Klaus kept true to his promise, he made sure Cami stayed the night with her and he didn't let anyone else in the room, least of all Elijah. It wasn't a promise he liked keeping; for all of his complaints about his brother and all this joking efforts to slide between them, this was something that he knew was wrong.
Even as he eventually withdrew from the room, locking it behind him with both Frankie and Cami inside, a pained expression fell to his face when he tried to addressed his brother. Elijah didn't say anything to him but his face was furrowed with hurt and as Klaus tried to speak to him, he turned sharply away.
"Brother," he said gently, "We will fix this."
"Thank you Niklaus," Elijah said cooly, a dismissive note to his voice as he fiddled with his cufflinks, "Will you take care of Aurora at last or must I?"
"I'll see to it."
"Wonderful," he said sarcastically, "I'll let you know if we need you."
Klaus didn't reply, leaving Elijah as he knew he wanted. He knew that his brother's rage wasn't truly directed at him, but that he was the only one who it could be taken out on. In all honesty he was filled with a fear that he hadn't felt in centuries, there were a rare few who he ever let in and Frankie was one of those people. There was very little he wouldn't do for her and now that he was losing her without any reason, his body burned with anguish.
Frankie was doing little better inside the room. Klaus had stayed with her as she ate, teasing her lightly though in a more careful manner than he usually would with her. Eventually another knock on the door had come, Frankie had frozen in fear but Klaus calmed her again, explaining it was only Cami and reminding her that he'd keep his word to keep Elijah away.
"Hey," Cami said, a gentleness in her tone that told Frankie she knew everything and she believed her fear about as much as Klaus did, "How're you feeling?"
Cami's presence at least overrode the terror she felt, guilt bubbling up at the memory that she'd left her at the church alone with Aurora. She didn't ever intend on leaving her friend even when they'd made the pact to do so and she couldn't exactly remember why she did it, but she felt bad knowing what she'd done.
"What happened after I left?" she asked, "Are you okay?"
Cami shrugged, "Not much happened. Aurora talked a lot, threatened me, tried to make Klaus hate me, tried to kill me. I'm fine now."
Frankie could remember Hayleys surprise at the nonchalance which she once spoke with of her own kidnapping and attempted murder and while she'd brushed it off then, she understood now.
Cami really did seem fine with everything that had happened, much more concerned with Frankie and with herself. She wondered briefly whether her assurance that she was good was a nod to the fact that Frankie clearly wasn't. Though she knew Cami was her friend and that she cared for her, she knew too that she like Klaus and Freya believed she'd been compelled and wasn't in her right mind. If there was a way she could get her friends to understand the truth how she saw it she'd do it in a heartbeat but she was resigned for now to leave it be.
She remembered what Klaus had told her about Freya's ability to lift the compulsion and while she didn't believe the compulsion existed, she'd let them try tomorrow. Once Freya tried and failed to lift the nonexistent compulsion, Frankie would be vindicated and hopefully they'd help her escape from him.
"Right," she said, her eyes shifting uncomfortably to the floor as she buckled under the weight of her friends concern.
There was silence for a moment, Frankie could feel her cheeks begin to redden, letting out a sigh of relief a moment later when Cami broke the silence. Tugging her from her thoughts, she looked to her with an easy smile as she held out Frankies laptop.
"Love island?" she suggested, "I need to know if Cely forgives Johnny post Casa Amor."
"Me too," Frankie agreed, grateful for the change of topic as she shuffled over in bed so Cami could join her, "I would die for Cely, she's a fucking angel."
Cami laughed, kicking her shoes off so she could slide into the bed beside Frankie who was setting up the laptop for them both to watch. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she watched her friend, the girl who seemed exactly as she always had but who Freya said had flinched in horror just at the thought of Elijah entering a room she was in. Frankie had always been the stronger of the two and while she wasn't shaking in terror now, it was difficult to picture her doing so and awful to know.
Fortunately at least, both Frankie and Cami fell into deep slumbers, woken hours later by a knocking on the door that sent Frankie's heart pounding just as much with surprise as fear. The door didn't unlock from the outside at least like it had at her apartment and at the look Frankie unintentionally shot to her friend, Cami quickly slid from the bed to the door.
"Who is it?" she called, her hand on both the handle and the lock as she held them closed. Though any vampire could break through a locked door with little effort, the action comforted Frankie who's eyes were trained on it nervously.
"It's me," Freya replied, her voice steady and calm, "it's just me."
Cami turned back to face Frankie who gave her a tentative nod, curling her fists into the sheets as she watched the door open slowly. Freya stepped into the room noting the sigh that escaped Frankies lips as Cami tightly closed and then locked the door behind her.
"How are you feeling?" Freya asked, "Do you want any breakfast? If you're not comfortable coming downstairs, I can bring you food up here."
"I'm fine," she said, uncomfortable with the way both Freya and Cami were scrutinising her with the unspoken words hanging in the air, "You don't have to treat me like I'm a child. I'm not crazy, I know what I know. Just because you all hate Aurora doesn't mean she's wrong, not about him."
"You're not crazy," Cami agreed, "but things were different for me before and after Davina helped remove Klaus' compulsion. Freya can help you."
"And if it's not compulsion," she pressed in response, "You both swear you'll help me leave. You'll help me leave New Orleans tonight."
Cami frowned, hurt by the idea that her friend was so frightened she was running just as everything seemed perfect. She understood why Frankie was so vehemently opposed to staying but it didn't make things easier. She understood that as Aurora layered her compulsion onto her mind she gave her the delusion too that nothing was wrong, that she was the only one who really understood.
This was the first time Frankie had really ever been compelled and so it made sense that she didn't believe it had happened to her. Apparently Klaus had tried to compel her once, not realising she was wearing vervain and then not bothering to remove it, and since then she'd always both worn it and drunk it. If not for Lucian's kidnapping as he waited for their vervain to leave their system, Frankie would've been fine.
"I promise," Freya answered, breaking the silence as she gripped Frankie's hand, "I swear to you, once your compulsion is lifted I'll give my life to let you leave if that's still what you want. I'll find a way to dagger both of my brothers before I let them force you to stay, but only if you let me try and lift the compulsion from you first."
"Okay," she nodded, shifting her grip to shake their hands, "When do we start?"
"It's gonna hurt," Cami warned, "It really hurts, are you sure you're ready?"
"I want to leave," Frankie said, suddenly uncomfortable again as she pictured the reason why, "I need to leave or I'll be sick. If this is the only way to get you all to believe me then I want it done, the sooner the better."
"I'll prepare my things now," Freya nodded solemnly, "Why don't you get ready and I'll meet you in Klaus' study. Will you be okay if Klaus is there too? I might need someone to heal you if it's too overwhelming."
Frankie nodded, her cheeks flushing red as she replied uncomfortably, "Klaus is fine, just not-"
"I know," she smiled kindly, "You'll be okay Frankie."
Freya left the room after that, a silent Frankie and Cami left in her wake. Cami reached out to grab her hand comfortingly, leaving the space for Frankie to break the silence. She understood how overwhelming it must be for Frankie to have the world telling her she was crazy and while she wanted more than anything to help her see reality as she'd known it days earlier, she understood the insanity that must be engulfing her.
"Thanks for staying," Frankie said, at last, "and for not saying I'm crazy."
"I wouldn't," she said kindly before her lips twitched up into a weak smile, "I mean you never called me crazy when I tried to literally torture my uncle to try and save him."
"Come on," Frankie sighed, tugging her jeans on with resignation, "Let's get this over with."
Cami nodded, following suit as they both dressed and made their way to the door. That was where Frankie froze, her hand landed on the handle but as she went to turn it she tensed up again. Cami's hand landed on hers, turning the handle for her though she only pulled the door open a little, peeking to see the hallway was clear before nodding and opening it further.
She was relieved her friend understood so intuitively, and as they made their way to Klaus' study, Frankie intertwined her fingers nervously through Cami's.
Both Klaus and Freya waited for them with solemn expressions in the much too large study. She could see there were candles and an old book, obviously a grimoire, and then other things like a bottle of water and some food. Remembering the time Cami had been decompelled, she knew the food and drink were likely for her, thanks to how taxing it could be.
"Morning, love," Klaus said with a smile, "You're ready?"
Frankie nodded before turning to Freya, "What do you need me to do?"
"Nothing," she said honestly, "Sit down, I don't want you falling and hurting yourself. If it gets too much, tell me and I'll stop."
Frankie sank to the seat in the centre of the room, breathing in deeply before she felt herself choke as Freya began to work. At first she tried to hold it together, biting her lip and screwing up her eyes as the pain ricocheted through her head like a bomb exploding but eventually she hit a point where she couldn't contain it, the scream billowing out of her uncontrolled. She could feel a hand on her shoulder, someone else rubbing her arm kindly but all she could focus on was the agony as Freya poked and prodded throughout her head.
"Do you need me to stop," Freya asked after what felt like hours of pain, "Is it too much?"
"No," she shook her head, determined despite the tears that were flooding down her face, "Cami felt it lift. I haven't felt anything lift."
Freya nodded, closing her eyes and beginning again.
It took two hours of agony before Frankie felt anything lift or felt any new-found kind of clarity. She wasn't on the chair anymore, she'd given that up after an hour and was instead curled tightly in a ball with her arms clutching her head as she sobbed with the pain.
A gasp left her lips, more of her conversation with Aurora revealing itself and the memory of her distaste and of the insanity of the girl returning.
Freya stopped working again, looking down to Frankie curiously at the sound as Klaus spoke anxiously "Are you okay? Do you need a break or some water?"
"I'm okay," she lied with a nod, "I can feel it. Don't stop. Don't stop again until its all gone."
Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably knowing that she was far from fine but Freya nodded stoically, breathing in deeply before continuing. Beside them, Cami had turned away, standing beside Klaus she'd screwed her face up, unable to continue watching her friend writhe in pain. Klaus wasn't much more pleased about it, but though his eyes stayed steady on Frankie, waiting tensely in case something went wrong and he needed to interfere, his hand reached out to grip Cami's tightly.
It took almost thirty minutes more for Frankie finally to feel the weight of all of the compulsion lift and she murmured out a groggy gasp again that caused Freya to stop.
"I think it's all gone," Freya explained, stepping closer to Frankie who hadn't unfurled herself on the carpet, "Before I could feel the compulsion that I was pulling away, I can't feel it anymore."
"'Lijah," Frankie murmured weakly, "Will you get Elijah. I need—"
"I'm here," Elijah said, at the doorway suddenly. He ignored Klaus' furious look that told him his brother was worried about having him here yet in case it wasn't fully cleared away, striding forwards to Frankie who'd mumbled his name again and bending down as if to pick her up, "Is it alright if I touch you, my sweet?"
Frankie nodded unfurling her arms from clutching her head as she reached towards him, "'Lijah, I'm so sorry."
"It's alright," he murmured to her, pulling her gently into his arms and pressing a kiss against her temple, "Let me take you to rest."
Her eyes were still blurred with tears as he held her gently and her fists coiled tightly around his shirt. She wondered briefly about Cami, Freya and Klaus who she knew they'd just abandoned without a second word but every inch of her body ached and she wanted nothing more than to apologise to Elijah for everything she'd said before
"I'm so sorry," she said again, "I'm so so sorry."
"You're okay."
She heard as his bedroom door was pushed closed by his foot but when he bent at the bed to put her down her fists only tightened and she shook her head. She didn't want him to put her down because she felt sure that when he did he'd leave, that every atrocious thing she'd said the night before was taken to heart and that he'd leave her and never return, just as Aurora wanted.
"No," she protested, "No, please stay."
"I'll stay, I'm just going to put you down first," he promised, leaning down again to place her. Her grip didn't falter though and even where her head was buried against his chest he felt her shake it roughly and so with a sigh of assent he tightened his grip on her, kicking his shoes off messily and climbing into bed with her still wrapped up in his arms.
Elijah sat against the headboard with the covers tugged up over his legs so he could pull them over her body which still shivered with remnants of the pain she'd just endured. She was still on his lap but where before she'd been curled across, now she shifted to between his legs with her body resting against his chest.
"I should get you something to eat," he said honestly, looking down at her and tucking the hair that had fallen across her face behind her ear, "some water too. I'm worried about your throat."
"Please don't leave me," she begged, "please don't go away."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"I'm so sorry," her voice choked a little as she spoke and he knew it was hoarse from the hours of screaming in pain, "I didn't mean what I said, none of it. Elijah, I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to apologise for."
"I could never think you're a monster," she pulled his hand that was rubbing her arm softly to her lips, kissing his palm before curling her fingers tightly around it, "Not even for a minute. Every day I've ever known you, you've showed me you're not."
"It's okay."
"It's not. I promise you, I know monsters and I know you could never be one."
"My sweet—"
"Elijah, I love you. I'm so fucking in love with you it could kill me. I can't lose you, please don't leave me for what I said. I didn't mean it, it was only what she made me think not how I really feel. I don't hate you, I couldn't ever hate you. Please forgive me, I don't want to live without you every again. I fucking love you so much it could kill me, please tell me you don't hate me."
Elijah was silent for a moment. His heart had stopped and it took him a moment to make it start again, to remember the world hadn't stopped rotating. The fingers that clutched his hand now tightened almost in fear and he remembered to move again.
Sweeping down to press a kiss against her temple he smiled, "Don't fret, I'm in love with you too, my sweet."
a.n. 🥺
soz for scaring u all but that's what u gotta do, i just want to hug my gal tho bc she's so bloody traumatised and like yes it's my fault but doesn't mean i don't feel bad
baby's first i love u only took us 50 chapters and like several thousand words