AN: I blame siberia21 for convincing me to write this. Elejah is not together in this. Yet. There's an Easter egg of sorts in this. There's a fic in the future with something from this story.
The prompt for this story is: "Who did you get all these roses for?"
He asks if she'll be home before noon, he has something to ask her. She texts him back, she's home already, if he needs her to go to his house, she can do that. He tells her that he'll be over in a few minutes.
Maybe they'll watch a movie or he'll ask a favor of her and they'll fall into their regular routine of being allies and friends. She wonders what he wants as she begins to brew some coffee and gets a blood bag out of the fridge for breakfast.
They've been friends for a few years, and she's been single since she turned in her twenties on accident. She can't date humans and the vampire she's interested in is more interested in being allies. Maybe he wants her opinion on a Valentine's Day gift for someone else. The idea is painful, but she reminds herself that Elijah should be happy with whoever he wants. He's clearly not interested in her, the one time she tried to kiss him he leaned in and then pulled away. She understood, his phone rang before she could go much further was the perfect excuse for not having to talk about it.
They never discussed it, and she's going to try and move on eventually she tells herself. She could leave America and go explore Europe or any other continent Elijah's not on. The level of friendship they have doesn't help either, but she tells herself that she'll help Elijah and then move. Her doorbell rings as her coffee finishes and she opens the door.
Elijah's on her porch, looking as good as ever. She's pretty sure the large bouquet of roses he's holding is bigger than her torso.
"Who are those for?" She asks him as he walks in. She shuts the door and he tells her that they're for someone very special. She thinks back on Caroline's rant about flowers a few weeks before and her eyes widen.
"You've fallen in love with one of your friends." She says, staring at the red tipped yellow roses. He nods, carefully setting the bouquet on the counter before he steps closer. She's used to it, Elijah's always seemed to enjoy invading her space and she's never minded it too much.
"And do you have a theory on who this person might be?" He inquires and she shakes her head. She's seen him flirt for information, she knows that if he flirted with someone in front of her, that would be the person getting the gorgeous bouquet. Unfortunately, she can't recall him flirting with anyone within the last few years.
"Not even the slightest idea?" He asks and he's grinning and the butterflies start up again in her stomach. He's amused, she realizes as she looks at him.
"I'm a vampire, not a mindreader. I give up on guessing, just tell me!" She says and his grin widens and she moves to pour herself a cup of coffee. He opens his mouth and she tells him she'll pour him a cup too.
"It's you." He murmurs quietly and she accidentally turns off the coffee pot.
"What's me?" She asks and he gives a slight shake of his head before he grins warmly.
"The friend who I have fallen in love with is you." He clarifies and she's always been an open book to him, and she looks at him with wide eyes.
"What?" She says, her mind is running too quickly for her to comprehend and he takes another step. She takes a step back and he's afraid he's misread the situation. He had been so sure.
"You love me, how long have you been in love with me?" She asks and he admits that the feelings started in Mystic Falls. She's thinking and he can't do anything but let her tear him apart. He's bared his heart to her, it's hers to do with as she wishes. He doubts he could even stop her, and the look of her smiling pulls him out of his thoughts.
"You love me back." She says and he nods before he hears the last word.
He takes another step but she pauses.
"Before this goes any further, I need you to answer another question." She tells him.
"Anything." He replies and she asks why he never did anything when they almost kissed.
"I assumed you were embarrassed that my phone rang. I thought talking about stock in Brazil had ruined the mood quite efficiently. I thought you wanted to make the first move. Apparently, I was wrong." He says and she lets out a laugh.
"For allies, we're not very good communicators, are we?" She asks as she puts an arm around his neck. He moves closer and she gets on her tiptoes, but he's the first to close the space between them. He can feel her body relax, and he's thrilled she's kissing him back how she is.
He would have waited forever for her, but a few years felt long enough. He's just glad she agreed, he thinks as they pull away and look at each other for a moment.
She closes the distance again after she mutters that they'll need to get a vase, she doesn't have anything big enough to support that many flowers. He just grins and pulls her close again.
finis