The Originals - Revenant

Chapter 25

»»—2019, somewhere in the state of Louisiana, USA—««

The car halted abruptly, sending me forward against the seatbelt, which luckily stopped me, not without leaving a burn mark on my neck.

"Okay," I groaned, "You're not driving anymore."

He looked at me apologetically, his hands were white from clutching the steering wheel.

"Sorry," he apologized.

"Sorry isn't going to get you anywhere," I warned rubbing my soaring neck, which had just finished healing. It was odd to have my old pendant getting in my way again. I had since before I turned, and after that for centuries. But I took it off when Dahlia broke it, to remind myself that it wasn't protecting me anymore. I had only tried it again some months ago. I guess I simply liked the fact that it reminded me of Henrik in a good way, even if it didn't have its magic.

I unfastened my seatbelt and sighed. It didn't hurt. It had been a long time since I last felt pain. I glanced at him, he was grinning, taking my comment as a challenge as he leaned into me.

"Really?" he teased.

I looked at him smiling like an idiot. The thought of kissing him crossed my mind, of letting him kiss me back. The thought of letting him trail soft pecks up my jaw until he reached my lips. He was grinning at me in such a way that I couldn't stop my racing thoughts. But he leaned closer and my mind reacted. Those thoughts were replaced by alarms and memories and I turned serious and looked away. He stopped immediately after seeing my reaction, a confused look replaced the smug grin and I heard him sigh desperate.

I just couldn't do it. I couldn't get involved with him like that again. Last time I did, he died. I was afraid I would screw it all again now that it was going so well. We were happy, and we were happy together. I was content with that. But he wanted more.

I slid my hand away and opened my door. I stepped out of the car and, before I closed it, I looked inside: he was still leaning over my seat, looking at me with hopeful eyes. I smiled sadly and he returned it with his characteristic smirk. He would let me have more time, I knew that.

"You're still not driving," I informed him, closing the door and leaving him inside.

I started to walk towards the house and I heard him sigh and turn off the engine. He then stepped out of the car and followed me.

"If I don't practice, how am I supposed to get better at it?" he asked me some feet behind. I peered at him over my shoulder, that damn smirk was still on his face. Gods, how I loved that smirk.

I turned around, not stopping, and shrugged. "Beats me," I scoffed, "But you're done practicing for now. Especially with a kid around."

He gestured around us overdramatically. We were in the middle of nowhere. There was only one dirt road where we had left our car that led to a big, white house with a lovely garden, which was surrounded by a white fence.

"I don't see her here," he countered.

I rolled my eyes and turned around, facing the house again, and smiled. I was really excited to see them. Nothing could ruin my good mood.

We got to the front porch and I knocked on the door, he waited behind me looking around and alert. He wanted to absorb every little detail of the house, of this trip, of them. I could tell this was really important for him. I heard footsteps coming to greet us and some seconds later she opened the door.

"B," Hayley smiled at me but she looked surprised to see me, "You're here."

"You called, I came. I'm easy like that," I told her. Then I pointed towards our car and said jokingly, "If you don't want me here, though-"