Guest: Thank you. I think this is a first for me, for not making Klaus an even sort of bad guy.

Eva: Trevor is upping his game so Elejah doesn't have time to mess around. I'm glad you liked the date. I had to rewrite it a couple times and I realized that the story fully turned away from what I originally planned. I suppose it's not a bad thing though. The mess brought on by the circumstances will be addressed in chapter 8.

Julie: As you'll see in this chapter, something will happen and they won't need any more pushing.

Sarah: I've said a couple times that this story has gotten away from me, but that part was always the same. I never intended to have any sort of romance between Klaus and Elena.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters familiar to TVD or TO.

Chapter 7

Upon leaving his hotel, they decided to walk and see what place appealed to them. Half an hour later, they were sitting at a bar and grill. "So…" Rebekah prodded as she looked at her brother. "Tell me about this girl."

He shrugged, attempting to keep casual. "Nothing to tell," Elijah denied lightly. "I met her through a mutual friend and we've been thrown together a few times over the past several months."

"Oh…so if that's the case, why did you look like someone kicked your dog when she called."

He sighed, focusing on the beer mug between his hands. "I may have offered to help her catch Klaus' attention."

She began to laugh. "You fell for her, didn't you?"

"It doesn't matter what I feel for her," he denied, not admitting one thing or another. "You should have seen her when Klaus noticed her for the first time," he shook his, remembering the night. "She had no care that he has been quasi-dating one of her friends and then he was all over her that night. He offered to take her home and then he asked her out."

"So?" Rebekah asked. "They met up for lunch. It doesn't exactly scream romantic get together."

He sighed. "It doesn't matter. I should have known better," Elijah chided himself. "It didn't exactly work out with Rose. I should have known better than to get emotionally involved with anyone." Not that he had truly been involved, but he'd certainly been more vested in Elena than he had been with any woman since his wife.

"Look, Rose was a selfish bitch, Elijah," she broke in. "What happened between you two wasn't your fault. And you certainly shouldn't let that dictate the way you live the rest of your life."

Shaking his head, he took a long drink from his beer. "Yeah, I thought so too. And then I realized that Elena never looked at me the way she looked at Klaus, not once. And you know what? I don't care."

She snorted at him. "Yeah? Excuse me if I have a difficult time believing you, what with the way you're drowning your sorrows."

He made a point of putting down his drink. "You're right. How about you, Rebekah. Is there anyone in your life?"

"There may or may not be someone," she allowed teasingly. "I've been on a few dates, but nothing very serious yet. And I'm certainly not ready to bring her home to mom and dad."

"No, I wouldn't suggest that…certainly not before coming out to them," he suggested quietly.

She immediately began to shake her head. "Please don't push me on this."

"Don't you ever get tired of mom trying to talk you into getting married and giving her grandchildren?" He snorted. "At least you have a valid excuse as to why you can't."

"Thank you for lunch," Elena said quietly, as they approached her car.

Klaus stuffed his hands in his pockets and nodded. Ever since she'd returned from the restroom, she'd been quiet and only spoke when he'd prodded her to. It left him feeling like a complete douche. He knew he could have spoken up and clarified the situation for her, but Caroline was adamant that he let it run its course. "It was nice being able to talk with you without everyone else present."

She looked down at her watch and sighed. When she'd taken the afternoon off from work, she wasn't sure how long she'd be at lunch. And though their time together lasted longer than a regular lunch was, she still had time to return to work, if she wanted. However, work was the last thing on her mind.

"Why don't you try and call my brother later?" He suggested after an awkward pause. "I'm sure it is all a misunderstanding." Caroline was sure that Elena would stew about it, but that also meant that she'd think the worst of his brother and he didn't quite understand how she thought it would work out. If Elena had enough time to fret over the assumption that his brother was having sex while out of town on business, would she really be willing to forget it when his brother did return?

She immediately shook her head in negative. She wasn't ready to deal with that. It was difficult enough knowing that Elijah had slept with someone else. She couldn't imagine speaking to him about it. Because really, it wasn't as if he owed her anything. And she knew what she was feeling was irrational, but it didn't make it any less painful. "Your brother is a grown man that has no responsibilities or anything to tie him down. He shouldn't have to explain himself."

"But that doesn't stop you from wanting him to," he returned quietly.

She opened her mouth to respond to him, but when words eluded her. "I know it's completely stupid," she laughed at herself. "I don't know why I care so much."

"Because you like him."

"No…" She denied weakly. "I…don't-"

He interrupted her. "Elena, I recognized it and I was only with you for two hours."

"But I can't like him," she argued.

Given the tone of total insecurity, he wasn't sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

"I spent the last however many months disliking him," she added. "How could I go from that to having feelings for him?"

He shook his head. "Emotions are tricky things like that." He wished he could give her answer, because it was obviously bothering her. "Is there a chance, Elena, that you harbored feelings for him all along and you didn't know it?"

She frowned at his proposal. No, that couldn't be it. "Do you know what happened the first time we met?"

He nodded in reply. When he'd first been introduced to the group, he'd been surprised when he heard Elena cut Elijah. His brother was usually charming and until then, he'd never heard a woman say something bad about him. He made his business to know why Elena had reacted the way she had to him. "Did you ever stop to consider that maybe you had minute; and I mean very miniscule, feelings of interest in him? Something that was so brief in passing, you didn't realize it and then you watched him take off with another woman?"

Once again, she stopped to consider his words. Was it possible that she'd felt something for him back then? It made sense. Other than Trevor, she'd never been involved with another man. It wasn't as if she'd been the notch on some player's bedpost. If she had, her reaction to Elijah's ways would have made sense. But she'd hadn't been used in any way.

She remembered that night clearly. She remembered Rick calling her to tell her that he bringing someone with him that night. She remembered walking up to her friends and pausing when she caught sight of Elijah for the first time. And as they'd all spoken, he'd been perfectly amiable. She remembered that he barely looked at her; but what left a lasting impression was the fact that he hadn't singled out any of her friends either. And she'd been relatively quiet that night, not because she didn't like him, but because she hadn't known what to say. She spent most of the evening looking in any direction that he wasn't in. And when the group dispersed, she'd watched him sidle up to a blonde that had been sitting across the room.

"Oh my God…" She trailed off. "I have feelings for Elijah…"

He chuckled, the tone of her voice amused him. She almost sounded mystified by the revelation. "There we go," he nodded once.

"I…I don't even know when that happened," Elena whispered. For one brief instant, it was as if her heart lightened…and then it went plummeting back down into her stomach. "But it doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" She smiled sadly. Elijah had claimed more than once that he wasn't as bad as she'd assumed he was. And she'd almost started to believe him. "Apparently he doesn't hold back when he's traveling," she muttered.

"Green is not a flattering color on you," Klaus observed.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"You're jealous," he chuckled over her reaction. "Have you thought about telling him how you feel?"

"Oh, you mean in the last few minutes since I realized my feelings?" She inquired with a forced cheeriness. "I confess, I have not." And she certainly wasn't about to. Whatever feelings that Klaus mentioned Elijah had for her couldn't have been very strong if he was able to sleep with another woman after only being gone for a few days.

"I think I may have an idea…"

She shook her head, not liking his admission. "Klaus…"

"Look, I don't know what happened between him and that woman, but I really don't think that he'd have sex with another woman."

She nearly scoffed. "And what makes you so sure?"

"Because he looked like he wanted to kill me the other night just for talking with you the other night. Elena, if you follow along with my plan, I guarantee that will work out for you."

She shook her head. "No. No more games." She was tired of playing them. "First, Elijah talking me into changing my hair upgrading my wardrobe so I could catch your attention; and now you're planning something?" She shook her head again. "No."

The two were so engrossed in their conversation that they barely paid any mind when the sound of a car starting from a couple rows over.

"You won't even consider it?" Once again, she shook her head in negative. Klaus reached for her hand and brought it to his heart. "You wound me."

Elena giggled over his dramatics. However, her laughter was short lived when she spotted the car driving towards their direction. Normally, it wouldn't give pause, but she noticed that not only was the driver accelerating, but he or she seemed to be aiming for them.

Klaus followed her line of sight. "Is that asshole going to stop?"

Her mind went blank. And as she reached her hands out to Klaus, she used as much of her strength as she could and pulled her against him. Between her pulling and the inertia of his rushing towards her, the two went sprawling on the asphalt. Klaus tried to hold her against him, knowing that the fall was going to be painful. Her head smacked the pavement and she groaned.

The sound of a crash pulled their attention and Klaus looked up to see the side mirror of her car falling to the ground. "Hey!" He screamed, pushing himself off Elena. The car accelerated, tires squealing on the pavement. He tried to get a look at anything that would be helpful, but by the time his thoughts settled enough, the car was far enough off that he couldn't read the license plate. He turned back to Elena to find her still sprawled out on the ground. "Elena!"

Her eyes were unfocused. She attempted to blink to clear her vision, but it was too painful for her. Her eyes fluttered shut and lost her battle against unconsciousness.

Klaus was vaguely aware of the people that surrounded them as he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911.

"And there isn't anything else that you remember? Man? Woman? White? Black?" Stefan drilled staring at Klaus.

As soon as the EMT's arrived, Elena was rushed to the hospital. He got off lucky, nothing more than scrapes and bruises. From the moment the first cop arrived, he'd done nothing but answer question after question. And frankly, Klaus was growing tired of it. "Like I told the last guy who asked me, no," he answered.

Stefan held a picture of Trevor out for Klaus to look. "Was it him?"

Understanding that the questioning was important, Klaus bit back his annoyance. Taking the picture from Stefan, he stared at it. "I…" he shook his head. "Maybe…I don't know," he sighed in annoyance of not being able to provide anything helpful as he handed it back. "It all happened so fast, you know? When a car is gunning for you, you look at the car not the driver. Ronald McDonald could have been driving it and I wouldn't have noticed."

Stefan took back the picture, chewing on his cheek.

It was obvious by the look on his friend's face that he was aggravated over the situation. "Look, man, I wish I could be more help but…"

Stefan nodded. "I know. I just hate that I'll have no answers for her when she wakes up," he confessed.

Klaus gestures to the picture in Stefan's hand. "Do you think it was him?"

"On an official level I can't rule out any possible suspects."

He tried to read between the lines of what wasn't said. "And on an unofficial level?" he inquired.

"Yeah, I think it was him," Stefan rolled his shoulders. "He's escalating." Trevor may not have intended to kill her family, but he hadn't been above harming them. "It doesn't matter to him that he could have killed her in that moment. He lost it when he noticed that you were holding her hand. And if this wasn't just a coincidence and Trevor is responsible, he's going to approach her sooner, rather than later; restraining order be damned."

"You going to the hospital?"

"I need to finish this up here, and then yes." If they refused to let him see her, all he'd need to do was flash his badge.

"Will you tell her that I'm sorry?" Klaus asked. "I didn't even think about protecting her head."

Stefan nodded once before excusing himself to return to the scene.

Pursing his lips, Klaus reached for his phone. He dialed Elijah's number and sighed in annoyance when it went to voicemail.

When she remembered waking up the next time, the brightness around her assaulted her and scrunched her eyes closed. Her head still hurt, but not nearly as much as it had before. A moment later, she cautiously attempted to open her eyes once again. Where was she? The ceiling over her head was unfamiliar. More than that, what happened? Raising her hands to scrub her face, she felt a tug on her left hand. She looked down to see an IV hooked up to her. She gracelessly dropped her hand and looked down at herself. Why was she in the hospital? The action, though little, exhausted her and she rest her head back down on the bed. It was fait to judge that even though the lights were on, it was dark outside. Turning it to the side, she discovered Stefan sprawled in a chair.

"Stefan." She received nothing in response. "Stefan," her voice rose.

His eyes opened and when he realized that Elena was looking at him, jumping up, he stepped to her side. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," her eyebrows furrowed together. "What happened?"

"You were nearly mowed down."

His words gave her clarity and she remembered the events that occurred. Her thoughts turned to the man that had been with her at the time. "Where's Klaus? Is he okay?"

"He's okay. He was checked out at the scene," he answered in a soothing voice. "He was worried about you. Elena, I need to ask you some questions. And I know this isn't the best time, but…what do you remember about what happened?"

She took a deep breath. "We finished eating lunch and he walked me to my car. We lingered for a few minutes talking and I noticed a dark gray car heading for us. Klaus and I were able to get out of the way, and when we fell I smacked the back of my head on the pavement."

"Did you seeing who it was or…provide…anything?" He asked. Klaus had been unable to distinguish if the driver had been male or female.

"It had to have been Trevor," she replied.

He shook his head. "He doesn't drive a gray car, Elena."

"Then maybe it was stolen?" She asked.

"No reports have been filed for a stolen gray car," he sighed. "He was my first thought too, but there's nothing to prove it." He wouldn't build up her fear. He'd investigate first and wait for solid evidence before he named Trevor the suspect.

Pursing her lips, Elena sighed. She understood his point, but she refused to believe it. What were the chances that this would have occurred after Trevor had been released from the psychiatric hospital and him not being involved? She voiced her thoughts to him.

"I didn't say he didn't do it, I just said that there was no tying him to it," he corrected.

"So there's nothing that can pinpoint this person?"

"We retrieved paint transfer from your car. It's being tested, but it will take some time."

"What's some time?" She frowned.

"It's not like watching CSI," he defended. It didn't just come together so easily...

Feeling chastised, her bottom lip began to tremble. "I know. I just…I hate this." Tears filled her eyes and she was unable to stop them. "I'm so stupid. I thought I was doing the right thing by trying to move on and not focus on this, but it was a naïve decision."

He gently claimed a seat on the edge of her bed and gathered her into his arms, remaining mindful of the IV that was attached to her. "We'll catch him Elena."

"Klaus could have been hurt today," she continued on, paying no mind to his words.

"But he wasn't," he denied.

"But him just being with me could have harmed him," Elena insisted. "It's not safe for me to be around anyone."

His stomach clenched and his embrace on her tightened. "I know what you're thinking, Elena. And that is exactly what Trevor is hoping to accomplish."

"I have to go home. I can't put Caroline in danger."

He shook his head.

"She's pregnant, Stefan. I'd never forgive myself if something happened to her because of me." She would not waver, she couldn't. She'd rather die than have someone else injured because of her. "I can't go back there."

"You can't go back to your apartment," he argued.

"And I can't let anyone else get hurt because of me." When she was released from the hospital, she'd return to her apartment. She couldn't return to Caroline and Matt's. She couldn't…she wouldn't.

"Then come home with me," he offered. "No one would be stupid enough to break into a detective's house."

She shook her head. "No. I've already caused too much trouble for everyone."

"I've got bad news on the paint."

Stefan rubbed his forehead and reach for the extended file. "That isn't exactly what I wanted to hear."

"It's a standard paint. And while we can narrow down the make and model, that's about it," the technician said. Unfortunately there wasn't anything about it that could narrow down their search.

"Would we be able to cross check it with DMV records?" Maybe they would get lucky?

"I'm working on generating a list, but it's going to take some time." He studied his co-worker. "I know it wasn't what you wanted to hear."

"At least it's something," Stefan admitted. He'd been feeling useless, and he hated feeling that way. He hated not being able to help Elena.

"Really, Damon. I'm fine. The hospital wouldn't have released me if they felt I was in danger of falling asleep and not waking up."

"I know you can take care of yourself, but humor me," he said, attempting to charm her.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she arched her eyebrows at him. "Just so you know, I grew immune to your charms back in college. Look, I know you're just trying to help, but honestly, I'll be okay on my own."

"I'm sure you will. But if I walk out that door, not only will I have to deal with my pissed off little brother; but also be on the shit list with my girlfriend, your best friend. And I make it a point not to be on that list of hers."

From the moment that she'd been released from the hospital, she hadn't had a moment's peace. Both Caroline and Matt berated her for her decision to go back to her apartment. It was so bad, that she hadn't bothered with retrieving the items that were left behind at their place.

Bonnie had stayed with her the previous night under the guise of a girl's night. And as thankful as she'd been to veg out in front of the television watching movies, she knew that it was only because she was being baby-sat. Bonnie turned in for the night at eleven and she'd opted to stay up to 'finish the last movie.' However, two hours later, she was still wide awake. She wasn't even sure what time it was when she fell into a fitful sleep, but it was only after she'd checked her doors and windows multiple times.

And when Bonnie left for work that morning, Damon popped in. Since he had the day off, he'd been elected to spend it with her. Elena found her patience swiftly decreasing with every hour that passed.

"Damon, nothing is going to happen to me here." Whenever Trevor made contact with her, it was out in public.

"You're right, it won't, because I'll be here." He helped her to sit at the kitchen table. "You know I love you, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I love Bonnie more."

She snorted at his words.

"And I know that she'd string me up by my balls if I left you by yourself." He turned around and began pulling out items from her refrigerator. "Now stop being difficult, and I'll make us dinner."

He was going to cook for her? Aside from living with Caroline, no one had ever cooked for her. "You've never cooked for me before."

"I know, so sit back and enjoy it."

She watched him for a beat before speaking again. "Do you need any help?"

He laughed. "You really don't understand the meaning of 'sitting back' do you?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, I guess not."

He considered her offer. "Okay, when I'm at the restaurant, I don't have to worry about dishes. So how about as I go along, you wash and dry the dishes?"

"I can do that."

"Here's a list of what we've got so far."

Stefan reached for the paper from the other detective. He read over each address, trying to picture the street locations in his head. "Silverado, Vista Grande, Valley Vista, Meadow Vista…Meadow Vista."

"That last one mean something to you?"

Stefan closed his eyes. He could picture reading the street sign as he turned on the street. "I…I know it does. I just…I can't remember how." He reached for his jacket. "Let's go."

Usually, he and his partner argued over who got to drive, but Stefan gladly got into the passenger side. Within minutes they were near their destination and it wasn't until his partner turned onto a familiar street that Stefan realized why it sounded familiar.

"Damn," Stefan cursed, reaching for his phone. "How could I not remember?"

"What?"

Stefan moved to his contact list and selected Matt's name. "A friend of mine lives on that street." His thoughts turned back to the previous month. Caroline and Matt had a barbeque and when he and the guys were playing football in the front yard he remembered seeing a gray car drive past them before parking in the garage of the house diagonally across from them.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Stefan."

"What's up, man?"

"You have a neighbor, and I remember Caroline saying that he was new to the neighborhood."

"Uh…" As bad as it was to say, Caroline was the one that really knew the neighbors. He would wave in passing if he saw them, but other than that, he didn't really have contact with any of them.

"Across from you to the left. Older man."

Placing a face to the description, Matt nodded against the phone. "Bob. He moved in after his wife died. No kids..."

"He drives a gray car, right?"

"I…I think. Why?"

"I can't say right now, but I think it's a good thing that Elena isn't there. I've got to go. I'll be talking to you later."

"I'll get it," Damon offered, hearing the doorbell ring.

Elena pushed him down into his seat. "I think I can answer my own door." She took a sip from the glass of wine.

"And if it's Trevor?" He asked, not holding back.

"Then you can say 'I told you so.'"

"We're going to have to work on the timing of your humor," he told her as she walked out of the kitchen without sparing him a glance.

Unlocking the door, she cautiously pulled it open. "What are you doing here?"

Elijah offered her a sheepish smile, pulling a bouquet out from behind his back, he extended it towards her. "Klaus called me. I caught the first flight that I could." Of course he'd spent a good chunk of time at the airport.

Elena reached for the flowers and brought them to her nose. "Thank you."

Stepping into the apartment, he closed the door behind him. "Elena, I…" Unable to finish his words, he approached her. Placing one hand on her waist he fused his mouth against hers.

AN: So what'd you guys think?