A/N: Thanks to all the following reviewers: xenocanaan, winxgirl1994, KAYKAY22PRINCESS, mrstomdaley1996, Rue Dawn, Guest, Carla Mikaelson, lolsmileyface6, Katherine Sparrow, Atlafan1286, HeavenlyKitten, smilin steph, Bronzelove, JamieAnnieCarter, malindakj, ddluzelle, Guest, vanessaainsley, Ileana.

So... Unsure what to say in this author's note so I'm not gonna waste anymore time... Enjoy!

Poison & Wine - Chapter XLIV

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"Hello, love,"

It was Earth shattering for me as those words passed from those plump lips I thought I'd never see again. After those words were left hanging, all I could hear in my ears was the loud beating of my heart... And suddenly everything clicked into place for me at that moment. It was obvious that reason why Tyler was alive was the thing Elijah was lying to me about.

Klaus was here. Klaus was alive. And everyone lied to me about it. Including Elijah.

A sob escaped my mouth as I stared at him. He was still 5'11 with that curled light-brown hair and light blue eyes that contrasted with his pearl-white skin. The well-built body. That delicate and yet masculine face. It was him, there was no way this wasn't. It was all real, but how?

I walked over to him, and by that smirk on his face I assumed he thought I would embrace him but I punched him instead. He slightly stumbled and looked at me with shock. "Andy," I loved hearing his voice again, and it brought tears to my eyes, but it made also me angrier.

"I mourned you!" I cried out. "I was cutting myself off from my family and friends because I was convinced they caused your death!"

"Well, they did," He slightly shrugged and I slapped him this time instead of punching him.

I let another sob escape me. "How could you leave me like that, Klaus? How could you let me break even further?"

"I'm alive, aren't I? Isn't that enough?" He looked over to his brother. "Besides, you seemed pretty happy with Elijah."

"I was never happy!" I exclaimed. "I was in pain because I experienced everything you did and because I care for you!"

"Do you?" He looked back at me with venomous eyes. "I thought you gave Elijah quite a kiss."

I was dumbfounded for a moment. "I-I wanted to make sure I got to kiss him in case Damon got him. They still have the indestructible white oak stake."

"You did the same for me, love!" He laughed without any humor. "We all know it's because all your fondness for my brother has not gone,"

"Of course not! I mean, of course I'm fond of him, but not like that anymore―"

"See, I've learned not to trust you so freely, Andy," Klaus leaned down to where we were eye level. "You knew of the indestructible white oak stake, but made no mention of it when we were lying in bed together."

I was speechless as I stared at him with slight irritation. Did he really just make it sound like we had sex? Thankfully, before I could hit him again or say something I'd regret, Elijah decided to step in. "Niklaus, you're being irrational,"

"She's the one who caused my almost death, Elijah, I'm just giving credit where it's due,"

I covered my face and just let out all of the sobs before speaking again. Why was he blaming this on me? I had no part in it! "This can't be happening," I whimpered as I felt a pain in my chest.

"Too bad Emmeline couldn't be here for the reunion,"

I froze up and slowly looked up at him with complete and utter horror. "You didn't," I managed out. He just smirked at me instead of a response. Why was he doing this? Why was he being so cruel to me? Why was I letting him? "I-I can't breathe," I gasped out before running out of the house. I fell to the ground on my kneels once I got off the stairs. I put my hand over my heart to feel it beating uncommonly fast.

I fell onto the ground and started seizing up.

~ * • * • * • * ~

I slowly came back to the world of consciousness. Blinking my eyes open I saw I was in a hospital room.

Everything from last night came rushing back to me. Klaus was alive. Elijah had lied to me about it. Everyone else had lied to me about it, too. Klaus was a douche to me. What was I going to do?

I groaned as I tried sitting up. Everything in me was aching and my head was hurting. Meredith entered the room. "You're up,"

"What's going on?" I croaked out.

"You had a mild seizure," She explained as she checked something on the machine that was hooked to me. "I looked at your medical records. You haven't had a seizure in over a year."

"Yeah, I always used to get them," I murmured. "They started when I was on drugs and alcohol."

"You need to avoid stressful situations, Andy," She said as she turned to me. "Also, you need to sleep more. Elijah said you hadn't slept at all in a few days. Sleep deprivation is the second most popular cause for a seizure."

I looked away from her. "If I don't sleep, I can't dream. If I can't dream, there's no nightmares." I whispered to myself more than her.

She was quiet for a moment. "Klaus brought you in to make sure you were okay."

"K-Klaus?" Why did he care? He was a jerk to me, but still cares about my well-being? Wait, what was I thinking right now? Of course Klaus cares.

"Yes, he left, but his brother's actually waiting outside for you,"

"I'm not ready to see him, not yet," I said quickly before I closed my eyes and pictured Klaus' cold eyes as he insinuated that he killed Emmeline.

"You can leave whenever, but only because I'd rather not face Elijah's wrath," She said, then added, "I was told not to contact Jeremy or Elena." I opened my eyes as she started to leave. Elijah must have told her that...

"Hey Meredith?" I called after her.

"Yes?"

"Send Elijah in," I said with a small sigh. She gave me a nod before leaving the room. I was only alone for a short moment before Elijah was standing in the doorway.

We just sat in the silence for a long while, and I couldn't look at him and instead focused on the window. I was angry at him for allowing me to hurt like I did. It hurt to think about it because I had just started to trust him again. I honestly didn't know what hurt worse: Elijah lying to me about Klaus or Klaus not coming to me himself.

"Why was he so cruel?" I whispered almost to myself.

Elijah took a few steps forward. "He was hurt that you weren't happy to see him,"

Tears slipped down my cheeks. "I-I was, but I am hurt he didn't come to see me,"

"Niklaus did it so the Salvatores wouldn't conspire to kill him,"

That made the anger lessen, but I was still hurt. "He thought I'd tell them?"

"It was a precaution just in case, Andrea,"

"That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt," I whispered as I shut my eyes. All I could see was Klaus. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was trying to protect my brother,"

I felt more tears slide down my face, knowing I couldn't be angry with that argument. "Where did he go?"

"He left town,"

I felt a lump form in my throat. I just got him back to loose him again and all because I was angry and hurt which caused me to act out before I heard what he had to say. "Why didn't you go?" I asked after I found my voice again.

"I have you my word that I would be by your side until you told me to leave, Andrea,"

I remained silent for a good minute before I bursted into sobs. Through my tears I managed out, "Don't act like that, Elijah, it'll make it hurt even more,"

He walked over and pulled me into his arms. "I won't leave you anytime soon, Annie. I would be stupid to abandon you again,"

"I'd be stupid to allow you to," I whimpered into his chest. I started crying at a realization that I would someday loose Elijah, it was inevitable. I might not have lost Klaus to death, but I still did loose him in the end. The universe did not want me to be happy.

As I thought that, the more I believed it to be true. I mean, I lost Tyler to Vicki and I lost Damon to Elena, though I didn't really loose Klaus to a woman unless he was still in love with Anastasia, but I didn't know anymore. Mulling this over, I started thinking that maybe it wasn't the universe sabotaging me. Maybe there was something wrong with me. I was insufficient to the male species. Was I doomed to die alone? It would be easier than to get hurt over and over again.

A knot formed in my stomach as I begun to think Elijah was just saying this or that Damon was going to come waltzing in and stake him. Finding my voice, I spoke but it was very slow and quiet. "Will you take me home?"

He was stroking my hair and his other hand rested on my back, his thumb making circles. Funny, Klaus did that same thing. No, Andy, don't think about him or you'll start crying again, I firmly told myself.

Elijah interrupted my thoughts. "Rebekah was holding an anti-curfew party and wanted us to attend, but I told her that you're not in good health," An anti-curfew party? They must have issued the curfew after Tyler was shot by that hunter.

I shook my head slowly. "No, wait, I want to go. I think it'll be good to go to so I'll feel better."

"Andrea, you just had a seizure,"

"A mild seizure," I wiped my cheeks off and slid myself off of the hospital bed. I turned to Elijah, and noticed we were standing incredibly close. Touching his cheeks with my fingertips, I continued talking. "I need this, Eli. I need to feel good again. If Klaus is really never going to come back to me... then maybe it's time to move on."

"And you believe being around me will do that?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we've got chemistry. You're my rock/partner in crime," I said, my hand still on his face.

"I'm not Klaus or his replacement, Andrea, and I'm not going to be around if that's not helping you from moving on," He said and I immediately dropped my hand from his cheek and looked straight into his eyes.

"Elijah, I-" I took a deep breath. "-am not ready for a relationship like that, if that's what you mean. I can't have any romantic relationships on the side when my feelings are this construed. I repeat: I am not ready for a romantic relationship, which means I know you're not a Klaus replacement. In some way, Klaus was your replacement." I said before grabbing my clothes that someone had brought from home - which were now dark blue jeans, some underwear, a red tank top with thick straps and a pair of socks and my Nike shoes - and going into the bathroom to change.

I know it was bad to say it - even worse hearing myself say it - but Klaus was, in some sense, my replacement for Elijah. He was entirely different from Elijah, but that was what drew me to him, I think. I don't think I would've been able to be around him if he was. My feelings for them both were so screwed up. Elijah was difficult because I had been involved with him previously, but then I was involved with Klaus. I wasn't sure what I felt for Klaus, but loosing him made me realize it was something strong.

Ugh, it was so complicated. Why did I have to care for them both? I mean, I still didn't know if I would have ever wanted something romantic with Klaus, but I also never got the chance to decide that. All because I was angry he didn't let me know he was alive.

I hated myself for that so much. I hated myself so much for not hugging him and telling him that he was never leaving my sight again. That would have been a perfect world though, not this one. I also hated myself for knowing what I would have to do later, but I wasn't going to think about that right now.

After I got dressed, I went out to find Elijah was still waiting for me. We silently headed out of the hospital, but once we got into his car I was determined to convince him to take me to Rebekah's party. "Elijah, please," I implored him. "I don't want to go home right now. I will jump out of a moving car and break some of my ribs if you'll just do this for me!" I gave him the puppy dog look. "Pwease?" I said in a childish voice.

With a smile he started up the car. "We will go for a while, but only to see Rebekah,"

"Thank you!" I beamed over at him. "You're the best, you know that, right?"

"I do,"

I laughed lightly and turned towards the window. All I could picture was Klaus in the place of Elijah right now, wondering what our interaction would be like. No, stop thinking like that, Andy. Be happy that it's Elijah and not Klaus, I told myself as I shook my head.

Our conversation was light as we headed over to Rebekah's house. Elijah informed me that Rebekah had moved out from Klaus's place when she found out that she was alive. I also found out that Klaus saved Caroline over her when the council had attacked them, another reason she was angry at her brother. I understood where she was coming from.

When we arrived, there were kids outside, drinking from a keg and having a good time. Elijah let me balance on him as we made our way to the entrance of the house. As we got to the door, we bumped into Elena and Stefan. "Andy, hey," Elena smiled at me.

"Elena, Stefan," I blankly said.

"I'm surprised you're still in town, Elijah," Stefan said.

Elijah wrapped his arm around my waist tight. "My family and Andy are here. As soon as Andy no longer needs me, I will leave."

I looked down at the ground, a nauseous feeling washing over me as I thought of Elijah leaving. Also, it troubled me how he worded that. Like he didn't want to be here, but I was forcing him to.

"You don't look so good," Stefan commented to me, then his eyes moved to my hospital bracelet.

It caught Elena's attention, too. "Is that―?"

I grabbed Elijah's hand and pulled him through the doorway of the house. We quickly walked through the house until we saw Rebekah. "Beka!" I said before I could stop myself. She turned towards me with a smile and we embraced. "It's good to see you again," I pulled back from our hug.

"You look good to just have had a seizure," She looked me up and down at me.

"Well, I'm awesome like that... plus it was only a mild seizure," I snorted and chuckled. Elijah walked up to us. "I think your brother overreacted in taking me to the hospital, though. I would've been fine."

"I believe he did just as he should have," Elijah defended.

I rolled my eyes. "Right,"

Elijah turned towards me. "I have to go take care of something, Andy. Will you be okay here for a while?"

Disappointment flooded me, but I didn't show it. "Yeah, I'll be good,"

He looked over at Rebekah. "Do not allow her even one sip of alcohol, Rebekah,"

"Fine," Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Run along now, we've got some things to discuss that are not for your ears." Elijah kissed the top of my head and squeezed my hand before walking away. "Are you sleeping with him?"

"No, we're... it's platonic," I exhaled as I watched him disappear from sight. "But it's complicated."

"What about with Klaus?"

I tensed up. "Klaus left because he wasn't man enough to stick around to face me after that seizure,"

"Elijah said that you were angry with him,"

"I am," I admitted. "But most of it's because I don't know if I can trust him again. I mean, I was so distraught over Tyler and Klaus's supposed death, and he didn't say a word about them being alive. I wanted to die, Rebekah, it was that bad."

"Klaus will return for you, Andy, that I can assure you of," Rebekah started to walk away so I followed. "He is too fond of you to leave you in the dust for very long. To be honest, it's actually quite sickening the way he speaks of you and looks at you." I bit my bottom lip and didn't respond to that.

We walked into the kitchen of this house - which was pretty nice, but not as amazing as Klaus's - to see Elena and April standing there. April was talking. " . . . calling it an accident but the shooting at the church it just feels like... "

Rebekah stepped into it. "Like something wicked this way comes. I know, right? It's like this town's cursed or something," She looked over at Elena pointedly.

Elena, clearly angry by her expression when Rebekah walked in, looked over at April. "Hey, April, why don't you go look around the house and I'll find you in a little bit?"

"Okay," April left the kitchen.

"Wow, you didn't even have to compel her!" I snarled over at Elena.

Elena looked at me with a sigh. "Andy―"

Rebekah interrupted her as she moved in front of her. "Did I forget to uninvite you?"

"Did you blow up her dad's house to get revenge on the Council?" Elena asked her.

"I don't give a damn about some dodgy, middle aged Council. You come into my house throwing around false accusations and then you have the nerve to drink my beer?" Rebekah questioned, taking the cup of beer from Elena's hand. Rebekah smirked as she takes a sip of the beer.

I heard a sizzling noise and looked down at Elena's hand to see that the sun is burning her. Her daylight ring is missing. "My ring!" Elena gasped while Rebekah smiled. Elena super sped into a dark corner of the room. Rebekah held up Elena's daylight ring.

"Rebekah... " I stepped towards her but she ignored me.

"Give it back!" Elena demanded.

"Get it yourself," I watched as Rebekah threw the ring down the drain of the sink.

"No!" Elena cried, moving out of the dark but is yet again burned by the sun. Rebekah turned on the garbage disposal and walked out of the room.

"I'll get Stefan," I said to my sister before hurrying out of the room. It was easy to find Stefan talking to a group of guys. "Stefan, Elena's in the kitchen," I said to him, trying to not sound worried in front of those guys who were raking their eyes over my body. "She's looking for you."

He nodded and walked off. One guy put his arm around me. "I think you're what I'm looking for," He said in my ear.

"Not even in your dreams, sweetheart," I pushed him away from me and saw Rebekah walking outside so I headed out there.

"I was wondering where you went," She said as I got over to her.

I smacked her, which caught some attention by people around us. "Can't you just leave Elena alone?" I demanded. Rebekah, clearly angry, started to say something snappy but I cut her off. "They shouldn't matter to you, Beka! Yes, maybe they have hurt your family, but if you don't give them attention then they won't give you any, so if that's why you mess with them - for attention - that's pretty low of you," I sighed and ran a had through my curls. "I am your friend, Rebekah, but if you don't stop acting childish and treating the people I love like crap, you're not going to have a friend anymore." I walked away from her, down the stairs. A couple of guys made comments to me but I ignored them. I got away from the party and started walking home.

Normally, I would've called Alaric, but he was no longer an option. My second choice would've been Tyler or Damon, but I wasn't ready to see either of them yet, so they were crossed out. I would call Klaus, but he's on his way to Chicago and I'm angry with him anyways. My only options were really Jeremy and Matt because I was angry with everyone else.

But I didn't want to call anyone, so I decided to walk home with my beaten up self, even though it would take quite a while. It was a good bit of time which I figured out what I was going to do with Elijah, though.

I didn't know if I wanted to keep him here with me... I mean, I do want him here with me, but I don't want him to feel obligated to stay here. I don't want him to resent me for having him in this town that's full of these bad memories for him.

By the time I got home it was getting dark, and Elijah was waiting on the porch. "I would have picked you up if I had known you were walking," He said as I made it up the few steps.

I kept my eyes on the porch. "We need to talk,"

"What is it, Andy?"

I folded my arms and closed my eyes. "I'm releasing you from your oath or whatever you want to call it,"

"What?"

"You can leave town, I don't want you here anymore," I cracked open my eyes and turned towards my house, but he grabbed my wrist.

"Andy, wait, talk to me," He pleaded.

"I don't want to talk, Elijah, don't make this any harder for me," I refused to look back at him. "We both know that you don't want to be here in this stupid town."

"No, but I want to be with you," He turned me towards him and pulled me against him. He leaned down and kissed me quite passionately, and our mouths moved along the other's perfectly. To be honest, I think this was the best kiss I'd ever been given.

But, I'd made my decision. "No, Elijah, please," I tried backing away from him, but he wouldn't let me out of his grasp.

"Don't let me go," He whispered, and it shattered my heart completely. It sounded so desperate and vulnerable.

"I have to," I whispered, placing a soft kiss on his forehead. Tears threatened to pour from my eyes. "I'm so sorry, Elijah." I separated my body from his and ran inside, collapsing on the ground as soon as I closed the door behind me. When I looked out the window again, he was gone.

Tearless sobs immediately left me.

"Andy?" I heard Damon question from the kitchen. I couldn't answer or even will myself to move. Tearless sobs were the only thing I could produce. He was in front of me in a second. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

I hid my face and curled up in a ball. He sighed and pulled me towards him, but I leaned away. He was forceful, though, and wrapped his arms around me. I eventually welcomed it and sunk into his embrace. I noticed Elena watching us, but ignored her as I buried my head in his neck.

I can't believe I just let Elijah go like that.

~ * • ° • ° • * ~

The End of Chapter XLIV

You Elijah fans, please don't hate me! Same for those Klaus fans! It will get better with both of those relationships!

~ The Onceler's Unless