It was nearly 6am and Elena couldn't sleep. Every morning this week she'd woken up in her big king size bed and snuggled down in her soft duvet with her fluffy pillows and a smile had filled up her face. This morning was different. Elena was leaving this house and leaving New Orleans and she couldn't feel any less happy. She'd started out this week being kidnapped, and ended up wishing he would kidnap her again. She didn't want to return to the life she had in Mystic Falls and she certainly didn't want to return to being the person she had been.
The last few years had been crazy. This week was the most normal Elena had felt in so long, which was insane considering she'd shared the house with the Originals. She hadn't been a chew toy, stuck in the middle of a tug of war between Damon and Stefan. She hadn't been at home worrying about putting her friends in danger constantly. And she hadn't been scared. She'd been happy. She'd been normal. She'd been Elena Gilbert.
Elena decided to climb out of bed, she wouldn't sleep anymore anyway. She looked in the wardrobe and all the endless clothes she'd had the choice of all week were suddenly gone. They must have been removed whilst she had slept. All that was left was one floral summer dress hanging alone on a hanger in the middle of the wardrobe. Klaus, she thought. He must have chosen it for her to wear today. It made her smile, but it was tinged with sadness. She grabbed the dress and her converse and quickly showered and changed before heading downstairs.
In the kitchen she poured herself a mug of coffee from the machine and took it into the library with her. This was the room she'd miss the most. Before Elena's parents had died Elena loved to read, and this library (and Klaus) had reminded her just how much she had been missing it. She grabbed a book from the shelf and sat on the sofa by the big window that looked out over the sweeping gardens, and flicked through the pages whilst sipping at her coffee. The sun was just rising and it beamed through the glass.
Elena was only there a few minutes before she heard the door creak open and suddenly Klaus was sat beside her. She could hardly bare to look up at his blue eyes, as she knew now how sad it would make her to no longer see them every day.
"Good morning love, up early I see. Eager to leave?" he asked.
"It'll be nice to home" she lied, still not looking at him.
"Ah, you want to be back in Mystic Falls. Each to their own, not my kind of place" Klaus said, searching for Elena's eyes as she eagerly avoided his gaze.
"It's not New Orleans, I know"
"Not even close. But if you like that small town vibe, I don't-" Klaus said, as Elena joined in and they began finishing each other's sentences.
"-I don't really either" Elena said.
"and the people are…boring-" Klaus said.
"-small-minded and there's nothing to do, not a single museum or-" Elena said, looking everywhere in the room but at Klaus.
"-art gallery. And the restaurants are-" Klaus said.
"-awful. There's no cocktail's or dancing-"
"I'll visit, Elena. If you want me to, I'll come visit."
Elena finally turned and looked at him, shocked that he'd even offer.
"But after all we just said…. Mystic Falls is not exactly… Florence or Paris or Budapest or-"
"Wheresoever she was, there was Eden." Klaus said, looking deep into her eyes.
"Mark Twain." Elena mumbled, another beautiful quote she thought, and she couldn't believe he'd said it. His eyes were sparkling just as she'd known they would and they suddenly felt much closer to each on the sofa. "Please, visit." She added.
"Of course, love. And I'll write to you, every month."
She thought he might kiss her again, as if the moment were made for it. He wanted to. He wanted to kiss her and he wanted her to stay, but that wasn't his plan. And for everything to work out to plan he had to follow it perfectly, and so he stood up. He offered her his hand and pulled her to her feet. He bowed a little and pulled her hand in and kissed it.
"Thank you for this week, sweetheart. I hope you've enjoyed it even a fraction of the amount I have. I better see that your friends are awake and ready to leave." He smiled, not smirked, and was gone. He had a habit of doing that, Elena thought.
Elena had barely had a moment to recover from her encounter with Klaus before Elijah and Kol joined her in the library.
"Good morning, Miss Elena" Elijah said with a small smile as he walked over and took the seat beside Elena.
"Good morning, love" Kol added, as he paced around the room before helping himself to a sip of Elena's coffee. He pulled a funny face when he realised how sweet it was, Elena liked a lot of sugar in her coffee and she giggled when she saw his reaction.
"Good morning, guys" she said.
"I take it our brother has said his goodbyes to you already? We saw him speed out." Elijah said, looking at Elena. He had the same way of looking at people that Klaus did, as if he was really looking at you.
"Well…I'm not sure. I didn't think it was our final goodbye but come to think of it, it did sound a bit like it. He's going to write to me though and he's said he'll come visit me" Elena said, saddened at the thought that she might not see him again before she left and hoping against hope that she would.
"Well I'm off to London on business and so this is my final goodbye lovely Elena. It was lovely to meet you this week" Kol walked over to Elena and pulled her to her feet and kissed her hand. Elena just smiled at the formality of it and pulled him in for a big hug.
"I'll miss you, Kol. Even if you are an idiot"
"Not for long you won't, I'm coming to visit remember"
Elena smiled. She turned to Elijah.
"I'll miss you also Elijah. I know we haven't spent much time together, but you know I already think highly of you. Keep your brothers out of trouble, will you?"
"I will try, miss Elena. I'm sure we will see each other again some time soon." Elijah said, holding his hand out to shake. Elena refused the hand shake and pulled him into a hug that he kindly returned.
"Now I best go find my friends, I imagine they'll be pretty eager to leave" Elena said with a smirk.
It was okay, she thought, she'd see them all again sometime. She just hoped they realised she wasn't immortal and didn't have an eternity to wait around.
So I originally planned this as an Elena/Klaus fic and it still could be….that would certainly be the easiest to write and I already have all the chapters planned for it. But I was just wondering who out of Klaus/Elijah/Kol you would like to see Elena end up with? Leave me and review and let me know!