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"Change the colours of the sky and open up to the ways you made me feel alive"

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WE SIT in silence, awaiting the truth. The truth that will either welcome us with a gracious smile, or the truth that will forever haunt me in my dreams. There's a fifty-fifty chance that either my future will be filled with endless torment or comfortable peace. The anticipation of it all is bothering the holy hell out of me.

"Do you want me to go warm the truck up?" James suggests. Theo stays cradled in my lap as all of us sit on a bench, the cold, crisp midnight air taking a toll on us- more on Theo than the rest of us.

I sigh. "It's okay, shouldn't be long now," I say, although that's what I've said five times in the past ten minutes. "I shouldn't have brought him. I probably shouldn't have even come," I whisper, scolding myself. 

Once again I've dragged Theo into something because I can't ignore the little girl in me that craves to satisfy her curiosity. I have to keep reminding myself this isn't like three years ago when we were in Mystic Falls. We can't chase every problem anymore. We're all grown up.

"You needed this," James says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "Kai, he did things to you, to Theo. You needed to see him go down," he assures me. I send him a small smile, realizing he's right.

"Where's Stefan? I thought he'd for sure want to see Kai Parker die," I suddenly ask, glancing at Alaric and Damon who stand before us. Neither of them have spoken a word to one another all night.

"He's with Caroline and her mom," Damon replies in a monotone way.

"What?" I furrow my brows.  "Why is Stefan with Caroline and her mom?" I ask. "Are they dating yet?"

"No," Damon answers grimly. "Caroline's mom- she's..."

"What Damon?" I press, concern breaking through the feeling of joy I've managed to find myself in.

"Her mom has become extremely sick. She was emitted to the hospital yesterday," he explains. "She has cancer- has had it for months but never told Caroline. It's gotten really bad." 

"Oh," I whisper, letting my heart sink back into my chest, all the joy felt moments earlier dispersed like it never existed.

James squeezes my shoulder and opens his mouth to tell me something reassuring when suddenly Liv gasps, our attention turned to Kai who lays there with his eyes wide open.

"Bloody hell," James gapes, standing up from the bench and vamp speeding over to Kai.

Damon and James hold him down, examining him. I stand up with Theo in my arms, slowly making my way over to an awakened Kai. I'm not in the most cooperative state of mind to understand what his awakening means. This whole time I've been assuring myself Luke will wake up, Luke will be the winner. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

"You son of a bitch," Damon growls, holding Kai tightly by the collar of his shirt. Kai stays frozen, his eyes wide. We all watch in silence as the slightest smile forms on the siphon's face, before that expression freezes in place, the last breath escaping him.

He's dead.

"I-I don't understand," I whisper, when suddenly Liv screams out of joy.

We all spin on our heels, watching as Liv engulfs a very much alive Luke in her arms. "Lucky bastard." Damon smiles. "He won."

Alaric shakes Luke's hand, the two of them grinning widely. Luke then turns to us, his eyes clearly fatigued but his smile wide. "You did it," I whisper in shock. Before I even know what I'm doing I set Theo down and walk over to Luke, embracing him in a hug. "Thank you." I sigh in relief. He's hesitant, as if in just the same amount of shock I'm in before he hugs me back.

I release him first, allowing James to shake his hand. "Thank you mate." James smiles, giving him an appreciative nod. "We owe you."

"Well, not gonna lie, it wasn't easy nor was it enjoyable," Luke jokes, causing all of us to crack a smile.

I can't believe it- none of us can. Kai is dead. Kai Parker is actually dead.

"You're the leader now Luke!" Liv exclaims, hugging her twin once again.

"What do we do with the body?" I suddenly ask, staring at Kai's lifeless corpse.

"Well, thankfully I already have a truck parked and loaded, ready to go," Damon says, patting me on the back. "It's some cargo truck travelling to Texas. Figured that was far enough from here. They can deal with the dead body down there." He smiles.

"Wow, you really had this all planned out. And what happened if Kai didn't loose?" I question him.

"Well then I would shove your ass in that truck," he teases, giving me a brotherly kiss on the cheek. Damon rarely shows any obvious affection towards his dear sister. That's how I really know he's happy. We all are.

"I'll help you," I offer, picking up Kai's feet.

Damon grabs his head, the two of us carrying the little twit towards some random truck parked by the side of the road. I have to admit I'm kind of surprised Damon took it into his hands to figure out a disposal plan for Kai's body. I had no idea he was so involved, so confident Luke would win. It makes me happy.

"You compelled the driver right?" I ask as we throw Kai's corpse into the back of the truck.

"Please," Damon scoffs sarcastically. "Do you know me?" he teases, closing the truck doors shut. He taps on the back of the truck, signalling the driver to drive away. "Now he's somebody else's problem." 

I nod and smile, a sudden wave of relief flashing over me again. I can't believe Kai is gone. I feel as though we're free. "Now that that problem is crossed off our list, lets move down to see what's next," I encourage.

"I know Bonnie's still out there-," Damon says, speaking my mind. "But Sheriff Forbes, she's not going to make it another week," Damon says grimly.

"She's that bad?" I ask in shock. All this time I had no idea Caroline was going through this. I'm just thankful Stefan is there for her. Maybe this is all they need to finally conjure up the courage to confess their feelings for one another.

Damon nods. "Caroline needs you." 

I stop, freezing in step. "Me? Why does she need me? Isn't Elena-"

"I know you don't realize it Blair, but people actually like you as hard as that is to believe," he jokes lightly. "I know because I'm the same way. People are able to see past our wit and sardonic humour. I don't know how they put up with us, but they do." He smiles. 

"And Caroline, she needs you, maybe even more than she needs Elena. You're one of her best friends too." He nudges me in the arm.

I smile as I feel tears forming behind my eyes, leaning my head on Damon's shoulder. "How do people put up with us?" I joke, causing him to chuckle.

∆ ∆ ∆

It's morning now, the sun high in the sky. I haven't slept all night and neither has James. Both of us sit in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting for Caroline to show. She left last night before we got there, heading home with Stefan to get some rest.

Sheriff Forbes's heart stopped more than once last night, nearly causing me to cry at the thought she would pass without Caroline at her side. I left Caroline several messages, called Stefan even but their phones were off.

I'm just about to doze off once and for all when suddenly the heart monitor speeds up, the beeping sound increasing in pace. Several doctors run into the room, shouting orders at one another. James and I jump onto our feet, careful not to wake a sleeping Theo who sleeps in the chair beside us. The doctors close the door before we can get any further, allowing us to watch in terror through the sealed glass window.

"What's going on?" Damon asks, rounding the corner with Elena who holds a tray of coffees.

"I don't know, she just stopped breathing again," I answer, giving them a clueless look. Honestly I just want Caroline to show. I don't know if I'll be able to live with myself if her mother dies without her. I will never forget the grief I still feel from my own mother's passing, as I never got to say a proper goodbye. I don't want Caroline to feel the way I felt.

"I'm going to find Caroline." I say, pivoting on my heels and running down the hallway.

"Blair!" James yells after me, forcing me to turn around. "Here," he says, tossing me the keys to his truck. I catch them with ease, sending him an appreciative nod before running down the hallway.

I don't even realize I'm almost running vamp speed when suddenly I collide head on with another person. The only person who could've stopped a running vampire is another vampire.

"Blair?" Stefan raises his brow.

"Stefan!" I exclaim. "Where's Caroline!"

Stefan grabs my shoulders with his steady hands, forcing me to calm down. "She's at the lake house, decorating it for her mom," he says slowly, furrowing his brows at my panicked expression. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Her mom... she's crashing. The doctors don't think it'll be long now," I say quickly, wanting desperately to find Caroline. I watch as Stefan's eyes go wide, fear taking over as we both know what this means. We both know what it's like to lose a mother.

"I'll go get her," Stefan says firmly, going to move past me when suddenly I grab his arm and hold him in place.

"No." I shake my head. "I'll go get her."

"Blair, you are in no state right now to be driving. Let me go," Stefan warns, insisting.

"No I'm fine Stefan." I shake him off, but he doesn't back down.

"When's the last time you slept?" he asks, his brow raised as he awaits to have his point proven.

I open my mouth to answer, ready to prove him wrong when I realize I can't. He's right. No matter how hard I think, I can't conjure up the exact time I last slept, meaning right now I'm running off of nothing but my vampire body, and that in itself is a dangerous thing.

Vampires function like normal humans- they need to eat and sleep- as long as they keep a healthy diet of blood. Because I'm a vampire I've managed to go without sleep for so long, but I know sooner or later it's going to catch up.

"That doesn't matter Stefan!" I exclaim. "Caroline is my friend, and I need to do this for her. I need to be there for her!" I say. "Please Steff, let me do this for me?" I beg, causing his expression to go soft.

"You know I never got to say goodbye to mom. Please let me make sure Caroline gets a chance to say goodbye to hers," I say sincerely, my eyes desperately pleading with him.

I watch as he registers my words, feeling the pain behind my voice. "Okay," he finally says. "Please Blair, be safe." 

"I will." I smile in relief.

"Go get her." He smiles, patting my shoulder just before I take off on a sprint down the hallway and down to the parking lot where James's truck awaits.

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[completed & edited: 10/17/2021]