Forever The Name On My Lips

thirty-four.

thirty-four. nothing will stand between you and i

Today was the day. Klaus had told you last night that he was leaving too. Now that his family had scattered and his mother was dealt with, besides the doppelgänger blood, he didn't have any desire to stay in this rudimentary town. You were ready to go too. There was nothing here for you anymore. The friendships you'd made, half of them were broken, and the other half...well, you were better off on your own.

You walked downstairs and saw the hybrids had returned to pack up Klaus' stuff. You walked over to where he was standing and saw he was looking at one of his paintings. It was a painting of you and Marcellus playing the piano together. You smiled wistfully as you reached out to graze your son's face. You hadn't played the piano since you'd left New Orleans. Even when you didn't remember him, your love for the instrument died that night Marcellus did.

"He loved you," Klaus said softly.

"He loved you too," you told him.

"You could come with me, you know," he said. "We could visit New Orleans together. I confess I haven't been able to return since...that night."

Your heart clenched because you felt the same way. Even when you didn't have your memories, something kept you away from New Orleans, like you knew in your heart that it would only cause you pain. "I can't," you said.

"Then we could go to France or Italy or New York," he said, wrapping his arms around your waist, pulling you to him. "We could go anywhere."

You turned to face him though you did not move out of his embrace. You knew this was probably the last time you'd be able to feel it. "Klaus, I told you, I'm not coming with you."

"Oh come on, love. We could relive the years we missed," he smirked. "Do it right this time."

"Klaus," you sighed. "I can't be with you anymore, not now. I just...I don't know who I am anymore. For countless years, you were my entire universe. Your dreams, your goals, your love. That was all I knew, all I wanted. Then, when you took my memories, I felt adrift without my anchor.  But I managed to discover a new existence. I found a new life. When Gloria broke your compulsion and my memories returned, I had to push away my thoughts of you to make room for me.  Now that I've found you again, now that you've reclaimed that space, those newfound parts of me that I painstakingly pieced together are once again set adrift. I need to find them again. I need to find me again in all the noise that is you. And I can't do that with you."

He looked at you sadly, a thousand years of regret on his face. "I never meant to make your life so difficult when I sent you away. I thought I was protecting you, saving you from turmoil that followed me."

"I never minded the turmoil," you said.

You fell into a silence, your eyes locked as you both realized the magnitude of this goodbye. Last time, he had sent you away by force, and you had fought him on it. You would have returned to him immediately if he hadn't erased himself from your mind. This time, it was your choice. This time, going back to him, it would be your choice too.

The door suddenly opened and Rebekah stormed in. "Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me."

"What? He's dead," you gasped. Klaus released you to look at his sister.

"Yeah well, not dead enough apparently," she said, looking at her brother. "This must have been her plan. He's a vampire thanks to mother's spell, with a white oak stake that can't kill him. He is strong, Nik. Too strong."

His jaw clenched and he moved slightly to stand in front of you, so inconspicuously you were sure it was a reflex. "Where is he now?"

"He's stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls, he'll come after us we need to leave now," Rebekah told him.