Grace closed the door after Elijah left. She stood still for a moment and thought about what had just happened and smiled. He was damn attractive and a gentleman at that. She really looked forward to working with him and hoped that he wouldn't forget about her.

But what what bothered her more was Elena's strange behavior. Grace decided to check on her little sister and knocked on her door. Shortly after her face showed up as she opened the door a little. Grace frowned, why wouldn't she open the door fully? She also had a rushed expression on her face.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

Elena stroked her hair back nervously and spared a glance behind her shoulder before she opened the door so Grace could come in.

"Yes, yes. Just tired."

Grace noticed the widely opened window and her frown turned into a knowing smile.

"You know Stefan doesn't have to leave through the window. It's ok if he stays over."

Her sister shook her head sadly and Grace cocked her head questioningly. It hurt her seeing Elena stressed like this. She remembered her as this carefree girl, but she wasn't anymore. She had grown up quite too fast.

"Stefan and I broke up."

Grace immediately understood her behavior now. Lovesickness, of course. At least something normal in this household.

"Oh Elena, I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

She hugged her younger sister tightly and Elena was relived that she bought the half-lie. Elena buried her face in Grace's shoulder and tears were shed into the fabric of her shirt. Grace padded Elena's back and simply held still, being there for her sister. She knew she needed comfort badly.

The sisters fell a sleep together in Elena's bed after some time of talking. It helped Elena getting her mind of it as Grace told her some boy stories from university, which made the younger Gilbert smile. Something she hadn't really done in some time.

...

The next day, after Grace got her siblings out of the house to school, she changed into sport clothing to go running for a while. She always had liked the feeling how it cleared her head, just listening to her favorite music over headphones and the steady beat of her feet pounding on the street. It held her body in balance and it was awesome to let some steam off. Before her head been filled with thoughts that she did really bad as a legal guardian. She sucked at making breakfast or anything and she hadn't asked about any grades or something. Grace probably should talk to Mr. Saltzman because he seemed to be a pretty relaxed teacher, plus he knew of the Gilbert's situation, so he won't judge.

Grace figured that she would have some time before the guy Elijah wanted to send for the boxes would be at her home, so that was her time frame to run through Mystic Falls' quiet streets. When she was a student, she never really was interested in sports and did pretty bad at the subject in school. She always had been that clumsy, skinny girl that always looked unhealthy. That really had changed since she started to take better care of herself. She still was very slim, but in a more healthy way. Her legs and stomach were toned, which gave her just the perfect kind of curves. Confidence had developed with every day at university and she never had issues again with being a victim. She did it all by herself.

After an hour of running she arrived back home and frowned when she saw a car parked in front of her house. She hadn't expected the assistant that early. There wasn't anyone in the expensive SUV and Grace turned to the door confused.

"Miss Gilbert."

Elijah's voice suddenly came up from close behind her. Grace flinched and turned around, her hand on her chest to face the man. God, he was good at sneaking up behind someone.

"I apologize, Grace. It wasn't my intention to scare you."

She just shook her head and smiled, but then she noticed that she only wore a sports bra and tight yoga pants and flushed. He on the hand was again so well dressed. Dark suit, leaving the upmost buttons open which gave it a bit of causality back. He seemed to have a thing for being dressed a little over the top, but damn, he rocked that suit. It highlighted his gentlemanly character.

"No, I just didn't expect you here. Thought you wanted to send an assistant."

Grace motioned for him to follow her inside and lead him into the kitchen. She miserably failed at arranging her hair in a decent way. Running always left it in a disheveled state, even if she always tried to do a neat ponytail.

"I figured that I have enough time to do it on my own. I hope I don't bother you too much."

His eyes shortly flickered down her body and he seemed to be pleased by what he saw. It wasn't like he was being impolite, it felt quite natural, but still Grace shivered under his gaze. He had this kind of look that made her feel as if he was seeing right through her.

"No, of course you don't. I'll just need to change. Tea or coffee?"

Grace turned to the kitchen counter and opened the drawer, looking over her shoulder questioningly.

"Tea."

He answered while he sat himself on a chair. She smiled and grabbed two bags of Earl Grey, before setting the water on to boil.

"Me too."

Their eyes locked for a short second, before Grace could rip her gaze away and quickly run up the stairs into the bathroom. She quickly showered to get the sweat off her skin and changed into a comfy sweatshirt and jeans. It had gotten cooler over the night, first signs of autumn were showing.

"I'm sorry that the place is so messy. I just moved back here and I kind of have to clean everything up."

She said as she rushed back into the kitchen. Elijah was flipping through a book while he held the cup of tea in his other hand. His fingers elegantly caressed the pages of the book and Grace's eyes fell on the small ring on his finger. It didn't look like a wedding ring, but it seemed to be ancient. Maybe a family heirloom. It kind of fitted him. He had this presence of a wise man, way ahead of his time.

"I don't want to cause any effort, Grace. You live here with your siblings?"

Grace seated herself next to him and drank her already cool tea. She always hated it when tea was too hot, she liked it very cooled off.

"Yes, I do. Our parents died in a car accident two years ago. I just became Jeremy and Elena's legal guardian, that's why I came back here."

Elijah's gaze lifted up from the book and bore into her eyes.

"How do you feel about it? It's a lot of responsibility to take."

There was a honesty in him that Grace cherished. He was the first one to ask her how she felt about everything and not mean it as an insult.

"To be honest I was beyond scared when I took it. But it strangely faded when I arrived here. Guess I kind of am growing into it."

Elijah nodded and looked at her with an unreadable expression. It gave her a tad bit of time to study his face. He must be in his middle to late thirties, his whole style was very formal, combining with his odd, but somehow sexy hairstyle he seemed to come from another time. His face looked like flawless, but still Grace had the feeling that he witnessed much. She was too shy and polite to ask him, she didn't even know if she would get to know him better above their work together.

He drank his tea up and stood up, Grace followed his motion quickly. Without any words said she knew that he wanted to grab the boxes and go on with his work. She lead him to the living room where she had put them and struggled to get the heavy box up. An amused smile was on his face when he came to a halt in front of her and took the box out of her arms. A true gentleman after all. Grace pulled up her brows in surprise when he, without any effort, lifted another box and carried them to his car. Wow, a lot of hidden power in this man.

It took him five minutes to get all the boxes into the car. Grace joined him outside and held the jacket he had left in the kitchen to him. He took it smiling charmingly at her and grace couldn't help but return it. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and his hair fell onto his forehead, teasing Grace to stroke it out of his face.

There was this feeling of easiness between the two and Grace liked it. She never had had this with a man before, as her involvement with man usually consisted of serious, dramatic relationships or drunk one night stands. It even felt good that she didn't know if their mild flirting could lead somewhere.

"I could show you some of the major historical places tomorrow, if you like."

Elijah leaned against the car and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I would love to. We could look through the rest of the files afterwards. If you can spare the whole day for me, of course. But I have to admit that I can only invite you for lunch as reward."

He gave her another one of those charming smiles that made Grace immediately blush. She chuckled and handed him a paper with her phone number on it she had prepared while he loaded his car with the boxes. She felt warmth going through the tips of fingers when they shortly touched.

"You stay at the hotel, right? I'll pick you up around 11."

Elijah looked down to the paper in his hands before he opened the door of his car and got into it. "Thanks for your help, Grace." They smiled again at each other before he started his car and pulled onto the driveway. The smile was still plastered onto her face when she was back inside. She really was excited to spent the whole day on research mission.