Chapter 21: 𝟐.𝟔

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𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐘𝐎𝐑𝐊, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟗

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 '𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥' 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡, 𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡.

𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬? 𝐍𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐩.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡, 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐧𝐚𝐩 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭.

𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

"𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺?" 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐤. 𝐀 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞.

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥." 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫, "𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯." 𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, "𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥."

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?"

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, "𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫, "𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘐'𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳." 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝.

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐊𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘈𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦." 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲, "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳."

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐛, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐦𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠, '𝘯𝘰 𝘪'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵.' 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

"𝘠𝘦𝘴! 𝘠𝘦𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦." 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲, "𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵."

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐣𝐚𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝, "𝘐 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦." 𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝.

𝐀𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐛. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟓 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝.

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐎, 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓

Arielle went the whole car ride in silence until her curiosity got the best of her, "Why do you need these hybrids so bad?"

Klaus ignored her so she spoke again, "Hello? Is your old age finally catching up? Or are you just ignoring me- Wait! Are you ignoring me? Because if so, then that is very rude and-"

"Bloody hell!" Klaus exclaimed.

Arielle smirked. She had learned the best way to get Klaus to speak after he's ignoring you is to talk on and on about anything. It worked 90% of the time, which is a pretty good success rate.

"So?" Arielle asked.

"It's nothing you should care about." he said.

Arielle groaned, "Come on! I've spent this entire summer with you, hearing you ramble about stupid things and now you won't tell me the one thing I 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 want to hear about?"

Klaus rolled his eyes, he still wasn't budging making Arielle annoyed, "Are you seriously not talking?" she asked, he stayed silent, "I hope you that when you're walking happily one day you fall down a ditch and break all your bones and you accidentally stab yourself with white oak so close to your heart that you feel like you're dying." she looked out the window after finishing her words.

"And I'm bloody insane?" he muttered.

"Shut up." Arielle said not bothering to look back at him.

"I thought you wanted me to speak?" he questioned innocently.

"If you're going to talk about what I asked you then yes." she said finally looking at him.

"Hmm, I don't think I want to talk about my reasonings with someone who's constantly being rude to me?"

"Oh my God!" she groaned, "You are actually infuriating."

"And you still came back when I gave you a chance to leave." he reminded.

Arielle opened her mouth to say something but them clamped it shut realizing he made a point, "Shut up." she grumpled.

Klaus let out a small laugh and the car was filled with silence once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Klaus and Arielle arrived at Gloria's bar and Arielle thought it was way too quiet for anyone to be there. She looked around and something was definitely off.

"Are you sure she didn't up and leave?" she whispered to Klaus.

Klaus shushed her and started walking further into the bar. Arielle scoffed as he walked away. She made her way behind the bar as Klaus kept inspecting the bar. She started making mojitos or mimosas she couldn't remember what the ingredients were for what.

"Does a mojito have tequila?" she asked Klaus as he walked closer to the bar.

"She left!" he said, clearly annoyed.

Arielle looked up at him, "So, does a mojito have tequila or not? I need an answer or else this'll taste like shit." she told him, ignoring whatever he was complaining about now.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Something about Gloria, I don't know." she answered, taking out ingredients that were definitely not for a mojito.

"Can you pay attention?" he asked.

Arielle looked at him with a '𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺?' look, "Can 𝘺𝘰𝘶 pay attention to 𝘮𝘦?" she contradicted, "I mean I've asked you two simple questions and I still haven't had an answer."

Klaus sighed and sat down on a bar stool, "What do you-"

"Sex on the Beach." Arielle interrupted.

"What?" Klaus asked confused.

"That's what I'm going to make, a sex on the beach." she said, "Want one?"

"Sure." he replied hesitantly.

Arielle smiled and started mixing ingredients, "So being a bartender also includes being a therapist, so go ahead, talk." she told him.

Klaus looked at her confused and went to say something but Arielle spoke before him, "Did you know that I met Elijah when I was 17 and now I'm 19. Also I'm a year older than Caroline but we're in the same grade, but that's a story for another time." she said taking out two cups from under the bar.

"I hate Bill, my adoptive father, he's literally such a fucking asshole, and I also hate Damon Salvawhore, like he's a damn creep. And I honestly hated Stefan but after spending a whole summer with him, I don't think he's so bad. He can actually be funny. And I honestly feel like he's better without Elena, may she rest in peace, and his brother. They were both constantly on him for something, you know?" she rambled.

"Anyways, I know, I'm always sharing my opinions but that's because my therapist said I should always speak my mind, but you should've seen me at the lowest point in my life I was literally mute. But anyways, I think you should open up to people, you know, talk to someone. It does wonders."

She gave him his drink with a smile, "Tell me how it is."

Klaus looked at her and then at the drink, he hesitantly took a sip. He set it down on the bar with a disgusted look on his face, "What the bloody hell is that?"

"A Mojito on the Beach." she answered simply, "I wanted to improvise, have an artistic take and all that."

"Well maybe don't try that again. That drink is bloody awful." he exclaimed, "Pass me that." he said pointing to a bourbon bottle.

"Ugh, you have no taste." she complained. She grabbed the bourbon bottle, opened it and took a long sip of it, "This taste cheap." she said in disgust.

Klaus sighed and got up from the bar, "Let's go." he told her.

"Wait, let me get drunk." she told him

Klaus watched as she downed a tequila bottle like it was nothing. And then a beer bottle, she grabbed a vodka bottle and went to drink it but Klaus took it away from her.

"I think you've had enough." he told her.

Arielle tried to grab it from him but he was much taller then her so it was no use. She then grabbed a bottle of alcohol and smashed it over his head, grabbing the vodka before it hit the ground.

She chugged it as fast as she could until Klaus pulled it away from her, "What is your problem?" he asked.

"Just give it, it doesn't affect you anyways." she yelled.

But Klaus didn't budge, so Arielle punched him straight in the nose and then snapoed his neck with her bare hands.

She grabbed a new tequila bottle from the bar and started chugging. And then a new one, and a new one, until she passed out.

~~~

Klaus woke up with a sharp pain in his neck due to Arielle. He looked over and saw she was passed out on the bar, like literally passed out, on the bar.

He walked over to her and noticed mascara smeared on ther cheeks, she must've been crying, he thought. He looked around and saw the bottles of alcohol laying around, he didn't understand why she suddenly was such an alcohol lover.

He grabbed some napkins and wiped her cheeks. He then picked her up and walked out of the bar. He set her down in passager side and reclined the seat all the way back so she could lay down.

He then made his way over to the drivers side and started driving away from the bar.

About fifteen minutes into the drive Arielle stirred awake, "I have a pounding headache." she groaned sitting up.

"Vodka and tequila will do that to you." Klaus murmured.

"Yeah, no shit." she rubbed her head, as if trying to soothe the headache, "Can you stop and get me aspirin and water?" she asked.

Instead of saying anything Klaus just kept driving, the girl sighed and layed back down. She only sat up when she noticed they came to a stop at a gas station.

"Thanks." she muttered to Klaus, seeing he was getting ready to step out of the car.

"Mhm." he hummed.

As he stepped out Arielle quickly added, "And a slushie with cheese fries." Klaus gave her a thumbs up making her smile.

A few moments later Klaus came back with a bag that had everything she needed. Arielle took the bag and muttered a '𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶' before rummaging through the bag.

"Why'd you get three bottles of water?" she asked, holding them up.

Klaus shrugged, "Some people are picky." he said with a suggestive look, "I didn't know which one you'd like."

Arielle tried her best to hide her smile and went back to looking through the bag, which had her fries and asperin, but she noticed her slushie wasn't there.

"Can I go back in?" she asked, "I wanna get a slushie."

"There's only the raspberry one." he informed, making her squirm in disgust.

"Nevermind then." Klaus let out a small laugh and started driving away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arielle and Klaus walked into the warehouse and as soon as they entered Arielle could sense the tension was high.

"Gloria's gone. She cleared out. We need to find a new witch immediately." he informed them but stopped sensing the tension.

"What's going on?" he made it seem like he was asking both of them, but he only looked at Rebekah when he spoke.

"Something's wrong." Rebekah spoke quickly, "He was asking about Mikael." Both Klaus and Arielle tensed at hearing this, "He's not with us Nik, I can sense it."

"She's wrong, Klaus-" Stefan didn't get to finish his sentence, as Klaus rushed over to him and snapped his neck.

He then turned to Arielle, "What is he hiding?" he asked.

The girl shrugged, "We're not exactly besties, so, how would-"

"Arielle." Klaus yelled impatiently.

"Okay, okay, calm down or you'll get wrinkles." she joked, seeing Klaus' glare she guessed it wasn't a time to be joking, "Sorry."

"Arielle!" he yelled again, this time more impatient than the last.

"Elena's alive." she blurted out. She quickly covered her mouth with her own hands.

Klaus clenched his jaw and walked out of the warehouse. Arielle looked over at Rebekah who had an unreadable look on her face.

"You've known this whole time she was alive?" Rebekah asked, looking towards Stefan's limp body.

Arielle nodded, "Yeah."

The female Original took a deep breath, as if trying to calm herself, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because Elena is Carolines friend, and I wanted to protect my sister." she answered simply, "If Klaus found out he would've killed her and I couldn't put my mom through that."

"You know everything you say is always because of someone else, you never say that you're doing something for yourself."

"So?" Arielle asked.

"You should start putting more worth in yourself, you are a truly amazing person and I wouldn't want you to get burnt out by putting others before yourself."

"That's not true." Arielle denied, she was mostly trying to convince herself and Rebekah saw right through it.

She tilted her head to the side before asking, "Are you trying to convince me or yourself? Because it sounds like you're doing the last one." with that, she walked out leaving Arielle alone with Stefan's limp body.

Arielle knew what she was saying was true, half-true actually. Arielle was always putting others before herself, one other to be specific, Caroline.

And the fact that today was her one year anniversary being sober, and she didn't tell anyone proved that. Why? She had convinced herself it would damper everyone's day, so she stayed quiet and tried to hide her feelings getting drunk.

And the one time she put herself first Caroline died, so now she never wanted to put herself first ever again. Helping Caroline also helped her forget about how shitty her life actually is.

She was dropped off at an adoption center when she was just a baby. She was basically raised in foster care. She was ripped away from the first person she truly loved. She was tortured for weeks. She went through rehab multiple times and the amount of unecessary guilt she carried.

When helping Caroline, her problems go to the back of her mind. She doesn't think about them. So without giving Rebekah's words anymore thought she wiped the tear that was starting to fall and walked out of the warehouse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞? 𝐈𝐝𝐤 𝐢 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐦, 𝐛𝐞𝐤𝐚𝐡'𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐭, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞

𝐎𝐤𝐤𝐤 𝐛𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰