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"Little do you know I'm still haunted by the memories. Little do you know I'm trying to pick myself up piece by piece."

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I STARE AT the original hybrid in front of me, the original I thought was supposed to be down in New Orleans. My mouth gapes open as I loosen my grip on Theo in my arms, a rush of different emotions flooding my mind. But in all the chaos of emotions corrupting my mind, there's one feeling that stands out: anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I snap, keeping Theo in my arms.

Klaus puts his hands out in defence, a small smile on his face as he slowly walks towards me. "Now Blair, wouldn't want to swear in front of the little one now would you?" he asks, pointing to Theo.

"Mommy, who is that?" Theo asks, staring at Klaus. Klaus smiles and waves at Theo, a gesture in which Theo returns making my blood boil up more. Klaus Mikaelson isn't supposed to be here. He's supposed to have his own life and his own problems far away from here. Some part of me wonders if the only reason he came here was to dump his problems onto me which is something I refuse to take.

"Theo, go watch TV in the living room okay? I'll be right there," I instruct him, placing him down on the ground.

Klaus and I watch as Theo happily stomps to the other room, giving us more privacy. Once Theo is out of listening distance, I turn my attention back to Klaus, already feeling the steam that's about to spill out of my ears. "I'm going to ask you again, what the hell are you doing here?" I snap bitterly.

"I came to see how you were doing," Klaus admits, placing his hands behind his back as he awaits my reaction.

"Like hell you did. Tell me there real reason you drove seven hours to see me. Was it because you need something? Are you lonely?" I say, my anger surprising me. I know deep down Klaus hasn't done anything wrong, but I can't stop the rage from consuming me. Every time I look at him, he reminds me of James. He reminds me of all the things we went through together, all the things Klaus put us through that ended up making James and I closer in ways unimaginable. His sudden presence shocks me none the less as I thought I had left my old life behind. Not to mention I've already been on edge tonight, and to have a surprise guest isn't the ideal way to calm ones nerves. 

"Blair, can you please calm down," Klaus says quietly. "I don't understand why you're so upset, so please talk to me." 

"Why would you care?" I say, running a hand through my hair. 

"Is it that hard to believe I possess the capability of compassion?" he asks lowly, hurt filling his voice.

I purse my lips and shake my head, staring at the ground as I feel the familiar lump forming in my throat, signalling that I'm on the verge of turning on the water works again. The symptoms of when I'm about to break down have become more and more second nature to me, as I experience them almost every day.

"Then Blair, please tell me what's wrong," he says, taking another step towards me so we're only two feet apart.

"I've been trying every single day for the past year and a half to rid myself of the memory of my past life, as it's filled with nothing but James, yet here you show up unannounced practically giving me no choice but to remember everything and I can't handle it okay! I thought I could, but I can't!" I shout, forgetting that Theo is in the other room. "I lost contact with every single person from Mystic Falls, in hopes that I could move on, yet here you are. When I look at you Klaus, I see your childhood friend James. I see the memories you gave back to me of James. I see all the things you put myself and James through. It all connects back to James!" I croak, beginning to choke on the tears I'm trying so desperately to keep down.

But it's no use. I begin to let it all out, releasing all the pressure inside of me that never seems to go away. You would think that all this crying would make me feel better, but it doesn't. Klaus stares at me with immense sadness, as he's never really seen me in this state before. Frankly, I don't think I've ever felt this kind of pain and sadness before, and I have no idea what to do with myself.

Klaus closes the gap between us and wraps me in a tight hug, his arms wrapping around my back strongly as we stand there frozen. I keep my arms at my side, letting myself cry as he holds me. Usually I would object to his kind of gesture, but at the moment I can't think, never mind pronounce words. For some reason I feel that if he just squeezes me hard enough, all my broken pieces will fit back together. But I know that will never happen.

He releases me and stands back, his hands still on my shoulders. "Let's talk," he smiles, motioning towards the living room.

∆ ∆ ∆

"So it's a baby girl?" I ask, noticing his lock screen picture. 

"Indeed it is. Her name is Hope," Klaus beams proudly, staring at the picture.

After I sent Theo to bed, Klaus and I started talking, seeing as in a year and a half a lot of things can happen. Nothing much has really happened to me, but to Klaus he's built a life for himself.

"She's beautiful," I compliment.

"I would like for you to meet her one day," Klaus smiles, sipping on his glass of soda.

"How's Elijah?" I ask, curious as to how he's handling his grief these days.

"He's doing fine, I guess you could say. I think he's found himself a girl too," Klaus smiles mischievously, making me smile. The thought of Elijah finally finding happiness makes me happy, even if deep down I loan for that feeling.

"What about you? Have you found yourself a girl?" I question, raising my brow.

Klaus laughs, but his cheeks have flushed. "You have! Haven't you!" I exclaim.

"I don't know where we stand, but her name is Cami. I think you'd like her," Klaus says, picking up his soda and finishing the glass. "Do you have anything stronger? Perhaps beer? Vodka even?" He smirks, placing his cup down.

I smile but shake my head. "I got rid of every bottle I ever owned," I state, staring at the floor. I don't feel the need to mention the hidden bottle in James's truck. 

"That's a big step, especially for you," Klaus jokes. "Why'd you do it?"

"Because I was tired of trying to mask the pain," I whisper.

Klaus nods in understanding as his expression softens. He leans forwards in his chair so his elbows are resting on his knees, his eyes staring deep into mine. "You never did answer my question, Blair. How are you?" He asks.

I gulp and look away from Klaus's pleading eyes, fearing that I'll break down again as I've just calmed down. "I'm doing okay, Klaus. Really. I have a new house, a paying job, new friends, and I have Theo," I explain, hoping that is enough to convince him I'm okay.

"Mmmm," he hums, nodding his head, but I can already tell he doesn't believe me. "I happened to notice James's truck in the garage," he points out.

"Yeah, so? What was I supposed to do? Let them give it away?" I ask, waving him off.

"What about the blue bin filled with empty tissue boxes?" Klaus questions, and for that I have no explanation.

"So what? I cry, is it that big of a deal? I mean isn't it an expected reaction once the one you love dies?" I snap.

"Yes Blair, but as your friend I want to make sure you're not lying to yourself. It's been over a year and you're still in pain. I know that the worse feeling in the world is when you're suffering inside but you feel the need to mask yourself as fine for the sake of the people around you. I want you to know Blair, that it's okay not to be okay," Klaus says, "I want you to know that things will get better, the moment you start believing they will." He reaches across and places his hand over mine.

"Thank you," I whisper.

Before either of us can say anything more, there's a knock on the door. Klaus glances at me warily, confused as to who it could be. But I too am confused. "Expecting someone this late at night?" he asks.

"No," I say, walking to the front door. I unlock the door and open it, revealing none other than my landlord. He stands there waving a piece of paper in his hands, fury written across his face as I've once again forgotten to pay my monthly rent.

"Six times! This is your sixth time in one year you've forgotten! How many times do I have to remind you? If you don't pay, you don't live here!" he says, shoving the paper harshly to my chest before storming into the house.

"Come on in why don't you," I remark bitterly, rolling my eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Klaus asks, appearing around the corner.

"Oh, so you have a boyfriend now! Are you living here too mister!" the landlord asks.

"I'm not- we're not-" Klaus stutters.

"We're not a thing, and he doesn't live here. He's just visiting," I say calmly, stressed beyond belief. Every part of my body wants to strangle my landlord, but if I do that I won't have a house to live in, so if I want to keep the house, I have to be on his good side which I'm finding is an extremely hard thing to do.

Klaus turns to me, confused. "You have a landlord? How was I able to get inside without being invited in?" 

I shrug casually. "I compelled a few tweaks into the lease agreement. Technically this is my house." 

As we continue talking there's another knock on the door, sending all of us glancing at it with perplexed looks. "You're having more friends over!" the landlord exclaims.

"I don't know who that could be," I mutter, making my way over to the door.

I open it and glance out into the dark street, finding no one there. I turn back to Klaus with a confused look, shaking my head thinking it's probably just teenagers messing around just as suddenly a wooden stake goes flying into my stomach, sending me flying several feet backwards.

I land on the floor with a thud as I stare at the open door, watching as a familiar man figure makes their way up the steps. I blink my eyes rapidly as I realize that man is the same man I saw at the grocery store. The same man that kept staring, that kept following us.

"Oh my god!" my landlord screams as the man walks to the door. However, just as he's about to step inside Klaus storms towards him, using one hand to push him backwards. We watch as the man lands outside, his arm twisted in an abnormal way from the impact. 

I stand up and rip out the stake from my stomach, watching as the man slowly gets back up, his arm cracking back into place. He's a vampire. 

I pass Klaus the wooden taken which he gladly takes, the two of us standing on my porch as the man attempts to walk towards us. 

In the split second Klaus takes the stake from my hand, it ends up in the vampire's heart, sending both him and my landlord falling to the ground. The vampire's skin turns grey as my landlord's turns pale, his brain not able to handle everything he's seeing.

I get myself up but don't bother moving the landlord as I'll only have to compel him later. Klaus on the other hand doesn't appear to be done as he moves the body of the vampire inside before checking the outside of the house for any more vampires that may be lurking about. As he does a quick scan outside, I check the vampire's pockets, pulling out his wallet.

I don't recognize the vampire at all, which makes everything all the more confusing. "You alright?" Klaus asks, marching back into the house and locking the door.

"Fine," I reply. "Bastard ripped my shirt though." I mutter, glancing down at my bloodstained shirt that now has a gaping hole in it. Klaus chuckles before examining the vampire himself, shaking his head in frustration.

"Who the hell is this guy?" Klaus asks.

I shrug. "I don't know. I saw him at the supermarket today, following us. I thought he was just some creepy guy, not a goddamn vampire." I explain, crossing my arms across my chest.

"He must've followed you then. He was looking for you for a reason, maybe to report your whereabouts back to somebody. Plus, he knew you were a vampire given he stabbed you with a stake. Are you sure you don't know anything?" Klaus questions, starting to act more and more like me. I'm supposed to be the one solving cases.

"Let's not forget who the real detective is here, okay?" I remark, but Klaus doesn't find it funny.

"Blair, I'm serious. He could've been working with someone," Klaus says seriously, raising a brow.

The landlord starts to stir awake from the ground beside me, making me roll my eyes. "Klaus, we're fine. Why are you freaking out about this? I mean, its my problem not yours," I say, slightly regretting the words as soon as they leave my mouth. I know Klaus is only trying to help, but deep down I can't help but wonder why Klaus is here instead of Elijah. Frankly we have a better friendship, and I can't understand Klaus's reasoning for wanting to help me. 

"Blair, you are my brothers friend, and I consider you my friend too. Since Elijah and James can't be here, it's my responsibility to look out for you," Klaus says.

"Like hell it is! I'm capable of taking care of myself!" I shout.

"That's not wh-"

"Where is Elijah anyways, huh?" I question. "You didn't dagger him again did you? Did you?" I ask, anger starting to rise within me again.

"What? Of course not! To be quite honest with you Blair, he doesn't even know I'm here. I had a witch do a bloody locater spell just to fine you! Believe it or not Blair, I still care about you, and now that James is gone, I feel as if I owe it to him to look after the one he loves," Klaus explains in a more gentler tone.

"The one he loved," I correct him.

I purse my lips and bend down to my landlord, compelling him away. Once he leaves I stand and turn the lights off, preparing myself for bed. "Thank you for your help Klaus, and I appreciate your concern, but I think you should go," I say in the most polite way possible. I don't know why but every time Klaus Mikaelson shows up something chaotic happens.

"Yeah, no love, I'm afraid that's not going to happen," Klaus smirks.

"What? It's my house!" I argue.

"But you see, I will not leave, nor do I want to leave because there could be others lurking outside your house right now. I'm sorry darling, but you're stuck with me," Klaus smirks, placing his hands on his hips leaving me standing there in shock.

Apparently Klaus has invited himself to stay in my house, and apparently I have no choice but to let him.

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[completed & edited: 09/14/2021]