The Last of the Formidable Five Had Finally Returned

Tiffany was at the office when Kol's call came in. She squinted her eyes as she noticed it was him.

He never really called, except he had an information to pass across.

"hey", she responded as soon as she answered the phone.

"you must be busy so I won't take long", Kol replied.

"must you always be like this Kol? So formal with me?" she asked with disbelief written all over her face.

"what do you mean", Kol asked, confused.

"you didn't even bother to ask me how I am putting up with work today. I can't help but wonder at times if you're really my brother", she said scolding him over the phone.

"okay, fine. How're you putting up with work today?" he asked. Obviously, from the way he sounded, it was clear he never really planned to ask that.

He felt Tiffany wasn't a kid and that she could handle tough matters. 'so why ask how she's doing?' he thought.

"don't you think it's too late to ask that now?" Tiffany replied smiling in satisfaction. She had gotten what she wanted. She knew that brother of hers really took her to heart, because she knew he wouldn't act that way to anyone else.

"fine. I just called to tell you that we'll be having dinner at the Mikaelson's. Mrs Elaine called. Do I have to pick you up?" he asked.

"and there you go again. Did you even necessarily have to ask that?" she said again. 'This guy really had a lot to learn when it comes to showing concern towards people, most especially ladies', she thought.

"Tiffany, what do you want?" Kol asked, frustrated.

"never mind. I'll head there straight from the office. I'll call you once I leave the office", she concluded.

"fine", Kol said ending the call.

* * *

At the Mikaelson Estate

Tiffany arrived first before Kol.

She got to the sitting room only to meet a shocker.

"OMG! Ethan's back?" she asked in surprise.

Ethan was Amy's elder brother who had been in Spain for the past two years to further his career in Business Administration.

He's the heir to the Mikaelson Empire and his family wanted the very best for him.

There were five of them who always moved together in high school. Amy, her brother, Ethan, Tiffany, Kol and Dan. They were called the Formidable Five. No one could mess with them at school as everyone knew they were not ordinary students.

Dan only fell out of the group when he betrayed Kol. And so the group didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore.

Ethan used to have this feelings for Tiffany back then, when he was in college, but he failed to confess his feelings for her in time as she had fallen in love with Jordan, a guy she had met at Washington DC when she went for a vacation.

Ethan was so hurt when he found out about it but there was nothing he could have probably done. So he went to further his career far away, the main reason being that he thought keeping some distance would help him get over his feelings for her.

But here she was again. Seeing her physically again after two years. He would admit that she looked a lot more mature than she used to.

"no way, Ethan. I'm so not happy with you. You're back and you didn't even think to inform me first?" she asked pouting her lips

in disappointment.

"that's not it... It's just..", he tried saying but was interrupted mid sentence.

"seriously? That's not it? We spoke last week, you should have told me you were coming back", she said.

"anyway, I've missed you", she said giving him a warm hug .

"I've missed you too", he said as well and they disengaged.

"uhmm... Tiffany? Where's Kol?" Mrs Elaine asked seeing that Kol had not arrived.

"I'm right here", a voice trailed from the door.

"oh my! Kol's here already", Mrs Elaine exclaimed.

Kol went forward and gave her a hug. Then he walked towards Ethan and gave him a guys hug.

welcome back, buddy, he said.

"wait... Kol? Ain't you surprised to see Ethan? He'd arrived not long ago", Tiffany said but Kol only stared at her. The expression on his face didn't seem to change even a bit.

"now I get it...Kol is important to you, but I'm not?" she asked biting her index finger as if thinking of the perfect way of seeking revenge.

"Don't say that. I only wanted to surprise you", Ethan said and at once, Tiffany's anger dissipated.

"this glib tongue of yours is something else. You seem to be better at your sweet talks", she said to him.

"well...I..." Ethan tried to say but was interrupted by George who was coming down the stairs.

"that's enough all of you. You'll have the time to catch up later. Dinner's ready, you do not want the food to get cold", he said gesturing for all of them to move towards the dining.

* * *

At the dining, Amy made sure she sat right beside Kol. It was a perfect opportunity to stay close to him. As they ate, she took the chance to stuff his plate with his favourites.

"here... have some more rice", she said as she added a spoon of rice to his plate of food. Then she went ahead to serve him a plate of salmon.

"you need this", she said with a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

Kol shot her a death glare but she only smiled in response. She knew he could not do anything about it inasmuch as he wanted to, as everyone was at the table.

Mrs Elaine looked at the both of them and a small smile crept up her lips.

When Tiffany saw the interaction between the both of them, she almost choked on her food.

"be careful... here, have some water", Ethan said bringing the glass of water close to her lips.

"Thank you", she said taking a sip.

She shot Amy a look-what-you-caused stare and Amy only smiled in response.

'this girl really knew how to get on someone's nerve', she thought as she continued with her meal.

"so tell me... How was Spain? You really do look like one of them now", Tiffany said to Ethan who was sitting beside her.

"really? What makes you say so?" he asked, his brows curved up.

"well... uhmm... you're pretty friendly and more receptive than you used to. You're easy to approach", she replied with a wide smile.

"really?" Ethan asked, he was glad she noticed all those traits in him.

"yeah. Didn't I tell you about this earlier? You seem to have dropped a part of that formidable aura and I don't fancy that at all", Amy chipped in. Kol just listened silently.

"but I think it's cool, I especially like it the way it is now", Tiffany said with all sincerity as she ate her meal.

She didn't spare anyone at the table a glance but she could feel Ethan staring at her for a long while. She turned her head to face him and their eyes locked.

'why was he staring at her for so long?' she thought.

"what? did I say something wrong?" she asked breaking the eye contact which brought Ethan back to his senses immediately.

His spirit particularly heightened some moments ago when Tiffany said she liked how he was. He didn't care about what that others might have to say.

but why did he care this much about whichever response she gave?

Kol looked at him with a straight face.

He admitted that the guy had gotten a lot bolder these past few years. Then he didn't have the cheek to tell Tiffany about his feelings. But it seems like he's very well prepared to do so now.

All of a sudden, Mrs Elaine's voice rang across the dining.

"Kol dear, what's wrong? You ain't eating. You've been picking your food for the past ten minutes"

Amy froze, taking a look at his plate. She had been busy with their conversation that she failed to take note.

Actually, he had lost his appetite to eat anything, all thanks to Amy's sentiments. He didn't even notice that he wasn't eating anymore as he was busy listening to their conversations.

Looking at his plate, she saw that he hadn't even touched the food she had dropped in his plate.

"I'm full... I'll just go take a walk outside", he said getting up and turning to leave immediately. Then he walked towards the garden.

Amy became sad all of a sudden. He didn't even touch the food she had dropped for him.

She got up as well...

"Amy, why are you not eating?" her mother asked seeing that she got up

"..."

"uhmmm... I lost my appetite", she said with a straight face and walked out of the dining.

She wanted to check if Kol was alright, so she went towards the garden as well.

As she got there, she saw him sitting on the lounge, his neck facing her. He seemed to be brooding.

Taking a look at him from the back was completely refreshing to her eyes. He had perfect broad shoulders which looked especially firm due to frequent work outs.

"what do you want?" Kol asked her without turning to face her.

"..."

How did he know she was behind him?