𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐂𝐇 ━━ KLAUS MIKAELSON

71

"I HATE THIS."

Damon sighed at his friend, "I know but we didn't have much of a choice."

"I know," Emery leaned against the wall as she waited, her nerves all over the place. They had found out that Esther was at the old cemetery and since Matt and Jeremy were the only ones who could cross the barrier, they were sent to stop her.

"Hey," Damon took a step closer to her, "they'll be fine."

"They better be."

"Enough about them." He waved a hand, furrowing his brows at her, "how are you?"

"Fine."

"That's good but I meant—" the vampire took a deep breath, "your curse. How bad is it right now?"

"Oh," Emery let out a small humour less chuckle, realizing that she had forgotten to inform Damon about what she did. "It's actually kind of funny."

He raised his brows, skeptical. "What did you do?"

"I linked my life with Klaus's." She said so quickly that it took Damon a while to understand.

"Huh?" He finally let out after a moment, "you did what?"

"I linked my life with his," the witch repeated, "do you have a problem with that?"

"Do I have a prob—" Damon repeated, pausing as he released a loud exhale, "— yes! Yes, I do. I do have a problem with that because that means if we somehow manage to kill him, you are going to die as well."

"Then don't." Emery frowned as if the solution was obvious. "Don't try to kill him. Don't kill him. He hasn't even done anything to you guys since I don't know how long."

"But he will."

"You don't know that," the witch sighed, her eyes now holding a pleading look as she stared at her best friend. "Damon, please."

The older Salvatore groaned, "don't give me that look." Emery only stared at him further, blinking. "What look?"

"Oh my god, okay. Fine—" Damon threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, "I'll back off. I won't plot against him, especially not when you're linked to him. I don't want to lose you, Em. You know that."

"Thank you."

"Yep," he quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, hugging her as if he had been wanting to do that for a while. She smiled, immediately wrapping her own arms around him. He loved Emery like a sibling, knowing that she was no longer in danger made him feel at peace.

"I'm so glad you're fine," he murmured, "is it a permanent solution?"

She took a few seconds to reply, "I'm not sure."

"So he knows then," Damon's words came out like a statement, "he knows about the curse. And he helped you."

Emery smiled against his chest although he couldn't see it. She nodded, "he did."

"Em," Damon suddenly pulled away slightly before he looked down at her. With his hands now set on her shoulders, he stared at her face, a look he knew all too well swirling in her eyes. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks, "do you— are you in love with him?"

"I—" she paused and bit down hard on her lower lip. Finally, she let out a loud sigh before nodding yet again, "I am. I– I love him."

"Is it the link?" Damon didn't want to believe it. The last thing he wanted was for his best friend to fall in love with the enemy. He didn't want to hurt her by hurting Klaus. He knew all too well how bad it'd hurt. "Maybe it's like being sired. Maybe you don't really—"

"— No," Emery interrupted with a shake of her head, "no, it's not that. What I feel for him is real. You don't know him, Damon. He's a completely different person around me," she smiled softly at the thought of the hybrid who was right outside, talking to Stefan. "He's all I want."

"You're down bad," Damon remarked with a chuckle which resulted in one from her as well. "No shit."

"Does he feel the same for you?" The vampire questioned, rendering her silent. She pursed her lips and shrugged, "I don't know."

"He better does," Damon clenched his jaw, "if he breaks your heart, I'll rip his out. I don't care how immortal he is."

She flashed him an amused look, "okay, I'll hold you on to that."

Damon only grinned in response before he threw an arm around her shoulder, "let's go outside and see what they're up to. Oh, and by the way, that was one hell of a long talk earlier."

"Talking takes time."

"Yeah," Damon rolled his eyes playfully, "it sure does." The two walked outside to find Klaus and Stefan talking to each other right in front of the exit.

"There were moments," they heard Klaus say, "real friendship. Brotherhood."

"Well, he already has a brother," Damon cut in as he joined them with his arms around Emery which earned him a warning glare from the hybrid. He immediately dropped his arm, raising his hand in mock surrender, "not to be, you know, territorial or anything."

"Oh, no, of course." Klaus reached out to grab Emery's hand so he could tug her in his direction. Once she was beside him, she rolled her eyes when he placed a possessive hand around her waist. "The Salvatores and their unshakable bond. I wonder what will happen when Elena finally makes her choice. Will we see you shake just a little bit?" He was met with silence from both brothers just as Bonnie approached them.

"It's done," she announced, "Esther's not fighting me anymore. The boundary spell is broken."

Klaus used his free hand to check whether she was right before he held Emery closer and tightly to him then they left the school, heading to wherever the hybrid was dragging the two of them.