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fitzs-trained-monkey · 1 year

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To Maintain The Lie

Series: Rational Thinking Part Four

Summary: What does one call themselves when they are neither hero nor villain? Is there a word for those merciful lies told in order to champion truth? Where is the line between necessity and morality? You're not the hero in this story and you're not the villain. You're just the surgeon who stops a heart to prevent more pain. What a shame it is that life just isn't fair. || Kol x reader || Here lies my Masterlist ||

Warnings: Cannon typical violence, angst, language, some gore. I can't exactly call any of this fluff but these two are so in love it kinda makes me sick.

A/N: This part got so long that I had to split it in half. Expect a few pov changes as I try to widen the scope on this fic. (Or maybe I'm just showing off. Who knows?) Now, let's start the show.

🔪STORY BEGINS BELOW 🔪

Whoever first claimed that they were too young to die was an arrogant, entitled, narcissistic asshole. For you see, such a statement implied that life - or more accurately - death was somehow bound, or at least could be, by a human sense of restraint or equity. It alleged that there was such a thing as an age below which the universe simply could or should not tolerate a human being's loss of life.

But Jeremy Gilbert knew the truth. There was no such thing as fair. Equity was nothing more than a fantasy that humanity had invented to make themselves feel better because people die every day and the universe doesn’t give a damn how young they are. Some claim that tragedies and pain happen for a reason - that there’s a reward in the end for those who endure - but Jeremy didn’t believe that. No, he’d been suffering his whole damn life and every reward he thought he’d received had been mercilessly ripped away from him and if there was a reason for it, then it was not one he could see. Though, perhaps his true reward was nothing quite so grand as one would hope. Perhaps his only solace would be an escape from living with the crushing weight of loss. For now, it seemed, Jeremy Gilbert would die as he had lived - suffering.

So whoever it was that had first claimed themselves too young to die - that person was an arrogant, entitled, narcissistic asshole, he decided. Because he was dying - alone in the darkness and the dirt - and he was only seventeen.

There was nothing fair in that.'

"Damon, stop!" Elena's voice cried out from somewhere in the distance. The sound wasn't too far behind him - it was uncomfortably close.

Jeremy Gilbert ground his teeth, dragging his broken body across the forest floor. Blood seeped from a gash in his arm. It was deep - the kind that would require stitches, but he couldn't afford to worry about that right now. For the moment, he needed to focus on surviving.

Y/N had warned him. She'd warned him, and he hadn't listened.

Jeremy bit his lip to keep himself from screaming as he shoved himself upward with all his might. His back slammed into a tree, and the boy gasped as a flash of pain shot through him. It mellowed out a moment later, joining the ambient agony he'd henceforth acquired. Adrenaline was dulling the worst of it which wasn't exactly encouraging. He didn't even want to consider how much pain he would be in if he survived this.

"I can't, Elena!" Damon's voice retaliated. "I've spent far too long engineering our mutual destruction already. Jeremy's Hunter's Mark puts us all in danger - puts you in danger!"

“Jeremy’s my brother, Damon!” Elena argued. “Don’t you understand? He would never hurt me!”

Wouldn’t he? Jeremy wasn’t so sure anymore, not after hearing what Elena had done to his best friend and she’d done that while she was human. His sister was a vampire now. She had changed since the accident and not for the better. Jeremy could see it, even if he didn’t want to. If Elena lost control, if she did something bad - hurt someone, killed someone - if she couldn’t control it, then was it not his responsibility to protect people from her? Even if that meant putting her down?

But no. No, it wasn’t. Since when had it ever been his responsibility to hurt anyone, regardless of what they’d done? Jeremy was a damn teenager for crying out loud! He wasn’t a soldier - he was a kid!

A-and killing Elena? That wasn’t him! Jeremey loved his sister. He loved her! Yet, those thoughts had sounded so reasonable and far too close to his own, blending so seamlessly he hardly noticed.

“No, Elena! It’s you who doesn’t understand,” Damon snapped. “I saw that kid draw a stake on the only real friend he’s ever had! Jeremy was ready to kill her and he didn’t even notice! How much longer before that’s you?”

Maybe Damon was right…

What was this hunter’s mark doing to him?

Jeremy's sister said something else, but his enhanced hearing wasn't strong enough yet to catch it. Besides, his senses seemed to be fading in and out of focus at the moment, so he didn't bother with straining to hear, opting to draw his semi-auto from his waistband instead. He still had some fight left in him.

“We’ll find another way, Elena. You can’t take the cure if you’re dead.” The elder Salvatore's words filtered through the trees. "I'm doing what has to be done."

"NO!"

So this was how he was going to die. Was it a bad thing that he hoped this time would be permanent? Surely he'd served his sentence by now, hadn't he?

When Damon stalked out from between the trees in front of him, Jeremy knew his time was up. Sure, he had regrets - hell, he had more than he could count. Sure, he was supposedly too young to die, but when had that ever mattered in this godforsaken town? Sure, he knew he didn't deserve this fate, though for better or worse, this was the one he'd chosen.

No, Jeremy Gilbert didn't want to die, but he had come to terms with his fate long before this moment. After all, he'd died and come back a few times already. (He wasn't sure whether that made him lucky or not.) He'd been living on borrowed time for a long while and he wasn't even sure if he'd really been alive for any of it. If now was his time to go, then he'd go out with a fight and smile when it was finally over.

Whether Damon was right or not, Jeremy Gilbert was not about to go quietly into that good night. No, that boy had suffered far too much to make his death easy on whatever forces of nature demanded that he die before graduating high school. So, he thanked the Lord in heaven for the extra lives he'd been given - 'cause most other people only get the one - and he raised that gun in his hand to point at Damon's black, black heart.

"You're hesitating," The vampire noted.

"There's only one bullet left," Jeremy replied, voice as dry as a desert as he stared that monster down unblinkingly.

"Good to know." Damon huffed a laugh. "Well, this is it, Baby Gilbert. No hard feelings?"

"Nah, I've got a few… dick."

Damon smirked. The cold, unhallowed blackness of the night around them filled his cold, dead eyes, spilling over like bleeding cracks down his cheeks. Jeremy's own eyes narrowed and the breath that left his lips, undoubtedly his last, turned to mist in the chilling evening air. His vision from exhaustion swam and his hand with three broken fingers shook because that gun was heavier than he'd thought it was going to be just a few months ago. In spite of his failing body, he did his best to aim as his finger tightened on the trigger.

The boy's soon-to-be murderer hissed and staggered back, but didn't drop dead. Jeremy had missed the monster's heart. That was alright, he supposed. After all, he was only a junior in high school - not a marksman, not a soldier, not even an adult - just a kid whose story was ending before it ever should have had to begin.

Jeremy lowered the gun and closed his eyes as Damon rushed forward.

Yet death, it would seem, was not quite ready to take him.

A breeze passed in front of his face and a growl ripped from Damon's throat. Jeremy opened his eyes. There in front of him stood Y/N, arms grappled around Damon's. It was a wrestler's hold she had him in, some random part of his dying brain noted. (The Olympic sort of wrestling, not the WW-E kind because he absolutely needed to know that in his last moments.) Damon’s face contorted into a grimace and he hissed, shoving the girl harshly. Y/N ground her teeth, digging her feet into the soil beneath them, and pushed back with a shout, refusing to lose. But Damon was older, and thus significantly stronger than she was. Her feet slid back inch by inch, but it wasn’t enough.

Damon’s low growl morphed into a scream of pain and he reeled back. Jeremy’s stubbornly useless vision cleared just enough for him to see the smoke that curled off the elder Salvatore’s arms.

“Oh, look. Tiny Sherlock’s here to save the day.” He backed off a couple of steps and took to prowling back and forth like a leopard searching for a chink in the armor of its prey. "Crazy how you always show up where you're least wanted."

Mist left the mouth of Jeremy's best friend in small puffs, her entire body was tensed in anticipation and Jeremy couldn't help but wonder who'd taught her how to fight.

"What can I say?" The girl huffed, flicking a few loose strands of hair out of her face. "It's a talent."

Damon's footing shifted slightly to the right and Y/N adjusted her own to match, keeping herself between Jeremy and his intended murderer. The lips of the raven-haired vampire curled.

“Still can’t win a fight without cheating, I see,” He snarled bitterly.

On her arms, he now noticed, the girl wore a pair of sleek black gloves that extended up a ways past her elbows. She adjusted them carefully, staring the other vampire down as she did so and Jeremy’s addled brain finally made the connection. Vervain.

“Last I checked, there’s no such thing as cheating when a life is at stake. You taught me that, Damon.” Her voice was as icy and sharp as a winter storm. There were raging winds howling in the night behind her eyes. “Then again, I suppose that only applies when it’s Elena you’re saving. Anyone else be damned, right?”

“I like to think it only applies once you’ve proven yourself.” Damon smirked. “Take off those gloves, why don’cha? I’m curious. Let’s see if you can beat me in a fair fight.”

Y/N snorted and shook her head. “You must really think I’m dumb, huh?”

“Nah, I just think you’re a coward,” He retorted.

“You’re wrong.” Y/N’s body shifted into a stance that was clearly defensive - an odd tactic for a person whose motto was “the best defense is a swift and decisive offense” - but usually it was only herself she was protecting. Now, she had to worry about Jeremy too and he couldn’t do a thing to help her. It wasn't often that the boy would admit to being useless but his body was seriously broken.

“Then prove it,” Damon challenged.

The girl just shook her head, eyes narrowing. Her expression was one of furious hail and tempestuous wind and her tone was made of frozen spears. “I have nothing to prove to the likes of you - ignorant, arrogant, faithlessly paranoid, pathologically manipulative, inconsequential scrap of agoraphobic slime. ”

The expression that dawns across a person’s face when they realize they no longer hold any power over another, is somewhat hard to describe. It begins as something close to surprise, then morphs into indignation, before settling on cold hatred.

Damon's black eyes narrowed. "You should have stayed dead."

"Funny," Y/N, hummed. "Did your dad say the same thing?"

He snarled in rage and leaped forward, sweeping his leg out to bring Y/N crashing down on her back. Then, he whirled to make a grab for Jeremy. All he would need was a millisecond - a quick snap of the neck and it was done. But Y/N wasn't going to let that happen. Her arm shot out and grasped Jeremy by the ankle, yanking hard. He cried out in pain as twigs and roots and who knows what else, shredded his back as she dragged his body behind hers and rolled onto her side. Damon reached toward her, but her foot lashed out and she landed a kick to the outstretched hand. Jeremy's enhanced senses discerned the telltale snap of breaking bone. The raven-haired vampire stumbled back, cursing and Y/N was up on her feet again in a second. Parrying his clumsy left hook, Y/N sent her knee flying into his stomach which knocked the wind out of him and gave her the opening she needed to get her hands around his throat.

A strangled sound escaped him, a mix of pain and breathlessness, as she pushed him back, vervain gloves burning his skin. He tried to rip her hands off him but only succeeded in torching his own as well. Throwing his weight backward sent both opponents to the ground and gave him a shot to roll out of her grip. Unfortunately, this was a move the girl was quite familiar with and she knew just how to counter it. She shifted her weight as they fell, curling her knees in. When Damon's back hit the dirt, her knees landed on his diaphragm. He lost most - if not all - of his remaining air and when he, in a daze, tried to move his arm, Y/N threw one leg out to the side to step on it.

Jeremy was vaguely reminded of Black Widow.

Damon sputtered and coughed on the ground for a few seconds before falling silent but the girl didn't release him until his foot stopped twitching. Then she got up and raced over to the Gilbert boy, effortlessly lifting him off the ground in a fireman's carry.

"Day-um, Jerry-Berry!" The girl huffed, grinning at him. "What are you doing goin' around with all this beef? You're supposed to be a stick!"

Jeremy just raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, well - fighting for your life on a daily basis tends to do that to you." He was too tired to be witty.

She snorted. "Touche."

The boy closed his eyes and let his head roll back. "Not that I'm ungrateful, but uh - what the hell are you doing here?" He asked.

"No time to explain!" She answered brightly. "Hold on tight!"

Trees and plants were whizzing by in an instant, and Jeremy tried to ignore how his stomach dropped. He'd always liked roller coasters, but somehow the sensation was different when he was experiencing excruciating pain - the kind that's white-hot and threatens to make one throw up. He hissed as his best friend came to a sudden stop.

She cursed.

"He's back up," She said, turning around to watch the trees. "I was hoping to run you all the way, but we're not gonna make it. Can you stand?"

"I dunno... Maybe?" He shook his head. "Wait, what are you talking about? Where are we running to?" He demanded, hissing when the girl set him on his feet.

"No time. Do you think you can run?"

Jeremy's lips pressed into a thin line, annoyed. "Depends on where I'm going," He insisted.

"Away from here!" Came her non-answer. He sent her a flat look and she frowned. "Come on, Jer. Don't you trust me?"

He wanted to say yes - immediately and without a doubt, yes. But how could he? Vampirism changed people. He hardly even recognized his own sister some days and he was beginning to wonder if the friend he'd thought he'd lost in Denver was the same girl who'd come back. She was trying to be the same, but her efforts felt to him like a snake trying to fit into a skin it had outgrown. There was this energy - wild and whimsical - that seeped between the edges now and it reminded him far too much of the person she now ran with. Jeremy wanted to trust her.

But Kol Mikaelson?

Never again.

"I don't know why you're helping me," He said with a sigh. He was so tired of this - running circles around trust and always being betrayed. To his surprise, the girl didn't get upset. She just nodded.

"I'm helping because I like you alive… dumbass." Her voice was thin but it held a flicker of humor and warmth. "There's a car parked out on the road just beyond those trees." She pointed. "It's that Dodge Hellcat I always said I was gonna buy - can't miss it. I'll buy you as much time to get there as I can. Don't stop, and whatever you do, don't look back. Okay?"

He hesitated just a moment but nodded. "Okay."

"What are you waiting for? GO!"

So he did. Jeremy ran as fast as his damaged legs could carry him, squinting through the tears in his eyes as the pain rose to a fever pitch. He ground his jaw against it, but he didn't stop, nor did he look back - even when he heard his best friend scream.

He burst through the trees after what felt like an eternity. Glancing up and down the street, he found the car Y/N had told him to look for. It was silver, just like she always said it would be. He limped towards it, his heart threatening to give out. Jeremy collapsed about five feet away, agony burning through every cell in his body but he refused to give up. He crawled the rest of the way, grasped the door handle with bloodied fingers, and flung himself into the passenger's seat.

Every muscle in his body trembled as he forced himself to relax, groaning.

"This is insane," He breathed, tipping his head back against the headrest.

"Oh, it's about to get even better."

That all too familiar voice sent ice shooting through his veins. Jeremy slowly turned his head to see none other than Kol Mikaelson, smirking in the driver's seat. Their eyes met for a moment and both refused to blink. Kol’s mouth stretched into a grin while Jeremy’s own twisted into a grimace. Ten heartbeats. His hand flew to the door but Jeremy was met with the telltale click of the door’s lock before he could touch it. The human groaned.

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

***

"Start the car, start the car, start the car!" You barreled out of the trees and raced for your beloved vehicle. Your boyfriend had been right - you should have brought the Jeep. "Start the f-ing car, Kol!"

You dove through the door's open window and into the backseat just as the engine roared to life.

"Freaking FLOOR IT!" You ordered, unceremoniously shoving yourself upright. Kol floored it. Rubber burned and tires squealed but somehow zero to sixty in 3.4 seconds didn't seem fast enough with a determinedly homicidal vampire chasing you.

"This feels like a bad idea!" Jeremy cried over the roar of the open windows. He'd never admit it but mingled with the terror in his voice, there was also exhilaration.

"Come off it, Jer," You said, smirking. "You know you've always wanted to go this fast." You patted his hand which clung to the armrest for dear life and leaned down. "Now, where did I put that thing?"

"Don't tell me you lost it, love," Kol teasingly complained from up-front. "Those things are dangerous, you know. Just think of what would happen if everyone were as irresposible with them as you are."

You rolled your eyes. "Oh, shut up you. Jeremy, don't agree with him." Your friend snorted and winced. Scrabbling around under the seat, your hand found cold metal and supple leather. "Found it."

You grabbed the gun and sat up, ducking your head back out the window and twisting to aim at the streak of black that burst onto the road. Muggy summer wind whipped through your hair as the car accelerated to dangerous speeds down an unlit small-town road, though you would trust the boy at the wheel with more than just your life.

Despite your vehicle's considerable speed of two hundred and three miles per hour, the black streak raced after you, slowly but surely gaining. You opened fire, trying to keep your aim steady, but the country road was less than standard.

"Could you hit any more potholes?" You complained, reaching into the front seat. Kol pushed a new magazine into your palm and you quickly reloaded.

"I don't know," He replied. "Are you aiming for the wretch's heart or his knees?"

You snorted. "More like his face."

"Admirable." He smirked. "Let him get a little closer."

"What?!" Both you and Jeremy demanded at the same time. You whirled around, eyes wide. Kol glanced at you through the rearview mirror.

"Trust me," He said.

Trust. You could give him that.

You stopped firing. "And… that's the last of the ammo," You lied, speaking just loud enough for Damon to hear. He seemed to take that as encouragement.

"Get your pretty little head back in here, please," Kol said pleasantly. You raised a brow but retreated back into the Hellcat. Twisting around, you had a decent view of the raven-haired vampire as he pushed closer and closer to the car's bumper.

"He's getting pretty close," You warned.

"Not yet, love," Came the response from the front seat.

You sent him a flat look. "You're being just so comforting right now."

"Isn't it wonderful?"

You made a non-committal noise and checked the rear window again.

"You guys argue like an old married couple." Pain morphed Jeremy's laugh into something that sounded more like a wheeze. You weren't quite sure how he could laugh when his life was at stake, but you took a little solace from it.

"Aww, thanks."

"Don't thank him," Kol scoffed. "He just called you old."

"If I'm old, what does that make you?"

He just grinned. "Classic."

You smacked his shoulder and checked your flank again.

"You know, I never thought my life would be reduced to Death Cab lyrics," You observed, somewhat wryly, hands wrapped like a vice around the gun.

Under Kol's compulsion, Damon wouldn't give up the chase until Jeremy was either dead or outside the state of Virginia. It was odd. You had been the architect of this clever ploy, yet it would seem you hadn't fully anticipated how nerve-wracking your role within it would be.

Thus, the state line really did feel like the Berlin wall.

You just hoped you could reach it in time.

"Is now really the best time to be quizzing me on song lyrics?" Kol wondered, expertly rounding a bend at a speed no human could manage.

You shrugged. "Good a time as any."

He huffed a laugh and you suppressed a smile. It warmed you up inside to have someone who not only understood but who loved you for your nine-track mind.

"Crooked Teeth," He answered, somewhat smug.

"Ah, he does pay attention," You mused distractedly. Behind you, that black streak drew within twenty feet. "Remind me, what are we waiting for exactly?"

"The opportune moment," Kol replied.

"So like, right now?"

"Nope."

Fifteen feet and closing.

"Now?"

"Wait."

Ten feet and closing.

"Kol - I love you - but you're really starting to worry me!" You said, watching Damon inch ever nearer.

"Patience, my flower." He purred, calm as a quiet grove after rain.

Five feet.

"Sweetheart, he is literally riding our coattail!" You exclaimed, eyes wide.

Kol smirked. "Perfect." He glanced back at you. "Give Jeremy a hug, will you?"

Your eyes flew wide.

In that instant, a spark in your brain - that terrible blessing you'd been cursed with - flared to life. Calculations raced through your head, outpacing Newton's laws in the milliseconds before the impact.

Kol slammed on the breaks and time slowed.

(Solve the problem. Solve the problem. Solve the problem.)

4,000 pounds of carbon-fiber and steel traveling at 203 miles an hour - approximately 300 feet or 91 meters per second. That makes for a momentum of 364,000 pounds.

(Fascinating but irrelevant. Get back on track.)

A Dodge Hellcat's stopping distance equates to 107 feet at sixty miles an hour which becomes 368 feet at top speed, decelerating the vehicle in approximately 1.7 seconds.

(You're running out of time. Think faster. Think faster.)

364,000 pounds of force brought to a standstill in 1.7 seconds results in a negative g-force of 5.48 exerted on the body.

(But what does that do? You have to act. Solve the problem.)

Three individuals in the vehicle. One vulnerable to breakage. Instant death - possible, but unlikely. Prioritize potential injuries - whiplash, concussion, internal hemorrhaging, ocular and auditory trauma, acute systemic failure, and aneurysm.

(Time to react. What are you going to do?)

Conclusion: Mind the head.

You threw your arms up just in time to catch Jeremy's head as physics made an admirable effort to huck the entirety of the car's interior through the windshield. The grinding of gears and the screaming of tires on asphalt met your ears as inertia attempted to bifurcate the front seat using your body - a rather unpleasant experience, though you would take the physical pain of a few broken ribs over the anguish of losing your best friend any day. Smoke obscured your vision and the scent of burning rubber assaulted your nose, but you pushed through it, opening your eyes.

"And he sticks the landing!" Kol announced, glib as ever. "Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen."

"Kol-" You groaned, pushing yourself up to rest an elbow on his seat. "-you hurt my baby."

That car was your second love and whosoever was responsible would be intensely sorrowful should you find so much as a scratch in her paint.

"Eh, she's fine." He waved a hand dismissively. "Though, you may need to clean her up a bit because et voila!" The boy gestured behind the vehicle and you twisted around, squinting at the tarmac.

Damon's undead corpse, now quite prone, rested about fifty feet behind the car. Road rash would be a very tame description of his injuries seeing as about half his body was missing and most of his insides were splayed across the thoroughfare. He must have collided with the back of the car and flipped over the roof before being ground up by the wheels like rotten tomatoes in a blender. There was quite a lot of blood.

You turned back, grinning.

"Well, that's one problem taken care of!"

***

"You guys are insane," Jeremy groaned, rubbing his eyes. They hurt and he worried they might fall out of his head after that impact. On the bright side, he wasn't dead.

Y/N had tried to protect him, so that was something.

"You're just now figuring that out?" In the driver's seat, Kol tossed his head back, laughing. Oddly enough, it wasn’t the hyena laugh this time. It was warmer, more sincere. Jeremy just rolled his eyes, stretching out his aching neck.

"You good, Jer?" Y/N asked from the back seat. She reached up to squeeze his shoulder comfortingly.

A sharp pain burned in his chest as he shrugged. "I'm fine, I think. No thanks to your boyfriend here." Breathing hurt.

“Oh, bloody hell, mate!" It was Kol's turn to roll his eyes. "How many times do I need to say I’m not going to kill you?” He questioned, smirking amusedly.

“At least a hundred times after you stop trying,” Jeremy said. Though it pained him to speak, like something sharp writhing around in his chest, he expected that would fade. It wasn't like they'd been in a serious crash and as long as the injury wasn't critical or something that would require a cast, then the healing his Hunter's Mark provided would take care of it, he figured as the car began moving again - in less of a hurry this time.

Over the course of the next twenty minutes, the stabbing pain did not recede. If anything, it worsened. Discomfort built in his chest, thick and hot.

As if he could sense it coming, Kol passed him a handful of tissues. Jeremy took them, albeit a little confused. Seconds later, a fit of rasping, retching, burning coughs tore through him. The boy doubled over, hacking into the tissues for longer than he wanted to think about. When his lungs finally calmed, Jeremy’s throat felt disturbingly wet.

The vehicle was silent for three heartbeats.

"Jeremy?" Y/N's voice was very soft - filled with something more than worry.

“That…” Kol spoke up. “That did not sound good.”

Jeremy looked up only to be met with a sight he would have otherwise thought impossible. The original vampire’s eyes were wide and his mouth pressed into a thin line - his hand lingered in the air, half outstretched. Kol looked concerned - actually, genuinely concerned. He pointed to Jeremy’s hands.

“And that’s definitely not good.”

Jeremy looked down. The wadded-up tissues were stained red, red, red. Yeah, that wasn’t the best sign. Jeremy felt dizzy. Breathing really hurt. His eyes felt heavy and everything smelled like pennies.

"What's going on?" Y/N demanded. "Kol, what can you see? Why is he coughing up blood? "

Damn it. Was he dying again?

Wow, his thoughts were really loud. More words were invading his ears but he only caught a few.

"-chest doesn’t seem to be caving… Did Damon hit your back?” Kol was asking. Sound was blurry.

“I, uh -” He thought about that. Thinking was hard and he was really tired. “He pushed me into a rock.”

Kol nodded, frown deepening. He glanced backward, meeting Y/N's eyes with a grim expression. "Can you hear it too?"

"I-I don't know," Y/N stammered, uncharacteristically unsure. "I mean, I hear something, but I don't know-"

"Yes, you do," Kol interrupted. "You know better than I, but I can't be sure unless you tell me. I know you would love to think you're just making it up, but if we can both hear it..." He trailed off.

The girl nodded, lips pressed into a line - eyes rimmed with red. "Yeah," She whispered. "I can hear it."

Kol nodded and turned back, his face a mask of calm. There was no snide smirk or predatory gleam. It was oddly comforting.

“Alright there, mate. Don’t panic - but from what I can hear, it sounds like something has punctured your lungs, possibly a rib. I could make sure, but I’d have to touch your back.”

The hunter sent him a very flat look. He might have been dizzy and critically injured, but he wasn't stupid.

“You literally tried to Chewbacca my arms a few hours ago,” Jeremy wheezed. He wanted to take a deep breath but his lungs felt smaller than they should be. “Hands off.”

Kol rolled his eyes, cursing under his breath. “I panicked, alright?”

Jeremy raised a brow. “You pani-”

He was cut off by another vicious round of choked coughs. Blood spewed liberally from his lips this time and his chest felt hot and tight. Jeremy felt weak, weaker than he’d ever felt and he couldn’t breathe.

“Oh, bloody hell. That’s definitely a punctured lung.” Kol laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing, pulling him back to reality. "Hey, Jeremy? Stay with me, alright?"

There was so much blood on the tissues and his hands. Some faint voice in the back of his mind told him he should be unconscious by now. The Mark was probably the only thing keeping him alive. He felt light-headed.

“I-I don’t want your help,” Jeremy spat past the blood in his mouth. “I’ll heal.”

The original shook his head. “Not from this. Not on your own.” He cursed quietly and threw the car into gear, flooring the accelerator.

"What can we do?" Y/N asked, voice thin - one hairsbreadth away from snapping. "Kol, what can I do? Just tell me what to do!"

"Nothing, darling. Don't do anything."

"I can't just sit here!" She protested. "If I give him my blood, that'll help right?"

“Under normal circumstances, I'd say yes; however, considering his Hunter's Mark, I fear his body might reject it - that could just make things worse," The original explained. His expression grew ever darker, like the summer sky as it prepared to unleash a tornado.

Y/N cursed and Jeremy's vision grew dark. His eyes threatened to close. He was so tired.

Kol shook him a little, sending pain soaring through his system and snapping him back to attention. He was fading - Jeremy was fading fast. “Hey, listen to me, alright? We’re going to get you to a hospital. You’re going to be alright, mate. Just stay awake. Just keep those eyes open and you’ll be fine - Y/N, keep him awake. Do not let him fall unconscious.”

Jeremy scowled, fighting against a tide of pain and exhaustion that threatened to pull him under. “What do you care?” He demanded.

“Are you kidding?” Kol flashed him a wry smile. “Y/N would have my head if I let you die.”

"Got that right." His best friend chuckled from the back seat and through the haze, Jeremy felt her fingers tangle with his. "You're gonna be okay, Jerrie-berry," She whispered. "I promise."

***

You'd always hated hospitals.

Now, perhaps that animosity could have been chalked-up to the slightly disturbing notion that was your current existence - seeing as the only room in such an establishment you could rightfully belong in now was the morgue. (A rather unpleasant thought, any way you slice it.) However, you'd never really been fazed by the whole "undead" thing. You didn't really think of yourself as dead - merely experiencing alternative states of mortality. So, none of that really upset you.

It was the dishonesty of the whole thing, you decided. Yes, that was it.

A hospital was merely one gigantic lie.

The walls and floor were far too white for a place steeped so thickly with blood and death. Instruments, people, floors, walls, and ceilings were barren, scrubbed within an inch of their lives. In an institution that idolized wellness and health, the halls were much too stark and silent, empty of all life save for the souls who were paid to be there. Even the guest accommodations were deceitful. Chairs sporting upholstery that looked like it should have been soft on frames that should have been somewhat comfortable, all came up disappointingly short.

The feeble whimpers of the sick and dying - hundreds of them - thrummed in your ears. Doctors that proffered the hope of extended life - of more time - fragile conjunctures they couldn't guarantee. Eyes that smiled with mouths that grimaced beneath masks.

It was all a lie.

Your hands clenched into fists.

"Hey, hey…" Kol's soft voice was there at your ear in a millisecond. His right hand covered yours, squeezing comfortingly while his other combed expertly through your hair. "Don't get upset. It's alright, he's doing just fine. No need to get worked up, darling. You're alright."

You'd ranted to him about this before. A deep-rooted hatred for hypocrites and self-righteous insincerity was something you shared, though not quite in all the same ways. He'd found your distaste for hospitals funny then - not here though, not now.

You nodded - a hollow gesture just like this hollow pantheon of medicine. Telling yourself that he would be fine felt like a lie. Not that Kol would ever lie to you, not intentionally. He was generally the more optimistic one, though.

It wasn't a lie itself that you hated. (After all, some lies are necessary; like the one you found yourself tangled in.) Rather, it was the concept of pointless lies that you abhorred. Deceit without true purpose irked you. Why couldn't people just say what they meant - what they knew to be true? Kol was only trying to make you feel better and you understood that, but you didn't want empty comfort.

You didn't want to feel peaceful now - happy, hopeful - if you were just going to be sad later.

What was the point in feeling good now, if you were only going to feel sad later?

Kol had told you what despair was. You didn't want to feel that again.

But that wasn't up to you. Fate's cruel strings lay in the hands of those doctors in the room before you, carving up your best friend in an attempt to save his life.

From where you sat, nestled firmly in Kol's lap, you could hear the doctors working on Jeremy. The prognosis wasn't good. Yet, the boy in whose arms you rested still offered you hope.

"I'm not sure how much longer I can stay here with you," He murmured, pressing a sweet kiss to your temple. It took all the strength you had to nod again, trying to hold it together, but the rest of your body betrayed you. Your trembling hands constricted, nails digging into his skin. Kol just held you tighter. "I know, I know. I'm pathetic, but all the free food around here is getting to me, love," He tried to joke.

Curiously, you found yourself wroth with him all of a sudden. Why couldn't he just ignore it? Why couldn't he just focus? Keeping the hunger in check really wasn't that hard. Why did he struggle so badly?

Why did he want to leave you when you needed him most? Why did everyone always leave you?

"Darling, please say something."

You hadn't said a word since the doors to the operating room closed. That was three hours ago. So what?

You looked up at him, eyes empty.

"Are you leaving me too?" You wondered. Your tone wasn't aggressive or snide, though for anyone else it would have been.

Kol's chocolate eyes traded worry for anguish, but the pain in them wasn't for himself. Tangling his fingers in your hair, he leaned in and pressed his lips to yours - warm and soft but absent of the usual fluid heat his kisses sent dripping down your spine. Inside, you just felt cold.

"No, Y/N," The boy promised. "I'm not leaving you. Not now - not ever." He drew you closer, tucking your head under his chin. He swayed back and forth slightly - no one had ever held you with such care. "Though I may not always be by your side every moment of every day, I will be here when you need me. I'm not going to leave you and neither will Jeremy."

"Don't pretend to care about him," You sighed bitterly.

"Oh, I don't." Kol hummed. "But you do and the last thing I want is to see you hurting. That's how it is when you love someone."

You huffed. "Sounds annoying."

"Not when it's you."

"That's nice."

He shrugged. "You could use a little nice."

"Who are you and what have you done with Kol Mikaelson?" A smirk tugged at your lips, though you didn't quite permit it. Your mouth had always run faster than your head anyway so there was no real need to end that tradition.

He laughed and you felt that boy's teeth nip a little at your ear. "Oh, now that was uncalled for."

You hummed, but couldn't find it within yourself to keep teasing. Kol pressed another kiss to your hair and the two of you just sat quietly for a moment.

"How do you know he's gonna make it?" You asked, pursing your lips to keep them from trembling.

Kol shook his head softly. "I don't," He admitted. He took a deep breath and continued, sounding pensive. "That's the problem with the world today, I think. Everyone, everywhere… as a people, you've all lost faith." The boy tugged at a lock of your hair, twirling it around and around his finger. "And in that loss, you know longer know what you can trust."

"Trust?" You scoffed. "Trust who? Those doctors in there? My only friend's lungs are impaled on his ribcage. What can they really do besides make sure he dies a little less dead?"

That sweet boy pulled away from you, just enough to look into your eyes as he lifted your chin with his finger.

"Trust Jeremy, Y/N - trust your friend. Trust that he loves you, despite his faults and misgivings, and trust that he's fighting for life at this very moment."

Your words came out quite broken and you knew you must be crying. "And if that's not enough?"

"Then trust me," He said. "Trust that I'll protect you when things go wrong - from fate and from yourself."

You nodded and this time, it wasn't so empty.

"Alright," You said, curling up in his lap a little more. "Yeah, I think I can do that."

"I know you can," He said. You turned your gaze toward the doors of the operating room once more.

"He can never find out what we did." Your voice was spider silk - thinner than a hair, yet pound for pound stronger than steel. Kol nodded, pressing a kiss to your shoulder.

"And he never will."

***

Niklaus Mikaelson was, by no means, an expert in all things magical. (No, that title fell to his little brother - a terrifying thought, truly. Maddening that fact was, every time he permitted himself to dwell on it for any length of time.) However, he supposed that his status as an original vampire - hybrid actually, to be more precise, but that was irrelevant at the moment - ought to make him the local authority on the subject of compulsion, or more prudently, the compulsion of other vampires.

Damon Salvatore, on the other hand, was an unsavory lad in the purest definition of the locution. Strong-willed, and pig-headed, he reminded Klaus somewhat of a coyote - that is, if a coyote could be driven by spite. Thus the possibility seemed extremely remote that one such as Damon Salvatore would take well to compulsion. Any action taken by him, if not of his own willful volition, even if he weren't aware of it, would be made obvious to others by his subconscious mind in an attempt to spite whoever had compelled him. In other words, the man was just too damn stubborn for mind control to work properly.

"So?" The irritating Bennet witch demanded as Klaus strolled leisurely from the cramped and filthy confines of the Salvatore's basement. Honestly, he was no clean freak, but he had heard of this brilliant invention called a mop. "What's the verdict?"

"I'm afraid I have to diagnose your friend with a terminal case of stupidity," The hybrid said, smirking amusedly. His eyes flicked briefly around the room, scanning for any sign of a trap. He found none, but that only served to heighten his suspicion. Legend hadn't deemed him a paranoid genius for nothing.

The young girl didn't seem to find his jest humorous. Her eyes narrowed, glowering at him the same way her ancestors used to.

"Has he been compelled or not?" She pressed, teeth grinding.

All pretenses of mirth dropped from Klaus' face. "As best I can tell, no," He answered grimly. "I'm afraid his actions… unexpected and jarring as they may be, are entirely his own."

"What?" The doppelganger gasped. "That-that can't be right! Kol - your brother must have compelled him. I'm sure of it!"

The hybrid's eyes flicked in her direction. Behind her - silent and stoic as a mountain with impeccable hair - stood the younger Salvatore brother. Regrettable it was, Klaus thought, that he'd resigned to being so boring. Stefan's expression decided to take a respite from brooding long enough to avow contemplation.

"Your accusations - while just and reasonable - don't particularly matter, love," Klaus said with a slight shrug. "He hasn't been compelled, or if he has, then he's under the most complex and thorough compulsion I've ever encountered."

"But how do you know it wasn't your brother who did it?" Asked a particularly delightful blonde, standing in the furthest corner of the room from him. He had to wonder if she did that on purpose.

"Well, to put it quite simply, Caroline -" He couldn't help but smile when he spoke to her. "- I know my brother's handywork, and this is not it. Comparing the two would be like comparing a sledgehammer to a feather pillow, love. Kol is far too sloppy for this to be his doing."

That last statement in particular wasn't entirely true. Yes, his brother could be careless, but when given proper incentive, he could be every bit as wily and conniving as the woman that created them - if not doubly so. He could outwit the furtive predator he was so often compared to in legend. There was a reason that boy was cited as the worst of the worst - the wildest of the Mikaelson clan. There was a reason Klaus had sooner chosen to ambush and incapacitate his brother rather than risk outright conflict with him. It was intellect that made his brother so deeply formidable; a vast intellect behind a careless facade and he wielded it like a surgeon's instrument. Given any time to think - a second, a heartbeat - Kol would always win.

He only had one true weakness, one Klaus had so often employed. Kol was a whimsical being - easily and often distracted by every fleeting impulse. Tasks or threats to be handled needed to be clear-cut and direct, clearly defined, and very, very real in order for Kol to handle them. Had Klaus and his family been born in the current century, his little brother would be the kind of boy who puts off writing an essay or studying for a test until the night before it's due. The type to do the homework as the professor is collecting it and still get an A.

So it wasn't that Kol couldn't have compelled Damon - he was most certainly capable of the methodical complexity required - it just didn't seem like his style.

What was infinitely more likely, and infinitely more troubling, Klaus thought, was the possibility that Kol had quite simply convinced Damon of the danger one very young hunter posed to the ever-precious Miss. Gilbert. Wily Fox was an apt moniker, indeed; even as a child, the former witch had always been so... gifted with persuasion. If not for Rebekah's loud and loyal heart, the hybrid was positive Kol would have turned their little sister against him eventually.

Thus, if Damon Salvatore was a coyote - a lone, fickle scavenger - then Klaus doubted his brother would have to work hard to sway his judgment. There was something honest about him, something raw, vicious, and candid, that belied his devious ways; it was something Klaus himself could never seem to match. Trepidation is an excellent motivator and Kol certainly had a knack for ghost stories; yet, his stories in particular had long since possessed quite the kicker.

They were always, always true.

As a boy, Klaus remembered, Kol had once told villagers around the bonfire of a wraith he'd seen, wandering the woods roundabout the falls. No one believed him then either. On the following morn, that little dark-haired runt of a boy brought home the monster's corpse.

(So, truthfully, Klaus knew he should be on his brother's side this time. However, doing so would conflict with his purposes and the hybrid had never been one to deny himself anything. Especially not something he'd been pursuing for a millennium.)

Damon's actions spoke more to paranoia than undue influence. Paranoia was something Klaus knew intimately. Paranoia cannot be abated.

A dishearteningly sober voice tore the hybrid from his spiraling reverie.

"Call him," Stefan said. Klaus lifted a brow. Had he not given his conclusion? Were they not done here?

"Pardon?"

"Call him," The stern teenager repeated. "Call your brother and demand he tell you the truth."

Klaus narrowed his eyes and began to pace, hands clasped behind his back - it helped him think.

The other blonde in the room - Rebekah had been henceforth preoccupied with sculpting her nails - hummed. A not-quite-pleasant tone that drew close to amusement with a veiled dose of ire. "Yes, please call him, Nik. Because we all know how demanding things of Kol tends to be a spectacularly pleasant experience."

The hybrid grimaced. She had a point there.

"How do you know he won't just lie?" Bonnie asked, hostility more than prevalent in her tone.

"He won't," Klaus conceded, almost to himself.

"How do you know?" Elena pressed.

Within a blink, he had that pesky doppelganger by the throat, lifting her into the air. "You impugn my word?" He asked pleasantly.

She didn't struggle. The girl just glared. "Routinely."

A smirk tugged at his lips and he let her go, returning to his pacing. She coughed and staggered but her pride demanded that she remain upright. That one was becoming more and more like dear Katarina every day. Across the room, Rebekah sighed, flopping onto a sofa the same way she did everything - dramatically. She shaded her eyes with her arm as though she had an agonizing headache, though such pains were physically impossible for the undead to contract.

"Kol never lies once called out on the act," She declared with finality. "He's been that way since we were children. For all his scheming, the maniac's a bloody awful liar." Klaus huffed a laugh. That bit was true. "Just call him, Nik. I want to get this over with."

Klaus flashed her a scathing look, but she was - as per bloody usual - unfortunately right. He pulled out his phone and dialed Kol's number. He just hoped his little brother remembered how to operate the device. He probably would - Kol remembered everything.

The phone rang once.

"Put it on speaker," Caroline said, crossing her arms as each of his enemies drew a step closer. He sighed but did as requested.

The phone rang twice and then three times. Only halfway through the fourth ring did the Wily Fox pick up.

"Well, well, well..." His little brother drawled, blithe and cavalier as always. "I was wondering how long it would take for you to come barking up the wrong tree. Looks like I've lost a bet." He laughed and it was the cold, empty laugh he'd picked up since touring Africa.

Klaus pointedly ignored the dog pun and instead put on a fake smile. "Well, you know how it is. One does what one must when one's doppelganger comes groveling to one's knees, alarmed by her boyfriend's spontaneously homicidal behavior, and… well, whenever I think of manslaughter I think of you, Kol."

"Really?" The voice on the phone gibed. "That's funny because - and I swear it's like magic - but you open your mouth, and my mind drifts to fratricide... and daggers."

Another jab which Klaus ignored.

"You seem to have made a mess, little brother," He said.

"Have I? Oh, dear... that must be inconvenient." Klaus could practically hear him grinning. "Say, how is - oh, what's his name? - Damien, was it? Has one of Elena's worshipers managed to scrape his intestines back together or are they permanently smeared into the asphalt?"

Out of sheer curiosity, Klaus spared Elena a glance. She looked positively murderous.

"I'm afraid he's going to be just fine."

"That's a shame." Kol hummed.

"It is," He agreed. "However, it so happens that Salvatore's intestines are not the mess I'm referring to."

The boy gasped, mockingly. "No shit?"

"No," Klaus said, voice clipped. "I'll make this simple for you, Kol. Did you or did you not compel Damon Salvatore to hunt and/or kill Jeremy Gilbert?"

That cold, hyena laugh came again. There was something distinctly raw to it this time, something harsh and strained yet oddly broken; like a wounded animal rather than a rabid one. When he spoke, however, there was nothing in his words save for wrath.

"You would love that wouldn't you?" Kol spat. "Yet another problem you can solve with a dagger - quick and tidy. You're such a hypocrite! You and Elijah!" His voice quieted and warped into something acidic disguised as honey and song. "And even you, my little sister." The blonde on the couch froze and the color drained from her face. There was fear in her eyes as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Hello, Rebekah!" Kol practically sang. "I could hear your fingernails drumming, you do that when you're nervous."

"And why exactly would I be intimidated by you?" Bekah did an excellent impression of boredom but her wide, shaken eyes met Klaus' own in search of reassurance.

"Oh, sweetheart. Don't think for a second that I don't know what you did in nineteen-fourteen." From carefree and playful to downright vicious, his tone turned on a dime. "You ratted on me, Bex."

Rebekah shot to her feet, fists clenched. "So what, Kol? You're going to take away my only chance at happiness because I told on you?"

"No," Kol snapped. "I am going to save your life because I love you! This cure you think you understand is not your chance at happiness. After all these years, can't you see it? Have you not figured it out? The three of you keep lying to yourselves whilst punishing me for facing the truth.

"WE ARE ALL OF US TRAPPED, REBEKAH! This existence our mother bound us to is a trap and we cannot get out! WE ARE NEVER GETTING OUT! You and Nik can scream and cry and rattle the bars all you wish but none of us are ever going to escape lest we meet a very permanent end."

"You don't know that!" Their sister cried, tears beginning to verge in her eyes.

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't! Silas isn't even real!"

"Bloody hell, Rebekah! Why won't you see it? WHY WON'T ANY OF YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME?!" There was desperation in that question and Klaus could only pretend he hadn't heard it.

"BECAUSE YOU'RE WRONG!" Rebekah was weeping now. "You're wrong and you're just angry with yourself because we have a chance at getting back what we lost and you're too scared to take it!"

"Do you think I haven't tried?" Kol seethed, voice thick with more pain than any of them could say. "I've searched a thousand years for such a miracle while you did nothing but mourn your own loss. Don't you dare call me a coward for facing the truth! We died, Bex. We died and we're staying dead. Silas or no - this 'cure' is not the answer."

A tense silence hung in the air and Klaus had to break it. He had to because if he didn't then he would admit that his little brother was right.

"You didn't answer the question, Kol," He said cooly, his tone a warning.

"You don't believe me." His little brother gave a bitter, miserable laugh. "Can't say I hoped you would. Well, in that case, I don't suppose I can express just how much it thrills me to report that this particular mess won't be so easily locked away in a casket. I merely tried to convince Damon to examine his priorities - it's not my fault he's been gunning for an excuse to kill the kid."

Elena, trembling with a lover's fury, lost her patience. "YOU LIAR!" She screamed. "You horrid filthy liar!"

"Are those the best insults you've got, love? I'm afraid I've known nuns who've called me worse," Kol jeered. He was back to sounding listless. In the corner, Caroline opened her mouth as if to question, but thought better of it. Klaus smirked at her and shrugged, nodding. She seemed vaguely disturbed by that knowledge.

Elena, in a startling show of nerve, stormed over to where Klaus stood and snatched the phone from his hands. "Tell me where my brother is, you son of a bitch," She growled.

The boy on the other end hissed. "Oh, no I'm afraid I can't do that. Telling you would defeat the whole 'Get-Jeremy-the-Hell-Out-of-Dodge' plan which would be going spectacularly had your boyfriend not broken half of the kid's ribs."

Elena paled. "Where is he? What did you do to him?"

"Are you deaf?" Kol sneered. "As I said, the only person with intentions to cause your brother harm is Damon. I intend to cure him... as soon as he wakes up. Then I'll be more than glad to bring him right back home - that is, if he ever wants to see any of you again. Now, this has all been a thoroughly unpleasant and pointless experience, so if that's all then I'll be hanging up now. Thanks for nothing, brother." There was a short pause and Klaus could have a sword he heard someone speaking on the other end - a girl. Kol's voice returned for one short statement. "Oh, and Stefan? Y/N says hi."

Then he hung up.

***

Kol got off the phone and sighed, shoulders hunched as though they carried the burden of Atlas. He turned to you, but didn't meet your gaze. His eyes were rimmed with red. You didn't know what to say. You were still so new to the whole feelings thing and you didn't want to mess it up, but you couldn't just abandon him either.

Jeremy was alright now. He was stable and healing quicker than should be possible. He'd been in and out of consciousness for the past few hours since, sleeping in the second bedroom of the hotel you were currently hiding out in. He was fine now and you could think.

Even when you were so wrapped up in your own head - hardly able to think through everything you were feeling - Kol had been there. He had stayed with you at the hospital through it all and he had struggled to do so; curbing his appetite pained him, you knew, but he'd stayed anyway. He had stayed because you needed him and you were okay now, but he wasn't. The least you could do was return the favor.

"Are you alright?" You asked. It was pathetic but you didn't know what else to do. "That sounded… heavy."

Kol bit his lip, trying so hard to smile for you. He didn't want to burden you with his internal struggle when you already had one of your own. But he had been the one to explain to you what love really was. What your cruel mother had led you to believe for so many years was wrong.

Love is not about solving problems. Love is not defined by whether or not one party can "fix" the other. Love didn't mean perfection. It wasn't like that at all.

Love is more like sharing an umbrella. It wasn't necessarily about being shielded from the rain and it didn't matter why one person didn't have an umbrella of their own. What mattered was that the other party was willing to share.

Love is like buying an ice cream cone for someone who's upset. Because sure, it doesn't fix the problem, but perhaps it could warm their heart for a moment. And it didn't matter if the wrong flavor was chosen because the simple existence of that ice cream cone is enough to prove that someone else cares.

Love is like helping someone learn to skate. Picking them back up every time they fall even if that means being pulled down with them sometimes. It means taking a moment to lay on the floor and laugh with them while other people - sometimes many, many other people, who always manage to seem so graceful - move on and around and past you. What matters is working together with that person to stand up and keep going, even if it's only to fall right back down mere seconds later.

Love is like taking a person to Niagara Falls, even though you'd already been. Love is doing things for someone even when they don't ask. Love is like a person jumping into a puddle of mud because a taxi just came by and splashed some all over you. Love is like hate-watching a movie with someone just to listen to them rant about it.

Love wasn't about feeling happy all the time. Sometimes it was just about being sad at the same time.

Love was what you had with Kol.

So when he flashed that strained smile and said - "I'm fine." - you just shook your head.

"No, you're not."

He laughed, bitter and broken. Then he raced across the room and threw his arms around you and you caught him. He didn't fall apart though, because this wasn't the first time and he was used to this same old story even though he should never have needed to be.

"They don't listen," He hissed painfully, face buried in your neck.

Well… you knew what that was like.

"No." You shook your head. "They don't."

"They would rather cling to their delusions than just trust me."

"People don't trust the things they'd rather fear," You said, combing your fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry fate forged you this way."

That boy clung to you tighter, grasping handfuls of your shirt. "I suppose that makes us kindred souls, you and I," He muttered. There was acceptance in his voice now. "Made to be hated. Given claws and teeth and punished for them."

You turned your head and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Well, if that's the case, then I'm glad I became who I am."

"Why?" He asked.

"So you wouldn't always be alone," You decided. "I'm grateful to everything that made me, if all of it was what led me to you."

Kol sighed and shook his head. "Darling, I'm not worth everything that happened to you."

"Yes, you are." Your tone didn't leave room for any further protests on his part, so the two of you simply held each other for a while. He'd been right in what he'd said before. It wasn't annoying - not when it was him.

Once he could breathe a little easier, Kol slid his hands to your thighs and hoisted you up, prompting you to hook your legs around his waist. He walked over to the hotel couch and laid you down, quickly positioning himself over you. Gazing down at you, he just smiled and pushed a lock of hair out of your face. Kol leaned down and met your lips. It was a slow, meaningful kiss and you smiled into it as he let himself unwind, melting against you with a sweetness he showed no one else. Then he stilled. When he pulled away, there was something odd in his eyes. You thought it looked a little bit like dread but there was more to it. He opened his mouth, blinking rapidly and you caught sight of an acute pain that you’d never seen in him before.

“Kol?” You frowned.

“I’ve doomed you,” He said quietly, almost to himself. “Bloody hell, darling… I-I’ve just killed you.”

His words left you speechless. Guilt wasn’t an emotion you associated with him.

“What are you-”

“It’s Klaus, don’t you understand?” Kol moved off of you and stood, tearing his hands through his hair. “We took the cure from him. Darling, my brother is never going to stop hunting me for what we’ve done and now I’ve just implicated you!”

You blinked, raising a brow. “Pretty sure I was implicated from day one…”

“No! No, you weren’t. Only to Elena’s little cult, not to my siblings.” His gestures grew wilder as he paced, hands shaking, breathing erratic. “You were there, but you were nothing. You weren’t important-”

“Ouch.”

“No, don’t you see, love? To them, you-you were just an accessory.”

“I remember Rebekah being very aware that t’was I who stole the twig of destiny,” You pointed out.

“But you stole it for me,” He maintained. “She didn’t know who you are, what you’re capable of. Neither did my brother but now, with all of them working together…” His voice trailed off and he stopped pacing. His eyes met yours dejectedly, waiting for you to put it together.

You nodded, pursing your lips. “Now, Mystic Squad Goals is gonna tattle on me,” You finished. He was right. You’d had a way out before, but that was gone now. “I’m just as guilty as you are.”

Kol sighed and shook his head. Shame rolled off him in waves. “I’m such an idiot.” He cursed quietly. “This is exactly what you wanted to avoid. If I had just taken a moment to think, this never would have happened. Y/N, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not.”

His head shot up. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not sorry.” You shrugged. Something inside you crumpled, yet you managed to smile. “Life on the run doesn’t sound so bad. I mean, there’s still a lot of stuff I think I wanna see. A-and we can go anywhere, right?” Your laugh wasn’t entirely real but it wasn’t completely fake either. Kol moved to sit beside you with a sigh.

"Darling, you understand what this means, don’t you?” Kol asked softly, looking at you through the corner of his eyes. You bit down on your lip, nodding though your eyes stung. “If Jeremy chooses to go back…” He hesitated.

“I’ll never see him again,” You whispered.

He touched your arm, ever so gently. “And you’re ready for that?” He asked. “To say goodbye?”

You wiped your eyes and sniffed. This wasn’t the paralyzing pain you’d felt a few days before. It hurt, yes. But with that pain came the realization that you’d known this was coming. You’d always known, even before vampires came back to Mystic Falls. You’d known that life is a bittersweet thing. Childhood friendships are great but they’re just that. People grow up and grow apart because friends… well, friends aren’t really meant to last forever. They come and go. They live their lives, move away, fall in love, and have a family - or maybe they don’t. Maybe they get in a car crash and die early, or maybe they spend their life traveling with their dog. Point is, they leave and most people don’t know which goodbye will be their last.

You would miss Jeremy, of course. But you could live on without him. Just so long as you knew he’d be okay.

Because goodbye doesn't mean the end - not completely - and goodbye can't erase all the happiness that came before it; though, isn't it a miracle that any of it happened at all? Goodbye just means leaving and leaving, you’d discovered, isn’t always a bad thing. Leaving means moving on - finding something new.

“You know, I think I am?” You smiled faintly. “I wasn’t before, because he wasn’t okay. I didn’t want to fail him. But we’re doing something good, I think, and he’ll be better off.” Huffing a laugh, you took Kol’s hand and met his eyes, looking at the boy you had left your old life for.

“So, no. I’m not sorry, Kol.” You decided. “I’d do it all again in a heartbeat as long as I get to stay with you.”

The smile that broke out across that boy’s lips could have outshone the sun as he pulled your hand to his mouth and left a soft kiss on your knuckles.

“How did I get so lucky?” He wondered. You bit your lip against a cheezy grin and looked at the floor, feeling your cheeks warm. You still couldn’t help it. After all, Kol was the first person to describe your presence as lucky.

“Save that for when your brother decides not to impale you on a tree,” You said nudging his arm.

“Ah! That would be the miracle, wouldn’t it?” He said. You hummed in response, nodding. A beat passed between the two of you in silence. Then, you remembered.

“Hey, we gotta hide the Kill-Me-Stick.”

Tagging: @yn-ymn-yln@r13mar@rootbeerfaygo@iiskittles16ii@fandomrulesall-blog@dark-night-sky-99@railingsofsorrow@apolloroid@thatweirdoleigh@misswe03@eat-cake@felinegrate@trikigirl271@cute-freak27@fayeatheart@archangelslollipop @aonungs-tsahik @sleepneverheardofher @space-princess-charming@heartbreakgrill@whatsupb18 @enchantedlandcoffee @trikigirl271 @kleinegamerin Really sorry if I missed anyone! If you requested to be on the taglist, just DM me and I'll fix it!

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theodoresgirl · 9 months

Text

Welcome to my Master List Link 2 Pinned/Intro

What I Write - GirlxGuy sfw/NSFW

What I will try to Write for you - GuyxGuy sfw/NSFW GirlxGirl sfw

What i can't write - GirlxGirl NSFW

I tend to write from a female or gender neutral POV unless its stated otherwise. Below is a list and links to my already written story's, and below that is lists and or ideas of who I write for.

Flynn Rider / Eugene Fitzherbert

Secret Romance - Sleepy!Eugene x F!Reader Villagers AU / Secret Romance

Moon Light - Eugene x Fem!Reader Part 2 , Villagers AU / Secret Romance

Bucky Barnes

Love Triangle - You and Bucky have a 6 year old daughter, But your love didn’t really work out on both ends.

Killian Jones / Captain Hook

Tavern Waitress - Killian Jones x Fem!Tavern worker!Reader / Killian and his crew come into your fathers tavern.

Lady Edith - Killian Jones x Snows!Daughter!Reader + 3 year old daughter

Odd Cat - Killian Jones x Cheshire Cat!Reader / Killian meets the Cheshire cat and he's completely in love with her strange personality and creepy appearance.

Just Shut Up - Killian Jones x Cheshire Cat!Reader / Killian and Cheshire meet again in story-broke after kitty falls into a body of water.

Theodore Nott

Burn - Theodore Nott x Female!Reader Hamiliton au 🙏🏻 / Reader finds out about Theodores affair he made public.

WIP’s

Tangled

Flynn Rider/Eugene Fitzherbert Rapunzel Mother Gothel

The Little Mermaid

Ariel Eric ( 1989 & Live Action ) Possibly Ariel's Sisters

Frozen

Anna Elsa Kristoff Hans

Beauty and The Beast

Belle Beast Gaston

Once Upon a Time

Killian Jones

The Walking Dead

Daryl Dixon

Golden Trio era

Draco Malfoy Ron Weasley Fred & George Weasley Hermione Granger

*FAN CASTS* Matheo Riddle Theodore Nott

The Marauders era

Regulus Black

Marvel

Bucky Barnes Steve Rogers Natasha Romanoff Peter Parker/Tom Tony Stark Loki Laufeyson Thor Odinson

Scooby Doo

Shaggy Rogers Fred Jones Velma Dinkley Daphne Blake

Twilight

Jacob Black

The Vampire Diaries

Damon Salvatore Bonnie Bennett Jeremy Gilbert

NCIS

Jethero Gibbs

Law & Order: SVU

Elliot Stabler Dominick Carisi Rafael Barba Nick Amaro Odafin Tutuola

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid Derek Morgan Aaron Hotchner

My Hero Academia

Dabi Katsuki Bakugou

Dividers, repost divider By saradika

Word Dividers by CafeKitsune

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anonair · 3 months

Note

I wanna request a jeremy gilbert x reader where reader is damon and stefans younger sister. And how they find out about jeremy and her.

OH THIS SOUNDS GOOOOD! give me some times & i'll post it. Thinking of coming back to posting on here and wattpad. <3

#fanfiction #the vampire diaries #the vampire diaries imagine #tvd fandom #tvd fanfiction #the vampire diaries fanfiction #drabble prompt #drabble challenge

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fandoms--fluff · 11 months

Text

Just Like Old Times

Gilbert sister reader x Jeremy Gilbert

summary: When Jeremy has a nightmare, he comes to you, his oldest sister

Warnings: mentions of death,

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeremy gasped, sweat dripping down his face as he tried to control his breathing. He was having a nightmare of watching Anna die in his arms over and over.

Now that may have not been what really happened, but it wasn’t any different to him. She died not even an hour after the Gilbert device knocked her out in the bathroom at the Mystic Grill, into his arms. He had to watch as the members of the founders council dragged her away, he was helpless and couldn’t do anything about it.

His mind hasn’t let go of how horrible her death was. Every night he’s been playged with a nightmare with her dying, some nights were worse than others, like this one.

This one wasn't just Anna, it was also his mom and dad, and aunt Jenna (who he secretly stilled called 'Auntie Jenna' when it was just the two of them), and Vicki. Everyone he's lost all just squished into one torture of a nightmare.

He brought up a shaky hand to his face, moving his hair out of his face, before kicking all the covers off. He tried wiping the tears off his face, but they just kept coming so he gave up on that.

Thinking back to the past, he remembered how every time he'd have a bad dream he'd always go to his big sister. She held him and comforted him until he fell back asleep. But the only difference now is that he's no longer eleven, he's fifteen.

The memories just won't leave his head so from the spurt of the moment, he slowly got out of his bed and walked towards his closed door. As quiet as he could, he turned the knob and opened the door, cursing the door when it let out a tiny squeak in his head.

He quietly walked across the hall to your room where there's a dim light coming from under the door, telling Jeremy you're still awake.

Before calling his decision off, he turned the doorknob and walked a couple steps into your room.

You looked up from where you were sitting on your bed reading, hearing someone coming into your room.

"Hey Jer, - what happened?" You set the book aside and stood up when you saw the tear streaks on his face.

"N-nothing" he stuttered out, not knowing how to tell you he had a nightmare like a little kid.

You raised an eyebrow, not believing your little brother. Reaching over, you grasped his arm and gently pulled him down so both of you were sitting across from each other on the bed.

“You can tell me anything, you know that right?” you ask in a soft tone.

“Mhm”, he nods his head.

“Why don’t you explain to me what happened, and I can help you, there’s got to be a reason why you chose to come to me instead of staying where you were” You told him.

After a moment of silence from the fifteen year old, he sighed and started to explain his nightmare to you.

By the end of his long explanation, telling you how horrible he felt on the inside and the pain won’t go away, he started to cry again. He misses Anna and Vicky, and most importantly, his aunt and parents.

“Oh, sweetie I’m so sorry you feel this way, you should’ve come to me sooner, that way you wouldn’t have to suffer alone” you said as you pulled him into your arms.

He immediately nuzzled his face into the crook of your neck, basking in the touch and comfort you’re giving him. You wrapped your arms around his shaking frame and brought a hand up to the back of his head while leaning back on the headboard.

“That’s it, let it out, it’s going to be okay, I promise” you whispered and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

You hold your little brother close as his crying starts to stiffle. Soon following, you feel Jeremy slacken his grip as he drifted off to sleep.

Softly smiling, you remember how when Jeremy was younger he'd also come to you when he had a nightmare and after you made him feel better, he'd always fall asleep, cuddling into you. And it seems it hasn't changed, as Jeremy is still nuzzled into your neck.

You reached over and pulled your comforter and blanket over you both before turning off your lamp on the bedside table.

As you lay there, you started to rub circles on Jeremy's back, gently not wanting him to wake.

#jeremy gilbert #jeremy gilbert x reader #jeremy gilbert x sister reader #gilbert reader #nightmare #jeremy gilbert comfort #cuddling #fluff #cute #thevampirediaries #the vampire diaries #comfort

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voidpetrova · 9 months

Text

possessive — jeremy gilbert x reader

☄. *. ⋆

content warnings and genre: possessiveness, p in v sex, dumbification, slut-shaming, aggressive sex — smut

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

synopsis: jeremy's always been an angry guy, but his possessive side only came around when you were in the question

✧.*

the flickering candlelight danced across the elegant walls of the salvatore boarding house, setting an enchanting ambiance for the night's festivities. laughter and music intertwined as guests mingled, their conversations filling the air. among them, you stood as the center of attention, a radiant presence that drew everyone's gaze. the occasion was one of those rare mystic falls gatherings, and you had arrived with your boyfriend, jeremy hilbert, by your side. the two of you shared a connection that transcended the ordinary, a bond strengthened by shared experiences and the supernatural world that often encroached upon mystic falls. as you navigated through the crowd, your fingers entwined with jeremy's, you couldn't help but feel the weight of the curious stares directed your way.

soft strains of music cascaded through the room, lending an ethereal quality to the atmosphere. the flicker of candles cast a warm glow, illuminating the ornate decorations that adorned the boarding house. your heart raced as you felt jeremy's reassuring grip on your hand, his presence a comforting anchor amidst the sea of faces. the two of you exchanged knowing glances, a silent reminder of the unspoken connection that bound you together.

as the evening wore on, your conversations with various guests flowed like a river, ranging from mundane pleasantries to intriguing anecdotes about life in mystic falls. it seemed as though the entire town had converged under one roof, sharing laughter and tales in an attempt to momentarily forget the shadows that loomed on the outskirts of their reality. amidst the chatter, your eyes occasionally met jeremy's, each exchange an affirmation of the unbreakable bond that had brought you here.

however, the tranquility of the evening was destined to be disrupted. a figure emerged from the crowd, a familiar face that stirred a mixture of emotions within you. matt donovan, his dark hair tousled and a mischievous glint in his eyes, approached with a swagger that exuded confidence. his gaze lingered on you, and a faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. jeremy's grip on your hand tightened subtly, a subtle indication of the tension that was building beneath the surface.

“hey, (y/n),” matt's voice was laced with charm, his eyes never leaving yours. “looking stunning as always.”

you offered a polite smile in response, keenly aware of jeremy's watchful gaze. the air between the three of you seemed to crackle with an unspoken challenge, an underlying current of rivalry that had existed since long before tonight's gathering.

jeremy's voice cut through the tension, his tone firm yet controlled. “matt.”

their gazes locked, a silent exchange of unspoken words that spoke volumes. the room around you seemed to fade away, leaving only the charged energy that surged between the two young men. it was a clash of pride, of emotions that ran deep, and an underlying possessiveness that had ignited the moment matt's eyes had settled on you.

matt's grin widened, undeterred by the palpable tension that hung in the air. he leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a low, suggestive murmur. “you know, you look absolutely stunning in that dress.”

before you could respond, jeremy's grip on your hand tightened further, his patience evidently wearing thin. “come on now, matt,” he taunted, his voice carrying a steely edge. “my sister didn't want you, what makes you think my girlfriend will?”

matt's amusement flickered, replaced by a flash of challenge. “i think getting both of them to scream my name would be an easy task.”

time seemed to slow as the situation spiraled further. the room seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the inevitable collision of emotions. in an instant, jeremy's restraint snapped like a taut wire, and his fist collided with matt's jaw in a burst of raw anger. the impact reverberated through the room, the sound of the blow momentarily drowning out the music and conversations.

gasps echoed in the wake of the punch, and suddenly all eyes were on the escalating confrontation. matt stumbled back, his expression a mix of surprise and indignation. a storm of emotions danced across jeremy's features—anger, frustration, and something deeper that he struggled to contain.

“'biting off more than you can chew,” jeremy's voice was tight, his words a thinly veiled warning.

the tension hung heavy in the air, as if the very room itself could barely contain the weight of the emotions that surged between the two young men. without another word, jeremy turned on his heel and stormed away, his exit marked by the clatter of a chair knocked over in his haste.

you didn't hesitate. the urgency of the situation propelled you into action, your steps quick as you followed his retreating form. you found him in a dimly lit corridor, his back against the wall, his breathing ragged and his fists clenched at his sides.

“jeremy,” you breathed his name softly, concern etching your voice.

he looked up, his stormy gaze meeting yours. in that moment, the pretense melted away, and you saw the vulnerability that lay beneath his tough exterior. without a word, you closed the distance between you, your hands lifting to cradle his face, fingers brushing against his cheek.

the silence between you was laden with unspoken emotions—the weight of the night's events, the simmering tension, and the undeniable connection that had drawn you together. without hesitation, his lips met yours, a kiss that spoke of desperation, longing, and the unspoken truth that had been hanging between you. the world seemed to fall away as the kiss deepened, the corridor fading into insignificance as your hearts beat in sync. In that stolen moment, you found solace in each other's arms, the chaos of the evening giving way to something infinitely more profound.

“just had to wear this, didn't you?” his tone was boiling with agitation, his touch just as aggressive. his lips grazed against your jawline, tongue pressing on the curve of it, right under your ear. “you like having everybody watch you? think about doing the things that only i get to do?” nobody could blame him, you really did look gorgeous tonight. your black, silky dress clung to your thighs, way above your knees. there was a cut in the valley of your cleavage, but the whole thing clung to every curve of your body.

you whimpered as his hot breath fanned your neck, goosebumps littering your skin at his possessive touch.

“i was hoping you'd notice,” you admitted breathlessly, your voice laced with a mixture of honesty and a playful hint of mischief. his agitation was palpable, his touch bordering on possessive, and it only ignited the fire that had been kindling within you since the moment you arrived at the party.

his lips continued their tantalizing journey, leaving a trail of searing kisses along your jawline. every brush of his tongue against your sensitive skin sent shivers down your spine, a delightful ache that only grew as his breath ghosted over the curve of your ear. your breath hitched, caught between the sensation of his lips and the sensation of his words.

the heat of his touch was electric, fingers gripping your hips with a fervor that left no room for uncertainty. his possessiveness was an unspoken promise that sent your heart racing, his actions speaking louder than any words could convey. and as his lips lingered just below your ear, your name left his lips in a whisper that was as much a plea as it was a command.

“jeremy,” you moaned softly, surrendering to the intoxicating mix of his touch and the overwhelming emotions that had taken hold. his name became a prayer on your lips, a name that held a promise of connection, desire, and an unspoken understanding that defied the chaos that surrounded you.

his lips found yours once more, a fervent kiss that captured the raw intensity of the moment. it was a collision of pent-up emotions, a meeting of lips that sought not only solace but also a connection that went beyond the surface. your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer as the kiss deepened, as if the world around you had fallen away, leaving only the two of you in a realm where everything else ceased to matter.

he wasted no time when it came to ridding himself of his dress pants, kicking them off right before his boxers followed. you watched in awe, wet lips parted as you tried to steady your breathing, as you watched the way his dick slapped against his stomach, hard and red—precum dripping down the head.

“normally, we'd take it slow,” he began as he spread your legs open with his bare knee. he couldn't wait, the adrenaline rush hadn't worn off, and it was mixing well with lust and desire. “but tonight, no. little attention whores like you don't deserve any mercy.”

you barely had time to react, no time to prep yourself for what was coming. for a split second, you could feel his thick head push apart your lips, loosening the beginning of your entrance. that bliss didn't last long, not before your pussy engulfed his entire dick whole. you both groaned at the same time, relishing in the way he fit you perfectly, in the way he split you open, in the way you swore you could see the outline of his dick in your stomach. it was all too much.

“look at you,” he cooed in a mocking tone, smiling devilishly at the way you clawed at his biceps, at the way you clenched around his length. “barely started and i've already fucked you stupid.”

you whimpered at his words, unable to deny at how wet they made you. his hand made its way around your neck, choking you roughly as he brought your face up to his, breath hot against your neck. “scream for me, doll. let them know who's slutting you out.”

you couldn't help but oblige, chanting his name as tears pooled in your eyes. his pace was rough and quick as he pounded into your tight hole, a contrast to how you usually made love. no, tonight, jeremy was riled up and furious. he was furious constantly, and you were his muse. his prodigy. nobody got him this way the way you did, it was amazing. he knew how to channel all of his anger—his dick began to quiver inside of you, brushing up against your sweet spot as you continued screaming his name. he loved knowing that just about everyone could hear you, matt included. it was enough to send you both over the edge.

you cum, unable to fight your urges. you cum hard and pretty, eyes shutting tight and gasping up into the dark, empty abyss above. you slowly come back to awareness with the sensation of jeremy's thumb, moist and glistenong from your body, sliding up your jaw and his hand snaking around the back of your nrck. he’s got one side of his face pressed against yours, gnawing carefully at the bottom of your ear with his teeth and still grinding into you, pushing you over the edge.

“oh doll, you needed that one,” he tells you right into your ear. “that was a good fucking one.”

#tvd #the vampire diaries #jeremy gilbert x reader #jeremy gilbert #jeremy gilbert smut #matt donovan #smut #x reader

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th1s1smyw0nd3rland · 2 years

Text

Vampires Dream Too (Part 3)

Sandman x TVD crossover

Morpheus x reader! Salvatore sister

Uses fem!Y/N and third person POV, minimal description of Y/N just cause she’s a Salvatore so she’s gonna look similar to Stefan and Damon

Word Count: 3472

prev part next part

(( inspired by a post by @kpopgirlbtssvt ))

Y/N’s eyes opened and she slowly sat up, her hand coming to her head as her dream replayed in her head. She wondered if what happened really, truly happened but with her lack of thirst, she found her question answered and her hand moved from her head to brush against her lips. The feeling of his blood flowing down her throat replayed in her head and her eyes closed as she remembered the taste so vividly. A slight flush was shown on her cheeks but she quickly waved it away, her eyebrows furrowing as Damon stormed into the room.

“Where is he?” He asked and she stood, her hand coming up to his arm but he brushed her away, his eyes searching the room.

“Who are you looking for, brother?” She asked, “Stefan?”

“Yes, Stefan! He’s not answering my calls,” Y/N patted her pockets for her phone, quickly picking it up from the table as she spotted it and she dialed Stefan’s number, her head tilting as it rang for a moment before going to voicemail. “Apparently he’s not answering you either. Fine. Time to check with Elena.” “Wait! I’m coming with!” Y/N called and she quickly grabbed her coat, looping her arms through the sleeves as she jogged to catch up with Damon. As the two made their way to Elena’s, Y/N asked Damon what was going on, her eyebrows furrowing as she realized how much she missed. According to her older brother, there was a mysterious vampire hunter around, which Y/N did happen to know about but decided not to share that with her brother, wondering if that was why Stefan was meeting with Klaus. When they arrived at the Gilbert residence, her eyes widened as Damon just walked in, leaving her to stand outside the doorway for she had not been invited in. Her hands leaned against each side of the doorframe, her mouth opening to call out to her brother but she rolled her eyes as he was already up the stairs, hearing him and Elena speaking. She looked around the part of the house she could see, sensing it out and she realized that Jeremy, the younger Gilbert wasn’t actually home so he wouldn’t even be able to give her permission to walk in. With a huff, she turned away and her eyes searched the neighborhood, the annoyance quickly growing as Damon and Elena spoke of their night out drinking but Y/N chose not to bother inserting herself into that situation. Last time I did, it literally killed me, she thought to herself and she contemplated leaving when the two barged out of the house.

“The hunter has hostages at the Grill,” Damon said to her quickly and she nodded, following behind as the two made their way to the grill, “And Stefan is playing sergeant.”

“What do you mean?” Y/N asked but before Damon could answer, her phone rang and she placed it to her ear once she saw Stefan’s name, “Stefan? What’s going on?”

“The hunter has Matt, Jeremy and April. I’ll meet you guys at Alaric’s apartment,” Stefan said before hanging up and Y/N stared at the screen for a moment before looking up at them.

“To Alaric’s apartment,” Y/N said and she gestured for Damon to lead them, making him roll his eyes before he started walking, “We need a game plan, brother.”

“Oh, so you take his side now?”

“What is with you two and sides? Are the hostages not friends of yours? One of them being Elena’s brother? Sure, Jeremy can come back with the ring but what of Matt and this April? You may not care, Damon but are they not important to Elena?” Damon’s eyes narrowed at his little sister’s words before looking at Elena, who gave him a look that basically agreed with everything Y/N had said.

“Whatever,” Damon muttered after a moment and Y/N did a walk of the building that stood at the perfect spot to look at Mystic Grill, Damon and Elena going up to the apartment. The youngest Salvatore moved ever so quietly around the area, not wanting to get too close to the Grill but she explained that no one besides them and their friends knew she was here, so the hunter wouldn’t be looking for her. She mainly wanted to gauge any traps the hunter might have placed outside, not heading to the apartment until she was sure there were none. When she walked up the stairs and looked into the open doorway, her eyes widened as she saw Stefan gently laying Damon onto the couch.

“What the Hell did you do??” Y/N cried, pushing Stefan slightly as she knelt next to Damon and she looked at him, her eyebrows furrowed.

“I can’t trust him to do what I need him to do, Y/N. He will wake up after a while, hopefully when Klaus’s hybrid gets Connor.”

“Your way? You can’t trust him when he was the one struck by you?”

“Please, Y/N. I am only asking for you and Elena to trust me,” Stefan said, looking into her eyes and she searched his, finding none of the answers she was searching for. The only thing she was sure of was that he was hiding something. She narrowed her eyes but spoke nothing more, turning away as she knelt back by Damon.

“Do as you wish, brother,” Y/N muttered and Stefan sighed before he left, heading to Mystic Grill. Elena stayed for a moment, Y/N sensing her presence behind her and she let out a sigh after a while, looking over her shoulder. “You’re not going to disobey Stefan and follow him?” Y/N asked simply and Elena seemed to consider her options before taking a step towards her.

“Why do you hate me?” she asked and Y/N scoffed, shaking her head as she stood up, turning towards the doppleganger. “Is that funny to you?”

“Hate you?” Y/N asked, “I know nothing of you, Elena. There is nothing for me to like or hate. All I know is that, even if Stefan and Damon try to kid themselves by saying it’s different, I see 1864, the year Katarina Petrova came and ruined my life. Sure, Elena. You’re different. That is very clear by how hard you cling to your humanity but you know what hasn’t changed? The effect you have on my brothers. I said when we met that I watched them fight over the same woman and I left because I couldn’t stand it. I still can’t.”

“I…Stefan never mentioned you-”

“Yeah, I know because when I left all those years ago, I told them I would never forgive them for dragging me into the mess that that bitch made. Unlike Damon and his petty game of making Stefan miserable for Katherine turning him as well, I couldn’t stand to see my brothers change into what they were. I grew up with two loving brothers, Elena. Damon always spoiled me with his love and his attention, always protecting me and reminding me that I was not to settle for any man. Stefan was father's favorite but he was there for me the instant he was needed. When Damon left to serve, Stefan stayed by my side and helped me through the sadness. He filled the loneliness. I loved my brothers more than anything, Elena. They were my everything and one woman was all it took for them to toss me aside. They ignored my warnings, both too busy fighting for her attention to pay me any mind and then we were all dead. Because of her. I was forced to be a vampire. Because of her. So forgive me, Elena if I cannot seem to stand being in the same room as you when you share her face. You only remind me of the life I lost.” Y/N let out a deep breath, her eyes closing as she tried to calm her anger, opening them once again when she heard Elena sniffle. In typical newly turned vampire fashion, Elena was unable to control the tears that slowly fell from her eyes as Y/N’s words hung in the air, the youngest Salvatore running a hand through her hair.

“I’m sorry…” Elena said softly and Y/N looked away for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed as she sensed Damon stirring. Another deep breath, her emotions at bay and she looked up to meet Elena’s eyes.

“The only difference I notice,” Y/N said, “Is that, unlike Katarina, you seem to be wanting to choose Damon.”

“I-” “It doesn't matter to me. Choose who you wish, Elena Gilbert. I will be here this time to pick up the pieces of the brother you break. I will not let that same face ruin my brothers again. Wipe your tears now. I will do my best to see you as someone different but forgive me if it takes some time. I only came back because I missed my brothers but it is very clear they both care for you which means, to an extent, I do too.” Elena nodded, wiping at her tears and she left to follow Stefan, sensing Jeremy being hurt. Y/N sighed, her eyes turning back to Damon, who was now gone and she walked towards the window, moving the blinds to stare at the grill. Left behind once again, the youngest Salvatore held her place on the sidelines.

“That…was fucking sad,” Y/N jumped, whirling around, “Whoa! Whoa! Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I was literally there when you told Death it wasn’t a good idea to surprise a vampire.”

“Are you…a talking raven?” Y/N asked aloud, mostly to herself, her face showing her confusion and she took a step back when it hopped forward, its head bobbing back and forth before bowing.

“I am a talking raven, yes. I know, it took me a bit to get used to it too. I’m Matthew, newly appointed raven to Dream. It is a pleasure to officially meet you, Y/N.”

“Uh…the same to you?” She said but her tone came off as more of a question before her mind actually processed his words. “Wait, raven of the Dreaming? Of Dream? Was it not um..what was her name?”

“Jessamy, yes,” Matthew aid and Y/N tried not to show her discomfort at how alive the raven seemed, nodding his head with his words, “She was unfortunately killed when the boss was imprisoned..” “Ah, yes. Death told me about that too.”

“You seem to be pretty close to the boss’ sister.”

“She’s like..the only friend I have, really…which sounds really pathetic when I say it out loud,” Y/N chuckled to herself, shaking her head before she bent down, offering her hand. Matthew’s head tilted before he jumped up, his talons perched on her fingers as she stood back up, her other hand coming up to gently touch his head. “Oh, you were human..”

“Who apparently died in his sleep before Lucienne turned me into a raven,” Matthew said, “How did you know?”

“Vampires can get into the minds of humans quite easily. I merely wanted to pet your head but I felt myself able to look into your thoughts so I only guessed. What’re you doing here if you are the Dream Lord’s raven?”

“He sent me to check in with you,” Y/N’s eyebrow raised as she looked into his eyes and a smirk fell on her lips as she stared deep, searching the raven’s mind, “What are you doing?”

“Testing something,” She whispered before her pupils dilated, “I don’t think I needed to do this so my apologies for overstepping, but why are you checking on me?”

“The boss wants to know if you are experiencing any changes from your visit last night but he didn’t elaborate on what happened and he also just wanted me to show him how you were doing in general,” Matthew said before shaking his head, “Whoa, what was that?”

“A vampire thing,” she said, the smirk on her lips as she continued to stare deeply into the raven’s eyes, raising her arm up a bit, “I appreciate your concern, Dream Lord but next time come yourself instead of spying with your raven. Goodbye, Matthew.” She said, using her compulsion once again and Matthew flew off her hand, his wings flapping gracefully as he flew out the window Y/N opened. Her eyes followed him as he soared into the sky, curious how he got to the Dreaming that way but she smiled to herself as she recalled his words, knowing Dream was looking through the raven to see her. Her fingers brushed against her throat, not feeling the usual dryness of hunger and she noted how long it had been since she awoke. The longest I have ever gone without wanting a drink, she thought to herself before her eyebrows furrowed, the smell of blood suddenly filling her nose. Using her vampire speed, she ran towards the source of the smell and into the forest, stopping when she heard the sound of a shovel. She walked slowly, her hands using the trees to balance her against the rocky ground until she sucked in a breath, hearing Elena’s sobs. In a random open area, the Salvatore brothers turned briefly to look at her before turning back to Elena who was attempting to create a grave, the body of the hunter laid next to her.

“Well, shit,” Y/N whispered, running a hand through her hair and she took a deep breath before looking at her brothers, all three nodded before taking action. Stefan took Elena in his arms, Damon taking the shovel from her and Y/N knelt beside the hunter, her hand hovering over the bloody bite that Elena left on his neck. Damon finished digging the grave as Stefan took Elena away and Y/N rolled the body into the hole, the two burying the body together.

“What’s the plan now, brother?” Y/N asked and the older looked at her as she rubbed her dirty hands on her jeans, having used them to move the dirt back in place, “Elena did the very thing that Stefan so badly wanted to avoid.”

“It’s a part of being a vampire,” Damon muttered, his eyes staring at the grave, “Like I told him, there is no case of a vampire having existed without killing at least one person. At least he was a dickhead so she shouldn’t feel that bad about it.” He smirked over at Y/N who shook her head as a chuckle escaped her lips, the two making their way back to their home. “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

“For what?” Y/N asked, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked up to meet her brother’s eyes, seeing the sadness in his bright blue irises. His hand reached over to grab hers, his fingers brushing over her daylight ring which also held the Salvatore crest and he took a deep breath before looking back up at her.

“Stefan and I have to be the worst brothers in the world…” “You heard what I said to Elena,” Y/N said and he nodded, making her sigh. Only now did she realize that of course Damon would’ve heard some, if not all, of what she had said and she felt the embarrassment creeping in as she recalled her words. “I-There’s really no need to apologize- I didn’t mean-” Y/N couldn’t form a complete sentence, her stuttering continuing as she pulled away, wanting nothing more than to vampire speed her way out of there. She hadn’t meant to let her emotions get the better of her, spewing all the built up emotions she had locked away all these years. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes but she violently wiped them away, swatting Damon’s hand as he reached for her.

“Y/N-” The younger sister shook her head, refusing to look as her older brother reached for her again, letting out a yelp as he gripped onto her wrist, pulling her into a hug. His hand was quick to cradle the back of her head, her eyes widening, “I am so sorry.” He whispered against her hair and she sniffled, feeling the tears fall as stood in his hug, his arms holding her tight.

“You may not believe me at the moment and I would understand if you didn’t,” Y/N heard Damon speak in her head and she closed her eyes, clinging onto him as she hid in his chest, “I know history is repeating itself as much as I’d hate to admit it but we will be different, little sister. You are home, we are all together and we will do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”

“Okay,” Y/N whispered, nodding her head slightly and Damon gave her a squeeze before pulling away, cupping her cheeks before using his thumbs to wipe her tears. Her blue eyes looked up to look at his, smiling as he placed a light kiss to her head before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. The two walked home where Stefan waited, his arms opening to take Y/N into a hug, making her giggle as they swayed slightly in the doorway.

“Where’s Elena?” Y/N asked, looking up at Stefan who sighed before pulling her into another tight hug.

“She’s at home with Jeremy. She wanted time to process and we decided some family bonding time was needed,” Stefan said, his chin resting on her head and Damon placed his hand on Stefan’s shoulder. “We play nice for one night for now, little sister and when we’re done helping Elena, we promise another one. Sounds good?” Damon asked and she giggled, nodding her head as she wrapped an arm around each of them, all three disappearing into the house. As they all worked to clean all the paper that were sprawled across the room, Y/N could feel eyes and glanced at the window, a smirk on her lips as Matthew perched himself on the window sill outside. She gave him a wink before turning back to her brothers, giggling as Stefan threw some paper in her face and she was quick to grab a pillow, using her speed to throw it. Stefan caught it with ease, smiling at her but he let out a grunt when another pillow flew his way, making Y/N laugh for a moment before one was flown at her. The two looked at Damon who was smirking proudly at his sneak attack but that quickly fell when they grabbed the pillows he threw. “Get away from me,” He said sternly but his younger siblings didn’t listen, all three using their vampire speed to fly around the house, pillows in hand. Thuds from pillows flying and laughs filled the Salvatore household as the siblings had their little pillow fight. For a moment, when Y/N leaned against a wall hiding and letting out a breath, she was brought back to when all three of her brothers were back in the mansion that was their home in 1864. Y/N felt the scene vanish, the hallways dissolving into the ones in the manor, her jeans and shirt being replaced with a casual dress that puffed around her waist. Her hair was waved down her back and as Stefan and Damon rounded the corners, they too were dressed how they did back when they were mortals. Y/N smiles as her brothers approached her and she was suddenly thrust back into the present, the memories of the past vanishing in a storm of sand. Sand.

“Elena needs us,” Damon said suddenly, though his tone showed his hesitation to say so as he look at his phone screen. Stefan and Y/N looked at him with furrowed brows and he sighed softly.

“Why did Elena message you?” Stefan asked

“I don’t think that’s the right question, brother,” Y/N said and she placed her hand on his arm, “Is she alright?”

“She stabbed Jeremy. No time to explain. Let’s go, Stefan,” Y/N could see the pain in Stefan’s eyes but he followed Damon nonetheless, Y/N brushing her brothers off before they could apologize.

“I have my own appointment to attend to,” Y/N smiled and her brothers looked at her with curious eyes before she smiled and they were gone. The sound of flapping wings filled her ears and she looked up at Matthew who sneakily flew into the residence, perching himself on the post of the stairs. “Just the raven I wanted to see.” “Here to be the best guide into the Dreaming, Miss Y/N!”

#morpheus fanfiction #morpheus x reader #Morpheus fluff #morpheus #dream of the endless #dream fanfiction #dream imagine #dream fanfic #TVD #tvd crossover #sandman netflix #Sandman #The Sandman #salvatore

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klarieona · 8 months

Text

Masterlist

Okay I write for many fandoms and will write for more give me ideas of some more and I’ll check them out maybe they will end up I’m here. When I write more I will add more

POJ/HoO

The 100

Tvdu

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the-daily-multi-fandom-post · 4 years

Note

Are you a request open if so can you do a Jeremy Gilbert one

Yes, my request are open!! Send all your request in Darlin! ❤️

Here’s your request!

I love writing for Jeremy Gilbert. He doesn’t get enough loving!

Summary: Y/n (Kol mikaelson twin sister) hasn’t seen her boyfriend Jeremy Gilbert in 3 months. And now she coming back home, but with a surprise for Jeremy! (I suck at summary’s :| )

It was well pasted midnight. Jeremy was in bed sleeping soundly, when his phone rang. At first he tried to ignore it, but when it kept run gun he answered it.

Grabbing his phone he slid the green button to answer it. “Hello?” Jeremy grumbled out with a yawn.

“Sorry, Baby. Did I wake you?” Y/n asked her boyfriend with a small giggle.

Y/n had been out of town for about three months, dealing with some family issues with her brothers back home. She really wanted Jeremy to go with her, but he wasn’t able to go. Well, he wanted to go, but Y/ns ass of brother threaten to kill Jeremy. So Jeremy ended up staying in mystic falls while Y/n left. So they always ended up calling and texting each other through out the day.

“Yeah, but it’s fine. Why are you calling so late is everything okay?” Y/ns heart aches as she heard the worry in her boyfriends voice.

“I’m okay, I just wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.”

Jeremy smiled as he listened to his girlfriends soft voice.

“I miss you too, when are you coming home?” Jeremy asked desperate to have his love back in his arms.

“Soon, I promise. I know I said I’d only be gone for a little while, but you know how my brothers are.”

“Yes, being a mikaelson has its flaws, but do they really need you as much as I need you?” He could hear Y/ns laughing on the other end of the phone, along with the sound of another person talking.

“Well, without me my brothers would be long gone and most likely sealed into a safe of concrete and dropped to the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. So, I’m pretty sure they need me. But I offered you a chance to come up.” Y/n spoke with a knowing tone in her voice. Jeremy nodded even though Y/n couldn’t see him.

“I do miss you though, Jer. I really do! If I thought I could leave New Orleans without my brother daggering me for leaving him, without helping him do whatever he’s doing. I would leave right now.”

Jeremy sighed and nodded.

“I know baby girl, it’s fine. I love you so much.”

“I love you more then you’ll ever know Jeremy Gilbert.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I gotta go! I love you.” Y/n said quickly. Jeremy could hear a car door slam shut and the sound of a car starting.

“Okay, I love you. Bye.” With that Y/n hung up.

“Your lover boy seems to care deeply for you sister.” Kol said as he sat beside Y/n in her (fav. Color) 1969 Dodge Challenger. Y/n nodded with a smile.

“He loves me and I truly love him. I’ve lived for over a thousand years and I’ve never been in love with someone as I have been with Jeremy.” Y/n declared her love for The youngest Gilbert. Kol looked at his twin sister and smile. He could see the love in her eyes. The way her Y/e/c eyes would light up just at the mention of Jeremys name.

“Well, you were daggered for most of the time. I swear Nik did not like us. He left us daggered for years upon years. I say we take our revenge against Nik dagger him and leave him to rot for half a millennium, just like he did us.” Kol declared with a murderous look on his face.

“I do believe if we tried that he would some how over come us and end our lives. And anyone we ever loved. He does make it seem like he doesn’t care. I mean I truly believe if Nik cared for us he wouldn’t have left us daggered. But that’s my opinion and a subject for another day.” Y/n tried to end the conversation, but she couldn’t help but think about it. Nik daggered her when he would dagger Kol.

Y/n and Kol was always inseparable. They were twins, brother and sister, best friends. The two couldn’t live without the other. When Kol would get daggered Y/n would avenge his “death” by making a mess of things. She would do anything she could to get her twin brother back. Even going as far as threatening the lives of her other siblings. But the rest of the siblings learned so they daggered Y/n putting her into a cold pine box to rot. When Y/n wasn’t daggered her siblings weren’t really there for her. Well, Kol was always there for her when her other siblings weren’t. That is until Jeremy came into the picture.

“Hi, your new here, right? I’m Jeremy Gilbert.” Jeremy introduces himself to the knew girl of the school.

“Y/n, y/n mikaelson. Lovely to meet you.” It was junior year. Everything was starting to get weirder in mystic falls.

“Do you need some help finding your classes?” Jeremy asked the young Y/e/c eyed girl.

“Umm, I have Mr. Saltzman History class. Do you know where I can find his class. Jeremy nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, that’s my next class. We can go there together.” Y/n smiled and followed the doe eyed boy to history class.

“Where are we off to?” Kol asked as he noticed his twin driving out of New Orleans headed north. “I’m going back to mystic falls. Jermey couldn’t go with me back home because Niklaus decided that he would threaten Jeremys life. So he stayed home.” Y/n rambled, Kol chuckled at the quick anger that came to the Y/h/c haired vampire/witch. Just thinking about Nicklaus laying a hand on Jermey sent her on a murderous rampage.

“You know, I think it’s funny how we are the only vampires in creation that can be witches.” Y/n looked over at her brothers random comment with a confused look.

“You are so random. You don’t make sense sometimes.” Y/n said looking over at her childish brother.

“Yes, I am the one who doesn’t make since. I’m not the one going to drive like 500 miles just to be with a boy.” Y/n rolled her eyes at her twin.

“I love him Kol. I truly, truly love him. I couldn’t imagine life without him.” Kol looked over at his sister, seeing her this way -so in love. It made him so happy. Seeing his sister who hadn’t been happy since she was a human was finally happy. She had met someone who made her happy. And that’s all he could ask for.

“Are you going to tell him?” Kol asked looking at his baby sister and then to the small baby bump on her tummy.

Y/n smiled placing her hand absentmindedly on her lower belly.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m going back. Yes, I’m going to tell him..” Y/n said with a nod, smiling widely as she sped on down the highway.

~~ a few hours later~~

It was now about 9 in the morning. Y/n had finally arrived in mystic falls. She was so excited to give Jeremy the news of what they were going to have. They had talked about their future. About their dream wedding. About the family they wanted to have. But this, y/n was just so ecstatic to share the news to Jeremy.

Y/n pulled up to the Paved drive way and took a deep breath before getting out her car. She dropped Kol off at the Mikelsom mansion on the other side of town before coming. She took a nervous breath as she walked up the front door.

She used her special hearing trying to figure out if Jeremy was awake or not. Listening in she could hear his slow steady heart beat. She nodded to herself knowing he was still asleep. Grabbing the hide-away-key from the fake rock on the porch she opened the door. She took her jean jacket off and put it on the coat rack. Silently making her way up the stairs to Jeremys room.

She opened Jeremys door slowly. Making sure she wouldn’t wake him from his peaceful slumber.

She took off her shoes and climbed into the bed beside Jeremy. She smiled taking in the appearance in front of her.

He snored softly, as a little bit of drool was on the side of his cheek. His bed hair unruly making her giggle. Which made him furrow his eyes in his sleep. She softly brushed his hair out of his face. Slowly waking him from his sleep.

Opening his brown eyes he seen Y/n and smiled brightly.

“When did you get here?” He asked pulling her into his arms.

“About 5 minutes ago. I didn’t want to wake you up twice in one night. Well, day now.” Jeremy smiles as he kissed her forehead softly.

“I missed you so freaking much!” He mumbled against her lips as he kissed her. She hummed against his lips, breaking the kiss as she smiled.

“What is it?” Jeremy asked looking down at her confused.

“Do you remember how we talked about our future? You know, like getting married, have kids together?” Y/n asked nervously.

“Yeah, what about it?” He laced his fingers with hers as he spoke.

“Well, who knew we would be having a baby before marriage.” She spoke with a evening smile.

“We’re have a baby?!” Jeremy jumped up with a bright smile on his face.

“I thought you couldn’t have a baby since your a vampire?”

“Well, luckily me being a witch helps in having a baby. I asked my sister Freya and she said that somehow I used my magic and made myself able to get pregnant. Which I have no clue how I did it, but I did.” She rambled quickly only stopping to take a breath.

“Man, this is so exciting! How far along are you?!” Y/n could see the happiness radiating off him in waves.

“3 months according to the doctor. I even got an ultrasound. I just found out the other day. I knew I could not wait too long before I told you. The only other person I told was Freya and Kol. And now you. I didn’t want anyone else to know until I told you.” Jeremy smiled as he kissed Y/n.

“I think this is one of the best day of my life. I love you so, so much!” He exclaimed with a smile. Y/n smiled as she wiped the tears of joy off her face.

“I can’t wait to meet you little baby.” Y/n heard Jeremy whispered as he held Y/n in his arms.

“I love you already. You and your momma.” Y/n smiled as looked into Jeremys eyes.

“I love you so much. I wouldn’t want this with anyone but you.” Y/n admitted. Jeremy smiled as he leaned down and kissed her.

“Well, I guess since you gave me good news I’ll give you some.” He pulled away from Y/n reaching over into his bed side drawer pulling out a velvet box.

“I was going to go down to New Orleans to do this, but your here now and that’s all that matters.” He said as he got off the bed and walked around to stand in front of Y/n. She sat up straight in the bed as she looked at Jeremy.

“Y/n, you are the most beautiful, humble, joyful, silly, courageous, strongest woman I have ever met. I knew when I first saw you that you were going to be in my future. I wasn’t sure if we were going have a relationship like we have now. But I knew we were going to have a friendship. Y/n m/n mikaelson, will you do me the greatest of honors and marry me?”

Y/n smiled as she nodded looking at her boyfriend who was on one knee in front of her.

“Of course I’ll marry you!” She squealed with a smile.

“I can’t wait for our future.” Jeremy whispered against Y/ns lips.

“This is the future. Here and now. Bit worrying about anything. Just enjoying everything we can.” Y/n smiled looking at Jeremy.

“I love you, Jeremy Gilbert.”

“I love you too, Y/n soon-to-be Gilbert.” Y/n smiled as she gave Jeremy another kiss.

* I suck at endings! I hope you like this. I have had baby fever since my aunt had her baby so all I could think about was reader being pregnant with Jeremys baby so. Thanks for requesting and reading this. Request are open.

#the vampire diaries #the originals #jeremy gilbert #jeremy gilbert x reader #jeremy gilbert fanfiction #jeremy gilbert imagine #Mikealson sister reader #x mikealson reader #kol mikealson x sister! reader #tvd #x reader

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fitzs-trained-monkey · 2 years

Text

Three Doors Down

Title: Three Doors Down

Word Count: 11,000

Warnings: Bullying, descriptions of blood, a little bit of a slow start.

Summary: Alright, so maybe pretending to be Jeremy Gilbert's neighbor wasn't all that bad. After all, the kid's gorgeous cousin lived just three doors down. She stutters, but it's kinda cute... || Kol x Disabled!reader || Here lies my Masterlist

A/N: No, I am never going to stop with the disabled fics. Please note that any misrepresentation of Hypoxic brain injury and speech aphasia in this fic was done on purpose to make things clearer for those who are unfamiliar with the condition. Thank you!

"Dude, we can do anything you want, but not before we get some lunch. I swear, if I don't eat something soon, I'm gonna drop dead," Jeremy said, a little out of breath as he tugged his helmet off and placed it back on the shelf.

"You're worse than me, mate," Kol chuckled. He twirled the wooden baseball bat in his hand and shook his head, pushing himself off the wall. Turning around, he moved over to his locker and opened it up. He messed up on the lock code the first try, not because he was trying to seem more human, but because he simply hadn’t bothered to memorize it and just resorted to listening for the click of the tumblers. No one would be able to tell the difference, however, so like most things, this just served to work in his favour. He stashed the bat and helmet in the locker and retrieved his camera bag, slinging it around his shoulder before closing the locker door.

Kol Mikaelson was in Denver on his brother’s orders, posing as Jeremy Gilbert’s friend and neighbour from across the hall. He was here to serve as a proverbial axe poised just over the boy’s head so the kid could be used as motivation for a Benett witch to unlink him and his siblings. Kol despised following orders of any kind, even more so when they came from his brother, but he also liked not being dead so self-preservation was trumping his grudges and personal feelings for the time being. Besides, Nik’s doppelganger and her friends had the white oak stakes, and they were in Mystic Falls - easily 1,500 miles away from him - thus he was quite alright with leaving Nik and Bekah to handle that task. That way, if one or both of them messed up and they all died, then that was one less thing for them to pin on him in the afterlife. Anyway, Kol was there playing the part of Cole Mitchell, a British photography student shooting photos for a project about something to do with America and culture and whatnot. Though it had originally been a prop, Kol had actually come to enjoy photography beyond just playing pretend.

Jeremy raised a brow. "And what's that supposed to mean?" He asked, falling into step beside him.

Kol shrugged. "Well, my sister claims my mind is occupied solely with the thought of food, but I think you make me look tame. Do you ever think about anything else?" He teased. Jeremy just snorted, giving his newfound friend a playful shove which he returned in kind, naturally.

"Is this you telling me you wanna pick what we eat?" Jeremy demanded, ducking Kol's attempt to whack him upside the head.

"That is exactly what it is, mmhm," The taller boy stated matter-of-factly.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "Okay, then what do you want?"

What he wanted wasn’t exactly something the human would like very much. He would just have to go find himself someone to snack on later.

"I wouldn't say no to never ending breadsticks…" Kol drawled, glancing at the younger boy with hopeful eyes and a cheeky grin.

"No way, man," The younger Gilbert scoffed. "I'm seriously too broke for Olive Garden."

"I'll pay!" The taller boy offered.

"You don't have a job," Jeremy pointed out.

"Nope!" Kol cheered, flinging an arm around his shoulders. "But I do have two loaded parents who hate my guts!” The dysfunctional family was part of his cover story; no acting required there. “Thus, I get all the money I want as long as I stay far, far away from them. You know what that means?"

"Drowning your emotions with spaghetti?" The kid guessed.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Jeremy laughed. "Alright, man, whatever you say. Let's just-" Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye and he stopped. “- Hold on just a sec…” He was staring at something at the other end of the batting cages. His relaxed disposition vanished and the smile on his lips morphed into a thin line. "There’s something I gotta take care of,” He muttered.

Kol stopped and caught his shoulder, frowning. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

The Gilbert boy didn’t answer, he just sighed and shot Kol an apologetic glance. “You know what? Why don’t you just go on ahead, I’ll be right behind you.” He started moving and Kol followed without a second thought.

“You look like you’re about to start a fight,” He remarked, trying to hide his amusement at the thought.

“I might,” Jeremy grumbled, his eyes still fixed straight ahead.

The vampire nodded and shrugged easily. “Well, you know what they say. Friends don’t let friends go to prison for assault and battery alone!” That comment earned a huff of a laugh and Kol turned his attention to what the other boy was so focused on.

Towards the other side of the batting cages, there were these three girls all standing around a fourth girl who was clearly their victim. The fourth had her back to a wall and the other three stood one on each side, boxing her in like a pack of hyenas. Though none of them were much taller than the girl they were ganging up on, they each wore these enormous heels that allowed them to tower over the girl in her grey sneakers. Now that he paid attention, he could hear them talking. The voice of the girl that was doing most of the talking - Kol would assume she was the leader - was high pitched and piercing and her tone was sickly sweet.

"You know, I actually really love what you've done with your hair, Y/N," The leader said. The other girl, Y/N, shifted her feet, tugging on the strap of her satchel. She stood sort of curled into herself and her eyes flicked nervously between the three girls as the first one continued to speak. "I mean, I think it looks really cute on you, yeah. Just makes me wonder why you did it." Y/N shook her head, shrugging a little. Kol wasn’t sure why her hair mattered but girls always seemed to make a big deal about stuff like that. "I mean, did you do it 'cause you want attention? I know I’m not you, but if I were then I don’t think I could handle any more than what you have to deal with all the time. Though, now that I think about it, that’s probably not the right kind of attention so, like, is there someone you're trying to impress? Oh! Or are you just attempting to go blonde so you can try and keep with the whole blue eyes, blonde hair, dumb ass thing you got going on?"

Y/N hung her head, shuffling her feet as the girls around her did nothing but laugh. Kol raised a brow and scowled. They were within human earshot for that last bit, so he had to keep in character, though doing so wasn’t very difficult. For whatever reason, something about the situation just bothered him; he didn’t like seeing the shy girl getting ganged up on. It reminded him a little bit of his own family, and he didn’t like it. Clearly, Jeremy didn't have an ounce of patience for this sort of thing either.

"Well if she's dumb then, man, I'd hate to see your IQ scores," He remarked, comming to stand behind the girl doing most of the ridiculing. The leader turned around with the sort of smile Kol had seen more times than he could count. It probably would have been attractive had he not been able to see right through it. Now he just found it equal parts pathetic, hilarious, and revolting.

"Oh! Hi, Jeremy!" The lead girl's gaze flicked from the Gilbert boy to where Kol stood just behind him and she paused for a moment. Her eyes raked up and down Kol's figure and that smile of hers sharpened. He was used to reactions like hers by now, they amused him. "Who's your friend?" She asked, twirling a lock of hair around her finger in an attempt to be cute. He knew exactly what sort of thoughts were running through her head at that moment, he knew the game girls like her loved to play. He could play that game too, and he was much better at it.

"Someone way out of your league, darling,” Kol said, sending her a smile that was all teeth. The lead girl blinked and her smile faltered. She glanced at her little minions, clearly shocked.

"How many times do I have to tell you to leave Y/N alone?" Jeremy demanded, glaring at her. The lead girl recovered and shifted her attention back to him, rolling her eyes with a huff.

"I don’t know, maybe until I see a good reason why I should.” She smirked.

“Oh, I’ve got your reason,” The younger boy sneered, stepping forward. The other two girls took a step back, but the leader didn’t flinch. From behind them, Y/N looked up with wide eyes and shook her head at him frantically.

“What are you gonna do about it?” The leader challenged. “Ya’ gonna hit me?”

“Maybe,” Jeremy growled, taking another step. That was something Kol liked about Jeremy Gilbert, the boy reminded him a little bit of himself. He was an all-or-nothing sort of person and if he was going to confront someone then he wasn’t afraid to take it all the way. Kol, however, was older and he’d been raised better… in a way. He held a hand out to stop the kid.

“You don’t touch a lady, mate,” He muttered, shoving Jeremy back. The lead girl folded her arms and gave a prim little huff. Kol glanced up at her, raising a brow with another very fake, very threatening smile. “That being said, you, darling, are far from what qualifies as a lady and even further from deserving to be treated like one. You are a sad, pathetic little girl who preys upon the weaknesses of others to make herself feel better about her own insecurities. You are terrified that no one will ever have any respect for you and thus cannot stand it when another person has even a little bit for themselves. Now, if you have a modicum of intelligence, I would suggest you go home, rethink your life, and decide to do as my friend says and never come near this lovely young woman again.”

The girl’s mouth dropped open in shock. Then she clenched her teeth and hissed. “Or what?”

"Or I'll fetch an eraser and remove those eyebrows you drew on yourself this morning," The older boy supplied, not missing a beat. That seemed to have an effect. The ugly-pretty girl blinked and tried to hide her complete demoralization with a scoff.

"We-we were just kidding!" She defended. "Don't take things so seriously!"

Kol's smirk grew. "Duly noted. Have a lovely day, darling." The girl pouted and slunk away, dragging her minions along and he waved at them as they left. It was quiet for a moment before Jeremy let out a low whistle.

“Dude…”

Kol just waved him off. “If there’s anything my parents ever taught me, it’s how to offer an insult. Now, are you going to introduce me to your friend or what?”

He shifted his gaze to the girl left standing before him. Now that he actually took the time to look at her he noticed several things. The first being that she was beautiful, no question about it. Her’s wasn’t the show-stopping beauty of some, but rather an endearing sort of beauty. It was less something found in her face and more something he caught in her sparkling E/C eyes that gave him pause. Her eyes were deep and soulful and, good Thor, he could stare into them all day. Those eyes were so full of life and enthusiasm that he found himself wanting to smile; he could see why any woman - any person, really - would be jealous just looking at her.

The second thing he noticed was her heartbeat. Her heart was racing as she now took the time to look at him. The reaction was similar to those of millions of other women when they first saw him, but the expression she wore was completely different. She was smiling, yes, but not in the way he had grown so used to. Her smile was enthusiastic and flattered, though a little bit shy as if she was surprised he could even see her but ecstatic that he could. She smiled at him like he was a dear friend, not like he was an object she was trying to appraise. The cynic in him wanted to call her a fool but, oddly enough, he found himself enjoying the change of pace.

The third thing he noticed was the crescent-shaped devices perched over her ears. Hearing aids - as they were apparently called. They were bright green and she’d clearly had them for a while, which led him to wonder when she’d first gotten them and why. Although, the scars that caught his eye next led him to believe her hearing loss hadn’t been natural. Whatever the accident had been, he could tell it had happened a long time ago. The scars were pale and stretched from where she’d grown, they crisscrossed her cheek and jaw bone, moving down the right side of her neck where they disappeared beneath her shirt. Yet, they did nothing to mar her beauty. This girl had him looking twice… and that was a first.

“Um, sure.” Jeremy’s voice pulled him back to reality. “This is my cousin Y/N,” He said, gesturing back and forth between them. “And uh, Y/N, this is my friend-”

“Kol Mitchell,” He lied easily, stepping forward and offering his hand. Y/N smiled and took it, but instead of shaking, he pulled her hand to his mouth, leaving a soft kiss against her knuckle. She grinned, and her nose crinkled up in a way he couldn’t help but find adorable, and the laugh she made was more of a snicker than a girlish giggle. She surprised him - another first. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, darling.” Y/N nodded enthusiastically but said nothing. He tilted his head. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”

There was a sharp pain sprouting from his side as Jeremy elbowed him in the ribs. “Aheh! Aheh! Shut up! Ahem!” He coughed, trying without success to disguise his words.

Kol shot him a questioning look but didn’t have time to ask.

“It-it's al-alr-right.”

The girl was the one to speak. It was strange, the way she said the word - as if she was learning how to say it out loud as she spoke. She nodded and smiled, waving her hand a little in a dismissive gesture. "H-hello, K-Ko-ol. Thank you for… for… uh, for, um…" She frowned and flicked her eyes upward as if trying to remember something. "For-for, um…" She started snapping her fingers. "What-what's the word? Gimme the word."

"Defending you?" Jeremy suggested.

"Yeah!" She exclaimed. "Yeah, that's it! Thank you for de-defending me. A-and for ke-eeping Jer-rr out of pr-risio-on."

"Eh, it was nothing. What are friends for?" He shrugged.

"B-bail money," She replied.

Kol snorted, that was actually pretty good. He was surprised by her quick wit because she didn't seem like the sardonic type. "So how exactly are you two related?" He asked, gesturing between them. He didn't actually care, he just wanted to ascertain whether or not the girl was aware of the supernatural. The two cousins looked similar in age, though Y/N seemed just a little older and he knew the Gilbert family had a legacy but was unsure if their sense of duty had spread through the family tree. He thought it unlikely considering how clueless the kid seemed to be, but he couldn't rule it out.

"Uh, on my mom's side," Jeremy answered.

"Sh-she was my Da-ad's sis-t-ter," Y/N added. Alright, so he would label her awareness as a loose maybe.

"You know what? No, I just can't see the resemblance," He joked. "You're much too gorgeous to be related to him." He jabbed a thumb in Jeremy's direction, simultaneously dodging another jab in the ribs from the same while his cousin just snorted.

"I've seen you," She said. "I-I've seen you places a-and h-here when I'm doing. I-I should - no, uh, I wanted to… I-I wanted to… um…" The girl started snapping her fingers again, bouncing on her heels. "What's the word? It's, um, what is it?"

He frowned. Again, that stutter irked him. Women often struggled to think clearly around him - an occurrence he enjoyed thoroughly - but she didn't seem nervous. A little shy, maybe, but not enough to be stumbling every other word. Then there was her speech pattern. While her voice was pleasant, it sounded almost hampered by something; she spoke in a halting way that put emphasis where it wouldn't typically belong. If he didn't know better, he would have thought her brain and her mouth couldn't agree on what they were trying to say.

"Help? Uh… talk?" Jeremy tried.

"No, no!" Y/N cut him off. "L-Let me get it! It's uh…" She scowled. "Ugh… it's… GREET! Yeah! I sh-wanted to g-reet you w-when you come, er, came. Your eyes- I saw them a-and th-thinking you were ni-ice. But there's a… there's a…"

"Reason," Her cousin muttered.

"Uh, huh. There's a reaso-on I don't ta-alk to… to, uh…"

"People."

"To people." Y/N's voice faltered to a whisper and she looked away, fixing her eyes on her shoes.

Kol nodded. "I see. Darling, not to be rude, but I can't help but notice the way you speak. Am I allowed to ask about that?" He wondered.

Jeremy shot his cousin a sidelong glance. She smiled slightly and nodded at him. "Um, I don't know what it's called…" He trailed off.

"It's spe-ech a-apha-aphasia. From, uh, from H-Hypox-Hypox-oxia," She told him quietly.

"And what is that exactly?" He wasn't strictly familiar with modern medical terms.

"Oxy-Oxygen def-deficie-en-ency in-in the brain for an exten-en-ded period-d of time that caus-s-es perm- uh, u-um… perma-perma… um…"

"Permanent."

"Yeah, perma-nent brain d-dam-damage," She admitted in a whisper. So Y/N was like him then, damaged beyond repair. That was something he could understand.

"Yeah." Jeremy reached out and draped his arm around her shoulder, comfortingly. "Car crash. Happened when she was six. Y/N and her mom were driving home one night and a drunk driver ran 'em off the bridge and into the water. A lot like what happened to my parents, 'cept my aunt was able to get out and she got Y/N out, but she'd been under for too long." He sighed. "She ended up with hearing loss too but the doctors said it was a miracle she made it at all."

"Ah, I see." He nodded. The girl just fixed her eyes on her feet ashamedly. Not that there was any reason she should. Losing a part of one's self wasn't something to apologise for, he knew that better than most. "Well, I'm glad you did, darling," Kol said, offering her a small smile.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." He smirked and figured he would try his luck. "May I just say you have the most fascinating eyes I've ever seen?"

Y/N shook her head, blushing and hiding her face in her hair.

"Here we go again," Jeremy muttered. Kol shot him a cheeky smile before reaching out to touch Y/N gently on the hand. She had soft hands.

"We were just about to grab something to eat, would you like to come with?" Because he was actually rather enjoying not having to be anyone and as long as he was faking one friendship, he might as well go for two. Besides, Y/N was interesting and for some reason he couldn't quite place, Kol found himself drawn to her.

The girl lifted her head, blinking in surprise. She glanced between the two boys, seeming almost confused. "Y-you want me t-o?" She asked.

Kol raised a brow. "Well, I am inviting you so… obviously," He said with a charming smile.

Y/N's eyes gained a suspicious gleam. "Wh-why?" He opened his mouth to answer when Jeremy spoke for him.

"'Cause he's a nice guy, Y/N/N," The Gilbert boy reassured his cousin. "I mean, yeah, he flirts with anything that breathes, and I apologise in advance for that, but he's not inviting you along just so he can make fun of you." The girl didn't seem entirely convinced but she nodded anyway, deciding to trust him.

"I'm sorry but… do people do that often? Stab you in the back like that?" Kol wondered. The idea seemed unnecessarily cruel to him and certainly uncalled for.

Neither of the cousins answered, but Jeremy looked up with an expression that told him all he needed to know. He gave Y/N's shoulder a little squeeze and Kol could tell that the boy was extremely protective of her, which wasn't hard to understand. What he couldn't seem to comprehend, however, was why he - Kol bloody Mikaelson - suddenly felt the same way. Perhaps it was something about her frail stature or the way she'd been ostracized by her peers. She was small, like Henrik had been, and with the same willful yet vulnerable heart as Rebekah.

"Well, those people are clearly idiots," He replied with an empathetic smile. "Do you like Olive Garden?"

The girl's eyes widened. "Olive Garden? Yell heah!" She cheered, grinning. He snickered at her little mistake, perhaps some would find it annoying but he just thought it was cute. "Sooo… we fr-riends?"

"Of course, darling. I defended your honor and now I'm inviting you to lunch - that practically makes us cousins," Kol mused. Her enthusiasm made him smile. Y/N's eyes flew wide and she gawked at him, then she turned to Jeremy in disbelief.

"Fr-friends!" She squealed. Her cousin chuckled and nodded, clearly not as shocked by this as her. She turned back to Kol and threw her arms around him. He froze, unsure what the girl was hugging him for before accepting her embrace. She tapped his back softly.

"One," She muttered. "No, no… that's wrong… Start?"

"Do you mean first?" Kol guessed.

"Yeah! Yeah. You're my… my first! That's it." She hugged him a little tighter. "You're m-my first."

The one-thousand-year-old original found himself smiling then, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. “In that case, I’m honored.”

***

Food is always good; however, it’s even better when someone else is paying for it. You had offered to pay for yourself but Kol had adamantly refused. You had been wary of tagging along with your cousin and his friend, having no desire to be the third wheel but you were pleasantly surprised when that wasn’t the case at all. Kol gave you the same attention he gave Jeremy and that surprised you. People didn’t really do that outside your family because everyone else didn’t care enough to put forth the effort. Yet, Kol did and you found yourself genuinely enjoying his company. He was animated and lively when talking and an equally engaged listener - he was fun! The three of you talked about all sorts of things while eating breadsticks like there was no tomorrow.

So far you had learned that his favorite color was purple (he insisted there was no such thing as a ‘girly’ color), he was insanely good at close up magic (the guy was wearing short sleeves and he disappeared a pen right in front of your face), his family was apparently wealthy but he didn’t like rich people, his favorite animal was the fox, his favorite dinosaur was the velociraptor, he was claustrophobic (for reasons he would not expound upon), he spoke multiple languages (because his parents were apparently unpleasable and once you learn one of each type you can figure the rest out pretty easily), and when he was a kid he had wanted to grow up and become a professional wizard.

“A-are you lov-ved?” You asked next, mentally cringing a second after the words left your mouth. That was just your condition; you knew what you wanted to say but could never find the right words to say it how you meant. Often your words offended people, it was one reason why you’d never really had a friend outside of your family. Over the course of your conversation with him, you had put together that Kol came from a dysfunctional family; thus, it wasn’t exactly hard to see how your words could hurt him.

The British boy choked on his drink. “Excuse me?” He strangled out. You saw a twinge of hurt flash through his eyes and you wanted to run and hide.

“No, no! That’s not… I m-mean are-are you, uh… Do you… Do you, um…” You started snapping your fingers, trying to remember and looked desperately to Jeremy for help. He just shrugged, equally as confused as Kol. “What’s the word? It’s… It’s, uh… Where did it go?” You couldn’t remember the word you were looking for and you could feel your cheeks begin to burn as you grew more and more frustrated and flustered. You bit your lip and tore your fingers through your hair - another one of your nervous tics when you struggled, like snapping your fingers or bouncing your feet. A lock of hair got caught around your birthstone ring, tugging painfully and giving you a sudden idea. You gasped and slipped the ring off your finger. “Ring!” You exclaimed. The two boys glanced at each other, still confused and you huffed. Kol made a shocked noise when you suddenly snatched his right hand off the table, pointing first at his ring finger and then at yours and then holding up your ring. “Ring!” You said again.

Then something seemed to dawn on him and he smiled. “Wait, are you asking if I have a girlfriend?”

“Yeah! Yeah.” You relaxed, feeling a shy smile flutter across your face which was surely flushed.

“Well, no, actually, I don’t have one - not at the moment - but I’m open to auditions.” A slow but very cheeky grin spread across Kol’s lips. The boy was a thousand miles beyond cute and he knew it. “Why is it that you ask, darling?”

“‘Cuz she’s into you,” Jeremy said through a mouthful of breadstick. Now it was your turn to choke on your drink.

“N-no! I just-” Jeremy cut you off, pointing his breadstick in your face.

“Liar,” He deadpanned. Then he turned to Kol. “She never makes this much of an effort to talk to anyone. Not even me. I mean, I think this is the most I’ve ever heard her actually speak. Most of the time she just uses google translate or this funky text to speech thing to talk for her.”

You glared at him and made a show of pulling your phone out of your bag and turning it on before typing something in. Thankfully, you had fast fingers. “It’s pretty hard to type while you’re eating, dofus.” Your phone said in the monotone voice of a computer.

“Is it really?” He challenged. “I bet I could do it.” You typed another message.

“There is no way you’re touching my phone, butterfingers.”

Your cousin rolled his eyes. “I dropped that lego set one time,” He insisted. “And that still doesn’t explain why you’re so chatty. I haven’t heard you talk this much since you were six!”

You raised a brow at him. “It's a little thing called being polite. No one has bothered to engage me in a conversation since I was six, outside of our family, but I don’t have to be polite to you maggots.”

Kol laughed at that but quickly tried to cover it with a cough.

“Why don’t you just admit it?” Jeremy pressed, leaning over to ruffle your hair. You moved to smack his hand away but he used the opportunity to snatch your phone out of your other hand. When you reached for it back he held it out of reach. “Nope!”

“Give!” You demanded. You reached for it again but he quickly slid it over the table to Kol who swiped it up. He glanced from the phone to you and back with a very satisfied smirk.

You raised a brow. “Not girl talking with you. I’m a gir-rl. Not you.”

“Well, you certainly have the figure of one,” Kol pointed out. His eyes wandered to your neckline and you knew he did that just to make you blush and of course, it worked. You weren’t used to being noticed.

Jeremy groaned and dragged a hand over his face. “Dude, this is Olive Garden. Could you not?”

Kol shrugged. “You’re the one who brought this up,” He retorted.

“Well, someone had to. I know a good thing when I see it, but you’re too stupid, and she’d never admit it,” Your cousin claimed. You scoffed, that boy wouldn’t know a good thing if it bit him on the rear. “If I’ve learned anything this past year, it’s that drama sucks. So, yeah, just kiss but not here and not in front of me. Get a room.”

“I have one.” Kol smirked. “It’s right across from yours.”

Jeremy frowned and turned back to you. “Nevermind. Stay single, please.”

You groaned and put your head down on the table. A waitress must have seen because a second later, one was kneeling beside you.

"Are you alright, miss?"

You glanced up and nodded before picking up a breadstick from the basket.

"How many of, uh, of these to cl-clean-cleanse a sou-l."

The woman frowned. "The jury's out on that one, sweetheart."

You hummed and sent her a thumbs up. She walked away. When you finally worked up the courage to look back up at Kol, he was staring at you which didn't help your confidence in the slightest. He seemed a little out of it, though. His eyes were glazed over and they fixated on your shoulder… or was it your neck he was staring at? He was probably just lost in thought so you waved a hand in front of his face.

The boy blinked and met your eyes with a slight frown.

"I'm sorry, but I just remembered that there's something I need to take care of. I need to go," He said, standing up. His tone was remorseful but there was a trace of something else… something uncomfortable. You frowned.

"Oh…" You knew you would probably never see him again. At least, nothing more than a brief encounter on the street. You were a fool to think he actually tolerated you - a person who was a burden simply to talk with. "I'll look ar-round."

"It's 'I'll see you around'," Jeremy muttered.

"I mean, I'll see you ar-around," You corrected yourself in a whisper. You expected him to just leave then but he lingered.

"You really do have the most captivating eyes, Y/N," He said. You just kept your gaze on your lap and nodded, not wanting to watch him go. Then, you felt a finger lifting your chin, guiding you to look up. "You know, when someone calls you beautiful, it usually means they like looking at you." He smiled a little and all you did was nod. You were trying really hard not to let him see you cry. "When can I see you again?" He asked softly.

You blinked and finally met his eyes. "Y-you want to see me?"

Kol chuckled. "As a matter of fact, darling, I do."

"A-any-t-time. Jus-just hit," You said. He raised a brow.

"Oh, we didn't tell you?" Jeremy asked, leaning forward.

"Tell me what?" The British boy asked.

"Y/N lives three doors down from you. She means knock, by the way, not hit," Your cousin supplied.

"Uh, huh," You agreed. Kol grinned and you were surprised by how genuine it seemed.

"Well, you can be sure I won't keep you waiting long." Then he leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss against your forehead. Kol's lips sent bolts of electricity down your spine and through your limbs. Then he turned to leave.

You gasped. “Game nigh-t-t?!” You suggested. He stopped at the door and glanced back, spreading his arms.

“Why not? There's always time for games!”

So three nights later, that’s exactly what the three of you did, deciding to play board games instead of video games, at your suggestion. The event was held in your apartment, on your kitchen floor because you didn’t have a table big enough, and Kol had shown up wearing one of those tacky poker vizors. After getting your butts handed to you in Monopoly, you and your cousin decided to play Uno and unleash the full power of all the draw four cards you could find on Kol who had been less than amused. Currently, the sun outside your window was sinking low in the sky and the three of you had moved on to the Game of Life. Evidently, Kol had never really played board games before because his parents were jerks so explaining the game took a while.

See you were quickly approaching 8:00 PM and by nature that meant things were very dark, which was a problem because your apartment didn't have enough light to see the game you were playing. Luckily, you were prepared.

"Y/N, your lights in here are awful," Your cousin declared, squinting in an attempt to see his cards.

"I hate to agree with him, darling, but I can't even see how badly I'm losing," Kol hummed.

"You got anything to fix that?" Jeremy wondered. You nodded vigorously and scrambled to get off the floor, moving over to the cupboards. You reached in, pulling out a long tube and a bowl full of little plastic pieces.

"Sn-nap light!" You cheered, pouring a few hundred glow sticks out on the floor in front of you.

"Glow sticks, Y/N/N," Jeremy sighed. "They're called glow sticks."

"Uh, huh. Yeah." You giggled a little and glanced at Kol who was studying the multicolored rods as if he'd never seen one before. Maybe he hadn't. Maybe British people didn't have glow sticks - you'd been born and raised in Denver so you wouldn't know - or maybe his parents had just been truly awful. You grabbed three of the sticks and cracked them, watching Kol's eyes widen as they began to glow. Then you used the plastic pieces to fashion them into a ring, which you proceeded to place on his head. He went a little cross-eyed, grinning as he tried to look at it.

"A crown fit for a king," He announced. He reached forward and grabbed a handful of sticks from the pile, copying what you had done. "And one for a queen." Kol placed the so-called crown on your head and you smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek. It was a quick, impulsive thing and both parties involved were equally surprised. Your insides felt all tingly.

"Do I even wanna know where you got all these things?" Your cousin demanded, cracking two handfuls of the little rods. Glow sticks may not give off much light but you had a lot of them, like a LOT.

"Uh…." You snapped your fingers a few times. "The… The groove?"

"You mean that dance a few weeks ago?" He guessed. "Why would you-"

"Free!" You claimed defensively. The people running the thing had been desperate to get rid of all the extras so you had done your part. You weren't one to turn down free stuff no matter how unnecessary it was.

You continued to play the game, all the while making more and more rings with the glow sticks. Your cousin wouldn't permit you to make him into a human light fixture but Kol just laughed and let you hang as many glowing rings on him as your heart desired. There were quite a few by the time you were done.

"Ph-phone!" You held out your hand expectantly.

"What do you need mine for?" He asked, regarding you with a somewhat cagey expression. You could feel a throbbing ache beginning to build at the base of your skull but you didn't want the night to end so you decided not to start a wrestling match with your frontal lobe. Instead, you opted to make a rectangle with your fingers and a little click-click sound with your mouth. "A picture?" He clarified.

"Yeah."

"Alright then," He grinned, shaking his head. "Just be sure to get my good side." He handed you his phone and you took the picture, flipping it around to show him when you were done. "You're going to steal my career, darling," He said. You just snickered. "Hey, why don't you send that to my sister? I think she's under the contact name: Fingernails."

"Fingern-ails?" You repeated. What kind of contact name was that? Kol just smirked.

"Yep. Fingernails."

"Okay…" You went searching through his contacts and Jeremy came to lean over your shoulder.

"Dude, what is with your contact names on here? I mean first Fingernails…and here's uh… Rover… The Stick + The Mud… this one's just an eyeroll emoji…" Your cousin laughed and Kol shrugged, taking his turn. "What, do you have something against using names?"

"Yes," He replied with a smirk. There was something behind that expression but you didn't know what.

"What d-did you ca-call me?" You asked.

"Oh, I don't think I have your number," He replied. "Which is a criminal offense on my part, now that I think of it. Here, put your number on that while you've got it."

"Okay." You did as you'd been told, sending the picture to his sister and putting in your number. "Back." You passed it back to him. He thanked you with a soft smile and glanced down to read what you'd sent along with his picture.

"Really, darling?" He sighed, though his lips were twitching. "I'm a pretty, pretty princess? That's what you choose to send?" You just nodded vigorously, a cheeky smile spreading across your face. Kol glanced up and his chocolate eyes met yours. He was just looking at you but no one had really done that before, you weren't used to attention that wasn't annoyed or pitying. Your cheeks heated and you tucked a strand of hair back behind your ear.

"W-what?" You mumbled. Was there something wrong? Had you done something?

"Nothing." He shook his head. "You're just adorable."

You ducked your head, unable to keep the smile off your face. Why was he so kind to you? People didn't do that. So why did he? You didn't get it.

"Your turn, Romeo," Jeremy interrupted, snacking on a bag of pretzels.

Kol just laughed and took his turn. He moved his piece along the board and his face fell. "Tree falls on house, pay seventy-five thousand if not insured. Great." You snickered and reached up to ruffle his hair.

"Sucks to be you," Jeremy supplied. "So what's my contact name on your phone?"

"Han Solo," Kol replied without missing a beat. Jeremy nodded.

"I can live with that."

"Me?" You asked hopefully. Kol hummed.

"Let me think…" His eyes skimmed up and down your figure and you knew he did that just to make you blush. A smirk spread across his lips when it worked. "Candy," He decided.

You tilted your head. "W-why?"

"Because you're sweet," He answered with a shrug. "And eye candy," He added under his breath.

Kol's response made you laugh, which subsequently made you flinch at the pain that jolted through your skull. That migraine wasn't going away. Your heart sank, you had really been enjoying yourself. Now you had to be the one to end things. This was why no one wanted to be friends with you; geez, you were always such an inconvenience.

"Whoa-" Jeremy placed a hand on your shoulder. "You good, Y/N?"

You shook your head, rubbing your temple. "Mi-migr-ra-raine," You stuttered out, guilt taking over your features. "I'm sorry. I just- I can't-"

"You want us to leave?" Your cousin asked. Kol was watching you intently but you couldn't meet his eyes. Always an inconvenience.

You shook your head. "I'm so s-sorry."

"Well that's just bloody fantastic," Kol spoke up. You flinched a little at his words, though they didn't sound particularly angry or even annoyed. "How convenient of you to make friends with possibly the only person on the planet who knows how to cure a migraine." You glanced up and there he was, smiling at you as though this changed nothing. As though this wasn't just another reason to prove you were more trouble than you were worth. He smiled as if - No. That wasn't a thought worth entertaining. You weren't going to delude yourself into getting your hopes up.

"A, uh, a cure?" You asked, a little bit skeptical.

"Not for the cause, I'm afraid - just the pain," He said. But that was enough for you. "Would you like to try it? It's back in my flat but I can go and get it, if you'd like."

"Apartment," Jeremy muttered under his breath.

"Flat," Kol affirmed, eying you with an expectant gaze. You just shrugged.

"Y-you had me a-at-t pa-ain."

Kol blinked. "That's… good to know." You could see the smirk tugging at the edges of his mouth and you groaned, hiding your face. He barely withheld his laughter as he patted your arm and got up, moving towards the door. "It's alright, darling, it's cute - part of your charm. I'll just go get that out of my flat. Be right back."

"Apartment," Jeremy grumbled.

"Flat!" Kol countered.

"This is America! It's called an apartment!"

"I'm British! I'm calling it a flat!" He shut the door sharply behind him, effectively ending the debate. You would have found their ridiculous banter amusing if not for your migraine. The harsh bang of the door reverberated painfully through your aching skull and you whimpered. The door opened just enough for Kol to peak his head back in with a sheepish expression. "Sorry 'bout that." He closed the door again, much quieter this time, and you sighed.

As far as his supposed migraine cure went, you weren't exactly convinced. You had been dealing with frequent migraines since the accident and though you took medication for it, it could only decrease the frequency of your migraine days. The pain was the real problem and nothing, it seemed, could make the vicious combination of searing, pounding, and ringing sensations disappear completely. But that was your lot in life. Your bedside table was a pharmacy and you knew the local hospital staff on a first-name basis. A normal life just wasn't in the cards for you and you had given up hoping for one a while ago.

"Do you think this migraine cure will actually work, or are you just humoring him?" Your cousin asked, taking his turn. You lifted your head just enough to look at him, lifting a very weary eyebrow. "No, huh? Is it 'cause you think he's full of crap or 'cause you just don't wanna get your hopes up?" You clicked your tongue and shot a finger gun at him. "Little bit of both?" He clarified. You nodded; non-verbal communication was just easier, especially when it was just you and Jeremy. You didn't have to perform for him, anyone else was another story.

"You know… you're allowed to like him, Y/N," Jeremy tried, sounding a little hesitant but convinced. "I mean, there's no law that says you can't." You huffed a bitter laugh. It must have been so easy for him to say that.

"Yes, there i-is," You muttered, a sour smile creeping across your face.

Jeremy sighed, giving you that same look as so many others. It was pity and you hated it. "Y/N, what those girls say-"

"I-I-I d-don't care, really. I-I don't-" You shook your head. "I'm a… uh… um… I'm not-not… um… what's the word?" You tapped your hand softly against your thigh, not wishing to insight further wrath from your migraine. "Bird? No, no…. Burden! Yeah. I'm a bur-burden, Jer. I-I'm not gonna ma-make him, o-or any-o-one, de-eal with me." That wasn't his responsibility. You couldn't expect anyone to actually like you and you weren't going to put Kol in a position where he would feel obligated to cater to a silly crush on your part. You knew he only hung around you because of Jeremy - you knew that - but as long as he wasn't actively protesting your presence, you would enjoy his. You had learned to be a scavenger by now.

Before Jeremy could say anything else, the door opened and Kol appeared with a steaming mug of something or other. "You two better not have stolen anything from me while I was out," He warned playfully. You rolled your eyes and he sat down on the floor across from you again, sliding the mug over. "There we are. I hope it's not too hot." The liquid inside the mug was a questionable peach sort of color and question it you did. "Oh, come on, darling! It's not going to hurt you, I promise it'll help." The expression on Kol's face seemed sincere, so you sent him a soft smile.

Lifting the cup to your lips you took a small sip. The taste was earthy, yet sweet with a hint of something you couldn't quite place. "What's in h-he-ere?" You wondered, enjoying the drink's pleasant warmth.

"It's herbal tea." Kol shrugged. "With a secret ingredient, of course."

"Sp-spill," You demanded. The boy scoffed.

"And give you an excuse to get rid of me? I don't think so, darling. Now take your turn." You rolled your eyes but did as you were told. You passed two payday spaces and found buried treasure so you weren't going to complain. Play moved around the board two more times before Kol spoke up again. "So how do you feel?"

Well, you felt a little tingly but other than that-

Wait.

The pain was gone. Just gone. You hadn’t even noticed it leave.

"G-Good… I'm… I'm good!" You exclaimed with a bright laugh. "No h-hurt!"

Kol grinned and there was something unusually soft in it that made you feel something strange. You felt… special. "See? What did I tell you?"

You didn't give him time to be cocky, opting to tackle him in a hug before he had a chance to react. He seemed surprised but wrapped his arms around you a moment later. You buried your face in his neck and hoped how tight you were holding him could communicate the gratitude you could never say.

"Somebody's enthusiastic," Kol chuckled. You just held on tighter. "Ah! I'm being strangled! Jeremy, she's trying to murder me!"

"Don't act like you don't like it," Your cousin scoffed.

You snickered and Kol shifted your weight easily so he could glare at your cousin over your shoulder. "Load of help you are."

"Thank you, Ko-ol," You whispered. For once, you really truly meant it.

You felt Kol's hands smooth over your back, settling around your waist as he turned his head and pressed a gentle kiss to your temple. "My pleasure, love." He sounded like he meant it too.

"Seriously? Right here? Ugh, just take your turn, Y/N. You guys can make out when I leave," Jeremy grumbled. Your cheeks flared with heat and you let go of Kol, moving back to your seat to take your turn. The game ended a few turns later and Jeremy won, only because he'd stolen your salary card at the last second so you had ended up coming in second. Poor Kol had come in last and suffice it to say, he wasn't too happy about that.

"I still think you cheated," The British boy insisted as he helped clean up the game.

Jeremy shrugged. "You're the one who chose to skip college, man."

"It's his first time playing, give him a break." You had your phone out and let it do the talking.

Your cousin just shook his head with a smile. "Well, guys I gotta go, I've got work tomorrow. This was fun, though."

"We should do it again," Kol agreed.

Jeremy moved over to you and gave you a hug. "Be good," He hissed in your ear. He didn't give you time to smack him before he went for the door. Then he turned to Kol. "Hurt her and I'll kill you."

Kol nodded, a cheeky grin tugging at his lips. "Noted."

Jeremy sent him a thumbs up and you a wink. "Also, keep it down. 'Night!" He closed the door before you could throw anything at him and heaven knows you would have.

You groaned. What was his problem? Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut? He probably thought he was being funny, but he really wasn't. His words just hurt, really because you knew you were hopeless. Kol would never like you that way, no one ever had and no one ever would, least of all him! He was so far out of your league you couldn't even see that far. He was handsome, witty, well-spoken, and British! And what were you? A broken Plain-Jane with speech aphasia who takes glow sticks from parties to make up for the fact that no one asked her to dance. Oh yeah, you had it all going for you.

"So, just you and me now, eh? Whatever will we do to pass the time?" Kol drawled, throwing himself down on the couch beside you. The grin he wore reminded you of a puppy somewhat, full of energy. You gave him your best attempt at a smile in return.

"It's okay, Kol. You can go now, if you want." If you spoke, you were sure your voice would betray what you really felt and you hated crying.

Kol's face fell. "Darling, is everything alright? Did I do something?" He seemed oddly sincere in his question and a tad bit nervous if you were reading him right. You had thought he was just a flirt for the fun of it but maybe… No. Getting your hopes up would only hurt. But Kol reached out and placed a hand on your knee and hope started to creep into your heart without your permission.

"Jer-Jeremy's go-one. You-You don't have to put u-up with-with me any-any-any-m-more." You stuttered and stumbled but perhaps it was better to say this yourself. "I know-ow you o-only h-h-hang out with me be-because of-of him." You looked away, letting your hair fall over your face like a curtain.

"Y/N…" His voice was soft and had you been looking you were sure you would have seen pity drawn across his features. "That's not true."

A bitter laugh escaped you as you shook your head. "D-don't say, uh, that. Don't, um… um… w-what is it? Uh… Don't, uh… Lie. Yeah. Don't lie." That sounded harsher than you meant it to but you could barely get it out at all. "P-pity doesn't h-help me. Don't do it."

"I'm not pitying you," He insisted.

"You-You al-already did. Not-not trying though," You sighed. It was always the same. Everyone thought that they were being helpful or kind but their attempts only served to burn you further. It would be better if they just did nothing at all.

"Y/N, please look at me." His tone was patient but you shook your head, content to hide behind your hair. Apparently, such a response wasn't enough for him. A sharp gasp escaped your lips as Kol's hand trailed higher on your leg. The pressure of his fingertips was all you could register and your eyes shot up to meet his. He watched you with concern and it… it looked real. "I'm not lying to you, darling. Jeremy and I are mates, but that has nothing to do with you and me. What I think of you, how I behave in your presence, that's for me to decide - it has nothing to do with him. If I choose to spend my time with a beautiful girl, it's because I enjoy her company… simple as that."

That wasn't an idea you could comprehend. People didn't enjoy your company, that was just part of your life. You were used to being ignored and pushed away. Anything else didn't make sense.

"No…" You shook your head. "No that's not-" Then it hit you. It hit you like a ton of bricks. Kol had just called you beautiful. The thought gave you pause and you frowned. "I-I'm not pr-retty." You had scars from the accident. They covered your shoulders, neck, chest, and back. Some even crossed your cheeks. They didn't make you beautiful.

Yet, Kol lifted his other hand and brought it up to cradle your face, his thumb brushing along one of those old scars. There was something in his eyes - it was focused and real. "Pretty? No." He smiled. "Gorgeous? Absolutely."

"No-no one else…" You struggled to find the words in your scattered, damaged mind. But as he stroked your cheek, your thoughts were consumed by the warmth that seemed to overtake you. You couldn't stop yourself from leaning into his touch, and when you did, the joy - the excitement - that flickered to life across his face made your heart pound. The guarded quality he always kept melted away, leaving his eyes kind and innocent.

"I think you'll come to find-" He began softly, leaning in closer. His right hand shifted ever so slightly higher and you swallowed deeply as his fingertips tenderly clinched your thigh. "-that I'm quite a bit different from other people you've met."

"Wha-what, um… speaking like?" You shook your head, unable to make sense of it - of him. Everyone always wanted something. What was it that he wanted from you? "How? How dif-different?"

The boy sighed, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Well, for one thing, I understand what it's like to lose a part of yourself," He claimed. You nodded, encouraging him to continue, and with a shaking breath, he did. "Something happened when I was younger and-and I lost the thing that made me… that made me. It-It was just… in a snap -" He snapped his fingers. "- it was gone. Gone and I couldn't have it back."

You could hardly believe it. He understood. He understood. He wasn't lying. In your lifetime of people trying to sugar coat things, you had gotten quite good at spotting a liar. But Kol was telling the truth. You could see it in the hurt contained in his eyes and feel it in the tremble that wracked his hands.

He really did know, and for the first time in so, so long - longer than you could remember - you truly weren't alone. It felt wondrous. And that boy, he leaned in closer to you still.

"I know what it's like to yearn for something you can't have; something just out of reach, so close you can taste it on the tip of your tongue..." Your foreheads were nearly touching and you hadn't realized it until now, but his eyes were fixed on your lips and he was still talking. "So close but you just can't have it and you keep reaching, keep hoping, but every time it dissolves in your grip, a little piece of you dies. And all you want is what's right in front of you…" His voice was so soft, just a dull mutter and you couldn't really hear it - so soft your hearing aids couldn't pick it out. But you could read the words on his lips and feel them in the air he breathed as it ghosted over your face. His eyes were on your lips and his breathing was heavy. It was like a spell and you wanted to kiss him. "So close… but not for you to keep…"

Kol's lips brushed over yours so gently you wouldn't have sensed it had you not been so hyper-aware of him at that moment. Your eyes fluttered closed and though there were butterflies filling your whole being, you felt oddly relaxed. Maybe it was the way he held you - as if you meant something - as if you were something he wanted. The feeling that flooded you then was odd - it was pure and blissful and right, right, right! What was it? You didn't know, you had no word for it.

"What i-is this?" You asked breathlessly. The lack of air was marvelous.

"Something I shouldn't do," He replied, too low for you to hear. You felt the words against your lips, reading them like Braille. And Kol shifted his hands to your waist, squeezing lightly.

"No?" You breathed. He was so close.

His lips nipped at yours just the slightest bit. "I shouldn't…" He shook his head a fraction and nipped again. "I-I shouldn't…" It was almost as if he were fighting something. Your hands moved on their own it seemed and fisted his shirt. It was something to feel - something you could believe in. You didn't know what he was fighting but you wanted this moment to win.

Kol cursed.

"But I want to."

And he was kissing you. He closed the space between you, setting your senses on fire. His lips were soft and warm and the way he moved was so sweet. You gasped against his mouth and he just kissed you harder. The experience was so strange, you had never kissed anyone before but Kol felt so safe. You felt so safe with him. The way he cradled you like you were something to be cherished sent something beautiful burning through your soul. It was real, he was real, he meant it - you knew it. He tangled one hand in your hair, tugging on the roots just a bit because he needed to make sure you were real too. Kol's mouth lingered, but one kiss wasn't enough for him and he was right - it wasn't enough for you either. He came back for more, pressing you closer to him. Each kiss seemed more adoringly hungry than the last. For each time his lips captured yours and for each time he pulled away, you counted:

One… Two… Three…

A quick breath in-

Four… Five…

Kol moaned sweetly, slipping a hand beneath your shirt - just so he could touch your skin. He didn't want anything else at that moment, only you.

Six… Seven… Eight…

He broke away, only for a moment and only so he could speak. You opened your eyes to look at him and he was perfect. He licked his lips. His voice was hoarse and pleading, his breaths ragged -

"Lay back."

And you did. Because Kol was safe. His lips found yours again and he positioned himself over you.

Nine… Ten…

Kol's perfect kisses left your lips, moving lower. Over your jaw, down your throat. He tugged at your shirt to leave a trail of tantalizing bruises along your collar bone and back up. He stopped at your jugular, pressing his lips against your pulse and groaning as if he were in pain… Why was he in pain?

"This wasn't in the plan," He murmured against your neck. "I should stop… I need to stop." Words spoken absently, as if to convince someone else.

You frowned and opened your eyes. "My f-fault?"

"No." He sighed heavily and his grip on your waist tightened. “No, it's not your fault.” With one final, lasting kiss to your lips, he shifted his hold on you and moved over so he could lay by your side. Twirling a strand of your hair around his finger, he smiled at you. "If anything, you're a little too fantastic." You weren’t sure what he meant and for a moment you wished you could read his mind. You wanted to know everything he was thinking.

"I don't see in-inside," You said, frowning. You ran a hand through his hair because you could and to tell him what you meant.

Kol laughed softly. "I'm saying I fancy you, darling.” He slid his hand away from your waist, over your hip, and down your thigh, squeezing carefully - as if asking permission. You shivered but didn’t protest and he repeated the motion over and over. “Was that not obvious?" You blinked, searching his face for any sign of a lie. You couldn’t find one.

"You… like… me?" It was real. He really did. That was more than your brain could process. "Why?"

And Kol just smiled, his sweet grip on your thigh tightening just a little in a way that told you he wanted you to pay attention. "Because you see with more than just your eyes. You look deeper and… you like what you see." He sighed, shaking his head with a laugh that held a ring of pain. "Not many other people do."

"We-we dance," You muttered, nodding. “Per-per-f-form.”

"It gets a little old, doesn't it?" He agreed.

"Yeah."

"You don't have to perform for me," He promised. Kol smiled in that crooked way he always did and brushed a strand of hair behind your ear, pressing a butterfly kiss to your hair. "Come here, darling." He wrapped his arms around you and guided you to rest your head on his chest. It was warm and you could hear his heartbeat and this was all a first for you but it felt like the first of many.

He was so warm and you could have sworn you only closed your eyes for a second…

But when you opened them again, Kol wasn't there, and you knew you'd been fooled. It was ten AM and you were all alone. He hadn't even bothered to say goodbye!

You sighed to yourself as you sat up, burying your face in your hands. You kept your eyes screwed shut to keep the tears at bay but a small sob escaped your lips without your permission. As much as you wished you could shrug it off like you had every time before, you just couldn't, because it was different this time. This time it wasn't just a little scratch on the surface of your heart. This time it was a gouge the size of the Grand Canyon and it hurt like hell. It was different this time because Kol was different - at least, you'd thought he was. For once, you thought someone had actually meant their words to you - he'd had you so convinced. But you'd been wrong about him. He was just like everyone else.

To be honest, you should have known better. Kol was a flirt and he always would be. That was just who he was and maybe he couldn't help it, you thought. Maybe he was still a decent person, maybe he hadn't really meant to hurt you the way he had. After all, the boy had the attention span of an adult child and the impulse control of a-

Nevermind. He had no impulse control.

You just should have known better than to think he'd see something in you worth sticking around for. You were lucky to have gotten what you had from him. Guys like Kol didn't look at girls like you. Sure, you weren't ugly, but you were damaged beyond repair. Just a burden you couldn't expect him to bear.

That didn't make it hurt any less though. The way Kol had kissed, and touched, and held you - it had all seemed so real. But maybe you were just a fool to have believed it. No one had showed interest in you like that before, you should have known better that to think anyone ever would. Kol had been the first, yet you wished you'd never met him because you knew now that he would be the only one. And if he was the only one, then you could be sure you would never forget him. You would never forget his kisses, the gentle way he spoke to you, that playful glimmer in his eyes, the laughter he could coax from you, or the bruises he'd left along your collarbone. Even when those bruises faded, they would leave a sweet pain behind.

Resigning yourself to that fact, you stood and started with your day. You got dressed, made yourself breakfast, washed the dishes, and then checked your phone. You were somewhat surprised to find fourteen missed calls from Jeremy, though you weren't much in a talking mood, so you ignored them.

You really shouldn't have.

Because sometime around eleven-thirty, there was a knock at your door. You ambled over - a little listlessly if you were being honest - and answered it, fully prepared to tell whatever salesman was standing there to go away. The door swung open and your jaw dropped. There, leaning in the doorway, stood Kol. Now, normally that fact alone would have been shocking enough, but that was the least of your worries at the moment.

Because Kol was covered in blood.

"Good morning, darling. How are we today?"

He was smiling at you - beaming really - but his shirt was soaked in crimson, along with his jeans. It almost looked like he'd been laying in a pool of blood. His face seemed slightly ashen and in his shirt, right over his heart, was a large, jagged hole. Like he'd been stabbed. Yet the flesh beneath that hole was completely intact, without so much as a scratch.

"Kol? W-w-wha-what?" Your eyes were wide and you shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts. "W-what ha-ha-happen-end?" You demanded.

"Funny story about that, actually." There was so much blood. Yet he laughed. "Jeremy and I had a bit of a falling out, if you can believe that. One if his other friends stabbed me."

You gaped at him. He shouldn't have been standing. He should've been dead. "Y-you-you can't… You can't be h-here…" You whispered. You wanted to ask how he was still breathing but the words were lost on you.

Kol grimaced, but not as if he were in pain. "Sorry about that disappearing act earlier, darling. I think there's something you should know," He declared. "I haven't been entirely honest with you, and I promise I'll explain everything, but first…" Kol pushed himself off the door frame with a slight groan and stepped forward, placing a hand on your shoulder and trapping you in a vice-like grip. He looked deep into your eyes and you found yourself unable to break free.

"First, you're going to do exactly as I say."

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