Julie was feeling nervous. She was pacing in her room, waiting for Bonnie to text her they were leaving for the dance. She had cleaned the already cleaned house, taken a shower and done her homework. She was ready to leave. The dance was supposed to start in two hours now and she had no idea what to do until then. But she was startled when someone slammed the front door so hard it made the entire house shake. It couldn't be Robert, it was way too early for him to be back from work. She opened her bedroom door and silently stepped out of her room. She heard a big noise, like a stair fell down on the floor, coming from the kitchen. She walked down the stairs, hesitant, just to see her stepfather leaning on the counter's kitchen, obviously drunk. He was so drunk he lost his balance and fell. Julie sighed and shook her head before she walked in the kitchen to help him back on his feet. He stank of alcohol and it wasn't even 7 yet. As soon as she placed her hands on him, he pushed her away. He grabbed the counter with his left hand to support himself up and growled. She doubted he knew where he was. It had happened before. Which meant he didn't know who she was and it wasn't going to end well for her. He turned around and she tried to get away but he lost his balance again and fell just next to her. He put his hands on the worktop and almost knocked his head against the shelf above and managed to stay on his feet. He tried to push Julie away from him with his left arm and his hand met with her face. It happened so fast she never saw it coming. She cried out as she fell on the floor. She placed her hand over what she knew was going to turn into a black eye. She stayed on the floor and moved away so he could pass. He walked in the living room and let himself fall on the couch. Julie was trying not to cry but tears were filling her eyes and she couldn't stop them from falling. She took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her cheeks before she got up and went back to her room. It had been a while since she had had bruises like that. But if she needed she still remembered how to cover them up with makeup. She walked in her bathroom to see how she looked like. There weren't any bruises yet but her eye was red and it still hurt. She sighed and looked down. Next time, she'll let him pass out on the floor and won't intervene.

Finally, her phone rang. She walked back in her room and saw Bonnie's text saying they were all at the dance. Including Damon. Julie took a deep breath. It was time. She took her bag that was laying on her bed and rushed downstairs and out of the house. She got into her car and drove to the Salvatores. She hoped she wasn't going to have to break a window to enter but the front door was open. She slowly stepped in the house and silently closed the door.

"Hello?" she called, to see if anyone was there. But no one answered. She took a deep breath, relieved. She walked in the hallway and looked around the house. She stepped in what seemed to be the living room. She had to focus. It wasn't the time to look around and get lost in this huge house. She stepped out and followed a small hallway. She found stairs at the end and walked down in what she hoped would be the basement. She stepped in a cold room where she saw a freezer and other broken old things but no trace of Elijah. She looked around and walked in the room a little more. She saw a door to her right and opened it.

There he was. She stepped in the room and saw Elijah lying on the dirty ground, eyes closed and immobile.

"Oh my God," she breathed out when she saw the horrible state in which he was. What she was seeing took her breath away. She was feeling sick but also angry. She rushed to his sides and kneeled next to him.

He looked dead. But if she removed the dagger from his heart, he would come back. That's what he had told her and that's what she hoped would happen. She placed both her hands around the dagger and pulled it out. She watched his face closely but nothing seemed to happen. "Come on," she whispered. How long would it take for him to come back? Would he even come back? She hoped they would be gone before the Salvatores come back from the dance.

She sat down on the dusty floor and brought her knees to her chest. She was still holding the dagger in her right hand. She couldn't move her eyes from his face, waiting for something, anything, to happen. She couldn't help but wonder if she was making a mistake. Was she doing the right thing? Were Elena and the others right? She thought back to that night when she had the accident. When he found her and brought her home. When he kissed her. When she fell asleep in his arms. Maybe she wasn't thinking straight. Maybe she was stupid to think he cared about her.

Finally, she saw him move a finger. His skin was taking a normal shade again. Julie was relieved he seemed to be coming back. She placed a hand on the left side of his face and started to stroke his cheek with her thumb.

"Elijah?"

He opened his eyes as soon as his name came out from her lips. The following second, he gasped, moved his eyes around the room and stopped on Julie. He frowned when he saw her but then he gasped again like he couldn't breathe.

"What's wrong?" she asked. She didn't understand what was happening. The next second he was in the doorway. Julie gasped and jumped on her feet, startled by his sudden movement.

"What's wrong?" she repeated a little louder. She took one step towards him but when she reached the door, he was gone. She rushed to the stairs and tried to follow him but he was going too fast. She walked up the stairs and saw the front door was wide opened. Elijah was standing outside, trying to catch his breath. "Are you okay?" she asked as she reached the door. He looked up at her and she saw anger on his face.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uh...Elena, uh," she looked down at the dagger she was still holding. "She killed you," she said, handing the dagger to him. He looked at her, suspicious, but took it.

"Where are they, now?" he asked.

"There's a dance at school. Klaus is there."

Elijah frowned. "Klaus is in here?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Are you okay?" she asked, looking him up and down.

"I wasn't invited into the house. It rejected me," he explained.

"Oh...right. Elena became the owner of this house this morning," she told him. "They thought it'll be safer." He looked at her while she was speaking and she looked up when he didn't answer and saw him frowned.

"You're hurt," he said, approaching his hand to her face and passing his thumb over her cheekbone, where her stepfather had hit her earlier. He didn't mean to hurt her but his gentle touch was painful anyway. She moved away and looked down.

"We need to go," she said, walking away from him. But after two steps, she ran into him. She gasped, startled.

"Who did this to you?" he asked with an angry tone. She looked up at him, wondering if he was worried about her.

"We can't stay here," she said, walking pass him. But he took her wrist and brought her back towards him. She sighed and stared at the ground.

"You need to change," she said, trying to get her wrist back but he wouldn't let go. "I fell in the stairs," she lied. He raised his eyebrows and she could tell by his silence that he didn't believe her and that he wanted an answer. "I know, it's humiliating," she said, still avoiding eye contact. "We really need to go." He frowned and stared at her in silence for a few minutes. She looked up, hesitant. She gave him a sad look and he understood she wasn't going to tell him anything. He sighed and let go of her wrist.

"They don't know you are here," he guessed, putting his hand in his pockets.

"No. I came as soon as I could," she told him. She walked towards her car but he didn't follow her right away. He watched her, curious.

"Why would you help me?" he asked.

She opened her car door but didn't get in and looked up at him. "You saved my life," she reminded him. "And..."

"And?" he took one step towards the car, getting one hand out of his pocket and placing it on top of the car, looking straight at her.

"We need to go," she repeated before she got in the car. He frowned and sat in the passenger seat.

"Whose car is this?" he asked.

"My mother's," she answered, turning the key. She didn't look at him, she focused on the road. "Do you have an apartment, a house, here?" she asked.

"I do," he nodded. "Why would you betray your friends for me?" he asked. Julie's eyes moved from the road to him then back on the road.

"I told you. They're not my friends," she said. "Where do you live?" Elijah told her what she needed to know before he asked again:

"Who hurt you?"

"Why do you wanna know?" she asked without looking away from the road. Her question surprised him. She looked up at him when he didn't answer. Her eyes met his as he was already looking at her.

"Why don't you want me to know?" His question surprised her. She didn't answer either. "If you don't focus on the road you'll get into another accident," he said. She put her attention back on the road and hoped he didn't see her blush.

"They can't know I helped you," she said.

"They're not your friends but you don't want them to know you betrayed them?"

"I don't care about that," she said.

"Then why?"

She didn't answer right away, embarrassed. "I'm afraid of Damon," she admitted in a whisper after a moment of silence.

"You don't have to worry about him," he said. Julie frowned at his comment.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I doubt they'll survive Klaus tonight," he merely answered.

She immediately turned her attention back to him. "What? But..." Julie knew Klaus was dangerous, but she had to admit she had been focus on Elijah and haven't thought about what would happen to the others.

"And even if he does survive," he started to say. "Don't worry about it."

Julie frowned, confused but didn't pay attention to it. "Do you think Klaus is going to kill them?" she asked, worried.

"Probably," he nodded. "He'll kill those he doesn't need." She looked at him with sad eyes. She had a knot in her stomach. She turned her attention back on the road, worried about Bonnie.

"Is he stronger than you?" she tried to keep a steady voice but failed.

Elijah sighed. "We cannot be killed," he answered.

"He's like you?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"Is he older than you?"

"No," he said. He wasn't looking at her. She kept looking at him every time she would ask a question but he wouldn't move his eyes from the road.

"So, you're stronger than him?"

"No. He's only a few years younger than me."

"A few...like a few centuries?"

Elijah chuckled. "Like a few years," he said, finally looking at her. He saw she wasn't amused and stopped smiling. "Klaus is my brother," he told her and her eyes grew big. She stared at him, forgetting she was at the wheel of a moving car. "Watch the road," he said, not moving his eyes from her.

She took a deep breath and looked back at the road. "Klaus is your brother?" she asked in a whisper, confused.

"Yes."

"But..." she shook her head. "I thought you wanted to kill him," she said, looking back at him.

"I do." She saw on his face he wasn't proud of it. Maybe she saw a little sadness, too. She focused on the road, more confused than ever.

"But...why?" Elijah sighed but didn't answer. "I'm sorry." Her apology surprised him. "It's none of my business, I guess..." Elijah wondered about his brother. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to include Julie in their problems. He knew how Klaus could get. He was only putting her in danger. "Is this your house?" she asked after she stopped the car in front of a house at least as big as the Salvatores'. There were no other house around.

"Yes," he said, getting out of the car.

Julie didn't know what to do. Should she follow him? Should she go home? Was it even safe to go inside? But a minute hadn't passed yet that her door opened. She turned the key and stopped the car and got out, avoiding eye contact. She closed the car door and finally looked up and he could see the bruise was still there. He placed his hand on her cheek and stroke her hurt cheekbone with his thumb. She looked down and took one step back.

"It's nothing," she told him. "You need to change," she reminded him. He sighed and she knew he wasn't going to let it go. She followed him inside without a word.

"Feel free to look around," he said, walking up the stairs.

She watched him disappear in a room on the first floor and then looked around. She wandered in the house but it was empty. They were very little furniture and she guessed he didn't plan on staying here for long. After a while she ended up in the kitchen and started looking around the shelves. She was getting hungry and they weren't any food anywhere. She decided to look in the fridge but it was empty. The door of the fridge closed on its own which startled her.

"I'm sorry," Elijah said. "I didn't mean to startle you." He had changed clothes. He was wearing a cleaned black suit and it looked like he had taken a shower.

Julie cleared her throat and realized she had been acting really rude, looking around his fridge.

"I'm sorry, I was hungry," she said.

"I'm sorry. I haven't had the time to do the groceries," he said which made her laugh.

"I'm sorry," she giggled. Elijah smiled, enjoying the sweet sound of her laugh. "This is not funny," she admitted, trying to stop laughing. She looked up and saw he was looking at her which made her blush. She calmed down and her face took a serious look again. "Are you? Hungry?" she asked and he frowned and looked down. She was asking a good question. But he didn't want to scare her.

"I'm fine," he said. She knew he was lying. She could see his eyes fall on her neck every now and then.

"Maybe I should leave," she said with a low voice. She started to walk away but he put his hand on her arm to stop her. He could hear her heartbeat and sighed.

"You're scared of me," he said.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, looking down. There was something strange and confusing about him. She was scared of him and they both knew it. But when she was with him, she felt like she couldn't be safer.

He removed his hand from her arm and brought it to her face. He slowly lifted her chin with his fingers to make her look up at him but she looked away. He placed his hand on her cheek and took one step and put his free hand on her waist. He brought her to him and she instinctively put her hands on his chest, looking up at him. She saw he was looking at her lips and her heart was beating faster and faster. He leaned slowly and she didn't stop him. Her eyes fell on his lips too and she closed them when their lips touched.

The kiss was different than their first one. She moved her hands on his chest to his shoulders and he moved his hand from her waist to her lower back and he deepened the kiss and she let him. All this was new to her but when he was kissing her she forgot about everything else. It was just him and her and his lips on hers and his hands on her body. She moved her hands on both sides of his face and he broke the kiss. She opened her eyes and saw he was grinning which made her blush. She looked down and smiled and he kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes when he kissed her lips again, then her cheek, then her jaw. She had one hand on the back of his neck and her other hand on his waist. He started to place kisses on her neck and she opened her eyes when she felt him stop. His lips were grazing her skin and she moved her hand on his shoulder to make him react. She could hear him breathe heavily. But then, she gasped as she could feel his teeth grazing her skin. But he didn't bite her. He kissed her neck and stepped back. She immediately brought her hand to her neck and she tried to catch his gaze but his eyes were closed. He looked like he was in pain. She took one step and brought a hand to the left side of his face. He opened his eyes and fell into her gaze. She tiptoed to place a kiss on his lips, placing her free hand on his chest.

"Does it hurt?" she asked in a whisper. She didn't know why but she couldn't speak any louder. He looked at her but didn't answer. She could see it in his eyes that he was trying hard not to hurt her. "If you need blood..."

"No," he cut her off.

"I want to help you," she told him.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said.

"I know."

Her answer surprised him. He stayed silent for a minute, falling deeper into her eyes. He was hungry. He needed blood, he wasn't going to deny it. He'd been killed twice this week and he hadn't drink any blood in days. Even though he could perfectly restrain himself, she was a temptation he could not resist.

"I trust you," she said, not moving her eyes from his. Her gaze was like hypnosis and he couldn't resist to kiss her again. He placed his right hand on her lower back and brought her to his chest. She put her left hand on his arm and her other hand on his cheek, kissing him back.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She didn't say anything and nodded. He could see she was scared but he couldn't resist to taste her blood. He lifted her off her feet and she gasped, surprised. He sat her down on the counter and kissed her jaw before he brought his lips back to her neck. "Are you ready?" he whispered in her ear but she couldn't speak because of the knot in her throat so she nodded to answer. She puts her hands on his waist, waiting for the pain to come. He bit her as gently as possible. She shot her eyes closed and gasped but no sound came out of her mouth. It hurt a little but it was bearable. Her blood was by far the most delicious he had ever tasted. If he had had any doubt before, now he was sure that she wasn't human. He didn't drink as much as he wanted to nor as much as he needed to but he didn't want to hurt her anymore and he stopped. He made sure he had no blood on his mouth and wiped the blood off her neck before he bit his wrist.

"You don't have to..." she started to say but he cut her off.

"Please. Drink," he told her. She looked at him, hesitant, before she took his wrist and brought it to her mouth. He stopped her when the marks on her neck disappeared. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she assured him. "Are you okay? Are you feeling better?"

"Yes. Thank you," he nodded. He placed his hands on her waist and lifted her off the counter. He brought her to his chest and she hugged him back. He rested his chin on the top of her head and she buried her head against his chest. She was feeling so tired she could have fallen asleep in arms.

"Do you want to go home?" he asked.

"No," she merely answered. "Do you want me to leave?" she asked, worried, looking up.

"No," he said before he kissed the top of her head. It had been a while since Elijah had found someone to care about. Klaus had made his happiness impossible. The possibility that his brother could discover that he cared about Julie worried him. But he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. With luck, Klaus would be as fascinated and curious as he was to find out what kind of creature she was.