Remember Me? (COMPLETE)

Part 5: Lost to Pain

By: eternityunicorn

Elijah and Antoinette met in the same place they had before, in the shadowy bowels of the same abandoned factory.

"Roman is safe," the Original told the female vampire upon his approach. "My brother won't try to harm him anymore. I promise."

"Thank you," Antoinette replied gratefully, coming to rest her hands on his shoulder affectionately. "Can you ever forgive me for the mess my family made?"

"I could ask you the same question," he said with a slight shrug. "Where will you go?"

She smiled at him, cupping the side of his face with one hand, "Someone once told me that Shanghai is a safe place to hide out."

"Someone?" He returned her smile with one of his own.

"A man who always did right by me, despite his decision to be with someone else," Antoinette told him. "So I suppose I can trust him. I just want to say before I go that I'll always love you, Elijah Mikaelson and I will always cherish our time together."

Caught up in the moment, Elijah allowed her to kiss him tenderly and he responded in kind, knowing that this was goodbye - forever this time.

"Elijah!"

The Original pulled away from Antoinette sharply to find Eternity standing there at the bottoms of the stairs with wide eyes and an agape mouth in her shock at what she had witnessed. She backed away and then darted up the stairs, fleeing the scene.

Damn it....

Elijah sighed heavily in frustration and regret, rubbing his temples between his thumb and forefinger with his other hand on his hip.

"I'm sorry, Elijah," Antoinette called to him. "I shouldn't have kissed you. I truly didn't mean to cause more strife between you two."

He turned to her, "No, this is my fault. Aside from everything that brought us to this point, I didn't tell her where I was going. She wasn't even aware that I was meet with you and now...." He trailed off, as his words failed him.

"Well, I sincerely hope you are able to fix things between you," the female vampire told him, "but if not, you know where to find me."

Before Elijah could respond, she sped away, leaving him alone.

Immediately, he went back to the compound, knowing that he'd find Eternity there. The Mikaelson home was still her home, after all, and it was where their daughter lived too. He knew she wouldn't simply take off somewhere else because of that reason.

Elijah found her standing at the window in his study. He knew that she had sensed him there in the doorway, but refused to turn around. As he carefully entered the room, a twinkle caught his eye as he went by his desk and saw her wedding ring sitting there, echoing their last bout of strife, right when he had gotten his memories back.

"It's over, Elijah," Eternity said with a shaky voice. "I cannot do this. I won't."

His heart dropped into his stomach with utter dread, tears automatically began to well up in his eyes. "No, Eternity, please...." his words died from the lump that formed in his throat.

"You were kissing her, Elijah" she finally turned to him, her eyes full of betrayal. "Not only that, but you snuck around behind my back to go see her. If it were nothing, if you had truly chosen us over her then you wouldn't have done that. You would have told me what you were doing. You wouldn't have something to hide."

"You're right," replied Elijah, dropping his head in shame. "I should have told you. I was wrong, but I didn't do it because I secretly want to be with Antoinette. I don't. She came to me, seeking my help to rescue her brother that Niklaus kidnapped, nothing more."