After Klaus and Ophelia had dropped off Cami at the safe house with Hope and Elijah, they ended up bringing Hayley along with them back to New Orleans.

On the way back to New Orleans, Ophelia had texted Jackson to meet her at the compound, which he ended up doing.

She entered the compound, just before heading up to her room to find Jackson standing on the balcony, reading from the journal of notes that consisted of what he had heard Ansel say in the months he had known him.

"Hey," Ophelia greeted Jackson as she stepped onto the balcony, causing him to turn to her, "I'm glad you came."

"Well, you called. I'm here," Jackson replied with a small smile on his face, "Has something been wrong? I asked you to marry me and then for three days, I hear nothing from you. It's a good thing I'm a secure guy. Well, sort of."

"What do you say, Jackson?" Ophelia asked Jackson with a smile on her face, "You ready to do this thing and get hitched?"

"Woah, it's not that simple," Jackson reminded her, "It's a mystical unification, not a married where we get hitched in Vegas."

"I've never been to Vegas so I wouldn't even think about doing that," Ophelia commented jokingly as she sat down on the chair on the balcony, "But yes, I understand. I get it."

"Look, Ophelia, as long as the werewolves need those stupid moonlight rings, they'll be under the witches' control," He informed her as he took a seat beside her, "Now, if we want to stop that from happening, we have to do this thing by the book. And I mean literally. I mean, we have to find a shaman who can perform the ceremony...trials to endure, devotion rituals."

"A what now?" Ophelia asked, chuckling nervously, "Wow. This is uh..this is very intimate."

"Well, it is a marriage," He reminded her, "Look, I know we're diving into this thing a bit fast, but I think it's amazing that you would do something like this for the sake of your people. It shows how good of a person you are," He paused, noticing how Ophelia didn't seem to agree with that part, "You look like you don't agree with me on that, but you are a good person, Ophelia. I'm also looking forward to the getting-to-know-you part. Because I wanna know you. Every side of you. Not just the part of you that you show when you're around the wolves. I wanna know both the good and the bad. And I'll show you every side of me, too."

Ophelia froze, feeling guilty about Jackson not knowing about what had happened between her and Klaus. Right on time, she heard voices on the first floor in the courtyard, causing her to sigh in relief as she smiled slightly, "They're here." She informed.

"What? Who?" Jackson asked her confused.

"Come on, I'll show you," She told him as she stood up, holding her hand out for Jackson to take.

Jackson smiled just before taking Ophelia's hand as she led him to the courtyard, where a large group of werewolves were congregating, including Aiden, who was in the middle of talking with Jerick and Hayley, "What's Jerick doing here?" He asked her confused.

"Aiden rounded up the most influential wolves around so that they could all talk," Ophelia informed him.

"About what exactly?" Jackson questioned, even more confused.

As if on cue, Marcel, Josh, and Gia entered alongside the rest of the vampires, "About all of them," Ophelia replied, a small smile on her face.

Jackson seemed a bit worried as the vampires entered, not knowing how the wolves would react. Jerick began to walk toward them alongside the other wolves.

Marcel stopped in front of him and gestured for his vampires to stop where they were.

Meanwhile later, in the courtyard, the werewolves and the vampires were still in the process of trying to form an alliance, led by Ophelia, who had help from Hayley, "You wolves are here because you want freedom. And, I promise you, if you stay, you will be free. But..." Ophelia trailed off as she looked back at Marcel and the vampires, who seemed interested, "We need as much help as we can get."

"My vamps and I are willing to stand with you against the witches. In return, all I want is a promise that there will be peace between our sides after the wedding." Marcel explained to the large group of supernatural creatures, causing Jerick to scoff loudly.

"You're the one who spent the last one hundred years killing and cursing us!" He complained loudly.

"Which means you might wanna listen to what he has to say, Jerick," Hayley spoke up with an attitude.

Suddenly, Finn joined them downstairs and interrupted their negotiations, "I see you're brokering a truce between mongrels and parasites!" He commented, causing Ophelia, Hayley, Marcel, and the rest of their respective communities to glare at him angrily, "And just how long do you think that's really going to last? A month? A week? A day? What you don't yet seem to understand is that the only thing that can exist between your two degenerate species is hatred, war, and death."

Finn slowly backed away as he talked until he was technically outside of the compound. Then, he rubbed his fingers together and blew on them as he cast a spell.

When he slammed his hand against the doorway of the entrance, the entire building shook, startling its current occupants as the spell took hold. He smiled at the alarmed looks on everyone's faces, which caused Gia to vamp-speed toward him to attack him.

However, she slammed into a barrier which burned her hands, as though she was outside in the sunlight without a daylight ring. Marcel lunged toward her to see what happened, "But, I imagine--given a little time confined together--You'll come to see things the way I do."

Hayley sighed anxiously and glanced around the room at the rest of the group, who were both furious and worried about what was to come as Finn left. She turned to Ophelia, who looked just as worried.

________

After not being able to find Ophelia for a long while, Marcel and Hayley soon found her in the dining room, unpacking boxes, "So, do either of you got any brilliant ideas on how to keep this under control?" Hayley asked, glancing between Marcel and Opehlia.

"I see what you're doing," Marcel grinned as he walked over to Ophelia when he came to realize what she was doing, "Great idea, Ophelia."

"I'm sorry, am I missing something?" Hayley frowned in confusion.

Ophelia smiled, turning her head to look at Hayley, "We're gonna do what people in New Orleans have always done when trapped in close quarters with mortal enemies," She paused, causing Hayley to look at them even more confused as Ophelia pulled a bottle of bourbon out of the box and handed it to Marcel.

Marcel held up the bottle, "Drink, and hopefully blow off a little steam." He informed Hayley before throwing the bottle toward her, which she easily caught.

The female hybrid unscrewed the cap and took a large gulp straight from the bottle before holding up the bottle in Marcel and Ophelia's direction as though to toast to them before turning and leaving the room.

___

Later on in the courtyard, the vampires and werewolves were mingling, having drinks and trying to enjoy themselves despite the fact that they were trapped together in the compound. Gia wandered around the room with a bottle of bourbon, filling up people's glasses.

Above them on the balcony, Hayley and Ophelia were watching everyone, making sure no trouble started. After a moment, Klaus joined them. Ophelia smiled weakly at him before turning her attention back to the crowd, but Klaus, sensing something different about her, looked at her curiously, "Worried about your wolves?" He asked her and Ophelia just looked at him blankly, "Or, perhaps the source of your anxiety about something? Ooh. Maybe it's about me and our time spent together in Arkansas?"

Ophelia turned to Hayley with wide eyes and Hayley slightly smiled at her in amusement. She turned away from her and looked at Klaus, "Ew! No!" She exclaimed, clearly embarrassed. Klaus continued to look at her, a smirk on his face, and soon enough, she eventually caved, "Is it that obvious?"

Hayley cleared her throat awkwardly, and Klaus laughed, "I think I'm gonna go..." She trailed off, glancing between Klaus and Ophelia, "I'm not the third wheel type."

With that, Hayley walked off, causing Ophelia to sigh in defeat. She clearly didn't want to be stuck in the awkward conversation with Klaus. Klaus started laughing even harder as Hayley walked off. Ophelia cut him off by shoving him playfully before starting to laugh with him, "You're an ass," She told him while still laughing.

Klaus noticed how Ophelia's face suddenly grew serious as she locked eyes on Jackson down below. Jackson grabbed his own bottle of whiskey and sat down in a chair next to some fellow werewolves, "You're feeling guilty, aren't you?" Klaus asked her quietly, "You are wondering if you should tell your betrothed things he doesn't need to know. From all the poems written on the subject of unrequited love, there are so few on the pain of being the object of that affection. The truth is, Ophelia, it's not love on which the strongest foundations are built. It's the decency of merciful lies."

Ophelia sighed deeply, "Why does everything have to be so complicated for me when it comes to my love life?" She muttered quietly, but Klaus gave her a bit of a saddened look, knowing he was the cause of it all.

______

At the barrier at the entrance of the compound, Davina and Kol held their hands out so that they were nearly touching, with only the magical barrier separating them as they murmured an incantation under their breath.

As they chanted, Marcel and Ophelia pushed their way through the crowd to watch them work. Suddenly, Kol and Davina were both forcefully thrown backward away from the barrier, causing Davina to scream out.

Kol glanced at his hands and gave Davina a concerned look, "What just happened?" Davina questioned, just as concerned as Kol was.

Klaus, who heard the commotion, suddenly appeared to investigate, "I assume that means we're all free to go?" He asked them impatiently.

Kol sighed anxiously, "No. The spell's locking us out."

"Vincent must be channeling something. A dark object, maybe," Davina informed the group, causing the three of them to look at each other, both frustrated and concerned.

_______

Later on, Ophelia led Jackson into her bedroom so that they could talk privately with each other, "Hey, what's going on?" Jackson asked her concerned, watching as she closed the door behind them before pacing a bit.

"We need to talk," Ophelia told him quietly, looking a bit nervous.

Since Jackson didn't see Ophelia nervous often, he gave her an even more concerned look, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She assured him, continuing to speak quietly, "I wanted to talk to you because I was just thinking that...if we're going to be going through with this marriage, I wanna do it right, and I wanna be completely honest with you, Jack."

Jackson gave Ophelia a nervous look as Ophelia took a deep breath, "The last couple days...The reason you haven't heard from me is because I was avoiding you." She admitted, causing Jackson to frown in confusion.

"Okay, why were you avoiding me?" Jackson questioned her confused.

A guilty expression grew Ophelia's face, "A few days ago, I slept with Klaus," She confessed, her voice barely audible.

Jackson seemed shocked as he turned away from her to pace around. He began to rub his face with his hands as he tried to process the revelation. Ophelia, who was looking even more guilty, waited in silence for him to say something, and Jackson took a deep breath before he finally spoke up, "Are you in love with him?" He asked her and Ophelia found herself gulping nervously as she remained silent, unable to truthfully answer his question.

Jackson sighed, realizing that the silence gave the answer to the question, which caused a hurt look to grow on his face, "Right. Guess I already knew that, didn't I?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel, Jack," Ophelia argued, "All of this isn't about me, or you, it's--"

"A sacrifice?" Jackson questioned, answering the question for her.

"That's not what I said," Ophelia argued with him, shaking her head.

"No. Ophelia, you didn't have to." Jackson, who was overwhelmed by it all, walked away without saying another word, leaving Ophelia alone in her room to think about what she had done.

Ophelia walked downstairs, only to see that all of the vampires seemed to be having trouble controlling their hunger. She shared a glance with Klaus, who quickly went to talk to Marcel.

Soon after, all of the vampires were huddled in a group on one side of the room as they tried to control their hunger. The werewolves watched the vampires curiously on the other side, noticing that they were visibly anxious and restless. Suddenly, one of the vampires accidentally ran into Jerick, and the two glare at each other, forehead-to-forehead, "Watch it!" Jerick growled at him.

"Hey!" Gia shouted as she lunged toward them, pulling the vampire away while Jackson pulled Jerick in the opposite direction, "Watch it!"

"Break it up!" Jackson demanded.

Moments later, Ophelia stood beside Kol, who knelt on the ground as he assisted Davina with applying salt on both sides of the barrier to perform a spell. Across the room, tensions were still running high between the two species, especially when Jerick decided to pick a fight with a nearby vampire for the second time, "What are you looking at?" he asked him with an attitude as he shoved the vampire, who lunged toward him.

Josh, who was at the bar, looked over at them in concern. Gia, too, had noticed the fight and rushed over to intervene, "You want a piece of me?" The vampire asked him.

Suddenly, Jerick picked up a nearby table and smashed it into pieces, before he and another werewolf quickly picked up two wooden legs to use as stakes. When Jerick swiped it at one of them, Aiden rose to his feet to break it up, "Hey!" He shouted out.

When Aiden grabbed Jerick's shoulder to pull him away, he spun around and swiped at Aiden, which ended up cutting a long, bloody gash into his forearm. The smell of his blood stirred up the vampires even more, and they all hungrily started to circle around him.

One of the vampires jumped on Aiden and pushed him on his back while another held him down, but before either of them could feed on him, Josh rushed over and snapped one of the vampires' neck to save him before pulling the other away, who was held back by Jackson and Marcel.

Aiden looked over at Josh gratefully, but then he, too, was overcome by hunger and stared at his bloody arm in a daze. His vampire face soon came out, and he looked as though he was about to pounce when Klaus appeared out of nowhere, "Joshua!" Klaus shouted, "You get away from him right now."

The intervention by Klaus seemed to snap Josh out of it, as Jackson managed to incapacitate the other vampire who tried to attack Aiden. Marcel struggled to keep Jerick from attacking the others, "Davina! Start the spell!" Marcel shouted.

Kol and Davina quickly continued setting up, crushing up herbs with their fingers and lighting candles. Finally, Ophelia knelt next to Kol, deciding to help the two, "Repeat after me," She told them and both teenage witches nodded.

Soon after, the three of them were finally ready to cast the destruction spell, and had raised their hands to each other to start the incantation, muttering the words under their breath.

Suddenly, a huge gust of wind comes through and blew out all of the candles around them, and Davina gasped. Davina looked at the threshold of the house and held out her hand to check for the boundary. Ophelia looked alarmed when she saw her reaching out toward the barrier and lunged to stop her, "Davina!" She warned her.

She kept going, though, and her hand ended up touching Kol's without burning, revealing that the spell worked. Davina smiled, proud that they did it. Ophelia turned to the group of werewolves, "Okay, Jack, now!" She called out loudly.

"Come on, go!" Jackson ordered as he rushed the werewolves out of the house, along with Hayley and Ophelia, while the vampires, who couldn't leave in the daylight, hid out in the shadows until it's safe again.

Kol turned to the group, "Remember, sixty seconds!" He reminded them and Ophelia quickly glanced at him before leaving alongside the rest of the wolves.

________

It was nighttime and Ophelia was outside of Jackson's trailer in the Bayou, sitting at a picnic table. Just then, Jackson walked over to her, holding a bottle of beer for both of them, "I should have known this whole thing would go to hell the moment Klaus offered me those damn moonlight rings." He commented, causing Ophelia to scoff loudly.

"Tell me about it," She agreed with him, "I hope to God I don't have to hear the word 'Ring' ever again."

Ophelia took a large sip of her beer as Jackson turned toward the campfire. He pulled out a small box with an engagement ring inside and took a deep breath before turning back toward her, "Hearing it one more time wouldn't hurt you, would it?" he asked her with a smile on his face as he held the ring out to Ophelia, who was beyong shocked and speechless, "I had no right whatsoever to act the way I did earlier, Ophelia, okay? You were just being honest with me. I should've been happy about that, it made me realize that I, too, should have been honest with you since the beginning," he paused, taking a deep breath before continuing, "I love you, Ophelia. I've always loved you."

Ophelia let out a deep sigh, looking overwhelmed about it all, "Jackson--" She began to say, but Jackson cut her off.

"No, let me say this. I...I know we're only doing this to fix all the stuff that's happened to the wolves in the past few months. Okay? But, I loved you before I knew you. And every moment that I spend with you since then, every single thing that I learn about you just makes me love you even more than I already did before. But, I promise that we will turn this around for our pack. We'll save our friends from whatever hell we've dragged them all into, and that is the only thing I can ask from you." Jackson took the ring out of the box and held it in his fingers in front of Ophelia, "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, Ophelia Rose, and forcing you to love me will never be one of them. But I want to marry you."

Ophelia couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes as she weakly smiled at him, "And I, knowing everything that I know, I hope to hell that you'll marry me." He told her and Ophelia's smiled became even wider.

She started to cry and caressed his face with her hand as she nodded her head in agreement. Jackson started to laugh with joy as he placed the engagement ring on her left ring finger. Ophelia wrapped her arms around Jackson, pulling him in for a hug.