They stood there, their eyes still connecting in silence, both absorbing Elijah's last words and both still seemingly stunned by them.

Finally, Elena took in a breath, breaking the stalemate as she took a tentative step toward him.

But, upon seeing her move, Elijah immediately broke eye contact as if shaking himself seemingly out of a trance.

"I need pie," Elijah said quickly in a resolute voice, his eyes narrowing

Elena stopped in her tracks, perplexed.

"You ne—what? Pie?"

"Pie…" Elijah said absentmindedly then took a step back before quickly turning on his heel and heading back up the lawn toward the house.

"Umm…okay…" Elena said, pulling her sweater back over her shoulders, her eyes reflecting the confusion in her voice as she watched him go.

# # # # # # #

Caroline wiped under her eyes and wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders, sitting up on Klaus' bed as she now watched him gently push open the door to his bedroom.

"How are we feeling?" he asked in a kind voice as he came through the threshold, balancing a plate on his forearm

"I'm okay…" Caroline smiled weakly then cocked an eyebrow as she pointed to the plate, "Is—is that pie?"

"Why, yes, it is," Klaus smirked, holding out the plate to her, then pulling a fork from his back pocket before taking a seat on the bed next to her, "Its cherry with vanilla ice cream. I hope you like cherry. It's all we had in the house….Elijah's doing."

"I love cherry, Thank You," Caroline sighed, taking the pie plate and fork in her hand, "But, what exactly do you mean by 'Elijah's doing'?"

"Well, Elijah says there is nothing better for emotional turmoil or clearing the head, than pie…" Klaus said "He's been a fan of the stuff for centuries and kept it wherever we've lived."

"Hmm…and let me guess," Caroline said, taking a bite, then pointing down at the piece on her plate, "His favorite is… cherry?"

Klaus nodded with a smile

"I see," Caroline said between chews, "and what's yours?"

"Don't know," Klaus replied with a shrug, "Never tried it."

Caroline eyes widened as she stopped chewing and swallowed

"What? You're telling me that you've never had a piece of pie?" she asked in amazement

"No," Klaus affirmed, "And I'm not even sure where Elijah picked up his taste for it, to be honest."

"Alright, that's it…" Caroline said, taking the fork and scooping another piece of the pie and some ice cream onto it before holding it out to Klaus and smirking, imitating the voice her Mom always used when she was a kid, "Open wide like the crocodile!"

Klaus chuckled, eying her coyly before leaning forward and taking the fork into his mouth

Caroline watched as he chewed the bite in his mouth, a curious expression crossing his face before he swallowed.

"That's delicious…" he smiled, eying the pie and moving closer to her on the bed, "Can I have another bite?"

Caroline smirked as she moved the plate across her body and away from original, "Uh…that was a pity bite. I'm the one in an emotional state here!"

"Why not?" Klaus smiled, "You feeding me pie…you have to admit that it's adorable."

Caroline took another bite with a mockingly stern face

"Alright," Klaus relented with a smirk, "I'll just leave you to it then, shall I?"

"You do that…" Caroline teased in between chews as she watched Klaus slowly stand from where he sat next to her on the bed.

"I'll just be downstairs getting my own piece of pie…." he chuckled, eying her up and down playfully, "spoil sport."

Caroline laughed

Just as Klaus reached the bedroom door, he met Misha walking past in the hall, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, willing himself awake.

"Morning Misha," Klaus smirked, "Long night in my liquor cabinet?"

"Oh," Misha smiled, pulling his hands down at the sound of Klaus' voice and stepping toward the threshold in his white t-shirt and jeans, "You're back."

"I am," Klaus replied then watched Misha peek his head inside the door.

"And you have a guest," the warlock pointed out, then waved at Caroline, who giggled as she waved back, fork in hand.

"Yes," Klaus said stepping back inside the room and letting the warlock follow, making the introductions that were missed the previous night amid all the chaos, "Misha, this is Caroline Forbes…Caroline, this is Elijah's best friend, Misha DeVerau."

"It's nice to meet you," Caroline said

"And you as well," Misha nodded then his eyes turned sad, "I'm very sorry for your loss."

Caroline straightened, giving the warlock a sad smile.

"Thank you," she whispered

"Is that pie?" Misha suddenly asked with a raised eyebrow, studying the plate in Caroline's hand

Klaus immediately started laughing

"Yes," Caroline replied, somewhat confused, looking between Klaus and the warlock, "Cherry."

"Ahh…my favorite," Misha sighed, "Nothing better to clear the head and warm the soul…" then he turned to Klaus, "I don't suppose there is—"

"Downstairs in the pie safe next to the refrigerator," Klaus smirked, finishing his sentence

"Bless you, you diabolical, but handsome man!" Misha quipped with a smile, clapping a hand on Klaus' shoulder before turning and nodding to Caroline, "Eat that pie, Sugar, and feel better."

"I will. Thanks," she replied before watching the warlock disappear back through the doorway.

"So, that is where Elijah's pie obsession came from!" Klaus chuckled, pointing after Misha before making his way to the door himself, "His hang over cravings gave it away."

"Hold it!" Caroline called, waving at him with fork in hand, "Get over here, 'diabolical, but handsome man'!"

Klaus turned back and raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Come on! Get over here!" Caroline urged, playfully relenting as she scooted over on the comforter and made room for him, patting the spot with her free hand before rolling her eyes, "I'll share my pie with you."

Klaus gave an amused scoff as he started walking back to her, "And what's inspired this generosity, may I ask?"

"The fact that now I know there won't be any pie for you when you get downstairs," Caroline laughed, offering him a bite on her fork as he sat down at her side once more.

Klaus smiled softly, leaning forward as he met her eyes and took the bite into his mouth and chewed.

"Thank you, again," Caroline sighed, her eyes suddenly turning sad, but never leaving his, "And not just for the pie…"

Klaus swallowed his bite and leaned closer to her, keeping eye contact as he planted a kiss on her forehead, then her nose.

"You are most welcome," he smirked before she lowered the plate onto her lap and pulled him in to her lips.

# # # # # #

Stefan took a deep breath before making his way down the main staircase.

But, soon he found himself slowing his steps at the second landing as piano music suddenly began filling the front parlor and wafting out into the front hallway.

Stefan smiled softly.

"Damon…" he whispered, knowing immediately who it was at the piano, though he hadn't heard his brother play in years…make it centuries.

Damon had been six years-old when Stefan was born and their Mother passed away after a long and difficult labor. But, she had started his lessons the previous year and Damon had instantly proved to have musical talent.

It was out of respect for her, and perhaps a need to channel his grief into something productive, that Damon continued his lessons. He eventually became a great proficient by his late teens and had even received a musical scholarship to one of the universities out east just before the outbreak of the Civil War.

Suddenly, as he came to the bottom landing of the staircase, Stefan wondered if his father hadn't torn up that scholarship letter in Damon's face, citing it as a waste of time and money, and not driven the elder Salvatore brother to enlist in the Confederate Army, if all of their lives might have been different.

Stefan crossed the hall and slowly opened the parlor door, but heard Damon immediately stop playing as he entered the room.

"Why did you stop?" Stefan asked curiously, folding his arms across his chest as he moved toward where his brother still sat at the piano, reaching for the glass of whiskey on the top of the Steinway and taking a long sip.

"Because, I take requests," Damon smirked, lowering his glass from his lips and twirling it in his hand before turning to his younger brother and patting the spot on the bench next to him, "Sit down, Stefan."

Stefan smirked sadly, but did as he was told and took a seat next to Damon as the older Salvatore took another drink then set his glass back on top of the piano.

Damon then turned to face Stefan, his green eyes boring into his brother's.

They sat there for a few moments, just staring at each other before Damon turned back to the piano and brought his long fingers up to the ivory keys again.

Stefan closed his eyes as Damon started playing "Amazing Grace."

By the time he reached the chorus, Damon looked over and saw that tears were coming down Stefan's face.

Damon immediately stopped.

"Stefan…" he whispered, turning to his younger brother

"I'm sorry," Stefan said quickly, shaking his head, his voice breaking, "You were right. I'm not in the best state right now and Elena leaving…it just broke me, Damon."

Damon put a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder.

"She left me…" Stefan whimpered, opening his wet eyes and focusing on his brother

Damon took a breath and looked directly at his brother

"You're not alone," he said in a low voice, "She left us both, Stefan."

Stefan nodded, seemingly grateful for the support as his face crumbled and he reached for his brother, pulling him into an embrace.

They stayed like that for minutes, but it felt like hours, each of them savoring the comfort of the other.

Finally, Damon sighed as he pulled back and clasped his brother's face in his hands.

"Okay…enough with this pity party! I love you… you love me…and no more Crazo-Klaus-blaming Stefan, alright? We are just going to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, as Father would say, and soldier on—go about our normal routine and just wait for Elena to figure out…you know, all the stuff she's got to figure out… Okay?"

Stefan nodded with small smile, wiping under his eyes, "Okay."

"Okay!" Damon cheered, throwing up his hands and turning back to the piano, "Water under the bridge."

"I don't have to apologize to Klaus, though, do I?" Stefan asked

"Of course not," Damon smiled as he brought his hands back to the keys and Stefan chuckled

"Now…" Damon said, running his hands over the keys playfully as he turned to his brother, "What would cheer you up and bring back the old Stefan?"

Stefan sighed as he thought for a moment then suddenly smiled as a memory came to mind.

"Oh, you are going to hate me for this…" he said, bringing his hand up to his mouth and struggling not to burst out into laughter

"What?" Damon asked, amused

Stefan tried to gain his composure, "Do you remember when we went to that God awful spring festival in Woodbridge to honor that Sicilian that Father bought all that wood from for the mill right before the war?"

"Ugh!" Damon cried, remembering exactly what Stefan referred to, still fresh in his mind from centuries before, "The one where that woman's Dobermans kept stealing my cake, five people got food poisoning from the roasted lamb, and 'Mopey' Fell kept pestering me to ask her for a dance—"

"And then you shoved her off on me…telling her that I fancied her!" Stefan shot back playfully

"Hey, I'm sorry! But, I was desperate!" Damon laughed, clutching his brothers arm, "God, that was an awful day."

"But do remember the best part of that day?" Stefan asked with a raised eyebrow

Damon furrowed his brow in thought for a moment then rolled his eyes.

"No!" he smirked, holding up his hands, "You can't mean that!"

"Oh, you have to admit, seeing them pull Father up on stage to sing with those old Italian guys…that was hilarious!" Stefan countered

"It was," Damon affirmed, "But what was funnier is that you would walk past him for the next month, humming the tune under your breath with a smile and he would turn beet purple."

"God, he was so mortified by that, wasn't he?" Stefan smiled

"But, not half as mortified as when we sat down at the piano and sang it for his birthday that year," Damon conceded, seeing where Stefan was going with the story

"Come on…" Stefan said urged, pressing one of the keys playfully on his end, "For old time sake? Please?"

"Fine," Damon said with a smile, closing his eyes as he tried to pull the tune to mind, "But it never sounds right without the trombone."

After a moment, he brought his hands to the keys again and starting playing the upbeat Italian tune and chuckled when Stefan broke out into an imitation of their father's singing voice.

"C'e la luna mezz'o mare Mamma mia me maritari," Stefan crooned, "Figghia mia, a cu ta ddari Mamma mia pensaci tu!"

Then he pointed at Damon and the older Salvatore brother took the cue, rolling his eyes before he picked up the tune and, to Stefan's amusement, did it in perfect imitation of one of the elder gentlemen they remembered from the festival.

"Si ti dugnu pisciaiolu, Iddu va, iddu veni, sembe lu pisci in mano tene!" Damon sang, "Si ci piglia la fantasia, Ti pisciulia a figghia mia!"

Then he pointed back to Stefan and they sang in chorus, "Ue Mamma!"

And Stefan interjected, "Me voglio marita!"

Then they sang in chorus, "Ue Mamma!"

Damon chimed in, "Quand e bella baccala!

Then together again, "Ue Mamma!"

Stefan threw his hands up dramatically like the Italians do as he cried, "Piscia fritta baccala!"

Damon busted up laughing as they struggled to sing the next line together, "Me vogliu na gualgliotte che mi voglia maritar!"

Then Damon collapsed on the piano, "Oh, please, no more!"

"We've got a whole stanza and a chorus left!" Stefan urged, himself laughing

"Oh! I can't…I can't!" Damon laughed holding his side

Stefan clapped his hands together and fell on his brother as they continued laughing and carrying on.

# # # # # #

((More Elejah next chapter. Thanks for reading. If you are curious, the song Damon and Stefan sing is called "Luna Mezzo' Mare", an old Italian folk tune. You can find it on the internet if you want to listen to it.))