『Chapter Four』
『the care of the mikaelson brothers』

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   Klaus—being someone who hid behind his rage and his use of setting fear into people and using as a reason to protect those who he cared for—had carried Bodie over his shoulders after snapping his neck. As much as Klaus would want to keep his representation of the feared Original who only cared for very few even if his ways were violent, he didn't want to leave Bodie laying in the middle of the street unconscious. He convinced himself that it was so that no one held any leverage over him, he feared that people would find out just how much Bodie actually means to him and would come after him just for revenge.

   He knew that he shouldn't bring Bodie back to where he was staying but considering that he's unaware if the ones Bodie calls family are alive after stupidly going to where he was staying. As angry as Klaus was with Bodie for threatening his siblings and potentially having more people aware of where his siblings are hidden, he couldn't bring himself to kill Bodie. Even if every instinct within him was telling him to kill Bodie, he couldn't finish it, he couldn't kill Bodie no matter how much of an urge he got.

   There was always going to be a part of Klaus which still cared for Bodie—like he said, Klaus was still in love with Bodie, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. He didn't want to admit it to himself, he wasn't sure if he could go through this entire thing of dating Bodie and then breaking up and it hurting him again. He tried ever so hard every time that he saw Bodie to not fall back in, but there was always something about Bodie which did—like there was this hopefulness which filled him that Klaus couldn't look away from. And it annoyed him.

   Everything about Bodie and what he did annoyed Klaus beyond anything else. He knew that he could push Bodie away like he always done, but even then in those moments of absence, Klaus missed the comfort that Bodie held over him. He couldn't describe it, but he knew that his siblings knew this, knew that if he was a too far gone to the point it worried them, to just call Bodie in hopes that it would calm him down—which it annoyingly did most of the time. He loved Bodie, but the thought of someone other than him (Klaus) hurting him was a thought that he didn't like.

   Klaus shook his head, more so when he came up to the house that he and Elijah was staying in. They'd signed over the house to themselves though kept a human to own the actual house so that they didn't get any unwanted vampire visitors. He took notice on how the door was just slightly off its hinges and that most of the windows were broken presumedly because one of Bodie's friends, he could smell blood which—as he took a closer step—looked as if it covered some of the walls. The staircase had broken wood across them. Without looking into the house, Klaus just knew that the house was a mess, and he really couldn't be dealing with this at all.

   He went to take a step inside the house, watching Bodie in hopes that it would give some insight on whether or not the human whose name is down for this house was alive. Of course, they were. Again, thanks to Bodie's friends no doubt. He's known those two for a little over a day and already they're doing his brain in. As much as Klaus would love to kill them, he knew that it meant to hurt and loose Bodie in the way that Klaus wouldn't want to hurt him. Bodie's words had stuck with him since yesterday about how Bodie has no family, and if those two were what Bodie needed, then Klaus might as well give them a warning—a big enough warning that they might fear him because of it.

   "Elijah?" Klaus called out. "We have another guest!"

   "Niklaus," Elijah welcomed. He was bloody, his clothes torn, hair a mess. He came to greet Klaus despite his appearance though paused slightly when he noticed Bodie over his shoulder. He moved his hand to point—or well, gesture—towards Bodie. Something shifted within Elijah, worry, concern and a hint of anger was the quick expressions that Klaus could pick up on. "Are they hurt? Are any of our siblings hurt?"

   Klaus—now moving more into the house, seeing more of the destruction around the living room—had placed Bodie on the sofa, which was broken at the legs, but it was something other than a hard floor which Klaus hoped was comfortable. "No, they're not hurt. Bodie was just drawing me out, but it looks as if I have to find another hiding place for our dear siblings."

   Elijah somewhat clenched his jaw as if he wanted to argue about waking them up, but knew that Klaus would never, not until everything fell into place or if he needed either Rebekah or Kol for whatever reason. He then rolled his shoulders. "The hybrids are unconscious, they were here for the grimoire—though I take it that you already figured that out—and I left them back at where they're staying."

   "You didn't kill them?" Klaus asked.

   Elijah just gave him a look. "Not with how Bodie spoke of them. They're all that Bodie has that's not us. At least he has other people that's not revolved around you or I." He then sighed. "You didn't kill Bodie."

   Klaus stiffened at that slightly as he fell silent. He knew that Elijah knew his feelings without having to say, especially when it came to Bodie—it was a curse, an annoying thing that both Elijah and Rebekah done, they always knew, and it bugged him. "You know my feelings. And you know that I can't. Not with him." Never with him.

   "What," Elijah began, "are we going to do with him?"

   Klaus shrugged. "I need time with him."

   "You want time with him."

   "Need, want, they're the same thing." Klaus waved his hand then.

   "You think he could help?"

   "He has the witches wrapped around his finger and a collection of witch objects," Klaus stated, now staring at Bodie. "Maybe he could."

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   Bodie wasn't sure how long he was out for, but he knew that he was already done with the entire neck-snapping business. He forgot how much of a pain it was to wake up with a slightly throbbing neck. Healing had its usage, but it was a shame that there was nothing it could do to take away the pain. He seemed to also forget that it was now twice in the span of over a day or two that he got his neck snapped by one of the Mikaelson siblings, it somewhat annoyed him that they managed to do it twice.

   He could hear slight noises of chatter which made Bodie panic at the thought that he might still be outside for the mundanes to see. Yet the more that he tried to focus on what voices were familiar to him, he wished that he didn't. He thought that he could have heard Klaus' hushed whisper and Elijah trying to be the voice of reason to something that Bodie didn't know. He didn't want to move or make a sound just in case it gave either a warning that he was awake.

   "—he cares for you, but are you sure that you want to bring him in on this?" Elijah asked Klaus.

   "He has connections! More than what we do," Klaus explained—or well, argued back. "If we're smart about this, then I'll be what I was always meant to be."

   "And if you're not," Elijah said, "you break your heart and his once again. And you know what you're like with it. You fall back into your loop."

   There was a pause to which made Bodie want to open his eyes to excuse himself from hearing this conversation. He heard Klaus sigh slightly and then he spoke; "I know what I'm doing, Bodie won't be a problem for my plan, he's going to help, and I'm not going to fall back into what you think I will. Bo is going to help me—us."

   A part of Bodie wanted to say something then but he decided against it considering that he wanted to listen into more of what they were talking about. Yet at the same time, his mind went back to their fight at the storage facility, Klaus never disagreed against the idea that he—Klaus—was still in love with him. But he knew Klaus—Klaus wouldn't admit to it at all whether it's to him or Elijah—and Klaus wouldn't utter the words that he was in love with Bodie.

   Bodie then heard Klaus groan in annoyance. "He's taking too long to wake up!" Bodie heard how someone—presuming Klaus—came towards where he laid and lightly tapped the sides of Bodie's face. "Come on Bodie, if I wanted you to be catatonic, I would've daggered you."

   Klaus shook his face once again, though this time, Bodie couldn't help but to smile. Bodie hummed slightly. "My Klaus; never thought you'd bring me home unconscious. I thought you knew better than to bring a man you like back home while he's had his neck snapped."

   "Don't make me regret bringing you back here," Klaus commented.

   "I would've turned up on your doorstep either way." Bodie grinned as he moved to touch the side of Klaus' face to which surprised Bodie at the fact that Klaus didn't move away from his touch.

   "And I'm regretting it." Klaus muttered, rolling his eyes. Yet Bodie couldn't help but notice the hidden smile that he tried to fight off. "Though I will need your help. No strings attached."

   "You're coming to the wrong person if you're looking for no strings." Bodie said. "Centuries too late."

   "Enough of this," Elijah spoke up. "I don't think my ears can deal with this."

   Bodie now sat up, taking notice on the fact that the sofa he was laying on lost a leg or two. "Elijah, I see my Woodfords made an impression on you. Again."

   Elijah gave him a look like he wanted to scorn Bodie in the same way that he would with Klaus. And Bodie—being Bodie—couldn't help but grin like a child as he stared at Elijah. Bodie, despite everything that happened over the past few hours, was somewhat glad that he as in the presence of both brothers once again. That and the fact that he had Klaus so close to him.

   "Elijah," Klaus spoke as if he didn't want to be heard which was surprising. "Entertain yourself with the grimoire, I want to be left alone with Bodie for a moment."

   Elijah shifted his glare from Bodie to Klaus and back to Bodie. He rolled his eyes and left the pair alone. For some reason, there was a part of Bodie that wished that Klaus didn't send Elijah away, wanting Elijah here just in case anything bad happened. He was worried about what Klaus would do to him with all things considered, he knew that Klaus always had a spare dagger meant for him meaning that at any time Klaus could dagger him if he felt the need to.

   As much as Bodie tried to convince himself that Klaus wouldn't do anything to him, there was just something within him which wanted to stop whatever was about to happen before it happened. Yet even still, there was something about being around Klaus which made Bodie want to just hold him, he loved the idea of being this close to Klaus, but at the same time he wanted to get far enough away from him as possible in hopes that his heart doesn't get broken again.

   "Klaus," Bodie muttered, moving to sit up properly, placing his feet on the floor, closing the gap between the pair of them a little more. He'd took notice on how Klaus was squatting down, his hands joint together and elbows placed on either spread leg, and the way that he tilted his head slightly. He'd taken notice on the small smile that was on Klaus' face when he looked at Bodie as if he hadn't wanted to hid it anymore.

   Bodie unexpectedly moved his fingers so that they briefly touched Klaus' fingers. He then took Klaus' joint hands into his own hand, rubbing his skin with his thumb. He wasn't sure as to why he got the sudden urge to touch Klaus, it could've been the way that he was sat and staring at him, or it could've been the feelings that he still held for Klaus that was still so dear to his heart.

   He took notice when Klaus somewhat tensed yet relaxed after a moment. The pair hadn't moved away from each other or even spoken a word about anything to do with what they were doing. There was something odd about how comforting Klaus' touch was, he knew that they fought, but to sit here like how they were was different. No matter how much they fought with one another, to sit and touch like they do always sent some buzz into his bones.

   Klaus undone his hands and placed a hand on Bodie's bare arm. Bodie tilted his head to the side slightly, a smile on his face as he watched Klaus' movement. He didn't want to move in case it made Klaus stop what he was doing, he missed these gentle touches that Klaus and he shared. It was like dealing with a scared house cat, if one was to speak it might scare him off or scare him from doing what he was doing. It felt wrong to compare someone like Klaus to a scared house cat considering on who Klaus is and what he's done, yet Bodie couldn't think of anything else to describe what they were doing.

   There was something within Bodie that wanted to lean into Klaus more just to see what Klaus would do, but at the same time he didn't want to just in case it ruins anything that was happening. He watched as Klaus rubbed the exposed skin on his arm that sent a buzz up his arm, in some way it was weird to think about how easy he was undone by Klaus' touch. Bodie couldn't help but touch the hand that wasn't touching him, feeling the way that Klaus' hand was in his own.

   Klaus then gripped Bodie's arm a little tighter, pulling him closer which made Bodie jump slightly, making Bodie think that Klaus would kiss him, but instead Klaus moved his head to lean against the side of Bodie's. "I want to know that I can trust you again and to let you in again, but while I'm trying to find my missing moonstone which apparently is lost with the one who ran from me but also a Petrova Doppelganger that is a human, and on top of that running from my murdering father from killing me and my siblings, I don't want to worry about what you're doing and whether you'd walk out again instead of helping me in finding a way."

   Bodie couldn't help but shiver at the way that Klaus spoke in his ear. "That's not what I want to do. I do want to help you, Klaus, I want to help break your curse, you've been denied of who you are for so long and if I can help making you feel whole, the I will. I don't want to walk out on you again, Nik, meaning don't push me away. You need my help, like you said, I have connections that will help you."

   Klaus backed away though it was only for a moment. "I have Elijah helping me, Bo, you'd just be a means to an end. I haven't needed you since we fled New Orleans—since you ran away."

   Bodie clenched his jaw at that. "If I recall, you're asking me for help in your own Klaus way right now, so you do need my help because of what I can do for you. And two, from what I can recall, you pushed me away because you were afraid that Mikael would kill me, and you wanted to make sure that I got away even if I was away from you."

   Klaus then leaned away then, leaning back on his feet. "You still ran away from us—from me. I needed you after New Orleans and you left."

   For some reason anger filled Bodie then. "You pushed me away! You said that you'd rather me run on my own rather than you in hopes that it wouldn't draw too much attention to you—to your family. And I listened! I only did what you asked! Like I always have. You were the cause of that heartbreak, you did that. And I complied because I loved you, because it was what you wanted, and I respected that."

   Klaus hadn't said anything for a moment, and it was a moment that seemed the most painful for Bodie just as a whole. He knew that Klaus forced him away out of fear that Mikael would get to them, he knew that Klaus feared what Mikael would do to Bodie knowing that it was the wolves of his old pack that murdered his youngest. Bodie always knew that Klaus feared what Mikael would do to him, knowing that both he and Rebekah and even Elijah had fought against Mikael to not kill him.

   Bodie knew better than anyone that when it came to Mikael, Klaus would push him away in hopes that it would be safer for Bodie. But it wasn't. It never was. Bodie was this shell of a person after every push away, and Bodie didn't know how much longer he could do it for.

   "Klaus," Bodie sighed. "I want to help you, you know what I can do for you. I don't expect anything back in return, just that we can be together no matter how many years pass. I'll stay by your side for however long you want me to."

   "Don't walk out on me again," Klaus muttered.

   Bodie shook his head and took Klaus' face into his hands, rubbing his cheeks with his thumbs. "I wouldn't dream of it, Kay, I don't want to, not again, not ever."

   Klaus pressed his lips together and rose his hands to take Bodie's wrists into them. "We're going to need your Heretics."

   "I'll get on the phone to them," Bodie said. "Do you have a telephone I could use?"

   Klaus stood then, breaking free of Bodie's hold which made Bodie pout slightly. "Yes, be quick." He then went to walk off though paused slightly then and turned back. "Hungry?"

   Bodie grinned then. "Absolutely."