Push & Pull | KLAROLINE

Chapter Five

"Klaus, are you sure you don't want me to help you with anything? I know you've been kind of-"

Did she just begin to ask me if I needed help putting on a blazer?, he asked himself in disbelief.

It wasn't even five seconds before he cut her off. "I've expressed how much I hate being coddled, Camille. I'm epileptic, not dying of incurable cancer. Thank you, though, I really do appreciate it.", he said genuinely as he pinched the bridge of his nose. If there was only one spec of hatred in Niklaus' heart, it would be towards him being treated like a delicate little child. With his entire family being home for a few days, he was feeling new levels of irritation by the second.

Some people say it could be his pride, his ego, or his fear of losing that care. It was none of the above; he actually hated being babied because it was simply stupid and unnecessary in situations like this. He had just found out about his condition and left the hospital and he knew that he needed to be careful but Camille and his mother were taking 'careful' to new lengths. Neither of the women would let him lift a finger and it brought him great frustration. Niklaus was always a 'do-it-myself' kind of guy and for them to not let him do anything was taking the substance out of his everyday life. He was a sitting duck and he hated it.

It had only been a few hours but he was becoming insufferably hyper aware of his surroundings and felt the urge to move. He didn't care what it was that he had to do, he just needed to do something. Right now, he felt trapped in his room, wearing a ridiculously tight black suit that he could have sworn fit him perfectly ten short seconds ago. His energy levels were exceedingly high, yet he was exhausted at the same time. This banquet would be the death of him.

"I'm sorry, I just want you to be okay. You literally just had a seizure—no, two seizures, and you're trying to move on from it like it was just a stomachache.", she expressed softly. Camille, being the caring person that she was, wanted nothing other than to know that her boyfriend would be okay. While it may come off as babying or coddling, she never wanted it to. All she wanted to do was have him know that she cared and would do anything for him. "Just take it easy, please."

Niklaus sucked in a breath, about to explode at lightning speed. He decided against it, not wanting to hurt her feelings. He could tell that she was sincerely worried for him and for him to lose his temper because of it would be pure idiocy. Instead, he took hold of her hand and lifted it to his lips, laying soft kisses on her knuckles. "I know that you're only doing this out of care, love, I just need you to understand that I am not invalid is all.", he breathed out with a small laugh.

She let out a sigh of relief, thankful that he wasn't angry at her.

In complete knowledge of her nervousness, he said, "How would you feel if I said I wanted you to come with me to that wretched banquet that I could hardly barf out just now?"

He knew it would be like asking a cow to travel to Antarctica and never produce milk again, but he also knew that just him asking would do wonders. She needed to know that he cared just as much as she did. "I would feel honored and like you're being suspiciously considerate of my feelings right now.", she said half-jokingly. Yes, he knew there was some truth to her joke and he hated himself for it.

Niklaus was a pro at taking his anger out on others, even if it wasn't physically. Obviously, he would never put his hands on a woman, especially not his woman, but he had a habit of accidentally hurting their feelings or even scaring them off by yelling at them. It was a defense mechanism for him to (emotionally) stay at a reasonable distance from his partners. He knew that it was wrong and that he needed to fix it. Much to his surprise, he had not resorted to yelling at Camille because he had a genuine interest in changing his ways for her. She was also never the type to allow such irrational behavior from a partner and he knew that. Despite his feelings for Caroline, Niklaus was now beyond infatuation with Camille and intended to work his way out of anything he felt for his best friend.