𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚒𝚊

Rosalice simply states, "Men when their ego and pride are shredded become merely..." She thought of the word, leaning against the counter filled endlessly with plates of food as Leah ate her third plate. "Dangerous. Women with years of hidden anger are lethal."

Elijah looked through his eyebrow, staring only at her thought of one thing to describe her: that if Rosalice was a flower she would be a rose. As she was the most beautiful thing to stare and look at but had thorns that pricked anyone that dared to mess with her.

Klaus enters the kitchen moments after with Camille right beside him, his eyes landing on the twins opposite sides of the room. Cami's eyes widened at the sight of Rosalice. "I thought she died?"

Klaus informs, "The world was better off knowing that she was." Gesturing to the two, he introduces, "Salem and Sage, the twins."

Cami gushes over the two much similarly as when she first saw Hope. "Oh they're perfect."

[Time Skip]

Sitting in a criss cross, Rosalice leans back her arms keeping her positioned up. Listening to the four as she stayed invisible, Leah sitting right besides her knowing better. "Now that we've entombed our mother-" Thanks to me, Rosalice said without moving her lips. "I intend to finish making the city safe for Hope and the twins. Which, to start, means dealing with the lingering problem of Finn." Klaus waves off her voice, continuing what was being dealt to them.

Cami sighs, "Oh, once he figures out what you've done to your mother, he's gonna go off the deep end."

"That's exactly why we need to keep you out of harm's way. Hayley, Leah, and I will return home and take care of my wayward brother. Elijah and Rosalice will remain here with you." Turning towards his brother who leaned against the window looking out of it, Klaus informs the therapist, "He's been experiencing some side effects since his ordeal as our mother's captive. Best he stays here and convalesce."

Elijah gives an offended look to the hybrid, rolling his eyes, "A single violent outburst at a filthy road-side cafe, and one never hears the end of it."

Klaus only chuckles out, "Oh, Cami has a way with minds plagued by demons, brother. You two can bond!"

Leah raises an eyebrow at the sound of this, turning to a still invisible Rosalice, Why does he want me to come with them?

Rosalice responds, He probably has a massive crush on you.

Leah rolls her eyes, That's not funny. And he's not my type.

What's your type? Brooding men with no life?

Forgetting entirely Leah gasps, "Sam had a life!"

Cami's eyebrows knit together looking over at Leah. Pointing at her, glancing at Klaus barely able to say a single word not wanting to come off as rude. Appearing right besides Cami's side taking in her features, Rosalice hums out, "If a life meant staying shacked up and imprinting on your cousin... yeah that's living the dream." Cami gasps in shock, eyes bulging. Rosalice shrugs her shoulders, "It's time you live a little."

"I'm not sleeping with him." Leah stated firmly.

"Why not?" Rosalice tilts her head to the side, walking towards the shifter. "I'm sure a night with him will be unforgettable?" She smiles showing off her small natural fangs that'll grow when she becomes a full cold one.

Leah scoffs, "Like you and Elijah?" Rosalice hums not speaking. "It was real un-fucking-forgettable considering he impregnanted you. How's that going for ya?"

"It's gotten me this far," Rosalice falls into the couch lying on her back. "And I'm not dead."

"The whole supernatural world thinks your dead sweetheart."

Rosalice giggles out, waving her hands in the air as if creating a rainbow with her own words, "Girl who cheats death." Giggling more. "I've earned that title how many times now?"

"Once."

"Damn straight."

Leah gives an incredulous look to her best friend, "Are you drunk?"

Rosalice clicks her mouth, squinting her eyes. "Rebekah offered a 2005 wine to Elijah... you can pretty much guess what happened to the bottle." She began moving all too much. Fidgeting. Sitting up. "Sue me for drinking it."

Leah sighs out heavily, "How much did you drink?"

"Vampires can't get drunk that easily."

"You're a hybrid," Leah brings up.

"Thanks Sherlock Holmes, real fucking insightful."

Klaus cuts in, "Well, if you excuse us, I best be on my way! Rebekah should have already woken up in the body of Angelica Barker. Once she has cut the ties of Miss Barker's former life, she'll make her way directly here." He smiled towards his brother. "You should expect her shortly." With that he leaves.

Right before Leah leaves, she adds to the two, "Rosalice when drunk is very sarcastic and a handful... she also curses like a sailor." Looking at the brunette. "If you do get her black out drunk, I suggest putting on her favorite tv movie."

"What movie?" Cami asks.

"S-C-R-E-A-M." Leah spells out. "Good luck." With that she quickly heads to the car.

[Time Skip]

Throughout the rest of the day, Elijah and Cami tried sobering Rosalice which was working wonderfully considering that she had to change clothes as Cami had sprayed cold water on her.

"Rebekah, it's me again. Please call." Elijah said once again for the thousandth time.

Slump on the couch, Rosalice had an arm draped over her eyes to keep everything dark. "Yahtzee!" Cami screams from the other side of the room. "If there's one thing I've learned about you people, it's that there's always a bottle of booze around." Grabbing only two glasses, she asks, "You want one?"

Elijah smiles condescendingly, "Sounds delightful. And after that, Camille, then what?" He stares at her sharply. "We have another, and another, perhaps another after that, another after that... Before long, I find myself opening up to you, or, "baring my damaged soul," as it were."

Cami pours herself a glass on the coffee table, sitting on a one person sofa. "It's an old trick, Camille. Not a particularly clever one."

Sighing, Rosalice yanks her arm down realizing she's not going to get any sleep. "Your mother really did a number on you boys, didn't she? Has it ever occurred to you that I'm less interested in fixing your problems and more interested in forgetting my own?" She gestures to all around them. "I mean, I'm basically in a supernatural witness protection program because your psychotic brother–who, by the way, I practically had to seduce–wants me dead. So, yeah." Elijah sits across from her, crossing his legs watching as she pulls out Trivial Pursuit. "Booze and board games are pretty much where I'm at right now."

Elijah rolls his eyes, looking away from the blonde haired woman, ready to leave. "Here's a question: What was the name of Don Quixote's horse?"

Elijah mutters, "This is absurd."

Sighing heavily, she sits back, turning to the now sitting up Cullen. "Fine. Dumb idea. Rosalice?" Blue eyes connect with another pair of blue. "What's the character from Scream you find hot again?"

The original tense, hearing how his mate went on a tangent about one idiotic character, he couldn't live through it again. "Billy Loomis?" Rosalice tilts her head to the side. "He's a serial killer that killed people all because his mom left him which caused all of his mommy issues and he tried killing his girlfriend-" The Mikealson sighs loudly, trying to grab the attention of his mate. "-because Sidney's mom. Maureen Prescott was getting frisky with it with Billy's dad." Looking at Cami seriously, as she listens intently, humming along. "Why I find Billy hot is because-"

"Rocinante," Elijah grits out. "The horse's name is Rocinante." Jealousy thick in his voice, leaning over to grab the bottle of bourbon and pours himself a glass, causing Cami to smile in victory.

[Time Skip]

"What three European countries begin with the letter A?" Cami asks.

Rosalice listens as she hears the answer, "Albania, Austria, Andorra."

Cami grunts frustratedly, throwing cards aside, Elijah pours himself another glass bored out of his mind. "Agh! Okay, hey! Who was the only U.S. president to earn a Ph.D?"

"The rather tedious Woodrow Wilson." Elijah answers.

Rosalice thought over what her uncles and father and grandpa had come to teach her, all proving themselves to be right in every question. Getting them right without ever answering them. She sorta hated that her family was born in era's before the twentieth century as they sometimes would correct the teacher when bored. "Who rode Secretary to the Triple Crown in 1973–"

"Ron Turket," Elijah interrupts.

Throwing her hands up in the air, she screams, "No! I refuse to believe that you just happened to know that!" Waving her hands around whilst talking she bumps into Elijah accidentally spilling his drink onto his sleeve. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Elijah." She chuckles at her drunkenness, handing him a hand towel. "Here." Looking back at the cards she shifts through them picking out one she believes he doesn't know the answer to. Elijah left patting the area, swiping left to right getting rid of it. "Oh! Okay, who was..." Her words fall flat as she takes notice of the brunette original.

Lifting her hand she asks, "Elijah? Are you okay?" Rosalice moves closer to the edge watching as Cami places her hand on the towel, "Hey, Elijah–"

Elijah quickly grabs a hold on her wrist, stopping her. The only human eyes widen in alarm left to watch as he gently sets her arm down. "I'm not as fragile as my brother suggests." Rosalice stared at him, reading his mind as the same thing only tainted it. A red door.

Hearing a phone ring, Elijah stands moving away from the two, picking it up, "Rebekah, where on Earth are you?" He pauses listening as Angelica talks. "I see." He hums. "No, I must have been dialing the wrong number. Forgive me." He hangs up the phone, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Rosalice moves from her position on the couch, moving towards him. Her arms wrapped around his waist. Placing her chin on his shoulder trying to give him comfort and to ease the pain he's in. "Don't," He hisses out.

Rosalice rubs soothing circles on his waist. Giving him an innocent look. "Don't what?" She asks quietly.

"Take my pain, take the memories and put your happy ones in replace." He lowly states. "It doesn't change what I am."

Rosalice places a kiss on his cheek. "It may not change who you are but you don't have to do this alone."

Closing his eyes, he pulls out of her grip, "I just need a moment alone."

Nodding, she leaves.

[Time Skip]

"Rosalice!" Cami yells, her screams echoing down the hall.

Rosalice's head shoots up after just placing a wide awake Sage who couldn't and wouldn't settle down for the life of her. Only being amused by Barbie. Rushing down the hall, Rosalice enters the room instantly stepping in front of the blonde haired woman, who quickly ducked out of the room to keep an eye on the three children.

Eyes darken, absolute soulless with no life in them, with only one gain it wanted. Blood. The Cullen woman had seen that look what must be hundreds of times all carrying the same telling, they were starving and she was the main dish. Clenching her jaw, she tried reminding herself of who was behind that face, what was hidden deep under, "Elijah." Her voice shook on its own accord, fear trickling in her. "Hey, lo-look at me." She tries keeping her voice steady, tries her best to not remember those memories that terrified her, that stole her childhood and preteen years away that made her paranoid in her teenage and well into young adult. The same torment that laughed and mocked her every chance she got. That shivered in her bones and made them grow weak. That same feeling she got when grabbing a dagger and thrusting it into a vampire heart, staking them.

Forever frozen as her mind screamed, yelled as he stalked her like some prey, as if she wasn't someone he loved but rather what his beast lusted after. She was just his food. And he wasn't going to stop. Instinctively her hands gripped the edge of the blade tugging it out from under her sleeve. Her body reacting all on its own as it flickered to its comfort home, the inbetween of seen and not seen.

Yet Elijah grabbed a hold of her neck, yanking her closer into him. Their bodies touching, pressed against the other. His fangs brushing against her neck. So close to getting it punctured, having her blood fill his mouth.

The beast inside of Elijah screamed in pleasure. His black eyes look down, noticing a flicker of gray. Frowning he tilts his head taking in more of its look, noticing just how share this flicker of gray was. Morals coming back full-fledged overcoming the beast. Stepping back he grabs a hold of her wrist lifting it up tugging her sleeve down revealing the choice of blade. Furrowing his eyebrows he turns to the one wielding it, noticing her eyes.

Dropping her arm, he takes more steps only staring into her eyes. He had never seen them like this, never this kind of blue. A blue of ocean that produced tears of pure dread as her body shook violently with terror wielding a panic blade.

Hearing, listening to her heart beat uncontrollably, her chest rising and lowering as she tried calming herself and her mind. Telling herself that she was going to be fine.

Those blue eyes he had grown to adore had stared at him just the same as his first lover when he took her life. When he drained her of her own blood that helped transform them. They were the same eyes, identical. Only one was brown like the softness of the dirt he had grown to love in his mortal years as it was the only thing present in his life, the only thing that was able to ground him. And these ones were blue like pure ice. Ice that he had recognized over the years of immortality. Watching as those of warmth, that burned hardened overtime and turned into a cold bitterness.

Those blue eyes that he knew was an ocean underneath had stared at him as if he was something he knew, he feared, a monster, a beast.

Stumbling into an end table knocking over a replaceable lamp, glass breaking underneath his feet. Finally tearing away from her eyes and looking at the mess he was making. His own breath catching in his throat, his chest tightening as his heart beat to its own rhythm. It felt as if it was slowing down. He wanted it to. He wanted his heart to stop. Wanted his mind to stop working and let him die. Just let him die.

Gasping for air, his heart erratic he pressed himself against the wall. His back touched it. Eyes flickering up to the woman before him, the mother of his twins, his mate. Seeing tears in her eyes. He knew he couldn't be with her. Knew that between them would be a constant battle of trauma the two experienced on different sides.

Trauma that he would always go after her blood. And she would always kill vampires who did so. They were in a constant battle in reminding the other of the agony the other lived.

He couldn't be with her.

He couldn't be this and hope for a happy life with her.

Tears sprang in his eyes as his body gave out on its own, falling onto the ground. Heaving trying to grasp thick nice warm air to his cold deprived lungs. His mind becoming tingling, fuzzy.

He couldn't do this to her. He couldn't– shouldn't be here. Not in front of her. He needed to be alone. Needed to overcome on his own. But he couldn't. He couldn't move. His body tensing becoming rigid, dancing with a sensation all over his body.

Elijah hated his mother for reopening a scar making it bleed once again. Making him feel more human than ever as his mind went into panic. As his breathing remained uneven. He knew what he was having; he wasn't that oblivious. He didn't remain arrogant about what he faced during those years that reminded him of this very moment.

Moments where he felt more human than vampire. Moments he faced alone. Moments he had tucked himself in a pitch dark room with no one around for miles and faced and let it play with him until he either passed out or remained awake long enough to cry himself to sleep.

And in this moment, right now he desperately wanted to leave and do the same thing he did when his body hurled him into an attack. He needed to face these alone. He deserved this. Deserve what he had come to do to thousands of innocents, of what he had done to Tatia.

Hearing metal drop, Elijah doesn't react to it, only noticing his lungs as he continues to hyperventilate. His body left with a sensation of pins and needles pricking against him making him go numb.

Hands cupping his face made him look into those blue eyes that held concern but not for herself but rather for... him. "Hey," Instead of shaking voices it was calm and collected. "Close your eyes," she orders him quietly. "Please close your eyes."

Elijah blinks once. Twice. Until his eyes fully shut. Black clouding his vision. Until something finally comes to light. An old memory coming from her mind, exploring through his mind to bring him comfort.