deepest desire • klaus hargreeves

FIVE

TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER

A lot had changed for Maria since Klaus had left.

That night all those years ago, she had waited up for him to come back from work. The minutes ticked by, but Klaus was regularly late so it didn't faze her. But then the minutes turned to hours and the cocoa was cold and Maria was tired. She had fallen asleep waiting for him. When she woke up the next morning on the couch, she thought that maybe he had just been too tired to come over and that when she saw him next he would explain himself to her. And so, Maria waited a few days for Klaus to appear as he always did, hyperactive and full of the latest gossip - but he never did.

It was a week later when Maria had decided to visit the bar where Klaus said he worked. It was a small establishment with low hanging lights and velvet sofas. The air was thick, coated with a sharp tang of cheap whiskey. She had approached the bar man - a middle aged man with kind eyes and a gruff voice - and had asked about the dark eyes Hargreeves.

"Apologies man." He had told her. "Ain't no Klaus Hargreeves work here - only me and my Connie." Maria's cheeks had flushed in embarrassment and anger at the web of lies Klaus had spun just for her. She had offered her apologies to the man - who told her there was no need. He was sorry he couldn't help her more, but he hoped that she would find this Klaus soon.

She hoped so too. But hope was a dangerous thing. A tiring thing. A thing that Maria soon lost. The first few months after finding out about Klaus' lies Maria had been racked with an unending bundle of emotions. She didn't understand why he had lied, what he was covering up. As time continued, Maria realised that maybe she didn't even truly know Klaus. He rarely spoke of his family, his childhood. In fact he rarely spoke about his past at all, only from nineteen sixty onwards. Maria had never thought anything of it, she respected Klaus' privacy and had never intended to pressure him to tell her anything.

She had a habit though of only being vulnerable when the other person was. Almost like an odd trade of sorts, and so she had never told him about John. Yet, he still knew more about her that she did him. How odd. It was about a year later when Maria finally went a whole day without thinking about Klaus. An entire day when she didn't look at the roses in the shop and want to hurl them through the window. A day when the smell of cocoa didn't trigger that memory. A day when she didn't wonder where he was, what he was doing.

And it felt good.

She felt lighter after that day, and every day after. Until May passed away. She had been sick, even before Maria had arrived. She didn't want to tell Maria, not until she had too. Until she was too sick to come to work, too sick to even get out of bed. Maria had nursed her in her final days, made sure that she was comfortable. It was all she could do.

Looking back now, when Maria recalled the night May passed, she was almost sure that May knew. That May knew she was leaving this world as she told Maria how much she loved her, even in the short time she had known her. How Maria had been God's last gift to her, that he had given her someone to love like a daughter. She had softly wiped away Maria's tears, told her to shed no more. She was in no pain, she harboured no sadness. She had lived a long life, full of love and she was not scared to leave this world - not when her Alan was on the other side. Her love Alan whom she had lost many years ago, to a sickness much like this.

Maria mourned May for a long time. She gave the woman the most beautiful send off she could. Many of the locals came to the funeral, May didn't have any family left but she was an important member of the community and she was loved by many. That had been a hard day, even harder to have to do it on her own. That was when she found herself missing Klaus once more. Missing how he would've joked at the dramatics of the day, how May would've laughed at the tears these people were shedding. But he would also hold her tight, kiss her temple and tell her and that May was never truly gone. That May would always watch over her, would always keep her safe. And she knew he would take her home and stay the night with her, and comfort her as she mourned the loss of that wonderful woman. And yet she did it all alone.

Ironically, the first smile Maria cracked after May's death was because of May. May had left her the shop. That beautiful little shop that brought so much joy to Maria, it was hers. All because of May. She was looking out for Maria even after she was gone, and Maria wouldn't let her down. The first time opening the shop without May had been hard but Maria hadn't expected anything less. It was odd to not hear her laugh, to see her purse behind the counter.

And the rose. There had been a rose on the floor just by the front door, almost as thought it had been jammed through the letter box. Maria had thought nothing off it, it must've fallen from the box she had carried in the day before May's passing. But something in the back of her mind had told her to keep that rose, and so she did. She took it home that evening with her and had pressed it in one of her books.

Life was a bit of a blur for a while for Maria. Days filled with bouquets to be made, delivered and collected. For orders to be placed, deliveries to be put away and bills to pay. Life was mundane. But not in the joyous way it had been before. Not in the way that led Maria to cherish the simplistic nature of it. No, it was a life filled with no colour, no laughter.

Things got a little easier when Maria met the Chestnut's. Maria met Raymond on a crisp Autumn evening. He had barrelled into her shop just before close, exclaiming he wanted to propose to his wife and needed a bouquet as beautiful as her. Maria had only been too happy to help him. She had given him her favourite bouquet that she had created that day, one filled with pink roses and purple peonies.

"The pink roses represent joy and admiration." She had explained as she tied a silver ribbon around the base of the flowers. "And the peonies are said for bring good fortune."

Raymond adored the flowers and became flustered when Maria refused any payment. "A gift." She insisted, smiling as Raymond thanked her repeatedly. That had been the beginning of their friendship. Allison had arrived in the shop the next week to thank Maria just as her now fiancé had done. The shop had been quiet so Maria made the two of them coffee and they began chatting.

As time went on Maria became so grateful to have Allison and Raymond's friendship. They were two beautiful souls that faced such terrible treatment that they did not deserve. They were kind, caring, intelligent. They were human. Maria had been invited to their wedding - a beautiful ceremony. Simple, but beautiful. The love the two of them shared was so pure it was impossible to not feel happy around them.

Maria had gone on a few dates, but nothing ever lasted. Nothing ever seemed the right fit. Allison had once asked her why she felt that way. "Is there someone else?" The woman had questioned. Maria had laughed sadly, and shrugged her shoulders slightly. "I wanted there to be." was all that she could respond.

And it was true. She knew it now. Knew deep down that she had wanted there to be someone else. She had wanted Klaus. But that was over now. Or so she thought. Because just when she was accepting it, just when she was happy again - Klaus came back. Exactly the way they had first met. And the chaos that spread from that day on, once Maria became utterly entangled with the Hargreeves family - everything went to shit.

—
authors note
just a lil update on how Maria's life went after Klaus left for San Fran! I didn't want to spend too long on pointless chapters, but I didn't want to leave a huge plot hole as if Maria hadn't continued life over the years that klaus had left! And I like the idea of her being close with Allison and Raymond so I thought I'd add that in! So roughly from the next chapter on should be from season 2 when they're all now in the sixties! Hope you enjoyed xx