a/n: Lottie's outfit for the chapter is above!
☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘━═☆
Charlotte missed Mystic Falls, it was after all the only place she had ever been to and if she was honest, Lakewood wasn't that good. The brunette had a small smile on her face as she remembered walking around town every day with—nope, no, not now. I am doing well.
Kol wasn't always busy with anything but he didn't exactly spend all of the weeks out of Mystic Falls with her, sometimes he left to do things that she didn't bother to ask about. She wouldn't have liked it if he asked her and they didn't get that close, yet.
She wasn't used to not knowing where she stood with people in her life so that was the very first thing Charlotte outlined for the Mikaelson boy. The last thing she would want is to give him mixed signs by leaving town with him.
The brunette sat on the bench outside, playing Angry Birds on her phone. She huffed out when she missed the last pig, so close! Charlotte's phone buzzed in her hands, receiving a call. She was prepared to cancel, as usual, but her finger didn't slide past to decline, instead to answer.
It was Stefan.
Stefan never calls, well not in general, but they just never talk anymore and out of everyone in Mystic Falls who could be missing her, he was the last person to cross her mind.
"Charlotte, hello?"
She rubbed the back of her neck, pulling herself up from the porch swing, "Hi, uh...hi, Stefan."
It was quiet and Charlotte was tempted to hang up but she was truly curious about what he had to say, did he miss her? No, he couldn't have. "I, um, I missed you."
She pursed her lips together, "Okay," Charlotte mentally facepalmed herself before shaking her head, asking, "Is that all?"
Stefan sighed on the other line, claiming, "No, no, it's not."
She tapped her fingers on the wooden fence from where she stood, "Look, Stefan...I am not ready to come back and I am not sure that I will ever want to but since you called and I accidentally answered...," Charlotte almost facepalmed herself at 'accidentally'. Yeah, so believable.
"How is everyone? Is it better now? Without the self-righteous, annoying, and super nice Charlotte?" She folded her arms over her chest, asking.
"Nobody calls you that," He replied as Charlotte pursed her lips together, "And no, nothing is mystically better with you gone."
"I bet that's what everyone thinks, they don't need to say it out loud," She said, sitting back on the porch's swing, "Why are you calling me, Stefan? We are not friends, remember? You tossed that way when you let revenge be the goal."
Charlotte had always hoped that end of the day when all was said and done, she wouldn't have to lose someone forever. She didn't want to lose Stefan but she felt like she had no choice in the matter. It was his actions that lead them to this place, no one could blame her for reacting like a normal functioning human being who took offense for being locked up in a car's trunk.
She could hear him inhale sharply before retorting, "Oh, that was tossed away long before."
Normally, Charlotte would disagree and try to convince him of her point. He had counted on that before she shrugged her shoulders, "Either way, it's gone. We are not friends, allies...or anything but eh, thanks for the call. It gave me a taste of home."
The call had gotten awfully quiet before Charlotte made the choice to pull the phone away from her ear and hang up.
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte looked through her phone throughout the day. She frowned as she looked at the time; Kol never took that long, especially since he had left the night before. Sure she never asked where he was because it was only for a few hours and it wasn't that suspicious.
The brunette bit her bottom lips, reluctantly opening Find My Friends on her phone. She had put it on Kol's phone before when he was first learning how to use one, with him knowing about that, of course.
She checked his location and a deep frown was etched on her forehead when she found Elena and Damon in the same location.
Charlotte rose to her feet, letting out a long sigh. Her mind was racing, a million thoughts a second before she put on her shoes and locked the door, throwing the keys in her handbag.
The brunette jumped in her car, desperately trying to focus on the road rather than her overwhelming thoughts. Denver. Kol was in Denver, who else was in Denver? Jeremy Gilbert.
She pursed her lips together, piecing out everything. There was no start over for Kol, considering Denver was just half an hour away from Lakewood. Kol lied to her and she could already picture Elena and Damon's faces when she turns up at the batting cage.
Charlotte bit her bottom lip harshly as she tried to find all possible ways to approach the matter. The brunette parked in front of the batting cage but by the time she had arrived, there was no Elena, Jeremy, or even Damon. Just Kol with a bat embedded in his chest.
"I don't even know what to say," She pursed her lips together, looking down at his body, "No, I am not doing this," Charlotte shook her head and walked out before pulling her phone out of her purse.
"Hey, Elena," Charlotte opened her car door, getting inside. She silently took note of how fast the brunette answered, "I, umm, I am in Denver and I am on my way to you."
"Hey—"
She interjected, sighing, "Look, I know that all of this is confusing but I will explain everything as soon as I get to the motel."
"No, no, it's fine," Elena brushed it off, claiming, "I am just really happy that I will get to see you. I missed you."
"I missed you, too."
✵ ✵ ✵
The brunette stood in front of the motel, leaning against her car as Elena descended the stairs, waving slyly at the vampire waiting for her. Charlotte met her halfway, embracing her, "God, I missed you so much."
"I missed you, too, Charlotte."
She held onto the Gilbert girl as though her life depended on it, "I am so sorry. I thought I was doing myself a favor but then it blew up in my face, all over again."
"Calm down, what...what happened?" Elena pulled away, although the distance between the two hadn't outstretched after the long much-needed embrace.
"Kol was using Jeremy, wasn't he?" Charlotte questioned, letting out a long breath. Elena nodded as the brunette vampire rubbed the back of her neck, "I left town with Kol but I didn't know, Elena. I didn't know he was going to use Jeremy, if I did then I wouldn't have gone with him."
She was scared out of her mind that Elena might not believe her, "I know, Charlotte and I believe you...The point is Jeremy is safe and you are here."
"Yeah, I am here," Charlotte nodded, pressing her lips together in a straight line, "So, can I see Damon and Jeremy? I kind of missed them, too. Well, Jeremy more. He is less annoying when compared to Damon."
Elena chuckled, the two of them looping their arms together before making their way up the stairs of the motel. It wasn't much, quite cheap if she was honest but it was unnoticeable and according to Elena, Kol would never have the closest thought to look there.
She swung the room's door open and Charlotte noticed the awkward atmosphere when both Jeremy and Damon turned to look at her. Well, Jeremy wasn't staring at her like he wanted to kill her, considering he left town before she did but Damon was another story.
The raven-haired vampire's glare was almost enough to make her turn back and drive to Lakewood but she persisted, starting, "Hi...How are y'all?"
"Hi? For real?" Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Do we have to do this? Like right now?" Charlotte asked, looking from Damon to Elena as though begging the Gilbert girl to intervene.
He crossed his arms over his chest, "Yes, we do."
She pursed her lips together before looking at Jeremy, "Hey, Jer. You look good, happy even. That's great. Missed you so much." It was a quick greeting because her strict mannerisms would suffocate her if she didn't.
Charlotte walked over to Damon, pulling him outside by his arm as she claimed, "Well if it's so necessary, let's not bother them with it."
The two vampires stood a few feet away from their motel room as Charlotte folded her arms together, "Look, you are the last person allowed to come at me with why I left and all that."
"No, I am not," Damon shook his head, "You left, no goodbye, not even a fucking phone call, nothing and you just assume it's okay to roll back in your life as if nothing happened."
"You were going to kill Elijah and every other Original and wake up the next morning to have breakfast with me as if nothing happened," She mimicked, replying as he huffed out, "Yes, Damon. It is okay for me to roll back in my life as if nothing happened because you would have done the same damn thing."
Damon shrugged his shoulders, "Their mother tried to kill them. How are we at fault for being happy that the bad guys are taken care of?"
"Oh, maybe the part where you forgot to include me in all of that," Charlotte raised an eyebrow, mock asking.
He rolled his eyes, stating, "Had we told you, the first thing you would have done is go and prevent that."
"Yes! Because I am a rational person!"
Charlotte expected for him to keep that conversation up before he sucked in a deep breath, replying, "Okay, I am sorry."
"Did you just—"
"Yes, I did," Damon rolled his eyes once again, cutting her off, "And don't even think it's happening again."
"I can't believe my ears," Charlotte chuckled, looking up at the Salvatore, "Damon Joseph Salvatore apologized to me...No, he apologized; that's the huge milestone."
"Don't rub it in, Tweety?"
"Tweety?"
"It's your new nickname," He declared, pulling the petite brunette into his arms.
"You are such a softie."
"Shut up."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte stood outside of the motel room, leaning on the railing as she scrolled through her phone. Elena filled her in about Finn's death, the fact that killing an Original also kills every vampire they had ever turned, and how they were here to find out which Original started their line.
The brunette didn't comment about who killed Finn or why it was so necessary to kill all of the Originals except of course the one who sired them, even though it was obvious that whoever lives will come for them. She chose to be on the sidelines. It was better that way.
She couldn't catch any signal in the motel they were at so the brunette was casually scrolling through her phone's gallery. Charlotte stopped in front of a picture she had taken with Kol last week after successfully parking her new car. She remembered feeling so proud of herself before her finger pondered over the 'trashcan' icon to delete the picture.
Charlotte pursed her lips together before shaking her head and placing her phone in her purse just as Jeremy walked out of the room.
"Hey, where's Elena?"
She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I was preoccupied, maybe she and Damon are somewhere around the corner," Charlotte raised an eyebrow, "Why, what's wrong?"
"Rose found Mary," He answered, shoving his hand in his pockets, "So, do we look for them or what?"
"Yeah, yeah, c'mon," The brunette vampire led the way. They turned around a corner to find Damon and Elena kissing against a pillar. Jeremy's eyebrows almost raised to his hairline as Charlotte cleared her throat.
The moment was over as the two quickly pulled away from each other. Jeremy gave his sister a look, "Elena?"
"Oh my God, Jeremy. I—"
He cut her off, stating, "Rose found Mary. She lives in Kansas."
"Okay then," Damon shrugged his shoulders, walking past Jeremy and Charlotte, "Let's go."
Charlotte rubbed her hands together, "Ah, actually I am not coming."
Elena raised her eyebrows, "What? Why? I thought you were okay with going back with us now..."
"And I am," She nodded, reassuring the Gilbert girl, "I will just get my stuff and meet you at the airport in Virginia?"
"Alright, promise?"
"Promise."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte packed all of her clothes into her duffel bag and reminded herself that it shouldn't hurt, she hadn't known Kol that long. It shouldn't hurt, right? Well, when she was on the move, her mind had no time to process that for a fact the peaceful few moments they had were all just gone.
She threw her duffel bag in the passenger seat and put her key in the ignition, starting the car.
She took in a deep breath. Kol must have had his reasons. Just like Paulina had her reasons, just like Stefan had his reasons. Just like anyone who had ever hurt her or made her doubt her choices. They all have their reasons.
The thing was, Charlotte didn't have to understand each and every reason. She didn't know that before but she did now. People have their reasons and she had hers.
Her phone rang beside her and she picked it up, "Darling, I know I am running late but give me an hour or two—"
"You don't have to, take all of the time you need, Kol," She cut him off, sighing exsaperatedly, "I am not even going to be there."
"What? Why?"
Charlotte answered just as the question left his mouth without hesitation, "I am going back to Mystic Falls, on my way now."
"Woah, woah," He couldn't believe his ears before questioning, "What happened? Did I do something?"
"Yeah, Kol, you did something," Charlotte sucked in a deep breath before stating, "You are in Kansas right now, aren't you? And you were in Denver this morning, yesterday, and two days before—"
"Charlotte, wait, can we not do this phone?" Kol cut her off, asking, "Just stop the car and I will come to talk to you."
"There's nothing to talk about. I have had time to think about this. You did it for your family, I understand," She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, "But I am just so tired of everybody lying to me. You could have just been honest with me."
"Charlotte—"
"Goodbye, Kol."
✵ ✵ ✵
as the writer of this story, I gotta declare that I ship charlena ( charlotte & elena ) more than humanly possible.
char and elena are platonic soulmates rn, we can't deny it