thanks for checking out my new story! this starts out in 4.20 as klaus and elijah come to new orleans. enjoy! :)
An Old Flame
Scarlett woke up that morning, the sun hitting her green eyes and making her wince. Looking to her left, she spotted why she had been curled up so close to the wall. Marcel. Rolling her eyes at the bed hog, she quietly climbed over him, snatching her clothes from the floor to make a quick get away. Silently cursing herself for doing this again as she pulled the black tank top over her head, she jumped when Marcel was standing in front of her in the doorway, smirking at her.
"Where are you off to, Princess?" he asked her as she ran her fingers through her dark brown hair; she rolled her eyes at him.
"You know I hate it when you call me that," she reminded him, stopping to check her appearance in the mirror. Eh. Not bad for the morning after.
"Well, until you take me up on my offer to be Queen," he grinned at her and she shook her head, turning from the mirror to look at him. Times had changed since Scarlett had first lived in the French Quarter. Marcel ran things now, the unofficially named King of the Quarter.
"And then you get bored with me?" she quipped, grabbing her bag from the floor and checking her phone; three missed messages from her friend Savannah, wondering where she had gone off to. Oops. She knew that she was going to get an earful from her friend for doing this. Again.
"I'd say I'm far from bored with you," he reminded her. "This is the third time you've stayed this week."
"We're two drunk people with nothing better to do," she shrugged, calling it what is was, at least what it was for her. To him, it seemed the more he couldn't claim her as his, the more he wanted her.
"You're ridiculous," he chuckled as she turned to leave.
"I'm realistic," she replied as she headed out of his bedroom door.
"Is realistic waiting for them to come back?" he asked with raised eye brows, making her turn and give him a nasty look. "Because it's been almost a century Princess."
"Don't talk about them," she warned him seriously. Then, she shook her head at herself before rolling her eyes playfully at him. She didn't want to seem like she cared too much, when truthfully, she cared a lot about them. "And stop calling me that." He continued to grin at her.
"Can I see you tonight?" he asked her back as she walked away from him.
"Too soon to tell!" she called over her shoulder, waving him off. Outside now, though the sun warm, Scarlett crossed her arms over herself as she started down the busy streets of the French Quarter, heading back to her place. She needed a change of clothes, a shower. Truthfully, she needed a whole change of scenery. She loved New Orleans, but Marcel was right, it had been nearly a century. All she really was doing there was playing a waiting game for someone that was never showing up. But how could she ever leave this place?
"Hey!" someone shouted, running up on her and linking arms; Savannah.
"Shit, Savannah," Scarlett complained. "You scared the hell out of me."
"Sorry," the blonde grinned as they headed down the block together, arms still linked. "Where did you head off to last night?" Scarlett wouldn't look at her. "Scar!"
"What?" she asked innocently.
"What happened to I'm done with him," Savannah quoted her. "And, I'm never going back there again. And-"
"I get it," Scarlett held up a hand to stop her as they climbed the stairs to her apartment that was over a bar.
"I'm not giving him the satisfaction anymore," Savannah continued, plopping herself down on Scarlett's couch, earning a look. "Hey, I get it. He's good looking, he runs this place." She gave her friend a sympathetic look. "But, he's not-"
"Can everyone stop with that today?" Scarlett asked, having peeled off her clothes and grabbed a towel to cover herself. "Hell, you two should get together as much as you like to bring that up." Savannah made a face.
"Not even in his dreams," she laughed and Scarlett shook her head, though she laughed too. "C'mon, get ready. I'm starving." The vampire smiled. "We can head down to St. Anne's and-"
"I'm not really hungry right now," Scarlett stopped her. "You go." Savannah shrugged.
"Suit yourself," she said, getting up to leave. "Are you at least coming out tonight?"
"I need to sleep off last night first," Scarlett called from the bathroom, turning on the shower. Savannah left, leaving Scarlett alone with her thoughts that would eventually consume her. Why did everyone have to mention them today?
Satisfied with her late breakfast, Savannah headed down the street and into one of her and Scarlett's favorite bars alone to get a drink. It was barely noon, but no one really cared around here. Hearing someone on stage singing, Savannah turned, rolling her eyes at the sight of Marcel and the women going crazy over him. He and Scarlett had the casual thing going on forever, while Savannah knew that what her best friend needed was something real, something she once had nearly a century ago before the girls met in the forties.
"Not a fan?" a blonde guy seated next to her mused at her eye roll and she shook her head.
"He can get old after awhile," Savannah commented and the man chuckled. "I'm Savannah," she greeted him, easily finding him, his dimples and his accent very attractive.
"Klaus?" Marcel laughed, coming over to hug his old friend. At his name, Savannah nearly choked on her drink. While she hadn't been in New Orleans during the time of the Originals, she had certainly heard plenty about them through legend. And, of course, she had heard some things from Scarlett.
"You all right Savannah?" he asked her as she took another drink to stop choking; she down the rest of her glass.
"Yeah," she nodded quickly. "I've just, um, got some things to do." She hopped up from her seat, rushing out of the bar, earning a curious look from both men as she quickly exited.
"What's her story?" Klaus asked Marcel who only shrugged.
"Been around since forty-two," he answered. "Nice girl, but-"
"Doesn't seem to be too fond of you," Klaus laughed and Marcel laughed a bit as well.
"I've been seeing a friend of hers," Marcel chuckled, his eye brows suggestive. He was careful not to mention who though. Who knew how long Klaus was staying or if his brother was coming to town. Why stir up trouble over nothing? "And she's not too happy about, ah, how much I'm seeing," he laughed.
"Just jealousy is all," Klaus told his friend. Outside, Savannah had started back towards the apartment but pulled her phone out to call Scarlett who was getting re-dressed now.
"What's up Savi?" Scarlett asked, towel drying her hair.
"You're never going to guess who's in town," Savannah told her.
"Why not?" Savannah insisted, crossing her arms over herself in a huff. She and Scarlett had been in an argument for hours now, with Scarlett refusing to leave the apartment. Savannah didn't know why, it was obvious that she wanted to see Klaus, or rather see who he was with. It had been that obvious for decades.
"He's out with Marcel now," Savannah continued. "So, we're going to run into them eventually." Scarlett sighed, running a hand through her hair. She wasn't going to win this argument, she knew that. And, if Klaus was reacquainting himself with Marcel and the rest of the French Quarter, she was surely going to run into him.
"Might as well get this over with," Scarlett muttered, slipping her shoes on, wearing dark jeans and a lace, cream colored tank top.
"That's the spirit," Savannah grinned, linking arms with her friend, wearing jeans as well and a loose fitting black top.
Scarlett didn't know what she was hoping for as she made her way with Savannah down the dark streets of the French Quarter. Was she hoping that they would all be together, or that it would just be Klaus? Was she hoping that, if it was only Klaus, that he would call his brother and tell him that she was there? But what would that even do? It had been a hundred years, if he wanted to find her he very well could have by now.
"Did Marcel text you back?" Savannah asked curiously. By finding Marcel, they would easily find Klaus. Scarlett pulled her phone from her pocket to check, a text from Marcel just arriving.
Royal and St. Ann Princess ;)
Scarlett rolled her eyes at the message, leading her friend by the hand down the appropriate street and around the corner. Just as they rounded the corner though, they found a large crowd that had formed a circle. Pushing their way through, they got to the front in just enough time to see Marcel kill one of the witches from the Quarter, Jane Anne. As everyone around started cheering, Scarlett looked on in disgust. She hated the shows, while Marcel loved it, going off and high fiving some of the others who had been watching. Klaus looked on as well, having wanted to actually speak with Jane Anne rather than let Marcel just kill her. Looking up from the body, he locked eyes with Scarlett, who quickly grabbed Savannah's hand and nearly dragged her away. Looking over her shoulder and thinking she had lost him, Scarlett turned around.
"Ah!" her and Savannah jumped back as Klaus appeared in front of them, blocking their way.
"Dammit Nik," Scarlett cursed him.
"Hello Scarlett," he smiled at her, his look devious. The way she remembered it, he was always up to something. "You're still in New Orleans?"
"It's my home," Scarlett said, ignoring the subtext. "What are you doing here?"
"Heard about some witches that might be plotting against me," he explained, looking her over carefully. It really was Scarlett, a former flame of his brother's. They hadn't seen each other in years, though Klaus knew his brother frequently thought of her, even though he would always deny it. This was going to be interesting to bring up later and he smiled at the opportunity.
"Do you know of any other Deveraux witches?" Klaus asked her curiously, leaving Elijah out of the conversation for now.
"Did you miss the whole witches not practicing thing back there?" Scarlett asked sarcastically.
"Well, your boyfriend ruined my only lead," Klaus dug at her, figuring very quickly once he saw her and Savannah together that she must be the one that Marcel was seeing. Scarlett only shook her head at him, not up for this now.
"Two blocks that way," she pointed. "You'll find her sister's restaurant. Sophie."
"Thank you love," he smirked at her as she turned to walk way, pulling a very intrigued Savannah along with her. She had only ever heard stories of the Originals, so to see her friend with one of them was very odd. "Elijah isn't with me," Klaus called after her, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn to look at him.
"Why would you-"
"You didn't ask," Klaus cut her off. "So, you either don't care. Or you want to seem like you don't care." He smirked at her. "Given that you stopped, I think you do care."
"You're an ass Nik," Scarlett told him bluntly, finally taking Savannah and leaving. She was infuriated. Klaus had always been kind of a jerk to her, they used to quip back and forth regularly. It used to be fun, it was their thing and how they interacted. Now, given how long it had been and given the state of her no longer existent relationship with them, it just seemed mean on his part; she shouldn't expect anything less.
"Hey," Savannah took her hand and squeezed it, shaking her from her thoughts. "Let's go get you a drink, hm?"
There was no denying how much Scarlett loved the night life of the French Quarter. Every night was a party, but not the same party. It was always different, it never got old. The music, the people, the drinks; she loved every bit of it. There was no way she was going to be able to leave New Orleans, she had lived there her entire life, both human and vampire. All she wanted right now was to be with her best friend, for the two of them to dance and drink the night away, to forget about Elijah and the rest of the Original family. No one else could seem to let up though.
She over heard plenty of people talking, about the Original hybrid Klaus finally returning to New Orleans. Wondering what really brought him there, Scarlett abandoned Savannah, claiming that she was hungry and that she would be right back. Really, she was heading down the block to where she knew Sophie lived and worked because she had to know what Klaus was doing there after all this time. Maybe finding out what was going on with him would give her some in sight on where Elijah was or what he was doing. She couldn't help but be painfully curious after all this time.
As she walked up towards the alley behind the bar, she heard Elijah before she saw him, making her duck back and hide behind a dumpster. What the hell was she doing? Why was she hiding? After all, she wasn't sure what she was afraid of. If anything, he was the one that had a reason to be afraid of seeing her. What was she afraid he was going to do? He had already done the worst thing.
After listening to him talk with Sophie, making a plan to meet in Lafayette cemetery after tracking down his brother, she began to follow him at a distance. He found his brother, joining him on a balcony overlooking much of the French Quarter while she hid underneath in an alley, feeling so unbelievably stupid right now. Her phone was buzzing non stop in her pocket, probably Savannah trying to convince her not to sleep with Marcel. That was when she spotted Marcel, chasing after some pretty blonde and she rolled her eyes. He was already tired of her.
Knowing this was easily the most ridiculous thing she had ever done, she continued to follow Klaus and Elijah to the cemetery. While her plan of following them had been foolish, it was even more absurd of her to think that they hadn't known that they were being followed. Elijah, too quick for her to even notice, had whipped around, sped over and grabbed her, throwing her up against the side of a tomb. Her head smacked off the concrete, making her wince.
"Scarlett?" he asked in surprise as he hadn't known it was her following them, immediately releasing her from his grasp.
"Yeah, nice to see you too," she muttered, rubbing the back of her head. He was still in shock to see her, not expecting her to still be in New Orleans after nearly a century. While he had always thought about what it would be like to see her again, he had never thought that he would get the chance.
"Oh, right," Klaus grinned from where he stood a few feet away, acting as if he had forgotten. "Quick update brother, Scarlett is still in town, living on Royal, and is seeing-"
"Don't you have witches to interrogate or something?" Scarlett asked him and he just laughed to himself, going off on his own to find Sophie and the other witches, to see what they wanted with him. Elijah shook his head at his brother as he watched him go, knowing that Klaus enjoyed stirring up trouble between the two of them.
"He's still very-" He turned to look at Scarlett again and was met with a punch in the face.
"That was for hitting me," she told him as he wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Well, I suppose I deserved that," he mused, looking her over once. She was gorgeous, just as he remembered. And she had fire too, which he recognized in her face as she turned to storm off, which was completely warranted on her part. In plenty of the scenarios he thought up of seeing her again, he was usually met with a door slamming in his face or a drink tossed on him.
"Scarlett," he said, going to stop her. That was always how the scenario started in his mind, but it ended some what differently; with eventual forgiveness. As she turned around, she punched him in the face again, this time hard enough to feel her own hand breaking.
"That's for leaving," she told him before speeding away, not allowing him the chance to catch her again.
"I deserved that too," Elijah mumbled to himself.
thanks for reading! please let me know what you think so far! more soon :)