This is my first attempt at an AU. It's going to be a Romeo and Juliet type story. Everybody is strictly human.

TRIGGER/CONTENT WARNING:A bit of non-con and later chapters may get pretty violent.

~Love and War~

Elijah's phone buzzed, making him put the contract he was reading down to look at it. He had to smile when he saw that it was a group text from Marcel to the three younger Mikaelson brothers.

MG: SHE SAID YES!

NM: Look at him acting like he's surprised. I mean, it's not like Rebekah has been chasing him since second grade, or anything.

He laughed and started typing into his phone.

EM: Leave him be, Niklaus. He's allowed to be excited, today. Congratulations, Marcel. And welcome to the family.

MG: Thank you! Anyway, we are all going out to Rousseau's to celebrate. Elijah, you are not allowed to work late, tonight.

KM: You know that Rousseau's is out for me, guys.

NM: You do know that you are allowed to leave Davina for one night, right? You aren't actually required to spend every waking moment with her.

MG: It's okay, Klaus. Kol and Davina are new. Rebekah and I totally understand. We were actually thinking of taking them out to dinner one night for a double date. But, you and Elijah have no excuse, and are meeting us at Rousseau's.

EM: If I tried to say that I have a client meeting on Monday I need to prepare for, what are the odds of me being alive to worry about it?

MG: Rebekah knows where you sleep.

EM: That's what I thought. Well, that means that I need to get back to work so I get everything together before I need to be over there. I'll see you this evening.

He muted his phone and put it down. And then picked the contract he had been reading back up. Actually, taking a night off would probably be a good thing. The words were all starting to move around the page. He started organizing his papers and putting them into his briefcase. His little sister would probably have a fit if she knew that he intended to spend the weekend working. But, at least he wouldn't miss her engagement party.

~Love and War~

What Andrea really wanted was a fricking drink. Which, shouldn't be that damned hard, today of all days. But, no. Somehow, alcohol was nowhere to be found. Who threw a twenty-first birthday party and didn't have alcohol? People who needed to control every aspect of the birthday girl's life, that's who.

She was getting sick of it. And the way Jackson and her foster parents kept glancing over at her told her that her night was only going to get worse. And that she was going to need a whole lot of alcohol to get through it. Between the speculative looks, and the way they all kept whispering together… She was pretty sure that she didn't even want to know what they were planning.

And then Jackson stood up and walked over to her. Taking her hand, he dragged her into the center of the room. "Can I have everybody's attention, please?" The room grew quiet as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them. "As you all know, it was decided a very long time ago that someday, Andrea and I would get married. Today, on her twenty-first birthday, I am taking the first step to making that happen."

Decided by who? Her parents? Or was it really just her foster parents, telling her that this is what her parents would want as a way to control her? If it really was her parents, then she hoped that they were burning in Hell.

The bastard didn't even pretend that this actually had anything to do with her. Never mind getting on one knee, he didn't even bother to ask her. He just pulled a ring box out of his pocket, opened it, and forced the gaudiest ring she had ever seen in her life onto her finger. Yeah, let's not even pretend that she had a choice, here. Let's not even pretend that what she wanted mattered at all. What was it to her, anyway? Just the entire rest of her life.

Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to say something. She looked at the horrible ring on her finger, and said the only acceptable thing she could bring herself to say. "It's huge." Somebody snickered. It sounded like Oliver. Get your mind out of the gutter, asshole. Somehow I really doubt I'm going to be saying anything remotely like that on my wedding night. After all, with his penchant for the big, expensive, and flashy, Jackson was probably seriously compensating for something.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Crap! If there was one thing she really didn't want, it was to kiss Jackson Kenner. But, as with everything else about her life, nobody cared what she wanted. Least of all, Jackson. Before she had time to react, she was in his arms, his mouth was on hers, and his tongue was forcing it's way into her mouth. It was all she could do not to gag.

And there was everybody cheering. Either nobody noticed her utter disgust, or nobody cared. She was betting on the latter. Nobody here gave a damn about her. Was this really going to be her life? And then she had people patting her on the back and congratulating her. For what, exactly? It wasn't like she wanted any part of this.

Eventually, everything settled down, and she ran to the bathroom to rinse her mouth out. Except, when she got out, Jackson was waiting for her in the hallway. "So… I was thinking you should spend the night, tonight. We could have a more private celebration."

Sex. The man was asking her for sex. If she had anything to say about it, she would die a virgin before she ever had sex with him. Though, she had a horrible suspicion that she wouldn't have a say in that, either. But, she wasn't quite his property, yet.

"I promised myself a long time ago that I would save myself for my wedding night. I'm not getting a say in anything else, at least let me have that."

"Yeah. Of course. It will make it that much more special, then. I can wait." Somehow it didn't surprise her that the rest went straight over his head. Or, more likely, he just didn't care what she wanted. But, at least she had bought herself some time.

She needed some air. Actually, what she needed was to run. Run far away and never come back. She had a fake I.D. that she had never used, but Tyler swore would stand up to any scrutiny. Even get her onto a plane. She would still need to figure something out later. Because he would know the name she was using. But, she could become Hayley Marshall long enough to get out of New Orleans. Pawn this horrible ring, use that money to hop onto a plane to somewhere far away. Then hitchhike to somewhere else, so there was no way to track her. She grabbed her purse.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would run. Fly to New York, and then hitchhike to Chicago or somewhere. And take back her fucking life. But for tonight, she still really needed a fucking drink. Seemed like the perfect way to test out her I.D.