Nothing Without You

Mystic Falls

We arrived in Mystic Falls at some point in the middle of the night after what seemed like the longest drive of my life. I’d fallen asleep some time before we even crossed the Virginia border. I didn’t even mean to. One minute we were talking and laughing, the next I was dozing off. I’d tried to fight it because I didn’t want Klaus to feel alone or bored, but I wasn’t strong enough to keep my eyelids from falling.

I had pulled my knees to my chest and rest on my side facing the window. It wasn’t very comfortable but there wasn’t much I could do aside from crawling into the back seat.

I woke to the gentle sound of Klaus’ voice saying my name as he lightly touched my back to bring me to consciousness. “Hmm?” I almost grumbled.

“We’re coming into town now. We’ll be at our hotel soon.” He said, just as gently as he’d said my name.

I turned to face him and lost all train of thought. The street lights shine into car, briefly, as we passed each one. The orange-y lights danced across Klaus’ serious face as he focused on the road. He had one hand on the wheel and the other resting on the center consol. He looked tired, and maybe a little worried. Some part of me wished I could stare at him forever, other parts of my mind imagined being kissed by him, which was horribly inappropriate seeing as how I hadn’t really known him. My tiredness and mild, accumulative loneliness were likely to blame.

He must have felt me staring at him. He looked over to me and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Nothing.” I said, being mostly honest. I sat up and stretched, letting out a yawn. I took in my surroundings and suddenly I was able to feel how familiar Mystic Falls was. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed this place until I could know what it was like to be back.

“Do you want to stop to eat before we head to the hotel?” He asked. I felt weird being there, like I had to leave. I started getting a sense of dread just entering the town. “Love?” He said, snapping me back to reality.

“No.” I felt sick and I had a feeling this was part of the compelling.

Within a few minutes I found myself walking to my hotel room, Klaus behind me carrying my bag for me. “Alright, I’ll be In the room across from you if you need anything.” He said, plopping my luggage down on my bed.

I hadn’t thought about the hotel stay. I was happy he’d gotten me my own room, it gave me a place to be alone, to gather my thoughts. “Klaus?” I said just before he left.

“Hm?” He answered, turning around.

“I have a ridiculous urge to get back in the car and get away from here. Is that from being compelled?” I asked, feeling more and more awful by the minute.

“Yes, I’m sure it is.” He answered, looking a bit worried.

“Is it possible for you t-to compel me to not feel like this? C-can you just make me calm down?” My hands were shaking and I felt like crying. The anxiety and dread kept building minute by minute and I wasn’t sure how I was going to accomplish anything like this.

He stepped back in the room and shut the door behind him. “Sit down.” I sat on the bed and as instructed and he sat in front of me. I was slightly terrified of being compelled and not being forced to forget it. I didn’t know what to expect, but his calm and cool demeanor made me push through all of the awful thoughts running through my mind and made me trust him.

“Sorry to ask this of you. I- I just feel like- ugh- like I can’t even breathe.” I stuttered out, trying hard not to cry but the tears just flowed out of me without my permission.

“Shh, it’s okay.” He hushed, placing his hands on either side of my face. “Look into my eyes for me.” He said, and I immediately did so. His eyes were a gorgeous blue-green color and they somehow made me feel a bit more relaxed already. “Relax. You’re anxiety will melt away very soon. Your hands will steady, your dread and anguish will vanish. You will no longer feel this urgency to leave Mystic Falls. And when I leave you for the night, you will not overthink anything, you will be calm and at ease. You’re going to get a good nights sleep tonight and start fresh tomorrow morning.”

The moment he let go of me, every ounce of fear and anxiety and urgency melted from my body. My heart rate slowed to normal and my hands stopped shaking. I closed my eyes to breathe for a moment, I needed to collect myself and... Just like that. I felt a thousand times better. I opened my eyes to find Klaus patiently waiting for me. “Thank you.” I sighed a big breath of relief.

“Of course. Are you alright?” He asked, sweetly concerned.

“I think so.” I smiled, unable to feel anything but a sense of calm and ease.

“Alright. I’m going to let you head off to bed, get some rest.” He said as he stood up and made his way to the door. I couldn't help but feel a difference in his demeanor, he looked a little bit frazzled, like something made him put his guard up, but once he walked out the door, I could no longer overthink it. I went to bed right away, and in the morning, I woke up feeling fresh and ready for the day, thanks to Klaus of course.

He met me in the lobby where I was eating breakfast. "Good morning!" I smiled, feeling great.

"You're chipper this morning." He said, giving me a lazy smile.

"Yeah, thanks to you." I laughed, kind of reminding him as it seemed he'd forgotten.

"Right. Anyway, I have a plan for today." He said, a devilish look in his eyes like he was up to something. "I don't want my presence to be known in this town yet, so I'm going to have to send you into this one on your own."

I could feel my eyes widen and I started to get a little nervous. "Are you sure? I don't think-"

"Don't worry, I'll be close by. Not to mention I happen to know this person quite well. I can't imagine him getting hostile." I wasn't sure if he was trying to make me feel better or if he was convincing me. "We're going to go see Stefan Salvatore, not a thing goes by here that he doesn't know about. And I have a feeling he knows exactly what went on here."

I nodded, suddenly not so hungry anymore. I was almost scared to find out why I had to leave Mystic Falls. And when we got in the car, my nerves got a bit worse. Klaus went over what I needed to do and say to Stefan, it didn't seem like a dangerous thing, but it was a matter of if I could any information from him or not.

Klaus dropped me off a bit down the road from an old boarding house and told me he'd be close by and listening. I didn't want to do this and I definitely didn't want to do it alone. I somehow willed the courage to knock on the front door, and it felt like forever until someone answered.

Before me was who I assumed was Stefan. "Stefan Salvatore?" I more so asked. His eyes got big and he looked terrified.

"What the hell are you doing here? How are you back?" He asked, not bothering to explain.

I shrugged and folded my arms, chilly from the cool breeze. "I'm going to assume you know me then."

He took a step back and gave me a confused look. "Wait, you still don't remember? You're still-"

"Compelled, yeah. I figured that much out." His lack of information and shock was slightly irritating to me. "But I need to know a few things if you'd be willing to talk."

"You can't be here Molly, you have to go." He urged, and I winced at the name.

"Excuse me? Molly?" I couldn't tell what was more frustrating, not enough information or none at all.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Catalina?" He was guessing. That was when I was sure he hadn't been the one to compel me.

"Yeah. I guess." I shrugged again, unsure of what to feel. "Please, Stefan. I just need a few minutes with you. I have to know-"

"Mol- Cat- Whatever. I can't help you. I want to, you have no idea how much I want to help, but I can't. I can't give you your memories back." He looked defensive but there was a kindness and sadness in his eyes that I picked up on.

"Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to not know about the last who knows how long of my own life? Do you have any clue how hard it is to find out my life is a lie? that I don't even know my own real name?" Guilt trip. This was one of the tactics Klaus suggested, apparently Stefan had a kind heart and couldn't say no to someone in distress. "Please help me."

"Fine, but first, you have to answer my questions." This was surprising, I couldn't imagine what he'd want to know. "Deal?" He said, stepping aside in the doorway to let me in.

"Deal." I hadn't thought about it at all, I just reacted. I felt more than desperate for answers. I went in and sat down on a leather sofa, the whole area seemed familiar to me, but I couldn't quite grasp why.

He paced the room, looking horribly uncomfortable. "How did you get passed the compelling to stay in town? You should be having the worst panic attack of your life."

"A witch." I lied. I didn't want to lie, but I had to protect Klaus. I didn't know what he was capable of and outing Klaus didn't seem smart. "Painful process." I was lucky I'd paid attention when Freya had talked about it.

"Okay. How did you even find out about this?" Damn it.

"Someone said they'd noticed I was different. They took me to a witch and here we are." I didn't want to go into detail or anything, hell, I didn't even want to say that much.

"Vampire?" He looked so suspicious that it was really hard to lie. I felt like he saw right through me.

"Yes." That wasn't entirely truthful, but it wasn't entirely false either.

"Who?" It didn't feel like he was asking, it more so felt like he was giving a demand.

"Irrelevant." I didn't like this interrogation. I felt awkward and irritated, I just wanted to ask my own questions.

"So where have you been since you left?" This question seemed less like "good cop bad cop" and more.. Concerned?

I sighed as I wondered who Stefan was to me. I saw something in him that told me he knew me well and that he might have cared about me in some way. As much as I wanted to answer, I couldn't risk it. If he knew where I came from, I was afraid he'd connect the dots and find out that my help came from Klaus. I didn't know if they were friends or enemies, but something told me it was complicated. "Also irrelevant. Tell me who did this to me."

I was done with this stupid game, I wanted to know and that was the end of it. I didn't want to have to chase this around for ages, I just wanted to either get my life back or move on from it. "That's a tough one."

"You don't know?" I was starting to feel defeated.

"I do know." He sighed and sat on the couch across from me. "I won't give you his name, but he's someone that really cared about you, and still does. He did this for a lot of reasons, a lot of which I don't even agree with. But mainly, he did it to protect you. He loved you, and the only way to keep you out of certain things was to get you to go away."

"Stefan, please, tell me his name. I have to get this reversed, I need to know what my life really is. I don't even know what I am! I thought I was just a normal human being this whole time. I need to know." I begged, feeling like I was getting nowhere.

Silence deafened the room until he spoke. "Go to The Grill. Ask for Matt Donovan, see what he tells you." He paused, looking guilty. "I can't be the one to tell you."

"Matt Donovan at The Grill. Got it." I nodded, finally feeling like I had a chance.

"One more thing." He said before I could leave. "If someone in this town recognizes you, pretend like you know them. Pretend like you never left. The last thing you want is people around here knowing you don't have your memories." I nodded, not liking how dangerous this was starting to sound. "Oh, and whoever is waiting for you in a car down the street, tell them to come in with you next time. I'd like to see who brought this all back on."

I walked out without saying another word. I felt so many different things at that given point in time that I couldn't pin point it. When I got back in Klaus' car he looked on edge. "What's wrong?" I asked him, once I knew we were well out of ear shot.

"I just have a feeling I know who is behind this." I was surprised to hear it but also relieved. Maybe this trip was going to be shorter than I thought.

"Really? Who?" I asked, dying to know.

"I don't want to excite you , love. It's only a hunch. Let's talk to Donovan and see what he'll tell you. I think he'll be of great use." I didn't know what I was in for, but I had a strange feeling about it...
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Sorry about the typos! That was bad lol I went through and fixed a few. I do write on my phone a lot so I don’t always notice autocorrect issues etc. (it autocorrects Klaus to Kalisz and allays and Klause a lot lol so sorry about that)

I like this chapter to let me know what you think in the comments!!