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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍.
[𝟏𝟑]. 𝐋𝐄𝐓'𝐒 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄.
【 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 】
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❛ 𝘠𝘖𝘜'𝘝𝘌 𝘎𝘖𝘛 𝘚𝘗𝘜𝘕𝘒,
𝘐'𝘓𝘓 𝘉𝘐𝘛𝘌 ❜
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𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓- heartache, anguish, misery. But there was a numbing sensation sticking to the nephilim's heart and making itself a home there, in the exact same spot Hope Mikaelson was placed too. And no, Nathaniel hadn't replaced her with that numbing feeling, but it did accompany the tribrid in what was left of Nathaniel Forbes' heart as it broke into pieces.

Adding to that, Nathaniel knew there was one thing he wasn't about to do. Which was let Hope keep destroying him by waiting for the tribrid to come to the realization that the nephilim was, is, and will always be better than the disaster that was Landon Goddamn Kirby. And that meant that there was only one thing left for Nathaniel to do, even if that was the last thing he ever wanted-

Pain in his heart and all, the nephilim desperately needed to let Hope Mikaelson go.

And it was going to hurt, Nathaniel was completely sure on that. But the nephilim came to realize that it was going to hurt less than letting Hope reopen his wounds every time the tribrid so much as thought about running to Wednesday Addams for whatever reason she thought was important enough to disregard Nathaniel's feelings about the whole stop-running-to-him situation.

Nathaniel mattered.

And if Hope couldn't see that-

Then someone else would.

"Nate?"

That snapped Nathaniel out of the cluster fuck that was his mind to look around the room he resided in. And when green eyes fell on various couples sprawled out before the main stairs, all warming up before the dance rehearsal, the nephilim instinctively made a face at everyone's fabricated pearly white smiles as they tried to impress the judges however they could.

No one could be that happy.

And Nathaniel was damn miserable.

With a huff, the nephilim turned to the owner of the voice that brought him out of his thoughts, only to come to face a girl with monolid eyes. A witch, the nephilim's mind instantly made him realize. And Nathaniel promptly recognized her as the girl Josie and Lizzie disliked with a passion, but the nephilim couldn't- for the life of him- remember her name.

"You lost?" Nathaniel rolled his eyes.

"Alyssa Chang," Alyssa proceeded to put her hand out and Nathaniel shook it with skepticism. "I saw you kind of lost in thought and I just wanted to come up and see if you were okay."

Nathaniel brows raised. "You know you've never talked to me before."

"It's not like you've ever let anyone get close enough anyway," Alyssa shrugged nonchalantly and Nathaniel couldn't exactly fight her on her reasoning of his attitude. "I don't know, but you've just seemed a little more open lately."

"I'm not open, buttercup. And there's a reason for my distance," Nathaniel scoffed out a chuckle, the nephilim's frustration coming out as a mock to her words. "I'm a fucking dick."

Alyssa snorted out a laugh. "Right. The almighty Nephilim. Nathaniel Forbes. The student body just can't help but quake at the sound of your name. Believe me, I'm trembling."

"You've got spunk, I'll bite," Nathaniel crossed his arms over his puffed out chest. "What's your real reason for coming up to me? I'm not stupid, nor do I have the patience for this interaction."

"Well, since we're cutting corners," Alyssa paused as a confident smile formed on her face. "I heard you and Hope Mikaelson have been having a few problems, which will inevitably end up in a breakup. So, this is me shooting my shot."

Nathaniel had to blink twice before processing the witch's words with more care in order to not make an idiot out of himself. Alyssa Chang- no. Alyssa fucking Chang, Josie and Lizzie's sworn enemy, just below Penelope Park, had told Nathaniel she liked him. And Alyssa was smiling wide, like she was proud of it too.

Even then, the only thing that came out of Nathaniel's mouth was-

"I'm with Hope."

And Nathaniel's conscious instantly reminded him of the nephilim's earlier thoughts on ending the relationship because Hope didn't value Nathaniel like she should. Like the nephilim deserved. The next thing that crossed Nathaniel's mind was if that was an actual sign or God just fucking with him.

Alyssa hummed and shrugged with a nonchalant look on her features. "Are you though? Because Landon Kirby seems to be in your place more often than not."

That's when Alyssa's eyes caught something to Nathaniel's left side and as the nephilim turned, in walked Hope with Lizzie to her right and none other than Wednesday Addams accompanying her on her left. And if Nathaniel wasn't done with Kirby interfering in something the phoenix knew he shouldn't be than the nephilim was sure as hell done being just passive aggressive about it.

That was the turning point.

Nathaniel was done using words.

"Walk away, Alyssa."

The witch eagerly smiled, knowing she had struck a nerve with Nathaniel. Hope's eyes landed on them as Alyssa started to walk away and a confused look fell on the tribrid's features but the nephilim's stare stayed cold. Nathaniel wanted to yell at the tribrid, tell her how much she was hurting him, but there was no point when the nephilim had already told her how he felt and Hope refused to listen.

There was a pause.

Then, Dana's mom cleared her throat.

"Time for rehearsal!"

Nathaniel zoned out as couples began taking their place and the music began. In moments, Hope stood herself before Nathaniel but the nephilim barely gave her a glance as the tribrid searched for his eyes. The barrier Nathaniel once had was starting to expand upwards to shut Hope out in the hopes it would hurt less. But God, Nathaniel couldn't shut the hurt out.

"Are you going to keep being mad at me?"

"We're not doing this right now."

Hope scoffed. "Yes, we are, Nate."

Hope's words only served to fire Nathaniel up.

"You just don't get it do you, Hope? I'm not mad. I'm done," Nathaniel sighed, spinning with Hope as their hands hovered before each other. "You've made your choice. This is me making mine."

Hope's eyebrows furrowed. "So, this is it? We're done?"

"I've given you enough chances," Nathaniel stated, eyes burning, but the nephilim wouldn't allow himself to be that vulnerable with her. "And to be completely honest I don't think you deserved the last two."

"So, we're done because I can't have friends? This is seriously your reasoning for walking away?" Hope seemed appalled at the idea.

Nathaniel snorted. "This isn't about friends, Hope. If you honestly think that's the case you're fucking tone-deaf. I drew the line when we started being a thing. My line was Kirby and you went in knowing that. Don't act surprised now that I stayed true to my word."

Hope's eyes watered. "I love you."

The long table with a white cloth before the window began to shake, and the dozen wine and champagne glasses on top danced along with it. Nathaniel could see Hope's worry and the hurt washing over her, but this was the nephilim protecting himself from the pain she was causing. At the end of the day, Nathaniel needed to be put first for himself.

Hope slightly trembled. "So, now what? You and Alyssa are suddenly-"

"No," Nathaniel interrupted, eyes livid. "You don't get to do that. The leg you had to stand on is nonexistent at this point."

"Don't do this, Nate."

"I'm not the one that did this, Hope."

The shaking of the table began to turn violent and before anything else could be done, Lizzie was standing next to Hope as the Gemini witch's hand landed on the tribrid's shoulder. There was a look of disapproval there from Lizzie to Nathaniel, but the nephilim brushed it off. As always, Nathaniel had to be the bad guy of the situation so everyone could be content.

"Come with me," Lizzie spoke into Hope's ear before focusing her eyes on Nathaniel once again. "You stay here. Do nothing."

Nathaniel huffed.

There was a split second as Nathaniel's eyes caught Landon's and the look there didn't sit well with the nephilim. It was like the phoenix was mocking him, raveling in Nathaniel's wounds and a burning hot rage rushed through his veins. Gold flecks filled Nathaniel's green eyes and before he knew it, Landon was just two feet away from him.

"What did you say to her?" Landon inquired.

He's not human.

It played in Nathaniel's head like a mantra.

The phoenix didn't get the chance to react before Nathaniel's closed fist connected with his nose and Landon dropped to the ground.

The first thing Nathaniel was aware of was the crack, followed by the blood gushing from the phoenix's broken nose. The second was Hope and Lizzie's gasp from behind him. And lastly was everyone's eyes falling on him and Landon, completely stunned.

Hope didn't make a move.

Instead, Dorian was on his knees before Landon.

"Walk," Doctor Saltzman spat, holding tightly onto Nathaniel's forearm as he pulled the nephilim towards his office. "I'm so sorry, everyone! Please continue with everything as scheduled."

Nathaniel couldn't remember the walk to Alaric's office, but once the nephilim was sitting in the chair before Doctor Saltzman's desk, he couldn't even begin to feel sorry for decking Landon in the face. It felt too good, too deserved. Something was jumping inside Nathaniel and it was giddy.

Nathaniel smirked.

"What has gotten into you?"

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Spare me the lecture, Ric. We all knew it was coming."

"Seriously, Nathaniel? You could have killed him," Alaric scoffed out in disbelief.

Nathaniel nodded with a grin. "I'm only sorry I didn't hit him hard enough to do so."

Alaric's eyes narrowed. "Alright, that's enough, you're out of the pageant and you're grounded. A month, no extraction missions, you're done. Do anything like this again and you have a one-way ticket to the cellars with Jed."

The nephilim felt darkness surround him.

A hard chuckle left Nathaniel. "You know damn well cellar doors won't keep me locked in. I'm a nephilim, Ric. I'm sorry if you forgot this. I'm stronger, faster, more powerful than all of you combined. You don't want any more problems with me? Make Landon Kirby get out of my way and we'll be just dandy. Clear enough? Or do I need to paint the picture?"

The dark gleam in Nathaniel's eye made Alaric uneasy as a chill ran down the headmaster's spine.

"Doctor S?"

Both Nathaniel and Alaric turned to the office door.

"We've got a problem," MG stated, an odd look on his features. "You might wanna see this."

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unedited.
okay, wow.
chapter's a little shorter, but
not to worry, it'll have part 3
so nathaniel popped off and honestly
i ain't even mad, landon has been
getting on my NERVES every time
i write him lmaoooo
and hope, sweetie, you've got a big
storm coming bb
SHE NEEDS TO REALIZE NATE
ISN'T GOING TO KEEP DEALING
WITH HER INDECISIVE ASS!!
alyssa is giving her a run for
her fucking MONEY!
anywho, hope you like this
chapter babies