Elena was still by Elijah's side the next morning. She said she wasn't going to leave him, and she hadn't. She sat with him all night. Klaus and Freya also came in from time to time to check on their brother. Thankfully, Elena 's friends had stayed away. Elena could occasionally hear them talking downstairs, though. They believed something was wrong with her because of the way she'd spoken to Damon. There was talk about her possibly being under a sire bond.

Elena couldn't say one way or another whether she was under a higher bond from Elijah. She knew it was possible. That's why she'd asked Freya about it when she and Bonnie had come into her dreams. However, she did know that whatever she was feeling for Elijah right now was not a sire bond. She'd been under sire bond. She'd never felt anything like what she did right now when she was sired to Damon. She couldn't deny that a lot of what she felt right now was magical. She could literally feel Elijah's emotions. That was definitely because of the spell. However, her concern for Elijah was her. There was nothing magical about that. She was concerned because she cared about him. She was concerned because he was like this because he wanted to help her. That was why she was sitting by his side.

"Elena?" A voice called out.

Elena didn't even turn around when she heard Caroline's voice. "Caroline. Let me guess, you were the one voted to come and talk to me."

"We're worried about you, Elena. We think something might be wrong with you," Caroline said gently.

"I know. You guys have apparently forgotten that I'm a vampire again. I can hear everything you guys are talking about down there. For some reason you think I'm under a sire bond because I care about Elijah. I guess you guys failed to remember that if I was under a sire bond, it would mean I already cared about Elijah," Elena said.

"It's not about you caring about him, Elena. I know why you would care. He saved you. But there are things that are strange. You feeling his hunger isn't normal," Caroline said.

"I know that, Caroline. That was a side effect of the spell Freya did. I figured that much out. I knew when I agreed to the spell that there might be complications. This is one of them," Elena told her.

"And you're not concerned about it?" she asked.

"There isn't much I can do about it. I knew that there could be consequences when I agreed to let Freya attempt spells that had never been done before," Elena told her.

"Okay, but what about how angry you seem to be with Damon? You weren't angry with him when you went into the coma," Caroline pointed out.

"I'm surprised you'd care if I'm angry at Damon. You've never approved of my relationship with him. For the record though, I'm not just angry at Damon. I'm angry at all of you," Elena said matter-of-factly.

"Why?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"When Freya came and told me what she wanted to do, she asked for my permission. She gave me the facts and let me know that there could be any number of consequences. I was willing to accept all except one," Elena explained.

"Bonnie," Caroline realized.

"Yeah. Bonnie could've very well ended up dead because of Kai's spell. As soon as I realized that I said no. Freya respected my decision, but Bonnie didn't. And that made me realize something. None of you have ever respected my choices unless you agreed with them," Elena said with bitterness in her voice.

"We've only ever tried…"

"To protect me? Yeah, that's the excuse you've always used. It's the excuse I've used for you too, which is why it's my fault too. You've done it for so long because I let you. Because I didn't put a stop to it. Well, I'm going to put a stop to it now," Elena said firmly. Bonnie's attempt to manipulate her was the last straw. If she didn't put her foot down, it would never stop. She couldn't continue to let her friends treat her this way.

"Does that mean you don't want to be friends with all of us anymore?" Caroline asked.

Elena sighed. "I don't want that, Caroline, but things need to change. I can't live with the way things have been. You guys have to start respecting my right to decide my own life. If you can't, you can't be a part of it. Bonnie insinuated that she would kill herself if I didn't do what she wanted. I can't have anything like that happen again."

Caroline felt terrible. She never saw her actions as taking away her friend's choices, but thinking back, that was what she did. She always told herself that she was doing it to protect her because she was human, but that hadn't been the case for a long time, and even when it was, it still wasn't right. Caroline would've resented it in her place. "I'm sorry, Elena. I always told myself that it was for your benefit, but it was wrong. I can't speak for anyone else, but I won't treat you like that again."

"Thank you," Elena said.

"But, Elena, you have to know that Damon won't change," Caroline said. Damon was the one most guilty of making decisions for Elena, and he would never admit that he was wrong to do it. He would never stop doing it.

"I do know that," Elena said. She knew that her relationship with Damon was likely going to end. It couldn't be the way it was before Kai did what he did, and he wasn't going to be able to accept that. Plus, her connection to Elijah would come between that. That was something Damon wouldn't be able to deal with, and Elena wasn't even sure he'd be entirely wrong to feel that way.

Caroline looked at Elena as she turned back from her to Elijah. She was holding his hand and waiting for him to get better. Her connection to him was obviously strong, no matter what was causing it. Caroline doubted that would go away once Elijah woke up. "Are you coming back to Mystic Falls?"

"I don't know what's going to happen, Caroline. All I know is that right now, I'm not leaving Elijah's side," Elena said.

Caroline nodded before leaving the room without another word.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, Freya and Klaus came in to check on Elijah. Elena was still with him. "You really have no intention of leaving his side until he wakes up, do you?" Freya asked.

"No, I don't," Elena said. "I think he's getting stronger. We should try to feed him again."

"I'll get some blood," Klaus said before leaving the room.

"Elena, you have no idea how much I appreciate your devotion to my brother, but you need to rest. He'd want you to," Freya said.

Elena shook her head. "I got plenty of rest in a coma. I'll rest again when Elijah is well."

Klaus walked back in a few minutes later with a handful of blood bags.

Elena took one of the bags. She resisted the urge to drink it herself, as she still felt the same starvation she did when she woke up. Instead, she brought it to Elijah's lips and gently poured it down his throat.

Color slowly returned to Elijah's face, and he jumped up from the bed. He snatched the bag from Elijah's hands and drained it within seconds.

"Thank God. Are you alright, brother?" Freya asked.

"More," was all Elijah said after discarding the empty bag on the bed.

Klaus handed his brother another bag. He then held another one out for Elena. "You too, love."

Elena gladly took the offered blood bag and drank it. After they both had about four more, the overwhelming hunger she felt finally began to dissipate.

Elijah was finally able to think coherently about something other than his overwhelming need for blood, and turned to Elena. "Elena, you're okay. The spell worked."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have done it. It caused you pain," Elena said.

"It was worth it," Elijah said before pulling her into his arms.

Elena hugged him back. "I'll never be able to repay you for what you did."

"You owe me nothing, Elena," Elijah said as he held her.

Frey looked at Klaus and motioned towards the door. They both then proceeded to leave to give their brother and Elena some time alone.