Elena walked through the cafeteria at school and took a seat by herself at one of the tables. For the last couple of weeks, she'd taken to sitting with Jeremy or by herself. She'd been avoiding her friends. Well, not all of them. She was avoiding Bonnie and Stefan, but since all of her friends typically sat together, she avoided all of them.
The closer it came for Elena to move in with Elijah, the more Bonnie and Stefan made their feelings known about it. They wanted to make some sort of plan to stop it. She wanted nothing to do with that. She'd asked them both to stop multiple times, especially Stefan. If he didn't stop this, it was going to cost them their relationship. Elijah was barely tolerating Stefan in her life at this point, and he wasn't going to do that for much longer if Stefan didn't back off.
The only one of her friends that supported her through the whole thing was Caroline. Well, at least when it came to friends who knew the truth. She respected her wishes to be left alone to deal with her relationship with her father by herself. And, ironically enough, Damon had backed off quite a bit as well, though Elena suspected that was because he was avoiding her. She got the feeling that it unnerved him that she was now the daughter of a woman he'd loved. Whatever the reason, she was glad not to have him hovering all over her anymore.
Soon, Elena felt another presence appear in front of her. She looked up to see Caroline with a stern glare on her face. Elena almost laughed at her. "Hey, Care."
"You've been avoiding us," Caroline stated.
"No, I've been avoiding Bonnie and Stefan. Avoiding you too was just an unfortunate necessity to accomplish that," Elena said with a smile.
Caroline burst out laughing before taking a seat across from her friend. "Well, thanks. That actually makes me feel better. Look, as wrong as they are, you know they're only trying to protect you."
"I don't need protection from my own father," Elena said.
"I think that's the first time I heard you call him that. You usually just call him Elijah," Caroline said.
"That's still what I call him, but I see him more and more as my father every day. I just want to figure out my relationship with him without my friends trying to sabotage it," Elena said.
"And you should be able to do that. Look, I don't know if I trust this stranger, who also has the ability to be very dangerous, not to hurt you, but you do. I trust that you know what you're doing. He's your father. You have a right to have a relationship with him without interference. I've tried to tell Bonnie that, but Bonnie has a bias against vampires," Caroline said.
"Caroline, does that ever bother you? Because it's really starting to bother me," Elena admitted. It was hard not to take Bonnie's hatred for vampires personally when she was part vampire herself.
"Yeah, it does. I try to tell myself she sees you, me, and Stefan differently, but it still bothers me sometimes," Caroline admitted.
"Hey, guys," Bonnie said as she and Stefan made their way over. Bonnie sat down next to Caroline while Stefan sat with Elena.
Elena sighed. "Hey."
"Elena, you haven't been around lately," Bonnie commented.
"Well, I've been trying to eat with Jeremy. I want to spend as much time with him as possible," Elena said. It wasn't a complete lie. No, that wasn't why she was avoiding her friends, but she was trying to spend as much time with Jeremy as she could. They were about a week away from her moving in with Elijah, and while she'd still see Jeremy a lot, it wasn't going to be the same.
"But you haven't even been returning my calls," Stefan pointed out.
Elena sighed. "And you know why. I'm tired of having the same fight over and over again. You're mad that I'm moving in with Elijah and you're mad that I can't come to your house anymore." Two weeks ago, when she told Stefan that she was forbidden to go to his house alone, he'd gone off on a rant about Elijah and needing to keep her away from him. She didn't want to deal with it. That's why she wasn't talking to him much.
"Elena, this man is trying to control your life," Bonnie said.
"That's typically how parents are. Tell me, Bonnie, is your dad going to be okay with you spending your time at a guy's house unsupervised? Because my mom would definitely have a fit," Caroline said. She'd still done it, but she never let her mom find out about it. There were perks of having the sheriff for a mother. She was out of the house quite a bit.
"That's different. This guy isn't her parent," Bonnie said. He might be her biological father, but that didn't make him a parent. He was just a vampire that wanted to use Elena for some unknown means, probably her untapped witch powers.
"Yes, he is," Elena argued.
"Only by blood. Grayson Gilbert was your father," Stefan said.
Elena turned and glared at her boyfriend. "You can say that to me knowing what he wanted to do to me?"
"Elena, what are you talking about?" Caroline asked.
Elena turned to Caroline. "John told me that my dad wanted me dead. He and John were going to kill me when they found out what I was. The only reason I'm alive is because of my mom."
"Elena, he made a mistake. He's still the same guy that wanted me to save you instead of him," Stefan said.
"Maybe, but I can't ever get past the fact that he thought it was an acceptable idea to murder an infant. I'll always love him, but I'll never think of him the same way again. Elijah never wanted to hurt me. Even when he didn't know I was his daughter, he only tried to help me," Elena said.
"Elena, I'm so sorry, but you can't trust this man. He's using you. He probably helped you because he thought it benefited him," Bonnie said.
Elena only found herself getting angrier as her friend talked. She'd never even met Elijah, but she seemed to think she had the right to decide how he felt. "This is why I've been avoiding you. Do you know how difficult this entire thing has been for me? It was one life changing discovery after another, and I could've used my friends to help me through it, but that was impossible when most of them were too busy plotting to keep the one person who can help away from me!"
"Elena, we're trying to help you. You don't belong with that man. We're only doing what's best for you," Bonnie said.
"You don't decide what's best for me!" Elena snapped, her anger hitting a climax. When she was done, she noticed the lights flicker and a couple of them went out. Things became eerily quiet in the lunchroom for several seconds afterwards.
"Uh, it looks like we may have blown a fuse, but everything's fine," Alaric said before making his way towards Elena and her friends. Thankfully, the rest of the students accepted his explanation and went back to their lunches. "Bonnie, was that you?"
Bonnie shook her head.
"I think it was me," Elena said in a shaky tone. The anger had gone away. Now she was scared.
Just then, Jeremy made his way over. "Is everything okay?"
"All of you, come with me," Alaric said before walking away.
Elena got up and followed Ric down the hall to his office. The others were right behind her. Elena immediately took a seat at one of the desks and tried to calm down. Her hands were shaking.
Alaric shut the door once everyone was inside. "Elena, what happened?"
"I got mad, and I think I unblocked my magic," Elena said in a scared tone. She knew that her witch powers wouldn't stay blocked forever, but she didn't expect it to come out so abruptly. It had been different for Bonnie.
"It's okay," Stefan assured her.
"What got you angry?" Jeremy asked. He could guess, but he still wanted to know.
"Them," Elena said as she pointed between Bonnie and Stefan. It was mostly Bonnie, but Stefan wasn't much better.
Bonnie sighed. "We've been trying to find ways to make sure Elena isn't taken away from you and Jenna, but she hasn't been very cooperative."
"That's because she doesn't want your help. Your so-called help is only making things worse," Jeremy said. Elena had been very stressed lately because of the way Bonnie and Stefan were acting. There were other reasons, of course, but that was the biggest factor lately. That stress likely contributed to her magic acting out.
"You don't mean that. You don't want Elena to leave your house," Bonnie said.
"No, I don't, but I'm handling it better now. Look, Bonnie, I know you're hardwired to hate vampires, but Elijah is not a bad guy. He's been really good to all of us," Jeremy said. He wasn't an idiot. Elijah was a vampire, and he had a dangerous vibe about him at times. If he were crossed, he probably would be pretty dangerous, but he wasn't a threat to him or Elena. Jeremy was actually starting to like Elijah a little. He had given Jeremy a place in his home. Whenever he visited Elena and Jeremy was there, he made a conscious effort to include him. Jeremy still didn't like that he was taking Elena, but he was able to accept it now.
"Jeremy, he's dangerous," Stefan said.
"To you because you keep getting in his way," Jeremy pointed out.
Elena felt herself getting angry again. She was getting really sick of the judgement towards Elijah, and her friends thinking they had the right to screw up her life. Suddenly, the contents of Alaric's desk. "Oh. I'm sorry, Ric."
"It's okay, Elena. It's not your fault," Alaric said before going over to pick of the items that fell from his desk. "I suggest that this conversation stops now. And, Elena, I think you might need to go home for the day."
Elena nodded. She'd come to the same conclusion. Her emotions were all over the place, and that was clearly affecting her magic.
"We can go back to my place and figure this out," Stefan said.
"No, we can't, and you know that. I need to call Elijah," Elena said before moving to take out her cell phone. He was the only one that could help her deal with what was happening to her. Yes, Bonnie was a witch too, but she was very new to magic, and truthfully, Bonnie's presence was only making things worse for Elena right now.
"Elena, no! I can help you," Bonnie assured her.
"I am calling my father," Elena said before pulling out her phone. However, because her hands were so shaky, it immediately slipped from her grasp and onto the floor.
"It's okay, Elena. I'll do it. It should be me anyway," Alaric said before picking her phone up off the floor.
"His number is in my contacts," Elena said while looking at him gratefully.
"Ric, come on," Stefan said.
"Stefan, I don't have a choice. After an incident with a student, I'm obligated to contact her guardian. I never did so in the past because it was usually supernatural, and Jenna didn't know about it. Now, she has a guardian who is aware of all of that. I have to contact him," Alaric said.
"Her guardian is still Jenna," Bonnie pointed out.
"No, she's not. That was switched a few days ago. Elena's legal guardian is now Elijah Mikaelson," Alaric said. Jenna told him that even though Elena still lived with her for the moment, everything had now been switched legally. Elijah was her guardian on record. The school had also notified all the teachers about it.
As Alaric stepped aside to make the call, Caroline sat by Elena and took her hand. "Things will be okay. I know I don't understand exactly what you're going through, but I know what it's like to have your world change drastically. It's scary at first, but it's going to get better."
Elena forced a smile on her face. "Thanks, Caroline.
Alaric came back a moment later and returned Elena's phone. "He'll be here soon. I told him to come directly to the classroom, that way you don't have to sit in the front office waiting."
"I probably wouldn't have long to wait, but thank you," Elena said. Knowing Elijah, he would use vampire speed if he knew there was a real problem. It would take him minutes to get to her.
"This is ridiculous. You can't just let her leave with him," Bonnie said to Alaric.
"Bonnie, I know you don't like this situation, and I'm not too fond of it either, but he's her father and she wants to go with him," Alaric said. He had made no secret of his distrust for most vampires. For that reason, he had been very alarmed when he learned about a vampire being Elena's father. However, Elena seemed to trust him, and it turned out that Elijah had actually been pretty kind to Jeremy and Jenna when he didn't have to be. Besides, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment.
"Ric, you can't believe that Elena should be with this man," Stefan said in disbelief.
"It's not for me to speculate, but I believe that Elena has good instincts. You should believe that too," Alaric said.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Alaric immediately answered it to find a dark-haired man in a suit there. "Elijah?"
Elijah nodded as he stepped inside. "Hello. I can only guess that you are Alaric Saltzman. Thank you for calling me."
Elena stood up as soon as she saw Elijah and headed towards him.
"Hi," Elijah said before pulling his daughter into his arms. He could immediately feel her trembling. "It's alright, sweetheart. I'm here. Whatever has happened, we will work through it.
It took Elena a couple of minutes to calm down before she pulled out of Elijah's arms. She then found herself being led over to the desk she'd been sitting in.
Elijah gently sat his daughter back down before taking a seat beside her. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"I got really angry at lunch, and some of the lights flickered. A couple of them went out completely. It happened again right after I came back here. I got mad and caused some things to fall off of Ric's desk," Elena explained.
"I see," Elijah said. He figured out what happened immediately. Elena's magic flared. Clearly the block that was put on it had broken. Jonas had told them that it wouldn't stay intact much longer.
"I'm sorry, Elijah," Elena said.
"Elena, you have nothing to apologize for. It was an accident, and it's normal. You did the right thing by getting somewhere more private and having me called," Elijah told her.
"We think she should go home for the day in case something else happens," Alaric said.
"I agree," Elijah said before standing up. "Come on. You'll stay with me tonight. I'll call Jenna in a little bit."
"Can I come?" Jeremy asked. He wanted to be with his sister, especially knowing how worried she was right now.
"You have to finish the day, but if Jenna is alright with it, I would be happy to pick you up later tonight," Elijah told him. He, of course, had to come up with something to tell Jenna regarding Elena, but that wouldn't be too hard.
"Okay," Jeremy said.
Bonnie pushed herself in between Elena and Elijah. "No, you're not taking her anywhere!"
"Bonnie, stop!" Caroline said.
Elijah stared at the child in front of him, astonished by her gall. "Elena, go wait for me by the main office so that I can sign you out. Jeremy, go with her please."
"What are you going to do?" Elena asked.
"Nothing that you need to be concerned about. Go please," Elijah told her.
Elena nodded before reluctantly leaving the room. Jeremy followed her.
Elijah focused on the young witch in front of him. "So, it's Bonnie. Tell me, child. What gives you the right to try to interfere with me and my daughter?"
"I'm her best friend, and I'll do what I have to do to protect her!' Bonnie said strongly.
"You believe your actions are the actions of a friend? Did you not see how upset she got when you interfered just now? You could've caused another magic outburst, and this is definitely not the environment for that," Elijah told her.
"I don't need a lecture on magic from a vampire! I'm a witch!" Bonnie snapped.
"No, little girl. What you are right now is a petulant child, who clearly was not taught any respect. You have no business getting in the way of a parent taking his child home!" Elijah said irritably.
Bonnie fumed at the way this vampire spoke to her. He didn't seem to take her seriously. He spoke to her like she was nothing more than a stupid kid in his way. Well, she could make him regret that. She began to lift her hand to use magic on him.
"Bonnie, don't!" Stefan said as he got in front of her. Bonnie was a powerful witch, but Elijah was very strong, and Bonnie would only make matters worse by attacking him, especially on school grounds.
"That's the most sensible I've ever seen you be, Stefan. Bonnie, you may be a powerful witch, but you are very young and inexperienced. You will not like the consequences of challenging me. Not only are you petulant, you're also arrogant. I suggest you curb both those qualities because you may end up meeting someone who sees you more as an enemy than as the child you are. If you'll all excuse me, I'll be taking my daughter home now," Elijah said before walking away without giving any of them another thought.
