Empathy [Ben Hargreeves]

Ben Hargreeves

☆☆☆

"Ellie, come on," Klaus said with a groan. "If you don't move, I'll be forced to carry you."

The buff security guard was eyeing them, and Klaus wondered how long it would take for the guard to realize that he was on the board of banned individuals.

Elle felt his gaze but wasn't worried about Charlie gossiping about her meltdown to her other coworkers. The guard rarely spoke to anyone.

Elle remained lying on the carpeted floor of the lounge area in Club CR. She swore that she wasn't going to drink when she walked into the bar, but an hour later, she was hammered like Mjölnir.

Drunk and depressed, Elle started to cry. "He wasn't supposed to die!" she wailed. "He should be here!"

Klaus crouched down and scooped the small blonde woman into his arms. "I know, I know, darling," he soothed as she sobbed into his chest. "Come on, let's get you home."

☆☆☆

Klaus ended up giving Elle a piggyback ride from the club to her apartment. She was nearly dropped on the ground a couple times but was too drunk to care.

"I'm going to bed," Elle said in a scratchy I-cried-for-an-hour voice as she took off her jacket and tossed it onto the floor when she was aiming for the couch. She blinked at the crumpled material for a moment, then shrugged as if to say fuck it.

Klaus reached out to grab her hand to stop her from leaving the living room, but she turned away with her arms firmly tucked around herself. "No." She walked away on shaky doe legs.

"We need to talk about this," Klaus insisted.

Elle inhaled deeply as she held onto her door frame for support. "No." She entered her bedroom.

Klaus stepped into the room before she could close the door. "Come on, Ellie. Ben is--"

Acting on emotional impulse, Eloise whirled around and punched Klaus dead in the face. She felt his pain like the flames of a suddenly lit match licking her skin.

Clutching his nose, blood seeping between his fingers, Klaus tried to explain, again: "I see him, Elle. I'm not fucking with you."

She didn't want to believe it. Obviously Klaus could see the dead with his special ability, but he wasn't sober, so how would Ben be able to get through to him?

"Focus on me, Elle. You can tell if I'm lying."

Elle clenched her fingers. Her knuckles turned white. She wasn't sure which would hurt her more: finding out that he was lying or realizing that he was telling the truth.

"Look at me," Klaus urged.

With an elongated inhale to calm herself and focus, she glanced at his face. He had wiped the blood from his nose on his bright-colored scarf, and there was already a throbbing bruise in the shape of her fist.