𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐥𝐲, 𝐞. 𝐦𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧¹

15. do this to herself

"I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere." Caroline repeated before Tyler let out a scream. His eyes were yellow and his fangs were out. He was about to attack Brynley before someone grabbed her and sped her out of the cave. The person stopped in front of her house and Brynley looked up to see Elijah.

"Elijah." Brynley whispered.

"Are you alright?" He asked and scanned her for any injuries.

"I'm fine, thank you." Brynley replied. Elijah observed her, noticing how afraid and tense she was.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, I'm not gonna hurt you," Elijah promised and Brynley relaxed slightly. "In fact, I think it's about time you and I have a chat."

"Um, sure, let me just get my keys that are in my bag that are in the cellar." Brynley winced and Elijah held up her bag. "Thank you."

Brynley walked up to the door and unlocked it, waking into the house. She turned around to see that Elijah was still outside.

"If you don't want to, it's fine." Elijah assured her.

"It's okay," Brynley replied. "You can come in."

"You are very trusting for someone who watched me rip the hearts out of two vampires and fought your friends." Elijah joked and walked inside the house.

"You said you wouldn't hurt me, and for some reason, everything inside me says to believe you." Brynley shrugged and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. Elijah looked at her suspiciously, he could hear her stomach growling in hunger and she only took a water bottle. "Which is weird, because usually the default is to not trust and be scared."

"Thank you." Elijah smiled slightly.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Brynley asked politely before remembering what he was and Elijah smirked at her. "Right, sorry. I have a question."

"Ask away." Elijah sat down.

"Why did you protect Elena and I from those vampires at Slater's apartment? And why did you save me just now?" Brynley questioned.

"Because I can't let you be taken or let anyone find out you exist. The only alive Hollis fairy the world knows of is Amelia, but she has practically disappeared," Elijah explained and Brynley looked down at the sound of her mother's name. "If people find out that you, a Hollis fairy, exists, anyone who wants to get on Klaus's good side will be looking for you and anyone who doesn't want to break the curse will be trying to kill you because without you, the curse can't be broken."

"Oh." Bryn mumbled as she felt fear in her chest, her hands shaking slightly.

"But I'm going to protect you," Elijah walked closer to her and Brynley looked up at him. "I promise you, but I would appreciate it if you stopped putting yourself in danger."

"Clearly, you don't know me very well because everyone who knows me knows I get scared easily and try to avoid danger at all costs." Brynley said.

"Really? When was the last time you ate?" Elijah questioned and Brynley looked up at him with wide eyes.

"How do you know?" Brynley whispered as her hands started to shake in fear more.

"This is going to sound odd, but last night I had a very interesting dream," Elijah began and Brynley looked up at him surprised, remembering her dreams from the past two nights. "It was a short summary of your life, starting with the night your mother left and ending with the past couple months. Where I saw you throwing out the unopened fruit pouches you told your father you would eat for breakfast, not eating anything that your father made you at lunch and throwing it when you got home, eventually telling your father that you would just buy lunch at school, but every time it got to lunch, I would just see you with a water bottle in your hands. Then you wouldn't eat or drink anything when you get home except water."

"So?" Brynley crossed her arms and Elijah stepped closer to her.

"Brynley, I need you alive. If you keep doing this you're going to end up dead, you need to eat." Elijah told her and Brynley stood silent. "My dream didn't end there. I was wondering, why would a girl who looks so happy do this to herself? And then I saw it."

"Justin." Brynley mumbled, tears brimming her eyes and Elijah nodded. "I'm guessing you saw what he did to me?"

"Yes." Elijah whispered. "Why did you let it get so bad?"

"Because I thought he loved me. In the beginning, he was so nice and it seemed like he genuinely cared about me, but then he changed. He got angrier and the whole 'caring about me' thing became just an act he put on in front of my friends and my dad," Brynley explained as she tried not to cry. "But when we were alone, it was like he was a different person. He would yell at me and say how I was skinny enough or pretty enough. And then he hit me, and it was like the whole world stopped, I froze. I couldn't even comprehend what was happening before he did it again."

"I'm sorry." Elijah apologized and Brynley finally let out a sob, vividly remembering the past couple months.

"Great, now I'm crying," Bryn rolled her eyes and wiped the tears from her face. She looked up at Elijah who looked at her with caring eyes. "No one realized what was happening until I was covered in bruises, and then he moved away. I started talking less, I didn't go near any other guys besides my Dad and Matt and Tyler, and started eating less. Then eventually not eating at all. I was scared of the whole world."

"What you went through was very traumatic, I understand that, but what you're doing is dangerous," Elijah sighed. "You have to stop before it gets worst and your body starts to fail from the lack of food."

"You're only saying that because you need me alive for the ritual when Klaus gets here." Brynley said as she shook her head.

"I can assure you that's not the case," Elijah disagreed. "I care about what happens to you."

"Why? You don't even know me."

"I've gotten the entire story of your life the past couple nights, I think I know a good part of you." Elijah replied. "Let me help you."

"No." Brynley mumbled. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Elijah shook his head. "You need help and I can help you. I can protect you, from dangerous people and from yourself."

"But I'm scared." Brynley whispered, the only Elijah heard it was because of his vamp-hearing. Elijah reached his hand up to touch her, but then quickly decided against it, not wanting to scare her.

"You don't have to be afraid of me, Brynley, I swear I would and will never hurt you." Elijah swore. "I won't lay a hand on you in an attempt to harm you."

-

"Was I right?" Jonas Martin asked Elijah as he walked into the apartment.

"Yes, you could tell by her face when I said it," Elijah began. "She's been having dreams too."

"What kind of dreams?" Jonas looked at him.

"I didn't ask her about it," Elijah sighed and Jonas gave him a look. "I need to get her to trust me before I even introduce the idea that you have about us."

"It's not an idea Elijah, it's the truth." Jonas said.

"Still, she needs to trust me," Elijah repeated. "She's scared and damaged, and I want to help her. Once she trust me, then maybe I can tell her."