Hey guys! How's life? Are you excited for TVD and/or TO coming back on Thursday? I am! But I have an away game that day so I reallyyyy hope I'm home in time.

So.. This chapter is based just on the Mikaelson family, and their significant others. And I know some of you were missing Caroline last chapter, don't worry she's in this one! I just couldn't figure out how to include her last chapter, but she plays a big part this chapter. Well, everyone does technically.

I don't know if I should have a trigger warning for this chapter, as it shouldn't be that much of a trigger but you never know. And I'm sorry I forgot to put one for earlier chapters.

This chapter isn't very exciting.. Mostly sad.. And kind of a filler.. But I hope you enjoy it anyway :)

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD or any of its characters. Only the storyline.

"Now, what I'm about to tell you... I don't know if it'll make you hate me more, or maybe even less. But it's something that you should have known a long time ago."

Esther took a deep breath as she looked at the faces of her children. They were now seated in the living room; Elijah, Rebekah and Klaus sitting on the couch, Kol wanting his own space on the loveseat, and Finn took his place on the chair. She stood in front of the fireplace where they could all see her. As the five siblings sat there quietly, waiting for their mother to start, she had told them,
"Please save your remarks and questions, and your yelling until the end. I'll never get to say everything if one of you bursts up and walks out. I need you all here, and to listen."

As much as they didn't want to, they nodded. And with that, she started her story.

"I honestly do not know how to start this, but I guess it'll help to start with stuff you only half know. And I hate to start here, but I need to. Your father... He wasn't always the man you remember. When I met him, he was young and happy. He didn't have a lot of problems with drinking, but his anger was still there. But there was some good qualities, which was why I married him. But trust me, after what he did to all of you.. It cancels every reason why I ever loved him.

I know you guys don't remember your brother Aaron, as he died before any of you were born, but let me just say that your father loved him, and was heartbroken when he died. I was too, but your brother's death took a toll on your father. He had stopped drinking when we had Aaron, as he didn't want it to be interfering with his family. But it all changed with the death of his child. I could see how this was tearing him apart, so I suggested we try again for another child. Finn, and then Elijah came into the picture. Now, don't get me wrong: your father did love you, you were both beautiful children. Easy, too: not much crying, not much trouble. It wasn't the two of you that started his downfall. It was life in general. I don't know if you two remember, but me and your father started fighting. Mostly about money and bills. And then I found out that he was having an affair.

You guys only heard that I was the one that had an affair, and I'll get to that. He was the one that started it. He was the one sleeping with someone ten years younger. I was angry so then I cheated on him too, and that was how Niklaus was conceived. Mikael never knew about my affair until Klaus took the blood test when he was five and found out you weren't his son. It's also not that I kept Klaus' paternity a secret, I honestly did think that Mikael was your father. And I'm sorry, but by that point in time, and especially now, I don't remember who your birth father is.

Now, Kol and Rebekah: I hate to tell you guys this, but you were not planned either. The two of you just happened. But that didn't make me love you any less, especially that I finally had a daughter. Not that you boys weren't enough, you were all beautiful children. It just put a lot of strain on the bills.

And then when Klaus was five years old and took that blood test.. You guys know what happens next: Your father turned back to drinking. I am incredibly ashamed that he took it out on you, Klaus. And whenever the rest of you got in his way.. I wish he understood that it wasn't any of your faults.

Now here's the part you didn't know: He wanted another child that was his. I kept trying to tell him that he had four of them, and it shouldn't matter that one of them wasn't his because the kid kept trying to make him happy no matter what. Mikael.. I didn't want another child. He.. But that didn't stop him. And that was my punishment for not being faithful. I wanted to divorce him, but the only thing keeping our marriage together was you kids. Well, on his part, it was Henrik. For me, it was all of you. And you might have noticed that he never did anything to Henrik, and I don't want you to think he had a favorite.. But the truth is; he did.

Flash-forward to when I left. Before I say anymore, I just want to say once again how sorry I am I didn't do more. I was just scared, and I know that's no excuse. My leaving makes me even worse, and I knew it even then. I had to leave, and I wanted to take the five of you with me. But I had nowhere to go, and I didn't think it was right to take five kids away from their education, and their home. A more selfish, and the main reason I didn't take you, was because I couldn't handle it. I was tired. Tired of being a mother, even if I barely was one. I was tired of the screaming and the crying. I needed to get out, and it is one of the biggest regrets of my life.

I heard about Henrik's death through the news. But I was still not ready to come home. I needed more time... Four years later, I came back with a plan to get you guys away from him. I know that Finn and Elijah were in university, and I know I should have said something before I pulled strings.. But I wasn't thinking. My plan came down in shreds when Mikael figured out what I was doing. He threatened to call the police, and he had a lot of dirt on me, if I didn't let him come with us.

And then he had alcohol poisoning, which I know the five of you felt so much relief when that happened. You guys know the rest; I tried to apologize, and it was up to you whether you wanted to forgive me or not. And when I left again, it was because I didn't feel needed. I shouldn't have left again, I know. But running was all I knew how to do.

Finally.. The reason why I came back today. Why I'm telling you all of this now. I'm not here for the wedding, or the baby. I am happy for all of you and your new lives.. But I came back because.. I'm dying. I don't know how much time I have left, but it's less than a year away. I needed you all to know that I really did love you, but I was just horrible at being your mother. You were wonderful children, all of you, and it's not fair that you got really rotten deals as me and Mikael as your parents. You deserved so much better."

Esther felt somewhat of a big weight lifted off her shoulders. She couldn't help but shed a few tears as she told her story, so she reached up to wipe her eyes. She still dreaded the reactions of her children. All five of them would blow up at any moment. As she looked at all of them, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"You're only here because you're dying?" Rebekah asked, her voice cracking. Everyone was surprised that she was the one that spoke first. It was also shocking what she said. She sounded like a broken child, like she just heard that Santa wasn't real. Her brothers would have expected a screaming match, but then they remembered that Rebekah was still incredibly sensitive, no matter how strong she seemed. She was the girl who loved too easily.

"Rebekah-" Esther started.

"Don't." Rebekah stood up. Her eyes flooded with hot tears. She remembered what Matt had told her last week. She's only your mother when it's convenient for her. Rebekah should have known that her mother was here for her own selfish reason. She might have loved them, but she still loved herself more. That was something she left out of her story.
"Matt was right: You're only our mother when it's convenient for you." She snapped at her mother. She felt her words erupting and she couldn't stop it. She was angry, and she needed to get it all out. "You came back because of you! Not us! You couldn't care less about what we feel, what we think. You just don't want to die with your children loathing you. Remember Mikael's funeral? He was hated. No one liked him. No one cried. You don't want that to happen to you. You're trying to make it up to us for you! As long as it works out for you, nothing else matters." Her anger had melted into a river of tears. She broke down and confessed, "But you know what? I needed my mother! Thirteen years ago, I needed you. I needed you six years ago." Her voice squeaked as she finished her rant, "But I don't need you now."

Rebekah had all four of her brothers reach out to comfort her, but it was Klaus who got there first. He gently touched her arm to pull her into a hug. Normally, she would have given in and cry in his arms, but she didn't. She pushed him away and turned around, walking out of the living room. Klaus wanted to go follow her but he just turned back to his mother.

"Is that true?" Klaus asked. "You just don't want us to hate you when you die?"

Esther shook her head, "I don't know where she got that from. I do care about how you guys feel-"

"That wasn't the question," Elijah stood up for his brother and sister. "I get that you want to make it up to us, but for who? You or us?"

When Esther didn't answer, Elijah knew his sister was right.

"I'm sorry you're dying, but no; I won't forgive you," Kol spoke up. "Like Bekah, I needed my mom," Kol's voice cracked. He didn't want to yell; he was sick of yelling. He was tired of hating her. "I don't hate you, but I don't love you either."

"We did get a rotten deal with you as our mother," Finn spoke up. He had been quiet this entire time. He didn't know what to say this time. He felt sympathetic for his mother; Mikael hurt her too. But she wasn't a complete victim in all of this, and she's acting like she is. She admitted to faults, and he couldn't just forget them. "You're just a really selfish person."

"We all needed someone better," Elijah said. "You don't get to leave for over half a decade, and come back to say you're sorry and expect us to live happily ever after. It doesn't work that way."

"I spent my entire life feeling worthless and hated," Klaus croaked. "I didn't care what you had to say then, and I don't care what you have to say now." He wanted to yell, but he couldn't find the voice. Like Rebekah, he probably would have broken down if he tried to yell. Like Kol, he was tired of yelling. He was just tired of everything.

They all were.

"You want me to tell them?" Kol asked his mother with venom in his voice. There was something his siblings never knew. He should have told them much sooner. More like twelve years ago when it happened.

"Kol-" She knew exactly what he was talking about.

"She was the one who killed Henrik!" He shouted. He found his voice to yell, but it kept scratching. "He survived the car wreck. When the rest of you were sleeping in the waiting room, I saw her! She went into his room, I couldn't see what she did, but once she left, all the nurses ran to his room. Five minutes later, they told Mikael, who was in the bathroom when she killed our baby brother, that he suffocated to death. I was just pretending to sleep, so I saw and heard everything. Mikael told us Henrik died right on the spot because the suffocation could have been ruled as a murder, and he didn't want us to know that. But I knew. I saw everything."

Finn, Elijah and Klaus all stared at Kol. They knew their youngest brother would never lie about anything, especially something like this. He cared too much about his siblings. He wouldn't lie about Henrik, considering how close Kol was with him. The three of them turned their heads to Esther, who stared at a Kol with an incredulous look. She couldn't believe he had said that, nor that he knew. Elijah saw her guilty glance at the floor, and before she could come up with a lie, he growled,
"I want you out of this house. I want you away from all five of us until further notice. I want you away from Tate, away from Emma, away from Katherine and our child. Get your stuff, go to a hotel or a nursing home, I couldn't care less. Just get out."

"Elijah," Esther cried.

"Did you think killing him would make things easier for us?" Klaus asked. "It didn't. It made things worse. Especially for me."

"You really are a horrible person," Finn said.

"You had a lot of nerve to even tell your story," Kol accused. "You left the most important part out. I bet you weren't counting on me knowing."

"I can't even look at you," Klaus glared at the woman standing before him.

"I-" she tried to say something but she knew it was useless. Her sons were looking at her with so much hate in their eyes, she knew any progress she might have made had been erased. She didn't blame Kol for saying something, she should have included that part in her story. She was just afraid of how they'd react to that. It was exactly what happened. At least now she knew why Kol hated her so much.

"Get out, now." Elijah gave her one last warning.

She nodded and walked to her room. Ten minutes later, she had gathered all her stuff and exited the house without saying a word. She did it again; she left.

...

They don't know how it happened, but it turned into a Mikaelson sibling intervention led by their significant others. Katherine was supposed to hang out with Elena, but she had to do something for Jenna and Alaric, so she sent Caroline instead. Neither were thrilled about hanging out, but they actually had somewhat of a fun time shopping. They ended up going to The Grill, where both Matt and Bonnie were working. Ten minutes after Katherine and Caroline had arrived, Sage had walked in to grab some lunch, so they invited her to sit with them, which Sage appreciated because she doesn't really know them that well and it was nice to talk to them. Caroline kept having Bonnie sit down with them. And then Matt ended up sitting down too. Since Matt was the manager, he and Bonnie took a longer break than normal. They ended up talking about the crazy siblings they loved so much. Little did they know that the Mikaelson siblings had just been told things that will ruin everything.

"You know.." Caroline started. "I don't think I've ever seen Rebekah drunk. Even at that party in high school where legit everyone was puking by midnight." They had been talking about a party Caroline, Matt and Katherine went to in college. It was the one where Stefan introduced her to Klaus. But besides that point, they remembered when Katherine had gotten super drunk and danced on the tables and made out with random people (it was when she and Elijah had broken up and she was on the rebound.)

"Yeah.." Matt sighed. "She doesn't like to drink that much. I've noticed that she only drinks when there's something on her mind. Something wrong. But even then, she doesn't even drink half the bottle."

"Elijah only drinks on special occasions like holidays or parties," Katherine spoke up. "It's like me only eating chocolate cake on my birthday."

"Finn's the same way," Sage agreed with Katherine.

"Kol never has more than two bottles or glasses at a time. I've never seen him even a little tipsy," Bonnie spoke up.

"Klaus is kind of a mix of all of that.. He has a lot of self-control," Caroline said. She has noticed that even if Klaus drinks a lot, it's only when he needs it. And it's never a lot at one time. She never noticed anything weird about it until she now heard his siblings' drinking habits.

"It's probably because of their father," Matt muttered bitterly.

"They don't want to be like him," Sage added. "I know that Finn is worried that it's genetic."

"Wait, what is?" Caroline asked.

"You don't know?" Katherine raised an eyebrow.

"Know what?" Bonnie didn't know either.

"About their childhood..? Their father?"

"I heard something about their father being.." Caroline trailed off.

Katherine shared a look with Sage. She glanced at Matt, "Do you know?" He nodded.

"You guys should probably ask Klaus and Kol," Sage told Caroline and Bonnie.

"Definitely soon, as their mom is having an intervention of her own right now," Katherine revealed.

"What?!" The four of them all exclaimed.

"Yeah, Elijah had to trick the rest of them because that bitch was like 'I need to tell all of you something. Please, it's important, there's not much time'" Katherine mocked her mother-in-law. "I hate her. I can also tell she doesn't like me, like I'm awesome, thank you."

"Katherine-" Matt started.

"I don't like her either," Sage agreed.

"Wait, what does that even mean?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know!" Katherine said. "But whatever it is, I bet Kol or Klaus wasn't so excited to see her walk in the house."

"Should I expect Kol to come home all upset? Or angry?" Bonnie asked. She has only been with him for not even a full year yet, and the subject of his mother never came up. She doesn't know what to expect, as she hasn't even met the woman.

"Probably both," Katherine shrugged. "Elijah's supposed to text me when it's safe to come home."

"Safe?" Caroline gasped.

"You know, he expected yelling so... Yelling's not really good for the baby to be around."

"That's horrible.." Caroline said.

"What's their mother like?" Bonnie asked.

"Well.." Sage looked at Katherine who shrugged. "She's nice, but I don't.. Something about the way she acts, you can just tell she's fake. That she has a motive. I think the siblings are starting to see through her façade. They weren't able to see it before because they were young, and needed their mother."

"She doesn't even act like their mother, especially from what I heard about their childhood," Katherine finished.

"When I met her," Caroline spoke up. "She like barged into our house, uninvited, and started yelling at us. It was really embarrassing. And she seemed really..."

"Evil?" Katherine guessed.

"Sure," Caroline shrugged.

Beep beep, beep beep went Katherine's phone.

"That's probably Elijah," she said as she reached into her pocket to take out her phone.

The text read,
You can come back now.

"He said I can go back now," she told her in-laws.

Did your siblings go home or nah? She texted back.

A few seconds later he responded,
Yes.

Kay. Be home soon.

"Your boyfriends slash fiancé slash husband are going home so maybe we better cut this chitchat short," Katherine said as she stood up. The rest of them followed suit.

"Bonnie, why don't you go home," Matt told her as the other three women put on their coats.

"But I'm working for another two hours.." Bonnie glanced at the clock.

"I'll cover your shift, just go home to your boyfriend."

"What about Rebekah?" She asked.

Matt sighed, "I'll just.. I'll clock us both out for an emergency."

Within five minutes; Katherine, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt and Sage were on their way home to be supportive for whatever their partner needs. Good thing because they're going to need it.

...

Katherine walked through the darkly lit foyer. It was four o'clock but it had already gotten dark out considering the rainy weather today. None of the lights were on downstairs so she figured her husband was up in their room. She set her bags on the kitchen table before heading to the stairs and walking up. Their bedroom was the first one on the right, and she noticed the door was closed.

That's strange. Our door is never closed. Not until nighttime anyway.

She slowly opened the door and peaked inside. She turned on the light, only to be greeted by an empty room.

"Elijah?" she called. "Are you in here?" She searched through the house but she couldn't find him. She checked the garage and his car was still here. Where was he?

As she walked out of the garage, she ran right into somebody and screamed.

"Katerina!" Elijah screamed back.

"Elijah!" Katherine sighed in relief. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk.. I needed to think.." He muttered. He looked down at her face and saw she was genuinely concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He wanted to say yes. He wanted to say that what he heard today made no difference. But it did. He wanted to be fine. But the truth was that he wasn't.

He shook his head, "I'm really glad you're here." He reached out to pull her into a hug. He buried his face in her neck and felt so much better.

She sadly smiled as she gently kissed his hair. "I'm always here," she whispered.

...

"That's horrible," Sage finally said after Finn finished recalling what went down with his mother. She reached out to touch his arm, "I'm so sorry."

When Sage had arrived home after picking up Tate from his playdate, she had told him to go play in his room because she needed to talk to his dad about something very important. She found him sitting on their bed just staring at the wall. She sat beside him and gently took his hand. After moments of silence, he finally found the courage to tell her everything that he learned today.

"I am too," he sighed.

"What are you going to?"

"I don't know.. This changes everything.. I-I mean, I don't even know if the memories I have of her are even real.."

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a hug. After a few minutes, she pulled away and her hands cupped his face. "Listen to me. Who cares if the memories aren't real? Change the memories. Make them as extraordinary as you want. They don't have to be real. They just have to make you happy. Just hold on to the good things, and not the ugly truth."

Before he could reply to her, they heard a knock on the door. As they turned their heads, the door knob turned and the door opened. A big bright blob of red hair peaked around the door. "Mommy? Daddy? Can we play now?"

Sage looked at her husband to make sure he was done talking.

"Come here, son," Finn smiled and held out his arms for his son. Tate squealed and ran to his father. His dad picked him up and gave him a hug. "You know," he spoke to his wife. "I look at Tate, and I wonder how anyone would want to hurt their child. I could never hurt him, I would never leave him." He kissed his son's curly hair. "I love him so much."

Sage ruffled their son's hair and smiled, "I do too."

Finn looked her in the eyes and said, "I never want us to be like my parents."

She fiercefully told him, "We won't."

...

Rebekah had called Matt and told him she was going to his house. She sounded like she was crying, and Matt knew he had to get there fast. As soon as he parked his car in the driveway, he quickly turned the ignition off and basically fell out of his car as he ran to the front door.

When Matt opened the door, he was immediately greeted by blonde hair flying into his arms. Rebekah had waited for him to get home, and she saw her chance to embrace him. She held him tight as she finally took a deep breath. After she had stormed out of the room, she still eavesdropped her brothers' conversation with their mother. Once Kol admitted he saw Esther kill Henrik, Rebekah left the house. She didn't know what she'd say to her brothers, let alone her mother. She needed to talk to the one person she trusted as much as her brothers, maybe even more.

Matt rubbed circles on her back and whispered, "Are you okay?" He kissed her temple.

She shook her head. "No. She killed him."

Matt's blood went cold. "What?"

"My mum.." Rebekah pulled out of the hug and sniffed. "Kol said he saw her kill my little brother."

"Woah, are you kidding?" He rubbed his thumb over her cheek, wiping away the stray tears.

She shook her head. "She only came back because she's dying. She doesn't care about us.. I-I-you were right."

Matt sighed, "Rebekah.. When I said that, I did not want to be right."

"I know.. I don't want to talk anymore."

"I understand."

"I want to go to bed, and you to hold me."

He pulled her back into a hug and kissed her forehead. "I can do that."

...

Bonnie was so glad that Emma was at Jeremy's once again tonight. She didn't know what she'd hear from Kol, but she didn't want have to deal with both of them. When she entered the condo, she saw him curled up on the couch with a blanket. He was staring at the TV even if the screen was blank.

"Hey.." She jokingly knocked on the door frame.

He looked up at her and gave her a smile, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Tired?" she asked as she sat beside his feet.

He shrugged.

"Want to talk?"

He shook his head.

She sighed. "Well, whenever you want to talk, I'm here."

He reached out to grab her hand and pull her down to lay beside him. He held her hands with one hand and started playing with her hair with the other.

"Are you just going to play with my hair tonight?" She chuckled.

He found the strength to talk, "I want to talk.. But I don't want you to think differently of me."

"Why would I think any differently of you? It wasn't your fault."

He looked at her in disbelief, "You know?"

"I can guess. Today, I've heard bits and pieces."

"From who?"

"Caroline, Matt, Katherine, Sage. We kind of had an intervention about you guys."

"Oh, okay.." He didn't feel like asking any more questions. "The reason why I never talk about my parents is because one is a psychotic abusive alcoholic and the other..." and so he started his own version of the story. The story of a broken boy.

...

Caroline was pacing back and forth along the hallway in front of the front door. She paused when she heard the car turn off. She listened as his footsteps walked up the sidewalk and to the door. When the door finally opened, she was face to face with her boyfriend.

He looked shocked to see her waiting for him.

"Hey, love."

She gave a sad smile.

"Why are you looking at me like that..?" He asked warily as he closed the door behind him.

Caroline sighed, "I hung out with Katherine today.. I might have heard something."

"What did you hear?" He raised an eyebrow.

"That you had a talk with your mom.. How did it go? Are you okay?"

"Caroline.."

"I'm sorry for all these questions. I just want you to talk to me. I don't want you to shut me out."

He opened his arms, inviting her in for a hug which she gladly took. "I want to talk to you," he said into her ear.

"You know you can tell me anything," she answered.

"I'll tell you," he said. She pulled away from the hug so she could look at his face. "But first.. I need you to promise me something."

"Anything."

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, sending shivers down her body. "Promise that you won't ever leave me. That you'll always love me."

Caroline gave her sweetest smiles and gently touched his cheek. "Of course. I love you so much."

"I love you, too." He leaned down to touch her lips in a captivating kiss. She smiled into the kiss.

After the kiss, he lead her to the living room where they sat on the couch facing each other. He told her everything.

Everything from what he heard today, and all the things his father did to him. Everything.

Oh my god, I feel like this chapter is so bad. Ughhhh.. I'm sorry. I had writer's block and I just.. I don't even know.

What do you guys think of Esther's story? I had more planned to it but I couldn't think of how to word it so I said "forget it." And the whole Esther killing Henrik.. I legit came up with that on the spot! I had another secret for Kol in mind but I found it stupid and then my fingers just typed that she killed him so I decided to roll with it. What a plot twist, amiright? And now Caroline and Bonnie finally know about their boyfriends' abusive childhood.. That's actually quite sad :( This chapter was just all sorts of depressing and I am so sorry! Next chapter will be much happier, I promise.

Please review, and tell me what you thought! xx