regret_tomorrow | mystic falls | people will say we're in love

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mystic falls | people will say we're in love

A fun fact about Mystic Falls, they celebrate everything - especially if it's even remotely historical. For Founder's Day, they set aside a week of events. The kickoff party has passed. It was lovely and it was at the Lockwood's like always. But, tonight, tonight is the Bachelorette Auction (amended by Mayor Carol Lockwood to be hip and have a twist of tradition. never one to color too outside the line, Miss Mystic Falls Caroline Forbes endorsed it - so everyone did). The bachelor auction is held inside the ~~world famous~~ Grill.

During the day, the town readies for Founder's Day as they build floats, stages and put up stands. There's even a half day off school and a cookout. The usuals: hot dogs, hamburgers, any condiment you'd like and lemonade better than your relative could make. Live music. Lively fun. Enjoy the festivities.

In the Grill there's a buffet of fried goodness and for those of age (or who can compel people things) it's happy hour. (Carol Lockwood likes her booze)

Each woman steps up to microphone and says something about themselves while bachelors throw out bids.

After, everyone splits off back into the town square for music and the winners get what could be called a date.

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"Good. You're happy. Anna even chipped in," he says, heading towards the town square. "I just thought, the last time we hung out, we broke into Meredith Fell's place. It's time to get back to basics." Have real friend time.

And avoid complications with Damon Salvatore. Not that Stefan is even in the picture for Elena's heart. Well, not really, right? He doesn't see the guy much. But, he's also not gonna ask.

"Iced cream?"

She laughs a bit at that. "Yes. Friend time without breaking the law would probably be a good start." And it's good to hang out with him. They really haven't done it in a while.

When the offer of ice cream comes, she nods. "Please."

"Come on," he says, taking her around the town square to the ice cream truck. "Though, if we wanted to relive old memories, something tells me we'd have a few hours to add to your breaking and entering record," he jokes, getting into line. It's impossible not to notice Meredith and Alaric. Very professional, their teacher can be.

She laughs a bit. "I think we can skip the breaking and entering this time. Maybe for our next not-date."

"Or, the one after that." Because, there will be more. He's determined to have Elena time, to remind her that they're people outside of all this vampire drama. Something did change, though. Like Elena, Matt got to a place where he chose to help when he could. It's no longer like they're... stuck. It's just how life is, now.

"So, I heard the band's from out of town. The Historical Society splurged."

"Fancy. Guess they decided to really go all out." Not that she's complaining. It's nice for them to switch it up every once in a while. "Are they any good?"

"They're selling their EP, which just means they were able to afford studio time. Anybody can put together an EP." But, he shrugs, picking it up off a nearby table. "Would Carol Lockwood hire a bad band?"

"Not without a lot of persuasion," Elena says with a nod. "And possibly a helpful nudge or two." Probably not compulsion.

... Though there might have been, you never know.

"Or greased palms?" he asks, sticking away from vampire influence. "We'll see. They look legit." But, sometimes, the bands who looks more famous are worse. He looks in Elena's direction. "Do you know why Damon ... wanted to date you?"

She glances over at him for a moment, pointedly eating a spoonful of ice cream. "Damon and I may have ... sort of ... made out in Colorado."

He's not expecting that. It's not that he's surprised, really. He could see how different they were at the beginning of the school year. But, it's still a surprise.

"Did you want him to?" This is pure friend-zone talking. But, he's there as a sounding board. He does take a mouthful of ice cream, though.

Elena's quiet for a long time, taking a few licks of her ice cream. "I started it." Which is something she will only admit to Matt. No one else needed to know about this, as far as she was concerned.

"Did you stop it?" he asks. Matt might be the only person who gets that anything happening with Elena and Damon - Elena and anyone would come from Elena. He means was she the one who inevitably broke off the make out session.

Her head bobs a bit. "Mostly because Jeremy caught us, but ... " She sighs, a little bit exasperated. She doesn't know what to do about it. She doesn't know what to do about it, mostly because she doesn't know how she feels. "Does it make me an awful person? For moving on with someone else's brother like that?"

Of everyone in Elena's life, Matt if the one who would judge her the least. He'd taken the break-up badly at first. But, she'd always been his best friend. Not like him and Tyler had been because that would be different, but, in a deeper forever kind of way.

"Elena, I've known you my whole life. You could never be an awful person." Nothing could make her one. "You were with Stefan. Months ago. And maybe you never ... broke up but, you're not together now. Take it from someone who's had to move on before." And that's the point, really, he's trying to make. "You're moving on. You're not rubbing it in Stefan's face or trying to get back at him for going off with Klaus, right?" And he's not even asking that in a serious way.

"Moving on with Damon Salvatore - no matter what anybody else tells you," he starts, he's looking at you, Caroline, "doesn't make you a terrible person. Katherine. Klaus. They're terrible people."

"No. No, of course not." She runs a hand through her hair as she closes her eyes, trying to just focus on the music and not that night in Colorado that keeps playing over and over again in her head. "I just ... I don't know if I can live with the things Damon has done. And maybe I'm not supposed to live with them, but I do. In Colorado I figured ... I thought maybe I could just see what would happen and then it would implode in my face because that's what Damon always does." But it didn't. And now she's even more confused than before.

"I know Stefan was a killer, and I'm not looking to reopen that door again, on the wagon or not. Damon isn't innocent either, though. Damon seriously messed with Caroline. He killed Lexi and Ric and Jeremy and everything he touches seems to just fall apart, and I'm not sure I can let myself go there." Never mind the things he's done to her, which is a whole other thing entirely and not something she can consider, because this isn't about her.

"Did it implode in your face?"

Matt hasn't seen any signs of implosion, at least. But, Elena's not acting as if it did. It's not hard to believe. Damon ruins everything he touches from what Matt has heard.

"He killed Jeremy?" There's a lot Matt has missed out on - especially because his friendship with Jeremy has been barely touched on and off throughout these seasons. Yes, they work together, but Jeremy's never shared that Damon snapped his neck one time while sharing a joint. So, Matt's trying to keep up here. "Do you think doing something with Damon will open the killer door?" He's a little confused, trying to sort through what she's saying. He does remember Damon and Caroline - of course that had to've been compulsion.

"I know it's not the same thing. But, when I found out about Caroline -- I just couldn't go there because I wanted to try and keep out of -- I didn't know how to be in this world. But, I know she's still Caroline." And with Tyler. He's not sure he's qualified to really help with this. "What does Damon think?"

"I think I worry that he's doing all these things for me because he says he loves me, but ... what if I don't love him as long as he loves me. Or what if loving me isn't enough?"

Never mind the fact that Damon's behavior isn't her responsibility. Never mind the fact that his actions shouldn't have any weight on her but they will. If she's with him, if she jumps where she knows he will catch her, everything he does will be in relation to her.

And she isn't sure if that's something she wants.

"It's not enough that he wants to be better so that he can be with me, he has to be better. Even though Stefan has done some awful things, he still wants to be a good person." Sometimes. Now may not be the best example, but he does.

There's pause. "I don't know. I haven't really talked to him about this. But he said to me that he doesn't want expectations placed on him, and that's why he won't let people see that there's good there, and I don't know if it's enough for only me to see it."

"I think Damon's proved that loving you is enough? Didn't he love you all last year?" Or, something. Matt's flying half blind. "And if you don't love him as long then it'll be like any other relationship. They crash and burn all the time." Had she felt like that with Matt? He doesn't ask. He can't ask. But, he feels like at some point he had to have loved her more than she'd loved him.

"But, him being better - whether it's for you or not, still makes him better, right?" He can't see how a better Damon is ever a bad thing.

"Is Damon a good person?" It's a question he poses honestly.

He listens to her next part.

"Maybe you're not the only one that can see it." He pauses. "I know the last few months - you guys got close. And he's been good. Isn't it better to show than, you know, when actions speak louder than words? He's been there for you. Maybe selfishly, I don't know, but he's been there. He's helped." She can't deny that. "Maybe it's not some all or nothing deal? It's not like Caroline and me - or even you and me," he says, pausing again. But, he remembers how it was with Elena. One day, they went from friends to more. They'd dated. It'd been natural.

This. Is anything but.

"Are you going to place expectations on him?

"I don't know."

She wishes she didn't have an ice cream cone because she really wants to bury her face in her hands because she doesn't know. She doesn't know the answer to whether or not that's enough. She takes a deep breath, straightening her shoulders as she tries to put her thoughts into words.

"I just ... this isn't something I should have to think about. I should be worrying about whether or not the guy I like will ask me to prom, not whether or not he'll kill a bunch of people if I break up with him."

Which she does. She knows she's going to need to be strong with him if she's going to do this without any regrets. She'll have to stick to her guns and fight him when it comes to making the hard choices and she doesn't want to get complacent about this, especially when it comes to saving her life. Damon already has taken some choices from her. If they're together will it only get worse?

"I don't know if I'm ready for this."

He could say several things. He owes Damon Salvatore nothing, so this isn't as if he'd tell Caroline something positive about Tyler, or how he'd told Bonnie Jeremy liked her. (Off screen, as most of what we're even addressing has to happen offscreen, you'd think.) But, Matt was also a guy and Jeremy was his friend. So, he was diplomatic. But this is Elena.

And Matt regards Elena - the opposite degree of how Damon regards her. He will protect her, or he'll want to but he knows it's her choice. He'll listen and be there for when she ultimately decides what she wants to do.

In anything.

"I've never been ready. For any of this. Not my mom leaving, not Vicki disappearing," and then dying. "Not Caroline or, vampires - not seeing my sister again before closing the door on her for good. We're never ready." But, he has to put in his two, momentary selfish cents in. "Look, Damon killed Vicki. And I will hate that in him. Probably forever. But, I know the Damon that did that isn't the Damon who's trying to get a rise out of you tonight." A beat. "And, anything Damon does do - it's not on you. What happened with Vicki and - and with the van -- that was me because I did magic. But, Damon? If he does anything - that's on him."

He looks forward again, listening to see if he even likes the band.

"Are we ever ready for anything?"

"I don't now that either."

Sometimes she feels like she is, but at the same time, sometimes she's just sliding back down that slope again, and she can't seem to find her footing. All the same, she takes a breath and takes another lick off her ice cream.

"But enough about Damon. I am here, on a date, with you and we are just going to focus on that."

Because that is the important thing. Whether Damon liked it or not.

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