it, Klaus."

They finish their brunch and part ways with a hug that he's getting better at giving. He spends the rest of his day walking city streets. Breathing through the bustle and letting it center him before another week.

Time had never meant much to him. But the weekends now were torture. Empty time between his solitude and the next time he could see her. His initial interest in Elena had blossomed in the nutrient rich soil of the isolation Elijah insisted on.

Mondays now held a promise they never had before.

Portraits.

Their assignment for the next couple of weeks. To look into the eyes of their classmates and get an estimate of their souls. Some nonsense like that. Elena shifts uneasily in her seat as the rest of the room pairs off. With Tyler around, she hadn't bothered even introducing herself to anyone. Hadn't seem necessary. Hadn't ever really seemed necessary when she had her core group established from birth.

She was friendly with everyone but kept most people at a distance. It was biting her in the ass now as she tries to make eye contact with people disinterested in even looking her way.

Fifteen minutes in and he still hasn't arrived. Her phone buzzes in her purse and she leans over the table to peak at the screen flashing.

E- Sorry! Practice ran late. I'll make it up to you! Don't let him get to you. -T

She remains hunched over like she could disappear under the table. Into a different world and no one would noticed she'd gone.

"You seem to be without a partner, Ms. Gilbert." She jumps, nearly knocking her head against the table. She can tell from his voice that he's hovering above her. Probably smirking. She can see it in her head before she ever looks at him.

"Tyler isn't here."

"Yes, I had made that assumption based on the lack of him in this seat." She brings her shoulders to square off against him and unexpectedly, he sits down in Tyler's spot.

"What are you doing?" She hates how unnerved she sounds around him. With Tyler, it was easy to make jokes. Be impressive with someone else next to her. The library conversation had thrown her off. Was he bullying her or teasing her and what was the difference? She looks around and realizes that no one else is looking at her.

No one, except him.

"Sitting for you, Ms. Gilbert." He holds his arms out, benevolent like he's doing her a favor and not torturing her with his presence. "There's no point in wasting an entire day waiting for your friend."

"I'm fine."

"Nonsense. Draw me." Most of the other students have already begun. None of them look at their partner's as intensely as he does with her now. Most of them choosing side profiles to avoid the awkward extended eye contact. Not him. His eyes bore into her. Challenging her. She vows not to let him break her.

"Like this?" She nods her head toward him and then around to everyone else.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Teasing now, she decides. Worse than bullying. She wouldn't be as confused. But this way, his energy shifts as soon as she's gotten a measure of it and suddenly she's too aggressive. If it's a dance, she's forgotten her shoes. But she's always been a quick study.

"No." It's the last word she speaks to him all class.

What she doesn't say gets passed between them over the next hour, all her annoyance and frustration. She dissects his face to pieces like a manic surgeon. His square jaw and the hard edges around his orbital bones. She thinks of him like a medical cadaver. Eye cheekbones nothing more than a skeletal structure. Dimples only a fault in his fetal development when his jaw didn't fuse together right. She wonders what kind of explanation she could find in her textbooks for his heavy lower lip.

If their fullness is any indicator for how soft they might be. The thought is intrusive. She stamps it down before it can take root.

"It's time, Ms. Gilbert." His voice, low and husky, startles her out of her thoughts. Like being near him was intoxicating enough to forget her surroundings. She'll never confess that to Caroline. She'll relish too much in it. Besides, it was probably only because she hasn't actually looked into a man's eyes this long since Stefan.

She's shaken only because it was more intimate than she'd allowed from any of her one night stands.

Still, she can't help but watch him stand up and walk away. Reasoning that it's because she just spent an hour staring at him. Her eyes needed to refocus. All the time spent sketching out his features as best as she could manage. They're odd. Floating on the paper. Clear that her focus has been narrow with how exact her sketches were yet not quiet connecting to each other.

As soon as he dismisses them, she bolts.

It's easy to find her.

Her hair frantically bouncing behind her. Her gait quick and anxious. When she joins her friends in the green space, he relaxes on a nearby bench. Facing away from them, but near enough to steal a few glances.

A luxury he indulges in more than he should. How she hasn't caught him admiring her is beyond him.

She takes a spot next to the attractive blonde, eventually resting her head in her lap. He assumes it must be the best friend with the way she watches Tyler throwing a football with his friends. A relief to find out even if it was embarrassing to ask.

But he'd held her attention for more than an hour and for that he was triumphant. She'd been annoyed at first, but that had quickly dissipated into an intoxicating curiosity. The way she'd assessed him, pulled him apart to put him back together again. It was enough. For now. He'd stolen peaks at her work, something that would have bothered him had she done the same. It was clinical, precise with no real depth or understanding.

Except his lips.

Those she spent the most time sketching out. Considering with a depth that told him more than she ever could. The way they'd opened slightly on the page looked nearly sensual even in her unpracticed hand. He'd remember that for the future.

Unfortunately, the next week, Tyler arrives on time.

It was silly, to think that if he had skipped again that he'd get the uninterrupted time and excuse to stare at Elena. Draw her in a way that might show his interest. Drop hints of his growing obsession without words. Declarations could frighten but art never could.

Instead, he is forced to let Tyler enjoy his pleasure. Jealous for certain, but more because of how easily she smiles around the boy. As readily as she glares at him. Passion, even channeled as anger, was better than apathy he reasons.

The boy has a good eye. He's annoyed to even think it let alone say it aloud.

"Thank you, sir." Tyler tries to hide his proud grin, but Klaus sees it. Hurts really. Reminds him of how desperately he had once wished for his own father's approval. Like sees like and all that.

"You did her justice. I can see the pride behind her eyes." Just as her nose wrinkles and her mouth drops, he turns around to address the entire class. Pleased to have elicited a reaction and just as quickly to dismiss her. "I've decided on your mid-term. A multi-media project that best represents you."

He walks back to his desk, waving the dismissal over his shoulder. "Is that all you're giving us? What are the details? The constraints? What will we be graded on specifically?" He smirks at the sound of her voice before he turns back to face them with a neutral expression. Everywhere except his eyes.

"Do you need to be bound," he pauses for a half second, "To such limitations? Dream big, Ms. Gilbert. Go wild."

Even from across the room, he can see the flush creep across her neck. She's outraged, but there's more to it now even if she doesn't realize it. He's getting to her.

And he's loving the game.

His walk back to his building is elated, steps practically bouncy. Indulges in the fluttering feeling he's grown addicted to anytime she's near. It's the defiance in her chin. Unlike everyone else, she wants nothing from him. Quite the opposite and like a moth to a flame, he's drawn to her disdain.

When he arrives home, Elijah paces the steps in front of the building. Waiting to pounce.

"Couldn't make it up to my place this time?" His mood broken, deflated by the argument sure to ensue.

"No. Shockingly, it seems your doorman has a level of loyalty that is both admirable and bothersome." Elijah adjusts the lapels of his suit, his composure ruffled by his inability to negotiate his way upstairs.

"Tony is a good man." In his jeans and typical long-sleeve shirt, he's so plain next to Elijah. But he's secure, preferring to be spectacular in other ways. "You seem surprised that I know his name. Would it shock you to know that I've had his family over for dinner?"

"That's what I'm here for, Niklaus." He hates hearing that name. Thinks of Mikael every time.

"What? To have dinner with Tony?" He tries to deflect, to walk past his brother and to the safety of his apartment, but Elijah steps in front of his escape.

"No. With you." The look that passes between them keeps both brothers frozen in place. A yearning for sincerity. A desperation to close the yawning maw that had opened between them after Tatia made her choice. And then Elijah walks it back, like they've both done the last few years. "To see how you've settled into this role with the university. To check in on your progress. See if you had any breakthroughs on what you'd like to show. Or plan to show."

"To prove to your successful wife that you too can be a success." His tone is bitter until it turns sour. "Taking on the impossible and managing me?"

"This is ridiculous. I thought we'd grown past this."

"Have we?" As much as they both might have wished that silence could manage to heal their relationship, it hadn't. Pretending that the past was a monster that couldn't hurt them had done nothing but quiet the rage dwelling inside.

"I didn't come here to fight."

"No, you came here to try to do that big brother thing you always try to do despite Finn's very real existence and occupation in that role." Standing in the street staring at Elijah felt like they had the power to rush winter ahead of schedule.

"Why must you make everything difficult for me?" He sounds so tired now, Klaus wants to ask about Tatia. If things are still going well. Wants to but doesn't. Isn't ready for the answer either way.

"Because it's entirely too easy and I enjoy it." He sounds like Kol and the thought annoys him enough to relent. "Fine. No to dinner, but I'll walk the block with you. Let you ask your questions."

He gets the disappointment out of the way in the first five minutes. Klaus has no idea what to work on for the show. What is worthy enough to follow up his initial success. He promises to re-commit his efforts. After the embarrassment passes, they speak about their siblings. Finn moved Esther in with his family, though Sage wasn't particularly pleased. Klaus's sharp laughter startles Elijah who eventually joins him. Rebekah's partying in Ithaca when she should be studying. They shrug, knowing she'll get it out of her system soon enough. Hoping she doesn't wind up like Kol. Off the grid, resurfacing only when he needed cash to go on his next adventure.

It very nearly feels normal until he slips up and mentions Elena.

"Teaching has actually been fun. Mostly." His thumb dangles from his belt loop, a holdover from his childhood when he was nervous to approach Mikael. "There's a woman in my class who challenges me at every turn. Even as friendly as I am." He plays it like a joke, but Elijah has known him too long for that.

"Niklaus." With that one word, the easiness between them breaks again. He sounds too much like their father. "I'm still dealing with the fallout of New Orleans. Playboy Artist Seduces Court Mandated Therapist was not easy to bury. Even I have doubts in my ability to keep the conversation on your art should you sleep with a student."

"I never said-"

"Just this once, don't do anything impulsive. Teach. Come home. Work. Repeat. For the year, until you're ready for the next gallery opening." He's laying it out for him, asking him to put the shackles on like they aren't restraints. Like he's a boy in trouble and not a man with his own life.

"You sound dramatic. I'm only a guest professor. And it isn't as if art were her major. Hardly scandalous." If mentioning a woman could make Elijah spiral like this, he'd hate for him to ever meet Elena.

"How do you know her major?"

"I saw her studying for the MCAT. I presume pre-med." His tongue presses against the back of his teeth. To keep from saying anything else or to hold the memories back. Both. It's all too specific. His eyes flit to avoid focusing on anything for too long.

"Well, then." There's a relief in Elijah's voice that too closely resembles a laugh. "I have nothing to worry about there. Sounds like she's already too good for you."

Klaus stops on the sidewalk, letting Elijah take several steps ahead before he recognizes that he's lost his companion. All the pressure he's felt recently. The favoritism from Mikael and Esther's lies. The way Elijah has walked around like he's already the head of their family even with Finn. It all bubbles to the surface. "Wise, mature Elijah. The brother who can do no wrong. The brother who knows everything. What I should do with my days and how I should conduct myself. All down to whether or not some woman he's not even met is too good for me."

"Niklaus. I hadn't meant—" He tries to retract, but it's too late.

"To say that aloud. I know. We all make mistakes." Venom on his tongue. "Including our parents."

"Is this about Mikael again? You're still my brother. I don't care about any of that."

"Not just him. Esther too. Did you know they put our sister up for adoption?" He's always been vicious when protecting a broken heart. In the morning, he'll regret telling Elijah this way. Knowing that it will hurt Freya more than anyone else. "She reached out. To me."

"You're being lied to." Klaus was the one who could shoulder the burden of their lies, but not the rest of the family. He was the one expected to get over it, but as soon as the lies touched the rest of them, Elijah panics. "Manipulated by a charlatan who wants a chance at your money."

"Oh no, Elijah. You see. Freya is extraordinarily talented and successful in her own right without needing to leech from anyone else. A trait we both share." He counts the siblings on his fingers, illustrating for his big brother. "Let's see…an older brother and an older sister. I guess that makes you a middle child too. Just like me. I wonder what other secrets Mikael and Esther have been keeping from us. Perhaps you aren't his son either? What a scandal."

"Mother doesn't need this right now. She's already fragile."

"And I no longer need your company or your opinions. I'll keep you updated of my progress, but I don't want to see you again. Not unless I call for you. You represent my best interests in business only."

The bond between them had been held together by the hope that one day they could resolve the tension. A fraying string that Klaus slashed through before turning his back on his brother, letting the night swallow him as he chokes down the feeling that he'll never be enough.

Best represents me. What does that even mean? How do I show who I am? Who am I? Every time I think about it the only word I can come up with is – trying. That's not a way to describe a person. "She tries."

A self-deprecating laugh is the only sound in her brownstone. She'd always had a clear role. Daughter who would follow in her father's footsteps. The golden child. Diligent best friend. Loyal girlfriend. Until recently, she'd been able to define herself so securely by those roles.

And it never stops. Trying to finish the bulk of my courses before next semester so I can try to study so I can try to get into med school to try to be a doctor and…then what? Keep trying forever.

The navy-blue walls are nearly black in the midnight light. Ice clicks against her glass as she takes another sip, her head feeling lighter and lighter. Drinking while trying to figure out who she is outside the context of her relationships.

I'm tired.

She scribbles again, searching for something more profound than that statement. Hoping she can be more profound.

What would happen if I stopped trying?

The question glares at her. Demanding to be answered. She closes the journal instead, leaving it on the side table next to her comfy chair. She's had trouble sleeping the past few nights. The irony that she's lost sleep thinking about his words is wasted on her.

Not knowing that across the bridge, he's thinking about her too.

A/N: This story keeps getting away from me. Klaus especially has so much that comes up that I need to explain that I wasn't ready for. What did he do in New Orleans? What happened with Ansel or Mikael and why does he have a court ordered therapist? Me thinking that Elena's story was going to be dramatic. I mean it still is, but Klaus literally said no ma'am, I AM the drama.