The morning of graduation, rock music blasted through the Salvatore Boarding House. In the parlor, Stefan was sitting on the couch, bobbing his head to the music while Lexi and Mallory were dancing nearby. All three of them were drunk out of their mind.
"Damon, help me celebrate my seventeenth high school graduation," Stefan suddenly spoke up, causing Mallory to turn to see Damon walking in.
Mallory groaned, rolling her eyes when he turned off the music. "Hey. You remember Lexi, don't you?" She asked Damon, smirking as she glanced between them, "I mean, I'm told that you were the one to kill her, were you not?"
"Lexi. Back from the dead," Damon spoke up in an uneasy tone, "Goodie."
Just then, Lexi sped over to Damon, grabbing him in a chokehold. She pinned him to a nearby wall and Mallory smirked, amused by the sight. "What's up, buzz kill?"
"Stefan, Mal, you just gonna sit there and let her enact her ghostly revenge?" Damon managed to get out as he turned to Mallory and Stefan, who were smiling in utter amusement.
"You reap what you sow, buddy," Stefan replied, causing Mallory to let out a loud laugh. He was always more fun when Lexi was around.
"Let's be very clear," Lexi began to speak to Damon in a stern tone, "Whatever time I have left here, I sure as hell don't plan on wasting on you. You got me?"
"Yeah," Damon groaned in pain, "Got ya."
Finally, Lexi released Damon, which caused him to gasp in pain while Lexi casually made her way over to Stefan and Mallory.
"So if you and Ric and little Gilbert are all flesh-like and real-seeming, that means something went horribly wrong when Bonnie tried to put that veil up. And here you three are, having dance party USA," He explained, an annoyed look on his face.
"What else would we be doing?" Mallory asked, scoffing loudly.
"No, no, Damon's right. How selfish of us to be indulging in these precious moments with our formerly dead best friend. We should be sacrificing our own happiness for the good of others, right?" Stefan explained in a sarcastic tone before turning to Mallory, "You know, I should be upstairs grooming my hero-hair."
"You should," Mallory nodded as she responded sarcastically.
"Are you drunk?" Damon asked as he eyed Stefan suspiciously.
"I don't know, Mom, am I?" Stefan replied, causing Mallory to laugh in amusement as she was handed the bottle of bourbon.
Before she could take a sip, though, Damon had snatched the bottle from her. "Well, I guess that's one way to celebrate our supernatural apocalypse," He commented, taking a swig from the bottle, "Now, care to hazard any guesses on what the hell went wrong?"
"I don't know and honestly, I don't care," Mallory answered as she rolled her eyes.
"I heard you took care of your original boyfriend when he tried to kill Elena," Damon replied and turned to her suspiciously, "What'd you do with him?"
"He'll be back sooner or later, but I don't really care what he does. He's not my problem anymore," Mallory admitted and shrugged her shoulders.
She stood up from her seat and walked away, trying to hide her saddened look.
_____
By the time Mallory had returned to the boarding house, it seemed as though she had come at the most perfect time. A vampire hunter stood before Damon, on the verge of killing him.
Mallory appeared behind the hunter, ripping his heart out without a care in the world. She sighed dramatically, staring down at the heart she held in her hand before she dropped it on the ground. "Well, that's enough of you, isn't it?" She asked in a sarcastic tone.
"You have perfect timing you know that?" Damon commented and Mallory smiled down at him.
______
Later that day, Mallory sat in the parlor with Lexi and Stefan. She watched as Lexi crouched down near Vaughn's body while talking to Stefan, who emptied a blood bag into two glasses. "So, the veil's down until tonight, he dies and goes to the Other Side, and what? Comes back all over again? How long does that take?"
Mallory sighed, handing Lexi a glass of blood. "What, they don't give you a rulebook over there?" She asked her curiously, "I thought they would."
Lexi laughed, the two of them exchanging a smile before she turned to look at Stefan. "You know, you're missing your chance to weigh in on the Great Elena Gilbert Cure Debate," She told him, referring to what was going on upstairs.
"What am I supposed to do, tell her it's her choice?" Stefan asked Lexi defensively, "Because that worked out so well. You know, it's funny, those two are in there arguing about how to protect the world, and they have yet to address their biggest issue."
"Enlighten me," Lexi encouraged him, a smile forming on her lips.
"The sire bond's gone. Elena's emotions are back. She finally knows exactly how she feels," He informed them and Mallory sighed, his face falling.
"And what if whatever she feels is for you?" Lexi asked and Stefan sighed, considering the question for a moment.
"She's the love of my life. I'd go back to her in a heartbeat," He admitted, causing Mallory to give him a pitiful look, "But, if that's not how she feels, then maybe that's exactly what I need to hear to get my ass out the door. Maybe I will move to Australia. I can live in a yurt."
Hearing Stefan's words, Lexi and Mallory both laughed, clinking their glasses together. "Cheers to that."
Several moments had passed the trio continued to drink and converse, only to stop when they watched Vaugh raise from the dead.
However, before they could actually do anything about it, Damon appeared, leading to Vaughn turning to face him. "Here," He told Vaughn and tossed him the cure, which Vaughn was quick to catch.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Mallory complained, staring at Damon in disbelief.
"Digging up Silas," Damon informed her, turning before he walked toward the door, "You coming, Vaughn, or not?"
Mallory frowned, watching in utter confusion as Vaughn causally followed Damon out the front door. She turned, watching Elena arrive just as the door shut. She turned to Stefan, Mallory and Lexi, speechless.
"What just happened," Mallory muttered to herself, not having the slightest clue what was going on.
_____
Later on, Mallory sighed, watching Elena pace the living room as she spoke with Mallory and Stefan about what to do next regarding Damon. "We have to do something. If those hunters give the cure to Silas—"
"They're not giving it to Silas. Wherever Damon is taking Vaughn right now, it's to stall, because Damon hasn't had time to bury Silas' body yet," Stefan informed Elena, who stopped pacing and turned to him in shock, "And that's all you need to know right now."
"Okay, fine. We're stalling the hunters, but Damon is still dying," Elena complained and Mallory sighed in frustration.
"It was one bullet that was only laced. Damon still has time. And if I have to, I will go to New Orleans myself to beg Klaus for his blood," Mallory assured her, only to have their conversation be cut short when Jeremy walked in.
"Then it's settled. You're going to your graduation," Jeremy told Elena, holding her cap and gown in his hands.
Seeing the cap and gown in Jeremy's hands, Mallory's face paled. She cursed under her breath, wanting nothing more than to skip it but she knew if she did, Caroline would kill her.
She sighed, rolling her eyes before she walked away to get ready for graduation.
_____
On the football field of the high school, Mallory was pacing, her phone pressed against her ear as she left her fifth voicemail to Klaus in the last hour. "Klaus, this is not the time to suddenly decide you're over me. I'm gonna call you every ten minutes until you finally decide to pick up the phone. I know you're a thousand years old but when my name pops up on your phone, you're supposed to pick it up. Get your ass here to save Damon's life. You owe me, remember?"
Mallory aggressively hung up the phone and turned to Caroline and Bonnie, who was giving her a weird look. "What?"
"Where is everyone?" Caroline complained and Mallory turned to see Matt walking over.
"I'm here," Matt told them and Mallory tensed up since she didn't have the best friendship with neither Bonnie nor Matt.
"Where have you been?" Caroline asked worriedly as she whipped herself around to face him.
"Oh, you know, making plans for the summer, dodging death by vampire hunters," Matt answered sarcastically and Mallory gave him a weird look.
"Where's Elena?" Bonnie asked in a concerned tone as she looked around, "We can't do this without her."
"I'm here," Elena suddenly spoke up as she arrived with Stefan, wasting no time hugging Bonnie, "Thank you for today."
"I can't believe it. We're actually all here. We are all here together!" Caroline exclaimed excitedly, "Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"
"It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college," Bonnie admitted, causing Mallory to turn to give her a weird look. Why did she not include herself?
"Before we go off to college," Caroline corrected her as she lightly slapped her on the arm.
"I...kinda sorta missed the deadline. You know, being an emotionless bitch," Elena admitted in an awkward tone and Mallory smiled in amusement.
"Well, the perks of being a vampire-we can go wherever we wanna go. We can choose our own roommates. We could-we could get a quadruple room!" Caroline proposed, causing Mallory to give her a weird look.
"Do those even exist?" She asked Caroline quietly as she leaned closer to her.
Caroline turned to her, smiling happily. "We're vampires. We can make it exist," She replied, wrapping her arm around Mallory.
"I'm happy we're all here," Bonnie confessed, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
"Aww! Group hug!" Caroline exclaimed excitedly and Mallory playfully rolled her eyes.
"Uh, I don't...I don't hug," Stefan complained, earning a loud scoff from Mallory.
"Get over yourself. If I hug, you hug," Mallory replied, yanking Stefan into the hug.
As graduation began, each of them were called up. When it came to the last name starting with 'S', Mallory had gone first, Stefan following soon after.
A part of her felt proud of herself, as though she were human. It was an odd feeling, but in a way, she liked it. As Bonnie watched Mallory walk up the stage, Bonnie smiled and clapped her hands together, not noticing that Kol sat in the seat behind her.
"Greetings, little witch," He spoke in her ear, causing Bonnie's smile to fade.
"Thought Mallory got rid of you," Bonnie complained, an annoyed look on her face.
"She did, but given the strong feelings she still harbors for me, she didn't do a good job of it," Kol replied, looking almost amused by the thought. He paused, turning to look at a witch who sat a few rows behind him, "Isn't that the witch Mallory killed?"
Bonnie whipped herself around, her eyes widening at the sight of Aja.
"And over there, that's my hybrid friend Adrian, also dead," Kol continued to explain as he leaned closer to Bonnie, "In fact, these seats are scattered with two dozen supernatural faces, all of who have reason to lash out since their lives were sacrificed in order to make your expression triangle. All they're waiting on is a word from me."
"The veil goes back up tonight. Don't you have anything better to do than harass me and my friends?" Bonnie asked as she turned to glare at Kol, "Maybe follow Mallory around like some lovesick fool like you usually do?"
Kol laughed, shaking his head at her words. "Well, that's the thing. I don't want to veil to go back up. In fact, I want you to drop it completely so I can live and keep following Mallory around like some 'lovesick fool' as you so kindly put it. It's time to pay the piper."
Bonnie sighed as she stared at Kol, realizing he was being serious. Of course, in general, Kol wanted to live, but Bonnie had the feeling most of it had to do with Mallory. He wanted to live to be with Mallory.
_____
Behind the bleaches, Mallory stood near Caroline and Elena, pacing anxiously as Stefan was on the phone with Alaric while Mallory was calling Klaus for what felt like the hundredth time.
As the call went to voicemail again, Mallory sighed and turned to Stefan. "He didn't--" She began to say, only to be cut off as a high-pitched noise filled her ears.
Everyone else there was affected as well and Mallory cried out as she clutched her head. She looked ahead, finding it to be Aja and her coven. "Remember us, Mallory Montague?" She asked in a low, threatening tone.
Just then, Mallory watched as a graduation cap glided through the air, just before cutting off Aja's head in one swipe.
She gasped, no longer feeling pain. She whipped herself around, shocked to find Klaus standing there.
"There are plenty more of these to go around," Klaus spoke up, holding up another graduation cap, "Who's next? I could do this all day."
Mallory stared up at him, her eyes widen in surprise as she began to smile in relief.
Klaus smiled back at her and Mallory laughed happily as she walked over to him.
"Oh, my God!" Mallory exclaimed as she moved toward him, "I could kiss you right now."
Without a care in the world, she wrapped her arms around Klaus, hugging him tightly.
_____
That night, Mallory stood on the football field in front of the commencement stage. She sighed, a part of her upset that she still hadn't seen Kol after snapping his neck.
Feeling someone approaching, Mallory turned to see Klaus walking over to her. "How the hell did you get here so fast?"
"I was already on my way," He told her, smiling slightly as he pulled a piece of paper out of the inside of his coat, "I received your poorly made graduation announcement. It was...very subtle, even for you," he remarked, causing Mallory to smile and playfully roll her eyes, "I assume you're expecting cash?"
"That, or a bottle of your best alcohol from New Orleans. Their bourbon always seem to be better than anywhere else. And it wasn't like I truly enjoyed it while I was there with you. I was too busy dealing with your bullcrap," Mallory explained and Klaus nodded his head in agreement.
"Well, I had considered offering you a first class ticket to join me there...but I knew what your answer would be. So, I opted for something I knew you would accept," He informed her and Mallory stared at him, impatiently waiting for him to continue, "Tyler is now free to return to Mystic Falls."
"What?" Mallory asked, looking more surprised than happy.
"He's your current love. I intend to be your last, however long it takes," He told her, moving closer to her. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and Mallory smiled, wasting no time hugging him, "Congratulations, Mallory."
Mallory laughed softly, unexpectedly elated.
"Let's get out of here, before twelve angry hybrids decide to pick a fight," He suggested, causing Mallory to laugh as he wrapped an arm around her.
"I think you should be more worried about your little brother," Mallory commented, earning a puzzled look from Klaus, "Kol is around here somewhere. Last I saw him, I snapped his neck. He'll be looking for me. He won't be happy when he sees you in my company."
"I'm not afraid of a little competition," He replied, causing them both to laugh.
"I'm going to be honest with you," Mallory stated, earning a curious look from Klaus.
"Go on."
"This isn't really a confession or anything, but I think I do want to go to New Orleans over the summer," She admitted, causing Klaus to smile at her, "Not because of you, but because it's been a couple years since I've gone there to actually enjoy myself. Expect to see me in New Orleans in the next few weeks. Maybe we could grab a drink or something."
"Why would you grab a drink with someone you despise?" Klaus questioned, raising a brow at her.
"Maybe because I've finally become able to see from your point of view. We've all done bad things, some more than others," She explained, giving him a knowing look, "But when it comes to hating Tyler, I get it. I might not like it, but I see why you hate him. And he might not see it, but I do. He helped with killing your brother and you killed his mother. And when comparing you and I, I've done things that could be considered worse than what you've done. But I've grown close to the people in my town and shown the good parts of myself. That helped them see me as more than what I truly am."
"Is this your attempt in telling me to change?" Klaus questioned and raised a brow at her.
"No! I'm just saying. If you trust the people closest to you a bit more and show them your good side, it will help you in the long run," Mallory replied and Klaus nodded in response, "On other matters, I want to talk about this child of yours."
"What of the child?" Klaus asked, a curious look on her face.
"If it's a girl, I hope you name it Mallory. I would literally be so happy. You don't even know. Imagine the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson, named after the notorious Mallory Montague," She explained, causing Klaus to laugh and playfully roll his eyes at her.
"I'll keep that in mind," Klaus replied as they both continued to walk together.
____
It wasn't until last minute that Bonnie had told Mallory of Kol's whereabouts and as much as she wanted to complain, she knew it was better to just enjoy the little time she had left with Kol before it was too late.
After a moment, she entered the boiler room, finding Kol sitting on the ground looking bored out of his mind. "Bonnie told me you were here."
"You broke my neck last night yet I found myself laying on a motel bed. Why am I not surprised?" Kol complained, an annoyed look on his face.
"Is it true, what you told Elena?" Mallory asked softly, a part of her looking hurt, "Did you truly spend your entire time on the other side thinking over revenge?"
"Of course not," Kol replied, smiling softly as he moved closer to her, "I spent the entire time watching over you."
"The entire time?" Mallory asked, feeling a sensation in her gut that made her blush. In the eight centuries she had been alive, only Kol had ever been able to make her feel in such a way. A way that made her feel like the young human girl she once was, before becoming a vampire.
Kol scoffed, rolling his eyes at her. "Now, don't go looking at me like I'm some lovesick fool," He complained, remembering what Bonnie said to him earlier that day running through his mind.
"You sound like one," Mallory commented and Kol smiled, shaking his head at her.
"I feel like one," Kol admitted, looking down at the ground in shame, "I woke up from my broken neck with the need to make up for yesterday. I chose revenge over you. I spent all of today trying to find a way to make Bonnie Bennett keep the veil down so that I could spend more time with you when I should've just enjoyed those moments with you and made them last. Now, we don't have much time and it's all my fault."
"It's okay," She walked closer to him, trying to contain her sadness. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you," She told him, beginning to tear up as she thought about the night he died, "I tried to arrive in time, but it had been too late."
"It's not your fault," He assured her in a soft tone. He cupped her face in his hands and stared at her lovingly. He let out a large sigh, just before hugging her tightly. "I like what you did with the cure and Jeremy Gilbert. No one even knew it was you."
Mallory laughed, tears continuing to rush down his face.
Kol pulled away from the hug, smiling as he wiped her eyes. "Oh, come now, you're too pretty to cry."
"When you died, it felt like the world stopped, but it hadn't. It kept going and as each day passed, it became harder and harder to stop thinking of you. The truth is...I tried to stop thinking about you and I couldn't. I still can't," She admitted, smiling sadly as she stared up at him, "I stayed with Tyler, I know. I love him and all, but it isn't the same. You..." She trailed off and cupped Kol's face in his hands, "You, Kol Mikaelson, you were my first love. You taught me what love was. I was a girl, living with a father and family who hated me because my birth caused the death of my mother. They despised me but then you came to France. You showed me that life was worth living. You made me happier than I had ever been before. You taught me what love was. You were the black sheep of your family, just like I was. I connected with you and since then, I have never connected with someone the same way. Everyone I've been with, either they accepted me or they cringed at the way I was, but you...You understood it. You understood it because you were the same. Even after all these centuries, I love you, Kol Mikaelson."
Kol smiled at Mallory's confession, cupping her face in his hands. "Not as I love you, Mallory Montague," He admitted softly and leaned forward before he kissed her, "You mustn't mourn me, though. You must live your life. Live it for both of us."
"I will, I promise," She promised him and Kol pulled her into a tight hug.
He smiled sadly, closing his eyes as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
Just then, no longer feeling his touch, Mallory looked around and frowned when she found himself no longer be there. She sighed and began to tear up, realizing he was gone forever. "I'll never forget you, Kol Mikaelson," She whispered to herself, beginning to cry softly.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Idc what y'all say I feel like Mallory and Kol are the definition of right person wrong time