Abrasion (Mikaelson)

Chapter 25: Returning "Home"

Evangeline POV:

"How'd you find me?" I questioned, moving to stand in front of him but keeping a decent amount of distance. "What are you doing in Mystic Falls?"

Klaus shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I heard from Damon of Katerina, I knew you'd be here." He replied and I nodded, not willing to argue. "You aren't one to let your friend die without at least saying goodbye."

"That doesn't explain why you are here, you don't care about Katherine." I pointed out, I simply wanted for him to admit the fact I already knew. It didn't take a genius to guess why he was here. "I saw Caroline as I was leaving."

Klaus didn't seem fazed by me mentioning her name. He simply pursed his lips. "We are in Mystic Falls, Eva." He shot back, defensive. "I came here to bring you home."

"I am home." I responded with my own hostility. Things had been going well, but I should have guessed they would turn sour eventually. I couldn't have expected everything to remain perfect even after I abandoned New Orleans for over a month. "However, I'm guessing you mean New Orleans. In which case I was already on my way."

Klaus simply nodded in response. "Elijah's awake." He announced and I looked back up at him with widened eyes. "He has been for a while."

"He didn't contact me." I noted, cautious of this information. Surely Elijah would have contacted me.

Klaus chuckled. "You left your phone on your bed, how would he have contacted you? None of us knew where you were." That was a fair point. "Besides he's been far too preoccupied with Hayley to do much of anything."

"Klaus?" I questioned and he met my eyes, waiting for me to continue. "Are you going to get in the car or just stand there? I'm ready to go."

Klaus smirked and pushed himself off my car, climbing quickly into the passenger seat as I walked around to place myself in the drivers seat.

-

The drive was relatively quiet, neither of us really speaking over the sound of music coming through the radio. That is until Klaus decided to break it. "We've moved into the compound." He told me and I glanced over before putting my eyes back on the road. "I can set up a room for you."

"Thanks." I replied, keeping my eyes on the road. I never had my own bedroom in the compound, I had kind of hoped it could remain that way. But Klaus' offer to make up a room suggested he probably didn't feel the same way. Maybe he felt bad about Caroline, but then again maybe he had returned to his old habit of pushing me away. "So you say you're back in the compound? What about Marcel?"

Klaus smirked at me. "He lives there too." I raised an eyebrow at that. "I killed a few of his children and he surrendered to me."

"I figured you'd put his head on a pike in the town square." I joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. Klaus laughed in return and I felt the mood brighten a bit as we passed a sign welcoming us to the French Quarter. "I guess your morals have improved."

Klaus chuckled under his breath at that. "My morals have always been top of the line." I held back my laughter the best I could but despite that I still burst out in laughter. "What? I do terrible things to those who deserve it, I don't just go about killing babies."

"Sure that's the vibe I was getting when you refused to help the witches."

With a few more laughs the car went silent and that's how we spent the last moments of the car ride, in complete and utter silence until we arrived at the compound. I parked my car and climbed out, Klaus following close behind as I entered the compound. The inside was littered with Marcel's vampires all loitering around in the courtyard. One in particular caught my attention. Elijah. As soon as he spotted me, however, he disappeared from my sight.

I excused myself quickly to follow after him as I heard Klaus order one of the vampires to make up a room for me. It was easy to locate Elijah, I found him in the study. We used to come here to talk all the time before we had to flee. "Welcome home." He spoke, not having to turn around to sense my presence. "When Niklaus told me you had run off I didn't expect to see you so soon, and with Niklaus at that."

"It just happened that way." I shrugged it off as I walked closer to him until I was stood directly behind him as he looked at the fire, burning within the fireplace. "I was in Mystic Falls to say my goodbye to Katherine and he was there."

Elijah turned his head a bit to glance at me before looking back to he fireplace. "I'm sorry about Katherine, I truly am." He spoke monotonously and I couldn't help but feel as if I had done something wrong. "I know how close the two of you were."

"Elijah, did I do something wrong?" I questioned, unable to stand him not facing me any longer. He had never been this cold to me. "I feel like you are disappointed with me."

Elijah turned his body and looked upon me. "It isn't your fault Evangeline, I'm just mad at myself."

"For what?" I didn't want to invade his privacy but it couldn't be helped. I wanted to know what was bothering him like this.

Elijah sighed, his eyes flickering across my face as if he were looking for something. "When we first came here to New Orleans four months ago you asked me a question, and I lied."

"What question are you referring to?"

Elijah pressed his lips together tightly and turned his body back to the fireplace. I wasn't going to let him avoid this when it was obviously bothering him, so I walked around to stand in between him and the fireplace. But instead of him telling me what was bothering him I was pushed against the far wall where the bookshelves rested.

"Elijah—" My eyes widened as I realized just how close he was to me. "What are you doing?"

Elijah didn't reply to that, instead choosing to answer my previous question. "You asked me if I had feelings for you, and I lied to you."

"What?" I was in complete shock at this, Elijah was never this assertive. "Feelings?"

Elijah nodded. "I lied to you out of respect for my brother, you aren't mine to have. But I snapped, he was treating you so terribly so I snapped at him and he stuck a dagger in my heart."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him I would treat you better."

That explained Klaus' actions following Elijah's daggering, he had treated me so well. It was uncharacteristic of him. He did it to best Elijah. "What did he say?"

"He said when I woke up, you'd be his again." Elijah replied without hesitation. I could feel his breath on my lips with every word he spoke. "But you'd run off, I figured you needed your space and you'd come back soon enough but I didn't think it'd be with my brother."

My chest tightened and I placed my hands on his arms which were firmly pressing my shoulders to the wall. "I don't belong to anyone, Elijah, but you know how hurt Klaus would be if we did this." Elijah took a step back at that, eying me in pure disbelief and shock.

"You can care enough to consider how hurt he would be when you know he'd never do the same?" Elijah questioned, his voice barely a whisper.

I moved my hand to rest on his chest, over his heart. I could feel the steady beat against my palm. "That's because I'm better than he is, I have stronger morals. You're his brother, Elijah. I loathe the wench who got between my brothers, I could never be that wench."

"You aren't a wench, Evangeline." Elijah assured me. "But you've already gotten between my brother and I, there's no turning back for us."

I could do nothing but hope Elijah was wrong.

Third person POV:

He couldn't believe his eyes as he walked past the open door of the study and saw Evangeline pressed against the wall. What was even more shocking for him was who was pinning her there; Elijah. His blood boiled with rage and he recalled why he'd struck his brother down in the first place. Elijah aimed to have Evangeline, Elijah had made such intentions obvious. He didn't stick around to see more, he couldn't watch as his brother took the only thing on earth that meant a damn to him.