SHE PROMISED ( the originals )

0052. AWKWARD WEIRD EX CONVERSATIONS AREN'T MY THING, BUT I'LL STAY AND WATCH

SHE PROMISED
( part two, chapter fifty-two )

ELLE WAS GREATLY UPSET THAT KLAUS, EVEN AFTER Freya had explained to them that she was on their side and had spilled most of her secrets, didn't trust their older sister. Especially when Freya was helping them with their current Rebekah problem.

Currently, the body that Rebekah was in possession of, Eva Sinclair, had taken complete control of her to try and kidnap Hope from her crib. When Klaus had found out about that and that a number of other teenage witches had been kidnapped, he had ordered Elle to stay within the compound so as not to be attacked. Elle, however, wasn't going to wait at home while everyone else went out to find where their sister had went.

She decided on accompanying Elijah, Hayley, and Gia speak with Josephine LaRue, a witch who held a large authority when it came to their community. She'd met the old woman only once when she came to pay her respects for when Stephanie had died, and in that one meeting, Elle decided she didn't like Josephine. She also disliked the witch even more for holding back the information to Elle's family.

To say there wasn't tension in the air was a huge understatement.

Her and Hayley were dressed in their usual casual wear (with Elle not even bothering to clean her clearly dirty Converse) while Elijah and Gia were dressed formally, the latter in a dark backless dress. She noticed that Hayley and Elijah kept looking away from one another, avoiding their gazes, and Elle knew that it must be incredibly awkward to be there with one's sorta-but-not-really ex.

She drummed her fingers along her thigh, letting out a quiet sigh. She leaned over to Hayley and whispered, "So we're all just gonna pretend this isn't hella awkward for everyone?"

At that moment, as if she heard Elle's comment, Gia cleared her throat. "I'm gonna go see if I can find Josephine." She instantly took off.

Elijah looked to his little sister. "Elle, why don't you go and find her?"

The witch scoffed. "And miss this? No way."

He squeezed his eyes shut and cleared his throat, looking out the window.

"Well, now I see why you didn't answer my calls," Hayley said. "Does she have to come with us?" She moved to sit down, facing Elijah.

"Josephine LaRue can be rather recalcitrant," Elijah said, while Elle immediately fished out her phone, looking the definition to recalcitrant. Sometimes she truly hated that Elijah used such big words that she very clearly did not understand. "She is, however, entranced with Gia's musical prowess and cavalier spirit." He moved to sit beside Hayley.

"So the baby vamp is now the witch whisperer?" Hayley asked, crossing her arms and looking to the Original vampire. Elijah let out a loud sigh as Hayley continued. "I'm just glad that you found someone so... multi-talented to spend your time with."

"What exactly do you want from me?" Elijah turned to look fully at Hayley, but before the hybrid could answer, they heard two pairs of steps walk into the room. He stood up just as Gia came back with Josephine. "Madame LaRue," he greeted politely.

"Mr. Mikaelson," she greeted in response, allowing the vampire to come forward and kiss her cheeks in welcome. She looked past Elijah and locked eyes with Elle. "Elle Mitchell, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," Elle said. "But it's Mikaelson now, like you didn't already know. Oh, and thanks for your help, by the way; you were a real great help." She crossed her arms defensively and didn't stop the anger or sarcasm from rising in her voice.

"Sister," Elijah warned.

Elle raised a brow at Elijah. "Sorry, but am I supposed to be thankful towards her about lying to me about my identity? Mmm, no, so I won't apologize." She waved a hand towards Josephine, gesturing towards her. "But please, go ahead and work hand-in-hand with her. Maybe she'll actually provide us with some help this time."

Hayley leaned back against the wall, giving Elle a wink as Elijah just shook his head at her.

Josephine didn't look pleased but continued nonetheless. "Have you come to impress me once more with young Gia's rare talents?" she asked and sat down opposite them. She looked over at Hayley, gazing at her with her pale blue eyes. "What, pray tell, does this one do?"

Elijah didn't hesitate to answer, adding in a small smile. "This one is family, madam. But we've come to ask a favor."