CHAPTER 54: THE MURDER OF ONE

The Mikaelson Mansion

At first, she didn't want to admit that she did what she'd done, not even to herself. So when she woke up that morning, her face facing the handsome one of Kol Mikaelson, her eyes widened as if she didn't know what she'd done. Her mind finally caught up with her actions as she flashed back to her grabbing his cheeks and pulling him towards her, causing a very pleasant night to follow.

But she hadn't thought about the consequences. What everyone would think or do when they found out about her indiscretion. Alaric, Elena, Damon, Caroline, Bonnie. Stefan. She wanted to keep it hidden, even if Kol was to brag about it to half the town, she wanted to be able to lie and say it never happened.

It wasn't that she regretted it per se, but she wasn't very pleased with her decisions. If she'd waited, gotten to build up something better with Kol, sure. Then she wouldn't give a crap about what anyone said, but she hadn't even known him in this lifetime so long. All she knew is that they were good friends and he was crushing on her. But that was a thousand years ago, and Natalie only remembered one thing that happened a thousand years ago and he wasn't even there.

The ones least likely to judge her was probably Caroline and Damon. Damon being the one with no room to judge who you sleep with (he was pretty much a master at sleeping with people he either shouldn't or barely knew, Rebekah fitting perfectly in both those categories), and then there was Caroline who had her fair share of experience with an original going after you and kinda melting inside because of it. But then again, you never knew. They could decide to yell at her and cut her out entirely and she didn't want that, the two being her best friends.

But with the guilt weighing her down, she started pulling herself up from the bed slowly, finding her clothes on the floor. She started pulling on her underwear, pants and had her shirt in her hands as a groan was heard from the bed. She turned her head with wide eyes in surprise, not expecting him to be up already. She fumbled with her shirt before accidentally dropping it on the ground.

She bent down to pick it up, cursing under her breath at her clumsiness as she tried to find the right side of the shirt so she didn't have it upside down or inside out as she put it on. 

"I didn't peg you for a hit and run." Kol commented casually, pushing himself into a sitting position on the bed, the covers still covering the lower part of his body.

She rolled her eyes, forcing herself to look at him as a cocky smirk was on his lips as usual, looking at her barely covered upper body. She rolled her eyes once more, pulling the shirt on harshly, even if it clearly looked disheveled. "I'm not running. I'm simply walking. Away. Goodbye."

Natalie turned around, facing the door as she took a step closer to exiting before he spoke up, making her stop, although not facing him. "You don't want Nik or Bekah catching you walking out of my room, do you? What a scandal! They'd think you're a strumpet!"

She chuckled bitterly before turning to face him once again, her lips puckered together in annoyance at his teasing. They just slept together and he found the need to tease her about it the morning after? Dick move. "I don't care what they think about me. What I do care about is what my friends think of me, and they're all gonna hate me if they find out what I've done."

Kol rolled his eyes, starting to pull his pants up before walking over to stand in front of her, still shirtless. "It's because of him, isn't it? The Salvatore brother?"

Natalie averted his eyes, staring at the ground, knowing that if she met hit eyes she'd probably just burst out this whole rambling rant that she could easily throw out. "I- I don't know what you're talking about."

He took a step back, an annoyed look on his face as he gave her an almost angry look at her refusal to answer that one question he needed in order to know what to do when it came to her. If she was in love with Stefan or had actual interest in Kol. "Oh, quit lying, darling. Even a blind man could notice the looks you've shared. Why aren't you with him then? Because of your sister? Because of the judgment? I doubt it's because of me."

"I don't know. Yes, Elena would hate me and so everyone else, but I- I don't know. But, maybe, just maybe, you have something to with too. Because I like you. I may not know how much or if I did a thousand years ago and it just got transferred through the lives but... Can we just stop? I just want everything to stop! It's bad enough that I have no idea what's happening with my family but now I also have to add no idea what I'm feeling to the list?" she asked, ranting, her almost looking like she was crying at one point, but it was only the most emotional face that she unwillingly could muster.

He leaned closer to her, his breath on her face as she had nowhere to look but him, as he was blocking everything else. "Maybe you should stop worrying about other people and start putting what you want first. But I can't tell you what to do, can I, darling? But when you're done with this whole selfless act, come and let me know. I'll show you what real fun is like."

"Brother. I'd appreciate it if you'd remember that you're only here for a visit. You'd do well to keep your girls quiet." the infamous voice of the Original hybrid hissed as he walked into the room, seeing his shirtless brother all up in the business of a brunette with disheveled clothes.

Natalie froze, closing her eyes at the embarrassment she felt, even without him having seen her face. But she had to leave. She couldn't stand being in the room anymore. She turned around, the wind coming with it flipping her hair as she turned. Klaus' eyes widened as he recognized the face instantly, even if he hadn't seen her since she confessed that she remembered him killing her. "I- I better go."

She almost ran out the room, smashing the door behind her. She was almost thankful for Klaus getting her out of the situation, but that meant that he knew about what happened with her and Kol, and the less that know, the better. She rested her back against the door as she slid down, her face landing in her hands. 

She heard Klaus speak from the other side of the door. "Only took you a thousand years."

▹▹▹

The Forbes House

Natalie didn't really know what else to do but go to a friend's house and talk about. There weren't many options but she narrowed it down to Caroline and Bonnie. And although she loved Bonnie, she could get awfully judgy, and Caroline could have her moments but she was always there for her and right now she needed that.

"Wow." the blonde breathed, not even glancing at her best friend after the confession (which of course happened in a rambling form). She did not expect to hear that the huntress had decided to go a little crazy and sleep with an original.

"Wow, indeed," Natalie agreed, the vampire finally looking over at her best friend as she spoke. "I'm just not sure what's happening."

"It's because of Stefan, right?" Caroline asked, Natalie turning around with wide eyes as if she forgot about the perky blonde knowing about the situation between them. "Oh, please. Don't you remember that I happen to be the only person you've told about your kiss."

"Right." she nodded in return. "What am I doing?"

The blonde vampire shrugged, her best friend's situation being a tricky one, but she was Caroline Forbes, she would able to think of something, she had been great at giving advice for a while now. "I don't know. How about a pros and cons list?"

Natalie snorted, a smile gracing her face. "Are you serious? A pros and cons list on what? Stefan and Kol?"

"Exactly!" the youngest of the two clapped her hands excitedly as she smiled widely, eager to learn more about the situation that had seemed to become a pretty huge part of her best friend's life. "Let's... start with Stefan. One pro and one con for each, and let's see who's pro or con is the best or worst. Simple as that."

"Alright," the brunette shrugged, not really seeing any better way to go with this. "Stefan... he... I don't know!" she exclaimed, but cringed as she saw Caroline's annoyed and slightly murderous look. "He's safe. There. He's there and I know how I feel about him, which is more than I can say about most people these days."

"How do you feel about him?" Caroline asked, trying to get her to elaborate, trying to get more in tell on the situation. 

"I love him." she simply answered, a sad look overcoming her features as the last time she told anyone that she loved him (which happened to be him) then didn't create the best night as he was forced to turn off his humanity. "I love him. A lot. I don't know how to stop, but I don't think I want to." she repeated.

Caroline looked at her wide eyes, not knowing about her feelings being so deep, thinking that she may like him, but never even thought about the possibility of her loving him (her being Stefan and Elena's #1 fan). "And a con?"

"I hate the way he makes me feel." the brunette answered, shrugging as if she just gave a not important but very in depth answer, instead of actually saying more about it.

"How?"

She looked at her blonde best friend, a frown on her face as she sighed. "Happy. Because if someone has the power to give you happiness, they also have the power to take it away. And I don't want anyone to have that sort of power over me."

Caroline nodded in understanding, grabbing the brunette's hand tightly in comfort. "And Kol?"

Unwillingly, a small smile overcame her lips as she thought about the pro when it came to him. "I like the way he looks at me, like- like I'm worth it. He just... makes me feel like there's actually a reason as to why he likes me, lie there's something special or good about me that I just can't see for myself. But, then again, he's unpredictable, he's kind of a bad guy and I don't want to be with the bad guy. And I don't know how deep my feelings are for him. I just know they're there."

Caroline sighed as she listened, hearing for herself the difficulty. Natalie sighed along with her as she leaned her head on her shoulder, feeling the support she was getting physically as well as emotionally. "Feelings are hard."

"I know, Nat. I know."

▹▹▹

A/N: Very short chapter with very little actually happening but I just don't think Natalie would fit into the whole killing the originals plan, you know, seeing as she connections to them and I just don't think it'd be very likely for Stefan and/or Damon to think she would be trustworthy when it came to the plan.

But, hey, we got Naroline, Katalie and Statalie (without Stefan, but close enough). Yay? And just so you know, next chapter is very Statalie-filled. I mean, very. I can't wait, you have no idea.

Votes and comments are greatly appreciated.