Chapter 015

An Invitation, Part Two

Wednesday, January 19, 2011, about 5:30 p.m.

The Gilbert's Kitchen

I'm bored just watching Bonnie and Kol sit doing nothing, and they're not thinking anything I need to worry myself with, so I think myself to Jeremy to see what he's up to. His nurse walks into the kitchen from the basement with a pile of laundry in her arms. He tells her, "I'm gonna go hang with some friends tonight so I won't need you once Abby comes and picks me up."

She nods and puts the laundry on the chair beside Jeremy and then takes out her cell to call her ride and have them come and pick her up sooner than the usual 11 p.m.

Jeremy smiles and sits back to wait for Abby to show up. He really hopes Kol is on the up and up about this spell. He hates not having his arms. He can't play ball. He can't draw. He needs someone else to man the mouse if he wants to go on his computer. He thinks, 'I can't even freaking feed myself or take a piss on my own.'

These last six weeks have taught him so much. For starters, he has a new-found appreciation for all he had before this nightmare started.

Secondly, it's made him respect those with disabilities so much more than he already did. I mean he already knew they had it rough and that they were amazing, but now he knows just how tedious and frustrating being disabled can be.

Third, it's shown him who his real friends and family are. Elena has avoided him whenever possible, but Elijah of all people calls every day just to check in on him and make sure he has everything he needs. The original isn't quick about it either. He asks how Jeremy is doing and the first couple of times when he said he was fine Elijah chuckled and pointed out that Jeremy was missing both arms, so he hardly thought he was 'fine.' He laughed back and then told him the truth, life sucks without his arms.

A car horn beeps three times, so Jeremy carefully gets up and walks to the door while his nurse follows behind him. She opens the door for him, and he walks down the stairs very carefully. It turns out not having any arms completely messes with a person's balance, so he can't even count the number of times he's fallen just trying to walk.

His nurse opens the door to Abby's car and then helps him sit before she buckles his seatbelt and tells him, "I'll see you tomorrow night, Jeremy."

He nods but says a silent prayer, 'Please God if you're listening, let the spell be safe, and let us do it tonight, so I don't need a nurse anymore.'

Abby barely waits for the door to close before she pulls away from the curb.

Her eyes cut towards him a moment later before she tries to dash that hope and tells him, "Don't get your hopes up, Jeremy. I know Bonnie trusts Kol and his siblings, but everything I know about them says that's a terrible idea."

He tends to mostly agree with Bonnie on the Mikaelsons, so he just nods because he knows arguing with his ex-girlfriend's mom will accomplish nothing except pissing himself off.

The fact of the matter, though, is that the only Mikaelson who has ever actually instigated a fight and tried to harm one of them first is Niklaus, and the hybrid shocked the hell out of Jeremy over the holidays by pulling him aside at one point and apologizing to him for trying to hurt him.

Jeremy believes he was honest in his remorse, too, so he's decided to trust Bonnie and take her approach and only judge them all on the behavior he sees from them and how they personally treat him. So far none of them have done anything to lead him to believe Bonnie or the rest of them are in any danger from the Mikaelsons, quite the opposite really.

In fact, he's more inclined to think Elena is more of a risk to everyone than the Mikaelsons are. I tend to agree with that assessment, but that's another story for another time, though.

Other than Abby trying to warn him about the Mikaelsons she thankfully doesn't say anything else, so they ride in silence. When she pulls into the Mikaelson's driveway, she sighs and squares her shoulders before getting out of the car and moving around the car to open his door and help him out.

He smiles slightly at her in a silent thank you and then follows her to the front door. She knocks, and a moment later the door opens to reveal Rebekah. Jeremy might be just as smitten with her as she is with him, so he thinks she looks gorgeous in her blue dress. He smiles brightly and tells her, "Hi Rebekah, blue's a good color on you."

Beaming at the compliment Rebekah opens the door wider and allows them to enter. When she shuts the door, she says, "Thank you, Jeremy. How have you been?"

He smiles and tells her, "Eh, I guess I've been okay. I'll be better if Abby signs off on this spell Kol wrote for me. A hug from a pretty girl might make my day better, though."

She giggles and then leans in and gives him a tight hug. He grins as she reluctantly pulls away and tells her, "Definitely made my day better. Thank you."

She nods and then turns to Abby and tells her, "So you're Bonnie's mother?"

Abby nods but says nothing so Rebekah and Jeremy both roll their eyes before Rebekah then leads the pair up the stairs. While she walks, she says, "Elijah, Nik, and I read over the spell at different points while Kol worked on it. I read it this morning before school, too, so I think if he managed to work out the last kink, your time without arms is quickly coming to a close."

He nods and tells her, "I hope so. I hadn't realized it was a group effort, though."

She smiles while she looks at him over her shoulder and tells him, "I think Kol, Elijah, and Nik all started working on it separately, and then when they found out they were each trying to discover a solution they shared their notes and ideas and then went from there. I'm sorry to say I didn't think of it myself. But that's my brothers for you. If they can help someone they care about, then they will stop at nothing until they have solved whatever problem is plaguing that person."

Before spending Christmas here Jeremy would have objected to the idea that Kol or Elijah and especially Niklaus care about him, but now he knows better, so he just nods while she walks them down the hall to the fifth door in this hallway.

She knocks then calls out, "Jeremy and Bonnie's mother are here, Kol."

She nods to herself and opens the door a moment later, and Jeremy smiles at the fact that he's still not used to being around people who can hear through walls.

They follow Rebekah into Kol's bedroom and then over to the door of his study.

Bonnie hops off Kol's lap and runs to her friend hugging him tightly. He drops a kiss to the top of her head while Kol stands and walks over to Abby who is frowning from her spot behind Jeremy.

Smiling as nicely as I'm sure he can manage even though I know he has an incredible dislike for Abby because she abandoned Bonnie knowing she'd be in danger, he sticks out his hand, "Ms. Bennett-Wilson, I don't believe we've been formally introduced. I'm Kol Mikaelson."

My selfish brat reluctantly shakes his hand and nods before asking, "So let's see this supposedly non-dark spell you wrote?"

Ignoring the attitude in her voice and stand-offish stance, Kol nods and walks back to his desk before turning his book to face away from him and motioning with his hand for her to step in front of his desk and read it over.

My daughter is frowning deeply while she walks to his desk, but while she reads, her eyes progressively get wider and wider before she looks up at him and asks, "I've been trying to figure out a way to give him his arms back, but everything I came up with was a little too dark for my comfort. What on earth made you think of this? I never would have even thought of it, but I think it'll work, and it's not even remotely dark."

Jeremy's shoulders relax at that proclamation while Bonnie smiles and with a high chin and a gleam in her eyes she tells her mother, "Kol was a Prodigy growing up."

Jeremy thinks, 'Wait, he was an actual witch before becoming a vampire? Well, no wonder he gets along so well with witches.'

Abby clearly didn't know either, so her eyes widen before she asks, "You were a witch before you turned?"

Now my grandbaby's eyes widen, and she begins worrying her bottom lip between her teeth when she realizes what she said, but Kol just smiles and nods. Her look tells Jeremy she thinks it was a secret but then Kol smiles wider and tells Abby, "Yes, I was."

Then he turns his face and looks Bonnie square in the eye and says, "Little Bella, I already told you that it wasn't a secret, so wipe that worried look off your face. I promise I'm not angry that you told her."

She just nods and lets out a rush of air. Then she asks her still deeply frowning mother, "So Abby, do you think we can do the spell on Jer, and will it work with no adverse side effects."

Abby turns and reads over the spell once more before saying, "It might take away Jeremy's hunter-ness, for lack of a better word."

Jeremy thinks, 'It might what?' He smiles brightly and asks, "You mean I won't be a hunter anymore? That'd be awesome because I'm tired of having to fight the urge to kill my own sister not to mention Caroline, Damon, Stefan, and no offense, but even you guys."

Jeremy mentally grumbles, 'It's not fun having urges to kill people you actually care about, and it's even less fun when you know the only reason your body wants you to kill them is that they have the misfortune of having been turned into vampires against their will.'

Abby smiles and says, "There's no guarantee it'll do it, but it is likely to happen if he removes the tattoo and its ability to continue to grow. What I know of hunters suggests that the tattoo stores the magick that makes them hunters inside it. If he gives you new arms that have no link to the tattoo, then the magick might turn itself off, but like I said, there's no guarantee it'll do that. It's just a hunch on my part."

Jeremy's willing to chance it, but he loves my granddaughter like a sister so he doesn't want Bonnie doing a dark spell even if it would help him, so he smiles at Abby's words but asks, "Okay, so in your professional opinion you think it'll help me, but should I allow Bonnie to do this spell? Is it safe for her to perform because I'm not willing to let her do a dark spell even if it would save me from life without my arms?"

Kol, Bonnie, and Rebekah all smile wide while he talks. When he finishes, Abby smiles a rare smile at him and says, "If you want arms again and probably not to be a hunter anymore, and you're willing to suffer the probably agonizing pain of your arms regrowing, then yes, I would suggest you allow the spell to be done on you. And no, it's not even remotely dark, so it should be perfectly safe for Bonnie to perform."

He nods then asks, "So when can we do this?"

Kol smiles and tells him, "I've been working on it in a hurry because it will require a full moon, which happens to be tonight, so if you can wait a few more hours, we should be able to give you back your arms before the night is over."

Jeremy smiles and thinks that he's never heard sweeter words. He practically bounces when he says, "Awesome. Thank you, Kol. Not just for coming up with this spell but for compelling me when you chopped my arms off so that it wouldn't hurt and for arranging for my nurses as well as having Elijah compel them to ignore anything supernatural they might see or hear. I know we were trying to kill you, which I don't think I ever apologized for that, so I'm sorry for trying to kill you. Anyhow, if I were you, I wouldn't have bothered offering to compel the asshole trying to kill me never mind help hire nurses to take care of him after the fact, so thank you."

Kol nods and tells his new-again friend honestly, "My conflict was never with you, Jeremy. It was with waking Silas and to a lesser degree your sister who seemed hellbent on killing me. I expect us to be even once this spell is cast."

Jeremy smiles and thinks that they're not even close to even, but he nods and tells Kol, "We're not even close to even. I already owe you like a million favors even without taking this spell into account, but whatever, if you want to call it even, then I'm game."

Kol smiles and then motions over to the two seats in the corner, "Why don't you and Ms. Bennett-Wilson sit while Bonnie and I collect all the ingredients we'll need."

They both nod and move to the chairs before sitting. Bonnie walks over to Kol's desk and rereads the spell before walking to the cabinet that's half bookshelves and half cabinet. She opens the door and takes out the herbs they'll need before carrying them over to the work table. Kol is right behind her with the copper bowl, goblet, and her Athamé, which surprises Jeremy that it was already here, but she didn't take it home after using it to show Kol her premonition last Friday.

Bonnie looks over at the doorway finding Rebekah just standing there with loose limbs and an unfocused gaze, so she tells the blonde, "Beks, I'm sorry, but I think our movie night is going to be postponed."

Kol smiles incredibly pleased with himself before he shakes his head and says, "Actually, if you and Jeremy want, I can mix everything, with your mother's supervision, and the two of you can go watch your movie with 'Bekah."

Jeremy smiles and tells them all, "I need to know what movie I'm agreeing to watch before I agree because Caroline has maneuvered me into seeing 'The Notebook' a few too many times."

Bonnie giggles and tells him, "'New Moon.'"

Smiling he tells her, "That's definitely better than 'The Notebook,' and it's got cool effects with the wolves, so I'm game, but only if Rebekah doesn't mind me crashing your party."

He doesn't want to just assume that she'll be okay with it, but Rebekah smiles a genuine smile obviously pleased and says, "I don't mind."

Bonnie nods and tells her friend, "Follow us," which he does after carefully getting out of his chair.

While Rebekah leads Bonnie and Jeremy out of the study and down to the den Kol wears a smile that makes Abby's muscles stiffen. It should make my selfish daughter nervous because he wants to pat himself on the back and that won't bode well for her.

The last thing Abby wants is to be alone with Kol Mikaelson, but she doesn't trust him enough to leave him to his own devices while preparing the necessary potion for the spell. She looks at him from her seat but doesn't say anything while he mixes all the ingredients for Jeremy's spell.

While he works, they're both listening to the trio downstairs. When he finishes mixing the potion, he leaves it to sit and steep, if you will and returns to his seat before he begins reading over something in his grimoire. Halfway through their movie the trio downstairs pause it, and Rebekah answers the door to get the two pizzas they ordered.

They hear Bonnie eat quickly and then help Jeremy eat. While he's eating she tells him, "Just think in a few hours your armless nightmare should be completely over, and you won't need to rely on other people for the most basic of things."

We can all hear the smile in his voice when he tells her, "I know. I can't wait. I really hope it works because life without my arms really sucks. I can't do anything by myself but sit and stare at the wall, but most of all I miss drawing."

I imagine she's nodding before she tells him, "I know, and so does Kol that's why he wrote the spell."

Jeremy laughs and says, "I may not have any arms, but I have two perfectly working eyes, so I know I'm not the reason he wrote that spell. You were worried about me, and he wrote it so you could stop worrying about how I'm doing."

Abby's not sure either of them is correct. She thinks Kol is up to something and she's confident he has an ulterior motive for helping Jeremy. She doesn't know what it is yet, but she's sure it's not going to bode well for any of them.

She is sure he only cares what happens to Jeremy and how he's coping in relation to keeping Bonnie thinking favorably of him.

None of that is true. Kol genuinely cares for both Bonnie and Jeremy. He cares what happens to the younger boy and how he's coping. Still, Kol smiles that the teen is perceptive enough to notice Kol's feelings towards Bonnie even if the young man has no clue that Kol still considers him his friend.

Kol laughs lightly when Bonnie tells Jeremy, "Busted."

He chuckles then sobers up and says, "Thank you for being such an amazing friend Bon. I'm really lucky to have you in my life."

Jeremy is a good kid, and he genuinely cares for Bonnie, but the fact that he's supported her decisions regarding Kol and his family worries Abby. It seems to her that Elena and Stefan are the only two who really realize the threat she thinks the Mikaelsons genuinely are and don't even get her started on Caroline. The blonde has been spending entirely too much time with Klaus, in Abby's not so humble opinion, so Caroline obviously isn't cautioning Bonnie against trusting The Original Family.

When Jeremy finishes eating Rebekah asks, "So are we ready to turn it back on?"

Abby and Kol stop listening when the trio goes back to their movie, and instead Abby focuses on the original vampire sitting across the room from her while she tries to stare holes through him.

When he looks at her, she glares harder because she thinks she's not stupid. She 'knows' he's trying to steal her daughter from her. She wants him to admit it though, so she asks, "What exactly are your intentions towards my daughter?"

He thinks, 'That's rich. Bonnie's only her daughter and hers to care for when it's convenient to her. All the other times Little Bella has needed a mother to protect her and take care of her Sheila filled the role.'

Although Kol thinks I did an excellent job of it, he finds his hackles raising at this woman claiming his Little Bella as hers when she abandoned Bonnie and left her in the care of a human monster with little regard for how well she would fare without her mother to protect her.

Still, because she doesn't know he knows the truth, he smiles a condescending smile and tells her, "I have a spell I wish for you to read over and give Bonnie your opinion on. I think after you've read it, you'll realize exactly what my intentions are."

He picks up his grimoire. It's already open to the correct page before he gets up, walks towards her, and then hands the book over to her.

I allow a not nice smile to spread across my face while she reads, and her eyes once again get progressively larger and wider with every word she reads. She thinks she has to be reading it wrong, 'He can't seriously want my daughter for all time, can he? He must want something from her and if I have to guess I'd say he has a major spell he wants her to perform. Why else would he be working so damn hard to win her over, and now he wants to link them together for the rest of eternity? I'm not buying his wanting to just be her friend. This spell alone tells me he wants her for things I'd much rather my daughter not do with a vampire of any kind but especially not an original vampire.'

She looks up at him and asks, "You don't honestly expect me to suggest my only daughter link herself to an original vampire for the rest of Eternity, do you? And especially an original with the murderous reputation you have?"

He catches her eyes, and while she realizes her latest mistake, his pupils dilate, and he tells her, "In your own words, you will reluctantly tell her that the spell is not dark and is safe to do and that it will help keep her safe. You will tell her that you don't necessarily agree with us doing it simply because she is your daughter, and I am a vampire. You will suggest she think about it long and hard before she agrees because the spell will essentially be irreversible once it is cast, and she will be inheriting my long-life expectancy, and it will make us both virtually un-killable."

He pauses so my poor excuse for a daughter can repeat what he's told her. While nothing he just compelled her to say is untrue, she thinks he has some nerve forcing her to support his mission to turn her daughter against those who love her.

He's not done though, so he continues the compulsion by telling her, "You will tell her that the only things I might gain from our doing this spell are possibly the ability to do magick again and the peace of mind of knowing that she is safe. You will also tell her that her friends will likely disapprove but that after speaking with me you realize I genuinely care for her and won't harm any of her friends because to do so would harm her."

Pausing once more he lets my seething daughter repeat his words back to him as her teeth grind. Most of what he just said is still true, but she highly doubts he cares about much more than himself and his family and possibly getting into Bonnie's pants.

She thinks, 'If I'm lucky, he just wants her for sex and not something more nefarious.'

She hopes Bonnie will figure out the game he's playing. He's prepared for Bonnie's very sensitive perceptiveness when he tells her, "When and if she asks why you seem reluctant, you will tell her, again in your own words, that you're just having difficulty reconciling what you're seeing of me now with what you've been told of me. You will tell her that it is your issue, not hers, and she shouldn't worry about it."

Abby angrily thinks, 'Dammit, he's very thorough.'

She doesn't understand what thorough means but she will after she repeats the last bit back to him before he tells her, "If you can see auras you will not tell anyone that mine or my siblings' auras are now healed, and you won't realize we have our magick back or that our auras are now fully balanced."

Her eyes widen at that. She wondered how and why their auras magickally healed themselves.

She thinks, 'Bonnie must have suggested they try the same cleansing and balancing spell she did to regain her magick. He's definitely up to something though.'

Once she repeats all of that back to him, he covers his tracks and takes care of The Truth Spell they did by telling her, "You will believe everything I just said to be the truth. From this moment forward, you will be reluctantly supportive of any further decisions your daughter makes in regards to my family and me, and you will slowly come to trust us. You will also not remember that I just compelled you or what it entailed."

I smile because as soon as she repeats everything, she will forget all of what just happened. She fights it but when he releases her and smiles, his compulsions kick in, and she reluctantly smiles back when he tells her, "I expect you'll be honest with your daughter that I will gain very little from doing this spell and that it will help keep her safe."

The compulsions work causing her to think, 'While it's true that on the surface he'll gain extraordinarily little from the spell I still think he's up to something. I just can't figure out what it is, and I find that I'm beginning to trust that he has no ulterior motives when it comes to my daughter, but I'll need to keep watching The Original Family with Bonnie and her friends to know for sure that they're all safe with the ancient vampires.'

Nothing he compelled her to say is untrue. I'm confident that Bonnie will see that. I know, though, that despite not trusting her mother in most instances she would ask Abby for her opinion on anything magickal. Kol knows that, too, and didn't want to risk Abby having the negative reaction she began to have a moment ago when she read the spell.

My daughter just nods so he takes his book back and heads back to the desk to read the spell over once more making sure he's covered every contingency because he is not a man who leaves anything to chance if he can help it.

Abby gets up and walks to the bookshelves to the left of her chair and starts looking at the grimoires lining the shelves. She takes one out and then sits back down before opening it and reading it.

While she reads, she distractedly tunes back in listening to the trio downstairs in time to hear Rebekah's opinion on everything from the special effects to the romantic drivel as she puts it.

Rebekah huffs and says, "Seriously, Bonnie, he broke up with her in an incredibly mean fashion, and then he just expects her to forgive him? I'd rip a guy to shreds if he treated me that poorly."

We can all hear the smile in Jeremy's voice when he says, "Edward is over 100 and I, at 16, know better than to treat a girl like that, so I kind of have to agree that he totally would have deserved it if she fought back and didn't take him back right away or at all for that matter."

A while later Kol smiles to himself when his sister leads their two friends back up the stairs to his study. After she knocks, she leads the teens into the room where they find Abby sitting quietly reading one of Kol's spell books while Kol sits at his desk writing in his grimoire.

When they enter, Kol looks up and smiles before saying, "Little Bella, come read this spell but don't comment just yet. I just want you to hear what your mother has to say about it, and then when everyone has left we'll talk about it okay?"

She looks at him curiously, but she nods and walks to him, giggling lightly when he pulls her onto his lap again. Abby frowns at the picture they make because although they make a striking pair, she'd rather the 1,000-plus-year-old vampire stop flirting with her 18-year-old daughter.

In her, again, not so humble opinion, Jeremy is showing just how young and gullible he is by smiling at the two of them. Kol obviously sees her frown, but he chooses to ignore her and motions for Bonnie to read the spell he's placed in front of her.

It's a linking spell. Several things about it are different from the spell Esther used to link her children together. First, this one doesn't use doppelgänger blood. Second, this one doesn't make it so that what happens to one happens to the other. Instead, it will give the individuals doing the spell all the benefits of being the other person without any of the downsides of being that person.

So, if Bonnie and Kol were to do this spell, she'd be as indestructible and just as hard to kill as he is because she'd have his super vampire healing. I think it will also give her his senses, strength, speed, and vampire abilities without any of the pitfalls of vampirism. She might even be able to compel humans and vampires.

It is pretty much the only non-dark way to create an immortal because it requires soul mates. It essentially gives them both the same life expectancy and all the benefits of being each other without any of the downsides as a way of preventing two soul mates with different life expectancies from being separated by death. One dying while the other lives on for eternity would ultimately be against The Laws of Nature and The Will of God because it would horribly upset The Balance.

It's a ridiculously small loophole, but it will allow Kol and Bonnie to cast the spell without upsetting The Balance, which Kol obviously fully intends to take advantage of.

When my grandbaby finishes reading, she looks at Kol, so he smiles and says, "Ms. Bennett-Wilson, I believe we're ready for your input."

Abby lets out a heavy breath and says, "I don't necessarily approve of you two doing the spell simply because you're my daughter and he's a vampire and an original at that, but the spell isn't dark, and it's safe to perform and would keep you safe or as safe as an original anyway."

She sighs again and then says, "I don't see anything nefarious. Other than a tiny chance of Kol possibly getting to use magick again, he would gain very little from doing the spell except for the peace of mind of knowing you'd be safe. That's the only reason I'm going to say this: It's safe. If you choose to do it, you should be safe. However, think about it long and hard before you agree to do it because it won't be reversible, and if I'm reading it correctly, it will give you all of the benefits of being an original including his long-life expectancy."

She shifts in her seat and crosses her arms, "Provided one of you is alive the other would always heal. Neither of you would be killable unless you were both killed at exactly the same instant. That would be next to impossible because my understanding is that there is only one remaining White Oak Stake. That would still be the only way to kill him and therefore the only way to kill you. That means killing you would be impossible simply because all the other White Oak burned up so you both wouldn't be able to die at the same time."

Abby pauses then exhales heavily and tells my granddaughter, "Your friends will probably disapprove of his essentially being truly immortal I'm sure. After talking with Kol, though, I can tell that he genuinely cares for you. I believe he won't hurt you or your friends if they don't attack him first because he knows full well that to attack them would hurt you."

Bonnie's eyebrows furrow and she's concentrating extremely hard working through a particularly tricky problem then she says, "Um, okay, I'm missing something."

She turns and puts her legs between the original's legs while she sits on his knee before asking him, "Why do you want to do this spell with me Kol?"

He understands now. She's confused about what he gains from it. She still has low self-esteem when it comes to her interactions with the opposite sex, so she doesn't honestly realize that he's incredibly attracted to her and wants her the way a man would want a woman.

She also doesn't realize that he wants to link to her. He smiles gently and pushes some of her hair back behind her ear before he asks her, "Remember the question I asked you to think about earlier?"

When she nods, he continues, "If you say yes, then I would propose we do this spell first to keep you safe because New Orleans is full of our enemies now and the easiest way to harm us would be to go at you, the physically weaker species in our family. If you weren't a witch, I'd just suggest that you drink my blood every day to ensure you'd ultimately survive anything they might try to do to you."

He strokes her cheek and says, "However, I know you don't want to become a Vampire and have to drink human blood to survive or suffer the loss of your magick again. This would keep you alive for all time without causing either of those things to happen."

Abby thinks, 'Wait, New Orleans? He's trying to convince her to move to New Orleans with him? I only just got her back, so please God don't let her say yes.'

My grandbaby's not entirely defenseless, and Kol obviously doesn't want her to think that he thinks she is. He cups her cheek and says, "While I'm sure you could defend yourself against possibly as many as two dozen opponents at a single time, they could simply come at you with too many fighters for you to be able to properly protect yourself. This will make you dying impossible, though, you will still feel pain, but everything will eventually heal."

He leans his forehead against hers and says, "I know you haven't made your decision yet, but I wanted to take the opportunity presented to me and have your mother look it over and give her opinion so that you know it's safe to do if you choose to do it."

Bonnie nods and dashes any hope her selfish mother had when she tells him, "I'm pretty sure I'm going to say yes to going. I just need to sit on it a little longer to be sure. If you and Abby think this spell is safe and necessary, then I'll agree to do it, too."

Kol releases a deep breath, and his shoulders relax ever so slightly before he says, "Okay, well, let me know when you've made your final decision."

Jeremy shifts in his seat by Abby and asks, "So you think you're going to New Orleans? Like to stay or just for a visit?"

Bonnie looks at Kol for a minute, and when he nods with a pleased smile on his face, she tells Jeremy, "Yeah, I think I'm going to stay for a while at least, or as long as Kol and the others are there anyway."

She looks at Jeremy, and he's sort of half frowning half smiling, which I've seen Bonnie do a couple of times now, and he's hunched over as though he's in a bit of pain, so she asks him, "You okay?"

He nods and says, "Yeah I just, I'll miss you, but you've got to do what you've got to do. Maybe I can come and visit over the Summer?"

She looks at Kol again. He smiles and tells her, "Provided it's safe for both of you, I would never dream of denying you the opportunity to spend time with one of your best friends. In fact, if I could come up with a good enough reason and a way to convince you to let me compel Ms. Gilbert into compliance, I'd say he should come with us. God knows he's much safer with my family looking out for him than he is with the Salvatore's and his sister doing the job."

All of their eyes widen at that, so Kol nods at Bonnie before she says, "We shouldn't take Jer away from his sister unless to leave him here puts him in more danger, but Jer you can absolutely come and visit whenever you want. Though if you and Abby could not tell Elena or any of the others that I might be going I'd appreciate it. I think they need to hear it from me directly. Abby that goes for Dad too. I need to be the one to tell him. I owe him that much at least."

She owes him nothing so far as Kol, Jeremy, Rebekah, and I are concerned, but I've realized since the day I found out the ass has beaten her for most of her life that he has done a real number on her head.

Kol looked it up to see if there was a name for it in this day and age, and although I had heard the name before I didn't know much about it, but now I know that she has all the classic symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.

While Jeremy and Abby nod, Kol smiles slightly. Jeremy nods deeply then he tells them, "Don't worry, Elena's being a bitch, so I'm not going to tell her a thing."

Bonnie smiles despite his words and tells him, "She's still your sister so show a little respect."

He frowns and leans forward slightly before he tells her, "She doesn't show me any respect, so why should I bother with the pretense of pretending I respect her when I don't?"

Kol laughs at that and tells him, "One thing my family learned when we were humans is that family is family and you stick together no matter what. For the record, that belief has only grown through the centuries. I mean think about it, my own brother personally stuck a dagger in my heart on seven separate occasions causing me to miss more than 400 years of my life, and yet when confronted by Mikael with an ultimatum that my refusing cost the lives of people I cared about I still couldn't help destroy Nik. He's family and family is everything regardless of how he might have treated me."

Jeremy shakes his head, "She's not really my sister, and, honestly, Caroline and Bonnie treat me more like family than Elena has in a long time, so I'm inclined to stick with Caroline and Bonnie rather than Elena."

Kol and Rebekah's eyes widen at his announcement that Elena isn't really his sister and the look on both of their faces clearly asks, 'One of them is adopted?'

Abby narrows her eyes when Kol frowns before he asks, "What do you mean she's not really your sister?"

Jeremy frowns back and tells him, "I mean technically she's my cousin because her birth parents were my uncle and his teenage obsession who eventually married Ric and then convinced Damon to turn her into a vampire. She was certifiable and completely homicidal, so thankfully Klaus took care of her and compelled her to kill herself. Anyway, at first, I didn't care that Elena's not biologically my sister, and I mean really, I don't care, but she hasn't been acting like a sister. She's been a bitch lately, and she's pissed at me for agreeing to let you chop off my arms. I honestly think she's more upset that her chance at finding The Cure is lost rather than the fact that her little brother doesn't currently have any arms."

Kol opens his mouth to reiterate his belief, but Jeremy cuts him off, "Don't get me wrong, Kol, I hear what you're saying about Klaus and how despite his bad behavior you still couldn't and wouldn't betray him to your asshole father. If I was in a situation where I had to choose between hurting Elena for a bad guy like Mikael and protecting her even to the detriment of others I care about I'd protect her. I mean I let my arms be chopped off not just to protect myself but to protect all of the people we love, including her."

He pauses while Kol nods to show he understands then Jeremy says, "She hasn't been behaving like a sister though. I get that Klaus's behavior towards you and your siblings doesn't get much worse in terms of sibling bad behavior. I might be tempted, though, to compare Elena's bad behavior to Klaus' bad behavior that probably led up to him daggering you. If she's not stopped, it's only going to get worse and worse and worse, and if I have to choose between her and Bonnie or Caroline, I'm choosing Bonnie and Caroline hands down every time because they've never done anything but love me unconditionally and have supported me through everything without treating me poorly."

He pauses and shakes his head before saying, "Hell, Caroline became a vampire just like Elena, and she doesn't have the bad attitude that my 'sister' has, and from what I've heard Caroline's turning was way more traumatic than Elena's. Anyway, like I said, Bonnie and Care are more like my sisters, except for the fact that I've kissed Bonnie in an entirely un-sisterly way."

Bonnie laughs at that, and so does Kol before Jeremy continues, "But I don't think either of us feels that way anymore, and it's morphed into a sisterly/brotherly thing instead of a romantic thing."

Kol obviously already knew they no longer have romantic feelings for each other, so despite his reputation for being jealous of everyone who might be vying for the same person's attention he's surprisingly not even the slightest bit threatened by Jeremy or his presence in Bonnie's life.

Bonnie nods before Rebekah interrupts, "Uh, loathe as I am to interrupt because I'm learning all sorts of interesting things, but if you're planning to do the spell tonight and not next month, you should probably head out to the yard soon because the moon hits its apex in less than 30 minutes."

Bonnie nods and slips off Kol's lap while her eyes widen because she didn't even realize she was still sitting on him. 'Holy smoke am I really that comfortable being that close to him that I can completely forget that I'm sitting on him?'

She shakes her head at herself and walks over to the bowl and goblet before she asks Abby, "So everything is on the up and up?"

Her mother frowns but says, "Yes."

She said yes but her frown and her tense body scream no so my ever-perceptive grandbaby narrows her eyes and turns to face Abby fully before she puts her hands on her hips and frowning back asks, "Then what's with the frown?"

Abby's frown deepens before she says, "I just, well, they're The Originals, and I'm having a tough time meshing what I'm seeing of them now and what I've been told about them in the past."

My grandbaby silently admits, 'Okay, I suppose that makes sense because they do have pretty scary reputations.'

Abby pauses then tells Bonnie, "Ignore me, it's my issue, not yours."

Well, if she wants Bonnie to ignore it, then she will, so she nods and then turns back to the table before she picks up the goblet and sniffs, "Yuck that smells gross, and he has to drink that?"

Kol laughs and tells her, "I'm afraid so."

Jeremy chuckles and says, "I'll just follow it with a juice chaser."

Bonnie giggles and nods then after they've grabbed everything they need, including Kol's grimoire, they all head out to the backyard.

When we get there Bonnie gasps at the Pentagram etched into the cement that was not there a week ago. Kol smiles and says, "That's a gift from Nik."

She just nods and then steps into the circle before Kol asks, "Do you want me to be your assistant or would you prefer your mother or Beks?"

Bonnie wouldn't ask her absentee-mother to do that unless absolutely necessary, but she doesn't care if it's Kol or Rebekah who helps, so she smiles and tells him, "You're fine."

Deciding to lighten the mood a little, Kol chuckles and says, "I know I am."

She groans and tells him, "Careful or I'll find something to toss at you, Sparkle Pants."

Laughing he tells his mate, "Oh, the horror."

Smiling, she giggles back before telling the grinning original, "Oh hush."

Smiling and still laughing, he tells her, "Yes Ma'am."

Jeremy smiles and asks, "I've noticed she's calling you Sparkle Pants with more frequency."

Kol raises an eyebrow at his young friend but nods and says, "I'll live."

Jeremy chuckles in response to his words and cheerfully points out, "Uh, technically you're already dead."

Kol barks out a laugh and tells Jeremy who is absolutely grinning, "You make a fair point my friend, so let me rephrase, I'll survive."

Jeremy nods and tells him, "Better you than me. I don't think I'd fair too well if someone called me sparkle pants. Clearly, you're more secure in your masculinity than I am."

Kol places his hand on Jeremy's shoulder and tells him, "Remember, I may look 20, but I'm really almost 1,030 years old. So, don't worry Jer, that confidence will come to you with age."

He nods but tells Kol, "Sometime you need to tell me more stories of your life. I mean you're older than England."

Kol chuckles and tells him, "Technically the Kingdom of England was formed in the 10th century, 927 to be specific. I was born 54 years later in 981, so we're actually pretty close in age, but England is, in fact, older than I am. Now if you're talking about Great Britain as it currently exists then that didn't form until 1707. So, in that sense, yes, I'm older, by quite a bit."

Jeremy laughs, and so does Bonnie who says quietly with a bit of awe in her voice, "So cool."

Jeremy just nods and says, "I know, right?"

Rebekah hands Bonnie the container of salt while Kol smiles slightly and nods, so Jeremy nods back, and then Bonnie turns to him, "Okay, so if you're done pointing out just how ancient Kol really is I need you inside the circle."

When he and Kol have moved, she walks around it pouring the salt and erecting the circle around them as she calls on the four corners and lights each torch positioned at each tip of the Pentacle.

When it's up, she looks up at the sky and sees that it's time, so she reads from the book Kol's holding and says the incantation that comes before Jeremy drinks the potion.

Then she walks to Jeremy and helps him drink it down. Chuckling at his sour face when he tastes it, she doesn't say anything. Then she turns and walks back to Kol and the book and finishes the incantation.

A moment later, Jeremy screams and drops to the ground. My tender-hearted granddaughter hates seeing others in pain, so she makes a jerky movement while she fights the urge to run to him. Instead, she just continues chanting the last line of the spell until both of his arms finish regrowing, and he's no longer screaming.

My grandbaby releases the four corners and extinguishes the torches before she rushes to Jeremy's prone form and kneels beside him.

After gently placing her hand on his shoulder she asks, "Are you okay, Jer?"

He smiles and sits up before moving his arms around and then saying, "God that hurt, but I'm perfect. And hey, I don't feel compelled to kill any of the vampires present anymore. Wow, it's been a while since I didn't feel that burning need to ram a stake through someone's heart."

When he finishes talking, he throws his arms around his friend and hugs her tight.

When he lets go of her, she stands up and turns and faces Kol. She looks at him for a minute and then walks to him and throws her arms around him before she tells him, "Thank you!"

He just nods, and while he wraps his arms around her, he tells her, "I knew how much misplaced guilt you were feeling, so I wanted to make it right if I could."

She leans back and looks him in the eyes, and when she sees his honest sincerity in his chestnut eyes, she screws up her courage and leans in, kissing him softly.

His eyes widen just before hers slip closed and his arms tighten around her and hold her tightly while she enjoys their first real kiss, those two quick pecks in his study after he talked to Elijah about the daggers notwithstanding.

This though right here is a real kiss, and she smiles into it because she feels like she's home in his arms.

My granddaughter has wanted to make a move for weeks now, but her fear stopped her. He's flirted with her in those weeks, but she correctly thinks he was allowing her to make the first move, so she'd have more confidence in both herself and her budding feelings for him.

She still has no clue exactly what his feelings are for her, but she figures she'll deal with that later, so she's thoroughly enjoying this kiss and the fact that she finally found the courage to act on the feelings she's had for him for weeks now.

A moment later Freya, Finn, and Henrik rejoin me after having spent the day trying to figure out what spells we need out of one of Kol's books he acquired in Haiti in 1684.

The information has been slow going, but we've known for a while now that it's two spells and we know what they'll do. But the three Mikaelson ghosts were trying to find some of Kol's old friends from Haiti to try to figure out who wrote the book and any other details that might help us find the book.

Henri is smiling then he turns and sees his brother and Bonnie kissing, and he pouts and says, "Oh man we missed their first kiss, Finn! That sucks."

Freya, Finn, and I laugh before Finn asks, "I've never heard you use that sort of language before."

Henri smiles and says, "Way to avoid what I said big brother, but to answer your non-question, I've been following Jeremy when we aren't together, so I may be picking up some of the more modern slang terms. But hey, I'm in the body of an 11-year-old, and you heard that witch we spoke to earlier. I'm going to end up a live boy again, so I need to start acting and talking like a modern 11-year-old."

Finn frowns and tells his little brother, "Henrik, we have no way of knowing if she's correct. She also said I'm going to be resurrected, but think of how much imbalance even one resurrection would cause, but both of us? I'm not sure it's wise to hope for such a thing. We should just focus on finding the book with the two spells Chalina told Sheila about and be grateful for what we will have."

Henrik's smile isn't as bright anymore, but he nods before telling his brother, "I'm still secretly hoping we get to go back. I'll pray for it not to fall back on any of our loved ones, though."

Finn's frown lessens, and he places his hand on his little brother's shoulder, "I know you wish you were alive. I will pray that you get your wish without our loved ones coming to harm. However, remember that our best shot at coming back is Esther, and she's up to no good, so even if we do go back, there will be treachery to sort through."

Henrik nods, and I have no clue how much time passes, but then I hear buzz-kill Abby say, "Well I think I need to go home now. Jeremy, do you want a ride?"

That's just one more reason to dislike her selfish ass only a selfish woman would interrupt her daughter while she's kissing someone for the first time. I don't begrudge Jeremy though when he looks over at the pair.

Bonnie pulls away from Kol with a sheepish smile and looks at Jeremy, who stood up while she was busy kissing the vampire she hopes will someday soon be hers. She grins before telling him, "I can give you a ride when I leave if you want."

Jeremy nods and asks, "Only if Kol and Rebekah don't mind?"

He once more proves himself to be considerate of others and their opinions, so Kol shakes his head and says honestly, "You're more than welcome to, I believe the phrase is, 'hang out' until Bonnie goes home."

Beks nods and says, "I don't have a problem with you hanging out a while longer."

Jeremy nods back and says, "Thanks," then he turns to Abby and tells her, "Thanks for the ride here and supervising the spell, but I'll catch a ride home with Bonnie later."

Abby nods and 'Bekah escorts her around the house to the driveway.

Bonnie looks at Kol and blushes, so he chuckles and tells her, "There's no need to blush, though, I do enjoy the Jasmine scent of your blood so close to the surface."

She laughs and puts her hands on her hips before she tells him, "I just bet you do. So, what are we going to do now?"

He smiles and tells her, "I thought we could go in and watch the next movie in The Twilight Saga."

Smiling, she nods before turning to Jeremy and asking him, "That okay with you?"

Jeremy smiles back and nods, so after opening the circle and cleaning up the salt, they all head into the house where they find Rebekah already putting the DVD into the TV.

Rebekah walks to the coffee table and picks up a tall glass before handing it to Jeremy and telling him, "Based on the horrendous aroma that was wafting from that goblet before you drank from it I'm guessing you have a bad aftertaste. Because you mentioned a juice chaser, I took the liberty of pouring you a glass of Grape Juice."

He gives her a bright smile and tells her, "Oh God, yes, my mouth tastes nasty, so thank you times a million."

She smiles at him when he takes the glass from her and practically chugs the drink down. He gradually slows down, and when he finishes, he lets out a sigh and says, "Rebekah, you Rock! My mouth tastes much better now."

She smiles a wide and bright smile at him and then sits down on one of the couches before patting the spot beside her and telling the boy, "Take a load off, Jeremy."

He smiles and sits, so Kol follows suit and sits on the other couch. Just when Bonnie sits down and moves into her usual movie watching position snuggled against Kol's side the doorbell rings, so Rebekah hops up from her seat and runs to answer the door.

Kol's eyes widen a little, and his mouth opens slightly when a minute later Caroline comes into the room followed by his sister.

Bonnie sits up straight and asks, "Care? What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"

Caroline smiles and says, "So far as I know everything is fine. I was hoping I'd find you here, though. I wanted to tell you in person that I don't agree with 99.999% of the things Elena and Stefan said this afternoon."

Bonnie smiles and even though she can guess what her friend's answer will be she asks the girl, "What's the .001%?"

Caroline giggles and says, "Okay, I really don't agree with 100%, but you know how much I hate definitive statements like that."

Bonnie nods and gets up and hugs her friend, "Thank you, Care, you're a good friend."

Caroline grins and says, "So are you."

Just then when they release each other the blonde turns slightly, and Jeremy waves at her, which causes her jaw to drop to the floor before she says, "Uh, I clearly missed something because when I saw you last night Jer you still didn't have any arms?"

He chuckles and tells the girl who started as his sister's best friend but in the last month or so has become his best friend instead, "You just missed Bonnie making with the Mojo. You also just missed Abby leaving because she drove me here and stayed to read over the spell Kol wrote and then supervise to make sure everything was on the up and up."

Caroline turns and looks at Rebekah and Kol before she asks, "And you don't mind that she had someone double check that a spell you gave her was safe to use?"

Both originals shake their heads before Bonnie tells her, "It was actually Kol's idea the day I went to the beach with them. I called Abby and asked if the spell to return my balance was safe to do. Obviously, she said it was, but anyway, I've checked with her about most of the spells we've done, which for the record haven't actually been that many."

Caroline nods and says, "I know that's what you've been telling me. I just wanted to see their faces when I asked. So far as I can tell they really don't mind, so that's cool." She wrings her hands and shifts slightly before she says, "So, uh, I'll just—"

Rebekah interrupts, "Caroline, would you like to stay and watch Eclipse with us? I understand you're a huge fan of The Twilight Saga."

I smile both at Rebekah for inviting Caroline to stay and at Caroline's wide eyes when Rebekah offers the invitation.

Caroline looks at Bonnie and says, "If everyone doesn't mind, then sure. I'll never pass up an opportunity to stare at Jackson Rathbone or Kellan Lutz."

They all laugh at that and sit down and begin watching the movie.