Considering the fact that Matt and Charlotte didn't actually even get into bed until past four in the morning, it was no surprise that they didn't wake up until the late afternoon. Neither had very much energy after the events of night before either. If Charlotte had had it her way they would've spent the day in watching tv but it was Matt's desperation for milkshakes that pulled them from bed and to the Grill.
She borrowed a pair of Matt's sister Vicki's jeans which felt weird and tight, alongside a hoodie of his that she wanted so she could pull the hood up and hide her face. Matt had tried to convince her that the bruise wasn't bad but Charlotte knew those nurses hadn't reacted the way they did without reason and when she went to check in the bathroom the purple from her cheek to her brow bone confirmed that when she'd fallen against the banister she'd made a nasty mark.
The Grill had been a good choice in the end, the strawberry milkshake that Charlotte chose was the drink of her dreams although she disagreed with Matt that putting fries in their drinks made any sense. The pair had actually started to lighten up after the events of the evening before when Matt fell silent, his eyes on the door as a pair walked in and to the bar.
Charlotte froze when her eyes followed Matt's and she saw Kol and Klaus entering the bar. She saw them approaching Alaric by the bar and they stayed that way, drinking for a little while before their attention fell to the other patrons. She didn't want to stand and run the moment they entered knowing that would only draw more attention but she didn't want to talk to either of them either. Instead Charlotte sank a little in her seat hoping they mightn't catch her, she and Matt were in a booth off to the side and perhaps if they didn't make a commotion they'd remain unnoticed until Klaus and Kol left.
Charlotte's back was to them and so it was Matt who saw as Klaus' eyes fell to Charlotte and softened, he could see he and Kol were talking about them. However much Matt disliked Klaus both he and Charlotte knew what would happen if Klaus came by and saw her face and he knew Charlotte wouldn't want that and certainly not here with so many people around.
"Charlie," Matt knocked her foot to get her attention off her phone where she was replying to a long text message from Damon outlining his latest Stefan and Elena argument. Matt nodded behind her and without turning she knew what he was referencing. Charlotte stiffened and her heart started to race, "I've got this, you head home."
Charlotte nodded, relieved when Matt told her to leave, after a grateful smile she slid from the booth and rushed out the door of the Grill. Charlotte had spent three months attached, often literally, to Klaus and so she wasn't surprised when she heard the door of the Grill open and close a little after her exit.
"Charlotte," Klaus called out. Charlotte didn't turn around in fact she sped up, pulling the hood on her sweater up and over her head as she tried to avoid Klaus, "Darling," Klaus called a second time, closer now.
"Take a hint," Charlotte called back without turning around as she crossed the street, head down as she hurried along.
"Don't be angry, love," he replied, Charlotte didn't need to look to know there was a grin on his face as he spoke, "We had a little spat. I'm over it already."
"Well, I'm not."
Really, Charlotte was, she had said what she needed to say last night and she wanted to move on. She wasn't even angry at all, she just didn't know how to face him and talk after everything that'd happened, that and pretending she was mad at him seemed the best way to avoid letting Klaus see her face.
"How can I acquit myself?" Klaus teased playfully.
"Klaus, just leave me alone."
"Oh, come on. Take another chance on me," Klaus grabbed Charlotte's arm as he spoke, catching her he spun her to his chest and rose his hand to her chin, "darling please."
"Just leave it," Charlotte replied, this wasn't the time, she didn't want him to see her face and so when he tried to tug her chin up she pulled it down, facing the floor. Klaus tried a new tactic now, he wanted to see her face, her eyes, he missed looking at her like they used to. He needed too, to see if she really was angry at him or if there was something else going on. Charlotte wasn't normally like this and her refusal to catch his eyes made him think she was trying and failing to lie to him about something.
"I certainly liked it better when you wore my clothes," Klaus teased as he pulled the hood from her head, she still wouldn't look up at him, her hair falling over her face and so he crouched down to peek at her properly.
Suddenly all the playfulness disappeared from his eyes. Charlotte's face was screwed up, her eyes squeezed tight so she didn't see his reaction when he inevitably saw her face but she didn't need to see, instead she felt him tense up, all lightness leaving his body and rage encompassing it. Charlotte peeked her eyes open and saw Klaus with anger in his eyes, anger and regret.
"Nik," Charlotte sighed as his hand left her chin and brushed her hair from her face. His touch was surprisingly tender, as though he was terrified to cause more harm than had already been done, "It's fine, please I just want to go home."
"Who did this," Klaus asked, his voice was low, calmer than she expected but she knew he was holding it in for her, she could literally see the rage that was begging to bubble over.
"It doesn't matter."
"If it was that football player," Klaus' voice was rising and he began to turn to return to the Grill when Charlotte caught his arm this time.
"Nik," her voice was harder than he remembered it going before as she called his attention, "Stop it. Why does everyone think it's Matt? Don't you dare touch him."
"Charlotte, who did this to you, I will end-"
"Stop it," Charlotte snapped, "Stop it. It doesn't matter how it happened. I just fell, I'm fine. I'm not a porcelain doll."
Klaus' eyes softened. Charlotte's hand was still clutching his arm and he didn't want it to leave him, his hand rose back to her face, fingers grazing over the bruise and then sliding behind and gripping her neck gently.
Charlotte was surprised when Klaus dropped it like she asked, she was surprised too when his hand rose to her neck and pulled her gently to his chest, his other arm wrapping around her waist. Charlotte knew she shouldn't but she leant into the hug, wrapping her arms around him and letting him pull her close, one hand rising to her head to stroke through her hair.
"I'm sorry that you got hurt," Klaus told her softly.
Charlotte nodded, smiling when Klaus tugged her tighter then falling when after a moment he stiffened as though in pain. Klaus' arms fell from Charlotte and he looked down at her, angry again.
"Nik?"
"What did you do?" Klaus asked her sharply, softening a little when he saw Charlotte's face screw up in confusion and hearing how her heart sped up with worry.
"What do you mean?" Charlotte asked, more nervous than she should've been, "What could I have done? You followed me."
"Kol," Klaus realised.
Charlotte reached out to grab at Klaus' arm but before she made contact there was space before her and Klaus was gone, he'd sped away. She shouldn't have done what she did next. After a moment of hesitation, Charlotte turned on her feet and rushed after Klaus back to where he'd left his brother at the Grill. She knew she should hate him but Charlotte worried about Klaus more than she wanted to admit.
She nearly went inside but she could hear a commotion in the alleyway behind and so, in a moment of poor decision making, she rushed behind the building to where the sounds came from. As she got closer she realised the voices were Klaus and her brother's arguing and she knew the choice she made was right.
"You didn't know I was friends with your Mummy?" Charlotte could hear Damon taunting, "Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do."
Charlotte sped around the corner terrified she was about to watch her brothers head fly from his body when another voice came from above.
"Leave him," Elijah called, Charlotte watched as Klaus turned to look at Elijah, "we still need him, Niklaus."
"What did mother do?" Klaus called, he could hear Charlotte behind him, he could hear her heart racing and her breath panting as she calmed herself after her run but he didn't turn, "What did she do Elijah?" Klaus asked a second time, finally turning to Charlotte who was standing with Damons arm protectively in front of her as Elijah stalked towards them.
"You tell me where the witches are or I'll have my sister kill Elena right now," Elijah threatened, Charlotte's breath hitched in her throat as she looked between Stefan and Damon, trying to wrap her head around what was going on.
"You told me we had until after nine," Damon argued defensively, pushing Charlotte back when he felt her trying to move past him.
"I'm sure Rebekah would be more than happy to start her work early," Elijah replied.
"Damon," Stefan sighed defeated, "tell them."
Damons face deliberated before finally replying. Klaus wasn't listening to his response, he wasn't focused on Damon or Elijah or his mother, he was watching Charlotte who was watching him. Klaus needed to know how much she knew and Charlotte needed to know what was going on and if he was okay, all her resolve to hate him crumbling as she watched him anxiously.
"Niklaus," Elijah called.
Klaus looked to him, knowing he would likely take Kol home to get more blood before they found their mother and so in a split second he sped forwards, grabbing Charlotte's arm and racing her to their family home first.
Surprisingly, when they stopped at last Charlotte didn't say anything, nor did she wrench her arm away in disgust like she did when she was angry at him and wanted him to know it. He'd dropped her arm as they reached the porch and she'd walked through the door he held open without an argument. Her eyes weren't filled with resentment, more resignation. It reminded him a little of the way she looked as she slid over next to him in Gloria's bar when they'd been arguing but she wanted to support him.
"Did you know?" Klaus asked softly as he followed her inside.
Charlotte shook her head, "I didn't- I don't."
Klaus knew she was telling the truth because he knew when she was lying.
He didn't look at her as they walked to the kitchen but his heart clenched with relief knowing she hadn't betrayed him. Charlotte followed him and watched as he set the kettle on, pulling out her phone she dialled Stefan. Both her brothers had been ringing her relentlessly the past few minutes after her disappearance and surprisingly, the more reasonable of her two brothers at the moment was probably Stefan.
"Stef," Charlotte said when he picked up on the first ring, "save Elena. I'm fine."
"Where'd he take you?"
"Don't worry about it," Charlotte replied, "you know he won't hurt me. Just fix this and I'll see you later."
On the end of the line Stefan opened his mouth to argue before agreeing. He remembered Klaus and Charlotte over the summer and however much he hated to admit it, he knew that hadn't really ended that night in Chicago and that Charlotte was right, Klaus wouldn't hurt her.
"Be safe, Charlie."
"Careful Stef," Charlotte teased, "someone might think that humanity is coming back on if you talk like that."
Stefan hung up on her and Charlotte laughed. Klaus was handing her a mug of tea now and Charlotte leaned against the counter as she looked at him, pulling the mug up to blow on it softly.
"Charlotte, tell me who did that to your face."
Klaus couldn't stop his eyes running over the purple across her face and up towards her eye. It was on the left side of her face and was purple and green, starting across her cheek and running up to her brow bone. The bruise was a fairly uniform line not asymmetrical like it'd been caused by a fist but he couldn't believe what she'd said about it being caused by a fall. He knew she wasn't telling him everything, he needed to know the truth about who'd done this, who he'd let do this.
"Am I a hostage?"
Klaus rolled his eyes at her deflection before replying, "I'll take you home after the ritual is stopped."
Doors behind them banged open and Kol and Elijah came in, the former a little more joyfully than the stoic Elijah. Klaus didn't miss the hitch in Charlottes breath as Kol and Elijah entered the room but when he looked to her she didn't say anything and so he went to the fridge and pulled out a blood bag for each of his brothers. Elijah gave her an apologetic glance at her presence whilst Kol seemed gleeful, none of them addressed her but Charlotte did take a step back towards Klaus.
The three brothers left a little after Elijah and Kol's return and Charlotte was left alone in the mansion she'd attended the ball in the day earlier. She half wanted to explore but also she didn't want to pry so after finding the living room she settled down on a couch, sipping her tea and scrolling on her phone a little before eventually dozing off to a light sleep.
It was the voices that first made Charlotte stir but they didn't pull her from her sleep, she thought she could hear Klaus' voice talking but another was with him, Rebekah, she realised at last as a blonde face joined her dreams. Charlotte could faintly hear them talking about natives and a tree but she pushed the thought back from her head and tried to return to her sleep.
"Charlotte."
Someone was shaking her but she didn't want to pull herself from her dreams, she could feel the couch shift beneath her as the person sat beside her and then a hand brushed her hair from her face.
"Charlotte," Klaus called, his lips quirking up into a smile when her eyes squinted open and her nose scrunched up, "I said I'd take you home."
Charlotte was an idiot.
Charlotte was an idiot because despite everything she'd spent the past week saying, she didn't want to go home right now. She knew if she went home she wouldn't sleep, she'd be woken properly in their journey and then she'd be up until the early hours replaying everything that had happened today and the day earlier.
If Charlotte was truly honest with herself, wanting to stay wouldn't just be about her insomnia when she was alone, but Charlotte wasn't honest with herself and so she lied, her fist rising to rub her eyes as she did, "It's too late to drive."
Klaus considered her, he hadn't actually been planning on driving her home but he also didn't think her reasoning was about driving.
"You can always stay the night if you like," Klaus offered, less smug about it than he could be. Charlotte nodded and Klaus pulled her to her feet, hand clutching hers as he tugged her to his room.
Charlotte pulled Klaus' clothes on, a singlet and his shorts, like the first night she'd stayed with him and climbed into bed, pulling out her phone as Klaus changed.
"Hey Damon," Charlotte said sleepily into the voicemail, "I'm glad Elena's okay, I'm all good, I'm just spending the night at Matt's again. I'll see you tomorrow."
Klaus switched off the lights and placed Charlotte's phone on the side table as he slid in beside her.
"Matt's huh," Klaus teased, laughing when Charlotte blushed and buried her head into the sheets.
"Shut up," she replied, embarrassed but pleased when he pulled her back in his arms properly.
They lay in silence, Charlotte wanted to ask how the night had ended, they were all home and alive again, that Charlotte knew, but she didn't know to what extent. She knew Klaus liked his secrets and she didn't know where they were anymore and if she was someone he trusted with secrets.
"My mother tried to kill me tonight," Klaus told Charlotte after a moment. He felt the hand that was lying on his chest tense and then soften, thumb rubbing back and forth in comfort.
"I'm sorry."
"I know."
There was silence between them again, Charlotte didn't know where they were really now. She wasn't really past Klaus feeding her his blood in Chicago, but also Klaus since then had been actually there for her more than she'd expected. She didn't know where they could be with everything between him and her brothers, but also each time he was threatened, like tonight, like at the dinner party, she worried too much and felt so frightened.
Klaus still didn't know it was Kol who'd caused the bruise on her face either, she was sure it would come out and she was worried about the repercussions when it did, not wanting Klaus to lose more family. She knew she needed to hate him, for her brothers and for their friends and for Matt and even for herself but she just couldn't bring herself to loathe him as much as she should.
Charlotte felt content in Klaus' arms again. His fingers were running lazily through her hair, massaging her head lightly and she could feel his chest rise and fall against her head. She was warm again, his arms were tight and she felt safe, less anxious as she neared sleep than she had felt in weeks. For once her sleep wasn't something she collapsed into after the end of an exhausting day worrying for her friends and family, but something that she was drifting into, content and at peace.
Charlotte broke the silence between them before she finally drifted off with something she didn't want to say but knew she needed to for her sake and his.
"You know- you know this doesn't mean its like the summer again."
"I know," Klaus growled sleepily.
Klaus did know. Despite it only being weeks, they were both different people from who they'd been in the summer time and they were different together. He knew he'd hurt her more than he ever intended that night in Chicago and the way her face fell when he'd betrayed her hadn't stopped haunting his dreams. He couldn't believe after everything he'd done, that she'd given him even the smallest of chances and although this wasn't everything he wanted, he'd take every second of it.
He didn't want to let her leave ever again.
He dreaded the sun rising in the morning when she would inevitably pull from his arms and return home. Her hair was tickling his chest again, he could feel her cold fingers move back and forth against his chest beneath her chin. He could hear her heart starting to steady out and slow and soon enough her funny little snores started appearing too.
Klaus had bigger things to worry about, after he'd returned from the failed ritual Rebekah revealed that there was likely more white oak, the one weapon that could kill them, out there. Not only that but his siblings were scattering with only he and Rebekah to remain. His mother tried to kill him and his brother, Finn, was on board and active in the plan. That and he was linked to his other siblings still, meaning any harm that would come to one would come to all.
Klaus had a lot to worry about but he knew that was a problem for tomorrow, right now, he wanted to enjoy the moment. Enjoy Charlotte in his arms and the time between them where she didn't hate him.
a.n. so I'm not american although I've tried to use most americanism's (fries, trunk, sweater, parking lot etc) in this to make easier to read however i still don't know if a hoodie is a sweater. i consulted 6 different american friends and they all gave me such confusing answers so if u wouldn't pull the hood of ur sweater up bc it's a hoodie not a sweater i apologise but honestly can't y'all get on the jumper train it's a way cuter word than sweater.
also, I'm not actually sure if Stefan had his humanity on at this point ? i think he did bc of the way he treats elena but also i don't remember properly so idk sorry hope u don't really care that much.
also i hope u guys don't hate that they're getting close ish already again? like they're not back together and she's still dithering on the fence between everything but like i hate those fics where they're fighting and then the next day they're in love bc it seems sO unrealistic but i feel like this is a realistic timeline for them and like charlie espc i feel like she would react like this?? idk but it's written so it's true xoxox