Chapter Text
Finn's POV.
Sage and I left the balcony and went back to our bedroom. The moment the door closed behind us, I felt a marginal sense of safety return. Distance. Walls. Barriers between me and whatever that was downstairs. I began pacing immediately. “I am leaving,” I declared. Sage raised a brow, leaning casually against the dresser. “Leaving the room?”
“Leaving the country.” That got her attention, but not in the way I had hoped. Her lips curved. “Oh?”
“Yes,” I continued, gaining momentum. “I will not remain in a household where I am at risk of being exposed to a Klaus and Kol having a jealousy fit”
“You mean being happy in a relationship?” she asked innocently. “I mean that,” I shot back. “Whatever that was! And do not pretend you don’t understand my distress.”
“Oh, I understand it perfectly,” she said, pushing off the dresser and walking toward me slowly. “I just don’t share it.”
“Of course you don’t,” I muttered. “You find this entertaining.”
“I find you entertaining,” she corrected. I stopped pacing long enough to glare at her. She smiled wider. I sighed deeply. “Sage.”
“Yes, love?” I straightened slightly, reclaiming what dignity I have left “Do you still like Italy?” There was a brief pause and her expression lit up in a way that immediately told me I had made the correct decision. “Very much,” she said. “Good,” I replied briskly. “We are going. Immediately. For an extended period.”
“How extended?” she asked, clearly delighted.
“Permanent and forever.”
Her smile turned positively radiant. “Finn Mikaelson, are you suggesting a vacation?”
“I am suggesting survival,” I corrected. “If I remain here, I will either lose my sanity or be forced to intervene. Neither outcome is desirable.” She stepped closer, reaching up to adjust my collar with unnecessary precision. “And here I thought you simply wanted to spend time with me.” I hesitated, “…That is a secondary benefit,” I admitted. Sage laughed softly and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “Then Italy it is.”
And for once I felt as though I had made a truly excellent decision. Italy, as it turned out, was everything I needed. Distance from my brothers. Distance from chaos. Distance from whateve arrangement they had constructed.
No overheard laughter echoing through halls at inappropriate hours. No suspicious proximity. No need to analyze who was kissing whom and why. Just quiet evenings, warm air, and Sage’s presence. Steady, grounding, blissfully normal in a way my family never could be.
I almost forgot. Almost. But peace, like all things in my life, is temporary. For two months, I knew peace. Cause Sage missed New Orleans and even worse, missed my family. The betrayal, never would I have considered Sage to be traitor. I wonder if she loves me or loves seeing me suffer.
Still, after our vacation the household remained as calm as it could be.
I truly thought peace arrived, but I forgot we are the Mikaelson. And that I should have bribed by Sage gifting her a whole vinery. Including a Mansion in the Tuscany. Or that I should have asked Klaus to hand over one of his tropical islands.
There is no way he doesn't own at least 5 islands. That paranoid painting stab happy younger brother of mine, always hoarded things like a dragon. Even when Klaus was a child. Thats how I lost my favoite and first dagger to a 4 year old. Thinking back on it, that it was a dagger Klaus took from me... It explains actually a lot nowadays in hindsight. But Kols not better. Kol possible has a whole Island, where he hoards magical artefacts.
If someone told me one of the pyramids which is not found, because Kol Mikaelson put wards around it to keep it hidden for himself... Yeah, it would be a lie to say I was surprised.
But that doesn't explain Klaus and Kols werid behavior around Hayley. At first, everything seemed fine. Normal, even. Which, in hindsight, should have been my first warning.
~◇~
I noticed it gradually. A shift. Subtle at first, but persistent enough to unsettle me. It began with proximity. Klaus and Kol had always been possessive in their own ways. Territorial. Protective. That was nothing new. But this was different. It was excessive, even for them. There was always contact.
An arm draped around Hayley’s shoulders. A hand resting at her waist. Fingers brushing against her arm, her back, her hand, always something. And not occasionally, not situationally. Constantly. As if letting go was no longer an option. I stood in the doorway one afternoon, watching them in the courtyard with narrowed eyes. Hayley sat between them, as usual, though this time Klaus had one arm around her shoulders while Kol lounged at her other side, his hand resting loosely on her thigh. Casual, too casual.
Hayley rolled her eyes at something Kol said, nudging him lightly. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet,” Kol replied, entirely unbothered, “you adore me.”
“I tolerate you,” she corrected.
Klaus snorted softly, his grip on her tightening ever so slightly. “A generous distinction.” Hayley leaned back into him without hesitation.
That was another thing, she allowed it. No resistance. No discomfort. Just mild exasperation at most, like someone accustomed to an overprotective habit she had long since stopped fighting. Suspicious. Highly suspicious. I crossed my arms. “This is new,” I muttered to myself. Because it was. Before a couple weeks ago, their dynamic had been chaotic, yes, but not like this. Not this unified front. Not this constant, almost instinctive need to anchor her between them.
I observed again the next day. And the next. And the next. It did not change. If anything, it intensified.
At dinner, Klaus’s hand never strayed far from Hayley’s back. Kol leaned closer than necessary, his attention fixed on her in a way that was no longer just playful, it was watchful. Protective. Guarded. I narrowed my eyes further. “Oh no,” I murmured. Not again. Not another development. Not another mystery. I felt it then, that familiar, dreadful pull. The need to understand. To analyze, to uncover. I exhaled slowly, already knowing I had lost this battle. “I am not doing this,” I told myself firmly. Across the room, Klaus shifted slightly closer to Hayley. Kol’s hand tightened briefly around hers. Hayley sighed, clearly used to it. I closed my eyes.
“…I am absolutely doing this.”
My eyes snapped open, focus sharpening. Something had changed.
And I, Finn Mikaelson, eldest, most observant and apparently cursed with awareness, would uncover it. Again.
~◇~
Let's go a bit back in time. 3 months ago, Klaus and Kol had already acted suspicious. And what they did, well...
3 months prior:
There are many things one comes to accept when living with the Mikaelsons. Violence, for instance. Chaos. Questionable moral decisions made with absolute confidence. Even the occasional architectural destruction, provided it serves some dramatic purpose.
What one does not expect, what one should never have to accept, is waking up one morning to discover that three bedrooms have ceased to exist. That three became one now.
And yet, here we are.
I stood in the hallway, staring at what used to be three distinct doors. One door belonging to Klaus, one to Kol, and one to Hayley Marshall. Now, there was only one. One. A single, offensively large door. I blinked slowly. “No,” I said to myself. Then I opened it and and that had been my first mistake. Because what greeted me on the other side was not merely a shared room. No. That would have been too simple. Too reasonable. What stood before me was an expansion. A monstrous, sprawling display of excess and poor judgment. The walls? Gone. Entirely gone. Where once there had been structure, separation, sanity—there was now a vast open space that somehow combined all three rooms into one cohesive, deeply unsettling whole. “How,” I whispered under my breath, stepping inside despite every instinct telling me to turn around and leave immediately, “is this structurally possible?”
“Magic,” came a voice casually. Of course it did. I turned slowly to find Kol lounging across what appeared to be an unnecessarily large bed, their bed, I corrected internally with immediate discomfort. Arms behind his head, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “Ah,” he continued, grinning, “Finn. Welcome to the future.”
“This is not the future,” I said flatly, scanning the room again in disbelief. “This is a violation.” Kol snorted. “Of what? Your delicate sensibilities?”
“Of architecture,” I snapped. He laughed, naturally. My gaze moved further across the room, taking in the details with growing horror. There were distinct sections. Klaus’s taste evident in one area, all dark wood and brooding elegance. Kol’s in another, slightly more chaotic, books and objects scattered with intentional carelessness. Hayley’s, grounded, practical, but seamlessly integrated into this… this shared existence.
“This should not work,” I muttered. “And yet,” Kol said smugly, “it does.” I ignored him and continued my inspection, because clearly, I had lost control of my life and this was what I did now. That was when I noticed the walk in closets. Or rather the absence of a door where in my memorz one should be located. I walked toward the door closer, only to stop abruptly. “Oh, for the love of-” The wall between Klaus’s and Kol’s closets had been removed, completely. It was now one vast expanse of tailored suits, dark fabrics and what I could only describe as coordinated chaos. “You combined your wardrobes,” I said slowly, turning to Kol with a look of deep concern.
“Efficient, isn’t it?” he replied. “No,” I said immediately. “It is disturbing.” Kol grinned wider. “Klaus was hesitant at first.”
“I was not hesitant,” came ’s voice from behind me, smooth and mildly offended. I turned to face him. “You were,” Kol called out lazily. “You gave a whole speech about personal space.” Klaus rolled his eyes. “I adapted.”
“Yes,” I said dryly, “I can see that. You adapted by removing the concept entirely.” Hayley snorted. I looked at her, narrowing my eyes slightly. “And you allowed this?” She crossed her arms, unimpressed. “It’s not like they asked permission before knocking walls down.”
“That is not reassuring,” I replied. “It worked out,” she said with a shrug. I exhaled sharply, deciding not to pursue that particular line of questioning because I feared the answers. Instead, I turned and immediately regretted it again.
''You're missing doors.'' I hoped they did. But Hayley looked confused at me and asked ''What doors, Finn? Any room needed has a door to it. Klaus and Kols shared walk in closet, my walk in closet, a door to enter and leave our bedroom. And a door to the bathroom.''
Ah, bathroom. One and not three. Why arem't there three bathrooms? It's not structural or architectical possible that they could have conected them. Doesn't matter how stubborn Klaus is or how magicall talented Kol is. But apparently, I should count myself lucky that I didn' bet oney on it. Cause those three had done the same thing to the bathrooms, with what they did to two of the walk in closets. “All three?” I asked, voice strained. “All three,” Kol confirmed proudly, now sitting up. “And we improved them.”
“Improved,” I repeated weakly, stepping closer despite myself.
It was enormous. A single, expansive space where there should have been three. A large bathtub, unnecessarily large sunken bathube. It's the 3rd floor we are on. How the hell is here sunken bathtube?! And why do they have an exra large bathube here?! I'm ignoring the waterfall showe, thats behind me. I stood near the center, accompanied by an equally excessive shower space and—
I froze.
“Is that a—”
“A jacuzzi?” Kol supplied, delighted. “Yes.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
“We already have multiple jacuzzis in this manor,” I said slowly. “We are not peasants.”
“Variety,” Kol said simply.
“Excess,” I corrected.
Klaus smirked faintly. “You’re just upset you weren’t consulted.”
“I am upset,” I replied, opening my eyes and turning to face them, “because this is madness.”
Hayley laughed softly. “You’ll survive.”
I did not respond to that, cause besides my dearly beloved wife, Hayley and Marcel are the only people I can stand here in this Manor. And I would saz that into Rebekah's face too. Freya, that traitor loves the chaos and headches Elijah, Klaus, Kol and Rebekha bring. She loves it and I hoped she would understand my in my suffering. Pah! She's as bad as them. People are right when they say, people chnage over time. Especialls when years pass by before you see them. Maybe Dahlia messed up with Freyas brain and that's why she doesn't mind our siblings chaoic, violent ways.
Present time:
Still... How did they architectually manage this all?! That was 3 months ago, and I still don't know how they managed to pull it of. Or be done with it before anyone without anyone noticing in the process.
But this secrecy. Whatever got Klaus and Kol more hovering around Hayley, I will find that out.
And I already questioned Sage throughly, this time she really doesn't know anything and isn't watching me worry. But she says everything is probably fine. Pah! Fine she says. We are the Mikaelson, chaos, violence, destruction are our middle names.