(CHAPTER SIX :
TWO LONELY SOULS)

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DARKNESS CLOAKED THE SKY, thousands upon thousands of tiny, shining stars twinkling in the oblivion that hovered above my head. Outside, it was far more mesmerising than it could have been inside the mansion. Lingering in the night, I observed as extortionate limousines rolled into the driveway and—with my advanced hearing—listened as harmonious tunes blared from inside. I found it more pleasant from afar, watching was as enjoyable as enduring, in my opinion. Yet, I knew that I would have to go inside promptly. Although I considered not attending at all, I was aware that I wouldn't be able to avoid my old flame in such a small town. By making an appearance at this particular event, the meeting was just happening sooner rather than later.

"Lottie, are you sure about this?" Damon mumbled for the third time. "I may have said some things the other day, but you're like my little sister. If he does anything——" He threatened, but I giggled and placed my hand over his large mouth.

"I'll happily castrate him myself." I finished for my friend, inhaling deeply as I watched the double doors fling open.

Stefan Salvatore gave me a polite nod of reassurance—he had returned to his normal, brooding self now—and then proceeded forward to link arms with Elena Gilbert. She turned back to smile gently at me before accepting his arm. Damon did, very kindly, linger a millisecond longer than the others, but marched forward when he saw the couple, offering Elena his own arm. With a Salvatore on each arm, the brunette continued ahead, looking around in awe. Scoffing, I brushed past the trio and went to mix with the guests.

In search of a familiar face, I eventually located Carol Lockwood, the Mayor. Having limited options in terms of company, I strolled over to the woman, taking the glass of champagne from her hands. "I need this more than you do, Carol." I moaned, downing the bubbly gold liquid in a singular gulp. "You're on the Council, right? How many champagnes do you think it would take to get a vampire drunk?" I interrogated. Tonight, my higher alcohol tolerance was a burden because it would be a true task to confront Kol sober. If I was drunk, I'd be able to blur his irritating voice and beautiful mouth from my mind.

The Mayor plucked another champagne from a passing waiter. "Charlotte——" She didn't even get to time to give any advice before another vampire disturbed her. Flaunting over, Damon was grinning from ear to ear, drawing out 'Hello Carol.'

"Has Elena dropped you already, Damon?" I jeered, intently scanning the mansion for my brunette friend. Nowhere to be seen.

Unimpressed, he puckered his lips. "Mmm, she did." He started, fixating his hard stare on me whilst clinking glasses with Carol out of the corner of his eye. "It could have been worse, it wasn't like she dumped me by a letter or anything." The Salvatore mocked.

"You're right." I said, deadpan. "It could have been worse, she could have abandoned you for your brother just like Kath——Oh, wait." I derided the man, matching his cynical tone. This wasn't abnormal behaviour for the two of us, our friendship involved teasing the other and supporting the other. Sometimes, he could get too personal and then I would simply mimic his lack of boundaries. The mention of Katherine Pierce did tend to leave him quite speechless.

Damon, who had to have the last word, murmured a sentence under his breath, one that even my supernatural senses didn't consider coherent. Perhaps I would have argued with him further if it wasn't for the fact he had engaged himself in an intense conversation with Carol Lockwood. Mainly, I tuned the two of them out. Footsteps—a pair more than there should have been—snatched my attention again and forced me to listen in on the discussion. These footsteps sounded familiar, familiar in the way a childhood lullaby was and that was the exact reason I froze on the spot, becoming rather fascinated by the floor.

"Mayor Lockwood, we haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson." He introduced himself and I could picture him in my mind to this day. I didn't have enough trust in myself to look up, but I imagined he had licked his lips subconsciously when he spoke and I bet his untamed hair dropped in front of his face. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it." Charming as ever, he hadn't changed. Not that he could have, he was locked in a casket, according to Damon.

When my old friend cleared his throat, I peered up for a flash second. The Salvatore was prepared to shake the hand of the Mikaelson, but Kol merely stared at it with such wretched disgust that it was humorous. "Damon Salvatore. Have we met?" He implored, being courteous for the sake of being civil.

Kol ignored the man's open hand. "I've met a lot of people and you don't particularly stand out." He ridiculed, treating the younger Vampire with contempt. 

Unintentionally, a vibrant burst of laughter erupted from my mouth. He never did learn. Even after being daggered, he didn't know when to hold his own tongue.

"Glad to see I can still make you laugh." Kol commented, a genuine smile accompanying it. In itself, that was an accomplishment. Smirks and grins could often be found on his features, but the blinding, boisterous smile he wore in that moment had thought to have been missing since he lost his magic during transition. "And I do hope you will save me a dance." He added cheekily.

After all these years, he still made my heart go haywire. Sparks shot from it. Flames engulfed it. He knew how to destroy and I craved his destruction. Although I would refuse to let him hear it until I was frail and on my death bed, I loved him still.

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PORTLAND, OREGON [1908]

"I think per——" I started to say before deciding against mentioning it. As he expertly twirled me across the ballroom floor, he was radiating with happiness and glowing with exuberance. Not even I often witnessed Kol that complacent, I could not find it myself to ruin his high spirits by admitting I was second guessing running away with him.

"You can tell me anything, darling." He noted, his lips curving up when I blushed that he had caught on I intended to speak.

Flushed, I shook my head. "It was nothing of importance." I insisted, staring at my feet as I tried to follow the difficult dance steps. Only did I glance up when I felt that Kol had settled his burning gaze on me. "Fine, I do not think that running away is smart. I want to do it, believe me, but if Mother finds me, she will hurt us both greatly. To have you in danger is not what I want." I confessed, a sigh escaping my lips as I realised how silly I likely sounded. In truth, I was afraid. Afraid of Mother finding us, afraid of losing him.

When his dark, swirling eyes connected with my wide, pleading ones, ruptures of electricity got fired through every atom in my body. "She would never be able to hurt me." Kol reminded me, moving his gentle hand from around my waist to caress my cheek. "I will always protect you, Charlotte and I would love nothing more than to show that there is more than this provincial life." He promised, pushing my figure outwards before spinning me in, our lips of close proximity. "Your family gets you in such a state and I know how it can be when you do not fit in with family, that is why I am giving you this opportunity. Freedom is waiting for you—for us." His stormy eyes softened, lightening into the shade of brown Autumn leaves.

"Do you think it is fate?" I inquired as he interlocked our hands, leading me away from the populous ballroom floor. "I mean, all we both are is two lonely souls." I contributed, full well knowing about his past, how he was neglected by the rest of his family unless it was convenient for them. And he knew about my life too, how I struggled to be the perfect daughter and could never impress my demanding parents.

"I suppose so." His lips edged into his signature smirk. "And if it is fate, who are you to defy it by leaving me to flee Portland on my own?" Kol challenged, his manipulative streak glinting under the shining lights of the extravagant venue. "If you really believe we are meant to be, meet me after sunrise at the train station. Six a.m tomorrow." He told me, kissing my hand before fading away into the crowd of people.

One minute, he was mine. And the next, he had gone.

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Mindlessly, I lurked on the outskirts for a majority of the evening. Everybody around me had other priorities and were concerned with something else—or somebody else, in most cases. During events like these, most of my friends were entertained by other means, leaving me alone. Sometimes I didn't mind the isolation, it provided me with valuable thinking time, of which I required lately.

"All we both are is two lonely souls." Kol Mikaelson mused, revealing himself from a shadow-filled corner of the estate. "Aren't we, darling?" He wanted to provoke a reply from me after having not heard my melodic voice in over a century.

Shifting around the room, my eyes found their way to meet every pair apart from his coffee ones. Dark as black coffee, his penetrating gaze would have easily made my armour rust and castle walls around my stone heart crumble. I couldn't look at him after one hundred and three years of rebuilding myself to be tough, resilient and above all, heartless. After him, I had vowed away from love—even if I didn't know it was him who caused this change at the time.

"Don't be rude now, look at me." He commanded, using the tip of his pointer finger to ease my chin upwards. Immediately, it was midnight blue on black coffee and black coffee on midnight blue. And when the two combined, they became a black hole.

Sweaty palms, rapid beating heart. He was leaning in because he knew, he knew the effect that he had on me. Droplets of water chased each other down my forehead, my skin beccominh translucent under the bright lights of the party. I was leaning in because I knew, I knew the effect I had on him. Taught atmosphere, thick with tension, only the space between us defining the future of our relationship. "I would suggest adapting to it, Kol." I made the first move, deciding that I would never again be the naive fool I was as a human. "You're a stranger to me now that I stopped caring about you, get used to me ignoring you." I prompted, satisfied by how I made him squirm.

Ending it there, I denied letting him utter another syllable before I spun on my heel and paraded away. If he wasn't expected on the central staircase, alongside his family, I was positive he would have chased after me—for that was his favourite part of the game. And if I wasn't proving to him that I had changed, I would have left whilst his family was introducing the dancing portion of the ball. However, in order to prove that I was unbothered by him, I had to stay and keep up my cold act. But, I couldn't deny that the flame in my heart that still burned for him was warming my frigid soul. With him, that was the issue—it was never butterflies, it was always fire.

"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom." Elijah boomed, his voice stretching throughout the entire room, successfully catching the attention of each and every guest.

Amongst the bland, passing faces, I failed to spot Matt Donovan, of who I had hoped to partner with. Next, I searched for Stefan or Damon, knowing that only one of them would be able to dance with Elena. Again, to no avail. When I turned around, slightly deflated because dancing was a fond pastime of mine, I bumped chests with Kol. I would have been lying if I said I was shocked because he was like the common cold, once I got rid of him, he would find his way back again.

"You may be rude, but you aren't ignorant enough to deny me a dance." Kol extended his arm. To reject him in front of all these watchful eyes would have been shameful and he was aware of that. Tactical, indeed.

I accepted his arm. "Your strategies may be smart, but you certainly aren't. Ignorant and rude are synonyms." I stated, entering the dance floor with him. It reminded me of the ball we attended back in Portland, it was even the same waltz and my heart was even doing the same erratic thumping it used to do around him. At least when I didn't have my memories, I had more control over my body. These human reactions and animal instincts were a volatile combination when I was trying to disregard my past emotions the man.

As Give Me Love played in the background and we danced all the same steps we used to, he smirked after a sweet silence had blanketed us. "You're different." He mumbled, using the hand that wasn't holding my swaying body to brush a strand of my blonde hair away from face. "Wittier. Sharper. Fiercer. It's a good different, but what changed?" He wondered. Ridiculously, he had only loved a handful of times and this time it was more instantaneous than before. Our connection was deeply-rooted still, but he was right, I was a changed girl. It was, for him, falling in love again with a new girl.

"You a lit a fire in my heart." I answered honestly. "And you left it to burn."

Kol swallowed, pulling at the collar of his white dress shirt, rather heated. "I won't apologise for what happened, Charlotte. It wasn't my fault." He remarked, unsure of what I expected from him. "I'm here now, you're here now and that should be enough. Instead, we're wasting time, starting over from scratch and I'm here trying to not think about ripping that dress off of your body." He raised his voice slightly, enough for the heads of all the vampires in the room to peek towards the two of us. "Hell, let's try again tonight. Run away with me." The Original lowered his voice this time, particularly not wanting the likes of any of his family to overhear his suggestion.

"You don't understand." I shook my head in disapproval. "I don't want an apology or for you to rip my clothes off or to run away from here, I want you to love me." I elaborated. "You never once said you loved me back in Portland, you know."

"I didn't think I had to."

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A.N: I liked this ending far more than the one before I edited it, I think. Kol and Lottie are going to be a slow burn, they will argue and disagree and have heated moments, but they don't know how to express their love. Kol always knew he loved her and still does, but he isn't the kind of person who says that.

Who's your favourite couple on the show?