𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐒 - [𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘫𝘢𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘰𝘯]

07

"I fall apart with all my heart,

and you can watch from your window."

tennis court x. lorde

--

As everyone was heading to the dining room to get seated for dinner, Elijah pulled Lily to the side to talk to her.

This left them standing in the hallway, and Lily knew Damon would be suspicious if they didn't walk in behind everyone.

"What are you doing?" Lily asked Elijah, turning to face him as he looked down at her. She was confused as to what he needed to tell her, especially since he had pulled her aside so quickly.

"I just wanted to let you know that my threats towards Damon hold no concern to you." Elijah explained, stepping closer to her as he spoke. "I would never hurt you, Lily. I hope you can find it in yourself to believe me now." He continued, reaching up to brush a hair out of her face gently. Elijah watched as her face softened slightly, and he swore it made his dead heart skip a beat when she looked at him like that.

"I want to believe you, I do, it's just.." Lily trailed off, feeling her heart rate start to pick up slightly. She knew he could hear this as soon as his facial expression changed.

"Your heart, it's beating faster." Elijah observed, speaking quietly so Damon wouldn't hear them. "I hope it's not because you are afraid." He continued, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he glanced over her face. The last thing Elijah wanted was for Lily to be afraid of him.

"No, it's not that." Lily replied quickly, but then stopped herself. She didn't want to sound stupid, and by how nervous he was making her, she knew something would slip out that wasn't supposed to.

"Then what is it?" Elijah pressed further, stepping closer to her as he spoke, even though he believed he already knew the answer. Lily felt her breath hitch in her throat as she shook her head.

"You make me nervous." Lily said quietly, almost not believing what she had just said. He was surprised by it, too, and he let out a small chuckle. "I didn't mean it like that, it's just.. you care. And you shouldn't." She added, causing Elijah to frown slightly at how she was putting herself down.

"You don't give yourself enough credit. You are worth so much more than you think, Lily." Elijah replied, his voice softer this time. Lily felt her cheeks heat up, and she had to bite back a smile. "This nervousness isn't due to a scheme Damon might be planning, hm?" Elijah asked, still slightly wary of Damon's intentions. He figured Lily wouldn't keep something like that from him, but he found himself needing reassurance.

"As far as I know, he's not planning anything. Not that he would tell me, anyways." Lily spoke truthfully, looking up into Elijah's eyes as she did so. He nodded slightly, rubbing her arm softly, causing a slight shiver to go down her spine.

"Let's go have a seat. We can discuss this later." Elijah stated, causing Lily to nod slightly before breaking away from his gaze.

Lily quickly walked into the dining room, avoiding Damon's gaze as she sat down next to Alaric. Elijah took the seat on the other side of her, and she was secretly glad he did.

"I hate to break it to you, Damon. But, according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town." Jenna spoke to Damon, filling his glass with wine as she raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hm, do tell." Damon turned to Elijah, sipping his wine as he narrowed his eyes at the Original.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s." Elijah explained, looking around at everyone as he spoke. "Over the next hundred years, they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution." He added, repeating exactly what he had told Jenna earlier.