The plantation.
What was quite possibly the longest and most tedious day of Elena's existence, still saw no end in sight for her as she paced up and down in the entrance foyer. She kept trying to call Rebekah and Hayley but it was futile and she was starting to contemplate heading back into the bayou to find them.
She wasn't worried or concerned, she didn't feel a thing towards them, only that Rebekah was her ticket out of Mikaelson drama and Klaus would kill her if anything happened to Hayley. Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.
The minutes passed by and she was becoming impatient, just as she was about to try Rebekah's cell once again, the front door swung open and the two girls strolled in, chatting away and Elena looked at them in disbelief.
"Hey," Rebekah said as she closed the door behind her and sauntered further into the entrance foyer.
"Hey?!" She reiterated, holding her hands up in confused astonishment, "you can't answer your phone?" She turned to look at Hayley next, "both of you!"
"Mine died," Hayley said with an innocent smile and a shrug of her shoulders.
"Mine too, love," Rebekah shot her a look of puzzlement, the doppelgängers outburst had took her by surprise.
"I need a drink," she exasperated, walking around the two girls and heading into the music room. They followed her in, giving her only a curious look as she poured out a drink.
"Why were you so worried about us, 'Lena?" Rebekah pried, encouraging her to recognise her emotions.
Yeah, right!
Tomorrow was to be their last day in New Orleans, the family had yet to restore her humanity and Rebekah knew there would be no changing her mind on leaving. She was desperate in her task to help Elena but she couldn't help but wonder if Klaus had been right all those months ago, maybe she just didn't want to be helped.
"Worried?" Elena said, taking a sip of her scotch and shaking her head, "Hardly! Klaus sent me to ensure you were both safe and when I got back here, you were nowhere to be found."
"And you thought Klaus was going to kill you before our big Vegas trip," Rebekah surmised, rolling her eyes before standing in front of the piano and pouring herself a drink.
"I refuse to die in New Orleans," she offered a flat and emotionless smile before turning to face Hayley, "why did you want to go out into the bayou anyway? The place is dangerous... and disgusting."
"I agree with Elena, I don't care if we have to get you a leash, that was your last trip to the Bayou. What is it with you and those wolves, anyway?"
"I feel like we're connected somehow. I don't know. Maybe it's just some pipe dream that I have of finding any real family out there. But sometimes, when I feel like it's me against the world, it keeps me going."
Rebekah offered a sympathetic look and Elena found herself listening easy to her. Regardless of her lack of humanity, she could still see when two things were similar, comparable in the fact that they were both alone in the world. No family because they had all been murdered, no connection to their past and they were tough, going through it in whichever way they thought best.
"Oh, right. Well, if you ask me, family is a pain in the behind," And the Original Vampire meant it, as much as she hated to love her family, she did still love them and would do just about anything for them, "And as for being in it alone, how dare you? I don't ruin a perfectly fabulous pair of boots traipsing through the Bayou for just anyone."
Rebekah turned to look at Elena, her eyes widened slightly as she pointed her head towards Hayley several times. The doppelganger furrowed her brow and gave a light shrug of her shoulders, "What?" She paused a beat, finally realising what she meant, "Oh, you want me too-"
"Well, yes, Elena, for once you can say something nice," she reprimanded, inhaling a forceful breath through her nose out of frustration.
On some level, Rebekah was always trying to get an emotional response from Elena and Hayley knew that, hence why she stood back and said nothing during Rebekah's probing.
"I suppose it wouldn't be fun if something horrifically tragic befell you," she rolled her eyes, mostly to avoid eye contact and took a very large swig of scotch.
"That hurt you, didn't it?" Hayley said with an amused and crooked grin, her heart warming even more to Elena.
"You have no idea."
"Well, us girls have to stick together," Rebekah's sentiment made Elena scoff and finish her drink quickly.
"And on that vomit-inducing note, I'm gonna go change, my clothes smell like Big Auggie and his backwards bayou bar," she shuddered, causing the girls to laugh as she sped from the room and took herself off to her bedroom.
She stripped out of the jeans and t-shirt she was wearing and headed for her dresser, pulling out a dark red cami with lace trim and a black pair of shorts, she quickly changed and walked towards the bathroom.
Just as she was about to turn the handle and ready herself for bed, her vampire hearing caught the sound of the front door opening and who she assumed was Klaus returning.
"Nik, finally! What–-"
Rebekah confirmed but much to the doppelgängers surprise, she heard a second set of footsteps and...
"Elijah!" Rebekah exclaimed happily and ran to give her brother a hug, "You're safe! Now that you're home, is your first plan to kill Niklaus?"
Elena left the bedroom, walking across the hallway and heading for the staircase. During her ascent down the steps, Elijah peered his head around Rebekah's shoulder and his lips parted.
Elena got about halfway down when she saw him, finally returned to his home safe and sound and their mission to rescue him had been fulfilled. It felt oddly satisfying, she had spent her days so consumed by the thought of seeing him returned and now that he was, she felt accomplished, like a struggling writer who had failed to make a classic, only to succeed just as they thought all hope was lost.
"Elena?" He said in complete disbelief as he pulled away from Rebekah's hug, he looked from her, to Rebekah and setting his line of sight onto Klaus.
"Oh right, of course, final surprise of the night," Klaus said with a deliciously wicked smirk as he turned to look up at Elena and he saw the fleeting softness of her face before she clamped it back up again.
"Welcome home, Elijah," she said, a small smile curled up on her lip as she finished her steps down the staircase and looked at him in his speechless state.
The effect the Petrova women had on Elijah was profound, but this was different, he was completely taken by surprise, he didn't know how to respond. She was in their family home, surrounded by his siblings and they weren't battling or arguing like they were children fighting over the last candy bar, she was just here.
She simply continued on into the kitchen and opened the cupboard that housed Klaus' more expensive and decadent bottles of scotch and retrieved one, along with a crystal tumbler and she set them down on the kitchen island. She may as well celebrate, their goal was complete.
Elijah suddenly walked into the kitchen and his eyes fixated on Elena, the last person he had ever expected to see in New Orleans and he was completely taken aback.
His history with the doppelgängers had been a complicated one, he had loved both Tatia and Katherine, and he still felt some form of connection with Elena, it wasn't love but more of a bond that reached deeper levels, they had an understanding, an urge to protect, to have family surrounding them and grace in the fact that they cared about each other, even when neither of them would admit it.
He was in for a shock.
"Elijah," she said in recognition of his arrival and grabbed him a glass from the cupboard, she poured them both a shot and walked around the kitchen island to offer him his, "You're staring."
"Forgive me for being rude but I had not anticipated your presence here in New Orleans," he was still staring, even as he took the glass from her hand and took a sip. He had started to consider that maybe one of his siblings had took her and in the process, breaking the deal he had once made to her when they first met, that he would protect her from his brother's relentless pursuit to have the doppelganger at his beck and call.
"You and me both," she said nonchalantly, bringing the glass to her lips and letting it hover near the curled up corners of her mouth, "but I never did fail to surprise you, did I?"
"That you did not," his state of shock all but crumbled and he smirked, that elusive and alluring smirk that she used to find so appealing, "So, why are you here, Elena?"
"Well, Rebekah asked me to come and help find you, so I did, I've been here for months, Elijah."
"As flattered as I am by your sudden concern for my safety... I find it misplaced," He slipped his hand into his pocket and stood on a tilt to watch her more carefully, "and if I'm being perfectly honest, quite surprising."
"I'm guessing you're going to want the full story, huh?" She took a deep breath, exhaling the air slowly from her nose as he gave her only a firm nod of his head. She walked towards the door that lead to the garden area of the house and grabbed the bottle on the way.
"Shall we drink your brother's most expensive bottle of scotch and talk?" She said with a bright yet devious smile as she held up the bottle by its neck and pointed it out towards him slightly.
"How can I refuse such an offer?" The Petrova fire he once found so alluring, that haunted him for a thousand years, was more prominent in her now, than he had ever seen before.
She opened the door and walked onto the deck, taking the few steps down that lead to the pool and stood over it, watching as the moonlight glistened across the surface and the water rippled against the breeze of the wind.
Elena sat down on the edge of the pool and dipped her toes in the water, gently making circular motions and watching the current she caused move across the water. She felt Elijah standing behind her and she glanced up to him for a quick moment, with his glass in one hand and the other tucked away in his pocket.
"Come, sit," she tapped the space beside her, before leaning back, propping herself up on her hands and looking at him in his contemplative state, "I won't bite."
"It's not your bite I'm concerned about," He retorted, as he sat down beside her, leg bent at the knee and he rested his arm on it, his glass dangling loosely from his fingertips.
"What are you concerned about?"
He raised his eyebrow, turning to look at her so intently like her face would suddenly reveal all the answers to the questions he had but there was nothing. Nothing but cold and smooth porcelain, free from the torment that once crumpled her features and he felt nothing but the emptiness within her.
"Your intentions, I suppose," he shifted his gaze onto the glass in his hand, tilting it slightly towards him to look at the liquid that swirled within it, "if you pose a threat to me or my family."
Elijah, ever the devoted brother and protecter of his siblings. This was once a quality she admired. As an older sibling herself, she understood the deep rooted instinct to protect family and the lengths she went too to ensure her loved ones survived surprised even her at one point. Even if it was futile.
"It's laughable that you think I could pose any sort of threat to the two ruthless and thousand year old Original Vampires and the pregnant werewolf," she mused, flashing him a subtle smile, "So, no. No threat at all."
"Then I must accuse you of being not only completely demented for allowing yourself to be entangled with the family that once terrorised your life but also somewhat reckless, for involving yourself in the mission to return me to them, even though you are fully aware of how dangerous the witches here are," he looked at her with raised eyebrows and a collected facade wrapped around him, his vulnerability was fleeting, they had history together, it was a long time in the making this connection they shared and it all started when Rose found her.
She shrugged her shoulders lightly, taking a large sip of scotch in the process, "Demented and reckless, just about sums me up. You could probably throw delusional in there too."
He looked at her with narrowed eyes and grabbed the bottle between them, pouring himself another one and offering to refill hers, "so, tell me, what implored you to travel here with my sister?"
"Maybe I was just so worried about you, my former protector and the first Original Vampire that swanned into my life uninvited," she said with such a fake and sarcastic voice that he couldn't help but grin amusingly.
"If that had any modicum of truth to it then I would be flattered, of course," he returned her sarcasm tenfold, "but I am, in fact, smarter than you appear to give me credit for, so I know you are lying."
"'I can hear your heartbeat, Elena, it jumps when you're being dishonest with me'" she quoted him directly, causing them both to smirk, "do you still think it's not in my nature to be deceitful?"
He caught her gaze once again and he saw something missing, the same emptiness he witnessed in Willoughby... he grasped her chin, holding it tenderly between his finger and thumb and held her head steady, delving further into the cold abyss that lay within her eyes and his brow furrowed, "your humanity..."
"Oh, that old thing," she said with a smile as cold and as empty as the heart that beat steadily within her chest, "long dead."
"Even after all this time, you still refuse to let your emotions back in?" The grasp he had of her slowly slipped and he found himself looking at her with a face riddled with emotion. Compassion, guilt and care all came to the surface and he couldn't help but watch her like she was once the light he saw her to be.
"I happen to prefer myself this way, I'm a lot more fun than I used to be when I was all doom, gloom and whiny," she gave a flinch of a shudder at the relived memories, before looking at him intently, his emotion bringing only amusement to her, she knew it was a lie, they had betrayed each other so much, it was hardly reason enough to still feign any remnants of a relationship, "and you can stop in your feigned attempt at showing care, we both know better."
"We may have a troubled past, Elena, but I was never without care for you," he looked away, setting his sights on the water in the pool and his voice had changed, it became more defensive, like he had a point to prove with her.
"I should have known you would be the 'touchy feely' one that would attempt to appeal to my compassion, you shouldn't waste your breath," sounding as firm as she could in hope he wouldn't pursue her emotions returned to her.
But he did have an arc for redemption, Klaus had suffered through it for a millennia. Maybe he felt he had a duty to her because of his past love for Katherine and she had betrayed her by killing Jeremy Gilbert. Something he never truly saw past. Maybe it was the torture his family had put her through during their time in Mystic Falls or maybe he did just care about her enough to see her through it.
"Elena, I-"
"Oh, spare me, Elijah, Im lacking the patience required to sit through another emotional conversation, it's tedious and boring and it's been an extremely long day," she sighed impatiently, taking a quick sip of scotch, "so, to change the subject, I'll answer your question..."
Elena shook her head, returning her gaze onto the pool before she started...
"Long story, short - after you left Mystic Falls, I went on a bit of a rampage, I killed a few humans, attempted to kill my friends, was forced to endure days of torture, starvation and repeated attempts at trying to restore my humanity, the final straw was when Damon snapped Matt's neck in front of me. He was wearing the Gilbert ring and those jackasses thought I wouldn't notice, so I'd had enough, Rebekah offered me an out and I took it," she shrugged nonchalantly, "we made a deal, once we knew you were safe, we would take off together, road trip or whatever, but now we've decided on Vegas... we leave tomorrow."
"Well, the Salvatore's never did acquire tact during their century-and-a-half long existence, it would seem, I'm truly sorry you had to face that," he offered the most genuine look of sympathy and compassion she had seen since arriving in New Orleans and it made her almost grimace, "I would ask that you stay for a while longer-"
"I would rather take a long hot bath in vervain water," she had a look of distaste on her face at the thought of staying any longer than she had too.
"I find myself at a disadvantage, my siblings have had the pleasure of your company during the months I lay desiccating in a coffin whilst I have had no time with you at all."
Oh, he was smooth. So smooth.
... Just like that curled up smile and glint in his eye.
"Is that what you want, Elijah?" She asked, "to spend time with me?"
"If only for old times sake."
"Why? So you can take it upon yourself to restore my humanity?" Her impatience was becoming clearer, "It's impossible."
"I always did like a challenge," he was confident, brazen even, as he tried to win her over with his charismatic charm and quick answers. But It was just another Mikaelson trap and she was done with those.
"As fun as that sounds, watching as you attempt to appeal to my kinder nature and failing each time, I have no desire to stay in New Orleans," she was firm, unaffected and completely impartial.
"I beseech you to reconsider," there was an urgency to his tone of voice, why did he care so much?!
Maybe his honour was tested, perhaps seeing her here, amongst his family, aiding them in their mission to bring him home and she was a part of that. Did he feel obligated?
She saved him, he should save her.
"You should go see to Hayley, for some unknown reason, she has missed you," she stood from the edge of the pool, grabbing the bottle in the process and went to head back inside... But something compelled her to stop and going against her better judgement, she spun around just before the deck and exhaled a quick breath, "allow me one question?"
He turned to view her, giving only a firm nod of his head.
"When you saw me, you knew who I was..." she trailed off, pondering about how the question she was going to ask would come across to him but it was curiosity only he could sate, "How did you know I wasn't Katherine? It would seem more likely that she be here to look for you considering she loves you."
"Do you really care for the answer?"
The air between them came thin and there was a tensity she couldn't shake, especially when she saw the reflection of the moonlight glimmer in his pensive eyes and she was unnerved.
"No, but my curiosity needs sating."
"I've always been able to tell when it's you, Elena, even in your emotionless state, there is still something about you that radiates light," his voice seemed to remain as confident and unshaken as it had been since he returned but this time, there was a crack of emotion, "the light that makes others want to do better."
Oh my god.
So many thoughts raced through her mind at once, if he always knew it was her, then in Willoughby... Nope, shut that down.
"Light?" She gasped playfully, "I'm offended and nauseated."
She flashed him that cold smirk once more before heading back inside, deciding against the use of a glass and diving straight into the two thousand dollar bottle of Macallan she was sure Klaus was going to scold her for drinking tomorrow.
They all retreated to the study a short while later, Elijah stood behind the desk with his arm propped up on the chair and he revealed everything he had learnt that day from Davina.
"Everything that brought us here to New Orleans was a lie. This story that Sophie Deveraux fabricated, this struggle for control of the French Quarter, this war between vampires and witches, wasn't over territory at all, this was over Davina."
Elena and Rebekah side-eyed each other, their faces filled with disappointment and despair before they both turned to look at Hayley. She looked worried, like she was way out of her depth and she was scared.
"Eight months ago, Sophie Deveraux and her sister Jane-Anne lost everything. Now, four months after that, a young pregnant girl wanders into their restaurant. Suddenly, all hope is renewed. Jane-Anne actually sacrificed her life so that her sister can use you to find Davina. If Sophie Deveraux is successful in capturing Davina, she can return Jane-Anne's daughter back to life. We thought we'd come here to wage a war for power. This is about family. In order to return her niece to life, Sophie Deveraux will fight to the death. That makes her more dangerous than anyone."
The next day, after Elena had engaged in her usual morning bathroom routines, she emerged from the stream-filled room in her towel and headed for her dresser, she pulled out a pair of blue denim shorts and a black short sleeved t-shirt.
Just as she was about to change, she heard her phone vibrating against her bedside table and went to retrieve it, she saw the caller ID and answered it, "I wasn't expecting a call from you so early, Marcel."
"Well, I have a favour to ask," there was a falsified innocence to his voice that he made so apparently clear as he tried to persuade her.
"And hear I was hoping it was a social call, I'm heavily disappointed," she said, as she pressed the phone between her ear and shoulder whilst she slipped into her shorts.
"I'll make it up to you, sweetheart," still as fragrantly spoke and sweet talking as ever, "can you meet me in an hour? Compound?"
"Sure," she said pulling her top over her head and grasping her phone in her hand once again, "any particular reason why?"
"We'll talk about it when you get here," he finalised, too quick for comfort and she pondered the thought of 'had he caught her out?',"so, how can I make up for this insensitive business call so early in the morning?"
She slid her feet into a pair of Nike pumps before exiting her bedroom, talking whilst she walked along the hallway and started on her descent down the staircase, "well, you could start by buying me a drink before I leave tonight."
"Wait, you're leaving?" He seemed shocked, completely taken aback by her news.
"You sound disappointed..." she drawled out in surprise as she got to the bottom of the staircase and saw Elijah and Klaus, sitting opposite each other with a book in hand and a dead body on the coffee table between them, "let me call you back."
She hung up the phone and pointed at the girl lying on the table, shooting Klaus a disapproving glare, "you never share."
"Yet, I allow you to drink my expensive scotch, it would seem," he flashed her a smirk, eyes only flickering away from the pages in his hand for a moment, "a courtesy I have allowed no other."
Always playing a game, constantly making moves against her and, wait... was that actually a nice sentiment? Couldn't be.
"Touché," she said with a raised eyebrow but eventually let herself smile at his remark.
Rebekah entered the living room next, her eyes glancing between the vampires in the room and then onto the dead girl bleeding onto the floor. She was clearly dissatisfied with the result of her efforts in returning Elijah, she should have known he wouldn't budge from Klaus.
"So, this is what you do the first time we're back together as a family? Vampire book club?" She quipped.
"Reading edifies the mind, sister. Isn't that right, Elijah?" His eyes never leave the book, he continues reading and negates the other presences in the room. He sought the solace that diving into a good book could bring, the noise could drown out around him and he was only in those pages.
"Yes, that's quite right, Niklaus."
"What are you reading?" Elena asked somewhat hesitantly, she didn't want to seem interested, but she was, there was always a way of knowing a person by the literature they chose to read and she was interested to get to their roots. She looked at Klaus and then to Elijah, blankly expressed.
"Mothers grimoire," he flicked through another page, gaze unwavering, "I'm in need of a particular spel-"
"Right," she interrupted rudely, the tedium of witchcraft uninteresting to her. Elijah just gave her a quick smirk before turning to look at Klaus and the hybrid felt suddenly under a spotlight as all eyes focused on him.
"'A poison tree' by-"
"William Blake," Elena finished his sentence, quite abruptly and she didn't know what possessed her to do it but she did enjoy the confused and impressed expressions she received from the brothers.
"And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.'"
She recited the poem, turned to look at Klaus and he met her with a deep stare, ever curious about how the doppelgänger's mind worked and how she never ceased to surprise him. He flashed her a smile, before continuing on...
"And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;"
"My foe outstretched beneath the tree." They said the last line simultaneously, she felt the urge to join in on her favourite line of the poem and she broke their gaze before he nauseatingly read too much into it.
"Impressive," Elijah said, either astonishingly or in awe, she couldn't tell.
"Don't sound so surprised, classic English literature was once a passion of mine."
"And now?" Elijah asked.
"What do you think?" She pulled an amused and straight face, why he thought the need to even ask, baffled her.
Elijah gave her a sympathetic smile and his gaze flickered back onto the pages of his mother spell book. Although he was trying to concentrate, his mind couldn't help but wander to how she could be so hollow and yet, still be so charismatic and distinguished.
"At least you two aren't trying to kill each other today, I see that as a win," Rebekah was optimistic, but it was still only morning, after all.
"Is that a common occurrence?" Elijah -still trying to figure out how the dynamics of their family home had changed in his absence- was ever curious about the doppelgänger's impact on his family.
"And rightly so, she's by far the most infuriating woman I have ever met," Klaus responded, blasé and amused, with his eyebrows raised and a smirk spread on his lips.
"I shall take that as a compliment," she simulated a chipper emotion and folded her arms, radiating the glow that shined around her from the sun beaming through the window behind her.
"And what's this business?" Rebekah asked, gesturing to the dead girl on the table.
"This is a..." Elijah paused, gesturing his hand as if he was searching for the words, "...peace offering.
"I presumed, after so much time desiccating in a coffin, that my big brother might be a bit peckish."
Elijah, becoming obviously annoyed, shot piercing daggers onto Klaus, "And I explained to my little brother that forgiveness cannot be bought. I'd simply prefer to see a change in behavior that indicates contrition and personal growth."
Klaus rolled his eyes guiltily, as Elijah waved his hand in front of him, "Not this nonsense."
"Well, I couldn't very well let her go to waste, could I?" Klaus retorted with a wicked and insatiable grin.
"Well, I suppose I'll go fetch the rubbish bin, because she's staining a two hundred-year-old carpet," Rebekah scolded with annoyance as she stomped her way out of the living room.
Elijah looked up from his book to see the girl bleeding out onto the table, where the blood dripped onto the floor and shook his head ever so slightly, "Ah, yes."
"I better go and call Marcel back. Try and reign in the welcome home party, guys," she retorted sarcastically and gave a slight eye roll, "we wouldn't want it to become to wild in here."
"Marcel? Why would he be calling you?" Elijah asked curiously, looking from her to Klaus.
"Oh, you missed so much, brother, it would seem Marcel has grown quite fond of our lovely Elena," he spoke in the tone of a laugh and she inflicted a hard look of disapproval upon him, "he can't keep away."
"It must be the face," she quipped nonchalantly, as she dropped onto the sofa beside Klaus and rested against his perfectly defined arm. Playfully, of course, "some men just can't seem to get enough of it... and some delightfully divine women, too."
Klaus done that thing again where he looked as though he was going to say something, parted his lips and raised his eyebrows, but failed to gather the words and only smirked.
"My, my, Elena, you really have become a wicked little thing, haven't you?" Elijah seemed unaffected by her words, so much that his voice never faltered in its sophisticated and satirical tone.
"Tastefully so," She said, that small smirk still present, "oh wait, I haven't offended you, have I? I should have been more sensitive to your history with the previous doppelgängers."
Klaus sniggered a quiet laugh and raised his eyebrow, glancing down to look at the doppelganger perched beside him with an impressed sense of pride, "Still think you can fix her, brother?"
"It will not be without trying," he was still as persistent as ever. Annoyingly so.
"I happen to quite like her like this," and he couldn't deny the impact she had on this family during her time here.
"Urgh, you ruined it with your growing affections, Klaus," she responded sardonically, confident in the fact that neither of them meant anything to the other.
"Hardly," his voice was menacing, "but the lack of feeling towards you does make the thought of killing you that touch more alluring. You just never know when I will strike."
"I dare you to try," she enunciated each word, shuffling her body smoothly to face him head on and she was malicious, finding only enjoyment from their brief discussion.
"Are they at it again?" Hayley said disapprovingly as she walked down the stairs and folded her arms, "I can't actually tell if they hate each other or-"
"God, no," they both snapped back simultaneously, both giving a scornful and disapproving look.
"Are they always like this?" Elijah said with a smirk, his amusement apparent and his confusion about the pair only heightening by the moment.
"This is tame," Hayley exasperated, "this is one of those rare occurrences where they both appear to be in a good mood."
"I do appear to have missed a lot."
"Nothing even remotely important," she said, as she turned her gaze onto Klaus and gave a knowing smirk of how detached she was from everything, including him.
She stood from the sofa, still feeling the stares on her back from the hybrid and approached Hayley, placing her hands around the curve in her bump and smiling, "how's our little wicked one doing today?"
"Pressing on my bladder and giving me heartburn," she smoothed her hand over the round and prominent bump at her centre, "I swear, if I pee one more time, I'm going to cry, 'Lena."
"Maybe she's hungry," she shrugged lightly before grasping her hand and leading her to the kitchen, "let's get mama some breakfast."
"That didn't seem emotionless?" Elijah watched her carefully, her interaction with Hayley being one he had never witnessed before from a vampire with no emotions. Perhaps there was hope.
"Right you are, brother, it's a strange phenomenon," he looked up from his book for a moment and leaned over slightly, "she is completely void of humanity, yet she is still somehow attached to Hayley, they have become quite the pair."
"Hmm," he stood from his chair and followed them out into the kitchen, Elena was grabbing a pack of cereal from the cupboard and Hayley was rummaging through the fridge.
Rebekah entered through the back door, dragging a trashcan behind her and Elijah took a space between Hayley and Elena.
"Listen, I know I'm the only one in this house that actually drinks milk, but would it kill any of you to make sure it's on the grocery list?" She protested
"Speaking of, add bleach," Rebekah remarked as she stomped through the kitchen and into the living room to clean up the mess the brothers left, like she always found herself doing. Disappointingly so.
Elijah dug around the cupboard, looking at both of the girls, "You know, I do hope my siblings... and Elena apparently, were hospitable to you in my absence."
"I'll say, the midnight mint chocolate-chip ice creams runs weren't exactly fun, I had to kill a trucker once for being disgustingly wretched," she said, as she leaned onto the kitchen island and propped herself up on her elbows, opening the newspaper and perusing through the headlines.
"In your absence, as you like to call it -which is a way-too-polite way of saying that your brother put a dagger in your heart- I have been attacked by French Quarter vampires, I've had to live in a house with a secret dungeon full of coffins, and I was nearly murdered by witches who are convinced my baby is Lucifer."
Elijah smiled sympathetically as he pulled orange juice and milk out of the fridge, pours Hayley a bowl of cereal, and then fills it with milk. When Hayley realizes that they had milk all along, she looks slightly guilty and embarrassed.
"Oh... milk," she was beat, "They've been fine. Your siblings are weirdly protective, I know I have you to thank for that."
"I'm just happy to see that you're in one piece," he paused, handing the bowl of cereal over to, "So, back to the murderous witches. I have some concerns."
"They're evil. And, my life is still magically linked to Sophie Deveraux, which is not comforting," Hayley was visibly worried, not only for herself but her unborn child too.
"Yes, I think it's time we took care of that little problem," said Elijah, ever the optimist and calculated presence in the family. Wearing his nobility proudly and hiding behind the mask that was his honourable nature had become obviously false to Elena.
Rebekah suddenly re-entered the kitchen, dragging the corpse of the girl Klaus killed across the floor behind her and grinning wickedly, "I am all for it. As soon as they're unlinked, we get to leave this crap town. Who do we have to kill?"
Elena grinned at her intentions and they high-fived so slicky in passing, once again.
Elijah, considering the possible paths they could pursue, spoke after a few long moments, "Probably no one."
Hayley and Elena gave Elijah a significant look of disbelief, mixed with the disapproval that was his optimism. He merely rolled his eyes and sighed, "Alright, potentially everyone."
A/N: I did this chapter because I wanted Elijah to see Elena's place in the family and the relationships she was forming with his siblings, it proves to have a point in the upcoming chapters.
Let me you know what you think!
Happy reading!