The alarm on the desktop went off forcing Elena out of her deep sleep; groggily she turned to her side reaching to switch the alarm off. She lay there for a while feeling slightly disappointed to find that Damon had disappeared, he had probably left earlier that morning to ensure that they weren't caught by her father she concluded absently. She glanced at the clock, realising how late she was she jumped out of bed throwing on her denim shorts and a white vest before pulling her hair into a high ponytail and running out through the front door.
She ran through the town square towards the bus stop whilst simultaneously trying to slip the assignment she'd grabbed from her desk into her bag. Glancing up, she saw the bus driving away making her scream out in frustration. That's it, she'd missed the bus and there was going to be another one for at least half an hour.
"Dammit! Why today," she cried out to nobody in particular craning her neck upwards to face the sky.
"Speaking to yourself is the first sign of madness you know," the voice was so familiar it felt like home sending a warm feeling all the way through her body. She turned to look at the person she had missed the most in the past few days giving him a slight nervous smile.
"Matt," she breathed glancing up at him unsure of what else to say, he hadn't spoken to her since the night he found out what she had done although she had tried everything to try and reach him.
"Hey," he shuffled his feet awkwardly his hands pulling on the straps of his backpack. "Do you want a lift?" he asked after a moment of silence between the two of them and when she said she did, he gave a curt nod before strolling towards the car park deepening the ache inside of her. When she had confessed to him she hadn't only lost her boyfriend, she had also lost a big part of her; her best friend, her other half which is what Matt would always be. Being in his presence was so familiar to her it was like second nature, it wasn't forced – it just was.
Jumping into the passenger seat they drove silently an unnatural awkward aura surrounding them for the first time in their lives. Elena chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully racking her brains for a conversation starter before she gave up and turned to face him in her seat.
"I hate this, Matt. I know I've made a pretty big mistake, I know I hurt you in a way that I'll never be able to forgive myself for but please, this can't be us. I've missed you so much. I don't want to lose you. Do you think that there's any way that we can go back to at least being friends?" she held her breath as she watched him clench and unclench his jaw as he continued to stare at the road ahead of him his fingers tightening around the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white.
"I don't know," was all he said without turning to face her. Disappointment washed all over her as she bit down hard on her bottom lip before turning to face the road up ahead again. What had she expected? What she had done was unforgettable and she would forever hate herself for that, yet somehow she had made the very same mistake with Caroline – choosing a vampire over those she had loved all of her life and in response destroying the relationship she had with them.
The rest of the journey was filled by eerie silence the only sound coming from the radio. As they reached the gates of the University she let out a slight breath of relief as she couldn't stand this foreign awkwardness between herself and Matt. He parked in his usual spot and they both grabbed their bags heading towards the front entrance of the University.
They reached the corridor where they usually separated to head to their lectures, Elena thought back to just how many times they had stood in this exact same spot but how different things had been then, they had always been kissing or holding hands affectionately, but they now stood a substantial amount of distance between them but what was worse was the invisible million miles between them separating them completely.
"Bye," she smiled hesitantly before making a bee-line towards the staircase leading to history.
"Elena!" she stopped in her tracks automatically holding her breath before slowly turning around to face Matt who stood a few feet away looking at her with an unreadable expression. "I've missed you too," was all he said. He smiled momentarily before giving her a quick wave and disappearing into the crowd of students leaving her standing with a slow smile curving her lips. It wasn't an "I forgive you, everything is forgotten," but it was a start and she was going to take it as a small victory.
