Salvation of a Salvatore Sister

Frustrations of Friendship

        "Hold on. You're telling me that after antagonizing her you still got the girl?" Rebekah frowns. A long sigh slips past her lips as she shakes her head. "I will never understand you two."

Klaus grins at his sister's comment, shrugging. "I wouldn't necessarily say I got her in that moment." His eyes flick to mine with a joy that I haven't seen in a while. Ever since the day I found him pacing his studio, reporting the failure of his contacts to Stefan and Damon, his joy has been missing. Instead, he's been bogged down with the burden of my illness. Something I tried to avoid for so long. And he's good at pretending. When he's with me, he pretends it's all right, but I know...I know it clouds his thoughts. "It took me awhile to convince her to give me a real chance beyond friendship."

"Wait," Cami speaks up, "so one more dance? Is that where you were friend-zoned?" A slight smile crosses her lips at this. Hayley shares it, as does Elijah. I'm sure they're enjoying hearing about Klaus not getting what he wanted.

"Actually," I mumble, "he was quite charming that last dance. By the end of it, he had me laughing."

"And what a magnificent laugh it was," Klaus whispers to me.

My lips tilt up in a small smile. "And after the dance, I was willing to give him said chance," Klaus's eyes flag to mine with surprise, "but you didn't take me up on it."

Turning in his chair to face me fully, Klaus's brows furrow. "What do you mean?"

His confusion is amusing, and if I wasn't on death's door, I would've been making fun of him and laughing. "You asked if you could see me again. I told you to find me."

"And I did. I scoured all the local social gatherings for weeks in hopes of seeing you again."

"Yes, a month later you did find me, but I was hoping you'd find me sooner. I left enough hints that I was planning on spending time with my friends in the Cauldron. I wanted to see how true you were in your spoken intentions of knowing me. Yet, you never showed." Klaus's lips part, speechless for a rare moment, as Marcel breaks out laughing.

My eyes flick to Marcel, who's doubled over. Even Elijah shares a grin in amusement. Once Marcel gathers his composure, he grins at Klaus. "After pining for her so long, it turns out you had a chance from the start, and you..." his chuckles start again, "you completely missed it!" The others join in on Marcel's laughter, finding humor in his tease.

Klaus's eyes narrow, glaring slightly at everyone's amusement at his expense. "I guess you both are bloody blind when it comes to each other. It's a wonder you made it this far," Rebekah adds. Her giggles ring over the phone. I, too, find myself humored at how much fun the others are having. I'm glad there is laughter and joy on a day this gloomy. I would rather die in a chorus of laughter than silence.

"To be fair," I mumble, trying to sit up more. Klaus is quick to reach for me to help me. His eyes quickly flashing with concern as he notices how I grimace at the movement. Though once I'm positioned comfortably enough, I dismiss him with a raise of a brow. He settles back into his seat, clasping onto my hand once more. "I would argue that we are not as blind, as you say, anymore." My eyes meet Klaus's. "We're quite in sync if you ask me. It only took getting to know each other to get there." A gentle smile spreads Klaus's lips as he bends over to press a kiss to my cheek.

Shifting in her seat, Cami smiles widely. "Wait, you said this was a story of falling in love, not just how you two met. So, what happened next?"

Elijah scoffs. "Niklaus was surely in love after that first night. It is true what he says. I was dragged along to every social event following our party in order to find Lily. Though at the time, I did not understand how deeply my brother had already grown to feel about her."