Chapter Eight
It was strange, Elena thought, to suddenly have someone in her life who, when she knocked at the front door, wanted to know all about her day.
Elijah had opened the door to her with a soft smile on his face before he'd plucked the box that she was carrying out of her hands, gesturing for the girls to follow him inside,
"How did you get on at school today? Aside from the Mister Saltzman situation, which we will discuss separately, of course."
Elena had to blink a couple of times as she thought about her answer, she wanted to be as honest as possible, but she didn't want to tell him that it had been utterly dreadful and that she hated almost every moment of it, so she bit down on her tongue and shrugged despite the fact that he couldn't see her,
"It was a day," she felt like being vague may work better with Elijah than simply lying and from the way his gaze darted to her and then away again, she hadn't done a very good job at that anyway,
"I have informed the school of your change of name," he told her as he made for the stairs, "So I hope your teachers have made the relevant changes?"
"Yeah, mostly, it was only Alaric who got it wrong and I'm pretty sure that was a spite thing more than a 'being unaware' thing."
Elijah hummed lowly, tilting his head to the side in acknowledgement,
"You girls go to the dining room, dinner will be ready momentarily, I'll drop this off in your room, Elena."
But, Elena was stuck at the staircase, her eyes wide as she took in the large golden-framed family portrait that had replaced the large painting of roses that had been on the back wall of the entrance hall. It was their portrait from the ball and Elena's heart stuttered as a wave of fondness hit her. The frame was golden and ornate, with 'The Mikaelson Family' engraved in the bottom.
And surrounding the portrait were lots of smaller photos of each of them throughout the night. There was the photo of Elena, Caroline and Tyler, one of Rebekah and Stefan slow dancing, Kol and Elijah laughing together, Niklaus and Finn off to the side of the room with their eyes on the dancefloor, Jeremy and her dancing…
The photos filled the wall.
And she was in them.
"Do you like it? The photos arrived this morning."
Elijah was at her side, the box now gone from his hands and she turned to give him a watery smile,
"I love it. Could, I mean," she sucked in a sharp breath as she turned her eyes back to the photos, "Could I get some copies of these, please?" her voice was soft and quiet, almost a whisper, but Elijah, with his vampiric super-hearing, heard her perfectly,
"We all got a folder of photos each, I've put yours on your pillow for you."
She hesitated for a second before gently putting her head on his shoulder,
"Thank you," she murmured as he wrapped his arm around her,
"You're welcome," he murmured back to her.
They stared at the photos for a minute longer before Elijah gave her a gentle nudge,
"Come on, dinner awaits."
She let him lead her away with a soft warmth in her chest that stayed with her for the rest of the night,
"Elijah?" she gently grabbed his suit jacket and he stopped immediately, turning to her without hesitation, "Would you, I mean, my cars not fixed yet, so would you mind picking me up from the library after school tomorrow?"
Elijah nodded without hesitation,
"Of course, though I am curious about what book it is that you need which your school doesn't stock?"
Elena scratched the back of her arm,
"I don't need a book," she told him with just a touch of amusement in her voice, "I need to use the printer."
At that, Elijah frowned,
"Surely your school is not so destitute that it doesn't have a printer of its own for the students to use?"
Elena rolled her eyes and grinned,
"No, there's a printer at school, but I want to print off some photos for my room and I can't get photo paper at the school. I mean, if I'm allowed, that is-"
"Your room is yours to decorate as you please," Elijah hit her with a tender, almost-indulgent smile, "But if its only photos that you're after, you are welcome to use the printer in my study."
Elena bit her lip,
"Are you sure? I don't want to waste your ink."
Elijah shook his head,
"Please, by all means, go ahead and waste it away. I'm sure Niklaus has some spare frames lying around somewhere."
Elijah pushed open the dining room door and Nik nodded at her as he darted out of their way,
"I do, actually. I'll dig them out for you later," Nik nodded towards the table, "Go sit down, I'm just going to check on dinner."
Elijah narrowed his eyes at their brother,
"Why does that sound like you're going to go and eat the dinner?"
Nik scowled at him,
"That's not what I said," he grouched, and Elijah folded his arms over his chest,
"Niklaus," there was a slight warning tone in Elijah's voice that had Elena turning away from the brothers and making her way over to the table, taking her designated seat between Kol and Caroline.
It was funny, she thought with a fond smile, that she had a spot here. This was her seat. She was sitting in her spot at the family table, in the family home in which she had her own bedroom.
This was a little slice of life that belonged to her.
Even Caroline, her sister in every way except blood, had a designated seat at the table and when she wasn't here, the seat went vacant.
Which, Elena could deduce, meant that when she wasn't here, her seat was also empty.
It was hers.
Perhaps it was silly, she considered, to feel so strongly about a seat at a table, but she couldn't help the flood of warmth that filled her every time she noticed something about the Mikaelsons that they'd done for her, that meant they'd thought about her.
She wondered how long it would take for the novelty to fade, or if it ever would at all.
Kol gently nudged her foot under the table, bringing her eyes to his as he poured her a glass of water,
"Did you get everything you needed from your apartment?" His tone was casual and light as he nudged her drink towards her,
"I got a bit of the stuff, but if I'm honest, I'm not sure what I actually need. I picked up my laptop and my straighteners, then it was mostly my books and some of my clothes," she half-shrugged as she brought the glass of water to her lips, drinking almost half of it before putting the glass back on the coaster, "I'm not sure what to do with all the stuff I don't need. Well, I'm not really sure what to do with the apartment, in general."
Elijah slid into his seat before Kol could open his mouth to respond to her,
"I received a phone call from your school today," at that, four pairs of eyes flashed to him, but he was looking at Elena, "You've been randomly selected as one of five students who have been invited to Whitmore College for a special tour next week. I've already paid for you to go. Next Tuesday, if my memory is correct."
Elena blinked and frowned, crossing her arms over her chest,
"Who else is going?" her voice was as guarded as she, herself, was, but Elijah didn't miss a beat, resting his elbows on the table and leaning forward,
"I do believe Caroline was also selected." And, as if he'd said the magic words, Elena felt her whole body relax as Caroline's excited squeal filled her ears,
"Oooh, Elena, I signed us up while you were away, but I didn't think we'd actually get chosen! This is so exciting!"
Elena offered Caroline a shaky smile,
"Yeah, it's great."
Elijah shot her an encouraging smile,
"I suspect that Whitmore will be a good fit for you, Elena. It's close enough that we don't have to uproot Finn's farm, if that's what you choose," he adjusted his tie, "Of course, that shouldn't be your reason for choosing to study there. You are welcome to choose any college that accepts you."
Elena nodded thoughtfully as dinner was brought out, tonight they were having chicken with mushroom sauce.
She ate in silence, contributing very little to the conversations that were flowing around her but listening all the same.
She listened to Finn telling Elijah about his plans for a barn, and Nik's frustrated groaning that followed. She listened as Kol, Rebekah and Caroline debated the merits of their history homework.
And she was, for the most part, completely content.
It was later, when she was sat alone in her bedroom, that she began to feel like the world was unravelling around her.
Night had fallen some time ago, she'd lost track of the minutes and hours since the sun had set.
She'd kept her light on, and she'd flicked on her lamp for good measure.
She cursed herself silently as she padded across her carpet, her duvet wrapped around her shoulders as she made her way to the window seat.
She didn't dare to open the window, but she did lay her head against the cool glass as she fought to control her breathing.
She'd been doing so well.
She'd been so good.
But now, alone in her room, she couldn't make her brain stop racing as she kept getting the sensation of eyes on her skin.
The eyes were everywhere, in her mind. They lingered in the corners of the room, they peered in from outside of her window, they were hidden behind the door to her closet-
Elena dug her nails into her palms as she fought back a strangled sob, squeezing her eyes shut as she yanked the duvet up and over her head in a poor attempt to make the eyes go away-
She just wanted to sleep, that was all. Was that too much to ask for? To be allowed to succumb to the peace of slumber?
But she couldn't stay under the duvet, because the dark was then closing in on her and the bars of her cell hovered in her vision as she flung the blanket away, her heart hammering against her ribs as she grabbed at her hair, biting down on her lower lip to hide the sounds of her muffled sobs as she curled into a tight ball.
And then her wrists were being gently grasped, she jerked away from the hold, her head snapping up out of panic to meet the worried eyes of Elijah as he lowered himself onto the window seat. He was wearing a black set of silken pyjamas and his hair was ruffled, dark bags under his eyes as he took her in.
He sat there for a second before opening his arms, and that was all the invitation she needed as she threw herself into his hold, burying her face in his chest as her body shook against his.
He wrapped his arms around her in a tight, firm hold,
"I've got you," he whispered into her hair, "I'm right here."
"What," she sobbed, "What's wrong with me?" her voice cracked, and Elijah held her tighter,
"There's nothing wrong with you," He leaned against the wall, pulling her with him as he lifted his legs up off the floor, "Absolutely nothing."
Elena shook her head almost desperately,
"I feel like I'm being watched," she hiccupped, "I can't relax-"
"Shush, I've got you. No one can hurt you while I'm here, right?"
Slowly, Elena nodded and Elijah began to stroke little circles onto her back,
"You'll get through this," he whispered to her, "I promise you, you won't always feel this bad."
Elena, in a moment of pure fear and desperation, turned her watery eyes to her brother,
"Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep?"
And though it didn't show on his face, and he'd never tell her, a little piece of Elijah's heart broke for her and all he could do was nod,
"Till you fall asleep."
It didn't take long, to be fair. Once her heart had stopped trying to break free from the confines of her ribcage, sleep found her much faster than she'd expected.
Elijah, for his part, waited until her breathing had evened out before carefully repositioning himself and gently scooping her into his arms.
He watched her face as he laid her on her bed, listening to the steady thumping of her heart before picking up her duvet from where she'd thrown it earlier, slowly and gently tucking her in beneath the cover.
He pressed a soft kiss into her temple, whispering 'goodnight' into her ear before leaving her room as silently as he'd entered it.
And so, a routine was born.
Every morning that week, Elena would wake up and let the chickens out and she'd feed and water them and then Finn would join her on a run through the forest. She'd go to school with Rebekah and Kol, she'd struggle through the day and then everyone would gather at the Manor to do their homework.
She felt more secure there than she did at The Grill.
And every night, without fail, Elijah would stay with Elena until she fell asleep, then he'd gently tuck her into bed and leave her to dream in peace. She couldn't help but wonder if he was using his vampire abilities to tamper down her nightmares, blessing her with sweet dreams. If he was, she didn't want him to stop.
She was coping.
She kept her head down at school, she ignored the whispers and stares from other students as her body continued to tremble even as the week passed and she tried.
She was trying.
Kol's magic lessons helped more than she'd anticipated, actually. She'd grown fairly confident now in her ability to unlock a variety of different types of locks with her magic and that made her feel slightly more settled, slightly safer and a whole lot more secure in herself.
They hadn't started to work with physical lockpicking yet, Kol was waiting for a delivery that hadn't yet arrived, but he was pleased with her magical progress, too.
"We'll work on warding next," he'd told her, and she'd frowned at him, a light layer of sweat on her brow,
"What's warding?"
He tapped her forehead playfully, shooting her a grin,
"A whole lot more complicated. In essence, I'm going to teach you how to stop people from getting all up in your face."
Elena frowned and Kol mussed her hair,
"I hope you don't have to use this kind of magic," he told her honestly, in a quiet voice that sounded far too serious to come from Kol, "But I'll sleep better if I know that I've given you the tools you need to survive."
So that was their plan for next week.
This morning, however, it was Saturday and Elena was just finishing up in the shower as she got ready for her first day back at work. She'd picked out a simple but smart black dress from her closet and she'd paired it with a pair of lace up shoes and a blazer.
She straightened her hair and pinned it into a tight bun on the top of her head before grabbing her bag and leaving her room.
Elijah met her at the bottom of the stairs,
"I know I said I'd drive you to and from work, and I am still willing to do that should you wish it, but I do feel it's only right to tell you that your car has been returned to us," he fished her keys out of his trouser pocket and Elena's eyes flew to the shiny, new silver key that dangled from her keychain,
"I've given you a key to the manor, as well," he added when he noticed where her eyes had gone, "I do hope I'm not over-stepping-"
And Elena practically jumped down the last few steps as she threw herself at Elijah, his arms wrapping around her waist as hers tightened around his shoulders. This was it. This was her slice of peace, and now she had a key, so she could come and go as she pleased.
She was home.
And it was all because of Elijah.
"I love you, 'Lijah," she mumbled into his neck and his arms tightened around her, she could hear the smile in his voice,
"As I love you, Little Elena."
He held her for a moment longer before slowly, almost unwillingly, stepping out of her embrace,
"Now," he tried to sound stern, but if Elena squinted, she was almost sure his eyes were damp, "I would not recommend jumping at your other siblings like that. I am clearly the only one with the skill to catch you. Niklaus would almost certainly fail to be fast enough, and then you'd need a trip to the ER."
"I could catch her," groused Nik's unimpressed voice from the top of the stairs, "What's for breakfast?"
Elena's eyes flicked to him with a soft smile. He was shirtless, in a pair of red and black plaid pyjama pants and his hair was still mussed from sleep.
"I'd better go," she turned back to Elijah, "Thank you, for everything. My car, moving me in, I can't tell you how grateful I am."
Elijah rolled his eyes,
"I'd have been grateful if you'd let me replace your death-trap on wheels," he turned narrowed eyes to the door, "Do you have your phone on you?"
"It's in my bag," she wriggled the bag slightly,
"Good," he nodded, "If the car gives up, ring me."
Elena scowled up at him,
"She won't give up, she's just been repaired."
Elijah didn't look like he quite believed that her car was capable of being saved. Elena, despite her vocal conviction, was almost sure that her car was beyond saving.
"Have a good day at work, Love." Niklaus gently nudged her shoulder, "Now get out of the way, I want breakfast and this," he gestured between her and Elijah, "is right in the way of the stairs."
Elena blinked at him,
"You could jump over us, Mister Hybrid."
Nik sniffed imperiously,
"I am civilised, thank you."
Elijah snickered,
"I believe the term is 'house trained'," but Elijah did move them out of the way of the stairs,
"Go, enjoy your shift."
Elena shot them both wide smiles as she slipped out of the front door. And there, looking distinctly out of place between the fancier cars in the driveway, but there all the same, was her little car.
Which Elijah had obviously had professionally cleaned, as well, the snob. A strong smell of sweetness hit her like a punch to the face when she opened the driver side door, but it was nice, it meant her car was clean.
Even the rain couldn't tamper her good mood as she drove to work, this time without the accompanying rattle that had been the soundtrack to her life before the abduction.
She'd have to go Christmas shopping soon, she realised with a start.
Well, shit.
What do you buy for mega rich vampires who have everything?
Correction: What could she get them that was in her budget?
Because, yes, Elijah had given her access to her own Mikaelson account, but she couldn't use their money to buy them gifts! She'd have to save up her wages, which was good, she thought, because she still had four weeks of almost untouched wages in her bank. So, she was off to a good start.
Thanks Damon.
She swallowed thickly as she banished that thought from her mind, stubbornly ignoring the tremors in her hands as she gripped her steering wheel a little tighter.
She could do this. She was almost sure that she could do this.
She wouldn't think about the fact that she was alone. She wouldn't check every corner for any trace of eyes that don't disappear-
She could do this.
She sucked in a deep breath as she parked her car.
She let the silence fill her mind for less than thirty seconds before throwing open her car door and escaping into the crisp morning air.
Elena huffed out a sigh as she struggled to get the key into the door, her shaking hands were making it much more difficult than it needed to be. It took a few minutes of trying before she successfully unlocked the door, and in the end, she'd used her magic as discreetly as possible because damn it, her hands just weren't co-operating.
Well, she thought snidely, that's what she gets for thinking about the older Salvatore.
Damn it, she did it again!
Elena felt her nails biting into her palm as she tried to collect herself, literally shaking out her head and arms as she banished him from her mind.
She could do this, she was almost eighty percent sure.
She allowed herself a couple of minutes to right herself and plaster on a fake smile before she began to go through the motions of her shift.
She started with the vacuuming, and, once that was done, she started to replace the books that had been returned yesterday.
There was something oddly soothing about the routine of her work, boring as it was.
It was something that was steady, that she knew. She didn't have to pretend here, there weren't any customers yet, so she didn't have to hide the way her body shook like the leaves falling from the trees, she didn't have to hide the fact that she couldn't help peering over her shoulder, looking for eyes that weren't there.
She cleaned, she sorted through the books that were on the wrong shelves, and she greeted the few customers that came in.
A ball of tension was growing in her shoulders, but she ignored it to the best of her ability. She couldn't be surrounded by her family for the rest of her life, she had to learn to function when they weren't there.
Which was a great plan, a truly fantastic thing for her to work on, that was squashed the moment Kol and Finn walked through the door.
She wasn't disappointed, though. And she didn't even rebuke herself for the way her shoulders immediately relaxed on seeing them.
Finn came up to her little desk with his hands behind his back,
"I require books about farms," he told her, "I tire of the internet."
Elena smiled up at him and jumped to her feet,
"Follow me," and she guided him round to the small agriculture section that they had,
"You should find what you're looking for here. Is there something in particular you need?" She ignored the fact that Kol had stolen her seat at the desk in favour of paying attention to Finn, who's eyes were raking over the books,
"I'm looking for inspiration for our barn," he admitted slowly, "These days there are many options and I am feeling overwhelmed. But I do not want Niklaus' input this time, we shall find one ourselves and he can foot the bill."
Elena rolled her eyes with a soft smile as she plucked a couple of books of the shelves,
"Maybe these can help you?"
Finn frowned slightly as he took the books from her, gently leafing through the top one,
"Is there a design you particularly like?" he asked her quietly and Elena thought about it,
"I guess I'm a sucker for the traditional look," she admitted quietly as she pointed out one of the red country-style dairy barns from the book that Finn was looking at, "Look, we could put 'Finn's Dairy Farm' there in big white letters. But it's up to you, really."
Finn seemed to consider that idea for a moment before closing the book gently,
"I will read these and think," he said slowly, "Would you accompany me to that farm shop that we went to, tomorrow? I need a heater for the coop now that the weather is changing."
Elena didn't even hesitate,
"I'd love to. Oh, we could make it a big group outing 'cause Care and I normally do archery on a Sunday and she'll definitely want to come with us. And if we took Elijah's car, we'd all fit. We could have lunch out?"
Finn's face didn't change, and she felt Kol's eyes burning into the back of her head as a flush rose up on her cheeks,
"Or not, we don't need to do that. We can go just you and me, that's also completely fine-"
"I will propose the idea to Niklaus and Elijah."
Elena shuffled awkwardly,
"You don't have to," she mumbled as her gaze shifted to her feet, but then Kol was gently tilting her chin up, one of his arms locked around an awkward-looking Finn with a broad grin on his face,
"A family day out with shopping involved? Nik and Bex are going to drive us all mad, you know that, right?"
Elena scoffed playfully,
"Clearly, you've never shopped with Caroline."
Kol visibly blanched, even going so far as to take a step back,
"It'll be fun," he turned his eyes to Finn, "Thanks for my invite, by the way. It's not like I've spent all morning chopping down trees for you or anything."
Finn blinked,
"I did not think that you'd be interested," Finn tilted his head slightly, "I still am not sure that you're interested."
Kol put a hand on his chest, letting his mouth fall open as he turned his eyes to Elena,
"Can you believe this? All those trees I've cleared… I am deeply offended."
Elena rolled her eyes,
"Somehow, I think you'll recover."
Elena led Finn back to the desk and took the books from him,
"I'll have to set you up with an account and a library card," she told him as she set to work, her shaky fingers dancing across the keyboard, "Then you can have these for two weeks."
Finn nodded as he watched her work,
"You… Enjoy this?"
Elena blinked up at him as she printed out his library card,
"I guess. It started as a way for me to pay my bills, now Elijah thinks I will benefit from the routine. It's simple enough," Finn didn't look particularly pleased with her answer,
"This is not your passion?"
Elena frowned slightly as she passed him his card,
"I don't really know what my passion is," she admitted quietly, "I'll find it one day, I guess."
Finn twisted the card in his hand,
"Thank you. I will take these now," he picked up his books and then turned to Kol,
"Are you coming with me or are you staying here to pester our sister while she works?"
Kol folded his arms over his chest,
"I do not pester her," he whined, "Tell him you enjoy my company, Elena."
Elena pretended to think about it for a moment,
"I guess you could stay, if you'd like-"
"Great, I brought us lunch," Kol cut her off with a beaming smile, "Leftovers from last night's dinner. I had to wrestle Nik for them, it got messy, but I won," his grin was almost feral and Elena couldn't help but wonder what he'd done to Niklaus…
Finn just nodded,
"I will see you both later, then." And he left as quickly and as silently as he'd entered.
Kol sat on the edge of her desk, stretching his long legs out in front of him,
"Admit it," he teased, "You're glad I'm here."
Elena sighed and spun her chair so that she wasn't facing him even as a bubble of amusement grew in her chest,
"You're only here because you'd be bored at home," he scoffed behind her and she hid her grin behind her hand, "Let's not pretend otherwise."
Kol twisted her chair back around,
"Does it matter why I'm here?"
Elena shook her head,
"I guess not, but while you're here, you can be useful and help me dust the shelves off."
And yes, Elena needed to learn to stand on her own two feet again, she knew that she couldn't spend the rest of her life flinching at shadows, but she had time. For now, she was just incredibly grateful that her siblings wanted her around.
And maybe, just maybe, they needed her as much as she needed them.
Maybe they needed to know that she was safe, too.
"You should invite Caroline to spend the night," Kol called to her after a couple of hours, "Finn will want to leave early, it'd be easier if we didn't have to circle back into town to pick her up."
"You seem pretty confident that everyone will want to go," Elena was re-organizing the world history section, "It might end up just being Finn and I, yet."
Kol put down the book he'd been flicking through with a dramatic sigh,
"Elijah would single-handedly attempt to find Atlantis if you asked him to," He put one finger down, as if he were listing things off, "Nik and Bex will absolutely want to go shopping, it doesn't matter what shop it is," two more fingers went down, "Finn's already going," a fourth finger went down, "You're a sucker who has been Finn's little accomplice so you're going and I'll go wherever you go. Caroline will absolutely follow you, but it's a happy bonus to her that our dastardly hybrid of a brother with a fondness for blondes will be there, too."
Seven fingers down and a cheeky smirk on his face, Kol sauntered over to her,
"Like I said, you should invite Caroline to spend the night. You, her and Rebekah can do that girls night thing that I'm not allowed to go to," he looked vaguely put out, "I'll just suffer alone, I suppose."
Elena grinned at him,
"You could always hang out with Nik," she suggested and a look of disgust built on his face,
"Why would you want to torture me like that? What have I ever done to you?"
Elena snorted as she fished her phone out of her pocket, typing out a quick message to Caroline,
E- Want 2 stay mine 2night? We're going farm shopping with Finn 2morrow, come with us?
It took a few minutes before a reply came through,
C- Sure thing! Meet u work l8r?
E- fab, see u soon!
"There, happy now?" Elena waved her phone in front of Kol's face, ignoring the smug grin on his lips as he went back to his book,
"Absolutely."
Caroline arrived just as Elena was locking up for the evening, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder and a wide smile on her face,
"Hey! Are we ready to go?"
Elena nodded and gestured towards her car,
"Come on, it's way too cold out here."
The drive home was quiet but comforting, there was no pressure to fill the silence with mindless chatter, just a gentle, easy quiet that was occasionally broken when Kol or Caroline felt the desire to comment on something, like the new roof-top storage box on top of Elijah's car,
"See? I told you we'd all be going." Kol sounded positively smug.
Elena rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him before climbing out of her car and jogging up to the door, ignoring the frankly insane wave of excitement that hit her when her key twisted in the lock and the door swung open.
Rebekah flitted in front of them as soon as her foot crossed the threshold and then she was grabbing Elena's and Caroline's arms, dragging them off to the sitting room and ignoring Kol's indignant 'Hey!'
Rebekah slammed the door shut behind her and then moved the couch in front of it just for good measure,
"We're not leaving this room tonight, so hold on to your bladders, girls, got it?"
Elena blinked and tilted her head, her mouth popping open to ask a question, she wasn't sure which question, but it would certainly be something along the lines of 'have you lost your mind?' when a thundering,
"REBEKAH!" reverberated through the house and Elena flinched at the volume of Nik's voice as it carried through the room, her and Caroline turning to each other with wide eyes before Caroline turned to Rebekah, whispering almost silently,
"What did you do?"
Rebekah made a shushing motion before flitting to the coffee table and grabbing a notepad and a pen, flicking the TV on to disguise the sound of her pen flying across the paper.
I'm meant to be going on a date with Stefan tonight, Niklaus doesn't approve.
Elena bit down on her lip to hide a giggle before she grabbed the pen out of Rebekah's fingers,
Is it the date he disapproves or the dress?
Rebekah had her long, blonde hair flowing down past her shoulders and she'd clearly been excited about this date because she was in a strappy black dress that looked to be made of silk and fell to her mid-thigh, she'd paired it with the black heels that she'd worn to the ball, the ribbon criss-crossing up her legs and Rebekah scowled before snatching the pen back,
I'm a thousand years old, I can dress myself!
Caroline was biting hard on her own lip as she then took the pen,
Give it a few minutes, then sneak out of the window, we'll cover for you till you get back.
Rebekah's eyes widened as Elena grabbed the pen,
We'll use Care to distract the hybrid menace, but we want details when you get back!
Caroline scowled at her, but then Rebekah was scooping Elena into a tight hug, whispering her 'thank you' into Elena's ear and Elena just rolled her eyes even as Rebekah then gripped Caroline into a bruising hug.
At least Rebekah had the fore-thought to bring drinks and snacks into the sitting room, she thought as she looked around the room. The table was laden with chips, chocolates and fruits with a bottle of water for each of the girls.
Elena grabbed the tv remote as Nik pounded on the living room door,
"YOU CAN'T HIDE IN THERE ALL NIGHT, REBEKAH!"
Elena turned the volume up on the tv and then called out over her shoulder,
"Sorry, Nik, it's girls night! No arguing on girls night!"
She could just make out the sound of his grumbling as he paced at the door like a caged animal. Except, in this scenario, Elena and Caroline were the ones in the cage.
Her heart stuttered slightly, and she shook her head to banish those thoughts, she was not in a cage. She was in her sitting room.
This was not a prison. She could leave this room at her will.
They waited for Nik to give up and wander off towards the kitchen and she watched the blonde girls faces as they listened to his retreat. When they decided that he was far enough away, Caroline flitted over to the window and very, very carefully set about opening it.
Elena was biting on her lip as Caroline pushed the window open almost silently, but then Rebekah was grabbing her attention by waving the notebook in front of her face,
How do I look? Is this too much?
Elena frowned and snatched the pen off her,
You look hot. Will you be warm enough?
Rebekah just rolled her eyes and nudged her shoulder which caused a smile to light up Elena's face,
"I think I fancy pizza later, what do you think, Care?"
Caroline grinned,
"I think pizza sounds fantastic. Pizza, movies and chocolate. What more could a girl want?"
Elena and Rebekah walked over to the window and Elena watched with unveiled interest as the other girls listened in on their nosey brothers before determining that it was clear. Rebekah shot them both a grin before she dived almost perfectly out of the window, landing outside without a sound and then taking off at a silent run over the grass.
Rebekah was much luckier than Elena, she decided, because if she tried to run in those heels in the rain, she'd probably fall over and break both her legs.
Caroline listened for a few minutes before shrugging and moving to take a seat on the couch, pulling a blanket over her legs and motioning for Elena to join her.
The girls watched Sleeping Beauty and snacked on the food that Rebekah had left them while they curled up together beneath the thick blanket.
Caroline fell asleep just as Elena put on Anastasia and Elena scowled at her. Here she was, squeezing her legs together to ignore the need to pee that had snuck up on her, and Caroline had the nerve to fall asleep.
Rude.
By the time Anastasia ended, and Elena picked out the next movie, she was getting desperate.
She tried, she really, really tried to move the couch, but between it and Caroline, there was just no way she could move it an inch, let alone across the floor.
She eyed the window with a weary sigh before resigning herself to her fate and apprehensively heading towards it.
It was cold and dark outside, and the rain had only gotten heavier as the evening had passed and not for the first time that night, Elena cursed Rebekah and Stefan as she eyed the drop.
It wasn't far, but her legs weren't long enough to simply step out, so she clutched the window frame tightly as she shimmied her legs out of the window, sucking in a deep breath before launching herself off it.
In the summer, she'd have been fine.
Unfortunately for her, it wasn't summer.
The ground beneath the window was slick from the rain and when her feet hit the mud, they slid out from under her immediately, sending her to her bum and spraying her with a mix of muck and rain.
She struggled to get to her feet, the mud beneath her was so slippery that it took her a few attempts to get up and she cringed when she thought of her poor dress.
She was still cursing Rebekah as she limped around the side of the house, what had she been thinking, blocking her in like that!?
Now she was wet, covered in mud and she was pretty sure she'd landed funny on one of her legs.
Rebekah would be very lucky if she didn't set her on fire for this.
When Elena made it past the chicken coop and up to the back door, she could have cursed her luck.
Because of course, of course, Niklaus would be getting a midnight snack.
His head turned to her with a raised brow as she shuffled into the kitchen, a half smirk on his face,
"Hello, Love. Fancy a walk in the rain, did you?"
Elena scowled at him,
"I couldn't get out of the sitting room, and I desperately need the toilet."
Nik's amusement only grew,
"I suppose helping Rebekah sneak out does have it's downsides then?"
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest and Elena's shoulders slumped,
"You knew?" she was whining, but she couldn't help it, she'd been desperately holding in her pee for hours and Niklaus had already known that Rebekah wasn't here.
Nik rolled his eyes,
"Obviously, I knew. We wondered how long it would take for one of you to crack."
Elena threw her arms up,
"Well, now you know. Please excuse me, I need to have a bath and get changed. And maybe I'll set Rebekah on fire, who knows?"
Nik had the nerve to laugh at her. Like, a real, full-bellied laugh that had her narrowing her eyes and acting without thought, throwing herself at the startled hybrid and smearing him in mud and water as she hugged him tightly,
"Night, Nik!"
And then she flounced away from her now scowling brother, almost skipping up the stairs to her room.
She quickly sent a text to both Caroline and Rebekah, letting them know where she'd gone before she jumped in the shower, quickly scrubbing away the mud and dirt from her skin and hair before slipping into a fluffy pair of pjs and going back into her room to find Caroline asleep on her bed and Rebekah sat beside her, now in a pair of white pjs rather than her black dress. Elena shot her a grin before shaking Caroline awake.
Caroline grumbled before quickly changing into a black and blue set of plaid pjs and then Elena was crawling into the middle of the bed, sitting between the two blondes,
"Come on," she urged, nudging Rebekah with her elbow, "Tell us everything! How did it go? Was Stefan nice?"
Caroline was nodding, her eyes slightly more alert as she shifted in the bed and Rebekah blushed slightly,
"We went out for dinner," Rebekah began quietly, "Then we went for a walk by the river, it was perfect," Rebekah sighed, "Thank you for trying to cover for me."
Caroline rolled her eyes,
"It was lovely yada yada yada, did you kiss?"
Rebekah flushed and bit her lip and Elena's eyes widened,
"You so totally did!" she whisper-squealed and Rebekah ducked her head, her usual confidence seeming to evaporate,
"Is this weird?" Rebekah asked quietly, "That I'm in here talking to you about my date with your ex?"
Elena scrunched up her nose while she thought about it. Her heart hadn't panged for Stefan in a long time, now. She didn't miss him in any romantic sense…
"No, it's not weird at all," Elena grabbed Rebekah's hand in hers, squeezing her fingers with her own trembling ones, "Technically, you loved him first, anyway. Stefan and I are done, like completely and forever done."
Rebekah nodded and curled down into the covers, tugging Elena and Caroline down with her,
"It was amazing," she whispered, "It was worth all the shouting I'm sure to endure from Nik, anyway."
Elena smiled at her,
"I'm sure there will be lots of yelling," Elena told her in mock-seriousness, "I'd expect a full tantrum, he might even throw himself to the floor and stamp his feet like the over-grown toddler that he is."
Rebekah's eyes widened,
"He can hear you," she whispered, and Elena grinned,
"Then he shouldn't be listening."
Elena felt her eyelids drooping,
"I'm glad you had a good time, Bex. Maybe I won't set you on fire, after all."
Rebekah giggled,
"Goodnight, Elena."
"G'night, 'Bekah."
Caroline was already snoring.