The Perfect Mikaelson's

107|| Avery ❤️‍🔥

Avery

"I'm going inside. I'll see you guys in the morning." Sarah waves as she walks up the backyard. We decided to take a walk on the beach from the country club. I think Abbie's starting to warm-up to Sarah after shooting her glares every time she looks at Stefan.

"Make sure the house isn't completely destroyed." She gives me a thumbs up, slipping inside the house. "Did you expect to get robbed while gone?" Abbie snorts, watching Rafe start the fire pit. "No. She just has a house full of strays." Rafe answers.

I smack his arm when he sits down beside me. Abbie tilts her head, silently asking for an explanation. "It's just a bunch of kids who don't have the best home life." Her eyes widen with understanding. "Got it. I guess some things never change." She hums, looking down to smooth out her wrinkle-free dress.

"Says the one who adopted an entire friend group in California." Stefan snorts, laying his arm on the back of the seat behind her. She looks up at him, offering a small smile.

I haven't heard much about her time in California and I want nothing more than to feel like I haven't missed out on everything.

"How many kids have you taken in? I have 5 inside right now, probably destroying my furniture and raiding the cabinets." Her eyes meet mine, her smile slowly growing brighter. "Nine." My eyes widened.

"Couldn't be me." Rafe huffs out a laugh. We all do. "Like Stefan said, they're all friends. It felt wrong to only take a few of them in. Four of them decided I was stuck with them for the rest of their life. The other four were just friends of theirs, so they were always around." She shrugs.

"That's only eight. Who's the other?" Rafe asks. Abbie and Stefan share a look, before she rolls her eyes and looks back at us. "She's Derek's cousin. She hates me and I doubt it'll ever change."

My brows furrow. "Peter has other siblings?" She tilts her head, amusement shining in her eyes. "As far as I know, it was just him and Talia." My head jerks back, before it hits me.

Sitting up straighter, my hands slap against my thighs. "Peter has a kid?!"

"You know Peter?" Stefan asks. Abbie waves him off. "You missed that lesson." Speaking to me now. "He has a daughter. As far as I know, she's his only one."

"Wait.. Peter is Derek's uncle, right? Why did I think Malia was Haidyn's Aunt?!" Abbie rolls her eyes. "Malia is like her second cousin or something. Cora is her aunt."

"Who's Haidyn? Or Peter? Really any of these people." Rafe joins in. Abbie tenses. "Derek is Abbie's ex-boyfriend. Everyone else is his family." Rafe nods, standing up. "I'm going to go get us some drinks. Do y'all want anything?"

"Whatever you're having." Stefan answers. "Wine." Abbie and I answer at the same time. He nods, going the way Sarah left.

Once I'm sure he's out of earshot, I lean up, giving Abbie a look. "You show up out of nowhere and now you're keeping secrets? What is going on, Abbie?"

"I don't know. I'm honestly confusing myself. I introduced myself as Abbie Mikaelson, not Abbie Kate, who's playing a 24-year-old doctor with a ex-husband and baby. I don't know who I am here." She slumps against Stefan, dragging her fingers through her hair.

"Why not just be yourself?" I ask carefully, knowing there's a bigger reason here. Abbie doesn't stress over little things like this.

Her laugh confirms it. "You mean the divorcee, with a baby and screwed up family? Yeah. I'll draw up a quick frequently asked questions sheet and just pass that out. Let people draw their own opinions."