The café was a bizarre contradiction. At first glance it seemed relatively empty, but once settled at a table, a warm buzz of conversation started up, making the café more cosy than it appeared.

Elena let out a soft breath, allowing the conversations to wash over her in a soft wave as she settled into her chair, smiling at Elijah when he placed a plate of beignets in the centre of the table and sat opposite her. She happily tucked into one of the pastries, her smile hidden behind a cloud of sugar as Elijah followed suit, both of them happily sitting in silence as they ate, waiting for their drinks to arrive.

They smiled and thanked the waitress in tandem as she put their drinks down, a pot of herbal tea for Elijah and a hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows for Elena.

"I thought you had a thing for coffee." Elena said with a pointed tone, picking a marshmallow off her drink and eating it with a bit of cream.

"I have already had my fill of coffee for the day." Elijah smiled, pouring himself a mug of tea as Elena continued to pick at her marshmallows. "Anymore and I may take to bouncing from the walls." He quipped, supressing his delight when he drew a laugh from Elena.

She picked up another beignet, unable to stop herself from diving into the pastry again, Elijah had been right, of course, they were amazing. "I can't picture you on a caffeine high." Elena admitted, mumbling around a mouthful of fluffy pastry.

Elijah let out a soft huff of laughter, shaking his head slightly as he blew on his mug of tea to cool it. "I can't say I have ever experienced one." He smiled, sipping at his tea and putting his mug back on the table as Elena finished her beignet.

"Your friends stopped by this morning," Elijah started softly, studying Elena's reaction as she stiffened, her jaw clenching, "they were rather upset when I told them that you were unavailable."

Elena let out a long sigh, running a hand through her hair in frustration. "What happened?"

Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Elijah tilted his head as he looked at Elena, who was staring at her hot chocolate forlornly. "The Salvatores took some persuasion to leave, but ultimately, no harm was done; Miss Forbes asked me to pass along a message." Elena's head sprung up to look at him, her eyes wide and vulnerable as she waited for him to continue. "She asked me to tell you that she forgives you; she doesn't hold anything against you, and she's here for you whenever you want to talk."

Elena sent a pained smile Elijah's way, her eyes welling with tears as she swallowed thickly. "And you say I'm too compassionate." She quipped softly, her voice thick with emotion.

Elijah tilted his head at the brunette, watching her carefully as she picked at her marshmallows again to stop herself from having to meet Elijah's steady gaze.

"I tried to kill her," she whispered eventually, the silence becoming too much, "I would have if Stefan hadn't showed up and stopped me."

"She made it very clear that she forgives you, Elena," Elijah said quietly, sipping his drink again, "I know that means little when your emotions are as tumultuous as they are currently, but I hope it may bring you some comfort."

"I don't know how I can find comfort in anything with the things that I've done." Elena scoffed, shaking her head as she scooped the cream off the drink with a spoon, eating it before she would drink her chocolate.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes; Elena finished retrieving all the cream and marshmallows while Elijah finished his first mug of tea.

"What happened with my brother?" Elijah asked eventually, no longer content with dancing around why they were there.

Elena sighed, her shoulders deflating as she found herself faced with the consequences of what she and Jeremy had done months before. A sudden sense of conviction coming over her, she forced herself to sit up straighter, she couldn't live her life running and hiding from the consequences of the things she'd done, she was a big girl now, and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to act like it.

"I assume you're familiar with The Five." Elena murmured, mixing her hot chocolate around for a moment, lightly tapping the spoon on the edge of the glass before setting it down on her plate, sighing when Elijah nodded. "When I killed one of them, Jeremy became the next member. We found out that the tattoos would lead to the cure for vampirism; Stefan and Damon thought it was the only way to fix me." She muttered, her voice turning into a sneer.

"Why did they believe you needed fixing?" Elijah asked softly; he could feel some regret stirring in him as he clearly caused the vampire in front of him pain, but he needed answers.

"Because I'm a vampire." Elena scoffed, shrugging like that explained it all. "That's all."

"That's ludicrous." Elijah bit, rage bubbling inside of him.

A soft laugh drew it's way from Elena again as she bobbed her head in agreement. "I guess it is." She shrugged, sipping at her drink and closing her eyes in ecstasy at the smooth taste. "To get the cure, we had to wake Silas; not that any of us really believed he existed, but Kol did. He compelled Damon to kill Jeremy so that he couldn't complete his mark, and when that didn't work, he tried to cut his arms off himself."

Elijah drew in a harsh breath, shaking his head slightly. "That does sound like my brother." He let the breath out in one exhale, composing himself easily. "You said Jeremy was the one to deliver the final blow?"

Elena nodded. "It released Damon from Kol's compulsion, he was no longer a threat to Jeremy, and…it completed Jeremy's mark."

"Through the sire lines." Elijah huffed, clenching his jaw and forcing himself to take a mouthful of tea. "Is that why you helped kill my brother? To complete the mark and find the cure?"

"No!" Elena protested, her eyes widening when Elijah features fell into a glare.

"You're lying to me." Elijah bit out before Elena could speak, his eyes narrowed. "Tell me the truth, Elena."

"I am!" Elena swore, shaking her head when Elijah's expression didn't change; she hadn't seen him this angry with her since the day after his family's ball. "Elijah, I'm not here to lie to you, I didn't want Kol dead to complete the mark, I swear."

A frown marred Elijah's features as he leant forward for a moment, studying her face, before sitting back in his seat and tilting his head at her curiously. "Interesting." He murmured, more to himself than anything else.

"What?" Elena asked quietly, her voice hitching slightly.

"Your heartbeat jumped when you denied that you killed Kol for the mark," Elijah explained, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, "the main indicator of a lie." He said when Elena only continued to look at him. "Yet, your heart did not jump when you said you didn't want to kill Kol for the mark."

"I don't understand." Elena admitted, shaking her head and biting her lip slightly. "What does that mean?"

Elijah pursed his lips, taking a sip of tea before he replied. "I'm not sure."

"I don't want to lie to you, Elijah." Elena said softly, looking down at the drink she held between her hands. "That's not why I'm here, we have a lot to work through, and there's no use in lying or hiding anymore."

Another sigh escaped Elijah as he considered Elena's words, whether she wanted to lie or not, she had, and he couldn't understand why.

"Compel me." Elena blurted, nearly covering her mouth in shock as the words fell from her mouth. Instead, she forced herself to keep her composure, not willing to break now. "I don't know why my heart jumped, I can't explain it, but if you compel me, then we can understand, we need to be honest with each other, now more than ever. I'm not on vervain, we can do it now."

"You trust me that much?"

"If we don't have trust, what do we have?"

They'd decided that retreating to somewhere more private was in order for the compulsion. Elijah needed a quiet place to ensure he could hear Elena's heart properly, and both of them were worried about what might come out of Elena's mouth under compulsion. In the end, they'd settled in Elena's hotel room, making her late check-out time worth the money.

She settled on the edge of the bed, wringing her hands together nervously as Elijah crouched in front of her.

"We don't have to do this, Elena," he said, for at least the tenth time since Elena had suggested it, "if you've changed your mind…"

"It's fine, Elijah." Elena assured him, smiling at him lightly. "I need to know why I lied as much as you do."

Elijah let out a soft sigh, nodding slightly and brushing Elena's hair behind her ears as his eyes bore into hers, his pupils dilating as he compelled her. "You will tell me the truth to any question I ask until I say otherwise."

Elena's pupils dilated as well, her face going blank as she repeated Elijah's words in a monotone voice.

Taking in a deep breath, Elijah schooled his features, sending an encouraging smile at the girl in front of him, who only tilted her head at him, waiting for him to start.

Upon entering the small room, Elijah had noticed a wooden chair sat in the corner, and he pulled it over to sit opposite Elena. He leant forward slightly, elbows on his knees as he held her wrist lightly in his hand, allowing him to feel her heartbeat as well as hear it.

"Did you kill Kol so that Jeremy's mark would be completed?"

"Yes." Elena murmured, her eyes widening in panicked surprise as the answer fell from her lips.

Elijah found his free hand gently rubbing the back of hers to try and calm her down. "Why?"

"Damon said it was the easiest way to make sure we could complete Jeremy's mark and find the cure; it was what he wanted."

"The sire bond pushed you into it." Elijah sighed, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he battled away the anger he felt at Damon's abuse of the bond he and Elena shared. "Did you plan to kill Kol that night?"

"Yes." Elena whispered, looking down at their hands rather than in Elijah's eyes anymore. "I called him; told him that we wanted a truce. Bonnie was supposed to immobilise him so Jeremy could kill him, but Bonnie couldn't come." She sighed, no longer answering because of Elijah's compulsion, explaining herself because she needed to. "Kol rejected the idea of a truce, he attacked both of us, and tried to take Jeremy's arms, I don't even know how we managed to overpower him." She muttered, looking up at Elijah through her eyelashes to try and gauge his reaction.

He was looking at her curiously; Elena would later reflect that there were few emotions she expected to see less than that.

"Kol always was remarkably adept at antagonising people." He murmured, a soft smile nudging his lips as he thought about his little brother.

A snort escaped Elena as she shook her head again. "That's a bit of an understatement."

Elijah laughed as well, aware of the hands he held and the lingering effect of his compulsion on Elena. "Are you afraid?" Elijah asked softly as the sound of Elena's racing heart assaulted his ears.

"Yes."

"Of me?" Elijah probed.

"No," she whispered, "not of you."

Elijah tilted his head at her, conceding to the truth and willing to let her keep this one to herself, if that was what she wanted.

"Ask me." Elena breathed, her eyes meeting Elijah's with a determination she hadn't realised she held.

Raising an eyebrow, Elijah silently confirmed her wishes, letting out a soft breath when she nodded. "What are you afraid of?" He asked, squeezing her hand without conscious thought.

"Ligatus Animarum." She replied, not missing a beat between his question and the compulsion kicking in.

Elijah held back any facial expression, refusing to let his pain show on his face. He'd finally found out that Elena was the perfect match for him, and she was terrified of it. How was he supposed to deal with that?

"Why?" He murmured, barely keeping his voice from breaking.

"I thought it explained my feelings, but it doesn't." Elena dropped her eyes from his gaze, feeling her resolve faltering. "Davina told me that it doesn't create emotions."

"I don't understand." Elijah admitted, barely having time to notice that he'd moved from holding her wrist to holding her hand before she started talking.

"The conclusion to my life has felt so inevitable; I'd choose between Stefan and Damon and live the rest of my life with one of them, whether they managed to cure me or not. Everyone I know has seen that as a forgone ending, but when I'm around you, I feel like I have a choice in my life. I thought the bond had taken that away from me, but Davina denied that; everything I feel is my own, and it's terrifying." She rambled, pausing to take a deep breath and try and sort her racing thoughts.

"Because I'm not Stefan or Damon." Elijah sighed, moving to release Elena's hands and sit back, but she twisted them up and grabbed hold of his, desperate for him to stay.

"Not in the way that you think." She breathed, closing her eyes and wracking her brain for the right explanation, growing more frustrated with her inadequate eloquence. "I was trapped. Trappe between two brothers and no conceivable way out of it, and I began to accept that; I started coming to terms with the fact that I would only ever end up with one of them." She sighed when she saw the blank look on Elijah's face. "Like, Stockholm syndrome. I just got so used to the idea that it was okay, and now you're here, and the idea of leaving my prison is so terrifying, I don't know how to be free anymore, Elijah."

His heart broke at the pain hidden just behind the words she spoke, and before he was completely aware of his actions, he drew her into a tight hug, one of his hands finding its way into her hair and stroking it softly.

Elena took in a breath, hiccupping slightly as she fought with the tears trying to make themselves known.

"I'm so sorry, Elena." Elijah murmured, pulling away from her briefly to release her from his compulsion, taking a seat beside her on the bed and pulling her back into his arms in a swift movement, resting his chin on the crown of her head.

midnight-writer97: Thank you so much! Ohmygod me too! I've written her how I feel about her at the moment, I want to eventually make her into a nicer character, but we'll see how it goes! Yessss, I feel like Davina and Elena write more naturally in their current situation, but don't worry, Marcel is coming ;) They're definitely developing, we're getting there! Thank you, hopefully you enjoyed this!

Guest: She sooo is!

Guest: I've got a few chapters before Hayley will be back in full, but I'm definitely planning a bit of a verbal lashing to come Hayley's direction!

HisSecretLover18: Hopefully this lived up to your expectations! They're still pretty unsure, but it's getting there! I guess we'll have to wait and see if either of them bring it up ;) Davina's a good sounding board for Elena! Thank you!

Guest: Of course they are! I can't keep them apart! Definitely not needing to give up any limbs, maybe just a bit of the wall she has up! Thank you so much :)

Thank you all! As promised, I'm back already! I really hope you enjoyed this, let me know! I ummed and ahhed over the compulsion so I hope you all liked it!

I look forward to hearing back from you all!

Until next time

~ I x