"So, I never took you for a Texan." Klaus remarked.
I had allowed Klaus his request of one night and as we walked under the blazing Houston sun, I was sorely regretting it already.
"I'm not." I refuted. "This was Anastasia's choice of base."
"I should have known." Klaus said with a soft laugh. "Left to your own devices you'd be two doors down from Disneyworld."
"...They do have the best carousels."
Even though I knew this would only end in disaster, it was nice to have something breaking up the monotony. And though it wasn't love I felt towards him, it was comforting to enjoy the familiarity of him.
"You know, you only have until midnight." I reminded him as we continued to wander aimlessly. "So you might want to make a decision fairly soon."
"Well if I had time, I could have planned the most amazing date for you." He replied. "But I'm working with no notice and an unfamiliar location so bear with me a little."
"This is not a date." I corrected.
"What word would you use to describe a husband trying to treat his long-lost wife to a nice night before she inexplicably decides to return to her evil half-sister wife at the stroke of midnight?"
"...Complicated dynamics of a modern family."
"There is nothing modern about our family." He countered before drawing to a stop. "Speaking of, we're here."
I looked up at what seemed to be a recreational centre that was so ugly and old I might have thought it pre-dated me. There was the faint sound of music playing that suggested some sort of party was taking place but the sign on the front of the building made me think we were not the recommended clientele.
"This is a party for the elderly." I told Nik as he dragged me to a senior citizens home.
"Then at 2077 years of age you'll fit right in." He said with a smirk.
When we arrived at the attendants table, the young lady beamed up at us, before letting her eyes run up and down my husband's frame.
"Hello and welcome to Wooden Oaks Home for the Elderly! My name is Jessica and if you tell me who you're here to see, I can send you right through." She explained. She had the decency to at least try and keep her voice even, but her lustful gaze still betrayed her.
"Actually, I'm not here to see anyone." Nik began.
"What can I help you with? Love that accent by the way." She flirted.
"Well—"
"My husband and I were looking for a fun way to spend the evening when we came across this place." I began, taking Nik's hand in mine as I spoke. I didn't need to look at him to see the satisfactory grin I knew was on his face. "Do you mind if we crash the party?"
"Of course not!" She replied gleefully. "The more the merrier! Besides, these guys could do with a bit of fresh blood. Just write your names on these tags and slide right in."
I went to take the tag, but Nik intercepted and grabbed the name tags instead. "Don't worry my love, I've got this."
He lay a soft kiss on my cheek, that against my every instinct warmed my heart. He quickly scribbled down our names, handed me the tag and led me into the dancehall.
The interior was a significant upgrade from what the exterior had suggested, but that wasn't really saying much. It was a simple recreational hall, with a few streamers and balloons in an attempt to signify it was a party. Various guests upwards of 75 danced around the hall, surely a lot gladder to be here than I was.
"You know, for someone who claims to not have feelings for me anymore, your jealousy just then was incredibly suspicious." He teased with a smirk.
"My temper's a lot shorter these days." I replied, unwilling to give him the satisfaction.
"You've somehow got even better at lying and you were quite talented before." He remarked and I simply rolled my eyes at him. That was when I caught the name on his tag.
"Your name is not Harvey." I told him in confusion.
"According to this name tag it is." He replied confidently.
I eyed mine and realised it said Donna and was unable to stifle my laughter in time. "Really?"
"Really." He said with a grin. "Harvey Spectre, and his insanely sexy wife Donna...I forget her last name but you get the point."
"What's wrong with Fiore and Klaus?"
"Oh a multitude of things but chiefly, they cannot be together." Nik answered with saddened eyes. "But Harvey and Donna can."
"Why those two?"
"Because I remember your attraction to him and after a tumultuous qrelationship, he and Donna find their way back to each other."
His fingers were now interlocked with mine and his beautiful blue eyes were staring back at mine, almost daring me to take him back. But I couldn't.
"You should've gone with Harvey and Scottie." I murmured mournfully as I took my hand out of his.
"I don't understand that reference, but I think it's clear that I wouldn't want to anyway." He told me with a bitter laugh.
I hated that I was hurting him. I knew I would be, which is why I had tried so hard to stay away. This was never going to be easy, made only harder by him having to confront the reality that who I was then, is not who I am now.
"This was a mistake, Klaus." I told him with a weak sigh. "I should go before Anastasia notices I'm gone, and you should go home."
"No." He said definitively. "You promised me a night and I will have it."
"But—"
"You wouldn't have come at all if you didn't want to be here." He insisted. "So trust in me. For just once, Fiore, trust in me."
He was steadfast and unwavering, final giving me the chance to be vulnerable and wavering for the first time in a long time.
"Okay Harvey. One night." I said with a soft smile that he returned.
"Good." He cleared his throat and surveyed the party. "Now may I have this dance?"
"Absolutely not." I rejected, knowing that was definitely a recipe for disaster. "But...I will let you get me a drink."
He turned to me with a smirk as he answered. "One rum and coke coming right up."
I laughed as he made his way to the drinks table and then took a moment to examine the crowd. Since being confined to Anastasia's hovel, I had taken up people watching, imagining the lives they led in place of having my own life to live.
The residents of Wooden Oaks Retirement Home seemed to be in high spirits today. I presume parties were a rarity here and so it was nice to take in some levity. The guests drank and sang and danced and lived life to the fullest.
"Now what is a pretty young thing like you doing here?" I turned to see one of the residents hunched over beside me and leering at my chest.
"Ew." I muttered in disgust, not in the mood to be fending off senile sex pests. "I'd tell you where my eyes are, but I much rather you just left."
"I was just trying to be nice to you." He sneered. "You don't have to be so stuck-up."
"Did you not hear me? Go away."
"Or what?"
The anger in my being was bubbling right under the surface and I was ready to decapitate this man in front of all his friends.
"Leave my granddaughter alone, Steven!" Just as I was about to unleash my rage, a young lady about the same age as Steven came to my side and linked her arm with mine. "I will light your room on fire with you in it."
"You're all talk Jean." Steven scowled.
"That's what my ex-husband said too." I harped on. "I'll never forget the scent of his burning flesh."
Jean and I were clearly a terrifying duo as Steven looked between us for only one more second before hobbling away as fast as he could.
"You are formidable." I told the woman with a great beam.
"Says you!" She said with a laugh. "I mean come on, 'the scent of his burning flesh'? Magnificent story building."
I laughed with her even in the absurdity of the situation. "I've always been a great improviser."
"I'm sure you have." She replied with a teasing smile. "What's your name, acting partner?"
"I'm Fio—Donna."
"That's a new one." She remarked somewhat doubtfully, but she didn't push back any further. "Wanna sit with me? I promise it's more fun than standing here and watching old white people try to dance."
"Can't argue with that."
With our arms still interlocked, Jean led me to a table in the far corner of the room where she had presumably been sitting by herself and the first thing I wanted to do was thank her.
"I know we joked, but I do want to thank you sincerely for helping me there." I began. "Not everyone would do that."
"If I'm honest, it was for partly selfish reasons." She confessed. "I am very curious about what you're doing here. They don't call this Wooden Oaks Home for the Old and Discarded for no reason."
"Who in their right mind would discard a gem as lovely as you?" I asked.
"I wish." She replied with a miserable laugh. "Unfortunately, all my descendants are gone."
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Jean."
"It's not all doom and gloom." She added. "I got a niece. She and her daughter visit from time to time. But for the most part, it's just me on my lonesome."
"Well rest assured you have a lifelong visitor in me." I promised.
"That's very sweet of you darling." Said Jean. "But that does bring me back to my question, what are you doing here? Or more specifically, what are you doing here with Klaus Mikaelson?"
"Excuse me—"
"Already making friends I see." Klaus said as he sat down beside me and handed me my drink.
"Or enemies." I muttered with my eyes still locked on Jean, but her focus was now completely on Klaus.
"Klaus Mikaelson, I do not know what business you have in an old folks' home, but you better put it to bed or I will handle you." Jean threatened.
"What a hostile introduction, from someone I have never seen in my life." Klaus remarked. "And you are?"
"The bitch that's gonna put you in your place." She shot back.
"I am far too much of a gentleman to refer to women using such terms." He said with a disarming grin. "But to reassure you, I have no motive to being here besides spoiling my wife."
"So it's just a coincidence that you show up in Texas at the one retirement home with a Bennett witch?" She questioned.
"You're a Bennett?" I asked in surprise.
"You're damn right I am." She sneered, not taking her eyes off Klaus for a second. "And considering the number of times Klaus has tried to put us to pasture, I am not buying the act."
"He's telling the truth." I assured her.
"And why would I believe you, Fio-Donna?" She asked with a sceptical gaze.
"I used to know your great niece, Bonnie." I explained, causing her eyes to light up with recognition. "We were friends when I lived in Mystic Falls."
"Hm." Jean seemed to relax more but was still slightly on edge. "Klaus tried to kill my Bonnie. But he called you his wife—what kind of backwards friendship is that?"
"Mystic Falls has a very interesting take on interpersonal relationships." I replied sheepishly.
She laughed at this and seemed to finally calm down. "You know normally, I would've just set you ablaze and been done with it. But I heard the rumours...that Klaus Mikaelson had finally calmed down, set roots. That got something to do with you, Mrs Mikaelson?"
"I don't think I—"
"Yes." Klaus interrupted to my surprise. "She and our daughter have changed me for the better. I tame the monster to keep them safe—to keep them happy."
"Cute." Jean said with a wry laugh. "My girl used to keep me in check too. Nothing like the power of love."
"I'll drink to that." Klaus muttered tentatively offering to clink his glass, which Jean returned just as tentatively. "So, where is your girl?"
"Six feet under." Jean replied morosely. "I miss her every day. One of the most powerful bloodlines in existence and yet the only thing we're good at is dying."
"Sorry to hear that." Klaus commiserated. "I know it's not exactly the same, but when Fiore left me...there is simply no pain like it."
"You left him?" She asked me. "Why'd you come back?"
"Well the jury is still out on that one." I confessed.
"A breakup is not a death." Jean refuted with a roll of her eyes. "And the fact you two are sitting here together now just proves it. When the person you love dies, it's not a temporary pain with an easy solve. It's perpetual disappointment that the person you shared your whole life with is gone forever. Every smile, every laugh and every moment of joy is—"
"Marred by the fact that you can't share it with them." Klaus interrupted. "And the void created by them never seems to close up no matter how much time has passed. So you try to keep busy with anything and everything that might occupy your time, but they are irreplaceable. But life continues so you cannot stew in your misery forever. You look at the clock and tell yourself to get through the hour, until the hour becomes a day, then a week, then a month. And you think to yourself, finally I've overcome the grief. But all it takes is a small reminder of them, a scent, a song, a glance at your daughter...and the cycle starts all over again."
Both Jean and I were stunned to silence at Klaus' words. I never thought I would be putting him through such, especially since I worked hard to keep him from the hurt.
"I guess you do know." Jean mumbled. "You really did a number on him, huh?"
"I tried to protect you from that." I told him. "I didn't want you to have to miss me."
"I spent a thousand years with you Fiore Mikaelson." He replied, taking my hand in his. "You are ingrained in me. Even when you aren't here, you still are."
"That's how you know what you had was real." Jean remarked fondly.
"And infinite." Added Nik.
"But that doesn't mean your life has to end." I said as I pried my hand free of Nik's and turn to Jean incredulously. "Don't you want to find another love, Jean? There's a chance for you to have a new life. With someone you love just as much, maybe even more."
"That's just it, Fiore." Jean replied with a long-drawn-out sigh. "There is no other love. There will never be anyone else for me because I gave her all of it. All my love lies with her."
"No matter how hard you try with someone else, she'll always be there." He murmured in agreement.
"Right." Jean got to her feet and turned to Nik with a hard look. "You know Klaus? Never in a million years did I think I could sit down and have a conversation like this with you. I always thought you were this insidious evil. But no one who is capable of love like that can truly be evil."
"Thank you for saying that." Replied the shocked Nik. Even I was touched by her kind words.
"I don't know if you two will make it, but I sincerely hope you do."
And with that, Jean got up from the table and left the party, leaving Nik and I to dwell in the aftermath of her words.
A/N: Klaus really said let's hang out with people our own age