Chapter Text
Girls' Night ~ Part 2
Bonnie, Caroline, and (to everyone's surprise) Rebekah, had rallied valiantly to rescue Elena from her dark mood. Liz Forbes had been correct: Bonnie and Caroline knew everything there was to know about supporting a best friend and getting her over troubled times. No doubt Rebekah would learn quickly from such masters. The next afternoon the manor had been besieged by the two teenage girls, and while Rebekah had hovered in the background, unsure of how to behave, Elena had smiled gratefully and let herself be swarmed in a sea of hugs and ‘I'm so sorry’s and ‘We'll get through this’s.
As the girls disappeared upstairs, Elijah ensconced himself in his library. He was well aware his brothers were also keeping to themselves after Rebekah’s threat earlier. ("Interrupt my first girls' night and I'll rip your spleens out!")
~~~
Bonnie had brought their favorite movies while Caroline had provided several pints of ice cream. Rebekah had triumphantly revealed a bottle of wine that had come from a cask dating back to 1727. "I nicked it from Elijah's collection. He'll get over it eventually." They'd all gathered in Rebekah's room and settled themselves in for a night of quality girl time.
("Why are we wearing nightclothes?" Rebekah asked. "We're not sleeping."
"Because that's what you do during a slumber party!" Caroline said eagerly.
"Why?" It didn't make sense to her.
"You just do!")
~~~
"Elena Gilbert," Caroline asked as she braided Bonnie's hair. "Would you do the honors and select our first movie?"
"I'd love to," Elena said, though moving wouldn't have been her first choice. Rebekah was brushing Elena's hair and it felt divine, but the code of girls' night was sacred.
Leaning over, she eyed the selection... Moulin Rouge, Ghostbusters, The Notebook, Stardust, Titanic, Mean Girls, Casablanca, and Without A Paddle... It was a collection of all the favorites Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline had enjoyed watching together. Rebekah had no idea what to think, but was just happy to be a part of everything.
"It feels like a Moulin Rouge kind of night," Elena decided playfully.
Bonnie closed her eyes and relaxed her body. The DVD case floated over to the entertainment center and opened itself. The DVD was loaded into the player and the giant television turned on. She opened her eyes when the menu screen came up, pleased with her handiwork.
"Nicely done," Elena said.
"Thank you very much." Grinning, Bonnie turned her attention to Rebekah. "Okay, you're figuring everything out just great. But there's one rule we're going to have to add for you."
Rebekah nodded seriously - this was her very first slumber party. Elena envied her the reverence she had for teenage rituals, things Elena had always taken for granted. It was kind of nice, experiencing them anew through Rebekah's eyes.
"When we watch these movies, there will be absolutely no pointing out historical inaccuracies, no matter how bad the movie got it wrong." Bonnie grimaced and explained the reasoning, lest Rebekah think they were picking on her. "One time we were hanging out at Elena's house just wasting an afternoon and Stefan came over. He completely ruined Singing in the Rain."
Caroline let out an audible groan at the memory. "I love him to pieces but he is the worst to watch a movie with."
"It's a promise," Rebekah said as Elena sighed. She continued to comb her fingers through the dark hair, gently massaging Elena’s scalp. "Though if you ever do want an accurate accounting of the Titanic, I'll be happy to share." She smiled slyly and started to section off Elena's hair.
Bonnie dimmed the lights with her magic and the movie began to play.
~~~
Scattered throughout the mansion the Mikaelson brothers suddenly heard three voices ring out in song. "There waaaaas a booooy! A very strange, enchanted booooy!"
It was going to be a long night.
~~~
"Pick your poison," Caroline offered to Rebekah. They'd taken a short sojourn to the kitchen upon finishing their second movie. It was time for ice cream.
Looking at the selection stored in the freezer, Rebekah's eyes went wide. "All of this for the four of us?"
"This is actually us going light," Caroline said. She looked over at Elena. "Christine from the grocery store says hi."
Elena smiled. "Well?" she prompted.
Hesitantly, Rebekah picked out a pint of neopolitan. "This one, I suppose."
"An excellent choice," Bonnie enthused.
Elena showed no hesitation in claiming a pint of moose tracks, while Bonnie made for the mint chocolate chip and handed Caroline the cookie dough. Caroline also held a bowl of ice - on top of which several blood bags were chilling, following Elena's advice.
"Where do you keep the spoons?" Bonnie asked.
"Second drawer to the right of the sink," Rebekah said.
Elena, closest to the drawer, gathered the spoons and the four of them marched back upstairs to Rebekah's room. A door quickly closed and they could hear Finn's quiet but panicked "It is not safe, they have come back!" followed by Klaus's "It's like hiding from the wolves all over again.”
~~~
"You're kidding!" Rebekah insisted with a giggle. Her face was covered in a blue mask of lotion while Caroline was diligently painting her toenails a flashy purple.
"No, we're not!" Bonnie laughed, making it hard for Elena to apply a coat of deep pink on her friend's toenails. "It was the coldest night of the summer, we were camping out in Caroline's back yard at three in the morning, and I had to do cartwheels – naked – for two minutes!"
Elena howled in laughter. "You were so cold by the time we all got back in the tent! Caroline ended up getting five more blankets from inside!"
"I would have been livid," Rebekah said, leaning back against her bed, though a smirk was apparent even through the facemask. Caroline was on her other foot now.
Bonnie nodded. "Oh, I was!" She laughed evilly. "I got them back good though, eventually."
Elena nodded and shuddered at the memory. "I had to ask Matt's mother for tampons - in front of Matt. For two weeks he acted like I had the plague."
"Like that compares with the total humiliation of getting a zit and not being allowed to cover it up for a whole week!" Caroline muttered darkly. "School had just started!"
"Why do you do these things to each other?" Rebekah asked. "You're friends."
Bonnie grinned. "It's just teasing," she said. "We don't really mean anything by it."
Caroline and Elena nodded. "She's right," Caroline said. "We'd never really hurt each other."
"We've gone through spats and had our differences, but we always manage to pull through," Elena added. "We're like sisters."
"It seems a strange way to show affection," Rebekah said, pulling off the cucumber slices over her eyes and studying her newly-purple toenails.
"Didn't you ever play tricks on your brothers? Or did they ever play tricks on each other or you?" Elena asked.
"There was the time they wouldn't let Henrik or I swim with them. So we finally decided to leave – after we stole their clothes when they weren’t looking." She giggled. "Mikael was furious with them when he found out they'd had to sneak back into the village, naked, in mid-afternoon."
"You and Henrik didn't get into trouble for taking their clothes?" Bonnie asked skeptically.
Rebekah shook her head, looking pleased. "No, Mother actually scolded them for not keeping a closer eye on us."
"There's no way they would have let that go," Elena said. "Klaus is too much of a sore loser and Kol never misses a chance for chaos."
Rebekah's smile turned sour. "There was a boy in the village I fancied. The four of them scared him off, right as I was about to let him steal a kiss." She sighed. "Poor Erik; scared to death by my brothers and ending up married to some whey-faced girl from another village."
"It was that bad?" Caroline asked.
"Well, Ragnar, Erik's father, had been talking with Mikael about arranging a marriage between us before it happened. Then, when Erik was roughed up by Nik and the others, Ragnar stormed over and said any thought of marriage was now gone. Mikael laughed in his face." Her look turned stony. "Then Ragnar implied I was a whore, leading his son on for my own amusement and Mikael nearly killed him."
It was such a far cry from how Elena and the others had viewed Esther and Mikael. The parents they'd known had wanted nothing more than to kill their children, a radical shift from a time when they'd been so desperate to keep them alive that they’d made them nigh immortal. Elena also couldn't help but notice how Rebekah still had a hard time referring to Esther as 'Esther' rather than 'Mother,' as her siblings had already mastered. Years on the run from Mikael, however, had firmly erased most thoughts of him as 'Father.'
"That's pretty intense," Caroline said, unsure of how to take Rebekah's story. In truth, when it came to speaking bluntly and tactlessly, Elena thought Rebekah was the one person alive who could give Caroline a run for her money.
"Mikael was very protective of us, especially me," Rebekah said. "But there are better things to talk about, right? Mean Girls had a spring dance. Do we get one?" She looked expectantly at Bonnie, Caroline, and Elena.
"Yes, we do," Elena said. "The pinnacle of high school - senior prom."
"It'll have to do, considering you guys missed the Decade Dance while you were living it up in Denver," Caroline said.
"How was it?" Elena asked.
"Ugh. The 70's. Bell-bottoms, polyester, and bad hair abounded. The stoners were in their element, which really wasn’t very different from the 60's decade dance," Caroline explained. "You honestly didn't miss much." She looked to Rebekah. "I tried for the 1920s like you suggested but I got overruled. Kelly Whitmore from third period said we had to follow the order: 50s, 60s, whatever."
"How did someone overrule you?" Elena asked incredulously. "You're head of the planning committee!"
"I was having an off day. And you weren't going to be there, so..." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Bobby Benson and Heath Rhodes are on the committee too, and we all know that they'll agree with whatever Kelly says, even though they’re both so out of their league with her."
Bonnie just sighed. "On the bright side nothing tragic happened except for Matt's unfortunate dancing."
"Tell me you got a video!" Elena said instantly.
"Oh, yes," Bonnie said with a wicked smile. "I had to make sure you could share in our glee."
"He was quite charming at the ball," Rebekah said. "He danced well."
"Oh, sure, at formal dancing, he's great. Real dancing? He’s horrific." Caroline giggled.
"Everyone here seems to know how to dance formally."
Bonnie shrugged. "Mystic Falls places a lot of emphasis on the past. Formal dancing is part of that - we're taught in gym glass at school."
"You haven't danced until you've waltzed at a ball during the Season in London. The punch was terrible and the company could be awfully boring but the dancing was divine."
"Was the ball you guys threw the closest you've come since?" Bonnie asked.
"Yes."
"It was impressive," Elena said. Then she smirked. "Even when Elijah was standing on the stairs, lying his ass off while he gave that opening spiel."
Rebekah giggled. "He hated that he had to be the one. Finn was too shy, Kol too young, and Mother was certain that Klaus would make everyone uncomfortable."
"You'd think he'd be used to lying after a thousand years," Caroline said. Then she realized what she'd implied and gave an apologetic grimace. "That didn't come out right."
"No, we're very accomplished liars. He just doesn't like doing it." Rebekah poured herself another glass of wine. "How long does this mask stuff have to stay on my face?"
The other three just giggled.
Bonnie put on another movie, and the girls all settled in, wine in hand, to have their hearts absolutely destroyed, in Elena's words.
~~~
Elsewhere, sometime later...
"What do you think Rebekah, Elena, and the other two are doing?" Finn asked. He cast a speculative look at the door.
"I'm trying not to think about it," Klaus said, studying his hand intently. "Have any fives?"
Finn shook his head. "Go fish."
~~~
"What easy way? There is no easy way, no matter what I do, somebody gets hurt."
"Would you stop thinking about what everyone wants? Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want? What do you want?"
"It's not that simple."
Rebekah sniffed and looked over at Elena. She had tears running down her face as she leaned into Bonnie, who wrapped a sympathetic arm around her.
Caroline caught Rebekah's eye and mouthed 'Salvatores'. Rebekah nodded, feeling a great swell of pity for the poor girl's plight, as well as immense relief that she herself had distanced herself from the errant brothers. Even with the rage she felt towards Damon for his manipulative seduction of her and the sadness she felt upon realizing that Stefan would never love her again, Rebekah felt as though she’d avoided any true damage. Compared to Elena, Rebekah thought she’d made a miraculous escape.
~~~
"I shouldn't have been so upset," Elena said. "I was so unfair to the both of them.”
"Elena, you were confused and in love and had so many other things to deal with," Bonnie said.
"I loved Stefan and I always thought it would be him. But Damon just... he just sort of crept up on me and threw me for a loop. And when I realized that I had feelings for the both of them?" She shook her head. "I just wish I could have been more decisive, but I never wanted to worry about it. And when I did, I just kept thinking, 'tomorrow, tomorrow I'll know'." She sniffed. "And it never happened. I never did know."
"I shouldn't have put so much pressure on you to make a choice," Caroline offered. She felt terrible for her insistance upon Elena choosing one of the brothers, especially seeing how affected Elena was now.
"How could you decide, when you'd already lost so much?" Rebekah asked. "They seemed to always put you in the middle, which wasn't very fair of them."
"Katherine said it was okay to love them both, and I did and I think a part of me always will. But I wish I'd have realized sooner that I couldn't have been with either of them. Maybe they wouldn't have been so hurt."
"And what about your hurt?" Rebekah asked indignantly. "They're over a hundred and fifty years old! They're responsible for their own feelings. It wasn’t your job to be their savior.”
"Maybe," Elena allowed.
"Definitely!" Bonnie insisted. "They had to have known that it would end badly. It had already happened once before."
"Elena," Caroline said. "You were young and in love and the two of them were in love with you. It was okay to be conflicted, even if we weren't the most understanding about it."
"Two good-looking, emotionally repressed and damaged guys like the Salvatores? There was no way it was ever going to end well," Bonnie said. "Someone was going to get hurt, no matter what, and you had to do what was best for you. You've never set out to intentionally hurt someone." She paused. "Except for Rusty Bayless in fourth grade, but that little rat had it coming."
Elena giggled through her tears. "You guys are the best."
Mass hugging ensued.
~~~
Elsewhere...
"It was just going to be one little prank!" Kol was fighting against Elijah's grip on his neck.
"Rebekah asked for us to leave them alone," Elijah said. He gave up restraint and dragged Kol down the hall to where Finn and Klaus had been hiding away in Klaus's office.
He opened the door and shoved Kol inside. Klaus and Finn looked up. They were playing cards.
"I caught him trying to sneak onto Rebekah's balcony.” He held up a multi-colored aerosol can with a bright blue lid. The words "Silly String!" were emblazoned on it. "He had a bag full of these."
Kol shot Elijah a withering glare.
"Leave him here," Finn said. Kol gulped and gave Elijah a look of deepest loathing. (Elijah wasn't worried. Kol would get over it within an hour or so, he always did.)
Klaus sighed, resigned to abandoning his card game. "Did you at least hear what they were doing?"
"No," Kol said petulantly, still glaring at Elijah and steadfastly ignoring Finn. "Damned witch was burning sage."
~~~
"What do you think the men are doing?" Caroline asked.
"Who cares?" Rebekah asked in return. "But judging from the scuffle I heard out by my balcony about twenty minutes ago, I'm guessing that Kol was trying to stir trouble and was caught."
Bonnie went out onto the balcony and spotted a bag full of cans of silly string. She levitated the bag up and into the room. She revealed the contents with a giant smile.
Elena's eyes lit up. "You said they'd stay out of our way for the night?"
Rebekah nodded. "They're probably all in Nik's office. We have run of the entire mansion."
Elena rubbed her hands together. "Does Kol lock his room?" Rebekah shook her head. Elena grinned widely and tossed a few cans at Bonnie, Caroline, and Rebekah. "Excellent. Ladies," she said. "We’re going on a little adventure."
~~~
Minutes later the girls, now dressed in black from head to toe and silent as the grave, crept down the hall.
("How could you have possibly known to prepare for this?" Rebekah asked as Bonnie and Caroline revealed the black outfits in their overnight bags.
"This isn't our first rodeo," Bonnie replied with a grin as Elena reappeared with clothes from her own room.)
Kol's room was spacious and, well, a lot more subdued than Bonnie, Caroline, or Elena would have thought. Nothing about its décor (light blue with a few splashes of zebra print) screamed "Resident Psychopathic Mischief-Courting Deviant." But there were a lot of mirrors.
"I thought coming into Kol's room would be like a trip into the mind of an asshole," Caroline said quietly.
Bonnie had to stifle her snort at the reference.
"Alright, let's do this," Elena said in a whisper. She vigorously shook the cans she was holding and then, after taking aim at the full-length mirror by his closet door, let her finger press down on the trigger.
Caroline and Bonnie made for his bed, while Rebekah caught on and went for his closet.
They worked quietly and efficiently. By the time they were finished, silly string covered Kol's bed, everything hanging in his closet, every mirror in his bedroom and bathroom, the chairs, and the two wooden baseball bats displayed like two swords crossing in a place of honor over the mantle of his fireplace.
"Excellent," Elena said in a low but pleased voice. "Take a good look, Rebekah; you've just completed your first prank during a sleepover."
Rebekah beamed proudly.
"Alright," Bonnie said in the same low voice as Elena. "We're ghosts."
"It means we leave as silently and quickly as possible," Caroline explained at Rebekah's puzzled look.
They did so quickly, gathering up the now-empty cans and disappearing as if they were never there.
Back in Rebekah's room, they changed out of their prank-wear and back into their pajamas. Then they collapsed into heaps of laughter at what they'd just done.
"So," Rebekah said through her laughter. "What's our next movie?"
~~~
"Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here."
"They caused an explosion!"
"Is this true?"
"Yes, it's true. This man has no dick."
Caroline howled with laughter and, eyes widening at the crude humor, so did Rebekah. Elena and Bonnie just chuckled and shook their heads. It was a movie they could quote in its near entirety.
"What a little prick!" Rebekah said. They all stopped a moment and then burst out into more laughter. "You three are the worst," Rebekah said between giggles.
"I love this movie!" Caroline exclaimed. "It never gets old."
~~~
Elsewhere
"I don't like this," Kol said. "Who knows what the four of them could be up to?" He shifted next to Elijah in order to better scratch at an itch on his leg.
"Stop moving," Klaus said from behind his easel. "And stop being so paranoid - that's my job. I highly doubt they're doing anything other than eating ice cream and talking about their feelings."
"Was this absolutely necessary?" Finn asked with a bored sigh.
"I haven't done a family portrait in years," Klaus said. "And cheer up; you're actually alive and present for this one! If it makes you feel any better, Rebekah's going to have to sit in eventually as well. I suppose Elena could as well, if she wants."
Elijah grinned and glanced over at Finn and Kol who still looked less than pleased with Klaus's random idea of passing the time.
"Move your head back," Klaus scolded.
Elijah did so with a roll of his eyes and Klaus contentedly went back to his sketching.
~~~
"Gee, is there enough for me?" Bonnie joked as Caroline, Elena, and Rebekah all sipped from the chilled blood bags.
Rebekah looked confused.
"She's joking," Caroline explained. "Don't worry though. One day you will speak fluent Bonnie."
Bonnie smirked.
"I want more ice cream," Elena said, licking the stray blood off her lips. "I'm so hungry." She looked at Caroline and Rebekah. "You both were right about food, by the way. It's incredible now."
"I know!" Caroline said excitedly. "At first I couldn't stand it but then it was like I just couldn’t stop eating it. It’s just the best, next to blood."
"Do you remember the first time you tasted chocolate after turning?" Elena asked Caroline as the four of them made their way back down to the kitchen.
"Yes," Caroline fairly moaned. "It was like tasting pure happiness."
"I've never enjoyed pie so much in my life," Elena said. Then, with a smirk, "And eating it right in front of Matt and Alaric after they'd upset me just made it all the better."
Bonnie laughed. "Matt actually went through with that crazy plan of his?" Elena hadn’t brought that small part of the story up; she’d just said the entire thing had been fine when Bonnie and Caroline had asked about her and Matt’s meet-up.
"Yeah. We were having such a nice time and I was feeling like maybe I hadn't completely ruined our friendship and then Alaric was there and I just sort of broke down. Tandi thought it was my time of the month and brought me chocolate pie."
"Those little bastards!" Caroline seethed. "I'd told them not to upset you! Oh, Matt's going to get one hell of a talking to! And Alaric - I don't care if he is our teacher!" She looked at Elena accusingly. "I'd wondered what those texts of his were about. Something about you getting upset and then Defcon 1 being averted. Ugh! Why didn’t you tell us? You said everything went fine!”
“It’s over, Caroline.”
“Elena!” Caroline scolded insistently. “You’re supposed to tell us when this stuff happens!”
Elena just laughed. "I didn’t think they needed to be subjected to your wrath again. It's okay, Care, there's no need to go to war on my behalf. Everything worked out just fine." She grinned. "And Alaric let me make up all the work I'd missed while I was gone and convinced the other teachers to let me, too."
Caroline suddenly looked shifty. "It was a team effort," she said.
"You compelled the teachers?" Bonnie asked.
"It was for Elena!" Caroline said defensively. "There's no way she's not graduating with us this year." She looked at Rebekah curiously. "How did you get around it?"
Rebekah shrugged. "Elijah's very persuasive. He also had forged documents of a study-abroad trip explaining my absence. Nik made them," she clarified.
"Nice," Elena said to Rebekah, impressed, before she checked the freezer. "So, I call the chocolate. There's peanut-butter cup swirl, rocky road, brownie batter, and pecan vanilla left."
"The pecan vanilla is all mine," Bonnie said.
"Have at it," Caroline said. She made a face.
"Brownie batter," Rebekah spoke up. "I want the brownie batter."
~~~
Elsewhere
"Would you get back from that door?"
Finn glared at Klaus and continued to listen with his ear pressed close. "Yes, they are on their way up the stairs."
"They're taking forever!" Kol complained. "Who could possibly need ice cream at this hour?" He glared at his older brothers. "Can I please go back to my room now?"
"No," said Finn. "They are back in Rebekah's room." He left his post at the door.
"Elijah?" Klaus asked. "Any ideas?"
Elijah studied the board in front of him with deep concentration. "Professor Plum, in the billiard room, with the candlestick."
Klaus triumphantly pulled out his card marked 'candlestick.' "Wrong!" he said cheerfully, unable to help himself.
Elijah cursed under his breath.
~~~
The movie was rolling its credits and Bonnie sleepily managed to turn off the TV and the DVD player. She looked at Caroline, who was curled up in a blanket, fast asleep with her teddy bear, one she brought with her to every sleepover. Elena and Rebekah were sleeping side by side on a mass of pillows. Seeing the time (5:42am), Bonnie grinned and made herself very comfortable indeed on Rebekah's bed.
Girls' night had been a rousing success.
~~~
Caroline was the first one awake out of the four of them. It was 11:30am and she yawned and stretched loudly. Rebekah stirred next to Elena; and Bonnie too, was in the process of waking up. Elena continued to sleep.
"How late were we up?" Rebekah asked with a yawn.
"Nearly quarter ‘til six," Bonnie managed. "This bed is fantastic."
Rebekah smiled. "It's nice, but I try not to sleep too much; a side-effect of being forced to sleep for 90 years in a coffin." Bonnie was growing used to the blunt way Rebekah spoke of things.
Elena let out a great yawn and slowly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She looked drowsy but cheerful. "Did I miss anything?"
"Just Rebekah and Bonnie bonding over beds." Caroline was up and checking her reflection in the mirror.
"That was an awesome night," Elena said. "I feel fantastic."
"Agreed," Bonnie said. "I think we all needed that."
"I for one, can't wait to see Kol," Rebekah said. "He's going to be so outraged."
The four of them giggled.
"That was so much better than the time we short-sheeted the guys' rooms when we went on the honor roll trip to Chicago back in eighth grade." Caroline looked very smug.
"Well, it was impressive that we didn't get caught that time." Elena had to give credit where it was due.
"I think that might have been my magic," Bonnie considered. "But it was nice to get the one-up on Kol. Something about that smug little face of his just bothers me."
Rebekah and Elena nodded sympathetically.
"Well," Caroline said. "I don't know about you three, but I'm starving."
The three of them cleaned up and dressed and after a quick tour of Elena's room ("It was Elijah's idea, he wanted me to have my own space."), made their way down to the kitchen.
~~~
They were sitting down at the counter, all with a bowl of cereal and all but Bonnie with blood bags, when a furious shout echoed throughout the mansion.
"MY MIRRORS! AND MY BATS!"
The laughter from the other men could be heard and Bonnie looked to the door as Kol came speeding in, looking wrathful. He made for them and was stopped, crashing against an invisible barrier that sent him sprawling to the floor.
"Admit it, Kol," Elena said with a smile as he stood up again. "It was good."
Kol glared at her. "You trashed my room!"
Elena gave him a look that indicated she was thoroughly unimpressed with his tantrum. "Your point?"
"Come off it," Rebekah said. "Like it won't take you all of five minutes to clean up."
Kol just shook his head. "This isn't over, Elena." He said darkly.
"I should hope not." Elena laughed, completely unworried.
"Just keep it above the waist next time," Kol said with a sudden grin. He looked at the other three. "I'll be watching you." He grabbed a bag of blood out of the refrigerator and left, muttering something about mirrors under his breath.
"You have no idea what you've just unleashed," Rebekah told Elena.
"Oh, don't worry," Caroline said. "Elena can take him."
Bonnie nodded. "Kol won't know what hit him."
Elena grinned. "I've missed this," she said. "I've missed being Fun-Elena."
"It's great to see shades of her popping up here and there," Bonnie agreed.
"Are you going to be okay?" Caroline asked. "After we leave?"
Elena nodded slowly. "You know, I think I will be."
~~~
Caroline and Bonnie packed their bags and the four girls made their way down the stairs and out to Bonnie's car. There was a flurry of hugs and good-byes and promises to do a girls' night again, soon.
When Bonnie and Caroline were gone, Elena surprised Rebekah by hugging her tightly. "Thank you so much," Elena said.
"You're welcome," Rebekah said softly. "Thanks for letting me join you and your friends."
"Any time," Elena said sincerely. "I’m glad you and I aren’t worried about wanting to kill each other all the time.”
"Agreed," Rebekah said with a laugh.
The two of them went back inside and cleaned up the remaining mess in Rebekah's room, delighting in the anguished moans heard from Kol's room as he worked to get rid of the silly string.
~~~
Elijah walked into his room, hair wet and a towel wrapped around his waist to find Elena sitting on his bed. "Hello," he said with a smile.
"Hi." She smiled back.
He went about selecting a suit and dressing. "Did you enjoy your night?" he asked.
Elena nodded. "A lot. It was nice to have that small bit of normal in my life again." She cocked her head. "What did you guys do all night?"
Elijah paused as he was pulling his pants on. "I did some reading."
"And?" Elena pressed with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, there was some fraternal bonding," he said. "Nothing terribly interesting, save stopping Kol from being his usual self."
Elena giggled. "You're a man of mystery, Elijah. I like it."
Elijah smirked.
"What are your plans for today?" Elena asked, and then yawned widely.
"Nothing pressing," he said. "You look as tired as I feel."
"Slumber parties aren't exactly meant for sleeping," Elena said with another yawn.
"Neither is fraternal bonding," Elijah explained.
"Then maybe we should just lie down," Elena said, and did so.
With a small smile, Elijah undid the button of his pants and slid them off. He changed them for a pair of pajama pants and promptly joined her. She instantly curled her body to his the way she preferred and yawned again. "Thank you," she whispered tiredly. "Thank you so much for asking them over. It was exactly what I needed."
He kissed the top of her head. "You are welcome, my lovely Elena," he said softly.
She was already asleep.
The End.