AN: Hello! So yeah basically, I wrote this story a few months ago but I ended up having massive writer's block in which I didn't know where to take the story. Then something happened in my personal life that made me stop writing for a while, I won't bother you all with the doom and gloom. I've recently tried to get back into writing by starting a new story, which I'll continue to write (it's a canon story if any of you are interested in checking it out) but I couldn't shake the feeling that I needed to get this story done because I really loved writing it. My writing was quite spotty, so I've opted to re-write the story instead of just carrying it on. So yeah, if you've read this the first time around when I wrote it then I just want to say that I'm really sorry that I didn't update in months but my personal life got really hectic for a while, so I apologize. I wanted to get the first chapter up before Christmas so without further ado, here's the re-written version of FBUT!

Fate Brought Us Together

Prologue

The annoying, continuous beeping of Elena's alarm clock abruptly woke her up from her light sleep, she buried her head further into the pillow, hoping to ignore the ringing noise in her ears for just a while longer. Much to her disappointment though, the clock continued to sound out through her bedroom, leaving her with no choice but to climb out of bed. She looked at the digital numbers that displayed the time and she groaned out loud. The bright red digits, reading 7:00AM made her want to climb back into bed, oblivious to the whole world for just another day.

It was Elena's first day back to school since Jeremy's death and she had been dreading this moment for almost a whole month. Today was going to be the day that everyone in her school would suffocate her with their false apologies and fake smiles, when really; they didn't care too much about her life. Elena didn't want to listen to how sorry they were for her loss when the fact was none of them even knew her all too well, let alone her brother. She didn't expect them to care though, after all they had lives of their own and they had to get on with theirs just like she had to get on with hers.

After a few more minutes of lying in her bed, brooding about how dreadful today was going to be, she finally decided that the sooner she got today over and done with, the sooner she could come home and lock herself away from everything once again. Deciding that she might as well look at least half-presentable for school, Elena made her way into the bathroom to freshen up. After brushing her teeth and getting dressed, she hopped downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen, making coffee and waffles. She brushed past Miranda, towards the fridge and took the carton of orange juice out, pouring a glass of juice for herself.

"Elena, honey. Are you sure that you're up for this today?" Miranda asked her, knowing full well that she wasn't. Jeremy's death had hit Elena a lot harder than anyone could have ever expected.

"Yeah I think so. I might as well get it over and done with, right?" Elena replied, giving her mother a small smile before a loud horn echoed through the walls, interrupting her.

"Oh god! It's that Lockwood boy again." Miranda rolled her eyes as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"He isn't that bad mom! He just doesn't really know how to act around you and Jenna." Elena replied, giving her mom a small smile before picking up her bag.

"That's because he knows that me and Jenna will kill him if he hurts you! I don't know what it is about him, but I don't trust him, Elena." Elena couldn't help but pout at Miranda, who had a serious look on her face.

They had been having this conversation ever since she had first gotten together with Tyler. She understood where her mother was coming from, Tyler had a bad reputation around town for being a bad-boy who used girls, but Elena didn't believe the rumours at all. Everyone just didn't see the Tyler that she saw, sure he was a dick most of the time and he was always subtly pushing her to have sex with him, although he knew she wasn't ready to give that part of herself up to him yet. Deep down though, Elena knew that there was more to Tyler than meets the eye, there were glimpses of a good in him and Elena thought that she could reach through to that part of him.

Everyone else might have given up on him, but she wouldn't.

"I know mom. I promise you that he won't hurt me, I trust him." Elena called out as she left for the door.

"That's not your promise to make, Elena." Miranda muttered as the door slammed shut.

Elena shut the door behind her and looked down the pathway to see her boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood seated in his bright red Porsche 911 Convertible. A present from his dad for his 18th birthday not long ago. Tyler had only had the car for a few months and there was not a scratch on it. He took care of the car better than he did himself.

He reminded her of Jenna's boyfriend, Alaric. He took care of his car like it was his child or something, cleaning it every other day. Elena was pretty sure that Ric had even named the car, which was quite disturbing. The difference between Tyler and Alaric though, was that Jenna meant more to him than his car did whereas with Tyler, his car meant more to him than anything else, including her.

Elena quickly made her way down to the car to see Tyler looking at her funny, as he tilted his sunglasses down to see her. She didn't have much time to dress up or anything this morning, with her brain thinking too much. Besides, it was only school. She wore a casual purple camisole and a pair of light-wash jeans along with her black converse. It was hot out as it approached summer so there was no need for her to wear a jacket, the heat was already unbearable without one and wearing a jacket would probably result in her dying from heat exhaustion. However, she knew Tyler would comment on her appearance as he always did, every day.

"Jesus, Elena. What are you wearing? It's your first day back to school, don't you think you could of dressed up a little better?" Tyler said to her, lacing his tone with disgust.

The words that came out of Tyler's mouth were predictable but nevertheless, they still stung. She didn't think she looked that bad. She was casual but more than presentable at the same time, she wasn't like most of the girls at school who smothered themselves in make-up or went shopping every weekend for new clothes. While she did dress up for the right occasion, she never went through the trouble of doing it every day just to be accepted, it just wasn't her.

Elena tried not to let Tyler's words faze her much as she knew better than that, he only thought she was wearing nice clothes when she was wearing something remotely sexy enough to turn him on, or when she wore a dress that was cut pretty short.

"Well I just thought that I would go with a casual look today, instead of dressing up like a slut for you and your friends to drool over like Vicky Donovan!" Elena snapped back and she immediately regretted it. While Vicky wasn't the nicest person in the world, she didn't deserve being called a slut.

She knew that she shouldn't let Tyler's words affect her but she still wouldn't stand for him treating her like dirt, he knew that if he was a dick to her she'd be a bitch to him back. After all, she wasn't like anyone else Tyler had ever dated, she was independent and stubborn and she knew it. Something Tyler was still trying to get used to after five months of dating.

"Oh believe me, Elena. My friends wouldn't look at you twice." Tyler chuckled, before realising his mistake.

Elena's eyes widened and her heart dropped as she heard Tyler's words leave his mouth. Elena knew that Tyler hadn't meant for her to hear that, and before she could snap back at him, he quickly tried to recover from his mistake.

"I mean I wouldn't let them obviously, you're mine only..." he gave her a cocky smirk and winked at her, hoping that he had done enough.

"Good. But that doesn't mean I'm going to be dressing up like a slut for you, Ty." Elena replied, quietly. She let it slip for now, not wanting to cause an argument while he was driving.

She couldn't believe the words that she just heard come out of Tyler's mouth. Did he really think that low of her? She knew that she wasn't the prettiest person in the world, but Tyler made out that she was the ugliest girl he had ever seen and Elena didn't understand why he was with her if that was the case.

Once they arrived in the car park of the school, Elena kissed Tyler on the cheek quickly and got out the car. She was still pissed with him over their conversation on the way to school. She still couldn't believe his reaction to how she dressed, he shouldn't care what she looked like if he was her boyfriend, he was meant to think she was beautiful regardless, that's what love was, right? Did he even think for one second about how she was dealing with Jeremy? No, of course he didn't because Tyler Lockwood only thinks about himself.

Elena sometimes wondered why she even bothered with him, most of the time he was a jackass to her friends and the only time he was nice to her was when he wanted something. She wasn't going to break up with him though over that, she knew that it was hard for him to try and befriend Caroline and Bonnie. She saw a glimpse of hope in him, that small potential to be a decent guy. Her father always told her to look for the best in people and that's what she was doing now, and deep down she knew she had feelings for him. Feelings that could possibly turn to love. But how much more could she take? It wasn't as if this was the first time he put her down and made her feel like the dirt on the bottom of his shoe. He was a dick to everyone around her on a daily basis.

She walked into the entrance of the school and walked up to her locker, spinning the correct code in before the locker flung open. Elena quickly placed all the books she didn't need for her lesson into her locker and shut it, about to head off to class. She certainly didn't expect to be pulled into a bear hug when spun around. Two arms wrapped themselves around her and squeezed until she couldn't breathe. Once she was released, Elena looked up into the eyes of her gorgeous best friend, Caroline.

"Oh my god! Why the hell are you in school?" Caroline vented as she released her friend. Caroline was the type of person who hated seeing one of her friends hurt and did anything she could to make it better.

"It's nice to see you too, Caroline." Elena replied and smiled at the blonde, trying to act as if everything was normal.

She had been coming to terms with Jeremy for the past few weeks and tried acting as though everything was okay in front of people. Slowly though, she was starting to actually believe it herself. Elena was actually feeling a lot better than normal today, but that was probably because she hadn't seen Caroline in a week or two and she was so happy to see her best friend again, that she just forgot about everything that had been bothering her recently, Jeremy's burial and the way Tyler was acting.

"Seriously Elena, why are you here? You shouldn't be in school after everything that's happened." Caroline scolded lightly.

"I know, I know. It's just, I can't stay in that house all day, every day much longer. It's too much." Elena replied quietly.

All the bad emotions and memories came rushing back to her. The pain of losing one of the most important people in her life. She couldn't stand to be in the house any longer because everything reminded her of Jeremy. When he had been in Afghanistan, it had comforted her knowing he was everywhere but now that he was dead, it had the opposite effect. Elena tried to fight back the tears that were pooling in her eyes but Caroline saw the tears that were threatening to fall so she quickly dragged her to the toilets, shooing out all of the sophomores, so the restroom was empty.

"Out with it Elena, I bet you haven't cried since you found out about him and let me tell toy, it's not healthy. So cry!" Caroline said, shifting back into the bossy senior that Elena knew and loved.

Elena knew that Caroline was right, although she was being a bit bossy. Caroline knew better than anyone that keeping it all in did more bad than it did good, Elena could still remember when Caroline's father died and she didn't speak for a whole week. She was also right because Elena hadn't cried since she found out that Jeremy had died, it hadn't quite hit her that he was gone, forever...

Finally, all the pain and heartache that Elena had bottled inside erupted as she burst into tears. Caroline gathered Elena up in her arms and held her as she let out all of the tears that she had been holding in since Jeremy's death.

"It's just that everything was going so well a few months ago, we got news that Jeremy was coming to the end of his active duty and that he was coming home. Everything was perfect, then the next thing we know, we get people from the Army coming to our house saying he's dead!" Elena managed to say as she sobbed into her friend's shoulder "burying him was so difficult Care, It was like losing him all over again!"

Caroline embraced Elena with everything she had and after a few minutes of crying, Elena calmed down slightly. "To top it all off, Tyler's acting like a dick again." she said while wiping the tears that were starting to dry on her face.

"Acting? Elena when are you going to see that he's just a dick? I mean I know that you see this glimpse of good in him that no-one else sees, you've said it about a thousand times but really? You're wasting your efforts, Elena and he's just going to end up hurting you." Caroline replied angrily as she clenched her fists together.

It was no secret that Caroline hated Tyler with a passion. She slept with Tyler when they were sophomores hoping that they would get into a relationship soon after, but she had been wrong. Tyler ditched her the next day for a different girl. Caroline had told her the story a few times, in hopes that she would dump Tyler and move on but Elena felt as though he deserved a second chance. It was two years ago, after all.

"He's not always a dick. He's nice, sometimes. He just doesn't let everyone see that part of him." Elena tried reasoning, although she didn't fully understand why she was defending him. He had treated her like dirt ever since they got together and the only time he was nice to her was when he wanted something or tried to get her to be intimate with him.

She wasn't going to give in to him though just because he was pressuring her, this was important to her and she wanted to make sure that she was ready and that he was the right guy to do it with, before she lost her virginity.

"Yeah well, I just don't want you to get hurt." Caroline replied, the fight slowly draining from her.

"You sound like Jenna and my mom." Elena giggled, giving her friend a small smile before wiping away any tears that were left on her face.

"Great minds think alike!" Caroline exclaimed proudly before letting out a small giggle herself.

Tyler slammed his locker shut after he took his books out. He knew that he'd messed up in the car with Elena, but he couldn't help it. It was a slip of the tongue and he hadn't meant for her to hear him. This relationship business with her was starting to get more exhausting as the days went on.

He was in too deep for his liking, he had been in a relationship with her for a little over five months and she still hadn't put out for him. He was beginning to feel desperate, he wanted her so badly. He had obviously found someone else for his 'needs' while he was with Elena, but he still wanted to have her. He knew Elena was a virgin and he wanted to be her first, the bragging rights that would come with that would lead to the guys buying him drinks all year. She was without a doubt the hottest girl in the whole school, but she was such a goody-two shoes that it seemed almost impossible for him to get her to sleep with him.

He knew that once he had his way with Elena, he'd dump her and move on, it was the type of guy he was. He was the type of guy that had to have a variety of different women at his disposal, and he loved it. His uncle had taught him to never to get tied down by one girl when you could be out there enjoying a lot of them. Sure he'd been sort of tied down to Elena for a while now, but all he really had to do was go on a few dates with her and watch a few movies. As long as she didn't find out about all the other girls that he'd been sleeping with behind her back, then he would be able to cope until Elena finally gave in, which hopefully wouldn't be too long now.

It was actually surprising that she hadn't found out yet. He knew about the rumours about him that people spread around. Well actually, they weren't really rumours, just truths that people should keep their mouths shut about. Thankfully, Elena didn't believe any of them so he was safe for now. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long before they would have sex; after all they had been dating for a few months. He couldn't remember how many exactly, but he knew that this little "Mission Impossible" he had going on would soon be coming to an end.

Tyler felt his phone vibrate and when he pulled it out, he smiled when he saw a text from Vicky.

Vick: Come over mine tonight? Matt's working. We can get up to all types of fun ;)

He couldn't suppress the wolf-like grin that formed on his face. He enjoyed having sex with Vicky a lot, she was a wildcat in bed and she was a great distraction to get his mind of the real thing that he wanted. He didn't get to have sex with her as much as he'd like though, Matt wasn't always working and he couldn't think of many excuses to go over his best friend's house just to sleep with his sister. Of course, Matt didn't know about his and Vicky's little arrangement that they had going on, Matt would kill him if he found out.

Tyler: I'll be over at 8.

Just as Tyler was walking out of the school, he spotted a poster of the annual bonfire at the Falls next week. He smirked when an idea popped into his head. An idea in which he would finally be able to have sex with Elena. Everyone would be going to the bonfire; it was a massive party for everyone at Mystic Falls. The place was too big for the Mystic Falls Sheriff's department to handle, which meant that it was too hard for them to check if there was underage drinking. It was a big event for most of the seniors as it was an excuse to get drunk without being caught. There was a lot of alcohol lying around for people to drink which meant that most people at the school would be going.

Elena would definitely be going...

The plan he had in mind was flawless. He would get Elena drunk and then sneak her away into the woods to finally have his way with her. She would be drunk enough to willingly have sex with him or he would get her so wasted that she wouldn't even remember it if she did say no. Either way, by the end of next week, he was going to make sure that he finally had sex with Elena Gilbert.

The rest of the day went pretty fast, but exhausting at the same time for Elena. If she had a dollar for every time she said 'It's okay, I'm fine thank-you' she would be a millionaire.

She decided to walk home from school today as she couldn't take Tyler's attitude at the moment, she had ignored him most of the day because of this morning and she wasn't ready to forgive him yet. Her phone's ringtone rung out in her pocket and when she looked at the contact information, she saw Caroline's name flashing around on her screen. She quickly answered her phone not wanting to keep her friend waiting too long on the other side.

"So Elena, you're still coming to the bonfire at the Falls next Friday right?" Caroline asked and Elena could hear her best friend's excitement down the phone.

"I suppose I will, only if you and Bonnie are going, though." Elena replied. Come to think of it, she hadn't gotten drunk in a while.

"Good! So I was also thinking that we could go to the Grill, like Saturday and have a few drinks in honour of Jeremy? I mean... that's only if you want to of course." Elena couldn't stop the smile that formed on her face, it was things like this that Caroline or Bonnie did that made Elena realise she had the best friends in the world.

"Really? You'd do that for me?" Elena asked as tears formed in her eyes, entirely different tears to the ones she shed earlier.

"Duh. Of course, we would 'Lena." Caroline said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, we should. That would be really awesome, Care." Elena replied, smiling to herself.

After speaking some more about anything and everything, they finally said their goodbyes and hung up as Elena reached her house. The walk to her house had been surprisingly quick but considering she spent almost all of it on the phone with Caroline, she wasn't surprised She smiled once more thinking about what her best friend had suggested, maybe things were starting to look up.

Elena decided that after a long day of school she just needed a hot shower and a cup of hot chocolate. Once she showered and freshened up, she slipped on a small t-shirt and a pair of PJ shorts to sleep in. She checked her phone quickly to see if she anyone had text her while she was in the shower and she saw a text from Tyler...

Tyler: Sorry about today, babe. I was in a cranky mood because of the scholarship and stuff.

If anything, Tyler was predictable. She saw this text coming from a mile away. It wasn't the first time that he blamed his 'cranky' moods on the scholarship that he was trying to earn and if it wasn't football, it was his dad that was making him act like a jackass. Deciding not to let Tyler ruin her night, she continued with her plan and went downstairs to make herself a hot chocolate.

Elena walked downstairs, into the kitchen and saw her mother on the phone. She noticed that her mom's eyes gleamed in the light as tears shone brightly in them. Her mother was crying, but judging from the way she was speaking on the phone, they were not tears of sadness. Miranda sounded overjoyed on the phone as she carried on speaking to the person on the opposite end of the line that she only imagined was Jenna. Ever since Jeremy's death they had been on the phone to each other a lot and Jenna had been coming around a lot more.

Elena waited in the doorway for a few minutes, trying to eavesdrop on the conversation her mother was having. She usually didn't invade her mothers' privacy but curiosity got the best of her and she wanted to know what her mother was speaking to Jenna about. After a few minutes, Elena finally decided that she wasn't going to catch any of their conversation and walked into the kitchen, acting oblivious to the conversation that was going on meters away from her.

Miranda put the phone down as Elena walked into the kitchen and she noticed that her mom couldn't hide the massive smile that she had on her face.

"What's got you so happy?" Elena asked as put a mug on the counter.

"Well, we finally got some good news today!" Miranda smiled as she wiped the joyful tears away.

"What news could possibly be counted as 'good news' these days?" Elena replied as she walked over towards the fridge and took the carton of milk out.

Elena found it hard to believe in good news these days. Ever since the house call that ripped their family apart. The visit that took the chance for her brother to walk her down the aisle one day, when she finally got married or the chance of spending another Christmas or Thanksgiving with him.

"Sofia just called. Damon's signed off on his active duty. He's coming home!" Miranda exclaimed, giving Elena a massive grin.

Her mom was right, this was the best news that Elena had heard in months and it was a massive mood changer after the burial of Jeremy. After Jeremy died, it was always in the back of her mind that Damon would be next, as much as she tried to force the awful thoughts out of her head. Elena knew that her mother would be ecstatic to know that one of her boys made it back. Her mom thought of Damon as one of her own and he had become a second son and a part of the family. She was also happy for her mom's best friend, Sofia. Elena knew that after Jeremy's death, Sofia also accepted the fact that her son would most likely not be returning either so the fact that Damon was coming home sprung Elena onto cloud nine.

"When?" Elena couldn't keep the bright smile of her face. This was defiantly the good news that she needed after everything she'd been through these past few months. She remembered Damon as a big brother to her, always looking out for her and to have him back would be the best thing to ever happen to her.

"A few days I think. Sofia is so relieved. You should have heard how happy she was, 'Lena. It will be so good to have him back, I don't know what I would have done if Damon never made it back either." Miranda replied happily, the atmosphere in the house suddenly changing for the better.

"Wow! That's amazing news. Damon is coming back..." Elena said to herself, trying to digest the information. It was hard to think that this wasn't all just a dream. "Does Stefan know?"

Damon was Stefan's hero and when their father abandoned them for another woman, Damon became the man of the house and took care of both his mother and brother. Eventually though, Damon and Jeremy both enlisted into the Army not long after they graduated, leaving Stefan without his big brother. After the news of Jeremy's death, Stefan cut himself of from Elena, Caroline and the rest of his friends. She hardly saw him and when she did, he was either hanging around with Vicky Donovan or he was on his own, refusing to speak to her. She always saw him go around the back of the school with her and while she didn't know what he was doing with Vicky around the back of the school at lunch, she didn't want to pry into his life either.

"I'm sure he's over the moon, Elena. Anyway, I'm going to head up to bed now. It's been a long day for all of us and I promised that I would go over to Sofia's tomorrow to help prepare the house for when Damon comes home." Miranda replied while yawning.

"Yeah, sure mom. I'm just going to make myself a drink, then go to bed as well."

After making her hot chocolate, Elena decided that bed was the best option after the day she had. She couldn't help the giddy feeling she had inside of her stomach. She had secretly been worried about Damon as well, but with everything that was going on these past few weeks, most of her attention was on getting back to school and moving on from Jeremy's death.

Elena drifted off to sleep with a massive smile on her face. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off her shoulders, knowing that Damon was safe. Tomorrow was a new day and for the first time in a long time, she welcomed tomorrow. With those happy thoughts floating around in her head, she quickly drifted off to sleep for what would be the best sleep that she'd had in weeks.

AN: So that was the first chapter! I'm not sure if it's any good or if it's an improvement from the last time I posted this chapter, but hopefully you'll like it. There will be no more extended vacations for this story and I promise that I'm not going to bail. I really want to finish this story so I'm going to try my best! I would really appreciate it if you could alert and review if you liked the chapter! Reviews are amazing and I'd love to see what you all think and I would be happy to read some suggestions you have for the story.

So yeah, Merry Christmas and I hope that you all enjoy yourselves, I know I will ;).