Prologue

As a kid growing up in Mystic Falls Virginia there were two things I was sure of; one, I couldn't wait to get away from the small town life, and two, Damon Salvatore and I would remain best friends forever.

Now we all know that the things we wish for as kids very seldom come true, but I was fairly certain that both of those things were very doable.

Damon is 2 years older than me which was never a problem growing up, he was always my protector from all things scary as a kid, but then the time came for him to graduate high school and move on to bigger and better things.

So you can see why I would be jealous of the fact that he left home the moment he got his acceptance letter to NYU.

Leaving me and the rest of our friends behind

I knew from that moment on that New York was exactly where I wanted to go after I graduated, so from that day on I studied my butt off and did every extra credit assignment available in order to make my dream become a reality

And today was that day, the day that, that beautiful coveted large envelope sealed with the official NYU seal was sitting in my mailbox, addressed to Elena Gilbert.

I don't even make it into my house before I rip it open, not worrying about saving it as some sort of keepsake

Ms. Elena Gilbert,

We are proud to inform you of your acceptance to our fall 2014 School year…

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" I shout

"What? Elena honey, what's going on?" my mom comes rushing out of the house

"I got in!" I squeal

My mom takes a minute to compose her, of course she wants me to go to college, she just doesn't understand why I want to move so far away

"That's great news honey!" she hugs me tightly, despite her feelings on the matter she would never put a damper on my news, she knows it's my life and she wants me to live it

"Thanks mom" I hug her back

"Well, I was just getting ready to make dinner, but I think we should go out and celebrate now, what do you think?"

"That sounds great. I'll go change for dinner, and call Damon with the good news"

I jump on my bed and dial his number as fast as I can

"Hello" he answers after 3 rings

"Damon guess what?!" I'm slightly out of breath from running up the stair so fast

"Have you been exercising? Because if so, I think I need to alert the media" he chuckles

"No, no, no, it's better than that" I can't seem to stop smiling "My NYU acceptance letter came today!"

"You better not be messing with me Gilbert" he laughs

"As much as I love playing tricks on you, I would not joke about this" I laugh

"'Lena! That's amazing!" I can practically hear him smiling "Now hurry up and get your ass out here"

"I still have to graduate you know" I laugh

"I know, I just miss you"

"I know, I miss you too" my heart flutters

"Ok, well I better get going; I'm supposed to meet some friends later. Go out and celebrate Gilbert!"

"I will, the family is going out to dinner, probably just to the grill or something, but it should still be fun"

"It will be, say hi to everyone for me"

"OK I will"

I still can't believe this is happening

For so long it's just been a dream of mine, and now it's finally happening

"Hey pumpkin, your mom just told me the good news, I'm so proud of you Elena"

"Thanks dad"

"I always knew you could do it" he smiles at me "Are you ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah, just give me 5 minutes; I'll meet you guys downstairs"

My dad is not as worried about New York as my mom is, he just wants me to go to a good school, so that I can be a doctor like him someday, I haven't had the heart to tell him that I don't have any intentions of ever becoming a doctor and that when I get to NYU I plan on studying English literature and journalism, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes.

I quickly throw on a different shirt and rush back down to meet everyone

"So was Damon excited when you told him?" my mom asks as we take our seats at the restaurant

"Very" I smile

"I love Damon; you know that, I'm just a little worried about him being the closest person to you out there"

"Mom, please don't start…"

"Elena, I'm your mother, it's my right to worry about you, whether you like it or not" she says sternly

"Hey guys, what are we talking about?"

"Hey Jeremy" I stand up to give my brother a hug

"Oh your mother's worried about your sister being alone in New York with Damon" my dad says it as if it's the most ridiculous thing in the world, so much for over protective fathers

"Well, it's just that I know that you've always had a crush on him Elena, and I just don't want you to think things will be different between you guys once you get out there, I just don't want you to get hurt that's all"

"Mom we're just friends, you know that"

"You say that now…" she starts to argue

"No, I've always said that, and I'll continue saying it, because there is nothing going on there. Besides, Damon isn't the only person I know out there, Katherine goes to school there too; I'll probably see her a lot"

Katherine's my cousin, my Uncle John's daughter; she was in the same graduating class as Jeremy and Damon, they both left for New York at the same time, and Jeremy decided College wasn't really for him and moved to a town not too far from mystic falls, he participates in a lot of the local art shows

"That girl has always been such a wild card; she's not very much of a comfort"

"Well mom, I don't really know what to tell you to make you happy…"

"Isn't tonight about Elena?" Jeremy interrupts "Why are we talking about Damon?"

Thank you Jeremy, I silently praise

"Now, I don't know about you guys but I could use a drink, does anyone want anything?"

"I'll take a beer"

"Ok dad, what about you mom?"

"White wine please?"

"No problem, can you help me carry everything Lena"

"Thank you so much for saving me from that conversation" I say once we're out of earshot

"It's not like it's really a conversation I wanted to have either"

"Jeremy, you need to stop hating him, what happened that night was my fault, you have to stop blaming him"

"No, he was my best friend, and you're my sister. He knew better, end of story"

"Well he's my best friend too, and I asked him to come that night ok, I asked him because I knew he would come and because I wanted him to"

"Stop it Elena, you didn't know what you wanted, and you don't know what you're talking about so please just stop"

"Yes I do. I knew that when I asked him to sleep with me he would, I knew he wasn't going to say no"

"Ugh, Elena! You're my sister, I don't want to hear these things" he shakes his head, as if he's trying to erase my words from his memory "Look, regardless of what you said to him or what you think you know, he's still two years older then you, and he knew he was moving to New York in a few months…he should have factored that into what he thought was best for you. But he didn't"

"You still don't need to hate him" I shake my head

"Yeah I do, he stole my baby sisters innocence"

"Jeremy…"

"That's enough for tonight Elena"

Without another word, he grabs our parent's drinks and heads back to the table

End Note:

Hey guys, I'm back with a new story, I'm really sorry for not finishing curveball, I just couldn't figure out where I was going with it, so I decided to sit down and actually map out this new story so that it doesn't become a mess.

I really wanted to finish curveball I just couldn't figure it out, there will be some traces of it in this story, so that in a way I can finish it up, without it just being confusing.

I hope you guys enjoy this one and I'm really sorry about leaving you hanging, I won't do that with this one, I promise.

Review and let me know what you think. Thanks!