The Beautiful Monster

That pained him a little because he just wanted her to stay safe, but she survived just fine without him for a long time.

She kept herself together, watched out for herself, and made something of herself. He would never deny her intellect and determination, and he knew that she would use it to survive if danger came her way.

He just wanted to give her more of a fighting chance against the supernatural, which did not play fair.

"Fine. You can come with me, but you stay right by my side," he told her sternly. He needed her to stay close just in case.

Alyssa perked up and jumped to her feet to follow him out of the RV. She placed her hand on his back, moving with him as they approached the motel, which looked a lot like the last one. Not much creativity was put into their designs.

"Do you see anything weird?" she asked him.

Elias smirked and glanced at her.

"Not yet," he said before venturing closer to the office. He looked up and down the street, not seeing any cars approaching with their lights turned off or anything else strange along those lines.

He believed that they were in the clear for now. "Let\'s get checked in."

Alyssa took his hand, letting him lead her into the office so that they could get three rooms for the night.

Elias fought multiple yawns as he grabbed the motel room keys. He had been up for way too long, but at least they could all rest now.

When he left the office, the others were waiting for him outside of the RV. He handed Scott and Melina a room key.

"Let\'s get some rest. Mel, we can find a place to practice tomorrow," he told her. He wanted to take advantage of them being in town to practice.

Melina smiled and nodded, but she didn\'t dart off to the motel room just yet.

"I was also thinking that maybe we could go on a double date or something," she suggested.

Elias gave her a confused look.

"A double date?" he questioned her, wondering where that random idea came from. He hadn\'t even thought to take Alyssa out on a date during this trip because it seemed completely out of place. They were still running for their lives.

Melina shrugged as she held Tyler\'s hand.

"Ever since the trip started, I haven\'t really spent much quality time with Tyler, and we want to get to know you guys better. We\'re family," she explained.

"I know it\'s weird timing, but I figured we could have a quick dinner while we\'re here in town."

Elias wasn\'t sure how to respond to that. He glanced at Alyssa, who seemed excited by the prospect.

He wasn\'t entirely surprised by that, and he knew right then that they were going to go. He would do anything to make her happy, including going on a date with his sister and her boyfriend.

Alyssa turned to look Elias.

"We should. Just in case we don\'t get the chance to," she told him.

Elias felt his heart sink slightly when he realized what she meant. They should go on the double date just in case they died during the next fight.

Their lives were on a strict timer with Alaric still kicking, and there was no telling how this would end. While they were still alive, they should live.

"Sure. Why not? I\'m sure there\'s somewhere decent to eat around here," he said as he glanced up and down the road.

He saw two fast food places and what looked like a local bar and grill. Something would have to do. They couldn\'t exactly be picky.

"Well, I\'ll just stay in my motel room and order pizza," Scott spoke up.

"You can come along if you want," Elias invited him, surprising himself. Usually, he wouldn\'t even think about inviting Scott and would prefer for Scott to leave them alone for the night.

However, Scott hadn\'t been going out of his way to annoy Elias, so Elias found himself softening up a little. Just a little.

Scott smirked and shook his head.

"I don\'t feel like being the fifth wheel. Having a little alone time sounds like a dream right now," he replied before heading to his motel room.

Elias looked at Melina and Tyler with a small smile.

"Well, I guess we\'ll do that dinner date around six o\'clock tomorrow. We still have to train," he told Melina.

He didn\'t see a grassy area for them to practice at like last time, but he was sure that they could find something.

If he was going to be messing with fire, he didn\'t want to be around anything that he could catch on fire.

"We will. Bring it tomorrow," Melina told him firmly.

"Always," Elias replied as he glanced at Alyssa with a smile. With her by his side, he would always give a hundred percent.

He wanted to try to push himself even further tomorrow since he wouldn\'t be stuck in an RV. Practicing his fire abilities had to be very contained in there.

Melina gave Tyler\'s hand a squeeze.

"I can\'t wait for tomorrow night. We haven\'t been on a date in forever," she told him excitedly.

"Doesn\'t mean we\'re not romantic," Tyler smirked before suddenly picking her up bridal style. He nodded a goodbye to Elias and Alyssa before carrying Melina to their shared room.

"They\'re cute together," Alyssa said as she watched them walk off with a smile on her face.

"Not as cute as us," Elias replied, shooting her a wink before putting his arm around her shoulders. He led her to their shared room, holding her close to his side.

He wasn\'t sure how the double date was going to go tomorrow, but he knew that spending quality time with those closest to him was important.

He didn\'t know how much time that they all had left, even if that was a morbid thought. It was the truth, which would always be daunting to face.

Once Elias shut the door behind them, Alyssa lifted up on her toes to press a kiss against his lips.

"I can\'t wait for the date, but I wouldn\'t mind spending some alone time with you tonight," Alyssa told him, lifting an eyebrow at him suggestively.

Elias smirked and easily picked her up to toss her onto the bed. He crawled over her, pinning her down to the mattress. In the privacy of their motel room, he could let his worries fade away.

He could ignore the danger that could possibly be right outside.. With Alyssa, he was in a whole different world, one that he hoped to live in after all of this was finally over.