Chapter ten

Cheaters

I felt hollow, numb, and maybe even a little empty. And, after everything, I embraced that feeling.

It was night time when I pulled up to the boarding house. I didn't know what I wanted to do, who I wanted to see. All I knew was that I was sick and tired of crying over Klaus so that was what I wasn't going to do.

The house was silent and dark when I walked inside, my eyes quickly and silently scanning for anybody in sight. I was torn as to who to run to for comfort. I almost wanted to curl up in my own bed and stay there for a century or two, yet I wanted somebody's comfort. I wanted to know that I wasn't completely alone after losing Klaus.

I knew Damon and Stefan would instantly go into protective big brother mode, and I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready to hear all the bad things about him just yet. I still loved him, I was just freshly heartbroken.

And despite the wedding plans I was sure she was obsessing over at that moment, all I wanted was my best friend. I wanted Lily.

I climbed the stairs, knowing that Lily wouldn't ask for details right away. She'd just take one look at me and crack out Ben & Jerry's and Mean Girls. She'd let me cry it out and explain everything on my own time. That was one of the things I loved about my best friend. She knew exactly how to react to everything thrown her way.

When I reached Lily's door, I opened my mouth to call out to her, but then I caught part of the conversation being had inside the room.

"-how could you just drop a bomb on me like that, Jack?" Lily said angrily into a phone, and I stopped in my place.

"You can't just tell me you love me and to leave Damon, and then just leave town. You can't!" Lily continued. "And you're wrong, by the way. I'm not going to leave Damon. I… love him. I haven't- I haven't been thinking about anything you've said, at all."

I heard Lily sigh as I stared wide eyed at her door. She was going to leave my brother?

"And next time, answer your god damn phone." I heard Lily hang up, then there was a crash as she threw it into the wall.

She sighed again, and I heard the springs in her bed creak as she laid down on it.

"What am I going to do?" she said softly to herself.

"That's a good question."

Lily jumped slightly and looked up at me in surprise. I stared back at her, my arms crossed over my chest. I had no words to describe how upset I was with my best friend.

"Elizabeth." Lily's eyes widened. "It- it's not what you think, I swear-"

"Oh, so Jack didn't confess his love for you and tell you to leave my brother, and you're not thinking about it? That's a relief to hear," I said sarcastically, and Lily sighed.

"You just wouldn't understand, okay?" she said. "It's complicated-"

"I wouldn't understand?" I repeated her, looking up at her in disbelief. "If there's anything I don't understand, it's that why people can't be faithful to each other. I mean, what happened to fidelity? When did people's honesty and honor and moral suddenly go extinct?"

"I'm not cheating-" she tried to say, but I wasn't going to let her speak.

"I mean, just because we're vampires doesn't mean we get to go around slutting it up with random whores." I knew how I sounded, I knew that I wasn't making any sense to Lily, but I just had to get it out. Even if I was taking it out on my best friend. "It doesn't mean we get to hurt the people who have given everything to us time and time again. But does that stop any of us from doing that? No. Because there's not a person in this town that gives a damn about anybody but themselves."

Then I ended my speech by promptly throwing a nearby chair against the wall. I watched it break and fall apart, the loud crash echoing over and over in my ears, as the image of Klaus and Mina kissing refused to get out of my head.

Lily gaped at me in shock. "What happened, Elizabeth?" she asked me finally, her voice just above a whisper.

"You just wouldn't understand, Lily," I replied mockingly, bitterly. "It's complicated."

Then I turned and walked briskly out of her room. I was done with cheaters, especially with the ones I loved more than anything.

~LGM~

One thing Klaus always noticed whenever he was apart from Elizabeth was that everything was a lot quieter, but that wasn't a good thing. The silence was always a heavy one, and it weighed him down like concrete blocks.

Elizabeth was always so loud, it never ceased to amaze him that so much noise could come from such a small person. She was almost always talking, just to hear her own voice. Rarely did the words she spoke hold any real meaning. She just hated the silence as much as he did, so she felt the need to fill it up, to make it go away. And he had never minded, because it was always the things she said to fill up the silence that made him realize just how important the little vampire who talked too much was to him.

He hated how pathetic he was, just sitting in a dark room, nothing but a glass of scotch to keep him company. He should have been doing everything in his power to get Elizabeth back. He should have been trying to convince her that it was just a misunderstanding. He wasn't sleeping with Mina behind her back. He had never kissed her.

Yet, Klaus didn't move a muscle.

"I never want to see you again. Don't try to call me, to see me. Just leave me alone, Klaus, alright? You owe me that."

He remembered Elizabeth's last words to him. She wanted nothing to do with him. Again. It wasn't the first time Klaus had screwed up with her. And, last time, he had tried to get her back. Granted, he didn't execute that plan very well- he should have tried 146 years earlier than he did- but he still did everything he could to get Elizabeth to give him another chance. And he did, eventually.

Klaus was a selfish person. When he wanted something- or someone- he pursued it without even thinking about the consequences the object of his desires might face. And he always got what he wanted, eventually. Because Klaus always refused to give up until he won. But, this time, he wasn't going to go after Elizabeth. He was going to honor her wishes, and leave her be.

Because, after everything he had done, after all the pain he had caused her and her loved ones, Klaus owed her the respect to not bother her. She was right, he did owe her. He owed her a lot.

"Well, isn't this whole scene depressing."

Klaus sighed. He was in no mood for Kol. Though, he supposed his brother's arrival did end his brief minute of self-pitying, and he was thankful for that.

Kol frowned and Klaus, noticing his brother's rather solemn expression. "Who died?" he asked, very confused.

Klaus didn't bother to respond, as Kol looked around, noticing that there was no sign of Elizabeth anywhere in the room. There was no glass of rum marking the chair next to Klaus', no loud and obnoxious babble coming from the kitchen, no smell of vanilla and roses. She hadn't been with Klaus. In fact, Kol doubted that she was in the house altogether.

Kol's frown deepened when he realized the other female presence was missing. Mina was long gone. He had a feeling that both disappearances were related.

"Where's Lizzie?" he asked finally, expecting the answer even before it was spoken.

"I'm afraid that we won't be seeing much of Elizabeth anymore," Klaus said finally, after a few beats of silence. He sounded extremely tired, as if that day ranked in the top ten worst days of his existence.

Even though Kol knew better, he still asked, "She left you, didn't she?"

Klaus frowned, surprised that Kol had figured it out so fast. Hearing those words though, no matter how true they were, still hit him rather hard. Elizabeth had left him. She was no longer his. She loathed him- again- even though he really had done nothing wrong. He had just made stupid decisions and trusted someone who had been plotting against him the entire time.

Kol let out a sigh. "You were sleeping with Mina and Elizabeth caught you, didn't she?" He couldn't help but feel a little… angry at his brother. Elizabeth had become another little sister to him. And the fact that he wouldn't have her around to annoy anymore just because Klaus couldn't keep it in his pants pissed him off. He tried his best to annoy that part of him, though.

Klaus looked at Kol oddly. "No," he said finally. "She just thinks I did." Why was he having this conversation? He knew the answer, though. Because the silence was thick and heavy with Elizabeth and he craved conversation, even if it was about such a sore subject with Kol of all people.

Kol frowned again. "Well, then, why aren't you out there telling her what happened, instead of sitting here drinking?"

Klaus looked down at the ground. "She wants me to stay away from her this time. She wants nothing to do with me," he admitted finally.

"So?" Kol said, eyebrow raised.

"So," Klaus said, growing annoyed with his brother. "I'm going to respect her wishes this time."

Kol sighed. He knew he needed to stay out of the drama that was Elizabeth and Klaus' love life. He was becoming too involved already. Still, as he turned to walk away from his brother, he couldn't stop himself from saying one last thing.

"Remember Nik," he said, pausing at the doorway. "There was a reason you didn't let Lizzie get away the first time."

Then Kol swore to himself he would never have anything to do with his brother's love life ever again.

~LGM~

I was knee deep in cookie dough ice cream when Lily knocked on my door.

"We need to talk, Elizabeth," she said firmly. I sighed and stuck my spoon in the vanilla ice cream before gesturing for her to come in.

"What happened?" She asked almost immediately. "What was with your little speech about being unfaithful back there?"

"I'd rather talk about the fact that you're planning to leave my big brother," I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm not going to leave Damon," she said firmly. "I can't believe that you'd think I'd hurt him like that, Elizabeth."

I sighed and ran a hand over my face. "You're keeping Jack a secret from him, Lily," I reminded her.

"What, you'd think I'd drop a bomb like that three days before my wedding?" She responded.

I pursed my lips; she did have a point. We both knew how Damon would react when he found out.

"Now," Lily said, sitting down on my bed. "What happened to you, Lizzie? What's wrong?"

But I was already shaking my head. "No, I don't want to talk about it," I muttered, standing up.

"Elizabeth-" Lily said, eyes wide with surprise.

"I don't want to talk about it, alright Lily?" I snapped. She flinched slightly, and I pretended not to notice.

Before I stormed out of the bedroom, I added, "And if you don't tell Damon about Jack, I will." Then I left my best friend feeling nearly as terrible as I did.

~LGM~

A/N: I seriously meant to post this on Tuesday. Oh well, only 3 days later.

Thank you to: , Guest, Storylover, Lady Syndra, DayDreamer1212, TVDobsession106, Lourdes08, SomebodyWhoCares, winxgirl1997, xxxRena, and missstvd for reviewing!

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~Abby :)