London, 1865.

THEY WERE KISSING LIKE CRAZY, like their lives depended on it. Kol's tongue slipped inside her mouth, gentle but demanding, and it was nothing like Bella had ever experienced. And she suddenly understood why people describe kissing as melting because every square inch of her body dissolved into his.

Her fingers gripped his hair, pulling him closer. Her veins throbbed and her heart exploded. She had never wanted anyone like this before, ever. He pushed her to the bed and they were lying down. The weight of his body on top of her was extraordinary. She felt all of him pressed against her, and she inhaled his shaving cream, his shampoo, and others extra scent that was just him. The most delicious smell she could ever imagine.

She wanted to breathe him, lick him, eat him, drink him. His lips tasted like honey. His face had the slightest bit of stubble and it rubbed her skin but she just didn't care, she didn't care at all. He felt wonderful. His hands were everywhere, and it didn't matter that his mouth was already on top of hers. She wanted him closer, closer, and closer.

Bella snapped her eyes wide open, and she gasped. The view of the ceiling in her lodging house's room was the first thing she saw. There was no one on top of her, nor on the other side of the bed. She sighed in relief, then closed her eyes again.

"Good Morning."

Her eyes immediately opened again as she heard that voice. Hurriedly sitting up, she turned her head to where the voice came from. And there Kol was, in the lounge chair in the corner of the room, sitting comfortably with a grin plastered on his handsome face.

"I was on my way out to grab a bite when I saw your window was open..." he explained without breaking his grin, "And I just couldn't resist stopping by."

A glimpse of their activity in her dream began to return to her head the moment their eyes met. His gaze was calm and intense, and she flushed beneath his scrutiny. How could she have dreamed something like that? What would Kol say if he found out about it?

"What's the matter, darling?" he asked, sounding a bit concern. But then his tone changed to teasing as he continued, "Disappointed that the dream couldn't last longer?"

She narrowed her eyes at him as the realization suddenly hit her. "You."

"Yeah, me," he admitted proudly.

Kol once told her that not only vampires could use mind compulsion on someone, but they also could manipulate dreams. And he had done that to her whenever he had the chance. At first, she kind of liked it because it took away all kind of her nightmares. But as the time on, he started giving her dreams for his own selfish gain. Like that one.

"How many time do I have to tell you to stay away from my head?" she grumbled, eyes glaring at him.

"Zero times," he answered casually, "because it has proven useless."

Bella couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was too early to get into an argument with him, so she chose to just ignore it. Instead she jumped out from the bed, and started walking towards the bathroom to wash her face.

But Kol suddenly appeared in front of her and blocked her way. "Beautiful rose for a beautiful birthday girl," he stated while holding up a rose in front of his face. His grin was already replaced by a genuine smile. "Congratulations, you're one year closer to legally do lots of fun things."

For a moment, she just blinked at the rose and Kol's face in turn. To be honest, she almost forgot about her own birthday. She remembered it like a week ago, but she started to forget as she got busier with rehearsal.

It had been five months since she decided to run away with Kol. They had visited a different country every month, starting with France, Romania, Russia, Austria, and now England. And just a few days after they set foot in London, they learned that there was an upcoming theatrical production in town opening up audition for one of the lead roles. He quickly encouraged her to take the audition, knowing that she really liked to act. And since she didn't see any harm in that, she did itㅡshe auditioned for it. Who would have thought that she actually got the role?

Based on the schedule, they would be performing tonight, which was why this week had been a really busy week. Therefore she didn't have time to count down her birthday just like she used to. But it was good to know that someone still did that for her.

Taking the rose from his hand, she let out her sweet smile. "Thank you."

"I'll wait for you outside," he replied, still smiling. And before he left, he planted a small kiss on her forehead.

Bella watched as Kol got out through the window with butterflies in her stomach. Kol sometimes could be really scary, annoying, and even intimidating. But he never failed to make her heart fluttered with joy like this. Now how could she protect her heart from falling for him?

After escorting her to the Olympic Theatre for the last rehearsal, Kol left to meet one of the his witch friends. Apparently, vampires weren't the only supernatural beings that existed in the world. There were witches and werewolves as well. And it turned out, Kol used to be a witch.

He admitted to her that he loved being a witch, he specifically loved the power that magic gave him and hated having to lose it when he was turned into a vampire. That was why he spent much time hanging out with the witches, hoping to reclaim a connection to the magic that he had lost when he became a vampire.

He once took her to meet a witch in France to find out the exact location of her brothers' whereabouts, and by using her blood relation with them, they did it, they found out where they were. But since both of them still seem to have had problems with the blood lust, Kol didn't think it was a good idea for her to be around them, so he asked her to wait.

She became more and more nervous as the day began to turn into night. The play they would perform was entitled 'The Ticket of Leave Man'. It was a stage melodrama by the British writer Tom Taylor, based on a French drama, Le Retour de Melun. The play was divided into four acts and Bella was given the honor to play the only female lead character, May Edwards. This worried her somewhat and she couldn't help but start thinking negatively; what if she screwed up? What if it turned out that her acting skills wasn't as good as she thought?

"What's with the face?"

Bella managed not to flinch when she heard his voice suddenly came from her right side. She was watching the audience came and filled the theater's seat from the backstage at the moment. She also secretly tried to make sure Kol had come because he had promised her to watch the play. And when she couldn't find him among the crowd, she kind of expected him to do what he always do; suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She bit her lower lip and answered, "Um, nothing."

"Shouldn't you have realized by now that you could never lie to me?" he retorted, raising an eyebrow.

She sighed and finally chose to just tell him what was really bothering her. "Do you think I'll be good enough for today?"

"No, I don't," he answered without thinking, his face was dead serious. Seeing the sad look on her face upon hearing it, he quickly added, "I think you will be amazing... because that's just who you are."

She couldn't resist the temptation to smile at his cheesy answer. Feeling the heat in her cheeks, she lowered her face to hide it from him. But he suddenly took her chin in his hand, then gently lifted it so he could look straight into her beautiful hazel eyes.

"My love, you have nothing to worry about," he assured her. "You will do great. And I will be at the front row, being the first one to give you the standing ovation you deserve."

It was hard not to felt drawn to him when he acted like this. Even though she wasn't a hopeless romantic, but she still had her own idea of love. She always wanted to find someone who made her feel special, someone who made her feel like she was so much more than she ever thought. And he just did it, without even realizing it.

She licked her lips, then nodded.

The corner of his lips curled into a faint smile. He then let go of her chin and added, "I want to wish you good luck, but we both know you wouldn't need it."

They were suddenly interrupted by one of her crewmates. Apparently she was needed in the makeup room for the last briefing. After saying goodbye to each other, they went into separate ways.

BELLA NEVER THOUGHT SHE WOULD EVER FEEL THIS WAY, like she was in seventh heaven. Being on a real stage felt even more incredible than she had ever imagined. And not to mention Kol was there at the front row, encouraging her with his gaze. That was more than she could ever asked for, even for her birthday.

It was almost midnight when they walked back to their lodging house. The big success of their performance made all the production crew decided to held up a little celebration party, which turned out to be a surprise birthday party for her. That was why she couldn't just leave in the middle of the party and had to go back home this late.

"Be honest with me," she exclaimed as they entered the lodging house. "Do you really liked it?"

"I not only liked it, darling, I loved every part of it... especially the one with you in it," he reassured her, taking her hand in his and holding it tight. "They were so lucky to find you."

"About that..." she frowned as she suddenly realized something. "Are you sure you didn't have anything to do with it?"

Having known him for nearly seven months, she learned that if something was too good to be true, there must be some mind compulsion involved in it.

"Not a slightest," he answered without doubt.

Bella pulled her hand out of his grasp when they finally arrived in front of her room. Her eyes narrowed at him suspiciously as she stated, "You know, you're not the only who can smell a lie."

He groaned and finally admitted, "Fine, I might have something to do with it." Before she could scold him for what he did, he quickly explained, "I was the one who made them replace the old-May and moved the play's date into today."

"What about my audition?" she questioned again.

"I swear I have nothing to do with that," he claimed while holding up his hands. "You got the role because you're amazing."

For a moment, she just looked into his eyes and tried to determine whether he was telling the truth or not. Kol was really good at hiding things. There were a few times when even his eyes said that he wasn't lying, but her gut told her that he was lying. It was quite confusing.

She sighed and finally decided to believe him, "Okay." Turning around, she unlocked her room. But before she going inside, she suddenly remembered something. "And um, can you please not try to do anything to hurt Mr. Linthorn?" she pleaded as she turned her body again to face him.

Linthorn was one of her co-stars. At the surprise party earlier, he was the only one who dared to kiss her cheek right in front of Kol. And not to mention he already tried to flirt with her before. If her guess was right, the only reason why Kol hadn't done anything to hurt him was because he didn't want to sabotage the play any further and risked ruining everything. But now the play was over, he had no more reason to hold back.

"Why would I do that?" He tried to sound innocent, but the evil glint in his eyes said otherwise.

"I saw the look in your face," she pointed out. "I know you want to hurt him."

Couldn't deny it any longer, he just chuckled and looked away.

She quickly grabbed his arm to make him look back at her. "Don't hurt him, please?" She started giving him a pleading look as he looked back at her. "Consider it as my birthday wish."

He grunted in disbelief and decided to give up. "Fine, I won't touch him," he finally agreed. "You have my word."

The corner of her lips quickly curled into a really bright smile and she finally let go of his arm. She wasn't sure that he would really keep his word since there were times when he didn't, but she had no other choice than to put her trust on him, especially after everything he did for her. She sighed when she suddenly realized that she hadn't shown how much she appreciated all of his efforts to make her happy.

"I don't think I can thank you enough," she uttered while fidgeting her fingers.

He arched an eyebrow. "Thank me for what?"

"Everything," she stated as if it was the obvious. "You took me to beautiful places, helped me find my brothers, and now you made my dream come true."

Small chuckle came out from his mouth as he shook his head. "It has been my duty to grant you happiness."

"No, it isn't," she quickly disagreed. Her happiness was her own duty, not his or anyone else.

"Yes, it is," he retorted back, eyebrow furrowed. "You chose me, you make me the happiest person in the world. Now it's my turn to make you the happiest person in the world."

Bella suddenly fell silent. She was taken aback by his explanation. She didn't realized that her choice had such an impact on him. Was he really serious when he said he wanted her that bad?

She took a deep breath as she managed to overcome her surprise. "In that case I think you already did," she told him, looking straight into his brown eyes lovingly.

"Glad to know that."

For a moment, they just stood there without breaking their eye contact. Bella could feel the urge to invite him to her room, but she knew it would be inappropriate. He wasn't her relatives or her husband. They shouldn't be in a room with just the two of them. But Kol never cared about all of it, which was why he liked to sneak into her room through the window.

"Good night, Kol Mikaelson." She hastily decided to end the conversation before she failed to resist the urge to invite him into her room. And without waiting for his answer, she went inside.

But when she turned around after closing back the door, Kol was already in the room. He stood right in front of her with hands hidden in his back.

"I almost forgot about something," he said, a mysterious smile on his face.

She couldn't help but squint her eyes. "What is it?"

"Your birthday present."

"Oh, you're really don't have to," she quickly refused. "You've given me enough already. I don't think I canㅡ"

"Close your eyes," he ordered, completely ignoring her refusals.

His order made her chuckle in disbelief. "You know how I feel about surprises."

He gave her a reassuring smile and replied, "I promise you, my dear, you will like this one."

Sighing, she decided to just do as he ordered. The next thing she knew was that she felt something on her neck, a necklace. He just put a necklace around her neck.

Without waiting for his order, she quickly opened her eyes and looked down to her neck. It was a heart-shaped blue diamond necklace with white gold and a colorless diamond as the frame. The most stunning piece of jewelry she had ever seen in her life.

"It's beautiful..." the blue diamond suddenly glowed as she touched it with her hand, "and it glows." She frowned in confusion, then looked up to him and asked, "Why is it glows?"

"It's a magic necklace," he answered, eyes glued at the necklace. His expression was hard to describe, like he was really pleased by what he saw but there was still a sense of disbelief on his face.

"Oh." She glanced back at the necklace and questioned again, "What does it do?"

But he didn't seem to hear her. Instead he looked lost in his own thought without taking his eyes off the necklace.

"Kol?" she called, tilting her head to the side with a frown.

Kol cleared his throat when his gaze shifted to her face. He then swallowed hard and straightened his collar, somewhat looking nervous, which was incredibly weird since she never saw him like that.

After taking a deep breath, he finally spoke in a serious tone, "You know, I've been denied about this thing I have for you... because that thing happened to be vampire's greatest weakness."

His words made her blink in confusion, but she chose not to interrupt and waited patiently for him to finish it.

"I didn't want to have any weakness, I didn't want to be weak," he continued.

There were times when she wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or not, but this definitely wasn't one of that. This was the first time where she felt one hundred percent sure that he was being honest.

"But today I realized that you're worth every risk that come from having a weakness."

She bit her lower lip as her heart started pounding because of his last statement. Could it be...?

"So here I am, ready to admit it in front of you."

She swallowed hard as he took one step closer, leaving no room between them.

"I love you, Isabella Salvatore."

For a moment, she forgot how to breath.

"And I will keep loving you... always and forever."

Bella couldn't find any word to describe her feelings right now. His confession and the way he looked at her was something that she had ever expected.

Not wanting to ruin the moment, she tried to choose her words carefully. But she couldn't find the right words. And instead she responded by saying, "But... forever is a really long time."

"I know," he assured her.

If anyone knew how long exactly forever was, it would be the guy who had been lived for almost nine century. Kol knew exactly what he was saying, and he meant it with every word he said.

No further words were needed and Bella decided to take action this time.

Touching his cheek, she leaned closer and crashed their lips together, kissing him softly. And he kissed her back, his arms were around her waist. He kissed her harder, deeper, with a fervent urgent need she had never known before. His insistent mouth was parting her lips, sending wild tremors along her nerves, evoking from the sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling.

Before they even realized, they were kissing like crazy, like their lives depended on it. Her arms rolled around his neck, pulling him closer. Their bodies unconsciously moved closer to the bed, without breaking their lips contact.

Bella was the one who break the kiss when her need for oxygen became more urgent. She held up her hand against his broad chest, trying to create some distance between them. She couldn't imagined how flushed she was right now since she could feel the heat in every inch of her body.

After she finished catching her breath again, she moved her hands to the back of her dress and tried to pull the strings but couldn't get them. She turned around, showing him the strings of her dress, and shyly asked, "Could you please help me?"

A small chuckle came out from his mouth as he leaned closer to her and moved her hair to the right side. "Are you sure about this?" he whispered in her ears and put his lips against the skin on her neck.

She bit her lips and started closing her eyes, enjoying his touch. It was her who always rejected this idea before, because she wasn't ready. She didn't know what had gotten into her to the point of being this brave. Was it because she just turned sixteen or was it because his confession?

As soon as she gave him a nod, he didn't waste time to help her undressed. After eyeing her from the top to the bottom with an adoring gaze, he started kissing her again.

And between their kisses, she whispered back to him, "I love you too, Kol Mikaelson."