A/N: Look! I updated! I know, I know its been two years. And I am so very sorry. I was never lying when I said I hadn't lost hope in this story and was still planning on completing it. I was going through a tough time working the graveyard shift at my job and going to school full time. My health and my social life suffered. I now have a job with normal hours and a lighter class schedule. I got scattered reviews and story follows over the years and that's what made me decide to finally get back on the horse. I have a new plan for this story and I'm more excited now more than ever to finish it. I cannot thank you enough for reading my story and sticking with me. Enjoy the next chapter!

Damon sat on his couch and stared out at the city. Elena was still asleep in her room and Jeremy still hadn't returned from last night. He had a mug of coffee warming his hands, which felt odd since he couldn't remember the last time he had a cup of coffee in the morning. Most of his mornings usually started with a tumbler of bourbon to kick start him for the day. He shook his head in disbelief at the past several days. If someone had told him a week ago that he would be here now, he would have thought they were insane.

He supposed it wasn't too out of character for him. He used to be a really good guy. Hopefully he could go back to being that guy. He would still have to work, though. That couldn't change. Damon cringed thinking about Monday morning. He would have to go back to his full over-time work schedule. The first few days back were going to be the worst considering he had been gone a whole week. He groaned just thinking about the shit he was gonna have to deal with.

Damon really hoped that Caroline and Elena had hit it off well enough that they would spend time together. He certainly wouldn't have much time to see her with his work getting in the way. It pissed him off that he had to live that way. Hopefully only a few more months, and then he could break free of his father.

Groaning, he pulled himself off of the couch and stretched before going back into the kitchen to clean up. As he scrubbed his mug, Jeremy came in through the elevator doors. His clothes were wrinkled and he had some awful bedhead, but he had a huge smile on his face. Damon laughed and called out to him. "You know, under other circumstances I would probably rail you with a joke on the walk of shame. But you look damn proud of yourself." Jeremy blushed, making Damon laugh harder. "Oh man, if only your sister was up to see you now."

Jeremy scowled at him then rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever dick." He walked down the hallway to his room, and when his door clicked shut Elena's clicked open.

"Was that Jeremy I heard? He's home?" Elena came around to meet Damon in the kitchen and he smiled. She looked so beautiful in the morning, even if her hair was a little messy. Elena noticed him staring. "What?"

"Cute PJ's." He smirked at her and she blushed. She was wearing a thin white tank top with short black shorts that hugged her ass nicely.

She rolled her eyes, walked over to him and then punched him on the shoulder. "Knock it off, Salvatore. You might be cute, but that doesn't mean you can get away with anything you want." Her smile was teasing.

Damon scoffed, offended and folded his arms across his chest. "Cute? I'm not cute. I'm sexy. I'm handsome. I'm not cute." No one had ever called him cute. Well, besides his mom, but she had special privileges.

"Mmmhm, whatever you say Damon." Laughing, she switched topics. "So how did Jeremy look when he came in just now?"

"He got laid." Her eyes bugged and her jaw dropped. "He looked like a guy who just got home from getting laid." Damon shrugged.

"It was his first date! Do you really think he did?" She groaned. "I have never touched that subject with him before."

"It's not really something most guys like to talk about with their sisters."

Elena cringed. "Yeah, you're completely right."

Damon's phone went off and he smiled when he saw Ric's contact come up on the screen. He held up a finger to Elena before swiping to answer. "Hey, what's up?"

"He's alive!" Ric's teasing voice boomed over the line. "You've been so spotty with my calls lately dude. You confused the shit out of me with the weirdness about your trip to Portland and even when you got back your call was sketchy."

Damon sighed, feeling bad for keeping his friend in the dark. "I'm sorry man. It's been a rough couple of days and I'm still trying to get my head screwed on straight."

"Hey, I get it." Ric laughed. "But you had said that you wanted me to meet someone?"

Damon glanced over at Elena. She was pouring herself a cup of coffee. He had already asked her about Ric and she had agreed. Plus, she had done well meeting Stefan and Caroline on such short notice. "Yeah, two someones actually. When are you free?"

"I was actually thinking of heading over now."

"Ric, it's Thursday. Skipping work again?" Damon tried to hide his bitterness, but he was still sore about that whole subject.

"When Jenna wants me she wants me man, what can I do? My wife comes first. Actually, if I come over she'll have to come with me. Sound good?"

Damon knew that Jenna was such a sweet and caring woman. She was much less to handle than Caroline. If Elena and Jeremy could handle Care they could handle just about anyone. "Yeah, that sounds perfect. How long do you think you'll be?" Ric was silent for a moment, and then coughed awkwardly. "Ric?"

"So, I kind of assumed that you would be cool with everything, so we're already on our way. Like, I can see your building from here."

Dammit. Why did this keep happening? Elena was fine with meeting people, but even he would prefer to have an advanced warning. The two minutes it would take for them to get up here would hardly give him enough time to get Jeremy in here and explain what was going on. But now he had no choice. "Dammit Ric, you could have given me a better warning. First Stefan and Caroline and now you. Fine, whatever you're already here. See you in a few." Damon clicked the phone shut and got Elena's attention. "Go get Jeremy. Ric and his wife are on their way up now to meet you guys."

Elena gaped at him. "Damon! You couldn't have given me a better warning? I just rolled out of bed! And Jeremy just came back from… well you know."

Damon exhaled sharply. "I know, and I'm sorry but I wasn't given any warning either. I'm sorry that this is happening again. But you and Jeremy did fine with Caroline and Stefan. Ric and Jenna shouldn't be too hard to handle either."

Elena froze and stared at Damon. Her face was giving off all types of emotions, from fear to joy and just about everything in between. "Elena?" She didn't answer. "Elena what's going on? Talk to me."

Her voice sounded hoarse, her emotions making it hard to speak. "Did you say Jenna? And Ric? Like, Alaric? Oh my god." She stumbled and Damon ran to grab her shoulders and hold her up.

"Yes, I already told you that. Why, what's going on?" The elevator doors opened and Elena's eyes shot straight to their direction. Jenna and Ric stepped out, and though Ric continued into the living room Jenna stayed frozen in place. Her eyes widened and teared up, and when Damon looked back at Elena he saw that hers were, too.

Jenna's strangled voice was barely a whisper. "Elena?"

Elena made a sound that was half laugh and half sob, and all she could do was nod. Jenna was across the room with Elena in her arms in a heartbeat, and Damon was stuck wondering what the hell was going on. He looked to Ric who seemed to be confused but only for a moment. Then something seemed to clear up for him and he looked at the two women with a sad smile on his face. Meanwhile, Damon was still lost.

Elena was wrapped up in Jenna's arms and they were both crying, unable to use any words. Jeremy, now a little tidier than he had been when he first came in, came out of his room to see what was going on. Jenna turned her head and when she saw him started to laugh through her tears. "Jeremy? Oh my god you're huge!"

"Jenna!" Jeremy broke into a smile and ran to join them. He wrapped his arms around both of them and pulled them all tight together. Watching it all play out, Damon didn't know how to react. He slowly made his way over to Ric and pulled him into the kitchen. "Do you wanna tell me what the hell is going on? Because everyone here seems to know besides me!" He tried to keep his voice down. He may not have understood what was happening in the living room, but he knew he didn't want to interrupt.

Ric smiled at him. "Remember when I told you that Jenna lost her family in an accident about two years ago?"

Damon furrowed his brows, still confused. "Yeah, and…?"

"Well, her sister and brother-in-law died at the scene, but no one was ever able to figure out what happened to the son and daughter. Their remains weren't found in the car, but absolutely no one knew where they went." He paused, and realization dawned on Damon. "Elena and Jeremy? Jenna is their aunt."

"Shit."

Alaric laughed. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

….

When she pulled out of the hug, all Elena could do was stare at Jenna. This was the last thing she expected. She had made her peace with never being able to see her aunt again about a year ago. Seeing her now was a little bit overwhelming as well as exciting.

However, with the joy came the nerves. Surely Jenna would start in on the questions. How could she not? She was under the impression that she had lost her entire family, and now she was just finding out that her niece and nephew actually survived. The next hour or so was going to be really hard.

Sure enough, after cheeks were wiped and noses were blown, Jenna started up. "I can't believe it. How are you two here? Where have you been? Why didn't you call me? How-"

"Jenna! Stop, please." Elena placed her hands on her aunt's shoulders to try and calm her down. Elena couldn't answer all those questions all at once, and some of them she wasn't even sure she could answer at all. How devastated would Jenna be to know that her two remaining family members just up and left? Granted, they had a good reason but it would still hurt to know the truth.

Jenna sighed. "Elena, I am so happy that you and Jeremy are alive and okay. Seriously, do you have any idea how much it's killed me the past two years to not have any idea what happened to you two? Knowing that my sister and brother-in-law died is bad enough, but to live with the uncertainty of where you two were? If you were alive or dead or…" Jenna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were fierce. "I need answers, Elena." Then she looked at Jeremy. "I need them from both of you."

Jeremy took his aunt's hand and led her to the couch. "I think you should be sitting for this Jenna. And you should know beforehand that nothing you hear is going to be good."

Jenna looked wary. "Except for the ending where you're both alive, safe, and with me again, right?" When neither answered, Jenna's wariness increased. "Right?"

Elena closed her eyes. "Jenna, it's not over. Not yet."

Jenna shook her head furiously. "Okay, what's not over? Start from the beginning."

"Well, that's the thing," Elena said. "I'm not even entirely sure what the beginning is."

Jenna's stare went blank. "Elena what does that even mean?"

"It means that I'm not even sure why I'm on the run or who is after me, I just know that this is what mom and dad wanted." Sighing, Elena prepared herself to finally tell the story of that night.

"Elena, Jeremy, please come downstairs!" Miranda yelled up to her kids while waiting in the kitchen with her husband. As they came down, she looked over to her husband. "Gray, are you sure this is the right thing to do? We haven't properly had time to discuss this. Leaving may not be the best decision. We could go to the police or call-"

"Enough." Grayson cut her off with a stern voice. "She basically is the police. She has enough connections, Miranda, you know that. This is the only way."

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" Elena looked to her parents with worried eyes. They both looked tense and she could just feel that something bad was about to happen.

Grayson let out a heavy sigh. "Both of you need to pack your things. We need to leave tonight. I know you might not understand right now, but your mother and I will explain later. Right now it is just important that we are gone within the next hour." He didn't want this to happen to his family. Grayson wanted nothing more than for all of them to just be safe without having to turn to such drastic measures. But it didn't matter. All he cared about right now was just keeping his baby girl safe. They would figure out a better solution once they were gone and out of harm's way.

Jeremy spoke up. "Leaving? What the hell, why?" His voice was louder than he intended, but what did they expect? To just spring this kind of thing on them out of nowhere? "When are we coming back? Where are we going?" He could tell from his parent's demeanor that this was not a family vacation. Something was going on.

Miranda tried to give her son a comforting smile. "Don't get upset, sweetheart. We're just going on a road trip. Taking the days as they come. We don't know where we'll go or when we come back. But we have to leave now." She hated uprooting her family like this and leaving her children in the dark. They had a right to know, especially Elena, why the entire family would be on the run. Unfortunately, she also knew that they couldn't talk about it right now. They needed to leave right now. Answers would come once they got out of the state.

This time it was Elena who spoke up. "You guys can't seriously expect me and Jeremy to just follow you blindly without knowing where we're going or when we're coming back! We're both still in school, we have friends we can't just abandon our lives."

"What about Vicki, what am I supposed to tell her?" Jeremy realized he'd also be leaving his girlfriend behind.

Grayson raised to a tone that left no room for argument. "Listen to me. Both of you." He got their attention. "I know that this is confusing and I know you're upset and I know you don't want to do this but this family is in danger and we need to leave, now. Go upstairs and pack lightly. Only essentials. I expect to see both of you down here at the end of the hour. I will explain what is going on when we get to our first stopping point." He sighed and softened his voice. "I love both of you, so much, and I would never do anything that would upset you if I didn't absolutely have to. You need to trust me and your mother on this. Please, you need to trust us."

Elena saw the desperation in both of her parents, and even though she didn't understand what was going on she knew that she needed to trust them. She lightly grabbed Jeremy's arm. "Come on, Jer. We're both confused and we're both hurt but we're all in this together as a family and if this is what we need to do then we'll do it. Let's go pack."

Jeremy finally relented. He was more than just hurt, as his sister had said. He was angry. But he also knew that his parents truly wouldn't do this if they didn't need to. It was obviously very important that they leave tonight, so he went upstairs with Elena to pack.

At the top of the stairs, Jeremy grabbed Elena's arm as she turned towards her room. "Hey, you don't have any idea what this is about?"

"No, not a clue. This came out of nowhere. They were fine this morning and they were even fine when we got home from school." She truly was stunned. She had no idea why her parents would spring this on them. "We need to trust them Jeremy. We need to completely and one hundred percent trust that this is what we need to do. All of us, together as a family. We're in this together no matter what. Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise."

Once in the car, all of them with a small bag with their things, they headed out of Mystic Falls, Virginia, and none of them had a clue when they would return.

Elena sat quietly in the backseat, watching as they drove past everything familiar until finally it was unfamiliar. She still didn't know where they were heading, but she could tell from some of the street signs they were passing that they were heading out of the state. Her dad confirmed it with his next sentence.

"We'll just head out of the state, and then we'll find somewhere to stay. A motel or something like that, preferably one not on the main road."

"When are you going to finally tell us why we're running?" Jeremy piped up from the back. "We both have a right to know why we left everything behind."

Miranda turned around from the passenger seat and lightly touched her son's leg. "I know things are confusing right now but this is not the best time to discuss it. After we've settled into the motel and we feel a bit safer we will explain everything, I promise." She hated keeping her children in the dark but knew it was for the best right now. The car was not the best place to possibly start up a fight. She didn't want Jeremy to end up resenting his sister for being the reason they all had to bolt.

Elena sighed, but stayed quiet. She knew that her parents were only doing what they thought was best. Whatever the outcome, they were still in this together. Suddenly she heard her mom yell out.

"Grayson look out!"

It was too late. All Elena saw before her world started spinning was headlights aimed straight for her. The loud crunch of the truck hitting the car and the jolt from being forced into the air made the pain too much to bear and she blacked out. When she finally came to, who knows how much longer, she was upside down hanging with her brother tugging on her.

"'Lena! Elena wake up! Oh, god, please wake up" Jeremy was in tears. He had just managed to untangle himself and get out of the car. He had tried getting his parents to respond but there was nothing. Now he was trying to rouse his sister. "Elena!"

As she opened her eyes, Elena saw her brother's panicked tear stricken face. "I'm okay Jer, I'm okay. Help me down." They worked together to get her seatbelt off and to pull her out of the car safely. She was bleeding in many places, but it didn't seem too bad. Just cuts here and there from the glass.

Elena ran over to her mother's side of the car and Jeremy tried to wake their dad. "Mom? Mom come on wake up." She was covered in blood and it didn't look like she was breathing. Elena tried to remember some of the first aid that she had learned in her health class last year. She tried to find her mom's pulse but was able to find nothing. She started to sob as reality started to set in. "No… no no no please wake up, please wake up! Mom!" She looked over at her brother trying to blink away the tears. He was desperately trying to tug their father out of the car. "Jer.."

Jeremy couldn't give up. He wouldn't. There was no way that his parents had just died. No fucking way. "Dad! Fuck Dad come on wake up! You can't do this!" Jeremy felt his sister's arms come around his shoulders and shrugged her off. "What are you doing? Get off of me go help mom!" But Elena didn't let go.

"They're gone, Jer." She sobbed into his shoulder. "They didn't make it like we did. They're gone." The devastation ripping through her was almost too much to bear.

"Don't say that! They're not dead… they can't be dead, they were just here… they were just alive!" Jeremy slowly realized that his attempts were futile. Both of his parents were gone. They had both left them. He turned around to face his sister and they both sat there and hugged each other, sobbing at the loss of their parents.

After a few moments, Elena pulled away and tried to pull herself together. "We have to get out of here."

"What?" Jeremy shot up. "We can't just leave them here! They're our parents Elena we have to call the police! We can't leave them." What was his sister thinking? Their mom and dad had just died. The next step was call the ambulance, go home, and try to adjust to whatever fucked up life they were gonna have from now on. He didn't even want to think about that, the pain was just too much.

"Well we can't go back! We're on the run, Jeremy. We might not know why but they did and this was what they needed us to do!" It killed her to talk about them like this. It made their deaths real. "We need to keep going. We need to take our bags, take whatever money they had on them, and get out of here."

Jeremy was astonished. "Are you crazy? We don't even know what we're running from, Elena! How are we supposed to run if we don't know what we're doing? I'm only fifteen years old, and you're only seventeen. How the hell are we supposed to pull this off on our own?" He was frustrated. How could she think that going back was the solution?

"Jeremy, think about it. There's no way this was just an accident. You think it's a coincidence that we experience a hit and run just hours after mom and dad tell us we need to leave? This was planned. And whoever did it surely thinks that we're dead right now. That gives us a solid couple hours start. It will take a while for someone to find them…it's the middle of the night. By the time the police get here and realize that we were also supposed to be in the car we could be a whole other state over by then. We have a head start and we shouldn't waste it. I am just as devastated as you at the loss of our parents…" Her voice started to break, but she knew she had to be strong for her brother. She needed to protect him. It's what they would have wanted. "This is what they need us to do. If we go back home and whoever is trying to kill us is there waiting for us, then mom and dad will have died for nothing." She knew that last part was a low blow, but she needed to get through to him. She was going to continue on but she wouldn't leave her brother behind. "We're in this together, remember?"

Jeremy was heartbroken. Losing his hometown and his girlfriend had been bad, but now he had lost his parents. Elena was right though, if they didn't keep running then their parent's efforts and their deaths would have been wasted. With a heavy sigh and an even heavier heart, he wrestled through the car to get his sister's bag and his as well. He handed Elena hers and watched as she wiped away her tears. "Well, what now?"

Elena took his hand. "Now we run."

A/N: So, how'd I do? I am so so so happy to be back at this story again! For those of you who have stuck with me through those awful empty two years, I cannot even express how much it means to me. For new readers, I am so happy you chose to read my story and I can't wait to finish this story with ALL of you! Let me know what you think of this chapter! Sending so much love to all of you.