Coming Home

Dear Diary

AU - No Vampires, Elena is fifteen and Jeremy is older in this he's seventeen. Stefan is fifteen and Damon is seventeen.

Dear diary, It was the last few days of summer before freshman year when my uncle John decided to move us back into the town I lost both my parents. My parents died in a car crash when I was nine years old and my brother was eleven. I was in the car with them but I managed to get out and I got really lucky. I don't even remember the crash. My brother Jeremy and I were forced to move to New York and we've been there ever since until now. I was so nervous to be back in a town with people I don't know anymore. Jeremy stayed in contact with a lot of his friends and was excited to come back. I was too young to really communicate with other kids long distance. It's hard to think about that in a few years I will have spent more years alive without my parents than with. I missed the way my mom would brush my hair when I was sick and the way my dad would encourage me to be anything I wanted to be. He use to tell me I was the most beautiful girl in the world because I was the best parts of my mom and him. It always made me feel better. I don't have many memories of them due to the crash which really hurts, forgetting parts of my past. My aunt Jenna visits us whenever she can and shares so many stories to keep the memory of my mom and dad alive. It's really nice and I know it's so hard on her, losing her big sister. Uncle John never wants to talk about my parents. He's really bitter and angry inside. John treats Jeremy and I like the burdens we try so hard not to be. My brother is a mess thanks to John. Jeremy drinks and smokes all the time after witnessing John being an alcoholic the past six years. I hoped this move would be a fresh start for them and maybe some change. Aunt Jenna lived pretty close to us with her fiancé Alaric so it comforted me to have her nearby just in case.

"Elena?" I heard my brother calling as he started unpacking the dishes.

I looked over at him as he held a pile of forks. "What?" I closed my dairy and stood up watching him put away the forks.

Jeremy raised his eyebrows. "Goofing off instead of helping out?" He tossed me a roll of paper towels to put away. "Very unlike you." He added, wondering if I was okay.

I unwrapped the roll and hung it. "I'm sorry, it's just an adjustment being back here." I looked around the kitchen we spent so many family dinners in. "In this town, in this house." I sighed.

Jeremy put his arms around me. "It's going to be fine Elena." He said softly trying to give me comfort. "We're home."

My brother was right. This was a good thing. I helped him unpack the kitchen. It was nice seeing my brother sober and not drunk or high all the time. Uncle John on the other hand was such a functional alcoholic, which meant he could down a twelve pack and still charm his way out of anything. He stuck us to unpack the entire house while he was out bar hopping. He use to be on the town council when we were young but he got fired for sleeping with the Mayor's wife. When he took us in he quit his bartender job and lived off of money left to us by our parents for awhile. Then he decided to get a job as a cop a few years ago and he kept it to much surprise. Jeremy and I was shocked no one noticed him coming to work drunk all the time. He decided to move back to Mystic Falls after he got offered a job down there. Which was lucky since his partner was getting suspicious of him.

A knock came from the front door and startled me. I went to answer it but was blocked by Jeremy. "What the hell Jere?" I said annoyed at my brother.

He looked at me confused. "It's for me okay?" Jeremy went to open the door but stopped and looked at me.

"Alright then." I raised my eyebrow and folded my arms.

"Can you scram?" He asked clearly wanting me out of his space.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever." I went upstairs as I hear the door open and Jeremy greeting a brunette haired girl.

I spied on my brother for a few minutes noticing that he was being super friendly with her. I wondered how he managed to find a girl being in town for literally one day. I noticed her slipping him something. Great this fresh start wasn't going to be as fresh as I had hoped it to be. I went into my room and laid on my freshly made bed. I picked up my computer and scrolled on facebook. I looked at Jeremy's friends until I saw her the brunette down in my living room. Vicky Donovan, I knew that name. Her family was very close to ours growing up. She looked so shockingly different now. I guess it was all the partying and drugs. I remembered sharing a crib with her brother Matt. I wondered if he was still sweet as he use to be. I know I can't really except a group of nine year olds to stay the same but I thought a lot about my old friends. I hoped to run into him, Bonnie, and Caroline when school starts, if they all still lived here. I remember being so close to Bonnie and crying on her shoulder til the moment we're pulled apart. It was really hard losing my best friends on top of my parents.

I woke up to screaming in the kitchen, I flew downstairs and saw my uncle John standing there with a broken plate.

"What the hell is this Elena?" He looked into my eyes with such disgust.

"What?" I said confusingly, It wasn't me who dropped the plate.

John grabbed the broom. "You and your stupid fucking brother can't even be left to unpack the dishes right?!" He screamed and tossed it, hitting me with the broom.

I shivered at the screams. "I'm sorry." I picked up the broom, trying not to make eye contact.

"You better be or your fat ass is never eating again." He spit on the ground and grabbed his beers. "Stupid fucking bitch." John added as he was leaving the room.

I sighed and cleaned up the mess. This was an often occurrence. Uncle John tends to treat me worst the Jeremy ever since he was big enough to fight back. I looked at the clock and it was about breakfast time. I begun making eggs and bacon for the guys. Jeremy and I are suppose to alternate days cooking but he's usually too high to care. John blames us both a lot but he usually puts it all on me because I'm a girl. I finished cooking and left the plates on the table for them, before going upstairs to shower and get ready for my first day of school. I ate a small breakfast. I was really insecure about my weight that my uncle never fails to comment on every time he insults me. I looked in the body length mirror hanging on my closet door after my shower and I stared at all of my imperfections and scars. I didn't feel comfortable in my own skin. I haven't felt pretty or wanted since the day I lost everything and moved in with John. I feared the idea of walking into my first day of high school and it being hell. I wanted a safe haven. The one I don't have in my own home.

I put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a red silky top, I walked to my closet and pulled out my mom's black leather jacket. I smiled big remembering all the high school pictures of her wearing this jacket. It was mine and I intended never taking it off. I put the jacket on and walked in front of the mirror.

"Wow." Jeremy says as he walked into my doorway. "You look so much like mom." He was overwhelmed as I was.

I looked at my brother. "I can't believe it." I always had many features of my mom but being in her clothes, being older. It felt different.

Jeremy pulled out his phone from his pocket. "Smile!" He said and I posed as he snapped a picture.

I laughed at my brother before grabbing my stuff and meeting him downstairs. I felt a little more myself in my moms clothes.