𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 ~ 𝗞𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝘀

~ Chapter One Hundred Six ~

Dusk didn't know how long she was out, it could've been seconds, maybe even minutes. But as the sound of muffled voices surrounded her, her eyes slowly fluttered open, her body aching as she moved, barely able to sit up without being met with the stabbing pain of whiplash. Her blurry vision cleared as she looked around the damaged van, the windshield cracked beyond belief, nearly on the verge of shattering into a million pieces. "Dusk, baby?" A hand went to her shoulder, making her turn to her left. The fear in Klaus's eyes was quickly replaced by a wave of relief. "Hey..." Her voice raspy and dry.

Klaus wrapped his arms around his beloved, the breath he had been holding in ever since waking up to find her unconscious finally escaped his lips as he buried his face in her neck. "For a moment, I thought I lost you. The both of you..." He trembled, Dusk's eyes grew wide, a hand sliding down to her stomach, hoping to feel some small sign, some small reassurance that their future was still safely nestled within her. "The baby..." She whimpered. Klaus immediately pulled away, his hand meeting hers. "It's okay, they're okay," Klaus assured.

"Where's everyone?" Dusk asked, trying to recall the moments before the accident, but it happened so fast, and everything was just a blur. Through the sheets of plastic window coverings, she could see the faint outlines of the rest of the group. Luther stood near the edge of the road with his thumb out, but the road was considerably dead, and the few cars that happened to be driving by refused to stop and help them out. The right passenger door slid open, and upon pulling back the covering, Allison poked her head into the van, she sighed with relief upon seeing the couple. "Hey, you! I'm glad you're awake!" She looked at Dusk. "You were out for quite a while,"

"I'm fine..." Dusk grew quiet, laying her head on Klaus's shoulder, avoiding as much eye contact with her as possible. "What do you want?" Allison was taken aback by the harshness in her sister's tone. While she didn't expect Dusk to hug her tightly and cry after suffering a near-death experience, she at least expected some kind of relief knowing her sister and the rest of her family were okay too. "I just wanted to check in and see how you're doing. Congratulations, by the way," She smiled, noticing Klaus and Dusk's intertwining hands over her belly. 

"Thanks," The brown blonde murmured. Klaus could sense the uncomfortableness within his wife's demeanor, wanting to escape the incoming bombardment with unsolicited advice. While the thought of being a parent had been pushed to the back of her mind for nearly eight years, Dusk knew that she'd never let anyone tell her how to raise her child, not even her siblings. And as Allison continued to make small talk about her experience with pregnancy and raising Claire, Klaus gently squeezed her hand, silently whispering "I've got you, it's okay,"

"If you need any parenting tips, just let me know. I'd be happy to help!" Allison offered. "No offense, Allison. But I really don't want to take parenting advice from someone who rumored their kid just so she could get some peace," Dusk bit. "I'm just trying to help!" Allison looked offended. "Yeah? Well, I don't need your help! Neither of us do!" Dusk snapped. "Excuse me? You were the one who was begging me to save your husband when he got shot!" Allison reminded. "Allison, I made it very clear. No Marigold!" Klaus sighed. "Well, what was I supposed to do? Just let you die? Watch Dusk become a widow and raise your kid by herself?" Allison inquired.

"Why are you suddenly caring about me? You sure weren't preaching to that choir after the world reset, and you definitely weren't preaching to it on our wedding day!" Dusk snarled. "Three years of my life have gone down the drain! Three years clean and sober, but this is what you wanted, right?" Klaus argued. "What are you talking about? Of course I wanted you to get sober, Klaus! All of us did! And Dusk, I really wanted to be there, I did! But-"