☂ 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 || 𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 𝙷𝙰𝚁𝙶𝚁𝙴𝙴𝚅𝙴𝚂 𝚡 𝙾𝙲 || 𝐁𝐊. 𝟏 ☂

09. JUST MAYBE

~ Present ~

"Maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind when I tried killing the old man," shrugged Elaina. "Thankfully Luther did stop me. Regardless, I left the academy shortly after, and, well, here I am," she concluded her story.

Five could only look at her in shock. He couldn't believe the things that happened while he was gone, the things that happened to Elaina while he was gone. What she tried to do to their father... 

He stared down at her stomach with such intensity that it was almost like he had x-ray vision and could see the scar through her blouse. She almost died and he wasn't here. He sighed as he watched her.

He was here now and that's what mattered.

"Jesus, Elaina..." he started. "I had no idea,"

Elaina shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's okay now, I guess. I've adapted for the most part and partied enough with Klaus to make my peace with it," she chuckled. "Life sure is full of surprises. It actually makes me glad that I survived my accident. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten the chance to see you again," she smiled at him, making him return a weak one back at her.

"Well, I'm just happy that, regardless of all of that, you still seem to be the same Elaina I knew," he said, getting up from his seat beside her on the bed and grabbing a new white-collar button-up from his closet. "I can't believe you almost killed the old man," he mentioned with his gaze focused on his fingers while they buttoned his shirt.

"Yeah," she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly. "Not my finest moment, I'll admit. Dad has always been an ass, but I'm not completely heartless. I did feel a little bad..." she said, watching him throw his vest on. "Doesn't mean I forgave him or anything," she made sure to quickly add toward the end.

Five chuckled. "Of course not," he noted, grabbing his blazer and slipping it on.

Elaina furrowed her brows at the boy. "Why does it look like you're getting ready to head out again?"

He moved in front of the mirror, grabbing the tie off of his nearby dresser and tying it around his neck. "We're at day 6 now for the apocalypse, and I'm still no closer to finding out the owner of the eye. I have to keep looking,"

She shook her head. "Oh no, you don't. I shared my story, now you share yours," she began, standing up from the bed with her hands on her hips. "I've been with you for two nights and within the duration of that time, we've been getting shot at daily. Did you think I'd forget to ask why these people are after you?"

"Honestly? Yes," answered Five shamelessly.

"Five!" she yelled at him in exasperation, watching him pull a duffel bag off the floor and open it up to inspect its components on top of the bed.

"I promise, I'll tell you later," he swore, zipping up the bag when he made sure it was properly packed.

Elaina cocked her head. "Well, that's some bullshit if I ever– Wait a minute, where are you going?" she asked, seeing him stride toward the window and open it, climbing onto the fire escape. "I know you don't think I'm not coming with you," she declared, storming behind him and following him to the fire escape.

Five stood with his feet firmly planted on the metal balcony as he looked at her in frustration. "No, you're not following me this time, Elaina. You're staying here," he ordered.

"Or what?" she crossed her arms stubbornly. "You obviously can't keep your word, so why should I listen?"

"I said no," Five stressed, holding Elaina forcefully by the shoulders and staring deeply into her brown eyes. "You can heal, yes, but you can still die. I've seen it..." he trailed off to himself at the end, remembering himself sobbing over her dead body in the apocalypse.