Elena was in her room laying on her bed. She was wallowing. She was still really upset about Jeremy. None of this was fair. She hadn't asked for any of this. She'd come to terms with the fact that she'd lost Bonnie's friendship. It hurt, but she accepted, and honestly, she didn't even want to be Bonnie's friend anymore. But Jeremy was a different matter. She loved him. She couldn't handle him hating her. Why couldn't Bonnie just leave her alone? She didn't have to be her friend, but why did she have to be cruel?
Elena soon heard a knock at the door. "Go away."
Much to her dismay, the person did not go away. Elena heard her door open and close. She then felt a dip in the bed, but she didn't turn to see who it was.
Elijah put his hand on Elena's arm. "I'm afraid I can't go away, sweetheart. I'm sorry you've had another rough day."
"Jeremy hates me," Elena cried.
"You don't know what Jeremy thinks. You haven't spoken to him, and Bonnie Bennett's word on the matter isn't reliable," Elijah said.
Elena turned onto her back to face her uncle. "Can I talk to him then? Can I see him?"
"I'll have to think about it. Understand that I don't wish to keep you apart. I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore," Elijah said. He was actually thinking of going to Denver to speak to Jeremy himself. He wanted to speak to him before he allowed Elena to. He would not put her through the possible rejection.
"But I want to explain my side of the story. Bonnie told him things that aren't true," Elena said.
"I know, dear. Jeremy will find out the truth one way or another. Just give me a little time to think on it," Elijah said gently.
Elena reluctantly nodded. "It's not fair. I didn't ask for this to happen. I didn't choose it."
"I know. It's not your fault. What can I do for you, Elena? What do you need?" Elijah asked. He just wanted to help her. She was in so much pain. He wanted to make it stop. She didn't deserve the way she was being treated.
"I need my mom. I miss her so much, Uncle Elijah," Elena cried.
Elijah rubbed her arm in comfort. His heart broke for his niece. Of course, she missed her mother. The rest of them were doing their best, but they were poor imitations. She needed her mother back. What was happening wasn't right. Elena deserved her mother, and Freya deserved her daughter. It had Elijah cursing his own mother. Her actions had caused all of this. If she had protected her daughter, Freya wouldn't have had to go to such extreme measures to protect hers. It was in that moment that he decided that he had to get Freya back. He had to find a way to save her while protecting Elena. Elena couldn't go on like this. "I know you want your mother back. If I could give her to you right now, I would. All I can do right now is try to help you in a way that I think that she would."
"You are. You're a lot like her," Elena said.
Elijah smiled. "Thank you. I know how much you love your mother, so I think that's the highest compliment you could give me."
"Well, sometimes. Sometimes I wish you were less like her," Elena said.
Elijah chuckled. "I assume that you're referring to the limits I've set for you. They're for your own good, you know."
"I guess. Um, hypothetically speaking, what would happen if I exceeded one of those limits? Not that I would," Elena said quickly as she thought about what happened with Bonnie earlier.
"Oh, I have no doubt that you will at some point. There will be consequences. Is there something you would like to tell me?" Elijah asked as he got a look at her face. For someone who was such a good liar, she couldn't hide the guilt on her face right now.
"No," Elena said quickly.
"Elena, I have looked after all of my younger siblings. I know the guilty look of a child who has done something they aren't supposed to. I suggest you come clean," Elijah said sternly.
"Do you promise not to get mad?" Elena asked. It was pretty much too late anyway. He knew she'd broken a rule. She could lie about who she was and how old she was, but she couldn't seem to hide it when she did something she wasn't supposed to. Well, she couldn't hide it from Elijah anyway.
"No. However, I will be more upset if I find out some other way, and most times, I will find out," Elijah warned her.
Elena sighed and sat up. She then looked away from her uncle. "I used magic against Bonnie when she told me what she did. I didn't mean to. It was an accident."
Elijah gently took ahold of her chin and made her look at him. "By that, I assume you mean that you lost your temper and acted without thinking."
"Yeah," Elena said quietly.
"I know that today upset you, but you need to learn to keep your temper in check. You put yourself at risk by doing magic in public," Elijah said sternly.
"But no one noticed," Elena argued.
"This time, perhaps, and you are lucky that they didn't. I set rules for you for a reason. Most of them are to keep you safe. It's not acceptable for you to break them," Elijah said in a hard tone.
"I'm sorry. Are you going to punish me?" Elena asked.
Elijah sighed. He didn't want to punish her. She was already hurting so much. He didn't want to add to it. However, he also couldn't allow her to get away with breaking the rules. She would only continue to do it. "There are consequences for breaking the rules. You'll stay in your room for the rest of the night, other than coming down for dinner, and I will be keeping your phone," he said before taking her phone from the nightstand. "You can focus on your homework and then think of ways that you can control your temper."
Elena blinked in surprise. She was kind of expecting something other than that. This was her uncle's biggest rule. "That's it?"
"Would you like something more?" Elijah asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No," she said quickly.
"Good. Why don't you take a little time to calm down a bit more and then start your homework? I'll call you for dinner. If you need to talk some more, you can call for me," Elijah said.
Elena nodded. "I'm sorry, Uncle Elijah."
"I know you are. I'm not angry, but I do need you to learn to control yourself better," Elijah said before standing up.
Elena nodded.
Elijah gave her a smile before leaving the room. As soon as he stopped outside, his siblings were waiting. Rebekah was glaring at him.
"You didn't have to punish her! She felt bad enough about it," Rebekah said.
"Which is why it was barely a punishment. I doubt she was planning to spend much time out of her room tonight anyway. And in the future, Rebekah, I expect you to inform me when something like that happens. You are not Elena's friend. You are her aunt, and you need to start acting like a responsible adult! I am glad that the two of you are getting along, but you need to remember that Elena is a young teenaged girl in need of discipline," Elijah lectured. He could understand his sister's need to protect their niece, but she didn't need to protect her from him.
"Is she alright?" Finn asked.
Elijah nodded. "She's coping as well as can be expected."
"Perhaps we should discuss leaving this town. It's only causing her pain to stay here," Klaus said.
Elijah motioned for his siblings to follow him before leading the way to his study. Once they were all inside, he shut the door. "I won't deny thinking about it, but I don't want to pull her away from all she knows, especially when the current situation is still very new. Elena is still getting used to living in this house and getting to know us. She hasn't had much stability since Freya was forced to do what she did."
"I understand what you're saying, Elijah, but I don't think she can fit in here. She can't be herself here. Perhaps starting over is for the best. She appears young enough that she can pass for her own age if we go somewhere else. She can start over and meet friends her own age," Finn said.
Klaus nodded. He was all for leaving. The only thing that made him settle in Mystic Falls was being closer to Elena when he wanted her for her blood. Now, his priority was her well-being, and not because of her blood. He believed her best interests would be served in leaving Mystic Falls "We could go home, back to New Orleans. I think Elena would like it there."
"It's something to consider, but I'd like to give it a little longer before we tear Elena away from the only town she's even really been able to call home. If things don't improve, we'll discuss leaving again. One thing is clear, I will not allow Elena to continue to be bullied by the Bennett girl," Elijah said firmly.
"We still need to speak with her about safely using magic as well. Maybe it's even more necessary after today," Finn said.
"I agree, but not tonight. I'm not sure she'd be able to benefit from it tonight. She's still very upset," Elijah said.
"Very well, brother. We'll trust your judgment on this. It is more your area of expertise," Finn said. Well, magic wasn't, but parenting was. That was why he never fought it when Elijah took primary responsibility for Elena, even though he was the oldest. Elijah had always cared for their younger siblings. He was more equipped for this responsibility.
"Thank you," Elijah said before going behind his desk and taking a seat. He watched as his siblings left him alone, mostly satisfied with the outcome of this conversation.