Delilah and Ezra sit on the couch opposite me and Kelsey while there is a silence between as both sides wait for Hayley to join them.
"I think we can start without Hayley. We can start with the stuff she already knows." Delilah starts with while Kelsey and I share a little glance.
"Fine." I agree, "What is it that you want to start with?"
"How about we start with why the fuck you turned off your humanity?!" Delilah demands.
Delilah swearing stuns me and Kelsey as she rarely swears and when she does it is always for a good reason.
I take a moment before answering, "I lost my brother and daughter all in one day. It was just too much so I did the only thing I could think of to do it just rid me of that pain."
Delilah's eyes soften as she takes in my words. "And I am sorry for everything you lost," she says, her voice gentle. "But turning off your humanity wasn't the answer and if you had just come to me and told me how you were feeling, I could have helped you without you flipping that switch."
"I know that now," I reply, my voice barely above a whisper. "But at the time I didn't want to talk about it, about any of it. I just wanted it to stop. I want the constant feeling of guilt and pain that was everywhere I looked to just leave me alone."
Kelsey reaches out and takes my hand. "We understand that you were hurting, but what you did was dangerous. You don't just turn off your humanity and expect everything to be okay. But know how sorry I am about the way I dealt with everything." she says in a firm but understanding tone.
I nod, feeling remorse for my actions. "I know. And I'm sorry for blaming you for a situation I got myself into, it wasn't right."
Delilah leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "So, what made you turn your humanity back on?" she asks, curiosity lacing her words.
Kelsey looks away with guilt before getting up and walking over to the drinks tray in the corner of the room.
"You want the blunt version or the long one?" I ask her but Ezra answers instead, "Blunt."
"Kelsey drugged me a couple times and then with the help of Klaus and Stefan locked me in a cell in the dungeon beneath the compound. They trapped me with rune carvings while forcing me to relive the shitest century of my life, over and over until it became so much that my switch turned itself back."
Delilah's eyes widen in shock as she takes in my words. "That's... intense," she says, clearly at a loss for words. "But I guess it worked."
"It did," I confirm, rubbing my neck as it feels as though claws are digging in there. I know that if turn around that blasted woman will be standing there, ready to drive me out of my goddamn mind.
"Enough about that though!" I dismiss the subject, "What about you two? What happened in those three months since we all were together like this?"
Kelsey returns with a tray of drinks and passes them out to each of us before taking a seat back on the couch. "Well," Delilah begins, taking a sip of her drink. "After everything that happened with you, we decided to take a break from all the supernatural drama. We went on a road trip, just the two of us while Ezra tried to get his amplified emotions under check. We did stop at camps every bloodily full moon so that Ezra could help those having their first change through it."
As Delilah speaks, I can't help but feel envious of their carefree road trip. I had never had the chance to experience such a thing. My life had always been filled with so much supernatural drama that I never had the chance to just enjoy the simpler things in life.
"That sounds nice," I say with a smile.
"Well, you didn't miss much here. Just a bunch of killing, drinking and sadness until Phoebe switched it off." Kelsey tells them.
"The best night we had was actually a part of me and Hayley's plan to get Phoebe to Stefan so that we could knock her out. That was an awesome night." Kelsey says with a smile but it drops and she sighs, looking into her drink, "Too bad that wanker had to be there to ruin those memories." she mutter as she takes another sip of her drink.
"Which wanker?" Delilah asks which makes me laugh while Kelsey grumbles.
"I thought you and him made up on our night out? What happened?" I ask, nudging her with my shoulder.
"First of all, we did 'make-up' I just became tolerant of him for the time." I raise an eyebrow as I give her a look of disbelief and Delilah doesn't seem convinced either but Kelsey shoots us both glares and continues her story, " Get this. In the bathroom of the club, he went on about he didn't tell me he was alive because he was trying to protect me from his bitch of his mother but it turns out what he was doing instead was flirting and charming the Harvest witch girl for who god knows why."
"And you are sure that he wasn't just follow what he is mother was ordering him to do?" Delilah asks to which Kelsey scoffs, "I can't think of any reason Esther's plan would consist of him giving her a brand-new gold bracelet."
"Well, he is a bastard." Ezra comments which makes Kelsey smile at him.
"Wait, what?" I ask, turning my body towards her.
"Yeah, I went with Marcel to get him back here when I saw it. Brand new fucking jewellery." Kelsey answers as she finishes her drink in one gulp.
Marcel, Josh, and Davina are in Marcel's living room, where Davina is in the middle of catching them up on what she's been doing.
"I screwed up, you guys. I was with Kaleb last night, and he took Esther's grimoire when I was asleep."
Josh closes his eyes and sighs before giving Marcel a knowing look while Davina looks horrified at the fact, he had done such a thing.
"I--I'm sorry, I never should have trusted him." Davina stutters out.
"Kol doesn't have the grimoire. Phoebe does." Marcel say which leaves Davina confused and upset. "And Klaus has Kol."
"Wha--? How is that possible?" Davina questions confused.
"D, I'm the one who took him." Josh give Marcel a look, know that is entirely true, "Trust me, we are all safer this way."
"Not Kaleb! Klaus will kill him!" Davina exclaims in distress.
Marcel puts his hand on Davina's shoulder, trying to calm her down.
"His name isn't Kaleb, it's Kol. And Klaus has had a thousand years to kill him, and he hasn't. Even if Klaus wanted too, Phoebe is with them and she won't let him kill Kol. So, worry less about him, and more about yourself. Alright? This guy is not your friend. He wants to use you to get his own way!" Marcel exclaims.
"You don't know him like I do." Davina shouts at Marcel.
"You really think you know him? Okay than did you know while you and Kol have been doing whatever the hell you two were doing, he was trying to win Kelsey over?"
Marcel's words hit Davina like a ton of bricks, making her stagger back a little.
"What?" Davina says softly.
"Yeah, They use to be together back when they both lived in Mystic Falls."
"But Kelsey told me that the man from Mystic Falls died. That she watched him die." Davina says, her voice shaking but Marcel continues to talk as he knows that she needs to know the truth.
"She did. Esther resurrected him. Now he's back, and he's been trying to get Kelsey to trust him again. Don't let him use you, D. He's a manipulator. And you deserve better than that." Marcel says with a stern voice as he places a hand on Davina's shoulder.
Davina takes a deep breath as she feels betrayed and guilty.
I go to question the gold bracelet when I am stopped as Hayley vamps into the room with a freaked and confused look on her face.
"What's wrong, Hayls?" Delilah asks as she stands and grabs her hands, slowly guiding her down onto the couch.
As she does that, I see Marcel walk past the door which peaks my interest as I wonder why he is back.
Hayley swallows and looks at everyone before her eyes settled on me.
"Jackson wants me to keep the promise made by our parents. He wants to marry me." Hayley spills which shocks everyone in the room.
"Jeez. Imagined being married to grumpy forever." Kelsey says which earns my elbow in her ribs.
"Why now?" I ask with curiosity.
"Some unification myth. If I marry him than my ability to control my shift would be passed on to everyone in the pack." Hayley states which sends us all into another shock.
"But I don't know if I can or want to do it. I am hoping you can guys can help me out."
I take a breath as all I really want to say is that she should marry the dude if that was the result as I know that when my daughters return it will be the Crescent pack they will join and having that ability would help them so much but I stop myself. That is a selfish reason to push her into a marriage she is clearly wanting our help with.
"Hayley..." I start and she looks at me, "While back you told me that you thought you were here for a reason, that everything that had happened brought you to the Bayou and back to your pack for a reason. Maybe this is that reason. And although marrying Jackson to save your pack a lifetime worth of pain as they wouldn't have to shift unless they wanted to is a noble reason, don't let it be the only. Take it out of the picture and ask yourself if you can honestly live the rest of your or his life with him and could see yourself loving him than do it. Marry him. But if you can't, is marrying him going to help anyone when you are constant upset over regretting your decision to do it."
"Phoebe is right, Hayley. You need to think about how this will affect you above your pack." Delilah adds.
"But it's my pack, if I can help them than I should." Hayley says.
"You came here, Hayley." Ezra says, "You could have gone to the many people you have befriended in this city about this but instead you came to us when you know that we would makes sure that you take yourself into account when making this decision. You wanted someone to tell you that it's okay to think about yourself when deciding on this."
Hayley looks like she is mulling it over in her head.
"Hayley, you are a sweet girl, and you are being pulled in so many directions right now. We are all here for you and we all want to help you." Delilah says.
She continues to think it over for a moment before nodding her head as a determined, " I am going to do it. I want to do to this." She says.
"Great! You and Del can have joint wedding." Kelsey comments which makes me chuckle softly.
Delilah falls into talking to Hayley about things as I keep wondering what the hell Marcel is here.
"I will be back." I announce as stand from my seat and leave the room, walking in the direction that Marcel had disappeared in.
I walk up the stairs and follow Marcel's voice until I come across him and a shackled Kol in a chair.
"I gotta say, I'm gonna enjoy this! Out of the whole, twisted family, you were the one I liked the least." Marcel says to him and Kol almost seems anxious as he tries to figure a way out of this.
"Yeah, well, there's a pretty young lady who disagrees with that opinion." Kol says smugly, obvious wanting to push Marcel's buttons but Marcel smile at him.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. I may have let the whole Kelsey thing slip to her." Marcel says which makes me laugh quietly.
"That would actually make two woman you have upset with the same actions." I say as I step forward into the room.
Marcel grins at me when he looks over at me while Kol looks a mixture of concern and relieve by my presence.
"Is Kelsey going to come after me if I hurt him to get the information I need?" Marcel asks, slightly concerned.
"No. In fact, if you wanted, she would be more than happy to help." I say as I lean against the doorway.
"That's good to know. I'll see what I can do by myself." Marcel gleams as I look down at Kol, who looks sombre over my words. Kol raises his head and eyes to mine, looking directly into my eyes.
"I meant that night. I didn't and don't want to hurt her, all of this is just a big misunderstanding." Kol tries to explain.
"It's not me you have to convince. I will support whatever the hell Kelsey wants to do. But I have a feeling it going to take a lot of grovelling and probably an apology." I say in return with a shrug.
"How is she doing?" Kol asks, full of sincerity.
"Pissed." I say with a small chuckle, "I think the exact word she used for you was wanker."
I tell Kol, not knowing if Marcel had notified her of his conversation with her.
"I can't blame her. I am a wanker...other than when I'm with her that is." Kol says with some regret.
"I don't know whether to believe you or not but I'll talk to her and get her to hear you out." I say, giving him a small smile before standing off the doorway.
"But you need to remember what you told me that night because you were wrong about that. Kelsey and I never gave up on bringing you back, we just ran out of time." I say before turning to leave but stop and look over at Marcel, "Where is Elijah?"
Marcel shrugs at me, "Don't know."
"I guess I will find him myself." I huff before walking off and towards the ballroom.
I pull out my phone and call Elijah as I walk but it rings for a moment before the call is declined which upsets me more than it should.
I push the doors open and walk in, looking around for a sign of either of my Mikaelson brothers and find Klaus questioning Finn who is still being suspended from the banisters from his restraints.
"Do you even know the truth? That she was barren? And she grew so desperate for a family that she begged one of the most powerful witches in history for help. Her sister, Dahlia. Of course, Dahlia's price was high. She agreed to make our mother fertile, but in exchange, she sought the first-born as sacrifice. Having no other choice, our mother gave away our beloved Freya." Finn shouts out to Klaus and the name Dahlia catches my attention.
"Why is Esther so afraid of Dahlia in the present?" I ask, walking fully into the room and letting the door close behind me.
"How do you know about her?" Finn demands from me as he pulls at his restraints.
"Your mother tried to do a head dive into my mind but instead I took one into hers which offered not a lot but at least some information." I say with a shrug as I stand next to Klaus, looking up at the dangling Finn.
"She was trying to protect you all from Dahlia's curse!" Finn shouts and I raise my brows as Klaus loses his temper and shouts.
"WHAT CURSE?"
"Dahlia demanded the first-born of every generation. Had your child lived, she would have paid the price! And, if anyone had tried to protect her, Dahlia would come and destroy us all." Finn states and Klaus glares up at Finn while I look with interest.
Klaus excuse himself and by excusing himself I mean storming off and out the room. Finn seems almost relieved by his exit, not noticing that I hadn't left with Klaus.
"Hey, Finn!" I call out to him and his eyes move to me with an unimpressed look.
"How's it hanging?" I ask him with a smug smile.
Finn looks at me with a cold glare, clearly not in the mood for small talk.
"I see you're still as charming as ever, Phoebe." he remarks with a hint of sarcasm.
I chuckle, taking a step closer to him. "Oh, come on now, Finn. No need to be so broody."
I pull up a chair and take a seat, sitting down in front of him as a way to show that I am not leaving.
"I do have a question for you. A few actually. But this one just won't leave my head. All you have wanted since I meet you is to live a mortal life. To be able to live and die as nature intended. Yet when given that chance you somehow still managed to screw it up and get involved with us vampires. Why is that Finn?" I ask, looking at him curiously.
"I just want to fix things. I want to free the world of the vampire scum while giving us all a second chance at a better life." He spills and I stare up at him.
"Is that what you truly want? Or what your mother does? You are so use to being under your mother's control, you don't know the difference between what you actually want and what she tells you to want." I say up to him.
Finn stares at me for a moment, his eyes betraying a hint of vulnerability before he suddenly glares at me.
"Fine, don't want to talk about that than let's talk about Dahlia instead." I propose as I sit forward, leaning on with my elbows resting on my thighs.
"Why try kill my child instead of just warning us that Dahlia would come after her?" I ask.
Finn's expression darkens at the mention of Dahlia's name, his anger palpable. "Because warning you wouldn't have been enough. Dahlia is too powerful, even for us. She would have found a way to get to your child and use her for her own purposes. And trust me, you do not want that."
I lean back in my chair, a chill running down my spine at the thought of what Dahlia could do to my child.
"So, what then? Your mother decided to take matters into her own hands and try to kill her instead?" I stand from my chair and walk towards him, "I was perfectly capable of protecting my child from her."
"Phoebe, not even you could take her on!" Finn stresses to me but I give him a look of disbelief.
"I am probably the only one who has the power to rival hers." I state to her.
"But you don't know that! Your magic is different from what everyone knows."
I take a step back and let out a humourless laugh at him, "I have every bloody magic there is! Dark magic, Chaos magic, the Enchantress magic, Siphon magic as well as Ancestral magic if I want. Along with every other magic you can think of. If Dahlia came for my child, I would have been able to protect her." I start to rant, "Instead of just giving a warning and allowing me and Klaus to have a sliver of happiness with our daughter, Esther order her put to death. So, I am going to say this to you once and only once because if I feel like I have to repeat myself, I will show you how not even body jumping could protect you from me. Stop getting in the way of my family."
I start to leave and Finn calls out to me, saying the only thing that he could use to hurt me.
"Just because you play house with Klaus and Elijah and fight alongside them doesn't mean that you are a part of this family. You are a Salvatore, not a Mikaelson. So why don't you stop acting like you one." He states and I close my eyes and clench my hand in anger before walking off.
"Where is Phoebe gone off too?" Delilah asks as she gets up.
"Probably dealing with all the drama around here." Kelsey answers.
"I never got a chance to ask what the hell is going on around here?" Dalilah asks and Kelsey hesitates for a moment.
"Come on... Phoebe promised no bullshit." Delilah informs Kelsey and she lets out a breath.
"Fine, Esther is back from the dead and trying to kill them all along with the vampire race. Mikael is running around somewhere in New Orleans, doing who knows what. Stefan thinks the Gemini coven could have answers about bringing Damon back but refuses to tell Phoebe about it." Kelsey starts to list off which leaves Delilah stunned.
As Kelsey finishes her explanation, Delilah looks at her with wide eyes. "What? Esther is back? Mikael is here?" Delilah repeats, stunned by the revelation.
"And Stefan is keeping secrets from Phoebe?" she adds, incredulous.
Kelsey nods solemnly. "Yeah. It pretty crazy around here."
"I just wish the both of you would have told me this sooner and not deal with it by yourself." Delilah sighs.
"She didn't want to put you or Ezra in danger." Kelsey point out.
"I know but that doesn't mean I like it." Delilah grumbles.
"Like it or not. She is a Mikaelson now. They have their own ways of dealing with things."
Phoebe walks into the courtyard just as Davina is thrown across the hall in front of her, making her take quick stop.
Davina screams as she flies toward a wall, hitting her head so hard her forehead starts to bleed as she rolls over and gets to her feet.
"Such hubris! And from one who bleeds so easily." Klaus shouts after her but Phoebe remains quiet unsure why they are arguing.
"You talk such a big game, but you couldn't even kill Mikael when you had the chance! He was right about you, you know? You're weak." Davina taunts with a dark chuckle which makes Phoebe sigh out, done with all this drama.
Klaus loses his temper and vamp-speeds toward Davina. He grabs her by the hair and pulls her head back so he can bite her neck.
Davina screams in pain, but after he drinks a couple gulps of her blood, he starts to choke and gasp until he eventually falls unconscious. Davina smirks in triumph as she looks at Klaus's body not even realizing that Phoebe is standing close to her.
Tired of everyone coming at her family today, she does the only thought in her mind. Phoebe vamps to her and sinks her fangs into Davina's neck.
As Phoebe takes a few gulps of Davina's blood, she can feel her power coursing through her veins. It's an intoxicating feeling, whatever Davina was doing to turn her blood toxic for Klaus had just made it more appetizing for Phoebe.
Kol grabs Phoebe and pulls her off Davina as for some reason, Davina couldn't use her magic against Phoebe.
Phoebe swallows the mouthful of blood and both Davina and Kol watch as black veins run up Phoebe's neck and across her face until it disappears.
Instead, the dark object that Davina was channelling, knocking Phoebe out it seems as if she absorbed its power as her own.
Phoebe stumbles back as she lets the bloodlust pass with a few blink of her eyes as she tries to ignore her own voice, shouting right in her face.
Phoebe looks over at Klaus and raises her hand before motioning it a couple times before Klaus gasps awake which displeases Davina.
"What did she do to me?" Klaus asks as he stands back on his feet.
"All you need to know is that I beat you. Again." Davina replies.
"And yet, here I stand alive and well." Klaus says smugly while Phoebe mutters, "For now."
"You may have beaten Klaus, but you won't beat me." Phoebe reminds Davina as she reaches her hand forward, using her magic to heal Davina's wounds before walking off, leaving them to deal with their own shit.
I walk into the room where I left Delilah, Kelsey, Ezra and Hayley but only to find Kelsey sitting inside with a drink in her hand.
"Where did the rest of them go?" I ask as I pour myself a drink and join her on the couch.
"Ezra and Hayley went to some wolf meeting and Delilah went with to facility peace." Kelsey tells me as she moves in her seat, turning to the side and laying across the couch with her head in my lap.
I sip from my drink and run my fingers through her hair as I let my mind run.
I couldn't help but think about the power I had just absorbed from Davina's blood. It was almost too much to handle, but at the same time, it was exhilarating. I could feel the energy coursing through me but dark magic like that should have made me sick, not addicted.
Kelsey looks up at me with a curious expression, and I realize I must have been lost in thought for a while.
"What's on your mind, Pheebs?" she asks, concern etched in her features.
"Davina is in the compound. She attacked Klaus." I mutter as I take a sip.
Kelsey snorts in humour but doesn't move, "Why is she even here?" she questions.
"I think she is here for Kol." I reply.
"Well she can have him." Kelsey huffs out as she moves her hand, taking my drink from my hand and drinking it.
"I think that may be a problem." I tell her.
Kelsey raises an eyebrow and takes a sip, "What do you mean?"
"I mean I don't think Kol wants her. When I told him you were pissed, he seemed sincere about the fact that he may have hurt you." I say softly.
Kelsey sits up and looks at me, "What are you trying to say, Phoebe?"
"Talk to him." I say, bluntly.
"Talk to him?" She repeats, taken back by me saying that.
"I am not saying forgive, forget and get back together. I am saying talk to him, shout at him if you want but say your piece and listen to what he has to say before dismissing him completely." I state to her.
Kelsey stares at me for a moment before nodding slowly. "Fine" she huffs before laying back down.
I give her a small smile and run my fingers through her hair once more.
"I want to talk about something but I have to do a spell first." I say to her as I nudge her with my hand.
Kelsey moves and I walk over to a draw and pull out a bundle of sage from it before moving towards the door. I run my hand across the seam of the door, sealing it closed with my hand. I light the sage and start the spell to put up a privacy spell.
I place the burning sage on the table and join Kelsey on the couch and put my head in her lap this time.
"What's up?" Kelsey asks me, running her fingers through my hair soothingly.
"I am thinking of asking Klaus if the girls can join the Crescent pack instead of his birth father's pack." I say.
Kelsey's fingers stop for a moment before she resumes, "Why?" she asks, her voice curious.
"Because if what Hayley is doing works than the girls wouldn't have to shift every full moon if they ever activated their wolf curse. Not to mention at least I know that they would be protected with that pack than some pack I have never meet." I answer.
Kelsey takes a moment to think before responding, "That's a good idea. I think it's worth asking Klaus about it."
I nod in agreement when my phone rings which confuses me. I reach into my pocket and when I see Elijah's name flash across the screen, I feel a knot form in my stomach. I quickly get up and answer the call as I go to unseal the door.
"Elijah! Where the hell are you and why the hell weren't you answering?" I rattle off as I leave the room.
"Phoebe..." Rebekah's voice comes through the phone which stops me in my stride as a cold sense of dread goes down my spine.
"Why are you with Elijah? What happened?" I ask quietly.
"That doesn't matter at the moment. Something is wrong with Elijah. Elijah slaughtered a dozen people, whose only sin was their terrible taste in food. I mean, when have you known him to kill when he could otherwise compel?" Rebekah starts to rant and her words get me moving again and I quickly walk towards the courtyard.
"Your mother's mental torture must affecting him worse than we originally thought." I tell her.
I push the door open and find Klaus quickly. I grab a pencil off the table next to me and throw it at his back. It hits directly in his back and it catches his attention as he turns around to look at me.
I nod my head towards the hallway outside and he obviously sees the dread in my face and quickly vamps outside with me.
I hand him the phone and he looks confuse before speaking into it than listens to Rebekah.
"My phoned must have died. Where is he?" Klaus asks.
"Do you recall where we dined the Christmas after we fled Mikael?" Klaus asks her as his eyes meet mine and I am full of a mixture of different emotions.
Rebekah speaks but Klaus interrupts her, "Go there. Now."
Klaus ends the call and hands me back my phone.
"What the hell is happening, Klaus?" I demand and Klaus looks around full of paroinia.
"Pack each of us a bag and meet me out front in 30 minutes. I will explain everything on the way." Klaus says before storming off upstairs.
As Klaus leaves, I stand there for a moment, still trying to process what had just happened before moving upstairs towards the room.
I grab a couple of bags and put it on the bed and starts packing my essentials, trying to ignore the fear that was creeping up on me.
Why would Elijah be meeting Rebekah?
My mind races with more questions and worry, but Klaus's urgency makes me push it all aside and focus on the task at hand. I throw in a few changes of clothes for each of us, along with the essentials.
As I go to close my closet, I pause and I pull out another outfit for Rebekah as well as my blades and daggers that aren't on my body.
I zip up the bags and walk downstairs, making sure to avoid all the people running around the compound.
I stand outside in the shadows until Klaus comes walking out, looking around for me. I step out the shadows and hand him his bag, trying to keep my hands from shaking.
"Let's go," Klaus says, walking down the street.
"What is going on, Klaus?! Where are we going?" I question.
Klaus stops and turns around to me, looking breathlessly happy.
"To see our daughters." He says with a smile on his face.
I am stunned for a moment.
"Really?" I ask as I feel myself holding my breath.
"They are waiting for us." Klaus says before pulling open a car door for me as a big smile breaks out across my face and I quickly and gladly get into the car.
Stefan opens the door to the Salvatore crypt and steps inside. His eyes are sad from as he sighs and takes a swig of bourbon straight from the bottle. Stefan looks around the crypt and lets out a bitter laugh.
"I guess this happening than, I'm gonna talk out loud to a... a crypt filled with my dead family." Stefan stops and looks over the crypt, "Everyone but you, Damon. Because wherever you are, it's not here."
Stefan moves forward and takes a seat on the small bench in the middle of the crypt.
"I gotta say, Damon, I'm not doing so great without you. Neither is Phoebe. Turns out it took losing you to show us how much we need you. But now you're gone, she's left with nothing and I can't help her because I am not you." Stefan pauses and takes another swig of bourbon, "I keep trying to start over, but... anywhere I go doesn't feel right. Because I'm lost, brother. I'm lost."
Stefan gets up angrily and tosses the bottle of Bourbon at the wall when suddenly, a hand catches the bottle before it can hit the wall.
It's Damon.
Stefan's eyes widen at him.
"So what? Gone a couple of months, you think it's okay to waste a perfectly good bottle of bourbon?" Damon asks him before taking a swig from the bottle.
Stefan stares, shocked, not quite believing his eyes at the sudden appearance of this dead brother.
"Damon?" Stefan asks, his voice wavering slightly.
Damon gives him a smirk, "Yep. In the flesh, little brother."
"How am I seeing you right now?" Stefan asks.
Damon slowly walks toward Stefan, his face serious while Stefan is frozen, eyes wide and red, rimmed with tears.
"It's a hell of a long story, brother, but... I'm back. I'm back." Damon says, putting a hand on Stefan's shoulder.
Stefan can hardly believe it, but he doesn't waste a second before he wraps his arms tightly around Damon, pulling him into a bear hug.
A tight one and Damon wraps his arms around Stefan.
"I'm back, Stefan..." Damon mutters again.
Stefan holds tight onto Damon, eyes scrunching shut in repressed emotion.
Damon pulls back and smiles at Stefan who also breaks out in a smile as he looks over his brother.
"Now what were you saying about our sister?" Damon asks as he takes another swig.
Stefan takes a deep breath, his eyes flickering with a mix of sadness and worry.
"A lot has happened since you died, Damon. A lot of bad things." Stefan sighs and sits back down on the bench.
Damon sits down next to him and offers him the bourbon bottle back which Stefan happily takes.
"Start from the beginning, brother," Damon says, his voice low and comforting.
Stefan takes a long swig of the bourbon before starting to tell the tale of what had happened in the time after Damon had died.
He tells Damon about the fight that happened New Orleans with the wolves and witches, how Phoebe had lost her babies and how it seems to rip her and the Mikaelson brothers away from each other. How she had turned off her humanity switch as well as how Stefan, Kelsey, Hayley and Klaus stuck her in the cell to force her switch back.
Damon listens intently, his face growing dark as Stefan tells him about all the chaos and heartbreak that had occurred in his absence. He takes the bourbon bottle back from Stefan and takes a long swig himself before handing it back.
"That's a lot to take in," he says, his voice heavy with emotion. "Babies?"
"Twins. They looked just like her." Stefan says with a faint smile.
Damon nods, a small smile spreading across his lips as he takes another swig of bourbon.
"I can't believe I missed all of that," he mutters, shaking his head. "But what about Elena? How's she doing?"
Stefan's smile fades as he looks down at the ground. "Yeah, about Elena..."
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Reunion with the twins to follow! So excited!
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