Happy Birthday, Elena
Chapter 10
The following morning, Elena woke up alone, tucked comfortably into the middle of Elijah's bed. As her eyes opened slowly, she listened carefully to judge if Elijah was just elsewhere in the apartment and hadn't wanted to wake her, but she didn't hear any movement. Frowning, Elena sat up, and glanced around. There was no trace that Elijah had even been in the bedroom that morning. Pushing the covers away from her body and got out of bed and headed downstairs, only to be met with an unfamiliar blonde watching her from the doorway.
"Um, hello?" Elena questioned.
"Ah, you're awake. Elijah will be thrilled. I'm Rebekah."
"Oh, it's nice to meet you. I, uh, thought Elijah and I were going to pick you up from the airport together?" Elena asked.
"That had been the plan, yes, but plans ended up changing, so he came to get me himself and let you slept. Said you've had a stressful few days and needed the rest." Rebekah replied.
"I see." Elena said with a slight frown.
"I've never seen my brother as happy as he was when he was talking about you yesterday. And don't worry, except for when Stefan brought you up in conversation, Elijah never mentioned your name around Stefan." Rebekah commented before glancing over her shoulder, causing Elena to join her in the doorway and glance down the hall herself. "There you are, Brother. You upset your girlfriend." She said with a smirk.
"I'm sorry Elena. I didn't mean to upset you. I had left a note in the kitchen, but I suppose leaving it in the bedroom would have been a better idea." Elijah said before placing a small kiss on her lips. "How long have you been awake?" He asked.
"A few minutes." Elena replied glancing down at the luggage that he was dragging/carrying behind him. "Is someone going on vacation?" She asked.
"Oh, those are mine. Nik bought me a whole bunch of new clothes and some luggage when I told him that I would be joining Elijah down here." Rebekah said.
"Got it." Elena responded with a nod.
"Rebekah is aware of the situation with the apartment, so she's not waiting for you to invite her in. She's just being stubborn and refusing the carry any of her own things to her apartment down the hall." Elijah said when he caught Elena's worried look.
"You're not upset about not being able to come into your brother's apartment?" Elena asked in a small voice, glancing at Rebekah.
"Of course not. I understand why he did what he did to keep you safe. Hell, he almost had me thinking of asking to put your name on my lease too. But we'll get to know each other first." Rebekah said, and smile pulling at her lips when Elena's eyes went wide at that.
"Elena, darling, would you mind trying to talk my sister into helping me with her luggage?" Elijah asked.
"'Darling' sounds a lot better coming from you than it does coming from Kol. You make it sound like the form of endearment it's meant to be, Kol makes it sound creepy." Rebekah commented as she grabbed the lightest bag from the pile. "And here, I'm helping." She added with a smirk.
"I can help. Let me just get changed really quick." Elena offered.
"Nonsense, Elena. Elijah's got it." Rebekah said.
"Sister, you have the key to your apartment, why don't you start carrying these yourself while I wish my girlfriend a proper good morning." Elijah suggested.
"For the record, that is not something I need to see... ever." Rebekah said as she grabbed another suitcase and walked down the hall. "Oh, brother, we'll need to go shopping to furnish this place." She called from her own doorway.
"She seems nice so far." Elena commented as Elijah stepped into the apartment and pulled her into his arms.
"I'm sorry for leaving without waking you this morning. You look too peaceful and stress-free when you sleep, and I couldn't bring myself to wake you. How you managed to stay asleep when I moved out from underneath you is amazing." Elijah said as he brushed some stray strands of hair behind her ears.
"Even if I wasn't awake, did you at least give me a kiss before you headed out?" Elena asked.
"On the forehead, yes." Elijah replied. "But I got you something before I picked up Rebekah." He added with a smile.
"Really? What?" Elena asked.
"It's in the car. Unfortunately, with as much stuff as my brother bought my sister yesterday, I couldn't carry her luggage and your present." Elijah replied. "But wait right here for just a moment, and I'll go get it."
"Okay." Elena responded with a smile.
Before she would even ponder what he might have gotten her, Elijah was back in front of her, holding out a small wrapped box. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she try to gauge if Elijah was serious about this present. With a smile of encouragement from Elijah, Elena took the box from Elijah's hand and slowly tore the wrapping off of it. The black velvet box that she found beneath the paper wasn't settling her mind on what was inside. With a shaking hand, Elena opened the lid and had to rapidly blink back tears at the piece of jewelry that she saw. Inside was a charm bracelet that had charms for each of her friends and family members, both alive and gone.
"Elijah, when did you have time to put this together?" Elena asked.
"I've been getting it set up since the ritual. I knew your birthday was coming up, and while I knew it would in no way be able to make up for what my brother did to you, I wanted you to have all of your friends and family with you at all times. The names are on one side of the charms, with their relation to you on the other. And while I didn't want to be presumptuous, I had the jewelry maker make a charm with my name on it, but because I wasn't sure what you considered our relationship, the back of it is currently blank." Elijah explained. "While we are out later today for lunch, I can swing by the jewelry store and have him engrave our relationship onto the back."
"This is my birthday present?" Elena questioned slowly.
"It is. I'm sorry it's a few days late. And I know it's expensive, but I figured it would be something that you can wear all the time, and not get questioned about it."
"Thank you, Elijah. I love it."
"May I help you put it on?"
"Yes please."
As Elena watched Elijah clasp the bracelet around her wrist, she couldn't help but smile. Once it was in place, she twisted her arm back and forth to see all of the charms. Her parents and Jeremy and Jenna were there; Caroline and Bonnie, Matt and Tyler; Alaric; even John and Isobel. She noticed that there weren't charms for Stefan and Damon, and she was thankful for that. Wrapping her arms around Elijah's neck, she lifted herself onto her toes and pressed her lips to his.
"If you two lovebirds are done making me sick, I'd really like to see what my birthplace looks like these days." Rebekah commented from the doorway.
"Come now, Sister, surely you can over come your discomfort for a few more minutes?" Elijah questioned. "Elena was thanking me for her birthday present."
"Seeing as how neither of you are naked at the moment, I supposed I can wait a few more minutes." Rebekah responded with an overexaggerated sigh.
"How about we make a deal, Rebekah. You head back to your apartment and get an idea of what you want to furnish it with, to give your brother and I a few more minutes alone together, and before we go out sight-seeing, we can stop by my house and I can get you back your necklace." Elena suggested.
"Playing the irreplaceable trinket card in the form of a deal. Elijah, I like her, she's a lot more fun than the other two. Don't screw this up." Rebekah said, a wide smile gracing her lips.
"I have no intention of screwing it up, Sister." Elijah replied, his eyes never leaving Elena.
Once Rebekah headed back to her new apartment, Elena gave Elijah a smile as he turned to close the front door before turning in the opposite direction and hurrying up the stairs. While she had gotten an extremely miniscule head start, Elena found herself being wrapped in Elijah's arms before she was even half way up to the bedroom. With a squeal of laughter, Elena tried to twist around in Elijah's embrace to kiss him, but he held her close enough that she couldn't turn as much as she would have liked.
"My dear, sweet, darling Elena, did you really think you would be able to beat me up the stairs?" Elijah asked with a raised eyebrow once he had lightly tossed her onto the bed.
"It was worth a shot. I knew I couldn't outrun you, but I thought I would have at least gotten more than halfway." Elena replied with a smirk.
"You wanted me to chase you, didn't you?" Elijah asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "No... that's not it. You wanted me to catch you. You wanted me to wrap you in my arms." He continued. "You intrigue me, Elena. In a way that I've never been intrigued before." He finished.
"And you, Elijah, excite me. You make me feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Like I'm living my life again. Living in a way that I haven't done since before my parents died." Elena replied turning over onto her knees and scooting towards the edge of the bed.
"Elena..." Elijah said slowly as he closed the distance between them.
Elena saw Elijah's eyes darken. And while, for a very brief moment, she thought his vampire visage was coming out, she just as quickly pushed that thought aside when she realized that his eyes had darkened with lust.
"Elijah..." Elena responded just as slowly.
"I'm about to kiss you, and I do not think I will be able to stop myself from going beyond that." Elijah warned, moving his head in closer to rest his forehead against hers.
"Rebekah is waiting on us, and I still need to get dressed." Elena replied, their lips barely separated.
"My sister needs to learn how to be patient, and I need to be with you, Elena. I need to kiss you, touch you, be one with you. Please Elena, we both want this, and the risk of pregnancy is 0% since I can't reproduce." Elijah begged.
"Did you mean what you said yesterday morning?" Elena asked in a small voice.
"You mean when I called you 'my love'?" Elijah questioned, and Elena nodded. "I do mean it, Elena. But I also know being only days into our relationship, that it's too early to be saying that to each other." He replied.
"Then wouldn't us having sex be just that. If it's too early in our relationship to be saying the L word, then logic dictates that it's too early to be making love. And you said you wanted our first time to be when we're making love." Elena said with frown. Elijah was right in saying that they both wanted it, but they needed to be smart about this.
"You're right, darling. Something just comes over me when we play our little flirting games that I don't always think logically or reasonably." Elijah said with a sigh.
"It will happen Elijah. You are right in saying that we do both want it, and we both know that it'll happen when it's meant to. But not when your sister, who you warned me not to upset, is waiting for us." Elena said, her voice soft as she framed his face with her hands before locking her fingers together on the back of his neck.
"How am I so lucky as to be the one that gets to call you mine?" Elijah asked.
"Don't let Ric hear you say that; he'll have a field day." Elena replied with a smile while returning to their position of their foreheads resting together.
"Now that you've told me not to say it around him, I might just have to. Just to gauge his reaction." Elijah said with a smirk.
"He already didn't like when you had your arm around my waist, do you really want to push your luck here, Elijah?" Elena asked with a wide-eyed expression.
"... Maybe?" Elijah tried to keep a straight face with his answer but upon seeing Elena's stern look broke into a smile. "I'm only joking, my darling. I won't purposely piss off your step-father. Now what beautiful outfit will you be wearing today?" He asked.
"I have a white sundress in my bag." Elena replied.
With a nod, Elijah grabbed the dress from the bag while Elena brushed her teeth and her hair. Once she was dressed, Elena pulled her hair into a high ponytail, opting to wait until they got to her house to curl the ends of the ponytail. The entire time that she was getting ready, Elena could feel Elijah's eyes on her, watching her every move. Usually she found it unnerving when a guy watched her get ready... at least she always did when she had been with Stefan, but with Elijah, it was different. She wasn't bothered by his staring. She chalked it up to the fact that Stefan always seemed to have an intense gaze when he watched her get ready, where as Elijah's gaze was soft and loving, admiring. With that realization, Elena paused her movements. Whereas Elijah had made it clear that he only saw her, Stefan had always seen her as Katherine. Elijah's gaze was loving and admiring because he was seeing her; Stefan's was intense because he was expecting her to start acting like Katherine at any moment.
"Are you ready to go?" Elijah asked.
"Yes. And is it weird to say that I'm excited to spend time with your sister?" Elena asked.
"It's not weird. But for my sanity, it concerns me that you want to spend time with Rebekah."
"Do you ever call your siblings by their nicknames? I've noticed it's always 'Niklaus' and 'Rebekah', never 'Klaus' or 'Bekah', or really any shortened variation of their names." Elena questioned.
"Very rarely do I call my siblings anything other than their given names. Rebekah tends to call Niklaus, 'Nik', Kol would do so on occasion as well. Kol also tends to call Rebekah, 'Bekah' or 'Bex'. Finn and Kol can't really be given nicknames, do to their names already being short." Elijah explained.
"What about you? Did any of your siblings give you a nickname?" Elena asked.
"On extremely rare occasions my siblings have called me 'Eli', but I detest that nickname, and made that quite clear to them, so they stopped using it. If anything, dropping the 'E' at the beginning of my name, as you did when you called me the other night, is the only "nickname" I'll really go by." He replied.
"I'll keep that in mind." She said with a smile. "Shall we?" She asked.
Pushing away from the wall that he was leaning against, Elijah held his hand out to Elena which she happily accepted. As they headed out of the room, she made sure to grab her leather jacket and purse, draped the jacket over her arm and placing the strap to her purse on her shoulder. Once they reached the front door, and Elijah opened it, they found Rebekah standing on the other side, her hand raised in a fist to knock.
"About bloody time. I was starting to think you both forgot about me and had started doing things that I don't ever want to think about my older brother doing." Rebekah said with a sigh of relief.
"He wanted to." Elena muttered.
"You wanted me to chase and catch you, Elena. So I am not entirely to blame in that." Elijah commented with a smirk.
"Okay, again, don't want to think about those things where you're concerned, Elijah. Can we just not talk about the physical side of your relationship, and just head out for sightseeing and lunch?" Rebekah requested.
"I'm with Rebekah. We should head out. There's a lot to get done today before dinner tonight, and I have a feeling that it's going to be a little pushed back once we stop by my house. Which reminds me..." Elena said as she pulled her phone out and sending a text to Jeremy and Alaric letting them know that she was stopping by the house with Elijah and his sister.
"Giving them a heads up that they will being having a female guest?" Elijah asked with a smirk.
"Yes. And to give you a heads up Rebekah, my step-father is a self-appointed Vampire Hunter, and he's not a fan of Elijah, so if you want to sweet talk him into laying off, feel free. He wouldn't dare attack you." Elena said.
"A vampire hunter?" Rebekah asked, eyeing Elijah.
"He's not nearly as dangerous to be around as Alexander was. You will be fine, Sister." Elijah said calmly while ushering Elena out of the apartment and closing the door behind them.
"Who's Alexander?" Elena asked.
"A member of a group of Hunters called The Five. They were determined to wipe out all existence of vampires, and they were the first ones to have possession of the daggers and white oak ash that Niklaus is so fond of using on us." Elijah explained. "He was also, for a time, Rebekah's boyfriend." He added.
"I am so sorry, Rebekah. If you don't want to be around Ric, you don't have to be." Elena said quickly.
"No, it's okay. I can handle it." Rebekah replied slowly.
The drive from the apartment to the Gilbert house was a silent one. Elena tried to find something to talk to Rebekah about, but nothing seemed like it would be good enough in the current situation. Maybe by the time they got to lunch they would be able to find something. Once they pulled up in front of her house, Elena was only slightly surprised to find Alaric and Jeremy standing on the front porch... waiting for them to get there. But before either Elena or Rebekah could get out of the car, Elijah was out and walking up to the house, telling them to wait for a moment.
"What's going on?" Rebekah asked.
"I'm not entirely sure." Elena responded.
TVD – HBE – TVD
"Haven't you kept her to yourself long enough, Elijah? She should be here, at home, with her family." Alaric said, his arms folded across his chest as he glared at the Original.
"I am not keeping her against her will, Alaric. I'm trying to keep her safe. Every choice that she has made has been her own." Elijah replied.
"She's not compelled?" Jeremy asked.
"No, she is not. I've only compelled Elena once, and that was back when we first met and to get answers about the moonstone. I have had no need to compel her since." Elijah explained.
"Is she okay?" Jeremy questioned.
"She is okay, but she's also upset, and understandably so. Her friends and family, who should be supporting her in her decisions, and allowing her to make those decisions as the adult that she is, are continuously questioning her and telling her that she's wrong in who she wants to be with." Elijah said.
"She's still a kid, Elijah." Alaric interjected.
"No she's not Ric. Elijah's right. We shouldn't be trying to keep Elena from being with him. If she's happy, then we should be happy for her." Jeremy said.
"Not you too, Jer." Alaric said turning from the vampire to the teen.
"I love Elena more than anything. She's the only blood family that I have left, sister or cousin. But if we keep trying to keep her away from Elijah, we'll only succeed in pushing her away. I can't do that to her. Not after everything she's been through." Jeremy said before turning back to Elijah. "Her text said that your sister is with the two of you?" He asked.
"Yes, Rebekah was undaggered by Niklaus recently, and after visiting Chicago yesterday where they were, my sister decided to join me here in Mystic Falls. We stopped by before going out to lunch because Elena needs to get her necklace that Mr. Salvatore gave her. It belongs to Rebekah, as it had been our mother's necklace." Elijah explained.
"It has vervain in it." Jeremy commented.
"We are aware. Elena plans to clean that out before giving it back to my sister. However, when we pulled up and the two of you were out here, I wasn't going to allow them to be put in harms way if we couldn't at least come to an understanding or a truce." Elijah said.
"You wouldn't allow?" Alaric questioned. "That sounds too possessive for my liking." He added.
"I care about Elena's safety just as much as the two of you do. Even if you don't mean to cause any physical harm to her, emotional pain is still very much a thing that you can inflict on her, and I do not like seeing her hurt... in any form. And Rebekah is my baby sister. I would never put her in harm's way, either." Elijah said. "Now, will you stand down? Or will you deny Elena the chance at happiness?" He asked.
"Come on in, Elijah. You and your sister are welcome here." Jeremy said.
"Jeremy!" Alaric exclaimed.
"Let it go, Ric. You're my guardian, and my sister's step-father, but I'm not going to push my sister away or try and stop her from being happy."
TVD – HBE – TVD
"It looks like we are able to get out of the car now." Elena said.
"Good, because I'm getting cramped back here." Rebekah replied.