YOUR SOUL IS BUILT UP OF ALL OF OURS.

[ 2.18 — 2.19 ]

KLAUS MIKAELSON WAS QUITE PLEASED WITH HIMSELF even if he hated the body of the human history teacher that he was inhabiting. He'd just finished compelling some little teenager to let Elena Gilbert, his doppelgänger, know that he was in town and ready for her. The decade dance was a great and dramatic place to make a move.

Now, the Original was poking around the classroom and his eyebrows went sky high as he found a half-empty bottle of bourbon hidden in one of the desk drawers.

"I think you might need a new profession," he muttered to Alaric's body, a bit amused by it all. Klaus then found a paper coffee cup to pour some of the alcohol into — he'd need it if he was going to have to ramble through three more classes after this lunch break that didn't have his doppelgänger in them to keep up appearances.

Mere seconds after he relaxed into the rolling chair behind the desk, the door of the classroom was thrown open, and a flurry of blonde hair rushed by. Even without his usual senses, the scent coming from the human had him tensing all his muscles.

Then as Klaus really looked at her — he'd never wanted to be in his own body so much, looking at something with his own eyes — the breath was knocked from his chest. There was no way to describe the feeling that exploded in his entire being, the symphony of her, her, her and the stars that were singing in his cold, dead heart. Because this one human girl was so right, so special, and so destined to be his.

Klaus wanted to curl up against her until he didn't know where she ended and he began. He wanted to goddamn frolic in the fields and run off into the sunset so long as it was with this girl. He wanted — more than anything he'd ever wanted before.

Lottie was clueless to this life-changing thought process that was going through the Original's mind. After all, she thought that it was Alaric sitting at the desk and so she hardly spared him a glance. She only moved toward his storage closet with purpose, already in such a rush.

"Alaric, please tell me that you still have the extra blue paint from making the signs for the barbecue fundraiser."

It took a moment longer for Klaus to find his — well, Alaric's — voice. "I'm not sure. You'll have to dig through all that."

At that answer, Lottie let out a sigh. She had been fixing decorations in the gym all morning, and there was still so much to be done. She was hoping Alaric could've magically handed over the paint.

"Some Freshman on the basketball team tripped and ripped the welcome banner," Lottie complained while pushing various school supplies to the side. "I've got to remake it. Which, at least it's acrylic and not like working at home with my oil paints. I will not let some teenage boy ruin this dance."

"Well, and if he does, at least it's just the sixties," Klaus said, trying to make conversation.

Lottie's head whipped around as she shot him a pouty look. "Don't say that! Everyone keeps saying that! But the sixties were really where music and fashion exploded. I know we're just chaperones, but I swear, this is gonna be so much fun."

"Then these decorations of yours better wow me," he said, smiling.

"They will," she said with a confident smile. Then she went back to searching the cabinet. "I'm so excited. Damon gave me a real dress from the sixties — which I got dry-cleaned, of course. God knows what kind of scenes he hung out in back then."

Klaus quirked an eyebrow. So his little soulmate was already aware of the supernatural. He didn't know if that'd make things easier or more difficult for him, especially if she wanted to kill him like the rest to save Elena.

"Aha! Paint!" Lottie exclaimed, pulling out a large bottle of light blue paint.

"Paint," Klaus repeated, nodding to her. He loved how her eyes crinkled as she grinned over something so simple.

Lottie was already speed-walking to the door. "Thanks, Ric. I'll see you later at the dance."

"Yes, you will," he said, watching her go.

Even as Lottie left, Klaus wasn't alone in the room. His oldest and youngest brothers were leaning against the wall, looking at him with their arms crossed and unimpressed looks on their faces.

"That's not Alaric, is it?" Finn asked with a frown. He wasn't quite as familiar with body-switching spells, but even he knew something was different about the history teacher.

"Nope," Kol said, rolling his eyes at his brother's dramatics. If this were his evil plan, he'd have just waited until the full moon and taken Elena, not giving the group any time to try and foil his plots.

"And he...?" It was a little harder to gauge Klaus' reaction to Lottie given that he wasn't in his body.

"Yup," he replied, unimpressed. Elijah was one thing, but sharing with Niklaus would be a nightmare. Kol huffed loudly and dragged his feet while going after Lottie. "Sister better not get any funny ideas, or I'll shave her head."

☽︎

"So we go to the dance, we find him," Damon said, simplifying the plan. After Dana was compelled to confront Elena at school, a meeting was called at the Salvatore house. Even though Alaric and Lottie weren't present, Damon still started plotting.

"Really? How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like," Stefan reminded him. They really could've used Elijah now, but that was too late.

"Something tells me he's not going to be sixteen and pimply," Damon said sarcastically.

"He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school," Stefan said, looking at Bonnie and Elena pointedly. He'd made a big deal that morning about her not going back to school. "I guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?"

There was a knock at the door as Alaric then let himself in, only it wasn't Alaric. "There you are," Damon said, sighing.

"Sorry, I'm late," he said, letting his eyes fall on Elena.

"Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move," Damon told him, who just nodded.

"Okay, so we find him, and then what, hmm? What's our plan of attack?" Elena asked, crossing her arms.

"Me. I'm the plan," Bonnie told her. "He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him."

"That's not going to be that easy. I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around," Klaus pointed out. It was a good thing Kol wasn't there yet to complain about his ego.

"Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he—" Damon rushed at Bonnie, but she was quick to throw him to the other side of the room.

"Well, I was impressed," Stefan said, chuckling as Damon got off the floor.

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena. I know I can," Bonnie assured Elena.

As that went on inside, Lottie was rushing out of her car, careful with the dry cleaning bag that held her dress. Since Damon wanted to discuss something Klaus-related, she was just going to get ready at the Boarding House to save time. She really didn't have time to deal with whatever was going on.

"Lottie, wait," Kol said as she reached the front door. She paused and looked at her two mates expectantly. They had matching, sheepish expressions.

"We didn't mention it earlier because you were so worried about the dance and didn't want to distract you," Finn said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But the dance is ready now."

"What is it?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Niklaus is here and possessing Alaric's body," Kol quickly said.

"And it's very likely you're his soulmate as well," Finn added, wincing as he did. "Which he is already aware of, so be careful in how you behave around him."

"Alaric is... Klaus?" she said slowly in disbelief. The boys nodded. Of all the ways she thought he might arrive at Mystic Falls, taking possession of Alaric's body wasn't one of them.

"Yes," Kol confirmed. "Of course, you can't let any of them know that. Just be yourself."

"Yell at Damon for inconveniencing you with this meeting when you should be worrying about the dance," Finn suggested. Really, he just wanted Damon to get yelled at. "And know that Klaus won't harm you."

Lottie glanced at the door of the house which seemed much more imposing all of the sudden. Another soulmate. Another brother. And this one was the brother that Lottie had been hearing horror stories about since the moment Finn and Kol appeared in her life. This was the brother that Elijah wanted to kill.

"Are you mad?" Lottie asked in a small voice as she looked back at Finn and Kol. "At me? For - for having another mate?"

"Oh, never, Darling," Kol said, moving to her side. Finn followed.

"Your soul is built up of all of ours, ástin mín," Finn said gently. "And though my brother and I wish to be free and steal you away, we know that Niklaus will love and protect you just as we do."

"You have nothing to fear when you get in there," Kol told her. "Just take a deep breath."

And so she did breathe. After a minute, Lottie tightened her grip on the garment bag and nodded. She could do this. She could face Klaus, especially when it wasn't even his real body.

"Damon, I so don't have time for whatever this is," Lottie called as she let herself into the Boarding House. Everyone else was gathered in the living room, Klaus in Alaric's body included. And she noticed how his eyes instantly fell on her and almost lit up at the sight of her.

"Feisty," Damon said, smirking at her as she came over to the group.

"Damon," she warned with a sigh, readjusting the garment bag in her hands.

"Here," Klaus said, carefully taking the bag and draping it across the back of the couch.

"Oh, thanks," she said, smiling at him. Then she looked back at the oldest Salvatore. "I really need to start getting ready, Damon."

"Just thought you'd like to know Klaus is probably gonna wreck your beloved dance," he said, crossing his arms.

"He compelled Dana at school to let me know to save him a dance," Elena added with a worried frown.

"But we've got a plan to kill him," Bonnie added confidently.

"Oh, okay," Lottie said slowly. She wasn't sure if it was a good plan that would work, though. "Right, I totally don't mean to sound insensitive — it's the last thing I'd ever want because I know how dangerous and scary this is. But, um, am I part of the plan?"

"Oh, no," Stefan said quickly. "We aren't putting you in danger. But we thought you would at least want to know so that you can be on guard."

"Thanks for letting me know," she said nodding. "But Damon, this could've been a text message conversation so that I didn't have to waste fifteen minutes getting here."

Damon snorted and started fixing himself a glass of bourbon. "You're very touchy and stressed out. Is this because you're still mad your little crush is daggered in the basement?"

Lottie's cheeks heated up as Elena and Bonnie shared an amused look and Stefan cleared his throat. Klaus' eyes were glued to Lottie in disbelief. The mere thought of his mate having feelings for another — for his brother — infuriated him. He was tempted to leave the dagger in Elijah's chest for another ten years even after he broke his curse and killed their father as he planned.

"I do not have a crush on Elijah," Lottie said, keeping her voice low.

"Mhm." Damon shot her a doubtful look. "Cause you totally weren't gonna go on a date with him?"

"It wasn't a - a date," Lottie said, crossing her arms. "He asked to escort me to the dance, and I said yes—"

Damon snorted and interrupted her. "Oh, you're so adorable," he said, chuckling.

"Jenna told us about all the flowers," Elena admitted sheepishly. "And the compliments and kissing your hand and not leaving your side any time he was in the same room as you."

"It's perfectly normal to get feelings for someone after all that attention, especially after he saved and healed you after Jules and the wolves attacked," Stefan added.

"Once we kill Klaus, you can whisk Elijah's corpse far away to undagger him and live out a vampire romance fantasy novel," Damon said sarcastically.

"I hate all of you," Lottie said grumpily.

"Want me to throw Damon across the room again since you missed it?" Bonnie offered with a grin. "Would that make you feel better?"

"I mean, it doesn't hurt to try."

☽︎

Since she was a chaperone, Lottie was one of the first people to arrive at the dance. After making sure everything was running smoothly she moved to stand by the snack table and watch as everyone filed in. Several people that passed stopped and greeted the girl, who was one of the friendliest faces in Mystic Falls.

Lottie also loved all the compliments that she was getting. The dress that came from Damon was a short, light-blue, shift dress that fit her well, and it had a heart cut out on the chest. The length was probably pushing the boundaries of the dress code, but it was too cute to care as she paired it with some tall, white boots and matching costume jewelry that she had at her house.

"I spy a meddling brother," Kol mumbled, his eyes falling on Alaric's body. He rolled his eyes when he saw that he was just wearing a plain black coat and dark slacks. Kol would've had so much fun picking out something to wear to events like this if he could. "He's no fun — such a boring costume."

Lottie found Alaric's body in the crowd, who was pointedly making his way toward two Juniors named Dana and Chad. As Klaus moved, he was doing a little shimmy to the song Picture Books by The Kinks. Even if it wasn't the Original's body, he still looked goofy as he tried to fit in.

"He's not a very good dancer," Lottie said quietly, biting back a smile.

"He's up to something," Finn said as Klaus began talking to — compelling — the students.

"Obviously," Kol scoffed. "He'll keep Lottie out of it tonight, at least. But Bonnie is a fool if she thinks he doesn't have a witch helping him now that he's heard the plan. They shan't kill him, and he will make them pay for their attempt."

"As long as my dance doesn't end up like a scene from Carrie," Lottie mumbled, already dreading what might happen.

It wasn't long before Klaus finished with the students who would help him carry out his plans for the night. Secretly, Lottie was wondering how he managed to still compel people in a different body, which she'd ask Kol about once they were at home and no one thought she was crazy for talking to herself. He probably knew all about the spell Klaus' witch used.

Lottie accidentally lost Alaric's face in the crowd and began turning to try and spot him once more.

"Looking for someone in particular?" She nearly squeaked when she heard Alaric's voice near her ear and behind her. She quickly spun on her heel to see him standing right next to her now.

"No one in particular," she lied. "Just doing the responsible chaperone thing."

"Well, I must say you're the best-dressed chaperone tonight," Klaus complimented, adoring how Lottie's cheeks turned pink as she smiled from the compliment. "You look perfect."

"Thank you," she said, doing a little twirl. Then she rolled her eyes playfully. "You look boring."

"I don't exactly have a lot of options," he said, chuckling. "And I wasn't about to borrow Damon's clothes. No amount of dry cleaning could convince me."

"Fair," she said with a giggle.

Two minutes later, Elena walked into the dance, and Dana took her cue. The music stopped as she stepped on the stage. She looked pointedly at Elena and her group which consisted of Damon, Stefan, Bonnie, and Jeremy.

"Thanks for being here, everybody. We have a special shout-out tonight," Dana announced. "This is for Elena. From Klaus."

The song Dedicated To The One I Love began to play, and Lottie frowned, seeing how terrified Elena looked for a moment. She had to pretend to not see the pleased look on Alaric's face. Damon quickly began to say something, likely to get them all to calm down. Bonnie was the first to snap out of it and grab Jeremy to drag him to the dance floor. With a few parting words, Damon left his brother and Elena to make his way over to the snack table, having spotted Alaric and Lottie.

As soon as Damon was next to them, Klaus began talking. "Special dedication, huh? This guy's a little twisted."

"No, it was lame," Kol complained.

And Damon unknowingly agreed with the brother. "I'm not impressed," he said, shrugging.

"No?" Klaus asked. He looked genuinely disappointed that his toying wasn't nearly as effective as it could've been.

"Let me know if you see anything out of whack," Damon told him. Then he smiled at Lottie and offered her a hand. "Care for a dance, foxy lady?"

Lottie snorted and shook her head. "I know you're just a fake chaperone so you can be here to look for Klaus, but I'm not. I can't dance, Damon. I've gotta watch the students."

"Lame," he groaned. "What's the point of getting so hot if not to flaunt it on the dance floor?"

She rolled her eyes and gave him a small shove toward the crowd. "Go, have fun, Damon. And I'll let you know if I see anything suspicious."

"Seems unfair that you don't get to enjoy your hard work," Klaus said as Damon began to dance away.

"As stressed as I've been the last few weeks, I still am just happy when people enjoy the events I plan. Besides, this is for the students — which I am so glad I am not anymore — to celebrate the semester ending," she said, chuckling.

"So you're pleased, then? Even without your escort?" he couldn't help but ask, feeling a little jealous.

Lottie scoffed and crossed her arms. "Not you, too," she whined. "Elijah and I were friends."

"Funny," Kol said, raising an eyebrow. "I don't recall you ever moaning the names of any of your other friends in your sleep."

The comment had Lottie biting the inside of her cheek, thankful that no one could hear Kol's crude remark.

"But you miss him? Wish he wasn't daggered?" Klaus asked, gauging her reaction. "Why?"

How could Lottie possibly answer that with honesty while she was supposed to pretend this was Alaric? How could she explain the pull she felt toward Elijah, the way her head would spin when he'd brush her skin and her heart would flutter with each compliment or bouquet of flowers that was delivered? Those were things she'd never admit to Alaric, and so she couldn't admit it to Klaus.

"I was there when you daggered him, Alaric. He didn't deserve that," was all Lottie ended up saying.

"You didn't answer the question."

"I don't know how to answer the question," she said softly. "I'm gonna walk around, make sure no one is breaking any rules."

"Be careful," Klaus said as she started to walk away. "Because of Klaus."

Lottie shot him a look he couldn't quite decipher. "I'm not worried about Klaus. Not tonight."

☽︎

"Noah!" Lottie snapped, stomping up to the baseball player. She snatched a big flask from his hand just before the liquid could pour out into the punch bowl. "No spiking the punch."

"Oh, come on, Lots," Noah whined. Given that he was in his final year of school and one year younger than Lottie, they'd grown up together. "You can't look the other way?"

"Look, if this was just Juniors and Seniors, I'd let it pass," she admitted. Even if Lottie hardly ever drank alcohol, she understood why others liked it. "But there are also fourteen-year-olds at this dance. It's not gonna happen."

She did at least hand his flask back before Noah groaned childishly and trudged away. He and his friends could settle for sipping from the flask throughout the night. Lottie chuckled and then fixed herself a cup of the punch at the empty table.

However, before she could take a sip, someone swooped in and grabbed the cup. She watched as Wyatt Fell downed it in one go before tossing the plastic cup over his shoulder, it landing nowhere near a trash can. Lottie looked up at the boy, unimpressed. He was the same age as her but failed to graduate and was repeating his senior year.

Everyone hated Wyatt Fell, and for good reason. He was a complete asshole — he made his Uncle Logan seem like a good, upstanding citizen with impeccable behavior.

"I was going to drink that, Wyatt," Lottie said, crossing her arms.

"Fuck, you look hot, Lancaster," Wyatt said, leaning his hip against the drink table as he leered at her. Lottie's shoulders curled inward, not comfortable with how he was looking at her — she'd take Damon's annoying flirting any day over this. "Let's you and I check out the scene behind the bleachers?"

"Gross," Lottie said, shaking her head. "Find someone else to bother." Lottie quickly turned on her heel to leave, only to bump into another chest. It was Austin Parkinson — he was always following Wyatt around, trying to get in good with the Fell family. She moved to that she could face them both and back toward the corner at the same time. "Personal space is a thing, Austin."

"Hey, don't snap at my buddy," Wyatt said. He put an arm around Lottie's shoulder, who instantly shrugged him off and backed further away. "We were looking for some fun. A slut like you likes to have fun, right?"

Lottie felt her throat tighten at the horrible word — it wasn't the first time she'd heard it. "Leave me alone."

"Don't be like that," Wyatt drawled. Then he grabbed Lottie's upper arm tightly. "We know how you really like it. I'm sure we can round up a few more of the guys who would be more than willing to fill your holes—"

"Let me go!" Lottie snapped, her eyes watering. "I'll scream."

"Think they'll hear you over the bitchin' playlist you made?" Austin asked with a horrible grin.

Lottie glanced around and finally noticed she'd kept backing up until she was in the corner and away from the dancing crowd. The lights were dim and the music was loud. But there were still two vampires in the crowd, so she'd take her chances.

However, a savior arrived before she could scream Damon's name.

"I believe it'd be in your best interest to unhand her," Klaus said, appearing in Alaric's body.

Even though Wyatt was still holding Lottie, she sighed in relief, glad to not be alone with the boys. She was no stranger to verbal harassment — it was unfortunately very frequent after she began dating Allison and Dean at the same time. Plenty of disgusting guys thought it granted them a right to shoot gross pickup lines and cruel jokes at her, but this was the first time anyone grabbed her while making a proposition like that. This was the first time Lottie didn't feel safe.

"Relax, Mr. Saltz," Wyatt said, thinking it was the easygoing history teacher. He was also too tipsy to care about academic punishment. "Lottie likes to be shared, don't ya?" He reached for her cheek, but she snapped her head away.

"Something tells me that she doesn't want anything to do with you," Klaus said, his fist clenched. He was seconds away from killing the two teenage boys in front of everyone, evil plan be damned.

"Greedy girls don't get to be picky," Austin said, smirking. "Forget about it, Mr. Saltzman. Go back to chaperoning. We're gonna take this party elsewhere."

Even without his super speed, Klaus moved quickly. He roughly grabbed the boys by the fronts of their shirts and hauled them away from Lottie.

"You're going to leave, and the next time you even think of treating a girl that way again, you're going to break one of your fingers," Klaus compelled, doing his best to keep his rage in check. He didn't even wait for them to repeat the instructions back to him before he threw them to the side.

Before Klaus could set his eyes on Lottie again, arms were wrapped around him in a tight hug. The Original was too stunned to move or speak for a moment. She had certainly seen him compel the humans, and something told Klaus that Lottie wasn't dumb enough for that to go over her head.

"Thank you," Lottie whispered into his chest, doing her best to calm her racing heart now that Wyatt and Austin were gone. "You didn't have to do that."

"Of course, I did," he said, rubbing her shoulder, albeit a bit awkwardly. Klaus couldn't remember the last time he'd been hugged, even if she wasn't hugging his body. He could feel a bit of dampness on his chest and realized she was crying. "Are you alright, love?"

"That sounds weird in Alaric's voice," she mumbled into his chest. "I probably shouldn't be hugging you."

"You have a thing for not answering questions," Klaus noted. Then he sighed. "I can't let you tell your friends."

Lottie pulled back a bit and looked up at him while wiping at her eyes. She wasn't going to tell anyone anyway, but he didn't know that. "I won't," she assured him. "I just - I don't want to be here anymore. I wanna go home."

"You're not my hostage. I'll take you to your car — you know, keep you from blabbing to your Salvatores," Klaus said. Of course, the last part was a lie. He just wanted to make sure that she got to her car safely and unbothered.

"Right," she said, not quite sure how to act now that Klaus knew she knew.

What followed was three minutes of awkward silence as Klaus escorted Lottie out of the gym and into the parking lot. He noticed how her shoulders sagged once the doors shut and the music cut off. She looked incredibly upset, but he wasn't sure if it was because of him or the boys from earlier.

"Do those boys give you trouble like that often?" Klaus couldn't help but ask. "Why haven't your friends done anything to stop it?"

Lottie shrugged while heading toward her Jeep. "Don't want to bother them with it. That was the first time Wyatt tried something more than a few jokes," she mumbled. Then she rubbed her arms from the cold. "If he was the one you had to sacrifice, half the town would pay to watch and bring popcorn."

Klaus chuckled, not expecting the bit of morbid humor. Then Lottie sighed and looked down while kicking a pebble across the parking lot. "Stupid Fell ruins everything. I didn't even get to hear the Oogum Boogum Song."

"The Oogum Boogum Song?" Klaus asked in disbelief. Lottie nodded enthusiastically. "That can't be one of your favorite songs from this decade."

"You're right. It's one of my favorite songs ever," she stressed. Then she scoffed. "You're just as bad as Elijah. I showed it to him for the first time. He tried to lie and say he liked it, but I could see the grimace. Stupid Originals and their pretentious taste."

"Hey!" Kol whined, trailing behind them with Finn. "I like it! I can't wait to dance to it with you."

"Did you call me stupid?" Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," she mumbled, recalling the things Kol said about his plan. "You did announce your presence early, giving them optimal time to try and find a way to save Elena and stop you."

"As opposed to what?"

"Doing nothing until the day of the ritual, then just grabbing Elena, who wouldn't have stayed safe in her house because she wouldn't be expecting you around every corner," Lottie said, summarizing Kol's plan. She could hear him complaining to Finn about her stealing his idea.

"I see you're secretly a diabolical little thing," he murmured as they stopped in front of a car.

"Not diabolical," she declared, unlocking her car. "But I'm on enough planning committees to know how to prepare for any kind of disaster. You should really consider adding an overachiever, teenage girl to your evil team if you make it through the night."

"Trust me, love, I will be," he assured her.

Lottie nodded and then got into her Jeep. She hesitated before closing the door, shooting Klaus a soft smile. "I was really scared before you showed up. Thank you."

"Yes, well, I'm the only one anyone in this town should fear," Klaus said. "Goodnight, Lottie."

"Night, Klaus."

☽︎

The next morning, for Lottie, was filled with Kol complaining about his brother. Though he was incredibly grateful that Klaus aided Lottie the night before, he was still his least favorite sibling — Finn perked up when Kol admitted out loud that he now preferred Finn over most of them. And the fact that Klaus would soon be in his body and able to hold Lottie just like Elijah made the youngest Mikaelson incredibly jealous.

And a jealous Kol — at least when he couldn't physically do anything — was a whiny Kol.

Lottie and Finn took to just talking over him completely while she worked on baking fresh cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Finn simply watched as always, mentally taking note of each step. Once he had his body back, he was fairly certain he'd like cooking and baking.

The baking and subsequent whining were cut off by an abrupt knock on the front door.

"That's probably Niklaus here to torment you," Kol grumbled while rolling his eyes.

"He won't torment her," Finn said, shaking his head.

"That's probably Niklaus here to annoy you," he corrected.

Finn paused while Lottie headed to the door. "He might annoy you."

Lottie had to refrain from giggling as she opened the door. Her small smile instantly dropped though when she saw who was on the other side. It wasn't Klaus. It was Elena and an undaggered Elijah. His clothes were burned — the aftermath of one of his witches trying to undagger him that ended with a flamethrower — but was otherwise unharmed.

That explained the warm tingling feeling that Lottie felt for a few moments earlier that morning, which she'd cluelessly ignored.

"Elijah," Lottie said, unable to stop from smiling softly. "You're awake!" Then she glanced at Elena. "Why is he awake?"

"I did it," Elena said, nervously fiddling with her sleeve. "He wanted to come here. And Stefan and Damon aren't invited in."

Lottie nodded and stepped to the side, letting them enter the house so that they weren't standing on the porch. If Elena was surprised that Elijah didn't need a formal invitation, she kept it to herself.

"Um, there are cinnamon rolls that just went in the oven if you're hungry in a bit, Lena," Lottie offered. Then she looked at the vampire. "We can see if one of my father's old suits fits if you'd like to change into something more comfortable."

"I'd appreciate that," Elijah said, nodding. "Lead the way."

Elijah's return had Lottie's head spinning, but not so much that she couldn't help him get more presentable. He was a little leaner than her father had been, but they were the same height, so Elijah wasn't too uncomfortable in the clothes. Then they returned downstairs.

The three of them stood in the kitchen as Elijah and Elena discussed all that happened. Lottie remained fairly silent as Elijah was told that both his witches were killed and that Klaus took Katherine when he arrived. And then Elijah told Elena the real reason why at one point, he'd have done anything for Klaus.

"Yes," Elijah said, amused by the wide-eyed look on Elena's face. He also noted that Lottie's expression didn't quite match. "Klaus is my brother."

"I heard that. I'm still processing," Elena muttered.

Elijah smirked. "Yes, I'm a little behind on the times, but I believe the term you're searching for is 'O.M.G.'"

Lottie couldn't help but giggle while Kol and Finn were requesting Elijah never use modern slang again.

After revealing that the Originals were all a family and that Elijah had many siblings, the conversation was moved outside. He wanted to walk around the gardens in the backyard. Though Lottie knew a lot of the Mikaelson history, she still let Elijah lead her past the flowerbeds while speaking of the first time Klaus and Katherine met. Kol hadn't been with his siblings at the time, so he'd only heard the story secondhand from Rebekah.

She also listened silently as Elijah finally began to tell the truth about the curse that would soon be broken. "The curse of the Sun and the Moon... is fake. It doesn't exist," he revealed while continuing to walk with Lottie, leaving a stunned Elena behind.

"What?" she asked in disbelief, chasing after them.

"Klaus and I faked the sun and moon curse dating back over a thousand years," Elijah told them.

"But if there's no curse—"

"There's a curse," Elijah interrupted. "Just not that one. The real one's much worse. It's a curse placed on Klaus."

"What kind of curse?" Lottie asked, tilting her head as she pretended to be clueless.

"Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years," he said softly. His eyes fell on Elena. "And you are his only hope."

"What is this curse?" Elena asked desperately.

Instead of answering, Elijah pulled a phone from his pocket and held it out to Elena. "Your phone will not stop its incessant buzzing. Answer it, please."

When Elena read the caller ID, she sighed in annoyance before answering. "Stefan — what's wrong?" Lottie frowned as Elena began to panic from whatever he was saying. "No. No, no, no, no. Okay, I'll be right there." Elena abruptly hung up and looked at the Original. "Klaus went after Jenna. I have to go to her."

"I'm afraid that wasn't part of today's arrangement," he said sternly. He may be taking the time to be honest with Elena but he was still angry about being killed. Twice.

"Elijah," Lottie said softly, placing a hand on his arm.

"That's right, Darling," Kol called out, amused by how Elijah instantly reacted to her touch. "Give him the pouty look. Wrap him around your finger!"

"You say that like we aren't wrapped around her finger," Finn whispered. "Or will be, at least, when we can do things for her."

"Jenna is Elena's family — she doesn't have a lot of that left," Lottie told Elijah. "I'm sure she'll come back, but she needs to check on her."

"You have my word that I'll be back," Elena added quickly.

"That doesn't mean anything to me until you live up to it," Elijah told her, not very pleased by her leaving. But he did nod, silently telling her to go.

"Thank you," she breathed out before taking off toward her car.

As soon as Elena was gone, Lottie surprised Elijah by hugging him tightly — though he'd never complain as he took in her scent and touch. "I'm so glad you're okay," she mumbled into his chest. "I missed you."

Elijah held her for a moment longer before running his hands over her arms. "Let's get you back inside. I wouldn't want you to get cold with the wind picking up."

"The cinnamon rolls have probably cooled enough to frost, anyway," she said, letting him guide her back to the house. "Speaking of, do you, like, need blood or anything?"

"Miss Gilbert procured some blood bags from the Salvatore house, but thank you for your concern," he told her. A small, shameful part of him wondered if she was offering her own blood rather than a blood bag. The blood of a vampire's mate would always be the most appetizing to them to the point that no other blood would satisfy quite as fully once they had the first taste.

When they arrived back at the front porch, both their eyes fell on the small bouquet of flowers that was now sitting on the doormat. It was a mix of blue daisies and baby's breath.

"Huh, you work fast," Lottie told Elijah, automatically thinking the flowers came from him, as he'd sent her many before being daggered.

"I'm afraid I cannot take credit for these," Elijah said with a frown. He watched carefully as she picked up the bouquet and inspected the card. He saw how the corners of her mouth turned up as she read the note and her eyes widened when she saw the name signed at the bottom.

"Oh," Lottie said softly.

"May I?" Elijah asked, holding out his hand. Lottie silently handed him the card before entering the house while he read it.

Did you know that blue daisies often represent loyalty? They also remind me of your lovely dress from last night.

—Klaus

"Did my brother harm you?" Elijah instantly asked, following her inside. There were only a handful of reasons that Klaus would send a girl flowers, and Elijah didn't like any of them.

"No, Elijah, he didn't," Lottie assured him while filling a yellow glass vase with water for the flowers. The bouquet would look nice on the breakfast bar. "I know why everyone else wants Klaus dead — to save Elena. But why do you want to kill him? He's not... that bad?"

Elijah was appalled to hear her say it after only being around Klaus for a day. "Charlotte, my brother is a monster—"

"Monsters don't step in and help girls that are being sexually harassed," Lottie interrupted, refusing to look at Elijah as she said it. She instead moved to start icing the cinnamon rolls, setting the flowers next to the tray. "And monsters don't walk said girls to their car in the middle of their evil plan just to make sure she gets there safely. I don't have any doubts about the bad things he's done, and I know exactly what's in store for Elena. But for you to want to kill your brother, when you're no angel yourself, then something horrible must have happened."

"You really are too smart for your own good, Miss Lancaster," Elijah said with a sad smile. He let her spread frosting in silence for a moment as he thought his words over. "I spoke of my other siblings."

"Yes?" Lottie had to physically resist from looking to the side at Finn and Kol, who were now listening intently. "Should we be expecting them in town soon?"

"I'm afraid not," he said sadly. "The remainder of my family has been subdued — daggered by Klaus."

"But that can be undone," she reminded him. "It's not permanent. What you want to do is permanent. But he's your brother."

"Klaus placed my siblings' bodies in coffins and then dropped those coffins into the sea, losing them forever."

"What?" Lottie breathed out, reeling back as she looked up from the baked goods.

"That's preposterous!" Kol shouted, refusing to believe it. "I'd know if my body was at the bottom of the ocean. I'm not in the ocean!"

"Brother, you and I both know we have no way of knowing that," Finn said, a deep frown on his face. "But could Niklaus really do such a thing?"

Kol's shoulders sagged as he looked at Lottie longingly. He couldn't help but doubt, now. Would he truly never be able to hold her in his arms and kiss her? Had whatever witch that sent them to her done it because they knew the two Originals would never get a chance to meet their mate otherwise?

"They're gone?" Lottie whispered, her eyes welling with tears. Elijah regretfully nodded while also thinking that Lottie was incredibly empathetic as she cried for his siblings that she'd never met. "Forever? There's not a - a spell that can find them?"

"No, my family is lost. Klaus must pay for his horrific deeds with his life," Elijah declared. "My brother is a monster, Charlotte, and he cannot be redeemed, no matter how many flowers he sends you. Do you understand now?"

Lottie's chest was aching and she felt it might cave in as she processed Elijah's words. Processed the fact that there was a good chance she'll never be truly reunited with Finn and Kol. Two soulmates might be at the bottom of the ocean, and the other two were going to fight until one of them was dead. She couldn't stand to think about it at all.

"Yes, Elijah," she said tearfully. "I understand."

☽︎

It was another hour before Elena returned. Lottie couldn't stand any more talk of Klaus or their daggered siblings, so she kept the discussion away from that. And not even getting to eat one of the cinnamon rolls could cheer her up after finding out about Finn and Kol's potential fate.

When Elena did return, Elijah was almost relieved to see that she kept her promise. She found them in the living room on the couch and didn't comment when she saw Lottie's head resting on Elijah's shoulder. "Welcome back," Elijah greeted.

"Tell me," Elena demanded. After Klaus went after Jenna, who now knew about everything, she wanted him stopped more than ever. "What is Klaus's curse?"

"Please," he said, gesturing to the seat across from them. "My family was quite close, but Klaus and my father did not get on too well."

"Understatement of the millennium," Finn muttered. Even he had long since lost any love and affection for his father. Losing their firstborn, Freya, was no excuse for his behavior.

"When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret. Klaus is from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and he killed my mother's lover and his entire family," Elijah continued. "Not realizing, of course, that he was igniting a war between species that rages until this day."

"A war between the species?" Lottie questioned to keep up the act. She lifted her head off his shoulder to look at him.

"The vampires and the werewolves."

"So Klaus' real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?" Elena asked.

"Both," Lottie stated.

Elijah met her gaze and nodded. "A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."

"That's the curse that Klaus wants to break?" Elena asked.

Elijah stood while replying. "He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race. Endangering not just vampires, but everyone."

"But you helped him?" she questioned.

"I helped him because I loved him," he told her honestly. "That's changed — now he must die."

Only Finn and Kol saw how Lottie flinched.

"We have the dagger now. We can stop him," Elena said, getting to her feet as well.

"When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger. So you see the conundrum. The dagger does not work," he explained.

"What, are you saying that Klaus can't be killed?"

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species — at the hands of the servants of nature themselves," he claimed.

"A witch," Elena realized. That was why he had the Martin witches, who were now dead. "If they can channel that much power. But it would kill them."

"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition. That's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."

Elena raised an eyebrow — this worked perfectly with their plan to make Klaus think Bonnie was dead. "What if I told you that I knew a witch that could channel that much power?"

Elijah suspected that Bonnie was that powerful already but was happy to have Elena confirm it. "Then I would tell you there's one more thing that you should know. The first time around, I had my family's witches see to a way to ensure Katerina survived the sacrifice. She ran before I could tell her of it."

Even Lottie was surprised by this information as she sat forward. Elena couldn't believe her ears. "You found a way to save the life of the doppelgänger?"

"Yes, Elena. I did. But unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out," Elijah said, looking down.

"You cared about her, didn't you?" Lottie asked softly.

"It's a common mistake, I'm told. And it's one I won't make again," Elijah said to her, meeting her gaze. The only woman he'd ever care about in that way again was sitting on the couch.

"We have to tell Stefan and Damon," Elena said, knowing the new information would change everything.

"I think I'll say here," Lottie told them, pulling her knees up to her chest. "I'm not really... involved with all this."

"And I'd like you to remain uninvolved," Elijah told her. "You're safest here, where Klaus cannot get inside."

Elena and Elijah let themselves out while she remained on the couch. Then Finn and Kol each took the empty seat on either side of her. From her spot, she could see the blue flowers through the opening that led to the kitchen.

"You can't be at the bottom of the ocean," she whispered, eyes watering once more. "You can't be."

"Ástin, you must consider—"

"No," Kol cut Finn off. "She's right. You? Yeah, I can see Niklaus tossing you off the side of a boat." Finn narrowed his eyes at his brother. "And me? Well, yeah, I did piss him off greatly last time I was walking. And I sure caused a lot of problems."

"So, what you're saying is that we're probably at the bottom of the ocean," Finn said flatly. He heard Lottie sniffle and looked to see her wiping her eyes on a blanket.

"Oh, Darling, no," Kol said quickly. "You want to know how I know Klaus was lying? Most likely to just get Elijah to stop annoying him about undaggering us?"

"Why?" she asked in a small voice.

"Rebekah," he declared, crossing his arms. "She's profited off his favoritism since we were children, and he would not carelessly toss her into the ocean. And so, I know that we were not either."

"You really think he lied to Elijah about something so serious?" she questioned. "Why?"

"Because Elijah is annoying."

"Kol may be right," Finn admitted. "Not the annoying bit. If Elijah began hounding Niklaus more than usual or even threatening him to undagger us, then the easiest solution would be to make him think it was no longer possible. Because of his werewolf side, Klaus is very rash and quick to anger. He may not have considered the fact that Elijah would want him dead for such a thing."

Lottie's eyes shined with hope as she looked up at Finn. "There's a chance I haven't lost you?"

"You'll never lose us," Finn said softly. His hand hovered by her cheek, wishing he could brush his knuckles across it.

"You're haunted for life," Kol joked even if he wasn't sure that was the case. Truthfully, they didn't know how long the spell keeping them around would last — he'd never seen one like it.

"I don't know how, but I won't let Elijah kill Klaus," Lottie told them. "I have two days to think of something. Then, after Klaus breaks his curse, we can get you both undaggered."

"He's going to be a menace once he's broken it," Finn noted. As if his middle brother wasn't already insufferable and power-hungry enough, this would make it worse.

"He deserves it," Kol admitted, shrugging. "That spiel Elijah gave — what our mother told us to excuse her actions — was garbage. It had nothing to do with nature. If a hybrid wasn't meant to exist, then Niklaus' wolf side would have died out with the transition into vampires. The curse was mother's doing and her's alone as a means to try and make up for her affair in the eyes of our father."

"Kol," Finn said, narrowing his eyes.

"It's the truth, Finn," Kol said, scoffing. "Klaus may be a paranoid, controlling bastard, but it is because of our parents. Both of them. Mother took my magic and she locked away a part of our brother. And so when he breaks his curse, I will smile, happy that he's finally bested her."

"Wow, that's so sweet, Kol," Lottie said, smiling at him. "You really love your brother."

"Ugh. No, I don't. Take that back!"