Elena sighed, bored now of waiting for her pasta to finish cooking. She hadn't eaten a decent meal for days, and she was craving some human food.
Without realising, she'd become completely preoccupied with her own thoughts, the hissing of boiling water hitting the stove top alerting her to the pasta boiling over. Swearing under her breath, she pulled the pot off the hob, brushing the water away with a tea towel.
Frustrated, she growled under her breath when someone knocked at the door; all she wanted was her damn pasta, and all she was getting was parcels for the house around the corner. Shoving the pot off of the heat, she threw the towel over her shoulder with a huff, stalking in the direction of the front door.
"I'm not-" She paused, blinking quickly a few times as she registered that the face in front of her was not a bewildered delivery man, but that of Elijah. "Elijah." She sighed.
"I should hope not." He quipped, raising an eyebrow at her. "I do believe there's only one of me."
Elena laughed, caught off guard by his dry humour. "Sorry," she smiled, shaking her head slightly, "I keep getting parcels for other people, I was a bit fed up."
Offering a soft smile, Elijah's brows quickly drew down into a frown. "Is something burning?"
Elena frowned back at him, the words taking a moment to register before she gasped. "Damn garlic bread." She huffed, quickly turning on her heel to rush to the kitchen, absently inviting Elijah inside as she moved.
Throwing the tray of blackened garlic bread down on the side, Elena let out another huff of frustration, throwing the tea towel beside it in defeat. "I just wanted some damn pasta." She sighed to herself, already forgetting about Elijah's presence behind her.
"The pasta can be fixed," Elijah said softly, gently moving Elena aside and bringing the pot back to the boil, "do you have a jug for some water?"
Nodding dumbly, Elena moved on autopilot to get a jug, somewhere in the back of her mind completely aware that Elijah knew exactly what the kitchen housed, yet he was allowing her to feel needed and useful.
"Thank you." Elijah smiled, accepting the jug from Elena, his fingers brushing against hers. "Please, sit down, Elena, you clearly still need your rest."
Instinct was to argue with him, but one quirked eyebrow silenced Elena, and she found herself slipping into one of the seats at the island in the kitchen. "Thanks, you really don't have to."
"Nonsense." Elijah waved her away. "You've been through an ordeal, you need some time to breath."
"I don't want you to feel like you need to babysit me." Elena sighed, picking at her nails. "I can cope."
Busying himself with preparing the ingredients Elena had littering the side for her pasta, Elijah shook his head slightly. "You shouldn't have to merely cope."
Elena laughed. "That's all my life is, Elijah, coping. There isn't much else to do."
"This life has so much more to offer." He argued softly, continuing to bustle around the kitchen. "I can't help but feel that my family is responsible for taking away much of what you could have had."
"Your mother, maybe." Elena sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I had a lot of time to think clearly while my emotions were off, I don't blame any of you for what's happened between us all, not even Klaus. Your mother set off a huge chain of events that led us here, suppressing Klaus's werewolf side, turning you all into vampires, using Tatia's blood…" She trailed off, letting out a deep breath. "Truth is, I can't blame any of you for trying to undo what your mother did to you."
Elijah shook his head slightly, letting out a soft noise of disbelief. "Your compassion has no bounds, Elena."
Letting out a soft laugh, Elena watched Elijah's back as he moved, adding various ingredients to a pot of sauce now simmering in front of him. "I told you, Elijah, having my switch off let me see things with a lot more clarity than I ever had before, and having it back on has made it easier to process everything."
"And?" Elijah probed softly, adding one more ingredient to the pot before turning to face Elena. "Have your musings led you anywhere?"
Elena shrugged, watching as Elijah removed his suit jacket and laid it across the back of one of the dining chairs, carefully rolling up his sleeves. "Not really." She sighed, leaning her chin in her hands. "There's so much to think about and deal with, I have no idea where to start."
Elijah offered her a soft smile as he finished rolling up his shirt sleeves. "I can only imagine." Catching her gaze, he tilted his head slightly to match the angle she sat at. "If you would ever like a sounding board, you can always turn to me, Elena."
She smiled at him, letting out a soft breath. "Thank you, Elijah."
He turned his attention back to the stove top, swiftly arranging the pasta and mixing the sauce in with it.
"You should stay." Elena said softly as Elijah turned to get a plate from a cupboard. "Enjoy the food you saved from the trash."
Elijah let out a soft laugh, changing direction slightly and taking down two plates instead of the one. "Well, if you insist, it's been too long since I had a homecooked meal."
"How did you make that look so easy." Elena pouted, putting their dishes in the sink and rinsing the pasta sauce off of them. "I swear I used to be better at cooking than this."
Elijah let out a soft laugh, tilting his head as he watched Elena move around the kitchen. "It's just practice, Elena."
She huffed. "I don't think there's enough time in the world for me to be as good as you."
"Not with that attitude." Elijah smiled, raising an eyebrow at her when she turned to glare at him. "Real skill takes time to master."
Lips drawing down into a soft pout, Elena sat back opposite Elijah, placing her chin on folded hands. "I only have this time thanks to you and Klaus.
"Life is precious, Elena, especially for one such as yourself."
She sighed again, blinking dumbly as she tried to process his words. "You kissed me." She murmured, not sure what else to say at that moment in time.
"I believe I left that choice to you." Elijah replied softly.
"You might as well have kissed me." She denied, tilting her head at him. "I'm not saying I didn't want to." She quickly rushed to assure him, realising how her words could be misconstrued.
"Need I remind you, I told you I would leave this to you, Elena. You can control where we go from here, but I need you to know how I feel."
"How do you feel?" She whispered, closing her eyes for a moment as she took in a breath. "I can't always read you, Elijah, and I can't just hope I read you right, I need something solid and sure."
"Elena," he breathed, standing from his chair and walking to her side, "I will always be here for you, in whatever capacity you want me to be."
She let out a soft breath, somewhere between a laugh and an exhale, dropping her gaze to look at the floor. How did he always know the right things to say?
"Elena, I love you," he murmured, bringing his fingers up to the underside of her chin to lift her gaze to him, "have you ever doubted that?"
"People don't see me, Elijah." She whispered, not meeting his eyes. "They never do."
Shaking his head, Elijah let out a soft sigh. "Come now, I've only ever seen you for you, even when I met you for the first time. Back then, I had no idea you were a possibility, and yet, I knew you were not Katerina, or Tatia, you have always been your own person. To me, you could never be anything other than wholly, uniquely yourself."
"I don't know how you can talk so smoothly." Elena laughed, deflecting from the tension in the room.
"Me?" Elijah laughed, shrugging slightly. "Please, I'm an Original."
Smiling, Elena allowed their lips to join again, at peace for a few moments with Elijah's easy words; having received the reassurance she so desperately needed.
After exchanging soft kisses for a few moments, they pulled away from each other, Elena's eyes remaining closed for a few moments before she opened them, taking a few moments to process what she was seeing.
"Elijah! What happened?"
He tilted his head at her, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?"
"You're grey, are you dying? Did you get bit? Is that why you're here?"
Elijah laughed softly, shaking his head as he took Elena's face in his hands. "I'm not dying, Elena. You are."
"What?" She breathed, swallowing thickly. "Elijah, this isn't funny."
"I'm not trying to be, you're dying, Elena, none of this is real." He sighed. "I tried to tell you."
She shook her head. "No, that's not possible. Klaus's blood cured me, I woke up, I'm okay!"
Smiling sadly, Elijah moved his head in a few soft shakes. "No, Elena, it didn't."
"I don't-" Crying out, words failed Elena as she collapsed in Elijah's arms.
"It's alright, Elena, the pain will be over soon, you can stay here with me."
She shook her head desperately. "No, I can't. Elijah, I-I need to talk to him, I need him."
"I am him." He was confused, good, Elena thought, cause so was she.
"No, you're my perception of him, you're not real."
"Elena-"
She dragged herself out of his arms, cutting him off. "Let me go!"
Choking, Elena fought to sit upright, desperate to clear the fluid in her throat preventing her from breathing properly. Firm hands helped her up, pulling her hair out of her face as she retched, only half aware of the bucket being held under her mouth to catch whatever she had left to throw up.
"-don't know-"
"It didn't work-"
"-try again?"
Snippets of frenzied conversation bled into Elena's mind, her fractured brain unable to attach names to voices.
"-was okay. I-"
Elena was becoming more and more aware of the burning in her throat as she continued to heave and choke, unable to open her eyes. "Lij." Her mutter of Elijah's name came out as a barely intelligible sound, but, even so, the hand on her back squeezed, pulling her against a solid frame.
"-here, Elena-" One of the disembodied voices returned. "-got you."
After what felt like an eternity, Elena stopped heaving, her stomach long since empty and her throat torn to shreds, she collapsed completely against Elijah. Dragging weighted eyelids open, she could just about recognise Rebekah and Klaus in front of her, presumably the other sources of the voices she'd heard.
"'s happ'ning to me?" Elena slurred, fighting the urge for her eyelids to slide shut.
Glancing behind her, Klaus offered a soft smile, shaking his head slightly. "We're not sure, but you should take more of my blood, it did seem to help you briefly."
"I really woke up?" She murmured, vaguely nodding her consent to taking Klaus's blood. "Thought it was 'nother dream."
"It was real." Elijah smiled, nodding slightly.
How did she get to be facing Elijah?
She was leant against Klaus now, she realised quickly, her teeth easily anchoring into the bloody wrist that was presented to her, any other thoughts fleeing her mind at the taste of blood. Too soon, Klaus pulled his wrist away from her, gently shifting her back to Elijah, who accepted her easily, cradling her against him; his chin resting on the crown of her head.
Elena wasn't really sure what was more terrifying; how tightly Elijah was holding her, or the sympathetic looks on Klaus and Rebekah's faces. "I'm dying." She whispered, too tired to wince when Elijah's arms tightened further. "Aren't I?"
"We won't let that happen." Elijah said firmly, resolute faces from his blonde siblings backing him up. "You are not going to die."
"You know I'm always loath to agree with Elijah," Klaus smiled, "but he's right, none of us will let you die."
The siblings paused, exchanging glances, before Rebekah disappeared, all of them having reacted to something Elena couldn't hear.
"Who's here?"
"Davina," Elijah said softly, after a moments pause as he listened, "and Marcel."
"I want to see them." Elena said softly, her tone not leaving much room for argument. "Please, Elijah."
Powerless to deny her in her sickness, Elijah let out a soft sigh as he relented, exchanging a glance with Klaus, who followed Rebekah's lead by disappearing.
Cautiously slipping from where he perched on the bed, Elijah gently lifted Elena into his arms, cradling her tightly as he carried her down to the lounge. He was holding her so carefully that Elena didn't really need to wrap her arms around his neck, but she did anyway, clinging to him desperately.
As Marcel and Davina's voices hit her ears, Elena found her thoughts wandering, taking on a mind of their own. How was she supposed to know what was and wasn't real? How could she possibly know that Elijah in her kitchen wasn't her reality?
midnight-writer97: About damn time! Yes, I'm so glad! Thank you so much! It really does, doesn't it... Thank you! I look forward to it!
HisSecretLover18: I promise you will find out, but, with Elena hallucinating it's a little hard for her to get answers at the moment! Yes! Hopefully you enjoyed!
Guest: Oh my god, thank you so much! Hayley is a bit dodge, not sure why yet though... They are slowly developing better relationships with each other, and I'm sure they will end up much closer to friends than they are now! Thank you so much!
Guest: Yay! Definitely working hard on making it much more healthy than anything else in the show was! Klaus doesn't really have a leg to stand on to deny that she's a part of their lives now! Was it ever going to be so simple? I like to think that meeting Elena and hearing her story will have given Davina a bit more of a level head on her shoulders, and she has enough people she can turn to for a sounding board. Totally agree! There's a lot Elena needs to learn to deal with in NOLA.
bayruna: You're so welcome! Glad you enjoyed!
Silver Winged Maiden: Oooo, interesting... I'm very torn on what to do with Hayley at the moment, but if she sticks around she won't be staying anything like she is in the shows don't worry! And thank you very much!
So, uhhhh, I swear, Elijah did try to tell Elena something wasn't right after they finished eating, I wonder if anyone can find the little easter egg I hid in that scene for you all...
Let me know what you thought of this! I did warn y'all, it's getting crazy up in here!
Until next time
~ I x