The smell of breakfast wafted through the air, and Elena's stomach reflexively growled. She'd forgotten to eat dinner last night. She'd chalked it up to being a pesky inconvenience of her temporary human state that she'd deal with when she got a chance, until the aroma of bacon and eggs started to infiltrate her nose and she became ravenous. Elijah appeared in the doorway, still in his sleep trousers and black T-shirt, a day's worth of stubble along his jaw. To her surprise, he carried a tray.
"What's this?" she asked, sitting up straight. Her mouth was watering, and she swallowed. Salivating would be just a little embarrassing. He smiled as he set it down in front of her.
"Breakfast in bed," he announced.
She couldn't believe all of the food - there were pancakes and sausage too. And homefries tucked in between. "Wow. You made this?"
He nodded. "Cooking is a hobby of mine, but I don't often have the opportunity." He stole a fresh strawberry off of the side and popped it in his mouth. "Go on," he urged her, smirking. "Try it."
She poured syrup over the pancakes and dug in with a fork. "Oh my God," she said after the first fluffy bite. "These are perfection."
He chuckled as she began to sample each item, vocalizing her satisfaction. He sat down next on the end of the bed carefully, so as not to shift the tray. "And then there's dinner tonight. Seeing as it's your last night as a human, it warrants something special."
"It's probably a good thing I'm turning. I might not be able to move if you fed me like this all of the time." She glanced up at him in between bites. "Not that I'd necessarily complain."
"No, it doesn't seem you would. Nor would I." He looked content. "I'm glad you're enjoying it."
She set down her fork and took a sip of orange juice. Then she met his gaze again. "It's not just the food, Elijah. It means a lot that you're making me feel at home. Better than that even - you're treating me like a queen."
"As you well deserve," he stated. His eyebrow arched, ready to argue against her usual state of self-deprecation.
"Maybe, but I'm not really used to it. My life has been so complicated since my parents died. I've kind of forgotten what normalcy is like. I'm looking forward to that, with you."
She reached out, and he took her hand. He gave her a soft smile. "We can do normalcy for as long as you like. It sounds like a welcome reprieve from the extended insanity we've all endured."
"I think so too." She let out a sigh. "I still need to take care of some loose ends first. Like Stefan. And... Damon."
She watched Elijah carefully, but he didn't bristle. "You want to clear the air."
She nodded. "He deserves an explanation. I wasn't very nice, after everything he's done for me."
"I imagine he's a bit devastated," Elijah said, shifting his position so he was leaning back against the pillows. And closer to her. His fingers traced along the back of her camisole, brushing lightly over her bare skin, causing her heart rate to pick up.
Her mind flashed back to the last time she'd seen Damon on good terms. And she realized that in the midst of their scrambling to take down Silas, she hadn't told Elijah what had happened between them. Which wasn't a big deal, necessarily, or even information she owed him - but still. She didn't want to hide anything. She knew how that could backfire, and she didn't want to mess this up.
"You need to know... I kissed him. Or let him kiss me. Or whatever. It was when I came home from Chicago. I didn't think I was going to see you again, after Katherine showed up. I was upset, and my head was a mess, and I'm sorry-"
She stopped her flustered rambling when Elijah cupped her face in his hand. "You don't have to explain. Or apologize."
She let out a low sigh, nodding. "I just - I still care about him. I don't want him to hurt. But I know how he lashes out, too, and I just think it's better if things are out in the open."
"If you're here with me, he's the least of my concerns." Elijah smiled again, and he drew her in for a kiss. As his lips successfully worked to distract her mind, she decided she needed to not worry so much. He was rational and patient, measured in his reactions. And he trusted her. She didn't need to borrow unnecessary trouble, especially the sort with blue eyes.
After they separated, she finished what she could of the meal. Then she settled next to him, lying on her side. It was still morning after all. She didn't need to hurry. She could just enjoy the quiet moment for once. It was weird, to lie there without an imminent threat to her happiness. She knew it was going to be a long time before she could really relax. His arm wrapped around her waist, and again she felt his thumb meandering over her bare skin. Nothing frisky, really - more just the need to remind himself physically that she was still here. She understood it. It was why she closed her eyes and listen to his faint inhale and exhale even as he laid as still as stone. He existed here with her. She had almost drifted off again, her belly full and happy, her form relaxed next to his, when he broke the comfortable silence.
"If we are confessing our deep dark secrets," he began in a low, gravelly tone, "then there's something you should know before tomorrow."
"Okay," she said, maybe a little too quickly. But that phrasing made her anxious. It sounded too much like the other shoe waiting to drop. She looked up at him and he sighed reluctantly.
"You know Isobel helped me to save you from Silas," he said. She nodded, and his mouth quirked. "She asked that I didn't influence you into becoming a vampire again. This isn't the life she wanted for you. And though the circumstances are irreversible, I thought you should be aware of your mother's wishes as you proceed forward."
"I know," she said.
He raised his eyebrows. "You do?"
"Yeah. She basically told me as much the first time we met. And she tried to take out Stefan and Damon, to protect me. I told her then I didn't ever want to turn, but... I guess she knew I was lying to myself, before I even did."
Elena looked down as she recalled that disastrous encounter, and the one that followed months later where Isobel burned herself alive, a funeral pyre above her grave. And as if that wasn't traumatic enough, she also thought it was the appropriate time to confess that she had wanted to know her daughter, to reveal that she had been a much kinder person before she turned. She left behind more questions than she had answered.
Elijah must have sensed the shift in her breathing, and his arm tightened reassuringly around her. "She cares about you deeply, Elena. You've been her primary concern long before she ever reappeared in your life."
"How do you know that?" Her eyes widened in surprise as she met his gaze again, a realization dawning. "Did you know her before this?"
He nodded. "We worked together on a few occasions to stop my brother. I'd warned her not to infiltrate his inner circle, to instead remain patient and allow me to work. But as you know, she sought him out anyway. And that didn't end well for her."
"No," she agreed quietly. "I've always wanted to know how long she knew my fate...but it all died with her and John. And my parents."
He grimaced, tracing over her arm. From his weighted silence, she could tell he held her answers, and that it probably wasn't pretty. She didn't expect it to be, though. She figured it would be messy, and tragic, much like everything else related to her lineage. "Mikael came to town with the intention of stealing you away and using you to lure Niklaus out to meet his end. His plan involved killing you both, so as to end the cycle. She knew you were the doppelgänger then, after Bonnie's mother managed to subdue him in a tomb."
Elena drew in a deep breath as she let his words to fill in between the broken pieces of history she'd already uncovered. "So John must have known, too. He probably told her."
"Yes. From that point forward to she devoted her life to tracing back the bloodlines, to figure out exactly what part you played in everything to make you the target of vampires. Hence her studies of the occult, and her turning."
"But she married Ric." Elena's brows knit together, as this was the piece of the puzzle she couldn't ever reconcile. The rest of the story - well, she'd had a hunch. She had hoped that her birth mother wasn't as cruel as she appeared at first glance. "I don't understand why she dragged him into it."
"I suppose she hoped she would be able to accomplish what she needed to, and then she would have returned to carry out a normal life. But she said she realized too late that she could only get so far as a human, and at that point she had to make a sacrifice. To save you."
"And she told you all of this?" she asked incredulously. She swallowed around her racing heart. To hear it for certain, that she had inadvertently ruined Ric's life before she'd ever met him... God. And still he'd only tried to help her, until he died. She couldn't go there. She wanted to hate Isobel for dragging him into it, but maybe she knew, as much as she hoped he would mourn her and move on. Maybe Isobel knew that he would protect Elena as he would have protected her, once he found out everything. And as much as it crushed Elena, that he'd probably still be alive if neither she not Isobel had ever crossed his path, she was thankful she'd had him on her side.
"I guess you could say we were friends. Katherine had told her the story from the first sacrifice attempt, and so Isobel tracked me down. She didn't trust Katherine completely, and she needed a sympathetic ear." He exhaled, and she could sense some melancholia in his tone. "I regretted her passing. But I understood. She feared Katherine was going to cross her before I caught up to Niklaus. She didn't want you to become the casualty. And I tried to keep my word to her."
She swallowed, her throat aching, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling. She sat up, legs crossed and facing him. "Then you knew about me, before that day in the abandoned plantation."
"I did." He smiled softly, brushing away tears. "But I don't trust easily, and Trevor had already betrayed me once. If they'd tracked you down, I knew you weren't safe. I'd intended to take you."
"I wish you would have told me then..." Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. "But I realize that you didn't know me, and everything could have fallen apart."
"You have to understand - I longed to give you those answers."
He paused, his tongue running over his lower lip, his hands now resting on either side of her face so she couldn't escape his gaze. He sensed her becoming defensive that he'd known all along - she could tell. And he wanted her to understand. She tried to to keep her mind neutral. He'd never intentionally hurt her, even if she was taken off-guard that he'd harbored this information.
"But you've barely stopped to breathe since we met. How would you have reconciled this, around the deaths and threats you've faced? My intentions were to protect your existence until the time was right."
She sighed, and she rested her hand over his. He leaned forward and gently kissed her. She felt some of the tension diffuse, and she kept her eyes closed for a moment.
"And I intend to continue to protect you, as Isobel would ask," he murmured. He pressed another kiss against her forehead. "Do you trust me?"
Elena nodded, without a second's hesitation. She always had, much to the dismay of everyone else. He was one of the few whose motivations always made sense to her. If he strayed from his stated path, it was never with the intent to harm her. She could always understand his greater good. And he would never sacrifice her.
"I trust you with my life," she answered honestly. "And I always have."
He smiled softly. "Good."
She reluctantly pulled her hand away from his grip, feeling a bit unsettled and restless now. "I should probably shower. And go talk to Damon. I need that off of my conscience before tomorrow."
He nodded, and he moved so she could slide off the side of the bed. "Do what you need to do." His soft tone was sincere, and she drew in a deep breath at what he meant.
"Thanks," she said. Then she padded into bathroom, hoping the hot shower would set some of her nerves at ease.