It's been over a week since Elena told Matt that she needed some time and space from him, to think about things and what she really wanted out of their relationship. As hard as it was for Matt to leave Bella, he respected Elena's decision in hopes that Elena would let him back in the house so they could work this out and start planning their wedding. In Matt's heart, he truly believes that Elena loves him and that she's going to say yes.
For a week now, Matt has been staying at his friend Tyler Lockwood's place and sleeping on his couch. Matt would have been fine staying in a hotel room for a week, but of course, Tyler's wife, Olivia, or Liv, as most people call her, wasn't going to let Matt waste his money on a hotel room for a week, and she wasn't taking "no" for an answer.
Waking up, Matt grunts little as he sits up and rubs the back of his neck and sits up to stretch out and loosen up his muscles. That's the downside of staying with Tyler and Liv, Matt ends up sleeping on their couch. Which isn't too bad really, except for the part when his muscles start to ache in the morning.
"Morning." Liv greeted Matt as she walked over to him. "Here, take this. You look like you need it." She said as she handed Matt a cup of coffee.
"Thank you." Matt said as he took the cup from her hand and took the first sip. He sighed a little as he could feel the coffee going down his throat smoothly. "Where's Ty?"
"He went out for a run this morning. He should be back soon," Liv said as she took a drink of her coffee. She looked at Matt for a moment and asked, "Are you doing okay, Matt?" out of concern. Liv couldn't imagine what Matt was going through, but she could see how hard it had been for him.
Matt shrugged his shoulders a little. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks for the coffee, Liv." He said as he took another drink of his coffee.
Liv nodded her head. "Well, if you need anything, I'll be upstairs." She said as she turned around and headed upstairs to get ready for work.
Matt sighed deeply as he took another drink of his coffee before setting his cup down on the coffee table. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, unlocked it, and opened it. The first thing Matt noticed was the picture of Elena and him with Bella, which he had saved as a background on his phone.
Matt remembers the day that picture was taken. It was on a Saturday, and both Elena and Matt had the day off together. So all three of them decided to spend the day having a picnic down by the lake. Matt was about to call Elena when the front door opened and he noticed Tyler walking in.
"Hey, man." Matt said as he shut his phone off and set it down on the coffee table.
"Hey, where's Liv?" Tyler asked as he closed the door behind him.
"She's upstairs." Matt answered as he picked up his coffee cup and finished whatever was left of his coffee.
Tyler nodded his head as he walked into the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee before coming back out into the living room. "Have you heard from Elena yet?" Tyler asked as he took his first sip of his coffee while it was still warm.
Matt shook his head. "I was just about to call her when you walked in. But I doubt she'd pick up my call anyway." Matt wants to call Elena just to hear her voice. More importantly, he wants to go back home and try to fix things with her. But he can't.
"Look, man, why don't we hang out with the guys tonight at the Grill?" Tyler offered as he hated seeing his best friend down and he thought Matt could use a night out with the guys. Tyler knows that he can definitely use a night out with the guys. It's been too long since Tyler hung out with his buddies.
Matt nodded his head slightly as he reluctantly agreed. "Um, yeah, sure," he said as he got up from the couch and grabbed his cell phone. "I've got to get ready for work." He said as he grabbed his duffel bag of clothes and headed upstairs to jump in the shower quickly.
Tyler took another sip of his coffee as he took out his cell phone and walked over to the couch. Setting his cup down, Tyler started making a few calls to see who else was free tonight to hang out at the Grill for a few drinks.
After Elena did her morning rounds and checked in on some of her patients, she walked into the hospital cafeteria and bought her second coffee. Elena normally doesn't drink this much coffee, but she hasn't been sleeping much lately. With working long hours at the hospital and taking care of Bella on her own, she's been thinking about Matt a lot recently. It's been over a week since Elena asked Matt to leave so she could have space and time to think about their relationship.
Elena had thought about calling Matt a few times but decided against it since she doesn't want Matt to think that she wants him back, because she's not ready to have him back in the house and she's not even ready to marry him either. Elena really isn't sure what she wants, which is why she needs time to think about everything.
"Good morning, Dr. Laughin," Elena greeted Joesette as she sat across from her and took a sip of her coffee before setting it down.
"Good morning, Dr. Gilbert. You look like hell," Joesette said with observation as she watched Elena sit down across from her.
"I feel like hell." Elena said with a light chuckle.
"How many of those have you had already?" Joesette asked as she nodded her head towards Elena's coffee.
Elena shrugged her shoulders a little as she took another drink. "This is my second one so far," she said.
"Second one? You never have more than one cup of coffee. What's going on?" Joesette asked, as she couldn't help but be a little worried and concerned about her friend and colleague.
Elena ran her fingers through her hair as she caught her breath. "I've just been kinda stressed out lately. Not to mention, I haven't been sleeping much." She said as she shrugged her shoulders and took another drink of her coffee while it was still warm.
"And, why haven't we been sleeping?"
Elena closed her eyes for a moment as she rubbed the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb. "Just been having a lot on my mind this week," she answered without saying too much.
"About Matt?" Joesette asked, even though she could already tell that whatever Elena was thinking had something to do with Matt. Joesette didn't know much about what was going on between the two. All she knew was that Elena had asked Matt to leave over a week ago, and that was because she needed time to think about things and figure things out.
Elena dropped her hand against the table as she nodded her head. "Yeah."
"Have you thought more about what you're going to do?"
Elena sighs softly as she shook her head. "I'm still thinking about it. The main reason why I haven't been sleeping much lately." Elena knows that she needs to come up with some kind of decision soon and fast, as she can't keep going like this. Matt deserves better than this.
"Maybe you should try talking to Matt." Joesette suggested, as she hates seeing her friend so miserable.
Elena shrugged her shoulders a little. "Yeah, maybe. I've got to get ready for my surgery." She said as she got up from the table with her coffee and walked away from Joesette and out of the cafeteria, heading back up to her office. Part of her wants to talk to Matt. She's just not ready to yet.
Later that night, Elena had just finished reading Bella a bedtime story. Elena covered Bella up, kissed her good night, and closed the door to Bella's bedroom before heading back downstairs to the kitchen. After getting herself a glass of wine, she walked into the living room. Elena exhaled deeply as she took a sip of her wine and sat down on the couch.
Setting her glass down, Elena picked up her cell phone and unlocked it. As she was going through her contacts and landed on Matt's number, Elena kept staring at it, debating whether she should call him or not. After staring at his number for what felt like forever, Elena sighed, shook her head, shut her phone off, and set it back down.
When Elena and Matt first started dating, everything was actually going amazingly well between them. There was so much love and passion between them. Not only physically but emotionally as well. Every time Elena needed Matt, he was always there for her, and it's one of the things she loved about him. He even helped her take care of Bella and helped raise her as she was his own daughter.
But lately things between them haven't been so great. They barely see each other since they're always working, and when they do see each other, it's mostly when they're getting ready for bed. They hardly ever have alone time together, and they rarely have any days off together.
Elena loves Matt, and she would love more than anything to marry him and have a family life with him and Bella. But Elena isn't sure if she's really ready to get married or if she'll ever be ready for it. She's not even sure if she wants to be Mrs. Matt Donovan. Dr. Elena Donovan doesn't have a nice bell ring to it honestly.
Elena blew out a breath as she picked up her glass to take another drink of her wine. But before the rim of the glass touched her lips, there was an unexpected knock on her door. Setting her glass down, Elena exhaled as she got up from her couch and walked towards her door.
Just as Elena opened her door and was about to tell whoever was at her door to go away, she totally froze and her jaw dropped in shock as the very last person she ever wanted to see was standing right in front of her: Damon.
Damon couldn't help but chuckle as he reached over and gently closed Elena's mouth. "Wouldn't want you to swallow a fly," he said teasing her as he smirked slightly, licking his bottom lip for a moment, unable to stop checking her out.
" Damn, Elena, you've gotten even more gorgeous since the last time I saw you. You look good." He said with a grin on his face.
Feeling Damon staring at her as if he was undressing her with his eyes, Elena quickly wrapped herself up. She was starting to feel naked and uncomfortable, and she hated it. Even worse, she could feel her heart beating faster. Taking a deep breath, Elena kept herself in control.
"Damon, what are you doing here?" Elena asked, still confused about why Damon was suddenly standing right in front of her. She thought he was in New Orleans all this time. With everything Elena was dealing with, the last thing she needed was to deal with Damon Salvatore again.
"I am moving back home, and I'm opening my new bar in Mystic Falls soon. I wanted to be the first person to tell you." Damon said softly as he placed both hands in his pockets just to keep himself from reaching out and touching her. Which he desperately wants to, but for now, he's holding back.
"What?"
AN: Don't hate me. But I'm leaving this as a cliff hanger. I know, I'm being mean lol. But don't worry more Delena moments coming soon. Leave reviews and happy reading everyone. Will update again soon as possible.