JUST LIKE ANY OTHER tragic night, last night ended in other deaths. The death of Esther Mikaelson and Alaric Saltzman. It turned out that Esther's big plan to destroy all vampires in the world was to turn Alaric into another vampire hunter. But the witch failed, and the local hunter refused to finish his transition. The deaths of the them two actually didn't have any effect on Bella since she wasn't close to either of them, but it certainly had an effect on the people close to her.

Alaric was Damon's closest friend, so of course his death really devastated him. But Damon being Damon would rather push people away than admit that he needed moral support. Then there was JeremyㅡAlaric was like a father figure to him. She might not in love with the Gilbert boy, but she did care about him. She knew Jeremy wouldn't take Alaric's death well. She wanted to check up on him, but after last night, she doubted Jeremy would want to see her at the moment.

Then, there were also Rebekah and Kol. Esther was their mother. Bella didn't know what her death actually meant to themㅡthey were harder to guess, because of their complicated relationshipㅡand that was why she planned to check up on them today.

"Isabella, what a pleasant surprise."

A frown rolled over Bella's features as the door in front of her opened and revealed the last person she wanted to meet on the other side of it. Of all the people living in the Mansion, why did it have to be Klaus?

"You surprisingly sound like you're in a good mood," Bella observed, frown deepened. "Oh, right, you just became an orphan again." She pretended she just remembered, and then she smiled sarcastically at him. "What else could possibly make someone happier than that?"

"Well, you know how stressful parents could be sometimes," Klaus answered, confirming it. Surprisingly, Bella did know, but she decided not to respond. "Would you like to come in, love?" He opened the door wider, motioning at the inside of the Mansion with smile boardened. "But you have to forgive the inconveniences. I'm leaving town today."

Rebekah had told her about it beforeㅡabout Klaus' plan to leave town. But Rebekah herself didn't want to leave, and Bella had offered the girl to stay with her when Klaus left. But the two hadn't talked about it anymore with all the chaotic situation surrounding them. And the way Klaus announced his departure as if he expected Bella to care.

Putting on a fake smile, Bella retorted, "Yeah, sorry I forgot to buy a 'goodbye and hopefully we won't see each other ever again' gift."

"You're still mad about last night," the hybrid observed, with eyes narrowed, then he smiled amusedly. "It was just a little spat, love. I'm over it already."

He spoke as if it was the only possible reason why Bella was acting this way to him. Did he forget the time when he made Bella suffer, the time when he made her life a constant dangerㅡwhen he made sure Bella knew how living hell felt like? But she knew that reminding him of that time would be pointless, so she chose to get straight to the point of why she came.

"Is Rebekah here?"

"Unfortunately, you just missed her. She left to the school a few minutes agoㅡfor the cleaning committee or something."

Of course. After the school dance came the clean up committee.

But Bella couldn't understand why Rebekah bothered to attend the clean up committee when she didn't even have a chance to come to the dance. And to think that this was the second time Rebekah had failed to attend the school dance when the girl had been dying to attend one, while that was the third time Bella had managed to attend when she didn't even want to, Bella couldn't help but feel really bad for her. But she didn't feel like being dragged into the clean up committee, so she decided to see Rebekah when the girl got home later.

The Mansion looked deserted, Bella couldn't hear any other sound there apart from hers and Klaus'ㅡas if no one else was there. This made Bella ask her next question, "And Kol?"

"You don't know?" Klaus asked back, raising an eyebrow.

Bella's frown returned. "About what?"

"He moved out two days ago."

"Oh."

That was kinda weird. Kol always told her anything, even the least important thing. Was he too busy planning a way to get Bella to confess her feelings that he forgot to tell her about the move?

"He's a lone ranger that one," Klaus went on, eyes sparkling with interest at the fact that she had no idea about that. "But I thought he would tell his dearest Isabella everything."

Bella squinted her eyes at Klaus. This wasn't the first time she'd heard him say something in a tone that indicated something elseㅡlike the night when they had dinner together with Elijah, Damon, and Stefan. Bella was pretty sure that Klaus actually knew about her trying to keep their first meeting as a secret from her brothers, and that was why he deliberately brought it up that nightㅡintending to create some drama between her and her brothers. And it felt like he was trying to create some drama between her and Kol right now.

He then kindly offered, "I can give you his address if you want."

In Bella's opinion, Klaus being uncharacteristically generous like this was even more terrifying than when he lost his temper. That was why after letting him type down the address on her phone, she quickly left.

The address led her to an apartment building on the outskirts of the town. The building had five floors, and Bella wondered how Kol knew the place. It was lovely and she liked the feelings she got when she entered the place.

Doubts started to envelop Bella as she was right in front of Kol's room. After last night, she wasn't sure how to act around him. Both Kol and Jeremy had played herㅡthey had tricked her into letting them put that bracelet on her. But somehow, she couldn't really be mad at either of them for that since she knew that she was the one who had played them the most.

Suddenly, the door in front of Bella opened before she even had time to knock. Her struggling thoughts made her too slow to get out of thereㅡboth Kol and her froze for a moment when their eyes met.

"Bella?" A slow smile worked its way across Kol's face and into his eyes as he said her name. What a wonderful surprise.

"I, uh," Bella broke their eye contact as she reached into her sling bag and pulled out an infinity chain bracelet, "I'm here to return this." Looking up to him again, she handed him the bracelet. Jeremy might be the one who gave her the bracelet but it was clear that he got it from Kolㅡwhich was why she chose to return it to him.

Kol took the bracelet with a frown, confusion was all over his face. He didn't understand. It was clear that Bella was still in love with him, and she herself no longer tried to deny it, but why did she return the bracelet? What did that even mean?

"Darling, wait," he quickly exclaimed as she turned around and was about to leave. And she stopped at the call, turning her face back to him with a brow raised. "I need your help with something."

She had a feeling that Kol said that just to keep her from leaving, since she didn't really want to leave eitherㅡbut she couldn't find any reason to stay beforeㅡ, she chose to go along with it.

The inside of Kol's apartment was even better than Bella imagined. It was really ellegant and modern. The place was spacious. The living-room and dining room had a comfortable sofa and two ideal armchairs with a modern wooden table, a LCD TV with DVD player and stereo system, a set of dining table, and a large window. Kol led her to the kitchenㅡit was modern and well-equipped. Bella couldn't stop glancing around as she plopped down on one of the kitchen bar stools, then she finally questioned, "How did you find this place?"

"It's a pretty funny story actually," Kol responded as he retrieved a juice box from the fridge. "Remember the new nightclub we spotted on our way back from the airport?" Taking two glasses out the kitchen shelf, he went behind the kitchen table and poured the juice into the glasses. "I went there after I got you home." He handed her one of the glasses and brought the other one to his mouth, taking a sip from it.

Bella picked up the glass and followed him take a sip from it as she patiently waited for him to continue the story.

"And I met this girl, I can't remember her nameㅡshe had long blonde hair, around 5'5" tall, and had a pretty nice arse... "

Kol's eyes mischievously glanced over at Bella's body as he described the girl he had met that night. It was as if he was describing Bella, only it wasn't. That girl probably just had a similar figure with Bella, and she refused to believe that it was a coincidence. It was the second time Kol had showed his ability to spot someone who had similar figure with herㅡthe first one being when they joined forcesㅡand it got her wonder; how many times had he actually done that? Was that his way of dealing with longing when he failed to find her back then?

"... she noticed me staring from afar and decided to come over to me. And we talked, then she invited me to her apartment, and as we started getting off, she jokingly said something like you can't do that in my place. And it kind of remind me with my brother, and nothing turned me off more than that, so I killed her, and I moved here after."

"Oh, wow," was all Bella could muster, and she grimaced. "What a way to get an apartment."

"I know." An amused chuckle escaped his lips, then he gave her a suggestive look as he offered, "and if you ever get tired of living with your two brothers, you are more than welcome to move here with me."

"Hmm," she flashed a fake smile, "I'll keep that in mind."

They both took another sip from their glasses, and then suddenly, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out from her bag to check it and found a new message from Damon. But just when she was about to open it, Kol had snatched up the phone first.

"Hey!" she yelled in surprise, turning at him in disbelief.

"You know, I just noticed how people these days are always on the phone," the Mikaelson boy grumbled, casually shoving the phone into his pocket as if it was his. "I mean, I understand it's a fascinating thing. It helps us connect with people who are far away, but it beats the whole 'connect with people' point if you start avoiding those around you because of it."

His words left a frown on Bella's face. "Don't you have a phone yourself?"

"You didn't see me holding it when you were around, did you?"

She knew he had a point, but it was a little annoying to see him talking like an old person even though he actually wasㅡhe was a thousand year old and he hadn't lived very long in this time. It made a little sense why he thought that way.

"Whatever, grandpa."

A smirk slowly appeared on his lips as he watched her climb off the stool and leave the kitchen. Of course he wasn't serious with what he had just said. He just wanted to have her for himself at least for that day, and he didn't want any interference from anyone.

After hiding her phone on the highest kitchen shelf, he followed her into the living room. She was standing in front of the large window, staring out at the stunning skyline views with her glass in her hand. And he sat himself down on the sofa without taking his eyes off herㅡeven the sight of Bella's back was eye-catching.

"So what do you need my help with?" the blonde vampire finally asked after a moment of silence. Turning around, she stared at him with a brow raised.

"Um..." Kol didn't answer right awayㅡ instead he glanced around the room, and then an idea flashed through his brain, "Take a look around." A faint smile was on his lips as he went on, "How many of the items here do you think were already invented before I was daggered?"

"Oh, so you want me to teach you how to use them," Bella concluded. But she wasn't stupidㅡshe knew it was just an excuse to keep her from leaving. And weirdly enough, she didn't mind that. She didn't mind to play along with it. "Does this mean you finally admit that you're not as smart as you think that you can't even figure out how to do it yourself?"

"No, this is me admitting that I can do everything myself but I prefer to do it with you."

Bella just rolled her eyes. Kol and his sweet talk. She should have seen that coming.

"Come on, love," he coaxed, standing up from the sofa and starting to walk over to her. "Are you really going to say no to someone who just lost his mother?"

She scoffed at his miserable attempt to guilt-trip her. "You really need to stop doing that. It's not working."

He shrugged. "Well, it's still worth a try." Then he tried his next methodㅡgiving her a puppy dog eyes.

"Fine, I'll teach you," she decided, and a triumphant smile appeared on Kol's face. "But pay attention," he followed her from behind as she walked over to the table and put her glass down, and as she turned back to him, they were face to face at a close distanceㅡbut none of them seemed bothered with that, "because I'm not gonna repeat myself."

"Copy that," Kol nodded obediently, "I will pay extra attention." And then, he put on a broad smile.

The place had a lot of modern items, but Bella chose to explain the electronics only because she thought they were the hardest to figure out. And during her explanation, Kol did pay attention. Except that he didn't pay attention to her explanation or the little demonstration she gave, he paid attention to her pretty faceㅡhis brown eyes didn't even leave her face for a second.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," she muttered sarcastically as she caught him staring at her for the umpteeth time that day. Right now, they were in his bedroom, sitting in front of a desk with a computer on it. She was trying to explain to him how to operate the computer, but it was hard to do that if his eyes weren't on the screen.

To her surprise, Kol really pulled out his phone and took a picture of her. This made her cough in disbelief. "I was being sarcastic."

"And I was teasing you," he answered, smirking. But his smirk turned into a satisfied smile as he looked back at his phone screenㅡat the picture he just took. "Or not."

Bella just shook her head in disbelief and looked away. It looked like Kol's hobby of teasing her hadn't changed at all. But unlike before, she was not that easy to tease.

After the computer lesson, Kol left to the kitchen to get more drinks while Bella went to the living room to play some music to lighten up the mood. It was an upbeat and fast, typical of the dance music. Without realizing it, her head was bobbing along to the beat of the music. Closing her hazel eyes, she let her whole body moved along with itㅡother than acting, she always liked dancing. She was never embarrassed to do it whenever she liked.

It was either Bella who got too caught up in the music too much or Kol who deliberately came sneaking. When she opened her eyes again, she found him already sitting comfortably on one of the armchairs with a bottle of vodka. His brown eyes were fixed on her, the amused smile on his lips showed that he was enjoying the show.

However, the show needed another player to keep going.

Walking towards him, she stretched out her hand and invited him to join, "Come on."

"Um..." Kol's eyes narrowed when he pretended to think about it, "I think I prefer to watch."

His answer made her face turn flat. "Fine, I'm leaving now."

But just when she turned around, Kol appeared in front of her and blocked her way. "You really know how to get what you want, don't you?" he asked jokingly, hand reaching for the hand she had stretched out earlierㅡa sign that he accepted her invitation.

It was her turn to smile triumphantly. "Just one of my many talents," the girl replied arrogantly, and she pulled him over the more spacious area.

It wasn't the same dance he used toㅡ she told him to just follow the music. She told him to forget everything and just move freely to the music, because in her opinion, that was the point of dancing; to freely express themselves. And he did as she told him, he moved his body to the music. And as the song progressed they both felt relaxed, and let a bright smile form on their lips.

If only things would always be this light and fun.

They ended the dance with laughterㅡ and just then Bella realized how close they were. Their eyes were drawn to each other, and Kol took it as the right time. Lowering his head, he narrowed the distance between them. Their lips were getting closer, and closer...

... but then she pulled away.

"I have to go," the blonde announced, and then she walked past him to grab her bag from the table.

Bella's sudden change in behavior left a frown on his face. He really couldn't understand. She was no longer spoken for and was still in love with him. And there was no doubt that he was still in love with her too, so what else was stopping her for giving in? What made her act this way?

"I don't understand," the Mikaelson boy expressed, his eyes staring at her back in confusion, "I've never stopped loving you, not even for a second. And I know neither do you. I don't see why we can't get back together again."

Bella froze for a moment. And as she turned around, her eyes showed him why.

"You're still angry that I turned you," he concluded, swallowing down his throbbing heart.

At this point, Kol didn't know what to say about that matter. He wouldn't try to justify his actions, but he couldn't regret it either. Because even if he could go back to that night, he would still do the exact same thing he did before; he would do anything to make sure he wouldn't lose her forever.

"That night, you said immortal and mortal weren't meant to be together, and you were right. And if I could go back to being mortal so I could spend the rest of my life with you, I would. But I couldn't. And you were also right about the pain of losing someone you love forever. Just the thought of losing you forever made me want to stab myself with a white oak stake. But there weren't even any white oak back then. There was no way out for me, Bella."

One of the reasons Bella never wanted to be a vampire was because she didn't think she could handle immortality. Sure, immortality would allow her to savor the things that she couldn't normally do within a human lifespan. But when would it end? The concept of never-ending life terrified her. Life couldn't forever be sunshine and rainbows. There were going to be a lot of ups and downs, and she would have to fight for it. She actually didn't mind figthing for it, but just thinking of her having to do that forever was scaring her. She had spent 145 years figthing for her life, and there had been times when she got tired of it.

However, for Bella and the other regular vampires, there was always a way out when things became too unbearable. There were wooden stake, sun, fire, and heart extraction. Meanwhile for the Originals, it was only white oak stake. But they couldn't even keep the stake, not without the risk their enemies would find it and use it against them.

"Is it really too much for me to ask for another chance?" the Mikaelson boy went on as he stepped in front of the younger vampire. Gently taking both her hands, he held them tightly to his chest. There was only sincerity in his eyes when he looked into hers. "All I want is to spend eternity with you."

Kol might never have said it, but that was clear that he did know how tough it was to live indefinitely. After all, he had lived for a thousand years. That was why he wanted to spend eternity with herㅡshe made his immortal life far more bearable. And maybe he was right. Together they could make each other's immortal life more bearable.

"Can I trust you again?" Bella finally spoke, eyes staring expectantly at him.

"Yes, you can," he hastily nodded, and gave her a reassuring look, "I promise you can."

Bella would be damned to trust him again after everything. Even Rebekah had warned her that none of the girl's family could be trusted. But maybe it was okay to take a risk sometimesㅡwho knew things would be different this time?

"One chance." Relief washed over him and brought a broad smile to his face, and she quickly emphasized, "Just one chance, Kol." She didn't want to be an idiot who kept coming back to the guy who hurt her over and over again, no matter how much she loved that guy. "Please don't make me regret it."

"Don't worry, I won't," he assured her, bringing her hands to his lips to plant a kiss on them. "Thank you." Then he leaned forward to touch her forehead with his, a gentle smile on his face.

And the long-awaited kiss finally happened.

She had no idea who started itㅡit just happened. The feeling of longing, love, and passion filled their souls, and it felt like their whole world had been wanting for this moment. Kol buried his hands in her blonde hair, running his fingers through it as he kissed her with an unearthly fire and passion. Bella had her hand rested on his chest, her lips responded with such enthusiasm. Nothing could have possibly meant more to them, nothing could have been more beauty than that moment.

* • • ◕◕════Warning!════◕◕ • •*

After a moment or two, they finally broke the kiss. The light of lust flared in their gazes as they looked into each other's eyes, and the next second, Kol had pinned her against the walls. His lips hungrily devoured hers, sending wild tremors along her nerves. His hands lifted her off her feet, and she wrapped her legs around his waist without command.

This is wrong, she thought. They should have took things slow. And she also just broke up with Jeremy last night, but now she was about to have sex with Kol. She felt like a literal bitch.

But then again she and Kol hadn't had sex since 145 years ago, so screwed that. Screwed everything.

He suddenly pulled away from her lips and moved down to her neck, a small moan escaped her mouth as he nipped just below her ear lobe, and then he made his way down to suck a love bite on her skin. His hands slipped under her dress, stroking her thighs up to her butt. She leaned her head against the wall behind her and bit her lower lip, enjoying the feeling of his touch.

She felt like her skin was on fire and heat coursed through her veins, and she suddenly hated the clothes that prevented their skin from touching, so she did something about itㅡshe grabbed the back of his shirt and ripped it. Her actions made him look up from her neck, a mischievous grin on his face. She removed her legs from his waist, and he finished what she had done before; he took off his ripped shirt and tossed it to the side. She did the same as him with her cardigan, but before she could remove her dress as well, he had held her up against the wall once again and kissed her with the passion she had always loved.

She shivered with delight and felt her core throb with arousal when he began to place bruising kisses from her jawline to her collar bone. His hands moved to lower the straps of her dress from her shoulders, and then he lowered her dress down to her stomach. He lifted her body even higher and started kissing her chest that was still covered by her bra, a faint smile crossed his lips as he heard her panting with pleasure.

It looked like Kol was trying to tease her with it, by playing with her breast without taking her bra off. And she immediately got even with himㅡshe planted her feet back on solid ground, brought her hand to his crotch and squeezed it, a low groan escaped his lips. And as he looked back up to her, she quickly took the chance to discard his jeans, swallowing hard as she saw the bulge that had formed.

"Like what you see, darling?"

She didn't answer the trick question and instead took off her dress completely, leaving behind her bra and panties. He took a moment to admire her beautiful body, and she turned around, moving her hair aside to show him her bra hook. "Do you mind?" she asked, staring seductively at him over her shoulder.

He answered with a soft chuckle, then he took a step closer and did as she asked. She tossed her bra to the side, but before she could turn back to him, he had pressed her body against the wall. "I don't remember you being this naughty," he whispered to her, his voice was low and sexy, and his hands was caressing her body from each side of the waist to the chest, cupping her breasts and squeezing it, causing another moan to escape her lips. "Tell me darling, who taught you that?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Ah, maybe you're right." He pressed his crotch against her until she could feel his bulge against the back of her waist, and she deliberately moved her waist, rubbing his bulge with it. He let out a low growl, closing his eyes for a moment and enjoying it, and as he opened his eyes again, he knew he couldn't wait to be inside her any longer.

Taking a step back, he ripped off her panties, causing her to turn to him in an instant. But before she could protest, he had crashed his lips against hers, muffling her voice. One of his hands lifted her up again and the other one was pulling his hard cock out of his underwear. He then pulled away from the kiss only to ask permission through his eyes, and when she finally granted it, he didn't waste time at all.

Her fingernails stuck into his skin and drew a line down his back as he entered herㅡhe felt so big and hard. His mouth was back to hers as he slammed into her over and over; she were far from fragile, and he knew that.

She screamed for him, enjoying the irreplaceable pleasures he gave her. And it was just the beginning.

A/n : Did you guys realize that everyone in Mystic Falls was panicking about Alaric and the indestructible white oak stake while Bella and Kol were having sex? xD