She texts him before school, and asks if he wants to hang out that night. She's told him a lot about herself but she wants to know more about him. Friendships don't work if they're one sided. He agrees and she tells him she'll check with Jenna, but she's sure her aunt will agree to it. She gets ready and eats breakfast before she asks, but Jenna tells her it's fine. She trusts Elena not to get into trouble. Elena is being social for the first time in a long time and she has the sheriff on speed dial. Jenna tells her to just be home before breakfast the next day.
Elijah gives her this odd vibe, that he'd do anything to keep her safe. She might as for more details on where they'll be, but she's not going to stop Elena from trying to get back into the game of being social.
First hour is spent watching an educational video that's just review for what they know. It's too dark for Elena to do notes, so he waits until the next hour.
She asks him what he wants to do that night, in the second hour note. He offers his house for the activity of hanging out, unsure of what that entails in her mind.
She suggests a movie, dinner and just talking.
He can pick the movie and they can get food from the Grill.
He asks what her brother and aunt will be up to while they're at his house. She hesitates, but takes a breath and writes it down anyways.
She tells him that Jeremy is really struggling with his addiction. The fact that he has a crush on someone who's dealing with the same thing he is doesn't help. She encourages him and makes it even worse. Jenna's really worried and is trying to figure out what to do. Elena's worried. Her aunt shouldn't have to deal with this, and her parents would have known what to do. Having a doctor for a father would have been rather useful while Jeremy dealt with this.
But, Jenna's a relator and Elena doesn't know what to do. She wonders if he knows when Jeremy's supposed to die, or if he'll die of an overdose. She wants to ask but doesn't, and waits for his reply.
He weighs his options, and decides that he'll talk to his brother. He tells her he'll talk to his brother, whose name roughly translates to Finn. His domain is medicine. He might have something that could help.
She tells him she's going to hug him, if that's okay, before the day is over. That's huge. That's too nice, it's something she can't even accept. He tells her that Jeremy isn't going to die for quite a while, and that's what friends are for. They help each other out. She wonders what exactly she can offer him, she's not a centuries old goddess with magical siblings.
When they go to third hour and their teacher lectures, Elijah blinks occasionally, but she doesn't see any other sign of him being alive. She wonders if he has a pulse, but that sounds very rude to ask, so she resolves to see if he'll respond to her giving him the note in a few minutes. She just hopes he doesn't get called on while he's spacing out.
Just as she's about to pass the note, he's back. He looks at her and she lets out a quiet little sigh of relief.
He unfolds the note and she waits for his response.
He writes carefully, like he's actually paying attention to the teacher and is taking notes.
He passes it back to her. He was talking to his brother, busy in a different place. He tells her that he has something to give her brother, and explains the magical properties of it. It also has vervain in it, so she can tell him of that aspect of it. He'll be more likely to wear it then, Elijah assumes. If Elena doesn't like vampires, Jeremy probably doesn't either.
She tells him that Jeremy was usually a good judge of character, but that he didn't like the supernatural. Jeremy barely liked anyone who was supernatural, just as a rule. He hadn't liked the Salvatores for an instant, and Elena wondered if it was just the fact that they were supernatural or if it had to do with their personalities. Elijah responds that it was probably both, if Stefan was anything to go by, both he and his brother were a little too pushy. Elena wants to laugh but doesn't.
He hands her a necklace that has a metal chain, and a rough, black stone pendant. She puts it in her pocket, and they're both aware of the gaze of a certain vampire on them. Elena ignores it so Elijah follows her example.
Tanner's class is boring, and it seems like all of their teachers after third hour have decided that the best way to pass time during a Friday class period is to have a test. Tanner's smug face as he hands out tests does not improve Elena's mood.
By the end of seventh hour, Elena pretends to slump down on her desk after she turns in her last test of the day, writing in their seventh hour note that she's over tests. But at least they have just a few more minutes until school gets out.
Elijah tells her that he'll meet her at her locker again. She texts Jenna as the bell rings, to tell her about the plans she has with Elijah. Jenna would usually ask about meeting Elijah's guardian, but she's a little preoccupied with Jeremy. It's letting things slip and she's trying to get better about doing that, but she trusts Elena. She's a junior in high school, and in a year or two she'll be out on her own. Elena tells her that she has something to give Jeremy and then she'll be out of their hair for most of the night.
Jenna tells her that's okay.
Elijah meets her at her locker a few minutes earlier than the day before and she drives home with Elijah in the passenger seat.
She tells him to pick a movie and she'll call the Grill to order dinner.
Jenna and Jeremy are home a few minutes later and Elena follows her brother up the stairs, hoping that Elijah can make small talk for a few minutes. She gives him the necklace and explains her reasoning for wanting him to wear it. He reluctantly slips it on, and most of it is hidden by his shirt.
"Please let Jenna help you." She says and he nods.
It feels like the first real conversation that she's had with Jeremy in weeks.
"I love you Jer." She tells her brother. She wants to cry, just a little. She doesn't. Jenna will be calling up to see what they're up to in a minute and she's left Elijah alone downstairs for too long.
"Love you too, 'Lena." She hears her brother say as she opens the door again. She gives him a smile before she passes by Jenna on the stairs.
"Have fun." Jenna says and Elena thanks her. She wishes her aunt luck and Jenna echoes her sentiment. She wants to tell Elena that Elijah's a good conversationalist and that she has a plan. But Elena's already down the stairs and she needs to focus on Jeremy so she doesn't.
She doesn't know what she expected Elijah's house to look like, but it's a beautiful house. She carries the plastic bag with their food as he produces a key to open the door. The door opens and he turns on the light, and she follows him in. She gently shuts the door.
"I'll get plates." Elijah says as she stares a little too long at the modern looking living room.
She follows him to the kitchen, it's dark colors with silver interruptions. Sleek countertops, shiny metal and dark cabinets.
He opens a cabinet and takes out two plates and two sets of silverware, and napkins. She takes it all in.
She sets the bag down on the counter, and carefully takes their food out.
They divvy it up and eat at his dining room table. The conversation goes and doesn't stop. She asks him questions and he answers and asks a few in return. She asks surface questions, like what his favorite color is and what he's going to do for their English essay. But she carefully delves a little deeper as dinner progresses. She wants to know more about him, anything he's comfortable with.
He can see what she's doing, and it's a little odd. Instinctively, he wants to be as curt and evasive as possible, very few people have attempted to try to know him in his very long lifetime.
But Elena just wants to know, so she can know who she sold her soul and tells her secrets to. She's not going to try and plan his downfall so she can rise, isn't planning on blackmail or disturbing the balance.
So, he begins a very long story of important things and people he had seen when she interrupts. She seems a little nervous about it, and he's never been interrupted before by a human. He waits for her to speak.
She tells him that she does want to know what he's seen and who he's met, if he's willing to tell her. But she wants to know about him. Not who he presents himself to be, but who he is. He looks at her for a moment, and then begins again. Better, this time, Elena thinks.
The movie is interesting, but Elena thinks Elijah is more interesting than the movie she's seen with Jeremy a few times. It's supposed to be a serious movie but they keep making fun of it, the inaccuracies and stupid ideas of the protagonists are made hilarious. She's almost worried that she's laughing too hard, but she makes another comment and Elijah laughs harder than she does. They laugh their way through the rest of the movie.
When the movie's over, he asks if she wants to look at the stars. The sky has grown darker, the atmosphere is a little serious, but Elijah continues anyway. There's a little balcony upstairs that's perfect for stargazing. She agrees, but only if he continues talking about himself. He can agree to that, so he does. The movie was a break from speaking about himself, but he doesn't mind leaving the break.
He carefully sets the balcony up, two pillows and a blanket so they don't have to lie on something cold. Elena takes a few moments to properly move the pillow under her head, but he begins speaking anyway.
They look at the stars and he tells her the stories of them, which ones were influenced or created by gods. He admits to creating a few, pointing out constellations she's never noticed before. He misses the sky sometimes, he admits. The underworld is underground, and he rarely gets to look at the sky he and so many others have decorated.
He keeps talking, and he tells her about his siblings. He begins with Finn, and she asks him to tell his oldest brother about how much she appreciates what he did. He tells her he will. His brother of medicine spends more time directly on Earth than he does, he's in so many hospitals and places that need his help. He's been helping humans with science for centuries, all without their knowledge. He sees him at least once a week. He's one of the siblings whose realm interacts with his sometimes. Finn is kind and careful, calculated and prudent. He values human lives, values humans highly. He tells Elena that he thinks she'd like his older brother, who he calls Finn for her. All of their names are too old and heavy for her to say casually
His older sister, Freya still gets tribute from those who practice magic, real and pretend. She's one of the patron goddesses of magic, and she's everywhere. She's rarely seen in her true form, she prefers to blend in and look like others as she walks among humans. If he couldn't feel the power that radiated off her, he wouldn't be able to recognize her half the time. She's in so many places that he can't name them all. She doesn't let them know where all of her is, Elijah can respect that. She does random acts of kindness that most don't see, but he sees them every single time they happen near him. Freya is calculated, kind, beautiful, wise and impulsive at some times.
His brother Klaus is one of the siblings he sees fairly regularly, at least once a week if not more. He's one of the gods of war, and war and death have always gone hand in hand. Elena shivers at that, and he pauses, retrieving a blanket for her. She thanks him, and wraps it around herself. She's not sure if the shiver was at his words or the decreasing temperature.
Klaus is artistic. "Even beauty can be found in carnage sometimes," as Klaus is fond of saying. Elena's not sure if she believes that or not. But he sees his younger brother regularly, and tells Elena that the period of time that she's living in is, so far, is the most peaceful period in human history. But his brother can still be found in warzones by front lines and military camps, with widows and orphans. Just because his domain is war doesn't mean he only cares about soldiers, that he's only reckless and violent. It's not true at all. Klaus can see the beauty in almost anything, and he can't stand how callous humans are sometimes. He does what he can. Klaus is smart, calculated, impulsive and kind.
His brother Kol is the god of mischief. He's cunning and humorous, he loves a good joke. He played jokes and tricks on all of them when they were younger, centuries ago. He's almost always on Earth. He's in prank shops and wherever jokes are. He wants people to be happy, and he always reminds Finn to tell humans that they need to laugh more. It's good for their health, he says and Finn rolls his eyes and tells him that he already knows. Then Finn discovers whatever trick Kol had tried to pull on him, and Kol disappears. Kol sees Elijah frequently, not all jokes end well, but Elijah's domain is somber. He makes fewer jokes there. Kol is kind and funny. He's impulsive most of the time. He would have approved of what they did during the movie.
His sister Rebekah is the goddess of love and beauty. She's on Earth like the rest of his siblings, around humans. She's everywhere love is, which is everywhere. She's proud of all who love. A lot of people assume she only deals with romantic love, but that's untrue. She deals with familial love, the love of friends and pets and romantic love. She deals with any kind of love, pure or not. She's blonde, and beautiful. She loves easily but not always freely, and she's found by matchmakers and coffee shops, street corners and places where love grows. She loves Paris, and none of his siblings have the heart to tell her that humans didn't really think of her when they made it. She speaks fluent French. She knows every language, but she loves French the most because it's supposed to be her language. The language of love. Rebekah is idealistic, loving, and sees the advantages and disadvantages of being impulsive, so she's impulsive and prudent. Elena would like her, he knows.
His voice gets quieter, older, when he speaks of his youngest sibling. Henrik had died human, and he was a beautiful person. He was funny, kind and smart. He was the best of everything, all of the traits their family was known for, including their parents. It almost wrecked his parents when Henrik died, it almost wrecked all of them. But Henrik was happy, in the afterlife and really that was all that mattered. Elena carefully find his and and puts it in hers. She gives his hand a supportive squeeze, despite the fact she knows he doesn't need her as she needs him. Pain was pain, regardless of how old it was.
Elijah begins to speak a little more about himself, his voice begins to have an accent as he continues speaking after that.
Elena doesn't think about coming home until it gets lighter outside, and it's only really because Elijah tells her that she should probably go home, at the risk of worrying Jenna. She almost forgot about the sunrise, and she remembers that she does have to go home.
She thanks him for his honesty and for telling her so much, as she gets up, the blanket still around her. He carefully takes the pillows and other blanket and opens the door to go back inside. When he's placed things where he wants them, his arms are empty. So she just decides to go for it. She hugs him. Her head is against his shoulder, and he's stiff for a moment. But then he hugs her back and she doesn't know how long they stand there. She thanks him, and he thanks her. He forgot what real friends were like. He doesn't elaborate and she doesn't ask, but they break away and she returns his blanket to him. After they walk downstairs, he gives her the movie they watched. She finds her shoes and purse and tells him she'll see him again soon, and to have a good night. He wishes her the same, and watches as she carefully backs out of his driveway.
He gets a text twenty minutes later, a goodnight text message wishing him sweet dreams.