Hey everyone! My names Izzy and I'm really excited to be publishing the first chapter of this story. I just wanted to quickly note that I'm not a fan of Hayley Marshall, but I've tried to hide the Hayley-Hate in this fic for all the Hayley Stans that may read this. To do that I had to kill her off. Sorry. Also in the first couple chapters there will be other characters from TVD but after that it's mostly just Mabekah. Anyway, I hope you enjoy -Izzy

Chapter 1

Matt Donovan. Human, Prom-King, jock, Mr All-American, stereotype popular high-school boy-next-door. He was just that. Matt. And apparently Matt wasn't good enough to be told when something new had happened. Or maybe they just didn't want him to know...

He was at his Wednesday evening shift at Mystic Grill, serving drinks to raging alcoholics who decided to be at the bar, complaining about their families rather than actually spending time with them in hopes to make them less dysfunctional. And they thought Matt cared about their problems. It was laughable, really.

He finished drying the last shot glass and stacked it on the top of the shot-glass pyramid he had made on the bar, consisting of 100 miniature glasses. He took a picture on his phone, wondering how, in a world full of the supernatural, with two vampires, a witch, a hybrid and Jeremy as his best friends, a glass pyramid had become the most interesting thing in his life.

"Mm, I completely agree," he said, absent-mindedly, agreeing with whatever the drunk across the table was rambling about. Something about accidental children being a burden or something. He heard a whistle and looked over to Elena Gilbert and Caroline Forbes who were sat across the Grill, beckoning him over. He walked around the bar and over to their table. "What's up?" he asked, leaning on their booth.

"Can we get two more shots?" Elena asked, throwing him an innocent smile. Matt nodded, smiling.

"Sure," he said, heading back over to the bar. He hadn't even spoken to Elena in two weeks, and all she could do was ask for more alcohol. He was sure it wasn't her fault. She was caught up in a supernatural love triangle and everyone wanted to kill her for her doppelgänger blood, so he tried to be empathetic about her not having time for him. But he often wondered whether or not he could even still be considered their friend. Or was he just the local bar-tender they were on good terms with? He wouldn't particularly get mad if he was. It had been weeks and he hadn't particularly missed them or their drama. But it would be nice if they could call every now and then.

Matt wasn't supernatural. He was human. The most human human one could find, and that made him unimportant in the lives of his supernatural friends and their supernatural lives. He poured their two shots, taking apart his pyramid, sadly and delivered them to their table. Apparently that was all he was good for these days. Above the sounds of the drunks and dysfunctional, he could still hear Elena and Caroline's conversation as he walked to their table. Just because he didn't have supernatural hearing did not mean he was completely deaf. He could still hear them.

"...No, Caroline," Elena was saying. "Of course not!"

"Why not?" Caroline said, leaning forward and throwing her hands up a little. "Matt might know what the Hell she's-"

"He won't," Elena interrupted. "I've been making sure Matt's left out for a reason. I miss him like crazy, but he's human and deserves a good, long, human life. Don't take that away from him by dragging him back into our mess."

"Matt is in this mess," Caroline said. "Besides, if she's back for-"

"She's not, Caroline!" Elena said. "I'll make sure she's not. Just... trust me on this, okay? Matt deserves better than... her."

"Who's her?" Matt asked, approaching their table and putting their shots down in front of them. "What aren't I allowed to know?"

Elena and Caroline exchanged looks. "Nothing, Matt," Caroline said. "Don't worry about-"

"No, Care," Matt said. "I'm tired of getting told not to worry about it! It's not like I can't handle it! I'm not a child, and I'm tired of being left out of everything! You guys are my best friends and I want to know what the problem is."

Elena paused before standing up and facing him. "Matt... I know you're not going to want to here this, but getting out of this mess really is the best thing for you. We're all just trying to protect you, and trust me, if you hear about this then you're going to be in more danger than ever. And I love you too much to do that to you."

Matt paused. "Fine. Yeah, whatever." He walked away, back behind the bar and bought out his phone. He sent two texts, one to Tyler and one to Jeremy, both saying the same thing.

Hey, what's this gossip I've missed out on? -Matt

He put his phone down at a bar fight started between to intoxicated idiots who didn't know how to aim a punch. Matt jumped over the bar and split them up before they hurt themselves. He dragged them by the collar of their shirts to the door and threw them out on the street. "Yeah, not in this bar, boys," he called out to them. "Take it somewhere else."

Back inside he read his replies from Tyler and Jeremy.

Not sure, haven't heard of anything. Sorry. -Jeremy

Sorry, Bro. It's better you don't know. Don't bother texting Jeremy, he's promised not to tell you anything. -Tyler

Matt scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning his phone off and sucking his teeth. Okay, what was so bad or so dramatic that his two best friends would lie to him? He knew he hadn't done anything to offend them so they were just doing it for his safety... But telling him the truth couldn't possibly put him in danger right?

Matt closed the bar about five minutes later, ushering everyone out and locking up. He turned to see Caroline on the street next to him. "Hey," she said, smiling. "Look, don't fret about it. Please? It's really not that important and might not concern us at all and definitely not you. We're keeping you in the dark because we love you. Please believe that."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Caroline hugged him and smiled, satisfied. When she pulled away Matt put his stuff away in his truck and drove down to a place he so rarely drove to: The Salvatore Boarding House. During the drive he thought over a list of possibilities of what could have happened. His interest could have been weird, except he knew his friends. He knew the difference between them protecting him and them keeping secrets. And there was a big difference. He pulled up outside the Boarding House and jogged over to the door, knocking twice before waiting. His luck could go two ways. Either Stefan could answer the door and keep further secrets from him or-

"Donovan," Damon smirked, standing in the door frame. "What can I do for my least favourite quarter-back?"

"I need you to tell me what everyone's keeping from me," Matt said.

Damon paused before snickering. Nothing annoyed him more than the oldest Salvatore. He thought he was so witty and charming and sarcastic. But Matt just found him annoying. Like a talkative five-year-old who thought they could do anything because they went poo-poo in the potty.

"Why should I?" Damon asked, crossing his arms.

"Because I'm asking you to?" Matt asked. "And because if you refuse to tell me because you want something in return, then you've become a selfish, manipulative ass-hole. I don't care if you're a guy, Damon, you're still a bitch. And if you refuse to do something for nothing, then you've become what you despise most of all. Katherine Pierce." If having the 500 doppelgänger sit at his bar getting drunk had taught him anything, it was that manipulation was secretly easy.

The vampire paused. "Ouch. Nice speech, but that hit me right where is hurts. Fine. I'll tell you. But only because I'm feeling particularly generous this evening. Particularly Zen."

"So?" Matt asked. "Who's this 'she' everyone keeps trying to hide from me?"

"Basically," Damon said. "Someone spotted Rebekah Mikaelson in town today and she's suspected to be at the old Mikaelson place right now. No idea why she's there but there she is. She's apparently alone. Elena didn't want to tell you because she's afraid you'll run along to your old psycho Barbie girlfriend. That's all I know."

Damon was a dick, but at least he was honest. To some extent. Matt didn't bother thanking him as he climbed back into his truck. Rebekah was back. She had actually bought him that truck after running his first one into a river. Then he had forgiven her and they had spent the summer travelling, bonding and evolving. If Elena, Caroline, Tyler and Jeremy didn't want him in their drama, fine. But Rebekah being back had nothing to do with them. Rebekah was his problem.

Rebekah was just about ready to curl up on the floor and burst into tears. But then she would be sinking to it's level. Her! Her level! Rebekah sighed in frustration as she continued to pace in front of the wailing infant. It had only been a few hours since Klaus had handed his baby girl over to Rebekah, making her promise to keep the baby safe, and five minutes later, the baby was screaming it's – her – little heart out.

And she wouldn't even stop to breath! Rebekah was going insane! If she couldn't handle a couple hours with such a loud child, how could she possibly raise the bloody thing? She had tried everything. She had fed her warmed blood, both animal and human; she had tried to feed her regular baby food; she had checked to see if she needed changing; she had changed her onezie and blanket; she had attempted burping the baby and rocking the baby and making toys talk for the baby – or a sock pulled over her hand. She hadn't yet been toy shopping for the baby, so she had been forced to improvise. The girl was having none of it. There was no way to get the baby to shut up.

"What do you want from me?" Rebekah snapped, turning to the baby who lay on the couch, wrapped up in several blankets. It felt rather strange to be in their old home again. She had missed it a lot. "You want to go home? Well you can't! You want Daddy? Well you can't have him! And I know, darling, it's not bloody fair, but it's the best we can do!"

That only made the baby wail louder. Rebekah sighed again, walking over to the window and looking out of the curtains, always anxious that she would see Dahlia or another of Klaus's enemies walk up her doorstep with a knife in their hands, ready to snatch the baby.

Mystic Falls. Rebekah wouldn't have come home under any other circumstances. It was probably what Dahlia expected the most. It wasn't her plan when she left New Orleans and when she left Mystic Falls, she most certainly wasn't coming back with the baby. She came back for Kol's little black book.

Little black book of witches, that was. He had been more involved with witches than anyone she knew, but unfortunately, he was unable to direct her to the one who could give her the best cloaking spell. Possibly multiple considering Dahlia's power.

She didn't let the baby out of her sight as she searched for the book. She held the girl tightly as she opened cupboards and draws and ran around from room to room. She finally found the damn think in Kol's old sock draw with all but one sock left behind. Rebekah rolled her eyes before tucking the black book into her back pocket. She was about to leave when she noticed something on Kol's bedside table.

Three picture frames, all facing the bed. She vaguely recognised the pictures they held. When Kol had been undaggered for the first time since a century before hand, Rebekah had been briefly alive a couple weeks before. She took it upon herself to introduce Kol and Finn to the land of the modern age and that had included showing them what a 'selfie' was. The first picture was of her and Finn, her lips pressed to his temple and he took the picture. He wasn't always stuck up. The second picture was of Kol forcing Elijah into the image and him smirking as Kol stood next to him with his tongue out. The third picture was Nik, the faintest trace of a smile on his mouth as Kol told him to pose. The pictures were taken shortly after they had all been undaggered, just after Mother had prevented them from leaving Klaus.

Rebekah looked at the pictures for a little while before snatching them all up and taking them back downstairs with her and the baby. She put the girl back down on the couch and threw the pictures into her bag. She started scouring the other draws, cupboards and worktops around the house, looking for similar memories. She found a couple things here and their, throwing them in her bag as she went, listening to the sound of the baby girl crying at the top of her lungs.

She picked the baby up and rocked her, trying to soothe her. She had attempted feeding the baby that refused to be fed, despite the amount of train and aeroplane noises Rebekah made with the spoon. The child just refused to stop crying. "Trust me, I know what you feel like," Rebekah sighed. "I feel like screaming right now as well."

Rebekah ended up smelling the top of the baby's head. It smelled... unique. It was a soft, calming scent that Rebekah hadn't smelled anywhere else, but it reminded her of daisies and daffodils and the springtime. After a while she stopped crying.

She heard a car pull up outside and she immediately panicked. She ran with the baby out of the back of the mansion where she parked her own car and strapped her into the car seat she had bought on her way back to New Orleans after Klaus called her. She used her vampire speed to run back inside and grab her stuff, her large handbag filled with the very bare necessities and ran back outside. She through it into the back-seat with the baby and turned.

She closed the car door and turned – and jumped. Never had she ever been startled by a human who had managed to sneak up on her, but she was then. She was about to punch the human in the face, immediately assuming that it was an enemy, but she stopped herself. "Matt."

"Hey, Beks," he said, smiling weakly.

The windows of her car were tinted so he couldn't see, with his mortal vision, the baby inside her her luggage. He wouldn't know what she was doing. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," he said. "I mean, I thought you moved to New Orleans with your family. What happened?"

"Well, I moved away for a while," she muttered, thinking about the loft she had recently stayed in in New York, "then I got called back and now I don't really know where I'm going. How did you know I was here?"

"It's the talk of the town," he said. "I mean, everyone tried to hide it from me but I found out and I came straight over."

"Why?" she asked, genuinely oblivious. She was just hoping the baby girl wouldn't start crying again. Then she would have to explain to Matt and the more people who knew, the more likely it was she was going to get caught.

"To say hey," he said. "I was under the impression we were on good terms, I guess I just wanted to catch up."

"But I left," she said, shrugging. "You promised me a summer together. One summer and it was great but it's over and we split up. We are on good terms but we are over."

"But you're back-"

"I didn't come back for you," she said. The sun was beginning to creep over the tree tops. Morning had arrived and the longer she stayed, the closer Dahlia got to her and the baby. "Look, Matt – I really, really have to get going. Like, right now. Don't get me wrong, it's been great seeing you, but I have to go."

"Why?" he asked. "You just said you have no idea where you're going-"

"That doesn't mean I don't have to go," she said. "I didn't say that to be philosophical, I said that because I don't know where to run to!"

"Wait, you're leaving right now?" he asked as she opened the drivers door to her car. There was a barely audible noise coming from inside the car, the sound of a newborn learning how to use it's voice without crying with a bunch of nonsensical sounds. Matt noticed. "Was that a baby?" he asked.

Rebekah sighed, stomping her foot. "Damn it!" she muttered to herself.

"Rebekah, where did you get a baby?" he asked.

She paused, pouting. "It's my brother's. Since Nik made his werewolf side dormant he's been fertile. He knocked up that werewolf, Hayley Marshall. She gave birth but there are too many enemies after her and Nik can't leave New Orleans at the moment so he can't run with her. I had left Louisiana anyway, so it made sense for me to take the baby and run."

"Wait, that's your niece in there?" Matt asked after a pause. "Why couldn't the mother take her?"

"She died in childbirth," Rebekah explained. She had tried to bond with the werewolf because she had been carrying her niece, but it had been hard, and Rebekah wasn't very upset to hear of her death. "Anyway, I have to get this baby far away and under a lot of protection spells. And it's better for you not to get involved."

"You're leaving straight away?" he asked.

She pouted again. She really cared for Matt, but he kept involving herself in her problems and her problems would only get him hurt. "Not yet," she whispered. "I'm running out of infant essentials. This thing eats like she was made for it. I'll be gone in an hour and I suggest you forget I was ever here."

I'll publish the second chapter along with the first one. Reviews make me unimaginably happy so please write one! -Izzy