we both wake in lonely beds, in different cities
two years later
"Where is Enzo?" Katherine walked into her friend's house and looked around as Elena looked, she looked like a mess. Katherine frowned and looked at Elena who brought her knees to her chin. "I don't know, probably with Bonnie" The older vampire sighed and sat down next to her only real friend. Elena shook her head, she hated the way she was always the one getting hurt. "History repeating itself, isn't it? I am finally falling in love with someone who loves me as well and then they are cheating"
"It's not your fault Elena" Katherine said as she gulped, looking at Elena who was not even crying this time. She was getting use to it. "It was stupid of me to think that I could trust someone again" The younger doppelgänger sighed and stood up, walking upstairs to see her seven and half years old daughter.
Katherine followed her to upstairs, watching mother and the daughter smiling to one another. "Kol is coming, in three hours or something with his girlfriend" Katherine said, the venom in her voice was shining so bright that scared Elena a bit. "I will call him and say leave his girlfriend back in New Orleans"
"Don't, there is no need of it" Elena sighed and looked at her friend as she kissed her daughter's forehead, telling her to sleep. "I bet there is, Katherine" Elena mouthed as she left the room. They both walked down stairs and Elena poured them some wine. "I know how you were feeling about him, and you know how much I despise Davina"
"It's always witches, isn't it?" Elena laughed at her comment and nodded. She knew she had to confront Enzo, just she didn't have enough energy yet. "We have three hours in peace, then Kol will be here. Also Alaric and Caroline will be here for dinner with twins, which concerns me" Katherine narrowed her eyes when she heard about the twins, they were the true troublemakers and they were not the nicest towards Ophelia. "Just let me kill them already"
"They are kids Katherine, you can't just kill them because they are not getting along with Leah" Katherine shrugged and looked at her friend, it was worth to try. The door bell rang, causing Elena to frown. "You said he will be here in three hours"
"Maybe it's Enzo" Elena shrugged and grabbed her wine glass as her cardigan was falling down from her shoulders. She opened the door, seeing Kol, she frowned. "I thought you would be later, plus where is your girlfriend?" Kol sighed and stepped in, revealing one person she wanted to see least. Elena backed away, causing Katherine to frown. She stood up. "Elena, are you alright?" Kol sighed and looked at the older doppelgänger, who now walked to the door. Katherine gasped when she saw Klaus standing right in front of them.
"Katherine get inside, make sure she is safe" Elena gulped and said, making Katherine to sped away to upstairs. Klaus was looking at her with sadness and a bit of pain in his eyes. Kol walked to the door and sighed, he was about to talk but Elena hushed him. "I don't need any explanation of yours, nor that I care" Kol gulped as his best friend cut him. Elena walked out of the door and looked at Klaus, making sure he was not getting an invitation letting him in. "What are you doing here?"
"He heard me and Davina talking about Ophelia-"
"So it's you and your girlfriend brought him here, so you were aware that he was on his way" Elena turned to Kol who looked down guilty. Elena shook her head and turned back to Klaus. "Follow me"
They walked to the little patio area covered with plants and flowers, Ophelia liked planting, she liked her connections with the nature. They both sat down at the steel chair matching with the pool table, looking around miserably searching for something to say. "If you are here, I believe you have things to say. Otherwise I will advise you to leave as soon as possible"
Klaus sighed, she was mad, as she should he thought. He looked at her eyes and gulped, he was not even sure why he was there. "I heard Kol and Davina talking about a child-"
"My daughter? Yeah, Ophelia. It is not answering why you are here after eight years" Klaus scoffed and narrowed his eyes at her statement. "I want to see her Elena, that's why I am here, to see her"
and to see you, but he can't tell you that
"Mom" Elena's head darted to her daughters direction who ran to her mother. Little Ophelia had tears in her eyes and wiped them all quickly. She held her tightly, causing Klaus to smile secretly. "What's wrong baby?"
"I had a nightmare" Elena sighed and pressed her lips on her hair. Ophelia raised her head, trying to figure out who was he sitting in front of them. "Who is he?" She whispered to her mother but Klaus was able to hear as well. Elena looked at Klaus with uneasiness, not really sure how to answer her daughter. "He, he is Uncle Kol's brother"
Now little girl got excited, looked at her mother and the man sitting in front of them. "Is he my uncle too?" Young girl was so excited when it came to her family. Elena bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes so tears won't fall and her lips will not tremble. "No, no love he is not your uncle"
Little girl frowned this time, if he was not her uncle, he could only be her father. Her eyes widened and she tried to back up. Elena wrapped her arms around her and kissed her head assuringly. "Hey, hey he won't hurt you I promise. He wouldn't hurt you"
Ophelia looked at the man in front of her, she was still hesitant. Why was he here, she knew how the families worked, sort of, there was a mom and dad with kids. However for her it was her mother, her uncle Jeremy -even though he was not around usually, going on hunts- and her aunt Katherine and for the last five years also Enzo. Kol was visiting once in two months and that was all, no father at all.
"He wanted to meet you" Elena smiled to her daughter, sadly much that hurt Klaus. He smiled to his daughter who just continued to look at him. Elena sighed and kissed her daughter's cheek. "You can talk to him" Ophelia looked at her mother as she gripped Elena's shirt. "Are you my father?"
Klaus nodded and pursed his lips, hoping he could get some kind of reaction. She continued to look at him warily, still holding her mother's shirt. "Where were you?" It seemed like an innocent question from a curious kid, but that was something he could not answer. Ophelia didn't really cared about his answer. "Other kids have father, I don't" He swallowed the knot in his throat. Elena closed her eyes and bit her lip again, she hated what he was putting them through. "You have a father sweetheart"
Klaus was amazed by Elena's words, how she was not holding any hatred, or never showing it to her daughter, to their daughter. "His name is Klaus, and he is your father" Ophelia looked at her mother, asking her permission silently. "You can talk to him baby" Ophelia got into her feet and walked to her father. "Hello sweetheart" He used the name Elena was using, making Ophelia smile slightly. Elena's lips formed into a smile as the little girl finally walked to her father. "Is your name really Claus? Like Santa Claus?"
Elena could not help but giggle, making Klaus look at her with amusement. When their eyes met, it was like fireworks inside of their hearts. She was quick to recover but still with a smile remaining. He looked at his daughter with amazement. "No, no sweetheart. It is Klaus, with K" Little girl nodded but she looked like she was slightly disappointed with the fact that his name was not Claus. "Were you with your family?"
Klaus gulped with uneasiness and Elena sighed, they were at the same point again. "I know some parents divorce, Jaden's parents are divorced too. But his mother has another child and married with another man" Elena gulped, yeah she knew about Jaden. He was a warlock and his mother had abandoned him. His father was usually not around when he was needed, Jaden was not the best example. "Do you have another family? Do you have another child like Jaden's mother?"
"I have another daughter, your sister. But no, I am not married" Ophelia's eyes widened, she was suddenly excited. "I have a sister? I want to meet her!" But then her smiley face fell down with curiosity. "Why doesn't she live with me and mom? Doesn't she miss her mom and me?"
"You do not share the same mother with your sister. Only the same father" Ophelia frowned this time, and then she scoffed. "Do you have a child with another woman? But that means you are married!" She stated like it was too obvious, he wanted to laugh. "Not every parent must love each other or get married"
"Do you love my mom?" This was the question he was afraid of. Elena looked at Klaus and Klaus looked at Elena as his eyes softened. "I love your mom" Elena's eyes widened as she heard his words. He said that he loved her, he was still in love with her. "Elena, Ophelia is missing I-"
Katherine rushed into the garden but shut herself when she saw them all together. Ophelia giggled and ran to her aunt to hug her. "Aunt Kath! Do you know he is my father? He said I have a sister!" Katherine embraced the little girl and narrowed her eyes at Klaus. "You must go back to sleeping, let's carry you your room so your mommy and Klaus can talk" She wanted to protest but she was too tired so she nodded. They walked in and Elena turned to Klaus. "Klaus-"
"I meant it. When I said I love you, I am in love with you" Elena sighed and looked at her hands, she was not sure about what to say. "I am sorry about Hayley, even though she had broken me a lot. She did not deserve to die, no mother does" Klaus nodded and sighed, it was such a shame how Hayley got killed by Lucien. Not like he had shed a lot tear, it was still hurting one to think about the death of their child's mother.
"I believe Kol had informed you" Elena found herself nodding, leading them to the door of civilized conversation after all these years. Klaus nodded as well, all they were able to do simply, they were just nodding instead of saying a word. "How is Hope?" Elena asked, genuinely interested in little girl's well being. Klaus found himself smiling at her question, she cared. "She is alright, currently with Elijah, Rebekah and Freya. Back in New Orleans"
"Oh yeah, the older sister" Klaus nodded and as Elena remarked. Elena sighed with the old friend's name mentioned. "How is Rebekah?" She asked slowly, she was a bit sensitive when it comes to Rebekah. Klaus smiled, a real smile, before answering. "Probably missing the only real friend she had ever had"
"Real friends do not abandon their friends, they don't leave without a goodbye or an explanation. No one ever cared about someone would do such thing" She looked down, hoping her words were hurting him. And she was successful, he was feeling disgusting. He sighed, but still not tearing his gaze from her face. "I cared about you, more than I cared about anything else"
"Funny how you say that, and how I can count millions of reasons why you never cared" He shook his head, he was not giving up. "You are wrong, I cared about you. I still do, I still love you. I will always-"
"So you say your love was eternal like you, why did you cheat?" Elena cut his words, not caring about him confessing his love in every given opportunity. He gulped, what was he going to say? He knew why, he was bored and stressed out but he could not admit that. "Let me tell you why, you got bored of me, and I was not enough to entertain you. Was I now?"
"Don't say that" He whispered miserably, hating how she got it right and how weak he was. His whisper was filled with heartbreak and sadness, Elena could not care less. "Don't act like that was not what happened. You left me in the room you were staying and went to some other girl's bed because you were bored of me! That always what happens! Get bored, cheat!"
Now she was crying, and she was silent that was hurting Klaus so much. He stood up and walked next her, crouching in front of her before wrapping his arms around her. Elena did not fight, she hugged back. She needed his embrace, it was stupid to think that she could get over him, and he was smart enough to know he was never getting over her. He placed a little kiss on her hair. "Elena?"
Elena raised her head and looked at the man standing near to them in the patio. Enzo frowned because certainly he was not waiting for this scene. Elena sighed and stood up, breaking their hug unfortunately. She walked to Enzo and turned to Klaus. "Can you give us a moment?" Klaus nodded, respecting her wish even though he did not want to. He got lost but still in somewhere he was able to hear them.
"Was he Klaus?" Enzo asked with frowned eyebrows, Klaus could not help but smirk, she had a thing for accents for sure. Elena shook her head. "He is not the thing we will talk Enzo" Klaus frowned, he assumed they would talk about him. Enzo scoffed with annoyance. "Isn't he? Actually I would very much like to know why her ex boyfriend was hugging my girlfriend while she was crying" Klaus narrowed his eyes, that guy was worse than Damon. He heard Elena scoffed as well. "And I would like to know where were you till this hour, but hey I have a guess! You think I don't know, don't you? You thought you could see my best friend and sleep with my best friend behind my back and I wouldn't know, didn't you Enzo?"
Elena was not shouting, she did not want Ophelia to hear them. She shook her head as he stared at her with shock, not understanding how she was able to know about Bonnie and him. "For the last three months, I was waiting for you to confess maybe but look at you, do you even have one decent bone in you? You know where I was weak at but still you did this didn't you?" Enzo couldn't say anything, Klaus' eyes were still wide open with the things he heard. She was living it all again, he hated himself for ever cheating on her. "Elena-"
"Save it, I just want you out of my house right now. You are never coming back, ever" Elena walked away from him and Enzo knew pleading was useless. He walked out of the garden and sped to wherever he could, other than the Gilbert house.
Elena walked to where she thought Klaus would be waiting. She sighed and looked at him. "I am sorry" He said in a slow tone, not wanting to bother her. She nodded. "I am sorry too, sad, sorry" She shrugged and sighed, not really interested in anything. "I am not going to cry over a cheater, not again" She meant it, she was not going to cry over men who only cowardly left without an apology after her confrontations. "Come on, let's get inside"
"Do you hate me Elena?" Elena paused, she tried to understand the significance of the question. Because to be honest, she was not. So she shook her head, needing a satisfying answer. "No, not anymore"
He said nothing after that, they just walked in where Kol and Katherine were sitting in silence. Katherine raised her head and scoffed as she saw Klaus. "Why is he still here?" Elena sighed and sat next to her best friend as Klaus narrowed his eyes. "I am here for my daughter. I want her to know me"
Katherine scoffed again, she appeared more braver than the past. Probably she was aware that Elena would never let Klaus to harm her. "Know you, you say? Alright, alright, let's start with the very first things, some basics. You are a cheater, backstabber bastard-"
"Katherine, enough" Elena warned her friend with her firm tone. Elena sighed. "I was not aware who my father was for the longest time, I don't want Ophelia to go through the same thing" Katherine did not say anything this time, she just rubbed Elena's arm and Elena rested her head on her shoulder. "Kol you can stay in your usual room, and Klaus, you can stay in the guest bedroom next to Kol's. He can show you the room, we all need some sleep for tomorrow"
"Oh no, don't tell me Caroline and her little spoiled brats are coming! You always say the same thing whenever they come over!" Kol whined and Katherine shrugged as she shook her head. "I tried to tell her to cancel the dinner but literally-"
"Caroline has kids? How is that even possible?" Elena sighed and shook her head, she really was not in mood for explaining everything happened in eight years since he was gone. "We will talk tomorrow, now why won't all of us go and have some sleep? It was a rough day for all of us, and it will be rougher tomorrow"
They all nodded and left for their rooms without another word. As Elena stepped into her room, she broke down to the floor, not being able to hold herself any longer. Katherine walked in and embraced her. "Everything is so much" Katherine nodded and let her friend find comfort in her presence. In the end, Elena fell asleep because of her tiredness and Katherine carried her to her bed, laying down next to her as Elena snuggled up. Katherine would not really admit, but she had already replaced Elena with her long lost daughter.
a/n: boom!