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When Elena woke up the next morning, she had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't really know why, she usually got that feeling, when she was about to write an exam. She got up and got dressed for school.

When she left the house, Elena had an uneasy feeling. Like something was off and then she remembered, that she hadn't seen the Salvatore's in over a day now. She frowned as she got into her car and drove to school. She new that if Stefan wasn't there today, that they were up to something.

Elena stopped in front of the history class room and took in a deep breath. She would see Alaric again. Alaric, who hated her for befriending original vampires.

Wait, friends? Was that what Kol and her were? Friends? Elena closed her eyes, she didn't knew what to make out of Kol and their relationship. So she pushed the thought aside and opened the door.

To her luck, there was already another student in class. Unfortunately that student was Stefan. Both Alaric and Stefan gave her a long look, before they continued to talk about something regarding the council. Elena was torn between speaking up and ignoring them. She chose the ladder and sat down in her seat with a deep sigh.

After a few moments the class started to fill and Stefan got to his seat next to her. Elena was secretly relived that he was ignoring her, so she pulled out her phone and texted Caroline. 'You coming today?'

'Nope.' Caroline's reply came and Elena sighed.

When Kol walked into the class, Elena smiled up at him and she heard Stefan growl. Apparently Kol did too, because his smile vanished when he looked at Stefan. The look in his eyes was so cold, it send shivers down Elena's spine

Kol sat down and Alaric started to talk about the movie they had watched. Elena shut off his voice and rested her head on her arms. She was thinking about Kol. About the warmth she felt when he was near. It felt so good, she just wanted him to be around. She looked up at him and smiled, while she remembered the feeling of his soft lips oh hers, his strong arms around her. She felt good with him, better than she had in a very long time.

"Miss Gilbert?"

Elena jerked up. "What?" She turned around to see that Alaric was looking at her expectantly.

"I was asking about the movie, Elene." Alaric said coldly and Elena looked around. Everyone was staring at her and she had no idea what to say. "Um."

Instead of her, Stefan spoke up. It was like last year, when Mr. Tanner had caught her staring at him. But this time it wasn't him. It was Kol.

"Thank you, Stefan." Alaric said. "And, Elena if you don't want to fail, I suggest you participate more often in class."

Elena's jaw dropped. What was going on with him? Was he really let her fail because of Kol? She shook her head and looked down at her table. She tried very hard to blink back the tears. After everything, she had always thought that Ric and her were closer than this. He had moved in, he had said, that he would look after her and Jeremy. But now, now he was so cold to her. Why did everyone turn on her? She closed her eyes and for the rest of the class she didn't look back up.

When the bell finally rang, she shot up but Alaric stopped her. "Elena, we need to talk."

She inhaled deeply and sat back down. She waited for the class to be empty and when she looked up, Alaric was standing in front of her. His face was softer now. "Look, I am sorry, Elena. I don't know what came over me." He said.

"I was just so angry, but I am sorry I shouldn't just judge you because of that. You have been through a lot and I don't want to turn on you."

"Thank you." Elena got up and Alaric hugged her tightly. "It's just that with Jenna gone, I feel the need to protect you. I failed with Jeremy. We needed to cut him out of his life. I just don't want to loose you, Elena. Please be careful."

Elena sobbed into his chest and nodded. "I promise, Ric." She whispered and they let go of each other.

"Will you tell me what is going on between the two of you?" Alaric asked.

Elena bit down on her lower lip. "I don't know. First, I was just trying to protect all of you. But then..-" She looked up. "Ric, he is nothing like Klaus or Rebekah. He is good. I know, it sounds stupid and naïve, but it's true."

Alaric nodded. "If I am going to trust anyones instincts about vampires than it's yours." He said and Elena smiled up at him.

"So will you come back to the house?" She asked hopefully.

Alaric shrugged. "You know, my loft is closer to the grill and I just feel bad in Jenna's room."

Elena nodded. "I understand. It's ok." She said and grabbed her back. "Thank you, Ric."

She left the class and had the urge to jump around. Ric wasn't mad at her anymore. It felt good. It didn't matter what Stefan and Damon thought. Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and Alaric trusted her and she would see Kol soon.

With that thought she walked into calculus and smiled brightly at Matt. "Hey, Matt. So what have you been up to the last few days?"

Matt shrugged. "You know, same old same old. The grill, the house. Why are you in such a good mood?" He squinted.

"Well, Ric and I had a fight yesterday, but now it's good." She said, while she watched Kol walk into the class and sat down next to her.

"Hey." She said and smiled at him.

"Hey, are you ok?" He asked, frowning a little.

Elena nodded. "Everything is fine. Don't worry." The two of them smiled at each other, until Matt cleared his throat.

The class was over fast. They spent the whole time solving equations and whenever Matt or Elena had difficulties, Kol did them with a small smirk.

Kol and Elena walked to french together and a lot of people gaped at them. "So, I am done with the first book." Kol said.

"What?" Elena gasped. "When did you start anyway?"

"Yesterday." Kol shrugged and Elena laughed as they sat down.

"So did you like it?" Elena asked flashing him a wide smirk.

"It was pretty entertaining." Kol said dismissively, but Elena could see his smile.

"Well, good you have to read the others as fast as possible, it just gets better with each book." She said enthusiastically as Stefan and Rebekah walked in.

The two of them frowned at Kol and Elena smiling at each other. Rebekah scoffed and sat down next to Kol, while Stefan silently slid into his.

Elena was surprised that he didn't say anything. She had imagined that he would give up by now. The next forty-five minutes, Elena worked on her essay and when the bell rang, she jumped up to leave the class together with Kol.

I know it wasn't much, but the next Chapters will be more ;);)

As always thank you for your reviews :) keep 'em coming ! LOVE YA'LL!

xo hazel