Chapter 4 (Elena POV)

Matt had hesitated and looked unsure of what to say.

I was starting to panic a bit. Damon had to be okay. He couldn't just…die. Not again. I couldn't deal with that kind of pain again. I couldn't survive it.

Matt had apparently noticed that I was starting to freak out. Must've been my face or something.

"I...Well...I don't know, Elena. I know after he left here he stayed with Stefan and Caroline then eventually went off to Illinois. That was years ago, though. So, I'm not sure of where he is, exactly. I just know he's alive."

I nodded, relieved. Damon was fine… wherever he was. "Stefan and Caroline? They're…together now?"

"Yeah, they've been together for awhile now. About as long as I've been married, I think."

I smiled at him. "I'm glad you found someone, Matt. Though I probably should've noticed when I saw your Grandson, Nathan."

Matt laughed and glanced at Nathan. "Yeah… Nathan's my oldest grandchild. I have a granddaughter, too. They belong to my Daughter, Melissa, and her husband."

"Awesome. I would've paid to see you and your daughter as she was growing up. I bet you were real protective." I hated that I'd missed so many things. I was only hearing about Matt, who knows what Caroline and Stefan had done with their lives.

Nathan had turned onto a main road and I noticed we were heading into the main part of Mystic Falls.

"I didn't really know where to take you, Elena. Forgot to ask, actually, old age does that." Matt grinned, "Are you hungry? We could go to the grill?"

"Yeah, starving, actually. Guess I can stay in this dress a little while longer"

"So, now that I've successfully stuffed myself, could we stop at the Boarding House or something? I really need a shower and a change of clothes." I wrinkled my nose and Nathan laughed.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you don't stink. That's got to say something for being in a coffin for 60 years."

Matt elbowed Nathan and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Elena, we can stop at the Boarding House. I'm sure all of your clothes are still there." Matt frowned and started searching the pockets on the jean jacket he was wearing, "Ah! Here it is. I'm assuming this is the key to get in, Bonnie gave it to me. Looks like a house key.."

I looked at the key in his hand. "Looks like it should be,"

We got up to leave and Nathan turned around as we got out the door, "Hey, grandpa, do you mind if I go? I promised my friends I'd meet them at the high school to play football."

Matt shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. Thanks for coming with me," he hugged Nathan and turned to me. "I can drive but I figured I'd see if you wanted to?"

I glanced at him, "I don't know if me driving would be that great of a idea. It's been sixty years. God knows the damage I could do."

He chuckled, "I'm sure you'll do fine. You'll need to re-learn anyway. We'll have to get you a new drivers license, among other things."

"Ew. I don't have to take the test again, right? I hated that."

"I'm sure we can let you go without taking the test…as long as you can get us to the boarding house safely."

I huffed. "Well, cross your fingers," I said, turning the engine on. "I'll try to do my best." I grinned.

(Stefan POV)

"Well, looks like we're here." I said to Caroline after passing the Mystic Falls wooden sign. "Wanna call Matt and ask where he and Elena are?"

Caroline made a huge smile and looked like she was ready to be bouncing up in down in her seat. "Sure!"

I laughed and glanced down at my phone, hoping to see Damon had at least texted to say he'd left Illnois. He hadn't.

(Elena POV)

I opened the door of the boarding house and walked inside. I felt like I was finally home after being on a long vacation. Which, in a way, I guess I was. Matt was right behind me and I stopped at the stairs.

"Well, I'm going to go find some clean clothes and take a shower. I don't think there's a TV anywhere but you could look in the library. Maybe Damon and Stefan finally added one. I doubt it, but there's a possibility. I did complain about it enough."

Matt was looking around. "You, complaining?" Matt raised his eyebrow. "No, not miss Elena Gilbert!"

I laughed, "Oh, shut up! You're lucky that you're old now, otherwise I'd punch you!"

I left Matt downstairs and started to head down the hallway towards Damon's room.

Oh, god.

Damon's shower. I can't wait. That thing's awesome.

I walked into Damon's bedroom and looked around. It looked the same but…different. I walked past the bed to a dresser and started riffling through it, hoping to find some of my clothes.

They weren't in any of the drawers I could remember putting them in and the only thing I found of mine other than a bra and underwear was in the closet which was a pink dress. Yuck. Not wearing a dress again anytime soon. I wanted pants.

Aha! Jeans!

Okay, one thing down… now if I could just find a shirt. Or if I could figure out what in the hell Damon had done with the other few clothing items I had left here…I glanced around the room again after stepping away from the closet. There was a dresser by the bed, which was the only place I hadn't looked. My phone was in it along with some change and the jewelry I had been wearing at the wedding. The other drawers were bare. Damon or someone else had apparently emptied them. I remembered that I'd ran across a red t-shirt of Damon's when I'd been looking for clothes earlier. I went and grabbed it them made my way into the bathroom.

Thank god there was soap and shampoo. I really wanted a shower.

(Stefan POV)

Caroline hung up her cell phone after talking with Matt. We were slowly getting ready to pass the road to the Boarding House.

"Okay, so, Matt said he and Elena are at the Boarding House. She changing clothes and stuff."

"Guess I was right, then." I smiled at Caroline.

"Yup! I can't wait to see her!" Caroline was actually bouncing up and down now and I had to laugh.

"Me neither,"

(Elena POV)

I had gotten dressed and towel dried my hair when I thought I heard a door open. I was pretty sure Matt would've told me if he was going outside, which meant someone was here. I grabbed a brush and raked it through my hair then rain down the stairs.

Once I'd hit the landing of the stairs I looked up and saw Stefan and Caroline's back. Just as I was getting ready to take another step, Caroline turned around.

"Elena!" She had vamped towards me and hugged me.

"Woah, Care. Human, remember?"

She pulled back, "Oh, yeah! Sorry! I'm just so happy to see you!"

"Happy to see you to, Care," I hugged her back and glanced up at Stefan. He was standing next to Matt with his arms crossed on his chest, smiling at the both of us.

"Hey, Elena,"

Caroline finally let me go and moved to my side. "Hey."

He glanced down at his phone and looked irritated.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Elena, I'm waiting on Damon. I didn't know you were actually awake so I didn't tell him anything more than that he needed to get to Mystic Falls. Apparently he hasn't come to the conclusion that I did and is now ignoring me."

"Why is he ignoring you?"

"I don't know. He's Damon. He thinks I call him too much… which I do, at times. It's mostly his fault though. If he'd answer his phone on a regular basis I wouldn't call as much."

I frowned then moved over to one of the nearest couched. "So, you can't get a hold of him?"

"No. I've sent him a few texts and tried to call him twice. He either shut his phone off or it died."

"We're just going to have to wait, aren't we?" I was a little irritated. Why couldn't Damon just do as he was asked? Or, at least, answer his damn phone? I'm impatient.

Caroline looked annoyed, "Yup. Damon's irritating and moves on his own time."

"Well, he shouldn't take too long to get here. He might be here by tomorrow. Caroline called Jeremy and Alaric. They're already on their way here but it'll be a couple hours. They may not get here until early in the morning."

"Oh, Okay. How are they? Did Jer ever finish Art School?"

Matt and Stefan glanced at each other, and then Caroline turned towards me.

She bit her lip. "Jeremy... he didn't actually go to Art School, Elena."

"What? Then what'd he do?" Jeremy had lied to me. Great.

"He went off to be a hunter again... Alaric went out and joined him about a year after Jo's death."

"Oh."

"Yeah… but they're both okay. No near death experiences or anything!" Caroline was trying to make light of the situation, she could probably tell I was mad.

I noticed it was actually dark outside. I didn't even know what time it was and I hadn't paid any attention to it before.

Matt walked up to me, "Hey, Elena, I got to go. Claire, my wife, might be getting worried. She knew where I was going but I haven't talked to her at all since I came and got you. If you need me to, I can stay, though."

"No, No, you're fine, Matt. Stefan and Caroline are here. Go home to your wife." I got up and hugged him, "I can't wait to meet her."

Matt looked at me and grinned, "I'm sure she feels the same. I've told her a lot about you, actually. You two would probably like each other."

Well, there's chapter 4! Hope you guys liked it. For anyone wondering, Damon should appear in the next chapter. BTW, thank you all so much for all the follows, reviews, and favorites. I appreciate every single one and I'm so glad that you all like this story!