A/N: Yeah, I suck. I finished this quite some time ago but I couldn't post this if the first chapter of the sequel isn't finished. But yay! I finally managed to finish it for you guys. Thanks for your patience and support! I've always wanted to write from Kol's perspective and this seemed like a perfect time for that!

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from The Vampire Diaries but I do own my OCs.

Chapter 35: Love Story

"I wish you'd have come sooner in my life. Then I wouldn't have to spend a thousand years alone."

When Kol was undaggered, he was pretty mad at his siblings, well except for Finn. He hated Nik for always being the controlling, paranoid brother who daggered him whenever he likes. He hated Elijah for his hypocrisy in his code for their family, pretending to be noble when he was as monstrous as the rest of them were. To Kol, Nik was allowed to betray him and stab him in the back because he was Nik, but Elijah...Elijah claimed to hold his family above everything else yet he turned his back on Kol and it wasn't the first time. Last but not least, Rebekah. Kol hated Rebekah for going behind his back, leading him to be daggered. She just had to tell Nik that he was rummaging Nik's room trying to find that Paragon diamond.

So when he woke up and saw Elijah, he was beyond furious. Elijah had somehow managed to calm him down and told him that they were not going to stand by Nik's terms any longer. This surprised him. Of course, Elijah had disagreed with Nik a couple of times but it never came to this. Kol would gladly joined them to give Nik a little beating for old time's sake. And it was everyone against Nik, including their baby sister. This would certainly be fun.

Then, enter his mother.

He didn't buy it, but Nik seemed like he wanted his mother's forgiveness more than anything that he would blindly and foolishly let his guard down.

He found it absurd that Nik had gone all the way to build a house in that small town for their family, which meant he had found a home in that small town. Over the course of their long life, there were only a few places the Originals could consider home. Mystic Falls wasn't like New Orleans. The town was dead and boring. He however had asked Rebekah about it, as she had lived for a while in that town, even going as far as going to the high school.

The town was interesting enough, with the famous doppelgangers, witches, werewolves and vampires. Kol found it ironic that they ended up on this side of the land, where they were born. He could remember the time when he was human, when he had the gift of magic and could connect to the nature. It had been a long time ago yet it was still fresh in his mind, the small lake he used to go deep in the forest to calm his thoughts and to practice his skill as a warlock. He sighed. He hated to be reminded of what he had lost. He would leave this town as soon as the ball was over.

Then he met her.

The Petrova doppelganger had kept her tradition, charming two brothers and stringing them along, but thank God they weren't Elijah or Nik. Kol had been fed up with the feud over Tatia back in the days when they were humans. But the other doppelganger, the blonde one was different. Rebekah called her a friend which had piqued Kol's interest. The doppelganger and Elijah also had something going on, although they weren't in a good place right now. This was perfect, Kol had thought. He finally had something to annoy Elijah with.

At the night of the ball, Kol watched over the guests from the railings, remembering the last time he was at a party. He felt that deep rage in his vein, as he remembered how Nik humiliated and daggered him in front of their guests. His thoughts turned murderous as his mind thought of a way to wreck chaos at the ball or at least, ruin Nik's night. He had learned that Nik had set his eyes on a baby vampire and killing her would certainly annoy Nik to the core.

Kol glanced at the door unconsciously, that was when he spotted the blonde doppelganger. She was an exquisite beauty, like the doppelgangers before her and even though neither Ada nor Cassandra ever caught his eyes, this one did. She was nervous, perhaps it was because of Elijah. But Kol could see through her, the darkness inside her that she held in, that she kept hidden from everyone. She was indeed, beautiful. She wore a deep red coloured dress, a colour that reminded him of blood; his favourite.

He glided downstairs and listened to her talking to the Mayor of the town. A black haired vampire joined them and Kol recognized him vaguely, they had crossed paths before and he was arrogant and stupid and Kol had certainly taught him some manners. Kol made his way over to them, intending to introduce himself and to get a closer look at the doppelganger.

"Mayor Lockwood, we haven't formally met. Kol Mikaelson," he said charmingly. "I hope your lovely town embraces us just as much as we plan to embrace it."

"How very thoughtful of you," Vanessa said, her words were dripping with sarcasm. Well at least, she got fire. And he loved fire. Her previous doppelgangers were so timid and soft spoken. Kol smiled at her nevertheless, not losing his charm.

"And you must be the lovely Vanessa," Kol said and she stared at him, baffled. He had expected her to at least swoon over his words, women in the last centuries had always giggled and blushed whenever he complimented them. But perhaps he had chosen the wrong word. Or perhaps she was not like most women.

"Not as lovely as you might think," she replied coolly. To him it almost sounded like a challenge. She was challenging him to uncover her dark side. To see who she truly was; a monster. So he was right. Now he knew what set her different from her previous doppelgangers. The darkness within her amplified her beauty and made her so...enchanting. He didn't remove his eyes from her deep blue eyes, not as he took her hand to his lips. Her chest heaved and her cheeks flushed, surprised at his gesture.

"Oh, I doubt that," Kol said with a smirk.

At first she was just someone who had piqued his interest. She was a wild vampire, chained and caged by her family. And Kol wanted to see what she was hiding, her darkest side, the monster within her. He wanted to set her free. He had slept with her just to spite Elijah, and also because he wanted her. He couldn't explain it, but he really wanted her that night. She was just supposed to be his entertainment in that dull town. Then she offered him something else; a company.

Kol was not a believer of fate or destiny but what happened in Denver, was pure destiny. He was so ready to kill Nik and move on to travelling the world when she showed up out of nowhere. In Denver they spent a lot of times together, killing, having sex, talking, getting to know each other. She offered him a friendship and something more. Kol didn't even know or realized when he had fallen for that vampire. He didn't even know he was capable of falling in love. He remembered their convesation when they first slept together at the Mikaelson's ball.

"So why did you love him then?" Kol asked. He found it unlikely that a vampire like Vanessa would actually for for his noble brother.

"You really don't know anything about love, do you?" she asked and he was surprised at how offended he was. The way she said it as if he was incapable of love and perhaps she was right.

"Why is that?" he challenged her. He saw how her face fell and her blue eyes turned sad.

"Because you don't get to choose who you fall in love with. One day you suddenly realize they have a hold over you and you can't do anything about it," she said and he met her eyes.

And he remembered his reply.

"That's why I do not love, darling. I dislike being powerless, weak, not in control," he said and she sighed.

"So do I," Vanessa agreed half heartedly..

He did feel powerless, weak and not in control. His love for her was so strong, so intense that it terrified the ruthless and monstrous Kol Mikaelson.

It was overwhelming.

He remembered when he found her half-dead, tortured by Cassandra. He remembered how terrified he was when he heard her screams. The dread feeling of his own thought if he was too late to save her. Now that he thought about it, his relationship with Vanessa was too natural. As if they were match made in heaven...or hell. It was like they were created for each other. He didn't think he would ever find someone like her, not even in another thousand years. He couldn't even fathom how he was supposed to continue to live after this.

Kol wanted to laugh. He had been alone for a millennium, and just when he had found someone to share his forever with, she was going to die because she was sired by Nik. Why couldn't she be sired by anyone other than his brother? Why does fate have to be so cruel? Why does his life have to be so tragic? This was certainly more tragic than Romeo and Juliet. He sighed as he turned to look at Vanessa, remembering every detail of her perfect features. He would certainly miss her eyes. No, to be exact, he would miss the way she looked at him.

He felt his chest tightened and swallowed the hot lump in his throat as he closed his eyes, and leaned to kiss her temple.

In my short existence, I had a near death experience more than I should probably have. Let's count shall we? First there was the drowning at the Wickery Bridge, of course I had died but I had been reborn as a vampire. Then there was that one time when Elijah almost ripped my heart out when he was torturing me, then Klaus linked himself to me during the Hybrid ritual. Let's not forget Mikael almost ripping my heart out as well and also Cassandra torturing me. Okay, now that I had listed them, they weren't so many. Or did I forget something? Anyway I had always managed to survive but this time, it wasn't up to me. I couldn't fight my impending death because it wasn't up to me.

But apparently, Klaus had done the fighting for me.

"I knew it was too good to be true for Nik to die," Kol remarked and I giggled as he pulled me into a deep kiss, before pinning me against the tree. It was the kind of kiss that consumed you, that left you breathless. It was the kind of kiss that said everything in our minds without the need to say it out loud.

"You're not complaining, are you?" I asked playfully and he replied by nibbling my ear and I suppressed a moan.

"No, not at all," he said between the kisses he placed down my neck. I hooked my right leg on his waist before he pulled my left leg up and supported my weight and pressed me against the tree.

"I've never felt so glad to be alive," I said, leaning in to kiss him and breaking it to pull my shirt off. We were miserable. We were so convinced that we were going to lose each other and now that we knew we won't, we couldn't be more grateful. His rough hand stroked my thigh as he trailed his kisses down, my hand tangled in his brown hair, keeping him close. He suddenly pulled away and looked at me, his eyes taking in my face before he looked deeply into my eyes.

"I will not lose you," he said, a promise that I know he will forever keep.

"You never will," I promised and he held my eyes as if he was so afraid that I would disappear. Our foreheads touched and our breathing synced, before he kissed me softly in the lips. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he just seemed so burdened by it. Perhaps he wanted to say the magical three words, but I wouldn't mind. I know that he loves me. And he knows that I love him. That's all that matters now.

"Now will you just give me that victory sex you promised me already?" I asked and he burst out laughing, before pulling off his shirt.

"Whatever my lady wishes," he said and I grinned, kissing him again.

"My phone," I said, breaking the heated kiss and he growled, biting my neck not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to show his annoyance. "They probably just wanna check if I'm fine," I told him.

"Oh you're in good hands, darling," he said with a smirk, his mouth trailing south as his hands pinned my wrists above my head, not intending to let me go.

"Kol," I whined and he rolled his eyes, finally releasing his grip on my wrists and pulled me up.

"Say your goodbyes and then we'll leave for Italy," he said, brushing off the dry leaves that got stuck in my hair during...well, sex on the forest floor. "You still want to leave right?" he asked me.

"Yes," I said slightly laughing. "Can you please not be as paranoid as Klaus?" I asked, searching for my phone that had fallen out of the pocket. "Jeremy, I'm fine!" I said happily, giggling when I felt Kol's lips on my neck.

"Nessie, it's Elena," Jeremy said and I became alarmed when I realized my baby brother was crying. "She...she's dead."

I froze.

"What? How? How did this happen?" I asked, starting to panic.

"I...I don't know. I'm on my way to hospital," Jeremy managed. "I saw Alaric. Nessie, I saw his ghost," he said. "He's linked to Elena and Stefan called-"

"Jer, listen to me. Just get to the hospital okay? I'll see you there," I said, trying to sound calm in order not to make him more panic. I can feel him nodded on the other line and I bit back a sigh. "I love you, Jer. Stay safe."

"Elena's dead," I said, more to myself than to Kol, still processing the news. His brown eyes looked at me, concerned and he wrapped his arms around my waist as I hugged him.

"My sister is dead."

I leave it to you how do you interpret that last sentence, is it happy, is it sad, is it glad or is it denial? I read the early chapters to find some inspiration and oh my, how Vanessa has changed...A LOT.

Anyway, I'm super excited for the SEQUEL, it's called DANCING WITH DEATH. Things are getting darker, more dramas ensue and above all New Orleans! Vanessa will step foot in New Orleans much sooner than you might think ;)

What's your favourite chapter in Playing with Fire? Mine is the Mikaelson Ball because Vanessa meets Kol and the chapter where Vanessa suffered from Klaus's bite.

I can't promise you I'll update regularly on the sequel but what I can promise you is that it will be SUPER AMAZING. My plans for Vanessa Gilbert are so great and I can't wait to share it with you guys! Playing with Fire is just the beginning. I'M SO FREAKING EXCITED! Thank you guys! Thank you so much!