Forever The Name On My Lips

thirteen.

thirteen. i spent forever trying not to crawl back to you

Smoky Mountains

You had been quiet since you left the bar last night. Ray had all but drawn you a map to his pack before Klaus fed him his blood and snapped his neck. He was now unconscious on Stefan's back as you trekked up the mountain. Being here reminded you of another trek you'd taken on another mountain, back before you went to New Orleans. You remembered Klaus being mesmerized by a hummingbird. It had been the only time since you'd turned that he'd told you he considered what it would be to be human again. You had thought about it frequently, especially then. Becoming a vampire had given you an everlasting life with your love, but it had taken something from you too. You loved Klaus and that was enough for you, but you knew it would only ever be the two of you. Once, when you were human, you had imagined the children you would have with Klaus, with your hair and his blue eyes. You knew it was impossible for you now.

But you hadn't thought Klaus would ever feel that longing. He was more than content the way you were, just the two of you and his siblings, traveling the world, being forever young and powerful. Until that moment. When he told you his thoughts, you had confessed your own dark weakness, and he understood. He had hugged you tightly, reminding you that he didn't need children from you. He didn't need anything but you.

And now, the distance between you as you trekked up the Smoky Mountains spoke volumes to how far you'd come. You could feel his turning his gaze to you periodically, but you ignored him. Your neck has healed easily enough but the feeling remained. You had always known he was capable of cruelty, but you had never, never expected it towards you.

"You okay?" Klaus said, and you looked up, thinking he was talking to you, but his eyes were on Stefan, a smirk on his face. "Is Ray getting heavy?"

"I'm fine," Stefan rolled his eyes.

"You sure about that?" Klaus asked. "You know, we've been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit down."

"You know, I get that we're stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it'd be great," Stefan said. "Why don't you focus on trying to grovel to Y/N for whatever you did to piss her off this time?"

Klaus looked at you briefly before looking back at Stefan. "She's just having a bit of a tantrum. She'll get over it."

"You wish," you scoffed.

"I uh I guess she's not over it yet," Stefan said.

Klaus glared at him. "You don't understand how relationships like ours work, Stefan."

"You don't understand how relationships work, period," you rolled your eyes.

"When you've spent a millennium with someone, anger comes and goes," Klaus ignored you. "Of course there will be the occasional spats. You can't spend that long with someone with complete harmony at all times."

"Spat?" you scoffed. "And this is why my anger will never stop. Because you think this is a spat."

"No, I think this is a tantrum," he said nonchalantly.

You growled in anger before speeding at him, punching him in the face, causing his head to turn to the side as he stepped back from your hit. He smirked at you as he turned his face back to you.

"I've missed that fire. Do you feel better now, love?" he asked, smirking.

"Groveling didn't work so you're gonna make her angry?" Stefan rolled his eyes. "That seems like a terrible plan, but to each their own, I guess."