Elijah sat at his usual spot in the old dive bar, dressed in his usual suit, with his usual whiskey neat in front of him. The only aspect that had changed was his present company. Instead of being sat next to the young brunette with a smart mouth, he sat in between two of his siblings.
"Tell us everything," Rebekah reached out and placed one of her soft hands atop of his rougher ones. "Slowly, from the beginning."
"I just got... bored, I suppose. Bored of having to clean up after all of you all the time," the oldest of the three didn't look up, refusing to make eye contact with them. "So I came here, to start fresh. That's when I met her – right here in this bar. I still don't know what it was about her that drew me in."
"Who?" Klaus questioned, leaning forward as his brother spoke.
"Victoria. We would walk around the city and just talk about anything. Those were the only times I felt even remotely like myself." Elijah finally looked up at his siblings, and Rebekah swore she felt her heart break looking him in the eye. "But as soon as she left it all changed. I'm a monster without her. I have this uncontrollable urge to kill. I thought I could keep her away from the truth but she found out. I think I'd started to fall for her. And now I fear I've lost her for good."
"Oh, 'Lijah," his sister rubbed her hand up and down his arm gently. "You can turn this around, I know you can."
"If you can become half the man you were, she'll come back to you," Klaus reassured.
It was odd, having to comfort Elijah. It usually occurred the other way around. He had been their rock for over a millennium, and he had just started to break.
The bell above the door jingled as it was pushed slightly ajar, a slim brunette slipping through the gap. The noise made him look up, and looking up made his heart break just a little more.
Her hair hadn't been brushed in a few days, and the bags under her eyes made it clear that there wasn't a hint of makeup on her face. She was dressed in an old pair of ripped jeans and a shirt that was too big for her small body which had been tied at the waist, he had never seen her look more casual. He knew it wasn't a good sign.
Their eyes locked from across the bar for a moment. Her usually big, bright green eyes were now dull and bloodshot, as if she had only recently stopped crying.
Victoria looked away, casting her vision anywhere but on him as she swallowed the lump in her throat. Unable to stay there any longer so she took a deep breath and headed for the door.