[THE DINNER PARTY]

time heals.

ELIJAH HAD HELPED HER pick out a nice dress to wear and he even gave her a ride to the Salvatore boarding house. "All I'm saying is, please lower your ego and be careful tonight, okay?" Juliette says as they approach the house.

Elijah chuckled from beside her, nudging her gently with his elbow. "Yes, I will be extremely careful, just for you, my love," he replied, watching as Juliette rolled her eyes as she stopped in front of him, forcing him to a halt.

"You need to stop calling me that."

"Calling you what?"

"You know what!" Juliette huffed, raising her brow while Elijah fought a smirk from crawling onto his lips. "It's weird and I don't like it." She lied, her eyes glued to the floor as she spoke. I actually love it but I don't wanna tell him.

Elijah took a step closer, his hand moving up to caress her chin. He lowered his head down to her ear, "If you don't like it, then why does your heartbeat quicken every time I say it?" Elijah whispered, his breath warm against her ear.

Juliette's breath hitched, her heart betraying her as it thudded loudly in her chest. She tried to keep herself together, but the closeness of him, the way his voice wrapped around her like a caress, made it nearly impossible.

She swallowed hard, convincing herself to stay calm. "It doesn't," she lied, her voice barely audible.

Elijah chuckled softly, the sound low and smooth, sending a shiver down the blonde's spine. "You are a terrible liar," he murmured, moving his head so he was staring directly into her eyes, which made it more difficult to resist him.

Juliette bit her lip, trying to ignore the electric sensation his proximity caused. "Elijah." She began, her voice shaking as she spoke. She was frozen still as Elijah edged closer to her, his lips brushing against Juliette's.

She could barely breathe, her mind was spiralling as his lips, once again, brushed against hers. Juliette seemed to forget they were in front of the Salvatore house, where someone could walk out any minute.

But she didn't care, in that moment, it felt like it was just her and Elijah. She was close to giving in but the vampire pulled back.

"Come on, we don't want to be late." He smirked before walking past Juliette and toward the front door. Juliette stood still for a moment, in complete shock.

He is such a dick.

She huffed as she followed after him, when she caught up to him, Damon had opened the door. When she saw the vampire, what she was doing with Elijah dawned on her.

What if he finds out?

"Good evening," Elijah spoke as Damon sent him a bitter smirk, he looked confused as to why Juliette was with him. The blonde gave him a look that said 'I'll explain later' and the vampire nodded before turning to Elijah.

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." He replied, trying his best to pretend to be friendly. Juliette knew that he was cringing on the inside.

Elijah sent him an intense glare. "Just one moment." He said as he took a step closer to Damon, "Can I just say that if you have less than honourable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."

Juliette rolled her eyes, scoffing as she had just told Elijah, in the car, not to mention that he knew something was going to happen tonight.

Damon raised an eyebrow, his trademark smirk never faltering as he met Elijah's intense glare. "No, nothing, nothing dishonourable. Just getting to know you."

right...

"Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal if you so much as make a move to cross me. I'll kill you and I'll kill everything in this house, minus Juliette. Are we clear?"

Elijah's eyes narrowed, but his expression remained calm, "Crystal." Damon replied, sending Juliette a look as she just shrugged her shoulders.

"Jenna," Elijah announced as the woman came into view. The Original Vampire walked over to her, acting as if he hadn't just threatened to kill her moments earlier. Juliette chuckled to herself as she entered the house, wanting to go talk to Jenna but Damon stopped her.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her gently towards him, a serious look on his face as he stared intently at her. "Why did you come with him?" He asked, pressing his lips into a tight line.

Juliette raised an eyebrow, presenting herself as almost offended that he would suggest that, but on this inside, she was freaking out—he was getting suspicious. "Oh, maybe because we just happened to arrive at the time?" She replied, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Damon stared at her for a moment, his eyes staring directly into hers almost as if he was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth.

"Can I go in now or have you got more accusations?" She pressed, her voice steady but with a hint of frustration. Damon nodded his head a few seconds later and she ripped her wrist out of his grip, glaring at him before she walked away.

He's getting more and more suspicious, she needed to be careful. Juliette couldn't have Damon knowing what happened between her and Elijah, he would kill her. It didn't matter that they had been best friends for nearly two years or that she was the sister of the girl he loved, Damon would still kill her in an instant.

Elena would probably agree to it. Because how dare someone go against the Elena Gilbert.

Juliette couldn't tell anyone about her feelings or predicament; no one would care enough to want to help her. Of course, they'd flip if Juliette told them that she kissed him—twice—and that she was starting to fall for him.

It was crazy to her, to admit that. To admit that she has fallen for him, and hard. Juliette didn't know when she did, but she did know that it was very wrong, despite her feelings and desires.

But once you fall, you continue falling. Nothing can stop that.

"Juliette, what a surprise to see you here." A grating voice pulls her out of her thoughts, she rolls her eyes at the sight of John standing in front of her. Who tf invited him?

"Why are you here? No one here likes you." Juliette panned out, narrowing her eyes at her uncle.

"I couldn't miss out on all the fun and games with Elijah here if you know what I mean." He replied, an ugly smirk on his minuscule lips.

Juliette scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she shook her head. "There won't be any, it's just a simple dinner party. I think you're wasting your time here."

John took a step closer to her niece, "I'd rather waste my time than miss out, just in case." He sent her a smug smile before turning to walk into the dining room.

Well, that's comforting

The blonde rolled her eyes as she followed behind him, her annoyed expression melting when Jenna came into view. She smiled as she walked over to her and Andie, "Who invited the weasel?" She groaned while she leaned up against a chair.

"He just showed up," Jenna replied, equally as annoyed as Juliette was. "His presence is really pissing me off today."

"His presence pisses me off every time I see him." The blonde added in, earning an agreement from Jenna and Andie.

✧✧✧✧

"I HATE TO BREAK IT to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder in this town." Jenna joked as she ate. Everyone was sat around the Salvatore dining table, eating the dinner Jenna and Andie made.

Juliette was sat next to Elijah, doing her best to not glance at him since she could feel Damon's glare on her. He was suspicious, and he would do anything to try and prove his suspicion.

So she had to be careful.

"Hmm, do tell," Damon replied, his voice flat as he looked at Elijah across the table.

"Well, as I mentioned to Jenna and Juli earlier, a fraction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s." He explained, Juliette internally cringed when he used her nickname, she could already feel Damon staring at her. "Over the next hundred years, they developed this community where they feel safe from persecution."

"Hmm, because they were witches," Jenna added, lifting her fork to her mouth.

Andie cut in, "Yeah, but there's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem."

"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts."

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in neighbouring settlements, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned." Elijah carried on, one arm moving to rest against the back of Juliette's chair, and she didn't miss the smirk Jenna had on her lips.

"Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire." He finishes, smiling smugly at Damon. "Could you pass the..." He asked Juliette, pointing to the bowl of salad.

The blonde handed to him as she spoke, "I wouldn't repeat this to the Historical Society, Carol Lockwood would be livid." earning a few chuckles from everyone around the dinner table.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me," John muttered, causing nearly everyone in the room to roll their eyes.

"Good thing nobody asked you, John," Juliette replied, sending him a fake smile before she went back to cutting up her food.

"So, why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asked Elijah.

"You know... a healthy historian's curiosity, of course."

"Of course," Damon replied, a wary look on his face as Juliette stared at him. He was trying to get information on why Elijah wanted to know the location of the witch's massacres, it was important to something.

"So, Juliette, how's school?" John asked.

The blonde glanced at him with a confused look on her face, John had never once taken an interest in Juliette's life. "Fine, I'm thinking of changing universities though." She replied, her voice flat as she shared a look with Jenna.

"Are you going to go out of state again? You know, leaving your family like you did last time?"

Juliette narrowed her eyes at her uncle as he stared back, a smile on his face. He was trying to get a reaction out of her, he always objected to her leaving Mystic Falls after her parents died.

There was an awkward silence between the group before the blonde spoke, "Funny you bring that up, considering you weren't even around until months after they died."

She flashed him a thin smile before turning her attention back to her plate, her frustration and embarrassment evident. Juliette always hated whenever he brought that topic up, she had a clear and valid reason for leaving and she would accept no one's objection to it.

Even ugly John who always had to say his opinion.

✧✧✧✧

JULIETTE STAYED QUIET FOR the rest of the evening, clearly annoyed by John's comment. She really wanted to jump over the table and strangle him every time he smirked because he knew he got to her.

The only thing that stopped her was Elijah's comforting grip on her thigh; he squeezed gently, making sure Damon didn't see the action. Juliette took a deep breath as she took hold of his hand, allowing Elijah's thumb to caress the back of her hand.

She didn't know why she was holding hands with Elijah when Damon was literally sitting across the table. But she didn't want to let go.

"Would anyone care for cognac? I have a bottle that I've been saving for ages." Damon announced as he got up, Elijah instantly let go of Juliette's hand. The blonde also knew Damon was going to try something with Elijah. He was so predictable.

"None for me thanks. Nine bottles of wine are my limit." Alaric joked, standing up too as he stared at Jenna who started collecting plates.

"The gentleman should take their drinks to the study," Andie suggested as she shared a look with Damon. Juliette glared at Damon while he smiled at her, gesturing for Elijah to follow him.

The Original looked toward Juliette as he spoke, "I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company." He smiled at Andie, who replied, but Juliette didn't bother to listen. Elijah's hand brushed against hers, almost as if to signal that he would be careful as he followed Damon toward the study.

Juliette silently prayed that he would be alright, she was hoping Damon wasn't stupid enough to risk the deal Elijah made with Elena. If he did, Elijah would kill anyone he wanted and Juliette definitely knew he would go after Elena.

Juliette began picking the glasses up as Jenna handed John the stack of plates, "Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?" She sneered as John hesitantly took the plates.

Juliette walked past him, making sure her shoulder bumped into his so that he would drop some of the cutlery. "Whoops." She said as she gave him a tight-lipped smile.

Juliette walked into the kitchen as John followed her, placing the plates in the sink before walking off. Jenna walked in after, an exasperated look on her face.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, it's just Alaric. I can't stop thinking about what John said."

Juliette gave her a look, "John is an asshole, you really gonna believe what he says?" She raised her brow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I guess not," The aunt shrugged, "You okay? John was really out of line, he shouldn't have said that." Jenna shook her head as she pulled the blonde into a hug.

Juliette sighed as she placed her chin on her aunt's shoulder, "Yeah, it's nothing I can't handle. It's just the fact that he said it in front of everyone."

"He's a dick."

✧✧✧✧

I hate this chapter with a deep passion idk why.

It took me ages to write for some reason and I apologise for not updating in a week, I am trying my best to be better.

I go away at the end of this week for a trip so I'm gonna try and write then, but I won't have internet so I probably won't be able to post the chapters, but I'll try.

I hope to see you in the next chapter!

Byeeee

13/08/24