Thank you for the reviews, guys. I don't own Vampire Diaries. I listened to Halsey's Colors countless times while I was writing this chapter. Enjoy…

Chapter Fifteen

Your little brother never tells you but he loves you so
you said your mother only smiled on her TV show
you're only happy when your sorry head is filled with dope…

Everything is blue
His pills, his hands, his jeans
and now I'm covered in the colors
Pulled apart at the seams
and it's blue…

And now he's so devoid of color
He don't know what it means…

-'Colors' by Halsey

Doorbells had the most irritating habit of ringing when there was no one to open them promptly. Kol Mikaelson cursed for the second time as the doorbell rang. He was in no position to rush down the stairs and open the door himself, and only god knew where Elena was.

He was lugging her bag down the stairs, her heavy bag mind you. What had she packed for a weekend in New Orleans?

'Coming,' he hollered as the doorbell rang again.

When he opened Elena's door, he found the least expected person standing there.

'What are you doing here?' he snarled.

'Hello, Kol,' Elijah said as he moved forward to maybe hug his brother, only to find Kol recoiling from him.

'I'll repeat again, Elijah. What are you doing outside Elena's house?'

'I could ask you the same thing.' Elijah cocked his head to one side, a small twisted smile playing on his lips.

'No, you can't, brother.' Kol started to close the door only to find Elijah's hand blocking him from doing so.

'What are you doing here, Kol?'

'You want to do this here, Elijah?' There was a dangerous glint in Kol's eyes.

He stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him.

'You couldn't invite me in?'

'Elena won't want you in her home.' His answer was simple.

'And Elena is much more important to you than your own brother?' The bitter accusation left Elijah's lips before he could control himself. Why did everyone fall in love with his Elena?

'You have the gall to say that, Elijah?' Kol's fists curled in an attempt to cool the anger that was a pounding beat of his heart. 'After all, were you not the man who was sleeping with his brother's wife?'

If Elijah were a lesser man, the color would've drained from his face and he would've found himself tongue-tied in front of the said husband of the wife he'd slept with, but Elijah wasn't the lesser man, and hence his face showed no expression when Kol counted his sins.

'That has nothing to do with Elena,' he replied brusquely.

'Nothing, you say? It didn't matter to you when you were sleeping with Bonnie, did it, Elijah? Did you even for once, think that I might love her?' The pain shining in Kol's eyes was something Elijah had just started to experience recently.

'I wasn't the only one in a relationship of two, Kol.' Maybe, he shouldn't have said that, but why was he responsible for the whole mistake when Bonnie had been an equal partner as well?

Kol's eyes shuttered. Elijah saw as his brother change into the cold unfeeling bastard that he was in front of his very own eyes.

Kol's eyes weren't meant to be cold; the snarl didn't suit his lips. What had he done to his little brother?

'I know that, Elijah. But what can I do? I love her. So, how do I blame her for something that I myself did a thousand times before she came in my life? I can't stop loving her, and yet her betrayal hurts. I want to go back, and yet I know nothing will ever be the same.' Kol took a step back as if he were uncertain about his rage. 'And then I see you, Elijah, and my anger knows no bound. I wonder why you didn't stop your advances when you perfectly knew how madly in love with her I was. Do you get a kick that you can seduce any woman you desire?'

Elijah had no answer. He himself didn't know what he had made of his life. Apparently Kol wasn't done.

'It is just like Sage and Finn debacle all over again, isn't it, Elijah? The only difference is that I'm not Finn, and I sure as hell am not going to kill myself for the grandiose expression of love.' His lips curled, and Elijah didn't know what was sadder; him or his brother's cruel smile. 'If you want Bonnie, you're welcome to have her. Just stay away from Elena.'

'What is Elena to you, Kol? Do you even know her? And as for wanting Bonnie, I think that ship has already sailed.'

'It doesn't matter whether or not I know, Elena. And as for Bonnie, did she send you here to appeal to my much better rationality?' Kol taunted.

'Bonnie is your wife, Kol. She has a right to demand an explanation for your whereabouts.'

Kol took a step towards Elijah, preferably to grab his collar but time and place halted his feet. His face was a bare panorama of disgust when his eyes met Elijah's.

'She lost that right, Elijah.'

Kol turned around to walk inside the house, and Elijah couldn't let him do that. Kol needed to go back to Holstein. He had to go far away from Elena, and maybe that was the reason which prompted Elijah to say something he shouldn't have said.

'They call her a whore. Across the principalities, and dukedoms of Europe, in every lofty, rich, blue-blooded circle, she is known as the girl who fell for the money of Duke of Luxembourg. "Duke's whore" that is how she's known across the whole Europe.'

The end of the sentence earned him a very forceful punch across his face.

'Don't you dare call her that,' Kol shouted.

'Why do you think she hides here? Her own parents don't acknowledge her existence,' Elijah said with a smile that looked wrong along with his bleeding nose.

'Oh! So, you know all about her, don't you, Elijah? After all weren't you the one who degraded her? And as for her parents, I pity them. If they can lavish all their money and love on Amara Gilbert, Elena doesn't need them in her life. She's got me, Elijah.'

Amara Gilbert? The woman who met him in high-end parties and lessened his boredom?

'Don't be a fool, Kol. I saw the altercation you got in with Damon. He won't be the only royal to look down on you because of your choice of a companion. Do you think people won't talk when you divorce Bonnie for someone like her?' Elijah was at his wits end. His baby brother had grown up to be a man far more honorable than he had been.

'Who said something about a divorce?' Kol laughed. 'Let people talk, Elijah. I never cared nor will I ever do. And as for Bonnie, you are here as her representative, aren't you? Then you can tell her that she would just have to get used to the photos that appear in newspapers, rumors that fly around and royal gossip that buzzes like a bee after her.'

And with the last statement, Kol turned around and walked away from the man he had idolized once…

Elijah Mikaelson downed another glass of whiskey and even then he could feel the taste of his sin beneath the burn of the liquor. Why had he said all those things about Elena? It left a bad taste in his mouth.

His phone rang again and he didn't need to check the screen to tell it was Bonnie again. He had ignored her calls all evening.

'What is it, Bonnie?' he slurred.

'Are you drunk, Elijah?'

'Me? No-' he took another swig from his glass, '-I'm just drowning my failure in alcohol, Bonnie.'

'What did he say?' Was it optimism in her voice that he could sense? Who did she think he was? Did she really think he was capable of making everything right with few words?

'He isn't coming back, Bonnie,' he said, his voice a forlorn echo of all the feelings swirling inside him.

'What do you mean by that? How can you let him stay with her?' she shrieked.

Her shout reminded Elijah, that however broken and weak he was in this moment, he was still Prince Elijah Mikaelson, and it would be a cold day in hell when he let the likes of Bonnie Bennett shout at him.

'You let him get away, Bonnie. It was you who told him everything. Don't lay the blame on my door now.'

He threw his phone across the room, where it shattered against the wall.

What was he going to do?

The Annual Gilbert Gala was another charity event that John and Isobel Gilbert hosted every year. This year their cause was raising awareness and donation for fighting Leukemia.

It was another one of those black tie events that Elijah abhorred attending, but John and Isobel Gilbert were not people he could ignore entirely. He could see Damon sitting gloomily at the bar. A woman sat beside him, clad in a pale crème gown, she was a very familiar figure.

What was Elena doing with Damon?

He didn't know he had intentionally walked to where the couple was sitting till he was standing directly beside Damon.

'Elena?'

The woman turned, and in a moment, he knew this wasn't Elena, even though Elena's face stared at him. The eyes were wrong. Elena's eyes were innocence personified, whereas these eyes were cold and calculative.

'It seems you've met my twin, your highness.' The woman smirked, her face contorting in something infinity ugly.

'Pardon me,' he said as he turned around to walk away. Damon had still not said a single word.

'There is no need for that, your highness.' She turned towards Damon, her hands winding intimately round his neck. Her eyes were flinty gateways to her soul, and from what Elijah could see, her soul was as ugly as her deception was beautiful. She looked at Damon from beneath her lashes, her voice coming in a breathy whisper. 'Won't you introduce me to your friend, darling?'

The blank look that adorned Damon's face didn't slip even for a moment as he stood up, his hands on the waist of the woman whose face was a mockery of Elena's beauty.

'His royal highness, Prince Elijah Mikaelson-' Damon gestured towards him, '- this is my girlfriend, Amara Gilbert.'

The world came to a standstill.

Amara?

Review below, and let me know what you thought about this chapter. I'll be back with the next installment of 'The Ugly Truth'. Till then, stay safe and read my stories. Don't forget to leave reviews.