you’re the one i can’t go without

It felt strange. Being back in Mystic Falls just felt strange. The last time Emma had been there was in 1864. Since then, she hadn't set foot in the small Virginia town in well over a century. Until now. She and Brooklyn had been somewhere in south France when her friend got wind of the Original family in Mystic Falls. Well, part of it anyway. Where ever Klaus Mikaelson went, so did the daggered members of his family. One of those daggered family members happened to be her friend's love, Kol. Naturally, Brooklyn was ready to up and leave at a moment's notice. Emma had been hesitant to return, though her friend had managed to convince her to come along. Reluctantly, Emma agreed though she had no intention of staying long. "So, I'm guessing your brothers have no idea that you're back in town?" She asked her friend as she took a sip of her drink. They were seated at a table in a restaurant/bar called The Grill. They'd only just arrived in town about an hour or so before. After enduring a long flight over, Emma had suggested they find a place to grab a drink or two. Alright, maybe she was stalling the inevitable. She'd see him sooner or later. And by him she meant none other than Brooklyn's brother Stefan.

---

A lot seemed to have changed in the several decades that had passed while trapped inside a damn box. Kol couldn't believe that his brother had kept him daggered for fifty years. He shouldn't have been surprised by it, it was a typical Klaus move, but it was hard to believe that fifty years had gone by just like that. Of course, it was but a small fraction of the time he'd spent here on Earth, but it was still a significant amount of time for him. It wasn't just fifty years locked inside of a bloody coffin. It was fifty years without the woman he loved. He had no idea where Brooklyn was. He didn't know where to start looking for her. She could be anywhere in the world right now. He was ready to pack up and leave the moment he was undaggered, after hoping to seek some sort of revenge against his brother, but his mother had other plans. She wanted them to be a family again. While he wasn't necessarily one to be on best behavior constantly, he knew better than to cross her too much. Little did he know that the one person he was looking for was closer than he could have ever imagined.

Brooklyn glanced across the table at her friend and away from the menu, she'd been looking at when Stefan and Damon were mentioned, even if Emma didn't use their names. "Your guess would be correct," she said sighing. The only reason Brooklyn had decided to return to Mystic Falls, after all, this time, was because of Kol. She'd gotten news of Klaus and the rest of his family being here and that Klaus had finally un-daggered Kol after fifty years and she had ever intention of reuniting with him because it'd been much too long for her liking. "I guess it's kind of inevitable though that we'll run into them eventually," she added sighing. "I mean we do need somewhere to stay until we decide to leave and the boarding house is still around and big enough. Plus even if we didn't stay there it isn't like this town has ever been that big." She said knowing really that no matter what she and Emma did eventually they'd run into her brothers. She supposed though that it was about time for the three of them to hash out their family drama. "But I say we put off seeing running into them as long as possible," Brooklyn added just wanting to avoid them both all together honestly. If only she could just find Kol and leave town with him without any hiccups.

---

Stefan honestly was a little stressed out. The Original family had wandered into town followed by their mother apparently, which he knew couldn't be good. Damon, as usual, was just being a pain in his ass, Elena and her friends wouldn't stop worrying about everything. Oh yeah and he was worried about his sister. Even if they hadn't spoken in well a really long time he still worried about her. After all, she'd ran off after Katherine was gone with Emma and he knew that the two of them had ran into some well-known vampires who Brooklyn stayed with for a while. He didn't know about Emma though. And then he'd gotten word of his sister being turned. He'd even seen her briefly back in 1920 still hanging around The Original family. And he'd just learned that it was best to let Brooklyn do her own thing and not try and fight her because even though he would always look out for her she never listened to him. He had to admit though as he was walking back to the boarding house to clear his mind that he from a quick glance inside the Grill there was a girl who looked an awful lot like his sister.

"So brother, is your head all clear now?" He heard Damon ask almost as soon as he walked in. This was not what he wanted to deal with right now. "Because it would seem that our dear little sister is back in town and isn't it funny she shows up the same time this damn family of Originals decides to show up." Damon added clearly trying to point something out.

"Just come out with it Damon,"

"She's clearly here for that original she's all attached to. And we can't let that keep happening. He's going to hurt her, and I want her to be as happy as you do because she's our baby sister. But there's no way I'm going to let her run off with him again. I don't care if he's an Original or not."

Emma could tell that her friend would much rather not face her brothers at all, and she didn't blame her. She knew how they were and how they hadn't liked her being with Kol. They hadn't liked her hanging around with the Original family, and she supposed that she could see why, but none of them had ever given her any reason to dislike them. Other than Klaus of course. After he daggered Kol, Brooklyn had been a mess, and she'd been the one to pick up the pieces and prevent her friend from doing something stupid that would have likely gotten her killed. Despite what her brothers thought of Kol, Emma had always thought him to be good for Brooklyn and vice-versa. In the short time she had spent with Brooklyn while she was with the Original family, she'd seen how the two were together. They honestly brought the best out in each other, so she was kind of really rooting for them now given the second chance and all. "I'm perfectly fine with that." She said, taking another sip of her drink. She knew that they'd likely run into her brothers sooner rather than later. She wouldn't be at all surprised if they already knew that Brooklyn was back in Mystic Falls. The town was still just as small as she remembered it being, after all. "So what's the plan exactly? You're here, and you know that Kol's here somewhere, so how are you planning to do this?"

---

Esther was planning a ball, and while Kol had other things he would rather be doing, he knew that he couldn't cross his mother. It wouldn't end well for him, that much he was certain of. All he wanted was to seek out the woman that he loved. He didn't care how long it took him or where it took him, he intended on finding Brooklyn and he wasn't going to let his brother, or any member of his family, keep them apart ever again. He wouldn't be subject to another half-century in a coffin. Not if he had anything to say about it anyway. He knew that Niklaus would be on his best behavior with their mother around, or he hoped that his brother would anyway. It was something that he was certain would end up working in his favor.

"Brother, what do you say we go grab a few drinks to start off the evening right?" Kol was a bit skeptical of Klaus' intentions, though he knew better than to argue. He needed to make it seem like he was ready to be a family again. If he did that, no one would suspect a thing when he ran off and he could use the element of surprise to his advantage. "Well, I do believe you owe me quite a few after keeping me daggered for several decades, so why not?" He sent a signature grin his brother's way.

Brooklyn ran her fingers through her hair and leaned back in her seat shrugging her shoulders. "I don't know yet," she said wishing that wasn't true. Because right now nothing would make her happier than being with Kol again and she didn't even know how that was going to happen. Sure Mystic Falls wasn't some giant city that would take her days to search even as a vampire, and if she were to search for him she could probably find him by the end of the day. Well as long as he wasn't locked up in a basement or tomb or anything. The problem was how she was going to get past Klaus to get to Kol. Honestly, she didn't like Klaus much, or at all really and he wasn't her biggest fan either. Which was why she'd bailed after he'd daggered Kol, well after Emma had kind of convinced her to so she didn't get herself killed. Klaus, however, was not going to be what stopped her from being with Kol though. Especially if her own brothers hadn't stopped her. Luckily though she did know that she, at least, had Rebekah and Elijah on her side, they were a lot nicer than the hybrid, though. Which was kind of saying something because Elijah could be ruthless if crossed, and sometimes Rebekah well she could just be ruthless. "I mean there has to be a reason he hasn't already left to come looking for me if he's been un-daggered, so I might have to convince him to leave with me however I need to once I find him. Which hopefully, won't take long." She said before eating one of the potato skins she'd ordered.

---

Stefan ran his hands over his face as he paced the living room with Damon sitting on the couch just staring at him. He knew that his brother wasn't going to just agree to let Brooklyn live out her life with whoever she wanted. And he really did understand why what he didn't understand though was why he still felt that way. Their sister was kind of all grown up. She wasn't a little kid anymore who still needed her brothers to fall asleep, and he was sure she didn't still run around in dresses begging them to play with her. Hell, neither of them even really had a relationship with her anymore which yea it sucked but it was true. So if Damon really thought that he could just walk into her life and tell her what to do like they were still in 1864 then he'd have another thing coming because that wasn't going to happen.

"And what do you plan to do exactly Damon? Please tell me so I can tell you how bad of an idea it is." Stefan said shaking his head.

"I plan on dragging her back her kicking a screaming if I have too. I'll bring Emma too because I'm sure she's tagging along. I mean we both know those two aren't likely to stay apart very long. And if our sister came back for some insane mission to win back some insane original vampire you can bet her best friend tagged along to help her on her suicide mission." He said knowing that he wouldn't be this way if it were Stefan. He'd just be letting his brother do what he wanted. Unless Stefan went on a bender again and became a ripper, because then Damon would try and help him out. However this wasn't Stefan, it was his baby sister who he hadn't seen in forever and all of sudden just wanted to protect from everything. "So are you coming? Or am I going to have to drag them both back here myself?" He asked his brother standing up from the couch and heading to the door, with Stefan quick to follow.

"I'm only going to make sure no one gets hurt. And so she knows this wasn't my idea."

Emma nodded. Her friend was right. Kol would have likely come looking for her already in an ideal situation, however there was likely something preventing him from doing so. She wondered if it was something to do with Klaus. It wasn't just because she didn't exactly like the hybrid, though that came into play, as she knew enough about him to know that he'd kept Brooklyn and Kol apart for half a century by daggering him. He was no longer daggered, but she wouldn't be surprised if Klaus still had some sort of a hold on his brother. The last thing she expected was for their mother to somehow be back from the dead and that she wanted them to be a family again to be the cause of Kol's delay in seeking out Brooklyn. Of course, she also would suspect Esther to be plotting to kill her children either, but that would come later on. "Do you think it's Klaus' doing?" She asked curiously, taking a sip of her drink. "He's kept you two apart once before."

---

Kol figured that this wouldn't go against what their mother wanted. Esther wanted them to be a family, sure, but she couldn't control them completely. He assumed that he was allowed to come and go as he pleased so long as he wasn't leaving Mystic Falls and his family behind. Of course, that was what he planned on doing eventually, but no one needed to know that just yet. They wouldn't know about it until it actually happened. So long as things went how he wanted them to. "Lead the way, brother." He said, motioning for his brother to show him to where ever it was that he had in mind for their evening of fun. Of course, he would have chosen something other than alcohol to drink if it were his idea of having fun, but he figured he should at least try to keep the blood binges out of a picture for the time being. He should probably stay in his mother's good graces for the time being. "Do tell mother that Niklaus and I will be later, Rebeckah." He told his sister before following Klaus out the door.

Brooklyn wished she could say that she knew Klaus was up to something and keeping Kol from her, but she wasn't sure. She didn't know why he'd still be keeping Kol away from her after he'd already kept them apart for over half a century and she still loved Kol. Hell, she didn't even know if maybe Klaus had some kind of blackmail or something to use against him or not. Or maybe there was something else. "I don't know," she said biting her lip. "There's a part of me that wants to say yes this is all Klaus' doing for whatever sick reason he has. But there's another part of me that feels like it something else. And that scares me because I don't know what could be worse." She said knowing whatever was keeping them apart she was just going to have to find a way to deal with. Of course, the only thing worse than Klaus that she could even think of was his mother. Not that she'd met his mother given Klaus had killed her when they were all much younger but Kol had told her stories about his mother and how she used to be this all-powerful witch who wasn't someone to cross unless you had a death wish. She was dead, though, so unless she'd found a way to come back Brooklyn doubted that she could be causing any trouble. Of course, if it was his mother she didn't know why she'd be causing issues when it came to Kol's happiness. Weren't mothers supposed to want what was best for their kids and all?

---

As Stefan followed Damon to the grill so they could see if Brooklyn and Emma really were there a thought came into his mind. "What if Kol's already found Brooklyn? Or what if he finds her before we do? Are you planning to fight off an original to get to her? Because no offense brother but I'm pretty sure that she's been hanging around that family enough that if Kol is already with her she's not just going to leave him to come with us. And Kol probably wouldn't let her either." He said wondering what kind of insane mission he'd gotten himself drug into right now. Because whatever was going to happen when they saw their sister he was sure wouldn't be good.

"I guess if I have to fight off an original then I will, but let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Besides, we don't even know if she and Kol are together yet or not. Maybe he's tied up with weird Original family business or something and has yet to go after our sister. And maybe we can convince her that he doesn't love her or they'd already be together or something. And she'll see the error in her ways and come back home with us." Damon said knowing it sounded a little insane, but he just wanted to fix things with Brooklyn and he didn't feel like he could do that with the Original family still in her life.

@ killian jones.

Emma nodded. "I don't know what's worse than Klaus either." She said, frowning slightly. She didn't know what could be worse than what Klaus had done to separate Kol and her friend half a century ago. She didn't think that she would ever understand the hybrid's reasoning for doing anything like that. Who thought it was okay to keep their siblings daggered and in coffins for decades, sometimes even centuries, at a time? There just wasn't anything okay about that at all. She didn't think so anyway, and she was pretty damn sure that most people wouldn't think so either. She took another sip of her drink, her eyes scanning over the different people inside the place. It was fairly busy, and she could see that this was clearly one of the popular hangouts in town now. Her eyebrows rose when she saw two very familiar looking people walk inside. She glanced over to her friend, wondering if she had spotted the two Mikaelson brothers herself. "I think you might be finding out sooner rather than later..."

---

"So, where is it that we're going, brother?" Kol asked Klaus. He had an inkling as to where his brother had in mind, though he'd learned not to really make assumptions about his brother or his train of thought. Of course, making assumptions never really ended well to begin with, regardless of whether Klaus was involved in said assumptions or not, but still. He had only been undaggered for a short amount of time, though anything was short right now compared to the fifty years he'd spent inside that coffin, but he did have a chance to see some parts of the town so far. "If there's one place in this town that always seems to have plenty of alcohol within its establishment, it's The Grill." Klaus answered. Soon enough, they were both walking inside. Little did Kol know that the very person who had been on his mind since he'd awoken was there as well.

Stefan and Damon walked into the Grill and headed right for Emma at her table when they spotted her. It hadn't really taken long to pick her out of the small crowd where she was, only Brooklyn wasn't at the table with her. That didn't really both Damon though because he was sure that if Emma was there then his sister was close by. Clearly he was unaware of what had only happened moments before and hadn't laid eyes on his sister yet. But he was fine just finding her friend because he could just hopefully convince Emma to help them out.

"Hello Emma, long time no see," Damon said taking a seat and smiling at the girl across from him. "So you wouldn't happen to know where our sister is would you?"

Stefan rolled his eyes and also took a seat pretty sure that Damon would somehow screw this up. But again he was only there to make it known how idiotic his brother really was. And he was pretty sure that neither of them were going to be able to convince their sisters best friend to help them out when they hadn't spoken to their sister or her best friend in a long time.

---

"What?" Brooklyn said looking to her friend before following her friends gaze only to spot the one person who'd been on her mind non-stop almost for the last fifty years. "I'll be back," she told Emma quickly before standing up and all but running across the establishment to him. "Kol," she said smiling at him as she practically threw herself at him. Of course, it was understandable that she'd be like this right now. She hadn't physically seen Kol once in the last half a century and he was kind of the love of her life so Brooklyn would cause the biggest scene in history if she wanted to because there he was in front of her even more handsome than she remembered him as. Of course fifty years is a long time to go without seeing someone vampire or not. Now that they were both there though Brooklyn had no intentions of letting him out of her sight, because she wasn't going to be separated from him again.

[ would you maybe like to continue this?? ]

"Damon, Stefan." Emma said in a bored tone. She wasn't at all surprised that her best friend's brothers had come looking for her. Mystic Falls was just as small of a town now as it had been back in 1864, and word always had a tendency to travel quickly in small towns. She wondered who had mentioned something to the Salvatore brothers about them being back in town, though she didn't care enough to get to the bottom of it herself. "I'm hurt, Salvatore. You don't want to talk to me at all?" She stuck her lower lip out in a slight pout when Brooklyn's oldest brother asked her whether or not she knew where their sister was. They obviously hadn't spotted Brooklyn yet themselves, and she wasn't about to tell them where she was. She wanted to give her friend some time to actually reunite with the love of her life, and she knew that Damon would likely screw things up by interrupting said reunion because that was just how Damon Salvatore was. Neither of them ever seemed to like Kol, but Damon despised him more than Stefan did.

---

"I do hope it lives up to its supposed potential, brother." Kol said to Klaus as they walked into the restaurant. He had no idea what was about to happen. Unlike Brooklyn's brothers, he hadn't gotten wind of her return to Mystic Falls. If he had, regardless of his mother's plan, he would have gone searching for her straight away. He wouldn't have cared whether he offended the members of his family or not. The way he saw it, Brooklyn was all of the family he really needed. She was one of the few people who had never double-crossed him. He would trust her with his eternal life, and to this day he still did. He was taken from his thoughts about his love when someone said his name. He thought his mind was playing tricks on him at first when he saw her standing there with a smile on her face before him. He knew that wasn't the case when she threw her arms around him. "Brooklyn? What are you doing here, love?" He asked, letting out a laugh as he hugged her tightly, lifting her up off of the ground in the process.

"I'm talking to you right now am I not?" Damon asked sighing, "I'm sorry that was rude. Hey Emma, how've you been? It's been so long since we've seen each other, hope you're well. Now really where's Brooklyn?"

It was Stefan's turn to sigh, "How've you been Emma really?" Stefan asked rolling his eyes at his brother. It was almost as if Damon actually thought that being mean to Emma would get her to talk like that had ever worked. "And please forgive Damon, you know he doesn't exactly have manner sometimes," Stefan added smiling at her. If there was one thing that he knew hadn't changed since 1864 though it was Brooklyn and Emma's friendship. The pair of them had been attached at the hip practically forever before any of the vampire mess ever happened, and he knew that couldn't have changed. Which could only mean that if Emma was here at the table, where he now knew he'd seen Brooklyn too not even an hour ago, then Brooklyn was still somewhere in the grill. But he wasn't going to tell that to Damon because he'd cause a scene.

---

Brooklyn wasn't even trying to hide the huge smile on her face when Kol noticed her. "Where else would I be?" She asked him once firmly on the ground again. "I mean I haven't spent the last fifty years keeping track of you not to come once I knew you'd been un-daggered," She asked him feeling as light as a feather right now. After all, this was the man she wanted to spend the rest of eternity with. So, of course, she'd made sure to find him no matter where he was. She did have to admit though that it had been a lot easier for her and Kol to be reunited than she'd thought it would be, which she wasn't complaining about it, but she did wonder if that meant it'd be harder for them to leave town together or something insane.

Emma rolled her eyes in response to Damon's words. While she didn't have a problem with very many people, Damon Salvatore just seemed to get under her skin no matter what. "You're charming as ever, Damon." She said sarcastically before shifting her attention to her best friend's other brother. She never had a problem with Stefan. He was the kinder of the two, definitely much more polite than his brother was too. In fact, whenever their paths crossed, they got on really well actually. Maybe a little too well at times, much to Brooklyn's dismay. "I've been well, thanks for asking, Stefan." She said, sending a smile his way. "Happy to be back in town. How've you been?"

---

Kol still couldn't believe that she was actually there. One of the reasons he held so much disdain towards his brother was because Klaus had kept him and Brooklyn apart. He had hoped to search for her himself once he finished helping his brother with whatever it was he was so eager to achieve, but it appeared as though he wouldn't have to now. Because she had found him first, and he couldn't be more thankful for that than he was now. "I suppose I should be flattered that you kept tabs on me for that long." He said. "Though I'm surprised that you didn't find another bloke during that time to replace me with." He added, sending a cheeky grin her way.

"Well that's a lie if I ever heard one," Stefan laughed, "when have you Emma Davies ever been happy to be in Mystic Falls? All you ever use to talk about was how you couldn't wait until the day you and Brooklyn could take off and go exploring the world. You always went on about how much you wanted to explore the open world and how your best friend would be the best person to do that with. Then you and our sister did just that, you left Mystic Falls and well I haven't exactly seen you since," he said wondering if Kol was the only reason his sister and Emma were back in town or if there were other motives here as well. Stefan couldn't imagine that Emma would want to stick around, but maybe there was unfinished business here for her. He couldn't say he'd be upset about that, if anything Stefan would be kind of thrilled if they decided to stick around for a while and he and Emma could reconnect. She had always been in the fond memories he had of 1864. After all, before Katherine had come strolling through town being Katherine and ruining everything like she did, Stefan could've seen himself finding the courage to pursue Emma in a more public romantic way. Though he was never given that chance, and it was so long ago there might not even be anything there anymore.

"I've been fine really. It's been absolutely insane here for a few months now but it's nothing we can't all handle just fine. At least I hope we can handle it fine. It's not really any of your concern I suppose. Mostly just The Originals being in town and Klaus causing some trouble, more than enough baby vampires we're trying to keep in check, and finding out that werewolves are still around apparently. Nothing for you guys to worry about. It's our stress, but what would a day in Mystic Falls be like anymore if not stressful?" He joked, honestly he wasn't sure when the last non stressful day he'd had was. Anymore there was always someone out to kill someone else and it was impossible to keep up with who they were fighting against one day from the next. If anything he'd tell Emma and Brooklyn to finish what they came for then leave so they didn't get drug into the madness. He had a feeling though that they were going to be around for a while.

---

The last fifty years had easily been the longest fifty years Brooklyn had endured. Of course most of her time spent over the last one hundred and fifty years was time with Kol and his family. She and Emma had stumbled upon them only a few short years after they'd left home thanks to Katherine the turmoil she took with her wherever she went. Time spent with them was time for her and Kol to fall in love which led to her nearly dying, which then led to Kol turning her so they wouldn't be apart and they stayed together because why would she want to leave him behind? It was a little weird at first but after awhile Brooklyn had pretty much been accepted into the family by everyone aside from Klaus who even now seemed way to paranoid for his own good. But as long as everyone stayed on his good side then there was nothing to worry about with him.

"You should feel very flattered, I wouldn't wait around that long for just anyone," She replied with a smile of her own. "The only time any other bloke could've even thought they had a chance with me was after I'd turned my emotions off in 1920 shortly after we were separated. Emma eventually persuaded me to turn them back on years later, but even in all that time not feeling anything I knew that I would wait for as long as I had to for you. You're it for me, there is no one else in the entire world I would rather spend my eternity with than you Kol Mikaelson." Brooklyn took his hands in her own and laced their fingers together. She didn't care that they still stood in the middle of The Grill or that people were starting to look at them. They could say whatever they wanted, she was finally in the presence of the man she loved and she'd be damned before she let anyone take this away from her.