I have reached my 50th review! Thank you SO MUCH my lovelies!
And thank you for your beautiful reviews last chapter! (Well, technically mine lol)
After Eleanore left his side, Elijah heard a laugh –THE laugh the most genuine he had ever heard, the one he would recognize among a thousand –behind him and his eyes widened. He slowly turned around to make sure his ears hadn't betrayed him. They hadn't.
As their eyes met, their breaths caught.
"Katerina…" his voice came out as a whisper.
Wanting to say something, Katherine's mouth slightly opened but she found herself unable to speak. Seeing him before her, only a few meters away, Katherine was overwhelmed… with fright, with anticipation, and a whole other emotion she couldn't quite put a name on. It had been two years… practically three; she had almost forgotten how handsome he was.
Just as the woman talking to Katherine was about to turn to see who the latter was staring at and got her unpredictably speechless, Eleanore gave a little shock to her glass catching everyone's attention –well, almost everyone's.
"Ladies, gentlemen, evening. I am Eleanore Winston. Thank you all for positively responding to my invitation to this Banquet. I am delighted to receive you. Please, choose a partner for the first dance of the night and join the ballroom."
During that brief interruption, Katherine and Elijah didn't put an end to their visual exchange; they were in a sort of trance. They merely couldn't bring themselves to tear their gaze away from the other, though Katherine could fell herself turning red under the Mikaelson male's burning one; she could feel the heat travel over her skin. And God knew Katherine Pierce NEVER blushed. But then again, whenever was Katherine Pierce Katherine Pierce with Elijah Mikaelson?
They were both silent, but their connected eyes spoke volumes.
He advanced towards her, taking in her appearance: she was stunning. She was wearing a red strapless dress casting her in all the right places and had the matching high heels at her feet. Her long black hair was curled but descended down to her breasts over her dress. Elijah used to love when she wore her hair curly; he still did. Though he was still very mad at her in that moment, it was undeniable that Katherine truly was gorgeous; he had to at least give her that. She was as beautiful right here right now before him as she was five hundred years ago in her clothes of age. She would always be an exquisite beauty and he was cursed to be under her charm forever.
Elijah, of course, was very elegant as always in his dark three-piece. He was even hotter than Katherine remembered him to be and that surely didn't help her state of anxiousness and anticipation.
As he continued making steps towards her, as insane as it sounded, Katherine heard her heart beat faster and her breath caught.
"Evening, Katerina." He greeted her. "Shall we?" Elijah politely asked holding out his hand to her.
Hearing his voice, Katherine was left even more breathless; she had no idea if she should be frightened or excited, probably the first one.
She looked back and forth between Elijah and his hand the latter was holding out to her. She was at trembling's door.
She eventually took his hand or rather gave her his –although warily –and followed him to the ballroom.
Once there, he led her to the dance floor and they moved on Love song for a vampire from Annie Lenox in a very nerve-racking silence.
Though she was looking away, Katherine could feel Elijah's scorching gaze on her and that made her quite uneasy. And then suddenly, Katherine realized she wasn't acting like her usual fearless and fierce self. She was Katherine Pierce for God sakes and Katherine Pierce didn't avoid anyone's gaze and Elijah Mikaelson, despite the feared Original he was, would be no exception. That's why she eventually looked up at him and held his unrelenting gaze.
Katherine and Elijah just stayed like that for one third of the song: staring at each other in a weird and complex mixture of rawness and experiment.
"So…long time no see." She said in an attempt to appease the atmosphere.
Elijah raised an eyebrow at her and tilted his head while staring right into her eyes, "Trying to lighten the mood, Katerina?"
She held his gaze a little longer than intended swallowing a lump in her throat. She hated the way he said her name, the way hearing it coming out of his mouth made her feel, the innuendos behind it… She was not Katerina Petrova, and she didn't want to be.
"Well, somebody's got to." She responded raising her right eyebrow and bringing it back down.
He chuckled. "So you're trying to be the smarter one?" he rhetorically asked.
"I am the smarter one." She asserted emphasizing on the word 'am'.
He looked at her with a certain glint in his eyes she had never seen them bore before and then smirked but didn't reply anything.
"Why do you have such a grudge against me, Elijah?" she questioned actually interested in his response.
He spun her around and she landed back into his arms causing a sudden hot eye contact or rather eye-sex; it lasted an instant. She tore her brown eyes away from his, trying to keep herself from blushing.
Seeing her that distraught because of him, seeing the impact he seemed to have on her, Elijah almost forgot why he was so mad at her. Being there with her, having her in his arms, didn't feel like a risk… it felt like the safest place in the world. He didn't feel like he was holding Katherine; he felt like he was holding Katerina… his Katerina. But he shouldn't forget that this woman, whatever her name was, however he felt, had betrayed him; he couldn't. She had mistrusted him and he would not let that slip away from his mind.
"Do I look like I have a grudge against you?" he asked her back innocently.
"As a matter of fact, yes, you do." She answered motioning with her head. "And I have to say, I am quite confused as to why…" she paused. "Since, you know, last time I checked, I'm one who was compelled to stay in a dungeon and desiccate by the other." She stated a fact.
Elijah smirked.
"Are you just going to stand here and say nothing and smirk like the jackass we both know you aren't?" she asked getting slightly annoyed.
"Why does it matter what I feel towards you?" he asked and as she frown her eyebrows, he elaborated, "Whenever has my sentiment ever mattered to you?" he asked emphasizing on the word 'ever'.
Katherine nodded in understanding, getting where his anger went back to. So THAT wasn't dealt with.
"Seriously, Elijah? Move on." She told him.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I had to escape: my life was in danger and you know it! Come on, what other choice did I have?!" she rhetorically asked him trying to make him see she was at a dead end and had to find a way out. As he stared at her in silence, she kept on, "I know I put your relationship with your brother in jeopardy and that was never my intention. You are totally entitled to be mad at me but…"
"Oh thank you, Katherine, I appreciate it. How big of you!" he cut her off for the first time and spoke sardonically.
As he called her Katherine, the raven-haired woman immediately got Elijah was seriously angry with her. Still, she didn't quite understand why.
"Elijah, what did I do to you?" she stopped her steps for a few seconds.
"You should know." He took her hand back in his and tightened his grip on her waist pulling her back to him. His cheek was practically touching her ear. She let out a dull groan of pain.
"That hurt!" she gritted through her teeth.
"Oh… so you do feel." He replied mockingly.
She frown her eyebrows in interrogation, "Elijah, I HAD to run away from Klaus."
Elijah shook his head in disbelief and rolled his eyes, what Katherine sensed. Therefore, she slightly pulled away and moved her head so as to face him.
"Elijah…" she almost pleaded causing some rout into Elijah, what he managed to hide pretty darn well.
He looked at her, his face impassive, "You really are clueless, aren't you?"
She stared at him; her eyebrows frowned in confusion and a certain frustration irradiating from her. "You're acting as if I betrayed you." She remarked. "Maybe that's what you believe but…"
"I don't believe anything, Katerina: you DID betray me!" he wasn't even bothering hiding his anger anymore.
Katherine's eyes widened at his unexpected flare-up. Okay, she had to be missing something!
She opened her mouth to say something but Elijah suddenly let go of her hands and declared: "The song is over…" he paused and watched as her face fell even more, trying his best not to crack. "…so is this conversation."
With that, Elijah left and Katherine turned to see him walk towards the balcony.
/
"Wait, that's it?! It ended like that? No apologies? No kiss? No peck?! Nothing?!" Caroline asked disbelievingly getting up to sit next to him.
Elijah shifted on the couch; his mouth curved into an amused grin and he gave the blonde beside him a curious look.
"What?" she asked him with a shy smile on her face.
"Aren't you supposed to hate Katerina?" he asked really intrigued.
Caroline lost her smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I don't like her for sure." She confirmed to him while running a hand through her blonde hair and not looking at him. "Still, that doesn't mean I'm rooting for her eternal misery! Though, I wouldn't mind if she did spend the rest of her life miserable." She added, crossing her arms on her chest.
"Then, why did you seem so disappointed just a minute ago?"
"I was disappointed for you." She clarified putting the emphasis on the word 'you'.
"Me?" Elijah laid his hand upon her chest.
"You." Caroline repeated.
"I'm not sure I understand..."
"Oh I think you do… You're a smart man." She told him with a roguish smile on her face. "But I'm always very straightforward as I'm sure you've noticed so I'm going to say it anyway: I reckon I'm pretty good at sensing things as well as seeing through people and I sense that you cared for Katerina… possibly still care?" She tried to copy the way he said the raven-haired woman's name and ended in a low voice.
/
"Remind me why we agreed to this again?" Kol required.
"Whenever did we agree?" Klaus replied turning his head to give his brother a knowing look.
Kol and Klaus were in the latter's SUV waiting for their charming sister to finish her shopping –done with Klaus' credit card moreover.
"I can't believe she dragged us out here! And where is Elijah while we're here?" Kol complained. "Slumped on his couch!" he answered his own question.
Klaus chuckled. He felt his brother's pain. Only he had experienced this (shopping with Rebekah) too many times to even care anymore; he was almost used to it. He was completely aware of the fact that when one went out with Rebekah, they had to count at least four hours out; it was four hours minimum.
"I feel your pain, brother." He stated. "Perhaps if you had been around more often, you wouldn't see time passing."
"Ha-ha." Kol laughed of a laugh that had a false ring. "And whose fault is that?" he asked accusingly. "Perhaps if you hadn't kept me in a box for so long… or at all for that matter!"
"True." he admitted with a smirk.
Nevertheless, what Kol and everyone else of his siblings ignored was that the smirk which appeared on Klaus' face every time the subject was brought up reflected anything but the Original Hybrid's true feelings. Indeed, behind the smirk and the jokes and the cold-hearted façade hid regrets and remorse. All these years, all these decades and centuries, each time he'd dagger one of his siblings, Klaus would convince himself he was doing it for honorable reasons, what was true largely. He was effectively ensuring their safety… However, he was their brother not their father. He wasn't supposed to make the choice for them; they were big people. Besides, there was another reason behind all this daggering and it wasn't that noble: the fear of loneliness.
Now, truth be told, all of this was a recent changing: Klaus had started developing these feelings only several years ago –ten years ago or so.
"I saw the Bennett witch in town this morning." He declared, and to change the subject and to test his brother's feelings.
The latter remained quiet and was satisfied with looking at his older brother from the corner of the eye for a second.
"She was with your old friend… you know… Jeremy." Klaus went on.
Again, no reaction from Kol's part, so Klaus pushed a little.
"He's not so little anymore."
"Stop it, Nik!" Kol finally spoke. "Bug me with something else, will you?"
Klaus turned so he could examine his brother's expression and was actually surprised by what he saw: a hint of jealousy and perhaps hurt.
"You do care about her…" he said, realizing it as the words came out.
"Oh my goodness, Nik, you just don't know when to stop, do you?!" Kol exclaimed.
Klaus raised his hands in defense and then turned back to the road.
/
"Do you ever think about her?" the blonde inquired.
Did he ever think about her? Of course, he did. That was a question devoid of any pertinence. Indeed, he had been thinking about Katerina a lot these past years. Hell, he had been thinking about her for more than five hundred years now.
"It happens." He told her after a few instants.
Elijah looked down at his knees and Caroline could have sworn she saw his cheeks turn crimson. But just like the blush had crept its way into his face, it disappeared all that rapidly.
"Are you always like this?" he turned his face to look up at her and saw she was knitting her brows so he elaborated. "Honest, straightforward, inquisitive, awfully prying?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."
"Oh, it takes way more to embarrass me, Caroline."
Her eyes widened and a smile slit her face. "You called me Caroline!" She exclaimed joyfully hopping on the couch causing Elijah to widen his eyes in surprise and obtuseness. "We're becoming friends! Yay!" the blonde added, clapping her hands.
Elijah merely burst out laughing at Caroline's cuteness.
'Yes, Niklaus could definitely use you in his life.' He silently thought.
After he managed to calm his laughter down, Elijah shook his head in amusement before speaking again. "To answer your question: no, it did not end like that."
/
As Katherine stepped into the balcony, Elijah was showing his back at her and facing the stars in the dark sky.
"Elijah?" Katherine put her hand on Elijah's shoulder and attempted to turn him around but being a little five hundred years older than her, he didn't budge. "Elijah?" she tried again in a more pleading tone.
The second time, he reluctantly but voluntarily turned around and looked into her eyes.
"Elijah, I didn't mean to betray you; I didn't feel like I was betraying you. Whatever I did since I met Klaus was to protect myself, to ensure my safety… My purpose was never to hurt you… or your feelings. I didn't even know you had feelings!" she swore to him. "How was I supposed to know?"
"You just were." He answered absently and in a very low voice.
Ok, this conversation is getting awkward, Katherine thought to herself.
She raised her hand to rest it on Elijah's shoulder but decided against it and cracked her fingers.
"Elijah… what are you saying?" the volume and the tone of her voice expressing her utmost confusion and disarray. "You told me you didn't believe in love…"
Elijah turned away from Katherine, "I didn't… I don't…" he paused and turned to stare back at her. "And I definitely never will again."
Katherine stared right back into Elijah's eyes and swallowed the unexpected lump that formed in her throat at his rash –and so unlike him –words.
"What was I supposed to do?" she spoke in a low voice. "Klaus was going to sacrifice me in order to break his curse." Katherine tried to justify her actions. "What was I supposed to do?!"
"Trust me!" he responded abruptly. "Take a chance on me! Same way I took a chance on you! Same way Elena trusted me!" he spat.
It was obvious by the look in his eyes how hurt he was and Katherine could tell he was only trying to hurt her as well.
"But then again, it's fairly known that I have a tendency to fall for the wrong Petrova." Elijah declared before walking past her in an attempt to leave the balcony.
"Elijah…" she called for out him.
"What?" he asked annoyed and only turned around two third.
Without him understanding what was happening, Elijah just felt Katherine crush her lips on his own. Caught off guard, his eyes widened and Elijah let himself be kissed until he eventually recovered possession of himself and closed his eyes to relish the kiss. He had waited so many centuries for this and there she was: tasting like heaven.
It started off as soft and tender. They kissed in what seemed to be slow motion. Then, taking her lips in his with hunger, Elijah surrounded his Katerina's waist with his arms and pulled the latter even closer to him. The raven-haired woman –who had a hand in Elijah's hair and the other on one side of his face –circled Elijah's neck with her arms, the kiss growing in intensity.
After that long but brief moment of passion, they eventually, very reluctantly, pulled away and released the other's lips but brought their foreheads together, panting.
Elijah tilted his head slightly and brought his lips next to her cheek and planted a sweet kiss against the corner of the raven-haired woman's mouth.
As Elijah was about to bring his hand into his Katerina's hair, her presence became unknown: within a second, she had run away leaving a breathless, wanting for more and utterly confused Elijah.
/
"Seriously?!" Caroline exclaimed, dumbfounded. "She just fled?!"
Elijah merely shrugged his shoulders, unaffected.
"Wow… Well, that seems to be her thing." Caroline commented.
Elijah smirked, "Now, that's more like it."
The blonde looked at him with questioning eyes.
"There is the Caroline I was talked about…" he started to explain. "…the one who can't stand Katerina's guts…"
"Ok, now you're exaggerating." The blonde stated and Elijah gave her a look. "You are!" she assured him. As he still seemed to doubt, she undertook to convince him, "Yes, there might have been a time when I couldn't stand the sight of her but it's not the case anymore: I've gotten over it." Elijah seemed on the point of believing her.
"Right now, I mostly feel sorry for her… and the fact that she walked… ran away from you, obviously not realizing how lucky she is that you developed genuine feelings for her… makes me feel even sorrier for her."
Elijah didn't comment and looked away. They both stayed silent for a long moment.
"Look, Elijah… whatever has, was or is going on between you and Katherine…" the blonde paused. "… Please, be careful." She asked him, heartfelt.
"I'm a big boy, Caroline. I can take care of myself." He assured her; however moved that she worried for him.
"I'm sure that's what you think." She told him with a semblance of smile. "But you're never too careful, Elijah." She paused. "Not when it's your heart that's involved." She added, elsewhere, lost in her thoughts, what, of course, didn't go unnoticed to the Mikaelson man.
"Is that why you won't give Niklaus an actual chance and move in here?" Elijah was studying Caroline's face whom, despite his inquisitive question, kept staring at her feet. "Because you're afraid of getting your heart broken?"
"I just know better." The blonde mumbled, her eyes still locked on her feet. "And I prefer being in control."
Elijah narrowed his eyebrows. "Being in control, huh?" he repeated more for himself than for her. "It seems that you and Niklaus are more alike than you both think."
Caroline lifted her head for her eyes to meet Elijah's ones. "I didn't think he was serious when he offered me to move into the mansion."
"I can't believe he told you." She added with an embarrassed chuckle and blushing very lightly.
"He didn't." Elijah admitted. "I more or less dragged it out of him."
She nodded.
"So are you going to take him up on his proposition?" he inquired.
"Are you going to tell him about Katherine?" she snapped.
"What is there to tell?" he asked with an innocent air.
"Why would I take him up on his proposition?" she asked back shrugging her shoulders and making a face.
He smirked and she smiled content to have had the last word.
"No but seriously…" Caroline began. "… You should tell Klaus about Katherine."
As Elijah curved an eyebrow at her, the blonde attempted to convince him further. "Who knows if he's convinced of your feelings for her and thinks that there is or could actually be something there, he might let you guys be!"
The look on Elijah's face made it pretty clear for Caroline that he wasn't one bit convinced and that he had absolutely no intention to discuss his feelings for Katherine with Klaus.
"I mean, you're his brother, right?" Caroline stated a point. "Whether he wants to admit it or not, he loves you! And his hatred for Katherine cannot possibly overtop his love for you…"
"How well do you know my brother?" Elijah rhetorically asked Caroline. "Niklaus sees love as a vampire's greatest weakness, Caroline. And you are seriously underestimating his loathe towards Katerina. Niklaus had to wait another five hundred years to break his curse because of Katerina's escape, he will never forgive her." He stated emphasizing on the word 'never'.
"Who's asking for forgiveness? You're just asking for you brother to show brotherhood a change and put YOU above his sick longing for revenge! Ask him to stop chasing Katherine! Tell him you truly care about her and that you want him to give you a chance! Because I am sorry to break it to you, Elijah, but you and Katerina don't stand a chance without Klaus' approval. And after five hundred years of loneliness for BOTH of you, I think it's about time you got that chance!" she made a little speech.
Elijah looked at and listened to Caroline intently.
A tiny lips-closed smile crept its way on his face.
"You would do a good district attorney." He eventually spoke.
She gave him a look. "Elijah, I am being serious."
"So am I." he assured her, a hint of amusement in his voice.
She gave him yet another look before regaining her seriousness.
"Look Elijah, you are a good man, ok? You're a total catch." Caroline told Elijah causing him to raise an eyebrow at her. "You're smart, you're intelligent, you're handsome, you're hot, you have principles, values…" she enumerated. "And more importantly, you have a good heart… which is very rare. You deserve…"
"Wow." Caroline heard a voice behind them say and turned to see no other than the Original Hybrid.
Elijah who had sensed his brother's presence before he even reached their front door didn't bother to turn around.
"Intelligent, hot, moral, good heart… anything else you want to add to that list?" Klaus asked Caroline with a fake smirk.
That caused for the blonde to look at him, her eyebrows frown, with a mix of confusion and displeasure. After a few seconds, she turned back to Elijah, clearly displeased and rather surprised.
"Please don't stop on my account." Klaus added.
Caroline shot her eyes back at Klaus and threw him a deathly glare. She eyed him from head to foot.
That's it!
So what did you think?
Elijah's reaction to Katherine? Katherine's reaction to Elijah?
The Caroline/Elijah interaction? Klaus' appearance at the end?
PLEASE let me know your thoughts… whatever they are.
If you don't know what to say, here's an idea:
OMG OMG OMG
Elijah finally tasted his Katerina! Wow I did not expect that
But why did she have to run like that? Why did she have to run like that?
Oh I hate you!
BTW I love jealous Klaus
Great chapter as always
Update ASAP