Chapter 022

Just Squeeze

Friday, January 21, 2011, 7:00 a.m.

The Den in the Mikaelson Mansion

Rebekah and Jeremy woke up very early. Us ghosts still don't sleep so we mostly just sat and talked all night about how excited we are to be visible and corporeal again. Finn and I speculated about where Freya disappeared to, but my gut says she's okay and that whatever happened to her is what was supposed to happen and will ultimately help our family in the long run.

When Rebekah wakes up we experiment. We can turn ourselves invisible and essentially return to The Otherside at will, and we can still hear the thoughts of those who aren't ghosts regardless of whether we are visible to the living or not. We can touch anything we want, though, if we want to and when Caroline arrives just after 8 a.m. Rebekah shows her to the den and her jaw drops when she sees us ghosts just sitting on the couches with Jeremy.

I get a warm hug from Caroline who whispers to me, "It's so good to see you, Grams."

I smile and kiss her cheek before telling her, "It's good to be seen. Now what has you here so early? Is everything okay?"

She smiles and tells us, "Everything is perfect. I woke up early enough to go to school before it started and inform Mr. McMahon that I'm also dropping out to get my GED. To say he was surprised is an understatement. He made a comment about the top and third ranked students in our class dropping out together."

Jeremy frowns and asks, "You and Bonnie are first and third in your class and you're both okay with dropping out? I mean which of you is number one?"

Caroline smiles and says, "I'm number one, Tommy Dorsett is number two by .002 and then Bonnie is number three by .001. And really, I already sent out all of my applications including to three schools in the New Orleans area so they already know I'm ranked number one, so it doesn't really matter at this point. All that matters is that I actually get my GED before classes start for the fall semester."

He smiles and asks, "Didn't you, Bonnie, and Elena apply to all the same schools?"

She nods and says, "I'm not sure if Elena actually handed hers in yet but I know Bonnie and I both had the applications filled out and handed in before Thanksgiving for early decision. I do know Elena missed the deadline for early decision because she bitched about it for weeks, but in her defense I probably wouldn't have made the deadline either if I had transitioned a month before everything was due."

She sits down and then says, "Anyway, we should find out in the next week or so if we got in to all the schools, but given our records I'll be very surprised if either of us actually doesn't get into all the schools we applied to."

I smile and tell her, "Your mother must be very proud. I know I am incredibly proud of Bonnie."

She nods and then hesitantly asks, "Uh I know technically he was human when he died, but did you see my dad when he died?"

I get up and move to sit beside her. I hug her and tell her, "No baby. I'm pretty sure he found peace and went to heaven."

She nods but holds on tight for a minute. Then she pulls back and dabs at her eyes with the tissue Rebekah hands her. She says, "Thank you."

Rebekah just smiles and returns to her seat. Jeremy frowns a moment later and asks, "I saw him a few times right after he died but how come Ric isn't around?"

Finn leans forward on his seat and places his elbows on his knees before he says, "Alaric has been keeping an eye on Esther. She knows I'm currently angry with her, so she's been giving me a wide birth. Right after he died she approached him, and he has been helping her with her plans to be brought back. He visits with us every now and then, pretending to be collecting intelligence for her. He says her current plan is for her, Alaric and myself to be resurrected so that we can all work together on killing my siblings. He and I have both vowed to each other that whoever gets the first shot will rip her heart out. We hope we'll be able to do it before she has a chance to compel either of us again into hunting my siblings. We figured out that Alaric's murdering issues were actually a result of a witch compulsion that forced his dark aspect, which everyone has inside them, to the forefront. She basically forced him to turn off his switch even before he became a vampire. Then she apparently compelled him again once he finished the transition because his death would have undone the original compulsion. So that is why he has not visited with you because he's pretending he's on board mother's 'kill all vampires' bandwagon. Our plan currently is to let her resurrect us, because we wouldn't be able to stop her anyway and then kill her before she can do any damage. We're fairly certain that if he comes back to life he will no longer be tied to Ms. Gilbert because she already died."

I add, "Esther would have to retie them together after Alaric returns in order for him to die when Elena dies. He knows her plans though and Chalina and Josefina have been watching too and they're all fairly confident that she has no clue that Alaric plans to betray her or that Finn has plans to rip her heart out before she can utter the words of the compulsion for a third time."

Jeremy frowns and asks, "Wait so Finn, I was actually wondering this, but I figured Kol knew something we didn't, so your mom actually compelled you to help her kill your own siblings?"

He nods and says, "Exactly. She also compelled my loyalty, which she had also done when I was human. The first time she did it was to keep me quiet about the fact that she gave Freya to our aunt Dahlia. Mikael and the siblings born after me were all told she died of the plague. Obviously, she didn't but I was old enough to know that she hadn't actually died so Esther compelled my loyalty and silence. This last time, however, was the most convenient way to kill all of us."

The teen nods and says, "That sucks man, well I'll help you guys defeat her in any way I can so just let me know if you think of something helpful I can do, okay?"

Finn smiles a genuine smile and says, "Thank you, Mr. Gilbert."

Jeremy chuckles and says, "I think you can call me Jeremy because I've pretty much adopted your family as my own at this point."

Caroline chimes in, "The same for me Finn, don't go thinking you have to call me Ms. Forbes. Caroline will do because we're all as good as family so far as I'm concerned."

Jeremy nods and says, "What she said."

Finn and I laugh before Henrik adds, "I'm bored. I've been sitting watching everyone else do stuff for 1,009 years. I want to do something for a change."

Caroline smiles and says, "Well, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe Jer and I promised a cooking lesson so why don't we go make breakfast for everyone while we wait for Bonnie and Kol to wake up."

Everyone nods so we all stand and follow Caroline and Rebekah into the kitchen.

We're all in the kitchen having fun while Caroline, Jeremy and myself all teach the three individuals born before the turn of the last millennium how to cook a proper hole-in-the-bread egg.

Jeremy demonstrates what to do and then while he cooks the egg and the little piece of hole beside it he tells them all, "You want it to be runny, not hard."

Henri and Rebekah ask at the same time, "But why? We always cooked our eggs fully."

Jer hold his finger up to indicate he needs a minute then he flips the egg and waits another minute or two before plating it and handing it to Rebekah, "Here try that."

Rebekah cuts into the bread egg concoction and then takes a bite before promptly moaning and saying, "Runny it is," which causes all of our companions to laugh because those of us who have tried it before agree.

Henrik pouts and says, "No fair. I wish I could eat food."

Jeremy turns and looks at him and then at me and asks, "What's the worst case scenario if we let him try it?"

Henri bounces on his toes while I frown and consider before telling Jeremy, "I'm not sure. I don't think it'll be anything too bad though, maybe just a mess, or possibly him throwing up and creating a mess."

Jeremy smiles at Henri and asks, "So Henri, you willing to risk maybe getting sick to see if you ghosts can eat human food?"

He smiles and bounces harder while nodding so Jeremy takes another fork and knife out of the drawer and cuts up Rebekah's egg a little more prompting her to pull her plate away from him and tell him, "Hey, I'm eating that."

He laughs and tells her, "I'll make you a new one, promise."

She nods and relinquishes her plate. Jeremy finishes cutting a piece of egg and then puts it on the fork and carefully turns to Henrik. He laughs again though says, "You need to stand still or it's going to fall on the floor and we don't want to waste it, or make a mess because I will make you clean it up if you make me drop it."

Henri nods and stops bouncing so Jeremy hands him the fork and Henrik sniffs at the food and then pops it into his mouth. He moans a second later and begins chewing and then he swallows and says, "That is amazing! What is it called again?"

Jeremy laughs again and says, "Who knew ghosts can eat people food? And it's called a hole-in-the-bread egg. I think some people also call them sunshine or sunrise eggs or something, but my family always called them hole-in-the-bread eggs. They're a family favorite."

Henri smiles and says, "Beks, can I have this one and Jeremy can make you another one?"

Jeremy leans closer to her and says, "I'll make you two of them if you relinquish this one."

She grins and says, "You, my friend, have yourself a deal."

Jeremy smiles and nods and goes back to cooking before looking over his shoulder at Henri who is pouting and telling him, "Don't worry, Henri, I'll make you a second one too. Elena's the only person I know who only eats one in a sitting. Everyone else always has two."

Henri frowns and asks, "Is there something wrong with your sister? How could anyone pass up two of these?"

Jeremy laughs and says, "The list of things wrong with my sister is far too long to get into this morning but sufficed to say she hasn't been right in the head for some time."

Henri just nods while he wolfs down his food. Jeremy turns to Rebekah and asks, "You want to try making it this time so you know how and can make them anytime you want?"

She nods so she gets up and Jeremy supervises her making the egg. A few minutes later Bonnie and Kol join us just when Jeremy is holding a plate for Rebekah while she puts two eggs on it and then she turns and hands it to Kol and says, "Here, I cooked it. Tell me if it's any good."

Bonnie hugs me tightly while Kol smiles before he ruffles his younger brother's hair when he passes him, which prompts the ancient boy to say, "Koool, Stooop. I just brushed it."

Kol laughs before he sits down but says nothing in response before picking up a fork and knife and cutting into the very runny egg/bread combination. Jeremy tells him, "Make sure you sop up the yolk with the bread because that's the best part and kind of the whole point of eating one of these."

Kol nods and does as told and then smiles while he chews, "Beks, this is amazing."

Jer nods and says, "See, you need to trust the humans and recently turned vampire when it comes to these things because we do actually know a thing or two about modern food."

Kol nods and scoops up another bite.

Soon Rebekah has made enough for everyone including the three ghosts and we're all sitting and eating and after she takes a bite she says, "Hmm, you definitely know what you're talking about."

We smile and nod while we focus on eating our own food. Jer pauses after chewing and turns to look at Rebekah before asking, "So we know Kol compelled pretty much everyone, me included but have you compelled any of us Beks?"

She shakes her head and tells us all, "Other than Damon on New Year's Eve and Bonnie's dad, no, but I knew what Kol was doing even if some of it was after the fact. I will make a promise to all of you, though. I won't compel any of you without your permission."

We all nod and Kol adds, "I know I already promised Jer but I make the same promise to all of you, not just him."

Caroline smiles and tells us all, "If I were you guys, I probably would have done the same thing. In fact, I've wished a couple times these last few weeks that I could compel some common sense into our old friends, so because you both promise not to compel me again without my prior consent I'll forgive you, too."

Kol nods back and says, "Thank you, both of you for giving me a second chance to prove myself. I know third chances are hard to come by so I won't waste this opportunity."

We all smile again and nod before we all go back to eating. Henri has finished his two eggs and is busy tearing up a paper napkin into little pieces and then blowing the pieces towards his brother's plate. Kol keeps scowling when a few pieces float into his food but he has a hard time keeping his smile from betraying him.

A few minutes later Bonnie turns and looks at Kol before she asks, "Do you want to come with me to my house and help me pack?"

He smiles but asks her, "Would you invite me if I didn't already have an invitation?"

She smiles and tells him honestly, "Actually if that was the case then I'd invite you in."

He sits up straight and puts his fork down on the table before he looks at her, "Bonnie…"

She smiles wider and nudges his leg with her foot, "I can feel you, Kol. You honestly love me, and I can tell you would do everything in your power to protect me, not just from physical harm but emotional pain, too, as evidenced by the compulsions you placed on our friends, so I know without a doubt that you're not going to show up and kill my dad even if you do think he deserves it because you know it would hurt me, so I'd totally invite you in if necessary."

He frowns and says, "I had hoped you knew all of that, but thank you for the trust you have freely given to me."

She smiles widely and tells him, "You deserve it. Without going into details I'd rather not talk about, you've protected me from physical harm and even healed me when you didn't have to, so I know you deserve my trust. I know it without any doubt."

He smiles then and it reaches his eyes making them sparkle before he says, "Then in that case, yes, I'll come with you and help you pack."

Her smile gets impossibly bigger before she looks at Rebekah and asks, "Okay then, would you mind if I invite Beks along?"

He looks at his mate for a long minute then says, "I know 'Bekah would never hurt you, but are you sure you want to invite her into your house and take away that added level of security?"

Bonnie nods and looks at the girl in question before she says, "She's quickly become one of my best friends, and because I invited my other best friend in yesterday I figure it's only fair, and I'm just as certain she won't hurt me or my dad as I am that you won't hurt me or him, so…"

He nods then says, "Then I'll leave the decision up to you. I just wanted to make sure you had really thought about it and weren't doing it as a reflexive reaction to Elena's behavior yesterday."

My granddaughter shakes her head and tells him, "It's not, I've actually been considering it for over a week now, and I also have been on the verge of inviting Caroline in. Mostly I hadn't invited her in because she's so young, and I wanted to make sure she wouldn't lose control and hurt me or my dad by accident, but I know now that she's got it as under control as possible, so I'm having faith that she loves me more than any amount of anger she might feel."

He nods and so does Caroline but he tells her, "Um, I may have compelled all of your supernatural friends not to threaten or harm you ever again, so even though it's probably wholly unnecessary the compulsion should keep everyone but Caroline from trying to harm you because I didn't re-compel her after I died."

Bonnie's eyes are wide when she asks, "Is there anything else you compelled them to do or not do?"

He pauses and narrows his eyes while he thinks then he says, "I think that covers everything but if I recall anything else I'll let you know."

I can see in Bonnie's head that he's still glowing green, so she nods then goes back to our original subject and says, "So Beks, would you like to come to my house and help me pack for New Orleans?"

We all laugh when Rebekah vigorously nods her head smiling while she says, "Yes, more than anything!"

Bonnie nods and gets up from the table to wash off her plate and put it in the dishwasher before she tells them, "Then we should probably be heading out soon because I've got a lot to pack, and I'm not sure I'm leaving very much behind. All the magick books have to come, too, so…."

They nod and Kol tells us, "I spoke to Elijah, and he said the new house has a very large library that all of our combined libraries of books should fit into if you don't mind us keeping all of our grimoires together."

Bonnie shakes her head to show she doesn't mind so he continues the thought, "When you finish packing each of your boxes and bags we can teleport them to the library or your personal room depending on what's in the box."

She nods and when Caroline stands the younger blonde tells us all, "When I told my mom I'm moving, I used my considerable ability to persuade without compulsion and convinced her to invite Kol and Rebekah into the house so that they can help me move. Anyway, if we finish at Bon's early enough we can head to my house and pack my things, too.

We all nod at that while we head out of the kitchen and those with rooms here head up to their respective rooms to get ready for the day.

Once they're dressed and back in the foyer Kol smiles and says, "Caroline and Jer would either of you mind if I do The Truth Spell on you both right now, so you'll both be able to more easily ascertain whether a person you're speaking with is lying or not?"

They turn and look at Bonnie, so she tells them, "It's safe and I've already got it on me as do all of the Mikaelson's except Henri and Finn so it should be fine and might actually be really helpful."

They nod so Kol places the spell on each of them and then says, "Henri, Finn, and Ms. Bennett I want to try it on you and see if it'll work okay?"

Henrik smiles a very wide smile and bounces on his toes while he says, "Sure. I was beginning to feel left out anyway."

Finn and I nod more sedately and I laugh and tell them all, "I thought we agreed while you were on the Otherside that you may all call me Sheila or Grams depending on your comfort level calling a woman who might be younger than you Grams."

Kol and Rebekah smile and then in unison tell me, "Grams then."

I smile and Kol places the spell on us and then his sister says, "Elena is my most favorite person in the whole wide world."

Care, Jer, and Henri's eyes all get wide before Beks asks, "What did you all see?"

Henri all of us to it and says, "You had a bright red glow surrounding you. That is so neat!"

Jer and Caroline nod in agreement before Kol smiles and says, "To be clear, green means truth, red means lie and yellow means the person is bending the truth. The brightness of the yellow seems to indicate the level of truth or lie in the bending with the brighter color meaning it's more lie than truth."

We all nod again so he smiles back and then asks us all, "Okay, so are we ready?"

We all answer in the affirmative, so we head out to the cars and take Bonnie's and Caroline's to my granddaughter's house.

When we arrive at my granddaughter's home she walks up to the front door and lets everyone in. The blonde original is near tears when she walks over the threshold so the dark skinned witch smiles and tells her, "Let me give you, Kol, Finn, and Henrik the quick tour then we can head to my room and the two spare rooms and start packing."

The blonde nods so Bonnie leads the Mikaelson children through the downstairs pointing out the living room, kitchen, and her dad's room, though we don't go into his room. They take the time to examine each photo on the wall in the hallway occasionally asking how old the teenage witch was in each shot. When she gets to the end of the hall she stops and looks at a picture taken a few days before Grayson and Miranda Gilbert died. Caroline, Tyler, Matt, Elena, and Bonnie are all smiling big and holding each other close.

Kol stops beside the frowning girl and smiles before he says, "I know you're sad about the loss of your friendship with Elena but try to remember the happy times like this one here. Eventually the pain you feel now will be overshadowed by the happiness you felt that day, and it'll get a little easier to bear the loss. Although I'll be honest, the pain will probably never completely go away, or at least not for many centuries especially because she will also still be around to remind you of the loss, but it should get much easier with time."

My grandbaby just nods before hugging him tightly. She's brought out of the hug with a chuckle from the young ghost whisperer who is watching while the youngest original leans in close to a picture of Bonnie and Jeremy hugging when she was maybe seven years old and he was about four or so. Smiling big the teenage boy says to the ancient vampire, "Betcha didn't know I was such a cute kid huh? I'm not sure what happened, but my mom always used to say everyone thought I was the cutest kid around."

Rebekah smiles before she glances at him and tells him, "You're still cute. Just in a slightly different way now."

Everyone else laughs at Jeremy's wide eyes and Rebekah's slight blush despite being a vampire then when the silence that follows becomes slightly uncomfortable my granddaughter leads our merry band up the stairs to her room, and she points out the two spare rooms while we walk by them.

When we all enter her bedroom she blushes and tells us, "Uh wow, this is the first time boys other than Matt and Tyler have been in my room, and they haven't come in here since before I started noticing boys were cute."

Kol smiles and tells her, "I'll be happy to help you pack your underwear drawer."

He frowns when he gets swatted from the front and back by Caroline, Rebekah, Bonnie, and me while Jeremy, Finn, and Henri all laugh their butts off. The second youngest original looks at his teenage friend and asks, "Where is the man solidarity, Jeremy?"

The former hunter smiles and tells him, "Are you kidding? I know better. I'm living with you guys now, so all of them have access to the house I'm staying in, so I'm not going to do or say anything that might piss them off and make them come visit me while I'm sleeping. While I doubt Grams would stoop so low I have memories of Care, Bon and Elena putting toothpaste on my face while I slept because I did something or the other and pissed them off. And for the record that stuff stings."

The two teenage girls nod so Kol frowns deeper and tells us, "I suppose I should behave?" When we nod at him he pouts and tells us, "But misbehaving can be so much fun. I'll miss it."

We burst out laughing at that and Bonnie tells him, "Oh, I'm sure you can still manage to have some fun without misbehaving too badly."

Her mate smiles and says, "I'm going to hold you to that."

Smiling back she tells him, "First I'm going to put you to work, and no you can't pack my underwear drawer."

He pouts again before he tells her, "But modern lady's underthings are so much better than the old stuff. Are you sure I can't help?"

Giggling the dark skinned teen tells him. "I'm sure."

Henri groans and asks, "God, is it just me or are they even mushier than they were before I was corporeal?"

Everyone else nods deeply while Kol and Bonnie pout and her blush grows hotter. The second youngest original laughs a moment later and although his pout deepens before he smiles he says, "I'm going to ignore that comment because I'm so happy to have you back Henri."

The ancient boy smiles and says, "Aww love you too, Big Brother."

Kol smiles widely and then turns to his mate and says, "Okay, put me to work."

She smiles and looks around before going out to the hallway and jumping while she tries to grab the string hanging from the ceiling so she can open the attic. He follows her out into the hallway and just watches her jump a couple of times before he chuckles and walks over putting his hand on her shoulder before he tells her, "Allow me," then annoying tall person that he is he simply reaches up and grabs the cord.

He pulls the stairs down so after telling him, "I'll be right back," he nods and she goes up the stairs. I go back to The Otherside and peak while she looks around at all of my daughter's old stuff and the new bookcases full of mine and some of Dr. Martin's books and then heads over to the corner where her luggage is stored. She grabs all three bags and stumbles towards the stairs and a moment before she would have planted her face on the floor Kol is holding her and shaking his head, "We're not in a race, Little Bella, it's okay to take multiple trips instead of trying to carry three bags all at once and taking a tumble down the stairs. I'd really prefer not to test out just how durable The Linking Spell has made you, so one thing at a time okay?"

I nod because I'd also prefer not to test her durability. I can hear in her thoughts though that she can't explain it, but she feels like we need to hurry, so she tells him, "My gut says we need to hurry."

He looks at her for a long minute then he nods and says, "Okay then Beks, Finn, Caroline, and I can do the heavy lifting, okay? Last thing we need is you or Jeremy getting hurt, okay?"

She nods and hands him the bags when he lets go of her and holds his arms out for them.

He easily carries all three down the stairs at one time, so she follows him down the stairs and then puts the stairs back up into the ceiling.

I return to the bedroom and turn myself corporeal just before he follows her into her room where Bonnie and I both do a double take at the blonde original who is smiling proudly over a pile of boxes that are already put together. When her eyes meet mine she tells me, "I teleported them from our attic where Nik put them after we all moved into our current house. He told me to tell Bon, Care and Jer to use as many as they need, and he even gave me permission to use his card to buy more if we need them."

Bonnie nods and smiles before telling her, "Thanks, I know I have a couple of boxes in the basement but I wasn't sure what to do about everything that wouldn't fit in them so this solves that problem."

The ancient blonde nods then asks, "So what do you want us to do first?"

The teen witch grabs two boxes and leads the youngest original, Henri, Finn, and Jer to the spare room next door to hers and asks, "Would you mind putting as many of these books as you can fit into boxes? Pretty much every book in here has to go. All the books in the room next door are going too."

Jeremy smiles and says, "Here Beks, give me two boxes, and Henri and I will go start in the other room. You and Finn can do this room, Care and Grams can work on the books in Bonnie's room, and Bon and Kol can work on Bonnie's personal stuff. I don't know about you, but I'd feel weird going through her personal things."

Finn nods deeply at that last part so Rebekah nods too and then she and her older brother start at opposite ends of the room and begin putting books into boxes while Jeremy and Henri go into the other room.

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Chapter 105

You'll Know When It's Time

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Friday, January 21, 2011, 10:00 a.m.

Bonnie's Bedroom

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When Bonnie and I go back to her bedroom the young blonde is already putting books into boxes while Kol lays on my granddaughter's bed with Ms. Pips, her plush purple bunny rabbit, on his chest. He's playing with the dolls arms bringing a giggle bubbling up out of the teen witch's mouth before she frowns when she recalls Elena telling her that Damon used to do the same thing with her bear anytime he visited her bedroom before they began dating and doing other things in bedrooms.

I decide to leave them both to it and walk over to Caroline and begin helping her while Bonnie also decides to leave the shaggy haired original where he is and heads over to her dresser to begin emptying it into one of her suitcases. She blushes eight shades of red when she opens her underwear drawer and begins putting the mostly lacy items into the bag.

She feels eyes on her and sure enough when she looks over her shoulder the ancient man is staring at her intently before he smiles and says, "One day, Little Bella, I will get you to model each of those for me."

I just giggle and shake my head as my granddaughter thinks, 'Oh my God.' Caroline just giggles while her friend turns an even deeper shade of red then she tells the dark skinned girl, "It'll be fun, so don't worry about it."

Bonnie groans and then ignoring the 'him' in question she tells her blonde friend, "Let's pretend my grandmother isn't in the room. It'll be fun? Try nerve wracking. I had a hard enough time wearing my bathing suit in front of him and his brothers."

Caroline stops what she's doing and looks at her still heavily blushing friend before frowning and asking, "Um why? You've got a rockin' body, Bon, and he obviously digs you, and I sincerely doubt he has a single negative thought about you in regards to your underwear. In fact, I bet you could wear a burlap sack and he'd still think you're hot."

The shaggy haired vampire laughs from the bed and tells his new blonde friend, "I don't think there is a single thing in existence that she could possibly wear that would cause me to think she's anything other than stunning."

He's very good for my granddaughter's self esteem. Caroline smiles and says, "See, he thinks you're beautiful. I know new things are scary until you do them a couple of times but Kol's not gonna let you flounder okay? He obviously loves you, anyone can see that so no worries."

He clears his throat and says, "Little Bella what did I tell you yesterday? You are in control here. We'll go at your pace, and we'll stop whenever you want, and I won't even get angry with you if you wind me up and then send me to take a cold shower. You, My Little Bella, are in charge when it comes to your body and my being granted the privilege of enjoying the many pleasures I'm sure it can offer. I'm willing to wait for you to be ready for whatever you want to do with me, and I'm sorry because I seem to have made you uncomfortable with my teasing, and that was not my intent. I'm just very much looking forward to seeing you in your underwear and without as well, but if you prefer I keep that to myself for the time being I can do that until you are more comfortable with me and our having a physical relationship."

Technically they're married now. That Linking Spell only works if the two doing the spell are truly soul mates and intended for each other. Obviously since it worked God intends for them to be together as one so I'm slowly getting used to the idea of my baby girl doing those sorts of things with the ancient vampire.

It wasn't a standard wedding but it was essentially the same thing only without witnesses, or without any the pair is aware of anyway. I doubt she's ready to hear that according to witch custom they're pretty much married though so I keep my thoughts to myself for the time being. Bonnie frowns while she considers the vampire's words. On the one hand, she kind of likes his teasing. She's just nervous about doing anything, but on the other hand, the idea of him seeing her in her underthings makes her tummy rumble, and although it's not a completely terrible sensation it is relatively unfamiliar. She shakes her head and tells the ancient man, "I don't mind your teasing. I think it'll actually help me get more comfortable with it all. I'm just nervous, um, you're the only person other than my parents and my doctor who's seen me topless, and you're definitely the only person who's seen me that way since I developed curves, and well what if you don't like how I look? I mean now you're stuck with me and what if—"

I smile pleased when she doesn't get to finish because he's up off the bed in a flash and tipping her chin up, so he can look into her eyes while he tells her, "Bonnie, I need you to listen very carefully. Can you do that for me?"

He used her name and his tone is serious, so she nods as much as his hand on her chin will allow. His eyes soften and fill with his love for her before he continues, "I've seen enough of you thus far to know that there isn't a single inch I won't think is absolutely stunning. I know it's natural to worry about that sort of thing, but I can tell you unequivocally that there are mere inches of you that I haven't seen, basically what the bottom half of your bathing suit covered, so I am quite certain that I will love every remaining inch of you just as much as I love the parts of you that I've already seen. You're a tiny thing, your complexion is flawless, and your curves are very pleasing, so don't worry that I'm not going to like what you look like naked because I can already guarantee I'm going to be quite taken by you in the nude. I, I love you and that includes every single last inch of you, and I know you'll worry until it happens, but I'm a guy, so I think most women are beautiful regardless of their size or color, and I think you personally are even more stunning than most, so try not to worry about it too much, okay?"

Um wow, I take it back my ancient friend isn't just good he's on a whole level higher than good. His mate just nods before telling him, "O-okay, I'll try."

He leans down and kisses her then he smiles when he pulls away and zips back over to the bed laying down so fast she barely sees him move despite her having vampire senses now.

The witch looks over at Caroline who is smiling like a ninny so she asks her vampire friend, "What has you smiling like a crazy person?"

The blonde giggles and tells her best friend, "We're both very lucky because the Mikaelson men seem to be very good at sensing our insecurities, and despite their bad reps they are very good at reassuring us that we're perfect just the way we are. Did I ever show you the drawing Klaus made me? Now you know I'm not particularly insecure about how I look. My insecurities lay elsewhere, but when I saw that drawing and realized that that's how he sees me well it made me feel really good about myself, and I can tell Kol has the same effect on you with his words."

The hazel-eyed girl nods and goes back to packing before she screws up her nerves and asks, "Grams, do you have anything to add?"

Smiling while I pack another box full of books I look up at her and tell her, "No, you're an adult now Baby Girl. And Kol is your mate so it stands to reason you'll eventually do those sorts of things together. I'm pleased to see that he's not rushing you and that he's letting you set the pace but I don't object if that's what you mean. It's natural and when you're ready you'll know and it won't matter what I think or what Caroline or anyone else thinks because you'll want to share your body with the man you love and express your love for him in that most intimate of ways. All I can say is don't rush but don't worry about it either, you'll know when it's right and I'm confident that Kol loves you and will let you lead and not rush you to be ready before you actually are."

My grandbaby nods with wide eyes and we all go back to packing.

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Chapter 106

Just Squeeze

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Friday, January 21, 2011, 1:00 p.m.

Bonnie's House

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Almost three hours later Bonnie's tummy grumbles telling her it's time for lunch, so she finishes packing all of her trinkets and pictures off of her vanity and then turns and looks at Kol who is once again laying on her bed playing with Ms. Pips after having gone down to the basement and teleporting all of her grimoires from down there off of her new bookshelves and to the house in New Orleans. He's also teleported all the books and artifacts from the attic too and has helped his sister teleport the boxes the rest of us have filled.

Smiling the teen witch asks, "Is anyone else hungry? Because I could go for some food pretty soon."

Caroline smiles from her spot on the floor in front of her friend's closet where she's packing my granddaughter's extensive shoe collection into boxes and says, "I'm in the mood for Grille Cheese and Tomato Soup. Do you have the makings for it, or should I run home and grab them from my kitchen?"

Bonnie thinks, 'Hmm yum,' and then smiles before telling her blonde friend, "I think I have everything we'll need. Let's go grab Jer, Beks, Finn, and Henri and we can teach the thousand-year-old members of our family how to make proper Grille Cheese Sandwiches."

The two girls giggle and soon we're all down in the kitchen where I help Bonnie take everything out of the fridge and cupboard. We very quickly show them how to make the perfect ooey-gooey cheese sandwiches and when the last one is made we all sit down and begin eating. Henri frowns while he watches Jer dump a handful of goldfish crackers into his soup. The ghost picks up one of the crackers that landed on the table and looks at it for a minute before he pops it into his mouth. His eyes widen before he moans and begins chewing. We all smile when he says, "God, this tastes amazing too. What is this called?"

Jer laughs and says, "It's called a goldfish. It's a cracker that tastes like cheddar cheese, which you probably haven't ever had before either because I don't think it existed 1,000 plus years ago."

All the people who were present 1,000 years ago nod while Henri takes a handful of the crackers and dumps them into his soup too.

He eagerly begins slurping up his soup and happily crunching on the goldfish in his bowl.

Bonnie's only taken three bites when someone begins pounding on her front door. She looks at Kol and asks, "Do your vampire spidey senses have any clue who that is because mine don't?"

He doesn't get a chance to answer when Elena pounds on the door again and says loudly, "I know you're in there Bonnie, your car is out front. Open the damn door."

Sighing the witch gets up from her seat and takes two steps towards the door when her mate puts his hand on her arm and says, "Remember she can't get in or touch you if you stay inside the house. My compulsions on her will only keep her from 'knowingly' harming you. If you recall she managed to bruise you without realizing it once before and that was after I compelled her not to try to harm you, so because she's obviously upset and there is no telling what she might try to do, no matter what don't let any part of you cross that threshold if you don't want me defending you and harming your friend."

The young teen nods solemnly and tells him, "I know, but thank you for the reminder."

He just nods before Elena kicks the door and I hear the wood crack a little. The dark skinned girl marches to the door and wrenches it open before telling her former friend, "Stop beating on my house it didn't do anything to you, and I'll be really pissed off if you break my front door."

We all get up and peer around the door so we can see Elena but she can't see us. The baby vampire's nostrils flare and her hands are in fists at her sides. Her eyes flash and she asks, "Is it true? Did you give The Originals back their magick?"

Crap. Sighing, Bonnie shakes her head and tells her, "I was present when it happened, but it wasn't my doing. The spell was already in their possession and they simply chose to try it the same time I did."

"You stupid bitch don't you see? They're turning you against us. The Bonnie I know and love never would have done anything to make The Freaking Originals stronger than they already were. 1,000-year-old vampires were scary enough, but now they have fucking magick? And it's all your fault."

The brat's still not listening but my grandbaby still tries to get through to the girl, "I told you I didn't do anything. They already had the damn spell and for the record they're much calmer and less likely to wreak havoc and do evil than they were before they got their magick back."

The doppelgänger sneers, "Oh, I'm sure they're just as harmless as fluffy bunnies!"

Henri giggles and says, "Not bloody likely."

The dark skinned witch chuckles and turning to look at him says, "Oh Hush you."

He laughs and mimes zipping his lips and locking them before tossing the make-believe key over his shoulder.

The witch giggles again before shaking her head lightly and refocusing on Elena. The baby vampire's eyes are narrowed and her eyebrow is raised before Bonnie tells her quite honestly, "Oh they're much more dangerous than a fluffy bunny. They just choose not to do harm. Now if you're done yelling at me and beating on my house my lunch is getting cold."

She closes the door and leans against it before yelping when her former friend lands a solid kick to it that sends wood flying into my granddaughter's leg. Kol is by her side almost faster than her blood flows. He grabs her hand and begins leading her to the couch and says, "Little Bella lay down on the couch and I'll pull the wood out so it can heal."

The dazed witch just nods before more wood goes flying, and some of it hits her back and then falls to the floor. Caroline frowns and opens the front door before she asks rather snottily, "What is your glitch Elena? I mean really? You're breaking Bonnie's house in a way that she'll have to try to explain to her Dad later. How immature are you?"

The blonde baby vampire goes to take a step out of the house when the older blonde original walks beside her and holds her arm keeping her in place before she tells Caroline, "Kol's compulsion from last night should keep her from trying to harm you, but it also should have probably kept her from trying to destroy Bonnie's house, so it's best you not go out there, especially because I'm not in the mood to deal with Nik when I have to explain how she managed to get close enough to hurt you."

The younger blonde doesn't get a chance to answer because Elena rushes the invisible barrier and screams, "You fucking invited Rebekah, Kol, and Caroline inside? You've refused to invite any vampires in and now suddenly you're inviting them inside? Don't you see, they're compelling you or brainwashing you or something because the Bonnie I know never would have invited any vampire inside her dad's house where they could hurt him whenever they want."

Bonnie winces while Kol motions for her to lay down, but she shakes her head and walks back to the door, or rather she limps to the door, and mindful to stay on this side of the threshold she looks at her former friend and tells her, "They haven't done anything to indicate to me that they're a threat to me or mine. You, Stefan and Damon on the other hand have all hurt me or in Stefan's case he hurts anyone who's near an open wound… so of course I haven't invited the three of you inside my house. Caroline on the other hand has helped me bandage bloody wounds on three different occasions without even getting vein-ey around the eyes. And don't get me started on Kol and Beks lack of violence towards me and those I care about."

The brunette baby vampire huffs and says, "Uh, are you forgetting I'm a vampire because Rebekah killed me or that Kol chopped off Jer's arms after trying to kill him through Damon. And those are only three of the times they've hurt us. There have actually been a whole bunch more."

My granddaughter frowns at the still seething vampire and leans forward a little before she tells her, "I meant after our truce was formed. Besides I've already explained multiple times that killing you was the only way to save all vampires everywhere, and the whole Jer thing was with his permission, and he doesn't seem to mind being friends with them anyway."

Frowning the doppelgänger leans against the invisible barrier and says, "Of course he's cool with them. You told him they're cool, and since he's in love with you and follows you around like a little lost puppy of course he's going to think they're harmless."

Bonnie and Caroline both hold in giggles forcefully when Henri snorts and says, "Oh he's in love with a witch alright but I don't think her name is Bonnie. Although her name starts with the same letter sometimes."

Rebekah smacks the back of her little brother's head causing him to yelp and say, "Hey now, there's no need to get violent, especially when Bonnie is busy extolling just how non-violent you all are nowadays."

Bonnie can't hold the giggle in any longer but it dies quickly when Elena growls and her vampire visage comes to the fore just before she smacks at the barrier, so the witch smiles a not nice smile and tells her, "Oh they're not even remotely harmless, and if you don't leave I might be more than a little tempted to let them beat some sense into you, so I strongly suggest you leave, now."

The new vampire shakes her head and tells her former friend, "Don't you see what they're doing. You're betraying me to them because you're believing their lies. They're not really your friends. Even with them having magick again they're just using you. They—"

Kol gently moves Bonnie out of the way and stands just inside the door jam before he interrupts the baby vampire and tells her, "Enough, I tire of you trying to convince Bonnie that we mean her harm when we don't mean her anything of the sort. I want you to think of all the times Bonnie has been hurt or in danger. How many of those times were a direct result of your or your group's actions and not the result of my family's actions, because from where I'm counting Nik and I are the only ones from my family who have actively tried to harm Bonnie. And even then I changed my plans when I realized how great she is, so I made a move to attack her once and then midway through changed my ways and Nik tried to harm her once while you and yours have harmed her countless times, and I'm including the instances where you encouraged her to use dark magick because if she had continued on that path she'd probably be dead right now no thanks to you and your merry band of idiots. Now leave before I compel you to leave all of us alone for the rest of eternity."

The bratty vampire raises her chin and says, "I dare you to try. Then Bonnie will see your true colors."

The original turns and looks at my grimacing granddaughter, "Either I compel her to go away or I beat some manners into her. The choice is yours, Bonnie."

The young witch certainly doesn't want him to hurt her former friend despite how horrible the baby vampire is being to Jeremy and herself so Bonnie tells him, "Just make her go away."

The shaggy haired vampire nods and catches the younger vampire's eyes despite her trying to avoid looking at him. He tells her, "You will leave here and go to the boarding house. You will not try to speak to nor contact Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline or any Mikaelson unless we contact you first and even then you are only to interact with us with our permission. If any of us ever tell you to leave us alone you will immediately cease trying to contact us. You also will not try to harm any of the previously mentioned individuals' property under any circumstance. Now leave and don't come back."

The ancient teen holds the younger girl's gaze while she repeats the compulsion back to him, and then he releases her and we all watch the baby vampire immediately turn and stomp to her car. When she's in her car and drives off Kol turns to Bonnie and says, "Now, Little Bella, lay down on the couch so I can remove the wood from your leg and back."

My grandbaby's eyes widen before she asks, "My back?"

The original nods and tells his mate, "Yes there is a rather large piece of wood sticking out of your back. I imagine the adrenaline is keeping you from noticing it, so I'd rather take it out and let it heal before the adrenaline wears off."

The trembling teen just nods and lets him lead her to the couch. He leans down and kisses her telling her, "Don't worry, the high will keep you from feeling most of the pain of me removing it and then you'll be good as new in no time, though you may end up sleeping once the high wears off, but if that happens we'll just continue packing your things until you wake up okay?"

The young witch nods kind of in a daze and lies down on her stomach while he helps her onto the couch. Caroline comes over and grabs a hold of her friend's hand and tells the darker skinned girl, "If you feel any pain squeeze my hand okay? You can't hurt me or if you do I'll heal right away so just squeeze."

Nodding the hazel-eyed girl then yelps and squeezes for dear life when Kol pulls the piece of wood out of her back. He lifts the back of her shirt and then says, "Dammit, Little Bella, I need you to take your shirt off so I can get the little splinters out okay?"

She nods again still in a daze and slips her shirt off grimacing when she begins to feel the stirrings of pain while she moves. Jer brings something to Kol and hands it to him and I realize a moment later that it's tweezers when the original begins removing little pieces of wood.

Rebekah pulls the wood out of Bonnie's leg and then rolls the younger girl's pant leg up and inspects the skin before she tells us, "It looks like the big piece in her leg was the only piece that got through her jeans."

Bonnie doesn't hear Kol's response and she shuts her eyes. She's so very tired, so she just allows herself to drift to sleep.