question of the chapter: saddest scene in tvdu for you?
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"What on Earth are you doing?"
Klaus closed his eyes tightly the second he heard his brother's voice, inhaling sharply. He knew that when he heard the creaking of the wooden floorboard down the hall grow closer and closer that there was a ninety percent change he was going to be agitated in the next ten seconds and he was correct.
"Certainly not enjoying my time alone," Klaus responded, not turning around to face his older brother who had stepped into the sunroom at the back of the house they were staying in after he pulled open the door.
"You said that we would be in Italy for a few days, that you would find Katerina shortly, it has been weeks," Elijah narrowed his eyes at Klaus, who still continued working on his painting. The lighting in this house was poor, he only had so many hours of natural daylight to work with and wasn't going to give them up when he had a deadline.
"And here I thought you were the patient one," Klaus joked while glancing up at Elijah with a small grin, but this brother wasn't impressed. Klaus sighed tiredly and shifted a bit to face him."It takes time to win someone over."
"You do not need to win her over," Elijah gritted through his teeth."You have responsibilities in New Orleans, not to mention you risk our exposure with easy passing second we are not there. You are playing a game, one of which I do not understand the goal."
"I already told you-" Klaus gritted through his teeth.
"Yes, and I believed you at first," Elijah interrupted him."But now I am not quite sure what your motives are. Is it to hurt the girl? She has done nothing to you. Katerina is not here to see your game unfold and you have no idea whether or not this girl even knows where Katerina is. Why are you devoting so much time to her? Do not tell me this is becoming more than a game to you."
"And what could this possibly mean to me?" Klaus narrowed his eyes at his older brother.
"That you have not left because you can't," Elijah replied quickly."You enjoy spending time with her."
"You know what she looks like, Elijah, of course I enjoy spending time with her," Klaus said with a small smirk, but Elijah wasn't amused by his response.
"There are plenty beautiful women, Niklaus, most of which you do not give the time of day," Elijah reminded him before taking notice of something else. His drawing."What is it that you are drawing now? Who are those men?"
"Her brothers," Klaus answered as if it were obvious, but Elijah never met Astoria so he would not have known."They died years ago. It is her birthday tomorrow. She said she has nothing to remind her of them."
"So you decide to make her a painting?" Elijah raised his eyebrows.
"I thought you wanted me to do more nice things," Klaus reminded him with a scowl."If I am to make her believe that I care for her, then I cannot show up empty handed on her birthday."
"Have you even kissed her yet?" Elijah inquired.
His question caused Klaus to furrow his brow, frowning up at his brother. The answer was a no. Klaus hadn't kissed her yet. The first time he tried, she pulled away from him. It had surprised Klaus, as she seemed comfortable with him and they were clearly more than friends to her, but still made no effort. So he decided to hold off.
"Why are you asking?"
"You are pretending to court her, have been for weeks now," Elijah answered with a tired sigh."Yet you have made no effort to initiate anything with her. If you were really trying to fool her, you would have done so by now. But you are hesitant. Why do you think that is?"
"Is it wrong for me to not want her first kiss to be from the lips of a liar?" Klaus tilted his head upward, but Elijah didn't seem satisfied with that answer."What are you implying anyways? Go on. Tell me. Instead of having me guess like a fool."
"That the line between fiction and reality is beginning to blur for you," Elijah snapped at him suddenly."And that we will lose more than you know because you refuse to act-"
"We will lose nothing," Klaus cut him off sharply, standing up from his stool and coming face to face with his brother."And there is nothing real about my relationship with her. Not on my end. If there was, then I would not go end this right now. Take her back here, drain her of her blood, and compel her to tell me where Katerina is hiding out."
"Do that, then," Elijah ordered."If not, I will leave you to deal with the mess that you have created."
Elijah didn't give Klaus a chance to respond before he turned around on his heel and left the room, leaving Klaus by himself with his painting. He turned to look at his, a small frown forming on his lips. He wasn't sure he got it right. He asked Astoria to describe her brothers to him, but did so discretely so that she would not know what he was up to. He wasn't satisfied with the drawing. At least, he wasn't sure if he should be. Drawing from a description wasn't easy, but he tried his hardest to accurately portray them. He wouldn't know until he handed it to Astoria. It wasn't a big drawing, he did it on a canvas about the size of a sheet of paper. Small enough for her to easily travel with.
For a second, his mind wandered to thinking about what her life would be about soon. Astoria's brothers were said. She saw Katherine as her sister and soon, Katherine would be dead soon. Astoria would have no siblings left, and if she was telling the truth about her parents, then she had no family at all. But he wasn't responsible for her brothers or her parents. It wasn't his fault that they were dead, and he wasn't going to give up on something he had longed for because one woman had a pretty smile.
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Klaus assumed that Astoria would be back at her house by the time. The sun would be setting soon and unless she was with him or Katherine, she hardly came out at night. Astoria didn't like the dark. He couldn't tell whether or not that was because she knew about vampires and knew that most were out after sunset or because she had a typical fear of the dark.
Technically, he didn't know where Astoria lived. He wasn't supposed to. Astoria never invited him or told him where he lived, but of course he was keeping an eye on Katherine. But if he was about to reveal who he really was, it didn't matter anymore. He didn't have to pretend that he didn't.
He had only gone once, when he first arrived. He never went after that. So the directions were not incredibly clear to him. He knew the path that Astoria took to her home because he had left her there many times before. She wasn't as cautious as Klaus expected. She was at first, but once they spent some time together she had relaxed a little bit. Katherine seemed to trust her quite a bit.
Still, he walked slowly down the path towards her house. He had to admit that he wasn't feeling quite as well as he suspected. He had thought of the moment where he would find Katherine for centuries now. He dreamt of it. Yet he couldn't bring himself to move quickly despite knowing that every second he wasn't there was another second for Katherine to get away. But going there meant having to tell Astoria that he wasn't who she thought he was. She would want nothing to do with him after that, and he wouldn't be able to blame her.
The sound of a familiar laugh rang throughout his ears, causing him to look up from the path and look around the area. There wasn't much there. After he emerged from the woods, he had only passed two homes, neither of which were Katherine's and Astoria's. He knew that theirs was much further ahead. Yet hearing that laugh made him believe that he had missed it somehow.
He looked up ahead, to a small dark home that was a few feet from the path. The yard was covered in show, as was to be expected since it had been snowing earlier in the day, and on it three children were playing with the snow, building a snowman from the looks of it. Klaus recognized the woman helping them, he knew the emerald coloured coat that she wore around her, with dark fur at the ends of the sleeves and along the neckline. She was on her knees in the snow, trying to get the head of the snowman to stick. He noticed she had taken off her gloves, he could see them stuffed into the pocket of her coat.
"Astoria," Klaus called out to her, causing her to look up and smiled widely at him. He didn't know whether or not he was relieved to see her or not. On one hand, this would go much better if he didn't have to face her. If he could avoid seeing her teary eyes filled with betrayal and heartbreak when she learned who he was then it would be easier for him. On the other hand, showing up with Astoria would be sure to hurt Katherine more.
"Hi, Alessio," Astoria greeted him while he took a few steps forward onto the yard. He had given her a fake name a few weeks ago, it had become too suspicious to keep it from her.
"What are you doing?" He wondered though he knew exactly what she was doing.
"Building a snowman," Astoria answered as if it were obvious. She settled the head on top while the kids around her began to decorate it with the buttons and carrot that they had."Care to join us?"
Before Klaus could respond, the door to the home they were in front of opened and a woman that looked to be just a few years older than Astoria stuck her head out, calling to the children in Italian and calling them in for dinner.
The three children, two young boys and a girl, groaned at having to go inside before they were finished.
"Alright, you heard your mother," Astoria spoke to them in Italian."I will see you all in a few days for your last lesson. Until then, be good, and do your work. And Merry Christmas."
The three children quickly said goodbye to Astoria, hugging her tightly and smiling at her before they took off towards their house, ready to go inside and leaving Klaus and Astoria together.
"Who are they?" He inquired. He wondered if she had any connection to them at all. They seemed to like her, and it seemed like Astoria knew them well. She was teaching them something.
"A family I met when we moved in. Their father died at the start of fall," Astoria explained to them."I've been helping watch them occasionally and teaching them English. Their mother has family in America. She is planning on taking them after Christmas."
"That is. . . kind of you," Klaus replied while Astoria smiled and nodded her head. He wasn't sure if she was even paying attention. Her gaze remained on the house where the door had just closed. Her smile slowly faded and she bit down on her bottom lip before she looked away. Klaus couldn't tell what was going through her head. He couldn't put his finger on it. She seemed sad, or rather regretful.
"Do you want to have children one day?" Klaus asked her, causing her to look at him quickly.
"Sorry?" She furrowed her brow, unsure if she heard correctly. He probably shouldn't have asked her that."Oh, um. . . I suppose so."
"You don't sound certain," Klaus noticed. He thought she would have. She was kind, patient, and caring. From the conversations they had in the past, it seemed like she longed for a normal life with a family of her own.
Much of what Astoria told him over the last few weeks wasn't exactly true. She had to move around the truth in order to protect her and Katherine. But he knew some things couldn't be lies. If she was with Katherine, then her life was unstable and she did move place to place, unable to build a home anywhere. He was familiar with that lifestyle too much for his liking.
"I would love to have children one day," Astoria clarified with a nod of her head."But I'm afraid I won't get the chance."
"May I ask why?" He wondered.
Astoria pulled her coat around her tightly, shivering a bit from the cold. Her legs were wet from kneeling in the snow and her hands were burning red from the cold since she took her gloves off.
"I travel too much with my sister," She answered him, walking past him and prompting him to follow her off of the yard and onto the path he just came from. The path wasn't much better, it was still covered in snow, but enough people had left footprints on it for the snow to become flattened.
"You do not have to leave just because she does," Klaus said to her, but he wasn't sure why. It was true that she didn't have to continue to run with Katherine. Klaus wasn't after her. He didn't even know she existed until a few months ago. But he could see that she was unhappy with the life that she had.
"You do not understand," Astoria said to him, fiddling with her fingers nervously while they walked down the path. He presumed they were heading towards her house. Where Katherine was.
Astoria rubbed at her wrists, biting down on her bottom lip and looking down at the ground.
"Then explain it," Klaus replied softly.
Astoria looked up at him and sent him a small, shaky smile. One that she had forced onto her lips and one that he thought she did far too often.
"My sister saved my life, she has done more for me than anyone else," Astoria explained to him slowly."I owe her everything. I cannot abandon her."
Klaus inhaled sharply, looking at Astoria who had looked away again. He didn't know why he didn't see it before, why it was only clear to him now. Astoria wasn't staying with Katherine out of love. He wasn't even sure she loved Katherine, but he was sure that Astoria was staying out of obligation and fear because she felt that she needed to. Katherine brought her into their world for whatever reason, Klaus still wasn't sure about that. But Astoria didn't get much freedom in it. Astoria had to watch who she interacted with, be prepared to leave at a moment's notice, any unnecessary action risked Katherine's life. She always had to act with caution because if Astoria messed up, Katherine would get rid of her in a heartbeat.
"What are you doing out here anyways?" Astoria asked him suddenly, switching the topic of conversation.
"Oh, um," Klaus began, unsure of what he needed to say. He could tell her the truth now, demand she lead him to Katherine like Elijah insisted, or just follow her home. He could finish things here. But in that moment, he had forgotten everything that he had wanted for the last few centuries.
"I-I was dropping off a cake," He lied. It wasn't uncommon for bakers to drop off deliveries. He had ones brought to his home all the time."Speaking of which, I hope you like chocolate."
"Why?" Astoria wondered, confused by his sudden question.
"For tomorrow," He answered as if it were obvious, wondering why he was still keeping up with this act when he planned to end it today.
Ending it on her birthday would be cruel, also on the holidays that she loved so much. Which meant that he would have to wait a few days. He had no problem being cruel to anyone else, but when he decided this, he didn't think that he would become so connected with Astoria. Klaus was going to deny it was nice to pretend to be someone he wasn't for a little bit. When he could forget all of his troubles and pretend to be human for a few hours a day. Astoria helped with that. She treated him with more kindness in the last few weeks than most people ever have. He didn't have a reputation to uphold when he was around her. He didn't have to do anything but spend time with her.
She could at least enjoy her birthday and the holidays first. That was what he owed her at least. He spent the last few weeks using her to get to Katherine and playing with her heart. Once he killed Katherine, she would be alone. Her life as she knew it would be over, for what appears to be the second time. After that, Klaus didn't know what Astoria would do with herself, but he hoped that she was able to life the type of life she wanted. If she even knew what that was.
"Oh. You do not have to-" Astoria shook her head quickly.
"But I insist," He cut over odd."Unless you prefer someone else. . ."
"Hmm, well, there is another bakery across town that does make delicious cakes," Astoria teased, causing him to smile slightly."Yours will be delicious. I'm sure."
Klaus nodded his head slowly as he looked up the road. He could see one more house far ahead, but he could barely make it out as the snow was beginning to pick up again. He knew that he couldn't go all the way to the house. He couldn't let Katherine see him.
"I should get going," He said suddenly."I have to finish your gifts before tomorrow."
"Gifts?" Astoria repeated."As in more than one? You do not have to-"
"I want to," He cut her off, knowing very well that she would object. There were only two, the painting and the cake. They had already made a plan for him to meet her tomorrow, he was planning on giving it to her then."Are you still okay with meeting me tomorrow?"
"Of course," Astoria smiled at him happily and nodded her head. He returned the smile, but she noticed that it wasn't as strong as it once was.
"Are you alright?" Astoria inquired, raising her eyebrows."You seem. . . Nervous."
"It's nothing," He quickly dismissed, which was true. Klaus wasn't worried about anything at the moment. He was only dreading going back and seeing his brother's disappointed face and probably getting another lecture.
"If it is something, you can tell me," Astoria insisted, stepping closer to him a bit."I'll help you in any way I can."
"I know that you would," Klaus replied almost immediately, nodding his head once and smiling at her softly.
He slowly reached forward, brushing his hand against hers and lacing their fingers together. Her hands were freezing since she wasn't wearing her gloves, but despite that, something about her touch still made him feel warm inside. It was a shame that he would be losing that feeling any day now.
"You should. . . Get inside," Klaus mumbled quietly, raising her hand up towards his lips and placing a kiss against her knuckles."You are going to get frostbite. If you haven't already."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Alessio," Astoria said with a small laugh. She leaned forward and placed a kiss against his cheek before she smiled at him once again and turned to the side, walking onto the path and away from him.
Klaus didn't turn to leave the second she walked away. His eyes remained on her. Klaus wasn't an idiot. He knew going into this that it would be difficult not to get close to her in some manner. Despite what many thought, he wasn't a complete heartless monster. He did have feelings and a heart, and he did know what he was doing was wrong. But it was just another thing to add to the list. Letting her go would hurt, but temporarily. Within a few days, he would have moved on, and within a few weeks, he would forget her. That was just how time worked when you were immortal.
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It was dark by the time Klaus returned to his house. The sun had set soon as he said goodbye to Astoria and the walk back was a long one. He had no desire to walk at a quicker speed either. He hoped that Elijah had gone to bed when he stepped inside the house. But he soon learned that was not the case. The second the door closed behind him, Elijah should have been there. He would have been waiting to see if Klaus had followed through. Yet there was no one there.
When Klaus listened, he couldn't hear anything. He couldn't hear movement, or a heartbeat, or even the sound of him breathing. The house was dark. Still. As if no one but him was home. It didn't take long for Klaus to spot the note that was left on the small wooden table by the door. He didn't have to read it to know what it said. Elijah had gone.
Klaus couldn't say that he was surprised. Elijah did warn him, and he knew that his older brother was doing. By leaving, Elijah was forcing him back to New Orleans. It wasn't smart for him to be out on his own. It was rare for Klaus to be without him too. Elijah thought Klaus had wasted enough time, but that wasn't how he saw it. Getting to know Astoria wasn't a waste of time to him. She offered him something that he couldn't get anywhere else. Someone who listened to him, who was kind towards him, who made him laugh and smile and think. But thinking that only filled Klaus with dread for what was to come. It was all a lie that would have to end soon. Yet it didn't feel like one at all. At least not to him, and definitely not to Astoria.
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Next time in this is where i'll be waiting for you
Klaus' identity is revealed to Astoria.
Okay I know I said last time that Klaus' identity would be revealed this chapter.
But I forgot that I wanted to include something that showed how Klaus was feeling. Originally it was just going to be one scene in the next chapter but I felt like it needed more so I gave it a full chapter.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope you all enjoyed! Be sure to comment your thoughts and have a good day/night!