˖*°࿐chapter thirteen.
xiii. FORGET ME, NOT

———

janelle

A knock sounded off from my bedroom door, slightly waking me up from my deep sleep. My eyes peeked over the pillow I held in front of me to see Damon coming in with a plate in his hand.

"Morning," he whispered to me as I sat up on the bed. "I brought you breakfast."

I laughed softly as he placed the plate in my lap, "Red velvet cake isn't breakfast, Damon."

"But it is your favorite," he pointed out with a grin.

"And exactly the reason why I made her this instead," Stefan walked in, holding a tray full of eggs, bacon, waffles, a fruit salad, and a glass of orange juice.

Damon playfully glared at him, "No one likes a show-off."

"Thank you, guys."

I understand that Damon and Stefan want to comfort me in my 'time of need', but it's honestly unnecessary — I feel fine.

You know, aside from the part where I found out that the baby I'm carrying is now evil. Still don't know how I'm supposed to take that in, or how I'm going to handle it.

According to Cassandra, she doesn't think there is any way around this. At least not one she's aware of. I've discussed it with Klaus, and we have both considered on seeing how this will play out. Maybe down the line, we can figure something out, but for right now, I just want this pregnancy to go smoothly.

"Is Klaus still here?" I asked them, noticing he was no longer in my room.

"Went out somewhere with Elijah. He said he would be back soon," Damon answered, opening up the curtains to let some light in.

I nodded, taking a bite out of my waffle before getting up from my bed. Stefan saw this and was quick to stop me. "Whoa, whoa. Where do you think you're going?"

"To get dressed," I told him in a light tone.

"No, you're not," he shook his head, sitting me back down. "You're staying home today."

"Why?" I whined to him as he pulled the covers back over my legs.

"Janelle, your magical demon baby almost killed you last night from the womb. In what world does that make sense?"

"After everything we've seen thus far, now is when you choose to ask that?" I retorted. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to my child as a satanic offspring."

"Oh, you mean the one you didn't tell us about?" Stefan reminded me.

I stared at Stefan in shock. It wasn't like him act this way, even though this was a huge secret, but I expected Damon to be a lot angrier than him.

"I think there's someone at the door. I'm just gonna go check." Damon awkwardly sped out the door, leaving the two of us alone to talk.

I exhaled, motioning for Stefan to sit down on the bed. "Stefan, I wanted to tell you I didn't know how. Everything else just seemed to become more important, and I didn't want to upset either of you."

"Upset me how?" he asked.

"It's obvious that you never really liked me being with Klaus. You already wanted to kill him for taking me to New Orleans; now he's gotten me pregnant." I said softly. "I don't know about you, but I'd like for my baby to grow up with their father."

"Janelle, I'm not upset that he got you pregnant. You've always wanted to be a mother; I'm not gonna deny you of that," he stated. "I was just disappointed that you couldn't trust me enough to let me know what was going on."

I broke eye contact with him, looking down at my fingers as I played with them. Usually, I can talk to Stefan about anything, let him know if I have a problem. But this time, I chose not to. It hurt me to hear him say that I couldn't trust him. There was no one that I trusted more than my brothers.

The only thing I could think of to say was, "I'm sorry."

Stefan brought me into his arms, hugging me tightly. I buried my head into his chest as he sighed into my hair. "You don't need to apologize, Nelle. Just be honest with me next time."

"I promise," I nodded.

He pulled away from me with a smile as Damon came back in with a nervous look on his face. "Glad to see that you two have made up. Nells, by any chance, have you talked to Kai yet?"

I stared at him with a blank face, "No, and I'm not going to."

Damon's lips pressed together in a straight line as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, that's gonna be a bit of problem because he's downstairs."

"Are you joking? Please tell me you're joking," I groaned, falling back into the pillows and hiding under the sheets. "Get rid of him."

"I tried," he said. "He refuses to leave until he sees you."

"Try harder."

"Janelle, there's no harm in having one little conversation," Stefan said to me as he tugged back the covers.

I scoffed, shaking my head, "Stefan, he just found out that the girl he loves has not only moved on with her life but is having another man's baby. That's not exactly a topic of discussion."

I couldn't face Kai yet. Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for what he did, but with a past like ours, it comes with a few difficulties. But I don't want to be on bad terms with him either. I don't know what I'm going to do.

"At least hear what he has to say," Damon suggested with a soft voice, only causing me to get even more furious with him.

"Why are you defending him?!" I snapped at him as my gaze turned into a hard stare. "You don't even like the guy."

"No, but I've been in his position," he mentioned. "I know what it's like to wait on someone, only to have them forget everything you've had in a matter of seconds."

"I know damn well you did not just compare my past relationship with yours. Are you trying to offend me, or are you just asking to get slapped?"

Stefan grabbed my hand, bringing my attention to him. "Janelle, we've all gone through some complicated relationship in our lives. As much as we want to, we can't avoid the extra baggage that comes with it. So, if you want Kai to leave, you have to talk to him. You can't ignore him forever."

Damon chuckled, "Yeah, and if he's as stubborn as you are, we'll be welcoming a new resident into the house."

I threw a pillow at Damon, which he quickly caught with a chuckle. "I'm not that stubborn."

He raised his eyebrows as I got up. I hit his arm as I walked past him and into my bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face before tying my hair up into a ponytail since I didn't feel like doing anything with it.

I took my sweet time going down those stairs so that I could think over what I was going to say to Kai. Or what Kai was going to tell me. I'm scared about what he might say. It could be bad, but it also could be good. I have no idea at this point.

But there's no way he's not going to mention Klaus and me, especially the baby either. Something like that can't be put off that easily.

When I did eventually reach the last step of the staircase, I forced my feet to bring me to the living room where I saw Kai sitting down on the couch with his back towards me.

"Hi," I bit my lip, nervously.

Kai immediately turned around and stood up to face me. "Hi," he replied, his voice cracking a bit. I noticed a few tear stains on his cheeks that made me feel like a horrible person for doing that to him.

"Damon said you wouldn't leave, unless you talked to me first, so..." I gestured for him to start speaking.

"Right, um —" He came closer to me, and I didn't step back like last time. I didn't feel the need to be cautious around him anymore. "I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm good," I nodded. "A little tired, but good. Thanks again, by the way."

"Letting you die, wasn't an option for me," he stated, staring right into my eyes. I had to make myself look away because I always seemed to get lost in them. I could never explain it, but it just happens.

"He makes you happy, doesn't he?" Kai blurted out.

"Yeah," I whispered, shifting my weight onto my other leg as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Yeah, he does."

Kai's jaw clenched, clearly not taking a liking to my response. "Does he make you happier than how I did?" he asked.

"Don't do that," I said, shaking my head. "Don't try to bring up a past I don't remember."

"Then, let me help you remember," he said, coming closer.

"Kai," I trailed off, not knowing where I was gonna go with this. "I'm with Klaus now. We're having a baby, and I'm sorry for being so blunt about it, but you need to understand that we can't just pick up where we left off. Things are different this time."

"You're not even going to try?" Kai asked in disbelief to which I said nothing in return. "I see. So, this is what you want?"

"This is what I want," I confirmed, still unsure with my answer.

I don't know what I want.

Kai scoffed, "Well, if you're so happy, why isn't there a wedding ring on your finger?"

My breath hitched as I subconsciously hid my left hand under my arm. "What does that have to with anything?"

"Janelle, all you ever talked about was starting a family," Kai reminded me. "To get married, to have kids, live in a big house with the ones you loved most. What happened to all of that?"

Everything Kai said was completely and utterly true. From the beginning, I've always desired a normal life. And I'm not going to lie; I am a bit disappointed in myself for not following through with that plan. But that doesn't necessarily mean that I regret the choices I've made.

"Look, Klaus and I have been together for a long time, " I said. "We've gone through a lot with each other. Of course, I wish it had worked out differently, but there isn't anything you can do about it now."

The truth of the matter is, Klaus has proposed to me several times. And each time, I would say no. But I wasn't going to tell Kai that. It's not because I didn't love him, I just wanted to make sure the two of us we're secure and happy before officially deciding to spend the rest of our lives together.

With all the obstacles we've had to deal with over the years, I wasn't sure if Klaus and I were ready to settle down just yet. But I know that no matter what we do, those obstacles were just going to keep returning.

"Nelle," Kai reach out to hold my arm, but I moved away, making him frown.

"People change, Kai; I've changed. I'm not the same girl anymore."

"I waited 18 years for you, Janelle, " Kai informed me. "What makes you think I won't do it again?"

"That's the thing, Kai. I don't want you to wait for me," I told him, sternly. "I'm sure what we had was special, but I've moved on with my life, and I think it's time for you to to do the same."

I watched as Kai's face fell. He stayed in the same position, not saying anything to me. There was a mix of hurt and anger set in his eyes as he struggled to speak. So instead of telling me what he thought, Kai stormed out without another word.

I huffed, sitting on the couch and rubbing my forehead. After a few minutes, Damon came in.

"How'd it go?" he asked softly.

I rolled my eyes, "Please, Damon. I know you and Stefan were listening. I can't believe I did that to Kai, let alone have you force me to," I sighed deeply. "He's never going to forgive me for this."

"Don't tell me you're starting to feel something for him," he said timidly.

"Of course not. But is it wrong for me to feel bad about breaking the boy's heart?!" I yelled at him, furiously.

"No, but —"

"Exactly, so don't try to tell me otherwise, " I snapped. "Having to hear that the girl he loves doesn't want to have anything to do with him anymore isn't easy to take in. You of all people should know what that feels like."

Damon sighed, "Okay, I get it. I'm sorry."

"It's fine," I mumbled.

He suddenly left the room and then instantly came back with a box set in his hands. My eyebrows furrowed as he set it on the coffee table in front of me.

"I know this is probably a terrible time to be showing you this, but Bonnie wanted to make sure you got it as soon as possible."

Now that made me even more eager to see what was in the box. Slowly lifting the lid, I was surprised by what was inside.

The box was filled with pictures, maybe hundreds.

They were pictures of me... with Kai.