{1.13 | The Boy Who Still Has a Lot of Good to Do | part 1}
Kissing Hope was something that Elara had thought about more times than she'd care to admit, but when it actually happened, she hadn't been expecting it.
Hope's lips against hers, the hand on the back of her neck, holding her in place like the tri-brid was afraid of her pulling away. Every touch, every breath, sent a pulse of warmth through her entire body. Elara had been kissed and kissed others before, but they all paled in comparison to this one.
And it ended far sooner than she wanted it to. Hope pulled away from her, keeping her brow pressed against Elara's.
Slowly, she blinked. Her head was spinning in all different directions.
Thoughts of Landon and his relationship with Hope, thoughts of Josie and her actions, thoughts of leaving the damn Salvatore School, flew out of her mind the second she felt the firm press of Hope's lips against hers. All that remained was Hope.
Hope. Just Hope.
And that was more than enough to convince her to stay.
She heard Hope whispering, her words rushed and jumbled together in an apologetic form, but Elara didn't understand what she was saying.
Hope's expression faltered as her grip loosened, and Elara managed to pull herself back to reality as her eyes scanned Hope's face. Her smile had dropped, her eyes had widened, and a look of fear washed over her.
The words finally hit Elara's ears as Hope began to pull away. "I'm-I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that--"
And she didn't let her finish as she surged forward and captured Hope's lips in hers.
This kiss, much like the first, was a shock-- a surprise. Hope stiffened for a split-second at the unfamiliar feeling, but as she realized that-- this time-- Elara was the one to initiate the kiss, she melted into the taller girl, grabbing both sides of her face and holding her in place.
Elara's hands found themselves on Hope's waist, pulling the shorter girl flush against her. If the first kiss was a question, the second was an answer. The kiss wasn't heated. It was simple-- sweet, even-- yet with each passing second, as they found their melody, the passion became bright as the day.
With a final, lingering kiss, Elara pulled away from Hope, pressing her brow against hers. A wide smile spread on her lips.
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't have," she whispered breathlessly. A soft laugh escaped her. "If I knew that was going to happen, I would've tried to leave a while ago."
"Last time I tried to kiss you, you actually did leave," Hope responded, her voice low.
Elara hummed as Hope's fingers twiddled with the blond hairs at the nape of her neck. "To be fair, I was still processing the fact that my briefly resurrected father told me that I'm a ticking time-bomb and thought you, and up until five minutes ago, I was convinced that you and knock-off Frodo Baggins were meant to be."
"Which you're completely wrong about."
"Thank you for the input, Hope," Elara uttered. Her eyes scanned Hope's face, noticing the tiredness in her eyes. "And seeing as I'm not going anywhere, how about we go back to bed? We can have our much-needed talk at a later date after you've broken up with mophead."
Hope took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay, and I'm sleeping in your bed again."
"Fine by me, but please, don't hog the blanket."
Hope scoffed. "I don't do that."
~-~-~
Hope did, in fact, hog the blanket.
When the Elara awoke for the first time that morning, the sun beamed through their window, the gentle rays streaking through the gaps in the curtains. She blinked away her sleepiness, turning her head to the side, and her eyes landed on her sleeping... something.
Life was complicated; Elara knew that. Ever since Felix died, everything became a never-ending series of supernatural events. The supernatural wasn't even what it was meant to be. Hell, she wasn't either, but in that moment, none of it mattered.
Why would she listen to her mind when her heart grew more powerful with each passing moment?
It was early, early enough that most of the remaining students wouldn't be wandering the halls yet. Plus, it was the last day of spring break. A majority of the students were going to take advantage of it.
Including Elara.
She managed to get ready for the day quickly. Showering, getting dressed, grabbing anything that would've been useful for tracking down any leads. Her researching began in the library.
"I told you, Hope," Elara stated, closing the book she'd been flipping through. "I've already read every book in this library that talks about werewolves. Twice. I'm not going to find anything new in here."
The tri-brid had joined her for the day, insisting that she was going to keep her word and help Elara figure everything out.
From around the shelves, Elara heard her ask, "what about the book that mentioned the start of the Laurent line?"
"Dead end. How they appeared wasn't explained, but it was just made clear that they weren't part of the original lines. Plus, I looked through what little information the school does have on the original lines and found no mentions of Laurents within them. There wasn't any mingling with the other wolves." Under her breath, she muttered, "which at least means we aren't related."
Hope poked her head around the bookshelf. "What was that?"
"Nothing," Elara answered, and Hope leaned out of view.
"Summarize for me what we know so far."
Elara moved towards the aisle, book in hand. When she turned the corner, she saw Hope trying to return a book to its place on a high shelf, but Hope couldn't reach. The sight was kind of adorable.
"We know that-- apparently-- the Laurents are apparently incredibly similar to the Mikaelsons in the sense that they are not known for their..." Elara stopped behind Hope, gently taking the book from her hand and placing it where she had intended to. "...friendliness."
"That's putting it lightly," Hope muttered, turning towards Elara. They were close-- hardly a foot apart, and her eyes flickered to Elara's lips.
The blond noticed, but she didn't comment on it.
She shifted away from Hope, returning her own book to its proper shelf. "Either way, that kinda reputation doesn't just come from a few misdeeds, and from the way my briefly resurrected father described it, I'm heading towards a path of carnage."
"We don't know that. A reputation doesn't always display a person's true character."
"We don't not know that." Elara looked at Hope, and the shorter girl locked eyes with her, a determined glint in her eyes. "So far, all I've gotten is that Dr. Saltzman believes I'm going to become some kind of beast, and that Cedric had a rampage of his own, which is another thing I don't understand."
Hope's brows lifted as if to question what Elara meant.
"If Dr. Saltzman is so dead set on believing that I'm to become a monster because of what I am, why did he befriend Cedric is he's the same thing? What makes me different?"
A brief pause passed before Elara spoke again. This time, frustration creeped into her voice.
She let out a long sigh, running her hand through her hair. "And while seeing a dead man walking was traumatizing, I would've loved if I could've talked to him longer. Maybe if I had a few more minutes, he could've explained more, but no. He had to run into town and--" Elara blinked.
Hope looked at the taller girl curiously. "Elara?"
Elara's brows furrowed as the cogs turned in her mind. Cedric ran off into town-- in the middle of the night-- to talk to an old friend. One who Elara conveniently ran into on her way into Mystic Falls.
"Hope, how did you know where I was? On that first full moon?"
"We had a contact call in and say a werewolf had found herself in Mystic Falls on the full moon," Hope answered. She crossed her arms across her chest. "At least, that was what Dr. Saltzman told me. He wasn't keen on sharing all the details."
Elara clasped her hands together. "Would you believe me if I said that I think the contact is the same person Cedric popped into town to see in his few hours of re-living?"
"Probably. For whatever reason, everyone in this town is connected."
"Cedric popped into town to speak with Bonnie Bennett, and Bonnie is the same woman I bumped into at the Grill, minutes before you and Dr. Saltzman found me in the town center. Maybe I need to speak with this woman."
Hope shook her head. "And how do you plan on doing that? You don't know where she is, or even if she's in town."
"I'll find her, Hope," Elara assured. She was already walking towards their table, moving to grab her backpack. "I've a theory that there are things that the wolf knows that I don't, and Bonnie Bennett has to be one of them. Cedric found her easily enough, anyways."
The tri-brid followed her closely, and when she spoke, there was a subtle tremor of worry to her voice. "You can't just leave, Elara. There's a full moon tonight."
"And I'll be back in time for that." She tossed her backpack onto her shoulder, grabbing her denim jacket with her other hand. "Who knows the next time I'll get the chance to look for her?"
She knew Hope didn't like the idea of her leaving. Hours before, Elara had been determined to leave the school for good, yet, hours later, Elara was testing the idea of leaving, again.
"I'm not leaving permanently, okay?" Elara reassured. She paused her exit, looking down at Hope.
"And you expect me to believe that when I almost lost you once today?"
"No," Elara answered bluntly, "which is why I'm giving you this as a sign that I'll be back." She extended her hand.
Elara's ring, a thin, silver band with a sapphire gemstone in the center, rested between her outstretched fingers. Hope unfolded her arms, holding her palm out in confusion.
"Your... ring?" Hope's brows lifted as Elara dropped the object into her hand.
"Yup," Elara responded. "This ring means a lot to me, and I'd lose my mind if I lost it."
At some point while the idea of running to town bounced around inside Elara's head, she came to the conclusion that she needed a way to convince Hope that she was staying. A kiss was convincing, yes, but it wasn't something tangible.
But a ring was.
Hope wrapped her fingers around the ring tightly. Elara had yet to tell her the story of it, but from the fond look in her eyes, she knew it had something to do with her late brother.
Elara sent her a reassuring smile. "I'll be back, Hope Mikaelson. Not just for that ring but for the person holding it, and while I'm gone, you should probably break up with your boyfriend."
The tri-brid didn't get a chance to respond as Elara pressed a brief kiss to her temple before leaving the library.
[a.n. I was originally wanting to put this episode into one part, but our lovely friend writer's block hit. I don't want you guys to have to wait another week or so for the full episode when I already have some of it written.
~NYM]