Chapter ten

Drunk

"Anya, where are you?"

"It's been four hours, Anya. Seriously, time to come home."

"I'm thirsty! I'm really, really thirsty!"

"Anya, for the love of God. Come. Home. Now."

"Anya Lewis, the next time I see you-"

Anya hung up halfway through Connor's newest message. She should've left the Mystic Grill hours ago. She should've gone home, filled up a glass with her blood for Connor, and then curl up into bed and pretend she had a normal family.

Instead, she moved her pity party to a booth in the far back of the Grill and drank until everything was blurry, including her own mind.

"God, Connor, don't you ever shut up?" she mumbled, resting her head on the table. She was too drunk to even know how to get out of the booth without falling. She was tired, so tired, and considered just sleeping in the booth instead of trying to make it home.

If she called Connor for a ride home, she'd never hear the end of it. How immature she was, how self-pettiness wasn't attractive on anyone, but especially her. He'd call her weak and foolish and would make her feel even worse than she already felt.

It was just easier to sip her drink in the bar until the bartender made her leave.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my Little Witch."

Anya groaned. God really didn't have any pity for drunk teenagers.

"Oh, it's you. How great," Anya deadpanned, lifting her head to look up at Kol. He smirked down at her, resting his elbows on the table.

"Yes, I rather enjoy my own company as well," he replied, and Anya rolled her eyes. She didn't know if it was the alcohol in her system talking, but Kol seemed more arrogant than usual.

"Then you won't mind if I leave," Anya retorted, making to get out of the booth. Kol grabbed her wrist before she could stumble away from him.

"Why in such a rush, Little Witch?" he raised an eyebrow as Anya yanked her hand away from him.

"No rush," she replied with false sweetness. "I just prefer to spend my time with people who aren't arrogant original vampires."

Kol placed a hand over his still heart, fake hurt playing on his face. "Why are you so mean to me tonight, Little Witch?" he questioned.

Then Kol eyed the empty bottles that were on the table and noticed Anya's dazed features. He tutted, but smirked widely. "Drinking our problems away, aren't we, Anya?"

She shrugged, but wouldn't meet his gaze. Instead, she slumped back into the booth, accepting that Kol wouldn't let her leave until he was done with her. "Who says I have problems?" she muttered defensively. "Why can't I just get drunk for the sake of getting drunk?"

"I never said you couldn't," Kol replied, amused. "I'm all for ignoring problems with drink. It's what my family specializes in."

He grabbed Anya's beer bottle from her and took a sip, and Anya frowned at him. "Get your own booze," she muttered, grabbing the bottle back.

Kol made a face as he swallowed. "Gladly," he said. "You're getting drunk all wrong, Little Witch. It's much easier to wallow in drunkenness when you're not drinking cheap beer."

Anya rolled her eyes. "I don't need you to judge my preferences in alcohol right now, Kol," she snapped.

"Just enlightening you on your mistakes, Little Witch," he replied lightly, before signaling for a waiter to come over. "Two shots of tequila," he ordered. "Then bring over a bottle of bourbon for the table."

The waiter eyed Anya suspiciously. "Isn't she a little young to be drinking? Can I see some I.D? For both of you?"

"Now why would that be necessary?" Kol rolled his eyes, already leaning into the waiter, eyes dilating as he compelled him. "Forget about identification and hurry up with the alcohol before I change my mind and decide to drink you instead."

The waiter blinked, looking momentarily dazed by the compulsion. Then he walked away as if he had completely forgotten about his earlier suspicion of under aged drinking.

Anya frowned. "I really shouldn't be drinking anymore," she said slowly. "Not unless I want to get my stomach pumped tonight."

"Relax, Darling," Kol said with a roll of his eyes. "It's just one drink. It won't kill you."

"You might, though," she countered. Kol just smirked cryptically in response.

Anya knew though, that if her death did come at the hands of Kol, it wouldn't be tonight. He played games. He entertained himself with his prey before he killed them. And he wasn't done playing with her yet. There was still so much he didn't know about the Little Witch, so much that had him curious about her.

He wasn't done with her just yet.

The waiter brought over their drinks, and placed a shot in front of both Kol and Anya. He set the bottle of bourbon in the middle of the table before leaving them alone. "So, I heard that my sister bothered you earlier today," Kol said conversationally as he grabbed the salt shaker. "She is terribly boring, isn't she?"

Anya frowned and looked at the Lewis charm on her bracelet as Kol did his shot, biting into his lime at the end. "Both of you knew I was a witch the second you saw my charm bracelet," she murmured, looking up at him. "Why is that?"

Kol shrugged as he went to open his bottle of whiskey. He seemed determined to get just as drunk as Anya was in a matter of minutes, where it took her hours to get on the level she was.

"My brother Nik had witches around all the time at one point," he said vaguely. "To help break his curse. You learn what sigils represent which families when you spend enough time with them."

Her frown deepened. She remembered what her mother had told her about Kol. "That man- that monster, really- does not have good history with the Lewis witches." He had history with her family. Maybe that was why he was so interested in her. Maybe that was why the Lewis family was known for loathing vampires. Because one time, centuries ago, Kol Mikaelson terrorized that generation of witches.

"You're lying," she said bluntly, and he looked up at her in surprise. "You know my family, at least you did at one point. But how?"

Kol laughed lightly. "My, you have no filter when you're drunk," he observed. "I'd say I like this Anya better than the sober one. Much more fun."

Anya glared at him. "Life isn't just some game, Kol," she fumed. "It's not all about having fun. And you don't get to base people's value on how 'entertaining' they are."

"You do if you're me." Kol became suddenly serious, and if Anya hadn't lost her common sense three bottles ago, she would've backed off. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, and it sent shivers down her spine, even when she was drunk. Still, she didn't let it go.

"Tell me how you know my family," she demanded, jaw set. Kol had to admit, even while her tenacity was annoying, there was something admirable about it. This little witch was challenging him, something she had no business doing.

He didn't know why, but Anya became even more attractive to him, with the stubbornness in her green eyes and her hair uncontrollably messy, than she had been their previous encounters combined.

Maybe he secretly had a thing for pushy women.

"Now, now, Little Witch," Kol said easily, taking a long sip from his drink. "You're really in no position to be demanding things from me. Especially when you're hiding something as well."

Anya paled. She had hoped that maybe he had forgotten their first meeting when he figured she wanted something from him. Clearly, that wasn't the case. "I'm not hiding anything," she lied.

Kol chuckled again, eyes lighting up with mirth. "You're a bad liar when you're sober, Love," he told her. "You're a terrible one when you're intoxicated."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why should I tell you what I'm hiding if you won't tell me?" she countered.

"Because I don't need to know what you're hiding," he replied. "You, on the other hand, are going through some sort of existential crisis right now with your family. I'm sure any tiny detail about them is important to you."

Anya frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Kol rolled his eyes. "Please, Little Witch," he said. "It's written all over your face. You're having a crisis because you finally put it together that mummy killed daddy."

Anya froze. She stared up at Kol in complete and total shock. By the look on his face, he clearly hadn't meant to reveal so much information at once. She replayed what he had just said in her mind over and over again, making sure it meant what she thought it meant. Kol knew that her father had been a vampire, and that her mother had killed him.

She was out of the booth and heading towards the bar doors before she even realized what she was doing.

Kol sighed, as if teenage witches were the most difficult creatures alive. "Where are you going, Anya?" he called, clearly annoyed.

Anya didn't answer, and she pushed past the doors and out into the night air. It was cool outside, and while the fresh air did help sober her up, she still was too drunk to drive. With a resigned sigh, Anya made her way towards the road. She'd have to walk home.

Kol joined her outside then. "Where are you going?" he repeated, frowning at her.

Anya turned around to face him but kept walking. "Home," she replied simply.

"Why so soon?" he asked, his frown deepening. He had been enjoying drunk Anya.

"Because I've had too much to drink," she answered. "Clearly I have, because I thought I heard you say that you knew my mom killed my dad."

"You did mishear anything, Little Witch," Kol assured her.

Anya just shook her head. If he knew that, what else did he know?

She wasn't paying attention to what was happening around her. She heard the sound of a car that seemed to be heading in her direction, but Anya didn't move out of its path. She saw the blinding headlights and heard the honking of a horn. She turned to face a minivan just as it was about to hit her-

Then Anya was in warm arms and her face was pressed against a chest. Kol had blurred over to her in time to pull her out of harm's way. He couldn't have his Little Witch being hit by any cars. Especially not when things were just getting interesting with her.

Anya blinked slowly as she looked up at him. Kol smirked down at the witch and didn't make to remove his arms from her. "You should really watch where you're going, Anya," he said casually.

She frowned at him and completely ignored what he had said. "Did you turn my father?" she said just above a whisper.

"No, Love," he said with a shake of his head. His fingers ran down her back, along her spine, and Anya had chills at the contact. But they weren't necessarily bad chills. "But I know who did."

Anya looked up at him surprise. "Who-"

But the warm arms around her were gone, in a flash. It was like Kol had never been there in the first place, and Anya was left alone, talking only to the wind.

~LIP~

A/N: an entire chapter dedicated to Kol and Anya. Yay!

Thank you to: Lovely Rain Dancer, SkullKey4758, and mindyrainbowpants for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)