Centuries

Keziah dropped the duffle from her shoulder and frowned. Her knuckles were red from rapping against the door so many times. She pressed her ear to the door and waited for any kind of movement from the inside.

"Damnit," she cursed. Four large boxes rested behind her with various items that would soon be in her room. Glancing at the gold iPhone in her hand she blew the stray hair out of her face. 5:32 stood out in white font against her background.

Letting out a breath she turned so her back was against the wooden fixture, her body sliding down until her butt hit the floor. Blindly shoving her hand into her purse she manifested a granola bar and a bottle of water. The wrapper crinkled in her fingers and her mouth watered at the strawberry snack. Chewing slowly she let head fall back and shut her eyes.

Winnifred had said she would be back from work by 5. But when Keziah called the young girl, the line went straight to voicemail. Typing in the password she touched the screen where 'Winnie the Pooh' was listed in recent calls. Waiting until the screen popped up she hit speaker.

"Hi, you've reached Winnifred Mikaelson. I can't answer the phone at this moment so leave me a message and I'll call you back. Thanks."

Once the beep rang in her ear Keziah popped her lips. "Winnie, darling, we agreed for me to get here after five so I could move my stuff in. It is now half past five and I'm currently gnawing on a granola bar looking like a poor college student waiting for their roommate to come home. If I didn't already have a job, I would fit that description, but alas I have graduated. I'll stop rambling now but you'd better get your ass home if you want some honey. And yes, I just did refer to you as Pooh Bear. He loves his honey. I'm going to hang up now. Yeah." Dropping the phone into her lap she banged her head against the door lightly. "Great babbling Kez."

The elevator dinged down the hall. Keziah felt a surge of energy run through her as she hopped to her feet. Stuffing the rest of the granola bar into her mouth she chewed, wiping the fabric of her shorts off. Her eyes lifted to the approaching figure and she nearly choked on the food still in her teeth. A guy roughly 5'10" with curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes started taping pieces of paper on the doors he was passing. She snatched the water bottle from the floor and chugged as much as she could in one swig, the liquid catching in the back of her throat making her cough. Her cheeks puffed out and her hand flew to her mouth to keep the water from spewing. Turning away from the guy she felt heat rising in her cheeks as she continued to cough.

"Hey," his voice was low, slightly raspy, "are you alright?" Raising her finger to give herself a minute she slapped her chest. When she could finally breath she counted to three and slowly faced the beautiful stranger. A smirk was pulling at his lips while he very not so discreetly ran his eyes over her figure. She was thankful she had decided to wear the grey tank-top that accented her skin tone, although it was tinged pink from embarrassment.

"Yes, hi, went down the wrong pipe." Twisting the cap back onto the bottle she smiled. In the awkward silence that followed she was able to sneak glances at his torso. The black shirt he was wearing was snug against his abdomen and the legs exposed from his track shorts were very muscular.

"Are you, uh, moving in?" His tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip and Keziah felt her heart sputter. Gesturing with her right arm to the boxes she nodded.

"Yes. My roommate isn't home from work so I'm kind of stranded."

"I'm surprised she didn't give you a key." He tossed the roll of scotch tape aimlessly in the air and caught it.

"She was going to give it to me today actually." She grinned at him again and looked down at her shoes.

"Well hey, when she comes home, you get settled in, come up to the party I'm throwing on the next floor up. Dress casually, nothing fancy, and there will be plenty of beer to go around." Their fingers brushed when he handed her the flyer and they both quickly made eye contact. Biting her lower lip she scrolled over the large font on the page and nodded.

"Will do. Thanks." He started backing away, her new apartment the last one on that floor, and he shot her a wide smile.

"I'm Patrick. If I don't answer the door when you get there just tell them I invited you."

"Sounds good. See you later."

"Yes you will." With a wink he disappeared back into the elevator. She waited until the hum of the machine moving started before letting out a loud breath. Using the page as a fan she rested against the doorframe. Pinching herself on the arm she smiled to herself, totally oblivious to the elevator re-opening and the figure of her roommate emerging.

"Keziah, I am so sorry. I had a meeting that ran over and tons of paperwork and why are you smiling like a goof?" Winnifred pulled out the apartment keys from her bag and shoved the designated one into the door.

"Because I know how you're going to make it up to me for standing out here all alone." She twisted the paper around for Winnifred to glance at and the brunette girl groaned. "You're taking me to a party."


Winnifred tugged her fingers through her hair for the tenth time once they stepped off the elevator. Keziah was the first to step out, music filling the hallway. Several people lingered in the hall with red cups in their hands. Most were dressed in jeans or shorts engrossed in their own conversations. The few girls that appeared were in tight skirts, overwhelmingly revealing tops, and had on more make-up than Winnifred had in her bathroom.

"I'm not entirely sure how big of a partier you are," Winnie began, "but I'm not big on these types of social gatherings."

"You don't have to be social," Keziah said with a glance over her shoulder. "You just have to pretend like you're having fun. And if in fact you end up having fun, then it's a success." Winnie eyed a blonde girl that walked by giving her shoes a disgusted look.

"Did you see the heels on those things?!" Keziah shrugged. They managed to make it to door number 28 and peered inside.

"We died and went to heaven," Keziah muttered once they stepped inside. A guy with brown hair and scruff on his chin approached them with a wide smile.

"Hello ladies!" He took a drink from his cup. "Welcome to party a la Kane. How are you this fine evening?"

"We are just grand, thank you." Keziah looked at Winnie only to see that the color had drained from her face. "I was told we were supposed to say Patrick invited us if he wasn't the one that greeted us."

"Yes, yes, little Patty likes to invite the pretty girls." He winked at the duo before taking another drink. "I'm Brent. The alcohol is in the kitchen, music is playing, I think they started a game of beer pong in the living room. Make yourselves comfortable and always use a condom."

"Oh my God," Winnie breathed. Brent had already walked away leaving the two standing alone in the hall.

"What?" Keziah rubbed her hands together. "He was cute, wasn't he?"

"You don't know who he is? Who Patrick is?" Winnifred ran a hand through her hair again making Keziah roll her eyes.

"What is with you? Ever since I told you about this you've been super weird." Nudging the girl Keziah motioned toward the source of the music. "Wanna dance?"

"I'd rather have a drink. Or ten." Without bothering to wait on her new roommate, the brunette moved around the random strangers until she got to the kitchen. Two kegs sat on the floor with the island counter full of vodka, whiskey, brandy, and rum. Random bottles of orange juice, cranberry juice, and pepsi were mixed in. Red cups were stacked at the end and a few people were currently filling theirs to the brim with beer. A guy with short brown hair and blue eyes smiled as she walked up to grab a drink.

"Hello," she said softly. Grabbing a bottle of Absolut she poured until it filled half the cup, her hand reaching for the cranberry juice when he beat her to it. She offered a tight lipped grin as he unscrewed the cap and began to pour.

"I'm Brandon."

"Winnifred." He put the cap back on and pushed the cup toward her.

"That's an interesting name." She lifted the drink to her mouth and took a long drink. Licking her lips she swallowed.

"You can thank my mom for that one." He chuckled before taking sip of his beer.

"You from around here?" His eyes moved along her body and she self consciously shifted weight from foot to foot. Winnie fought the urge to cringe as the vodka burned her throat.

"I live right downstairs." She pointed at the floor. "Have for a few years."

"That's pretty cool." Nodding she took another drink. "Well I'm going to see who's winning in beer pong. You're welcome to join." He tossed the cup into a garbage can and stuck out his arm. Vaguely grinning she followed his footsteps until they were in the living room where the most noise was being made.

Keziah was standing on one end of the table with Brent, her arms raised in triumph. The guy she recognized as Patrick put a cup to his lips and chugged whatever content it held. His partner mimicked his actions until they both slammed the empty containers on the table.

"You're good, Lewis. But you're going to drink." Patrick pointed an accusatory finger at the strawberry blonde who batted her eyelashes innocently.

"You have to make it in a cup first." Everyone around the table made 'oh' noises as the blonde boy narrowed his eyes. Picking up the small white ball he rolled it in his fingers before tossing it. The ball ricocheted off the rim of the cup and shot to the floor. Patrick swore under his breath. Keziah snatched the ball off the ground and gave him a playful gaze. "Is that all you've got?"

"Such big talk for a little girl."

"Funny, I was going to say the same for you." More 'oh' noises rounded the room as she fired the ball straight into a cup in the back, both guys looked at each other before glaring at the girl.

"There is no way you're this good," Patrick argued fishing the ball out of the beer. "You ar-"

"What the fuck is going on?" All heads snapped in the direction of the booming voice, the music instantly stopping as someone pressed a button. A tall brunette stood in the hall with a bag over his shoulder, dark eyes zeroed in on the blonde boy frozen in his spot. Winnifred felt her neck grow hot as she stood three feet away from the new face.

"Jon, what uh, you're home early."

"Everybody out. Now."

"Come on Jonny," Brandon slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Lighten up a little."

"Get out." Patrick tried to duck out behind Keziah but Jon grabbed the back of his shirt. "Not you."

"Looks like you're in for a long night," Keziah teased with a small wave. Patrick flipped her off causing the girl to cackle, her hand grabbing onto Winnifred's arm. "Come on Winnie!"

Jon eyed Winnie as she backed out of the apartment, his grip still tight on his friend.