Elena was sitting on the couch in the Mikaelson's living room talking to Jeremy. She'd called her brother not long after her break up with Damon to let him know that she was awake and alright. Caroline had lent her her phone to make the call, as she didn't currently have hers. "I'm fine, Jeremy. No, you don't need to come home. I'm not even in Mystic Falls right now."

Elena listened to her brother on the other end before speaking again. "I'm in New Orleans. That's where the witch who helped me was. Listen, it's been a long day. Can I call you tomorrow and explain everything?" She really didn't want to get into it today, especially considering that she knew Jeremy would likely be really concerned once he found out that the Originals were involved and that she had some sort of mental link to Elijah.

Elena soon noticed Stefan, Caroline, and Bonnie enter the room as she was wrapping up her conversation with Jeremy. "Yeah, I promise I'll call tomorrow. I love you, Jer. Bye."

"He was probably elated to hear from you. We didn't tell him anything. We didn't want to get his hopes up," Bonnie said once her friend ended the call.

"Yeah," was all Elena said before handing Caroline her phone.

"Are you okay, Elena. I know it's been a rough day, probably a rough few days," Caroline said.

"Yeah. All of this is going to take some adjusting, but I'll be okay," Elena said.

"Damon called me a little while ago. He went home. He was pretty pissed, but he thinks you're going to change your mind eventually," Stefan said.

"He's wrong," Elena said. She couldn't blame him for thinking that. She and Damon had broken up and gotten back together before. This was different though. This wasn't just about them being too different. This was about a lack of respect and Elena's inability to put up with it any longer. There was also the fact that she was tied to another man, and that was something that wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

"You've changed your mind before," Stefan pointed out.

"I won't this time. Damon and I are at an impasse. He can't respect me, and I can't be with someone who can't respect me, not anymore. I can't ignore the lack of respect anymore, not from any of you," Elena said firmly.

"Elena, we respect you," Bonnie protested.

"You don't respect me if you don't respect my choices, Bonnie, and you've very recently proved to me that you don't," Elena said.

"Elena, I was trying to protect you," Bonnie said.

Elena shook her head. "You don't get to protect me by manipulating me."

"I wasn't…"

"Do not lie to me, Bonnie!" Elena said angrily before standing up. "You were never going to kill yourself if I didn't go through with Freya's plan, but you knew that I would never take that chance. Are you honestly going to tell me that isn't the case?"

Bonnie shut her mouth and stopped talking. If she told Elena she was wrong, it would be a lie. She said what she said to get Elena to agree.

"I didn't think so," Elena said.

"Elena, I couldn't live with losing you. I couldn't live with you being in a coma for the rest of my life because of me," Bonnie said.

"But you expected me to live with your death. My God, Bonnie, you had just looked at me and told that you finally understood what it was like for me every time you made a sacrifice to save me. Then just minutes later, you asked me to do it again. No, ask is the wrong word. You manipulated me into doing it again," Elena said.

"I was protecting you," Bonnie said again.

"Stop saying that. That is not an excuse you get to use whenever you want to circumvent my decisions," Elena said firmly.

"Elena, what Bonnie did was wrong, but she was trying to help you. That's all any of us have ever wanted, and you've been fine with it before," Stefan said. He was starting to wonder if the spells had caused Elena's anger, or Elijah. She was connected to him now, and they had wondered if a sire bond was involved.

Elena glared at her former boyfriend, knowing exactly where he was going with that last statement. "No, Stefan, I wasn't fine with it. I ignored it. I ignored it when you and Damon decided to dagger Elijah because you didn't want us to go through with our plan to turn me over to Klaus. Because of that, I had to dagger Elijah to save the two of you, and I still feel horribly guilty for that. And that's just one incident. There have been many, and I ignored all of them. And that makes it partially my fault that its gone on for this long. After the last incident with Bonnie, I promised myself that it would be the last time. I love all of you, but I will not let you treat me this way anymore."

"You shouldn't," Caroline said. "I've already said this, but you should hear it again. I'm sorry for how we treated you. We didn't mean to hurt you. I only wanted to protect you, but you're right that it's not a good enough excuse. You have the right to your own choices, whether we think they're wrong or not."

"Thank you, Caroline," Elena said appreciatively.

"Alright, I understand what you're saying. It won't happen again. Can we talk about this more when we get home?" Bonnie asked.

"Bonnie, I'm not going back to Mystic Falls anytime soon. I thought I made that clear," Elena said.

"Because of Elijah? Elena, I can find a way to break the link between you," Bonnie assured her.

"You'll do no such thing. Who the hell knows what would happen if you even tried? I knew the risks of Freya's spell. I knew anything was possible, and I chose to accept those risks. I can live with how things are.

"Are you sure? You can feel Elijah's emotions. Our emotions are already heightened because of vampirism. I can't imagine what adding another vampire's emotions to that would be like," Caroline said.

"I know it will be a very difficult adjustment, but I can live with it," Elena said.

"So, you're just going to stay here with them?" Stefan asked, not liking the sound of it at all.

"For now. Honestly, I don't even know if I want to go back to Mystic Falls right now," Elena said.

"Elena, you can't expect us to just let you stay here with these people," Bonnie said.

"Yes, I can, because it's my choice, and I thought we just went over you all respecting that," Elena said irritably before leaving the room. She needed some air, so she went outside to the porch. Freya had made her a new daylight ring, so she was able to walk in the sun fine.

Elena soon felt another presence behind her. She didn't even have to look to know it was Elijah. She felt him. "I'm okay, Elijah. I'm just still a little angry."

"I know. I can feel that. Will you look at me, please?" Elijah asked.

Elena turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I didn't know that you still felt guilty for daggering me," Elijah said.

"I guess I should've known that you'd heard that," Elena said. Super hearing, she had to remember. The whole house probably heard her.

"Yes, I apologize for eavesdropping, but it was almost impossible not to. You do not need to feel guilty for it, Elena. I forgave you for daggering me not long after you removed the dagger. I know why you did it. Plus, I've done worse to you since then," Elijah said.

"Anything you've done was to protect your family. I understand that. I would do the same. I have done the same," Elena said.

"And that is why you don't need to feel guilty. You did it for the same reason," Elijah told her.

"Yet, you feel guilty for what you did to me. Remember, I feel your guilt just as you feel mine," she said.

Elijah gave her a sad smile. "Well, perhaps we both need to learn to forgive ourselves."

"I guess so," Elena agreed.

"I heard that you decided to stay," he said.

"Yeah, I really don't want to go back to Mystic Falls right now, even if we could be away from each other. I hope the offer to stay here is still on the table," Elena said.

"Always, dear. You are hungry," Elijah said after feeling a hunger pang coming from her.

"So are you."

"Then let us both fix that problem," Elijah said as he extended his hand to her.

Elena took his hand and let him lead her back inside.