The above gif was submitted as a request from h3110o

Enjoy!

***

"Please, Y/N?" Rebekah practically begged as she bounced on her feet in your kitchen. She'd shown up early and you'd let her in before shuffling over to the coffee maker. The pot had just finished brewing and you poured yourself a generous portion. Once you were leaned against the counter with your mug in hand, the blonde had immediately started in.

She wanted you to go shopping with her. The Mikaelsons were having a party and, while she didn't need a new dress, she insisted you did. You sighed and sat the mug on the counter behind you.

"There are two problems with this, Bekah. One, I had no intention of going to the party and two, I hate shopping."

The vampire looked almost disgusted at your admission. You'd try to explain it to her, but she'd never understand. You were on the heavier side and shopping was such a chore. It wasn't that you were embarrassed about your weight, but you were practical. They just didn't make pretty things for girls like you. Designers seemed to think that anyone over a size 10 wanted to wear potato sacks with weird patterns on them. Rebekah didn't have to worry with any of that. She was stunning. Her biggest problem was trying to decide between too many choices while you might spend hours and not find a single thing that you liked.

"You always go shopping with me. Why didn't you tell me you hated it?" The blonde was almost pouting.

"I don't mind shopping for you. Shopping for you is easy. Shopping for me is a pain."

"What? Why?"

You literally face palmed before smiling at her. "Bekah. Honey. I'm just a bit bigger than you. It's harder to find stuff for me. Especially dresses."

"Ridiculous," she snapped immediately and rolled her eyes. "And as for the other..." She pulled out her phone and sent a message to someone.

You just sipped at your coffee and watched her over your mug. Finally, she smirked in what could only be described as triumph. She kept her eyes glued to her phone as she walked to your front door.

"You should have just gone shopping with me, Y/N." And with that, she was gone.

You blinked several times before shaking your head and setting your mug in the sink. "Strange girl," you murmured to yourself just as another knock sounded at your door.

"Seriously, Bekah?" you grumbled though you wore a smile on your face. You opened the door only to gasp when you were greeted not with your best friend but her older, hot as sin brother. Holy Shit. "Elijah. I wasn't expecting you." Hopefully he would attribute your suddenly racing heart to surprise.

The corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile and his eyes ran over you from head to toe. "Hello, Y/N. Lovely to see you, as always."

Suddenly realizing you were standing in front of him in nothing but a long sleep shirt and socks you gave a little scream and slammed the door. You could hear him chuckle through the door. "Just a minute." You threw open the closet next to you and yanked out your long raincoat and wrapped it around you before tying it off.

A glance in the mirror had you gasping in horror. Your hair was a mess and mascara smudged your eyes. Could you possibly look any worse? A swipe of your fingers took care of the worst of the makeup and your feeble attempt at least made your hair look passable. After taking a deep breath, you opened the door again. "Sorry. I thought you were Bekah." Heat flooded your face. Why did you always make a fool of yourself in front of this man? Why not Klaus?

"If that's how you greet my sister, perhaps I should accompany her to your home more often." The teasing lilt to his voice had a tremor moving through you. Was Elijah Mikaelson flirting? With you? Not possible.

You cleared your throat and stepped back from the door. "Would you like to come in?"

He nodded and came inside. You shut the door behind him and followed him into the kitchen. You always hung out in your kitchen. It was your favorite room in the house. When he simply studied you with pursed lips, you decided to speak up. "Is there something I can do for you, Elijah?"

He licked his lips. "Rebekah tells me you are not coming to the party this evening. May I ask why not?"

You shrugged. "You guys don't need me there. You'll have a house full. I'll just be hanging around on the fringes anyway and one of you will feel the need to entertain me. It's better if I just stay home. Netflix is calling my name, anyway."

Elijah didn't appear impressed with your answer. "You seem to be under the impression that you are an afterthought on the guest list. On the contrary, yours was the first name added that was not myself or one of my siblings. Many could fail to attend and not be missed. You, however, are not one of them."

Any argument you could make against that would only sound petty. You sighed. "Fine, let's say I buy that. I still don't have anything to wear."

"I'm personally fond of the shirt you're wearing under that ridiculous coat."

"Elijah Mikaelson," you scolded.

He laughed again. He seemed to do that a lot more lately than he used to. It was probably because his mother was dead. She was a bitch. "Then we shall buy something for you to wear, Y/N."

The 'we' didn't escape your notice. You huffed a laugh. "Elijah, I find it impossible to believe that even you with your vast resources will find something that I am happy with in the time we have."

He narrowed his eyes and leaned toward you, that smirk stretching his lips once more. "Are you challenging me?"

You found yourself returning the smile. "So, what if I am? You'll lose."

"Will I? Interesting. A wager then?"

"What sort of wager?" You'd been friends with the Mikaelsons for too long not to suspect he was up to something. You were being cautious.

"If you are correct and our shopping excursion is fruitless, I will pay for your Netflix subscription for the next year. In addition, I will personally make sure your snack cabinet is filled weekly."

You bit your lip and his eyes flashed. It was tempting, but not enough. You shook your head. "All that, plus one movie night a week. I pick the film. You are of course excused for supernatural drama."

"Fine."

He agreed entirely too quickly. You should have asked for more, but honestly you couldn't think of anything better than cuddling with Elijah and watching movies even if it was purely platonic on his part. "And what do you want if you win?"

"When I win, you will of course come to the party tonight, but you will come as my date."

Your brows snapped together as you frowned. That didn't make any sense.

Elijah grinned and stepped closer to you. You swallowed. "And you will stay by my side all evening. You will not hide in the corner or in Niklaus's study or my library. You will be sociable."

Oh, god. You rolled your eyes. "Fine."

He held up a finger. "That's not all, dear Y/N. I, too, desire a weekly movie night. I will pick the film and you will come to my home to watch it."

"What's the catch?"

He shrugged. "No catch." He ran one finger along the edge of the counter. "Have I mentioned my affinity for horror movies?"

"Damn it, 'lijah." You didn't hate horror movies, but they made you jumpy. Watching them in a house full of vampires that loved to tease you was unlikely to help. Finally, you grumbled. "Fine."

Elijah grinned in triumph.

"It's not like you're going to win anyway."

***

There was one store that you loved. In fact, the vast majority of the clothes you owned were from there, but they weren't dresses. They weren't expensive by any stretch but they were a little pricier than you liked so you tended to hit their clearance when you could. But you weren't paying today, Elijah was. You knew there was no point arguing with him. He'd just compel the clerk not to take your money.

You'd found a couple of skirts to try, but it was Elijah that found the dress. When he showed it to you, you gasped just a little. It was beautiful, but not something you'd ever considered wearing before. It looked like something straight out of the forties or fifties, from the cut to the pattern. Normally you wouldn't even try it on, but you shrugged and took it from him. Why not try it?

You saved it for last, knowing it wouldn't fit right. You wanted to postpone the disappointment. But it slid on smoothly and fell gracefully. After smoothing down the fabric you finally looked at yourself in the mirror. Your eyes wide, you spun and took in your appearance.

He won. Holy shit. He actually won.

***

Elijah tapped the glass in his hand and glanced up the stairs for the hundredth time. What could possibly be taking you and his sister so long? You hadn't let him see you in the dress, but you assured him that he'd won. Surprisingly, you hadn't argued with him at all about him not only buying the dress but getting your shoes and accessories as well. He was a bit disgruntled that you hadn't let him see any of it.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were nervous, brother," Niklaus said as he stepped up beside him.

"Thank you, Niklaus. Most helpful as always." Elijah straightened the cuffs of his suit.

The hybrid hummed. "You do know that you could just tell her you love her? I am quite certain she feels the same."

Elijah sighed. "Are you finished?"

His brother chuckled and held up his hands. "All right, I'll go, brother."

Elijah watched him walk off before shooting another glance up the stairs. Still nothing.

"Hello, Elijah," Kol said from behind him.

"Is there something I can do for you?"

He shook his head. "No. Rebekah just assured me that you'll be speechless when you see her. I didn't want to miss it."

Elijah closed his eyes and counted silently in his head. His irritation came from nerves, so he was attempting not to snap at Kol.

A hand rested on his shoulder and Elijah looked to find his youngest brother grinning like a fool while he looked up the stairs. "Klaus is right. You should tell her you love her before someone beats you to it."

Elijah turned then, his eyes going wide as he caught sight of you. You were perfection. The dress he'd picked for you caressed your curves just as he hoped they would. You'd paired it with wide heels and your hair had been done in a style to match the dress. A flower the same color as your shoes was pinned in your hair. He couldn't stop staring at you.

Kol nudged him. "You have a little drool—"

"Fuck off, Kol." Elijah moved up the stairs to meet you.

***

You looked up then from where you'd been watching your footing to make sure you didn't trip. The look of awe on Elijah's face made you smile. That was all you'd wanted. To know that for just one moment you'd stunned him. What an amazing feeling.

He took your hand in his and turned it to place a gentle kiss on your wrist. When he met your gaze again, he offered you a soft smile. "You look stunning."

"I don't know that I'd go that far, but thank you, Elijah." You shifted your hips just a bit so the dress flared out at the hem. This dress was awesome.

"There's something I think I need to explain to you, Y/N."

You tilted your head and waited for him to continue. He linked his fingers with yours and led you down the rest of the steps and into Klaus's study. Releasing you, he shut the door and began to pace the floor. Finally, he stopped and looked at you. "I don't care if you hide."

"Huh?"

"The bet. The only part I cared about was you being here as my date. I wanted you to stay beside me simply so I wouldn't be without your company. It was a win-win situation anyway. If I lost, I was guaranteed one night a week with you in my arms."

"That's why you added that to your terms? The movie night here?"

He nodded once.

You took a breath for courage. "Just tell me plainly what you want to say, Elijah. If you don't, I'll just think I imagined whatever I infer from this conversation."

He closed the distance between you and placed his hands on your upper arms. "Very well. I love you. I have for quite some time now. If you tell me I have a chance with you, this will be the happiest day I've had in a thousand years."

You closed your eyes and chuckled. "I've been head over heels from the first time I met you, 'Lijah. I don't wear that raincoat for just anyone, you know?"

"I would hope not." He moved closer as he spoke and searched your gaze. Whatever he found there must have been satisfactory because you were suddenly being kissed. And it was fantastic.

The two of you explored each other's mouths for a bit before Elijah leaned back. "We could skip the party and hide in my room. Just you, me and Netflix."

You took his hand and tugged him toward the door as you grinned at him. "And waste this dress? I think not."