Forever

Plan B

It'd been weeks.

Kol had disappeared despite Jeremy and my best efforts. There were a few news outlets leading south that reported animal attacks, but there was no guarantee it was him.

In the meantime Elena was acting really weird as was everyone else.

I hadn't seen an Original since the night I completed my transition. Had they gone? By the time I'd gotten downstairs, they'd all left.

So I took a breath before pushing the ornate wooden door open.

The Mikaelson home was a mansion, bigger than any of the founders' houses in town, but I suppose when you had the money and resources they did, why not.

It wasn't until I walked into the art studio that I finally saw him. "Hey."

"Little Mouse." Klaus wiped a brush on a rag before dipping it in paint again.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"What could I possibly be angry for, love? Was it tricking one of my hybrids into escaping my protection?" He turned to me, setting his brush down. "Hm? Or the fact that my brothers bend over backwards for you and all you do is complain?"

He was right. "I deserved that."

But how did we move forward? If all they were trying to do was protect me but it ended up doing more harm than good, how did I convince a bunch of stubborn, thousand year old vampires to cool it.

"I understand that you all have enemies." I began slowly. "And I'll inherit that danger when word inevitably gets out, but I'm not going to stop helping my friends when they need me. You guys can't just pluck me out of my life and expect me to be okay with it." Klaus stared at me. "Look, I'm not proud of some of the things I've done to get here, presumably you've killed Jaime, I'm sorry you had to kill one of your hybrids."

"Jaime isn't dead."

"What?"

"I sent him on a mission." He stood up and grabbed his phone before tossing it at me. "He's in New Orleans. If one of the witches so much as sense he's a hybrid, they'll kill him, but I have some interests there and I'd prefer he go so I can stop any more creative escape attempts."

A picture of the infamous bourbon street was on the screen. In the reflection of a neighboring shop window, I could see Jaime, awkwardly holding the phone to get a good angle.

It did ease that ache in my chest, knowing he was alive.

That I hadn't killed him.

Klaus approached, grabbing his phone and pocketing it. "The entire reason I had this house built was so you wouldn't be 'plucked out of your life'. So we could live here as a family, despite the numerous plots to kill me and my siblings by your friends."

Oh.

"Tell me how to fix it."

"You can't for now. Kol will calm down eventually and it's only a matter of time before he comes back to you." He returned to his painting. "Elijah will stew but return as always."

"And Rebekah?"

"She's not angry, she went to New Orleans, said there was an old friend of hers there."

Wait. "If Rebekah's in New Orleans why did you send Jaime?"

"She's up to something and I want to know what." There it was.

I tentatively took a seat not far from him, watching as his art began to take form of something all too familiar.

"Hey Klaus."