𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 | 𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍 𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄 [𝟐]

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

CHAPTER EIGHT | O COME, ALL YE FAITHUL

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

AS RILEY'S EYES SLOWLY BEGAN TO FLUTTER OPEN, SHE FELT A HAND BRUSH A STRAND OF HER STRAWBERRY-BLONDE HAIR FROM HER FACE. Her eyes fully to see Elijah laying there with a smile on his face and in that moment, she remembered back to everything that had happened last night. Part of her felt awful for sleeping with Elijah, but the other part felt exhilarated— like she was free.

"Morning." Riley whispered softly in a groggy tone of voice whilst she rubbed her eyes. "Have you been awake long?"

"A while." Elijah mused affectionately before his eyes drifted to her phone that was placed on the night stand beside her. "Long enough to listen to your phone and its incessant buzzing. Someone was clearly rather desperate to get a hold of you last night."

With furrowed brows, Riley sat upright and grabbed her phone. She scrolled down the lock screen to see the dozens of missed calls from Stefan, Damon and even Caroline. "You know what?" Riley then placed her phone back onto the nightstand beside her. "I'm not there. It's not my problem."

"Riley, what exactly is it that you're running from?" Elijah blurted out as he turned on his side to stare at her with concerned eyes.

"What makes you think I'm running from something, huh?" Riley playfully raised an eyebrow as she too laid on her side so they were now face-to-face.

"I am a thousand years old, I've ran from many things in my time and I can tell when someone's running from something."

"Riley? Are you awake?" Gwen's voice echoed from outside the bedroom door, immediately causing Riley's eyes to widen.

"I, uh—" Riley jolted upright, shoving Elijah's clothes into his hands just before she pointed toward the bathroom door which was connected to her guest bedroom. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm up." Once Elijah was out of sight and in the bathroom, Riley exhaled.

Gwen pushed the bedroom door open with a pointed look on her face as she pulled her dressing gown over her. "You were out drinking last night, weren't you?" Her grandmother shook her head before Riley could even deny it. "Made quite a racket when you got in, too."

"What—" The strawberry-blonde furrowed her brows.

Gwen gave her granddaughter a knowing look, before the hard look on her face softened and she chuckled. "I'm only joking. I was once young, too, you know?" She wandered over and sat beside Riley on the bed. "It's clear that you're hurting, and it's okay to blow off a little steam once in a while."

Riley nodded in agreement, her eyes locked with her grandmother's. "God. I have really missed you."

"I've missed you, too, darling." Gwen pressed a gentle kiss against her granddaughter's forehead, then chuckled. "And, If you're going to bring stray men home, at least offer them breakfast before they decide to leave."