A/N: You guys are so mean to me T.T Early on the story when I gave you ElijahxVanessa you guys were asking for Kol. Now that I gave you KolxVanessa you guys are asking for Elijah. Hahahahahah but we'll see. May the best man win! And to clarify to a guest, Vanessa never turned her humanity off. And I only own my OCs!
Chapter 32: …Stays in Denver
"Good morning, sunshine," Kol's voice greeted me as he drew the curtain, letting the orange and warm sunshine entered the room. I groaned, turning over and grabbing a pillow, covering my head with it. As a human it might shut him out but thanks to my vampire hearing, I could still hear him. "Wake up, love. Jeremy's asking for you," he said, and I felt the side of the bed shifted with weight as he plopped down next to me.
"Hmm what time is it?" I mumbled under my pillow, refused to open my eyes.
"Past noon," he said and I groaned, curling further under the blanket.
"I'm tired," I complained and could feel him rolling his eyes. "I got tortured last night and almost died. Can't I just sleep in?"
"It's not an attractive look for girls to wake up late," he said and I rolled my eyes, muttering curses that were muffled by the pillow. A minute passed and I almost fell back asleep when Kol's hand snaked between my thighs and I yelped, sitting up and hitting him hard. He laughed at my reaction and I groaned, falling back to bed before closing my eyes once again. Drifting into sleep, I heard the sound of my phone ringing in the background and ignored it.
"Hello sister," Kol's smug voice filled my ears and I removed the pillow covering my face, squinting at him.
"Why the bloody hell are you answering her phone?" came Rebekah's voice. My eyes widened and I jolted awake, the sleepiness disappeared instantly.
"Give it to me!" I groaned, reaching for the phone before Kol flashed to the other side of the room, grinning playfully. "Kol!"
"What do you need, little sister?" Kol asked, feigning annoyance. "We're a little bit preoccupied at the moment." Kol who had the advantage of being taller with longer arms was holding my phone out of my reach and making funny faces. Who knew he could be this childish? I jabbed his sides, tickling him and he dropped the phone instantly and I caught it with a glare.
"Vanessa speaking," I said to Rebekah, giving a warning look to Kol who rolled his eyes.
"What the bloody hell are you doing with my brother?" she asked and Kol's brown eyes twinkled as they met my blue eyes.
"It's a long story," I answered sheepishly.
"I need you to come home and helped me with the decade dance."
"Oh crap. How many days before the dance?" I asked, completely forgetting about everything that's been happening in Mystic Falls.
"Five and you need to be here. And I'm in charge of the dance!" Rebekah said excitedly.
"Really?" I laughed. "And I'm guessing you aren't going with the 70s?"
"And that is why I love you. You just know me so well. We're doing the 20s. It's way fancier and cooler," she said, making me laughed.
"I'll be there. As long as I can borrow one of your pretty dresses," I said and I could feel Rebekah grinning from the other line.
"And I'll do your hair," she said. "And Kol my brother, stay away from Vanessa or you'll be losing your liver," Rebekah added chirpily and hanged up.
"You and my sister are friends, like…BFF?" he asked sceptically, causing me to laugh hysterically. He glared at me, the look he always gave me whenever I laughed or made fun of him adjusting to the century and then his lips would twitch into a grin in the middle of my laughter.
"We just clicked. Kinda like you and me," I said, tying my hair up into a bun. I glanced at him through the mirror and he looked away, heading to the door. "Oh wow, you're leaving just as I was about to take off my clothes. Are you sick or something?" I asked dramatically and Kol rolled his eyes.
"I'm offended, Vanessa," he said coolly and I burst out laughing as he closed the door.
When I got downstairs, Kol was watching TV alone on the couch. He had sent Jeremy to the batting cages and they had planned to go out watching some movies later in the evening. After eating lunch that was made by Kol, I wasn't there to see it so I didn't believe him but he had insisted it was him who made the kebab while Jeremy was only messing with the kitchen. And after another intimate activity, he drove me to the batting cages to pick up Jeremy.
"Your brother asked me if I have a thing for you," he said suddenly and I laughed.
"What? Seriously?" I asked him and he chuckled too.
"And I have no bloody idea what he was talking about at first," he confessed and I grinned, imagining his clueless face. "A thing? What thing? Why do you lot even use these weird slangs?" He complained, making me laughed harder.
"Well I can't believe Jeremy asked you that," I muttered, slightly embarrassed.
"But I said yes," he told me playfully and winked. "And I think he approves," he said cheekily and I rolled my eyes, looking away from him.
"He won't be once he knew you're an Original," I reminded him and he gave me a look.
"You sister is dating a vampire-two vampires. Why does she get a free pass and you don't?" Kol countered and I glanced at him.
"Because she's Elena," I said bitterly and he cooed mockingly but jokingly and I pushed him away. Kol laughed at this and his laugh had always been contagious.
"Speak of the doppelganger," he said, nodding at something in front of us, a wicked smile forming on his lips.
"Oh no," I muttered under my breath in alarm when I saw Jeremy talking to Elena and Damon from afar. I glanced at Kol who winked at me as he leaned down to my ear.
"Stay out of my way, will you?" he asked me with a smirk and I rolled my eyes.
"Sure," I muttered, sighing out loud.
"Fine, fine, but can we do this later? My friend just got here and yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done." I heard Jeremy said when he saw us walking over and kissed Elena's cheek. "Nessie! Look who's here," Jeremy called out and Elena turned around. I smiled at my sister and she seemed surprised by my warm greeting before her eyes trailed to Kol who was walking next to me. Her doe brown eyes widened in fear as she took a couple of steps back.
"Hey, man," Jeremy greeted Kol and Kol gave him a nod with a friendly smile plastered on his face.
"Damon, it's Kol!" Elena exclaimed warningly and Damon turned around, confused. Kol swung the wooden bat across Damon's face so hard that it broke and Damon fell to the ground.
"What are you doing?" Jeremy shouted at Kol, surprised. I flashed in front of Jeremy, placing a hand on his chest and pushed him a few steps back. He frowned at me, asking for answers and I shook my head, telling him silently not to interfere.
"You know, I'll never get used to aluminium. But hey, at least it won't break," Kol said cheerfully as he picked up an aluminium bat from the rack. Kol was about to hit Damon with the bat but Damon caught him off guard by staking him with the broken piece of wooden bat from the ground.
"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked.
"No, but it'll give us a head start," Damon said, throwing the aluminium bat at Kol. He saw me and pushed me against the wall, choking me. "What the hell, Vanessa?" he growled and I hissed at him, vampire face showing. I twisted his wrist and pushed him off me, eyes flaring with anger.
"What?" I snapped, challenging him. Damon was taken aback by my anger outburst and glanced at Elena. I refrained myself from rolling my eyes and turned to my sister. "What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.
"We need-" Elena began but was cut off by Damon.
"Don't," he said, looking at me warningly. "Are you compelled?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.
"No, Damon. I'm not," I said with a snarky smile.
"Then why the hell are you with him?"
"Vanessa takes vervain everyday," Jeremy said, defending me and he looked at me for a moment before turning to Damon. "We need to go some place safe."
"Alright, come on," he said and I glanced at Kol's limp body warily before following them.
We packed everything hastily before Damon drove us into a remote area while I called Mrs Anderson telling her Jeremy and I have to go back to Mystic Falls because of family emergency. We reached the old motel and everyone was eager to get out of the tense atmosphere in the car.
"So you wanna tell us what the hell were you doing?" Damon asked me. He made his point of being angry by slamming the trunk shut and I rolled my eyes. I should've just said I was being compelled, I thought to myself.
"He's right. You should have told us that Kol is here-" Elena said, as gently as she could.
"Why? So you could stake him too?" I snapped at her and she looked at Damon for help. Of course she'll ask for his help. "For the record, I was keeping myself in his good graces while you airheads staked his brother to ashes," I said, glaring at Elena and Damon.
"He could've hurt Jeremy," Elena said and a growl escaped from the back of my throat as I shoved her against the wall making her screamed in surprise and pain. Damon flashed to her side in a second and pushed me away from Elena. I ignored him as I pointed my finger at her stupid face, my blood boiling in anger.
"Don't you dare to ever say that I do not care about Jeremy's safety! The only person that has been keeping all of us in danger is you!" I yelled angrily and Elena looked at me, hurt. "The second you killed Finn, Kol was ready to rip of Jeremy's head or mine for that matter. So thank you," I said sarcastically. "Do you guys care to enlight me about killing Finn? Do you really think killing an Original will do you any favour? That they won't retalliate?!"
"They were supposed to be linked," Damon muttered and I remembered. Klaus must have gotten a witch to unlink…Bonnie. Now it made sense why he had asked Kol to keep an eye on Jeremy.
"Well thank God they were unlinked or we would be dead already," I said, shooting Elena a glare and she sighed.
"I didn't know," she mumbled quietly.
"Of course you didn't. You just do things without thinking," I shot at her and she looked at Damon for help again.
"Alright, so can we go back to this ghost business?" Damon interrupted and I shrugged.
"I bet its Klaus," I said with a sigh and Damon gave me a pointed look. "What?"
"Alright Whoopy, what do you need?" Damon asked as he closed the curtains. "Candles? Incense? Pottery wheel?"
"That's not how it works," Jeremy said, not really in the mood.
"I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one," he said.
"Alright, you uh, you got a picture of her?" Jeremy asked.
"Picture? What, a trip to Disneyland?" he asked sarcastically.
"You don't need to be a dick about it," I commented and Damon rolled his eyes.
"Come on Rose, you're not gonna actually make us wait, are you? I know you're obsessed with me." Elena scoffed at his words and sat down next to Jeremy while I remained standing, leaning against the wall.
"Alright, uh…tell me something about her," Jeremy said.
"Um, well she does this little thing with her tongue," he said, sitting down on the end of the bed.
"Something that matters, Damon," Elena said.
"She spent her last day in paradise. Soaking in the sun and reminiscing about what it means to be human. And when death came, she didn't fear it," Damon said. I kept quiet at this since the last time I saw Rose, she was being rabid.
"I was with her on her last day and she definitely wasn't in paradise," Elena said, questioningly.
"It was in the dream he gave her," Jeremy said and looked at us. "She's here."
"Is she lonely on the other side?" Elena asked Jeremy.
"She says not to worry. She's happy," Jeremy answered after a while.
"Is she still hot?" Damon asked playfully. Rose must have made an inappropriate comment because Jeremy sent her a look before he told us what she was saying.
"She misses you," he said to Damon. "She's uh…she misses all of you," Jeremy said and I caught on his lie quickly, raising an eyebrow at him. Jeremy listened to her attentively before turning to us. "She was sired by someone named Mary Porter."
"Ugh, Scary Mary. Well, where is she, Rose?" Damon asked.
"She said she'll try to find out," Jeremy said and we nodded. Damon headed outside to get some air while Jeremy switched on the TV, glancing at me. He wanted to talk to me, probably about Kol but he knew me well enough to not have this conversation with Elena around. So he changed his target to Elena instead.
"So, what's up with you and Damon?" he asked. I glanced at Elena who looked uncomfortable. I had my phone out, scrolling through thousands of text messages from Rebekah demanding me to return to Mystic Falls and abandon Kol. I tapped the new text and debated for a second.
"What do you mean? Nothing's up," she said. I typed the text quickly in a vampire speed.
To: Kol
They are looking for Mary Porter.
"Are you sure about that? Cause even Rose said something," Jeremy said and I laughed as I pressed send.
"What did she say?" Elena asked.
"Did you two kiss?" I guessed and Elena's cheeks reddened.
"Everything okay in here?" Damon asked, appearing out of nowhere. Perhaps he overheard our small family talk.
"Yeah, it's fine," Elena replied.
"Okay, well, I'm gonna freshen up. You might want to get some rest. I'm sure Rose will make herself known when she gets back," he said, walking over to the bathroom. My phone buzzed and I tapped on the message icon.
From: Kol
You and I need to talk once this is all over.
I stared at my phone screen for a moment before slipping it into my back pocket. "I'm going to go get some air," I announced and left before Elena could open her mouth. I headed to the hallways and leaned against the railing, waiting. Jeremy followed me a couple of minutes later and I gave him a smile.
"Are you okay?" he asked, to my surprise.
"Are you?" I asked him back and sighed. "I'm sorry for not telling you about Kol. I should have but I just didn't want to."
"Why?" Jeremy asked me simply and I looked at him. He didn't seem mad, just…mildly curious. I shrugged.
"You were living a completely normal life, away from all the dramas back in Mystic Falls. It makes me happy," I said sincerely and he laughed.
"Now it kinda made sense why you freaked out about Kol," he said and an amused smile formed on my lips.
"You have no idea," I said, grinning at my brother. "Watching you and him being all mates made me believe the world is about to end."
"So did you actually like him?" Jeremy asked and I rolled my eyes.
"Maybe, I don't know. Maybe it's just a one-time thing," I said tiredly.
"Well, he does seem to like you," Jeremy said and I laughed.
"It could be just an act," I said and looked at him warily. "You do realize Kol is as dangerous as Klaus right? He's done pretty terrible stuff," I said.
"I know, I know. It's just…I've never seen you this happy," Jeremy said and I felt a tug on my heart. I let myself smiled and cupped his face, pinching his cheeks making Jeremy grunted in protest.
"Awww, that's very sweet of you," I cooed mockingly and he slapped my hands away.
"I'm being serious. I've never seen you smile like that. Not since…I don't know. Ever?" Jeremy said and I laughed.
"I would never let anyone hurt you. You know that right?" I asked him and he smiled.
"I know, Nessie. And I just want you to be happy. You know that right?" he asked me back and I just shook my head at his sweetness, smiling.
"Yes, I know," I said and Jeremy suddenly looked at his side. "Is it Rose?" I asked as it seemed like he was listening to someone.
"Yeah, come on," Jeremy said and we headed back to the motel when we stopped abruptly in our tracks, upon seeing our sister kissing Damon passionately. Gross.
"Elena?" Jeremy asked, probably weirded out as well.
"Oh my God, Jeremy. I…" she looked flabbergasted, embarrassed and ashamed all rolled into one stupid expression her face was making. I was disgusted, I knew she had feelings for Damon but she still hadn't let Stefan go. She still loved Stefan and I seriously thought she would never act on her feelings for Damon.
"Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas," Jeremy said.
"Okay then. Let's go," Damon said indifferently and headed back to the room. Jeremy just stared at Elena, a look of disgust was apparent on his face. Perhaps acknowledging one of his sisters was in love with a psychotic vampire was tolerable to him but two? Perhaps not.
"Come on," I said to Jeremy, gently pushing him to walk.
The trip to Kansas took us a couple of hours thanks to Damon's driving skill and we reached an old big house, kind of like a mansion that was in the middle of the woods and far from civilization. "Well, this is the address," Jeremy said, getting out of the car.
"Hmm, seems about right," Damon said, taking in the house.
"Wait here," Elena told Jeremy and he scoffed right to her face.
"Why? So you guys can make out some more?" He snapped and I held back my smirk at Elena's flustered and shocked face. She always did that face whenever we refused to listen to her whims.
"Don't be a dick," Damon said, defending Elena right away.
"No, you, don't be a dick," I shot at Damon and he sent me a look. I ignored him and turned to Jeremy. "But it's best if you stay here," I told him gently.
"Listen to your sister," Damon chimed in and I rolled my eyes. Jeremy sighed, showing his protest but climbed back into the car. "Thank you," Damon called out to Jeremy and we heard him muttered curses to him using our vampire hearing, making me chuckled. "Come on." The door creaked open and Elena switched on the flashlight on her phone as the house was completely in dark. There were stacks of books and papers and antiques lying around the house and it was dusty as hell too.
"Oof, like Vampire Hoarders," Damon said.
"Who is this Mary person?" I asked him, dragging my index finger on the desk and cringed at how thick the dust was.
"Scary Mary. She's really old, super creepy," Damon answered in a whisper.
"And how do you know her?" Elena asked, whispering back.
"Well," Damon mumbled and I heard Elena scoffed.
"Of course," she said, her tone was laced with jealousy. I rolled my eyes.
"What? I said creepy not ugly," Damon said defensively.
We were heading towards the staircase when a loud crash startled us. The sound came from a room with white double doors and Elena looked at Damon, asking him to go ahead silently. Damon entered the room cautiously and saw nothing but darkness. But I sensed Kol's presence even before I stepped into the room. I could see his silhouette at the corner of the room, and felt the heat of his gaze on me. I pretended not to see him and looked ahead, where Elena had shone her flashlight to the wall, where a greyish skin redhead vampire was staked on the wall.
"Mary," Damon muttered under his breath in disdain.
"Quite contrary," came Kol's voice and light filled the room on cue. He was sitting on the armchair next to the bedside lamp, with the aluminium baseball bat on his hand, and his cold glare directed to Damon. Damon groaned at the sight of Kol, annoyed, making Kol smirked. He got up casually from the seat and circled us, taking his time. "Shame about Mary, she used to be a blast," he spoke feigning regret as he approached the dead vampire, admiring his handiwork.
"Don't quite know what happened," Kol said, letting out a chuckle. "I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie. You might want to be careful, darling," Kol said to me with his infamous smirk playing on his lips and I rolled my eyes.
"And were you her favourite?" Elena cut in, disliking the small exchange between the two of us. To be honest, I think the reason Elena asked me to go to Denver was to put some distance between me and the Original family. She knew I was close with Rebekah and Elijah, even Klaus actually and she couldn't have that. She didn't want me to have this advantage over her. When she heard from Ric, or maybe Damon about my Original sleepover with Kol, she had quickly asked me to go to Denver to see Jeremy.
"You mean, did I turn her? I think I did," Kol said cheerfully and Elena's heart skipped a beat, thinking she had found the answer. Stupid girl, I thought. "But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair," Kol continued with a smirk, having toyed with us. Then the cheerful act dropped and his voice was laced with venom. "I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will." Then in a blink of an eye, Kol's dark mood lightened up.
"So," he said enthusiastically, turning to Damon and hit the baseball bat on the floor as if to test it out. "Where did we leave off?" he asked and swung the bat hard on Damon's knee before he could respond. Damon fell to the floor with a grunt and Kol quickly hit the hand that was supporting Damon's weight and hit it again.
"Vanessa, get Elena outta here," Damon managed to groan, his voice was strained in pain. Kol's dark eyes found me and I smiled at him guiltily and winked. I made no move to help Elena but in that measly second of our exchange, Elena had ran to the door. Kol flashed in front of her, glancing at me for a second before smirking at Elena.
"According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me," he said as nicely as he could before shoving her where she hit her head and moaned in pain. Damon was at Kol's throat in a flash, his eyes glaring at Kol with full animosity.
"Don't touch her," he hissed and Kol slammed his head against Damon, throwing him across the room.
"Oh dear, I've hit a nerve," Kol said chuckling. I glanced at the boys, believed that Kol wouldn't really kill Damon as I helped Elena up and gave her my blood. "Relax, darling! I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me." Kol then hit Damon's back hard in three rhythmic strikes that I was pretty sure wouldn't heal as fast as it should be. "There, now we're even," he said before turning around and I let out a small scream in surprise when he took me away.
Kol took me out in the woods, not far from Mary's house but far enough for them to not able to find us. I looked at him questioningly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Why?" he asked me. His eyes were hard on me but he didn't seem mad…and that what made it more terrifying. "Why did you tell me?"
"Do I need to have a reason for everything I do?" I asked him and he gave me a look not to challenge him and piss him off. I sighed and looked at him in the eye, hoping that he wouldn't be too paranoid like Klaus. "I once told you I wouldn't turn my back on you," I told him sincerely, answering his question.
I would never forget the look on his face when I said that. He believed me. He just couldn't believe that I would actually do that for him. We stayed in silence like that for a long minute before he finally spoke up.
"How admirable," he said scornfully, voice laced with venom and I was beyond surprise.
"Excuse me?"
"You would betray your family for me, Kol Mikaelson, a psychotic, unstable, twisted Original vampire?" he asked me darkly. I stared at him, speechless. I'd never get used to his mood swing, it was even worst than mine or even Rebekah.
"Are you complaining?" I asked him, scowling. Why was he mad? I hated how frustrating he managed to make me feel. He shoved me against a tree and I hissed feeling the bark of the tree scraped my back through the thin cotton shirt I was wearing.
"I would never trust someone who would turn her back on her family like that," Kol said and I gaped at his words.
"I don't want you dead, Kol! If you weren't the one who sired us they might kill you like they killed your brother," I snapped, my eyes blazing in anger. His angry demeanour changed abruptly at my words and his grips on my shoulder blades loosened. "You should know by now that I only do what I want. What they did to Finn is wrong and so is what they are doing right now." Kol closed his eyes and shook his head, looking at me in disbelief with a snarky smile on his lips.
"How did you manage to do that? I actually believed you," he said scornfully.
"Probably because I wasn't lying?" I said sarcastically. I pushed him out of frustration with so much force that he actually staggered backward. "I think we've established that you and your family have trust issues and are way paranoid than any human being could possibly ever be. And for the last time, not everyone is going to plot your death and stab you in the back! You're so used of people cowering before you that you rather have everyone in this world afraid of you than care about you. It's not a weakness to have feelings, to open up to someone, to care, to make friends. A day with a friend is worth a thousand years of emptiness."
"Is that what you think I am to you? A friend?" He asked me mockingly and I felt my heart clenched.
"Did these past few days never happened or did you have a memory of a goldfish?" I asked him angrily.
"What? Because I saved your life? Because we fooled around a couple of times? The sex was fun and thanks for entertaining me, darling but-" I cut him off with a hard slap across his face.
"Don't you dare treat me like I'm some kind of toy only for your entertainment. Don't you dare pretend that the past few days were just an act. I am not that stupid." I didn't know at which point the tears started forming and I didn't even know why. I was angry, frustrated and hurt. I could imagine Kol hurting me physically but never with his words. For him to say that, like I was just some random girls that he slept with for fun hurt me more than it should have been.
He stared at me blankly before realisation dawned on him. He chuckled darkly, gripping my chin and forcing me to look at him. "I've seen that look before. Hysterical women that I shagged thinking I actually loved them. Don't tell me you're that stupid, darling," he said darkly and I slapped his hand away. Damn him and his one thousand years of experience. I was lost at words, having my inner feelings said openly like that. "Come on darling, we all know you're just playing around with me. Trying to get over my big brother who is still in love with your doppelganger."
I was so mad and furious by his words that I almost missed it. The slight flicker of fear and insecurities in his brown eyes. I knew I wasn't that stupid. He had to at least have some sort of feelings for me. Somehow. It was impossible but I was never wrong.
"Maybe I am that stupid to fall for you. But at least I'm not a coward," I spat the words and he glared at me. "Love is a weakness. I am weak for falling for you, for having these feelings for you. I'm vulnerable and you can hurt me in many ways imaginable to sadistic vampire like you. But loneliness is also a weakness, Kol," I said softly. Our eyes met, blue vs brown. As always, words and emotions were exchanged silently but never spoken. He let out a snarky laugh and shook his head.
"I'm sorry darling. If you were hoping for me to be your prince charming, you're dead mistaken. I am just not like that," he said, turning around and walked away. I could have stopped him but I couldn't. I leaned against the tree, watching him disappeared in the darkness and wiped the tears that fell. I remembered him smiling when he looked at me, the rare kind of smile that reserved when you looked at someone you loved. His smile, his laugh, the way he acted around me. I refused to believe I was that stupid. That whatever this is between us meant nothing to him. I closed my eyes, remembering the walk home after the Halloween party. We had walked in comfortable silence, simply just enjoying each other's presence. Clothes stained with dried blood but it didn't matter to us.
"Hey," I called him softly and he turned around, raising his eyebrows questioningly. "Thanks…for saving me," I said sincerely and he seemed taken aback by it.
"Don't mention it," Kol said, shrugging indifferently.
"No, seriously. Thank you. She would have killed me and you could have just let me die," I said and he turned to look at me in the eye, making me forget what I was going to say as I got lost in his dark eyes.
"Nik would have killed me if I let you die," he said and I raised an eyebrow.
"Why would he care?" I asked, feeling absurd.
"I supposed he's grown fond of you," he said somewhat bitterly.
"What? Are you jealous?" I asked.
"Why would I be?" he shot back and I laughed.
"So you saved because of your brother? Nothing else?" I asked him and he gave me a look making me grinned.
"What are you implying?" he asked, sounding nonchalant.
"I don't know, that maybe…if I were gone, you're gonna miss me," I said, and he gave me an incredulous look that made me grinned wider. His lips twitched seeing me smile and he let out a chuckle, looking away from me, almost in embarrassment. I laughed, nudging his arm. "Come on, I wanna hear it," I said teasingly and he rolled his eyes. When he said nothing, I kept looking at him, smiling making him sighed exasperatedly.
"Fine," he groaned. "Maybe…just maybe I've grown fond of you too," he said and I laughed in glee making him pushed me to the side, away from him and I laughed even harder. I noticed him staring and he averted his gaze from me, looking ahead. "Don't let it get to your head, darling," he muttered dryly but the grin on his lips formed after he said that betrayed him, and I laughed, contented.
"Sure," I said, glancing at him and we shared a smile.
I let out a sigh, feeling used, manipulated and stupid as I remembered all the time we spent together here. "Whatever happens in Denver, stays in Denver," I said out loud and scoffed mockingly to myself.