They were both laying in Elena's bed, hands clutching the other, watching The Breakfast Club. The room was filling with sounds of Judd Nelson, Hope's coughs, and Elena's sniffles. The girls had hugged for about five minutes before they had lapsed into their old routine. They watched old movies, talked, and just enjoyed each other's company.

Except this time, neither of them could come up with the giggles that so often accompanied their reunions.

"Hope?" A sleepy-eyed Jenna asked from the door. Her hair was up, and she was wearing an over-sized blue shirt and red checkered flannels. Hope got off the bed and hugged Jenna, giving her the same treatment she gave Elena. No matter who Hope was hugging, they always felt better afterwards.

"I didn't know you were here yet, did you let yourself in?" She let go of Hope, feeling lighter than she had in a couple days, and went to sit on the bed next to Elena.

"No, uh, Matt let me in when he was leaving." Elena's wince did not go unnoticed. Hope watched as Elena squirmed a bit under the covers, probably wringing her hands. Hope offered a small smile, but Elena shook her head. Trouble in paradise.

"Jenna, is Jeremy home?" Hope wanted to see her little cousin just as much as she had wanted to see Elena. Jenna shook her head and a little spark of worry started in Hope's stomach.

"He's not been home." She murmured, her eyes shining once more with unshed tears. Hope slouched as she barreled into Elena's arms once more as Elena broke down. Hope switched her embrace to where Elena was crying into her chest. Jenna let loose a few tears as she watched her nieces, as she considered Hope a niece even though they weren't related.

Hope could feel all of Elena's agony, could feel the hole in her chest like it were her own. She rubbed small circles on her back and hugged her cousin close as she calmed down.

"I can always count on you Hope. It's like you help the pain." Hope kissed her cousin's head and was about to suggest a change in movie when the front door opened and then slammed shut. The smell of pot hit the three of them as Jeremy lumbered up the stairs. Hope's eyes lit up slightly as they always did at that sweet yet acrid smell, but she shut the craving down as Jeremy stood in the doorway, swaying and rubbing his read eyes.

"Hope?' He asked, his voice deeper than the last time she heard it, like he had swallowed a mouthful of marbles. She disentangled herself from Elena and swept Jeremy up into a hug. The younger boy's arms went around his cousin and he wept openly on her shoulder. There was something about Hope that made you want to talk, made you want to spill your darkest secrets. She helped with the pain and the hurt, like she took it away. Every one who had ever known/talked to Hope could attest to this, could agree to the fact that Hope was an extremely good listener.

If only she would let someone in, to help her with her own demons, Elena thought sadly as she watched her younger brother break down in her arms. She let her eyes study Hope, how she hid her body under those large hooded sweatshirts and always kept her pretty curly hair up in a claw clip. Elena couldn't help but think that even though Hope was heavier than her, she was still extremely pretty. Elena blushed in shame at herself, upset that she would think about Hope like that. Of course she was beautiful, no matter what her size was, and the more Elena thought about it, she could see that Hope had lost some weight in her face, and that her waist was probably smaller. For the sake of her cousin, Elena hoped that the baby fat would fall off this summer so Hope could be as confident as she presented herself.

"Jeremy, you smell horrible." Hope said warmly, a smile in her voice. Jeremy laughed and nodded before kissing her cheek and leaving the room, not a word spoken to either Jenna or Elena. Hope turned and looked at her family sitting on the bed.

"He is going to have a major case of the munchies. How about I make us some lunch?" They both gave little smiles and nodded in agreement. Hope knew that as long as she kept herself busy with housework, chores, and other things, then she wouldn't have to deal with her own grief. She couldn't, she had to stay strong for her family, for Elena.

She busied herself in the kitchen, pulling out things to make chicken salad sandwiches and homemade chocolate chip cookies. She was in the middle of cutting up the boiled chicken when there came a knock on the door. She wiped her hands on a towel and went to open the door.

"Hope? Oh my gosh!" Caroline shot through the door like a bullet and pulled Hope in for a hug. The girls laughed and embraced, happy to see each other. When she wasn't talking to Elena via phone calls and emails, she was texting and Facebooking with Caroline. Hope understood Caroline like no one else in Mystic Falls, she knew just what to say to make Caroline feel better about any situation, and vise versa. Caroline, under the layer of shallowness, was really caring and compassionate. She understood the sadness that Hope carried with her all the time, because she had the same problem. She was insecure and self-conscious about not being good enough the same way Hope was insecure of her weight. Whenever Hope felt extremely out of place, and particularly down on herself, Caroline always tried to help her and instead of giving her diets and exercise routines that she got from most of her friends, Caroline read magazine after magazine on how to dress for your body type, the roads to self love, and how to come to terms with your body and love it. Caroline was supportive and helpful in ways that Hope could never thank her. Whenever she was done talking to Caroline, she felt better about her self. The girls pulled away from the embrace

"I thought you weren't coming until June? Oh..." Caroline covered her mouth with hand and her eyes watered. She pulled Hope back in for another hug and whispered comforting words in her ear. Hope squeezed her friend before letting her go.

"Elena's upstairs. I was just making lunch, you're welcome to stay." Caroline kissed her cheek and offered to help her once she was done talking to Elena.

Hope went back to the kitchen and cut the rest of the chicken up and added the required dressings and seasonings; she added grapes and almonds when she was sure everything was evenly coated. She put the bowl in the fridge and started on the recipe for her grandma's homemade chocolate cookies. She was stirring the dough up when both Elena and Caroline made their way downstairs.

"You weren't supposed to make too much effort. I was expecting grilled cheeses." Jenna called from after the girls, pulling a still stoned Jeremy. She laughed and set the mixture down to get out a cookie tray. She looked back to see Jeremy sticking his fingers into the cookie batter. She swatted his hand away, a warm smile on her face. She floured the tray before rolling the cookie dough into sixteen balls and placing them into rows on the tray. She popped them into the oven and turned to the four people waiting patiently at the island, all eight eyes on her.

"You're humming, did you know that?" Elena asked. Her eyes were glazed, a look of sorrow in reflected in them. "Dad hums-used to hum while he cooked." Hope felt guilty and watched as Caroline rubbed her shoulder.

"Go sit at the table, all of you. I'll get your plates." Hope murmured softly as she grabbed the loaf of bread and got five plates. She watched them sit down at the dining table and smiled sadly as Elena wiped tears from her cheeks. Hope made five sandwiches and grabbed every chip bag the Gilberts owned. She set the plates in front of everyone and the chips in the middle of the table. She searched the fridge for the pitcher of lemonade that was always made and poured out five glasses. She kissed Jeremy's clean hair as she handed him his glass.

"Thanks mom." He took a drink of the lemonade before digging into his sandwich. Nobody was breathing while they all looked at each other, afraid to even say anything. Jeremy continued to eat as if he didn't just call Hope mom. She shook it off and gave out the other glasses before sitting down to eat her own sandwich. She polished her meal off before the others and smiled when she heard the ding of the oven. She pulled the cookies out of the oven and placed them on a rack to cool. She started on the dishes as a way to escape the awkward silence that fell at the table. She placed the dishes that could fit in the dishwasher in and then washed the pots and pans she had used.

"Hope, I didn't call you to come cook for us. We...we need each other right now, you don't have to worry about this." She turned to look at Jenna the grad student, the woman who had become like an older sister to her in recent years. She pulled her in for a hug and sighed.

"I'm okay with helping out, Aunt Jenna." Hope knew that Jenna liked it when she called her that, it was sort of like a nickname. She pulled away and kissed her cheek.

"I'm here to help."