MONSTER - mikaelson, kol

018.

018. | You and Me Forever

"What are we doing here?" Damon asks as him, Bonnie, and Iris approach the school.

"I have no idea." Iris says. "One minute I'm asleep, the next I'm being asked to come to the school."

"Ask Stefan." Bonnie says.

"What are we doing?" Damon asks.

"We're finishing the memorial we didn't get to have earlier. We need to start healing, Damon. We've all lost so much, especially recently. I think we're numb. We push it away. Make a joke out of it. Ignore how we feel. Never just let ourselves grieve." Stefan explains.

"Thanks." Iris mutters as she grabs the paper lantern from Stefan.

"So you're lighting lanterns." Damon responds.

"Yeah. Yeah. We need to do this." Stefan tells him.

"What we need to do is find out who this hunter is and what he knows about the death of the council." Damon says. "We have more important things to be doing right now than this."

"Not tonight, we don't." Stefan tells him. "This is for my uncle Zach. My friend Lexi. For Alaric." Stefan lights his lantern.

"This is for Vickie." Matt lights his.

"This is for my Dad." Caroline stands up to get the lighter and lights hers. "And Tyler's."

Jeremy jumps down from the table he was on and grabs the lighter. "This is for our parents, for Vickie... Anna, Jenna. And Alaric."

Jeremy passes the lighter to Damon, but he just puts his hand up in protest. "No way. I'm not doing that."

Bonnie takes the lighter. "This is for my Grams."

Iris takes it next. "This is for— Um, our parents, Jenna, Alaric, um Sarah... the girl I killed when I first turned. For myself, and for Kol. I know you guys don't particularly like him, but just like us, he got the choice taken from him and was forced to become a vampire."

Elena rubs her sister's arm before taking the lighter. "This is for my mom, my dad... and Jenna. Everyone that we've all lost; everyone that this town has lost. And for me. I guess."

Everyone lets their lanterns go and watch as they float up into the sky. Iris wraps her arm around her brother's and sister's waist as they watch.

"I love you guys." Iris mutters.

"I love you too." they both say.

●○●○●○●○●○●○●

"Where'd you run off too?" Kol asks as Iris tried to slip through the door quietly and not wake him.

"My friends wanted to have a memorial." she walks over to the bed and lies beside him. "We lit lanterns and named all the people we've lost."

"That's... kind of depressing but nice at the same time." Kol says.

"I said your name." Iris tells him and he gives her a questioning look. "I said my name too. We're technically dead, and we didn't even get to choose if we wanted to die or not. Or if we wanted to come back as predators."

Kol grabs the girl's hand and kisses the back of it. "I... I was so wrecked when I first turned that Stefan literally gave me a funeral. It was only me and him since my friends didn't know about supernaturals, but it was still nice. That's how we became friends."

"That's nice." Kol mutters.

"Would you have wanted a funeral?" Iris asks.

"Yeah, if I didn't come back to life. I know I complain about being a vampire, but I'm glad I'm still living. If I wasn't then I would have never met you." Kol kisses her shoulder.

"Hm. Waited 1000 years for me?" Iris joked, but Kol thought about the question seriously.

"I guess I did. I had never been in a serious relationship before you. I'd wait a 1000 more years if I needed to." Kol says.

Iris turns towards him. "I'd wait a 1000 years for you too, but 18 was enough." Iris laughed.

"Can I ask you something... personal?" Kol questions.

"Yeah. What is it?" Iris says.

"What were you like before your parents died and you got into pills and alcohol. Before you turned?" Kol asks.

Iris sighs. "I don't— I don't really remember. In my family photos I look happy, though. I wore a lot of bright colors and wore my hair up a lot. I use to have light brown, sort of blonde hair, but I dyed it."

"Why'd you dye it?" Kol asks.

"Because I didn't feel like the girl in those pictures anymore... she was dead." Iris explains. "What were you like before everything?"

"I don't remember much either. My family never paid attention to me like they did Elijah, Rebekah, and Klaus. All I know is that I was a witch and I loved it." Kol smiles.

"You were a witch?" Iris asks shocked.

"Yeah. It was the only thing I really liked about myself, but when I turned, I lost that part of me." Kol's smile soon faded.

"I'm sorry." Iris mutters.

"You didn't do anything, love." he tells her.

"No. I'm sorry that you lost the only thing you liked about yourself." she says.

"I have a love/hate relationship with my vampire side. The strength, speed, and hearing is pretty cool. But I'd take being a witch over it any day, but only if you were born a 1000 years ago." he explains.

"I love you." Iris whispers.

"I love you too." Kol whispers back.

Iris continued to look into the Mikaelson's dark brown eyes. Her eyes wandered over his face, and for the first time, he looked vulnerable. He looked soft, and safe.

"You look handsome." Iris speaks up.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Kol smiles.

"Kol..." Iris looks away from him.

"What is it, darling?" he asks.

"I don't think I can take another death, especially not yours." she starts crying. "Promise me that you'll avoid it at all costs. I—I can't. The thought of you dying literally makes me feel suffocated. I don't— I can't— You're all I—"

"Iris," he cups her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, love. Stop thinking I am."

"But everyone I love ends up dying." she admits as she looks up at him.

"Not me." Kol kisses her. "Not me."

Iris reached for Kol's hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "You and me forever?"

"You and me forever, love." Kol responds.

A/N: This is just a short chapter because I didn't want to start another episode in this chapter because I had the ending of the other episode in here. If that makes sense.