Clair de Lune - K.M.

c h a p t e r f i f t e e n

Klaus and I both finish our champagne after his mothers toast and he takes both of our glasses and sets them down on one of the tables. He then offers me his arm and looks at me expectantly.

"Come, pup, I want to show you something."

I nod and take his arm without complaint as he leads me out of the entryway and through the house. He pushes open a door to a room off the hallway and I can't help but let out a small gasp as I look around. The walls are covered with some of the most exquisite pieces of art that I've ever seen. Each painting looks like it costs more than my house and as I look around I wonder towards the largest piece, staring up at it as it basically covers an entire wall.

"Don't touch," Klaus says as I extend my hand towards it.

"Sorry," I say, flushing red and pulling my hand away quickly.

"It's alright," he smiles.

"Did you collect all of these?" I ask, looking around in wonder.

"Sort of."

I look down at the table in the room and notice several pieces of parchment spread across it,  filled with sketches. I reach down and pull out one of a wolf silhouetted against a half moon sky, running my fingers across the carefully drawn lines. The creature is stoic and powerful, it's frame fitting perfectly against the stars surrounding it. 

"You drew these?" I ask, looking up at him. He nods and moves behind me, grabbing my hand and guiding my finger along the lines of the wolf in the sketch.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he asks softly, his lips close to my ear.

"It's stunning," I tell him. "Everything in here is." My eyes flutter closed as I lean back against him slightly, relishing in the feeling of his body pressed against mine.

"It's you."

"What?" 

"That's what you look like in your most powerful form. Absolutely beautiful." 

I shake my head at his words, barely believing that someone is actually saying that to me. Wondering how someone could ever think that about me. 

"How do you do that?" I ask him as I open my eyes to stare down at the drawing. "How do you take something that I've hated about myself my whole life and make me see it in a completely different light?"

"I'm no stranger to hating a part of yourself, Stella," he says, turning me around so that I'm facing him and moving forward, pinning me between him and the table behind me. His hand comes up and brushes a strand of hair behind my ear before cupping my chin. "You're so much stronger than you realize. I've always seen it in you and I won't rest until the day you see it too."

"Klaus," I say softly, glancing down at his lips. I move forward to press them against mine but stop as the sound of a loud thud followed by urgent voices coming from outside catches our attention. Klaus gives me a questioning look and steps back, allowing me to walk past him and lead us both back to the main area of the party.

When Klaus and I arrive, the rest of the Mikaelson family is making their way out onto the porch. Through the open door I can make out the sight of Stefan and Damon, the latter standing over the unconscious figure of Kol lying on the ground. It looks like his neck has been snapped. Elena attempts to run past me to get outside but I catch her just as she reaches the door, grabbing her arm to hold her back.

"Don't get in the middle of this," I whisper to her frantically.

"Are you crazy?" Stefan asks his brother.

"Maybe a little," Damon shrugs. I can tell that he's spiraling out of control as he looks around at all of us frantically, his eyes eventually landing on Elena next to me. "Far be it from me to cause a problem."