Chapter Nine

The next morning, Elena was awake before the sun rose. She changed into her running gear almost silently and crept from her room like a thief in the night.

She went through the motions of her morning routine, greeting the chickens as they made their way out of the coop and no longer being startled to find Finn standing behind her, ready to accompany her on her morning run,

"I still do not like the fashions of this time period," he eyed her critically, "I still think there is merit in the idea of sending you to become a nun. You might find it a fulfilling way to spend your life."

Elena mock-scowled at him,

"I'm not going to be a nun, Finn. You'd have a better chance of convincing Niklaus to go vegetarian."

Finn looked like he was considering it,

"If I can convince him to be a vegetarian, would you then join a convent?"

Elena blinked up at him,

"Absolutely not," she dead-panned, "Come on, let's see if we can get back before the others wake up."

Finn offered her a half shrug,

"They will waken promptly. I set alarms in their rooms."

Elena's mouth fell open,

"You did not," Finn turned away from her and began to run and she shook her head as a startled laugh fell out of her lips, "Finn Mikaelson, tell me you didn't set alarms in all the bedrooms!"

Finn blinked at her as she caught up to him,

"I see no sense in lying to you. I will, however, be informing Niklaus that it was you who set the alarms."

"I'm sorry, what?! I had nothing to do with that!"

Dare she say it; she was sure Finn was smirking!

"Niklaus doesn't know that."

Elena scowled as she pushed herself to run faster,

"One of these days, you're going to get me beheaded, you know that, right?"

"Get better at your magic and you'll be fine."

Elena picked up a stick and threw it at him,

"Kol's so not going to teach me anything that could stop Nik from batting my head off."

Finn dodged the stick easily,

"Niklaus will not remove your head. You're a human, the worst thing he can do to you is annoy you and even then, I believe Elijah would not tolerate that."

Elena frowned up at the sky,

"That doesn't mean I should get the blame all the time! One day, Nik will lose his temper and forget that I can't be daggered and he's just going to stab and kill me."

Finn seemed to consider this for a moment,

"I think that's unlikely."

Elena huffed and ran for a while in silence before Finn caught her attention as they swerved back towards the house,

"Your alarms should have just gone off," he told her seriously and she couldn't stop the exasperated laugh that came from her mouth,

"You can't be serious," she shook her head, "I'm not taking the blame for waking them all up before the sun's even started to rise."

Finn glanced at her and then back to the house,

"You are unable to beat me back to the Manor. So yes, you will be taking the blame."

Elena glared at her brother, pushing herself to run faster as she hopped over a tree root. If he wanted a race, then he'd get a race.

She knew she couldn't win, but she also knew that Finn was finding this whole exchange rather comical, so she just went with it, pushing her legs to the limit as she ran as fast as she possibly could back towards their home.

They were just approaching the treeline when Finn had the nerve to shoot her a victorious smirk and then he disappeared, the sound of the door opening and closing meeting her ears as she began to grumble about stupid vampire siblings and their cheating, no good ways.

She jogged the rest of the distance and slipped her sneakers off before going in through the back door, only to be met with a whole bunch of scowling faces.

Elena just sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she glared at Finn, who was looking far too innocent,

"I hate you," she muttered and he shook his head,

"I don't think you do," his tone was as dead-pan as it always was, "I have decided that it is very unlikely."

Elena scowled as she made her way up to the shower, grumbling under her breath as she went.

She showered and dressed quickly, throwing on a pair of jeans and a vest before beginning to straighten her hair. She'd gotten through maybe half of her curls before there was a knock at her door,

"Elena, do hurry up. We're all ready to go now." Elena glared at the door, imagining that it was Finn,

"I'll be down in a bit." Maybe she'd slow down just to spite him.

She listened to him walk away before continuing to do her hair, throwing it into a messy ponytail before grabbing her purse and slinging her phone into it. She left her room quickly before darting into Kol's room and grabbing his grey hoodie and throwing it on over her vest and darting down the stairs.

The others had gathered in the entrance hall and Kol's eyes narrowed as he spotted her,

"Is that mine?" he gestured to her hoodie, and she blinked innocently,

"No?"

He crossed his arms over his chest,

"I'm pretty sure it is, actually."

Elena gave up on trying to pretend otherwise, simply shrugging and looping her arm through his,

"Yours are comfier than mine," he rolled his eyes at her as Elijah cleared his throat and gestured to the door,

"Are we all ready?"

On seeing a bunch of nodding heads, Elijah inclined his own and opened the front door, watching as they all flooded out onto the driveway.

Elena and Caroline crawled through the trunk and into the back seats of Elijah's car with Nik in front of Caroline, Kol in front of Elena and Finn in the middle.

Rebekah sat in the front with Elijah.

Caroline snagged her attention as soon as they were sat with their seatbelts plugged in by grabbing her wrist,

"What are you going to wear on Tuesday? We've got to make a good first impression,"

Elena narrowed her eyes at her friend,

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Caroline bit her lip to hide her amused grin,

"There's nothing wrong with it, really, but you have so many nice clothes now…"

Elena sighed and pushed her head into the window,

"If I ask you to stay with me Monday night and let you pick my outfit, I don't want to hear a single complaint about what I'm wearing today, okay? I'm comfy."

Caroline squealed and clapped her hands,

"Really? You've not let me dress you up since we were kids!"

Elena shot her friend an exasperated look,

"We were thirteen and you put me in a mini skirt that was so short, our whole class saw my pants and I got dress-coded."

Niklaus turned in his seat, a dark glare on his face,

"No mini skirts," he focussed his attention on Caroline, "Nothing inappropriate."

Kol snorted,

"We already have one strumpet of a sister, let's not make it two."

Rebekah turned and pinched Kol's arm, a fierce scowl on her face,

"I am not a strumpet, and Elena can wear whatever she wants to wear."

Elena rolled her eyes,

"I'm worried that if I put a mini skirt on, I'll wake up one morning and find myself in a convent," she fixed the back of Finn's head with a glare.

The worst part was that he didn't deny it.

Bastard.

Caroline smiled at her with an exasperated fondness,

"We're not thirteen anymore, I promise I won't dress you in anything ridiculous."

Elena pretended to think about it for a minute,

"I'll believe it when I see it," she teased, nudging her with her foot for good measure.

The sun rose while they drove and by the time they pulled up to the farm shop that Elijah had found, Elena was hit by the strangest sensation.

She was hungry.

She couldn't remember the last time that she'd been hungry.

Normally, she ate because she knew she needed to, or because someone else was telling her to.

But right now, she was so hungry that her stomach was beginning to cramp.

She crawled out of the trunk behind Caroline with her purse in her hand. She'd have to buy herself a snack, she resolved. Maybe this place would have a vending machine.

She avoided meeting Elijah's eyes as she stretched out her limbs, he seemed to have a sixth sense for when there was something off with her and the last thing she needed was for him to decide to go and buy her a meal before getting inside the store.

Which he was quite likely to do.

Damn him and his niceness.

Nik stepped up to her with Finn in his grip, a firm, no nonsense look on his face,

"No more animals, do you two understand? It's bad enough that we have the chickens and you're considering getting cows, no more."

Elena flicked her eyes to Finn's and they both shrugged, which just made Nik scowl at the pair of them.

Kol leaned on her,

"Don't worry Niklaus, I'll keep an eye on this one."

Nik's eyes narrowed,

"That doesn't reassure me."

Kol put his hand on his chest, a hurt, disbelieving look on his face,

"Whatever do you mean? I am perfectly responsible, thank you very much."

Nik just rolled his eyes,

"I'm sure."

Elena didn't think he sounded sure at all.

"Come, I would like to go inside now," Finn removed his arm from Nik's grip and gestured towards the store and Rebekah sighed,

"I still want to go to the mall after this," she was directing that towards Elijah, who simply nodded,

"Yes, yes, I am aware."

Elena followed the crowd into the store, hanging back slightly as she watched her various family members get distracted by the huge variety of things this store had to sell. Caroline dragged Nik over to the clothing section, Elijah was helping Finn to look at various heaters and Rebekah had nabbed Kol and was dragging him over to look the plants section.

Oddly enough, she didn't feel left out. It was still amazing to her that these people were hers. She got a little thrill out of watching them just exist in this space, where they looked completely out of place.

She chewed on her lip before straightening her spine and going off in search of a vending machine.

She didn't find a vending machine in the end, but she did find a little café around one of the corners and she bought herself a ham salad sandwich and a bottle of water before taking a seat at the table to eat.

She'd eaten half of her sandwich before the chair opposite her was pulled out and Elijah sat down, his eyes darting between her and her sandwich,

"I am truly sorry," he murmured, "Finn was in such a rush to get going, I forgot to bring your breakfast with us."

Elena swallowed her mouthful and shook her head,

"No, don't apologise, it's not your fault. I'm just a bit hungry, that's all. No biggie."

Elijah frowned,

"It's my job to make sure you are fed and looked after, Elena. And I take my duty very seriously."

Elena raised one brow at him,

"And you've been doing a fantastic job. Honestly. And I'm just surprised that I'm actually hungry, y'know?"

Elijah tilted his head,

"What do you mean?"

Elena rolled her eyes,

"I keep telling everyone, I'm not hungry and I'm not saying it to be difficult, I just really haven't been hungry at all. This is the first time in ages that I've really felt hungry."

Elijah tapped his fingers on the table, a concerned glimmer in his dark eyes as he watched her,

"You should be hungry, though."

Elena shrugged,

"Maybe, maybe not. All I know, is that this is a very dry sandwich that cost me far too much money given how hard it is to eat."

She took another bite of her sandwich and chewed on it under Elijah's watchful gaze,

"I will make sure that your next meal is nicer," he sounded vaguely apologetic and Elena just swallowed before offering him a small smile,

"By all means, go back to controlling Finn's impulse buying before he gets me into even more trouble. I'm just going to eat this and then see if I can push Kol into the pond outside."

Elijah gave her an indulgent smile,

"I would prefer it if he didn't get pond water in my car."

Elena pretended to think about it for a moment before sighing,

"Fine. I won't shove him in the pond."

"You have my thanks."

Elena's eyes widened as she caught sight of something beyond Elijah's shoulder and Elijah frowned,

"What is it?"

Elena just inclined her head and Elijah took the hint, turning in his seat to find Finn speaking to a store assistant about the geese that the store had in stock.

Elena could have sworn that Elijah groaned,

"I left him alone for two minutes. Two minutes, Elena!"

Elena nodded thoughtfully,

"That's how we ended up with the chickens," she told him seriously before giggling and he sighed, rubbing his temples,

"It had to be geese," he moaned, "He couldn't have wanted something small, like maybe some more chickens, no, it just had to be geese."

Elena snorted,

"I'd go and stop him if I were you. We can't leave geese in the car while we go shopping in the mall."

Elijah's eyes widened,

"That… Is a very good point."

And then her brother was gone, appearing again at Finn's side. Elena watched them while she ate the rest of her sandwich, a bubble of amusement in her chest as she watched the brothers bicker over the birds.

When she'd finished, she went in search of Caroline.

And then she was very glad that she did.

Because her friend had wondered to the outdoors section and was currently stroking the mane of a black horse.

But the thing that had her freezing in place was the fact that Niklaus was also with her, stood behind her blonde friend with his arms wrapped around her waist, his lips close to her ear as he whispered something to her and Elena watched as Caroline leaned into his touch, her face tilting towards his just slightly as she whispered something back to him.

A wide, beaming smile spread across her face as she watched the pair of them flirting. There was something incredibly sweet about the way that Nik was with Caroline, as if she were a light that he was constantly drawn to.

For just a moment, a single second, Elena found herself longing for someone to look at her that way, as if she'd hung the very moon and stars in the sky. She wondered what it would feel like to have someone yearn for her so badly that they sought her out the way Niklaus sought out Caroline, to look at her and feel such a want that the very fabric of who they were began to shift around her.

Oh well, she thought, she could dream.

She turned away from them as silently as she could manage and she crept back inside the store just in time to hear Finn announce to Elijah that the store offered delivery, so he could have his geese thank you very much.

Elena grinned to herself as she watched Finn win his little argument, Elijah was rubbing at his temples and all she could do was giggle, which caught Finn's attention, his eyes snapping to her,

"Elena, come over here and help me choose which geese we want."

Elena narrowed her eyes,

"You only want my opinion so you can pin this on me when Nik comes in."

Finn shrugged and Elijah's eyes narrowed,

"Oh no," he grabbed Finn's shoulder, "This one is all on you, Brother."

Elena approached them cautiously before looking into the goose pen.

Immediately her eyes were drawn to the pure white geese, the kind that looked like they'd stepped out of a story book. These weren't hatchlings, though, these were fully grown,

"I like those ones," she pointed out the ones she liked, "But I thought you'd have wanted chicks?"

Finn blinked at her,

"You understand how farming works, correct?"

Elena nodded slowly and Finn seemed satisfied,

"Then you'll understand that I'm going to buy five geese. Two will be raised specifically for meat for Christmas day, the others will lay their eggs and we will breed them."

Oh. Elena nodded and Finn seemed to scan her face, as if he were searching for revulsion, but when he didn't find it, he offered her a small smile,

"This is the way of life," he told her quietly, "And if these geese are not bought, they will likely be culled anyway."

Elena shot him a small smile,

"No, I get it. I do," Elena grabbed Finn's arm, "This is just part of having a farm."

Finn seemed to consider her for a moment,

"You did not feel this way when you were younger," he told her, "You told Father that he could not butcher our chickens because they had become your friends."

Elena felt a blush rise up her neck,

"I was a kid. Kids are dumb."

Finn hummed and Elijah snorted,

"If I recall correctly, she said the same thing about the cow, as well."

Elena narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest,

"Again, I was a child, I know it's been a thousand odd years since you were last children, but I'm sure you had embarrassing moments, too."

Elena nearly jumped out of her skin when Niklaus' arm came to rest on her shoulder, leaning on her like one might lean against a fence post,

"Elijah's existence was embarrassing. You should have seen him as a child, always running around with Father's sword dragging along behind him," Elena grinned as Elijah turned his unimpressed gaze to Niklaus,

"And yet, I still beat you in every sword fight. Perhaps it was not my existence that was embarrassing."

Nik rolled his eyes,

"I let you win."

Elijah raised on eyebrow,

"Is that so?"

Nik nodded,

"It is. Now, what's going on over here?"

Elena was about to open her mouth, to tell him that Finn was getting geese, when Finn beat her to it,

"Elena has decided she wants these geese," he gestured to the ones she liked even as she scowled up at him, "I didn't think it would be very prudent to tell her no."

Elijah met her eyes and then, as quick as lightning, he threw Finn into the goose pen and Elena couldn't help the delighted laugh that rose out of her as Finn was accosted by the now furious birds,

"Oops, it would appear that I slipped, how terrible. I am so sorry, Finn. Are you alright?"

Elijah made a show of trying to help Finn out of the pen, only for Finn's exit to fail, somehow the geese just 'happened' to get under his feet, knocking him to the ground each time he made to step over the fence.

Nik hummed,

"I suppose he deserves that," he mused, "Come on, Little Love, let's go and find Rebekah and Kol before they get themselves into trouble."

And then he was leading her away, her chest warm as she recognised the nickname from when she'd been younger.

Caroline was at her other side in an instant, looping their arms together,

"If I'd known how much fun these stores could be, I'd have been dragging you here for years."

Elena rolled her eyes,

"I'm glad you're having fun," Elena glanced at her friend from the corner of her eye, "I heard they have horses here, I haven't been able to see them yet, though."

A definite blush crawled up Caroline's neck and into her cheeks and Nik sounded just a touch too smug when he spoke,

"Horses are such beautiful animals, we've already seen them, haven't we, Caroline?"

Caroline looked like she was plotting his murder when she shot her eyes to his face,

"Well, I needed to look at something appealing after looking at you for too long."

Elena frowned playfully,

"Why were you looking at my brother, Caroline?"

Caroline scowled down at her as Nik chuckled,

"Yes, Caroline, why have you been staring at my gorgeous face?"

Caroline ground her teeth together,

"Well, when you're quiet, it's easy to forget that you're you." She snarked and Elena couldn't help but laugh, even as Niklaus sent Caroline a soft, charming smile, dimples and all.

And Caroline? Well, if she wasn't careful, Finn might just mistake her for a tomato.

When everyone had been rounded up, Elena was startled to find that Finn had brought two more fruit trees, this time a cherry tree and fig tree, and he'd also got an expensive looking heater for the chickens along with the five geese that he'd ordered to get delivered.

And didn't Finn look ridiculous with his hair all mussed up and feathers poking out of his pockets, a light scowl on his face every time he looked at Elijah. If she wasn't wrong, she could see bits of hay in his hair, too.

She and Caroline took their seats in the trunk while the others worked out the best way to fit Finn's purchases in the car.

In the end, Elena had one tree balanced on her shoulder and Caroline had one on hers.

It wasn't the most comfortable drive that she'd ever had.

When they pulled up to the largest mall that Elena had ever seen, she felt her stomach sink slightly.

This was definitely going to be overwhelming.

She sucked in a deep breath as she scrambled out of the car, tugging on the sleeves of Kol's hoodie until Caroline looped their arms together. Elena subtly leaned into her friend, leeching a comfort from her that Caroline never failed to offer.

Elijah cleared his throat as he looked them all over,

"We will meet back here in three hours, alright?"

After receiving a series of nods, Elijah inclined his head, and they all made their way inside.

It was funny, Elena thought, the way everyone immediately broke into little groups and split apart after getting inside the mall.

Rebekah had grabbed Finn and promptly disappeared, Nik and Elijah had offered her a small smile before they, too had wandered off and that just left Elena, Caroline and Kol.

Kol grinned at the girls mischievously,

"Let's go spend Nik's money," and he flashed a black card at them before shimmying his way between them, offering them both an arm, which they both took, before leading them into the first tech store that he could find.

Kol was a lot of fun to shop with, he was utterly ridiculous, actually. Everything he brought had to be the most expensive thing he could find, from button-up shirts that cost more than she made in a week to a laptop that he insisted that she needed ("Elena, I've seen yours and it's older than I am, so shut up and let me buy this for you.")

Elena was eyeing up a short purple dress when Kol wrinkled his nose and led her away from it,

"That was a t-shirt, not a dress. And it's hideous. We'll find you something nicer that'll still give Finn a heart attack, I promise."

Elena rolled her eyes, but Caroline had grinned,

"Maybe something in black or green?"

Kol turned his eyes to Elena and seemed to look her up and down,

"I think green," he muttered as he began to search for the perfect 'Kill Finn' dress.

Elena scowled at Caroline,

"Don't go giving him ideas! I was only browsing!"

But Caroline just grinned,

"Relax, won't you? We're having fun."

Elena just rolled her eyes even as a fond smile crept across her lips,

"We can look, but we're not buying anything, got it?"

She fixed them both with a stern look only for Kol and Caroline to turn to each other and burst out laughing. Kol gently clapped his sister's shoulder,

"Good one, yeah. Sorry, Darling, but you're not quite Elijah, yet."

She was going to spend the entire journey home flicking the back of his obnoxious head.

In the end, to give Kol his due credit, he actually did find a beautiful dress.

He held it up against her before shaking his head,

"You'll have to try it on," his eyes met hers, "Go on, off you trot. We'll wait here."

Elena rolled her eyes but took the dress without complaining.

It fit like a second skin and as she looked at herself in the mirror, Elena felt slightly more like a human being.

It was a dark, emerald green velvet dress. The top half was boned like a corset with dainty diamante straps and the bottom half was a rumpled style skirt that sat on her mid thigh. It was finished with a thin and delicate silver chain belt that was dotted with diamantes.

"Come on, 'Lena, you're taking forever!"

Elena smiled to herself before sucking in a deep breath and opening the curtain to her cubicle, stepping out to the appraising eyes of Caroline and Kol.

Caroline squealed and clapped her hands,

"That looks fantastic! You definitely have to buy it!"

Kol looked like he was torn between praising his own taste and telling her that she was never allowed to wear it again.

In the end, he sighed and offered her a soft, weak smile,

"You look gorgeous, Darling. Now, do your brother a favour and go change while Caroline goes to find a pair of shoes to go with your dress."

She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that she wasn't buying this dress, but there was a part of her that loved the way it felt against her skin and the way the dress made her feel.

Would she ever wear it? Probably not, she couldn't imagine that she'd have many reasons to wear a short, skimpy dress, but she would be lying if she tried to say that she didn't want it.

So, instead of doing the responsible thing and putting her foot down, Elena just gave her brother a wide smile before popping back into her cubicle and changing back into her jeans and Kol's hoodie.

She put the dress back on its hanger before leaving the changing room, where Kol promptly plucked it from her hands,

"I'll go pay for this and then we'd better go and find the others."

Elena nodded as Caroline approached them, a pair of silver strappy heels in her hand that Kol seemed to evaluate before nodding and swiping them away from the blonde.

By the time Elena made it home that evening, after a very delicious Italian meal and after helping Finn plant his new trees in his 'orchard', she felt exhausted in all the best possible ways.

Caroline had decided to stay another night, and she was currently soaking in Elena's bathtub while Elena busied herself with unpacking the things that Kol had bought for her.

Go back a few weeks to a month ago and Elena would have been horrified at having had anyone spend this kind of money on her, she'd have stamped her feet like a child and refused to accept any of it.

But, times had changed.

It was funny how different a life could look after a simple matter of a month.

And she thought she understood the Mikaelsons a little better now. They weren't buying her things because they pitied her, or because she couldn't afford it herself, they were doing it because they could. Because for a thousand years, they'd mourned the loss of their sister and now they had her back and they wanted nothing more than to spoil her, to show her the finer things in life that she'd missed out on.

And who was she to begrudge them that?

When she'd thought she'd never see them again…

Well, if they wanted to spend ridiculous money, then that was up to them. She wouldn't ostracize herself anymore.

A part of her wondered if she'd ever be able to say no to them again.

She hung her new dress up in her closet and added her new shoes to the collection that Elijah had brought for her. She was just about to unpack her new laptop when a quiet knock at her door caught her attention,

"Come in," she called and she stepped out of her closet to find Niklaus sat on her bed, a little box in his hands and she smiled when she approached him,

"I won't take up too much of your time," he told her quietly, "But I wanted to be the one to give this to you," he patted the spot next to him and she sat as he handed her a sleek, white box. He gestured for her to open it, and her curiosity got the better of her as she gently pried it open, her eyes widening as she took in a brand new mobile phone. Her fingers ghosted over the touch screen as Nik cleared his throat,

"I know Kol has been teaching you how to get yourself out of certain… Sticky situations," Nik rubbed at the back of his neck as she turned her eyes to him, "But wherever you are, whatever the situation is, know that we will always be trying to find you. Your current phone doesn't have a GPS in it, but this one does. It's on the family plan, we all have one. This way, no matter what happens, you know that we are always going to find you."

Elena sucked in a sharp breath, ignoring the trembling in her shoulders as she carefully put the phone down on the side before throwing herself at Nik, ignoring the way he tensed before his arms came to snake around her,

"Thank you, Nik," she murmured into his neck, a swell of relief and gratitude rising in her that she couldn't fight off.

Nik didn't answer her, he just wrapped her in a tight hug that she almost didn't want to leave.

When he gently unwound from her and made to leave, her fingers stretched out before she could stop them to grab his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks. His curious eyes turned back to her as she bit her lip,

"I was wondering, and you don't have to, you know, it was just a thought, and now that I'm saying it out loud it's actually quite silly-"

"What is it?" His voice was patient, though a little frown had puckered between his brows and Elena squirmed slightly before sighing,

"Well, Christmas is coming up, and I have this idea for a gift, but I don't know how to do it. I was hoping you could show me?" And then she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, scribbling quickly,

Can you show me how to do wood carving? I was thinking about making a wooden chicken for the top of Finn's coop?

Nik read the note once, then twice before nodding slowly,

"I am not a man known for my patience, but I'll try. I'll buy a few things in, but you'll have to be dedicated if you want to pull this off by Christmas."

Elena nodded excitedly, a wide smile splitting her face that had Nik almost blushing but returning the smile before nodding and leaving the room.

Elena sighed and threw herself back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as a soft smile stayed locked on her face, a gentle contentment thrumming in her veins.

She picked up her new phone and spun it in her fingers, a single tear of pure happiness sliding down her cheek when she caught sight of the back.

On the back of the phone, engraved into the metal, was her name.

Elena Mikaelson.