AN: Thanks to Dancergirlxo, PrinessFergie and Pogocrazy7 for your reviews.

Chapter 29: A Fresh Start, Is It?

Shanyra was leaving the Duval residence. She came to meet Violet. It was good to talk to her. She was the other important person in Sam's life. Violet was all prepared to leave Mystic Falls. Shae understood that she needed to get away from the town where her brother was murdered. Frankly if Shae could, she would've left too. But she couldn't as she had a promise to keep. She got to her car and drove off from there and up to the general store. She told Caroline that she'd do the grocery shopping this time. Their fridge needed restocking.

Shae got to the parking lot but everywhere was full. She needed to park her car somewhere else. She found a spot which was five minutes walk from the store. Having no other choice, she parked the car there. Shae stepped out of the car, and locked the door; then started walking down the pedestrian road. The last couple of days have been torturous for Shae. Kol has literary became her shadow. The only time he left her alone was when he needed to have a bite. Caroline wasn't happy with what was going on. She knew it was hurting Shae to be around Kol. She wanted to talk to the original and ask him to give her space but Shae told her not to. She told Caroline the same thing, she told everyone else. That she didn't want anyone else to get hurt. Caroline though argued with her but couldn't win.

Begrudgingly she accepted the fact that Kol would be in Shanyra's life no matter what. Though she never missed to give him a bitter angry glare whenever they came across each other. And Kol would simply roll his eyes at her every time. He was really trying to weasel his way into his soul mate's heart. Yes, he was forcing Shae to spend time with him but during their time together, he was no less than a gentleman. He was very keen on finding the differences and changes between the younger Shanyra and the older one. Truth to be told, if she hadn't hated him so much, she would've actually liked his company.

While walking, Shae suddenly stopped in her track. A bunch of guys have just turned a corner and now heading right towards her way. They looked drunk and stoned. Coming face to face with them would definitely not be safe. Not to mention when it was almost nine in the evening and there was no one else there. Shae could've just gone back to her car and wait for them to pass but she decided to keep walking forward. As expected those drunken men noticed her and they surrounded her. They started misbehaving with her.

"Hey babe, what's your name?"

"Would you like to party with us?"

"Please let me go." Shae tried to get away from them but they didn't let her.

"Hey, what's the matter? We just wanna have some fun."

"Leave me alone or I'll call the cops."

"Are you threatening us?" One of them asked angrily. Another one suddenly snatched her purse. Her phone was in there.

"How are you gonna call the cops now?" They laughed out loud. Shanyra realized, she was in big trouble.

On the other hand, Kol was looking for her. He had left to fed. He knew Shae was gonna go out to meet Sam's sister. But when he went to the Duval residence, she wasn't there anymore. Also he was surprised to find out that it was Violet who was Sam's elder sister. He obviously remembered her face. It felt like irony to Kol that his soul mate fell for her brother. But that was all in the past. At the moment, he needed to find Shanyra. He called her but she didn't pick up. It went to voice mail. Was she ignoring him again? It was unlikely. So far she kept her promise to do whatever he told her to do and he made it very clear that he disliked her ignorance very much. And so Kol started to think, was she in trouble? He was indeed feeling a little odd in his heart.

He was driving by the grocery store. Suddenly he spotted Shanyra's car on the side of the road. He parked his own car and got out to look for her. Perhaps she has gone to the store. Thinking that, just as Kol started walking towards that way, he heard someone's scream. It stopped him in his track right away because he realized it was none other than Shae who screamed as if in danger. He immediately headed towards the way the scream came from. When Kol got there, he saw some men surrounding his Shanyra and trying to rape her. The original immediately saw red. He never felt so enraged before. Before those guys could realize what was happening, he used his super strength to throw them off of Shae.

"Kol!" She gasped in surprise and looked relieved to see him. Without thinking anything, she threw herself in his arms and held onto him tightly. She buried her face in his chest and started sobbing. Kol wished to keep holding her and comfort her but those filthy bastards were still breathing. He couldn't allow that.

Kol picked up Shae in his arms and used his vampire speed to take her to his car. He made her sit inside then he returned to those men. They were trying to get up on their feet. Kol only allowed them to see his face before he literary tore them off into pieces. After that he was going to go back to Shae but stopped himself. Blood was all over his clothes and face. The sight would terrify her rather than help her. Therefore he called Caroline and told her what happened. She was immediately on her way. Caroline would take Shae home safely and also help comfort her. As long as she didn't arrive, Kol watched over Shae from the shadows. She was crying. He so wanted to go to her and do everything to make her feel better. It angered him as well. He so wanted to bring those men back to life again so that he could kill them all over again.

Once Caroline arrived, and Shanyra saw her, she ran out of the car and went to her sister. Kol eavesdropped in on their conversation.

"Shae, are you alright?" Caroline asked with concern, pulling her into a hug. Shae vehemently nodded her head.

"Come on, let's go home." The elder one said.

"Care, where's Kol?" Shae asked wondering about him.

"He needed to leave. He told me to come and get you. I'm sure he'll come to see you later." Caroline assured.

"I need to see him Caroline. I need to thank him. I don't know what would've happened to me if he hadn't found me."

"I understand Shae. But right now, you need to rest. I promise I'll take you to him myself tomorrow." Caroline promised but Shae shook her head.

"No, I need to talk to him alone. I'll see him at school tomorrow."

"Okay" said Caroline understandingly.

"Come on, let's get you home now." With that both Forbes sisters/cousins left. Kol couldn't help but smile to himself happily. Finally Shanyra's heart started to melt for him. He just needed to make sure that it opens up for him more and more until she falls madly in love with him again.

The following day at school, Emily was talking to Shanyra about something but she could barely pay any attention to her. She was waiting for a certain original to show up.

"I've been digging in some old Lockwood family history and guess what, my ancestors were rumored to be werewolves. Now, I know it's ridiculous but just imagine. I may have werewolf gene in me." Emily was saying rather excitedly. Right then Kol arrived at school. He looked at Shae, then headed straight towards his classroom.

"Shae, earth to." Emily said when she noticed her friend looking elsewhere.

"I'm sorry. There's just something I need to do. I'll see you later." Saying that, Shae left. She went to the history classroom knowing Kol would be there. Thankfully it was apparently a free period for Mr. Mikaelson therefore the classroom was empty. Still Shae knocked first instead of barging in.

"Come in." Came Kol's voice. She opened the door and entered. Kol was sitting at the desk. Upon seeing her, he stood up. He leaned against the desk instead and also crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you have a minute?" She asked nicely, with soft tone of voice. When Kol looked into her eyes, he noticed that they didn't held the anger and hatred anymore.

"Yes, how can I help you Ms. Forbes?" He asked very professionally. Shae stopped the urge to roll her eyes at that.

"Actually, I came here to thank you- for last night." She said really meaning it. The original didn't doubt her sincerely but he merely nodded his head. He didn't wish to show exactly how happy he was about Shanyra behaving normally with him for a change. It might make him look desperate. He definitely was desperate but didn't wish her to know that and make her uncomfortable again.

"You're welcome." Kol said looking straight into her eyes.

"Anything else?" He inquired. Shae shook her head.

"No, just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful to you for saving me." She said lowering her gaze as if feeling uncomfortable to be nice with him. It was understandable though. She had grown used to of hating him. Now suddenly things changed. It'd take time to adjust with that.

"I'd always protect you Shae. Always. I'll never let any harm come to you." Kol said speaking the unchangeable truth. Shae nodded her head.

"I know. I mean- after all your survival literary depends on my life. Anyway I should leave now. I've got classes." Saying that she turned around to leave but Kol stopped her by speaking up again.

"Once, I told you I could die for you. You believed me then. I guess you won't believe that anymore but know that I can still die for you. So if you think I only saved you because my life is linked to yours, then you're wrong." Silence occupied the moment after Kol finished his speech. Shanyra still had her back turned towards him. She was breathing a little heavily and her heart was beating a little fast. She had her eyes closed tightly as if trying to keep her emotions in control. She finally opened her eyes and said-

"You can't keep doing this to me." Shae said it more to herself than to Kol. Then she turned around and walked up closer to him.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked, tears shining in her big eyes. The original could just stare at her.

"If you are a bad person then just do bad things. And if you are good then just be good. You being good one moment then doing something terrible the next, it's driving me nuts. Do you want me to go insane?" Shae asked it quite seriously, showing her frustration with Kol's ever changing personality.

"No" said Kol at once.

"All I want is for you to care about me again." He said then sighed out heavily before continuing.

"I am bad, Shanyra. For a long time I was a sadistic killer. I didn't care about anything let alone anyone. But then you came into my life and I started to change. You made me care. You made me good. But then tragically we parted and when I came back, you refused to let me in your life. I immediately started to slip back into the darkness again. You see Ms. Forbes, I can't be good on my own. I need you for that." After a brief moment of silence, Shae said-

"That's a very heavy responsibility- keeping an original vampire good. What if I fail?" Shae asked. Kol only smiled at her. He raised his hand up to affectionately cup her face. Instead of becoming rigid like usual, she leaned into the hand while keeping her eyes locked with his.

"You did fine when you were twelve. I think you can manage now too. Just give me a chance Shae. That's all I'm asking." Kol spoke with pleading tone of voice as his eyes became intense. He really really wanted Shae to give into his request. She thought about it for a moment, then nodded her head.

"Alright Mr. Mikaelson. I think you've earned a chance. Don't screw it up." She said making Kol smile widely.

"I won't." He said confidently. Then he leaned in. Shae thought he was going to kiss her lips. She immediately closed her eyes. Not really wanting it to go there yet. Thankfully Kol simply kissed her forehead. It made her smile and she couldn't help but embrace the original. He obviously wrapped his arms around Shae too right away. It felt so good to have her in his arms. Where she belonged. Unfortunately the moment was short lived. They both heard a gasp. When Kol and Shanyra looked at the door, they found Maggie standing there.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed with shock. She was gaping at them with wide eyes and open mouth. Shae immediately stepped away from Kol much to his disliking.

"Maggie no, it's not what you think." She said walking up to her friend. Maggie however rolled her eyes at Shae.

"I think it's exactly what I think." She said stubbornly and then started to walk away. Shae looked back at Kol who nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders at her with an innocent look on his face. He wasn't gonna get involved between friends drama. Shae threw a glare at him before going after Maggie.

"Maggie stop. Maggie please." She was finally able to stop her. Maggie looked pissed. Because she cared about her friend.

"Shanyra Forbes have you gone crazy? Getting involved with a teacher! You have any idea what would happen if you get caught." Maggie whisper yelled so that no one else would hear them. Not that anyone else was around them that time.

"No one's getting caught, Maggie. Nothing is going on between us." Shae assured but Maggie didn't believe that.

"Yeah, you were only going to make out with him." She said accusingly.

"No." Shae said immediately but it was no use.

"I noticed him eying you these past days Shae. Don't lie to me." Maggie snapped at her. She was clearly hurt that her best friend kept a secret from her.

"Fine, I'm having an affair with Mr. Mikaelson. Now what?" Shae said getting pissed off herself as Maggie refused to believe her. The blunt confession startled her. She went quiet for a moment.

"Does Emily know?" Maggie asked sounding very serious about it.

"No." Was Shae's short reply.

"Are you serious about him?" She asked really curiously.

"I don't know yet." Shae replied nonchalantly. When she saw how seriously Maggie was believing all that, she rolled her eyes at her.

"For god's sake Maggie. Nothing is going on between us. Kol just cares about me a lot. We were hugging because I was feeling sad and he was just trying to comfort me. That's it." Shae assured her friend.

"Really?" Maggie asked still being a little suspicious.

"I swear Maggie." This time she decided to believe her friend.

"Alright, I believe you. But you'd tell me if anything happens between you two, right?" She asked rather hopefully.

"Why do you think anything would happen between us?" Shae asked curiously.

"Because I saw the way he looks at you. It's a look a guy gives a girl when he's in love with her and desperately wants her" said Maggie with a teasing smile.

"Maggie- shut up. You're hopeless." Shae said shaking her head at her.

"Let's go find Emily." With that they started walking together to find their other friend. Maggie didn't know how right she was. Kol Mikaelson was indeed madly in love with Shanyra and wanted her crazily. But if she had ever looked at Shae and saw how SHE looked at Kol, she would've known that her friend hated that original with every fiber of her being. And she was willing to go to any lengths to destroy him.

Flashback

Shanyra made sure Kol has really left to feed and wasn't stalking her from the shadows. Then she went to Bonnie's home. She entered through the door in a haste. She needed to get back before Kol showed up again.

"Is he here?" Shae asked Bonnie.

"I'm here love" said the very person she was inquired about who was none other than Enzo. Off topic Bonnie and Enzo were a couple. They were madly in love with each other. It happened over the time for many reasons.

"Great, did you tell him everything?" Shae asked Bonnie who nodded her head.

"Yes, and to let you know, he thinks you're being suicidal." She said with a matter of fact tone of voice.

"And I'm only helping with god knows what because Bonnie is asking." Enzo clarified.

"Yes, Enzo, I'm aware. And I'm very grateful. Thank you very much." She said rolling her eyes a little.

"What is it that you need his help with anyway?" Bonnie asked. Clearly she didn't know about it yet too. Shae only said she needed Enzo's help in order to take this murdering original plot forward.

"Well as you know we need Kol's blood for the spell. Now I can't just ask him to give it neither I can just cut him and make him bleed. I do have a plan to get his blood but I need to get close to him, really close. And for that, I need to be his friend first."

"So pretend to be his friend. What's the problem?" Enzo asked.

"But she can't suddenly want to be his friend. Kol knows Shae hates him now. Her suddenly letting go of that hatred and wanting to be his friend would make him suspicious." Bonnie explained understanding the problem here.

"Exactly. I need to have a reason for wanting to give him a chance. And for that he needs to do something heroic" said Shae. She knew pretending to be Kol's friend would be unimaginably difficult for her but for Sam's sake, she'd do anything. Meaning ANYTHING.

"Heroic like what?" Enzo asked.

"Like saving me from danger of course. When he does that, I'll be grateful. Then he'll definitely ask me to give him a chance and I'll give it to him." Shanyra explained.

"But how will you get into danger?" Bonnie asked with confusion.

"That's where I need Enzo's help." She said making both Bonnie and Enzo frown at her with confusion.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Compel some people to attack me. But it has to look natural of course. And be sure that they are actually bad guys. Kol would obviously rip them apart. I don't want anyone innocent dying."

"I know it's a filmy idea but I'm hundred percent certain that it'd work." Silence fell in the room as no one talked for a moment. Shae looked between Bonnie and Enzo. Hoping they'd agree to help her with this.

"When did you become so diabolic Shanyra Forbes?" Enzo couldn't help but ask. She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"Enzo would you help me or not?" She asked with patient tone of voice though inwardly feeling the opposite.

"He would." It was Bonnie who said it.

"I would?" Enzo questioned with raised eyebrows.

"Yes rather you help her than she gets herself into an actual trouble."

End Of Flashback