The Safe Haven

Chapter Two - The First Day Home

Bella woke early the next morning.

She had yet to divulge any details about the past two years of her life, the years she had spent away from the Mikaelson family and her love. Moments after their reunion, Klaus had whisked Bella off upstairs.

Now, she lay awake beside him, taking in just how innocent and young his face looked whilst he was sleeping. There were no frown lines, and no furrowed brows to show his irritation, it was perfect.

She had been awake for almost an hour, thinking of how long she had longed to be back in the arms of Klaus again, and how happy she was now that she had returned to him. She knew that she had to tell him what had happened to her in Washington, and divulge information regarding her run-in with the large family of vampires. She thought about her father, whom she had left without as much as a goodbye, it was safer that way.

She didn't know how much she wanted to tell them about the past two years. Now that she had finally found her escape, Bella knew that her time with the Cullens had been a lie, and that was the part she didn't want to tell Niklaus. Once he knew that she had been manipulated and warped by the family of cold ones, she didn't want him to fly off the handle and plan an impromptu trip to Forks. This was a situation she needed to handle calmly, and delicately.

It was still early in the morning when Bella wrapped a robe around herself and stepped into her slippers, before opening the door quietly and making her way down the quiet floors of the Mikaelson compound. She found Rebekah sitting in the kitchen, still in her nightclothes.

"What are you doing up at this hour? Not that I'm complaining, mind, we hardly had a moment to talk before you were whisked away by Niklaus." Bella blushed deeply, hiding her face with her long hair as she walked to the refrigerator.

"Yeah I know, sorry about that. We have the whole day to talk though, we could talk now before everyone else gets up?" Bella asked, picking up the cup of coffee she made and moving to sit opposite Rebekah at the breakfast table.

Despite her offer, Bella sat quietly at the table, using her index finger to circle the rim of her rapidly cooling coffee cup. Rebekah sat opposite her, looking at her expectantly.

"Bella, whatever it is that has happened that you are unsure of telling us, just know that we would never judge you. You are a part of our family, and this family doesn't judge."

"I'm not worried about being judged, Bekah, I'm worried about Niklaus flying off the handle when he finds out," Bella replied quietly, not looking up at the blonde original.

"Bella, Klaus could never be angry at you about anything. And if you're worried about something following you here, as soon as Freya is awake she will do the spell to ensure you cannot be traced." Rebekah tried to assure the human girl.

"I thought I would feel better once I had left there, and don't get me wrong I am beyond happy that I have found all of you, and reunited with Niklaus, but It just feels off. I need you to listen to what I am about to tell you, without any interruptions or anger, okay?"

When Rebekah nodded, Bella took a deep breath and started to speak.

"Before I came here, I was living in a small town in Washington called Forks, and whilst I was there I became involved with a large coven of cold ones..."

"WHAT!"

"Bekah, you said you wouldn't interrupt or get angry at me," Bella said quietly, hoping that Rebekah's shout had not woken any other residents in the house.

"Bella, how exactly do you expect me to react? You just told me that you were hanging around with a bunch of cold ones for the past two years."

"It wasn't really two years, more like a year and a bit," Bella added.