My eyes snapped over to where Elijah was standing, staring right at me.

Were my senses deceiving me? Had I got completely and utterly crazy after being deprived of any company aside my own?

"Can you hear me?"

"Evidently."

"Can you see me?"

"Yes."

I gaped. My jaw dropped and I gaped. What a breakthrough. Weeks of cold, hard, solid nothing and then BAM! I'm able to communicate again. Just like that. What the hell changed?

"I thought you were dead." Elijah said quietly, taking a few small steps closer to me.

"I am dead."

"How are you here?"

"I've always been here, you just couldn't see me."

Elijah's gaze was so intense it was like his eyes were attempting to pierce my very soul. His eyes never left my face as he continued to move closer until he was right in front of me, close enough to touch. That was when shock #2 surfaced.

Elijah raised his hand, cupped my face and brushed his thumb against my cheekbone. Not so shocking, right? Except that I could feel it.

I, a ghost, could feel his skin against mine.

It was impossible. I'd been incapable of making physical contact with anything, but now?

Today was just full of surprises.

Hesitantly, I raised my own hand and wrapped my fingers around his wrist, keeping his hand pressed to my face.

"Can you feel that?" I asked in a hushed voice.

He nodded.

Wow.

"Did you smash the window?"

I nodded.

"And the vase?"

"Yeah."

"And the coffee, did you knock that over?"

I scowled. "That was an accident! All of it was, really, but I was jealous!"

Elijah was smirking now. Apparently my envy amused him.

I let my hand drop from his wrist and pulled myself away from him. "It's not funny! I've been here for weeks. Just here! And no one can see me or hear me, it's infuriating and then I see you practically falling over yourself to spend time with Eva," I grimaced at the mere mention of her name, "Who, by the way, is an incredibly dull clone of me, I kind of snapped."

The smirk was still playing on his lips. I opened my mouth to call him out on it when he cut me off.

"I've missed you." he said, a demure smile replacing the smirk.

"You mean that Eva isn't enough for you?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled. "She's actually a lot like you."

"She's nothing like me!" How insulting.

"She's very…innocent."

"I'm not innocent…"

"You used to be."

Urgh. I'm willing to bet that she's anything but innocent. Hasn't he realised that girls milk the whole innocent thing for all its worth until they have guys tied around their little fingers?

"You know that Klaus will kill her if he finds out?"

Elijah's expression hardened. "He won't find out."

"And if he does?"

"He won't."

"You know what will happen if he does. In fact, I'm kind of what Eva will look like if he does find out. Not that I'd mind if he kills her but whatever."

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"Kidding."

"When did you acquire such a dark sense of humour?"

"Around about the time that your brother killed me."

Elijah smirked. Oh. He was so beautiful it hurt.

"So where's Klaus?" I asked, sitting back down on the bed. Elijah sat down next to me, never once taking his eyes off me. It was like he thought I was going to disappear at any given moment. Which, you know, I probably would.

"Spreading misery somewhere." he said vaguely, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

"No change there, then."

"None at all." He paused and let his hand fall back to his side. He seemed to be deciding whether or not to say something.

"Did it hurt when he…killed you?" He asked, finally, his gaze finding mine. He looked apprehensive, as though he was afraid at what I might say. I suppose that he thought it was his fault that Klaus killed me, because he was the one who took me to lure Klaus in, but Klaus would have killed me one way or another. He said it himself, he only wanted me because Elijah did. He would have killed me either way.

"Yes. Having your heart ripped through your back is by no means a pleasant experience."

His brow furrowed in distress and his hands curled into fists.

"But it was quick," I continued. "It was over before I could really wrap my head around it."

He looked away from me and started to fiddle with his cufflinks, deliberately avoiding my gaze.

"It wasn't your fault, Elijah."

"Wasn't it?"

"No. If anything it was mine. I knew exactly what Klaus was capable. I mean, he killed me once, didn't he? But I still chose to trust him, against my better judgement."

"I should have protected you."

"Well, make sure you don't make the same mistake with Eva," again I made the disgusted face at the mention of her name. In all honesty, I didn't care whether he protected her or not, I just wanted to bring the conversation back around to her so I could try and persuade him against seeing her again.

I'm a terrible person, I know.

I'm dead. I'm allowed to be a terrible person.