Willow ↠ Elijah Mikaelson

64

"Oh my god. Bradley, no, stay with me" Willow had dropped to the floor, her looming over his twitching body.

Bradley was still alive, still trying to fight off the excruciating pain. But that wasn't what was wrong, he had lost a lot of blood, a hell of a lot of blood. And no matter how much he fought, how much he tried, everything was out of his control.

"Hold on, I'm calling Elijah" she took her phone out of her pocket, Willow's shaking fingers tried dialling Elijah's number.

"No" he had managed to find the strength to just move his arm enough to take her by surprise so she'd drop it "no vampire"

He paused with every word, blood trickled from his mouth. This man was a mess, a physical mess. But Willow knew what he meant, no vampire blood, it was something he did abide by religiously.

"But you will die" Her hands tried to reach for her phone, the blood still wet, still warm and spreading all around. "You can't die"

"I died the day I lost you" he let out, just making her heart break all over again. "W-was I ever loved by you?" He asked

Willow grasped his hand with both of hers, covering his skin in more blood than there originally was. She was wasting time, why wasn't she calling Elijah? Why wasn't she calling anyone?

Maybe deep down she really and truly knew what he wanted, that he wouldn't take any vampire blood given to him. And so she'd prefer to spend his last moments with him, her attention 100% directed towards him, making these moments something she'd look back on and hope he died a happy man. Minus the pain and the fact that it was her that stabbed him.

It pained her to see him this way. It really did, but he had made his choice and she would never ever want anyone to force her to do something she didn't want to. She needed to allow him the dignity of this choice, feed on vampire blood and go against the morals he had made, or die as God intended him to.

"It's Ashley" Willow had began to stroke his forehead and try to soothe him, stopping him from looking down at his stomach, his chest "and you were my whole life"

He managed to crack a smile, just a small one, he didn't have much strength to do any more "we never did get marred, huh?" Though he didn't make much movement as he spoke, Willow could vividly imagine him sitting on the chair and shrugging his shoulder as he said it. This can't be happening, not again, not to her.

"We did" she nodded, biting her lip and knowing that Bradley was in the state that he would probably believe every word she was saying. Willow brushed his hair back, her fingers constantly moving on his hair and his forehead. Her hair draping down and just skimming his cheek. "We did get married, in that church we always wanted, everyone we wanted managed to turn up, even your cousins in England; they all showed, just like we dreamt" Willow created a scenario, imagining everything that should have happened if Elijah and the Mikaelson's had never returned to her life.

Bradley knew what she was doing, but he found some sort of solace listening to the girl he loved talk about their future. He could see it, taste it, it's what he had always wanted, what she was saying.

"Your 5 year old cousin, Jen, the cute one, she caught the bouquet and it was such a lovely day. We cut the cake and your dad danced with me at the party afterwards, he was so embarrassing, I couldn't help but laugh" Willow carried on "you wanted to take me away to Paris for our honeymoon, but on your salary and mine, we couldn't. So we settled for the Grand Canyon, where you asked me to marry you, and it was just as good as France"

"Eventually we got home and returned to our normal life, I quit working at the cafe and started studying medicine at college, you were so proud. And once everything in our lives was steady, when we bought a house just twenty minutes away from where we met, and we had had two gorgeous children, Holly and little Christopher" Willow made up everything, it sounded like a life she used to want, everything and anything went into it. Bradley was fading quickly, every so often she'd nudge him and try to keep him awake, hoping Elijah or someone will stumble upon them and force the vampire blood down his throat.

"They grew up, Christopher became a doctor, he had a thing about trying to save people's lives and Holly became a Lawyer and we were so proud. They eventually left home and had children of their own, which allowed us enough time and space to move away to Florida and retire, they visited us whenever they were on holiday, it was a good life"

"We'd sit on the porch every night and watch the sun go down; you'd look at me, and I'd look at you and we both realise how much we've changed in the years we've been together. My hair had gone grey and you had lost all of yours, my legs might not have been able to work as well as they did, and you had arthritis in your bones. But you'd always tell me how beautiful I look with the sun setting in my eyes, you'd make me feel young again" Willow's eyes were constantly watering as she rested her forehead on his. "Thank you for making my life worth living" she whispered to him "you saved me"

And at that point, when she didn't feel him twitch, or blink or breathe. Willow knew he had truly gone.

Belong - Cary Brothers