THE QUEEN'S CROWN [2]

01 : WHITE LIES

     She tried to think of things to say but it seemed as though her mind was too occupied to care that Charlie was looking at her as if she had two heads. The moment they were inside the house, Lily made a beeline for the living room, sinking into the sofa with a sigh, as she kept picturing Kol Mikaelson's face. She had had watched her sister fall in love with her soulmate, but there was a very big difference. And she wasn't naïve enough to not see it. She didn't want to be an Original's other half and she sure as hell didn't want to be tied to anyone. But the more she thought about it, the more her head hurt. She leaned her elbows against her knees, trying to think of something else, but every time she did, it always came back to the same thing.

Charlie had just come into the living room from the kitchen with two fresh cups of caffeine when the front door slammed open and Maggie came storming in as if hell had risen and she was escaping the fire. Without realizing it, Lily felt herself flinch, and that was when she thought of Louis and was more than thankful that it was his sister that had come strolling in like she owned the house instead of her boyfriend. She didn't know what she might say if she had to look at Louis. She knew how she felt about him, he was her best friend and she loved him, but she didn't want her opinion of him to change. She didn't want to look at him and not see the boy she loved with all her heart. She didn't know whether that would be the case but she had a bad feeling. It was different with Charlie because she didn't love anyone when she met Elijah. Lily didn't want to have a soulmate—she wanted Louis.

"Why didn't anyone tell me there's a damn ball?" Maggie exclaimed as she waved her invitation around.

"Louis was meant to-" Charlie began.

"Oh, he tried, but I saw it." Maggie told them with a knowing smirk. "Besides, Georgia from the Grill told me. She had wanted to go but didn't get invited. Seeing as your boyfriend is throwing the thing-"

"He's not-"

"-I figured I had an invite and I did! I wanna go!"

Lily felt Charlie throw a glance her way but she didn't comment on Maggie's enthusiasm and she knew that was what her sister had been expecting. She liked Maggie's eagerness and rare positivity but it did grow irritating at times and she did wonder where the hell it came from. Drew and Louis weren't like that and Maggie was the one that had endured the most out of the trio. After all, she had been the eldest when their parents died and had taken the fall of it, needing to handle the bills and school runs and dropping out of college for her brothers. She should know; she had watched Charlie have to endure the same thing when their father died. Yet Maggie kept a smile on her face and always thought the best in everything. Lily didn't know how he did it.

"You don't even have a dress. It's probably better if you stayed behind." Charlie tried telling her best friend.

"Oh you underestimate me, Char." Maggie waved her off with a laugh. "I have so many clothes that it would make your head spin. I have plenty of gowns for this thing. But I better get dressed now."

She waited until the human had disappeared did Lily speak up, repeating a sentence that had come to mind a few times since they had been rushed out of the store less than half an hour ago. "Did you know?" Her voice came up in a whisper.

"What?"

"Did you know?" She repeated.

Charlie shook her head. "Of course not. I would've told you if I did."

"This is what Mom meant, right? About us being...different. I knew why she meant you but..." Her voice trailed off, thinking of their deceased mother and every word she had spoken to them. Before she knew it, she had straightened her posture and all emotion disappeared from her face. She thought of her soulmate, of the arrogance she had seen on his face and the way she had seen that expression before. "He had the same insane smirk that Klaus had."