It is him and only him there
She can't take their fighting over dominance over her anymore.
One wants to protect her to the extend of robbing her of her will, the other wants to give her total free will without guidance.
One wants her innocent, weak, dependent, the other wants her badass.
One wants her on human controlled diet the other rabbit diet.
She doesn't know what she wants anymore.
It is time to put a stop to it, so she asks them both to give her time out.
Reluctantly, both comply.
She needs help with her new existence.
Only he comes over her mind.
She fights the urge to run and rings the bell, praying her heart out he would be the one to open.
Heavens' doors closed today.
"What the hell do you want?" snorts the blonde
She replies with courage driven from bottled up anger
"I want to see, Elijah"
He suddenly seems to appear, out of nowhere, very quietly as usual.
He leads her into an office.
"Haven't seen you since then"
"I couldn't show you my face after what Rebekah had done"
She takes a deep breath
"I want your help with this"
He teaches her self control, how to not drain humans dry (the Damon'diet), then he puts her on animal diet or rather let her choose the animal diet (The Stefan diet).
He teaches her hunting, how to identify werewolves ,how to know if humans are on Vervain.
He teaches her about history, about arts, introduces her to vast culture that she never knew existed (He was an avid reader; she takes it upon herself to follow his suit despite the fact she never stood reading).
She misses being human.
She asks him one day if he does
"yes, I do"
She asks him if he would like to turn back human, his answer surprises her
"No, Elena not after a thousand year of adaption"
He once tells her to be thankful "we never knew what we were facing, at least you know and you can have guidance from any vampire resident in mystic falls"
She becomes familiar with the originals household.
She lets the Salvatores in again, she teaches them what he taught her: To move on.
It was during one night that a pack of werewolves track her down.
She wasn't fast enough to evade them.
They caught her, vervained her, tortured her.
She knew she was going to die, except that Klaus found her.
Klaus saved her; he supported her to his car.
As she was nuzzled against him, she realised that she still appreciates life.
He drives her home.
Elijah sees them together.
Next day he is gone, no words uttered, no note left, nothing at all, swift departure, one he is so good at.
She falls into catatonic depression.
Sometimes she just sits there still, contemplating.
Sometimes she engages in fists of crying.
"You love him that much?"
"Never realised it, Damon, all it takes is to mention him and it is only him, no tearing between him or anything, he is my first resort, priority , the one I take his words for granted no doubts, no second thoughts."
"I know Elena, I know"
Damon holds a political meeting for all ,Stefan and Caroline, Bonnie and Jeremy, Klaus and Rebekah, Meredith, Tyler, Matt even Kol and Katherine.
"We need to find him" is all he says
"Why did you agree to come, Katherine?"
"You said it involved Elijah, so I had to"
"Why? You still have a thing for him"
"Nopes, but he is a good man, Damon, he deserves a happy ending, plus Kol isn't very bad, I might try to snare him"
"Always bitchie, Katherine"
"Likewise, Damon"
Klaus finds him 3 months later,
He was in the last place they would search for him, Mystic Falls.
Once he sees Klaus down in the caves, he does something very Un-Elijah like,
He strikes him hard and fierce.
"What was that for?"
"Are you that low? That insatiable? Tatia then Katherine and now Elena"
Klaus' mind clicked, he must have seen them that day, however he couldn't help but chuckle and give him his infuriating smug grin.
"You think I have my eyes on Elena" he mockingly says.
After beating the crap out of Klaus, he gets to know the whole story.
Later that day, Elijah returns
It takes some putting up with Elena's justified anger tantrum and a little time for her to chill and realise he will never ever leave her alone again before explaining himself.
"I thought you were wiser"
"Does it lessen me in your perception that I amnot?"
"Well, not much Shakespeare"
"No man is wise in Love"
"So that is an unorthodox declaration you love me?"
"I love you, Elena Gilbert, Matter of fact"
One day he asks "when did you know you love me, Elena?"
"I felt drawn to you since I met you; I just knew that when you were on my mind, when you were around, it was you and only you, Elijah, It was when you were gone though I became fully positive I can't survive without you"
After her answer, He knew what he had to do, all he has to do is to find the proper ring.