I've decided to have Freya be a nurse, not only did Elejah88 and Aria Daughter of Chaos suggest it, but once I think about it, it just makes sense. For Kol, it's not that easy, I don't want him to be a famous sportsman, plus, he's British, living in the US. I don't know anything about American sports. I'm an Aussie, over here our main sports are Aussie Rules Football, Rugby and Cricket. In the US, from what little I know (and it's not a lot) the main sports are American Football (NFL, right?), Baseball and Basketball. Aside from playing a little basketball in high school over ten years ago, I got nothing. But I have decided to link him to sports and make him a physiotherapist.

I've warped the character traits of a few people. Sorry if anyone liked them, but I've made then kind of badish.

No smut in this chapter, but there should be some in the next.

I do not own The Vampire Diaries or The Originals.

Chapter 4

Missed Chances and Almost Maybes

…

Elena gulped down one last flute of champagne before heading out. It was almost mid-night and she was very nearly drunk. About half an hour after Elijah had walked off from her, he had approached her asking to talk. Elena had brushed him off, she had had three drinks in the time since their disagreement and then and she just was not in the mood. She had spent the rest of the evening avoiding him at all costs, even though she could feel his gaze burning a hole into her. Every time she was introduced to one of Nik's family members, Elena could not help but remember what Elijah had said about them and it made a stab of pain go through her chest and an unpleasant feeling arise in her stomach.

While she had a fair bit to drink, Elena had always prided herself on having a rather high alcohol tolerance. She was a tiny girl, but she had managed to drink her brother under the table last Christmas. So she walked outside, hoping to flag a taxi, because high tolerance or not, she was not riding the subway at mid-night on a Friday, half drunk.

How could he have just walked away like that? How did he manage to just dismiss everything and brush it off? She didn't even care about what they had been talking about. She didn't care about hiding their relationship. It was just like he didn't care enough to stay and sort stuff out.

She was waiting by the curb, shivering in the cold air, waiting for a cab, when she felt someone grab her arm. She spun around, ready to give some punk a piece of her mind, when the person pulled her into their chest. They wrapped their strong arms around her and Elena was engulfed in Elijah scent. She closed her eyes and sunk into his body for a moment, sighing.

"I'm sorry for walking out on you earlier, my lovely Elena," he muttered into her hair, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

That's when Elena's eyes snapped open and she pushed off his chest and away from him, shaking her head.

"I've got to go home," she said, praying her eyes would not leak the tears she had been holding at bay all night. "I have to go," she quickly turned on her heal and walked off, down the block. She needed to walk away first, it hurt too much when people did it to her.

Elena didn't get far, Elijah followed right behind her.

"Elena, stop," he said, reaching for her arm. "Elena, please, look at me." He begged, not letting go of her hand. "I'm sorry I walked off. I am so very, very sorry. Please, don't leave like this. Talk to me."

Elena looked at him, tears welling in her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but one escaped and made its way down her cheek. Elena sniffed, reaching her hand up to wipe it away, but Elijah got there first. He swiped his thumb across her cheek, then rested his forehead on hers.

"If you think I'm just going to let you go, you have another thing coming," Elijah stated, looking defiantly into her eyes. "We've had five years of missed chances and almost maybes. I only just got you, I have no intention of letting you walk away from me-"

"But you can walk away from me," Elena snapped, cutting him off.

"I over-reacted, I'm sorry," Elijah said. He placed his hand back on her face and the other on her hip, against her own intentions, Elena allowed it to stay there. "I just don't want to hide what we have. I want to shout from the rooftops that I have the most amazing girlfriend. I want the world to know how happy you've made me these last two months."

"I don't want to hide, either," Elena said, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "But it's Caroline's wedding, I can't steal her thunder or lime light. I can't have her worry about placements if something goes wrong." She was going with reasons she was using before, but really, it was an excuse to get out of there as quick as possible.

"And if nothing goes wrong?" Elijah asked, running his nose along hers. "If we're still together come the wedding. If we're still happy and dating and… Know that I have absolutely no intention of breaking up with you any time soon."

"It was only for a few months, Elijah." Elena argued, this is why she wanted to go home, she was worried that if they talked tonight, she would say something she would regret and it would have catastrophic results. "I wasn't planning to introduce you to Care or Bonnie for at least another month or so anyway. And I would've told Caroline before the wedding, I'm complete crap at lying." She took a shaky breath before continuing. "But if you don't want to, I understand." She nodded, biting her lip. "I have to go, before I put my foot in my mouth and you end up breaking up with me… If you haven't decided to already."

"Oh, Elena," Elijah said, placing both hands on her cheeks, now. "I just told you that I have no intention of ending our relationship. If you want me to be your dirty, little secret, I'll be your dirty, little secret. It won't be forever, and while I dislike having to hide us, I abhor the idea of losing you over something so petty, far more."

"I can't ask you to do something you don't want to," she said, stepping back, but Elijah's grasp on her held firm. "I shouldn't have before. I'm sorry."

"Elena," Elijah said again, before smiling and just crashing his lips to hers. Elena took another step back, but Elijah wasn't letting her go, her back was against the wall outside the gallery, just outside a street light's range. He tasted of champagne and scotch, and Elena felt herself yielding to him. She threw her arms around his neck.

"Come home with me," Elijah breathed as they broke apart. "We don't need to do anything, I just can't stand the thought of us parting on bad terms."

Elena didn't trust herself to talk, she merely nodded, her eyes still closed. Maybe she should give him a chance to prove all that she knows wrong.

Elijah: My brother is ruining Christmas, he was using Christmas dinner to speak of his wife's nipples. My sister-in-law is breast feeding my niece and it's not something I particularly want to hear about.

Elena: My bro brought his gf home for x-mas, I woke up this morning hearing them do it. I think I win suckiest brother at x-mas comp.

Elijah: I was unaware there was a competition, because if there is I do have far more brothers than you.

Elena: Jer likes to spike the punch and leaves his dirty clothes in our shared bath.

Elijah: Henrik spent the whole day trying to steal my drinks. In case you've forgotten, he's 16. Kol, aside from his actual present, got my older brother and I something called a 'willy warmer' which he gave to us in front of our parents, I'll let you use your imagination to figure out what it is.

Elena: Alright, you win. Your bros are the worst...;-p

Elijah: Enough about our brothers, how was your Christmas?

Elena: Can't complain. Being home is nice, but I need to get back to the city, my mom is driving me nuts.

Elijah: What day do you get back?

Elena: 3rd, you?

Elijah: 2nd. Would you like to have coffee with me on the 4th?

Elena: I'd love to.

Elena: Did your bro really get you a willy warmer? I looked it up... hilarious!

Elijah: I'll thank you no to encourage him.

Elena smiled as she closed her conversation with Elijah. It was Boxing Day and she was a little hung over from her brother being very generous while making eggnog and her having one too many glasses of wine with her mom and Aunt Jenna while they got to know Jeremy's girlfriend, Anna.

She and Elijah had been texting almost constantly since he landed in England and they had even spoken on the phone once or twice, but with the time difference and family obligations there has really been much opportunity to speak more.

She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, Elijah would end up being the guy for her.

"Do you want something to drink?" Elijah asked her, closing his door and locking it.

"Water, please." Elena said, licking her lips. She had had a lot to drink earlier, it's probably best she re-hydrates now. She watched Elijah place his phone, wallet and keys onto the kitchen counter, then walked to the refrigerator, opening it and taking out two bottles of water. He handed her one and opened his own, taking a long draw.

Elena removed the lid on hers and gulped down some. When she pulled it away from her mouth, a bit dripped down her chin, she wiped it off with the back of her hand.

"Have a seat," Elijah tells her, gesturing to the table. He removed his coat and blazer, then loosened his tie and rolled up his sleeves.

Elena shook her own coat off and pulled out a chair on Elijah's unnecessarily large dining table. By the time Elijah sat, in the seat to her left, on the corner, she had been sitting or about a minute or so.

"I can keep a secret," he said, breaking the silence. "If that is what you desire, consider it done. We can always tell everyone we got close with planning."

"That's not even the problem, why did you just walk away from me like that?" Elena snapped, asking him why is was so necessary to hurt her like that. "Why couldn't we have spoken then, earlier? If you had just stayed, we could've worked all this shit out then and there would be no need for us to even be discussing this now."

"I know, Elena," Elijah said, he clenched his fist and jaw. "I'm not good with dealing with stuff. I'm the type of person that lets things stew, I internalize and let them build up. It's not healthy, by any means, but it's who I am. I also have a temper - nothing bad - and it does take a while to actually get me to lose it, but I have been known to say things I don't mean or things I regret if confronted. Again, I cannot tell you how very sorry I am. It wasn't worth us having a fight over it."

Elena pursed her lips and nodded, "You just said it, I wasn't worth it. I don't like to feel abandoned, like I'm not worth the effort. I have issues with abandonment."

"But I didn't abandon you," Elijah said, reaching for her hand and grasping it.

"I know that's not what you meant, but it's how I felt." Elena quickly wiped her eyes.

"Elena, please, I didn't meant it. I only walked away to stop myself from saying something incredibly insensitive or stupid or out of line. I, in no way, meant for you to take it the way you did. I am so sorry that I hurt you." Elijah scooted his chair closer to the corner and therefore Elena. He cupped her cheek, his thumb rubbing her face. "You have to know that."

"I-I know," Elena said, not looking at him. "I'm just being stupid and insecure. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She gave a half smile that didn't reach her eyes and shook her head.

"It's not stupid to me," Elijah told her, his hands clasping onto hers on the table. "I am worried about it. I care for you Elena, a lot. What- who made you have these feeling of inadequacies, these abandonment issues? Please, tell me it wasn't something I've done?"

"No," Elena said, shaking her head. "No, you're great. You're really great. It's nothing, it's just tonight, when you walked away, it brought up some old feeling. Feelings I haven't felt in a while. I don't really want to go into it."

"Please, tell me?" Elijah begged, leaning down to cup her chin so he could meet her eyes. "I feel horrible for doing this to you. Tell me why you feel this way, I need to know, so I can tell you that whatever it is, it's untrue. You are beautiful and smart and kind. You're fun, compassionate, loyal. You are the very embodiment of goodness."

Elena started to cry a bit, tears leaking her eyes. She gave a weak smile and nodded. "Okay."

"I'm adopted," she started, then paused to take a deep, calming breath. "I was four when my birth mom left me at a doctor's surgery in Mystic Falls. I don't remember much aside from the overwhelming feeling of fear and I had no idea where I was. It was cold and I was hungry. When the office closed, a cleaner found me hiding in the toilets. The doctor, who was finishing some paper work, called the police and I was taken to the station. The sheriff, Liz, took me to her place for the night and I slept in her daughter's room. Caroline was so happy to have a sleep over and I was totally overwhelmed."

"The next day, the doctor, who turned out to be my dad, my-my adopted dad, and his wife applied to have me stay with them. They fostered me while the police looked for Isobel, my birth mom, but they never found her. Eventually, the Gilberts managed to adopt me fully."

"Oh, Elena," Elijah sighed. He brought one of her hands to his mouth and kissed it. He didn't say anything else, he seemed to understand that Elena needed to get this out as quick as possible.

"When I was twelve," she continued. "Jeremy, who was in fourth grade at the time I think, won this really prestigious art award and he had a painting displayed in a gallery in DC. There were only nine other kids who got this and they were all in their teens. Our whole family went to the ceremony, mom and dad, Uncle John, Aunt Jenna. Even my grandma came and she died just a few months later. We went to this really nice café for lunch and that's where I saw Isobel. She was staring at me for a bit, but I wasn't the only one who recognized her. Uncle John did too. Apparently, she was his high school girlfriend."

"Long story short, I actually am a Gilbert. John had gotten Isobel pregnant when they were sixteen and then she told him she aborted. He broke up with her and they never spoke again. Until that day."

"Uncle John never fought for custody or to even see me for that matter. After the blood test and whatnot had been finished and proved positive, he left town and I've barely seen him since. Dad says that it's 'cause he finds the maybes too painful, but I don't know. I wouldn't have minded getting to know him better. He will never be my dad, but- I don't know."

Elena pulled her hands out of Elijah's grip and wiped her face.

"Well, that's were my issues start," she told him. "But it's not where they finish."

"Elena," Elijah said, softly. "I don't need to hear any more. If you don't want to tell it, that's fine. Whenever you're ready, I'm here."

"No, I think I want to get it all out." Elena nodded, felling lighter, somehow. "I want you to know. I mean, I didn't fifteen minutes ago, but now… I want you to know me."

"Whatever you're comfortable with, sweetheart. You can stop anytime you like." He stood and pulled her into a hug, squashing her body to his. "But I find I've left out a trait that you also possess, before. You are brave. So very, very brave."

"I'm not brave," Elena said, collapsing into him.

"Sure you are," he insisted. "The bravest, most beautiful person, inside and out, that I know." He led her over to the couch, leaning her back into his chest, he stroked her hair.

"Whenever you're ready."

"In college, I met this really, really great guy, but he never called." Elena continued on, "And I know it wasn't your fault," she said, when Elijah opened his mouth. "But I think that on some level, that may have contributed, just a little."

"You have no idea how much I wish I could change that," he said.

"I know," mumbled Elena. "When I was in sophomore year, I dated this guy named Liam. He started out nice. Kinda preppy, but nice. He was pre-med, cocky and arrogant. The thing is, though, is that he had the looks and the brain and the money to back all this up. Then he turned into a jealous dick. He lost it if I talked to male classmates or friends. Once my friend, Matt, came to visit me, Caroline and Bonnie on campus and he accused me of cheating. Matt and I dated in high school, but it was nothing more than puppy love. The funny thing was, Caroline was dating Matt at the time."

"Six months into the relationship, I had a pregnancy scare. I wasn't, it was just stress and mid-terms and a crappy relationship that caused me to skip a period. But he lost it, he basically threw money at me, for an abortion, and dumped me on the spot. I was sort of relieved, but the fact that he offered no support or comfort when I was freaking out and scared out of my mind… anyway. I returned the money to him and told him where to go, but it still hurt."

Elijah just held her, allowing her to express all her thoughts and experiences out. Showing her, silently that he was here for her. That he cared for her.

"Then I met Stefan, through a friend." Elena smiled in a bittersweet way. "I was dating him when I ran into you two and a half years ago. What we had was fun, and I can safely say that I fell in love with him." Elijah felt an irrational burst of jealousy rise in him at hearing of Elena being in love with someone else. "We had this really easy relationship. It was fun and carefree and almost effortless. Then I found out that he used to have a drug habit and he relapsed. Fun turned to strained and eventually it fizzled out. He broke up with me and then booked himself into rehab."

"On the upside, we're still friends, not close, but friends. He's twenty-two months sober, and engaged to a lovely lady named Valerie. They have a baby on the way. He also has his sponsor, Lexi, she's a really nice person. I met her at a lunch once. Stefan was at the point in his rehabilitation where he wanted to apologize for what he put me through and to our relationship by not being honest."

"Are you all right?" Elijah asked, when Elena didn't keep talking.

"Huh," Elena said, "Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine. I'm almost finished, anyway. We've reached Damon. My ex-fiancé."

"Damon is Stefan's brother and I met him when visiting Stefan at rehab." Elena let out a hollow laugh. "Probably not one of my finer moments, falling in love and almost marrying the brother of my ex-boyfriend. But Stefan never blamed us, that's just the kind of person Stefan is. And Damon was the kind of person I needed to get over Stefan."

"He's a writer, too. But he does more journalism and non-fiction papers as opposed to books. If my relationship with Stefan was easy and effortless, my relationship with Damon was passion and freedom." Again, Elijah felt the burn of envy inside him, he squashed it down. "Damon was – is – a bit of a control freak. Not in the same way that Caroline is, but he felt the need to know everything about me. We had a very co-dependent partnership, almost to the fact that I rarely did anything or went anywhere alone. If I wasn't at school or him at work, we were together."

"Maybe manipulative is too strong a word, but he was very persuasive. Charismatic and charming and all that, when he wanted to be. I reckon he could've charmed a kidney out of someone, if he tried. We were together a year when he proposed. It was at this point that he started to get overbearing. It he didn't like what I was wearing, he told me to change. If dinner wasn't good enough, I was told to make something else. We didn't even live together. It was never bossy, he would do it in a way that I didn't even realize he was controlling me."

"Caroline had just started dating your brother and Bonnie was busy with school, so when summer rolled around, Bonnie suggested we take a week and head back to my parent's lake house in Virginia for some girl time. He said no, and I said yes. Something started to connect. He threatened to end our engagement but I went anyway. When we got back, Damon and I had this huge fight. We made up, but a few weeks later, I was doing this reading of my book at a kids book club and I saw him standing at the back, just watching me. Then I caught him going through my phone. He wanted me to see Stefan less, even though I explained that Stefan was my friend and in the state that he was in, he needed all the friends he could get. Finally, I went out to LA, to see my brother and introduce him to Damon, but Jer couldn't stand him and the feeling was mutual."

"Maybe it was just the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, but I told him to change his attitude. Caroline and Bonnie were my best friends, I was going to see then whenever the hell I wanted. Jeremy was my brother and I didn't care if they disliked each other, they both loved me and they could be at least cordial, as Jeremy said he would in the future. We argued more, then I guess I just had it. He had excuses for his behaviour, he tried to talk his way around it, paint others in a bad light. I didn't back down, so he offered an ultimatum and that's when I ended it."

"I ran into you four months later," Elena stopped. Her eyes were dry now. She felt this weight lift off her. Elijah was still holding her, stroking her hair and kissing her head, muttering words of comfort and encouragement in her ear.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, turning her torso so she could face him.

Elena surprised him, she smiled brightly. "I feel good. Lighter." She laughed a bit, maybe not in a happy way but in relief. "Thank you for listening, for making me tell you and getting it all out. I was going to tell you eventually, but I'm glad it's out of the way."

"You can tell me anything, Elena," Elijah running his knuckles down the side of her face, before cupping her cheek and placing a soft kiss on her lips. "I promise I'll never abandon you. I'll never ask you to do anything you're not comfortable with. And above all, I'll be honest with you."

"That means a lot," Elena said, yawning. She let her body collapse on his chest and sighed, exhaustion filling her.

"We'll talk about me tomorrow, though." he said, slipping his arm under her legs and lifting her up. "You're tired," he carried her to his bed room and placed her softly on top of the covers. "I'll get you something to sleep in, give me one minute." He disappeared into his closet, which by the way, was huge and came out a few minutes later in a pair of sleep pants, carrying a t-shirt and some sleep pants for her.

Unexpected's latest chapter should be out by the weekend.

I know this chapter was very dialogue heavy. Sorry.

So, now we know Elena's past, I think its time to sink into Elijah's...

Please review.