A/N: First of all, I want to thank you each and every one of you who took time to read this fanfic and leaving reviews for it. I will try my hardest to update as soon as I can but you guys have to be patient with me because between work and writing my book, I don't actually have much of a free time in my hands so do be patient with me and keep giving me reviews, even criticism so I could do better in the next chapter. Love all of you and enjoy this new chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these TVD characters.
CHAPTER ONE
YEARS of living had made Elijah almost immune to the twist and turns of fate. Nothing seems to surprise him anymore – that's what Elijah thinks eternity is, a sense of inability to be surprise by anything – not even Niklaus' miracle baby. He'd learn long ago that there's no such thing as impossible when it comes to his life – he is a vampire after all, it doesn't get more impossible than that – and that anything, absolutely anything can happen. It is how he managed to keep his 'cool' at all times, how he always seems so calm and collected. Sadly though, even with all of his wise insight and eternal cool, nothing could ever prepare him for waking up naked next to the beautiful Caroline Forbes.
When he groggily opened his eyes that morning, the first thing he saw was the sunlight seeping through the room from the wide widow on his left. The light was so blinding to his eyes that he had to close it for a few seconds before slowly opening it again to let it adjust to all of this light. Once he could properly see, he was struck by the unfamiliarity of the room he was in. Since it wasn't the first time he'd woken up in a stranger's room before – despite his virtue, it had happened more than a handful of times in the past decade alone – Elijah simply took a few deep breath, trying to recall what had transpired the night before to lead him into such predicament. Warning bell started to sound off inside of his head when he couldn't remember anything from last night. The last thing inside of his memory was drinking in a bar with…
Good God!
Warily Elijah turned to look at his right side where he could feel the pressed of naked warm body entangled against his under the smooth white sheets. His brown eyes fall upon waves of blonde hair to the smooth skin of the shoulder and the neck before it landed on the soft features of a face not too familiar but enough to jolt recognition inside of his very confused mind that pretty much confirmed his worst fears.
There, lying peacefully with her head rested on his bare chest was Caroline Forbes, the blonde friend of Elena Gilbert who was the last person Elijah remembered being with before he woke up in this foreign room. Elijah admit, he and Caroline had never really been introduced formally to each other nor was he accustomed to her as much as he was to Elena and the Salvatore brothers – it was slightly odd, how despite how small Mystic Falls truly is, and considering how intertwined their lives was, the two of them never really had much chance of encounter – but after he had spend time with her, he had been enamoured by her. She was something else entirely, true beauty lies inside and out. He now understood what Niklaus had seen in her, genuine beauty. And yet, all of that didn't explain how the two of them managed to get under these sheets.
Maybe he was drunk – there was a slight pounding in his head that would explain the lack of memory and the one night stand – this could be some kind of a drunken one night escapade but if memory serves, the amount of alcohol Elijah had induced last night weren't able to lead such consequences. If this is indeed some kind of a drunken tryst, he prayed that his drunken self would be smart enough to sleep with Caroline away from Whitmore or anywhere near Mystic Falls where he is more than aware that his brother, who undoubtedly still harbour some feelings for the girl, had placed a few of his minions to look after the blonde girl and the town.
Somehow though, this doesn't feel like something that was done under the influence of alcohol, especially not for Elijah and Caroline, no matter how much alcohol they had induced the night before. They were both wary of the world, exhausted by everything and broken and wounded and although alcohol and those feelings doesn't mix well together, Elijah would never do such thing to his brother and he knew Caroline wouldn't either.
Maybe this is a dream or a nightmare – depends on how you look at it, really. The Original would have thought so if he couldn't feel the solidity of her body pressed against his – how her curvy chest rise up and down against his side, how one of her long legs tangled around his right leg, how one of her arms is slung over his abdomen and how his right hand was placed on her hip – or the feel of her warm breath on his skin. And if this is some kind of a nightmare, Elijah could think of plenty of other things to disturb his sleep but waking up next to Caroline is not one of it.
All of this, Caroline being in his arm, felt too real to be a dream, too right to be a nightmare and it scares the hell out of the Original.
A thought suddenly hit him.
What if this is another twisted mind games his mother was playing on him? What if this is her way of showing him the 'appeal of a human life'?
Elijah instantly tried to feel his chest, searching for a beating heart with his free hand. He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the steady, un-beating rhythm of his heart.
He's still an Original, thank the heavens!
Maybe this is fate's way of reminding Elijah that they can still very much surprises him. If that were the case, they bloody succeeded.
The movement from the sleeping girl on his side interrupted all form of thoughts forming in the Elijah's head. The Original's whole body went rigid and he stopped breathing altogether as he turn to look down at the blonde. Her beautiful blue eyes that seemed to look like the bluest sky under the ray of sunlight peeking through the window, opened slowly before it stare up into Elijah's brown ones. He watched how her eyes slowly drinking in her surrounding, how her groggy state slowly wither away and when her body froze almost instantly on Elijah's side, the Original simply waited for her to finally piece the information together and all hell to break loose.
When realization kicked in rather harshly in the blonde's mind, Caroline vamped out of the bed in fluster and affectively pulling the sheet along with her, leaving Elijah completely bare on the bed.
"The hell?!" Her tone was filled with confusion and a slight anger. Her reaction answered Elijah's suspicion. The young vampire also have no idea how they had ended up tangled under the sheet that she had now wrapped around her body.
Caroline's eyes wondered from Elijah perfectly calm and collected face down to his hard abs and the rest of his exposed body due to the covers being taken away from him. When the girl realizes just how completely naked he was, she let out a shrieked and instantly covered her eyes with one hand while the other firmly hold onto the sheet wrapped around her body. "Why are you naked? Why am I naked? Why the hell are we naked under the same cover, Elijah?" She frantically asked.
Elijah let out a sigh that he had been holding in since he woke up before calmly got out of the bed and looked around for his boxers brief. When he found it – it was on the floor along with his other piece of clothing – he quickly put it on. Once he'd slipped into it, he turned to face the baby vampire.
A smile tugging on his lips when he saw Caroline desperately trying to close her eyes and cover her body at the same time, completely oblivious to the fact that Elijah could still perfectly made out the figure of her body that was wrapped with that thin white sheet. As much of a gentleman as he is, even Elijah couldn't help but to admire the beauty of Caroline Forbes' figure.
"You can open your eyes now, Caroline. I am no longer indecent."
Not entirely believing his words, the blonde took a peek between her fingers before sighing in relief when she saw he was saying the truth. Elijah couldn't help but felt his ego somewhat bruised at the thought of Caroline not being exactly thrill to see his naked form. Was it that much of a discomfort for her to see him in all of his glory?
The blonde who was oblivious to his bruised ego, started pacing around the room. Confusion decorating her face. "What happened between us, Elijah?"
Elijah watched her paced back and forth in front of him as he sat calmly on the edge of the bed. "I'm afraid I am just as clueless as you are, Caroline as to what had transpired between us although if I had to guess, I believe you and I have fallen into a one night drunken tryst."
Caroline let out a groan. "Well, that explain the pounding in my head." She mumbled more to herself than to the older vampire before her movement suddenly come to an abrupt halt.
Elijah watched how her face twisted as if she was trying to remember something, probably what had transpired last night that led to this, before her eyes widened in panic when she realizes she couldn't actually remember anything much. "Oh, God, I can't remember anything that happened after we drank together, Elijah! What about you? Can you remember anything?"
"No, I can't."
"Ugh! We must've drank the whole bar down for this" she gestured at both of them "to happen."
Once again Elijah felt his ego slightly bruised by the blonde.
Caroline's eyes widened when she realizes that once again she had let her mouth run faster than her brain. "Not that I wouldn't sleep with you when I'm sober, I totally would – I mean, have you looked at you? – but I don't do brothers. That's Elena territory. Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with it, the heart wants what it wants after all but none of this is making any sense and now you're laughing at me. Great!"
Elijah couldn't help it, despite his best afford, the laughter just bubbled out of him. It was a surprise really, to hear his laughter through his own ears. It sounded so foreign but yet so warm. God, when was the last time Elijah Mikaelson had laughed? It's probably a millennia ago. Life had not been very easy on him, life had not been easy on any of the Mikaelson so laughter does not usually come as naturally to them as killing does. It was the simple moments like this that made him feels thankful that he is somewhat still alive to enjoy these little joys of life such as laughter.
Caroline resisted the urge to stomp her feet like petulant child and instead decided to narrow her eyes at him in a threatening manner. "I'm glad you're finding fun in this." Her lips pouted slightly.
Elijah managed to sober up from his laughter but his eyes still hold that hint of amusement in them as he looked at her. "I'm sorry, Caroline, it is not in my intention to make fun of you," his voice was soft and kind, a totally different side of him from what Caroline was used to see. But then again, Caroline hadn't seen a lot of him in the past so she could probably be wrong and Elijah had always been this soft and kind. Now she started to wonder what it would've been like if she had known Elijah more… closely back when he was still in Mystic Falls. Would her opinion of him changes?
"This is serious, Elijah. We are in a serious situation! We slept together without any memory of how it happened!" The blonde throw one of her free arm to give a dramatic flair before she stopped in front of the Original and her eyes finding his. "Where the hell are we anyway?"
As if finally realizing his surrounding, Elijah looked around, taking in the room they were currently in.
The room of four white walls were decorated with a king size bed with white sheets, white colored furniture and a painting hanging on the wall against the bed. It was also connected to a private bathroom and a closet. There was nothing weird or unusual about this room but it is not familiar to Elijah nor Caroline. The Original vampire made his way towards a large window that overlooked the view of the city. Upon acute evaluation, Elijah realized that they are actually in New York City, Upper East Side of Manhattan to be precise.
Huh? What were they doing in Manhattan? Better yet, how did they get to Manhattan? Whitmore is a long way home from this city and Elijah doubted they travel all the way here just to have a one night drunk scandal. And if that really was the case, whose house were they in? Why didn't they just go to a hotel like any normal people would do? Granted, both of them are far from normal but in the sense of one night stand and everything along that line, they are pretty normal, at least Elijah hoped he is. So what were they doing in a place that does not look familiar to any of them?
Caroline got frustrated not being able to find anything useful that would explain why they were there, inside the room decided to venture out and see what else is in this place and hopefully find the answers she seek. Her eyes instantly caught the beauty and expensiveness of the condo she seems to be staying in. Considering whose she's with, it wasn't really a shock. The Mikaelson always ride with style, even for a one night stand.
The house seem to be a simple modern design two stories apartment with the room Caroline and Elijah was in, up the stairs. When she venture down the stairs, Caroline found the living room with wood covering the marble floors. A very fancy kitchen was situated on the other side of the living room and there is a hallway through the middle of the wall that separates the living room and the kitchen. Caroline could see there's a few more rooms through the hallway that leads to the front door.
With hand still clutching tightly to the soft sheet that's covering her body, Caroline made her way towards the living room where there's a set of dark blue sofa in front of a wall with a flat screen TV and home theater sound system hanging against it. Caroline turned to her left side from where she's standing in the middle of the living room facing the TV and saw the balcony. It was situated there with a beautiful shiny sliding door separating the living room from the balcony outside. The young vampire could see the scenery of a city from there, the same one in the bedroom upstairs.
The house was incredible, that much was clear to Caroline. If all in honesty, this is the house Caroline had always imagined herself living in whenever she moves out of Mystic Falls to start a life in the big city. The decoration was elegant, the house itself was amazing and the view was spectacular! It truly was a dream house for the blonde. However, nothing about it seems to give a hint of what the hell happened between her and Elijah.
Caroline had to admit, waking up next to Elijah wasn't the worst thing ever happened to her – he's all tall, dark and handsome with a body of a Greek God! Let's be real, Caroline would have climb him up like a tree if she had the chance to – but she still felt an uneasiness feeling creeping in her heart at the thought of her actually sleeping with him. Not because he was disgusting or she hated him– no, it's because somehow it feels like a betrayal to Klaus, even if there's nothing going on between them nor will there ever will be. Caroline had meant what she said, she is not Elena Gilbert. This is not how she roll. She does not sleep with one brother and then went on to sleeping with the other. She'd seen how it almost tear the Salvatore apart, she will not let it tear Elijah and Klaus apart too. They already have enough of that going on.
The blonde girl let out a deep sigh. Caroline was about the head back up the stairs when she caught a sight of pictures hanging on the wall behind the sofa. It was a large framed photo hanging on the wall. Her jaws literally hit the floor when her eyes caught the sight of the photograph.
How the hell did she miss the picture when she first descendent down the stairs? It was straight in her line of sight!
Elijah was lost in his thoughts when he heard Caroline's voice calling for his name from outside the room. The Original calmly descendent down the stairs and headed for the blonde who was standing in the middle of the living room, looking at a picture hanging on the wall. Only when he arrived next to her did he let himself look at what she was looking at and oh boy, was he heading for the shock of his undead life!
In that picture lays Caroline and Elijah. The younger vampire had her back to the camera while the older vampire was facing the camera but he wasn't looking at it, he was kissing her, with one hand tilting her chin up and slightly to the side while the other was resting on the small of her back. She was wearing a white strapless dress with her hair loose and Elijah in the usual black tie white shirt tux and instead of his usual clean-shaved face, he was supporting some stubble that honestly make him look ridiculously hotter than he already is. Though he could only see her face from the side, it was pretty obvious to anyone with eyes that Caroline is the girl in the picture.
It was only then did they suddenly realized the rings heavy on their finger.
Good God, what have they done?
