Forever

Slumber party

I stepped into the kitchen, bag slung over my shoulder.

Elijah sat at the table, reading the newspaper while Finn stood at the stove, a determined expression on his face.

"What are you trying to do?" I plopped down on one of the stools.

"These modern contraptions. I just wanted some eggs." Finn poked at the smooth black surface of the appliance like it was going to hurt him.

"Aren't you missing a pan and the eggs?" I set my chin on my palm.

"I'll get them when I figure this out."

"Do you need some help?"

"Let him do it." Elijah flipped one the page. "Where are you going?"

"Didn't Klaus tell you? I've got a girl's night with Caroline, Bonnie, and Elena. Don't worry, I'll be back in the morning." The sun would be setting soon.

"I don't like the idea of you being so vulnerable." He folded the paper, setting it neatly on the wooden table. "Not with your history."

"Yeah well I don't like the idea of the three of you stalking me while I'm trying to have one normal night with my sister and our friends."

"Poor choice in friends if they can't protect you like they do the doppelgänger." Klaus sauntered in, a sketchbook in hand.

"You were eavesdropping and if you'd show me how to use my vampire powers, maybe I could protect myself."

"Be that as it may, it still doesn't resolve the present issue." Elijah adjusted in his seat, undoing one of his suit jacket buttons.

"Yeah well it kills the purpose of girls night if one of you comes along." Thank god Rebekah wasn't here. "I'll be fine for one night, and I'll be in a house that none of the hybrids have been in so there's that."

It wouldn't keep the woman from the woods out but at least her lackeys couldn't get in.

"Take Finn." Elijah nodded toward his older brother.

"Counter offer, what if one of you drops me off, I promise not to leave, and then one of you can pick me up in the morning? Would that make you feel better?"

Why was this so difficult to negotiate?

"Let her go Elijah. She's confident she can take care of herself." Klaus sat on the opposing chair at the head of the table. "She doesn't need us."

"I'll be okay." I grabbed my bag. "I'll be careful and I'll even text you hourly updates bar when I'm asleep."

Elijah's jaw worked. "Fine."

...

"Wait wait, so you have to send hourly updates?" Caroline was painting her nails on her bed.

"Every half hour actually." I'd been double checking the time almost obsessively since I got here. I had no doubt that Elijah would be on Caroline's doorstep if I was even a little late. "It was the only way they'd let me go by myself."

"Tell me about them, like I know scary Klaus and 'you have my word' Elijah but what are they like?" Caroline passed the nail polish to Elena.

"What do you want to know?"

"Why are we talking about the Originals like they haven't tried to kill us multiple times?" Bonnie had stopped in her efforts to select a movie to watch.

"I'm just trying to lighten the mood.."

Fair point. "It's okay Care. In the physical world I've spent the most time with Klaus actually. He's surprisingly gentle when he wants to be and he loves art. He has a sketchbook on him near constantly." When he's not plotting. "Then there's Kol who's been in my dreams since my seventeenth birthday. It was weird at first but after a while, I kind of got used to seeing him every night."

"How come you never told us about him?" Elena picked at her pajama bottoms.

"We had bigger fish to fry and I didn't think he was real. Then Elijah came and suddenly he was." It'd all happened so fast. "And Kol kept warning me about not telling anyone that's supernatural."

"Yeah what was up with that?" Caroline made herself comfortable as her nails dried.

"Apparently since Kol and I are 'unbonded', if one of us dies, the person that killed us gets a soulmate or something, he wasn't exactly clear on the consequences." I wrapped my arms around my knees. "It's really complicated soulmate stuff."

Elena took a breath. "Well tell us about Kol. He's gonna be part of our family too right?"

"From what I could gather, Kol and I are practically bound forever, so yeah. At least that's what the Mikaelsons have been acting like."

Caroline set her chin on her palm. "How do you feel about him though?"

"I don't know, honestly. In the dream world, he acted so different, and Klaus and Elijah kept talking about how crazy he was. Now he's on a murder binge with no end in sight." And he left me. "I haven't had a dream since he woke up though."

"Stefan was telling me about the Mikaelson rumors." Elena leaned back on her hands. "Everyone in the supernatural community fears them."

"Can confirm that they're all freaking terrifying." The things I'd seen Klaus do... "But they're not all bad. Like the eldest, Finn, absolutely useless when it comes to anything even remotely modern. Elijah loves reading and Kol has a secret passion for music."

"And they all have a love of murder."

"Bonnie!" Caroline hissed. "We agreed we weren't going to bash them."

Ah, I see.

"I'm not going to pretend they're this nice family that Drew's getting into, like they haven't done the things they've done. Jenna's dead, Ric disappeared to who knows where, and you three are sitting around talking about them like they're not killers." Bonnie ranted.

"It's not like I have a choice." If I did, I don't think I would've ever picked Kol. Maybe wouldn't have even become a vampire either. "They are my family whether I like it or not."

They'd all made that quite clear.

"What do you mean?" Elena leaned forward.

"I mean that there's been a lot behind closed doors to protect all of you. I've risked their anger at almost every turn. Which, Ric is fine by the way, just hidden and I'm working on getting him released." I was taking a huge risk right now to help the hybrids. "And if they weren't so obsessed with the idea of family, I'd probably be dead already. Do you know how many times I've pissed Klaus off, or Elijah."

And then I have to get back in their good graces.

Seems my latest kidnapping helped with Elijah's mood.

It was silent.

"So... Mean Girls?" Caroline clicked on the movie.