Emily Ashworth is just getting settled into college, making new friends, when all of sudden her entire life changes. Who would have thought, the town sociopath would be the one to help her through everything when she needed it most...
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"Please talk to me Kai. Tell me what's wrong." Emily asked with sympathy in her voice. Despite what he'd done and how he was currently treating her, she still couldn't bear him being upset or hurting in any way.
She shifted up onto her knees on the dirty carpet, looking over at him. He refused to look at her, averting his eyes in any other direction possible. "I still care about you." she said softly. "Didn't sound like it back at the Salvatores. In fact it sounded like you despised me. It's exactly how my family always used to talk about me." he muttered, still looking away from her. "I'm sorry Kai. I was in shock. I shouldn't have said those things." "But you did!" he snapped at her, jerking his head in her direction. His eyes weren't their usual sparkly blue-grey colour. They were black, like a bottomless pit she could fall straight into. "I know. And I'm SO sorry. I really am." Emily couldn't hold the tears back any longer. She felt them fall down her cheek, dropping down to the floor. She let out tiny little sobs, trying not to let him see how upset she was, but he did.
He jumped up from his seat and ran towards her. She flinched, thinking he was going to hurt her, but instead, he reached behind and untied her wrists, letting out a hiss in response to the burning sensation from the vervain. He crouched down in front of her, looking down at the floor for a few seconds before lifting his head to look into her eyes. She looked so sad. So broken. She stared at him for what seemed like forever, then he collapsed down onto the floor, his back against the wall beside her, face staring up at the ceiling. "I screw everything up." He said quietly. She could hear the cracks in his voice. His eyes were red and his face was pale. He was hurting just as much as she was. "You don't Kai." She shifted closer to him but still kept a safe distance. "Emily. How can you say that? All I've done since I met you is mess things up. Your friends hate me, I've almost got you killed multiple times. I'm an iredeemable piece of trash." He said harshly, a few sobs escaping his lips.
"You are NOT Kai! You are definitely not!" She shouted, trying to snap him out of it. She moved to kneel in front of him, her face level with his. "All I wanted to do was look after you, protect you, be there for you. I couldn't even do that." "Of course you did Kai. You saved me from myself. You brought me back when I had no humanity!" He didn't reply. He just kept his eyes locked on hers. His emotions unclear, but she could feel the sadness pouring over. "I love you Kai. I've never told anyone that before. Ever." "You're just saying that." He said, looking sadly into her eyes. "I promise you I'm not Kai. You're the person I want to be with, flaws and all." He swallowed hard, trying not to let his emotions show, but it was pointless. She could feel everything he was feeling right now.
They sat just looking at each other for several seconds. Emily wanted to hold him so badly, but she wasn't sure how he would react right now. She cautiously reached out a hand to touch his. Her fingertips barely brushing his skin. "You're afraid of me." he blurted out suddenly. "No Kai. I've never been afraid you." She said softly. "Really? Not even when we first met?" She shook her head and gave a faint smile. "But you used to flinch whenever I tried to touch you." he said quietly. "That wasn't because I was scared of you. That was because I didn't know you." she sighed. "Oh...." He turned his hand over so her fingers were now touching his palm. "Emily. I think I need help." She nodded slowly, gently stroking his hand. "I know Kai. And we'll get you some." "I didn't want to kill everyone. Something in my brain just.... They all hurt me so badly. All my mind was telling me was that I needed to get revenge and make them feel as awful as they made me feel for all those years." "Kai. You were neglected and abused as a child, rejected as a teen and sent away into isolation for 18 years. If your mind wasn't a bit messed up I'd think something was wrong!" She chuckled. He laughed with her, nodding his head. "I guess you're right." He smiled.
Kai stood up from the floor and held his hand out to Emily. She accepted and he helped her up. "I'm sorry. I should never have taken you. I was just scared you wouldn't even want to see me again. It's not an excuse though..." "Kai. It's okay." She reached up to place a hand on the side of his face and he leaned into it gently, closing his eyes. He looked so innocent and frail stood there. His family had said and done unspeakable things to him. Could she really blame him for wanting to destroy them all? It was wrong. She couldn't deny that. But she wondered how she would be in the same situation. It was also very clear that he had a lot of deep seeded psychological issues that he needed proffessional help with. He probably needed it years ago, but his family were too busy berating and being cruel to him, they never even noticed the issues he had. Probably never even cared until he finally snapped. He wasn't innocent, but he definitely wasn't the only one to blame.
They sat and talked for what seemed like hours. Quite possibly was. He told her every detail of his childhood. All the bad things that had happened to him. A few good things, but mostly bad. She always thought she had it hard growing up in an adopted family without knowing her real parents. But now, she realised what she dealt with through her childhood and teen years was nothing in comparison to the hell Kai was living. He explained that despite feeling lonely in the prison world when he first got there, it wasn't any lonelier than when he was back at home. He talked, and she listened. They spoke about what they would do next. How they would get Kai some proper help and she would help him learn to control his vampire urges. They decided it was probably best not to return to Mystic Falls straight away. At least not until things had blown over. They talked about the different places they'd like to visit together. All the things they wanted to do. And he smiled. For the first time in a while, he smiled a genuinely happy smile.
He wasn't broken... he was damaged, and damaged CAN be fixed.
