Disclaimer: I still don't own The Vampire Diaries or Saving Hope.

Hey guys, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack. So I'm writing this disclaimer on Monday and some of the chapter, but I don't know when I'll be able to post it because of work. So if this is Wednesday, it was on time and I'm slightly surprised by that considering I'm working 8-7 on both Tuesday and Wednesday. If it's after, I'm sorry I'm late, but I'm surprised I managed to get it up this week.

Chapter 5

Elena woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon, eggs and coffee. She groaned slightly, rolling over only to suddenly find nothing underneath her until she hit the ground with an oomph.

"Ow," she mumbled to herself as she stood, rubbing her head still half asleep as she wrinkled her nose, wondering who was in the kitchen. It was only when she saw the man in the kitchen that she remembered last night. Joel had come over and they'd talked about Jimmy, the cop who committed suicide. They had then moved onto talking about their pasts – excluding supernatural occurrences, of course – and then after that just generally talked about anything and everything that had come to mind. It had just turned 1 by the time one of them decided to look and Elena had offered Joel a place to stay for the night, offering to sleep on the couch. Joel had refused to take the bed ("I am a gentleman, after all," he said with a grin) but had stayed the night on the couch. Now he was making breakfast.

Shirtless.

Elena's thoughts stalled and suddenly she thought back to the day the supernatural got involved in her life, the conversation between herself and Bonnie as they looked into the office.

'All I see is back.'

'Yeah, but it's a hot back.'

She tilted her head slightly. A hot back indeed.

'If this is the back, what does the front look like?' She started to imagine, before mentally slapping herself. 'No, no no no no. No. Don't go there, Elena. Do NOT go there.' Then Joel turned around and her imagination was useless. 'Why can't I go there again? Right. Dating. He's dating Maggie.' She snapped out of it when Joel's fingers clicked in her face. She blushed as he grinned at her, eyes light with mischief.

"See something you like?" he teased.

"Is there anything to see?" she shot back, taking a plate of eggs and bacon from him and brushing passed to the table in the middle of her kitchen. Surprisingly, her voice held steady.

"Judging by the look on your face just now, I'd say so." She gave him a look and the smirk on his face widened into a grin.

"Aren't you dating someone? Like, I don't know, Maggie?" she said sarcastically. Now it was his turn to give her a look. 15 minutes later, he was dressed and out the door. Elena sighed, running a hand through her bed hair before going to get ready for the day. Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door, and she opened it to find Caroline and Bonnie grinning at her from the other side. Elena smiled back, laughing as they came in, Elena having already invited Caroline.

"Elena!" the girls squealed as they threw themselves at her and the three of them stood in the doorway, hugging.

"Hey, guys," Elena said, smiling. "You brought ice cream?"

"Like, a million different flavors," Caroline answered enthusiastically.

"Caroline brought one of literally every flavor," Bonnie added with a grin and the three of them took the bags of ice cream and chips into the kitchen. The chips were put on the counter and Elena loaded the freezer with the ice cream before turning to face her friends.

"So what's the plan for today?" Elena asked.

"We," Caroline began, "are going to have a girls day. We'll go shopping –"

"Obviously."

"We'll have lunch at a gorgeous 50s themed diner and then we'll come back here, and spend the following 10 hours watching movies and eating ice cream, chips and chocolate."

"Sounds like fun," Elena said with a grin.

"So, when do we get to meet hot Dr Goran?" Caroline asked, wiggling her eyebrows. Elena tried to stop herself from blushing, but judging by the warmth in her cheeks, she probably failed.

"Not today, Caroline, he's working," she said. "Besides, isn't this supposed to be a girls day? Joel doesn't count as a girl."

"Well it doesn't count as a girls day if there's no at least talking about boys," Bonnie said, backing Caroline.

"OK, well, there's nothing between Joel and I. He's just a friend. Has Enzo asked you out yet?"

"He's not my type," Caroline brushed off.

"He's asked me," Bonnie said. But more about that after."

"Have you seen him shirtless yet?" Elena blushed again, thinking back to this morning. Caroline gasped. "Oh my God, you have! What happened?!"

"He sleeps shirtless," Elena said. "What do you mean Enzo isn't your type, he's cute and British, isn't that everything thou want in a man?" Elena teased as she remembered the game between Caroline and Klaus years ago. He may have been psycho, but even she could see he was cute and Caroline was totally into him. Caroline blushed in response.

"I don't know what you're talking about. So, Bonnie, Enzo asked you out?" Elena grinned. Diversion successful.

"Don't fall for it," Bonnie said. "She's trying to distract us." Or not. Both women turned to face Elena who suddenly had a deer caught in the headlights look on her face. "So? What happened with your doctor?"

"First of all," Elena said. "He's not my doctor, he's my colleague. Second of all, nothing happened. He came over to my place last night to talk and when we finished talking, it was late, so I let him stay. Then this morning, he was cooking breakfast and hadn't put his shirt on, that's all."

"Seriously, nothing else?!" Caroline asked.

"Nope, nothing. Bonnie. You and Enzo?" Bonnie shook her head.

"I don't know," she started. "I mean, he's cute and all, but he's just… I don't know."

"Well that's what friends are here for, right? We'll help you sort it out."

"And we'll sort your problems with your doctor after that," Caroline added.

"Caroline, seriously, there's nothing! We're just friends! And he's dating another friend of mine, Maggie. So, there's nothing to sort." Elena started leading the way back to her place for the movie section of the day to start. The girls behind her shared a look. She was definitely into him.

The girls settled onto the couch as the Notebook started.

"Have either of you heard from the Salvatores recently?" Elena asked. She couldn't help it. It had been 3 years, and she wasn't in love with either of them, but she still worried. They had been such a huge part of her life after her parents died and she found out about the supernatural, and now she never heard from either of them. She knew that Stefan's silence was hurting Caroline as well, the blonde Vampire having considered him one of her best friends and having definitely had a crush on him when they first met. Bonnie hadn't really liked either Salvatore, but she could see how much their disappearances effected her best friends.

"No. I can't believe they just disappeared like that," Caroline exclaimed. "We're their friends, even if they both wanted more with you."

"Guys, it's been three years," Bonnie said. "Maybe they just need some more time?"

"But like you said, it's been three years!" Caroline exclaimed. "How much time do they need?"

"They're vampires, Care. Time isn't the same to them as it is to a human. One day, even you will see it the way they do. You're 21 but look 17, 100 years could pass in the blink of an eye. One day, they'll talk to us, maybe just Stefan, maybe both, but they need more than three years." Bonnie turned to look at Elena. "Why do you ask?" Elena shrugged.

"I miss them. They were such a big part of her lives 3 years ago and now we never hear anything from them. They were our friends, sometimes more. Now nothing." The three girls decided that talking for the day was now over and huddled together on the couch with ice cream and sodas and other treats, watching movies until about 2am at which point that fell asleep.

I was thinking maybe Charlie/Rebekah if I bring the Originals into this. As much as I like Alex, I'm not so sure about Charlie/Alex, and at the moment I'm not planning on bringing the Salvatores into this more than the occasional mention, and I don't want Rebekah/Marcel for this story. Let me know what you guys think about that and don't forget to review about what you think of the story too.

- Kyrian Mikaelson