Hope was utterly alone in the Gilbert house, and no matter how loud she turned the volume up on Doctor Who she could feel the silence pressing in on her from all sides. She sat helplessly on the couch, tears dripping unwelcome down her face. She watched blindly as Elena walked through the door, her eyes wet.

"Hope?" Elena asked and was surprised to see her cousin burst into sobs. She watched as Hope pulled her legs up and bury her face into her hands; Elena hurried over and tried to take her hands away from her face.

"Hope, please..." Elena begged and was relieved when Hope brought her face up. Her green eyes were illuminated, her pupils dilated, and were darker than Elena had ever seen, it was also the first time she's seen Hope cry in a long time.

"I'm sorry, I just feel so lonely all the time, and with no one here it was..." She sobbed as she threw her head back into her hands. Elena settled herself on the couch and kept her hand on her arm while she sat and joined her. Elena knew how close Hope was with her parents, and seeing her like this kind of made her take a step back and see that she wasn't the only one affected by the tragedy of her parents' death.

"Did you take your medicine this morning? Has your head been hurting you?" Hope asked, making Elena choke out a laugh. She took Hope's hands into hers and smiled as warmly as she could.

"Do you even understand how amazing you are? Do you?" Hope blushed and squirmed slightly, uncomfortable with how the situation turned. Hope had never been good with compliments, but Elena needed her to know this. "You have been such a great help these last few days, I don't even know what we're going to do when you leave tomorrow." Hope cocked her head in confusion as her father walked through the door. It was no secret that Elena and Jenna weren't quite fond of him, but Hope calmed at the sight of her father. She wiped her face and smiled at him.

"Hi Daddy." He smiled at her and walked over to the girls. His heart swelled at the sight of them, together, and he could pinpoint the likenesses between them. He brought one hand up to wipe a loose curl from her face, his palm cupping her cheek. She leaned into him, enjoying this closeness with her father, even with Elena there.

"Are you packed for tomorrow?" He asked her. She shook her head, moving away from him now. A small part of her wondered if her father demanded she go back to her mother, didn't want her to stay her with Jenna, but another part of her hoped he was going to let her go with him to wherever he was always off to.

"I wasn't aware I was leaving tomorrow. Why am I leaving? I was planning on staying until the beginning of July." She got up from the couch, her arms crossing over her chest and her weight resting on her right leg. He couldn't help but think of her mother when she stood like that.

"You're spending the summer with me. I think it's high time we spent some real time together, right?" She was speechless. She had been begging her father to take her with him every summer since she was little, and here he was just whisking her away from her family when they all needed each other the most.

"I'm needed here." She murmured, gesturing to Elena still seated on the couch, her attention trained on the TV, trying to give the two at least some privacy. She turned away from Doctor Who and shook her head, her brow furrowing.

"No, Hope, go with your dad. You need him, we'll be fine." She shook her head, her hair flying. Elena hadn't noticed it was down, and the curls spilled over her shoulders, their gloss catching the afternoon sunshine that slipped through the blinds, giving it a red tint.

"No, I'm staying here. I didn't get to stay last summer, and I'm staying until I'm ready to leave. I'm sorry Dad, but I need them. We need each other." She bit her bottom lip and watched as Jon thought about.

"You have until the second week of June." He walked past the two of them and out the door. Hope sighed and scrubbed at her face as she plopped down next to Elena, who had decided to talk to Hope about the change in her appearance.

"It looks like you've lost weight, Hope." Hope beamed at Elena, satisfied that someone has seen the changes she's been trying to make. She ran three times a week at home, her schedule too busy to fit anything else in. The results have been slow, and people hadn't really said anything to her about her change, but here was Elena pointing it out.

"Thanks, I've been trying new things."

"You look good, it's working." They smiled at each other and jumped a little when their was a knock on the door. People were still dropping by to give their condolences and neither of them really wanted to deal with it at the moment. The knocking continued and Hope sighed as she pushed herself off the couch to open the door.

"Matt?"

"Hey, are you busy?" He was a little breathless, having ran from his house. She leaned against the door, contemplating on what to tell him. She looked back at Elena who waved her hand at her, then turning back to the TV and turning it up.

"I guess not, what's up?" Her heart gave a tiny squeeze when he smiled at her, his blue eyes lighting up. He was still broken up over Elena ending things, but he wanted to hang out with her. He needed a friend that could listen and Tyler wasn't the most understanding soul to reach out to. Hope was his next best choice.

"Do you want to hang out?" She nodded slowly and slipped on a pair of Toms before yelling to Elena she would be back later. She was wearing an emerald green tunic top, black leggings and a cream pair of lace Toms. Her cross body bag was a dark brown suede, decorated with tassels and zippers. She smelled like citrus and flowers and Matt noticed how her hair rippled with browns, reds and blonds in the sunlight as they walked to the car.

"I'll drive?" He shrugged and got in the passenger seat of her red Explorer. It smelled of man's cologne, grass and flowers, the scent different from her floral scent.

"Sorry, Mom's husband is a landscaper, he uses the truck to haul around his stuff." She apologized as she threw the car into reverse and backed out. They drove for a bit, and were at Mystic Falls' main intersection when she turned to him.

"What do you want to do?"

"Do you have a lot of gas?"

"More than half a tank..."

"How about a drive?" He asked sheepishly. She smiled and followed the roads that led out of Mystic Falls. She knew of a town about forty five minutes away from Mystic Falls that had a Grease themed diner.

"Okay, here's the plan. About an hour away, there is this amazing diner, Grease themed, and it sells the best freaking milkshake you will ever have. I swear to you, your life will be changed. We get our drive, we get food, and we get time for you to tell me how you're dealing." She smiled softly at him while simultaneously pulling a pair of aviator shades out of her middle compartment. She tossed him a pair of black Ray Ban's and plugged her phone into the radio.

"You don't listen to the radio?" He asked.

"No, I have way better taste in music." She quipped as she rolled the windows down and turned the radio up.

Okay, this is her and Matt's first time hanging out together, and I hope you guys enjoy what I have planned for them:) It' s friendship at its finest and Hope is relaxing around him.

Thanks to the six sweeties who have reviewed on my story:) You guys are absolutely fantastic and deserve like six puppies:)

Please leave reviews and tell me how I'm doing and what I need to work on realistic wise and such things like that:)

Love you!