Grace - Elijah Mikaelson -

Chapter 70

The moments after this particularly pleasurable incident of course had to be quite awkward. Grace had thought that here, in the confined space of his bed, they were the same people they had been back in Mystic Falls. But both of them had gravely changed, they'd become darker, rougher. Maybe that was why they'd been in perfect harmony with each other. 

Now that the ecstasy and adrenaline had vanished, they were back to their very tensed state. To be honest it was worse than before. While Elijah wanted to hold her in his arms afterwards and cuddle close, Grace was quick to free herself out of his embrace and stand up. 

Gathering her scattered closes, she felt Elijah's gaze on her, a hurt expression obvious on his face. Grace simply felt embarrassed. She couldn't say that she regretted doing this, but the aftermath was quite annoying. 

"You want to leave?" 

His voice was serious. He felt a harsh loss when she broke the contact and fled from his arms. There had been this tiny glimpse of hope that things could go back to how they'd used to be. 

"Yes, of course. I meant what I said. Cuddling and sleeping here isn't part of the deal." 

That's exactly why Grace liked one night stands. At least those guys didn't want to talk afterwards. She started to understand why sleeping with an ex was a bad idea. But on the other hand it was so disturbingly good. 

"Enlighten me, what exactly is part of the deal, then?" 

The Original's lips were pressed into a thin line. He was upset by what had just happened. For this precious time he spent with her he had been close to happy and now pain took over again. It felt like the thin bond they established shattered all over again. 

"First of all, stop being so....you. I'm not a fool, Elijah. Have you really thought I could just go back to normal? After all this time, I'm starting to heal, to get over what you've done to me. Can you see why it is a particularly dumb idea to do...this?" 

She motioned for the bed. Elijah sat up and took her hand in his. 

"Grace, I know you. It's..."

Suddenly she yanked her hand away from his. 

"You don't know a thing about me. Stop pretending like you actually care about how I feel. If you really did, you wouldn't make it that hard for me now." 

She hissed, turned on her heel and left the flat. Elijah heard her footsteps on the floor above him and he sighed, covering his face with his hands. He actually managed to destroy it all over again. 

...

The mood was cold as ice when they together left for Marcel's an hour later. They didn't speak a word, but at least they were civilized enough to walk side by side. Both were deeply lost in their own thoughts and highly tensed because of the other's presence. 

They just shared a look when they heard shouting coming from the former warehouse. Witches were gathered around Josephine and yelled for a certain 'Eva'. It looked ironically like a medieval mob with forks and fire on a witch hunt. 

And of course Rebekah Mikaelson was the center of attention, chin raised, foolishly brave.

"Take her."

Josephine stated, but before the witches could lay a finger on Rebekah, Grace and Elijah angrily pushed through the mass, fortunately for them they made space for the Original and the younger vampire. 

"That won't be necessary." 

Elijah stated deadly calm. The witches seemed to know that this tone was reserved for people he won't hesitate to kill. They positioned themselves in front of Rebekah with Marcel.