I'll never love again [1]

OUR TOWN

Nat was holding the punching bag and looking blankly at the wall behind Elena. They were in Ric's apartment training for the day before school started. Nat had been distracted since they left the house, various thoughts swarming her mind. She had been thinking about Jeremy leaving to Denver and how much she would miss him. She was still sad about it, but knew it was for the best. It wasn't safe for him to be in Mystic Falls. Frankly, it wasn't safe for anyone, but Elena couldn't run, and Nat wouldn't leave her behind.

She was also thinking about her memories. The past few days she had been dreaming about her two previous lives. She remembered more of her time with Katherine and her life in the 15th century, and her life with the Originals. She had dreams where the siblings, as well as Esther and Mikael, made appearances. Nat knew there was still a long way to go till she remembered every single detail of her lives, but she could already feel the curse having some type of effect on her sanity and wellbeing.

"Are you okay?"

She whipped her head back to her sister and her eyes widened. For a second she thought Tatia was in front of her, but as soon as that thought entered her mind, it left. It was Elena.

"Yeah." She said dismissively and nodded at the punching bag, motioning for Elena to keep it up. Her sister took a deep breath and started punching and kicking again. Suddenly, Elena kicked the punching bag really hard, making Nat stumble back a bit. Coincidentally, Alaric entered the room in that moment.

"Hey, you're gonna put a hole in that thing!" He exclaimed at Elena. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked her, but she shook her head, walking over to the punching bag and nodding at Nat, gesturing for her to practice now.

"Nothing to talk about." She said nonchalantly as Nat raised her arms and started punching the bag hard. This was good, she thought. It was the best way to get rid of the frustration and stress that was eating her alive.

"So, what's got you all worked up?" Ric asked Elena as he crossed his arms and stared at Nat as she kicked the punching bag.

"I didn't really sleep last night." Elena said curtly.

"Yeah, me neither. Probably something to do with dying..." He said airily. Nat stopped kicking and frowned at him.

"Are you okay?" She said as she went to the counter to drink some water and let Elena do the punching now. She took the gloves off and grabbed her bottle, chugging the last bit of water left.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. I think the ring, however, is running low on batteries." He joked and Nat and Elena exchanged glances.

"Yeah, that's another reason why Jeremy has to get out of town. If those rings have a shelf life, he is not protected." Elena told him as she gave a hard kick.

"Neither are you." Nat added from the side. Elena suddenly punched the bag with all the strength she could muster, surprising Ric and Nat.

"Nice, nice. You're getting stronger." He complimented. "Both of you."

"I'm just channeling frustration." Elena told him before turning around and taking the gloves off. "I need coffee." She walked over to the counter and started making some coffee for her and Nat.

"Seems Damon's compulsion worked." Ric said out loud. Nat noticed Elena stiffened at the mention of the vampire and looked at her suspiciously. "Jeremy was packing when I left the house, going on about this new school in Denver." Nat turned to him with a cup of coffee and smiled softly.

"Have you talked to Damon today?" Elena asked, still with her back turned.

"No. Why?" Ric said, narrowing his eyes at her.