Chapter Two

Elena didn't go to the woods with Caroline that evening.

It had taken her a while to convince Caroline that she should still go and that she should take Bonnie with her, but Elena managed it before she passed out into her bowl of soup, and she was grateful when Caroline agreed to drop her back off at her apartment.

She watched from the sidewalk as Caroline drove away with Bonnie in her car, the tremors in her hands had returned in full force now that she was alone and it was with a slow, almost dragging of her feet that she made herself go inside her building and up to her apartment.

The silence was stifling as she crept through her space, her eyes darting over every window, corner and hiding spot and her fingers automatically flicking all of her lights on before she could suck in a breath.

She desperately wanted to fall asleep, to succumb to the exhaustion that was clawing at her bones, but as each minute ticked by, Elena only felt more and more uncomfortable, a strange, creeping sensation of eyes on her that she couldn't shake.

It got so bad, in fact, that when she curled up on the sofa, her hands automatically dug out her cleaned up hatchet, clutching it to her chest like a lifeline as her eyes continued to dart around her living space.

How could the simple act of existing be both too much and yet not enough? How could the silence be both soothing and unnerving?

The slow minutes turned into hours, and by the time her inter-com rang, Elena was a shaking, near-sobbing mess.

The sharp ring of her inter-com almost sent her hatchet through the wall, she was bound so tight.

She inched towards the phone, her heart hammering hard in her chest, and when she finally picked it up, a light coating of sweat clung to her skin in spite of the chill in the air,

"H- Hello?"

There was a slight pause, which made her anxiety reach a new peak. She sucked in a sharp breath and was about to hang up when Elijah's soothing voice came through to her,

"Elena, can I come in?"

Her answer was as instinctual as it was sharp,

"No. No, I'll come down to you-"

"That won't be necessary, I'm coming up."

And then he hung up.

She wondered distantly if that meant that the main entrance to her building was now broken.

She'd barely had time to hang her own phone back on its hook before there was a gentle tapping on her door and she held her breath as she shakily unbolted each of the locks before opening her door.

She'd like it put on record that she did not collapse on her brother, thank you very much.

It was simply that one moment he was stood there, suited and immaculate with that stupid, concerned look on his face, and then she was hugging him.

She certainly didn't sob into his chest like a child, nor did she grip his suit jacket so tightly in her hands that she feared her fingers may go through it.

His arms rose to wrap around her automatically, one arm wrapping tightly around her shoulders while the other gently stroked her hair.

She didn't even realise that she'd dropped her hatchet until she heard him kick it across the floor as he guided her inside. Above her head, Elijah's eyes were taking in the apartment, from the hatchet that now lay next to the sofa, to the window restrictors and the new locks on her door, even cataloguing the way every light was switched on.

He squeezed her a little tighter before gently guiding her onto the sofa, taking her shaking hand and enveloping it with his own and tilting her head up so that she was looking into his eyes,

"You should've called me," he told her quietly, his face soft as she blanched, "Your safety is my responsibility, do you understand?" at the way her face crumpled into a look of bewilderment, Elijah sighed and plucked a handkerchief from his pocket, tenderly wiping away the tears on her face, "You're just barely eighteen, Elena. You're still just a child, and I don't mean to sound condescending, but it's the truth. When I took control of your bills, I was choosing to take responsibility for you. Your wellbeing, your safety, your happiness, these are my duties and I will see to them to the very best of my ability, do you understand?"

Elena shook her head, because no, she didn't understand and Elijah's brow wrinkled as he stroked her hair,

"Then I have been slacking in my duties. When you're scared, when you're hurting," he gently cupped her cheek, "When you're happy, or even excited, I want you to turn to me. I want to be that person in your life who you know that whatever it is you need, whether its comfort or whether you need someone to share your joy, you know you can and will come to me. This," he gestured around her apartment, to the lights and the locks and the hatchet, "This is normal. You've been through some terrible, horrifying things, and you need to feel safe, I see that now. It's my hope that I can grow to be the person that you call when you have that feeling in your chest, when the world gets to be too much, let me take some of that burden away."

Elena sobbed into her hand as Elijah's words soaked into her, but he didn't stop speaking,

"I'm your brother, not your father, and I know that. But, I also know that you're a child without a parent or a guardian and I know how lonely that can feel. Let me be your guardian, Elena. Let me take care of you, let me help you chase away the darkness."

Did she want that? Did she really need a guardian now? And as if he could read the thoughts on her face, and maybe he could, Elijah very softly pulled her into his side, ignoring the way she tensed,

"You don't have to face the world alone. Our siblings and I have spoken about this since before you went missing, before you were taken, and we're all in agreement that I am in the best position to care for you and your needs. I came over to accompany you to the Manor for dinner tonight, and I'm so glad that I did, because all of this," he gestured towards the door, where the locks were still new, "This could have been avoided if you'd been comfortable enough to ask me for help. What can I do to build that kind of relationship with you? What do you need from me, so that I can help you?"

"I didn't want you to think I'm weak," she whispered as her mind raced, "I didn't want you to think that I'm broken, or more hassle than I'm worth. But, I can't relax, 'Lijah," she thought honesty might help her keep talking while her thoughts scrambled to play catch up, "I feel like I can't breathe, like my throat is still all crushed and what if someone breaks in? What am I supposed to do? I thought the locks would help, but I can still feel eyes on me all the time and I can't sleep, I can't close my eyes, I just-"

"It's alright," he gently smoothed out her hair as her head finally relaxed onto his shoulder, "That's all a perfectly normal, human way to react to what you've gone through. I'd be more concerned if you weren't scared. But understand this," his voice hardened slightly, and Elena looked up to him out of pure reflex, "You are not broken. You are not a hassle, and you are most certainly not weak."

Elena curled tighter into Elijah's side, silently drawing the comfort from him that she hadn't realised that she desperately needed. And Elijah? He didn't say a word. He sat there, content to let her take what she needed, and for the first time in far longer than she'd care to admit, Elena felt safe.

After maybe twenty minutes of just silence, when Elena began having to fight off the overwhelming urge to fall asleep, she reluctantly shifted and he turned his head to look at her, taking in her almost sheepish smile,

"So, dinner, then?"

Elijah nodded once and Elena climbed to her feet, stretching her arms over her head,

"I'm just going to freshen up, I'll be quick," she told him as she began to flutter around the apartment, only hesitating for a moment before she stepped into her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

"Take your time," Elijah called in to her and she had to fight off a gentle smile as she rummaged through her drawers.

What did it mean that he wanted to be her guardian? That the siblings had gotten together and discussed this behind her back?

Did they not think she could take care of herself? Was she not doing a great job at being independent? She'd been working her ass off to get to this point, she'd bought her own place and she'd gotten a job and she exercised…

So, sure, there were bits of her life that she could improve. She could learn to cook, for one and maybe she should've been putting some of her paycheque into savings, maybe if she had then her car would be working.

And, yeah, she'd had that hiccup where she'd thought she'd have to drop out of school-

But… Elijah had fixed that.

It was Elijah who had seen her sinking and had thrown her a life ring, who had taken control of a part of her life that she'd been left all alone to try and handle…

Maybe… Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing, she thought to herself as she slumped onto her mattress, clean clothes clutched in her hands, maybe she needed a little bit of looking after.

Maybe, more than that, she needed someone who wanted to look after her.

She chewed on her lips as she quickly stripped, changing into fresh clothes and tugging on clean socks just before the walls started to close in on her, and Elijah must have heard her heartrate increase because then he was knocking on the door,

"Elena? Are you alright?"

She let out a shaky breath as she opened the door, the tremors in her hands had returned but she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel an almost immediate sense of safety every time she saw Elijah. She knew, even down to a molecular level, that when he was around, she was safe. He'd always made her feel that way.

"I'm okay," she murmured as she shimmied past him to grab her hair brush, yanking it through her hair quickly until she felt a hand on her wrist, and then Elijah was taking the brush from her, gently running it through her hair. Elena froze in place.

When was the last time someone had brushed her hair? When was the last time someone had looked after her?

He was gentle with her, slowly smoothing out the remaining tangles in her hair and then he kept going for a moment, as if he were somehow unaware of the storm he'd started in her mind.

Why did he have to come in here with that stupid face and the hugs and the talk about guardians!? She'd been fine on her own, damn it! She'd been coping and she was fine, she'd gone and bought the locks and she'd held herself together even when she wanted nothing more than to run and run and-

And gods, she wanted someone else to look after her.

Someone to tell about her day at school, or to go to when her friends made stupid choices or-

"Elena," Elijah began, jerking her from her thoughts, "Are you ready to go?"

When had he put the brush down?

She swallowed thickly, grabbing her phone and her keys and then slipping into her sneakers, which someone had thoughtfully brought back for her while she'd been gone.

Elijah swung her front door open with the same air of confidence with which he did everything, holding it for her and then locking it up behind them when they left.

Elena slid into the front passenger seat of Elijah's car and put her seatbelt on, watching as Elijah began to drive. Elijah's cool confidence seemed to exude into every part of his life, even driving, he looked completely at ease.

"What would it mean," she asked him quietly, "If I let you be my guardian?"

Elijah's eyes didn't leave the road,

"It would mean that I would be responsible for you, almost in a kind of parental way. I'd ask that you move into the Manor, we could discuss the uses for your apartment if that were to be an issue," though from his tone of voice, there wouldn't be much of a discussion at all, "And there would be rules, like every teenager has. A curfew, certain chores you'd be expected to do etcetera. You'd follow my rules and in return, I would provide for you a safe home, with proper meals, company and decent internet speeds. But you don't need to decide now," his eyes finally flicked in her direction, "You've been through a lot, and I appreciate that you need time to process everything. I'm just asking, really, to be allowed to be there for you. We can re-visit this conversation later, there's no immediate rush."

Elena thought about it for a for a few minutes in silence, staring out of her window while Elijah drove. Did she want to move in to the Manor? Live with her siblings full-time? Did she want to give up her apartment, her independence? Have to follow rules and curfews?

And did it make her a total freak if the idea of having rules to follow actually made her feel warm inside?

Aunt Jenna had been great, she'd stepped up after the death of her parents and she'd tried, she'd really tried to be what she and Jeremy had needed, but she'd never really bothered with rules or enforcing them, she'd been more like a sister than a guardian and that wasn't a criticism. Jenna had done the best that she could with what she had, but after her death…

There had been a void in Elena's life since her parents had died, one that no one had even tried to fill, and yet, it was the one void that Elena had desperately needed someone to want to.

She'd talk to Caroline.

That's what she'd do, she'd talk to Caroline about it and see what her friend had to say.

"Miss Forbes thought you might need this," and Elena watched with curious eyes as Elijah pulled out a folded piece of paper from his inside jacket pocket, "She said you should wait until after dinner and then read it, preferably in private."

He gently pressed the paper into her hand, and she nodded, curious about what it was Caroline had gotten Elijah to deliver to her. A part of her wanted to unfold it and read it now, but under Elijah's watchful gaze, she slid it into her jacket pocket, her chest warming against her will when she spotted an approving half-smile on Elijah's face.

After that, the quiet was comfortable, and even the faint tremors that hadn't left Elena in several weeks now finally took a rest, leaving her delightfully still and almost cozy and had the ride taken any longer, she was sure that she would have fallen asleep.

As it was, by the time they arrived at the Manor, the sun was setting and the golden light spilling out from the white-bordered windows looked cozier and more inviting than it did during the day, less imposing and more… She'd almost say warm.

The double doors swung open as Elijah parked the car and Kol came jogging out, a wide smile on his face that didn't quite reach his eyes as he threw her door open, dropping into a mock bow and extending his hand towards her,

"My lady," he greeted her with a cheeky grin that made her raise one brow even as she slid her hand into his and let him help her out of the car, "Wielder of the flame, how I have missed you!"

Someone had given him too much sugar, she thought as he lifted her into a bear hug, her feet leaving the floor as a startled squeak left her lips.

But she'd by lying if she said she didn't like it. She clung to him almost as tightly as he clung to her, which is to say, if he were human, he'd be deprived of oxygen.

As it was, she herself couldn't breathe. But, who needs oxygen when you can have hugs?

"Alright, you've had your fun, now put her down before her lips turn blue." Though he was serious, Elijah's voice was soft and fond.

Kol did, in fact, put her down and when her feet touched the stone, with one of Kol's arms around her waist, Elena caught sight of her other siblings over Elijah's shoulder. Elijah, who had that weird, affectionate look on his face and she was struck by the oddest sensation.

A warmth that spread from her toes to her core, a complete relaxing of all her muscles that had been bundled up tightly since she'd first woken up in that prison in Montana, her brain finally going quiet, no longer looking for the fastest escape route or for shadows hiding in plain sight.

Elena felt like she was home.