Reputation | N.M

22 - calm before the storm

Chapter Twenty-Two
ᴄᴀʟᴍ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ sᴛᴏʀᴍ

When Klaus woke up Nora wasn't in bed. Immediately that sent off red flags, but when he heard a crash from downstairs, he quickly sped down, not bothering to put a shirt on. To his relief, he saw Nora but was enraged at the scene before him.

Nora on top of his youngest brother, huge smiles on their faces, laughing. Klaus had Kol gripped by his neck in an instant, "What is going on here?" he growled, trying and failing to stop his eyes from flashing yellow.

Kol let out a short laugh, rolling his eyes. "Worried I'm going to steal your girlfriend, Nik? Worried that I can ple-" He was cut off with a growl, and Klaus' grip on his neck tightened. The urge to murder his little brother had never been greater and his head would probably be detached from his body if he had finished that sentence.

"Kol, shut the hell up. You're making it worse," Nora started when she heard Klaus growl. "Klaus, it isn't what it looked like. I tripped and brought him down with me." When her boyfriend made no move to release his brother Nora sighed and walked over to them. She put her hand on top of his while glaring at Kol, and removed his hand from his neck.

Klaus could always tell when Nora was lying, well for the most part, and he knew that right now she was telling the truth. She gave him a quick kiss. "Good morning," she smiled. It quickly reverted back to a frown when he still looked upset.

"You were laughing," he said tightly. "With Kol and not me." She was vaguely aware of Kol rolling his eyes and slumping to the couch with a huff.

She gestured to her outfit, "Look." She was wearing a black Nerf vest with bullets and ammo in the respective slots. Her wrist had a Velcro bracelet on it that held more bullets. And her right hand had the biggest Nerf gun he had ever seen. "You were... tired from last night so I let you sleep." She sped out of the room, leaving him a little offended before she returned and started putting a Nerf vest on him and shoving an automatic gun into his arms.
"Since you want to make me laugh, you're playing."

He shook his head, "Absolutely not." He glared at Kol when he stood and started laughing.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice, brother."

Kol sped out of the room, mumbling a small good luck to his brother. Nora pulled up her purple bandanna and whispered in Klaus's ear, "I always win," before she also sped out of the room.

Klaus reluctantly loaded his gun and began searching for the two, not expecting to have as much fun as he was going to.

| Reputation |

Klaus trailed his hand up and down Nora's spine happily. After their Nerf war (which Kol won) she had slumped onto him, dragging him to the couch. He was enjoying peaceful silence until Rebekah barged in.

"What are you two doing? The dance is in thirty minutes." They exchanged an uncaring glance. "No, don't do that. Nik, you promised."

"I didn't promise anything. If Nora doesn't want to go, I'm not going."

Nora groaned, nuzzling he head into his chest. "Why would you say that? Now she's going to harass me." He gave her an apologetic look just as Rebekah smiled.

"Please, Nora? It's the least you can do for ripping my heart out." The huntress scowled at Rebekah but agreed to go. Much to Klaus' dismay.

That's how the vampire couple ended up at the town high school, not even having to compel entry.

Klaus was about to ask her to dance when a malicious grin spread across her face. He followed her line of sight and saw Tyler, a hybrid of his who had fled town. Nora looked back to Klaus, pleading with him to instigate something, and who would he be to say no?

"Where have you been, mate?" Klaus asked Tyler who was eyeing Nora uneasily. She gave a small finger wiggle with the hand that wasn't intertwined with Klaus'. She may or may not have threatened to carve out his spine when she found out it was him who bit her way back when. Apparently, he was still scared of her, more so than Klaus.

"I just got back in town."

"That didn't answer the question," Nora said taking a step closer. She raised her eyebrows in amusement when Caroline moved to block Tyler from her line of sight. Giving a light laugh, she stepped back, "I won't hurt him, Caroline."

"I might," Klaus added. "Given you don't stay put." He gave a curt nod, acknowledging the blonde beside the werewolf before pulling Nora to the dance floor.

"I want to eat ice cream," Nora whispered and Klaus couldn't keep his small smile at bay.

"You hated the 20s, didn't you," Klaus commented. The thought of her dancing in some flapper dress just seemed so surreal.

"Yeah. Me and Emery were on good terms back then though. I had her to keep me company, but she loved it. She would dance and party as much as she wanted, her favorite decade." When she realized she was rambling she lightly bit her lip and looked around the party, "Have you heard from Bex?"

Klaus furrowed his brows, remembering he hadn't seen her all day. "No. Come on, let's call."

Nora called Kol, asking if she had been at the house, which she wasn't, and Klaus called her, leaving an unhappy voice mail. "Klaus, what's that?"

Al line of salt was at their feet and seemed to be endless as it disappeared around the sides of the schools. "Your mother is back."

They both turned around to see Stefan, a frown set on his face and Nora immediately knew it had to do with Elena.