Chapter 36

Unconditional love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking…

Kol had no idea why he suddenly thought about that. He had never believed in love. To him it had been just some stupid fairytale people wanted to believe in order to cope with their pathetic lives. But now when he was holding this beautiful, warm, fragile human girl… He felt completely lost.

Her well-being was actually important to him. He wanted her to be…happy. But could she be happy with him? Of course she could, there was no other option. He needed her. That certainly sounded pathetic. It sounded like weakness. And weakness was something that could be used against him. That wasn't acceptable. What the hell should he do with her? He could feel that she was waking up. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Good morning", she said smiling cautiously.

"Good morning sweetheart. Did you sleep well?"

She nodded.

"I…I don't really understand what happened…"

"Facing death can make people want to feel that they are…alive. It's perfectly normal", Kol said caressing her cheek.

Selene looked confused.

"You really think so?"

Kol smiled.

"It's not just my opinion darling, there's research about that. You can look for yourself if you don't believe me."

Selene bit her lip. She looked worried.

"What's the matter?" Kol asked.

"I…I hope you don't feel that I was taking advantage of you…"

Kol stared at her for a moment before he started to laugh.

"Darling, you can take advantage of me when ever you want. I won't mind, believe me."

Selene blushed but she was smiling.

"Thank you…for everything. You saved my life."

"You're welcome", Kol said and kissed her forehead.

She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head to his chest. He never wanted to let her go. Not even if it would be the right thing to do.

...

"Derek!"

Selene ran to her brother and hugged him tightly.

"Hi sis, long time no see."

Kol was standing at the door. He hadn't been invited in. There was a pretty redhead standing behind Derek. She noticed Kol and walked to him apparently wanting to give Selene and her brother some privacy.

"You must be the friend of Derek's sister. Please come in", she said smiling politely.

The problem was that he needed the invitation from someone who lived here.

"I'm Megan, Derek's girlfriend. We just moved in together actually", the woman continued.

Kol stepped in and shook her hand.

"I'm Kol."

"Nice to meet you", she said smiling sweetly. "And I'm excited to finally meet Derek's sister. He had told me a lot about her."

Derek and Selene seemed to finally remember that they weren't alone in the room.

"I'm sorry", Derek said. "Selene, this is Megan, Megan my baby sister Selene."

"Hi", Selene said smiling and shook her hand. "How long have you guys been dating?"

Derek and Megan looked at each other and he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Actually, we're engaged", Derek said. "It all happened so fast and I wanted to tell you face to face, so…"

Selene hugged them both smiling warmly.

"Congratulations! I'm happy for you."

There were a lot emotional things after that so Kol kept his distance. Everyone seemed happy and they were talking about rings and weddings and that kind of things.

"Jason will be my bestman", Derek said. "He's feeling much better and he might even be able to move his own apartment soon."

"That's great! I'm so happy…"

Kol looked at Selene. She was smiling and laughing. She was happy. He didn't want to admit it but this was where she belonged to. Being with him had almost destroyed her. Killing the light in her. He couldn't let that happen. Kol had always been selfish. It had never mattered to him what other people wanted. Elijah had been right. How could a sweet and gentle soul like her ever be happy with someone like him? She deserved better.

Kol looked at her closely wanting to remember her like she was now. Happy. He turned to the door and walked out. It was the hardest thing he had ever done. He walked out of the building forcing himself not to look back. It was raining. Perfect. He had no idea where to go. He signed to a cab that stopped. He was just getting in when a voice stopped him.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

Kol turned and saw Selene running to him. She was wearing the shirt he had given to her and a white skirt.

"You are free", he forced himself to say. "I'm letting you go."

Selene was staring at him with her bright blue eyes. They were both getting wet standing there in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Hey!" the cabdriver said. "Are you coming or what?"

Kol turned to him annoyed.

"Just a second…"

"No, he's not coming", Selene said firmly. "You can go."

The driver cursed and drove away. Kol looked at her.

"Didn't you understand what I said? I'm letting you go; you can stay here with your family…"

Selene placed her finger on his lips.

"I understood you just fine."

"Then why… I mean after everything, how you can even consider…"

Selene smiled.

"Yes, there has been…all kind of things. But not all of those things were bad. Maybe you don't want to admit it but there's good in you, I have seen it."

Kol didn't know what to say.

"You mean you would stay with me? Willingly?"

She smiled and nodded.

"We have to work some things out but yes Kol, I want to be with you."

Kol had lived a long time but he had never felt the kind of happiness he was feeling in that moment. He had never even thought that it would be possible. He was about to kiss her when she sneezed. Kol couldn't help but laugh.

"We better get you out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold."

He wrapped his arm gently around her and they walked inside together. He didn't really want to go back to her brother's apartment but she needed some dry clothes. Besides, he had to be able to tolerate her family for now on. But then again, comparing to his own family, her brothers didn't seem so bad at all.

...

Epilogue

3 years later

Selene was lying on a couch reading a magazine. She was drinking from her blood bag with a pink Hello Kitty straw. Kol came from the kitchen and looked at her amused.

"What?" Selene asked.

"Nothing, you are just so cute", Kol replied teasingly.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No darling, I wouldn't dare to do that."

Selene moved in front of him with her vampire speed.

"You better not. You might be older than me but I can still take you", she said and kissed him.

Kol smiled.

"Yes dear."

Selene bit his lower lip playfully.

"Now I want to go to the beach", she said.

Kol rolled his eyes.

"You know darling, a vampire who loves the sun as much as you could be called suicidal."

"Oh come on! I promise to make it worth your while", she purred and nipped his ear.

"You know what, the beach actually sounds great, we should go right now."

Selene smiled.

"Catch me if you can."

She was out of the door before Kol could even blink. Damn, that woman was fast. But he didn't mind chasing her. She always let him catch her in the end.

...

Thank you so much everyone for taking a time to read my story and giving me feedback, likes and dislikes. It is all valuable to me as a writer. If you have any questions, suggestions, requests for the next story or anything at all please let me know. I really like Kol's character and it would be interesting to write something else about him. Again, thank you all :-)