Rantipole | THE VAMPIRE DIARIES [COMPLETED] (1)

ninety seven | don't it just break your heart

1 year ago- Brienno, Italy

With a sigh, Joseph asked her, "Annabelle, what are we even doing here? If I remember correctly, Rebekah told you this was where she was going to marry that guy Alexander before he and his friends daggered all of you."

With a sigh of her own, she replied, "Why must you insist that we talk about how I feel whenever we go somewhere my family and I had gone to in the past? Why can't we just enjoy the scenery and be happy that we're away from New Orleans and all the drama that my family brings into my life whenever they have someone they want to wage war against?" When he only sighed in response, she asked him, "Why can't we just stay here and forget everything that has happened in the past?"

With his eyebrows furrowed, he asked her, "What are you talking about?" After watching Annabelle grin to herself before she pulled a small box out of her pocket, he said, "Oh. So, you found it."

With a scoff, she said, "Well, it isn't exactly like you're the best at hiding things from me, Joseph." After seeing how his face had fallen, she told him, "And just so you know, my answer is yes."

With furrowed eyebrows, he replied, "But I haven't asked you yet."

She told him, "You don't have to." When he only frowned in response, she sighed before she said, "Joseph, I had been through the act of being proposed to over a thousand years ago. The entire point of saying yes to you is doing something different for once in my life. That's it. I don't need you to go over the mile and try your best to impress me. All of the time we spent together for the past six years was enough to let me know that the one thing that can truly make me happy in this life is you. That's it."

When his eyebrows only furrowed in response, she said, "I don't need you to go above and beyond with proposing to me, and I don't need an extravagant wedding or anything else for that matter. The only thing I need in this life, other than seeing my family be reunited once this Hollow nonsense is done with and being a witness to our wedding, is you. That's it. Nothing more and nothing less. Because you, Joseph Valentine, are the one thing that has made my life the happiest it has ever been for the past six years we have spent traveling to all of Europe. Okay?"

With a nod of his head, Joseph said with a smile on his face, "Okay." After a couple seconds of silence, he told her, "But just know that I'm going to hate you for ruining this for me."

With a scoff, she replied, "If you think that's bad, imagine just how bad things would have been, had you actually proposed to me and Kol heard about your choice to not ask for his blessing first. He would tear you to shreds, if he heard about it." When his eyes widened in response, she smiled up at him and placed a hand on the side of his face as she said, "But don't worry, darling. I won't let him harm a single hair on your head. So long as I'm alive and we're in love and together, I won't let anyone hurt you. I give you my word."

Joseph only nodded his head in response before he pulled Annabelle close to him and pressed his lips onto hers, while Annabelle simply wrapped her arms around him and smiled into the kiss.

* * *

With wide eyes, Hope answered the incoming call from Annabelle, knowing very well that if she didn't answer the facetime call from Annabelle that Annabelle would simply resort to repeatedly calling her until she answered.

With a smile plastered on her face, Hope said, "Hey, Aunt Annabelle. What's up?"

The smile Annabelle had on her own face fell when she saw the look on Hope's face.

After a couple seconds of silence, Annabelle asked her, "Why do you have that look on your face?"

Hope replied, "What-What look do I have on my face? I don't have a look on my face."

With a groan, Annabelle said, "Bloody hell. You're even worse of a liar than Rebekah and Freya combined. Now, do me a favor and tell me what the problem is before I'm forced to leave the comforts of France and find you to get the answer out of you." After she saw Hope look away from her and over towards somewhere else in the room, Annabelle said, "And tell whoever it is you're with to come out now."

When Hope didn't respond, Annabelle said, "Don't make me ask twice, Hope. Making me do that won't end well for your friend."

It was then that a young looking boy with dirty blonde hair appeared from behind Hope, which got Annabelle to raise an eyebrow.

In response to Annabelle's action, the boy grimaced to himself, which got Annabelle to roll her eyes to herself before she asked him, "And who the hell are you supposed to be?" Just as he was about to respond, she asked him, "And what the hell are you doing with my niece?"

With a sigh, Hope said, "Aunt Annabelle, it's okay. Roman's a friend."

With an eyebrow raised, Annabelle replied, "Oh, is he, now?"" When Hope only closed her eyes in response, Annabelle asked her, "And does your father happen to know of this Roman? Hmm?"

When Hope didn't respond, Annabelle asked her, "And what about Kai and Dorothy? Do either of them know about him?"

Hope said to her, "There's nothing to know or tell about him. We go to the same school, he's a vampire, we met here at school. That's it."

In response, Annabelle silently eyed Hope before she asked Hope, "You do realize that I could easily have Kai go find you, get whatever answers I need from you and then tell me them himself, right?" When Hope only groaned in response, Annabelle said, "That, or I could have Kai track down your friend Roman and set him on fire, while he sleeps. Because as far as my memory serves me, the last time Kai had set someone on fire was seven years ago. The last time he did it was to help our family with the destruction of the Hollow. Imagine just how much fun he would have, if it turns out that this boy Roman has hurt you in some way. I imagine Roman wouldn't live to see a hundred, much less a thousand, if it were up to Kai."

With a smile on her face, Hope replied, "Okay, okay, okay, I get it. If anything happens, you'll be the first to know. I promise."

With a smile on her own face, Annabelle said, "That's more like it."

Just as Annabelle was about to say something more to her niece, she suddenly stopped and in place of her smile was a scowl.

Both Roman and Hope shared a look as they watched Annabelle's veins come onto display before Annabelle said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, Hope, I have to go and keep my bloody idiot of a fiancé from nearly getting himself on fire again and pissing off our neighbors yet again."

Not long after Annabelle said that, the call ended and Hope started to practically shrink down in front of Roman, while Roman said with a raise of his eyebrows, "Well, she seemed nice."

The most Hope did was nervously chuckle in response, while Roman couldn't help but compare the Annabelle he had just seen to the one he had heard plenty of stories about during the time he'd spent as a vampire.