Bonnie and Damon showed up at the Mikaelson house the next day to see Elena and Jeremy. Bonnie had spoken to Elena last night and had gotten the address. It didn't come a moment too soon because she was getting anxious about how her two friends were doing living with a bunch of murderous vampires.

"Remember, we have to play nice," Damon said as he rang the doorbell.

Bonnie gave him a look. "You are reminding me to play nice. You're the one most likely to go off the handle."

Klaus opened the door moments later. "Damon, Miss Bennett, what can I do for you?"

"We're here to see Elena and Jeremy. You said they were allowed visitors," Bonnie said.

"I did. Although, I believe it is still customary to obtain permission before coming to someone's home to see their wards. However, I suppose I can make an exception this time. You can come in, so long as you intend to behave," Klaus said before stepping aside.

Both Bonnie and Damon had to bite their tongues as they walked inside.

"Elena, Jeremy! You have guests!" Klaus called.

Elena and Jeremy came down moments later. "Hey, guys."

"Well, I will give you some privacy, I suppose. As I said before, there is to be no magic conducted. And Elena, I would like you to instruct your friends in future that they need permission before they show up," Klaus said.

"Okay," Elena said. That wasn't super unreasonable. Her parents had actually had the same rule.

"And stay on this floor. I believe it is still inappropriate to have male suiters in a young lady's bedroom," Klaus said before walking away and heading for the stairs.

Damon snorted. "Is he for real? He's playing overprotective Daddy?"

"I don't know. Sometimes it's hard to tell with Klaus when he's being serious or just being Klaus. Come on, let's talk in the living room. No one else is home but Klaus, and he's upstairs, though he'll probably still hear us," Elena said before leading the way into the living room, where they all sat down on the large, black, leather sectional.

"Caroline wanted to come, but her mom asked to help her around the house today, and she couldn't say no because she had to visit the house of the murderous hybrid," Bonnie said, only partially joking.

"Yeah, even with knowing Caroline's a vampire, Liz would lose her mind," Damon said.

Elena chuckled a little.

"She says she'll come by tomorrow. Anyway, how are you guys doing? They haven't done anything to you, right?" Bonnie asked.

"Bonnie, you asked me that on the phone last night. The answer is still no. We're okay. It's an adjustment, and it's not exactly easy for us to live with Klaus, but we're trying to get used to it. The hardest part so far was last night when Ric was invited over to sign over guardianship to Elijah," Elena said.

"They're making this legal?" Bonnie asked in surprise, and slight horror.

"Tell me Ric didn't do it," Damon said.

"He did, but Elijah didn't give him a choice. He threatened to go to court and ruin Ric's reputation, and because of me, he could've done it," Jeremy said.

"It's not your fault, Jer. They would've found a way one way or another. Besides, Elijah probably wasn't wrong. I loved Aunt Jenna and Ric, but neither were all that parental. You wouldn't have gotten away with half of the things you've done if Mom and Dad were here," Elena said.

"I wouldn't have done half those things if they were here, if for no other reason than that I wouldn't have seen the outside of my room for like a year," Jeremy said.

"Exactly. I don't like the way it was done, but Elijah was right," Elena said.

"Great, so now there's a piece of paper giving these psychos a legal say over the two of you," Damon said.

"Listen, we're going to get you guys out of here. It might take a while, but we'll figure out a way," Bonnie said in a tone of voice that was barely above a whisper.

Elena shook her head. "I don't want either of you doing anything. I think we may finally be at a point where there can be peace. I don't want to risk losing that. Besides, we're not safe anywhere else."

"Stefan's been dealt with. I got his emotions back to where they need to be. He's back on animal blood, and he regrets what happened," Damon said.

"When you say he regrets what happened, you mean kidnapping my sister and using her as a weapon, right?" Jeremy asked in an irritated tone.

Normally this was where Damon would say something snide and put Jeremy in his place, but there was nothing he could say. The kid was right about Stefan.

"It doesn't matter, Damon. Even if I could trust that Stefan isn't a threat anymore, there will be another one. There always is," Elena said. It seemed like she was always trying to protect herself or her loved ones from danger.

"Elena, you realize that most of the danger you've faced has come from Klaus, right?" Bonnie asked.

"And now that's over. Look, I don't exactly like the way things turned out. The last thing I wanted was to be forced to live with Klaus for who knows how long. But it's also not terrible. Honestly, given all the horrible things Jeremy and I have been through in the last year and a half, it's probably the least horrible. Things are going well. The originals have actually been good to us so far," Elena said.

"Yeah, and there are some perks. For instance, do you know how loaded these people are? We spent like several grand at the mall yesterday, and it didn't even put a dent in the allowance we were given," Jeremy joked. "Look, the bottom line is that we don't want you to do anything. Elena and I talked last night, and we realized that we're finally at a place where we're not all at war, or constantly worried about losing someone we love again."

"Which is why we need both of you to back off. Don't interfere. We can live with the way things are. You guys need to as well," Elena said firmly.

"They're never going to willingly let you go, Elena. This whole thing isn't going to end when you graduate. They will do what they have to do to hold onto you forever. They may even turn you to hold onto you," Damon warned her.

"I understand that. I can accept it," Elena said. She wasn't naïve about anything here. She knew exactly what was in store for her and her brother. It was worth it to keep her and her loved ones safe.

"I don't think I can, Elena. I can't watch the two of you be held hostage by these monsters. Klaus killed your aunt right in front of you. How can you stand to be around him?" Bonnie asked.

Elena flinched, but didn't say anything. She still felt a lot of guilt and pain over that. She was honestly trying to forget about it, but it wasn't working so well.

"Bonnie, that's enough," Jeremy said in a firm tone.

Bonnie sighed. She knew she went too far by bringing up Jenna. She knew Elena blamed herself for what happened to Jenna. She shouldn't have mentioned it. "I'm sorry. Look, I can't just give up on getting you out of this, but we'll at least table it for a while, right, Damon?"

"Fine," Damon said reluctantly.

"Thank you," Elena said.

"I have to go. My dad wants to have dinner at The Grill tonight," Bonnie said.

"I'll walk you out," Jeremy said before leading her out of the room.

"Look, Elena, about Stefan…" Damon started, but Elena immediately shut him down.

"No, Damon. I don't want to talk about Stefan. I don't care how sorry he is. I can't forgive him, and even if I could eventually, I could never trust him. He went too far, and he can't even blame it on losing his humanity because he'd turned it back on. I can't get past what he did. Please, Damon, don't bring Stefan up to me again. He's your brother, so I don't expect you to turn your back on him, but I'm done," Elena said firmly. She didn't hate Stefan, and probably never would, but she couldn't have him in her life anymore.

Damon nodded. He couldn't blame her for the way she felt. Stefan had done a lot of damage to her. It was ironic. Not too long ago, Damon would've been happy about the fact that Elena preferred him to Stefan, but he never wanted it to happen this way. "Okay. I won't mention it again."

"Thank you. I am happy for your sake that you were able to get him to face his emotions again, but it's too late for me. Come on, I'll walk you out. Bonnie's probably waiting for you," Elena said before they both stood up and headed towards the front door.