The next day, Elena opened the front door to find Elijah there. "Hi. Come on it. Jeremy's just getting ready to go. He should be down in a minute."
"Thank you," Elijah said as he walked inside. He was happy to see that his daughter was in a much better mood than she was the night before.
"I…I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have gotten so mad at you," Elena said. Once she'd calmed down, Jenna had come and spoken to her. She told her that the way Stefan was acting wasn't okay, and that Elijah was right to put a stop to it. After thinking about it, she did realize that Jenna was right. She hadn't liked the way Stefan had been acting lately either, but she loved him and she didn't want to have to stop seeing him. She should've at least given Elijah the chance to tell her why he'd given Stefan that ultimatum. Stefan certainly didn't tell her. Jenna did though, and it had helped calm her down a lot.
"Elena, it's okay for you to be upset with me. It will not be the last time. What I take issue with is the disrespect and attitude. When I am talking with you, you do not walk away. Do you understand?" Elijah asked in a kind, but firm tone.
Elena nodded. "Can I ask you a question though? What if walking away is the only way I can avoid being disrespectful?"
"That's a good question. Then you tell me that in a respectful manner and you will be allowed to leave," Elijah told her.
"Okay. I am sorry," Elena said.
"Apology accepted. We can put this behind us now," he said.
Jeremy came down a few moments later, ready to leave. "I don't see why I have to go."
"Yeah, why does he have to come?" Elena wondered. Not that she minded her brother coming, but it would only depress him and make her leaving more real for him.
"You'll see. Come. Let's not be late," Elijah said before heading for the door, motioning for the children to follow.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Elijah, Jeremy, and Elena followed a real estate agent into a large home on the outskirts of town. Jeremy and Elena looked around in awe. They found themselves in a huge kitchen with state-of-the-art appliances and marble countertops.
"This place is huge. I think our whole house could fit in here," Jeremy said.
"I think our house could fit in this one room," Elena joked. They walked into the living room, which was just as spacious, if not more so.
"I think I saw a pool in the back on the way in too," Jeremy said.
"There is a pool," the real estate agent said before turning to Elijah. "I should let you know that property is very pricey, but you can move in whenever you want once an offer is accepted.
"Money isn't an issue," Elijah said.
"Hey, can we look upstairs?" Elena asked as she pointed to the large staircase to the right of the living room.
"Of course. Why don't you guys see what rooms you like while I discuss business with your father?" the lady said.
"Uh, I'll stay down here, I guess," Jeremy said. There was no reason for him to go upstairs right now. He wouldn't be living there. He didn't need a room.
"No, go with Elena, Jeremy. Pick out a room," Elijah said.
"Why? I won't be living here," Jeremy said.
"Not fulltime, but I told you that you were welcome in my home whenever you wanted. Whatever room you choose wherever we move will be yours," Elijah said.
Jeremy was shocked silent for a minute. He never really believed Elijah when he said he was welcome anytime he wanted. He figured he just said that to sound like a good guy and impress Elena. "I…I can really stay anytime I want?"
"With your aunt's consent, yes," Elijah told him.
"Thanks," Jeremy said before he started heading upstairs.
Elena ran back downstairs and hugged Elijah. "Thank you. I know you don't owe Jeremy anything. Thank you so much for including him.
Elijah hugged her for a few seconds before pulling away. "He's your brother, sweetheart. As far as I'm concerned, that makes him a part of my family as well."
"Thank you," she said again with tears in her eyes before following Jeremy upstairs.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
The three of them looked at two other places before heading back to the Gilbert house. They arrived just in time to find Jenna setting the table for dinner.
"Hey, guys. You're just in time," Jenna said.
Elena looked at the table to see a large salad, pasta, and some garlic bread. It didn't look like takeout either. "Aunt Jenna, did you cook?"
"With Ric's help, and by that I mean he made the pasta and garlic bread while I tossed the salad," Jenna said.
Elena and Jeremy both chuckled.
Jenna looked at Elijah and pointed to a folder that was sitting on the table. "Elijah, that folder is for you. It has all of Elena's report cards from the last couple of years."
"Uh, does he really have to see that?" Elena asked nervously. Her grades weren't terrible, but they had slipped this year a bit, and Elijah was definitely the type to care about education.
"He does," Elijah said with a smile before picking up the folder. "Thank you, Jenna."
"Elena, you have nothing to worry about. Your grades are not bad. They may have slipped a bit this year, but that's understandable with all that's happened," Jenna said before going to grab some plates.
"Relax, Elena. Even if I don't like what I see, the most I would do is suggest a tutor at this point," Elijah said. He looked at the folder briefly, but then put it aside. He'd look at it later in more detail. He definitely wanted to know how Elena was doing academically to see if he needed to take action to help her improve, but he certainly wasn't going to berate her for things he hadn't been around for.
Elena nodded and sat down.
Jenna came back moments later with plates, and they all sat down and started eating. "So, how did things go today?"
"Very well. We saw a few places, but after talking with the children, I think I'm going to buy the first place we looked at. I'll be able to move in within a week once the paperwork is signed.
"A week?" Elena asked nervously. She wasn't going to be ready for that in a week. She felt better about things now that she knew her brother could stay over often, but she still wasn't ready to leave.
"Not you. I won't make you leave so soon. I was thinking we'll give it about three weeks. That will give you time to pack and be more prepared to leave," Elijah said.
"Okay," Elena said. That was a little better. It was pretty much what she'd originally been expecting.
"You can really get all your things moved in that quickly?" Jenna asked surprised.
"Oh, I can do quite a bit when I'm motivated," Elijah said with a smirk.
"Elijah said I can stay with them whenever I want," Jeremy mentioned to Jenna.
"Do remember that I said with Jenna's permission," Elijah reminded him.
"Which you'll have most of the time," Jenna told him.
"One more thing you need to be aware of, Jeremy. When you stay with me, you will be expected to follow my rules," Elijah said firmly.
"Absolutely. Jeremy, when you're with Elijah, he has full authority," Jenna said.
"What are the rules?" Jeremy asked.
"I'm glad you asked. That brings us to what we wanted to discuss with Elena, and a lot of it will apply to you to when you're with me," Elijah said.
"Elena, Elijah and I were talking last night, and we've decided that he's going to start taking the reigns with you. You're going to start following his rules, and I will enforce them," Jenna said.
"Okay," Elena said hesitantly. She knew she was not going to like what she was about to here, though she was semi-prepared for it. She knew that soon enough, she was going to have to follow Elijah's rules, and he was definitely much more strict than Janna.
"The first rule, we've already been over. Respect. You know I require that from you. I don't think we need to discuss it further, do you?" Elijah asked.
Elena shook her head.
"The next is that either Jenna or myself are to know here you are at all times. There will not be anymore going off wherever and whenever you want. One of us has to know where you are. It's a matter of safety," Elijah told her.
Elena nodded. She could accept that. It wasn't so bad. She should've probably been telling Jenna where she was going before now. It was just that it became an issue when there was a supernatural crisis. That wouldn't be an issue with Elijah though.
"You will not be out all hours of the night either. I don't know what time you usually stay out until, but from now on, I want you home no later than ten-thirty on school nights and Eleven-thirty on the weekend. I also don't want you going anywhere until any schoolwork you have for the day is complete. The only exception is if you are going to a friend's house to do schoolwork. Is that clear?"
Elena nodded. So far, Elijah's rules were very similar to the ones her parents had set. It was going to take a bit to adjust getting back to that, but she really couldn't complain much so far.
"You know what? Jeremy, you're going to follow those rules too," Jenna said. It was time for her to stop neglecting her responsibilities. She needed to step up more. That meant enforcing the rules, no matter how much she might not be liked for it.
"Oh, come on," Jeremy complained.
"No. Those are good rules, and they should've been in place from the beginning," Jenna s said firmly.
"Is that it?" Elena asked Elijah.
"Oh, no. Now we're going to discuss Stefan, and the ground rules that you will follow if you want to continue to see him," Elijah told her.
Elena groaned. This was where she knew she would really not like what she heard.
"You knew this was coming. I told you that there would be rules," Elijah reminded her.
"Yeah, but you said that it wouldn't be until I moved in with you," Elena said.
"That was before Jenna and I decided that it would be better to get you adjusted to my parenting right away. And I hardly think three weeks will make much difference. Now, I told you I wouldn't stop you from seeing Stefan right now, but I do have provisions. First of all, I don't want you going to his home anymore alone," Elijah said.
"Why not?" Elena asked unhappily.
"Because there is no supervision, and I do not trust him to act appropriately," Elijah said.
"His brother is there," Elena said. Of course, that probably wouldn't help her case. Damon wasn't exactly a chaperone.
"Really, Elena. You want to call Damon supervision? Look, I've let you do what you want with Stefan because he seemed like a trustworthy young man, but his behavior lately has been questionable. And you know that if your mom and dad were here, they never would've allowed you to go to his house without parental supervision," Jenna said.
Elena sighed. She knew that was true. Her parents never even let her go to Matt's house unsupervised, and they liked Matt. She wasn't even allowed there with his mom home because they didn't consider his mom adequate supervision.
"Elena, I'm not budging on this. You're not to go to Stefan's alone. Now, if you want to go over there with a group of other friends, I will consider it, but if I find out you were there alone with him, I will not be pleased and neither will you. You may see Stefan here, at our home as long as I'm home, or out in public," Elijah told her.
"Fine. I guess I don't have a choice," Elena said unhappily. Stefan wasn't going to be happy about it either. She could already hear him on it. It would just be another reason for him to want Elijah away from her.
"No, you don't. Now, that will do for tonight. There will be other things we have to discuss when you come to live with me, but they don't come into play now," Elijah said. Everything else had to do with her magic and interactions with the supernatural. They would have to discuss it at a later date.
Elena nodded and went back to her food.