AN: Set during the Mikaelson ball. The prompt for this story is, "Please, come with me."
"Please, come with me," Elijah says quietly, leaning close enough to whisper it. He knows he deserves the suspicion in the eyes looking at him. There are few things he's sure of when it comes to Elena, but he knows she trusts him because she still follows him. If Elena was suspicious she would have done something, but instead she just asks.
"Is something wrong?" Elena stops walking and mouths the words at him. The hallway is empty and the light hits her dress to make her glow slightly. He nods and she exhales and they keep walking. He doesn't smell blood, if she was going to see his mother, he got there just in time to prevent that. The guests talk and mingle, there's still dancing going on in the ballroom-he can hear the engine of Kol's favorite car. Among other things after being undaggered, Kol wanted to make sure he could drive. For better or worse, Elijah and Klaus took turns teaching their siblings how to. It came in handy this time.
They make it out through a door and her dress sighs as she picks up the full skirt. They watch a few cars drive away from the Mikaelson manor and Elijah looks to her for a moment. There's a flash of metal in his hands, car keys-a smooth black car unlocks, the lights flash.
"Do you trust me?" Elijah says quietly and Elena's thoughts flicker to the warm house full of people, noise, safety, light.
"With my life," Elena says and Elijah wonders if she means only her life or if she's telling him she trusts him with everything.
"Then get into the passenger seat," Elijah says and Elena walks to the car, watching him with interested eyes. If he wanted her dead, she'd be dead. If Klaus or Rebekah wanted her dead, she'd probably get drained into blood bags in the basement. Elijah wouldn't let that happen. The reason behind that makes Elena uncomfortable. She does things because it's Elijah and she doesn't want to think about why she cares so much. Elena doesn't want to quite think about why she worries about the immortal man she's following, he's survived centuries without her concern. If Elena's really being honest with herself, sometimes she wonders if he has reasoning, or if it's just that she's Elena, the doppelganger, of course she has to be protected. She wonders if it's just honor and duty that make him protect her or if feelings play a role-even a small one. As always, his face is unreadable as he opens the passenger door for her. She thanks him quietly and arranges her skirt so he can shut the door.
Something's up but they're probably still within hearing range of his siblings. Within a few seconds his door's shut too, there's two clicks of seatbelts. The engine purrs and the headlights illuminate the inky night. Elijah drives but he doesn't go over the speed limit and Elena relaxes into her seat. Elijah's always a safer driver, at least in her experience, she thinks. Elena turns on the radio and finds a mellow song as thunder cracks. Lightning flashes and promises rain.
"Elijah-what's going on?" Elena asks.
"My mother wants to kill us. She was going to speak with you and take some of your blood to do it. By taking you away, she can't accomplish that. Niklaus has Caroline in case Esther wanted to use her as leverage, against him or you and my siblings have been leaving the ball one by one. Rebekah is last, she should leave in a few minutes," Elijah says, eyes glancing at the time.
"So your mom wants to kill us and you got stuck with doppelganger duty?" Elena asks and Elijah chuckles at that.
"I highly doubt you'd want to be with Rebekah or Niklaus instead," Elijah counters and rain begins to pour.
"True. So what's the plan?" Elena asks. Tatia's blood made them into vampires, it makes sense it might be able to undo that too. Stupid magicial blood.
"We stay safe until midnight. My mother's life has a time limit-the magic that keeps her alive will end at midnight, regardless if she kills us or not," Elijah says.
"So then you just take me home after that?" Elena asks. They have a few hours until midnight. Elijah nods.
"I'm sorry she's trying to kill you. She mentioned that she wanted to see me on my invitation. I was on my way to see her when you told me to leave with you, actually," Elena tells him and looks at the road in front of them, illuminated and empty.
"I had good timing then," Elijah says. Elena changes radio stations and Elijah drives. Elena realizes sharply that there's going to be a day she sees Elijah for the last time. Elijah looks over with concerned dark eyes and a raised eyebrow. Right, her heart rate went up.
"Just realized something," Elena says lightly and hopes he doesn't press.
"And what would that be?" Elijah asks.
"Just something obvious. Do you like this station or should I change it?" Elena asks.
"The station's fine," Elijah says and she looks at him as they pass a sign that declares they're leaving Mystic Falls and that they should come back soon. Elena thinks about different things to talk about, books he might have read and where his siblings are. No doubt her house is where Esther would look for them first, but she's thankful they're only driving for a few hours.
It's not a long drive, it's not a long time to be stuck in a car, and Elijah's preferable to other people she's been stuck with before. Alaric's at his apartment and Jeremy's spending the night at Matt's. Elena wonders if she should invite Elijah in, if he'd even want to come in, he's got siblings to check in with. They'll eventually move on from Mystic Falls and eventually separate have lives. Maybe that would change if she actually said something or made a move. Elijah parks in her driveway and Elena looks at him.
"Do you want to come in?" Elena asks as she opens her door. Should he risk it? Does she want him or does she want his protection? How much does she really trust him? Thoughts run through his head as she gets out of the car, car door shutting.
"I do," Elijah answers, and Elena smiles. There's a lot of things they're unsure of, especially with each other, but it's okay. They trust each other. That's enough for now.