10. A story featuring a countdown.
AN: Okay, so this story is for the week of March 20-26 even though it's currently April 3rd. Dedicated to Caitlin.
Elena is nervous. It's exactly one hour until she sees him, and she's nervous. That could just be coffee but it could also be the butterflies in her stomach. She checks her phone again. She's hungry but not too hungry, her makeup is perfect, the dress is perfect. Her apartment is spotless because she cleaned thoroughly in case he might want to come in after their date. Damnit, there go those stupid butterflies again. She dials a familiar number and doesn't bother with a greeting.
"It's all too perfect. Now I'm worried something's going to go wrong. It's an entire hour until he's here, Bon." She says. She listens to her friend hundreds of miles away give reassuring advice.
"I know, I know. It's just it's all perfect and he's perfect and we've been good as allies for a long time." Elena replies. They've known each other for seven years and have been allies for most of them, even after Mystic Falls. She's a little worried about ruining that, they work seamlessly when they're allies. Bonnie speaks in a reassuring voice and adds that if Elijah does anything, anything, to tell her. The witch has a few ideas in mind and tells Elena about them.
"Bonnie, no! You're not going to turn his hair bright pink. Okay I'm interested to see how that would look too, but no." Elena says and she hears Bonnie sigh. Elena looks at the clock.
"Fifteen minutes." Elena informs her friend and Bonnie tells her she'll hang up so she can do her last minute panicking. Elena doesn't take offense to that.
"I'll call you when the date's over." Elena assures her friend and Bonnie tells her she's looking forward to it. Date. She's actually going on a date with Elijah. She thinks about the best and worst possible outcomes for a few minutes before she looks at the clock.
Nine minutes to go and she's already checked her makeup. Minute eight is making sure her shoes really do actually match her dress and that she can walk in them. Minutes seven and six are spent making sure she has everything in her purse. Elena spends minutes five and four making sure her house looks perfect, and to see if he might be early. He said he'd pick her up at seven. She checks her phone again. Three minutes and those damn butterflies in her stomach are soaring around, and she closes her eyes for a minute. Two minutes.
It's only two minutes but it seems like eternity. Maybe if she was a vampire she'd be able to deal with time slowly passing, but she's human and plans to stay that way. At least for a while, but she shoves the thought out. She needs to focus on Elijah. She opens her eyes when the doorbell rings and she opens the door. A familiar face comes into view and she relaxes.
"Elijah." She greets and he gives a grin back.
"Elena." He greets and she wonders if she imagined his look at her dress.
"You are simply breathtaking." Elijah says and the butterflies react like she just drank more coffee.
"Just in this dress?" She manages to make a joke, and he chuckles.
"You are always breathtaking." He says and she knows it's sincere. This technically isn't their first date, they've pretended to be a couple for a few different things, but this is a real date. She wonders if that means first kiss. Elijah has to be a good kisser, she's pretty sure he is just by looking at him. Then she remember Elijah's only a few feet away.
He can hear her heartbeat change as she thinks about something exciting, he wonders what it is. She's wearing a different perfume than she usually does, he notes.
"Are you ready to leave?" He inquires as she looks at him. He's not sure how words are making their way out of his mouth, she's too gorgeous. If he was human he would have forgotten how to breathe for a moment.
"I am." She confirms as she looks at him.
The restaurant is beautiful, and she loves the soft light and music. Elijah is the perfect gentleman like he always is, and she tells herself to relax as they follow their waitress to their table. She takes in their surroundings and notices that his attention is focused on her. She asks how he's doing, and they order drinks.
"I'm doing well. Is Jeremy enjoying Spain?" He inquires. Elena glances at his tie. It almost matches her dress and she almost allows herself to be distracted with staring at him.
"He loves it. He's studying different art styles and here's his latest piece he sent a picture of." She pulls up the picture on her phone, aware that they probably should be talking about other things, but she hands him her phone anyway and he looks at the picture with interest. He likes knowing what Jeremy's up to and she likes hearing about his siblings too. Even if this is their first date, they already know quite a bit about each other.
"It's exceptionally detailed and intricate." Elijah notes, the painting is composed of extremely small shapes to make up the shape of the subject, an aging tree. Something that would usually look like anyone could have painted it looks distinctive.
"I know! I wish I could have gotten artistic abilities too." She sighs and he grins at her.
"You forget that you have quite a way with words, lovely Elena." He says and her heartbeat quickens.
"Only when I write them." She retorts and he's about to beg to differ but they have to order. The waitress stares at him a little longer than necessary but she recognizes his focus is Elena. The waitress takes their order and their conversation resumes when she walks away. This, this is the reason why she nervously asked him out. There's always been something there, but he seems to notice it too now. She wonders if he's always noticed it like she has.
Conversation is easy and they never run out of things to talk about, they switch from politics to history to writing with ease. She's pretty sure they could talk about grass and she'd still be interested in the conversation.
There's no pretenses, they know who they are and what they like about each other. It feels odd to have a first date after knowing each other so long, but he reminds her that people have gone longer without a first date. He's too handsome, it's almost distracting. She almost stumbles over her words more than one time. Their food comes and their conversation isn't hindered, is just takes them longer to eat.
She feels nervous still, although it's not nervous because of what Elijah might do, but about the date. They've been friends for years. He's one of her closest confidants, she doesn't want to ruin this relationship, even if she wants to kiss him. If he doesn't feel the same, she'll say it was a joke or come up with an excuse. She can't lose Elijah and she promises herself she'll say whatever she needs to keep their relationship in any way he wants it. They work through their food as he tells her about one of his latest projects.
He wonders when she's available next, if she wants a second date or not. The check comes, and then they're out in the cold night air. Elena shivers, and he offers his suit jacket. It's not a long walk to his car, but he doesn't want her to be uncomfortable or cold. She accepts it with a hesitant smile, when their fingers touch the butterflies multiply again. She carefully puts it on, and regrets not wearing a longer dress. Her legs are starting to freeze, but at least they look good. She thanks him as they walk to his car, they could have gone to a restaurant with a valet, but he likes walking with her. He wants their time together prolonged as much as possible. He enjoys being able to monopolize on Elena's time as much as possible.
She can see her breath when she exhales.
"It was warm when I picked this dress." She says and he laughs.
"The weather is always some level of unpredictable." He says and she thinks back to other times things similar to this have happened. It's not the first time he's turned up the heat in one of his sleek black cars for her, it's not the first time he's opened a door for her. It's not the first time they've dressed up and eaten together or the first time she's worn one of his suit jackets.
It's not a night of many firsts, she already knows his jacket will be warm and smell like his cologne like how she knows he's going to walk her to her door. She searches through her purse for her keys as he drives out of the parking lot. She finds her keys and smooths her skirt down.
"I hope it doesn't snow. I thought we were finally in spring." Elena says and he agrees with her. He updates her on his siblings on the drive back to her apartment, and she's happy to hear they're doing well. She made her peace with them and she's friends with them too, but she's not as close with them as she is with Elijah. They walk up the stairs, and it's a familiar routine. She decides to try something almost new as she unlocks her door.
"Would you like to come in for a nightcap?" Elena asks, thankful her apartment is spotless. Elijah doesn't hesitate in his response.
"I would." He replies and she holds the door as he walks into her apartment. She begins to list what she has, wine, bourbon, some tequila from Caroline and he picks the wine.
She gets the glasses and he knows where it is.
"Do you mind opening it? I think the last time Rebekah asked me to do it I almost broke my nose." She tells him and he lets out a laugh.
"She told me about that." He says as he sets the cork on her counter.
"I think I'm just a danger magnet." Elena sighs dramatically and a smirk pulls at his lips.
"Perhaps." He says as she begins to pour wine into each glass. She realizes that she's still wearing his suit jacket as she hands him one of the glasses. She takes it off and hands it to him. Her apartment is warm, and she watches him walk to her coffee table to set down his glass before he puts it back on again. It smells likes Elena's perfume, he notes.
He takes his glass and sits on the couch. Elena takes her glass and moves to sit near him. The butterflies haven't disappeared.
"This was nice." She says and he nods in agreement. He drinks the wine, a nice red that was a gift from Kol for breaking one of her vases a few weeks ago.
He's staring, she thinks as she takes a sip of her wine.
She realizes that she's staring too, and she almost misses the words that come out of his mouth.
"May I kiss you?" He's been thinking about it for too long, and he's about to come up with a backup plan, when she sets her glass down and nods. He sets his down before she can see it. He moves closer, but she's first to close the distance between them.
One of her hands finds its way into his hair and he pulls her closer. She tastes like wine and his mind forgets how to do anything other than kiss her. He's not the only one wondering why they didn't do this sooner. Eventually they both pull away, and Elena stares at him with wide eyes.
"That's new." She says and he lets out a laugh.
There will definitely be a second date.