It was six o'clock before Elijah returned to the Gilbert house. When he arrived Rebekah and Jeremy were sitting on the couch playing some sort of game on the television and Ric was sitting at the table speaking with Stefan. The sight of Stefan made Elijah cringe but he really didn't see him as a threat. Elena was nowhere to be seen.
"Hello Elijah." Rebekah said only half paying attention to her brother. "That was a cheap shot!" She yelled at the screen. "I don't understand how I can shoot the zombie like ten times but he barely touches me and I'm dead. Ridiculous!" The game had clearly made her irritated and Jeremy laughed at her. Elijah was glad they were getting along. He made his way over to the table.
"Good evening Alaric, Stefan." He greeted.
"Hey, did you guys figure anything out?" Ric asked.
"We hopefully have a plan that will at least get Finn off our backs. I wish to speak with Elena about having a witch use a new protection spell around the house." Ric nodded.
"About Elena…" He began.
"I think any questions concerning Elena and myself should wait until after all this uncertainty blows over. I don't want to upset Elena further and we should not push the matter right now." Elijah responded calmly.
"Right." Ric said. He wanted answers about what was going on but was slightly intimidated.
"I promise you nothing has happened between us and nothing will unless Elena wishes otherwise." Ric shifted uncomfortably in this chair.
"Wait, what's going on with you and Elena?" Stefan asked confused at the conversation.
"At the moment nothing." Elijah responded.
"I wouldn't call it nothing." Rebekah yelled from the other room.
"You like Elena?" Stefan raised his voice.
"As a matter of fact Stefan I do. However, I have no idea what Elena feels for me and I will not push the issue until things calm down. I will simply mention it and if she rejects me that will the end of it." Elijah was expecting Stefan to get angry and blow up like Damon would but he only sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I thought it would be Damon." Ric gave him a weak smile.
"I'm sorry Stefan." Elijah said, and he really meant it.
"Don't be. I did this to myself. I don't think Elena will ever really trust me again. You can't be with a person you don't trust completely." He remarked.
"I know Niklaus's actions ruined your relationship." Elijah did feel bad about that but was also glad it happened. She may not have separated herself from Stefan otherwise.
"That was only part of it. I did things before Klaus even showed up here. I was so caught up with protecting Elena that I never even thought about what she wanted. I lied to her about almost everything. I have no one to blame but myself." Elijah was impressed with Stefan and his opinion of the younger brother changed dramatically. "I just have to let her go." Stefan got up and sat next to Rebekah on the couch.
"I couldn't help but notice Elena's absence." Elijah pointed out.
"Oh, she went back to sleep about an hour ago." Alaric said checking the clock on the stove. "She was awake on and off. She should get up, she hasn't eaten anything all day."
"May I?" Elijah wasn't used to having to ask permission to see anyone but he wanted Alaric to accept him. He wanted to follow his rules to lessen the awkwardness their relationship was bound to bring about.
"Yeah, I guess." He wanted to object but didn't. Elijah sped up the stairs and knocked lightly on Elena's door. He knocked once more and when he didn't hear a response he slipped in and closed the door quietly so the noise of the others wouldn't disturb her.
Elijah had been inside Elena's room before but it had felt like he had been violating her. He had only been protecting his sure fire way to kill Klaus. He took a few moments to truly study her personal living quarters. Everything was clean and put away and nothing was out of place. She had many pictures of her friends and family on the walls and sticking out from the mirror on her vanity. She was young in many of the photos and was smiling or making some silly face in every one. He could only imagine what she had been like as a child.
One picture in particular captured his attention. It must have been at some town event because all the founding families were in the photo. Elena and Jeremy, Caroline Forbes, Bonnie Bennett, Tyler Lockwood, Matt Donovan the other girl must have been his sister Vicky. They couldn't have been more than ten. All the families were there. Everyone looked so happy and carefree. He couldn't remember a time since meeting Elena where she had truly smiled like she did in this photo. Elena had one arm around Caroline and one around Jeremy. He suddenly wished he could jump inside the photo and go back to a time so he could see Elena so happy but this was impossible. He couldn't change the past for her but he could do everything in his power to make her that happy again. He turned to look at her.
Elijah felt the wind get knocked out of him when he saw her lying there and forgot entirely why he was even there. Her hair was partially covering her face. Elijah sat on the bed next to her and lightly brushed it behind her ear. He had never before seen her look so peaceful. She was wearing a tank top and the bruise on her arm was easily seen now. Elijah inspected the mark carefully. It was a disgusting mix of purple, green and black. There were a few spots where it looked like Damon had dug his fingernails in. The mark was the entire size of Damon's hand. He rubbed it lightly trying to pull out any pain she felt from it.
He wanted to kill Damon Salvatore again. He realized he may be hypocritical considering all he himself had wanted when he first met Elena was to use her to kill Klaus. He had been willing to let her die for his revenge against his brother and used her like a tool.
That wasn't entirely true. At first he would have let Elena die so he could kill Klaus but his feelings quickly changed. He learned fast that Elena was nothing like anyone he had ever met. She was brave and courageous and willingly agreed to help Elijah knowing she would die. She sacrificed herself so everyone she cared about would be spared. He hadn't been fair when Damon attacked him. He was just trying to protect her but Damon had bruised his pride and he took it out on Elena. He had forced her into harming herself and guilt ran threw his body. He knew now she had no intention of daggering him but he guessed she had stabbed herself willingly. He touched her stomach where she had hurt herself wishing he could take back his actions that night.
"Mhm?" She mumbled slightly in her sleep and rolled onto her side towards him. Her hand reached out and touched Elijah's.
"Elena?" He asked softly.
"Hmm?" Her hand tightened around his. "Elijah." He wondered if she knew he was here with her or if she was still asleep.
"I'm here Elena." He rubbed his thumb along her fingers lightly. She said nothing, still asleep. He smiled. She had called for him while she was asleep. She wanted him. He caressed her face and spoke again. "Elena, you need to wake up now." He said a little louder. Elena let out a groan and turned to face the wall. Stubborn even in her sleep Elijah mused. "No Elena." He spoke a little louder. "Come now. It's time to wake up." He was scolding her. She turned back around and opened her eyes slowly.
"Elijah?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes and smiled at him. "I think I was dreaming about you." She admitted and her face turned red. He coughed and had to close his eyes holding in all of his feelings. This girl was driving him mad.
"Nothing bad I hope." Was all he could manage to say as he opened his eyes.
"No." She sat up and ran a hand through her hair which made it slightly messy, her face turned bright. "Nothing bad." She was clearly embarrassed about whatever she had been dreaming about.
"Alaric informed me you haven't even all day." He said wanting to change the subject.
"I couldn't hold anything down." She explained.
"You should really try to eat something." He urged her gently and he shifted himself closer to her. "Why did you drink so much last night?" He asked suddenly. She took a minute to gather her thoughts.
"I'm just so tired of everything. I wanted to not care." Elijah supposed he could understand that. She pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. "I just…" She took a deep breath. "It's just that no matter what I do somebody always gets hurt. I could make the best decision and it wouldn't make any difference. People will always get hurt around me." Elijah was surprised she was telling him this. "Maybe I'm just one of those people who is never meant to be happy."
"Elena." How could Elena feel like this? She had done nothing but help her loved ones and yet she only focused on the ones that have been hurt. "You have done so much good and you mustn't forget that. You cannot save everybody."
"I wish I had died with my parents." Her wish made Elijah feel like he had just been staked through the heart. Elijah lifted Elena's chin and held her face in both of his hands and forced her to look in his eyes.
"Don't ever wish that." She could see anger in his eyes. "You are the most compassionate person I have ever met and you have done nothing but care for everybody else since the day I met you. You have shown so much courage in situations where most would have fallen apart. The simple fact you even wish for your own death only proves how pure you truly are." He rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs and she closed her eyes. "Look at me." He demanded and her eyes shot open again. "Life has been cruel to you in your short years and at every turn you manage to come out stronger. Your morals put even mine to shame."
"You think too much of me." Elena said sadly.
"Do not wish for death Elena. You give a shine to the world and it would be a shame to lose that light. You choose to see the good in everybody except yourself but I believe your light could bring out the best in the devil himself. You're truly beautiful Elena." Elena tried to speak but couldn't find any words. "Come on now. You need to eat something." He gently helped her stand up before he did something he would regret.