AN: I had someone mention that it's more likely for Elena to withdraw because of guilt, but the last chapter was fairly Caroline centric and that's how Caroline perceived it. Sorry this chapter is so short, I will not be updating tomorrow, but will update on Thursday.
Elijah tells her when it's been a week. He didn't know if she wanted a full seventh day or not, but he sits and waits. He carefully enters her mind, wondering what he will find.
He finds walls, and tells her that it's been a week. He hopes she'll lower them soon enough, he's been worried about her for seven days. He places his hand on smooth stone and waits.
She blinks blearily, and waves her hand to lower her walls. Hopefully Elijah will understand and just come up. She hadn't thought of how hard it would be to pull herself out of sleep, doing it too long made it harder to leave. She closes her eyes, and wills the front door to open. She can hear Elijah, her limbs are too heavy to move at the moment. She hears him open her bedroom door and quietly say her name.
"Hey." She murmurs, her voice rough from disuse. She asks him to sit next to her. His shoes disappear before he can move, and he settles next to her the seconds after that.
"Hello there." He says, and she blinks a few times. Her eyelids should not feel this heavy after sleeping, honestly. She wants to complain, but grins at his words. She explains her tiredness and asks how his week was, what he didn't tell her because there were other people able to listen to him talk to her.
He tells her that he didn't do much, he dealt with contracts and got cupcakes with Caroline. She sighs in frustration, and manages to get out of bed. He mirrors her, but doesn't sigh. She tells him he was supposed to live his life.
He tells her he was.
She shakes her head.
She doesn't want to take up all of his time, she explains. It's not fair for her to expect him or Caroline to spend so much time with her. They have their own lives, they were supposed to take advantage of not having to talk to her.
She blinks rapidly, and he moves forward and wraps her in a hug. It reminds him of her first weeks as a vampire. He may not know Elena like Caroline does, inside and out, but he does know what comes after this. He doesn't want Elena to feel alone, because she isn't. He's not sure if she wants the hug, but he just holds her as she shakes and he tells her that of course he and Caroline are going to spend a lot of time with her, she's their friend. They care about her, and would spend that much time with her even if she wasn't in the coma she's in. The notion that she's taking up too much of their time is considerate but false. She sniffles and tells him she missed them. She missed him and she missed Caroline.
She wanted them to live their lives and put her on the back burner, she feels like she consumes so much time that it's unfair to them, but he counters that it's unfair to her if they do that. She's a social person who likes being around people and wants interaction. The least he and Caroline can do is try to provide that. Plus, Bonnie will come at some point, and she'll visit too. She just puts her face in his shoulder and he just adjusts his arms around her. They have a lot to talk about. But for now, he knows she needs this. So he gives it and she takes it.