Chapter six
When your mind says no
Elijah didn't come back after his phone conversation, so Kassandra just grabbed a bottle of bourbon and locked up the bar. Then she began the ten block walk up to Ruby's apartment. Since vampires never got winded, Kassandra almost always walked. It was a lot cheaper than taking a taxi, and, somehow, her drivers were always the creepy ones that stared down her shirt when they thought she wasn't looking.
It was nine by the time Kassandra walked up the four flights of stairs and knocked on Ruby's apartment door. The witch would be pissed at her for waking her up, but Kassandra needed her company, she needed to talk about what almost happened with Elijah.
Taking a swig of her drink, Kassandra knocked on the door. There was no answer, so the thousand year old vampire began pounding on the door. "Ruby Louise Marcus, open up the damn door!"
The door open to reveal a human man in his mid-twenties. He looked irritated, like he just got out of bed. His blonde hair was a mess, and he was just wearing boxers. It seemed that Ruby had some company.
"Hey, what do you-" the man started to say, but Kassandra cut him off, staring into his brown eyes with her hazel ones.
"Leave, now," she compelled him. Ruby could do much better than him, anyway.
The nameless man's eyes dilated, and when Kassandra looked away, he walked out of the apartment and shut the door behind him. Kassandra watched him leave with dull eyes before a very familiar voice caught her attention.
"Now I don't think that was necessary. A simple 'Ruby, clear out your boy toy' would've worked too."
Kassandra shrugged as she walked into her only friend's very messy living room. Ruby was a slob. There weren't any cleaning spells she could do, because, according to her mother, that would be "abusing her gift given to her by nature." But Ruby was already a disappointment to her mother, with her history of befriending vampires. Abusing her powers wouldn't make her any more disappointed than she already was.
"Yeah, but he wasn't even that cute, Rube," she said dismissively. Then she raised an eyebrow at her friend. "I dropped you off here at one in the morning. When did you get him?"
Ruby shrugged as she pulled a wrinkled blue sweatshirt over her tank top and panties. "Booty call," she said simply, as she walked into her kitchen and poured two cups of coffee.
Kassandra raised both eyebrows. "You responded to a booty call?" she asked with disbelief.
Ruby smirked at her. "Honey, I made the booty call."
She smirked back at her friend, walking up to her with her bottle in hand. "Care to make that coffee Irish?" she asked, giving the bourbon a shake, the liquid sloshing around in its bottle.
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "It's not even noon, Kass," she reminded her.
Kassandra shrugged. "Your point?"
"My point is that drinking strong alcohol when everyone is eating bacon and pancakes is sad even for a sad day drunk such as yourself," she replied, moving to sit down on a battered green futon in the living room. Kassandra followed her.
"Ruby, I've been buzzed since seven," she replied. "Want to hear a recap of my morning? Woke up from a wonderful nightmare of my brother dying, kept hearing his voice inside my head, ate some of the best pancakes in the world, started drinking with an original vampire, and almost made out with said drunk original. How was yours?"
"Sounds eventful," Ruby replied, before her eyebrows furrowed. "You're having nightmares again, Kassandra? Of Peter?"
Kassandra shook her head, taking a swig from her bottle. "Not important. Everybody has nightmares."
"Shit," her friend cursed, ignoring her words. "No wonder you're turning into a very sad day drunk."
"Drop it, Ruby," Kassandra said in a sharp tone, eyes dangerously alert.
"I can try to find a spell, maybe," Ruby continued. "One that'll make you unable to dream-"
"I said drop it," she snapped. She didn't want to talk about anything relating to Peter. Not with Ruby, not with anybody.
Ruby sighed. She knew little of Kassandra's past, of her human life. She was so guarded, had so many walls up, meant to keep everybody out, it was a miracle that Ruby had managed to remain friends with her that long. Kassandra had lost everybody she had ever dared to love, she had remained alone for so long that she somehow managed to convince herself that she preferred it over company. It was no surprise she was so guarded, but that didn't mean it was a good thing.
"Fine, Kass. I'll drop it," she said exasperatedly. Silence sprouted up, the two friends staring into their drinks. It was broken when Ruby cleared her throat awkwardly and said, "You were saying about almost kissing an original?" Her eyebrows shot up when she fully processed those words. "Bitch, you almost kissed an original!"
Instantly, the tension between Kassandra and Ruby disappeared. Kassandra smirked at her friend and took a swig of bourbon. It went down her throat like liquid fire. "He's a very attractive original- you'd approve."
"I need details, Kass! Right now!" Ruby demanded.
Kassandra shrugged. "It was a mistake, Ruby. I can't interact with originals. They're impulsive and dangerous and old," she said slowly, emphasizing each word as she spoke it.
"So are you," Ruby pointed out.
She shot her friend a rueful smile. "Their mother tried to kill them," she said bluntly.
Ruby's eyebrows shot up. "Esther? The original witch?"
Kassandra raised an eyebrow. "How do you know so much about the originals?" she asked curiously.
Ruby shrugged. "The spirits talk, mother's tuned into ghost radio, and my mother talks more than the spirits," she replied.
Kassandra nodded, though she gritted her teeth slightly. She hated the witch spirits that made the rules that the witches that were alive had to follow. And she was pretty sure that the spirits hated her just as much.
She shook her head to clear it. "My point is that I can't go around kissing originals, no matter how attractive they are and how drunk I am," she said. "It's not wise if I have any sense of self-preservation. They do have mommy dearest who wants them dead, after all."
"Out of curiosity, which original are we talking about?" Ruby asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Elijah," Kassandra told her. "He was the man I was talking to last night."
"Ugh, he was so hot Kass!" Ruby exclaimed, earning a chuckle from her friend. "Come on, just make out with him, okay? No! better yet, sleep with him. Kassandra, if you don't sleep with him, I will!"
Kassandra laughed to herself, all the while thinking. Her mind said no, told her to stay away from the originals, or else she'd be dragged into a dramatic mess she most certainly didn't want to be in. But Elijah was so tempting. Plus, she genuinely enjoyed his company, something rare especially since she didn't know him that well.
Kassandra's mind said no, but every other part of her screamed yes.
~SYH~
Kassandra was working at the bar later that night with Ruby. She kept telling herself that she wasn't waiting for Elijah to show up, but every time the door opened, her head snapped up so fast she would've broken it, had she been human. Ruby kept scoffing, rolling her eyes, and muttering discouraging comments like "can't go kissing around kissing originals, my ass."
It was almost midnight when the door jingled, signaling a customer. This time Kassandra forced her head down. She couldn't keep looking for Elijah, especially if she had to stay away from him.
Kassandra had washed the same glass about ten times when a customer sat down in front of her and cleared his throat. She looked up, locking eyes with familiar oak brown ones. She lost her control for a second, and just stared into the brown depths. It took Elijah clearing his throat a second time for her to come out of her thoughts.
"Oh..." Kassandra looked down at her chipped nails and then back up at the original vampire in front of her. "Hey. What can I get you?"
Elijah smiled slightly and shook his head. "I'm still slightly hungover from this morning, Kassandra," he informed her.
She raised an eyebrow. "If you don't want alcohol, then why are you at a bar?" she asked pointedly.
They both knew the answer, though, and he didn't bother to say it. He was here, at the almost dive bar, for her. Because she was the only person in the city he knew even slightly, and the only one he cared to know. Because Elijah was lost, and he was allowing himself to give into his curiosity of Kassandra whilst being lost. And, if he was honest with himself- which he always tried to be- that curiosity was more of an attraction than a curiosity.
He had more pressing matters at hand, though. Esther was still trying to kill him and his family. Finn was still helping her, still willing to play sacrificial lamb. And him and his brothers and sister were still bound together. What happens to one happens to all. He didn't have the time to be lost, to be flirting with the idea that was Kassandra. Yet, here he was, lost and flirting. It was a very un-Elijah of him. Yet everything he had been doing the past day- getting slightly drunk at eight in the morning- was very un-Elijah of him. He was beginning to question what being "Elijah" meant. It used to mean being honest, moral, responsible, honorable. But lately he had been none of those things, definitely not responsible. And, quite honestly, he liked it.
"When do you get off work?" he asked her suddenly.
Kassandra raised an eyebrow. "About ten minutes. Why?"
"I'd like to walk you home, if you didn't mind."
They both knew that Kassandra didn't need to be walked home, just like they both knew that Elijah was here for her. And Kassandra knew that it was a bad idea, for him to walk her home, if she wanted any hope of staying away from him. But still, she said yes.
"Sure, I guess I wouldn't mind," she said almost too quickly. A hint of a smile flickered across Elijah's face. Kassandra quickly ducked her head, focusing back on the already immaculate glass.
Ten minutes later, the two were walking silently down the dark street, the only source of light coming from a flickering street lamp. As usual, the two were comfortable without saying any words at all. It was something both appreciated.
"I'm supposed to stay away from you, you know," Kassandra blurted out suddenly, causing Elijah to raise his eyebrows.
"May I ask why?" he asked, a little amused. Kassandra really was strange, and that was a nice way of putting it.
She took a deep breath. "I like being alive," she started. "I like living. I reckon I've gotten good at it over the years as well. Sure, I'm impulsive and sarcastic and I don't know when to keep my mouth shut, but I've managed to survive a thousand years, so I must be doing something right. And all of my instincts are screaming at me to get the hell away from you, because you're an original and your mother wants you dead and I really don't want to get involved in anything related to Esther Mikaelson. That's' why I have to stay away from you."
Elijah paused, taking in her speech. "Yet here you are," he said quietly, after a few silent minutes.
"Here I am," she agreed.
Suddenly, Elijah stopped them. Kassandra frowned, eyebrows furrowed, and looked up at the original. And right there, in front of the empty streets and flickering street lamp, Elijah's hands closed over Kassandra's soft face, and he brought his lips down to hers.
When Elijah pulled away, Kassandra was still frozen, processing what had just happened. Then she shrugged slightly, thinking silently what the hell, and yanked Elijah down to her level by his tie. Then she captured his lips once more with hers. And this time, Kol didn't call and interrupt them.
~SYH~
A/N: I have some more news on the smut in this story. I've decided that I will write Kassandra/Elijah sex scenes, because I've read smutty stories on here recently, and it seems like, at least, most of my readers were looking forward to some sexy Elijah time. ;) And those readers won't have to wait too long, hint, hint.
Thank you to: LentilGirl, chloevamp, SomebodyWhoCares, CherrySin, Lady Wesker, and Katherine Sparrow. For reviewing!
Review!
~Abby :)
