Stockholm

Prologue

Elena couldn't believe she was now in the biggest jewelry store in Los Angeles returning her engagement ring. Actually it wasn't her engagement ring if she had said 'no' to the proposal, was it? Anyway Matt told her to keep it even if she had said 'no' because when he bought it represented his love for her. Elena didn't want to accept and he finally said it was a gift that she could go to the store and exchange for something else. Surely Elena wouldn't accept it but when she realized he wasn't changing his mind she finally accepted the 'gift' but with the intention to do exactly what she was doing now. She was going to return the ring and get it refunded to his credit card.

After avoiding this moment for almost one week she finally decided that today was the day when she would finally leave her past behind her. She was about to graduate from UCLA and she wanted a new life. She was going to be a writer as she always had dreamed about and this new life she wanted didn't include Matt Donovan anymore. Much water had been under the bridge with the athletic blond guy. They had this on again off again relationship ever since high school and she wasn't sure if he indeed loved her or their best friend Bonnie. Truth be told Matt had been dating one of the two girls for the past five years and Elena was tired of it. She had forgiven their betrayal in high school because well, it was high school after all and they were all sixteen. Stupid, inconsequential, immature teenagers that didn't know what they were doing most of the time. Surely they were aware of their actions but Elena actually believed that they didn't know what they really wanted and when you're this lost making a mistake is just bound to happen.

They broke up and Matt and Bonnie tried to be in a relationship but it didn't work out. A year later Elena and Matt tried again but when Bonnie confessed that she still loved Matt, Elena decided to break things up with the blue-eyed boy to avoid any heart break. Not only had she called things off but also pushed the two brooding teenagers together. Matt had resisted the best he could but at some point it was hard for a man to say no to a woman like Bonnie.

They tried again at the end of their senior year and dated for two and a half years until Matt finally broke up with Bonnie because he had realized Elena was the right girl for him. Surely Elena didn't think so and had denied him what he wanted at first. But again, it wasn't that easy to keep saying no to a man like Matt. They weren't the irresponsible and stupid teenagers they were before and she had actually decided to give him a chance after he tried for months. He even got transferred to UCLA to try to fix things with the woman he loved.

Now more than one year later here they were. He was proposing and she was declining it. Truth be told when she gave up on him during their senior year Elena's feelings started to change. Surely she was in pain for a long time because she had loved Matt more than she thought it was possible to love. But 'had' was the key word. She had moved on, she moved to LA and started a new life. And now she found herself wanting the same thing again and if she wanted a new life she needed to have one without Matt Donovan.

They were friends above all and she didn't want to hurt his feelings, especially because she knew Bonnie had been truly hurt by his decision to break up with the former nerd girl to be with the always cheery one. Bonnie had been the biggest reason why Elena had said no to Matt in the first place when he looked for her in LA. But as time passed Bonnie had seemed to finally resign to the fact that Matt maybe had never loved her. Surely he was infatuated by the girl he had seen from distance. The girl of his dreams as a teenager but Bonnie knew he had only truly loved one girl in his life and said girl happened to be her best friend, who had reciprocated the feeling. The art student finally saw that it was pointless for her to be the impending reason for two people that loved each other that much to be together and also taking an airplane she had an honest and definitive conversation with her still best friend, giving her blessing to Matt and Elena.

Everything had been too overwhelming for Elena. She had done the same thing for Bonnie in high school, except that she was the one to actually break up her relationship with Matt while later on Bonnie was the one that had been dumped. Elena wasn't sure if she still loved Matt when he asked for a third chance but Bonnie finally convinced her best friend that he loved her and she also loved him and that the only reason why they weren't already married planning a baby was because of her. Bonnie assured Elena that she was going to be the friend she should have been in high school and that she wouldn't be between the two lovers as she had been back then.

It was like the world wanted and pressured Elena to be with him again and she couldn't do anything about it so she accepted 'their' offer. She had regretted it uncountable times ever since that day. Not only her friendship with Bonnie had never been the same anymore but also her relationship with Matt was nothing like she expected it to be when she had said yes to him.

And now she was here, to return the symbol of his love for her. Most of the time she did believe he loved her, just like when he proposed but she couldn't pull away his feelings for Bonnie from the back of her mind. And now she was sure she had not only hurt her best friend but also the only boy she had ever loved in her life but that somehow she didn't love anymore.

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off by a man announcing a robbery. Before she could even react she felt a pair of strong hands grabbing her arms and pulling her against him as he spoke with a deep voice "Give me your cell phone, be quiet and you won't get hurt"

Elena could feel the cold temperature of the gun that was touching her arm as he held her and was now aiming at her back, actually touching her top. She turned to give him what he had asked as he allowed her to. She winced as she turned to look to the masked man that had the gun then pointed to her chest but it wasn't only because of the unexpected situation she was now. Somehow the steady and deep voice didn't match the trembling hand with which he held the gun ever since he touched her and that still trembled until now. She looked up to the covered face but the moment her brown eyes locked with his tender and scared blue ones Elena's heart skipped a beat and another wince ran down her spine. That couldn't be good.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Vampire Diaries, or any of its characters. It all belongs to The CW and LJ Smith

AN: New Year is time for a new story. Actually this is an adaptation.

I started this story for One Tree Hill but I stopped watching the show I couldn't find any inspiration to keep writing. So I deleted the chapters I had already written and I'll write it all over again for The Vampire Diaries and will then adapt TVD to OTH instead of the other way around. This way I'll complete both stories because I hate when I don't. If I started I should finish :P

What you need to know about this plot is that in addition to being an alternate universe: Stefan and Jeremy don't exist but Katherine, Caroline, Matt and Bonnie do. Caroline will be quite on character but Damon and Elena might be a little different. Don't expect Damon to be cocky and arrogant here, but he's fierce and strong just like in the show. As for Elena, she's 22 so don't expect the same girl from the show. She's stronger and although her parents died the same here, her family context is totally different.

Matt and Bonnie are well explained in the prologue.

Warning: I will handle some dark themes here. This is rated M more for the situations described than sex. So be warned the content is very adult. If you don't read abuse and violence you might need to skip a couple of chapters.

Thanks to May for her beta services, you're great, hun

I hope you enjoy and you know, reviews are love :)

Happy New Year,

Babi