Elexis woke up early the next day. After a quick shower, she put on a black, form fitting tregging and a black henley, which belonged to a certain grumpy Original.
She put on a bomber jacket over it and completed her outfit with practical black sneakers, considering the amount of physical activity she might have to undertake throughout the day. To prepare for her guests who would now be appearing shortly, she made a quick trip to the supermarket and the hospital. She decided to stock the kitchen with essentials and spoke to Melissa, who hooked her up with a few blood bags after some persuasion.
As she reached home and sorted all her purchases and cleaned the living room, the bell rang. Elexis yelped and rushed to open the door, which revealed her friends.
Davina was the first one to hug her, and Elexis returned the hug with equal excitement. Kol, who was directing the compelled people to keep their bags next to the sofa, wrapped her arms around Elexis and kissed her head in a brotherly fashion. Freya and Keelin hugged her with equal vigour. Vincent simply ruffled Elexis' hair as he held her close. All these people, Elexis exhaled, loved her so much. They were her family. Lost in thought, she didn't realise that two arms had snaked around her waist and someone had rested their head on her shoulder.
"Hey", the voice said.
Elexis yelped and turned to see her long time best friend and mentor, Marcel. She hugged him ferociously and laughed heartily.
"Sweet place", said Keelin, as Elexis and Marcel eventually separated.
"I had Diego hook me up. Nothing that Mikaelson money can't buy!", she winked, as Kol and Vincent snorted.
"Well then, sweetheart, you got something to drink for me?", asked Kol, wrapping an arm around Davina.
"In the freezer," she said. She then told everyone to help themselves with the food she had stocked.
"I've got good booze too, but please don't get drunk right now. We're meeting the pack at 3 to work on the boundary spell and other protections.", requested Elexis.
As the others nodded, Freya turned to Elexis and asked, "Have you told your family about you?"
When Elexis shook her head in negative, Vincent sighed and held her hand before speaking, "Lex, you're family. We're with you in whatever you decide, but all of us think that your father and brother deserve to know everything about you."
"It's not that easy."
"Of course it is not. But from what I have heard and gathered, your father never knew. Give him a chance, atleast", implored Keelin.
Elexis listened to all of them and the wheels in her head started turning. She got up and started to move towards the kitchen before her legs gave out. She slumped on the floor, breath coming out in heavy pants. Everyone was next to her before you could blink.
"Hey, Lex, listen to me, look at me. Come on, focus on the sound of my voice. I'm here, with you. Breathe with me.", said Davina, as she gently ran her hand on Elexis' back. Marcel kept his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look in his eyes as he began calmly. "Lex, listen to me. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Okay? You can tell them whenever you want, or perhaps never. It's up to you. You are in charge. You're okay. We're all here with you."
He kept on repeating the same phrases until her breathing had evened out. Vincent swiftly got up and got her a glass of water, which Elexis graciously accepted as she smiled at the people around her weakly. They all looked at her with such love, and tackled her in a group hug, as Kol looked on with a smirk.
"No, as much as I love you, I'm not being a part of this weird hug.", he said.
Elexis got up and moved towards him, and he simply slung his arm over her shoulders as they moved into the washrooms and rooms to change out of their travel clothing and wear something more comfortable, considering they had to trapeze through the woods.
3 pm came incredibly soon. While Elexis had her own car, all of them couldn't fit in it. Marcel had compelled a Porsche from a nearby town and the two cars made their way to the preserve, where they saw the rest of the pack waiting for them.
