Sedatephobia: Mikaelson's Soulmate

It's Going to be Okay

"Yes." River honestly confirmed.

"Rebekah ask her." Kol demanded, despite recognising no tells that she was lying.

"I truly admire how much you guys trust me." River muttered.

"Why do I have to ask her?" Rebekah questioned. "I trust her."

"Thank you." River appreciated.

"She's sired to you." Kol explained.

"That seems like an abuse of power." River mumbled.

"I don't really think that's how it works." Finn tried.

"Sure it is." Kol denied.

"They're not normally like this." River said, mainly to Hayley.

"Yes they are." Elena corrected.

"I'd hope not." Hayley excused, ignoring Elena's comment.

"I SAID STOP TALKING TO HER!" Rebekah snapped.

-----

"Can we leave yet?"

"Kol." Elijah scolded, "Don't be disrespectful." His gaze flickered over to River who, despite her previous unhealthy coping mechanisms, seemed to be functioning surprisingly well.

"No I want to go as well." River added, feeling Elijah's gaze on her. 

"So then why are we still here?" Rebekah asked. "In the most wholesome and respectful way possible." She clarified under Nik's glare. 

"Because I'm meant to leave last or something and I'm considering setting the church on fire when we go." River answered, her eyes never straying from a patch on the carpet on the floor.

"I'm in." Henrik offered. "Or not." He stated as Elijah looked at him expectantly.

"Why do you have to leave last?" Finn asked, coming up beside her as he ran his hand over her lower back comfortingly.

"So that everyone can say some sympathetic shit or something like that." River deadpanned as she leant into Finn's hold.

As if on a script, two women, neither of which River recognised, approached River and the Mikaelsons. Just as every other person who had come up to them, the women apologised for interrupting, introduced themselves, said they were sorry for her loss and offered that if River needed anything at all she could ask them.

River had also received around 7 different floral arrangements from the people who had approached her.

okay,

So it's not that I'm ungrateful or don't appreciate all this...

but come on, I'm literally fucking drowning over here.

All I want is for things to go back to normal and that is not going to happen with everyone constantly pitying me.

And yes, I'm still grieving, have been for a while now, but you know what the final stage of grief is?

Acceptance.

And I am not accepting anything until people stop treating me differently and until-

well-

Delilah wakes up but I can't really control that one.

"River." A voice she quickly recognised as Nik's spoke, snapping her from her daze. The two older women were no longer standing in front of River but had since been replaced with a-

if I could die of embarrassment this would be my final resting place.

"Hey." The young woman spoke. She was a night nurse at the hospital Delilah was staying at. She also happened to be a witch, making her resistant to River's compulsion and completely aware of River's nightly visits. Not being stupid and having some empathy, she had never done anything to stop River, but her knowledge of River's habit made River feel uncomfortably vulnerable in this moment.

"Hey, Tara." River stated. Her voice would've sounded normal to the average person, but her mates were hardly average in any department. Finn tightened his hand on her hip at the slight undertone of anxiety in River's voice.

"Yeah I know how hard this is all been on you and I just wanted to give you these flowers to try and make you feel even just the smallest bit better." Tara explained, holding out a small bouquet with a variety of pink flowers.

Make that 8 floral arrangements I have received.

River thanked Tara, making mindless small talk for a few moments before Tara began to excuse herself so that she too could leave the reception. Just as River finally began to believe she was in the clear, Nik spoke up. 

"Tara, just one more thing before you go." He started causing River to casually stop breathing, "I just noticed you did explain how you knew River and her parents."

You know my daylight ring has been awfully uncomfortable lately... maybe now is time for me to finally take it off.

"Oh I work at Mystic Falls hospital so I take care of Delilah and I see River when she visits." Tara explained. "Don't worry I'm not a creep who remembers every single person but I tend to remember the visitors who come the most often." Tara then smiled at River before bidding her final farewells and leaving.

She thinks she covered for me by not saying I'm a fucking crazy person who comes every night.

At least she tried...

The silence which overcame the group was awkward to say the least, each of the Mikaelsons trying to find the right words for the right question.

"Well at least you guys know I'm not a complete sociopath." River deadpanned, unable to bare the quiet anymore. 

"I'm so confused." Rebekah muttered.

"Want me to break it down for you?" River asked.

"Yes please." Kol requested.

"Picture me as a robber in a comic strip." River began.

"Is this a serious explanation?" Finn questioned.

"Yes." River lied.

"I doubt you were wearing black and white striped clothes with beanie which had holes cut in it every time you visited Delilah." Elijah challenged.

"Okay picture me as normal me." River corrected. "Wait no this story is going to be so boring then."

"Continue." Henrik urged.

"Alright, because I am terrible at dealing with my emotions and even worse at handling times of crisis, I may or may not have left every night once you guys were asleep to go and visit Lilah." River rambled quickly. "There, my, now very boring, story."

"But then why were you desiccating yourself and never doing anything during the day?" Nik asked.

"Because I was a sleep deprived orphan who got my fair share of blood from the hospital I was at every night." River clarified.

"This makes an uncomfortable amount of sense." Rebekah mumbled.

"See," River continued. "I'm okay. Everything is okay."

The Mikaelsons stayed quiet, silently accepting her words.

"It's going to be okay."