A/N: Fourth in the Family Business Series. Title comes from Lionel Richie's song "Just For You" which to me is the perfect Matt & Elena friendship song. Many thanks to Jedi_of_Urth on LJ for beta-reading this for me and reigning my wilder flights of fancy.

Golden Days, Night Was Play

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All things considered, Matt Donovan was, and always would be, one of the best friends Elena ever had. Possibly the best, if she thought about it.

Bonnie and Caroline were wonderful - they were! They were sisters to her and the three of them loved and would do anything for each other. No one could ever replace Bonnie or Caroline in her heart.

Matt though, Matt was in a class all his own. And now that Elena was a vampire, the love she felt for him was so much deeper than she could have possibly imagined.

Matt had sent her a text early that morning, letting her know he'd be at the mansion in a half an hour to pick her up - because didn't breakfast and coffee at the local corner shop sound better than lunch at the Grill? She nearly groaned when she realized that in a half an hour, it would be six am. But she replied back with a 'yes.' Breakfast at the corner shop had been a thing for her and Matt since they were 13 and their parents had decided the two of them could be trusted to go to the diner alone. If he was willing to extend to her an olive branch of that magnitude in whole mess she'd made, then Elena was going to be grateful and not complain. She dragged herself out of Elijah's arms in order to start getting ready. Elijah had mumbled a protest but fell silent when Elena kissed him and promised him she was all his that night.

Elena had to admit that being a vampire had its perks. She rather enjoyed the fact that she could shower, dry her hair, and dress in record time. After returning from her visit to Damon and Stefan, she'd been surprised to see the clothing she'd bought in Denver was already hung up neatly or folded and stored away in drawers for her in Elijah's extensive closet. She quickly selected an outfit (the most casual one she could put together now that Elijah and Rebekah insisted on being with her as she'd shopped - her old clothes were still at home) and dressed; she let her hair dry as a tumble of wavy curls rather than bothering to straighten it - she just threw it up into an artfully messy ponytail and smiled at her reflection. She felt like the old Elena Gilbert, almost, and as she turned slightly this and that way she noticed Elijah staring at her in the mirror, his expression content and admiring.

"Well?" she prompted, turning around and holding her arms out. She wore a pair of dark wash jeans with a light pink camisole. Over it she layered a lightweight, charcoal button-down cashmere cardigan. Under black soft-leather ankle boots were a pair of ridiculous zebra print socks Kol had snuck past Elijah.

"You are lovely, as always." Elena beamed. "Enjoy your date with Matt."

"It's not a date," Elena insisted. "There's only one man I'm interested in being with."

"Oh?"

"You know it's you," Elena said with a roll of her eyes. This softer, more playful side of them was...well, it was nice. She was still adjusting to the reality of it, but it was nice.

"I know," Elijah said. "I do believe I'll never grow tired of hearing it, however."

"This thing with me and Matt, it's just a chance for the two of us to sit down and talk. We have a lot of things to work through and I'm lucky he's even agreed to give me the time of day."

"Do you have so little a sense of self-worth?" Elijah asked, standing and drawing her into his arms. He kissed the top of her head. "Your brother was right; you are a good person. You should value yourself far more than you do."

Elena shrugged. "It's just that Matt's been through so much. He lost his sister - Damon turned her out of boredom and she was so out of control that Stefan had to stake her. Then he was dating Caroline and she was turned into a vampire because of me. After that was the whole thing with Tyler being forced to activate his werewolf gene. And then I had to go and turn myself into a vampire on purpose."

"As tragic as circumstances may sometimes be, you are not responsible for the happiness of others." It had taken Elijah many years to understand that reality.

"Matt is one of my best friends. I don't want any bad feelings between us. I don't want him to feel like I'm abandoning him."

"I believe your young Mr. Donovan is far more resilient than you give him credit for," Elijah said. "I feel sure you will find the friendship between the two of you growing stronger, not weaker. You have a habit of surrounding yourself with extraordinary people." He paused. "Certain vampire brothers excluded, of course."

Ignoring the jab at Stefan and Damon (she had to, otherwise she knew she would break down), Elena smiled slightly. "You always know what to say. Even when you're wearing pajama pants and your hair is wrecked."

Elijah gave a short laugh and motioned her along. "Your friend will be along any minute. Enjoy your time, Elena, and don't be so harsh with yourself."

"I'll try," Elena said. With a smile on her face she made her way downstairs and outside just as Matt was pulling up around the circled driveway in his old truck. She waved to him.

"So," he called, sticking his head out the window. "You're hungry, right?"

Elena laughed. "You have no idea!"

Matt ordered his usual monstrosity of an omelet, and although food didn't seem terribly appetizing to Elena she settled on her diner staple of bacon, scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes with extra onions. A carafe of coffee was set between them, with a promise to bring another by as soon as their food was ready. Tandi the waitress knew their habits - Matt and Elena would pound back the carafe in no time at all.

"How long has it been since we've done this?" Matt asked as he fixed his coffee (two half & half's, one packet of sugar).

"Too long," Elena said, filling her own cup - today felt like a straight black coffee kind of day.

"Not since before Tyler left with that werewolf woman, if I'm remembering it right." Matt mused.

Jules, Elena thought as she remembered a terrible cry when the woman's transformation was slowed down. She shook her head to clear the thought and offered lamely, "Things got pretty intense."

"Yeah," Matt picked up sarcastically. "All kinds of bump-in-the-night stuff. Like ghosts that try to get you to kill yourself."

"Or Original vampires that want you dead," Elena continued, before realizing what had slipped out.

To her great surprise though, Matt laughed. "Well, since you brought it up, how are the Originals?"

"Oh! Um, well, they're...uh-" Elena fumbled. "They're doing okay, I guess." She looked helplessly at Matt, who was watching her with concern in his eyes.

"And how are you doing with it?" he asked quietly.

Elena sighed in resignation. "I'm doing okay," she said. "The week away in Denver really helped."

"Jeremy?" Matt asked.

"I really needed him. But it also gave me a chance to catch my breath and at least start to absorb everything. Elijah and the others have been teaching me control. I'm still learning, but it's not as bad as it was. It's just something I'll have to deal with." She said it all with a confidence she didn't quite feel.

Matt nodded and poured himself more coffee. Elena snatched the carafe when he was done and refilled her own mug. The carafe was nearly empty.

"How are you?" Elena asked. Sometimes Matt seemed so different from the teenage boy she used to date, the one who was the football star with the heart of gold, and whose biggest concern was whether or not Mr. Tanner would make him sit a test on game day.

"I'm getting there," Matt said. "I might have broken my hands punching the wall when Caroline told me what you'd done, but I think I'm coming around." Elena looked at his hands, which looked in perfect condition. "Caroline also gave me a pretty blistering lecture after healing them," he said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Matt, I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Elena," Matt said.

"I never wanted to hurt you," Elena said. "Not ever. I should have just been honest with you instead of stringing you along like that."

"Wait," Matt said (another half & half in his coffee). "Are you talking about sophomore year?"

"The thing about dying is that you remember everything, not just compulsion. It's like everything comes back into focus. It makes you think. At least, it did me."

"I just want to know that you're okay." Matt said. "I got over us a long time ago."

"I'm going to be fine," Elena said. "But that's not the point! The point is for all of you guys to be okay!"

"It's not your job to take care of us," Matt said quietly.

"And it wasn't your guys' job to take care of me!" She could practically taste her frustration. Why did none of them understand? She calmed down after several deep breaths; Matt didn't deserve to be the object of her general frustration.

Matt sat back, looking pleased. "You're definitely still you."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Everyone keeps saying that. Did you guys think I was really going to change into some stranger?"

"Vicki did," Matt said simply.

Elena looked away, remembering the night when Stefan had been forced to stake Matt's sister - a vampire who barely resembled the girl she used to be.

"Look, I'm not thrilled with what you did. I mean, I got so angry I broke my hands punching a wall. But I think I'll get it, one day. Becoming something you never wanted to be in some crazy attempt to keep the rest of us safe? That's you all over."

Elena swallowed. "I really went all out," she said self-deprecatingly. "I knew everyone would be upset after, and I never wanted to hurt any of you, ever, but I had to do something."

"We know that," Matt said. "To be fair, we never gave you enough credit. Sometimes I guess we just sort of steamrolled over you. And by 'we' I mean the others, because you guys did your best to keep me out of it." He smiled and sat back slightly. "It's a shame you all underestimated my mad hunting skills."

Elena laughed. "You went deer hunting with your dad one time, when you were twelve. And you shot a tree because you didn't want to shoot Bambi's mom." In moments like these she could remember why she'd fallen so hard for him when she was younger and why she'd been glued at the hip with him when they were children.

Tandi brought their food out and set it down in front of them. She left and quickly returned with another carafe of coffee.

Matt eyed his omelet with appreciation and Elena watched him, bemused as he tore into it with gusto. The smell of the food was nearly overwhelming - almost to the point where it made her sick - but Finn and Rebekah had been in the process of teaching her how to manage it while they'd been in Denver. It turned out that their advice almost exactly matched what Caroline had explained back when she'd first turned: food helped the craving for blood, along with alcohol or coffee. The smell, they'd said, would eventually mellow out and not affect her as strongly. She still doubted that.

"Aren't you hungry?" Matt asked, fork loaded with egg poised in the air.

"Um, yeah," Elena said. She lowered her voice. "It's just a bit strong. But the others said eating normally will help, so..." she dug into her fried potatoes and the more she ate, the easier it was. Soon she was eating with as much relish as Matt. She filled both their mugs and the pair of them ate contentedly.

"I don't know about you, but I could go for more," Matt said, sitting down his fork.

Elena nodded. This had to have been what Finn and Rebekah had meant when they had tried to explain to her that within a few days, she wouldn't recoil from the scent of human food. She understood now; all of her senses were heightened to extremes. Sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste. Everything tasted more - this had to be another reason why vampires bothered with human food, apart from fitting in. It would never taste as great as blood, couldn't sustain her the way blood could, but oh... she'd never enjoyed food so much in her life. "Definitely."

"What about you, Mr. Saltzman? Are you hungry?" Matt asked over Elena's shoulder.

Elena felt the dead blood rush from her face.

"Oh," Alaric said as he sat down next to Elena, giving her one of his mischievous smiles. "I'm famished."

Elena looked at Matt, betrayed. Matt didn't even bother to look apologetic.

Seeing Matt and Elena had another friend, Tandi made her way over to take his order. Alaric grinned. "Oh, I'll just have what Elena's having." Tandi looked at Matt and Elena. "More for you two?" Matt nodded. "And I'll bring over some more coffee for you all."

"So," Alaric stretched out and looked at her. "Elena, tell me. How are you these days?"

Elena forced herself to meet his gaze. To her horror, she could feel tears welling up and Alaric's grinning face turned panicked. "Don't," he sputtered. "Please don't! Anything but that!"

"Jeremy said you were really emotional," Matt said cautiously as he filled up his mug with yet more coffee. He was starting to realize that this might not have been his smartest idea he'd ever had.

Elena tried to calm herself down. So what if Matt had been a sneaky rat bastard and called in Alaric? So what if Elena felt extreme guilt for the spot her actions had undoubtedly placed Alaric in? So what if all of her emotions were spinning colliding in her head and she still wasn't completely in control of them? So what if there were a million and one things she was worried about? "Um..."

Matt has hastily texting someone.

"Just relax," Alaric said. "You have bigger problems to worry about - like the history test you missed last week."

For what felt like the thousandth time in the past week, Elena broke down into tears.

Matt just mouthed 'that time of the month' at Tandi, who'd walked over looking very concerned. She nodded and gave a sympathetic cluck of her tongue.

Finally Elena calmed herself down and Matt sent a message to Caroline that Defcon 1 had been somewhat averted. He could only imagine the tongue-lashing Caroline was going to deal him, and Alaric, when she learned what the two of them had schemed. She had warned both him and Alaric against upsetting Elena when she, Bonnie, and Stefan had explained to them why there were not five dead Originals and why Elena would no longer be enjoying a strictly blood-free diet. ("She's very fragile right now!")

Alaric delicately inquired after Jeremy and that gave Elena a safe starting point for the conversation she'd been dreading. She told him mostly all about her trip to Denver and how Jeremy was holding up. She swore she'd planned to talk to him, but that she'd wanted to give him more time.

Elena gradually eased into the apology, going so far as to apologize for doing nothing to break Alaric's unfortunate luck with the women he cared for becoming vampires. Alaric actually laughed when he understood one of the reasons why Elena had been so reluctant to see him since turning. Elena didn't find it funny at all; in fact she gave him a withering glare.

"Elena," Alaric said in between heavy chuckles. "That really wasn't my main concern."

Elena continued to glare.

"You nearly had a meltdown when Damon tried to force being a vampire on you. I was worried about how you were going to adjust. I was worried that you'd lose control and then hate yourself. I was worried that I was so terrible of a houseguest that you'd killed yourself to get away from me."

Elena just sighed. "How can you be so relaxed about this?" she asked the both of them.

"Elena, I'm a history teacher who hunts vampires in his off-hours and wears a ring that lets me cheat death. I have a vampire for a drinking buddy and I live with my 18-year-old not quite ward that's the niece of my dead girlfriend and daughter of my dead ex-vampire wife. I'm pretty sure I passed the point of freaking out a few miles back."

Matt nodded. "What he said, except not."

Elena rolled her eyes, but the mention of Alaric's ring reminded her of something that had slipped her mind for the past week. "With all this vampire drama I guess I'd forgotten about the Founding Council murders. Was it really you like Meredith thought? Have there been any more?" Elena asked quietly, lest anyone overhear. She couldn't bear the thought of Alaric killing anyone who wasn't a vampire.

"That, Elena, is a conversation for another day," Alaric said heavily.

"But-"

"It's okay, alright?" Alaric insisted. "It wasn't me and it's been dealt with."

"You're going to tell me," Elena said stubbornly. "You're not getting out of this."

"I know," he agreed. "But I think we have enough on our plates without dragging up what Team Mystic Falls was doing while you and your new friends were living the high life in Denver."

"Jeremy," Elena said instantly. "His ring-"

"It didn't affect him," Alaric said. "He has nothing to worry about." He looked over at her. "I promise you, I'll tell you everything, but not now. You have plenty of other things to deal with." I'm okay," he insisted at the skeptical look on her face. "Everything is going to be fine."

"That's good to know," Matt said. "How's Sheriff Forbes going to explain everything? The murder of two Founding Council members is a pretty big coincidence."

"Well, she said it's been taken care of," Alaric answered grimly. "She said it was best if we didn't know anything about it and I'm inclined to agree." Elena was still worried, but she would just have to trust that they would tell her if it were important. When it came to the things that mattered, Matt and Alaric didn't try to keep her in the dark like everyone else.

Things were less strained (at least on Elena's end) when the food showed up and they were eating. Despite the early hour, Tandi brought Elena out a slice of chilled chocolate pie, and patted her shoulder sympathetically. "It's on the house. Chocolate always cheers me up during my few days," she said. Matt and Alaric eyed the pie hungrily, but Elena placed it on her other side and set a knife down beside it.

"Have you given any thought about the future?" Alaric asked. "Sooner or later people are going to start noticing that you aren't aging."

Elena shook her head. "Eventually me and Elijah will have to leave. Unless there's some wacky sort of magic that can make it look like we're aging," she added jokingly.

For a moment Matt and Alaric just sat there looking stunned. Then Matt grinned. "That's actually a brilliant idea." Alaric nodded his agreement. "Could you imagine how much more of a normal life you all could lead?"

Elena thought of Caroline; she'd been so upset at the thought of being forever stuck at 17. She remembered Lexi, who'd had to compel bartenders to serve her alcohol because she was turned young enough to throw her age into question. She thought about Stefan, who had been through school several times because he was turned at 17 just like Caroline. And she thought of the possibilities for herself and how it would be so much easier for her to keep in touch with Jeremy without eventually having to pass herself off as a cousin and one day, possibly a niece or granddaughter.

"Could it even be possible?" she asked.

"It's worth a shot," Matt said. "Bonnie's one savvy witch."

"I hate to say it, but even your new boyfriend's contacts might be useful," Alaric added.

Elena caught the teasing note in his voice when he'd referred to Elijah. "You're going to have so much fun teasing him, aren't you?" she asked.

Alaric grinned. "An aging spell for you would be great for him, since he'd probably get arrested for cradle-snatching otherwise. They might let him off on account of his cute hair, though." Elena scowled. "Oh! I know! You can pretend to be his adopted family like in Twilight!"

Matt snorted and the two of them had a good laugh at Elena's expense. She just glared and started to eat her pie, deliberately savoring the flavor and texture (which wasn't hard - food was so much tastier now and oh! she'd never tasted chocolate before that moment) as physically as possible. Matt and Alaric quickly lost their steam and were reduced to staring enviously at her as he enjoyed the delicious pie.

They talked a while more and the matter of Elena's house came up. They decided to try and see if Elena would be able to enter her house or not. If she couldn't, then they'd check to see if Alaric would be able to invite her in. Otherwise they would have to wait until Jeremy came home from Denver; Elena insisted on waiting if it were the case. She certainly wasn't going to trouble Jeremy with such a trivial matter.

Finally finished eating, the three of them paid, and left Tandi a considerable tip. Elena felt much more at ease than she'd been all morning and she was extremely grateful that Matt and Alaric had accepted her transition with so much grace and understanding. She was truly lucky to have such wonderful and supportive friends. Elijah, it seemed, had been right.

Elena couldn't enter her house. She tried to quell the bitter disappointment she felt. Though she didn't voice it, she didn't feel as though she had a right to be upset with the situation; she'd brought it on herself. Alaric couldn't invite her in, either. He'd promised that he'd let Caroline and Bonnie gather up some things for her and had even offered her his apartment for the time being.

"Caroline and Bonnie getting some of my things, yes. Me using your apartment, no. I couldn't do that to you," Elena had said. "But I really appreciate the thought." Alaric stepped out onto the porch and Elena hugged him goodbye for the time being. She'd see him Monday morning at school.

Matt was waiting for her in his truck and drove her back to the mansion, though she could have run there in the same time.

"Thank you," Elena said softly as he dropped her off. "Thank you so much." She hugged him and he held her tight for a moment. "You're kind of the greatest," she said, getting out.

Matt just smiled. "I know. See you in school."

She watched him drive off with a smile on her face. A person would be lucky to have a friend half as wonderful as Matt. Matt had been with her through everything in her life, and he was willing to be there for her even after she'd become a vampire.

Walking up to the front door, everything sort of hit Elena all at once. I can do this, she thought. I can really do this.

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A/N: Thanks for reading! This story is continued in the 5th story in the Family Business series, "Girls' Night."