Promise Me, Always And Forever

The Devil Went To New Orleans

~Nik~

Mystic Falls, 2011

She dares not to come downstairs lest she be caught up in the argument happening.

Nik was used to the arguing by now. Klaus didn't stay with them often anymore since he broke his thousand-year-old curse, but when he did, there was a fight more often than not. Most of them were petty quarrels Nik could ignore easily- they were drowned out by her ear buds or she had the time to run away before things got ugly.

Tonight, she woke up during the worst of the fight. First, it was manageable. Then, anxiety swarmed her and she could hardly keep herself still because she picked up on every horrid emotion that everyone was feeling.

"Can you live a moment without stirring up drama, Niklaus?" bellows Elijah. Elijah is by no means a screamer, but once he raises his voice, Nik knows things are getting ready to take a turn for the worst. Klaus screamed all the time, though- it is nothing new for her.

Then, as if to prove he can scream louder, Klaus yells back. "I won't have my reputation tarnished by a group of petty witches! They will learn to keep my name and my motives out of their mouths!" Something hits the floor- Nik assumes that it is a vase of some sort.

"They are but rumors, brother. Let them die," Elijah begs. "Haven't we gone through enough?"

"I will rest when the rumors are gone. Perhaps even the coven," Klaus huffs. Nik knows that he is smiling like a maniac- well, he already is a maniac.

"Mark my words: if harm comes upon Nik for this, I'll have your head."

At that, Klaus laughs. "All the more reason to cause trouble in the Big Easy." Then, the door opens and slams, causing something else to fall to the floor and shatter.

Once Nik is sure Klaus is gone, she begins to venture downstairs. She can hear Elijah and Rebekah muttering to each other, growling hatefully about Klaus. Then, she stops at the top of the stairs, calling down to her aunt and uncle.

"Has His Royal Highness fled the premises?" Nik calls down, rubbing her tired eyes. She knows she won't sleep any tonight because of this domestic dispute.

There's an inelegant snort from Rebekah and a barely contained laugh from Elijah. Then, she sees her uncle appear at the bottom of the staircase and he gives her a sad smile.

"All of that mess woke you up?" Elijah asks, his smile fading and he frowns deeply.

Nik sighs and nods her head. "I woke when I heard glass shattering. I probably would have gone back to sleep, but Klaus had to out-scream you, it seems." Then, she begins to move downstairs and her eyes sweep over the mess in their grand living room- Klaus has destroyed a crystal vase and a picture from the wall has fell to the floor, glass shattered.

It might have hurt less if it weren't a picture of Nik.

"There is glass everywhere," Elijah says, looking at Nik's bare feet. "You shouldn't be walking through here."

Nik rolls her eyes. "It's fine. Just let me go put shoes on and..." She's cut off by Elijah who scoops her up in his arms, carrying her towards the kitchen. "Dad! I am not a baby!"

"You will always be my baby," Elijah says, carefully depositing her on the kitchen floor. He drops a kiss on her head and points to the small pantry. "Grab me the broom and dustpan, will you? I have to sweep this mess up lest we have to pull glass from your feet."

Nik complies, going to grab the cleaning items to hand them over to her uncle. "It's horrid you have to keep cleaning up after Klaus' messes."

"Sadly, it has been this way for the last thousand years," Elijah sighs, taking the broom and dustpan and he begins to sweep up the glass from the broken vase. "I doubt it will be different for the next thousand, either."