Being Matt

A/N: Just a weird little story that came to me after watching 'Interview with a Vampire' for the zillionth time last night. If I owned Matt or Elena they would be seriously different, believe me ;)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Scene Breaker ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The room was plain. It was large, painted in soft yellow tones, with heavy bordeaux curtains covering the large windows. The only furniture in it was a large bookcase, covering all four walls and a large mahogany desk. The desk had one simple, old, typewriter on it and nothing else. The only light in the room came from an fashioned floor lamp in the corner.

On a leather chair sat a man. He was hunched over the old typewriter writing fast, the long fingers hitting each keystroke with precision. He was completely focused on what he wrote stopping from time to time to sip on a cup of tea in a mug with the words 'Mystic High' on.

Taking a break from his writing he took off his wire-rimmed glasses and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't as young as he used to be. He wasn't old exactly but his trip down memory lane for his book was exhausting.

He had left the small town three weeks before his eighteenth birthday the guilt he felt over the death of the girl he loved reigning heavy in his heart. He left and never looked back. Instead he moved on, he went to a good college, got a job, made money... he never made any real new friends or even fell in love again.

He spent his life looking over his shoulder, waiting for the raven haired, brown eyed vampire girl to get her revenge on him. But he was tired of running and looking over his shoulder, that's why he came back. That's why he was writing this book. With one last sip of his tea he wrote the last line.

"My name is Matt Donovan and I will never be able to change the past. Lord only knows how much I'd like to. I'm sorry"

With a flourish he pulled the page off the typewriter and placed it neatly on top of the rest, placing a heavy box over them.

A noise distracted him and taking off his glasses he stood up to go near the window. A large white owl stood on the windowsill looking at him with its large, round eyes.

"no... no please no..."

the more the owl stared at him, the more his chest hurt. the little organ keeping him alive stung and hurt. his breathing became labored

"Elena, please"

he rasped and the pain went away for a moment. The owl turned to a girl. the same girl that died because of his actions, looking pissed and angry.

"I never wanted to become a vampire matt! Why did you have to decide it for me?"

she snarled, her face a gruesome mask, her eyes all veiny, with bugs under her eyes and a set of fangs appearing in her bloodied lips. The pain intensified...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Scene Breaker ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

... He woke up screaming his heart beating loudly in his chest. trembling he looked around to see Elena's living room and half-ran half-crawled to the mirror near the front door. his young, barely eighteen year old face stared back at him. no white hair, no lines, no half missing teeth.

"it was a dream. nothing but a bad dream"

he muttered trying to reassure himself. his eyes traveled to the teenage girl sleeping peacefully on the sofa.

"I never wanted to be a vampire matt"

Elena's voice rang in his ears from the dream. Making a split decision he lifted Elena gently in his arms and carried her to his blue truck laying her on the bench seat placing her head in his lap when he got in the driver's seat and drove slowly to his own house. No vampire, besides the now expired, Vicky had ever been invited to his house. Elena would be safe there.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Scene Breaker ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"And they lived happily ever after"

The white haired man read from the white book and placed it quietly on the bedside table between the two beds. The large letters in red blue and yellow spelled 'Our story' on the cover. on the bottom smaller letters spelled the authors name 'Elena Donovan, pictures by Jeremy Gilbert'.

Placing a kiss on the foreheads of the sleeping children Matt walked out of the room slowly and entered the large bedroom. On the bed an old woman was seated waiting for him patiently just like he waited for her once.

"Are they asleep?"

"finally"

he grumbled. Little Damon and Tyler had taken a lot from their namesakes and never slept until their grandfather read them the entire storybook every night.

"next time I will read to them"

Elena chuckled softly taking her husband's hand in both of her own as they laid to bed together. As they fell asleep neither saw the large white owl perched on the windowsill guarding the small family.

When the owl saw they were all asleep she transformed back to her human form revealing her identity. Katherine. The vampire doppelganger smiled as she looked at the small family. She never regretted her decision to become a vampire but she knew Elena never wanted the option.

That was why gave that dream to Matt fifty years ago and that was why she still watched over them. With a last smile she transformed back to an own turning to look out of the window, daring everyone and anyone to attack the family. Her family.

THE END