A/N: So, so sorry this took forever to update! I really just lost inspiration for it, but I've found it again, so that's good. I think.

It's short, as I said it was going to be, and it's told in Matt's POV, which was strange for me to write because I've never done it before. Hopefully you all like it, and I can say that I've already got the next part started. With it, we'll be transported back to London to see Klaus and Caroline. It should not take nearly as long to get out, promise.

But your support has been wonderful! Thank you for everything, you absolutely amazing people. You keep me going when I feel like I suck at writing.

And I did not say this before, but the title of this whole thing is a very famous song by The Clash.

Also...I OWN NOTHING!

Enjoy!


"When they can't find you,

You'll turn into a mystery.

But you're no mystery to me."

Miss California | Jack's Mannequin


London Calling: Part Two

Matt Donovan was never very bright. He struggled with mathematics, history, English, foreign languages…everything, really. College wasn't for him. He couldn't even handle high school—what would college bring him other than more failure and more self-loathing?

He wasn't a scholar and he never would be, but he was a damn good human being.

Growing up without either a mother or a father forced him to speed through the adolescent stage of life. It forced him to be a man before he was ready. He couldn't be a fool or a jackass or a smart-ass because he had to be responsible. Responsible for Vicki and responsible for his mother whenever she'd find the time to actually be at home.

Then Vicki left. Left him and his mother and Jeremy, and life started feeling unimportant again. Like it had done when Elena decided he wasn't the one for her anymore. Vicki became just another person to abandon him, and he didn't think he'd ever be able to forgive her for that. Her death wasn't her fault, he understood that, but if she hadn't been so obsessed with partying and boys, he was sure it could have been avoided.

Then again, the minute the Salvatore brothers made their way into town, the security of every citizen in Mystic Falls was threatened. No one stood a chance.

He often wished that those boys—those monsters—had never showed up in the first place. They just ruined everything. Elena, Caroline…Bonnie. His friends dropped like flies; they succumbed to the supernatural charm of the vampire pair.

And, eventually, he got tied up too. With ropes that never seemed to loosen, not even a tiny bit. In the beginning, he hated it. He hated what the vampires and the witches and the werewolves did to him. They made him something he wasn't—a fighter. Before, he'd been perfectly capable to ween his way out of an argument by using his words and his calm face. Unfortunately those things didn't work against paranormal powers.

He woke up sometimes, still angry at himself for not getting out when he had the chance. He should have packed up his things the minute Vicki disappeared. The minute he found out what Caroline was. But he didn't. He stayed and he let the Salvatore's destroy everything good in his life.

When the Original's arrived he thought that was the end of everything. He thought their presence would be the final nail in his coffin. He was already so tired and so angry that when they popped their old-as-Dracula-and-then-some heads into Mystic Falls he truly feared the end of the world.

Klaus was their ringleader. He was out to eradicate them all, for some petty reason or another. It started with Elena. Her blood began their downfall. Then Klaus just had to go after Caroline, like the evil bastard just couldn't keep his hands off.

Bite your girlfriend, he'd told Tyler. And Tyler couldn't say no. But after it happened, after Caroline lay dying on her bed, presents still unwrapped all over in her house, he showed up, begging to help. Matt was burning with hatred for the hybrid—so, so much hatred—that he hadn't been able to see the distress in Klaus' eyes. The guilt…the shame.

He'd fixed Caroline up, made some romantic speech about birthdays and living for eternity. He'd told her that it was nothing personal, but Matt was listening when he spoke. He heard the shiver in Klaus' voice, the dread.

Matt tried to rationalise it for months, the attraction the deadly vampire/werewolf had for his friend, but none of his excuses ever lasted long.

The second Matt decided that Klaus' feelings for Caroline were genuine, he began noticing all the little signs. The way Klaus' eyes would always seek out Caroline's when they were in a room together. How Caroline's face would lighten when she spotted Klaus, and then fall because what was she doing being happy to see him?

And he watched them for a long time. For so long that whenever Caroline would become another game piece in the war against the Originals, whenever she was to be used as bait, Matt almost protested. Klaus did not look like a man you wanted to hurt. It was clear to Matt (if to no one else) that his adoration for Caroline was real, and if Caroline ended up breaking his heart, there was no telling what Klaus would do.

Matt didn't understand it. Not in the least. How could someone as clever and strong and independent as Caroline Forbes fall in love with someone as evil and vile and murderous as Niklaus Mikaelson?

Klaus, the vampire who had tried using Caroline as a sacrifice before they even met.

Klaus, who ordered Caroline's werewolf boyfriend to bite her.

Klaus, who bit her himself and then swiped his arm on his sleeve to rid his chin of her blood.

And he still didn't understand it. Years after the two first met, five years after they had their frolic in the woods, and Matt still could not comprehend it. But he was done trying to. Love made no sense. Love was idiotic and destructive and it did funny things to your head.

Caroline and Klaus were those star-crossed lovers he'd read about in English class. They were epic and destined for heartbreak.

So, when Caroline stopped calling him, who else was Matt supposed to contact?

After Bonnie and Damon's death, he had wanted to run away too. He'd been so close to packing his own bag and fleeing. But he was needed in Mystic Falls. Elena and Stefan needed him to be strong. Jeremy needed him.

He let Caroline go. He'd hugged her and made her promise to call and stood still when she turned around, even though he could feel his heart splintering in his chest as he watched her walk away.

Everything fell apart when she left.

Elena stopped talking. She hid away in the dark and allowed her grief to swallow her. She refused blood and comfort to the point that the only way she ever got any nourishment was when she fell asleep. Matt found himself having to creep into her room as she dozed with a syringe full of blood. He forced her mouth open and let drop after drop slide down her throat until her skin glowed olive once more.

Stefan became suicidal. Matt was so used to the younger Salvatore being strong—stronger than all of them—that when he first took off his ring and stood in the sunlight, Matt almost didn't get there in time. He had been too shocked to move. Thankfully, he snapped out of his stupor and managed to pull Stefan inside.

And Jeremy. Poor Jeremy. His recovery had been the most painful for Matt to watch.

Jere started smiling. He got a job and wore a silly diner apron and served customers with a wink and a high five. But Matt would watch him crack. He'd be there when Jeremy couldn't handle the crushing weight on his shoulders anymore. He'd catch Jeremy when the boy collapsed in a heap of sobs.

Matt was so close to keeling over himself. Having to care for these three people for the past four years hadn't been easy for him. He was the leader now, fighting a never-ending battle.

He had allowed Caroline to not call him for a few months before. She was busy with work and with being free, and he didn't want to be the needy ex-boyfriend who would call and complain about how much he missed her and how much he wished she were at home.

The longest she'd ever gone without calling was two months, and for two months, he was okay. He was exhausted and worried about everyone in Mystic Falls, but he was okay with not hearing from Caroline.

But two months turned into three, and three months turned into six.


He couldn't see Klaus, but he suspected the hybrid was pacing. He suspected the phone in his hand was close to snapping in half. "Six months?" He asked again, and Matt rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

"Yes, yes, six months," he repeated for the seventh time since giving in and calling Klaus.

Fear bubbled in Matt's stomach. He wasn't sleeping or eating. He'd lost eight pounds. He was too worried about Caroline to do anything other than sit and think about all the horrible things that might have happened.

Klaus sighed, but it sounded painful and tight. "And you're sure you haven't just missed her call?"

"I'm sure," he murmured. God, he was shaking. Stefan was watching him from where he sat toying with his ring, his eyebrows pulled to the centre of his forehead.

Matt hadn't told anyone else about Caroline's sudden disappearance, but Stefan had superhuman hearing and there was no doubt in Matt's mind that he knew about it now.

"What do you want me to do?" Klaus breathed, sounding close to tears.

Thinking on it for a second, Matt decided something. He'd never liked Klaus, not really, but he trusted him. Trusted the love he had for Caroline. It had been five years since they'd seen each other, but the second Matt called, the second Klaus picked up the phone and asked immediately what had happened, he knew the hybrid's heart hadn't given up on the baby vampire. On his friend.

"Find her," he said finally, and he knew Klaus couldn't say no.

There was a momentary silence filled with fear and dread. Then Matt heard it, that one word that loosened the chains on his heart just the right amount to let him breathe.

"—Okay."


A/N 2: Who's excited for part three?