NIK'S ANGRY AT ME?

[ 3.05 ]

LOTTIE'S SUMMER WAS MEASURED BY THE LITTLE THINGS. Summer conditioning for her cheerleaders. A lot of dinners at the Gilbert house because Jenna didn't like Lottie spending a summer alone in the Lancaster estate. Letters from Enzo where he talked about the little coastal town in North Carolina he was residing in. And phone calls — a lot of phone calls — from Klaus.

"Klaus, we just spoke two days ago. You can't miss me that much," Lottie said with a giggle as soon as she answered the call. "Have you even made it out of Virginia?"

"I'll have you know we're in Alabama," Klaus informed her. "Stefan hates it so far."

"Because it's Alabama," Lottie heard the Salvatore grumble. Klaus had already compelled the vampire to never say a word about any contact he made with Lottie in the future.

"Alabama's not so bad. Mason Lockwood and I went to a space camp there when I was seven," she informed the boys. Lottie wanted to try the camp just because Mason went each summer. That was the only year she went, as Mason outgrew the camp, and Lottie didn't want to be that far from home on her own. "You should definitely tour the Space and Rocket Center."

"This isn't exactly a sightseeing trip, Lottie," Klaus said, clearly amused.

"Well, it would be if I was there."

☽︎

"You're absolutely ridiculous."

"Hello to you, too, love," Klaus greeted.

"When I said I wanted to know what you looked like in wolf form, I thought maybe you could send me a drawing or a picture," Lottie said into her phone. "Not a 3D model."

A ridiculously large box had been delivered to her home. Lottie couldn't believe it as she unboxed a huge — likely life-sized — stuffed wolf toy.

"Well, I figured your mountain of stuffed animals could use an alpha to lead them," Klaus joked. Truthfully, he spotted the stuffed animal in a toy store window and couldn't help but buy it, which earned many a joke from Stefan.

"Klaus, I love stuffed animals, but this is huge. What am I supposed to do with him?" she asked as if she didn't have a huge home with plenty of storage.

"Cuddle him at night while thinking fond thoughts of me."

That comment had Kol gagging in disgust. God, he couldn't wait to make fun of his brother — as if Kol didn't say equally as sappy things when it was just he and Lottie alone.

"Well, if I'm to keep him, he needs a name," Lottie said, reaching to squeeze the soft toy. "It's a very important decision."

"It must be something strong and commanding," Klaus said, most likely puffing his chest out as he referred to himself. "A name of a warrior—"

"Sir Waggington," Finn spoke up suddenly. He'd only been half paying attention — Lottie set up a book to auto-scroll on her laptop so that he could read it on his own. But he wouldn't pass on the chance to annoy his younger brother.

"Sir Wagginton!" Lottie repeated excitedly, cutting off Klaus.

The hybrid let out a less-than-pleased sound. "Uh, I'm not sure that's a warri—"

"It's a perfect name, Nik!" she said, the nickname slipping from her lips naturally. He found himself smiling on the other end of the phone. "I love him so much. Thank you!"

☽︎

"So, the ice machine of the truck went out, and it's ninety-eight degrees out today, so you can imagine how well that went," Lottie complained to Klaus with half her body hanging off the couch.

"Yes, I don't imagine a free shaved ice event went too well without the shaved ice."

"It was kind of like when the water stopped working and we had no suds at the Sexy Suds Car Wash two years."

"Hmm, let me hear more about this Sexy Suds thing," Klaus said, his tone turning mischievous.

"Oh, brother, it's the most glorious yearly event," Kol commented even though Klaus couldn't hear.

Lottie laughed at both of them while shaking her head. "Well, just find yourself back in Mystic Falls for the beginning of football season and you'll see for yourself."

"Only if you'll be participating," Klaus couldn't help but flirt.

☽︎

"Keep going," Kol murmured from his spot at Lottie's headboard. "Don't bite your lip. I want Niklaus to hear you all the way in Mississippi."

"Oh, god," Lottie moaned, one hand at her left breast and the other hidden beneath her underwear.

"That's not his name," Finn said with a smirk. "Though I'm sure he liked to think it is."

Lottie changed the pace of the finger working circles around her clit, her toes curling as she choked on another moan. She writhed on the bed, picturing his face that she missed so much while babbling his name like a pleading prayer.

"Nik!"

☽︎

"Tell Stefan that his brother is annoying."

"Stefan, your brother is annoying."

"That's not new information," Stefan said in a dull tone. He was tired of Klaus and Lottie's frequent talks. "But why today?"

"He totally crashed my lunch date with Jenna where she was helping me pick out new uniforms for the squad this year," she grumbled. "He was gross the whole time."

"Shall I come back and rip out his tongue?" Klaus brightly offered.

"Yes," Finn said flatly, who was seething by the time the lunch was over.

"No," Lottie told him, rolling her eyes. "It's kind of you to offer, though."

"That's not kind at all," Stefan said, frowning. "It's psychotic."

"Says the guy that rips off heads," Kol said insensitively.

☽︎

"Nik?" Lottie mumbled while tiredly rubbing her eyes. "It's late. What's wrong?"

The hybrid called and woke her up at three in the morning. He didn't say anything for several moments, but Lottie could hear him breathing.

"Klaus, why are you calling?" Lottie asked, beginning to worry. "It's another full moon. You should be searching for the werewolves."

Oh, he'd found the werewolves. He found them and then killed them when the transition into hybrids didn't work. They went rabid and he was forced to slaughter the entire pack because he hadn't thought to simply test one wolf first.

Lottie heard the sound of something smashing, like he punched a wall or threw something and broke it. "Nik, please say something so that I know you're not hurt."

"No," Klaus said after a moment. He took another deep breath. "No, I'm not hurt."

Hearing him had Lottie sighing in relief. "Is it — what's wrong?" she simply asked. It was another full moon, Lottie knew. Perhaps he hadn't managed to find a pack of werewolves gathered to turn. The summer was nearly over, and Klaus had been getting more frustrated as time went by.

His calls came more frequently because of it, the voice of his soulmate managing to calm him down.

"Can you just talk to me?" Klaus requested, clenching his fist so tightly that his nails drew blood. "Tell me anything. Just... talk."

"Well, I don't know if this will cheer you up, but I went all Three Musketeers with Tyler and Sheriff Forbes today. We saved Caroline from her father who had her locked up in a basement and was torturing her for being a vampire," Lottie summarized. "I mean, I didn't do much, but it was nice to help. Damon compelled her father to forget about what she is."

"I do hate that for her. I know how much you care about Caroline," Klaus said. He was no stranger to father issues either, so he decided if he ever met Bill Forbes, he'd make him pay. "And please tell me you didn't do anything too dangerous."

"Not too dangerous," she assured him with a smile. "Actually, I really just held the door open while Tyler carried Caroline out and Liz held a gun to her dad's head. But I was the best doorstop that ever was."

"Be sure to add it to the top of your résumé," he joked.

"Oh, and we have this, like, Founder's chili cook-off thing coming up. I hate chili but I'm obligated to make my dad's recipe," she rattled off, determined to distract Klaus for as long as he needed. "Why couldn't it be a pie cook-off or a pasta-off?"

"Well, clearly, the rules need changing."

"Now I want pasta," Lottie complained, pouting. She huffed and climbed out of bed, sliding her feet in her pink bunny rabbit slipper.

"What are you doing, love?" Klaus asked, hearing her move around.

"I'm making pasta."

"Love, it's three in the morning there."

"Yeah, so you're gonna stay on the phone with me to make sure I don't fall back asleep and burn the house down."

☽︎

"Do you know what the sluttiest thing a man can do is?" Caroline asked Lottie, looking at her intently across the booth at the Grill.

Lottie was so surprised that she had to spit her mouthful of pink lemonade back into her glass while Elena, Bonnie, and Jenna chuckled.

"What's that, Care?" Elena asked, grinning.

Unknowingly to the girls, Kol leaned forward, mentally taking notes for when he was back in his physical body. Finn rolled his eyes at his brother's eagerness and flicked the back of his head.

"Wear one of those loose, pirate-y shirts with the deep V and strings. You know that one?" Caroline asked. "That."

Finn pouted, knowing he had one of those shirts on under his brown outer shirt, which he couldn't flaunt in front of Lottie as he and Kol couldn't change their stupid, dated clothes. The spell that sent them to Lottie was very particular and odd about things like that.

"Is that your way of you telling us to drop hints so that Tyler dresses as a pirate for Halloween?" Lottie asked, grinning.

"Please," she said, nodding. "Or like, Zorro or something equivalent."

"You'd make a great Elizabeth Swan to his Will Turner," Bonnie rightfully claimed.

"Okay, costume set in stone now," Caroline said, leaning back into the booth. "You guys all have to do couples costumes too — oops."

Elena looked down sadly, knowing that Stefan probably wouldn't be back by Halloween. She and Damon tracked him and Klaus all summer — they'd have been pissed if they knew Klaus was feeding Lottie his location every week. They'd seen Stefan in the Smokey Mountains and just a few days ago in Chicago where Stefan made it clear they needed to stop trying to save him.

To ease the tension, Jenna threw her arm over Lottie's shoulder. "What's our couples costume gonna be, baby?"

Lottie snorted at that. Technically, she and Jenna were the only real single ones, and there was no way Jenna was going back to Alaric after all that lying.

"You can pick, sweetheart, as long as I look cute," Lottie said, leaning her head on her shoulder.

"Not hot? Halloween is a hot girl holiday," Jenna said.

"Can I be cute and hot?"

Jenna thought for a moment. "I'll do some research. We'll find something."

"Can't wait," Lottie said.

"Me either," Kol chimed in needlessly.

Then Lottie's phone began to ring. Seeing that the caller ID read Klaus' name — actually, it said 'Team Edward AND Jacob' — Lottie excused herself from the table, knowing she couldn't answer with a vampire at the table who would instantly know who she was talking to. Once she was outside, she took the call.

"Howdy," Lottie greeted playfully while leaning against the brick wall.

"Who is this?" a feminine voice asked, one with an English accent.

Lottie frowned, which was noticed by both Finn and Kol, who followed her outside. "Um, this is Lottie? Has his phone been stolen? Because let me tell you, he is not someone whose phone you wanna steal."

"My name is Rebekah, and he left his device unattended."

An excited little gasp left her lips. "Rebekah? You're Nik's sister! He undaggered you?"

Both Finn and Kol, who followed Lottie outside, went wide-eyed and leaned toward the phone, desperate to hear their sister's voice.

That threw the blonde on the other end for a loop. "My brother told you about me? Who are you, exactly?"

"I mean, he didn't tell me about you in as many words," she said awkwardly, realizing she'd let some of her knowledge slip through. "But I know your name! And like I said, I'm Lottie. I'm a friend of your brothers."

"Nik doesn't have friends," Rebekah couldn't help but say, snorting.

"That's kinda true," she admitted. "But hey! How are you adjusting to everything so far? Are you still in Chicago? If he's not taking the time to teach you things, then hit him for me."

"Oh, I've already stabbed him with my dagger," she informed her proudly. "And we are currently shopping for modern clothes — if you can call them that. My brother stepped out for a little snack."

"I love shopping. Now I wish I was there helping," Lottie said, pouting a little.

"It would certainly help me to understand what's in style," she mumbled.

Then Lottie got an idea. "Rebekah, I'm going to video call you. When the phone in your hand rings, just press the green answer button."

"This'll be interesting," Kol muttered. It had taken him and Finn ages to understand modern technology, and here Rebekah was, unsupervised with Klaus' phone. They both got behind Lottie so they could see her phone screen.

A moment later, Lottie had called Rebekah with a video call. It took a few rings, but eventually, a young girl who looked to be a year or two younger than Lottie appeared on screen, her face a little too close. But she backed up in awe when she saw Lottie's face, unable to believe you could communicate like this.

"Lottie?" Rebekah said, testing the name.

"Hi!" she greeted while waving at the camera. "Also, wow, you're insanely gorgeous."

"Oh, I like you," Rebekah said, smiling from the flattery. "You're quite lovely yourself."

"Stop flirting with our mate," Kol said jealously. It made Finn snicker.

"So, how's shopping going?" Lottie questioned.

Rebekah groaned instantly. "Klaus and Stefan are no help. They either don't bother to care or just lie because they want it to be over with. Also, there's hardly any fabric to these clothes. I can't believe it."

"I mean, I do love a nice, short sundress—"

"Us too," Finn said cheekily. Kol was nodding along proudly.

"Or a pleated skirt," Lottie continued, ignoring her mates and rolling her eyes. "But if you're not comfortable with showing that much skin yet, then there's plenty of stores with other options."

"I suppose I'll adjust eventually," Rebekah said. "I always do. Now, I need your honest opinion."

Rebekah did her best to hold out the phone and angle it toward the dress she was wearing. It was a black mini dress that flared out and had small, white polka dots all over it. The fit, of course, was fantastic, but Lottie wasn't loving it. And though she didn't personally know Rebekah, she'd heard plenty of stories and didn't think it fit what her style would eventually morph into.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Rebekah. The fit and cut is fantastic and very flattering," Lottie said, starting with the positives. "But polka dots aren't very in style and they're hard to pull off. Again though, you're gorgeous and could make it work if you wanted."

"See, thank you," she said, sighing. "All the boys had to say was they didn't like the print. Men are so bloody annoying—"

"Rebekah, why do you have my phone?" Lottie suddenly heard the voice of Klaus, who presumably reentered the store after finishing his meal. "Who are you talking to?"

"A lovely girl named Lottie with a little pink heart next to her name on this devi—"

A moment of chaos followed as a hand shoved Rebekah's head to the side as Klaus wrestled his phone out of her grip. Lottie saw veins flash under Rebekah's eyes as she hissed at her brother. Eventually, she relinquished her hold on the phone, which Klaus snatched and held tightly while glaring at her. Though he quickly looked at the camera like a deer caught in headlights when he heard Lottie giggling over it all.

The hybrid cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair before speaking. "Ah, hello, Lottie. I see you've met my sister."

"Yes, she's my newest friend now," Lottie declared.

"We're friends?" Rebekah asked hopefully while trying to shove her face into frame. Klaus again shoved her back by her forehead.

"Of course, we're friends," she assured her. "He is going to buy you a phone and put my number in it so that you can call or text me any time. Aren't you, Nik?"

"Yes," Klaus grumbled as if he already didn't have to shoulder all the responsibility of teaching Rebekah about the modern century. "Go back to your shopping, sister."

Before Rebekah could complain, Klaus left the shop, taking the phone with him. When he looked back at the screen and saw Lottie smiling, his tense shoulders relaxed.

"Your hair's longer," Lottie couldn't help but note. The blonde curls had grown and a stray one was brushing his forehead. As they'd never video-called before, she never got the chance to see his hair a little longer. He was also letting a short amount of facial hair grow in. "I like it."

The compliment had the corners of Klaus' mouth turning up and he looked away from the screen almost shyly.

"Aw," Kol cooed. "The wittle hybwid is blushing."

Finn raised a pointed eyebrow. "The first time Lottie called you her 'pretty boy,' you turned into a spluttering mess and tripped over nothing because were physically incapable of tripping over objects."

"Ugh, I'm going back to the slutty things men can do," he muttered before walking through the door to the Grill to avoid any teasing.

"Your sister seems nice," Lottie told Klaus while ignoring the others.

"She's not," Klaus said flatly. "But I need her for something, which she may prove useless for anyway."

"See, you say that, but no matter the reason, you're probably secretly happy to be with your sister again," she said with a hopeful smile. Maybe Rebekah was the first step toward getting her boys undaggered as well.

"If I am, you must keep that to yourself," he replied. "I have a reputation to uphold."

"Of course. Wouldn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

"So, anything exciting going on there, love?" Klaus asked, leaning against a brick wall.

"Not nearly as exciting as Chicago — which I want to hear all about, by the way," Lottie said, grinning. She was just happy that Klaus was in a seemingly better mood than the last time they talked. "Tomorrow night is the Senior prank night at the school. In exchange for me misusing my faculty keys and letting everyone in, they agreed to not touch the cheerleading equipment."

"A solid and fair trade," he noted. "Now I'm picturing the oh-so-sweet Lottie Lancaster up to no good on her own Senior prank night."

Lottie looked down and shook her head. "I was too much of a baby to do anything but stand and hold a flashlight for the actual people that know how to have fun."

"Oh, come now. You know how to have fun," Klaus told her, raising an eyebrow. "You're just a good girl — that's to be admired."

"Yes," Finn murmured lowly next to her ear. "Such a good girl."

Lottie's cheeks heated up so she quickly cleared her throat. "Well, now that there are two of you, are you and your sister ganging up on Stefan?"

"Not quite," he said, chuckling. "They had a bit of a... tryst in the twenties."

Lottie's eyes went wide. "No way."

"Absolutely."

"Tell me everything."

☽︎

Lottie had never been so bored as she waited around for the seniors to finish with the pranks. The cheerleading coach position came with a very small office space that she seldom used, but that's where she was killing time. Every few minutes, she'd hear a large group of giggling students that put a huge smile on her face, remembering how fun it was.

But waiting around while they had their fun so that she could lock the school back up was less fun.

To Finn's credit, he stayed and watched the episodes of How I Met Your Mother playing on Lottie's computer to keep her company. Kol was off watching the pranks being set up — he'd also declared he'd be at the high school the next day, watching his favorites unfold.

"I don't care for this Ted fellow, I must admit," Finn said with a frown. "He broke up with that poor girl again on her birthday."

"He's not gonna get better, sweetie," Lottie said with a grimace. She'd seen the series many times through — with how often they were around, she wasn't sure how this was Finn's first viewing. "Sorry to break it to you."

"Problems!" Kol shouted as he came in through the wall. Lottie and Finn both looked at him with wide eyes. "Big problems!"

"What do you mean?" Lottie asked while pausing the show. "Did someone get injured doing something?"

"Niklaus is here and knows Elena is alive — he's mad. Rebekah is here as well. Klaus killed your friend Tyler to transition him into a hybrid, except the hybrid process isn't working for some reason," he explained quickly.

"Oh, god," Lottie breathed out, rushing into the hallway. She didn't want Tyler to die. The boys followed after her. "Is it because Elena's alive? That's why the hybrids aren't working?"

"I'm not sure," Kol told her. "I'm trying to think of the spell that mother used — it was one of her own creation."

As Lottie ran through the halls, searching for literally anyone, she thought back to Klaus' odd behavior. He must have called her on the last full moon after discovering he couldn't make hybrids. She didn't understand why he didn't confide in her.

As horrible as it seemed, the only reason she never told him Elena was still alive was because she thought it had no effect on his curse. If she knew this was happening, she probably would've told him that night over the phone.

Then as Lottie rounded the corner, she froze as she saw two unmoving bodies next to the lockers — Caroline and Tyler. Rebekah was sitting casually on the floor, scrolling through Caroline's cellphone as if it were her own.

"Oh, god," Lottie whispered, looking at Tyler, who she spent so much time with growing up. This was Mason all over again.

Rebekah looked up and grinned brightly at Lottie as if two dead bodies weren't at her feet. "Lottie!"

"Hi," she said, her eyes still on Tyler. She knew Caroline would be okay. "Beks—" The nickname made Rebekah beam. "—Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

"It's simple. My brother can't make hybrids. Stefan spent the summer lying about that doppelgänger being alive. As did you, by the way. He's not pleased with you," Rebekah said, eying her carefully.

"Nik's angry at me?" Lottie asked in a small voice. She couldn't help it. Her mate bond was tugging at her heart and making her eyes water at the thought of Klaus being mad at her. "I didn't mean to lie, Rebekah. I - I didn't know it was affecting his hybrids."

The romantic in Rebekah was caving, as she knew that Lottie was Klaus and Elijah's mate. She, along with countless vampires, would do anything to find her own soulmate and so she wanted to make sure her brothers did not squander such a blessing.

"Well, flash that pouty look and those big eyes, and he'll fold," Rebekah informed her. "So long as this matter is resolved."

"Any clue how to resolve it?" Finn whispered to Kol. The youngest brother could only shake his head while continuing to wrack his brain. The doppelgänger being alive should have no effect on this since Klaus did drain her of all her blood.

"Your witch friend is looking into it," Rebekah continued. "I'm on potential hybrid duty. My brother still has not bought me a telephone, by the way. I'll have to compel myself one tomorrow."

"And where is your brother?" Lottie asked slowly. Even if she hadn't been told he was there, she knew he was close. After so long away from him, it was almost as if she could feel his presence. The very air felt different — warmer.

"In the gym, holding onto the doppelgänger. It won't be long, I suppose, before Stefan wakes up and tries to save her," she said bitterly. "Seems a lot's changed in ninety years."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I know you liked him."

Rebekah's expression softened even more, but as soon as Caroline woke with a gasp, she hid it away while continuing to look at the phone in her hand, scrolling through pictures. "We didn't have mobile telephones in my day. Would have made life a whole lot easier, I suppose."

"Where's Tyler?" Caroline asked quickly.

"He's dead-ish," she said casually after taking a selfie.

Caroline turned to see Lottie standing over the temporarily dead Tyler. "What did you do to him?"

"Think of it as he's having a nap. When he wakes up, he'll be a hybrid."

Caroline crawled over to Tyler and put her ear to his chest to check for a heartbeat. Lottie sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be like when you transitioned. He'll wake up soon," she said to try and help her calm down.

"Ugh. Vomit," they heard Rebekah complain. Finn rolled his eyes at his sister's lack of sensitivity. Of all of Lottie's friends, he probably tolerated Caroline the most. Though he used to detest the idea of vampirism, he found the young girl matured and grew as a person after turning. So he hated to see her in distress because of his family.

But then Rebekah noticed something in the picture of Stefan and Elena that she was looking at. She zoomed in to see a very familiar necklace that had been missing when she woke in her coffin. "Is that my neck..." Rebekah got up suddenly, a new type of anger in her eyes. She showed them the phone screen. "Why is that doppelgänger bitch wearing my necklace?"

"Stefan," Lottie said, looking at the phone. "He gave it to her last year after they met."

An insanely loud and jealous screech left Rebekah's mouth before she ran off at top speed to hunt down Elena, who was still being held in the gym.

"That's not gonna end well," Lottie muttered. Then she looked back at Tyler. "Let's get him out of the hall."

Caroline took a deep breath before nodding. Really, she did most of the heavy lifting while Lottie kept Tyler's feet from dragging on the ground. They entered one of the science classrooms and set his body on top of a lab table.

"I thought this was over," Caroline said, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Tyler. "And we made it through without losing anyone. But he's back."

Lottie felt guilty because she was a little excited about Klaus being back — at least if they could resolve everything without more bloodshed. Hopefully, Bonnie or Kol could think of something before Klaus did anything too rash. Well, more rash than forcing Tyler into transition without knowing if he'd survive.

"I'm sure that - that someone will figure it out," Lottie said, not dwelling on Klaus' presence. "Some of the most powerful people are in this high school right now."

"Right. Right," she mumbled, nodding her head. "Think positive."

Caroline did an alright job of thinking positive until Rebekah came back into the room five minutes later with Elena's blood on her face. The two vampires used their enhanced hearing to continue listening in on the escalating situation in the gym. Stefan showed up to try and get Klaus to leave him alone. That led to Klaus compelling Stefan to follow his every command and kill two students, Dana and Chad. And to top it all off, he set a timer on the basketball scoreboard, and when it ran out, Stefan was to feed off Elena.

Given that he was a ripper with practically no control, he'd likely kill her.

"This is not going well," Finn said under his breath while watching his brother. Kol was sitting away from the others and muttering witchy nonsense to himself. At this point, for Kol, it was less about helping Elena and his brother and more about proving his magical knowledge. He was getting frustrated, and the timer wasn't helping.

It was just over three minutes when Tyler shot up, now alive again. He looked around, eyes wide and searching for the guy that shoved his blood down his throat the last time he was awake. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Tyler," Caroline said hesitantly.

"Don't be shy about it," Rebekah chimed in, watching the timer that she synchronized on Caroline's phone.

"What's going on?" Tyler asked, looking at Caroline and Lottie.

"Klaus is turning you into a vampire," Caroline told him, cringing. "A hybrid. You're in transition."

"Don't leave out the hard part, sweets," Rebekah said with a smirk. "You'll only survive if your witch is successful. If not... you're pretty much dead."

Caroline shook her head, watching as Tyler tried to not freak out. "You're going to be okay. Okay? It's going to be okay."

"I wonder how she's doing," Rebekah said, showing them the clock on the phone. It was about to hit two minutes. "Tick-tock goes the gym clock."

But then suddenly, "Oh! OH!" Kol exclaimed, jumping up. Lottie flinched but remained seated so no one looked at her. "She's got to live!"

"What?" Finn asked, knowing Lottie couldn't.

"Mother never wanted one hybrid to exist, let alone more," Kol stressed. "So—" He cut himself off and looked at the timer. There wasn't time to explain, making him groan. "Darling, find Klaus. Telling him to have Tyler drink Elena's blood just like he did on the full moon. Go!"

"Oh my god," Lottie whispered, somewhat understanding the reasoning behind it all with all her Mikaelson history lessons. When she spoke, everyone in the room looked at her, but she ignored them. Instead, she slid out of the desk and ran from the room. She began shouting as she rushed down the hallway. "Klaus! Nik! Klaus, I—"

As Lottie turned a corner, Klaus was there. And he didn't look necessarily pleased with her even if he was glad to see his soulmate.

"Ah, Lottie, come to beg for forgiveness after your betray—"

"I didn't know your hybrids weren't working, or I would've told you she wasn't dead," Lottie said quickly while catching her breath. "But that's not - that's not why I'm—"

They heard the faint sound of the clock buzzing from the gymnasium.

"Elena's blood!" Lottie exclaimed. "You had to drink doppelgänger blood to transition. What if all hybrids have to drink dop—"

Klaus' eyes widened in realization, and then a second later, he was gone. He had to stop Stefan from killing Elena on the off chance that Lottie — Kol — was right. Lottie sighed in relief, hoping she got to him in time.

"I suppose I can let you take credit for this," Kol said, sighing over-dramatically. "But only this once, Darling."

"Kol, you really are so amazingly smart," Lottie said, smiling appreciatively. "And to do this after all your brother has put you through? It's incredibly sweet."

"Yes, well, I can be sometimes," he said, puffing his chest up. "I expect a thousand cheek kisses once I am back in my body."

"All at once or spaced out over time?" Finn asked, grinning.

"Spaced out," he decided. "It'll give me something to look forward to each day."

Before Lottie could respond, Klaus was back at her side. Only this time, he had a small container with blood in it — Elena's blood. He looked down at Lottie and smiled.

"Time to test your theory, love," he said. Klaus took Lottie's hand, both ignoring the warm tingles that ran through them, and he dragged her back to the science classroom. They all turned to look at them as they entered, and Klaus smirked. "Well, the verdict's in. The original witch's spell said the doppelgänger had to die."

Rebekah stood, looking a bit too happy. "Does that mean we can kill her?"

Klaus shook his head. "No, I'm fairly certain it means the opposite," he said, letting go of Lottie and moving toward Tyler.

"What?" Rebekah asked in disbelief. But she did move to restrain Caroline, stopping her from interfering.

"Lottie has a hunch," he said, holding up the blood to Tyler. "Elena's blood. Drink it."

"No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline screamed, trying to get free.

"Caroline," Lottie said quietly with a frown. "He'll certainly die if he doesn't at least try it."

Tyler seemed to struggle with the decision, but he eventually took the blood and downed it in one mouthful.

"There we go. Good boy," Klaus said in a slightly condescending tone.

Suddenly, Tyler began to cough and rolled off the lab table, crashing into the floor. Lottie flinched and couldn't help but grip the back of Klaus' shirt. He subtly reached back to cover her hand with his own — if Tyler went rabid like the past hybrids, he'd rush Lottie to safety immediately.

But Tyler didn't go rabid. After a moment of screaming and writing, he held his head tightly. Then his face morphed, his eyes turning yellow, followed by fangs and veins underneath his eyes.

Klaus' eyes were gleaming with excitement and he tightened his hold on Lottie's hand. "Well, that's a good sign."

☽︎

A lot happened very quickly, including Klaus giving Tyler some kind of hybrid speech and Elena being kidnapped and taken to a hospital to give blood. But during it all, Klaus sped Lottie back to the safety of her house. He whispered in her ear that he would come back later that night once things were settled before rushing off to meet with his sister.

Though it was late and Lottie was tired, she still waited up for him. It didn't matter that she would have to be at the school the next day for practice. She didn't mind being a little tired if it meant in-person time with any of her mates. Finn and Kol talked to her to help her stay awake.

Finally, at two in the morning, there was a loud knocking at her door. Lottie jumped off her couch and ran to let Klaus in.

But it wasn't Klaus.

It was Rebekah on the other side of the door and she didn't look happy.

"He left me here. My brother actually left me here!" Rebekah said in disbelief.

Lottie frowned deeply and focused a bit. Now that she was, she realized that the warmth from earlier was gone, signifying that Klaus was indeed farther away physically. "Nik left?"

"Yes," she said, scoffing in anger at him. "He called me from the road — told me to stay in town. He only took the time to get Elena's blood before running."

"Running? Running from what?" she asked cluelessly.

Rebekah hesitated, under the impression that Lottie didn't know about Mikael. And though she was a soulmate to two of her brothers, it wasn't her place to discuss such things. "It - it's nothing to worry your pretty little head about," Rebekah said after a moment. "But that stupid wanker left me alone in a new century!"

"Well, you aren't alone, Beks," Lottie said softly, feeling horrible about Rebekah being left behind. "You've got me."

"I do?" she asked hesitantly. Sure, she'd shown up at Lottie's doorstep but she had no idea how her arrival would be taken.

"Of course," she said. Then she stepped to the side. "Rebekah, please come in. We've got a lot about the world to teach you."