SlowburnWriting

After the last two weeks, you were completely emotionally drained. The night when ‘Alaric’ essentially killed Klaus was enough to exhaust you for a few days. You compelled a doctor’s note for school saying that you had pneumonia, but you really just needed a few days to process. Between fearing your own demise, discovering that Rebekah killed Elena and she became a vampire, and spending a short while thinking that Klaus was dead… you were spent.

The moment at your house that the two of you shared not long before Klaus was staked by Alaric and saved by one of his undisclosed witches was replaying in your mind every night. He nearly kissed you, and you wanted him to. And then he basically died – and that crushed you.

You really shouldn’t like him as much as you do. You’ve only known him a few months, and he’s not exactly a ‘good’ guy. But he’s only ever been kind to you. What made you so different?

He’s shown patience with the Salvatore’s on your behalf, and Elena too. He’s made an effort to get to know you… Klaus made it impossible not to fall for him.

And why was he so damn attractive? It wasn’t even that he was hot – although it definitely was a part of it – he was alluring. You felt drawn to him every time you were in the same room. You wanted to get to know him, to be around him, to be near him. He made it hard to think about anything else whenever he was near you. Stefan wasn’t kidding when he always said that vampirism heightens your emotions.

The mayor instilling a curfew was a ridiculous and ineffective way of Carol Lockwood attempting to reduce the danger in Mystic Falls as of lately. With the increase in killings due to vampires, werewolves, witches, hunters and hybrids… you couldn’t really blame her. But her ineffective human “authority” would do nothing to stop the supernatural in town. Especially when Connor was weaseling his way through the town and council.

In order to retaliate, Rebekah – being the rebel she is – decided to throw an “anti-curfew party.” “Morning everyone!” Rebekah came into history with a stack full of flyers, beginning to hand them out. She shoots you a smile and you don’t miss the way Elena glared at both of you. “So I’m throwing a little anti-curfew party at my new house. Starts in the fifth period, goes til whenever. Spread the word,” she hands you a flyer when she gets over to you and you chuckle under your breath, completely unsurprised but also impressed by Rebekah. Turns out you guys had a lot in common. “You’re welcome to join too, Elena, if you’d like to bury the hatchet.”

You can’t tell if she is being serious or taunting Elena, but either way, you’d be very surprised if she did go. You already made up your mind that you would not be missing this party, you’d even help Rebekah set it up.

“It’s a pretty enormous hatchet,” is all Elena says, glaring up at your sorta-friend. You roll your eyes and tuck the flyer into your bag, beginning to pack up your things. It was a waste of time to stay at school, you’d leave with Rebekah.

“Well I’m feeling generous with spirit,” Rebekah replies snarkily.

“New house, huh? Did your brother finally kick you out?” Elena glowers at Rebekah. Just like that, your mind is back on Klaus. Was it really that easy for you to get completely lost in thought over this man? 

“He didn’t kick me out. I left.”

“So you left the only person on Earth that actually likes you?” Wow, Elena really could be bitchy.

Rebekah only smirks, unphased by her. “Well, Charlotte likes me. And your boyfriend liked me once. Actually, a lot more than once.” The bell goes off as the sub walks in, and you decide that you’ve had enough, so you stand up with your things and wait for Rebekah at the door. “Spread the word!” she smiles as she saunters out of the door with you close behind.

“I’ll help you set up,” you smile as you follow behind her, and she returns the smile, giving you half the stack of flyers.

“Perfect,” she grins. “The address is on the flyer. I’ll be heading over after I finish handing these out.”

You helped her finish handing out the flyers, then drove you both over to her new ‘house’ (mansion). You girls spent the next few hours set up, decorating and arranging. She compelled a few people to buy liquor from across town, and some others to help set up. Everything was going great. As you were hanging the lights on the long, elegant railing, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket.

I hear you are making your little friends angry, love.

You can’t help the silly smile that spreads across your face as you read Klaus’s text. Though you’re unsure what he’s talking about, you are just happy to get a text from him.

“Why’re you smiling like a schoolgirl, huh?” Rebekah teases you from down below where she is finishing setting up some snacks. “My brother?”

“How’d you know…” you trail off with a shy grin.

Oh am I? What’d you hear?

“Ew, you guys need to just get together already,” Rebekah pours herself a glass of champagne and you blush at the idea of ‘getting together’ with Klaus.

Apparently Elena isn’t too happy about your friendship with my sister.

You laugh aloud and walk down the stairs to show Rebekah the text. She scoffs proudly after reading the message. “Good. I hope she is angry.” You laugh and lean against the table to respond.

Sucks for her.

“Ya know, you didn’t have to kill her…” you raise your brows at Rebekah, giving her a look.

“Yes well, two birds one stone,” she shrugs with a smirk.

“You sure are your brother’s sister,” you roll your eyes playfully, and she laughs. “Would I be the worst if I asked Klaus to come tonight?” you ask Rebekah with puppy eyes. She makes a grossed out face and finishes off her champagne.

“I suppose not. Though he can be quite the buzzkill,” she responds. You smile and start typing out another text.

Are you busy tonight?

You are incredibly anxious for his response. This is the first time you will have initiated seeing him. Could it be a date? Is he the type to go on a date? “Don’t be surprised if he’s too busy tormenting someone to show,” Rebekah teases, although you know she is half serious.

For you? Not at all.

Your heart rate picks up as adrenaline floods your body. Such a flirt. This man has too much of a hold on you.

Want to come to Rebekah’s party?

You anxiously stare at your phone as you await his response. He responds within a minute, but those 60 seconds felt like an eternity.

Not quite how I pictured my evening, however, I cannot pass up an opportunity to see you.

Was that a yes? You chewed on your nail as you thought of how to respond.

I will see you tonight, Charlotte.

He texts back before you can respond. You blush and grin from ear to ear, excited to see him.

Can’t wait.

People started arriving around 1, but the party started really going around 3. You’d been drinking since people started arriving, as it took a lot of liquor for a vampire to get drunk – not that you were actively trying to be, but you were trying to calm your nerves before Klaus arrived. You weren’t monitoring yourself very well, because you started getting tipsy before he’d gotten there.

You knew that you were not very sober because when one of your favorite party songs came on, you started dancing like no one was in the room – when in fact the house was pretty packed.

You jumped and danced with some girl you shared a class with who was having just as much fun as you. Laughing as you jumped to the beat, your hair bouncing around in your face and the liquor in your stomach tossing and turning. Rebekah joined in and the three of you were having a blast, completely lost in the music.

The next song to come on was a more seductive song and the girl – Andy? – caught you by surprise when she turned around and started grinding on you. You laughed aloud and grabbed her hips, joining in the dirty dancing, moving your hips in sync. Rebekah mimicked and you were sandwiched between the girls, enjoying the song. It probably looked pretty hot, but you were having too much fun to think about anything else. 

Having lost track of time, you hadn’t realized that Klaus had arrived and was watching you from a distance until the song was nearly over. You made eye contact as you caught your breath and grinned widely at him. He was wearing a dark red button down shirt with the first two undone, and a black jacket and pants with it.

As you were looking at him leaning on the wall across the room, looking right back at you, a new song had already started and some guy came up behind you, grabbing onto your waist. His hand pulled you into his body and he started swaying and grinding on you to the beat of the song. Normally, this wouldn’t have bothered you, but you were trying to go over to see Klaus. The guy’s hand dropped from your waist to your hips and he tried making you move with him, but you were uninterested. As you looked over to where Klaus had been, you saw that he was no longer there. Did he leave? Was he mad? Where did he go?

The guy spun you around and put both hands on your hips, pulling you against him and trying to have you dirty-dance against his leg. You continued looking around for Klaus, not really moving with the random dude. The guy spun you back around to grind on you again, and you came face to face with Klaus.

He stood a few feet in front of you, a very displeased expression on his face. His eyes were looking over your shoulder, presumably at the annoying guy dancing on you. “Dude back off,” the guy slurs as he notices Klaus.

“Leave. Now.” Klaus growls in a low tone, compelling the teenager. He lets go of you and walks off without another word, leaving you there with Klaus as the song continues in the background. You grinned up at him and in your slightly drunk state, took a chance. You closed the space between the two of you, your chest almost against his, looking up into his eyes. His expression was no longer sour. He looked pleasantly taken aback.

“Dance with me,” is all you say, turning around and beginning to sway to the beat against him. At first, he doesn’t react, but you hear him chuckle behind you. Your heart is pounding in your chest so loud that you know he can hear it, but you try to feign confidence. “C’mon!” you shout over your shoulder playfully. He surprises you when he places his hands on your hips, making you gasp and nearly trip.

Klaus leans his face into the left side of your neck as you dance against him, somewhat swaying along behind you but mostly letting you take the lead. Your body feels on fire wherever you feel him touching you, and you didn’t realize that something so simple could turn you on so much. Impure thoughts began crossing your mind as you leaned your head back into his chest, focusing on the feeling of his arms wrapped around you. He made you feel small and weak in the best way. Being a vampire and a strong-headed woman made you feel like you were more dominant than every other guy around – but something about Klaus made you feel submissive. He was strong, dangerous, older, powerful. 

You decide to test your luck and take it a step further, reaching your hands up behind you and grabbing onto his neck, moving your hips back against him. His lips graze the sensitive skin on your neck, his warm breath in the crook of your neck, sending shivers down your body. You feel him graze his fangs against the skin and his arms move around you, basically hugging you against him, emitting a pleasurable whimper from you.

Everything about this moment was intoxicating, making adrenaline surge through your body. You can feel his lips grinning against your neck as he places a soft kiss in the same spot where he grazed his fangs. You push your body against his, needing more of him. A happy giggle escapes your lips and you bring your arms down and place your hands over top of his. They look small in comparison and his arms around your body as he leaned over you made you feel even smaller.

The song came to an end and you practically whimpered as he pulled away from you, leaving your body feeling bare without his warmth and presence on it. You turn around and look up at him, a blush radiating heat over your cheeks as you smile shyly up at him. He’s grinning right back at you in a seductive way that you don’t think you have seen yet.

Something feels like it’s changed between you. Obviously there’s been tension following the two of you around every time you’ve been together, and you’d nearly kissed a few times. But this was less innocent. Way less. Like you’d both finally admitted what's been going on all along without needing to say a word. The chemistry between you was crazy, you’ve never felt like this in your life.

“Come with me,” Klaus offers his open hand to you, and you hastily accept it. You’ve only ever held his hand while dancing, so watching him lead you away from the crowd with your hand in his was a new feeling. You knew you’d follow this man anywhere he’d go. In the craziest way, you felt both terrified and never safer than when you were by his side.

Klaus opened the balcony door for you and let you walk out first, pulling the glass door closed behind himself. He released your hand and you felt yourself frown in your drunken state. Walking over to the railing, you leaned both of your arms on it and looked up at the sun setting in the sky. He stands a few paces behind you, his eyes burning through the back of your head. 

“Well hello to you too, love,” he teases. You turn around and press your butt against the rail of the balcony, smiling at him shyly.

“Sorry, had too much to drink,” you say, though you’re not sorry. Right on cue, a hiccup escapes your lips and he chuckles.

“Don’t apologize on my account,” he shrugs, taking a step closer. “I rather enjoyed your confidence.”

You don’t respond, just grin at him. You were starting to feel a little nauseous, but you tried to ignore the feeling.

“Kind of surprised you agreed to come tonight. Doesn’t seem like your scene.”

“A high school rager? Not particularly, but you invited me,” he grins.

“You’re such a flirt,” you smile.

“Are you objecting?” he takes a large stride closer, reaching out to touch your hair with two fingers. You lean into his touch subconsciously. God, how does he have such a hold on you?

“Not at all,” you mumble.

His eyes soften a little as he looks down at you. “Ugh, I don’t feel so good,” you groan, suddenly feeling like you may hurl. You spot someone who just filled their solo cup from the keg walking by and quickly open the balcony door, compelling them and snatching it up. Taking a few sips of the drink as Klaus watched with confusion, you tried to subdue the weird feeling in your stomach. Instead, it began spreading to your head and you felt worse. “What the…” you stumble and cough, realizing something is wrong. This isn’t from alcohol, something was going on. Your vision is blurry and you feel like you have been drugged.

“What is it, Charlotte?” Klaus asks, catching you when you stumble forward.

“The drinks…” you mumble. Klaus takes you inside by the arm, looking for answers to figure out what happened. You both see Rebekah stumbling to her room across the hall.

“Connor,” she hiccups. “Hybrid venom.”

Klaus’s eyes fall dark and he realizes that the drinks have been poisoned with hybrid venom from the vampire hunter Connor. You try to focus on keeping your eyes open as he helps you into a chair. You look up at him with blurry vision, trying to make sense of what was happening. You were poisoned? Are you going to die? Nothing was making sense.

“Here, drink.” He has crouched down in front of you and pulled you closer, placing his wrist up to your mouth. You feel the veins in your eyes surge as the smell of his blood hits you. Taken aback from his willingness for you to feed on him, you hesitate a bit. Blood sharing is personal, intimate, sometimes sexual. The idea of drinking his blood was intimating, but also…enticing.

Without saying anything, your fangs pierce his warm skin and you drink from him. The blood dripping down your throat is intoxicating and you feel immediate relief – pulling him in closer, aggressively, a tight hold on his wrist as you get your fill. A growl rumbles through your chest as you grab onto his wrist with both hands, taking more. You feel his chest vibrate in a pleasurable groan as you drink from him. Klaus strokes your hair as you feed, beginning to recover.

You finally release your fangs from his wrist and let out a large sigh, feeling relief hit you. He raises his other hand and brushes your bottom lip with his thumb, slowly dragging it across your sensitive flesh, then popping it quickly into his mouth to clean the blood off of it. You groan lightly, feeling animalistic and turned on.

“Nik!” Rebekah stumbles into the room, and Klaus stands up to heal his sister, dripping his blood into a glass for her to drink too. You sit there for a moment as he helps her, listening to the commotion downstairs – you could hear that Sheriff Liz had shown up to shut down the party, and Rebekah starts mumbling about how she was going to kill Connor.

Klaus lets out a loud sigh of disapproval and the three of you head back downstairs.

You offer to help Rebekah clean up but she says that she will do it tomorrow, so you make a mental note to come back and help in the morning.

Klaus walks you home in comfortable silence as you start sobering up. It wasn’t a far walk at all and you almost wish that it took longer. As you walk up the stairs to your balcony, it feels like the end of a date. You still haven’t kissed Klaus and it feels like every time you almost do, you’ve been interrupted. You so badly wanted this man, but you also started to feel worried that you wanted different things.

You knew without a doubt that you’d grown to have feelings for him – serious ones. But did he feel the same? Part of you wondered if this was all the thrill of the chase or him wanting to hook up. He certainly didn’t seem like the dating type. Would he want you to be his girlfriend? Would he be a faithful boyfriend? The questions raced through your head as you made your way to the door, before turning to face him. “Thank you for walking me home,” you say quietly.

“No need to thank me, love.” The mood is different from earlier in the evening – it’s more calm than intense.

“Do you want to come in?” you ask shyly. He smiles and opens his mouth, but pauses and takes a second longer to think about his response.

“I do, but I think I should let you sober up and get some rest,” he responds softly. You nod and try to hide your disappointment. It’s silent for a moment, and you can’t help but think about the last time you saw him before tonight – in a similar situation, right before he was nearly killed.

“You know…” you start, feeling awkward, but also needing to get this off your chest. “I was… really upset, when you… well, died,” you stumble over your words, avoiding his gaze. “I’m glad you’re not dead,” you smile softly, finally looking up to meet his eye.

 His expression is hard to read, but he clearly appreciates that remark. He takes a step closer to you, leaning in slowly before kissing your cheek, slowly, softly, then takes a step back. “Get some sleep, Charlotte.” He starts walking down the stairs slowly, leaving you mind boggled by the door. You touch your cheek where he kissed you, a huge grin spreading across your flushed face. What just happened?

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“Matt!” you shouted, trying to find your best friend. You called out his name once more, looking behind trees and bushes, under cars and all around the house. A hand suddenly reaches out and grabs you by the ankle, causing you to scream as you fall to the ground and land right in a puddle.

“Ugh! You suck!” you shout at Matt who is climbing out from between two large bushes underneath his window.

“Would you guys keep it down?!” Vicki shouts from the porch where she is on the landline, talking to some guy. You both roll your eyes at his sister and giggle to yourselves, having the time of your lives playing your version of hide and seek mixed with tag.

~

When you woke up, your chest felt heavy. The room was still dark, and the atmosphere was thick. Something was wrong.

The clock read 1:23am in bright red numbers coming from the old alarm clock on your nightstand that you’ve had your whole life. Turning over onto your side, the pressure in your chest didn’t subside. Something definitely happened. Alaric was out there… Had he killed someone? One of your friends? An Original?

There was banging at the door suddenly that made you jump out of your skin. Shooting up from a laying position, you feared it was Alaric himself. There was another frantic bang, and this time you used your vampire hearing to listen in to who was at your door. You heard sobs – male – and recognized them immediately. Jumping out of bed, you rushed out of your room to the front door, turning on lights as you went, not bothering to throw on a robe, and threw open the door for Matt.

“What happened?!” you exclaim, pulling him inside by his bicep and slamming the door closed. He is trying to hold his sobs in – his eyes swollen and a little blood dripping from his forehead. “Matt?” you ask, grabbing him by both arms now, trying to get an answer out of him.

“She – I – I couldn’t turn in time. She —” he rambles, not making any sense. You pull your friend into your arms, anxiety bubbling up inside of you as you think of all the possible things that could have happened. Matt was usually pretty strong, put together, at least attempted to hide his emotions. For him to come over to your house in the middle of the night like this…

You hug him tightly, letting him catch his breath in your arms.

After a moment, he steadies himself, and you pull back to look at him.

“What happened?” you ask as calmly as you can.

“I was driving Elena back to say goodbye to Stefan and the others–” he starts before you interrupt him.

“Say goodbye? Why? What?” you ramble, thoroughly confused.

“Charlotte… Alaric killed Klaus.”

Those three words send you into panic. He’s dead? Klaus? The man who sired the bloodline to most of your friends and potentially yourself? The man you definitely weren’t supposed to have feelings for… But absolutely did.

“He’s dead?!” you finally shout.

“Well… That’s what Damon said… But Charlotte, this was like three hours ago… So I don’t know.”

You rub your temples, mind and heart racing. “But I was driving her back, and I swerved on Wickery Bridge to avoid hitting Rebekah–” he starts again, and you go to interrupt him, but he stops you. “I swerved off it into the water. Elena made Stefan save me…” he trails off as he starts to sob again.

“I’m so confused…” you mutter, trying to piece it together.

“She’s dead,” he finally chokes out. Who? Rebekah? Elena? Elena…

“She’s… dead?” you repeat. “Elena,” it’s less of a question and more of realization.

So Elena and Klaus are dead… And the others will be…? Should be?

Matt takes a deep breath and walks over to your old couch, sitting down shakily.

“No,” he continues. “I mean, yes. But she still had Damon’s blood in her system…”

Realization washes over you now.

“Matt… That’s good. She’s not dead then,” you softly explain to him.

“But she’s a vampire now!” he shouts angrily.

You wince, remembering how much he hates vampires. You know he doesn’t hate you, but he definitely wishes you weren’t one.

“I killed one of my oldest friends and now she’s going to be a vampire… Because of me.”

You were trying – hard – to be supportive, but it was proving challenging. You kept thinking about Klaus, whether he was actually dead or not. You didn’t care much about the fact that Elena would be a vampire, she kind of deserved it anyway…

“There’s more…” he continues after a moment. “Alaric is dead. Esther linked him to Elena,” he sighs.

While you weren’t close with your history teacher/sorta friend, it was sad. And that meant that tonight Jeremy lost another parental figure, and his sister turned into what he also hated most…

Tears finally started slipping out as you sat down beside Matt, leaning your head onto his shoulder. He leaned back into the couch and put his arm over your shoulders, and the two of you silently cried together, like you had so many times as children…

He explained everything else that happened once you both calmed down, and you came to the realization that not a single one of them – besides Damon – called or texted you to let you know what happened or that you could potentially be dying. Damon shot you a text not long before Matt showed up, but you didn’t see it until he dozed off from exhaustion on your couch. Stefan eventually texted you around 3am asking if you were okay, and that was it. Nobody else seemed to care or even remember you.

Matt spent the rest of the night there on your couch, and you slept on the loveseat across from him. You both slept in late, not wanting to get up and face the new day. It was nearly noon by the time you guys finally sat up and answered the endless texts that you’d be getting from everyone – who were very much still alive.

You had a sliver of hope that Klaus was still alive, given that when Finn died, his entire sire line died within an hour or so of him. But if Damon saw Alaric stake him – Rebekah saw it too – then why were you all still alive?

You decided to go with Matt to check on Elena. You weren’t exactly concerned for her and you were honestly pretty annoyed with everyone else, but you had a feeling that the Salvatore’s would be less than welcoming to your very human best friend. To say that you were annoyed was an understatement, actually. Whenever they needed help, or something bad was going on with Elena, they involved you. Even when you made it clear that you wanted to stay out of the drama, they always found a way to drag you in. But when you very well could have died, and all of them, they completely forgot about you? You had half a mind to punch Stefan and Damon when you saw them.

Matt drove you both over to his house so he could get changed into some clothes that didn’t smell like creek water and blood, and you waited patiently on his porch. Sitting there with your elbows on your knees and head in your palms, your mind drifted to Klaus. What if he really was dead? The thought of never seeing him again stung. Obviously it wasn’t logical or safe to be having a crush on the dangerous hybrid, but it was too late for reason. You already knew you had fallen for him, and no logic or reasoning could stop how you felt. 

“You ready?” Matt interrupts your thoughts as he steps out and locks the door.

The ride to Elena’s house is short and silent. You were anxious, and Matt’s anxiety was only adding to yours. Stefan probably wouldn’t hurt Matt, but there was no telling with Damon. Not long after you parked in front of Elena’s house, Stefan stepped outside, watching you both get out of the car.

“I see you’re still alive,” you all but growl at him as you both start up the walkway. It is clear how exhausted he is from his expression, but you couldn’t give a damn. All anyone in this group seemed to care about was Elena – sometimes even more than their own self-preservation – it’s crazy to you.

He gives you a look, opening his mouth like he’s going to say something, but you ignore him and walk around toward the door. When you enter, you see Elena sitting in the kitchen with Damon. She looks over at you, then her eyes land on Matt and she jumps up. “Matt,” she sighs, seemingly in relief, and pulls him into a hug. You look over their shoulders at Damon, who is glaring at Matt. 

“Are you okay?” he asks hesitantly when they separate, looking her up and down. She nods, but anyone with a working pair of eyes can see she’s not.

“Bonnie’s going to see if there’s anything she can do…” Elena says, and it takes all of you not to scoff. Of course they’re trying to find some magic work-around to save her from being a vampire. No one ever did that for you, or Caroline, or anybody else.

“Alright… I’m outta here,” Damon suddenly starts heading for the door, shoving past Matt. “Gonna pay a visit to a certain blond vampire.”

Stefan heads out the door after him, leaving the three of you alone. You cross your arms and the tension grows thicker. Matt is between both of you, as per usual.

“Matt… I’m not mad at you,” she finally says. You roll your eyes and move away to look out the window, watching Stefan and Damon bickering in the walkway. She shouldn’t be, Matt didn’t do anything wrong. He was trying to help her, and nearly got himself killed too. He would’ve been dead if Stefan hadn’t listened to martyr Elena.

“Hey look, I’m gonna go, okay Matt?” you speak up, suddenly not interested in pretending you care any longer. Matt almost died, Elena is having a pity party, Alaric is dead and… Klaus is dead.

“What? You sure?” he asks, and you nod, giving him a quick hug and Elena a tight-lipped fake smile. “Glad you’re not dead.”

Then you head outside, ignoring the Salvatore brothers and vamp back to your house.

~

The rest of the day was a haze. You went home for a bit, drank up the last of your whiskey and a blood bag, then decided you wanted something fresh. So you went out to the Mystic Grill, found a guy drinking at the bar, compelled him to follow you to the bathroom and all but drained the poor guy before healing him. Then after pathetically crying on the bathroom floor, you wiped his memory and went home to go to bed.

It was barely eight o’clock by the time you were freshly bathed, somewhat tipsy and laying in your nightgown in bed. An unknown number called you once, but you ignored it, not in any mood to speak to literally anyone on this planet. You wondered if maybe it was important, but you couldn’t bring yourself enough to care.

After the third attempt though, you finally gritted your teeth and answered.

“What?!” you shout into the phone, preparing to scream at whoever was bothering you.

“Hello, love.” You heart drops in your chest and you suddenly forgot how to breathe. Was this…?

“Who is this?” you say softly, your attitude having shifted a full 180 degrees.

“Ouch. You don’t recognize me?” he teases on the other side.

“Klaus… You’re alive?! How?” you exclaim, in shock, anger, excitement…

“It’s a long story, love. Had a witch working some magic for me,” he starts, sounding rather pleased with himself. “Look, I was just calling to make sure that you were okay…” he trails off.

He was worried about you?

“Yeah… I am… I’m glad that you are…” you mutter the last part.

“I look forward to seeing you again soon, Charlotte,” you can practically hear the smirk through the phone. “Listen, don’t tell anyone about this, okay? I’m laying low a bit longer, got some business to sort out… And then I will come and see you,” he all but promises. His voice is serious, like he feels he owes you this.

“Okay…” you start, unsure what else to say, but your heart is thudding in your chest.

“I will explain everything soon, Charlotte,” he says slightly more softly. Your heart flutters every time he says your name. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Klaus…” 

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