♤ [2] An Everlasting Nightmare

ı 26 ı The Last Time

Alaric smirks at Klaus's burning body before turning to Rebekah who has already taken off, leading him to chase after her.

James stares wide-eyed at the coffin, before grabbing my hand and leading me to the truck. He's in shock, and I'm a statue, frozen in my place. He starts the truck and drives away before Alaric can find us, assuming he hasn't killed Rebekah already.

"James, we, we..." I trail off, panic taking over. I can't even think. These are James's last moments. There's so many things we never got to talk about, so many things we never got to explore. "Where are you going?" I manage to ask.

"I need to get to Joel," he whispers, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"James, there won't be enough time!" I say, anxiety rushing through me. "Stop the car!"

James ignores me as he focuses on driving, thinking of all the things he has to do before he dies. It didn't take long for Sage to die once Finn died, and I can only imagine the time we're wasting with each other right now.

"Dammit James stop the car!" I say louder, wishing to face this head on. He finally slams on the brakes and pulls to the side.

"Klaus is dead! He's dead and now Joel is going to die!" James yells. James never yells, and as his voice speaks of panic and fear I can understand now that he fears more for his brother's life than his own.

"You're going to die!" I say. "I don't want you to die! Not when I haven't fully gotten to know you. I- I still don't have the memories..," I trail off. The memories.

James holds his head in his hands, trying to think of what to do while I try and fit the pieces together. "James, my memories. They haven't come back. They should've all come back the second Klaus was killed," I whisper.

"What are you saying Blair?" James asks, defeated.

"Think about it James, what if he's not really dead?" I wonder, trying to make sense of it all.

"That's impossible. We saw him burn to death," James says.

"Yeah, and I saw Elena die the night of the sacrifice two months ago. Nothing's impossible James. There's only one way to find out. We drive home to everyone else, and if all else fails and we don't make it, at least we'll be together," I say sincerely, covering his hand with mine.

He purses his lips and nods, shifting the truck into drive and speeding down the road.

I call Joel and explain everything that's happened. I put him on speaker and let him and James talk for a bit, the conversation filled with laughter and tears as they say their goodbyes. If I'm right however, this won't be a goodbye. I can't shake the feeling that Klaus is alive. My memories would've proven that.

All we can do is speed down the road in hopes of making it back in time to Mystic Falls before anything happens. If Klaus really is both my brother's sire, than I want to be there to say goodbye. I want to say goodbye to Caroline too, but I trust James to get us there before the clock ticks down.

"I never got to properly thank you, Blair," James begins.

"James, please don't," I beg. I don't want to jump to conclusions. I don't want to say goodbye.

"No Blair, I have to say this, for me," he protests, and I nod motioning for him to continue. "You saved me from myself, from a life full of hate and anger towards a person I used to call a friend. A person who has torn us apart and brought us together only to tear us apart again. I don't know what we are, but I'm glad you're in my life. Even if you don't know yourself how you feel, I want you to know that I love you. I always have. Even if you don't feel the same way, I hope you still consider me your friend," James sighs, struggling to keep himself together.

I clasp my hand over his and conjure up the courage to speak my mind, as I've always regretted not saying how I felt sooner, and now it's too late.

"James, I-"

The car suddenly swerves violently to the left under James's control, but not so much to avoid the oncoming car that swerved to avoid a single deer crossing the road.

The impact of the head on collision is enough to send the front part of the truck folding forwards, like squeezing a can in your hands.

The truck flips on it's side, rolling over the ditch, rolling until it lands upside down, our seatbelts being the only things keeping us from falling down.

As the air bags deflate and my eyelids begin to shut, I watch the deer safely cross the road and makes it into the forest, out of sight. It disappears as my words have, my eyes closing and my hand letting go of James's for what might be the last time.

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[completed & edited: 08/29/2021]