As slowly as I could possibly manage, I walked up the stairs to the Mikaelson's front door. I was playing the speech I had prepared in the car over and over in my head, trying to perfect it. These words might end up being the last things I would ever say to him; they had to be flawless.

Cautiously, I lifted my fist up to the door and knocked three times. I stuffed my hands nervously into the pockets of my coat.

After what felt like ages, someone came to answer the door. I sucked in a deep breath just before the door opened. For a moment I didn't recognize him. His face was covered with stubble and I could smell alcohol and blood on his breath.

When he saw me standing just a few feet away from him, he looked like he had seen a ghost. His mouth gaped for a moment. "Juliet," he choked out. He smiled weakly at me. "It's so good to see you!" he exclaimed quietly.

I was suddenly completely enamored. I forgot everything I had wanted to say for a moment and just acted on impulse. I threw my arms around his torso and held him close with enough force that if he were human, he surely would've broken a rib or two. "I missed you." I whispered.

He chuckled under his breath. "I'm glad to see you have your humanity back. You were a real bitch without it. Well, a bigger one anyway." he chuckled again as he pulled away from the embrace.

I punched his in the shoulder, rolling my eyes. "Don't be an arse." I pouted.

He smiled as he stared lovingly into my eyes. I stared back with just as much adoration. He reached out and cupped my cheek with one hand. "What made you turn it back on?" he asked.

"I'm just tired of running and hiding from...everything." I said quietly.

His hand fell from my face to his side. "You're tired of running from him." he stated bluntly, giving me a knowing look.

I bit my lower lip in frustration. "I know what you're going to say. You think going after him would be stupid and dangerous, but I have to." I insisted.

Kol shook his head at me. "Going up against him won't bring your mother back." he said sternly.

"I know that." I snapped. "I'm not just going to do this for her, I'm doing it for me. He's not going to stop until I do something."

"Well at least let me help you. I can do it easily." he suggested.

I shook my head sharply. "No. I'm not some helpless child, Kol. I can do it myself. I can fight my own battles."

He started to say something, but I continued. "Whether you agree or not, I'm going to him and I'm going to face him. But before I do, I just wanted to tell you everything that I should've already said."

I took a step closer to him and reached out to gently stroke his cheek, feeling the stubble under my fingers before I dropped my hand to rest on his shoulder. He placed his hand gently over mine. I looked deep into his eyes. "I love you. You are by far the most arrogant and persistent person I have ever met, and that only makes me love you even more. Before I met you, I was just a bratty girl with trust issues and a temper. But you helped me realize who I truly am. And I'm not ashamed or afraid to be that person. I can't thank you enough for that. If you love me as much as I love you, you'll let me do this. Please." I whispered. Tears welled up in my eyes, one escaped and fell down my face. It wasn't because I was sad, it was because I was happy. I was happy to have him in my life, and I think he realized it.

He squeezed my hand a little tighter. "Okay." he whispered back. "I won't stop you."

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you." I hugged him.

He hugged me back just as tightly. He then pulled away and wiped the tears away with his thumb. We pulled away from each other and I got up on my toes a little to reach his lips. I kissed him gently, only for a moment. I pulled away, but he pulled me back in, kissing me passionately this time. It was like he was putting his entire heart and soul into the kiss. I smiled against his lips and kissed him back with equal measure.

After a little while, we pulled apart. "If you're going to face him, you should probably know where he is." he said, chuckling.

I scoffed. "Yeah, that'd help." I muttered.

"As of a few days ago, we think he's at the same building where you were turned, the warehouse at the edge of town." he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "You've known where he is for days and you never went after him?" I asked, smirking at him.

He smirked back. "Well, something told me that you'd want to take him out yourself." he replied, shaking his head at me.

"You know me too well." I muttered, smiling up at him. "I better go." I said after a few seconds of silence.

I turned around to walk away, but he grabbed me by the hand, spun me around and crashed his lips against mine one last time. "Give him hell." he whispered in my ear after he pulled away. "I love you."

"I love to too." I whispered. Without looking back, I turned around and went back to my car. I didn't want to say the word "goodbye" to him; I had to be confident that we would see each other again. I had to hold onto that hope. I took a quick glance at the house in my rearview mirror as it faded away in the distance.

I tapped my thumbs nervously on the steering wheel as I pulled into the parking lot of the old warehouse. It was kind of symbolic to be here again. I had died there just a few months before and now here I was again, reborn. Only, I had no intention of dying this time. It would be his turn to die. And he wouldn't be coming back.

After turning the car off, I slipped my coat off and got out. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I had waited for this to happen for a long time and I wasn't going to back down.

I flashed over to the door and flung it open, not bothering with subtlety. I wanted him to know that I was there. "Come on out you pathetic little twat." I called as I walked out into the open center of the room.

A throaty laugh echoed from the shadows. "Well well well, look who finally showed up. Finally decided to leave that Original wanker for a real man, eh?" Collin stepped out into the light, arms crossed over his chest.

I scoffed. "Don't flatter yourself." I spat, glaring daggers at him. "I think you already know why I'm here." I said bluntly.

He chuckled. "Right, right." he muttered. "You're here to avenge your poor mummy, right?" he asked. "You know, she was a real screamer, your mother. But on the other hand, her blood was absolutely divine." he laughed, trying to get me angry. He never broke eye contact, challenging me.

I clenched my fist so tightly my knuckles were white. "You bastard." I growled. "I'm here to kill you for everything you've done." I said, taking step closer.

He laughed again. "Everything I've done? What about everything you've done? All those poor, innocent people. Even your own mother was afraid of you." he said in a low voice. "You're no better than me, Jules." he snarled.

I clenched my fist even tighter, trying not to let my anger get the better of me. "I am nothing like you." I growled through clenched teeth. "I'm not a monster."

"I hate the break it to you, but you're a vampire. We're all monsters." he said. He flashed over in front of me in the blink of an eye. "Even you." he whispered. He reached out to push some hair away from my face.

I grabbed his arm and gripped it tightly, feeling the bones crack under my grip. He winced. "You see, that's where you're wrong." I spat, barring my fangs at him. Using my free hand, I made an attempt at ripping his heart out. I shoved my hand into his chest cavity and gripped onto his heart.

Before I could rip it from his chest, he grabbed my forearm, making me loosen my grip on his heart and pulled my hand out of his chest. "Don't be like that, Jules. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to." he whispered in my ear. "All I want is for you to come with me."

I scoffed. "I'd rather die." I spat. I slapped him across the face with my bloody hand.

He reached up and touched his cheek, wiping the blood off it. "If that's what you want." he whispered sinisterly, his lips twitching up into a smirk. He growled shoved me across the room. I flew backwards and crashed into a large metal bin. I cried out in pain.

Before I could get to my feet, he flashed over to me and kicked me in the ribs. I screamed, coughing up a little blood. I forced myself up and punched him straight in the face, busting his lip. He spat out blood.

He grabbed me by my neck and shoved me against the bin. "You're stronger than I thought." he deadpanned. He leaned in and whispered, "But I'm stronger."

I struggled against his grip and shoved his off, sending him flying across the room. He crashed into a pile of wooden crates, breaking them on impact.

I flashed over to him and kicked him repeatedly in the torso. "I beg to differ." I snapped, reaching down and pulling him up by the collar of his shirt, preparing to rip out his heart once again.

He grabbed a broken plank of wood from the ground and shoved it into my chest, barely missing my heart. I screamed in pain, pulling it out and throwing it across the room.

Collin struggled to his feet and grabbed me by the neck and held me up so I was face-to-face with him, forcing me to look into his cold eyes. "I don't know what I ever saw in you, you're so weak. You deserve to die." he spat through gritted teeth.

"No." I choked out. "You're the one who deserves to die." I used what strength I had to get out of his grip and I kicked him back onto the ground. Without hesitation, I shoved my hand into his chest and ripped out his heart. He gasped before his skin grayed and the light faded from his eyes.

I stood up, holding his heart in my hand. "Now the world can see you for what you really are, heartless." I left his heart slip from my grasp, it hit the ground next to his body with a thud.

I let out a sigh of relief, smiling as tears of joy slipped from my eyes. "It's finally over." I whispered. "I'm free."

Footsteps echoed behind me, I didn't bother to turn around. I knew who it was.

"I thought I told you to let me do this on my own." I said bluntly, I wasn't angry at him. I was too relieved. "Why didn't you interfere?" I asked.

Kol chuckled, coming to stand by my side. He looped an arm around my waist, pulling me to his side. "You didn't need my help. I just knew you had it in you." he said simply, placing a soft kiss on the side of my head.

I scoffed. "Thanks for the sudden faith." I muttered. I put my head on his shoulder. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter, offering it to me. "Would you like to do the honors, or should I?" he asked.

I nodded. "I'll do it." I replied, taking the small metallic lighter from the palm of his hand. I pulled away from his grip before flipping the lighter open.

I stared at the tiny ember for a moment. It all felt so surreal. The nightmare was finally over and I could move on with my life, my eternity. I couldn't find the right words, so without speaking, I tossed the lighter onto his body and watched as it caught fire. Kol and I stood in complete silence as we watched the flames turn his corpse into ashes.

"So," he started. "What are you going to do now?" he asked, turning to face me.

I looked away from the flames, they had nearly died out, at him. I raised an eyebrow curiously. "What do you mean?" I asked, answering his question with another question.

He pushed a curl behind my ear, grazing his fingers across my jaw. "This is a chance for a new start. You can choose where you go from here. You could go to a new city, a new country even. You can have a new life if that's what you want." he said quietly.

"And why would I do that?" I asked, shaking my head at him. "I'm happy now, here, with you. I don't want to start over." I assured him, placing a hand on his cheek.

"This is what you really want? Are you absolutely sure?" he asked. I could tell what he was thinking, he was worried that I would leave him. Though he would never say it out loud, he was honestly afraid of being alone. So was I.

"Yes. I'm sure." I assured him.

He smiled, relieved. "We have all of eternity, you know? Eternity is a very long time." he chided in a teasing tone.

I laughed. "Yes, I'm aware of that. And I want to spend it with you." I insisted. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck.

"Last chance to back out before you realize how mad I really am." he joked. He kissed me on the nose.

I giggled before turning around a darting off out the door. Kol laughed and chased after me into the snow. We ran through the woods, darting in between the trees. I was beyond ready to start my eternity with Kol, after everything I had been through in my seventeen years, I deserved it.

A.N.- This isn't exactly the end. I'll be uploading a brief epilogue shortly to try and tie up any loose ends and give this story a good ending. In the words of Chuck from Supernatural, "Endings are hard. Any chapped-ass monkey with a keyboard can poop out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna bitch. There's always gonna be holes. And since it's the ending, it's all supposed to add up to something. I'm telling you, they're a raging pain in the ass."

I really hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Hopefully Collin's death was epic enough. I worked hard on it. Please review! Thanks for all of the encouragement :) And thanks to FanFicChikk for proofreading this chapter and helping me with any errors.

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