Stand By Me

Trigger Warning: There will be talk of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in this chapter, please skip this chapter if this topic may make you feel uncomfortable. This is a challenging subject for a lot of us, please know my inbox will always be open for anyone who wants someone to talk to; about anything. None of us should go through difficult times alone.

- Holly xx

"Miss Lola, wait!"

Lola turns around to see the bakery owner run out after her, "Before you go! My nephew has been baking and well he always makes too much, take some of these with you."

He holds out a box with freshly baked brownies in it. Lola smiles politely at the man, shaking her head, "Oh Sal, I shouldn't."

"Take it as a welcome back to the city gift for you and Miss Adrianna." The elderly man places his hand against Lola's face, smiling genuinely at her, "It's so good to see both you girls back here once again! My father would have been over the moon to see you here again."

Sal's Bakery has been in business since the eighties, the ownership of the bakery running down the Garcia family line. Lola and Adrianna lived in New York briefly in the late eighties, they made a generous donation to Sal Snr in order for him to get his business up and running. The Garcia family have always been aware of their vampire history especially after one of their own was turned into a vampire round about the same time Lola lived in New York.

Lola smiles as she takes the box of brownies, "Thank you, Sal. I'll tell Adrianna to stop by and see you."

As Lola walks down the busy streets of Manhattan, her phone begins to ring. She smiles to herself as she picks up, "Are you calling me to tell me that you miss me already?"

"I started missing you the second you stepped out of our home, love. How's New York?"

"So far, so good. Although, it would be a lot more enjoyable if you were here."

"I'll be there soon. Have you spoken to either of your brothers lately?"

Lola stops at the entrance to the apartment building, frowning to herself finding it strange that Klaus has brought her brothers up, "They checked up on me yesterday and I told them I was going to be in New York for a few days. Thinking about it now, they seemed somewhat relived that I wasn't going to be in town which leads me to believe something has happened. What's going on, Nik? Are they back from the island?"

Klaus pauses for a moment on the other line before sighing, "They're not back yet. Rebekah has informed me that Katerina followed them to the island and took the cure before any of them had the chance to get it themselves."

"Katherine has the cure? That sneaky little bitch, how the hell did she know it was on that island?"

"It's Katerina, she will have had someone spying on your brothers."

"Has anything else happened?"

"Nothing." Klaus lies, not wanting to bring up the death of Jeremy, "I'll see you soon, my love."

"See you soon."

Meanwhile, back at the apartment, a flustered Adrianna rushes into the living room, "Have you seen Lola?"

Nate glances away from the sport channel playing on the tv, "No, is everything okay?"

Adrianna laughs nervously as she paces around the room as she grabs her phone, "She isn't in the room, the bed hasn't been slept in." She scoffs when her call goes straight to Lola's voicemail, "Now she isn't answering her phone, again!"

Nate sighs as he switches off the tv, he walks over to Adrianna, taking hold of her hands with a reassured squeeze, "You need to calm down, she's not a kid, Ade."

"I brought back some bagels from Sal's!" An upbeat Lola announces as she walks into the apartment, she has a broad smile on her face when she looks over to Adrianna and Nate, "You'll never guess what his nephew is called...Sal." She laughs to herself as she turns her back on them both in the open planned kitchen where she places the bagels onto a plate, "I wonder what would happen if they ever had a girl, maybe Sally."

"I'll give you both some space." Nate whispers to Adrianna, she nods and he kisses her cheek before leaving the apartment.

Adrianna clears her throat as she takes a seat at the island in the kitchen, "Where have you been?"

Lola shrugs as she pours herself a coffee, "Well it's been a while since I've been in the city, I wanted to explore. Walked along the high line, watched the sunrise on Brooklyn Bridge then picked up some bagels and came back."

"Have you even slept?"

"We are in the city that never sleeps, so why should we sleep?" Lola turns around to face Adrianna with a bagel on a plate, holding it out towards her, "Want one?"

Adrianna can tell the smile Lola has plastered on her face is fake, she knows her that well. Adrianna tilts her head towards Lola, narrowing her eyes, "When did the dreams start again?"

The fake smile disappears from Lola's face, just for a second, but long enough for Adrianna to notice. Lola clears her throat as she turns her back on Adrianna again, pouring herself a glass of water, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me, Lo." Adrianna sighs when Lola doesn't turn back around to face her, Adrianna stands up from her seat, "I know you, I know when you're not yourself. You're acting like you did after you left Klaus in the fifties. Not sleeping, jumpy, agitated at the littlest thing. Want to talk about it?"

Lola's shoulders rise and fall, as though she takes a deep breath before turning back to Adrianna with an even bigger fake smile, "There's nothing to talk about."

"It's not even been a year since you went back to Mystic Falls and a lot has happened." Adrianna looks over to Lola sympathetically, "It's understandable if you're falling down the same hole again."

"I'm not."

"Really?"

Lola smiles as she rips a piece of the bagel, "Really, I'm not."

"Who are you trying to convince? Me? Or yourself?" Adrianna glances down towards Lola's hands, who notices straight away and pulls her sleeves down to cover them. Adrianna steps closer to Lola, "Let me see your hands."

Lola's eyes widen, she takes a step back, shaking her head, "Ade, don't."

"Let me see your hands, Lola."

Lola looks away briefly, blinking away tears that are starting to form, "This is bullshit."

Lola pushes past Adrianna, storming into her bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her. Adrianna watches as she does so, her heart sinks realising her best friend is in the dark place she once seen her in over 50 years ago.

Adrianna follows Lola into the room to see Lola pacing around repacking her things. Lola's glare directs towards Adrianna, face full of betrayal, "Was this the reason you made me come here? Do you just want to use me as a project thinking I'm damaged?"

Adrianna sits on the edge of the bed, remaining calm, "Talk me through what happened the other month."

"I was killed." Lola throws a piece of clothing in her hand against the bed, "What do you think you're gonna accomplish by me saying that out loud? You think I just did that for kicks?"

"You went after the vampire hunter, why?"

"I was trying to save my brothers!"

"He was running away from them, they weren't in any danger at that point. So I'll ask again, why did you go after the vampire hunter?" Lola ignores Adrianna's question, instead continuing to pack her things. Adrianna stands and steps closer to Lola, her voice more stern, "Why is it that you were the only one to go after him when he wasn't posing as a threat in that moment? You know, people run away from this line between life and death. You seem to stand in it and wait for a strong wind to sway you one way or the other. You're careless with your life. Probably because your father told you that you were a waste of space and the problem is that you believe him."

Lola laughs in a indecorous manner, "Well nothing says trauma quite like daddy issues."

"Your mother wanted nothing to do with you, your brothers turn their back on you the second a girl enters their life and let's not even begin to talk about Klaus."

Lola turns to face Adrianna, face full of fury, eyes becoming glossy, "Don't you even dare bring Klaus into this!"

"He is so scared to lose you that he treats you like some fragile thing that needs to be kept behind glass and you hate it!" Adrianna's voice is stern, she sighs, "But can you blame him? Since you've gone back to Mystic Falls how many times were you near death? Three. Three times, Lola!"

Lola scoffs, "Only three?"

"This isn't a joke, Lola!" Adrianna snaps, "They all happened in the space of less than a year! Mikael gets werewolf venom in your system and you almost die. Alaric who was your friend but then turned into some egotistical maniac, tortures you and you almost die! You get kidnapped by the Council who have you locked up for hours choking on vervain and you almost die!"

Lola glares at Adrianna as her anger continues to increase, "And guess what happened after each thing? I didn't die!"

"But then you did!" Adrianna's outburst takes Lola by surprise, she's never seen Adrianna this angry about something before, "And no one knew for certain whether you were going to come back or not! Okay, you can hide all of this trauma underneath humour and just ignore everything that happened but the rest of us don't work that way!" Adrianna begins to walk out the room, she opens the door before turning to face Lola again, her eyes full of hurt, "You don't care about your life? Fine! That's fine! Next time you decide you wanna just throw your life away how about you think about the people you'd be leaving behind who actually do care about your life!"

Lola flinches when Adrianna slams the door behind herself. Lola's breathing becomes shaky, as though she had been holding her breath during all of that. She buries her face into the palm of her hands as she sits on the edge of the bed, guilt overcoming her instantly. She needed Adrianna's outburst towards her to make her come to the realisation that she is falling in the same hole that she has on multiple occasions before.

Lola slowly opens the door leading to Adrianna's bedroom where she's sat on the edge of her bed with her cat Willow laying on her lap. Lola clears her throat as she steps into the room, "I do care." Adrianna turns to see a guilt ridden Lola, "I do care about my life but I'm in pain. I don't like the way I feel."

"How do you feel?"

Lola laughs slightly as she fidgets with the ends of her sleeves, "Like shit. Worthless. All of the time. I need you to fix that."

Adrianna smiles softly over to her, "I'm not going to fix you, Lola. I'm going to show you how to fix yourself. Were the dreams the same as before?" Lola nods, "What happened? Was it your father-"

"Yeah." Lola's voice breaks as she interrupts Adrianna, she sits on the edge of the bed beside Adrianna, "Yeah he was there just like last time."

Adrianna moves closer to Lola, she takes hold of her hands, "Hey, you can talk to me. Just lay it out, it's just me and you. We're not blood related but you're my sister, you're my person." Adrianna's voice breaks as she moves a piece of hair away from Lola's face, revealing Lola's tear stained cheeks, "Seeing you like this again is breaking my heart, talk to me."

"It wasn't even the worst one. I just thought I was passed that. It's been decades and now I feel like I'm being haunted by my father." Lola rolls her eyes as she stands up from the bed, walking over to the floor to ceiling windows, staring out at them, "Again."

"We talked about this briefly over 50 years ago, Lo. I know you don't like putting titles on things but you continue to show signs of dealing with PTSD, just like you did back in the fifties and just like you have before then." Lola turns to face Adrianna, her gaze narrowing in her direction, "Traditionally, PTSD is thought of being comprised of at least three components, re-experiencing symptoms, arousal and avoidance. Typically, people get reexperiencing symptoms in the form of vivid and intrusive memories and nightmares of the traumatic event; which is what you're dealing with. Tell me about it."

Lola's mouth opens and clasps shut, trying to fathom the words. With a shaky breath she turns to overlook the city's skyline, "It was different this time. Kol was there, he kept saying that I was there for my protection and he was sorry and I-" She tightly shuts her eyes, trying to get Kol's voice out of her head, she wraps her arms around herself, "I pushed him away and said he was dead to me. But then my father turned up and he said pretty much everything he said to me before, I'm a waste of space, he wishes I was never born or that I was his daughter."

Adrianna's eyes trace Lola's face through the window's reflection, her heart breaks to see how broken her best friend looks, "These vivid nightmares lead to the immediate psychological and emotional arousal, which then leads to avoidance. Now, the avoidance part is completely understandable. You want to avoid reliving the trauma you have had to deal with over your 168 years on this earth; even someone who has been alive as long as you have shouldn't be put through everything you have so you hurt yourself to stop yourself from falling asleep so you don't have to subdue to those nightmares."

Lola sighs, turning to face Adrianna once more, "Yes, I know. I'm damaged, you don't have to say all of this to me, Adrianna. I know this."

Adrianna shakes her head slightly as she stands up and walks over to Lola, "You're not damaged. You're a survivor." Lola clears her throat, attempting a smile but her eyes show how weak she feels from everything she has kept within. 

"Although, the avoidance is understandable, it's preventing you from processing the traumatic events and putting them away." Adrianna continues, "Think of it as when you would get annoyed I would leave a shirt hanging half way out of the dresser, the memory remains easily accessible and queued up at times when it shouldn't be. Then having this traumatic memory so easily accessible, it makes you feel difficult to feel safe."

"You want to know what's ridiculous?" Lola scoffs as she sits on Adrianna's bed, Adrianna remains standing her eyes flick to Lola's, "Before Klaus came to Mystic Falls, I could feel myself falling down this hole." Lola glances down to her hands covered in cuts and scratches, "I'd dig my nails into my hands like this at the mere mention of him. I was anxious what was going to happen when he made his dramatic entrance but then when I seen him again, the dark thoughts went away." Lola smiles just at the mere thought of Klaus, she shrugs half-heartedley, "Even though it was extremely turbulent between us both I think a part of me felt almost safe that he was close by again." Lola rolls her eyes to herself, "I sound like a love sick teenager."

Adrianna shrugs, her eyes focus on Lola as her head tilts to the side, "He's your safe place."

Adrianna ponders on this as she takes a seat beside Lola, "You told me before that you thought Klaus was going to kill you and you think that's why you were falling down the same hole, but honestly Lo, it was because you were involved in plans that he was going to get killed. Your subconscious fear was that it was going to happen and that's why you were hurting yourself. When you thought Alaric killed him you told me that you never fell asleep that night. Was it because you thought the dreams would return?" Lola nods, "Then when Kol had you trapped in that room, one of the last things Kol said to you was he was going after Klaus."

Lola hums to herself as she takes in Adrianna's words, she breathes deeply before her posture straightens, "I joked the other night that I had gained severe attachment issues, guess it wasn't actually a joke."

"It's not attachment issues, Lo. Klaus is the only person in your life who completely and utterly understands you. Abused by his father and having a part of himself hidden away just like you. Yes, you wouldn't be alone if anything did happen to Klaus, you'd have me, Nate, Hayley, your brothers."

Lola glances over to Adrianna with a hint of a playful smirk appearing, "I can feel a but coming..."

Adrianna mimics the same smile as she takes hold of Lola's hand, "But you wouldn't have him. You're two broken halves that feel less broken when you're together."

Lola's brows shoot up in agreement, nodding her head as Adrianna continues, "So you felt alone because no one would understand you like he does which triggered your PTSD, bringing up all the trauma that you suffered from your father."

Lola sighs heavily, as though there is now less tension and pain holding her down. She feels better having saying it all out loud, "How do I move past all of this?"

"Have patience with yourself. You'll get wherever you need to go in time. But for now, remember that everyday you survive is a step forward and you have survived many days." Adrianna slightly nudges Lola's shoulder with her own, Adrianna's smile beaming that Lola is slowly fixing herself, "You should be proud of yourself, Lo."

"Normally I hate it when you're right."

"But?" Adrianna drawls out with a mischievous grin.

Lola pulls Adrianna in a hug, "I'm sorry for being so careless with my life."

"Lo, you don't ever have to apologise to me." Adrianna pulls away from the hug, and walks towards the desk in her room, opening a drawer, "In some cases of PTSD it helps to write down all the trauma you've had to subdue. Or even a letter to yourself, or to your father and write down exactly how you feel."

Lola raises a brow, "Then what? Keep it under my pillow?"

Adrianna shrugs as she walks back over to Lola holding out stationery, "You do whatever you want to do with it. Keep it, burn it, bury it, anything. It may just make you feel that little bit better that all the feelings you're keeping trapped inside yourself are finally released in a certain way and you're not holding them in anymore."

Lola narrows her eyes at the piece of blank paper Adrianna is holding out, "It won't hurt I suppose. But in order to do that I need something."

Adrianna watches Lola walk out of the room only seconds later to walk back in carrying the box of brownies, she laughs, "Brownies?"

"Sal gave them to me this morning." Adrianna takes a couple of brownies out of the box, Lola slaps her hand away, "Hey! He gave them to me not to you!"

Adrianna smugly takes a bite out of the brownie, "Unlike you I can eat plenty without them going straight to my ass."

Lola's mouth gapes open in shock before she purses her lips, "I deserved that."

---------------------------------------------------

"Finally!" Adrianna exclaims when she sees a moody Hayley walk into the apartment, "Where on earth have you been?"

Hayley rolls her eyes as she walks straight passed Adrianna, "I don't need to explain myself to you, Ade."

"You disappeared for over a week! I think I can worry when one of my closest friends just leaves without a goodbye."

Lola walks out of the bedroom, holding Willow, "Oh, hey stranger."

Hayley glares over to Lola before narrowing her eyes to Adrianna, "What is she doing here?"

Lola gasps dramatically, "Ouch, Hayls, you may not be a cat person but don't talk to Willow like that." Lola crouches down to let Willow out of her arms, "Do wolves hate cats as much as dogs? Probably shouldn't get a cat around Klaus then."

"Hayley, you know you can talk to us, what's going on?"

"Nothing is going on!" Hayley shouts at the pair as she begins to pace around, "Nothing at all aside from the fact you both kept from me the tiny detail of you knowing things about my real family! Who does that? Why would you keep something like that from me? What did you both hope to gain by keeping the truth away from me? Did you just think you'd be able to keep me as your untraditional adopted charity case?"

Lola closes the gap between herself and Hayley, she then slaps Hayley across the face as hard as she can with no expression on her face.

Hayley puts her hand against her red cheek, looking over to Lola in shock, "What was that?!"

"You were in shock!" Lola shrugs, she bites the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing, "You needed a surprise...like hiccups."

"I don't even know why I bothered coming back here when you two just stand around and judge me 24/7!" Hayley fires back before storming down the hall and slamming the door shut on her bedroom.

Adrianna and Lola both watched her do so with their eyes wide at Hayley's outburst. Lola laughs as she takes another bite of a brownie, "Oh, she needs a fucking exorcism."

Adrianna snatches the brownie out of Lola's hand and looks at her unimpressed, "What did you think you'd accomplish by slapping her?"

"It was funny." Lola bursts out laughing, she frowns to herself as her laughs calm down, "I don't know why I'm laughing."

Adrianna rolls her eyes as she takes Lola's hand and drags her towards Hayley's bedroom where Adrianna knocks against it, "Hayley, please open the door. I could very easily kick it down but I'm choosing not to."

Lola sighs as she slides down the wall and sits on the floor, "I miss being able to kick doors down. I suppose I still could, shall I try?"

Adrianna slides down the wall also and sits beside Lola on the floor, she glares over to her, "You're not helping." Adrianna kneels beside the door, "Hayley, I know everything is a lot to take in. We're here for you, okay? As long as it takes."

"I'm giving you twenty more minutes and then I'm gonna rip the door off the hinges! Hayley, stuff your feelings in!" Lola shouts in a bored and impatient tone, she glances over to Adrianna who is giving her one of her formidable no bullshit looks making Lola shrug, "What? I don't have time to sit here all day, I have things to do."

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Anything but this! Although I am enjoying these brownies."

Adrianna frowns, "How many of those have you ate?" Lola shrugs as she reveals the empty box that was full of brownies making Adrianna gasp, "You bitch, I've only had two!"

Lola flashes a smug grin in Adrianna's direction as she takes a bite out of the last remaining brownie, "You snooze, you lose."

Adrianna straightens herself up, "Lola, give me the brownie."

"No! Get your own, bitch!"

Adrianna leaps on top of Lola to try and grab the last brownie, "Give me the brownie!"

"Get off of me!" Lola tries to move out from under Adrianna but it's no use.

"Lola!"

Lola pushes Adrianna off her, both of them laying on the hardwood floor, wrestling for the last remaining baked good. Lola wraps her leg around Adrianna's neck, she laughs at herself, "It's been a while since I've had a woman wrapped round my legs."

It was impossible for Hayley to not hear what was going on outside of her bedroom door, she opens the door to see the two women who took her in when she was a teenager laid on the floor fighting over a brownie. She raises a brow at them both, "Has anyone ever thought you two were a couple?"

Adrianna scoffs as she moves out of Lola's grasp and leans against the wall, "No, because we screw boys like whores on tequila."

Lola shrugs as she leans beside Adrianna, "Yeah then we either plan to marry them or get killed by a vampire hunter."

Hayley and Adrianna both whip their heads to Lola's direction, both in shock at Lola's words and being so nonchalant about getting killed by Connor. Lola glances between the pair confused before her eyes fall to Adrianna's, they both stare at each other with a blank expression before the pair burst out laughing and high five each other.

Hayley frowns in confusion at the pair before grabbing the last brownie, she laughs slightly, "You do realise those are pot brownies, right?"

Adrianna's laughter dies straight away, her eyes widen as she looks up at Hayley, "What?"

Lola begins to laugh again, "Oh, shit."

"Are we high?" Adrianna begins to panic as she comes to a stand beside Hayley.

Lola snatches the brownie out of Hayley's grasp as she stands, "Not high enough."

"I'm really hungry." Adrianna mumbles, "I'll be right back."

Lola crosses her arms against her chest when it's just her and Hayley left in the hallway, "So, what's got you bitchier than usual?"

"It's nothing."

"Nothing?" Lola echoes getting a nodded response from Hayley. Lola shrugs, "Okay."

She waits until Hayley walks past her to head towards the kitchen before she speaks up again, "How was New Orleans?" Lola turns to see Hayley frozen in her spot, Hayley turns to face Lola who has a smug grin on her face, "Or better yet, how's Katherine?"

Hayley shifts in her spot, her brows shoot up in shock, "How did you-"

"Oh come on, I'm high, not stupid." Lola scoffs, "It was so obvious when I got here and you weren't that you were going to be in New Orleans. Then when Klaus told me that Katherine followed my brothers onto that island and took the cure before they could somehow I just knew you were the one who tipped her off about it."

Hayley rolls her eyes as she sighs, "Let me guess, Klaus wants to kill me."

"No, actually he doesn't."

"Yeah right."

"It's the truth. I told him about our history, he knows about your mark. I said nothing is going to happen to you and I mean it, Hayls. You know I will protect you no matter what." Hayley's eyes soften at Lola's words but then Lola frowns as she sways back and forth slightly, "Is it just me or is the room spinning?"

"You need some water, come on." Hayley takes hold of Lola's hand and walk towards the kitchen.

"You are so beautiful." Lola looks over to Hayley in awe, "You're like a beautiful cartoon."

Nate walks back into the apartment, heading straight into the kitchen where he sees a confused looking Adrianna pouring herself a bowl of cereal. She looks over to the milk bottle suspiciously before sniffing a spoonful of her cereal and hesitating before eating it.

Nate watches her confused as she walks over to the island in the kitchen and takes a seat. He grabs a beer from the fridge and raises a brow at Adrianna, "What's wrong with you?"

Adrianna looks over to him in shock, not even realising he has been in the kitchen this entire time. She waves him off as she places the bowl of cereal onto the counter, "Everything with me is fine. It's Hayley we should be worried about."

Nate's shoulders drop, he looks at her unamused knowing she is up to something, "Oh, what did you do?"

Adrianna gestures her hands around awkwardly, trying to find the right words, "Hayley is dealing with a lot of fresh information. Let's just have some perspective and remember what I did is a tiny, slightly small-"

"Ade, just spit it out."

"We ate brownies." Adrianna mumbles as she moves the spoon around in her cereal.

Nate begins to look even more confused than before as he shrugs, "Okay, why does that make you act weird?"

Adrianna catches his gaze, she purses her lips, "The brownies were sorta...special."

Nate narrows his gaze at her as he steps closer, "What do you mean special?"

"They ate pot brownies." Hayley announces as she steps into the kitchen, taking Nate's bottle of beer out of his hand and leans against the counter beside him.

Nate laughs as he looks over to a panic stricken Adrianna, "You had pot brownies?"

"I am not proud of it." Adrianna avoids both of their gaze, not realising she has a huge grin plastered on her face.

Hayley chuckles at Adrianna, "Tell your face that."

"Where's Lola?" Nate asks.

Hayley's brows knit together, "She was right behind me."

Nate walks out the kitchen, standing at the end of the hallway to see a suspicious looking Lola halfway out of the front door, "Lola!" Nate's voice makes Lola jump slightly before running out of the apartment and shutting the door behind her.

Adrianna stands behind Nate, trying to hold back her laughter, "Ohhh, you should probably deal with that."

---------------------------------------------------

Nate finds Lola standing amongst a crowd in the middle of Times Square, she is standing in front of a street performer who is posing as a statue. Nate looks over to her relived, "There you are!" It's like Lola is mimicking the performers posture, "Lola? Earth to Lola? Hello?"

"Nathaniel!" Lola shouts making Nate jump slightly, she pats him on the shoulder and smiles over to him, "How wonderful to see you."

"Do you really think it's wise to be out in the midst of the city when you're high on pot brownies?"

Lola narrows her eyes at Nate, prodding his chest, "Do you think it's wise to try and parent someone who is over 100 years older than you?"

Lola turns to continue staring at the street performer, Nate clears his throat, "Why are you in the middle of Times Square having a staring competition with a street performer?"

"I'm trying to make them crack under pressure." Lola doesn't look away from the performer, she starts to slowly move her hand closer towards their face, "Maybe if I just-"

Nate moves Lola hand away before she can get any closer, "You do not touch the street performers." Nate puts his hand on her back to guide her away from the performer, Lola's stare never leaves the performer, "Come on, you need a drink."

"Tequila!"

"No."

Lola purses her lips as she looks over to Nate, "Bourbon?" He shakes his head, "Oh, tequila and bourbon!"

"How about some water?"

Lola rolls her eyes but then perks up when she notices another street performer posing as a statue. She starts to laugh as she speeds up towards them but Nate softly grabs her arm pulling her away, "No you don't. You're gonna get yourself arrested."

They both stop at the corner of a street where Nate grabs Lola a bottle of water from a cart. He walks over to Lola who is staring into a shop window, he sneaks up at her, "Boo!"

Lola jumps slightly, she glared over to Nate who is laughing, "You know you don't have to be so dramatic."

Nate opens the bottle of water handing it over to Lola. "Have you ate?"

"I ate brownies."

"Other than brownies." Lola shakes her head, Nate looks over her shoulder to see a pizza place, "Let's get a slice."

The pair walk through Central Park with a slice of pizza each, Nate hoping the fresh air and food will sober Lola up quicker.

"She's a lot happier since you've been here." Nate speaks up, Lola looks over to him confused, "Ade. I think she needed you here."

"I didn't realise how much I needed to be here until I got here. Sometimes I forget things happen outside of Mystic Falls."

There's a comfortable silence between them both until Lola starts to chuckle, Nate looks over to her, "What's so funny?"

"I was just remembering when I first met you. When you were walking out of Ade's room."

"Uh, you're forgetting something about when we first met."

Lola purses her lips, looking away, "Nope. I don't think I am."

"Oh, so you didn't threaten me in the elevator when I was leaving your apartment?"

"I don't see it as I was threatening you. I just seen it as a mere warning to not hurt my friend."

"I thought you hated me when we first met."

"I did." Nate looks over to Lola shocked, she shrugs her shoulders, "What? I did. Oddly enough you're not the first person to have ever said that to me." She playfully nudges Nate, "But I'd have hated Ade more if she didn't see it through with you. I'm only saying this because I am high but you are literally the best thing to ever happen to her."

Nate can't help but laugh at how complimentary Lola is being, "It's took over 20 years but I have finally got a compliment from the Lola Salvatore."

"And you'll never get one ever again. Also know if you ever hurt Ade I'll break your knee caps with my mind."

"Noted."

They both take their time heading back to the apartment. As the elevator opens they can hear loud music coming from the apartment making Lola laugh, "Do we even wanna walk back in there?"

Nate begins to turn the door handle before stopping briefly, he turns to look at Lola, "We'll have a quick look and if it's bad we will go to O'Malley's across the street. Deal?"

Lola nods, "Deal."

Nate takes a deep breath before opening the door. When he does the lights are off but a disco lamp and they see Adrianna dancing around the living room on her own singing to Bohemian Rhapsody. Willow attempts to run out of the apartment as soon as the door opens but Nate quickly picks her up as he and Lola walk fully into the apartment.

They both watch Adrianna in shock who hasn't even noticed they've entered the room.

"O'Malley's?" Lola shouts over the music, she turns to see Nate nodding and they slowly back out of the apartment and go to the Irish bar across the street.

***

I honestly loved this chapter not going to lie😂

Got another chapter of New York to come soon!!🥰