AN: My laptop died this semester so I was without a laptop for a bit and I lost quite a few files and bookmarks. Trying to get back into the swing of writing. I have a few WIPS I'm hoping to finish and post soon. Life has been very, very chaotic.


They don't talk about as much as they were hoping to, Sheriff Forbes comes home and eats with them less than half an hour later. It's nice to see Mrs. Forbes and she always ends up having wildly entertaining stories to tell. Names and dates and places are changed to some extent but the stories are still excellent. Seeing Liz Forbes always makes Elena miss her own mom, but she'd never tell the Forbes women that.

Elijah, are you up? Elena sends the text despite the fact she's pretty sure the answer is yes. Her car is idling in Caroline's driveway and she wants to talk to him. It seems a little weird to just tell him she missed him after just a day.

I am and I'm home if you want to come over. The text makes her grin and she doesn't bother texting him back, she'll see him in a few minutes anyway.

He's already at his door when she parks. She has a fleeting thought that this could be the rest of her life, coming home to Elijah. She hopes he's a better cook than she is.

"Hello there," she says as she gets out of her car. She can see the easy grin on his face and she can't help but grin back at him. They're okay right now. She has a lot to unpack with him though, especially Caroline's remark about future doppelgangers.

"How's Caroline?" he asks, letting her in.

"Good, but we got interrupted before we could dig into some of the supernatural stuff we wanted to get into," Elena admits as the door closes behind her. She takes a moment to take off her converse and he notices her socks don't match.

"Like what?" Elijah asks, sitting on the couch next to her. It is a broad topic after all. She moves to face him before she speaks.

"It was a lot of heavy stuff. Like, Caroline said Klaus told her he wouldn't have killed me if he knew I was your soulmate," Elena begins, watching his face. He squints slightly at that, she knows he's full of thought, but she doesn't know what he's thinking. It's a lot to digest.

"And she said he told her he would have just waited for the next doppelganger," Elena finishes. He looks directly at her with that thought, with an eyebrow raised.

"I'm not having kids. If I'm not having children with you, I'm not having any at all. And the next doppelganger would be my granddaughter still. Even if I wanted to do that, I couldn't leave that mess for you to deal with, centuries later after I'm gone. I can't ask you to do that. And with Jeremy and Anna, they aren't going to have kids either. At least not biologically. I am the last doppelganger. This ends with me. I don't know if Klaus will react well to that news. He won't be making hybrids or doing any other rituals with my blood," Elena rambles.

Elijah reaches for one of her hands as she speaks and she lets him take it.

There's a warmth in his chest as she tells him she doesn't want to have children with anyone else. Children who aren't from soulmate pairs aren't very common but to hear her tell him that is reassuring. He squeezes her hand at the thought of having to outlive her, see her children grow and die, and see a grandchild with her face. Elena is not a cruel woman. He is aware of his luck in their match. She makes a decision and doesn't waver either. That tenacity is also the reason she'll die within a century. It goes both ways.

"Klaus will not harm you again. I give you my word," he vows. Klaus had mentioned that to him at breakfast that morning, but it would have meant a great deal more for him to have said it to Elena in person. Maybe he mentioned it to Caroline knowing she'd pass the information along to her best friend. Elena looks lost in thought, eyes staring at one of his bookshelves without blinking.

"And I'm sure Caroline would assist me in giving Klaus hell if he did," he remarks. Elena laughs but it doesn't reach her eyes.

She's facing him on the couch, legs crossed, leaning forward at him.

"Can I see your vampire face? I saw Trevor's and Caroline mentioned Klaus has gold eyes because of the hybrid thing, but I've never seen yours. And you're the only vampire I know and I don't know if that's a rude question or not," Elena trails off.

"A vampire's visage is fairly standard, but if you really want to see mine, I will show you," Elijah promises. He remembers the day they met, her fear was spiking then Trevor had shown her his visage and bit her.

"I want to see it," she insists. Elijah closes his eyes and pulls it to the surface. He stares at her with blood-red eyes, ready to cover himself if she shows any signs of distress. Her hand reaches for his cheek and he watches her face intently. She winces but doesn't withdraw her hand.

"Does it hurt to have it like this? Are you in pain?" Elena asks, concern clear in her voice. He shakes his head as her thumb delicately brushes against the veins under his eyes. He can't remember the last time someone touched his vampiric visage like this. No one's ever asked if it hurts before but it did hurt to turn into a vampire.

"I'm glad it doesn't, I don't want you to be in pain," Elena tells him softly. It would be easy to cover her hand in his, to draw her closer but instead, he parts his lips. Fangs meet her eyes. She's reminded of how Klaus dug his fangs into her neck and winces.

"Do vampire bites always hurt?" she wonders hesitantly. Elijah's face softens at her question.

"No. They can be painless. Niklaus was being sadistic when he bit you. I am sorry for my part in your pain," Elijah apologizes. He's already apologized for his brother's actions a few times. She wonders how many other times over the centuries he's apologized for Niklaus or because of him.

"No one knew," she says. She's not holding that against him. It would be easy to get closer but her phone beeps with Bonnie's text tone. His face looks normal again after she blinks, and she removes her hand reluctantly. She should make sure everything's okay with Bonnie, after all. It's just a quick text about places to visit if she makes it down to New Orleans sometime.

"I told her Bonnie might be a witch and that we should try to visit New Orleans soon to talk to her about all of this. I don't want to do this over the phone," Elena tells him. Elijah grins at her and she raises an eyebrow.

"That face makes me think you're up to something," she says lightly. He doesn't pretend to be mock offended like she thinks he might.

"I'm merely wondering if that's a girls-only trip. My family helped found New Orleans. I still have a great deal of property in that area and I would love to be your personal tour guide," he offers.

"I would like that," she replies. It takes her a moment to just process that comment. Helped found New Orleans. He's been around for several generations. It's hard to picture him looking any different than he does now, in a suit, sharp as a knife.

"Do you have any pictures or paintings of how you looked in those days?" Elena asks. Elijah's eyebrows scrunch together in thought.

"I know I have records and journals going back centuries but I think if there are images of me in any form, Niklaus would likely have copies. He's made us sit for several family portraits," Elijah tells her.

"I'd like to see them if you can show me," she tells him lightly.

I might be in one of those portraits someday, Elena thinks. Someday sounds fine because it isn't so urgent. It's fine. Far away. She's going to just be a blink of an eye in Elijah's life, she realizes. He's at least a thousand years old, she'll live to be over one hundred at most.

There are so many things to think about and process right now. Her fingers itch to tell her journal all of it, but Elijah sits next to her on his couch. His house isn't cold enough for her to actually shiver, but she still leans against him. There's a throw covering her after she blinks.

"I'm not cold," she tells him. She'll keep the throw on because it's ridiculously soft, but she just wanted to be near him.

"I'll ask Niklaus about the portraits tomorrow," he promises. She shifts to rest her head on his shoulder.

"I'd like that," she murmurs. It's easier than she thought it would be, to just sit next to him and try to memorize his cologne. She can't get it quite right in her dreams. He surprises her by draping an arm around her, but she smiles at the pleasant sensation.

"I think I'm going to visit my parents tomorrow. I know some people think it's stupid to sit there and talk to them, but I try to do it regularly," she tells him.

"It's not stupid if it brings you peace or makes you feel close to them," Elijah answers. A smile tugs at the corners of Elena's mouth. Only a handful of people have been rude about her habit of visiting her parents. Logically she knows that's just where their bodies are on some level, but it makes her feel better. It's easier to sit next to them and talk to them than to try and do it at home, or at the Lake House, or at her father's old office.

"Thank you," she says.

There are other things she should be doing but she just wants to be sitting next to Elijah in comfortable silence.