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You sat beside her unconscious body, fingers hovering over her blonde, slightly tangled hair. Unsure as to whether or not you should touch her, your hand stayed floating above her forehead. The desire to stroke away the lonely strands that fell over her porcelain face rose with every second.
After all, before the whole Julian fiasco—before Lily’s death—you would’ve been free to do more than simply stroke away her hair strands. So much more.
A quiet groan escaped her lips, breaking your train of thought. You turned over, watching as her eyes fluttered open slowly. You took your hand away, resting it atop the surface of the couch.
“N-Nora…?” She questioned drowsily, the effects of the vervain still partially active. “W-what are you…?”
You pursed your lips slightly, turning slightly to the side to break away from her intense gaze. “I rescued you from them, I’d expect a thank you would be in order.”
She slowly pushed herself into a sitting position. “...Thank you.”
You looked around the room of the Salvatore mansion, brightly lit with ceiling lights. It was completely silent, something uncommon when you had first moved in. Then again, at that time you had a full house; Malcolm, Lily, and Oscar were still alive. The thought of your family members dying one by one made your chest feel heavy, so you decided to stop thinking about it.
“Where’s Julian?”
You weren’t completely sure of what Julian would’ve done to you had you guys met face to face. Would he harm you for siding with Lily? After all, he was the man who had beaten Valerie until her baby’s heartbeat stopped, the reason for Lily’s death.
“I haven’t seen him much since Lily—” She paused. “He left after making that,” she turned and gestured to the broken rubble of chairs and table, all reduced to wooden slabs and fragments.
You dawned on the fact that she had been living in this big house all alone, the only company she had being her own guilt, and grief. To think that she had chosen this man over Lily, over Valerie, over you, and he had left her alone when she needed him most. You could feel your blood boil. If Julian was to be the holder of Mary Louise’s loyalty, he should’ve at least tried to deserve it.
“So you saved me…” She trailed off, as if deep in thought. She pushed aside the stray strand of hair that fell over her face. Perhaps she noticed you staring at it.
You let out a breath. “Yes, Mary Lou, I thought we went over that already.”
“I thought,” she started, her voice trembling so slightly you almost missed it. “I thought I was dead to you.”
You let out a sardonic laugh. “We both know that isn’t true.” Her expression lit up for a brief second. “Of course, I don’t take back what I said earlier. But... I would never let someone hurt you, even if we broke up.”
She opened her mouth, as if to speak, but only silence followed. You could see the shine in her green eyes from the slight tears that glossed over them. She curled her fingers around the edge of the couch, tightening them against the fabric, as if to brace herself for something.
The fireplace crackled, the only noise in what seemed like an eternity of silence. You wondered how she must’ve felt these past few days, how badly the loneliness must’ve eaten her up. She held a worn out expression and her shoulders looked even more tense and rigid than it usually was. Had she always looked so exhausted? It was ridiculous for Bonnie to think that she could ever be “dead” to you. Hard as you try, 133 years of love could not wash away so easily.
But one must at least start somewhere, you decided, and being here, with her, being reminded more and more of why she has held your heart for the past century or so... well that was perhaps not the best way to start letting her go.
You stood up, brushing the lint and fabric from the couch off your purple blouse. A hand flew up, grabbing your own in desperation.
“Wait!” Her voice wavered. “Nora, please.” You look at her, taking in every aspect of her visage, every feature on her face. Her eyebrows furrowed in distress, her eyes, pleading you to listen, to stay, her lips pursed.
“Wait for what?” You replied tersely.
She intertwined her finger around your free hand, standing up to meet you eye to eye. The tip of her nose nearly grazing your own, her lips only mere centimeters away. Both your hands were caught in her own, her fingers curled around yours.
“Nora,” she started. Her eyes glossed over, and you could feel the urge to cry well up inside of you as well. But you were a Heretic, and you were no longer the sensitive urchin you used to be, not ever since you met her. You would not cry in front of her, not now. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I called you a charity case, and I’m even more sorry for hurting you. I never meant to.” Her voice faltered, and small droplet of tears fell down her face gently.
Without realizing it, your hand had already risen, laying gently on her face, wiping away the tears that fell.
“Nora, please, I love you.” Her voice, desperate and pleading, sent shards of glass through your own heart. “I never wanted to hurt you, or Lily, or Val.”
“I’m aware of that.” You brushed your thumb against her cheek, as if that could brush away all the problems, her regrets, your grief. “I put Stefan in the hellstone.” It was better, you decided, to change the topic.
Her eyes widened in bewilderment before you saw a shadow of what looked like a grin. It made your heart flutter for just a brief second, and you couldn't stop your lips from curving upward into a sheepish smile.
“You're adorable.” You would've ran that sword through Stefan Salvatore ten times over if it would allow you to see that smile of hers.
“He hurt you.” You deadpanned. It was the second time he had taken her to become his hostage, hurting her for his own selfish gains. You would not allow her to become some kind of object, leverage, that gets tossed around.
She tugged on your hands, a gesture meant to capture your attention. “Nora, please,” she urged you, “Come home.” She leaned her face towards you, foreheads bumping against one another. “You can drop out of that college, and we can go back to normal. We can talk to Julian and work things out. We could be a family again, we could be us again.”
You let out a sigh, slowly pushing yourself away from her, released her fingers from your grasp. A flicker of fear passed through her eyes, and you could tell she had realized what your answer would be.
“Mare,” you uttered her name so quietly, it was barely above a whisper. “You're still afraid of changing, and I can never forgive Julian for what he has done, to Val, to Lily, to our family. Nothing has changed, our problems have not gone away. I told you, I’m done fighting.”
She winced, as if scathed by your words. “This is still about Julian?” She questioned incredulously. “Julian is the reason why you threw my ring back at my face, Julian is why you're leaving me after loving me for over a century?”
“That rock was not a symbol of our love.” You replied, defensively. “He manipulated us Mary Lou, he manipulated all of us. And now Lily is dead because of it.” Your voice resonated with a pained anger that you buried beneath you ever since her death. You had no place for that anger; you grieved by living your life, enrolling in classes, not swearing revenge against Julian. No, the Salvatore brothers were already on that, not that you thought they'd succeed. “You chose him over all of us, over me.”
“Nora—” She started.
You let out a sharp breath, slowly turning away from her. “I'm done talking to you about this.” You quickly walked towards the door, wiping away the slight onset of tears that had begun to trickle down your face. You could hear her shouting your name behind you, but you walked on, not looking back.
You shivered at the prospect of the next century of your life without her by your side, but it was not enough for you to turn back.