Stay Away// Klaus Mikaelson

2

"Well, me and my siblings will be the people you need to go to for an escape." Rebekah stated. "Nik is the one person that truly understands the horror of an abusive father."

"I don't even know him to know that he doesn't deserve to be abused." Arabella responded.

"I'm sure that Nik will appreciate that."

Arabella and Rebekah arrived back to the living room where the rest of the Mikaelson siblings are waiting.

The second youngest of the siblings, Kol, stands up to question the guest, "So, Arabella, what are your parents like? Why did they leave you here with us?"

"Kol!" The second oldest, Elijah, yelled at his brother. "I'm sorry about my brother, Arabella, you don't have to answer those invasive questions."

"It's alright, Elijah." She responded. "My parents aren't exactly trust worthy so it takes a lot for them to trust your family with their child. They needed time to find a place to live, and they didn't want their daughter sleeping in the cold, so your parents allowed me to stay with you."

"That's kind of them to think of you." Finn, the oldest, stated. "They must really love you to let you stay with strangers."

"It's a little more complicated than that, but I suppose you're right."

"Where did you move from?"

"A village far away from here." Arabella replied, trying to be as vague as she possibly can. "It, um, caught on fire."

"Your village?" Elijah questioned her. "How did it happen? Was anyone hurt? Did anyone die?"

"I'm not exactly sure how it happened and I don't know who was injured," she lied. "But I do remember the people screaming, and my parents pulled me away before I could help anyone."

"You left before you could check on anyone?" Rebekah asked.

Arabella sighed, "My parents are very strong," especially right after the full moon, "And I couldn't fight off the both of them, but trust me I wanted to run back. When it comes to my parents I can't fight them when it comes to our safety."

Finn scoffed, "Your safety? What about your village's safety? How can you be so selfish as to want to save yourself?"

"You don't seem to understand that I have no control over what I can and can't do. If my parents want me to leave-"

"You have to leave." Niklaus responded. "She had no choice in the matter, siblings, can't you see the hurt in her eyes? I can see how that choice her parents made really affected her. We can't hold her accountable for her parent's stupid choice."

"But she allowed her parents to take her away!" Finn exclaimed. "We can't allow a murderer to live in our house!"

"I'm not a murderer!" Arabella cried. "You seem like the person who always wants to please his parents. What if your mother wanted you to walk away from the situation? Would you fight her on it, or would you do what she asked?"

Finn huffed and walked towards the kitchen where their mother was making the dinner. Arabella sat there embarrassed of her attitude towards the oldest brother.

She looked at the rest of the siblings, "I'm sorry for being rude towards Finn. My anger can sometimes cloud my judgement, and I hope none of you are mad at me for it."

"If you can argue with Finn, that makes you one of us." Kol smiled. "Just so you know, Finn always tries to please mother."

"I figured." Arabella returned the smile. "I hope he didn't take it personally or anything. I just don't want my first impression to be bad."