"Rebekah, no," Kol pleads as he grabs at her to stop her dashing inside the house but she slips out of his grasp and darts inside. Bitch. Kol makes it inside in time to hear her yell, "Elijah! Nick! You've got to hear this." Make that fucking bitch.

"Shut up," Kol demands but the glee on her face tells him she won't, this is far too entertaining for her. Nick and Elijah appear at the top of the stairs and Nick calls down in a bored tone, "what is it Rebekah?"

Kol reaches her in time to grab her and clap his hand over her mouth. He'll never live this down if she blabs. Rebekah struggles to free herself, but soon realises Kol's got the advantage and so she licks his hand. Yuck, dirty bitch. Kol yanks his hand away to wipe her slobber off and she takes the opportunity to yell, "Kol'sinlovewithJeremyGilbert." Cow! Kol's going to punch her in her stupid face. Something must show on his own face because quick as a flash Nick is down the stairs and standing between them. Kol glares over Nick's shoulder at her smug face, "I'll kill you."

"That's enough Kol," Nick tells him seriously but then Nick can't help the smile that creeps onto his face. "Jeremy Gilbert? Really?" Rebekah's smile widens and Kol can hear Elijah chuckling.

"Fuck you all," Kol says venomously, turns and storms off. Before he reaches the door Rebekah calls to him, "sooking off to Jeremy are you?" That makes Nick laugh. Without stopping or turning Kol replies, "actually I thought I'd pay Matt or Caroline a visit with the new meat cleaver I picked up today." In an instant both Nick and Rebekah are in front of him blocking his path, the smiles wiped off their idiot faces. "I'm thinking of starting another body part collection, maybe heads this time," Kol continues with a grin. Take that shitheads, now whose smiling? "Maybe I'll get them mounted on the wall, I could make a collection of blondes," Kol rants because he knows Rebekah won't like it.

"Nick, make him stop," she whines to their big brother. Kol speaks before Nick gets a chance.

"I'll stop if you do," Kol says glaring at his irritating little sister.

"Stop it Kol," Nick demands. What gives Nick the right to tell Kol what to do?

"Who died and made you Dad?" Kol shoots at Nick.

"Actually Mikael did. And he didn't just die, I killed him." Nick finishes with a smile and a look that says Kol will end up the same if he doesn't pull his head in.

"Fine," Kol huffs, "I won't touch them. Now get the fuck out of my way." He shoves past Nick and Rebekah, just wanting to be anywhere but here.

xxx

Damnit, those wretches were right. Kol's feet have led him to Jeremy's house, and he could've sworn he was wandering aimlessly.

Kol flops down on the couch beside Jeremy. In the past one would've taken a seat, sat politely, perhaps even perched, but these days people just flop.

"Did you sort everything out with Rebekah?" Jeremy asks.

"Sort of," Kol replies with a sigh, thinking of his horrid siblings. Sometimes he wonders why he puts up with it. Out loud he says, "and that pack of arseholes wonder why I never stick around for more than a decade." Jeremy will have no idea what he's talking about. Is it weird to dump this on Jeremy? He is Kol's best friend after all and that's what mates do, isn't it? But what if you're also in love with your best friend? Surely that's got to complicate things. And what if the reason you need to vent to your best mate, who you're in love with, is because you're copping shit off you're siblings about your best mate, who you're in love with? Surely that's got to really complicate things. Yep, Elijah was right, Kol is just plain messy. Bloody hell...feelings. Who needs them?

"Well I've got some news to cheer you up," Jeremy beams at Kol. "I made the team."

Wow, that news really does cheer Kol up.

"Congratulations. I never doubted you would."

That earns him a delightful smile from Jeremy, who continues on to tell him, with air quotes included, that the coach said he had a 'killer swing' and 'was an asset to the team'.

"The coach seemed surprised that I could take on such fast pitches. Actually I was too."

"It doesn't surprise me," Kol says with a knowing smile, "I've been working on building up the speed I pitch to you at. Lately I've been pitching to you at just over 100 mph." Jeremy's eyes widen in disbelief. "You can thank me later," Kol finishes with satisfaction.

When the surprise wears off a smirk creeps onto Jeremy's face.

"How about I thank you now," Jeremy purrs, climbing on top of Kol. It's so out of the blue that it takes Kol a moment to realise where Jeremy's heading with this. Kol looks into Jeremy's eyes and no one has ever looked at him the way Jeremy is looking at him now. Like Kol is the answer to a long held question. Jeremy leans in and captures Kol's mouth in a heated kiss. And because he wants to, Kol returns Jeremy's kiss. Kol's had enough of denying himself the pleasure of taking what he desires.

"Mmmm, that was even better than I remember," Jeremy says, leaning back and licking his lips. Remember? Crap.

"But that's th-" Kol begins to say.

"Please, don't even try," Jeremy says with a grin, "your compulsion sucks."