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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗.
[0𝟔]. 𝐌𝐎𝐌𝐁𝐈𝐄 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓.
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 】
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❛ 𝘍𝘜𝘊𝘒 𝘖𝘍, 𝘈𝘛𝘖𝘔𝘐𝘊 𝘉𝘓𝘖𝘕𝘋𝘌 ❜
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𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐙𝐈𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐉𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐄'𝐒 𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 Nathaniel's least favorite holiday of the year, for many reasons. Number one being, dear Nathaniel detested birthdays with a passion. And two, when it turned out to be none other than the twins who happened to age a year, it always had to be hectic. Preparations had to be in order, Lizzie would always be somewhere bitching about something, and there'd be noise not letting him sleep past seven-

It was horrible.

The only thing bearable from that dreaded March day was Josie, in Nathaniel's humblest of opinions. The only bitch- witch, holding the reins to the Saltzman's sweet sixteen was Lizzie, obviously. While Josie on the other hand would never be as picky, meaning the brunette twin would be less chaotic than her blonde counterpart.

As always.

"There's my favorite birthday girl," Nathaniel cheerily smiled.

A small smile appeared on Josie's lips once she turned towards Nathaniel as he entered the twins shared room, holding two matching ruby red boxes in his hands. The nephilim quickly registered the lack of blonde witch presence and he was relieved. There were a lot of things Nathaniel needed to get off his chest, and it had been a long time since Josie and him sat down and talked about anything. Mainly because of it being Nathaniel's fault for closing himself off after the Hope incident, but that wasn't something he was close to admit now, or even in the near future.

Josie stood to her feet. "You're up early."

"I haven't slept," Nathaniel shrugged before bringing the brunette witch in for a hug and laying his chin on the top of her head. "My head is all over the place."

There was a small hum from Josie once she detached herself from Nathaniel, and following that, the witch sat herself at the edge of her bed before patting the space on the mattress next to her, signaling Nathaniel to sit. And when the nephilim did, a small sigh left him. Nathaniel felt lighter, which was strange, considering he had been feeling so out of it lately. And the nephilim didn't know if it had everything to do with him realizing his feelings for Hope and that the tribrid potentially reciprocated them, or that Landon was no longer there to interfere in what could possibly blossom between him and Hope.

Nathaniel's money was on both of those options.

"You want to talk about it?" Josie interrupted the small silence.

Nathaniel smiled softly. "Strangely, yeah."

Josie softly took Nathaniel's hand in hers. "I'm all ears."

Nathaniel paused for a second before sighing heavily. "I have feelings for Hope."

The silence that followed wasn't something Nathaniel expected. The atmosphere suddenly turned tense, and Josie slowly let go of his hand, which in return caused Nathaniel to swiftly land his stare on her. Josie's eyebrows were narrowed but her expression was unreadable. The nephilim's chest tightened slightly, the words he had uttered ringing in his head.

It was the first time Nathaniel had said those words out loud, and the reaction he received made him never want to do it again.

"Jo?"

Josie shook her head. "I thought you hated Hope."

Nathaniel hesitated. "I didn't- I mean, I disliked her, sure. She was annoying, yeah, and she said some things about Lizzie that one time, but it was a long time ago."

Something wasn't sitting well with Josie, but Nathaniel couldn't pinpoint what it was. The abrupt distaste on Josie's face made the nephilim feel like he was doing something wrong, like he had betrayed someone in the worst of ways and that was the last thing Nathaniel had expected when he decided on telling his younger sister what wasn't letting him sleep at night.

Then, Nathaniel scoffed. "Why's this such a big deal? Because of Lizzie? It's not like we're that close anyway."

"She's our sister," Josie reminded.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "She's never considered me her brother, and you know that. I'm the male equivalent of Hope Mikaelson because I take all her daddy's attention from her."

Josie sighed. "That's not true, Nate."

"The hell it isn't," Nathaniel snorted, raising his shoulders slightly before letting them fall once again. "But I honestly couldn't give less of a fuck. The matter-of-fact is, if I do end up going all Romeo on Hope, Lizzie isn't going to have a say in anything, and frankly, neither are you."

The way Josie instantly pulled into herself after Nathaniel's harsh statement made the nephilim cringe internally. The younger witch was already cooped up in that small shell Lizzie's ego and her own codependency had her in, and Nathaniel had suddenly made it worse. Though yes, Nathaniel felt bad, there was no way in hell he was apologizing for it.

Josie averted her gaze from Nathaniel. "I don't like fighting with you."

Truth was, Nathaniel didn't either. If there was one person other than Caroline Forbes and dear old Doctor Saltzman that Nathaniel felt closest to, it was Josie Saltzman. Since Nathaniel was brought in, she had been the first to welcome and bring him in with open arms, even when Lizzie opposed to the fact of having someone else share Alaric's time and affection.

The times they had gotten into arguments or small disagreements were slim to none. It had always felt wrong. Josie, so different from her brother; sweeter and quieter, still carried traits from the nephilim she had picked up on whilst growing up together. The younger witch, always attached to the nephilim's hip.

"I know," Nathaniel stated without an expression, though there was an apologetic tone hiding in his words. "I don't either."

There was a small silence as they shared a glance.

"How are you holding up?"

Nathaniel's eyebrows furrowed. "With what?"

Josie shrugged. "With Jed missing."

That was something Nathaniel didn't even want to think about. The night before, after dropping Landon Kirby off at the bus stop, Nathaniel had taken a different route home than Hope in an attempt to look for his friend. But the nephilim came back with nothing. The places Nathaniel had sworn Jed would be hiding in were completely deserted. There was no trace of him.

"I'm fine," Nathaniel shook his head. "Jed did something stupid, but he's my friend. And I'm not going to abandon him for what he did."

"He almost killed Landon."

Nathaniel huffed. "The kid wasn't even supposed to be here, and Jed reminded us all why."

Josie seemed conflicted with Nathaniel's response. "So, you think what Jed did was okay?"

There was a small silence. And that seemed to answer Josie's question. Jed's actions were justified in Nathaniel's head. Being demoted from Alpha had to have hit Jed were it most hurt, and Nathaniel knew first hand how little things like that could make someone lash out. Was it okay? Maybe not. But Nathaniel couldn't bring himself to be on Landon's side.

Nathaniel scoffed out a relaxed chuckle. "When it comes to Landon Kirby I'm somehow always the villain in the scenario."

"I just asked you a question, Nate," Josie huffed.

"One you already made up an answer to in your head," Nathaniel shot back. "Your heart bleeds so much for the damn kid that you sent him away. Claps all around for your empathy, but don't shame me for not pitying a dumbass that stole from us, lied to us and whined about every little thing that had to do with us."

Josie seemed taken back with that.

"Wednesday isn't cut out for the supernatural life," Nathaniel continued, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm being realistic, and if that makes me the villain, I'll take it."

Josie narrowed her eyes. "You aren't like this."

Nathaniel smirked sarcastically. "Oh, cry me a river, Jo."

The small snort that followed Nathaniel's words unnerved Josie. A week ago, Nathaniel had been a completely different being. His hard exterior had always been there, but it had known to take the backseat when it came to Josie because the nephilim had a soft spot for his younger sister. Now, Nathaniel was just being cruel. And Josie didn't like that at all.

Something dark was brewing, and it stuck itself to the nephilim.

Josie sensed it.

"Here," Nathaniel said after a second and the tense moment was soon forgotten when the nephilim handed over the ribbon-wrapped gifts in his hands over to Josie. "I figured you and Lizzie could siphon magic for a little while from those. I don't know when they burn out, my witchy friend couldn't really say, but I'm pretty sure they'll be good for a month or two."

Nathaniel watched as Josie opened her box to reveal a small gold charm bracelet. The young witch gasped in surprise, delicately touching the amulets encircling the band before turning to the nephilim with doe eyes and a surprised smile that caused the corners of Nathaniel's lips to pull upwards just a bit as he rubbed his palms together nervously.

Nathaniel breathed out. "I know it's not Pandora or Tiffany and Co, but it'll keep you two from having to kiss the dumbass Alpha to siphon magic."

Josie's cheeks heated. "How'd you know?"

"The walls are pretty thin," Nathaniel shook his head disapprovingly.

Josie hummed. "Are you planning on telling Lizzie this is from you this year?"

Nathaniel shook his head once again. "Nope."

Josie sighed, eyebrows narrowing. "Why not? Every year it's the same thing. Letting Lizzie know you care about her won't be as bad as you think."

"Knowing Elizabeth, she'd probably burn the bracelet the moment she found out it came from me. Some things are just better kept a secret, Jo," Nathaniel stated matter-of-factly before standing to his feet.

And as if Lizzie Saltzman sensed her name was being used, the blonde witch appeared, waltzing into her room with a grand smile on her face- until she spotted Nathaniel looking at himself in her shared mirror, that is. There had been better ways to start off that morning, and the two would ask themselves how it ended up in seeing each others faces that early in the a.m.

"Ew," Lizzie gagged.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Fuck off, atomic blonde."

Then, God, being the complete comedic genius he is, graced the three siblings with the presence of none other than Penelope Park. The short-haired witch leaned her body against the door frame as she held in her hands two separate cupcakes with matching birthday candles on them. And before he could stop it, Nathaniel rolled his eyes so far back, the nephilim for a second thought they'd be stuck there forever.

"Happy birthday, witches."

Nathaniel scoffed.

"Oh, look," Lizzie's tone was fake-cheery as she uttered those words, almost mocking. "It's Satan in a crop top. Come to burn my world down?"

"No," Nathaniel quickly butted in. "Satan did nothing to deserve being compared to the bitch-witch."

A small smile crept on Penelope's lips. "Good morning, Nat."

"Good morning, Penelope," Nathaniel sing-songed, feigning glee as a sarcastic smirk spread across his precise features. "I see your scheming this bright and early. Do bitches not sleep?"

A snort left Penelope.

And Josie's sigh followed. "What do you want?"

"Oh!" Penelope quickly turned to Josie with a wide smile on her face but anyone in their right mind could see right through it. "Just to cheer you three up, you know, 'cause your mom's not coming."

Lizzie and Josie's eyebrows narrowed. "What?"

"Oh, I heard them cancel her pickup at the office," Penelope continued, feigning ignorance. "I thought you knew."

Nathaniel huffed. "Of course you did."

With that, Nathaniel slightly lifted his index and pointer finger in Penelope's direction, and with the help of his telekinetic abilities, the nephilim was able to make the witch crush both cupcakes on her face. The nephilim didn't get to see her reaction, because just as swiftly, Lizzie used her own magic to slam the door shut on Penelope.

When Lizzie turned to her siblings, Nathaniel noticed how her cheeks took a red tinge.

Nathaniel sighed. "I don't know why you're both so surprised. It's not the first time Care has bailed."

And that was true. The first few times it had hurt, sure, Nathaniel wouldn't deny that. But the nephilim had become accustomed to Caroline flaking on his birthdays, or any other important date for that matter. And he had learned to deal with it, just like the twins needed to learn to as well. But knowing them- which Nathaniel did, pretty well actually- it'd take a lot of maturity on their part before that happened.

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unedited.
holy shit, HI i'm backkkk, did anyone
miss me? because i sure fucking did.
in case people were wondering, i left
this story bc my laptop died and i
couldn't keep writing without one,
but i got a new one and i started
writing again so here we are!
i hope you enjoy this chapter even
though it's on the shorter side, i
promise i'll try updating once
i get back in the groove of this
book and all the other ones i left
when i went on hiatus.