New Town, New Friendships & New Loves

23

Elena went to see Elijah, finding him in his dorm room walking around and talking to himself.

"It's all your fault, Elijah. You know how Bekah is and you were irresponsible by not keeping an eye on her. You are the older one. You are responsible." Elijah mumbled and Elena heard it because his door was slightly open.

Elena knocked on the door to make her presence be noticed, making Elijah stop walking and turn around to face her.

"Elena... what are you doing here?" Elijah asked. "Did my sister pass out again? Where is she?"

"She's okay. She's taking a shower. I just come by to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine." Elijah said.

"Are you really?" Elena asked and walked over to Elijah. "You know... no one could predict this. And she's alright. No one here's to blame."

"You're lying just to make me feel better. I am responsible for this. She drank and I ignored it. I know how she feels about us being close and still I stayed with you. If I payed more attention..."

"Elijah, you can't blame yourself for this. It could happen to anyone." Elena tried to calm him down.

"But it happen to Rebekah. I am the older sibling, I am the one who should be looking out for her. If she hadn't Stefan around, then..."

"But Stefan was there. You can't blame yourself. Yes, you're the older brother but she's a grown woman, she is responsible for her own decisions. You can't be responsible for your siblings's decisions."

"I'm the older brother. It's my duty."

"No. Your duty as older brother is to care about them, to lift them up when they are down, to give advices and to maybe lecture them once or twice but you can't take responsibility for their decisions, Elijah. The only way one can actually grow up is by taking responsibility and face the consequences of their decisions." Elena said.

"What if something had happened to her?" Elijah asked. "She drank because she was trying to forget that I was talking with you even after asking me to get some distance. I was the one who made her drink. If she didn't drank, she wouldn't have passed out. It's all my fault."

"Elijah... you can't think that."

"Elena, if I have to choose between someone or something and my family, I will always choose family."

"What are you saying?" Elena asked.

"Maybe it's best if we stop being friends." Elijah said.

"Wh-What? No! No. I'm not... No!"

"Elena, my sister..."

"No! I won't stop being your friend." Elena crossed her arms.

"I don't want to upset my sister even more." Elijah whispered. "And it's better this way."

"What are you talking about? It's better this way? No! Absolutely not. What's better is for us to remain friends." Elena said.

"Elena, I wish to be alone." Elijah said.

"No." Elena said crossing her arms and seating in his desk.

"What?"

"I don't care if you decided to not be my friend. I'm still your friend. And I remain by my friends side when they need someone. Even if they are too stubborn to see it." Elena said.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I care about you. Duh!" Elena said like if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But I just..."

"Acted like a douche? Yeah but you are not thinking clearly. For some reason you think the weight of the world is on your shoulders and as your friend I want to make you see that's not true and that you aren't completely alone. Everyone needs someone. Your brothers need you but you also need them, just like you also need friends to be there for you." Elena said, then felt Elijah grabbing her arm, pulling her to get up from the desk, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her for a hug.

Elena was a bit surprised but once she got over the shock, she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him back, feeling him starting to be less tense.

"It's okay. I'm here." Elena whispered.

***

Stefan was still concerned about Rebekah so he decided to visit her dorm room.

"Come in!" He heard Rebekah say from the other side of the door when he knocked on the door.

Stefan opened the door to face Rebekah in nothing but a towel and putting cream on her leg. She stopped when noticed it was Stefan and not Elena, like she thought.

"Oh... Stefan... Hi!"

"Hey! Hi! I... I'm sorry." Stefan said.

"No. It's fine. I thought you were Elena. I am now going to get dress. I'll be in the bathroom. Can you wait a minute?"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever you want." Stefan said.

"Okay... you can sit down and get yourself comfortable. We still have to wait the rest to get ready for dinner." Rebekah smiled and left to the bathroom.

Stefan sat down and took a deep breath, trying to stop thinking about Rebekah with nothing but a towel.

He was seating down on her bed and looked around, noticing how she had a few pictures of her and Elena or her with Elena, Caroline and Bonnie. He found it very cute how happy she looked around her friends.

He found himself glancing at the bathroom's door, which was slightly open, facing a small portion of Rebekah's back side as she let her towel fall to the ground, making Stefan look at the window and quickly grabbing a pillow to put on his lap.

He hasn't known Rebekah for a long time but she was already driving him crazy.

"I'm back." Rebekah said after a few minutes, making Stefan look at her with a small white top and some shorts.

"Oh God..."

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yep." Stefan said, trying to play off cool.

"Maybe we can go look for everyone."

"Yeah... I'll be right behind you." Stefan said and Rebekah looked at him confused but then left, making Stefan start to say to himself. "Okay. Think of things that are not sexy. The time you caught your parents doing it." He then took the pillow off his lap. "Who knew something so scaring to my childhood would help me in the future?"

Stefan quickly left the dorm room and follow Rebekah.