A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries
Songbird
The second time he saw her was a short while later as she was closing up for the evening, a purse over one shoulder and her hair still down, the dark color barely visible in the darkness. She crossed her arms tightly to her chest as he flashed close to her and she let out a small gasp of surprise.
"Elijah, you came back," she said and he let out a rare smile.
"I did say I wished to walk you home, it isn't safe walking in the dark alone." They walked together as she led the way and when she shivered slightly he placed his jacket around her.
"Oh I couldn't—"
"Please do, I have many more and you are cold," he rebuked her. Sensing that he meant it, and well she was cold, she accepted the suit jacket without another word of argument. The remainder of the walk felt comfortable, as if she knew he posed no threat to her. She felt a connection with the unknown man, despite that she'd only just met him and might not see him after that night. She appreciated his company though, he was charming and his request had come as a surprise. She worked in a bar, getting hit on or being groped by sleaze balls she was used to, but for someone to ask politely for her presence as he ate and then to walk her home…it was unheard of. Perhaps Elijah was one of the few gentlemen out there, she considered as they walked. She was even getting used to the feeling that he was watching her, in a less obvious way.
"This is me," she told him as they came to her home and she hesitated. "Thank you Elijah, for the company."
"No, thank you my dearest Samantha," he said softly and came to stand closer to her and she wondered if he would kiss her. And why the thought of that filled her with anticipation and butterflies. "I shall not forget you."
He breathed in her scent, fighting the desire to have a taste of her and forcing it down, along with the entirely new sensation to do something he had not felt in many years. He looked into her eyes, deciding if he should compel her to forget him or not. He admitted to himself that she was now someone he intended to watch over from now until she died, but dare he let her remember him? Was it incredibly selfish of him to want someone in the world to know his name and remember him fondly? There was also the factor of who was hurting her; he would not tolerate that to continue.
"Who has been hurting you?" he compelled her to answer, one hand touching her cheek and cradling the side of her face.
"My father, he's a were wolf. He goes away on the full moons but takes out his anger on me the rest of the time," came her flat reply. His thumb lightly skimmed over where the bruise was and he felt her weaken, heard her breath hitch at the touch.
"Your father left you here in this town to protect you, you will have only good memories of him, not that he hurt you."
"He left me to protect me, he never hurt me."
Elijah inhaled her scent one last time before pressing a kiss to her temple and his gaze dropped and lingered on her mouth. He listened to her pulse quicken as she pressed against him, breathless of what he'd do next. "Be safe, and sing for me my little songbird," his kiss was gentle as he allowed himself this one moment of weakness. Before she could recover he was gone, whereas he returned while she was at work the following day to remove her father from her life.
She often felt that she was being watched as she walked to work and home again, and she treasured the jacket of the man who had been kind enough to respect her. She would never know that he stood outside alone in the shadows, listening as she sang and remembering the evening they shared.