CHAPTER NINETEEN
× a simple question ×

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IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG FOR CASSANDRA TO FIGURE OUT SHE WAS BEING FOLLOWED. There was a feeling of lingering eyes on her making a chill run up her spine. She knew who it was, she was just afraid to turn around because then it would become a reality. She takes a shaky breath before preparing herself to get the hell away from the man. Cassandra vamp speeds, starting to go back to the Salvatore boarding house only to be stopped by the man standing in front of her. She gasps, her eyes looking around for a second before flashing away. Klaus groans before following her, making her heart beat out of her chest.

"Cassandra." Klaus yells trying to get her attention as she keeps trying to escape him. "Stop running." He says, slightly annoyed as she yet again flashes by him. Klaus only finds her again, his hand on her shoulder making her stop in her place.

"Stay away from me." She tells him, her voice shaking as she vamp speeds past him but he only cuts her off once again. Cassandra stares at him, licking her bottom lip as her eyes flicker to find a exit strategy.

"You've changed. I like your twenty first century look." Klaus says with a smirk as he checks her out a couple of times. Cassandra rolls her eyes as she pushes past him again, trying her best to try and ignore him.

"A lot has changed about me." She tells him as she continues to try and get away from him but he only walks after her, not letting her get out of his sight.

"Like your Elijah affair?" He asks with disgust and anger laced in his tone. Klaus knew there was always something between them and that's what truly made him angry. She had told him countless times that nothing was going on between them, only for her to turn tail and jump in his bed after she left him.

"What happened between Elijah and I is none of your business." Cassandra says as she scoffs, shaking her head. She couldn't believe that he was using her relationship with Elijah to try and justify his actions.

"On the contrary, love. He's my brother and you're my girl, I think it is my business." Klaus says as he continues to follow her. Cassandra groans as she stops and turns to face him, hating how he was still referring to her as being his.

"I'm not yours." She hissed at him, a glare on her face as she backs away from him. Klaus only rolls his eyes a little before a smirk forms on his lips.

"Your not Elijah's." He says, overhearing Cassandra's goodbye to Elijah. Cassandra scoffs as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"Elijah isn't a part of my life anymore." Cassandra tells him making him let out a sarcastic sigh, smirking at the girl.

"What a pity." Klaus states as he was glad his brother had gotten the message to leave the girl alone. Not that he is wasnt going to get the exact same one.

"Let Katherine go." Cassandra demands as she stares at the man in front of her.

"Pardon?" Klaus asks, pretending like he didn't hear her which just made her even more angry. Klaus had an amused smirk on his lips, roaming his eyes over her body.

"She was innocent before she met you. Before you wanted to use her in your stupid sacrifice." Cassandra tells him as she pushes against his chest. Klaus only rolls his eyes simply, not caring for Katherine in the slightest. "She had nothing to do with anything, I told her about the curse, I helped her escape. Don't torture her or Elijah. If you want to hurt someone.. kill me." She states bravely, not wanting anyone else to suffer for the things she had done. Cassandra was suddenly pushed up against a wall, a hand wrapped around her throat.

"You think I don't know what your role in everything was?" Klaus snaps as he squeezes it a little bit causing Cassandra to let out a gasp. He falters at this, deciding to let her go but he was still seething. She coughs, trying to catch her breath as she stares at him terrified. "I do and believe me, I was angry." He explains to her as he tries to keep his temper in check, not wanting to hurt her anymore.

"Then why haven't you killed me?" She asks with furrowed eyebrows. Cassandra thought the second he saw her, that her heart would be across the floor.

"Because I need to understand why." Klaus says as his eyes roam over her face. Cassandra sighs, her eyes moving to the ground as she should've known that he would want to know why she had betrayed him the way that she did.

"You lied to me." She states in a quiet voice, Klaus had almost not believed the words that came out of her mouth because they seemed so dumb. Klaus didn't think he heard her right when she said it was only because he had lied.

"I'm sorry, you ruined all of my plans because I lied to you?" Klaus asks with a raise of an eyebrow, letting out a dry laugh although he did not find the situation humouress in the slightest. "I never lied to you." He tells her with a shake of his head as he rolls his eyes a little bit. Cassandra only scoffs as she takes a daring step towards the man.

"What you said to the men who were hunting me, yeah I know it wasn't real but you still told Elijah he was weak." She tells him making Klaus confused for a second as he now didn't really understand why she was angry with him. "Because he cared for Katherine. Love is weakness, right? Vampires don't feel." Cassandra says in a venomous tone as she glares at him. Klaus had never seen the girl like this but he knew it was because of him, because of everything he had caused to happen, it was his fault.

"Love, I didn't mean--" Klaus starts too apologize but he already knew it was too late and it was Elijah's fault for never telling her the truth behind what really happened. But even if he did, he still had said everything about Katherine and that was true. But he meant because Katherine was human at the time and it would only interfere.

"No, I know exactly what you meant." She snaps at him, an angry expression taking over her face. "I am no longer your sweet little angel who you can manipulate into doing anything you want anymore. I am Cassandra fucking Harrington. People dont cross me. Not even Katherine dared to." She hissed at him, pushing him back a little causing him to stumble. "I am not looking for you to come back into my life so either kill me now or leave me the hell alone." Cassandra tells him, staring into his eyes. Klaus was speechless, not even knowing how to respond which makes a smirk appear on her lips. "Look who the weak one is now." She sneers at him before pushing past his shoulder in order to leave. Klaus was just left standing in shock as the girl walked away from him. Cassandra was surprised herself that she could muster the strength to say that, she was just lucky that Klaus truly did love her and wasn't going to rip her heart out of her chest. And that, was his one true weakness.

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WHEN SHE REACHES THE SALVATORE'S HOUSE, she could practically feel the tension. Her eyebrows furrow a little bit as she makes her way around the house before finding Elena and Stefan in his room. Elena was sitting on his bed, staring at the floor with her eyes wide and dried tears on her cheeks. Something had occurred, Cassandra just couldn't put it together. The pair notice the woman walking in with a confused expression on her face.

"What happened?" Cassandra asks curiously as she looks at the couple who were very somber. Stefan glances up at her, a sigh leaving his lips as he closes his eyes for a moment.

"Damon fed Elena his blood." Stefan tells her with a frown on his lips as he continues to hold Elena who was silently crying in his arms. Cassandra's eyes land on the girl, her face falling as a soft expression forms on it.

"Why the hell would he do that?" Cassandra questions as she gives Elena a look of sympathy, feeling bad for the girl since no one should have that right taken away from them.

"To bring her back as a vampire." He answers her, his jaw clenching again as he thought of what Damon had done.

"Is he fucking serious? Is he still here?" Cassandra asks angrily, practically seething as she flickers her eyes between the couple. Stefan opens his mouth but she turns to walk out of the room, hearing breathing coming from Damon's bedroom.

"Cassie, I wouldn't." Stefan warns her but she was already storming into Damon's bedroom, finding the man sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She snaps at him, looking at him like he has grown three heads. Damon only glances up at her before looking back down at the floor.

"Go away." Damon tells her as he sniffles a little bit. Cassandra only stands at his door for a moment before she makes her way over to him.

"No. Damon how could you do that to her?" She asks, feeling a hatred towards the man for feeding his blood to Elena. Who in their right mind would ever do that to someone against their will?

"I wasn't thinking." Damon groans as his grip tightens on his hair. Cassandra scoffs, rolling her eyes as he never did think before he acted on his impulses.

"Well, you can't fucking change it." Cassandra snaps at him, shaking her head as she couldn't believe that he would even think of taking that choice away from her. Elena may not be her favorite person, but she should be able to decide whether or not she wants to become a vampire.

"I couldn't lose her. That elicxer could've failed." Damon explains as he wipes his tears, knowing Elena would probably hate him for the rest of his life when she woke up a vampire.

"I know you couldn't but you had not right to do that to her." Cassandra tells him softly, sighing as she noticed how bad he felt about doing that but he couldn't exactly take it back now since the elixer doesn't work now. Damon looks up at her for a second before getting up and smashing his lips against hers. She mumbles against his lips, her hands flying to his chest to push him off. "Stop, stop." She states as she looks in his eyes, seeing the broken man behind them.

"Please." He begs as he leans in again but she only pushes him back harder, holding him back so he couldn't kiss her again.

"You just need some time, to think." She tells him with a sigh as she rubs his cheek. Damon nods his head, his eyelids feeling heavy. "Let's go to the grill." Cassandra says earning a hesitant look from him. "Come on." She pulls him towards the door before speeding them to the grill.

Once they get there, they sit at the bar, Cassandra glancing at Damon for a moment before looking at the bartender. "Give us the strongest." She tells him making him nod and go off to make their drinks. Damon let's his head rest in his hand as he looks over at her.

"See this is what a best friend does." He says with a smirk on his face as he practically downs the drink once the bartender sets it in front of him. She only gives him a stern glare, not wanting him to think this means he's forgiven.

"I'm still mad." Cassandra tells him as she takes a big gulp of her drink. Damon sighs as he nods his head, rubbing his face a little.

"I'll have the same."  Alaric says as he sits next to them, glancing over the pair with expectant eyes, knowing what had went down previously.

"I screwed up." Damon states with a groan earning a nod from both of them. There was no doubt about that. Alaric only sighs, glancing at the man.

"Yeah, yeah you did." He states as he knew Elena was beyond angry at Damon for doing what he did.

"Gentlemen, Cassandra. Why so glum?" A new voice causing Cassandra to groan as she rolls her eyes. Can't she escape him for just one day or is he just going to continue to show up out of the blue. They all look over to see Klaus sitting next to Cassandra with a smirk on his face.

"Didn't I just tell you to leave me alone?" She asks with a tight smile on her face as she raises an eyebrow at him. Klaus only shrugs, taking her drink and finishing it off making her glare at him.

"When did you two talk?" Damon asks curiously as Elena had told them that Cassandra was there was with her when Elijah was explaining his past to her.

"He showed up out of nowhere." She admits as she takes Klaus's new drink that he ordered and drinks it all. Klaus smirks at her, chuckling a little bit.

"Klaus I presume." Damon says as his eyes roam the man's face. He didn't get the appeal that Cassandra had in all of these originals.

"In the flesh. Thanks for the loaner, mate." Klaus says to Alaric who tips his glass towards him in a sarcastic manner before rolling his eyes. It wasn't like he had much of a choice in the matter.

"Any reason you stopped by to say hi other than stalk a girl who clearly doesn't want anything to do with you?" Damon asks with a smirk on his lips making Klaus stare hardly at him before shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm told you and your brother fancy my doppleganger." He announces as he looks at Damon expectantly. Cassandra only snorts, almost spitting out her drink at his words.

"What an understatement." She says with a smirk, laughing loudly. Cassandra suddenly feels a stabbing pain in her side and looks to see Damon retreating his arm. He had elbowed her for no reason other than staring facts. "Ow." She says as she looks at Damon with a hard glare on her face. "You're lucky I didn't rip off your hand." She grumbles towards him before continuing to avoid Klaus's gaze which was burning into her head.

"Just thought I'd remind you not to do anything you'll regret." Klaus tells them as he swirls his drink around, giving them a stern expression.

"I'm already long down that line. One of them was dating you." Cassandra states with a sarcastic smile on her face, tilting her head lightly. Klaus clenches his jaw as he swirls his drink in his hand.

"I thought he was going to kill you." Damon says with a confused voice as he furrows his eyebrows at his best friend. Cassandra only shrugs her shoulders, downing yet another drink.

"Maybe he'll use me as his vampire in the sacrifice. So poetic don't you think?" She questions as she wipes the liquid that was running down her chin.

"I'm not going to harm you, love." Klaus says with a sigh as he moved a little bit closer to her in his chair. Cassandra notices this but doesn't make any effort to move.

"So I ran for five hundred years for nothing?" Cassandra asks with a groan, if she had known that, she would have just ignored him and lived her life. "I could've rode out my dream of joining the circus." She adds with a dramatic sigh making all the men roll their eyes at her. "Wait, what am I supposed to do now? I don't want to be on saving Elena duty for the rest of eternity. Honestly, just kill me. I'm actually asking." She tells her former lover earning a chuckle from him and an elbow in the gut from Damon causing her to slowly turn her head towards him to give him a sharp look. "Stop elbowing me." She hissed at him, ready to break it off if he did it again.

"Stop talking." Damon demands as he didn't want to see Klaus and her interact, let alone flirt because sooner or later it would not matter what Cassandra said about hurting him.

"Stop being annoying." She responds with a glare, leaning back in her chair.

"You're the one talking." Damon points out with a sarcastic smile on his face. She only squints her eyes at him as she kicks him in his leg earning a groan from the man.

"Your presence annoys me." Cassandra tells him as she bites the inside of her cheek.

"Your attitude annoys me." He rebuttles as he gives her a smirk. Cassandra glares at him, clicking her tongue.

"Just for that, I hope Elena turns into a vampire so she and Stefan can be in love for eternity right in front of your face." She snaps at him, crossing her arms against her chest. Alaric only groans as he places his head in his hands, knowing that this would just continue all day.

"I get it, I'm a jerk for taking that choice away from her just as Katherine did to Caroline and someone did to you blah blah blah." Damon says as he rolls his eyes, drinking his bourbon, not noticing the hateful gaze Cassandra had on him for bringing up the woman who took her life. Klaus always knew that topic was off the table of discussion and he had always respected that.

"Actually, use him." She suggests to Klaus who raises an eyebrow at her, an amused expression on his face. He didn't know if this was some sort of tactic of theirs or they were genuinely annoyed with each other.

"How did you put up with her for centuries?" He asks Klaus who simply stares back at him. Cassandra only glares at him, squinting her eyes slightly as she lets out a scoff.

"How did Katherine fall for you? Oh wait, she didn't. She loved Stefan instead." Cassandra gasps, her hand being placed on her chest before smirking and downing her drink. Klaus was only flickering his eyes between the two, not knowing where this new found attitude came from.

"How are two originals in love with you. I don't see the appeal." Damon says with a look of disgust as he shakes his head dramatically. Cassandra clicks her tongue, knowing there were a thousand things she could say about him fucking her but deciding against it because she liked Damon and didn't want to see his heart across the room from Klaus ripping it out. Alaric only clears his throat, gaining everyone's attention.

"What? He started it." Cassandra says annoyed as she glares at Damon again who only smirks back at her.

"And I'm ending it because If I don't you two are going to go on for hours and it's annoying." Alaric tells them as he rolls his eyes. Damon stares at him for a second before looking over to Klaus who had his eyes trained on Cassandra.

"Thanks for the advice, mine is don't go back to this one." Damon mutters as he gestures to Cassandra who gasps a little bit, hating how he was being rude but it wasn't exactly the worse advice since she didn't want Klaus.

"List of things to do now that I'm not running, kill Damon." Cassandra says as she rights it down on a napkin making Damon furrow his eyebrows.

"Did you actually--" He stops himself as he realizes that she did actually write it down. "I don't think I could talk you into a postponement by any chance, huh?" Damon asks Klaus, deciding to now ignore the girl next to him.

"You are kidding, he is kidding right?" Klaus questions as his eyes flicker between Alaric and Cassandra who only stare back at him, the girl shrugging her shoulders.

"No, not really." Alaric answers him with a tight smile.

"I mean, come on. What's one month in the whole grand scheme of things?" Damon asks with a smirk on his face making Klaus mimic it before his face falls serious.

"Let me be clear, I have my vampire, I have my werewolf. I have everything I need. The ritual will happen tonight. So if you want to live to see tomorrow, don't screw it up." Klaus threatens him before giving Cassandra one last glance and making his way out of the grill. Damon's eyes follow him before looking back at the bar.

"Youre gonna screw it up aren't you?" Alaric asks with a sigh as he noticed the expression on the man's face.

"You think that if I take his werewolf out of the equation that she might forgive me for trying to turn her into a vampire." Damon questions, almost to himself as he knew how incredibly stupid it would be to even try and get rid of Klaus's werewolf.

"I think it won't matter. Because you'll be dead " Alaric responds to him in a blunt voice as Cassandra nods her head, agreeing with him completely. There was no way Klaus left them unprotected and if he did, he was an idiot.

"But without the werewolf, he can't perform the ritual tonight. Which means I would've bought her one month before the next full moon." Damon explains as he was practically thinking to himself at that moment. Cassandra only shakes her head, sighing a little bit as she was thinking of what to say at his funeral since he seemed to have a suicide mission.

"But you'll still be dead." Alaric points out as he takes a sip of his drink. Cassandra snorts as she gives Damon an amused expression. She couldn't believe he was actually thinking of doing this.

"You gonna help me or what?" Damon asks with a sigh as he looks at his two friends who share a look for a moment.

"What do you want me to do?" Alaric asks with a groan as he couldn't believe he was doing this right now. Damon only smirks as his eyes move to Cassandra, making her not like where this was going.

"Well, first we need a little distraction." He says making her eyes widen a little bit as she was not about to used as a pawn in his game to distract Klaus.

"No way." She immediately denies as she shakes her head, starting to get up from her seat but Damon only stops her.

"You don't have to talk to him per say." Damon suggests with a shrug of his shoulders causing her to slap him in the back of his head causing a groan to escape his lips.

"You want me to screw him?" Cassandra asks, almost not believing he was really asking her to fuck Klaus. He knows how much she hates him but here he is practically telling her to sleep with the enemy.

"Nothing you haven't done before. Plus, you're the only distraction he'd actually believe." Damon states with a sigh as he turns to face her again. Cassandra rolls her eyes for a moment, her eyes staring at the alcohol in her hand.

"I don't even want to be around him." Cassandra points out but Damon only gives her a pleading expression.

"I just need to get the werewolf, that's it." Damon begs, just needing to get one of them to stop the sacrifice from happening. Cassandra lets out a groan, getting up from her seat before pointedly staring at the two men.

"I'm not screwing him." She states again with a slight glare before leaving the pair alone in the grill to follow after Klaus. Cassandra couldn't believe she was doing this but Damon was right, she was the only one he would listen to.

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KLAUS HAD A SMIRK ON HIS LIPS AS HE STOPS IN THE SIDEWALK, knowing Cassandra was behind him. He knew she couldn't resist him even if it was just to talk to him. She would always be his, she just didn't realize that yet. His brother didn't stand a chance, more because she had practically told the man to fuck off. Cassandra would always choose him in the end, not his brother who doesn't have one ounce of loyalty.

"You following me now, love?" Klaus asks with amusement and cockiness in his tone. Cassandra fights the urge to roll her eyes as he turns to face her, his signature smirk playing on his lips.

"I need to ask you something." She tells him as she licks her lips, trying to build up the courage. Klaus nods, looking at her expectantly as his arrogant attitude had quickly changed to a soft expression. "Did you ever love me?" Cassandra asks him making him look a little taken aback by the question. Klaus didn't understand why she could ever think that. She was the only one, other than his family that he thinks he truly ever loved. She was like his oxygen and he had been suffocating for the past five hundred years without her.

"Of course I did." He tells her as he furrows his eyebrows, taking a step towards her. Cassandra nods, not knowing what to say now that he told her but a part of her thinks he's lying. Maybe it was just a way to gain her trust again. "Anyone would fall for you, my love. You are perfect." Klaus states as he lifts his hand to stroke her cheek but she only brushes it off, a harsh stare filling her face.

"I don't believe you." She says as she shakes her head. Part of her didn't want to believe he was telling the truth because that meant that she was capable of forgiving him. Not soon. But eventually and Cassandra didn't like that.

"If you could compel me, I'd say the exact same thing." Klaus admits as he would do anything for her to believe him, if she was able to compel him he'd allow her. Because he was telling the truth.  "I love you Cassandra. I always have and I always will. You light up my heart everytime I see you, you make me feel things I never thought I would again, your smile makes my whole world light up, your laugh is so contagious. You are my life, love. These past five hundred years felt like an eternity without you and I dreaded every second of it." He explains to her, his voice cracking a little bit as he tries to keep his tears from showing but she could see the pure emotion in his face. "I am sorry for everything you have heard. I didn't mean a word of it." Klaus promises as he gazes into her eyes. Cassandra couldn't tear her eyes away, a soft frown forming on her lips. She continues to look at him for a second before crashing her lips against his. Klaus is surprised for a second but kisses her back with just as much passion. Their lips move against each other's, his hands on either side of her face as he nudges her back against the wall of a near by building. Klaus didn't know if she was doing it because she believed him or if she just needed to but he was kissing her back like his life depended on it.

Cassandra pulls back, noticing how Klaus had tried to grab at her lips once again but she only holds him back, her hands flat against his chest. "I just needed to do that, one last time." She tells him as a tear leaves her eye. Klaus gazes into her eyes, completely in her trance before his mind picks up on her wording making his eyebrows furrow a little.

"Before what?" He asks curiously as he looks at her sadly. Cassandra takes a breath, but her eyes never left his. It was like they captivated her and she couldn't look away.

"I'm leaving town. Nothing's keeping me here." She states, her voice wavering as she fiddles with her fingers. Klaus's heart plummets at this, his mood deflating as confusion fills his eyes.

"Nothing?" He asks sincerely, wanting to know if she would consider staying for him. But he knew it was a long shot. He had missed five hundred years of her life and he blamed Elijah for that. His brother took the one thing in his life that made him feel. That made him want to forget the curse.

"I know how you feel about me, and a part of me still feels the same." She tells him truthfully with a small smile. Cassandra couldn't lie and say she didn't love him but she also couldn't stay with him. It wouldn't be fair on Elijah. And it wouldn't be fair on herself. "But we're different people now, Nik. You have to move on." Cassandra adds as her voice cracks a little. Klaus only stares at her for a moment, his eyes filled with mixed emotions as he was deciding on how to respond to what she had told him. He only lets his head nod a little bit, understanding where she was coming from.

"You are my first love. I intend for you to be my last. However long it takes to get you back." Klaus tells her with a soft smile on his face before planting a kiss on her cheek. Cassandra only stands in shock before a whoosh of air hits her face indicating that the man was long gone. She just continues to stare at the place he was just a second ago. He wasn't going to down without a fight. She was the love of his life and he wasn't about to let her leave so easily. That is what made Cassandra re-evaluate what she thought about him. He was still a horrible person. She still hated him. But maybe he did truly love her.

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ahh the Klaroline line at the end! I updated again ahhh. hopefully you enjoyed this chapter as well! comment your thoughts on this chapter. we are so close to season three and I'm so excited. Rebekah and Kol yalllllll. fave/follow/check out my other stories if you want to!