(Christian Akridge as Sawyer Liondale)

-•-•-

Remi rubbed her eyes as she slowly slid out from under the silky covers of the king size bed she fell asleep in the night before. She looked over and saw Sawyer fast asleep on one of the chairs across the room. 

She quickly made her way downstairs in simply a large sweater and shorts. Remi had been planning Sawyer's birthday for months, but him and the other werewolves being taken had really put a hold on her plans.

"Hey, you're up early today," Freya greets a yawning Remi.

"Yea, I was hoping we could maybe do something for Sawyer's birthday today? He's turning seventeen and he usually spends his birthday alone so I think it would be a nice surprise for him," Remi says with a huge smile plastered on her face.

"You know what, I think that's a great idea. What do you have in mind so far?" Freya answers back.

"I was thinking that we could just have a little party? Nothing too crazy. Oh!" Remi continues "how about inviting his parents over? Last night he was talking about how much he missed them, and from personal experience it really sucks to not have any family around," she said.

Freya empathetically smiled for a moment before responding, "alright, I think we can make that happen. Ready to go?" 

"Yep. Hey, where is everyone by the way? Its so quiet here," Remi said, following closely behind Freya.

"Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah went to go do some digging into who might be behind the werewolves' disappearance. Knowing them, they'll be back in no time," Freya answered, leading a curious Remi down the streets of New Orleans in pursuit of Sawyer's parents.

-•-•-

"Are you sure this is the exact park where the wolves were found?" Klaus asked, searching around a familiar dense forest.

Rebekah sighed. "Yes, Nik. It was right here. Whoever it was probably ran off by now, at least anyone with a brain would," she answered.

"I agree, Niklaus. Perhaps a night full of searching is enough," Elijah seconded.

All of a sudden, rapidly moving footsteps approached their general area. Niklaus, Elijah, and Rebekah sped off behind a bush in hopes of concealing their presence quick enough to find out who it was. 

"Dude, this is bad idea. Someone found out about them, we should be 10 states away by now!" an unknown trembling voice projected.

"Yea, what if marcel finds out? I'm a witch, I'm not even supposed to be practicing magic, let alone a spell of that size!" a female voice responded.

"Just shut up, both of you. Marcel won't find out because..." a final third voice said, seeming to be thinking, "because... all we have to do is find the wolves and bring them back! Then we finish the ritual and we'll have enough power to finally kill Marcel. Guys, this can work, I--" he was about to carry on but was cut off by the three originals speeding out in front of them.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Rebekah said, eying the three teenagers who were obviously petrified. 

"You're the originals... oh my god, um- we were just hiking, I swear," the female voice said, nodding furiously.

The originals just stared blankly at them, finally Klaus said "just kill them already," and in a second their hearts were on the ground.

"Well, wasn't that a lovely way to spend 10 hours," Elijah said.

-•-•-

Remi and Freya finally reached the bayou and knocked on the door of Sawyer's parents' house. After a long moment, the door opened to reveal a middle-aged man and woman who appeared extremely shocked to see a smiling Remi. 

"Remi, oh my, what a surprise! How are you? It's been too long!" The woman exclaimed and pulled Remi in for an unsuspected hug.

"I'm ok, it's great to see you, Mary-Louise, and you too Walter," Remi replied and smiled at the couple.

"Lovely to see you, dear. Who might this be?" Walter replied and gestured towards Freya.

"This is my friend Freya, she's a witch. I actually live with her and her family now, they're all really nice, you guys would like them," Remi explained.

"Oh, sweetie, I heard about your aunt Amelia. I'm so sorry," Mary-Louise stated regretfully.

Remi simply nodded in reply. Her aunt was still a sore spot for her; and in all honesty she hadn't fully grieved her loss yet. Freya understood and put a reassuring hand on Remi's shoulder.

"Well; how can we help you, dear?" Walter said, breaking the slightly awkward silence.

"As you know, it's Sawyer birthday today. I was hoping to surprise him with bringing you guys over if that's ok. He really misses you and I think it would make him happy," Remi replied and they both smiled widely while looking at each other.

"We'd love that, Remi. What time were you thinking?" Walter asked.

"Five o'clock this evening? We'll be at the abattoir in the French Quarter. It's five minutes away from Rousseau's, you can't miss it," Remi replied excitedly.

"Fantastic. We'll see you then," they replied. With that, the couple waved goodbye and closed their front door. 

"They seem like nice people," Freya stated as the two walked out of the bayou. 

"Yea, they are. I used to go over to their house almost every day when I was in middle school," Remi answered.

-•-•-

Freya and Remi returned home just as Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah did. 

"Any leads?" Freya asked the three other siblings as they all walked towards the courtyard of the abattoir.

"Oh, more than that sister. It seems the masterminds behind the scheme were two deviant teenage vampires and a witch who were plotting to take down Marcel," Klaus replied, filling up a glass with scotch.

Remi chuckled, "wow," and walked over to the coffee table where her half-wrapped present sat, resuming to tape the remaining pieces of paper to the box.

"Wow indeed. Good morning, Remi. What are you up to today?" Elijah asked, changing the subject and sitting on the arm of a sofa adjacent to the coffee table.

"Oh I forgot to tell you guys! It's Sawyer's 17th birthday so I invited his parents over, they'll be here around five o'clock. Until then I thought maybe we could just hang out here?" Remi offered. Once she finished wrapping, she took a seat on the sofa opposite the one Elijah was leaning on.

"I think that sounds lovely, what do you think, Nik?" Rebekah replied, taking a seat next to Remi, and raising her eyebrows at Klaus who was sipping from his glass of alcohol.

"I suppose that seems enjoyable," he answered.

"Awesome, I'm gonna go wake him up, I'll be right back," Remi said and ran up to her room in which Sawyer was still sleeping.

As soon as she approached him, she jumped on top of him and started giggling, "happy birthday, Sawyer!" she said as he smiled.

"Thanks for the wake-up call, Rem," Sawyer said and sat up, Remi still sitting on his lap.

"So, what do you want to do today, birthday boy?" Remi asked.

"I was thinking we could just stay here and watch a movie?" He replied nonchalantly and shrugged.

"Fine, mister boring, but..." she got up from Sawyer's lap and paused for a moment, "I have two presents for you- or I guess technically three," she said and smiled. "One/two will be here at five, and the other one I have downstairs," Remi concluded and started leading Sawyer downstairs by his hand.

"Remi, you didn't have to get me anything, you know. It's just a birthday" he stated as he followed behind Remi.

"I knowww, but I wanted to," she answered as they reached the coffee table with Remi's present on top. 

The Mikaelson siblings had heard Remi and Sawyer approaching the courtyard so they retreated into the kitchen. 

"Here," Remi picked the box up and handed it to Sawyer with a small smile, "sorry the wrapping is a little rushed, I just finished it a few minutes ago."

Sawyer hugged Remi in return, "thank you so much, I already know I'm gonna love it."

"I'll go find a movie on Netflix. You still like horror, right?" Remi asked and began to walk back to her room upstairs.

"My all-time favorite," he said, taking a seat on the sofa in the courtyard and beginning to unwrap his present. As he opened the box, a scrap book filled with pictures ranging from them in their toddler years, to them in their recent teen years popped out. Dozens of pages were carefully color-coordinated with quotes and inside jokes for every year. The page that stood out the most was the year her mom died, age eight. On the page was a quote that he had said to her on the day of her mom's funeral; "it'll get better, I promise Rem-Rem." His eyes got teary for a moment but he dried them quickly once Remi shouted out "Movie's ready when you are!". He smiled one last time at the heart-felt present and set it down on the coffee table. He then ran upstairs to begin the horror movie marathon with his best friend.

-•-•-

Three hours later, the doorbell rang and in walked Mr. and Mrs. Liondale. Freya was the first to greet them and invited them inside. 

"Nice to see you both again. Remi, Sawyer, downstairs please!" Freya shouted, indicating to Remi that her final gift to Sawyer had arrived. Just as Freya yelled for the kids, Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah sped in as well.

"These are Sawyer's parents. Mister and Missus Liondale, these are my brothers and sister Niklaus, Elijah, and Rebekah," she introduced.

"It's a pleasure," Elijah said and held out his hand. The couple simply shook his hand and nodded.

"Sawyer's been a very polite guest indeed, you've raised an excellent young man," Klaus stated and the two thanked him in return.

"Remi and Sawyer get on quite nicely, have they been friends for long?" Rebekah curiously asked.

"Oh yes, they've known each other since they were in preschool. I know Remi like I'd know my own daughter," Mary-Louise said and the originals smiled in response.

Remi and Sawyer then approached the gathering of people. Remi bit her lip and said "tah-dah! Here's your final present!". Sawyer seemed to think he was dreaming but once he realized he wasn't, he ran into his parent's arms.

"Mom! Dad! I've missed you both so much!" he said.

"We've missed you too, son. Ever since you moved out of the house and into that apartment of yours, we've been worried sick," Walter said.

"I know, I'm sorry, and we'll talk about it later I promise. Right now Remi and I are watching a movie, do you mind if we go finish it?" Sawyer asked.

"Oh no, please, go enjoy yourselves. We'll be here when you're ready to go," Mary-Louise said, and the two headed back upstairs to finish their 'Saw' marathon.

"Now, before we leave with Sawyer, I'd just like to get something off my chest here," Mary-Louise began and the Mikaelson siblings nodded suspiciously.

"As I said before, I know Remi like she's one of my own and I just want to make damn well sure she's in a good home with good people like herself. She's got one of the biggest hearts I've ever known and I love her to the moon and back, so forgive me for thinking twice about her living with three original vampires and a witch. If you, for one second, think that you can't raise a girl who lost her aunt a week after she turned sixteen, a girl who probably hasn't even grieved her yet, please... please let me know," the woman finished. 

The originals stood there wearing shocked expressions on their faces. "Now, we may not be the picture perfect household or even be remotely fit to finish raising a teenage girl, but I do know one thing for sure. Remi is family, and we protect family at all costs; always and forever. Now if you can't accept that, I suggest you leave before I--," Rebekah said but was cut off just as Sawyer and Remi walked back down the stairs. If the two hadn't walked down at that moment, Klaus, Elijah, and Freya were ready to rip into the older couple as well.

Remi stood in between Klaus and Rebekah as Sawyer walked up to his parents with the scrapbook in hand, waving back at Remi as they exited the abattoir. Once they were out of sight, Remi spoke up.

"We heard that you know," she said. The four siblings expected a full-blown teen rage, but instead were surprised with an unexpected hug. "I love you guys... a lot," she said. She then turned around and headed back to her room, visibly exhausted.

"We all love you too," they said back. Not a dry was spotted in the courtyard of the abattoir.

Remi yawned and closed her bedroom door. For the first time in a while, she was truly happy. 

-•-•-

ughhh I'm sorry againnnnn :( my trend of updating once every two weeks has got to stop, seriously. Buuuut, I'm hoping I can win you all back by writing a looooong chapter! Almost 2200 words!

 Happy late thanksgiving though lol. But wow holy crap 13.4k reads... I can't even begin to describe how much you guys mean to me. I don't know if it's because of the music I'm listening to, or my newfound 15-year-old thought process, but I'm feeling really sappy right about now so I'm going to stop talking... but thanks again, everyone :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! <3

HOLY CRAP I JUST REALIZED ITS 1AM FOR ME HERE IN NEW YORK OK BYE