Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", Tyler and Meghan have some sexy time together.

Chapter Sixteen

New Orleans – Next Day…

Rebekah had a smile on her face as she sat at the table. She was thinking about her encounter with Raphael and how much of a gentleman he was. Of course, she also couldn't help but wonder what Klaus would think about his sister having a suitor, given how protective he was of her. "Good morning, dear sister," Klaus said as he walked into the room, Hayley following behind with Caroline, Elijah, Finn and Sage.

Rebekah startled and turned around. "Good morning? What's got you in such a good mood?"

Caroline answered the question for him. "We're going to be doing my painting today, that's what." She saw the look on Rebekah's face. "Why? You think it's weird that Nik is in a good mood?"

"It's nothing," Rebekah muttered before she blurs out of the room. Caroline looked at the other two Originals then blurs after the other blonde, finding her out by the garden.

"Come on, Rebekah, you can talk to me," Caroline said. "What's going on?"

"I met someone last night," Rebekah said. "His name is Raphael Ashby, and he's an ancient hybrid, just like Nik. I want to tell him, but I don't want him to get all territorial. He was that way with Marcel and every other suitor I've had."

"Why don't we tell him together and then you let me take him somewhere that he can focus his anger on something else?" Caroline suggested.

Rebekah nodded. "I suppose we could." She gave the other blonde a concerned look. "I just don't want him to hurt you out of anger."

"He won't, though I appreciate the concern," she replied. "Let's just focus on telling him about Raphael first, okay?"

"Okay," Rebekah said.

Caroline nodded and the two turned around and walked back to the mansion. Klaus saw Rebekah and Caroline walking in and it wasn't long before he spoke up. "What's going on, Bekah?"

Rebekah looked at Caroline, who nodded and looked at her brother. "I met someone last night, Nik. His name is Raphael Ashby, and he's an ancient hybrid, just like you."

"And you decided to wait until NOW to tell me!?" Klaus thundered, the echo of his yell bouncing off of the walls.

Rebekah stood her ground. "I put off telling you for a REASON, Nik! I knew you'd get territorial, like you did with Alexander, Marcel, Stefan, and every other suitor I've had!"

"I did it for good reason, sister!" Klaus yelled.

Caroline could feel the tension between the siblings and decided to take over. She gently took Klaus by the arm and said, "Come on, Nik, why don't we find a place where you can calm down? All of this tension isn't good for those present."

"Leave me be, Caroline," he ground out, slipping his hand from hers before he too, blurs out.

Caroline watched him leave and growled in frustration. She went to follow but was stopped by Elijah. "What are you stopping me for? I need to go after him before he kills someone!"

"He needs to be alone right now," he replied. "I know you want to help him, but…"

"But nothing, Elijah," Caroline said. "He needs me whether he told me to leave him be or not!"

"We will go talk to him, Ms. Forbes," Finn said. "He would probably open up more to his siblings more."

Caroline pouted but nodded and blurs upstairs, slamming the door shut behind her. Hayley looked at Elijah and then headed upstairs to the room Caroline shared with Klaus and knocked on the door. "Caroline, it's Hayley. Can I come in?"

"Do whatever you want," the blonde vampire's voice muffled from the other side. Hayley walked into the room to see Caroline seated on the bed and before the pregnant werewolf could say anything, Caroline said, "I feel so useless. I want to help Klaus, but they're not letting me."

"I know you may not like me very much, Caroline, but can I be honest with you?" Hayley asked but didn't wait for a response. "You're far from useless. I mean, you, me, Sage and Rebekah? We get to bond while the guys – our handsome guys – are out there protecting the city."

Caroline nodded. "I guess that is a plus." She sighed. "I'm sorry I reacted badly when I found out what happened between you and Klaus."

"It's okay, really," she replied. "You felt like I was taking your place in Klaus' heart. But, as he told you, we were drunk that night and one thing led to another."

Caroline went to speak when she was interrupted by Sage knocking on the door. "Is all okay or do I need to duck back into the other room?" she asked in a gentle tone.

Caroline looked at Hayley and then went to answer the door, meeting the redhead's eyes. "No, it's okay. I guess you heard what went on downstairs?"

"Yeah, I did," Sage said. "What got Niklaus so upset?"

"Rebekah told him that she met someone last night," Caroline said. "And Klaus being Klaus, he flew into a rage. I wanted to talk to him, try to get him to calm down, but he just sped out of here, and Elijah and Finn told me that he'd open up more to his siblings than to me."

"I'm going to skip the 'I told you so' part, and say that whenever Finn had been a human, he was known as the wise one among his siblings, Caroline," Sage told her. "If anyone can talk to Niklaus, it will be his brothers."

Caroline nodded and before she could reply, she sensed more people and saw Sofia standing there, along with Katherine and Stefan, dressed only in robes, indicating that they had been very busy. Katherine spoke up after a few minutes. "We heard shouting downstairs. Am I wrong in guessing it was Klaus?"

"Why does Uncle Niklaus have to be so rude to Aunt Rebekah?" Sofia asked.

Katherine looked at her daughter. "He's got a jealous streak. He thinks that no one is good enough for his sister."

"That doesn't give him the right to be rude," Sofia said. "All Aunt Rebekah wants is to have some happiness in her life. Is that too much to ask?"

Meanwhile…

Finn and Elijah found their brother feeding on someone and exchanged glances as if to say 'should we help him or not'. They got their answer when Klaus moved on to someone else. "Niklaus, this isn't you," Finn attempted to say.

Klaus only growled at him. Elijah didn't like the looks of this at all. He especially didn't like the way Klaus had growled at Finn. "Niklaus, please, you're not acting rationally. I know that you're not happy that Rebekah told you about that young man she met, but this is no way to respond to it."

After Klaus was done feeding, he growled again then spat out in a hate-filled tone, "You two are pathetic, trying to tell me about MY emotions! I'm in control of them!"

"Not from where we're standing, you're not," Elijah said. "Niklaus, why can't you accept the fact that Rebekah doesn't want to be coddled? She needs to be free to be find happiness in her life. She hasn't had that in centuries. This Raphael Ashby sounds like a good match for her."

"If I agreed to meet this chum, will the two of you agree to let me be alone for a few hours?"

Elijah and Finn looked at each other before looking at Klaus again, after which Finn said, "Only if you agree to control yourself when you meet him."

"Fine," Klaus said in a low growl.

Elijah nodded when they got their reply. "Well, Finnegan, we've accomplished what we came to do. Why don't we let him have his privacy?"

"I'm already ahead of you, brother," Finn said with a smirk before he blurs off back to the mansion, where he found Sage with Caroline, Hayley and Rebekah.

Caroline saw Finn and immediately spoke before Sage could. "Did you find him? Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Miss Forbes," he replied. "He just needs some time to himself." He saw the look on her face. "I know you're worried about him, but I can assure you that he's going to be all right."

She nodded, not really convinced. Sage placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Finn is right. If anyone can take care of himself, it's Niklaus. You may not understand it now, but it is true," she told the blonde with a smile that matched the patting of her fingers.

Rebekah listened to this and a guilty look appeared on her face. "This is my fault. If I hadn't told him about Raphael, he wouldn't be attacking those humans right now."

"No, Bekah, this isn't your fault," Sage said. "He would've found out eventually, so it's a good thing you told him." She got an idea. "Say, why don't you invite Raphael here? That way, we can all meet him."

"Okay. I'm going to go look for him," Rebekah said, grinning before she blurs out of the family's mansion to go find the hybrid.

Raphael happened to be wandering around the Quarter when Rebekah spotted him, smiling at him as she approached him. He turned to her when she was finally in front of him. "Hello again," he said, smiling at her in response.

Rebekah smiled as well. "Hello. I was wondering if you were free this evening."

"I think I might be," he replied. "Why?"

"My family would like to meet you."

"Your family, huh?" he asked. "Or is it just your brothers?"

"My brothers, but their significant others are curious too," Rebekah replied.

Raphael thought about what Rebekah said and after a moment, he smiled at her and said, "Very well, Rebekah, I'd be honored to meet your brothers and their significant others."

Rebekah smiled and kissed him. "Thank you, Raphael!"

Raphael was thrown off-guard by her sudden action but returned it in a gentle manner, wrapping one of his hands into her blonde curls. After a few minutes, Raphael stepped back and looked into her eyes. "I've wanted to do that since I met you, but I wasn't sure if…"

Rebekah smiled. "You weren't sure if you should make the first move?"

"Yeah," he replied honestly.

"Well, I'm glad you did," Rebekah said.

Raphael smiled. "I'm glad too." He kissed her softly. "What about the territorial brother you mentioned?"

"He's agreed to be on his best behavior when you meet him," Rebekah said, returning the kiss. "My older brothers were able to convince him."

"Oh? Well then, count me in," Raphael said, his lips moving from hers up to her forehead.

Rebekah smiled as she felt his lips on her forehead. "Good. I knew you'd agree."

"For you, sweet Rebekah, I would do anything, within reason, of course."

"Oh, I knew what you meant, Raphael," she said with a slight giggle.

Raphael smiled. "I'm ready to go if you are."

"Sure," she replied. "Why wait when we can get this over and done with now?"

Back at the Mansion…
Finn snags his fiancé around the waist and blurs them into their room, where he pushes her gently up against the door, capturing her lips with his in a soft, passionate kiss. Sage moaned against his lips as she returned his kiss. "I love you, Finn, so very much."

"And I love you, my beautiful Irish Rose," he murmured huskily against the skin of her cheek as he ventured away from her lips, down into her neck.

Sage let out a moan as she felt his lips on her neck. "Finn, please…don't teas me. You know I don't like that."

"Don't worry, Irish Rose, I have no intention of teasing you. You will be given everything I have to offer."

As she unfastened the buttons of his shirt, she asked, "And what if I just wanted you?"

"Then you shall have me," he replied, sweeping her into his arms and blurring them over to the bed.

Sage giggled as she removed Finn's clothing. Once they were completely naked, she latched herself onto his throbbing member, rocking against him and sinking her fangs into his neck, drinking his blood.

Finn growled and mimicked her, sinking his fangs into her shoulder. Sage panted as she let go of his neck, his blood staining her lips. "Oh God, Finn, I love you!"

Finn let go of her shoulder. "I love you too, Sage, always and forever."

Their lovemaking session continued on, while downstairs, Elijah cradled Hayley close as she slept peacefully. One hand reached up to brush some of her dark hair out of her face, and this caused her to stir. "Elijah? I thought you were still out looking for Klaus?" she mumbled sleepily.

"Finn and I returned after talking some sense into Niklaus," he replied softly.

Hayley nodded. "Caroline felt useless, like you weren't allowing her to help him. I tried to tell her it wasn't true, but she didn't seem convinced."

Elijah smiled. "I'm glad that you convinced her."

Hayley nodded. "She definitely loves Klaus, Elijah. I saw it in her eyes and heard it in her voice."

"And Niklaus feels the same about her. Caroline makes him happy, happier than he's been in centuries."

"Will you tell me what growing up was like for you, Klaus, Rebekah and Finn?" Hayley asked.

Elijah kissed her forehead. "Are you sure you want to hear it? It's not exactly a pretty story."

"I am a bit curious," she replied. "Plus, Hope will want to know about the Mikaelson side of the family."

Author's Note: The next chapter will begin when Rebekah & Kol are little , Finn & Elijah are teenagers and Klaus is a little boy not much younger than Elijah. Happy reading!