Mismatched // Elijah Mikaelson

XI

"Don't buy me a drink, I make my money.
Don't touch my weave, don't call me 'honey'.
'Cause I run my shit, baby, I run my shit."

Zari shot him a glare and took a sip fo her drink, 'Not everyone has to see what's underneath.'

'We would've barely seen anything, just your arms and shoulders,' Niklaus argued.

'Maybe I'm very selective about whom I show my arms and shoulders,' she snapped at him.

Niklaus was obviously not content with her answer and Anatoly cut in, 'Surely we, men, are above this. Let the girl keep covered what she wants to cover, it is her right.'

'You know, I wouldn't mind that, if it wasn't for the fact that I have a hunch. I always thought she was hiding something. A very big secret. She was never scared of me, you see. And then she shows at my doorstep, with a beaten up Russian guy and introduces him as her friend.'

'Niklaus,' Elijah growled.

'What, we were all thinking the same thing! He looks like a criminal to me. I normally wouldn't mind that either, but the lovely Za'Rijah is hiding something. I mean, why else would mother request her presence at the ball, just a few minutes before she saw Elena. And we all know what that conversation was about.'

'Are you accusing me of helping your mother in trying to kill you?'

'Yes, I am,' Niklaus answered her.

'Then listen to my heartbeat as I say this,' Zari said as she glared at him intensely, 'I did not help your mother. She didn't tell me she was going to try and kill you. Quite the opposite actually, when she talked to me, she seemed to have hope. She seemed to have a change of heart, only for a split second. For a split second, she believed in this family's redemption.'

'She did?' Rebekah asked, her voice failing her as tears welled up in her eyes.

'Then why did she change her mind?' Niklaus asked, yet this time not angrily, but with confusion.

Zari glanced at her hands, 'First thing I said, I did not help your mother.'

'Why not? Why wouldn't you?' Elijah asked her, his voice was unstable and his chest felt empty.

Zari took a deep breath, 'I didn't want to. I was scared.'

'I don't get it.'

Zari stared at her friend, 'In order to get your family's redemption, I had to do something. I wasn't ready and I was terrified. I told her to fuck off.'

'Maybe it's best if we go,' Elena whispered, her eyes wide open as she stared at the Originals, shivers running down her spine.

'You... you told her to fuck off?' Rebekah spat.

'Go,' Elijah snapped at Zari.

'What?'

'Leave, Za'Rijah.'