The Good Daughter

Nineteen

"Where'd everyone go?"

Elena sat on a log by herself. "This was a bad idea. It was stupid."

"Yeah well, I've had a shitty ten minutes, so." I grabbed another shot. "Cheers."

"That was Caroline's ice." I knew that voice.

Elena and I shared a glance before rushing toward it. Caroline had beat us to it, stepping between the two men. "What did you do?!" She spun on Enzo.

My Enzo.

"Enzo?!"

His eyes widened when he saw me. "Morgan." Then they wandered. "Where are your overbearing fatherly figures?"

"Ditched them."

He backed up.

"Enzo, what's wrong?" Caroline was as confused as I felt.

"Where that one is," He pointed at me. "Temperamental Originals follow. They don't like her having friends."

"I got daggered for you!"

"Yes and then they threw me out of their compound and put the fear of well... them into me. Told me that if I ever so much as laid eyes on you, they'd disperse parts of my body in the trees while I still lived and I'd have to watch as birds ate my entrails and my healing desperately tried to mend what could not be fixed."

Of course they did.

Several of the others winced.

"You're alive though, which is more than other people got."

"Being your friend is a death sentence."

Ouch.

He was right of course, but it still hurt. "They told me you died."

"It would've worked out better if I did."

"Don't say that."

Stefan approached me, something empathetic on his face. I moved away.

"Maybe you need to reevaluate the things they
tell you about people you love." Great. Tyler had arrived. "They seem to lie a lot."

"I swear to god, if you don't shut your damn mouth, I'm going to compel you to find the nearest bridge and-"

"Morgan stop." Stefan urged.

"You can't. I'm on vervain." Tyler shot back as if he'd never spoken.

Stefan caught me before I could lunge at him. "Stop. Before you hurt someone."

Everyone had matching horrified faces.

"Right. Because that's what I am to you all. Dangerous. A threat." Fucking hell. I pushed Stefan away, then rounded on Elena. "All that bullshit about being friends. You just want to keep an eye on the Mikaelson girl. That's what I'll always be. I can never just be a Salvatore because the weight of the fucking Mikaelson name never leaves my shoulders!"

Fuck them.

Fuck Enzo.

Fuck Elijah for ever adopting me.

"I don't need this." I spun on my heel and marched away, fighting the fucking tears.

Damn it!

Why couldn't I be a normal teenager?!

"Morgan, wait!" Stefan followed.

"No. It's obvious that I'm not wanted so I won't stay."

"You are!"

"It's stupid to be in one spot too long anyway." Experience college... what a dumb idea. I allowed Elena and Caroline to entice me and I'm lucky I snapped out of it before Elijah figured out where I was.

Stefan got in front of me, hands out as if approaching a wild beast. "Stay, please."

"No."

"They're scared because they don't know you very well. You were private back then, you're private now."

"For good reason!"

"Then show them that you're not someone to be afraid of."

I crossed my arms. "They should be. Elijah knows you're alive. He's going to look here first if he isn't already on his way, and it's not going to be pretty."

Enzo was right. It'd be better if I was never friends with any of these people.

"Just... don't leave. We can figure it out. We've gotten past Klaus' anger before. We'll do it again."

They hadn't. If Nik really was pissed off, he wouldn't have let anything go, I would know. "Except it's not just Klaus. It's Elijah and Rebekah and Kol. Freya. No one gets out of the family, and especially not without consequence."

He watched me then. "Please, Morgan. I've lost Damon. I can't lose you too."

I wanted this. I wanted Stefan to be my brother. To reconnect as siblings. I now had time with him I thought I'd lost forever.

"But Elijah-"

"We'll keep him off your trail."

Could I really do this? "Okay."