The Girl in the Woods

Chapter 24: Love & Hate (Part 2)

~Recap from Chapter 21~

Caroline sobbed as she embraced the dying vampire.

"No, no, no," She kept repeating as she rocked his body back and forth.

Kol reached out a hand to caress her face.

"It's ok darling. Don't forget, you're not a pretty crier," Kol chuckled and ended up coughing out blood.

"Shhh, it's gonna be ok, Kol." Caroline said in between tears.

"In my room, in the bedside table, there's a journal," Kol mustered up the last of his strength. He needed Caroline to know. He couldn't die without her knowing. "I want you to read it. I want you to know how I feel about you. The words I never got to say."

Kol paused as he studied Caroline's face. He could feel the life slipping away from him. And he wanted her face to be the last thing he saw.

"About Faith..." He stuttered once more. He couldn't leave with regrets. He couldn't leave without having expressed his true feelings for the girl, however late. "At the beginning, I had a bit of a crush on Faith. But she never saw me as a man, and what with her gaze always on Elijah and Klaus, I gave up on her. Now I wonder what would have happened if I didn't. Maybe she would never had been involved in all this Original business. Maybe she would have been better off."

Having voiced out his last regret, Kol Mikaelson breathed his last and passed on to the Other Side.

~TGITW~

Chapter 24: Love & Hate (Part 2)

MYSTIC FALLS. 2011 A.D.

Caroline sat on Kol's bed in the Mikaelson mansion.

She had just read through the journal Kol told her about. In it, he talked about his family and frustrations, and he also talked about his time spent with Caroline. He talked about their first encounter and how he had found her breathtaking in that red rose gown. He talked about how he couldn't stop thinking about her and how there was something about her that attracted him to her. He talked about how she had tried to kill him and how furious he had been yet he couldn't stop from admiring the girl.

On and on he talked about the times they spent together, how their uneasy relationship turned into an unlikely friendship. How he started to develop feelings for her, ones he couldn't even admit out loud to himself.

In the end, Caroline had to stop reading. Kol's death and now his newly revealed feelings have left Caroline's heart in turmoil. She had to sit down and gather her thoughts.

The blonde vampire had seen Kol as an enemy for the longest time. Then they had become friends, and that had put a strain on her relationship with the Mystic Falls gang. But that did not stop her from befriending the Original vampire.

Now, having found out Kol's feelings, she wondered if she might have had some feelings for the Mikaelson all along. What with his death devastating her to an extent she did not expect.

*Knock Knock*

Caroline looked up and found Faith with a sympathetic smile. Caroline returned her smile and gestured to the sit bedside her.

~TGITW~

A WEEK AGO.

Klaus walked Faith back to the car. They had just seen Elijah and Katherine kissed. At this point, Faith was in shock and Klaus had to hold her steady to keep her from falling.

They got to the car and he helped her get into the passenger seat, making sure she didn't hit her head as she bent down. Then he went around to the driver's seat and started driving. He didn't know where to go. All he knew was that he wanted to take her far away from where they were.