I know it's been so very very long guys, and I apologize! I was sick and I realised I had to start preparing for the next scholastic year and my muse was MIA and... I'm rambling. Sorry. Anyway, here's Chapter 9. Hope you like!


"Where are you going?"

"To find a barn, something. I don't plan on being struck by lightning anytime soon," Kol answered, walking around the trees. The dirt road they were on seemed to end to nothing a few metres ahead, so they had no choice but to go back or go through the trees. He had no idea where he was, but there was no way he was going to stand there like a sitting duck, with Kai, no less. It was still pouring, and the sky overhead was showing no signs of letting up.

"Don't you know that you're supposed to stay put when you're lost? The further you are, the harder it will be for them to find you," said Kai, shuddering in his wet clothes.

"You already had us on the wrong track in the first place, so they won't be looking for us here, will they?"

"But what about the car?"

"It will still be here when we get back," Kol muttered, getting impatient. "Look, do what you want, I'm not stopping you. You want to stay here with the car in the pouring rain, stay here with the car. See if I care. I'm going to try and find shelter." With that, he turned around, treading carefully as the rain was making it hard to walk.

Kai looked at the car, and back at Kol. He knew that their best bet was to stay put, but Kol wouldn't have it. Besides, he was heading for the trees, which would make it even harder for the others to find them. However, despite his better judgement, he knew he didn't have a choice. He couldn't leave him alone. Reluctantly, he called after Kol.

"Wait up!"


Half an hour had passed and still no luck. What little daylight was left, was now hidden behind the monstrous storm clouds. The trees cast dark shadows, creating images of holes and rocks that weren't really there. While the weather wasn't thunderous anymore, it was still raining heavily, turning the earth beneath them into a mushy, muddy paste. The boys hadn't really spoken a word since they left the car, preferring instead to focus on where they were walking, which was proving harder by the minute. Every now and then, Kol would take out his mobile phone to check if he had a signal, and by the looks of it, he had none.

Before he followed Kol, Kai had grabbed a stone which he now kept with him, and every so often he would mark a number of trees so they could find their way back. He didn't know if it would work, but he had to try. As he was marking his next bundle of trees, hands crossed, Kol waited, resting his back against a tree, sheltering himself from the rain as best he could. A few minutes later, they were back on their feet, pushing branches away from their faces.

All the while, all they could hear was the loud pitter patter of raindrops, and the crunching of dead leaves under their shoes. They still hadn't said a word to one another, which was perfectly fine with Kai. So he wasn't expecting to hear what he thought he heard when Kol decided to speak.

"I'm going to ask her out soon."

"What?" he asked, stopping in his tracks. Kol realised that the footsteps behind him had stopped, so he turned to face him. "Could you repeat that? I'm not sure I heard you correctly over Thor's little storm dance."

"No, you heard correctly," Kol answered, bending down to tie his shoelace, acting cool. "I'm asking her out. Soon."

"Pfft, no you aren't," Kai replied, walking in front of Kol, eyes glued to the ground, making sure he doesn't slip.

It was Kol's turn to stop in his tracks. "Why not?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Cause you would have done it by now," Kai answered, matter-of-factly. When he didn't get a reply, he turned back, looking Kol straight in the eye. "I've seen you around, Kol. You look at girls like they're your prey. You don't plan asking someone out. You see someone, and you attack. Head on."

Kol met Kai's gaze, clearly unfazed. The tension between them was so thick, it could be cut with a knife. "Don't act like you know me, Kai. They're not prey, not Maya."

"Yeah, not Maya. I'm not letting you go anywhere near her, you hear me? Don't think that little British accent of yours is going to fool her." Their faces were mere centimetres apart, neither one fazed by the other, neither one backing down.

Kol laughed at that comment, looking at the sky for a second before looking back at Kai. "A little overprotective, are we?"

"No," came the reply, as Kai inched just a little bit closer. "Just being a good friend."

"Listen buddy, I don't need your permission, got that? If I want to ask her out, I'll ask her out, and you sure as hell aren't going to stand in my way."

"Try me." Not even a blink from those chocolate brown eyes, despite the rain.

Kol, however, had clearly had enough. "Whatever," he said finally. "I've had enough of your voice." With that, he started to make his way forward again, not really paying attention to where he was walking.

Kai decided to wait a few seconds before walking behind him, wanting a few metres of distance between them. He was extremely tempted to just let him wander off alone in the wilderness, and simply follow the marked trees back, but he knew better. Klaus would have his head if he came back without his brother.

There was no way he was letting him near Maya. Over his dead body. Was he being overprotective? No, that was his job as a friend. But, wouldn't that job go to her brother? Wasn't his job supposed to be to support her with whatever it was she wanted? But what if he didn't like what she wanted?

As all these thoughts were running through his head, he noticed that there was something missing. The sound of another pair of feet crunching the leaves. He looked up, and realised that Kol wasn't in front of him. Did he wait too long? No, he was there a moment ago, he could hear him. So where did he go?

"Kol?" he called out, looking around. At first, nothing but rain. He tried calling again, and this time, heard what sounded like a moan from, below him? Watching his step, he carefully searched his surroundings, and a few feet in front of him, saw the cause of the problem. Because of the rain, the earth had given way. Kol didn't see where he was walking, and had fallen below, at least a few feet.

"What are you doing down there?" Kai said, holding on to a tree so as not to fall over.

Kol was sitting in an awkward position, desperately holding his ankle. He looked up, not really seeing anything with the rain.

"Oh you know, just chilling. What does it look like I'm doing? I slipped."

Nice job, dumbass, Kai thought. "Can you climb back up? It doesn't look that high."

"Don't you think I would have done that? It's too slippery. Besides, I can't."

"Are you hurt?"

"It's my ankle," he grimaced. "I think I sprained it… it feels swollen."

"Can you walk on it?"

He tried to get up but just as quickly thought against it, wincing in pain. "Aah, no, hurts too much."

As he stood up there, Kai tried to collect his thoughts. Should he call for help? There was no way Kol was going to walk in this rain, even if he helped him. But he couldn't just leave him there.

"Hey, you gonna help me up or you leaving me here to rot?" Kol yelled up.

"Tempting."

"Don't just stand there, do something!"

"Don't make me leave you there." That finally shut him up.

"Okay, hold on," he finally said. "I think I can climb down from here." He carefully crept closer to the edge, grabbing on to the largest piece of rock he could find, and cautiously climbed down next to Kol. He was right; it wasn't that far down. He could easily climb back up on a normal, dry day. Today, it would prove a bit more difficult.

"Whoa, wait, what are you doing?" Kol asked as he saw Kai climbing down towards him.

"Uhh, helping you?"

"Helping me? By coming down next to me? How exactly are we both going to climb up now, genius?"

"Hey! Be grateful I didn't leave you," Kai yelled back. "I couldn't exactly leave you here all alone and you couldn't climb up anyway. Besides, this little landslide you made actually gives us a little shelter from the rain."

"Well look at you, seeing the bright side of things… thanks, I guess."

"What? Now I'm really hearing things. Did you just thank me?" Kai looked at his injured nemesis, acting surprised.

"Don't push it."

"Fine," he replied, carefully checking Kol's ankle. "Some camping trip, huh?"


Meanwhile, back at the actual camp, the guys had quickly removed the tents and retreated to the car when all hell broke loose in the heavens. It had been well over two hours since Kol and Kai had left. There was still no sign of them and they were starting to get worried. Klaus, for one, was jumping in his seat.

"Guys, I'm sure this store isn't that far out, they should've been here by now. Why haven't they sent a message yet?" he asked.

"It's probably the storm blocking out the signal," Enzo thought, "but you're right. They should be here."

"I'm sure they're fine, but we should probably go find them, just in case," Stefan proposed. "Damon, what do you think? It is your camping trip."

"Yeah, the storm ruined the camping trip anyway, might as well go get them. Don't really need those matches anymore," his brother slurred, still under the bourbon effect. "We'll just go back and hit the bar after we get them. I'll drive."

"Like hell you are," Enzo replied. "You drank that bottle all by yourself. Move over, I'm driving."


"Enzo, pull over, I see something." Stefan nudged him in the back, pointing at something in the distance. As they edged closer, they could see the vision through the windshield wipers more clearly. There, abandoned at the side of the road, was Kol's car, seats drenched in water.

"Where the hell are they?" Enzo asked as they got out of the car, now truly worried that something had happened to them.

"Kol!" Klaus yelled out, desperate to find his brother.

"Hold on," Stefan muttered, looking at the muddy ground. "These tracks look fresh. I think they made their way through the trees."

"How the hell are we going to find them in there?" Klaus shouted in exasperation.

"Hey, we'll find them," Stefan reassured him, showing his reassurance by grabbing his shoulders, looking him straight in the eye. Noticing something in the trees, he let go of Klaus and walked towards it. "Do these trees look deliberately marked to you?" he asked after inspecting.

Enzo walked closer to him, examining the trees. "That has to be Kai," he said. When all he got was a confused look as a reply, he continued. "Maya always said that Kai practically lived outdoors when he was young. Probably learned a thing or two."

"Thank you Kai, you have made our job easier…ish," Stefan said, clapping his hands together. "Okay, two of us should look for them while the other two stay here, in case they come back," he continued, looking at the others.

"I'm going," Klaus said.

"I thought as much," Stefan replied. "Damon, you stay here. You're in no state to wander around in the woods. Enzo, you want to look for them or do you want to stay here?"

"You go. Seeing as you found those tracks, you probably have a better chance of finding them than I do. I have a better chance of walking it to the moon. Go find his brother. I'll look after yours."


"Hey, Kol, wake up."

Kai nudged Kol, who had dozed off next to him. How he managed in that rain, he had no clue. But it did give him some time to enjoy the peace and quiet… as quiet as it can be when it's pouring rain, at least.

"What? What is it?" the other guy replied, dazed, rubbing his eyes and trying to get a reading on where he was.

"It stopped raining. Thank you for leaving me all alone, by the way, so peaceful. How's your ankle?"

"It's… what did you do?" Kol stopped abruptly, looking at his foot, which was now raised on a wall of rocks, and cocooned in some sort of material.

"I made an impromptu splint. The only thing I had was my clothes, so I had to make do," he replied, unzipping his jacket to reveal his t-shirt underneath, concluding that Kol's ankle was wrapped in Kai's sweater. "Man, you sleep like a log. I could have robbed you and you wouldn't have noticed."

"You didn't have to do that." Kol carefully lowered his leg to the ground, massaging it.

"Hey, I may not like you, but I don't want you to lose a leg either. Tempting, but – " He stopped mid-sentence when Kol suddenly grabbed his wrist hard, looking up.

"Ow! What was that for you whiny – "

"Sod it, will you? I hear something."

Keeping quiet, both boys looked up, craning their ears upwards to try to listen. Sure enough, they could hear what sounded like crunching. They also heard muttering, but they couldn't be sure what was being said.

"There's definitely someone up there," Kai whispered, crouching down.

"What the hell are you crouching down for? Who do you think it is, Jack the Ripper? Look up, they might help us," Kol snapped, pushing Kai forward.

"If it is a ripper, I'll give him you as a gift," he mumbled, carefully trying to climb back up.

Holding on awkwardly, only managing to climb halfway, he called out, hoping it was someone friendly. He loved the outdoors, but he didn't like the idea of being out there alone at night. Kol didn't count; he was injured.

"Kai?" came the reply. The crunching became louder, hurried. Kai looked down towards Kol, who was craning his neck, trying to understand what was going on.

"I think it's them!" he called down happily. "Guys?" As he spoke the word, two figures, Stefan and Klaus, appeared from behind the trees, and as they saw him, came running towards him immediately and helped him up.

"Thank God! What happened?" Stefan cried, pulling him up.

"Man am I glad to see you," Kai wheezed, out of breath. "I thought I was going to have to spend the whole night down there, with that guy. Not pretty."

"Where's Kol?" Klaus asked, desperate to see his brother.

"Down here, bro," Kol called out, waving at his brother.

"He fell and twisted his ankle," Kai explained. "He couldn't climb up."

Grabbing a rope they had brought with them, Klaus climbed down next to him and tied the rope around him. Stefan and Kai then both started pulling, helping Kol up, eventually helping Klaus as he started to climb up himself.

"You have been a city boy your whole life, little brother. And you always will be. You and Mother Nature are just not meant for each other," Klaus grinned, helping his brother walk.

"I know who I'm meant to be with," he whispered, loud enough so only Kai, who was walking beside him, could hear.

"Don't make me push you back down." Kai simply glared at him, letting his flaring eyes express what he wanted to say to Kol.


After Rebekah had decided that she wanted a night out on the town, we got ready and headed to the one bar Caroline and I loved so much, Lotus. Rebekah, being Rebekah, donned her favourite pair of black heels, which she paired with black leather leggings and a white, sleeveless frilly top. Caroline kept it more casual, opting for a delicate yellow dress and denim jacket, and completed the look with a pair of wedges. I decided to wear my distressed boyfriend jeans, plain white top and a wine blazer, with brogues on my feet. You know how I feel about heels. Don't judge me.

We hit the bar and took a couple of drinks. It was all going well until things started to get fuzzy and…

"SUGAR!

Yes please

Won't you come and put it down on meeeee"

Somehow, Caroline and Rebekah were karaok-ing it, and I had become their backup singer/ dancer. Might I add, I suck at singing. And dancing. Suck. Big time. But oh well. My brain was mushed.

During our uh-ma-zing performance, we didn't notice that the door had opened, letting in a group of guys. I wasn't really seeing straight, so I couldn't be sure, but they looked familiar. Still, I continued 'singing'.

"Okay, so how about a quick round of drinks for the birthday boy and – " Enzo had come in, along with the rest of the gang, and they had apparently noticed the performers.

"What is that God awful sound?" Damon winced, covering his ears.

"Uhh…" Kai simply pointed at the stage, flabbergasted.

"Well well. My night just got better," Kol smirked, leaning against a bar stool. His comment resulted in yet another glare from Kai.

"Oh don't mind me. Just enjoying the view," he replied in response to the glare.

"Is that my sister?" Klaus exclaimed.

"And my sister?" added Enzo.

"That explains the torture. Someone get her down from there? Please? I don't want to die on my birthday," whined Damon.

"Oh God, she's drunk dancing." Enzo brought his palm to his forehead, clearly needing the massage.

"I though she couldn't dance?" Stefan whispered, leaning in.

"She can't. This makes it worse."

"ENZO!" I stopped halfway when I finally noticed who had entered. "Hey look, it's my brother!" That resulted in a squeak from Rebekah, who had noticed her brothers as well. Holding on to her, we clumsily got down from the stage, almost landing smack on our faces, leaving Caroline to sing by herself. She was the best singer out of all of us, anyway.

"Oh boy. Hi, Maya," he said, half-laughing, half-pitying me. Poor Enzo.

"You're the best brother ever, Lorenzo! Oh, hi Damon! Happy Birthday Damon!" I squealed, hugging them both. Or trying to.

"Lorenzo?" Kai asked, obviously amused.

"We do not speak of it," he replied, hugging me back.

"MALACHAI! I love you Malachai! You're my best friend ever Malachai!"

"Malachai?" Enzo couldn't hold in his laughter, as did the others after my declaration of love for friend-zones and full names.

Kai bit his bottom lip in smite, narrowing his eyes at me, probably visualising every possible way to kill me. "Touche'."

"Maya, how many drinks have you taken?" my brother asked, trying to hold me steady.

"Oh I don't know! One, two, eight?" I laughed.

"Eight?! You never take eight! I think that's enough Maya…"

"She didn't take eight, it was about five. She just lost count." Rebekah was clearly in better shape than I was.

"Hey, what happened?" She came slightly back to her senses when she saw her brother, who was sitting down and had crutches next to him.

"Oh, I just slipped. No biggie, it's already better, see?" Kol demonstrated by standing up and walking, albeit with a slight limp.

"Easy there, Kol," Klaus cautioned, gently holding him from his back. "We took him to the clinic, but he's fine. Had a run in with Mother Nature. It was raining bucket-loads so we decided to come back home. Wasn't exactly the ideal weather for a camping trip."

"Hey, Maya, don't you think you've had enough for one night?" Enzo asked, still holding me steady. The adrenaline rush had suddenly left my body, leaving me dazed and confused, half-asleep. I answered by mumbling something in gibberish.

"Hey, Damon, bro I'm sorry but I really should take her home – " he started, but Kai cut him off.

"No, you stay, I'll take care of her," he said.

"You sure?" Enzo asked, looking down at me. "I could take her, don't worry."

"No it's fine. Damon is your best friend, you should celebrate with him. Besides, it's not the first time I've dealt with drunk Maya."

"That's true. Okay, take care of her. I'll be home soon," Enzo finally replied, handing me over to Kai like some sort of puppet. Which I practically was.

"Okay, muppet, let's get going." I was suddenly tossed in the air, and I finally realised that I was riding piggy-back. Good thing, my legs were about to give way. I just draped myself over him like a cloak and let him take me.

"Hey, I could watch over her at home if you want. I mean, I live next door." Kol walked over to Enzo, keeping his voice low.

"Look, no offense dude, but if there's one person I would trust with my little sister, it's Kai." And with that, he walked off towards his best friend, who was waiting at the bar.

I had no idea what was happening, but I could practically feel the swords coming out of Kol's eyes, stabbing Kai straight in his back.


I was now in the comfort of my bed, wearing my favourite Disney pyjamas, which were quite possibly worn back to front. Kai was sitting next to me, listening to my every word as I described in detail the events that had occurred during our night out.

"And then somehow, there I was, belting it out with Adam Levine like I was the next The Voice star," I yawned. Sleep was getting the best of me, so I rolled over to my side, trying to get into a better position.

"Yeah, right. Like that'll ever happen," he laughed. I responded by punching his arm. That was the intention, at least. My hand-eye co-ordination still left a lot to be desired.

"You know you can't sing for your life, right?" he grinned. He grabbed the blanket that had fallen to the floor as I had rolled over, gently covering me with it.

"But you looked darn cute doing it," he added softly. I fidgeted slightly, my breath becoming steadier.

"Just don't ever do that again, okay? My ears can't take it," he smiled. I felt his fingers gently flow through my hair, their soft touch sending me to a daze as I drifted further off into Neverland. The mattress suddenly felt lighter, and I realised he had got up to leave.

"Kai?" I mumbled, eyes closed.

"Mmm?"

"Stay with me."

Smiling, he made his way back to the bed, lying down next to me. I edged closer, resting my head against his chest, feeling it rise and fall with his steady breathing. Slowly, our breathing became balanced, both of us drifting off into our own little fantasies.


Chapter 9! Hope you liked it :) Let me know!