You Don't Know What I'd Do For You (Love you like oxygen)

one

*A/N* Hello, welcome to my second dissociative daydreaming universe, because yes, as it turns out, there are worse options than Lord of the Rings. This is my first fanfic on this fandom, it's a bit of a test run and it might get abandoned, fair warning. Just for a bit of context because this book will probably be a little all over the place a LOT: Freya has just returned so that's kind of a vague timeline of when this is happening. Elijah was badly abused by Mikael but never told anyone leading Klaus to blame Elijah for not protecting their siblings from their father. I didn't really like the way that young Elijah was portrayed so in this fic he stood up for his siblings. Elijah was kidnapped and tortured by Mikael for a century but, again, never told anyone so his family blames him for "disappearing." He is also secretly a witch-vamp Original Hybrid. Finally, I'm exploring the idea of Elijah having dissociative identity disorder so Elijah and "the Beast" are two completely different people and they are constantly battling for control over the body. Yeah, I know, it's kind of all over the place but we're in a soap opera fandom, it's literally nothing but hot people and tons of drama, there's no plot at all, deal with it. The same as with all of my works, please feel free to translate or take inspiration from this book and continue scenes or add in extra ones. I would just appreciate the credit. There are lots of trigger warnings for this book, I have all of them in the tags, please read through all of them and don't read if you are triggered by anything in that list since it'll pretty much be present throughout the book. Anyways, enjoy!

Elijah POV

A glass shattered against the wall, small shards of glass bouncing harmlessly off of me. My face remained calm and stoic which seemed to anger Klaus even further as he flipped a table in his rage. "Niklaus, please, control yourself," I ordered, holding out a hand to discourage any more glasses from being thrown as I stepped towards my brother.

"What do you expect me to do, Elijah!?" he roared, turning violently to face me, fully vamped out with his eyes gleaming wolf-gold, he gestured threateningly towards a shocked Freya in the corner "She just gets to show up and act like she runs the place!?"

I sighed, shooting her a serene but apologetic look before returning my attentions to the furious hybrid. Placing myself firmly in front of him, blocking his view of our older sister to hopefully prevent another attack on her. "Niklaus," I laced my voice with a firm warning, though it felt like I was dealing with a child's tantrum, "she is far more knowledgeable than any of us on the matters of magic and witches. If anyone can stop Esther it's certainly her."

"We can stop Esther without her, we've done it before! I am a hybrid!" he seethed as he once more tried to push me aside and lunge towards Freya.

I shoved him back, further this time, increasing the distance between my two siblings as Kol and Rebekah sat idly off to the side, simply watching the brawl. "Niklaus! We do not have the time for childish bickering! This is how it works! New siblings draw the spotlight off of the older ones, you should know this by now!" I shouted in return, placing a harsh grip on his shoulders to try and rein him in slightly, "You were the golden child once too."

"Bull shit, Elijah! You hate me, you always have! I'm everything that you loath about yourself!" he yelled, trying to push my hands off.

"Nik!" Rebekah cried, her expression one of complete shock.

I simply looked back at him sadly, my face dropped slightly but stayed composed, I did not lose my control and still leveled him a tranquil, sympathetic look. As a few tears started to run down his cheeks, I pulled him into a strong embrace, wrapping my arms around his shoulders as his encircled my ribs. "I never thought my features to be redeemable, much less liked any of them, until I saw them in you," I whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

Pulling back, I gently led him up the stairs and out of sight from our siblings, keeping a steady arm on his shoulders the entire time. Knowing my brother as much as I did, I knew that he liked his tears in private. The door to his room creaked slightly as I pushed it open, guiding Niklaus over to the large, four-poster bed. He sank down onto it heavily, eyes trained on the floor, clearly trying to avoid me. I chose to honour his wish, heading back out of the room, leaving the lights on but closing the door on my way out. "I understand this is difficult, brother, but Esther is trying to have us rip each other apart, we can't afford to be more divided than we already are," I murmur before closing the door, knowing that his enhanced hearing could pick my voice up clear as day.

My shoulders sagged as I made my way down the hallway again and back downstairs. This was proving to be quite challenging. Not more so than I originally thought but knowing that something will be hard and actually doing it are completely separate experiences. The tension was getting to everyone, but of course, Niklaus' rope had always been the shortest. No doubt it would start to affect the others soon. I sighed lightly but straightened my posture before going to rejoin the rest of my siblings.

Once I arrived, the sitting room had been vacated and only Freya remained, staring into the fire with a lost look in her eyes. I made sure that my footsteps were heavier so that she could hear them, the last thing I wanted to do was frighten her more. "I apologize for Niklaus' behaviour," I said quietly, as I moved to stand within her convenient view.

"Is he always like that?" she asks, moving her gaze to look up at me, "just... I haven't known him long is all."

I looked down at the floor, shaking my head with a sigh. "I suppose it does happen often nowadays, but he wasn't always like this," I answered, a small smile gracing my lips as fond memories of my brother in his youth played through my head.

She nodded, understandingly, before returning her eyes to the glow of the hearth. "Well, at least you seem to know what to do. Rebekah said that he's closest with you," her voice shook lightly and her eyes shone briefly with tears before she fiercely blinked them away.

I huffed out a soft chuckle at that, moving to sit beside her. "It's only because we've known each other longer," I explained, "We aren't actually any fonder of each other, we just know more about one another."

Freya smiled, seemingly to herself, as her gaze dropped to her lap. There was a moment's pause, a small, peaceful silence as we looked at the flames together. Abruptly, a quiet, apparently tentative voice stated, "She said you raised him."

Without turning to look at her, I could tell that she was trying to probe for answers to a question she was too shy to ask. I tried to answer as best I could, she deserved to know after all, she was family. "Our father held no interest in caring for his children and was very harsh," I started, searching carefully for the right words, "Our mother was at best indifferent and neglectful. Finn simply couldn't be bothered, he wanted nothing to do with the family, never really did. Their love was rarely more than bare necessities. It left much of the emotional needs to me to take care of."

"Mhmm," she hummed, turning her head to look at me as I too turned to meet her gaze, "and who looked after you?"

"...nobody..." whispered a quiet thought, but I refused that reply. It was needless, far too theatrical, it would cause worry, sound like I was seeking pity. No, instead, I murmured, "I did just fine."

A quiet chuckle rang through the air as she returned her gaze to her lap, shaking her head. "From what I've heard, people call you "The Honourable One," you're supposed to be something of a protector," she replied, fiddling with one of her bracelets.

At that, I outright laughed, however it was not one filled with joy, it was a rough bark, filled with bitterness. "Yes, I have heard similar things all my life," I sighed, "I failed our siblings, I'm making it up now. I should have protected them more, and I'm sorry that I didn't protect you."

Freya nodded slowly, a wavering smile on her lips as her eyes turned glossy with tears again. "It's not your fault, brother, none of it was. Nobody blames you," she said, voice thick with emotion.

"I do," I replied, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder before standing up to leave.

*A/N* Thanks so much for reading, I hope you like it. I've wanted to write this for a while so let's hope I can pull it together. But let's all welcome everyone's favourite Original to the mess that is my Wattpad profile!

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