✧✶⭒☆⭒✶✧

"I miss being happy." The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them and the girl paused, staring at her reflection as if it had betrayed her. She sighed and pressed her forehead against the cool glass, needing a break from all the drama, sadly, that wasn't happening anytime soon. 

Klaus was throwing a party for Mikael's death and Talia had gone to the bathroom to take a break, yet her reflection had betrayed her. Or, looking at her reflection had caused her betrayal. Her dark eyes held deep bags underneath and she looked exhausted and drained. 

Exiting the bathroom, she paused as she caught sight of the doppelganger standing there in a navy blue dress. "Elena? How are you, sweetie?" Walking up, Talia smiled warmly at the girl. She truly felt for her, knowing what it was like to be under Klaus's thumb. 

The pretty brunette gave her a confused look, as if she wasn't sure who she was before she shook her head and smiled. "I'm good, how are you?" 

"Mm, you know Klaus, it's hard to be fine in his presence. Have you seen Rebekah?" Talia dug her nails into her wrist, attempting to resist the urge to bolt out the open door behind Elena and her date, but she had sworn she would stand by Klaus, and she can't break that promise. 

The girl shook her head, craning her neck to look past Talia. "Alright, don't let the vampires bite." Talia turned and wandered outside, finding Klaus stepping off the stage. His eyes landed on someone behind her and she turned to see the blond vampire from before. Stefan Salvatore. 

He had his eyes burning into her back before lifting to meet her chocolate gaze. The Companion tied her straightened black hair into a ponytail and studied him with distaste. He was a scrawny thing, thin but still had definition of muscle in his biceps. 

Talia barely bothered with vampires anymore, she twisted on her heel and melted further into the crowd. That was her biggest mistake. 

✧✶⭒☆⭒✶✧

Klaus lifted his head, searching for Talia in the crowd as he finished playing beer pong with a few teenagers and hybrids alike. His eyes roamed over the room again before a hand on his shoulder alerted him to Mindy. 

"You have a visitor," Mindy's voice remained soft yet still filled with respect, her eyes locking with his. Klaus studied her for a moment, attempting to figure out who it was that urged his hybrid to interrupt the game. 

He found his words spilling from his lips without a thought, wishing Talia was at his side. "Tell my visitor to sod off, I'm on the edge of victory here." He turned to get back to the game but Mindy grabbed his arm, attempting to delude to something with her brows. 

"He says his name is Mikael, he has a gift for you." Mindy looked worried, her voice softening even further. All of his hybrids obeyed him, were sired to him, but they loved Talia. This had to do with Talia. 

Klaus resisted the urge to let out a growl, instead he tossed the ball onto the ping-pong table, watching it bounce into a cup. "Then we mustn't keep him waiting, tell Tony to move everyone out back, Mindy, you know what to do. I will be having a chat with my dad." 

He took a swig of cheap beer and left the room. 

✧✶⭒☆⭒✶✧

Talia glared at the hybrid holding her. It was Zane, compelled to hold her against the wall of the house. "I swear to God, hybrid boy, I will kill you." Her voice was a hiss and she was glaring at him in disgust. 

He looked annoyed and worried, obviously having been compelled for the first time in his existence. "I can't control it, it's like being sired, but worse." 

"It's called compulsion, thankfully I'm smart enough to ward it off. You, buddy, are an idiot and I hate you." She crossed her arms, squirming slightly in his grip. Of course the hybrid to be compelled was the one she had sex with, why was she not surprised?

Talia heard footsteps and her eyes snapped to the left. The older gentleman standing at the door was speaking to someone inside, and she couldn't yet make out the words. "Look, just bring me closer." 

Zane shook his head, looking annoyed. "I'm supposed to be standing here holding you until Mikael tells me to hand you over." 

"God, fuck compulsion, fine, I'll just die then." She stuck her tongue out at Zane and glared at the man. A few hybrids gathered around behind him and then the man said something and Zane was walking up holding her, Mindy, on the guy's right, was holding Elena. 

"Come out and face me, Niklaus, or they die." Mikael gripped Talia's arm with enough force to cause a bruise. She squirmed and grimaced at the tight hold, looking up and meeting Klaus's momentarily terrified gaze. His eyes were locked with hers and she could see something flash behind them. Something similar to guilt. But Klaus Mikaelson doesn't get guilty, it was an abstract look on him. 

Klaus bit the inside of his cheek and Talia knew that sudden impulsive look in his eyes. "Go ahead, kill them, what do I care?"

Elena whimpered feebly, whining about how Mikael would actually do it. Talia, on the other hand, didn't care either way. She'd given up on life, and if this was her ending, so be it. She just didn't want to be stuck at Peace alone if Klaus got stuck on the Other Side. 

Mikael hefted Elena forward slightly, showing her off. "If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations. If this one dies," he tugged Talia, "you'll lose the only person who has ever loved you." 

Talia growled, glaring furiously at Mikael. How dare he? 

"I don't need them, I just need to be rid of you." Klaus glared furiously at Mikael, not going into the fact that Talia's death would be his own. 

"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one." Mikael was shaking with anger but Talia's eyes were focused on Klaus. Tears were building in his murky blues, one spilled over the edge, falling down his cheek. She had never seen him cry, it was strange. 

She was mesmerized by the sight of a single crystal droplet sliding down his cheek, falling into his stubble. 

Klaus met her eyes, an apology in his own. "I'm calling your bluff, Father, kill them." 

Mikael stood up straighter, yanking the girls back to him violently. "Come outside and face me, you little coward, and I won't have to." 

Talia decided that it was her time to unleash her rage on the conversation. "He's not a coward! You're the coward, who's too scared to respect when someone is better than you. You're just an old man with an ego that knows his son is ten times the man you'll ever be, he has something you'll never have, loyalty. Pure and unbridled loyalty, no one cares about you, Mikael. No one loves you, and you know it. Esther was only with you for protection, Elijah only noble because of fear. Freya died rather than staying with you, Kol wanted to be a witch, not a warrior. Finn was the same, and Rebekah? Rebekah hated you, she wanted you dead. You have no one on your side, but Nik has me. Nik has his brother, his sister. Your family despises you, so drop the tough guy act, you're just weak." Talia was disgusted by the man in-front of her. She wasn't even sure where the words were coming from, or how she knew any of those things about Klaus's family, he had never told her. But there they were, resting on her tongue, escaping into the world. 

Mikael was in shock, his lips parting halfway before a lazy chuckle escaped his lips. "It appears, Niklaus, you have one loyal partner left, but sadly, that won't last long." Mikael plunged a dagger into Talia's back before doing the same to Elena. 

The brunette beauty coughed as blood poured into her mouth, her body falling to the floor as she began vomiting the red substance. She saw Klaus groan and lean forward slightly as the wound was mimicked in his own lungs. 

Everything passed in a blur, and then the nectar sweet taste of vampire blood was filling Talia's lips and Klaus was kneeled over her, holding her to his chest. She knew he was doing it so he wouldn't be weak, so they wouldn't know it affected him. 

She leaned against his chest, eagerly drinking the liquid before pulling away and sighing as the wound healed in her back. Her eyes roamed over the charcoal body she assumed was Mikael, the pool of blood around her and then the shattered vase in the corner. 

"Wow, I missed quite the show." She stood up on aching ankles, rasping her tongue against her dry lips. 

He nodded, standing next to her with this undecipherable look in his eyes. "Thank you, for saying those things. I'm not quite sure how you knew them, but they were true. I know you hate me, Talia. I know you always might, but you are my best friend, I hope you know that." He nodded as if that was all that needed to be said. It made her smile, that was the best apology she could hope for from him. 

She nodded, needing to reciprocate the words. "I do hate you," Klaus nodded and rolled his eyes, as if to say 'Gee, thanks,' but she kept going. "But I also love you, even if you don't love me back, or never did. You were my knight, Nik, you always have been. When things get hard, five, ten, or fifteen years from now, remember you were always the hero in my story." She kissed his cheek and pulled back a few steps. "I need fresh air and a break, I'm gonna go downtown. I'll meet you at the hotel." 

✧✶⭒☆⭒✶✧

He watched her go, thinking back on the past hour. When she was stabbed, he had gone into a psycho mode, needing her to be okay. Because though he would never admit it, even if her life wasn't connected to his, if Talia had died he would've gone insane. 

Watching her hips sway gentle as she headed down the driveway, arching towards downtown, he smiled sadly. Their friendship would never be the same, for in less than a week of each other, Talia had been kidnapped and then stabbed. 

He wasn't good for her, he wasn't safe. His priorities towards his hybrids got her hurt, and if the only way to keep her alive was to let her go . . . he was willing to never see her again if it meant she was okay.