They didn't stop using there speed until they where back at Klaus' penthouse; he had lay Bonnie onto his bed, the lower half of her face was covered in dried blood and she was completely unconscious. Elena was frantic with worry.
They all stood around unsure of what to do with themselves; grief hit them hard at the thought of Kol. Rebekah hadn't stopped crying, Klaus was already drinking away his pain and Elijah was stood beside Elena, his head resting on top of hers as they held onto each other, he was fighting back the tears that so badly wanted to escape but he was trying to remain strong.
"I can't believe he's gone," Rebekah spoke through her tears, "I can't accept it."
Next minute, Klaus just launched his glass at the wall, it shattered and the pieces fell to the floor, he was breaking furniture, throwing anything he could find against the wall, his grief taking it's form in rage, "We lost, Rebekah, we lost everything. The demon king killed Kol and completed the ritual."
Klaus' eyes fell onto Elena for a brief minute, he wanted so badly to hold her but he could see from the way she held onto Elijah that he was the only one for her; this only added to his pain.
Elena just diverted her gaze to the ground, she couldn't look him in the eye; she wanted to be there for him but she couldn't play anymore games with him.
"I'm so sorry," She said as she lifted her head from Elijah's chest but still remained holding him, a few stray tears escaping her eyes, "Do you want me to go? Give you some privacy?"
"No," Elijah said, "You're just as much a part of this family now as any of us."
"Please, Elena, stay." Klaus agreed.
"As much as I hate to admit it, Elijah is right." She was surprised at Rebekah's response.
"I'm here for you all," Elena said, she unwrapped her arms from around Elijah, placing a soft kiss on his cheek before moving away from him; she walked towards Rebekah and Klaus; first she gave Rebekah a hug and even though she would never admit it, she needed it and finally, she brought Klaus into her, she knew he would be hurting more than the others, she knew him better than he or she would ever admit, he felt responsible for his siblings and he would blame himself for Kol's death.
"It's not your fault, Klaus," She hugged him tightly, "Don't blame yourself for this, ever."
"I couldn't save him," He couldn't help but return her hug and bury his head into her shoulder, tears escaping.
"You did everything you could, no-one could have saw this coming."
They remained silent for a long minute before breaking there embrace; Klaus stepped away and towards the bottle of whiskey placed on the table, he pulled the lid off and took a large swig; just for tonight, he was going to forget that Elijah had taken Elena away from him.
"We should get some rest," Elijah said as he held his hand out to Elena, she walked towards him and took it in hers, "We're weak and exhausted. Tomorrow, we'll mourn Kol and give him the send off he deserved."
"I need one minute," Elena said, before returning to Klaus' room, she sat on the bed next to Bonnie, just checking her over before she retired for the night; she was alive but weak, she needed rest.
When she returned, only Elijah was left in the room, Klaus and Rebekah had left; Elena didn't even want to think about what they would be doing, they all handled there grief differently.
Elijah and Elena had went up to her room; there was silence, Elijah was in pain and she was consumed with worry and guilt.
She walked into the bathroom and began to run a bath; she walked beside him and stood there staring at him for a long moment, he wasn't holding any of his emotion back, she could feel his pain.
She gripped his hand and lead him into the bathroom, the room filled with warm steam as the bath continued to fill; he was so still, she'd never seem him like this before. There clothes where drenched in rain and blood, covered in dirt and grass and it clung to there skin in an uncomfortable and irritating way; she slid his blazer from his shoulders, pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, letting them fall to the ground, she pulled off his shoes and slipped his pants down.
Next, she removed her jeans and tank top, her shoes being kicked off into the corner of the bathroom; she switched the tap off once the bath was full and she wrapped her arm around his waist, them both walking to the tub and sitting in it.
She sat in between his legs, her back to him and resting on her chest; he had his arms wrapped around her, his head buried in her neck. They just sat in complete silence for a short while, she waited until he was ready to talk.
She reached for the shower gel on the side, lathering it in her hands until it became like foam and ran it up his arms, removing all the blood and dirt that remained, she could see him relaxing slightly the more she ran her hands over his skin, "Elena, you don't have-"
"Shh," She turned around, the water whirling around her, "I'm here for anything you need, whenever you're ready."
She stared intently into his eyes, she could see him breaking down, a single tear escaping from his eye; she placed her hand on his cheek and stretched her thumb out to catch it, she continued to stroke his cheek.
"I'm the older sibling, I should have protected him," His head fell into her chest and he pulled her into him as close as she could be, her legs where wrapped around his waist and her arms clung to his neck, "It should have been me."
"You did protect him," She spoke in a soothing tone, "You protected him for a thousand years, like you have done for your entire family; this time, he wanted to protect you."
Her words brought a whirlwind of emotion to him; he was grieving, sad and proud of his brother, "I will miss him so much."
"I know," She ran her fingers through his hair, "Me too."
It had been a long while since they decided to get out of the bath; Elena unwrapped herself from him and stepped out, grabbing two towels from the side; she wrapped it around herself and handed Elijah the other.
They still remained close, her arm still placed across his stomach and his clinging to her neck; once they where dry, they climbed into bed, slipping beneath the sheets.
"You bring me great happiness, Elena," He said, his hand stroking her hair as she nestled into his chest, "You can get me through anything."
"There isn't a single doubt in my mind about you," She lifted her head from his chest and reached for his face, "I have never been so unhappy in my life then I have been in the last 24 hours, being separated from you, I never want it too happen again."
"It never will." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
Her heart raced everytime he so much as grazed her skin, when he kissed her, she erupted with emotion, he was the only one, "I love you, Elijah."
"I love you, Elena." His undead heart was ready to rip from his chest at the words, they indulged in a passionate kiss, there skin on fire at every touch. "Let's get some sleep."
She smiled on his lips before nestling her head in his chest again; she pulled the sheets further up them and closed her eyes, it took a while but they both eventually fell asleep.
-w-
The next day arrived, Elena woke up alone in bed; she wrapped the blanket that was spread on the bed around her and exited the bedroom, Elijah was once again staring out of the window, there was a coffee pot ready and he was awaiting her awakening.
"Good morning, my love," He spoke, a smile instantly spreading on his lips at the sight of her; he grabbed her a mug of coffee and passed it too her.
"Good morning to you too," She took the cup from his hands and kissed him gently before guzzling half of the cup, "How did you sleep?"
"Not too well; I mainly lay there all night, pondering what to do for Kol's send off." He poured himself a mug of coffee and took a sip. They both took a seat on the sofa, he picked her legs up and lay them on top of his lap, stroking at her skin, "How did you sleep?"
"Poorly, I couldn't stop replaying yesterdays events over and over, even in my dreams I can't stop seeing it; it was one of the worst nights of my life." She just kept swigging at her coffee, she needed the wake up call and something else to do other than think about it; Elijah stroking her legs and massaging her feet brought her a wave of relaxation though.
"Elijah," She paused for a long moment, guilt overcoming her.
"What is it?" He spoke, his voice kind and that warmed her heart.
"I'm... I just want," Elena stammered her words, unable to voice how she was feeling, she tried so hard to muster the perfect words but she just went with her heart, "I never meant to hurt you or put you through what I did, I need too-"
"Elena," He cut her sentence short, "Stop, don't apologise, I know we're meant to be together, every fibre of my being tells me that you're the only one in this entire world for me; I never want you to feel controlled or unable to be free to be who you are, I wanted you to figure it out on your own terms and without doubt that you want to be with me."
"It was never you I doubted, it was myself, I believed you deserved so much better than me; you're a good man, Elijah and I don't feel that same way about myself, you don't deserve that kind of self doubt and darkness in your life."
"In a thousand years, I've never met a single person like you; your heart is pure and full off goodness, I don't know how I became so lucky to have you in my life."
She reached for his hand and placed it on her chest over where her heart lay; he felt it beating faster and faster with every second that passed, "The second you become near me, touch me or even speak to me, you make my heart race, I never want you to doubt my feelings for you, you're everything, I'm yours, Elijah, forever."
"I love you," He spoke, his head nearing hears and his lips grazing against hers.
"I love you more than anything." She whispered onto his lips before indulging in a heated and passionate kiss, she'd never felt more at home in her entire life than she did with him.
-w-
An hour or so later had passed, Elena and Elijah had reluctantly left there room to check on Klaus; they where so loved up and deep into each other, that they couldn't not touch for even a second, they had there hands interlocked and they walked through the hallways laughing and chatting away. She was so happy.
When they arrived at Klaus' room, he saw that the door was already open a crack; he instantly stood in front of Elena, he stood with his back straight against the door as he peered his around.
"Elena, wait here, I'll be back in a few minutes," He entered the room and closed the door over enough so Elena couldn't see in.
There was blood everywhere, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
There where four dead girls, naked and covered in blood, puncture marks in there neck; he saw Klaus sprawled over the couch with one of the girls on top of him, he was drenched in blood and completely passed out.
He entered Klaus' bedroom where he saw Rebekah passed out between two dead men in the same condition as the women in the living quarters.
"Wake up," Elijah spoke through gritted teeth as he exited the bedroom and returned to the living quarters, standing in the centre of the room; there was empty bottles of alcohol everywhere and the entire room was a mess.
"Now," He yelled, his voice filled with rage.
Rebekah and Klaus shot up at the sound of his shouting.
"Good morning to you too, brother," Niklaus, still half asleep and smirking, sat up and looked around the room, "Are you hear to join us?"
"What where you both thinking?" He spoke in utter disbelief, at least Rebekah looked almost guilty about this situation "Our brother died not even 24 hours ago and this is how you honour his memory? You murder innocent people, you feed from them and treat them as if there nothing? He died protecting us, neither of you have any honour, you have shown no love towards him and you should be ashamed of yourselves."
"I'm sick and tired of your judgement, Elijah," Klaus peeled the girl from him and grabbed a blanket of the back of the sofa, he stood up and wrapped it around his waist, "Kol doesn't care what we do, he doesn't care if we murder innocents, he doesn't care if we feed or act like animals; he certainly doesn't care if we mourn him or give him a true send off because he's dead! He's never coming back, so I choose to feed and drink my grief away."
"I don't even know who you are right now, Niklaus."
"And you might as well invite your girlfriend in, you haven't done a particularly good job in hiding her from us," Klaus raised his voice loud enough for her to hear, "Come on, Elena, join the fun; come and see what the family you have willingly joined likes to do in there spare time."
Elijah approached Klaus, his voice and low and disappointed, "This is what this is all about? Elena?"
"No, brother, just embracing who I truly am."
At this point, Rebekah just rolled her eyes and exited the room; she wasn't in the mood to deal with her brothers squabbles and decided to take a shower.
Elena walked through the door minutes later, her lips parted and a gasp escaped her lips; Elijah used his speed to appear in front of her, his hands cupping her face in an attempt to block her vision, "Elena, you don't need too see this."
She looked over to Klaus, her eyes filled with sorrow; she felt like she was partly to blame and she could see in his face he was in pain. After last night, she no longer felt the desire to be near him or touch him or comfort him anyway but she didn't want to see him hurting.
She placed her hands over Elijah's for a long moment, looking him dead in the eye and lowering there hands; she walked towards Klaus, he was covered in blood and there was only a small, thin blanket covering him, she couldn't believe her eyes, "Do you remember our conversation on the plane?"
"It's a bit foggy now, love," He barely looked at her, he only met her kindness with bitterness.
"This isn't who you are, you are so much better than this, you know it and I know it," She continued, "I care about you Klaus, whether we like it or not, we're family now and family don't let each other fall into a darkness they may never come back from."
She stepped away from him and returned to Elijah's side, Klaus didn't speak another word to them but they could see her words had got to him, his cold demeanour had softened and he began to feel again.
"Get yourself cleaned up, put some clothes on and deal with this mess; we send Kol off in an hour, if I was you, I wouldn't be late." Elijah snarled, before placing his hand on the small of Elena's back and leading her out.
When they where out in the hallway, he stopped for a minute; in a rage, he put his fist through a wall, before placing his hand on his forehead, rubbing it slightly, "I don't know why I am continuously surprised when he acts out like this, this is his typical behaviour, his only means of coping. I've spent a thousand years trying to remind him of his humanity and it was all for nothing."
"Don't give up on him just yet, there's still hope for him, you can get through." She responded.
"I fear it may be too late for that."
And she the spoke the words she had once said to Klaus, "It's never too late."
-w-
Noon had arrived; Elijah and Elena returned to the cemetery, all evidence of the ritual had been removed, there was no bodies, no candles and the brass bowl had vanished. After a short while, they thought no-one else would attend but they waited in hope for his siblings, Elena had faith in them, they would come.
"It's been 30 minutes, they won't attend." Elijah spoke, completely disappointed.
"And you think we'd miss this?" They turned around when they heard Rebekah's voice, her and Klaus approaching, "What do you take us for, brother?"
"I may not deal with my grief in the appropriate manner but I wouldn't let Kol down either." Klaus spoke, Elijah was overwhelmed by his siblings, maybe Elena was right, maybe he isn't completely lost.
They all stood where the ritual was performed, where Kol had died and bowed there head in a minute long silence; Elena stood between Elijah and Klaus, her hand on the hybrids shoulder and her other placed around Elijah's shoulder.
"I'll start," Rebekah looked around quickly and spotted a small daisy by her feet, she bent down and picked it from the ground, "You'll always be missed, Kol, when you died, you took a part of my soul with you, eternity won't be the same without you."
She lay the daisy over the spot where the brass bowl once was, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"Save me a seat, brother, we'll be together again someday." Niklaus spoke, he too picking a daisy and laying it next to Rebekah's.
"I wish I had the chance to get know you better, Kol, in the short time we had together, you saved my life and warmed my heart," Elena picked a daisy and placed it next to theirs, "I will miss you."
Elijah knelt down, finding a daisy and picking it from the ground, he remained there for a long moment; it was now hitting him that Kol was actually dead, he didn't want to too truly believe it but he was gone, a part of him going with him; he said but 3 words as he lay the daisy down beside the others, "Always and forever."
They all came together; there arms all joining them at the waist as they sought comfort in each other, the original family more broken than ever.