Life does not wait for you. No matter how devastating a loss or revelation, it continues, ever forward. Elena had learned that lesson, over and over again. It vibrated in her bones as she leaned against Matt's side, watching Bonnie and Jeremy bicker over who was helping who carry a box into the moving van.

"I'm going to miss you," she told him, looking away from the parade of friends and boxes and change up into his face. His blue eyes, always so warm, were pale, and his answering smile equally pale as he wrapped both arms around her.

"I'll miss you too, Elena." He buried his face in her hair and for a moment they could pretend life hadn't moved on, nothing had been lost, and things were as they had been before. He sighed and let her go, taking a step back and reaching out for her hand. She took it, lacing their fingers together and squeezing. "I'm sorry I was such a dick when we broke-up, Elena. I had no idea what you were going through and I should have been there for you as a friend without trying to guilt trip you into dating me again."

She smiled, heart aching with how much she loved this dear, sweet boy, even if it wasn't how they had both once thought she did. "I forgive you. We were kids, Matt. We are kids. We're gonna fuck up." She squeezed his hand again. "And then we're going to do better."

He nodded, smile a little less pale, and she turned to face the driveway again. "How are you doing with all this? The dad thing, not the moving thing."

Matt grimaced. "I don't know. Vicky's angry enough for the both of us, so I don't feel like I should be. But where was he when mom was just gone instead of dead?" He shook his head, looking at her with something on the line between rueful and bitter. "And then I feel guilty because I'm also glad I don't have to do this alone, and that maybe Vicky will get some help, and maybe things will be better than with mom. What kind of son does that make me? To be glad the one who kept us, kind of, is dead?"

Elena shook her head, stepping closer and holding his gaze. "You're not glad she's dead, Matt. Being glad that you and Vicky might have a stable parental figure for once doesn't mean you don't wish your mom was alive." Reaching out with her free hand, she rested it on his heart, feeling her next to words to him resonating with her own secret, grief-filled anger. "You can acknowledge your mom's flaws and still mourn her loss. It doesn't make you a bad person, or a bad son."

She would never understand why her parents never told her the truth of her blood, or stop being angry and heartbroken that she couldn't talk to them about it. She would also never stop loving them, or wishing they were here for her to have that fight with them and then move on to forgiveness.

Matt didn't answer with words, just hugged her again, kissed the top of her head, and then went to help Vicky with a stack of boxes.

Elena took a moment to wrestle with a bitter mixture of relief and resentment that their father was taking them out of Mystic Falls, out of Virginia altogether. It would be safer for them, especially Vicky, if the vampire hadn't given up. But Matt had long been the kind, calm rock of their friend group, and knowing he wouldn't be in her life anymore felt like losing a limb.

It was worse for him, she knew, and Vicky. They were losing their whole lives in one fell swoop, a new parent, a new state, a new school. She hoped their father had truly changed and wasn't going to flake out on his kids after taking them away from anyone else who could help. Despite all her earlier self-reflection on the dangers of compulsion and why she was glad she didn't have it, right now she would give just about anything to be able to compel their dad to be a good one. If anyone deserved a parent that lived up to the title, it was Matt and Vicky.

Bonnie looked over at her, hands on her hips. "No being sad! Only carrying. Come tell your brother that cheerleaders know how to properly lift something and he should listen to me."

Jeremy scoffed, but Elena could see the faint edges of a smile curving his mouth and it made her heart lighten. He had retreated to his room for two days when he found out Vicky was moving, and she hadn't been sure if inviting him to help them load the Uhaul would help or not.

"Until you've had to properly lift a whole other human while being lifted by other humans yourselves, knowing that if you drop them they will break bones, you do not know more than Bonnie," Elena told him, grinning. "You know cheerleaders experience more dangerous injuries than football players do."

"Yeah, yeah, it's badass and a real sport, you gave me that lecture when I was 8," he said, smirking a little as he turned back to Bonnie. "Lifting a person still isn't the same as lifting a box. Unless you're telling me I haven't noticed a square cheerleader walking around."

Bonnie huffed. "Baby Gilbert's grown up all sassy. Aren't you supposed to be brooding in a dark corner somewhere?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes and Elena laughed, then grabbed both their shoulders and steered them back toward the house. "Come on, there are more heavy things to lift and argue about."

It was a hard day, but that didn't mean it wasn't a good one, a rare moment with almost every one she loved in one place. She intended to enjoy it.

Elena cheered hard from the sidelines, feeling out of place to not be in the lineup with Caroline and Bonnie, and with no Matt on the field. But Tyler was still playing, and Caroline was flawlessly leading the girls, and the energy of the crowd kept her smiling and shouting for the whole game. Stefan caught her eyes once, but otherwise stayed away, and she was grateful for it. She needed time to think, to figure out what she should do, what she could do, about the one vampire she knew was in town, and the others she suspected.

After the game, she loitered in the parking lot, waiting for Bonnie and Caroline to finish up with the other cheerleaders, texting with Jenna about what kinds of ice cream her aunt should get at the store and trying to only think normal teen girl thoughts.

"You know, my brother tried to keep me away tonight. Thought I wouldn't be interested in seeing him play football," Elena looked up from her phone, more struck by the sound of the drawling voice than the words themselves. It told her who was there before her eyes saw the face that was far too close to her own.

"Damon," she whispered, unable to help herself, and he smiled, sharp and wicked. One of his hands reached out and cupped her chin. Her skin crawled at the unwanted and unasked for touch and she knew her face had given away her dismay, but he just leaned closer.

"But, see, Elena, I think he was really trying to keep me away from you. And we can't have that, can we? We both know which brother you really want." He hovered, mouth inches from hers, and his pupils dilated. "Kiss me, Elena."

She jerked back, shock broken by rising fury. "Do not touch me ever again. I am not Katherine. I am not Stefan's. And I am not interested."

His eyes widened and then his features contorted in a snarl and her hand came up before she could stop herself, could think to hide her advantage. Magic warmed her palm, pushing him back almost ten feet, enough force that only his vampire reflexes kept him from falling.

Her heart pulsed in her throat, racing with terror and anger, and her skin burned. Damon's snarl faded into a wary grimace and he paced in a slow circle around her.

"No, you aren't Katherine. What are you, little girl? And do you really think you can stop me from doing whatever I want to you or this town?" He shook his head, tutting. "Oh yes, Stefan passed on your little warning. Though he didn't say who gave it to him, trying to protect his weak little human. He doesn't know what you are either, does he?"

She ignored the taunt, and didn't bother to turn to keep an eye on him as he circled her. Her magic would tell her where he was and she refused to show any more fear than he could already detect from her rapidly beating pulse. "I meant what I told him. Vampires who kill and hurt innocent people aren't welcome in this town, and we are more capable of defending ourselves than you realized."

Damon laughed, dark and bitter. "Oh I know exactly what the humans of this town are capable of, sweet Elena. Do you?"

"I know what I'm capable of, do you?" she responded, refusing to engage in debate with him.

He studied her, bitterness fading into something colder, more calculating, although she could see the rage still burning in his too blue eyes. He smiled after a long moment, a feral look. "I guess we'll find out."

And then he was gone.