Elijah was an ass.
Elena huffed, getting more and more fed up by the minute. This was all his fault.
He just had to take her to Café Mondeaux, and he just had to make her try the beignets.
She was addicted to the damn things. And it was all Elijah's fault.
"Here you go, sweetheart." Maria smiled, placing a cup of coffee down in front of her.
"Thanks." Elena smiled, taking the drink gratefully.
Damnit, she was on a first name basis with most of the staff. She was definitely spending too much time there.
Stirring sugar into her coffee, she sighed, she was burning through money coming to this café every day. It was just so addicting, between the beignets and the coffee she was beat.
Before she'd realised, she'd finished her coffee, and she gestured to Maria for another drink, the blonde now common with her order. A few minutes later, a new girl brought her drink over, cautiously placing it on the table with a lack of grace that only a teenager at a new job could achieve.
Elena smiled at her warmly, thanking her for the drink and asking if she was new here.
"Yeah, it's my first day." The girl murmured, fingering her apron nervously. "Is it that obvious?"
Elena laughed. "I've just gotten to know everyone in here in the last few days, don't worry. You seem like you're doing a good job today, keep at it."
She smiled nervously, thanking Elena and wandering off back to the bar, nodding when Maria gave her another instruction.
Following a familiar ritual, Elena gently stirred sugar into her drink, checking her phone when it pinged in her pocket, nibbling her lip when she saw a message from Caroline.
Elena had been living in Elijah's condo for a couple of days, and she'd still not spoken to Caroline or Bonnie, and she hadn't seen Damon since the day Marcel had saved her ass. Stefan hadn't reached out yet, leaving her to her own devices, which Elena was glad for.
For the first time in just over a month, maybe longer, she wasn't really sure, Elena replied to the text from Caroline, relenting to meeting her best friends. After all, she couldn't put it off forever.
"Elijah said that you're not living at the plantation house anymore," Caroline broached, breaking the uneasy silence that had settled over the three, "he didn't say what happened, but the tension in that house is palpable."
"I just couldn't stay there anymore." Elena dismissed with a soft shrug. "It was one thing when I didn't have my emotions but…" She trailed off, shrugging again.
Caroline offered a sympathetic smile, glancing at Bonnie when the witch continued to say nothing. "We just wanted to see how you were doing. I know things have been crazy; we're all just worried about you."
"Damon tried to drag me back to Mystic Falls a few days ago." Elena muttered, more bitter than she intended, softening when she saw the stunned looks on her friend's faces.
"We had no idea." Caroline assured her quickly, hesitating before reaching out to cover Elena's hand with her own. "He's been sulking for a couple of days, but we just assumed it was because you weren't talking to any of us."
Elena let out a soft sigh, taking her hand from under Caroline's and taking a sip of water. "He's an ass." She muttered, shaking her head slightly when she saw the confused expressions on their faces. "A lack of emotions made me see a lot of things much more clearly than I ever have," she explained softly, "Damon's not a good person."
"Wow." Bonnie breathed, finally breaking her silence. "I didn't think you'd ever come to that conclusion."
Shrugging slightly, Elena noted somewhere in the back of her mind that she was getting sick of the indecisiveness of such an action all the time. "You really can't understand what feeling nothing is like unless you've done it," she sighed, "there's so much clarity about things that were too personal before…but that's not to say I always acted rationally." She tacked on after a moment, remembering what she'd done to Caroline. "Care, I'm so sorry, it was nothing more than a temper tantrum, but that doesn't make it any better; all I can do is apologise."
Caroline smiled at her friend, shaking her head in a small movement. "Elijah should have already given you my response, but it's okay, Lena, I can't say I understand, but you weren't yourself, and I won't hold it against you."
Elena smiled, letting out a soft breath as more tension than she'd realised she held leached from her body. "You're a really good person, Care."
Caroline smiled back at her friend, both of them letting out a sigh of relief in tandem, neither of them oblivious to a similar reaction coming from Bonnie, and all of them glad that the largest source of tension in their group had been dealt with.
"Now that's sorted," Caroline grinned, tossing her hair over her shoulder and leaning closer to Elena, "what is going on with you and Elijah?"
Elena laughed, rolling her eyes slightly as Caroline immediately settled into her usual gossip mode. "Nothing is going on with us, he's letting me stay at his place while I sort myself out, we're just friends, that's all."
"Just friends who give up their houses for each other and have bound souls." Bonnie muttered, raising an eyebrow at Elena, who grimaced when Caroline followed suit.
"It's not like that." Elena sighed. "He's just being a good friend, we've agreed on that, and he's more than happy to step back and just be whatever I need for now."
Caroline let out a low whistle, nodding in appreciation. "He sounds kind of like exactly what you need, Stefan and Damon sure as hell wouldn't let you off if they found out about something like what you two just have."
"That's so not the point, Caroline." Elena rolled her eyes, laughing softly at her friend. "Elijah's just…old school like that. We trust each other, and that's enough."
"For how long?" Caroline probed. "You're soulmates, Elena."
Elena sighed, taking a long swig of water. "Not really, our souls are bonded, it doesn't mean we have to be involved romantically, not if we don't want to, I guess." She finished lamely, not at all oblivious to the looks she was getting from Bonnie and Caroline. "I just have a lot to try and deal with, guys, and I don't know where Elijah fits into any of this yet."
"Elena-"
She held up a hand to stop Caroline. "He's willing to give me time, and that's what I need right now, from all of you."
Caroline released a soft sigh, nodding her assent.
Bonnie nodded in a similar fashion, smiling slightly. "I know we pressed you a lot to turn your emotions back on," she started softly, "I guess we trusted Stefan and Damon to know the best way to deal with the switch; not the smartest decision we ever made."
Elena laughed softly. "I think that's probably an understatement."
"This place looks pretty weird in the daylight." Elena remarked, ignoring Marcel's soft laugh as she looked around the old stone architecture of the Abattoir's courtyard.
"Not many people are privy to visiting during the day." Marcel shrugged. "I tend to keep this place pretty private outside of the raging parties."
Elena laughed, settling into one of the chairs as Davina bounded through the doors.
"You look better." Davina grinned, sitting in the chair beside Elena's. "How's Elijah's place?"
Shrugging slightly, Elena accepted a mug of blood from Marcel. "Way more expensive than I could ever afford." She scoffed. "I'm constantly scared of breaking anything, god knows how old any of it is."
"It's probably best you try and keep everything intact." Marcel hinted softly, winking at Elena as he sat opposite her.
Elena let out a groan, rubbing her brow and taking a gulp of blood. "It's nice having space though, especially from the craziness of that family, and Klaus's knocked up were-bitch."
Davina choked back a laugh, exchanging an amused glance with Marcel, who was holding back laughter too.
"I don't understand what the Originals see in her." Elena muttered, rolling her eyes. "She's catty, cruel, manipulative, spiteful…" She trailed off, huffing. "She's just so awful."
"Clearly." Marcel smiled, raising an eyebrow at Elena. "I'm sure that's all it is."
Elena frowned, a flash of indignation lighting her face. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"She obviously has a thing for Elijah…" Marcel alluded, trailing off as he allowed the implication to become obvious to Elena.
After a moment of silence, Elena scoffed, shaking her head. "I am not jealous." She said firmly, frowning when Davina and Marcel exchanged glances. "I'm not! We're not even together; there's nothing to be jealous of!"
"You're not at all upset that Hayley might be after your man?"
Elena scoffed at Marcel's words, rolling her eyes. "That's not what's happening." She huffed. "Elijah and I aren't even…we're not in that place."
"He's in that place." Davina murmured, raising an eyebrow slightly. "He's so enamoured with you it's crazy."
"I'm not in any sort of place to be with him at the moment, or anyone really for that matter." The faces of her newfound friends softening at her words. "I've got enough to deal with, especially with Jer, I can't be what Elijah needs right now; I have to focus on Jeremy."
"Don't let yourself get too caught up in your grief, Elena." Davina reminded softly, tilting her head at Elena as she seemed to drift off into her own world. "It's important to grieve, but don't let it control you."
Elena smiled, shrugging slightly. "I've got enough experience with grief to last Elijah's lifetime, I don't think he needs to deal with it as well as me."
"Elijah is well-known as a noble man." Davina let out a soft breath, turning to Marcel, who nodded in agreement. "He'll stick by you, especially with how he feels about you."
"Elena," Marcel interrupted, drawing her attention in his direction, "you know I don't have a good history with the Mikaelson's, and I'm not fond of any of them, but D's right, Elijah puts his family above all, and the way he looks at you; you're family, El, he'd go to the ends of the world for you."
Elena let out a long sigh, rubbing her brow with one hand as she reached up to grab a glass from the cupboard with her other. Having her emotions back on was really taking it out of her; she was so exhausted. She had half a mind to ask Elijah if it was normal, but she really needed to deal with her own problems for once; it wasn't fair to keep getting him involved.
Sighing again, she shut the cupboard, turning to the sink to fill her glass with water, confused when she was faced with a pile of shattered glass at her feet.
Bewildered, Elena looked between the broken glass on the floor and her empty hand. How the hell had that happened? Dropping a glass so should not have been possible with her reflexes, not to mention the fact that she hadn't even noticed it falling from her hand.
Even as she thought about it, she could swear the room was spinning around her. She felt like a spinning top; thrown down against her will to spin and spin until she toppled over or someone stopped her.
Desperately, she grasped at the counter to try and keep her balance, closing her eyes for a moment before realising it only made the spinning worse, and opening them again.
Something wasn't right.
She needed to call...someone.
Picking up her phone, she hurriedly dialled, forever thankful for speed dial as she pressed number one. She stood, holding the side, waiting until they answered with her name, a soft question that confirmed they were there.
"Mom, can you come pick me up?" She muttered, releasing the counter, and stumbling forward a few paces to look out the window, the shame on her face reflected back at her. "Matty and I got in a fight."
"What's going on, Elena?" Her mom asked, worry clouding her voice; Elena easily able to picture the look of irate concern she was sure would be on her mother's face. "Where are you?"
"I snuck out to the party." She admitted softly, fiddling with her hair. "I'm sorry, I know you said I couldn't go."
"It's alright, where are you?"
"I'm..." Elena trailed off, looking around herself as she realised then that she had no idea where she was, or even really what was going on anymore. She'd been at a party in the woods with Matt, so why was she in an apartment now? "I don't-"
Eyes rolling into the back of her head, the phone fell from Elena's hand as she collapsed into a heap on the floor, the soft sounds of her name being called fading into the background as her eyelids fluttered closed.
midnight-writer97: You're so welcome! It deffo is relaxing, although I tend to use fic to procrastinate writing my actual novel, but I'm also a whore for praise so I don't want to upset y'all! I'm so glad! Elena really needs her own space, and we all know Elijah would never let her stay in a random hotel ;) Damon is...trouble in this story, I want him out of the picture too, but he has another role to play first! I think Damon was just shocked that Elena was actually standing up for herself against him, it's not happened in a while! Marcel and D are deffo going to be in the next few chapters, don't worry! Did I write something about Kol? I didn't notice... ;)
HisSecretLover18: Sibling bonds are a guilty pleasure of mine I have to admit. I think I will have other couples emerging, but exactly who and when I'm not sure yet! Thank you! One of them might be redeemable, but we'll see! Hopefully you enjoyed this!
Guest: Thank you so much! I think that a real friendship between the two is definitely on the cards in the future! It's a lot of fun to explore new bonds and relationships in this! Yay, I'm so glad you liked it! Marcel and Davina are exactly the influence that Elena needs at this point in her journey! Thank you!
So, uhhhh...little bit of a cliffy here! I wish I could say I was sorry, but this was just the perfect place to leave this chapter! If you're all as kind as you normally are and leave me some lovely reviews I might not make you wait too long!
As always, let me know what you think! What did you like? Dislike? What happens next?!
Until next time,
~ I x