Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", Finn asks Sage to marry him while Caroline persuades Klaus to paint her in the same manner that Jack sketched Rose in 'Titanic'.

Chapter Nine

The Lockwood Mansion

Meghan was making a snack for herself in the kitchen when she felt a pair of arms close around the upper part of her body, hands covering her eyes as a voice said huskily in her ear, "Guess who?"

She giggled and replied, "Hmm, is it that handsome man with black hair and hazel eyes?"

Tyler chuckled. "I can't fool you, can I?"

Meghan turned around in his arms and kissed him. "No, you can't, because I know you too well." She kissed him again. "I was just making a snack. Care to join me?"

"Can I have you for a snack instead?" he asked huskily, leaning toward her and pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her neck. Meghan's head fell back and Tyler took quiet advantage, wrenching her gently closer to him until she felt all of him against her.

"Tyler…what if someone walks in?" she asked on a ragged murmur, hands clasped around the back of his head to hold him in place.

"Let them come in," Tyler said. "We're both adults. I'm not ashamed of how I feel about you."

"And if our son walked in?" she asked, turning in the circle of his arms to finish fixing the snack.

"Then, I'd talk you into going upstairs with me so that we could have more privacy," he replied.

"Well, maybe later. I have things that need to get done," Meghan told him.

Tyler nodded. "Okay."

Just after he spoke, Matt came in with April, who noticed right off that there was tension. The hybrid just glanced back at April before turning and heading out of the kitchen. Matt saw the look on Tyler's face as he went and followed his friend into the living room. "Is everything okay?"

Tyler sighed and shook his head. "I really don't know. I thought that now we're back together, Meghan and I would like we were before."

"I really don't know what to tell you then. Woo her, convince her that you're ready to take her back," Matt advised.

Tyler nodded. "I could try that. I love her, Matt, and I don't want to lose her. I nearly lost her once, and I don't want that to happen again."

After he headed out of the mansion, April turned to Matt. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

"I try my best," Matt said with a sheepish smile and a quick shrug.

April smiled and kissed him. "You're cute when you blush, you know that?"

"I've not heard that, but thanks," he said, returning her kiss.

"You're welcome," she said snuggling into his arms.

Tyler went after Meghan and when he found her, he grabbed her from behind and turned her to face him, kissing her passionately. Her protest died when she tried to separate her lips from his and he went in search of them once more. "God, Tyler…" she said on a ragged murmur. "Are you always this persuasive?"

"I'm a Lockwood. It's in my blood," he replied.

Meghan smiled at his reply. "So I've heard. Guess I'll have something to look forward to when T.J. gets older, won't I?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he said with a smirk.

Meghan shook her head. "You're a mess, that's what you are," she told him.

Tyler smirked again. "Yeah, but for you, I'm a hot mess."

"You're still a mess," she said, shaking her head again. She squealed with laughter when he proceeded to pick her up and hoist her easily over his broad shoulder. "Tyler Lockwood, put me down!"

Tyler grinned. "I'll put you down all right…in our bed."

She squirmed in his hold, finally grunting at him, "Damn you, Tyler Lockwood!"

After he got to his room finally, Tyler set her down as promised on the bed, and she bounced a bit, scooting backward at the hungry gaze she got from him. Tyler came over her and tilted his head to the side, mouth just barely caressing hers before he was stripping them both, thrusting into her none too gently. Meghan moaned against his mouth and rocked her hips against his thrusts, matching his movements exactly.

Downstairs…

Matt smirked to himself when he heard the soft noises from upstairs, his fingers gently stroking over the arm of a now-sleeping April, who was gently sprawled out on his chest. Matt kissed April's forehead. "Tyler is finally reunited with the woman he loves. I'm glad it all worked out for him. He deserves to be happy."

"Hmm," she murmured sleepily. "You were worried that he wouldn't be?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, I was. I mean, he's my friend, so it was only natural that I was worried about him. He's been through a lot."

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "You two almost had a falling out, right? Over Caroline, if I remember you telling me," she said softly.

Matt nodded. "Unfortunately, yes. Though, we did finally patch things up. As for Caroline, she's with Klaus now."

"That's what I've heard around town. How do you feel about that, since you two are friends?" she asked.

"Well, at first, I was a bit shocked, especially since he's responsible for Tyler's mom being dead," Matt said. "But, Caroline seems to see the good in him."

April nodded. "Well, if she's happy then you should be happy for her, right?"

"Yeah, I guess I should be happy for her," Matt said. "She's finally found someone who will love her for who she is and treat her like…well, a Queen."

"Am I a Queen too?" April asked him.

Matt smiled at her. "Of course you are, April."

"I'm your Queen," she said with a smirk, shifting to kiss him.

"Always," he said with a smirk back, kissing her in response while framing her cheeks in his strong hands.

April smiled. "Yes, always."

"Dude, really?" Tyler asked from the doorway. April immediately jumped off of Matt, but he caught her before she could fall to the floor on her back.

"Dude, really?" Matt mimicked him. "You were just upstairs doing the very same thing, might I remind you of that?"

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you have to copy me."

"I wasn't!" Matt said with a sigh. "Besides, you're already a father. I'm not there yet."

April nodded. "That's right, Tyler. Matt and I don't want to get pregnant until we're ready. So, we're taking things slow."

"Well, not pregnant again," Matt reminded her quietly.

"Okay, what is going on and why did you say again?" Tyler asked, confused by their conversation.

"What I mean to say is that I'm going to be a father," Matt told his friend.

Tyler blinked. "You're going to be a father? Why the hell didn't you say anything about that before?"

Matt raised an eyebrow. "Oh, maybe it was because you never asked?"

"Well, congrats then," Tyler said. Matt stood and the two friends hugged, each of them clapping the other guy's back.

April smiled. "Thank you, Tyler."

"You're welcome," Tyler said, hugging her as well before rejoining Meghan, who smiled and kissed him loudly.

Matt then got an idea. "Why don't we celebrate my impending fatherhood and your reunion?"

"Who would we invite, Matt?" Tyler asked him. "Caroline left to be with Klaus. Damon and Elena have started to plan on moving to Italy and Bonnie is gone."

"It can be just us, Jeremy, and that new girl in town," Matt replied.

Tyler raised a curious eyebrow. "Wait, hold on. Did you say there's a new girl in town?"

"Yeah," Matt said. "Her name is Allison, and she started working at the Grill recently."

"And it seems that she is also interested in Jeremy," April piped up.

"Oh really, she is? That's interesting," Tyler said.

April nodded. "Yeah, I saw them kissing. From the looks of it, they seemed to really enjoy it."

Tyler nodded. "Well, if he's happy, then he is moving on," he said.

Matt nodded. "Yeah, I was wondering when he was going to be happy again. Losing Bonnie really hit him hard."

"Yes, it did. It hit us all hard," Tyler said solemnly. He smiled over at Meghan when she took his hand and squeezed it. Tyler returned her smile. "Well, if being with Allison makes Jeremy happy, then I have no objection to it."

"And neither do I," April said. "Nobody deserves to be sad forever."

"No, they do not," Meghan agreed. "Who would like some food?"

April and Matt raised their hands and said in unison, "WE DO!"

Meghan chuckled then let go of Tyler's hand long enough to place the basket of food she'd brought into the room with her on the low-set coffee table. "Here you are," she said.

Matt let April eat first, mostly because he knew that pregnant women generally ate more compared to other women. After she was done, April settled back against him while Meghan settled against Tyler, both girls content for the moment. Matt smiled and kissed April's head. He was definitely looking forward to being a father. He meant it when he was going to be better than his father was. "I love you," he said softly as he stroked his hand over her curls.

April smiled. "I love you too, Matty."

Tyler smirked and chuckled then began making kissing noises. Matt scowled then picked up a pillow and threw it at the hybrid, who threw it back. Meghan shook her head at their behavior and looked at April. "I guess it's true what they say about men. No matter how old they get, they'll never stop being little boys."

"Very true," the pregnant brunette said with a grin as the two guys continued to throw the pillow back and forth. "Okay, enough; someone is going to get an eye taken out."

Matt and Tyler pointed fingers at each other and both said in unison, "He started it!"

"I don't care who started it," Meghan said. "April's right, this needs to stop before someone gets their eye taken out."

Her tone was firm enough for the two of them to obey and, after Tyler tossed the pillow back to Matt, the blonde put it back on the couch he was sitting on. No sooner did Matt place the pillow down on the sofa than his cell phone rang. Not sure who was calling, he took his phone out and saw Jeremy's number on the ID screen. "It's Jeremy. I wonder why he's calling…"

"You won't know for sure unless you answer it," Tyler said. "Maybe he has a good reason to be calling."

Matt nodded and pressed SEND. "Jeremy? What's going on?"

"Man, you should get down here. It's crazy!" Jeremy said. Matt heard him put the phone down so he ended the call before easing April up from over him.

"Sorry, guys, I have to go. Something's up at the Grill," Matt said before rushing out. Meghan glanced at Tyler, who nodded and blurred after his friend.

Tyler caught up with Matt and said, "What's going on at the Grill?"

"Not sure," Matt said. "But, Jeremy wants me to come down and find out."

Tyler nodded then walked into the Grill with the human-medium, finding the local hangout in total chaos. Tyler growled at what he saw. "Damn it! What the hell happened here? It looks like a bomb went off!"

"One kind of did," Jeremy replied as he walked in from the back room. His face was covered in black soot, and the girl that stood next to him, her face was also covered in black soot.

"Are you guys okay?" Matt asked with a concerned tone and look on his face.

Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, we're okay."

"That's good," Matt said. "At least you're both okay." He surveyed the damage. "Was anyone else here or was it just you and Allison?"

"Well, it wasn't just me and her, but I had already sent everyone home after they got questioned by Sheriff Forbes and her deputies," Jeremy replied.

Tyler nodded. "At least no one was hurt, that's the most important thing."

Jeremy nodded again then looked down at Allison. "Are you going to be okay while I talk to Matt and Tyler?"

She nodded and stepped away from him. "I should go home and get cleaned up, anyway," she said.

Jeremy nodded. "Okay, we've got things covered here. Go home and get some rest."

Allison smiled then leaned up and covered his cheek with her lips briefly. "Thanks, but I doubt I'll sleep any tonight," she said before heading out the door.

After she was gone, Jeremy turned to find Matt and Tyler giving him curious looks. "What?"

Matt smiled. "Nothing, Jeremy. It's just that we're glad that you've got another girl in your life. You've been rather bummed out about Bonnie and we were worried that you'd never find anyone else."

Jeremy shrugged. "Allison and I agreed to take things slow," he said as he headed to the back to get the brooms for him, Matt and Tyler. Matt and Tyler watched Jeremy go get the brooms. Although they were taking it slow, at least Jeremy and Allison were together.

Meanwhile…

Allison arrived at the now-empty boardinghouse then put her purse on the end table just inside the front door and her keys in the bowl. She looked around at the interior of the boarding house and although she and Jeremy were living here, she could feel that the former residents were still around. Going to sit down in the chair in the living room in front of the fire, Allison soon fell asleep with the warmth of the fire surrounding most of her front side.

In New Orleans…

Rebekah felt like her head was spinning as she woke up. Once her vision cleared, she saw that she was in Marcel's headquarters. Great, just what she didn't need. "Welcome back," she heard a familiar voice say from next to her.

Rebekah bared her fangs at her captor. "WHAT THE BLOODY DO YOU THINK YOU'RE TRYING TO PROVE BY BRINGING ME HERE, MARCEL?"

He bared his fangs as well. "I thought I could try and reconnect the spark we once had, but it's obvious that I was wrong in doing so," he growled before blurring out of the room.

Rebekah watched Marcel leave and then forced herself to calm down. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Marcel wanted to rekindle their old flame? She remembered being in love with him eons ago. Unfortunately, Klaus would have none of it and did whatever was necessary to keep them apart. So, why the sudden interest in wanting to try again?

Sighing, the blonde Original lay back on the bed as she let her eyes drift closed once again.

French Quarter…

Belinda La Fleur was just closing her shop for the night, having let the last customer leave less than an hour ago. She also carried bag filled with herbs she was planning to use for a potion. Although Marcel had strictly forbidden the witches in the Quarter to practice magic, he made an exception for her; even if he didn't make it known to the vampires he led. After all, he wasn't without his pride. As she locked the door to the shop, she felt that something wasn't quite right. She tried to ignore it, but it only got stronger. "Whoever you are, come out so I can see you." The minute she said that, Belinda saw Finn Mikaelson approaching her. Great, as if she didn't already have enough things to worry about. She didn't let him speak as she said, "What do you want with me?"

"It would seem that you're urgently needed back at our mansion," he replied, a sly smirk on his face. "Unless you want me to use force, I suggest you come quietly."

"And if I say no?" she asked.

"Oh, I think you'll say yes, Miss La Fleur," he said before blurring up behind her and wrapping one arm around her collarbone, bringing a cloth up to her mouth and covering it. Once she fainted from the chloroform, Finn caught her easily in his arms then blurred back to the mansion. Finn arrived at the mansion to find Hayley waiting for him. He gave the pregnant werewolf a smirk. "I got her."

Hayley nodded, returning his smirk. "Good. Bring her inside and we'll find a place to put her."

He nodded then carried the African-American witch inside, going up the stairs. As soon as he reached the top of the stairs, Finn carried Belinda to a vacant room, laying her gently on the bed, hearing her moan as her head hit the pillow. That meant the chloroform would be wearing off soon. Quickly, Finn headed out and locked the door behind him. Hayley was standing with her back against the wall, a hand protectively on her belly. As though reading his mind, she said, "Now that we have Belinda, we need to make a ransom demand."

"Can you do that while I keep an eye on her?" Finn asked, planning himself into the chair next to Belinda's bed.

Hayley nodded. "I'll definitely do that." That being said, the pregnant werewolf left Finn to look after their hostage while she went to prepare a ransom demand.

Finn remained at the witch's side to wait for her to wake up, and while he waited, he began to work on some important paper-grading that came with his new job at the local university. Belinda gasped as she woke up, looking around at her surroundings. That's funny, wasn't she in the Quarter several minutes ago? She looked over and saw Finn sitting near her bed and grading papers. It was here that she remembered how she wound up in the Mikaelson mansion. She sat up and gave him a stern look. "You know that Marcel is going to be out for blood when he finds out about this, right?"

"Of course we do," he replied without looking up from his papers. "In fact, we're counting on him finding out."

Belinda's stern look didn't change. "What do you expect to gain by taking me hostage like this?"

"Marcel has our sister."

"And you think he's going to return her when he learns that you have taken me?" Belinda demanded softly.

"That is the plan, yes," Finn said, looking up from his papers. "Once Marcel learns we have you, he will have no choice but to return Rebekah to us, given how important you are to him."

"You people are out of your minds!" Belinda yelled and got up from the bed, about to make a run for it, but Finn beat her to it, groaning in pain when she used her powers to give him a migraine.

At that moment, Sage came in, having heard Finn groaning. She saw Belinda giving him a migraine and lunged at her, knocking her away from him. "YOU BITCH! I COULD KILL YOU FOR THAT!"

"Would you like a migraine as well, Red? That's exactly what I'll give you if you don't get me out of here," Belinda growled.

Sage growled as well and ignored her threat, grabbing her throat and used her compulsion power, saying, "You will not give me or any of the residents of this mansion any sort of migraines. If you know what is good for you, you will cooperate with us, do you understand?"

Belinda smirked and held up her left arm, which had a bracelet around it. "Sorry, I'm on vervain," she said.

"Damn it," Sage growled before letting go.

Hayley walked in then. "The ransom demand is done." She saw that Belinda was awake. "I see our guest is awake."

"Not only that, but she's also on vervain," Finn said. "Sage tried to compel her."

Belinda scowled at Hayley. "I thought you were given specific instructions to stay on bed rest," she said in a stern tone.

"Oh, I choose not to obey them. You see, I'm surrounded by plenty of people, all vampires, except for the father of my child, who is a hybrid," Hayley said in an equally stern tone.

Belinda scowled. "I should've known that you were an insolent little girl. I wouldn't be surprised if your child inherits your attitude."

Hayley growled slightly. "Do you want to live through this? I suggest you shut up. I don't know if they told you, but my friend is in trouble and we need you to help get her back from your boyfriend."

"You think Marcel is going to give her up easily? As I seem to remember, he, and she, once loved each other with a passion that I haven't seen in years," Belinda said.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "And that doesn't bother you at all?"

"I suppose it should, yes, but I've had my chance with Marcel. It's obvious that he still loves Rebekah," Belinda replied with a quick shrug of her shoulders.

Author's Note: Who will win Marcel's heart, Belinda or Rebekah? Let me know what your thoughts are!