𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬, km

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭

And when Rory looked up at him, her smile grew wider, making his heart stop momentarily. He could look at her smile forever. He would never get tired of seeing her. When he felt a presence beside him, he turned to look and saw his two brothers next to him, both of them looking between him and Rory, giving him a look almost as if to say, 'it's your move.'

Elijah and Klaus were hopeful. Hopeful that he would choose the right thing. But that's just it, either option could be considered right, just in their own ways. And somehow, in the nine years that they have known each other, all Aurora Salvatore did for them was good. This single witch had done nothing but help them. Teach them how to care for another. Care for themselves. And now, here Kol Mikaelson was, on the edge of tearing her away from them. He just wanted her safe. He didn't care about himself, he just wanted to know that she was safe.

Kol made long strides towards the girl as she sat at the table, on her own now, up until he was standing directly in front of her.

"Rory, darling, we need to, uh-- talk."

Rory's brows furrowed together in confusion. She looked at him, but somehow his face seemed to hold no emotion at all. And when she looked over his shoulder, behind him, she saw Klaus and Elijah who wouldn't even dare meet her eyes.

"I mean, yeah. Okay."

Kol grabbed her hand, intertwining her fingers with his, and instinctively began rubbing his own thumb across her knuckles as he pulled her through, back towards the doors. And as Rory passed the other two Mikaelson brothers, she gave them a smile, and a small wave, breaking their hearts even more.

When the two of them stepped outside, snow was falling from clouds, silver and black, seen in a multitude of precious metal hues, adorning the sky as its haze kissed the land down below. The snowflakes were calm, pulling down beautifully as they slowly became embedded into Kol and Rory's hair, their noses becoming red from the cold.

Rory had no clue what she was doing outside, and what made her even more worried, was the fact that Kol's face seemed to display nothing but a frown, and creased brows. Normally, she could tell what he was thinking. What he was feeling. She memorized the way his face moved long ago, and the way he displayed his emotions. But now, she couldn't tell. He was a mystery.

Kol hated the fact that she continued to look at him in concern. He wasn't the one who should be cared after, he wasn't the one who others should worry about. He was just Kol.

And when he came to a stop, having pulled her far enough away from anyone else to hear, he took a shaky breath, looking down at her. Seeing the way she looked at him almost made him want to burst into tears at that very moment.

Before his own mind could catch up with himself, he took the final steps closer to her, reaching a hand up and placing a strand of hair behind her ears like had done so many times before. But this time was different. He was no longer smiling. His hand was shaking the slightest bit, and it wasn't from the cold. The cold was the least of his worries right now. As he looked at her, tears began to swell up in his eyes, causing Rory to reach up and place a hand on top of his.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he whispered, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Rory lifted her other hand, reaching out and wiping the tear away, only making more fall. "Hey, it's alright. What's the matter?" she asked him in a soft voice grabbing on tighter to the hand on her cheek for reassurance. Both for herself and for him.

"I just- we just can't do this anymore," he stated quickly, making Rory's face fall. And the moment he saw the change in her face, his heart slowly began cracking in half.

"What do- what do you mean?"

"It's complicated," Kol told her, holding tighter onto her hand, scared that she was going to be the first to let go.

"Then uncomplicate it for me!"

"It's just you, Aurora! It's just- you have this beautiful heart. A beautiful mind. You can be anything you want in this world. Don't be holding anything back for me, or for my family. We don't deserve you. I am just so selfish to think we could've had forever," every word he spoke, came out like knives in his throat, and his heart physically hurt thinking of what he just said, knowing who he just said it to.

Kol Mikaelson was never an emotional guy. But somehow Aurora Salvatore made him one. She had always made him one. She was like a blossoming flower in a field that encircled her own, restlessly, carelessly growing like a poetic dream sent down to earth from the heavens. Petals born to parade in every breeze until they are ready to become divine confetti.

Rory stood in front of him, confused, scared. She would like to think she didn't know what was happening, but in reality, she understood. She knew. She wasn't always such an oblivious person that people though she was. And when she saw a small bottle in one of his hands, her own world came tumbling down.

"Kol-  Kol no," she said, slightly backing away from him, her eyes not once leaving his hand where he held the bottle. The very moment Kol saw her back away from him, he couldn't help the tears that began steadily streaming down his face.

"No, Rory, you can't be with us anymore. You can't be with me."

"But I can help you guys! I can help keep you guys safe. Please just-  Please don't leave me."

Those four words held nothing but choked back sobs and unrelenting emotion. Pullen apart like a dudded grenade faulted by the hands of an enemy. She was bound to be left behind. She was always the one left behind.

"You guys can't leave me. I don't want to be alone, Kol," she told him, tears now running down her face too, "Please don't leave me alone."

Kol leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. Rory wanted to push him away. For preparing to leave her. But somehow, when she looked into his eyes, she couldn't find it in herself to pull away.

Both had tears swimming in them, causing them to go red and strained. Accompanied by the tears that already escaped and were trailing down both their cheeks.

Kol now has both hands up to her face, cradling it, as he silently counted the freckles on her nose. Though they were blurry, he managed to be able to get to twenty-seven until he lost count.

Before Rory could even say anything, he pulled her into one of the strongest hugs she had ever felt in her life. If it were any other situation apart from this, she would have hugged back. But when she felt Kol moving with the bottle in one hand, she could tell he was doing something.

And when he pulled apart, she felt different. She felt like she was slowly falling into a trance of some sort. Falling asleep. Like an undertow of a wave, crashing down on you, dragging you out into the ocean, helplessly. So strong, you couldn't help but give in, and not struggle.

"I love you." He mouthed to her, his voice unable to reach higher than a whisper, due to the thick tears rolling down his face, and slurring his words. He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but he wanted to say it. Needed to say it. 

Love. A strong, four letter word that has been used by so many, that it was hard to believe. But what Kol Mikaelson did believed was that he was in love with Aurora. He was in love with everything about her.

He loves her.