Chapter Thirty•One. Between The Truth & The End
ELIJAH
{How Not To by Dan&Shay}
🖤
You're like second nature, baby, you're just like breathing
Melody that you hear and you can't forget
Time goes by and I still need you
Yeah, you're worth the heartbreak and the regret
🖤
It had been four days since sweat had covered Arabella's forehead while she looked in the mirror. In her head, it had been at least three days since she's seen a Mikaelson, in real-time, and had been about four and a half days since she's seen the Mikaelsons altogether in their entirety. It felt like she had been asleep for days, but knew she hadn't as she picked up her phone on the nightstand and realized she had been asleep for only half of the day. Apparently she needed the sleep because no one disturbed her.
After her shower, she walked back into her room and sat on her bed for a minute, fell asleep, then woke up again. That time she didn't have any dreams, and she silently thanked her subconscious because she really couldn't handle her mind playing sick jokes on her again. She couldn't handle anymore stress at the moment.
She remembered helping Freya and she remembered reaching her limit and passing out, she just couldn't remember how she got home. She was in her bed, dreaming weird things, waking up, taking a shower, and then going back to sleep. She thought she was just catching up on the sleep she desperately needed, but it was the exhaustion from the amount of magic that had been taken from her.
Things were more vivid than she would like, and maybe it was the effects of how Freya had to use her, or maybe it was the lack of nutrients her body was missing, she didn't want to think about it anymore. Elijah and Arabella were not human and hadn't been for over a thousand years, they were not engaged, married, or expecting. Elijah couldn't get her pregnant.
She looked next to her in the bed and Bête was turned over, sleeping soundlessly. Arbella found the strength to get out of bed and get motivated for the day, if she could keep her mind off of what she wouldn't be to Elijah, she would be fine. She had a lot to do, for starters, she had to look for a place to live after she left New Orleans, she needed to find somewhere not even Elijah would think to look, somewhere obvious. She had some things to take care of before that happened, so she got ready, and she was out the door in twenty minutes.
Elijah also couldn't sleep, so he made sure to keep busy as the world slept around him. The sun would rise in about an hour, and all he had accomplished was finding an antidote for Freya. By the time he had given it to her, Arabella was gone, and he couldn't go after her like he wanted to. He had to distance himself, and the longer he stayed away from her the more he felt he was able to stop wanting to be around her. It was impossible to stop caring, it was impossible to stop loving her, but what choice did he have but to stay away?
Was he being that unreasonable? Was he being too hard on her? He didn't want to change her, he didn't want to alter who she was, but how else was he supposed to feel?
He had decided to get ready for the day, maybe he could find some leads on where Lucien could be and keep himself occupied while giving himself space away from Arabella, it was the best thing for him.
Almost an hour later Elijah had found himself walking down the stairs into the courtyard, and at the same time, his brother walked in, neither of them noticed the pile of bodies in the center of the floor until they looked up. Elijah instantly sighed and looked at Niklaus as if he were responsible, and although Niklaus would normally take responsibility, he couldn't for that. He had walked in at the same time Elijah had walked down and was just as surprised as him to see the bodies. Sometimes, even Niklaus wanted to live through a day where there wasn't utter chaos. Before Elijah could ask what was going on, Arabella had walked in, her hands were stained, and her face had blood splattered going up the right side of her face as she carried in another body. When she passed Niklaus, the body she had been dragging across the ground had been none other than Gaspar Cortez. She tossed him away like he was trash when she added him to the pile, and for a moment, she placed her hands on her hips and caught her breath. When she was calm she turned to Niklaus and smirked a little bit.
"Why are you up so late?" She checked him out and then raised her eyebrows. The fact that she didn't bother looking at Elijah, he felt she was doing it on purpose, and she was.
"It's only half past five." He defended himself. Usually, when the day started he was the one waiting for her, he was impressed with how much she got done. The fact that she had retrieved and killed Gaspar, showed him just how serious she was to get everyone who didn't belong, out as quickly as possible. She was not playing any games. "I see you've been busy."
"Yeah, waiting around for you, I'd be waiting forever." She joked as her long ponytail had fallen behind her from over her shoulder as she smiled lightly at Niklaus. She was aware of Elijah walking around the pile, inspecting who was amongst the dead bodies, she just wasn't going to engage in a conversation with him unless he initiated it. "I also know where Lucien is."
"So why haven't you gone to see him?" Niklaus was curious because obviously, she had things taken care of, he felt like she didn't need him.
"I thought you'd want to join me, is that bacon I smell?" Her head moved in the direction of the kitchen. Elijah's eyebrows furrowed because that wasn't what he was smelling at all, he smelled blood and rotting flesh, why she brought them to the compound, he didn't know.
"I didn't have time to cook." Niklaus chuckled. He took a sip of his coffee and walked toward her.
"Where is he?" Elijah cleared his throat and looked up from looking down at Gaspar when Arabella realized he was talking to her, she didn't know how to act. More than anything, it made her nauseous.
"He's at home." She blinked slowly and then looked up at him.
"And you know this, how?" He was still staring at Gaspar.
"I'm not just some ruthless killer, I'm also great at tracking." She looked away and rolled her eyes. "Or did we all forget that?"
"I know this. You have many great qualities. It was just a question." He tried to save himself from the argument that was about to happen, he was too late though. He made sure that he rested his face and avoided eye contact.
"Why ask when you already know?" She shrugged her shoulder. Attitude already protruding on her mood for the day.
"That's not what I meant?" He tried to take it back. It kind of sounded like a question too.
"Really, because what it sounds like to me, is that you said that you know I have all these great qualities, like, you knew I was able to track Lucien down without killing him, and yet you still questioned me." She was turned around and became hard as she shot daggers into him.
"I'm not trying to argue with you. I was just asking a question." He wasn't falling into it. Although he enjoyed getting a reaction out of her, he didn't want to argue so early in the morning. The sun wasn't even up yet.
"Yeah, well maybe that isn't the question you should be asking." She tried to walk away but Elijah wouldn't let it go. He sort of found joy in her reactions, as sick as that sounded. He found it as a confirmation that she still cared what he thought, even if it did get a rise out of her.
"Maybe we shouldn't do this right now." Niklaus looked annoyed between the two of them, he couldn't enjoy his coffee without the two of them going back and forth.
"Actually, we need to do this now. Niklaus can you give me a minute with Elijah." She didn't look at Niklaus, she just continued to stare at Elijah, Elijah almost faltered underneath it if she hadn't looked back at Niklaus when he called her name.
"Ara,"
"I only need a minute." She reassured him. Niklaus nodded slowly and made his way to go ahead and get Hope and take her to Freya so that he could go with Arabella. Hopefully, by then, she would be in a better mood. When he was gone, Arabella turned back to Elijah, lightly scratched her chin, and then brought it down at her side as she glanced at him tiredly before looking elsewhere.
"Arabella," He tried to apologize, and she didn't want his apology.
"You know, it's one thing to break my heart again over something so minuscule, but it's another thing to question how I work. That, to me, is not okay." She looked hurt and angry.
"I didn't mean anything by it." He took a step closer.
"You know, of course, you did. I get it. I killed my entire family and now you question my ethics on how I do things. You think of me as heartless, and careless. But what you don't seem to understand is that I don't remember killing them. And if I did, then I know I did it for good reason. I will not apologize for something I had no control over. You blame me for something I have no recollection of doing and you ridiculed me. I didn't know what I'd done until only a few days ago. You have left me over nothing, and you question me on everything I do. What is wrong with you?"
"I've told you over and over, that he isn't going to ever forgive you for what you've done." Bête smiled from the sofa. She was laid back, one leg propped up on the table, while the other crossed over the other. Arabella glared at her for a second before setting her eyes back on Elijah. Elijah looked with her. No one was standing or sitting where she was looking.
"But he's going to hear what I have to say," Arabella spoke calmly as she answered Bête, and Elijah decided not to say anything about it, he didn't want to dig his grave any deeper than it already was.
"Arabella, you have to understand where I am coming from. I value the idea of family, and you killed yours." He clarified. He also took another step toward her and she moved back.
"I love this family, Elijah. This was my family. I was born into a family where they thought killing me was a solution. Being born a twin in that period, to that family, was a bad omen. One by one they all turned on me and I had no choice but to defend myself." She tried to explain, she figured it wouldn't do her any good though. She didn't know why she bothered.
"Why are you explaining yourself to him?" Bête rolled her eyes, she didn't like to see Arabella hurting because in the long run, she would have to pick up the pieces. And she hated picking up the pieces.
"Why are you even here?" Arabella snapped her head at her, she wanted to be alone and without an audience when she spoke to Elijah, it wasn't Bête's business and she wanted her to mind her own. She stopped looking at Bête, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply before giving him her attention again.
"I have never judged you, I loved you despite your flaws and your faults. I even overlooked the fact that you are a vampire. You listen to my sister one time and the first chance you get, you decide you don't want to be with someone like me." The hurt look on her face broke Elijah. He tried to remain composed but his face saddened.
"She spent the last millennia inside of your head, Ara. Was I not supposed to believe her?" It was way too early to start crying but Elijah felt like it was all he wanted to do, especially when he might have been wrong.
"No, no you weren't because Vera wasn't in my head when I killed them. She had no idea what caused me to do what I did, and the fact that you'd ask her rather than me, it's sickening. That is why I'm leaving, the first chance I get."
"Arabella, you don't have to leave." He tried to grab for her arm, but she moved back.
"What point do I have in sticking around? So when you decide to forgive me, it would be convenient for you to want to work on being together? Let me tell you this, I don't need to be with someone who cannot love me for the way I am. Flaws and all. And I won't."
"That's my girl." Bête cheered for her, only, she didn't expect Arabella to snap at her so harshly.
"You, shut up! You're starting to annoy me to high shit!" She stormed away from Elijah and pointed a finger at Bête, her eyes raging with annoyance.
"Who are you talking to Arabella?" Elijah asked her again, and he hoped that he would actually tell him but it was unlikely. To her, he should have seen Bête sitting there the same way she had. For that, she thought he was crazy.
"Does it really matter to you at this point?" She snapped around and narrowed her eyes sheepishly.
"Arabella, I'm really concerned about your mental health. No one is standing next to you, or sitting in front of you, it is only you and I in this courtyard." He tried to explain but the way it made him sound, it was almost as if he was calling her crazy, Bête picked up on that.
"There he goes calling you crazy again." Bête pursed her lips, flicked her nails, and narrowed her eyes the same way Arabella had.
"I'm not crazy." Arabella scoffed.
"I didn't call you crazy." He assured her, his hands were out, palms facing her as he slowly walked up to her again, she didn't want him close to her so she continued to step back.
"You're questioning my mental health. Is there anything else you'd like to question?" She was feeling insulted.
"Arabella, I care about you. That is the only reason why I'm bringing it up."
"Well don't bring anything to my attention, don't express your concerns for me. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. Just, stay away from me." She was hard, and it was clear that she wanted to cry but she tried her damnedest to hold it all back.
"Be reasonable." He was pleading with her.
"You want me to be reasonable?"
"Yes, please!" His patience was wearing thin. He was trying to show that he cared about her mind and soul and she wanted to hear none of it. Maybe it was because she felt that he didn't care about her at all, only when it was convenient for him, and nothing nor no one could change her mind.
"Fine, here is me being reasonable. As soon as I kill Aurora and Tristan, I am gone from your life!"
"If that is what you wish." He heard it once, and hearing it again started to feel all too real for him, he couldn't fight with her, it wouldn't stop him from finding her. "That isn't going to make me stop caring."
"What I wish? What I wish, is for you to act the way you did before I came to New Orleans. Because I cannot stand to see the way you look at me like you are doing right now." She quickly wiped the tear from under her left eye and glared at him. She hated him for making her cry when she didn't want to. But that didn't help when she saw the look on his face when she said that.
"You're asking me to forget you?" His eyes narrowed along with hers, and devastation spread across his features. He could feel his heart constricting from her words, and that was the worst thing that could have been asked of him. "You cannot ask that of me."
He loved Arabella more than he loved himself, and maybe it was because it hurt her the most. The fact that he could look her straight in her eyes and break her heart and then still dare to act like he still cared about her, was rich. She was convinced Elijah was just like the De Martel's and Lucien, he was going to smile in her face and act like he was planning her death.
That wasn't even close to being true but there had to be more to their break up than what she had done in the past. She deserved better than a sometimes partner. And only Elijah chose to love her like that, so why did she think that Niklaus would never do something like that to her? Would Niklaus do everything to not break her heart as Elijah had done so many times before? Would Niklaus not judge Arabella the way that his brother had?
Arabella's questions were never going to be answered because she was never going to go to Niklaus to fix her broken heart. She wasn't that damaged, and she would be okay to know that she didn't flip over to Elijah's brother, just to feel something.
"It shouldn't be that hard, you did it before so, graciously." The last word stung like a bee sting, and Elijah could see the blankness in her eyes. She was mentally trying to block out the pain her chest was producing, but it was clear that there was no way to get rid of it. Her heart ached.
"You can't ask me to do that." Tears welled up in his eyes as he said it again.
"I'm not asking." Her lips were tight. Then she turned on her feet and left, she couldn't be around him. How could the one person she was supposed to love in the entire universe, want her to stick around, but didn't want to be with her? She couldn't look at him after that.
Was he wrong? He couldn't let her go, he couldn't let her leave. He couldn't let her walk out of the compound while she was upset. They were supposed to be stronger together, they were supposed to face their issues together and he broke that the moment he decided that he couldn't be with her anymore. Maybe he thought he was making a mistake, but maybe it was a blessing in disguise. He just couldn't figure out which one was right for him. He mindlessly followed her out of the compound though, ignoring that Niklaus was still behind waiting for them to stop arguing.
"You can't leave New Orleans," He stopped her by grabbing her wrist. When he turned her, she looked like she was about to cry rather than blow up at him. All he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and apologize for assuming that something was wrong with her. He wanted to make her feel better but he knew that he couldn't. "You've built a life here, you can't just abandon it."
"I built a life here because I wanted to have a life here with you. Now that that isn't happening I can't stick around. I cannot walk around the Quarter, bump into you, and think that everything is fine. It's not fine. I have loved only one man my entire life and that man wants nothing to do with me." Her deep inhale caught him off guard, she was trying to hold in her tears.
"I want everything to do with you Arabella, I just need time to process this version of you. There is a whole life that you hid from me that I know nothing about. Surely you should know how I feel." He tried to get her to understand, he did, as much as he was making it about him, she was making it about herself too.
"There is no version of me, I was just as in the dark as you were. I didn't leave you because of your past. The past you tried so hard to keep from me!"She stormed up to him and poked her finger into his chest. When she realized what she did she hurriedly retracted her hand and turned to leave again. "I need to go. You and Niklaus could go and confront Lucien."
"What about you?" He asked and tried to look like he was keeping his composure, he wanted her to stay with him. He wasn't going to get his way.
"I've done enough for the day, I'm going to find something else to do." She stopped walking, turned her head but never looked at him. She felt drained talking to him. He wanted to talk about all the things that she did wrong and how it made him feel, but he didn't talk about what they could do to fix it. Because in the back of her mind; Elijah didn't want to fix them, he just wanted her around so that he could keep an eye on her. That was a deal-breaker for her.
Arabella walked in the direction of Rousseau's and never looked back. She felt that way for a reason and it made Elijah sick to his stomach to think that he was the cause of her manic episodes. As he watched her walk, she looked like she was leaning a little bit, and the way that was to Elijah, it looked like she could have been leaning on someone's shoulder. That was unusual, and he was going to dig into it more before Niklaus popped up next to him and looked out to Arabella walking away.
"You've done it this time, Elijah." Niklaus was annoyed, but only because now he had to deal with his brother when confronting Lucien rather than Arabella. He was hoping to spend time with her.
"Do you see how she's walking?" Elijah ignored what Niklaus said and continued to watch Arabella.
"We don't have time for this." For the first time, Elijah sounded like he was losing his mind. Niklaus felt like the sane Mikaelson.
"For the love of God, look at her, Niklaus!" Elijah grew aggravated and threw his hand out exaggeratedly to get him to look at her before she disappeared around the corner, and when he did, he paid attention to how her neck was arched, her posture was completely off, and how she looked to be leaning against someone.
"Well, that isn't right." His head tilted to the right a little before Arabella disappeared and then turned his body to his brother and gave his opinion. "You don't think someone is walking with her, do you?"
"There is only one person Vera mentioned, and she isn't a person at all." His glare deepened when he thought about Bête.
"You're saying Bête, could be walking next to her portraying herself as a person? But how?" Niklaus was incredulous. But he was also curious to find out for himself, to see if it were true.
"Arabella could be bringing her to life precisely because she needs someone to be on her side. But even with her being able to see Bête, she's constantly arguing with her. I've witnessed that myself." Elijah was brief. He didn't know what to do.
"So what you're saying is..?" Niklaus trailed as he looked up at his brother because he wasn't sure what was going on in his mind.
"If Arabella is manifesting Bête, there's a chance she could become real."
"She can't be that powerful? Can she?"
"I don't know, but we need to find out." Elijah started walking, he needed to see Arabella.
"We can't do that now, we have to get to Lucien and stop whatever he is planning on doing."
Elijah couldn't focus, he wanted to run after Arabella. Niklaus was right though, they had to find Lucien, and they had to get him to tell them about the serums in the jars that Niklaus found with Arabella before setting the entire building on fire. So they were off to go and find Lucien.
While the two did that, Arabella was behind the bar looking down at a laptop and looking at places to move to. She hadn't realized Phillip had walked through the doors. She thought she could at least have ten minutes to herself before she back bothered by another presence. But she didn't mind Phillip, it was a whole different feeling having him back in her life.
"Hey beautiful lady," He greeted her with the most perfect smile, but she was anything but happy. If anything she was depressed and hungry. It would have been the perfect time for a drink if she didn't want to gag at the sight of every bottle she looked at. Her head was in her hand when she looked up from the screen, she smiled lightly. "What are you doing looking so sullen?"
"Elijah gets me this way." She dropped her hand and gave her attention back to the laptop.
"Elijah is the one with the suit right?" He played it off, trying to remember which Mikaelson was which, but he knew well who Elijah was. "Does that man ever smile?"
"Rarely," That made her laugh a little bit. She continued looking at her laptop as she scrolled down till she found exactly what she was looking for. Where would Elijah never look? The place she found would be that exact location, he wouldn't dare. "He's not big on showing emotions."
"So then why did you marry him? You're the complete opposite of that's true." It was true. If Arabella could have been compared to a certain Mikaelson, it would be a perfect mixture of the old Kol and the new Niklaus. Elijah had a moral compass he had to maintain, whereas Arabella didn't have one.
"He was never like that with me, he was sweet, vulnerable. He was everything I wanted in a husband." That was the only thing she would defend him for, the reason why she married him. The marriage wasn't arranged like hers and Phillip's and that was why she loved Elijah the most, she met him, had gotten to know him, and married him on her terms.
"So what changed?" His shoulder shrugged just a little bit, but his smile seemed to grow as he watched her dreamily talk about Elijah. That changed quickly as he thought about his question.
"His feelings for me I guess, feelings change all the time." Lightly, she shook her head. She didn't like thinking about the reasons why he didn't love her.
"That may be true, but do you think his feelings truly changed for you?" He leaned on the bar and toward her a little bit so that no one could chime in on their conversation, that wasn't the reason he was visiting her though.
"It doesn't matter if they have or if they haven't, he told me how he felt. So I think it's best if I distance myself."
"You're leaving?" His eyebrows furrowed, he was playing his role perfectly.
"I don't have a choice in the matter, I can't be around Elijah right now." She didn't look at Phillip. And because she didn't look at him, she didn't see his expression as he was trying to grab information from her, because he wasn't there to be her friend and she was oblivious to it. She was too caught up in her problems, her issues, to see that Phillip was there to gather information on her plans.
"So what are you going to do about Aurora and Tristan De Martel?" He bit his lip and grabbed a peanut out of the small bowl which was sitting there casually for the customers.
"I was thinking about letting the Mikaelsons handle them. But no doubt they're going to kill them altogether." She didn't think about what he asked her, and it didn't dawn on her that she never disclosed what she was doing with the De Martel siblings. When she did acknowledge it, she kept a cool head and made sure not to rip his head off of his shoulders for going behind her back.
"And you're just going to sit here and do what?"
"Run my business and mind it," She answered simply. "If they need my help they would come and ask for it, until then, I'm taking a day for myself." She looked down and grabbed herself a clean glass so that she could get herself something to drink.
"Well considering all that you've done. You deserve it." He stood up, came around the bar, and kissed the top of her head before leaving the bar. "I'll come by and check on you later."
"Sounds good to me." She didn't think anything of it, but by the time he reached the doors, she stopped him again. "Be safe okay?"
"You know I will." He smiled lightly as she looked up and smirked at him, then he left and her smile fell. She hadn't told Phillip about Tristan and Aurora. She hadn't mentioned either of them to him not once. So what did Phillip know that she didn't? And who was he running back to when he wasn't around her?
Her head slowly moved away from the door and scrolled down on her laptop again, but she couldn't focus on the houses until she at least told Niklaus what was going on, so while she looked at the house that was on the screen in front of her, she picked up her phone and shot Niklaus a text message.
Arabella: call me when you get the chance
Niklaus was on the elevator heading up to Lucien's suite when he got the text, he took his phone out and read it. He smiled lightly because he would never have expected Arabella to text him before Elijah, but considering that he was the one to pick up her broken pieces after Elijah had left her again, he was honored. He was okay with picking up what was broken, but he would not be used by her, no matter how much he loved her. Arabella wasn't using him, of course, she was more than grateful to have him in her corner, that was the last thing she wanted to do. She was contacting him specifically for a conversation because she knew she wasn't crazy. She knew what she thought and usually, when she thought someone was going against her, she was right. She was right about Phillip.
Niklaus: As soon as I get the chance
"Is that Arabella?" Elijah asked over his shoulder, that alone made Niklaus push his phone back into his jacket pocket. His head raised after looking at the dead bodies that surrounded their shoes and then stared at the silver elevator doors.
"She wanted me to call her after we were done here." He was crass, obviously feeling wonderful because she chose to text him rather than Elijah. Elijah was not happy about that.
"And she couldn't call me?" Yes, he was not happy about that.
"Do you honestly think she wants to talk with you right now?" Niklaus had a point.
"That doesn't matter if she must know she can call me." Elijah didn't understand the meaning of Arabella not wanting to be anywhere near him, she didn't want to hear his voice, and she was serious about avoiding him.
"It does matter," He turned his head and looked at Elijah, although he was highly annoyed when he did. "She wants to leave New Orleans just to get away from you, this family. What makes you think she wants to hear your voice right now?"
"Because we are adults Niklaus."
"That's not good enough." Niklaus was hard when he looked forward again.
The elevator doors opened and Lucien's back was to them when he called out. "It's about time you three showed up, I would have thought you'd been captured by the Mikaelsons or worse, that dreaded Bonavich Lycanthrope."
"Well, I hate to bring disappointment to you, Lucien," Elijah pulled at his jacket and gave him a look that could kill. "But you're lucky that that dreaded Bonavich Lycanthrope isn't here, because she's not in the best of moods today."
"Because then, you would be in the same predicament as your fellow allies." Niklaus' smirk was amusing when Lucien glanced his way.
"You see Lucien, you've gotten yourself in a kind of bind that you can't get yourself out of." Elijah looked down, he was trying hard to control the anger that bubbled inside of him, but it wasn't because of what Lucien said, it was because of Arabella.
"Oh? Is that so?" Lucien looked unaffected about the whole thing. If anything he was smug about it.
Arabella had found the perfect house, but it was located in a place called Beacon Hills, it was nice and small, but she wasn't sure whether Elijah would look there. So she kept it in mind as she continued to look. The next place she saw was Mystic Falls, of all places. That was a definite no because that would be the first place he would look, and some too many people knew of the Mikaelsons there, she didn't want her to be associated with the name.
It wasn't long after that when Bête made her entrance from the back room, looking more grunge than usual, her eyes were still bright and yellow, and she wasn't hiding it from anyone. There weren't many people inside the bar to look at her anyway, so Arabella ignored her like everyone else.
"Why are you being so boring today?" She asked as she sat on a barstool, three away from Arabella to be exact.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Arabella didn't meet Bête's eyes.
"You're sitting behind a bar, looking all depressed, staring at a laptop. Boring." Bête started to spin like a child on the stool.
"I actually have a business to run, the Mikaelsons could handle their affairs without me for a while." She was defensive, and while she was, she still didn't look at her.
"Could they though? They couldn't bring Gaspar Cortez down even if they tried. You did so much before they even woke up this morning." She gushed. Bête thought that would somehow put Arabella in a better mood, but it did not.
"And I'm freaking exhausted, so if you don't mind. I'm busy." She looked Bête square in the eyes and then looked down at the laptop like it was the only thing she wanted to be acquainted with for the day, and it was.
Arabella was already lightheaded, what had made it worse was Josh, Davina, and Aiden running in, arguing about something she didn't care about. It was easier to not care, it was better for everyone at the end of the day if Arabella just pulled back from everyone, that way no one would miss her when she did leave for another town.
"Arabella, have you seen Cami?" Davina asked in a rush, it was clear that she was in a hurry for something.
"No." She was hard when she said it. Arabella never looked up to answer her.
"We haven't seen or heard from her in days."Josh tried to say something, thinking that since Arabella still wasn't speaking with Davina, so he thought he could try to get her to engage in a conversation, but that didn't work either.
"What a shame." She rested her head on her hand again and blinked slowly, looking at them with another bored expression. Davina was the first to notice that Arabella didn't care, and the fact that Arabella had gotten to know Cami well enough to still not care where she was at, made Arabella a horrible friend. Arabella wasn't afraid to say she didn't care either, though she was sure none of them were going to call her out on it.
"Do you think you can help us find out where she is?" Davina asked again, with more attitude than ever.
"Sorry, I'm busy." She stood up again and looked back to her laptop, that little electronic was her best friend for the day.
"You're not sorry." Davina was annoyed, that didn't concern Arabella though, she wasn't responsible for how others saw her.
"But I am busy." She reminded her again without looking up. Josh noticed she didn't want to be bothered, Aiden even took the hint, but Davina thought that if she kept bugging the crap out of her then Arabella would drop what she was doing to help them. She was not.
"You're sitting on a laptop, that doesn't necessarily count as busy." Aiden pointed out.
"Fine, I just don't care enough to help." She shrugged his shoulder. Then her phone started vibrating again, she looked at it to see that it was from Freya, and she was asking if Arabella could watch Hope. "Something just came up. I have to go."
"Perfect," Davina rolled her eyes and followed Arabella outside where she tried to turn Arabella but chose to run around her and stop her. Arabella was not enthused with what she was doing. "What is wrong with you? Cami can be in real trouble and you don't want to help?"
"It's not that I don't want to help, it's just, I just don't give a damn. Now, if you would excuse me." She was stern, then she walked around Davina without another word as she made her way back to the compound.
When she got there, Freya thanked her and handed over Hope, then she was gone. The first thing Arabella thought of was to take Hope into the kitchen to prepare her something to eat. She started cutting up bananas and apples, she made things that were easy for her to eat and that would fulfill her. Freya mentioned that after she was finished eating, then she would be ready for a nap, but Arabella thought that maybe bathing her first would help with her nap. So as soon as lunch was finished, she ran her a bath in Niklaus' bathroom, then she helped wash her and make sure that she was squeaky clean. Then she dried her, brushed her hair, put baby lotion all over her, and then placed clothes on her that Niklaus kept in his top drawer. It amazed her, how much Niklaus had changed since Hope was born, he was a good father despite his past.
Arabella laid Hope down in her old crib and cracked the door a little bit so that Arabella could hear her in case she woke up earlier than anticipated. In the meantime, Arabella found things to do because she had to be true to herself, they weren't going to be cleaning up anything as long as they had to deal with Lucien and the De Martels. So she swept, she washed dishes, she made beds, and the last thing she decided to do was dust the paintings that hung on the walls throughout the compound. The last ones she touched, were that of the portraits of Niklaus, Elijah, and Rebekah. Niklaus' portrait was first, then she stopped in front of Elijah's and slowly began to clean it, she had to stand on her toes for each one, and as she took her time cleaning it, Elijah and Niklaus made their way inside the courtyard, they both looked like they went through hell as Elijah's jacket was tattered, and Niklaus' shirt had multiple tears in it. Before Arabella had stopped to take them in, her shirt was rising as she finished cleaning Elijah's portrait, and before she was flat on her feet again, Niklaus noticed something that he wouldn't normally notice. And he wouldn't have thought anything of it, but lately, impossible things, became possible for him, and the way that her stomach was pushed out, he could have sworn that she was carrying a child. It was barely noticeable because the bump was so tiny and Arabella was completely flat in the stomach area, the way that she had looked, was the same way Hayley looked when he found out she was pregnant, and that was why he tried to listen, the same way he did when Elijah told him to listen to Hope's heartbeat. But when he did, he didn't hear anything. So the second thought he came to was that she was bloated and decided to stop questioning why her body was changing. He wasn't going to push anything further, he didn't know what came over him to think that Arabella was with child. She and Elijah had problems, but she wouldn't have stepped out on him no matter their quarrels, and Elijah physically couldn't give her any offspring, so he didn't know why he thought he could.
"How was visiting Lucien?" She asked nonchalantly as she turned back to finish her dusting, not concerned with how things turned out, which went bad.
"We were ambushed," Elijah stated simply as he pulled part of a wooden stake from beneath his rib cage.
"So I'm guessing Lucy got away, huh?" She was calm when she finished her work, she went on to do Rebekah's portrait before she had been distracted and would forget. "What a shame."
"Yes, he did. Why are you so lax today?" Elijah wasn't sure if he should be concerned, if he showed too much interest in her life then she would snap at him, so he was sure to keep his distance.
"I can assure you that I am not." She finished, picked up the supplies she used to clean, and handed them to Niklaus when he was close enough. "Freya asked me to watch Hope. She had her lunch, I bathed her then I laid her down in her room, she's been asleep for an hour or so."
"Where are you going?" He asked quizzically.
"Believe it or not Niklaus, I have a life outside of this family. Now, if you don't need anything else from me I would like to go home." She clocked Elijah a look and then started walking toward the exit.
"You said you needed to talk." He reminded her, and for a split second, she had forgotten, when she remembered, the look of it dawning on her came as a surprise.
"Right," She tucked the loose strands behind her ears and then looked up, locking eyes with Elijah. "I don't know who he's working for, but Phillip is working for someone."
"But isn't that supposed to be your best friend?" Elijah was sarcastic, and the fact that he was, caused Niklaus to turn his head and look at his brother. It was rare because Elijah was a literal person. So the fact that Elijah was, both Arabella and Niklaus knew that Elijah didn't like Phillip. At least they could all agree on something because now Arabella wanted nothing to do with him.
"So what makes you think he's working with someone?" Niklaus focused on the topic and became interested in wanting to find out who Phillip was working for.
"I had never mentioned Aurora or Tristan to him. He assumed that I was so busy looking at my laptop that I didn't acknowledge his question." She explained and it was brief. She tried her hardest not to look at Elijah during the exchange.
"What, on your laptop was so important that you couldn't stop him from leaving?" Elijah had an idea but he was already disliking what conclusion he came up with.
"I had decided to take a day to look for a new home. I wanted one day to myself, I wasn't going to analyze someone I was supposed to call my best friend." She rolled her eyes.
"But look, now he's going to run back to whoever he answers to and he's going to tell them whatever it is he knows when you could've done something to prevent it." Elijah was defensive, but it wasn't like Arabella gave him much detail to take a lead on.
"I'm sorry, I don't think you've understood me. I took a day for myself because believe it or not, my life does not revolve around this family. So if I want to take a day so I can look for a new home, then that is what I'm going to do." Her defensive tone had Elijah taken aback.
"You're really leaving? To where?" Niklaus asked, he thought she wasn't serious.
"I am really leaving, and it's best if I don't disclose the whereabouts." She looked away from Elijah and glanced at Niklaus.
"And why not?" Elijah couldn't help but ask, he would soon get his answer.
"Because I don't want you to find me," She was crossed with Elijah at that point, and she wanted nothing more to do than to turn around and walk out without saying anything more to him, his face was starting to make her angry. "Now if that is all you need from me Niklaus, I would like to leave."
"That would be all, thank you for helping with Hope." He couldn't meet her angry eyes, so he thanked her and let her go, the same thing Elijah should've been doing.
"Anytime." Then she walked towards the gates without looking at Elijah. On the way out she walked up to Niklaus and casually placed a light kiss on his cheek. He didn't know how to react to that. Arabella was on her way back to the bar after that, where she would continue to look for somewhere to go, because the longer she stayed, the longer she was starting to despise Elijah. She never thought she would be able to hate him, but it was evident that she had never experienced that she could.
She was back to leaning on the bar, helping customers, mostly tourists, getting them anything they needed, and then going back to the same thing as before. She already made the call, talked to a real estate agent, and handled her business. She was opening a new chapter of her life, and hopefully, her story would only be good from there on out. She wasn't going to say where. She wasn't going to tell people when it was time to leave, she was just going to go.
Their lives would be a little less chaotic without her there anyway, so what was the point in giving her notice? But she did have something else to take care of, the home she had there in New Orleans, was she going to sell it? Give it to someone who deserves it. She didn't know, she would figure it out when the time came though. She had no other choice.
All of that had to be placed on hold when Kol came rushing in, the look of frustration and terror mixed on his features. Before she could set her phone down, she clenched it in her hand again and started to mindlessly make her way around the bar.
"Kol, what's happened?" Her eyebrows furrowed, and the pit in her stomach returned.
"Jackson has been captured, don't know by who but it's bad."
"Why is that my problem?" Her eyebrows rose then furrowed on her forehead, she thought it was something serious. She turned away to go back to what she was doing until he said what he said.
"Because Tristan and Aurora have also escaped."
"WHAT?!" Her shout rang loud throughout the bar, causing everyone to turn and look at them.
"I'll explain on the way, we need to go." He pulled her hand and walked them both out of the door, once they were outside that was when she snatched her hand out of his, making him stop to watch her expression with hurt in his eyes.
"How was it possible for them to escape?!" She screamed, and the way she felt for doing it made her head start throbbing.
"Someone knew where they were. Whoever it was killed every single person watching them."
"Right around the same time that Jackson ends up missing? What in the hell is going on?" She started storming off to see what was going on herself, but Kol stopped her.
"I don't know but we need your help." He asked, and he wasn't afraid of asking her, but his face clearly showed that he wasn't asking for it, it was Elijah.
"And you have it," She started walking again, so when he caught up with her, she continued with an attitude. "The moment I am an inch away from them I am ending their lives."
Her anger seeped through her pores, and clearly, Kol was loving every second of it because he smiled brightly.
"I'm not going to stop you. You have my word." She couldn't see his smile but she could feel it. He loved that side of her.
"I wasn't asking for your word, no one has a choice in what I'm going to do."
"Noted."
"I have to stop and grab something first." She stopped for a split second, thought about it, and then started going in the direction of one of the many Mikaelson vehicles. Hell was going to rain down on the De Martels.
🖤
In all black, Arabella stood in the middle of the courtyard with Rebekah on her right, and Elijah on her left but behind her. Niklaus was directly in front of her, Hayley on his left, Kol on his right, and Freya was walking in with Arabella's sword. Bête was there too but she was preoccupying herself with a strong drink, Arabella tried her best to ignore her. Once Freya had placed her sword back in Arabella's hands, she gasped as a surge of power soared through her bones. Her eyes shot open and they were yellow, the same kind that matched Niklaus'. The way they watched her change for a minute and then go back to normal, was different, but not too much different than how they changed, Freya couldn't figure out how it worked, but it made Arabella ten times stronger and indestructible when she owned it.
A few moments passed and with each one that passed, Elijah couldn't see what she was doing, then unconsciously, she placed the sword on her back and straightened her posture, Elijah could see the gold shine brightly, too bright for some metal that was well over a thousand years old. Her back tensed up, and her face turned a little to show him that she could feel his eyes on her, and the side glance she gave him told him to stop doing it.
Elijah licked his lips and looked away, he didn't know what he could say to her, everything he had said only upset her, and he didn't know why he was doing it, he guessed that maybe he wanted to see if he could still get a rise out of her and it was clear that he could. He wasn't doing it intentionally, but he couldn't necessarily be sweet about it, she would think that he changed his mind about her and wanted her back like he had done before but there was no changing her mind. She wanted Elijah to be one hundred percent when wanting to be with her and it was clear that he was not honest about his feelings.
She was a whole different being when she had the sword, she was strong, she was confident, she was aware. Arabella without all of that was depressing, after all, she was going through a breakup with the only man she ever loved, so it was nice to see her not pay any mind to her situation. She reminded Elijah of a warrior but without all of the armor, and he knew that someone like Arabella wouldn't need it. If looks could kill, she could kill every person in the room.
"Hayley and I are going to go look for Jackson, you all know what to do."
"Do you think it's a good idea for you two to be together?" Vera had been leaning against a nearby wall, none of them knowing she was there the entire time, and the fact that she had walked in while no one noticed her, brought a smile to her face. "After all, she did just tell your husband that she loved him."
"She's not his wife, so."
"Where have you been?" Arabella rolled her eyes as she asked her sister the question.
"I was visiting our family members. They're convinced they should be in hiding as long as you're around." The smirk on Vera's face reminded Arabella of her smart remarks, it only made sense because Vera had been in Arabella's head for the last millennia, it was bound to happen at some point.
"As they should." Arabella tried not to roll her eyes when she spoke about them, but she couldn't resist as she looked away and tightened her belt. Niklaus couldn't help but look at her stomach again, the same, tiny bump poked out to him, but he still heard nothing.
He couldn't have been the only one seeing what he was seeing. But Arabella had been depressed lately, and she had been eating everything in her home, she went out to get food, and she wasn't working out like she usually did, she might have just been gaining weight, and that wasn't really a problem for Niklaus as long as Arabella was okay with how she looked.
"Can we not do this right now?" Hayley interrupted while rolling her eyes.
"What's the point? You clearly don't care about the man you married. Why not let him die?" Arabella took a step back and accidentally backed into Elijah, when she looked up, she stepped away from him too. She wasn't supposed to care about what Hayley said to Elijah, but it did hurt that it still happened. He could see the hurt in her eyes, but she quickly replaced it with spite.
"Jackson is still my husband, and I need help to get him back. It's the right thing to do." She had to remind Arabella, but she didn't need to be reminded, Arabella didn't care about what was right and wrong.
"The right thing to do would be to honor your vows when you married the man, how would he feel if he knew you still had strong feelings for Elijah?" Elijah looked at Arabella when Vera spoke to Hayley.
"He already knows," Hayley fidgeted while trying to get the attention off of her, it was too late for that.
"He already knows," Arabella laughed. She scoffed before continuing. "You are so sad."
Hayley inhaled deeply, it was clear that it was making her mad. "You know, you are really starting to piss me off."
Her eyes started glowing and Elijah instantly found his way in between the two of them. He didn't look at Hayley though, his eyes were locked on Arabella.
"Your husband is missing, and you're worried about me pissing you off? Just go ahead and add that to the growing list of priorities in which you have successfully messed up." Arabella's laugh was humorless, all of them could tell that death swam in the pools of her blue eyes.
"Ladies, can I suggest we hold onto this until everyone is safe?" He was calm, and he thought that being the mediator was going to somehow solve how deadly Arabella was looking. He knew it was a long shot but he was still going to take that chance.
"No, you two can hold onto this, I want no part of it. After all," She took Elijah's hand that was held up to stop her and placed her ring in his hand for the second time. "You can do whatever the hell you want."
"Arabella, we must be going." Niklaus held his hand out and waited for her to take it, she didn't, she did walk past him but she expected him to follow behind.
"I thought I was supposed to go with you." The fact that Hayley actually thought Arabella wanted her company after that, was almost comical.
"For someone so pretty, you are a dope." Rebekah rolled her eyes and left with her brother and her best friend. She was going to do what she was told to do, and she was happy to be exiting out of that conversation.
"I'll go with Arabella, and Hayley you'll go find Camille." Niklaus turned to the group again and saw that Elijah was silently fuming at the thought of Arabella and Niklaus working together, he warned his lovesick brother to not get any ideas, but Niklaus couldn't help but want to be close to her.
"Is everyone clear with what we're doing?" Elijah asked the others while watching Arabella leave with his brother. He shoved the ring into his pocket and held it there until everyone confirmed they were ready to go. Once so, they all parted and went to do their jobs. It was almost evening and the sun was well past its peak. The night would soon fall and they at least needed to get Jackson and Camille back safely before ever coming back to the compound empty-handed.
Niklaus was following Arabella down a dark alley while she was crouched down to the ground following Jackson's scent. She looked up and forward, she felt someone else but it wasn't Jackson, it was Hayley. She looked back at Niklaus as he became puzzled, she stayed quiet while she stared, Hayley had one simple job, how on earth did she manage to get captured? It hadn't even been two hours.
"Instead of staring at me, just tell me what's going on." He widened his eyes for a split second, showing that he had no idea what was going on in her head. So looking at him without speaking wasn't going to help him catch on.
"I smell Hayley's blood, she's with Jackson." She whispered.
"How all she had to do was find Camille," He couldn't believe it for a second but then it became clear that it wasn't the first time she had gone against her orders.
"That's not where she was going. She needed to get to Jackson before we did and I can't help but wonder why." Her face was hard, her list of suspicions toward Hayley was growing, and it was only a matter of time before Arabella brought it to her attention. It might have been coming soon because if she didn't have a logical explanation on how she managed to be captured, hours after her husband, it made no sense. So Arabella would have no choice but to ask once they retrieved them both.
Hayley came to and saw that she was chained to the chair she sat in. She tried to break free and figured that she could because she was a hybrid; that wasn't the case. When Jackson's voice echoed throughout the warehouse, only then did she realize he was there.
"Tried that," He tried to catch his breath, the wolfsbane was preventing him from doing that. "The more you struggle, the more wolfsbane is pumped into your veins."
"Jack, your leg." She stopped for a second and looked him over, she noticed instantly that his leg was dripping with blood. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, they worked me over pretty good." He tried to relax by leaning back, but she could see the discomfort on his face. "With all the wolfsbane in my system, I ain't healing so well."
"Just breathe, when we get a chance to fight, be ready." She looked around to see if there was something she could use to her advantage, there was nothing when he tried to grab her attention.
"Hayley, Hayley listen." He closed his eyes. He was just going to rest them, but Hayley noticed that his head was falling to the side a little bit and that he wasn't looking too great. "I don't know if I'm gonna get that chance."
"Stop. We are going to get out of here Jack." She started fighting to break through the chains again, but Jackson knew his fate, he just wished Hayley would accept that he wasn't going to make it out of there alive.
"I love you, I've always loved you." He looked like he was going to cry, but he was just tired and he needed to get how he felt off of his chest.
"Don't." Her eyes stared into his, she didn't want to hear that. She wanted to get him out of there, and she couldn't do that if he couldn't be strong.
"When I first saw you, I broke." He was saying goodbye, and Hayley couldn't accept that. "You broke me. And nothing has been the same since. I just want you to know that it was all real. Every moment, every touch, every word."
"How absolutely dove," Tristan came in through the opened door in the back of the building and walked up behind Hayley and Jackson. "Or pathetic, I suppose it's all relative."
"You let us out of here or so help me, I'm going to kill you." Hayley started fighting against the chains again.
"Mm, somehow I doubt it." He smirked, and it disappeared as quickly as it came. "I've been pondering this moment since Arabella had captured and tortured me."
"We had a deal, Tristan." Her words came through her teeth. Arabella could hear the entire exchange between the three and the fact that she was brought up, and a deal had been made, Niklaus and her looked at each other.
Niklaus had a sinking feeling that Hayley might have done something so beyond stupid that it was going to make Arabella kill her.
Arabella was indecently calm about what she was hearing, but on the inside, she already knew how she was going to kill her if Tristan didn't do it first.
"What is the best way to truly hurt a hybrid? And then it came to me," He turned around Jackson's chair and kind of stood there for a second before grabbing Jackson by his hair. He then pulled his hair back as Jackson struggled against him. Hayley knew what was going to happen the moment he did it.
"No, NO!" Hayley screamed as Tristan shoved his hand in his chest and grabbed Jackson's heart, he pulled it out in one swift move and Hayley screamed again. "NO, NO, NO!"
Jackson's head fell back as his life had been taken from him, and all Hayley could do was scream and cry out for the loss of her husband.
"We had a DEAL!" She rocked back and forth violently trying to get free so that she could console her now-dead husband, and the fact that she could while he sat there lifeless, it made her seethingly mad.
"Yes, well that ended when you failed to inform me that Arabella was back from the dead." He smirked and then walked out as casually as he did when he walked in.
Arabella could hear them exchange words on the outside of the warehouse, and the fact that Niklaus was there with her to witness Arabella's beliefs about Hayley, that she was behind her getting killed by Tristan the first time. She just couldn't believe that she was right about her, in the back of her mind she was begging for it to not be true. Arabella loved Hope, and the fact that such a sweet child came from a backstabber like her mother, she couldn't help but want to kill her. It would take the entire Mikaelson family to stop her from doing so.
The two were going to go in and retrieve the both of them, but it didn't help when the whole warehouse started to become flooded with Strix members, it was too much for them both to take on right now, so in the meantime, Niklaus pulled his phone out and called Elijah to tell him what was going on, and what they were going to do was find Camille because Jackson was dead, they were too late. What he didn't let Elijah know was that Hayley had also been captured. He was going to let Arabella tell him that, besides they were moving her anyway, something else was going on. Did they need all of those people for one person? That meant Tristan had something up his sleeve if he needed that many people, maybe he just didn't want to be captured again.
"We have to get to Aurora before Tristan does."
"We have no idea where she disappeared to." Arabella shrugged her shoulders as she continued looking for any important whereabouts on where they were headed. No one had spoken of where they were going, Tristan didn't even say where to take Hayley.
"Right, so once we find Camille, then we go after Aurora." His scowl was everything when Arabella looked up at him. She had to look away because she didn't want him to see that she was staring longer than she should have.
"What about Hayley?" She didn't care, but Niklaus might have so she tried to remain calm just for him.
"If Tristan wanted her dead he would have already done it. So she's safe for now." He drew closer to her, though she didn't notice what he was doing until she could smell his cologne sailing down her shoulder. He smelled delicious to her, and the fact that she thought that, she needed to stay focused.
"Alright, let's go." She stood up, turned, and walked past him so they could move on to the next person. Where could Camille have been? Who would be interested in capturing a human who had no utter significance to the Mikaelson family, unless she was really important to one of them?
Arabella would be lying if it wasn't incredibly difficult to find Camille, usually tracking a human was easy, but she couldn't catch her scent anywhere around the quarter. Niklaus ran in many directions and Arabella scowled the highest and lowest of places, and they were turning up empty. It wasn't long after that that Elijah started calling her phone, but she ignored him every time.
It wasn't until Niklaus was next to her in the bayou that Elijah called her again, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket, saw his name at the top of the screen, pressed the ignore button, and stuffed it back in her pocket.
"So you're purposefully ignoring my calls?" He asked as he stepped out from behind a tree.
"What gave it away?" She asked as her face remained straight. The fact that he knew where she was didn't surprise her she couldn't help but smirk at the idea that he came out there just to see as to why she wouldn't answer her phone.
"I'm calling to check on your progress." He lied, he had gotten worried and wanted to make sure that neither Niklaus nor Arabella had gotten into trouble. He didn't care about checking on them, he wanted to know if Arabella already knew what he knew, and he had a feeling that she did.
"No one told you to check on either of us." She started walking around him, not really trying to talk to him.
"Are you aware of where Hayley is?" He turned with her and asked knowingly. He knew that she was missing, and the fact that she didn't want to let Elijah know that she was, upset him.
"Why? So the two of you could continue fessing up your love for one another?" She laughed, it was sarcastic. Niklaus didn't want to be in the middle of it and the idea of being in the middle of it kind of exhilarated him. And it was kind of funny because Arabella wasn't taking Elijah seriously, at all.
"Can you be mature for one second?" His face strained to keep his composure, but it was clear that a hard look from her ex wasn't going to make her stop. It was one of her many coping mechanisms for getting over him.
"I could. But that doesn't mean that I want to." She lowered herself down to the ground and touched the earth for a second. She thought she could pick up Camille's scent but the longer they stayed in the bayou the more it started to fade. She wasn't going to be out there, it was just another dead end.
"Do either of you know where Hayley is?" He asked again, and Arabella's attention halted. She turned her head up to him and returned his question with one of her own.
"Do you?" Her eyebrow shot up and Elijah couldn't help but feel constricted as he swallowed hard and licked his lips.
"I do, and neither of you told me."
"What did you think we could do? Waltz in there? Take on over two dozen men trying to save her?" She stood up and turned to face him.
"I could try to rescue her, that's more than I can say for the two of you."
"In our defense, we had a plan." Niklaus shrugged.
"And what was it?"|
"Let me ask you something," She was in his face now, she looked up to him and stared him hard in his eyes and searched for some small indication of the care that he had for Hayley. "Do you still love her?"
"What?"
"Do you still love Hayley?" She narrowed her eyes, but only for a second. "It's clear that she still loves you, is that why you're so hell-bent on saving her?" She was casual when she asked. It kind of caught Elijah off guard.
"I want to make sure she is safe because she is the mother of my niece."
"And that's all?"
"That is all."
"Then why are you so crossed that I asked if you loved her?"
"Would you be crossed with your significant other if they asked if you had feelings for someone else? Because personally, I think you would."
"I would if I was asking my significant other." Her lips formed a tight line and her eyes narrowed. Niklaus didn't want to be in the middle of their squabble.
Elijah didn't know how to respond to that. The hurt that she spoke wasn't the only thing showing in her eyes. She tried to make it look like her hate was more evident than her hurt but the longer he looked at her, the more he realized why she was asking him such ridiculous questions.
It was because as much as she wanted to hide it, she was in love with Elijah and as much as she wanted to make herself hate him, she knew deep down in her heart that she couldn't. That was why she needed to leave New Orleans, that way she could have time to heal, work on herself, and move on. It was the best thing for her she thought.
"Niklaus? Where is Hayley?" Elijah cleared his throat and asked his brother.
"She was taken by Tristan." Niklaus was brief with his answer.
"And you allowed that to happen?"
"There wasn't anything to do right now, if he wanted her dead then he would have killed her the moment he killed Jackson."
"And why would I rescue someone who made a deal with him?" Arabella added.
"What do you mean, made a deal?"
"Your precious hybrid made a deal with Tristan, to kill me." Elijah's eyebrows lowered when he heard Arabella explain what Hayley had done, he couldn't believe it. Why would Hayley do something so heinous to Arabella?
"Why would she do something like that?"
"Are you seriously asking me the matter of why? She asked the man who held me as a prisoner for over a year, to help kill me and you're asking why would she do that?" Arabella chuckled humorlessly and then started walking away from both of the brothers. She knew that Niklaus would follow eventually but she had to get away from Elijah before she blew up.
"That isn't what I meant Ara." He rolled his eyes. He was on a roll with upsetting her.
"No that is exactly what you meant. You want so badly to find nothing wrong with that girl and she was the main culprit for planning the murder of the woman you planned to marry!"
She spun around as fast as she walked away, she pointed at him accusingly until she was standing right in front of him again and almost cursed at him.
"You know I didn't mean it."
"Well, I think you did." Only one of her eyes watered, and the fact that she stared at him hard, she had to get away, she had to get as far away from him as possible. So she left, and she was fast with doing it, if Niklaus wanted to catch up with her then he would eventually. He just had a few more words to share with his thoughtless brother. This was something that never happened because Elijah wasn't thoughtless, it just seemed that way when he was around her and he needed to get that in order because one more wrong thing was said to Arabella and he could say goodbye to her forever, which silently Niklaus hoped for.
When she was for sure gone, Niklaus looked at his brother and told him what he had heard himself.
"What she said was true. Hayley was behind Tristan pulling Arabella's heart out."
"I believe Arabella, it's just hard to process that Hayley would do something like that."
"Is processing this, meaning that you don't believe a word she says because I think you've got that covered."
"Why would Hayley work with Tristan to kill Arabella, that isn't what I don't understand. Arabella has done so much for her and Hope."
"Arabella already knows the reason why? Or did you not hear anything she said?"
Elijah looked at his brother like there was some hidden message in what Arabella said to him, he thought hard before answering, but nothing concrete was popping up into his head.
Niklaus sighed when Elijah started to take too long. "Arabella thinks that Hayley worked with Tristan so that she was out of the picture so she could be with you."
"That is ridiculous." Elijah scoffed.
"That's the truth, how much do you want to bet that that would be her excuse? That she did it all for the love of you?"
"I don't know, I'll have to ask when we bring her back safely." Elijah ended their conversation and disappeared into the night in search of Hayley and Tristan. Niklaus went to go find Arabella, he was at her disposal, and he was going to be there for her as long as she needed him.
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Arabella was looking up at an older building, one that she walked past plenty of times, but in no way acknowledged. The sinking feeling returned to her stomach while she looked up and when Niklaus appeared at her side, it was weird to him that he couldn't pick up on things that Arabella could, but it made him look concerned just by watching Arabella's expression.
"What is it?"
"You're not going to like it." She lowered her head slowly and looked up at him briefly. After that, they ran inside and reached the third floor where she was. When they threw the door open, she was lying in a bed, lifeless; Niklaus swooped her up into his arms and tried to find anything wrong with her, Arabella approached the bed slowly, he looked really worried for her.
"She'll be awake soon." Arabella looked around the room to find anything out of place, there was nothing but Aurora's perfume that stung her nose. "Aurora was here."
"I know," He looked like he wanted to cry, but there was no time for that. He picked her up and then walked toward the door. They both knew they had to get back to the compound so they didn't have to share words, but as soon as they exited out of the building, Elijah was there waiting for her.
"I'll catch up with you. We'll get this taken care of." Arabella nodded her head at Niklaus.
Niklaus said nothing else, he disappeared into the night and Arabella turned her attention back to Elijah. She thought she had spoken her final words in the bayou, but it was clear that Elijah wanted to talk.
"Is it true?"
"Excuse me?"
"You believe I'd choose Hayley over you?"
"You've done it once before. Don't think I've forgotten about that."
"Well let me explain something to you." He came closer to her, too close for her to be comfortable, all she wanted was distance but she couldn't make herself move. "I know I have hurt you, way more than I would like. But that does not stop me from loving the very being that is Arabella Sophia Bonavich-Mikaelson. I love you for who you are and what you represent for this family. I will not forgive myself if I didn't tell you how I felt about all of this. We may not be together at this very moment, but that does not mean I don't want to spend the rest of my life with you. I was hurt and I overreacted, and I will prove to you that that is exactly what I mean. I can't let you leave, I don't want you to leave."
Arabella's eyes were filling with tears as she stared at him. She hadn't blinked when tears rolled down her face, it was then that she took her hand and wiped her face. Elijah's emotions matched her own as he watched her, the mere inclination that she didn't say anything was making him nervous.
"I appreciate that you took the time to find me and tell me all of the things you're feeling." She cleared her throat and tucked a loose strand from her ponytail, behind her ear. "Unfortunately, I am still leaving New Orleans."
"But I-."
"I understand that you do not want me to leave, but it isn't up for discussion. I'm leaving because I need to be away from you. I need to know what it's like to not be under Elijah Mikaelson twenty-four hours a day. Since I've been here I've been trying to do everything to please you, and at the end of the day, it isn't good enough. I need someone who loves me to the fullest, someone who isn't afraid to love me even when I'm at my worst. It's time that I lived this life, what I have left of it, for me. The way that I want, without being blamed for every little inconvenience that protrudes out of the mouths of my family."
"Please Arabella, what could I do to make you stay?"
"You can't say or do anything, Elijah. As soon as Tristan and Aurora are dead, I will be gone."
"One day, we'll argue, and you won't be able to walk away like you're doing right now!" He called out to her as she made her way back to the compound. The idea of being together in the future kind of scared her because there was no telling if they would survive without one another. Who knew how long she was going to be gone, she was almost sure that she was never returning to New Orleans, so the thought that Elijah still imagined them being together, scared her.
"I have to go." She whispered. Her back was to him when she said it because she was aware that he could hear her very heart beating, so it was clear that he could hear her tears rolling down her face if he tried hard enough, she was at a far enough distance to wipe them away without giving it away.
Elijah didn't know how not to think about Arabella, he was wrong for doing what he did. He wanted to find every reason under the sun to take back his actions and what he said. He wished he didn't listen to her sister. He hated himself for not being able to wrap his arms around her and not make her feel better, to tell her everything would be alright. He wanted her to stay with him, he wanted to continue to plan their wedding together, and the rest of their lives together.
Arabella could honestly understand why it was over for them though; the thought of marrying someone who didn't want to love her for her faults along with her accomplishments. Arabella could love Elijah despite his but he couldn't do the same for her. It was a one-way street and she refused to walk it alone. It was good that she got out when she did, it was going to be a road of discovery and she couldn't wait to experience it on her own for the first time in over a thousand years. It was what was best for both of them.
Elijah didn't know how to stop thinking about her leaving, he would be up all night thinking about it, and the night would surround and drown him, he wouldn't be able to come up for air until he knew that she was going to stay. So he took his anger out on anyone he could find. He threw things, he broke things, he shattered items into a million pieces and it still didn't make him feel better.
Arabella thought that she was going to wake up in the morning and hate herself for choosing to leave, but no one knew that staying was slowly killing her on the inside. And that alone would cause her not to sleep. She would stay up, search for Aurora and Tristan, come up empty, and then spend the rest of the night putting together wedding dresses, although her belief in love and marriage was deteriorating from her ancient love language.
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Word Count: 13,500