CHAPTER XXX
❝ Call me anything you want. ❞
Apparently, when they reached upstairs, Hayley and Klaus seemed to be in a sort of little argument. Or more like Hayley being confronted by the Original Hybrid for helping Tyler break his sire bond. Well, whatever the case was, the newest arrivals at the scene found it more entertaining to stand by the doorway and watch.
"Look at you, looking so cute having an argument like this." mused Lucy, turning the arguing pair's attention to them.
Everyone gave her a look which clearly said 'What the fuck?'.
"Just kiddin'" Lucy raised her hands in defence. "Can't a person joke around here for a moment or so?"
"Nevermind," Tyler cleared his throat. "What are you doing here Klaus?"
"Oh, you know, just introducing myself to this new friend of yours." said Klaus casually, sitting down on the chair by the desk in the room, propping his feet up. "I asked her to take the back door so Caroline wouldn't see. But she didn't quite listen to me."
"Whatever you think you know-" began Tyler but Klaus cut him off smugly.
"I don't 'know' anything. But I've put together a pretty convincing picture. Why don't you tell me where my imagination deviates from reality?"
"You went off to the Appalachians to break my sire bond." began Klaus as he stood up from his place nearing Tyler, his stance reeking of confidence, but Lucy came to stand in between them, her gaze hard, but amusement and confidence dripping from her words alike.
"Met a pack of wolves, asked for help. Among them was a girl, named Hayley, who is gorgeous. They gave in in a moment of weakness. And Caroline knows this."
Klaus' jaw tightened for a moment, before an amused smile reached his lips. "How amazing. One of the many things I like about you: always so tough and ready to stand up for anyone."
Vaishali coughed, sharing a look with Hayley who pursed her lips in a joking manner.
Lucy grinned, "That I surely am, thank you. See, this is how you lighten the mood."
Lucy was surprised at her own reaction. She was 99.99% sure that normally she would have replied savagely, turning the conversation into a very bad argument. This time she managed the situation. Great improvement.
She stepped away from where she was standing between the two men, shrugging as she tossed the car keys to Vaishali in the air.
"Here you go, 'V'. Come on Hayley, gotta go."
"Why?" asked Vaishali, slumping down on the couch. "We came this far. Let's stay for some time."
"Of course," said Hayley, "by the way, I'm Hayley Marshall, not that you don't already know."
Lucy smiled at her, shaking her hand, "Lucy Wright. Call me anything you want."
"And fyi, Klaus Mikaelson, I'm Vaishali Dobriyal." said Vaishali, shooting him a mock salute from her place on the couch. "Lucy talks a lot about you."
A variation of emotions passed through Niklaus' face at once. Shock, joy, incredulousness, until it finally settled down to amusement.
Tyler looked confused.
Hayley was stifling a laugh.
Lucy just glared hard at Vaishali.
"Just kidding." she said casually, waving her hands lazily. "Don't get your hopes high. But I totally ship you guys."
The phone on the office table rang, disrupting whatever string of curses which was about to leave Lucy's mouth.
"Hello, Damon." said Klaus, picking up the phone, a smirk adorning his lips.
"Klaus, where's Tyler?"
"Tyler is rather occupied. Is there anything I can do?"
"I'm going after the vampire hunter. So, if he'd like to join...."
"He wouldn't. I, however, will."
The call ended with Klaus declaring his decision of joining in the hunt for the hunter while Lucy threw a questioning look to Vaishali, being the only one who was not able to hear in the conversation due to the unavailability of enhanced hearing.
"Allow us to leave as well." said Vaishali, standing up from the couch and mock-curtsying to Tyler.
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Lucy had been initially confused as to why Vaishali had decided to leave all of the sudden, but her all initial confusion had been cleared away when 'V' had excitedly taken the driver's seat and Hayley had taken the other remaining seat, leaving Lucy to pitifully remember that her car is a two-seater.
"Where the hell am I supposed to sit?"
"Oh, it's a two-seater." said Hayley, only now noticing the insides of the car.
"Here, have my seat." Hayley offered, beginning to stand up.
"No, Hayley, sit down." said Vaishali, grabbing her arm and making her sit back down. "Where will you sit then? The whole point of coming here was to pick you, right?"
"But-"
"Look, Lucy," interrupted Vaishali, cutting off whatever reason Hayley was going to present. "I know you obviously can't squeeze in here. So, why don't you ask Klaus to give you a ride home? Or much better you can also join him in the hunter's hunt. In fact, we're also not going home currently. We have to visit somewhere first."
"Fine." she huffed childishly.
However, she also narrowed her eyes, completely understanding Vaishali's intentions behind this as 'V' winked at her and the car sped away from before her eyes.
"What happened?" asked Tyler, who had just emerged from inside the house.
"Nothing." she sighed. "Just the car doesn't have much space."
"I could have dropped you, but-" began Tyler but Lucy cut him off politely.
"Oh no, it's alright. I'll get some other car arranged. Don't worry."
"Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yes. Yes." she nodded encouragingly. "And chill out. It's not even dark. And even if it is, it's not like anything is gonna happen to me. Don't worry, go inside, I'll see to it."
Throwing one last hesitant look at her, Tyler went back inside, shutting the door with a brief thud.
Lucy bit her lip in contemplation, her phone tossing in hand, irking her to call for a car. But a part of her spoke against it and Vaishali's words from earlier repeated in her head,
'You're worried how he will react when he comes to know everything about you and your life?'
'You won't know what will happen until you let it happen. So take the risk.'
Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard a car pull-up on the driveway.
She took a deep breath, wishing to not regret her decision later on, as Niklaus rolled his car's window down, the car coming to a stop in front of her.
"Need a ride somewhere?"
"N-Yes."
Niklaus raised a brow at her in amusement, "You sure?"
"Um... Yeah." she shrugged, getting inside the car, smiling at him awkwardly.
Why in the name of merlin is she acting this way?
"So, where to?" asked Niklaus as the car's engine rumbled to life.
"Wherever you are." she said casually before quickly adding, "I mean I want to join in for the 'hunt for the hunter'."
"So, the hospital it is then."
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There was a certain air of awkwardness between the two of them which was irking Niklaus very much, hence he spoke up, cutting through the so-called air of awkwardness.
"How come your friends left you?" he asked jokingly.
"Well," she sighed, pursing her lips jokingly, "the car was a two seater, thus they both took the car. Left me stranded there."
"I like your new friend, huh. Shipping us together." he smirked.
"Don't mind her." Lucy rolled her eyes, although a smile was persistent on her face. "Never take her seriously. She is usually joking around."
"By the way, I like your car." added Lucy. "Which model?"
"Bugatti Veyron 16.4"
"That's just... wow." she nodded, impressed. "Perks of being rich."
"Yours also Lamborghini Aventador. You're also quite rich." shrugged Niklaus.
"Definitely not more than you, of course."
"I compel everything. Whereas, you... What about you?"
"I obviously can't compel. But... I might have looted a bank or two, maybe." she finished mysteriously.
"Really?" he chuckled, raising a brow at her.
"Duh, no. I was kidding. I just depend on the share market. And have partnership in a very spread out auctioning company. So I particularly do not work, and still earn."
"And you love luxury."
"Well, not exactly, love it. But yeah, who doesn't like it?"
They again fell silent, the clouds of awkwardness returning to hover over them, both of them wondering who is gonna speak up next, until they both spoke up at the same time.
"I was wondering-"
"What do you think-"
"Oh, sorry, you go first." said Niklaus quickly.
"No, it's alright, you go first." urged Lucy.
"No, you continue."
"It's fine, you can say it."
"No, ladies first."
"Nah, so you say it first."
"Okay, I'll say it." said Niklaus finally taking the cue.
"Exactly the thing I was saying, go on." said Lucy proceeding to look at him expectantly.
Niklaus opened his mouth to say something, but closed it the next moment, changing his mind, "forget it, you say what you were saying."
"Come on, Nik, just say it."
"Fine." he sighed, pausing for a moment before continuing. "I wanted to talk about two things. I guess I'll start with the second one first."
"Okay, go on. I won't interrupt."
"So, I didn't really get to ask you about this earlier, but how are you doing now? I mean after you got a concussion that day. I came back and you weren't there."
"Oh, it was nothing." Lucy shrugged casually. "I drove the car to the forest where Bonnie was on standby waiting to desiccate history teacher."
"But she ended up desiccating me instead."
"Can't blame her." shrugged Lucy. "She had no idea whose heart she was stopping."
"Well, she wouldn't have hesitated even if she knew."
"She doesn't particularly like you," said Lucy slowly, "so yeah, she wouldn't have hesitated."
"Everyone in this town blames me for everything bad happening in their life."
"I don't blame you." said Lucy, before quickly adding, "I mean it's not like anything bad is happening with me in this town. And, I also believe that whatever is happening is everybody's fault altogether, you can't just make one person the villain of your story."
"Those people are making me the villain, how fabulous."
"In fact, they believe you to have a villain complex."
Niklaus made a face as if offended by the statement but his next statement went quite against this thought, "Well, I'm as evil as it gets."
"Yeah, everyone knows this." chuckled Lucy.
"So," Niklaus cleared his throat, "now the second thing."
Lucy nodded at him as he looked at her, taking a long pause.
"I was thinking about our talk the other day," he began, taking significant pauses in between.
"Which one? We have had talks plenty of times."
"The day my mother linked you with my siblings, the whole sacrifice thing, that day."
"Oh," said Lucy, a look of realisation crossing her face, "that night at your place, when we talked about that all."
"Yeah, that one." nodded Niklaus, running a hand through his hair as his other hand's fingers tapped the steering wheel in a rhythmic motion.
Lucy assumed his actions to be out of nervousness.
For the first time in forever, the Niklaus Mikaelson was nervous because of 'her'.
"You can tell me whatever it is. Don't hesitate." encouraged Lucy as Niklaus' eyes flickered to hers for a moment before returning back to the road in front of them.
"I have been constantly thinking about the way I acted that day, and after a lot of thinking, I came to realise that... that day I did not act appropriately. I think I sort of imposed myself over you by not respecting your decision."
Lucy's lips had turned into a frown by now.
"I should have stopped when you said that you weren't wishing to be in a relationship right now. I must have respected your decision. I apologise for that. This had been constantly nagging me since then. I should have understood that you just weren't into me. I shouldn't have behaved so.... childishly."
He fell silent, his eyes turning to look at her as she contemplated his words, her eyes squinting as if thinking hard.
"I...." sighed Lucy, "I don't know, I really don't know, but I just- I can say one thing that.... don't be guilty about anything. You don't force yourself upon me in any way, like,- you did not cross any boundaries at all. I-I-I just think you should not think that way. It's just- it's just..... complicated."
She finished awkwardly, looking at him as if wondering (or maybe wishing) if he understood what she had just let out in a whole mess of words.
"But, I was- I was being persistent. I shouldn't have talked you into something you didn't want to do. That was certainly not good on my part. I should have understood that you are not willing to be in a relationship currently and I should have just stopped."
"Yes, I was not wishing to be in a relationship at that time, but- you did not talk myself into anything..... I took that decision in whole consciousness by my will, not under any sort of pressure or persistence. And it's not like you're bad, I mean- I mean you're pretty good-ya! You're... brilliant. I mean any girl would be lucky to be with you. And- And.... you're wonderful. I mean no regrets at all. Anybody would say yes to you."
A thick silence befell them as she finished, as if her words were still hanging in the air and repeating in both of their heads.
"Look," Lucy sighed, observing him out of the corner of her eye. "I also thought about our talk regarding that. And I came to a decision. And I.... I thought to just.... give it a chance maybe. I mean let's give it a try. Get to know each other. Our likes-dislikes, past life, current life, everything. Like get to know each other in person. So..... what do you say?"
"You surprise me, truly." said Niklaus, a laugh of sweet disbelief leaving his lips. "I was worrying that I'd somehow pressured you into all this, however now I'm assured that I did not."
"My pleasure." she grinned goofily, the atmosphere suddenly changing.
"So," grinned Niklaus, the happiness evident on his face, "let's get to know each other. Tell me about yourself."
"Woah, woah, slow down lover boy." chuckled Lucy.
"That nickname is horrendous." complained Niklaus, although the smile had never quite left his face.
"Okay, I won't go teenager mode on you." grinned Lucy. "But back to what I was saying: I meant something, you know, more of something official kinda thing, you know a little old school perhaps."
"Would it be too bold of me to assume your words to be a date proposal?" asked Niklaus, a grin slowly creeping its way up.
"No, it won't be too bold of you to assume so." shrugged Lucy before quickly adding. "I mean, what's a better way to know each other, right?"
"So, what day do you suggest?" smirked Niklaus.
"I don't know, maybe this Friday. I mean whenever both of us are free."
"I am always free." said Niklaus casually. "Whenever you are free. Any place you pick."
"Somewhere in Mystic Falls."
"The Grill?"
"That would be too dull. But, we can decide that later on." said Lucy.
"So," sighed Lucy, looking at him, "guess I owe you a date then, Nik."
"That you do, Lucy."
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A/n:
I just love all the awkwardy-awkwardy b/w them.
Next chapter would be (most probably) filler chapppy.
Until then,
Ripahhhhhhhhhh.
Word Count : 2594