Homecoming – Chapter One

I do own the Vampire Diaries. Obviously.

-Elena's POV-

"Elenaa…..helloooo…..are you thheeerrreeee Elennaaaaa?"

Caroline's voice erupted out of the tiny tinny speaker that is my phone. It was across the room on my bed while I was throwing another armful of clothes into the suitcase that took up the entire floor space of my dorm. Clambering across the junk, I turned up the phone volume, "Hello Caroline." I said, smiling a little as I carried on packing.

"Ahh, so you're still alive then." She muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh Care you have to be the most impatient person I know; I don't answer for two minutes and you yell at me."

"Uh, no. But seriously Elle, how hard is it to talk and pack at the same time? We're girls, we multitask." At that I rolled my eyes, setting about packing the new neatly ironed and folded clothes that were sat in a pile against the wall. My dorm at Princeton was actually pretty big. I had a small double bed, an overflowing wardrobe and a desk. Then there was a pretty big window beside my bed. Of course I had a colour scheme too; white, cream and pale blue, all antiquey and lovely. One wall had a massive pin board on it which was covered with loads of photos; then on the wall above my headboard were lots of photo booth stips. It had been my tiny home for just over a year now and I loved it. So yeah, I was just finished the first term of my second year at Princeton where I was studying architecture. I loved it here but it was weird not being with everyone else.

Of course you don't know who 'everyone else' is. My best friend, Caroline Forbes, who I grew up with in Mystic Falls, Virginia, was the first. She was all the way over in California studying medicine at Stanford. Then there was Tyler Lockwood who was not, I repeat was not, Caroline's boyfriend *ahem*. They say at least. Anyway he was at Hearst (which was surprisingly close to Stanford...hmmm…) learning all about engineering or something like that. Then, finally, there was the one Mr. Damon Salvatore.

Now Damon was my best friend. We'd grown up together, we told each other absolutely everything, and we practically lived in each others houses while we were home. He was at Harvard Law at the moment, quickly on his way to becoming one of America's top lawyers. But what would you expect? His father's Giuseppe Salvatore; one of the harshest, coldest men ever. Out of all of them, I was by far the closest to Damon…or at least I had been, lately things were different. Since we'd both left for university we gradually started talking less. We didn't have as much time to talk to each other anymore. And despite the fact that, on the grand scale of things, we weren't that far apart geographically; I hadn't seen him since the end of summer. Back in Mystic Falls we'd see each other at least every other day without fail; we wouldn't even think about it. So it wasn't that I didn't want to see him. It wasn't that I didn't want to drive for five hours up the coast to Harvard. To be honest I didn't know what it was…

My thoughts were interrupted by Caroline…again, "Tic toc, tic toc, Elena's gone again…"

I sighed and switched the speaker phone off, holding the phone between my shoulder and ear instead, "Alright, alright you have my undivided attention now. What do you want?"

"Oh, lovely, thank you so much. Don't be too enthusiastic."

"Carolinnee shut up!"

She let out a huff before returning to her usual chirpy self, "Alright, well, when are you going back?"

"Tomorrow afternoon. What about you?" I really should have booked a flight but I didn't really want to waste the money when you could just drive. Sure, it would take a long time, but I was one of those weird people who actually quite enjoyed driving on my own for ages. The six hour drive would surely be a relaxing time before the storm that was Mystic Falls.

"I've got a flight tomorrow at 11 in the morning so I should get there a bit before you. See I'm not crazy; if I drove it would take me 45 hours."

"Wow…Care, did you just do maths?"

"Shush." I laughed at that; as much as I loved her she was never the best at maths…which was funny since she was training to be a doctor… "But honestly, I cannot wait to see you!"

I smiled, crossing my legs on the bed and leaning back against the headboard, "Me too Care, and I'm looking forward to seeing what your new naturally blonde hair looks like…-"

"Elena! I told you it was the sun! I did not peroxide my hair!"

"Of course you didn't care!" From what I'd seen in the blurry picture she'd sent me, the 'sun' had died her hair a whole lot brighter.

"Well you're hardly one to talk, you actually did. With chemicals." I laughed, one hand picking up a strand of my long hair, now a dark brunette colour with hints of red in the sun. It looked pretty good if I do say so myself; a few weeks ago I'd got bored of the usual boring brown and gone for a change. Caroline was the only one who knew; I wanted to see if anyone noticed. Appearance-wise I had changed quite a lot though; I was taller, and the lack of decent food combined with my new running routine meant I'd lost quite a lot of weight. I felt good though…that's all that mattered.

"It's not that bad Care, you haven't really seen it yet."

"Mmm…I wonder what Damon will do?" I stopped at that, the smile fading from my face. Yes he was my best friend and I loved him, but as I said…things had changed. "Urgh, is he still with that bitch Katherine?" And there it was; the answer to the weirdness. Katherine Pierce; the Bitch of Harvard. And of course Damon's new girlfriend. They'd been going out for just over three months (I'd only found out when I called for the first time and she picked up the phone…his phone) And she really was a controlling, cold-hearted bitch. One of the reasons that I had barely talked to Damon in all these months? Because she was always there to answer the phone; and I would put all the little money I had on her not once passing on a message.

"Yep. And I guess we'll be seeing her tomorrow."

I heard her mock gasp down the line, "You mean to say she's gracing Mystic Falls and us peasants with her mighty presence?"

"Caroline we should feel blessed."

"Oh I do. Trust me. I think I'm having a panic attack-"

She began to hyperventilate and I tried not to laugh, "Breathe Caroline, in…and out…" We both started laughing, knowing full well that the only person in Mystic Falls that liked Katherine Pierce (apparently) was Damon. Even Giuseppe didn't like her which was weird since she was on the path of becoming 'so successful', as she told us many times. According to Damon's little brother Stefan, who was my little brother Jeremy's best friend, Giuseppe liked me more than Katherine…and I never got the impression he liked me that much…oh and she prided herself on being the only one of Damon's girlfriends to have gained approval from his father…

"Anyway, have you got a dress for the Lockwood party? I need to go shopping before I go."

"Yeah I have a few; me and Ade went shopping last weekend." Ade, or Adrianna, was my closest friend here in Princeton. She was lovely and gorgeous and everyone loved her and we'd become friends on, literally, our first day here. She had the room next door to mine, on the other side of her was our other friend Leo. Caroline had met them both a few times when she'd come to visit, "You can borrow some of my things if you want; I have a red dress that is made for you."

She pretended to think about it for a minute, "Well if you insist…" I laughed, standing up to add said dress to my suitcase. I was going home for three weeks over Christmas break but I was packing enough for two months. "Hey I should go now, Ty-…I mean, my friends here…-"

I froze at that, "Caroline?" She didn't answer but I could almost see her wincing, "Were you about to say Tyler? As in Tyler Lockwood."

"No. No of course not. He's at Hearst, why would he be here?" she rushed. One thing about Caroline; she couldn't lie to save her life.

A slow smirk spread over my face, "Oh Caroline…you two are so typical. I mean, we all knew what would happen when you both went to California…coincidence I think not. I cannot wait for the day that you two finally accept the fact that your perfect for each other and you are going to get married."

"Well I could say the same about you and a certain Salvatore." What? Where the hell did that come from! "I'll see you tomorrow Len! Byee love youu! Mwah." And then the sound of the dial tone took over the conversation. I didn't quite know what to say. If she was talking about me and Stefan; well that would just be weird…he was my little brothers best friend and was 16; three years younger than me. But if she was talking about Damon…well…where would I start. We were best friends; we grew up together and effectively planned our futures around each other. And yes I did love him…despite all this weirdness I did and always would. But who knows what it would be like when we got back to Virginia. To tell the truth I didn't even know if he was going to be there; I hadn't talked to him. It was more likely that his control-freak girlfriend would drag him off to Aspen to meet her family…again.

I guess Damon and I had a lot of talking to do.

Well that's the first chapter for you. Hope you enjoyed it and I will try and make it get better; I have a plan Please review and tell me what you think.

Merry Christmas everybody