Music

Run From the Gun - Dead Confederate (Shopping)

Give Me Strength - Snow Patrol (Hayley/Avery)

Unlike Me (A'cappella Version) - Kate Havnevik (Kol/Avery)

"Where the hell are you going to wear that?" Hayley asked Rebekah. The original vampire was dressed in a gold and beaded Givenchy gown. Avery smirked at Hayley's interrogation. Even surrounded by billionaire vampires, Hayley was still capable of being very modest and realistic.

"Why do I need someplace to wear it?" Rebekah whined.

"Because if you don't, it will sit in that ginormous closet of yours. It would be such a waste." Hayley laughed. She glanced at Avery for reinforcement. But she just shook her head, trying her hardest to stay out of the playful argument.

Rebekah smoothed the dress out as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "You're right though. It would be a shame to get this dress and never show it to anyone." She was quiet, as she got lost in her thoughts. "In that case…I guess we'll just have to throw a celebration!" Rebekah beamed as she turned back around to face them. Avery just looked confused.

"You're kidding, right?" Hayley questioned.

"Not at all." Rebekah smirked. "Mother threw a ball to celebrate our family reuniting. But…it turned out to be a scheme to destroy us all. It was a bore anyways. Not exactly our style…too formal and we weren't allowed to kill any of the guests. Now we really are all together. We should do it right this time."

Avery carefully looked between Rebekah and Hayley. Although Rebekah seemed civil and willing to tolerate her, Avery still felt like she had to win her over. But she couldn't help but agree with Hayley on her uncertainty.

"There's a group of vampire hunters trying to kill all of your family, and you want to throw a party?" Hayley pointed out. "I don't want to ruin your fun, but I don't think that would be the best idea." Avery agreed with what she said, mostly because she was worried about Kol more than she let on. Throwing a party was the perfect chance for them to be attacked.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Honestly Hayley, you're becoming too much like Elijah. A celebration is in order and it will be a perfect excuse to dress up. I know you can't refuse a chance to wear an evening gown." She paused and turned her attention to Avery. "Of course you're coming too." Rebekah added casually. Avery was about to protest but Hayley just shook her head. It was probably better that they just let Rebekah have her way.

"You'll have to convince Elijah." Rebekah said to Hayley. "He won't go unless you convince him. You know he hates parties. But I'm sure if we tempt him with you wearing a suggestive dress, he won't be able to turn down the idea." Rebekah winked. Hayley shook her head while Avery couldn't help but let out a laugh.

Hayley sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Fine." She agreed in frustration. But she couldn't handle Rebekah's slow shopping pace. She tried on everything that caught her eye even though they all knew she would buy it no matter what. Hayley glanced at Avery. "Avery and I are going next door to get a coffee." She gave her a look to just nod and go along with it. "The human needs caffeine. Your shopping is tedious enough to kill." She whispered so none of the clerks could hear. Hayley grabbed Avery's hand lightly and dragged her out of the store. Rebekah was already busy staring at herself in the mirror to bother caring about their escape.

When they were inside the coffee shop, Avery let out a sigh of relief. Hayley smiled at her as she walked to register to order them some drinks. "I know. Rebekah can be a handful…but she means well."

A few minutes later, their coffee was ready. Hayley took a seat at a table and took a sip of her drink. "It's weird seeing a vampire have human food." Avery said quietly, making sure no one heard. Kol never ate or drank food; he didn't even drink blood in front of her. She actually started to wonder if he was consuming straight from the source or from the blood bags she'd fallen upon in their freezer.

"Kol probably thinks he's above it." Hayley laughed. Her smile lessened a bit as she prepared to ask about what she'd been wondering ever since she'd met Avery. "So you and Kol…" She laughed a little to ease the change of direction. Avery immediately blushed. Was it strange to be talking about Kol with Hayley? She couldn't decide. "I don't mean to pry. I've already made my observations but I was kind of curious on what you would say if I brought it up." Hayley smiled before taking another sip of her drink.

Avery laughed. "Is this where you get very protective of him?" She teased.

Hayley smirked and shook her head. "Kol can take care of himself."

Avery put all the teasing aside. "Elijah already talked to me about Kol and you last night." She looked up to see that Hayley's smile was gone. "It's fine. I get it. I'm not threatened or anything. You're friends. And you're in love with Elijah." Hayley suddenly decided she was done trying to push for information from Avery. She had no idea that Kol had said anything to Avery about her. Hayley realized it was probably very uncomfortable to ask her about Kol now. But Avery felt an odd ease when she thought about talking about him with Hayley.

"It was so unexpected." After started. She could feel Hayley's eyes burning with interest but also trying to subdue it. "At first, I saw Kol as some distraction, something to get my mind off of everything else that I was feeling. Then one day, I just kind of looked at him and realized that I loved him. And I wondered how I hadn't noticed it sooner. I guess that's the funny thing about love. It finds you when you've really given up on it and completely catches you off guard." She looked up nervously at Hayley, waiting for how she'd respond. Last night, she never told Elijah that she loved Kol like he foretold. But she did and it was the first time she said it to anyone out loud. Hayley wasn't surprised by it. If anything, she looked satisfied that her guesses were spot on. Hayley had always been good at seeing things most overlooked. She knew that Kol and Avery loved each other; she just wanted to hear them admit it to themselves.

"The biggest thing I learned about Kol is that he tries being as detached as possible. He doesn't want to feel for anything or anyone. Because he knows…the more he cares, the more he has to lose. But Kol loves you, Avery." She confirmed just like Elijah had. Hayley let out a laugh. "Out of all the stupid shit he's done, you're the riskiest." She looked up to see Avery looked just as amused as her. She knew just what Hayley was talking about.

Hayley's cell phone buzzed on top of the table. Her eyes scanned the screen and sighed. "Rebekah needs our opinion. Break's over." And just like that, she acted as if she never said anything about Kol. She stood up and waited for Avery to follow. After getting over her fluster, Avery followed Hayley out of the coffee shop back toward the boutique where Rebekah waited for them.

Abruptly, Hayley stopped on the sidewalk and turned to face Avery. "Matt is asking for you." She said simple. Before Avery could even get confused, Matt was running over to them. Avery didn't know she had even met Matt before.

"I didn't know you were in town, Hayley." He said to her, slightly suspicious. She only smiled and looked at Avery. Matt shook his head, remembering what he came over for. "Where have you been the last couple of days? You disappeared that night at the grill and I haven't seen you since." But then he looked over at Hayley, starting to think. "What's going on?" He asked both of them carefully.

Hayley laughed at how skeptical he was acting. "Matt, nothing is going on. Elijah and I are just visiting. Do you really think we could keep a big secret in the town of Mystic Falls?" Avery was amazed at how good of a liar she was. She almost believed the story herself.

Avery caught her cue. "Sorry, Matt. I've just been spending a lot of time with Kol." But then she caught the worry in his appearance. Maybe he looked stressed not because he was worried about her but because he was worried about things in his own life. "What's wrong?" She asked him softly.

He looked over at Hayley, not sure if he could trust her. There had hardly been any interaction between the two of them. She saved his life once and she'd done nothing to make him mistrust her. "I'm just worried about Caroline and Elena. Is there something going on? I know Sheriff Phillips knows…about things. I just don't want him to find out about Caroline. He's the whole reason her and Tyler had to go on the run. I can't help but feel like something bad is about to happen." Matt then shook his head, making himself think he was becoming paranoid. "You know what, never mind. I have to get to work. I'll talk to you later." Avery watched him walk away from them and down the street.

"You know, you can tell him if you want." Hayley said softly as she watched her. Of all people, the two of them knew keeping secrets wasn't always as good of an idea as people thought. But she decided it wasn't her place. "Caroline's in town?" Avery turned to see Hayley had a grin on. "That explains why Klaus as been on edge lately." Hayley informed Avery in amusement. She laughed and then started walking.

Avery jogged a bit to catch up with Hayley's long legs. "What do you mean? What does she have to do with Klaus?" She whispered.

"He has a thing for her." Hayley said nonchalantly. Avery's eyebrows creased. The idea of Klaus having a crush on anyone was unbelievable. She didn't even consider he was capable of such things. Hayley was about to open the door to the boutique but she turned to Avery. "You probably shouldn't talk about it in front of Rebekah. She's not really a fan." She whispered.

Avery rolled her eyes. "Is she a fan of anyone?"

Hayley laughed at that. "You and me, of course."

The shopping trip lasted all day thanks to Rebekah's shopaholic ways. Although, Hayley's sarcastic and clever humor did make it quite entertaining. But Avery was relieved when she finally pulled into her driveway. As she walked up the sidewalk, she stopped and looked at the house. She didn't know when, but it finally felt like home. Avery sighed in relief at its welcome.

She opened the door to see Meredith running about the house, grabbing random things. "Hey! How was your day?" Her aunt rushed.

Avery smiled. "It was fine. Leaving for work already?" She had another night shift but it didn't start for an extra hour.

"Yeah. I thought I'd get there early." Then Meredith stopped what she was doing and actually looked at Avery. "How are you doing? I've been at work so much, I feel like we never get to talk anymore." She said sadly.

Avery smiled at her aunt's concern. "I've fine, Meredith. How are you? Are you even a real person with all the work you've been doing? Not a zombie?" Meredith just laughed and nodded her head.

"You should go. I'm actually pretty tired." Avery assured her as she slowly walked to her bedroom and closed the door. She faced her room to see Kol glancing at a magazine that had been on her desk. Avery opened her mouth to say something. But Kol rushed in front of her in a second. Covering her mouth, he pointed toward the door. He was waiting for Meredith to leave. Avery listened for the front door to close. Even though her aunt had accepted him, there was no way she'd be fond of her being alone in the house with him.

As soon as Meredith bounded down the front porch stairs, Kol removed his hand from over Avery's mouth. He smiled mischievously before quickly kissing her delicately and then moving to lounge on her bed. Avery collapsed on the other side and stared at the ceiling as she exhaled deeply.

"Learned your lesson, have we? Never go shopping with my sister." Kol smiled down at her, clearly amused at her exhaustion.

"It's kind of all or nothing with her, isn't it?" Avery laughed. "But Hayley made it a lot more hilarious. She has a little rebellious streak." Avery teasingly narrowed her eye at him. "I know why the two of you are friends now." Kol rolled his eyes at her attempt to insult him. "Rebekah plans on throwing a party, by the way. Hayley tried to convince her to change her mind. But… well, I'm sure you know how that turned out."

"Is that so?" Kol asked, half interested. He was sitting close to her, playing with her hair that had spread out across the bed. If the subject of their conversation was going to be Rebekah, he was going to be focusing more on Avery being right in front of him.

Avery went back to looking up at the ceiling. "She invited me. But I'd rather not go to it if I have to pretend like I don't like you." Now she had Kol's attention. He stopped playing with her midnight-black hair and paid close attention.

"Then don't pretend." He said simply.

Avery sat up, propping herself on her elbows to look at him. "What about Klaus?" She asked seriously. They'd never talked about why they always detached their feelings around his family. But they both knew why it had to be done.

"My brother will behave. Now he can take his anger out on the people trying to kill us. He no longer has his high expectations pointed at me." Kol lied. Avery nodded as she let out a yawn. The real reason was his realization that he was done worrying about his brother. It was one of the many factors keeping him from telling Avery that he loved her.

Avery moved over so her head rested on Kol's chest. Her hand was placed on his stomach and the rest of her body relaxed against him. Kol wrapped his arm around, never realizing how protective he watched over her. "Will you spend the night?" Avery whispered with her voice displaying tiredness. She looked up to see Kol nodding calmly. He would have even if she hadn't asked. Since Elijah and Hayley came back to Mystic Falls, they were never really alone in the mansion. Klaus and Rebekah were always there. And Avery was trying her hardest to get along with all of them that she refused to let Kol keep her to himself.

It was these moments that caught Kol off guard. They were so simple, so comfortable. He never imagined he would have something like this. Before, he didn't even know feelings such as these even existed. His mind had only been familiar with lust, whether it was blood or desire. But now he looked at Avery, noticing how differently he saw and felt everything. He wanted right then to tell her he loved her and then apologize for not saying it sooner.

"Avery…" Kol whispered into her ear. Her eyes were closed and she was half asleep. He could feel her heartbeat slowing against his chest. But Avery had already fallen to sleep and didn't realize he hadn't told her what he'd intended to. "I love you more than you will ever realize." He continued. But Avery never heard it. She was too lost in her dreams that consisted only of him.

Sorry for this being a shorter chapter. But whatevs. Had to happen.