Chapter Three

The warmth that had found her out on the driveway didn't shift as she crossed into the entrance hall, though it had certainly grown when her feet had failed to move, stuttering to a stop as her eyes widened and her fingers clenching around the sleeve of Kol's shirt.

A 'Welcome Home Elena And Tyler' banner hung from one wall to the other, bright multi-coloured ballons also littered the room, but beneath the banner was a table covered in a white cloth, filled with food. There were sausage rolls, quail eggs, pizza slices, sandwiches, chips, candies… It was a full banquet, with almost every kind of party food that Elena could imagine and, in the centre, was a large, four tier chocolate and raspberry cake.

"What is this?" And then Rebekah was in front of her, a dress bag in her arms and an excited grin on her face,

"Come on, we've got to get ready!"

Elena felt her wrist being grabbed and the ghost of a nudge into her shoulder and then she was being dragged, her eyes darting to find Kol grinning at her with his thumbs up as she began to climb the stairs.

Rebekah pulled her into the room that she'd been told was hers, slamming the door shut behind them and turning to Elena with a grin,

"Come on, we've not got long," Elena blinked in confusion as her jacket was removed, and Rebekah was tugging Elena's shirt off before Elena's brain caught up,

"What's going on? What are we getting me ready for?"

Rebekah hummed as she gestured for Elena to take her trousers off,

"Nik and Mayor Lockwood got together, one thing led to another, and I deeply suspect that Caroline was involved, and here we are. We're throwing a party to celebrate yours and Tylers, though mostly yours, safe returns."

The blonde girl flitted to the bed as Elena stumbled out of her pants and then a stunning blue dress was being pushed into her hands.

It was a deep cobalt blue sleeveless gown with a corset back, little white and silver flowers were embroidered across the bust that spread on delicate golden vines down across her waist. The skirt was a full tulle gown skirt made up of several different layers, little gems that looked like diamonds were spread out across it and she knew that were she to twirl, she'd twinkle like a glitter ball.

"I don't get it, you're throwing a ball!? Why wasn't I told?"

Rebekah helped her step into the dress and then tugged it up her, her fingers flying as the corset was tightened and Elena felt the soft fabric biting into her skin as she shifted to get more comfortable,

"We wanted to surprise you, Silly. And Caroline was worried that if we told you, you might not come."

Well, there was certainly that, she thought.

"Here, take a look through this and see if there's anything you like, if not, I'll go fetch a different box."

Rebekah pulled her over to her vanity table, which now held an ornate cherry wood jewellery box.

Elena opened it carefully while Rebekah undressed.

Her finger's ghosted over thousand's of dollars worth of jewellery. One of the perks of being raised as a Founder's daughter was that she could recognise quality jewellery, and this? This was beyond breathtaking.

Some of this pieces were older than this town, she was sure of it. You didn't get modern jewellery like this… There were arm bands, bracelets, hair clasps, necklaces, rings, earrings, tiaras… If there was somewhere you wanted to stick a diamond, there was a piece of jewellery here for it.

It was a sapphire heart that caught her attention. The blue sparkled where the light hit it, which dragged her eyes over from the choker that she'd been admiring. It was a large rock, just smaller than her palm and the sapphire was surrounded by little diamonds on a dainty silver chain. She couldn't stop her fingers from inspecting it, twisting it this way and that to see the way the light bounced around the room.

She hadn't noticed that Rebekah had approached her until her sister's fingers joined hers,

"That'll be perfect," Rebekah slipped the necklace out of the box and then she very carefully slipped it around Elena's dainty throat. The heart sat just above the swell of her breasts and Elena had just brought her fingers up to cup the heavy gem when Rebekah slid her into a chair and started to work on her hair.

This was the second time today that someone else had brushed her hair, and again, a swell of warmth and belonging seemed to flow into her as, for the first time in a thousand years, Rebekah began to style Elena's returning curls.

"Can't we straighten my hair?" Elena asked as Rebekah's fingers started to dig into her scalp and Rebekah shook her head,

"I don't have time, not if I've got to do mine, too. Besides, you have beautiful natural hair. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

Elena bit her tongue before she could spill her guts about exactly how much she hated her curls.

Elena felt her hair being carefully pinned into position, the way Rebekah's hands flitted around her head was actually rather soothing if she pretended for a moment that she wasn't about to be the centre piece of a ball that she hadn't even known was going to happen.

And then her chair was being spun and she had the chance to catch sight of Rebekah's outfit. Her gown was stunning, a deep shade of violet satin that hugged her to create a mermaid silhouette. The bust was framed with what she heavily suspected were real black diamonds, or at the very least, black crystals that then cascaded down the gown.

"Your dress is beautiful," Elena breathed, "You look amazing."

Rebekah just shrugged, a coy smile on her face,

"Well, I will once I've done my hair and makeup."

Elena couldn't stop her words from spilling past her lips,

"Stefan's going to go nuts when he sees you."

Rebekah froze for a moment as she brought a makeup brush to Elena's face,

"Stefan is a non-issue. I'm certainly not trying to impress him," Rebekah's voice was almost robotic, as if she'd prepared that response ahead of time and Elena frowned,

"I thought you guys had a 'thing' going on," the confusion in her voice was real as Rebekah began to apply her makeup,

"I wouldn't hurt you like that," Rebekah's voice was quiet, "I know how much he means to you and how much he's hurt you. I wouldn't do that; I wouldn't get with a man you love."

Elena would've shaken her head, but she got the impression that Rebekah might throw her out of the window if Elena made her mess up the makeup,

"It wouldn't hurt me, 'Bekah. I did love Stefan, maybe there's a part of me that always will, but I'm not in love with him. We're just friends, and I can see that you like each other."

Rebekah was gently applying her blusher,

"I don't know what you mean. We're friends for your benefit, obviously."

Elena rolled her eyes at that,

"Yeah, sure, I might've believed that back in September. But now? I think you still love him, I think you never really got the chance to stop, actually. And you're always together," Elena paused for a moment while Rebekah put something on her lips, "You seek each other out, even when I'm not there. Caroline told me, you know, about how close you guys have gotten while I was away. And I want you to know, completely one hundred percent truthfully, I want you to be happy. And if Stefan makes you happy, then I'm cool with it."

Rebekah had moved on to her eyes before she spoke again,

"I think we've gotten very close, you and me, right?" At Elena's nod, a small smile spread over her face, "Right. So, you'd tell me if you weren't comfortable? I feel like we're just starting to build this sister-y bond and I don't want some guy coming between that."

"You don't have to worry about that. Stefan couldn't come between this way back when I first found out, so he certainly can't come between us now."

Rebekah stepped back from her and tilted her head as she took her in,

"So, if Stefan were to pursue me, or I were to pursue him, you wouldn't mind?"

Elena stood, letting her arms stretch out over her head,

"No, I wouldn't mind. If I've learnt anything, it's that the people we love are the most important things in the world, and every bit of happiness should be cherished. If this brings you happiness, then I say grab it with both hands."

Rebekah pursed her lips and then frowned as Elena man-handled her into the chair that she'd been occupying,

"My turn," Elena told her as she plugged in a hair curler, "And we do have time for these to heat up. You're one of the hosts and we're women, being late to a ball is being on time."

"You want to do my hair and makeup?"

Elena nodded almost shyly, suddenly feeling slightly unsure now that Rebekah's attention was on her,

"If you don't mind. I've never had a sister to get ready with before."

Rebekah's eyes seemed to widen for a moment before a small smile spread over her face,

"Okay. Yeah, sure."

Elena hummed as she set about combing Rebekah's golden hair while her sister picked out her own jewellery. She selected a beautiful black diamond set which Elena thought she must have purchased especially for this dress. The necklace was a delicate choker, make up of threads of black diamonds that surrounded one, large white diamond in the centre that sat on the hollow of Rebekah's throat.

She had matching teardrop earrings that she paired with the necklace, framing her face in black and silver.

Rebekah handed Elena the matching earrings to her necklace, and they were certainly a striking set, there was a chain of sapphire that dangled from a white diamond, which was connected to a dainty silver chain and clip that Rebekah pinched onto the top of Elena's ear, a small sapphire hanging down from the clip.

Rebekah handed her some white and black diamond pins for her hair, which Elena began to style with a fervour that she hadn't felt in the longest time.

"What about you, are you looking to impress anyone tonight?"

Elena nearly snorted,

"Pfft, me!? Goodness, no. I don't even know who's coming."

Elena didn't tell Rebekah this, but prior to her abduction, she'd been practicing her braiding on Caroline. She'd been learning how to perfect the signature look that Rebekah had preferred in the past, an elegant crown braid that left her hair free to hang around her shoulders. Which she'd managed to do quite quickly, actually, and then she'd thought that while Rebekah's chosen style was elegant, maybe she could put a modern spin on it, and so she'd practiced with doing different kinds of braids, different ways for the hair beneath to be styled etcetera until she'd come to realise that she'd become very comfortable with that particular style. She and Caroline were about to move on to practice some of the other styles she'd seen in her visions when she'd been taken.

So, she braided Rebekah's hair almost expertly into a twisting crown braid, letting her blonde locks fall in a waterfall style before pinning some of them back to give the hair a little lift and then curling all the loose hairs just subtly, giving them more of a wave than a curl.

She then set about carefully positioning the diamond pins, picking the spots where the light would best hit them and scattering them throughout the braid.

For her make up, Elena applied a thin layer of foundation, which Rebekah didn't need because screw vampires and their perfect skin, and then she went for a smoky eye look with purple glitter that faded into black. She gave her sister a few coats of mascara and then she went for a gentle highlight on Rebekah's cheeks and a thin layer of a dark pink lip gloss.

Elena thought she'd done a decent job, so when she told Rebekah that she'd finished, and the girl had rushed to a mirror, she really wasn't expecting for Rebekah to shed a tear.

Which inspired panic,

"Hey, hey, oh no, it's okay," Elena grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the tear, grateful that Rebekah had splurged for waterproof make up, "I'm sorry, I'll pick something different, come sit down, I can do it again, I'll make it right, I swear-"

And then Rebekah was pulling Elena into a crushing hug,

"I love it," she whispered into Elena's ear, "Thank you."

Relief made her sigh, and then she was melting into her sister's arms,

"Well, don't scare me like that! I'm only human, my poor heart can't take the stress!"

Rebekah grinned as she pulled back, gently patting her eyes dry with the back of her hand,

"Come on, let's pick some shoes."

Rebekah had brought in a wide selection, which she assured Elena would not remain in her room, and the girls searched through the boxes until they'd both selected and approved of each other's selections.

Rebekah had black, strappy heels that were open-toe and had black velvet ribbons that criss-crossed up her legs and Elena had chosen a blue pair of heels that had silver diamond bows on the toes.

Rebekah finished her look with a pair of satin black gloves and Elena finished hers with a shawl.

Elena caught sight of herself in the mirror and she stared wide eyed for a second before she tugged Rebekah over.

Rebekah had made her beautiful. She had her hair in an elegant pullback, her hair pulled into a smooth high bundle on the top of the back of her head, where her curls then cascaded out and down across the back of her neck. She'd also put some diamond pins into Elena's hair, as well as a selection of what looked like delicate silver chains that were interwoven with her locks, so when she turned, there was definite sparkle and shine.

She felt elegant, and while she'd certainly lost weight, her collarbone poked out a little too far and her cheeks were too drawn in, she felt ethereal. Like a princess from a story book.

Oh dear god, she was having a Cinderella moment. And after all the mocking that she'd given Caroline-

Damn it.

Still, she smiled a real, bright smile at Rebekah and then she grabbed her phone,

"Take a selfie with me? We look far too hot to not have any photos."

Rebekah smiled and the girls spent a few minutes taking photos together before there was a knock at the door and Elena quickly flung her phone onto the bed before calling out,

"It's open!"

Klaus stepped into the room, his eyes taking in the girls as they took him in. He was wearing a traditional black tuxedo that Elena felt almost completely confident was brand new, the blazer jacket had velvet lapels and he'd gone for a black silken tie, his curls slicked back, and that familiar half smile half smirk on his face,

"So, you are ready, then? Our guests are arriving. Could I have a moment with Elena, Rebekah?"

Rebekah crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot until Klaus fondly rolled his eyes,

"Of course, you look beautiful, Sister. You are a Goddess amongst mortals, now kindly make like a Goddess and scram."

Rebekah rolled her eyes with a fond smile before she left, closing the door behind her and trapping Elena in with Klaus.

Though, she didn't feel trapped. She felt oddly comfortable as Klaus approached her with a box in his hands,

"I am glad that you're safe," he told her quietly as he sat on the edge of her bed, and she blinked at him as he looked up to her and caught her brown eyes with his blue ones. Up close, they weren't a dazzling blue, like Damon's, they were more like the blue-green of the ocean, little specks of gold giving away his lupine nature, "And Rebekah has done well, you look beautiful. Though, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that."

Klaus cleared his throat, as if he felt awkward and Elena shifted, moving to sit next to him as she had at the last ball,

"Thank you for coming to get me, and for searching for me. You have no idea what that means to me," she told him equally as quietly and he sighed,

"I can imagine," he confessed, "I know that we have some issues, you and I," he gestured between them, "I can't and I won't ask for your forgiveness for the things I've done, for the suffering I've caused you, but I hope that with time, I can earn it. I have a gift for you," He firmly placed a rectangular box into her hand, "And a request to make of you. In the dream, when you were your younger self, you corrected Stefan when he called me Klaus. And you're right, my enemies call me Klaus, the world knows me as Klaus, but my family? I'd like it if you didn't. I'd ask that you call me Nik, or Niklaus, because I don't ever want you to fear me again."

Elena swallowed thickly before gently tugging the silver bow off the box and carefully sliding the lid off. Inside the box, nestled on a bed of black velvet, was a beautiful diamond bracelet. The silver was shaped into vines and the diamonds were shaped into leaves, and when she put it on, it would snake around her entire forearm.

"This is too much," she breathed as her fingers ghosted over the metal, "I can't accept this."

Klaus offered her a dimpled grin and nudged her with his elbow,

"Sure, you can."

Elena turned a mock-serious look to Klaus,

"Are you bribing me, so I won't call you Klaus anymore?"

Klaus blinked innocently, one hand flying to his chest,

"Who, me? I'd never," He grinned as he took the bracelet from the box and firmly began to wrap it around Elena's arm. It was only when it was on the she spotted the sapphire 'E' that had been stamped into the metal where it wrapped around her thumb,

"Did you, did you design this for me?"

Nik didn't meet her eyes as he nodded and Elena couldn't help herself, as soon as the final clasp was locked, she threw her arms around his shoulders, careful not to get her makeup on his clothes,

"I love it. Thank you," She felt his arms hesitantly come up and wrap around her, "And for what it's worth, I know you haven't forgiven yourself, but I forgave you a long time ago. I'm all about focussing on the here and now and the future that I want to build."

"Oh, yeah? And what future is that?" Nik gently pushed her back so he could read her face while she spoke,

"I don't know yet, but if I live long enough, I want to do something amazing, you know? I think I'd like to travel, too. See some more of the world."

Nik's eyes darkened,

"There is no 'if' you survive. What happened to you, this abduction and everything after, it will never happen again."

Elena knew, in her heart, that he couldn't promise her that. In a way, Damon had been right. She was the weak link, and by declaring herself as a Mikaelson, which she'd already asked Elijah to do, she was declaring to the supernatural world that the Mikaelsons had a weakness. The reality of her situation wasn't lost on her, she would never be safe.

But, she'd decided, there were some things in life that were worth the danger, that were worth the pain and the suffering, and her family? Her friends? They were worth it.

They would always be worth it. And looking into Nik's eyes right now, Elena knew that he understood. She hadn't had to say a word, but he knew and he understood.

Nik took a deep breath and then rose to his feet, offering her his hand,

"Shall we?"

He inclined his head towards the door, and she sucked in a deep breath before nodding and slipping her hand into his, letting him lead her from the room.

The moment that her door opened, which was a testament to the sound proofing the Nik had installed, the sound of music and gentle chatter met her ears, and her heart pounded in her chest, which made Nik flick his eyes to her,

"You've got this," he murmured, and she nodded,

"Yeah, totally. I've totally got this."

The entrance hall had been transformed even further when she found herself at the top of the stairs, the multi-coloured balloons had been replaced, probably by Nik, with elegant balloons in golds and silvers, and beautiful wild-flower bouquets were scattered across the room. Silver and gold streamers hung from the ceiling, their glitter making the room sparkle as the breeze rippled through them and a beautiful classical music played softly in the other room.

The banquet table remained where it was, though it was now laden with even more food, a pretty strawberry tart with whipped cream and diced strawberries caught her eye as she took it all in,

"It will never cease to amaze me just how quickly you can put a party together, Nik."

He preened under the compliment, a self-satisfied smile on his reddened face,

"Yes, well, I've had a long time to learn how to make people do what I want them to. And I suppose, Mayor Lockwood's keenness to turn this into a double party helped, as well. That woman has some startling connections."

Elena giggled behind her hand just as Kol came out of his room, a wicked smile on his face,

"Elena, Darling," he flung himself across the railing with one arm raised to his head and the other at his chest, "Tell me how dashing I look."

Elena rolled her eyes and stepped forward, straightening out his tie,

"You already know how good you look, you don't need me to feed your ego," she gently swiped his hair out of his eyes, ignoring his pout as she stepped back, "Besides, everyone looks good in a suit."

"You crush me, you know that?" he pushed himself off the railing, offering her his arm as Nik offered her his as well.

Well, that's certainly a power move, she thought to herself. Entering a ball on the arms of Niklaus and Kol Mikaelson.

She grinned, letting the atmosphere that Nik had carefully scrubbed together fill her, shoving away all her fear and uncertainty and replacing it instead with the gentle light of hope and security, and she looped her arms through her brothers, getting sandwiched between them.

This must have been planned, because to her right, she saw Finn, Rebekah and Elijah approach in the same formation. And, with a glow of warmth that she couldn't control, a smile bloomed across her face as she realised what this was.

This was a show of unity, a show of family.

The Mikaelsons were going public, claiming her as their own.

And she didn't mind.

Was this a safe path? No. Could it only end in tragedy? Absolutely. Was she prepared to risk everything she had, including her own life, just to belong with the Mikaelsons? Yes, yes she was.

After all, she had nothing left to lose except them.

The smile didn't leave her face as first, Elijah, Rebekah and Finn descended down the staircase.

Nik, her and Kol had just started to descend when Caroline walked in on Tyler's arm.

The pair were radiant. Caroline was wearing a stunning emerald green velvet dress with a gem-encrusted bodice, it had loose bell sleeves that hung off her shoulders and she'd chosen to wear emerald jewellery that contrasted beautifully with her pale skin. Her hair was in an elegant updo, showing off her long neck.

And if Elena wasn't mistaken, Nik's breath had hitched.

And clearly, Caroline had nagged at Tyler.

He'd had a haircut, it was now tidy with short sides and a bit of length on top, enough for him to style it so it looked presentable but also mussed and he'd shaved his scruff that had been growing on his face, too. He was wearing a black tuxedo with a clean, white shirt and a black bowtie and his suit jacket was just slightly too tight, showing off the muscles on his arms and shoulders when he moved.

She didn't realise that they'd reached the bottom of the stairs until Caroline was wrapping her arms around her,

"Ooooh, Elena! You look gorgeous," Caroline all but squealed into her ears,

"So do you, you should definitely wear green more often!" She tugged her arms free from her brothers to return Caroline's embrace, "You lied to me! You said we were going to the woods!"

Caroline giggled,

"Well, I know you. You were never going to come if you'd known what was really going on!"

Elena sighed as she stepped back. Nik gently tugged on Caroline's arm, tugging her attention to him, and Kol had disappeared, likely to go and see if he could bribe the band to play something more modern.

A grin split Tyler's face as he made a show of looking her over,

"Wow, 'Lena, way to scrub up!"

"Thank you," she murmured back, "You clean up quite well yourself."

"Doesn't he just? My handsome boy, home at last," Mayor Lockwood appeared behind her son and Tyler rolled his eyes as Nik and Caroline turned to them,

"Mayor Lockwood, how delightful to see you, and don't you look ravishing," Nik took the Mayor's hand and placed a chaste kiss on her knuckles, "Thank you so much for suggesting to make this a double party. The return of our loved ones is always a cause for celebration, in my opinion."

Caroline gently nudged her hand, her head flicking to Nik as she mouthed 'Seriously?!' at her and Elena just shrugged until Tyler caught her attention,

"A whole ball in our honour, isn't that just something?"

She shot him an easy grin,

"Hey, at least you'll get to eat all that food you've been missing, have you seen this spread?!"

Nik's arm closed around her shoulders,

"No one will be touching the food yet, ask Kol what happened to the last person who tried."

Elena turned to Nik, a brief flash of morbid curiosity filling her as she wondered what he'd done to their brother, but he just shook his head at her and she decided that she was better off not knowing.

Nik turned back to Mayor Lockwood,

"We're expecting the photographer to arrive in the next ten minutes, the rest of the guests are set to arrive approximately thirty minutes later."

Elena frowned,

"I'm sorry, the photographer?"

Caroline grinned,

"That was my idea," she looked far too happy about the fact that Nik had taken her suggestion, and the goofy look on his face said that he knew what he'd done, "We don't photograph these events enough, we deserve to have some proper photos."

Elena wrinkled her nose, her eyes quickly darting behind her and towards her room before Caroline grabbed her arm,

"Nope, absolutely not. You are not going to hide away from this."

Elena pursed her lips, and Nik shot her a distinctly unimpressed look,

"You wouldn't even make it to the stairs," he sniffed, and Elena rolled her eyes,

"Sure, I would," Her eyes skirted over to Kol, a mischievous smirk growing on her face, "Kol would help me, I'm sure of it."

Kol clasped his hands behind his back, rocking on his heels with a 'trust me' look on his face that Elena didn't trust at all.

Neither did Elijah, judging from the stare he was directing at his younger brother, but Elena didn't get a chance to decide exactly how screwed Kol was before Caroline was yapping away again, gently tugging her away from the group,

"I'm just going to borrow Elena for a moment, we'll be back before the photographer arrives, I swear," and then she was being tugged out of the back door and into the backyard, hoisting her skirt up so that it didn't touch the grass.

Caroline dragged them a fair distance away from the house before she came to a stop, spinning Elena so that she was facing the blonde,

"I'm sorry," she blurted out quickly, "I should've told you about the ball, but I was so excited and then when I saw you earlier I, well, I got worried, so I sent Elijah over. But you look better, happier, I mean-"

"It's alright, Care," Elena cut her off with a fond smile, gently putting her hand on Caroline's arm to stop her babbling, "I'm alright. It's a bit of a shock, I mean, I had no idea that this was going to be how we were spending the evening, and maybe I should be mad? I guess? 'Cause I feel like this is an awful lot of effort to go to on my behalf, but it's also for Tyler, so… There's a little bit of me that's still playing catch up, you know?"

Caroline nods almost sagely, her face soft as she stared at Elena,

"You're worth it, you know? You both are. You've had such a rough time recently; I think that maybe a party is exactly what you need."

Elena shrugged,

"Can they hear us from all the way out here?" Caroline shook her head and Elena let out a relieved sigh, "Elijah offered to be my guardian," she told the blonde, "And I know you wrote me a note, but I think I need to talk about it, y'know?"

Caroline let out a quiet sigh, looking at Elena as if she'd said something incredibly disheartening,

"Let's get through tonight," Caroline suggested, "Let's drink and dance and just be eighteen for a while, and we can worry about the life changing stuff later, yeah? We have our whole lives to be grown-ups and worry about whether we're making the right choices. We only get to be eighteen once."

Elena sucked in a breath as, quite by accident, Caroline had said something that Elena had desperately needed to hear.

Caroline was right, she had her whole life to be a grown up, to be an adult. Maybe it was time to let herself just be a normal girl.

But Caroline was also right when she said that this was a problem for later.

Elena could contemplate the merits of giving up her independence later. Right now, her siblings had thrown her a surprise party, she was alive, Tyler was alive, and they had every reason in the world to celebrate.

Elena felt a very real smile spread across her lips as she looped her arm through Caroline's,

"Come on, let's have some fun," they started walking back to the house together, only for Elijah to meet them at the door,

"The photographer has arrived," he told them, a smile spreading onto his face when he took in the expression on Elena's face, "Come, our presence has been requested," he turned to Caroline, "Your mother has arrived, she's asking for you."

And then Caroline was gone, and Elijah was extending his arm towards her,

"Shall we?"

She looped her arm through his with a mock curtsy,

"Please, by all means, lead the way."