Rose walks into her bedroom tiredly. Feeling the full brunt of the weight of her disappointment as she does.
After Kol told the Mikaelsons that they hadn't been successful in finding an answer to helping her get back she had gone upstairs to her bedroom to sleep it off.
None of them had followed, giving her space and freedom.
None of them would ever openly admit it but they were secretly happy that she hadn't found a way to get back home yet because they felt selfish with her.
Elijah had never seen anyone stand up go Niklaus as fearlessly as she had when his brother almost killed the Bennett witch.
Niklaus had been angry with her for interfering, yes, but he actually allowed her to get Bonnie out of the barrier that prevented any of them from coming in. He's certain that none of them could have pulled such a feat off.
He had also noticed that Kol's body count had decreased significantly since Rose's appearance and just the other day he could have sworn he saw his younger brother smile, a smile without mischief or malicious intent.
Rebekah was finally happy to have a female companion to talk with and even share a little innocent gossip with.
But out of all the Mikaelsons none was as pleased as Klaus.
Yes, she had retrieved the White Oak stake from the Salvatores and placed her life at risk because of that.
She had even openly defied him in front of the Salvatores but Rose brought a certain light into his life. Even when she had been angry with him he could still feel the warmth of her light.
What had attracted him to Caroline was the fact that she was still bright and bubbly, despite being what they are.
Despite the darkness that they possess whether knowingly or unknowingly because of their vampire status but he was finding that in comparison to Caroline, Rose's light shone a thousand times brighter.
Whenever she smiled at him he found himself staring at her. Whenever she laughed with Rebekah he found himself wishing he could record the sound so that he can always listen to it.
Whenever she and Kol bantered yes, he felt jealous with their closeness but he also found himself laughing softly at their jests.
And when she sat with Elijah and discussed different aspects of history he found himself listening to her as she shared it from her point of view, from her outside perspective.
She even admitted to not understanding art or seeing it like he does but appreciated it nonetheless.
Rose freezes in her steps when she sees the large painting on her bed. She heads over to it and lifts it up to get a better view of it. It was her and she looked beautiful.
Soft yet fierce. Strong and determined.
She was sitting on a throne with a reaper scythe in her hand and a lazy smile on her face but her eyes warned the onlooker of a hidden danger if you ever crossed her.
Next to the painting is a crème envelope and she lowers the painting back onto the bed and opens the envelope that had her name on the outside in beautiful cursive handwriting.
There's a small card inside that simply reads 'I'm sorry'
Despite the crushing disappointment of not finding a way back home Rose finds herself smiling for the first time that day as she re-reads the note before looking over at the painting of her.
Is this the painting he had been working on and didn't want her to see when she was in his art studio with him?
"Verdict?" His voice comments from behind her as she whips her head to face him.
His body language read lazy and casual but she knows better. He was nervous to hear how she would respond to the painting of her.
"Not the greatest piece I've seen" she says as his face falls a little at her words before a smile overtakes her face,
"I'm joking Klaus, it's gorgeous" she adds with a bright smile directed to him as he smiles back.
"And you're forgiven" she adds, "but" she emphasises firmly when he smiles gratefully at her forgiveness, "don't ever talk to me like that again and never, ever, grab me in a choke-hold like that again. I'm not your toy" she adds seriously as she takes steps closer toward him before stopping directly in front of him so that he sees in her eyes just how serious she is about what she's said.
"Never again, love" He says with a nod as they stare into each other's for a few seconds before she turns to face the painting.
Why does she always feel this strange warmth in her chest whenever Klaus smiles at her?
The emotion was different from when Kol smiled at her.
With Kol she felt happiness because he was happy but with Klaus it was entirely different.
Stronger.
"I think I need to hang it up" she adds, biting on her lower lip as Klaus simply watches her. She was so beautiful.
Painting her had been so hard, especially after their falling out because that meant that he had to rely on his memory for the details of her face rather than seeing them every day.
Many times he had to start over due to his frustration over how a small aspect didn't look right.
He was his own greatest and worst critic because there were tons of discarded papers on the floor of his art studio.
He couldn't sketch her face perfectly and had to redo his sketches over and over again until he finally did.
"Where do you want it?" He asks her as she turns to face him, their gazes hold for a little longer this time and as per usual Klaus is taken aback by both her beauty and the look in her eyes.
Rose's eyes sparkled with emotion, maybe that's why it had been so hard for him to capture the right look for them when he had been doing the painting.
He had to look at it from a different angle in order to finally get the look he wanted.
Danger.
Determination.
Joy.
All combined into one.
"I don't know" she admits as she looks away from him to look around the room, searching for a nice spot where she can hang her painting.
"How about just above your bed?" He asks, noticing the space above her bed as she also turns to face it.
"That's perfect" she agrees happily, "now all I need to do is get–" but before she can finish her statement Klaus has left and returned with a nail, a drill and a hammer in the blink of an eye. "Cheater" she teases him for using his vampire speed.
She's seen that it surely has its advantages because you get to do things in the blink of an eye.
Klaus smirks his signature lopsided smirk at her and she flushes in response as he chortles internally at the sight of her embarrassment.
"I'll hang the painting up in exchange for one thing" he tells her.
"And that would be?"
"A kiss from the fair lady" he says before his brain can stop him. Dammit!
"Of course" she agrees much to his shock as she approaches him before stopping in front of him as she stares into his blue eyes.
It's time for her to have her fun too.
She wraps her hand around the back of his head as if to pull him down and kiss him on his red lips but she rather kisses him on his cheek before drawing back with a smug smile.
"There you go" she adds simply, proud of herself for finding the loophole in his words.
"Now Rose..." He starts, ready to say that wasn't what he meant but she cuts him off.
"You said a kiss. You didn't specify where" she adds with a bright smile, "hang my painting up, please" she says smugly as she stands aside so he can get to that.
Klaus chortles at this as he goes to hang up the painting.
Rose's mind was sharper than a sharpened knife and he'd enjoy testing just how sharp it really is.
He doesn't mind the kiss on the cheek, in fact he relishes it because he knows that one day it won't just be the cheek, in fact he'll make sure of it.
~Fall on me~
"It's a very beautiful painting" Rebekah admits as she stares at the painting that her brother had done of Rose.
He did her justice in every sense of the word. It looked like the painting would come to life and speak.
"Isn't it just" Rose sighs happily from beside her friend as they observe the painting.
Rebekah sneaks a small glance from the corner of her eye at her best friend after hearing Rose's happy sigh. Rose is too preoccupied with looking at the painting to notice.
Rebekah could tell that Rose had feelings for her brother, she'd seen it in how Rose looked at Klaus whenever they spoke but this painting definitely shows her that her feelings are well reciprocated.
"What?" She asks when she finally notices Rebekah watching her, snapping the blonde out of her musings as she turns to face the painting.
"He did you justice" she says instead as Rose nods in agreement.
Rebekah could tell that her brother obviously had deep feelings for Rose because he wouldn't just randomly decide to paint her.
Not even as an apology.
He could have easily done something else.
Something that wasn't his passion, something he adored and loved in order to show her that he was sorry but he chose to rather paint her.
To bring her image to life.
From the top of her head to the structure of her chin and even the look in her eyes.
He managed to make two things that contrast each other come together as a perfect reflection for what Rose is like.
She was a reaper, a dark entity in the world of magic and yet she carried a light that not even they possessed any more.
She dealt with dead people for over 3,000 years and yet she still managed to be as bubbly as ever, even if she used her bubbliness as a disguise for her sharp and calculating mind.
People could easily overlook Rose because of her warm nature but she was dangerous.
More dangerous than all of them combined.
"The reaper scythe was a nice touch too" Rose admits as she tries to ignore the disappointment gnawing at her for failing to return home. He doesn't know just how accurate he is about it. "Although I'm confused with why he placed me on a throne" she admits, thinking out loud.
She never told any of them that her mother was the Queen of the Reaper Plane so why did he paint her sitting on a throne?
Rebekah smirks at this.
Klaus loved bragging about how he was a king so clearly this meant Rose was his queen.
Does her brother even realise what this means yet or is he just as oblivious as Rose?
"Who knows with Nik" Rebekah shrugs casually despite the thoughts running rampant in her mind.
Funnily enough not even Caroline had warranted a painting from Klaus.
Usually all he did was draw her ponies or even her on the rare occasions but never a painting.
Rebekah noticed that over the years those he usually painted were those he considered dear. Clearly Rose had become someone that he considered dear to him.
She can see that poor Rose was oblivious to Nik's reciprocation of her feelings but she'll only give them a little nudge and leave them to do the rest.