Simple Secrets || N. Mikaelson

~24~

✧✶⭒☆⭒✶✧

Talia lounged on Hayley's bed, her legs arched over her back as she read a fashion magazine, the werewolf sitting in an armchair nearby. "Alright, I give up, why have you suddenly become my bodyguard?" The pregnant girl tossed her book to the side, giving Talia an annoyed look with her eyebrows raised. "Spill." 

Talia shrugged, her head tilting to the side as she peered up at Hayley. "I'm no-one's bodyguard, least of all yours. I'm just bored and you're the closest thing I have to a friend, is that so bad?" 

Hayley's eyes narrowed a fraction and she came over to the bed, perching on the edge. "Fine, girl talk, then. You're in-love with Klaus." Hayley tilted her head, a charming smile taking place on her face. "Admit it." 

Talia felt her cheeks turn red and she violently shook her head. "No, no, I'm not. I hate Klaus, he's an asshole and a jerk and a dick and I despise him. I wish I'd never met him." Her voice was low, eyes moving to her hands as she hesitated. 

"But?" Hayley pestered, moving closer and resting her hand on the girl's knee. The Companion flinched, pulling her knee towards her chest. "Come on, Talia, I see the way you look at him." 

Blushing, Talia wiped her palms on her thighs and rubbed the back of her neck, feeling the sweat there. "Hayley, he's just my best friend, okay? I'm dating Marcel. I'm in a relationship with Marcel. God, I can barely even stand Klaus half the time." 

Hayley nodded slowly, pursing her lips. "But you still came." 

"What?" The Companion felt her eyebrows knit together, studying the brunette. "What do you mean?" 

"You came to New Orleans for him, you came to Mystic Falls for him . . . I don't think you'd do that for someone you hate. Come on, Talia, you're in-love with him." Hayley pressed her lips together and sighed, shaking her head. "You don't need to talk to me about it, but I think you need to talk about it with someone. Unrequited feelings hurt a lot more than anything else." 

Talia nodded, closing her eyes and looking down at her hands. "Okay, okay. I don't really know, okay? I just - Klaus manipulated me. For years. He controlled me, and used me and ignored me. He treated me like an object and saw me as a weakness. Then, finally, when he starts to see me as an equal, the bond gets cut. Because of that, he completely cut off our relationship and he lost my trust. But now . . . he's being a good person. For the first time in thirty years, he's here for me. Totally and completely, and I just . . . I don't know how I feel because that isn't the Klaus I know. I also the know that the second he's decided I shouldn't feel traumatized anymore, he's gonna revert back to his old self." Talia swallowed, feeling tears burn in her eyes. "So, as you may be able to see, I don't know if I'm in-love with him. I'm in-love with who he can act like, but am I in-love with who he is behind the curtains?" Her hand flexed and she opened her eyes, meeting Hayley's soft pair. "The issue, though? I would come for him even if he treated me like shit. I have come for him even when I know I'm going to be destroyed. I love him, Hayley, that's true." 

Talia brushed at her eyes with her thumbs. "I love him so, so much. But am I in-love with him? No clue. Would I spend my life with him, even if it meant that my freedom would disappear and I would disappear into him? Yes, absolutely." Talia snorted, her hand covering her lips. "That's the issue with a toxic relationship, Hayley, you return to your abuser."