It was raining when evening hit and they got ready for bed. Elena was waiting with a steaming cup of tea in her hands for Elijah to finish showering before hopping into the large bed together. She leaned against the window, watching as the rain pattered hard against the glass. She loved the rain.
Taking a sip of her tea, she thought about the earlier events and smiled. Elijah loved her. And while she had wanted to say it back, she decided to wait. She wanted to say it when it wouldn't come just as a reply. She wanted him to know she meant it when she said it.
Glancing down at her mug, she wished for her friends. She desired so badly to call them and let them know Elijah had told her he loved her. It was a thing that she needed to be giddy about with her friends, but she couldn't. Not yet anyway.
"What could be going on in that head of yours, my lovely Elena?" Elijah asked from behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. He had watched her for several minutes after getting dressed from his shower. She was deep in thought staring at the mug in her hands, not once taking note of him.
"Bonnie…Caroline," Elena said with a small sigh. She set one of her hands on top of his and sipped her tea.
"You miss them," Elijah guessed.
Elena nodded.
Kissing the top of her head to bring her comfort, he watched her watch the rain. "Why not call them?"
"I will, just not yet." Elena turned in his arms and kissed his lips. "I don't want your mother knowing I decided to return until we arrive back in Mystic Falls. We don't need to give her time to set plans in motion."
Elijah nodded in understanding. The less his mother knew, the better. They needed all the advantages they could get.
"Let's get you to bed," he said, kissing her again and inhaling her scent. He didn't want their last five days of bliss to be over with. Returning to Mystic Falls, Elijah knew, was sure going to be dramatic.
Tucking them both in under the covers, Elijah turned off the side lamp and held his love close. He stroked her hair as she laid on his chest and listened for her slower breathing. "I love you Elena," he declared once more. He loved saying that out loud finally.
"Love you 'Lijah," Elena mumbled in her sleep.
Elijah swooned in happiness, fighting the urge to wake her up and have her say it to him again. Elena had not said it earlier and he didn't want to push, but for the rest of that evening he was haunted into thinking maybe she had not felt the same way about him. But hearing her say it – sleepily or not, he couldn't have been happier. "I will always protect you," he murmured to her before falling asleep.
Four days left.
"What do you think about dinner tonight?" Elijah asked, coming over to Elena who was eating her breakfast in bed and studying. Her books were sprawled over the large bed, her legs in the air as she worked on her stomach with a notebook in front of her and pencil in hand.
Hovering over her, he peered at the question she seemed to be stuck on. "1894."
"Elijah!" Elena laughed and swatted him as he rolled over beside her with a mug of blood in his hands.
Elijah smirked and watched her fill in the answer on her paper. He admired Elena's efforts. While she was on the run and missing school, she took the liberty to play catch up and even work at obtaining her GED. She was practically there with all the time she had at the mansion.
"So, dinner lovely Elena?" He watched her look up from her work and marveled at her natural beauty.
"Dinner sounds amazing," she smiled at him, leaning over to give him a kiss. Making a small face of disgust at the taste of blood on now on her lips, she reached for her sliced fruit and put it in her mouth. The diet of human blood may be necessary for a vampire, but that didn't mean Elena liked tasting it on her lover's lips.
Elijah laid and watched Elena work a while longer before getting up and kissing her cheek. He needed to get things ready for their date. "I'll be out for a while. I have my cell if you need anything."
Saying goodbye to Elena who was distracted with her work, Elijah quickly dressed and left. It was odd to think, in all the time they had been together they had not had a proper date. The notion had only occurred to Elijah that morning when he was making Elena breakfast in bed. He vowed to change that and court her correctly.
"Ready?" Rebekah asked, dressed and waiting for him in the main hall. Elijah had asked his sister earlier to help with his plans and festivities to make the date special for Elena. Rebekah of course said she would, but she told him they needed to go shopping first.
Car keys in hand, Elijah nodded and together they left the house.
The relieving sound of the textbook smacking shut made Elena sigh in pleasure. She was finally done with her work for the week and could enjoy the rest of her days before returning to Mystic Falls. She had yet to decide if she would return to high school or finish up in taking the exam for her GED. She was practically done. It would be hard not to.
Getting up from the bed, she put her things away and returned her breakfast plate to the sink. She wasn't sure what to do next. Elijah had gone out with Rebekah, Kol was in town doing who knows what and Klaus was in the study. Deciding to bother the big bad wolf, Elena went venturing through the house and found him looking over a pile of books.
"You best well work on your sneaking tactics love. They need the brushing up."
Elena narrowed her eyes at him from the doorway. "If I was trying, you wouldn't have a clue."
"Sure love, whatever you say," he smirked, turning around to face her. "Can I help you with something?"
Sucking in a deep breath, Elena pushed herself off the doorway and walked towards him. She felt nervous and couldn't believe what she was about to say. "Actually, I came to help you. I want to give you some of my blood."
Wind swept her face and Klaus stood a mere inch or two away. "What did you say?"
Elena backed up from their closeness. What did she say? Elena was questioning that herself. "I'll donate some of my blood to you."
She watched as the smirk on his face widened. He looked like a kid on Christmas and it made her uncomfortable.
"I know Elijah warned you about hassling me about my blood. And I know you've been wanting it for your hybrids. If I know him like I do, he probably threatened you in some way to not ask me." Elena peered around the room. "But I decided since you have actually been great about things, that I'd let you take a few pints of it for the next two days until we leave."
It felt weird to praise Klaus the way she was doing. It felt almost like a mother praising a child. But her words rang true. Klaus had been acting much better and quite differently than she was used to. He was actually civil and somewhat understanding. He hadn't been vicious or cruel in weeks since they had been with one another.
"Does Elijah know?" Klaus asked still smiling and setting up the room. Elena rolled her eyes. Leave it to him to quickly get things moving promptly.
Elena rolled up her sleeve and sat in the lounge chair he brought over towards the middle of the room. "I didn't think he needed to."
"Sneaky girl," Klaus chastised with a smile.
"It's not like I'm hiding it from him. But I figure for both of our sakes, I'd let this one go and not raise his blood pressure more than we have on this trip." Elena made jabs referencing Klaus destroying the house and Kol getting on the poor man's nerves. Elijah had quite enough stress in his life when living with his siblings. "Plus, who knows. In telling him he'd probably say no and convince me out of it."
Elena laid her arm out on the table Klaus pulled up and held out her veins for him. She watched as he pulled out a kit and tied a tourniquet around her arm. "I can't argue with that then," he said. "Now make a fist, love."
Doing what she was told, Elena watched and waited for her veins to bulk up. She hissed slightly as he stuck the needle in under her skin and watched as her blood went flowing through the tiny tube and into a blood bag.
"You should have enough for a while. Who knows what your mother plans to do so this may all you might have left."
The words stopped Klaus as he snapped off the gloves from his hands. Ah, so that is why the doppelgänger was doing what she was. He was part surprised by her actions, planning to give her blood to him in case she was to die. She was still considerate towards him in allowing him to make more hybrids. Yet, the human part of him had a twinge of guilt for letting her believe her death was a possibility and she needed to be planning for end times.
"Elijah won't let anything happen to you Elena," he said quite seriously, standing a bit away and watching her blood filter in the bag.
"I know," she told him nonchalantly. "But that doesn't mean it will be okay."
Her fierce eyes met his and he nodded in honesty. That it did not. Returning to Mystic Falls was sure going to change things. And none of the siblings were quite ready for it. They hung around in silence with one another, each having much on their minds.
"We leave here in two days, right?" Elena asked watching as he changed blood bags. The drive back home to Mystic Falls was surely going to take a good day or two. She couldn't imagine what it was going to be like with the originals all in one car together.
Masking his sullen and thoughtful feelings, Klaus kept his eyes trained away from the girl and nodded.
"So, you have two days then. Two blood bags a day. That's all," she told him already starting to feel slightly dizzy as the second draw continued.
Klaus noticed her sway and swiftly moved to her. "Lie back," he commanded, helping her lay in the chair and keeping her arm secure for her blood to drain. Elijah would absolutely kill him if anything happened to Elena. Whisking from the room, Klaus returned with a carton of juice, instructing her to drink the sugary liquid.
"Thank you, Elena." He said after a moment of silence. He meant his words genuinely. He knew what she was doing and saw how she didn't have to. She didn't owe him anything, rather he was the one still trying to work off his own debts to her.
"You're welcome Klaus." They were words not often spoken, as Klaus had never given anyone a reason to say them to him.
"Elijah, you're home."
Elena's eyes snapped open and found Elijah taking in the scene. Elena was laid up on a lounge chair, arm out, needle in her vein, blood bag below dangling off the table. She watched as his eyes darkened, presuming the scene.
Before she could speak a word, Elijah was speeding after his brother, ready to tear his head from his neck.
"Elijah," Klaus growled as he darted away from the brother.
Elijah went for his brother again, this time throwing Klaus against a shelf of books. "That's enough!" Klaus yelled.
"Elijah!" Elena exclaimed as she watched him grab for Klaus again, this time successfully catching his brother in hand. Standing up too quickly, Elena paled and stumbled to sit back down. Both men were at her sides in seconds, helping her calm her vertigo.
The actions of swiftness made Elena realize the power she held over the original men leading her thoughts quickly to Tatia. I wonder if that was what it was like for her, Elena thought to herself. She didn't enjoy the feeling of such power. It made her unsettled.
Nauseous, Elena motioned to Klaus, who, with his hands up at his brother to signal surrender, leaned over and helped disconnect Elena from the blood bag and needle.
"I volunteered," she told Elijah after Klaus finished unhooking her. Putting a pad of gauze to her needle mark, she got up with the help of Elijah. The room spun.
"Why would you do something like that Elena?"
His voice was chastising, but Elena chose to ignore it in her state. She began to feel like she was with Damon and Stefan trying to tell her what she could and could not do.
"It's important to him. And he didn't ask me. Or kill anyone for it," she muttered the last part. Elijah helped her walk from the room slowly, only to stop when they neared the stairs. "I'm doing it again tomorrow."
"No, you're not," he said helping her up. As much as he wanted to carry her and speed his way up the stairs, he considered her vertigo and figured it wasn't best.
Elena stopped him and looked him in the eyes definitely. "Yes, I am. I said I would and I gave him my word."
The fierce look she was displaying made Elijah both puzzled and mad. He sucked in his lip, only to let it out and grind his teeth together. He didn't enjoy watching his brother harm her, but Elena was stubborn.
Letting the topic go, he helped her up the stairs and tucked her into bed. "sleep," he commanded gently. Elena reached out for him and pulled him to the bed. "I want to do this for Klaus. I know I don't owe him anything, but it's my choice. Please respect that."
Elijah considered her words. Sighing, he leaned forward kissing her forehead. "I'm going to change around our evening plans a bit. I'll be back."
Sleepily, she nodded, falling fast asleep as he left.
As much as Elijah wanted to kill his brother for the sight he saw when he got home, on Elena's wishes, he didn't. Instead, he came back downstairs meeting a confused Rebekah by the stairs. "Change of plans," he gritted to her. Quickly letting his sister know of his thoughts for the evening, she left him to go set it up.
Elijah went bounding into the study, standing in the doorway, watching his brother secure Elena's blood bags in a silver case.
"She is quite the girl," Klaus commented, knowing Elijah was plotting his wishful death from behind him. He couldn't help but smirk at getting his way over his brother.
"You will get out of this house tonight, Niklaus." Elijah commanded sternly. He was in no mood for his brother or his games. He had a lot to do before Elena woke. "Don't come back until late tomorrow."
Klaus turned back around and continued to tease and smirk at his sibling. "Planning some alone time, are we?"
Elijah sped over, grabbing Klaus by his neck and raising him in the air. It was what Elijah had wished to do to him earlier before Elena had stopped him. "I mean it Niklaus. And for your sake, you will not want to be near me for the next day or so until I've calmed down."
Klaus pawed at his brother's grip, clearing his throat once he was released. "So be it."
Elijah stilled once his brother sped off with the silver case in hand. He inhaled deeply as he stood in the middle of the room to get a grip on himself. His anger was getting the best of him and it wasn't like him to show it. It didn't help that the room had smelled deeply of Elena's blood. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Elijah got a hold on himself and left to set up for his date.