"So," Bonnie said eagerly, "what happened?" She asked in what was clearly a desperate attempt to try and get Elena to open up. That seemed obvious to Damon, at least, but he noticed Elena was staring blankly at the TV, listening as someone prattled on about weight-loss miracles, but not really paying attention. She was zoning out, as she often did, but she shrugged for Bonnie's benefit.

He had hoped having Bonnie there would finally snap Elena out of it, especially when he saw how Elena had reacted seeing her friend again. While she did seem calmer-which, really, she didn't need to be any more of—she still seemed rather empty. It was one extreme after another, emptiness, lust, anger, empty again. It was almost like she was a newborn vamp. Maybe Elena just wasn't ready to deal with it all yet. Maybe she just needed time, which she definitely had. And so did he. He wasn't giving up.

He rolled his eyes as Bonnie attempted yet another useless question. And Bonnie wasn't giving up, either, apparently. He decided to go rescue Elena from another shrug. Honestly, he was surprised her shoulders weren't sore.

He walked in front of them where they both sat on the couch in front of the TV in the second parlor. He loved the room in the daytime, it got so bright, but it was nighttime now. He stopped directly in front of Elena and bent over until his face was inches away from hers. He'd found it was the best way to get her attention. Well, that and groping her, but he didn't want to do that in front of company. She lost her gazed look, and as her eyes slowly focused on him, a slow smile spread across her face. He felt himself grin in return. "You want to go on an errand with me?"

"Yeah." She answered back simply, and they just stared into each other's face smiling, until the sound of Bonnie's throat clearing brought them back. He glanced at her and saw she was surprised at the interaction. Elena must not have told her about him. Which shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. He'd talk to Elena about it, maybe freshen up her memory on how to talk to friends, and how that entails telling them things sometimes. He found it ironic the guy who'd never had friends now had to give a former social butterfly advice.

He straightened and held out his hand. Elena stood and took it, clutching it with both of her own like it was a life preserver. "We'll be back later, Bonnie."

"Whatever." She said, frowning and crossing her arms as she turned back to the screen. Must have been a really great weight loss infomercial. Yeah, he'd definitely try to have a little talk with Elena. It wouldn't do to have Bonnie so upset, because although Elena wouldn't know why, he knew she would feel it. She was more in tune with people than she knew.

He decided to bring up the Bonnie situation while they drove to the hospital. "Elena, were you uncomfortable with Bonnie asking so many questions?"

"No, why?" She asked, staring out the window.

"I know you haven't seen her in a while, but she is still your friend, and you have to do right by her." He tried to look at Elena, but she kept her face turned from his.

"How?" She finally whispered.

"All you have to do is open up. When she asks questions, don't blow them off, give her details. Or, if you don't want to talk about it, tell her so. She'll understand, and even though you haven't told her anything, at least she'll know it's not because you want to ignore her." He still couldn't see Elena's expression. He took one hand off the wheel (his eyes hadn't even been on the road for a while) and grasped Elena's head so that he could turn it towards him. "Do you understand?" She didn't say anything. "You hurt her feelings when you ignored her, and I know you didn't mean to. Do you get it now? People need to talk, even if they don't actually say anything." Elena finally nodded, and he let her cheek go. She went back to looking out the window. "And it couldn't hurt to ask some questions of your own. Take an interest in your friend's life."

Elena pouted and didn't say anything more the rest of the drive to the hospital until they pulled into its parking lot. He got out of his car swiftly, and with his vampire speed was in the hospital and sneaking past patients and nurses easily. Elena tried to be as smooth as him. He stopped abruptly and hid behind a corner, waiting for a group of doctors walked by. "What are we doing here?" Elena asked grumpily.

"Getting more blood." He said shortly. "I'm eating for two now, remember?"

That shut Elena up, and he came to the vault that stored the blood without any problems. He'd had a lot of practice. He knew the code to unlock it, and when the door opened, he started grabbing handfuls of blood bags, giving some to her, and stuffing some in his pockets.

He had just closed the vault door when a man's voice shouted at them. "Hey, what do you think you're doing in there?" Damon grabbed the man by the neck and hauled him into the room, closing the room door as he did so.

"You didn't see anything unusual tonight." Damon was compelling the man before he'd even had a chance to scream.

But the compulsion didn't seem to be working right. The man only looked confused as he struggled to breath around Damon's hand. "Damon?" The man asked in a strangled voice.

"Matt?" Damon exclaimed, and released his hold on him. The name startled Elena, and she looked closer at the man now crumpled on the floor gasping for air. It was true, it was Matt, she thought. He had the same pleasing light blue eyes, but his hair was thinning and less blonde than it used to be. But his physic was just fine, and he was wearing blue scrubs.

He looked up and saw her for the first time. "Elena?" His voice sounded better now, and his face lit up with his smile. The laugh lines around his eyes were oddly attractive to her. "I can't believe it. I actually thought you were dead." He looked down at the blood bags in her hands. "I guess I don't have to ask why you don't look any older, or what you two are doing here."

"On a mission to kill Klaus. Needed to stalk up on blood. Leaving now." Damon said in clipped sentences, eager to be away from him.

"You want to kill Klaus? How can I help?" Matt asked, still the good old boy he used to be.

"You can't." Damon scoffed. "Come on, Elena." But even though he was going towards the door, she wasn't. She was still looking at him. At Matt.

"Maybe we can stay and chat." Elena said pointedly, smiling at Damon.

Ringing cut off Damon's response, and Matt pulled a phone from one of his pockets. Damon was standing next to him so he saw the woman's picture as the phone call flashed across his screen before Matt hit 'ignore'. But it only took a second to figure out what had Matt attracted to her in the first place. Her face was too thin, the dark circles under her eyes too pronounced, and hair too mousy a shade of brown, but there was a definite similarity between her and Elena.

Matt noticed Damon staring and explained, "My wife."

"Why aren't you answering?" Damon asked slickly. "You find out she's a poor substitute for the real thing?"

Matt followed Damon's eyes to Elena, and anger flashed across his face before it evaporated into stress. He drew a haggard breath and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "She was probably calling about the divorce papers." He sighed. "And I just can't deal with it right now."

Elena put a slim hand on Matt's shoulder and gave him a gentle smile. Matt smiled up at her gratefully. "What happened between you two?" She rubbed gentle circles in his arm and Damon watched each revolution with a slimy, acidy, jealous feeling. It especially annoyed him when he realized she was only using his advice, and taking an interest by asking questions.

"I proposed when I found out she was pregnant. We got married, but she lost the baby six months in. It was hard on both of us, but especially on her." His voice broke. "Last night she told me she couldn't stand the sight of me."

"Oh." Elena let out a small gasp, but then drew Matt into a firm hug. For a moment, Damon thought Matt was going to start blubbering like a baby in Elena's arms, but he didn't.

Damon had to restrain himself from ripping Elena away from him when he started to feel the hug was going on too long. He only managed to stop himself by rationalizing that this was helping Elena connect to people. And Damon had to help her, even if it meant letting some idiot human put his arms around her in an embrace.

Matt finally pulled away. "Thanks." He told her. "Look, Damon, I know I'm not anything special, but please let me help you." He took a deep breath. "I could really use the distraction right now."

"How could you possibly help us? Klaus would wipe the floor with you without even realizing he was doing it." Damon tried to turn, but stopped when he felt Elena grab his arm. Shit, he knew where this was headed.

She turned him so that he was looking into those compelling brown eyes. "Let him stay at the mansion, Damon. He can help Bonnie with the research."

He heard the pleading tone in her sweet voice, saw it in her eyes, and almost broke right there, but found his steely composure at the last moment. "No."

"I can help with research, you should see me research really, I'm amazing." Damon glared at Matt as he spoke, but Matt didn't seem to be intimidated. "I can also patch anyone up who gets hurt in a fight without any hassle from ER doctors or police." Damon still looked unimpressed. "I can also do some grunt work like get coffee, maybe do your blood runs for you?"

Damon had been opening his mouth to blow Matt off, but shut it suddenly. Having someone on hospital staff getting his blood for him would be convenient. It finally convinced him. "Fine. Do research, give stitches, whatever, but when you see that blood's running low, you have to restock it, understood?" Damon asked, his blue eyes harsh and glaring.

Matt nodded eagerly, and Elena's face broke out into a huge smile. "Bonnie will be so pleased to see you, Matt." She chirped, sounding all the world like she'd finally found a companion for a desperately lonely toy. "Bring your stuff by the mansion after work and get settled in. There are so many rooms to choose from!"

And very few they hadn't had sex in, he thought. But then Elena grabbed his hand, and swung it between them like an excited five-year-old as they carried their stolen blood to the car and all other thoughts were forgotten. Her smile somehow managed to be sweet and innocent and sexy and inviting all at the same time.

000000

Later that night, Damon watched as Elena sat on the couch next to Bonnie. Bonnie didn't say anything, but Elena tried taking the initiative and striking a conversation first. It didn't look like it was going too well, and Damon had a sneaking suspicion that if Elena still sweat, she would be right then.

Damon heard footsteps approach, but didn't turn around. He heard Matt set down two heavy suitcases and give a deep sigh. Damon didn't think it was one of excursion, but rather one of pure exhaustion. He wouldn't be hard to take down at all. Damon could just tell Elena that he never showed, and boom! Just like that, a potential threat to their new relationship was eliminated. But he couldn't do that to her, he thought, finally turning to face him. He wasn't wearing scrubs anymore, instead opting for a pair of shorts and a white beater.

Matt just stood there and didn't talk, but he was watching Elena so intently Damon's gums tingled with need to unleash his fangs on the boy's neck. He tried to hold back, but couldn't help the growl that escaped. "I don't like the way you're looking at her." Damon spit out, barely containing the venom in his voice.

Matt looked back at him, startled. "I didn't mean to-"

"You still love her," Damon accused.

Matt hazarded a quick look back at her. "Yeah, I still have feelings for her. They've never gone away, and I don't think they ever really will." His voice had gone quiet, but Elena was completely oblivious. Bonnie was talking to her rapidly in an excited voice, and though Elena looked overwhelmed, she was trying to keep up. "But I see the way she is now, with Bonnie, how hard it is for her. She's not quite the same girl she used to be. It was clear even at the hospital." He absently rubbed his shoulder.

"Bonnie hasn't noticed, because Bonnie's changed, too." Damon reflected.

Matt nodded and moved his hand. "What I'm trying to say is-"

"What is that?" Damon interrupted, grabbing Matt and pulling him so that Damon could see his arm better. There was a bruise, the size of a softball, in deep purple on Matt's right shoulder. Right where Elena had rubbed the circles in his arm that Damon had been so jealous of. "Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"What good would it have done?" Matt countered. "Anyway, my point was, I saw the way she is with you. With Bonnie it's hard, but with you it's easy. She looks like the girl I knew." Matt turned back around to watch her once more. "Hell, she looks happier than that girl. So, I don't mind, and I'm not going to try and steal her away. As if I even could. I know I wouldn't make her half so happy, and I just want what's best for her. Besides, I have other things on my plate right now," he said, fingering the ring of white flesh around the finger on his left hand where his wedding band obviously used to be. He snapped out of his thoughts and reached down to pull a light sweatshirt over his arms, just so that his bruise wouldn't show. He went over and walked to the girls.

Damon stayed where he was, and watched as Bonnie squealed at seeing him and jump into his arms. He watched Matt spin her around in his arms, and watched Elena observing them quietly, happily. For once, it occurred to him that he might not have to fix Elena alone, and that this boy who suffered a bruise with a complete poker face as it happened might be the only other person who wanted Elena to get better as much as he did.

A/N: Big thanks to Pokinmju and LittleGooseWalking, who left wonderful, thoughtful reviews. Also, everyone who alerted or favorited. You rock!