❝  i'll never give up hope  ❞

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Landon Kirby sits in his bedroom at the Salvatore School, plucking at his guitar strings as classmates leave for the summer. He hummed a note, his voice shaky and pitchy. "I think we need to get you a vocal coach,"

The teenage boy perks his head up to see Katherine Valentine, who wore a tight short skirt and a white blouse. Gulping, Landon places his guitar down. "Hey," He stutters, looking at the girl as she leans against the door frame. "I thought you'd go to New Orleans or something,"

Katherine chuckles, walking into the room. "Sorry, but now that I'm the new Teachers Assistant , Intern, Counselor, and still taking a few classes, I kinda have no choice but to stick around. For the new enrollments, and stuff." Katherine looks around the room, looking at the boxes of Rafael's things. "So, I'm guessing we're keeping these packed up until we figure out why the hell Raf can't turn back?" Katherine turns her head, glancing at the Phoenix.

"Uh, yeah," Landon mutters, standing up to close one of the boxes. "I don't know what to do with them until then, so." Katherine hums, nodding slowly as she turns her head to look at the room entirely. Landon couldn't help but remember the way he felt about the Valentine his first day. He was completely terrified of her, but he remembers being intrigued by her presence, similar to now. "So, are you still a vampire?" He asks, knowing that something strange was up with the girl.

Katherine purses her lips, looking at him before the ground. "I don't know." She mumbles. Katherine sits on what was once Rafael's bed, resting her hands in her lap. Landon furrows his brow, sitting down next to the Valentine. "I mean, I have the strength, I heal, I have the speed. But I don't burn in the sun, and I have magic again. I can eat real food, and I only need blood every week or two." She chuckles, looking at Landon. "I'm, something in between, I guess." She can't help but smile at the idea.

Landon nods, "Well, welcome to the club of Other supernaturals, then. Population of 2." The two bust out into giggles, both of them feeling relief for a moment. Landon looks down, remembering the feeling of, dare he say it, love. He felt weird, like he didn't know who he felt that feeling for. It wasn't a family like love, like he had for Raf. It was romantic, and insanely intense, at that. As he looks at Katherine, he realizes maybe it was Katherine he felt that feeling for, and she's had no idea this entire time.

"So, Josie's staying in Mystic Falls," Katherine says, leaning over.

"Yeah?" Landon quirks a brow, "She needs a break from Lizzie." Katherine scoffs, nodding in agreement. "Are you two-?"

Katherine raises a brow, "Me and Josie?" Landon nods slowly, causing her to laugh. "Sorry, I don't think she and I could move past everything that happened." Katherine's smile falters for just a moment, and Landon realizes that there was something more going on with Katherine. She had gone through a lot in the last year. Her mom, the revelation of monsters, dying. He watched as she looked down at her shoes, fiddling with her fingers.

Slowly, Landon takes her hand, drawing her focus back to him. "Everything's going to be okay, you know that right? Malivore's gone." Katherine doesn't say anything as she looks away. "We somehow stopped Malivore. No more monsters. No more curse. No more Triad. It's just us. Normal magical teenagers." Katherine giggles softly, causing Landon to smile. "As normal as we can be."

"Well, and considering I'm technically 35-"

"Don't make this weirder than it needs to be." Katherine laughs at him, the two knowing she was now, technically, 17 again. That was one thing that impacted their group immensely, was the fact that she had the possible ability of aging. It was unclear if she could, but Katherine was excited to find out.

She looks down, thinking for just a moment. "How would you like coming with me to the Mystic Grill? I need to meet up with Jeremy Gilbert."

Landon's eyes light up at the invitation. "Like, yeah! Sure!"

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Summer began to pass, Katherine spending most of her time either with Landon or with Dorian. Today, Alaric had visited, needing some equipment from the school. "So how is the headmaster search going?" Asked Dr. Saltzman.

"Caroline's narrowing it down, until then Katherine and I have been preparing everything." The vampire gives a wave to her friend.

Alaric stands up, holding a box. "I really appreciate you loaning me this stuff. I'm headed to Georgia tomorrow. I'm gonna do another round of forensic testing on the Malivore pit." He explains to them. "If I learn anything new, I'll let you know." Dorian seems to almost ignore Alaric, causing the former headmaster to sigh. "I know I may have gotten heated over the vote."

"You did." Dorian replied.

"Yeah, okay, I probably overreacted."

"You may have."

Alaric shrugs, "Well, I just wasn't expecting that you'd keep your vote a secret." He retorts.

Katherine rolls her eyes, bored of the conversation. "It was a secret ballot, Ric." She pointed out.

"Yeah. Of course. But between him, Josie, Kaleb and Jed voting, I'm still wondering how three to one happened." Alaric says, chuckling as he looks back at Dorian. "Yeah, I just assumed I could count on your vote like I could have Katherine's."

Dorian gestures to the box. "Good luck, Ric. I really hope you find what you're looking for."

Katherine, who was wearing a yellow summer dress with short sleeves, sighs. "I'll help you." She mumbles.

The two end up at Alaric's truck. "Now that Matt's becoming mayor, do you think he's gonna keep up your guys's deal?" Alaric asks the Valentine.

"Well, now that I only feed every few weeks, I don't think he'll mind." The girl hums, shutting the car door shut.

Landon walks over, "Dr. Saltzman. Long time no see." The Saltzman and Katherine look at the large plate of raw meat.

"I see Raf is eating better than I am." Alaric jokes.

"Yeah, well, you get stuck in permanent wolf form, and you, too, can hit the all-you-can-eat meat buffet."

Alaric nods. "Yeah. Any luck finding a spell to turn him back?" He asks the Phoenix.

Landon purses his lips, when Katherine scoots next to him. "We're working on it." She answers, placing a hand on Landon's back. "Any luck figuring out why we can't remember destroying the Malivore pit?" She asks.

"I'm working on it." Alaric replies. He sighed, "Everything else good?"

"Totally." Landon says, lifting the plate. "Here's to success."

Katherine places a hand on Landon's shoulder. "I'll help you with Raf in a minute, I want to go change my shoes." She says before walking away.

Landon watches the vampire turned witch, before looking at Alaric. "Dr. Saltzman, you've known Katherine a long time, right?"

Alaric shrugs, "Since before you were born, yeah." He says, putting his hands on his hips. "Why?" Landon sighs, placing the plate of meat on the ground, figuring he can leave it there until Katherine comes back.

"Has she ever liked guys like, well, like me?" Landon asks, furrowing his brows. Alaric rose a shocked brow, not expecting the question.

"Landon, are you trying to tell me that you have a crush on Katherine?" Alaric asks, amused by the situation.

The Kirby's eyes widen. "No! No, I was just, uh,"

Alaric chuckles. "Landon, if she likes you, she'll let you know, and she'll let you know quickly." He tells him, climbing into his car. Landon watches Alaric drive off as Katherine comes back.

"You ready?" She asks, smiling wide. Landon nods, the two walking down the path

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

July had came almost too quickly. Katherine walked down Mystic Falls square on Fourth of July, wearing a denim romper. "Kat! Come sit." Alaric says, gesturing to the seat across from him, next to Landon. Katherines eyes flicker to Josie Saltzman, who sinks in her seat.

Unbothered, Katherine sits next to Landon, who almost instantly reached his arm across the back of her chair. "I've had my head buried in books for weeks, nothing on how to turn a wolf back into a human. I keep hitting dead end after dead end." Landon explains to the Saltzmans.

"Join the club." Josie retorts, earning a shout of disagreement from Alaric. "Katherine, can you ask my dad why he won't give me answers to my very simple questions on how my sister and I can survive past the age of 22?" She asks the Valentine, now knowing Katherine must know something.

The dark haired girl shrugged, clasping her hands together. "Maybe your dad doesn't have any answers he's able to give you." She says, bored.

Alaric hums, "That's why, sweetheart." He retorts to Josie.

"Able to or willing?"

"Look, there is nothing about the Ascendant you need to know." Alaric says.

Josie raises a brow. "Then why do you flinch every time I bring it up?" She asks. Katherine scoffs, everyone looking at her.

"Because it has nothing to do with the Merge, Josette, so stop getting your panties in a twist about something unrelated to you." Katherine bellows. Landon's eyes widen as he listens to the girl. The only thing he could think of was how attractive she was when she was angry. Katherine patted the table, "I'm gonna head back to campus."

Landon cleared his throat, "Me too." He utters, standing up.

"Whoa, what about the fireworks?" Alaric asks.

"Oh, I'm worried they might scare Raf. You know, I don't want him to be alone."

"I'll come with you." Blurts Josie, standing up as she looks at her dad. "I'm suddenly not in the mood to celebrate anything, much less independence."

The truth was though, that Landon and Katherine weren't just making sure Rafael was okay. That night Katherine sat on the dock, her feet dangling over the edge as Landon stood next to her, his body tied to a cement block. "Do you think this time you could get a name from her?" She inquired, sending Landon a sarcastic smile.

Landon sighs. "It's not how it works. I just see parts." He tells her. Katherine happened to be the only person who knew about the visions he saw when he died, and both of them wanted to know who she was, and why he saw her.

"I'll see you when you come back." Katherine says, her voice softer. Landon nods, jumping into the lake. Katherine watched, just like every time he did this, as the lake set aflame. For a moment, she worries he won't come back, which causes her anxiety to rise. She watched with admiration as Landon resurrected, his head coming out from under the water. She stood up as Landon swam over. Gripping his hand, Katherine pulled the Kirby to the dock, letting him fall into her arms. "I swear, you get hotter every time." She says in his ear, causing Landon's heart to race.

Landon looks over her shoulder, tensing up when he saw Josie standing behind them. "I changed my mind about the fireworks."

Katherine rolls her eyes. "It's not a big deal, Josie." She snaps.

"Who do you think you're talking to? My sister is the queen of self-harm. I know it when I see it."

Landon shrugs. "I'm not harming myself because I can't be harmed."

Josie scoffs. "That's the point. Where, in any of your phoenix research, does it say that the number of times that you can resurrect is infinite?"

"Where does it say it isn't?" Landon asks.

"Hurting yourself doesn't make anything better. It never does." Josie argues.

Katherine looks over. "You're right, Jo. Maybe we should focus on other people's problems instead of our own."

"That's not what I'm doing.-" Josie stops as she watches Katherine take Landon's hand, pulling him away. She scoffs, annoyed at the two.

Landon follows Katherine, "Wait, Kat," The Valentine looks at him, her dark hair whisking behind her. "Are you sure that you're not worried, about me drowning myself?"

The Valentine stares at him. She didn't know what to say. Landon almost smiled, realizing he caught the infamous Katherine Valentine off guard. "No." She mutters, turning away.

"Well, that's a lie." Landon laughs, causing Katherine to turn back to him.

"And how do you know that, Landon?" She asks, looking the Kirby over.

Landon sucks in a breath as Katherine looks him over. "Because when you lie as often as I used to, you can tell." He explains.

Katherine purses her lips into a thin line. "Okay. What are we supposed to do?" She asks, a smirk on her face.

"You tell me. Because, to be honest with you, I'm kind of really nervous."

Katherine giggles as she looks into Landons eyes. They were her favorite thing about him, she decided. They were a unique color that she wanted to stare at for hours. "Maybe we should both stop worrying so much about dying." Landon felt like his heart would explode as Katherine leaned in closer. "Start living a little?"

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ 

And that was how summer went.

Katherine and Landon spent nearly every waking moment together. Either in the Mystic Falls square, playing games of chess. Or maybe Landon would play guitar, and Katherine would sing a sweet tune. Sometimes, they'd sit at the Old Mill, cooking food for Rafael. They'd spend their nights watching old movies, eating snacks. Landon would often wake up in the mornings to Katherine in the kitchen, wearing a big T-Shirt, cooking pancakes.

It was peaceful. The two had gone through so much during the previous school year, finding something purely innocent in each other's presence was refreshing for them both. The chaos that was Mystic Falls circled around them, but they found peace in each other's own storms.

Katherine followed a worrisome Landon to the Old Mill on a warm summer evening. She wore a blue summer dress, which Landon found rather beautiful on her. However, he was more so focused on a missing Rafael, who had been stuck as a wolf the entire summer. "I bring him dinner every day at 5:00. I mean, sometimes he doesn't come out of the woods, but he's always here"

Katherine shrugs, "Well, that doesn't mean something bad happened to him." She attempts to reason. "Raf's a wolf, at the moment. He doesn't exactly have a wristwatch on him." The cured vampire girl explains.

"But every day, Katherine, for months, and it's been three days," Landon paces back and forth, "Maybe I am just assuming the worst, but the worst is usually what happens. And it's bad enough that he's stuck as a wolf, but if he's lost, he's got no one. I can't let him be alone-"

"Landon." Katherine cuts the boy off, placing her hand softly on his cheek. Landon turns to her, eyes wide. "It's gonna be okay. We're gonna find him. Now that I have magic, I can do a locator spell, and we're gonna track him down, okay?" Her brown eyes bore into his green ones. "I'm going to help you."

The Phoenix nods slowly, pulling Katherine in for a hug. She wraps her arms tightly around him, attempting to comfort him. He missed Rafael, and taking care of his friend was one of the few things he knew he could do. With Raf missing, Katherine felt worried for both brothers.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

That night, the two of them sat across from each other, a map of the school grounds in between them. "Think of my blood like the red line crossing the map in Raiders of the Lost Ark." Katherine explains as she pricks her finger, referencing a movie the two saw days before. "It'll flow wherever it senses Raf. And it'll show us the path."

Landon looked up, observing the girl's features. In a weird way, she looked different. Healthier, almost. More alive. Her skin was highlighted by the fire beside them, her dark hair naturally waving in whatever way it pleases. "Thank you for this." He says to her finally.

Katherine glanced up. "Of course, Landon. I'll always be there to help you." She says softly.

Landon looks down at the map for a moment. "I want you to know, I wasn't trying to hurt myself. Like Josie said on the Fourth." Katherine looks at him for a moment. "I wasn't trying to, like, self-destruct or anything."

"Don't tell Jo that, she won't believe you," Katherine whispers, smiling softly.

Landon chuckles, rolling his eyes. "I don't know. Maybe it started like that, but when I go under, there's the images." Katherine nods, remembering the visions he told her. "Memories, maybe. There's something buried in my brain, and when I die, I get a glimpse of it, but maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's the answer to everything. I don't know."

Katherine looks down in thought. "I know you're worried, Landon. I am too." The Kirby watches as Katherine wipes the blood off her finger. "But I don't think that there will ever be an answer more important than making sure that you don't accidentally overshoot your phoenix quota."

The two sit in a comfortable silence as Katherine looked back at the map. Landon looked at her, observing the soft pink color of her lips, her long dark lashes. "Are you happy?"

Katherine glances up, not expecting that question. "What do you mean?" She asks him. Landon shrugs, unsure how to word his next words.

"I mean, since we started hanging out I mean until Raf went missing I think I was finally starting to get happy-ish." He explains nervously.

The soft smile spread on Katherine's lips. After all these years, after finally defeating death, the Valentine realized something. Landon wasn't just a teenage boy that she wanted to befriend, no. He understood her. In ways, she never would understand herself. Landon Kirby somehow understood every depth and crevice that was the world of Katherine Valentine. She remembers the way he looked at her months ago at the bonfire. She was the first girl he had ever thought was absolutely beautiful. The way her hair shined in the moonlight, her dark eyes twinkling when she looked at him. One thing everyone at this school knew; is that Katherine is irresistible. And Landon knew it.

"I'm definitely happy-ish." She tells him finally, causing the boys heart to skip a beat.

⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

Katherine stayed in the school for the remainder of the night. Josie stepped into the girl's room, angry. "You knew about the Ascendant?" Josie snaps.

The Valentine groans, turning around in her vanity chair. "Yes, of course. I was there when it was made." She mutters.

"You dated my uncle. You guys were engaged!"

"He was a psycho maniac with Daddy Issues. It was incredibly sexy." Katherine says nonchalantly as Josie scoffs. She stands up, rolling her eyes. "Your uncle was a horrible man. He killed my best friend on her wedding day." Josie looks over, seeing the angered look on the girl's face. "I came out of that world, and I am lucky he didn't find me first, because if he had, I don't think I would have lived past it," Josie says nothing, watching Katherine storm off.

Landon sat in the field by the Old Mill, watching a random film. "You started without me, rude." She joked as she sat in the seat next to the boy.

"Your map worked."

Katherine frowned, taking the map and observing it. "It says he's right here. What's the problem?"

"He was, but then when I came out here to find him, that appeared." Landon points to the trail running off from their location. "Raf's not missing. He just doesn't want to be here anymore." Katherine's eyes soften as she looks at Landon, watching him stand up. "I knew this going in. I mean, uh, the longer he's a wolf, the less human he'll be, and at what point does a wolf no longer need a human best friend and movie nights?"

The Valentine watched Landon look at the projector. She looked around the dark woods in thought. Slowly standing up, Katherine stepped towards him. "Maybe he moved on." She says finally. Landon looks at her. Her blue dress had a sheen on it as they stood in front of the projector light. It fit her body in just the right way, and he almost felt wrong staring for too long. His breath hitched as Katherine entwined their fingers together. "Maybe he moved on because he saw that you have someone who can help you be," She looked down in thought, trying to find the right words. "Completely, and utterly, happy." Her voice was soft like a gentle rain, and her eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. Landon felt courage he never felt before. Raising his hand to the girl's face, Landon cupped her cheek as he ran his thumb along the bone. He leaned in, connecting their lips at a slow, gentle pace. Katherine's eyes fluttered shut as she let him take her in. Every intoxicating moment.

Landon's hands moved to her waist, gripping tightly as he pulled her in. Katherine's fingers tangled themselves in his curled hair, something she only thought of long ago when they first met. When he was still human when she was anything but.

Now, here they stood, bodies colliding and souls meshing. Two broken people, finding light in each other's darkness.

Neither of them saw Hope Mikaelson in the depths of the forest. Her face covered in tear stains as she watches the boy she love kiss the girl she aspired to be growing up. But in this moment, even if Katherine had saw her, it was doubtful Katherine would have even cared.

NATALIA'S NOTES
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important !

DON'T YELL AT ME

now, listen, i KNOW yall dont like landon. but you all know i take pride in making my stories as different and original as possible, and i like them to make sense. and honestly, i think katherine and landon make more sense than josie and landon, as if we go back to chapters one and two, landon and katherine WERE flirting. i like landon as a character, and i think that he and katherine really need each other in this time of their lives.

i purposely have changed landon and katherines dynamic compared to him and josie or him and hope. it's really interesting cause there's some CLEAR differences that make you question their relationships as a whole.

one of the many things i have loved about writing katherine's story was that her story was never surrounded around anyone else. in my other stories, they all have love interests and siblings that they care more about than themselves. in katherine's case, she has already experienced that, and it has always hurt her in the end. now, she has seemed to care all about herself. this 'new' side of katherine will lead to another side of katherine none of us have gotten the chance to experience. and with some past friends *cough cough* coming back into the picture, we can imagine what this might mean.

i'm so excited to show y'all what i have in store for miss valentine. and i hope you all enjoy it as much as i do.