Elijah pulled away from Elena after a few moments. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, are you? You're the one who desiccated," Elena said.

"I'm a bit weak, but I will be fine in a day or two. How long was I out?" Elijah asked.

"About a day. We tried to give you blood right away, but Freya said your own blood needed to be replenished before it could help you," Elena said.

"It's strange, but I think I felt your presence. Did you stay by my side?" Elijah asked.

Elena nodded. "Most of the time, yes. I couldn't leave you. And I think you did feel me because I can feel you. I felt your hunger and your pain. I guess you could feel I feel too."

Elijah nodded. "That explains why I feel anger, yet I have no reason to be angry. You are angry?"

"A little. I'm angry at Bonnie for manipulating me. I'm angry at Damon because I knew someone would have to incapacitate him in order to stop him from interfering with the spell. I'm angry at all of them because they never respect my decisions. I'm angry at myself for letting it all happen. This whole thing has just opened my eyes to a lot, I guess. I can't go back to the way things were," Elena said.

"Good. You deserve better than that," Elijah said.

"Elijah, I need to ask you a favor, and I know you've already done more than enough for me, but I have to ask one more thing," Elena said.

"You can ask anything of me, Elena," he told her.

"Tell me to do something," Elena said. She needed to know now if there was a sire bond, so that they could figure out some way to avoid him accidentally giving her orders.

Elijah was confused at first, but he quickly figured it out. The last time Elena was turned, she was sired to Damon Salvatore. She wanted to make sure that hadn't happened again. "Elena, please get me a pint of blood."

"No," Elena said. She felt no need to do to follow his orders, like she had whenever Damon would tell her to do something while she was sired to him. "Thank you."

"I would never take advantage of a sire bond. I hope you know that," Elijah said.

"I do. I just had to know. When I was sired to Damon, I didn't know it for months. I did what he said without even knowing that I had no other choice. We both needed to know this time, so we could figure out how to avoid it if I was sired to you," Elena explained.

"Well, thankfully, it isn't an issue. I hope my siblings have been good hosts to you while I was out. Actually, I should say I hope Niklaus was. I know Freya would was," Elijah said.

"Actually, Klaus has been very unlike himself since I woke up. He's actually been kind. He brought me blood, even though it didn't help because it was your hunger I felt. I think he was doing it for you," Elena said.

"That surprises me. Niklaus and I haven't been on the best of terms for the last few weeks. It's a story for another time," Elijah said. He added the last part upon seeing a look of confusion on Elena's face.

"Okay. Listen, it doesn't need to be right now. I know you're still weak, and you should rest, but we have to figure out what all this means for the two of us. Things are different now. It's not just that we can feel each other's emotions. I feel like you're a part of me. I don't know if you feel it too," Elena said.

"I do," Elijah said. He'd felt it the moment he woke up, if not before. He'd felt a connection to Elena for a long time, but when he woke up, that connection was much stronger.

"I don't think we can pretend that things are the same between us. I don't think I can be apart from you," Elena said. She said the last part very quietly in case the others were listening. She didn't want Damon to hear that. That was something she needed to say to his face. He deserved that much.

"You don't need to be. You are welcome to stay here as long as you want. Or if you prefer, I could return to Mystic Falls with you," Elijah told her. He didn't particularly want to go back to Mystic Falls, but he would do it for her.

Elena shook her head. "I couldn't ask you to do that. And to be honest, I'm not sure I want to go back. There's just so much that's happened there. And the thing with Kai only proves it's going to keep happening."

"As I said, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want, but things aren't exactly easy in New Orleans," Elijah warned her.

"Maybe not, but there aren't a bunch of terrible memories here. I don't know what I'm going to do, Elijah. I only know that I can't go back to the way things were. I also know that I have to end things with Damon. I can't be who he needs me to be anymore," Elena said quietly. She considered trying to make it work, but that wouldn't be fair. Even if Damon could accept the changes she needed to make in her life, he wouldn't be able to accept Elijah. He shouldn't have to either. He shouldn't have to accept the fact that she had such a strong connection to another man. She couldn't change the fact that she did. She didn't even know that she wanted to.

"You shouldn't have to be. You should not have to be what someone else needs you to be. The person you are with should accept you for who you are. I've always thought you deserved better than either, Salvatore," Elijah told her.

"Yeah, I know you don't like them. They have their flaws, but they're both decent people," she said.

Elijah stood up. "Shall we go downstairs?"

Elena got up as well. "Are you sure you don't want to rest for a while? You're still weak."

Elijah smiled. "It is going to take time to get used to the fact that you can feel what I feel. I am all right enough to go downstairs for a while." He intended to stay close to Elena for a while, at least until she'd ended things with Damon. He wanted to be close in case Damon flew off the handle.

"Okay, but if it gets to be too much, please come back up here and rest," Elena said before leading the way out of the room. They went down to the dining room, where everyone was waiting.

Elijah zeroed in on Bonnie Bennett. "Miss Bennett, I thought I made it clear that you shouldn't be here when I woke up."

Bonnie glared at Elijah. "I don't care what you think about me or what I did. I'm not leaving until Elena does."

Elena put a hand on Elijah's arm. She knew immediately why he was upset. Freya must have told him what Bonnie did to get her to agree. "I appreciate your anger, Elijah, but Bonnie is still my friend. Please let it go. Let me handle it."

Elijah nodded after a second. "Very well. It is your right to handle it your way."

Damon looked on as Elena touched Elijah. He wasn't happy. The way she touched him was intimate. She shouldn't be touching anyone but him or a family member in that manner. It had to be because of whatever weird connection the spell had caused. That had to be why she cared so much that Elijah was hurt too. They were going to have to find a way to fix it. For now, however, he just wanted to get her the hell away from Elijah. "Well, you can see Elijah is fine now, Elena. Can we get the hell out of here?"

Elena sighed. A part of her wanted to procrastinate, but she decided it was best to get it over with. She needed to end things with Damon now. It would only be worse if she tried to put it off. "Damon let's talk in the other room. There's a lot for us to discuss."

"No, we can talk at home or even on the ride home," Damon said.

"Damon, I'm not leaving right now," Elena said firmly.

"Why not? You said you wouldn't leave until after Elijah was Okay. He's fine now," Bonnie said.

"I said I wouldn't leave his side until that happened. I never said I was going to go back to Mystic Falls afterwards. And you had to know it wouldn't be as simple as that," Elena said.

"Yeah, because of the effects of what they did to you. They did something to you that's causing some kind of weird reaction with Elijah. The best way to stop it is to get away from him," Damon said.

"Damon, you're not an idiot. Don't act like one," Elena said. Well, he could be an idiot sometimes, but he knew better than this. At least he should know better.

"I beg to differ with you on that one, love," Klaus commented.

Elena ignored him. "I don't know what would happen if there was distance between me and Elijah, but I do know it wouldn't be how you're hoping. This isn't going away, Damon. Now can you please talk in the other room?"

Reluctantly, Damon led the way towards the living room.