AN: I know it's been forever since I've posted. I think about elejah every day, don't worry! I just have an intense job and I'm in an intense university program, so I haven't had much time even on breaks. I also had writer's block for a few long months. Reviews give me life, and I'm gonna work on other fics as well, I promise.

The nap messes up Elena's sleep schedule and she knows Elijah's always awake, so she asks if he wants to do something together.

They end up at a park later that night, empty with the time and the chill in the air. Winter will arrive in a few weeks, but until then there are leaves to crunch, and seasonal flavors to enjoy. Elena wonders if Elijah is capable of feeling too full like a human, and what he was actually thinking about while he was pretending to nap earlier. She's still tired and not entirely sure how they ended up sitting on the swings, but she's not complaining.

This reminds her a bit of when she had more friends than she could count, being out way too late, without anyone but her friends knowing about it. They were never too wild, they were always some measure of careful since Caroline's mom was the Sheriff. Thank the gods for the small things. Still, there's still that edge of a thrill that ran through her as his car parked in her driveway, and they drove into the night. It's not a thrill from danger, she knows she's safer with Elijah than she's ever been in her life, but breaking the rules is still fun in its own way.

Elena's feet push against the dirt, and Elijah asks if he can tell her something he thought of when they dealt with Isobel.

"Of course," She answers, looking at him expectantly.

"Isobel might have reached out to Alaric. We need to assume he's under compulsion until proven otherwise," He says, thoughtful. Elena nods, that means they need to keep an eye on him and keep Jenna away until they know for sure.

"I didn't think about that but it makes sense. They were or are still technically married," Elena muses. Isobel didn't have any feelings for her, but they're strangers. She was married to Alaric, if she's capable of any feelings, it makes sense that they would be for him. Elijah moves his feet to mimic hers, but Elena's had much more practice with swingsets than he has. It's fascinating to know that as long as he lived, there are new things to learn and improve on. Elena's soaring, as much as the swing will allow, and he isn't able to match her progress quite yet.

"I wonder what she said to him," Elena says and Elijah wonders what their teacher did for Thanksgiving. He doesn't have any family in the area and they don't know what Katherine or Isobel did to him yet. Elena turns to look at him and she watches him turn still. She's still flying through the air, knuckles white with her grip on the chains of the swing, while he's stone still.

Something more important needs his attention and she can't help but wonder if it's local. He's always working, with his other selves she's never seen. Maybe someday she'll be bold enough to ask him to show her his domain. She's the only human he currently has a deal with, she's pretty sure he mentioned that, but she wonders what happened to the others. Surely there must have been hundreds of deals and hundreds of humans he's interacted with. Have any of them ever asked for a deal so involved before? Surely someone else has asked for companionship, but maybe he referred them to Rebekah. It would make sense to ask for love from the goddess of it, but she picked Elijah anyway. Most of the stories she read claimed he was the most likely to make a deal. As lovely as Rebekah is, Elena didn't want to be turned away, and Elijah wouldn't have appreciated being her second choice. He's been making deals for such a long time that she can't help but wonder about it. What was his first deal? Have others gone to him instead of his siblings, out of desperation, out of the certainty he seems to have to him?

There have probably been longer, more intense deals to him, but she can't help but wonder if she's looking after him like he looks after her. That's the definition of friendship, give and get, a balance, communication, two-way streets, but she wonders if he was ever lonely like she was.

Elijah inhales slowly, like his breathing never ceased, and his eyes focus on her.

"Logan Fell is a vampire. He has just killed his first victim," Elijah informs her quietly. Elena shakes her head in disbelief, biting her lip, and trying to ignore the goosebumps on her arms. He speaks quietly enough that the wind will probably swallow his words if anyone overheard, but she shivers anyway. Elijah shrug s off his jacket and hands it to Elena. He probably assumed that she's cold, but that's not it.

"Can we go back to your house?" Elena asks. Elijah nods, his lips quirk as he thinks, but he gracefully gets up from the swing anyway. His dark eyes meet hers but neither of them speak.

Dollar for your thoughts? She wants to ask.

Elijah waits for her to stand up too before he begins walking to his car, makes sure she's in the passenger seat before he opens the driver's side door. There's a practically rabid vampire out there, a person hungry for blood with no control, and she'd rather have magical barriers between them and him. Elijah starts the car, radio quietly playing as she breathes in the factory new smell of the car.

"Who turned Logan?" Elena asks as any glimpse of the swings disappear in the rearview mirrors.

"Damon," Elijah sighs. He turns the heat up, watching Elena shiver again. Damon's becoming unhinged, but that's assuming he was ever hinged in the first place. Logan might come after Jenna. Elena digs her phone out of her pocket to text Jeremy, he might be awake. Jenna mentioned Logan wanted to see her, hopefully, he isn't going to try to draw Jenna out tonight. It'd be arrogant to assume that Damon did this to get to her family if he hadn't been trying to mess with her since she first met him.

If only Elijah could just compel the Salvatores to just leave her alone, use one of their powers against them. They're in Elijah's garage before Elena realizes it, she's startled when Elijah opens her car door.

She follows him into a well-lit house, into his living room before she takes off her Converse.

She curls up on his couch, aware of the cold as Elijah drapes a thick blanket over her. His eyes connect with hers as he leans over her.

"I don't notice cold as you do, I'm afraid," he apologizes. The blanket is has a nice weight to it and it matches the dark color scheme of the room. Of course, he'd coordinate like that.

She shifts and takes in his living room. No TV. Shelves and shelves of books, all in various colors, ages, and topics. Elena watches him adjust things in the fireplace before setting something on fire. The silence of the air makes her realize that she's gonna have to remind Elijah about the joys of air conditioning before summer comes. She's warm enough already but she doesn't want to tell him he wasted his efforts. It's comforting to know he cares so much, like his jacket she's wearing.

Finally, he sits next to her on the couch so she can lean against him.

"I know you don't get some human holidays. And you're completely right on what Thanksgiving is. But a lot of people like to use it to talk about and be with people they're thankful for. And I'm thankful for you. I'm glad you accepted my deal," she tells him. It's something she's been thinking about a lot, not just today but for a long while. She's always been thankful for his presence.

Elena rests her head on his shoulder and wonders what she'll get him for Christmas, and if she should get his siblings something. They're all gods, full of power and could easily get almost anything they want, but she wants to make Elijah smile. Though, it would help if she'd met them before she gave them presents. She wonders how many people have actually met him and all of his siblings and if any of those few people are still alive.

"I'm thankful I accepted your deal as well," Elijah says. She wishes he would elaborate but she knows unless she presses it, he's not going to. Not unless she presses him on it and she doesn't want to make him tell her anything he wouldn't tell her normally. She wants to tell him that he doesn't have to be around all the time, if he needs a break from her then he should give himself one, she knows there is such a thing as too much of one person. She's full of questions and thoughts but it takes time to sift through the ones she thinks she should ask first.

"Do you think Isobel and Katherine had business with Damon? Katherine did sire him and he sired Isobel. And they left in a hurry because of us and we're not sure if he knows that or not. And Damon did just kill and turn someone-who is now out killing people," Elena muses.

"They might have. Though I doubt they took the time to tell Damon who I am. I doubt Katherine even told Isobel. Only time will tell what Damon has planned," Elijah says. The fire crackles.

They're lucky they've been careful and they'll have to continue being careful, Logan could kill Jenna. The concept of that loss is unfathomable. She wouldn't ask Elijah for a favor if that happened, that's not fair to either of them. There's so much to say and worry about, but Elijah doesn't pester. He lets her lean against him and think about it all.

They'll be back in school in a few days, finals are in a few weeks, and then they'll hit winter break. Elena feels a pang in her chest when she thinks about February. She was dating Matt when Valentine's Day came around last year and she asked him if he'd be her escort in the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant. He'd agreed then, but that was before her parents died, and his mom uprooted their family. Elena thought she'd have her mom to help her with Miss Mystic, but lately, she's just been going to Founder's events out of duty. Then they'll hit finals again in May and summer. Summer seems like a million years away from now.

"It was nice to see Finn again," Elena says in the comfortable silence.

"He was happy to be a part of the celebrations. I'll have to ask if he can visit again soon," Elijah says. Elena smiles.

"I'd love to see Rebekah again too," she adds.

"I'm sure she'd like that. I'll ask They're quiet for a while after that, comfortable with their silence with the fire crackling. As the sky begins to lighten outside, Elena yawns.

"Come on, I should get you home," Elijah says, pulling away from her to put out the fire. Elena yawns again instead of answering, but she gets up from the couch and follows him to his car anyway. The drive is short and he watches her enter her house and shut the door fully before he pulls out of her driveway.