Musical inspiration this chapter: A Postcard to Henry Purcell - Jean Yves-Thibaudet
I don't own Pride & Prejudice, Wally West, or Buffy Summers.
This chapter requires you know how to waltz.
Dangerous Liaisons Are Bound To Spark A Fire Part II
Once inside, we're met with a grand staircase adjourned with lights and a space big enough to fit everyone in Mystic Falls.
"They sure know how to throw a party." Bonnie says, taking in the scene.
"I definitely didn't see this two nights ago," That room was a shack compared to this. "This looks like the ballroom scene from Pride & Prejudice," Looking around, I spot several red dresses. "Aww, everybody's wearing red!" I voice, blowing the loose strand of hair out of my face. Care had picked out a red satin ballgown with off the shoulders straps and while it was pretty, it seemed everyone was wearing red.
"At least you're not one of the unsuspecting town folk who came here for shrimp instead of bringing a stake." Elena says, trying to make me feel better. It's appreciated.
"It makes your skin look amazing. Besides, at least no one's wearing champagne." Care had decided to get away from blue as far has possible on the color spectrum and chosen a champagne floor gown with a beaded top. Yes, Care, paint this in a positive light for you.
"I see everyone thought blue would be a good color." Bonnie observes, looking down at her royal blue strapless dress. Honestly, Bon could've worn a sundress and still looked pretty.
"I don't have that problem." Elena smiles. Her dress was black with flower designs over it with a light brown dress skirt was under it.
"Uh, no," I say as I spot Stefan walking over to us. "But you do have a bigger one." I thought Damon said he wasn't coming.
"What are you doing here?" Elena thought he wouldn't be here.
"I could ask you the same thing. This was your plan I assume, Lexx." Stefan states as Damon walks to stand next to him.
"Surprise, surprise," Damon says, but he keeps his eyes on Bonnie. "Nice tux, Stefan. And here I was thinking you were on my side, Lexx. You're not supposed to be here, Elena."
"I am and I'm not leaving until I find out what Esther wants. So, shall we?" Elena asks. Stefan holds his arm out for Elena to take and in a move that surprises me, Damon goes next to Bonnie and copies Stefan's gesture. Elena and Caroline give each other surprised looks.
"I don't need you to escort me in, Damon."
"You're not supposed to be here, witch, so humor me." Bonnie huffs out a sigh before taking his arm begrudgingly.
"We'll escort ourselves in!" I yell, yanking Caroline along with me before Damon or Stefan can say anything else.
"Nice dodging skills, Lexx." Care says as we turn a corner.
"Why-" But then I see Niklaus. He's talking to a woman who's throwing her head back and laughing. "You think if she knew she was flirting with a guy who could break her neck with one of his pinkie fingers, she'd still be laughing?" Caroline studies the two before replying.
"Maybe she'd laugh harder." We burst out laughing at her answer.
"Caroline, you're horrible!" I hit her shoulder.
"And probably right." She laughs.
"What's so funny?" We hear Niklaus ask as he stands in front us. Niklaus had abandoned his company once he heard laughing and saw the source of it was coming from Alexandra. He hadn't expected her to come or look as ravishing has she did. She was truly a vision to behold and she was blinding him. My body stiffs at his sudden arrival. I didn't think I'd be dealing with the host so soon.
"Just…a theory." I throw Caroline a knowing look and try to relax my posture.
"I see you're not wearing the dress I picked out, Caroline." Niklaus notices.
"I know I'm blonde, Klaus, but I'm not as materialistic has you think. I can't be bought," Caroline glares at him. "Are you gonna be okay?" I nod yes, despite wanting to leave. "I see Matt, I'm gonna go say 'hi'." Then I'm left alone with Niklaus.
"I thought the dress would be a nice gesture." He explains.
"It doesn't make-up for having her boyfriend bite her. On her birthday."
"I didn't know it was her birthday." I tilt my head to the side in curiosity.
"So, any other day would've been fine, just not the first birthday she's had since she was a vampire?" He doesn't respond. "I don't how you dealt with girls back in your century, but here, we like our gestures to be meaningful, not materialistic." Picking up my dress, I go to find Bonnie and Elena.
"That was weird." Elena wasn't expecting Stefan to be here or him being somewhat nice to her. Maybe the kiss was causing his old self to resurface.
"You're telling me," Bonnie was still dazed from Damon's behavior. "And what was with Damon escorting me in?" She couldn't figure him out lately.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was worried about you. What happened when he brought you home two days ago?" Elena was intrigued as to know when their dynamic had changed and wanted answers. But she'd have to wait. Lexx comes running to the bar, stopping Bonnie from responding.
"There you guys are," Flagging the bartender down, I place an order. "Hi, can I get the strongest non-alcoholic thing you have?" Alcohol would be better, but I was sadly underage.
"Lexx, you look tense." Bonnie observes.
"I ran into Niklaus, but," I hold up a plate. "I found appetizers!"
"I see," She wipes crumbs off my face. "How's the rest of your night been?"
"Pretty good. And you Elena, how's your night been?" I ask coyly.
"Fine."
"So was the guy that escorted you in." Bonnie chimes. Just then, a voice calls Elena's name.
"Elena Gilbert, I presume? I'm Finn Mikaelson. You're here to see my Mother." He was hot in that weird stalker way.
"Is she here?" Bonnie looks around for the witch in question.
"Her request did not include your friends." Finn retorts, giving Bonnie and I a disapproving look. Was he scolding us? Were we being scolded?
"They're protecting me."
"You may not know this, but your Mother has already tried to kill her once." I shoot back.
"If you want to see my Mother, you'll need to be alone." Bonnie concentrates on Finn's windpipe, imagining it tightening. A few seconds later, Finn is having trouble breathing. He tries pulling his bowtie a loose, unraveling it, but he still can't catch his breath. What the hell was going on with him?
"Are you okay, Finn?" Elena asks with false concern. Okay, still confused over here.
"Uh, if everyone could gather, please." Elijah announces from the staircase. Bonnie loosens her grip on Finn.
"Excuse me." Finn says, rubbing his neck and looking at Bonnie warily.
"I think he meant be reconsidering now." Elena replies coyly. Bonnie answers with a smirk.
"I can't believe you just did that! I think Grams would be proud." I slap her arm. She shrugs her shoulders playfully.
"Welcome, thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my Mother brings our family together like this, it's tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance." Elijah addresses to the crowd.
"Do you see who I see?" Damon asks Stefan as Esther appears on the staircase.
"Oh, yeah." Stefan replies.
"Tonight's pick is a centuries-old Waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, and please join us in the ballroom." Elijah finishes. Esther retreats silently back upstairs. Elena and Bonnie move to go upstairs, but Damon blocks their way.
"Don't even think about it." Damon speaks.
"She wants to see me, Damon." This was exactly why she didn't want him coming.
"I see Bonbon is going with you," He shoots her an aggravated look. She glares. "Was I not clear this morning?"
"She was invited." Bonnie shoots back.
"She has to tell me before she walks into the lion's den." Damon responds.
"You'd just stop her." Caroline voices once she comes up to them.
"Uhh, yes!"
"Damon, move." I plead lightly. He keeps staring at Bonnie with a aggravated expression on his face. She glowers back him.
"It would be rude not to dance, you know." Stefan voices, breaking the tense silence. Elena takes his hand.
"It is tradition." Elena replies with a slight smile. They walk out to the ballroom floor as Damon, Bonnie and I watch them.
"Wanna dance, Bonnie?" She was dressed for it after all and shouldn't spend her night watching everyone else enjoy themselves.
"Damon, I'll set you on fire in front of all these nice people."
"I think she'd do it, just ask Finn." I laugh.
"Care to dance?" I hear Niklaus ask from beside me. I'd rather go to another one of your dinner parties.
"No," Bonnie answers for me.
"She wouldn't." Damon finishes. Ooh, I like this team-up! Wait…was that Matt dancing with Rebekah? Dammit, Matty, I said be safe!
"Sure. I look way too pretty to waste the night eating crab puffs." I answer as I place my plate on a random table and from the look on his face, I see I've surprised him.
"Uh, Lexx, wanna explain?" Bonnie asks, looking at me with a confused look. I discreetly nod my head to the floor, pointing out Matt dancing with the She-Devil.
"I changed my mind, Damon. I wanna dance." Damon doesn't argue, just takes Bonnie's hand and leads her to the floor. Ooh, look at me being an unintentional matchmaker!
"I'll dance, but I want you to answer some of my questions." If I was gonna dance with him, the least I could do was get some information out of him. Niklaus waits a beat before answering.
"Always a condition with you. Fine," He tries to takes my hand, but I sidestep out of it and walk to the floor. This house was so big, it had a ballroom. Hell, it probably had a museum. I hear him let out a light laugh as he stands beside me while we wait for the music to play. "I'm glad you came." He says as he starts moving me to the sound of the music.
"I wanted to make sure my friends were okay." Keeping my gaze on Matt and Rebekah, I try not to lose my step in the Waltz.
"I heard about Alaric." I feel like I almost snap my neck with how fast I turn my attention from Matt to Niklaus.
"Niklaus, I'm not above leaving you mid-strand." Trying to ignore Niklaus, I watch Damon as he twirls Bonnie and spins her back to him. She laughs. Don't mess this up, Damon.
"On to more mannered subjects then. You look beautiful in that dress." I give him a wary once over.
"This wasn't the dress you bought, Niklaus," Was this a new tactic he was trying out? "No need to give it compliments."
"The compliment was for you, not the dress. You know, you're quite the dancer." Alexandra was beginning to fall into a habit of surprising him. I like it better when he's threatening me.
"Small town," I brush off his compliment and keep with the Waltz. "Every other event we throw involves some kind of dancing."
"I could imagine having a friend who currently holds the title of Miss Mystic Falls is beneficial." I chance a look at Caroline to see her dancing with our classmate Jesse. She looked like she was flowing with the way she danced. She hadn't earned the title for nothing. I smile proudly at her.
"While, when one signs up to be friends with Caroline Forbes, you better be prepared to hold a candle to her." He smiles.
"You don't say?" I feel his grip tighten on my hand and somehow without me noticing, his left hand had made its way to my lower back. I felt like I was in danger. Niklaus spins me has the rest of the room changes dance partners; I end up with with Jesse.
"When Lexx said 'stay safe', she didn't mean go dance with the She-Devil, Matt." Caroline scolds him.
"What was I supposed to say, 'no'? And if she's mad about Rebekah, then I can be pissed about Klaus. Why the hell is she here with him anyways?" She may have been gone the last year, but he knew she was caught up enough to know not to waltz with the bad guy.
"I don't know," She shakes her head. "But I do know Rebekah attacked Elena outside the hospital after you guys left." She replies as he spins her.
"Elena didn't tell me," He didn't like being a chess piece in her game. "So, why'd she invite me then?"
"You'd have to ask her Matt," Looking around, she doesn't see Lexx. "Do you see Lexx anywhere?"
"No," He does a quick sweep for the brunette. "But I don't see Klaus either." This was bound to end well.
"Hmm. He dances, and I didn't even have to beg." Elena quips.
"Well, Mayor Lockwood dragged me out here. Couldn't exactly say no," Elena looks at him curiously before smiling lightly. He sounded like his old self. Stefan finds himself smiling down at Elena, but quickly snaps himself out of it. "Took you all of thirty seconds to put Damon in a mood." Stefan says as they continue to waltz.
"He's just looking out for me, Stefan." She didn't want him thinking there was anything romantic behind Damon's actions. Elena was was starting to think he only wanted her as a placeholder for Katherine and with the way he hadn't changed partners when the rest of the room did, she was thinking Bonnie might be the one he had feelings for.
"I think he needs to figure out that you can look out for yourself." Elena eyes him slightly in shock, but takes the moment to see if she can convince him to help.
"I need to talk to you." She leans in close to his ear.
"Okay," He pulls her closer. "So talk."
"Not here." She reaches to take his hand and he lets her. Damon is so busy dancing with Bonnie, he doesn't notice.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were having fun with me, Bennett." Damon widens his yes jokingly as he glides her around the room.
"Careful, Damon," She warns. "I might start to think you actually care if I'm having a good time or not." Bonnie raises her eyebrow.
"We wouldn't want that," He chuckles as he remembers they were dancing then too when they were having that conversation. "You look beautiful, Bonnie." And he wasn't lying; it wasn't often when he got to see her in dress, but when he did, she always looked pretty. Bonnie is taken off guard by his compliment.
"Thanks, Damon." She tries to take a deep breath to steady herself. She replies quietly.
"I'm serious in case you think I'm joking. " Bonnie could deal with Damon taking jabs at her, but compliments were new territory for her. She nods her head as he applies slight pressure to her hands, solidifying his statement.
The room changes partners again, but Damon keeps his hold on Bonnie. There was no telling when was the next time he would have a chance to have her this close to him and he was going to enjoy it as long has he possibly could.
Once they're outside Elena starts talking to Stefan.
"If Esther is secretly on our side, we need to know and I can't get to her with two bodyguards."
"Why are you telling me this?" Stefan asks causally.
"Because Damon won't let me anywhere near her without protection; I guess he doesn't think Bonnie is strong enough. And besides, you care about killing Klaus more than you care about anything. So-" She pauses as a look of understanding crosses Stefan's face. "What, am I wrong?" She can't help but hope his answer is yes.
"No," He answers, disappointing Elena and himself. "You're not wrong. What do you need me to do?"
"Make sure that I can get into that room with Esther."
"You sure you can do this?" It wasn't that he wasn't sure, he just didn't want her to risk her safety. Elena inhales a deep breathe and nods her head. Stefan mimics her action.
"I can do this," She walks pass him then turns to face after she's put space between them. "When we were together, you used to let me make my own decisions, you trusted me. After all this, at least that hasn't changed." She walks back towards the house.
"Hold it together just a few more hours, Stefan." He sighs. Tonight was bring back too many memories and he was so close to open the floodgates and being pulled under by the water.
"Got your text," Damon says once he enters the room and sees Elena. "What are we doing in here?" He wanted to get back to Bonnie as quickly has possible while she was still in a good mood. His answer is Stefan coming out of nowhere and breaking his back and snapping his neck. He'd enjoyed it more than he should have; he was still pissed he'd kissed Elena.
"Better hurry up, he won't be down for long." Elena passes by Stefan, but turns around. She starts to say thank you, but Stefan just nods his head. She leaves the room and is immediately met with Elijah.
"I understand my Mother requested to see you."
"Uh, yeah, she did." Where had he come from?
"Well, her ability to forgive my brother after everything he's done to destroy this family strikes me as a little…strange to say the least."
"Do you think that it's an act?" Elena asks unsure.
"It has me asking questions I never thought I'd ask. Can I depend on you to tell me what she says?" Elijah questions Elena.
"Of course. I'll find you later, okay?" Elijah nods, leaving Elena. She walks down the hallway 'til she sees Bonnie.
"Whatever your plan was, did it work?" Bonnie asks once she sees Elena.
"It did. You ready to go to the lion's den?"
"Yeah. Let's go see my friend, Finn." Bonnie says coyly.
Finn is sharpening a knife while Esther is burning some sage, when there's a knock on the door.
"That could be the girl." Esther speaks. Putting the knife down, Finn goes to opening the door, revealing Elena and Bonnie.
"You're not alone. Not surprising."
"Did you need me to help you with your tie again, Finn?" Bonnie smirks. Elena looks warily around the room as she sees Esther burning something. "It's just sage, Elena."
"I've spelled it so we can speak freely without fear of being overheard. That will be all Finn, thank you" She says. He leaves and closes the door. "You both must have a million questions for me. Please, sit." Gesturing towards the sofa, Bonnie, Elena, and Esther sit.
"How are you alive?" Bonnie asks her first.
"Are you a ghost? Or..." Elena finishes.
"Not exactly; when I died, the Witch Ayana preserved my body with a spell. She was a close friend of mine, an ancestor of yours, Bonnie."
"Seems like us Bennett witches are always involved with vampires." Bonnie grimaces.
"That explains why only you and your Mother could open up the casket, Bon."
"You complete the Bennett bloodline. I drew power from you and your ancestors who were with me on the other side."
"You've been on the other side for a thousand years?" Bonnie asks shocked.
"Nature's way of punishing me for turning my family into vampires, but there is a way for me to undo the evil I created."
"You're gonna help us kill Klaus, aren't you?" Elena asks surprised.
"One thing at a time, Elena. For now, I simply need your help."