Making Amends

Chapter 1

Elena expected this meeting to be an uncomfortable one. She shifted on the leather seat and felt it creak under her, a faintly pained echo of her discomfort. She traced a mar in the table at the booth she had secured at The Mystic Grille with a nervous finger. Before she opened the next chapter of her life, college, she was going about tying up the loose ends left by the last one with the people around her. She had one left. Being a complete coward; she had left the most challenging….and most shameful confrontation for last.

Waiting. She was terrible at waiting, but compulsive about never being late. The combination of the two left her in a delicate balance that fed the tension she was already trying very hard to ignore. The white knuckles of her tightly clasped hands stood out against the dark wooden table. Drawing a deep breath to calm herself, she reminded herself why she was here and how far she'd come.

High school behind her, she would be leaving for college very soon. The thought brought a dim smile to her face. She chose a school as far away from Mystic Falls as she could get- California. She was accepted and soon she would be on with her life, leaving all things supernatural behind her. She did plan to come home for holidays, but only then, and that was for Jeremy's sake.

After long discussions and many tears Alaric had agreed to stay with Jeremy, in the Gilbert house, as his guardian. After all had been said and done, she knew he was still the same Ric they had always known and loved. Damon had set about helping Ric to adjust and his help had proven invaluable.

She was able to smile when she thought about her "family". Friends had come together to make a supportive and stable safe place for her and Jeremy. With the loss of her parents and the ensuing years of drama that followed, her family now consisted of friends bound together by love and a common goal to rebuild. Family wasn't always limited to those who shared common blood. It was a lesson she had learned well.

Watching the door, Elena saw him come in and her internal woolgathering halted midstream. Smooth, cool skin, dark hair, warm brown eyes, immaculate dark grey suit – he had changed very little in the nearly two years since she had seen him last. Her heart accelerated and she wouldn't even kid herself that it was with fear. She hoped the sounds of the other people around her would mask the change in her pulse. His dark eyes moved smoothly as she watched him scan the room until he met her eyes. She tried to smile, but ended up settling for a nod in his direction.

Sliding into the seat across from her, Elijah's eyes swept her downcast face, her stiff shoulders and felt the weight of her expression. Worse still, he could feel her fear very nearly humming in the air around her. The sharp, delicate scent of it clung to her clothing, even her hair, like a dank mist.

That will never do, he thought as his eyes narrowed and frustration blooming in his chest.

After trading meaningless greetings, they sat looking at one another. Elena understood little of what she saw in the dark eyes that studied her. She felt sure she was an open book to him, but as always, she could read little into Elijah's expressions. He had always been a puzzle to her.

"I really appreciate your agreeing to see me." Elena ran her fingers along her glass, wiping away the beaded moisture self-consciously.

He didn't answer and when she looked up again, he had tilted his head to one side. His eyes had narrowed and his lips were white, drawn and tight into a frown.

"Elena, how are you? Really?" His voice deepened with the question as he leaned forward.

"Guilt ridden, Elijah." Brown eyes met brown eyes. "I'm hoping that you'll forgive me for my part in what happened." She rushed into what she wanted to say, all eloquence lost in her sincerity.

"Dear, you are not the one who needs to be forgiven. I betrayed you." He shook his head, winding his fingers together and resting both his hands across the table. He shifted his shoulders a bit to one side in an effort to release the tension that gripped him with a heavy hand.

"It could have ended so much worse than it did." He was braced for a storm of fury. He had seen it before from Elena, after all, but always directed at others. And the flurry of recriminations, especially the accusations about carelessness and selfish pride had made themselves at home in his mind since the incident. He knew them by heart and every word was true. He could stand as his own accuser. Part of him hoped for the explosion.

Meeting her here, coming together for any reason really, was better than the silence of the last two years. If she wanted to accuse and blame, she had every right, and he would take it gladly. It would be a balm to his uncomfortable conscience.

Instead of anything approaching the righteous indignation he had expected, she looked ashamed. Her gaze dropped even lower than it had been as she hung her head, avoiding his eyes with concerted effort.

"You were angry. I understood that, even then. I think we betrayed and injured one another." Sincere liquid brown eyes met his eyes finally and he had to stifle the impulse to correct her. She bore no blame in his family's drama and never had, but he would let her have her say.

Elena moved her gaze back to the hands she was twisting in her lap. He was just watching her, just listening. It didn't seem like any of it mattered to him at all. His handsome face held no expression, no hint of the brilliant mind working behind those features.

"I forgive you….without condition." Uncertain, she met his eyes again and found his were wide with an expression she couldn't define.

The most beautiful concept ever to grace humanity, and she dropped it into their situation with no more care than one would cast a dirty stone into a lake. For him, the wonder of that beautiful word blew over him like warm breath on a long cold night. Forgive.

One of Elena's lovely shoulders had actually risen and dropped quickly in a shrug as she spoke it. She obviously believed it meant little, but it left him in her debt all the same. How would he ever be able to repay that? What value could he place on her forgiveness? Did she not know that it was priceless?

She laid one hand across both of his larger ones. At her touch his large frame settled into stillness and he studied their hands together at the center of the table.

"Elijah, can you forgive my part in what happened? You might've been killed. Your family…." Her voice broke then as the real value of family and a reminder of all she might've taken from him washed over her. She shook her head, painfully.

"I maintain that there is nothing you did that needs forgiving, Elena. You are a survivor and were doing just that. But if it matters so much, of course I forgive you." He squeezed her hand just a bit and smiled. It touched off something in her chest. A flicker…a flutter…something she couldn't name rattled around in her chest for half a second.

Actually, her heart skipped a beat and began a full-fledged gallop behind her breast bone. She could see that he heard as he dropped her hand swiftly, withdrawing.

"You speak of forgiveness, little Elena, but you're still afraid of me." For the first time since she had known him, his feelings were apparent. Frustration and pain clearly lined his face.

She stood and moved to his side of the booth. He moved over, confusion clouding his eyes as she slid in next to him.

"Does this look like I'm afraid?" She took one of his hands in hers.

"Your heart tripped up when I held your hand. I smelled your fear when I sat down." Elijah pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "The last thing I want is your fear. I know that I have no right to expect anything else, but that doesn't make it easier to bear."

"You noticed my fear when you arrived because I expected you to yell, refuse to forgive me. Hate me forever. And that mattered to me….very much." Eye to eye with inches between them, hands clasped, Elena could be nothing but be completely honest. "My heart skipped a beat because I haven't seen you smile in so long …and I missed it. You have a beautiful smile, Elijah. You should use it more often." For the first time in their acquaintance, he tipped his head back and laughed; years falling away from his face, his stature. He seemed younger than she had ever seen him. Elena couldn't help herself. She laughed too even though her skin grew hot with her discomfort at what she'd said.

"I won't ever lie to you again, Elijah. Even if the truth will embarrass me, I won't lie." She smiled again.

"No more lies and no more anger, then." The smile again, and her heart beat stopping and starting again. He chuckled a bit. Her self-betraying heart did his heart good. "So where does that leave us, lovely Elena? Friends, do you think?"

"Yes, please."

So they talked. They ordered drinks together and sat in the same seat of the booth discussing the changes that had taken place in her life, as well as his.

After talking about school, her work and both of their families he turned to study her again. "I don't know if I can take any more of the suspense. Which Salvatore brother did you choose, in the end?"

She laughed. "Neither."

"Neither? I take it that this decision has resulted in more drama than I can possibly imagine."

"Not really. We're all still quite close, but, well, the romance is gone." With the last statement, she put her hand to her brow, feigning distress. He chuckled at her playfulness. "No, really, I just couldn't be the end of their relationship. And that's what it would've been. I love them both, but I'm not in love with either of them. Not anymore. They were both angry with me at first, but came to see that I meant it. Now, I think they would thank me for my decision if it ever occurred to either of them."

"You have grown even more mature than you were already, Elena. How exactly does one so young get to be so wise?"

"Loss, I think." She took his hand again. "Something you and I have in common."

They closed down The Grille talking together. She preferred to make her own way home, so Elijah walked her to her car. Her expression grew serious. "Elijah, I don't want to lose track of you again. Is that alright?"

"Of course. You have my number. You always did. Call me if you need anything."

"I don't think you understand." She struggled to get the words out. "I don't want to just have your friendship as a back-up if I get into a tight spot. You know? I want to see you sometimes. I want for us to talk, be close, to be important to one another. Am I making sense?"

She found herself in his arms so quickly that she didn't see it coming. He moved fast enough that the air rushed through her hair, but he was gentle taking her into his arms. She was wrapped in silk suit and ancient vampire and felt safe, treasured.

"You never cease to amaze me." The words vibrated through his chest into the ear she had laid against him. He smoothed her hair so softly she thought she imagined it at first. He was drawing slow, deep breaths. Considering he didn't actually need to breathe, she wondered if he was figuratively breathing her in somehow. And why did that comfort her?

This could've gone so badly. She had expected…..well, she wasn't sure what she had expected. But warmth, acceptance and kindness didn't even appear on the list. But she was smiling and couldn't seem to stop. Relief lifted the weight from her shoulders and pressed behind her eyes with unshed tears.

After a few moments, she stepped back, and he didn't attempt to stop her. "So you agree?"

"I would also like that very much, Elena."

She took a deep, ragged breath of relief. She wasn't sure why this was so important to her, but it was. "Perfect. I'm going to hug you again, okay?" She had learned not to make sudden moves around vampires, and considering that she had stabbed him once before, she wanted him to know she was coming. No misunderstandings, no hidden agendas.

He spread his arms wide, his smile even wider as he said, "By all means."

Disclaimer:

**I own no part of the Vampire Diaries and am in no way affiliated with the program, its producers or its writers.**