The Truth

Alex kept her eyes firmly on Elijah. He had stepped away from her and had taken a seat on a tree that had fallen over a long time ago, moss and plants had grown over it and moulded it into the ground. He placed his elbows on her knees and clasped his hands together before resting his forehead on them.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. "The reason you're grandmother, Nadia, left was because she caught the Council siphoning a young witches magic."

Alex frowned.

"The young witch apparently had fallen in love with a vampire, said vampire was supposed to have been her target, and when she failed to kill him the Council declared her a traitor," said Elijah.

Alex swallowed and bit down on her lip. The Council enjoyed punishing those that they had decided had either broken the rules or betrayed them. Punishments were determined based on the level of severity, but no witch should ever have their magic drained from them. If anything, that was against nature. It made Alex sick to think that innocent witches had suffered like that. "What happened to the witches after?" she asked. Alex didn't want to know, but she needed to.

"Nadia wasn't sure. The witch she discovered died after the siphoning." Elijah stood up and reached for her. "Are you okay?"

Alex stepped away. She needed to think.

"Alex?" he pressed.

"No, I'm not." She wrapped her arms around herself. Anger, disbelief and sadness were all bubbling inside of her. Alex wasn't sure which one was going to bubble over, but she didn't know what to do.

If the Council were stealing witches magic, no matter how guilty they were, they needed to be stopped. And it also meant she was right. Alex might not be the monster herself, but she had been working for them. Doing their bidding and killing god knows how many innocents.

Sadness was the first emotion to push her over. The tears fell from her eyes and her knees collapsed beneath her. Her body shook, and Alex couldn't stop the sob that ripped through her chest.

Elijah's arms wrapped around her and pulled her body gently against his. He stroked her hair and hushed her gently, offering no words but comforting her with his touch.

Alex grasped at his shirt and buried her face into his neck. Everything she had been told was a lie, Renee had brought her into a world that was nothing but cruel and hateful. Alex wanted to go back to the days that she was naive of it all.

It took a few moments, but Alex managed to pull herself together. She kept her face buried in Elijah's neck and asked, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

His grip tightened around her. "I wasn't sure if you knew or not. Only when you mentioned before about possibly changing their mind did it confirm for me that you didn't know."

She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "What I want to know is why? No witch deserved to be cut off from their magic."

Elijah cupped her chin. He said, "I don't know. But Nadia spent her life trying to help those that the Council were determined to destroy." He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"I wish I could have known her." Alex snuggled back into Elijah's chest. It was all too much. Nothing was simple anymore, and the one moment she thought when things could be normal, just for a little while her whole world had imploded.

"She would have loved you." Elijah squeezed her.

The comment brought a soft smile and a warmth to her chest. It softened the rest of her emotions and allowed her to take a breath. "I'm going to stop them," she mumbled. "We are going to stop Klaus, save Elena and then destroy the fucking Council."

"Just like Nadia," said Elijah.


The rest of the morning spent along the stream, Alex and Elijah talked about everything but the Council. After her small meltdown, Alex was determined to make their first date better. Elijah spoke about his life as a human, she got the full details of his family and a better understanding of how his mother, the original witch, had turned them all into vampires and why. She had to admit it was instead a sad story, and if Klaus hadn't turned into such a psychopath, she might actually feel sorry for him.

Alex had also given him the rundown of her childhood, including a few embarrassing stories, the first time she kissed a boy, and a few of her favourite family moments. Their time had felt normal, the witch and vampire business had been completely forgotten.

But by the time noon rolled around Alex's stomach demanded food. Alex had been tempted to head to the Grill, but the thought of having to answer everyone's questions about why she and Elijah were together didn't make it appealing.

Instead, Alex directed Elijah to the supermarket so that she could buy the ingredients to make them lunch. On the drive down, she bragged about her home-made pizzas and he insisted that he could make the best garlic bread. With the food decided, Alex had almost burst into a fit of giggles when she realised how mundane they truly were acting. It also amused her to watch Elijah as he compared the different types of pineapple he could buy.

"What's with the pineapple?" she asked.

He smiled. "Pineapple on pizza is one of my favourites."

Alex screwed up her face.

"And before you judge me," he leant down close enough that their noses touched, "I am a thousand-year-old vampire who has tasted the best food in the world."

Alex sniggered at him.

"And when I say pineapple on pizza is good, you have no right to say otherwise." Elijah finished and placed a quick kiss on her lips.

Alex shook her head. He was playful; it was something she had never imagined she would see. When they had first met, he seemed polite and a little stiff, but the cheeky smile on his face and the way he snuck a quick kiss from her, showed a side that she could tell didn't come out too often.

"You could be as old as the planet and I still wouldn't agree with you." Alex grabbed the pineapple from his hand and dropped it into the basket she was carrying.

"Have you ever tried it?" he asked.

"No! Eww." Alex scrunched up her nose and reached to grab some peppers.

"Don't knock it till you've tried it." Elijah placed a hand on his hip and pointed a carrot at her.

She laughed at him. "Who are you? Where has serious Elijah gone?"

Elijah shrugged and put the carrot back. "He isn't needed right now, and for the first time in a long time I feel happy."

Alex smirked and leant into his side. "Well, I like this side of you." She reached up on his toes and placed a kiss on his cheek, before heading out of the produce section to the bakery to grabbed some pizza bases.

When they arrived back at the Gilbert house, it was empty. All of the items that had been lying around the house as the girls prepared for the Founder's Day weekend had been cleared out the house looked cleaner than it had all week.

Alex and Elijah both got to work and started cooking. Elijah made his supposed best garlic bread ever before allowing Alex to boss him around. They two of them worked together and Alex smiled as she pictured their domestic appearance. Anyone who would walk through the door would think nothing about them other than a young couple who were making lunch.

The front door opened and both Alex and Elijah paused. Elena appeared through the doorway and smiled when she saw them cooking.

"Looks like I got home at the perfect time," she said.

Alex smiled. "I thought you would be at the celebration all day?"

Elena shrugged. "I escaped. Stefan is coming over and we were going to hang out. Can we join you?"

Alex sighed and looked at Elijah. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Elena, this is still new and it's not supposed to be information that everyone knows."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Then you shouldn't have been flirting at the store. Caroline spotted you and snapped a picture. Everyone knows."

Alex frowned. She was going to kill that girl.

Elijah put down the knife in his hand and placed his hands of Alex's shoulders. "Don't worry," he said. "I will be happy to kill anyone who objects."

Alex turned her frown in his direction and lifted her knife up and pointed it at him. "Not funny."

Elijah smiled and kissed her.

"You too act like you have been at this forever," said Elena. Her smile was full, and a particularly pleasing look swirled in her eyes.

Alex didn't respond, she picked up a piece of bell pepper and popped it into her mouth. She couldn't say Elena was wrong though. When she had been with James, the natural flow of their relationship had taken months to form. With Elijah, it was as natural as breathing. Both of them seemed to understand each other without evening speaking, almost like it was an instinct.

Thinking of James allowed dread to fall into her stomach. If everyone knew, then it was going to get back to James and that was the last thing she wanted. This type of thing needed to come from her directly and the fact that Elijah was a vampire of all things wasn't going to make it any easier.

James' reactions also meant that he could tell Renee which could get back to the Council. While Alex had decided the Council were evil and needed to be stopped, there were plenty of witches on their team and she had Klaus to focus on. The thought that the Council would send witches to hunt her down wasn't ideal.

Alex tried to calm down and keeps her thoughts at bay until later. Her day with Elijah had already been interrupted by his revelation about the Council, she wanted to enjoy the rest of it. Alex focused on the food and got them into the oven as Stefan arrived. She was relieved that the awkwardness she had expected seemed to have decided not to show itself.

The awkwardness appeared though when Renee's name popped up on Alex's phone. She frowned at it and didn't want to answer, but what good would ignoring it do. Alex grabbed her phone and stepped outside. Worry flooded her insides, but she took a deep breath and answered.