A Different Time (TVD/The Originals FANFIC) 2/2

2: Disturbed Present

...6 MONTHS LATER...TVD WORLD...

Stepping over a few empty wine bottles, Rebekah was glad to reach the library without slipping and breaking her neck, again. "Tries to be classy even when drinking his day away..." she mused when Elijah refused to spare her a glance, instead focusing on his new half empty drink. "Come on grumpy, you have chores today."

"Just leave me alone, Rebekah," he grumbled when his sister reached over to pull the bottle from his grasp.

"Elijah," the blonde took a steadying breath to control her frustration. "I know you miss her, but it's been six months and she would not want you wasting your life away by doing this."

"Well, she isn't here anymore." He regained control of his drink, murmuring against the lip, "She doesn't get a say on the matter..."

"How is drinking until you pass out helping you cope(?)" The scoff accompanied Rebekah's clicking heels, her steps directing her to tear open the curtains and light up the drab library of their home. A grunt of pain and thump from behind forced her to reface her dazed brother, "What just happened?" She blinked at his new position in the room's corner, holding his right hand to his chest and scowling.

"The sun burned my hand," he answered quietly, his silent assessment of the limb allowing the blonde to notice his daylight ring decorating his previous seat.

"Why did you remove your ring?"

His poker face struggled to drown out the emotional pain still fueling his veins, "I was testing something."

"For God's Sake Elijah, She Was JUST A GIRL!" Rebekah's stomach dropped at seeing him so hopeless, "I know she helped us a lot, and I understand you cared for her, but get over it already! She's not worth your life!"

Elijah sighed in annoyance when his little sister stormed off.

Even though he knew it was the last thing he wanted to do, he also knew he needed to move on. In the beginning he'd hung around her burial sight, waiting for her to claim a loophole she'd discovered to escape his mothers trap, and crying to himself when the sun would rise for another day and she still didn't show; he only stopped visiting when he saw the pain it caused the eldest Salvatore brother. The following weeks had him researching every possible supernatural method to bring someone back from the dead. Yet besides the dead ends, a lot of those methods required him to reveal more information of her nature than he was comfortable with, and as much as he wished for her to come back to him, he also knew he would never forgive himself if he revealed her secret of how she came to be of this world...

That left him where he'd been the past fortnight, drowning his sorrows in the dark and refusing to feed. He'd only slipped off his daylight ring a few days ago when the sun was peeking out of the curtain and he feared his emotional pain had numbed him to the physical sensation of it; the sun burning him proved he was still alive, nothing more and nothing less...The Original knew he couldn't continue sitting there; waiting, wishing, hoping for her to walk through the door and make everything better. He had to start living again because he was convinced she'd be disappointed in reuniting with the man he'd become.

He decided against returning to his seat and continuing to do nothing, instead moving to leave the library; knowing his tasks for the day ahead would require him leaving the house and therefore having a shower first. He barely stepped foot inside his ensuite before a nerve slashing headache pushed him to his knees--

-TIME SKIP-

"Following me again?"