Toxic » Salvatore

twelve

twelve
~~~~~~

"I really can't wrap it around my head that you call him brother, willingly." Stefan picked up a strand of her silky hair, pinching it between his thumb and forefinger before leaving it to fall gracefully back into place.

Juliette laughed at the tone of his voice, shifting her weight in the bed they laid in, fully clothed and above the covers. "Yes, because you don't know him quite like I do. When he saved me that night in Chicago, he treated me like I was family, never once has he treated me wrong." Closing her eyes and thinking back to a much simpler time with her brother-by-choice rather than blood, Juliette drifted into another headspace. "He helped me through my bloodlust, helped me feed and control it. To this day, Niklaus is the only person who had ever witnessed my powers."

"Are you trying to make me jealous?" Stefan mumbled under his breath, green eyes shifting to look down at the woman beside him. "It's working."

"Not to make you jealous, my love, just to inform you. The Klaus that you know and the one that I know are two completely different people which is why I will not help you hurt him. I love him and I love you but if I ever had to choose a side, I'd pick myself."

Raising a brow, one five fingered grip trailing soothingly down her bare arm. "I can understand that but if he was hurting me to the point of near death, who would you choose?"

"Depends on what you did, truthfully. If he is being a drama queen, yes, I will help and it is quite often my brother does things without a true cause."

Letting out a deep breath, Stefan ran his fingers through his hair. "As much as I'd love to sit here and talk for hours about Klaus Mikaelson, I actually have to be finding a stake that will kill him and his family and hand it over to him."

"You're returning the stake? Why?"

Leaning down to slip his feet into his shoes and tie them, Stefan's voice was slightly strained. "Not by choice, he compelled Damon to make sure we really gave up all the stakes. Naturally, Damon caved and told the truth and now I have to go to Ric and get the last one before Klaus goes on a killing spree."

Juliette was silent for a few beats of time before speaking up, the palm of her hand resting dead in the center of Stefan's back. "For what it's worth, I am very sorry that it was you and your friends that Niklaus has chosen to terrorize. Maybe had you all met him in a different time you would learn to love him how I do."

"If I had met him in a different time, a better time, if it made you happy for me to get along with your brother, I would do it for you." Tracing the outline of her lips, the younger Salvatore leaned in for a kiss, one sweet and soft. "I have to go but I'll be back later. Will you still be here?"

"Probably not, I have some things I have to do as well. Be safe, please."

A wink was sent her way in response, Stefan leaving the boarding house, the blonde still standing in the middle of his room for what felt like hours before she finally went home.

Klaus wasn't normally the first person she saw when walking into the mansion and Juliette quickly realized why moments later. A large duffle bag was perched beside his seat in front of the fireplace. One by one a stake was thrown into the fiery furnace, his steely gaze not breaking until she sat down beside him. "Did Stefan send you to deliver the last two stakes I asked for?"

"I'm not a messenger, so no. I am here because I rather be here with my family rather than cooped up in my own home all by myself."

"Not so much family here anymore, Finn's dead and Rebekah is out playing school."

Leaning into Klaus, resting her head on his shoulder, Juliette sighed. "I never did understand her infatuation with high school. Each year she goes she learns the same things and meets the same people in different bodies."

"You know Bekah," Klaus took another stake and threw it into the fire, watching the weapon burn into nothing more than ash. "She will do anything she can to be seen as a human, if other people thinks she's like them, she will too."

"Do you miss being human?"

He paused for a long moment, his plump lips pursuing together before his face screwed up into one of thought. "It has been so long since I was merely just a human that I genuinely cannot remember it's feeling. My human years were filled with so much pain, I do my best to forget it. I do remember how much I miss the feeling of it, being free and innocent, uncorrupted by my family's selfish desires that lit aflame when we were turned." Humming in remembrance, Klaus nodded. "Yes, that is what I miss most."

"I miss the time," Juliette confessed. "I miss the fancy dresses and parties everyone would throw. I miss how simple life was back then but I do not miss the vulnerability and loneliness."

"Ah, loneliness. Now that, my Julie is something I remember all too well." Tossing the last stake in the duffle-bag into the fire, Klaus brushed his hands on the dark jeans he wore before standing up to leave the room. "I must be off now, little sister. I have a town to take over."

"Nik," Juliette called out her voice barely above a whisper. "Do you think I'm evil?"

Pretty blue eyes looked at her, taking in the softness in her fair features. "I think trying to put a name on who you are is more evil than any physical thing you are capable of."

It wasn't the answer Juliette searched for but it soothed her conscious for the time being—she just hoped it was true.