Poison & Wine - Chapter XXXVIII

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I walked into the Salvatore Boarding House the next day. Elena and Damon were going to Denver to pick up Jeremy so I was going to go help Stefan babysit Alaric and try to get the location of the last white oak stake because his alter ego had hidden it. Was I a little frightened to see him? Yes, but I wasn't going to act like it.

Once I walked in, I found Stefan standing in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames. "Hey, you're brooding again! It's almost like old Stefan is back." I noticed with a grin.

Stefan rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Hello, Andy."

Damon passed by and was bringing luggage down for the trip. "You hear from Klaus?" He asked.

"Not yet. I'm sure I will soon though. Have you, Andy?" Stefan looked at me and I shook my head. He picked up the white oak stake. "He's expecting me to deliver two stakes, I only have one."

"Well, that's going to be disappointing for him."

"I'll get it out of Alaric. I just need some time."

"I like that confidence, Stefan. I don't share it, but I like it," Damon stopped to look at us.

"You don't think I can do what it takes."

"Well, you're good Stefan again. You're in control. Sorry, you might get the girl but you lose the edge. Speaking of…" Damon looked at the door just as Elena entered. "Have you ever flown first class?"

"Who did you have to compel for that?" I asked.

"Pft, please. I use miles," Damon scoffed before picking up luggage and walking out the door.

Elena looked at Stefan. "Stefan…"

"Be safe," Stefan said, glancing at me for a moment.

Elena stared at him for a moment, and then walked out the door. I exhaled and turned to Stefan. "So, uh, you really don't mind me being here? I'll leave if you don't think I should... or if you don't want me here since most of the group – probably even you – see me on Team Mikaelson."

"Andy, you're always welcome here," He put a hand on my shoulder. "Besides, I figure I owe you one because I made sure that Elena wouldn't track you down in Portland. I threatened to kill Jeremy."

"Wow, Klaus really didn't want me to leave, did he?" I nervously chuckled.

"Yeah, well, you're his weakness."

"No, I'm the doppelganger of his weakness. There's a difference."

"Keep telling yourself that," Stefan scratched his head. "I, uh, saw the way he was looking at you last night. Something tells me that you're wrong."

"Stefan, Klaus knows where I stand. He knows I can't – won't – be with him until I forgive him for Jenna's murder."

"That doesn't mean he doesn't care for you. I mean, Elena was with me but that didn't stop Damon from falling in love with her," Stefan exhaled. "Is he still touchy for you? Damon, I mean?"

"A part of me will always love Damon. He was definitely a love, but not the epic love. Yes, I was upset and heartbroken when he told me he was in love with Elena, but I met Elijah and suddenly it was like all those feelings… disappeared. Maybe it was the supernatural bond I have with them. After a while I realized I wasn't in love with him anymore and that I was strongly infatuated with Elijah. So to answer your question, no, it doesn't hurt anymore," I said softly. "Perhaps this is about a certain brunette sister of mine?"

He smiled gravelly at me. "I was wondering when you'd catch on to that."

I sighed. "Stefan, I honestly don't care who Elena chooses because I'll still love all of you, but she needs to choose who she wants and doesn't need to regret her choice later on. With that being said, I'll play both sides when talking to her about it. I'll make sure I'm fair with distribution," I smiled at him.

"Why couldn't I fall in love with you instead?" He questioned.

"Because we're not compatible, Stef. We're better as friends and, besides, we were both focused on other people at the time," I glanced at my watch. "Do you mind if I go talk to Alaric before we begin interrogation?"

"Not at all. I'll meet you down there in a couple of minutes," Stefan said and I patted his shoulder before heading toward the basement. "Andy?"

I looked back at him. "Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it," I smiled before going down the stairs to the basement. When I reached the cellar that was locked up tight, I called out, "Ric?"

There was a long pause. "Andy?" I exhaled as I opened up the door. Alaric was lying on the cot but sat up when he heard the door. "Are you okay?" He asked and I slowly nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. He sighed, clearly seeing me shake like a kid in front of him. "I'm so sorry, Andy, I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know, I don't blame you," I managed out. "Meredith's good, by the way. She wanted to come, but…"

"But she was too scared," He finished and I nodded.

"Listen, we're not going to worry about that, though. Why don't you try to go to sleep?"

"Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep when that is what you're supposed to do?" He asked.

Stefan entered just then. "Well, look, I know it's not easy so–" He held up a whiskey bottle. "–Damon suggested that I bring something to help speed up the process."

"What the hell," Alaric sighed. Stefan handed the bottle to him and grabbed two chairs for him and I. "You know I'll feel decidedly less pathetic if I don't drink alone."

"Oh, I am one step ahead of you," Stefan showed Alaric a glass and sat down in the chair. He held his glass out and Alaric poured some whiskey in it. They both drank right in front of me.

"A little stingy, aren't we?" I asked.

"You're a recovering alcoholic," Stefan pointed out and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"So, road trip, huh?" Alaric said, looking at him.

"Yeah, I needed to stay here," Stefan turned all serious.

"Why? I mean, why you two? You know, it doesn't take much to babysit me while I sit here waiting for a psychotic break," Alaric questioned.

"Well, unfortunately, we only have a limited amount of time," I said.

"Before what?"

Stefan finished for me. "Before we have to resort to other methods."

"So, you're worried that you're gonna have to torture me. You don't think Damon could have done that?"

"Look, Elena needed to go on that road trip with Damon. No matter what I go through to get her back; fighting my bloodlust, trying to gain control of my life again… None of that matters if she has feelings for somebody else," I felt bad for Stefan because I knew how much he was in love with Elena and knew how it wasn't fair to either of them.

Hours passed by and we all sat around talking to one another about random things. We talked from books to Abraham Lincoln to Leonardo DeCaprio, but don't ask me to explain how our conversation got to that last topic. Eventually, our conversation got back to Elena and Damon.

Alaric brought it up. "I assume they've got Jeremy by now?"

"They should," Stefan answered. "Haven't heard from them. Elena's worried about him; knowing that she can't count on his ring anymore."

"Who knows? Maybe his alter ego is a pot smoking, hippie pacifist," Alaric said and I couldn't help but laugh at that, even though I know I shouldn't.

"Yeah, maybe," Stefan smiled over at me.

"I can't say I thought mine would be so hostile and militant," Alaric admitted.

"That actually makes perfect sense," I said in a small voice. "Your wife left you to become a vampire and your girlfriend was killed by one."

"He must really hate me. Here I am, the failed hunter slash drinking buddy of vampires."

"Ah, he's too judgmental," Stefan said.

"The thing is, he's me. I'm not compelled, I'm not possessed, there's no humanity switch. What drives him is me," Alaric took the last swig of whiskey.

"No. No, he's not you. He's the darkest parts of you. The parts we all have," Stefan had a haunted look in his eyes as he spoke and I squeezed his shoulder in comfort.

And to my surprise and horror – though I really shouldn't have been – Klaus entered the cell. "Well, this is depressing, isn't it?" He said, looking around with that attractive face of his. How was he better looking than last time I saw him? It was safe to say that Elijah and he have fantastic genes. Stefan stood up at seeing Klaus. "Oh, and I found this–" Klaus showed us the stake. "–upstairs. Now, by my count, there should be one more."

"Yeah, well it's gonna take a little more time," Stefan glanced over at Alaric.

"Why? Because we're waiting for that one to pass out?" He pointed to Alaric. "No thanks. I think I'll just kill him."

"You'll have to kill me first," I moved in front of Alaric. Klaus rolled his eyes at me.

"You won't know the location of the other stake," Stefan pointed out.

"I can live with that."

"Well, I can't. When we staked Finn–" I cringed when as Stefan spoke. "–we discovered that killing an Original vampire killed its entire bloodline. Now, I don't know which one of you I'm descended from, but I'd really rather not find out by dying, so why don't we just find the stake, destroy it, so we can all be safe?"

"So, the fate of the entire vampire race depends on you finding a stake?" Klaus tried to go toward Alaric and I blocked his way, but he still spoke to Alaric. "And to get it we need you to pass out. Which means that I feel totally justified doing this." Klaus pushed me to the side and rushed towards Alaric. He broke his neck without another thought and Alaric fell dead on the cot.

"Ric!" I screamed, crawling my way over as I held my stomach that was in so much pain.

"There. Sleeping like a baby," Klaus grinned from his spot.

"Go," I growled, grabbing Alaric's hand before looking at Klaus. "I said, go! I don't want to speak to you ever again!"

"You don't mean that, love, even if you did, I wouldn't care," Klaus said then looked to Stefan. "I expect results before the end of the night."

I turned away from him and placed my head on the cot. "Just go, please, Klaus."

There were a few moments that passed before I felt a hand on my back. "He's gone, Andy," Stefan whispered.

I got off my knees and sat on the ground. "He always has to be the bad guy, he always has to ruin everything."

"Do you want me to fix you some tea, Andy?" He asked after a moment.

"Sure," He fixed me some tea and then he read Moby Dick aloud to me for the next hours to come. This was nice. I could get used to drinking delicious warm tea while someone read to me. I could only imagine Klaus's British voice reading the words to me, though Elijah's sounded nice in my head, too. But I think it was a little too late for both of these relationships for that.

Sometime in the middle of the night, I wasn't sure what time; Alaric woke up from the dead. "Welcome back," Stefan greeted.

"What happened?" Alaric looked around. "Did I, uh…?"

"No, you pretty much laid there for half the night," Stefan said.

"On the plus side, we almost finished Moby Dick," I said but with little humor. Stefan walked over to Alaric.

"This is stupid," Alaric said. "Evil me or whatever you want to call him, he's not gonna make an appearance. Why would he? I mean, the best hiding place is where you can't find the person who hid it."

"I know," Stefan nodded, and then looked at me. "Andy, still you please go upstairs and wait for me?"

"Stefan, I-I want to help."

"Go, now," Alaric said and I nodded as I bring my tea cup with me. The last thing I heard before going upstairs was Alaric saying, "So how do you want to do this?"

I went upstairs and saw that Rebekah and Klaus were waiting in the parlor. I glared at Klaus and didn't say a word as I went into the kitchen and over to the sink. I started to wash the mug out because I had nothing better to do. I heard loud crashing from the basement and the mug I had crashed to the ground and broke into a hundred pieces. "Stupid mug!" I grunted as kicked the pieces before sinking to the ground and covering my head.

"Andy?"

I didn't look up Klaus. "Didn't I tell you to go?"

"I did, but I came back like I always do."

I looked up at him to see him kneeling by me. "If you're here to throw more accusations my way you can leave for good."

"I'm here to make sure you're okay," He knelt down in front of me, brushing back the hair in my face. For a moment I was comforted with the familiar feeling, my mind going to my mother. However, I wouldn't allow myself those thoughts for long.

"I'm peachy," I stood and walked back into the parlor where Rebekah was waiting. Damon could clean up the mess I just made when he got back. "How's the dance coming?" I remember Caroline complaining the Original sister had joined the committee.

"Good, but we're doing the twenties instead of the seventies."

"Oh, nice…" I nodded and Klaus walked back in. We sat in uncomfortable silence until Stefan came rushing in.

"That wasn't too hard was it?" Klaus asked him with a smirk. Rebekah left the room while Klaus poured himself a drink. I moved over to Stefan's side. "That was a little gratuitous, don't you think Stefan? I would have been gentler."

Rebekah entered again with Alaric. "I'm gonna take him to the caves," She explained before looking over at him. "You're gonna go inside and fetch me the stake and if you think you're going to hide, you're wrong."

"Don't hurt him," I pleaded as she pushed him to the front door and left.

"And then there was one," Klaus said, turning to Stefan and I. "I know about Damon's little mission to Denver. He failed. Not that that's news anymore." Damon failed in what?

"So, what are you going to do, Klaus? Are you going to kill me?" Stefan asked.

Klaus sat down. "I haven't actually decided that, yet."

"Aww, sure you have," Stefan said. "See you've had every chance and every excuse imaginable to do it, but yet you haven't. Which means you don't want to."

"You know something, you're right," Klaus took a sip of his drink. As he spoke his next words, he moved toward Stefan. "You see, I'm still waiting for my old friend to come back. By the looks of it, he's just beneath the surface. Waiting to come out and play. Isn't right, Ripper?" Except it was more "rippah" than "ripper."

Stefan waited a moment before responding. "I've been fighting that part of myself, thinking that if I repressed it would go away. But it won't. And now that I've accepted it, it can't control me. And neither can you. So, unless you're gonna stake me, why don't you get the hell out of my house?"

Klaus' face was priceless as Stefan walked out of the room. He looked at me and I frowned before I left the house so I could go see if Elena was back. When I got home, they weren't there but I had another visitor. "Tyler!" I ran up to him and threw my arms around him.

"Hey stranger," He hugged me back tightly.

"I missed you like crazy," I admitted as I pulled back from him.

"Same," He exhaled. "Mind if I come in for a few?"

"Not at all."

We went up to my room so could change my gauze; as I was working on it, he found the drawing Klaus had drawn me. "So are Klaus and you a thing?" He asked when he saw it.

"How could you even ask that?" I asked as I wrapped my torso. "I mean, why are you curious about it?"

"How could I not be curious about it? I'm your ex, so of course I'm going to be."

I scoffed. "We're friends, Tyler, remember? I thought we decided to classify ourselves as friends and not exes long ago."

"Well, if you're seeing Klaus, I want to know."

"Well, it's none of your business who I'm with," I said, getting suddenly defensive as I turned to look at him with a scowl.

"Right, whatever," Tyler stormed out.

"Tyler? Tyler!" I called after him but it didn't work, he was already gone. I laid my head back and drifted off to sleep as I waited for my siblings to come home.

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The End of Chapter XXXVIII