chapter 9 - falling

                                    

                                          

The party had finished and she had said goodbye to  everyone and thanked them for the gifts.  James had been the last to leave, his last words to her were telling her to consider his offer. It was only her and the Mikaelsons left, she was going to be staying over tonight, courtesy of Rebekah's generous offer. She had already thanked her several more times for all the effort she had gone to for her, she was truly grateful. Rebekah had quickly become one of her best friends since she came to New Orleans and the bond they shared was bone deep. 
She was walking up to the room where she would be staying tonight when she ran into the man she had been trying to avoid most of the night. "Klaus, hey."
"You've been avoiding me." He commented knowingly.
"What? No, I haven't." She said incredulously as if he was completely wrong. But once he looked at her with those knowing eyes she caved in. "Okaaay, maybe."
"Why?" 
She wanted to say you know exactly why but all that could come out was "I- uh..." Thankfully he decided to save her and spoke instead.
"I have something for you. I've been trying to give it to you all night, but you were always preoccupied." And he pulled something out of his pocket, a small black box, something that would contain jewellery. 
"Oh, Klaus, you didn't have to -"
"Of course I did."
"Thank you." She took the box from his hands, her fingertips brushing his. "I actually wanted to talk to you." She wanted to tell him about her choice. Him. It was always going to be him. She knew it would be difficult, Klaus believed love to be a weakness, and of course he was a vampire and she was a human. But she couldn't be with James, not when she was falling so very deeply for Klaus. But first his present. She was just about to open it when there was a shout. "Victoria!" It was Elijah. 
With a confused look to Klaus, she went downstairs, Klaus on her trail, to see what he wanted. The moment she saw his solemn face, she knew he had nothing good to say. "What is it?" She asked wearily. 
He held up a letter and sighed, "I, uh, have some news about your friends, Emma and Dexter." Her heart began to race. "It seems there were complications on their travels, their ship sunk-" He was still speaking but she couldn't hear. Her mind started buzzing, she could see his lips moving but the only words she could make out were, "I'm so sorry, they didn't make it." And then all the noise stopped. 
Tears brimmed in her eyes, "No, no, please." She shook her head, refusing to believe it. They had just sent her a letter a couple days ago, telling her  they had almost reached their final destination. She started sobbing, her breaths coming out quicker as she placed her hand on her chest. Her heart was hurting. How could this happen? Why was everybody always dying on her? Elijah looked at her with pity in her eyes and she turned to look at Klaus' also filled with sympathy. She couldn't stop crying, her knees almost buckled but Klaus had grabbed her. 
He held her in his arms, her face against his chest as she cried. "It's okay, love." He whispered as his hand cradled her head. "It'll be okay." 
"Why does this always happen to me?" 




Klaus once again watched as she slept. She had been hysterical after the news of her friend's death. He could not blame her. She had told him about how when she had first come to New Orleans, depressed with grief, Emma and Dexter had been the ones to help her get through it, comforting and nurturing her. They had looked after her, and she loved them. Now once again people she loved had died. He was filled with immense sympathy for her. Seeing her in pain was horrible. It hurt him to see her like that. He wanted to erase everything bad that had ever happened to her, hunt down the ones who had ever caused her pain. But as much as he wanted to, he could not fix this for her.