A/N: Thanks to all the reviewers! Officially this is the last chapter of Poison & Wine, but there will be an epilogue posted later in Klaus' POV. Thank you to all the readers, I would have never made it this far without you! Hopefully I'll be able to post the first chapter of the sequel on New Years Day, but I'll post on this story letting you guys know it's posted. Let's get to the chapter, shall we?

Poison & Wine - Chapter LXII

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"Bonnie, please," I pleaded from the other side of the door. "I know you can do it. You are powerful enough."

Bonnie sighed. "I can't bring Kol back, Andy. He'll just kill Elena again,"

"No, he won't! He gave me his word that he would leave her alone... " I rubbed my temples and stared at her imploringly. "Bonnie, please. I need this! I need Kol back for good, not until you can close the veil tonight."

"Shouldn't you be asking me about saving Jeremy?"

I paled, and couldn't muster a response. I should be asking her to save my brother... but Kol was like my brother. "I'll consider it, okay? I just need to be alone for a while," Bonnie said as she started to close the door.

"I'll see you at graduation?"

She nodded solemnly before closing the door. I started to head towards my car when my phone rang. Sighing when I saw who it was, I reluctantly answered. "What can I help you with now, Kol?"

"I was just wondering what progress you made on the bringing me back to life, since you seem to want it as much as I do,"

"I told you I would handle it, okay? I gotta go, I'm meeting my family for lunch," I sighed as I started driving down the road, placing my phone on speaker rather than holding it up to my ear. "Thanks again, for promising not to enact revenge on them. I can't convince anyone to bring you back if you're murdering left and right."

"Right... So, did Bonnie agree?"

"Not exactly, but I've got a backup on standby just in case," I had Emmeline get a witch willing to do the spell just in case Bonnie wasn't willing.

"Which is?"

"Do you think I'm gonna tell you? Kol, we don't even know if this will work, so we can't be getting our hopes up. I don't want to think about you... " I trailed off.

"I understand, I don't want to think of myself like that either. Anyways, go on to your little shindig, I'll be at your graduation to cheer you on."

"At least I'll have one person cheering me on,"

"You never know, there might be one or two others,"

"What is that supposed to me?"

"Oh, nothing. See you then, Andy." The line went dead and I pondered who Kol could be referring to. Possibly his two brothers, but I highly doubted they wanted to see me.

When I got to the cemetery, it wasn't very hard to find my family. They were sitting at a picnic table - I don't know why there was one in a cemetery - already eating lunch. My spirit was raised a little to see Alaric and Jeremy alive and breathing. I hadn't got to see Alaric yet.

"I don't think life has ever looked better than on you two," I commented as I headed over to them. Alaric immediately stood and pulled me into a tight embrace. I gladly returned it. "I missed you so much, Ric."

"I missed you too, Andy," He pulled back and smiled at me. "You look even more thinner than when I was alive... Are you eating enough?"

"Enough to get by," I said with a weary smile before turning towards Jeremy and giving him a hug. "I'm sorry for being late, I was eating breakfast with Kol. We were waiting for Rebekah, but she never showed up."

"I see your loyalties still haven't changed," Jeremy commented.

"They're my family as much as you guys are," I said before I looked at Elena. She looked slightly uncomfortable but didn't say anything.

"We got lunch for you," Alaric said as he held up a plastic container.

"Oh, I'm not hungry. Late breakfast. You guys spilt it," I said as I sat down at the table.

"I'll take it," Jeremy happily said.

"No, you're eating it," Alaric slid it towards me. "I'm ordering you to."

With a small smile I opened up the box and started nibbling at the burger as Alaric and Jeremy started devouring their food. Alaric, through a full mouth, said, "Mm. Oh, my god."

Elena laughed and Jeremy grunted in agreement with Alaric. "No grease on the Other Side, huh?" She asked before taking a bite out of her burger.

"You have no idea how much I've missed this," Alaric responded as he held up a bottle of bourbon. "And this." Elena took the bottle. "No, hey. Hey!" Elena took a swig.

Jeremy laughed. "She just got her humanity back. Let her live a little," He reached for the bottle but Elena held it away from him.

"Hey, you wish,"

"I'm dead – what are they gonna do, throw me in juvie?" He snorted.

"Well, at least you'd have a place to live," Alaric teased. Smiling, Elena started throwing fries at them.

"You two suck!"

Alaric smiled widely. "Hey!"

"Stop wasting food!" I commanded as I started catching them midair.

"Now there it is – that smile. I wasn't sure we were gonna see that again," Alaric said, glancing in between us both. "From either of you."

My smile dropped, but Elena's remained though more sadly now. Her eyes began glistening up. "I did some pretty terrible things," She took a deep breath and looked down. I rolled my eyes and looked away from her. I just didn't have it in me to feel sorry for her anymore, that day was long gone.

"Hey, no. No tears. If Caroline was right, we only have until tonight. We need a no-crying rule," Jeremy pointed out as he stole a few fries from my tray.

"But the crying's good. It means that I'm finally feeling something, and right now I... " She took their hands in each of hers. "I feel happy."

They smiled back at her, then Alaric looked at me. "What about you, Andy?"

I turned my head and looked out at the trees and graves. "You guys being here makes everything better," And so much harder, I added silently. How on Earth could I get on my plane in ten hours if they were still here?

Elena's phone started ringing, breaking me out of my thoughts. She took it out and looked at it. "It's the Grill – it must be Matt." She put the phone up to her ear and answered it. "Hey, you went AWOL this morning – what happened?" When the voice on the other end responded, Elena's expression became shocked. "I-I don't know where they are, so I guess I can't help you."

Alaric stood and motioned to Elena that he's going to do something. Elena nodded at him and he squeezed my shoulder before disappearing.

"Please, don't hurt anyone. I'll find Silas and I'll get the cure," Elena said to the voice. I wondered who it could be and once she removed the phone from her ear I inquired about it. "It was Connor... He wants Silas and the cure."

I stood. "I'm not dealing with this, not on my graduation day. I'm sorry, Elena, but I can't handle any Silas today." I looked over at Jeremy. "I love you, Jer. I'll see you later." I turned away and stomped away. Honestly I wasn't willing to help because I had too much on my plate already by trying to figure out a way to bring my brothers back.

Needless to say, I did end up helping them in someway today.

Damon had ended up getting poisoned by werewolf venom, so I had the wonderful job of groveling over text and voice call to Klaus, begging him to come back. I called him at least fifty times, and every single time I got no answer.

Currently I was milling about the football field with the rest of my classmates, getting ready for the ceremony. I left one last groveling message on Klaus' voicemail before giving up and moved to go stand with Bonnie. "Have you thought about it?" I asked as I reached her.

"I have," She nodded cooly. "And I could, but I don't know if I could do two people."

Before I could respond, Caroline walked up. "Where is everyone?" She questioned.

Matt arrived suddenly. "I'm here,"

"Where have you been?" She instantly demanded from him.

Matt exhaled. "Oh, you know, making plans for the summer, dodging death by vampire hunter."

"Normal day in the Falls, eh?" I smirked over at him.

Bonnie glanced around. "Where's Elena? We can't do this without her," Just then Elena arrived with Stefan.

"I'm here," She said as she hugged Bonnie. "Thank you for today."

Caroline smiled at each of us. "I can't believe it. We're actually all here. We are all here together! Bonnie Bennett, are you crying?"

Bonnie wiped her eyes. "It's our last hurrah before you guys go off to college,"

"Before we go off to college," Caroline corrected.

"I... kinda sorta missed the deadline. You know, being an emotionless bitch," Elena sighed.

"Well, the perks of being a vampire – we can go wherever we wanna go. We can choose our own roommates. We could – we could get a four bed room!" Elena and Stefan chuckled at Caroline's enthusiasm, while Bonnie smiled with tears in her eyes.

"Actually, I'm going to Portland," I said suddenly. They all turned to look at me.

"What?" Caroline demanded.

"I decided Oregon is the place for me, I leave tonight actually," I looked at every one of them. "But let's enjoy our last day together, okay? No hate today. We all have clean slates with one another... No more anger for today." I eyed Elena specifically, hoping she caught on I was talking about her.

"I'm happy we're all here," Bonnie said.

Caroline squealed. "Aw – group hug!"

Stefan backed up slightly. "Ah, I don't – I don't hug... "

"Oh, get over yourself!" I chuckled as the six of us close in for a joint hug.

After our hug, we had to get in position. Elena and I were standing in line, though I was ahead, while Mayor Hopkins - also known as Bonnie's dad - opened the ceremony.

"Welcome parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for a graduation. Thank you for joining us today on this special day, as we celebrate our graduates. So let's get started," He named off a few kids before getting to his daughter. "Um, not to play favorites, but I am especially proud of this next graduate, my lovely daughter: Bonnie Bennett!" Bonnie walked up onto the stage and hugged her father. They exchanged words for a moment before she tightly smiled and left the stage.

He called a good bit of people including Caroline and Matt before I finally heard "Andrea Gilbert." With a grin, I waltzed across that stage.

Instantly I heard Kol over every one else. He was sitting in the front row of guests, whooping and hollering for me. I took a bow for him after the mayor had congratulated me before I started heading off stage. As I did, I noticed a figure off the the stage. I couldn't see it that well, but I thought saw those familiar curls though I ended up shaking it off as my imagination.

I took a seat in the section for graduates as Mayor Hopkins finished reading the names. Afterward Stefan, Caroline, Elena and I went behind the bleachers to the football field as I tried calling Klaus again with no result. Stefan was on the phone with Alaric when Kol walked over to us. "Well, well, I dare say that you are the most beautiful creature in red today," He said and I launched myself into his arms.

"Thanks for being here for me, Kol," I said into his chest.

"I wouldn't miss it, Andy. Unlike some others, I believe," He muttered that last part, but I still caught it. So Klaus hadn't come...

Suddenly a high-pitched noise filled the air, causing Stefan, Caroline, Elena and Kol to clutch at their heads in pain. "Kol?! Oh my God!" I grabbed his arm and looked around to see a lot of pissed women approaching us, the one in the front looking the angriest.

"Remember us, Caroline?" She said as she her arm out, casting whatever spell is hurting the vampires. I tried to run over to tackle her, but with a flick of the wrist she sent me flying backward into the bleachers. I heard a nasty crunch as I landed on my ankle.

Looking back up when I no longer heard the high-pitched noise, I saw the witch now was headless. My eyes widening, I looked over to see who exactly had done it.

Niklaus Mikaelson.

He grinned, holding up a graduation cap. "There are plenty more of these to go around. Who's next? I can do this all day," He said and all of the witches slunk away. As soon as they were gone, he was right in front of me.

"Your ankle... Are you okay?" He asked as he looked into my eyes with his.

For the first time, he truly took my breath away And made my heart beat unevenly.

I couldn't form words as I stared at him so I simply nodded. He chuckled. "Still angry at me, are we?" He looked down at my ankle and started rubbing it. I winced back from his cool touch and the pain.

"Klaus," Elena said from behind him. "Damon―"

"Is poisoned. I know," He raised his eyes to look up at me again. "But my priority is Andy right now. She's injured and you're concerned with your dying boyfriend."

"Klaus―" Stefan started but he swung around and gave him a death glare that shut him up pretty quickly.

I grabbed his hand and he turned to face me. "Go cure Damon, Klaus. Kol will be here to help me... Just, be careful, okay? I'll wait around for you," I squeezed his hand before looking to Kol. "Wanna help me up, buddy?"

Klaus did as I asked and left with them. Kol helped me up, but instead of getting him to take me to the hospital for an x-ray I told him to take me to the underground cave to meet Bonnie because I knew she'd be there.

Sure enough she was. "Andy?" She questioned as she saw me limping in with Kol's help. "What happened?"

"A dead witch with revenge plans that I attempted to interfere with," I sighed as I sat down on the ground, wincing in pain as I did so. "But that's not why I'm here."

Bonnie looked warily up at Kol. "Give me one reason I would ever help you." She was clearly talking to him, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Because I miss life, I miss living in general... " Kol was completely bullshitting this. "Because if I can't protect Andy in my ghost form, who else is gonna do it? It's lonely over here, Bonnie." I was shocked to hear that last part from Kol. It was actually heartfelt, and I had a feeling that's all I'd be seeing of this side of him which was kind of disappointing. He could be wonderful if he opened up and let someone in.

Bonnie looked down at me. "I'll do this... for you. If screws it up, you have to swear to me you'll dagger him."

I nodded quickly with a teary smile. "Yes, I swear,"

"It might not work," Bonnie said as she turned her back to us. "I can't guarantee anything. I'll do it once Elena's able to say goodbye to her loved ones. I'm going to try to bring Jeremy along with him... Andy, you should go, I don't want you in the room when I have to do it."

"Thank you so much, Bonnie," I said as Kol hoisted me up. She didn't say anything as Kol carried me out of the cave with a grin.

Once I had made a quick trip to the hospital to find out I had indeed sprained my ankle, I was back waiting on the football field, sitting on the commencement stage, to hear if Bonnie was successful or not.

I had said goodbye to Alaric and Jeremy after I got my ankle checked, but I didn't let myself think about that. I honestly couldn't handle thinking too much about it because I knew I'd loose it the moment they were gone again.

Without even noticing, someone had started approaching me. "Is your ankle feeling better?" The voice asked, causing me to jump and a pain shot through my leg.

Looking up I saw Klaus approaching. "Oh, hey. Yeah, it's feeling better," He stopped in front of me with a small smile. I noticed something was different about him. Something had happened in New Orleans. "How'd you get here so fast? I mean, Louisiana is a good bit away."

"I was already on my way," He took a step closer to me as he drew a piece of paper out of the inside of his coat. "I received your graduation announcement that Caroline sent out for you. It was... very subtle." I laughed slightly and looked away with a small blush. "I assume you're expecting cash?"

"I don't expect anything. Honestly I didn't think you'd show up so... "

"You didn't? Why not?"

"Well, I figured you'd be moving on from me, you and Elijah. I thought you wanted me out of your life for good." I admitted sheepishly.

"Did you not receive my voicemail?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yes, I did."

He stared at me a moment. "For Caroline's gift, I opted for something I knew she would accept," He exhaled as I stared at him warily. I hadn't even expected him to give her a gift. "Tyler is now free to return to Mystic Falls."

"What?"

"She loves him and he was your first love... Though I intend to be your last, however long it takes," He smiled at me widely and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. "Elena's was saving Damon... And yours... " He reached into his pocket again and pulled out an envelope before passing it to me.

I raised an eyebrow, figuring it was money, but as I opened I froze in my place.

It was a first class ticket to New Orleans for tonight at ten. The same time as mine to Portland.

I looked back up at him, completely speechless. "I was unsure what else to give you, so I decided on this," He explained.

I looked back at the ticket. "Klaus, I-I―"

"Don't," He said as he cut me off by placing his thumb on my bottom lip. "I'm leaving tonight at the same time, waiting at the airport, so I won't be here to help you make your decision. It's yours and yours alone." He smiled widely at me. "Congratulations, Andy."

"Thank you," I whispered, tears glistening in my eyes.

"Let's get out of here, before 12 angry hybrids decide to pick a fight," He said and started to walk away but I yanked him back. The stage was a little higher, so I was a little taller at the moment, but it didn't stop me.

Our eyes connected for a second before I devoured his lips in mine.

As soon as our lips made contact, I knew I'd made the right decision. Everything fell into place as soon as I did, and I realized that I was in love with him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Niklaus Mikaelson.

Klaus jumped onto the stage so he could get better access to me, and soon I was on my back as he laid atop of me. Our lips moved along with each other's perfectly and his strong hands brought me closer.

"I love you," I gasped out when I pulled back for air.

He stared down at me for a moment before cracking a smile. "I love you, too," He leaned down and started kissing me again.

Yeah, Klaus was an amazing kisser. I guess a thousand years will give you that, though. I probably would've allowed Klaus to go farther with me if not for my aching ankle. "Ow, ow!" I hissed out and Klaus immediately leaped off of me.

"I'm sorry,"

"Oh, it's not your fault," I muttered, looking down at my wrapped ankle. "It decided it was going to ruin the moment."

There was a comfortable silence for a few moments before he broke it. "So, after all we've been through, and you're just realizing that you love me?"

I grinned over at him. "I'm a little slower, Nikki. It takes me longer to realize who I want and love." I leaned over and placed a kiss on his beautiful plump lips. "But you know what?"

"What?" He murmured against my lips, his eyes on my lips as if they were a meal.

"I'm definitely going to go to New Orleans," I placed a hand on his chest. "And we're definitely going to be together."

His eyes snapped up to meet mine. "Really?"

I nodded. "Mm-hmm,"

His eyes darted around the football field as if he were looking for someone. "There's something I need to tell you then, Andy. There's a reason why Elijah didn't come."

I looked at him questioningly. "Besides the fact he's angry with me?"

"He isn't angry," Klaus' brow furrowed for a moment. "That's not the point... Do you remember Hay―?"

"Well, well," Kol's voice said from somewhere behind us. "Look who's still here."

I turned as much as I could to look back at him. "Kol? Are you... you know?"

"Alive? Well, in fact, I am," He grinned as he kneeled next to me. "So is your darling little brother who I wanted to kill, but I decided to uphold my word rather than hurt him."

"Thanks?" I glanced over at Klaus.

Kol noticed the plane ticket and picked it up. "So New Orleans? That's where you've shacked up, Nik?"

Klaus glanced down at me, a grimace on his face. "Yes, Elijah and I have both,"

"I'm in," Kol grabbed the ticket from my hands and smirked. "Andy problem shouldn't be flying with her ankle, so she won't need this ticket."

Klaus glared at him. "She's going, you can hop on the next plane,"

Kol started to snap something back, but I interrupted him. "Stop fighting! It's my high school graduation day! Kol can have the ticket, Klaus. There's some things I need to do before I leave."

Klaus looked disappointed but nodded. "Fine... You do have the intention of coming though?"

I nodded and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "Of course, Klaus. I'll always come for you," I leaned my forehead against his. "I promise you I will be in New Orleans at noon two days from now."

"Oh, get a room," Kol groaned.

Klaus sent a half-glare his way before looking back at me. "I will hold you up to that promise, love. But, when you get there, I'll need to catch you up on a few things."

I smiled at him and pressed my lips against his. Now that I was with Niklaus Mikaelson, I couldn't imagine a life without him, even if I had lived it before... I knew I'd love this man until my very last breath.

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The End of Chapter LXII