Chapter 11
CeilingCat: Myr?
TrashPanda: Bella! <3
CeilingCat: Want to go for lunch? Just us two?
Bella had thought about it, long and hard, and she figured that if she needed to fix things, the best way was to start with Myriam. It’s where it all started in the first place. It was Myriam who had kept an eye on Bella from a distance the moment they realized that she was something special and through Myriam, Bella got to know the Mikaelsons.
TrashPanda: I can’t.
Myriam took way too long to answer and Bella’s heart sank. She had fucked up, hadn’t she?
CeilingCat: Dinner, then?
TrashPanda: Sure. Come to dinner at the compound tonight, I’m sure everyone will love to see you! <3
No, no, no. Bella wasn’t ready for that! She had not prepared herself for this outcome.
TrashPanda: Either come to the compound tonight – we have a very good French chef at the moment – or, we’ll come over to your place. Yes, we know you’ve been our neighbor for quite a while now 😉 You can fool the eyes, but not the nose!
Bella’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor. She should have known, she should have, but… damnit.
CeilingCat: What time?
TrashPanda: Well, you could go over there now, I don’t care. I’m at work so I’ll see you tonight.
This was entrapment. This wasn’t fair. She had thought she’d go to lunch or dinner with Myriam and talk with her about stuff. Make sure that the friendship was still there and now this?
CeilingCat: How about I come to your work for coffee?
TrashPanda: Can’t do that, Bella. See you tonight! <3
Bella tried not to freak out for the rest of the day as she kept pacing back and forth in her apartment, thinking of scenarios and how that would play out and what would happen if something went wrong. Maybe Myriam didn’t want to be her friend anymore and Myriam would need the rest of the family to back her up. Or be present.
Was Myriam scared of her now?
Was Bella going to be able to deal with everyone at once?
Since when had Bella turned into such a chicken?
Well, she could answer that last question; despite the fact that the witches had dropped all of their spells and influencing on the family, Bella wasn’t sure what she was going to walk into. It was almost as if the whole experience had given Bella social anxiety and that was wrong. But it was still a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. What if. What if they resented her? What if they weren’t happy? What if, what if, what if.
What if they were alright but they didn’t want her around anymore?
By the time it was dinner time, Bella had polished off half a bottle of wine for liquid courage, but sadly, she didn’t feel any different. Sighing, she grabbed her keys and her phone and headed across the street. Much to her surprise, she found the place deserted. It had an eerie feeling about it too; all the lights were out and the only illumination the courtyard received was from the light outside.
This was a clear message to her, wasn’t it? They didn’t want her anymore. Sighing heavily, she turned around and started to walk out of there, only to be stopped by Elijah. Of all people, it had to be Elijah. “Yeah, don’t worry, Elijah,” she sighed as she looked up at him. “I’ll go.”
Elijah smiled at that. “Rejection hurts, doesn’t it?”
She narrowed her eyes on him, remembering all the times Kol tried to get his brother’s attention in the past and always being rejected. “You’re one to talk.”
He gestured around them. “This is what my siblings have been experiencing in the last couple of weeks after you successfully bargained with the Regent. Now, I’ve seen them all at their worst before, but not for this long and certainly not this intense. This was Ms. Jenkins’ idea.”
“I get it. I’ll leave.”
“You don’t ‘get it’, at all, Ms. Swan, and leaving is certainly not the answer. Allow me to escort you to the bar where they’ve all gathered for dinner. Ms. Jenkins also implied you’d feel more comfortable with other people around,” he stepped aside and motioned with his hand for her to follow him.
Reluctantly, Bella followed him. Elijah wasn’t her biggest fan, she knew this. This was a fact. Even before all of the meddling of the witches, Elijah didn’t like her very much. Kol had brushed it off as Bella being too powerful and having the potential to be worse than Klaus and Kol combined and that she shouldn’t listen to Elijah.
However, he was the eldest of the Mikaelsons. He knew his siblings well. Elijah had a good head on his shoulders and maybe he was right about Bella; and she was the one in denial. She did have the potential to be incredibly dangerous and do some serious damage. It was one of the reasons why she had thought about leaving New Orleans and this family behind; she didn’t want them to get hurt because of her. Not again.
And on the way to the bar where his siblings were, Elijah validated every single fear that she had about this dinner, every ounce of guilt she felt, seemed to be weighing even heavier by the time they were close and Bella fought the instinct to shut Elijah up. Despite how correct he was, his words hurt and she wanted it to stop. “Why do you think I’ve been avoiding all of you?”
“You got yourself an apartment right across the street; I hardly call that avoiding.”
“Helios bought it for me, it’s not as if I had a hand in it!”
“You could have resold it and find some other place,” Elijah said simply before he swung the door to Rousseau’s open. “There you go. We’re right at the back of this establishment,” he added. “And if your first words to my family aren’t ‘I am sorry’, you will be.”
“You’ve made your point,” she said softly, still resisting the urge to turn him into a cockroach or something. “Now stop before I will do something I might regret.” While she knew Elijah was only rubbing salt in her wounds, she couldn’t help but feel as if she had shrunk to the size of an ant. Had Elijah’s presence at the compound been Myriam’s idea as well?
“And risk the wrath of my siblings? Come now, Isabella, here I thought you wanted to try to fix things!” Elijah made his way through the crowd and joined his family for dinner.
Why had she left the silver dagger at the apartment?
“Elijah, what took you so long?” Klaus questioned his brother. “You said it was merely an errand you needed to run!”
“I happened upon Ms. Bella,” Elijah replied as he unfolded a napkin and put it down in his lap. “It would have been rude of me to have her walk here by herself, wouldn’t it?” He nodded towards Bella who had now followed him through the crowd and had made a beeline towards the bar. “I believe she was invited for dinner? How rude of her not to say hello first.”
“Allow the girl to get some liquid courage before she faces us, brother,” Klaus playfully replied; his voice the complete opposite of the look of worry and concern on his face as he watched her. “It’s likely she only anticipated having to deal with Myriam before Myriam decided that it was best to pull off the proverbial band-aid and have her face us all at once.” There was no doubt in his mind that his brother had likely made things worse in Bella’s mind. It showed true courage on Bella’s behalf that she still came, and he couldn’t be more proud of her.
Bella had tried to get the attention of the female bartender for a while now, but she was either purposefully ignoring her, or too busy to notice her. That, or Bella had truly shrunk to the size of an ant and she had to start avoiding getting trampled. She didn’t think she was that short.
“You look like you could use a drink,” a friendly voice spoke next to her. English accent but not familiar so it was likely safe to look up. When she did, she stared at the handsome young man with beautiful blue eyes and nodded. If he could get her a drink quicker, then yes. “What’s your poison?”
“Whiskey or bourbon or vodka… anything, thanks,” she smiled at him before looking back at the bartender, willing the woman to walk over to them.
A hand appeared in front of her, making her look at the hand and noticing that it came from the guy. “I’m Kaleb,” he smiled at her. “What’s your name?”
“Bella,” she replied, not taking his hand. “I could really use that drink, Kaleb,” she replied, a certain urgency in her voice.
“Alright, alright,” he laughed and got the attention of the bartender.
The moment the shot of vodka appeared in front of Bella, she downed it and hoped that it would be refilled. She needed more. She could feel how Kaleb slipped an arm around her which made her look up at him and he winked, downing his own shot.
“How about we go some place quiet and talk about what’s bothering you?”
Smoothe. Did that actually work on people? Bella didn’t have a chance to respond because without blinking, Kol had pried the arm off of her and twisted it behind Kaleb’s back. She could have sworn she heard something break. “Kol!”
“Getting a little handsy with the ladies, huh?” Kol bent Kaleb’s arm even further, causing the boy to double over. “Buying her a drink?”
“Kol, stop,” Bella put her hand on his arm, but all she got in return was Kol looking at her as if he was possessed – which he wasn’t. There was no magical aura, there was nothing there. This truly was Kol and he was now dragging Kaleb towards the exit.
“Well, that’s another witch down,” Klaus commented from behind her.
She quickly looked over her shoulder before running after Kol. “No, no, no, no!” She followed him into the alley where he was smacking Kaleb against the wall, vamp face out. “Kol!”
“Stay out of this, Bella,” he shot at her, not removing his eyes from the witch. “How dare he get to touch you while I haven’t been able to touch you in weeks! YEARS!”
Oh, that was hot. It was so wrong but so hot. “Kol, he didn’t attack me, or you, let him go.”
“If anything, he attacked me,” Kaleb replied before he received a blow to the face. “You wanker!”
“Go near my girl again and I swear, I will tear your skin off so slowly you will beg for death,” Kol spat at the witch before throwing him out onto the street. Ignoring his siblings who had followed them onto the street, he pulled Bella towards him and then pushed her against the wall, gently, locking her in with his arms so she couldn’t escape. He still had this delirious look on his face, but his vamp face was gone. “We have unfinished business, you and I. You daggered me.”
“I told you I was sorry,” she said breathlessly as she looked at him. Despite everything, she knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. She wasn’t scared. No, she was turned on and the whole experience was confusing. “And I am. For everything,” Bella continued. “For leaving for so long, for the witches, for Davina, for daggering you and then not showing my face for weeks… I hurt you and betrayed your trust by doing what I said I wouldn’t be doing and—-”
“What are you doing?” Kol took a step closer to her, his voice kinder now.
Confused, she blinked at him. “I’m apologizing.”
“For a lot more than you should.”
“What?”
“The way I see it, we’re even, you and I. I betrayed you by putting you under the influence of the Dark Object and you retaliated by daggering me. I had that coming. I am grateful it only lasted for less than an hour; I believe you scared yourself by doing that to me, isn’t that enough?”
“This is disappointing,” Elijah muttered.
“Shut up, brother,” Rebekah hit him on the arm. “This is so much better than The Notebook!”
“I understand, Bella, I know why you did the things you did and how hard it must have been for you to do it and I don’t feel you should apologize for that,” Kol took another step closer to her, he could hear her heart beat so loud that it was causing the air to resonate slightly. “What you should apologize for is for living next door for weeks without as much as a ‘hi’. I’d have gladly given you the space you required because I know that you hurt. Perhaps even more than I hurt.”
“I deserve it, it’s my own fault I wasn’t here and—”
“No, this is on me,” he smiled at her. “I should have listened to you when you said New Orleans wasn’t going to be a good idea. What happened on the bridge is on those relatives of yours, not giving you the proper training before setting you off in the real world and I am glad that that has changed. I would have been fine waiting for you for an eternity but, what happened next was all on the Ancestors,” he gently pushed a wayward strand of her hair out of her face. “Witches have a notorious history of being manipulative. We should have recognized the signs early on, especially when that spell failed to hold on Nik as it did. But we all ignored it and we should have known better that you never would have turned on us the way they made us believe. No matter how much you distaste Elijah and his wardrobe.”
“I don’t distaste Elijah. His wardrobe… yes,” Bella replied with a small smile on her face. “He does have some valid points about why you shouldn’t keep me around.”
“Nonsense,” Kol huffed as he looked over to his brother. “He’s as narrow minded as the witches, why do you think they were able to keep on manipulating us? Elijah only wants what’s best for the family in his mind, and he’s so very wrong about you.”
“This is preposterous,” Elijah huffed as he shook his head. “If we’re not going to have dinner as a family, I shall take my leave and find my own.”
“For once I have to agree with Elijah, I’m hungry,” Myriam piped up. “Let’s go back inside and have dinner, we can talk some more while we have some good food.”
Kol took another step closer to Bella, he was so close now, they were almost touching and stared her right in the eyes. He could hear her heart speed up again and Bella’s pupils were dilated and it gave him hope, so much hope. “You go ahead and order for us too, Bella and I have some unfinished business, won’t be a minute.” After his siblings walked away, he spoke again. “You’re still mine, Bella, and if you want me to be, I’m still yours.”
“Don’t you need time to get over—”
“No,” he growled lowly. “Don’t go there, my beautiful goddess. I had my revenge when I killed her. What she and I had wasn’t real. You and me. We are real. I never stopped loving you. Never.” He put his forehead against hers, still blocking her exits with both arms. “I always dismissed it as a form of mourning while that bitch had me under her spell but it wasn’t. It was you, all along, trying to get through to me even while you weren’t around,” he took a deep breath. “I know you said we’re broken and that you weren’t sure yet if you wanted us to be fixed but Bella, I’ll do anything to fix what’s broken. I even destroyed the Dark Object that I— I should have never used it on you.”
“But—-”
“Stop thinking so much, Bella, get out of your head before you hurt yourself,” he kissed the top of her head. “Please. Nothing is as bad as you think. Nothing is as broken as you believe it to be. Don’t be scared – it’ll be —”
While Bella believed this was too much like one of her fanfictions, there was a truth in what Kol was saying. He needed her, but she needed him just as bad. She grabbed the sides of his head and pulled him in for a desperate but passionate kiss that didn’t last as long as she wanted to but eventually she needed air. Sighing happily, she looked up at him and saw that stupid goofy grin on his face that likely mirrored her own. “I only have one request.”
“Anything,” he said all giddy as he pulled her into his arms.
“For as long as we want to stay in New Orleans, you’re going to stay with me. Not at the compound but with me.”
“Done.”
She softly brushed his lips with hers. “So, in how much trouble am I, really?”
Kol shrugged. “Well, you might be on Myriam’s shit list for going dark these past weeks. If she did any bitching about you, it was about that. Now, I understand and all, and I believe Nik does too, to a certain degree, but she missed you like crazy, Bella.”
“I’ve been a shitty friend.”
“You have been a shitty friend,” Kol agreed. “But you can fix that. Come, let’s go eat.”
Kol had protectively put his arm around her as they walked back to Rousseau’s. He couldn’t be happier about the turn around with Bella; he had honestly believed that she wouldn’t want him anymore and it hadn’t been the case. His magnificent goddess was back where she belonged; with him.
He did notice, though, as they made their way through the crowd, she was tensing up again at the sight of Niklaus whispering something in Myriam’s ear. “Don’t worry, darling,” he said encouragingly. “Nik only told Myriam to behave.”
“Oh yeah, that helped,” Bella said sarcastically.
He let out a snort and shook his head. “You’re a goddess; you could always bend them to your will as a last resort.”
“No, don’t be an idiot,” she smiled at him. “That’s an abuse of power and highly irresponsible.”
“Sounds like fun to me.”
When they got to the table, Bella could see their food had already been brought to the table. Why she was the only one with a cheeseburger was beyond her understanding, but she was going to figure that out soon enough. “Uhm… before I sit down, I want to apologize.”
“That’s alright, love,” Klaus said as he pointed to her chair. “You needed some time to adjust. But do realize in this family, we help each other out. We can’t help you if you push us away. Now sit. Eat.”
“Just don’t think we’ll be letting you off the hook this easily next time,” Rebekah added as she watched Bella sit down. “You still have a lot to learn about this family.”
“Aw, Bekah, you’re only nice to her because technically she’s your boss,” Kol teased his sister, causing his sister to scowl.
“Oh, about that. I uh… think it’s sweet and generous, Klaus, but I think Rebekah should be the boss of the animal shelter. She seems to be enjoying her work immensely, and I think I’ll only be intruding as I’d have no idea what to do.”
“See? I don’t need a supervisor,” Rebekah smiled widely at her brother.
“Very well, what will you be doing then, Bella?” Klaus wondered as he watched her hesitantly taking a chip off of her plate and pop it into her mouth.
She blinked at the taste of the fry but chewed and swallowed it anyway. The cook must have mistaken the chili powder for paprika powder, which was fine. Nothing Bella couldn’t handle. “Uh, I had some ideas, but they can wait. I think what’s more important is we’re all alright together as we were before. That we’re comfortable again in each other’s presence.” She put another fry in her mouth and was surprised that the chili hadn’t ruined the taste of the fries.
“But still, you could assist Rebekah—”
“Klaus, I appreciate it, but no. I’ve spent the last two years working my ass off without much to show for it other than ruined relationships and a healthy dose of anxiety,” she said determined before she took a bite off of her burger and wishing she hadn’t. She had regretted it immediately as her mouth was on fire. According to her taste buds – that were now shot – the beef patty was filled with peppers and hot as hell. No proper sauce other than Sriracha and oh god, her mouth was on fire.
Swallowing, she reached for her glass of water and took a few sips, only then remembering that water only antagonized the burning sensation. Looking around, everyone was eating their food, except for Myriam. The guilty party was looking away while she sipped on her glass of wine. “Game on,” Bella muttered as she took another bite off of the cheeseburger and thought of how fun it would be if Myriam believed her wine had vervain in it.
Almost immediately, Myriam began choking on her drink, reaching for her throat as she gasped for air. Her eyes flashed up to the only capable party at the table, careful to keep her vampire visage from overtaking her face due to the public setting they were in. Growling low, she gratefully took Klaus’ drink as he shoved it into her hands as he checked to see what was wrong. “Vervain,” she managed to choke out.
Klaus took a sip of her wine and shrugged. “No vervain.”
She glared at him, sipping his drink only to choke again, dropping it to the table. “Fuck–”
Bella, now red-faced because of that second bite of the burger, felt victorious and smirked as Myriam looked at her. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes,” she answered, her voice raspy from the vervain she was suffering from. “You!”
“It’s only fair, seeing as you gave me this burger,” Bella shrugged and defiantly took another bite. “If I can do it, so can you,” she said as she chewed on, her voice a pitch higher than it normally was.
Myriam was tempted to jump across the table to get the girl. “A little heat won’t kill you. Vervain, on the other hand, would cause severe damage and can kill us and you know that,” she argued, slight hurt hiding behind her eyes.
“You’re not listening to Klaus,” Bella pointed out as she quickly took another bite of the burger. Her face getting redder and redder and her sinuses were trying to clear themselves out. “He tastes no vervain, how do you explain that?”
“Bella’s no witch,” Kol was amused. “She’s in your head, creating an illusion. It won’t kill you, Myriam. You can stop now, Bella, so that she can enjoy her wine.”
“Nope,” Bella shook her head. “I can’t enjoy my food; she can’t enjoy her wine until I’m done.” Tears were rolling down her cheeks now, but she was determined not to show Myriam that she wanted to give up.
Elijah had enough by this point, flagging down the passing waitress as he pulled the plate with the offending food away from Bella. “Bloody hell. Both of you drop it. I can’t see you force yourself through her punishment any further. Waitress! Can you please bring another order for her without the peppers, please? And perhaps a pint of milk for the young lady?”
The blonde woman looked around the table for a moment before nodding. “Right away,” she agreed before heading over to the bar to put the order in, having kept an eye on the group the entire time.
Bella pouted as she removed the illusion from Myriam’s mind. Myriam reached for the bottle, and instead of refilling her glass, she started to drink it from the bottle.
“Sweetheart, you might have a drinking problem,” Klaus said playfully.
“Screw you, Mr. Bourbon.”
“Absolutely. Once dinner’s over.”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s the same, dear.”
Myriam slammed her hand on the table and looked at Bella. “Don’t you ever ruin good wine like that again, you hear me?”
“I didn’t ruin anything. Your brain did,” Bella eagerly took the glass of milk that the waitress was bringing over and downed it one go; loving the science behind drinking milk after eating something spicy. “I might have tricked it, though.”
“That was so not fair.”
“I know, and I’m sorry.”
“Good,” Myriam said as she sat down again, now refilling her glass with the bottle she’d just drunk from. “Spa day tomorrow?”
“I hate the spa!” Bella whined. “I only go because you like it!”
Myriam shrugged. “What other plans do you have?”
Bella looked over to Kol, hoping he was going to help her bail out of going to the spa with Myriam. Surely they had better ways to spend the day?
“Bella’s mine tomorrow,” Kol replied. “And tonight, as well. And the days after and… maybe she has a free slot next week, Myriam,” he said playfully, a wide grin on his face. “She and I have a lot of catching up to do. And also; I’ll be packing some of my stuff tomorrow as I’ll be moving out.”
“You’re not moving out,” Klaus said flabbergasted.
“No, you’re like a warhead ready to be detonated, you are not going to move out,” Rebekah shook her head. “New Orleans wouldn’t be safe with you on the loose.”
“I’m not that bad!” Kol shot at his siblings. “Honestly!”
“Do I have to remind you that you killed Davina?” Rebekah told him. “Or what about those ten people in the Ninth Ward? If it hadn’t been for Nik’s constant supervision of you—”
“Davina had it coming for what she did to us, and those ten people were drug dealers, so what’s your problem, sister?”
“I don’t see a problem with you moving out, brother,” Elijah spoke after his siblings shot daggers at Kol. He had a feeling that his youngest brother wasn’t going to move far, anyway. “It’ll free up Niklaus’ time to spend with Myriam or his art, and it will save us the worry that we’re leaving you unattended.”
“He’s not a little child,” Bella muttered, taking a sip of the second glass of milk that the waitress brought over together with her new burger. “Stop treating him like one.”
Klaus huffed. “And where will you be going, Kol?”
“Right across the street,” he simply said. “Until we decide we’ve had enough of New Orleans for a while and went on another road trip.”
Rebekah’s jaw fell on the table. “Oh, you have lost your mind, haven’t you?”
“No,” Kol replied. “Bella and I were already planning on getting our own apartment two years ago before everything went wrong as we did everything together and didn’t want to intrude on Nik and Myriam. Because despite everything, you still don’t trust me and the only reason I’m not currently daggered is because I haven’t done anything to warrant that – that, and you’re all afraid of Bella. She treats me as a person and not as a child or a burden. So yes, I’ll be moving across the street.”
It was quiet for a while while Bella ate her burger and the rest of the family could mull over the words. “Fine, but the day after tomorrow, Bella’s mine,” Myriam piped up. “She and I have a lot of catching up to do, too.”
The rest of the evening was friendly and relaxed; certainly not the way Bella had thought it would have gone in her mind. No, in her mind she had to turn everyone into animals and one by one reason with them, but she didn’t have to. She realized she had been wrong by not including them in the last few weeks and that seemed to have been enough.
Kol had taken her hand while they were walking home and was telling stories from way-back-when as they were walking down the streets. He told her about the 1909 hurricane that caused 5000 people and more to lose their houses and how the Mikaelsons were one of the main forces of rebuilding; supplying the city with building materials, funding, and whatever the city needed. How Rebekah loved to play nurse and became a nurse at the height of the bubonic plague and continued for years when influenza struck New Orleans.
Bella merely smiled at him, loving to hear his voice and talking so vividly about the past. If it were up to her, he could recite the entire phonebook, and she’d happily drift off to sleep. “What did you do for the last two years?” She eventually asked, curious. “And I don’t care if you involve Davina – after all, she was a big part of your life regardless of what she’s done.”
Kol let out a breath. “Well, I suppose…” He nervously ran a hand through his hair. “Are you sure?” He wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Despite everything, he didn’t feel that he lived in the past two years, he merely was, and there was nothing really to talk about.
“Kol, I missed two years of your life. Fill me in, tell me!” Bella smiled at him as she squeezed his hand. They were almost at the apartment now, but she wanted to know.
It was sweet though, that Bella was actively trying to engage him. Bless her heart. Even after the night she had, no doubt freaking out a lot, she wanted to have this conversation now. Come to think of it, it was likely he was going to have to omit a few things, such as finishing the dagger that could neutralize Niklaus. She would not like it that in her absence, he wanted to protect himself. “Do you have any alcohol in your house?” He definitely needed more alcohol for this.
“I do. And snacks. So many snacks. And ice cream. Chips with ice cream is heaven.”
“Good,” he nodded. “Because we’re going to need it.” He then thought for a moment. “Uhm… on second thought… let me get a few blood bags from the compound?”
Bella narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you had it under control.”
Kol winced almost as if he was scolded for being a wayward child. “Had.” She stopped in front of her door and turned to him, hands on her waist. Oh yeah, he was in trouble alright. “It was all right; I had it under control while I was in Forks, I swear. Then Nik called me back, and I met Davina and then… I started to spiral out of control and…”
She had forgotten that Davina managed to have Kol live on the edge for so long. Enough blood to sustain and appear fine, but not really not enough to fight whatever she was doing to him. “Fine. Get your blood bags.”
Was she actually giving him her permission or mocking him? He wasn’t sure. “I just don’t want to accidentally end up hurting you or someone in the street…”
At least he was being upfront about his inability to control himself, although he had shown tremendous restraint during dinner – apart from attacking that one guy who bought her a drink. It was likely more like a safety blanket for him now, to just have the blood bags just in case. This whole need to explain himself felt wrong to her. He almost sounded like an addict. Which, basically, vampires could be classified as anyway. “And while you’re at it, bring a change of clothes too,” she winked at him before turning around and unlocking the door. “I’ll be right here.”
He wasn’t even gone for five minutes, but when he returned with a bag of clothes and a few blood bags, she was still standing at her door, smiling invitingly at him. Oh, he had missed that smile of hers. “Sorry I took so long.”
“Dude,” Bella rolled her eyes at him and took his hand. “Kol Mikaelson, please come inside and allow me to welcome you to your new home.”
Closing the door behind him, he followed Bella up the stairs and was surprised by the immense space the apartment had. The fixings were all made out of wood, too, much like the guest house she had – or still has – on the Salvatore property. It was very calming, very earthy and the fairy lights made it look absolutely magical. If it weren’t for the discarded bags, cartons, bottles, clothes and dishes laying around. “Wow, Bella.”
“Awesome, isn’t it? Helios gave it to me,” she said as she showed Kol the kitchen so he could put his blood bags in the fridge. “I think there’s more to this gift of his, but I reckon I’ll be told later.”
The kitchen was even worse. There were dirty dishes everywhere, and her dishwasher was stuffed. There was a small area that was clean, which was likely what she kept clean but other than that, the house was a mess. Opening the fridge, he noticed a few bottles of wine and some leftover food, but at least it wasn’t moldy or anything.
This mess was unlike his Bella. She always kept things tidy and clean. Even when they were traveling together, she made sure the car was spotless. That they always had food and water on them and that there was no mess.
It kind of made sense, though. Bella had been this tiny ball of anxiety all evening that didn’t quite go away until he and her were by themselves, and he was now worried if she was doing okay. He and his siblings were used to events having a huge impact on them, getting blindsided. It was never fun, but it happened. Because of who they were. Because of their name. Because of the amount of years they were alive. But Bella? This was all new to her, and she had done what she always had done; retreated and tried to make peace with it all by herself.
Screw his blood lust; there were worse matters at hand. “You’re a mess.”
Bella huffed as she rinsed two glasses and got a bottle of wine out of the fridge. “No, I’m not,” she smiled at him as she walked to the living room. She set down the glasses and the bottle before getting rid of the blanket on the couch. “You were going to tell me about the last two years.”
“Yeah, before I noticed that you’re a mess!”
“My house is a mess,” she pointed out as she poured them wine. “Just for your information, I didn’t think that this evening would have a positive ending with you coming here, so I didn’t get to clean up. It doesn’t mean that I’m a mess.”
Oh, he definitely sensed some hostility there.
“Do you want me to clean up?”
He smiled at her as he sat down. “No, darling, it’s alright,” he took a glass and took a sip of it. He was determined to fix this. “Well, after I returned from Forks upon Nik’s request, I was told to make nice with the witches. While Myriam had taken care of Marcel – I’ve told you about him, haven’t I?” When Bella nodded, he continued. “The witches were still not quite at ease. Seeing as my relationship with the witches has always been better than the ones they have with my siblings…” Kol shrugged. “As it turned out, Marcel used this witch to control the other witches. Nik and Myriam took a liking to the local bartender, the waitress you’ve met this evening. Camille. I don’t know; perhaps they wanted to have couple’s therapy or more kinky things. It’s a surprise she’s still alive. Uh… Marcel had somehow convinced his super witch that while she was a Harvest girl – it’s a stupid little thing the Ancestors want to happen every 300 years, involves a lot of blood, dying and then being resurrected. Like a cult. Like… they want the witches’ power to return it to the community, that sort of nonsense – that this witch didn’t have to go through with it. This angered the Ancestors and nearly destroyed New Orleans.”
“It’s Davina, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter,” he said as he downed the rest of his glass and reached for the bottle. “Elijah and I had to save Nik and Rebekah from a witch from our past, which we did. We had to deal with a powerful warlock from our past, which we did and survived. And then? The whole thing with the Guerrera’s started, and you’re responsible for its conclusion,” Kol beamed proudly at her. “And you came back and saved us from the clutches of the Ancestors.”
“I’m just glad you’re all yourselves again.”
“Almost,” he replied, setting down his glass and turning towards her, searching her face for – he wasn’t sure what. Anything out of place. “Your turn.”
“Of?”
“What did you do in the last two years?”
She smiled then. “In the last two years I met this awesome guy, but our first meeting was kind of strange. He was in a coffin, you see.”
Blinking, he didn’t understand her response. What kind of morbid answer was that?
