Chapter 2: Elena's POV

Dear Diary,

Today will be different. It has to be. I won't regret breaking up with the good guy. Not even once. I will go to school, things will go back to normal with Matt, and mostly... I won't think about him. Caroline will ask me once more if I've seen him since that night, and I'll just laugh. My laugh will say, "Seriously, Caroline? I am so over him. One time thing. Really." I will start fresh, and be someone new. Maybe I'll even meet someone new.

"Elena, c'mon honey! You're going to be late!" She heard her Dad screaming from downstairs.

"On my way!" She hollered back before flipping her New-Elena-hair to the side and putting on her New-Elena-Confident-Leather Jacket.

In the car with Bonnie, she watched outside the window, trying not to think of another time she rode in a car and stared out the window.

"So, Grams is telling me I'm psychic. Our ancestors were from Salem, like witches and all that, I know, crazy. But she's going on and on about this and I'm like... Put this woman in a home already! But then I'm thinking, I predicted Obama, and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break up and turn into little resort islands... Elena! Back in the car."

"I did it again, didn't I? Bonnie, I'm sorry...you were telling me that...?" She had to get that guy out of her head.

"I'm psychic now." Bonnie said with a knowing smile.

"Right. Okay. Then predict something. About me." Elena challenged her.

"Okay. I predict... That this year, you and Matt will make up and be best friends again... And you'll find a guy who is ten thousand times hotter than Mr. Mystery."

"Well for my sake then, I hope you're psychic." Elena said encouragingly.

When they arrived at school, Bonnie immediately began searching the halls. "Major lack of male real estate." She said in a judging tone. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot - can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

"No, that's over." Elena said, leaning back against the lockers. She spotted Matt across the hall and gave him a small wave. He scowled and turned away, slamming his locker.

"He hates me." She sighed. There went step one of her New-Elena plan.

"That's not hate. That's 'You dumped me but I'm too cool to show it, yet I'm still secretly listening to Air Supply's greatest hits'." Bonnie pointed out.

"Elena!" She turned her head just in time to see Caroline Forbes attack her with a hug. She could at least work on Step Two. "Oh. My God. We haven't talked enough this summer! How've you been? Any news?" Translation: Any gossip?

Elena laughed her previously rehearsed laugh. "Nothing new, Caroline. Same old, same old." She once again regretted ever telling her about him.

"Oh, ok! See you guys later?" She said cheerily.

"Sure." Bonnie said in goodbye.

They rolled their eyes at the same time as Caroline walked away.

On their way past the front office, Bonnie grabbed Elena's arm. "Hold up, who's this?"

"All I see is back." She commented sarcastically.

"It's a hot back."

'I've seen hotter...' Elena though to herself.

"I'm sensing Seattle. And he plays the guitar."

"You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, aren't you?"

"Pretty much." Bonnie paused before adding, "Please be hot."

"C'mon, we should get to class." Elena said, pulling on Bonnie to follow her.

"Buzz kill." She mumbled.

Sitting in their first class, Elena doodled mindlessly on her notebook. Her phone vibrated and she checked it to find a text from Bonnie.

HAWT-E STARIN U

Elena's head whipped up to find a set of very unfamiliar eyes. He smiled at her a little before looking back down at his desk. Her stare lingered on him. He was definitely hot. And she could see the muscles in his arms through the t-shirt he wore. Last year she would have swooned at the sight of him. She was almost swooning now. But there was just something about him that reminded her so much of him.

She might as well have thought the name now. She had basically spent all morning purposely not thinking his name, while constantly thinking about him. Damon.

There was something about this guy that reminded her so much of Damon.

Gorgeous. Check. Muscles. Check. Older. Check. Sexy and adorable at the same time. Check. But he wasn't him.

And that was her problem wasn't it? He wasn't him. Nobody was him, and that wouldn't change. Congratulations, Damon. She thought to herself. Congratulations for ruining all men for me. P.S. That kiss didn't help either, Jackass.

Operation: New-Elena. Failed. At least it lasted longer than her New Year's Resolution, to fall in love with Matt.

Elena, Caroline, and Bonnie sat around a table at the Grill. Caroline was going on and on about the gorgeous guy that had officially become breaking news in town. Elena had to focus, she felt bad for being so rude to Caroline sometimes.

"-hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family and all, so he moved around a lot. He's a Gemini, and his favorite color is blue." Caroline finished her rant with a proud smile.

"And you got all that in one day?" Bonnie asked skeptically.

"Please. I got that between third and fourth period." She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "We're planning a June wedding."

"Uh huh." Bonnie said.

"What did you say his name was?" Elena asked, fishing for something to make it seem like she cared.

"Stefan Salvatore."

"Salvatore?"

"Yep. It's Italian. You know, as in savior." She said with a giggle.

No. He couldn't be related. That would be just too weird. But how many Salvatore's does a person run into in their lives? It would make sense maybe...if they were brothers.

"Does um... Does he have a brother?" She tried to play it cool but it must have failed because Bonnie looked at her suspiciously.

"Not that I know of." Caroline shrugged. "Ooh, I bet he looks good in a suit!" She nodded her head eagerly at the thought.

"Hey Mom, I'm meeting Bonnie at the Grill." Elena sing-songed on her way out the door. She was, technically going to meet Bonnie at the Grill. Where they would then walk to the back to school party in the woods.

"Kay, sweetie. Don't be too late."

"I won't." She grabbed her purse and walked out of the front door. Slipping into her car, Elena looked around before backing out of the driveway. Just as she turned back around to the front, she slammed down on the brakes and held back a scream.

Standing in front of her was a man in a leather jacket. Or at least he was there, for maybe a split second. And then he was gone. Elena shook her head, she must have been going crazy.

Already at the party, Caroline danced up to Stefan. "Hey! You made it!" She was already on the verge of tipsy.

"I did." Stefan nodded.

"Well let's get you a beer!"

"Um... Okay." He shrugged and followed after dancing Caroline.

"C'mon!"

By the bonfire, Elena and Bonnie stood talking about the man in the road.

"So what was it?"

"I don't know. You tell me, you're the psychic one." She shot back with a smirk.

"Right. I forgot. Okay gimme a sec, Grams says I have to concentrate."

"Wait!" Elena said just as Bonnie closed her eyes. "You need a crystal ball." She handed her a beer bottle.

"Okay hmm... I'm seeing a man. In the middle of the road."

"Seriously? That's it? Let me guess, you're sensing Seattle and he plays the guitar." Elena said while laughing

"Shut up! It's the drinking, I'll be totally psychic when I'm sober! For now, I'm gonna get a refill." Bonnie turned and left.

Elena watched her go just before turning back to the bonfire.

"Oh my God!" She nearly had a heart attack when she turned and saw Stefan standing there.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He said softly.

"No that's fine... I'm very jumpy. Stefan is it?"

"Yes." He said with a small smile.

"I'm Elena. We have history together, right?"

"And English and French, I believe."

"Right."

"So where did your friend go?" Stefan asked, pointing to where Bonnie disappeared to.

"Oh she had to get a refill." Elena went into the entire psychic plus man in the road story and finished it laughing at her friend.

"Interesting. I like Bonnie. She seems like a good friend." Stefan commented.

"Best friend in the world."

"And um... The guy in the varsity jacket who won't stop staring?"

"That would be Matt." Looking over her shoulder she saw Matt looking down and back up at them. "He's that guy you've known since kindergarten that you start dating because you feel like you owe it to yourselves to see if you could ever be more."

"And what happened?"

"And... It got boring, I guess. It sounds totally shallow but, it wasn't... I don't know."

"Passionate."

"Exactly. Passionate." Passionate was a fantastic word to describe what happened the night she decided to break up with Matt. "And then I met a guy who told me just that. So I broke up with him." She almost rolled her eyes at herself. She just couldn't resist being able to tell one more person about Damon. It was like telling someone made it real again.

Stefan's eyebrows furrowed. "You... Cheated on him?"

"No! No, I didn't... Cheat. I just mean I talked to this guy about it... And I broke up with Matt the next day." She still didn't consider it cheating. It was only a kiss, a really hot kiss.

"Oh. Sorry. I just... Assumed. Are you still with this guy?"

"Who? Mystery man? No, I met him that night, haven't seen him since."

"But you liked him."

"Hard not to. He has that kind of personality, you know?" She shrugged.

"Yeah I think I know someone like that." Stefan said with a smile, looking towards the fire. For a second, Elena had been afraid that he knew who she was talking about, until she realized he was probably talking about another girl.

"Hey, do you have any siblings?" She asked non-chalantly.

"None that I speak of."

"What does that mean?"

"My family and I... Don't come hand in hand. I haven't seen them in a very long time."

Elena nodded, and decided not to push her luck on that one. She glanced down at the beer in Stefan's hand and noticed the glint of light coming from his finger. Her heart almost skipped a beat at the sight of it.

" Nice ring." She commented, pointing to it.

"Oh. It's a family ring. I'm kind of stuck with it. It's wierd, huh?"

Family ring. Stefan and Damon were family, she could be sure of it now.

"No, it's just..." Elena shrugged in her mind before reusing the phrase she had used months ago with Damon. "There are rings, and then there's that."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hey um, it looks like someone wants to talk to you." Elena tilted her head in the direction of a madly waving Caroline. Stefan turned around just as she calmed down and sent him a flirty smile.

"Yeah, I better go talk to her, since she invited me after all."

"You and Caroline are friends?"

"Yeah, I hope so. She's very nice."

Nice. Caroline would be staking claim on him within the hour. "Well you go talk to her, I'm going to find Bonnie."

"Have a nice night, Elena."

"You too, Stefan."

Elena turned around and began walking through the crowd in search of Bonnie. Spotting her about ten yards away, she tried to catch her attention. Before she could, Elena was cut off by someone.

"Looking for someone?"

"Matt... Hey." He wore a pained expression on his face.

"Listen. When you broke up with me, you said you couldn't handle it, that you didn't want to risk what we had. And you and I both know it was bull. I'm not holding a grudge or anything here, I'm just... I heard the stuff Caroline was saying... About you. And some guy." He said guy as if it physically pained him to say it. "I just want to know if that was him. That guy you were talking to."

"Matt... No, Stefan? Not at all, I can barely call him a friend."

"So he's not the guy?"

"No, Matt. No, there is no guy."

"Don't lie to me, Elena. Don't do that."

"Look. Matt. There was a guy, but there isn't anymore. I swear. And I never cheated on you, I met him after I decided to break up with you."

"And how long was that? A week before? A month? More?"

"No! An hour, Matt. I swear, it was that night. But he didn't change my mind. My mind was already made up."

"And I bet making out with him against his truck helped out a whole bunch." Matt said bitterly before walking away.

Elena scolded herself internally. She couldn't believe Caroline had told so many people. How many did it have to be to get back to Matt?

"Hey. You okay?" Bonnie said from behind.

"Yeah. I just... Matt. We... Never mind. Can we just go home?"

"Yeah. Sure."

Stefan's POV

He barged into his room, anger surging through his veins right alongside the need to kill and drain everybody in town. Stefan threw his jacket off and held back a primal scream. He had almost killed her, and it had been so long since he had almost killed someone. So long since he had really given it thought. But she had had so much to drink, and then she grabbed his hand, dragging him in through the woods to show him something, he didn't know, had never gotten to the destination before he was overwhelmed with hunger. How long had it been since he even hunted?

A while. He would go tonight. He couldn't last like this, and if he didn't feed, Caroline Forbes would not survive his company. Nobody in town would. He couldn't risk it. Not when he finally had something normal. Just a normal girl who didn't need to worry about anything remotely dangerous. He would hunt and he would be safe, and Caroline would have nothing to worry about.

And then Elena, she was tempting in a million and one ways. He had the urge to kill her right then and there when he saw her. Not even drink from her, just kill her. Kill her for looking like her. How dare she? His irrational mind said. How dare she look like her?

At the same time he wanted to drink her blood, just like he wanted to drink everyone else's blood.

The worst part was the part that wanted her. He wanted to seduce her, and live in the moment. He wanted to take her home with him and be with Katherine just one more time. But he couldn't do that. Not now, not ever.

He and Katherine had not been in love, he repeated to himself. It wasn't real, and it wouldn't be real with Elena. He didn't come here for her, he came here to settle down and start a life for a few years. Maybe he could even make friends. Hell, he could even get a girlfriend. God knows he needed to get laid before the lust and bloodlust became hunger.

But he wouldn't think like that. He wasn't a ripper anymore, he was the good guy.

He was the good guy.

His thoughts were interrupted by a single black crow landing on the balcony outside his window. It screeched and in that moment he knew exactly what was coming.

"Damon."

"Hello, Brother." Damon said with a perpetual smirk.

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?"

"Wait 'til you see what I can do with the fog."

"It's been fifteen years."

"Thanks God. I couldn't handle any more of the nineties. That horrible grunge look? Did not suit you."

"What are you doing here, Damon?"

"Ah ah ah. Wrong question. The question is what are you doing here, brother. I've been here for a while."

"Why haven't I seen you?"

"Because you've been here, what? A day and a half? I've been living in a motel. Compelled a few maids to give me constant room service. Frankly, I've been having a gay old time."

"You hate small towns. They're boring, you don't have anything to do."

"I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You've met her haven't you?"

"I'm assuming you're talking about... Mrs. Flowers, the lovely old lady who runs that charming B & B just down the road? Oh yeah, she's sweet."

"Elena. You've met Elena."

"Elena. Yes that name does ring a few bells. What about her?"

"You can't do this again, Damon. I won't let you. I won't sit here and watch you experience Katherine again."

"Why you want her all for yourself?" Damon said, his eyes blaming Stefan.

"No. I don't want anything to do with her. She is trouble, Damon. History is not going to repeat itself."

"Charming. How you think you have power over me. Really. It's cute. But Elena is not Katherine. And unlike you, I have no plans of pretending she is."

"I'm not pretending she-"

"Either way." Damon cut him off. "Doesn't matter does it? I hear you have your own little chew toy already. Caroline, is it?"

"How do you know about Caroline?"

"I have my ways. So have you... What's the latest lingo now...hooked up? Banged? Tasted her rainbow?"

"She's not a chew toy, Damon. Nor is she a whore... Or a... Pack of skittles."

"Alright, whatever you say lil' bro. And uh, if you don't mind, I've been getting kinda home sick lately. I think I might crash here for another uh... Ten years or so." Damon began to walk out the door and added over his shoulder, "See ya for breakfast, Steffy."

Wow I'm really enjoying writing this story… you have no idea how happy the response made me. I've been writing like mad as a thank you and I hope you're pleased with Chapter 2 :D