Chapter Twenty

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Kassandra went to work that night, mostly because she had nothing to do. That was why she bartended; not because she needed the money, but because she got bored and it was something to do.

Ruby was there, but the witch promptly ignored her as soon as she walked into the bar. She pretended Kassandra didn't exist. She knew Ruby wanted an apology, but she wouldn't get one out of her easily. Instead Kassandra just rolled her eyes and ignored her right back. Ruby could be so petty sometimes.

Elijah had called her back, multiple times, but she wasn't answering his calls. Kassandra hated being lied to or kept out of a secret. Especially when it was "for her own good". She'd talk to Elijah again when he decided to tell her the truth. She could be petty sometimes too.

Near the end of her shift, Kassandra finally hit her breaking point. She couldn't take Ruby ignoring her anymore. She was too self-centered to handle it. "Ruby, I'm sorry, okay? Just talk to me again!" she shouted at the witch in the middle of the bar, causing other waitresses and patrons to look at them oddly.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "You can't just say sorry and expect everything to be fine again, Kass. It doesn't work like that," she muttered. She was calling her "Kass" though; that was a good sign.

"What do you want me to do, Ruby? Right you a seven page paper about how awesome you are?" she said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That'd help, yeah." Ruby smirked up at her friend, and Kassandra rolled her eyes in response.

The witch sighed and shrugged, running a hand over her face. "I want you to be able to talk to me about deeper things than just sex and booze, Kassandra. I want you to talk to me about Peter, so that I can help you through it. That's what best friends do."

Kassandra groaned and tugged at her hair. Ruby was expecting too much from her. "I'm not… I'm not ready for that, Ruby," she muttered. "I don't like thinking about him, let alone talking about him." It had been a thousand years, but she wasn't ready to face Peter.

"Then he'll just haunt you for the rest of your life," Ruby said. "Do you really want that?"

"I want…" Kassandra sighed and squirmed uncomfortably. "I want this chick flick moment to be over. I want a bottle of Jack Daniels if we're really going to have this conversation. And I want this conversation to be held in the future, preferably not in the middle of a crowded bar."

Ruby looked disappointed, and for a moment Kassandra considered telling Ruby everything, just to get that look off of her face. But then it was gone, and Ruby was back to acting like old Ruby. "Fine, Kass. Whatever you say. I better get back to work anyway. Unlike you, I actually need my paycheck to survive."

Kassandra watched her walk away, knowing in her heart that Ruby wasn't going to let that one go anytime soon.

~SYH~

"Kassie! Kassie! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Kassandra ran as fast as she could, her dress wrapping around her ankles and causing her to trip and stumble as she did. She gasped for air and was constantly looking over her shoulder. Branches scraped her arms and face, but she kept running.

"Kassie! Don't run from me Kassie! Why are you hiding Kassie? Why?"

Kassandra tripped over a branch and fell to the ground, her hands and knees stinging from impact. A sob escaped her throat as she tried to crawl away, but she couldn't get very far. She could here Peter approaching her.

"Kassie, don't leave me. You left me before, why are you doing it again? Kassie?"

Tears blinded Kassandra's vision. She was afraid, yet guilt and pain obstructed most of that fear. "I'm sorry Peter," she cried out. "I'm sorry. But please don't. Please!"

"Don't you want to be together forever, Kassie?" Her baby brother's voice seemed to echo around the entire forest. He was everywhere at once. "Why do you want me to be alone? Won't you join me Kassie? Won't you?"

"No, Peter! Don't." She blinked away tears, her throat tightening painfully. "Please!"

"I'm going to find you, Kassie." His voice got closer and closer to her each time. "You can't hide forever."

She breathed heavily as she attempted to drag her heavy body across the ground. It wasn't working, though. "This is your fault, Kassie," Peter called. "This is all your fault."

Kassandra desperately tried to stand up, but her legs refused to work. It was as if she had to sit there and wait for Peter to come to her. She couldn't leave.

"Peter," she tried again. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"That's not good enough, Kassie," Peter whispered into her ear. Then her corpse of a brother- dead skin hanging off of rotting bones, maggots infesting his eyes and skin- raised his long gleaming knife to stab her in heart so she could join him in the land of the dead.

Kassandra gasped and shot upwards, clutching her not beating heart. She breathed hard, reminding herself that she wasn't human anymore, and simple knives wouldn't kill her.

Her nightmares were back, and with a vengeance.

~SYH~

Kassandra went out to lunch with Ruby the next day planning not to say a word to the witch about her nightmare the previous night. But Ruby truly was her best friend. She noticed the yawning and her tiredness, and put it all together in three minutes flat.

"So, where you ever planning to tell me about your nightmare?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow as she picked at her salad.

Kassandra sighed and shrugged one shoulder, taking a bite out of a French fry. "Not really, no," she replied honestly.

The witch frowned at her. "I could help you, Kass," she repeated for the millionth time. "If you just told me about him."

Kassandra remained silent, and Ruby became convinced she'd never share anything about Peter ever. But then the vampire sighed again and took a long sip of her drink.

"He was seven years younger than me," she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. "He was thirteen when he went missing. He had just been learning how to swordfight, but even if he knew how to handle himself in a fight, he never would have stood a chance against a vampire.

"He went missing about five days after vampires overtook the village. That's why my mother and uncle died- they were out looking for him when a vampire attacked them. I found their bodies, but I could never find Peter's. And I think that makes it worse, not being able to put him to rest-" Kassandra cut herself off and closed her eyes. Talking about Peter was hurting her more than helping, and she really didn't like doing it.

"What are your nightmares about, Kass?" Ruby asked gently, her voice softer than Kassandra had ever heard it.

"He's always blaming me for his death. Always." Kassandra didn't open her eyes. "Because it's my fault, Ruby. Peter's dead because of me."

"Kassandra-" Ruby started to say, but then Kassandra's eyes flashed opened.

"No, that's enough for today," she said harshly. "No more, Ruby."

Ruby sighed, but nodded. She knew pushing Kassandra never got you anywhere, so she let her have her way. "Fine, let's talk Elijah then," the witch said, leaning back into her chair.

Kassandra glared at her friend. "Wow, we're just talking about all the easy, light topics today, aren't we?" she muttered sarcastically.

"Have you finally admitted to yourself that you're in love with him yet?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow. Kassandra's glare hardened. "I'll take that as a no."

"I'm not in love with him," she said. "He's a friend that I fuck. How many times do I need to explain this to you? I'm not even talking to him presently either."

Ruby frowned. "What'd he do?"

"He's keeping something from me," she said. "And I don't like being kept out of the loop so I'm giving him the silent treatment."

"How mature of you," the witch muttered dryly, before stealing a fry off of her plate. "So, how is this sex with benefits thing going to work out with Elijah staying in Mystic Falls permanently?"

Kassandra looked up at her friend in surprise. "He's not staying in Mystic Falls," she said. "He's coming back. He promised he would." She narrowed her hazel eyes at the witch. "Why don't you think he's coming back?"

"Because it'd make more sense for him to stay in Virginia," Ruby explained. "His family's there, it'd be easier to plot against Esther and Finn, it'd be safer too, with them all together. I thought he was staying there for good."

"Well, he's not," Kassandra said slowly, suddenly doubting if Elijah was telling the truth. "He said he's coming back, so he is. Right?"

Ruby was smirking to herself and Kassandra narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing really," the witch said. "It's just… either Elijah really loves the city or he's become attached to you."

"Maybe the sex is just that good," Kassandra retorted.

"Maybe," Ruby said in a doubtful tone.

Both of them knew, though, that Elijah was staying for one reason and one reason only. Kassandra. That's all New York City had to offer him. And he had become very attached to her. Kassandra refused to admit it to anyone, including herself, but she was just as attached back.

~SYH~

Later that night, Kassandra was debating calling Elijah to announce that she had forgiven him and to double check that he was, in fact, coming back, when there was a knock on her door. She groaned and muttered to herself as she got off of her coach and went to open it.

She raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw it was Elijah.

"Oh," she said. "I was just gonna call you."

"You were?" he asked. "I thought you were upset with me, since you've been ignoring my calls."

Kassandra shrugged. "I wasn't really upset, I was just making a point."

"That point being?"

"That you shouldn't withhold information from me," she said cheekily.

Elijah sighed. "Has anyone ever told you how very difficult you are?"

Kassandra just smirked at him and gestured for him to come inside. She frowned at his back when she remembered that he shouldn't have been back yet. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly. "When did you get back?"

"Just now," he answered. "I came here to apologize, because it's easier for me to just apologize to you even if I didn't really do anything wrong."

"Such a fast learner." She smirked at him, but was still confused. "Why did you come back so soon?"

Elijah shrugged and turned to face Kassandra. "Lenore wasn't giving us any information that could be useful, so I let my siblings deal with her," he said simply.

That wasn't particularly true. He came back to make sure Esther or Finn hadn't hurt her. Kassandra was strong and smart and didn't need him to protect her, but he couldn't help it. The idea of anyone trying to harm her made him want to rip them apart. He felt a lot less anxious seeing that Kassandra was alive and well with his own eyes.

"Elijah," Kassandra said in a low voice. "What did Lenore say about me? Please, just tell me."

He sighed. But Kassandra would badger him and whine and ignore him until he finally gave in, and he could do without that extra frustration. "She told me that Esther plans to kill you," he answered slowly.

Kassandra didn't even blink. "Why would she want to do that?" she asked. "Am I really that big of a pain in the ass?"

He sighed. "Yes, you are," he said, and Kassandra glared daggers at him. "But that's not why."

"Then why does she want me dead?"

"Because of me," Elijah told her without looking at her. "She thinks you're a weakness of mine, and she wants to get to me through you."

That shut Kassandra up.

She blinked slowly. "That's why you came back so soon," she said, more to herself than to him. "You wanted to make sure I was okay."

Elijah didn't answer, but she really didn't expect him to. "I'm a big girl, Elijah," she told him, but there was no edge in her voice. "I can take care of myself."

"I know."

Kassandra bit her lip. "Esther's not… wrong, is she?" she asked, closing her eyes. She felt as if she was in uncharted territory. She wasn't good at this, dealing with feelings. She usually would've been offended had someone called her a weakness, but not with Elijah. With Elijah, she was almost… flattered.

Elijah didn't answer, but she already knew. Yes, Esther wasn't wrong.

Instead of stiffening and pushing him away, Kassandra stopped herself. She promised herself then and there that she'd work on not pushing people away. She didn't want to end up alone, with nothing but nightmares of Peter to keep her company.

Instead of pushing Elijah away, Kassandra grabbed his tie and pulled him closer, before crashing her lips against his.

~SYH~

A/N: sorry for the lack of update. Special shout out to the anon who messaged me on tumblr. This chapter's for you, sweetie :)

Thank you to: abc500, SomebodyWhoCares, delenawolves, CharmedGirl92, Lovely Rain dancer, Guest, jamiecarterannie, and lily for reviewing!

Review!

~Abby :)