A/N: I am sorry for leaving you all on a cliffhanger. I got serious writers block and I've been working, doing my dissertation and (as of this week) packing to leave uni. I'll be working on my dissertation for the next few months so I can't guarantee steady updates during that time, but I'll try to post as often as I can.

Also, i know there's been issues with the notifications on this story but I think it's finally been fixed (yay!) so if you're only just getting notified, you probably need to backtrack a few chapters to catch up.

I turned sharply.

"Lucien. What are you doing up here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Well… this is still my home. So…"

"Reminiscing? This was your room, yes?"

"Yes. Now… what are you doing here?"

"I was following you. You're beginning to worry me." He moved towards me slowly and I backed up as best I could, colliding with the side of the bed. "You are getting far too cocky for your own good. Tristan is a bad influence in you."

"You mean because I'm not cowering away from you every time you enter the room?" He moved until he was directly in front of me. "You've changed too, you know, it's not just me. You were always an asshole but you've got worse recently. Your temper has gone haywire."

"Maybe that's because I don't like other people touching my things." He grabbed hold of my arms, digging his fingers into my skin until I gasped in pain. "You seem to keep forgetting that you belong to me. You have no rights, no choice. You do AS I SAY."

He pushed me down so I fell on the bed and his hands went to his belt. I immediately froze. No. Not here. He'd violated me in so many ways, destroyed my life but I clung to this house, this space as a place of safety. If he had his way, I'd never be able to see it the same.

"No… Lucien, please… not again… not here… I'll be good, I promise… I'm sorry." Tears streamed down my cheek.

"What did I say Elena? You belong to me. If you don't do what I want, I'm sure that I can make use of your little girls. How does that sound? A few years locked away until they're the right age for me and then I'll keep them as my personal pets."

I tried to get up but he pushed me back down with ease.

"You won't touch my daughters!"

"Oh come on Elena, we both know you're all talk. You can't really do anything."

"I won't let you lay a hand on them…"

He smirked.

"Oh it's so sweet that you still think that you have a choice."

He grabbed my arms and pinned them above my head. He roughly scrabbled at the front of my dress, tearing the fabric. I cried out and struggled. He slapped me hard, his nails clawing my cheek and leaving bloody gouges. He pushed up my skirt and undid his belt. I kicked out at him and he raised his hand to hit me once more. Another hand darted out and grabbed him.

"That's enough Lucien!"

Tristan. My saviour.

Lucien reared up, fangs sliding out, and he snarled at Tristan. Tristan snarled back and twisted his arm around sharply.

"I said that's enough! When I tell you to end something, I mean end it!"

He threw Lucien to the floor and loomed over him, fangs bared. Lucien glared up at him for a moment and I could sense a silent battle going on between them. Lucien broke first, looking away. He sped out of the room. Tristan watched him go before turning to me.

"Did he hurt you?"

"N…no. I'm fine."

He helped me to my feet and adjusted my cape to cover the damage to my dress. I touched his hand, grateful for his presence.

"Let's get you out of here."

"But…" I'd known that I'd need to leave but now it was harder, after talking to Kol, I'd almost deceived myself into thinking things were back to normal.

"Your children are still at Lucien's home…" he said softly. I nodded.

"Yeah… I know. Come on then."

He put his hand on my waist and carefully ushered me out of the room. We headed downstairs, me keeping my head down. He escorted me towards the gate.

"Leaving so soon Tristan?" I felt my heart skip a beat at the sound of Elijah's voice. "You have a lot of nerve showing your face here."

"Well I was hoping to talk with you but I thought better of it."

"Really? When last time you couldn't wait to be rid of me."

Tristan kept his arm tight around my waist and I felt his fingers grip my dress as he began to grow stressed. I dared lift my head slightly and glance over at Elijah. He was ignoring me, all his attention fixed on Tristan. I could have been a fly for all he cared.

"And I've reverted to my original position. I'm leaving."

He made to leave and Elijah went to block him. I saw Kol stood nearby and I locked eyes with him, pleading silently for him to intercede and get us out. I saw the conflict cross his face, the desire to keep me in the house mixed with his desire to help me. I mouthed one word. Please. His expression saddened and he nodded ever so slightly, moving quickly to Elijah's side. He put a gently restraining hand on his older brother's arm.

"Don't make a scene Elijah," he said softly. "This is for the witches, they won't help us if you mess this up."

Elijah's expression flickered, his fingers twitched as though he was going to clench them into fists and I saw the tell-tale signs of anger bubbling away under his careful mask of control. Slowly he nodded and stepped back.

"Get out of here now Tristan."

I gave Kol a grateful look and let Tristan lead me from the building to the car. I had no idea if Lucien had made it out of the party and I didn't care. We got into the car and drove back to the apartment. As we got nearer, I began to feel a nauseous nervous feeling stirring in my stomach. Would Lucien hurt the girls for what had happened? I hadn't fought against him, Tristan had… surely he wouldn't punish me for that?

When we got in, there was no sign of Lucien but his security team was also missing which I assumed meant that he'd been there and dismissed them. I went straight to the girls' room and found them sleeping peacefully. I sighed in relief and carefully wrapped their blankets around them before returning to the living room where Tristan was sitting.

"Thank you… for helping me earlier," I said, taking my mask off.

"You don't have to thank me for that… What kind of man would I be if I left you?"

I sat down on the edge of the sofa.

"Lucien is going to torture me…" I said softly, looking down at my hands.

"Did I… did I make things worse?"

I didn't want to answer the question. In truth, he probably had. But I wouldn't have wanted things to work out differently.

"I… I'm not sure. I guess we'll have to wait and see when he comes back."

"Do you want me to stop him?"

"No. Better he take it out on me than the girls."

He reached over and touched my hand.

"You're a brave woman Elena."

We sat in silence together for a long time, just staring into space in our own quiet worlds. I heard the lift in the hall beep and I tensed. The front door open and Aurora came in.

"Tristan! Where did you slip off too?"

"I had a situation to deal with. Did you have fun my love?" he asked, instantly brightening up at her presence.

"It was wonderful." She bounced over to an armchair and sat down. "I had a great time, thank you for taking me!"

I bit my lip and decided to leave the two of them alone. I headed into my room. The lights were off but since I was heading to bed, I only switched on one of the small bedside lamps which gave me enough light to remove my damaged dress.

"Why did you do it Elena?" came a rough voice from the darkness. My head shot up and I turned sharply to see Lucien sitting in the corner of the room. His head was bowed and he was still wearing part of his costume from the party, his shirt dishevelled and half unbuttoned, his jacket slung carelessly on the ground. There was an empty bottle of whiskey discarded beside him, one with liquid loosely clasped in his hand. I instinctively took a step back, my breathing spiking. He lifted his head to look at me.

"Why can't you just… stop fighting me?"

"I…"

He drained the bottle and got to his feet. He advanced on me, staggering slightly.

"All I'm trying to do is love you and you won't let me!"

"Love? You call what you do love?" I knew it was safer to stay silent but I couldn't keep the words inside. He stared at me like I was insane.

"It's cause of them isn't it? All of them! I'm not good enough for you because I can't compete with the high and mighty Mikaelson brothers!" He grabbed hold of me, his fingers digging into my arms. "And I thought you'd learn… you'd forget about them and move on but now HE'S here and it's ruined everything!"

"Get off me, Lucien! You're drunk!" I shoved him as best I could and to my surprise he stumbled back, probably more out of shock than actual damage.

"Why can't you love me? I know I'm not the easiest person to get along with but… WHY?!"

"Because you don't love Lucien! You covet, you claim. What you feel isn't love, its possession! And that's all you'll ever feel!"

His eyes narrowed and he grabbed hold of me once more, pulling me against him. I struggled, thrashing in his arms and hitting at anything I could reach. He looked down at me and his expression was one of complete and utter loathing.

"Are you sure that's what you want to say?"

"Yes… I don't care what you do to me but I can't love you Lucien, you're a monster!"

"A monster? You want a monster? Then I'll act like a monster!" He pulled me by the wrist, slamming me into the wall. He pulled his belt off and tore the remains of my dress away. He beat me mercilessly with the belt, the leather cutting into my skin. I stifled my cries, not wanting to draw Tristan in and have him intervene. I felt the blood running down my back, tears on my face. I closed my eyes and bit my lip hard enough to draw blood as I fought the urge to cry out. I heard the clink of the metal as he dropped the belt to the floor. He gripped my hair and twisted my head around so that I could see him.

"Go clean up. You look disgusting."

He pushed me away, towards the bathroom, with enough force to send me falling to the floor. He let out an aggravated huff, gripped my wrist and dragged me into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and pushed me under the spray. The water was icy cold and I shrieked as the sharp needles bit into my skin. Lucien glared at me and turned up the water. My tears flowed faster and I rested against the wall, wrapping my arms around myself in an effort to preserve some warmth in my broken body.

Lucien stalked out of the bathroom. My legs gave way underneath me and I collapsed on the tiled floor. The pink tinted water swirled around me before disappearing down the drain. My strength abandoned me and I slipped down until I was lying on the tiles, unable to move.