I'm not like the others
So don't fight it anymore no
What will it take for me to make you see?
I'm not your enemy

~
Not Your Enemy - Jesse McCartney


She had ended up right back where she started – but in a lot more pain.

That was so stupid, she thought angrily to herself as tears of frustration welled and threatened to slide from the corners of her eyes. So, so, so, stupid!

The burning sensation came in waves as her muscles continued to scream at her for her actions. She slowly moved her arms up and into sight, observing the severity of her wounds.

The thorn-filled bushes had done a number on her sweater, leaving large scattered gashes running down both of her arms. Through the holes, she noticed deep scratches from where she had ripped herself up from the underbrush. A few of the barbs still remained deep in her agitated skin. Judging just from her arms, she did not want to think about what the rest of her body looked like.

Removing the thorns would require more pain and she decided, at the moment, she just could not handle that. Instead, she slowly inched her arms back down to her sides and stared at the ceiling, trying to distract herself from her pain with thought.

Elijah had not harmed Jeremy or Jenna; she wanted to trust that, but she would not risk him keeping his word by acting so stupidly again. She pictured poor Jeremy, robotically packing her things, unaware that he may never see his sister again. She blinked her eyes rapidly, stopping that notion in its tracks.

She desperately missed Stefan. In her aching state, what she wanted most was him there to soothe her and tell her everything was going to be all right. She also felt the need to see Damon – to at least let him know she was okay. He had gone through so much attempting to save her and she could not imagine how he must feel not knowing whether she were alive or dead. Hopefully Stefan could prevent him from doing anything reckless because she would not be able to stand losing anyone else.

She knew that Elijah would do everything in his power to keep her here – wherever here was. If Stefan or Damon were ever able to find her, Elijah could stop them effortlessly – and that was a frightening thought.

Elijah… The way he looked at her in the woods was burned into her memory. It was what she imagined staring death in the face would be like. The irony of it all sent a shudder through her, briefly reigniting the pain within her limbs.

She was still left completely in the dark when it came to him. While she still had no clue what he planned to do with her, it wasn't hard to guess that it required her to stay alive. Even though she knew her escape attempt was tragically irrational, it still surprised her that he seemed to move past it so easily.

As her constant stream of thoughts besieged her mind, she failed to notice her eyes slowly starting to become heavy as exhaustion inevitably won over.


"Gratias," Elijah murmured to the now lifeless creature that lay on the ground before him. He had given this gesture of gratitude to each of his kills throughout the night.

Even after a thousand years, something still felt off about taking a life.

That being said, he had allowed himself to be enveloped by the hunt more so on this night than in hundreds of years. His anger toward Klaus, grieving for his family, her – all of his troubles piled endlessly onto one another. In the dense cover of the forest, in a heap of teeth and snarls, he had let himself snap and relished in the predator he truly was.

He felt much better after feeding. He had come so close to ruining everything due to letting his hunger – and emotions, get out of hand. Elijah knew he was stronger than that, having focused the majority of his life as a vampire developing unmatchable self-control – never even slipping once until Elena entered the picture.

When the sun began to break over the horizon, he realized he had been out a lot longer than he thought.

He refused to admit it openly to himself, but now that he was firmly in control with hunger aside, the condition he'd left Elena in oddly irked him. He had unintentionally seen Tatia in her saddened face that night and the memory was not so easily forgotten.

Before heading back, he retrieved his jacket from the tree limb he had neatly perched it on before his hunt. After shrugging it on, he pulled a starch white handkerchief out of its pocket to remove the remaining blood from his lips.


A faint knock on the door startled Elena from her sleep. She quickly sat up to see Elijah enter the room with a small bowl and a glass of water.

"Tsss," she breathed in through clenched teeth as her body reminded her of her late night excursion.

Elijah was beside her in a second; quickly setting the dishes on the night stand before gently guiding her back down onto the pillows.

When the pain dulled and she was able to focus, she glanced over at what she discovered was a bowl of soup before eyeing him incredulously.

"How are you feeling this morning?" He mocked lightly with the slight raise of an eyebrow. He sat at the end of the bed deliberately slow so as to not cause any unnecessary movement.

Elena scoffed. His mood swings, which rested on separate ends of the spectrum, were almost amusing at this point.

When she did not give him an answer, he carefully slid up the bed, closer to her side, and examined her for himself. He focused first on her forearms, using feather light touches to move the gashes in her sweater around just enough to see the extent of the damage underneath.

The closeness made her feel entirely uneasy, his forehead hovering just above her shoulder while he continued to assess her wounds. She would have gladly moved away from his touch, but she knew that searing pain would be the only result.

He lingered for a moment, particularly interested in something on her right arm. She looked down to where he was starring just as he slid a shred of sweater out of the way, revealing an unmistakably hand-shaped bruise just above the crease her elbow.

An obscure look of mortification passed over his face as Elena's eyes rose to meet his.

Why did he feel like such a disgusting monster for leaving a mark on her? He was pretty sure he had just slaughtered half the forest with little remorse, but this – this stirred something deep within him.

Elena's own expression fell as her gaze moved back to the bruise. It was large and deep lavender, the edges of his long fingermarks faintly outlined in pink.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Elijah move slightly before she felt his feather light touch under her chin. She tightly closed her eyes in response, not wanting any of this to be happening.

With more tenderness than she had ever felt come from a touch, he tilted her head up, holding it steady for a moment until her eyes finally opened to meet his.

"I am so sorry, Elena."

It was the first time he had ever spoken her name aloud and it rolled sweetly off his tongue in an accent she could not place. The sincerity that filled his tone perfectly matched his deeply troubled expression. It was a look of shame and subtle self-loathing; one Elena easily recognized and knew all too well.

As much as she wanted to, she could not force her eyes off his. At this point, she knew Elijah did not say things unless he meant them, but even if that were not the case she would have known this was real. His humanity had switched on like a spotlight focused directly upon her.

She searched, but could not find words.

He was the first one to break their gaze as his hand left her chin to reach down and softly lift her hand into his.

"I have to remove these thorns before your wounds become infected," he uttered, his masked tone beginning to fall back into place.

She merely nodded, knowing he was going to do it regardless of what she said, yet for the first time she did not feel the need to stop him. She was still unable to wrap her mind around what just happened but it had surprisingly enabled her guard to slightly fall.

She looked the opposite direction, her bottom lip held securely between her teeth, preparing for pain.

It was not as bad as she expected. His cool fingers worked fast yet delicately, causing only a slight sting each time a thorn was lifted from skin. As she grew used to the repeated sensation, her mind began to wander.

"Where are we?" She pondered aloud, her eyes finding their way toward the window.

"We are in one of my safe-houses. I'm sure you'd understand if I choose to keep the location disclosed," he replied casually, still focused completely on his work.

"We're in the middle of nowhere aren't we?" She thought back to her sprint through the unyielding trees.

"Let's just say I am good at not being found," he responded as he leaned slightly across her to take her opposite hand into his and continued the process.

The stinging sensation picked up again when he moved to the new arm. She looked down to check his progress, but hesitated when she realized her face was now much too close to his.

When he felt her move, he paused for a moment and looked up to find her curious gaze only inches from him.

"Why are you being so nice to me? Tending to my wounds... Soup..."

Her question earned her a shallow chuckle as he sat up. "You are being held captive, covered in injuries of all colors and shapes – yet you ask me why I am being nice to you?"

"Well everything but the captive part wasn't directly your fault. This was my own stupidity," she grimaced, carefully lifting a splotched arm into the air between them. "So yes, I guess I am."

His face clouded over briefly as he caught another glimpse of the bruise he left her with. This girl really was a martyr wasn't she? While Elena had put him through some trials in the last couple days, his sins topped hers without question. This whole 'holding her prisoner' thing was made much easier for him due to her tragic self-depreciation.

"I merely need you alive and well," he stated matter-of-factly, "and now that you are being still and manageable, I see no reason for further torment," he added with a slight smirk, leaning back over her to continue his work on her arm.

This lighthearted side of Elijah helped to loosen her tension a little but also left her more bewildered than ever before. If he was going to hurt her, he would have already, given both a reason to and many chances spread out before him. But instead here he was, perched at her side, playing doctor.

"Instead of going through so much trouble, why don't you just heal me with your blood?" She asked, truly curious. She was so used to being force-fed by either Stefan or Damon every time she suffered so much as a scratch that it had almost become a normal occurrence for her.

He exhaled through his nose and shook his head slightly in disbelief. Had she really just questioned why an original wouldn't just hand over his blood as if it were aspirin?

"I cannot trust what you would do with vampire blood in your system," he clearly referred back to her escape attempt, "and besides, your wounds are not too much for your own body to handle with time."

His words strangely earned him a sliver of her gratitude. While everyone around her had placed her high upon a pedestal and smothered her with protection, Elijah saw her as just a human. To anyone else, she knew the concept would seem incredibly backwards but to her, it was refreshing.

"Thank you for that," her earnest tone pulled his puzzled gaze back to her.

"Now you're thanking me?" His astonishment showed true on his features.

"It takes me being captured for someone to finally treat me like I'm just a human being," it was her turn to return his wit, slightly smiling despite the wrongness of her revelation.

"It takes holding someone prisoner for them to not treat me like a ruthless original," he scoffed, countering her; and he meant it. He was accustomed to people shaking at the mere mention of his name. Instead, Elena repeatedly surprised and challenged him – to the point of nearly driving him mad – and it was, well – refreshing.


Thank goodness for weekends and time to write!

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter, as I had a lot of fun writing it!

Please let me know what you think about how their relationship is progressing.
Making it smooth and believable is my biggest goal.

Thanks again for all the follows/faves/reviews. You guys are truly my inspiration!