In the days that passed Caroline's birthday, Jeremy left to start his new life in Denver, and Audrey was upset she never got to say goodbye in person. But after Stefan almost drove her off Wickery Bridge, Klaus had gotten more firm on not letting the Gilbert girl out of his sight. She arrived back at the mansion that night silent, her eyes red and puffy from crying, and spent the night following hardly sleeping due to dreams. Nightmares, more accurately, of the night she lost her parents. With help from Caroline, Audrey was slowly getting past it, thanks to a lot of late night phone calls and last minute sleepovers. Jeremy being gone didn't stop Audrey from talking to him, and the pair had talked on the phone for a few hours once he arrived, and he made sure to assure her it was okay she didn't see him.
She was grateful he was okay with it, but she still felt guilty nonetheless.
She hadn't heard from Elena since that night either. After Stefan abandoned the pair on the bridge, Elena didn't leave her side until Damon came to pick them up. But, no matter how much comfort they offered each other after the incident, it didn't change how far they'd drifted apart recently. Audrey knew Elena was never going to fully understand her bond to Elijah, or why she trusted Klaus and Rebekah like she did, but she hoped she'd gotten her point across to her. It was about more than if she hated Klaus or not, Audrey's life was on the line. Which deep down, she hoped meant more to Elena than trying to kill Klaus.
The house was empty when Audrey got out of bed, it going on early afternoon when she found the motivation to get up. Having woke up early to a nosebleed that morning, she didn't see the harm in trying to sleep a while longer after she'd cleaned herself up. She sat the kitchen, pushing the cereal she'd poured herself around the bowl, nowhere near as hungry as she thought she was. Her brow furrowed as the milk began to change colour, red droplets falling into the white liquid, and it wasn't long till it clicked what was happening. With a sigh, Audrey pushed the bowl away and pinched the bridge of her nose, quickly wiping the blood with a paper towel.
"Again?" Her eyes snapped toward the doorway, where Klaus now stood, watching her in concern. "It's only been a few hours since your last one."
"I'm fine." Audrey mumbled as she looked down.
"No, you're not." He shook his head. Walking closer, he took the paper towel from her hands despite her protest, carefully wiping the dots of blood she'd miss. "It's getting worse." He sighed, and pressed his hand to her forehead, his frown deepening instantly. "You're hotter than normal. It explains why you're so pale."
Audrey felt a lump form in the back of her throat. "I'm running out of time, aren't I?"
"Don't say that." He shook his head. "You're going to be fine. I'm not going to let you die." He rolled his eyes slightly. "I'm not dealing with what Elijah would do to me if I did."
A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, pushing his shoulder lightly. "You could just say you care about me, you know."
A smile of his own formed, as Klaus walked her from the kitchen and into the living room, sitting her down on the couch. "Now, why would I do that, when you seem to know it already?" He quirked a brow. "Stay here and rest, okay? I'll be back shortly. I have a plan." Audrey gave him a look, and he simply smirked in response. "Don't worry, love. No one, including you, is dying today. I'll see you later."
Audrey watched him walk out quietly, waiting till she heard the front door door click shut. "I wouldn't be sure about that." She mumbled, before laying back comfortably on the couch, closing her eyes with a sigh.
* * * * * * * * * *
Klaus wasn't back when Audrey eventually woke up again. Judging by the way she was feeling, she decided it was probably a good thing. She was now feeling hot, kicking off the blanket she had covered herself with to try and cool herself down. While there was no sign of any more nosebleeds happening while she was asleep, she could feel the stinging sensation in her chest growing sharper, the chest pains becoming more unbearable by the second. She didn't force herself to sit up, and laid still on the couch, hugging a pillow to her chest as she tried to distract herself.
"Klaus!" Audrey sighed at the familiar voice yelling, pulling the cushion to cover her face. "Klaus!"
"He's not here." She groaned, hearing footsteps walk in the room. "And before you ask, I don't know where he is."
"Damnit." Damon grumbled in annoyance. He then looked at Audrey, taking in her appearance as she lowered the cushion from her face. "You don't look great." He said after a moment, considering his words carefully.
She scoffed. "I'm dying, Damon. Sorry I didn't dress up for the occasion."
"I heard." He nodded, walking and perching on the coffee table in front of where she lay. "So it's true then?"
Audrey simply raised a brow at him. "Do you care?"
"Yes, Audrey, I care." He scoffed, giving her a look. "I thought we'd established this long ago."
"Given everything that's happened, I find that hard to believe." She muttered, before covering her mouth with her hand, letting out the cough she felt forming in the back of her throat. After a moment, she pulled her hand away, to see red specks no on her palm. "That can't be good..."
"What?" Damon grabbed her wrist and looked at her hand, his eyes widening in surprise. "Has this happened before?" She just shook her head, closing her eyes as she curled up more on the couch. She just felt tired. "Little Gilbert..." He groaned, gently pushing some hair from her face. "This is just because the dagger is in Elijah?"
Audrey just barely nodded, not opening her eyes. "But Stefan won't hand over the coffins, so my bond to him is killing me."
Damon groaned once more, guilt and many other emotions running through his blue eyes. Moving from where he perched, Damon knelt in front of the Gilbert girl, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I promised you a while ago I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. That I do care, that you mean as much as Elena." He looked down. "And I've been crappy at proving it. I'm going to fix that, starting now." The eldest Salvatore pushed up to his feet, and made his way toward the door, pausing and glancing over at her. "Stay awake, Audrey. It's going to be better soon."
As Damon sped out of the house, Audrey remained still on the couch, her chest rising and falling shakily. And like it had been for so long, her nose began to bleed again, only she didn't feel it. Just like she didn't feel the blood now falling from her ears either, as her hand slipped from where it lay on her stomach, so it was hanging limp off the edge of the couch.
* * * * * * * * * *
Klaus stood running his fingers over the lid of Rebekah's coffin, as one of his hybrids wheeled three more into the room. After managing to get the location of the old witch house, and threatening the spirits that lived there, he'd been able to get three of them back. One was still missing, moved by Damon Salvatore before he had arrived, the location of the coffin he wasn't willing to give up.
"Audrey, love!" He called out, glancing in the direction of the living room. He'd not checked on her since he got back, as he focused on getting the coffins safely into the parlour. "Come here, sweetheart. We need to talk."
"You got your family back. Finally." The hybrid, Daniel, said as he moved the last coffin in. "You gonna open them?"
"Not quite yet." Klaus answered, his eyes looking toward the living room, this time with concern filling them. He moved toward the doorway as he spoke, turning to look at Daniel, who began to follow him. "I still have some unfinished business to take care of."
Daniel raised a brow. "What business?"
As Klaus opened his mouth to answer, Daniel let out a sharp gasp as he squirmed in pain, his body desiccating as it dropped in a heap to the ground . The Original hybrid stared in shock, as his eyes locked with who stood behind the body, Daniel's bloody heart in their hand.
"So, Niklaus..."
Klaus's mouth hung open slightly, freezing on the spot as he stared at his older brother. "Elijah."
Elijah looked at his brother, an unnervingly calm look on his face, as he dropped the heart to the ground and stepped forward. "What did I miss?" He pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, wiping the blood from his hand as he noted his expression. "You look surprised to see me. So it wasn't you that removed the dagger from my chest?"
"You look like you could use a drink." Klaus said calmly after a moment, nerves laced throughout his tone. "And we have a lot to discuss, so shall we?"
Elijah said nothing as he sped forward, clenching his fist and punching him across the face, before throwing him backwards. Klaus groaned slightly, as he crashed through a set of double doors, hitting the floor with a thud. He opened his mouth to say something, but Elijah sped forward and hit him again, before pinning his brother up against the wall. "You snapped her neck!"
"Elijah, I--"
"No, Niklaus!" He snapped, cutting him off furiously. "She is off limits to you, do you understand me? She will not be a victim to your paranoia." He shoved him back slightly, forcing Klaus to look him in the eye. "Do you understand?"
"Perfectly." Klaus nodded, giving him a serious look in return. "The girl is family, Elijah. I won't touch her." As a silence fell over the pair, he took this as his chance to free himself from Elijah's grip, looking around as something clicked in his head. "Audrey?" He saw Elijah look around quickly, as they were met with silence. "Love?"
As there was still no response, he sped into the living room, his brother following swiftly behind him. Audrey laid where he had left her on the couch, with trails of dried blood falling from her nose and ears, her arm hanging limp off the edge. Before he could do anything, Elijah pushed him aside as he bent down in front of her, many emotions flashing through his eyes.
"Audrey?" His voice came out gently, cupping her face in his hands as he listened carefully. Elijah never felt as much relief as he did in that moment, as he picked up her heartbeat. He stroked the pad of his thumb softly against her cheek, leaning closer until his forehead rested against hers. "Wake up, my dear." He pleaded.
Slowly, Audrey's eyes blinked open, wincing slightly as the light hit them. All she noted as first was that it was gone. The sharp, shooting pain in her chest had disappeared, almost like it was never there to begin with. For the first time in months, Audrey felt as if she could breathe again, without the constant fear that something might make it her last breath. Her brown eyes met with a pair of hazel brown ones, and she felt this feeling form in the pit of her stomach, just like it did the very first time she saw them.
"Elijah?" Before he had chance to say anything, Audrey sat up and flung her arms around him tightly, burying her face in the crook of his neck.
Elijah did nothing but smile, as he wrapped his arms around her and returned the embrace, pressing his lips to her forehead as he held her.
ELIJAH IS BACK! ELIJAH IS BACK!
It took twelve chapters, but he's back! I am so excited, you would not believe. Thank you Damon for doing the right thing and undaggering him, believe me, Audrey will be very grateful next time she sees you. I bet you were all hoping for them to kiss, and I promise it is coming, but I've got plans here! It'll be worth the wait. But I hope they were cute at the end of this for all of you, as I thought that was a sweet little moment.
Next chapter should be up tomorrow for you all, Friday at the latest.
I hope you all enjoyed!