Elena hated fainting; she felt so weak. But she was human, what did she expect? While she was opening the box that Klaus had given her before her outbreak of rage, she contemplated her newfound strength. It was borrowed, yes. As soon as the baby was born, she would just be human again, and as much as she liked the power, she couldn't wait for the fainting to stop again.

She was caressing her stomach, when she felt a little nudge. It wasn't possible that her baby was nudging her already, Elena probably imagined it as she was still weak.
"I know you can hear me somehow, little one. We need to come to an understanding. Tonight, you cannot, under any circumstances take over, ok?" She was talking to her stomach, Elena couldn't believe it. It was though, as if the baby understood her, all of a sudden, Elena felt a lot calmer and in balance. She would make it through this night without Marcel finding out about her pregnancy.

The dress Klaus got her was beautiful, but she hadn't expected anything else. It was shining gold made of silk and would fit her perfectly. Luckily, her stomach wasn't showing yet or she would not have been able to wear it. It was held around her neck with a black necklace which was laced through the fabric and would make any jewelry unnecessary. It had cutouts around the waist and would practically guarantee that Elena stood out. With the box, Klaus had put a pair of golden Louboutins. To match her dress, she curled her hair and fixed them in a loose ponytail at the lower part of her head to put the necklace on display. Two strands of hair fell around her face to soften the image. She decided to go with a strong make-up to add a touch of drama.

Elena still wasn't pleased that Klaus and Elijah had lied to her; so many things had changed in her life over the past couple of days and she could handle it. But a lie was something she didn't want to have to accept. She knew Klaus was a twisted man, but she had expected so much more from Elijah. Elena knew that he was smitten with her, but he had so much more control over his emotions. He had betrayed her before and he had left her before, why couldn't he this time? Elena wanted to forget everything that had to do with the brothers; she didn't want to be stuck between two other brothers again. It had been such a hassle with Stefan and Damon.

As soon as she stepped down the stairs, all eyes were on her. Klaus and Elijah were already standing there waiting for her to follow. Their eyes widened for a second before they could get it under control. She was glad that she was dressed this way. At least, she felt comfortable and sexy. It was hard enough these days to be herself.

Klaus stepped towards her, but she held out a hand to stop him. "I do not want to talk to either of you. I will enjoy this evening and try to convince myself that this is a normal gala just as we had them at home. You and your plans will not concern me for one night."
"I simply wanted to state that you look breathtaking. I knew the dress would look great."

"Thank you." Fortunately, Elijah didn't even start to say anything.

Elena took a step towards the door and Klaus and Elijah followed quickly. The car was waiting outside and Elena managed her way inside.

"Listen, Elena. I won't apologize for the decisions I made, but tonight you have to be careful."
"I said that I won't concern myself with your plans tonight."
"I'm not saying that you have to, but Marcel will try and get close to you."
"So let him. I know my story."
"I'm sure my brother means a different kind of close."
"Sure enough, I know exactly what Klaus meant, Elijah. Thank you. Maybe he will let me make my own decisions."
"Elena."
"Don't Elena me. You can't play the game and not expect me to push back. You've made your choice, now you have to deal with the consequences."
Elijah opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He could understand that Elena was mad, yet, he didn't want her to make unwise decisions based on her anger towards him and his brother.

"Please, just don't do anything you would regret."

The rest of the ride was very quiet and luckily it wasn't a very long one. On the other side of the door, a young man opened the door and held out his hand to help Elena step out of the car. The location looked stunning, it was beautifully decorated and lights made it shine through the entire street. She waited for the men to catch up and then headed her way towards the entrance.

Klaus took charge of talking to the security guy at the entrance.

"Mikaelson for Three."
"Surely, Sir. Let me check the list. Ah, here you are. Have an enjoyable night."

As stunning as the place had looked from the outside, the inside was even more grant. The walls were decorated with flowers and lights and white tables were spread across the entire room to have enough seating opportunities for the guest. A big dance floor was in front of a little stage on which a band played soft music.

"I would ask you to dance with me, but I'm sure you are still too angry to consider it."
"You're right, Klaus. You can't expect to do things and simply get away with it. But if you want to start making up for it, go get me something to drink."
"Careful, Elena. I'm still me. I don't like to be pushed."

"You should have thought about that before."

Klaus headed off to the bar and Elijah was left with her standing there.

"Won't you say anything?"
"What is there to say, Elena? You are mad and right now there is probably nothing I could say to make it better." "I appreciate that. But I still want to have a fun night."
"What do you want to do?"
"Dance."
"But you didn't want to dance with Klaus." "That doesn't mean I don't want to dance at all." "I understand."

"Truly, Elijah. You don't understand what she is saying?" Marcel had stepped in to now be right in front of Elena. "Hello Marcel."

He took Elena's hand and kissed it slightly. "Hello, darling. You look stunning if it isn't obvious."
"Thank you, Marcel. It's beautiful here."
"I apologize for Elijah's behavior. He was never truly good at understanding hints. So allow me to step in. Would you like to dance?" "Gladly. At least one can understand what I was saying."

Elena took off to dance with Marcel and secretly enjoyed the teasing of Elijah a little bit. She could never like Marcel; she saw right through his façade, but it was fun to see Elijah squirm.
Marcel guided Elena to the dance floor and took charge quickly.
While she actually enjoyed herself very much throughout the night, at a certain point, she got tired and only wanted to go home. Marcel had asked her a few more questions but had mostly kept it casual. The night had been about getting to know the important people in New Orleans and test out how they reacted to her. Klaus had not interrupted Elena and Marcel once. He had been her host and she had spent most of her night with him. It was suspicious and Elena didn't trust it one bit.

It was like her alarm clock went off screamingly the minute Klaus joined her by the car, accompanied by Elijah.

"Did you have fun tonight, love?" "I did, thank you. And the dress was the perfect choice, I got so many compliments."
"I knew you would." "Did you two have fun?"
"I don't know about brother dear here, but I enjoyed myself."
"What matters is that Marcel didn't find out about you and your true plans," mumbled Elijah. "Surely, Elijah. That is what matters." "I think he is a little sour because you did not dance with him."

"He had the chance, but didn't take it."