descent | 𝐊𝐋𝐀𝐔𝐒 [HIATUS]

𝟎𝟑

"I was aware that he had a soulmate, yes," Klaus nods.

"Amara," Rory traces her fingers over the rim of her glass. "Amara Petrova. It wasn't Tatia that was the first—it was her. I'm descended from a very old bloodline—older than you. And every single version of my ancestors died in Mystic Falls...because of love," Rory's eyes flicker up to meet Klaus' again. "Amara, Qetsiyah and Silas. Tatia, you and Elijah. Katherine, Stefan and Damon. Elena, Stefan and Damon. Don't you get it?"

"History repeats itself," Klaus responds.

Rory nods, looking down at her hands. "The Petrova doppelgangers were created by tragedy for tragedy, Klaus. People that I love die around me. If I don't die with them, then I'm the one that survives. I can't...I can't live like that. I don't want to live like that; at least not when I have the chance to stop it. Mystic Falls killed every single one of my ancestors, and I don't want it to kill me too,"

"I offered you a chance to leave with me. I offered you a chance to travel the world—"

"—I lost my little brother, Klaus," Rory interjects. "I didn't need a plane ticket, I needed to grieve. Not all of us can suppress our emotions as perfectly as you can, you know? Not all of us can be thousand-year-old vampires and can just deal with it. I was human less than five years ago—I was just a girl less than five years ago. I wanted to be a filmmaker, and now I'm a vampire that lost her entire family."

"I could have been there for you," Klaus says quietly. "I wanted to be there for you. To support you."

"You were going through things on your own," Rory looks up at him, shaking her head. "As much as I wanted you to be there with me, I couldn't...I couldn't ask that of you. You lost Kol too. And you lost Finn. Your mother. Klaus, I'm not the only one that suffered loss. You have this habit of shutting people out and just suffering silently; I can't be selfish and ask you to take on my burden too."

"I could have," Klaus repeats.

"Well, I didn't want you to," Rory averts her gaze from him, clutching the glass in her hand. Her fingers tremble as she tosses back the shot. "I heard that you had a kid."

Klaus stiffens. He's been avoiding this; carefully dancing around the subject the best he could. His decision to sleep with Hayley had been a regretful one, full of self-hatred and pent-up anger. He remembers so vividly the expression on Rory's face when she walked in on them ▬ she was so hurt. That was what Klaus wanted, after all. He expected her to scream at him. To do anything. Instead, Rory turned around and walked away. He didn't know which reaction he would've preferred.

Still, a mistake brought him one of the best gifts he had come to know. He had a daughter. He had Hope. And yes, Hope is still alive, but no one knows that, and he can't exactly see her. Not with the war brewing between the witches and the werewolves and his family.

"I did," Klaus decides not to tell Rory that Hope is still alive—not yet, anyway. He doesn't think she can handle it tonight. Seeing him must've tipped her world on its axis as is. "Hope."

"That's a beautiful name," Rory manages to say.

She wanted that. She wanted a family. With him, maybe. Or with anyone. She just wants the choice. Back then, when she turned herself into a vampire, she didn't think of the consequences. She just wanted to save her aunt Jenna. Now, she was forced to reap the fruits of her labour ▬ she was cursed to live forever, lonely, with no chance of ever having a baby of her own. The man she was in love with slept with someone else and had a child with that person, and she couldn't even be mad about it.