Elena

I wake up the next morning and glance over at Matt who is fast asleep.

Guilt rushes through me as I pick up my phone, Stefan and I were texting all night and I had to hide the phone under the pillow so Matt wouldn't get suspicious.

I lean back on the bed, phone in hand, as Matt sleeps soundly next to me.

I'm not sure what time it is but all I want to do is text Stefan a good morning text.

I type away at the phone, my lips turned into a smile.

"Good morning." I send, and set my phone down on the dresser, waiting.

I stretch out and yawn lightly, careful not to wake Matt up.

Suddenly, Jackson bursts through the door in his star war pj's, his dirty blonde hair sticking up in all directions.

"Mom!" He exclaims, running over and wrapping his arms around my neck in a tight embrace.

I smile and hug him back closing my eyes, I had missed him so much.

"Hey sweetie." I smile, and pull back, ruffling his hair.

"Mom, can we go to the mall today?" He asks, his blue eyes like puppy's as they stare into mine.

"Of course, sweetie." I smile, and hear my phone buzz, my hands eager to check it.

I ignore it as Jackson pulls me out of the room.

"I think it's too early for the mall." I yawn, rubbing my eyes a little.

"I know, but can we have breakfast?" He gives me a shy smile and I smile back.

"Yes, waffles or pancakes?" I ask, going to the cupboard.

"WAFFLES!" He yells, and I laugh quietly, pulling out the waffle mix.

"Are you going to help me?" I ask, pulling out a bowl.

"Of course!" He exclaims, racing to get behind me.

"Alright we need two eggs, milk, butter." I start to trail off but he runs into the direction of the refrigerator, to get this things.

And it makes me feel special that he wants to spend time with me.

He pulls out the ingredients and I smile, engorging him to read the directions.

"So, you can learn when your mom isn't around to cook for you anymore." I say, poking his ribs gently with my finger.

He giggles, and begins to read the directions, humming lightly.

I smile at him and watch him, he's getting too big, too smart, and way too charming. I can't believe he was 11 now, it seemed like just yesterday he was 7, learning how to ride a bike and now he could ride a bike and help Matt fix his truck, I watched them work on that piece of junk, I don't know how many times.

"Alright mom, egg." He commands and I hand him the egg, and watch as he cracks it in the bowl.

Once we get the whole ingredients in the bowl, he sits down, as I pour the batter into the waffle maker, turning it on.

"Ten minutes." I say, sitting next to him and he seems lost in thought, his blue eyes in a daze as he scratches the scab below his knee.

"Are you okay, Jack?" I ask him, using his nickname, my eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"Are you and dad getting a divorce?" He suddenly blurts out, and I gasp at this question, my heart almost jumps out of my skin.

"Of course not." I say, reaching out and soothing back his hair.

"We're not." I say firmly, and we weren't in reality, Matt and I couldn't get divorced, it's not what we wanted.

He smiles a little.

"Okay." He says quietly, but I still stare at him, confused as to why this was on his mind.

"Where did you hear that?" I ask, curious.

"I didn't.. we're just studying about divorce in class." He explains.

I forgot he was taking health class, he was so perceptive, that boy.

I smile lightly, laying my hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Jackson." I say, lying through my teeth.

Who knew if it was going to be okay?

Matt comes into the kitchen yawning, he looks over at us.

"Hey, buddy." He says, walking by Jackson and ruffling his hair.

I smile at Matt, his hair is almost sticking out in all directions, his blue eyes are on me.

"Good morning." He murmurs, kissing the top of my head.

"Good morning." I whisper and my mind floats back to Stefan briefly.

I wonder if he's okay..

"Waffles are in the maker, I trust you won't hurt yourself trying to get them out." I tease Matt and he smiles brightly at me.

"Nah." He says, his cheeks turning red from shame.

I was teasing him about the time he almost burned his hand very bad when he was trying to get the waffles out, he always did it at least once.

"Okay, good." I say, walking past him, I walk out of the kitchen and into the bedroom, grabbing my phone from under my pillow, I light up the screen and see there's a text message, my heart races as I touch it, starting to read.

"Good morning, sexy, hope your day isn't as boring as mine.. - Stefan.

I smile lightly, feeling heat come in my cheeks, he really needed to stop calling me sexy, I was far from it.

My fingers find the hidden hickey below my ear, I trace over it and lean back on my bed, a huge smile on my face. God, it was like I was 16 all over again.

I type fast.

"It's turning out well, better if you were here though.."

I send it, and hide my phone under my pillow, I quickly make it back to the kitchen and see Matt has successfully removed the waffles from the iron.

I give him a slow clap as a tease and he blushes, handing me a plate.

I thank him and sit down next to him.

"So, I was thinking since memorial day is coming up, we could go camping, buddy!" He says, looking at Jackson.

His face lights up and I find myself smiling.

"What about me?" I ask, looking at Matt.

"Well I thought this could be a father and son thing, Jackson and his old man!" He exclaims and I laugh along with Jackson.

I nod my head, a smile low on my face, I couldn't look too excited because then Matt would become suspicious. I stare down at my plate, and start eating.

If they were gone that means I could be with Stefan that whole weekend, excitement rushes through me.

"Besides, I figured you could use a day off or two." Matt says, smiling in my direction.

I smile back, nodding, but instantly I feel guilty again.

I wish Matt wasn't this good to me, then I could find a reason to leave him, but he wasn't. He was too good to me sometimes, and right now I really didn't deserve it.

Fake it 'till you make it, I remind myself and continue eating the waffles, we finish breakfast and Jackson and I spend the rest of the day at the mall, talking I catch up on the rest of Jackson's life.

We get home and he gets ready for bed, Stefan and I had always been texting all day and I told him that I was going to be staying with him all weekend and he replied that he'd be happy to have me and I blushed.

(A/N: please read and review, good things are yet to come!)