No Good Deed | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [3]

20 | Coffee Shop

Rebekah and Lexi sit in a small booth in a coffee shop, drinks in each of their hands. Lexi shivers under her light sweater as she raises the steaming drink to her lips. Every cut she had received the night before has vanished, even the mark across her cheek from weeks before.

"Thank you," Lexi says as she sips her drink. "I needed this."

Rebekah rolls her eyes. "Obviously, you needed this. You wouldn't even let yourself heal! This is utterly ridiculous, Lexi! The selflessness has to stop."

"What do you suppose I do?" Lexi asks with a shake of her head. "Leave them to themselves? It would end in chaos. I'd rather not."

"You can't even be yourself with them," Rebekah says. "You act like a completely different person! The accent, the demeanor, hell, even your wardrobe."

Lexi glances down at her loose blouse and white jeans. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"Stop changing the subject!" Rebekah snaps. "You need to come home. Now."

"Home?" Lexi scoffs before cupping her drink once more. The heat barely reaches past her fingertips, failing to spread under her skin. "What is home anymore?"

"Me," Rebekah replies as she leans forward. "Home is with me. And Nik. And Elijah, and Kol, and Finn."

"We haven't seen Finn in years," Lexi says with a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Same with Kol. And Elijah? You think Nik's going to let us see him after what he tried?"

"You weren't punished."

Lexi's gaze drops as her expression darkens. "I spent months hunting the people I am supposed to protect," she growls, flashing her eyes blue. "He made me kill them, torture them. He made me hurt innocent people, Rebekah. I was punished. Just not the way he punishes you."

"Right, yes, because you are so much better than us," Rebekah snaps. "Honorable Lexi, empathizing with humans."

"Yes! And there's the difference, I care." Lexi ignores the tightness in her throat as the door to the small shop opens with a ring of the bell. "When's the last time you cared for someone other than yourself?"

Rebekah arches an eyebrow. "Stefan."

"Oh, right, ripper Stefan," Lexi mocks. "Did you two have fun murdering people together and breaking the law? That's what you cared about?"

Rebekah purses her lips in an angry scowl. "How dare you—"

"Hello, ladies."

Both blondes freeze on the spot. Lexi's heart hammers against her chest as she glances to the side. She refuses to make eye contact with the two men now sliding into the booth. "We're leaving—" She tries to push against the older man, but his grip on her arm silences her.

"No, you're not," Peter replies as he slips next to her. Derek stands silently, looking at Rebekah in almost fear. "Derek, sit down," Peter says with a smirk. "It's not like they'll kill us."

Without looking at Lexi, Derek slips into the booth, trying very hard not to go close to Rebekah. She just rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

"What do you want?" Lexi asks. "I'm done with you."

"Derek and I had a very interesting conversation," Peter says as he leans his forearms against the table. "He told me you wanted to help kill me."

"I wanted to kill the Alpha," Lexi replies. "I don't want to kill Laura's beloved uncle. Low and behold, they are one and the same."

"Drama," Rebekah whispers with a grin as she glances between the two. Lexi kicks her under the table.

"What is your big plan here, Peter?" Lexi asks with a shake of her head. "Kill everyone involved with the fire? And then what? Run from Argents all your life?"