Chapter Eighteen
That evening, after their long day of shopping, there was to be no rest for the wicked.
Niklaus had compelled a team over the phone to throw together an enclosure for the goats, and they were working on it when Elijah's car pulled up the driveway.
Elena took the goats into the kitchen while Jeremy took Daisy out into the backyard and the vampires worked on unloading the trees that they'd secured onto the roof of the car.
To be fair, the goats were very, very cute.
Hers was the girl, and she'd named her Gina, Gina the goat.
Gina had beautiful wavy brown and white fur and had slept for most of the journey home quite contently on Elena's lap.
Finn had picked out a male with long, curled horns and he'd named him Isaac.
Elena wasn't quite sure why, but when she'd asked Finn what he was going to call him and Finn had said 'Goat', she'd told him that was unacceptable and he'd frowned, actually frowned, and thought about it for a moment before letting out a weary sigh, eyeing the goat that was attempting to chew on Nik's hair,
"I shall name him Isaac."
So, the black and grey furred goat had been named.
Gina and Isaac.
Elena still wasn't quite sure how this was her life, but she wouldn't trade it for anything.
Finn had decreed that, just for tonight, the goats would sleep in the barn that Elena wasn't allowed to see.
She'd tried to campaign that Gina could sleep in with her, but then Finn had pointed out that goats were a naturally destructive animal that would not hesitate to chew on her furniture, and she'd quickly allowed for Finn to sort out their sleeping arrangements for the night.
For now, though, while Finn was busy, they were to be put in the kitchen, where if they had an accident on the floor, it wouldn't stain the carpets.
Only, when Gina woke up, she had clearly been possessed by the spirit of a demon acrobat.
She took one look at Elena, bleated at her for a total of thirty, long loud seconds and then proceeded to jump up onto the kitchen counter, prancing around like there wasn't a real risk of falling and getting injured.
And then, because he'd seen his friend being an ass, Isaac decided to get in on the fun, too. He hopped up onto the island and then bounced in place for a moment, jumping over Elena's outstretched arms as she frantically tried to grab onto him,
"Hey, stop that! You'll hurt yourself!"
And then Gina hopped from the sink over to the island as well, the pair of them headbutting each other before bleating loudly and hopping over one another and expertly dodging Elena's arms as she tried to grab at them until she huffed out a sigh and hoisted herself up onto the island with them, crawling across the counter-top to try and catch the little energizer-bunny goats.
It was an okay plan, she thought.
Except, her plan sucked and so did her luck.
Gina and Isaac took one look at her on the island, and then they proceeded to simultaneously jump straight onto her back, flattening her into the counter with a muffled 'oomph',
"FINN!"
She waited for a moment and the goats wouldn't budge, no matter how much she wriggled,
"FINN! HELP ME!"
And then Finn was at her side, a slight frown on his face as he stared at her,
"I thought you were under attack," he intoned, and she grumbled beneath her breath as he continued to stand there staring at her, "Why are you on the counter? It is not a bed."
Elena sighed,
"What can I say? I thought it looked comfortable. I just love napping on stone surfaces." She scowled up at her brother, "Can you help me? Please?"
Finn seemed to be considering her, as if he were truly contemplating leaving her there with the goats until Jeremy came in through the back door with Daisy at his heels.
Daisy took one look at the goats on her back and then her tail went into overdrive as she tried to drag Jeremy across the kitchen floor so that she could greet her new friends, and for their part, the goats began to excitedly hop across Elena's back before Finn finally took pity on his sister and easily plucked the two animals out of the air, staring down at Elena with an almost smug expression before turning to Jeremy,
"Elijah acquired food for Daisy. You'll find it in the pantry, along with a mat and two bowls. One for food and one for water, you may place them by the back door."
Elena groaned as she pushed herself off the counter and Jeremy nodded at Finn,
"Alright, thanks. You guys didn't have to go to the trouble, though-"
"Nonsense," Finn cut him off as he approached the back door, "I will be back shortly."
Elena helped Jeremy sort out dinner for Daisy and then the two of them were collected by a suddenly rather chipper Rebekah, who was grinning as she dragged the pair of them into the dining room, where 'White Christmas' as blaring out of the speakers and boxes upon boxes of decorations now filled the room and a beautiful, thick green tree was in the corner, just waiting to be decorated,
"Our first family Christmas in a thousand years!" Rebekah almost squealed, squeezing Elena and Jeremy into a quick, tight hug, "This is so exciting! Do you guys have any family decorations that you want to use?"
Jeremy blinked,
"Are you serious?" His eyes flickered between the girls and Rebekah frowned,
"Of course, this is about all of us. And we're not selfish enough to not recognise that you two may have your own traditions. Consider this a merging of the two, if you'd like."
And the sad, desperate smile that took over Jeremy's face nearly had Elena's heart breaking…
She sometimes forgot that Jeremy was still a child…
"We didn't really celebrate last year," Elena told Rebekah quietly, "It was complicated-"
"Complicated, that's one word for it," Jeremy rolled his eyes, "I actually brought some decorations with me, I was going to just put them up in my room, but I could bring them down?"
Rebekah nodded and offered him a small, soft smile,
"Go get them, then. We have a house to decorate!"
And decorate, they did.
Elijah very begrudgingly ordered pizza, which had to be put up high so that Daisy didn't steal it from the counter, and they ate as they worked through the evening.
Niklaus was meticulous, he was very picky about what ornaments went where and Kol seemed to get great delight out of moving them around when he wasn't looking and then trying to pin the blame on poor Daisy, who was making herself at home by loitering around everyone's legs until they inevitably had to take a break from whatever they were doing to pay her attention.
Elena's job was the staircase, she was carefully wrapping a garland around the banister that wrapped around the stairs and up to the banister of the upper floor. She also took a string of lights and wrapped them around the garland, too.
Then she was wrapping tinsel around the bars of the banister and hanging assorted baubles off of them.
And if she happened to wrap a piece of tinsel around the necks of all her siblings, well, no one complained.
She had also found some hanging silver snowflakes that she was very carefully hanging from the ceiling until Elijah found her climbing onto the banister at the top of the stairs so that she could reach.
He'd very nearly imploded, she thought, when he flitted up the stairs and yanked her off the banister, scolding her for her recklessness before lifting her onto his shoulder so that she could continue to hang her decorations,
"I'm not sure how this is better," she'd told him, and he'd scowled up at her,
"Because unlike that railing, I can catch you should you fall."
Elena personally thought that he was being just slightly overprotective, but she didn't comment on it.
Instead, while she was delicately perched on Elijah's shoulder, she took the opportunity to take a selfie with him and because he'd offered to help her with her remaining decorations, he couldn't say no.
Her room now had a photo wall that she'd been adding to over the weeks, and to give Elijah his due credit, he never complained about her using his printer.
Though she did suspect that he might be stealing some of her photos, because she was sure there were a few that she'd already printed that she no longer had on her collage wall.
But she'd taken up the habit of filling her room with things that made her smile, especially memories that she never wanted to lose. That way, if she had a bad day, she only had to open her eyes to be reminded of how very, truly blessed she actually was.
She had lots of photos with Caroline, the photos of her and Tyler in Montana, Kol was always up for a selfie and so was Rebekah, but she didn't have many with Elijah, Nik or Finn and she had none at all of her and Jeremy.
She'd have to rectify that.
Funnily enough, every time she got her phone out to take a picture of her and Nik, he seemed to suddenly be needed elsewhere.
She was beginning to suspect that he was avoiding her camera.
Which simply would not do.
It took until well into the night before the family gathered together in the entrance hall and flicked the main lights off, which had Elena grabbing onto her closest sibling, which she suspected was Kol, because he didn't hesitate to tug her into his side, but then the Christmas lights went on, and the whole house was lit into a beautiful multi-coloured glow with a quiet background of 'Silent Night' playing.
It wasn't finished, Niklaus and Finn were going to work on the outdoor decorations tomorrow and the big tree still had to arrive, but it was beautiful.
She felt her body relax as she took in the twinkling lights and the beautiful ornaments that adorned the room, and while she stood there, surrounded by her family, Elena had never felt more content.
Well.
That was until she'd gotten into her room.
It was no secret that Elena now struggled with the dark, that every room she inhabited had to be well lit lest she had a panic attack and blew up the house.
So, she'd taken to sleeping with her light on at night, and she still needed Elijah to sit with her until she'd fallen into slumber because she felt deeply unsafe when she was alone.
But when she stepped into her room that night, Elena's hand flew to her mouth.
Because one of them, one of those beautiful, thoughtful old-age pensioners had brought some of the white-light fairy lights into her room and had wrapped them all around her four-post bed.
They'd even bought in some dangling ones that were attached to the sheer curtains that hung from the top of the bed.
She didn't know who had done it, and they likely wouldn't be admitting to it if she asked, but she definitely owed someone her thanks.
She changed into her pjs and, for the first time in weeks, she turned off the light in her bedroom and curled beneath the covers.
When Elijah came in that night, he didn't say anything about the lights and neither did she, he just gently stroked her hair until she fell into sleeps sweet embrace.
And when she woke the next morning, slightly later than usual, it was because Daisy was licking her face and had jumped up onto her bed.
She heard her door click shut and Jeremy's laugh as he disappeared down the hallway.
She would have her revenge.
She groaned as she climbed out of her bed, planting a kiss on the top of Daisy's head as she set about getting ready for the morning.
She pulled on a sports bra and her running shorts, throwing her curls into a messy ponytail before slipping on her sneakers and grabbing her jacket.
While it was late for her, it was still early for everyone else, so she didn't pass anyone as she made her way outside, sticking Daisy in the kitchen while she fed and watered the chickens.
She grinned as she fetched up the eggs that had been laid, carefully depositing them into her basket and whispering her greetings to the birds as she checked that their heater was still working.
It was lightly snowing outside now, and she definitely didn't want any of the animals to get sick.
Content with her findings, she made her way back indoors and dropped the eggs off by the sink before eyeing Daisy up.
Daisy, she concluded, was a beautiful dog with no brain.
She was sat on the tiled floor, staring up at her with a waggling tail and her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
Elena shook her head as she grabbed Daisy's leash from where it was hanging behind the door, gently clicking it onto her collar. Finn wasn't awake yet, and he didn't like her running unaccompanied, so this was like a healthy middle ground, she thought.
"Come on, then, Girl, you wanna go for a run?"
Daisy was excitedly spinning in circles and Elena grinned, yeah, this dog had no brains at all.
She slid out of the backdoor and into the snow with the grin still on her face, carefully shutting the door behind her,
"Come on, let's see if you can keep up with me."
And they ran.
It was oddly nice, running with Daisy. There was no pressure to make conversation, but she didn't feel alone, either. The sound of Daisy's panting made for an interesting soundtrack to her exercise and she had to be careful because she kept getting under Elena's feet, but if anything, that just made the run more interesting.
Maybe she could convince the others to get a puppy and find some way to blame it on Finn? After Christmas, of course. She'd have to think about it.
And despite the fact that it was snowing, having Daisy with her had made her run faster and harder as she stupidly tried to compete with the dog, and she'd over heated fast, resulting in her having to take her jacket off and tie it around her hips as she made her way through her normal routine.
Only to freeze in her tracks when she made it back to the yard.
Because there, in her backyard, were Caroline and Enzo.
Who were now staring at her as she blinked a couple of times.
Enzo's eyes burned into her skin as he looked her over and Caroline was grinning in a way that had Elena feeling like she'd just walked into some sort of trap,
"Hey, guys," she called out as she started to walk forward with Daisy now pulling on her leash so that she could meet the new people,
"Hey, 'Lena! Aren't you normally done with your run by now?"
Elena rolled her eyes and shot Caroline a sheepish grin,
"I overslept," Caroline's eyes widened,
"I cannot actually remember the last time you overslept, are you feeling alright?"
Elena laughed, a bright, cheerful sound that had Caroline's eyes softening and Enzo hadn't stopped looking at her since she'd come through the treeline,
"I feel great, actually. I just had a really long day yesterday. What are you guys doing here, anyway?"
Caroline grinned and gestured over towards the area that she knew her barn was going to be,
"Finn's going to show us your newest additions! I cannot believe you, Elena! You're turning into a real farm girl, aren't you?"
Elena shrugged, a soft smile on her face as she bent over to stroke Daisy,
"I love it," she confessed quietly, "I love all the animals, I can't help it. I think Finn corrupted me or something."
And as if his name had summoned him, Finn rounded the corner with Gina and Isaac under his arms, only to freeze in place when he caught sight of her, his eyes flashing as they flicked between her and Enzo.
Then, faster than she could see, Caroline ended up holding two goats, Daisy's leash was taken from her hands, and a long thick coat was draped around her shoulders and zipped up all the way to her chin,
"You will get cold," Finn snapped, his eyes hard, "I truly, truly hate modern fashion."
Elena grinned up at him and reached up to shake some of the snow out of his hair,
"You're being rude, Finn. You didn't even introduce Enzo and Caroline to Gina and Isaac, shame on you," she quickly grabbed her phone and snapped a picture of him with his messy hair and pink cheeks, snow settling on his shoulders, "Don't you worry, I need to go and freshen up anyway. Daisy was very good on our run this morning, could you give her a treat for me?"
Finn clenched his jaw but jerkily nodded as she swept past him, her hands reaching up and disassembling her ponytail, letting her curls fall around her shoulders,
"I didn't know your hair was naturally curly," Enzo called out to her, and she turned, offering him a half grin,
"That's because I straighten it, duh."
But, for a split second, there was the strangest look on Enzo's face as he looked at her and Elena couldn't quite work it out before Finn was shoo-ing her inside. She completely missed the dark glare that Finn shot at Enzo behind her back.
When she got into the kitchen, she shrugged off Finn's coat and handed it back to him with a little smile,
"I'm not as fragile as you think I am," she told him softly as she stepped away from him and towards the hallway, "A bit of cold won't kill me, you know?"
Finn just stared at her with a distinctly unimpressed expression, and she sighed, muttering about over-protective brothers as she made her way up to her room.
She showered quickly and dutifully changed into more weather-appropriate clothing. She picked out a pair of nice jeans and a tight-fitting pink hoodie before settling down to straighten her hair just as Jeremy knocked on her door and poked his head through,
"Can I come in?"
"Sure," she patted the spot next to her on the bed and Jeremy came into the room, rubbing at the back of his neck as he sat down beside her,
"Thank you for taking Daisy on your run, you didn't have to, I'd have walked her as soon as I'd woken up properly-"
"Don't. I had a lovely time with her and I'm sure you'll be able to walk her later, if anything I ought to apologise for running off with your dog," Jeremy shot her a grin as he watched her straighten her hair,
"Don't you get bored of doing that every morning?"
Elena considered him for a moment,
"No. I mean, its been a part of my routine forever. I doubt that will ever change."
Jeremy sighed and laid down on her bed, getting himself comfortable,
"I have no idea what to get anyone for Christmas," he moaned, and Elena laughed, patting him on the leg,
"I'm sure you'll come up with something," she teased, "Do you like your room?"
He narrowed his eyes at her, pushing himself up onto his elbows,
"Am I being paranoid," he spoke slowly, "Or have they actually made our rooms so nice that we never want to leave them?"
And Elena barked out a startled laugh, ignoring Jeremy's grin as he watched her giggle whilst trying not to burn herself with the straighteners,
"I- I thought the exact same thing when they first showed me my room!"
Jeremy grinned, laying back,
"Ah, so it is a conspiracy," he hugged one of her pillows to his chest, "What are your plans for the day?"
Elena glanced at him as she finished smoothing out her last curl,
"I think the plan is for Care and I to do some archery in the yard and then head over to hers for a bit, but I'm not sure. I won't be gone for long, though, if you wanted to do something?"
Jeremy brushed her off with a wave of his hand,
"Nah, I'm good, I'm going to kick Kol's ass on Forza."
Elena grinned at him and swatted him with her pillow,
"Good luck with that," she told him before getting to her feet and grabbing a pair of thick socks and her boots, slipping them on quickly, "Come on, let's get some breakfast."
When they made it down to the dining room, Elena took her usual seat and Jeremy ended up sat between Elijah and Enzo. Caroline nudged her under the table and Elena hid her grin behind her hand as she poured some cut up fruit into a bowl of yoghurt,
"Are we still doing archery today?" She asked Care and the blonde girl nodded as she swallowed a bite of toast,
"I hope you don't mind us getting here so early, but my mom left before I woke up and Enzo was bored, so I let him tag along."
Elijah shot her a warm smile,
"Your company is always welcome, Caroline and it's no bother for Enzo to join us, as well."
Finn narrowed his eyes as he sipped at his coffee and Elena turned to him,
"Is the goat area finished? I didn't think to check this morning."
Finn nodded as he lowered his mug,
"It is. They were enjoying playing on a wooden contraption when I left them."
Enzo was eating one a stack of pancakes smothered in syrup like it was the best thing he'd ever had the pleasure of eating and she couldn't help but watch him for a moment.
He seemed completely at ease here, a tiny smirk on his face when he caught her watching him and she looked away with a little blush as she scooped some of her yoghurt into her mouth, missing the suspicious glance that Kol sent to Elijah in favour of staring at her breakfast, eating quickly until Elijah's voice met her ears, making her look up to him,
"Elena, which days are you working this week? You haven't mentioned your schedule yet."
Elena swallowed her mouthful of yoghurt and washed it down with a bit of water before clearing her throat,
"I'm on mornings from Tuesday to Friday and then my usual shift on Saturday, I decided not to book myself in for the whole week 'cause every time I do that, I get abducted, so I figure that's got to be a bad luck charm or something," she shrugged at the amused grin on Elijah's face,
"So, you gave yourself one full day off on the lead up to Christmas?"
Elena rolled her eyes and grinned,
"I like to be busy, I guess."
Caroline snorted next to her,
"Yeah, because you get so busy at work. You're just rushed off your little feet, aren't you?"
Elena scowled at her and nudged her with her elbow,
"I can be busy," she defended, "It's the holidays, so we get lots of parents coming in trying to bribe their kids into reading."
Caroline grinned,
"How thrilling for you."
If they'd not been being watched, Elena would have flung yoghurt into her face.
Enzo cleared his throat and Elena's eyes snapped to him almost automatically, only to find that he was already looking at her,
"I was hoping I might be able to borrow you one afternoon this week," Elena didn't miss the way that Kol tensed beside her, "I'm rather clueless about this whole Christmas thing, you see, and I need some help picking out a few gifts, if you don't mind?"
To be fair, Elena was learning that she was a bit of a sucker for an accent and she probably would have agreed to try jumping to the moon if he'd asked, which was just slightly alarming. As it was, when she looked at him, she felt vaguely responsible for him,
"Sure, we can go Christmas shopping if you want. Just let me know when."
Rather abruptly, Finn stood from the table, muttering a quick 'excuse me' before fleeing from the room, leaving Elena blinking in surprise.
A minute later, Elijah sighed before wiping his mouth with a napkin and sending a pointed look at Niklaus,
"I'll handle it," he muttered before leaving the room, gently touching Elena's head as he passed her and Elena frowned before turning to Niklaus,
"What's going on?"
Niklaus groaned, putting his head into his hands as if he were already done with the day,
"It's just Finn being Finn, there's nothing to worry about."
Elena leaned back into her chair, crossing her arms over her chest,
"What does that mean?"
Kol turned to her with a devilish smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement as Rebekah scoffed and left the room,
"Dear Finn has decided to take matters into his own hands and is currently on the phone to a convent in England. He's being ever so nice about you in his recommendation, though. He must actually like you, surprising, isn't it?"
Elena's mouth fell open and her arms dropped to her sides,
"You aren't being serious?"
Niklaus lifted his head from his hands and brushed her off,
"He's actually telling the truth this time, I'm afraid. But don't you worry, Elijah and Rebekah won't allow it."
Enzo looked from the giggling Caroline to the mortified Elena and then to the two remaining brothers at the table,
"I feel like I'm missing something, here?"
Caroline couldn't contain her giggles as Kol shook his head,
"Our brother has been trying to save our dear sisters soul for weeks now, he's utterly convinced that she ought to be devoting her life to a nunnery. What he's failed to take into account is the fact that if any convent tried to keep my sister from me, I'd gladly rip every single person in there apart and then beat him with the bloodied parts."
Niklaus eyed her for a moment before shrugging,
"Maybe Finn has a point, our dear sister might find life in a convent very fulfilling."
"Hey, Nik?"
Nik's eyes met her with a thinly veiled curiosity and Elena smiled sweetly at him,
"Finn was telling me this morning that he hasn't had the chance to have much one-on-one time with you lately, and he'd really, really like it if you'd take him shopping to help him decorate his bedroom and maybe pick out some new clothes?"
Nik considered her for a moment, his eyes betraying the fact that he was listening to Finn's likely denial,
"I had no idea that he felt that way," Nik threw his hand to his chest dramatically, "Of course, I'd just love to spend a day bonding with my big brother. We'll leave after I've finished my breakfast."
Elena heard a thumping upstairs that was vaguely concerning, especially if she was reading the malicious glee on Nik's face correctly,
"Finn tried to jump out of the window, but Rebekah grabbed him and volunteered to join them, they'll be gone all day now," Kol whispered into her ear with no small amount of amusement and even Jeremy was hiding his grin behind his hand as Kol spoke up for Nik to hear,
"I'd offer to go with you, but I'm afraid little Jeremy and I have plans for today. Such a shame, we'll just have to join you next time."
And then Jeremy looked vaguely ill and Elena could only grin before turning back to Enzo,
"So, what day works best for you? Is there somewhere in particular that you wanted to go?"
Enzo's eyes had a strange way of pinning Elena in place every time she met them, so she focussed on his nose instead and he leaned back into his seat, his eyes flicking between Caroline, who was sporting a rather annoying grin as she watched this unfold, and Niklaus, who was clenching his jaw so hard he might actually be breaking his own teeth,
"Actually, perhaps you two would like to join us? I heard one of the people in town describing some sort of Christmas Market? I thought I might find something there."
Elena blinked as Niklaus immediately seemed to relax, his blue eyes locking on a now blushing Caroline who was a little too focussed on her toast,
"It has certainly been a while since I last attended a Christmas Market, what do you say, Caroline? Fancy getting a bit festive?"
Caroline was trying hard to fight off a blush and now Elena was the one who was grinning as Caroline took a moment to collect herself,
"Sure, that sounds great."
Nik grinned almost ferally, putting his elbows on the table and his chin onto his hands,
"Excellent, how about Tuesday after work, Elena? We'll take Elijah's car."
Elena shrugged,
"Sure, I'll need dropping off at work, though. No point taking my car if you're going to pick me up from work."
"I'll drop you off, of course," Elijah swept back into the room, wiping his hands on a handkerchief, "That's not a problem. I wonder if I might be impertinent, Niklaus, and accompany you, Finn and Rebekah today? I find myself in need of a few things for my office."
Nik met Elijah's gaze and must have seen something there that Elena couldn't, because a wide smile spread across his face,
"The more, the merrier, I say."
Elijah then turned to Caroline as he re-took his seat,
"Your mother reached out to me," Caroline's eyes widened and her hand paused on its journey back to her plate, but Elijah continued before she could speak, "She informed me that, rather regrettably, she's got to work Christmas Day. She was rather hoping you might come and join us for our festivities. You are, of course, always welcome, but I felt like I ought to give you the choice?"
Caroline's shoulders slumped for just a moment and Elena gently put her head on the blonde's shoulder,
"I mean, if you guys don't mind? I'd rather be here than be on my own at home."
Elijah just nodded and then he turned his gaze to Enzo, who was very purposefully staring at his almost-finished pancakes,
"I expect that you will also join us, Enzo? It would be terrible manners of us to not extend you an invitation, given your unique circumstances."
Enzo's eyes seemed to widen slightly before he met Elijah's gaze,
"I wouldn't want to intrude-"
"Nonsense, we already have the eight of us, including Caroline, and I'm sure Rebekah's lover will be joining us, plus the menagerie of animals that we have accumulated. A place will be set for you for Christmas Dinner, I do hope you join us. We do have a dress code for Christmas Day, however," and Elena frowned, she hadn't been told about a dress code… Elijah blinked at her before seeming to realise what was confusing her, "Christmas has always been a slightly formal affair. What I mean to say is no hoodies or denims," he stared pointedly at her and she huffed, crossing her arms over chest at Elijah's amused grin.
And Caroline just grinned,
"So, semi-formal, right? We can work with that, we'll have to go shopping, 'Lena."
Elena just sighed, slouching into her seat as Elijah nodded his agreement, ignoring the amusement twinkling in her brothers eyes.
Elena rolled her shoulders before getting to her feet, scooping up her bowl and spoon before heading off to the kitchen and washing them down.
She stood in the kitchen for a while, simply watching the light snowfall from the window until Caroline walked in with Enzo behind her, two bows in her hands and an excited grin on her face that had Elena also grinning,
"Come on, then. Let's go shoot some targets."
Elena grabbed the quiver of arrows that Elijah told her to keep in the pantry and then led Caroline and Enzo out into the snow, trying hard to get her tremors under control.
She grit her teeth as they hiked through the forest for a while, eventually coming to the spot where Kol had set up their targets.
Elena took her bow from Caroline with shaky hands, grinding her teeth together as she took aim at her target, firing off an arrow without hesitation and for the first time since the summer, Elena missed.
Because she could no longer see the damned targets.
A snowflake had been her undoing, one that drifted just in front of her bow, capturing her attention as it slowly drifted towards the ground.
She was vaguely aware that Caroline was calling her name, but she couldn't hear her over the sound of her own heart hammering in her chest.
And she was back in Montana, running through the snow-coated trees as she fled for her life.
She ran and ran, her feet hammering into the ground as she fled from the footsteps thundering behind her.
She turned when they got too close, firing off an arrow almost blindly before carrying on and changing course, telling her legs to move faster, to get her away from this frozen hell-scape before she was caught-
She had to run, she couldn't stop, she had to escape-
Oh, Gods, the biting cold penetrated through her clothes as she tripped over a tree-root and she cried out as her ankle twisted and her bow flew from her reach-
She was going to die-
"Elena! Hey, come on, you're alright, Elena, look at me-"
Her face was gripped by two large, warm hands and then she was being twisted through her sobs until her eyes met a familiar pair of honeyed caramel orbs,
"You're alright, I promise, you're okay-"
Confusion danced through her brain as she tried to force her brain to work out what she was looking at-
"Enzo?"
Her voice shook as the world came swimming back to her, Enzo's concerned gaze locked on her face as he gently wiped the tears off her cold cheeks,
"Hello, Gorgeous," he offered her a soft, gentle smile, "Welcome back to the real world."
Elena frowned and tried to shake her head, but Enzo's grip on her didn't falter,
"Breathe with me," he told her as her eyes continued to flicker around the forest, "It's alright, take a deep breath for me and hold it for three, two, one and release slowly," he slowly walked her through a breathing exercise until her heart slowed from it's frantic rhythm,
"Where's Caroline?" she asked quietly as Enzo helped her to her feet,
"She went to fetch your brother," he responded as he brushed the snow off her back, "Do you want to talk about it?"
First, Elena shook her head, but when her eyes met his, it was like she had a verbal vomiting fit,
"It was snowing in Montana," she whispered, hating the way her voice shook, "And I was in the woods. It was beautiful," she admitted quietly as she lifted a shaky hand to her hair, gently tugging on it, "I didn't mean to freak out, I'm so sorry, you must think I'm a total basket case-"
"Not at all," Enzo cut her off with wide, honest eyes, "I think you're a very brave young woman who's only had a few weeks to try and recover from something terrible. Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint, Elena, and there's hurdles almost every step of the way, but you're still persevering and I think that's very admirable."
Elena met his eyes with a little sigh,
"Do you, I mean, that is, you don't have to answer-"
"Do I struggle?" His eyes were intense, and Elena nodded slowly. Enzo took a deep breath before considering what he'd tell her,
"I would be lying to you if I said no," he confessed to her as he wiped a snowflake off her cheek, "There are good days and there are bad days," he gave her a little shrug, "I find it helps to have good company," he tilted her chin up, making her look at him, "I'm working on it."
Elena blinked and nodded,
"Yeah, me too."
Enzo ran a hand through his hair,
"When its dark," he began, "It's easy to forget that I'm free, that my cell is no longer closing in on me. And I don't think I'll ever be comfortable in a hospital."
Elena dug her nails into her palm,
"I can't stand the dark," her eyes fell to the ground, "And apparently I can't stand the snow, either, which is horrible because I love snow-"
Enzo cut her off by tilting her face back up and offering her a small smile,
"Want to know what I think?"
She nodded and he gazed into her eyes while he spoke,
"I think that right now, you'll find the snow and the dark hard, even impossible at times," he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb, "But these days will not last forever, this feeling," he pressed his hand into his chest, "It will pass, just as the seasons change, so do we. And one day, when some time has passed, you'll find the beauty in the snow again and the darkness won't feel so heavy and when that happens, you'll know that you made it."
Elena took his hand from her face, giving his fingers a shaky squeeze,
"How are you so positive after all that you've endured?"
Enzo's eyes were locked on hers with a strange intensity that she couldn't read and for a moment, he didn't say anything and when he did speak, his accented voice was slightly huskier,
"I suppose it's because I believe that there are things in this world worth recovering for, so I'm putting all of my energy into moving on."
He looked like he wanted to say more, but then he sighed and stepped back just as Kol appeared in front of her, his eyes rapidly scanning her over before his arms enfolded her into a tight, grounding embrace,
"What have I told you about scaring me, Little Bird?"
Elena wrapped her arms around his shoulders, burying her face into the spot where his neck met his shoulder,
"To do it as often as possible, right?"
Kol squeezed her a little tighter before turning to Enzo with what looked like a hint of begrudging respect,
"Thank you for not leaving her," Kol spoke softly, as if he were worried about overwhelming her, "And for helping her."
Enzo shook his head,
"You don't have to thank me for that, Mate. I'm just glad I was able to help at all."
Kol seemed to study him for a moment before shrugging and grabbing Elena's bow and quiver from the ground,
"Come on, let's get you back to the house and into the warmth. Caroline's just stoking the fire for you now."
Elena didn't fight him as he took her arm, gently guiding her back home.
She knew what had triggered her little episode, she knew why Caroline had run after Kol, she knew why he was now taking her home.
What she couldn't work out, however, was why she couldn't seem to stop stealing glances at Enzo while they walked.