Elijah Mikaelson Collection

Breakable Facade

For most of the night, Elijah stood there just watching Y/N interact with anyone and everyone that came up to her during the unnecessary party that his brother was hosting. He had watched as she smiled and from time to time, with the occasional laughter, her head would tilt back. Watching her like that had caused a small smile to form on his lips. She looked as if she was happy and enjoying herself, but he knew better.

With every smile that pulled at her lips, it never reached its full potential. Every laugh ended with the slightest frown that her group of friends seemed to miss every time. It was also the way her Y/E/C eyes didn't light up as they did whenever someone had asked her about something she loved. He could even see it in the moments where their eyes would meet, those eyes he had grown to love so much had seemed to dim. The mask she wore tonight had seemed to fool everyone but him.

He had first noticed it a few weeks ago that something had been off with her. The bubbly personality that she always had lessened with each passing day. Her interest in things she normally loved seemed to be gone. The woman that enjoyed spending time with the family, wanted more time to herself with each passing day. There were days where he had to coax her out from under the heavy blankets she laid under just to make sure she ate something.

He had expected her to stay hidden tonight. While he himself had never experienced such things, he knew she just needed someone to be there with her. To not push her into making her want to be happy. He had planned to make his appearance and not long after he would have joined her to keep her company. But when he saw her come down the stairs dressed in a the black dress she had hanging in her closet for this very occasion, he knew she was trying to keep up with the sake of appearance just to keep her friends from going and finding her in such a state.

Once the guests began to leave, it wasn't long after that he found her making her way back up the stairs. He excused himself from the conversation he was currently having before he made his way after her.

As he entered their shared room, he could hear the sigh of relief pass her lips as she haphazardly kicked her heels off towards the corner by the closet. She moved over to the vanity and began pulling off the jewelry and the bobby pins that were in her hair. Once the last pin was found and tossed on the vanity, her shoulders slumped slightly, as if all the tension released with the last one.

"Overwhelming night?" He asked softly as he closed the door behind him. He watched as she simply nodded her response as she began to pull her dress straps off her shoulders to get out of it.

He was used to her being silent at times like this. He'd get a sentence or two here and there, but tonight had been the most she had been speaking with anyone, himself included. While there were moments that it had become frustrating as he wanted to speak with her, he was a patient man, never making anything worse.

While Y/N had heard Elijah move about the room, her mind was currently lost with in itself. The last few hours had been exhausting to her. But she knew if she hadn't done it, she wouldn't be able to just come back to the comfort of their room. The others would be surrounding her, almost suffocating her and all she wanted was to be left alone. The only exception to that rule was Elijah.

Once the dress was off and draped over the chair that had been next to her vanity, she began to reach for the sweat pants and old t-shirt she had been wearing earlier. But before her hand could reach the material, Elijah gently grabbed a hold of her hand. Her eyes met his as she raised an eyebrow. He tilted his head towards the attached bathroom.

"A bath has been made." He said softly. "Niklaus needs me for a moment, but I'll be back." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, causing a twitch of a smile to form on Y/N's lips.