mims

Your arms maximised their strength as you finally got a hold of the balcony’s flooring. You tightly wrapped a hand around the railing, then the other, and lifted yourself over, before landing safely on the tiles. If the struggle in the climb wasn’t embarrassing enough, the slow claps you heard from below were definitely humiliating.

“Oh love, you amuse me!” Oh Niklaus, perfect timing. “But don’t stress, it wasn’t filmed!” he shouted, an obvious chuckle concealing itself within his throat. “By me, anyway…”

His words made your cheeks burn brighter than they had from your lack of oxygen. If he had seen it, there was no doubt that his siblings weren’t there to witness it too. You just hoped it wasn’t Kol who had filmed it, sometimes his playfulness went too far.

When you had finally gotten up from the floor, Niklaus was already leant against the door frame, a glass of wine in hand and a smile gracing his pretty, pink lips. His head was tilted, eyes in awe of you, and eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Now, I know how much you despise being filmed, so I ordered Kol to delete it before you could cry,” he teased, his eyes leaving your figure to look at the uninteresting door frame beside him. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he loved to show his tenderness towards you with little acts of service.

“Thank you, Nik,” you told him. The corners of his lips raised at your words, and you brought your body closer to his for an embrace. "I appreciate it, really.”

Niklaus smiled down at you, his eyebrows now relaxed and cheeks full of pink. “No worries, love.” It was that pet name – the one you could never find yourself getting used to. The way it rolled off his tongue was melodic, and you wished for it to be the last song you were to ever hear.

“But…” he paused. He lowered his head to yours, his smile faded from his lips. “You shouldn’t be here.” You knew this – with the Salvatores coming in and out of the Mikaelson’s mansion, it wasn’t safe for you. They would never accept your tangle with the enemy.

If only your friends hadn’t gotten into trouble with Niklaus’ family, you could’ve openly expressed your affections with the hybrid. “I know, I just…” you huffed, “I just wanted to see you.”

If Niklaus could possibly be any more in awe of you, he would crumble to his knees. As his tenderness is to you, he found your sentiments profoundly beautiful. To someone such as himself, Niklaus never would’ve thought to hear words so simple yet so meaningful. In the few days he’d dealt with unnecessary drama, your humble words brought a warmth to his heart.

“Well,” he smiled, a blush on his cheeks. “Since you’re already here, I suggest you join us in a Mikaelson family dinner?”

He noticed the way your eyebrow slightly raised in uncertainty, and he chuckled. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing fancy, my love.” Then, he took your hand and lead you to the kitchen, where his other siblings already surrounded, preparing for dinner.

When Kol turned to you, a smirk raised onto his lips, a shiver of annoyance rose your spine. “Oh, is our little climber joining us for dinner?”

The next morning, you were ordered to stay away from the mansion – courtesy from Niklaus himself. He and his siblings had planned a meeting in order with the Salvatores and wanted you to have no part in it. So instead, you and Elena spent the day at the Grill.

“Ugh, Caroline isn’t answering my messages,” Elena groaned as she threw her phone to the table. The loud clank of the two objects connecting drew the attention of surrounding patrons and the brunette blushed in embarrassment. “It’s not like her…” she elaborated in a quieter tone.

It’s true. Caroline might’ve been an individual who had every second of her day calculated for her future, but still, she always had time to update her friends in her endeavours.

“Maybe she just got caught up in something?” you assumed with a shrug. Although you completely believed your idea, Elena wasn’t convinced. With the never-ending happenings between your friendship group and the Mikaelsons, she believed that they had something to do with it.

“I don’t know, she was supposed to meet up with Stefan today…” she began, an unevenness in her tone. She noticeably drifted her eyes to something behind you before she quickly flicked them back, an uneasy smile now evident on her cheeks. Her expression was odd: it was clear she had something to say, but before you could ask, footsteps travelled behind you and a voice spoke.

“Ladies,” the familiarity in tone made you smile. Niklaus. “Fancy seeing you here, have you seen the lovely Caroline? She has something she owes me,” he spoke.

Huh, the meeting was quick, you thought but disregarded. Instead, a tease crossed your mind, and you turned to the man, an act of annoyance on your face. “Can’t you see we’re busy, Klaus? Besides, if we knew where she was, we wouldn’t tell you anyway.”

He smirked your way before turning to an overly confident Elena. “Ahh…” he played amusingly. “I did miss that witty tongue,” he praised with an eyebrow raised in hilarity. Then, he turned back to you, “care to share it with me?”

The gross joke almost made you puke in your mouth, and you had to hold yourself back from playfully hitting your boyfriend. “You’re disgusting.”

“But you love it, don’t you, love?” he continued to play.

Elena scoffed at his amusement and rolled her eyes. The scene that unfolded was utterly gross to the brunette. If her enemy and best friend got together, she would just break down. “Klaus, why don’t you leave?” the annoyance spat from her tongue.

“Oh, but the fun is just starting...”

The statement made you raise an eyebrow, and you acted a scoff, “no offence, Klaus, but I’m surprised you haven’t got the memo yet: I don’t like you.”

The hybrid only laughed, “oh, do you now?”

After the short interaction with your boyfriend, he left to the mansion and Elena went to visit the Salvatore boarding house to look for Caroline. So, for the rest of the evening, you entertained yourself at the Grill with little simulation games on your phone. It was about half passed six when you received a message from Niklaus.

A date in the forest. I’ll pick you up.

Love, yours

It wasn’t long before Niklaus picked you up and took you to a mountain that overlooked the town. It was a special place of yours – the location in which you met. Whenever you both needed a breath of fresh air, you’d drive one another back to the mountain for a breather. It was your favourite activity together.

“Remember when we met?” you asked Niklaus.

You were stood on a tree root that flared a bit from the ground, your boyfriend behind you in case you were to fall. He was grateful you couldn’t see his face because he blushed. The thought of reminiscing about your meeting was embarrassing.

“Let’s not…”

You cheekily giggled and looked to the star-filled sky. “I was drawing the forest and you tried to compel me!” you laughed. “What was it you said? Um…” you paused to think, a hand on your chin to emphasise. “Oh! You tried to compel me into telling you information about a dark object!”

Niklaus wished he could control his hearing and block you out, but as much as he was so tempted to learn, he loved hearing your laugh. “Yes, I admit it was dumb to ask a stranger…”

“A stranger who had their mother put vervain in their coffee every morning! I laughed in your face!” you included as you turned to him with open arms. He understood your idea and pulled you into an embrace. Into his neck, you breathed in the scent of his cologne before you sighed, “I’m so glad you didn’t snap my neck.”

He smiled into your hair, “yeah, well… You made it so difficult to do so.”

You pulled your head back from his neck to look at him. With a cheeky squint, you joked, “are you saying the Niklaus Mikaelson was soft on a stranger he just met?” Those words got his eyes rolling and he playfully pushed you back and began to walk away.

“I’m going home!” he declared, a teasing tone in his voice.

You stalked beside him, a mischievous smile gracing your lips. “Oh, come on Niklaus! I was just teasing…” you laughed, and he smiled away from you.

For a moment, he paused his steps and turned to look at you; and with a gentle smile, he said, “as much as I enjoy your taunting, love. I should really get you home.”

The gesture in itself was endearing, but his included raise of an eyebrow and slight smile almost had you crumbling to your knees. So, with a mirrored expression, you grabbed a hold of his hand and stepped forward. But the abrupt movement had you lurching forward in agony.

A loud clamp echoed through the forest. At your feet, a pain struck your ankle. Niklaus was by your side in an instant. The pain was unbearable. It felt like spikes had lunged themselves into your skin. If you could bear to open your eyes, you were so sure that you were caught in a beartrap.

“Nik, it hurts!” you cried out. A shaky breath left your throat.

Niklaus couldn’t bear to see you in agony. His eyebrows scrunched at the smell of your blood. “Don’t open your eyes, love.”

You could hear as he pulled his phone from his pocket to call Elijah, and you wanted nothing more than to cry. The chirping of crickets and the faint beeping from the trap overstimulated your senses. Everything had been so peaceful that night until this very moment.

“Nik, this beeping is annoying!”

What beeping? He thought. The man had to perk his ears open and focus on the noise. Although it wasn’t far away, your shaky breaths invaded his senses, and he couldn’t focus.

Then, he finally heard it. A faint beep beep beep coming from the trap. He pulled himself onto his knees and dug around the dirt. There was a dim green light blinking on the edge of the metal. Beside it, in large font, ‘SALVATORE.’

Great, he thought. It was the name he despised the most after his father’s. Your friends, but his enemies. His head burnt in annoyance and his face scrunched in anger. If you didn’t open your eyes from his silence, you would’ve missed the way his eyes shone a gold.

“What is it, Nik?” you asked him. You couldn’t bear to look down.

He shook his head. He couldn’t bring himself to tell you. “Nothing, love. Let’s just wait for Elijah…” there was an emptiness in his words; like he had to hide something from you, but you didn’t bother to question it. Instead, you gave him an insincere nod and admired the trees to take your mind off the pain.

You wanted to ask for some pain relief, but his mind seemed preoccupied. He was watching the forest in silent rage. You only had to endure the pain a little longer, Elijah was coming, but the blood that dripped from your leg was slowly draining you. It was getting much harder to bear.

“Nik,” you whispered. Your eyes began to droop closed and your breath heaved. The sweat that dripped down your skin added to your over-sensory. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?”

Your words disgusted the hybrid, and although you couldn’t see it, he shook his head. “You’re not going to die, I won’t let you,” he assured. You heard the chomp of his fangs against his skin before he pulled your head back and slipped his wrist into your mouth. “Drink up.”

The metallic taste sunk into your tongue. It wasn’t pleasing but the pain began to subside. At last, it became more bearable, and you peeled your eyes open. Niklaus was staring down at you in concern, his eyebrows scrunched, and mouth gapped open.

When you pulled away from his wrist, he gave you a soft smile and wiped the remaining red from your lips. Then, there was a crunch behind you: a snap of a branch. Niklaus stood, his eyes glowed gold again.

“Who’s there?” he shouted. Another crunch and a whoosh of wind. “Come out, now!” he demanded.

Then, another whoosh. Running footsteps approached. There was a flashlight behind the trees that threatened to blare through the leaves and into your eyes. Niklaus blocked your view.

“Come out or…” he was interrupted.

A familiar voice called out. Elena. You let out a sigh. At least it wasn’t a murderous vampire.

When she had finally come into view, followed by Caroline and the Salvatore brothers, you didn’t expect faces of irritation. Damon in particular had an obvious scowl of annoyance. They turned to Niklaus.

“What did you do?” Elena glared at him; a pink of frustration rose onto her cheeks. “That was meant for you!”

It was only then, that you noticed your proximity with the Salvatore Boarding House. The trap must’ve been one of theirs. Stefan tapped his girlfriend to calm down before he stepped forwards. “What she meant was: we’re going to help our friend out, and you’re going to let us,” he smiled insincerely.

Niklaus scoffed in disbelief. The confidence is overbearing, he thought. But still, he moved aside and let the Salvatores manage your situation. As long as they released you from your restraints, he was willing to hold back his psychotic tendencies.

He watched as they clamped the metal chain with bolt cutters and disabled to trap. The light on the metal turned a red and your foot was finally unclasped from its lock. Niklaus couldn’t withhold a grateful smile. You were finally fine.

His eyes roamed your face for any sign of discomfort, but you sustained a grin. The pain was still there, but you were relieved to be freed. Niklaus was relieved too. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he let you stay trapped any longer. He was definitely going to have a word with Elijah about his swiftness.

Niklaus stood by as your friends ensured your safety, but he was slowly growing inpatient. He still had to take you home, your mother couldn’t keep waiting. But when he came to speak, he noticed Damon closing into you, his wrist out for you to drink from.

A fire burnt in Niklaus. He had already let the Salvatore be the knight in shining armour: he couldn’t have you drinking from him too. So, in a quick movement, he rushed by your side and pushed Damon away.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he spat, his arm snaked around your waist.

The group looked at him in doubt and Elena was first to fight, “let go, Klaus.” He shook his head. Elena felt insulted. She wasn’t about to leave her friend in pain. “I said let go.”

Your boyfriend only laughed. He would never listen to a human’s orders – unless they were yours, of course. You felt your body tense at the group’s more serious expressions. They weren’t going to let him disrespect your needs.

“Let us heal our friend,” Stefan argued. There was a flame in his eyes. There was no doubt he would’ve pounced if Niklaus did something reckless. But you trusted your boyfriend, and he would never put you at risk like that.

“No,” Niklaus smiled. He threw his wrist in their face for dramatic effect before he tore into his own skin and offered you to drink. You took it. In front of your friends, you drank the enemy’s blood, and Caroline wanted to puke.

“That’s disgusting,” she expressed, her nose flared in discomfort.

Niklaus only tilted his head in amusement and watched as you wiped the blood from your mouth. “Thanks, Nik,” you acknowledged before you stood and dusted the dirt from your knees. He followed after you.

“Nik? We’re giving the Mikaelson’s nicknames now?” If Caroline’s mouth fell any wider, thousands of bugs would’ve flown into her throat. She was surprised you were in the forest with him in the first place, and now you were shortening his name. It was something she never wanted to witness.

But her words raised a cheeky smile onto your lips, and you scrunched your eyebrows in sarcastic confusion. “The Mikaelsons?” you asked, misleadingly. “I don’t recall having nicknames for all of them…”

In unison, their eyebrows raised; a sight that made you want to crack a laugh. “If anything, I only recall renaming my boyfriend…”

So, as a way to protect you, he drove you away from New Orleans whenever a rival got too close. For most of the times, you would disappear from three days to a week, but for one particular enemy, Kol drove you away from his family for a month.

He stayed behind with his siblings to come up with strategies to defeat their enemy whilst you stayed in Mystical Falls; working in the Grill to keep you from starving. Of course, Kol had showed the courtesy in paying for your living expenses, but he had forgotten to give you a few extra bucks for food.

You were grateful to say the least, he had kept you safe and even paid for your rent, but working at the Grill was probably one of the worst things you had to endure.

“Throw us a glass of bourbon, would ‘ya miss?” A man whistled from across the bar. From the way his hair began to grey, it seemed that he should’ve been at home taking care of his kids.

With a roll of your eyes, you pulled a glass from under the shelves and poured a cup in front of him. “A little politeness would be appreciated,” you smiled without sincerity before turning to aid other customers with their orders.

“How about I show you some politeness?” Another man chuckled from beside him. “In bed.” Behind you, a clink of two glasses sounded as if the two men had cheered for their disgusting behaviour.

But as you were about to remark, another voice spoke. “Old men, that is no way to treat a lady.” The voice was one you had associated with the love of your life.

“Especially my girlfriend,” he continued as his footsteps closed in. Leaning forward, he comfortably rested his forearms against the wood of the bar and turned to the two men. “Hurry along then,” he playfully sung, “or I’ll make sure you…”

Quickly, you spun around from helping a customer and gave your boyfriend a knowing look. “That’s enough, Kol,” you faced the men. “Gentlemen, why don’t you move along? You had quite a few drinks for the night.”

The last thing they wanted to do was listen to you, but the scowl on Kol’s face was enough to have them scattering away. So, with a smile, you pulled a bottle of whiskey and clean glass from under the bar before pouring a cup.

“In celebration for continuing to be the best boyfriend ever: a glass of whiskey.” You pushed the cup towards him and he took a sip.

When the glass hit the wood again, an enchanting smirk played onto his lips, and you couldn’t help but blush at the sight. Your bright cheeks weren’t hard to miss.

“Glad to see that you miss me,” he teased, accompanied with a playful wink.

You rolled your eyes for the billionth time that night. “Who told you that?” You scoffed. You believed he would’ve provoked you with a ‘your mum’ joke – something he had learnt of from you, recently.

But instead, his smirk widened, “so you admit it: you miss me?” His head tilted charmingly. If you could tease back, you would’ve, but the familiar sparkle in his eyes made you weak, and you blushed again.

“As a matter of fact,” you glanced at his lips. “I do.”

The way her smile stayed stiff as she stared at you, gave the impression that there wasn’t much a choice. So, you stood from the medical furniture and followed her steps, her hand still tightly wrapped around your forearm. But you could barely take five steps forward when a voice rang out from behind.

“Where are you taking her?” It was rushed, like the man was worried. Thomas, whom now stood from the medical bed he had been examined on, took a few steps forward. “What are you doing?”

You didn’t bother to turn to the boy, and instead, used the doctor’s distraction to search her eyes for any clue of her hidden intentions. But as she sent Thomas the same bogus smile she gave you earlier, her iris’ remained blank: like she already had her life drained out of her.

Her smile moved the wrinkles beneath her dark eye bags. “Just doing more examinations, Thomas,” venom dripped from her tone and her voice was slightly creepier than before. “Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.”

Then, she tugged at your arm again, and lead you down hallways and turns before she stopped at a steel door. On the metal, was a ripped note that read ‘Subject A27’. You were curious as to what that meant. But before you could ask, the doctor had released her arm from you and pushed you inside; leaving you in the dark, alone.

You were nearly knocked over your feet, but quickly regained your balance when you held your arms out. The room was black, you couldn’t see anything. This wasn’t an examination. If anything, it felt like you were being watched. So, fearfully, you kept your eyes and mouth closed. At least, if anything was going to pop out and scare you in the dark, you wouldn’t be able to see them.

A sound of a squeaking mic screeched against your eardrums, and then a cough. Then, under your closed eyelids, a peak of light threatened to spill your eyes open. But you kept them closed, afraid of what may have stood ahead.

“Open your eyes, darling,” a voice spoke. It was ruffled and loud, like it had come from a speaker. So curiously, you peeled your eyelids open.

First in your view, was the large mirror that sat on the wall across from you; beside it, was a locked door. Although the reflection of yourself was clear, it was obvious that it was a two-way mirror. If it hadn’t clicked to you, the voice that spoke through the speaker probably would’ve laughed at you; it was obvious that they were watching you from the other side.

“Perfect, now sit down,” the voice spoke again. It’s accent was something of English – perhaps Irish. But you weren’t too sure, your memory was fooling you.

But it was the voice that brought you to realisation of the singular steel table and chair ahead of you. You decided to follow the command as you felt your legs shake beneath you. So carefully, you scanned the room again, and sat onto the cold metal.

You crossed your arms in front of you, and the voice spoke again. But this time, not a command – more like a scientific tag. “Maze A, Subject A27: Unnamed.”

It made your ears perk and your hair stand. You were Subject A27. So they had been watching you – this was another test. You had to run and tell Thomas, but your body couldn’t move.

A flip of a page echoed through the speakers and then another sigh. Whoever this was, they seemed to be disappointed with everything that went on with their life. You could imagine a dishevelled man in a white coat, slouched over a table in the other room.

“Oxytocin levels: extremely high,” the tone in his voice made it seem like he had been reading disappointing information. “Dopamine levels: extremely high,” he sighed again, “even erasing your memory didn’t affect these levels.”

They didn’t let you question anything before they spoke again. “Do you know what this means?” The question was dumb, of course you didn’t know what it meant. You shook your head.

“We examined your brain patterns before you entered the Maze. They were so absurd that we thought to create the Swipe, in hopes that your erasure of memories would affect your levels of euphoria, and prove our methods for the cure more effective. It appears that isn’t the case.”

He went on to explain what he believed was the cause of the spikes in your hormones: Thomas. He had noticed that your levels in oxytocin and dopamine would only spike whenever you interacted with the boy.

“So what if I like Thomas? How does that affect your experiments, and what makes you think that I wouldn’t tell the guys about what you do after this?”

“Because Swipe trial 2,” he went to speak, but before he could fulfil your curiosities on the subject, the door behind you swung wide open.

“We gotta go! We gotta go!” Thomas yelled as he grabbed your arm.

He pulled you out of the room, and gestured to Minho, whom held a long, thick wooden plank in hand, ready to block the door behind you. Quickly, the black haired man placed the plank in the wedges of the steel door knob, before running down the hallway, the rest of Maze A on his trail.

They all held panicked expressions on their faces as they ran passed you, their arms swung by their side with every step. They were running from something but you weren’t so sure what. So in fear, you began to trail behind them when a hand held you back.

You turned to face the owner; Thomas. His lips were parted and eyebrows slightly furrowed. A cute and familiar expression of his.

“What’s wrong? Why aren’t we running?” You asked him. You briefly looked at his hand that still held arm and he took it as a sign to let go.

“We overheard,” he told you, “if WCKD is as bad as he made it seem, we need to get out of here as soon as we can,” he explained. His hands shook by his side and he licked his lips; he was nervous.

“So we should get going, right?” You asked him, nodding at your own question. Time was ticking as the both of you conversed and you were worried the guards might catch up.

“Yeah, but wait,” he stuttered. He took a long blink, then some fast ones. He momentarily looked behind himself before turning back to you. His lips parted then closed. He was hesitant on saying something, and you were determined to get it out of him.

“Thomas, we don’t have long so whatever you need to say, spit it out.”

Then, he closed his eyes and clenched his fists. What he said made you want to laugh. “Do you like me?” The way he barely squeaked it out was so out of character of him and it made you want to pinch his cheeks.

But the blush that slowly rose onto your skin swallowed you, and you froze in spot. If it wasn’t for your stiff joints, you would’ve given him a bold kiss from the way he looked at you now. You internally thanked the universe that you didn’t; that would’ve been embarrassing.

At least your mouth moved, except you wished it didn’t. “Yeah…” you answered his question, but it came out as a stutter and you almost punched yourself from embarrassment.

“That’s good…” the hallway was silent for a moment. He hadn’t said it back. Perhaps he didn’t feel the same way. The thought of that made your heart ache.

“Maybe we should go,” you suggested, pointing down the lane behind you, and Thomas nodded. Maybe running would distract you.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re probably right.”

So with an indecent smile, you turned and began to follow Minho’s trail, Thomas closely followed behind. Your arms swung in perfect form as you followed the muddy shoe prints on the floors.

But behind you, Thomas’ hands shook by his side as he ran. He hadn’t told you how he felt yet, and he wanted to do it in the boldest way possible. He wanted to kiss you, like you did him, but he was hesitant. What if he was a bad kisser?

Yet, he let his arms control him and he pulled you back. The movement was rushed and you had to hold onto his chest to stop yourself from falling over. It only took you seconds to realise how close you were. You were leaned into him, your chest against his and his face hovering over yours. His breath softly fanned against your lips.

It was as if his character had switched in an instant. “Hey,” he chuckled charmingly. His smile made you weak in the knees – Thomas never failed to make you weak in the knees. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

You could only fawn and slowly nod before he pulled you in and pressed his lips against yours. Firmly yet delicately, he meld his lips with yours passionately. In a short kiss, it felt like he took his time exploring yours as he dipped his nose to meet your cheek with every smack of your lips.

When you’d pulled away, you almost wanted to go at it again but a voice yelled from behind you. “Stop bloody kissing and let’s get out of here!”

He told you it was behind the woods: a clear path of nice green grass and beautiful orchids, and only a half an hour human walk; only, it had been an hour. He had offered to carry and vamp speed you to the place, but you’d been determined to walk on your own. If only you had accepted the offer, you’d already be at the field, and clean of all the dirt that washed onto your clothes. But due to the embarrassment from your previous stubborn declares, you followed behind the man without any words.

Ahead, Niklaus had begun to climb a high step of rocks, his arms out and ready to steady himself. Beneath his shoes, the rocks crumbled and cracked as he lifted himself. But as he had almost completed the step, his back leg gave out and he slipped.

Falling to the ground with a plat, his hands fell above his head and planted on the hard pebbles, and it would’ve made you laugh if you hadn’t noticed the small cuts that slowly began to heal around his arms as he stood up.

“Would it kill you to be more careful?” You hissed at him. Although he had incredibly fast healing, it still worried you whenever he got hurt.

“No,” he shrugged off, after brushing away the dirt from his jeans. Fixing his posture, he went ahead again and lead you further.

In a few minutes, Niklaus stopped by an empty field of grass. Moving carefully from behind him, you stood beside and admired the plain. Although it wasn’t as Niklaus had described, the field was beautifully littered in forest green grass beneath the dimming light of the sun. The landscape was heavenly, but judging by the way Nik frowned, he wasn’t amused.

“This is supposed to be it,” he blinked, looking around. He was annoyed. He had talked the place up for months, eager to show you once he had dealt with his issues, but the orchids were gone, and his plans had been messed up.

You looked up at him, “it’s okay.” He wasn’t convinced. He should’ve checked it before he had made you walk an agonising hour.

“No, it’s not. I wanted to show you how the orchids…”

The frown he held staked you straight in the heart. Niklaus was never one to show his vulnerability, but he was too upset at himself for possibly disappointing you.

So, you had cut his words, “Will you dance with me?”

You hoped your gesture would cheer him up. So, with a hand held out, you took his and dragged him further into the field. You pulled your phone from your pocket before typing in Niklaus’ favourite classical song.

But as you went to play the song, you paused. Niklaus hasn’t answered your question. A smile spread on your face and you lifted your head to meet his eyes.

Slowly, you asked him again, “Will you dance with me?”

Although he was still troubled, his iconic smirk lifted onto his face and he nodded. He could never pass an opportunity to dance with you. “For you love, anything.”

Then, with the press of a button, you played the song and put your phone in your pocket. Pulling you in, Niklaus held you by the waist and put his chin on your head. He swayed you both to the music. Peacefully, you danced in tandem.

“It was supposed to be a beautiful night,” he told you quietly. His cheek moved to rest on your temple.

“It is, Niklaus.”

“No,” he fought back. As grateful as you were to the beautiful view, Niklaus expected much more from the flowers that used to roam the field.

He pulled himself away from you and looked into your eyes. “We were supposed to pick some orchids and make a bouquet,” he softly smiled. His hands gently held onto your cheeks as he moved your hair that threatened to fall by your face.

“and in midst of that,” the wind blew a chill to your skin, “I was to put a flower behind your ear and tell you how much I fancy you.”

His words made you take a long blink. Niklaus did everything, but he never once seemed to show you some bit of interest. It was either your obliviousness or his subtle flirtations. Rebekah was convinced it was the former.

“And so, I say this with my whole heart,” he continued, his thumb caressed your cheek. “I believe I have been keeping a very important secret from you, love.” It was that pet name that always opened the cage of butterflies in your stomach.

He tilted his head and admired your features with a smile. The pause of his words made your heart pump faster, and Niklaus chuckled at the sound of it. You were eager to hear his thoughts.

“You what?” You stuttered from your anxiousness. Niklaus chuckled again.

“I like you.”

His voice was as soft as the calm wind that blew by your face. With the coming night, the sun began to dim behind Niklaus, and you could barely see the usual bright glow of his blue eyes. But still, the shadows casted perfectly around his features and his smile wasn’t unnoticed.

To Niklaus, your hair kindly flew in the air behind you, and the dimming of the night illuminated your best features. The way your eyes sparkled never failed to make him weak in the knees, and neither did your words.

Since the invasion by corrupted witches into your home, you were left an orphan, and it wasn’t long before you came across a famous Original vampire. Elijah Mikaelson, whom gave you his word to protect you with all he had, also gave you a home – another family. Back then, you were merely nine years old. And since, you’d been taught every martial art known to man – not that it really came in handy considering you’d been guarded every second of your life. Elijah wanted you to learn as a precaution.

Wherever you went, one of them had to come along. Even at school, whether it be Kol, Rebekah, or even Klaus himself, Elijah promised to never leave your perimeters unprotected. But one day, the family had made a mistake – they left their guard down and invited a pawn of the enemies’ into their home. You were taken and Elijah never let himself live it down.

Of course, it wasn’t long before they found you; will is a strong thing. But that one mistake left Elijah paranoid. No matter how much you tried to convince him of your strength and capability to look after yourself, he wasn’t convinced. Even if you shared the most atrocious words with the enemy as if you shared the surname of the Mikaelson’s, Elijah thought it to be foolish, and made you promise your detachment to their disputes. No matter how strong he thought you were as a human, you were nothing compared to a supernatural.  

You knew it was his way to keep his word in protecting you, but you couldn’t help but feel underestimated. Rebekah promised you that it was his nobility that kept him stubborn. Sometimes, she believed you to inherit his stubbornness as if you were actually his own. Because once, even after one of Elijah’s lectures about your safety, you and Kol still snuck out of your home to investigate the reasons to your blood family’s death.

You were obviously caught a half an hour later. Elijah’s timing was impeccable, and Rebekah, who was too concerned about your safety, couldn’t sit back and watch as Kol snuck you out the back of the Mikaelson’s property. You’d learnt that the investigation was a waste of time anyway, for your father figure had already known the chain of events that lead to your family’s death. He told you the reasons were too hard to bear for a mere thirteen-year-old. You trusted him and gave your word to back off until he thought you were old enough.

Spoiler alert: you were never old enough. Even as an eighteen-year-old, he wished to never tell you the truth of your family. So as his compensation for not giving into your curiosities, he finally backed off his overprotectiveness and allowed you to sneak out with Kol every night.  

Even as Kol hid you behind the bushes as he searched the outside premises for any prying eyes, Elijah pretended not to notice – often, his disguise was sleep. And when he heard his brother’s voice declare the clear, he stood and watched through the window as Kol picked you up and sped you to wherever you wished to go.

Kol sat beside you at the bar, a drink in hand as his eyes gazed over the crowd for any potential blood bags. A smirk played on his lips. His eyebrows were furrowed as if he’d been picky of his next meal. But known by everyone, he had never been so; food was food. And in that moment, all he had been doing was mask the butterflies that fluttered in his stomach as you stared at him.

You, obviously, didn’t know of that. You’d been convinced of a little change in Kol and his sudden interest in a good blood diet. “If you must know, my blood type is red,” you told him, a joking smile on your lips. You finally pried your eyes away from his face and his stomach settled.

“I know, darling,” was all he said before he took another sip of his drink.

You coughed. “Well, if you must know, it also pains me that you won’t take my offer,” you admitted, and he peered at you. He didn’t miss the way your eyelids fluttered down for a second before landing on the crowd once again.

He sighed. You had told him of your wish before: you wanted to experience the feeling of being drank from, but he didn’t want to hurt you. Never in a million years. “I can’t drink from you love,” he told you and you looked at him, an idea blinked in your head.

“How about from a glass then?”

Your little schemes with Kol landed you a good spot in his heart and it wasn’t long before he began to kneel at every word that fell from your lips. So often, he was by your side annoying you out of your days. Together, you continued your little schemes and time and time again, you found yourselves causing little mischiefs with random couples at the bar.

But once you hit twenty, the schemes became boring and all you wanted to do was stay home, relax, and hang with your Mikaelson family. But relaxing was always an issue with them for the household always had disputes with the whole of New Orleans. You’d learnt that they were cursed with their rising anger over the years; so, one day, when you were feeling nostalgic, you ran into Rebekah’s room and convinced her to throw a little get-together.

“Honey, please be a darl’ and put this over there,” she told you as she handed you the empty esky.

It was the same day you convinced her to throw the gathering – only, a few hours later (you ran into her room at 2 in the morning). The two of you decided to bring the party to yours and Rebekah’s shared home you had bought earlier in the year when you’d begun to get tired of the boys’ riffraff. You decided the location was suitable for the get-together as Freya had cast a cloaking spell around the house right after your purchase, just in case if the boys wanted to disturb you further. It was the perfect place for an enemy-free zone. You just had to ask Freya to cast the spell down for a few minutes to let the boys in.  

After you’d put the esky beside the grey cushioned couch, the door flung open and Kol stood outside of it. He stood still with a smile on his face, “well, are you going to be a darl’ and let me in, or are you going to just stand there and be pretty?”

His compliment made your heart flutter; you almost wanted to tease him. But as far as you and Rebekah had set up, the place was still too organised for a Mikaelson ‘bonding’ time. So you invited him in and he assisted you with filling the esky up.

Once three eskies had been full of alcohol, and Rebekah had set the snacks on the coffee table, it wasn’t long until the famous duo of the family trudged through the front door with more snacks and drinks in hand. With no surprise, Elijah arrived in his familiar attire of a formal suit whilst Klaus wore a tight-fitted grey shirt and plain jeans. Freya and Finn were a no-show as they went out of the city for business.

The time was spent just talking amongst each other as you drank the night away before Rebekah came up with the idea to place Truth, Dare, or Drink. You had to disagree with the notion as the game had a history of turning for the worst, but it was four against one and you had to play. So for the game, you moved from your original spot on the floor and sat on one of the couches, in between Kol and Elijah.

Then, it began. The person to ask the first question was Rebekah since she requested the game. She asked Klaus the first question and it wasn’t long before the male got tipsy. For the rest of the game, Niklaus always seemed to be at the receiving end of disgusting and controversial dares and truths, before he decided to eventually take a nap beside his sister.

“I’m afraid I may have asked too many questions,” Rebekah joked as she caressed her older brother’s blond curls. “Shall we continue?”

And continue, you all did. But this time, Elijah was at the receiving end of the ridiculous truths and dares, and unlike Klaus, he had no secrets to tell and no reputation to uphold. He practically stayed sober that night.

“How would you feel to answer a question?” Elijah smiled at you as he pulled a stray hair behind your ear. You smiled in response and nodded. “Truth, dare or drink, my dear?”

“Truth,” you answered, and the older male smirked. In his eyes, you saw a glimpse of light where an idea was formed. As if he contemplated his decisions, he pulled his bottom lip between his teeth for a second, before he took a deep breath.

“Have you caught feelings for my brother?” He asked you, an eyebrow raised in a curious manner. He had been meaning to ask the question for months but never found the chance to.  

“I…” you stuttered. His curious gaze had you tear yours away from his. It felt as if the air was getting thinner, and you weren't too sure what to say.  “I guess Klaus is okay,” you told him, shakingly. You hadn’t answered the question properly and Elijah was peeved.  

“You know well that’s not whom I speak of,” he told you, tilting his head to catch your lowered gaze. “I meant Kol.” His voice was hard – set in stone, he was so determined to get you to answer. If only you hadn’t answered the question in the first place, you wouldn’t have gotten in the situation.

Beside you, Kol smirked and gave his brother a thankful nod, but Elijah merely kept his strict façade and didn’t react to his younger brother’s gestures. Although Elijah wanted you to be happy, he wished Kol wasn’t at the interest of it. Out of everyone in the world, he wished Kol wasn’t in the top three for the causes of your happiness. He loved his brother, but he didn’t like the fact that you loved his brother.  

With a hesitant nod, and your voice shaken, you told him, “Yes, I like Kol.” The couch against your back was suddenly the most comfortable piece of furniture you’d ever sat on, and you wanted nothing more but to be swallowed whole by it.

Elijah wasn’t surprised with your confession, nor was he happy. He was merely neutral with his expression as he stood. And with his head held high, he turned to his brother, “very well. Kol, truth or dare?” The eloquence in his speech only added to his intimidating nature.

But Rebekah wasn’t fazed, she was more so annoyed. As she raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes, she stood to shout at Elijah, “that’s not fair! It’s not your turn!” Still, Elijah didn’t peer at his sister, and kept his hard glare at his brother.

Kol wasn’t one to be easily intimidated, but Elijah was his older brother. Anyone smart should know that when Elijah is mad, you should be scared. So, with a shaky, quick glance to you and back to his brother, he almost whimpered, “dare?”

“My darling, lovely to see you,” he told you, before pulling you inside and away from the cold air of the night. Quickly, he led you to the living room wherein Elijah, Niklaus and Rebekah were chatting amongst themselves.

Across the room from the doorway, the sibling crowded a couch together, drinks in their hands. They continued to converse in serious tones as you made your way towards a single couch, Kol closely followed behind. Almost as if Klaus awaited for you to settle onto the brown cushions, he paused his chatter and smirked.  

From the other couch, Klaus noticeably stared at you with amusement. It was his smile of his that would usually leave others coward and afraid, but you, unfazed. You’d grown too used to it recently.

“Hello, love,” he began to speak with a lift of his drink. You shook your head. With the way his tone sounded, he wanted something.

“Nik, no,” you said. Being in Elena’s inner circle didn’t exactly have many perks. After all, Klaus only wished for their demise, and if it wasn’t for the universe bringing you and Kol together, your death would’ve already been collateral damage.

“Oh come on, love! A little juice, please,” he pleaded with a cheeky smile still invaded on his face. ‘A little juice’ in Klaus’ vocabulary was never ‘little’, he wanted to know all of Elena’s plans, and he’d be determined until he does. But lucky for you, Kol always had your back, and he gave his word to protect you from his brother’s incessant begs.

“I told you, I won’t get in between you and the Salvatores. If they find out that I told you anything, they would kill me,” the reason was very obvious: you valued your life, and if even, you preferred one team over the other, exposing any one’s plan would leave you dead.  

At your response, Klaus was both frustrated and pleased. Frustrated: because he was a curious cat and needed to know everything; but pleased: because your loyalty amused him. In a crowd of paranoid supernatural beings with heavy baggage, having someone to keep his brother’s temper intact, and his own, was all he needed. It also happened to be the exact thing he needed to ensure he didn’t rip another innocent’s head off. But even so, he promised himself that if you more so had an ounce of thought to betray the Mikaelsons, he promised you wouldn’t live to see tomorrow.  

“Fine. Very well,” he thought for a moment. His eyes scanned the room as if his paintings were to show him the words he searched for. Then, he smirked, “how would you like to be used as leverage? Surely, Elena cares about you to some extent. If not, I’ll be the first to kill her myself. Kol without a you, would be my demise.”

“Should I take that as a compliment?” ‘Confused’ wouldn’t even describe the way you felt from his words. It was odd for someone to ask for consent to use you as leverage, and then detour their speech into implying that they weren’t even sure if the person they would’ve used you against, would even care; let alone, the subtle comment about his enjoyment of your company. It was as if Klaus had no bone in his body to just give a single compliment without a threat or insensitive connective.

But somehow, you still considered his proposal. So, with an exaggerated sigh, you broke the thinking silence, “fine, but what would I get out of it?

With a cheeky grin, the hybrid planted his glass onto the wooden coffee table, and leant against the couch. “Another year to live,” he negotiated. The eyebrows that rose on his forehead alerted that he was indeed, serious.

“Why ask and then threaten?” This time, you leant against the back of the couch you sat upon, a confident grin on your cheeks.

A sinful chuckle escaped his mouth. “Must you know: threatening brings me joy, love,” his tone heightened at the end of his sentence as if he was enjoying the topic. “Although, worry no less; I won’t do you much harm.”

If it was possible to knock Klaus out and come back alive, you would’ve, except you just rolled your eyes and raised a brow. “Did you Urban Dictionary ‘won’t do much harm’ because I don’t think you know what that means,” you told him.  

Although the question was rhetorical, the hybrid answered, “of course I know what it means, love! If I had killed you, Kol would never stop terrorising me, and that boy gets on my nerve with a single breath of his.”  

The sass and irritation in his voice would make every enemy of his, laugh. As much as threatening gave him joy, hearing his annoyance gave you the same amount of bliss.

The extra roll of his eyes made you smile. Although the Original was the most feared, it seemed that as every year he aged, the younger he became. His temper was the same of that of a child’s. But as you were about to comment on it, Kol spoke from behind you.

“Okay, brother, request to be reviewed,” he declared as he tapped the corners of the brown cushioned couch in front of him. “We will negotiate terms later, but stay true to your words or I’ll rip your heart out.”

Then, a shuffle of feet sounded from behind, and a pair of arms wrapped around your figure before you were rushed to a bedroom. Once you’d reached the soft mattress of an all-too-familiar bed, the person released their arms from you and ran to lock their bedroom door.

“Forgive me; that was a second too long in my brother’s presence,” Kol acknowledged, his hands brushing against each other as if to remove dust. Slowly, he made his way towards his bed, “now, how about a kiss?”

A nod and a gentle pull of his neck later, you leant into him and touched noses. A soft breath fell from your mouth as a smile lifted on his. “Most definitely, Kol Mikaelson,” then, the distance was closed and your lips met his.

He was passionate with every nudge of his nose against your cheek as he gently pushed your back onto the mattress. With a quick jab of his tongue against your lips, you parted them for him, and his muscle moved slick and warm against yours. As you kissed breathlessly, Kol travelled his hands along your backside and your spine tingled from euphoria.

The next morning, you were ordered by Elena to go to the Salvatore’s for a discussion. Although you clearly stated you didn’t want to be included in their schemes, they still brought you to be a part of their conversations in case you were a target by the Mikaelson’s, and needed insight to their situation.  

Their obliviousness was astounding. As a pair of vampires who’ve lived for a century, and a group of supposedly smart students, it was surprising that they had yet to realise that a member of their team has been sneaking around with the enemy.

You stood beside Stefan with a tight-lipped smile and hands clasped together in front of you awkwardly. The group were discussing how to kill an Original and you almost laughed when Damon quoted Katherine in saying that it was impossible.

“So,” Elena turned to you, a hopeful look on her face. “I know you said you didn’t want to be a part of anything, but I was hoping if you could distract one of them?” She asked you, her mouth in a weird rectangular shape, like one would do when unsure of another’s answer.

You wanted to decline her offer to back your wishes of not wanting to join the crossfire, but curiosity killed the cat, and you were wondering who they were referring to. With a raise of an eyebrow, Elena got the hint and smiled.

“Kol Mikaelson,” she told you.  

Her answer wasn’t much of a surprise. Kol had never been subtle about his endearment towards you, even in front of the Salvatores. At first, you thought it was a joke that the Mikaelsons played, but Kol promised you it wasn’t and even offered to take you on a date outside of Virginia.

Without hesitation, you took him up on that offer and it was the best decision you’d made. You began dating, but only with the agreement that you kept your relationship away from the Scooby Gang.

So, you stayed true to the agreement and continued to play your parts in the groups. Kol made you give your word so you were never to reveal the any one’s plan, as a way of protection; unless there was a possibility that Elena handled the white oak stake. But even as you acted your ‘loyalty’ to the Salvatores with meaningless rude remarks to Kol, your boyfriend never stopped flirting with you in public.

After hearing Elena’s plead for you to distract him, you almost instantly took up the offer. You could never decline an opportunity to share your affections with your lover in the public. But remembering the agreement to act as if still a foe of his, you pretended to think.

A long inhale and exhale left your nose as you stared at the ceiling, a finger tapped against your chin. “I guess,” you shrugged, a defeated look on your face.

But as you sat on Rebekah’s bed, legs swinging in the air, a defeated look wasn’t how anyone would describe your expression. You were giddy. Dates weren’t a rare occurrence, but to do it in the public eye, specifically in front of your friends, rose a pink to your cheeks.

“What about this one?” Rebekah asked you, a tight-fitted green dress in her hands. “I wore this one when I accidentally…”

“No,” you told her almost instantly. Although you were grateful for Rebekah’s help in finding you an outfit for the night, if you had to hear another sad story of a friend who became collateral damage, you would’ve much rather chose a garbage bag for a dress.

At your quick response, she sighed and turned her back again to rummage through her clothes. “I know you said no insight into the Salavatores’ plans, but is there any chance that they could kill us tonight?” She asked.

“Not that I know of,” you stated. If you knew they possessed a weapon in which would kill an Original, you would’ve told Rebekah in an instant, but you didn’t.

As the girl scrolled through her endless rows of clothes, you watched. But a particular beige dress caught your eye; it was the one you’d convinced Rebekah to buy a week before but she had yet to wear. Standing up, you walked towards the closet and pulled the dress out before showing her.  

“How about this one?” You asked, swaying your hips as if to animate her agreement. But she wasn’t all too convinced.

“It’s pretty…” she started, “but you’re going to the Grill. Isn’t it a little too casual?”

“Should I wear a ball gown, then?”

When you arrived to the venue, your boyfriend was already sitting by the bar, a drink in hand as he entertained himself with a conversation with Matt Donovan. Matt wasn’t supposed to be working tonight, but Damon had compelled the manager into giving him a shift to monitor you. Although fully capable in handling your boyfriend, it was thoughtful of Damon.

When you reached the bar and leant over the counter, Matt threw a cloth over his shoulder and leaned on his hip. “I can’t believe you decided to go on a date with this douchebag,” he told you, a scowl on face.  

He knew the plan: you were to set a date with Kol as a distraction, as the others fulfilled their own duties with the other Mikaelsons. But his obvious attempt into making Kol believe that you went on the date by your own will, made you cringe.

It was by your own will, and Kol knew that, but Matt didn’t, and the oblivion in his acting was embarrassing.

“Don’t worry, I’m just doing this for Elena,” you told him. “It’s not like I’m purposely doing this because I want to,” you whispered, before you walked to sit beside your boyfriend.

The distance wasn’t far, but by the way Kol was admiring you, it felt like minutes of anxious torture. His eyes were searching every curve that the beige dress accentuated, and every freckle and mole that covered your body. He was in awe.

So, when you reached the seat beside him, all you could do was sigh nervously. Even though your boyfriend never let you live a day without his affections, his stares always made you weak.

“Please, don’t ever look at me like that again,” you told him quietly so Matt couldn’t hear.

But Kol was unfazed as a smile lifted on his cheeks and his eyes met yours. “You look gorgeous,” he complimented before dragging your knuckles to his lips – a sweet gesture that you could never grow used to. “So, what is it that you’re distracting me from tonight?”

The question asked wasn’t a surprising one from Kol, the Mikaelson family wasn’t dumb enough to fall for a mere Salvatore’s scheme. But tonight, he was willing to play along as long as he got to spend his time with you.

“Just the norm,” you smiled at him as you placed a hand on his black jacket. The small gesture didn’t go unnoticed by Matt, and you knew by Kol’s quick glance at the man behind you. “You look handsome tonight.”

“Just tonight?” He cheekily remarked with a tilt of his head. The smirk on his lips would’ve brought you to your knees if you had been standing, but the universe was on your side for the night, and you’d already sat down.

“Every day, then,” you playfully rolled your eyes as a chuckle fell from your mouth. Kol admired the expression and glanced at your lips, and if it weren’t for Matt’s watching eyes, he would’ve kissed you right then and there.

“That’s right.”

The next hour flew by quickly and Kol offered to take you for a walk. Of course, you accepted; the air felt like it was getting thicker every time Matt laid his eyes on the two of you. Being watched was suffocating. So, when Kol handed the bill, you took his hand and quickly dragged him outside.

“I couldn’t stand being in there any longer,” you told him as you swung your arms with his. Chuckling, he moved in front to halt your movements, and spun you around. The quick manoeuvre made you blush. “You have to teach me how to dance someday!”

“I will,” he laughed, and he removed his hands from yours to place them on your hips. Hurriedly, he searched the surroundings before he pulled you into a dark alleyway in a swift movement. “But first,” he glanced at your lips, “give me a kiss?”

Moving your palms to his cheeks, you pulled him down and kissed him. The kiss was gentle and slow, like he had been waiting to savour a moment alone with you. For now, as the two of you moved in tandem, the supernatural realities within Mystic Falls were long forgotten, and all you could think of was the way his lips perfectly melted against yours.

A hand travelled behind your head and the other stayed rested on your hip as he tried to pull you closer. Your back arched at the movement and you let out a soft moan. Perking up, his ears blushed at the heavenly sound, and he began to make his trail down your throat.

As he pulled your head back, he tenderly marked the skin to deep blue and red hues. Your skin felt like it was on cloud nine. The soft cushion and eagerness of his lips were addicting, intoxicating; like the taste of scotch on his tongue.

But as much as you enjoyed the intimate moment, it was stripped away by the ringing of your phone. Kol removed his hands from your skin as he peaked at the name on the screen: Matt Donovan.

“Does the prick ever give you a break?”

Shrugging, you steadied and fixed your posture before answering the phone. A nervous chuckle sounded from the other side of the line, followed by a cough.

“Klaus caught on. They’re at the Salvatore boarding house.”

With a quick glance and end of a phone call, you and Kol ran to the location. But when you had reached the woods beside the building, your boyfriend released himself from you and pushed you to move first.  

Slowly, you made your way to Damon, Stefan and Elena, whom stood tall despite enemies of the Mikaelsons. Across from the group, stood Kol’s family who’s faces held scowls.

“Stay away from Elena,” Damon started, his voice deep and stern. He stood ahead of the Gilbert, his hands tightly strict by his side.  

“Oh, how funny,” Klaus laughed as his eyebrows raised along with the tips of his lips. “Damon Salvatore, the man who longs for his brother’s girlfriend,” his eyebrows lowered but his eyes still held amusement within them.

“Would be a shame if after all your worthless pining, she still chose Stefan,” the hybrid emphasised the name as he stepped closer to the group, but Elena’s circle wasn’t fazed and glued their feet to the ground.

“Another step and you’ll regret it, Klaus,” Damon threatened. His blue eyes glared at his enemy’s with nasty intention. It was baffling how confident the only one-century-old vampire was against an Original. Perhaps, he had something up his sleeve; you just hoped you weren’t to be involved.  

Klaus was entertained though. Damon’s determination gave him the same thrill that of when he snaps the neck of a witch. Straightening his posture, Klaus stood tall, raised an eyebrow, and motioned for Damon to elaborate on his claim.

The gesture was intimidating. It almost felt as if you, too, owed him an explanation to anything he asked of; but you didn’t, and his eyes were stern on the Salvatore’s as he waited for Damon’s exposition.

Smirking, Damon turned to Stefan whom grabbed an object from his pocket. It was a long, white stake with silver linings dribbled along it. At first, you wanted to laugh at their stupidity, until a realisation crossed your mind: it was a white oak stake.

Your eyes widened in shock. Where did they get it from? In panic, you went to search for Kol by the woods but a swoosh of air passed you and he stood by his brother’s side in the next second. His face held betrayal as he stared you down, and if it couldn’t get any worse, he nodded to Klaus and gestured to you.

In a swift second, you were trapped by the hybrid, his forearm wrapped around your throat and his chin rested on the crown of your head. He was suffocating you – using you as leverage as he asked. But he wasn’t true to his words and the tightening of his forearm hurt.

“Nik, it hurts,” you whimpered out as you tried to pull his arm from your throat. But he didn’t budge. As a human, you couldn’t do much against a vampire, let alone a hybrid.

“Do you know what else hurts, love?” He whispered into your ear, his breath hot and heavy against your skin. “Betrayal.”

His words were spat with venom, the liquid of which, penetrated into your muscle and sent your blood boiling. You barely had the chance to explain before the Mikaelsons already lost their trust in you. Even your boyfriend, whom stood by your side, ignored as little gasps of air left your throat from his brother’s harsh ministrations.

“Now,” Klaus smirked. He pulled his lips away from your ear and chuckled at Elena’s worried glances at you. “Elena, just pass me the stake and all is fine.”

But she shook her head, tears welted her eyes. Her breath heaved in panic and she turned to Stefan who looked just as worried as she was.

Blinking away the tears that threatened to spill, she tried to explain. “They didn’t know, just let them go,” she told Klaus, her hand shook as she spoke.

“The stake, Elena,” Elijah interfered with a step forward. Clad in his black and white suit, he kept a hand in his pocket and the other turned over to accept the stake.

With a gulp and nod, Elena nodded to Stefan and he turned the wood over to the older vampire. Elijah smiled and stepped back beside Rebekah, and shoved the stake into his jacket.

“Very well,” Klaus contended. He freed you from his constraints and held his hands in surrender. “Released,” he acknowledged with a small bow, before speeding his way home.

Behind him, Rebekah and Elijah closely followed. But Kol merely watched as you leant to your knees and gasped for air. His emotions were mixed. Elena and Stefan rushed to your side and held you in their arms.

“I’m so sorry,” Elena apologised, her head rested on your shoulder. You only nodded at her apology and shoved your head deeper into her neck.  

Shakily sighing, the tears fell from your eyes unannounced, and your heart ached in your chest. Elena only held you tighter. She whispered endless apologies into your ear and let you cry. With circular rubs to your back, she comforted you.

But Kol, whom stood still watching your figure, didn’t know what to do. He was angered and confused. Did you actually not know of the stake that the Salvatores had their hands on, or did Elena just say that so Klaus wouldn’t hurt you, and they could use you as their pawn longer?

Kol went to walk towards you but hesitated under Damon’s hard gaze. He could’ve snapped the Salvatore’s head right then and there to grab you, but he didn’t. In the amount of pain you were in, both emotionally and physically, he didn’t want to hurt someone who meant a lot to you. So, instead, he waited behind, until Elena and Stefan detached themselves from you.

When you got to your feet, you wiped at your cheeks and flattened your dress. With a sniffle, you brushed your hair from your face, and dragged your way towards your friends. But as you walked, you noticed their gaze to a figure behind you, and you turned.  

Kol had his lips between his teeth as he thought. “Darling, let’s talk?” His voice was low, the sound of sadness dripped beneath.

Stefan, who went to stand beside you, was about to interfere, until you raised a hand and shook your head. “It’s fine,” you told him in a quiet tone before turning again to face Kol.

Tears were at the brim of his eyes, and you would’ve cried again if it weren’t for the audience behind you. Even after the breakdown, you couldn’t let Elena know of your entanglement with her enemy.

“What is it?” You spat out. The way the words fell from your lips came too harsh and Kol internally winced. Although it wasn’t your intention for them to slip the way they did, you were glad your message came across. You were upset.

“In private,” he told you, before he rushed and lifted you to your home.

In a quick moment, your shoes touched the wood of your patio as Kol gently released you. When his skin removed themselves from yours, you didn’t miss a second to slap him. The sting from the impulsive movement turned your palm a bright pink but you were more hurt at the quick diminish of trust from Kol and his family.

“Fuck you,” you told him, and he nodded as he sucked in a breath.  

He knew he deserved the pain, but it was more upsetting that he had healed so easily from it. From the pain his brother and himself had caused you in the mere few minutes with Elena, he would let you torture him until your forgiveness.

“How could you do that to me?” You shouted at him, punching his hard chest to let out frustration, and although it didn’t hurt him, the emotion that came from your lips did.

“You assumed so quickly and didn’t let me explain!” You cried out, a shakiness in your voice.

You were more than hurt. After trusting the Mikaelsons to protect you as much as you tried to protect them, they turned on you in a second without hesitation.

When Kol noticed the growing tears that threatened to invade your eyes, he put a hand at the back of your head and pulled you into his chest. The smell of his familiar cologne calmed you instantly, and your hands slipped to his waist. No matter how upset you were, you could never refuse a hug from him. The comfort he held in his arms were too enchanting.

So, you let him hold you and pull at the string of your hearts as he whispered endless apologies into your ear. The softness in his tone was like a melody and you almost fell asleep as he swayed you both side to side.

“I’m sorry, I should have stopped him.”

“It’s okay,” you told him as you lifted your chin to rest on his chest and look at him. Although the statement wasn’t exactly true, you didn’t want Kol to be upset forever. You wanted him to at least believe you were okay.

He peered down and moved his hand to pull a strand of hair away from your face. “It’s not okay, and I will make it up to you. I promise,” he declared, before giving a chaste kiss to your forehead.

Moving his hand away from your face, he dropped it by your waist again and softly smiled at you. You reciprocated the expression with one of your own, and with a soft voice, you told him, “I want you to know, that even though people may say the worst of you, I will never betray you.”

He glanced to your lips and pulled you in. Softly but passionately, he devoured your lips, and let his tongue slip through, and in tandem, your muscles moved together.

Despite going against Elena, and intertwining together with the enemy, this was the happiest you’d ever felt. Because even if you had to risk your friendship to be with Kol, at this moment, you didn’t care. Despite acknowledging that happiness came with a price, you were willing to do whatever it took to keep him by your side.

The next morning was Monday: another day of non-educational classes, and another day wherein your teachers never showed up. You walked out the doors when the bell rang. But as you stepped onto the grass ahead of the school’s entrance, a pair of hands pulled you aside and into a body.

The person whom towered you, smelt of fresh laundry and mint. The exact scent of Kol Mikaelson. After wrapping your arms around his waist, you looked up to see your boyfriend smiling down at you, a cheeky smile on his face.

“We’re in public, Kol,” you informed him as your ears turned a pink from insecurity.

“Well, Elena isn’t at school today. So, I’m taking Nik’s car to take you somewhere,” he tilted his head as you did yours, before he dipped his neck and pecked your cheek.

When the car had come to a stop, Kol moved from the drivers seat to the passenger side and opened you door. Like a gentleman, he took your hand, switched the car off, and took you inside. Instead of the comfort of your home, he had drove you to the Grill for a little date. Despite being in the public eye, you and Kol discussed the terms if a Salvatore, Gilbert, Donovan or Forbes was to enter the venue.

Once you had settled in a booth, and Kol had ordered chips and soft drinks, you both chatted away.

“So, how’s Niklaus?” You asked your boyfriend as you leant forward for some chips.  

His face fell into a frown. “He’s sorry but don’t expect my brother to sprout it to your face. You know how stubborn Nik could be.”

You went to reply but noticed familiar figures behind him walk through the door of the Grill. Side by side, Elena and Caroline strolled in together, their heads high as they searched the venue for someone.  

In a second, Elena seemed to have noticed the person they were looking for and began to walk the direction of the pool table, but was pulled back by Caroline. From a few metres away, the blonde had noticed you and Kol comfortably sitting at the same booth almost instantly, and sent daggers to the back of your boyfriend’s head.

When she turned to you, she gave you an exaggerated shocked-angry face and put her hands in the air, as if to say ‘what the hell?’. You gave her an awkward look in return and Kol seemed to have noticed because he turned around and sent the girls a wave.

Rolling your eyes at his gesture, you hid behind your hands and shrank in your seat. “Oh god, they’re going to kill me!” You groaned.

“Hey, don’t worry love! I won’t let them do that!” Kol assured you, and then, you remembered your deal.

Straightening up with a cough, you put your hands in front of you, and with a fake roll of your eyes, you told him, “don’t you have something better to do?”

He smirked and kicked your feet under the table. “Darling, I’m a thousand-year-old vampire, I have nothing better to do.”

Loud patters of feet approached as an irritated Caroline made her way towards you. With a final stomp, she stopped by your table, her arms crossed, and Elena by her side.

“Kol, what are you doing here?” She almost shouted, her eyes widened as she spoke.

He shrugged. “As one does in a bar: drink,” he smirked before taking a sip of his non-alcoholic beverage.

The blonde girl eyed his movements and didn’t give you a chance to explain the purpose of your visit to the Grill, before she pulled you along to the bathroom. She gently pushed your back against the cold tiles of the wall.  

“What are you doing with Kol?” She whispered, her throat tensed as if she tried to shout. “He’s the enemy!” The words were tightened between her lips to show her frustration.

You awkwardly chuckled and scratched at the back of your neck, “he just came by while I was eating…”

“Oh yeah, sure!” She remarked sarcastically. “Because someone who just ‘came by’ while you were eating, totally would’ve nearly finished his drink that quick!”

“He was thirsty,” you shrugged. “Don’t know why it’s such a big deal…” The tension in the air was suffocating.

“What she’s trying to say is,” Elena finally spoke. “Just watch out. Kol is a Mikaelson, and after what happened last night, you should stay away.”

At their concern, you nodded and walked out of the bathroom to meet with Kol. He still sat by the booth, but his phone in his hand as he scrolled through some form of social media.

To confess your presence, you coughed. Kol turned to the sound with an amused eyebrow.

“What’s up, my love?” He asked as he slipped his phone onto the table.

You could feel Elena and Caroline’s hard stare on your back, and you straightened up. “You should go,” you told him before pulling your phone out and sending a message.

I’ll see you later. Meet at mine?

The words illuminated on the screen of his phone and he gave you a nod, before walking out of the venue. You spent the next hour barely listening to Elena and Caroline discuss their upcoming plans for the Mikaelsons.

When you reached home that night, Kol was already in your bedroom, his back rested against the comfortable mattress of your bed. He had dug under the porch for the spare key.

As you moved your jacket onto your dresser, Kol sat up and tilted his head at you. “How long can we keep this up?”

You shrugged. “For as long as we can, I guess.”  

You wanted nothing more but tell the world of your love for Kol. But as much as you did, Elena’s acceptance of your relationship was nearly impossible. You weren’t really one to make decisions for the purpose of pleasing others, but you wanted your friends to at least accept your relationship. All you could ask for was that they stopped their crossfire and gave themselves a break.

“We didn’t get to enjoy our time long,” he frowned, a pink hue on his cheeks. “I wanted to dance with you.”

The blood rushed to your ears and cheeks at his confession. You slowly made your way towards your bed and gave his lips a quick peck before moving to the bathroom.

“I’m going to take a shower!”

The next morning, after school, Kol had drove you to the Mikaelson’s mansion. His intention was to bring Klaus to spring an apology to you; but the hybrid’s mind was too focused on other ordeals, such as rescuing Elijah, who had been caught and trapped in the basement of the Salvatores’ boarding house.

“I’m going to head there, now,” Klaus declared as he stomped his way to the front door of the manor. If it weren’t for the murder-driven look in his eyes, the way his knees rose and fell would’ve been identical to a child’s tantrum.

Rebekah tried to stop her brother from his impulsiveness but he’d already walked out the door, his arms by his side as he impatiently waited for his siblings to follow. You watched from the side whilst Rebekah exhaled and rolled her eyes before she gave into Klaus’ edginess and stomped outside.

Once she’d stepped beside her brother, Kol went to follow but was stopped by a force. His head had banged against an invisible wall and he was knocked into you. Curious, he fixed himself and tried to walk outside again. But to his succumb, he was pushed back again.

“That stupid Bennett witch!” Rebekah spat out, her arms flailed in the air.

“Brother, get us out of here,” Kol spoke, and his eyes landed on Klaus whom turned to you.

“I didn’t know about this, either!” You told him, your eyes widened in shock at his assumption.

With a nod, Klaus gave an apologetic look. “Forgive me, love: for hurting you before,” he told you. “But I promise, I will get you both out.”

Then, he and Rebekah sprinted from the scene and to the Salvatores’ boarding house. While the two of them were scheming a way to rescue Elijah and release the two of you, you and Kol picked a board game from one of the shelves. He had chose chess.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” you admitted as you moved a random piece on the board, and Kol laughed.

“It’s a game, love. Relax,” he assured.

“You’re just saying that ‘cause you’re winning!” You cried after he had killed another one of your pieces.

When he opened his mouth to respond, his ears perked to a sound by the porch. He put a finger to his lips to quiet you, and sped to the front door. On the other side, stood Bonnie, a candle and grimoire in her hands.

“Fix it, quick,” he demanded before a breath even left her lips. She pulled her neck back in offence.

“I’m only here to help my friend, not you,” she told him as she sat onto the porch and opened her grimoire.

He rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers impatiently against the wooden door frame. “Well, if you must know, they’re alive.”

As if obvious that they were speaking about you, you strolled out of the living room and made your way to the front. On the floor of the patio, the Bennett witch flipped through endless pages of her grimoire.

“Can you get me out of here, please,” you dramatically whined to your friend. “He made me play chess and threatened to kill me if I didn’t!” He didn’t, but it was funny to include the lie.

Kol looked at you in offence, his hand over his chest and his eyebrows raised. “I would never,” he said in a sarcastic tone. Although you knew he was playing along, it seemed to be pretty believable to Bonnie.

“I’ll get you out so he can get out of your hair. Then, I’ll ask Damon to snap his neck. How about that?” As Kol’s lover, her response insulted you, but you tried to pay it no mind. She didn’t know of your feelings, anyway.

A cold swoosh of wind passed and you shivered. Outside, the sun had already nearly passed the horizon. The coolness of the air had you crossing your arms over each other to maintain body heat.

Beside you, your boyfriend chuckled at the movement and nudged you playfully, “maybe we should cuddle to keep warm.”

Bonnie wanted to puke. If she wasn’t there to help you, she would’ve left at that single sentence that fell from Kol’s lips.

It made you laugh, but you had to play your role. “Tempting offer, except, I hate you.”

Then, on the ground, Bonnie stopped her page-turnings and began a chant. Pleased, Kol smirked and walked back to the living room to continue the game of Chess.

When Bonnie stopped the incantations, she looked up to you with a tight-lipped smile. “Look, you weren’t supposed to be here. It was supposed to be Klaus. Caroline saw him in the house and gave me the signal to start the spell. Just suffer a few more hours with Kol and the boundary spell will go down at sunrise. Okay?”

You nodded, sent her a good night and closed the door, before leading a way to the living room. On the couch, Kol sat patiently, his arms spread along the back of the cushions.

“You suffering in the hours you have with me?” He asked as you entered the room.

“So bad,” you joked, making your way towards him.

As you sat onto his lap, his hands ran up your sides and rested at your back. In a soft whisper, you told him, “I always suffer in the hours I have with you, but it’s always worth it.”

A hand played along your back before it landed by your cheek. Kol caressed the skin with a smile. “Shall I take that as a compliment?”

“Please,” you gazed to his soft lips and soon shortly, he leant into you.

The kiss was desperate, like Kol had waited the whole day to kiss you. The way his nose nudged against your cheek tickled, but you enjoyed every second of it. His lips meld with yours like perfect puzzle pieces meant to connect.

He left you breathless, and if it weren’t for the voice that spoke behind you, you believed you wouldn’t have stopped.

“This reminds me of the time I betrayed my friend Lucien,” Klaus spoke with a slight lift of his lips. Beside him, Rebekah, Bonnie, Caroline and Elena stood.

Kol pulled away from you and let his hands slip down your back. When you’d come to realisation that it was more than the Mikaelson family watching, your eyes widened and you pulled yourself completely off your boyfriend, and stood to your feet.

“What is this…” Caroline started, her mouth gapped in confused and shock.

A few breaths left you as you tried to search your brain for any possible excuses. Klaus was amused.

“Don’t underestimate the allure of darkness. Even the purest hearts are drawn to it,” he smirked. Caroline wanted to hit him for his recitation of his own words.

But Elena couldn’t even move. She had no idea how to react, or who to be mad at. She considered perhaps that you’d been compelled by Kol to kiss him, but then again, you had been acting suspiciously recently.

Bonnie, too, was at a loss of words. She thought that she had come to the mansion to save you, but instead, you had been having the time of your life, in the enemy’s arms.

“I…” she stuttered out. Looking in between the two of you, she didn’t know who to confront. So instead, she stared at the ground. “I found a way to drop the boundary earlier.”

A charming laugh left Klaus’ lips. “Ahh…” his eyebrows rose. “Did you now?” He sarcastically remarked, before tapping his brother on the shoulder for support and leaving the room.

The awkward silence in the air was deafening. Something about it made Kol want to laugh out loud, but the fear in your eyes said otherwise. From the way Caroline’s eyes never lessened to their original size, you were afraid she was going to combust with anger.  

But instead, she just slowly walked away, her hips swayed behind her, and her fingers pressed against her temple. In soft yet unsure whispers, she repeated to herself, “it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s fine, totally fine.”

Bonnie, on the other hand, stared down at Kol, her hands pointed at his face. “If you dare hurt…”

“Relax!” He chuckled as he finally stood from the couch to stand in front of you. “If I wanted them dead, they would’ve died months ago.”

Perhaps the words weren’t so comforting as Kol tried to make them be. So with an awkward smile, he grabbed your arm and vampire sped you to his room.

It was half the book you’d went through when footsteps disturbed your reading. By the door, stood Elijah Mikaelson, your best friend’s older brother; a very handsome one at that.

“Elijah,” you smiled, keeping your eyes on the yellowish coloured pages, “did you know that a wise man once said, ‘you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain’?” You asked him, although not expecting an answer. “Maybe I should try the latter.”

Then, you closed the book and placed it on your lap as the man clad in formal attire walked towards you. His hands fiddled with a ring on one of his fingers and he smiled, “I’m afraid you’ve been around Niklaus for far too long.”

By far too long, he assumed half a year was too much for a mere human to associate themselves with a Mikaelson. But lucky for you, you didn’t mind your involvement, and staying by their side wasn’t out of your life’s plan.

“Why do you say that?” You had to ask him, and he pulled the book from your lap before turning it over.

“Well,” he paused, a chuckle fell from his lips. “For one, you’re reading his memoir,” he observed. He put the book onto the wooden table across from you. “And two, you speak like him. Do you forget you’re from the 21st century?”

A smile broke onto your lips, “but I enjoy mocking Nik,” you whined, finally ceasing your Niklaus Mikaelson impression. “He’s so serious all the time!”

“Yes, well, my brother does seem to think that the world is against him,” Elijah told you as he leaned against the couch and laid his head back.

Only then, did you notice the dark bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin. He looked exhausted. “Hey Elijah, when was the last time you slept?”

He glanced at you for a second before closing his eyes. With his head still leant back against the couch, he sighed, “does it matter?”

You almost went to knock his head over. He was a stubborn one, for sure. “Maybe you should take a little nap,” you told him.

You cared for all the Mikaelsons. Even if Niklaus declared you as only his friend, you didn’t care for his jealousy and always took care of his siblings in some way. Whether it was just to share a simple joke to lighten their mood, or to help them with a personal issue, you never hesitated to offer your aid.

“Don’t mind my fatigue,” he said as he finally peered his eyes open again to look at you. “How are you, dear?”

Of course, he changed the subject to you. Elijah was never one to keep the attention on himself. It was a selfless yet selfish trait of his. He always cared for others but never let others care for him. His fatal flaw.

“I’m great, Elijah. But you disturbed my reading and I assume something is wrong; so, what is it?” You wanted to get straight to the point – no beating around the bush. If he continued his stubbornness, you sworn that you would snap his neck in order for him to gain at least some sort of rest.

“Something happened,” he told you. Way to state the obvious, you almost muttered. “I’ve been bit,” and with a lift of his suit’s jacket, he showed the werewolf bite on his neck.

It was already a dark red mark with clotted blood around. You knew he would heal; a werewolf bite wasn’t fatal to an Original, but you wished it didn’t drive him to a state wherein he’d look as horrible as he did in that moment. Although he wasn’t dying, it sure looked like he was.

“Why didn’t you tell Nik?” You asked, blinking away the mixed emotions on your face. “He could heal you.”

“Yes, but he’s a little too preoccupied right now,” he closed his eyes. “Let him enjoy the little time he has with his daughter.”

“Two seconds doesn’t hurt, Elijah. A little blood and you would’ve been fine,” you told him, a red rising onto your cheeks. He couldn’t see the anger on your face, but you were radiating it. Every negative emotion you felt, bounced off your body and radiated in waves. Your anger always seemed to come quick when a Mikaelson was in concern.

“It’s fine,” he told you. As much as you radiated your anger, he emitted his annoyance, so you stayed quiet and brought Niklaus’ memoir back onto your lap.

If you could find a way to continue the conversation, you would’ve, but by the way it seemed Elijah didn’t want to continue any longer, you were discouraged. When you turned the pages and flipped to the one you were once reading, he turned to you with a saddened gaze.

“Forgive me,” he said. It struck a pain in your heart, but you ignored it. If he had more to say, your ears were open but for now, Niklaus’ endless pages of his torment were far more intriguing than meaningless apologies.

“One of Jackson’s struck me out in the Bayou,” he explained, and you almost closed the book from your sympathy. “Kol managed to weave his way into our disputes, and one snuck up on me. He apologised when the wolves fled and brought me here for Niklaus. But it seems he was with Hope.”

You did, then, close the book and turned to face him. “I didn’t need an explanation, Elijah,” you told him, “All I needed was the lack of attitude. I care about you, and I want you to take care of yourself.”

He frowned at your words and nodded. “I understand.”

You gave him a tight-lipped smile and the room fell silent. Elijah decided to close his eyes once again and leaned back. God, did he look awful.

You continued your reading of Niklaus’ memoir for a few minutes before Elijah shuffled beside you and rested his head on your shoulder. His temple rested against your skin. He was burning up.

You shut the book in panic as you looked at the man before you. Sweat glistened down his face as his eyebrows furrowed intensely.

“Elijah?” You asked him. Pulling him off, you moved his head back and felt his forehead. He was coming down with a fever. “Elijah, look at me.”

“Niklaus, don’t you have someone else to bother?” Elijah rolled his eyes at his younger brother, whom stood by the staircase in the living room.

You were in Elijah’s head. It was a memory.

Niklaus smirked at his brother and shook his head, a glass of scotch in hand. “No, I do not. Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to hang out with my friend.”

You remembered this day; it was the one wherein you and Elijah spent the hours bonding after you found Niklaus busy with crazy business.

“Nik, you’re a little late,” you told him, a smile on your face. “I came here earlier, and you were busy. Don’t be jealous, but i’ll be with Elijah today.”

It was crazy: you could see yourself through Elijah’s eyes; you could hear his thoughts in that moment. He found you profoundly beautiful.

“Would you like to go somewhere a little more private?” He asked you, and you watched yourself smile.

To see yourself through someone else’s perspective was so profound. You remembered how shocked you were at his words, it brought a pink to your cheeks, and you thought you were good at hiding your blush; but through Elijah’s eyes, you were a little too obvious.

“Nik, I think your brother likes me,” you watched yourself laugh. There was a spark in your eyes that shined with utter happiness. Elijah’s heart pumped rapidly in his chest.

Your hand was pulled from his forehead in a swift move. Below you, Elijah held your arm in between his fingers. He looked sick, but even then, beautiful. He watched your mouth gap in shock.

“Leave,” he demanded of you. His face was apologetic and sorrowful. “I’m afraid I cannot control myself.”

You couldn’t leave. You were frozen in place and curious. Had Elijah thought of you like that for long?

“I…” you stuttered out. You didn’t know what to say. You wanted to know more – you wanted to understand how he really felt. “Can… can you show me more?”

With a hesitant nod, he moved your hand back to his forehead.

It was night. Elijah was watching the city lights through the window of his bedroom. This felt like a sad memory.

And sad, it was; you felt the tears fall down his face. His heart ached as he sniffled away the snot that threatened to fall from his nose. It hurt your head, for his, was filled with endless, painful thoughts.

“Something wrong, Eli?” You heard your own voice ask. Elijah pulled his eyes away from the window and moved his gaze over to your figure.

You were standing by his bedroom door, your eyebrows knitted in concern, and arms crossed against your chest. It was odd, you didn’t remember this moment.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” he told you – a lie. You saw the way your own eyes recognised the tears that flooded his.

With a sigh, you uncrossed your arms and walked over to him, and in a quick second, they were around his waist. You hugged him. The air of the room thickened before Elijah finally lifted his own arms to wrap around your figure. A smile tugged onto his lips.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” Your voice asked. It held a melody in its tone, and you felt the way Elijah’s heart picked up its speed.

“You know I have to compel it out of you afterwards,” he said, and you nodded your head against his chest.

“I know. Just let it out.”

Then, the memory switched. It was as if Elijah gained control over his powers to stop you from remembering the issue he had compelled from you before.

“I thought I could do it,” you told him, your eyes glistened over with tears. Elijah was heartbroken to see you like that. You felt the shivers travel his spine as he tried to hold his own tears back. His nose flared. He was angry and upset.

You remembered this memory; it was when you agreed to be the medium in one of Niklaus’ plans, and it almost lead to your death. Not only did Elijah lecture you for it, but Klaus also blamed himself for what nearly happened.

“You can do anything you wish but this… this is death,” you remembered the exact way the words slipped from his tongue. He was at a breaking point and so were you. You felt terrible for worrying those who cared for you – especially Elijah.

And in that moment, you didn’t blame him for feeling the way he did: betrayed, worried, and sorrowful. He felt bad for lecturing you about your safety, but he also felt on edge, for if he had been a second too late, you would’ve been gone.

“You’re human,” he told you, “Don’t make mistakes like this again.” I’m afraid I’ll lose you, he thought.

Then, the memory faded, and you were back to reality. Elijah held your hand in between his fingers again. His eyes avoided yours as he released his grip on you and stood up.

“I’m sorry,” he told you. “I shouldn’t have let you inside my head.”

“Elijah…” you frowned, and he backed up before leaving the room.

It was hours after that incident did you go to see him again. It was finally night when you’d heard from Rebekah that her brother was healed from his bite. So, you went to visit him in his room.

After knocking on the door and hearing a response from the inside, you let yourself into his room and watched as he grazed his fingers across the hangers of his closet. He was picking a blazer.

“Hi,” you smiled. He glanced over for a second before putting a finger on his lips in thought. You knew he’d already picked a blazer in his head but pretended to be busy. He did it too often, and even once, admitted it to you.

You walked over to him and followed his gaze on a particular navy blue blazer. “It’s nice,” you commented and you turned to look at him. “But no blazer is nice too.”

‘Nice’ was an understatement. He looked hot. In a dress shirt, his muscles protruded through the fabric and showed themselves to the world. It was an amazing sight, indeed.

“Was that a compliment?” He asked you, a smirk now on his lips. No matter how much he wanted to avoid you for seeing into his head, he enjoyed your company. At first, he may have been embarrassed for his revealed thoughts of you, but by the way you were acting, he assumed you thought the same about him.

“Take the compliment or leave it, Mr Mikaelson,” you smiled, and he finally looked at you. The way his brown eyes shined in the candlelight of his room made your heart flutter. “I would take it if I were you.”

“Yeah?” He seductively asked as his eyes glanced down to your lips for a second. “And if I didn’t?”

You turned away from him and his heart pained for a second at your playful tactics. “Well, I guess navy blue would have to do.”

Elijah was enchanted by the way you carried yourself; the way your head held high, and your expression held unmoving, you were everything he considered perfect.

“And if not navy blue?” He had to ask. His eyes stayed on your figure as you slowly walked over to his bed, a seductive smile settled on your face.

“Then nothing.”

In a mere second, he sped towards you and tilted your head back with his thumb on your chin. He was searching your eyes for any sign of playfulness and found none.

“I like you, Elijah Mikaelson,” you dragged the words out one by one as you stared into his eyes adoringly. His heart sped.

Your eyes were what he loved the most about you. There was always a glimpse of hope and adoration that he wished would never leave his life. Every gaze you held upon him made his heart explode and he could never grow sick of it.

“May I kiss you?” His words were soft like butter.

With a nod, you both leant closer, stopping right before your lips met. Slightly peering your eyes down at the paused movement, you saw Elijah’s lips part and rise in a small smirk. His breath softly fanned over your skin and rose a warmth onto your cheeks. His cologne filled your nose. He was all too intoxicating.

“You can do way more than just kiss me, Elijah.”

Every afternoon, you searched the buildings in the same order in hopes of finding new materials every time. But to your luck, only a few resources would appear from the minimum cranks that roamed the area. The most you and Harriet would get was occasional bottles of alcohol, bottled water, and band-aids. So, whenever your feet hit the sand and the earth filled your socks, you were always met with a discouraging feeling.

Today wasn’t any different. Behind you, Harriet hopped off the quad bike, her hands filled with two almost-empty backpacks. Her face held a disheartened look, and she turned the bike off before moving around to stand beside you. With a sigh, she gave you a tight-lipped smile before her eyes caught sight of something by the campfire. A smile grew on her dark skin, and for the first time in months, it seemed like a genuine one.

To your right, a few metres away, stood your old leader Vince, who chatted amongst a couple of faces unrecognisable to you. His arms were crossed as he laughed alongside the unfamiliar men and girl. They looked exactly as he described the new recruits he was so determined to save a few months ago; the people from Maze A.

You’ve come across Thomas before when they’d first come to the Right Arm. You just finished an afternoon lookout shift and head back to the camp where you were planning to chill with a couple of your friends. But when you’d come across an unfamiliar dark-haired boy by your tent, you were curious.

“Are you new?” you asked him, your head tilted in wonder. His eyes were a deep brown, and his nose pointed similar to those of an Irish man’s. There was no doubt that he had people fawning over him. He was attractive.

“Yeah,” he sighed out, and you straightened your back at his short reply. He seemed to be distracted. His hands were fiddling with his own fingers as he continuously glanced between you and a party behind you.

Following his gaze, you turned around and noticed a group of boys by the rocks, laughing amongst themselves. “Are they your friends?” you asked him, although already knowing the answer.

“Yeah,” he sighed out again and you smiled.

“Is that all you say?” But before he could respond, he noticed a closing figure and sealed his lips in a contented grin.

Behind you, one of his friends appeared and manoeuvred to stand beside you. His hair was black and styled in a quiff, eyebrows thick, eyes swollen, and lips small yet plump. His skin was tan and if it weren’t for the growing darkness of the night, it would’ve glowed golden under the sun.

He was a beautiful sight, you thought.

“Come Thomas, you’re missing all the fun,” he told his friend. So that was the Irish man’s name. But you were more eager to learn the name of the man who stood beside you.

“What’s your name?” you asked him as your hand went up to rest onto your backpack’s strap.

When he turned to you and met your eyes, your heart practically stuttered. “My name’s Minho,” he smiled, and it was a smile you wished to see more often. But it seemed that the universe had other plans and WCKD took him that night.

From beside you, Harriet sighed, almost in relief as if she’d been tired from running the place. “Vince is back,” she acknowledged, and with a nod, she left without another word and made her way to her old leader.

You noticed that Minho didn’t seem to be amongst the crowd. Instead, by the campfire, only stood Vince, Thomas, two other men, and a girl. So, you changed your usual routine of sleeping straight after supply hunting and searched the camp for the man.

To your surprise, you found him near the ocean water, sat on the soft sand, his legs curled up in front of him. When you sat beside him and put your bag aside, you noticed the drained expression on his face. His lips were slightly upturned as if he tried to seem okay; but from the way his eyebrows furrowed, it seemed he was far from it.

“Not happy to be in the Safe Haven?” you asked him, trying to raise your voice in a playful manner to make him smile. But he merely took a glance at you before shaking his head. You let out a soft sigh.

“Want to talk about it? I know how tough WCKD could be,” you assured him, “feel free to let it out.” With that, Minho lowered his head between his legs, and even though you couldn’t see it, he frowned.

You didn’t want to push him into telling you anything he didn’t want to, so you sat in silence, hoping your company was enough to comfort him. And for the next half an hour, the seaside was peaceful. The two of you stayed still on the cold sand as you watched the sea hit the earth.

With the stars hung above you, it felt like the ending of a movie. The wind blew against your skin and the sound of the ocean hitting the bank echoed your ear; chatter and the crackle of the campfire filled the air behind you.

And although the cold wind of the night felt nice along your skin, your lips were beginning to dry and crack. So, you pulled a drink from your backpack. Lucky for you, you found a full bottle of whiskey during your supply hunt earlier that day and sneaked it into your bag.

You wanted to offer Minho a drink but kept your lips sealed. You didn’t want to overstimulate him in a time he reserved for sorrow. So, you just sipped at the beverage before setting it in between you in case he wanted a sip.

He noticed your offer from under his leg and pulled his head up to take it. With a taste of the beverage, he tried to smile. “I can’t even remember the last time I felt whole,” he told you, giving you a short glance before handing the drink over.

You took it from him and brought it to your lips. “I’m not even supposed to be here,” he continued. For some reason, Minho felt like he could tell you anything. He supposed it was because he was finally free from the rules brought from the Maze and WCKD.

“WCKD was supposed to drain me of everything,” he told you. His eyes began to shine under the moon, and if it weren’t for the liquid that surfaced around his tear ducts, you would’ve thought it was a beautiful sight. “They were planning to drain me of blood.”

He stuttered a sigh and you handed him the whiskey to soften his throat. He gladly took a sip and continued. “They were doing all kinds of experiments – playing with my head…”

“Illusions?” you asked him, and he nodded. You were too familiar with the tests WCKD planned to do to all the children, Mary had told you.

“My dead friends were there,” he inhaled, “I woke up again in the Glade and it was like I was reliving my nightmares all over again.” He turned to you and sighed. A tear slipped from his eyes, and you had to stop yourself from wiping it away as it slid down his cheeks.

“I’m not even supposed to be here,” he repeated, this time, in acknowledgement. His lips slightly parted, and another tear fell from his eyes. It was heartbreaking.

“And yet, you are,” you told him, and he smiled at you. For the first time that day, Minho smiled genuinely.

“I guess I am.”

For the rest of the night, the two of you spent the hours sharing sad stories of your past before deciding to move on and join the others by the campfire. By the time you both sat onto the wood, the whiskey bottle was empty and thrown into a hard plastic bin.

But with the alcohol still in your system, you and Minho had no problem laughing the night away. It may have caused a few weird stares from passer-by’s but how was it to bother you, when Minho was there to help you ignore and giggle the judgement away.

Your brother had brought you outside, behind your family’s property and to his bush maze, a playground your family had built for Apollo. He had wanted you to join him in a game of tag, and that’s how it began.

“Sister, come find me!”  Apollo shouted, from deep inside the maze. “Shall I say Polo?”

“That’s a pool game!” you shouted back at him, lining your fingers across the bushes as you pushed yourself deeper into the green abyss. “And why are you speaking like that, you’re from the twenty-first century!”

A boyish giggle echoed through the playground, and you ran towards it. But as the deeper you had dived in, the further your brother had run. “Come find me quicker! I’m beginning to get bored!”

“Maybe let’s stop then, yeah?” you suggested between pants, “come on Apollo, I'm tired!”

You looked up to the sky, the golden glow of the sun only brightening by every passing second. “Mum doesn’t want us getting burnt, let’s hurry out!” you proposed, noticing the red heat that the bright orb had emitted onto your skin.

There was no response, so you shouted his name again, and to your avail, there was a thick silence. Panicking, you sped around the maze looking for your brother. “Apollo?” you shouted his name, spinning around in circles like a lunatic. “Apollo, come on! This isn’t funny, come out!”

There was still a lack of response, so you ran to where you knew the middle of the maze would be, hoping he had hidden in his favourite spot. But behind the wooden table set in the centre of the field was your brother on the floor, vines wrapped around his throat as he gasped for air.

“Apollo how did this happen?” you rushed at him, trying to pull the ivy from his throat. But from your efforts, the ivy only tightened, and he was left gasping for air. “I-can't-I can’t help you! Mother is too far from...”

In a second, the ivy untangled from his throat and latched onto yours, it’s force almost giving you whiplash as it pulled you backwards and against a set of bushes behind you. “Apollo...” you tried to gasp out.

Your brother stood. “I can’t control it! I don’t know what’s happening!” he shouted; it was then that you noticed his hands had glowed a familiar forest green. He had been the one to manipulate the vines by accident, a common mistake for a new elemental witch like himself.

“Someone, help!” he panicked, running around and shouting over and over again as if a magical being would appear after he’d say it a hundred times.

You tried to speak back but your vision blurred with every dying breath you took. “Apollo...” Then, your eyelids slipped down and your world was black.

Later that day, you woke up surprisingly breathing again and in the comfort of your bed sheets. You had learnt that Elijah, a common visitor of your mother’s, had run to your aid after hearing your brother’s shouts, and after feeding you some of his blood, you were healed and left to rest in your room.

That night, Elijah stayed longer than usual to ensure no harm was put in your way to keep you human. Since you’d slept the afternoon, once the sun had set, you awoke and crept out of your room with bounces of energy. So, Elijah decided to diminish your liveliness by baking cookies and catching up with you since your departure to Mystic Falls.

He told you about his recent adventures with his siblings Kol and Rebekah, and their never-ending rivalry that had probably begun since their birth. You had met them once or twice, but only for brief moments as you weren’t exactly useful with your lack of magical abilities. He had mentioned his brother Niklaus a couple of times – often referred to him as a ‘remarkable memory’ for he had died to a couple of idiots with the names of Elena and Damon Salvatore. Even though dead, Elijah still spoke stories of Klaus’ life as if he was still living but moved out.

“His artwork still hangs in our home to this day,” Elijah said as he sat into a chair to wait for the cookies to bake in the oven. “Niklaus is talented – he could even paint a whole story with two colours if he wanted to.”

Elijah, who almost forgot about the baking cookies, spent the waiting time reminiscing about his old life in Mystic Falls – one even though he hated, kind of missed; because even if he dreaded most hours he had spent there, it was a time his brother involved him in his schemes.

“If my brother was here, he’d probably love you,” Elijah commented, after speaking briefly about Niklaus’ infatuation with a girl named Caroline Salvatore. “Your heart is soft yet strong – you know when to use your brain, and you know when to use your heart. It’s like a perfect ratio; he’d love that about you.”

Those were the words he spoke when you looked through the window of your kitchen. That night, you finally saw the brother he had been so reminiscent about, Niklaus Mikaelson; as he stood a length of an away from your window, listening as his older brother spoke of the stories he wished he had told his daughter.

You thought at first that it was your imagination playing tricks on you, but as days went on, and Elijah had visited more often, the ghost of Niklaus always seemed to follow. His hands were connected at all times behind his back, and eyes trailed over everything in awe, almost like a happy yet lost puppy.

The first time Niklaus strayed away from his brother was when Elijah had been too busy in aiding your mother, that he’d gotten bored and followed you to your little garden beside the residence. It was late in the afternoon when he followed you around.

“That’s not the right humidity for those flowers, love,” he spoke, his arms crossed and posture straight as he judged you from behind. You pretended not to acknowledge him and continued to tend to your garden as you wished. “You can’t sit those herbs together; it’ll create a toxin.”

He continued to speak to you that day, giving you guidance he thought you wouldn’t even be able to hear, and every time you somewhat fixed your plants with his advice, he would think for a second that maybe you did – or he was just lonely and going insane.

The day he found out you’d only been ignoring him was when he had slowly drove you to a state of annoyance. Elijah was again, busy with your mother in their shared greenhouse, that Niklaus had found you once again. But this time around, you were on the floor of your bedroom, painting with your little brother.

“Apollo, those colours don’t even go well. Even a three-year-old can paint better than that,” he said from beside you, his legs crossed.

He had been complaining every second of the afternoon, and you had to take a deep breath in order to maintain the once-again growing annoyance he had set in you. Leaning over to peak at your brother’s sheet, you complimented his work before continuing your own.

“Love, let’s not be liars,” Niklaus commented, clearly bothered at the compliment you had to give your sibling. “Blue grass, really?”

You continued to paint your sheet of paper as Niklaus kept sprouting meaningless comments beside you about your brother’s artwork. His lips never stopped moving and you tried to mentally block his presence away. But as an hour had passed of his endless torment, you finally broke.

“So what if the grass is blue, Niklaus; it’s abstract art!” you shouted at him, slamming your paper to the ground before facing him. “Do you ever shut your mouth or is that too hard for you? Do you have to insult my brother’s work to keep yourself entertained?”

You left him breathless but not because someone had finally stood up to him, but because he was supposed to be dead: unseen and unheard. But there you were, clearly aggravated by him and staring deadly into his eyes.

“You can see me?”

“Yes, I can see you! I don’t know how but you get on my nerves, ‘love,’” you fired, letting your annoyance control you. “Every time you get bored from Elijah, you follow me around and I…”

“Great,” he sighed out. Unruffled by your rant, he stood up and stared into your eyes intimidatingly, “now you’ve proven yourself useful,” he paused. You were almost shocked at his ignorance to your rant, but then again, Elijah had told you that Niklaus was a selfish one sometimes. “Be mine and Elijah’s medium,” he demanded.

“I am not going to do that.”

As before, he ignored you. “There’s a witch on the other side that has been trying to contact your mother and I don’t why. So I think you should put your pride aside and help my brother,” he tried to convince you.

“Pride aside?” You questioned him. “What pri… Look, that’s not the point and that’s not happening – I am not going to meddle with some ghost!” you told him, getting up from your spot and walking out of the room from your clearly disturbed younger brother.

“Sister, who are you talking to?” he went to ask, but you had already headed down the stairs and out to the greenhouse where your mother and Elijah still roamed around.

“Elijah!” you shouted, searching for the man as you entered the place. “Elijah, please!”

In a second, Elijah sped to you. He was wearing an apron covered in soil and stinky fertilizer. You had to cover your nose with the palm of your hand to minimise the stink, and he playfully stood closer before raising his eyebrows in concern, “what is it, little one?”

“Your brother,” you breathed out, pointing to the delighted man beside you. But to Elijah, no one stood alongside your figure, so your words only sent him into a whirl of confusion. “He’s annoying me.”

“What do you mean, there’s no one there,” he assured you.

You faced Klaus, tilting your head as a gesture to tell him to interact with his brother. The man, who had been laughing as his hand went through Elijah, turned to you, “tell him the ‘big bad’ hybrid is back.”

You gave Niklaus a side eye look and shook your head, “I am not going to say that Klaus.”

“Say it.”

Sighing, you turned to Elijah who still held the same confused look as before, “Klaus said, ‘the ‘big bad’ hybrid is back.’”

Then, Elijah’s face relaxed and a smile made its way onto his cheeks, “well, I guess you have some extraordinary powers love, because that’s definitely what he would say.”

You spent the rest of that day figuring out the extent of your powers and came to learn that your death had triggered it. Thanks to your abilities, you were able to interact with the witch Klaus had mentioned and offered Elijah help with his concerns.

From that day on, Niklaus kept by your side at all times as you were the only one who could really hear and see him. So, as you learnt your interactions were limited and you couldn’t exactly feel him, he’d come to playfully put his hands through you when he’d get the chance.

“Haha! Got your heart!” he laughed as his hands went through your chest. His eyes curved like crescent moons as his lips played a cheerful song from his throat.

“So funny Klaus,” you sarcastically remarked, playfully rolling your eyes at his childishness, “that’s the third time today.”

Klaus, who stood behind you as you painted on your easel, laughed again, “well, there’s nothing for me to really do, love,” he told you. “I’m hungry and it’s not like I could actually feed.”

“True,” you told him, moving your paintbrush into the cup of water beside you. “But I have heard this thing my mother said the other day,” you smiled, turning to face the man.

He raised an eyebrow at you, unamused by your cheeky smile, “well, what is it?”

“That’s a secret,” you teased him. Turning back around to continue your painting, on the table beside you, you grabbed a thin paintbrush from your cup of water.

You smiled contently as you painted soft clouds onto your canvas. But behind you, Klaus only stared at the back of your head in disbelief, “unbelievable,” he sighed in annoyance, “you can’t do that. Tell me.”

You paused your painting again and placed your brush back into the now-colourful liquid, “hmm… yes I can. I just did,” you told him, turning around and raising an eyebrow at him. He crossed his arms at your words and huffed.

“I’ll take your heart again.”

“You can’t physically harm me,” you told him, smiling mischievously. “Or… maybe you could,” you shrugged, “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Klaus huffed again, uncrossing his arms at the same time, and stared at you in hopes you would break to tell him. But after three long minutes, your lips remained sealed in a smile, as you looked into his eyes innocently. He tried to stare you down intimidatingly, but to you, every second spent looking into his eyes made your heartbeat faster. You had to hate it, but you didn’t. So, you only hoped he didn’t hear it.

“When are you going to tell me?” he asked.

“You mean ‘are you going to tell me?’ I never said I would,” you told him, playfully tilting your head to the side; this brought a smile to his lips. He thought you were cute with your playful tactics.

And after a long second of internal self-inflicted pain of deciding whether to plead and give in to your cuteness or remain stubborn, Klaus sighed, “please.”

Then, your smile widened, “sure,” you told him. Straightening your back and clearing your throat, you said, “I heard mother talking to another witch. She said her daughter was the same as me, and with a spell, she could make the ghosts she wished, be able to touch her.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me that?” he shouted; it was not the reaction you expected – perhaps if he was relieved and excited then maybe, but it seemed he was not.

“Well,” you paused, awkwardly smiling up at him. “I was, just not in this hour… Maybe tomorrow, but...”

“Hurry on with the spell then!”

“Okay, fine!” you shouted back, your mood changing quickly to annoyance from his eagerness.

You stood from your chair and headed to your bathroom where you went to spill the paint water down the sink. Klaus followed closely behind you as you dressed up into other clothes that weren’t covered in paint.

“Where are you going?” he asked you, watching your every move and not bothering to tear his eyes from your figure even as you changed shirts.

“I need a personal item of yours, so I’ll go visit Elijah. I’ll be back soon,” you told him. Ignoring his protests to join you, you slammed the bedroom door in his face and headed to the Mikaelson’s residence.

When you’d collected what you needed from the mansion, you returned home to Niklaus sitting on your carpeted floor with his legs crossed and hands in his lap patiently.

“You look cute,” you told him, putting his belongings beside him along with yourself. After crossing your legs, the same as his, you turned to him, “like a child I mean – adorable,” you corrected yourself, before beginning the spell.

When you had finished speaking your enchantments, you looked up to Niklaus and put a hand on his shoulder as a trial. To your luck, it worked. So, when he’d felt your hand brush his shoulder, he stepped back in shock and tried to touch the things around him. But in a split second, the shock turned to sadness when he realised his body still went through physical objects.

You sighed at his sad expression and stood to put his belongings onto your nightstand. “I’m sorry Klaus,” you paused, turning to him, “only I could touch you, I still haven’t figured out how to let you touch things.”

“It’s okay,” he assured, giving you a smile. But you could tell from the wrinkles under his eyes that it was fake, and he was far from okay.

Moving away from your nightstand, you walked over to him and opened your arms for a hug. You didn’t expect him to accept it but thought it was a kind gesture; so, when Klaus stood closer and wrapped his arms around your figure, you were shocked. The room fell silent from the exchange, and only the sounds your gentle breaths filled the comfortable air before Klaus spoke.

“I thought you couldn’t do spells,” he told you, unwrapping his arms from around you and stepping back.

“I guess there’s only one,” you told him, “What would I be if I couldn’t do spells in a bloodline full of witches?” He smiled at this, and you offered your wrist over, “you hungry?”

For a second, Klaus stared at the skin in concern. Sure, he was hungry, but he didn’t want to hurt you. Especially since you’d taken your time in doing the spell in which he’d be guaranteed touch from one person.

“Are you sure?” He asked you and you nodded.

So, he wrapped his fingers around your wrist and brought it to his lips and drank. The slight paleness in his skin from thirst plumped with colour and Klaus’ lips were dripping in a phoenix red. Once he’d pulled away, you tilted your head at him.

“Should we go fetch Elijah?” you asked him. Eager to tell the older one about the news, you barely heard Klaus’ agreement before you pulled your phone out and dialled the Original.

“Elijah guess what.”

In a mere few minutes, Elijah was by your bedroom door, his face holding an unreadable expression – you couldn’t tell if he was shocked or excited.  “How can I…” he paused, looking between you and Niklaus. “Niklaus…”

Your expression was then changed again in an instant, and your excitement turned to shock. Elijah could see Niklaus.

“You can see me?” the younger one spoke, a soft gasp leaving his lips. Elijah nodded at his brother and walked to him for a hug. The reunion between the Mikaelson siblings was a sentimental moment, and you almost found yourself tearing up.

From that day on, you’d come to realise that with consumption of your blood, Niklaus was able to interact with other people as well as physical objects. Since you guys had come together with a drinking schedule for him to feed twice a day, he was able to do anything he wished like he was still alive.

Once in your sleep, he’d even sneaked into your storage room to steal a canvas and some new paintbrushes to paint your sleeping figure. It was a little creepy to say the least, but when you’d woken up and he’d surprised you with the artwork, you were moved that he’d found beauty in your form. There’s no doubt that the man was talented.

You often found each other in the mansion’s library. He was always writing something new in the empty book you’d given him – probably a memoir, you didn’t know, he said it was a surprise. So, you’d let him be and read a random book from the shelf.

The day you found out what he’d been writing for was when he had rushed to the bathroom in a hurry and left his book open on a table. You didn’t want to invade his privacy and peak at his writing, but your curiosity betrayed you, and you put the book you’d been reading aside.

Slowly, you stood from your chair and crept towards the table beside you where Niklaus once sat. Collecting the book into your hands, you peered over the page. The white sheet was coloured in endless words of affection written in beautiful poetry of Old English. You’d come to realise that unbeknownst to you, Niklaus had been writing love poems and letters to someone.

You didn’t realise he had entered the room until you felt the wind breeze passed you and the book was peeled from your hands and shoved into his chest. “Why are you reading this?” he yelled at you. His volume was shocking, and he didn’t miss the way you flinched at his voice.

“I’m sorry,” you told him, “I wasn’t thinking…”

“Yeah, clearly!” he scoffed.

For the rest of the week, the two of you didn’t speak unless it was feeding time. You’d learnt from Elijah that it was safer to do so as Klaus tended to have emotional outbursts when provoked. It wasn’t until the next week that the two of you had a proper interaction since the outburst. It was your birthday. You’d woken up from your slumber and noticed the book Klaus had been writing on your bedside table. On the cover, sat a yellow sticky note with the words:

‘Happy birthday love. I hope you can forgive me – Klaus’

When you peeled it open, the first page had a clear note dedicated you. At first, when you read a single page the week prior, you merely thought that the book was dedicated to a person Niklaus loved from his past. But as you read on, you came to realise that he just had a old-fashioned way of showing his love.

“How is it?” he asked from behind you. He leant against your door frame twirling his fingers as you stayed standing, reading the poems he’d wrote for you.

“It’s okay, I guess,” you teased, flipping a page before turning to him. “I’m kidding, it’s beautiful Klaus. Thank you.”

“Book and reader alike,” he smiled.

The wind blew against your skin, fleeing your hair from your face and turning the pages of your grimoire rapidly. This had you gripping the pages down in hopes to not stray too far from your original reading.

Mad, yet thankful for the wind, you would’ve forgotten the purpose of your pond visit if it wasn’t for the inconvenience of it. So, as you trailed your eyes away from visual awe, you began to study your family’s grimoire. But unbeknownst to you, a duo of siblings, watched as you did so, a soft smile slipping its way onto their faces.

“A beauty, isn’t she, brother?” One of them claims, his eyes trailing away from your figure and onto his blood relative.

“A beauty indeed,” the other one smiles, his arms falling from their crossed position to peel his brother away from you. But as they began to walk away, the older man couldn’t help but turn back when he heard a slight flip of a page. It was then that he noticed a symbol printed on your neck; the same print that happened to lay upon his brother’s skin.  

His lips sealed in a smirk and the older man suggested to the younger, “why don’t you invite her to the ball, brother?”

It was when Klaus slowly trailed behind you, as subtle as he could, to your home, did he realise which family you belonged to. You resided in the wooden house hid behind rows of trees, where your grandmother lived. Its build gave fairy-tale-cottage core vibes with its stone and gravel walkway, huge garden, and vines that lined perfectly in the cracks of its walls.

It was the house your grandmother worked hard to build alongside her witch friends for the purpose of public elemental magic usage; the house that Klaus had offered to pay for, with nothing in return, but for the gratitude and ever-lasting alliance with your family; for your family history has had a long connection with the Mikaelsons since the origins of the supernatural.

But to see you enter the house for the first time, was odd. Klaus hadn’t seen anyone enter the premises since the death of your parents – although, he hadn’t yet connected the relations. He just assumed you were a distant relative visiting.

Unbeknownst to you, he’d been the one to try to stop the fire of your family’s old residence; the one which burnt your family and most of your grimoires into ashes before you could drive back into town. Only, he didn’t know it was your immediate family, he hoped it was just a family of your cousin’s; obviously, that wasn’t the case.

As you closed the door behind you and whiffed in the warm scent of your grandmother’s cookies, Klaus sped to the door and slipped the white envelope he’d decorated with a few flower stickers prior to his definitely not-creepy stalk to your home. Under the envelope, was a present he hoped you’d like: an attire he hoped you to wear that night.

As he nervously inhaled, he held his hands against the wood of your front door before knocking softly and speeding home.

That night, you attended the ball after your grandmother’s endless praise of the Mikaelson siblings, claiming the ball to be an opportunity to converse with those whom your family had been close to for centuries.

As you entered the mansion, your dress knotted in between your fingers, you gazed around and caught the eyes of a man whom stood at the top of the staircase. His hair was a blond under the chandelier, but if you’d looked into it a little deeper, it seemed to be a natural dirt blond. His lips were a plump pink and you’d have to be cursed if you didn’t notice the pretty dimples on his pale cheeks.

You found yourself almost entranced by his beauty if it weren’t for someone bumping into your shoulder accidentally – or so you thought. The person who’d done so peeled away from your body and took a step back to apologise. You’d be dumb if you didn’t realise the similarities between him and the man by the stairs; so you assumed these were the brothers your grandmother spoke so highly about.

The boy who bumped into you took one of your hands in his and leaned down, pulling your knuckles to his lips with a quick peck. “I’m sorry darling, it seems that I’ve been walking blindly,” he smiled.

You smiled back, nodding at his apology before slowly slipping your hands from his grip. “It’s my bad, I was just standing here without a care of those around me.”

“Without a care?” He smirked, looking up to the staircase where the other man once stood, but now unoccupied. “It seems that you’d been admiring my brother.”

“Hm,” you hummed, following his gaze to the empty stairs. “It seems to be.”

He trailed his eyes back to you and you followed his mannerisms, watching as he spoke, “I’m Kol, and you are?”

“Not for you,” a voice perked behind Kol – it was the man you had just spoke about. “I’m Niklaus,” he smiled at you, gently pulling your knuckles to his lips for a peck.

“Now brother, let’s not be paranoid. I was just here to greet a new face, she’s your guest, I understand,” Kol admitted, his eyes avoiding his brother’s and staying on you.

“Nothing to be paranoid about,” Klaus smiled, slightly pushing his brother to the side as an attempt to move him away from you. Kol understood the gesture and moved away to find another guest to be enchanted with.

“You’re Niklaus? The one who sent the invitation?” You asked – although you already knew the answer, you wanted to create conversation. He nodded at your question and you continued, “my grandmother told me a bit about you.”

“Well, I hope just good things,” you almost fawned at the dimples that appeared on his cheeks. You nodded, and for the rest of the night, the two of you spent time conversing and dancing on the dance floor together.  

You learnt a lot about him that night: his connection with your family, the origins of his, and the sad fact: that he’d been the first one to the scene of your family’s burning house. Although, he failed to save them, you were grateful for his condolences and his offer to deliver you the grimoires he managed to save.

By the end of the party, Niklaus walked you out to your car, your hand wrapped around his forearm as your other held your heels you’d tried hard to resist on the dance floor. Once you both reached your car, you dropped his arm and slipped into the vehicle he so kindly opened the door to.

“Thank you for tonight Klaus, I had a wonderful time,” you thanked after putting your heels in the seat next to you.

“No worries, love,” he spoke. For a second, it seemed that he’d been hesitant to speak of something. “May I ask you something?”

You nodded at him, confused at the sudden anxiousness that radiated off his body.  “I happened to notice that your soulmate tattoo isn’t on you, do you happen to have one?” He asked.

Your fingers reached your neck where your tattoo hid under some makeup. “Well, I do. I just happen to hide it from people.”

“May I ask why?”

A breath left your lips and you thought for a moment: why did you hide it, really? “I guess I’m just scared I’ll come across a witch who happens to know how to duplicate a tattoo to fool me.”

He nodded, pleased with your answer, before stepping back to close your car door and waving you off.

In the next few days, Klaus found himself hoping for your return to the pond where he’d first set his eyes on you. But to his demise, you hadn’t, and he was left salty and trying to avoid death in the hands of Elena and her friends.

By the next week, he’d grown quite upset and aggravated from your sudden disappearance, and decided to stand by your front door in hopes he’d hear two heartbeats inside. But his hopes were thrown to the ground and crushed like eggshells when he heard only one.

A sigh fell from his lips, and he was about to turn back when the door opened and revealed your grandmother. “Klaus, nice to see you!”

“Hi,” he sighed out, a soft smile written on his cheeks, “is your granddaughter here?” He asked, although already knowing the answer.

“No, but she’ll be here soon. She went out to grab some materials. You want to come in?” Your grandmother asked.

“Please,” Klaus said, and to his plead, your grandmother moved aside and let him in.

When an hour had passed and a few secrets had been shared between the hybrid and your grandmother, you finally returned home with two containers filled with the various herbs you had been ordered to grab.

“Nana, i’m home!” You exclaimed, holding tightly onto the large stacked containers between your short arms. If you’d moved slightly wrong, they’d fall in an instant and drizzle the herbs all along the floor. So to your pleasure, Klaus appeared from the kitchen where he once sat drinking tea with your grandmother, to help you.

Pulling the containers from your grasp, he walked quickly into the kitchen before you could thank him. Not long after taking your shoes off by the door mat, you followed in after.

“Klaus? What are you doing here?” You asked him, smiling at your grandmother when she caught your gaze.

Carefully settling the containers on the kitchen island, Klaus slightly turned his head to project his voice, “well love, it seems that you’ve disappeared out of the blue so I decided to pay ‘nana’ a visit.”

You chuckled at his fingered quotations to ‘nana’ before sitting down at the table. Your grandmother however, couldn’t help but smirk and nudge your shoulder from across the wood that separated the two of you.  

“He didn’t mean to pay me a visit, he was looking for you,” she cheekily admitted, earning a playful disbelief look from Klaus whom stood behind her. “I think he likes you,” she whispered, almost forgetting he had vampire hearing.

The pink-cheeked man behind her shook his head as you moved your gaze to him. “Is that so, nana?” You played back, a smirk slipping onto your lips. “Well I happen to enjoy night walks for a date, if I do say so myself.”

“Perfect,” Klaus smiled, tapping your grandmother’s shoulders, “how about now?”

That’s how you found yourself enjoying Klaus’ company once more, but under the comfort of the dim streetlights that littered the walkway.

“So, since you were so curious about my tattoo,” you started, swinging your arms nervously by your side as you looked up to him, “how about yours?”

There was a pale of emptiness around his neck, where his tattoo should’ve been, and if it weren’t for the walls you’d built up to protect yourself from heartbreak, you would’ve imagined a world where you would wake beside him with purple hues scattering his pretty skin.

“Mine,” he paused, looking down for a moment as if to think, “well, mine can’t be seen by the living.”  

This only made you curious and you raised an eyebrow at him to explain. “Well, love: once dead, your mark fades from the eyes of the breathing, and by breathing, that would include you.”

You hummed at his response, “does that mean only vampires can see your mark?” He nodded, but not without showing you a soft smile with a single dimple appearing on his cheek.

“How do you know it’s only vampires that can see it?” You asked, before motioning him to the bench on your side.

You both sat down, with Klaus on your left. “So far, I’ve only known vampires to notice my mark. My hybrids don’t necessarily like talking to me, so even if they did notice the mark, the wolves wouldn’t have said so.”

“Well, why don’t you turn me?” You asked jokingly, slightly chuckling to yourself but stopping when you noticed Klaus’ serious expression. “Sorry, should I not laugh?”

The atmosphere turned awkward in a second and you wished for nothing but to sink into the bench and morph as one with it.  

“Your humour is quite bizarre,” he commented, and you’d be lying to yourself if you said it didn’t slightly hurt.

“Yeah,” you sighed out, pulling your hands to your lap.

The atmosphere was quiet once again as the two of you sat still against the wooden bench, the wind howling around you and bringing chill to your skin. But even as it did so, the chill was barely noticed as you were too upset at the ever-growing silence between you.

You wished it hadn’t been so awkward.

After a few moments and a deep sigh, you stood and turned to him, “well, I should head home now, it was nice hanging with you.”

But as you went to head back home, Klaus was by your side in an instant, a hand on your lower back, trailing closely beside you.

“Apologies for my awkwardness, love. No hard feelings. But it would be bad to let you walk home alone, so you’re stuck with me.”

“Great,” you faked smile, slumping your shoulders forward which went unnoticed by the hybrid.

“I…” he paused his words, pulling his hand away from your back to acknowledge your uncomfortableness. “I also promised your nana that I’d keep you safe.”

It wasn’t long before you both reached your front porch. Once you’d unlocked the door, you leaned against the frame and peered up at Klaus in silence, waiting for him to begin the goodbyes.

Even in the dark, you could see the soft smile on his face as he scanned yours with pure adoration. “Uh,” he breathed out, almost seemingly nervous, “I enjoyed tonight, really. I’m sorry for upsetting you in the end, it wasn’t my intention.”

You nodded at his apology and smiled back, “it’s okay Nik, I’m just soft-hearted.” If only you had superhuman hearing would you hear the rapid skip of his heart at the mention of his nickname.

“Would you enjoy another date sometime soon?” He asked, and if it weren’t for being a vampire, he would’ve prayed to the gods you accepted.

“Of course, Nik,” you gladly replied, stepping away from your door to stand on your tiptoes and place a soft peck on his cheek, “I’ll see you, okay? Just come by whenever, I should be home.”

That night, Niklaus came home with a large smile and pink-tinted cheeks. This, obviously, was unnoticed by his siblings, and Rebekah promised herself she would tease him about it until the end of time.

The next day, Klaus appeared on your doorstep once again, in hopes you’d accept impulsive date plan. But to his demise, no one had answered the door.

“That’s quite strange,” he muttered to himself.

The man knocked a couple times more before deciding to give up and jump down the stairs of your porch. But when he’d turn to face the forest, a soft whisper came from the house, “Niklaus…”

In an instant, he sped into the house and followed the voice. It lead him to the kitchen where he found your grandmother on the ground, laying on her stomach and arms stretched above her in discomfort.

“Nana? What happened?” He asked, crouching quickly and pulling his fangs to his wrist to feed her his blood.

Your grandmother healed quickly and sat up, “they took her…”

The words were enough for Niklaus to bring your grandmother with him to his family’s residence. Together, they, and his siblings, came up with possible ways to save you from the danger of the small group of wolves and vampires that Klaus had himself rivalling against years before his return to Mystic Falls.

After the group had left a note on his doorstep of hints to your whereabouts, it wasn’t long before they found the warehouse you were trapped in.

Inside, you were sat on a steel chair, your eyes swollen red with a rough rag in your mouth, and your hands wrapped around in plastic zip ties and away from anything of natural earth elemental power to you. Other than the dumb plan for the group to fight against the Original family, you were surprised they thought ahead of your powers.

Surrounding you were only four people, vampire or werewolf, you didn’t know, but they seemed to be the toughest of the bunch with their hard stares and strong stance. In the other surrounding rooms, were probably a dozen more whom waited for the Originals to attack.

If it weren’t for the anxiousness that trickled through your bloodstream, you thought the sight of the nearly empty room would bore you. The walls were coated in an ugly blue and the floor was plain concrete with various stains and cracks. The only furniture residing the place were the four other people who stood like statues, watching your every move.

Earlier, they had been the ones to break into your home, threaten your only surviving relative and throw you into the back of their car, which lead you scared and scarred for your life.

In the warehouse, the room you sat in was quiet as you all waited for the Mikaelsons to appear, but as every second passed, it felt as if your eyes were drooping lower and you almost felt yourself falling asleep if it weren’t for the shout of one of your capturers.

“Sleep and you die,” they yelled with no remorse, their arms staying still across their chest.

Not for long moments after, a loud screeching noice echoed the room and the large roller doors folded up to reveal Niklaus in all his angry glory.

“Close your eyes, love,” he smiled to you and you did as you were told. In the dark space behind your eyelids, you could see static speed of the movement of light as Niklaus sped around the room to kill your capturers.

Once the room was cleared, he pulled the rag from your mouth and told you to open your eyes. “Hey Nik,” you blinked, your eyes still swollen and red from your earlier panic. “I’m tired.”

“I know love, let’s take you home,” he untied your hands from their restraints and went to pull you up.

But as he did so, you noticed a quick flash behind him, “Nik, watch out!” In panic, you pulled Niklaus back and used your earth magic to change the shape of the white oak stake and enlarge its sharp point towards the oncoming attacker behind him.  

In an instant, the vampire was impaled, turned grey and dead on the concrete floor. You stared at the body in shock as it laid lifeless on the ground. Klaus followed your gaze to the body and sighed.

“Love, let’s not worry about that. Let’s…” he began but you stopped him.

“I-I… I killed someone, Nik,” you stuttered, your fingers shaking and eyes still on the body. You may haven’t killed the man with your bare hands, but it felt like blood was pooling around your fingers and seeping into your fingernails as you stared longer at him.

“Okay, let’s look away, shall we?” He suggested, putting your cheeks in between the palm of his hands in order to make you look at him; but you closed your eyes, unable to stop the tears from falling down your cheeks. “Let’s take you home, okay, my love?”  

“No,” you told him, pulling your face down. He only looked at you, confused. “No,” you repeated, “something–something’s wrong with me.”

“Nothing’s wrong with you, you just need some res…” he went to speak, but stopped when you looked up and opened your eyes.

His breath was caught between his throat for he had not seen your beautiful coloured eyes, but instead, the eyes of those of a werewolf.