Innocence in the Darkness

Ch. 14 Ground Rules

Rosabelle's POV

"Blood for the princess!" Stefan came back up the stairs chanting. He grabbed some glasses and brought them over to where we were sitting. Placing the cups down on the table with the blood, he smiled at me.

"My usual please, mia cara." Smiling at me, he spoke Italian.

"Ah nice touch Stefan." I took one of the glasses and blood bags and poured some in. Bitting into my wrist, I heard three growls and couch legs scratching the floor. 

"Rosabelle!" Elijah yelled.

"Yes, Elijah?" I said while letting the blood drip into the drink.

"What on Earth are you doing? You shouldn't be harming yourself!" 

"Elijah, I bit my wrist. Nothing happened. Nik does it all the time!" They didn't seem too happy that I'm mixing the blood while talking like it's nothing. It's not a big problem. Why are they freaking out so much? They all sat back down, obviously disgruntled with the situation.

"And why are you putting your blood in there?" Kol questioned. 

"For Stefan." I said while handing him the glass and then proceeded to pour my own.

"Stefan doesn't drink human blood, love." Klaus said, finally speaking up.

"Maybe, maybe not." I said with a shrug. The three originals sat confused. Stefan just drank his blood happily. 

"Don't you go all ripper?" Kol asked confused.

"Little secret. Belle's blood does some amazing things." Stefan smirked. All three sets of their eyes jumped to me.

"And what exactly can your blood do, love?" Klaus asked.

"Well in this case, Stefan can drink human blood without going all ripper. And you obviously already know I can change spells with it." When I finished talking, Elijah stood up and with long, powerful steps, he swiftly moved to me. 

"Rosabelle, who are you?" 

"What do you mean? You just said my name. If you're thinking what, well I told you that already?" I asked with my head tilted to the side. 

"No, Rosabelle. That's not what I mean. Who's are you?" He asked with such a strong and deep tone. My eyes unconsciously looked down and I gave out a little squeak. 

"Rosabelle." Elijah growled out my name. 

"I'm yours." I said quietly. They were all vampires. They would hear me even if I said it as quiet as a pin drop. 

"And who else's?" 

"Nik and Kol's." Continuing with the quiet tone I had, I spoke their names and heard growls of approval. But to rival them, Stefan and Damon let out their own.

"She's not yours!" Damon spoke harshly.

"She is and she knows it, Salvatore." Kol stood up and took the spot next to Elijah. 

"Right, darling?" With a second to think of the consequences, I nodded my head softly with my head and eyes still cast downward. 

"Stop doing that to her!" Stefan yelled. I knew what he was thinking. He thought they were controlling me and with my past I guess he wanted to make sure no one ever had that power ever again.

"Stefan, I'm okay." I said quietly, looking into his eyes.

"Bellzy..." He trailed off not knowing what to say, but softening significantly when I looked at him.

"I promise." 

"We're setting ground rules." Klaus says finally standing up. Me being surprised would be an understatement.

"We're setting what now?"

"You heard him, Rosabelle. Ground rules." Elijah spoke.

"And what makes you think you can give me rules?" Directing the question at all three of them. Elijah flash towards me and began whispering in a deep, dark voice.

"Rosabelle. You will listen to them and follow them. Do you understand? Otherwise, I will have to punish you and we wouldn't want that would we?" I nodded meekly. Breaking out of his spell, I finally spoke up.

"Fine, then I get to put my own in too."

"Okay, love. Why don't you start?"

"I can sleepover here anytime I want." Two things could automatically be heard. One was Kol yelling and the other was Damon's laughter.

"Starting off with the tough ones I see. Good going Munchkin." Damon spoke in a humorous voice.

"No." Was all Kol said.

"And why not?"

"Because I don't want you here. Especially overnight. Who knows what could happen to you."

"Kol, you do realize I'm probably the strongest person on this Earth, right?"

"Physically, yes. But I also know that you have a lot of weaknesses and one of the biggest is sitting right there." He said flickering his eyes over to Stefan briefly. I looked down knowing he was right.

"So, let's change it a bit. You can stay over here when we feel it's safe." My head shot up. He's still letting me stay?! I thought I would have to sneak out! I flashed over to him and gave him a tight hug. Looking up at his face, he had a slightly surprised, but overall happy look. Deciding not to give it too much thought, I quickly placed a small kiss on his cheek and hugged him even tighter.

"Thank you, Kol."

"Anything for you, darling." His voice spoke volumes. He was ecstatic with what I was doing.

"Now that that is done, onto our rules." Klaus began.

"Wait! Before we go to yours, I have one more request."

"Okay, what it is love?" Klaus asked.

"You have to at least try to get along with them." I said while pointing at the Salvatore brothers. "They are like my brothers and the only people I consider family. Stefan has been my lifeline and I don't think I would have made it the last hundred years if I didn't know him. He was the only one that kept the hope inside of me alive. So please, don't take them away from me and please try your best to be friendly." My eyes held a look of sadness and hope. Apparently, you could hear the worry and fear in my voice since Stefan actually got up off the couch and flashed over to hug me.

"I'm not going anywhere, Belle. You have nothing to worry about. Even the originals couldn't take me away from you if they tried. You're stuck with me okay?" I nodded against his chest, breathing in the scent that was strictly Stefan. It made me feel safe, like nothing could ever happen to me if I never left his arms.

"Rosabelle." Elijah's voice broke through my train of thought. "We aren't going to take them away from you. Obviously, they are very important to you and we wouldn't want to hurt you in any way. We just want to show you our love. We adore you and it hurts to be away from you."

"I couldn't imagine a world where I didn't have you by my side. You are my everything. No one has ever given me a chance, and you love, have given me hope that I can finally have happiness in my life." Klaus took over speaking. Then, Kol came next.

"Darling, we love you. I know it's only been a short time we have known each other, but we are over a thousand years old. We know when something amazing happens and how we feel. But darling, you are a miracle. No one has been able to love me or my brothers. No one has ever looked at us the way you do or have given us a chance. Especially me. I'm the psychopath, the odd ball of the Mikaelsons. I was the only one left out of the Always and Forever promise, but that's okay because I can have my forever and always with you."

By the end of their declarations, I had tears welling up in my eyes, fighting so hard not to let them spill. Don't cry. Don't cry.

"Okay." Damon spoke, this time ever so calmly. I looked at him confused. What did he have to say after that?

"As her oldest brother, I give you all the permission to be with my dear Munchkin." My eyes widened in shock.