Chapter 10 Calm before the storm
Roxanne didn't have a destination in mind when she walked out of the Grill, she was feeling too overwhelmed with both her thoughts and emotions. Her body was on autopilot as she tried to sort out her thoughts. How could she lose her temper like that? How could she make her brother a laughing stock? God she felt like the worst sister imaginable right now, no, she felt like Elena; even after everything she'd said to Elijah the last night, her actions today just completely contradicted everything she said. Roxanne couldn't help but replay the look of fear in Jeremy's eyes and it felt like a knife to the gut every time she did. She felt like a monster.
God, how she hated being over-emotional. Roxanne bitterly thought whilst wiping under her eyes before looking around to see where she was.
The Falls.
The Falls was Roxanne's go to place. Whether she was happy, upset, angry or just bored, The Falls is where she went. An involuntary small genuine smile appeared on her face as a million memories flittered across her mind, from the time she discovered this place after having a fight with her parents when she was eight, to the time she went skinny dipping or the time she wanted to be a mermaid and spent a whole week in the water, she chuckled at the memory, remembering how scared and worried her parents were when she had finally gone home, the sheriff and a handful of deputies were sat on the sofa with her mother as her father paced completely out of his mind. Elena and Jeremy were sat on the stairs crying when the front door opened and Roxanne stomped in rather disheartened about the fact that she didn't have a tail. Her parents had rushed her, holding her so tight she thought she'd die. She was nine at the time and completely oblivious to the situation she'd caused.
The last time Roxanne had been to The Falls was the day she left, it was the only place she'd said goodbye to.
Her head tilted to the side as she glanced down at the water below before she slipped off her nude pumps and her royal blue spaghetti strapped top and shimmied out of her white skinny jeans. Standing there in just her white Victoria Secret matching underwear set, Roxanne swung her legs over the wooden bannister beam so that she was sitting on the ledge before taking a shuddering breath and falling.
~8~
Jeremy approached the Mikaelson table with urgency and frantic eyes "I need your help" He looked directly at Elijah, ignoring the other Originals.
"And what, pray tell, do you need our help for?" Klaus was the one who answered the youngest Gilbert
"I know you heard everything just then" Jeremy said now looking at all of them
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"I can tell you care for my sister and for some reason she seems to like you as well, so I need your help finding her before she does something stupid" His eyes pleaded with Elijah's "I can't lose her again, Elijah"
"Now why would we want to help?" Kol decided to insert his input
"No a better question would be; why are you coming to us when the doppelganger and her precious Salvatore's are just across the room?" Klaus added, smirking
Jeremy ran a hand through his hair, aggravated beyond belief, he needed to find Roxanne right now. "Because they won't care about finding her, the only thing they seem to care about lately is killing you." He threw a glare in Klaus's direction before adding "Roxy didn't have to help you, she didn't have to go out of her way and tell you what your mother was planning but she did…and I can see that she's clearly made a lasting impression on all of you."
The Mikaelson's exchanged glances, silently communicating. They knew they'd help the Gilbert boy find Roxanne but what they couldn't understand is why he was so panicked over finding her, it was almost as though he was afraid something would happen to the girl.
Just outside a storm sat brewing, the sky was slowly getting darker and darker, there wasn't a sunbeam in sight. The clouds clashed; thunder rung out at deafening volume, the wind picked up and howled almost seeming angry. But none of this stopped the Mikaelson's and Jeremy from making their way across town on the hunt for the eldest Gilbert.
~8~
Roxanne stared up at the velvet blue sky, a serene smile graced her face as she gazed at the stars that littered it, the sun had set long ago; not that Roxanne paid attention to or cared about. She closed her eyes and let the water sway her ever so softly, her arms swished the water around her as she floated…words could not describe how amazing she felt just lying there without a care in the world; to Roxanne, it felt as though all of her thoughts, troubles and emotions just drifted away with the water
The sound of rustling brought Roxanne out of her moment of bliss however, she refused to move a muscle, not even when she heard multiple footsteps moving in her direction.
"Roxy!" Her brother's voice broke through the mellowness of the night, startling many nocturnal creatures in the woods.
"Roxy?!" Jeremy sounded more relieved this time and a lot closer than before but still Roxanne refused to acknowledge anything
"Oh my God. Is she dead!? Is she dead!" and he was back to panicking
"She's not dead, idiot" Came the female Originals snarky response
Roxanne grinned but still didn't respond as she listened to the bickering of her brother and Rebekah.
"Well then what the hell is she doing?"
"You're her brother, you tell us" Kol quipped in
Her grinned widened at the sound of the other Original, if Kol and Rebekah were with Jeremy than that meant that Klaus and Elijah were as well…
"Yeah well you're his brother; can you tell me why he's a complete psycho!?" Sassed Jeremy
Before any of the Mikaelson's could retort, or in the hybrid's case- threaten to remove some vital organs, Roxanne interrupted them. "Is that your indirect way of calling me a psycho Jer-bear?" Her voice was filled with laughter and when all five of them whipped their heads in her direction she still hadn't moved, not even her eyes were open.
Elijah was in a state of awe as he continued to gaze Roxanne. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her beauty. The moonlight illuminated her figure floating on the water making her look so mystical and majestic that Elijah felt almost unworthy to be in her presence, the water rippled around her body as though she was a part of it, like a goddess of the sea, and Elijah was transfixed by the gentle motions of Roxanne's hands as they glided through the water.
Elijah wasn't the only one who had suddenly lost the ability to speak; his siblings couldn't either which was a first. Each and every one of them watched the girl in the water, although for very different reasons; Rebekah couldn't help but be jealous of the eldest gilbert and how graceful and elegant she looked right now, Kol watched in interest with hunger and Klaus watched in fascination trying to figure out exactly what she was…clearly she was something more than human.
"No?" The youngest Gilbert's unsure answer snapped the Mikaelson's out of their trance
Roxanne just laughed before quickly disappearing under the water, everyone whipped around trying to find the brunette troublemaker but the water was just as silent and calm as it had been all night.
"BOO!"
Jeremy screamed and jumped backwards almost tumbling into Rebekah who also couldn't contain her shock and stumbled slightly, the three Original brothers however took on a more defensive position. Slightly crouched on high alert looking towards the water in the direction the sound came from only to come face to face with a laughing Roxanne.
"I'm sorry…I couldn't resist" She said still chuckling whilst swimming further into the water, sinking lower and lower until only her head was showing.
The youngest Gilbert glared fiercely at the girl in the water, clutching his chest trying to slow his heart rate down "Jesus Rox! What the hell was that for?!" He demanded
Jeremy's tune didn't faze Roxanne who grinned like the cat who got the canary "It was too tempting" this time the mischievous Mikaelson couldn't help but join in with her laughter, oh Roxanne Gilbert was soon to be Kol best friend and when that happened the world wouldn't know what hit them.
"Well this was a colossal waste of my time" Rebekah sniffed bringing everyone, who was in the search party, back to the reason they were traipsing through the woods, at night in the first place.
Jeremy looked at his sister with sad soft eyes "Why'd you take off like that Rox?" He looked down before adding almost inaudibly "I thought you were going to leave again"
She stopped soaking in the moonlight at that "Oh Jer-bear…I just needed some alone time after all that" She gestured with her hands "My emotions went a little haywire earlier"
"You've been gone for nearly eight hours though"
"Really?" Roxanne seemed shocked "Huh, didn't feel like that long"
Elijah decided finally speak "Have you been here the entire time?"
Roxanne hummed with a childlike grin "This has always been my go to place…guess I lost track of time huh?"
Klaus also finally spoke up "Maybe it's time you got out of the water love"
Roxanne didn't answer, instead she just swam over to them until the water was shallow enough to stand up then she slowly climbed out, not caring in the slightest that she was practically naked in front of not only her brother but also four essential strangers. The moment Roxanne stood up completely unobscured by the depths of the lake, three things happened.
Firstly, Jeremy quickly spun around, facing the woods, groaning in disgust.
Next, all three Mikaelson brothers quickly tried to get a rein on their growing lust and hunger however they were quite unsuccessful.
And lastly, Rebekah burst out laughing at both her brother's expressions and the reaction of the brother, of the girl in question.
Roxanne stood there completely unfazed by their reactions as she brushed her hair out of her face.
"Roxanne where are your clothes!?" Jeremy bellowed, absolutely mortified at the sight of his older sister in her underwear
"Up on the bridge" She nodded her head in the direction
"What are they doing up there?"
"…" Roxanne didn't answer she just gave him a pointed look
"You didn't, tell me you didn't…YOU JUMPED!" Jeremy's protective instincts were off the charts right now, he may have been her younger brother but that didn't stop him from acting like her older brother.
"Technically there was no jumping involved….it was more alone the lines of scooting off of the edge" she trailed off before adding "If that makes any sense" she looked thoughtful for a moment
"I suppose you could say I fell…"
"Roxy"
"But falling sounds so accidental"
"Roxy"
"I mean it's not the first time I've jumped off of the bridge anyway"
"Roxanne!"
"What?"
"Can you just get dressed?" Jeremy sounded so exasperated and exhausted
Roxanne pursed her lips and looked up at the bridge, frowning at the distance, before shrugging "I can't be bothered to walk all the way up there"
"Are you kidding me right now?"
"I'm not walking all the way up there just for some clothes"
"…We've got to walk through town to get home"
"And your point is?" Jeremy opened his mouth to state the obvious but Roxanne continued "The people of this town have seen me in far worse conditions"
"How the hell are you the oldest?"
Roxanne just grinned in response before strolling off a head of the others in the direction of the town. Jeremy shook his head with a small chuckle and moved to take his hoodie off to give to her however, when he looked up Elijah beat him to the punch and was currently draping his suit jacket over her shoulders.
Roxanne pouted "Now you're just ruining my fun" before once again walking ahead of them
"I knew I liked her for a reason" Kol spoke up once she was out of earshot, in response Klaus smacked him upside the head before chuckling and following after the strange alluring older Gilbert.
"Wanker" Kol mumbled under his breath, his eyes turned into slits as he watched his half-brother walk away.
Part of Jeremy was in a state of shock at seeing the first family of vampires acting so…normal and human like. It truly shook him to the core that a month ago, hell even only a couple of days ago, Jeremy wanted them dead. Understandably yes because Klaus did kill his sister and his aunt but Elena came back and it was Klaus, not Kol or Rebekah or Finn, not even Elijah was to blame for what happened, so why did everyone want them dead? Why had it become so natural to want to kill?
Jeremy's realisation made him shiver in disgust at himself, why the hell hadn't he realised all of this before? He looked ahead to see Roxanne laughing and joking with all the Originals, even Klaus, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed…he was no better than Klaus, none of them were.
Roxanne looked back as though sensing her brother's internal conflict "Jer-bear?"
Klaus's snort soon turned into a pained groan when Roxanne's swinging arm hit him below the belt causing him to fall on the ground in a heap and his siblings to laugh. However, neither Gilbert paid attention to this as Roxanne quickly rushed to her brother's side after seeing such devastation on his face.
"Hey Jer-bear what's wrong?" She frowned in concern as she stood directly in front of him, grabbing his arms.
Jeremy voice was just a broken whisper "What have we become?"
As always, Roxanne seemed to realise exactly what was going through the youngest Gilberts mind and quickly pulled him into a hug, muttering soothing words whilst slowly rubbing comforting circles on his back. The Mikaelson's watched on in silence and slight jealousy at how natural the brother and sister relationship was.
Klaus felt a ping of shame pass through him as he witnessed the looks of envy and longing on his only sister's face, deep down he knew it was partly his fault Rebekah felt so alone and had so many abandonment issues.
"Let's go home" Roxanne's voice broke through the silence that had fallen over everyone "I'll even promise not to streak through the town tonight" this provoked a laugh from Jeremy and the Originals, except Elijah who just smiled fondly at the brazen Gilbert.
~8~
Esther and Finn had spent the day searching for a reason as to why her linking spell the night before hadn't worked. None of the witch spirits on the other side would give her an answer which frustrated and confused the duo completely, they just couldn't understand. That's how they ended up on the doppelganger's door step later that night.
"Hello Elena, mind if we come in?" Esther greeted when Elena opened the door
Elena gazed flickered nervously towards a stoic Finn before moving back to Esther.
"My son will not harm you" Esther tried to reassure the doppelganger not knowing the actual reason behind her nervousness was the fact that neither of her siblings were home yet.
Elena nodded and stepped aside before uttering a verbal "come in" to the oldest Mikaelson. When the two stepped through the threshold Elena quickly scanned the street outside before closing the door, completely unaware that not only were her brother and sister almost home but so were the other Originals.
Sorry the update was late but I'm going on holiday Wednesday and everything's been hectic and bla! So unfortunately there won't be another update for about two weeks but I promise to make it up to everyone with an extra-long, extra cray cray chapter for the next one…
But tell me what you think of this one? Like it? Hate it?
I will admit shit is going to be hitting the fan when Roxanne finally meets Esther face to face…It's gonna be big! Don't forget to review I love hearing from you!