The sensation of her throat burning was becoming all too familiar to Elena. She wasn't sure if it was better or worse that this time it had nothing to do with vomiting.
On one hand, she was glad she wasn't throwing up into a bucket again, but, on the other, she really wasn't fond of the urge to lunge for Davina's throat.
A deceptively strong arm around her waist kept Elena anchored to the sofa, and away from the source of blood pulsating across the room. With each passing moment, she became more and more relieved that Elijah kept hold of her, unsure she would be able to keep her urges at bay without him.
A subtly passed glass, spiked with Klaus's blood gave Elena enough awareness to find herself back in the room, and able to listen to the conversations taking place in front of her, as opposed to the sound of Davina's blood thrumming through her veins.
"We altered that spell to work on a pair, not an individual, we would have to change it again to make it work on just Elena, and…"
"And what?" Rebekah asked, her voice terse as she regarded the teenager in front of her.
"We all know what." Elena whispered, smiling at Davina when she turned to look at her. "I might not have enough time for that." She didn't react when Elijah's arm tightened around her waist fractionally, only shrugging when Rebekah turned narrowed eyes on her. "There's no point beating around the bush."
The Originals in the room exchanged glances, unsure whether Elena chose to ignore them, or didn't notice.
"Is there anything you can do, D?"
The teenager sighed at Marcel's words, turning to one of the pages in her borrowed grimoire. "There's a spell to relieve pain and symptoms of illness, I can try it, but I don't know if it'll work."
"Anything's better than nothing."
Davina offered Elena a soft smile, cautiously approaching her at Elijah's subtle nod that it was safe. She picked up her hand from Elijah's lap, gently holding it between both of hers. "Elijah, this spell may draw energy from you if you remain connected to Elena." She warned softly, raising an eyebrow at the Original who only stared back at her.
After a moment Davina nodded, closing her eyes as she began to mutter a spell under her breath, quickly becoming aware of the energy that she could feel being pulled from Elijah.
"What are you doing?" Hayley bit, glaring at Marcel when he moved into her path to Davina. "She's hurting him!"
"It's what he wants."
The brunette huffed, shaking her head and backing away from the scene in front of her with a derisive snort, ultimately storming from the room.
As she released Elena's hand, Davina opened her eyes; relieved to see some colour returned to Elena's skin, and that the sheen of sweat that had marred her face had abated.
Elena smiled at her friend, letting out a soft breath of relief as the burning from her throat faded, leaving her much calmer than she had been since waking up.
Despite feeling better, she didn't pull away from Elijah, continuing to lean into his side with his arm still tightly wrapped around her.
"So," Elena sighed, "how do we find Celeste and make her undo whatever she's done to me?"
"How are you feeling?" Elijah broached softly, stepping into Elena's room.
She met his eyes in the mirror of the vanity she sat at, offering a light smile as she continued to brush her hair out. "Much better, thanks to you and Davina."
Elijah returned her smile, glad to see and hear that she wasn't lying or faking, her slow heartbeat remaining perfectly steady as she spoke.
"How are you?" She returned. "You didn't have to let Davina channel you for me."
"I know."
Elena rolled her eyes as he shrugged at her, still smiling slightly.
"I wanted to, Elena." He sighed. "I cannot help but feel that this is all my fault, and," he paused, taking a deep breath, "I don't want to see you hurt anymore."
Brushing her hair backwards in order to gather it for a braid, Elena used the time as a chance to try and process what Elijah was saying. Since waking up, Elijah had been more candid with her about his feelings than she was used to, and yet, despite that, she still had no idea how he really felt about her. Let alone where they stood.
She huffed, dropping her hair and stretching her arms out. The spell had helped, but her body was still full of aches and pains that she wasn't used to feeling anymore, leaving her mulling over whether or not to plait her hair into a French braid or not.
"Allow me." Elijah whispered, appearing behind Elena and holding her gaze until she nodded softly, allowing him to gently take hold of her hair and passing him her hairbrush. Swiftly and efficiently brushing her hair back, he began to separate it into sections easily.
Elena's confusion must have been written on her face because Elijah smiled at her in the mirror, easily continuing to work on her hair. "I used to help Rebekah with her braids on occasion, they were all the rage back then."
She laughed softly, careful to stay still. "When you were human?"
"Indeed." He nodded. "In fact, we all donned a braid of some descriptor at one point or another."
"Wow." Elena breathed, shaking her head in a minute movement. "I can't picture what any of you must have looked like back then.
He smiled again, holding his hand out for Elena to pass him an elastic to tie off the end of her hair. "Times were very different, sometimes its hard for me to remember what we were like." Placing a soft kiss on the crown of her head, Elijah let go of her braid, watching it fall to lie down her back.
"What are we now, Elijah?" She whispered, turning on her chair to look at him. "I know I'm the reason we're stuck, I said I needed time, but…" Trailing off, Elena let out a soft breath, her eyes staring at Elijah's feet rather than anything else.
"But?" He prompted softly.
"I don't think I realised what I was…what I was giving up, even if it was only temporary."
"I'm not sure I understand what you're saying." Elijah admitted softly, tilting his head at the girl in front of him.
Elena let out a soft breath, swallowing thickly as she tried to collect the thoughts running rampant through her brain. "I thought everything I dreamt between us was real, and it was beautiful and amazing, and I was so happy, and when I woke up here and I found out it wasn't real…I was crushed." Her voice was a soft whisper as she admitted the feelings that she'd been trying to control over the past day or so; so much had happened since getting her emotions back that she barely remembered how recently she'd regained them.
"I care about you immensely, Elena." He confessed, crouching in front of the chair that Elena occupied, bringing their faces level. "I do not know what we are, but I don't want to lose you, and I don't want to rush you either." Elijah let out a soft breath, bringing his hands up to Elena's cheeks. "You've been through a lot recently, Elena, I think you need to process some of it before anything else."
She nodded slowly, biting her lip as her eyes began to well with tears, looking away from the man in front of her as she tried to stop herself from crying, swallowing around the lump in her throat.
"Oh, Elena." The words escaped Elijah as a soft breath as he leant forward, rocking to kneel and pulling her into a soft embrace, her arms automatically wrapping around him in return. "Please don't be upset. I want the same as you do, but it's a big step if we go there, and I want for you to be in the right headspace to make those choices. With the return of your emotions, and this illness, you're not in a place to make any big decisions, and you know that as well as I do."
Letting out a shuddering breath, Elena fought to really take in Elijah's words, rather than allowing her spiralling emotions to react instantly. "I do understand, Elijah." She whispered eventually, closing her eyes and squeezing the man in front of her. "Everything is just a lot."
"I know, sweetheart." Elijah murmured, the endearment slipping from his lips unconsciously as he returned Elena's squeeze. "It's okay."
"I'm sorry, what?" Elena exclaimed, shaking her head slightly. "Celeste is inhabiting some random body? And she's just been jumping from body to body for the last couple of centuries?"
"Pretty much." Marcel sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly. "She sounds pretty loco."
"Why is she coming after me? It can't just be to get at Elijah."
"What else would it be?" Rebekah scoffed, rolling her eyes. "It's not like the two of you have met."
"Someone's here." Davina interrupted softly, her eyes drifting towards the floor yet completely unfocussed.
"Judging by your tone, I'm guessing it's not someone we want to see, D."
A dark scoff answered Marcel; a new presence announcing their entrance to the room. "That's rather rude. And here I thought we were all on the same side."
Rebekah laughed, her eyes not moving from the man in front of her even as she saw Elijah edge closer to Elena. "That was before you tried to kill Nik."
Damon rolled his eyes. "Like you've never tried it. Besides, I wasn't trying to kill him, just put him down temporarily."
"You tried to kill Klaus?" Elena asked softly, looking around Elijah at her former partner. "Why?"
"We've been through this, Elena, you're being compelled. We all know that daggering an Original removes any compulsion; it makes sense that Klaus would have been the one to compel you; he's the hardest to put down!"
"So, what? You were just going to dagger them all when it didn't work?"
"If I had to!"
"Do you really think my sister and I would have let that happen?" Elijah interjected, narrowing harsh eyes at the reckless Salvatore he faced. "Niklaus hadn't been missing for a full day before Rebekah found him, and you along with him."
"Technically, she only found me." Damon corrected, a soft shrug accompanying the words. "I took her to Klaus, for Elena."
"I assume that's why you're here now?" Rebekah asked, a soft hand on Klaus's arm stopping him from tearing into Damon. "To try and take her with you?"
"Klaus has clearly healed her, she doesn't need to be here anymore."
"How many times do I have to tell you that's not happening, Damon? You can't just keep showing up and expecting me to leave with you."
"You don't need them anymore, Elena." Damon urged softly. "You can come home with me."
She shook her head, stepping forward slightly and placing a hand on Elijah's arm as she sensed the tension coiling tighter in him. "No, Damon. I do need them, and even if I didn't, I want to be here."
"What the hell happened to you, Elena?" He bit, his eyes narrowing at the girl in front of him, as she linked her arm in Elijah's.
"I grew up, Damon. I learnt to see what's actually in front of me rather than what I want to see."
A bitter laugh flew from Damon's lips, the sound causing everyone else in the room to tense. "You're so full of crap, all of you. They're manipulating you, Elena!"
"No, Damon, that was always you." She sighed, shaking her head sadly. "You need to leave."
"You heard her." Klaus entered the conversation finally, his voice firm and dark. "Get out, before we decide to be less gracious about your attempt to kill me."
Damon grimaced suddenly, throwing a glare in Davina's direction as his hand came up to hold his head. "Not nice, witchy."
"No, you're not." Davina retorted, raising her chin. "You heard Elena and Klaus."
Throwing one more glare at the occupants of the room, Damon disappeared, clearly aware of just how outmatched he was.
"Well, Damon's still delightful as ever." Rebekah huffed, releasing her hold on Klaus and flopping to sit on one of the armchairs, her legs dangling over the side.
Elijah shook his head slightly, turning to look at Elena. "You don't have to worry, Elena, we won't let him hurt you."
"I'm not worried." She whispered, not turning to look at Elijah at all.
"Then why are you holding my arm so tightly?" Elijah returned just as softly, tilting his head at Elena, fully aware of the fact that they held the attention of everyone in the room, and confused as to why she wasn't looking at him.
"I can't see anything. Everything's black."
midnight-writer97: You're so welcome! Thank you so much! Don't worry, there's more Kol to come... Thank you!
HisSecretLover18: Thank you! Aren't we all?! I hope you enjoyed!
lauramorgenstern: It was so tough writing it to still make it sound semi-normal, but just wrong enough that it might be noticed! I'm glad you found it and that you liked it!
Guest: So many questions and so few answers for you! There's a lot to unpack at the moment, but with Elena being so ill she's really struggling to get to the bottom of much! Ahhh, the chefs kisses are back! Thank you so so much!
94HarleyQuinn25: I'm so glad you're invested! I promise you will get answers to all of your questions!
elejahendgame (guest): That's pretty darn close! It is his first words, there's a few more though, and an explanation for where the message came from... Awh thank you!
bayruna: You're so welcome!
Wow! I've got you all so hooked and I love it! I love hearing from you all, and I'm so relieved I've managed to get you all so excited! A couple of you have found the message from Elijah a few chapters ago, I guess we just need to find out where that came from...
I'm feeling a little sluggish lately, starting a new job has melted my brain a bit, so the next update may be a bit slow, but I'll be back when I can!
As always, I can't wait to hear from you all!
Until next time
~ I x