Caroline learns quickly that Elijah doesn't react quite the way he's supposed to.
For instance, when she's angry, he usually laughs and ravishes her so thoroughly that she forgets to be angry. This usually begins a cycle, but he never complains about that either. The man has some wicked stamina after being around for so long.
When she cries, there's a good chance he'll leave the room until he doesn't hear any more sobs—then, maybe he'll comfort her. Although more often than not, he tells her to stop being ridiculous and ignores the whole episode.
When she's excited about something, he usually sighs and acts completely uninterested. Sometimes she sees a small smile of contentment, though, and she lives for those.
The other thing she's noticed is he does not allow her to frown at him. She assumes he doesn't like it when she whines. Either that, or he doesn't like seeing her unhappy. She, of course, bets on the former. She learns later, after one rather explosive argument, that it's neither.
-x-
"I never asked to stay, Elijah!" she yells at him. "That was always you. You always asked me to stay."
"At least I gave you a fucking choice!" he hollers back. "I could have just compelled your compliance."
"Choice? You want to talk about choice!" She'd of laughed if she wasn't so incensed. "When was the last time you asked me what I wanted? When was the last time I made a decision? When was the last time you spoke to me about which town we were moving to, which neighborhood we were shacking up in, what job I'm supposed to have, or what the fuck we are to each other?"
"You could have told me any of these things," he insists forcefully, grabbing hold of her wrists and pinning her against the wall. "You could have said that you didn't want to live in London or Paris or Salt Lake City. You could have told me you wanted to live in a fucking cottage in the woods instead of the penthouse apartments I set up for us and I'd of listened. You could have told me or asked, Caroline."
"I shouldn't have to ask," she says, a frown starting to appear on her face. "You're supposed to just know these things." The problem, of course, is that in order for him to just know, he would have to realize that he's in love with her, and she doesn't foresee that happening anytime soon.
"Don't do that," he instructs coldly.
"Don't do what?" she asks; her voice deliberately soft. She's trying to avoid further arguing.
"That thing with your lip, don't do it."
She has no idea what he's talking about. She frowns again.
"That," he says, his hands tightening. "I said, don't do it."
She stops frowning. "Why?"
"I—it…" he doesn't seem to have the words.
They stare into each others eyes for so long Caroline doesn't realize at first that he's freed her arms from his hold. When she does, she brings one hand up to touch his face.
"When you look at me like that, I remember the way you looked when I first met you," he finally admits.
"I don't see a problem with that," she whispers.
He laughs then. "Of course you wouldn't," he says. "You have no idea how badly I wanted you back then. You never knew because I controlled myself around you, but that doesn't mean I didn't desire you even back then. And when you look at me like that now, all I want is to do to you what I wished to do to you then."
She tilts her head slightly. "Why don't you then?"
"What I had in mind then was not something I would ever do to you, Caroline."
"But you wanted to do it to me then," she starts. "So why not do it to me now?"
Elijah sighs, and Caroline can see the frustration on his face. He doesn't speak for a few moments, and she sees the way he's trying to find the best way to word what he's trying to say. "Because…because the way I feel for you now is not how I felt for you then. I didn't care about you then, Caroline. You were a means to an end, a way to ensure Elena's cooperation. Now you're everything. And I'd never demean you in that way."
She frowns once more before leaning in close. "And what if I asked you to?" she asks in that voice he calls the 'bedroom' voice.
She hears his groan and feels his reaction. "Fuck it," he hisses before pushing her to the floor.