NO WORDS COULD DESCRIBE HER FEELINGS AT THE MOMENT. Not a single one. Everything was so mixed up inside her. The fear of what would happen next, what he might do to her. The mix of pain and anger she felt for him, for what he did to her 145 years ago. And then there was guilt and the longing, two things she shouldn't feel but she felt anyway. For the first time in a long time, she felt like an idiot.

It was something she had been trying to avoid happening for over a century. And yet she knew (or she wished? she wasn't sure anymore) sooner or later it would happen anyway. Now it was really happening, she really had no idea how she was going to face it.

Kol had brought her back to Klaus' mansion, speeding up straight to one of the bedrooms, which she assumed it was his now that he was back to life. And after compelling her not to leave the room, he left to the bathroom.

It had been a while (a few minutes or even an hour? she wasn't sure) since she just sat on the couch and listened to the sound of the shower. Not even an inch had she moved from her seat. She just sat still like a statue, her eyes staring blankly at the table in front of her.

The fact that she wasn't really under his compulsion because the vervain she had consumed earlier that day hadn't left her system made her feel even more idiot. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she leave? Why didn't she take the opportunity that was right before her eyes? Wasn't running away from him something she wanted to do before? Then why didn't she do it now?

She kept asking herself that questions, as if she would get the answers. Little did she realize that she actually knew all the answers, but she was too afraid to admit it. She was too afraid to face her hidden feelings and desires, the one that she had long denied existed.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long."

Her eyeballs immediately turned to the source of the sound, to Kol who had just come out of the bathroom. He was shirtless from the waist up, and from the waist down wrapped only in a thin white towel, water dripping from his brown hair and onto his muscular chest. The scent of his body wash, a woodsy pine scent, wafted over to her from where he was standing not far from the bathroom door, making her heart beat faster. For all she knew she shouldn't have felt this way, not when she had seen many men's shirtless bodies before, including his. But she did anyway. And the craziest part was that she felt like she couldn't take her eyes off him.

He was grinning from ear to ear as he spoke, "You see, being in a coffin for a century tends to make people enjoy a little thing like showering too much that they almost lose track of time." He then gave her a meaningful look. "Good thing I have a very special girl waiting for me as a strong reminder."

Her heart was beating faster and she gulped. She wanted to look away, but she found herself watching his every movement as he walked over to the main door and opened it. A servant was already waiting outside, several shopping bags in her hand. Without letting the servant in, he took all the shopping bags from her, then closed the door again.

Putting the bags on the bed, he took a peek inside it and frowned. But when he shifted his attention back to Bella, his frown was replaced with a smirk. He found himself eyeing her again, from her blonde hair that was curled down perfectly, to her flawless facial features that covered in little makeup, and then to the burgundy dress that draped her slim body perfectly. Bella was perfect. For him, she was always the definition of perfection. 145 years had passed and he still couldn't think of any other woman who could come close to her perfection.

"I see you adjusted well," he observed and licked his lips. "So I suppose you can help me choose between these." He took out two henley t-shirts from two different bags, one navy blue and one grey, then held it up in front of his naked upper body. "So?"

Instead of answering, she just stared at him with a frown.

"Or perhaps you would prefer me not to wear anything?" He smirked as he found her frown even more. Putting the t-shirts back on the bed, he began to take a few steps closer to her. "Just say the word, darling. Don't be shy." He reached out to touch her cheek as he was right in front of her, but she quickly inched away from his touch.

His hand stopped in midair. His smirk turned into a bitter smile as he got the message loud and clear. He swallowed hard and he stared at her sadly. All his life he had been used to rejection, but not from her. It hurt him more than he thought, but he realized it was the consequence he had to endure.

He stepped away and walked to the other side of the room to get dressed. He chose to wear the navy blue t-shirt and a charcoal gray trousers.

He quickly joined her again after he was fully-dressed. To avoid another rejection and also to make her more comfortable, he sat down on the other couch. Taking the whiskey bottle that had been provided on the table, he began to pour it into a glass. "Can I offer you a drink?" he asked politely and raised his glass at her, a teasing smile on his face. "Or are you still a teetotal to this day?"

She narrowed her eyes sharply at the mocking tone in his voice. Offended, she snatched the bottle from his hand. As she took a big sip from the bottle, he smiled satisfiedly and remarked, "That's my girl."

Her eyes twiched at the word my he had just used, but she decided not to say anything about it as she watched him also take a sip from his glass.

After the liquor passed through his throat, he spoke again, "I believe this is the part where we open up about how much we miss each other." This made her let out another frown, and disbelief spread across her face, but he just grinned. "You want to go first or shall I?"

No answer.

She didn't know what to say to him, and the fact that he had acted as if nothing had happened between them only made it worse.

"Are you really going to make me talk alone all night?" he asked in a serious tone, his grin disappeared, along with his casual attitude.

Still no answer.

Not a single word had come out from her mouth since they met again. And she pursed her lips tightly, showing that she wasn't going to say anything.

"All right, let's try this again." He took another sip from his glass, and leaned forward to her.

It didn't take long for her to figure out what he was going to do as she caught his dilated pupils looking straight into her eyes. Feeling even more angry, she snarled, "What do you want me to say, huh?"

Bella might be on vervain, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel angry to see how easy it was for him to compel her.

"That's more like it," he exclaimed, leaning his back againts the couch with a satisfied smile.

She scoffed and shook her head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable."

"We both know you liked it." He sent her a playful wink as he took another sip from his glass, empting it. "And to answer your question, you can always start with an apology," he put his glass back on the table as he looked her in the eye and emphasized, "for leaving me."

She blinked with surprise, her mouth fell open. At first thought he was just joking, but the look on his face made her realize that he was serious about it. This made her choke in disbelief.

"You're the one who killed me and I'm the one who should apologize?"

"I didn't exactly kill you," he pointed out, defending himself. There was no sign of regret on his face or voice. "I just solved our problem, I made you immortal."

"But it was my life, Kol. I was the one who supposed to decide how to live it, not you or anyone, me!" she retorted, her voice involuntarily trembled the more she spoke.

"Then what else I was supposed to do, Bella?" he countered, there was a hint of desperate in his voice. His face was filled with a mixture of emotion. "You were about to leave me that night."

"You could let me go," she answered weakly.

"And how could I do that when I was madly in love with you?"

"You don't think I still loved you back then?" Tears stung her eyes and she tried as hard as she could to hold it. "You know you can love someone and still let them go."

"Well, here's the things," he leaned forward to her again and admitted, "I'm selfish. I can never let you go."

"That's exactly why I have to leave you," she responded, deliberately emphasizing the word have.

For a moment, they just looked into each other's eyes. There was pain in both of their eyes. Their chests both felt heavy. And their throats were too tight to say more words. It was not known who hurt whom the most.

A sudden knock at the door broke the painful silence in the room. Then, the door flew open, revealing Rebekah on the other side of it.

"Kol, mother wants to talk to you," the younger original informed from the doorway. As her gaze shifted to Bella, she immediately caught her friend's helpless look, making her hurriedly add to her brother, "And she wouldn't be pleased to know you kidnapped a local on our first night here."

Without turning around to his sister, he replied flatly, "Tell her I'll be there in a minute."

There was a moment of hesitation as Rebekah stared at her brother's back and her friend's face in turn. On one hand, she knew how long her brother had been waiting for this, to meet the love of his life again. But on the other hand, she knew what he had done to Bella, she knew and she understood how Bella felt about it, making her feel really bad to turn her back on Bella at that very moment.

After Rebekah closed the door again from the outside, Kol stood up from the couch and walked over to her. He knelt beside her, looked straight into her eyes with his pupils dilated, and ordered, "You can go now, but you cannot leave town until I say so."

Bella pretended to nod obediently at him. Putting the bottle in her hand back on the table, she got up from the couch and started walking towards the door. He didn't need to know that she was actually on vervain. That way, she still could leave town as soon as she stepped outside.

But just as she was about to reach the doorknob, he appeared in front of her and blocked her way. "I give you a ten for the performance," he mocked, and smirked. "You're really getting good at this, at acting. But Nik already told me that you're on vervain, so I suppose I have to do this the old fashioned way."

Bella's eyes widened. She swallowed hard as he suddenly leaned his face closer to her. "I still remember how much you loved your brothers, and I know they aren't going anywhere. So, darling," he brought his mouth to her ears and whispered, "I suggest you not to leave town if you don't want to find out what I can do to them." His voice was low, dangerous and sexy as hell, sending a chill down her spine.

And there goes her plan to run away.

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED AT THAT NIGHT SEEMED SURREAL, at least it was for Bella. The unexpected turn of events was like a dream to her, like a nightmare. It was a miracle she actually fell asleep after she got home, considering her mind didn't want to stop repeating her conversation with Kol. And to think that it had actually happened, that it wasn't just her mind playing with her, she couldn't help but wish it had gone differently.

For over a century she had wondered if he ever felt guilty for what he did to her or not. Now she knew the answer, she wished she didn't. It just hurt her more, like rubbing salt in her wound, the wound that still hadn't healed all these time. She wanted nothing more than to be as far as possible from him, but she couldn't.

A knock from her front door drew her attention from her thoughts. She was home alone at the time so she had no choice but to check who it was.

Instead of people, she actually found an envelope lying right in front of her doorstep. Without even trying to take a close look, she could read her name written on it in cursive. Picking it up, she glanced around the house. But there was no sign of anyone there.

Isabella Salvatore.

She read that in her mind as she closed the door again and walked back to her living room. She quickly opened it and found out that it was actually an invitation that read:

Please join The Mikaelson Family this evening at seven o'clock for dancing, cocktails and celebration.

Oh wow. They were throwing a ball. And they even used Mikaelson again as their name.

She turned the invitation around, thinking that there might be more to it, and she was right. There was a handwriting on the back that read:

Let's recreate some good old memories, shall we?

Fondly,
Kol

She couldn't help but mutter, "You've got to be kidding me."

How dared he? After threating her, he still had a knack to act like this?

Then, there was another knock at the door. She quickly marched back to the door, thinking that it was him. Right now she was feeling like giving him a piece of her mind. But it turned out it wasn't him. It was his sister, Rebekah.

"Oh, you already got the invitation," Rebekah exclaimed as her eyes caught the invitation in Bella's hand. "Good." She smiled briefly before ordering to her, "Now go grab your keys, we have a dress-shopping to do."

Just a few minutes ago Bella was astonished by Kol's act, and now his sister was doing the same thing to her. This made her chuckle in disbelief. "Are you really incapable of asking nicely or even starting a conversation like a normal person?"

"What's the fun on that?" Rebekah replied casually. Another brief smile was on her face before she began to push Bella inside. "Come on, sweets, chop-chop!"

The youngest Salvatore groaned and roller her eyes. She probably hasn't decided whether to come to the ball or not, but since she wasn't really in the mood to argue, she chose to just go along with her.

However, instead of going straight to the boutique, Rebekah asked her to stop at the Grill first. This made her frown in confusion and questioned, "What are we doing here again?"

"I need an escort," Rebekah answered, she was tidying up her ponytail at the moment with eyes staring at her own reflection in the rear-view mirror. Not finding any flaw in her appearance, she turned to Bella. "You don't expect me to go alone, do you?"

Bella followed Rebekah out of the car and into the Grill. They immediately spotted Elena and Caroline sitting on one of the tables, talking about Bella's brothers. After exchanging glances with her, Rebekah walked over to them and spoke, "Careful, Caroline. It's all well and good until she stabs you in the back." Bella just smirked beside her with hands folded across her chest. Caroline looked up at them, while Elena turned around in her seat to look at them.

"What are you doing here?" Elena asked, her doe eyes fixed on Rebekah. "I know your mom's rules. No hurting the locals."

"Get over yourself, Elena," the original responded in a toneless voice. "It's not all about you."

While Rebekah just walked away to Matt, Bella stayed there and looked over at Caroline. Guilt swept over her as she remembered that she hadn't been a good friend for Caroline since she wasn't there when the girl needed her. Caroline had just lost her father, and Bella had just focused on finding a way to run from her ex.

"Hey, I'm sorry about your dad," she muttered, eyes looking apologetic to the Forbes girl. "And I'm sorry I didn't call earlier toㅡ"

"Bella, it's fine," Caroline interjected, a weak smile on her face. "I'm not mad."

"If you need anything..."

"You're just one call away, I know."

Elena watched as the two blonde girls exchanged sincere smiles. She had always wondered how Bella could have behaved so differently to her and to Caroline or Rebekah. It felt like no matter how much she was nice to Bella, the youngest Salvatore would never appreciate it.

"Oh my god," Caroline exclaimed in shock as she turned her face to the side and found Rebekah talking to Matt and handing him an envelope. The other two girls reflexively turned their faces to where she was looking at. "She's inviting him to the ball." She hurriedly turned to Bella and asked, "Why is she inviting him?"

Before Bella could say anything, the Gilbert girl had answered, "Probably to get this reaction from us."

Bella narrowed her eyes in disbelief at the brunette. She scoffed, bent down to the girl's side, and retorted, "Once again, Elena, not everything is about you. You might want to wrap that in your little pea brain because the third time reminder might come with a hard punch in the face." Bella could feel Elena tensing up as she finished her words and Rebekah walked back to them. Before leaving, she turned to Caroline one more time, gave her a brief smile, and said, "Laters, Care."

As they continued their trip to the boutique, they started talking about how annoying the doppelganger was. Then somehow, their conversation started to shift to other things and Rebekah ended up telling her about her family. Apparently, Bella was right about the locked coffin. It was their mother who was sealed in that coffin, the original witch. And Rebekah said she had forgiven Klaus and wanted to live in peace with their family.

Not that Bella never heard about a mother's unconditional love, but it was just too strange for her. Not too long ago, the original witch had tried to make sure Klaus failed on making more hybrids, showing that she still disagreed with their existence. Now all of sudden she had forgiven him and wanted to play a happy family? That was really suspicious, to say the least. But seeing how happy Rebekah was when talking about her family, Bella decided not to ruin it by talking about her suspicion. She decided to keep it to herself for now, at least until she got more concrete proof.

As they started hunting for dresses, Bella began to suspect other things from Rebekah. The original was too focused on finding a perfect dress for her instead of finding one for herself.

"Be honest with me," Bella spoke as she got out from the changing room with a sequined lace and satin green A-line dress. It had sleeveless halter neckline, basque waist, and low back. It was the fourth dress she had tried and Rebekah seemed to disapprove it. "He was the one who sent you, wasn't he?"

"What are you talking about?"

"All this effort to find me a perfect dress. He sent you to make sure I'd come to the ball tonight, didn't he?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I just miss going shopping with my friend?"

She raised an eyebrow as she watched Rebekah deliberately avoiding eye contact with her by turning to the boutique staff for more dresses.

"For someone who lived for over a thousand years your lies sucked so bad, you know that?" Bella taunted, she was looking at Rebekah with her head tilted to the side. Either that or she was just too good at lying to the point that it was very easy to her to tell when people were lying to her.

Rebekah sighed and finally confessed, "I might have helped Nik daggered him the last time. He was still pissed with both of us, and Nik used some informations about you as a peace offering, so I made a promise to him that I'll make sure you will come to the ball tonight as my peace offering."

Bella scoffed, "Oh, wow."

"I believe if anyone can handle him, it's you," Rebekah continued, she was trying to defend herself while at the same time trying to make her friend feel better. "But if tonight he becomes too much to handle... you can always ditch him for me."

A weak smile crept into Bella's face at the suggestion. It was glad to know she still had Rebekah on her back.

And as the boutique staff came back with another dress, Rebekah pushed her back into the changing room. It was a light baby blue tulle dress. It had off-the-shoulder neckline with low v-cut. It was really gorgeous, the color and the embroidered white lace applique was so amazing. And more importantly, it fit her body perfectly.

"Have you ever considered forgiving him?"

Bella immediately stopped admiring her dress when she heard Rebekah's question from outside the changing room. There was a brief pause before she finally answered honestly, "A few times." She bit her lips and swallowed hard, eyes staring bitterly at the floor. "But last night he showed me he didn't feel guilty about that at all... so I don't know anymore."

"..."

No answer from Rebekah. But Bella didn't blame her. She understood that it was confusing for Rebekah. It was really hard to say anything about that matter without sounding siding with one of them.

The youngest Salvatore took a deep breath and put her normal face back. Opening the curtain, she showed off the dress to Rebekah and asked, "So, what do you think?"

A smirk worked its way to Rebekah's mouth as she eyed Bella from head to toe. "I think my brother would have a problem to keep his hand to himself."

And that settled.

BEAUTY WAS SOMETHING THAT BELLA HAD HAD SINCE SHE WAS BORN. When people looked at her, they saw perfection. They saw those pretty hazel eyes that lighted up any room. They saw the dainty nose that looked perfect in every angle. They saw the heart-shaped lips that made them want to taste it. Her impeccably gorgeous skin matched perfectly with her angelic blonde locks. Her beauty was the stuff that legends were made of, her attractiveness was what made men write songs and novels. But there was something they didn't know.

Being beautiful wasn't always simple.

Bella had experienced herself that beauty was both a gift and a curse. For over a century, she had endured the advantages and disadvantages of having that kind of beauty. And seeing her reflection in the mirror right now, looking so elegance with the tulle light blue dress and a pair of silver heels, her hair was tied back in a bohemian low bun, and her face was covered in glamorous makeup, she had no idea whether it would bring her another advantages or disadvantages.

"Cinderbella," muttered Damon who had just showed up at her doorstep. He was wearing a white shirt and black tuxedo with a black bow tie.

She looked up at him in the mirror, a cynical smile appeared on her face as she mocked, "Oh, hi, fairy godmother. Is the carriage ready?"

Damon just rolled his eyes at her joke. He then leaned his shoulder against the door frame with hands folded across his chest as he watched his little sister twirl in front of the mirror to check out her final appearance.

He cleared his throat and pretended to wonder, "What would Jeremy say about this?"

Bella groaned as she could easily pick up the insinuation behind it. Walking over to her dresser, she picked up her phone, opened the text message from Jeremy, then showed it to his face. "He said 'have fun'." Smiling sarcastically at him, she then nonchalantly threw the phone on the bed.

"It was after or before you told him you were going with your ex?"

"It doesn't concern you, does it?"

"Meaning you haven't told him."

The youngest Salvatore scoffed. "It's just a ball, it's not like I'm going to cheat on him or something."

"Well, you can always not come," he pointed out casually.

"And you sure you ready to find out what he could do to you or Stefan?"

"I thought you said you were done saving my ass," Damon reminded her, a teasing smile on his face. He then straightened himself up and put on a serious face. "And you don't have to worry, Stefan and I can take care of ourselves. You're the one we should be worried about. Just the other day you sounded really terrified of your crazy ex."

"I can take care of myself," she stated, sounding confident as usual.

"I know you can," he quickly agreed, but the worry hadn't left his face. "But he sounded like a bad news. I don't want you to be anywhere near him."

"Really, Damon? You suddenly wanna play a protective big brother?"

Bella chuckled mockingly and shook her head. She was about to just end the conversation and leave the room, but Damon quickly grabbed her arm as she walked past him.

"I'm being serious," Damon retorted. "If he hurts you, I don't care if he's an original, I'm gonna make sure he'll pay for it."

She sighed and gently removed his hand from her arm. "You don't have to worry," she reassured him. "If he hurts me, I'm not just gonna let him live to see another day." She let out a brief smile, then tilted her head to the side. "Now, shall we?" And with that, they left to The Mikaelson Mansion.

There were cars pulling up the driveway in front of the mansion. Strings of sparkling lights were wrapped around the trees at the entrance. Damon offered his arm to his sister after they got out from his car, which she immediately accepted. With intertwined arms, the two Salvatore siblings entered the mansion.

A classic tune flowed throughout the mansion as a live band were playing in the background by the stairs. The chattering of people and the clinking of glasses was heard over the classic music. Everyone had done their best to look elegant in dashing tuxes and beautiful ballgowns. Butlers walked around handing champagne glasses, and everyone seemed like having a good time.

Spotting a familiar face in the middle of the ballroom, Damon quickly made his way and dragged his sister along with him. "Hello, Carol," he greeted, while Bella just faked a smile at her.

"Hello, Damon," the woman greeted back, then she nodded approvingly as she eyed the younger girl next to him up and down, "Bella."

"Hanging out with your new besties?"

"I'm the Mayor, Damon," the Mayor emphasized and reasoned, "When the oldest, deadliest, family of vampires moves into your town, you welcome them," a fake smile on her face, "with a smile."

Bella couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Yeah, let's see how long that smile would last."

Damon, the only one between them who could still hear Bella's words, chuckled. "Well, at least you know who you're borrowing that cup of sugar from," he replied to the Mayor in a sing-song tune.

Bella was no longer listening to their conversation as her eyes began to wander around the room. She was looking for the host, whom she hadn't seen since she came.

"Mayor Lockwood."

She tensed up for a moment as she heard the voice that had interrupted them. Turning around, she found Kol standing in front of the Mayor. Just like Damon, he was wearing a white shirt and black tux with black bow tie that fit him perfectly. His brown hair was cut a bit shorter behind his ears, making him look younger than he already was. His perfect features were able to make her unable to avert her eyes for a moment.

"We haven't formally met," he continued and extended his hand to the Mayor, which the woman took at once. "Kol Mikaelson." He gave a light kiss on the back of the woman's hand. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it." He was talking to Carol but his eyes couldn't stop glancing at Bella.

As Kol finally turned his full attention to Bella, her brother quickly stepped forward, covering half of Bella's body from his view. "Damon Salvatore," the raven-haired guy introduced himself with a hand extended to him. A frown then appeared on his face as he took a closer look at Kol. "Have we met?"

A smirk slowly rose on Kol's face as he looked over at the raven-haired guy. "I've met a lot of people," he paused for a bit and mocked, "and you don't particularly stand out." Deliberately ignoring Damon's hand, he held out his own hand to blonde beauty next to him. "Shall we, darling?"

Bella stared at Kol's hand and then at Damon's face which seemed to forbid her from accepting it. She sighed and pulled her arm away from Damon's. "I'll be fine," she mouthed to him.

Kol's smirk grew even more wider as Bella put her hand on his. He clasped it firmly as he took her away from the two adults figure.

As they walked side by side past the people who were busy chatting with their interlocutors, Bella asked, "You did meet him before, didn't you?"

Kol suddenly stopped walking as one of the butlers walked past them. He picked up two glasses of champagne from his tray, and handed one for her as he nonchalantly replied, "Now why would you think that?"

"I saw the look on his face." She took the glass from his hand. "He looked like he actually recognized you from somewhere." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously as he brought his glass to his mouth and took a sip from it.

A soft chuckle came out from his lips as his eyes caught her suspicious face which he found adorable. "I might have paid him a visit back then," he finally confessed and shot her a look, "after you left me." Without taking his eyes off her, he took another sip from his glass. "I thought that since you had been wanting to see your brothers again, you might have come right up to them. I was just trying to ask him about your whereabouts, as nice as possible if I might add, but he didn't want to cooperate. So..."

"So?"

The fact that Damon had no clue that she was still alive until she showed up at their house made her realize that Kol had compelled him to forget. But since Damon seemed to remember ever seeing him, it would only mean that Kol just compelled him to forget that he had asked about her. And the way he explained about his meeting with Damon made her realize there was more to it.

"Why don't we discuss matters more important than that nasty blighter you called brother?"

He was changing the subject, meaning whatever it was he did to Damon for not cooperating was not a good thing.

"Like... how many times I thought you couldn't be more ravishingly beautiful than you already were, and you kept showing me how wrong I was?"

She could feel his brown eyes gazing her up and down with a mix of awe, longing, and affection. And as much as she hated to admit, it effected her more than she thought it would.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she replied, trying to sound nonchalant. She then took a sip from her glass to shake the nervousness that suddenly gripped her.

He cocked his head, smirking. "By not so bad you mean extremely dashing?"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Kol." She smiled sarcastically at him.

"We both know it is you that helped the most," he responded casually, and before she could say anything, he had already shifted his gaze behind her, "I'll be right back, darling."

As Kol walked past her, Bella turned around and found all the Mikaelson siblings she knew was standing on the leading staircase. Kol joined them and took highest staircase by Klaus. Elijah and Rebekah were three staircase below them with Rebekah leaning against the railing. They all looked stunning with their tuxes and in the youngest one case, ballgown.

"Uh, if everyone could gather, please," Elijah's voice rang through the room. Another man joined them, it was the sibling that Bella had never met since according to Rebekah, he had been daggered for 900 years. "Welcome, thank you for joining us."

Bella scooted over to her brothers as she spotted them between the crowd near the stair. She didn't know Stefan was coming as well, and it looked like he didn't know she was coming either and certainly didn't expect her to.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan asked to his sister, and he shot their older brother a blaming look since he was supposed to make sure she didn't come. Damon just shrugged.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" the younger girl retorted. As much as she appreciated their concern to her, she still hated it when people telling her what to do. "I mean I'm the only between us who got the invitation."

Their conversation had to stop there when their attention was drawn to a woman who had just come down the stairs. She was wearing a dark green dress that fitted her perfectly, looking majestic and bold. Elijah turned to the her and he gestured to her as he went on, "You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance."

"Do you see who I see?" Damon asked queitly, leaning over to Stefan who was standing in the middle of them.

"Oh, yeah," Stefan replied, not taking his eyes off the woman. His head then leaned over to Bella's side. "Looks like your theory was right after all."

"Tell me something I don't know," she responded smugly, also not taking her eyes off the woman. To be honest, she couldn't decide how to feel about the woman, especially as she watched the woman eyeing the crowd knowingly.

"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz," Elijah revealed, lifting his glass up to the crowd and smiling, "so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner," he gestured to the ballroom, "please join us in the ballroom." As he headed down the staircase, all of his siblings followed while their mother turned around and headed up stairs.

Damon was the first of them to leave as he saw Elena rushing to chase after the original mother. He blocked her way, and after a short argument, they made their way to the ballroom with intertwined arms.

Bella watched the change of Stefan's expression as he watched them left. He could say that he didn't care about anything all he wanted, but she knew better. His humanity was already on. He just pretended it didn't, because it was easier that way. But even so, it seemed that his entire pretense still couldn't protect his heart from the pain of seeing the girl he loved with someone else. Seeing the hurt look on his face, Bella somehow could feel the pain too. This was one of the reasons why she hated Elena so much.

Her attention was shifted when Kol suddenly appeared in front of them and held out his hand to her. "May I have this dance, Miss Salvatore?"

They made eye contact for a moment, and she quickly broke it as she turned to Stefan, who seemed to forbid her from taking Kol's hand through his gaze, like Damon had done earlier. And since she hated it when people trying to tell her what to do, she put her hand on Kol's, making him grin widely. In her defense, it was just a dance.

He intertwined her arm in his and led her towards the ballroom. Just like the other couples, they got in line where the ladies were behind one another and so did the gentlemen. It didn't take long for her to notice that they were right behind Damon and Elena.

As the music began to flow, they took one step forward, then another, and another one, and turned their bodies to the left. After taking another few steps forward, he spun her around once and then his hand was on her back and her hand on his shoulder. Their eyes locked, and they started moving and taking every steps they were supposed to take.

"Why do I feel like I'm having a déjà vu right now?" she muttered as she remembered it was also waltz that they danced together back in 1864.

"Perhaps because I did it on purpose," he confessed, a genuine smile on his face. "It was my choice for the dance. Glad to know you still remember the detail about that night."

"How could I forget?" Seeing his smile immediately turned into a smirk, she sarcastically added, "It was the night where I was supposed to just dance and talk to people, but I ended up witnessing a mass murder instead."

Kol somehow managed to maintain his smirk as he reminded, "Let's not forget, you also helped the murderer to clean up so he didn't get punished."

"Yeah, I've done a lot of things I shouldn't have done."

"So you're saying you regretted it?"

His tone along with his face changed as he asked that, showing that he was serious about it. She could just lie and said yes, knowing that it would hurt him, but what was the point? They hurt each other too much already.

"No."

Another smile worked its way across his face, and he spun her around one more time, and she landed in another man's arms.

"Elijah," she greeted as she looked up to the man in front of her.

"Isabella," he responded and nodded, placing his hand carefully on her back and holding her hand with his other hand. They began to dance together. "You look stunning, if it isn't obvious."

She smiled politely at him. "Thanks."

"I hope my brother didn't cause you too much trouble?"

"Not that I couldn't handle." So far, it wasn't a lie. And as her eyes caught Kol staring at them instead of his new dance partner, Bella knew right away he was listening to them. "He was just being his obnoxious self." She smirked at Kol while the guy frowned at her.

"I see." Elijah glanced over to where she was staring and an amused smile appeared on his face as he found his brother there. But his smile turned into a frown as he remembered the other night event. "Judging by your reaction the other night, I suppose I owe you an apology for not giving a warning."

Bella looked back to Elijah and her smirk slowly turned back into a smile. "A little heads-up would be great, but what's done is done. You're forgiven." She wasn't a forgiving person, but she found it harder to be mad at someone who owned up her/his mistakes and actually felt bad about it.

"I can assure you he wouldn't dare to hurt you," he replied, in a reassuring tone.

Somehow, it wasn't herself that she was worried about. "Let's hope that applies to my brothers too."

"I promise you it is." Just as the song about to end, Elijah spoke again, "And whatever happened between the two of you, I hope you two can work it out together."

Bella was stunned at his last words. She no longer paid attention to Elijah as older Mikaelson excused himself. Her eyes were fixed on Kol who was heading her way at the moment.

Could they really work it out? After everything?

Damon suddenly appeared in front of her and asked her something. But she couldn't make it out what her brother was saying as she tried to look over his shoulder at where Kol had been earlier, only to find out that the guy was no longer there.

And it turned out, Damon was asking her if she saw Stefan or Elena. Rolling her eyes, Bella didn't bother to answer the question and just walked away to the drinks bar.

While waiting for the bartender to fill her glass, her eyes scanned the room. She was looking for Rebekah, or even Caroline, or another familiar face she could approach. And when she finally found Rebekah in the crowd, she also found Kol standing next to her. They were talking with each other, and to satisfy her curiosity, Bella channeled her hearing to their conversation.

"Where's your date?" Kol asked his little sister.

"Flirting with his ex," Rebekah replied nonchalantly, eyes wandering around the crowd. "Where's Bella? I thought that now that she was here you wouldn't let her leave your sight."

A small chuckle came out from his mouth, and he looked down at his glass as he spoke, "You know, I was just remembering how much you didn't like her back then."

Bella couldn't say she was surprised to hear that. The fact that Rebekah had provoked him to kill her back then had made her suspect that the girl didn't really like her at the time.

"I never said I didn't like her," the Mikaelson girl retorted. "I just said she looked like an ordinary human girl. The way you were so obsessed with her back then made me expect her to be more special." She paused for a bit and took a sip from her glass. "But she's good in my book now, and she happens to be my friend, so if you hurt herㅡ"

Rebekah's words were cut off when Kol suddenly broke his glass with his strong grip, surprising not only Bella and Rebekah, but also people around them.

His jaw tightened, and there was a glint of anger in his eyes as he said through his gritted teeth, "You have no idea how much it pissed me off to hear you and Elijah keep saying that as if I was really going to hurt her."

"Kol," Rebekah rebuked, looking a little embarrassed as people started looking at them. They were supposed to play happy family, not angry family.

He just scoffed, and left.

Bella couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, since she was the reason of that fight. She wanted to approach Rebekah and calm her down, but Elijah had already done that first, so Bella chose to check up on Kol.

Kol was pacing back and forth when Bella found him outside. His jaw was still tight. His muscles grew tense. His pulse sped up. He was breathing very shallow and his blood was boiling in his veins.

She really didn't expect him to be this mad over that fight, but then again he always had a short temper.

"I'm itching to kill something," he told her without stopping in his tracks.

As vampires, the urge to kill was part of them. And it got worse whenever they felt negative emotions. She knew that since she had experienced it for herself. And she would be lying if she said she didn't feel it right now, with all the frustration she had. "Yeah, no kidding."

Kol suddenly stopped in his tracks. And as he turned to her, the anger on his face was slowly replaced with a mixture of surprise and amusement. "Never thought I would hear you say that," he remarked, then grinned.

"What, you forgot that I am part of your species now?"

"No, I just thought that you were one of those Mary Sue vampires."

"Why? Because the sweet innocent Bella would never hurt anyone?" she retorted mockingly, eyes narrowed at him. "Sorry to disappoint you, but she has been dead a long time ago." She tilted her head to the side, a sardonic smile on her face. "You killed her, remember?"

"I'm pretty sure she wasn't really dead," he responded calmly, again there was no sign of guilty in his voice. "She was probably just hiding somewhere, because the world was too cruel to her," he was looking at her so intensely and deeply that it felt like he was staring into her soul, "and you have no idea how much I wish I could be there to protect her from it."

She could easily hear the pain in his voice as he said those last words, and she swallowed hard. She hated being able to feel other people's pain, the one she cared about, just because she was aware of it.

"I'm not the same girl you fell in love with, Kol." She didn't know why she felt like she needed to tell him that.

"And it still doesn't change the way I feel about you."

For a moment, they just stared into each other's eyes. Kol wasn't lying, and Bella knew that. He still saw her the same way he saw her back then.

But they couldn't go back to how they used to be. She couldn't.

"I'm going back inside," she announced, and quickly turned around. She could hear his footsteps following her from behind as she walked back into the mansion.

They arrived just as his mother, Esther, showed up on the staircase, addressing the guest and inviting them all to raise a glass. Bella suddenly remembered Rebekah's story about how she and her siblings were turned into vampires. They had drank wine laced with blood that were offered by their parents. Call her paranoid or anything, but there was no way she would drink the champagne that the woman specially offered after hearing that story. She wanted to warn Kol by reminding him about that story, but when she looked over at him, he already took a sip from his glass.

Bella scanned the crowd to find her brothers, but she couldn't find them. There was no sign of them as far as her eye could see. And before she could ask someone about them, Kol had took her arm and brought her outside.

"What are we doing here?" she asked confusedly as they walked side-by-side in the backyard of the large mansion, no one besides them was there.

He let out a heavy sigh, a fake one. "I can't stand another minutes in there without wanting to murder people."

"Then what didn't you just murder them?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "I know you don't care about your mother's rules, or any rules."

The Mikaelson boy chuckled. "You've caught me. I just want to have you for myself before the night ends." He suddenly stopped walking, causing her to stop as well, then he turned to face her. He took a glance at her neck and asked, "Where's your necklace?"

She didn't even need to be told what necklace he meant. "I threw it away." And when her eyes caught the look on his face after hearing her answer, she quickly added, "I'm sorry, I should have left it with you before I left."

"You shouldn't have took it off at all," he responded, disappointment couldn't be hidden from his tone.

"Why?" She arched an eyebrow at him. "So your witch friend could do a locator spell on it and help you find me?"

A grin found its way back to his face. "You can't really blame me for trying, can you?"

"Actually, I can." The Salvatore girl scoffed. "I mean, why couldn't you take a hint? I thought I made it pretty clear that I didn't want to be found."

"Well, could you?" he replied in the same tone as hers. "I thought I made it pretty clear that I wouldn't give up." She gulped as he suddenly took a step closer, leaving only a few inches between them. His brown eyes filled with earnestness as he went on, "And I will never give up on you, on us. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever." And he leaned closer to her, erasing the distance between their faces.

But before their lips could meet, Bella hurriedly stepped back, deliberately creating more distance between them. "Kol, I can't." Her face was a mixture of fear and hurt. She was afraid of her own thought that had just wanted to give in. And she was hurt because she knew it would hurt him when she revealed, "I'm with someone else."

His face fell.

"... what?"

And the next second, he disappeared, making the tear she had been holding since last night fell down her cheek.

A/n: This is supposed to be an emotional chapter, but it kinda hard for me to get the feel so i don't know-

By the way, I did it on purpose. I purposely didn't reveal Jeremy and Bella's relationship before, but I did give you guys a hint, about them texting each other all the time. And how do you think Kol would react about it? Don't forget to leave vote and comments!