Minutes after she heard the back door close, Elena sighed as she, herself, turned and made her way up the back lawn, unsure whether she should give Elijah space or press him to find out what had just happened between them.
What had happened between them?
And what did he mean by 'I need pie'?
Her mind reeled, still unsure of his words and actions, though it was obvious that touching her had done something to him, seemingly affecting him just as much as it had been affecting her.
She didn't regret asking him to touch her—she had to know if he also felt the connection she had been feeling—but, now she couldn't help wondering and worrying about how this would affect their interactions for the rest of the trip.
All Elena knew for sure was that she had feelings for Elijah before she left Mystic Falls—new and uncertain feelings of something more than friendship—but she never imagined that they would manifest into something as intense as what she had been feeling recently—causing her to see him in a whole new light and react to his looks and touches in entirely new ways.
She found herself curious, exhilarated and terrified all at the same time.
When she reached the back veranda, she climbed the stairs and opened the back storm door, slipping inside and gently closing the door behind her.
But, as she wrapped her sweater tighter around her and crossed the kitchen, she caught sight of Elijah out of the corner of his eye, causing her to stop dead in her tracks.
He was eating pie…and cherry by the looks of it.
Elijah turned in his chair when he saw her, studying her with sad eyes as he laid his fork down on his plate.
"Would you like a piece?" he finally asked in a soft voice, seemingly unsure what else to say
Elena took in a breath then nodded.
She walked slowly toward the counter as Elijah got up and retrieved a plate and for her from a nearby cabinet, then grabbed a chair with his free arm and pulled it up to the breakfast bar across from him before setting the plate and fork in front of her as she took a seat.
As he returned to sit in his own chair, he pushed the pie dish toward her and moved the spatula around so she could pick her own piece.
"I've got ice cream in the freezer if—" Elijah began, but Elena held up her hand to silence him with a small smile that melted his heart.
"No, Thanks," she said in a soft voice, lowering her hand and sliding a piece of pie onto her plate before replacing the spatula, "I'm a purist when it comes to my pie."
Elijah sat back in his chair, eying her as he smirked, "Me, too."
There were a few moments of silence as they ate, before Elijah finally spoke again, keeping his eyes on his plate.
He was sure if he actually looked at her, he would break, but he owed her an explanation.
"I must apologize for my behavior out there," Elijah said, taking another bite onto his fork, "I shouldn't have just walked off like that—"
"Well, you needed pie," Elena quipped light-heartedly as she swallowed a bite, studying him, "I'm the last person to argue with that, given that I love pie, too, but, you're right, it did seem like an awkward moment to suddenly want it."
Elijah smiled, still looking down at his plate as he took the bite into his mouth, chewing it slowly for few moments then swallowing.
He wanted desperately to tell you everything he was feeling...in his head and in his heart...but, they weren't the words that came out.
"You know, Misha was the one who introduced me to pie," he said, wedging off another piece with his fork, "He always said it was always helpful if you were in emotional turmoil or just needed to clear your head. 'Good for the soul'."
Elena's heart suddenly sank as she swallowed her last bite.
Emotional turmoil? Had she caused him emotional turmoil? And if so, what kind?
Elijah took a deep breath then took the bite into his mouth, chewing silently again as Elena watched him.
"Do you…want to talk about it?" she asked tentatively in a soft voice, bracing herself for the original's reaction
Elijah closed his eyes as he swallowed, thinking for a moment, but unable to bring himself to say what he wanted to.
He just shook his head.
Elena nodded, a sad smile crossing her face.
After a few more moments of awkward silence, Elena straightened in her seat as she took her last bite and put down her fork.
"Well, that was excellent pie," she remarked between chews, changing the subject, "Is cherry your favorite?"
Elijah opened his eyes and studied her for a moment, seemingly in amazement that she respected his space enough not to press him about what had transpired between them out on the lawn.
"Yes. Vivienne made it for my birthday," he said softly, absentmindedly picking at the crust on his piece
Elena's eyes immediately brightened, "Your birthday?"
Elijah squeezed his eyes shut at his own stupidity at spilling the beans, then nodded reluctantly, "It's today."
Elena raised an eyebrow, "Really? How old are you?"
Elijah cocked his head and gave a devilish grin, then tisked at her question as he raised his fork at her.
She giggled, pulling back and raising her hand in defense.
"Okay…sorry…white flag!" Elena smiled as Elijah lowered his fork back to his plate
Elena studied him with soft eyes as she lowered her hands, "Can I at least ask how you plan to celebrate?"
"I usually don't make a big fuss out of it," Elijah replied with a sigh, "Birthdays are for humans. When you're a vampire, they start to lose their meaning. I haven't celebrated my birthday in a very long time."
Elena furrowed her eyebrow at him for a moment, then pushed back from the table, grabbing her plate and taking it to the sink, then turning back to face him.
"That's it. We're going out."
"We are?" Elijah asked, confused
"Yep," Elena smiled, pushing off the counter and walking back toward him, "I refuse to let you be all 'birthday are for humans' this year. We are going to celebrate."
"Elena—"
"No. No arguments," Elena countered, "Now, I'm going to go to my room to relax for a while and you are going to have another piece of pie and think about whatever it is that is on your mind and are not quite ready to share with me…" she shared a knowing look with Elijah and he smirked sadly then nodded, "and we'll meet right here, both dressed for a party, at five o'clock... Deal?"
Elijah nodded again and Elena smiled before walking around him and out of the kitchen.
She almost put her hand on his shoulder before she went, but decided against it for fear of igniting their connection.
# # # # # # #
Klaus groaned as there was a swift knock on his bedroom door.
"Go away!" he said, rolling over slightly and without looking or aiming, throwing the fork from Caroline's pie plate wildly in the direction of the doorway.
There was a clinking sound as it hit the door, then fell to the floor and the door opened slightly
"Urgent Mikaeslon Family business," Kol's voice sounded behind the wood
Rebekah chimed in soon after, "Can we come in or are you both naked in there?"
"What?" Klaus asked, slowly rising from under the covers where he had been snuggling with Caroline, "And no, we are not naked."
"It's a legitimate question." Caroline smiled, sitting up next to him, smoothing her hair and wrapping her blanket tighter around her shoulders.
"Thank you," Rebekah acknowledged from behind the door
Klaus rolled his eyes, "Come in if you must."
Finally, the door swung all the way open and Kol and Rebekah walked through the threshold, Kol working on the plate of pie in his hands, while Rebekah kept her eyes fixed on her IPhone.
"So what's this 'urgent Mikaelson Family business'?," Klaus asked, raising an eyebrow as he watched Kol take a seat in a nearby chair and Rebekah on the end of his bed.
"Well," Rebekah smiled, looking over her shoulder to Kol, "When we were downstairs just now, nursing our hangovers, we realized that today is October 28th!"
"And?" Klaus smirked, pretending not to realize the day's significance.
Rebekah huffed, dropping her phone in her lap, "Nik! Stop fooling around!"
"What's so special about October 28th?" Caroline asked curiously
"It's Elijahs' birthday," Klaus replied, then turned back to his sister, "A day that he doesn't like mentioned or celebrated, if you recall..."
"Oh, Elijah's a spoil sport!" Rebekah smiled, waving off Klaus' comment, "Always has been when it comes to having fun. He's just shy and doesn't like people making a fuss over him is all."
"But you still make the fuss anyway," Klaus countered
"Of course I do. That is what annoying little sisters are for," Rebekah replied, picking up her phone again and punching in a phone number, "And this year is the first year we've all been back together since the Victorian Era, so we are going to all make a fuss of it together."
Suddenly, there was another knock on the door.
"Did I miss it?" Misha asked as he walked through the threshold to Rebekah's side
"Nope," Rebekah smiled, "just dialing now. Where's Kaspar?"
"Still sleeping off last night's escapades," Misha smiled
"I can't believe we are doing this…" Klaus smirked with a raised eyebrow, looking from Rebekah, to Misha, to Kol, "Thank God he's like hundreds of miles away or we'd be dead meat."
"Yep," Kol replied, his mouth full of pie, "And we were hoping Caroline would join in too. It would just make mortifying our big brother that much sweeter!"
Rebekah smiled as she hit the 'Call' button on the cell phone, then handed it up to Misha.
"Watch this…" Klaus chuckled to Caroline in a low voice
Misha hit the speaker phone button and the sound of the line ringing filled Klaus' bedroom.
# # # # # # #
Elijah had just taken the first bite of his second piece of pie, when he felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.
His brow furrowed curiously before he leaned to one side in the chair to easily access his pant pocket and retrieve his phone.
As he set it down on the counter next to his plate, he smirked when he saw the caller ID-it was his sister.
Elijah studied the phone as it continued to ring, debating whether or not he should answer.
With Rebekah, the call was surely to be about one of four things. One—she and the siblings weren't getting along and was calling to complain to Elijah. Two—they were all in imminent danger from some unforeseen force. Three—she was nosy about his trip with Elena. Four—she remembered his birthday.
Fearing that it was the second reason, but preparing himself for the fourth, Elijah sighed, then hit the 'Answer' button on the touch screen.
"Hello?" he asked, bracing himself
"This is the birthday police!" Misha cried in a jubilant voice and Elijah smiled, silently cursing himself for answering the phone as a voice, probably Kol's, emanated in the background, wailing like a police siren to add effect.
"Why?!" Elijah laughed, covering his hand over his eyes, "Why?!"
Rebekah's voice came on the line, "Because we love you, you git! And we don't always get a chance to tell you how glad we are that you were born."
Suddenly, Elijah heard static as the phone was passed and Klaus came on the line.
"Yeah," he chuckled, "What she said…"
Elijah smirked, that was as 'heartfelt' as Niklaus would ever get.
Then Misha came back on the line again, "We know you don't like birthdays, but as Rebekah pointed out, we haven't all been together to do this is a very, very long time, so we thought it was fitting to call and embarrass you like we used to. You ready?"
"Do you have to?" Elijah asked, rolling his eyes
"Hey, the sooner we do this, the sooner we hang up and you can forget this ever happened!" Misha laughed
"Alright... wait, just let me my ear plugs," Elijah quipped
"Ready?" Misha said to the siblings in the background, ignoring Elijah's jab, "One...two...three..."
"Happy Birthday to you!" they all sang in odd, off pitch chorus, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, Elijah! Happy Birthday to you!"
"We would have gotten you a cake, but the candles would have rivaled the Chicago fire of 1871!" Kol laughed
"Ha, ha..." Elijah deadpanned
"We love you, Ejah!" Rebekah added
"Just enjoy your birthday …" Misha chimed in, "And promise that you'll celebrate... for once!"
"Actually," Elijah said, looking up to the ceiling and thinking of Elena, "This is year, I am."
A dead silence fell on the other end of the line.
"Hello?" Elijah smiled
"It's here…" Klaus mused in a dramatic tone into the phone, "It's officially arrived…."
Then Misha laughed, "Hell has done froze over!"
"Break out the snow blowers!" Kol quipped
"Does this have something to do with, Elena?" Rebekah suddenly asked curiously and Elijah could almost see the smile crossing her face hundreds of miles away.
"If I know Elena," Caroline chimed in, "Probably…"
"It hasn't even been a day," Misha added with chuckle, "What exactly has that girl done to you, Boy?"
Elijah smiled, "Honestly... I don't quite know."