Chapter Sixteen

Two Years Later

Elena steps out of the Mystic Falls Airport with her suitcase and grins. Her little brother was graduating. She looks around for her parents' car and rushes towards it when she sees it.

"Mom! Dad! Hi!" Elena exclaims when she gets into the car.

"Hi, sweetie," Miranda smiles at her when they start driving away.

"How have you been?" Grayson questions. "It's been a few months since our last visit, eh?"

"I've been good. School's challenging but I'm happy," Elena chuckles. "I can't believe Jeremy's graduating. Has it already been two years?"

"Time flies," Miranda replies with a wink.

"Listen, Elena…" Grayson starts when they arrive at the house but she's already dashing out of the car. She bursts into the kitchen and sees Jeremy.

"Oh my god, Jer! You're graduating!" Elena traps him in a tight hug, which he reciprocates with a grin.

"I am! How's life going for you, 'Lena?"

She shrugs and smiles, "It's going." Miranda and Grayson enter the house, both with equally apprehensive looks on their faces.

"Elena...there's something you-"

Elena's eyes widen when she hears the jingle of a collar. She walks into the living room to see a border collie puppy. She gasps in delight and spins around to look at Jeremy.

"You guys got a dog?"

"Yeah, we did. His name is Meeko, and we got him roughly three months ago," Jeremy explains. Elena's smile expands as she bends down to stroke Meeko's head.

"Aw, he's so cute. I love border collies. You're adorable, Meeko, aren't you? Mhm, yes, you are," Elena cooes, rubbing him behind the ears. Her phone suddenly starts ringing.

"Hello?"

"Elena! Are you back in town?"

"Heh, hey, Stefan. Yeah, I'm back for Jeremy's graduation. What's up?"

"There's something you should know, and I need your help. Do you think you could come over?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll be right there," Elena says before hanging up. She turns around and sees the looks on her parents' faces. "Um, you two look like you've got something on your mind. Heh, is there something I should know?"

Miranda and Grayson exchange glances before they slightly shake their head. "Uh, no, sweetie. I'm sure you'll find out what's going on soon enough…"

Elena laughs nervously and glances around at the awkward stares. "Alright...well, I'll be over at Stefan's, so...see you later, I guess." Elena grabs her keys and walks out the door.

—

Elena stands in front of the large wooden door, remembering the last time she was here. It had ended in tears, of course, because she'd decided to break all things off with Damon once and for all. She pushed those depressing thoughts to the back of her mind and stuck the fake smile on once again. After knocking a few times, Stefan peeks out.

Elena noticed something was off. He looked like he'd aged a good few years and he appeared to be exhausted. Still, Stefan smiled at her.

"Elena, hey. I'm glad that you're home for a bit," Stefan says, though weariness is clear in his voice.

"I'm glad to be visiting," Elena replies, "Are you okay? You look tired and, uh, stressed."

"Oh, trust me, I am. You can come in. There's something we need to talk about."

"Right," Elena muses before stepping in the house. The first thing she noticed was how trashed the place looked. Inwardly cringing, she walked further into the parlor and saw her two best friends.

"Elena," Caroline smiles. "It's really good to see you."

"Likewise, you two," Elena tells them both. It seems that the awkward looks and apprehensive stares were contagious around here. Both Bonnie and Caroline didn't meet Elena's confused expression with their eyes.

"Okay, I've seen enough of these glum looks to know that something's wrong. So, whatever it is, just tell me. Oh, wait, god, no, don't tell me-"

The front door swung open harshly, hitting the wall. In comes Damon, whistling with his eyes closed. "Katherine, is that you I heard?"

Stefan, Bonnie, and Caroline all froze, looks of fear and annoyance plastered on their faces. Elena, however, crosses her arms and awkwardly coughs.

"Not Katherine…"

Damon's eyes snap open and stares at everyone, his eyes eventually landing on Elena.

"Oh, wow, am I seeing things, or is that Elena Gilbert standing in my living room?" Damon questions with a cold smile on his face. "What an unpleasant surprise."

"Oookay, I see you're still an asshole. Is that what you all wanted to tell me?" Elena deadpans.

"Elena, that's not Damon. Not really," Stefan says in a quiet voice.

"It's me, alright, Stefan," Damon rolls his eyes. "This is just the me who doesn't give a shit."

Elena scoffs and picks up her things. "Some things never change. I'm sorry to cut this reunion short, guys, but I'm going to head home."

"No, wait, Elena…" Bonnie starts, desperately grabbing her arm. "You can't...we...we need your help."

"Bon-Bon, you wound me, thinking that Elena, of all people, is the one who can fix what's not really broken? I'm disappointed," Damon remarks snarkily.

"His humanity's off," Caroline blurts out. "It's been off ever since you left, and he's been killing people left and right."

"What the hell?!" Elena shrieks, dropping her keys. "I thought you guys were going to keep him from falling off the edge."

"We couldn't! He really thought that the only person he needed was you. And when he lost you, he lost himself."

"Stop with the dramatics, brother. I didn't need anyone back then, and I sure as hell don't need anyone now, especially the self-righteous bitch over there," Damon retorts.

"Right. I'm the most self-righteous bitch there is," Elena spits out. "I try to make everyone feel bad about themselves because they know how morally superior I am."

"We already knew that, Elena," Damon replies. "Though, it feels nice to finally hear it come out of your mouth."

"I came back for my brother's graduation, not this. I'm not going down any roads with you, ever again," Elena snaps before picking up her keys and heading towards the door.

"There's a sight I'm familiar with. Elena Gilbert's back when she runs away from her problems."

Elena takes a deep breath and turns around once more. "You should really be thanking me, Damon. Honestly, I think that us breaking up was the best thing that happened to you. It gave you a chance to hang out some more with Katherine. You know, the vampire that you didn't tell me you were hanging out with before we broke up ."

The surprise that flashed in Damon's eyes was quickly replaced by indifference, but Elena caught it. "You thought I didn't know which vampire it was? I figured it out the first week after I left. Ohh, Katherine Pierce, my freaking doppelgänger. Except, you know, she was the vampire who turned you, and the only other damn vampire in town. No wonder you'd go for her. I'm sure you guys screw all of the time."

Caroline, Stefan, and Bonnie are all gaping at Elena. They glance at Damon who actually seems to be faltering.

"My relationships are none of your business. You don't know anything about me anymore," Damon seethes angrily.

"And whose fault is that?" Elena sighs. "I think understand the gist of the last weeks of our relationship. Let's see if I got this right. You only had eyes for her, but kept coming back to me for some odd reason. I'm not a vampire, she is, and she looks exactly like me. I can't think of a better replacement. So, have fun doing the tango with my look-alike, Damon. I hope she's good in the sack."

"Shut...up…" Damon growls lowly.

This only causes Elena to slyly smile. "Are you mad?" She chuckles and shakes her head. "That's nice. Heh, I can only imagine the feelings that get stirred up when you have sex with her, Damon. Or is this a kind of no-strings-attached relationship? Either way, I hope you have fun with Katherine, since, you know, you've lost me forever," Elena whispers before turning around. "We both know how little you actually cared in our relationship."

"Damn it, Elena, you were everything to me! I didn't want or need Katherine! Just you…" Damon snaps.

"It seems that everything and nothing are the same in your book. Sounds like your humanity's back, so I'll be going now. Have a nice life, Damon," Elena says before walking out the door. She could hear things breaking and people yelling inside, but Elena ignores it. When she gets in her car, Elena breaks into sobs and rests her head on the steering wheel.

—

"Welcome parents, family, and friends. What a beautiful day for graduation. Thank you for joining us on this special day as we celebrate our graduates. So, let's get started," The mayor announces.

Elena zones out as he starts calling names. She had spent all of the night before thinking. There were so many things that she desperately wanted to fix but couldn't. Anything that she used to have with Damon was broken, and he made sure of that. Though, she didn't expect him to turn off his humanity after she left.

"Jeremy Gilbert! Congratulations," the mayor says as he hands Jeremy his diploma. Elena, Miranda, and Grayson all begin cheering and clapping loudly. Tears are shed by her parents, but Elena was all dried up. All she could do was offer him a big smile and clap as loud as she could.

Elena honestly just wanted to go back to New York. Everything there was so much simpler. No complications. She hoped that the six more years she had of school would be enough to completely heal herself. Maybe even move on, though she doubted it. Damon was the first and only guy she ever loved romantically.

Shaking her head, Elena focuses her attention back on the mayor who was almost finished reading the names. Applause ensued afterwards.

—

"Congratulations again, Jeremy. I'm really happy for you," Elena tells him as she rolls her suitcase down the hall.

"Are you sure you have to leave so soon? You just arrived yesterday," Jeremy asks with a sad expression.

"I wish I could stay longer. But mentally, I'm just not ready to be back here," Elena explains quietly.

"But it's been two years already," Jeremy protests. "Two years since you've been back. Everyone misses you."

"You've visited me before in New York, you can visit me again. Listen, I'm sure everyone knows the real reason of why I'm leaving. It's too much."

"I don't."

Elena sighs and gives Jeremy an 'are you stupid?' look. "What do you think has the power to drive me away from Mystic Falls so quickly, not including school."

Jeremy narrows his eyes. "You've talked to Damon, haven't you? I know, I should've warned you that his humanity was off. Death was becoming so prominent on the news, it was ridiculous."

"And it was my fault that he turned his humanity off, I've gathered. Everyone's saying that after I left, he lost himself. Well, I got it back on, so hallelujah. Let's just pray that no one else in this town dies. The population's too small as it is," Elena says as she goes down the stairs.

"Wait, it's back on? That's great. Maybe he'll start acting like himself again," Jeremy muses.

"Jer, he hasn't acted like himself in years. Don't get your hopes up. He hangs out with Katherine Pierce, for crying out loud. Bad influence, I think so," Elena grumbles.

"Who's Katherine…?"

"Vampire who looks like me and turned him. She screwed him in the head and now she's just screwing him."

"Oh my god. Elena…"

"It's fine, Jer. I really don't care what he does these days," Elena replies. She sees that Meeko has made his way over to her so she picks him up. "Aw, Meeko, I'm going to miss you. You're too cute not to have around." Elena kisses the top of his head and she receives a lick in return.

"Meeko really seems to like you," Jeremy points out.

"Yeah, it seems so." Elena puts him back down. "Okay, I've already said goodbye to everyone else. Mom and Dad are coming down for a visit next week, so you're welcome to join. Or, you could come next month when Stefan, Caroline, Matt, and Bonnie visit."

"I'll visit you next week," Jeremy promises. "How's it feel living with a roommate, by the way?"

"Oh, Megan? It's fun, actually. She's a really good friend and she doesn't pry about my past, which is a major plus."

"What about that guy in your classes? What was his name…?"

"...Liam. He's cool, too."

"So are you guys just friends, or…?"

Elena's eyes widen and she smacks Jeremy on the arm. "Yeah, we're just friends."

"Right, right," Jeremy mutters. "Well, we don't want you to miss your flight, I guess. I'll see you next week, 'Lena."

"See you then, Jer," Elena gives him a tight hug before waving one last time and heads out the door.