I'll Be Your Last

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

I awoke the next morning, alone. Any negative effects of the vervain were gone and I knew that it had been because of Klaus’ blood which I found I had a taste for now at odd moments. I’d slept heavily and felt almost renewed. I stretched, thinking about how I was going to get through the day ahead.

As much as I had enjoyed the day with Rebekah, it had been a disaster at the end. She and I had been accosted by vampires working for one of Klaus’ enemies. I got vervained. The original siblings had gotten into a huge fight during which Klaus told everyone currently living in the mansion he loved me while his siblings took a protective stance. Honestly, they made me wish I’d had siblings of my own. It would be worth some of the fighting to have someone be there for you no matter what. And the Mikaelsons were like nothing I’d ever seen. They could literally do the most terrible things to each other and still allow no one else to harm any in their family.

And then there was Klaus…

I showered, put myself together and just couldn’t take my mind off him.

Please don’t leave me.

My heart shredded each time I thought of those broken words. Klaus was strong, powerful, and indestructible. He was hated and feared and with good reason. Look at the devastation he’d caused in all of our lives. I had to laugh when I considered that he was the reason I was a vampire, the reason Tyler’s werewolf curse was triggered. Both of us were victims of Katherine’s games to save herself from Klaus’ wrath. And oddly, that’s how Tyler and I ended up together.

But Tyler went from gratitude to Klaus for freeing him of the pain of transitioning into his werewolf form each full moon, to bitterness about being his indentured servant because of the sire bond. And I understood how he felt. But breaking that bond to Klaus led him to try and start his own revolution. He was hell bent on freeing the other hybrids, turning them on Klaus. And he was successful until Klaus killed them all in a fit of rage. Klaus had also killed Tyler’s mother and from that moment on, revenge against Klaus became Tyler’s obsession.

I didn’t even realize until now, I’d already lost Tyler, long ago. His desire for revenge was much stronger than his love for me. In my efforts to save him, bargaining with Klaus for his life, his freedom, I’d just pushed him further away. Now he couldn’t see me without thinking about the fact that he could see me only because Klaus allowed it.

Accessing the internet using the wireless connection credentials Rebekah shared with me, I downloaded my email. Several notes from Mom and Elena. Nothing from Tyler. I answered my mother and my friends. I checked for new messages a couple of times. Of course nothing from Tyler.

Rising from the bed and getting ready to head downstairs into who knew what, I shook my head. Tyler had used me as a pawn in his plans every bit as much as my friends. My friends cared about me and they showed it. They didn’t put me off or neglect me. But that really wasn’t the same thing. It wasn’t a romantic relationship.

Tyler had no trouble leaving me, putting me off. He was a powerful creature, wanting to prove himself, wanting to make those who had hurt him pay. I’d given him everything I had to give and apparently, I wasn’t enough to turn him from that path. It had never been about me at all, regardless of what he’d said.

Klaus had used me as a pawn in his plans only once. Sure, he’d attacked me once too, right after my friends killed his brother Kol. I’d provoked him, and even though he’d been grieving, he’d saved me.

And then there was Baton Rouge last night. Not only had Klaus been aware of the danger he’d left me to face, he acknowledged it. He regretted his actions with a power that had left him stripped bare, confessing feelings that I’d never thought to hear from his lips – even if he thought I wouldn’t remember. Finally, someone let me know that I did matter, that I did mean something to them.