(CHAPTER SEVEN :
SIX MINUTES)

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DEPLORABLY, THE WALLS I'D built out of the broken shards of my heart already began to crumble after two conversations with Kol Mikaelson. I never intended to be weak—it just happened. It was difficult to remain strong when we had an unforgettable love. Trust me, even when I didn't have my memories, snippets of my past haunted me. Our love was an all-consuming whirlwind that exhausted every fibre of my being day in and day out. Due to that, it was easy to find my barriers cracking when the romance had always been second nature to me. Until I programmed myself to no longer love the man, I had to be particularly careful around the stubborn vampire.

"Kol," I mumbled, untangling our looped arms as I created distance between us. "Kol. I agreed to one dance and it's over now. Six minutes of you was plenty for me." I informed me, perhaps a little too snarky. Naturally, I wanted him to understand that I wasn't prepared to enter a relationship with him after how we left things. But, I immediately regretted choosing to use snide remarks to deliver my message after I noticed how the Original's genuine smile twisted into a smirk. Although that was never my goal, I hurt him. Not being one to love often, rejection stung all the more for him.

"If I knew I was being timed, I wouldn't have chosen to dance. I think the two of us could have done something a lot more productive in six minutes." He snipped back, his voice sharp and clipped when he raised a suggestive eyebrow in my direction.

Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I shoved the man out of my way. His obnoxious attitude certainly made it all that easier to be leave him lonely on the dance floor. All my previous feelings of sympathy dissolved into the air at once. To think I almost let my guard down again. Constantly, I had to remind myself that this was the same person that had left me a shadow of my former self a century ago. As a consequence of his puzzling break up letter, I lost myself that day and it took all this time for me to become comfortable with new—and not so improved—version of Charlotte Hatton. I couldn't let him take who I currently was away from me too.

Kol blew out his cheeks, agitated that I marched away from him. "Oh, come on now, darling——" He pleaded, but I had already gone.

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Excruciating. It was excruciating to watch the traditional clock that hung above my head tick tick tick. Forty more minutes, I promised myself. In forty minutes, it would be a reasonable time to return home and none of my friends would interrogate me on my departure then. Until then, I had to find some form of entertainment. Disappointingly, my options for amusement were rather slim. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I couldn't help but find myself swarming near Kol—of who was in a deep conversation with his sister, Rebekah.

"You've changed, Bekah." I heard him mention, tutting in disapproval. "You know, settling for mortals is the first sign of weakness." Kol prodded, desperate to provoke his ever dramatic sister. Perhaps he was bored too, but, in that moment, his boredom didn't concern me in the least. Initially, I was lingering near him to practice the art of ignoring him. Of course that failed, his words triggering violent impulses inside me. How dare he.

Unable to bite my tongue, my emotions spiralled out of control after listening to the conversation between the siblings. "Was that what you did with me, Kol? Settle. I was a human when we first met." I raged, charging towards the pair, slotting myself in front of the blonde girl. "I wanted to give you a chance, you know. It might not have seemed like it, but I danced with you and engaged in conversation with you because my heart told me to. All night my heart and head have been battling out to avoid you, to not avoid you and it is confusing for me. And now I have no clue what to do because——" I rambled, hating powerless I had been all night, switching between hot and cold. One minute I was dancing with him happily then I'm offending him and then I'm on the verge of a breakdown after hearing he merely settled for me.

Kol's head whipped back and forth, attempting to follow all my wild hand gestures. "Have you been eavesdropping, Charlotte?" He spluttered—not with shock, with delight. From his bellowing laughter, I knew that he was satisfied that, regardless of what I had said, I was not over him.

"No!" I exclaimed, defensively crossing my arms over my chest. "I have vampire hearing, asshole." I spat. Maybe I was eavesdropping, but it would have been shameful for me to admit to it.

Clicking his tongue, the man shook his head slowly. "And if we went by that logic, you would be hearing every conversation in this room right now." He was confident, not believing the poor excuse of mine. "You do care or else you wouldn't have been listening in." He accused, pointing a finger in my direction.

"No, I don't care." I corrected, mocking his self-assured tone. "I stopped a century ago after being abandoned at the train station, stuck with a mediocre excuse and cowardly letter." I snarled in response. Like I said, I wanted to give him a chance—something he now blew—and that was not the same as caring.

Embers turned to flames, engulfing his eyes as he abruptly shot his hand forward, clamping it around my wrist. "What letter?" Between gritted teeth, he seethed.

As a younger vampire, I was far weaker than him and therefore failed to pry his iron-tight grip away. "You're hurting me." I winced, causing him to immediately unlatch his hand from my wrist. Ceasing the opportunity, I zoomed outside whilst a rather vexed Original stormed in the opposite direction.

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Disorientated, I placed my hand on the side of a wall, never had I fled a situation that quick before. Taking small, shallow breaths, I attempted to register everything that just happened. 'What letter?' I scoffed as the words played back, stalking ahead to return home. All I wanted was to relax in my cosy apartment, but it couldn't ever be that simple. Echoing through the night, a loud noise halted me.

Crack.

Familiar with the sound, I knew it was a bone, it was a distinct. Then, yelling erupted promptly after. Before I could comprehend what it was about, Matt Donovan screamed and the sarcastic voice of Damon entered range. Curious, I looked up, watching as the vampire carelessly tossed a body over the balcony.

From above, Damon spotted me. "Snap his neck, Lottie." He commanded, watching as the man was rising from the ground. "Quick!" He urged again.

Complying with orders, I ran towards the man—who had the back of his head to me—and rushed to break his neck. In a twist of events, the man turned around, revealing himself to be Kol. At a lost for words, I hesitated and that provided him with the much needed upper hand. Without missing a beat, his hands were clasped around my neck, jerking it to the left hand side.

"Sorry, darling." Kol shrugged, stepping over my body. "My hands just slipped."

"Sorry, darling." Damon Salvatore mimicked, arriving behind Kol after witnessing him attack me. "My hands just slipped." He barked, jolting his neck to the left hand side, leaving the body to land on top of mine.

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PORTLAND, OREGON [1908]

Abruptly, Kol jolted upward. Inwardly, I gasped, the sudden movement leaving me flustered. When his body hurled forward, I observed with interest as his stone face began to tint to peach again and his rigid body twitched with movement for the first time. I was amazed, never had I witnessed anything like it.

"Where is my bastard of a brother?" He said immediately—of all the first words he could have uttered, he chose that composition. However, an eeriness accompanied the words with his level tone filling me suspicion. It was unusual of him to be calm, especially after his brother, effectively, killed him.

"He walked out after he snapped your neck, I think." I answered, only vaguely remembering spotting a shadowy figure leaving the area when I arrived. I could only assume this man was his 'bastard of a brother' since I had yet to meet any of his family, in spite of his promises I would. Dysfunctional or not, I wanted to know every aspect of Kol Mikaelson's life.

Rapidly, his nostrils began to flare, increasing as his anger brewed. "What do you mean you think?" He questioned lowly, his voice dangerous and spiked with menace. "What do you mean you think?" Kol repeated, this time thundering, screaming like a banshee when he yanked me from my sitting position by the neck. Blinded by rage, he clenched his hand in around my neck, throwing my breakable human body against the wall. From the deafening crack, I predicted the wall was caving in from the force used.

"I—I—I can't bre——" With my oxygen supply being cut off, I struggled to form words. Like a rag doll, my head fell limp when he suddenly dropped me. Fear danced in my saucer-wide eyes, too afraid to move. Never had I saw Kol in such hysterics.

"Darling," he soothed, all negative emotions draining from him after he realised what he had done. "Nik infuriates me, you understand that, don't you? I did not intend to hurt you, it is so easy to forget how fragile you are." Kol justified. It was not the apology I craved, but he never did apologise—he was always one for excuses.

"No, Kol." I whispered, my knees shaking as I rose from the ground. All the adrenaline from the near death experience made it seem completely surreal, but my uneven, rapid breathing assured me it was rather real. "You could have killed me, I thought you were going to kill me. I would like to have space for a few days, please. To think us over." I explained shakily, hobbling towards the exit, incredibly sore. After seeing such an aggressive side to him, I needed to reevaluate my safety. When I learnt he was dangerous, I decided to stand by him, but I thought his love would be my armour from that side of him. Apparently not.

Combing his fingers through his hair, Kol had to make a split second decision. "You can't leave." He shouted, darting in front of the door to prevent me from leaving. "I need you too much, I'm sorry, Charlotte." He kissed my forehead as I glared up to him, dazed and confused by what he meant. "You are going to forget that I hurt you, I just woke up and you have been waiting for me." He compelled slowly.

Blink. Kol had finally woken up after I discovered him unconscious on the ground. Must have been his bastard of a brother.

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A.N: This chapter was a little later but I wrote it three times, each time ending differently or having Lottie in a different place. It was also a very complicated chapter because Lottie is struggling to choose between her head and heart.

What's your favourite TVD episode? Personally, mine is Dangerous Liaisons—aka, this one.