Elena tilted her head at her reflection, straightening the lapels of her black denim jacket as she admired her reflection, ignoring the sound of her bedroom door opening behind her.

"How very…Katherine of you." Rebekah sneered, leaning against Elena's doorway with her arms folded across her chest.

"Don't compare me to her." Elena said shortly, meeting Rebekah's eyes in the mirror. "I am nothing like Katherine."

"Could've fooled me." The blonde scoffed with a soft roll of her eyes. "Elijah said you finally rolled in at three this morning."

"Was that the time?" Elena murmured, leaning closer to the mirror as she touched up her red lipstick. "Can't say I'm sure."

Rebekah sighed, pursing her lips at the girl in front of her. "You can't do this, Elena, not after how bad he got. You two need to be around each other, that much is clear even if we can't figure anything else out."

Elena didn't reply for a moment, smacking her lips together and pouting slightly at her reflection in the mirror to check her lipstick, a soft nod signalling her approval. "I thought I told you both I wouldn't be taking orders when we landed here."

"It's bloody common sense, Elena!" Rebekah hissed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Whatever is affecting you both lessens when you're together, you need to stay close to each other!"

"I don't want to." Elena snapped, finally turning to look at the blonde lounging against the doorframe like she owned the place. Technically, she probably did, at the least, she definitely had more of a claim to it than Elena, but that didn't make it any less annoying.

"Since when?" Rebekah scoffed, incredulous. "Two days ago, you were all for clinging to him just for fun!"

The brunette shrugged, flipping her curled hair over her shoulder. "I got bored."

"That's bull."

"I don't really care what you think." Elena shrugged; her tone nonchalant as it carried the implication that her statement was obvious. "I had fun in New York, but that doesn't make us best friends or anything." She rolled her eyes, turning back to her mirror. Quickly, she let out a soft noise of approval and stood from her seat, brushing past Rebekah.

"Where are you going?" Rebekah called after her, huffing.

"Out!" Elena rolled her eyes. "I thought that was obvious."

Rebekah grabbed Elena's upper arm, swiftly pulling her to a stop. "I expect a serious answer, Elena."

Elena smiled at the blonde in a mocking way. "Fine, I'm going to see Davina and Marcel." She tugged lightly on Rebekah's grasp, "Can I go now?"

"Elijah cares about you; if it wasn't for this weird link between the two of you, I would tear your heart out for hurting him. Tread carefully, Gilbert." She released Elena's arm, glaring at the brunette's back as she flounced away.

"Elena!" Davina grinned as she opened the door to her attic room. "Come on in, how're you feeling?"

"Better, thank you both for getting me to Elijah." Elena smiled at Marcel and Davina both in turn.

Marcel raised an eyebrow at her. "What's going on with you and Elijah? Your emotions are off, so I assume you're not together?" The question fell from his lips so easily that Elena assumed it had been simmering for a while.

Elena laughed, shaking her head. "Definitely not. Whatever is affecting us, it's…like it's tempered when we're together, something about being in proximity to each other, it's kind of like a temporary cure." She perched on the edge of Davina's bed with a sigh.

"Kinda like soulmates." Davina mused, covering her mouth with her hand when Elena glared at her. "Sorry, that kinda slipped out."

"Kinda true though." Marcel pointed out, tilting his head at Elena when she turned narrowed eyes at him. "It'd be easy to assume you're linked to each other, but a link through your life forces wouldn't make you feel better around each other."

Elena pursed her lips, turning to Davina in search of more favourable information. "Have you found anything?"

"Bonnie was right, the spells I brought here from the grimoire were diagnostic, meaning they aren't intended for use on vampires."

"I sense a but…"

"But…" Davina smiled at Elena, letting out a soft laugh, "I might be able to modify one of the spells to get it to take on you and Elijah."

"Might?" Elena asked, quirking a pointed eyebrow at the young girl in front of her. "I've heard more promising words."

"It requires a lot of power to modify a spell for something it was never intended for, more so when the spell needs to be performed on an Original, but," she said quickly when Elena look ready to cut in, "with the power I have from the Harvest, and the power Bonnie holds as a Bennett, we should have enough between us to make it work, not to mention we'll be using doppelganger blood, and we have Originals we can channel."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"We can find out what's wrong with you, Elena." Davina nodded, grinning at her.

Elena smiled too, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a soft sigh. "As long as it gets me away from Elijah, I'm happy."

Marcel frowned at her. "Is this why you were at the Abattoir last night? Hiding from Elijah?"

"I wasn't hiding from him." Elena corrected with a soft roll of her eyes. "I was having fun."

"Coulda fooled me." Marcel scoffed, leaning on the table behind him.

Elena rolled her eyes again, turning back to Davina. "Have you and Bonnie got everything you need?"

"Nearly, Bonnie's out gathering one more thing."

"So, we can do this tonight?" Elena asked, toying with her hair absently.

Davina thought for a moment before quirking her lips slightly and nodding. "As long as you and Elijah are both well enough, I don't see why not."

"Thanks, D, I'll leave you and Bonnie to get everything ready." Elena smiled at the brunette, standing fluidly from the bed and leaving the room. She'd only made it down the stairs before Marcel called out to her, appearing behind her in a flash.

"I don't really know what situation you have going on with Elijah, hell, with all the Originals, but the Abattoir's doors are always open for you." He offered, his vampire speed slowing to a stroll as he approached her.

Elena smiled at the older vampire, letting out a breathy huff of laughter. "Marcel, last night was a lot of fun, but my switch is firmly off, and as soon as Davina and Bonnie cure this illness, I'm getting the hell out of New Orleans."

Marcel smiled at Elena, brushing a piece of hair out of her face with a shake of his head. "I was offering you a place to get away from everything, Elena, not a relationship. You forget, I have history with the Mikaelson's, I know how much you can need to get away."

She raised an eyebrow at him, her eyes flitting to where his hand touched her face after a moment.

"It's interesting though."

"What is?"

"You seemed," he paused, searching for the right word, "broken when you came to the Abattoir last night, for a moment I thought you might've turned it back on."

"That's not happening." Elena scoffed, shaking her head and turning sharply to walk away from him, her hair flicking behind her.

"I've known my fair share of emotionless vampires, Elena," Marcel called after her, giving her pause for a moment as she tilted her head slightly in a gesture for him to continue talking, "the ones who're most adamant their switch is off, are always the ones who are struggling to keep it that way."

Elena was sulking.

As much as a vampire with no emotions could sulk that is.

"Did someone piss in your blood?" Klaus scoffed, pouring himself a glass of whiskey from the trolley in the lounge, turning to look at the doppelganger sprawled out on Elijah's armchair. "I'd look to Rebekah first, she's rather displeased with how much you've upset our darling brother. Then again, Hayley doesn't seem to be your number one fan either…"

"What's your point?" Elena muttered, rolling her eyes at the hybrid's dramatics.

"You're living in a house with the most powerful people in the world, and the mother of my child, and you're alienating the only person who likes or cares about you." Klaus shrugged, taking a sip from the drink in his hand. "Probably not your wisest decision, although, I suppose that's not really saying a lot."

"Funny."

"I'm not trying to be." Klaus rolled his eyes, knocking back the rest of the drink in his hand. "I'm only going to say this once, Elena, I've never seen Elijah look at someone the way he was looking at you in that pool. If you're going to break his heart, leave now, before Rebekah or I take matters into our own hands."

"Not like you to talk first and act later." Elena pointed out, ignoring the thoughts his words gave rise to, instead spinning her legs around to sit upright on the chair and look at Klaus. "What gives?"

"You're inexplicably linked to Elijah, and Caroline may have suggested something that seems to make rather a lot of sense." Klaus wrinkled his nose in a gesture of disgust. "This is the only second chance you'll get from me, love, I'd take it if I were you."

"What did Caroline say?" Elena asked, frowning as Klaus said nothing, only walking away from her. "Klaus!" She called louder. "What did she say?" She growled to herself, throwing her head against the back of the chair when Klaus ignored her.

"Niklaus is rather fond of theatrics." Elijah pointed out, not meeting Elena's eyes when she looked around to find him leaning against the doorframe.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Elena muttered, throwing her hair over her shoulder with a sigh.

"Has Davina managed to shed any light on our situation?"

Elena shrugged, pursing her lips slightly. "I guess? She and Bonnie think they can tweak one of the spells enough to be able to 'diagnose' our problem." She grinned, using her finger to create little air quotes. "They're coming over later to perform the spell."

"Good." Elijah nodded, disappearing before Elena could say anything else, leaving her to continue sulking with her own thoughts.

Marcel was an ass.

Merely an hour later, Elena found herself finally giving in to the piercing sensation in her head and the pit in her stomach. Reluctantly, she raised her hand to knock on the door to Elijah's study, opening the door quickly after, knowing the soundproofing on the room wouldn't allow her to hear any reply.

"Elena." Elijah murmured, surprise colouring his tone as he looked up from where he was filling out some paperwork. "How can I help you?" He forced a smile, pushing away his surprise, and placing his pen on the table, leaning back into his chair.

"Proximity." Elena quipped, shutting the door behind her. "My head is killing me, and I feel about thirty seconds away from collapsing."

The smile fell from Elijah's face at her words, and he gestured to one of the seats in front of him. "Sit." He said quickly, coming around from his desk to crouch in front of Elena as she sat down. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

"Not long," Elena shrugged, tilting her head at Elijah as he pressed a cool hand to her forehead, "it's just kinda intense."

"Why do I feel like that's an understatement?" Elijah probed, raising an eyebrow at Elena.

She scoffed, inclining her head in admittance. "Maybe a little." She allowed, closing her eyes in relief as his touch chased away the pain in her head.

"You should have come up here sooner." Elijah scolded, sighing slightly as he watched some colour returning to her face. How had he not noticed her pain when he'd spoken to her downstairs? Had she not been feeling it then?

"You've been busy." Elena shrugged. "I can cope."

"You shouldn't have to." Elijah denied swiftly, meeting her gaze evenly when she opened her eyes to look at him.

"I suspect you're the only person who feels that way." Elena chuckled, looking away from him.

Elijah shook his head, despite the fact the Elena wasn't looking at him, letting out an irritated huff of breath. "People care about you, Elena. Bonnie, Caroline, Davina, they all care."

"They want to change me." Elena snapped, her eyebrows furrowed as she licked her lips, shaking her head slightly. "No one likes who I am now."

"Unless I'm missing something, Davina doesn't want to change you." Elijah pointed out softly. "Caroline and Bonnie…they don't understand." He sighed after a moment. "They just miss their friend."

"And you?" Elena turned her head back to face Elijah, his hand falling from her forehead to her cheek. "You want me to change, Elijah, admit it."

Elijah let out a low breath, a soft, cynical laugh escaping him. "You wouldn't believe me even if I told you the truth." He smiled softly at Elena, the hand on her cheek falling away.

Elena caught his hand, pressing it to the area above her chest. "Teach me." She brought her other hand up to cover his with both of hers. "You always know when people are lying to you, teach me to listen like you do."

"It takes time, Elena, it's not easy." Elijah denied softly with a shake of his head. "You've made your intentions to leave New Orleans very clear."

"I'll stay." Elena blurted before she could stop herself. "Here, with you."

"You don't want that." Elijah smiled, shaking his head.

"Don't tell me what I want." Elena murmured, leaning forward to capture Elijah's lips with her own. "I'm so sick of people telling me what I want." She whispered against his lips, one of her hands releasing its grasp on his and knotting it in his hair.

Elijah fell from his crouch, kneeling in front of Elena as he kissed her back with a vigour. He pulled away after a few moments, his forehead resting on hers as her name fell from his lips in a soft whisper.

Elena's hand moved from his hair to cup his cheek, her eyes remaining closed. "Marcel said something to me today," she whispered before Elijah could talk, feeling his body stiffen at her words, "he said that, in his experience, vampires who constantly assure the people around them of their lack of emotions, are the ones who're struggling with their switch the most."

Elijah nodded slowly when she opened her eyes in search of an answer from him, not sure where she was going with this. "I would concur with Marcellus; I've often found that to be the case."

"I feel when I'm with you, Elijah." She murmured softly, squeezing the hand she still held over her heart. "I don't know why, but I do. I think I could do this, with you."

Elijah let out a soft exhale of breath, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm not sure what you mean." He admitted, bringing his free hand to cover the one that Elena held to his face.

"I…I think I could survive the grief, if I had you with me." She breathed, holding Elijah's startled gaze evenly.

"Elena…"

Elijah was interrupted by a short knock at the door, it swinging open afterwards to reveal Rebekah. She took in the sight in front of her with a quirked eyebrow, brushing aside her surprise quickly.

"We're ready for the spell."

Guest: Looks like she's getting there! Don't worry, I have absolutely no intentions of making Elena the same wishy-washy character that the show did! I feel like I might be playing her off too harsh, but I really can't stand her, I'm glad you think it's coming across well! She definitely has, it did seem to get brushed over very swiftly in the show.

Guest: Me too! She and Elijah are so close, but there's a lot of history there too! Hayley isn't as close to any of the Mikaelsons in this at the moment, mostly because I don't want to write her in!

midnight-writer97: Thank you so much! It was a very Elejah-centric chapter, which was soooo fun to write! The pool scene definitely felt pivotal when I was writing it, I'm sure there will be a call back to it at some point! Damn Mikaelson siblings, always getting in the way of Elejah moments :( Of course Marcel was involved! Where else would a vampire go in New Orleans? ;) You're so welcome! Hopefully this lived up to your expectations! I'll try my best :)

Guest: Yay, I'm glad you liked it! I deffo want it to feel more natural and fought for rather than just throwing them together :D Thank you so much! Forever fighting for these chefs kisses! Yesss, I can't stand Hayley, so there's probably plenty more of that to come!

HisSecretLover18: I'm so glad you like it! That's absolutely what I'm going for!

adadich: Thank you so much! I try not to disappoint on the updates front!

You guys all rock! I'm so excited to see your reactions to this, and to the next chapter! I am due to start back at work on Monday, so my updates might slow a bit, but I'll try my best to keep up!

Next chapter we finally find out what's going on with Elena and Elijah! What do you think Davina and Bonnie's spell will reveal? How do you think Elena and Elijah will take their diagnosis?

Until next time,

~ I x