*IMPORTANT! If you read this chapter when I first published it you would notice that sometimes it looked as if this turned into an 'x reader' story. If you didn't know I have been writing 'x reader' stories on Tumblr a lot lately (my username on that is the same as on here if you wanna check them out). It was a mistake, force of habit that I tried to watch out for but it was also around one in the morning when I wrote this. I went through and hopefully corrected the mistakes. If I do it again in the future just be patient with me because that's just how I write on Tumblr and it's hard for my brain to switch gears sometimes. I hope y'all are still enjoying the story, love y'all!*

"Hey, Cami," Claire greets walking into Rousseau's. The blond bartender smiles back as she wipes down the counter.

"Hey, Claire. There's a table in the back reserved for your meeting," Cami mentions. Claire thanks her and makes her way to the table. She sets the book she uses to keep notes on the factions on the table top and takes a seat at the head. 

Twice a month Claire made sure to sit at the table with at least one of the heads of each faction. She listened to their concerns, grievances and what areas could be improved. Of course, what was good for one faction usually threw off the balance of another.

Vampires wanted more feeding freedoms which would spark argument with the human faction. Werewolves wanted to move out of the Bayou, a handful not all of them, which made the vampires nervous. 

The hybrids were mischievous little shits. Almost every faction had something to say about them. Honestly, they were like toddlers but Claire couldn't help but have a softer spot for them than the other factions thus leaning towards giving them more leeway than the others. They knew of her soft spot and exploited it. Like she mentioned, they were little shits.

The witches, on the other hand, normally didn't speak up much. Those that had survived the massacre didn't want to push their luck. They had more freedom than they had in years but knew they were still on thin ice.

Slowly, the leaders of the factions began to show up. Father Kieran was the first. He sat somewhere in the middle of the table to Claire's left. They made small talk and exchanged pleasantries before Caroline arrived with Marcel. Her twin took the seat directly to her right with Marcel sitting on the other side of Caroline.

"You look tired," Claire comments, looking at her sister. Caroline gives her an unamused look.

"I used to think you were difficult when you were pregnant but after dealing with Rebekah for two months I now realize how easy you were," Caroline sighs, slamming her head on the table. Claire stifles a laugh and looks at Marcel.

"Asher came with us and told Rebekah you needed to talk to him about something during the meeting just to get a few moments of peace," Marcel says. He nods toward the bar. She looks over to see Asher downing a double shot. Claire laughs shaking her head. "I think he's thinking about getting a vasectomy,"

"Why have they been staying at the Abattoir instead of their cottage just outside the city?" Claire wonders.

"Asher convinced her that things would be easier the closer they are to family," Caroline says lifting her head. "I just think he doesn't want to suffer alone,"

"Poor bastard," Marcel mutters. "Still has at least another six or seven months of this,"

"And it's only going to get worse," Claire mentions knowing from experience.

"Enzo's been extra careful," Caroline says, a small grin coming to her face. "I think Rebekah's really scared him and he doesn't want to risk me getting that bad. We all know I'm a handful as it is, add pregnancy to that and Enzo's going to be joining Asher on his escapes,"

"You? A handful?" Claire asks teasingly. Caroline glares playfully before a small smile comes to her face.

"I have been thinking about it though," Caroline mentions. "If a vampire can get a human pregnant and a human can get a vampire pregnant, who's to say two vampires couldn't do it?" She theorizes hopefully.

"I don't see why not," Claire agrees. "You're just going to have to get Enzo to stop being so careful,"

"Oh, I can handle Enzo," Caroline smirks. "As if he could ever resist me," Claire laughs a bit.

As the sisters talk Davina arrives with Kaleb. Kaleb sits at the end of the table by Marcel while Davina sits across from him and beside Kieran. The last ones to arrive are the werewolf leader, Aiden, and hybrid leader, Alison. Aiden sits directly to Claire's left while Alison sits town the table and across from her.

"Alright, everyone's here," Claire greets. "First meeting of 2017, hopefully this year will go by smoothly," Claire says, with a hopeful smile. "Let's begin,"

It didn't take long for the arguments to break out. Claire sits still trying to keep up with each side. It started with Kieran making a side comment about how the death number for humans had steadily rose the last few weeks to an uncomfortable rate. This lead to Caroline pointing the blame to Alison and the Hybrids. Alison pointed the blame right back while Kieran mentioned that he didn't care which faction was responsible, he just wanted the killing to lessen.

As the three of them argued, Kaleb made kiss ass comments about how well the witches were doing. It was obvious he wanted to stay in Claire's good graces, if not make the relationship between her and the witches more stable. Davina stayed silent with this distant look in her eyes, something Claire noted to ask about later.

Aside from the arguing and kiss ass comments, Aiden was trying to whisper to her about the werewolves. This caught Marcel's attention which prompted another argument to begin. This one growing louder in an attempt to be heard over the one already taking place.

"So much for a smooth year," Claire whispers before finally stepping it.

It took two hours to hear everyone's grievances, talk them out and attempt to find a solution. When everyone was satisfied enough, the meeting ended. Kieran left rather quickly, something Claire were used to. He played politics, he spoke for the humans but that was it. He respected Claire but she knew friendship was going to be too much of a reach for him especially when she murdered the old sheriff and mayor in front of him as brutally as she had.

Caroline left with a plan to seduce her mate. She had watched her younger sister have children and now Rebekah was going to have one. She was envious and wanted one for herself. She was determined and Enzo's fear of her turning into Rebekah wasn't going to stop her.

"Claire, can I have a word?" Marcel asks. She nods, stepping to the side with him. "I didn't want to mention this during the meeting but there's been a few disappearances, deaths of vampires. New vampires, small numbers here and there. Not enough to gain attention, people we wouldn't miss,"

"Has Caroline noticed?" She asks. Marcel shakes his head.

"She's got a full time job keeping Rebekah from tearing apart the place, keeping the nightwalkers at bay and the daywalkers in line, all the while trying to appease Kieran. Now, she looks like she's about to go on a baby craze," Marcel explains.

"How did you notice?" She wonders.

"One of the nightwalkers that died was a friend, we weren't close but he was a good guy," Marcel mutters. Claire gives him a sympathetic smile and pats his shoulder. "It got me looking because something just didn't feel right," Claire motions for him to continue. "When he died, his neck was torn up like someone had fed from him," Claire tenses. "He's been out of the Other Side for a long time, he wasn't going to be silent forever,"

"Yeah but what is his plan? Why now? It's been months," Claire sighs, running a finger through her hair. Marcel shrugs, looking at her as he waits for an order. "Keep an eye on this. Tell the vampires to be careful but don't let them get too suspicious yet. Last thing I need is panic but I want them aware," Marcel nods. "If it continues or gets worse let me know and don't do anything stupid," She tells him sternly.

"I'll be discrete, don't worry," Marcel assures her. 

"Yes, be discrete but don't forget to watch after yourself as well. Don't tell anybody but you're starting to grow on me. I don't need you dying anytime soon," Claire smiles, rubbing his arm before walking away from him. 

Marcel watches her leave and feels as if a weight is lifting from his shoulders. He couldn't remember a time when he was on good terms with Claire without a hidden agenda. It felt nice to see she was beginning to trust him, even see him as a friend. If there's one thing he's learned is that it's much better to be on her good side.

"I know that look," Claire says, sitting across from Davina. The young girl snaps out of her thoughts. "Who's the lucky guy?" Davina instantly blushes madly. 

"Is it that obvious?" Davina asks, glancing at her.

"The far away dreamy look, the small longing smile," Claire lists. "I've been there,"

"We've only known each other for a few months but..." Davina gnaws at her lip.

"I was in love with my mates much sooner than what one would consider normal," Claire tells her. "When you're with the one then time is irrelevant," She explains. "You fall in love fast and if feels as if there aren't enough hours in a day to spend with them,"

"When did you know that they were it for you?" Davina asks.

"Nothing with the Mikaelson's is conventional," Claire says. "I pretty much fell in love with Elijah the moment I saw him. Seeing him made me truly realize that the dreams I had of them were real and that I wouldn't have to worry about growing up and dying alone. It was so fast that I forced myself to slow down.

"With Henrik it was instantaneous as well. He had the mystery around him and whenever I saw him he was so charming I couldn't help but to fall for him. He had the whole I'm-a-ghost-and-you're-the-only-one-that-can-save-me bit going for him. Who wouldn't fall in love with that?

"Nik was a little shaky at first. There was a lot of drama leading up to his arrival but just like with Henrik and Elijah I fell for him hard. It would be about three or four months before we really got together, far too long if you ask me.

"Kol and Finn came last at the same time. They were there right when my father, the man who had raised me, died... Their timing was perfect. At that point the only thing that kept the relationship slow was them. Finn was old school, more so than his brothers, and took his time. Kol was emotionally complicated but he knew he loved me.

"Once I had them all... it was perfect. They ruined any other guy for me. They're all I want."

"That's how I feel with him," Davina says, leaning across the table. "He's... perfect and amazing. No one else can compare," Her voice grows softer.

"So? What worries you?" Claire wonders, tilting her head.

"Well, I'm five years younger than him," Davina mutters.

"Is that a turn off for you?" Claire asks.

"Well, he's in his twenties and I just turned eighteen. Yeah, I'm an adult but..." Davina sighs.

"I was younger than you when I met my mates. Yeah, they're a thousand or so years older than me but even if you take that away they were still physically older than me. Kol was the only one remotely close to my age, along with Henrik. Finn and Elijah were a lot older than me while Nik was closer to them than to me, age wise." Claire explains hoping Davina could follow along. "They didn't treat me any differently, although we got plenty of weird and or concerned looks,"

"I can only imagine," Davina smiles a bit. Her shoulders relax a little bit. She didn't think that the age difference is really what's bothering her rather than the fact that she's falling so quickly.

"Will you tell me who it is?" Claire asks hopefully. Davina smiles.

"Jeremy," She admits under her breath.

"Bigfoot?" Claire whispers, grinning. Davina raises an eyebrow at Claire but she don't explain the nickname. "You've got a good one, Davina. You should talk to him, he'll understand whatever is bothering you." Davina nods, her smile fading a bit.

"I just... I don't know if he's staying in New Orleans much longer. He's a hunter that can't hunt in the city," Davina murmurs.

"Talk to him," Claire urges. "Give him a reason to stay. If you show interest, he'll stick around." Davina looks at her hopefully. "Why don't you join him for lunch?" Claire suggests standing up. Davina frowns her eyebrows and follows her gaze to see Jeremy entering the bar. "Jeremy! There's a seat over here!" Claire shouts gaining his attention. Davina looks away with a wild blush. "Let me know what happens," Claire whispers to her with a wink. "Treat her well, Jeremy Gilbert," Claire mutters sternly as she passes the boy she grew up with.

"Yes, ma'am," Jeremy smirks, sending her a playful wink. Claire rolls her eyes and continues for the door. As she opens it to leave a woman with long blond hair bumps into her.

"Oh, sorry," The woman apologizes. 

"Don't be, it's alright," Claire assures her. The woman looks at her and a flash of realization crosses her face. Claire tenses seeing the look but not knowing if it was a good or bad thing.

"Claire," The woman whispers. 

"And you are?"

"So, you're the one that's got my brother's acting like lovesick teenagers?" 

Claire's eyes narrow uneasily.

"Who are you?"

"Your soon-to-be sister-in-law," The woman explains. "Freya Mikaelson, pleasure to finally meet you"

*I'm actually really pleased with how the chapter turned out, hope you guys enjoyed it as well!*