A/N: Here is the next chapter I have tried my best with the ages, Elena 23, Elijah 27.
This chapter was posted using my phone, so I apologise if the formatting messes up.
Thank you for the reviews! And thanks to the follows and favouriting.
This hasn't been beta'd so I'm sorry for any mistakes you may find.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, they belong to the writers and producers of Vampire Diaries. Although Kahlan and Riley are mine :)
Love at Second Sight
Chapter 2 - Here and Now
Present...
The years had flown by, Elena was a 23 year old single mother, but she didn't let that hold her back. She had already managed to get her second book published and it was doing considerably well. Life seemed to be moving forward, but the absence of Elijah always held her back. Her family always asked if she'd been on a date at all, the answer was always no.
They didn't understand, she still had hope that the man she loved would return to her. Elena always wondered what he was doing with his life and whether his memory had come back, even if it was just small snippets, something was better than nothing.
The last time she spoke to Rebekah it had been a quick phone call, saying that he didn't remember anything and her father had brought him into the family business, working his way up.
Elena never mentioned the twins that would forever bind the two families, the conversations were never long enough and the visits didn't exist. Her ties with the Mikaelson's had dwindled and she had settled on writing letters, especially to Elijah.
She didn't even know if he read them, but she continued to send them hoping one day a letter would arrive from him. She talked about the twins but never mentioning that he was their father, it was an update on her life and her kids were a big part of that.
Months turned into years and now five years had gone by since that fateful day, her life changed in both good and bad ways.
The only Mikaelson she heard from was Kol and that was because he was a mischievous person, who never listened to his father and was actually living locally. He had become a part of the small group and helped whenever he could, he was the twins funny uncle Kol.
Her daughter Kahlan Gilbert was a confident, mature four year old. Matching her parents looks, Kahlan had curly brown hair, her eyes were like her fathers, it hit Elena hard to look at those eyes and see two different people.
Kahlan wasn't brought up by just her mother but a lot of her aunts and uncles had involvement. She had Caroline's charisma, Jeremy's artistic skills and Bonnie's strength. Elena was greatful to have such supportive friends.
Riley Gilbert didn't fall short of supportive people either, he had actually been getting on well with Kol, they shared similar traits probably due to the Mikaelson gene that was passed down to him. He had the family smirk that both Elijah and Kol possessed. Riley was kind hearted, but showed strength when needed, especially if it was a comment about his family. He had dark brown hair with chocolate brown eyes, he was a little taller than Kahlan and was a very protective brother.
"My son Elijah will be running the New York office as of next week. Finn will go with me to London." Mikael sat in the meeting room, listing off the changes to his business. The Mikaelson's had made a successful business deal once they had left Mystic Falls five years ago.
"And what about your sons Kol and Niklaus?" A voice across the room could be heard.
"Kol is gallivanting across the country and Niklaus is no son of mine, he's decided to leave the family business for an adolescent hobby, painting." Mikael's voice was low and gruff. He didn't like to think about his wife's indiscretions but Klaus was a constant reminder.
"He is an artist Mr. Mikaelson, that is hardly adolescent." James Marshall spoke calmly, he was partners with Mikael and it had been a great friendship for five years.
Mikael and James were long time friends, when Mikael mentioned the big move his trusted friend asked him to join the business, not wanting to settle as a employee Mikael bought a huge percentage of shares and gained himself a seat at the top of the company.
James Marshall was known for his advertising company, and Mikael had managed to squeeze himself into the fold, expanding the business and making the company flourish.
There was a knock at the door, the twins were sitting down for dinner. No one had mentioned anything about coming round, but it wasn't unusual for her friends to come and go.
Elena had managed to move into her own house, two years ago she found that her parents had left herself and Jeremy a trust fund, it was only accessible once they reach the age of twenty one. The money was enough to buy a reasonable sized house to accommodate her and the twins.
The knocking continued which surprised her as her friends would have eventually opened the door with a spare key, so obviously it was someone else. Elena left her kids to eat their dinner while she opened the front door, she was surprised to see her other bubbly blonde best friend, Rebekah Mikaelson.
"Bekah..." Elena gasped out in wonder, she had only ever spoken on the phone to her and now here Rebekah stood outside her house. She panicked a little at the thought that her kids were inside and Rebekah knew nothing of them. Elena unknowingly pulled the door behind her to shield the view of inside the house.
"Hi Elena" Rebekah kindly said.
"Hi, don't take this the wrong way but why are you here? I thought you were in LA." Elena was curious by the sudden appearance of this Mikaelson.
"Stefan and I broke up, so I decided to visit Kol, I'm staying with him for a few days and thought of stopping by. I got the address from our last call." Rebekah didn't have a hint of irritation or unhappiness in her voice, she was happy.
Elena was about to speak again but was interrupted by Kahlan and Riley calling for her.
"MOMMY!" They shouted in unison.
Elena noticed the shocked face that appeared on the blondes face, awaiting the word bashing that was soon to come Elena rubbed her temples and avoided eye contact.
"You...have kids?" It was a simple question but one Elena hesitated to answer. Rebekah glared at her for an answer and she was given a reply with a short nod.
"Why didn't you tell me?! You were still pining over my brother last time I knew, how could you have kids. Who's the father?" All the questions were thrown at her and there wasn't an easy way to answer them, either way Rebekah wasn't going to be happy.
Not getting a response from their mother, the Gilbert twins ran to the door tapping eagerly on Elena's leg.
"Mommy we want to go play" Kahlan gave a small pout and Riley used his puppy dog eyes, fortunately Elena had become immune to their tricks.
"Have you finished your dinner?" They both nodded in reply and Elena eventually said yes, Rebekah watched as the two little people ran up the stairs giggling, a small smile reached her face and when she caught the eyes of Elena she could see the emotion.
Elena stepped to the side to let her friend in, they went to the seating area and both hesitated to speak. "Their twins, Elijah's twins. Born five weeks early." Elena had tears pooling in her eyes ready to fall any moment.
"How? I mean I know how, but why didn't you tell me?" Rebekah had lost her strong annoyed composure once she saw the look on Elena's distraught face.
"I got pregnant just before his accident, I didn't even find out until after you left and my parents died. I wanted to tell you, but it wasn't something to share over the phone and I stayed away because their father doesn't even know who I am. It wouldn't have changed anything, I'm a stranger and it wasn't right for said stranger to claim he has kids on top of everything else."
Rebekah only nodded, wiping away tears of her own. "I understand 'Lena but why didn't you tell me, I'm your best friend."
"You had more too worry about, I wasn't about to complicate your life. Mikael would never of allowed you to have anything to do with me. Kol only knows because he bumped into us in the city and has stayed ever since." Elena sniffed a little while looking at the ceiling.
"He's with someone else you know...father said it looks good to have a woman by your side when your running the company" Rebekah didn't even think about the words as they came pouring out of her mouth, but to her credit Rebekah did say it in disgust.
"He really hasn't remembered anything...I thought sending him letters would at least jog something. But it hasn't! He's with someone and I've waited for five years for him to come back to me" finally Elena's walls broke and the tears fell profusely. Sobbing loudly until arms wrapped around her.
"Hayley!" Elijah called through the hallway.
"Hey! How was work?" Hayley gave Elijah a peck on the lips as she walked into the kitchen.
"My father wants me to oversee the company in New York, so I'm going to look at apartments, I start work Monday" Elijah said casually, he watched as his girlfriend sauntered around the room but at the mention of moving she stopped.
"That's sudden, how are you going to find a place so soon. What about us?" Hayley shot back
Hayley and Elijah had met through their fathers. They had been together for two and a half years. Elijah was happy although he had always had a niggling feeling that something was missing. He considered her questions...
"I will stay in a hotel until I find reasonable accomadation. We can try long-distance, your work is here. We can make it work." Elijah stated simply.
"Or...I could move to New York with you" Hayley had been getting annoyed at Elijah's pace in the relationship. Elijah and Hayley lived in two different places and he stayed occasionally, but she needed more.
"What about your work? I don't even have a place yet." Elijah argued, this wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation. He couldn't understand the big rush in everything. He wasn't ready and the his memory still wasn't one hundred percent, he wanted to be himself fully before he made any huge life decisions. But Hayley just didn't seem to take into account his reasonings.
"I'll just find one when we get there. Come on Elijah! It's been over two years why won't you let me move in with you!" Hayley had lost her temper and now the question he hated had been spoken.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to have a constant feeling of loss! I feel lost Hayley. Something is missing! I don't feel like myself, I don't know who I really am. I don't want to make decisions unless I'm sure it's what I want, but right now I haven't a clue. My fear is that I am a different man and if we marry or have kids I will change into someone you don't like."
Elijah's outburst spoke truth, his amnesia had been forgotten about by others but not him. The only thing that made him feel normal was his job. His job didn't need to know his personality, his likes or dislikes or whether he was a different person. His work had goals and responsibilities and so long as he was able to complete them, he felt normal.
Hayley huffed in irritation and stormed off, Elijah could only rub his temples and take a deep breath. Why didn't she understand. What was the big deal, it wasn't like he was cheating or hiding his feelings. He just wanted the whole truth about his life.
Elijah shook his head and walked to the kitchen, he needed a drink. They would talk once she calmed down.
