CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
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THE FUMBLE OF THE DOORKNOB and the jingle of keys didn't make them stir in the slightest. Supported by throw pillows and covered with a thin blanket, the two unlikely of friends lay in a comfortable position stretched out on the living room couch. They had fallen asleep after the second movie they picked out was over; Kai's neck hung over the back of the couch at an awkward angle, soft snores coming from him, while Mila drooled on the collar of his shirt.
However, the grunt of the front door swinging open and the thud of Evan Ramone's footsteps followed by the click of Natalie Ramone's heels proved to be enough of a distraction. Their daughter flinches at the noise, squinting past the blue light coming from the television and then nearly being blinded when her mother switched on the lights of the entryway and living room. Her annoyance quickly turns into panic as she realized she lost track of time and her parents had walked in on her using Kai as her own personal pillow.
She pushes away from the siphoner, who was blinking in confusion and from grogginess, unwinding herself from the arm that was slung over her waist. Mila had even impulsively jumped up from the couch, crossing her arms over her chest as she tried to think of a reasonable explanation on why she was draped over someone they had never met before.
"Mom! Dad! Hi!" Her voice, which normally would be rough from sleep, had acquired a high pitch to it. She glanced over at the clock hung on the wall, showing that it was nearly six o'clock; the darkening sky added more proof on how the afternoon was shifting into the evening. "How was work?"
Her father unsuccessfully hid his amused grin at his daughter's unusual flustered appearance."Good, actually. Is your boyfriend staying for dinner?"
"He is not my boyfriend." Mila denied, watching him take his wife's coat and put hers along side his in the closet. Kai stands up beside her, rubbing the back of his neck because it was now sore from his sleeping arrangement.
"I will be soon." He yawns, not bothered in the slightest by the arrival of company.
"Haven't worn her down yet, huh?" Evan muses, his smile widening when Mila's jaw drops and her eyes bulge at her dad's reply.
"No, but I'm working on it." Kai smiles, too.
Horrified, Mila turns to her mother. "Worn me down? Mom, are you hearing this? Control your husband!"
"Sorry, baby. If I had any influence on him, the diamond on my finger would have been three times bigger. So, is your... friend staying for dinner? I would like to know so I know how much food to make," she responds, working on unscrewing one of her earrings but she pauses to lean over kiss Mila's forehead before striding past the archway and into the kitchen.
The frown contorting Mila's face deepens. She hadn't expected her parents to completely freak out, but she couldn't help but feel like it was now three against one all of sudden. The way her dad officially greeted Kai, patting him on the shoulder instead of offering up a proper handshake, proved it further. She watches the man she's known her whole life look him up and down — not in suspicion, but with this radiance. Like he knew everything instead of nothing.
"I-I guess he's staying?" Mila answers her mother's question, thousands of her own continuing to go unanswered as she continues to watch the exchange between Kai and Evan.
"Nice to meet you, Mila's-future-boyfriend. You got a name?"
"Kai Parker. But I prefer Mila's-future-boyfriend. It has a nice ring to it."
"You're about to be Mila's-future-murder-victim if you both don't stop talking like I'm not here."
Her father raises his eyebrows, leaning in a little closer to Kai. "You sure you want to date her?"
"Yes." Kai smirks. "Very much."
"I don't like the two of you together," Mila states, dragging Kai away by the arm before her dad could encourage him further.
"Don't be upset, Mila. I know part of the bad boy fantasy is to have your parents hate me, but it's not my fault I'm naturally endearing," he whispers into her ear once they were settled at the dining table tucked into the corner of the spacious kitchen. They had slid into the side that had the booth, leaving the other two chairs across from them open for her parents. The house had an actual dinning room, but they really only ate in there on special occasions.
"You're not a bad boy. You're a homicidal maniac. Think they'll find you endearing when I tell them that?" She nudges his shoulder with his, hoping he'd take the hint and give her some space, but he just scooted closer.
"Hey, former homicidal maniac. Still mega powerful, though."
A scoff is accompanied by the roll of her eyes, and she starts to second guess her decision on letting Kai prolong his stay. Feet away from them, Natalie gets out the necessary pots and pans she'll need for the meal. After flipping through her recipe booklet, something that she has added to over the years, she settles on something she knows everyone will like. Although, before scouring the cabinets for ingredients, the woman happens to glance over her shoulder, watching her daughter play footsie with her guest underneath the table; from the grimace suddenly altering Kai's face and the smug expression on Mila's, it was obvious she had won.
"Mila, you're gonna give the poor boy bruises." She breathes out a laugh, entertained just like her husband by Mila's behavior. Usually, she's always so composed and calm, never throwing much of a fuss. But now, seeing how easily Kai gets under her skin, making her stutter and blush and act like a child... for the first time Natalie has seen her completely carefree.
"Maybe if you gave Dad more bruises, you would have gotten your diamond."
"Uh, actually she would have gotten a restraining order." Evan announces, entering the room. With his fingers working on loosening his tie, he leans against one of the counters.
"Yeah, and if Elijah Mikaelson stayed in town, you would have gotten divorce papers."
He stops fumbling with his tie."Okay, seriously what is it with that guy? You mention him almost every day."
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Natalie shrugs over the stove, feeling her husband come up behind her and wrap his arms around her middle. He puts his chin on her shoulder.
"I disagree." Evan sighs, holding onto his wife tightly.
Her mother smiles, pivoting her neck to peck him on the lips. "Nice try, but I still want a bigger diamond."
Typically during moments like this, Mila crinkles her nose at her parents oddly sweet dynamic. But now, seeing the evident adoration in their eyes and how, after spending almost their whole lives together, they still put in effort towards their relationship, she felt different. Instead of having the urge to look away from disgust, she looks away because it seemed too private and special to intrude on. Although, when Mila turns, she finds Kai staring at them, too. His head is tilted and his brow is puckered, making it obvious that he was deep in thought.
And he was. Kai was perplexed at the sight before him. His parents never acted anything like this; they rarely were ever in the same room unless some coven-related duty called for it. And when it came to interacting with their children, it was never with the warmth and humor and love he had seen exchanged between the three of them within merely a few minutes. Even before everyone alienated him, Kai realized that that they had never been a real family. He had been missing out on even more than he thought was possible.
"Alright, get off of me before you accidentally get me pregnant again." Natalie shoos him away, trying to shrug him off. "I'm trying to cook here."
Evan laughs, relunctedly pulling away. "You're too old for that to happen."
Before he got too far away, his wife slaps the backside of his head, a satisfying smile making its way onto her face when he cried out. "Huh. Maybe you're right, honey. Violence is the answer."
"Told you." Mila nods, not missing the pointed look she gets from her father when he sits down across from her.
"Hey, don't I need to get your permission to marry your daughter?" Kai blurts out, leaning forward with a sudden excitement that leaves Mila baffled.
"We're not even dating, why are you talking about marriage?!" She gasps, her cheeks swarming with a heat that Mila knows must be noticeable. The only solution she can think of is hiding her face in the crook of Kai's neck, but that wouldn't exactly help her case.
"You have my permission." Evan confirms without any hesitation. His green eyes sparkle the same way his daughter's does whenever she's wholeheartedly enjoying something.
"Mine, too." Her mother pipes up.
Mila falls back into her seat, groaning dramatically. "I can't stand the both of you. You don't even know Kai and you're already sending me down the aisle."
"Well, we have all night to hear all about him and fulfill our longstanding mission as parents to embarrass you whenever the opportunity is offered."
Evan's gaze shifts between Mila's unamused appearance and Kai's giddy one. His daughter had never brought a boy home before, and about a year ago when he pried into the topic of her dating life, she had told him that she wasn't going to have them meet anyone that wasn't worthwhile. He remembered her answer because it awed him, something she always had the tendency of doing. Evan recalled all the train-wrecks he brought home before he found Natalie, and how pointless it was because more often than not he wasn't that serious about the girls he was with. If there was anything Mila could do, it was make up her mind. He had never seen anyone so sure of themselves. It was why it was so easy to trust her despite her young age.
Mila couldn't see all of that because she was so overwhelmed with her feelings, but both he and his wife could understand tonight was far from an accident. She allowed Kai into her life because he was different. Because he was special. And if Mila's easily provoked and squirming reactions didn't demonstrate it enough, that did.
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"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DRAGGED me down here. Not only have I had an extremely long day of escaping a whole other dimension, I have to rise and shine early tomorrow to check out the hot new teacher." Lizzie Saltzman huffs with crossed arms and a flawless stride. Beside her, MG squints at her words.
"How do you know he's hot?" He asked and then winced afterwords, surprised that that's the first thing he decided to unpack from Lizzie's statement.
"Alyssa Chang informed me. Normally I don't listen to anything that comes from the Wicked Witch of the West, but this seemed promising."
MG shook his head, keeping up with Lizzie as she led the way despite the fact it was his idea to explore the tunnels. "I didn't drag you down here. I told you I heard something and you followed me."
"Yeah, well, the thought you might get kidnapped or murdered popped into my brain, and I, being the considerate person I am, didn't want that on my conscious." Lizzie picked at her nails while she said this, but MG didn't let that take away the sentiment of her words. He smiled fondly at her distracted face.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two teenagers, Kai and Mila shuffle into their clothes, still cloaked by Kai's spell. He's pulling his shirt back over his head while she fastens the button on her jeans. Her eyes constantly shift over to the girl she considered her niece and her unofficial boyfriend, knowing this wasn't exactly the reunion she had in mind. By any means, Mila did not want to face Lizzie, Josie, Hope, and Alaric yet, considering none of them knew Kai was alive. She had no clue if any of them had heard of her own brief death, but since Ric had the tendency to only share things on a need-to-know basis, she doubt he had mentioned it yet.
The plan Mila was leaning towards was just getting out of town after checking in with everyone and letting them know she was alright. Her parents, Damon, and Elena probably weren't even aware that there was anything to worry about, so her absence could be easily excused. However, explaining to Ric that she managed to survive a sword through the heart, that's where things got tricky. Especially since once he finds out she's alive, he will automatically have suspicions about Kai, and more likely than not they will be back to where they started. Quite honestly Mila was getting sick of family feuds at this point.
"Who are they? Ric's students?" Kai asked, noticing her attention on them.
"That's MG; he is a student here. And that's Lizzie, your niece. Must not of ran into each other in the prison world, huh?"
"No, I mostly spent time with Josie. Ah, that kid has potential. She managed to pull one over on me. Granted, I set my own trap and convinced her that being plagued with dark magic was the only way to save her family, but you know what? No harm, no foul. We all managed to find our own way out. So, props to her."
Mila's head snapped to the side at what Kai deemed to be a casual occurrence, her eyes narrowing. "You what?"
"Oh." Kai frowned, his lips staying in the shape of the word for a prolonged moment. "Did I not mention that before?"
"Did you not mention it before? No, you didn't! What did you do to Josie? Is she going to be alright?"
"Relax! She's going to be fine... probably. Listen, even if the dark magic has some lingering side effects, she's literally in a school full of supernatural experts and magical extravaganza. They can handle it." Kai threw his hands up to signify his innocence and to prepare himself if Mila's shoves of irritation turned into something more painful.
A puff of air is exhaled through her flared nostrils before she spins around, heading towards the passageway exit and not bothering to wait for him. Kai, of course, caught up with her and started rambling about how they had nothing to worry about and that he had no idea why she was so angry because he just rocked her world again; the latter part of his speech earned him a sharp elbow to his ribcage.
Right after their undetected departure, Lizzie spots something along the cave wall and bends down modestly to investigate. Her manicured fingertips lifts up what she soon realizes is a ruined and torn half of a bra. Her disinterested face scrunches up into absolute disgust and she flings it through the air. Not too far from her, MG instinctively catches it, looking down at the remnants in confusion.
"Ew! Someone was having sex down here!" Lizzie shoots up, wiping her hand on her pants as if she could have contracted a disease by coming into contact with the undergarment. Once she sees MG holding it, she slaps it out of his hand. "Be a pervert on your own time, MG! I'm going to back to the privacy of my room, which obviously some people haven't heard of. Next time you overhear something suspicious, make sure it's not somebody's sexcapades!"
Lizzie waltzes away, leaving MG standing there with his mouth wide open and wondering what had happened in the past two seconds that left him to be the one at fault. Although, this wasn't exactly a new situation he had been in with her. So MG does what he always did: blink, shake off his perplexity, and followed her.
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KAI PRACTICALLY SKIPS UP the steps of Mila's childhood home. Behind him, Mila had barely gotten out of the car, shaking her head at his obvious excitement, but she was excited, too. Out of all the hectic events of the day and the definite ones to come, she knew that she didn't have anything to worry about right now. She could just settle in with Kai, catch up with her parents, and bask in the much needed moments of peace — however fleeting.
The pad of his pointer finger presses the doorbell an incessant amount of times before Mila was beside him on the porch. Her travel bag was still in the trunk, something that she would have to bring in later, but all that preoccupied her mind in this moment was Kai's bright eyes and smile of anticipation. She didn't even have to look down to know that he was impatiently tapping his foot, hearing the soft collisions of his foot against the wooden floorboards. Her mouth curled up softly at his eagerness, understanding that he not only belonged with her, but with her whole family. Because he was apart of it.
"Do your parents still not know that know that you're a vampire?" The question pops into Kai's head and automatically slips out of his mouth.
"Nah. I still have a couple of more years before they notice something is up and I'm not aging. Right now they just think I have an excellent skin care routine," Mila explains. Kai purses his lips and nods in understanding.
The door opens and the woman whose blonde roots were graying gasped at the sight before her. "Oh my god! Evan come here! You'll never believe who it is!"
Kai's grin widens when he hears more footfalls, his arm sliding around Mila's waist and pulling her closer to him. The little gesture makes Natalie's wide eyes lock in on Mila's, the both of them having a silent conversation that ends with Mila nodding slightly in confirmation. Undeniable happiness was found within each and every one of them, including her father when he appeared in the doorway and caught sight of the pair.
"Kai! Oh, wow. It's been forever! We missed you, son." Evan doesn't hesitate to steal him away from Mila, greeting him with a suffocating hug that makes Kai stumble a bit. Kai laughs at the impulsive action, not anticipating such a welcome, but once the shock wears off, he slowly returns it.
"Okay, I know you missed him, but I'm here too, Dad." Mila grumbles right as her mother embraces her, scowling over her shoulder.
"I know. I missed you, too, honey. But I'm just so surprised!" Evan pulls away, reluctantly, and the instant he does Natalie takes the opportunity to get in a hug, too. "I didn't even know you two were back together."
"I wore her down again," Kai explains simply, a pink hue spreading along his face when Natalie fondly kisses his cheek, which was partially covered in a thin stubble from not shaving.
"That's my boy." Evan replies, and Mila glares at him after she was out of his arms.
"Anyway," Mila starts pointedly as they step inside, interlocking her fingers with Kai, "we were going to stay the night here. Is that okay with you guys? You haven't turned my old room into a gym or anything, right?"
Natalie snorts. "Yeah, right. Like your father would use a gym. But of course you guys can stay. I'll go make sure there's some fresh sheets and blankets for you to use."
As her mother goes upstairs and heads for the hall closet, her father questions if they had any luggage, and when Mila mentions her bag still in the car, Kai offers to go get it. Of course, Evan followed him like a puppy, striking up another conversation. Instead of being annoyed, she just shook her head affectionately, because she knew she might as well get used to it. They were going to be around each other for awhile.
Mila directed herself towards the stairs to see if her mom needed any help, and outside, Kai and Evan linger by the car. Mila's bag is clutched in his hand, the liveliness still so evident in his dreamy blue eyes, while he remembers the first time he had been introduced to her parents. He may have seemed calm through the night, but he was actually kind of nervous at first, not knowing how to act around them. Of course, his worries quickly disappeared once he realized how open and inviting they were.
When he started developing feelings for Mila, he thought that he would have to tolerate her family. He didn't expect all the warm embraces, considerate actions, and overall acceptance he had gotten from them. Although, looking back on it now, he shouldn't have been surprised. After all, these were the people who made and shaped Mila into who she is, and she is the best person he's ever known.
"Hey, so... I was wondering. If I were to, hypothetically, propose to your daughter... would I still have your permission?" Kai manages to get out, his previously animated voice now possessing an anxious tremor.
With his hands shoved into the pockets of his robe, Evan smiles knowingly. "Of course."