Dark Paradise

One

Third Person POV

Jaxon released a sigh of contentment before he gently opened his eyes to survey his surroundings. Elena was gone, but Rebekah was there, looking furious.

Furious beyond the usual annoyance she displayed whenever Bonnie appeared or when Elena fluttered her eyelashes at him. "Hey," Jaxon greeted with a soft smile aimed at Rebekah, but it vanished instantly when Rebekah began to speak.

"Why on earth would you sleep with Katerina?" she yelled at him, and Jaxon furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I didn't sleep with a Katerina; I slept with Elena," he replied.

Rebekah rolled her eyes and retorted, "No, you didn't. You slept with Katerina, also known as Katherine, the one who turned the brothers."

"Elena came to me in tears last night seeking comfort, not Katherine," he said. Rebekah shook her head and asked rhetorically, "Then why was she vamp speeding around the room getting dressed, talking about me and my family, and your significance to us?"

Jaxon hesitated briefly before finished getting ready. "Why are you so upset?" he inquired, slipping into his final garment.

"Because you slept with someone," Rebekah retorted, prompting Jaxon to raise his voice. "Yeah, well, you're not my girlfriend, Bekah; you're my friend, just my friend."

A flicker of hurt crossed Rebekah's face before she fixed Jaxon with a glare and said, "I might not be your girlfriend, but let's not forget you're enduring the ups and downs to recover my body just so I can stand before you in person. It seems to me like you're the one who needs reminding that I'm not your girlfriend yet."

Jaxon exhaled sharply, aware that he couldn't voice his thoughts, and chose to leave the room. However, this proved futile as Rebekah trailed closely, taunting, "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"

Jaxon rolled his eyes, disregarded her comment, and after using the bathroom, he left the house and headed directly to the hospital.

Upon entering, he made his way to Caroline's room where he found his mother standing outside, seemingly on the brink of breaking down. "Mom, is everything okay?" Jaxon inquired, noticing her distress.

"It's not, everyone is relying on me, and I can't stop thinking about Caroline, I just—" she was interrupted as Jaxon enveloped her in a comforting embrace, allowing her to cry on his chest.

Liz embraced her son tightly, tears soaking into his chest. Jaxon responded with a gentle kiss atop her head, resting his own against hers in a moment of shared sorrow.

His gaze then shifted to Rebekah, who stood at a distance, observing the tender scene between mother and son. Their eyes locked for a brief moment before Jaxon's attention was drawn to Elena, engaged in conversation with Bonnie further down the hallway.

"Give me a second, Mom," Jaxon told Liz before releasing her hand and striding over to Elena. He didn't pause to greet Bonnie as he took Elena by the arm and led her away from the group.

"Ow, you're hurting me, Jaxon," Elena exclaimed. Jaxon immediately released her arm upon hearing her distress. "Sorry, I just... why didn't you tell me Katherine looks exactly like you?" he asked.

Elena's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know that?" she inquired. Jaxon glanced around before revealing, "She came to my house pretending to be you."