NADIA PETROVA

Matt couldn’t remember the last time he felt so carefree. He let his uptight nature disappear for a moment. Matt lifted Nadia up, sitting her on the counter. His hands moved to her neck, his lips fighting hers for dominance. 

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While there was so much uncertainty in everything, this was something that was familiar to the vampire, and it was something she craved above all else. Nadia never bowed for anyone, but for once in her life she relented, and let Matt lead the charge as she rested on the counter. “Did you miss me?”  

“Hmm, let me think.” He said teasingly. “Did it go a little something like this?” He kissed her again before pulling her off the bar stool. The grill was mostly empty by now and it seemed the Bartender had went to the back. He led her away from the dining area, around the corner to the bathroom, and locked the door behind them. He was feeling like a teenager again, and he realized this was exactly what he needed.

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His teasing was enough to drive her up a wall, but this was a game, and it was a game Nadia intended to win. She let him pull her from the bar stool, taking her to the bathroom that he oh so carefully locked behind them, and she couldn’t help but laugh just a little. “Just like this...” she murmured against his lips, moving to pull him closer to her as her fingers moved to twist themselves up in the fabric.  

🃏 ― “I didn’t think,” he spat out in Bulgarian. He was young and foolish and scared. To think would imply he had even the tiniest idea what he was doing, loving Katerina. He didn’t, and it took him years to come to grips with that. And he was still scared, afraid of what loving Nadia would mean, for her and for him. “I failed you both.” An amendment. This girl, whether he held any claim to her as her father, was falling apart in front of him. He reached for her and pulled her against his chest. “I will never forgive myself for that,” he whispered.

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Emotions reaching a fever pitch, what little nerve she had left was ate away as he aired his own anger, though not directed toward her, and only himself. The guilt ridden man in front of her was never what she’d imagined when she’d pictured the man that had walked out on both her and her mother. She’d always imagined he’d left them to the wolves to fend for themselves because he was a coward, because he couldn’t handle the idea of dealing with the consequences of his actions, instead she saw a man who had been just as ravaged by the wolves as they had, and was now crushed under the weight of it all. “Did you ever look back? Even once?” The instant he pulled her to his chest, the tears came flowing hot and fast down her cheeks. She sobbed like a child in the arms of her father, in the arms of a man she’d spent her whole life missing without ever even knowing his name.

Matt had a smile on his lips. His body still close enough to be touching hers. He let out a small laugh. “And is that a good thing?” He asked in a soft whisper.

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“Very very much so.” Teasing the mayor, the vampire laughed gently as she moved closer, closing what little gap remained between them. “Reminds me of Prague... you remember Prague, don’t you, Matty?”

🃏 ― Nikolai could only nod to her question, dark eyes full of pain as she dissected him with her own. It was horrific, watching the switch in her. He could handle her disbelief, even her anger, but this wasn’t that. This was a nightmare. “Oh, skŭpa,” he called her lovingly, his breaking heart manifesting as a tight throat. “I did not want to. Our love was forbidden… I thought I was protecting her. Protecting you.” He hadn’t meant to approach Nadia but he couldn’t stop himself, seeing her so upset. He just gravitated toward his child. “I lost you both, and nothing I did could fix it.”

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“Protecting us by leaving? How? How did you think her father would react? What did you think you think he would do to her? To us? To me?” Tears cracked the surface as he referred to her so lovingly, as he tried to explain away why their stories had ended the way they had, but it all served to nearly push her to the edge, and she could hardly remember to breathe. As he grew closer, she didn’t know whether she wanted to pull him in or push him away, and it only made the whole moment so much harder. “You and my mother were the only people in the world who were supposed to love me for always... and I had to spend over five hundred years without you both...”

He wasn’t surprised by her kiss, they had been flirting the moment they saw each other. His brushed against hers. “I think I’m good.” He whispered with a smirk. His hand went to her cheek as his lips stole another kiss.

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The first kiss was nice, warm and familiar. It made her forget that she’d been dead only hours before, made the memories of her death turn to white noise. and she was grateful for the distraction. His whispered comment made her laugh, though she didn’t have a chance to respond before he took another kiss, a move she was eternally grateful for. “You haven’t changed a bit, Matty...” 

She wasn’t wrong. He shifted in the bar chair, so now his knee brushed against hers. “You need another drink?” He asked, eyes in her. If he was being honest it had been far too long since he felt really alive.

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“I don’t need any more liquid courage, Mayor Donovan...” the vampire chuckled, leaning over and taking the opportunity to take a kiss as she lowered her free hand to his thigh. “Do you?”

🃏 ― Hearing her call him that, it was the final straw. Even if she didn’t believe him. Why would she?  Why should she?  What did it matter, in the end, when they didn’t even know each others names until now. “I was no father to you,” he admitted. “All I wanted.. I had hoped ―” The moment he learned about her and her death, he needed her to return. Nadia, she was beautiful just like her mother. An angel on earth. His hand threatened to rise, to reach out to her, but it fell back to his side, limp. “She will be happy to see you.”

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The vampire felt like she was going to be sick, as the words kept spilling out of him. As a child, it had never been a secret to her that she was someone else’s child. She’d grown up with the idea that she was unwanted hanging over her shoulders, something that only continued after she was married off to a man who couldn’t have loved anyone if he tried. Always unwanted, always unneeded, and she was certain of this until her child had been taken from her, and with the new hollow part of her, she knew her mother had to have loved her, at least a little bit, she’d just never considered her father could care too.  “... Are you truly him?” Her cold exterior melting away to reveal a more fragile interior. “If you’re him... why did you leave her? Why did you leave us? Why did you - why did you leave me?”

🃏 ― “Common, yes, but not here.” He was getting worked up. No, he was starting to bubble over. “What I struggle with is being told that after five hundred years apart.. Katerina had to watch our daughter die.” It wasn’t that he still couldn’t believe it. Everything was adding up, everything was plausible, possible, and very probable… but it hurt. It was like his chest was being pried open. “And now you are here, in front of me.” His lungs fill and empty. Still not enough oxygen to stop him from feeling suffocated. “I know what I have been told.” The stray begging for scraps. 

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The vampire noticed he was getting upset, though she wasn’t quite sure why. Had she touched a nerve asking to know more? Pushed the wrong button perhaps? She didn’t know, not until he started to rant about the commonality of her name here, a fact she found arbitrary, and then everything came out all at once. The story was one she knew well for obvious reason, it was her story, but it wasn’t the story he told that left her cold, it was his choice of words. Our daughter. The rest of it was all white noise, and she simply stared at the man. “My father is dead.”

Matt smirked. “Hmm, why do I like the sound of that.” His grin was devilish. He himself was shocked at his attitude tonight. It had been longer than he could remember when he had done this with someone.

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“Because you know you love it.” Teasing him was as easy as breathing, and if that grin on his face was anything to go by, she was doing a fantastic job at it. Finishing off her drink she set the glass down on the counter. “You may have been a sheriff, but the danger makes you feel alive, Matt.”

“My child is at peace... they deserve to stay that way. I would hope my mother would understand that.”

🃏 ― It couldn’t be. “Nadia, from Bulgaria.” Repeating like he was just taking note. Despite his increase in blood pressure, he was going to act rationally. Test her and the waters because even if he didn’t know what else could explain what was happening, he couldn’t let himself believe it. Not without some kind of proof. “You seek Katherine Pierce.” He stated like he was bored with it ― tone tight and to the point. “You are right, she has no business with the school. She died before it was founded.”

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There was clear confusion in the way he listed her name and her home town. It seemed a bizarre way to react for anyone, most of all a stranger who only knew those two facts about her. “Considering you’re from Bulgaria, I would assume you would know it’s a very common there...” Her skeptisim was more than clear,  and it only continued to grow as he correctly listed her mother’s name, and her fate. She had clearly underestimated the man, and he had made her from a few simple sentences. “And who are you exactly? Because you seem to know an awful lot about me... and I hardly know anything about you, Nikolai.”

“Dangerous? Maybe, but then again maybe I need some danger in my life.” He replied with a shrug. “Reminiscing, huh?” He said with a smirk. “Then night we met, I can’t say I remember it.” He said giving her a playful nudge before taking a drink.

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“I don’t know if you can handle all the danger I can give you, tigŭr.” Teasing the mayor of Mystic Falls, the vampire got a good laugh out of it before nudging the Donovan. “If you’re so forgetful, I’ll simply have to work harder to make you remember.” Grabbing her glass, she took a sip, taking the opportunity to smirk back at her dinner date.

A smirk crept onto his face. “You can have a drink, or two, or whatever you want.” Matt round himself flirting with the woman. He put a hand on her back as they walked the short distance to the grill. It was pretty empty right now, only one other person sat at the far end of the bar. Matt ordered himself a bourbon and told the bartender to get Nadia whatever she wanted.

.”Anything I want? I would be careful, Mayor Donovan, those are some dangerous words...” she chuckled, leaving her hand on his cheek as she turned and ordered her drink from the bartender. Winking at the bartender before turning back to Matt, her other hand propping up her chin, she thought back to when they’d first met, though last time he wasn’t alone. “Reminds me a lot of when we first met... though the bar was a bit different, and much busier...”

Matt smiled softly at her touch, but then the corners of his mouth turned to a slight frown. “Yeah, she is. She’ll probably want to see you.” He said. “But for now, how about I treat you to some food and drink or two? A little welcome back celebration. Unless, you want to see Katherine now. Then I can take you to her.” Matt knew where all the undead where staying.

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The vampire considered his offer, the smallest hint of a smile returning to her face at his confirmation and her offer. As badly as she wanted to see her mother that instant, she knew some liquid courage before wouldn’t hurt, and the company was possibly better depending on her mother’s current temperament. “I wouldn’t say no to a drink... or two...” A gentle smirk took over her lips as she leaned in to whisper “And maybe some.... dessert?”