Hopelessly Devoted | Hale- TO/TW [6]

12 | Negotiation

Tristan stiffens under her grip. "I will forget I love you." He breathes, his eyes holding no emotion.

"Yes, you must. You must never tell anyone of our plans and you cannot follow me. It will only hurt you and I never want to see you hurt."

"I shall never tell anyone of our plans." He repeats monotonously.

"I don't care what you say, you cannot love me anymore." Lexi rambles, completely unaware of the compulsion's effect. "You mustn't feel any love towards me, lest Mikael finds you and... I couldn't bear you dying, Tristan, I love you too much."

"I cannot love you anymore," Tristan says, his eyes remaining locked with hers.

Finally, Lexi registers the change. "What?" She breathes.

"I do not love you." Tristan sighs, blinking rapidly.

"O-oh." She backs away, sniffling and trying to wipe away her tears. "J-just like that?"

"I don't love you."

Lexi gulps, not understanding why her first love is just throwing away his feelings. "Then I guess this is goodbye," she whispers, eyes filling with hurt.

"Goodbye," he states simply before turning his back on her and walking out of the chamber.

Lexi stares at the door before more tears trail down her cheeks. She falls to her knees, her entire body shaking from betrayal, hurt, and fear. Her hand covers her mouth as she tries to hold in her sobs but it does not matter. She doubles over, letting out a scream full of pain.

Suddenly, Elijah appears in the doorway, his eyes landing on Lexi. He rushes over to her, trying to find the source of her pain. "I-I don't understand!" She cries. "I-I thought he— He said he wouldn't leave me! But he did! He left me after just—just one word about Mi— Why would he leave?!"

Elijah wraps his arms around Lexi's shaking body, trying to console her in any way possible. After a few seconds, he whispers in her ear, "I do not know why he left, Alexis. But we must run or Father will kill not only you but everyone in this castle. You must gather strength, and we must run."

"She didn't know that she compelled me until she spoke with Elijah about what happened." Tristan sighs, looking down at his fingers. "I never meant to cause her pain, Derek, I hope you understand that."

After a moment, Derek asks, "What do you want now?"

"I want to..." Tristan trails off, searching Derek's expression. "I am going to get her back." At that, Derek straightens, his fists clenching. "And with her by my side, the Originals will fall soon enough, and she won't even know that she's the cause."

Derek lunges forward, tackling Tristan to the ground. Derek slams Tristan's head against the ground before roaring in anger. His eyes glow blue as he brings his fist down on Tristan's face. The sound of his jaw breaking fuels Derek even more, making him continue to punch Tristan harder and harder.

It isn't until someone grabs him and pulls him off of Tristan does he realize that he couldn't stop. Klaus stands in between him and Tristan, trying to stop him from continuing. "Let me go," Derek demands. "Let me—"

"Stop!" Elijah comes running in at Klaus' yell and helps him restrain Derek. Tristan lies on the ground, laughing to himself.

"I'm gonna kill him," Derek growls, trying to lunge forward again.

"Calm down!" Elijah orders, finally getting Derek to stop fighting. Derek's breathing comes out ragged as he glares at Tristan. "What did he tell you?" Elijah asks. Derek refuses to answer, still focused on Tristan. "What did he tell you?!"

"He's gonna hurt her!" Derek exclaims. "He said he's gonna take Lexi, manipulate her into hurting the rest of you, and then I'll bet you he'll kill her too."

"He's lying." Tristan grunts, sitting up and wiping the blood from his lip. "I said I wanted to get her back and that together, we would keep the rest of you safe by enacting my plan of completing the prophecy for only a year."

After a moment of silence, the brothers look back at Derek. "Go to Alexis and keep her out of our way," Elijah tells him. "We will figure everything out here and tell you later tonight, understand?" Derek looks at him with an expression of anger and betrayal. "Do you understand me?" Elijah repeats threateningly.

Derek pushes Elijah off of him before stomping out. "I would have thought Alexis would choose to spend her now limited time with someone much less animal-like." Tristan comments.

Klaus kneels down next to Tristan, instantly putting him on edge. "Let me make one thing very clear, Tristan," Klaus says, his voice threatening. "You go near Lexi, and I will destroy everything you hold dear no matter what you mean to Aurora. And this is a promise I plan to keep."

Tristan, learn not to piss off a protective werewolf. He will kill you. Hope you enjoyed!