Dusk til Dawn | n.mikaelson (book one)

VIII: The End of the Affair

"Come on get to know me. I dare you."  Klaus smirked at Briana while the two sat in the front of the car waiting for Stefan to be done with his orders from Klaus. 

Since the second week on their little werewolf hunt adventure, Klaus tried every technique possible to get Briana to talk to him. She was angry with him, but as each day passed, her anger and hatred dwindled. Perhaps it was her persistence that she found attractive. Or maybe the effort he was willing to put in just to get her to look in his direction. 

Tonight was no different. Ever since Stefan departed the car Klaus had been pestering Briana to talk to him. Maybe it was curiosity, or pure annoyance, but she finally caved. 

"Fine." She turned to face him to see him smiling widely back at her. She could sworn time stopped when she looked into his deep blue eyes. 

She cleared her throat, "So what do you want to talk about?" She smiled breaking the lingering tension in the air. 

"I want to talk about you." She scoffed lightly turning away from his gaze. "Your hopes. Your dreams." 

She turned back towards him to meet his gaze, "Everything you want in life." He spoke in all seriousness. 

Briana couldn't help but let a nervous laugh escape her lips. He couldn't be serious. She couldn't fathom why he was so interested in her. She wasn't anything special, yet he treated her like she was the most special person in the world. The only person. 

"Is this your thing? Give a girl a few compliments in hopes she'll sleep with you?" Briana questioned, a slight grin on her face.

"Oh come on. You're beautiful. You're strong, full of light. I enjoy you." Klaus responded sincerely looking deep into her eyes. 

Briana scoffed nervously, flattered by his compliments,  "Just so we're clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you." She said confidently. 

The ends of his lips turned upwards, his eyes full of light as they were locked on hers. 

"I know." He started. "That's why I like you." He said his voice full of confidence. Briana could feel her cheeks get hot as she broke their gaze. 

"What do you want to know?" She asked laughing slightly. "Full disclosure, I'm not that interesting." 

"Well I disagree." He said, throughout their entire conversation, he never took his eyes off her. The eye contact nonverbally acknowledging how serious his words were. 

"In my thousand years on this earth I've only ever come across a handful of individuals with the strength and resolve you have. And I've only just met you." He spoke. She turned her head towards him, taking in his words. 

"Well sometimes being strong is the only choice you have." She spoke lowly, looking down towards her fiddling hands. She was nervous. Not because she was talking to him, but because she felt comfortable to open up about her past. 

"My dad never really cared for me. Once Caroline was born and he had a real child, I was practically nonexistent." Briana admitted. She couldn't read the look on his face as his smile slowly dropped. 

"You probably think it's dumb. I'm an adult I should be strong enough to move on from my past, but feeling like you're unwanted seems to stick with you." She said softly. She didn't know why she was telling him these feelings she had harbored deep, yet she couldn't stop the words from flowing out of her mouth. 

"Actually, I think that takes a special kind of strength. One I happen to know very well." He sighed as he looked down at his own hands. Briana could tell there was hurt in his voice. She looked at him with sad eyes.