Title: A Merry Little Christmas
Author: Alysia
Category: Alternate Universe
Couple: Elejah, as if I'd write anything else
Summary: Another Elejah Holiday story. It could be a sequel to my story 'Mistletoe,' but doesn't have to be read to understand this.
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters familiar to TVD or TO.
Author's Note: I have not forgotten about AOF, but my muse is a fickle bitch and she is refusing to cooperate with me, but I delivered my readers something Elejah… I hope it helps to keep me off your naughty lists.
"What about this?" Elena Gilbert asked, holding two outfits. She'd narrowed down her selection between the two, but she needed further approval before making her final decision.
"She's only one child, Elena," Elijah Mikaelson quietly reminded his partner, gesturing to the nearly full shopping cart. In most circumstances, he wouldn't have made such an argument. After living as long as he and his siblings had, money was not an issue, but considering the fact that the cart contained nothing more than presents for his niece, he found himself hesitant to add to the growing pile. Hope was already endlessly spoiled, she wanted for nothing…and she knew it.
"It's only one outfit," Elena denied softly.
He nodded. "You're correct in that assumption. However, she already has all the outfits she could ever need. Klaus provides well, and we both know that Rebekah spoils her enough."
Giving heed to his words, Elena sighed sadly and placed them both down. "You're right," she admitted. "I just…can't help myself. She's such a precious child."
"And she knows it," he nearly snorted. "And she uses it to her advantage," Elijah added with a pointed manner.
Elena pursed her lips. "Yes, she is her father's daughter." Which was a worse circumstance? Hope using those around her because she knew that she could? Or was she worse for allowing herself to be used in such a way, knowing that Hope was using her? "I can't help myself though," she admitted with a sad smile.
He considered his next words carefully, knowing how sensitive Elena felt about family and the fact that her womb was barren. She would never be able to give him a child. However, his words died when he noticed her attention was no longer on him; but on the young family that passed them in the department store.
Elena sighed longingly as she watched a young mother sooth her young child while her husband pushed the full cart behind them.
"Elena," Elijah said, hoping to catch her attention. When she made no move to acknowledge him, he stepped around the cart and grabbed her hand. "Elena," he whispered, lacing their fingers together. When she looked at him, he brought her hand to his mouth. "Darling, lovely, angel, endeared, cherished, dear, love, dearest, treasured, precious, light of my life…" Every feeling he'd ever associated to her, came tumbling out of his mouth. Without prodding, he knew that she needed to hear it.
"I'll never have that, we'll never have that," she said then. "I'll never carry a child."
"And I'll never spawn one," he replied in what he hoped was a soothing tone.
"No," she agreed. "But you could find someone who could carry a child," Elena whispered. "Someone…like Hayley. Either through insemination or invitro…"
He considered the fact that Elena's emotions had control of her heart and thus, her mouth; so it was with that understanding that he held his annoyance in check. "Hayley?" He asked, blowing out a breath of air. "Elena, we've discussed this…her."
She nodded. "No, I mention her and you change the subject," she reminded him. She watched his body grow rigid, and she pulled herself from his embrace. "Why don't we just pay for this and go home?" Elena suggested, not wanting to argue with him.
Elijah nodded mutely, following her to the cashier.
"It's chilly out there," Elena said, removing her outerwear as she joined Rebekah in the kitchen. The Mikaelson Holiday party was only a day away and there was still so much to be done.
"Speaking of that…it's been relatively cool in here as well," the blonde responded with a pointed look at her companion. "Not that it exactly speaks welcoming when you and Klaus are in confined spaces, but normally, Elijah can break the ice…" She wasn't sure what had happened, but she she'd noticed a difference between the pair immediately.
"Yeah, we sort of…" Elena sighed. "I don't know." It hadn't exactly been an argument, but her relationship with Elijah had been strained in the days that followed their moment in the store. "I experienced a latent human moment and I opened my mouth and inserted my foot…"
"Coming from you, that doesn't really mean much," Rebekah replied. "What happened?"
"What exactly happened between your brother and Hayley?" Elena asked after a beat. "I mean, I know he had feelings for her, and I know that her changing effectively changed things between them, but…"
"You're asking me to think on my brother's twisted love life?"
"So there was love involved?" Elena asked, jumping to conclusions. "Elijah never admitted it, but I just assumed-"
"You know what they say about assuming, Elena," the blonde retorted. "Look, whether you like it or not, Hayley holds a position within my family that you never will. You had a hand in the death of two of my brothers, and while we might forgive you, it will never be forgotten. Do you understand the darkness that settled over my family because of it?"
The only time Elijah had ever commented on her role in Kol's death, it had been just before his exit to New Orleans. And upon their reintroduction, it had never been mentioned again. She wasn't stupid or naïve enough to know that Kol was forgotten, but hearing Rebekah so calmly make mention of it…
"And then Klaus had a meaningless night of sex and a new beginning was given to us. Through Hayley and Hope, we had a chance. We were a family again. You weren't here, you don't know the things we went through or how those experiences bonded us together." She imagined it was somewhat similar to the bonds that Elena once shared with Stefan and Damon Salvatore. "In the beginning, Klaus and I protected Hayley because of the child she carried, but not Elijah. He protected Hayley because she was who she was. It's not so unlike the desire he felt to rescue you before he left Mystic Falls."
Rebekah's words didn't calm her. While she never knew for certain, she always thought that there was a spark of something that floated just beneath the surface between herself and Elijah. She'd been too young and blind at the time to think on it, and he'd been too much of a gentleman to encroach upon someone else's someone. But upon reflection, it had been there in one form or another.
"Elijah is noble to a fault, but he's hardly an open book. I don't know if my brother ever completely fell in love with Hayley, but I know he felt something for her. And I know that it must have been…something extensive for him to have reacted that way when things went bad between them."
Elena nodded once.
"This isn't exactly my business," Rebekah hedged, knowing that Elijah would be uncomfortable to know that she and Elena were speaking of him in such a way. No, Elena should be asking him these questions, not her.
"It's never stopped you before," the brunette snorted.
"No, but I can't offer you the answers that my brother can," Rebekah denied. "Look," she began with a sigh. "Hayley may hold a position that you never will; but that doesn't mean that you can't be something to Elijah that she never will."
Have yourself a Merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
The party was in full effect and Elena grudgingly admitted that Klaus knew exactly how to throw a party. Tori Amos' voice filtered out through the speakers, the house was decked out in a plethora of LED lights while lawn ornaments decorated the front yard. Inside, garland and weaves of holly decorated doorways, banisters and mantels. Mistletoe was strategically placed in various rooms of the first floor, and Elena was doing her best to avoid every single one of them.
The previous year, Christmas had ended on a far better note than she had initially anticipated it would. Her relationship with Elijah hadn't even started yet, but it was burgeoning. When he'd cornered her in the kitchen for a stolen kiss; only to settle on her cheek… It had been one of the most romantic moments of her life. And her promise that she would wait for him resonated, and it had taken months before something truly began between them. And during all of it, she'd never regretted waiting for him. He'd made her happier than she ever remembered being. How had things changed so drastically since then?
Frowning into her champagne flute, she watched him from across the room. Elijah was dressed as impeccable as ever, and she'd nearly choked on her tongue when she spied him for the first time that night. He'd done his duties as host, he made sure to greet every guest. And so, she'd been forced to watch him from afar. Not that she would have known what to say to him if she'd been given the chance.
Things remained strained between them, and she hated it. But what she hated most, was that it was Christmas Eve. She should have been happy by his side, but he appeared to be unaffected by their emotional distance. Hearing a distinct feminine laugh, her eyes trained towards the sound. She watched Elijah greet Hayley with far too much enthusiasm for her taste.
"Enjoying your evening, Elena?"
She offered the inquirer a strained smile. "Why wouldn't I?" She noticed that it was one of the antagonistic witches that attempted to thwart every single one of Klaus' plans.
"Oh, I don't know," she replied. "Things between you and Elijah aren't as…jovial as one would imagine."
"And just how often have you imagined my relationship with Elijah?" She replied in an acidic tone. "Perhaps you should stop thinking on such things and turn your focus on a much more pressing matters?"
"Such as?"
"Maybe working on the reason why it seems that Elijah and Klaus always manage to come out on top…or maybe if you applied such intensity on other aspects of your life, you wouldn't have time to speculate on others? I hope you enjoy your holidays, darling," Elena offered before slipping past the witch.
Making her way towards the stairs, she cast one last glance around the rooms. A loneliness settled over her, something that resonated deep within her. She knew it was only because of the holidays, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Making her way towards her bedroom, their bedroom, she retrieved the present she'd secured for him months earlier. Setting the small, wrapped parcel on his nightstand, she moved to the closet.
"Is something wrong?" Elijah asked, frowning down at his companion. In the months that had followed since Christmas, he and Elena had steadily worked their way closer. She'd been true to her word that she'd wait for him, and she hadn't pushed him for anything. After their first kiss only a week earlier, she'd been so responsive to his affection; but all afternoon, she'd been stiff in his embrace.
"No," she denied uneasily. "It's just…" She sighed, annoyed for not being able to express her thoughts.
"Just what?"
"Klaus said something earlier," she tried to brush off.
He sighed in annoyance. "Of course he did," he muttered. Klaus hadn't been very welcoming to Elena and the two constantly argued. "What did he say?" Normally, Elena was able to brush off whatever comments his brother made.
She frowned down at her lap. "He called me yours."
Her words were whispered, but he'd heard them clearly. "And would that be such a bad thing?" He inquired, attempting to keep his tone light.
"Of course not," Elena instantly denied. "But I didn't think that you would want that." Or maybe it was that he wasn't ready…
"And what if I did? What would you say to that?"
"I'd say that there are worse things," she replied with an air of nonchalance. All the while, she was bursting with happiness.
"Good," he replied, claiming her lips…and that time, he was met with no resistance.
Perhaps Elijah's silence spoke volumes and she'd been too negligent to know it? Their argument obviously didn't hold as much sway over him as it had her. Maybe space would provide them a certain reflection that had not been afforded to them?
To pack or not to pack? It was the decision weighing on her mind when the bedroom door quickly opened and quietly shut.
"What are you doing, Elena?"
Why bother lying? "I was determining whether or not I should return to Mystic Falls for a while," she admitted, still not looking at him.
"Return?" He replied with a severe frown. "I wasn't aware that you had such intentions." In their months together, she never made mention of returning to her childhood home. She would often reflect on her life, but never actually made plans to return.
"I…hadn't, but considering how strained things are between us, I thought it would do us some good."
"Being apart would be good?" He asked, feeling confused. "How?"
"I don't know, maybe it would put things in perspective?" She offered. "You aren't exactly 'here's how I'm feeling' guy, but you've never been so emotionally distant from me. You obviously aren't ready to share everything, and I should never have said what I did."
He sighed. "This is ridiculous, Elena. You aren't leaving," Elijah said then. He and his lover were still tiptoeing around one another days after their moment at the store. He was growing tired of it, and he missed Elena. Oh, she still laid by him every night, but he hated the emotional distance between them. "We need to talk."
"I agree," she replied, hoping her voice didn't betray the nervousness she felt. "I suppose I should tell you that I spoke to Rebekah yesterday about you."
He nodded once. "Yes, she told me."
"Of course she did," Elena muttered. Rebekah did not know how to keep a secret, unless it suited her. "I know you hate it when people go behind your back, and I am sorry, but you wouldn't tell me…anything. And I needed to know, Elijah."
"You're right, I should have told you," he agreed gently. He gestured for them to get comfortable then. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth to continue. "The fact of the matter is, I…I did feel something for Hayley, something rather substantial. My brother sent me here before him to take care of things, and I discovered Hayley's condition. I didn't intend to fall for her, but I did. Ensuring the survival of her babe, we were drawn together. Klaus and Rebekah remained as distant as possible, and I suppose that it was only natural that Hayley and I developed feelings for one another."
"You saw a future with her," Elena breathed, watching the emotions that flittered across his face as he shared the story. Her heart hurt for what could have been. She'd never cared for Hayley, not in Mystic Falls, and certainly not when she'd been reintroduced to her in New Orleans. And the fact that Elijah admitted such emotions for her, for a woman that had once been able to offer him something that she never could…
"I did," he admitted softly. "I knew it wasn't my child that grew within her, but it was a part of me, of my blood. And she was so brave and wonderful…and she glowed." He'd often heard that said about expectant mothers, but until Hayley, he'd never witnessed it; and she'd been beautiful. "I wasn't naïve enough to pretend that things would be easy, but I could envision her womb swollen with another child through the course of insemination. A child that we would share, that she would be a part of my family." Not his brother's but his, as his wife, carrying their child to term.
Elena smiled sadly. "You had a chance for a family, for your own family…"
He shook his head in denial. "Once I thought I had, and I was angry that it had been ripped from me." Angry couldn't even cover the plethora of emotions he'd felt. "When Hayley became a hybrid, I went from feeling relief that she was alive to completely hurt and bitter that the opportunity was ripped from my hands."
Elijah had never been one to entertain such fantasies, so she knew that if he was capable of envisioning such a thing; it must have been a possibility for him.
"But she changed, and I watched her relationship with Klaus grow. He was able to relate to her in a way that I never would be able to."
"And they never picked up where they left off?" Elena asked.
Elijah offered her a bitter smile. "My brother is rather fickle. He likes the chase and the steps leading up to it, but once he has had a woman, he loses interest. His interest in Caroline is the one exception."
"So if that was the case, why didn't you…" She must have been crazy. Why would she give him such ideas…assuming he hadn't had them before?
"The…magic that once existed disappeared by that point. I once thought that the relationship we shared was…special in a way it would never be able to be replicated."
"And you think it was?"
"Perhaps not in the exact same way, but she turned to my brother the same way that she once turned to me."
"You were jealous," she surmised.
"I was," he admitted easily to her. It had taken months for him to admit it aloud, but there was no shame in sharing such truths with her. "And I stewed in it for quite a few months."
She'd known that when they came together the previous Christmas that he was still nursing a broken heart, but he'd acted as if he could envision more between them; that he wanted more with her. Had that meant that he was still hung up on Hayley while they were first starting their relationship? "So when we…"
"I didn't lie to you that night in the kitchen. I knew I wasn't ready for more, but I wanted to be."
"But you were still hung up on her while we…" She trailed off, feeling slightly bitter over learning the truth of it. Elena smiled sadly. "Our…Christmas last year was sort of…magical to me. It was like this new beginning and…I knew that you weren't where I was, but I never imagined…" She finished quietly.
He sighed, knowing that his answer disappointed her. "What would you like me to say, Elena?"
She shook her head. "I want the truth." She needed it, no matter how much it hurt to hear.
"Yes, I did still have feelings for her when we met last year," Elijah admitted. "It began to hurt a little less every day and then one morning I woke up; and it had stopped hurting all together. That day, you and I spent together, and we did nothing remarkable; nothing that would make it stand out, but it was one of the greatest I can remember having. And it was that day that I realized the ideas I once held were nothing more than fanciful wishes. Hayley and I would never have worked out. Because of the role she already carried, we never would have been able to be together, Klaus would never have allowed it…not truly. She would always be torn between her loyalties to us." He was only sorry that it had taken him so long to realize it. "I wasn't prepared for the rush of emotions I felt when we met again. I wasn't prepared for you or to fall in love, but I did."
"I'm glad you did," Elena said softly. "And I'm sorry that I suffered from my bout of temporary insanity," she tried to laugh off the situation, but she could only grimace. "I could never envision being the quintessential soccer mom, but I just assumed that one day…"
"You aren't the only person that's struggled with their immortality, Elena," he calmly reminded her.
"But I never really thought about it," Elena denied.
"And if you hadn't transitioned, you'd be how old now?" He mentioned. "Perhaps your biological clock is attempting to tell you something?"
"I guess," she sighed, not having considered that. The only thing that she'd been able to focus on was the fact that she felt like a failure for not being able to give him the one thing that he so obviously wanted. "I just hate that I can't give you the one thing that you want most, a family."
He shook his head in denial. "It may have taken me a while to understand, but I already have a family. It may not be conventional, but it's a family all the same. And yes, I do feel bitter that Klaus was given such a gift, but I'm working on it. I have my brother and sister, and a niece I adore, friends…I have you. I wouldn't change it for the world."
"Even for a chance at having your own child?"
"Even for that," he agreed easily. Pulling her into his embrace, he secured his arms around her. "I'm sorry that I've been so distant. I shouldn't have let it get to this," he nodded his head towards the luggage.
"I'm sorry too," she apologized. "I'll try to keep from freaking out in the future."
"Feel free to freak out any time, Elena."
She smiled at his use of the words 'freak out.' Even after spending so much time with him, it didn't sound right coming from his mouth.
"Life isn't always easy, but I promise that I'll do my best to help you through it," he vowed before capturing her mouth in a breathtaking kiss.
Elena responded eagerly under his ministrations. She wasn't sure how long they traded kisses, but her heart felt lighter when they pulled away from one another.
He was unable to fully part from her, keeping a hold of her hand. "We should probably return to the party. If we remain in here much longer, I may be liable to tossing you on the bed and having my way with you; despite our guests."
She nodded once. "And I suppose that I could put this back under the Christmas tree…" Elena motioned to the present she'd left out.
"Is that for me?" He enquired, looking at the small, wrapped gift.
She smiled sheepishly, "yeah," she admitted in embarrassment as he reached for it. "I was trying to make my mind up about leaving or staying…and I wanted to make sure that you got it." She watched him gingerly unwrap his gift, staring at the contents. "I…hope you like it."
"I do," he said, fingering the pocket watch.
"You really are a difficult person to buy for," she informed him. "Not only do you have more money than God," he chuckled at that and she found herself smiling at him. "But when you see something you want, you tend to buy it. And I know that you once had one…"
"I love it, Elena, truly."
"I knew next to nothing about pocket watches, so…I sort of had a crash course in the history of them so that I would better be able to choose one for you. It's made by Elgin, apparently they were pretty amazing."
He nodded. "Yes, they were. Back then, temperatures could affect pocket watches, but not this one."
"So I read."
"Where did you find one in such a good condition?" He asked, inspecting it.
"I have my ways," she excused, not wanting to divulge her secret.
Setting it back down, he reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. "Since I've already opened one of mine, it's only fair that you get to open one."
The box was small, and she'd received enough jewelry in her past to know what the box contained. She lifted the lid to see one of the most exquisite pieces of jewelry she'd ever seen. "Elijah, it's…I've never seen anything so beautiful." Immersed in lightness and dreams, was the form of an enchanting snowflake made of forty brilliant cut diamonds inlayed within 18 karat pink gold.
Lifting the necklace from the box, he unlatched it before moving behind Elena. "I'm sure that you know that no two snowflakes are alike, and when I saw this in the store window, I immediately thought of you."
She lifted her hair so he could fasten it around her neck.
"Because despite everything that you've learned about your life, your lineage, you're one in a million…my one in a million," he continued on.
She looked down at the pendant with shining eyes before throwing herself into his arms. "You're my one in a million too."
Moving away from her once more, he reached into another pocket.
"What are you looking for now?" She asked. "Because if it's another present, the rest of yours are downstairs under the tree."
He produced a sprig of mistletoe with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and smirk on his lips.
Her attention moved from the mistletoe back towards him. "What are you doing?"
"Making good on a promise," he spoke, using the same words he'd said the previous year. "I've been waiting a whole year for this. Are you going to make me wait longer?"
"That'd be rude."
He leaned over and claimed her lips, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss. When Elena wrapped her arms around him, he dropped the mistletoe and grabbed her more securely against him.
"Merry Christmas, Elena."
"Merry Christmas, Elijah."
The End
AN: And if any of you read my other stories, you'll know that I don't watch 'The Originals,' but I thought I read in spoilers that Hayley became a hybrid; so I ran with that idea. If I'm off on this fact, I apologize.