forty two

waddup lads i'm back

bet you thought i was dead buT HA I'M ALIVE WOOPS. anyway all my exams are over so i am a free woman and somEONE FXCKING STOLE MY IPOD IM SO MAD LOL AND MY PROM WAS LAST WEEK I FEEL OLD 

anyway, here's chapter forty two aND I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY IN THE AUTHORS NOTE AT THE END WOO + apologies if the chapter sucks i'm trying to get back into the groove of things (but i made it extra long bc i'm v v sorry and forgive any mistakes i wanted to get it out as soon as possible)

// forty two //

"Liam?!" I gaped at him, my eyes wide and my jaw slack as he stood in front of me. In the darkness of the night, his face was pale and his posture rigid. His eyes seemed a lot darker than usual; almost a navy blue as he tightly gripped the edges of the phone booth; he looked like he hadn't slept in days. What the hell was he doing here? I don't hear hide nor hair from him for weeks and then he suddenly pops up out of nowhere to help me.

Bloody Originals.

He didn't reply and simply reached towards me, his hand snaking around my waist and manoeuvring me quickly so that I stood behind him, his eyes trained on the red-eyed figure across the road. I let out a small shriek of surprise, my hand gripping onto his arm tightly in order to steady myself. I still found myself surprised at how quickly he was able to take control. Not that I was complaining.

In all honesty: it was kind of hot.

The figure appeared angry, his shoulders now moving up and down rapidly as his crimson stare narrowed at the interference. From the distance I stood out, the details were slightly mushed but I was able to see small fragments of the once whole phone slowly fall to the ground as he squeezed it tightly in his hands.

"Mikaelson..."

My hands knotted themselves in the denim fabric of Liam's jacket, my jaw clenching at the familiar voice that echoed around us. Despite my best efforts, a shiver ran down my spine. But this time I knew it wasn't because of the cool breeze that whipped around us. I could feel my eyes widen in surprise when Liam replied with a deadly hiss, his arm tightening around my waist from behind. What's happening?  One moment I was scared out of my wits in the confinements of the phone booth and now it appeared that Liam was having a death-stare match with the mysterious figure across the street.

"Liam, when are you going to tell me what the hell's going on?"

"Not now, Brook." He snapped back, slowly dragging me out of the booth before slamming the door shut behind me. I scowled at the back of his head, slightly irritated that he was still keeping me in the dark after all of this. But right now, with the cold air and terror that I felt, I was willing to let it slide for the moment. 

Liam began to move me towards the curb, his eyes not once moving from the man that remained still on the opposite path, when I suddenly noticed his car messily parked on the side of the street. How did I not hear him pull up? I frowned and snuck a quick glance at Liam.

You're losing your touch, old girl.

"Stay away from her." Liam hissed, quickly opening the passenger door before glancing down at me for a brief second. "Put your seatbelt on."

 Raising my eyebrows I huffed but obliged. "Yes, Boss."

Safety first, I guess.

From my seat I was able to see his lips quirk in amusement before the stony stare was back. "If I so much as see you anyway near her again...I won't hesitate to rip your damn throat out with my own teeth. Understand?" Even I was able to detect the Original authority within his threat. Despite being the youngest of the Mikaelson siblings, Liam definitely had the potential to be the most lethal of them all. He could be deadly when he wanted to be and hell if I didn't get a chill when he was. My eyebrows shot up in surprise, my mouth parting as I watched him slam my door shut.

Once again, he didn't wait for a reply and sped his way to the driver seat. Before I could blink we were whizzing down the road and I found myself in a state of shock. I just went from a moment of absolute terror to be rescued by my knight in a denim jacket. I must be going insane. My mind was reeling at how quickly the events had taken a turn in my favour, but I wasn't about to curse it. He saved me. Again. But while I was still adjusting to suddenly feeling a small sense of security for once,  I couldn't shake the fact that those eyes were so familiar. 

Closing my eyes for a moment, I could see them clearly.

Dark. Silent. Cold. Evil. Crimson. Eyes.

Although the memory was clear, the name attached to it's identity was not. We sat in silence for a moment as I filed through my recent memories, trying to attach a name to the face. Why couldn't I remember?

"Are you okay?"

I shifted in my seat, opening one of my eyes to look over at him briefly. "I'm fine."

"I should go back and rip hi-"

"Shut up, Liam."

"Pardon?"

"I'm thinking. I can't think if you're talking." I pressed my fingers to my temple.

"Oh, well sorry, your Majesty." His tone was dripping with sarcasm and I couldn't help but smirk. God, I had missed this boy. It had only been a few days since we'd seen each other yet I found myself missing even the simplest conversations between us. In the past few days of our separation I was able to think about what had gone on between the two of us. About what I wanted us to be. And I was pretty sure I knew exactly how I felt about the Original vampire to my right.

I opened my eyes and smiled over at him just as he pulled up outside the Salvatore residence. "You're forgiven." 

"Good." He chuckled, getting out of the car and walking over to my side. In a matter of seconds, he had opened my side of the car and helped me out. The wind whipped around my shoulders, messing up my hair that hung loosely around my shoulders. I could smell Liam's cologne and the smell alone was enough to put me at ease. 

He had saved me. More than once. 

He stared down at me, his blue eyes still dark even in the moonlight that engulfed us. I blindly reached for his hand, clasping it tightly in my grip. "Come in with me."

"W-what?" He stuttered, his eyes slightly wide as he grasped back at my hand.

I rolled my eyes, a smirk spread across my lips. "I'm joking, Li. You should have seen your face." I teased, pressing a hand to his chest lightly. He let out a light huff of breath, his face washing with relief. I still loved teasing the living day lights out of him; it was kind of refreshing amongst the chaos that we both managed to find ourselves in on a regular basis.

"You're going to give me a heart attack if you're not careful."

"You really think I'd just bring you into the house where my brothers are? Please, give me some credit."

He smiled down at me, his finger coming up to rest under my chin. "You look beautiful, by the way."

I couldn't help but scoff as I swatted his hand away. Always the charmer. "Yeah, terror does that to a girl."

We stood in silence for a moment, enjoying each others presence and revelling in the fact that we were just able to be together.

Yet, one thing still troubled me.

What were we?

I felt myself leaning in to his embrace the longer the silence drifted and his gaze deepened the closer we got to one another. My hand was still pressed against his chest and I was able to feel the heavy breaths he gave. But suddenly he pulled away, his eyes alert and his ears perked.

He let out an irritated growl as I stared at him questioningly. "Elijah needs me."

Looking away, I nodded understandingly. "Yeah, alright." Liam seemed frustrated at my response and bit his lip anxiously, but I did understand. There were more important things that needed to be dealt with. I was just happy that I had managed to steal a few moments with Liam before he had to rush off to play Superhero again. Was I annoyed I didn't get to keep the devilishly handsome Original to myself for more than a few hours? Of course I was. But did I understand. Once again, of course I did. 

Just as I was about to walk away, Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him, his lips pressing against my cheek quickly. My eyes widened in surprise as he sent me a cheeky smirk before getting into his car and disappearing down the road. 

An involuntary scoff emitted from the back of my throat, surprised at the pure speed that boy was able to move at. Hell, I was sure he was going to give me whiplash one of these days.

My hand trailed up to my cheek and I could feel the smile spread across my face at the feel of the ghost of a kiss on my skin.

"That boy." I muttered, shaking my head.

~~~~

I crossed my legs as I flicked the page of my book. Since deciding to hide away in my room for the rest of the night, I had found some of the more modern books in my collection and decided to indulge. Stefan and Damon had smothered me as soon as I came through the front door; asking why I had taken so long and why I hadn't been answering my phone.

But being the excellent liar that I am, I was able to reel this wonderful story about how I was enticed by the beautiful night that had graced Mystic Falls and decided to take a detour through one of the small fields nearby.

But did they believe me?

Please, this is me we're talking about. Of course they did. I may not be good at much, but I am definitely good at lying. Shame there aren't any jobs that major in that field, otherwise I would be what you call an expert.

"For God's sake." I whined, closing the book shut once I realised that the death of my favourite character was imminent. "Always my favourite." I threw the book across the room, satisfied at the dull thud it made as it fell to the floor. There was no way I was going to continue reading when that character was the only reason I'd continued the series in the first place. If I never read it; it never happened. He was still alive as far as I was concerned.

I didn't have much longer to ponder on what might have happened if I had continued reading when my head snapped towards my window, my eyes wide at the sudden gust of cool air that burst through my now open window. I rolled over until I was able to slide of my bed and stand up, sceptically walking over the window.

I frowned, leaning my head out of the small gap that was now open before rolling my eyes and slamming it shut behind me. As soon as the wood made contact with the metal frame, I heard a faint rustling from behind me. The smirk that pulled at the corner of my lips couldn't be stopped as I realised just who had snuck their way into my room.

"You really love to make an entrance don't you?" I chuckled, spinning around with a giddy grin on my face.

And there he stood.

Standing beside my long-forgotten book, Liam was staring at me curiously. His lips were pursed and his eyes curious. I frowned, noticing how his hair was slightly dishevelled from the wind and that his pale skin now had a slight glow to it.

But he didn't say anything. And that frightened me. Whenever Liam was silent; it meant he was really thinking about something. And I knew for a fact that it would bother him until he spoke about it.

"Li, are you alri-?" 

"I'm done."

"W-what?" I took a slight step back, my chest tightening uncomfortably as I could feel the inevitable lump form in my throat. My mind suddenly went blank and all I could do was stare at him. What was he talking about? Done? Done with what? What had I done? What the hell had changed in the two hours since I'd seen him that made him decide he was done? "Now look-"

"I'm tired of hiding."

I frowned. "What the hell are you talking about, Liam? Tired of hiding wha-?" 

And that was all I managed to say. Because before I knew it, he had stormed over to me and gently grasped my face in his hands. But before I knew it, his lips were on mine. I didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately reaching around and winding my fingers amongst his hair and began to kiss back, our lips moving rhythmically against one another. He didn't need to say anything more; I knew exactly what he was talking about. And I felt exactly the same.

He let out an animalistic moan into my mouth, only making me deepen the kiss, the sound stirring something within my stomach as he pressed one of his hands against the small of my back, pulling me closer to him in a single moment. I pulled gently at his hair, grinning against his lips at the moan I was able to provoke from him. His hand slid under the back of my shirt and this time it was my turn to moan into him. 

Our breaths came out in short, sharp pants as we messily kissed one another. It felt electric, my mind was numb with pleasure and my stomach tightened as I felt him bite down on my lower lip. I could tell from the pure heat of the kiss that this tension had been building up inside of us for quite a while now. And now we had a chance to release it. 

I was just about to reach for the hem of his shirt when I felt his lips full away; leaving my lips stinging and cool from the absence of him. A low whine of protest left my throat as I reached out for him, desperate for him to continue what he had started.

"Brook," He chuckled as I pressed a kiss to his neck, smiling when I heard the moan he tried to suppress. "Brook, listen to me."

I growled in annoyance, but slowly straightened up, my hands still clenching the bottom of his shirt possessively. 

"This better be good, Mikaelso-"

"Be my girlfriend."

My eyes snapped up from his lips to meet his eyes. This boy never failed to surprise me. It was as if he and I were in sync with one another since not only two hours ago had I been mulling over the idea of finally deciding to give our relationship a name. And here he was. He had come to my room, began to give me the best make-out session ever, and now he was asking me to be his girlfriend. I didn't reply for a moment and decided to have a little fun. I pulled gently at the hem of his black shirt, slowly trailing one of my fingers up his stomach.

"Do you really want an answer to that?"

He let out a small laugh and I could feel his eyes on me as I continued to draw shapes on his skin. "It would make me feel better."

"Then, yes."

"I want to hear you say it. All of it."

There it was again. That sense of control that I had found myself falling in love with. Slowly, my eyes trailed up to his. As soon as I met those pits of blue, I realised that I wanted this. I wanted him.

I had for a while now.

"Yes. I will definitely be your girlfriend."

And before I knew what was happening, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down onto the bed with him, his lips once again moving softly against mine in the cool breeze of the night.

➶➶➶➶➶ 

I AM ACTUALLY SO CHUFFED WITH THIS CHAPTER BC MY OTP JUST BECAME A THING YO

how did you all find that? I really hope you guys enjoyed it because believe it or not I've been working on this chapter for about four hours now because I wanted it to be good and I just really hope you all enjoyed the Briam fluff that I tried to input (idk i tried).

IN OTHER EXCITING NEWS; I HAVE CAST BROOKLYN.

thank you to everyone's suggestions but I have decided to use *dramatic drum roll*

the lovely Crystal Reed to be Brooklyn's face claim. I just feel like she has the right balance between Stefan and Damon. Hope you all agree. I also managed to make a new cover, hope y'all like it lol.

ALSO OMFG SISTER DEAREST REACHED 500K READS. WTF. IM ACTUALLY SO IN SHOCK BECAUSE I NEVER THOUGHT THIS STORY WOULD EVER EVER GET THIS POPULAR. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH. I LOVE YOU ALL. Thank you all so much for the continuous support of this story; I owe it all to you.

- Emma