It was 9pm, Elena was in her bedroom and getting herself ready for the night; she decided she wanted to dress herself up to mask her inner suffering, she slipped into a long-sleeved, black dress that hugged her body until just above her knees and the sleeves where made from lace.

Her hair fell like a blanket wrapping around her neck and she slid her feet into a pair of black, ballet-type pumps, she knew better than to wear heels, she can't run in those; she sat at her dressing table, brushing her hair repeatedly in an attempt to soothe her nerves but she was on edge, a simple knock of the door sent a wave of fear through her.

She shook herself off and exited her room, she descended the staircase and stopped at the front door; she grasped the handle and opened it slowly, revealing a perfectly suited up Elijah.

He stared at her with awe, his collected self crumbling at the sight of her, "Elena, you look beautiful."

"You clean up nice yourself," she grinned, soaking up as much happiness and warmth as she could.

"You weren't joking about the torment, were you?" He spoke rhetorically, everything inside him was pining.

"You flatter me," her smile never wavered, it only grew, "you'll make me blush."

There was a deafening silence between them, a lingering gaze and an air surrounding them rife with emotion but she had to stop, she had to remember her responsibilities and keep her mind on track for what she has to do.

"Would you be so kind as to invite me in?"

"Oh how the tables have turned," a cocky grin curled up on her lips and she crossed her arms across her chest.

"And the torment persists," he walked closer to the door, leaving only the threshold between them; even though there was a barrier between them he couldn't cross, she could still feel him and she grew weak in the knees.

But then she remembered, how everything was going to change tomorrow and he caught the flash of sadness sweep across her face; his head tilted slightly and the emotion between them had changed, "what is it?"

"Davina finished the ritual, we do it tomorrow," a small sigh emitted from her lips and she looked down to the floor beneath her feet; he wanted to comfort her but the barrier between them still remained by her will and he knew there was a reason behind that, "everything's going to change."

"For the better," his lips were parted and his brow furrowed as he watched her avoid looking at him.

"How can you be sure?"

"Your compassion is a gift, Elena, carry it with you,"

"Always and forever," she slowly lifted her gaze onto his, a few tears collecting in the corners of her eyes as she finished his sentence, repeating the words he once wrote to her in a letter; that was the night Klaus took her away and brought her here, the next steps in her path to finding her home, with the family she would love and the one that could capture her heart.

"You could never change for the worst, Elena, there isn't an ounce of evil in you and you have an army of powerful people around you that love you and would go to great lengths to protect you," he instinctively tried to take a step towards her, his body bouncing of the barrier and refusing his entry; he clung onto the doorframe to prevent even an inch separating them, "you're everything this family has been missing, the reason why we've never been able to settle and find true happiness for a thousand years, we were never meant to until you came into our lives, don't you see how important you are?"

"Elijah, I don't know what to say," she was speechless, emotional, completely enamoured and she felt every wall she put up start crumbling and crashing down around her.

He was talking to her with such a passion and desperation but he stopped holding back, she could see and hear the vulnerability within him and the emotion cracked his perfect facade, "let me in, Elena."

She could hear her heartbeat in her ears and everything around her closed in; in that moment, it was just them and going against everything her body was telling her to do, she whispered two little words that would change her forever, "come in."

The barrier dropped, the last inch remaining between them closing as, without hesitation, he grasped the back of her neck, his fingers entangled in her hair and she inhaled a sharp breath when his arm slipped around her waist, he pulled her in, their lips crashing together in a powerful and passionate kiss; her hands found there way around his neck and she pulled on the ends of his hair, forcing him further into her.

She'd held back for so long that she poured everything into him, every suppressed feeling, every weak moment of longing that she had to force back and every emotion that she had hid since the first day they met. It was all for him.

The minutes passed and they sunk so far into each other, she thought it would be near impossible to separate from him and it took everything within her to pull her lips from his; her eyes remained closed as there faces stayed together but her lips only elicited heavy breaths onto his.

"There's no going back now," she said in hushed tones, her breathing still laboured as she attempted to collect herself.

"We are completely doomed," he smoothed his thumb across her jawline and settled it on her chin, raising her head slightly so he could meet her lips once more and indulge in her for a just a bit longer.

Rousseau's

By the time Elena and Elijah could pull themselves apart, it was nearly 11pm and they had arrived an hour late; she had spent the entire car ride there lost in him, the way he looked at her whenever he could, the way he made her heart skip a beat when he spoke to her and how everything finally felt complete when he kissed her.

They had been too consumed in each other to notice the time was flying by them before they realised they had an insurmountable list of missed calls and texts and Klaus was ready to send in the cavalry.

So when they walked in, the others had breathed a sigh of relief; she joined them in the booth, Klaus, Marcel and Davina had waited patiently but they were ready to start the festivities.

Klaus had Camille set them up with two bottles of scotch, a round of beers and a soda for Davina; Elena picked up her glass, held it in the centre and looked at each one of them, "no big speeches, just I love you all and no matter what happens over the next few days, I'm grateful for everything."

Klaus placed his glass onto hers, a small smile spreading on his lips, "always and forever."

They all clinked their glasses together and simultaneously repeated their vow.

"Tomorrow we start to invite the faction leaders into town and we'll hold the summit in 3 days, everything is in order and if it goes to plan, then we unify in 7 days."

"The spell is ready," Davina looked towards Elena, a grin on her lips and the doppelgänger returned it; any doubt she had was pushed from her mind, Elijah had made her see sense and he was all she could think about, "tomorrow, we make you a witch."

"It's ready?" Klaus spoke, not with disappointment or annoyance but with concern; they all slowly started to put their glasses down onto the table and break their toast, "is that why we're here tonight, Elena?"

"Yes, I wanted one night of normality before we kick up the storm tomorrow, I wanted you all by my side before we have to go through it, I don't know when we'll be able to do this next, so drink up," Elena forced a grin and knocked back her shot, wiping away the few droplets from her mouth that escaped.

"We're by your side," Klaus, Elijah and Marcel all pointed there glass towards her and swigged it back in one.

She was overwhelmed, to say the least, the love and support surrounding her was melting her and she was loved up by Elijah, everything was perfect, even if it was only for one night.

After a few hours of laughing, drinking and story telling on the vampires part, it was nearing 2am and there was no end in sight; Elena had felt the urge to dance, so her and Davina dragged the guys onto their feet and in there intoxicated state, they reluctantly obliged.

"One more bottle," Klaus mused loudly and Cami obliged, an amused grin on her face at the group before her.

She brought it to the table and Klaus handed her the money, "Celebrating?"

"Kind off," Elena responded to the barmaid, laughing slightly, "let's just say we've had a big project to prepare for and tomorrow is presentation day."

Elijah and Klaus smirked at each other before the hybrid cracked open the bottle and poured them all another round; Elena looked at Cami, her grin was infectious and she had a purity about her that she was drawn too.

"Cami, you should join us," she said with a grin, before turning to Klaus and pointing at the bar, "grab her a glass, Nik, if we're going to keep her here all night because of our antics then she definitely shouldn't be sober for it."

"Oh no, I couldn't, you're celebrating," she shook her head slightly, not wanting to be an imposition but Elena wouldn't hear it, she moved on the bench and pulled Cami gently down beside her.

"The more the merrier," she reassured the bartender before Klaus returned with her glass and she filled her one up; Elena held up her glass and pointed it towards Cami, "to new friends?"

"Absolutely," she smiled widely before clinking her glass against Elena's, the two girls knocking them back and cheering briefly, "so, are you guys all friends or family?"

"The unrelated kind of family," Elena answered, her gaze shifting between every important member of her life, "me and Davina are practically sisters but we're not and I'm not blood related to any of them, Klaus took Marcel in when he was younger and dumb and dumber over there are brothers."

"We heard that," Klaus glared, a small smirk appearing on his lips at her playfulness.

Elena and Cami laughed, the two brothers had been hovering around the jukebox, trying to find a song that they could agree on but considering they're a thousand years old and the music they enjoyed was wildly different to modern day times, they struggled.

"Tell me about you, Cami," Elena asked, sipping at her scotch and putting her full attention on the young blonde.

"Ah, not much to tell," she waved her hand in front of her in a dismissive motion, "psych student, working in a bar to fund that, small family, baggage, et cetera, pretty basic stuff."

"That's nice," Elena spoke warmly, "sounds so normal, I can't wait to eventually go to college, how are you enjoying your course?"

She was trying to hold her focus but she looked over Cami's shoulder and saw Elijah, her drunken state made her eyes fog and he was all she could see and without even realising it, she had tuned out everything else and lingered on him longer than she had anticipated.

"Elena?" A questioning voice snapped her back to reality.

"Yeah?" She broke her focus on Elijah and shook her head, returning her gaze onto the young blonde, "oh, I'm sorry, I got distracted."

Cami peered her head over her shoulder and followed her line of sight, revealing an overly attractive Elijah leaning on the bar and drinking with his brother, the two in a fit of hysterics, "ah, I get it."

"Don't say anything, please?" she whispered, the music was loud enough for the vampires not to hear her talking and Cami heard her loud and clear.

"Of course," she flickered her gaze between The Original vampire and her, tilting her head slightly before fixating on Elena, "maybe it's the psych degree, the pursuit I have in seeing everybody happy or the scotch but can I ask why I have to keep it a secret?"

Elena inhaled a sharp breath, her head tilted slightly and she wondered what she should say that wouldn't raise suspicion in Cami but she had the most trusting face and she really liked her, so she told her, "it's complicated," she continued to whisper, "a lot of history there and with the brother, he's overly sensitive to change and doesn't often welcome it with open arms."

If only she knew what Klaus would actually do to her and Elijah if he ever found out, he would see it as a betrayal and at the very least, force them out of New Orleans and she'd be tore up, "but you both look so happy, surely he would be able to accept you both as a couple to see you happy?"

"That's how a normal person would see it but he's not normal," she couldn't help but grin and chuckle at her words, "but I wouldn't want to hurt him or jeopardise our family, things with me and Elijah have felt like a long time in the making but also very fresh and we have so much to do over the next few days that it almost doesn't seem right to be this happy. Bad timing or what, right?"

Elena didn't think there would ever be someone she could be honest with about her personal life, outside of Mystic Falls, she had no non-supernatural friends and to be able to confide in someone about the inner workings of her heart was a blessing.

"I don't know, I see the way tall, dark and handsome over there looks at you every now and then as well, I don't see any malicious intent in him, he seems almost to happy to see you happy, like that's all he's wanted all night," Cami inspected, her psych wired brain finding pieces to put together to reassure her, "but I'm not your shrink, I don't really know you and probably have no place to comment."

Elena saw her laugh nervously and awkwardly before finishing the remainder of her drink in one, shaking off the bad taste and remaining awkward, "no, that's not at all what I think, sometimes we get so caught in the bond of family that it's nice to hear someone else's opinion; it's a very intense bond between us all and it's easy to become sucked into it, like nothing else matters."

"It's nice that you have that, you all seem so close and the way they look at you, they've got it bad for watching over you," Elena listened to her as she poured them another drink, each word making her see things differently, "that's all most people want, to be loved and a part of something, I'm even finding myself quite envious."

"Yeah, I guess you're right, I've never really thought about it that way before," she smiled kindly, holding her glass up towards her once again, "thank you, Cami, I needed to hear that."

She clinked her glass against hers, the two taking a small sip before delving into a more fun conversation, leaving the heavy and unanalysed workings of her feelings on the back burner.

"Come on, let's dance," the two slid out of the booth and joined the others, all of them laughing and drinking for a short while whilst Elena pondered on a fleeting thought she had, it would be one that could potentially damage the family dynamic they had or it could be the last piece of the puzzle to perfect there life here in New Orleans.

She took a large swig of scotch and slammed the glass down on the bar before approaching Elijah and Nik, she grabbed their hands and pulled them outside the bar and let the door close behind them.

"What is it, Elena?" Elijah asked, his concern apparent on her features.

"You alright, little warrior?" Klaus was equally as confused.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just," she paused for a moment, contemplating her next words carefully and making truly sure that what she wanted to say is something they would all want, "this could be the scotch talking or the love I have for you both but I think the last thing we're missing is Rebekah and Kol."

"What are you talking about, Elena?" Klaus asked abruptly, his demeanour freezing at her words.

"I love our siblings but they are far less conservative than we are," Elijah admitted, a small smirk appearing on her lips.

"Conservative? Right, I'm going to ignore that false statement for now and we'll address it later because for now, I want your family whole; we're building an amazing life here and it seems almost wrong that they aren't here, you'll be happier with them here," she placed her hands on the top of an arm each, offering her comfort and warmth, "make your family whole, guys, think about it."

Elena smiled kindly at them before returning to the bar, leaving them outside in their surprised state to ponder and discuss; they followed in a few minutes later, laughing and bonding and Elena felt oddly proud in her achievement to make them happy.

An hour had passed and they finished the bottle, Elena was positively intoxicated and she was the amusement of all her vampire friends in that moment, she was overly affectionate, dancing far too much and laughing louder then they'd ever heard her do before.

"I'm thinking it's time to get home, even Cami is a little drunker than she planned on," Marcel turned his gaze from the two girls and onto Davina, she was nestled up in a ball at the booth and sleeping soundly, it was late and she was young, the bar scene wasn't quite ready for her yet, "and she's fast asleep."

"Perhaps you're right," Elijah agreed, nodding his head once before approaching the girls; he subtly placed his hand on Elena's waist and she felt a sudden warmth within her, "it's late, we should return home."

She barely had any control of her body, her logic went out of the window after the second bottle of scotch and it took every ounce of strength she had in her to not jump on him, "yeah, you're right, Cami is extremely drunk."

"So is she," she pointed at the doppelgänger, the two acting immature and ecstatic, they burst out laughing and engaged in a drunken hug, "it was lovely to meet you, Elena, don't be a stranger."

"You too, Cami, we're going to be great friends," she released the bartender from her embrace and attempted to stand up but she quickly lost her balance and Elijah caught her, "woah, why is the bar spinning?"

Cami laughed hard at Elena, before attempting to stand herself and feeling the same dizziness and wooziness as her new companion, "woah, I think I need some air."

"Come on, we'll wait outside," they linked arms and staggered towards the door, Elijah had remained close but she reassured him before they went outside, inhaling a large breath of fresh and unfiltered New Orleans air, "you should head home, Cami, it's late, we'll get you a cab."

"I'm supposed to clean and lock up the bar," she pouted playfully, resting her all too heavy feeling head on the doppelgängers shoulder, "I forgot about that."

"They'll be halfway through it as we speak, let's get you a cab," Elena stumbled towards the curb and stood on the edge, scouring the area for a taxi.

"That is so sweet, thank you, Elena," she said as she watched her hail down a cab and open the door for her; Cami gave her a quick hug before she slid into the back seat and Elena closed the door, she handed the driver a twenty and waved them off.

"Now it's my turn to look after you," Elena spun on her heel and saw Elijah standing outside the bar, his gaze fixated on her as he watched her so kindly look after Cami.

"I still don't think I'm quite finished with your torment," she grinned playfully and taking a few small steps towards him; even though she had drank more than she cared to admit, she'd never felt as powerful and as level headed as she did with him, even the way she spoke came out so elegantly.

"I quite enjoy your torment," he took another step closer to her, his fingers wrapped around a loose hair that dangled beside her face and he smoothed his fingers down it, grazing her cheek as his hand moved across her skin.

"You should get used to it," she spoke on his lips as she neared her face to his, her breathing becoming slow and forceful.

"I intend too," he pushed his lips on hers, not allowing another moment to be wasted between them, there affections had to be limited to only private moments for a while, until they could figure out what it all meant and she had to decide if she was ready for the forever commitment that came with Elijah, it was all passion and very intense and there was a lot happening in there lives.

"You should get the others," she whispered against his lips, before reluctantly and ruefully pulling away from him; he placed one last soft kiss on her forehead before returning to the bar, they had cleaned the entire place and had it ready for the next day. Cami had left the keys by the cash register and everything had gone to plan, a perfect last night together as a family.

Elena stood outside, staring at the stars and enjoying the loved up bliss that consumed her; her finger had stroked her bottom lip whilst she felt the kiss from Elijah on them still and her heart still hadn't quite calmed from his touch.

Everything felt right in her world, she had everything she had ever wanted, a family, a purpose and a future to build, nothing could ruin the way she felt now.

Or at least, that's what she thought.

In one truly terrifying moment, she felt a gust of wind blow past directly behind her causing her to quickly turn and look around; maybe it was the liquor and she was feeling things that weren't really there or maybe the speed of the wind was picking up. Either way, she shook it off, rolling her eyes at her paranoia and laughing slightly.

And just like that, in a mere fleeting second, she was gone, rendered unconscious and taken from the street in the bat of an eyelash, taken from her happy and blissful state.