"I'm so glad you're here, Lottie." Jeremy finished wrapping his arms around his sister. "I'm glad I'm here, too. I couldn't just leave my little brother without his super fun sister for too long, could I?" She grinned as she ruffled Jeremy's head. New Orleans was a blast, but now she had to adjust to Denver.
"I know that Denver Colorado probably isn't your idea of fun-"
"Jeremy, I'm not here to see Denver. I'm here to see you. And besides, it can't be much worse than Mystic Falls."
"Well, Denver has a lot more to it than just the Broncos. It's a pretty cool city once you give it a chance." Jeremy smiled at her, happy to have his sister around. He didn't exactly know why he was in Denver, but he knew it was for the best. Although he did miss his sisters. He did wonder why Elena didn't visit, though.
"Well then you're going to have to show me what Denver has to offer, kid." Charlotte missed her little brother, too. Denver wasn't exactly the dazzling metropolis that New York or Chicago was, but it was a pretty big city. "I'm sure I can compel us into a Broncos game."
"Finally, someone using compulsion for something worthwhile." Jeremy laughed. "Look, I didn't realize you were coming into town tonight, so I have plans with a friend of mine. But I can cancel, or you can tag along. I actually think you two would get along."
Charlotte contemplated the idea. "Do you actually want me there? Tell me the truth."
"Of course I do! We're going to the batting cages, if that's cool with you." Charlotte scoffed.
"How stereotypical of you. I'm going to kick your ass, I promise."
Charlotte's knowledge and skill for sports wasn't exactly vast, but if there was one sport she was good at, it was baseball. Well, softball. When Elena first started getting interested in Cheer, their parents thought it would be wise to get Charlotte into some sort of sport, and softball was her pick. She played it pretty well up until her parents died, and like Elena's cheering, it sort of fell apart from there. But she was still really good, playing with Jeremy whenever she had the chance. She taught Jer everything he knew.
"Had I known you were in town, that would not have been my activity of choice. Anyway, if you're coming, you might want to change. Stilettos aren't exactly baseball shoes." Charlotte feigned offense and went up to the guest room to change into tennis shoes and jeans. "I'm ready when you are, loser."
Making fun of each other, playing baseball. It would be just like old times.
This was exactly what she needed.
Jeremy drove her to the batting cages, talking about his new friend the entire time. He told her that he texted him that she was coming, and was more than happy to meet her. Jeremy made a few suggestions about "how well they would get along." Charlotte laughed and made fun of him the entire time.
When they arrived, Jeremy looked around for his friend. When he spotted him, he shouted out, waving him over.
"Kol! Over here!"
The first sign was the name Kol. The second? Well, the malignant Original walking over to Charlotte and Jeremy.
Charlotte was dumbstruck. Kol have her a warning look, telling her that if she said or did anything Jeremy would pay.
So she didn't say or do anything.
"Hey, you must be Charlotte." His American accent was pathetic, but apparently good enough to fool Jeremy and the population of Denver. "I'm Kol. Jeremy has told me so much about you." He held out his hand and Charlotte shook it. She wasn't exactly terrified, considering she and Kol hadn't ended on the awful terms he had with the Salvatores, but this Original was unpredictable, and there had to be a reason he was watching Jeremy.
"All good things, I hope." She forced a laugh, looking over at Jeremy.
"Of course."
"Hey, I'm gonna go by the balls. You're gonna wanna watch out for this one, Kol. She taught me everything I know."
And Jeremy jogged away, leaving the two vampires alone. Charlotte turned to face Kol. "What are you doing here?"
"I wonder if you're still on vervain," Kol replied, taking a whiff of the air. "Smells like the answer is a no. Perfect, that'll make things much easier." Kol looked her in the eyes, compelling her. She hadn't been taking vervain since she'd been on vacation, she really didn't have a reason to and taking vervain was the literal worst. "I could give you all of these restrictions, but that's just so much work. You and I have never met before, Got it? And you have, and will not have, any idea that I am a vampire. I'm just Jeremy's friend Kol. And you are going to be very friendly, and very welcoming."
She nodded obediently.
"Perfect, anyway, Charlotte, you like baseball?" He said in an American accent.
Charlotte smiled. She liked Jeremy's new friend. In fact, she was happy Jeremy had a friend anyway.
"Yeah, our sister was really into Cheer and my parents figured I needed something as well. So it was softball."
Jeremy waved them over then. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
All in all, by the end of the evening, Charlotte liked Jeremy's friend Kol. She was really worried that he'd come to Denver, and nobody would be friends with him, and he would be really lonely, and spiral downward.
Jeremy had a dog, too. That was probably good for him, to have the undying loyalty that a dog could provide.
Charlotte and Jeremy spent a lot of time together. Jeremy had school, which Charlotte conveniently signed out of for a little while, but when he came home they would hang out, like nonstop. Charlotte would help him with his homework, then they would go out on the town of Denver. They went to that Broncos game, they went White Water Rafting, zip-lining, adventures never ceased. And they hung out with Kol every now and then. According to Jeremy, he was in Charlotte's grade, just a year ahead of Jeremy like Charlotte. Things were good for Jeremy, it was just a shame that all of his optimism was contrived from Damon's compulsion.
Kol and Jeremy hung out a lot, though. Like he would be over for dinner, movies, everything. It was odd how close they were already, I mean Jeremy hadn't been in town for that long, had he? But Charlotte accepted it.
Anyway, it was another day at the batting cages. Charlotte was trying to instruct him to be a bit better, since he was still a bit sad of a player.
"Okay, you're watching everything but the ball. It's pretty easy."
"For you, maybe!" He teased back.
"Hey, Jer! Charlotte!" The two siblings turned around to see Elena and Damon.
"What's wrong?" Even Jeremy knew that they wouldn't visit out of the goodness of their hearts. I don't know, maybe they didn't need anything.
Apparently when killing an Original, it kills their bloodline as well. And Elena and Damon needed to know who turned Rose, and Jeremy could help them with that. Maybe. He didn't know Rose.
And Charlotte could tell he was a bit pissed off that they only wanted to see him for his help, so after reluctantly agreeing he sent them away.
"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."
"His friend is actually a pretty cool guy, surprisingly." Charlotte teased.
Right. Kol was supposed to meet them later. Charlotte gave them a curt smile and shrugged. Kol was coming behind them, so Jeremy stepped through Elena and Damon, giving Elena a quick kiss on the cheek, and went to meet Kol. Charlotte followed.
"Jeremy. . ." Elena let out a distressed plea. And then she saw Kol, and she panicked.
"Damon, it's Kol!" How did she know him. "Charlotte!"
She called to Charlotte to do something, but this was Jeremy's friend Kol? She watched in awe as Kol nailed Damon with his wooden baseball bat.
"What the hell?" Jeremy shouted. Charlotte stood in front of him protectively.
"Jeremy, get back. He's an Original." Elena said. "Charlotte, what the hell? Have you known it was Kol the whole time?"
"What are you talking about, Elena?" Charlotte asked her, confused."Elena, he was just Jeremy's friend."
"No hard feelings, mate. But we're not buds." Kol told Jeremy,
She had zero idea what was going on, but when Kol grabbed a metal baseball bat, she knew she had to do something.
"You know, I'll never get use to aluminum. But hey, at least it won't break."
He went to beat Damon with it, but as he raised it, Charlotte flashed over and grabbed the bat, hitting Kol over the head with it. Damon, from the ground, grabbed the broken wood piece and stabbed Kol with it, Kol falling to the ground.
"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked with astonishment.
"No. But it'll give us a head start. And a chance to figure out why the hell Charlotte hadn't done anything about it."
So they packed up and left Denver, Charlotte and Jeremy following in her car behind Elena and Damon, and checked into a sketchy motel where hopefully Kol, who was apparently an Original vampire that Charlotte had met several times before, wouldn't find them.
And then Jeremy contacted Rose, who told them she missed Damon and that she was turned by Mary Porter, and that she would find out some information on her, if she could.
Plenty of time, then, to talk about Charlotte and Kol.
"Do you really not recognize him?"
"Recognize who? I've never seen him before in my life!" Charlotte replied. "He just seemed like Jeremy's super hot friend."
"Yeah, but how were you not suspicious that he was a vampire. We've kinda got that instinct, ya know." Damon complained.
"It never occurred to me."
"So you don't remember Klaus's twisted dinner party, or the twisted ball?"
"Of course I remember."
"Who did you dance with?" Damon targeted her.
"I don't-Klaus? I remember dancing with Klaus, a bit."
"Gross." Damon mocked. "It's obvious he compelled you."
So then Damon took a phone call and Jeremy questioned Elena about Damon, a love triangle even Charlotte didn't care about, and then Damon returned, suggesting they freshen up. And Jeremy went with Charlotte to talk to Rose and the two returned. . .on Damon and Elena having sex.
"Jer, I'm so sorry."
Jeremy tried to ignore, but Charlotte did the mature thing and totally made fun of them for it.
"Gross. Ew. So so so so gross are you kidding me we're right here?" She laughed. Jeremy shook his head.
"Rose found Mary."
So they drove, found the address, and made Jeremy reluctantly stay in the car. Charlotte, Damon, and Elena, then, walked through the dark house with a lantern and Charlotte's cell phone to guide them. "Do we wanna try turning on any lights?" She mumbled into the darkness. She was ignored. They walked through the cold and empty house before stumbling on a blonde staked against the wall.
"Mary. . ." Damon whispered.
"Quite contrary." And the lights turned on behind them, displaying Kol, who immediately went and punched Damon before whipping around and turning to Charlotte.
"Don't try and fight me, love. Damon and I have a score to settle. You, on the other hand, I like you." And so Charlotte was compelled not to fight Kol. Elena looked at him with confusion.
"Shame about Mary; she used to be a blast. Don't quite know what happened. I fear all the time she spent with my family might have ruined her. She was a bit of an Original groupie." He drawled.
"And were you her favorite?" Elena asked cleverly.
"You mean, did I turn her? I think I did. But no, wait, maybe it was Rebekah. There was also a Klaus period. And let's not forget the Elijah affair. I spoke to my brother, I know you're trying to find out who you descended from. Now you never will. So, where did we leave off?"
Kol hit Damon with a baseball bat, beating him.
"Charlotte! Get Elena out of here!"
She didn't need the instruction, she ran to usher Elena out of the house, but Kol blocked the way, grabbing Elena.
"According to my brother, you're off limits. Please don't test me." And Kol went to push Elena to the ground, but Charlotte caught her. As he rushed towards him. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but nobody touched my sister." And as she distracted him for the mere moment, Damon was able to rush towards Kol. Kol threw him off and into the corner. Charlotte, unable to do much else, guarded Elena.
"Oh dear, I've hit a nerve. Relax, darling, I just want us to be even. You snapped my neck, you killed my brother, and then you humiliated me."
And he continued to hit Damon as Charlotte tried to keep Elena from watching.
"There. Now we're even." He declared as he walked over to Charlotte, compelling her again. "Oh, and Darling? You can remember me now."
And the memories flooded back.
After Damon and Elena had their little heart to heart, Damon strolled up to Charlotte.
"So, do you remember why Kol seems to like you so much?"
"Yeah. We had sex." She replied bluntly.
"You had sex with Kol?" Jeremy asked incredulously.
"Well, this was before he was your Kol. He was just the incredibly charming Kol Mikaelson at this point. Anyway, Damon, before you get all judgey I know you had sex with Rebekah on that same night, so. . ."
Charlotte was an open book. She didn't care that Elena was bound to say something condescending. It wasn't Elena's sex life, was it?
"Still, I had sex with Rebekah and that didn't stop her from torturing me."
"Well you probably deserved it." Charlotte laughed. "Besides, I'm pretty sure we've had some suggestions towards romantic entanglement. Especially after my visit to Denver." Charlotte looked over at Elena, who was getting something out of the car. "Don't tell Elena, though. It already hurt her enough when you sexed Rebekah."
So they drove home, Charlotte solemnly driving in the car that she had put too many miles on in the past year, and Jeremy with Damon and Elena who insisted on 'spending time with him' even though the reason he's leaving the happy life he was forced to live was because of them.
Charlotte was often conflicted. She loved Elena more than absolutely everything in the world-except for Jeremy. Jeremy often went second to Elena's problems, and that was an injustice Charlotte needed to fight against.
"I hate dances."
"No, you love them."
"No, I love dressing in nice clothes and having fun with my friends. Now, I'm always in nice clothes and I don't have any friends."
"Of course you have friends! What do you think I am?"
"Caroline, you're a part of the Vampire Super-PAC." Lottie sighed. "It's not the same. I don't have any friends who aren't working towards an agenda to kill vampires or keep Elena alive."
"You're the one who went and compelled your only other normal friend away."
"Yeah, well now it's too late, isn't it? What, do I just compel her back into my life? Don't be silly." And then Charlotte sighed again. "And I don't even have a date, anyway."
"Charlotte Gilbert, this is the last Decade Dance! Come on, show vampirism who's boss and do things and have fun again! Kick everything that ever made you this bitter in the ass and come out tonight!"
"Caroline, every dance, something has gone wrong."
"Nothing will go wrong tonight. I won't allow it, if you're here."
Charlotte was tempted to allow her to sway her, yet Charlotte remained, choosing isolation by choice rather than by force. She didn't go to the dance.
However, things did go wrong, at the end of the night.
"Hello? Who is this?" Charlotte answered the call from the unknown number.
"Charlotte Gilbert! Just the vampire with whom I wanted to speak," Klaus sang.
"What is it?"
"Well it seems as though your asocial tendencies have come to benefit me. My mother has taken your sister and is up to something, and all of us supernatural folk are stuck in the dance. You're going to go stop Esther."
She didn't need any more words.
"Just tell me where."
When Charlotte arrived, Jeremy and Matt were aiming at each other. She only had a few moments to end this all. In a moment, she was behind Esther, making the conscious decision in that split second that it was time for Esther to die.
She ripped Esther's heart out.
"Charlotte!" Elena screeched.
Charlotte looked at what she was done, a no longer beating heart in her hands. It seemed like such a wise decision in the split moment, but this woman was dead now. Charlotte dropped the heart.
"I killed her."
She had killed before, but it never felt like this.
Alaric came from no where. "What's happening? Where's my ring?"
Charlotte was still staring at her hands, now bloody.
It was explained. Esther tried to turn Ric into a weird Original hunter, but didn't finish in time for Ric to complete the transformation. And Alaric wasn't going to.
He was going to let himself die.
She hadn't been as close to Alaric as her siblings, but Charlotte was struck with a piece of grief that she couldn't shake. Apparently this had been happening, it had all been leading up to this, when Charlotte was off galavanting in New Orleans and Denver.
He had already told Charlotte. He knew-he knew he was strong enough. Everybody left the scene to process the situation on their own, but Charlotte opted to wait for Klaus.
"No. Go. I need to talk to him."
She stared at Esther's body. She had never felt this much remorse after a kill before. She supposed it was because other kills were quick, merciless thoughtless. And they were just humans, sources of nourishment. She didn't know what she was doing then.
But this one she knew. She knew exactly what she was doing, and she did it anyway.
"She's over here," Charlotte called out quietly when Klaus arrived.
He sauntered over to where she was sitting, in the ground, staring at Esther's body.
"Mother. . ." He said quietly. Charlotte couldn't exactly identify the emotion-remorse, anger, exhaustion, grief.
Maybe it was simply finality.
"I'm the one who killed her. I'm sorry." Charlotte said quietly. "I'm sorry I killed your mother."
"Well, I'm sorry I killed your aunt," he remarked, bending down to look at his mother.
"Are you really?" Charlotte asked, surprised by his words.
"I suppose, if you can find it in yourself to apologize for murdering my mother for everybody's game, then I can apologize for killing your aunt for my own." He spoke solemnly.
"Thank you," Charlotte uttered quietly. "I'll leave you with her."
And she was gone.