WOW! I completely abandoned this story/account. Sadly, life got in the way but today I felt the urge to write and spit out another chapter of this story. I can't believe I've abandoned this account/story. Hopefully I can keep up with it from now on!

"Brother! It's been awhile, what's news?"

Damon smiled as he answered the phone for his younger brother, Stefan.

"Good. Italy is amazing. I wish you were here with me."

"Well one of us has to be here to face the wrath and work for the 'ole man." Damon's smile faltered for a bit. He was happy that his brother left to travel the world and decided not to stay and work for their father at his law firm; but since Stefan left, Damon has dealt with a immense amount of verbal abuse from his father.

"How's it going?"

"It's going, little brother."

"Here you go, darling." Stefan's girlfriend purred into his ear. He said his thanks and kissed her on the forehead.

"Do you have some company, Stefan?" Damon asked sarcasm etched into in his voice. He loved mocking his brother and his romantic affairs.

"Yeah I met someone in London, her name is Rebekah. I think you'd like her."

"Well if you two last more than two weeks, and you end up in Manhattan, give me a call."

Stefan rolled his eyes, all of the relationships Damon knew about lasted so little, but there was one specific relationship that lasted longer than all of Stefan's others. His heart felt heavy with guilt as he wondered where Elena was and how she was doing.

"I sure will," Stefan finally replied his older brother. "I have to go back to writing now, this novel isn't going to write itself." The Salvatore brothers said their goodbyes and Stefan went back to writing his novel. The thought of Elena still bothered him but he pushed the thought out of the way, this novel was more important. It was the reason he left her.

Damon hung up the phone and opened his briefcase going through case files and filing them for his father. He thought about everything else he could be doing with his life right now. His mind flashed to a year before, when he got his acceptance letter to Harvard Law. His father refused to pay for his academics there unless Damon worked for him for three years to prove himself worthy to study at such a prestigious Ivy League such as Harvard. Two years down and Damon was counting down the days he could finally escape his fathers abuse. It was clear Damon was the unwanted child. His mother ran off with Damon's science teacher 2 years after Stefan was born. Damon always felt like his father blamed him for his mother leaving. Like it was his fault in a way. Stefan was favored more than Damon but Damon put up with the abuse, afraid that if he stopped his dad would take out his belligerent abuse on his younger brother, something Damon promised himself would never happen.

"One more year." Damon said to himself as he kept filing papers in his dad's study. One more year and Damon can fulfill his dreams of going to Harvard Law and he will finally be free of Giuseppe.

Elena walked back to the penthouse she shared with her best friend, Caroline. She was excited that she met someone new and he offered to show her around. Even if they didn't exchange any information, it's a start. She greeted the doorman and went up to her new home in the Upper East Side, the housing was expensive, but when Elena's parents died she came into a large amount of money, after sending Jeremy to do studies overseas, Caroline and Elena decided to make a big move. Caroline insisted on New York and Elena didn't mind, she was excited to be somewhere where no one knew her or her story.

The penthouse was a vast space filled with boxes stacked on top of each other. Caroline moved all her stuff in then left to spend the day with her boyfriend Tyler, who went to school in Connecticut. Elena organized the boxes, putting all of Caroline's boxes in her room. She wasn't surprised that her best friend packed her whole life from Mystic Falls into boxes.

When Elena finished putting the boxes in their desired place she grabbed her journal and sat down on the wooden floors in the unfurnished living room. The walls were glass and overlooked the beautiful city. She opened her journal and attempted to flatten the wavy discolored papers of her journal.

Dear diary,

Today something new happened. I went out and explored the City of New York. I refuse to stay holed up in this house, as beautiful as it is. I'm going to get over my Stefan induced depression. I went out to Starbucks and coffee got spilled on my notebook but, I didn't mind it. Because for some reason when I looked into the eyes of the guy who spilled his coffee on me/my notebook he was sexy. And it made me realize, there are more men out there and I will never get over Stefan, never stop worrying at night before I go to bed. But I want to move on with my life, I want to do something with it instead of staying in bed crying all day. I have my acceptance letter to NYU and I'm thinking of accepting. I'm 22, it's time to attend college and do normal things a 22 would/should do. No more depressed Elena. I'm going to change my life, one small step at a time.