CHAPTER EIGHT
between two choices.
New Orleans, 1864.
ㅡA WEEK HAS PASSED AND BELLA STILL COULDN'T GET RID OF THE MEMORY OF THAT NIGHT. Many things happened that night, but there was only one thing that stuck most in her memory; the kiss. It might sound stupid and silly, considered the other things happened that night was included mass murder, but how could one forget about their first kiss?
Bella could still remember how soft and warm his lips were. She also still remembered how her body shiver as his hand began to stroke her cheeks, down to her neck, while his lips moved slowly against hers. It was a gentle and meaningful kiss. And she would be lying if she said she didn't like it.
She might rarely show it, but she did find Kol attractive. In fact, he was the most handsome guy she had ever met. There were a few times she felt a little nervous around him, especially when he got too close to her. But of course, she always tried not to show it. And not just that, she also tried to suppress the attraction she felt towards him. She did that to prevent herself from falling for someone as complicated as Kol, to protect her own heart. But how could she do that now, after that kiss?
Things got even more complicated when Bella couldn't help wondering; how did Kol feel about the kiss? Did he regret it? Was that the reason he hadn't shown up for the rest of the week? Because as far as she knew, he had been lived for almost 900 years. So unlike her, there was no way he had never kissed before. Hence there was a huge chance that the kiss meant nothing to him.
She hated such an uncertainty like this, and the fact that it effected her this much. Realizing what she needed most right now was a distraction, she volunteered to do more work to her aunt. So there she was, being the one who closed their little restaurant for the day. She went outside and was about to lock the door when suddenly, her eyes caught someone's presence right behind her from the window. She flinched as she turned around to face the person.
"Good evening, beautiful one," the person greeted her, smiling broadly.
She blinked and called his name in shook, "Kol?"
It was hard to not eyeing him from up to down since he didn't look like his usual self right now. His brown hair was a bit messy, one side of his shirt was untucked while the top three buttons were open, and his breath reeking of alcohol. She couldn't help frowning. What happened to him?
"I know it was impolite to visit at this time, but I couldn't resist stopping by," he explained, the corner of his mouth still forming the same smile.
Sensing that something was wrong with him, Bella decided to stay for a while and invited him inside. He looked like he was in a lot trouble. And as a good friend, she wanted to be there for him.
After sitting comfortably opposite each other at one of the tables, she finally questioned, "Where have you been?"
"Chicago, why? Miss me?" His grin appeared as he teased.
Bella decided to ignore his last two words. "So you're out of town?" she asked in disbelief. "And you didn't feel like telling me beforehand?"
"And why should I told you?" he responded nonchalantly. "I mean, who are you, my mother?"
She winced at how harsh that words sounded in her ears. After trying not to take it to heart, she answered, "No, Kol, I'm your friend. And I've been worried about you... I thought your brother decided to dagger you again after the stunt you pulled last week."
"And which stunt was that?" he replied, tilting his head to the side, smirking.
She narrowed her eyes at him as she stated, "You know exactly which one."
"Actually, I don't," he claimed, but his face said otherwise. "I did a lot of stunts that day, including the one with..." He shifted in his seat and leaned closer as he said the word, "Liplock."
Bella couldn't help looking away from him as she felt the heat quickly rush to her cheeks. She always knew Kol was shameless, but still she didn't expect him to say that word out loud after what had happened between them.
Kol leaned back to his seat and stared boredly at the table as he continued, "And think about it now... I realized how much a waste of time it was."
His confession made Bella turn quickly to him, eyes staring in disbelief.
Instead of regretting his words, Kol smiled mockingly as he retorted, "What? Don't look so surprised."
"You're the one who kissed me," she exclaimed, trying to defend her own honor.
"And I regret it," he responded impudently.
She already knew Kol wasn't one of the good guys, in fact he was kind of the jerk one. But this was too much, even for him.
After taking a deep breath to control the mix of emotions boiling up inside her, she tried to end the conversation. "Is that all you want to tell me?"
There was a brief pause before Kol finally answered, "No." He leaned closer again, this time resting his chin on his hand. "I also want to tell you that I couldn't care less about you or what you think." He looked at her in disgust as he added, "You humans are the same, weak and meaningless."
"Please leave," she quickly ordered.
But he ignored it and kept continue, "I would love nothing more than to put an end to your pathetic existence."
Unable to hold back any longer at all of that, Bella got up from her chair. But when she turned around to head for the exit, Kol appeared right in front of her and blocked her way. She had no choice but to look up and let him see her teary eyes along with the hurt look.
"You see... everything would be much more simple if only all the things I just said weren't just big lies," he blurted out, his tone drastically changing.
Bella could only blink as she tried to digest what he was telling her. She was too confused to tell which one was the real truth and which one was the real lie. She tried to search for the answer in his eyes, but there were too much complexities in there.
Kol suddenly cupped her cheeks with his hands. And without breaking the eye contact, he finally admitted, "Never once in my life I wanted someone this much... like I want you."
Bella didn't even have a chance to reply as he suddenly brushed his lips againts hers. Closing his eyes, he passionately kissed her. His hand slid to her waist, pulling her body againts his. He started sucking her lips, gently, almost like he was sampling nectar on a delicate petal. She drew a deep, staggered breath in response to the wave of heat she felt flushing through her. Then, with an intense urgency, he dipped his tongue past her lips, caressing her tongue with his. She felt fluttering inside. And without even realizing, a shallow hum escaped from within her in response to how he was making her feel.
ㅡ
IF ANYONE THINK EVERYTHING WILL BE SUNSHINE AND RAINBOW after the kiss, Bella would gladly point out how wrong they were. Because instead of trying to establish their relationship, Kol disappeared again for another week. Needless to say, she already saw this coming. After all, he was the most complicated person she had ever met. It was highly unlikely that he would make this easy for her.
Again, she tried hard not to think about it. She knew life must go on. Therefore she did the thing she was really good at; pretending everything was fine, like it was okay for everyone to keep leaving her behind.
Taking a deep breath, she looked at her own reflection in the front-length mirror. Right now, she was getting ready for dinner at someone else home. Apparently, she left such an impression on the Mikaelson ball that she caught the attention of a guy named James Lawrance. He said he didn't have a chance to talk to her in the ball since she was surrounded by important people like The Mikaelson. But as soon as he got the information about her, he came all the way to her house and invited her to have dinner at his house so he could get to know her.
Bella wouldn't lie, the guy was a good looking young men with dark blonde hair and green eyes. He seemed really nice and acted like a real gentleman. Both of her uncle and aunt liked him. Her aunt even thought that he would be the right suitor for her.
"Hello there."
She flinched as she heard that voice. And when she turned to where the voice came from, she found Kol in the same room, standing right beside her open window.
"Kol!" she shrieked under her breath and hurriedly walked over to her bedroom door to close it.
"You know, I'm curious," He muttered as he put his hands on his pocket. His head tilted to the side when he started eyeing her from the top to the bottom of her body, a smirk was formed. "Was there a time when you stopped being so beautiful?"
But Bella ignored it. "What are you doing here?" she asked in a whisper voice.
He shrugged and casually answered, "I'm here to see you."
"My aunt and my uncle can walk in here any moment," she complained, still using her whisper voice.
"Then I just have to compel them," he responded nonchalantly, not even bothered to use his whisper voice.
"No, you can't," she retorted, this time using her normal voice. But she still tried to keep her voice down. "I gave them vervain."
He frowned at the information. "Now why would you do that?"
"So you can't compel them anymore," she answered as if it was the obvious.
"Well in case you haven't noticed, I was only doing that to make your life easier," he replied, trying to defend himself.
Folding her arms across her chest, she exclaimed, "I am perfectly fine this way."
He just rolled his eyes and decided not to continue the argument any further. Instead he started walking around the room, checking out all the stuff in there. "So I was packing my bag earlier," he started blabbing, "when I suddenly got this amazing ideaㅡ"
She couldn't help but interject when she heard the first sentences, "Wait, you're leaving?"
"And I want you to come with me," he stated as he turned back to her. His gaze softened as he continued, "I thought I already made myself clear about wanting you. And I don't really feel like being away from you, so..."
Bella swallowed hard, heart beating rapidly upon hearing his confession. But as much as she wanted to agree to leave with him right away, she knew she couldn't.
She shook her head in disbelief and answered, "But I can't just leave. What about my uncle and aunt?"
"Well, that's the beauty of it," he pointed out as he started roaming around again. "You have to choose." His step suddenly stopped when his eyes caught a photo frame on the bedside table. He picked it out and found the picture of Bella with two older guys. He didn't have to be told that they were her older brothers.
Bella's eyes continued to watch Kol's movements as he continued, "You can choose to stay here, living this boring life with your uncle and aunt." He became very spiteful when adding, "Maybe someday marrying that dull Lawrance guy."
Putting back the photo frame to its place, he turned his face back to her. "Or you can come with me," he gave out the other choice. His brown eyes looked straight into her hazel eyes as he started walking closer. "We can make our own adventure all around the world," He reassured her, hand moving to caress her cheeks. "Just the two of us."
Bella would be lying if she said she wasn't tempted by the second choice. Just the way he explained that was enough to get her extremely excited. But her sensible side kept yelling at her about how insane that idea was.
She shook her hear and walked past him to the other side of the room. "Do you realize how crazy that sound?"
"On the contrary, I think it was quite brilliant," he disagreed, eyes following her movement.
She sighed in frustation then uttered, "Kol, you know I can't just run away with you."
"No?" he repeated, his eyebrows raised defiantly. "Then how about this; if you don't come with me, this will be the last time you see me."
Bella's face fell. She looked at him in silent dismay. "... what?"
As if that weren't enough to scare her, he added again, "And since I'm the only one who can help to find your brothers, that also means you will never see them again."
Since Kol had been very open to her about his family, Bella retaliated by opening up about her family. She told him about the tragedy at Mystic Falls that caused her to move to the city, and also about her brothers who had turned into vampires. He immediately offered his help to find them, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to meet them at the time.
"So what will it be, love?"
...
<< A/n : this is a little reminder from chapter one. What do you think about their relationship? I tried to make a slow-burn one, but I don't think I did a good job. Plesse let me know your opinion! >>