Vulnerable § Klaus Mikaelson

52

edited chapter

Chapter 52: Me, Myself, and I

{K. M}

          "Don't let me interrupt," Klaus watched Tyler with his new werewolf friend, Hayley, the tension between the two thick. "Would someone like to tell me why my home has been turned into a bar?"

          The hybrids look around at all of the empty liquor bottles. "We lost Dean, so we thought we should mourn him the proper way." A hybrid answered, recalling the death of their pack brother that was killed by Connor the day prior.

          "And Dakota was fine with you all dispersing the liquor cabinet all over her carpet?"

          "Dakota hasn't said anything. She came home late, took one, and she slept in the study. Nobody's seen her since."

          Tyler smirked at the confused expression held on Klaus' face. "Probably because she found out that you had sex with Caroline while in my body."

          Without another word, Klaus walked upstairs, taking his time before opening the door to the study. In the far corner, a small heap on limbs rested themselves against the wall. When Dakota saw him, she didn't even bother to hide the tears that slowly traveled down her bare face.

           "Caroline, huh?"

           Klaus averted his gaze after taking in the pain in her voice. "Sweetheart I—"

           "—cheated on me with Caroline Forbes."

          The hybrids hands clenched and I clenched by his sides, but not once did she stop staring at him with that same hurt expression. "I can explain."

          "Please do." Dakota stood up, holding the only full bottle of vodka, the other empty bottles laid on the floor empty. "Because I can't wrap my head on why you would sleep with her, while I was out mourning your death, and in said time I was celibate."

          "Love, it was just a cover. They would've known I was alive. Caroline saw me and I needed to be as inconspicuous as possible. "

         Her chin quivered, and a fresh set of tears fell. Angry ones that's done and burned her cheeks as they continue their journey down her face. "You cheated on me to keep up with a facade? What was so bad about people knowing that you weren't dead?" A loud sob broke through, and Dakota cried yet again. "Was saving your own ass is so important that you couldn't think about how I would feel? I have those, feelings. Emotions that I feel, and right now, all I feel is hurt. "

          Klaus himself was shedding tears, and every bone in his body filled with regret. Nothing he ever did could change the outcome of this inevitable fate. "I cannot apologize enough, Dakota. I'm so sorry." He made a move towards her, but instead of a hug, he received the cold shoulder.

          A hand raised to stop him from taking a step further, five fingers that had once been intertwined with his own. Skin that had been a familiar feeling, his home. "Klaus, I should go. "

         "A-are we—?"

         "I think so. "She whispered, her voice breaking, sounding brittle and weak. "It's for the best. "

         "I need you to understand, Dakota." Klaus stopped her gently, a vortex of feelings consuming every fiber of his being. "My intentions weren't to hurt, you they never have been. "

         Dakota squinted her eyes and confusion. "Then why do you do it?"

         More tears began falling down Klaus' face, and he understood that the words that were about to come out of his mouth were going to be the most selfish things he'd ever said in his entire life. He knew that what was going to be said was going to crush her in ways that Klaus never thought he could. "I want to be King."

          There was a silence, one of anger and sadness. Klaus' greed was something he'd have to live with for the rest of his life. "Good luck with that."

          But Dakota King wouldn't stand by him and watch it consume him. She refused to sit back and allow him to hurt her just for the fantasy of him becoming something that would render him from a conscience. Dakota knew that if Klaus was given such a hefty amount of power, he would use it, and a lot of people would get hurt, and Dakota refused to be one of them.