Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Twilight or the Vampire Diaries. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and LJ Smith. I do own the original characters created for this storyline. Please support the official release.
Writer's Notes: Thank you honeyimhom, Micca, Triinityz, Goddess, Moondancer, Des (*hugs*), asia, and lelesnow for your reviews! Bella has been through so much. I know this story I have broken Bella down so much, but now we get to see her rise. This was one of my favorite chapters to write and I hope you all see why soon. *smiles* Thank you everyone for so much support! I couldn't do any of this without all of you! I know I say that all the time, but it is so true! I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I know I am! (Currently designing a board game with my daughter so that has been fun) As always, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review!
Klaus was calmed by the time Elijah and Bella returned. He couldn't feel the hybrid anymore and he wondered if it was Bella's touch that spurred the wolf inside him. He put a shirt on too and poured himself some bourbon. He looked up at his brother and Bella when they walked into the parlor, raising his glass to his lips. Elijah had Bella's hand in his. He frowned, setting his glass down.
"Bella…"
"I'm okay." Bella said with a nod. She was so confused right now that she wasn't sure what she should be feeling, but she was still standing. She wasn't physically hurt and that was better than anything she could ask for at this point in her life.
"Niklaus, we have made a discovery." Elijah said, placing himself in front of Bella. He was on his guard, what he was about to say would certainly make Klaus angry. "When I kissed Bella…"
"You what!" Klaus went to instant anger in this moment.
"Niklaus calm down." Elijah said, raising a hand up in a calming nature. "I have found my vampire mate."
That was what it took for Klaus to flash in front of his brother, staring at him menacingly. "You better be joking." Klaus growled.
Elijah didn't flinch or yield to Klaus. He knew that Klaus was stronger on a technicality and he had always followed Klaus, through the centuries, obeying everything he said because there was no cause for him to take any action other than following him. But now, Bella appeared and he was confused and she was confused and Klaus was surely confused too. "I am not. Klaus listen to reason."
"You've put your hands on my imprint and-"
Bella pushed past Elijah and put a hand on both of their chests and pushed at them. It was like pushing against hardstone, but Elijah did take a step back. "Enough!" Bella managed to squeak out.
Klaus blinked, feeling his anger starting to simmer down, but he was still angry nonetheless. He looked at Bella, trying to hide the anger inside, but he wasn't sure he was doing a good job at it.
Bella saw how angry Klaus was and she wanted to flinch away, but she found her voice again. "You are brothers. I am not worth this."
"You are." Elijah and Klaus said at the same time.
Bella teared up. "I don't know either of you well. You don't know me that well, but somehow we ended up in a triangle. I can't handle it if you two try to tear each other apart." She said, her voice breaking a little.
That is what did it. That is what undid Klaus. His gaze softened. "Bella…"He murmured.
"So what if I'm your imprint. I clearly scare you or… or… or something and Elijah, he's…."Bella didn't know what word she was looking for, but she was feeling overwhelmed.
"She wants us to get along Niklaus and I believe we can. I am confused, like you, what all of this means. How is it that I have found a vampire mate in someone not a vampire?" Elijah stated. "How is it you have imprinted, yet your wolf has been trapped for centuries?"
Klaus was silent a moment. "When you kiss me Bella… my curse… it shatters. My hybrid emerges. I could never harm you and I promised you that I would never harm you. I was scared of myself." He explained gently. "I want you to know that I would never imagine ever harming you."
Bella nodded and looked at Elijah. Elijah knew the darker part of what happened to her. What Edward had done to her. She looked back at Klaus. "I don't know what any of this means. Hybrid… mates… imprints, but I do know this. I am fragile. I get that. I… I-I know how delicate I am because I have been abused and misused. I have been enslaved to the confines of a cold vampire and I lost every part of myself. I withered away to nothing. Here in Mystic Falls… I'm becoming someone again, and I… I can't stand it if the feelings that I'm feeling… gets stamped out because of misunderstandings."
Klaus shook his head. "Bella I-"
Bella pulled at her shirt, ripping it off. "Look. Klaus… look at me."
Klaus's eyes raked over her body. She stood shirtless in front of him and Elijah and he saw the white crescent marks all over her skin. He saw why she wore long sleeves no matter the weather. She was hiding what Edward had done to her and that angered him. "Why…"
"He used me Klaus. When someone touches me… I think about him. How violent he was with my body. Memories paralyze me and haunt me. My dreams are wrecked with moments of my life in Forks and with Edward Cullen. But when you kissed me Klaus… when you touched me… all of that faded. Those memories were not on my mind anymore and I welcomed that relief. When Elijah kissed me… I felt…" She shook her head. "I felt relieved of pain. I live in constant pain." Bella's voice broke. "I want to be normal. I want to feel normal."
"I would never… I would never bite you Bella." Klaus murmured.
Bella shook her head. "You don't get it." She was frustrated with herself and it brought tears. "I need you to treat me normal. I need you to be there. If you're my imprint and I am yours, then nothing else matters. Only I matter. Right?"
Klaus nodded. That was true. Nothing else mattered to him. Only Bella mattered to him. Nothing in this world could ever make that wane or fade.
Bella swallowed. "So, this is how it'll have to be… we're in this… all of us… together."
Elijah and Klaus looked at each other. Sharing Bella suddenly sounded like a good idea. If that is what Bella wanted then that is what they each would give her.
"Will you touch me?" Bella murmured, looking at Klaus.
Klaus swallowed. "Bella, I'm afraid. My hybrid… my curse isn't broken, but touching you splinters it and my hybrid comes out. I don't want to hurt you. What if I can't control it?"
"Then we help you." Elijah spoke up now. "Niklaus, you are not alone in this family. We don't hide from one another or take the easy path."
Bella nodded. "I will never hide anything from either of you. What you see here… this is me, all of me."
"Bella…" Klaus murmured.
"I'm ready to make myself stronger. I have accepted everything that has happened to me, Klaus. Edward took a lot from me, but I am regaining my strength. All of it." Bella said with a nod. She was determined, her icy blue eyes shone with that determination.
"Give me time… to… I need to break this curse. I need to get a handle on my hybrid Bella. I trust everything you say. I will not hide from you either. I will give myself to you, but I need to be sure. I need to be sure that I can control the hybrid inside me. My wolf needs you. He needs to make the imprint final… needs to solidify that bond, but I can't do that to you. Not after everything you've been through. So, I need to be able to control it." Klaus explained.
Bella frowned. "Klaus… you can't fight your wolf. You need to make the bond permanent. You-"
"It means I have to mark you Bella and I won't do that." Klaus said, his ocean eyes were sad.
Bella looked at Elijah and Elijah nodded. She looked back at Klaus. "Alright. I'll be strong enough then. You'll break your curse… and I'll break Edward's hold on my body. I will be able to lay with you Klaus. I will be able to accept your mark." She said and felt herself shiver.
Elijah grabbed Bella's shirt from the floor and he helped slip it on over her head. "Perhaps I should start a fire in the fireplace. You're getting cold my dear."
Bella shook her head. "Um. I'm going to go home. I have school in the morning and…"
"That's alright." Klaus said. "You need your rest. A lot has happened today."
Bella looked at Elijah and then back at Klaus. "Promise you won't fight?"
"We won't fight love." Klaus reassured her.
Bella hesitated, but she left, going out to her BMW and turning it on. She felt emotionally drained after everything that happened. She backed away from the mansion and headed home.
The room was quiet while both brothers listened to Bella drive away.
"I don't deserve her." Klaus said finally.
"Realizing that you've done horrid things Niklaus? Everyone deserves love." Elijah asked, sliding one hand in his pocket.
Klaus grabbed his drink from the table and took a deep drink. "You chase my redemption like a man rolling a bolder up an endless mountain."
Elijah made a hmm noise. "No mountain is endless brother. Some mountains are just steeper than others." He said and walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. "We're family. We must work together to fix what is broken. Bella is part of that. You are part of that. Don't forget our sister, our brother."
"Perhaps I am too broken to mend brother." Klaus said and poured more bourbon.
"You don't believe that. I saw the light in your eyes when you met Bella for the first time. When you imprinted. Your life took on new meaning."
Klaus was quiet. "I can't drag her into my life. I should have just… walked away. I promised her I wouldn't hide anything from her, yet what of our father? I have run from him for a thousand years. I have kept our brother and sister safe from him. The whole reason of breaking this curse is to be strong enough to stop running and now… I question if I should even bother. What if it hurts her? Our father has taken everything from me and I'm letting him-" He was so angry now, shaking with the anger.
"Brother, I know you are angry but perhaps it is time to let it go." Elijah reasoned.
"Let it go? You ask me to show him mercy? To let him go for everything he has done? For what he has done to our family."
"What you have done. What have you then? Frolic with our siblings the moment Mikael is dead?"
Klaus snorted. "Seems rather uncivilized doesn't it brother? To dance around the fallen body of our dead father?"
"Yes, it is far better for you to process grief the way you do it. Denial, rage and hoarding coffins in basements." Elijah said sarcastically.
Klaus growled. "I will not grieve that man!"
"Why not? Grief and anger are often tied together brother, it is the denial that blinds you of this fact."
"I am not in denial." Klaus denied.
Elijah finished his bourbon. "I will never let anyone hurt my family. No one. Not even our father. I will not let him harm you Niklaus. It has always been that way. When it comes down to it, I will always choose you. You just have to let me." He said and walked away. He was getting frustrated with Klaus and he needed to calm down.
Klaus watched Elijah leave. He didn't stop him. He knew Elijah was right. Elijah was always right.
