Thanks a lot for the reviews, people. You guys are the best. This chapter is the result of friendly nudging by the awesome Siberia21 and tammykay715. Enjoy, and yeah I don't own Vampire Diaries…
Chapter Fourteen
I believe, I believe you could love me
But you're lost on the road to misery
and what I gave to you
I could never get back!
Don't complicate it,
Don't drive yourself insane
Yeah,
Say what you will but I know that you want to stay!
-I know you by Skylar Grey
Mystic Falls was a charming small town where everybody knew everybody.
The news of the arrival of two aristocrats was hardly something that could've been stifled.
Elijah Mikaelson and Damon Salvatore had both arrived within hours of each other and taken residences on the opposite ends of the town.
Damon was staying in a renovated villa while Elijah lounged in the manor on the outskirts of the town.
One would wonder if Elena and Kol had heard the not so subtle mutterings of European Royalty dropping unexpectedly in Mystic Falls.
Elena and Kol indeed had not known.
They had just returned from an impromptu skydiving trip they had planned a couple of days ago. Well, truth to be told, it had been Kol's idea to drag Elena for a taste of what he called the adrenaline rush from insane experiences.
'You loved it. Accept it, Elena, and stop being a bore,' he said as he fed her small bites of chicken from his plate.
'Accept it? You fucking pushed me out of a plane, Kol.' She was still fuming over what she considered the violation of the best friend code.
'Thou shalt not push your best friend from a plane,' she whined.
'Pushed you? Well, yes I did push you only because you weren't jumping, Elena. And you loved it,' he countered, his lips stretched in a fond smile. He could still hear her excited laugh once she had gotten over her aversion of heights and a small fact that he had pushed her.
'That's not the point.' She knew she was going to lose this argument, but it was still fun trying to get a rise out of Kol. He would stretch the point till she conceded and accepted that she had indeed enjoyed their skydiving experience.
In such a small time he had become an integral part of her life. He was someone who had seen Elena Gilbert in her most pathetic moments and yet he had not judged her. Not ever. Sometimes she even forgot that he was royal. She knew she wasn't supposed to know, but did he really think he could fool her with a fake surname? She made her living by ridiculing the so called bourgeoisie of society. To think that she would have been duped by a fake surname was preposterous. The ideas Kol got. Really, sometimes he was so childish. Maybe that was the best thing about him. He saw the world in his own way. For him, people weren't things to be compartmentalized.
He was a Mikaelson and yet he wasn't the Mikaelson.
He was far different from the Mikaelson she had known.
'Earth to Elena. Where did you wander off, love?' His eyes betrayed his concern as clearly as his jovial tone hid it.
A study in contrast. That was the only explanation of who Kol Mikaelson was. He had perfected the carefree happy guy persona to such degree that most people thought he was someone who had no problems in his life. Most of them overlooked the pain hidden behind his smiles, the desperation concealed beneath his outlandish acts.
He was her friend, maybe the only one in a very long time. He had understood her. So, now she was trying to understand him.
She knew this visit of his to Mystic Falls wasn't a result of wanting to see charming small towns of U.S. He had glossed over the entire thing when he had introduced himself. He had given a lame ass excuse about wanting a change of scenery.
She knew he had left Holstein abruptly.
She also knew he loved his wife, Bonnie. After all, hadn't she seen him watching a still of Bonnie on his phone when he thought no one was looking? So, why was Prince Kol here, away from the woman he loved? What was he doing here?
Somehow, she didn't know why but she suspected his visit to Mystic Falls had something to do with his brother, Elijah.
'Elena?' His fingers were twined with hers and their pressure brought her back to the man who had done a very good job of drawing her out of her anti-social shell.
'It's nothing, Kol.' She smiled and squeezed his fingers in return.
'So, what do you think about New Orleans for next weekend?' The twinkle in his eyes had returned, and she was content for the moment with his infectious smile.
Mystic Falls was a quaint little town, beautiful at first glance while boring at another. Damon Salvatore was bored, and he had not even been here for more than forty-eight hours. There was nothing to do in small towns.
He should go on a walk. Or else he was sure he would go crazy sitting in here. He knew where Elena worked now, knew where she lived courtesy to Enzo. But he had not gathered enough courage to go and see her.
He was sure she would never listen to him. But he had to try, right?
So with a determined outlook at what seemed to be an impossible situation, Damon Salvatore, Grand Duke of Luxembourg walked out of his villa without his posse of bodyguards.
He knew Enzo was just a few feet behind him, but he could still pretend that he was just a man going to see the woman he loved, couldn't he?
Elijah Mikaelson was walking the streets of the town Elena had made her home. He could see why she liked it here. There was an otherworldly quality to this place, something that could never be explained but experienced.
He liked the small shops and charming cafes that dotted the sides of the road.
This place was postcard perfect and he felt out of place. From the time he had reached here, Bonnie had called at least ten times urging him to go and confront that Gilbert whore. He had snapped finally and threatened to block her if she didn't stop calling.
He had wanted to make a scathing remark on Bonnie's character when she had defamed Elena, but then he had stopped.
Hadn't he been the one to make her a whore?
Bonnie didn't know how desperately he wanted to find Kol and drag him far away from this place where Elena Gilbert existed with her beautiful smiles and innocent seduction. And it wasn't something that he wanted to do for Kol's benefit. Oh no. He wanted his brother to stay away from his Elena even when he knew he had no right to call her his. In fact, if he had his way he would keep every man far away from the temptation named Elena Gilbert.
She was not wrong if she wanted to punish him for what he had done. She wasn't wrong if she had actively sought his brother to exact her vengeance. If she had been a different woman and he a different man, he might have even helped her in her endeavor.
He had to attend the Gilbert's annual gala in two days and he wanted to wrap this before that. He was sure Kol wouldn't deny his request to return to Holstein.
But why would Kol agree to what Elijah proposed?
Kol wasn't the same man he had been before coming to this place. Before coming to Mystic Falls, Kol had not known about his brother's betrayal. He had not known the truth about the child Bonnie had miscarried.
Why would Kol listen to him now?
His mind blanked as he turned to his left to stare at the couple sitting outside a small restaurant. It had been the woman's laugh that had halted his stride.
It looked like Bonnie had been right, because sitting closely together in front of him were none other than Elena and Kol, laughing together as if they had discovered the key to being happy.
'What the hell do you think you are doing, Mikaelson?'
It looked like he wasn't alone in his discovery of Kol and Elena.
Damon Salvatore was standing few feet away from the couple, anger evident in every harsh breath he drew.
Fuck.
Damon Salvatore was here and he had practically shouted his surname in front of Elena. She wasn't an idiot who wouldn't connect the dots that his somewhat vague answers and fake surname had left behind.
Kol didn't want to look at her. He knew what he would see in her eyes. She would think he was just like his brother, playing with her by his own rules.
He was scared to look in her direction.
He didn't want that easy affection her eyes held for him to change into hate. She was his friend and he wanted her to remain his friend.
He wanted countless more skydiving experiences and trips to wherever they wanted to spend their weekends. He wanted to drag her from her job to do fun things. He wanted to sit on her couch and steal her popcorn while she tried to open her eyes after every time a ghost wheezed past the main lead on the screen.
He had done all of those things and yet he wanted to do more.
He had come here in search of redemption for his brother but in the process, he had found his salvation.
He wanted to be Kol Shaw, not Prince Kol Mikaelson and yet he couldn't sit like a scared twelve-year-old while Salvatore tried his hand at being the big bad.
He was a Mikaelson after all.
'Having lunch, your highness. What does it look like to you?' He was sure he had strained his neck in his haste to turn towards Elena. She had answered Damon nonchalantly while shifting her food on her plate.
He must have looked like an idiot.
'Did your bastard brother send you here, Mikaelson, or are you here to nurse your own broken heart?' Damon taunted.
'Fuck off, Salvatore.' Finally, Kol Mikaelson's temper had made an appearance and it wasn't because Damon had pointed that he had a broken heart. No. He was offended at being called Elijah's lapdog.
'Is that so? You see I have been hearing these weird rumors that your brother was screwing your wife behind your back.'
The sharp slap that left the imprint of his abuser's hand on Damon Salvatore's cheek was from Elena Gilbert. She had put the Grand Duke in his place before Kol had even processed the ugly truth Damon had so casually dropped.
'Let us go, Kol. Some people just cannot mind their own business,' she spat as she firmly held his hand in hers and dragged him away from a stunned Damon Salvatore.
He didn't know what was happening. Did she not suspect that he was someone she didn't want to associate with? Even if she hadn't realized the truth that had exploded like a bomb when Damon had confronted him, he needed to spell it out for her.
He needed to tell her that he was not the ordinary Kol Shaw she had befriended.
'Elena, I'm not who you think I am.' He could barely get the words out of his mouth. It seemed as if they were stuck in the throat.
'I know.' Her answer was accompanied with a smile.
What was happening? Kol was confused. Why was she smiling? She won't be smiling when he told her he was Kol Mikaelson, Prince of Holstein, the younger brother of Prince Elijah Mikaelson, the man who had destroyed her life for his sick enjoyment.
'Elena-' he tried again.
'I know who you are, Prince Mikaelson. I've known since the fist moment you opened your mouth and told me a ridiculous lie.' She punched his arm as she laughed.
'Did you really think you could fool me with a fake surname?' She rolled her eyes. 'Dude, you didn't even change your name. This is I think the lamest idea that came in your mind. What were you thinking?'
He was embarrassed. And happy. God, he was so happy. He had never thought of this possibility. He hadn't dared.
She knew everything and she wasn't angry. She was making fun of him.
'I thought you wouldn't wanna be friends with me if you knew who I was,' he muttered, his fingers moving through his hair in agitation.
'You really are juvenile. Idiot,' she said fondly as she hugged him.
All was once again right in his world.
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