"He knew what he was doing, Hope. I'm sorry." Damon squeezed her shoulder gently while he bent down and hooked his hands under her father's arms. Alaric came out to help the, knowing full well Damon could of picked John up with one hand. Hope tried not to watch as Damon and Alaric dragged her father's body back into the witches' house. She closed her eyes and almost stumbled at the amount of grief and guilt that consumed her. Her father died thinking she didn't love him, he died thinking that she hated him, that he was a bad father. Sure, he hadn't been perfect, but she should never had said that Grayson was a better father. She was a terrible person, a terrible daughter. She would never get to make it up to him, and they would never go back to the Grease diner, and they would never go back to Luke's and continue training. How would she tell Luke? They were such good friends by the time her dad had left, they were a little family...how would her mom handle the news?

"Hope, can you take me home?" She turned and saw Jeremy's shining brown eyes staring at her. He looked so young and so much like he had last spring when Grayson and Miranda had died she felt her heart break even more.

"Of course, Jer, does Elena want a ride?" He shook his head as he wrapped his arms around Hope as she led them to the Impala and took them home, Jeremy sitting in the middle to hold his cousin's hand to comfort them both. Hope could feel her facade slipping and just hoped that they would make it to the house before she broke.

When they made it back to the house, Hope led Jeremy up to his room and they both sat on his bed and mourned. Hope couldn't bear the thought that she would never see her dad again, would never crack a joke with him, he was gone. How would she tell her mom? Jenna? Another flood of guilt swept her under and she cried harder into Jeremy's pillow, he having fell asleep after she had, without his permission, performed a weak sleeping charm on him. A knock on the door informed her that Jenna was home and she was glad to have been on the side of the bed that was facing the wall instead of the door. She wiped her face and cleared her throat before sitting up and turning to see Alaric standing in the doorway, the hallway light casting a long shadow on the floor of Jeremy's floor. She shook him awake as Alaric sat on the foot of the bed, his hands shaking.

"I've got bad news guys. Jenna, she um... Klaus took her tonight, and used her as the vampire sacrifice. I'm so sorry." How can one family suffer so much in one night? How can one person harbor so much grief? By that time, Hope was so full of grief that she couldn't even cry as her younger cousin began to sob for the first time that night. Her heart was so full of ache and guilt and she had no idea what to do with herself as Jeremy cried in her arms. She didn't know who to turn to, Elena wasn't home, and Caroline was dealing with the problem with her mother and Matt-

She was cut off by a tapping, and she dreaded having to deal with the dead right now, and she cursed herself for not keeping up the shield these last few hours. It was why everything was hitting her so hard, the guilt about her dad and Jenna, the hopelessness that settled inside her lungs like an iron weight. It was hard to focus while she tried to hold onto Jeremy as he cried, but he came first. The grief rolled off him in waves as they clung to each other. She held on to her weak shield long enough to allow Jeremy to cry himself to sleep. As soon as his breathing regulated she threw solid steel walls up around her mind to force the voices that had started to seep through the cracks back. She was alone and it was silent in the house now. Where could she go?

She slipped from Jeremy's bed and jogged down the stairs and out of the house to her car. It wasn't until she had pulled up to his house and knocked on his door that she remembered they were no longer friends. She turned to leave quickly before he could answer the door, but luck was obviously not on her side tonight.

"What are you doing here?" His voice wasn't angry, it was cautious. She stayed with her back to him, hands on the porch railing, and tried to find a way to apologize for everything that has happened in the last few days.

"Matt, I'm so-"

"I don't want to hear it Hope." He said. Her shoulders slumped. This was the end of their friendship, there was no salvaging anything. She nodded and looked back at him as she took a step towards the stair when he grabbed her arm. "I don't want to hear it because there is nothing to apologize for. I was a dick, I'm the one who should be sorry."

When she turned to look at Matt, he had not seen her that heartbroken, ever, not even when she found out that Elena was her sister. Her eyes were dry but her skin was pale as she hugged him hard, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

"Jenna and my dad are dead." He heard her say, her words muffled by his neck. His heart sank for her and he hugged her as tight her could, all his contempt for the supernatural as they held each other on his porch, light from the inside of his house spilling over them, melting away. Hope would always be Hope, and it didn't matter that she was a part of the crazy world that stole his sister away.

And then she broke in his arms and he helped her into his house, up his stairs, and into his room.

Hello all! Here, a small chapter for all you lovelies! I'll be working another betwixt all the homework and tests coming up in my life as a college student. I hope you guys liked this chapter, as short as it may be!

Love to you all!