A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers/followers! All of you are deeply appreciated! Without you all, this story probably wouldn't have made it as far as it has!

So... some more Elijah and Andy in this chapter! This is where it's going to shift and start to show who's Andy leaning towards... The final decision won't be for quite a few chapters, but I hope you guys will stick with the story even if she doesn't end up with who you wanted her to!

Poison & Wine - Chapter LI

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It was the following morning, and I was sitting across from Elena who was cleaning Matt's neck wounds where a vampire had gotten him. Jeremy had just returned from checking around the house for vampires and Elijah was standing off to the side with closed lips.

After he had saved me, Elijah immediately brought me to the lake house where Elena, Jeremy and Matt were waiting. We explained to Elijah what was going on and he hadn't spoken even a syllable which made me nervous. I was unsure how to act around him after our last conversation.

"Sun's up. They're long gone," Jeremy said as he sat a gun down.

Damon entered, and Elena immediately went crazy. "What the hell were you thinking?" She stood up. "All I asked you to do was to teach him how to fight."

"He's not the best student in the world," Damon said accusingly.

"Wait. Now this is Jeremy's fault?" I stood from my seat.

"Stop talking," Damon ordered me and I scowled at him. "Look, I know you're angry, but my way was the easiest, fastest, and safest way to complete his mark to get you the cure."

"I don't care about the cure, Damon. Not if it means putting the people that I love in danger," Elena folded her arms as Damon stopped in front of her.

"Hey, there would have been no danger if he hadn't gone all bleeding heart,"

"He killed someone. Those were innocent people!" I fussed.

Damon looked over at me with irritation. "The mark grew, didn't it?"

Elena sighed, obviously giving up at trying to argue with him. "Okay. Look. We need a plan. There's a group of compelled vampires out there, and as soon as the sun goes down, they're gonna come after Matt, so we have to find a way to protect him,"

"Yes, I know," Damon said as he walked over to Jeremy and slung his arm around his shoulder. "But there will be no problem when big Jer and I here go on a hunting expedition."

"Are you kidding me?! Jeremy's not going anywhere with your sorry ass!" I shouted as I marched over and shoved him away from my little brother. "You're lucky I'm not pounding you to a pulp this very second!"

Damon looked to his siree for backup. "Elena, I know, it's tragic. I get it. But we also agree that he had to kill them. Now, we have added incentive. So you take the least most valuable player home; Jeremy and I will finish this."

Elena looked shocked. "I'm sorry? Are saying I should leave him here with you?" Thank God she had some sense!

"Trust me. I will keep him safe. Okay?" Damon nodded encouragingly at her and she looked at him warily before nodding her head 'yes.'

"No!" I spat. "You're not taking him anywhere, you―"

"Elijah," Damon looked over at him, his irritation still evident. "Can you please get this psycho out of here?"

I lunged at him then, all my resolve breaking. I got my hands wrapped around his neck before I was yanked back and pulled outside. I screamed in protest as the person dragged me from the house to the dock. "Ugh!" I growled as soon as we stopped moving. When I spun around to punch Matt, I was surprised when my fist was caught by Elijah instead.

"Andrea, calm down," He commanded with a hard stare.

"How am I supposed to calm down, Elijah?! He's leading my brother into certain death! That may be acceptable to you, but to me, it's not!" I screamed in his face and even attempted to shove him away from me. After a long moment of me glaring at him, I calmed down and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Jeremy's my world, Elijah. He's my little brother. If I loose him, then there's no point to any of this."

I heard Elijah exhale. "Andrea, everything's going to be okay. Jeremy will be fine and so will you. What is going on with you? You're unraveling and you're not acting like the strong brunette I met."

I moved my hands away from my face. "Klaus killed Carol Lockwood,"

He stared at me for a moment. "I'm sorry,"

I looked out at the water. "This cure... I know it's no good. I can feel that it's not... It's just that I'm scared of everything right now, Eli. You, Klaus, my family, it's all slipping away from me."

"Are you fighting for it?"

My head snapped over to him. "Excuse me?"

"I asked if you were fighting for it," He took a step towards me. "Because, ever since Niklaus was thought dead for that brief time, you haven't been the same girl that I remember, the girl who hated the Original Hybrid. The girl who wasn't a damsel in distress. The girl who looked at me like I was the only one on this Earth. You keep changing your mind every second; you want me around but you don't. I'm beginning to get irritated, Andrea."

I looked back at up the house with a scowl. "I was fighting in there, Elijah, I just don't have the strength that I used to. My body feels like it's rusting."

Elijah placed a hand on my arm. "I apologize, I shouldn't have snapped like that, but you know I'm right,"

"You are," I acknowledged after a moment with a small nod. "Can we just go back up? I seriously don't agree with what's going on in there. I need to make sure they don't do something stupid like send Jeremy off with Damon."

And guess what they did? They sent Jeremy off with Damon.

Angry, I started to go after them, but Elijah intervened and said that he would go and that I should stay with Elena and Matt. So I did.

Currently, Elena, Matt and I walked into my old home. Honestly, I didn't feel like I actually had a home right now since I had began to consider home with Klaus...

"I'm so sorry," Elena began, breaking my train of thought, as we entered the house. "Listen. When I asked you to stay with Jeremy, I never thought―"

"What did you expect, Elena? It's Damon," Matt scowled as we entered the kitchen."

"I never wanted anyone to get hurt,"

"Well, then you shouldn't have left him in charge. Look. I'm sorry. I know you didn't have a choice. Sire bond and all," Matt said and I zoned out of the rest of their conversation. It wasn't until I heard Elena's cell phone ringing that I was broken out of my thoughts again.

"Jeremy?" She answered, turning her back to us. "Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. Where's Damon?"

There was a long pause between all of us before Elena said good-bye and turned to me. "Kol attacked them. Jeremy barely got away, but Kol got Damon."

"Kol's undaggered?" I asked with shock. I hadn't even felt that he was back... I needed to find him and apologize for getting him daggered.

"Yes, but we have to go to Klaus to get him to call Kol off," Elena bit her bottom lip.

"We could get Elijah to,"

"Call him, see if he will,"

I did but he didn't answer, which was odd considering he had gone after Damon and Jeremy, but we couldn't wait around, so Klaus' mansion was where we went. Knocking on the front door with Elena by my side made me feel sick. I shouldn't be here, I should have just let her come by herself. I didn't think I was honestly ready to see Klaus again.

When Klaus opened the door and saw me, his face was at first hopeful. He looked at me like I was the best thing he had ever seen, then he saw Elena by my side and his face fell.

"What brings the Petrova doppelgängers to my doorstep?" He asked as he allowed us room to enter.

"Kol-" Elena started as she moved into the mansion. "-needs to be handled."

I stared at Klaus a second before reluctantly following behind Elena. I was very aware of Klaus behind me as he directed us into the parlor and told us both to sit down on the couch. We both hesitatingly did. Klaus began speaking as he fixed himself a drink, "A bit ironic, you coming to me for help. Weren't your friends just trying to bury me in a cement tomb?"

"This is your fault. You started this when you forced Jeremy to kill those vampires," Elena snapped.

Klaus sat down across from me, taking a small sip of whatever alcoholic beverage he was drinking. "And now my little brat of a brother has gone and made things worse. Well, he never did like Damon. I suppose I should do something, shouldn't I?"

"Call him off, Klaus," I said with an irritated look.

Klaus pointed at me with one finger. "You are in no position to make demands, love. Whilst I'd like to cure your sister to make more hybrids, I do have other reasons for finding the cure, not the least of which is destroying it so you lot can't use it against me,"

"You know I would never," I pointed out in a bitter tone.

"I know, but they would," Klaus looked over at Elena with a glare.

"Whatever our differences, we want the same thing," Elena begged and he looked unconvinced so Elena looked over at me, giving me a look to try.

I felt horrible doing this, using Klaus' feelings for me to get what I want. "Please. Klaus, I'm begging you,"

Klaus smiled small at me then rolled his eyes as he got out his cell phone. He stares straight at me, the look in his eyes unwavering. "Little brother. Just two days undaggered, and I'm told you've already gone and made a mess," There was a pause as Kol spoke, but Klaus' smile fell into a frown. "Those vampires were for my hunter." He said bitterly.

I distantly heard Kol's voice. "I'll make some more. There's no shortage of people,"

"Where's Damon Salvatore? ...Yes. Well, you've had your fun. Now let him go and come home. Avoid any more trouble, or you'll find yourself back in a box." I couldn't hear Kol's voice anymore, but Klaus continued the conversation.

"On the contrary, I find nastiness to be essential whenever my siblings try to sabotage me," Klaus stood and turned his back to us as he spoke in a low tone to his little brother. "Listen closely, Kol. Stay away from the Gilbert boy. You understand?"

There was a pause and I jumped up. "Wait, let me speak to him, Klaus," Klaus turned back to face me and handed me the phone, I tensed up at how close we were at that moment but I couldn't think about that right now. I placed it to my ear and walked a few steps away from them. "Kol?"

"Andy, love!" Kol's voice cheerfully greeted me. "I hate we haven't been able to spend much time with one another lately."

"I know, Kol, we have to get together," I exhaled. "I'm going to ask you something, something you might not want to do."

"Oh, sweetheart, don't underestimate yourself. Any man would be lucky to,"

I snorted. "Not me, you pervert. I need you to give me your word that you won't hurt my brother,"

"Oh, Andy, you sound so mature... What happened?"

I couldn't help but smile. "If you give me your word I will owe you one,"

"Andy..." Elena said with warning. "I don't think that's a―"

"Deal," Kol said before Elena could finish. "I'll talk to you later, love. Don't miss me too much." The dial tone played and, with a sigh, I turned back to them.

"It's a start." I tossed Klaus' phone back to him.

Klaus looked over at Elena. "Give a moment will you, love?"

Elena looked at me with uncertainty. I slowly nodded to her. "I-It's fine, 'Lena, go warm up the car." She reluctantly left the room. With a frown I looked over at Klaus, "Yes?" I asked.

"Why did you come to me, Andy?" He asked, taking a step towards me.

I took a step back. "For your help with Kol,"

"But you managed to convince Kol to give you his word, even if you did make a horrible deal with him, so why did you need me?" He smiled at me as he approached. "You wanted to see me, didn't you?"

I took steps back as he moved closer and closer. "Klaus, stop," I said in a firm tone, trying to persuade him to move away.

But it didn't work. "Why? You obviously didn't come here just for that,"

I started going into hysterics, remembering the night he came to me and gloated about killing Carol, how he advanced on me like prey... "Klaus, get away!" I yelped, my back hitting against the wall. "Please, don't hurt me..." I begged, my eyes watering.

The look on his face broke my heart. I saw how much it hurt him to see that I had just reacted in that way, but I couldn't help it. I was so afraid of him. "Andy..." He seemed to finally register the fear he had placed in me.

The tears spilled over, quickly rushing down my face. "I should go," I whispered before I ran out of the room.

Elena and I headed into our house after leaving Klaus' to find Jeremy with a table of weapons in front of him. "Jeremy, it's over. You can put all this away," Elena said as we walked over to him.

Jeremy clicked a magazine into a gun. "Klaus still wants me to finish the mark. He's not gonna stop no matter what Andy tells him to,"

"Okay... Well, Damon's gonna be back soon and then we can figure something out,"

Jeremy and I both looked at her in shock. "Seriously? You still trust Damon?" I asked. "After everything that happened?"

"He saved Jeremy's life," Elena pointed out.

Jeremy scoffed, "He saved the map to the cure. He couldn't care less about me,"

"I care about you,"

She put her hand on Jeremy's shoulder but he immediately swatted it away. "Don't. Whatever's inside of me that makes me want to hunt, right now it's on overdrive." He said.

Elena looked down and with slight anxiety said, "Jeremy,"

I looked down at his hand and saw he had a wooden stake in his hand. Startled, he quickly dropped it. "I'm sorry. I know what I have to do, Elena. I really want to get that cure for you, but... I just - I don't know how I'm gonna do this,"

Elena nodded at him understandingly and I pushed in between them. "Then don't do this, Jer, don't put yourself through this hell. Give up that cure, you don't need to risk your life for Elena's anymore... Please, Jeremy, for me."

He shook his head. "I can't do that, Andy. Elena needs it,"

"I think she needs a brother more,"

Elena stared at me for a moment before speaking, "Jeremy, maybe she's―"

"Don't, Elena," He interrupted her with a sharp look before he looked back at me. "I'm doing this for all of us. I'm doing this because Elena needs it. If you don't agree with us than maybe you should join the anti-Silas team otherwise known as Kol."

"You know what? I will!" I growled and started heading for the door. "But when something bad happens to one of you, don't come crying to me!" I slammed the door behind me and saw Elijah standing at the bottom of the stairs. With a frown I walked over to him. "I'm on Team Kol now because my family is convinced this cure is good."

Elijah gave me an unreadable look. "Andrea, the cure could be good,"

"Yeah, but it could also be bad. That's a chance I'm not willing to make," I folded my arms, at this point not even caring at his mysterious disappearance. "I need to find Kol. Do you know where he is?"

When we walked into the parlor of the Klaus' mansion, Rebekah had a white oak ash dagger pointed at Kol's back. They were facing away from us and didn't notice our silent entry. Kol actually looked genuinely afraid. "You'd really dagger me?" He asked.

Rebekah responded with, "If I do, Damon's compulsion ends and this is all over," Damon's compulsion? What did that mean?

"And then you're no better than Niklaus," Elijah said from my side, alerting them of our presence. "Daggering siblings when you disagree with them - Look at what this family has become. I mean, hardly wish to show my face, I'm so disgusted by your bickering." He continued as we moved closer to them.

Kol stepped back into the conversation, "See? Elijah agrees with me, sister. This cure has ruined us, and it hasn't even been found yet. Just imagine what would happen if it is."

"This family was ruined long before we knew about the cure," Rebekah snapped and suddenly Kol vamp-sped around to face Rebekah and pointed the white oak stake at her heart.

"Kol!" I said, moving to step in but Elijah grabbed my arm and he took a step forward instead.

"I won't let you raise Silas," Kol said right before Elijah broke them up.

"Enough of this foolishness. Put it down, Kol," Elijah ordered.

"Yes, Kol, not with the lady around," I tensed at Klaus' voice from behind me. Turning I saw he was just a few mere feet from me.

I was suddenly grabbed and everything was a sudden blur. It ended in a few seconds and I was left with a spinning head. Once I readjusted I saw we were just outside the mansion and that it had been Kol who had grabbed me. "Kol? What the hell?!" I said as I rubbed my eyes. "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes, it was, because I needed to speak to you," He responded.

"Not good enough reason," I muttered. "You could've just asked me."

"I need to know which side you're on in this thing, Andy. Everyone else is dumb enough to think this cure is a good idea, I was hoping you at least had enough sense not to buy into it,"

I studied his face for a moment, seeing he was genuine in his belief of how bad this cure was and how scared he actually seemed of Silas. "I'm on your side, Kol," I finally said. "But there's no way this can work out, not with everyone else fighting for it."

"Then we have to take out the one thing they need for this entire―"

"Whoa, wait, are you suggesting killing my brother?"

"Well, if he was―"

"No, absolutely not!" I smacked him on the side of the head. "I get you don't care about my family, but I do. If we're going to be teaming up for this, I need your promise you won't kill my brother."

He stared at me a moment before he sighed. "Damn your eyes... Fine, I give you my word that I won't kill your pathetic brother."

I exhaled. "Thank you," I pulled him into a hug. "Take care, Kol, and keep me informed."

He suddenly disappeared from my grasp. When I looked around he had already gone and Elijah stood on the porch. "Ready?"

"Can you just take me home?"

Elijah ended up taking me home. Elena and Jeremy were there and they were a little unsure of Elijah's presence but once he and I were sitting out on the porch drinking tea they were okay with it.

"I saw how you reacted to Niklaus today, Andrea," He said after a few moments of us just sitting there. I didn't answer and just looked over at him, biting my cheek. "You know, I had seen my brother cared deeply about you when I was undaggered. You have him completely wrapped around your finger, but I didn't think you could ever feel something for him, I didn't think you would ever be able to see him more than a monster."

I knew I wouldn't be able to deny it to him, so I didn't even attempt it. "When did you see it?"

"At the ball, when you were around him, I saw the way you interacted with him so easily. I saw that you had come to care for him a lot more than you let on, and when Niklaus was 'killed' it only confirmed my suspicions. You mourned like a widow, you called for him in your sleep and you still do," Elijah took a sip from his glass and looked at me. "I know we haven't had enough time to truly get to know each other, Andrea, but when I saw you at the Mikaelson ball I knew I no longer viewed you as I had before, which was Anastasia or Emmeline. You were your own person and I made a mistake our first few meetings to confuse you with those women and I apologize for that. You deserve more than to be associated with them."

I looked down at my tea. "Do you think Klaus sees me as Anastasia?"

"I think he did, for a time, but I think you proved to him you were nothing like her or Emmeline."

I sat my glass down and pulled the blankets around me tighter. "I wish we had more time together, Elijah, before I met Klaus, I mean."

Elijah looked down. "I do also. I hate knowing that I will never be able to prove to you how deeply I care for you,"

I looked over at him with sadness. "You've proved yourself many times, Elijah. You saved me from those vampires last night, and you've done so much more for me... I can never repay you for all of that, especially since I keep on pushing you around,"

"I forgive you for all of that, Andrea. I somehow understand why you did it,"

"That's the thing about us," I said as I turned my body to face him. "You get it, without even having to explain it. You're just so perfect in every way... I just hate I was never able to see where we would have gone before I met Klaus," I exhaled. "I don't regret a thing throughout this past year, Elijah. I wanted you for so long, months went by and I hated you for not killing Klaus, but looking back I'm grateful you didn't... Klaus, despite everything he's done to screw it up, is someone that I know I'd die without."

"Have you fallen in love with him?"

I forced myself to look Elijah in the eyes. His eyes were filled with so many emotions that just broke my heart; I hated having this conversation with him. I didn't want this conversation anymore, but I couldn't exactly back out of it now. "I don't know, but I am- was- Nevermind, I don't know anymore."

"And what of your feelings towards me?"

"Elijah, I―" I stopped myself, knowing that whatever I said would probably screw everything up. I was seemed to do that with Elijah.

Elijah saw my turmoil and spoke up, "I believe I have always truly loved you, from the moment I saw you, I felt like I was human again with Anastasia."

I felt a little hurt by knowing that Elijah had thought of me as Anastasia, but it cleared some things up for me. "Elijah, you've always been amazing to me. From the moment I laid eyes on you I knew that you were going to change everything for me. I felt this pull towards you - like gravity - and everything about you is so perfect. You're the perfect man... You've become my rock and I have a connection with you that I couldn't even try to explain. We've understood everything about the other since the moment we met, and I don't want to loose that with you. Our bond is deeper than anything and it's definitely more real than any love I will ever feel. I don't want to loose you, but I don't want you to feel obligated to stay."

Elijah pulled me into a tight hug. "I'll always be here for you, Andrea, no matter through what you decide. I'm giving my word to you that I will stay by your side through finding this cure and keeping your brother safe," He leaned back from me with tear-filled eyes. "I just want you to realize that my brother has lived a thousand lives - and he could live a thousand more - and still not deserve you." I stared at him a long moment, my heart fluttering in my chest.

"Elijah," I said with a quivering bottom lip as I pulled him back into a hug. "I could live a thousand years and not even deserve even meeting you."

We sat there for a while, just hugging each other. For one of the first times in my life I felt like everything might just be okay. I mean, Elijah just promised he'd stick by me even if I decided I wanted to be with Klaus, and that just showed how amazing a man he truly was. But, honestly, I wasn't so sure if Klaus was the one for me anymore... How could I get past all of the crap he had done?

Once I felt goosebumps from the cold air on my skin, I pulled back from Elijah and wiped my teary eyes. "Uh, are you hungry? I could fix dinner, if you're-you're hungry,"

Elijah smiled over at me. "Dinner would be nice,"

We picked up our blankets and cups before heading inside. "Hey, I'm making spaghetti, guys!" I called out once we were in the kitchen.

"Ugh, I don't know if I wanna eat anything burned," Jeremy said as he entered the kitchen behind us.

"Shut up, you little jerk," I said, tossing a rag over at him. I looked over at Elijah. "Trust me, I'm a much better cook then Elena, not that you've ever tasted hers."

"It's not that bad," Elena said from the doorway of the kitchen.

"Yes, it is," Jeremy and I said simultaneously. Elijah chuckled as I got some pots out. "Hey, we should go see a movie, I've not been in so long!" I looked over at Elijah. "Is there anything you'd want to go see?"

"We're looking for a cure, Andy, and you want to see a movie?" Jeremy helped me put water in the pot.

"Well, that's why you're not invited. Elijah and I are going, and we're gonna buy the biggest bowl of popcorn to have and butter that shit up," I said with a nudge.

"Butter that shit up?" Elijah glanced over at Elena.

"That's Andy," She chuckled nervously; I could see she was a little uneasy with Elijah around.

"So, Elijah, are you going to be stick around with us tonight?" Jeremy asked as I turned on the stove and he placed the water on the burner.

"Why, of course he is! What kind of question is that, Jeremy? You know I only cook to impress guests," I said with a wink to Elijah before I moved over to the fridge. "Elena, we have wine hidden behind the Corn Pops in the pantry. Pour our guest a glass, will you?"

"Wait, why do we have alcohol in a house with a recovering alcoholic?" She asked as she got the bottle down.

"Because sometimes the alcoholic tests herself, and sometimes she fails that test," I said as I poured myself a glass of apple juice.

"My sister, ever the drunk," Jeremy teased.

"My brother, ever wanting to be killed," I said as I got a nice cube from the freezer and tossed it at him.

"Hey!"

"Oh, you're a hunter! Grow some and get over it!" I said as I threw another at him.

"That's it!" Jeremy moved towards me but I took off. As I ran towards the stairs, a knock on the door interrupted our feud.

"Let me get the door, Jeremy," I said from my spot on the mid-way of the stairs. "We can settle this peacefully."

"No, Andy, we cannot," He held up a ice cube as there was another knock. My guess it was probably Damon, but then again he'd probably come barging in so it very well might be Kol.

"Grow up, guys," Elena laughed as she passed by Jeremy and opened the door. My heart nearly stopped when I saw who it was.

"Good evening, Gilbert clan," Klaus said then looked up at me and gave me a small nod of acknowledgement.

"What do you want, Klaus?" Elena demanded, folding her arms.

Klaus looked back at her in irritation. "I've come to fetch my hunter. Seeing as how my brother's become a liability, Jeremy will be safer with me,"

Jeremy walked up to Elena's side. I moved down to the bottom of the stairs as he spoke. "I think I'll pass. I've killed enough people for you today,"

"You think you're safer here? Hmm. Clearly you don't know Kol. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, so strange as it may seem, I'm your best bet," Klaus glanced over at me. "Besides, you got his only ally in the same house as you."

Elena looked back at me in shock, and I looked down with guilt. "Sorry, but I think we'd rather take our chances," I snapped right as Elijah walked around the corner and as soon as Klaus spied him, bitterness etched in his face.

"Fine. But when Kol does come - and he will come - be sure to let me know, preferably before he burns your nice little home to the ground," Klaus looked over at Jeremy. "And as for you, hunter, there's no shortage of people to turn or loved ones to threaten, so sleep well. We'll plan on finishing our work tomorrow." Klaus gave me one final, vicious look before turned and left. Elena shut the door, turning towards me in anger.

"You're working with Kol?!"

"I don't want Jeremy to be killed over this, Elena. I'm doing this to protect him," I tried show her my reasoning, but she didn't see it.

"No, you're helping Kol kill him instead!"

I shook my head. "No, Kol gave me his word―"

"Oh, yes, and that is just a wonderful confirmation," Elena said bitterly. "I'm sorry, Andy, but if you're going to stand with them―"

"Are you trying to make me choose?" I asked, staring at her in slight disbelief.

"Maybe,"

I now was scowling at her. "Well, if that's the case then I choose Kol. I don't want my brother killed because you want to be a stupid human again."

"Well if you―"

"Just shut up for once in your life, okay, Elena? God, you're so annoying!" I said, and like in any moment I made it completely more dramatic by going up the stairs and slamming my bedroom door. After a few minutes, Elijah entered my room. "Come to yell at me some?"

"No, I came to say goodnight," He said as he sat down on my bed.

"Oh," I said as I sat up. "Listen, about Kol―"

"I don't care about that, Andrea. I care about what you, and if want to help support Kol then I am okay with that, but there's something else I need to discuss with you,"

"Okay, I'm listening,"

"Emmeline has contacted me, and she's staying with Katerina in a town a while away from here... She wants me to come visit her," He explained slowly. "I told her that I'd only visit if you were okay with it."

I nodded after a moment of processing the information. "Of course, Elijah. You're a grown man, you can make your own decisions,"

"I know that, but I didn't know - with everything going on - if you'd be comfortable with that. Plus, Emmeline has more of those things she came across that can heal you," He rubbed his neck. "With everything I know is coming up, I think it would be for the best."

"Well, you have my blessing to do whatever you want, Elijah," I said to him. "Just promise to check in with me? Call me every so often?"

"Of course," Elijah nodded, kissing my forehead. "I will see you soon, Andrea. Please be careful with Kol."

I gave him the best reassuring smile that I could muster and then he was gone. I laid back in my bed and stared up at the ceiling, silently wishing I had someone here with me that I knew I shouldn't be wishing to have around.

~ * • ° • ° • * ~

The End of Chapter LI

The Onceler's Unless