I know this seems like a bit of a filler because, well, there's no Klaus in this episode. So, lots of fluff. And some Caroline because I love her. Please enjoy and stay safe!
***
Rebekah called Klaus early in the morning to inform him of what runes she saw in the cave system she nearly killed Elena Gilbert in the night before. According to them, there was a white oak tree that was around 300 years after destroying the original. No doubt it was used in various lumber projects. Now it was a matter of which ones and if they could destroy them before other people found out.
Klaus was a bit disheartened that his siblings jumped ship, all but Rebekah, but he ultimately understood why. At least he had his fiancee by his side.
As Klaus poured two mugs of coffee and handed one to Talia who was sitting cross-legged on the small kitchen island, he asked, "You felt this weak all the time?"
She chuckled and took a sip of her piping hot coffee, replying, "Yep. After a little, it felt normal, and then it would feel worse. I'm sorry all of you have to go through that shit storm."
"It gives me true empathy on how you feel or, for the time being, felt," he said. "You said you feel great."
"I do," she said. "I mean, I'm not able to be as badass as an Original, but I feel great."
"Is it too much to ask for soup?" he asked.
"Mmm... not at all," she said, running her fingers through his hair. "But it'll be made from a can this time."
"I'll take whatever."
"Good." She kissed him. "Because I don't run a restaurant."
He chuckled and sat down on the couch, nursing his cup and watching his fiancee make a simple canned soup.
"You're staring," she murmured, watching the pot in the microwave.
"Can I not adore my future wife?" Klaus asked.
She blushed a little and replied, "I suppose you can."
"Your heart sped up when I called you my future wife," he pointed out with a grin.
"Well, I like the sound of it," she admitted, taking the pot out of the microwave when it beeped and served some soup in a bowl. "Here you are, future husband."
"Thank you, love," he said, carefully eating spoonfuls.
"Do we have to stay in?" she asked, sitting beside him.
"Yes," he replied. "My mother, Finn, and any other Mikaelson enemies are out looking to kill you since if you die, so will the rest of us."
"And there's nothing we can do?"
"Nothing you can do and since I am here to protect you with my life, there's nothing I can do either except, you know, protect you with my life."
"Why didn't we run and hide? Isn't my apartment the first place people would look?"
"I think they would know you have the Mikaelsons looking out for you."
"Only you."
"And Rebekah. She'd be here at the drop of a pin."
He finished the bowl and placed it on the coffee table, lying down across the couch with his head in Talia's lap.
"I feel dreadful."
"I know, darling," she replied, playing with his hair. "You were there for me when I was feeling like this and I'm here for you now."
"Thank you. I didn't realize how awful it was all the time."
"Anytime. And just be glad I'm not on my period."
"I'm sure it would be awful. Rebekah would end up killing you for making her experience that again."
"Really?"
"She was just about murderous when she was human during that special time."
"I don't blame her. My homicidal tendencies kick in most during Hell Week."
He chuckled.
"Now, since we're here, I wanted to ask you something."
"What would you like to know?" he asked.
"Are you a fan of a June wedding?" she asked with a tiny smile. "We didn't get the chance to plan at the Grille before, you know, people died."
"I am fine with any wedding as long as you're the bride," he said.
"You can stop wooing me, darling. You already got me to agree to be your wife."
"You make it sound like I made you agree when you were planning to propose that same night."
"I'm still a little bummed you beat me to it."
"You can always redo it."
"Nah. I think the double proposal was perfect enough."
He smiled and kissed her hand.
"But, June wedding?"
"Any wedding you want."
"No," she whined. "I want your input. You were willing to plan yesterday."
"If I'm being honest, love, with all of the developments that have come up over the last 24 hours, I would be thankful if we get to have a wedding in the first place."
"Unfortunately, that's fair," she said.
"But if you say June wedding, I ask which day."
"No. I want us to get married when we are ready."
He sat up slowly and slung an arm over Talia's shoulders, letting her cuddle into his side naturally. He was simply contemplating.
"What are you thinking?"
"We agreed that in a few months, we would change you into a vampire."
"Yep."
"I was wondering if you wanted to get married before then while you're human. Or, well, mortal."
She bit her lip and furrowed a brow, admitting, "I wasn't even thinking about that."
"Well, the choice is yours."
"I think...I would like to get married and you could turn me after the ceremony. It'd be some symbolic gesture about starting a new life with my husband and as a vampire."
"Well, of course it has to be symbolic."
She held his hand. "You know, it doesn't have to be a big ceremony. Your family and mine, maybe a few stragglers. Liz and Caroline need to be there. Caroline wants to plan it and I want my mom to be there to give me away."
"I think Liz would love that," he said.
"We might have to plan on her schedule since we never know who will turn up dead."
"Ah, yes. The recent string of murders in Mystic Falls."
"Does it concern you at all?"
"No. The killer is obviously human and can easily be taken down."
"Did you hear they're thinking it's Al?"
"Alaric? The man that took part in daggering Kol and temporarily killing you yesterday?"
"Well, that second part wasn't his intention."
"Yes, but I should skin him for what he did."
"No, you shouldn't." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Al's a good guy and he will always do what he thinks is best for Elena. He's kinda her guardian and I think that's admirable. I also seriously doubt he's behind the murders. He's a good guy."
"Don't remind me of the Gilbert. If her blood wasn't valuable, I'd be tempted to skin her as well."
"Caroline told her off last night. I think Elena will regret what she did enough with her skin still on her body."
The two laced their fingers together.
"You know, running away to New Orleans sounds really good right about now," Talia said.
"I agree," he said. "If only people weren't trying to murder us all."
"I could drink to that."
"You could drink to anything."
She smiled. "Being an alcoholic will be a useful trait in my transition."
"Or it might lead to an addiction to blood," he said, brushing some hair out of her face so he could see her better.
"We'll know when it happens. Until then, I want wine." She stood up and grabbed a bottle of wine from her little wine cabinet and a couple of plastic wine glasses. "I kind of broke all the glass ones. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all."
She sat back down on the couch, handing Klaus his wine glass, and the two sat in complete bliss, acting almost unaware of the hellish nightmare they were living through.
***
Abby Bennett had gone through with her transition, promising to be there for Bonnie this time around. Despite the fact Caroline Forbes would rather drop dead than help her "friends", she knew she was going to help Abby because it was in her nature to help those in need. She was going to be the on-the-rails Stefan Salvatore that she had when she first transitioned.
Despite the fact Abby had gone so long without her magic, she at least felt connected to nature which explained her nice garden. She loved nature and being a part of it. When her powers came back, she felt at peace once again. Now, all of it was gone.
It was no secret that Bonnie was less than a fan of vampires, but she bit the bullet and went through it for Caroline. With her mom, it was a little complicated. Bonnie couldn't understand exactly how much vampirism was affecting her mother and she never would since their relationship would never be at its full potential ever since Abby walked out on her.
"It's all about control," Caroline said, pouring some blood from a hospital bag into a cup for Abby. "It's gonna suck and you're gonna want to rip the throat out of anything with a heartbeat, but that's life. Well, you're dead, so the undead life."
"Don't remind us," Bonnie said, her jaw set.
"Sorry," she grumbled, handing Abby the glass.
"Thank you," Abby said, taking the glass as the veins under her eyes popped out.
"Control," she said. "You have to take it in moderation. It's easy to get addicted to the stuff."
"How do you control it?" the woman asked, trying her best to take slow sips of the red liquid.
"Alcohol and binge eating," she said. "I mean, with vampirism, you don't have to watch your weight which is kind of the dream."
"But what happens if you can't control it?" she asked.
"People die," Caroline answered bluntly. "And you feel so guilty about it that you consider stepping into the sunlight and ending it all."
"This isn't helping," Bonnie said angrily.
"Oh, sorry," she snapped back. "I'm sorry that you want someone who's only been a vampire for six months to teach your mom how to do it. I was the only one who showed up on short notice so maybe you should be thankful I'm even here after the fact you guys tried to murder my sister."
"That wasn't the intention," she retorted.
"Oh, so you were just gonna murder the Originals because it seems like a fun thing to do?"
"They deserve it."
"And after everything you guys have done, so do you." She shook her head. "I was willing to be a friend to you during this time because I know how hard this is and I'm willing to put up with your mood even if I want nothing more than to strangle you, but if you're gonna be a full-blown bitch, then I'm leaving."
"No, please," Abby begged. "I want to learn. I need to learn. For Bonnie."
"Okay," she said. "Repeating what I already said: control. You only need to control your thirst for blood because other addictions can't hurt you. Drugs, alcohol, food... I mean, it's not healthy, but it definitely can't kill you anymore. You also get to have more of it because it won't kill you."
"Any specific things?" she asked kindly.
"In my first few days of transition, I ate about an entire convenience store's stock of potato chips. It's also easy to compel alcohol and stuff from out of town, but in Mystic Falls, everyone's going on vervain so you can't really take your chances anymore. Outside of town, you're golden."
"Thank you, Caroline."
"So vampirism is just about controlling and manipulating people?" Bonnie asked. "That's so wrong."
"Okay, can you stop attacking me?" Caroline asked, her arms crossed. "I'm trying to help."
"This is awful," she said. "Compulsion is not cool."
"I never said it was," she retorted. "I'm just giving her some tips. Stop attacking me."
"I'm not attacking you."
"It sure feels like it." She set her jaw. "You're lucky I'm here."
"And we're lucky you like to remind us of that."
"I'm gonna tell you exactly what I told Elena yesterday: I'm mad. I'm so mad and I know that one day I'll probably be dumb enough to forgive you guys because I'm dumb enough to still love you. For now, I'm done because I can't handle this. You guys tried to tear my family apart. We've gone through enough as it is. I've gone through enough as it is and you were so ready to kill my sister."
"She's loyal to Klaus."
"She's his soulmate." She grabbed her purse. "He's loved her for a thousand years. I wonder if anyone would love me as long as he's loved her. And she loves him. So, yeah, she's gonna be loyal to him, and seeing as how you guys are, I don't blame her. And I wanna go now and see my boyfriend because he would never do this to me."
"Care-"
"Abby, if you need me, call me," she said. "I'll be there. Until then, bye."
She slammed the door behind her and saw Jonas, smiling sadly as she ran into his arms.
"Hey," she said, her voice muffled by the fact she was wrapped in his tight embrace.
"How was it?" Jonas asked.
"Awful," she said, tears brimming. "I love Bonnie and Elena. They've been my best friends since forever and it really hurts for them to not love me enough."
"It'd be easy to say they don't love you," he said. "I think they do. They just have some learning to do before they realize how valuable your love is."
"You're biased," she said, a tiny smile threatening to arise from her sad face.
"Yes, I am." He kissed her cheek. "But I'm right. Do you wanna go anywhere?"
"Let's just head back to your place," she said. "I like spending time with you there. It feels like everything melts away."
"Then let's go back to our safe haven."
***
Talia and Klaus were wrapped up in each other, Klaus having finished reading Wuthering Heights to his fiancee who liked listening to him talk. Talia was only a little wine drunk, but she sobered up pretty quick with the Original vampire advantages she had temporarily.
"You know, I love your voice," Talia said with a smile, placing the empty plastic glass on the coffee table. "One of these days, I'm gonna ask you to read Pride and Prejudice."
"You love Jane Austen?" Klaus asked, setting the book down.
"Is the sky blue?" she asked rhetorically.
"Sometimes it's gray," he said with a smile. "But I'll keep that in mind. I could consider doing it, as long as you read for Elizabeth."
"But I like listening to you read."
"And you never thought that I absolutely adore the way you speak? Listen to you ramble about why oil painting is better than acrylic, hearing you hum while doing chores, or hearing you sing in the shower? I absolutely want you to read for Elizabeth."
"Well, only because you ask so nicely and Ms. Elizabeth Bennett is my role model. That, and I really want you to read for Mr. Darcy."
He smiled and then immediately frowned when his phone rang. Reading the caller ID, he answered.
"What, Rebekah?" Klaus murmured into the phone in slight annoyance.
After a few passing sentences, Klaus bid his sister adieu on the phone and stiffened up.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Talia asked.
"Well, the Salvatores are looking to find white oak," Klaus answered. "As if trying to keep you safe wasn't already a dangerous task since we are all weakened, we now have to stop them."
"And you're gonna have to do that without me," she guessed.
"Linked to my family or not, I will never intentionally put you in harm's way," he said. "They want us dead and you are an easy target. But since you're defended, they're going the route that can kill us all either way."
"Do what you have to do, Nik," she said, caressing his face gently. "I'll be here, doting and bored and safe."
"I'll call Caroline," he said. "I wish I didn't have to go-"
"Do what you have to do," she repeated. "I understand."
"I will be back, you know. I promise."
"I'll hold you to it." She kissed him. "Be safe."
"I shall." He stood up and straightened his clothes, sending a text. "I shouldn't be long. I will pop in every now and again and Caroline will be here soon."
"Alright. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you more. I love you."
"I love you too." She stood up and gave him a quick kiss. "Now, be a hero. I can't wait for the day where I can be a little more kickass than I already am."
"I think when you are a vampire, you'll be the most lethal force on the planet," he said with a small smile. "Kickass and all."
"Hell yeah." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later."
"I'll see you then."
He left and she worried about his safety, knowing damn well she was the one in the most danger. She couldn't help but worry since every time they were apart, bad things happened.