I went down the stairs the next day and saw Damon looking at two dead girls on the floor.
"Really Damon?" I asked him and he gave me a look.
"I didn't do this." he told me. We walked into the living room and saw Stefan with a few girls playing Twister.
"Uh-oh. Alexandra, left hand, please." Stefan told her.
"Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug." Damon said.
"You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It's my house, too, brother. Ooh! Would you like a spin?" Stefan asked him.
"That's disturbing." I told him and he just smirked at me.
"So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena and Nicole?" Damon asked him.
"These ladies are helping me be all that I can be. Plus he's more worried that his child will be born without him than anything. That includes his hybrids." Stefan told us. Someone knocked on the door and Damon looked from Stefan to me and I nodded my head. Stefan wouldn't hurt me.
"Where's Stefan?" I heard the person ask.
"Who the hell are you?" Damon asked her.
"Rebekah?" I asked getting into her line of sight.
"He left me here. My brother actually left me here." she told Stefan and I.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Your tone implies that I'm actually supposed to care." Stefan said to her.
"So he left you too?" she asked me and I nodded.
"You're Klaus's sister?" Damon asked her.
"Rebekah. Pleasure, I'm sure. Which one's my room?" She asked them.
"You're not staying here." Stefan told her. She looked to Damon but he didn't say anything so she looked to me.
"Come on, I'll show you a room." I told her.
"Not a good idea Nicky." Damon told me.
"Don't argue with a pregnant woman. I want my child's family around." I told him.
"Rude. Both of you." she said to them before following me upstairs.
"So why did Nik leave?" I asked her.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him since he told us to get the truck." she told me putting her things in her room.
"I wonder why he would just leave us behind." I said sitting on the bed, rubbing my stomach.
"Are you alright?" she asked me.
"Of course I am." I told her.
"Are you sure?" she asked sitting next to me. I looked down at my stomach. Her phone suddenly went off and she looked down and read the text.
"Who is it?" I asked her and she got angry at it.
"You can't be serious." she demanded of it.
"What?" I asked her.
"It's Nik. He wants me to look after his hybrid." she told me.
"Did he say anything else?" I asked her, hopeful.
"No." she told me and I looked down, all hope gone. "I'm sure he'll be back soon." She said trying to comfort me.
"I'm sure he will be." I told her, giving her a small smile. Having her here was going to help, I hope.
"Where does Damon keep the blood bags?" she asked me.
"Downstairs in the cellar." I told her. She left and I sighed. I then got up and went back downstairs.
"Where are you going?" Stefan asked me.
"I'm going to see Aunt Jenna." I told him. "Shouldn't you be in school looking after Elena?"
"I'm going there now, but you are my first priority. I'll take you to your aunt's." he told me and I let him. I didn't feel like arguing. When we got there I immediately got out of the car and walked to the door. I knocked on the door and waited holding my breath. The door opened and I looked up at my aunt.
"Hey Aunt Jenna." I said quietly, smiling at her.
"Oh my god. Nicole." She quickly hugged me tightly to her. Well as tightly as she could, me having a planet inside me. "How are you? I've been so worried since Elena told me you were back. Come in." she told me. I entered the house and went to the couch, sitting down.
"I see you're adjusting to vampire life well." I said as she joined me.
"As much as I can. Damon and Caroline are helping me." she told me and I smiled.
"I'm glad. How have you been?" I asked her.
"Hanging in there. Damon supplies me with blood bags and, as you know, I live a fairly normal life. Bonnie made me a daylight ring before she went to go to her families." she said showing me the ring Bonnie had made for her. "How've you been? Having to go with Klaus must have been hard."
"Sort of. Nik said we had to go with him so Damon could live, but after a time I wanted to stay with him so he could know his family." I told her, felling tears come to my eyes.
"Oh, Nikky." she hugged me again and I cried.
"How could he leave me?" I asked her.
"It's okay Nikky. You're home." she held me as I cried until nothing more would come out.
"Sorry." I apologized. "I didn't mean to cry and get your shirt wet." I said smiling and laughing lightly.
"I remember when your mom was pregnant. Those mood swings were a pain for her and everyone around her." she told me before getting up and going to the kitchen for something. She opened the freezer. I started laughing as she brought a gallon of ice cream and two spoons to us. "And a wicked craving for something sweet."
"I knew I came here for a reason." I told her laughing. We talked about what we'd each been up to, her getting used to vampire life and me traveling with Nik and Stefan. It was once of the best moments I'd had since I'd moved back home.
"Do you know what you're having?" she asked me and I smiled. Nik hadn't let me not have regular checkups. We didn't know what to expect from this baby, being the first child born from a vampire and human. "You do. What is it?" she asked excitedly.
"A boy. Nik and I are going to have a son." I told her smiling.
"Have you thought of names?" she asked.
"Of course we have. I can't be close to my due date and not have some names ready." I told her.
"Well? What name did you decide on?" she asked me and I smiled.
"Nikolas."
Damon had come to pick me up and took me to see Elena lifting weights on a bench.
"What? Are you going to bench press a vampire?" Damon asked her.
"Do you actually know what's happening right now? Stefan called me a human blood bag. He's a completely different person." Elena told us.
"I'm sorry Elena." I told her seriously. I watched Damon press on the weight.
"Unh! What are you doing?" Elena asked him.
"Helping you out." Damon told her.
"Damon!" She said.
"Come on, Buffy!" he cheered her on falsely.
"Stop it!" I told him and he stopped. "Like one obnoxious Salvatore isn't bad enough." She put the weight back and sat down.
"You called. We're here. What's your plan, oh warrior princess?" Damon asked her and I hit him.
"I want to lock Stefan up, at least until this Mikael guy comes, kills Klaus, and the compulsion breaks." Elena told us.
"Elena that might not work." I told her.
"Compulsion or not, Stefan's high on human blood, Ok? A lot of it." Damon told her.
"You've gotten him off of it before." Elena said to Damon.
"This is different. It's not a stint in rehab, Elena. His humanity's gone. Light's out. No one's home." Damon told her.
"Elena, he turned off his emotions. There's no saving him this time. Not until Nik says lets him turn them back on." I told her.
"Your boyfriend did this. You stay out of it." she told me and I looked at her in shock before turning away and going to the window.
"What the hell, Elena!" Damon said to her.
"Do this for me, Damon. Every single time I look at Stefan, I feel like I'm going to break. And I'm not going to give him that satisfaction." Elena told Damon, ignoring what just happened between us. Damon looked to me and I nodded to him. He sighed and she got up. He took her hand and put it on his chest.
"What are you doing?" she asked him.
"Feel that? It's a sternum. Solid plate of bone." Damon told her. He took her in his arms and put his fingers on her back. "Right here, just below the rib cage, next to the spine, that's your way to a vampire's heart. I'll do whatever it is you need me to do, Elena. No one going to hurt you or your sister. Especially not my brother."
We all met in Ric's classroom that night, the night of the bonfire, to talk about what they planned to do about Stefan.
"I'll lure Stefan away from the bonfire. Then when he's distracted..." Elena dropped her sentence.
"I'll shoot him." Alaric said.
"Can't Bonnie just ju-ju him or something?" Damon asked us.
"We're trying to keep Bonnie out of this. We don't trust that Stefan won't hurt her. Caroline, are you covered?" I asked her.
"Yes! I will make sure that the old Forbes jail cell is prepped and ready." Caroline told me smiling.
"We're forgetting a key player here. Rebekah? Wherever Stefan goes, the blond ponytail tends to follow." Damon said.
"Which is why it's your job to keep her away." Elena said.
"How?! She's an original. Last time I checked, we're out of daggers." Damon said.
"So then preoccupy her with your charm." I told him smirking and he gave me a look.
"Might have better luck finding the dagger." Alaric told us.
"Are you ever not going to be mad at me for a day?" Damon asked him.
"Doubtful." Ric said as Tyler arrived.
"Sorry I'm late. What's going on?" Tyler asked us.
"We need you to raid your mom's vervain supply. Enough to keep Stefan down for a while." Elena told him.
"You can't do that to Stefan." Tyler told us. "Nikky tell them. He's just trying to protect you guys."
"What?" Care asked him.
"Trust me, Tyler, it's in his best interest." Elena told him.
"Yeah. It's not in Klaus's." Tyler said and I gave him a confused look.
"But Klaus is the bad guy, Tyler. You know, why are you acting like some freaky, hybrid, slave minion." Caroline asked him.
"Uh-oh" Damon said.
"What?" I asked him.
"Klaus made me who I am, Caroline. I owe him everything." Tyler said ignoring me and Dean.
"Oh, boy." Damon said again.
"Ok, can we cool it on the commentary, please." Care asked him.
"What is going on?" Elena asked him.
"I'm just going to go." Tyler said. Damon rushed over to him and put a vervain dart in his neck.
"What are you doing?!" Care screamed at him.
"He's been sired." Damon told us.
"What?" Rick asked.
"Sired." Damon said. "He feels loyal to Klaus because Klaus's blood created him."
"Loyal how?" I asked him, remembering what Nik had said.
"What makes you so sure that they'll be loyal to you?" I asked him.
"Well, it's not difficult to be loyal when you're on the winning team." Did he know they would be sired to him?
"He'll seek acceptance from his master. It's really rare. But maybe not so much in hybrids." Damon said.
"So how do I fix him?" Care asked him.
"Get a new boyfriend." Damon told her. "What will you do?" he asked me.
"I'm the beached whale." I told him.
"Nikky..." he said to me.
"Go. Help Elena." I told him before struggling to get up slightly. He helped me stand up and walked me out.
"Thank you." I said, smiling at him.
"No problem." he told me.
"I better go." I told him, quietly.
"I'll drive you." he offered.
"No, you need to be here for Elena's plan to work. I'll find another way back." I told him.
"Stay here." he told me.
"Don't order me around, Damon." I warned him.
"You let Klaus order you around." he said, getting angrier.
"Don't start that." I begged him. "Don't bring him into this."
"Why not? He's the cause of all our problems. He forced my brother to flip his switch, he killed your sister, nearly killed her twice, he nearly killed you..."
"He's the father of my son." I cut him off. He stared at me before looking down at my womb.
"A son?" he asked me.
"Yes." I told him. "Nik made sure I went to a doctor when I needed to for check ups and things like that. Nikolas and I were on the top of his list."
"Nikolas?" he asked me.
"That's his name." I said leaving the classroom finally. "Do you have a problem with it?"
"Not at all." he said, following me. "Why don't you sit in the car? Then let someone take you home." he offered to me and I sighed.
"Fine." I said to him. "I'll be a beached whale in the car."
"You're not a beached whale." he told me. "You are about to be a mother. There's a large difference."
"I know that. But with Nik leaving me behind I just... I'm sorry. I'll go wait in the car." I turned and left the school, sitting next to Alaric's car. Not long later both he and Elena walked up with Stefan knocked out.
"Hey. Do one of you mind dropping my by the house when you get him settled?" I asked them. Ric nodded and I got in the car with Elena. I watched Ric close the trunk after he Stefan inside. Suddenly I saw fire was everywhere. "Elena!"
"Elena! Nicole! Open the door!" Ric called into us. I tried to open my door but it wouldn't budge.
"We can't! It won't open!" Elena told them.
"What the hell?!" I shouted trying to open the door still. Alaric rushed off while we tried to get out somehow. The smoke started getting worse and I started coughing, badly. How was this going to effect Nikolas? I had to get out of here!
"Stefan!" Elena called to him.
"Elena what are you doing?" I asked her.
"This is the only way we're all getting out of here alive." she told me. "Stefan!" I watched him wake up before falling on my sister. I could barely stay awake anymore. I watched him break the trunk with his feet. Elena helped me out of the car and Stefan helped me stay standing.
"Thank you." I said to him. Alaric helped Elena to get out as Stefan watched.
"Hurry up before it blows!" Alaric told us. We all rushed away from the car, well Stefan had to carry me, before it exploded.
"Come on. We have to get you to the hospital." Elena said to me. We got into Stefan's car and they quickly got me to the hospital to be checked out.
I laid on a bed with a doctor checking on Nikolas.
"Is he going to be alright?" I asked her.
"There he is." she said smillig and showing me my baby. I smiled and looked at my sister, who stared at him in shock.
"Elena, meet Nikolas." I said to her and she smiled while staring at him.
"Nikolas is doing just fine, Miss Gilbert. I want you on bed rest for a while, he seems almost ready to come out." she told me.
"How long's a while?" I asked her.
"Just a week or two." she clarified and I nodded.
"Thank you." I said as she handed me napkins to clean off the gel from my belly.
"So that's why he looks like." I looked up to see Damon.
"Well, on the machine, yes. Once he's born he'll look human." I told them. "Don't' you remember what Stefan looked like as a baby?" I asked Damon.
"That was 150 years ago. Of course I don't." he said but I knew he was lying.
."Are you ready to go home, Elena?" I asked her.
"Are you going to be staying at the Salvatore house?" she asked me.
"Probably. I'm sorry, about all that's happened to you Elena." I said looking down.
"No, it's not your fault. I shouldn't have jumped on your case." she told me. I looked up at her and she smiled at me. We walked out of the hospital back to the way we'd always been as kids, friends.
When we got back to the Salvatore house I was put on house arrest and forced to stay in bed. I got comfortable and grabbed a book before reading it aloud. Nik and I had started doing this when we'd first started traveling with him and it was a tradition I wasn't going to stop. Suddenly my phone went off.
"I wonder who that can be." I picked up the phone and smiled at the caller ID. "Hey."
"Hello, love. How are you feeling?" Nik asked me.
"We had a small issue here in Mystic Falls, but Nikolas and I are doing fine." I told him.
"What issue?" he asked me.
"Some set fire around a car we were in. It was weird, Elena and I couldn't get the doors open." I said thinking about it.
"It must have been a witch trying to kill the two of you." he said. I heard his voice growing dark with anger.
"Nik, we're both okay. They took us to the hospital and checked on Nikolas. He's perfectly fine." I told him.
"Are you?" he asked me and I smiled.
"I'm fine. I've been put on bed rest for a while. I'm not allowed to do anything to much out of bed." I told him.
"It's about time someone put you on bed rest." he told me and I laughed.
"Hey, be nice." I told him and he chucked. "Hey, did you know about the Hybrids being sired to you?"
"What are you talking about?" he asked me, but something in the way he said it made me think he was lying to me. Suddenly I heard something break downstairs.
"Damon!? Stefan?!" I called down to them. I didn't hear them so I got out of bed and walked downstairs. "Hey Nik, I'm going to have to call you back." I told him.
"Nikky, don't hang up the phone." I heard him say.
"Keep it up, Stefan." I saw Damon pick up the pieces of a vase and I watched him.
"Everything okay?" I asked him.
"Yea. Just Stefan messing with me." he said. Suddenly somebody hit him hard and he fell on the floor. I turned to see Mason and my mouth dropped open.
"This is going to be fun."
