AN: Klaroline in this chapter, and Elejah angst here. Sorry this took two days to work on, and sorry I will not be updating until Sunday night. I hope this was worth the wait!
He's more than a little concerned when Caroline calls him. She's only supposed to call when something goes terribly wrong, and the fact she's calling him instead of having Kol or Rebekah deal with it worries him.
"Hey is Elijah nearby, like hearing distance?" She asks him and he tells her that he's moving where no one can hear him.
"What is it? What's the matter?" He presses.
"Don't panic. It's not really that bad. It's Elena." She says and he relaxes, but not completely.
"What about Elena?" He asks.
"She's not letting anyone visit her mind for a week. What do we do with Elijah?" She's glad they've already has this chat. She hasn't admitted any feelings for the hybrid yet, but they both agree Elijah and Elena like each other. Caroline's just worried about how this will affect him. Elena probably just needs some alone time and sleep. She'll be okay.
Klaus pauses, and tells her that they'll all just need to keep an eye on the situation. He's not going to tell Elijah. She can tell him if it comes up, but it's best he sees for himself.
She agrees, and he wonders how his brother will react.
She takes Rebekah and they leave the house, Kol is reading a book Elijah recommended.
He texts Rebekah when Elijah arrives back home.
Elijah checks in with Kol, and Kol fails at his attempt to ruffle Elijah's hair. Elijah grins at him, and tells him that he'll be in Elena's head if his brother needs him. Kol nods and he watches his older brother disappear.
He has things to tell her, and he made progress on his mind palace he wants to show her. He asks her to lower her walls before he begins to match her breathing. He's a little alarmed when all he sees is gray stone.
"Elena?" He calls. She knows he's in there, if she didn't know already.
He waits, and something catches his eye a few feet away.
There's something that's bright purple on the walls. Elena's handwriting.
He reads it, wondering why she hadn't mentioned it to him before he left. He wishes she had just said she wanted space. Part of him wonders how she'll be after a week of being alone in her mind, but he knows logically she'll be fine. He won't mention it, but he's going to genuinely miss her. Conversations only worked when more than one person talked, he hopes she'll listen when he visits. He leaves her mind, and sits next to her.
Kol times it, it takes about twenty minutes for Elijah to enter in Elena's head, and then he comes out, five minutes later. He keeps Rebekah and Klaus updated on their brother.
Elijah is distracted, there's no other word for it.
When Kol shows that he's been reading Catcher in the Rye, Elijah doesn't react like he should. When Caroline returns with Rebekah and a few bags full of chocolate, he asks her if Elena had said anything to her. She shakes her head, and he disappears to Elena's room to talk to her.
He's just confused, more than anything. He's not mad. He wonders aloud to her, and Klaus comes home after a long day of negotiations. He knows immediately, that Elijah is going to be out of action for the next week.
Elijah is fairly normal, but Rebekah can't remember the last time her brother mistook the time so severely. He's twelve hours early for a call he's waiting on, and she has to remind him that it's night.
He talks to Elena so often that it's almost alarming. But it's the same hours he usually spends in her mind, she's just not used to hearing him talk like that, in his Elena voice as Caroline calls it. His face gets softer and so does his voice, the blondes agree.
He goes for a drive with Caroline on the third day, and admits he finds himself wanting to be in Elena's company. Caroline assures him that she'll be fine, and she misses Elena like crazy too. He begins to correct her and she interrupts him. One look from a baby vampire and he's silent. He knows it's useless to pretend like he doesn't miss Elena, especially to Caroline.
So he doesn't, and they talk about other things as he decides to take her out for dinner. It's not until she's dragged him to a bakery to get cupcakes, a few hours later, that they talk about Elena.
There's only human tourists around, and she tells him about Elena, and some of her favorite memories. She sees him listen intently, he's so in love with Elena that it actually hurts her for a moment. He smiles as she tells stories, and he tells her a few about the time he spent teaching Elena how to be a vampire.
Caroline laughs when he tells her that Elena broke his blender on accident, and shattered a window. Elena had started to apologize profusely and he had just waved it off, saying he had been meaning to open the window anyway. Caroline laughs as hard as Elena did, and she begins to like the reserved vampire even more.
When Klaus calls, they go home, noting the late hour.
It seems that when Elena decided to sleep was the moment Elijah decided to stay awake. It's been six days of a slightly off Elijah, and Caroline doesn't think he's slept for any of them. She tells Klaus as she offers access to the chocolate box she's working on, that she's worried. He tells her that he can't remember the last time Elijah was so out of sorts over a woman, as he decides on a truffle. Elijah is in love with her. Neither of them say it, but they both know it. Caroline has told him that Elena doesn't do anything half hearted, and she's interested in Elijah as well. But being in a coma restricts them, it's not likely she'll confess her feelings unless she's awake and able to move her body again.
He nods, and they listen for a moment, hearing the sounds of the house. Kol is reading aloud, Rebekah is painting her nails and listening to music Caroline likes, and Elijah is rapidly speaking Greek on a business call.
Caroline takes a bite of a chocolate, and Klaus compliments her on her choice. He likes cherries in chocolate too.
She's glad they're taking this slow, she likes just spending time with Klaus. He's a good conversationalist, and he's full of stories that make her laugh. But sometimes, he just sits with her while she sits in bed and eats chocolate for breakfast. There's no pressure from him, at all. No pressure to rush or explain what she's doing with her day. He has promised, a proper date when all of the treaties and talks of maintaining peace were over with. She can't wait. Rebekah knows what it is but won't tell her. They did go shopping and she has the dress she bought in her closet ready to go. It's odd to be in the same house as the Originals.
On one hand, she recognizes them as the powerful vampires they are, but she's forced to remember that they are people too. She almost laughs the first time she sees Kol try to work the toaster, swearing in English. He had almost shouted in a few more languages before she pressed a button and it had worked again. They may be inhuman at times, but their humanity is still there, and very strong. Their humanity is apparent to her anyway. She's aware that she sees them more vulnerable than anyone else ever gets a glimpse of.
As she looks at Klaus, she realizes she's comfortable with it.