napalm skies <<>> kol mikaelson

17

"may the storm wash away all that i remember, let it clean the memories like photographs in a fire."

17 | GLORIA'S

June, 2010

Charlotte was nursing probably the worst hangover she'd had in decades, and Stefan couldn't help but poke fun.

"You doin' alright?" he teased, and she flipped him off. He laughed, and she fought the urge to throw up as the sunlight streamed through the motel window. Her entire body was struggling against the nausea, and the dip in the bed when Stefan sat next to her didn't help. It felt like she was on a ship out at sea, and she hated it.

"I feel like my skin is going to crawl inside of me," Charlotte whined, her forearm thrown over her eyes. She felt like a mess, and she wouldn't be surprised if the mascara from last night was now covering half of her face. She couldn't even remember getting into bed, so it wasn't a surprise that she would've passed out before doing anything for her skin. She thanked vampirism immensely for stopping the acne in its tracks.

Stefan chuckled above her, and she felt his hand on her back, rubbing small circles to try and ease her discomfort. It was something he used to do when they were kids, and Charlotte smiled underneath her arm. "That's what you get for drinking that bar dry," he told her, but he spoke kindly, as if he would've done the same in her shoes. She peeked out from behind her arm to look at him, ocean meeting forest, and he tilted his head at her gaze. "I'm assuming you won't be joining us then."

"Absolutely not," Klaus spoke up from the threshold of the motel room, leaning against it with a wry expression on his face. Charlotte didn't hesitate to flip him off too, and he chuckled just the same as Stefan did. "She'd only slow us down."

"Screw you," Charlotte said, but she didn't deny that she probably would slow them down. She could barely move her toes without causing a stir in her stomach. It'd be better if she stayed here while Nik went off to make his hybrid army. She'd actually prefer getting left behind this time.

"Do you need anything before we leave?" Stefan asked, clearly also on board with leaving her there to recover for the day. She sighed, removing her arm from her face completely and blinking at the sudden light.

"Maybe a snack?" she asked with a small pout, but her heart sank when Stefan's face changed. He didn't want her to bite into anyone, but he couldn't voice his thoughts with Klaus watching the entire thing with that ever-infuriating smirk on his face.

Luckily, Klaus had already planned ahead. "The cleaning ladies will stop by in exactly an hour," he explained, and Stefan looked at him, his jaw clenching. But Klaus wasn't deterred, staring at Charlotte with a bit of mischief in his eyes. "You can have one of them if you'd like."

Charlotte hummed, nodding as her eyes closed again. She was so tired it was almost funny.

"Well, now that Charlotte's all settled," Nik began overly excited, but when his eyes fell on Stefan, he raised an expectant eyebrow and Charlotte blinked at him, wondering what he was insinuating. "We best get going."

She reminded herself about Ray's dead body last night, and she figured that they must be going after the rest of his pack today. Stefan looked to her worriedly, but she just waved him off. "I'll be fine," she told him, and he nodded, slowly standing up from the disheveled bed.

Stefan walked past Nik, who stayed where he was, staring at Charlotte. She raised her eyebrows, daring him to say what was on his mind. He only ducked his head, grabbing onto the door handle. "Don't go anywhere," he told her, and she rolled her eyes.

Despite having already closed the door, she knew he could hear what she said next. "We're in the middle of nowhere, Nik! Where would I go?"

She heard him laugh from outside, and she shook her head ruefully. Deciding that she needed some more sleep, she didn't hesitate to roll over and close her eyes, slipping back into her dreamless bliss without any trouble.