Title: Promise of Forever
Fandom: The Vampire Diaries
Author: darkmagic-luvr/thecunningclock
Pairings: Kol/Anna
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: Unbeta'd. Fun stuff happening soon.


Kol didn't have to wait long before Anna woke, squeezing her eyes closed and lifting a hand to her brow as she fought off sleep. Kol tilted his head as he watched her, wishing he could feel like he knew her. He had the memories but not the emotion, that's what was wrong; that's why he had never felt like he knew her, because he couldn't feel an emotional connection between them. But he was starting to, and that was something at least.

Anna's arm fell to her side, bouncing against the mattress lifelessly while she stared back at him; like she wasn't even surprised to see him there. She almost looked irritated with him, and he wasn't surprised when she smacked his arm away as he reached out to touch her face.

"What are you doing?" she asked him dryly, shifting away from him when he leaned over her and set his hand near her ribs. Kol smirked, leaning down until they were nose to nose and Anna stopped breathing. He watched her eyes fall to his lips, his stomach twisting warmly.

"I know who you are," he said softly, and Anna's eyes flew back up to meet his, her pupils dilated. Her eyes narrowed suddenly.

"No you don't," she snorted, shoving him off of her with her elbow and climbing off the bed, using the opposite side he was sitting just to avoid him. Kol watched her go with a slow turn of his head, still smirking.

"How do you know?"

"Because I'd be dead, that's why," she snapped, bending down to grab one of her shoes. Kol quirked an eyebrow, noting that bit of information as he waited for Anna to catch up. She froze halfway through pulling on her sneaker, her head snapping up to stare at him with wide eyes. "You son of a bitch."

"I love that people don't even have to be awake for them to be compelled," said Kol, standing smoothly and rounding Rebekah's bed. Anna glared at him, countering his steps until she was a safe enough distance away.

"You reversed your compulsion on me?" she accused him, stomping her foot into her shoe angrily. Kol shrugged.

"You sound surprised," he said with amusement, his eyes trailing down the front of her body. Nothing. He had absolutely no interest in her, and that was strange, because he was interested in practically everyone. He frowned in curiosity. "What would happen if I kissed you?"

Anna started, blinking at him in shock; she sputtered for a moment, looking away. It was kind of adorable actually. Kol walked toward her, bending his knees slightly so he could look her in the eye. "Annabelle," he stressed, grinning wickedly. "Would I remember how I feel about you?" she exhaled hard, her posture relaxing, like she was giving up.

"I'm sorry, Kol," she said, and he could hear the sincerity in her words. "I can't be around you, it's too hard."

"What is so difficult about it?" he growled without heat, reaching out to grab her shoulders and keeping her in place. Anna's jaw clenched, trying unsuccessfully to pull away. Kol tightened his grip, stilling her. "I reversed my compulsion; you can tell me everything, so do it!"

"No." Even when she had the option to tell him she refused; suppressing a snarl, Kol shoved her away, backing off and heading straight for the door.

"Then leave." Anna opened her mouth to protest, but Kol cut her off with a sharp look and wrenched open the door. "If you're not going to be helpful, then leave."

Anna swallowed, shifting uncomfortably on her feet for a moment, before she straightened her spine and did as he told her, leaving without another word or a glance at him. For a split second, Kol thought she actually looked hurt by his dismissal; but she was gone before he could decide whether or not he cared.

"She doesn't have the luxury you do, you know," said Elijah quietly as Kol came back downstairs. His brother was sitting alone, nursing a glass of whisky, and his voice made Kol stop in his tracks on his way down to the basement. He turned his head to look at Elijah, keeping his face blank, but Elijah wasn't even looking at him.

"Hmm?" prompted Kol, raising an eyebrow expectantly. Elijah narrowed his eyes at his glass, lifting it to his eyes for a moment before taking a drink.

"Anna," he said, but Kol knew that's who he was talking about in the first place. His irritation peaked once again; Kol settled his weight on one leg and folded his arms over his chest. Elijah flicked his eyes to him briefly. "You're upset with her because she doesn't want to tell you what you want, but it's different for her, Kol."

"Glad the pretenses are dropped," snapped Kol. "Go on then, what's so different?"

"Anna doesn't forget like you do," Elijah answered. "She has to live with her memories while you get a clean slate; she loves you so much and you…" he sighed, setting his glass down on the arm on his chair and standing up. "I'm sure Rebekah would be much more eloquent in explaining this, she believes in true love and star crossed lovers-"

"Rebekah's an idiot," interject Kol smoothly. "And I'd rather have memories than pieces, so you can save your speech." Kol backed away, shrugging at his brother as he continued his journey to the basement. Anna wouldn't tell him anything, and his siblings were utterly useless; he'd just have to figure it out himself. And he would.

The basement was still a mess from the other day when he'd torn through it, and Kol made a face at the ground as he kicked away a few loose pages of parchment out of his path; it would take him ages to get everything sorted again. With a quick glance over his shoulder, kol decided that the best course of action would be to go through someone else's things for a change. Likes Rebekah's; he remembered her being invested in Annabelle before the whole curse business.

It wasn't hard to find something to interest him, Rebekah wasn't someone to document her memories with anything other than mementoes that only she knew the meaning too. Nonetheless he found a scrapbook that looked like it could have been made when Anna was human, and he leafed through it quickly as she tried to find something familiar.

Pieces of lace, some type of flower he didn't know the name of, a worn and faded passage he could barely make out; it was all meaningless to him. If he had the context maybe he could understand the bizarre way Rebekah collected her memories, but he was practically lost in the sea of uselessness. Tossing the book away, Kol was just about to turn and look through something else when a bit of gold caught his eye. Backtracking, he reached for it, pulling a thing chain free from between two of Rebekah's books; he twirled the chain around his fingers, catching the pendent dangling from it between his thumb and forefinger. It was set with pears and carved out of gold, honestly it was beautiful work, but it caught Kol's eye because he remembered Anna wearing it.

Instead of being annoyed that his siblings kept her things and didn't tell him, he was determined to find more.

It could have been hours or minutes later that Kol felt someone walk up behind him in the basement. He was scanning one of Finn's later dated journals for anything about himself or Anna when he felt eyes on the back of his neck. He glanced away from the pages, jaw clenched in irritation at being interrupted, and turned around to snap at whoever it was who'd come to bother him. He snapped it shut again almost immediately.

"Bonnie Bennett," he said brightly, marking his page and closing the book in his hand. He grinned at her tightly. "And how can I help you?"

Bonnie wasn't looking at him, she was staring at a few of his journals, her hand ghosting across the binding. Kol's eyebrow quirked, watching her walk closer, feeling extremely put off by her expressionless face.

"Hello?" he asked again, trying to catch her eye. This time she did look at him, her eyes flashing black so quickly it made him blink and wonder if he even saw it at all. Bonnie's shoulder's relaxed, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

"Klaus asked me for another favor," she said, moving toward him, twisting her hands together in apparent nervousness. Kol's eyebrows pulled together slightly, eyeing her carefully. He'd maybe met her once, but the contradiction in her personality – going from calm and disinterested, to coy and then to nervous – made absolutely no sense to him. It was like she was trying to figure out how to act around him.

"What sort of favor?" asked Kol, turning away from her and going back to Finn's journal. He didn't have the patience for silly girls who wasted his time; especially not witches who wouldn't get to the point.

"He wants me to wipe your memory," Bonnie said, making Kol snort. He didn't bother looking up at her, shaking his head as a smirk appeared on his face.

"Good luck with that, darling," he murmured, flipping the page and running his finger across the ink. He could have sworn he saw his name…

"I don't get what the big deal is," said Bonnie suddenly, interrupting Kol's train of thought. He looked up with a frown, uncaring about her opinion. Bonnie continued anyways, looking away with an ill disguised sneer. "She's a little pretty, I guess, but why is everyone falling over each other trying to keep her safe?"

Kol straightened slowly. "I don't think anyone's trying to do that, love."

She snorted. "Except for you," she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Everyone's trying to save you, but you're trying to save her."

Kol snorted again. "Is that what I'm doing? Since you seem to know so much about me, why don't you enlighten me on your other opinions."

Bonnie didn't even falter she turned around surely and walked up to him, stopping inside his personal space like she knew him. Kol barely resisted the urge to snap his teeth at her neck. "I know that you can't feel anything for her; that's why you're down here, isn't it? Trying to find your feelings for...her." She practically spit out the word, looking away with a huffing. "I'm so disappointed that you don't remember me yet," she said softly, but the way she said it made it sound...off.

Kol's eyes narrowed, little warning bells going off in his head. Very carefully he closed the journal in his hand and stepped away, never taking his eyes off the witch. It only hit him then, that she was a witch and-

"Oh," Bonnie breathed, reaching out toward his face. He leaned away from her touch warily, his eyes flicking to her fingers and back to her face as his face twisted in mild disgust. Her eyes went out of focus briefly, glazing before the refocused on his face. "You remember me, I can feel it."

He dropped the journal to the ground, completely prepared to get the hell out of the basement, when black, dark magic twisted up to the surface of her skin. Before everything went sideways, Kol had time to utter a sharp, hiss. "Shit."