[THE LAST DAY]

life is a game, play it.

    THE SCENT OF STRONG coffee and bacon woke Juliette up. She groaned as she slowly sat up, confusedly glancing around the room before remembering she had stayed at Elijah's last night.

No, nothing happened.

And no, she did not sleep in the same bed as Elijah (unfortunately)

Elijah knew that Juliette was still mad at Elena and the Salvatores. Considering everything that was going on, she also knew that she didn't want to be alone, so he offered to let her spend the night at his place.

They talked, ate some takeout, which Juliette had to beg for because Elijah is surprisingly very health-conscious even though he's a vampire. She also said she would pay for it but he didn't allow her to, so that was annoying but at least she got her takeout.

They also watched a movie, Titanic, which to Juliette's surprise, Elijah had never watched before.

So of course she immediately forced him to watch it because who hasn't watched the Titanic?

Then... they may have... cuddled... a tiny bit...

Only a little bit though!

And then she went to sleep in the guest room.

There was something about waking up in Elijah's apartment that felt different. Juliette actually had a good night's rest, for once, plus she didn't wake up with her heart feeling heavy. So that's cool.

Juliette got out of bed, she was wearing one of Elijah's shirts, and her hair was everywhere but she did not have the energy to fix it. It's too early.

She walked into the kitchen, spotting Elijah by the stove, wearing sweatpants and a white shirt. (he owes more clothes other than suits? What?!) He was brewing coffee and frying bacon and making pancakes.

"You cook?" She asked groggily, leaning against the counter, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the tiredness. "And you own pjs?"

Elijah glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her, taking in her dishevelled appearance. "Quite well." He replied as he flipped a pancake with precision. "I had a bit of a culinary awakening in Devonshire in 1768. My family spent a few years in England pretending to be noblemen. I am clearly gifted with the art of deception, Klaus, on the other hand, was less convincing."

She padded against the floor and stood next to him as he flipped a perfectly circular pancake and placed it onto the plate before pouring more batter into the frying pan. "And yes I own PJs, like a normal person would," Elijah added with a grin as he turned to her, looking her up and down.

"What?"

"What do you mean what?"

Juliette raised a brow in question and slight annoyance, he really was a pain. "I mean, why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, biting back a smile as he inched closer to her, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You look cute when you look a mess." He whispered, his voice gentle and soft. His eyes slowly trailed down from her messy blonde hair that was in a braid down to her odd fluffy socks.

Juliette looked away slightly as a blush crept onto her cheeks. "You think I look a mess? Wow. I am truly offended." She joked.

He shook his head with a chuckle, "You're skipping over the fact I called you cute."

"Oh right."

Elijah laughed, like genuinely laughed with his head tilted back, the sound was rich and sweet. It started her slightly, not because it was loud or jarring, but because it was genuine. Juliette barely heard him laugh because he was so serious all the time.

She thoroughly enjoyed watching him break free from the seriousness and relax.

"You're awfully domestic for a vampire," she muttered.

Elijah hummed as he plated up the bacon and pancakes, placing them on the island before turning back to her. "I try," He spoke as he once again looked her up and down. Then, he puckered his lips slightly and leaned closer, "Kiss?"

Juliette raised a brow, genuinely in shock that he even did that. "What have you done to deserve a kiss, hm?" She countered, also leaning forward as he continued to pucker his lips.

Elijah thought for a moment before gesturing to the breakfast on the island. "I made you breakfast. Is that not enough?"

Juliette tilted her head at him, the smallest grin curling at the edge of her lips. "Wow, you made me breakfast. Big deal. I've had breakfast made for me before."

Elijah leaned in closer, his face hovering inches away from hers. His voice dropped slightly. "I'm sure you have, but not by me."

Her breath hitched slightly and for once in her life, Juliette couldn't think of anything smart to say back to him. She didn't know what else to say. Because she did just... want to kiss him.

Juliette blinked up at him, very aware of how her heartbeat quickened, it was beating aggressively asking her chest. She wanted to laugh it off or make a joke out of this situation but... she just couldn't. Instead, her eyes dipped to his lips.

And that was the answer he needed.

Elijah leaned in, brushing his lips against her with a fervent softness. It wasn't desperate, it wasn't fast, it wasn't rushed. It was slow, careful. Like he was mesmerising everything.

Juliette's hand instinctively went to his chest, slightly clutching the fabric of his white t-shirt whilst he tugged her closer to him by her waist.

But obviously, it didn't last too long. Juliette pulled away first, slowly blinking up at him as she panted slightly. "Okay. That... that was okay." She swallowed, stepping back.

Elijah smiled, faintly as he raised a brow. "Just okay?"

"Yep. Breakfast." Juliette replied quickly before sitting down and beginning to eat. Elijah knew she was shy and awkward so he chuckled, then sat down next to her.

They ate in silence, not an uncomfortable silence, but rather, a domestic and calm one, it felt unsettling for everything, for once, to feel this way. But, she knew Elijah was the main reason for it, he just always made her feel this way, even though he was the epitome of chaos.

✧✧✧✧

AFTER BREAKFAST, JULIETTE FOUND herself sprawled out on Elijah's perfectly made bed. She was already dressed but was just waiting for him to hurry up, but he likes to take centuries to get ready.

He was deciding which tie to wear as the blonde watched him. She groaned loudly and lazily sat up, "How long does it take to pick a tie, they're all the same," Juliette complained making Elijah turn to face her, his top buttons still undone.

"They're not all the same and is all you do is complain?" Elijah countered.

Juliette gasped dramatically, clutching at her chest as she stood up. "How dare you, I never complain. I am a ray of sunshine." She joked with a grin.

Elijah raised a brow, a flicker of amusement in his expression as he chuckled, "Oh, definitely. Such a ray of sunshine." He teased as he stood directly in front of her, holding two ties in his hands.

Juliette narrowed her eyes at him, "I am."

"Sure," The original replied before looking down at the two ties he was holding. "Now help me pick which one to wear, I cannot decide." He gestured to the ties before glancing back at Juliette.

The blonde sighed heavily as she inspected both ties, which were nearly the same colour, maybe one shade off, but to Juliette, they were the same colour. "I'm struggling to find a difference between them,"

"Pick one, Juli."

"Fine, fine. This one." She replied as she picked up a random tie without much thought to it.

The original nodded and then returned to his closet to put the tie on. Juliette shook her head, flopping back onto the bed. As she stared at the ceiling, everything began to weigh down on her.

Klaus was in Mystic Falls. He was preparing for the ritual and he had already gone to extreme lengths to ensure the best outcome, to fully complete his transition to a hybrid, using Elena.

And Juliette. But nobody knows why she is needed.

Not like the Salvatores or Elena care why she's needed. Everyone only seemed to care about how to help Elena and how Elena is needed. But, not one person has tried or even bothered to figure out why Juliette was needed.

Nobody second-guessed when she started getting mind-numbing headaches that made her scream out in pain. Nobody second-guessed when she started hearing voices.

Juliette got called a liar by her own sister. 

All the blonde wanted to do was test out her magic she somehow inherited from an evil ancient witch, who by the way was tormenting Juliette.

Quite literally haunting her because of it.

Juliette didn't ask for a power.

She didn't ask for magic.

She always wanted to stay the hell out of the supernatural world, but not become supernatural.

And now she was being tormented by an evil psycho witch from her bloodline. And Juliette didn't know how to stop it.

She didn't know how to stop the headaches or the voices.

But why was she being punished by Seraphina, Elena and the Salvatore brothers for something she didn't ask for?

It wasn't fair.

Juliette was done. She was done being the punching bag for them. She wasn't going to stand around and jump to Elena's beck and call every time she needed help.

If Elena wasn't going to help her or believe Juliette's issues. Then Juliette wasn't going to help her.

She's only still involved with this Klaus mess because Juliette is somehow needed for the ritual, she just needed to find out.

"You okay?" Elijah's voice pulled her out of her stupor, making her sit up and glance at the vampire who had emerged from the wardrobe.

Juliette just nodded before lowering her gaze to the bracelet on her wrist.

The bed dipped slightly as Elijah sat next to her, his thigh pressed up against hers. The blonde could feel his gaze on her, but she kept looking down at her wrist.

"You can talk to me, you know?" The original spoke softly, his voice a comforting reminder that he is the only one who is there for her.

Juliette sighed heavily, keeping her eyes lower as she opened her mouth to talk. "I just... I'm so annoyed with Elena and the Salvatores. They refuse to listen to me and they won't believe me when I told them about Seraphina tormenting me and everything. Instead, Elena shouted at me saying I could've helped when Klaus was in Alaric's body."

Elijah's expression darkened slightly before he spoke, "But you had only known you were a witch for less than a few days then. There was nothing you could've done." He comforted, his hand soothingly rubbing her back.

"I know. That's what I told her but apparently that isn't good enough," Juliette replied as she shrugged, "Nothing is good enough for her."

Elijah stayed silent as he listened to her rant, knowing she needed to let it all out.

"One of the reasons I didn't tell them is because they use Bonnie for everything, not caring if she's powerful enough. They just use her for whatever problem they have. And I don't want to be someone they only come to when there was a problem a vampire alone couldn't fix."

"I also kept everything to myself, the voices and the headaches, even the dreams because I didn't want to burden everyone with my issues especially when everything with Klaus was going on. I know they didn't need more issues so I kept it to myself even though I desperately needed help."

Juliette didn't even realise it, but tears brimmed in her eyes, some stray ones rolling down her cheeks.

"I didn't ask for any of this. But it's happened to me and I'm just trying to deal with everything one by one. But Elena makes me feel so guilty for even thinking of my issues instead of hers." The blonde continued to rant, the tears still flowing.

Elijah reached over, brushing her hair behind her ear and wiping the tears as he listened. "You shouldn't feel guilty. Elena isn't the only one going through something."

Juliette sniffled, "I know, but she just makes me feel that way. She's always had everyone's attention after my parents died. Not like I'm jealous of that, it's just annoying that nobody bothered to help me or ask if I needed help because they were too focused on stupid Elena."

"Except you, you're the only one who has helped me," She added with a sniffle.

Elijah smiled softly, continuing to wipe the tears away from her cheeks. "How could I not. We're soulmates, after all." He replied gently.

But that only made her cry more.

"And then there's that. They definitely won't believe me if I tell them that. They probably would just think I'm betraying them or something."

The original nodding along to what she was saying, "I mean, do you have to tell them?"

The blonde paused for a moment, thinking about what he said before shaking her head. "No. I don't." She replied, her eyes briefly meeting his before she looked away, sniffling.

"Then there you go. It'll be our little secret."

Juliette nodded as she wiped her tears, feeling stupid for even crying in the first place. "Sorry." She mumbled as she used her sleeve to wipe her face.

"You don't have to apologise for crying."

Juliette shrugged as she sniffled, finally looking at the vampire. "I feel like I have to,"

Elijah smiled softly at her, leaning closer as he brushed her hair behind her ear. "Not with me you don't." She replied before pecking her cheek gently.

The blonde smiled slightly, leaning into his touch as he pulled her into an embrace.

"Thank you,"

"Anytime, Juli."

After a few minutes, Juliette had finally calmed down as she found comfort in the Originals' arms, like genuine comfort. He immediately made her feel better.

And then her phone buzzed.

She groaned as she pulled away from Elijah, reaching over to the top of the bed and grabbing her phone. Elijah rested his chin on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist, reading the message as well.

ELENA:
Come to the Salvatores, with Elijah.

"Oh great. Another demand."

✧✧✧✧

Hi guys!

Another chapter, who am I?

So, my boyfriend broke up with me today. 😀 so i'm kinda in a weird state right now. But things happen. And no matter how much you try, things still happen.

I'm just kinda in a weird place, I've cried. A lot. but that's okay. And now I'm okay-ish, trying my best.

Anyway, I don't want to get demotivated and stop writing because I've been writing loads lately. So I'm gonna try my best but I do apologise in advance if I stop,

I'm going to try my best. That's all I can do!

Hope you all are having a better day than I am right now!!! You deserve a good day!!

Byeee

- 2/08/25