Monster {1} TO

A/N: You guys knew a trip to Beacon Hills had to happen. Who do you guys think Ayla will go see first?

FAMILY
[4×04]

ONCE SHE HAD GOTTEN MARCEL TO LEAVE, AYLA TOOK HER OPPORTUNITY TO DO SO. The she-wolf left the note, before grabbing her bag and leaving the house. And by the next morning, she was back in California.

She spent the whole way there debating where to go first. She wanted to see everyone so badly. But she knew the person who would want to be the first to know she was alive, and she honestly missed him the most out of everyone.

She could already hear the alarm going off as she walked inside. She just ignored it as she made her way up to the sliding door. Both Derek and Peter were standing there when she slid it open. Both stared at her in complete and utter shock. Ayla managed smile. "Come on, don't look at me like that. I'm not the first person in this family to come back from the dead," she reminded.

The next thing she knew, Derek's arms were around her. Peter stood back, unsure whether or not to trust the girl that looked like his dead niece.

Ayla melted into the man's embrace, having missed him more than anyone over the past few months. "I didn't know it was possible to miss your annoying ass this much," Ayla admitted.

Derek pulled away, and she saw the tears in his eyes. She was pretty sure the last time she had seen him cry was when the fire happened. "Der, please don't cry. If you cry, I'm gonna cry," Ayla told him, but there were already tears welling in her eyes.

"I literally saw your body. Ayla, it's been months. How are you here?" he wondered.

She shrugged. "It's a really long story," she told him.

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And so she began to explain everything. From her coming back to life all the way to breaking the spell only a few hours prior. Peter listened to everything, making a few comments here and there. Derek was primarily silent.

"As soon as the spell broke, I knew I needed to come back here and let everyone know I was okay," Ayla told both men. Both nodded, but neither spoke. She glanced between the two. "I- I just went over the insane past few months of my life, and neither of you have anything to say?" she asked.

"So you've been living with three one thousand year old psychopaths?" Peter asked. Both turned to glare at him. He shook his head, as he leaned back against the table. "You know, I still thought that family was just legend."

"They're definitely not," Ayla muttered, sitting back on the couch. Doing so only served to make her bump stick out even more obviously. She saw both men notice, though neither commented.

"Knocked up by the famous Niklaus Mikaelson. Good luck with that," Peter told her.

Ayla smiled to herself as she thought back to the way he had taken care of her the day before. "He's surprisingly not that bad," she admitted. Peter raised an eyebrow, noticing the look on her face. Ayla shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, they're all terrifying in their own way. Rebekah can come off innocent while ripping someone's heart out. Elijah can make violence seem noble. Klaus can be charming while making threats. But they won't let anything happen to their family, and that includes the twins, which in turn includes me," she explained.

She frowned. She knew all three cared about the twins. It was just hard to tell if they really cared about her. If Klaus had actually cared about her yesterday, and wasn't just worried about the babies.