It starts to hit her then, as she sits across from him. They're leaving for an undetermined amount of time, and she'll see him every day. The thought begins to sink in as they get their food. He's quieter than usual, but she knows it's because he misses his siblings. Thoughts whirl around as they sit in comfortable silence.
He's in the same position as she is. Everyone is leaving, and they're leaving together so they aren't left behind. There's something oddly comforting about that, and as she looks at him, she knows she wants to know him for the rest of her life. He's just one of those people that she can't imagine ever leaving without leaving holes in her life. He looks at her and those stupid butterflies flutter like they've just been given espresso.
They leave tomorrow morning. She's flying away from the nest, leaving everything. Part of her tries to rationalize not going. Staying in Mystic Falls means a predetermined fate. It's all safe, and home territory. But there's no challenge to that either, and she doesn't think that really counts as living. She doesn't want to be stuck where she is, but she also doesn't know what she wants to do with her life. She's hoping traveling will help her figure it out.
She's not going to stress about college, she tells herself. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. She's not going to force it. Some things needed pushes and others needed to happen on their own, she learned over the years. Elijah's there, and she's just going to focus on the present, she decides.
She tells Elijah she'll see him the next morning as they split the bill. He nods, and she goes home.
She soaks up every single moment of being with her family, part of her thinks Alaric will propose before Jeremy gets out of highschool. But she doesn't press at that idea, she'll leave it alone. She tries her hardest to not forget a second of it. She doesn't know when she'll be back for something like this.
The hours pass too quickly, and she gets less sleep than she had planned. She wouldn't trade sleep for those memories though. They're too valuable to her, and she's glad Alaric stayed over. They'll all be there to say goodbye in the morning. With that in mind, she drifts off to sleep easily.