We've been laying like this for about an hour and a half now. I'm about to point out another cloud to my family when I suddenly hear a stick snap. I shoot up onto my feet and tense up. "Who's there?" I say with a tone that sends chills down my family's spines.
I hear leaves crunch and more sticks snap, along with the heavy thuds of someone walking through the forest around us. The shadow of a figure suddenly appears at the edge of the tree line. I hear more thuds and everyone around me tenses up as they start to hear it too.
A well built male comes walking out of the forest. His face is covered with a black cap that I know all too well. My face starts to be taken over with a shit-eating grin. "Benny!" I say as I run to my best friend.
The vampire laughs as he picks me up into a giant bear hug. "What are you doing here?" I say as he puts me back on the ground.
"I ain't allowed to pay a visit to my best gal?" Benny asks with a fake pout. I smack his shoulder and give him another hug.
"Stop that! You know you're always welcome here." I say.
I turn around and see all of the men in my family gritting their teeth and glaring at Benny. "Nikkol? You wanna explain?" Stefan asks.
"Oh, right! Guys this is Benny Lafitte, Benny this is my family." I say as I walk Benny over.
Damon vamps in front of Benny, grabs the collar of his shirt and slams his back into a tree. "How do you know Nikkol?" He grits his teeth.
Benny laughs. "You must be Damon. Pleasure to meet ya brother." Benny tips his cap down and nods in a polite manner. "DAMON! LET HIM GO!" I scream.
I start to get angry when Damon doesn't let go of Benny. I grit my teeth. "Damon. I said. Let. Him. Go." He listens this time and lowers Benny back to the ground. I run up to Benny and give another hug to make sure he's okay. "Are you okay?" I ask him.
"Darlin', your uncle ain't gon' hurt me." He chuckles and ruffles my hat a little, being careful not to mess up my hair.
"Nikkol? Who is that?" Bonnie asks.
I turn around to face my family. "I told you, this is Be-" My dad cuts me off.
"Yeah, his name is Benny, we get that? We mean, how do you know him?" I roll my eyes.
"He's my best friend from Carencro." I tell my family.
"This is your vampire bestie from Louisiana?" Jeremy asks skeptically. I answer him with a nod.
Jeremy glances down to both of Benny's hands and then back up to me. "If he's a vampire then where's his daylight ring?"
"There are other breeds of vampire besides the one you know. There's a lot out there that none of you know about. I'll tell you about it later but for right now, all you need to know is that Benny isn't the same breed of vampire as you guys." I say.
"Have you eaten today?" I ask Benny. He shakes his head no. I walk up to the cooler and grab a bag of blood for Benny. I grab a water bottle and squeeze the blood into it, then I throw the bag back into the cooler and hand the bottle to Benny.
"Thanks darlin'." He says with an appreciative smile on his face. I nod at him and we sit down against a tree next to each other.
"So how's life in Carencro?" I ask Benny.
"Not bad. How's your search goin'?"
I blink a few times and then look at him like he's crazy. "Did you hit your head in that forest or did you just fail to notice everybody here?" I ask him, nodding my head towards my biological family who are still trying to figure out the second clue.
Benny looks over at them and his eyes widen. "Do yo-" I cut Benny off.
"I'm handling it. And before you ask, no they don't know. I've been 'helping' them figure stuff out so they don't suspect anything. And they think I'm a full witch." Benny chuckles
"Well if you need any help..." He starts. 'I know, Benny. I'll tell you if something happens." I say with a smirk.
We sit in silence for a minute until I remember something about the last time we saw each other. "Hey, have you talked to Elizabeth at all?" I ask.
"Yeah, we sorted things out. She knows everythin' now." I pull my knees to my chest and put a hand on Benny's shoulder. "How is she dealing with all of it?"
"Surprisingly well. I mean, you saw the way she reacted at Guidry's. You would think she would be scared of me, but it's like..." Benny pauses.
"She knew all along." I finish for him.
"Yeah. You should come visit sometime. We could always use an extra set of hands." I chuckle
"Maybe next summer. School just started last week so I have to help where I can." I say with a smirk.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I didn't just come here to visit. I'm workin' on a case with some friends." I furrow my brows.
"Since when do you hunt?" Benny shrugs his shoulders at my question.
"I started helpin' out a pal and his friends 'bout a month after ya left town. We've been workin' together ever since. They're drivin' to town from Wyoming, so they'll be here in about a day or so."
I give Benny a confused look. "You keep referring to these people as your friends. What are their names?
"Um, about that..." Benny scratches the back of his neck like he's nervous. "I'm not sure about it, but I think a few of 'em might be your soulmates." I freeze up.
Soulmates. The people who are supposedly meant to love you for eternity. They see past all your flaws and mistakes and accept you for who you are. They're your other half and they'll stay with you till the end of the line.
You can accept the bond you share with your soulmate. But you can also reject it. There are two stages to complete the bond if you choose to accept it. Firstly, you obviously have to accept it. The second stage is a little more complicated. To put it simply, you have to do "it". Once you accept the bond, you can feel any emotions the other person feels, as well as physical pain.
Everyone has a soulmate. Or in my case, soulmates. I was born with three soulmarks on my body. If your soulmate dies, the mark will fade from your skin until, eventually, it's like it was never there. I should know. It's happened to me multiple times. But somehow the same exact marks always come back in the same places. I've had theories on why it happens to me so much. One of them is that they're immortal, like me. Possibly a vampire. Another one is that they're hunters like my uncle Jeremy. Jeremy has died so many times and always comes back to life. The final theory is that they have a powerful witch that helps them. Someone like Bonnie.
Like I said before, you can either accept or reject your soulmate. In my case, I have no idea what I'll do. I've always wanted to know my soulmates, but I doubt they will ever accept me once they know about me. I mean, who could ever love a monster like me? After everything I've gone through. The shit I've done. I'm screwed up. I don't even understand how my friends and family love me. I don't deserve any of it.
I'm released from my thoughts when I feel Benny's hand on my shoulder. "You okay darlin'?"
I look up at Benny with a solemn expression on my face. "Yeah." I lie. He furrows his brows at me before his phone starts to ring.
He pulls the device out of his pocket and answers the call. "What's up brotha'?"
I start eavesdropping on the conversation. "Hey, Benny. Are you in Mystic Falls yet?" I hear a deep, raspy voice on the other end of the call that sends chills down my spine.
"Yeah, I'm just catchin' up with a friend that lives here. Might stay the night here if they let me." Benny glances at me, questioningly. I nod, telling him that he can stay here until his friends get here.
"Okay, they said I can stay. Where are you guys?"
"Just drove into Clementsville, Kentucky. We should get to the motel around nine tonight." Benny nods.
I hear four voices in the background of the call arguing. "Guys, shut up! I'm on the phone here!" The first voice yells.
"Sorry about that Benny. You know how they are." Benny chuckles.
"No worries, brotha'." He says.
"If you tell us your friend's address we can pick you up in the morning." The man suggests.
"Yeah that'd be good."
"What's the address?"
"Salvatore Boarding School. It's not hard to miss." I tell Benny so he can tell his friend.
"The Salvatore Boardin' School. My friend said it's not hard to miss." I stop eavesdropping at this point and blast some music through my speaker. I play my rock playlist. I run over to my cousins and sisters and we all start dancing and jumping up and down.
I hear Benny laughing and the person he's talking to compliments my taste in music. When that song is over more rock music starts to play. Eventually the rest of my family joins in on the dancing and the only ones left not dancing are Benny and the Mikaelsons. The Mikaelsons are just staring at us and laughing. Mostly everyone is looking at me. No one besides Benny has ever seen me let loose like this before.
For the first time in a long time, there's a genuine smile on my face that actually reaches my eyes. After about 30 minutes of dancing I look over to Benny and see that he's still on the phone. "Hey, Benny-boy! You gonna dance with us or what!?" I shout over the music as I continue to dance.
"A-are you with a girl?" The man on the other end of the call asks Benny.
"That was my friend. Hold on Nik! I'll be there in a second!" He shouts back over the music.
"Sorry 'bout that brotha'."
"It's good. Your friend sounds like she's having fun." I keep dancing while I eavesdrop so Benny doesn't think I'm being weird.
"Yeah. She doesn't get too very often. She's been through some pretty tough shit. This is actually the first time I've seen her smiling like she is now in a long time." Benny says with a smirk.
"You sound proud." The man comments. "I am. Nikkol's like a little sister to me. She's finally startin' to work out her life. She's been carryin' everyone around her on her shoulders since she was a week old. And some of the things she's been through... man. She's a tough gal." The man on the other end of the call chuckles.
"She sounds like it. Well hopefully we'll get to meet her when we pick you up tomorrow morning. I'll let you two catch up." Benny nods.
"Thanks brotha'." Benny takes the phone away from his ear and hangs up, stuffing the phone back in his pocket. He runs over to me and lifts me up in the air, spinning me around.
I squeal and laugh. "Benny, put me down!" I say with a smile. He does as I say, knowing what will happen if he doesn't listen. Benny then joins in on the dancing which leaves just the Mikaelsons.
After about another hour or so of dancing, we all make it back to the school building and go up to my dorm, which now that I think about it, is more of a house inside of a mansion. I mean, it has everything that one would typically need in a house. It has multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room. That's just the basics though. My dorm has so much more than that. To be fair, it used to be the attic.
Anyways... When we all get to the door to my dorm Enzo tries to open the door, only to find it locked. He turns around and looks at me, annoyed. I fish the key out of my bag and unlock the door. Once the door is open, I put the key back in my bag and run straight to my giant bean bag. I dive into it and get comfortable and Benny comes over to sit next to me while everyone else grabs a seat around the living room.
Everyone is staring at Benny and I can tell it's making him uncomfortable. "Okay! Anyone up for an icebreaker?" I break the silence and everyone looks at me instead. Benny lets out a breath that he's been holding for who knows how long.
"Sure. How about Never Have I Ever?" Benny nods. Damon gets beers out for everyone including me, my sisters and cousins. All the adults in the family drank at our age. I stole some of Damon's bourbon when I was 12 and my sisters and cousins followed my example and started drinking occasionally. Our parents gave up on trying to stop us a long time ago.
"Okay, who wants to go first?" I ask.
"I'll go." Caroline volunteers. Everyone nods. "Okay, never have I ever killed someone." Everyone but my sisters and cousins take a sip.
"Stefan, you go next." Caroline says.
"Never have I ever gone skydiving." Benny and I both take a drink.
"You guys have actually been skydiving? I just said something random." Stefan looks at me with a shocked expression on his face.
Benny and I nod and Stefan shakes his head and scoffs. "Whatever, Damon you're next."
"Never have I ever lost a fight." Everyone takes a sip from their beer but me. The Mikaelsons all look at me in shock for like the tenth time today. "I'm not even going to question it." Kol says as he shakes his head.
"Elena." Damon ques Elena for her turn. "Never have I ever given someone stitches." Elena and I both take a sip.
"Elena, you're the obvious one since you're a doctor. Nikkol, when have you ever given anybody stitches? And how do you even know how?" Freya asks.
"Well, when I was a toddler I would go to work with Elena because she would take me and Stefanie sometimes. While Stefanie was usually playing I would watch Elena give people stitches because I was fascinated with it for some reason. And as for when I've given someone stitches..." I form my lips into a tight line and look at Benny.
"Yeah... My breed of vamps can't heal ourselves like yours can. I've gotten hurt a few times when Nikki was around and she stitched me up." Benny says.
I scoff. "It was more than a few times. You cut yourself at Guidry's like every other day, dude." Benny and I both laugh.
Elena looks at me with a proud expression on her face and ques Stefanie to go next. "Never have I ever started a prank war that got out of hand." Stefanie smirks. Damon, Enzo, Stefan and I all take a sip and laugh.
Isaac goes next. "Never have I ever driven a motorcycle." Everyone in the room looks at me as I take a sip of my beer.
"I feel targeted." I say with a fake pout. Everyone in the room laughs. Once everyone stops laughing, Abby takes her turn.
"Never have I ever snorted a drink out of my nose while laughing." I laugh and look at Benny as he takes a big sip of his beer. All of the girls in the room but me also take a sip. Everyone but the people who took a sip start laughing.
Bonnie goes next. "Never have I ever threatened to kill someone in this room." Everyone in the room except for Benny, my sisters, cousins and Hope takes a sip.
"Who have you threatened to kill, Nikkol?" Davina asks me.
"She threatened to kill all of us before you got here if we touched her bag while she was going to the bathroom." Abby says.
Benny looks over at me and signs a question. 'Do you still have the weapons?' He signs. I nod in response.
"Remind me to never touch the bag." Kol says with wide eyes.
"Okay, moving on. Never have I ever played an instrument." Enzo says. My sisters, cousins and I all take a sip along with Enzo.
"Nikkol, you play instruments? Can you show us?" Elijah asks. My sisters and cousins look at me.
"What?" I ask.
"We've been keeping the secret since you were seven.. They know the rest of us can sing and play." I sigh and nod, accepting the fact that I have to show my family that I sing and play instruments.
"Follow me." I say as I get up. I walk through the halls of my home with everyone following behind me. We finally reach the right door and I fish my keys out of my bag.
"Why are we going in here? You always keep this room locked." My dad asks.
"Do you want me to show you or not?" I snap accidentally, revealing the slightest hint of my accent.
"Sorry. Just, don't question it." I say as I unlock the door.
I lead everyone into the room and turn around to see everyones' reactions. My sisters and cousins head straight to their instruments that are kept here so they can demonstrate their musical abilities.
Lizzie runs to her violin. Stefanie runs to her drums. Abby runs to her bass guitar. Josie runs to her synthesizer. Isaac runs to his grand piano. I walk over to my acoustic guitar. We all sit down in our chairs around the room and take turns performing.
Stefanie goes first and plays the drums to 'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC. Then, Lizzie plays 'Flashlight' by Jessie J. on her violin. Next, is Abby who plays 'Come Together' by The Beatles on her bass guitar. Then, Josie plays 'Without Me' by Halsey on her synthesizer. Next, Isaac plays 'Don't Start Now' by Dua Lipa on the grand piano.
Last but not least, it's finally my turn. I pick up my guitar and start to play 'Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor. When I'm done playing everyone but my sisters, cousins and Benny stare at me.
Isaac walks over to the table where we have our cellos set up. "You play cello as well?" Elijah asks.
"Are you kidding? She plays every instrument in the room." Stefanie says.
"Which song should we play guys?" Isaac asks my sisters and cousins.
They all look at each other and smirk, which tells us exactly what song to play. "Wait, before you start, why are there so many bows on the table?" Klaus asks.
"Just watch." Josie says. Isaac and I take that as our que to start playing.
We start off by playing some classical music. All of the Mikaelsons seem to be enjoying it. Once we've been playing with the classical stuff for a while, we transition over to 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC.
Everyone looks shocked at first but then they all start to enjoy it. When we're done playing, we both throw our bows on the table so I can restring them later.
"Never have I ever seen anyone play the cello like that!" Jeremy shouts and everyone takes a sip of their beers that they brought with them.
"Any other secret rooms you wanna tell us about Nikki?" Damon asks. I shake my head no and he rolls his eyes.
"Everyone back to the living room!" I yell.
Benny and I run back to the bean bag and plop into it. "It's your turn Jo." I say to Josie. She nods in response. "Never have I ever gone a week without sleeping." I take a huge sip of my beer. The Mikaelsons all look at me in shock.
"How?" Hope asks. I bring out my sarcasm. "Perks of having insomnia." I give a weak smirk. Benny rubs my back and my family all look at the ground with frowns.
"You have anorexia and insomnia?" Hayley asks. I scoff. "That's not even half of it."
"What's the longest you've gone without sleeping?" Klaus asks.
I take a deep breath before answering, preparing myself for the scolding from my family. Not even they know about this. They know I'm able to go months at a time without sleeping, but not this long. "18 months." Everyone looks at me with wide eyes and mouths gaping.
Tears escape my familys' and Benny's eyes. "Nikkol..." My dad starts.
"Don't. I don't want or need your pity. Just leave it alone." I say. Shockingly, everyone listens and drops the subject for now. "Lizzie, your turn." She wipes her tears away and nods.
"Never have I ever been drunk." Everyone in the room but me takes a sip of their beer. Klaus looks at me in question. "You've never been drunk?" I shake my head no.
"Anyone here that's not in your family can testify." I say. My dad, Damon, Enzo, Stefan and Jeremy all glare at me. I just smirk in return. "Why are you glaring at her?" Marcel asks.
"Because we can definitely testify. When she was twelve, she stole all the alcohol from our houses and drank it in two days. And we all had multiple stashes." Benny just busts out laughing at Jeremy's response.
"Okay, you've told me basically everythin' there is to know about you, but I've never heard about that before!" Benny says, still laughing.
"It's not funny. She stole my favorite bourbon." Damon pouts. Benny just laughs even harder.
"Hey! I bought all of you ten bottles of bourbon after. As well as a shit ton of other booze."
"Wait, so she drank all that in two days and has never gotten drunk?" Davina asks in shock.
"None of us could ever figure out why, but no. For some reason Nik's not able to get drunk." I shrug and wiggle my eyebrows at Damon and Enzo.
"No! Nuh-uh! No way!" Damon yells.
"Just because you can't get drunk doesn't mean you do it again. Even though you buy better bourbon afterwards." I laugh at Enzo's statement.
"Ha! You admit it! I have better taste than you!" I get up and do a victory dance, making everyone laugh. "I've been waiting to hear those words for years!"
"Sit your ass down and stop bragging!" Damon yells.
"Aw, did someone's feelings get hurt?" I squat down to my uncle's level to see him with an angry pout on his face.
Damon looks up at me and shoves me back onto my bean bag. I laugh even harder. "Don't worry princess, I won't steal your precious bourbon anytime soon." I say with a smirk.
"Thank Go- Wait a minute! What do you mean anytime soon?" Damon catches on to what I said and I ignore him.
"Dad? It's your go." I say and my dad looks at me with wide eyes because I let some of my accent loose.
I look around the room to see if anyone was paying attention to the accent. My whole family, along with Benny is staring at me. The Mikaelsons are just looking around the room, admiring the artwork on the walls.
"Who made all of the artwork?" Elijah asks. My whole family looks at me and Elijah takes the hint. "Well done, Nikkol." I nod in response to the compliment.
"Wait, you did all of this?" Hope asks in shock. I nod. "Huh. So, I'm guessing you're the famous artist who did all the stuff around the school?"
"Really, Dad? Famous?"
"What? I'm a proud dad!" Everyone laughs. I just roll my eyes. "Never have I ever wanted to kill someone in this room." Everyone but Benny and Hope take a sip of their beer. Everyone rolls their eyes.
Benny looks around the room confused. "Am I missin' somethin'?" Benny knows about why my family hates the Mikaelsons, but I've never told him about what happened between everyone all those years ago. "We'll explain later Benny." I say. He nods in response and we all move on.
Hope takes that as her que. "Never have I ever felt like an outsider." Hope, Benny, Klaus, Kol and I all take a sip of our beers. Benny and I hug each other, knowing why the other feels that way. My family looks at us and smirks. I can see that they're starting to accept Benny as a member of the family like I already have.
"Mom, it's your turn." Hope says to Hayley. My biological mother nods in response.
"Never have I ever met my soulmate." There it was again. That word that I don't know how to feel about. Everyone but my sisters, cousins and I take a sip.
Hayley looks over at Elijah and nods, telling him that it's his turn. "Never have I ever been to Canada." The whole Mikaelson family, Benny and I all take a sip.
"You've been? What's your favorite part?" Elijah asks Benny and I.
"Well mine is Niagara Falls." I roll my eyes at Benny's answer because of how cliche it is.
"I have several. I like the Art Gallery of Ontario, Maligne Canyon, Whistler Blackcomb, Lake Minnewanka, Emerald Lake, Lake Louise, Capilano Suspension Bridge Park, Takakkaw Falls, Cape Breton Highlands National Park... That's only a few though." I say with a shrug.
"In other words she likes Nature and Art." Benny translates for me and I roll my eyes.
"I've been to Canada like a hundred times and I don't think I've ever heard of half of those places." Kol says.
"How many times have you been?" Rebekah asks.
"Only once. Benny and I went with his great grand-daughter for a few months. We went all over and I kinda developed a little bit of an accent. It comes out every now and then."
All of the Mikaelsons nod. "Brother?" Elijah says to Klaus. Klaus takes his turn. "Never have I ever saved someone in this room." I have half of my beer left so I just go ahead and finish it off. I've saved Benny and my family too many times. When I'm Nocte angelus I only go after people who are associated with the Mikaelsons in some way. Most of them usually want to kill them. So I've saved pretty much everyone in this room.
I get up and walk to the kitchen, throwing the empty bottle in the trash as I make my way to the fridge. I grab a new beer and walk back to my spot. I open the beer with my magic and sit down. "Rebekah? It's your turn." I say as I cross my legs under myself.
"Never have I ever been impaled by a pocket staff." Rebekah tries to stifle a laugh as Kol glares at her and takes a drink. Everyone laughs.
"Marcellus, I believe it's your turn." Elijah says.
"Never have I ever lost something really important." Everyone in the room takes a drink, but my sisters and cousins. "Moving on... Never have I ever been used." Davina, and I both take a sip of our beers. Benny looks at me knowing exactly why I did. "Kol, you're next." Davina says to her husband.
"Never have I ever lost someone I cared about." Everyone in the room takes a drink except for my sisters and cousins. Tears roll down all of the Mikaelsons' cheeks. My face goes void of any emotion as I stare off into space.
I'm snapped out of my daze when Benny puts his hand on my shoulder. I lean back and Benny pulls me into a hug against his chest. The Mikaelsons all wipe the tears from their faces.
"Never have I ever died." Everyone but Lizzie, Josie, and Davina take a drink.
My family stares at Benny, waiting for him to go. Benny looks over to me for help because he's uncomfortable. I laugh at him as Damon starts to glare.
"Nikki, they're staring at me. Help." He mumbles in my ear. I elbow him in his ribs and he grunts in pain.
"Never have I ever sacrificed something for someone." Benny says. Everyone takes a drink of their beer. Benny looks down at me waiting for me to take my turn.
"Never have I ever lost a sparring match." Benny and the rest of my family groan and all finish off their beers. The Mikaelsons all laugh. My family and Benny throw away their beers as the Mikaelsons all finish theirs off and throw the bottles away.
When everyone sits back down they notice that my beer is still three quarters of the way full and look at me in shock. "Is that your second beer?" Hope asks me. I nod.
"What?" I ask the Mikaelsons as they all stare at me. My family and Benny laugh.
"Darlin' show them the trick." Benny says.
"Whatever." I say as I roll my eyes. I tip my head back all the way and down the rest of the beer in two seconds.
The Mikaelsons all look at me in shock for like the hundredth time today. "I'm not even surprised anymore." Marcel says, making me laugh.
My family laughs at the Mikaelsons' reactions. I check the clock on the wall. We've been playing this game for hours. It's 6:45 p.m..
"Guys, who wants dinner?" I ask everyone. Everyone checks the clock like I did and nods their heads.
"Is pizza good?" I ask again. Everyone nods.
"I can't even remember the last time we had pizza." Davina says.
"Well then, you're in luck because Nikkol makes the best pizza around." Bonnie says.
"Everyone good with pep and cheese?!" I yell back as I grab the ingredients I need to make the pizzas from around my kitchen.
It takes me about 20 minutes to make all the dough. I preheat the ovens to the right temperature and start spreading the dough. Once I've gotten all of the dough into the pizza shapes, I spread the homemade sauce all over them. When that's done I spread cheese on all of them and place pepperoni on top of half of them.
The ovens all beep at the same time, signaling that they're done heating up. Benny walks into the kitchen as I'm grabbing a couple pans to put in the oven. "Need some help darlin'?" He asks.
"Sure. Put the ones with pepperoni in the ovens on the right." Benny listens to my instructions and then goes back to the living room.
Once I've finished putting the pizzas in the ovens, I set the timers and start cleaning up the mess on the countertops. I put all of the unused ingredients back where they belong, then I clean all of the flour off of the island. I wipe all of the surfaces down and get stuff out to set the table.
I adjust the tablecloth and then start putting plates, bowls and utensils at each seat. I then put cups and glasses to the side of each plate and get a variety of alcohol out and set it on the cabinet off to the side.
I make my way back to the kitchen and get vegetables out to make a salad. I wash all of the vegetables and then chop them to the right sizes. I put all of the ingredients into a giant bowl when I'm done, and toss the salad with some tongs. I set the salad bowl in the center of the dining room table and then get different salad dressings out along with some ranch and ketchup. Stefanie and Isaac like to put weird things on their pizza and no one has ever questioned it. (A/N : I'm from Ohio, it's a pretty normal thing to put ketchup and ranch on pizza here.)
Just as I'm finished getting everything set up for the family dinner, the ovens all beep at the same time. "Someone help get the pizzas!" I yell into the living room. Damon, Enzo and Stefan all come in to help. I put potholders on the table and my uncles place a pizza on each of them.
We start out with two cheese and two pepperoni pizzas on the table. "Put the rest in the warming drawers." I tell the boys. They listen and place the pizzas in the warming drawers. I grab a pizza cutter and slice the ones on the table. Then I grab the pitcher from the cabinet and fill it with ice water. I place the pitcher on the table next to the salad.
"DINNER IS READY!" I yell. Everyone comes into the dining room and makes their plates. Everyone fills their cup with water and their glass with some form of alcohol. Once everyone is sitting at the table they all start eating. I make my plate with one slice of pepperoni pizza and a bowl full of salad. I fill my cup with water and my glass with bourbon. Then I start eating my pizza.
I'm used to not eating much because of my anorexia so I have to eat slowly when I do. It takes me about 15 minutes to eat my pizza. I take a five minute break before I move onto my salad. By the time I move onto my salad, everyone else is getting seconds. I eat my salad even slower than my pizza because there's a lot more of it. I'm about halfway through my salad when everyone else finishes their seconds.
"That was the best pizza I've ever had." Rebekah says in satisfaction.
"It's better than a Chicago deep dish." Kol says. My family just laughs at them, having had my pizza a million times.
I smirk as I take another bite of my salad. "Nikkol, what recipe do you use?" Elijah asks.
"I make everything from scratch except for the cheese and pepperoni." I say as I take a sip of water.
"Are you serious?" Hayley asks in shock, to which I nod.
"She has a garden in one of the rooms up here. She grows all her own produce." My dad says.
I roll my eyes and continue to eat my salad. When I'm finished I grab a bin from the cabinet and start collecting everyone's dishes. When I get to my drinks I down both of them and then put the cups in the bin. Now the only things left are everyone's glasses.
I take the bin into the kitchen and start rinsing everything off before putting it in the dishwashers. Once everything has been put in the dishwashers, I rinse and dry off the bin and then put it back in the cabinet in the dining room. "What happened to all of the dishes?" Isaac asks.
"It's this thing called cleaning. You should try it some time." I say. Bonnie, Enzo and Abby all give me a look of thanks.
"Nikki. How much did you eat?" Damon asks.
"A slice of pep and a bunch of salad." He nods at my answer.
"Everything good?" Stefan asks. I nod hesitantly. Sometimes if I haven't eaten anything in a while and then eat a lot all of a sudden, I'll get sick and won't be able to keep anything down. That's why I have to eat slowly. That way my stomach will have a little time to process things.
"You sure?" My dad asks. I nod again. "I'll be fine. I just need some time to process everything." I say.
"Just make sure you take it easy for a while. No jumping off of your loft or anything." My dad says. I nod once again.
I walk back to the living room and sit in the corner of the conversation pit. I grab my sketchbook from my bag and start drawing. Not five minutes later I get a text. I put my sketchbook away and fish my phone out of my bag. I sigh at the text. Looks like Nocte angelus is coming out tonight.