Grace - Elijah Mikaelson -

Chapter 4

Grace closed the door after Elijah left. She stood still for a moment and thought about what had just happened  and smiled. He was damn attractive and a gentleman at that. She really looked forward to working with him and hoped that he wouldn't forget about her.

But what bothered her more was Elena's strange behavior. Grace decided to check on her little sister and knocked on her door. Shortly after her face showed up as she opened the door a little. Grace frowned, why wouldn't she open the door fully? She also had a rushed expression on her face.

"Hey. Are you alright?"

Elena stroked her hair back nervously and spared a glance behind her shoulder before she opened the door so Grace could come in.

"Yes, yes. Just tired."

Grace noticed the widely opened window and her frown turned into a knowing smile.

"You know Stefan doesn't have to leave through the window. It's ok if he stays over."

Her sister shook her head sadly and Grace cocked her head questioningly. It hurt her seeing Elena stressed like this. She remembered her as this carefree girl, but she wasn't anymore. She had grown up quite too fast.

"Stefan and I broke up."

Grace immediately understood her behavior now. Lovesickness, of course. At least something normal in this household.

"Oh Elena, I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

She hugged her younger sister tightly and Elena was relived that she bought the half-lie. Elena buried her face in Grace's shoulder and tears were shed into the fabric of her shirt. Grace padded Elena's back and simply held still, being there for her sister. She knew she needed comfort badly.

The sisters fell asleep together in Elena's bed after some time of talking. It helped Elena getting her mind of it as Grace told her some boy stories from university, which made the younger Gilbert smile. Something she hadn't really done in some time.

...

The next day, after Grace got her siblings out of the house to school, she changed into sport clothing to go running for a while. She always had liked the feeling how it cleared her head, just listening to her favorite music over headphones and the steady beat of her feet pounding on the street. It held her body in balance and it was awesome to let some steam off. Before her head was filled with thoughts that she did really bad as a legal guardian. She sucked at making breakfast and she hadn't asked about any grades or other school concerns. Grace probably should talk to Mr. Saltzman because he seemed to be a pretty relaxed teacher, plus he knew of the Gilbert's situation, so he wouldn't judge.

She figured that she would have some time before the guy Elijah wanted to send for the boxes would be at her home, so that was her time frame to run through Mystic Falls' quiet streets. When she was a student, she never really was interested in sports and did pretty bad at the subject in school. She always had been that clumsy, skinny girl that looked unhealthy. That really had changed since she started to take better care of herself. She still was very slim, but in a more healthy way. Her legs and stomach were toned, which gave her just the perfect kind of curves. Confidence had developed with every day at university and she never had issues again with being a victim. She did it all by herself.

After an hour of running she arrived back home and frowned when she saw a car parked in front of her house. She hadn't expected the assistant that early. There wasn't anyone in the expensive SUV and Grace turned to the door confused.

"Miss Gilbert."

Elijah's voice suddenly came up from close behind her. Grace flinched and turned around, her hand on her chest to face the man. God, he was good at sneaking up behind someone.