" i'll admit that I'm a fool for you "
ONE month sounded like a very short time to Lena, until she realised that it had been thirty days, seven-hundred-and-twenty hours, forty-three-thousand-two-hundred minutes, two-million-five-hundred-and-ninety-two-thousand seconds. And once she realised that, she had to sit on the edge of her bed to stop herself from drowning in her own tsunami of thoughts.
Of course, she and Rebekah had facetimed every night since the woman left New Orleans, and they text each other all the time. But not seeing her in person was entirely new and different and Lena felt that seperation like a bullet through the heart. It was almost like there was a string attached between them and the further away they were from each other and the longer they were seperated, the more taut this string become, the easier it was to snap.
But she had survived a full month and she could survive another. So Lena pushed herself off of her bed (which she, of course, no longer shared with Rebekah) and smoothed down the creases she had created in her new plaid skirt.
The past month had been good. Nobody had died or been threatened and Klaus was actually being very tame. Actually, Klaus had pretty much tossed his crown to Elijah, who wore it with more dignity than Lena had ever seen. That man walked like he was supposed to lead. But while Klaus was painting and drowning his sorrows in scotch and Elijah was taking control, Lena was allowing herself to be free, to no longer feel the fear that came with constantly looking over your shoulder.
For the past month she had spent more time with Carlotta, Davina and Cami. Sometimes, if she wasn't feeling in the mood to go outside or if the weather just wasn't being very agreeable, she'd even hang out with Josh, but he liked to hang out with Davina quite a lot. They could both mope together without being called out on it. Cami was always testing out her new psychology skills on Lena, while Carlotta was very happy just to go shopping or hang out in the French Quarter.
Hayley, however, was always with the wolves. She had started off waiting for the minute the full moon rose in the air again so that she could give her newfound family and friends the remedy that Celeste had given her to rid them off the curse. And then the full moon came, and it worked, and she had found herself a new home. But Lena couldn't help but be happy for her. Hayley deserved it.
All in all, the month had gone by in a flash and even though she missed Rebekah dearly, it hadn't been that bad.
As Lena was passing by Klaus' bedroom, she heard two distinct voices. One was obviously Klaus', a dark rumble, like thunder booming across the sky in deep crescendo. The other was one she recognised only faintly from passing by in the street, a bitter breeze blowing back your hair in gorgeous falsetto.
"Hey Klaus, I was hoping..." but she trailed off when she saw who it was. Genevieve. The witch who had tortured her best friend. She wore only her underwear and a silk robe. Lena felt jealousy spike through her. "...you weren't witch a half-naked psychowitch! Seems I got my hopes up too fast."
"Ten minutes ago I was fully naked!" shot back Genevieve.
"Ten minutes ago I was on the phone to my best friend, who you tortured! Isn't that truly amazing?" Lena's eyes narrowed at the redhead standing beside Klaus. She had never felt jealousy like this before and she hated it. Why was Klaus pushing everyone away from him? Why was he letting his sorrows overtake him? "Don't think I'm just standing here for the fun of it, bye bye!"
Genevieve strolled right up to Lena, classy heels tapping against the hardwood flooring. Lena continued to glare at her. "Keep acting like this and you'll end up like the rest of your rotting family," she snapped, eyes dangerous green slits.
"I can't wait to tell my friend all about you, she's a Luzzatto." Genevieve blanched at the name. Every witch knew the name Luzzatto. It was one of the most feared names in witch history. "Her speciality is fire." Genevieve stormed right past Lena then, shoulder hitting off her not very gently. Lena did not care to watch her leave. All she did was glare at Klaus until Genevieve's footsteps had disappeared out of hearing range.
"Really?" Lena found herself hissing before Klaus could get a word in edgeways. "She tortured your bloody sister!"
"Well New Orleans breeds nothing if not strange bedfellows," Klaus joked with humour missing from his voice. Lena turned as he walked past her, looking less than happy at being interrupted. "But I assume you're not here to question my leisure activities," Klaus pointed out as he poured himself a drink.
"I'm here because I'm worried about you but I know you're not gonna talk to me, all you've done since Rebekah's left is push everyone away, so I'm not going to bother to try and reel you back in." Klaus smirked to himself as he leant against the drinks cabinet, his eyes roaming over Lena. "So instead I'm gonna ask you to help Cami's uncle. He's deteriorating. Nothing's working, he's getting so much worse. But it was a witch you put that curse on him and it's a witch who can take it off, if Carlotta and I could, we would. I hate seeing Father Kieran like this, and so should you, he's your friend after all."
"And what do you expect me to do about it, little witch?" Klaus asked. The nickname dripped off his tongue like alcohol as he drank in Lena's tiny figure standing across from him with the hem of her skirt grazing her thighs and her socks pulled up so he could see just the right amount of leg.
"You're obviously very close to Genevieve, maybe you could persuade her to help."
"It won't do any good. These hexes, they start with magic but as they take root they alter the very chemistry of the brain. You wouldn't know anything about it, you're not a good enough witch."
Lena bristled at his harsh words. He said them so casually, like they were just simple facts. Like he was counting all the way up to ten and back again, singing the alphabet or telling her that France was in Europe. He was just telling her the truth, and it hurt to hear.
"Why are you being like this?"
"Like what?
"Like-like-like someone I don't want to know anymore!"
Klaus merely shrugged. Lena felt the tears collect in her eyes and she had to take a deep breath to gather her thoughts, to stop them from spilling out of the tiny little bubbles that she liked to keep them in, to stop them from getting mixed up. Bad thoughts go to the back, good thoughts to the front. Bad thoughts get stored away, locked with a key.
Don't listen to him, she said to herself, knowing that if she did she would break down because if she wasn't good enough to be a witch what was she good enough for?
He's lying. You are good enough, you can do this. Rebekah always believed in you. Who cares about Klaus? WhocaresaboutKlaus? W h o c a r e s a b o u t K l a u s ? You do! Y o u d o! YOUDO! Silly girl! Stupid girl! IDIOT!
"Lena--" he tried to grab a hold of her shoulder as she stormed past him, but she was quick enough to move out of reach and she brushed him off, glaring at the hardwood. And he was left to watch her go, a flame of pink and black hair, a blaze of plaid skirts and button up shirts, an inferno of beauty he could not quite comprehend.
✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰
ROUSSEAU'S wasn't exactly busy that night, but the three woman sitting at the bar would never have noticed as they downed yet another shot. Camille O'Connell was drinking away the fear she felt when her deranged uncle attacked her in the attic of St Anne's Church. Carlotta Luzzatto was drinking because she was young and free from the dissatisfied stares of her family who felt she wasn't strong or smart enough to lead the fire faction of their coven. Lena Ricci was drinking to get rid of the jealousy, misery and insecurity that Niklaus Mikaelson had brought up not even a full hour beforehand.
"He's an arse!" Lena complained, throwing back yet another shot of tequila before holding it back out to the bartender to refill for her. The man behind the bar - Rafael - gave her a glance over and seeing as she wasn't exactly falling out of her chair yet, refilled the small shot glass.
"Of course he is, what else would you expect from the might hybrid himself!" added Carlotta, glaring at her empty glass in confusion. She very much did not remember finishing off the tequila that had just been poured into it, but she was quite happy to let Rafael refill it for her.
"I can't believe he would say that to you though, he's like so in love with you!" Camille - who couldn't quite hold her drink as much as the two witches - slurred every single word she said, and was almost falling out of the chair by the time Rafael took her shot glass from her.
"He so is not! Especially not now he's sleeping with that redheaded bitch! Ugh!" and there disappeared more tequila down Lena's throat and she thrust out her glass again and allowed Rafael to fill it up.
"Well you know who sucks? Mia madre!" Carlotta groaned before she too got rid of the clear liquid in her glass and pouted to Rafael for some more. "She says "non sei abbastanza bravo da guidare una fazione", do you know what that means?" Cami shook her head, staring up at Carlotta and her bouncy blonde curls with a dreamy look in her drunken eyes. She was smiling softly, as if Carlotta held the whole universe in her face. Lena liked that look. She wished someone looked at her like that.
"'You are not good enough to lead a faction'," translated Lena, who had been brought up by Rebekah speaking both English and Italian, but she knew way more languages than that. She had to, they had visited more countries than she could count on her fingers.
"Exactly!" Carlotta had begun to slur now. They had lost count of the amount of shots they had consumed, but Rafael had three empty bottles of tequila sitting under his bar and he wasn't very happy about it. "She would say "non sei abbastanza intelligente, ti affidi troppo alla tua bellezza" as if caring if I look pretty makes me not smart, ugh as if!"
"Why do we all turn into Cher Horowitz when we're drunk?" asked Cami, letting out a slight squeak when Carlotta dropped her head on her shoulder. Her cheeks, which were already rosy from excessive amounts of alcohol, burned an even brighter shade of pink and her eyes widened. But then she smiled.
"Ugh!" Lena grumbled at the two. "Why do you two get to be all happy and perfect while I'm stuck here because some stupid witch bitch tryna steal my man?"
"Klaus isn't your man," pointed out Carlotta, completely ignoring Lena's previous statement about her and Cami. The two women had known each other a month, but their feelings for each other had become very obvious. "Klaus should be your man but you're too lazy to get up off your culo and go and get him!"
"Shut up," mumbled Lena before downing her last shot of tequila.
By the end of the night the alcohol had kicked into the three girls and they had found themselves weaving in between sweaty, drunken bodies as rave music caused their feet to bounce and their hips to sway. Lena hadn't been to a club without Rebekah ever, so this all felt a bit different, more risky, more deliberate. She definitely wouldn't mind bringing someone back to the compound now.
So when she woke up the next morning, some strange girl's arm wrapped around her naked body and her head thumping with the finalising effects of a hangover, she didn't even care that Elijah had forgotten to knock. The brunette stirred slightly beside her but then turned over and allowed herself to be covered by champagne-coloured bed sheets yet again. Lena, however, tried to push herself up into a seated position so that she could see the suited Original vampire leaning against her door frame.
And then she realised, he wasn't even wearing a suit.
"Where's your suit?" she found herself asking, eyes narrowed at the man.
"That's the first thing on your mind right now?" he replied with his own question, raising his eyebrow at the hungover witch trying to shield her body from his eyes with her bedcover while also trying not to open her eyes too much. Too much light got in when she opened her eyes and light hurt her already spinning head.
"I can't really think right now."
"I'm throwing a party tonight, here, and I expect you to be there, sober and fresh-faced!" with that Elijah Mikaelson let the door bang shut behind him and Lena let out a very loud groan, her back hitting her bed. The brunette stirred again but Lena did not dare peel her eyes open to see the girl's face.
"He seemed nice," she mumbled before her lips attached themselves to Lena's neck and the witch lost her hangover in the mind-numbing pleasure that took over her body.
Who gives a damn about Klaus Mikaelson anyway?
You do! Y o u d o ! YOUDO!"
this was a bit of a back and forth chapter but like at least you got to see that Lena's bisexual so and also my two beautiful blonde babies (CC) are gonna be so cute together