You pressed your back against the wall trying to see through the darkness that surrounded you. You'd spent the evening at the Grill having a drink and dinner with some friends you hadn't seen in a while. Though that was their choice, not yours. Once you'd become friends with the Mikaelsons most of your other acquaintances had begun to avoid you. You weren't too put off by the trade. The Mikaelsons were fiercely loyal. Even Klaus. You couldn't say that about all of your old friends.

Recently you'd moved in with the Originals as you spent most of your time there anyway. The entire family had left town on business and you had elected to stay behind. While you didn't regret that decision, you were currently regretting your decision to walk to the Grill. It had been the practical choice as it kept you from having to worry about how much you drank. It was only ten minutes into your walk home when you realized you were being followed.

You'd quickly ducked into the alley you were now in as you waited for the person shadowing you to pass by. Your hand snaked into the bag over your shoulder and wrapped around the stake inside. Footsteps shuffled ever nearer and you tightened your grip. Before you could react, an arm pressed against your throat holding you against the wall. Unless you were mistaken this was a human in front of you so you held off on using the stake. For now.

"Who are you?" you hissed through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"

"I want you, Y/N Y/L/N. You're the Originals puppet." He sneered at you. 

Your heart skipped a beat at the mention of your friends. "What does a human want with the Originals?"

He smirked. "Not human, sweetheart. Hunter. And you're going to tell me how to kill them."

"That's easy. They can't be killed. Sorry, not sorry."

He applied more pressure to your throat and the edges of your vision started to go black. "I really wish you hadn't said that. See, you're a pretty little thing and I hate to hurt you but I have ways to get the information I want. And years of practice."

He smacked you with his free hand and your head snapped to the side. Without thinking too much about it, you tightened your grip on the stake and shoved it into his stomach. He immediately released you and stumbled back. You ran toward the end of the alley only to have a hand wrap around your ankle and pull you down. A grunt left your lips as you crashed into the hard ground. Pain flared through your arms and knees as the impact jolted through you and scraped skin away. 

You flipped yourself over to face your attacker as he crawled over you, his face contorted with anger and pain. "I'm a hunter, not a vampire you dumb bitch." Spittle sprayed your face as he spat out the words. 

You struggled and twisted beneath him desperate to get away. Pain exploded through your face as he punched you. Before you could recover he did it again. As you tried again to get away from him, his hand wrapped around your throat. He lifted slightly off of you as he put more strength into choking you. It gave you just enough room to jerk a knee into his crotch. He involuntarily rolled to the side and you were quick to scramble past him. 

Once more, you wrapped your hand around the stake he discarded when he pulled it from his stomach. You spun to face him as he tried to crawl over you again. This time you shoved the stake into his chest. He gasped as he struggled to breathe and you yanked your weapon out of his body. "A stake through the heart kills hunters too, asshole," you said as you shoved it back into his chest, making sure to pierce his heart this time. 

He collapsed on top of you and you shoved him off with a curled lip. Pushing yourself upright you moved away from the body until your back leaned against the wall of the building behind you. Pulling your phone from your bag, you pushed the call button to redial the last call you made. It would be one of the Mikaelsons though you couldn't remember which one. Frankly, it didn't matter, though you hoped it wasn't Kol. He was a bit impulsive to put it mildly.

"Hello, Y/N," Elijah's smooth voice came over the line. Relief flooded through you. 

You cleared your throat. "Have you guys made it back yet?" you asked, not wanting to freak them out if they were no where near home. You cringed at how rough and ragged your voice sounded. Your foot lashed out and kicked the corpse in front of you. Asshole. You hoped he hadn't done any permanent damage to your vocal cords. 

"We arrived an hour ago and are anxious to see you. What has happened to your voice?"

"A hunter attacked me." 

"Are you all right? Where are you? Where is he now?" His voice had taken on the clipped tone he got when he was irritated or upset. You could hear the others in the background asking him what was going on.

"I'll be fine. Him not so much. I'd been walking about ten minutes or so when it happened." With that you hung up. You knew he wouldn't be happy about it, but your throat hurt and you didn't want to talk any more. Not right then. 

Within minutes, Elijah and Klaus were both crouched in front of you. The elder Original brushed your hair behind your ear as his eyes looked you over. "What happened?"

"We can discuss that later," Klaus said as he stood, pulling you up with him. "Let's get you home, love. Kol will take care of this and meet us there."

You nodded, afraid if you opened your mouth you'd start crying. You stumbled a couple of steps before Elijah swept you up into his arms. "Close your eyes, sweetling." You smiled at the nickname before draping your arms around his neck. You buried your head against his chest and sighed in contentment. Regardless of your current predicament, you took the opportunity to enjoy your closeness to the elegant Original.

He sped you home and up to his room, pausing only long enough to open the front door. Heading immediately to the bathroom, he sat you on the counter. The soft glow of light filled the room as he flipped on one of the switches. Your eyes followed him as he came back and stood between your legs. His hand cupped your face as his eyes inventoried your injuries. The muscle in his jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth. 

His thumb caressed the bruise on your cheek lightly and you winced at even the light touch. His eyes darted to yours. Your gazes locked and, almost involuntarily, you leaned toward him. It was always like this with him. Whenever he was near you gravitated toward him. There was barely an inch between you when Elijah broke eye contact, cleared his throat, and stepped back. "We need to get you cleaned up, sweetling. Let me take care of you."

You nodded and your cheeks flared. How could you have almost kissed him? He was taking care of you because you were his friend. It didn't mean he cared about you the way you cared about him. Unable to meet his eyes again, you watched his hands as he carefully wiped the blood from your hands. He pressed a cool cloth lightly against the bruising on your face. It was tender but you didn't think anything was broken. When he moved to cleaning the scrapes on your arms, you squeezed your eyes shut and hissed. 

When he finished he pressed a kiss to your forehead. "Stay here."

You opened your eyes to watch him as he left the room. When he returned, he gave you a soft smile and you averted your gaze again. "Put this on so I can look at your knees," he said as he laid a t-shirt on the counter beside you. He left shutting the door as he went. 

You hopped down and quickly stripped from your dirty, bloody clothes. The shirt was covered in blood that had soaked through to your bra. You wrinkled your nose and dropped them both in the trashcan. Using the rag Elijah left on the counter you wiped the remaining traces of blood from your skin. Your jeans weren't near as bloody, but the knees had been torn out from your fall. They joined the rest of your clothes in the trash.

The shirt Elijah brought you was one of the oversized t-shirts you lounged in. It hit you at mid thigh though you typically wore it with a pair of boxers or sleep pants. Having neither, you shrugged and opened the door. You showed off your knees to the Original waiting on the other side. They were red but you didn't see any open wounds.

Elijah arched a brow and hummed as he looked you over. Stepping closer, he used his fingers to tilt your head back and examine your neck. "He is fortunate you dispatched him so readily. My siblings and I would have made him suffer."

He lowered your chin and your gazes locked again. Your heart sped as his fingers lingered. He had to know what he did to you, had to hear your heart race anytime he was close to you. A knock came at the door. The two of you ignored it and kept your focus on each other. 

"Open up, Elijah. You have to share her you know. We all want to make certain she's all right," came Kol's voice. 

Elijah sighed and rolled his eyes before walking over and opening the door to his brother. Kol ignored him completely and made a bee line straight for you. "Hello, darling. How are you feeling?" 

You crossed your arms over your chest. "Annoyed. He ruined my favorite pair of jeans." You frowned upon hearing how rough your voice still was. At least the pain had subsided some what. 

"Throat sore?" he asked. 

You nodded and he looked over his shoulder to Elijah who had come over to stand beside the two of you. "Isn't there anything we can do for that?" Kol asked. They didn't bother asking if you wanted blood as they knew you wouldn't drink it unless you were seriously injured. 

"Whiskey. Whiskey fixes everything," you told them.

Kol laughed. "That's my girl." He turned his back to you. "Climb up and we shall retreat to the living room where my other two siblings are impatiently awaiting your arrival. It also happens to be where we keep our copious amounts of alcohol."

Before you could say or do anything, Elijah stepped between the two of you. "I believe Y/N has had enough excitement for one evening. She can tell us her story tomorrow. For now, I will see to her drink and get her settled."

Kol turned with a smirk and began walking backward toward the door. "Klaus won't be happy."

"I fail to see what difference a few hours makes. The man is dead. We'll talk about it when her throat has had a chance to recover. It is not up for discussion. Not even with Niklaus." Elijah was always the epitome of elegance, but you secretly loved it when he got bossy. It was a good look for him.

Kol laughed as he backed out of the room and shut the door. "No Y/N for us," his raised voice came through the door as he yelled at the two siblings that were downstairs. "Elijah is finally making his move on her."

You bit your lip to keep from laughing as Elijah's shoulders tensed and his head dropped forward. "Sometimes I greatly mourn the fact my mother didn't stop having children after my birth," he said in a low tone, though you could hear him just fine.

You took a step forward and wrapped your arms around his waist while laying your head on his back. His hands ran over your arms and his fingers linked with yours. After a moment, he turned and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you tightly against his chest. "My heart ached when you called and said you'd been attacked. And it wasn't because I was worried for my friend. It was because I wasn't there to protect the woman I love from being harmed."

You looked up in surprise. You'd thought perhaps he fancied kissing you or might ask you on a date. It never entered your wildest dreams that he might feel as deeply for you as you did for him. You reached up and rested your hand against his cheek.

His eyes searched yours. "We don't have to do this now, Y/N. You've been through a traumatic experience this evening. I would rather you not make any hasty decisions."

"Hasty? I've been in love with you for months. Surely you could hear my heart racing every time I was around you."

He pursed his lips. "I was rarely around you without one of my other siblings. I had no guarantee it was I you harbored feelings for. In fact, Kol was quite certain it was him."

You hummed. "Kol is quite certain the queen of England fancies him. In this case however, he knew full well it was you I liked."

"Did he now?" Elijah all but growled.

Grinning, you wove your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and pulled him forward so you could finally get the kiss you'd wanted for so long. It was soft and sweet and full of the passion you had for one another. Pulling back you looked into his eyes again. "I love you, Elijah Mikaelson."

"And I love you, Y/N Y/L/N. Forever and For Always."