A/N Thank you all for reading and reviewing!
"So we've been meeting for a while now."
Brow furrowing at Camille's sudden declaration, Lola slowly settled herself down into her usual armchair across from the blonde. Lola sunk into the armchair, about to cross her arms over her chest but, without reason, opted to place her hands in her lap. Her fingers laced together, thumbs drumming against her skin continuously.
For some reason, despite the blonde's always welcoming smile and their benign, helpful sessions, Lola's stomach always knotted the first ten minutes of the session. She surmised it was anxiety, that perhaps her progress hadn't been doing so well in the week since their last session.
But, in spite of that, she seemed to be doing okay.
Okay was better than nothing.
"Mm-hmm."Lola chimed in with a soft hum and a sunny smile, holding up a hand with her pointer and middle finger extended as she crossed her legs."Almost two months."
"Every Friday."Camille added with an equally as sunny smile, scribbling doddles on her notepad."So how do you think you're faring?"
"You're the expert."Lola breathily replied, unsure of how to answer the question and somewhat puzzled by it."Do you think i'm doing better?"
"You're the guest of honour. And I asked you first."Camille wittily said with a small, encouraging smile, gesturing that Lola had the floor."How about this? On a scale of one to ten give me a number on how far you believe you've come in contrast to where think you were."
"So, two months ago..."Camille paused with a pointed look to Lola, lips twitching upwards."When we met in this room because you were struggling to deal with the aftermath of what happened—"
"Five."
Hearing Lola's complete conviction in her response without having to ponder it, Camille took a moment to jot it down in her notepad, hoping the other woman had the same mindset concerning the now.
"And what about now?"
Lola opened her mouth, somewhat sure on her response but, for some reason, nothing came out. Clearing her throat she took a moment to gather herself when Camille nodded and gestured for her to do so before trying again.
"I'm...i think—"Lola snapped her mouth shut with a shake of her head, slumping back against the back of her armchair."I can't."
"Can't."Camille gently repeated, watching Lola slowly incredulously nod before she, still gentle in tone, inquired."Why?"
"It's just….well, some days i'm a ten and others I can be a-a...six at the lowest. Maybe five and half."Lola's response was slow as her mind struggled to come up with something. Frankly, she had no idea what was going on inside."I can't honestly come up with a number as a whole. Sorry."
Shaking her head at the repentance, Camille waved it off and closed her notepad with her pen inside to mark where she'd left off.
"People have bad days but at which degree is different to everyone because everybody is different. Your bad days are just a little more...intense than some."
Somewhat hypnotised by Camille's hand as she gestured, Lola listened intently, unwilling to let one word pass her by.
"It's expected but that doesn't affect your progress. That's just a bad day after multiple good and sometimes okay days. That is your progress, it shows just how far you've come."
Eyes snapping to Camille as a feeling of fulfilment blossomed inside her chest, Lola was unable to resist a small smile to herself.
"And in a while once we've had more sessions you will have made more progress and your number will have increased. You just gotta work at it and, considering how you're doing, I know you'll get there. You'll get to the double digits, okay?"
Murmuring okay back, Lola shifted in her chair, placing one leg underneath her and swinging the other back and forth, quietly listening to Camille as she wrote in her notepad. As she did, she glanced around the familiar room, eyes lingering on a still slightly wet painting perched on an easel.
"What about your nightmares?"Snapping out of her reverie, Lola turned back to look at Camille, returning her attention to the other woman."Are they still the same?"
Lola parted her lips but, instead of vocally responding, she simply shook her head.
"When was the last one?"
"Two days a go."This response was quicker than the last and said with more confidence, having more certainty than the last. She was still keeping track of each nightmare."And five days before that."
Three times in one week.
Scribbling down the new information, Camille turned back several pages of information she'd jotted down during their lessons, eyes skimming over the pages. During their first few sessions, she'd noted down that Lola had been having a handful of nightmares a week, sometimes in a row but, gradually, they'd been lessening. Last the nightmares had been brought up they'd been within a week apart.
"What made those days different than the others?"The blonde asked, returning to her page, noticing Lola's uneasy twiddling of her fingers as she entwined them repeated the motion again."Are you still have trouble sleeping?"
"No. Nothing. And when there's no nightmares i'm sleeping fine."Lola shook her head with a frown, just as curious as Camille."There was no change. Should I make some changes? Maybe sleep earlier or later?"
Camille looked up from the notepad and, hearing the agitation in Lola's tone and how puzzled she seemed, the blonde re-closed the pad. Setting it aside, Camille shuffled to the edge of her seat, hands meeting in front of her.
"There's no right way to move on or try and neutralize things. You just gotta take each day as it goes and on a bad day, maybe each moment. And, yes sometimes change is good, maybe go for a walk or pick up a hobby. But some things linger and things might trigger you."
"Trigger?"Lola uneasily echoed, fidgeting with the bow fastened to the toe of her pump."What's that?"
"Sometimes it's something as simple as the day your having, a sentence someone says. Something that, uh, something that reminds you of what happened to you an—"
Camille cut herself off when she saw Lola's eyes glaze over.
"Did I lose you?"
"No, no. I understand."Lola was quick to gather her bearings and sat herself up straight, she'd been slumping against the arm of the chair."I just don't understand why me. I mean, I didn't experience those things. I just..."
It's not a big deal when you compare what's in reality. Lola inwardly added, wringing her fingers with a heavy exhale. He just went into my mind, and showed me a few scary images. What's the big deal? There's nothing to be...get over it, all right? It happened, there's nothing you can do about it.
Trailing off with a shrug, Lola crossed her legs then uncrossed them before repeating the entire series of movements again.
"You just felt the pain, you saw what happened and it is completely understandable that you are having a hard time dealing with that."Camille firmly countered, setting aside her notepad and straightening in her chair."And, no, those things didn't happen to you but you experienced it because someone violated your mind."
Lola shifted uneasily at the reminder and, seeing this, Camille reached out and patted her hand.
"That's something that'll stay with you, Lola, but having a few bad days isn't something to be ashamed of."Camille squeezed Lola's hand, waiting for the other woman to meet her eyes before she continued."Dealing with it and moving forward is what you need to be focusing on. You're stronger than you think."
The sincerity in Camille's voice and the warmth in her eyes somehow making her feel a little less unsettled, Lola found herself returning the blonde's smile, feeling oddly reassured.
"Okay?"
"Okay."Lola repeated as firmly as she could with a small laugh."Okay."
"Okay. Good."Camille warmly praised, squeezing Lola's hand again before she straightened in her chair."On that note, I think it's time to leave it here today."
"Really?"Lola's lips downturned into a frown as she pulled out her phone to read the time, quickly pocketing it again as not to seem rude. Her father had taught her better."It's only twenty five past."
"I know but I think we've touched on enough and maybe it's best to leave the delving for next week. It's been a while."Camille replied, unzipping her bag and placing inside her notepad."But, hey, how well you dealt with them in comparison to when we last spoke about them, I think you did good."
"Thank you."Lola murmured with a sharp intake of breath, slowly nodding before finally raising her head to meet the other woman's gaze."Thank you."
And a bright, broad smile followed Lola's earnest words, a smile that made Camille's own mouth curve upwards. Camille kept her smile for a long moment before she gestured and told Lola that she could message her father to inform him of her earlier than usual return home.
"He's been good with all this, huh?"
"He's always been good with everything. Great."Lola promptly answered, always one to speak very highly of her father because he was, without a doubt in her mind, the best."The greatest."
Her father was still unaware about the supernatural underbelly of New Orleans and, most importantly, that the family his daughter babysat for—or at least used to—associated with, in Klaus' words, 'royalty.' Louis presumed Lola had resumed babysitting, this time for Hayley and less so for Klaus considering the situation.
Lola knew that it was best to tell him, mostly because she'd never lied to her father and it made her feel somewhat ill the longer she did. And, from experience, she understood how bad it felt to be not only left out but also lied to, no matter how good the intentions had been of those holding the truth.
She had no right to play that card; he had a right to know.
"And Klaus..."Camille quietly but bluntly stated in an inquiring tone, eyes leaving bag and trailing over to Lola."Has he been, uh, thoughtful?"
"He did recommend seeing you."Lola softly answered while slowly getting to her feet, a small smile appearing on her face."And, pushing aside everything else, I like seeing you."
Smiling back in response, Camille replied she enjoyed her company too, all while noticing Lola's diversion of the subject. She had a habit of doing that. Lola would happily ramble about her days with Hope, how she'd join Hayley and the toddler at a nearby park if invited. She'd talk about Freya, Elijah, and her father.
Lola would talk about everyone and everything willingly and eagerly. But apart from the first couple of sessions when Lola had needed to speak of him because she was desperate for aid, she'd rarely approach the subject of Klaus.
And since she'd been doing fine, Camille hadn't touched upon the subject unless she'd needed to. But she had always been curious.
"I know you've got a close relationship with Klaus, but don't feel as if you've got to filter yourself talking with or about him. There's a reason Freya goes to the effort of placing a privacy spell on this room every Friday at eleven a.m, you know."
Camille gestured to the still burning sage on the coffee table in-between where they'd been seated with a pointed glance at Lola.
"It stops certain Original hybrids attempts at eavesdropping."
Glancing over her shoulder with an understanding look, Lola promptly nodded with a barely audible laugh. Swiftly turning back around, the human's attention was almost instantly caught by the painting once more. It was still wet, and the paint again shined as it was recently brushed on the canvas.
Wow.
The painting was almost simple in colours as well as the idea, there was no obvious meaning behind them, not like Klaus' previous work which he had proudly shown off to her. But the brushes of paint, in all the colours, looked to be have been done with haste and precision, as if from memory. The curves had been brushed over and over again, as if he'd wanted them to stand out.
Especially the blue hues, a mix of light and stormy azure. Large, inquisitive blue orbs that utterly mesmerised Lola so much that she started to amble over to the painting.
A pair of eyes stared back at Lola, a pair of eyes that had been painted with such clarity and familiarity that Lola felt a sharp pang in her chest.
"Lola?"
Blinking rapidly, Lola snapped out of her daze, mind catching up with her and returning her to reality.
"He pries."Lola cleared her throat after responding, forcing herself to look away from the painting in spite of the steps she still took towards it."Yeah, Hayley's mentioned it more than once."
"Klaus is..."Camille trailed off as she tried to come up with the right word to use to describe the hybrid before she eventually just waved a hand with a sigh."Klaus. He's complex. Mercurial."
Slowing her pace in the direction of the painting until she eventually halted her steps, Lola slowly turned to face Camille again, the words striking something within her. Especially the tone Camille had used. Lola then tilted her head to the side with a curious look settling on her features.
"You sound like you've got a first-hand account of that."Lola's words came out as a statement but sounded more like a question."I know you're friends. Good friends."
"Mostly from my notes. He's also a patient. You know that."Camille breathily laughed, careful not to expand on her response without breaking moral and confidentially regulations.
So, instead, she chose to speak on her personal experience.
"Sometimes he just doesn't know how to deal with stuff he can't control. Things he can't either fix or completely decipher gets to him. If something isn't a threat that he can get rid of or in his own mind to be locked away, Klaus tends to be less than tactful."
"What do you mean?"Lola's eyes followed Camille as the other woman got to her feet, brushing the invisible dust from her trousers."I-I don't get it."
"Sometimes even if the issue has something to do with him, he may be inclined to push it aside if possible and soldier on."As she spoke, Camille slowly made her way around the coffee table and made her way over to Lola, noticing the questioning glimmer in her eyes."All i'm saying is be open if you need to be, let yourself be heard."
"Klaus may be on his best behavior and try—"Camille stressed the words she deemed vital for Lola to keep in mind."but he does have his own stuff that he's been dealing with for centuries. Stuff he's still having trouble recovering from."
Crossing her arms over her chest, Camille sat down on the arm of the couch closest to Lola, offering the other woman an understanding smile.
"And his way to deal with it is to be co-dependent and lock it away until he eventually snaps."Camille chose her words as carefully as she could, not wanting to take away what the hybrid had done to aid Lola. But also as a forewarning of sorts that could eventually be of use to the human and to help somewhat deal with him.
"And that..."Camille's palms met in an imitation of a prayer stance and she gestured faintly."that is the kind of things that you felt, that your mind was witness to."
Lips parting in consternation and her brows knitted together as realisation dawned on her features
"What? You mean..."
Lola stepped closer to Camille, a dozen thoughts rushing through her mind at once as she, reading in-between Camille's words, found herself speaking before her mind could connect with her mouth and bite it back.
"You think Klaus is a trigger?"Lola breathed, shaking her head in incredulity.
"I know that Jackson did what he did to you as a means to get to Klaus and I know that Klaus feels pretty bad about it. And I think it's good that you're not holding it against him, but that doesn't negate what happened. It's understandable if sometimes you might feel..."Camille paused as she tried, once again, to find the correct words, to sum up what she was trying to explain."on edge."
Suddenly feeling a heavy weight on her chest, Lola couldn't bring herself to form words let alone offer up a reply. But she could hear the logic in the words, and that urged Lola to listen carefully because she was aware that Camille had been around Klaus longer than she herself had, much longer.
If she was completely honest with herself, and as flashes appeared in her mind and she processed the information, Lola realised that she barely knew Klaus at all.
"I'm not saying turn your back on him, i'm really not, because I know that he's there for you and vice versa."Camille stressed her words, shaking her head firmly as she straightened to her full height."What I am saying is that you're fully within your right to pace yourself once in a while."
Blinking several times as she listened, Lola understood what Camille was saying, and she also felt oddly comforted by her statements, she felt understood. In spite of that, Lola didn't offer up a response or voice that, simply because she didn't know how to and because she couldn't bring herself to.
"It's possible for the same person to be your solace, but yet sometimes make you feel the complete opposite."Camille words were barely audible and said with such conviction that it was obvious she'd been through and felt what she was speaking about."Just keep that in mind, okay?"
"I will."Lola quietly agreed, reaching for her coat and hastily shrugging it on while forcing another smile."I will."
Murmuring an okay, Camille waited for Lola to give her a thumbs up before she picked up the sage. Camille then burned it out by grounding it against the flat dish it had been slowly burning on. As she did, the spell instantly came to an end, and the pair felt a change in the air.
Comfortable silence hung over Lola and Camille as they gathered their things, the blonde preparing herself to leave. But the silence was hastily sucked from the room when several, resounding taps on the doorframe claimed their attention, notifying them of a presence on the other side of the french doors.
Pursing her lips as the surprise from her features faded, Lola's eyes flitted over to the blonde to catch Camille roll her eyes.
"Klaus..."
A breathy, shameless chuckle was their greeting, Low, shameless and complacent. It left no debate as to who was stood on the other side of the doors.
"I presume my darling sister hasn't informed you the stench that follows when the sage is stubbed out? It's quite..."Klaus heaved a histrionic sigh, drawing out the silence. Then there was a slight creak of protest as a weight slumped against the doors."overwhelming, i'll have you know."
Clicking his tongue with a wistful breath, Klaus tapped on the door a second time with his fingertips."I was startled while indulging in a scrumptious beignet that I couldn't bring myself finish."
Murmuring something underneath her breath that Lola didn't pick up on, Camille ambled her way over to the doors, pulling them open with a bemused lour.
"Well, it is worth it. You never know who's snooping."
Looking slightly chagrined that he hadn't stumbled inside, Camille shook her head at Klaus who'd straightened just in time. And, while clearly having heard her pointed statement, blatantly disregarded it with a ghost of a smile.
"Concluding your session a bit early today."Klaus briskly averred as he crossed the threshold with a lazy gait, directing a faint smile at Lola before he shamelessly pried."Are you willing to divulge why?"
"No, i'm not. Doctor/patient confidentiality."Camille simply answered, offering Klaus a shrug when his eyebrow elevated indignantly before her eyes trailed over to Lola."So same time next week?"
"Same time next week."Lola echoed with a nod of agreement, rocking on her heels as she nervously fidgeted with her fingers."Thanks for...uh, everything, actually."
"No problem."Camille mirrored Lola's smile with one of her own, reaching over and picking up her bag before slinging it over her shoulder."You need anything that's not head doctor related or just want to chat...you know where to find me."
Mouthing another thank you, Lola stepped aside to allow Camille to pass as the blonde took her leave, murmuring a goodbye to Klaus when she passed him.
Klaus watched after the blonde fondly."A saint, isn't she?"
He turned to face Lola when the door shut behind Camille, the smile faltering somewhat when his eyes indulgently flittered over Lola's features. She, as per usual, was also smiling but it wasn't the beaming smile he was used to.
Instead, he noticed, she seemed agitated.
About what, though, he wasn't sure.
I'M SO SORRY FOR MY ABSENCE.
If you read any of my other stories that have been updated this year then you know i'm probably gonna repeat myself. But, for the past twp years or so my writing inspiration has been basically non-existent. Personal problems and life itself has just been a lot and my muse has sadly forsaken me.
But i've managed to write a couple of paragraphs since my last update for this story and here is what i've come up with. Again, i'm sorry for my absence. I hope that you haven't left me either because this story, in particular, is something I love writing.
And, as for the chapter itself, i'm also sorry it didn't involve a lot of Klaus. But it's mainly a filler chapter to show Lola's progress from the whole Jackson ordeal and her dynamic with someone else. I hope it didn't suck and that at least a few of you enjoyed the read. I've already written almost 3k for the next chapter so that won't be long.
Anyway, if you enjoyed this filler chapter please let me know, and encourage me to write more by leaving me a review. I'd appreciate it.